Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TGF-β1 on induced osteogenic differentiation of human dermal fibroblast.

PURPOSE To evaluate the role of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) on the induced osteogenic differentiation of human dermal fibroblasts. METHODS We performed four groups with cultured dermal fibroblasts according to the culture medium: CONTROL (DMEM culture medium); TGF-β1 (DMEM culture medium with 10 ng/ml of TGF-β1); OSTEOG (DMEM culture medium with 0.5 µg/ml of ascorbic acid, 10 mmol/l of β-glycerophosphate and 10 nmol/L of dexamethasone); and OSTEOG/TGF-β1 (osteogenic medium with 10 ng/ml of TGF-β1). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the amount of osteocalcin (OC) in the supernatant, as well as the capability to form calcium phosphate deposits, were analysed for 28 days RESULTS There were significant differences (p<0.05) between CONTROL and TGF-β1 groups in comparison with OSTEOG and OSTEOG/TGF-β1 groups in the ALP activity and OC amount. Although, both osteogenic groups had the same behavior with regard the expression curve during the experimental time, the OSTEOG/TGF-β1 group achieved significantly higher ALP and OC levels and showed no significant difference in the levels of mineralized deposits and in comparison with the levels found in the OSTEOG group. CONCLUSION The addition of transforming growth factor beta 1 to the osteogenic culture medium increased the activity of alkaline phosphatase and the amount of osteocalcin, but TGF-β1 did not alter the presence of mineralized calcium phosphate deposits.
Potential Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Alleviating Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion Impairment

Background Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provides a promising therapeutic efficiency for a variety of disorders caused by ischemia or reperfusion impairment. We have previously demonstrated the efficacy of MSCs in mitigating intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injuries in rats, but the mechanism by which MSCs engraft ameliorates I/R injuries has largely been unknown. The present study aimed at investigating probable mechanisms by which MSCs exert their function. Methods Male donor derived rat MSCs were implanted into intestine of female recipient rat by direct submucosal injection after superior mesenteric artery clamping and unclamping. The homed MSCs were detected by Y chromosome in situ hybridization probe, and the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) content in intestinal mucosa was determined by ELISA. Expression of proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in bowel mucosa was assayed by real-time PCR and intestinal mucosa expression of phosphorylation extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK1/2) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) were evaluated by western blot. Results Four and seven days after MSCs transplantation, the TNF-α content of bowel mucosa in MSCs group was significantly lower than that in saline group. The PCNA in bowel mucosa showed higher expression in MSCs treated group than the saline group, both at 4 and 7 days after cell transplantation. The expression of intestinal mucosal pERK1/2 in MSCs treated group was markedly higher than that in saline group, and the expression of NF-κB in MSCs treated group was noticeably decreased than that in saline group at 4 and 7 days post MSCs transplantation. Conclusion The present investigation provides novel evidence that MSCs have the potential to reduce intestinal I/R injuries probably due to their ability to accelerate cell proliferation and decrease the inflammatory response within intestinal mucosa after ischemia and reperfusion.
Power of Quantum Computation with Few Clean Qubits

This paper investigates the power of polynomial-time quantum computation in which only a very limited number of qubits are initially clean in the |0> state, and all the remaining qubits are initially in the totally mixed state. No initializations of qubits are allowed during the computation, nor intermediate measurements. The main results of this paper are unexpectedly strong error-reducible properties of such quantum computations. It is proved that any problem solvable by a polynomial-time quantum computation with one-sided bounded error that uses logarithmically many clean qubits can also be solvable with exponentially small one-sided error using just two clean qubits, and with polynomially small one-sided error using just one clean qubit. It is further proved in the case of two-sided bounded error that any problem solvable by such a computation with a constant gap between completeness and soundness using logarithmically many clean qubits can also be solvable with exponentially small two-sided error using just two clean qubits. If only one clean qubit is available, the problem is again still solvable with exponentially small error in one of the completeness and soundness and polynomially small error in the other. As an immediate consequence of the above result for the two-sided-error case, it follows that the TRACE ESTIMATION problem defined with fixed constant threshold parameters is complete for the classes of problems solvable by polynomial-time quantum computations with completeness 2/3 and soundness 1/3 using logarithmically many clean qubits and just one clean qubit. The techniques used for proving the error-reduction results may be of independent interest in themselves, and one of the technical tools can also be used to show the hardness of weak classical simulations of one-clean-qubit computations (i.e., DQC1 computations).
Relationship between adipocyte size and adipokine expression and secretion.

CONTEXT Adipocytes are known to release a variety of factors that may contribute to the proinflammatory state characteristic for obesity. This secretory function is considered to provide the basis for obesity-related complications such as type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVE To get a better insight into possible underlying mechanisms, we investigated the effect of adipocyte size on adipokine production and secretion. DESIGN, PATIENTS, AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Protein secretion and mRNA expression in cultured adipocytes separated according to cell size from 30 individuals undergoing elective plastic surgery were investigated. RESULTS The mean adipocyte volume of the four fractions ranged from 205 +/- 146 to 1.077 +/- 471 pl. There were strong linear correlations for the secretion of adipokines over time. Secretion of leptin, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interferon-gamma-inducible protein 10, macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta, granulocyte colony stimulating factor, IL-1ra, and adiponectin was positively correlated with cell size. After correction for cell surface, there was still a significant difference between fraction IV (very large) and fraction I (small cells), for leptin, IL-6, IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. In contrast, antiinflammatory factors such as IL-1ra and adiponectin lost their association after correction for cell surface area comparing fraction I and IV. In addition, there was a decrease of IL-10 secretion with increasing cell size. CONCLUSIONS The results clearly suggest that adipocyte size is an important determinant of adipokine secretion. There seems to be a differential expression of pro- and antiinflammatory factors with increasing adipocyte size resulting in a shift toward dominance of proinflammatory adipokines largely as a result of a dysregulation of hypertrophic, very large cells.
An analysis of Turkish high school students' metacognition and motivation

The present study aimed at investigating Turkish high school students' metacognition and its relation to achievement goals (mastery approach goals, mastery avoidance goals, performance approach goals, performance avoidance goals), perceived competence, and perceived classroom environment (challenge and threat). Metacognition was examined in terms of knowledge of cognition (declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conditional knowledge) and regulation of cognition (planning, information management, monitoring, debugging, and evaluating). Self-report instruments were administered to 141 high school students with a mean age of 15.29 to assess variables of the study. Results reveal that Turkish high school students have more declarative and conditional knowledge than procedural knowledge and mostly use debugging strategies. All motivational variables except threat were found to be positively linked to students' metacognition. The students also appear to adopt approach goals more than avoidance goals. Results were interpreted taking the Turkish educational system into consideration.
Random Generation of Test Instances for Logic Optimizers

The attempt of using random test circuits for evaluating the performance of logic optimizers like SIS is apparently new. To generate "reasonable" random circuits, we propose the random applications of several transformation rules to an initial circuit instead of the obvious method, random placement of connections. A preliminary experiment has been conducted on SIS's responses against such random circuits. SIS shows considerably different performances for different circuits generated from the same original circuit.
Cross-racial identification of transformed, untransformed, and mixed-race faces.

Abstract Many studies report that people of one race find other-race faces difficult to remember. The generality of this observation was tested by examining the recognition memory of 2 groups of European (n = 32), and African (n = 32) subjects on same-race, other-race, and mixed-race faces, which were either transformed or untransformed in pose between initial study and recognition test. A mixed-design ANOVA (2-between × 1-within factors), using the Signal Detection Theory measures of discrimination accuracy (d') revealed the following: (1) a significant interaction between Race of Subject × Race of Face, with Europeans being more accurate than Africans at identifying untransformed white faces. and Africans also better than Europeans in identifying transformed black faces; (2) a significant interaction between Transformation interaction between Transformation Race of Subject, in that while Europeans were significantly more accurate than Africans on untransformed faces as a whole, Africans were slightly su.
First steps towards total reality of meromorphic functions

It was earlier conjectured by the second and the third authors that any rational curve γ: CP1 → CPn such that the inverse images of all its flattening points lie on the real line RP1 ⊂ CP1 is real algebraic up to a Mobius transformation of the image CPn. (By a flattening point p on γ we mean a point at which the Frenet n-frame (γ′,γ″,…,γ(n)) is degenerate. ) Below we extend this conjecture to the case of meromorphic functions on real algebraic curves of higher genera and settle it for meromorphic functions of degrees 2, 3 and several other cases.
Task formats and ambiguity aversion

This paper proposes that task format (choosing or rejecting) moderates the effect of ambiguity aversion. Specifically, an ambiguous option is more attractive in a choosing task than in a rejecting task compared with a risky option. The author performed three experiments to test the propositions. In the first experiment, participants showed less ambiguity aversion when they had to choose a preferred option (risky or ambiguous) compared with when they had to reject an option they preferred less. In the second experiment with a monetary incentive, participants had to form a cash-equivalent estimate for both a risky gamble and an ambiguous gamble in a traditional Ellsberg scenario. The ambiguous option emerged as more attractive than the risky option in the choosing task compared with the rejecting task. The third experiment showed that the participants' decision rationale mediated the effect of the task format on choice. These three experiments support the proposition that task formats moderate the effect of ambiguity aversion. On the basis of the findings, the author provides suggestions for practice and further research. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Viscoelastic properties of muscle-tendon units

Most muscle stretching studies have focused on defin ing the biomechanical properties of isolated elements of the muscle-tendon unit or on comparing different stretching techniques. We developed an experimental model that was designed to evaluate clinically relevant biomechanical stretching properties in an entire muscle- tendon unit. Our objectives were to characterize the viscoelastic behavior of the muscle-tendon unit and to consider the clinical applications of these viscoelastic properties. Rabbit extensor digitorum longus and tibialis anterior muscle-tendon units were evaluated using methods designed to simulate widely used stretching tech niques. Additionally, the effects of varying stretch rates and of reflex influences were evaluated. We found that muscle-tendon units respond viscoelastically to tensile loads. Reflex activity did not influence the biomechani cal characteristics of the muscle-tendon unit in this model. Experimental techniques simulating cyclic stretching and static stretching resulted in sustained muscle-ten don unit elongations, suggesting that greater flexibility can result if these techniques are used in the clinical setting. With repetitive stretching, we found that after four stretches there was little alteration of the muscle- tendon unit, implying that a minimum number of stretches will lead to most of the elongation in repetitive stretching. Also, greater peak tensions and greater energy absorptions occurred at faster stretch rates, suggesting that the risk of injury in a stretching regimen may be related to the stretch rate, and not to the actual technique. All of these clinically important considera tions can be related to the viscoelastic characteristics of the muscle-tendon unit.
Prejudice and Perception

Propositions concerning similarities and differences in perception were tested upon two groups of sociology students selected by previous testing as the most and least prejudiced among three hundred. Impressions of the situation rather than of the individual are found to determine how the individual will be seen: a Negro seen in a stereotyped setting will be commented on more unfavorably than a Negro seen in a non-stereotyped setting. Pictures showing Negroes in stereotyped and in non-stereotyped settings evoke judgments that accord with the total setting and not with their individual appearances. To be effective, propaganda to improve race relations should show the Negro in non-stereotyped settings.
Evaluating High Performance Computing (HPC) requirements of devices on the Smart Grid for increased cybersecurity

There has been a lot of research in developing technologies and strategies to make Smart Grid a practical reality. Research has focussed on a wide range of domains like communication technologies and protocols, infrastructure reliability and availability, designing of intelligent applications and distribution automation. However, to make Smart Grid to be widely accepted and adopted by the community, security at all levels of the smart grid will have to be ensured. Although, existing security approaches could be applied to control cybercrime on the smart grid, the limited latency tolerance of communications within certain levels of the smart grid make it challenging. With an aim to address this problem, the paper makes three important contributions. First, it introduces a classification of devices used in the smart grid based on their computational capabilities. Second, it highlights the challenges faced in addressing the high performance computational requirements of cybersecurity in the smart grid. Third, it proposes a few practical solutions from research in advanced processor and accelerators architectures and parallel computing paradigms commonly used in the field of High Performance Computing in addressing them. Overall, a strong case is presented to revisit the standards that specify the minimum processor requirements of devices connected to the smart grid at all levels to increase cybersecurity on the smart grid.
Socioeconomic Differences in Reading Trajectories: The Contribution of Family, Neighborhood, and School Contexts.

In the present study, the authors use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999, to examine the extent to which family, school, and neighborhood factors account for the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on children's early reading. Through the use of hierarchical linear modeling techniques, growth curve models were estimated to depict children's reading trajectories from kindergarten to 3rd grade. Family characteristics made the largest contribution to the prediction of initial kindergarten reading disparities. This included home literacy environment, parental involvement in school, and parental role strain. However, school and neighborhood conditions contributed more than family characteristics to SES differences in learning rates in reading. The association between school characteristics and reading outcomes suggests that makeup of the student population, as indexed by poverty concentration and number of children with reading deficits in the school, is related to reading outcomes. The findings imply that multiple contexts combine and are associated with young children's reading achievement and growth and help account for the robust relation of SES to reading outcomes.
Gender Bias in Observers' Perceptions of Infants' Sex: It's a Boy Most of the Time!

This study was designed to investigate the extent to which observers are biased to assign a male gender to infants whose actual gender is unknown. Male and female college students were instructed to assign a gender label to each of 60 photographs of infants ranging in age from 3 to 13 mo. Results indicated greater accuracy in identifying male infants as well as a bias toward assigning the male gender at all infant ages except 3 mo. A second group of students were asked to rate the cuteness of each photograph. Results suggested that specific facial features and degree of perceived cuteness influenced students' assignments of gender labels. Methodological implications for observational research are noted.
Patch-based locality-enhanced collaborative representation for face recognition

In the field of face recognition, the small sample size (SSS) problem and non-ideal situations of facial images are recognised as two of the most challenging issues. Recently, Zhu et al. proposed a patch-based collaborative representation (PCRC) method which showed good performance for the SSS and the single sample per person problems; and Peng et al. proposed a locality-constrained collaborative representation (LCCR) method which achieved high robustness for face recognition in non-ideal situations. Inspired by the methods proposed in PCRC and LCCR, this study proposes a patch-based locality-enhanced collaborative representation (PLECR) method to combine and enhance the advantages of both PCRC and LCCR. The PLECR and several related methods are implemented on AR, face recognition technology and extended Yale B databases; and the extensive numerical results show that PLECR is more efficient among these methods for the SSS problem in non-ideal situations, especially for the SSS problem with occlusions.
Validity and reliability of the oral health-related quality of life instrument for dental hygiene.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine reliability, construct validity, and produce a concise instrument for assessing Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQL). METHOD The OHRQL model for dental hygiene served as the theoretical basis in the development of this instrument. The survey utilized five-point Likert scale items, designed to assess the domains of symptom status, functional status, and health perceptions. The instrument was administered to 321 functionally independent older adults from six Area Agency on Aging nutrition centers and three retirement communities in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas in Missouri. Scale reliability was demonstrated by calculating the coefficient alpha for each subscale. Item analysis was subsequently conducted to provide additional supportive evidence for reliability. Construct validity was assessed using a one-way multivariate analysis of variance MANOVA to examine the effect of known subgroups. Analysis of variances (ANOVA) for groups on each subscale was conducted as a follow-up test to the MANOVA. RESULTS Coefficient for the seven subscales ranged from 0.74 to 0.89. No significant difference was found among males and females. However, there were significant differences in patterns of subscale means (p < .05) for subgroups reporting 'good' versus 'poor' denture fit; 'presence' or 'absence' of recent toothache; 'presence' or 'absence' of loose teeth; 'presence' or 'absence' of gingival recession; 'presence' or 'absence' of dentures interfering with eating; and self-report of 'good' versus 'poor' general health. CONCLUSION These preliminary results provided initial supportive evidence of the OHRQL's reliability and validity. Future studies are needed to confirm this preliminary conclusion.
A Comparison of the WISC-R and WAIS-R Performance Scales in Deaf Adolescents

Scores from the WISC-R and WAIS-R Performance Scales were compared using a sample of 32 deaf adolescents. Performance scores were obtained during routine evaluations (mean interval between tests = 41.6 months). Results show that the two scales produce virtually identical scores. WISC-R and WAIS-R subtest scores and PIQs are correlated (all rs > .470, p < .008). Observed correlations are not significantly different from maximum possible correlations, with the exceptions of the Picture Completion subtest and Performance IQs. Differences between means are nonsignificant, but WISC-R Picture Completion and Block Design variances are significantly larger than their respective WAIS-R variances (p < .008). On the strength of these findings, psychologists are cautioned regarding the equivalence of the Picture Completion subtest in the two scales, although practitioners may directly compare other WISC-R and WAIS-R Performance Scale scores in deaf adolescents.