Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic adaptations underlie epigenetic vulnerabilities in chemoresistant breast cancer

Cancer cell survival upon cytotoxic drug exposure leads to changes in cell identity, dictated by the epigenome. Several metabolites serve as substrates or co-factors to chromatin-modifying enzymes, suggesting that metabolic changes can underlie change in cell fate. Here, we show that progression of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to taxane-resistance is characterized by altered methionine metabolism and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) availability, giving rise to DNA hypomethylation in regions enriched for transposable elements (TE). Compensatory redistribution of H3K27me3 forming Large Organized Chromatin domains of lysine (K) modification (LOCK) prevents expression of TE in taxane-resistant cells. Pharmacological inhibition of EZH2, the H3K27me3 methyltransferase, alleviates TE repression, leading to the accumulation of dsRNA and activation of the interferon viral mimicry-response, specifically inhibiting the growth of taxane-resistant TNBC. Together, our work delineates a role for metabolic adaptations in redefining the epigenome of taxane-resistant TNBC cells and underlies an epigenetic vulnerability toward pharmacological inhibition of EZH2.
Expressing Method of the Edge of Image Region

A Expressing method of the edge of image region is important in the studing and applying of image.It will influence the veracity of expressing and recognizing of region.A free curve of created method which discussed by the author have been used to approach the edge of image region.Since the free curve pass through the given points and need not converse compute,the speed of creating curve is very quickly.Also the curve are smoothness and fairness,the curve is close to edge of image region.The experiment presents the efficiency of the method.
Role of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Pro-fibrotic Signaling

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv PREFACE. v AWARDS . vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii LIST OF FIGURES . x ABBREVIATIONS . xii Chapter 1: Thesis Overview.
Leveraging IoT towards Sustainable Manufacturing Applications Based on Text Analytics

Latest advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) setup and the advent of the sensing technology have generated an integrated information data which could be employed for enhancing the manufacturing sector. The blend of cyber-physical systems and intelligent data analytics is playing a key part in product management as well as factory transformation. The advanced analytics technique for data purposes could facilitate self-awareness and self-maintenance of factory machines. In this case, self-awareness for a mechanical structure pertains to the ability to evaluate the machine’s present and historical condition and deploy available information for responding to its condition. The machine’s well-being can be ascertained by employing the data analytic technique centred on the gathered information or data from the machine and surrounding environment. The data-propelled decision-making process can provide feedback to the machine controller for effectual and adaptive control and to machine owners for the in-time upkeep. This paper discusses the application of data and text analytic methodology in an orderly literature review of papers pertaining to the deployment of IoT methodology in the production sector. The chosen papers are exposed to content evaluation and grouped as per the modern technologies and functions. The research espoused determines trends of IoT deployment in the production sector and notes that text analytic is an effectual technique for carrying out an orderly literature review.
Effects of the Policy and Human Intervention on the Infrastructure-Environment Nexus in China

With the outstanding investment in infrastructure during the past decades, the evaluation of the infrastructure-environment nexus is highly required to achieve the sustainable development of economy, resources and environment, as well as human being. This study analyzes the supply-chain-wide blue water withdrawal occurred in China for global infrastructure development, and one step further, the potential effects of policy and human intervention on future infrastructure-related environmental performances. Our results showed that the blue water withdrawal in China was main for the domestic infrastructure construction because of its rapid-growing investment, coupled with that in the United States, Japan, and India. Energy-related products (e.g., “Electricity by coal”) and primary materials (e.g., “Basic iron and steel”), highly required for the construction of infrastructure, have played relatively great roles in China’s blue water withdrawal. For the future sustainable development of infrastructure, we also addressed that efficiency improvement and nonconventional water resource utilization could cover half of the blue water gap between the current development trend and the sustainable one. In light of the synergies among infrastructure development, environmental sustainability and socioeconomic intervention, it is vital to uphold economic and environmental efficiency in the decision-making of infrastructure development.
A description of the first stage larva of Oestrus aureoargentatus Rodhain and Bequaert (1912) obtained by artificial mating (Diptera:Oestridae)

Specific ocu1o-vascular myiasis (uitpeuloog) in domestic animals is caused by the invasion of an aberrant host by the first stage larvae of Gedoe/stia spp. (Basson, 1%2). These and other oestrid fl ies have various antelopes, such as blue wildebeest [ Connochaetes taurinus (Burchell , 1823)] and hartebeest [Aicelaphus buselaphus (Pallas, 1766)] as natural hosts and frequently occur in their nasal cavities and sinuses. Studies on certain aspects of the disease, however, were hampered by the difficulty of producing sufficient cases artificially. This was due to the fact that, in spite of being reared successfully these flies refused to mate in captivity. Adult Gedoe/stia flies are rarely seen in their natural habitat and their capture proved to be extremely difficult. In an attempt to overcome this problem the methods of artificial mating adopted successfully by Weintraub (1961) for Hypoderma spp. were tried with both Gedoelstia spp. and Oestrus spp. reared from larvae collected from antelopes. These methods included flying the insects on cotton thread leashes. In Hypoderma spp. flying seemed to activate their mating response and copulation could be successfully initiated. A second method of inducing copulation was to decapitate the male and hold it in an appropriate copulatory position in direct contact with a female.
The MUSHA Hand II:A Multifunctional Hand for Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

Although substantial progresses have been made in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery, the graspers for existing surgical systems generally remain nonsensorized forceps design with limited functions. This article presents the design, development, and preliminary evaluation of the MUSHA Hand II, a multifunctional hand with force sensors for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. The proposed hand has three snake-like underactuated fingers that can be folded into a $\phi$12 mm cylindrical form. Each finger has a three-axis force sensor, to provide force information. After been deployed into an abdominal cavity, the hand can be configured to either grasper mode, retractor mode, or palpation mode for different tasks. Underactuated finger design enhances the adaptivity in grasping and the compliance in interaction with the environment. In addition, fingertip force sensors can be utilized for palpation to obtain a real-time stiffness map of organs. Using the da Vinci Research Kit as a robotic testbed, the functionality of the hand has been demonstrated and experiments have been conducted, including robotic palpation and organ manipulation. The results suggest that the hand can effectively enhance the functionality of a robotic surgical system and overcome the limits on force sensing introduced by the use of robots in laparoscopic surgery.
Human Puf-A, a Novel Component of 90S Pre-ribosome, Links Ribosome Biogenesis to Cancer Progression

We describe a novel biogenesis factor of the 90S pre-ribosome, Puf-A, which is a negative transcriptional target of p53. The expression of Puf-A is not only upregulated in advanced human lung cancer and tumors of patients especially with TP53 mutation, but also is highly prognostic for stage I lung cancer. Loss of Puf-A expression prevents KrasG12D/p53-/-–induced tumor progression in the lungs and induces apoptosis in TP53– mutated cancers and c-Myc/p53-/-–transformed cells as well. Overexpression of Puf-A enhances proliferation of normal cells after c-Myc induction and overcomes the cell-cycle checkpoints incurred by p53 expression. Mechanistically, Puf-A interacts with double-stranded structures of the 5.8S sequence within pre-rRNA and maintains the integrity of 90S pre-ribosomes, thereby impacting early ribosome assembly and export of ribosomes from nuclei. Silencing of Puf-A disrupts the assembly of 90S pre-ribosomes and induces the translocation of its associated nucleophosmin (NPM1) from nucleoli to the nucleoplasm, resulting in impairment of ribosome synthesis. Thus, Puf-A is crucial for over-activation of ribosome biogenesis and contributes to tumor progression and cancer growth.
Multiple roles of PIWIL1 in mouse neocorticogenesis

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and their associated PIWI proteins play an important role in repressing transposable elements in animal germlines. However, little is known about the function of PIWI proteins and piRNAs in the developing brain. Here, we investigated the role of an important PIWI family member, Piwi-like protein 1 (Piwil1; also known as Miwi in mouse) in the developing mouse neocortex. Using a Piwil1 knock-out (Piwil1 KO) mouse strain, we found that Piwil1 is essential for several steps of neocorticogenesis, including neocortical cell cycle, neuron migration and dendritogenesis. Piwil1 deletion resulted in increased cell cycle re-entry at embryonic day 17 (E17) when predominantly intracortically projecting neurons are being produced. Prenatal Piwil1 deletion increased the number of Pax6+ radial glia at postnatal day 0 (P0). Furthermore, Piwil1 deletion disrupted migration of Satb2+ neurons within deep layers at E17, P0 and P7. Satb2+ neurons showed increased co-localization with Bcl11b (also known as Ctip2), marker of subcortically projecting neurons. Piwil1 knockouts had disrupted neocortical circuitry represented by thinning of the corpus callosum and altered dendritogenesis. We further investigated if Piwil1 deletion disrupted expression levels of neocortical piRNAs by small RNA-sequencing in neocortex. We did not find differential expression of piRNAs in the neocortices of Piwil1 KO, while differences were observed in other Piwil1 KO tissues. This result suggests that Piwil1 may act independently of piRNAs and have novel roles in higher cognitive centers, such as neocortex. In addition, we report a screen of piRNAs derived from tRNA fragments in developing neocortices. Our result is the first report of selective subsets of piRNAs and tRNA fragments in developing prenatal neocortices and helps clarify some outstanding questions about the role of the piRNA pathway in the brain.
Migrating Montagu's harriers frequently interrupt daily flights in both Europe and Africa

Time budgets are a powerful but hitherto seldom used way to study how migrants organise their bi-annual travels. We studied daily time budgets of travelling Montagu's harriers Circus pygargus, based on GPS tracking data, in which we were particularly interested in how time budgets differ between regions and seasons, and are affected by wind. We found that Montagu's harriers used a relatively broad daily time window for travelling by starting daily travels just after sunrise and ending daily travels just before sunset. Occasionally, flights were extended into the night. Montagu's harriers frequently interrupted their daily flights for on average 1.5 h d–1. These interruptions occurred in all regions and seasons. The tracking data during interruptions suggested two different behaviours: in 41% of all interruptions the birds were moving (presumed foraging,) and in 32% they were stationary (presumed resting; the remaining interruptions could not be classified). The interruptions for foraging indicate that Montagu's harriers have a fly-and-forage migration strategy (i.e. combine travelling and foraging on the same day), but the interruptions for resting illustrate that their travels comprise of more than fly-and-forage behaviour alone. The large number of interruptions for foraging in the Sahara Desert indicates that this region is less hostile for a migrating raptor than presumed previously. Importantly, harriers spent more time on interruptions for resting on days with stronger headwinds, suggesting that interruptions for resting serve a function of waiting for more favourable weather conditions. Daily variation in time budgets was largely explained by wind; harriers flew more hours per day, and interrupted their flights fewer hours per day, on days they experienced stronger tailwinds. In contrast, time budgets were similar between regions and seasons, suggesting that wind rather than landscape and season shape travel routines of Montagu's harriers.
Support vector machine and optimal parameter selection for high-dimensional imbalanced data

Abstract In this article, we consider asymptotic properties of support vector machine (SVM) in high-dimension, low-sample-size (HDLSS) settings. In particular, we treat high-dimensional imbalanced data. We investigate behaviors of SVM for a regularization parameter C in a framework of kernel functions. We show that SVM cannot handle imbalanced classification, and SVM is very biased in HDLSS settings. In order to overcome such difficulties, we propose robust SVM (RSVM), which gives excellent performances in HDLSS settings. We also give a pre-selection method for parameters included in a kernel function without cross-validation. Finally, we check the performance of RSVM and the optimality of the choice in numerical simulation and actual data analyses.
Using Only Numeric Labels Instead of Verbal Labels: Stripping Rating Scales to Their Bare Minimum in Web Surveys

With the increasing use of smartphones in web surveys, considerable efforts have been devoted to reduce the amount of screen space taken up by questions. An emerging stream of research in this area is aimed at optimizing the design elements of rating scales. One suggestion that has been made is to completely abandon verbal labels and use only numeric labels instead. This approach deliberately shifts the task of scale interpretation to the respondents and reduces the information given to them with an intention to reduce their response burden while still preserving the scale meaning. Following prior research, and by drawing on the established model of the cognitive response process, we critically tested these assumptions. Based on a web survey experiment, we found that omitting verbal labels and using only numeric labels instead pushed respondents to focus their responses on the endpoints of a rating scale. Moreover, drawing on response time paradata, we showed that their response burden was not reduced when presented with only numeric labels; quite the opposite was the case, especially when respondents answered the scale with only numeric labels for the first time, which seemed to entail additional cognitive effort. Based on our findings, we advise against using only numeric labels for rating scales in web surveys.
Impacts of Protected Area Deforestation on Dry‐Season Regional Climate in the Brazilian Amazon

Rainforest in protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon is at risk due to increasing economic pressures and recent weakening of environmental agencies and legislation by the federal administration. This study examines the impacts of deforestation in protected areas on dry‐season precipitation in the Brazilian state of Rondônia located in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Regional‐climate model simulations indicate that clearing protected forests in Rondônia would result in substantial changes to the surface energy balance, including increased sensible and decreased latent heat flux. Consequent changes to low‐level wind circulation would enhance moisture flux convergence and convection over the newly deforested areas, leading to enhanced rainfall in those areas. However, deforestation of protected areas would decrease dry season rainfall up to 30% in the existing agricultural region, with potentially important negative impacts on agricultural production. Additionally, our results indicate that following deforestation, the newly degraded areas will experience warmer and drier afternoons that could place the remaining natural vegetation under vapor deficit stress.
Capabilities and Limitations of Using Desktop 3-D Printers in the Laser Sintering Process

Almost one-third of the revenues of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) machines market is generated by desktop systems. A new category of such devices are Laser Sintering (LS) machines, in which we can find a few representatives of this group. A growing interest in the use of desktop AM solutions in research and industry is visible, and therefore an evaluation of its capabilities and limitations is desirable. The presented paper focuses on comparing desktop (Sintratec S1; Sinterit Lisa) and industrial (Formiga P110) LS systems. The properties of raw materials were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), as well as by determining the Particle Size Distribution (PSD) and static and dynamic flowability of powder. Laser Sintering commercial sets were characterized by their mechanical properties (tensile strength), surface quality (roughness), as well as by their accuracy and porosity (computed tomography). The conducted test showed significant differences, especially in the case of material properties and manufacturing repeatability. The found differences between desktop and industrial LS systems suggest that the use of a low-budget LS system, especially for the research and production of end-use parts, has to take into account its limitations.
Is Financial Literacy Associated with Investment in Financial Markets in the United States?

Lack of investment in financial markets is one of the enduring puzzles in empirical finance. Although recent studies ascribe the lack of investment in stocks to financial literacy, the association between financial literacy and investment in financial markets remains inconclusive. We examine whether financial literacy is associated with investment in financial markets in the United States. We use investment in stocks, futures/options, investment trusts, corporate bonds, foreign currency deposits, and government bonds of foreign currency as a proxy for investment in financial markets. Using data from the Preference Parameter Study, a nationwide panel survey conducted by Osaka University of Japan, we provide evidence that financial literacy has a significantly positive association with investment in financial markets even after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. We check the robustness of our results by using an alternative proxy for investment in financial markets. Our study has far-reaching policy implications and we conclude by suggesting the introduction of financial literacy programs into the academic curriculum. Improving financial literacy could positively impact the mobilization of household funds and contribute to capital formation.
How does quality of institutions affect the impact of trade openness on economic growth of Ghana?

Abstract Developing countries, of which Ghana is no exception have actively engaged in trade openness after independence, yet, their economic growth remains low and this calls for urgent attention to address the situation. This study therefore examines the impact of trade openness on economic growth of Ghana for the period 1984–2018 taken into consideration the role quality of institutions play. The results from the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) reveal that, both trade openness and quality of institutions exert a significant positive impact on economic growth in both the long and short run. However, the interaction of trade openness and quality of institutions is shown to have insignificant impact on economic growth in both periods. The results further indicate that exchange rate has a significant positive (significant negative) impact on economic growth in the long run (short run). Based on the findings, the study concludes that, institutional quality has no influence on the impact of trade openness on economic growth in the Ghanaian context. Policy implications aimed at ensuring sustained economic growth have been put forward for the discourse of stakeholders.
Sea pens in the Mediterranean Sea: habitat suitability and opportunities for ecosystem recovery

Sea pens in the Mediterranean Sea: habitat suitability and opportunities for ecosystem recovery Azzurra Bastari*, Daniela Pica, Francesco Ferretti, Fiorenza Micheli, and Carlo Cerrano Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, Ancona, 60131, Italy Biology Department and Woods Institute for the Environment, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, 120 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
Novel strategy for food safety risk management and communication: Risk identification for benzoic acid residues in pickled vegetables

Abstract Benzoic acid (BA) is widely used as an antimicrobial preservative to prolong the shelf‐life of pickled vegetables. A method for rapidly determining the BA content in forty pickled vegetable samples was developed by coupling ultrasonic extraction with surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and an adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least‐squares (AirPLS) algorithm. The results obtained with this method were compared and correlated with those from high‐performance liquid chromatography measurements. Amplification of the Raman scattering via the SERS effect was induced by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) when BA was irradiated with a 785 nm laser. The AirPLS algorithm was used to reduce the background interference signal, which was also amplified. The amplified Raman scattering effect of BA in the pickled vegetables displayed a positive and significant correlation with the HPLC concentration of BA, with high reproducibility. For HPLC determination of the concentration of BA in the range of 0–820 ppm, the BA monomer's intensity of the 944–1,005 cm−1 and 1,366–1,373 cm−1 peaks, and BA dimer's intensity of the 1,025 cm−1 and 1,465–1,482 cm−1 peaks in the SERS spectrum were respectively converted to the Z‐ratio BA monomer and Z‐ratio BA dimer standard scores by Z‐Score conversion. The sum's (Z‐ratio BA monomer + Z‐ratio BA dimer) sensitivity was 100%, and specificity was 90.9% by receiver operating characteristic curve. This study found that a Raman spectroscopy‐based monitoring method can be one of the fastest screening inspection options that can complete an analysis within a short period of time and produce reliable results. This approach is particularly cost‐effective, which makes it suitable for the initial screening of raw materials and provides an effective management strategy easy to communicate with food safety officials.