Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Liquid drops attract or repel by the inverted Cheerios effect

Significance The Cheerios effect is the attraction of solid particles floating on liquids, mediated by surface tension forces. We demonstrate experimentally that a similar interaction can also occur for the inverse case, liquid particles on the surface of solids, provided that the solid is sufficiently soft. Remarkably, depending on the thickness of the solid layer, the interaction can be either purely attractive or become repulsive. A theoretical model, in excellent agreement with the experimental data, shows that the interaction requires both elasticity and capillarity. Interactions between objects on soft substrates could play an important role in phenomena of cell–cell interaction and cell adhesion to biological tissues, and be exploited to engineer soft smart surfaces for controlled drop coalescence and colloidal assembly. Solid particles floating at a liquid interface exhibit a long-ranged attraction mediated by surface tension. In the absence of bulk elasticity, this is the dominant lateral interaction of mechanical origin. Here, we show that an analogous long-range interaction occurs between adjacent droplets on solid substrates, which crucially relies on a combination of capillarity and bulk elasticity. We experimentally observe the interaction between droplets on soft gels and provide a theoretical framework that quantitatively predicts the interaction force between the droplets. Remarkably, we find that, although on thick substrates the interaction is purely attractive and leads to drop–drop coalescence, for relatively thin substrates a short-range repulsion occurs, which prevents the two drops from coming into direct contact. This versatile interaction is the liquid-on-solid analog of the “Cheerios effect. ” The effect will strongly influence the condensation and coarsening of drops on soft polymer films, and has potential implications for colloidal assembly and mechanobiology.
Discovering Commonness and Specificness for Human Action Recognition

Human action recognition remains a challenging problem though having been intensively researched for decades. Recently, many sparse coding based approaches have been proposed to advance the progress in this research field. However, most of these approaches aim to learn a more discriminative dictionary by incorporating various regularization terms so that sparse codes are more representative for better recognition performance. Instead, in this paper, we propose a novel discriminative dictionary learning method which recognizes the commonness and specificness among different action classes. That is, we aim to obtain a universal dictionary which consists of two parts, a shared dictionary for all action classes and a set of class-specific dictionaries. As a result, inter-class differences can be better characterized with sparse codes obtained from the class-specific dictionaries. In addition, group sparsity constraint is utilized to ensure that similar descriptors of the same action class have similar sparse codes and locality constraint is utilized to ensure data locality. The experimental results on the popular UCF sports dataset demonstrate that our proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art of related methods.
Self Description Questionnaire III: The construct validity of multidimensional self-concept ratings by late adolescents.

This research examines the validity of self-concept interpretations of scores from a new instrument for use with university-aged respondents. The Self Description Questionnaire III (SDQ III) was designed to measure 13 factors of self-concept, and these dimensions were identified with conventional and confirmatory factor analyses. In two different studies, the reliabilities of the 13 factors were high (median alpha = 0.89) and correlations among the factors were low (median r = 0.09). Correlations among a wide variety of validity criteria and the multiple dimensions of self-concept measured by the SDQ III formed a logical and theoretically consistent pattern of relationships. Academic achievement measures in language and mathematics were substantially correlated with self-concepts in the same areas but not with other self-concept factors. Ratings by significant others for all 13 SDQ HI scales were substantially correlated with the measures of corresponding self-concepts, but were not substantially correlated with the measures of noncorresponding self-concepts. These findings offer strong support for the construct validity of both self-concept and interpretations based upon the SDQ III.
Evaluation of methods for detecting human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleotide sequences in clinical specimens

Specimens from 26 condylomatous lesions, 24 invasive cancer cells, and 33 cervices, without evidence of the diseases, were tested for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6, 11, 16, and 18 by Southern blot hybridization, in situ filter hybridization, or in situ tissue hybridization methods. A total of 89% (23 of 26) of the condylomatous lesions contained HPV DNAs, as determined by one or more of the methods. The positive rates for the detection of HPV DNA in condylomas by the different methods were 82% for Southern blot hybridization, 62% for in situ filter hybridization, and 72% for in situ tissue hybridization. Among the specimens from patients with cancer, HPV DNA was found in 83% (19 of 23) by one or more of the methods. Positive rates of 89 and 70%, respectively, were obtained for cancer lesions tested by the filter in situ and Southern blot hybridization methods; however, only 30% of those lesions were positive by the in situ tissue hybridization method. Thirteen percent of the control cervices were positive for HPV DNA by one or more of the assays. With respect to all disease categories, the methods had comparable sensitivities and specificities, except for the in situ tissue hybridization method, which revealed a specificity of 72% for condylomatous lesions and 30% for invasive cancer cells.
Modulation of Cardiac Gap Junction Expression and Arrhythmic Susceptibility

Connexin43 (Cx43), the predominant ventricular gap junction protein, is critical for maintaining normal cardiac electrical conduction, and its absence in the mouse heart results in sudden arrhythmic death. The mechanisms linking reduced Cx43 abundance in the heart and inducibility of malignant ventricular arrhythmias have yet to be established. In this report, we investigate arrhythmic susceptibility in a murine model genetically engineered to express progressively decreasing levels of Cx43. Progressively older cardiac-restricted Cx43 conditional knockout (CKO) mice were selectively bred to produce a heart-specific Cx43-deficient subline (“O-CKO” mice) in which the loss of Cx43 in the heart occurs more gradually. O-CKO mice lived significantly longer than the initial series of CKO mice but still died suddenly and prematurely. At 25 days of age, cardiac Cx43 protein levels decreased to 59% of control values (P<0.01), but conduction velocity was not significantly decreased and no O-CKO mice were inducible into sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmias. By 45 days of age, cardiac Cx43 abundance had decreased in a heterogeneous fashion to 18% of control levels, conduction velocity had slowed to half of that observed in control hearts, and 80% of O-CKO mice were inducible into lethal tachyarrhythmias. Enhanced susceptibility to induced arrhythmias was not associated with altered invasive hemodynamic measurements or changes in ventricular effective refractory period. Thus, moderately severe reductions in Cx43 abundance are associated with slowing of impulse propagation and a dramatic increase in the susceptibility to inducible ventricular arrhythmias.
La información digital actual, un nuevo modelo de contenido educativo para un entorno de aprendizaje ubicuo

The exponential advance regarding the new technologies is making the learning settings develop new strategies and patterns of educational contents. The current information can be integrated into these patterns of contents. The characteristics of the U–learning or ubiquitous setting benefit the integration of these patterns of informative contents. In this article, we will explain a justification and analysis of these new patterns. We are going to start by paying attention to the close relationship found between the right to the access to information and the right to education. From another point of view, we will also study these relationships according to the qualities of the temporary nature of the contents. Furthermore, we will analyse what the requirements are and under which circumstances we can afford the use of information as a learning content making use of technologies of ubiquitous computing. A new tool called process of I– Normalization is introduced; that tool contributes to the production of these contents of information, for them to obtain certain degree of accessibility, usefulness and adaptability suitable to as many ranges of setting and learning programmes as possible (Tu-Learning an Moodle included).
Symptoms after mould exposure including Stachybotrys chartarum, and comparison with darkroom disease

To cite this article: Al‐Ahmad M, Manno M, Ng V, Ribeiro M, Liss GM, Tarlo SM. Symptoms after mould exposure including Stachybotrys chartarum, and comparison with darkroom disease. Allergy 2010; 65: 245–255.
Role of Ebola Virus VP30 in Transcription Reinitiation

ABSTRACT VP30 is a phosphoprotein essential for the initiation of Ebola virus transcription. In this work, we have studied the effect of mutations in VP30 phosphorylation sites on the ebolavirus replication cycle by using a reverse genetics system. We demonstrate that VP30 is involved in reinitiation of gene transcription and that this activity is affected by mutations at the phosphorylation sites.
The Development, Reliability, and Validity of an Inventory for the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression

The impetus for developing an inventory that assesses sexual and aggressive thoughts, fantasies, and behaviors evolved from programmatic work on the classification of sexual offenders. To classify rapists in the Massachusetts Treatment Center Rapist Typology, Version 3, detailed information on several dimensions is required, including social competence, expressive aggression, sadism, juvenile and adult general aggression and antisocial behavior, undifferentiated anger, offense planning, and various aspects of sexual behavior and deviance. To supplement the often poorly represented information in archival records and to provide an assessment tool to gather sufficient data to categorize offenders, the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression (MASA) was created. The MASA was administered to 127 sexual offenders, and after a 6-month interval a subsample of 35 offenders repeated the inventory. The preliminary reliability and validity data that are presented support the usefulness of the MASA for assessing the domains necessary for classification.
Moderating Effects of Tourists’ Novelty-Seeking Tendencies on Destination Image, Visitor Satisfaction, and Short- and Long-Term Revisit Intentions

This study investigates the moderating effects of tourist novelty-seeking tendencies on the relationships among destination image, satisfaction, and short- and long-term revisit intentions. Using survey data collected in 2009 from 450 European visitors to Mediterranean destinations, a theoretically derived structural path model was examined. Cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were used to identify three groups of tourists based on their novelty-seeking tendencies (high, medium, and low novelty seekers). The moderating effects of novelty-seeking tendencies on the structural path model were examined by means of multigroup invariance analysis. Tourists’ novelty-seeking tendencies have a moderating effect on the causal relationships among destination image, satisfaction, and revisit intentions. The effect of destination image on visitor satisfaction, as well as satisfaction on short-term revisit intentions, is significantly weaker for high novelty seekers as compared to low novelty seekers. Thus, destination managers need to consider the novelty-seeking tendencies of their market segments as this affects revisit intentions.
Measurement specification and leisure satisfaction

Abstract A comparison of specific expressive and instrumental indicators of satisfaction were compared against general measures of satisfaction. Research was conducted to explore specific indicators of satisfaction which included expressive measures representing major intrinsic goals of a leisure activity and instrumental measures which serve to facilitate those goals. Expressive indicators of satisfaction involving core experiences were most salient in explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction. Specific instrumental indicators of satisfaction did not contribute significantly to explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction.
Using Policy Capturing to Examine Tipping Decisions1

Participants (n= 15) made tipping decisions for 80 restaurant situations. A policy-capturing analysis was then conducted for each participant to quantitatively describe relations between his or her judgments and the information used to make those judgments. Participants possessed reliable, simple, and nonconfigural models. The majority of these individual models heavily weighted bill-size information. In addition, service-quality, server-friendliness, or food-quality information affected tipping decisions, to a lesser extent, for a number of individuals. Atmosphere, server gender, and restaurant cleanliness information were not considered in any tipping model. Unlike affect, social desirability, and gender, participants' dining-out frequency was related to the types of information used when tipping. Finally, cluster analysis of the models revealed 11 general approaches to tipping.
Cutinase‐like proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: characterization of their variable enzymatic functions and active site identification

Discovery and characterization of novel secreted enzymes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are important for understanding the pathogenesis of one of the most important human bacterial pathogens. The proteome of M. tuberculosis contains over 400 potentially secreted proteins, the majority of which are uncharacterized. A family of seven cutinase‐like proteins (CULPs) was identified by bioinformatic analysis, expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, and characterized in terms of their enzymatic activities. These studies revealed a functional diversity of enzyme classes based on differential preferences for substrate chain length. One member, Culpl, exhibited strong esterase activity, 40‐fold higher than that of Culp6, which had strong activity as a lipase. Another, Culp4, performed moderately as an esterase and weakly as a lipase. Culp6 lipase activity was optimal above pH 7.0, and fully maintained to pH 8.5. None of the CULP members exhibited cutinase activity. Site‐directed mutagenesis of each residue of the putative catalytic triad in Culp6 confirmed that each was essential for activity toward all fatty acid chain lengths of nitrophenyl esters and lipolytic function. Culpl and Culp2 were present only in culture supernatants of M. tuberculosis, while Culp6, which is putatively essential for mycobacterial growth, was retained in the cell wall, suggesting the proteins play distinct roles in mycobacterial biology. —West, N.P., Chow, F.M. E. , Randall, E.J., Wu, J., Chen, J., Ribeiro, J.M. C. , Britton, W.J. Cutinase‐like proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: characterization of their variable enzymatic functions and active site identification. FASEB J. 23, 1694–1704 (2009)
Design flow for the rigorous development of networked embedded systems. (Flot de conception pour le développement rigoureux des systèmes embarqués en réseau)

Over the latest years the use of embedded devices has expanded rapidly due to the convenience they offer in daily life. Embedded devices are characterized by their tiny size, their portability as well as their ability to exchange data with other devices through a dedicated network unit. The analysis of the behavior and interactions between such devices lead to the emergence of a new system type, called networked embedded systems.As the current popularity of networked embedded systems grows, there is a trend for addressing their existing design challenges in the development of functional applications. These challenges relate to the use of their limited hardware resources (e.g. processor memory, power unit) and the system heterogeneity in terms of software, hardware as well as communication mechanisms between the embedded devices. To this end, in this thesis we present a rigorous approach considering all the design challenges through a model-based design flow. The flow uses BIP as an underlying framework for the hierarchical construction of component-based systems and it is easily employed, as each step is fully supported by developed tools and methods. Its benefits include early-stage simulation and testing, verification of functional correctness, generation of deployable code and collection of performance data from real executions, in order to calibrate the developed models. Calibrated models represent faithfully the real system and can analyze system performance as well as evaluate accurately system requirements. Additionally, performance analysis results may provide design enhancements in the target system.Our approach is demonstrated in several well-known application domains of networked embedded systems, namely the automotive, industrial automation, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Each domain includes different characteristics and technologies, but also features different challenges. These challenges are considered by developed tools for each domain, which are validated against existing domain-specific, such as MATLAB/Simulink, RTaW-Sim, OPNET Modeler and Cooja. The validation is facilitated through case-studies in industrial or benchmark networked embedded systems. Our experiments illustrate the support of a better fine-grained analysis from the developed tools by initially providing similar simulation results and additionally offering capabilities for automated code generation as well as requirement verification.
Loss of PIG3 increases HIF-1α level by promoting protein synthesis via mTOR pathway in renal cell carcinoma cells

PIG3 is a target of the tumor suppressor p53 and is thought to be involved in p53-mediated cell apoptosis. Although PIG3 is similar to oxidoreductases involved in generating ROS, whether PIG3 would regulate HIF-1α was never characterized directly. Here we demonstrated that knockdown of PIG3 by transfecting with specific siRNA could increase the expression of HIF-1α in several human cancer cell lines, including CAKI, FTC-133 and A549. It indicates that PIG3 may be involved in the regulation of HIF-1α. Furthermore, we revealed that PIG3-siliencing increased HIF-1α protein level through promoting its protein biosynthesis via mTOR pathway. In addition, the effect of PIG3 on the production of HIF-1α was further related to VEGF secretion and cell migration. PIG3-downregulation increased the secretion of VEGF and promoted the migration of renal cancer cells obviously. Taken together, these data suggest that PIG3 was involved in HIF-1α regulation, and reveal a novel signaling pathway of PIG3/HIF-1α in the regulation of cell migration in renal cell carcinoma.
The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey – II. Discovery and timing of 120 pulsars

The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey is a sensitive survey of a strip of the Galactic plane with |b| < 5 ◦ and 260 ◦ < l < 50 ◦ at 1374 MHz. Here we report the discovery of 120 new pulsars and subsequent timing observations, primarily using the 76-m Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank. The main features of the sample of 370 published pulsars discovered during the multibeam survey are described. Furthermore, we highlight two pulsars: PSR J1734−3333, a young pulsar with the second highest surface magnetic field strength among the known radio pulsars, Bs = 5.4 × 10 13 G, and PSR J1830−1135, the second slowest radio pulsar known,
Thrombin-dependent Incorporation of von Willebrand Factor into a Fibrin Network*

Background: von Willebrand factor recruits platelets into a thrombus via interactions with GPIb. Results: The cleavage of fibrinopeptides A/B is critical for the incorporation of VWF in a fibrin network. VWF incorporates independently from FXIII via its C domains. Conclusion: Fibrin-bound VWF is involved in platelet adhesion at a high shear rate. Significance: The role of VWF in platelet-dependent thrombus formation is explained. Attachment of platelets from the circulation onto a growing thrombus is a process involving multiple platelet receptors, endothelial matrix components, and coagulation factors. It has been indicated previously that during a transglutaminase reaction activated factor XIII (FXIIIa) covalently cross-links von Willebrand factor (VWF) to polymerizing fibrin. Bound VWF further recruits and activates platelets via interactions with the platelet receptor complex glycoprotein Ib (GPIb). In the present study we found proof for binding of VWF to a fibrin monomer layer during the process of fibrinogen-to-fibrin conversion in the presence of thrombin, arvin, or a snake venom from Crotalus atrox. Using a domain deletion mutant we demonstrated the involvement of the C domains of VWF in this binding. Substantial binding of VWF to fibrin monomers persisted in the presence of the FXIIIa inhibitor K9-DON, illustrating that cross-linking via factor XIII is not essential for this phenomenon and suggesting the identification of a second mechanism through which VWF multimers incorporate into a fibrin network. Under high shear conditions, platelets were shown to adhere to fibrin only if VWF had been incorporated. In conclusion, our experiments show that the C domains of VWF and the E domain of fibrin monomers are involved in the incorporation of VWF during the polymerization of fibrin and that this incorporation fosters binding and activation of platelets. Fibrin thus is not an inert end product but partakes in further thrombus growth. Our findings help to elucidate the mechanism of thrombus growth and platelet adhesion under conditions of arterial shear rate.
Detection of acute measles infections by indirect and μ‐capture enzyme immunoassays for immunoglobulin M antibodies and measles immunoglobulin G antibody avidity enzyme immunoassay

An avidity test for measles IgG was developed and applied to the study of IgG immunoglobulin maturation kinetics in follow‐up sera from 12 patients with known acute primary and convalescent measles and sera from blood donors. The avidity of the IgG anti‐measles responses was measured using the 8 M urea elution technique, the results being expressed as the percentage ratio between the test readings for eluted and noneluted samples. The IgG avidity results were compared with those of indirect and μ‐capture IgM enzyme immunoassays. This test was capable of detecting low‐avidity antibodies at the acute phase of measles up to 7 weeks, and increasing avidity through immunosaturation during the convalescent phase. The avidity in these samples did not reach the level found in the samples of the blood donors under the follow‐up time. Although a limited number of serum samples was examined, the results suggest that the measles IgG avidity test is a powerful tool for differentiating primary measles infection from the convalescent phase. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, inc.