Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ageing has no effect on the regulation of the ubiquitin proteasome-related genes and proteins following resistance exercise

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a critical component of the ageing process. Age-related muscle wasting is due to disrupted muscle protein turnover, a process mediated in part by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP). Additionally, older subjects have been observed to have an attenuated anabolic response, at both the molecular and physiological levels, following a single-bout of resistance exercise (RE). We investigated the expression levels of the UPP-related genes and proteins involved in muscle protein degradation in 10 older (60–75 years) vs. 10 younger (18–30 years) healthy male subjects at basal as well as 2 h after a single-bout of RE. MURF1, atrogin-1 and FBXO40, their substrate targets PKM2, myogenin, MYOD, MHC and EIF3F as well as MURF1 and atrogin-1 transcriptional regulators FOXO1 and FOXO3 gene and/or protein expression levels were measured via real time PCR and western blotting, respectively. At basal, no age-related difference was observed in the gene/protein levels of atrogin-1, MURF1, myogenin, MYOD and FOXO1/3. However, a decrease in FBXO40 mRNA and protein levels was observed in older subjects, while PKM2 protein was increased. In response to RE, MURF1, atrogin-1 and FBXO40 mRNA were upregulated in both the younger and older subjects, with changes observed in protein levels. In conclusion, UPP-related gene/protein expression is comparably regulated in healthy young and old male subjects at basal and following RE. These findings suggest that UPP signaling plays a limited role in the process of age-related muscle wasting. Future studies are required to investigate additional proteolytic mechanisms in conjunction with skeletal muscle protein breakdown (MPB) measurements following RE in older vs. younger subjects.
On the use of regions for semantic image segmentation

There is a general trend in recent methods to use image regions (i.e. super-pixels) obtained in an unsupervised way to enhance the semantic image segmentation task. This paper proposes a detailed study on the role and the benefit of using these regions, at different steps of the segmentation process. For the purpose of this benchmark, we propose a simple system for semantic segmentation that uses a hierarchy of regions. A patch based system with similar settings is compared, which allows us to evaluate the contribution of each component of the system. Both systems are evaluated on the standard MSRC-21 dataset and obtain competitive results. We show that the proposed region based system can achieve good results without any complex regularization, while its patch based counterpart becomes competitive when using image prior and regularization methods. The latter benefit more from a CRF based regularization, yielding to state-of-the-art results with simple constraints based only on the leaf regions exploited in the pairwise potential.
Participation in On-Line Co-Creation: Assessment and Review of Motivations

The present article provides an overview of the research on motivation for online co-creation. Motivating participants to contribute in online co-creation endeavours is one of the key challenges in online co-creation. Due to this, an array of scholars has faced this question using a variety of research designs. We found that the multitude of motivational factors that the literature provides can be grouped into five distinct classes based on the overview model of motivation by Heckhausen and Heckhausen. We identify several subclasses for each class and provide a detailed overview for each of them. We also find that ‘expectancies’, a fundamental building block in work motivation has hardly been touched upon by research on motivation for online co-creation.
MORPHOLOGY OF PLEUROPNEUMONIA-LIKE ORGANISMS AND BACTERIAL L FORMS GROWN IN LIQUID MEDIA

Weibull, C. (Central Bacteriological Laboratory of Stockholm City, Stockholm, Sweden) and Britt-Marie Lundin. Morphology of pleuropneumonia-like organisms and bacterial L forms grown in liquid media. J. Bacteriol. 85:440–445. 1963. —Cells of Mycoplasma hominis, M. laidlawii, and two tissue-culture strains of pleuropneumonia-like organisms (PPLO) moving freely in liquid medium were photographed with an electronic flash as the light source. The photomicrographs thus obtained demonstrated that, in young cultures of high viability, the cells of these organisms were mainly filamentous or, in the case of M. laidlawii, coccoid. In old cultures of the same organisms containing predominantly nonviable cells, granular and vesicular elements were found. By the use of the same photographic technique, liquid cultures of a stable Proteus L form were studied. Although no filaments of uniform thickness were found, there were spherical bodies and some threadlike material connected with the spheres. When samples of PPLO cultures containing filamentous forms were transferred to agar blocks, the filaments were converted to more or less spherical bodies. This conversion could be prevented by fixing the PPLO with formaldehyde. The morphology of Proteus L forms was not noticeably altered by fixation with this reagent.
Compositional Dictionaries for Domain Adaptive Face Recognition

We present a dictionary learning approach to compensate for the transformation of faces due to the changes in view point, illumination, resolution, and so on. The key idea of our approach is to force domain-invariant sparse coding, i.e., designing a consistent sparse representation of the same face in different domains. In this way, the classifiers trained on the sparse codes in the source domain consisting of frontal faces can be applied to the target domain (consisting of faces in different poses, illumination conditions, and so on) without much loss in recognition accuracy. The approach is to first learn a domain base dictionary, and then describe each domain shift (identity, pose, and illumination) using a sparse representation over the base dictionary. The dictionary adapted to each domain is expressed as the sparse linear combinations of the base dictionary. In the context of face recognition, with the proposed compositional dictionary approach, a face image can be decomposed into sparse representations for a given subject, pose, and illumination. This approach has three advantages. First, the extracted sparse representation for a subject is consistent across domains, and enables pose and illumination insensitive face recognition. Second, sparse representations for pose and illumination can be subsequently used to estimate the pose and illumination condition of a face image. Last, by composing sparse representations for the subject and the different domains, we can also perform pose alignment and illumination normalization. Extensive experiments using two public face data sets are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for face recognition.
Analysis of karyotype variation following carcinogen treatment of chinese hamster primary cell lines

Chinese hamster primary fibroblasts derived from several embryos were treated with the carcinogens benzo(a)pyrene, 7,12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene or N‐methyl‐N'‐nitro‐N‐nitrosoguanidine. Karyotype analysis, sister chromatid exchange frequency, evidence of transformation by growth in agar, cell morphology and reaction to cytocholasin B were tested at regular intervals over many culture passages. Carcinogen treatment was found to shorten the time period before onset of permanent karyotypically changed stem and side lines and in vitro transformation. Chromosomes X, 6 and 10 were more frequently involved in all cultures in these karyotype changes which were usually preceded by a period of chromosome variation. Spontaneous chromatid aberrations and aneuploidy increased in frequency with time in culture and generally appeared prior to the expression of transformation. No specific chromosomes were involved with the different carcinogens. There was no correlation between in vitro transformation and karyotype evolution and the criteria for transformation were present independently of one another. It is suggested that the lack of correlation between the parameters tested indicates that the expression of in vitro transformation is a result of selection for growth advantage from a cell population expressing an increasing degree of genetic instability and variation with time in culture.
Inspiratory flow rate and dynamic lung function in cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive lung diseases.

STUDY OBJECTIVES The peak inspiratory flow rates (PIFRs) generated by cystic fibrosis (CF) and COPD patients through a range of clinically relevant resistances have not yet been reported (to our knowledge). The objectives of this study were to (1) explore a relevant range of resistive loads and address whether patients with stable CF and COPD can generate the PIFR sufficient to disperse dry-powder inhalants (DPI) and (2) determine whether the optimal inspiratory flow rate effective for delivery of aerosolized pharmacologic therapeutic agents can be attained with a comfort rating acceptable to subjects. DESIGN Prospective, controlled, subject-blinded study. SETTING Pulmonary function laboratory at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS Thirty-six subjects, including 12 healthy volunteers, 12 subjects with CF, and 12 subjects with COPD were studied. MEASUREMENTS Studies of dynamic lung function and PIFR without and with varying resistances were obtained at a single laboratory visit. RESULTS Dynamic lung function and PIFR varied inversely with the resistive load for all patient groups and did not correlate with the disease severity, as indicated by FEV1 of percent predicted. The average subjective comfort rating for any given resistive load was similar for subjects with CF and COPD. CONCLUSIONS These results support the conclusion that subjects with stable CF and COPD of varying severity can comfortably generate the necessary flow rates to operate new and currently available DPIs over a wide range of inspiratory resistances.
Decomposition of Arbitrarily Shaped Binary Morphological Structuring Elements Using Genetic Algorithms

A number of different algorithms have been described in the literature for the decomposition of both convex binary morphological structuring elements and a specific subset of nonconvex ones. Nevertheless, up to now no deterministic solutions have been found to the problem of decomposing arbitrarily shaped structuring elements. This work presents a new stochastic approach based on genetic algorithms, in which no constraints are imposed on the shape of the initial structuring element nor assumptions are made on the elementary factors, which are selected within a given set.
The tetraspanin protein, CD9, is expressed by progenitor cells committed to oligodendrogenesis and is linked to β1 integrin, CD81, and Tspan‐2

Previous studies identified the tetraspanin protein CD9 in myelinating oligodendrocytes. The present report extends these observations by identifying CD9 in a subpopulation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and in premyelinating oligodendrocytes in rodents. NG2‐positive cells expressed CD9 in a temporal and spatial pattern during development that was consistent with CD9 expression in OPCs just prior to their differentiation into premyelinating oligodendrocytes. NG2‐positive cells in mature brains were CD9‐negative. CD9 expression during oligodendrocyte development in vitro supported this hypothesis, as all CD9‐positive cells became O4‐positive when switched to oligodendrocyte differentiating media. CD9 immunoreactivity was enriched in myelinating oligodendrocytes and their processes, and the outer aspects of myelin internodes. Immunoprecipitation of CD9 from postnatal rat cerebrum coprecipitated β1 integrin, CD81, and Tspan‐2, another tetraspanin protein recently identified in oligodendrocytes. Following surface biotinylation of oligodendrocytes in vitro, biotinylated β1 integrin was identified in a CD9 immunoprecipitate. These data support a molecular link between surface integrins and a CD9, Tspan‐2 molecular web during the differentiation of oligodendrocytes. Oligodendrocyte production and myelination appears to be normal in CD9‐deficient mice. These data support the hypothesis that CD9 helps form the tetraspanin web beneath the plasma membranes of progenitor cells committed to oligodendrogenesis, but that CD9 is not essential for oligodendrogenesis and myelination. GLIA 40:350–359, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A comparative analysis of tanker risks based on Port State Control

This paper researches tankers risk issues by detentions and deficiencies database of port state control in Europe and the North Atlantic region, Asia and Pacific region, a comparative analysis of tanker risks with other types of ship was carried out and also the risks on oil tankers, chemical tankers and liquefied gas carriers were studied, it was found that the risks of tankers by Port State Control (PSC) were lower than other types of ship, and chemical tankers will post more risk in future, also some comments were given to improve the safe operation and management of tankers.
AN ANALYSIS OF A LOW COMPLEXITY RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH INDICATOR FOR WIRELESS APPLICATIONS

Wireless communication receivers work with radio frequency (RF) input signals with a huge dynamic range of 50dB and more. In order to provide the analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) in the receivers with an optimal signal strength, the gains of the RF and IF (intermediate frequency) stages have to be tuned according to the strength of the RF input signal. The RF input signal strength can be estimated with a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is investigated in this paper. Starting from a well known estimation scheme, we develop a RSSI with very low circuit complexity and show how this RSSI has to be calibrated in order to work properly for the class of Gaussian distributed input signals. The analyzed RSSI architecture consists of a simple logarithmic amplifier and a first-order low-pass filte r in the continuous time domain and a scaling and offset correction in the discrete time domain.
Les contrats de performance dans le secteur de l’eau urbaine ougandais, structures de la matérialisation de la logique de marché et supports du travail institutionnel

Cette these s'interesse a la diffusion des systemes de controle de gestion, definis comme un ensemble d'indicateurs de performance, de mecanismes incitatifs et de dispositifs de controle, dans le secteur de l'eau urbaine. Le sujet nous a paru digne d'interet du fait des forts enjeux economiques, sociaux et environnementaux du secteur. Une recherche-intervention menee aupres de l'operateur public d'eau urbaine ougandais a constitue notre principal terrain, analyse a travers le prisme de la sociologie neo-institutionnelle, dans une demarche abductive et interpretative. En mobilisant le concept de logique institutionnelle, l'institutionnalisation de contrats de performance a ete interpretee comme liee a la domination de la logique de marche. Nous avons mis en evidence le role du contexte socio-politique et des prescriptions des bailleurs de fond dans ce changement institutionnel. Les systemes de controle de gestion apparaissent comme des vecteurs structurant la materialisation de la logique de marche, en structures, roles et pratiques organisationnels. Une fois encastres, ils contraignent l'innovation institutionnelle. Des acteurs du champ organisationnel s'en sont saisis pour conduire un travail institutionnel visant a legitimer leur existence, gagner de l'influence et maintenir l'ordre social. A l'issue de cette recherche, nous proposons d'elargir le modele de changement institutionnel de Greenwood et al. (2002) par une analyse multi-niveau (societe, champ et organisation) et l'integration d'un nouvel objet : « l'outil de gestion » (Hatchuel et Weil, 1992). Sur le plan empirique, ce nouveau cadre invite a deconstruire les notions de public, prive, performance et service public, afin d'eviter les ambiguites qui limitent la portee des travaux menes sur le secteur de l'eau urbaine. Enfin, cette these constitue une mise en garde contre une focalisation sur la performance qui peut detourner des enjeux essentiels et specifiques du secteur.
The semantics/pragmatics distinction: a view from Relevance Theory

The assumption that sentence types encode proposition types was shaken by Donnellan’s observation that a sentence with a definite description subject could express either a general or a singular proposition. In other words, a single sentence type could have different truth conditions on different occasions of use. Relevance Theory holds a strong version of this “semantic underdeterminacy” thesis, according to which natural language sentences standardly fall far short of encoding propositions or proposition types. The relevance-driven pragmatic inferential mechanism is part of our “theory of mind” capacity and functions independently of any code; it follows that linguistically encoded utterance meaning need be only schematic.
Robust multi-criteria optimal fuzzy control of discrete-time nonlinear systems

This paper presents a novel fuzzy control design of discrete-time nonlinear systems with multiple performance criteria. The purpose behind this work is to improve the traditional fuzzy controller performance to satisfy several performance criteria simultaneously to secure quadratic optimality with inherent stability property together with dissipativity type of disturbance reduction. The Takagi-Sugeno type fuzzy model is used in our control system design. By solving a linear matrix inequality at each time step, the optimal control solution can be found to satisfy mixed performance criteria. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is demonstrated by simulation of the control of the inverted pendulum system on a cart.
Serological testing algorithm shows rising HIV incidence in a UK cohort of men who have sex with men: 10 years application

Objectives:To investigate whether combining clinical data with the serological testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion (STARHS) reliably identifies otherwise unrecognized recent infections and observe their trends. Design:Incorporation of STARHS into routine HIV diagnosis. Methods:STARHS was applied to serum collected between 1996 and 2005 at HIV diagnosis and routine clinical/laboratory markers of recent infections were determined. The recent infections were identified by conventional means, by STARHS, and by both combined. Results:Of 1526 infections diagnosed, 812 were new. Of these, 604 were in men who have sex with men (MSM); 208 in heterosexuals; 88% had serum available for STARHS, which identified 88 incident infections that would otherwise have been unrecognized (12% of all new infections, 34% of all recent infections). Of these, 88% reported recent high-risk sex; 47% reported seroconversion symptoms. STARHS confirmed recent infections in 71 of 74 (96%) known to be infected within 6 months by conventional methods. Combining both approaches, recent infections increased over time from 26% (1996) to 45% (2005) [P < 0.001]. STARHS results from 3% new diagnoses and 8% previous diagnoses were deemed false incident (associated with antiretroviral therapy, advanced disease or undetectable viral load). False incident results were only inexplicable in two individuals. Conclusion:Adjunctive use of STARHS with clinical data identified a high and increasing proportion of new HIV diagnoses as recent infections, confirming significant ongoing transmission. Since 2002, 50% of new diagnoses among MSM were recent infections. Identification of additional recent infections by STARHS enables effective intervention that may benefit the individual and reduce onward transmission.
Recent advances in management of cryptococcal meningitis: commentary

Cryptococcal meningitis remains a substantial health burden with high morbidity, particularly in developing countries. Antifungal treatment regimens are guided by host factors, severity of illness (including presence of complications), and causative cryptococcal species. Recent clinical studies indicate the need for rapidly fungicidal induction therapy regimens using amphotericin B in combination with flucytosine for optimal outcomes. Maintenance therapy with fluconazole is necessary until recovery of immune function. Cryptococcus gattii meningitis requires prolonged induction/eradication therapy. Prompt control of raised intracranial pressure or hydrocephalus is essential. Clinicians should be vigilant for immune restoration-like features. Adjuvant surgery, corticosteroids, and/or recombinant interferon-gamma may be required for large cryptococcomas, cerebral edema, or refractory infection.
Comparison of advanced large-scale minimization algorithms for the solution of inverse ill-posed problems

We compare the performance of several robust large-scale minimization algorithms for the unconstrained minimization of an ill-posed inverse problem. The parabolized Navier–Stokes equation model was used for adjoint parameter estimation. The methods compared consist of three versions of nonlinear conjugate-gradient (CG) method, quasi-Newton Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS), the limited-memory quasi-Newton (L-BFGS) [D.C. Liu and J. Nocedal, On the limited memory BFGS method for large scale minimization, Math. Program. 45 (1989), pp. 503–528], truncated Newton (T-N) method [S.G. Nash, Preconditioning of truncated Newton methods, SIAM J. Sci. Stat. Comput. 6 (1985), pp. 599–616, S.G. Nash, Newton-type minimization via the Lanczos method, SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 21 (1984), pp. 770–788] and a new hybrid algorithm proposed by Morales and Nocedal [J.L. Morales and J. Nocedal, Enriched methods for large-scale unconstrained optimization, Comput. Optim. Appl. 21 (2002), pp. 143–154]. For all the methods employed and tested, the gradient of the cost function is obtained via an adjoint method. A detailed description of the algorithmic form of minimization algorithms employed in the minimization comparison is provided. For the inviscid case, the CG-descent method of Hager [W.W. Hager and H. Zhang, A new conjugate gradient method with guaranteed descent and efficient line search, SIAM J. Optim. 16 (1) (2005), pp. 170–192] performed the best followed closely by the hybrid method [J.L. Morales and J. Nocedal, Enriched methods for large-scale unconstrained optimization, Comput. Optim. Appl. 21 (2002), pp. 143–154], while in the viscous case, the hybrid method emerged as the best performed followed by CG [D.F. Shanno and K.H. Phua, Remark on algorithm 500. Minimization of unconstrained multivariate functions, ACM Trans. Math. Softw. 6 (1980), pp. 618–622] and CG-descent [W.W. Hager and H. Zhang, A new conjugate gradient method with guaranteed descent and efficient line search, SIAM J. Optim. 16 (1) (2005), pp. 170–192]. This required an adequate choice of parameters in the CG-descent method as well as controlling the number of L-BFGS and T-N iterations to be interlaced in the hybrid method.