Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of ER stress and autophagy‐related molecules in human non‐small cell lung cancer and premalignant lesions

Stress that impairs endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function leads to an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the ER (ER stress). Autophagy is a lysosomal pathway involved in the turnover of cellular macromolecules and organelles, which emerging data indicate that ER stress is also a potent inducer of autophagy. ER stress and autophagy are involved in human cancer. We examined the expression of ER stress‐related proteins [GRP78 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP)] and autophagic proteins (Beclin‐1 and LC3) in non‐small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs), bronchioloalveolar carcinomas (BACs) and atypical adenomatous hyperplasias (AAHs) to understand their role in the NSCLC pathogenesis. The expression of GRP78 and CHOP, Beclin‐1 and LC3 were analyzed using immunohistochemistry on tissue sections from 133 NSCLC (69 squamous cell carcinomas, 56 adenocarcinomas (AC) and eight other NSCLCs), 21 BAC and 9 AAH. Expression of GRP78 and Beclin‐1 was correlated with low tumor stage (p < 0.001 and p = 0.019, respectively) and longer survival (p = 0.007 and p <0.001, respectively) by Kaplan–Meier analysis. However, CHOP was correlated with high tumor stage (p = 0.038) and shorter survival (p = 0.012). Expression of GRP78 and Beclin‐1 was positively correlated (p = 0.006). Our study showed that the expression of GRP78, CHOP, Beclin‐1 and LC3 in lung cancer and its relation with clinicopathologic factors and patients survival. These results suggest that GRP78, CHOP and Beclin‐1 may play an important role in tumorigenesis of lung AC and may serve as new prognostic indicators for outcome of the patients with NSCLC.
Translocation induced outgrowth of fungi in nutrient-free environments.

The study of alternatives to chemical methods of nematode control in agriculture has received significant recent interest. One such method is biological control using nematode trapping fungi such as Arthrobotrys superba. To understand how these fungi can be implemented as effective nematicides, it is essential to study their outgrowth into soil from localized nutrient resources. In this paper, we use a mathematical model to investigate the outgrowth of fungi into an environment essentially without available nutrients capable of supporting net growth. By comparing model solutions with experimental results, we show that in such circumstances, continual mycelial expansion can only be obtained if internal metabolites are actively translocated through the mycelium. Predictions are made concerning the maximal extension possible from a given quantity of nutrients and a testable functional relationship between the two is derived. Using this modelling technique we are able to map not only biomass extent but also biomass distribution at each stage. The type of environmental heterogeneity investigated here is encountered by many species of fungi in nature and is of relevance for the introduction of specific fungi into soil for biological control or bioremediation purposes.
Promoting assessment efficacy through an integrated system for online clinical assessment of practical skills

This paper presents evaluation outcomes from an externally funded research project involving the online clinical assessment of practical skills (eCAPS) using web-based video technologies within a university medical programme. eCAPS was implemented to trial this web-based approach for promoting the efficacy of practical skills assessment in knee joint examinations for a pre-clinical cohort of second year medical students. eCAPS involves a progressive organisation of online video experiences and task expectations for formative and summative assessments of selected competencies. Data are presented from semi-structured interviews with the medical students (N = 40). eCAPS successfully supported students’ skill development in knee joint examinations on fellow students and allowed remote assessment of candidates’ performances by clinicians experienced in musculoskeletal examinations. An ‘indicative standard’ paradigm, involving formative assessment of one randomly selected performance from the submission of all students’ responses within a small group, offered an efficient and efficacious avenue for providing consolidated feedback to students and promoted desirable learning behaviours. Overall, there was evidence of reciprocal learning benefits to the ‘blending’ of an online learning and assessment approach with an existing face-to-face environment. The medical students were able to successfully engage online with high quality and consistent practical skill-based materials in a flexible, independent and individual manner.
Underage Binge Drinking Adolescents: Sociodemographic Profile and Utilization of Family Doctors

Context. Binge drinking (more than five drinks on one occasion) is a major public health problem among teenagers in the US, Canada, and Europe. Negative outcomes to binge drinking include alcohol related injuries and accidental death. Family physicians are the main point of contact between binging adolescents and the health care system. Design and Setting. This study was based on a secondary analysis of 6,607 respondents aged 15–17 from the regionally representative data acquired through the Canadian Community Health Survey 1.1. Results. According to our findings, one in every eight teens aged 15–17 binge drank monthly. The odds of binge drinking were higher among males, Whites, those living away from parents, teens who reported a decline in health status, and those experiencing back problems and depression. Smoking status was strongly associated with the binge drinking behavior. Three-quarters of binge drinking adolescents had seen their family doctor in the past year but only one in ten had spoken with any health professional about a mental health issue. Conclusions. Family physicians need to screen their adolescent patients for binge drinking in order to provide timely and effective interventions. Awareness of the profile of binge drinkers could improve the accuracy of targeting and outreaching strategies.
Streptococcus mutans Serotype b Strain (St. rattus, Coykendall): First Isolation in Japan from Human Dental Plaque

Streptococcus mutans has been implicated for many years as one of the major microorganisms responsible for dental caries in man and animals (1, 6, 14, 20, 21). The bacterial species has been divided into groups on the basis of biochemical (1, 29, 31) or serological (1, 3, 4, 27) reactions, and DNA homology (8, 9, 12). So far eight different serological types (a through h) have been recognized (1, 20, 27). However, the predominant clinical isolates from human material have been of serotype c, followed by serotypes d, g, e, and f (7, 19, 20, 25, 29). In particular serotype b has never been isolated in Japan from human dental plaque whereas it was previously found in some other countries (2, 5, 13, 15, 16, 34). This communication deals with the first isolation in Japan of a serotype b strain of S. mutans (Streptococcus rattus nom. rev. after Coykendall) from human dental plaque and describes its biochemical and serological characteristics. Nineteen strains of various known serotypes (a through h) of S. mutans, HSI, E49, FA1, BHT, Ingbritt, MT6R, OMZ176, MT615R, LM7, P4, MT703, SE17, OMZ175, MT557, OMZ65, 6715, KIR, MF25, BFe12, were used as reference strains. They were generous gifts of Dr. Shigeyuki Hamada (National Institute of Health, Tokyo) and of Dr. R.R. B. Russell (Dental Research Unit, Royal College of Surgeons of England, Surrey, England). Dental plaques were sampled from the first and second molar teeth of 261 female students ranging from 18 to 21 years old and suspended in sterile saline. A portion of the suspension was cultured on MitisSalivarius (MS, Difco) agar plates containing bacitracin or potassium tellurite in a CO2 GasPak system (BBL). All reference strains and isolates suspected as S. mutans on MS agar plates were examined for biochemical and other properties following essentially the previously described methods (1, 29, 31) ; morphology in a gram-stained preparation, acid from various substrates added to a basal medium, Phenol Red Broth Base (Difco), ability to hydrolyze arginine and esculin, growth in brain heart infusion broth (BHI, Difco) at 45 C or 10 C or containing 6.5% NaC1 or adjusted to pH 9.6, hydrogen peroxide production, sensitivity to bacitracin,
An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Process Monitoring on Computer-Mediated Decision-Making Performance

Abstract The need to support individuals in the implementation of their decision-making strategies has often been articulated. However, computerized decision support addressing this need is conspicuous by its absence. We argue that this lack is a consequence of the dearth of theoretical guidance for the derivation of practical design guidelines. This paper, utilizing research in psychology and cognitive engineering, attempts to fill this theoretical gap. A laboratory experiment testing the utility of a DSS incorporating the derived design guidelines is described. Results indicate that itispossible to incorporate implementation support into DSS, that such support increases decision making efficiency and effectiveness, and that need as well as usefulness of such support increases with the level of complexity of the decision strategy.
Collateral cerebral circulation through the ophthalmic artery and its efficiency in internal carotid occlusion.

Three cases of ophthalmic collateral circulation angiographically demonstrated are reported. In two a homolateral carotid thrombosis was present. In the remaining case thrombosis was bilateral. In particular the authors discuss the validity, for a functional recovery, of the formation of such a compensatory circulation and the prognostic value of its angiographic demonstration. The authors believe that the radiological visualisation of any compensatory circle is not in itself an element of optimism especially if it involves vessels of fine calibre, but must be considered prognostically together with the clinical, bioelectrical and pneumoencephalographic data.
Parental Mediation of Undesired Advertising Effects

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of various types of parental mediation of 3 potentially undesired effects of television advertising. In a survey among 360 parent–child dyads with children in the 8 to 12 years age range, we investigated how different styles of advertising mediation (active vs. restrictive) and family consumer communication (concept-oriented vs. socio-oriented) moderated the relations between the children's advertising exposure and their materialism, purchase requests, and conflicts with their parents. Our results showed that active advertising mediation and concept-oriented consumer communication were most effective in reducing the effects of advertising.
Zymomonas mobilis as a model system for production of biofuels and biochemicals

Zymomonas mobilis is a natural ethanologen with many desirable industrial biocatalyst characteristics. In this review, we will discuss work to develop Z. mobilis as a model system for biofuel production from the perspectives of substrate utilization, development for industrial robustness, potential product spectrum, strain evaluation and fermentation strategies. This review also encompasses perspectives related to classical genetic tools and emerging technologies in this context.
On the relationship between input parameters in the two-mass vocal-fold model with acoustical coupling and signal parameters of the glottal flow

In this paper the sensitivity of the two-mass model with acoustical coupling to the model input-parameters is assessed. The model-output or the glottal volume air flow is characterised by signal-parameters in the time-domain. The influence of changing input-parameters on the signal-parameters is quantified.
Na 1K 1-ATPase in frog esophagus mucociliary cell membranes : inhibition by protein kinase C activation

Gertsberg, Irena, Irena Brodsky, Zvi Priel, and Michael Danilenko. Na1-K1-ATPase in frog esophagus mucociliary cell membranes: inhibition by protein kinase C activation. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Cell Physiol. 42): C1842–C1848, 1997. —We examined protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent regulation of Na1-K1-ATPase in frog mucociliary cells. Activation of PKC by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (diC8) either in intact cells or isolated membranes resulted in a specific inhibition of Na1-K1ATPase activity by ,25–45%. The inhibitory effects in membranes exhibited time dependence and dose dependence [half-maximal inhibition concentration (IC50) 5 0.5 6 0.1 nM and 2.4 6 0.2 μM, respectively, for TPA and diC8] and were not influenced by Ca21. Analysis of the ouabain inhibition pattern revealed the presence of two Na1-K1-ATPase isoforms with IC50 values for cardiac glycoside of 2.6 6 0.8 nM and 409 6 65 nM, respectively. Most importantly, the isoform possessing a higher affinity for ouabain was almost completely inhibited by TPA, whereas its counterpart was hardly sensitive to the PKC activator. The results suggest that, in frog mucociliary cells, PKC regulates Na1-K1-ATPase and that this action is related to the specific Na1-K1-ATPase isoform.
Parental Mediation of Children's Internet Use

This article examines parental regulation of children and teenagers' online activities. A national survey of 1511 children and 906 parents found that 12–17-year-olds encounter a range of online risks. Parents implement a range of strategies, favoring active co-use and interaction rules over technical restrictions using filters or monitoring software, but these were not necessarily effective in reducing risk. Parental restriction of online peer-to-peer interactions was associated with reduced risk but other mediation strategies, including the widely practiced active co-use, were not. These findings challenge researchers to identify effective strategies without impeding teenagers' freedom to interact with their peers online.
[Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: comparison of techniques].

UNLABELLED Several diagnostic assays are available for evaluating Helicobacter pylori infection: histological examination, culture of gastric biopsies, urea breath test and serology. Recently a new enzyme immunoassay has been introduced for the detection of H. pylori antigens in stool samples (HpSA). The aim of our study was to evaluate and compare diagnostic efficacy of HpSA with histological examination, culture, urea breath test and serology in a group of 95 patients. Patients were classified H. pylori positive (43) or negative (52) on the basis of histology, culture and urea breath test. HpSA optical densities were significantly higher in infected patients compared to those obtained in H. pylori-negative patients (t = 5.47, p < 0.001). Overall, with a fixed cut-off of 0.1 unit of optical density, the sensitivity was 79% and the specificity 100%. In the H. pylori positive patients, HpSA optical density correlated with bacterial load histologically evaluated in the gastric antrum (r = 0.405, p < 0.05) and was inverse correlated with levels of serum IgG elicited against H. pylori (r = -0.315, p < 0.05). Considering patients with a positive HpSA finding and/or levels of anti-H. pylori antibodies upper than 30 U/mL, sensitivity in detecting infected patients was 98%. IN CONCLUSION (1) immunodetection of H. pylori antigens in stools is a good alternative of breath test; (2) a reduction in H. pylori density grade might be accompanied by low HpSA optical density, leading to a false negative result and (3) combining the HpSA determination with the serum detection of anti-H. pylori antibodies a better clinical sensitivity is obtained.
ECASL: a model of rational agency for communicating agents

The Cognitive Agent Specification Language (CASL) is a framework for specifying and verifying complex communicating multiagent systems. In this paper, we develop an extended version, ECASL. which incorporates a formal model of means-ends reasoning suitable for a multiagent context. In particular, we define a simple model of cooperative ability, give a definition of rational plans, and show how an agent's intentions play a role in determining her next actions. This bridges the gap between intentions to achieve a goal and intentions to act. We also show that in the absence of interference, an agent that is able to achieve a goal, intends to do so, and is acting rationally will eventually achieve it.
Matrix Valued Orthogonal Polynomials Arising from Group Representation Theory and a Family of Quasi-Birth-and-Death Processes

We consider a family of matrix valued orthogonal polynomials obtained by Pacharoni and Tirao in connection with spherical functions for the pair ($\mathrm{SU}(N+1)$, $\mathrm{U}(N)$); see [I. Pacharoni and J. A. Tirao, Constr. Approx., 25 (2007), pp. 177-192]. After an appropriate conjugation, we obtain a new family of matrix valued orthogonal polynomials where the corresponding block Jacobi matrix is stochastic and has special probabilistic properties. This gives a highly nontrivial example of a nonhomogeneous quasi-birth-and-death process for which we can explicitly compute its “n-step transition probability matrix” and its invariant distribution. The richness of the mathematical structures involved here allows us to give these explicit results for a several parameter family of quasi-birth-and-death processes with an arbitrary (finite) number of phases. Some of these results are plotted to show the effect that choices of the parameter values have on the invariant distribution.
>OFSTED: inspecting schools and improvement through inspection

Abstract Approximately one‐third of all maintained secondary schools in England, and a smaller tranche of nursery, primary and special schools, were inspected under the arrangements set out in Section 9 of the 1992 Education (Schools) Act by the end of 1994. This article reviews some aspects of quality assurance in the national inspection system in England. It looks in particular at the improvement of inspection and at improvement through inspection. Continuous improvement of the inspection system reflects feedback from key stakeholders, as well as work by OFSTED to incorporate new developments. Improvement through inspection, broadly defined, has to cover both what occurs at the individual school level and in the system at large as a result of inspection. We argue that an effective inspection system can provide a powerful incentive for, as well as directly contributing to, school improvement and development
Factors influencing prolactin release induced by electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsions have been reported to induce rapid elevations of serum prolactin (PRL) levels. To further evaluate factors involved in the hormonal release an extended study was performed. Blood samples for determination of PRL were withdrawn from depressed patients 5 min before and 15 min after administration of electroconvulsions. Significant elevations of PRL levels were found in 35 of 37 patients. Increase in PRL levels was significantly correlated to duration of seizures but not to duration of the electric stimulation. The hormonal response to electroconvulsions was diminished with age. Patients on lithium medication had significantly more pronounced rises of PRL levels than patients treated with other psychotropic drugs and otherwise untreated patients. The results indicate that the elevation in PRL levels is a biochemical marker of the seizure activity during electroconvulsive therapy.
An Efficient Auditing Protocol for Secure Data Storage in Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is a type of distributed computing whereby resources and applications are shared over the internet. These applications are stored in one location and can be accessed in different location by any authorized users where the user does not need any infrastructure. In cloud storage, while outsourcing trust worthiness of the data is a scary task in cloud. To ensure the integrity of dynamic data stored in the cloud, external Third Party Auditor (TPA) is acquainted in a cloud infrastructure. For enabling public auditing in cloud data storage security, users can resort to an external auditor to check integrity of an outsourced data. The third party auditor (TPA) should met the following fundamental requirements: 1) TPA should be able to efficiently audit the cloud data without revealing the original data, and it should not add burden to the cloud user; 2) Auditing process should not bring no new vulnerabilities towards the user data. 3) Integrity of the data is protected against TPA by invoking some cryptographic techniques to ensure the storage correctness in cloud. In particular, this scheme achieves batch auditing where multiple delegated auditing tasks from different users, can be performed by the TPA and further enables TPA to perform data dynamics operations. Thus, the performance analysis depicts that the proposed schemes are more sheltered and highly competent.
Effective Management and Energy efficiency in Management of Very Large Scale Sensor Network

One of the major challenges in deploying large scale sensor networks is to make the sensors weave dynamically and autonomously into a sensing plan. In this paper we present a novel algorithm with the following characteristics: (a) it is applicable for thousands of sensors, (b) it uses the tree based organization to present an aggregation method that aggregates discrete events into compound events that reduce the traffic, (c) it presents a set of security levels to ensure that events are transmitted to the sink, (d) it presents backup layers to ensure maximal connectivity and (e) it is applicable for sensors without GPS. The algorithm was successfully tested using the dedicated IFAS simulator on a terrain containing up to 10,000 sensors. Our results show that the sensors succeed to weave into a sensing plan, identifying multiple intruders and reporting the events to the sink in a short time. Copyright © 2011 IFSA.
Pulse Wave Velocity in the Main Pulmonary Artery of the Dog

Apparent phase velocities in the main pulmonary artery were calculated from simultaneous measurements of pressure at two sites in 11 anesthetized, open-chest dogs, at heart rates ranging from 24 to 240 beat/min. The distribution of apparent phase velocity with harmonic frequency was similar to that reported previously for input impedance and frequency. Phase velocity in the absence of reflections, estimated by averaging apparent phase velocities at frequencies from 9 to 23 cycle/sec, averaged 275 cm/sec in the control state and 417 cm/sec during the infusion of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). The elastic modulus of the pulmonary arterial wall implied by these velocities was calculated to be approximately 1.2 × 106 dyne/cm2 in the controls and 2.7 × 106 dyne/cm2 during serotonin. These results are consistent with previous observations on normal pulmonary vascular input impedance in the dog under these conditions, and with the relationships predicted by the Womersley equations, and suggest that the effects of serotonin on the input impedance spectrum are due in part to an increase in pulse wave velocity.