Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying Cell Fate Decisions for Differentiation and Reprogramming of a Human Stem Cell Network: Landscape and Biological Paths

Cellular reprogramming has been recently intensively studied experimentally. We developed a global potential landscape and kinetic path framework to explore a human stem cell developmental network composed of 52 genes. We uncovered the underlying landscape for the stem cell network with two basins of attractions representing stem and differentiated cell states, quantified and exhibited the high dimensional biological paths for the differentiation and reprogramming process, connecting the stem cell state and differentiated cell state. Both the landscape and non-equilibrium curl flux determine the dynamics of cell differentiation jointly. Flux leads the kinetic paths to be deviated from the steepest descent gradient path, and the corresponding differentiation and reprogramming paths are irreversible. Quantification of paths allows us to find out how the differentiation and reprogramming occur and which important states they go through. We show the developmental process proceeds as moving from the stem cell basin of attraction to the differentiation basin of attraction. The landscape topography characterized by the barrier heights and transition rates quantitatively determine the global stability and kinetic speed of cell fate decision process for development. Through the global sensitivity analysis, we provided some specific predictions for the effects of key genes and regulation connections on the cellular differentiation or reprogramming process. Key links from sensitivity analysis and biological paths can be used to guide the differentiation designs or reprogramming tactics.
İlköğretim Öğrencilerinin Üstbilişsel Farkındalık Düzeyleri İle Akademik Başarısı Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi/An Analysis Of Metacognitive Awareness Levels And Academic Achievement Of Primary School Students

Bu calismanin amaci, ilkogretim 7.sinif ogrencilerinin ustbilissel farkindaliklari ile Seviye Belirleme Sinavi (SBS) ve Yilsonu Basari Puanlari (YSBP) arasindaki iliskiyi incelemektir. Arastirmanin evrenini 2009 yilinda Osmaniye merkez ilkogretim okullarinda 7.sinifta okuyan ve SBS sinavina giren ogrenciler olusturmaktadir. Arastirmanin orneklemini ise 2008–2009 egitim ogretim akademik yilinda Osmaniye merkez Ataturk Ilkogretim okulunda 7. sinifta ogrenim goren toplam 194 ogrenci olusturmaktadir. Arastirma kapsaminda ogrencilerin ustbilissel farkindaliklarini belirlemek amaciyla onlara Turkce gecerlik ve guvenirlik calismasi Akin, Abaci ve Cetin (2007) tarafindan yapilmis Ustbilissel Farkindalik Envanteri (UFE) uygulanmistir. Elde edilen sonuclara gore; 1. Ogrencilerin ustbilissel farkindaliklari ile SBS basarilari arasinda pozitif yonde anlamli bir iliski (I² =,313; p=,000) bulunmustur. 2. Ogrencilerin ustbilissel farkindaliklari ile yilsonu basari puanlari arasinda pozitif yonde anlamli iliski bulunmustur (I² =,349; p=,000). Arastirma sonucuna gore Ustbilissel farkindalik akademik basarinin pozitif bir yordayicisidir denilebilir. Bu baglamda ogrencilere ustbilissel farkindalik stratejilerinin ogretilmesinin ve ogretmenlerin derslerinde ogrencilerin ustbilissel farkindaliklarini gelistirecek etkinlikler yapmasi tavsiye edilebilir. Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between 7.grade students metacognitive awareness and their GPA (Grade Point Avarage) and SBS (High School Placement Exam) scores. The research is conducted in Ataturk Primary School in the city center of Osmaniye with 194 students in 2008-2009 education year. The data were collected through Turkish version of Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison, 1994), which is validated by Abaci, Cetin and Akin (2007). The results showed that (1). There is a significant relationship between metacognitive awareness and SBS scores (I² =,313; p=,000) . (2). There is a significant relationship between metacognitive awareness and GPA scores (I² =,349; p=,000). According to the result metacognitive awareness was the positive predictor of academic success. In this context we can recommend to teachers and educators to teach or develop their student's metacognitive awareness strategies.
Population-based growth stunting.

Growth stunting, defined as height for age below the fifth percentile on a reference growth curve, is traditionally used as an indicator of nutritional status in children. Growth stunting is a population-based indicator and can indicate the prevalence of malnutrition or nutrition-related disorders among an identified population of children. Among certain segments of the U.S. child population, most notably poor children, growth stunting occurs more often than expected, suggesting that inadequate nutrition may be a problem for these children. Available general population data are not recent enough to allow for an assessment of the impact of several major public programs designed to address the risk of inadequate nutrition among children. Analysis of data from these programs does show, however, a higher-than-expected-albeit-declining level of stunting among program participants. The serious consequences of growth stunting and malnutrition-particularly impaired cognitive development-suggest that careful consideration of the growth stunting indicator should remain an important part of policy discussions on public nutrition programs.
Factorial study of the BDI in pregnant women

Synopsis This study was carried out to investigate the significance of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and the influence of somatic items in a non-psychiatric population presenting with somatic complaints. Internal consistency, item frequency, factor dimensions, and correlation with Eysenck's ‘N’ were analysed in a sample of 882 non-psychiatric pregnant women. The BDI showed a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0·85). Factor analysis yielded two major factors. Low BDI scores were determined mainly by items related to somatic complaints or decreased activity without unequivocal depressive content. In contrast, it was unambiguous depressive items that were endorsed in high scores, and these showed higher correlations with neuroticism. It is concluded that in non-psychiatric populations the BDI may measure conditions other than depression and that low or medium range scores should not be interpreted as indicators of mild depressive symptomatology.
Application of Simulated Annealing in Flow Shop Scheduling

Scheduling processes deal with the rank ordering and allocation of jobs at different resources and/or locations available in a manufacturing shop. The conventional researchers associated with shop scheduling gave thrust on the optimization of one or many of the performance measures available in literature. The complexity of the problem depends on the number of jobs and machines involved in each case. The recent advances in the arena reveal application of meta-heuristics in scheduling to be relatively more efficient in many cases than regular conventional techniques. This study intends to discuss the application of Simulated annealing as applied to flow shop scheduling optimization. The influence of the algorithm parameters and operators are initially surveyed in detail. The flow shop instances considered for the study are open static flow shops to cover a larger number of candidate schedules in the search-space, due to the inherent levels complexity and variety with which machines process the jobs.
Zebrafish in context: uses of a laboratory model in comparative studies.

With the recent interest in the reintegration of evolutionary and developmental biology has come a growing need for understanding the phylogenetic relations and degree of generality of the model organisms upon which we rely so heavily. In vertebrate biology the zebrafish Danio rerio has become a paradigmatic system for studies at levels of organization from molecular to interspecific. Studies of model systems in development are often techniques-driven rather than questions-based; however, informative hypotheses for developmental research can be derived from phylogenetic distributions of characters. With some understanding of how general the characters of interest are, a thoughtful comparison of the requirements of the questions with the lists of available embryos, reagents, and protocols can guide choices of new vertebrate models. We describe here the phylogenetic placement of zebrafish within the vertebrate world and discuss how generally observations on zebrafish can be taken to apply. We outline a practical protocol for investigating development in a comparative context, illustrated with an example from an ongoing study of teleost tail fin evolution. The principles and procedures presented here apply equally well to any comparative study with an interest in evolution, at any level of phylogeny from intraspecific studies to comparisons across phyla.
Towards Efficient Routing in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

hoc Networks is challenging since it must efficiently handle rapid topology changes and a fragmented network. This paper proposes a new intersection-based geographical routing protocol called GyTAR (improved Greedy Traffic Aware Routing protocol) and capable to find robust routes within city environments. GyTAR consists of two modules: (i) dynamic selection of the junctions through which a packet must pass to reach its destination, and (ii) an improved greedy strategy used to forward packets between two junctions. GyTAR assumes the existence of an accurate traffic-information system that it requires to select paths with high connectivity. To address this issue, we also propose a completely decentralized mechanism for the estimation of traffic density in city-roads called IFTIS for Infrastructure-Free Traffic Information System. The proposed routing protocol shows significant performance improvement in a comparative simulation study with other routing approaches.
Expression of Recombinant Human Alpha-Lactalbumin in the Milk of Transgenic Goats Using a Hybrid Pomoter/Enhancer

To improve nutrient content of goat milk, we describe the construction of a vector (pBLAC) containing a hybrid goat β-lactoglobulin (BLG) promoter/cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer. We also describe the generation of transgenic goats expressing rhLA by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Of 334 one-cell stage embryos derived from three transgenic cell lines and 99 embryos derived from non-transgenic (NT) cells surgically transferred to the oviducts of 37 recipients, two recipients delivered two kids (2%) from the non-transfected line and five recipients delivered six kids (1.8%) from transgenic cell lines, three of which died within 2 days. Compared to the NT donor cells, transfection of donor cells does not negatively affect the development of nuclear transfer embryos into viable transgenic offspring. However, the clone efficiency in cell line number 1 was lower than that in numbers 2 and 3, and in the NT lines (0.9% versus 1.9% 2.4% and 2%; P < 0.05). Two transgenic cloned goats expressed rhLA in the milk at 0.1–0.9 mg/mL. The mammary gland-specific expression vector pBLAC with hybrid BLG/CMV can drive the hLA gene to express in vitro and in vivo. These data establish the basis for use of a hybrid promoter/enhancer strategy to produce rhLA transgenic goats.
What Factors Help Seminary Students Continue in Their Academic Programs?

Abstract This article uses a theological reflection model to examine a number of factors that help seminary students to continue in their academic programs. It undertakes Richard Osmer's four core tasks of practical theological interpretation to analyse the results of a qualitative case study. The case study identifies four factoring themes: connectedness between students, community within the classroom, course format and services, and interaction with teachers. The theological reflection portion explores the theological concept of community. The article concludes by using Osmer's pragmatic task to recommend ways to help students continue in their academic programs.
Experimental Discussions on a Shaft End-to-End Voltage Appearing in an Inverter-Driven Motor

This paper addresses shaft end-to-end and shaft-to-frame voltages that appear in the 400-V, 15-kW induction motor driven by a voltage-source pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter. A shaft-to-frame voltage can be observed at either shaft end with respect to the grounded motor frame. A shaft end-to-end voltage can be observed as a voltage difference between the shaft-to-frame voltage at the drive end (DE) and that at the nondrive end (NDE). Experimental waveforms lead to the following interesting observations: motor internal coupling and parasitic capacitance, along with the high-frequency common-mode voltage generated by the PWM inverter, cause a shaft-to-frame voltage with a peak of 8 V at both DE and NDE. When the shaft-to-frame voltage at either DE or NDE exceeds a dielectric breakdown voltage of thin bearing lubricating grease films, a shaft end-to-end voltage with a peak of 2 V and a width of 30 ns occurs along the motor shaft. This paper makes experimental discussions on the shaft end-to-end voltage generation. Installing a differential-mode filter and/or a common-mode filter on the motor drive system gives a hint on the mechanisms of the occurrence of the shaft end-to-end voltage.
Adult education for self-education

The times that we live in, i.e. intensive changes in all spheres of life and work, induce a need for continuous learning and self-education. At the same time, it means that a modem education system must be developed on the basis of a new rationality and on transition from education towards self-education. In such conditions, a persistently present tendency of providing "encyclopedic knowledge", sufficient for whole working and private life, is being critically re-examined. More and more affirmed becomes the need to enable students, on all educational levels, to pursue self-education. Thus, self-education becomes a part of each modern system of education enabling children and adults to develop into true subjects of their own education, and keep pace with accelerated changes they will inevitably encounter in their living and working practices.
The Human Visual Recognition Ability for Incomplete Letters

The human vision system has high-level recognition abilities and can efficiently and accurately identify an object based on object parts. In the present study, a letter recognition experiment was designed to evaluate recognition of incomplete objects by humans. Five subjects were asked to identify partially erased English letters displayed for short time periods. We found that features and correlations between features significantly influence letter identification. An algorithm based on information entropy is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the importance of letter features and the similarities between letters
Sparse Arrangements and the Number of Views of Polyhedral Scenes

In this paper we study several instances of the problem of determining the maximum number of topologically distinct two-dimensional images that three-dimensional scenes can induce. To bound this number, we investigate arrangements of curves and of surfaces that have a certain sparseness property. Given a collection of n algebraic surface patches of constant maximum degree in 3-space with the property that any vertical line stabs at most k of them, we show that the maximum combinatorial complexity of the entire arrangement that they induce is Θ(n2 k). We extend this result to collections of hypersurfaces in 4-space and to collections of (d > 1)-simplices in d-space, for any fixed d. We show that this type of arrangements (sparse arrangements) is relevant to the study of the maximum number of topologically different views of a polyhedral terrain. For polyhedral terrains with n edges and vertices, we introduce a lower bound construction inducing Ω(n5 α(n)) distinct views, and we present an almost matching upper bound. We then analyze the case of perspective views, point to the potential role of sparse arrangements in obtaining a sharp bound for this case, and present a lower bound construction inducing Ω(n8α(n)) distinct views. For the number of views of a collection of k convex polyhedra with a total of n faces, we show a bound of O(n4 k2) for views from infinity and O(n6 k3) for perspective views. We also present lower bound constructions for such scenes, with Ω(n4 + n2 k4) distinct views from infinity and Ω(n6 + n3 k6) views when the viewpoint can be anywhere in 3-space.
Automatic generation and exploitation of related problems in genetic programming

We propose an evolutionary framework that uses the set of instructions provided with a genetic programming (GP) problem to automatically build a repertoire of related problems and subsequently uses them to improve the performance of search. The novel idea is to use the synthesized related problems to simultaneously exert multiple selection pressures on the evolving population(s). For that framework, we design two methods. In the first method, individuals optimizing for particular problems dwell in separate populations and spawn clones which migrate to other populations, similarly to the island model. The second method operates on a single population and ranks the fitness values that individuals receive from particular problems to make them comparable. When applied to six symbolic regression problems of different difficulty, both methods perform better than the standard GP, though sometimes fail to prove superior to certain control setup.
Time to Initiation of Treatment with Polymyxin B Cartridge Hemoperfusion in Septic Shock Patients

Background: We investigated whether early initiation of hemoperfusion with a polymyxin B cartridge (PMX) after the diagnosis of septic shock could improve the clinical outcome. Methods: A prospective, open-labeled, multicenter cohort study was performed at intensive care units in Japan. 41 patients received PMX within 6 h after the diagnosis of septic shock (early group) and 51 patients were treated after 6 h (late group). Results: The early group had a significantly shorter duration of ventilator support and also had a lower catecholamine requirement. PMX was effective for improvement of hypotension, hypoperfusion, the sequential organ failure assessment score, and pulmonary oxygenation regardless of the timing of its initiation. The 28-day mortality rate did not differ between the two groups. Conclusions: Early initiation of PMX shortened the duration of ventilator support and also reduced the catecholamine requirement, so early treatment of septic shock should achieve a better outcome.
Attacks prevention model using semantic correlation and multiagent systems

The attacks detection and prevention problem could be improved using new intelligent techniques. This paper aims to define an ontology model for intrusion correlation over intelligent multiagent system. The semantic model describes attacks signatures, reaction rules, axioms with alerts communication and correlation. The proposed model optimizes the alerts correlation process providing the inference and reasoning to the ontology model.
Leadership, eroticism and abjection: Star Trek and the Borg Queen

Abstract The sexual and erotic dimensions inherent in leadership’s physicality impact on power dynamics within organizations but have been rendered largely invisible by current scholarship. In organizational practice, leadership is a masculine activity ideally carried out by male bodies, such that women’s leadership is still perceived as problematic. This suggests that the field is fearful of allowing sexual bodies to pollute what should be a functional, cognitive and instrumental activity. This chapter therefore draws on Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection to explain how and why the sexual body is positioned as the unspoken other of leadership. To do this, I explore the representation of two very contrasting leaders, Jean Luc Picard and the Borg Queen, in the popular film Star Trek: First Contact. The film illuminates how leadership ideally resides in a virile, mastered and distant male body. The sexual female body is represented as disgusting, dangerous, and a source of contamination and so must be cast out and destroyed. Finally, I ask whether the representation of the Borg Queen is useful as a transgressive means to undermine the abjection of the female leader’s body. However, I conclude that to counter abjection, scholars of leadership need instead to build discursive and material practices that revalue the feminine and respect the alterity of self and others.
DSP Re-encryption Based Access Control Enforcement Management Mechanism in DaaS

With the popular use of service-oriented technologies, Database as a Service(DaaS) paradigm is becoming a more practical and useful model for those enterprises who can’t afford the expensive DBMS products. However, access control management by the database service provider(DSP ) in this paradigm is challenged because the DSP may be untrusted for the delegated data contents. So it is important to design an access control mechanism which can couple with the delegated encrypted database to efficiently improve the usability of the system and help to prevent theft of sensitive and critical data. In this paper, we present a novel approach to implement flexible access control enforcement management by designing a DSP re-encryption mechanism. Our approach not only can implement the selective authorization on the encrypted data, but also can relieve the client users from the complex key derivation procedure. The underlying idea of our approach is that the DSP uses different re-encryption keys for users of the system to implement flexible access control enforcement management under the DSP re-encryption mechanism. We demonstrate the efficiency and security of our flexible access control enforcement management, in the end we analyze and resolve the possible attacks and information disclosure.
Sensory Substitution: From Sensations to Phenomenology

Sensory substitution refers to the use of one sensory modality (e.g. hearing) to supply environmental information normally gathered by another sense (e.g. vision) while still preserving some of the key functions of the original sense. For example, the use of auditory signals might give information about visual scenes. The development of sensory substitution devices has profoundly changed the classical definition of sensory modalities and contributed to the emergence of a new form of perception. In the last decade, our knowledge about cognitive and brain mechanisms involved in sensory substitution has grown considerably, bringing new insights into human perception. The phenomenological experience of perceiving via a sensory substitution device can now be discussed in the light of current scientific knowledge. Thanks to technological advances and scientific achievements, sensory substitution has become a real alternative for restoring some functions of a defective sensory organ (e.g. sight in the case of blindness or hearing in the case of deafness). This essay addresses some of the major questions raised by sensory substitution, including discussions regarding the nature of perception arising from the use of such devices, demonstrates how the study of sensory substitution enhances our understanding of human perception and brain plasticity and provides a short overview of rehabilitation potentialities.