Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hilbert–Huang transform based instrumental assessment of intention tremor in multiple sclerosis

Objective. This paper describes a method to extract upper limb intention tremor from gyroscope data, through the Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT), a technique suitable for the study of nonlinear and non-stationary processes. The aims of the study were to: (i) evaluate the method’s ability to discriminate between healthy controls and MS subjects; (ii) validate the proposed procedure against clinical tremor scores assigned using Fahn’s tremor rating scale (FTRS); and (iii) compare the performance of the HHT-based method with that of linear band-pass filters. Approach. HHT was applied on gyroscope data collected on 20 MS subjects and 13 healthy controls (CO) during finger-to-nose tests (FNTs) instrumented with an inertial sensor placed on the hand. The results were compared to those obtained after traditional linear filtering. The tremor amplitude was quantified with instrumental indexes (TIs) and clinical FTRS ratings. Main results. The TIs computed after HHT-based filtering discriminated between CO and MS subjects with clinically-detected intention tremor (MS_T). In particular, TIs were significantly higher in the final part of the movement (TI2) with respect to the first part (TI1), and, for all components (X, Y, Z), MS_T showed a TI2 significantly higher than in CO subjects. Moreover, the HHT detected subtle alterations not visible from clinical ratings, as TI2 (Z-component) was significantly increased in MS subjects without clinically-detected tremor (MS_NT). The method’s validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between clinical FTRS scores and TI2 related to X (rs = 0.587, p = 0.006) and Y (rs = 0.682, p < 0.001) components. Contrarily, fewer differences among the groups and no correlation between instrumental and clinical indexes emerged after traditional filtering. Significance. The present results supported the use of the HHT-based procedure for a fully-automated quantitative and objective measure of intention tremor in MS, which can overcome the limitations of clinical scales and provide supplementary information about this sign.
Bilingual English Speaking Professionals and The Current Recruitment Practices in EFL Market

In this paper, I attempt to investigate how bilingual English Language professionals are perceived by recruiters in Saudi Arabia. The paper also explores what EFL teaching jobs hiring policies and practices are in place. This study is informed by the critical research paradigm to call attention to inequitable practices and policies that affect bilingual English professionals. Eleven Arab teachers participated in this study in the eastern province, Saudi Arabia. These teachers had teaching experience varying from 3 to more than 25 years. These teachers were interviewed using a semi-structure method. The findings revealed that the majority of the participants were aware of who the ideal English language teacher model is. The interpretation of the data also showed that they were dissatisfied and concerned about how recruiters neglect their teaching experience and educational background when hiring. Additionally, ‘accent’ and ‘nationality’ issues were also considered amongst the causes of inequitable hiring practices in EFL jobs in the Saudi market. The study recommends giving bilinguals equal opportunities with their monolingual colleagues with regard to recruitment. Collaboration between monolinguals and bilinguals should not be considered as a one-way relationship but as an investing relationship With regard to employers, it is also recommended that they should be linked to the field of TEFL/TESOL so they can understand at least what is meant by ‘ELT profession’ so they can revisit and revise the current hiring criteria to be more inclusive.
Resting microglia respond to and regulate neuronal activity in vivo

Microglia are the primary immune cells in the brain. Under pathological conditions, they become activated and participate in scavenging, inflammation and tissue repair in response to brain injury. While the function and underlying mechanism of activated microglia have been intensively studied in the past decades, physiological functions of resting microglia remain largely underestimated. In our recent work, by simultaneously monitoring both the motility of resting microglial processes and the activity of surrounding neurons in intact zebrafish optic tectum, we examined the interaction between resting microglia and neurons. Local increase in neuronal activity attracts resting microglial processes and drives them to contact neurons with high levels of activity. This process is mediated by neuronal release of “find-me” signals such as ATP via pannexin-1 hemichannels and requires small Rho GTPase Rac in microglia. Reciprocally, the microglia-neuron contact reduces both the spontaneous and visually evoked activities of contacted neurons. We here summarize and explain the key results in the context of our previous work.
Testing the validity of PPP theory for African countries

ABSTRACT This study examines the purchasing power parity theory for 14 African countries by applying a recent composite time series method that incorporates the Fourier approximation. The structural breaks are modelled as a gradual smooth process by means of a Fourier component. The Fourier unit root test failed to find any evidence showing that real exchange rates for these 14 countries have mean-reverting tendencies. However, both cointegration and Fourier cointegration tests detect a stable long-term relation between the nominal exchange rate and relative price levels for 8 out of 14 countries; moreover, for five countries Fourier component in cointegration analysis is found to suit quite well.
Social Capital for The Sustainable Economy of Bangladesh

Now-a-days knowledge people are familiar with the concept of social capital. The terminology actually comes from the sociology as the part of social science that derives the collective economic benefit. This paper aims to analyze the importance and influence of social capital on the sustainable economy of our country. There are some mechanisms that operate social capital, process of creating social capita. Intervening to strengthen social capital – as a ―Self-help groups ―is one of the major concerns. Keywords—knowledge people, social capital, sociology, social science, self-help groups.
Provincial carbon emissions reduction allocation plan in China based on consumption perspective

China is a country with substantial differences in economic development, energy consumption mix, resources, and technologies, as well as the development path at the provincial level. Therefore, China’s provinces have different potential and degrees of difficulty to carry out carbon emission reduction (CER) requirements. In addition, interprovincial trade, with a large amount of embodied carbon emissions, has become the fastest growing driver of China’s total carbon emissions. A reasonable CER allocation plan is, therefore, crucial for realizing the commitment that China announced in the Paris Agreement. How to determine a fair way to allocate provincial CER duties has become a significant challenge for both policy-makers and researchers. In this paper, ecological network analysis (ENA), combined with a multi-regional input-output model (MRIO), is adopted to build an ecological network of embodied emissions across 30 provinces. Then, by using flow analysis and utility analysis based on the ENA model, the specific relationships among different provinces were determined, and the amount of responsibility that a certain province should take quantified, with respect to the embodied carbon emission (ECE) flows from interprovincial trade. As a result, we suggest a new CER allocation plan, based on the detailed data of interprovincial relationships and ECE flows.
Hierarchical Organization of Guidance Receptors: Silencing of Netrin Attraction by Slit Through a Robo/DCC Receptor Complex

Axonal growth cones that cross the nervous system midline change their responsiveness to midline guidance cues: They become repelled by the repellent Slit and simultaneously lose responsiveness to the attractant netrin. These mutually reinforcing changes help to expel growth cones from the midline by making a once-attractive environment appear repulsive. Here, we provide evidence that these two changes are causally linked: In the growth cones of embryonic Xenopusspinal axons, activation of the Slit receptor Roundabout (Robo) silences the attractive effect of netrin-1, but not its growth-stimulatory effect, through direct binding of the cytoplasmic domain of Robo to that of the netrin receptor DCC. Biologically, this hierarchical silencing mechanism helps to prevent a tug-of-war between attractive and repulsive signals in the growth cone that might cause confusion. Molecularly, silencing is enabled by a modular and interlocking design of the cytoplasmic domains of these potentially antagonistic receptors that predetermines the outcome of their simultaneous activation.
The functional CD40 antigen of fibroblasts may contribute to the proliferation of rheumatoid synovium

This paper demonstrates that CD40 is expressed on rheumatoid synovial pannus and primary fibroblast cell lines established from rheumatoid and osteoarthritic synovium as well as normal skin. Among various tested cytokines, interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) and to a lower extent, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) were found to upregulate CD40 expression on fibroblasts. Synovial and skin fibroblasts cultured over CD40 Ligand transfected L cells (L‐CD40 L) demonstrate a CD40 specific increase of DNA synthesis as measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation. Cell‐cycle analysis and enumeration of viable cells further show that CD40 induced fibroblast proliferation. Costimulation with L‐CD40 L and IFN‐γ resulted in maximal proliferation. Engagement of fibroblasts CD40 increased the IL‐1‐induced production of granulocyte macrophage‐colony stimulating factor and macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α MIP‐1α. CD40 L activated fibroblasts showed decreased levels of CD40, but only marginal alterations of other cell‐surface antigens. Taken together, the present results indicate that fibroblasts express functional CD40 and suggest a possible role of CD40 L expressing cells, such as activated T cells and mast cells, in the development of synovium hyperplasia.
High glucose and hyperinsulinemia stimulate connective tissue growth factor expression: A potential mechanism involved in progression to fibrosis in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may progress to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Mechanisms directly involved in the development of fibrosis have been poorly investigated. Because connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is an intermediate key molecule involved in the pathogenesis of fibrosing chronic liver diseases and is potentially induced by hyperglycemia, the aims of this study were to (1) study the expression of CTGF in vivo both in human liver biopsy specimens of patients with NASH and in an experimental model of obesity and type II diabetes (Zucker rats); and (2) analyze the effects of hyperglycemia and insulin in vitro on hepatic stellate cells. In vivo, CTGF overexpression was observed in the liver tissue of all of the 16 patients with NASH. CTGF immunostaining was mild in 7 cases (44%) and moderate or strong in 9 cases (56%). Staining was mainly detected in the liver extracellular matrix in parallel with the amount of liver fibrosis. Liver from fa/fa rats also showed CTGF overexpression by comparison with Fa/fa rats both at the messenger RNA (mRNA) level (3‐fold increase) and protein level. In vitro, both CTGF mRNA and protein were significantly increased when hepatic stellate cells were incubated with either glucose or insulin. A slight increase in type I procollagen mRNA level was also observed in hepatic stellate cells incubated with glucose. In conclusion, this study suggests that hyperglycemia and insulin are key‐factors in the progression of fibrosis in patients with NASH through the up‐regulation of CTGF.
Race, Economics, And Social Status

Social and economic status of an individual or group can be measured as a blend of wealth, income, occupation, and education. Other contributors to social and economic status include race, ethnicity, home ownership, family size, family types, and even types of foods purchased. The combination of social and economic status can reveal a group or individual's unequal access to resources, privilege, power, and control in a society. This Spotlight on Statistics examines Consumer Expenditure Survey data to explore the patterns of social and economic factors by race and ethnicity
A low-power UHF passive RFID transponder chip in 0.18 μm CMOS

In this paper, we report a low-power passive UHF RFID transponder chip for handling baggage, collecting traffic tolls, and monitoring environment applications in 0.18 μm CMOS process. The transponder chip comprises a charge pump for converting the received UHF signals (from the antenna) to a stable DC voltage, a low power ring oscillator and TSPC divide-by-2 divider based divide-by-16 divider for generating the needed clock signals, a demodulator, a read only memory (ROM), and a modulator. The transmission-gate-based modulator delivers the data stored in the ROM to the interrogator by ASK modulation. The transponder chip occupies a small chip area of 0.57 mm2 and consumes a low power of 1.7 μW. In both the anechoic chamber and the real circumstance, the transponder functions well at UHF input power down to −20 dBm (equivalent to voltage amplitude of 31.6 mV) and data rate up to 2 Mbps. The measured results conform with the simulated ones well. To the authors' knowledge, the minimal UHF input power, occupied chip area and power consumption results are one of the best data ever reported for a passive UHF RFID transponder chip.
CXCL13 as a new biomarker of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis – from bench to bedside?

Different studies over the last decade have linked the B cell‐attracting chemokine CXC ligand 13 (CXCL13) to the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A pathogenetic role of this chemokine for disease manifestation in SLE was described initially in mouse models for SLE. Mechanisms of CXCL13 actions were also identified in SLE patients. Moreover, various clinical studies have identified CXCL13 serum levels as a useful biomarker in patients with SLE of different ethnicities for disease activity. In addition, CXCL13 seems to be a promising marker for the diagnosis of lupus nephritis, one of the most severe complications of SLE. However, its exact place within the mechanisms that lead to SLE remains to be defined. Further research is needed to resolve more details of the pathomechanism and the signalling pathway of CXCL13 in SLE. Blocking CXCL13 or the signal pathways of CXCL13 is seen as a promising therapeutic approach for SLE and will be addressed in the near future. This review summarizes all papers that linked CXCL13 to SLE and highlights its importance in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of SLE
A PARSIMONIOUS MODEL OF LONGEVITY, FERTILITY, HIV TRANSMISSION AND DEVELOPMENT

A central policy issue in the battle against HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is whether and when high-prevalence countries might become autonomous in designing and implementing their own intervention policies against the disease. The aim of this research is twofold. First, it develops a framework for explaining economic development in a general equilibrium growth model with endogenous fertility and endogenous mortality forced by the threat of a persistent, deadly infectious disease, such as HIV/AIDS in SSA. Second, it aims to shed light on the interplay between foreign aid and endogenous domestic public policies in SSA countries severely afflicted by HIV. Consequently, it investigates the demographic and macroeconomic implications of an intervention against HIV/AIDS whose total amount is the sum of an exogenous component representing foreign aid and an endogenous public expenditure. On the assumption that these policies allow the same degree of HIV control, we show the emergence of quite different responses in terms of key demo-economic variables. These effects mainly pass through the fertility response to the evolving epidemic conditions.
Nanostructures and molecular force bases of a highly sensitive capacitive immunosensor

While biosensors have been constructed using various strategies, there is no report describing nanostructures of antibody‐immobilized electrode interface in an immunosensor. Here, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrochemistry analyses were employed to construct and characterize the nanostructures and electrochemistry of biosensing surface that was created by a sequential self‐assembling of bioactive aminobenzenthiol oligomer (o‐ABT), glutareldehyde and anti‐transferrin (anti‐Tf) antibody on the electrode gold surface. Under AFM, a complete coverage of bioactive o‐ABT interface could be achieved by anti‐Tf antibody at an optimal concentration. The anti‐Tf antibody immobilized on electrode surface of the immunosensor exhibited globular‐shape topography with some degree of aggregation. Extensive force‐curve analysis allowed mapping the functional spots of the anti‐Tf immunosensor. Surprisingly, although immunosensing surface was fully covered by anti‐Tf antibodies at the optimal concentration, only about 52% of coated anti‐Tf antibody molecules (spots) on the electrode surface were able to specifically capture or bind Tf antigen under AFM. Despite limited functional spots, however, the anti‐Tf immunosensor was highly specific and sensitive for sensitizing Tf antigen in solution. The anti‐Tf molecules on the immunosensor exhibited a greater molecular force bound to holo‐Tf (iron‐containing form of Tf) than that to apo‐Tf (iron‐absent form of Tf). Consistently, the anti‐Tf immunosensor had a greater electrochemical capacity to sensitize apo‐Tf than holo‐Tf, supporting the molecular force‐based finding by AFM. Thus, the present study elucidated the nanostructures and molecular force bases for the immunosensing capacity of a highly sensitive capacitive immunosensor.
Sizes of the largest clusters for supercritical percolation on random recursive trees

We consider Bernoulli bond‐percolation on a random recursive tree of size n≫1 , with supercritical parameter p(n)=1−t/ln⁡n+o(1/ln⁡n) for some t>0 fixed. We show that with high probability, the largest cluster has size close to e−tn whereas the next largest clusters have size of order n/ln⁡n only and are distributed according to some Poisson random measure. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 44, 29–44, 2014
Comparative phylogeography of Ponto‐Caspian mysid crustaceans: isolation and exchange among dynamic inland sea basins

The distributions of many endemic Ponto‐Caspian brackish‐water taxa are subdivided among the Black, Azov and Caspian Sea basins and further among river estuaries. Of the two alternative views to explain the distributions, the relict school has claimed Tertiary fragmentation of the once contiguous range by emerging geographical and salinity barriers, whereas the immigration view has suggested recolonization of the westerly populations from the Caspian Sea after extirpation during Late Pleistocene environmental perturbations. A study of mitochondrial (COI) phylogeography of seven mysid crustacean taxa from the genera Limnomysis and Paramysis showed that both scenarios can be valid for different species. Four taxa had distinct lineages related to the major basin subdivision, but the lineage distributions and depths of divergence were not concordant. The data do not support a hypothesis of Late Miocene (10–5 Myr) vicariance; rather, range subdivisions and dispersal from and to the Caspian Sea seem to have occurred at different times throughout the Pleistocene. For example, in Paramysis lacustris each basin had an endemic clade 2–5% diverged from the others, whereas Paramysis kessleri from the southern Caspian and the western Black Sea were nearly identical. Species‐specific ecological characteristics such as vagility and salinity tolerance seem to have played important roles in shaping the phylogeographic patterns. The mitochondrial data also suggested recent, human‐mediated cryptic invasions of P. lacustris and Limnomysis benedeni from the Caspian to the Sea of Azov basin via the Volga‐Don canal. Cryptic species‐level subdivisions were recorded in populations attributed to Paramysis baeri, and possibly in P. lacustris.
Histone H1 and Chromosomal Protein HMGN2 Regulate Prolactin-induced STAT5 Transcription Factor Recruitment and Function in Breast Cancer Cells*

The hormone prolactin (PRL) contributes to breast cancer pathogenesis through various signaling pathways, one of the most notable being the JAK2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) pathway. PRL-induced activation of the transcription factor STAT5 results in the up-regulation of numerous genes implicated in breast cancer pathogenesis. However, the molecular mechanisms that enable STAT5 to access the promoters of these genes are not well understood. Here, we show that PRL signaling induces chromatin decompaction at promoter DNA, corresponding with STAT5 binding. The chromatin-modifying protein high mobility group nucleosomal binding domain 2 (HMGN2) specifically promotes STAT5 accessibility at promoter DNA by facilitating the dissociation of the linker histone H1 in response to PRL. Knockdown of H1 rescues the decrease in PRL-induced transcription following HMGN2 knockdown, and it does so by allowing increased STAT5 recruitment. Moreover, H1 and STAT5 are shown to function antagonistically in regulating PRL-induced transcription as well as breast cancer cell biology. While reduced STAT5 activation results in decreased PRL-induced transcription and cell proliferation, knockdown of H1 rescues both of these effects. Taken together, we elucidate a novel mechanism whereby the linker histone H1 prevents STAT5 binding at promoter DNA, and the PRL-induced dissociation of H1 mediated by HMGN2 is necessary to allow full STAT5 recruitment and promote the biological effects of PRL signaling.