Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variability of fibroblast morphology in vivo: a silver impregnation study on human digital dermis and subcutis.

Connective tissue research is a vast field with an enormous volume of literature. However, attention has primarily been focused either on collagen and the extracellular matrix, or on fibroblasts in tissue culture. Few publications deal with fibroblasts in situ, and then mostly in very restricted regions and situations (Bulger & Nagle, 1973; Komuro, Desaki & Fujiwara, 1982; Squier & Magnes, 1983; Desaki, Fujiwara & Komuro, 1984; Pieraggi et al. 1985; Eyden, Watson, Harris & Howell, 1986; Sugita, Ishibashi, Shiotani & Yoshioka, 1988). Although it is clear that fibroblasts produce collagen and the matrix, their role in the organisation of these elements is mainly considered to be passive (Tomasek, Hay & Fujiwara, 1982), and considerable energy has been expended upon the study of the arrangement of collagen in various connective tissue regions, especially the dermis (Montagna & Carlisle, 1979; Pfaller, Schuler, Schmidt & Dworschak, 1979; Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook, Byers & Pinnell, 1982; Lavker, Zheng & Dong, 1987; Othani, Ushiki, Taguchi & Kikuta, 1988), as well as on explanations of a particular arrangement in terms of stress and strain forces (Bellows, Melcher & Aubin, 1981; McGaw, 1986). Differences in size between fibroblasts have been noted in the past (Maximow, 1906), though without any subsequent attempt at systematisation or correlation with the organisational form of the connective tissue. In cell culture, differences in proliferation potential between fibroblasts derived from specific regions have been described (Harper & Grove, 1979; Schafer, Pandy, Ferguson & Davis, 1985), but the morphological diversity has been attributed to degenerative processes (Bayreuther et al. 1988), or substratum effects (Tomasek et al. 1982; Yoshizato, Taira & Shioya, 1984; Olmo et al. 1988). Using a new silver impregnation technique (Novotny & Gommert-Novotny, 1990), it is possible to visualise fibroblasts in their total extent in paraffin serial sections. From initial observations it would seem that fibroblasts have a much more systematic relationship to the extracellular structures and are by no means passively confined to convenient interstices, but take an active part in the development of the extracellular organisation. Here we wish to demonstrate that, even within the very confined area of the adult human digital dermis and subcutis, there may be considerable differences in size and morphology of fibroblasts. These may be related to the 3-dimensional collagen architecture of the connective tissue, which is in turn related to the stratification of the digital dermis and subcutis.
Attentive Reading and Constrained Summarisation (ARCS) discourse treatment for chronic Wernicke’s aphasia

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that discourse-level treatments can improve microlinguistic processes such as lexical retrieval. Attentive Reading and Constrained Summarisation (ARCS) is a cognitive-linguistic discourse treatment that focuses attention on reading aloud and orally summarising text while constraining from non-specific language use. Aims: The primary aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of ARCS on improving lexical retrieval abilities in two participants with Wernicke’s aphasia. Methods & Procedures: Two women with chronic moderate and severe Wernicke’s aphasia were administered ARCS for this case study. The study design was comprised of pre-treatment testing followed by 18 times of 50-minute sessions of ARCS therapy over 10 weeks and post-treatment testing immediately after and 2 months after the completion of treatment. Treatment stimuli included abridged versions of news articles. Primary outcome measures of lexical retrieval were the Boston Naming Test 2nd edition and informativeness of words during picture description and untreated article retell tasks. Outcomes & Results: The participant with moderate Wernicke’s aphasia improved on all three primary outcome measures, and she reported that the treatment made a functional impact on her life. In contrast, the participant with severe Wernicke’s aphasia did not improve on any of the outcome measures. Individual differences between the participants likely account for the discrepancy in treatment outcomes. Conclusions: ARCS demonstrates potential as a therapy for improving lexical retrieval in discourse with the possibility of generalisation to confrontation naming in persons with moderate Wernicke’s aphasia.
Endoscopic submucosal dissection vs endoscopic mucosal resection for superficial esophageal cancer.

AIM To investigate the effectiveness of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in treating superficial esophageal cancer (SEC). METHODS Studies investigating the safety and efficacy of ESD and EMR for SEC were searched from the databases of Pubmed, Web of Science, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Primary end points included the en bloc resection rate and the curative resection rate. Secondary end points included operative time, rates of perforation, postoperative esophageal stricture, bleeding and local recurrence. The random-effect model and the fixed-effect model were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Eight studies were identified and included in the meta-analysis. As shown by the pooled analysis, ESD had significantly higher en bloc and curative resection rates than EMR. Local recurrence rate in the ESD group was remarkably lower than that in the EMR group. However, operative time and perforation rate for ESD were significantly higher than those for EMR. As for the rate of postoperative esophageal stricture and procedure-related bleeding, no significant difference was found between the two techniques. CONCLUSION ESD seems superior to EMR in the treatment of SEC as evidenced by significantly higher en bloc and curative resection rates and by obviously lower local recurrence rate.
Amplification of GC-rich Putative Mouse PeP Promoter using Betaine and DMSO in Ammonium Sulfate Polymerase Chain Reaction Buffer

Background Recently, we have shown that peroxisomal protein expression was induced upon retinoic acid treatment in mouse embryonic stem cells during the process of neurogenesis. Thus, characterization of the respective promoter could elucidate the molecular aspects of transcriptional regulation of this gene. Methods Using the conventional software programs for promoter prediction, a putative promoter region was identified approximately 561 bp upstream of the peroxisomal protein coding sequence. In order to clone this region with a GC-content of 71.01%, a cocktail of ammonium sulfate buffer supplied with two additive components, betaine and dimethyl sulfoxide, and a high concentration of MgCl2 was used. Results The modulated polymerase chain reaction composition significantly improved the amplification of GC-rich DNA target sequences. Improved amplification of this region was due to reduction in the formation of secondary structures by the GC-rich region. Conclusion Therefore, this polymerase chain reaction composition could be generally used to facilitate the amplification of other GC-rich DNA sequences as verified by amplification of different GC rich regions.
A MOBILE INFOSTATION SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS DATA COMMUNICATIONS

This paper presents a new wireless system for data communications based on the (cid:147)many time many where(cid:148) paradigm and on the waterfilling concept, i.e., to transmit only when source and destination are close together. We associate the ideas of infostations with limited coverage at high data rates to the concept of mobility in ad hoc networks, for proposing a system with fixed and mobile infostations, well suited for messaging services. We added the concept of mobility into the infostation architecture for: 1) To increasing the capacity of the system; 2) To reduce delay in the access process, and; 3) To make information accessible simultaneously from as many points, as possible. We also evaluate some of the improvements in capacity, coverage for the benefit of the amount of information to be transmitted.
Sensitivity Analysis of a Cis-Regulatory Input Function

Stochastic effects of regulatory molecules in low copy numbers per cell in transcription- regulation process have now been recognized as a major physiologically and evolutionarily impor- tant factor in the development and function of many living organisms. The transcription rate of a gene is often controlled by several regulators that bind specific sites in the gene's cis-regulatory re- gion. The combined effect of these regulators is described by a cis-regulatory input function(CRIF), which is usually nonlinear. Since the average of a nonlinear function is generally not the same as the function of the average, in addition neither analytical nor numerical solutions of the Chemi- cal Master equation are in general available, we take mass fluctuation kinetics(MFK) in place of mass action kinetics(MAK) to analyze the stochastic effects on sensitivity of cis-regulatory input functions with AND- and OR-logic gate.
Impact of Motor, Cognitive, and Perceptual Disorders on Ability to Perform Activities of Daily Living After Stroke

Background and Purpose— Using confirmatory factor analysis, this study evaluates the relative impact of motor, cognitive, and perceptual deficits on functional autonomy with 100 elderly (aged 55 to 79 years) victims of stroke. Methods— Two different approaches were used for measuring functional autonomy: the Functional Autonomy Measurement System (Système de Mesure de l’Autonomie Fonctionnelle [SMAF]) and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). Results— The results of the confirmatory factor analysis show that motor, cognitive, and perceptual factors all make a significant contribution to the variation in functional autonomy and confirm the accuracy of the model (93% of the variance is explained when the SMAF is used to measure functional autonomy, and 64% of the variance is explained when the AMPS is used). Conclusions— The factors that make the greatest contribution in explaining the variance in functional autonomy are, in order of importance, the motor factor, the perceptual factor, and the cognitive factor.
Identiﬁcation and Characterization of the Binding Site of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Phosphoprotein to RNA-Free Nucleoprotein

The RNA genome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is constitutively encapsidated by the viral nucleoprotein N, thus forming a helical nucleocapsid. Polymerization of N along the genomic and antigenomic RNAs is concomitant to replication and requires the preservation of an unassembled monomeric nucleoprotein pool. To this end, and by analogy with Paramyxoviridae and Rhabdoviridae , it is expected that the viral phosphoprotein P acts as a chaperone protein, forming a soluble complex with the RNA-free form of N (N 0 -P complex). Here, we have engineered a mutant form of N that is monomeric, is unable to bind RNA, still interacts with P, and could thus mimic the N 0 monomer. We used this N mutant, designated N mono , as a substitute for N 0 in order to characterize the P regions involved in the N 0 -P complex formation. Using a series of P fragments, we determined by glu-tathione S -transferase (GST) pulldown assays that the N and C termini of P are able to interact with N mono . We analyzed the functional role of amino-terminal residues of P by site-directed mutagenesis, using an RSV polymerase activity assay based on a human RSV minireplicon, and found that several residues were critical for viral RNA synthesis. Using GST pulldown and surface plasmon resonance assays, we showed that these critical residues are involved in the interaction between P[1-40] peptide and N mono in vitro . Finally, we showed that overexpression of the peptide P[1-29] can inhibit the polymerase activity in the context of the RSV minireplicon, thus demonstrating that targeting the N 0 -P interaction could constitute a potential antiviral strategy.
Methodological Issues in Researching Migration

Population geographers should consider a mixed methods approach to thestudy of migration. This methodological position arises in response to the challenges of contemporary social theory. It is argued that application of structuration theory favours use of a diversity of methods to investigate the recursive relationship between agency and structure. Similarly a realist stance, as advocated by Sayer (1992), leads to a mixing of methods in order to carry out the synthesising tasks expected of geographers. Postmodernism, when interpreted as method, also points the researcher to consider adopting flexible research practices in order to capture the multiplicities of meaning associated with migration and place. These points are illustrated by a case study of migration to and from Hong Kong.
Interactive initialization of 2 D / 3 D rigid registration

Purpose: Registration is one of the key technical components in an image-guided navigation system. A large number of 2D/3D registration algorithms have been previously proposed, but have not been able to transition into clinical practice. The authors identify the primary reason for the lack of adoption with the prerequisite for a sufficiently accurate initial transformation, mean target registration error of about 10 mm or less. In this paper, the authors present two interactive initialization approaches that provide the desired accuracy for x-ray/MR and x-ray/CT registration in the operating room setting. Methods: The authors have developed two interactive registration methods based on visual alignment of a preoperative image, MR, or CT to intraoperative x-rays. In the first approach, the operator uses a gesture based interface to align a volume rendering of the preoperative image to multiple x-rays. The second approach uses a tracked tool available as part of a navigation system. Preoperatively, a virtual replica of the tool is positioned next to the anatomical structures visible in the volumetric data. Intraoperatively, the physical tool is positioned in a similar manner and subsequently used to align a volume rendering to the x-ray images using an augmented reality (AR) approach. Both methods were assessed using three publicly available reference data sets for 2D/3D registration evaluation. Results: In the authors’ experiments, the authors show that for x-ray/MR registration, the gesture based method resulted in a mean target registration error (mTRE) of 9.3 ± 5.0 mm with an average interaction time of 146.3 ± 73.0 s, and the AR-based method had mTREs of 7.2 ± 3.2 mm with interaction times of 44 ± 32 s. For x-ray/CT registration, the gesture based method resulted in a mTRE of 7.4 ± 5.0 mm with an average interaction time of 132.1 ± 66.4 s, and the AR-based method had mTREs of 8.3 ± 5.0 mm with interaction times of 58 ± 52 s. Conclusions: Based on the authors’ evaluation, the authors conclude that the registration approaches are sufficiently accurate for initializing 2D/3D registration in the OR setting, both when a tracking system is not in use (gesture based approach), and when a tracking system is already in use (AR based approach). © 2013 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [http://dx.doi. org/10.1118/1.4830428]
Using Motor-Learning Theory to Design More Effective Instruction

JOPERD • Volume 80 No. 3 • March 2009 H ow do teachers decide what teaching approach to use and when to use it? The answer is complex, but learning theory is one source of information that teachers can use to help make that decision. Each teaching approach is undergirded by learning theory (Rink, 2001), and each theory describes learning from a different perspective. If teachers have an idea of how they want their students to learn and what objectives they want to accomplish, the task of selecting an approach becomes easier. However, it is apparent that using only one teaching approach is limiting; there is usually more than one objective to accomplish, and students may understand or learn a particular skill more effectively depending on the situation and their developmental readiness. Thus, it makes sense for teachers to learn to use multiple theories to design a new approach or to use multiple approaches sequentially or concurrently during the same lesson in order to make teaching more effective. Learning can occur through both implicit and explicit processes (Magill, 2007). Students do not need to have all the content explicitly provided to them. Students’ coordination may mature or “naturally” change as a result of practicing skills in teacher-engineered task-environment situations. This article describes an early fi eld experience during which preservice teachers experimented with two different teaching approaches—direct instruction and task-environmental design—in an effort to determine the effi cacy of the approaches for teaching the standing long jump. First, the article will frame the teaching-and-learning situation according to the student and task-environmental constraints and then provide a rationale for making instruction developmentally appropriate. Subsequently, the article describes the learning theory that supports each approach, and then discusses how the preservice teachers, through experimentation with these approaches, came to the conclusion that both approaches worked, but differently. By combining the strategies associated with different approaches, the preservice teachers felt they could become more effective in achieving their objectives. Examples of teaching strategies that can be used with this approach are described.
Formalizing Resources for Planning

In this paper we present a classification scheme which circumscribes a large class of resources found in the real world. Building on the work of others we also define key properties of resources that allow formal expression of the proposed classification. Furthermore, operations that change the state of a resource are formalized. Together, properties and operations go a long way in formalizing the representation and reasoning aspects of resources for planning.
Decentralized event-triggered control with asynchronous updates

We propose taking event-triggered control actions to implement decentralized control over wireless sensor/actuator networks without requiring synchronized measurement updates. In comparison with the existing results on event-triggered decentralized control, the proposed implementation does not rely on weak coupling between subsystems, nor does it assume the synchronization of local clocks or the existence of a central broadcasting node, and is applicable to nonlinear systems. In addition, higher energy efficiency at the sensors is expected because of the great reduction of the listening times of the sensors. We prove that with asynchronous measurement updates, the event-triggered control actions can guarantee semiglobal practical stability for the sensor/actuator system of interest. We also show that the time between any two consecutive transmissions of measurements at each sensor is bounded from below by a positive constant. Furthermore, asymptotic stability can be achieved when more complicated triggering conditions are introduced. The theoretical analysis is validated by simulations.
Long distance movement of DIR1 and investigation of the role of DIR1-like during systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis

DIR1 is a lipid transfer protein (LTP) postulated to complex with and/or chaperone a signal(s) to distant leaves during Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) in Arabidopsis. DIR1 was detected in phloem sap-enriched petiole exudates collected from wild-type leaves induced for SAR, suggesting that DIR1 gains access to the phloem for movement from the induced leaf. Occasionally the defective in induced resistance1 (dir1-1) mutant displayed a partially SAR-competent phenotype and a DIR1-sized band in protein gel blots was detected in dir1-1 exudates suggesting that a highly similar protein, DIR1-like (At5g48490), may contribute to SAR. Recombinant protein studies demonstrated that DIR1 polyclonal antibodies recognize DIR1 and DIR1-like. Homology modeling of DIR1-like using the DIR1-phospholipid crystal structure as template, provides clues as to why the dir1-1 mutant is rarely SAR-competent. The contribution of DIR1 and DIR1-like during SAR was examined using an Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression-SAR assay and an estrogen-inducible DIR1-EGFP/dir1-1 line. We provide evidence that upon SAR induction, DIR1 moves down the leaf petiole to distant leaves. Our data also suggests that DIR1-like displays a reduced capacity to move to distant leaves during SAR and this may explain why dir1-1 is occasionally SAR-competent.
Process-based service integration for zero latency supply chains in virtual enterprises

Supply chains provide composite services or products by utilizing autonomous, heterogeneous and/or conversational services provided by independent enterprises. In this paper, we propose a service-oriented process (SOP) model that can model and construct efficient multi-enterprise supply chains as multi-enterprise processes (MEPs). In particular, the SOP model supports service activities for modeling the services themselves, primitives for composing supply chains from services, and primitives for automating service coordination as required by a supply chain. One of the most important aspects of service modeling in SOP is decoupling the service interface from the service implementation. This enables MEPs and the corresponding supply chains to include placeholders, i.e. activities specified only by an abstract interface. These placeholders are substituted at run-time with one of the available services that implement the specified abstract interface. The SOP service selection policy uses a semantic broker that has knowledge about the service capabilities and quality. Therefore, a MEP (and hence its supply chain) is capable of on-the-fly choice of the service providers that are best suited to its objectives (e.g. cheapest, fastest, or just available).
Modulation for Web-based Question Answering

The web is now becoming one of the largest information and knowledge repositories. Many large scale search engines (Google, Fast, Northern Light, etc.) have emerged to help users find information. In this paper, we study how we can effectively use these existing search engines to mine the Web and discover the ―correct'' answers to factual natural language questions. We propose a probabilistic algorithm called QASM (Question Answering using Statistical Models) that learns the best query paraphrase of a natural language question. We validate our approach for both local and web search engines using questions from the TREC evaluation.
Design and Implementation of DTN Network Testbed Based on Linux

Delay tolerant networks (DTNs) use a store-carry-forward communication model relying on the mobility of nodes because a persistent end-to-end path from source to destination generally does not exist. Being different from ad hoc, recent research in DTN is still in its infancy which mainly uses analytical model and simulation to analyze network protocols. As we all know, testbed is an important research method in the wireless study, so employing this method in DTN must have great significance. In this paper, we present the linux node which implements the DTN routing. Based on this idea, we implement the related protocol and construct our testbed, which contains 4 nodes including 2 fixed nodes and 2 mobile nodes. Our experiments show that the transmission of documents, audio and video can be supported and the process is stable and reliable. What's more, the primary focus of the mechanism is to raise the packet delivery rate in the DTN environment. And according to our experimental data, we do have a high packet delivery rate.