Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The ARE-binding protein Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a novel target and mediator of calcineurin tumor suppressing function in the skin

An increased incidence of skin inflammatory diseases is frequently observed in organtransplanted patients being treated with calcineurin inhibitor-based immunosuppressive agents. The mechanism of increased skin inflammation in this context has however not yet been clarified. Here we report an increased inflammation following inhibition of calcineurin signaling seen in both chemically induced mouse skin tumors and in tumors grafted from H-rasV12 expressing primary human keratinocytes (HKCs). Following UVB or TPA treatment, we specifically found that deletion of the calcineurin gene in mouse keratinocytes (MKCs) resulted in increased inflammation, and this was accompanied by the enhanced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNFα, IL-8 and CXCL1. Furthermore, expression of the RNA-binding protein, tristetraprolin (TTP) was down-regulated in response to calcineurin inhibition, wherein TTP was shown to negatively regulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes. The induction of TTP following TPA or UVB treatment was attenuated by calcineurin inhibition in keratinocytes, and correspondingly, disruption of calcineurin signaling down-regulated the amounts of TTP in both clinical and H-rasV12-transformed keratinocyte tumor models. Our results further demonstrated that calcineurin positively controls the stabilization of TTP in keratinocytes through a proteasome-dependent mechanism. Reducing the expression of TTP functionally promoted tumor growth of H-rasV12 expressing HKCs, while stabilizing TTP expression counteracted the tumor-promoting effects of calcineurin inhibition. Collectively these results suggest that calcineurin signaling, acting through TTP protein level stabilization, suppresses keratinocyte tumors by downregulating skin inflammation.
SUPPLIER SUBSTITUTABILITY BY IMPORTERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSING THE 1980 U.S. GRAIN EMBARGO

The 1980 U.S. suspension of grain sales to the Soviet Union illustrates the importance of the choice of conceptual framework for empirical analysis of international trade problems. A spatial equilibrium model of wheat and coarse grains trade assumes perfect substitution among exporting nations' commodities by importers and, thus, precludes the embargo from having a large impact. The imperfect substitutability assumption of an Armington model results in larger consequences from the embargo. For small shocks, the Armington model better captures the rigidities characteristic of international grain markets. The spatial model provides insights on adjustments to large shocks, but rigidities persist in actual markets.
Estimation of internal uterine pressure by joint amplitude and frequency analysis of electrohysterographic signals

Monitoring the uterine contraction provides important prognostic information during pregnancy and parturition. The existing methods employed in clinical practice impose a compromise between reliability and invasiveness. A promising technique for uterine contraction monitoring is electrohysterography (EHG). The EHG signal measures the electrical activity which triggers the contraction of the uterine muscle. In this paper, a non-invasive method for intrauterine pressure (IUP) estimation by EHG signal analysis is proposed. The EHG signal is regarded as a non-stationary signal whose frequency and amplitude characteristics are related to the IUP. After acquisition in a multi-channel configuration, the EHG signal is therefore analyzed in the time–frequency domain. A first estimation of the IUP is then derived by calculation of the unnormalized first statistical moment of the frequency spectrum. The estimation accuracy is finally increased by identification of a second-order polynomial model. The proposed method is compared to root mean squared analysis and optimal linear filtering and validated by simultaneous measurement of the IUP on nine women during labor. The results suggest that the proposed EHG signal analysis provides an accurate estimate of the IUP.
Redox-regulated Signaling by Lactosylceramide in the Proliferation of Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells*

Previously, our laboratory reported that lactosylceramide (LacCer) stimulated human aortic smooth muscle cell proliferation via specific activation of p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the p21 ras /Raf-1/MEK2 pathway and induced expression of the transcription factor c-fos downstream to the p44 MAPK signaling cascade (Bhunia A. K., Han, H., Snowden, A., and Chatterjee S. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 10660–10666). In the present study, we explored the role of free oxygen radicals in LacCer-mediated induction of cell proliferation. Superoxide levels were measured by the lucigenin chemiluminescence method, MAPK activity was measured by immunocomplex kinase assays, and Western blot analysis and c-fos expression were measured by Northern blot assay. We found that LacCer (10 μm) stimulates endogenous superoxide production (7-fold compared with control) in human aortic smooth muscle cells specifically by activating membrane-associated NADPH oxidase, but not NADH or xanthine oxidase. This process was inhibited by an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, diphenylene iodonium (DPI), and by antioxidants,N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) or pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. NAC and DPI both abrogated individual steps in the signaling pathway leading to cell proliferation. For example, the p21 ras ·GTP loading, p44 MAPK activity, and induction of transcription factor c-fos all were inhibited by NAC and DPI as well as an antioxidant pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate or reduced glutathione (GSH). In contrast, depletion of GSH byl-buthionine (S,R)-sulfoximine up-regulated the above described signaling cascade. In sum, LacCer, by virtue of activating NADPH oxidase, produces superoxide (a redox stress signaling molecule), which mediates cell proliferation via activation of the kinase cascade. Our findings may explain the potential role of LacCer in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis involving the proliferation of aortic smooth muscle cells.
Adsorption of low charge density polyelectrolyte containing poly(ethylene oxide) side chains on silica : Effects of ionic strength and pH

Adsorption characteristics of a random copolymer of poly(ethylene oxide) monomethyl ether methacrylate and methacryloxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride (PEOMEMA:METAC) on silica were studied using stagnation point adsorption reflectometry (SPAR), quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), and contact angle techniques. The PEOMEMA:METAC copolymer used in this study is a low charge density polyelectrolyte, with 2% of the monomer units carrying permanent positive charges and 98% containing poly(ethylene oxide) side chains that are approximately 45 repeating units long. The surface excess was determined as a function of pH and concentration of indifferent electrolyte. It was found that the presence of a small amount of 1:1 electrolyte decreases the adsorbed amount significantly. Further, increasing the pH at a constant ionic strength, 10 mM, results in decreasing surface excess. It is suggested that the adsorption is realized via a combination of non-Coulomb interactions between the poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, grafts and protonated silanol groups at the silica-solution interface and an electrostatic interaction between the charged segments and the oppositely charged surface. Increasing pH and/or salt concentration results in progressive charging of the silica surface with the consequent decrease in affinity between silica and PEO, explaining the decrease in the adsorbed amount of the polymer.
Accuracy and Robustness of House Price Index Methods

We evaluate the statistical properties of five different house price index methods with the objective of identifying one that is most accurate and robust when estimated at frequent time intervals and for distinctly local markets. We adopt a split-sample technique to establish a consistent basis for comparison of the different price index methods. Our results demonstrate that if suitable data is available for estimation of price indexes, the arbitrary aggregation of data across time and geography is not warranted. One model, the ‘hedonic imputation’, outperforms alternative models on all measures of accuracy and robustness. Differences in levels of accuracy between different models are found to be statistically significant.
Simulation study on characteristics of photovoltaic array under partial shading

Partial shading phenomenon is ubiquity in PV generation system. It makes a great effect on the output characteristics of PV arrays, which reduces the efficiency of PV generation system severely. It is very important to summarize the principles of PV array output characteristics under partial shading. A special categorization and terminology was used in this paper, and at the same time, a simple and practical computer-aided design software of PV array based on engineering model was presented. The software can be used as a tool to study the I-V and P-V characteristics of a PV array under partial shading, and it has been experimentally validated. The analysis provides strong support for the promation of output power and the optimal design of PV array.
Capitalism with Chinese characteristics: entrepreneurship and the state/The everyday impact of economic reform in China/Jingji Xue: the history of Western economic ideas into China, 1850–1950

Broadly speaking, China’s economy has come a long way since 1978. Yet it hovers between socialism and capitalism, neither fully one nor the other. The reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping have transformed the landscape of economic life and said to have improved the well-being of hundreds of millions of Chinese workers and peasants, even creating a new bourgeoisie, a sub-set of a mass of urban consumers. GDP per capita, according to the official figures, has shot up over the last three decades, at least on paper. But how much have the Chinese people prospered on the one hand and how far has the country become more unequal in the distribution of both wealth and income on the other. What then is the upshot of all this growth? Not all experts agree how far the costs and benefits should be allocated. Huang’s new book, Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics: Entrepreneurship and the State, has set a proverbial cat, at least an economist’s one, amongst the pigeons. He asks challenging questions, like: Just how capitalist is China? He is well-qualified to give an answer and to pen a critique on the new economic superpower, as he is very much of a critical persuasion and indeed has a specific ‘thesis’ to pursue. His book comprises five long, often difficult to plough through, chapters, although broken up by sub-sections. There is a mountain of statistics in this work and even the informed reader may need much patience to persist through the 350 or so pages. Professor Yasheng Huang, who teaches political economy and international management at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was previously in faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at the Harvard Business School, as well as a consultant to the World Bank. He believes the heyday of the Chinese reforms was in the 1980s – when the entrepreneurial spirits were unleashed, especially in the rural sector – but were compromised by the move in the 1990s to bring back urban-inspired, top–down state capitalism. In the 1990s, the Chinese state, the book argues, turned back many of its rural experiments like the Town and Village Enterprises (TVEs), with long-lasting detriment to the economy and society. After this, a weak finance sector, income inequality, rising illiteracy, productivity slowdowns, and reduced personal income growth were the consequence. The author contrasts what has been called the ‘Zhejiang’ entrepreneurial model with the ‘Shanghai’ state capitalist
Mechanisms of immune tolerance to allergens in children

Because the prevalence of allergic diseases has significantly increased in recent years, understanding the causes and mechanisms of these disorders is of high importance, and intense investigations are ongoing. Current knowledge pinpoints immune tolerance mechanisms as indispensable for healthy immune response to allergens in daily life. It is evident that development and maintenance of allergens-pecific T cell tolerance is of vital importance for a healthy immune response to allergens. Such tolerance can be gained spontaneously by dose-dependent exposures to allergens in nature or by allergen-specific immunotherapy. Allergen-specific immunotherapy induces regulatory T cells with the capacity to secrete interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-β, limits activation of effector cells of allergic inflammation (such as mast cells and basophils), and switches antibody isotype from IgE to the noninflammatory type IgG4. Although allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only method of tolerance induction in allergic individuals, several factors, such as long duration of treatment, compliance problems, and life-threatening side effects, have limited widespread applicability of this immunomodulatory treatment. To overcome these limitations, current research focuses on the introduction of allergens in more efficient and safer ways. Defining the endotypes and phenotypes of allergic diseases might provide the ability to select ideal patients, and novel biomarkers might ensure new custom-tailored therapy modalities.
Dominance of Cry1F resistance in Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on TC1507 Bt maize in Brazil.

BACKGROUND Dominance of resistance has been one of the major parameters affecting the rate of evolution of resistance to Bt crops. High dose is the capacity of Bt crops to kill heterozygous insects and has been an essential component of the most successful strategy to manage resistance to these crops. Experiments were conducted to evaluate directly and indirectly whether the TC1507 event is high dose to Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith). RESULTS About 8% of heterozygote neonate larvae were able to survive, complete larval development and emerge as normal adults on TC1507 leaves, while susceptible larvae could not survive for 5 days. The estimated dominance of resistance was 0.15 ± 0.09 and significantly higher than zero; therefore, the resistance to Cry1F expressed in TC1507 was not completely recessive. A 25-fold dilution of TC1507 maize leaf tissue in an artificial diet was able to cause a maximum mortality of only 37%, with growth inhibition of 82% at 7 days after larval infestation. CONCLUSION Resistance to Cry1F in TC1507 maize is incompletely recessive in S. frugiperda. TC1507 maize is not high dose for S. frugiperda. Additional or alternative resistance management strategies, such as the replacement of single-trait Bt maize with pyramided Bt maize, which produces multiple proteins targeting the same insect pests, should be implemented wherever this technology is in use and S. frugiperda is the major pest.
Global Finance after the Crisis: Reform Imperatives and Vested Interests

The global financial crisis of 2008-09 has stimulated a number of re-assessments of global development. But after two years, not much progress has been made in dealing with the deep causes of the crisis. While it is better understood now why the crisis occurred, more progress is needed in terms of financial reform on the global level in order to prevent future financial crises. A remaining challenge is to strengthen the global financial architecture (GFA). This paper focuses on the GFA and its relationship to the global financial crisis. Recent reform initiatives are discussed. Strong resistance against re-regulation of the financial sector is noted, reflecting the general opposition of vested interests to GFA reform.
System-Level Analysis of Far-Field Radio Frequency Power Delivery for mm-Sized Sensor Nodes

Millimeter-sized and low-cost sensor nodes can enable future applications of the Internet of Things (IoT), for which the number of sensors is projected to grow to a trillion within the next decades. RF far-field power transfer is a potential technique for wirelessly powering these sensors since it offers flexible configuration of sensor networks, beamforming capability and a large power transfer range compared to near-field approaches. However, system design for RF power transfer needs to be completely rethought to enable this new paradigm of a trillion IoT sensors. This paper, therefore, presents a comprehensive, system-level analysis strategy and a modular framework for investigating the fundamental efficiency components in an RF power transfer chain. Through this detailed analysis, it is demonstrated that the optimal frequency is primarily determined by the antenna size and the quality factors (Q) of components in the matching network. Millimeter-wave frequencies are shown to be optimal for powering mm-sized sensors for practical matching component Q values. An intuitive explanation of our results is also provided, along with insights for the design and practical implementation of RF power transfer systems for the IoT space.
Prostatic duct adenocarcinoma: A cytologic and histologic case report with review of the literature

Prostatic duct adenocarcinoma is a rare tumor which typically involves the prostatic urethra as its primary site. Due to this unique location, prostatic duct adenocarcinoma may shed cells into urine specimens which may be detected by cytologic techniques. This report describes the cytologic and histologic features of a case of prostatic duct adenocarcinoma involving the prostatic urethra. Key features which differentiate this neoplasm from the more common transitional carcinomas and the potentially confounding prostatic acinar adenocarcinomas include epithelial clusters with prominent nuclear overlap and nuclear grooves. A comparison to the five previously reported cases is presented. Diagn. Cytopathol. 1997;17:480–483. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Temporal encoding of two-dimensional patterns by single units in primate primary visual cortex. II. Information transmission.

1. Previously, we studied how picture information was processed by neurons in inferior temporal cortex. We found that responses varying in both response strength and temporal waveform carried information about briefly flashed stationary black-and-white patterns. Now, we have applied that same paradigm to the study of striate cortical neurons. 2. In this approach the responses to a set of basic black and white pictures were quantified through use of a set of basic waveforms, the principal components (extracted from all the responses of each neuron). We found that the first principal component, which corresponds to the response strength, and others, which correspond to different basic temporal activity patterns, were significantly related to the stimuli, i.e., the stimulus drove both the response strength and its temporal pattern. 3. Our previous study had shown that, when information theory was used to quantify the stimulus-response relation, inferior temporal neurons convey over twice as much information in a response code that includes temporal modulation as in a response code that includes only the response strength. This study shows that striate cortical neurons also carry twice as much information in a temporal code as in a response strength code. Thus single visual neurons at both ends of a cortical processing chain for visual pattern use a multidimensional temporal code to carry stimulus-related information. 4. These results support our multiplex-filter hypothesis, which states that single visual system neurons can be regarded as several simultaneously active parallel channels, each of which conveys independent information about the stimulus.
Necrotic cells trigger a sterile inflammatory response through the Nlrp3 inflammasome

Dying cells are capable of activating the innate immune system and inducing a sterile inflammatory response. Here, we show that necrotic cells are sensed by the Nlrp3 inflammasome resulting in the subsequent release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β. Necrotic cells produced by pressure disruption, hypoxic injury, or complement-mediated damage were capable of activating the Nlrp3 inflammasome. Nlrp3 inflammasome activation was triggered in part through ATP produced by mitochondria released from damaged cells. Neutrophilic influx into the peritoneum in response to necrotic cells in vivo was also markedly diminished in the absence of Nlrp3. Nlrp3-deficiency moreover protected animals against mortality, renal dysfunction, and neutrophil influx in an in vivo renal ischemic acute tubular necrosis model. These findings suggest that the inhibition of Nlrp3 inflammasome activity can diminish the acute inflammation and damage associated with tissue injury.
Orientations in language planning

Basic orientations toward language and its role in society influence the nature of language planning efforts in any particular context. Three such orientations are proposed in this paper language-as-problem, language-as-right, and language-as-resource. The first two currently compete for predominance in the international literature. While problem-solving has been the main activity of language planners from early on (language planning being an early and important aspect of social planning in ‘development’ contexts), rights-affirmation has gained in importance with the renewed emphasis on the protection of minority groups. The third orientation has received much less attention; it is proposed as vital to the interest of language planning in the United States. Bilingual education is considered in the framework of these orientations. Many of the problems of bilingual education programs in the United States arise because of the hostility and divisiveness inherent in the problem- and rights-orientations which g.
ANALYSE DES DÉTERMINANTS DE LA DIVULGATION SOCIÉTALE DANS LES RAPPORTS ANNUELS DES ENTREPRISES TUNISIENNES COTÉES

This research focuses on analyzing corporate social disclosure through the annual reports of 23 Tunisian listed firms over a four-year period from 2001 to 2004. This study's purpose is twofold. First, we assess the extent of corporate social disclosure. Second, we investigate the determinants of the decision to disclosure social information. A multivariate analysis of social disclosure is employed to test the factors influencing this type of disclosure. The findings in this study suggest that corporate social disclosure did increase from 2001 to 2004 and disclosure was primarily literal and products. Results, also, suggest that the degree of internationalization of the firms, their level of debt and their degree of political visibility are the main significant factors influencing the decision to corporate social disclosure.
Voltage and power balance control strategy for three-phase modular cascaded solid stated transformer

The three-phase modular cascaded solid stated transformer (SST) is an important element in the micro-grid systems as its outstanding adventures compared with conventional power transformer. It consists of three stages, the three-phase cascaded modular rectifier stage, the dual active bridge (DAB) converter stage and the three-phase inverter stage. Three output-paralleled DAB converters offer three dc-buses, which forming the interfaces of renewable energy. However, unbalanced modular voltage or transferred power causes overvoltage or overcurrent issues, which increase the stress of the semiconductor switches and even the instability of SST system. Focusing on the imbalance issues, this paper proposes a systematic control strategy for the three-phase modular cascaded SST. A d-q vector-based common-duty-ratio controller is applied to the rectifier stage aiming at balancing the modular current in each phase. Voltage controller for DAB stage achieves the balanced dc-link and dc-bus voltage, and proportional-resonant controller is applied to inverter stage. The effect of this proposed control method has been verified theoretically. In addition, a scaled-down experimental prototype is built to prove the performance.