Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Mice Lacking the Multidrug Resistance Protein Mrp2 (Abcc2)

The multidrug resistance protein Mrp2 is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter mainly expressed in liver, kidney, and intestine. One of the physiological roles of Mrp2 is to transport bilirubin glucuronides from the liver into the bile. Current in vivo models to study Mrp2 are the transporter-deficient and Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rat strains. Previous reports showed hyperbilirubinemia and induction of Mrp3 in the hepatocyte sinusoidal membrane in the mutant rats. In addition, differences in liver cytochrome P450 and UGT1a levels between wild-type and mutant rats were detected. To study whether these compensatory mechanisms were specific to rats, we characterized Mrp2–/– mice. Functional absence of Mrp2 in the knockout mice was demonstrated by showing increased levels of bilirubin and bilirubin glucuronides in serum and urine, a reduction in biliary excretion of bilirubin glucuronides and total glutathione, and a reduction in the biliary excretion of the Mrp2 substrate dibromosulfophthalein. To identify possible compensatory mechanisms in Mrp2–/– mice, the expression levels of 98 phase I, phase II, and transporter genes were compared in liver, kidney, and intestine of male and female Mrp2–/– and control mice. Unlike in Mrp2 mutant rats, no induction of Mrp3 in Mrp2–/– mice was detected. However, Mrp4 mRNA and protein in liver and kidney were increased ∼6- and 2-fold, respectively. Phenotypic analysis of major cytochrome P450-mediated activities in liver microsomes did not show differences between wild-type and Mrp2–/– mice. In conclusion, Mrp2–/– mice are a new valuable tool to study the role of Mrp2 in drug disposition.
Cardiac Channelopathies and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is always a devastating and unexpected occurrence. SIDS is the leading cause of death in the first 6 months after birth in the industrialized world. Since the discovery in 1998 of long QT syndrome as an underlying substrate for SIDS, around 10–20% of SIDS cases have been proposed as being caused by genetic variants in either ion channel or ion channel-associated proteins. Until now, 10 cardiac channelopathy susceptibility genes have been found to be implicated in the pathogenesis of SIDS. Four of the genes encode cardiac ion channel α-subunits, 3 genes encode ion channel β-subunits, and 3 genes encode other channel-interacting proteins. All 10 genes have been associated with primary electrical heart diseases. SIDS may hereby be the initial symptom of rare primary electric channelopathies such as long QT, short QT and Brugada syndrome, as well as catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. In this review we describe the functional role of sodium, potassium and calcium channels in propagation, depolarization and repolarization in the context of the 4 arrhythmogenic diseases reported to be associated with SIDS. Lastly, the possibility of postmortem genetic testing and potential recommendations on how to deal with family members are discussed.
Mimivirus shows dramatic genome reduction after intraamoebal culture

Most phagocytic protist viruses have large particles and genomes as well as many laterally acquired genes that may be associated with a sympatric intracellular life (a community-associated lifestyle with viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotes) and the presence of virophages. By subculturing Mimivirus 150 times in a germ-free amoebal host, we observed the emergence of a bald form of the virus that lacked surface fibers and replicated in a morphologically different type of viral factory. When studying a 0.40-μm filtered cloned particle, we found that its genome size shifted from 1.2 (M1) to 0.993 Mb (M4), mainly due to large deletions occurring at both ends of the genome. Some of the lost genes are encoding enzymes required for posttranslational modification of the structural viral proteins, such as glycosyltransferases and ankyrin repeat proteins. Proteomic analysis allowed identification of three proteins, probably required for the assembly of virus fibers. The genes for two of these were found to be deleted from the M4 virus genome. The proteins associated with fibers are highly antigenic and can be recognized by mouse and human antimimivirus antibodies. In addition, the bald strain (M4) was not able to propagate the sputnik virophage. Overall, the Mimivirus transition from a sympatric to an allopatric lifestyle was associated with a stepwise genome reduction and the production of a predominantly bald virophage resistant strain. The new axenic ecosystem allowed the allopatric Mimivirus to lose unnecessary genes that might be involved in the control of competitors.
FES artifact suppression for real-time tremor compensation

This paper will present an algorithm for reducing Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) artifact in surface electromyography (sEMG) reading, implemented iteratively in a real time data acquisition system. The intended application is real time attenuation of pathological tremor in upper limb. The data acquisition card receives inputs from sEMG and accelerometer. The processed information is fed into FES system which stimulates the corresponding muscle to counteract the tremor. The algorithms proposed here are geared towards simplicity, as the system is targeted for testing the feasibility of real time pathological tremor compensation.
Entrepreneurship: A Comparative and Historical Study

This major study of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship focuses on the significance of entrepreneurship in the socioeconomic development of a society, and the economic and noneconomic factors which promote its emergence. Comparatively and analytically, it looks at five societies that achieved industrialization during the 18th and 19th century (England, France, Prussia-Germany, Japan, and the U.S.) and one that did not (Russia).
Remote Working and Collaboration in Agile Teams Remote Working and Collaboration in Agile Teams Completed Research Paper

Agile software development relies heavily on tight and continuous collaboration, which becomes a challenge when team members work at a distance. Despite significant focus on distributed Agile working, remote working, when only one or two individuals are not co-located with the rest of the team, remains largely unexplored. We focus on one organisation with several such teams and investigate one in detail using distributed cognition – a theoretical framework for studying collaborative work. We present the results of a group retrospective, and a comparative analysis of collaboration in the team, taking the contrasting perspectives of the remote worker and his co-located teammates. The analysis shows substantial differences in three aspects: virtual artefacts; information flow; and the primacy of structure and facilities provided by collaborative platforms. Platforms that support meaningful collaboration and engagement for the remote worker, and create parity between all members of the team are crucial to integrating capability. Remote Working and Collaboration in Agile Teams Remote Working and Collaboration in Agile Teams Completed Research Paper Advait Deshpande The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK advait.deshpande@open.ac. uk Helen Sharp The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK helen.sharp@open.ac. uk Leonor Barroca The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK leonor.barroca@open.ac. uk Peggy Gregory University of Central Lancashire Preston, UK ajgregory@uclan.ac. uk
Design of a new 5.8 GHz RF-DC rectifier structure for wireless power transmission

A novel 5.8 GHz RF-DC rectifier has been developed for wireless power transmission applications. It's about a voltage multiplier topology including 5 schottky diodes well known by their low threshold (150 mv) implemented using microstrip lines technology on an FR4 substrate with dielectric permittivity constant 4.4, thickness of 1.6mm and loss tangent of 0.025. The rectifier is loaded by a 160Ω resistive element which acts like the device to be powered. The circuit was analyzed with the Harmonic Balance method provided by the Advanced Design System (ADS). Good performances have been obtained in terms of RF-DC conversion efficiency, DC output voltage level and matching input impedance.
Differences in communication, goals and self-efficacy, social anxiety, and self-perception for non-aggressive rejected and popular children

Peer collaboration has become a common ground for examining how children communicate and exchange information when working with a partner, and research has shown a general trend of improvement in cognitive coordination and performance during collaborative tasks (Bell, 2001; Doise, Mugny, & Perret-Clermont, 1975; Hartup, 1978; Ladd, 1981; Reynolds & Fireman, 1998; Yeates, Shultz, & Selman, 1991). Social status in childhood has also become a major focus in predicting social adjustment among peers, as research has shown that negative peer status in childhood is predictive of later manifestations of emotional problems, maladaptive behavior, and risk for academic failure in adolescence and adulthood (Coie, Dodge, & Kupersmidt, 1990; Coie, Lochman, Terry, & Hyman, 1992; Cowen, Pederson, Babigian, Izzo, & Trost, 1973; French & Conrad, 2001; Hoza, Molina, Bukowkski, & Sippola, 1995; Kupersmidt, 1983; Parker & Asher, 1987; Roff, Sells, & Golden, 1972). This study examined the social context of peer collaboration and communication when children in a negative peer status group, who were considered rejected and non-aggressive by their peers, were paired with children who were viewed as being popular by their peers. In addition, this study investigated individual differences within these two groups regarding the goals children had when solving a social conflict problem, feelings of self-efficacy in being able to solve the problem, levels of social anxiety, different types of self-perception, and the emotions experienced when they worked with a partner.
Design of an Open Context-Aware Platform enabling Desk Sharing Office Services

In the coming years user-centric services will be deployed in our homes, cars, offices, etc. Users expect that these services are autonomous and user-friendly. This requires that these services can adapt themselves to changes in the environment, implying that they have to become contextaware. In this paper we present a formal context model and an OSGi based framework that allows easy development and installation of context-aware services. The platform is open since it allows that new components are easily plugged in. Applicability is illustrated with a location determination use case in an desk sharing office environment where employees don’t have a fixed location or desk.
Esotropia greater at distance: children vs adults.

IMPORTANCE Esotropia greater at distance than at near can be related to abducens palsy or to divergence insufficiency. Mild abduction weakness can be difficult to detect, blurring the distinction between these 2 conditions. OBJECTIVES To examine the clinical and eye movement findings that distinguish abducens palsy from divergence insufficiency and to account for these findings based on current knowledge of vergence neurophysiology and saccadic adaptation. DESIGN Retrospective medical record review. SETTING A pediatric referral center. PARTICIPANTS The medical records of 32 patients with esotropia greater at distance seen during a 17-year period from August 1989 to July 2006 were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Details regarding age, medical history, oculomotor and neurological examinations, and result of any neuroimaging studies were recorded. Eye movements were recorded in 2 subjects using binocular video-oculography. RESULTS Fifteen children and 17 adults were identified; 93.3% of the children had an underlying central nervous system disorder that coincided with the onset of their esodeviation, and 23.5% of the adult patients had an underlying central nervous system disorder. Eye movement recordings in 2 pediatric patients revealed lateral incomitance suggestive of abducens palsy not detected by clinical examination. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The acute onset of an esodeviation greater at distance in a child is frequently associated with an underlying central nervous system disorder. Several features suggest that the children, unlike the adults, likely had a subtle abducens paresis rather than divergence insufficiency. This was confirmed by formal eye movement studies in 2 children in whom lateral incomitance was not detected clinically. The same pattern of strabismus in an otherwise healthy adult is more likely due to age-related reduction in accommodation, increased ratio of accommodative vergence to accommodation, and relative divergence insufficiency.
A simple approximating formula of implied volatility in general local volatility model

In this paper, we use the technique of Taylor expansion to obtain a very analytical and highly applicable approximating formula for implied volatility for general local volatility models, including time-inhomogeneous model case. Our formula is a slightly modification of proposition 5.3 in Pierre Henry-Labordere (2008) [17], and an approximation method is also devised so that the implied variance can be expressed as a very simple series. Numerical results confirm high efficiency and accuracy of our approximating formula, and demonstrate our significant improvement over Pierre Henry-Labordere result.
DigiAID: A wearable health platform for automated self-tagging in emergency cases

The presence medicine usually leads to explosive costs for a full medical coverage in particular for rural areas, frequent nomadic patients and mass casualty incidents. Therefore, advanced tele-medicine such as mobile health (m-Health) is gaining at importance. Body Sensor Networks (BSN) represent a fundamental tool to enable future tele-medicine. In this paper, we present a novel experimental BSN platform that allows to (a) measure important health indications, and (b) to map the health status of the individual carrying the platform into a set of predefined classes. We describe the components of the experimental platform while highlighting its key benefits to the research community through a set of experiments.
Anticoagulation for Interventional Extracardiac Fontan

I read with great interest the article written by Prabhu et al published in World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery entitled “A Simplified Technique for Interventional Extracardiac Fontan. ” The Fontan operation is currently reported to have a tenyear survival of up to 94%. On the other hand, one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality after the Fontan operation is thromboembolic events (TEs), and different studies report varying incidence of thrombosis and embolism ranging from 4% to 20%. It is attributed to low flow states, stasis in venous pathways, right to left shunts, blind cul-de-sacs, prosthetic materials, atrial arrhythmias, and hypercoagulable states. Moreover, a randomized trial of 111 patients who had undergone extracardiac total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC) showed higher incidence of TE. According to the article, the authors have described a new method that simplified the total cavopulmonary connection without surgical approach using two separate polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts. The two grafts have been divided by autologous pericardium to close the top end of the inferior PTFE graft resulting in a stump above the level of fenestration. In the presence that stump, wouldn’t the likelihood of clot formation and TE, which is a possibility that should never be ignored, increase, especially in the presence of large connection between right and left atrium? What kind of anticoagulation should we use to prevent clot formation?
Estrogen Augments the Protection of Hypertonic Saline Treatment from Mesenteric Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Either estrogen or hypertonic saline (HTS) administration can decrease lung inflammation after ischemia-reperfusion. The present study investigated whether combined treatment with estrogen and HTS could provide further protection from mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion (MSIR) injury. Male C3H/HeOuJ mice were randomly segregated into the following groups: sham-operated (sham), vehicle treatment followed by MSIR (vehicle treated), estrogen treatment followed by MSIR (estrogen treated), HTS treatment and MSIR (HTS treated), and combined treatment of estrogen plus HTS and MSIR (combined treated). In MSIR, mice were subjected to mesenteric ischemia for 60 min followed by reperfusion for 30 min. The histology of the lung and the gut was obtained. Lung injury was evaluated by lung edema and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity; lung protein expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), phosphorylated inhibitory &kgr;B&agr; (p-I&kgr;B&agr;), and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) were assayed. Survival analysis was monitored after MSIR for 120 min. Compared with those in the sham-treated group, the lung water ratio, MPO activity, and expressions of MIF, TLR4, p-I&kgr;B&agr;, and iNOS were significantly increased in the vehicle-treated group. Diminished MIF, TLR4, p-I&kgr;B&agr;, and iNOS expressions were found in the estrogen-treated group, whereas suppression of p-I&kgr;B&agr; and iNOS was found in the HTS-treated group. Treatment with estrogen or HTS decreased the lung water and MPO activity. The combined treatment of estrogen and HTS further significantly diminished p-I&kgr;B&agr; and iNOS expression, lung edema, and MPO activity and improved the inflammation of the lung and the morphology of the gut in histology compared with the results of a single treatment of estrogen or HTS. Survival analysis showed significantly increased survival in the combination-treated group compared with survival in the HTS-treated group. In conclusion, compared with single-agent use, treatment combining estrogen and HTS further decreases lung p-I&kgr;B&agr; and iNOS expressions, as well as the degree of lung injury. These effects may result in better rates of survival from MSIR injury.
The impact of project licence and operating system on the effectiveness of the defect-fixing process in open source software projects

Open source software (OSS) products have been widely adopted by commercial as well as government organisations. However, despite their increased adoption, many OSS projects still fail in responding to users' quality needs such as resolving software defects. Hence, this paper investigates the responsiveness of OSS projects to users' needs in terms of resolving software defects. To do so, we develop and test a model of antecedents to the effectiveness of the defect-fixing process for OSS projects. Data gathered for this study from 1481 OSS projects confirms that OSS projects that apply a less restrictive licence are less dependent on their team to operate their defect-fixing process. It is also demonstrated that OSS projects developed to run on a broader range of operating systems are more likely to have an effective defect-fixing. The study provides practitioners with insightful recommendations on project characteristics and defect-fixing effectiveness.
How do states define alternative education

Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have formal definitions of alternative education. The literature suggests that the definition of alternative education should include target population, setting, services, and structure. Alternative education serves primarily students with behavioral problems. The most common alternative education services are regular academic instruction, counseling, social/life skills, job readiness, and behavioral services. Exemptions to compulsory attendance laws for alternative education programs occur at the district level.
Isochrony and prosodic structure in British English

This paper attempts to translate two phonological models of prosodic structure into quantitative predictions which can be empirically tested on a large corpus of spoken English. Specifically the Abercrombie/Halliday model of the stressfoot is compared to the Jassem model of (narrow) rhythm unit and anacrusis. The data analysed was a five and a half hour corpus of spoken English (Aix-Marsec). Preliminary results from this analysis suggest that the Jassem model is in nearly all cases superior to the Abercrombie/Halliday model, i.e. that it is the narrow rhythm unit and not the foot which is the essential component of the rhythm of British English. The data suggest furthermore that there is no specific lengthening for stressed syllables.
What Are the Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education? A Realist Evaluation of the Chilean Education Quasi-Market

The superiority of market mechanisms in educational provision is a premise that has received renewed emphasis under the regime of public-private partnerships (PPPs). The central idea of PPPs—enthusiastically embraced by a range of international organizations, development agencies and scholars—is grounded in the assumption that competition between public and private schools is an effective means of promoting education quality and efficiency. PPP policy frameworks are expected to establish genuine market dynamics in which suppliers innovate and boost the quality of their education services as a way to attract families, who are portrayed as benefit maximizers and well-informed consumers. The application of these market ideas to education, however, has suffered from a series of modifications and failures under real world conditions. This study is based on the case of Chile—the most market-oriented education system in the world—and examines how few of the taken-for-granted benefits of market-oriented provision either have been or can be fulfilled, due to the nature of the supply structure and to the effects of agents’ expectations and behaviors.
SIBLING SEXUAL ABUSE: UNDERSTANDING ALL FAMILY MEMBERS' EXPERIENCES IN THE AFTERMATH OF DISCLOSURE

IX STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP XI CHAPTER ONE: CONTEXT AND PREAMBLE 1 CHAPTER TWO: OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE IN SIBLING SEXUAL ABUSE 9 What Is Sibling Sexual Abuse? 9 The confusion of definition. 9 Differentiating normal childhood sexual exploration from sibling sexual abuse. 11 What is known about SSA 13 Prevalence. 13 Age Differences. 14 Pattern of the Offending Behaviour. 15 Disclosure of Sibling Sexual Abuse. 16 Journey of Recognition of SSA in Research and Therapy 17 In the Beginning: The Family As The Locus Of Blame For Sibling Sexual Abuse 20 Survivors: The Impact of the Sibling Sexual Abuse and Pathways to Their Recovery 28 Impact: PTSD/DESNOS 28 Is there an idiosyncratic impact for SSA compared to IGSA? 29 Neurobiological aspects of impact. 31 Connections between the severity and nature of the SA and the impact. 32 Variables that minimise impact. 33 Individual coping styles and parental support. 33 Re-viewing attachment: the importance of attachment to recovery of childhood sexual abuse. 34 Pathways to recovery for sisters. 36
Visualization and Explanation of Payload-Based Anomaly Detection

The threat posed by modern network attacks requires novel means for detection of intrusions, as regular signature-based systems fail to cope with the amount and diversity of attacks. Recently, several methods for detection of anomalies in network payloads have been proposed to counteract this threat and identify novel attacks during their initial propagation. However, intrusion detection systems must not only flag malicious events but also provide information needed for assessment of security incidents. Previous work on payload-based anomaly detection has largely ignored this need for explainable decisions. In this paper, we present instruments for visualization and explanation of anomaly detection which can guide the decisions of a security operator. In particular, we propose two techniques: feature differences, for identifying relevant string features of detected anomalies, and feature shading, for highlighting of anomalous contents in network payloads. Both techniques are empirically evaluated using real attacks and network traces, whereby their ability to emphasize typical patterns of attacks is demonstrated.