Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Importance of the perineural spaces in nerve blocking.

Physicians who inject nerve blocking agents, either to produce local anesthesia or to alleviate pain, are aware of the possible complications associated with these procedures. However, few seem to be cognizant of the potential significance of the relationship of the perineural spaces to the subarachnoid space and the spinal cord as the determining factor in the development of some of the more serious complications. This relationship was bluntly called to our attention by recent experiences after the use of Efocaine (a solution of 1% procaine, 0.25% procaine hydrochloride, and 5% butyl-p-aminobenzoate in a solvent composed of 2% polyethylene glycol 300, 78% propylene glycol, and water). It was originally advertised as a safe, long-acting (two to four weeks' duration), local anesthetic mixture unassociated with encapsulation, abscesses, foreign body reactions, tissue sloughs, or other such adverse effects encountered after the use of oil solvents.1Early published reports seemed to
The affective and cognitive components of country image : Perceptions of American products in Kuwait

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilize the BIAS map from the social psychology literature to operationalize and simultaneously examine the effects of the affective and cognitive components of country image.Design/methodology/approach – The researchers collected survey data using a snowball sample of undergraduates from a prominent university in Kuwait. The final sample consisted of 410 Kuwaitis who were 18 years or older; 52 percent of the respondents were female.Findings – The results of this study confirmed that affective country attitudes (i.e. contempt and admiration) relate to Kuwaitis’ willingness to buy American products. The results also support the conclusion that warmth and competence are positively related to admiration but negatively related to contempt.Research limitations/implications – Future research should identify situations in which the affective dimensions of country image play the more dominant role in consumer decision making. The model should also be tested across other c.
Manipulation of virtual objects in marker-less AR system by fingertip tracking and hand gesture recognition

In this paper, we present a vision-based approach to control the augmented reality (AR) objects robustly in a marker-less AR system. It is known that one of the promising ways to develop a marker-less AR system is using human's body such as hand or face for replacing fiducial markers. This paper presents a real-time method to manipulate the AR objects dynamically in a developed 3D hand coordinate system. To build the marker-less system, we utilize YCbCr skin-color model for hand shape detection and curvature-based fingertip detection from an input video images. Using the detected fingertips the camera pose are estimated to register virtual objects on the hand coordinate system. In order to control the movements of the virtual objects rendered on the marker-less AR system dynamically, a vision-based hand control interface, which exploits optical flow for the movement of the objects and pattern recognition for the hand command initiation, is developed. From the experiments we can prove that the proposed hand mouse can manipulate the objects in a feasible fashion.
Agents of Choice: Tools that Facilitate Notice and Choice about Web Site Data Practices

A variety of tools have been introduced recently that are designed to help people protect their privacy on the Internet. These tools perform many different functions in-cluding encrypting and/or anonymizing communications, preventing the use of persistent identifiers such as cookies, automatically fetching and analyzing web site privacy policies, and displaying privacy-related information to users. This paper discusses the set of privacy tools that aim specifically at facilitating notice and choice about Web site data practices. While these tools may also have components that perform other functions such as encryption, or they may be able to work in conjunction with other privacy tools, the primary pur-pose of these tools is to help make users aware of web site privacy practices and to make it easier for users to make informed choices about when to provide data to web sites. Examples of such tools include the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) and various infomediary services.
Exact Vs. Approximated Diameter Calculation in Large Graphs

A graph is a mathematical abstraction commonly used to represent relationships among a finite set of entities, such as hypertext documents or users in a social network. With the recent explosion of online content, the size and number of available graphs have increased as well, prompting research for efficient and scalable methods to process them in a timely fashion. This paper focuses on the calculation of the diameter of a graph, a well-known and relevant metric whose calculation poses a remarkable computational challenge for large graphs. We selected three algorithms based on two popular computing models: MapReduce and Bulk Synchronous Parallel (BSP). Two of the algorithms are based on MapReduce and calculate the exact and an approximated value for the graph diameter. The third algorithm is based on BSP and produces the exact value for the diameter. Our tests show that the approximated MapReduce solution produces the best combination of execution time and scalability, although it is outperformed in some cases by the exact BSP solution.
The bacteriophage‐derived transcriptional regulator, LscR, activates the expression of levansucrase genes in Pseudomonas syringae

Synthesis of the exopolysaccharide levan occurs in the bacterial blight pathogen of soybean, Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea PG4180, when this bacterium encounters moderate to high concentrations of sucrose inside its host plant. The process is mediated by the temperature‐dependent expression and secretion of two levansucrases, LscB and LscC. Previous studies showed the importance of a prophage‐associated promoter element in driving the expression of levansucrase genes. Herein, heterologous screening for transcriptional activators revealed that the prophage‐borne transcriptional regulator, LscR, from P. syringae mediates expression of levansucrase. A lscR‐deficient mutant was generated and exhibited a levan‐negative phenotype when grown on a sucrose‐rich medium. This phenotype was confirmed by zymographic analysis and Western blots which demonstrated absence of levansucrase in the supernatant and total cell lysates. Transcriptional analysis showed a down‐regulation of expression levels of levansucrase and glycosyl hydrolase genes in the lscR‐deficient mutant. Ultimately, a direct binding of LscR to the promoter region of levansucrase was demonstrated using electrophoretic mobility shift assays allowing to conclude that a bacteriophage‐derived regulator dictates expression of bacterial genes involved in in planta fitness.
TT-seq maps the human transient transcriptome

TT-Seq maps a transient transcriptome RNA expression is related to protein abundance and cellular function. However, the amounts of RNA generated at any one time-point have been difficult to determine. Schwalb et al. developed a method, transient transcriptome sequencing (TT-Seq), to collect and sequence all RNA segments synthesized over 5 minutes. Because 5 minutes is not long enough to fully degrade even the most transient RNA, this method can detect the synthesis of most RNA without bias. Applying this method to human K562 cells, TT-Seq detected thousands of noncoding transcripts, providing a snapshot of RNA synthesis rates and RNA half-lives, and full-length maps of short-lived RNAs such as enhancers and short intergenic noncoding RNAs. Science, this issue p. 1225 Transient transcriptome sequencing maps short-lived RNAs, estimates RNA half-lives, and uncovers transcription termination sites. Pervasive transcription of the genome produces both stable and transient RNAs. We developed transient transcriptome sequencing (TT-seq), a protocol that uniformly maps the entire range of RNA-producing units and estimates rates of RNA synthesis and degradation. Application of TT-seq to human K562 cells recovers stable messenger RNAs and long intergenic noncoding RNAs and additionally maps transient enhancer, antisense, and promoter-associated RNAs. TT-seq analysis shows that enhancer RNAs are short-lived and lack U1 motifs and secondary structure. TT-seq also maps transient RNA downstream of polyadenylation sites and uncovers sites of transcription termination; we found, on average, four transcription termination sites, distributed in a window with a median width of ~3300 base pairs. Termination sites coincide with a DNA motif associated with pausing of RNA polymerase before its release from the genome.
On Diffusion Induced Segregation in Time-Dependent Domains

This article is concerned with the derivation and analysis of a model for diffusion induced segregation phenomena in the physically relevant case that the domain representing the crystal grows in time. A mathematical model is formulated where the phase parameter is a function of bounded variation and the equations are completed with the Gibbs–Thomson law. Based on suitable a priori bounds, methods from geometric measure theory are applied to derive suitable compactness properties which allow us to show the existence of weak solutions in three space dimensions.
Application-Specific Instruction Sets Processor with Implicit Registers to Improve Register Bandwidth

Application-Specific Instruction (ASI ) set Processors (ASIP) have become an important design choice for embedded systems due to runtime flexibility, which cannot be provided by custom ASIC solutions. One major bottleneck in maximizing ASIP performance is the limitation on the data bandwidth between the General Purpose Register File (GPRF) and ASIs. This paper presents the Implicit Registers (IRs) to provide the desirable data bandwidth. An ASI Input/Output model is proposed to formulate the overheads of the additional data transfer between the GPRF and IRs, therefore, an IRs allocation algorithm is used to achieve the better performance by minimizing the number of extra data transfer instructions. The experiment results show an up to 3.33x speedup compared to the results without using IRs. Keywords—Application-Specific Instruction-set Processors, data bandwidth, configurable processor, implicit register.
Appearance of Water Channels in Xenopus Oocytes Expressing Red Cell CHIP28 Protein

Water rapidly crosses the plasma membrane of red blood cells (RBCs) and renal tubules through specialized channels. Although selective for water, the molecular structure of these channels is unknown. The CHIP28 protein is an abundant integral membrane protein in mammalian RBCs and renal proximal tubules and belongs to a family of membrane proteins with unknown functions. Oocytes from Xenopus laevis microinjected with in vitro-transcribed CHIP28 RNA exhibited increased osmotic water permeability; this was reversibly inhibited by mercuric chloride, a known inhibitor of water channels. Therefore it is likely that CHIP28 is a functional unit of membrane water channels.
RecA protein promotes the regression of stalled replication forks in vitro

Replication forks are halted by many types of DNA damage. At the site of a leading-strand DNA lesion, forks may stall and leave the lesion in a single-strand gap. Fork regression is the first step in several proposed pathways that permit repair without generating a double-strand break. Using model DNA substrates designed to mimic one of the known structures of a fork stalled at a leading-strand lesion, we show here that RecA protein of Escherichia coli will promote a fork regression reaction in vitro. The regression process exhibits an absolute requirement for ATP hydrolysis and is enhanced when dATP replaces ATP. The reaction is not affected by the inclusion of the RecO and R proteins. We present this reaction as one of several potential RecA protein roles in the repair of stalled and/or collapsed replication forks in bacteria.
Execution mining

Operating systems represent large pieces of complex software that are carefully tested and broadly deployed. Despite this, developers frequently have little more than their source code to understand how they behave. This static representation of a system results in limited insight into execution dynamics, such as what code is important, how data flows through a system, or how threads interact with one another. We describe Tralfamadore, a system that preserves complete traces of machine execution as an artifact that can be queried and analyzed with a library of simple, reusable operators, making it easy to develop and run new dynamic analyses. We demonstrate the benefits of this approach with several example applications, including a novel unified source and execution browser.
Curcumin suppresses growth and chemoresistance of human glioblastoma cells via AP‐1 and NFκB transcription factors

Malignant gliomas are a debilitating class of brain tumors that are resistant to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs, contributing to the poor prognosis associated with these tumors. Over‐expression of transcription factors such as NFκB and AP‐1 contribute to the enhanced glioma survival, radioresistance, and chemoresistance. Curcumin, which may inhibit these pathways, was therefore investigated for a potential therapeutic role in glioma. The effect of curcumin on glioma survival was investigated in human (T98G, U87MG, and T67) and rat (C6) glioma cell lines. The ability of curcumin to overcome glioma cell radioresistance and chemoresistance was also explored. Curcumin reduced cell survival in a p53‐ and caspase‐independent manner, an effect correlated with the inhibition of AP‐1 and NFκB signaling pathways via prevention of constitutive JNK and Akt activation. Curcumin‐sensitized glioma cells to several clinically utilized chemotherapeutic agents (cisplatin, etoposide, camptothecin, and doxorubicin) and radiation, effects correlated with reduced expression of bcl‐2 and IAP family members as well as DNA repair enzymes (MGMT, DNA‐PK, Ku70, Ku80, and ERCC‐1). These findings support a role for curcumin as an adjunct to traditional chemotherapy and radiation in the treatment of brain cancer.
Optimal command ordering for serial link manipulators

Reducing the number of cables needed for the actuators and sensors of humanoid and other robots with high numbers of degrees of freedom (DoF) is a relevant problem, often solved by using a common bus for all communication, which may result in bandwidth limitation problems. This paper proposes an optimized method to re-order the commands sent to the joint-local controllers of a serial manipulator. The proposed method evaluates which local controller would benefit the most from an updated command given a cost function, and sends a command to this controller. As is demonstrated in both simulation and on a real robot, the resulting scheme can significantly improve system performance, equivalent to increasing the communication frequency by up to 3 times.
Prevalence of dokha use among secondary school students in Ajman, United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND Dokha is a novel form of smoking in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on which there is very little published literature, especially among adolescents, and this form of smoking has been not been addressed adequately in the smoking cessation strategies in the UAE. OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of dokha smoking among male secondary school students in Ajman UAE. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross sectional survey was conducted among male secondary school students in Ajman, UAE. A total of 560 participants filled in self- administered questionnaires. RESULTS The prevalence of ever smokers was 39%; ever dokha smokers was 36% and current dokha smokers was 24%. The prevalence is very high when compared to other forms of smoking in the region and globally. Prevalence increased with increasing age and grade of students, prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers was lower in students in the science stream. 40% of the smokers used dokha, cigarettes and shisha, 30% used dokha and cigarettes, and 21% used dokha alone. 30% of the students smoked dokha on all days of the month. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of ever smokers, ever dokha smokers and current dokha smokers is very high. There is an urgent need for specific health promotion programs tailored to this age group on prevention of dokha smoking and policies restricting the availability of dokha to this age group.
Priming of Color and Position during Visual Search in Unilateral Spatial Neglect

We examined priming of visual search by repeated target location or color in two patients with left visual neglect and extinction, following strokes centered on the right inferior parietal lobe. Both patients, like the healthy controls we tested, showed intact priming, with performance speeded when either the location or color of a singleton target was repeated over successive trials in a standard search condition (Experiment 1). This was observed both from and to targets on the contralesional (left) side. Moreover, priming of search was still observed even when a return of fixation back to display-center was required between successive trials (Experiment 2). When briefer displays were used (Experiment 3), the patients often failed to detect left targets. This situation revealed an important dissociation: Whereas location priming only arose from preceding left targets that had been consciously detected, color priming (possibly arising within the intact ventral stream) did not depend on awareness of the preceding target. There was considerable color priming from missed targets. These findings demonstrate relatively intact priming of visual search by color and location in patients with right parietal damage, and also reveal that location priming may differ from color priming in requiring awareness.
Hey Baby, what's “up”? One- and 3-Month-Olds Experience Faces Primarily Upright but Non-Upright Faces Offer the Best Views

Experience has been theorized to shape how we process faces. Frequent face types are better discriminated and processed using expert-level holistic strategies while less frequent types are less well discriminated and processed using less mature featural strategies. Although experience is probably influencing the development of face processing, it is unclear what aspects of experience are most influential. The current study utilized infant-perspective head-mounted cameras to capture infants’ daily lives at 1 and 3 months of age to measure the perceptual qualities of frequent and infrequent face types. We examined experience with upright (i.e., frequently experienced) and inverted (i.e., infrequently experienced) faces. A large majority (88%) of all face exposure was to upright faces. Most faces, regardless of orientation, were viewed near to the infant, alone in the field of view, and in a frontal viewpoint (i.e., an “ideal view”). Although they were less frequent than upright faces, proportionally more non-upright faces were viewed in an “ideal view”. At this young age, nearly all faces, even non-upright faces, are seen in ways that facilitate processing.
The Phosphorylation Domain of the 32-kDa Subunit of Replication Protein A (RPA) Modulates RPA-DNA Interactions

Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric (subunits of 70, 32, and 14 kDa) single-stranded DNA-binding protein that is required for DNA replication, recombination, and repair. The 40-residue N-terminal domain of the 32-kDa subunit of RPA (RPA32) becomes phosphorylated during S-phase and after DNA damage. Recently it has been shown that phosphorylation or the addition of negative charges to this N-terminal phosphorylation domain modulates RPA-protein interactions and increases cell sensitivity to DNA damage. We found that addition of multiple negative charges to the N-terminal phosphorylation domain also caused a significant decrease in the ability of a mutant form of RPA to destabilize double-stranded (ds) DNA. Kinetic studies suggested that the addition of negative charges to the N-terminal phosphorylation domain caused defects in both complex formation (nucleation) and subsequent destabilization of dsDNA by RPA. We conclude that the N-terminal phosphorylation domain modulates RPA interactions with dsDNA. Similar changes in DNA interactions were observed with a mutant form of RPA in which the N-terminal domain of the 70-kDa subunit was deleted. This suggested a functional link between the N-terminal domains of the 70- and 32-kDa subunits of RPA. NMR experiments provided evidence for a direct interaction between the N-terminal domain of the 70-kDa subunit and the negatively charged N-terminal phosphorylation domain of RPA32. These findings suggest that phosphorylation causes a conformational change in the RPA complex that regulates RPA function.
Flexibilité de l’entreprise et implication des employés. Etude de cas d’un prestataire de sport et de tourisme

Les variations cycliques et acycliques du secteur en mutation du sport et du tourisme exercent de fortes contraintes sur les organisations prestataires de services s’y inserant. A partir de l’analyse monographique d’une petite entreprise, l’article rend compte des strategies de flexibilite developpees afin de s’adapter a l’instabilite du marche. Mais il montre egalement comment ces pratiques de flexibilite specifiques peuvent etre acceptees par les « employes », qui constituent la principale variable d’ajustement, et meme etre vecues de maniere positive. L’article evoque une distribution particuliere des roles au sein de l’entreprise laissant une large autonomie aux « employes » et favorisant leur implication dans le travail, ainsi qu’un brouillage des temps sociaux, notamment entre temps de travail et temps de loisir, participant a l’engagement des acteurs de l’entreprise dans le « projet » de croissance du dirigeant.
Dissecting Genomic Aberrations in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms by Multiplex-PCR and Next Generation Sequencing

In order to assess the feasibility of amplicon-based parallel next generation sequencing (NGS) for the diagnosis of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), we investigated multiplex-PCR of 212 amplicons covering genomic mutational hotspots in 48 cancer-related genes. Samples from 64 patients with MPN and five controls as well as seven (myeloid) cell lines were analyzed. Healthy donor and reactive erythrocytosis samples showed several frequent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) but no known pathogenic mutation. Sequencing of the cell lines confirmed the presence of the known mutations. In the patient samples, JAK2 V617F was present in all PV, 4 of 10 ET, and 16 of 19 MF patients. The JAK2 V617F allele burden was different in the three groups (ET, 33+/-22%; PV 48+/-28% and MF 68+/- 29%). Further analysis detected both previously described and undescribed mutations (i.e., G12V NRAS, IDH1 R132H, E255G ABL, and V125G IDH1 mutations). One patient with lymphoid BC/Ph+ ALL who harbored a T315I ABL mutation and was treated with ponatinib was found to have developed a newly acquired V216M TP53 mutation (12% of transcripts) when becoming resistant to ponatinib. Ponatinib led to a decrease of ABL T315I positive transcripts from 47% before ponatinib treatment to 16% at the time of ponatinib resistance in this patient, suggesting that both TP53 and ABL mutations were present in the same clone and that the newly acquired TP53 mutation might have caused ponatinib resistance in this patient. In conclusion, amplicon-sequencing-based NGS allows simultaneous analysis of multiple MPN associated genes for diagnosis and during treatment and measurement of the mutant allele burden.