Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polarization characteristics of metallized polypropylene film capacitors at different temperatures

When the metallized polypropylene film capacitor (MPPFC) is used under high electric field in pulsed power systems, an obvious voltage decay phenomenon will occur. The voltage decay is mainly resulted from the relaxation polarization in dielectric applied under high electric field. This paper focuses on the relaxation polarization in metallized biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film capacitors. The extended Debye model of relaxation polarization is discussed and the parameters of each RC branch are obtained. Meanwhile, the relationship between the increasing proportion of polarization charge (ΔQa/Qh) and temperature is investigated. The experimental results show that under 1kV, ΔQa/Qh varies from 0.018 to 6.868 with the temperature varing from 10 to 70 /spl deg. Moreover, the equivalent capacitance of capacitors in frequency domain is analyzed with consideration of slow polarization. The analysis shows that both a lower frequency and a higher temperature can accelerate the relaxation polarization and increase the voltage decay. Based on the extended Debye model developed from the polarization charge test, the voltage drop is calculated and the results can match well with those of the voltage maintaining test.
Protein-Protein Interaction Article Classification Using a Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network with Pre-trained Word Embeddings

Abstract Curation of protein interactions from scientific articles is an important task, since interaction networks are essential for the understanding of biological processes associated with disease or pharmacological action for example. However, the increase in the number of publications that potentially contain relevant information turns this into a very challenging and expensive task. In this work we used a convolutional recurrent neural network for identifying relevant articles for extracting information regarding protein interactions. Using the BioCreative III Article Classification Task dataset, we achieved an area under the precision-recall curve of 0.715 and a Matthew’s correlation coefficient of 0.600, which represents an improvement over previous works.
Soviet Policy on Urban Housing and Housing Rent

SOVIET policy on urban housing and the principles of housing ownership, administration, and rental have been established by the government as part of the over-all national economic plan. This is a situation new in the history of housing policy and therefore offers ample opportunities for comparative analysis. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to review briefly some of the more relevant historical and legal aspects of Soviet urban housing, and secondly, to discuss the problems of housing rent in the Soviet Union.
Behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation in young children: relations with self-regulation and adaptation to preschool in children attending Head Start.

We examine a parent-report version of the measure of behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation of Carver and White (1994), the BIS/BAS scales. Participants included 42 children (mean age = 4 years, 9 months) attending Head Start programs. Information was collected on aspects of physiological and cognitive regulation, temperamental emotionality, BIS/BAS sensitivity, and teacher report of social competence and on-task behavior in the classroom. Physiological regulation was assessed by cardiac vagal tone and was measured during a baseline period and during the administration of a mildly effortful cognitive task. Cognitive regulation was assessed by executive function and was measured using two tasks that require children to inhibit a prepotent response while remembering and executing the rule for correct responding. Parents reported on behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation and aspects of child negative emotionality associated with fear and anger. Results indicated that the BIS scale was positively related to teacher reported social competence but negatively related to on-task behavior. Associations between the BIS and each of the outcome variables were independent of relations of physiological and cognitive regulation to outcomes and were present when relations between fearful emotionality and the outcomes were not. No relations were observed between any of the BAS scales and the outcome measures. Results recommend the application of neurobiological and psychophysiological approaches to the study of children's adaptation to preschool.
The Impact of the Unemployment Rate on Unemployment Benefits in Barbados: An Impulse Response Approach

Abstract The purpose of this article is to determine how the rate of unemployment will impact on unemployment benefits in Barbados using annual data from 1982 to 2009 with the use of an impulse response function. The results show that when a shock is applied to the rate of unemployment, which causes it to rise, unemployment benefits will contract marginally and this reaction will not stabilize until the 14th period when a new equilibrium will be attained. Since this new equilibrium will lie below the original equilibrium, rising unemployment will impact negatively on unemployment benefits although this decline will only be marginal.
Populist demand, economic development and regional identity across nine European countries: exploring regional patterns of variance

ABSTRACT Today, populism has gradually become one of the most talked about, most studied phenomena, both within and beyond academia. Most studies of populism focus on its conceptualisation, operationalisation, measurement or its outcomes. However, adding to the growing empirical analysis of populism, we propose to study populism as a regional-level phenomenon and explain regional patterns of variation in the populist demand. To do so, we develop a series of theoretical arguments from, which we subsequently test empirically. Specifically, we argue that higher levels of regional populism demand are associated with (i) economic hardship, (ii) strong institutional autonomy, (iii) strong territorial identity, and (iv) greater distance to elites. We construct a populist index for 143 regions across nine countries and combine this with a unique and rich regional database. While we find that populism holds distinct regional patterns and there is support for classic predictors like economic hardship, we are also able to provide some unique insights into the regional foundations of populism, most notably the predictive power of regional identity and the distance to national elites.
Caspase-Dependent N-Terminal Cleavage of Influenza Virus Nucleocapsid Protein in Infected Cells

ABSTRACT The nucleocapsid protein (NP) (56 kDa) of human influenza A viruses is cleaved in infected cells into a 53-kDa form. Likewise, influenza B virus NP (64 kDa) is cleaved into a 55-kDa protein with a 62-kDa intermediate (O. P. Zhirnov and A. G. Bukrinskaya, Virology 109:174–179, 1981). We show now that an antibody specific for the N terminus of influenza A virus NP reacted with the uncleaved 56-kDa form but not with the truncated NP53 form, indicating the removal of a 3-kDa peptide from the N terminus. Amino acid sequencing revealed the cleavage sites ETD16*G for A/Aichi/68 NP and sites DID7*G and EAD61*V for B/Hong Kong/72 NP. With D at position −1, acidic amino acids at position −3, and aliphatic ones at positions −2 and +1, the NP cleavage sites show a recognition motif typical for caspases, key enzymes of apoptosis. These caspase cleavage sites demonstrated evolutionary stability and were retained in NPs of all human influenza A and B viruses. NP of avian influenza viruses, which is not cleaved in infected cells, contains G instead of D at position 16. Oligopeptide DEVD derivatives, specific caspase inhibitors, were shown to prevent the intracellular cleavage of NP. All three events, the NP cleavage, the increase of caspase activity, and the development of apoptosis, coincide in cells infected with human influenza A and B viruses. The data suggest that intracellular cleavage of NP is exerted by host caspases and is associated with the development of apoptosis at the late stages of infection.
Patterns of Emergency Medical Services Use and Its Association With Timely Stroke Treatment: Findings From Get With the Guidelines-Stroke

Background— Prior studies found that only about half of stroke patients arrived at hospitals via emergency medical services (EMSs), yet since then, there have been efforts to increase public awareness that time is brain. Using contemporary Get With the Guidelines-Stroke data, we assessed nationwide EMS use by stroke patients. Methods and Results— We analyzed data from 204 591 patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke admitted to 1563 Get With the Guidelines-Stroke participating hospitals with data on National Institute of Health Stroke Score and insurance status. Hospital arrival by EMSs was observed in 63.7% of patients. Older patients, those with Medicaid and Medicare insurance, and those with severe stroke were more likely to activate EMSs. In contrast, minority race and ethnicity and living in rural communities were associated with decreased odds of EMS use. EMS transport was independently associated with earlier arrival (onset-to-door time, ⩽3 hours; adjusted odds ratio, 2.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.93–2.08), prompter evaluation (more patients with door-to-imaging time, ⩽25 minutes; odds ratio, 1.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.78–2.00), more rapid treatment (more patients with door-to-needle time, ⩽60 minutes; odds ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.28–1.63), and more eligible patients to be treated with tissue-type plasminogen activator if onset is ⩽2 hours (67% versus 44%; odds ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.33–1.64). Conclusions— Although EMS use is independently associated with more rapid evaluation and treatment of stroke, more than one third of stroke patients fail to use EMSs. Interventions aimed at increasing EMS activation should target populations at risk, particularly younger patients and those of minority race and ethnicity.
Physiological identification of jaw-movement-related neurons in the trigeminal nucleus of cats.

Although neurons responsive to jaw movements have been identified in most parts of the trigeminal brainstem nuclei, little is known about how this information is relayed to the thalamus and ultimately to the cortex for kinesthetic functions and sensorimotor integration. The present extracellular recording experiments showed that a substantial amount of movement-related information is relayed to the thalamus through the caudal part of subnucleus interpolaris (Vi) in adult cats. Vertical jaw displacements, natural mechanical stimuli, and electrical stimulation of the masseter nerve were used to determine the receptive fields and response properties of movement-related neurons. Movement-related responses were observed in 161 units. The receptive fields of these units were located in the masseter muscle, other deep structures, hairy skin, oral mucosa, or some combination of these structures (i.e., convergent). The latency of units responding to masseter nerve stimulation ranged from 1.0 msec to 20 msec, which suggested that some movement-related information was provided by smaller-diameter muscle afferents. Movement responses were either tonic or phasic. Tonic units showed continuous firing at some jaw position; some of these showed a "dynamic" response to jaw displacement. Phasic units were only active, or showed increased activity, when the jaw moved through a specific position. Seventy-one movement-related units were activated by stimulation from the contralateral ventroposteromedial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus. Most of the brainstem recording sites were located in the dorsal part of Vi between the caudal pole of the facial motor nucleus and the obex. Neurons in caudal Vi may be important for facial kinesthesia. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Degradation of multi-phase microspheres fabricated via solvent removal

Multi-phase polymer microspheres for drug encapsulation have been fabricated via solvent removal using poly(l-lactic) acid (PLLA) and poly(fumaric-co-sebacic) anhydride (20:80) (P(FA:SA) (20:80)). The process by which these spheres degrade was investigated. Characterization was conducted to determine the extent of degradation of the two polymer phases over 16 weeks using scanning-electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), differential-scanning calorimetry (DSC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). These experiments showed that the P(FA:SA) (20:80) phase of the multi-phase microspheres degraded faster than the PLLA phase, leaving only some of the poly(sebacic) oligomers after 16 weeks in both the in vitro and in vivo studies. These portions could remain because they were entrapped in the PLLA phase, preventing more rapid degradation. The PLLA phase showed minimal changes over the 16 week period; there was no significant change in crystallinity and only a small decrease in molecular weight in both the in vitro and in vivo studies. The in vitro study showed a rapid mass loss initially (first 3 days), followed by a fairly constant mass through 16 weeks, while the in vivo study showed a mass gain due to tissue influx.
Astragaloside IV inhibits renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis by blocking TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is a major active ingredient from Radix astragali, which has been considered as a renoprotective agent; however, its molecular mechanisms are unclear. Thus, we designed to investigate the renoprotective effects and mechanisms of AS-IV in rat model of renal fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in vivo and TGF-β1-stimulated rat renal fibroblasts (NRK-49F) in vitro. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups: sham operation, UUO, UUO/AS-IV (3.3, 10, 33 mg·kg−1·d−1), and UUO/enalapril (4 mg·kg−1·d−1). Renal function, tubulointerstitial damage index score, extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and the expressions of TGF-β1, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), α-SMA, fibronectin, collagen I, III, Smad2/3, phosphorylated-Smad2/3, and Smad7 were measured. In addition, the expressions of CTGF, α-SMA, fibronectin, collagen I, III, Smad2/3, phosphorylated-Smad2/3, and Smad7 were measured in TGF-β1-stiumlated NRK-49F cell line. AS-IV significantly decreased UUO-induced renal fibrosis and functional impairment, which are associated with inhibition of TGF-β1, CTGF, α-SMA, and collagen matrix expression, and a decrease in serum creatinine and urea nitrogen. The renoprotective effects of AS-IV on fibrosis were associated with up-regulation of Smad7, thereby blocking up-regulations of TGF-β1, CTGF, and α-SMA, and activation of phosphorylated-Smad2/3. These effects were further conformed in NRK-49F cell line stimulated by TGF-β1. Moreover, knockdown of Smad7 gene in NRK-49F cells was able to prevent AS-IV-induced inhibition to Smad2/3 signaling activation, expression of CTGF, α-SMA, and ECM proteins in response to TGF-β1. Renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis was attenuated by treatment with AS-IV, which was closely related to induction of Smad7, thereby inhibiting TGF-β/Smad signaling.
Gene therapy for platelet disorders: studies with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia

Summary. Current research aimed at correcting platelet defects are designed to further our knowledge in the use of hematopoietic stem cells for gene therapies of hemorrhagic disorders. Information gained from these studies may be directly applicable to treatment of disorders affecting platelets (e.g. Glanzmann's thrombasthenia, Bernard Soulier syndrome, gray platelet syndrome, and von Willebrand disease) as well as other disorders affecting distinct hematopoietic cell lineages. This work specifically addresses three questions: (i) can bone marrow stem cells be given sufficient genetic information to induce abnormal megakaryocytes to synthesize transgene products that help newly formed platelets to participate in normal hemostasis? (ii) can the newly synthesized receptor be maintained as a platelet‐specific protein at therapeutic levels for a reasonable period of time? and (iii) will newly expressed proteins be tolerated by the immune system or become a target for B‐ and T‐cell mediated immunity resulting in the premature destruction and clearing of the genetically altered megakaryocytes and platelets? Answers to these questions should indicate the feasibility of targeting platelets with genetic therapies that will in turn enable better management of patients with inherited bleeding disorders. The long‐range benefit of this research will be an improved understanding of the regulation of protein expression during normal megakaryocytopoiesis, and the accumulation of additional scientific knowledge about normal platelet function and the way in which platelets and other cells recognize and interact with each other.
Subgraph Matching Using Graph Neural Network

Subgraph matching problem is identifying a target subgraph in a graph. Graph neural network (GNN) is an artificial neural network model which is capable of processing general types of graph structured data. A graph may contain many subgraphs isomorphic to a given target graph. In this paper GNN is modeled to identify a subgraph that matches the target graph along with its characteristics. The simulation results show that GNN is capable of identifying a target sub-graph in a graph.
Corneal Epithelial Immune Dendritic Cell Alterations in Subtypes of Dry Eye Disease: A Pilot In Vivo Confocal Microscopic Study.

PURPOSE To evaluate density and morphology of corneal epithelial immune dendritic cells (DCs) in different subtypes of dry eye disease (DED) using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). METHODS This retrospective study included 59 eyes of 37 patients with DED and 40 eyes of 20 age-matched healthy controls. Based on clinical tests, eyes with DED were categorized into two subtypes: aqueous-deficient (n = 35) and evaporative (n = 24). For all subjects, images of laser scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) of the central cornea were analyzed for DC density and DC morphology (DC size, number of dendrites, and DC field). These DC parameters were compared among all dry eye and control groups. RESULTS Compared with the controls, patients with DED had significantly higher DC density, larger DC size, higher number of dendrites, and larger DC field (all P < 0.001). Comparison between aqueous-deficient and evaporative subtypes demonstrated that DC density was significantly higher in aqueous-deficient subtype (189.8 ± 36.9 vs. 58.9 ± 9.4 cells/mm2, P = 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in morphologic parameters between DED subtypes. When aqueous-deficient DED with underlying systemic immune disease (Sjögren's syndrome and graft versus host disease) were compared with nonimmune conditions, the immunologic subgroup showed significantly higher DC density, DC size, and number of dendrites (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Corneal IVCM demonstrated differential changes in DC density and morphologic DC parameters between subtypes of DED. These changes, which reflect the degree of immune activation and inflammation in DED, can be used for clinical practice and endpoints in clinical trials.
Successful exporting: Exploring the transformation of export product portfolios

This paper examines the transformation of export product portfolios of highly successful exporters. Food manufacturers from a developing country (Greece) are investigated. Using an in-depth exploratory design involving a limited number of cases, it looks more precisely at the composition of product portfolio at initiation and development of exports, new product development for exports and export product elimination. Among the main findings, the foreign (FMD) versus domestic (DMD) market dependence of the focus exporters had a major effect in the transformation of the export product portfolios, FMD exporters carried out adaptations to a greater extent and developed more products than DMD exporters. Small FMD exporters seemed to lag in export product innovativeness and initiated exports with lower differentiation-pricate label in contrast with DMD firms which developed exports with higher differentiation own branded products. Furthermore, new product development for exports was irregular and diverged from formal incremental development. Last, but not least, export product elimination is much different from its counterpart in domestic marketing. Six different categories of export elimination may be distinguished. Five incidents of export product elimination falling in three categories were identified. Precipitating circumstances varied for each category. Fourteen propositions are forwarded for futher investigation.
Beyond Page Objects: Testing Web Applications with State Objects

End-to-end testing of Web applications typically involves tricky interactions with Web pages by means of a framework such as Selenium WebDriver. The recommended method for hiding such Web-page intricacies is to use page objects, but there are questions to answer first: Which page objects should you create when testing Web applications? What actions should you include in a page object? Which test scenarios should you specify, given your page objects?
Importance of Residual Renal Function in Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis: Its Influence on Different Parameters of Renal Replacement Treatment

Objective: To study the influence of residual renal function (RRF) on different parameters of the renal substitutive treatment offered by peritoneal dialysis. Methods: We analyzed the impact of RRF on dialysis dose, nutrition parameters, anemia and phosphocalcic metabolism in 37 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated by continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Analytical controls were done every 6 months after an initial assessment at the end of the first month of treatment. Multiple lineal regression models were used as the statistical method to analyze the influence of RRF on different theoretically dependent factors. RRF was calculated as a mean of creatinine and urea clearances. Three observations per patient were used: one at the end of the first month of treatment; a final one at the end of follow-up (mean time 24.2 ± 11.4 months), and at a mean time between them (13.4 ± 6.7 months), with a final number of 111 observations. Results: Dialysis dose: RRF was the most important factor in terms of creatinine clearance (r2 = 0.94; β = 0.999), KT/V (r2 = 0.68; β = 0.819) and β2-microglobulin levels (r2 = 0.46; β = –0.489). Nutrition parameters: RRF was a determinant factor for normalized protein catabolic rate (r2 = 0.53; β = 0.471), percent lean body mass (r2 = 0.45; β = 0.446) and albumin levels (r2 = 0.25; β = 0.229). Anemia: RRF was the most important factor when studying hemoglobin levels (r2 = 0.28; β = 0.407). Phosphocalcic metabolism: Between the analyzed factors, RRF was the only one which reached significance on serum phosphate levels (r2 = 0.19; β = –0.594). RRF did not show any relationship with either calcium or PTH levels. Conclusions: Independent of other factors, RRF in CAPD is positively and directly related to dialysis dose, β2-microglobulin levels, nutrition parameters (albumin, normalized protein catabolic rate and percent lean body mass, hemoglobin and serum phosphate levels.