Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical and Methodological Challenges of Studying Refugee Children in the Middle East and North Africa: Young Palestinian, Afghan and Sahrawi Refugees

This article aims to address a number of conceptual and methodological challenges facing the study of young refugees. Much of the research on refugees has, until recently, been focused on adults, and to a lesser degree, on young children. Those studies that do include children are largely carried out in the domain of psychology and psychiatry and tend to pathologize and individualize. This article is based on observations derived from a six-year, multi-disciplinary anthropological and participatory research programme that examined the impact of forced migration on young people in the Middle East and North Africa: Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza, Sahrawi youth in Algeria, and Afghan youth in Iran. It argues that despite the challenges, an anthropological and participatory approach contributes to a greater, more holistic understanding of refugee youth. © The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Role of the Oxygen-Dependent Degradation Domain in a Hypoxia-Inducible Gene Expression System in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Gene Therapy

Study Design. An in vitro neural hypoxia model and rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model were used to assess the regulation effect of a reporter or therapeutic gene expression by an oxygen-dependent degradation (ODD) domain in a hypoxia-inducible gene expression system with or without the erythropoietin (EPO) enhancer. Objective. To increase vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression in SCI lesions but avoid unwanted overexpression of VEGF in normal sites, we developed a hypoxia-inducible gene expression system consisting of the EPO enhancer upstream of the SV promoter and an ODD domain C-terminally fused to VEGF. Summary of Background Data. ODD domain plays a major role in the degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α and has been used in a hypoxia-specific gene expression system as a post-translational regulatory factor. Methods. The hypoxia-inducible luciferase or VEGF plasmid was constructed using the EPO enhancer combined with or without the ODD domain. The constructed plasmid was transfected into mouse Neuro 2a (N2a) neuroblastoma cells by Lipofectamine 2000, followed by a 24-hour incubation in hypoxia or normoxia. For in vivo analysis, the naked plasmid DNA was directly injected into the injured rat spinal cord. The gene expression was evaluated by luciferase activity assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and immunofluorescence staining. Results. The EPO enhancer/ODD domain-combined hypoxia-inducible gene expression system clearly increased the expression of the reporter luciferase gene and therapeutic VEGF gene specifically under hypoxic conditions and SCI, and quickly downregulated protein expression to a very low level after reoxygenation. Conclusion. These results strongly suggest the potential applicability of this EPO enhancer/ODD domain-based hypoxia-inducible gene expression system in the development of a safer and more effective VEGF gene therapy for SCI.
Diffusion tensor imaging: an overview

Traditional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques used to determine the functional implications of cerebral disease have largely relied on the analysis of relationships to grey matter anatomy because of their readily identifiable contrast. White matter on the other hand is more opaque to routine imaging as a consequence of its less visible margins and more complex functional associations. Continuing with the neuroimaging theme, the focus of this issue’s Brain Bytes is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
An introduction to input/output automata

The input output automaton model has recently been de ned in LT LT as a tool for modeling concurrent and distributed discrete event systems of the sorts arising in computer science Since its introduction the model has been used for describing and reasoning about several di erent types of systems including network resource allocation algorithms communication algorithms concurrent database systems shared atomic objects and data ow architectures This paper is intended to introduce researchers to the model It is orga nized as follows Section contains an overview of the model Section de nes the model formally and examines several illustrative examples concerning candy vending machines Section contains a second example a leader election algo rithm Finally Section contains a survey of some of the uses that have so far been made of the model
Empowering Practitioners: Holmes, Carnegie, and the Lessons of History

The national discussion about the future of American education and the teaching profession continues with the 1986 publication of two major reports: A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the Twenty-first Century and Tomorrow's Teachers: A Report of the Holmes Group. These reports, by the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy and by the Holmes Group, respectively, agree that the key to educational improvement is to create a career ladder for teachers which recognizes and rewards excellence, but they disagree over which group—practitioners or professors—we should look to for the advancement of professional knowledge and technique. The Carnegie Forum looks to the experience of outstanding teachers in the schools while the Holmes Group seeks to reassert the role of faculty in research universities in setting professional standards.
Sequences Sufficient for Programming Imprinted Germline DNA Methylation Defined

Epigenetic marks are fundamental to normal development, but little is known about signals that dictate their placement. Insights have been provided by studies of imprinted loci in mammals, where monoallelic expression is epigenetically controlled. Imprinted expression is regulated by DNA methylation programmed during gametogenesis in a sex-specific manner and maintained after fertilization. At Rasgrf1 in mouse, paternal-specific DNA methylation on a differential methylation domain (DMD) requires downstream tandem repeats. The DMD and repeats constitute a binary switch regulating paternal-specific expression. Here, we define sequences sufficient for imprinted methylation using two transgenic mouse lines: One carries the entire Rasgrf1 cluster (RC); the second carries only the DMD and repeats (DR) from Rasgrf1. The RC transgene recapitulated all aspects of imprinting seen at the endogenous locus. DR underwent proper DNA methylation establishment in sperm and erasure in oocytes, indicating the DMD and repeats are sufficient to program imprinted DNA methylation in germlines. Both transgenes produce a DMD-spanning pit-RNA, previously shown to be necessary for imprinted DNA methylation at the endogenous locus. We show that when pit-RNA expression is controlled by the repeats, it regulates DNA methylation in cis only and not in trans. Interestingly, pedigree history dictated whether established DR methylation patterns were maintained after fertilization. When DR was paternally transmitted followed by maternal transmission, the unmethylated state that was properly established in the female germlines could not be maintained. This provides a model for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mice.
Enriching Slovene WordNet with domain-specific terms

The paper describes an innovative approach to expanding the domain coverage of wordnet by exploiting multiple resources. In the experiment described here we are using a large monolingual Slovene corpus of texts from the domain of informatics to harvest terminology from, and a parallel English-Slovene corpus and an online dictionary as bilingual resources to facilitate the mapping of terms to the Slovene Wordnet. We first identify the core terms of the domain in English using the Princeton Wordnet, and then we translate them into Slovene using a bilingual lexicon produced from the parallel corpus. In the next step we extract multi-word terms from the Slovene domain-specific corpus using a hybrid approach, and finally match the term candidates to existing Wordnet synsets. The proposed method appears to be a successful way to improve the domain coverage of Wordnet as it yields abundant term candidates and exploits various multilingual resources.
In vivo lactate editing with simultaneous detection of choline, creatine, NAA, and lipid singlets at 1.5 T using PRESS excitation with applications to the study of brain and head and neck tumors.

Two T2-independent J-difference lactate editing schemes for the PRESS magnetic resonance spectroscopy localization sequence are introduced. The techniques, which allow for simultaneous acquisition of the lactate doublet (1.3 ppm) and edited singlets upfield of and including choline (3.2 ppm), exploit the dependence of the in-phase intensity of the methyl doublet upon the time interval separating two inversion (BASING) pulses applied to its coupling partner after initial excitation. Editing method 1, which allows for echo times TE = n/J (n = 1, 2, 3, . . . . ), alters the BASING carrier frequency for each of two cycles so that, for one cycle, the quartet is inverted, whereas, for the other cycle, the quartet is unaffected. Method 2, which also provides water suppression, allows for editing for TE > 1/J by alternating, between cycles, the time interval separating the inversion pulses. Experimental results were obtained at 1.5 T using a Shinnar Le-Roux-designed maximum phase inversion pulse with a filter transition bandwidth of 55 Hz. Spectra were acquired from phantoms and in vivo from the human brain and neck. In a neck muscle study, the lipid suppression factor, achieved partly through the use of a novel phase regularization algorithm, was measured to be over 10(3). Spectra acquired from a primary brain and a metastatic neck tumor demonstrated the presence of lactate and choline signals consistent with abnormal spectral patterns. The advantages and limitations of the methods are analyzed theoretically and experimentally, and significance of the results is discussed.
Tissue‐based risk assessment of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes

Cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) are important consumer materials that are used in personal care products and industrial applications. These compounds have gained increased attention in recent years following the implementation of chemical legislation programs worldwide. Industry‐wide research programs are being conducted to characterize the persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity (PBT) properties of cVMS materials. As part of this larger effort, a tissue‐based risk assessment was performed to further inform the regulatory decision‐making process. Measured tissue concentrations of cVMS compounds in fish and benthic invertebrates are compared with critical target lipid body burdens (CTLBBs) as estimated with the target lipid model (TLM) to evaluate risk. Acute and chronic toxicity data for cVMS compounds are compared with data for nonpolar organic chemicals to validate application of the TLM in this effort. The analysis was extended to estimate the contribution from metabolites to the overall cVMS‐derived tissue residues using a food chain model calibrated to laboratory and field data. Concentrations of cVMS materials in biota from several trophic levels (e.g., invertebrates, fish) are well below the estimated CTLBBs associated with acute and chronic effects. This analysis, when combined with the limited biomagnification potential for cVMS compounds that was observed in the field, suggests that there is little risk of adverse effects from cVMS materials under present‐day emission levels. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012; 31: 1911–1919. © 2012 SETAC
Salt stress responses in Arabidopsis utilize a signal transduction pathway related to endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling

We describe a signaling pathway that mediates salt stress responses in Arabidopsis. The response is mechanistically related to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses described in mammalian systems. Such responses involve processing and relocation to the nucleus of ER membrane-associated transcription factors to activate stress response genes. The salt stress response in Arabidopsis requires a subtilisin-like serine protease (AtS1P), related to mammalian S1P and a membrane-localized b-ZIP transcription factor, AtbZIP17, a predicted type-II membrane protein with a canonical S1P cleavage site on its lumen-facing side and a b-ZIP domain on its cytoplasmic side. In response to salt stress, it was found that myc-tagged AtbZIP17 was cleaved in an AtS1P-dependent process. To show that AtS1P directly targets AtbZIP17, cleavage was also demonstrated in an in vitro pull-down assay with agarose bead-immobilized AtS1P. Under salt stress conditions, the N-terminal fragment of AtbZIP17 tagged with GFP was translocated to the nucleus. The N-terminal fragment bearing the bZIP DNA binding domain was also found to possess transcriptional activity that functions in yeast. In Arabidopsis, AtbZIP17 activation directly or indirectly upregulated the expression of several salt stress response genes, including the homeodomain transcription factor ATHB-7. Upregulation of these genes by salt stress was blocked by T-DNA insertion mutations in AtS1P and AtbZIP17. Thus, salt stress induces a signaling cascade involving the processing of AtbZIP17, its translocation to the nucleus and the upregulation of salt stress genes.
On Distributed Space-Time Coding

Codes construction for cooperative diversity in ad-hoc networks is considered. In the context of decoded-and-forward strategy, a new class of distributed space-time codes is proposed. This class is tolerant to timing offsets between the different relays, which is crucial for relaying over ad-hoc networks that lack a timing reference. The proposed codes are effective and flexible, enabling use of different signaling constellations, transmission rates, numbers of transmit and receive antennas, and decoders of varying levels of complexity.
Manipulating the Genetic Code: Jurisprudential Conundrums

This article considers the scientific, legal, ethical, and social issues of the Brave New World of Biotechnology as they existed in 1976 and as they exist — interestingly — today. Central to these issues (e.g., in vitro fertilization, genetic planning) presented in historical context, is consideration of the extent to which freedom of scientific investigation should be allowed and even encouraged by the government. In order to shape normative standards of conduct from which ethical constructs can be developed and policy developed, scientific experimentation must be promoted and designed to safeguard the common good — this, by enhancing opportunities for more healthful living, strengthening the gene pool by combating disease, minimizing human suffering and containing health care expenditures. Indeed, this course of behaviour should be recognized as not only in the Nation’s best interests, but a valid and efficacious ethic to embrace. It is only by recognition of the freedom of scientific inquiry that a common language of scientific humanism can ever be fostered.
Bipolar electrogram amplitudes in the left atrium are related to local conduction velocity in patients with atrial fibrillation.

AIMS It is unclear how the amplitude of bipolar electrogram relates to the local conduction velocity (CV) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). For 50 AF patients (paroxysmal/persistent AF: 40/10 patients), contact bipolar voltage maps of the left atrium (LA) were constructed during sinus rhythm using EnSite version 6.0J in a point-by-point recording fashion. Patients were divided into Groups A (n = 16), B (n = 19), and C (n = 15) according to the level of the lowest electrogram amplitudes: <0.5, 0.5-0.75, and 0.75-1.0 mV, respectively. Low-voltage zone (LVZ) was defined separately for these groups as a bipolar electrogram amplitude of <0.5, 0.5-0.75, and 0.75-1.0 mV, respectively. The local CV through the LVZ and non-LVZ was calculated along the direction of local activation within each zone for all groups. METHODS AND RESULTS Low-voltage zone was consistently found at the septal, anterior, and posterior LA in all groups. In Group A, CV through the LVZ was significantly slower compared with the non-LVZ (0.8 +/- 0.5 vs. 1.4 +/- 0.6 m/s, P = 0.004), but those through the LVZ and non-LVZ were similar in Group B (1.2 +/- 0.5 vs. 1.3 +/- 0.5 m/s, P = 0.07) and Group C (1.5 +/- 0.5 vs. 1.4 +/- 0.6 m/s, P = 0.79). The percentage of points showing fractionated or double potentials in the LVZ was significantly more in Group A (76/293 points, 26%) than in Group B (11/185 points, 6%), and Group C (7/135 points, 5%) (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION There was a significant slowing of local conduction in the LVZ defined as <0.5 mV and was frequently associated with fractionated or double potentials in patients with AF.
Successfully Improving Ocular Drug Delivery Using the Cationic Nanoemulsion, Novasorb

Topical ophthalmic delivery of active ingredients can be achieved using cationic nanoemulsions. In the last decade, Novagali Pharma has successfully developed and marketed Novasorb, an advanced pharmaceutical technology for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases. This paper describes the main steps in the development of cationic nanoemulsions from formulation to evaluation in clinical trials. A major challenge of the formulation work was the selection of a cationic agent with an acceptable safety profile that would ensure a sufficient ocular surface retention time. Then, toxicity and pharmacokinetic studies were performed showing that the cationic emulsions were safe and well tolerated. Even in the absence of an active ingredient, cationic emulsions were observed in preclinical studies to have an inherent benefit on the ocular surface. Moreover, clinical trials demonstrated the efficacy and safety of cationic emulsions loaded with cyclosporine A in patients with dry eye disease. Ongoing studies evaluating latanoprost emulsion in patients with ocular surface disease and glaucoma suggest that the beneficial effects on reducing ocular surface damage may also extend to this patient population. The culmination of these efforts has been the marketing of Cationorm, a preservative-free cationic emulsion indicated for the symptomatic treatment of dry eye.
From anxiety to assurance: concerns and outcomes of telework

Purpose – This paper aims to compare pre‐telework anxieties, expectations and motivators reported by 394 teleworkers with their corresponding actual experiences of telework.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an organizational survey, 394 samples were generated who had been teleworking for less than 12 months at the time of the survey. By using χ2 tests, comparisons were made between pre‐telework expectations and post‐telework outcomes reported by teleworkers with different characteristics such as gender, job type, the presence of dependent children, and working hours spent at home.Findings – The study found that prior to adopting telework sampled teleworkers tended to underestimate positive and overestimate negative experience of telework. It further demonstrated some statistically significant differences in pre‐telework expectations and post‐telework outcomes reported by different groups of teleworkers. For example, female teleworkers were more likely to report that telework made it easier to cope wi.
Book review: Anna Filipi, Toddler and Parent Interaction: The Organization of Gaze, Pointing and Vocalization. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2010

Thurlow and Jaworski are right to identify tourism discourse as an excellent entry point into broader discussions of contemporary macro-social structures and culture. Indeed, in many countries, particularly many developing countries, tourism plays a major – if not nigh on hegemonic – role in the economy, affecting national identity and constraining government policymaking. In fact, tourism-related employment accounts directly or indirectly for 60 percent of the workforce in the country from which I write this review. Despite the handful of issues with the volume, Thurlow and Jaworski are indubitably developing a very promising research programme. Indeed, Tourism Discourse will prove a welcome addition to the scholarly conversation.
Extreme endurance training and fiber type adaptation in rat diaphragm.

Extreme endurance training was used to investigate the adaptability of the rat diaphragm muscle fibers. During the final phase of the 14-wk training program, the animals were running for 240 min/day at an estimated requirement of 80% of pretraining maximal O2 consumption. Analysis of a sample of the costal diaphragm indicated that training resulted in a 34% reduction (P less than 0.05) in the percent distribution of type IIa fibers [27.7 +/- 1.1 vs. 18.3 +/- 2.6 (SE)] and a 15% increase (P less than 0.05) in the percent of type IIb fibers (40.0 +/- 1.2 vs. 46.1 +/- 2.4). No change (P greater than 0.05) was found in the distribution of the type I fibers (32.3 +/- 1.2 vs. 35.7 +/- 1.3). Oxidative potential as assessed with NADH-tetrazolium reductase and measured microphotometrically increased (P less than 0.05) by 19% in type I fibers but did not change in either the type IIa or type IIb fibers. No effect of training was found when a different oxidative marker, succinic dehydrogenase, was employed. Similarly glycolytic potential based on the activity of alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase was not affected by training. Glycogen concentration was elevated by 60% (P less than 0.01) in type I fibers and 77% (P less than 0.01) in type IIb fibers with training but was not altered (P greater than 0.05) in type IIa fibers. Reductions (P less than 0.05) in fiber area ranging from 11 to 20% were observed in all fiber types as a result of training, whereas the number of capillaries per fiber remained static. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Analyzing the divide between FPGA academic and commercial results

The pinnacle of success for academic work is often achieved by having impact on commercial products. In order to have a successful transfer bridge, academic evaluation flows need to provide representative results of similar quality to commercial flows. A majority of publications in FPGA research use the same set of known academic CAD tools and benchmarks to evaluate new architecture and tool ideas. However, it is not clear whether the claims in academic publications based on these tools and benchmarks translate to real benefits in commercial products. In this work we compare the latest Xilinx commercial tools and products with these well-known academic tools to identify the gap in the major figures of merit. Our results show that there is a significant 2.2X gap in speed-performance for similar process technology. We have also identified the area-efficiency and runtime divide between commercial and academic tools to be 5% and 2.2X, respectively. We show that it is possible to improve portions of the academic flow such as ABC logic optimization to match the quality of commercial tools at the expense of additional runtime. Our results also show that depth reduction, which is often used as the main figure of merit for logic optimization papers does not translate to post-routing timing improvements. We finally discuss the differences between academic and commercial benchmark designs. We explain the main differences and trends that may influence the topic choice and conclusions of academic research. This work emphasizes how difficult it is to identify the relevant FPGA academic work that can provide meaningful benefits for commercial products.