Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ALGEBRAIC CHARACTERIZATIONS OF MEASURE ALGEBRAS 1287 The problem of an algebraic characterization of measure algebras originated with

We present necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a countably additive measure on a Boolean σ-algebra. For instance, a Boolean σ-algebra B is a measure algebra if and only if B −{0} is the union of a chain of sets C1 ⊂ C2 ⊂ . such that for every n, (i) every antichain in Cn has at most K(n) elements (for some integer K(n)), (ii) if {an}n is a sequence with an / ∈ Cn for each n, then limn an = 0, and (iii) for every k, if {an}n is a sequence with limn an = 0, then for eventually all n, an / ∈ Ck. The chain {Cn} is essentially unique. 1. Statement of results A Boolean algebra is an algebra B of subsets of a given nonempty set X, with Boolean operations a∪ b, a∩ b, −a = X − a, and the zero and unit elements 0 = ∅ and 1 = X. A Boolean σ-algebra is a Boolean algebra B such that every countable set A ⊂ B has a supremum sup A = ∨ A (and an infimum inf A = ∧ A) in the partial ordering of B by inclusion. Definition 1.1. A measure (more precisely, a strictly positive σ-additive probability measure) on a Boolean σ-algebra B is a real valued function m on B such that (i) m(0) = 0, m(a) > 0 for a = 0, and m(1) = 1, (ii) m(a) ≤ m(b) if a ⊂ b, (iii) m(a ∪ b) = m(a) + m(b) if a ∩ b = 0, (iv) m( ∨∞ n=1 an) = ∑∞ n=1 m(an) whenever the an are pairwise disjoint. A measure algebra is a Boolean σ-algebra that carries a measure. Let B be a Boolean algebra and let B = B−{0}. A set A ⊂ B is an antichain if a ∩ b = 0 whenever a and b are distinct elements of A. A partition W (of 1) is a maximal antichain, i.e. an antichain with ∨ W = 1. B satisfies the countable chain condition (ccc) if it has no uncountable antichains. B is weakly distributive if for every sequence {Wn}n of partitions there exists a partition W with the property that each a ∈ W meets only finitely many elements of each Wn. If B is a measure algebra, then B satisfies the ccc and is weakly distributive. Below we present additional, purely algebraic, conditions that characterize measure algebras. Received by the editors December 11, 2006. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 28A60, 06E10. This work was supported in part by GAAV Grant IAA100190509. c ©2007 American Mathematical Society
Identification of SNAREs Involved in Regulated Exocytosis in the Pancreatic Acinar Cell*

The molecular basis of exocytotic membrane fusion in the pancreatic acinar cell was investigated using an in vitro assay that measures both zymogen granule-plasma membrane fusion and granule-granule fusion. These two fusion events were differentially sensitive to Ca2+, suggesting that they are controlled by different Ca2+-sensing mechanisms. Botulinum neurotoxin C (BoNT/C) treatment of the plasma membranes caused cleavage of syntaxin 2, the apical isoform of this Q-SNARE, but did not affect syntaxin 4, the basolateral isoform. BoNT/C also cleaved syntaxin 3, the zymogen granule isoform. BoNT/C treatment of plasma membranes abolished granule-plasma membrane fusion, whereas toxin treatment of the granules reduced granule-plasma membrane fusion and abolished granule-granule fusion. Tetanus toxin cleaved granule-associated synaptobrevin 2 but caused only a small reduction in both granule-plasma membrane fusion and granule-granule fusion. Our results indicate that syntaxin 2 is the isoform that mediates fusion between zymogen granules and the apical plasma membrane of the acinar cell. Syntaxin 3 mediates granule-granule fusion, which might be involved in compound exocytosis. In contrast, the major R-SNARE on the zymogen granule remains to be identified.
Vibration Suppression Control for a Variable Length Pendulum with a Pivot Movable in a Restricted Range

This paper considers the problem of stabilizing a pendulum whose pivot and weight can be moved in restricted ranges. Conditions for stability of the pendulum are derived using energy-based methods, and then two feedback control laws are constructed. The one moves the pivot and weight sinusoidally, which realizes a smooth control requiring smaller control efforts, and the other moves them nearly bang-bang, which gives a better control performance. Experimental results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control laws
Large-scale location-aware services in access: Hierarchical building/floor classification and location estimation using Wi-Fi fingerprinting based on deep neural networks

One of key technologies for future large-scale location-aware services in access is a scalable indoor localization technique. In this paper, we report preliminary results from our investigation on the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) for hierarchical building/floor classification and floor-level location estimation based on Wi-Fi fingerprinting, which we carried out as part of a feasibility study project on Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) Campus Information and Visitor Service System. To take into account the hierarchical nature of the building/floor classification problem, we propose a new DNN architecture based on a stacked autoencoder for the reduction of feature space dimension and a feed-forward classifier for multi-label classification with argmax functions to convert multi-label classification results into multi-class classification ones. We also describe the demonstration of a prototype DNN-based indoor localization system for floor-level location estimation using real received signal strength (RSS) data collected at one of the buildings on the XJTLU campus. The preliminary results for both building/floor classification and floor-level location estimation clearly show the strengths of DNN-based approaches, which can provide near state-of-the-art performance with less parameter tuning and higher scalability.
Pollen competition in style: Effects of pollen size on siring success in the hermaphroditic common morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Pollen size varies greatly among flowering plant species and has been shown to influence the delivery of sperm cells to the eggs. Relatively little is known, however, about the functional significance of within-species genetic variation in pollen size. This study tests whether pollen size influences the relative siring success of a pollen donor during in vivo pollen competition experiments. METHODS We used two groups of Ipomoea purpurea plants genetically divergent in their pollen sizes and applied equal number of pollen grains from one large-pollen and one small-pollen donor onto the same stigma. Using microsatellite genetic markers, we identified the pollen parent of each of the resulting progeny to determine the relative siring success of the competing donors. Competitions between donors of equal-sized pollen served as a control. KEY RESULTS Differences in pollen size significantly affected the relative siring success of a pollen donor; larger-grained individuals outcompeted smaller-grained competitors but not equal-sized competitors. Relative siring success, however, sometimes varied across different pollen recipients. CONCLUSIONS Pollen size can influence the relative siring success of different individuals competing on the same stigma during postpollination processes. However, other factors, such as pollen-pistil interaction and environmental conditions, are likely to influence these competitions as well.
Reliability of the chest radiograph in the diagnosis of lower respiratory infections in young children.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to determine the reliability of detecting features and making diagnoses of lower respiratory infections from chest radiograms in young infants. METHODS Forty chest radiograms of infants younger than 6 months of age admitted with lower respiratory tract infection to a tertiary care pediatric hospital were independently reviewed on two separate occasions by three pediatric radiologists blinded to the patients' clinical diagnoses. For each radiograph the radiologists noted whether a feature was present, absent or equivocal on a standardized form. The features examined were hyperinflation, peribronchial thickening, perihilar linear opacities, atelectasis and consolidation. On the same form each radiologist indicated whether the radiograph was normal or showed airways and/or airspace disease. Within and between observer agreement were calculated by the average weighted kappa statistic. RESULTS Within observer agreement for the radiologic features of hyperinflation, peribronchial wall thickening, perihilar linear opacities, atelectasis and consolidation were 0.85, 0.76, 0.87, 0.86 and 0.91, respectively. The between observer kappa results for these features were 0.83, 0.55, 0.82, 0.78 and 0.79, respectively. The within and between observer kappa statistics for interpretation of the radiographic features were best for airspace disease (within, 0.92; between, 0.91), and lower for normal (within, 0.80; between, 0.66) radiogram and for airways disease (within, 0.68; between, 0.48). The presence of consolidation was highly correlated with a diagnosis of airspace disease by all three radiologists. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians basing the diagnosis of lower respiratory infections in young infants on radiographic diagnosis should be aware that there is variation in intraobserver and interobserver agreement among radiologists on the radiographic features used for diagnosis. There is also variation in how specific radiologic features are used in interpreting the radiogram. However, the cardial finding of consolidation for the diagnosis of pneumonia appears to be highly reliable.
Syk and Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Are Required for B Cell Antigen Receptor-mediated Activation of the Kinase Akt*

Activation of Akt by multiple stimuli including B cell antigen receptor (BCR) engagement requires phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and regulates processes including cell survival, proliferation, and metabolism. BCR cross-linking activates three families of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and these are transducers of signaling events including phospholipase C and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation; however, the relative roles of PTKs in BCR-mediated Akt activation are unknown. We examined Akt activation in Lyn-, Syk- and Btk-deficient DT40 cells and B cells from Lyn−/− mice. BCR-mediated Akt activation required Syk and was partially dependent upon Btk. Increased BCR-induced Akt phosphorylation was observed in Lyn-deficient DT40 cells and Lyn−/− mice compared with wild-type cells suggesting that Lyn may negatively regulate Akt function. BCR-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit was abolished in Syk-deficient cells consistent with a receptor-proximal role for Syk in BCR-mediated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation; in contrast, it was maintained in Btk-deficient cells, suggesting Btk functions downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. Calcium depletion did not influence BCR-induced Akt phosphorylation/activation, showing that neither Syk nor Btk mediates its effects via changes in calcium levels. Thus, BCR-mediated Akt stimulation is regulated by multiple non-receptor PTK families which regulate Akt both proximal and distal to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation.
The influence of sleep deprivation on expression of apoptosis regulatory proteins p53, bcl-2 and bax following rat tongue carcinogenesis induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether paradoxical sleep deprivation could affects the mechanisms and pathways essentials for cancer cells in tongue cancer induced by 4-nitroquinole 1-oxide in Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the animals were distributed into 4 groups of 5 animals each treated with 50 ppm 4 nitroquinoline 1 oxide (4 NQO) solution through their drinking water for 4 and 12 weeks. The animals were submitted to paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) for 72 h using the modified multiple platform method, which consisted of placing 5 mice in a cage (41 × 34 × 16 cm) containing 10 circular platforms (3.5 cm in diameter) with water 1 cm below the upper surface. The investigations were conducted using immunohistochemistry of p53, Bax and Bcl-2 proteins related to apoptosis and its pathways. Statistical analysis was performed by Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test followed by the Dunn's test using SPSS software pack (version 1.0). P value < 0.05 was considered for statistic significance. Results: Although no histopathological abnormalities were induced in the epithelium after 4 weeks of carcinogen exposure in all groups, in 12 weeks were observed pre-neoplasic lesions. Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in 4 weeks group for p53 and for bcl-2 and for all immunomarkers after 12 weeks of 4NQO administration. Conclusion: Our results reveal that sleep deprivation exerted alterations in proteins associated with proliferation and apoptosis in carcinogenesis.
Neuropathy and poorly controlled diabetes increase the rate of surgical site infection after foot and ankle surgery.

BACKGROUND This prospective study was designed to evaluate the frequency of surgical site infection in patients treated with foot and ankle surgery. Our hypothesis was that patients with complications of diabetes are at increased risk for surgical site infection compared with patients without diabetes and patients with diabetes who do not have diabetic complications. Another goal was to compare the association of neuropathy with surgical site infection in both nondiabetic and diabetic patients. METHODS Two thousand and sixty consecutive surgical cases were evaluated. Group 1 included nondiabetic patients without neuropathy, Group 2 included nondiabetic patients with neuropathy, Group 3 included patients with diabetes but no diabetic complications, and Group 4 included patients with diabetes who had at least one complication of diabetes. RESULTS The surgical site infection rate in this study was 3.1%. Patients with complicated diabetes had a 7.25-fold increased risk of surgical site infection compared with nondiabetic patients without neuropathy and a 3.72-fold increased risk compared with patients with uncomplicated diabetes. Patients with complicated diabetes had a nonsignificant 1.54-fold higher rate of surgical site infection compared with nondiabetic patients with neuropathy. Nondiabetic patients with neuropathy had a significant 4.72-fold increased risk of surgical site infection compared with nondiabetic patients without neuropathy. Despite this, nondiabetic patients with neuropathy did not have a significantly higher rate of surgical site infection than patients with uncomplicated diabetes, and the frequency of surgical site infection in the group with uncomplicated diabetes was not significantly different from that in the nondiabetic patients without neuropathy. Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that peripheral neuropathy and a hemoglobin A1c of ≥8% were independently associated with surgical site infection. CONCLUSIONS Complicated diabetes increases the risk of surgical site infection after foot and ankle surgery. Patients who had diabetes without complications did not have a greater risk of surgical site infection compared with nondiabetic patients without neuropathy. The presence of neuropathy increases the risk of surgical site infection even in patients without diabetes. Poor long-term glycemic control is also associated with an increased risk of surgical site infection. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Competitive strategy, strategic human capital and sustained competitive advantage

With economic globalization, facing increasingly fierce competition, more and more companies draw keen focus on how human capital can successfully promote the implementation of firm strategic objectives. Thus, how strategic human capital as corporate strategic resources enables enterprises to gain sustained competitive advantage is getting more and more concerns by more scholars. Based on the resource-based view of the firm and strategic human resource management theory, this paper puts forward the construct of ‘strategy human capital’. Through the survey of questionnaires responded by human resources managers and general managers in 105 companies in China, it makes an accurate and direct measurement of firms' strategic human capital, and examines the data by hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that the interaction of different human resource management systems and different competitive strategies have different influences on sustained competitive advantage. Meanwhile, different configures of strategic human capital play different intermediary roles in different human resources systems interacting with the competitive strategy on sustained competitive advantage.
Effects of implant geometry, surface properties, and TGF-beta1 on peri-implant bone response: an experimental study in goats.

OBJECTIVES Despite the high success rates in implantology, the desire to use oral implants in more challenging clinical situations drives the need for continuing refinements in implant design and surface properties. In the present study, the effect of implant geometry on implant bone response was evaluated using two geometrically different implant types, i.e. screw type (St) and push-in type(Pi). Furthermore, the potential beneficial effect of an electrosprayed calcium phosphate (CaP) coating, either or not enriched with the osteoinductive growth factor TGF-beta1, on the osteogenic response was examined. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 54 implants, divided into six groups (n=9), were inserted into the femoral condyles of nine goats. After an implantation period of 12 weeks, retrieved specimens were evaluated histologically and histomorphometrically. Measurements were statistically evaluated using SPSS 14.0 and analyzed using a linear regression model. RESULTS With respect to implant design, St-implants showed an overall superior biological healing response compared with Pi-implants. Considering surface properties, the deposition of an electrosprayed CaP (2-3 microm) coating onto implants significantly increased the amount of bone-implant contact for both implant types. Additional enrichment of the CaP coating with the osteoinductive growth factor TGF-beta1 did not significantly affect peri-implant bone response. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study indicate that a substantial improvement of the osteogenic response to titanium implants can be achieved by the deposition of an electrosprayed CaP coating. The enrichment of the coating with 1 microg TGF-beta1 has only a marginal effect.
Trichosanthin enhances the antitumor effect of gemcitabine in non-small cell lung cancer via inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway

Gemcitabine (GEMZ) is the first-line therapy used against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and studies have focused on investigating the potential effects of agents combined with GEMZ to enhance the anticancer efficacy in NSCLC. Previous studies have reported that trichosanthin (TCS) has various physiological and pharmacological effects, including anti-human influenza virus enzymes, inhibition of protein synthesis and antitumor activity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate if TCS enhanced the antitumor effects of GEMZ in NSCLC. MTT assay demonstrated that TCS significantly enhanced the cytotoxic effect of GEMZ (P>0.05). Furthermore, a propidium iodide/Αnnexin V staining assay revealed that TCS exerted its pharmacological effect by increasing the apoptotic population. In addition, western blot analysis demonstrated that the combination treatment of TCS with GEMZ further decreased the expression level of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and AKT via regulating the expression of insulin growth factor. The results of the present study demonstrated that TCS enhanced the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of GEMZ in A549 cells via regulating the PI3K/AKT pathway. In conclusion, these observations may provide a potential rational basis for a combination strategy for chemotherapy treatment of NSCLC.
Robust visual-inertial localization with weak GPS priors for repetitive UAV flights

Agile robots, such as small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can have a great impact on the automation of tasks, such as industrial inspection and maintenance or crop monitoring and fertilization in agriculture. Their deploy-ability, however, relies on the UAV's ability to self-localize with precision and exhibit robustness to common sources of uncertainty in real missions. Here, we propose a new system using the UAV's onboard visual-inertial sensor suite to first build a Reference Map of the UAV's workspace during a piloted reconnaissance flight. In subsequent flights over this area, the proposed framework combines keyframe-based visual-inertial odometry with novel geometric image-based localization, to provide a real-time estimate of the UAV's pose with respect to the Reference Map paving the way towards completely automating repeated navigation in this workspace. The stability of the system is ensured by decoupling the local visual-inertial odometry from the global registration to the Reference Map, while GPS feeds are used as a weak prior for suggesting loop closures. The proposed framework is shown to outperform GPS localization significantly and diminishes drift effects via global image-based alignment for consistently robust performance.
Preliminary Studies on the Optimum Shape of Dental Bridges

Several pre-existing anterior and posterior dental bridge models using Finite elements and the new ceramic material In-Ceram have been developed. The mechanical behaviour of these models has been compared with optimised profiles obtained from a newly developed evolutionary algorithm known as Evolutionary Structural Optimisation (ESO). The results show that the mechanical behaviour of the bridges was mainly restricted by the properties of the porcelain veneer and the design of the bridges themselves. For the case of the anterior bridge, it was found that there existed a specific thickness of veneer that minimised the maximum principal stress. This was related to peak stresses that occurred at the bridge surface. Peak stresses also occurred in the material interface between the In-Ceram and the veneer. These extreme stresses were attributed to the notch size and shape. For the case of the posterior bridge, it was concluded that the shape of the bottom of the Pontic tooth is crucial in reducing the magnitude of the maximum principal tensile stress. The ESO process produced bridge designs which have uniformly stressed bridge surfaces, and which also have significantly lower maximum principal tensile stresses compared to the pre-existing designs (up to 44%).