Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual Mechanisms for Ethanol-Induced Inhibition of Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-3 mRNA Expression in Activated Glial Cells

The differential display of mRNA technique was used to screen the expressed genes in control and 50 mM chronic ethanol-treated rat C6 glial cells, with and without activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) combined with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). One differentially expressed transcript was identified as that corresponding to the chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-3. MCP-3 is a broadly active chemokine that functions in chemoattraction and activation of monocytes, T lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells. Steady-state MCP-3 mRNA levels were elevated 6-fold after 24-h stimulation of control cells but less than 3-fold after stimulation of 9-day chronic ethanol-exposed cells. One- and 5-day exposures to 50 mM ethanol were not effective at reducing steady-state MCP-3 mRNA levels in stimulated cells, whereas 1-day exposure to >150 mM ethanol was effective. Stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-α elevated MCP-3 mRNA in C6 glial cells to a lesser extent than with LPS plus PMA, but the effects of ethanol were consistent. To gain insight into possible mechanisms for ethanol-induced reductions in steady-state MCP-3 mRNA, additional studies examined nuclear MCP-3 RNA levels and MCP-3 mRNA degradation. MCP-3 RNA content was greatly reduced in isolated nuclei from acute and chronic ethanol-exposed cells, suggesting transcriptional inhibition. On the other hand, acute ethanol exposure enhanced degradation of preexisting MCP-3 mRNA, indicating message destabilization. Thus, the results are consistent with a dual mechanism for ethanol-induced reductions in steady-state MCP-3 mRNA levels.
How to Break Bad News: Physicians’ and Nurses’ Attitudes

Objective Bad news disclosure is one of the most complex tasks of physicians. Recent evidences indicate that patients' and physicians' attitude toward breaking bad news has been changed since few years ago. The evidence of breaking bad news is different across cultures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the attitude of medical staff toward breaking bad news to provide a clinical guideline in Iran. Methods A descriptive study was conducted during 2008-2009 on a sample of 100 medical staff (50 physicians and 50 nurses) at Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini hospital. The subjects' demographic characteristics and their attitudes toward the manner of revealing the diagnosis were registered in a questionnaire. Results The majority of the physicians (86%, n=43) and nurses (74%, n=37), mostly the older and more experienced, tended to reveal the diagnosis to patients. Only a few physicians (8%, n=4) had been trained how to disclose bad news, which discloused diagnosis more than non trained ones. Physicians and nurses preferred to inform the patients about the diagnosis when either the patients were alone or in the presence of their spouse respectively. Only a few physicians (14%) and nurses (24%) agreed to explain life expectancy to patients. Conclusion Compared to past, physicians and nurses are more willing to share cancer diagnosis with patients. However, lack of adequate communication skills in caregivers, and their concerns about managing patients’ emotional reactions reduce their tendency to disclose bad news to the patients. Therefore, training physicians and nurses to expose bad news to the patients seems to be necessary.
Spectral efficiency of energy efficient multicarrier systems

We investigate the achievable performances of multi-carrier energy efficient power control game. Both the simultaneous-move and the hierarchical games are addressed. For the first time, we derive analytical closed-form expressions of the spectrum coordination and the spectral efficiency of such models. Our results indicate that the spectrum coordination capability induced by the power control game model enables the wireless network to enjoy the energy efficiency improvement while still achieving a high spectral efficiency. Such an important result offers insights into how to design power control in multi-carrier radio environments.
Comparison of Female Foot Morphology and Last Design in Athletic Footwear—Are Men's Lasts Appropriate for Women?

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between female feet and last design. Four hundred twenty-four feet and four men's running shoe lasts (U.S. women 6.0–9.5), which also are used for the manufacturing of women's shoes, were scanned in three dimensions. Six foot measures were quantified. Different foot types were classified using a cluster analysis. Comparisons were made between last measures and averaged as well as foot type specific foot measures. Differences in width measures between lasts and foot types vary substantially (0–9 mm). Length grading is similar for lasts and feet (differences < 1mm). Width grading is larger in lasts in comparison with average grading in feet (3.5–5.9 mm). Last design and grading should account for the sex-specific allometry in foot measures. The use of down-graded men's lasts for women's shoes has to be questioned. Therefore, sex-specific reference measures and wear tests should incorporate different foot types in different sizes to allow suitable implications for a proper design and grading of lasts.
A cool look at the structural changes in kinesin motor domains

Recently, several 3D images of kinesin-family motor domains interacting with microtubules have been obtained by analysis of electron microscope images of frozen hydrated complexes at much higher resolutions (9-12 Å) than in previous reports (15-30 Å). The high-resolution maps show a complex interaction interface between kinesin and tubulin, in which kinesin's switch II helix α4 is a central feature. Differences due to the presence of ADP, as compared with ATP analogues, support previously determined crystal structures of kinesins alone in suggesting that α4 is part of a pathway linking the nucleotide-binding site and the neck that connects to cargo. A 3D structure of the microtubule-bound Kar3 motor domain in a nucleotide-free state has revealed dramatic changes not yet reported for any crystal structure, including melting of the switch II helix, that may be part of the mechanism by which information is transmitted. A nucleotide-dependent movement of helix α6, first seen in crystal structures of Kif1a, appears to bring it into contact with tubulin and may provide another communication link. A microtubule-induced movement of loop L7 and a related distortion of the central β-sheet, detected only in the empty state, may also send a signal to the region of the motor core that interacts with the neck. Earlier images of a kinesin-1 dimer in the empty state, showing a close interaction between the two motor heads, can now be interpreted in terms of a communication route from the active site of the directly bound head via its central β-sheet to the tethered head.
Assessing Maternal Sensitivity from Videotaped Recordings: Validity and Practical Applications

ABSTRACTMETHOD  Attachment theory describes the bonds between CONCLUSIONScaregivers and children that serve a protective function for children.  Maternal sensitivity is defined as a mother’s ability to perceive and respond promptly and accurately to her child’s signals (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Maternal sensitivity is a strong predictor of infant attachment (e.g., Ainsworth et al., 1978; Pederson, Gleason, Moran, & Bento, 1998).  The naturalistic observation of mother-infant interactions in the home has produced robust evidence of this predictive relationship between sensitivity and attachment security. Maternal sensitivity is typically assessed using the 90-item Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS; Pederson, Moran, & Bento, 1999) immediately following lengthy (i.e., 2-3 hour) naturalistic home observations by trained observers. This live observation method requires substantial human resources:at least 2 home visitors to calculate interrater reliabilityan extensive time commitment immediately following the home visit to do the q-sortthe visitor’s attention during the visit, which is often divided due to the demands of the visitthe visitor’s memory following the visit and the quality of their written notes
Real attacks on virtual networks: Vivaldi out of tune

The recently proposed coordinates-based systems for network positioning have been shown to be accurate, with very low distance prediction error. However, these systems often rely on nodes coordination and assume that information reported by probed nodes is correct. In this paper, we identify different attacks against coordinates embedding systems and study the impact of such attacks on the recently proposed Vivaldi decentralized positioning system. We present a simulation study of attacks carried out by malicious nodes that provide biased coordinates information and delay measurement probes. We experiment with attack strategies that aim to (i) introduce disorder in the system, (ii) fool honest nodes to move far away from their correct positions and (iii) isolate a particular node in the system through collusion. Our findings confirm the susceptibility of the Vivaldi System to such attacks.
Transmit optimization for time-invariant wireless channels utilizing a discrete multitone approach

This paper presents the improvement obtained from using a discrete multitone approach for transmitting information over a time-invariant wireless channel. A scalar channel model similar to the well known Jakes model (1974) is assumed. Additive white Gaussian noise is also assumed. Flat energy is put across the entire band and the multitone signal-to-noise ratio and bit rate are computed. These values are compared with those obtained from using a discrete multitone approach and assigning bits only to the "good" portions of the band. Improvements in signal-to-noise ratio and in data rates are obtained using this method. Analytic expressions for the SNR and data rate improvements are also derived.
Up-regulation of Wnt/β-catenin expression is accompanied with vascular repair after traumatic brain injury

Recent data suggest that repairing the cerebral vasculature after traumatic brain injury (TBI) may help to improve functional recovery. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway promotes blood vessel formation during vascular development, but its role in vascular repair after TBI remains elusive. In this study, we examined how the cerebral vasculature responds to TBI and the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in vascular repair. We induced a moderate controlled cortical impact in adult mice and performed vessel painting to visualize the vascular alterations in the brain. Brain tissue around the injury site was assessed for β-catenin and vascular markers. A Wnt transgenic mouse line was utilized to evaluate Wnt gene expression. We report that TBI results in vascular loss followed by increases in vascular structure at seven days post injury (dpi). Immature, non-perfusing vessels were evident in the tissue around the injury site. β-catenin protein expression was significantly reduced in the injury site at 7 dpi. However, there was an increase in β-catenin expression in perilesional vessels at 1 and 7 dpi. Similarly, we found increased number of Wnt-GFP-positive vessels after TBI. Our findings suggest that Wnt/β-catenin expression contributes to the vascular repair process after TBI.
The implications of anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy for viral infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

INTRODUCTION Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy is increasingly used in the management of inflammatory bowel disease; however, concerns have been raised regarding risk of infection with such drugs. Little is known about their effect upon viral infection. SOURCES OF DATA A search of PubMed using the terms 'infliximab', 'etanercept', 'adalimumab' or 'anti-TNF therapy' combined with the names of specific viruses was performed. A search of cited papers was used to identify further relevant reports. AREAS OF AGREEMENT Numerous reports of the use of anti-TNF in patients with chronic or latent viral infection appear in the literature. Specific problems related to hepatitis B virus and varicella zoster virus may exist. The safety profile of anti-TNF in chronic viral infection is generally reassuring. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY Numerous consensus statements relating to pre-treatment serology or vaccination have recently appeared; however, significant variation exists in their recommendations. GROWING POINTS Increasing awareness of the implications of anti-TNF therapy on viral infection may allow safer use of such drugs. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH The clinical and cost-effectiveness of screening for viral infections prior to anti-TNF requires further study.
Review of Research on Student-Facing Learning Analytics Dashboards and Educational Recommender Systems

This article is a comprehensive literature review of student-facing learning analytics reporting systems that track learning analytics data and report it directly to students. This literature review builds on four previously conducted literature reviews in similar domains. Out of the 945 articles retrieved from databases and journals, 93 articles were included in the analysis. Articles were coded based on the following five categories: functionality, data sources, design analysis, student perceptions, and measured effects. Based on this review, we need research on learning analytics reporting systems that targets the design and development process of reporting systems, not only the final products. This design and development process includes needs analyses, visual design analyses, information selection justifications, and student perception surveys. In addition, experiments to determine the effect of these systems on student behavior, achievement, and skills are needed to add to the small existing body of evidence. Furthermore, experimental studies should include usability tests and methodologies to examine student use of these systems, as these factors may affect experimental findings. Finally, observational study methods, such as propensity score matching, should be used to increase student access to these systems but still rigorously measure experimental effects.
A Survey of IEEE 802 . 11 p MAC Protocol

— The 802.11p standard has attracted much attention as part of the WAVE protocol in VANETs. The 802.11p MAC protocol is very challenging owing to the characteristics of VANETs. In this paper, a survey of the IEEE 802.11p MAC protocol in vehicular environments is presented. Firstly, the existing evaluations of 802.11p are presented and classified, and subsequently, the enhancements which have been proposed for 802.11p MAC, are presented and discussed. Based on the above-mentioned evaluations and enhancements, a conclusion is reached regarding the present situation of this protocol. Finally, three suggested research directions are proposed: (i) throughput improvement, (ii) scheduling optimisation and (iii) traffic control.
Gaussian Mixture Model Based Coding of Speech and Audio

The transmission of speech and audio over communication channels has always required speech and audio coders with reasonable search and computational complexity and good performance relative to the corresponding distortion measure. This work introduces a coding scheme which works in a perceptual auditory domain. The input high dimensional frames of audio and speech are transformed to power spectral domain, using either DFT or MDCT. The log spectral vectors are then transformed to the excitation domain. In the quantizer section the vectors are DCT transformed and decorrelated. This operation gives the possibility of using diagonal covariances in modelling the data. Finally, a GMM based VQ is performed on the vectors. In the decoder part the inverse operations are done. However, in order to prevent negative power spectrum elements due to inverse perceptual transformation in the decoder, instead of direct inversion, a Nonnegative Least Squares Algorithm has been used to switch back to frequency domain. For the sake of comparison, a reference subband based “Excitation Distortion coder” is implemented and comparing the resulting coded files showed a better performance for the proposed GMM based coder.
DroidContext: Identifying Malicious Mobile Privacy Leak Using Context

Serious concerns have been raised about stealthy leakage of users privacy in mobile apps, and many recent approaches are also proposed to detect privacy leak in these apps. However, more and more benign mobile apps have to send out user's privacy for legitimate functions or user intention. To evade detection, new mobile malware starts to mimic privacy-related behaviors of benign apps that provide similar functionality, and mix malicious privacy leak with benign ones to reduce the chance of being observed. Since prior proposed approaches primarily focus on the privacy leak discovery, these evasive techniques in new mobile malware will make differentiating between malicious and benign privacy disclosures a difficult task during privacy leak analysis. In this paper, we propose DroidContext, an automated system that detects truly malicious privacy leakages in Android apps. DroidContext differentiates malicious and benign privacy disclosures using contexts (e.g., activation events and dependent operations that trigger and control privacy leak execution), purifying the privacy leak detection results for automatic and easy interpretation by filtering out benign privacy disclosures. We implement a prototype of DroidContext and evaluate DroidContext on 5560 mobile malware and 4800 Apkure apps. Experiment results show that, on average, DroidContext achieves a high 92.85% true positive during malicious privacy identification and the 95.45% true positive during benign privacy disclosures identification. The necessity of proposed contexts is also evaluated. Evaluation indicates that to keep the accuracy of privacy disclosure classification, our proposed contexts are all necessary.
Meal Pattern of Male Rats Maintained on Amino Acid Supplemented Diets: The Effect of Tryptophan, Lysine, Arginine, Proline and Threonine

The macronutrient composition of the diet has been shown to affect food intake, with proteins having distinct effects. The present study investigated the effect of diet supplementation with individual amino acids (tryptophan, lysine, arginine, proline and threonine) on meal pattern among male rats. Meal pattern and body weight were monitored for two weeks. Proline and threonine had minimal effects on meal pattern, while the most pronounced changes were observed in the tryptophan group. Both tryptophan and lysine decreased overall food intake, which was translated into a reduction in body weight. The reduced food intake of the tryptophan group was associated with an increase in meal size, intermeal intervals (IMI) and meal time and a decrease in meal number. The decrease in the food intake of the lysine group was associated with a reduction in both IMI and meal number, and this was accompanied by an increase in meal time. Arginine increased meal number, while decreasing IMI. Proline and threonine had a minimal effect on meal pattern. Lysine seems to increase satiety, and arginine seems to decrease it, while tryptophan seems to increase satiety and decrease satiation. Accordingly, changes in meal patterns are associated with the type of amino acid added to the diet.
Unclassified wheat identification with bag of contour fragments

Production of high quality wheat has a great importance especially in the solution of nutrition problems. It is necessary to make decomposition for specifying the quality. Here, high quality and unclassified wheat recognition are realized. The most distinctive feature between high quality and poor quality wheat is the shape difference. In this study, Bag of Contour Fragments (BCF) was used as a shape based descriptor. In contrast to general shape descriptors, BCF represents shape by dividing into small parts rather than entire one. These small fragments are then coded and classified by the Support Vector Machine (SVM) according to their histograms. In the study, a performance of %70 accuracy rate was achieved.
Intenção de voto e propaganda política: Efeitos da propaganda eleitoral

O presente artigo apresenta resultados da analise de serie historicas da evolucao das intencoes de voto, procurando observar, ao longo dos periodos que antecederam ultimas cinco eleicoes presidenciais, os momentos de inflexao nas tendencias da opiniao publica. Indicamos o efeito da propaganda eleitoral na construcao da intencao de voto ao longo das campanhas de 1989 a 2006 e, de forma mais detalhada, apresentamos o efeito da propaganda dos candidatos nas eleicoes de 2002 e 2006.
A physiologically motivated ECoG segmentation method for epileptic seizure onset zone detection

In this paper we propose a novel segmentation method based on the relative frequency contributions of ictal multichannel ECoG data. Segments with predominant ϑ-activity are classified as epileptic. The seizure onset zone is determined by the temporal delay of the epileptic ϑ-activity (4-9Hz) on the different channels. We apply this methodology to three seizures of one patient suffering from focal epilepsy. The resulting segments reflect the visual characteristics of the ictal ECoG well. The seizure onset zone identified by the proposed method is in very good accordance with the clinical findings.
A Knowledge-Based Approach to Arterial Stiffness Estimation Using the Digital Volume Pulse

We have developed a knowledge based approach for arterial stiffness estimation. The proposed new approach reliably estimates arterial stiffness based on the analysis of age and heart rate normalized reflected wave arrival time. The proposed new approach reduces cost, space, technical expertise, specialized equipment, complexity, and increases the usability compared to recently researched noninvasive arterial stiffness estimators. The proposed method consists of two main stages: pulse feature extraction and linear regression analysis. The new approach extracts the pulse features and establishes a linear prediction equation. On evaluating proposed methodology with pulse wave velocity (PWV) based arterial stiffness estimators, the proposed methodology offered the error rate of 8.36% for men and 9.52% for women, respectively. With such low error rates and increased benefits, the proposed approach could be usefully applied as low cost and effective solution for ubiquitous and home healthcare environments.
Qualidade dos Serviços Turísticos no Destino Pipa/Brasil: Um Estudo Sob a Ótica de Uma Análise de Cluster

This study aims to evaluate the Attractiveness and Quality factors at the tourism services provided by Pipa/RN destination. Based on 28 services attributes, the expectations of 760 tourists have been collected. The service has been evaluated by Gap Model, verifying the (dis)confirmation of expectations and perceived service. Two questions have been used to evaluate: (a) Have the expectations been varied with the social and demographic factors? (b) Have the clusters identified by cluster analysis been guided by social and demographic factors? The groups identified were marked by different priorities in relation to the attributes and by different levels of demanding on expected service.