Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Membrane Ca2+-ATPase Associates with the Cytoskeleton in Activated Platelets through a PDZ-binding Domain*

The plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA) plays an essential role in maintaining low cytosolic Ca2+ in resting platelets. During platelet activation PMCA is phosphorylated transiently on tyrosine residues resulting in inhibition of the pump that enhances elevation of Ca2+. Tyrosine phosphorylation of many proteins during platelet activation results in their association with the cytoskeleton. Consequently, in the present study we asked if PMCA interacts with the platelet cytoskeleton. We observed that very little PMCA is associated with the cytoskeleton in resting platelets but that ∼80% of total PMCA (PMCA1b + PMCA4b) is redistributed to the cytoskeleton upon activation with thrombin. Tyrosine phosphorylation of PMCA during activation was not associated with the redistribution because tyrosine-phosphorylated PMCA was not translocated specifically to the cytoskeleton. Because PMCA b-splice isoforms have C-terminal PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 homology domain (PDZ)-binding domains, a C-terminal peptide was used to disrupt potential PDZ domain interactions. Activation of saponin-permeabilized platelets in the presence of the peptide led to a significant decrease of PMCA in the cytoskeleton. PMCA associated with the cytoskeleton retained Ca2+-ATPase activity. These results suggest that during activation active PMCA is recruited to the cytoskeleton by interaction with PDZ domains and that this association provides a microenvironment with a reduced Ca2+concentration.
A Cost Modelling System for Cloud Computing

An advance in technology unlocks new opportunities for organizations to increase their productivity, efficiency and process automation while reducing the cost of doing business as well. The emergence of cloud computing addresses these prospects through the provision of agile systems that are scalable, flexible and reliable as well as cost effective. Cloud computing has made hosting and deployment of computing resources cheaper and easier with no up-front charges but pay per-use flexible payment methods. However, there is lack of tools to aid decision makers in evaluating the much promised benefits of cloud computing particularly its cost benefit. To fill this gap in tools for evaluating the cost benefit of cloud services as an alternative to on-premise computing, a cost modelling system for cloud computing (CCMS) is proposed. A prototype model was developed to simulate the cost incurred on maintaining an on-premise IT infrastructure under various usage patterns with the purpose of determining the cost benefit of cloud alternatives. CCMS assists decision makers with insights on cost savings of adopting cloud alternatives, plan computing budgets and also demonstrate how the utilization capacity and cost of acquisition of an infrastructure can influence the cost savings from cloud alternatives.
Automatic Ontology Merging by Hierarchical Clustering and Inference Mechanisms

One of the core challenges for current landscape of ontology based research is to develop efficient ontology merging algorithms which can resolve the mismatches with no or minimum human intervention, and generate automatic global merged ontology on-the-fly to fulfil the needs of automated enterprise business applications and mediation based data warehousing. This paper presents our approach of ontology merging in context of data warehousing by mediation that aims at building analysis contexts on-the-fly. Our methodology is based on the combination of the statistical aspect represented by the hierarchical clustering technique and the inference mechanism. It generates the global ontology automatically by four steps. First, it builds classes of equivalent entities of different categories (concepts, properties, instances) by applying a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Secondly, it makes inference on detected classes to find new axioms, and solves synonymy and homonymy conflicts. This step also consists of generating sets of concept pairs from ontology hierarchies, such as the first component subsumes the second one. Third, it merges different sets together, and uses classes of synonyms and sets of concept pairs to solve semantic conflicts in the global set of concept pairs. Finally, it transforms this set to a new hierarchy, which represents the global ontology.
Knowledge Discovery in Spectral Data by Means of Complex Networks

In the last decade, complex networks have widely been applied to the study of many natural and man-made systems, and to the extraction of meaningful information from the interaction structures created by genes and proteins. Nevertheless, less attention has been devoted to metabonomics, due to the lack of a natural network representation of spectral data. Here we define a technique for reconstructing networks from spectral data sets, where nodes represent spectral bins, and pairs of them are connected when their intensities follow a pattern associated with a disease. The structural analysis of the resulting network can then be used to feed standard data-mining algorithms, for instance for the classification of new (unlabeled) subjects. Furthermore, we show how the structure of the network is resilient to the presence of external additive noise, and how it can be used to extract relevant knowledge about the development of the disease.
Statistical association of dietary components with Simonsiella species residing in normal human mouths

Members of the genus Simonsiella, aerobic, multicellular filamentous gliding bacteria, were detected in swabbings from the palates of 32% of 212 human subjects free of gross oral pathologies. Nutritional evaluations for 142 of the subjects showed a significantly greater daily intake among 53 Simonsiella carriers for 13 dietary variables, including four fat components, but there was no significantly greater daily intake for any of the carbohydrate components. Overall, there was a general excess dietary intake by Simonsiella carriers. The mean dietary intake of the carriers was numerically greater than that of the noncarriers for 70 of 74 dietary variables.
Pathogenesis-Related PR-1 Proteins Are Antifungal (Isolation and Characterization of Three 14-Kilodalton Proteins of Tomato and of a Basic PR-1 of Tobacco with Inhibitory Activity against Phytophthora infestans)

Three distinct basic 14-kD proteins, P14a, P14b, and P14c, were isolated from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Baby) leaves infected with Phytophthora infestans. They exhibited antifungal activity against P. infestans both in vitro (inhibition of zoo-spore germination) and in vivo with a tomato leaf disc assay (decrease in infected leaf surface). Serological cross-reactions and amino acid sequence comparisons showed that the three proteins are members of the PR-1 group of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins. P14a and P14b showed high similarity to a previously characterized P14, whereas P14c was found to be very similar to a putative basic-type PR-1 from tobacco predicted from isolated DNA clones. This protein, named PR-1g, was purified from virus-infected tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum Samsun NN) leaves and characterized by amino acid microsequencing, along with the well-known acidic tobacco PR-1a, PR-1b, and PR-1c. The various tomato and tobacco PR-1 proteins were compared for their biological activity and found to display differential fungicidal activity against P. infestans in both the in vitro and in vivo assays, the most efficient being the newly characterized tomato P14c and tobacco PR-1g.
Creation of a New Needs Assessment Questionnaire.

The purpose of this study was to create an instrument to measure four social needs: achievement, affiliation, autonomy, and dominance. Although an instrument exists (i.e., the Manifest Needs Questionnaire [MNQ], R. M. Steers and D. N. Braunstein, 1976), numerous studies have reported problematic internal consistency of the scale scores. A 60-item instrument, consisting of the 20 MNQ items and 40 new items, was administered to 476 undergraduates. Based on the factor analysis results, the 20-item Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ) was created. Internal consistency estimates were higher for the NAQ scores than for the MNQ scores in the creation and confirmation samples. Evidence of the scale's testâretest reliability is provided. Additional data collected from 203 undergraduates and 401 workers provided support for the validity of the scale for these populations.
AN EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM IN WIRELESS MOBILE NETWORKS

The channel assignment problem in wireless mobile network is the assignment of appropriate frequency spectrum to incoming calls while maintaining a satisfactory level of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) constraints. An effective channel assignment strategy is important due to the limited capacity of frequency spectrum in wireless mobile network. Most of the existing channel assignment strategies are based on deterministic methods. In this paper, an adaptive genetic algorithm (GA) based channel assignment strategy is introduced for resource management and to reduce the effect of EMC interferences. The most significant advantage of the proposed optimization method is its capability to handle both the reassignment of channels for existing calls as well as the allocation of channel to a new incoming call in an adaptive process to maximize the utility of the limited resources. It is capable to adapt the population size to the number of eligible channels for a particular cell upon new call arrivals to achieve reasonable convergence speed. The MATLAB simulation on a 49 - cells network model for both uniform and non-uniform call traffic distributions showed that the proposed channel optimization method can always achieve a lower average new incoming call blocking probability compared to the deterministic based channel assignment strategy.
Congruent and Incongruent Corticospinal Activations at the Level of Multiple Effectors

Motor resonance is defined as the subliminal activation of the motor system while observing actions performed by others. However, resonating with another person's actions is not always an appropriate response: In real life, people do not just imitate but rather respond in a suitable fashion. A growing body of neurophysiologic studies has demonstrated that motor resonance can be overridden by complementary motor responses (such as preparing a precision grip on a small object when seeing an open hand in sign of request). In this study, we investigated the relationship between congruent and incongruent corticospinal activations at the level of multiple effectors. The modulation of motor evoked potentials evoked by single-pulse TMS over the motor cortex was assessed in upper and lower limb muscles of participants observing a soccer player performing a penalty kick straight in their direction. Study results revealed a double dissociation: Seeing the soccer player kicking the ball triggered a motor resonance in the observer's lower limb, whereas the upper limb response afforded by the object was overridden. On the other hand, seeing the ball approaching the observers elicited a complementary motor activation in upper limbs while motor resonance in lower limbs disappeared. Control conditions showing lateral kicks, mimicked kicks, and a ball in penalty area were also included to test the motor coding of object affordances. Results point to a modulation of motor responses in different limbs over the course of action and in function of their relevance in different contexts. We contend that ecologically valid paradigms are now needed to shed light on the motor system functioning in complex forms of interaction.
A DINÂMICA, OS PRINCIPAIS PROBLEMAS E AS QUALIDADES NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DE UM CURSO DE LICENCIATURA EM EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA NA MODALIDADE A DISTÂNCIA

A pesquisa buscou compreender como um Curso de Licenciatura em Educacao Fisica na modalidade a distância vem sendo desenvolvido. A metodologia foi o estudo de caso atraves da analise do PPC e de 16 entrevistas semiestruturadas. O curso em questao apresentou uma estrutura em fase de consolidacao com experiencias didatico-pedagogicas em nivel inicial e em fase de experimentacao. Destacam-se como problemas a falta de estrutura dos Polos, o nao dominio das tecnologias e informacao e comunicacao - TIC e a intensificacao do trabalho docente. Como principais qualidades extrai-se a autonomia, o letramento digital, a flexibilidade de horario, a democratizacao do acesso ao ensino superior e a melhoria da comunicacao.
Economical Aspects of Database Sharding

Database sharding is a technique to handle large data volumes efficiently by spreading data over a large number of machines. Sharding techniques are not only integral parts of NoSQL products, but also relevant for relational database servers if applications prefer standard relational database technology and also have to scale out with massive data. Sharding of relational databases is especially useful in a public Cloud because of the pay-per-use model, which already includes licenses, and the fast provisioning of virtually unlimited servers. In this paper, we investigate relational database sharding thereby focussing in detail on one of the important aspects of Cloud computing: the economical aspects. We discuss the difficulties of cost savings and present some surprising findings on how to save costs for database sharding.
Development of an Embedded Control Platform of a Continuous Passive Motion Machine

In order to control the continuous passive motion (CPM) machine for injured fingers, we develop an embedded control platform. We first bring forward the philosophy of function modularization design for control platforms. Then we actually begin to develop an embedded control platform of the CPM machine by using the method of function modularization. The core of the control platform consists of two main parts: the data acquisition function module and the motor control function module, both are based on the serial peripheral interface (SPI) network. The whole control platform is open-ended for new functions and applications. It can be easily expanded if we add new modules to the SPI network. Primary experiments have proved that the control platform works well and the design method of function modularization provides a new method for the design of control platforms
Video-based Evanescent, Anonymous, Asynchronous Social Interaction: Motivation and Adaption to Medium

Danmaku is an emerging socio-digital media paradigm that puts anonymous, asynchronous user-generated scrolling comments on videos. (How) can danmaku afford the illusion and realization of social interactions, if at all possible given its interactional incoherence nature? To answer this question, we collect Chinese danmaku users' reflection on their motivations to use this social service and explore the actual practices that meet the needs. According to a preliminary danmaku usage survey, users consider it as an information seeking and emotion venting channel. Through archival analysis of real-world data, we find that danmaku commentaries are relatively short, video-centric, saturated with emotions, and similar in syntactic and semantic features. Users have developed a set of mechanisms adapted to the medium, to leverage such text-based messages to foster interpersonal and hyperpersonal communication for sharing of facts, thoughts, and feelings.
SAR levels in microwave breast imaging: 3-D safety assessment with plane-wave illumination

In this work, we present results of simulation analysis to assess the safety of the microwave-based breast cancer detection techniques. In our numerical experiments, a detailed, three-dimensional anatomical model, derived from magnetic resonance images, has been exposed to plane waves from different angles and at varying frequencies. These simulations result in profiles of specific absorption rate (SAR), a quantity that is used to measure the compliance with safety standards. Our analysis implies that the power levels needed for the functioning of microwave breast cancer detection systems remains safe in terms of acceptable SAR levels.
Communal Agency and Social Development: Examples from First Grade Classrooms Serving Children of Immigrants

This article explores how children of Latino immigrants responded to a learning environment where they could influence how and what they learned. Using ethnographic data from the much larger Agency and Young Children project in the United States, this article describes how a particular six year old classroom serving mostly children of Latino immigrants responded in ways that not only increased content knowledge in subjects such as science and literacy but also increased the amount of shared or communal agency in the classroom, even affecting the development of social capabilities by the children and teacher alike. Using a conceptual framework borrowed from development economics and particularly the work on agency and capabilities by Sen (1999; 2003), this paper counters a strictly psychological, individualistic version of agency and instead conceptualizes agency as a means to building individual and communal capabilities.
Statin Improves Flow-Mediated Vasodilation in Chronic Kidney Diseases

Background. Numbers of drugs are required to manage patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Drug adherence is relatively poor in this population. Methods. In 36 CKD patients with hypertension and dyslipidemia, who were prescribing amlodipine 5 mg and atorvastatin 10 mg daily, the influences of exchanging to a combination drug containing equivalent doses of amlodipine and atorvastatin were observed for 6 months. Results. At the baseline, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was reduced (2.4 ± 0.3%), and proteinuria was significantly contributed to decrements of FMD (R 2 = 0.38, F = 3.7, df (6,29), and P < 0.01). Six months later from exchanging to combination drug, total cholesterol (TC, 197 ± 5 to 183 ± 3 mg/dL, P < 0.01) and triglycerides (142 ± 14 to 129 ± 10 mg/dL, P < 0.05) were decreased, but high density lipoprotein cholesterol (53 ± 3 to 56 ± 3 mg/dL, P < 0.05) was increased. FMD was slightly albeit significantly improved to 2.7 ± 0.3% (P < 0.05). No serious adverse effects were seen by the combination drug. Subanalysis for the patients with considerable reductions of TC demonstrated that the combination drug decreased proteinuria and high sensitive CRP (P < 0.05 for both). Conclusion. Our data indicate that proteinuria constitutes a determinant of a reduced FMD. The present results implicate that combination drug is useful to improve adherence and suggest that atorvastatin refines endothelium function as well as lipid profiles in CKD patients.
MMSE design of modulated and tree-structured filter banks for efficient tradeoffs between rate, distortion, and decoder complexity

Designing filter banks for source coding purposes classically relies on perfect reconstruction filters. However, several studies have shown recently that taking the quantization noise into account in the design could yield noticeable reduction of the reconstruction distortion. In particular, a joint optimization of the synthesis filters and quantizers with respect to the output mean squared error (MSE) was proposed, and the resulting scheme was called an minimum MSE (MMSE) filter bank. However, this approach was dedicated to parallel uniform filter banks, which require a very large computational complexity. This paper is concerned with the possibility of providing MMSE filters under the constraint that the filter bank is either of a modulated or a tree-structured kind and thus of low implementation cost. Various approaches for the optimization of the synthesis bank are presented, taking into account the structural constraint. Depending on the number of parameters to be optimized, we obtain various tradeoffs between decoder complexity, transmitted bit rate, and reconstruction distortion.
Neuronal vulnerability, pathogenesis, and Parkinson's disease

Although there have been significant advances, pathogenesis in Parkinson's disease (PD) is still poorly understood. Potential clues about pathogenesis that have not been systematically pursued are suggested by the restricted pattern of neuronal pathology in the disease. In addition to dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), a significant number of other central and peripheral neuronal populations exhibit Lewy pathology (LP), phenotypic dysregulation, or frank degeneration in PD patients. Drawing on this literature, there appears to be a small number of risk factors contributing to vulnerability. These include autonomous activity, broad action potentials, low intrinsic calcium buffering capacity, poorly myelinated long highly branched axons and terminal fields, and use of a catecholamine neurotransmitter, often with the catecholamine‐derived neuromelanin pigment. Of these phenotypic traits, only the physiological ones appear to provide a reachable therapeutic target at present. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society
Minimum-energy path generation for a quadrotor UAV

A major limitation of existing battery-powered quadrotor UAVs is their reduced flight endurance. To address this issue, by leveraging the electrical model of a brushless DC motor, we explicitly determine minimum-energy paths between a predefined initial and final configuration of a quadrotor by solving an optimal control problem with respect to the angular accelerations of the four propellers. As a variation on this problem, if the total energy consumption between two boundary states is fixed, minimum-time and/or minimum-control-effort trajectories are computed for the aerial vehicle. The theory is illustrated for the DJI Phantom 2 quadrotor in three realistic scenarios.
Group Therapy for Adolescents Living With an Eating Disorder

Group models are commonly used to treat eating disorders; however, research in this area remains largely underdeveloped. Interest in group work is likely to increase due to the demands on the public health system and the cost-effectiveness of group modalities. This scoping review sought to explore the evidence underpinning group therapy for adolescents living with an eating disorder. A literature search of 10 academic databases and four gray literature databases was undertaken in 2013. Selected Internet resources were searched and the author consulted professionals from Eating Disorders Victoria, the Butterfly Foundation, and the University of Melbourne. A total of 11 peer-reviewed articles published between 2003 and 2013 were included for review. There was an overall lack of research with no randomized-controlled trials available. Six program evaluations and five program descriptions were found, and they reported on a range of eating disorders and group modalities. The program evaluations suggested the utility of group therapy for promoting weight restoration in underweight individuals living with an eating disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy groups were found to be more effective for bulimia nervosa and multifamily group therapy showed promise for anorexia nervosa. More rigorous research is needed to establish the effectiveness of group therapy for adolescents living with an eating disorder.