Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptor type 1 regulates glioma cell proliferation and correlates with patient survival

Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid that signals through a family of G protein‐coupled receptors consisting of 5 members termed S1P1–5, and it regulates cellular proliferation, migration and survival. We investigated the expression and role of S1P receptors in glioma. Human glioma expressed S1P1, S1P2, S1P3, and S1P5 by quantitative real‐time PCR analysis. Expression of the S1P1 was significantly lower in glioblastoma than in the normal brain (p < 0.01) and diffuse astrocytoma (p < 0.05). Immunoblotting showed that normal brain expressed more S1P1 protein than did glioblastoma. Immunohistochemistry showed that S1P1 was localized predominantly in the astrocytes in the normal brain, but no staining was observed in glioblastoma. Downregulation of S1P1 expression correlated with poor survival of patients with glioblastoma (p < 0.05). S1P1 small interfering RNA promoted cell proliferation in high‐expressor glioma cell lines (T98G, G112). Cell proliferation was promoted by the pertussis toxin, which deactivates Gi/o type of G proteins; the S1P1 is exclusively coupled to these proteins. Forced expression of the S1P1 in low‐expressor cell lines (U87, U251) resulted in decreased cell growth and led to suppressed tumor growth in transplanted gliomas in vivo. Furthermore, we found a significant association between the S1P1 expression and early growth response‐1, a transcriptional factor that exhibits tumor suppression in glioblastoma cells (p < 0.05). These data indicate that the downregulation of S1P1 expression enhances the malignancy of glioblastoma by increasing cell proliferation and correlates with the shorter survival of patients with glioblastoma.
FINAL CONTRACT REPORT LIVE STOP-CONTROLLED INTERSECTION DATA COLLECTION

This report describes an experimental investigation performed at live intersections to gather infrastructure-based naturalistic driver approach behavior data. This data was collected and analyzed with the goal of understanding how drivers approach intersections under various speeds and environmental conditions. Six stop-controlled intersection approaches across five intersections in the New River Valley, Virginia area were selected for data collection. The sites were selected based on the intersection characteristics and crash statistics. Data was collected from each site for at least two months resulting in over sixteen total months of data. A data acquisition system was devised and implemented to obtain the first intersection data set with fidelity sufficient for developing intersection collision avoidance threat assessment algorithms. An explorative analysis of driver stopping behavior and vehicle trajectories was also performed. Results indicate that an intersection collision system for stopcontrolled intersections is feasible. Avenues for future research and potential uses of this new database are highlighted. FINAL CONTRACT REPORT LIVE STOP-CONTROLLED INTERSECTION DATA COLLECTION Zachary R. Doerzaph Research Associate Center for Vehicle Infrastructure Safety Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Vicki L. Neale Center Director Center for Vehicle Infrastructure Safety Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Jodi R. Bowman Senior Research Specialist Center for Vehicle Infrastructure Safety Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Kendra I. Wiegand Project Associate Center for Vehicle Infrastructure Safety Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Project Manager Catherine C. McGhee, Virginia Transportation Research Council Contract Research Sponsored by Virginia Transportation Research Council Virginia Transportation Research Council (A partnership of the Virginia Department of Transportation and the University of Virginia since 1948) Charlottesville, Virginia December 2007 VTRC 08-CR2
Context-Aware Information Diffusion for Alerting Messages in 5G Mobile Social Networks

In emerging fifth generation (5G) systems, mobile social networks are expected to play an important role to enable proximity-based content distribution among devices. In this paper, we address social-awareness aspects and device-to-device (D2D) communications for information diffusion solutions in emergency scenarios. Context-aware information is collected from a set of devices deployed in the environment and received data are integrated and elaborated at the cellular base station before being delivered. In such a framework, we model the expected information diffusion time by taking into account both networking- and sociality-related metrics. In particular, we introduce the so-called social intercontact time which is able to model the interaction frequency between the user and a generic social platform. The proposed approach is compared with alternative solutions where the dissemination process is either managed through direct links from the central base station, as a conventional multicast scheme, or with the support from proximity communications, as a D2D-enhanced multicast scheme. The results of a performance assessment study show that the proposed framework achieves considerable gains, up to 50%, in terms of overall information diffusion time and data rate per user equipment.
Improvement of Continuous Dysarthric Speech Quality

Dysarthria refers to a group of motor speech disorders as the result of any neurological injury to the speech production system. Dysarthric speech is characterised by poor speech articulation, resulting in degradation in speech quality. Hence, it is important to correct or improve dysarthric speech so as to enable people having dysarthria to communicate better. The aim of this paper is to improve the quality of continuous speech of several people suffering from dysarthria. Experiments in the current work use two databases-Nemours database and speech data collected from a dysarthric speaker of Indian origin. Durational analysis of dysarthric speech versus normal speech is performed. Based on the analysis, manual modiﬁcations are made directly to the speech waveforms and an automatic technique is developed for the same. Evaluation tests indicate an average preference of 78.44% and 67.04% for the manually and automatically altered speech over the original dysarthric speech, thus emphasising the effect of durational modiﬁcations on the perception of speech quality. Intelligibility of speech generated by three techniques, namely, proposed automatic modiﬁca-tion technique, a formant re-synthesis technique, and an HMM-based adaptive system, is compared.
High-quality boron nitride nanoribbons: unzipping during nanotube synthesis.

Zipper examined: High-quality boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) can be produced directly during nanotube synthesis without post-treatment. These BNNRs are typically several micrometers long and tens of nanometers wide. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure investigations indicated that the BNNRs are of high chemical purity and crystallinity.
Antihepatitis C Virus Activity of five Selected Endemic Medicinal Plants of Nigeria

Traditional Nigerian medicinal herbs have long been used as remedies against hepatitis. The aim of the study was to investigate the claimed ethnomedicinal uses of the plants for which they are known and used. Some medicinal plants (Persea americana seed, PAS; Persea americana root, PAR; Persea americana leaf, PAL; Annona muricata stem bark, AMS; Annona muricata leaf, AML; Jatropha podagrica root, JPR and Picralima nitida stem bark, PNS were carefully selected using the ethnopharmacological approach. The methanol extracts were partitioned to give fractions. Evaluation for in vitro antihepatitis C activity against HCV RNA virus was investigated using standard and established protocols. Significant and notable cell growth inhibition against HCV RNA was observed for extracts PAR, PAS, and JPR and AMS against HCV rRNA virus. Among these extracts, AMS showed the most potent antiviral activities against HCV with EC50, EC90 and CC50 values of 5.8, 33.1 and 22.6 μg/ml, respectively. In addition, the methanol extract of PNS showed a weak activity (10.75% HCV, rRNA 4.97). Taken together, these results indicate that A. muricata and P. americanna might offer a promising source of antiviral drugs against HCV. Purification of the active compound(s) would be required in the future.
Interspecies scaling of the bioaccumulation of lipophilic xenobiotics in fish: An example using trifluralin

A poorly understood factor that may influence differences in the accumulation of a xenobiotic among fishes is interspecies differences in physiology. We have extensively studied the uptake, distribution, and excretion kinetics of the lipophilic herbicide trifluralin (TF) in fish, using a static water exposure system and compartmental toxicokinetic models. We obtained quantitative estimates of physiologically based toxicokinetic parameters such as uptake clearance, apparent volume of distribution, and elimination clearance due to xenobiotic metabolism, in rainbow trout, channel catfish, and bluegill sunfish at two acclimation temperatures. In these and other species (largemouth bass, gizzard shad, fathead minnows, and lake sturgeon), oxygen consumption rate, total lipid content, plasma protein binding, and in vitro biotransformation rates from liver homogenates were determined and examined for their capacities to predict toxicokinetic parameter values. The uptake clearance of TF was predictable based on the oxygen consumption rate, and in vitro TF biotransformation rate was a useful predictor of the in vivo metabolic clearance of TF. Lipid content, however, did not predict the apparent volume of distribution of TF. Values of uptake and metabolism clearance were predicted in largemouth bass, gizzard shad, fathead minnows, and lake sturgeon, using the oxygen consumption and the in vitro TF biotransformation rates. These predicted parameters were then used to successfully simulate the toxicokinetics of TF in these species.
Information retrieval based on information structures

This thesis addresses how retrieval systems can be improved by an infor¬ mation structure. An information structure represents knowledge about a certain domain of discourse. This knowledge is taken into account by the retrieval process. We propose manually constructed information structures that increase the retrieval effectiveness. Two different types of information structures are discussed. The infor¬ mation structures of the type "thesaurus" are analyzed first. A mathemat¬ ical framework based on first-order theories is introduced. This framework reveals the main properties of thesauri. It is shown that thesauri do not completely satisfy the objective which is to represent useful and easily man¬ ageable information about the domain of discourse. Therefore, a better information structure, called domain algebra, is introduced. Furthermore, a corresponding construction process is presented to construct systemati¬ cally a useful domain algebra that increases the effectiveness of the retrieval system. The input to the construction process consists of relevance assessments that are specified by a new type of preference relation. The properties of the preference relations of the new type are compared with the properties of the preference relations introduced by other authors. It is shown that our preference relations are more appropriate for the construction process than the other preference relations. The implementation of an editor is described that facilitates the inspec¬ tion and the modification of a domain algebra. The editor visualizes the domain algebra by means of various graphical and non-graphical represen¬ tations. A very attractive representation shows the domain algebra as a semantic net. The semantic net representations are generated automati¬ cally by means of a new layout algorithm for planar graphs. A detailed description of this layout algorithm is given. After the conclusions, a few directions for subsequent research are pointed out.
Electromyographic Amplitude Ratio of Serratus Anterior and Upper Trapezius Muscles During Modified Push-Ups and Bench Press Exercises

Imbalance and weakness of the serratus anterior and upper trapezius force couple have been described in patients with shoulder dysfunction. There is interest in identifying exercises that selectively activate these muscles and including it in rehabilitation protocols. This study aims to verify the UT/SA electromyographic (EMG) amplitude ratio, performed in different upper limb exercises and on two bases of support. Twelve healthy men were tested (average age = 22.8 ± 3.1 years), and surface EMG was recorded from the upper trapezius and serratus anterior using single differential surface electrodes. Volunteers performed isometric contractions over a stable base of support and on a Swiss ball during the wall push-up (WP), bench press (BP), and push-up (PU) exercises. All SEMG data are reported as a percentage of root mean square or integral of linear envelope from the maximal value obtained in one of three maximal voluntary contractions for each muscle studied. A linear mixed-effect model was performed to compare UT/SA ratio values. The WP, BP, and PU exercises showed UT/SA ratio mean ± SD values of 0.69 ± 0.72, 0.14 ± 0.12, and 0.39 ± 0.37 for stable surfaces, respectively, whereas for unstable surfaces, the values were 0.73 ± 0.67, 0.43 ± 0.39, and 0.32 ± 0.30. The results demonstrate that UT/SA ratio was influenced by the exercises and by the upper limb base of support. The practical application is to show that BP on a stable surface is the exercise preferred over WP and PU on either surfaces for serratus anterior muscle training in patients with imbalance between the UT/SA force couple or serratus anterior weakness.
Using approximation algorithms to design parallel algorithms that may ignore processor allocation

A framework is presented for designing parallel algorithms that may ignore processor allocation. A number of fast approximation algorithms are developed, and it is shown how to use these algorithms to simulate any algorithm that fits this framework in a work-preserving fashion on a randomized CRCW PRAM. Several applications of the approach to parallel computational geometry are given. <<ETX>>
Beyond "From" and "Received": Social Sorting for Email Triage

1 Work done while at Microsoft Research. ABSTRACT Email triage is the process of going through unhandled email and deciding what to do with it. Email triage can quickly become a serious problem for users as the amount of unhandled email grows. We investigate the problem of email triage by first presenting interview and survey results that articulate user needs for email triage. We then use these results to outline a set of implications for the design of software to support email triage and present a prototype design which illustrates these principles. Our prototype aggregates social meta-data about email correspondents and places email triage within the user’s social context by providing social sorting of email items using additional meta-data elements.
Gender Differences in Job Stress and Stress Coping Strategies among Korean Nurses

Gender differences among nursing professionals were investigated in the area of job stress and stress coping strategies. Seventy six male nurses and 93 female nurses from 3 general hospitals were participated in this study. Korean job stress measurement developed by Chang (2005) and stress coping measurement modified by Yim (1994) were used. Using SPSS 22.0 program, gender differences in the level of job stress and coping strategies were compared by frequency, percentage, and independent t-test. Furthermore, the level of job stress and coping strategies according to the duration of work experience between male and female nurses were compared. The overall levels of job stress were significantly higher among male nurses than female nurses. In specific, the stress level from interpersonal conflict was higher among male nurses. According to duration of work, male nurses working more than 5 years showed higher level of job stress than female nurses in the area of autonomy, interpersonal conflict, and lack of reward. For coping strategies, more male nurses working more than 5 years used challenging, emotion focused, and avoidant coping strategies. In conclusion, male nurses have more difficulties in interpersonal conflicts than female nurses. The longer male nurses worked, the higher and broader their job stress level became. Therefore, specific continuing education program only for male nurses should be developed and implemented.
Relevance theory, pragmatic inference and cognitive architecture

ABSTRACT Relevance Theory (RT) argues that human language comprehension processes tend to maximize “relevance,” and postulates that there is a relevance-based procedure that a hearer follows when trying to understand an utterance. Despite being highly influential, RT has been criticized for its failure to explain how speaker-related information, either the speaker’s abilities or her/his preferences, is incorporated into the hearer’s inferential, pragmatic process. An alternative proposal is that speaker-related information gains prominence due to representation of the speaker within higher level goal-directed schemata. Yet the goal-based account is still unable to explain clearly how cross-domain information, for example linguistic meaning and speaker-related knowledge, is integrated within a modular system. On the basis of RT’s cognitive requirements, together with contemporary cognitive theory, we argue that this integration is realized by utilizing working memory and that there exist conversational constraints with which the constructed utterance interpretation should be consistent. We illustrate our arguments with a computational implementation of the proposed processes within a general cognitive architecture. Abbreviations: ACT-R Adaptive Control of Thought - RationalCOGENT Cognitive Objects within a Graphical ENvironmenTCS/SS Contention Scheduling/Supervisory SystemRBCP Relevance-Based Comprehension ProcedureRT Relevance Theory
Device Design Consideration for Nanoscale MOSFET Using Semiconductor TCAD Tools

The evolution of metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) technology has been governed mainly by device scaling over the past twenty years. One of the key questions concerning future ULSI technology is whether MOSFET devices can be scaled to 100 nmchannel length and beyond for continuing density and performance improvement. In this paper, the design, fabrication and characterization of high-performance and low-power 90 nm channel length MOSFET devices are described. Several parameters have to be scaled down such as gate oxide thickness, channel length, ion implantation for threshold voltage adjustment and other specifications to achieve desirable electrical characteristic. To control the short-channel effect (SCE) and hot-carrier reliability that limits device scaling, lightly doped drain (LDD) structure, shallow junction of drain / source and Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) are implemented. Virtual wafer fabrication (VWF) Silvaco TCAD Tools is used for fabrication and simulation of CMOS transistor namely ATHENA and ATLAS. Simulations using these programs provided the opportunity to study the effect of different device parameters on the overall device performance. The devices were simulated and gradually the performance of each one was improved, until an optimal device configuration was created for a particular application.
Exploring and Visualizing Differences in Geographic and Linguistic Web Coverage

This article reports on a study performed to understand the geographic and linguistic coverage of web resources, focusing on the example of tourism‐related themes in Switzerland. Search engine queries of web documents were used to gather counts for phrases in four different languages. The study focused on selected populated places and tourist attractions in Switzerland from three gazetteer datasets: topographic gazetteer data from the Swiss national mapping agency (SwissTopo); POI data from a commercial data provider (Tele Atlas) and user generated geographic content (geonames.org). The web counts illustrate the geographic extent and trends of web coverage of tourism for different languages. Results show that coverage for local languages, i.e. German, French and Italian, is more strongly related to the region of the spoken language. Correlation of the web counts to typical tourism indicators, e.g. population and number of hotel nights rented per year, are also computed and compared.
Induction of Id‐1 by FGF‐2 involves activity of EGR‐1 and sensitizes neuroblastoma cells to cell death

Inhibitor of differentiation‐1 (Id‐1) is a member of helix–loop–helix (HLH) family of proteins that regulate gene transcription through their inhibitory binding to basic‐HLH transcription factors. Similarly to other members of this family, Id‐1 is involved in the repression of cell differentiation and activation of cell growth. The dual function of Id‐1, inhibition of differentiation, and stimulation of cell proliferation, might be interdependent, as cell differentiation is generally coupled with the exit from the cell cycle. Fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF‐2) has been reported to play multiple roles in different biological processes during development of the central nervous system (CNS). In addition, FGF‐2 has been described to induce “neuronal‐like” differentiation and trigger apoptosis in neuroblastoma SK‐N‐MC cells. Although regulation of Id‐1 protein by several mitogenic factors is well‐established, little is known about the role of FGF‐2 in the regulation of Id‐1. Using human neuroblastoma cell line, SK‐N‐MC, we found that treatment of these cells with FGF‐2 resulted in early induction of both Id‐1 mRNA and protein. The induction occurs within 1 h from FGF‐2 treatment and is mediated by ERK1/2 pathway, which in turn stimulates expression of the early growth response‐1 (Egr‐1) transcription factor. We also demonstrate direct interaction of Egr‐1 with Id‐1 promoter in vitro and in cell culture. Finally, inhibition of Id‐1 expression results in G2/M accumulation of FGF‐2‐treated cells and delayed cell death. J. Cell. Physiol. 226: 1763–1770, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Molecules: Abnormal Vasculatures in the Splanchnic and Systemic Circulation in Portal Hypertension"

Portal hypertension, defined as an increase in pressure within the portal vein, is a detrimental complication in liver diseases. The increased intrahepatic resistance as a consequence of cirrhosis is the primary cause of portal hypertension (Figure 1). Once it is developed, portal hypertension influences extrahepatic vascular beds in the splanchnic and systemic circulation. Two major consequences of portal hypertension in this regard are excessive arterial vasodilation/hypocontractility and the formation of portosystemic collateral vessels. Both excessive arterial vasodilation and portosystemic collateral vessel formation help to increase the blood flow through the portal vein and worsen portal hypertension. This facilitates the development of the abnormal hemodynamic condition, called the hyperdynamic circulatory syndrome, and ultimately leads to variceal bleeding and ascites (Bosch 2000; Bosch 2007; Groszmann 1993; Iwakiri 2011; Iwakiri & Groszmann 2006).