Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gastrulation defective, a complement factor C2/B‐like protease, interprets a ventral prepattern in Drosophila

gastrulation defective (gd) encodes a serine protease required for specification of dorsal‐ventral cell fates during Drosophila embryogenesis. Using RNA microinjection, I show that wild‐type gd RNA can restore ventrolateral pattern elements with correct polarity with respect to egg shape in embryos lacking gd function. While low RNA concentrations restore ventrolateral pattern elements, higher concentrations ventralize the embryo. Gastrulation defective concentration has a rate‐limiting effect on the domain of high Dorsal concentration but little effect upon the slope of the gradient. In embryos from pipe‐null females, much higher RNA concentrations generate an ectopic axis oriented with respect to the site of injection. The data suggest that the Dorsal gradient is not directly determined by asymmetric cues in the eggshell but arises de novo within the perivitelline space as a consequence of self‐regulatory properties of the protease cascade. A homology to the mammalian complement factors C2 and B is also described.
Reduction of 1/f Noise by Switched Biasing: An Overview

MOSFETs are notorious for having strong low frequency noise (1/f noise or flicker noise). In the late 90's we discovered that this noise can be reduced if you periodically switch the bias on and off. This lead to a STW research project "Reduction of 1/f Noise in MOSFETs by Switched Bias Techniques" (TEL.4756), in which we tried to model the effect of large signal excitation on LF noise and explore its application perspective. This paper gives an overview of the main results obtained during this project. We found that the reduction of LF noise is related to capture and emission of electrons in traps, which renders Random Telegraph Noise (RTS noise). The effect of large signal excitation on LF noise can be modeled by making capture and emission time-constants dependent on the instantaneous bias voltage. We were able to show that the energy distribution of traps in the band-gap determines whether there will be significant noise reduction or not.
Yoga for Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study

An increase in patient-led uptake of complementary therapies in adult cancer has led to a need for more rigorous study of such interventions and their outcomes. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a yoga intervention in men and women receiving conventional treatment for a cancer diagnosis. Prospective, mixed methods feasibility trial allocated participants to receive one of three yoga interventions over a four-week study period. Data collection was completed through online survey of QOL-CA/CS and customized surveys. Fifteen participants were included (11 female) undergoing treatment for breast, prostate, colorectal, brain, and blood and lung cancer. Two participants dropped out and complete qualitative and quantitative data sets were collected from 12 participants and four yoga instructors. Other outcome measures included implementation costs patient-reported preferences for yoga intervention and changes in QOL-CA/CS. Three types of yoga intervention were safely administered in adult cancer. Mixed methods, cost-efficiency, QOL-CA/CS, and evidence-based design of yoga intervention have been used to establish feasibility and patient-preferences for yoga delivery in adult caner. Results suggest that, with some methodological improvements, a large-scale randomized controlled trial is warranted to test the efficacy of yoga for male and female cancer patients. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02309112.
Downregulated kynurenine 3-monooxygenase gene expression and enzyme activity in schizophrenia and genetic association with schizophrenia endophenotypes.

CONTEXT Kynurenic acid, a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan degradation, is an antagonist at N-methyl-d-aspartate and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and modulates glutamate, dopamine, and acetylcholine signaling. Cortical kynurenic acid concentrations are elevated in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenia patients. The proximal cause may be an impairment of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), a rate-limiting enzyme at the branching point of the kynurenine pathway. OBJECTIVES To examine KMO messenger RNA expression and KMO enzyme activity in postmortem tissue from the frontal eye field (FEF; Brodmann area 6) obtained from schizophrenia individuals compared with healthy control individuals and to explore the relationship between KMO single-nucleotide polymorphisms and schizophrenia oculomotor endophenotypes. DESIGN Case-control postmortem and clinical study. SETTING Maryland Brain Collection, outpatient clinics. PARTICIPANTS Postmortem specimens from schizophrenia patients (n = 32) and control donors (n = 32) and a clinical sample of schizophrenia patients (n = 248) and healthy controls (n = 228). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Comparison of quantitative KMO messenger RNA expression and KMO enzyme activity in postmortem FEF tissue between schizophrenia patients and controls and association of KMO single-nucleotide polymorphisms with messenger RNA expression in postmortem FEF and schizophrenia and oculomotor endophenotypes (ie, smooth pursuit eye movements and oculomotor delayed response). RESULTS In postmortem tissue, we found a significant and correlated reduction in KMO gene expression and KMO enzyme activity in the FEF in schizophrenia patients. In the clinical sample, KMO rs2275163 was not associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia but showed modest effects on predictive pursuit and visuospatial working memory endophenotypes. CONCLUSION Our results provide converging lines of evidence implicating reduced KMO activity in the etiopathophysiology of schizophrenia and related neurocognitive deficits.
“We Gotta Get Out of this Place”: Literary Criticism in the Academic Workplace

Winfried Fluck’s critique of the work of Rita Felski and Caroline Levine argues that the new formalism of these critics does not escape the Foucauldian regime that they seek to surpass. Following from Fluck’s observation, I argue that we should view the practice of literary criticism within the straitened academic workplace within which it is produced—and that this is a context we ignore at our own peril. The longstanding employment problems in academia contribute to the patterns that Felski and Levine identify—and in fact may cause them.
Accountability and Advocacy: A National Framework For Measuring Community Colleges.

Community colleges need a process through which they communicate data that paint the most accurate portrait of the sector and its unique role in American higher education. Lack of commonly accepted performance measures for community colleges has often led to a misunderstanding of the institutions and an underestimation of their effectiveness and the contributions they make. This article outlines the accountability systems currently in use and the challenges to developing a national community college accountability framework.
Nut consumption is inversely associated with both cancer and total mortality in a Mediterranean population: prospective results from the Moli-sani study

Abstract Nut intake has been associated with reduced inflammatory status and lower risk of CVD and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between nut consumption and mortality and the role of inflammation. We conducted a population-based prospective investigation on 19 386 subjects enrolled in the Moli-sani study. Food intake was recorded by the Italian version of the European Project Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition FFQ. C-reactive protein, leucocyte and platelet counts and the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio were used as biomarkers of low-grade inflammation. Hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. During a median follow-up of 4·3 years, 334 all-cause deaths occurred. As compared with subjects who never ate nuts, rare intake (≤2 times/month) was inversely associated with mortality (multivariable HR=0·68; 95 % CI 0·54, 0·87). At intake ≥8 times/month, a greater protection was observed (HR=0·53; 0·32, 0·90). Nut intake (v. no intake) conveyed a higher protection to individuals poorly adhering to the Mediterranean diet (MD). A significant reduction in cancer deaths (HR=0·64; 95 % CI 0·44, 0·94) was also observed, whereas the impact on CVD deaths was limited to an inverse, but not significant, trend. Biomarkers of low-grade inflammation were reduced in nut consumers but did not account for the association with mortality. In conclusion, nut intake was associated with reduced cancer and total mortality. The protection was stronger in individuals with lower adherence to MD, whereas it was similar in high-risk groups (diabetics, obese, smokers or those with the metabolic syndrome), as compared with low-risk subjects. Inflammation did not explain the observed relationship.
Explicit statistical QoS guarantees for video stream over wireless fading channel

The main obstacle ahead of providing explicit quality of service guarantees for packet-switch wireless networks is the lack of channel model which represents channel in term of connection-level QoS metrics such as data rate, delay and delay violation probability. The recently proposed effective capacity [D. Wu et al, 2003] model for wireless channels which is the dual of well-known effective bandwidth [C.S. Change et al, 1995] model for VBR traffic sources has tackled this problem properly. In this article we propose the combination of these two theories as a solution for important problem of guaranteeing QoS for video stream over wireless channel. Analytical results reveal that the results hold asymptotically but using simulation results we verify the applicability of the results for practical purposes.
Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity

This paper shows that reciprocity has powerful implications for many economic domains. It is an important determinant in the enforcement of contracts and social norms and enhances the possibilities of collective action greatly. Reciprocity may render the provision of explicit incentive inefficient because the incentives may crowd out voluntary co-operation. It strongly limits the effects to competition in markets with incomplete contracts and gives rise to noncompetitive wage differences. Finally, reciprocity it is also a strong force contributing to the existence of incomplete contracts.
Proof of Work can Work

and Overview Proof of work has been proposed as a mechanism to increase the cost of email so that spamming is no longer economically attractive. However, the first economic examination of proof of work argued that POW would not, in fact, work because of the difference of cost to spammers and senders of legitimate email. We illustrate that this shift in the production frontier enabled by zombies does not remove the efficacy of proof of work if work requirements are weighted by a reputation function. We illustrate that proof of work can worked when combined with the currently used reputation systems in commercial anti-spam technologies.
Finding Similar Tweets and Similar Users by Applying Document Similarity to Twitter Streaming Data

Twitter has grown so rapidly that its users are suffering from an information overload. In order to help people to find interesting tweets and users from the enormous Twitter space, by applying the document similarity of Gerard Salton and Christopher Buckley to Twitter streaming data , we attempt to devise a content-based scheme that compares similarities between Twitter users by matching their tweets against each other, especially in terms of the new key-value type database environment. Considering that each tweet is a very short message, we performed data processing of individual twe et level and accumulated tweet level according to author name in our study. At the individual tweet level, finding similar tweets is functional for finding retweets of tweeted messages, which is helpful for estimating the information propagation in Twitter. Also in the meaning of security, it is also effective for finding spam tweets and dishonest copies of tweeted messages. At the accumulated tweet level, finding users who use similar words or expressions is functional for finding users who post similar c ontents or topics, which is helpful for finding friends who have similar preferences and interests. As for the concrete procedures of both levels, we first use Japanese morphological analysis to pick up terms from Twitter data. Then we calculate tfidf to provide a weight parameter for each term. Finally we calculate the document similarity from weight parameter vector between any two documents, which shows how much the tweets or the authors are similar to each other. As a confirmation work, we build a computer system to search tweets by keywords query and to show user similarity between any two users. Distribution graphs of similarity in both tweet level and author level are also achieved.
Off-Hour Effect on 3-Month Functional Outcome after Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Prospective Multicenter Registry

Background and Purpose The time of hospital arrival may have an effect on prognosis of various vascular diseases. We examined whether off-hour admission would affect the 3-month functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to tertiary hospitals. Methods We analyzed the ‘off-hour effect’ in consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke using multi-center prospective stroke registry. Work-hour admission was defined as when the patient arrived at the emergency department between 8 AM and 6 PM from Monday to Friday and between 8 AM and 1 PM on Saturday. Off-hour admission was defined as the rest of the work-hours and statutory holidays. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the association between off-hour admission and 3-month unfavorable functional outcome defined as modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 3–6. Multivariable model included age, sex, risk factors, prehospital delay time, intravenous thrombolysis, stroke subtypes and severity as covariates. Results A total of 7075 patients with acute ischemic stroke were included in this analysis: mean age, 67.5 (±13.0) years; male, 58.6%. In multivariable analysis, off-hour admission was not associated with unfavorable functional outcome (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.72–1.09) and mortality (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.77–1.54) at 3 months. Moreover, off-hour admission did not affect a statistically significant shift of 3-month mRS distributions (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.78–1.05). Conclusions ‘Off-hour’ admission is not associated with an unfavorable 3-month functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to tertiary hospitals in Korea. This finding indicates that the off-hour effects could be overcome with well-organized stroke management strategies.
Clustering of bipartite advertiser-keyword graph

In this paper we present top-down and bottom-up hierarchical clustering methods for large bipartite graphs. The top down approach employs a flow-based graph partitioning method, while the bottom up approach is a multiround hybrid of the single-link and average-link agglomerative clustering methods. We evaluate the quality of clusters obtained by these two methods using additional textual information and compare the results against other clustering techniques.
CATALISE: A Multinational and Multidisciplinary Delphi Consensus Study. Identifying Language Impairments in Children

Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet there is little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments in children. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicine and the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them. Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possible to achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying children who might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representing ten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatrics and child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46 statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing on this topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a seven-point scale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the first two authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus. The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation (round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percent for 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their response with written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resulting consensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and a concluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.
Market Maker : an agent-mediated marketplace infrastructure

Market Maker is a tool for creating agent based electronic marketplaces. Market maker supports automated product identification, buyer and seller qualification, and negotiations by software agents to facilitate transactions. The concept of agent based marketplace was first demonstrated through Kasbah, an electronic marketplace developed in the Media Lab's Software Agents group in 1996. Market Maker extends the Kasbah concepts by providing a framework for creating marketplaces on demand. Thesis Supervisor: Patricia Maes Title: Professor of Media, Arts, and Sciences
Oculodentodigital dysplasia: new ocular findings and a novel connexin 43 mutation.

OBJECTIVES To describe new ocular findings associated with oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD) and a novel mutation in the connexin 43 transmembrane domain. DESIGN Oculodentodigital dysplasia is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by multiple systemic abnormalities, most commonly of the ocular, nasal, dental, and limb structures. Herein, we studied 2 patients with ODDD. We describe their clinical findings and 2 ocular abnormalities not previously emphasized or reported. RESULTS Optic nerve and retinal dysplasia was observed in both patients, and ciliary body cysts were observed in 1 patient. Both patients carried isolated in-frame deletion and missense mutations of the GJA1 gene on chromosome 6. CONCLUSIONS Optic nerve and retinal dysplasia had not been emphasized as ocular manifestations of ODDD. Ciliary body cysts have not previously been reported in association with ODDD. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Our findings support the potential significance of connexin 43 in the retina, optic nerve, and ciliary body. Retinal and optic nerve dysplasia may be more common than previously appreciated and may be associated with reduced vision. In addition, the ciliary body cysts observed in 1 patient may be secondary to weakened cellular adhesions between ciliary body pigmented and nonpigmented epithelium associated with the in-frame deletion identified in the affected patient. The presence of these cysts may exacerbate glaucoma or complicate its management.
Rosmarinic Acid Alleviates Neurological Symptoms in the G93A-SOD1 Transgenic Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in paralysis of voluntary skeletal muscles and eventually death, usually within 2~3 years of symptom onset. The pathophysiology mechanism underlying ALS is not yet clearly understood. Moreover the available medication for treating ALS, riluzole, only modestly improves neurological symptoms and increases survival by a few months. Therefore, improved therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. In the present study, we investigated whether rosmarinic acid has a therapeutic potential to alleviate neurological deterioration in the G93A-SOD1 transgenic mouse model of ALS. Treatment of G93A-SOD1 transgenic mice with rosmarinic acid from 7 weeks of age at the dose of 400 mg/kg/day significantly extended survival, and relieved motor function deficits. Specifically, disease onset and symptom progression were delayed by more than one month. These symptomatic improvements were correlated with decreased oxidative stress and reduced neuronal loss in the ventral horns of G93A-SOD1 mice. These results support that rosmarinic acid is a potentially useful supplement for relieving ALS symptoms.
Predictors of survival, nonrelapse mortality, and failure-free survival in patients treated for chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a pleotropic syndrome that lacks validated methods of measuring response in clinical trials, although several end points have been proposed. To investigate the prognostic significance of these proposed end points, such as the 2005 National Institutes of Health (NIH) response measures, 2014 NIH response measures, clinician-reported response, and patient-reported response, we tested their ability to predict subsequent overall survival (OS), nonrelapse mortality (NRM), and failure-free survival (FFS). Patients (n = 575) were enrolled on a prospective chronic GVHD observational trial. At 6 months, clinician-reported response (P = .004) and 2014 NIH-calculated response (P = .001) correlated with subsequent FFS, and clinician-reported response predicted OS (P = .007). Multivariate models were used to identify changes in organ involvement, laboratory values, and patient-reported outcomes that were associated with long-term outcomes. At 6 months, a change in the 2005 NIH 0 to 3 clinician-reported skin score and 0 to 10 patient-reported itching score predicted subsequent FFS. Change in the Lee skin symptom score and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant score predicted subsequent OS. Change in the Lee skin symptom score predicted subsequent NRM. This study provides evidence that clinician-reported response and patient-reported outcomes are predictive of long-term survival. The trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT00637689.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEUTROPHILIC POLYMORPHONUCLEAR LEUKOCYTES IN HUMAN BONE MARROW

Neutrophilic leukocytes (PMN) and their precursors from normal human marrow and blood were examined by histochemical staining and by electron microscopy and cytochemistry in order to determine the origin and nature of their cytoplasmic granules. Human neutrophils contain two basic types of granules, azurophils and specifics, which differ in morphology, contents, and time of origin. Azurophils are large and may be spherical or ellipsoid, the latter with a crystalline inclusion. They are produced in the first secretory stage (promyelocyte), contain peroxidase and various lysosomal enzymes, and thus correspond to modified primary lysosomes. Specifics are smaller, may be spherical or elongated, and are formed during a later secretory stage (myelocyte). They lack lysosomal enzymes and contain alkaline phosphatase and basic protein; their contents remain largely undetermined. Specifics outnumber azurophils in the mature PMN because of reduction in numbers of azurophils per cell by cell division in the myelocyte stage. The findings indicate that the situation is basically the same as described previously in the rabbit, insofar as the origin, enzymic activity, and persistence in the mature cell of the two types (azurophil and specific) of granules are concerned. The main difference between PMN of the two species is in the morphology (size, shape, and density) of the granules, especially the azurophils.