Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF IMS) for Premalignant Gastrointestinal Lesions

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is currently receiving large attention from the mass spectrometric community, although its use is not yet well known in the clinic. As matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI)-IMS can show the biomolecular changes in cells as well as tissues, it can be an ideal tool for biomedical diagnostics as well as the molecular diagnosis of clinical specimens, especially aimed at the prompt detection of premalignant lesions much earlier before overt mass formation, or for obtaining histologic clues from endoscopic biopsy. Besides its use for pathologic diagnosis, MALDI-IMS is also a powerful tool for the detection and localization of drugs, proteins, and lipids in tissue. Measurement of parameters that define and control the implications, challenges, and opportunities associated with the application of IMS to biomedical tissue studies might be feasible through a deep understanding of mass spectrometry. In this focused review series, new insights into the molecular processes relevant to IMS as well as other field applications are introduced.
Observers for non-linear differential-algebraic systems

In this paper we consider design of observers for non-linear models containing both dynamic and algebraic equations, so called differential-algebraic equations (DAE) or descriptor models. The obsverver is formulated as a DAE and the main results of the paper include conditions that ensure local stability of the observer and also that the observer has index 1. Design methodology is presented and illustrated using a small simulation study.
Endophytic Bacteria in Toxic South African Plants: Identification, Phylogeny and Possible Involvement in Gousiekte

Background South African plant species of the genera Fadogia, Pavetta and Vangueria (all belonging to Rubiaceae) are known to cause gousiekte (literally ‘quick disease’), a fatal cardiotoxicosis of ruminants characterised by acute heart failure four to eight weeks after ingestion. Noteworthy is that all these plants harbour endophytes in their leaves: nodulating bacteria in specialized nodules in Pavetta and non-nodulating bacteria in the intercellular spaces between mesophyll cells in Fadogia and Vangueria. Principal Findings Isolation and analyses of these endophytes reveal the presence of Burkholderia bacteria in all the plant species implicated in gousiekte. Although the nodulating and non-nodulating bacteria belong to the same genus, they are phylogenetically not closely related and even fall in different bacterial clades. Pavetta harborii and Pavetta schumanniana have their own specific endophyte – Candidatus Burkholderia harborii and Candidatus Burkholderia schumanniana – while the non-nodulating bacteria found in the other gousiekte-inducing plants show high similarity to Burkholderia caledonica. In this group, the bacteria are host specific at population level. Investigation of gousiekte-inducing plants from other African countries resulted in the discovery of the same endophytes. Several other plants of the genera Afrocanthium, Canthium, Keetia, Psydrax, Pygmaeothamnus and Pyrostria were tested and were found to lack bacterial endophytes. Conclusions The discovery and identification of Burkholderia bacteria in gousiekte-inducing plants open new perspectives and opportunities for research not only into the cause of this economically important disease, but also into the evolution and functional significance of bacterial endosymbiosis in Rubiaceae. Other South African Rubiaceae that grow in the same area as the gousiekte-inducing plants were found to lack bacterial endophytes which suggests a link between bacteria and gousiekte. The same bacteria are consistently found in gousiekte-inducing plants from different regions indicating that these plants will also be toxic to ruminants in other African countries.
Clinical implications of Bolles & Fanselow's pain/fear model

Abstract A model of fear and pain is presented in which the two are assumed to activate totally different classes of behavior. Fear, produced by stimuli that are associated with painful events, results in defensive behavior and the inhibition of pain and pain-related behaviors. On the other hand, pain, produced by injurious stimulation, motivates recuperative behaviors that promote healing. In this model injurious stimulation, on the one hand, and the expectation of injurious stimulation, on the other hand, activate entirely different motivational systems which serve entirely different functions. The fear motivation system activates defensive behavior, such as freezing and flight from a frightening situation, and its function is to defend the animal against natural dangers, such as predation. A further effect of fear motivation is to organize the perception of environmental events so as to facilitate the perception of danger and safety. The pain motivation system activates recuperative behaviors, including resting and body-care responses, and its function is to promote the animal's recovery from injury. Pain motivation also selectively facilitates the perception of nociceptive stimulation. Since the two kinds of motivation serve different and competitive functions, it might be expected that they would interact through some kind of mutual inhibition. Recent research is described which indicates that this is the case. The most important connection is the inhibition of pain by fear; fear has the top priority. This inhibition appears to be mediated by an endogenous analgesic mechanism involving the endorphins. The model assumes that fear triggers the endorphin mechanism, thereby inhibiting pain motivation and recuperative behaviors that might compete with effective defensive behavior.
A Continuous Feedback Optimal Control based on Second-Variations for Problems with Control Constraints

The paper describes a continuous second-variation algorithm to solve optimal control problems where the control is defined on a closed set. A second order expansion of a Lagrangian provides linear updates of the control to construct a locally feedback optimal control of the problem. Since the process involves a backward and a forward stage, which require storing trajectories, a method has been devised to accurately store continuous solutions of ordinary differential equations. Thanks to the continuous approach, the method adapts implicitly the numerical time mesh. The novel method is demonstrated on bang-bang optimal control problems, showing the suitability of the method to identify automatically optimal switching points in the control.
Recovering from Non-Understanding Errors in a Conversational Dialogue System

Spoken dialogue systems can encounter different types of errors, including nonunderstanding errors where the system recognises that the user has spoken, but does not understand the utterance. Strategies for dealing with this kind of error have been proposed and tested in the context of goal-driven dialogue systems, for example by Bohus with a system which helps reserve conference rooms (Bohus and Rudnicky, 2005). However there has been little work on possible strategies in more conversational settings where the dialogue has more open-ended intentions. This paper looks at recovery from non-understanding errors in the context of a robot tourguide, and tests the strategies in a user trial. The results suggest that it is beneficial for user enjoyment to use strategies which attempt to move the dialogue on, rather than getting caught up in the error by asking users to repeat themselves.
Citizenship, Identity, Blood Donation

Blood donation is broadly understood to be a public and altruistic act. However, new theories of citizenship and subjectivity suggest that the individual and embodied qualities of blood also need to be taken into account when examining donation. This article examines the relationship between public and private elements of blood donation. Donating blood is not an entirely public act, and does not provide an entirely impersonal resource. The embodied self is integral to public practices, and, equally, public domains are important to the constitution of private spaces. However, this study shows that recognition of the individuality of blood is often cast in moral terms. The exclusion of already marginalized people from donating blood presents a risk of further marginalization. If blood donation is understood to be a civic practice open to everyone, then it becomes too easy to see those who cannot donate as non-citizens. New vocabularies of difference are needed. It is an ongoing necessity that altruistic donors are valued; it is also important that those who cannot donate are not punished by this process of valuing.
Telomere dysfunction: a potential cancer predisposition factor.

BACKGROUND Genetic instability associated with telomere dysfunction (i.e., short telomeres) is an early event in tumorigenesis. We investigated the association between telomere length and cancer risk in four ongoing case-control studies. METHODS All studies had equal numbers of case patients and matched control subjects (92 for head and neck cancer, 135 for bladder cancer, 54 for lung cancer, and 32 for renal cell carcinoma). Telomere length was measured in peripheral blood lymphocytes from study participants. Genetic instability was assessed with the comet assay. Patient and disease characteristics were collected and analyzed for associations with risk for these cancers. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Telomeres were statistically significantly shorter in patients with head and neck cancer (6.5 kilobases [kb]) than in control subjects (7.4 kb) (difference = 0.9 kb, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.5 to 1.2 kb; P<.001). Nine percent of patients with head and neck cancer were in the longest quartile of telomere length, whereas 59% were in the shortest quartile. Similar patterns were observed for lung, renal cell, and bladder cancer. When subjects were categorized into telomere length quartiles defined by the distribution in control subjects, the following inverse relationship between telomere length and cancer risk was observed: adjusted odds ratios [ORs] for decreasing quartiles = 0.84 (95% CI = 0.36 to 1.97), 1.77 (95% CI = 0.72 to 4.36), and 5.11 (95% CI = 1.90 to 13.77). In stratified analysis, we found a suggestive greater-than-additive interaction between smoking status and telomere length: for ever smokers with short telomeres, OR = 25.05 (95% CI = 6.91 to 90.73); for never smokers with short telomeres, OR = 6.18 (95% CI = 1.72 to 22.13); and for ever smokers with long telomeres, OR = 6.49 (95% CI = 1.54 to 27.38). Telomere length was statistically significantly and inversely associated with baseline and mutagen-induced genetic instability. CONCLUSION Short telomeres appear to be associated with increased risks for human bladder, head and neck, lung, and renal cell cancers.
The Transcendent Function in Organizational Change

The conflict inherent in organizational change is explored from the perspective of Jungian psychology. The transcendent function, which is the symbol-creating capacity of the psyche, is the process through which the opposition of conscious and unconscious forces can be integrated and resolved so that organization members may experience a positive change. Manifestations of the unconscious are illustrated with examples of dreams and the underused psychologicalfunctions. Examples also demonstrate how the tension between the conscious and the unconscious can be maintained until a new level of understanding, a creative resolution of conflict, or a transformation in perception occurs. The author discusses how consultants may use this approach in team building and other organization development work.
Presentation of a self-peptide for in vivo tolerance induction of CD4+ T cells is governed by a processing factor that maps to the class II region of the major histocompatibility complex locus

Self-proteins are regularly processed for presentation to autoreactive T cells in association with both class I and class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The presentation of self- peptides plays a crucial role in the acquisition of T cell repertoire during thymic selection. We previously reported that the self-MHC class I peptide Ld 61-80 was immunogenic in syngeneic B10.A mice (H-2a). We showed that despite its high affinity for self-MHC class II molecules, Ld 61-80 peptide failed to induce elimination of autoreactive CD4+ T cells, presumably due to incomplete processing and presentation in the B10.A's developing thymus (cryptic-self peptide). In this report, we showed that the cryptic phenotype was not an intrinsic property of the self-peptide Ld 61-80 since it was found to be naturally presented and subsequently tolerogenic in BALB/c mice (H-2d) (dominant self-peptide). In addition, the self-peptide Ld 61-80 was found to be immunogenic in different H-2a mice while it was invariably tolerogenic in H-2d mice regardless of their background genes. We observed that Ld 61-80 bound equally well to H-2d and H-2k MHC class II molecules. Also, no correlation was found between the quantity of self-Ld protein and the tolerogenicity of Ld 61-80. Surprisingly, Ld 61-80 was not naturally presented in (H-2d x H-2a) F1 mice, indicating that the H-2a MHC locus contained a gene that impaired the presentation of the self-peptide. Analyses of T cell responses to the self-peptide in several H-2 recombinant mice revealed that the presentation of Ld 61-80 was controlled by genes that mapped to a 170-kb portion of the MHC class II region. This study shows that (a) endogenously processed self-peptides presented by MHC class II molecules are involved in shaping the CD4+ T cell repertoire in the thymus; (b) The selection of self-peptides for presentation by MHC class II molecules to nascent autoreactive T cells is influenced by nonstructural MHC genes that map to a 170-kb portion of the MHC class II region; and (c) the MHC locus of H-2a mice encodes factors that prevent or abrogate the presentation by MHC class II molecules of the self-peptide Ld 61-80. These findings may have important implications for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in T cell repertoire acquisition and self-tolerance induction.
Effect of Reactor Turbulence on the Binding-Protein-Mediated Aspartate Transport System in Thin Wastewater Biofilms

This research documents an effect of reactor turbulence on the ability of gram-negative wastewater biofilm bacteria to actively transport l-aspartate via a binding-protein-mediated transport system. Biofilms which were not preadapted to turbulence and which possessed two separate and distinct aspartate transport systems (systems 1 and 2) were subjected to a turbulent flow condition in a hydrodynamically defined closed-loop reactor system. A shear stress treatment of 3.1 N · m−2 for 10 min at a turbulent Reynolds number (Re = 11,297) inactivated the low-affinity, high-capacity binding-protein-mediated transport system (system 2) and resolved the high-affinity, low-capacity membrane-bound proton symport system (system 1). The Kt and Vmax values for the resolved system were statistically similar to Kt and Vmax values for system 1 when system 2 was inactivated either by osmotic shock or arsenate, two treatments which are known to inactivate binding-protein-mediated transport systems. We hypothesize that shear stress disrupts system 2 by deforming the outer membranes of the firmly adhered gram-negative bacteria.
Finite-Time State Estimation for Coupled Markovian Neural Networks With Sensor Nonlinearities

This paper investigates the issue of finite-time state estimation for coupled Markovian neural networks subject to sensor nonlinearities, where the Markov chain with partially unknown transition probabilities is considered. A Luenberger-type state estimator is proposed based on incomplete measurements, and the estimation error system is derived by using the Kronecker product. By using the Lyapunov method, sufficient conditions are established, which guarantee that the estimation error system is stochastically finite-time bounded and stochastically finite-time stable, respectively. Then, the estimator gains are obtained via solving a set of coupled linear matrix inequalities. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed new design method.
The Need to Draw Second Language Learners' Attention to the Semantic Boundaries of Syntactically Relevant Verb Classes

This paper puts forward the view that second language (L2) learners could benefit from being made aware of the semantic components which unify verbs that display a certain syntactic behaviour, and, more significantly, the semantic components which exclude other verbs from participating in this behaviour. In other words, an awareness of the parameters of verb classes could minimize both syntactic overgeneralization and under-generalization. This viewpoint is supported by the findings of a study in which production and judgement data on the behaviour of 'change-of-state' and 'directional motion' verbs were elicited from learners at three levels of lexical proficiency. While learners with high lexical proficiency had fewer overgeneralizations than their lower-level counterparts, overgeneralization was substantial at all levels of proficiency in the directional motion class. The results suggest that it might be beneficial to combine grammar and vocabulary instruction in L2 curricula, with a special focus on s.
[CRTH2 antagonist ameliorates airway inflammation in rats with asthma].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of prostaglandin D2 receptor antagonists on the airway inflammation in rats with asthma. METHODS Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: Group A (normal control), Group B (asthma group), Group C (CRTH2 antagonist BAYu3405 treatment group), Group D (DP1 antagonist BWA868C treatment group). Asthma was induced by ovalbumin (OVA) challenge. The rats in each group were sacrificed 24 h after the last challenge of OVA.DP1/CRTH2 receptors on eosinophils (EOS) were measured by radiological binding assay (RBA). The left lungs were used for histological examinations and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected from the right lungs. The total cell numbers, EOS absolute count and differential cell counts in BALF were performed. Serum concentrations of IL-4, 5 and IFN-gamma were measured by ELISA. RESULTS Rats in BAYu3405 treatment group showed profoundly decreased infiltrates of EOS and lymphocytes in the wall of bronchus when compared with those of asthma group and BWA868C treatment group. Serum concentrations of IFN-gamma in rats of BAYu3405 treatment group increased, but IL-4 and IL-5 decreased significantly when compared with those in rats of asthma group and BWA868C treatment group (P<0.01), and BALF EOS count was decreased significantly (P<0.01). Peripheral blood EOS count was higher than that in rats of normal control group, but was not significantly different from that in rats of asthma group and BWA868C treatment group. The combining capacity of CRTH2 and DP total combining capacity on EOS in asthma group, BAYu3405 treatment group and BWA868C treatment group were significantly higher than those in Group A (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in DP1 among all the groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION CRTH2, but not DP1 antagonist can effectively ameliorate airway inflammation in rats with asthma.
Transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a high-risk patient with aortic and mitral regurgitation: usage of the JenaValve™ system

JenaValve TM system is a second-generation transcatheter heart valve that provides a successful deployment not only in calcified stenotic aortic valves but also in non-calcified, severe regurgitant aortic valves. We performed a transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation procedure using this system without any procedure-related complications in a 75-year-old woman with multiple co-morbidity factors, who had both mitral and aortic regurgitation, and low ejection fraction.
Phrase Break Prediction for Long-Form Reading TTS: Exploiting Text Structure Information

Phrasing structure is one of the most important factors in increasing the naturalness of text-to-speech (TTS) systems, in particular for long-form reading. Most existing TTS systems are optimized for isolated short sentences, and completely discard the larger context or structure of the text. This paper presents how we have built phrasing models based on data extracted from audiobooks. We investigate how various types of textual features can improve phrase break prediction: part-of-speech (POS), guess POS (GPOS), dependency tree features and word embeddings. These features are fed into a bidirectional LSTM or a CART baseline. The resulting systems are compared using both objective and subjective evaluations. Using BiLSTM and word embeddings proves to be beneficial.
Inelastic quantum transport in a ladder model : Implications for DNA conduction and comparison to experiments on suspended DNA oligomers

We investigate quantum transport characteristics of a ladder model, which effectively mimics the topology of a double-stranded DNA molecule. We consider the interaction of tunneling charges with a selected internal vibrational degree of freedom and discuss its influence on the structure of the current-voltage characteristics. Further, molecule-electrode contact effects are shown to dramatically affect the orders of magnitude of the current. Recent electrical transport measurements on suspended DNA oligomers with a complex base-pair sequence, revealing strikingly high currents, are also presented and used as a reference point for the theoretical modeling. A semiquantitative description of the measured $I\ensuremath{-}V$ curves is achieved, suggesting that the coupling to vibrational excitations plays an important role in DNA conduction.
Information Costs and Home Bias: An Analysis of U.S. Holdings of Foreign Equities

Using a comprehensive new data set, we exploit the cross-sectional variation of U.S. holdings of equities in a wide range of countries to gain insight into the equity home bias phenomenon. We find that a direct barrier to international investment - restrictions on foreign ownership of equities - significantly affects the country distribution of U.S. equity holdings, but has only a small effect on the overall level of home bias. More important are information asymmetries due to the poor quality and low credibility of financial information in many countries. While no direct measure of information costs is available, some foreign firms have reduced these costs by publicly listing their securities in the United States, where investor protection regulations elicit standardized, credible financial information. We find that a proxy for the reduction in information asymmetries - the portion of a country's market that has a public U.S. listing - is a major determinant of a country's weight in U.S. investors' portfolios. Foreign countries whose firms do not alleviate information costs by opting into the U.S. regulatory environment are more severely underweighted in U.S. equity portfolios.
Teacher Mentoring and Teacher Retention

Four years after their initial, mentored teaching year, two cohorts of beginning teachers (N= 160) were surveyed to determine whether they had remained in teaching and their retrospective attitudes about mentoring. Approximately 96% of those located were still teaching. Of the different types of support they received from their mentors, they most valued emotional support. It is suggested that teacher mentoring may reduce the early attrition of beginning teachers.
Elasticity of Control

Our language dichotomizes &dquo;centralization&dquo; and &dquo;decentralization,&dquo; a peculiarity that easily converts to a polarization and antithesis that poorly serve political science. We appear to have neither a term that embraces the full continuum between the two poles, nor a term that specifies the middle range where centralizing and decentralizing tendencies are substantially in balance [Fesler, 1965: 537].