Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CNS-infiltrating CD8 T cells become virus-specific and engage neurons during TMEV infection

Compelling research has linked CD8 T cells to neuronal injury, a pathological hallmark of multiple sclerosis. The epitopes recognized by CD8 T cells in MS patients remains unknown. Defining these epitopes is of potentially critical importance to developing new therapeutics for MS, an aspect of which has been explored by our lab. In previous studies using the established Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) model of MS we demonstrated that expansion of an immunodominant population of CD8 T cells could be inhibited by the administration of the epitope peptide that they recognized. Inhibiting the expansion of this CD8 T cell population resulted in reduced levels of neuronal injury and sparing of motor ability. In work presented here we have developed an unbiased, molecular approach for determining CD8 T cell epitopes using the TMEV model. Such an approach could be potentially translated from this animal model to MS, possibly contributing to future therapeutics. Further, defining the putative mechanism utilized by CD8 T cells to perpetuate neuronal pathology in diseases such as Rasmussen’s encephalomyelitis, neurological neoplastic disorders and MS remains a critical topic of research. Defining this mechanism could have important ramifications for the development of new treatments for these conditions. In studies presented here using the TMEV model we demonstrate evidence that strongly suggests CD8 T cells form traditional immune synapses with neurons. Further, we demonstrate that CD8 T cells also polarize granzyme B, an effector molecule that can potentially induce apoptosis, towards target neurons. Taken together this evidence provides a potential mechanism utilized by CD8 T cells to perpetuate neuronal pathology. Lastly, we demonstrate in these studies that morphological changes observed in CD8 T cells are
Querer Superarse: First-Generation Latinos

ii Dedication . v List of Tables . ix List of Figure. x Glossary . xi Acknowledgments. xii Chapter One: Introduction . 1 Background of the Problem . 2 Purpose of the Study . 4 Theoretical Framework . 5 Summary . 11 Chapter Two: Literature Review . 13 History of Education . 13 Social Injustices and Oppression . 14 Social Classes. 18 Family . 20 Poverty . 22 Race. 24 Summary . 26 Chapter Three: Methodology . 28 Research Design. 28 Participants . 29
Cause-Effect Deep Information Bottleneck For Systematically Missing Covariates

Estimating the causal effects of an intervention from high-dimensional observational data is difficult due to the presence of confounding. The task is often complicated by the fact that we may have a systematic missingness in our data at test time. Our approach uses the information bottleneck to perform a low-dimensional compression of covariates by explicitly considering the relevance of information. Based on the sufficiently reduced covariate, we transfer the relevant information to cases where data is missing at test time, allowing us to reliably and accurately estimate the effects of an intervention, even where data is incomplete. Our results on causal inference benchmarks and a real application for treating sepsis show that our method achieves state-of-the art performance, without sacrificing interpretability.
Sound transmission through sandwich plate with hourglass lattice truss core

This article is devoted to investigating sound insulation performance of a simply supported sandwich plate with an hourglass lattice core. The governing equations of lattice core sandwich plate are established using the Reissner sandwich plate theory. The solutions are derived using Fourier series expansion. The developed model is verified through the comparison with the results of the models from the existing literature, as well as finite element method (FEM). The effects of various structural and material parameters, the incident angle, and azimuth angle of the incident sound on sound insulation characteristics are investigated. It is demonstrated that the sandwich plate with the hourglass lattice core can outperform that with the traditional lattice cores. This work provides useful guidelines for the design of lightweight lattice sandwich structures in the application of sound insulation.
Identification & Examination of Critical Success Factor for Projects: A Case Study of Tamil Nadu Geographical Information System (TNGIS)

Information and communication technology (ICT) usage in governance has become an indispensable element to ensure quality of service provided by the government. The intensity of ICT usages and its impact on quality of service have revealed that effective utilization of the e-governance and its proximity needs periodical introspection in order to enrich the quality of the service. Especially, the significance of government-to-government (G2G) operations depends on the intensity of usage and the inclination of the personnel towards utilization. The present study examines the intensity of the components which influence the success of the Tamil Nadu Geographical Information System (TNGIS) project through information system (IS) model. The study collected information from TNGIS users. The study utilized structural equation modelling to validate the IS model. The results indicated that information quality, system quality, service quality, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived satisfaction of TNGIS have enhanced the quality of service and satisfaction of the personnel utilizing the services. Further, there is a strong need to enhance the infrastructure of ICTs to enrich the quality of service.
An Occupational Performance Patterns of Family Members of Terminal Cancer Patients: Typology of family palliative caregivers and occupation performance patterns

Objective/Background: In this study, we classified the psychological adjustments of family members of terminal cancer patients using a conceptual structure based on recurring cases. We hypothesised that it is possible to determine the need for intervention on the basis of the occupational performance patterns of the family members. Methods: The subjects were bereaved family members of cancer patients who died more than a year ago. For our classification system, we adopted code matrix analysis using MAXQDA10 analysis software. Results: We categorised the 9 cases into 3 types on the basis of functionality with regard to occupation: i) type of continued occupation; ii) type of resumed occupation; iii) type of interrupted occupation. Conclusions: The categorisation of occupational types assumes that occupation has an effect on the family members’ ability to progress through or alter mental states according to occupational performance patterns.
Growth rate of captive Gharials Gavialis gangeticus (Gmelin, 1789) (Reptilia: Crocodylia: Gavialidae) in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Gharials Gavialis gangeticus have been reared in ex situ facilities in the Gharial Conservation and Breeding Center (GCBC) in Chitwan National Park of Nepal since the 1980s. There remains a paucity of detailed information concerning their growth rates, particularly with respect to season. We randomly selected 20 gharials (45 months old) in the GCBC, tagged them, and recorded total length (TL) and weight over three warm (April–September) and two cold (October–March) seasons between 01 April 2013 and 30 September 2015. We also recorded amounts of fish consumed by these gharials every month over the 30-month period. On average per season, the gharials grew by 9.48±3.63 cm (1.58cm/month) in length and gained 2.61±1.14 kg (0.43kg/month). Growth rates were significantly higher during warm seasons. The highest increase in both length (mean= 21.2±8.61 cm) and weight (mean =5.59±2.12 kg) occurred during the first warm season (April 2013–September 2013) of the study, and annual growth rate was also highest during the first year. Our data indicated strong correlation between mean length and body weight. A total of 2,103.9kg fish was consumed by 20 gharials over 30 months, for a mean consumption of 3.5kg fish per individual per month. Mean fish consumption was also significantly higher during warm (96.99±37.35 kg) versus cold (29.83±17.09 kg) seasons. Survival rate was 100%. Our findings establish baseline data for growth and feeding rates of captive gharials that will be useful in making management decisions in captive breeding and rearing facilities.
reply to referee #2 comments

In this study, Chai et al. simulated future snow changes and their impacts on the upstream runoff in Salween. This is an important study for water resources in future. Overall, this study explained well. However, there are still some questions needing to be clarified. Reply: Many thanks for the positive comments. For the questions raised by the reviewer, we will elaborate and supplement in detail as follows.
Effects of Owinema Bio-Preparation on Vermicomposting in Earthworm Ecological Boxes

This paper describes vermicomposting of kitchen organic waste with the use of Eisenia fetida earthworms in an ecological box. To control excessively proliferated Sciaridae in the box medium, an Owinema bio-preparation, which contains larvae of the nematode Steinernema feltiae, was used. The effect of this bioinsecticide on the earthworm population during vermicomposting of organic waste was assessed. It was found that the applied bio-preparation effectively limited the population of sciarids and also had a positive effect on the development of the earthworm population (it caused a significant increase in the number and biomass of mature and immature forms and cocoons produced (p 0.05)). The Owinema preparation also had a positive effect on the rate of organic waste vermicomposting.
How is the attitude of students’ environmental literacy through the myth of beringin (Ficus sp.) in adiwiyata school?

This research is a preliminary study conducted to know and measure how student’s environmental literacy attitudes about local wisdom from the local area, namely Java area through the myth of Ficus sp. in adiwiyata school. Data collection techniques and instruments: a closed questionnaire. Questionnaires were then analyzed with SPSS to determine the validity that can be demonstrated by using correlation coefficient. in this study, correlation was calculated with Pearson‘s correlation for data were assumed to be normally distributed. Validity of each indicator was determined from the significance of its correlation with the sum score (item-total correlation). Reliability test: Cronbach’s Alpha formula. Next, the data processing uses descriptive statistical analysis for likert scale data processing. The results showed a percentage of 78.7% which means it is in the good category, but only slightly above the medium category. This indicates that student’s environmental literacy attitudes must continue to be improved.
Development of a photo-thermal scan head for high-speed atomic force microscope

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the frequently used microscopy techniques to capture high-resolution images in science and engineering. Since the spatial resolution limit of AFM has been mostly reached and no further improvement is likely, much of the recent attention in the development of new AFM has been on improvement of speed. We present a photo-thermal, high-speed atomic force microscope scan head capable of exciting cantilevers photo-thermally and detecting cantilever motions with an optical beam bounce technique. The design features a unique Z-collar that permits direct mounting of a Z-scanner onto a microscope objective lens to achieve a high mechanical bandwidth. We demonstrate the performance of the developed scan head by imaging data tracks of a Blu-ray disk in tapping and contact modes.
Appropriate Synchronization Time Allocation for Distributed Heterogeneous Parallel Computing Systems

Parallel computing system components should be harmonized, and this harmonization is kept existent using synchronization time. Synchronization time affects the system in two ways. First, if we have too little synchronization time, some tasks face the problem of harmonization, as they need appropriate time to update and synchronize with the system. Second, if we allocate a large amount of time, stall system created. Random allocation of synchronization time for parallel systems slows down not only the booting time of the system but also the execution time of each application involved in the system. This paper presents a simulator used to test and allocate appropriate synchronization time for distributed and parallel heterogeneous systems. The simulator creates the parallel and heterogeneous system to be evaluated, and lets the user vary the synchronization time to optimize the booting time. NS3-cGEM5 simulator in this paper is formed by HLA-RTI federation integration of the two independent architecture and network simulators - NS3 and cGEM5. Therefore, nodes created on these simulators need synchronizations for harmonized system performance. We tested and allocated the appropriate synchronization time for our sample parallel system composed of one x86 server and three ARM clients .
Giving voice to problems faced by school leaders in Portugal

ABSTRACT Worldwide, leadership stories are narratives of principals facing very different problems. The purpose of this study was to identify the current problems faced by Portuguese school principals, through these actors’ voice. Nineteen public school Portuguese principals participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, coded, and categorised using Nvivo11 Pro. The analysis revealed that Portuguese principals have the same problems as their colleagues worldwide, but there are problems specifically related to the Portuguese educational system: problems from the process of school clustering and the leader-centred system of school management of this country. A framework to analyse the emerged problems and practical recommendations are proposed for school leaders, researchers, and policymakers to improve educational leadership.
Meeting the Spiritual Care Needs of Emerging Adults with Cancer

Every year 90,000 young people in Europe and the USA are newly diagnosed with cancer. The majority of earlier studies have taken a quantitative perspective, rarely focusing on the importance of religiosity and spirituality. From these premises, this narrative study explores the spiritual needs of emerging adults with cancer and suggests spiritual care practices that would benefit them in their shift to the remission stage. The data were obtained from the experiences of 16 emerging adults who took part in autobiographical interviews and drew life-tree drawings. Narrative-thematic and visual-narrative methods were used to interpret the data. The results show that spiritual needs manifest in multiple areas: existential questions, value-based searching, and religious seeking. Spiritual care should be targeted to issues such as identity, self-blame, understanding personal values, and relationship with God. Furthermore, family and partners should be supported and dreams of the future after cancer encouraged. The needs for spiritual care are manifold and these needs remain for years after the treatment ends.
Operational Gate Allocation Using a Sliding Time Window

The steady growth of air traffic volumes and the subsequent increase of congestion at major airports require airports to increase their operational efficiency. Inefficient or the absence of gate reassignment models increase the possibility and occurrence of gate blockage and at the same time reduce the comfort of passengers as they often receive the notice that they have to wait for their assigned gate to become available. This thesis describes a model to optimally reallocate flights to available gates on the actual day of operation for a large airport, such as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). It takes into account the scheduled arrival time of a flight for the initial assignment, during daily operation the model updates the scheduled arrival time with the estimated arrival time as soon as the flight is enroute. The proposed model allows the user to do a trade-off between delaying, gate changing and remote handling of flights. The sliding time window has shown to reduce the number of gate changes required during daily operation in order to mitigate gate conflicts. Validation of the model with data obtained from AAS showed that the approach is feasible for real world application and that it improves the operational efficiency of the airport.
A taxonomy of integration interventions between health care and public health

Integration among health care professionals, health care systems, and public health organizations to improve population health has recently emerged as a policy priority for federal health and public health agencies. A large gap exists, however, between current policy and program implementation efforts and the existing evidence for integration interventions. The challenges of research into integration effectiveness include lack of a standardized definition of integration and lack of a taxonomy to allow grouping of similar interventions that helps to facilitate an understanding of their effectiveness. We address these challenges and advance research into integration. Drawing from prior evidence syntheses of integration interventions, we provide a recommended definition and a classification scheme for describing and grouping like interventions. Our work can benefit researchers engaged in generating evidence for integration interventions and policy makers; it will help to ensure that the integration policy promoted by health and public health agencies is supported by science.
A Retinex-Based Variational Model for Enhancement and Restoration of Low-Contrast Remote-Sensed Images Corrupted by Shot Noise

Remotely sensed images are widely used in many imaging applications. Images captured under adverse atmospheric conditions lead to degraded images that are contrast deficient and noisy. This study is intended to address these defects of remotely sensed data efficiently. A perceptually inspired variational model is designed based upon the Bayesian framework, powered by the retinex theory. The atmospheric noise or the shot noise (precisely following a Poisson distribution) and contrast inhomogeneity are addressed in this article. The model thus designed is tested and verified both visually and quantitatively using various test data under different statistical measures. The comparative study reveals the efficiency of the model.
Mixed micellization behavior of benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium chloride with gemini surfactants and their applications in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles

Abstract Aggregation and adsorption properties of benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium chloride (BDHAC) with three cationic alkanediyl-1,s-bis(tetradecyldimethyl-ammonium bromide) gemini surfactants, viz. butanediyl-1,4-bis(tetradecyldimethylammonium bromide), pentanediyl-1,5-bis(tetradecyldimethylammonium bromide) and hexanediyl-1,6-bis(tetradecyldimethylammonium bromide) respectively referred to as 14-4-14, 14-5-14 and 14-6-14 (in general 14-s-14, where s = 4, 5, 6) have been studied by tensiometric, conductometric, fluorimetric and dynamic light scattering experimental methods at 298.15 K. The studies were conducted at various compositions of the mixed systems ranging between 0 and 1. The parameters determined include different physicochemical and interaction parameters. The negative values of interaction parameters obtained for mixed micelle formation point out the attractive interaction among the components and lead to non-ideality which has been theoretically treated by Clint’s and Rubingh’s models. The BDHAC + 14-s-14 mixtures in different mole fractions were used in the synthesis of very stable silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in aqueous media, which were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering measurements revealed that the size of micelles as well as Ag NPs increases with the increase in mole fraction of BDHAC in the mixtures and the size of Ag NPs can be very much controlled by using mixtures of surfactants. Graphical Abstract
Thyroid Function and Metabolic Syndrome: A Population-Based Thyroid Study

Abstract The impact of thyroid dysfunction in subclinical ranges on metabolic syndrome (MetS) is not well known. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the association of thyroid dysfunction with MetS and its components. In the cross-sectional population-based Tehran Thyroid Study, out of 5 786 randomly selected participants, aged≥20 years, subjects with thyroid nodules and cancer or any severe systemic disease, those who were pregnant and those using thyroid medication were excluded, leaving 5 422 subjects to be investigated. Body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured. Fasting blood glucose and concentrations of lipids and lipoproteins, free T4, and TSH were assayed. Mean age of the participants was 40.3±14.4 of whom 101 (2%) had overt hypothyroidism, 294 (5%) subclinical hypothyroidism, 82 (2%) overt hyperthyroidism, and 178 (3%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism; 1 704 (32%) had MetS. Clinically hypothyroid subjects had the highest prevalence of MetS (41.6%), abdominal obesity (45%), and hypertriglyceridemia (58%) compared to other groups (p<0.05). Significant odds ratio for prevalent MetS was observed only in clinically hypothyroid men [OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.04, 8.4, p=0.04]. In women, the association between overt hypothyroidism and MetS was marginally significant only in the crude model [OR: 0.068, 95% CI (0.97–2.42), p=0.06]. There was higher risk of Mets in subclinically hypothyroid subjects, aged>50. Overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism had significantly higher odds of hyperglycemia in men and women after full adjustment for age, smoking, and BMI. Overt hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism especially in the elderly could be associated with MetS. Hyperthyroidism may induce hyperglycemia.
Geochemical and chemometric analysis of soils from a data scarce river catchment in West Africa

Metal levels beyond stipulated thresholds are a considerable concern for environmental pollution regulators and public health administrators around the globe. Data is, however, lacking in most regions especially developing countries for practical policy decision making and management. In this study, we obtain 49 high-resolution soil cores from three vertical profiles in the Densu River Basin of Ghana and measured the concentrations of major and trace metals (Ca, K, Fe, Ti, Cr, Cu, V, Ni, and Zn). The aim was to examine and provide data on metal levels to serve as baseline information on mobilization studies for waste management. Geochemical methods for estimation of metal enrichment and accumulation were employed to determine enrichment and pollution, sources, and mobilization of the metals. Hierichical cluster and principal components analyses were used to examine metal associations and the effects soil physicochemical properties on the metals. The results show spatial variations in metal concentrations within and between individual soil profiles and are attributed to variability in soil formation processes and the locations where samples were collected, respectively. Moderate to high enrichment factors (EF) and geo-accumulation (Igeo) indices were observed for Vanadium (V) and Chromium (Cr) in all soil profiles indicating some level of anthropogenic interference leading to pollution possibly from vehicular and agricultural inputs. The Pourbaix diagrams, however, show that the Cr and V abundances may be natural. Our analysis also show that most of the metals investigated are of natural (i.e., geologic) origin but further investigations are recommended. The combination of field observations and established methods such as geochemical and statistical analyses have aided in extracting beneficial information from the small sample size.