Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells restore cardiac function in chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy via trilineage differentiating capacity

The mechanism(s) underlying cardiac reparative effects of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) remain highly controversial. Here we tested the hypothesis that MSCs regenerate chronically infarcted myocardium through mechanisms comprising long-term engraftment and trilineage differentiation. Twelve weeks after myocardial infarction, female swine received catheter-based transendocardial injections of either placebo (n = 4) or male allogeneic MSCs (200 million; n = 6). Animals underwent serial cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and in vivo cell fate was determined by co-localization of Y-chromosome (Ypos) cells with markers of cardiac, vascular muscle, and endothelial lineages. MSCs engrafted in infarct and border zones and differentiated into cardiomyocytes as ascertained by co-localization with GATA-4, Nkx2.5, and α-sarcomeric actin. In addition, Ypos MSCs exhibited vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cell differentiation, contributing to large and small vessel formation. Infarct size was reduced from 19.3 ± 1.7% to 13.9 ± 2.0% (P < 0.001), and ejection fraction (EF) increased from 35.0 ± 1.7% to 41.3 ± 2.7% (P < 0.05) in MSC but not placebo pigs over 12 weeks. This was accompanied by increases in regional contractility and myocardial blood flow (MBF), particularly in the infarct border zone. Importantly, MSC engraftment correlated with functional recovery in contractility (R = 0.85, P < 0.05) and MBF (R = 0.76, P < 0.01). Together these findings demonstrate long-term MSC survival, engraftment, and trilineage differentiation following transplantation into chronically scarred myocardium. MSCs are an adult stem cell with the capacity for cardiomyogenesis and vasculogenesis which contribute, at least in part, to their ability to repair chronically scarred myocardium.
Retinal pigment epithelium defects accelerate photoreceptor degeneration in cell type-specific knockout mouse models of choroideremia.

PURPOSE Choroideremia (CHM) is a progressive X-linked degeneration of three ocular layers (photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium, and choroid), with a complex and still largely unclear pathogenesis. To investigate the pathophysiology of CHM, the authors engineered mice with a cell type-specific Chm/Rep1 knockout (KO). METHODS A mouse line carrying a conditional allele Chm(Flox) was crossed with the transgenic line IRBP-Cre to achieve Chm KO, specifically in the photoreceptor layer, and Tyr-Cre to produce Chm KO, specifically in the retinal pigment epithelial and other pigmented cells. Chm(Flox), Tyr-Cre+ and Chm(Flox), IRBP-Cre+ mice were mated to produce mice with Chm KO in both layers. All mouse lines were studied by histology, electron microscopy, electroretinography (ERG), scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO), and biochemical METHODS RESULTS In Chm(Flox), IRBP-Cre+ mice the authors observed the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors in the presence of normal retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Chm(Flox), Tyr-Cre+ mice exhibited coat color dilution and pigment abnormalities of the RPE in the presence of an intact outer nuclear layer. In 6- to 8-month-old Chm(Flox), Tyr-Cre+, IRBP-Cre+ mice, the degeneration of photoreceptors was accelerated compared with Chm(Flox), IRBP-Cre+ mice but became leveled with age, such that it was comparable at 12 to 14 months. Detailed ERG and SLO analysis supported the histopathologic findings. CONCLUSIONS Defects in photoreceptors and RPE can arise because of intrinsic defects caused cell autonomously by the Chm KO. However, when both photoreceptors and RPE are diseased, the dynamics of the degenerative process are altered. Photoreceptor functional deficit and cell death manifest much earlier, suggesting that the diseased RPE accelerates photoreceptor degeneration.
On Effective Personalized Music Retrieval by Exploring Online User Behaviors

In this paper, we study the problem of personalized text based music retrieval which takes users' music preferences on songs into account via the analysis of online listening behaviours and social tags. Towards the goal, a novel Dual-Layer Music Preference Topic Model (DL-MPTM) is proposed to construct latent music interest space and characterize the correlations among (user, song, term). Based on the DL-MPTM, we further develop an effective personalized music retrieval system. To evaluate the system's performance, extensive experimental studies have been conducted over two test collections to compare the proposed method with the state-of-the-art music retrieval methods. The results demonstrate that our proposed method significantly outperforms those approaches in terms of personalized search accuracy.
Developmental Spelling: A Word Categorizing Instructional Experiment

AbstractThis experimental study examined the development in spelling stage and correctness of lower primary inner-city school children. Word Attack, a computer spelling game developed for the study, provided the experimental treatment. The game requires players to form categories for words and to place them in groups. The control group played nonlanguage, mathematics computer games. Both groups participated in normal class spelling instruction throughout the experiment. The experimental group showed significant advantages over the controls at the posttest in spelling stage level and correctness on an Inner City Spelling Test. These differences, although evident, were not significant at the delayed posttest 6 months after the treatment. No significant differences were evident on a PEP (Primary Evaluation Program) Spelling Test. Analysis of individual results provides insight into the nature of stage changes in spelling. Implications regarding children's rule-generating capacity and teacher strategies are c.
Gender and innovation: state of the art and a research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a framework for research on gender and innovation. The framework is developed based on a review of the current literature in the area; it is applied to provide a context for the articles in this special issue and to offer suggestions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The article relies on a literature review of gender and innovation. Additional literature searches on Scopus were conducted to provide an overview of the area. In addition, comparative analogies are sought from research fields of gender and entrepreneurship as well as gender and technology. Findings – The article presents the scope and issues in the current research on gender and innovation. Based on the overview, research in this area is conducted in various disciplines applying a variety of methodological approaches. In order to make sense of the current research, the paper developed a framework consisting of various approaches to, gender and innovation; these include gend.
The problem of cooperation among different wireless sensor networks

An important issue in the design of a wireless sensor network (WSN) is to devise techniques to make efficient use of its energy, and thus, extend its lifetime. When two WSNs are deployed at the same place and their sensors cooperate with the other networks forwarding their packets, the distance of the transmissions decreases and, therefore, the power consumption as well. The goal of this work is to examine the extent to which different WSNs can cooperate and save their energy. Simulation results reveal that different densities and data collecting rates among WSNs, the routing algorithm and the path loss exponent have major impact in the establishment of cooperation.
Organizational Responses to Scarcity: Exploring the Obstacles to Innovative Approaches.to Retrenchment in Education

The problem of organizational retrenchment is analyzed in terms of prominent developments in organizational theory and tendencies in administrative response to decline in education. The implications of the contrasting closed-rational and open-political administrative orientations are explored in terms of traditional and emerging conceptualizations of organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Using the pressure of scarcity to spur innovation is viewed as the key to capitalizing on and benefiting from necessary retrenchment in educational organizations.
Cochlear Synaptopathy and Noise-Induced Hidden Hearing Loss

Recent studies on animal models have shown that noise exposure that does not lead to permanent threshold shift (PTS) can cause considerable damage around the synapses between inner hair cells (IHCs) and type-I afferent auditory nerve fibers (ANFs). Disruption of these synapses not only disables the innervated ANFs but also results in the slow degeneration of spiral ganglion neurons if the synapses are not reestablished. Such a loss of ANFs should result in signal coding deficits, which are exacerbated by the bias of the damage toward synapses connecting low-spontaneous-rate (SR) ANFs, which are known to be vital for signal coding in noisy background. As there is no PTS, these functional deficits cannot be detected using routine audiological evaluations and may be unknown to subjects who have them. Such functional deficits in hearing without changes in sensitivity are generally called “noise-induced hidden hearing loss (NIHHL). ” Here, we provide a brief review to address several critical issues related to NIHHL: (1) the mechanism of noise induced synaptic damage, (2) reversibility of the synaptic damage, (3) the functional deficits as the nature of NIHHL in animal studies, (4) evidence of NIHHL in human subjects, and (5) peripheral and central contribution of NIHHL.
Impact of Corpus Diversity and Complexity on NER Performance

We describe a cross-corpora evaluation of disease mention recognition for two annotated biomedical corpora: the Human Variome Project Corpus and the Arizona Disease Corpus. Our analysis of the performance of a state-of-the-art NER tool in terms of the characteristics and annotation schema of these corpora shows that these factors significantly affect performance.
Social Network Changes and the Adjustment to Divorce.

The objectives of this pilot study were to explore the social network relationships of divorced persons prior to divorce and up to one year following divorce, and to delineate the network changes which take place and the ways in which these changes affect adjustment to divorce. Subjects were administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the General Well-Being Schedule and completed a social network questionnaire. In general the findings suggested that changes in the social networks of individuals from pre to post divorce tend to decrease the quaLily of the person's adjustment to this life crisis. Suggestions were provided for future research in this area and for clinical interventions designed to deal with divorced persons.
Albuminuria, renal dysfunction and circadian blood pressure rhythm in older men: a population-based longitudinal cohort study

Background Both albuminuria and kidney dysfunction may affect circadian blood pressure (BP) rhythm, while exacerbating each other's effects. We investigated associations and interactions of these two risk factors with circadian BP rhythm variation and non-dipper pattern progression in community-dwelling older men. Methods This was a cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in the third and fourth cycles of the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men, including 1051 men (age 71 years) with assessments on urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER), 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) and cystatin-C-estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Of these, 574 men attended re-examination after 6 years. Study outcomes were ABMP changes and non-dipping BP pattern (prevalence and progression). Results UAER associated with circadian BP rhythm both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Longitudinally, significant interactions were observed between UAER and kidney dysfunction (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) in its association with the changes of both night-time systolic BP (SBP) and night–day SBP ratio. After stratification, UAER strongly predicted night–day SBP ratio change only in those with concurrent kidney dysfunction. At re-examination, 221 new cases of non-dipper were identified. In multivariable logistic models, high UAER associated with increased likelihood of non-dipper progression, but more strongly so among individuals with concurrent kidney dysfunction. These associations were evident also in the subpopulation of non-diabetics and in participants with normal range UAER. Conclusions UAER associates with circadian BP rhythm variation and non-dipper progression in elderly men. Concurrent renal dysfunction modifies and exacerbates these associations.
Rumo à Gestão Estratégica de Recursos Humanos? Estudo de Caso em uma Organização Pública Paulista

This article aims to analyze the use of human resource practices in a public organization in Sao Paulo. In this paper we try to answer the question: is the human resource management in the organization Y compatible with the new strategic issues this area? We adopted a qualitative approach, through case study. The primary data were obtained through interviews and secondary data were obtained through analysis of information and documents provided by the studied organization as well as direct observation of organizational routine. The results indicate that, despite the organization uses the term strategic human resources management, it is focused on legal and operational issues. The human resource practices are not integrated and some practices do not exist (career plan and training). Thus, it is believed that if the organization adopts some of the improvements suggested in this article, it will be walking toward a more strategic human resource management entering in the new public management.
Gender differences in empathic accuracy: Differential ability or differential motivation?

Following their qualitative review of the findings from 10 relevant studies, Graham and Ickes (1997) speculated that reliable gender-of-perceiver differences in empathic accuracy (a) were limited to studies in which the empathic inference form made empathic accuracy salient as the dimension of interest, and (b) therefore reflected the differential motivation, rather than the differential ability, of female versus male perceivers. These speculations were tested more rigorously in the present study, which examined a larger set of 15 empathic accuracy studies and applied the techniques of quantitative meta-analysis to test Graham and Ickes’(1997) moderating variable hypothesis. The hypothesis was strongly supported, consistent with a motivational interpretation previously proposed by Berman (1980) and by Eisenberg and Lemon (1983), which argues that reliable gender differences in empathy-related measures are found only in situations in which (a) subjects are aware that they are being evaluated on an empathy-relevant dimension, and/or (b) empathy-relevant gender-role expectations or obligations are made salient.
Bayesian Neural Network Classification of Head Movement Direction using Various Advanced Optimisation Training Algorithms

Head movement is one of the most effective hands-free control modes for powered wheelchairs. It provides the necessary mobility assistance to severely disabled people and can be used to replace the joystick directly. In this paper, we describe the development of Bayesian neural networks for the classification of head movement commands in a hands-free wheelchair control system. Bayesian neural networks allow strong generalisation of head movement classifications during the training phase and do not require a validation data set. Various advanced optimisation training algorithms are explored. Experimental results show that Bayesian neural networks can be developed to classify head movement commands by abled and disabled people accurately with limited training data
The measurement of the construct of dominance and its relationship to nonverbal behavior.

Summary The following essay briefly outlines some problems involved in the manner in which the construct of dominance has traditionally been assessed for human S s. It is argued that previous studies which have relied on a single paper-and-pencil measure as the sole means of dominance assessment are open to question because of the problematical response characteristics of the most frequently administered scales. In the study described below, 62 male undergraduates were administered the Bernreuter Personality Inventory, the Gough 60 Point Dominance Scale, and the California Psychological Inventory, and then they participated in an experimental procedure designed to assess their relative dominance as manifested in eye contact behaviors. The results indicate that hypothesis-testing outcomes across previous studies may be differentially dependent upon the particular measure of dominance which was used. It is recommended that future researchers attempt to map multiple verbal methods of dominance assessment aga.
Competing dopamine neurons drive oviposition choice for ethanol in Drosophila

Significance Flies use fermenting fruit as a food source and a site for oviposition. One of the main metabolites of fermentation is ethanol. When provided with different choices in the laboratory, female flies prefer to lay their eggs on food supplemented with ecologically relevant concentrations of ethanol. We show that different subsets of dopaminergic neurons have opposing effects on oviposition preference. We propose that in the wild, this may be a mechanism by which flies choose oviposition sites that are optimal for offspring fitness and survival and that this choice is highly dependent on context. The neural circuits that mediate behavioral choice evaluate and integrate information from the environment with internal demands and then initiate a behavioral response. Even circuits that support simple decisions remain poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, oviposition on a substrate containing ethanol enhances fitness; however, little is known about the neural mechanisms mediating this important choice behavior. Here, we characterize the neural modulation of this simple choice and show that distinct subsets of dopaminergic neurons compete to either enhance or inhibit egg-laying preference for ethanol-containing food. Moreover, activity in α′β′ neurons of the mushroom body and a subset of ellipsoid body ring neurons (R2) is required for this choice. We propose a model where competing dopaminergic systems modulate oviposition preference to adjust to changes in natural oviposition substrates.
A survey of management training and development practices in the State of Kuwait

Conducts a survey of management training and development practices in large Kuwaiti organizations. Covers areas such as needs assessment, programmes and participants′ selection, programme evaluation and future trends. Indicates that systematic needs assessements and programme evaluation are sorely lacking in these organizations. Practices related to programme and participants′ selection and training content areas are, generally, consistent with previous findings in the West. Contrary to the situation in the West, the private and joint sectors are less active in management development areas than the government sector. Executive educational programmes, an approach that is most successful in the West, are rarely used. Discusses results and implications of the study in the context of the Arabian Gulf region social and economic environments.
Improved human detection and classification in thermal images

We present a new method for detecting pedestrians in thermal images. The method is based on the Shape Context Descriptor (SCD) with the Adaboost cascade classifier framework. Compared with standard optical images, thermal imaging cameras offer a clear advantage for night-time video surveillance. It is robust on the light changes in day-time. Experiments show that shape context features with boosting classification provide a significant improvement on human detection in thermal images. In this work, we have also compared our proposed method with rectangle features on the public dataset of thermal imagery [1]. Results show that shape context features are much better than the conventional rectangular features on this task.
Development and characterization of a vector set with regulated promoters for systematic metabolic engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A set of vectors was constructed that enable combined and systematic testing of metabolic pathway genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The vectors are available as CEN/ARS and 2 µ‐based plasmids with a choice of three inducible promoters, PGAL1, PCUP1 and PADH2. These features offer control over the initiation and level of gene expression. In addition, the vectors can be used as templates to generate PCR fragments for targeted chromosomal integration of gene expression cassettes. Selection markers are flanked by loxP elements to allow efficient CreA‐mediated marker removal and recycling after genomic integration. For each promoter, expression of a bacterial lacZ reporter gene was characterized from plasmid‐based and integrated chromosomal cassettes, and compared to that of the glycolytic PPGK1 promoter. Plasmid stabilities were also determined. The promoters showed distinct activity profiles useful for modulating expression of metabolic pathway genes. This series of plasmids with inducible promoters extends our previous vector set carrying the constitutive promoters PPGK1, PTEF1 and PHXT7‐391. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Insight, part of a Special Feature on Vulnerability and Adaptation to Oil Spills Community Adaptation to the Hebei-Spirit Oil Spill

The focus of the research is the significance of dependence for communities to survive and adapt in times of environmental disasters. It shifts the emphasis on self-reliant communities for survival and examines the types and effects of dependence and external linkages by analyzing the range of community responses that include initial responses, early social impact, compensation, and conflicts after the Hebei-Spirit oil spill in December 2007 in Korea. The findings reveal that dependence is necessary, and the effects of dependence can be both positive and negative depending on the relations between external entities and affected communities as well as the community capacity to absorb resources and information.
Arabidopsis BRANCHED1 Acts as an Integrator of Branching Signals within Axillary Buds[W]

Shoot branching patterns depend on a key developmental decision: whether axillary buds grow out to give a branch or whether they remain dormant in the axils of leaves. This decision is controlled by endogenous and environmental stimuli mediated by hormonal signals. Although genes involved in the long-distance signaling of this process have been identified, the genes responding inside the buds to cause growth arrest remained unknown in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we describe an Arabidopsis gene encoding a TCP transcription factor closely related to teosinte branched1 (tb1) from maize (Zea mays), BRANCHED1 (BRC1), which represents a key point at which signals controlling branching are integrated within axillary buds. BRC1 is expressed in developing buds, where it arrests bud development. BRC1 downregulation leads to branch outgrowth. BRC1 responds to developmental and environmental stimuli controlling branching and mediates the response to these stimuli. Mutant and expression analyses suggest that BRC1 is downstream of the MORE AXILLARY GROWTH pathway and that it is required for auxin-induced apical dominance. Therefore, BRC1 acts inside the buds as an integrator of signals controlling bud outgrowth and translates them into a response of cell growth arrest. The conservation of BRC1/tb1 function among distantly related angiosperm species suggests that a single ancestral mechanism of branching control integration evolved before the radiation of flowering plants.