Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inter-Dye Distance Distributions Studied by a Combination of Single-Molecule FRET-Filtered Lifetime Measurements and a Weighted Accessible Volume (wAV) Algorithm

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an important tool for studying the structural and dynamical properties of biomolecules. The fact that both the internal dynamics of the biomolecule and the movements of the biomolecule-attached dyes can occur on similar timescales of nanoseconds is an inherent problem in FRET studies. By performing single-molecule FRET-filtered lifetime measurements, we are able to characterize the amplitude of the motions of fluorescent probes attached to double-stranded DNA standards by means of flexible linkers. With respect to previously proposed experimental approaches, we improved the precision and the accuracy of the inter-dye distance distribution parameters by filtering out the donor-only population with pulsed interleaved excitation. A coarse-grained model is employed to reproduce the experimentally determined inter-dye distance distributions. This approach can easily be extended to intrinsically flexible proteins allowing, under certain conditions, to decouple the macromolecule amplitude of motions from the contribution of the dye linkers.
Cohomological invariants of coherent sheaves over projective schemes: a survey

We give a survey on certain results related to the cohomology of projective schemes with coefficients in coherent sheaves. In particular we present results on cohomological patterns, cohomological Hilbert functions and cohomological Hilbert polynomials. Bounding results for Castelnuovo-Mumford regularities, Severi coregularities and cohomological postulation numbers are discussed. Moreover, a number of open questions is presented.
The role of management accountant in enterprises operating in Poland

The short period of the functioning of management accounting in enterprises operating in Central and Eastern Europe may suggest that advanced professional models identified by management accounting researchers and described in world literature have not developed in this region. The main objective of the study was to identify the role of a management accountant in enterprises operating in Poland as compared to international solutions. The set objective has been met thanks to the analysis of the information included in job offers seeking management accountants. The obtained results show that in enterprises operating in Poland, management accountants play the role of in-house business consultants strongly oriented towards matters of the organisations for which they work. However, they do not participate in the decision-making processes on equal terms with other managers, which means that they are not business partners yet. The study broadens the existing state of knowledge by adding a description of the current level of development of the role of management accountants in Poland as compared to the concepts considered to be models in developed countries. It is also a starting point for further, more detailed research on the development of this profession in Central and Eastern European countries, which to date has not been a subject of research.
Brushlet segmentation for automatic detection of lumen borders in IVUS images: A comparison study

Due to high scattering effects inside lumen, detection of luminal borders in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images becomes challenging when high frequency transducers are employed. In this paper, we further study previously developed three-dimensional (3D) multiscale overcomplete brushlet-driven harmonic analysis, motivated by what experts visually do, to trace the lumen borders by exploiting spatial frame incoherence within blood speckle patterns. Two-dimensional (2D) brushlet coefficient clustering was designed to isolate blood pool and estimate the lumen borders with the surface function active (SFA) framework. We evaluated our proposed algorithm on phantom with flowing fluid and 1081 clinical IVUS images acquired from six patients with single-element 40 MHz and 45 MHz transducers. We quantified and compared the results with a threshold-based algorithm and a 2D shape-driven technique driven by non-parametric probabilistic energy functions. We highlight the advantages of each approach and discuss the robustness of proposed algorithm.
Significance of cathodal stimulation for motor evoked potential monitoring

Objective: Intraoperative motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring is essential to reduce the risk of neurosurgical procedures damaging the motor system. The standard technique of recording MEP uses high-frequency anodal monopolar stimulation of the primary motor cortex. The present study investigated the possibility that cathodal stimulation allows MEP recording at lower intensities than does anodal stimulation in certain patients. Methods: Motor threshold (MT) was measured and compared for anodal and cathodal stimulation in 65 patients in Kitasato University Hospital. The patients were divided into 3 groups based on the polarity of the lower MT: anodal less than cathodal stimulation (Group A), cathodal less than anodal stimulation (Group B), and anodal similar to cathodal stimulation (Group C). Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings of hyperintensity extending to the precentral knob accompanied by brain tumor were evaluated to correlate with the polarity of lower MT. Results: There were 32 patients classified as Group A, 23 patients as Group B, and 10 patients as Group C. MR imaging showed positive findings in 3 of 32 patients in Group A, 15 of 23 patients in Group B, and 1 of 10 patients in Group C. Conclusions: Cathodal stimulation allows MEP recording at lower intensities than does anodal stimulation in a significant number of patients. MR imaging findings of hyperintensity extending to the precentral knob may be indicative of appropriate cases for cathodal stimulation.
Principles of MIMO radar based on ultrawideband throb signals

This paper describes the principles of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar operating with a set of quasi-orthogonal ultrawideband (UWB) throb signals. MIMO radar ambiguity function (AF) is derived for the UWB-throb signals, and used to generate plots of delay-Doppler resolution function, delay-angle resolution function, Doppler-angle resolution function, and MIMO power beam-pattern for system and signal design parameters. The MIMO ambiguity function is an important tool that facilitates the process of signal design and diversity for achieving improved radar performance in terms of target detection, high-resolution imaging, target identification, and clutter suppression.
Cohesion and Balance in a Human Resource Allocation Problem

Collaborative work appears between intelligent agents of different types. The problem discussed occurred when many construction workers were taken to Germany from Romania to work in construction projects. Managers have to make independent groups of workers from some categories, like carpenters, brick layers, etc. To discover their collaborative attitudes they use the scoring method, where every worker scores the others from different trades. The objectives are to form groups of workers with high compatibility value and to have a high compatibility value for the worst group, too. The problem becomes more interesting if software collaborative groups or specialized intelligent agents are involved. One has to prospect also the level of knowledge overlap between the trade groups of agents. This paper resumes to the problem of construction workers so as there is no overlap between the trades and the level of knowledge is not in the universe of discourse. We propose a Greedy and a genetic algorithm approach and we compare these methods.
Accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective

Biodiversity refers to the dynamics of interactions between organisms in changing environments. Within the context of accelerating biodiversity loss worldwide, firms are under increasing pressures from stakeholders to develop appropriate tools to account for the nature and consequences of their actions, inclusive of their influences on ecosystem services used by other agents. This paper presents a two-pronged approach towards accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a business perspective. First, we seek to analyze how Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) may be used by firms to identify and account for the interactions between their activities and biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). To that end, we use dairy farming as a case study and propose general recommendations regarding accounting for changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services from a management accounting perspective. Secondly, after discussing the corporate reporting implications of the main environmental accounting approaches, we propose the underlying principles and structural components of a Biodiversity Accountability Framework (BAF) which would combine both financial and BES data sets; hence, suggesting the need for changes in business accounting and reporting standards. Because this would imply significant changes in business information systems and corporate rating practices, we also underline the importance of making the associated technological, organizational and institutional innovations financially viable. The BAF should be designed as an information base, coconstructed with stakeholders, for setting up and managing new modes of regulation combining tools for mitigating BES loss and remunerating BES supply.
Probabilistic retrieval based on document representations

Accessing information in multimedia databases encompasses a wide range of applications in which spoken document retrieval (SDR) plays an important role. In the recent past, research increasingly focused on the development of heuristic and probabilistic retrieval metrics that are suitable for retrieving spoken documents. So far, many heuristic retrieval metrics, e.g. the SMART-2 metric, have been proven to be more efficient than most advanced statistical approaches to SDR. In this paper, we propose a new probabilistic approach that is based on interpolations between document representations. This approach can be interpreted as a sort of nearest neighbor concept between documents, where a query is treated as a document. Experiments performed on the TREC-7 and TREC-8 SDR task show comparable or even better results than the SMART-2 metric.
Retração autogénea em betão de ultra-elevado desempenho

Este trabalho foi financiado por: Projeto POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007457 - CONSTRUCT - Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construcoes - financiado pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), atraves do COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) e por fundos nacionais atraves da Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia I.P. e Bolsa FCT PD/BD/113636/2015, atribuida no âmbito do Programa de Doutoramento em Construcao Eco-Eficiente e Reabilitacao (EcoCoRe).
Effects of Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) on Clinical Outcomes and Health Service Utilization in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care: An Observational Matched Cohort Study

Background To evaluate the effects of a large population-based patient empowerment programme (PEP) on clinical outcomes and health service utilization rates in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the primary care setting. Research Design and Subjects A stratified random sample of 1,141 patients with T2DM enrolled to PEP between March and September 2010 were selected from general outpatient clinics (GOPC) across Hong Kong and compared with an equal number of T2DM patients who had not participated in the PEP (non-PEP group) matched by age, sex and HbA1C level group. Measures Clinical outcomes of HbA1c, SBP, DBP and LDL-C levels, and health service utilization rates including numbers of visits to GOPC, specialist outpatient clinics (SOPC), emergency department (ED) and inpatient admissions, were measured at baseline and at 12-month post-recruitment. The effects of PEP on clinical outcomes and health service utilization rates were assessed by the difference-in-difference estimation, using the generalized estimating equation models. Results Compared with non-PEP group, PEP group achieved additional improvements in clinical outcomes over the 12-month period. A significantly greater percentage of patients in the PEP group attained HbA1C≤7% or LDL-C≤2.6 mmol/L at 12-month follow-up compared with the non-PEP group. PEP group had a mean 0.813 fewer GOPC visits in comparison with the non-PEP group. Conclusions PEP was effective in improving the clinical outcomes and reduced the general outpatient clinic utilization rate over a 12-month period. Empowering T2DM patients on self-management of their disease can enhance the quality of diabetes care in primary care. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01935349
Cis and Trans Regulatory Mechanisms Control AP2-Mediated B Cell Receptor Endocytosis via Select Tyrosine-Based Motifs

Following antigen recognition, B cell receptor (BCR)-mediated endocytosis is the first step of antigen processing and presentation to CD4+ T cells, a crucial component of the initiation and control of the humoral immune response. Despite this, the molecular mechanism of BCR internalization is poorly understood. Recently, studies of activated B cell-like diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC DLBCL) have shown that mutations within the BCR subunit CD79b leads to increased BCR surface expression, suggesting that CD79b may control BCR internalization. Adaptor protein 2 (AP2) is the major mediator of receptor endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits. The BCR contains five putative AP2-binding YxxØ motifs, including four that are present within two immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). Using a combination of in vitro and in situ approaches, we establish that the sole mediator of AP2-dependent BCR internalization is the membrane proximal ITAM YxxØ motif in CD79b, which is a major target of mutation in ABC DLBCL. In addition, we establish that BCR internalization can be regulated at a minimum of two different levels: regulation of YxxØ AP2 binding in cis by downstream ITAM-embedded DCSM and QTAT regulatory elements and regulation in trans by the partner cytoplasmic domain of the CD79 heterodimer. Beyond establishing the basic rules governing BCR internalization, these results illustrate an underappreciated role for ITAM residues in controlling clathrin-dependent endocytosis and highlight the complex mechanisms that control the activity of AP2 binding motifs in this receptor system.
Fostering a Growth Mindset: Elementary Teacher Experiences Using Mindfulness Practices

ii Acknowledgements.iii List of Tables . vii List Of Appendices . viii Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 1.1 Statement of Purpose . 4 1.2 Definitions . 4 1.2.1 Mindfulness. 4 1.2.2 Informal mindfulness practices. 4 1.2. 3 Formal mindfulness practices. 5 1.2. 4. Self-concept. 5 1.2. 5. Self-esteem. 5 1.2. 6 Body esteem. 5 1.2. 7 Body image. 5 1.3 Significance of the Study . 6 1.4 Chapter Organization . 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 7 2.1 Mindfulness . 7 2.1.1. Theories related to the mechanism of mindfulness. 8 2.1.2 Mindfulness with adults. 12 2.1.3 Mindfulness with youth. 15 2.2 Body Image Concerns . 24 2.2.1 Body esteem in youth. 25
Incorporating Authorial Intent into Generative Narrative Systems

One of the major themes to emerge in interactive narrative research is authorability and authorial intent. With interactive narratives, the human author is not present at run-time. Thus authoring interactive narratives is often a process of anticipating user actions in different contexts and using computational mechanisms and data structures for responding to the participant. Generative approaches to interactive narrative, in which an automated narrative generation system assumes some of the authoring responsibility, further decouple the human designer from the participants experience. We describe a general mechanism, called author goals, which can be used by human authors to assert authorial intent over generative narrative systems.
RhoA Signaling and Synaptic Damage Occur Within Hours in a Live Pig Model of CNS Injury, Retinal Detachment

Purpose The RhoA pathway is activated after retinal injury. However, the time of onset and consequences of activation are unknown in vivo. Based on in vitro studies we focused on a period 2 hours after retinal detachment, in pig, an animal whose retina is holangiotic and contains cones. Methods Under anesthesia, retinal detachments were created by subretinal injection of a balanced salt solution. Two hours later, animals were sacrificed and enucleated for GTPase activity assays and quantitative Western blot and confocal microscopy analyses. Results RhoA activity with detachment was increased 1.5-fold compared to that in normal eyes or in eyes that had undergone vitrectomy only. Increased phosphorylation of myosin light chain, a RhoA effector, also occurred. By 2 hours, rod cells had retracted their terminals toward their cell bodies, disrupting the photoreceptor-to-bipolar synapse and producing significant numbers of spherules with SV2 immunolabel in the outer nuclear layer of the retina. In eyes with detachment, distant retina that remained attached also showed significant increases in RhoA activity and synaptic disjunction. Increases in RAC1 activity and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were not specific for detachment, and sprouting of bipolar dendrites, reported for longer detachments, was not seen. The RhoA kinase inhibitor Y27632 significantly reduced axonal retraction by rod cells. Conclusions Activation of the RhoA pathway occurs quickly after injury and promotes synaptic damage that can be controlled by RhoA kinase inhibition. We suggest that retinal detachment joins the list of central nervous system injuries, such as stroke and spinal cord injury, that should be considered for rapid therapeutic intervention.
Population Structure and Its Effects on Patterns of Nucleotide Polymorphism in Teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis)

Surveys of nucleotide diversity in the wild ancestor of maize, Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, have revealed genomewide departures from the standard neutral equilibrium (NE) model. Here we investigate the degree to which population structure may account for the excess of rare polymorphisms frequently observed in species-wide samples. On the basis of sequence data from five nuclear and two chloroplast loci, we found significant population genetic structure among seven subpopulations from two geographic regions. Comparisons of estimates of population genetic parameters from species-wide samples and subpopulation-specific samples showed that population genetic subdivision influenced observed patterns of nucleotide polymorphism. In particular, Tajima's D was significantly higher (closer to zero) in subpopulation-specific samples relative to species-wide samples, and therefore more closely corresponded to NE expectations. In spite of these overall patterns, the extent to which levels and patterns of polymorphism within subpopulations differed from species-wide samples and NE expectations depended strongly on the geographic region (Jalisco vs. Balsas) from which subpopulations were sampled. This may be due to the demographic history of subpopulations in those regions. Overall, these results suggest that explicitly accounting for population structure may be important for studies examining the genetic basis of ecologically and agronomically important traits as well as for identifying loci that have been the targets of selection.
Morphosyntactic and Referential Cues to the Identification of Generic Statements

Generic sentences (e.g., “birds lay eggs”) express generalizations about kinds, rather than facts about specific individuals or groups of individuals (e.g., “all birds lay eggs”). Generics are an important method of transmitting cultural knowledge, but because there is no unique marker of genericity, identifying whether a sentence is generic is a challenge. Here we investigated how morphosyntactic and pragmatic cues guide language users in determining whether naturalistic sentences should receive generic interpretations. Experiment 1 demonstrates the effect of the morphosyntactic features of a sentence’s subject noun phrase (NP) on generic interpretation. Experiments 2 and 3 reveal that when a sentence’s subject NP does not have an obvious referent in context, the sentence is more likely to receive a generic interpretation. These data suggest the beginnings of an account by which cues to genericity could be combined to make graded, contextual judgments about whether an utterance has an intended generic meaning.
Using WordNet Lexical Database and Internet to Disambiguate Word Senses

The term “knowledge acquisition bottleneck” has been used in Word Sense Disambiguation Tasks (WSDTs) to illustrate/express the problem of the lack of large tagged corpora. In this paper, an automated WSDT is based on text corpora extracted / collected from Internet web pages. First, the disambiguation for the sense of a word, in a context, is based on the use of its definition and the definitions of its direct hyponyms in the WordNet to form queries for searching the Internet. Then, the “sense-related examples”, in other words the collected answers / information, are used to disambiguate the word’s sense in the context. A (similarity) metric is used to calculate the similarity between the context and the “sense-related examples” and the word is assigned the sense of the most similar example with the context. Some experiments are briefly described and the evaluation of the proposed method is discussed.
Poliovirus Induces Bax-Dependent Cell Death Mediated by c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase

ABSTRACT Poliovirus (PV) is the causal agent of paralytic poliomyelitis, a disease that involves the destruction of motor neurons associated with PV replication. In PV-infected mice, motor neurons die through an apoptotic process. However, mechanisms by which PV induces cell death in neuronal cells remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that PV infection of neuronal IMR5 cells induces cytochrome c release from mitochondria and loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, both of which are evidence of mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization. PV infection also activates Bax, a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family; this activation involves its conformational change and its redistribution from the cytosol to mitochondria. Neutralization of Bax by vMIA protein expression prevents cytochrome c release, consistent with a contribution of PV-induced Bax activation to mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization. Interestingly, we also found that c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is activated soon after PV infection and that the PV-cell receptor interaction alone is sufficient to induce JNK activation. Moreover, the pharmacological inhibition of JNK by SP600125 inhibits Bax activation and cytochrome c release. This is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of JNK-mediated Bax-dependent apoptosis in PV-infected cells. Our findings contribute to our understanding of poliomyelitis pathogenesis at the cellular level.