Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bladder Cancer Immunotherapy: BCG and Beyond

Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has become the predominant conservative treatment for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer. Its mechanism of action continues to be defined but has been shown to involve a T helper type 1 (Th1) immunomodulatory response. While BCG treatment is the current standard of care, a significant proportion of patients fails or do not tolerate treatment. Therefore, many efforts have been made to identify other intravesical and immunomodulating therapeutics to use alone or in conjunction with BCG. This paper reviews the progress of basic science and clinical experience with several immunotherapeutic agents including IFN-α, IL-2, IL-12, and IL-10.
A TV platform to improve older people's quality of life: lessons learned from the evaluation of the VITAL project with Spanish elderly users

The User Centered Design allows the technical developers to know specific characteristics about the potential end users. In the specific case of elderly users, consideration of their needs in areas like communication, family and social relationships, social support and leisure, is a key point, which should guide the development of technological applications. In an attempt to fulfill to some extent this range of needs, the VITAL project, which is a European Community 6th Framework Program financed project, has developed a set of technologies, platforms and applications with the aim to provide remote assistance to elderly users and increase their quality of life The sample recruited for the last evaluation of VITAL in Spain was composed of 83 participants, 19 male and 64 female, with an age ranging from 52 to 91 (x=73,68, sd=7,86). All targeted users were attending elder associations in their respective cities, which implies an existing minimum social interaction for all for them. This paper gathers the literature about elderly needs in the areas of communication with family, social relationships and leisure, and examines what elderly users think about how VITAL Platform can help them in improving their quality of life in those addressed areas.
A p53-like transcription factor similar to Ndt80 controls the response to nutrient stress in the filamentous fungus, Aspergillus nidulans

The Aspergillus nidulans xprG gene encodes a putative transcriptional activator that is a member of the Ndt80 family in the p53-like superfamily of proteins. Previous studies have shown that XprG controls the production of extracellular proteases in response to starvation. We undertook transcriptional profiling to investigate whether XprG has a wider role as a global regulator of the carbon nutrient stress response. Our microarray data showed that the expression of a large number of genes, including genes involved in secondary metabolism, development, high-affinity glucose uptake and autolysis, were altered in an xprG Δ null mutant. Many of these genes are known to be regulated in response to carbon starvation. We confirmed that sterigmatocystin and penicillin production is reduced in xprG - mutants. The loss of fungal mass and secretion of pigments that accompanies fungal autolysis in response to nutrient depletion was accelerated in an xprG1 gain-of-function mutant and decreased or absent in an xprG - mutant. The results support the hypothesis that XprG plays a major role in the response to carbon limitation and that nutrient sensing may represent one of the ancestral roles for the p53-like superfamily. Disruption of the AN6015 gene, which encodes a second Ndt80-like protein, showed that it is required for sexual reproduction in A. nidulans.
Consciousness changing the photoelectric principle by slow wave

The experiment results show that human consciousness may change photoelectric signals such as Voc and Isc of solar cell at isolation air. Mass wave with a characteristic of slow fluctuation exist in consciousness signal, frequency interaction principle of it and its photo-electronic conversion equation are being put forward. Consciousness produces the consciousness field and use mass wave of consciousness signal, and acts on electro-optical system and the system magnifies it. Consciousness influence brain and consciousness development does to the brain . Consciousness evolves is the spiritual character.
Sparse Approximate-Inverse Preconditioners Using Norm-Minimization Techniques

We investigate the use of sparse approximate-inverse preconditioners for the iterative solution of unsymmetric linear systems of equations. We consider the approximations proposed by Cosgrove, Diaz, and Griewank [Internat. J. Comput. Math., 44 (1992), pp. 91--110] and Huckle and Grote [A New Approach to Parallel Preconditioning with Sparse Approximate Inverses, Tech. report SCCM-94-03, Stanford University, 1994] which are based on norm-minimization techniques. Such methods are of particular interest because of the considerable scope for parallelization. We propose a number of enhancements which may improve their performance. When run in a sequential environment, these methods can perform unfavorably when compared with other techniques. However, they can be successful when other methods fail and simulations indicate that they can be competitive when considered in a parallel environment.
The Parabolic Multi-Mirror Camera

Conventional multi-view camera setups are typically bulky, difficult to handle and not affordable for the average consumer. We present a one-piece single-camera multi-mirror imaging system made of low-cost off-the-shelf components. The system is relatively easy to set up and use while producing imagery similar to the output of a conventional multi-camera array. In addition to deriving the elementary theoretical foundations of our approach, we present a working prototype and captured footage and demonstrate the practical usability of the system with results for geometry reconstruction and view interpolation applications.
UVB Stimulates the Expression of Endothelin B Receptor in Human Melanocytes via a Sequential Activation of the p38/MSK1/CREB/MITF Pathway Which Can Be Interrupted by a French Maritime Pine Bark Extract through a Direct Inactivation of MSK1

Melanogenesis is the physiological process by which melanin is synthesized to protect the skin from UV damage. While paracrine interactions between keratinocytes and melanocytes are crucial for regulating epidermal pigmentation, the endothelin (EDN)-endothelin B-receptor (EDNRB) interaction is one of the key linkages. In this study, we found that a single exposure of normal human melanocytes (NHMs) with UVB stimulates the expression of EDNRB and its upstream transcription factor microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) at the transcriptional and translational levels. That stimulation can be abrogated by post-irradiation treatment with a French maritime pine bark extract (PBE). UVB stimulated the phosphorylation of p38 and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), but not ERK, followed by the increased phosphorylation of MSK1 and CREB. The post-irradiation treatment with PBE did not affect the increased phosphorylation of p38 and JNK, but distinctly abrogated the phosphorylation of MSK1 and CREB. Post-irradiation treatment with the MSK1 inhibitor H89 significantly down-regulated the increased gene expression of MITF and EDNRB in UVB-exposed NHMs. Our findings indicate for the first time that the increased expression of MITF that leads to the up-regulation of melanocyte-specific proteins in UVB-exposed NHMs is mediated via activation of the p38/MSK1/CREB pathway but not the ERK/RSK/CREB pathway. The mode of action by PBE demonstrates that interrupting MSK1 activation is a new target for antioxidants including PBE which can serve as anti-pigmenting agents in a reactive oxygen species-depletion-independent manner.
THE SOCIOECONOMIC FUNCTION OF MONEYLENDERS IN EXPANDING ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF THE CHETTIARS1

Literature of sociology of development labels moneylenders for the most part with two stereotypes. The first one considers them as "loan sharks", who suck poor and inno cent peasants dry, the other stereotype reflects the dominant opinion in development policy that moneylenders are traditional forces which prohibit progress and have to be eliminated for the sake of rural development and replaced by banks and other formal savings and credit institutions. Both stereotypes neglect the function of moneylenders in the supra-local socioeconomic context. With the case of the Chettiars' socioeconomic role in the British Colonial system I will argue that occupational moneylenders, during the colonial period, were a structural, temporary phenomenon of extending capitalism. In the second part of the paper, I will compare role and functions of these occupational moneylenders with that contemporary part-time moneylenders in Third World economies. I will demonstrate that such moneylenders provide lower income groups with credit, people who are excluded from bank loans. Informal credit, however, generates demand for consumer products again in the formal market. This allows to conclude with the hypothesis that contemporary part-time moneylenders structurally belong to the capitalist mode of production by for ming an intermediary position between formal and informal sector.
Designing user experience for mobile game-based learning

Mobile game-based learning (mGBL) is a game played on any handheld devices such as mobile phones. Although many game methodologies have been introduced, studies show that customized phases and steps to develop games for learning in mobile environment are substantially required. Therefore, this study addresses this gap by proposing a mGBL Engineering Model based on a number of game and learning theoretical and developmental foundations. In particular, the study identified the key steps of development methodology to be considered in developing mGBL applications which consist of phases, components, steps and deliverables. In verifying the proposed model, a mGBL was developed following the phases suggested in the model. User experience designs such as mGBL interactions design, learning model, game flows, and interface design were further discussed in this paper. Subsequently, the findings indicate that the proposed mGBL Engineering Model exhibits useful development indicators for mGBL application and user experience, and is indeed a theoretical and practical contribution of the study.
Human resource management in Australia: historical development and contemporary tensions

As is the case in other advanced liberalmarket economies, human resource management (HRM) in Australia has become an accepted ‘managerial profession’ with its own professional association and credentialism evident in specific education, training and professional networks (Armstrong 1986; Michelson and Kramar 2003). This chapter explores the origins and historical development of HRM in Australian workplaces throughout the twentieth century through to the present day. Despite its distance from the centres of economic activity in the United States and Europe, and its comparatively small economic footprint, Australia has played an important role in the historical development of HRM. This is a southern hemisphere, settler economy highly dependent on the export of resources, so one might suppose the predominant state of employee management to be relatively informal and derivative, and indeed this general summation is accurate for a significant component of the Australian economy. However, the history of HRM in Australia also reveals surprising levels of local innovation and global influence. Australia was after all the birthplace of the ‘father’ of human relations, Elton Mayo (Trahair 1984), and as this chapter reveals played a central role in the ongoing global spread of new management ideas and practices. The chapter reveals a complex picture of rapid changes in the practice of employment and personnel administration, work organisation, and industrial relations and collective bargaining. Examples of change and innovation operated alongside more traditional and informal methods and were shaped by broader factors such as changes in product and labour markets, patterns of government and state regulation, as well as the role of the labour movement, professional groups, and the changing values of industry leaders and business executives. While significant attention has been directed to the Australian system of compulsory state industrial arbitration and awards (see for example Dabscheck 1980; Patmore 1991), the impact on management practice is perhaps less pronounced than commonly supposed. Indeed, in establishing specific minimum standards of wages and working conditions, large residual areas of workplace activity were deemed the sole prerogative of management (De Vyver 1959). Contrary to popular opinion, this gave employers significant freedom in deciding how work was organised and employment managed over and above minimum standards. Most interestingly though, the Australian case provides a revealing insight into the global diffusion of management ideas and
Explicit solution of the time domain magnetic field integral equation using a predictor-corrector scheme

An explicit yet stable marching-on-in-time (MOT) scheme for solving the time domain magnetic field integral equation (TD-MFIE) is presented. The stability of the explicit scheme is achieved via (i) accurate evaluation of the MOT matrix elements using closed form expressions and (ii) a PE(CE)m type linear multistep method for time marching. Numerical results demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the proposed explicit MOT-TD-MFIE solver.
Shapes of Nuclear Induction Signals

T HE equations of motion of the total nuclear magnetic moment in the nuclear induction experiment have been given by Bloch. ’ He discusses the solution for the adiabatic case, i.e., when the rate of change of the strong magnetic field is sufficiently small. However, for rapid variations of the strong field, oscillations are experimentally observed in the tails of the curves. These were first explained by Purcell,2 who pointed out that when the magnetic moment does not have time to follow the adiabatic solution through resonance, the moment will be found pointing in a non-equilibrium direction when the strong field is so far beyond resonance that the effect of the rotating field can be neglected. From this point on the moment will precess about the direction of the strong field, with a damping determined by the relaxation time and with the instantaneous Larmor frequency. The beats between this varying frequency and that of the r-f field will appear as damped oscillations on an oscilloscope screen. In the course of our detailed discussion of these oscillations it will be shown that in certain cases they can be used for a relatively accurate determination of the total relaxation time. We shall consider the case where the r-f field is weak enough to be treated as a small perturbation. The equations can then be solved for arbitrary dependence of the sweep field on the time. The use of a weak r-f field can be of advantage, since it enables one to obtain the sharpest possible lines. A detailed analysis of the signal shape for this case is of considerable importance since,
An Efficient Approach for the Recognition of Hand Gestures from Very Low Resolution Images

In this paper, a simple and effective approach for the recognition of hand gestures from very low resolution images is proposed. Enhancement of the low resolution images has always been the key focus in the processing of the digital images. Images with resolution as low as [50×50 pixels] are also considered for recognition. The gestures under consideration here are the number of fingers (one, two, three, four or five) raised by the person. The low resolution gesture image captured from web camera, mobile phone, or low cost cameras is processed systematically to output the number of fingers raised. Simple concepts of the geometry of the hand have been used for the recognition of hand gesture from the input low resolution images. The proposed method extracts the hand gesture directly from the low resolution image without the need of reconstruction to a high resolution image or use of any classifier. The proposed method is based on the generation of a mask for the image which is critical in the recognition of the hand gesture. This method is tested on publically available dataset of Marcel-Triesch. The high accuracy of the experimental results show the superior performance of the proposed method for the recognition of hand gesture from low resolution images.
Modeling Individual Choices in Experiments : Random utility versus random behavior ∗

In this note, we discuss how the choice of modeling strategy has important implications for our understanding of observed behavior in experiments. We compare two main approaches in the literature, the random utility model and the random behavior model, and show that the fundamental difference between the two approaches is how the random element is taken into account in the empirical model. We argue that randomness in experimental data is best modeled as random utility. Using stylized facts from the standard dictator game, and data from a dictator game where the distribution phase is preceded by an investment phase, we illustrate the difference between the two models. We show that the choice between the two models not only affects how well the estimated model fits the data, but also affects the interpretation of the motivational structure underlying the behavior. ∗The research project was partly financed by the Research Council of Norway, research grant 185831, and by the research centre Equality, Social Organization, and Performance (ESOP) at the Department of Economics, University of Oslo. †Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, email: alexander.cappelen@nhh.no. ‡Department of Economics, Bergen University College, P.O. Box 7030, 5020 Bergen, email: astri.drange. hole@hib.no. §Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, and ESOP, University of Oslo, N-0851, Oslo, Norway, email: erik.sorensen@nhh.no. ¶Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway, and Chr. Michelsen Institute, N-5892, Bergen, Norway, email: bertil.tungodden@nhh.no.
Multi phases stator short-circuits faults diagnosis & classification in DFIG using wavelet & fuzzy based technique

In this article we present new results using hybrid method carried out three Dimensions (3-D) Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) and fuzzy inference system (FIS) to investigate the detectability and classification of of multi phases stator inter turn short circuit faults in proposed dynamic model of DFIG developed by [1], and to overcome the limitation of classical Fourier Transform (FT). This approach is successfully used with Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA) and suitable developed model of DFIG in healthy and faulty mode using Matlab environment. As first step we performed new results using 3-D plot CWT to extract the discriminating features. The features extracted from the wavelet transformed signal are the second most predominant frequency, the time range at which it occurs and the corresponding wavelet coefficients. Then as second and last step a fuzzy Inference system is designed and implemented using Matlab software with these three features extracted from the wavelet transformed signal as inputs and generates an output that classifies the fault and no fault conditions. It is observed that the results are particularly powerful.
Challenges of the 21st Century for Leadership Qualifications: Reflections and Responses

This article focuses on the assumed impact of globalisation, especially in the field of business and trade, and how globalisation will affect public and private sector leadership and hence indirectly leaders in society. Subsequent to some reflections on the impact of globalisation on leadership, the article postulates a few key changes which developments in the world economy might have on leadership theory and practice.
An adaptive AVI-based cache invalidation scheme for mobile computing systems

In a mobile computing system, caching data items at the mobile clients is important to reduce the data access delay in an unreliable and low bandwidth mobile network. However, efficient methods must be used to ensure the coherence between the cached items and the data items at the database server. By exploring the real time properties of the data items, we propose a cache invalidation scheme called: Invalidation by Absolute Validity Interval (IAVI). We define an absolute validate interval (AVI) for each data item based on its real time property, e.g. update interval. A mobile client can verify the validity of a cached item by comparing the last update time and its AVI. A cached item is invalidated if the current time is greater than the last update time by its AVI. With this self-invalidation mechanism, the IAVI scheme uses the invalidation report to inform the mobile clients about the change of AVI rather than the update event of the data item. As a result, the size of invalidation report can be reduced significantly. Performance studies show that the IAVI scheme can significantly reduce the mean response time and invalidation report size under various system parameters.
Depressive symptoms among pregnant women screened in obstetrics settings.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to describe the prevalence of depressive symptomatology during pregnancy when seen in obstetric settings, the extent of treatment in this population, and specific risk factors associated with mood symptoms in pregnancy. METHODS A total of 3472 pregnant women age 18 and older were screened while waiting for their prenatal care visits in 10 obstetrics clinics using a brief (10 minute) screening questionnaire. This screen measured demographics, tobacco and alcohol (TWEAK problem alcohol use screening measure), and depression measures, including the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D), use of antidepressant medications, past history of depression, and current treatment (i.e., medications, psychotherapy, or counseling) for depression. RESULTS Of women screened, 20% (n = 689) scored above the cutoff score on the CES-D, and only 13.8% of those women reported receiving any formal treatment for depression. Past history of depression, poorer overall health, greater alcohol use consequences, smoking, being unmarried, unemployment, and lower educational attainment were significantly associated with symptoms of depression during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS These data show that a substantial number of pregnant women screened in obstetrics settings have significant symptoms of depression, and most of them are not being monitored in treatment during this vulnerable time. This information may be used to justify and streamline systematic screening for depression in clinical encounters with pregnant women as a first step in determining which women may require further treatment for their mood symptoms. As elevations in depressive symptomatology have been associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes, further study of the impact of psychiatric treatment in gravid women is essential.