Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
cAMP‐dependent protein kinase control of plasma membrane lipid architecture in boar sperm

Bicarbonate/CO2, a physiological effector of sperm capacitation, has been shown to induce a rapid and reversible change in the lipid architecture of the plasma membrane of live boar sperm: the change is detectable as an increase in the cells' ability to bind the fluorescent dye merocyanine, a characteristic which implied an increase in lipid packing disorder (Harrison et al. 1996. Mol Reprod Dev 45:378–391). Evidence suggested that cAMP may act as a second messenger in the system, and we have therefore investigated this cAMP‐dependency in more detail. Bicarbonate stimulates cAMP levels within 1 min in a dose‐dependent fashion, prior to parallel increases in merocyanine binding. Although the potent somatic cell adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin is unable to induce significant increases in cAMP or merocyanine binding, increases in merocyanine binding are inducible in a dose‐dependent fashion by 5,6‐dichloro‐1‐β‐D‐ribofuranosylbenzimidazole 3′,5′‐cyclic monophosphothioate, a cAMP analogue highly specific in its ability to stimulate protein kinase A; moreover, the bicarbonate‐induced membrane change is inhibited by H89, a specific protein kinase A inhibitor. Neither bisindolylmaleimide I (protein kinase C inhibitor) nor lavendustin A (protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor) are inhibitory. In the presence of low levels of the potent phosphodiesterase inhibitor papaverine, increases in merocyanine binding are enhanced by okadaic acid and (more effectively) by calyculin (both protein phosphatase inhibitors). We conclude that boar sperm plasma membrane lipid architecture is controlled via a target protein that is dynamically phosphorylated by cAMP‐dependent protein kinase and dephosphorylated by protein phosphatase type 1. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55:220–228, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improved OCV Model of a Li-Ion NMC Battery for Online SOC Estimation Using the Extended Kalman Filter

Accurate modeling of the nonlinear relationship between the open circuit voltage (OCV) and the state of charge (SOC) is required for adaptive SOC estimation during the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery operation. Online SOC estimation should meet several constraints, such as the computational cost, the number of parameters, as well as the accuracy of the model. In this paper, these challenges are considered by proposing an improved simplified and accurate OCV model of a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) Li-ion battery, based on an empirical analytical characterization approach. In fact, composed of double exponential and simple quadratic functions containing only five parameters, the proposed model accurately follows the experimental curve with a minor fitting error of 1 mV. The model is also valid at a wide temperature range and takes into account the voltage hysteresis of the OCV. Using this model in SOC estimation by the extended Kalman filter (EKF) contributes to minimizing the execution time and to reducing the SOC estimation error to only 3% compared to other existing models where the estimation error is about 5%. Experiments are also performed to prove that the proposed OCV model incorporated in the EKF estimator exhibits good reliability and precision under various loading profiles and temperatures.
H∞-control for the Wiener algebra

We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the solvability of the standard H∞-suboptimal control problem for systems with the transfer function in a subalgebra of the quotient field of the Wiener algebra. These conditions are formulated in terms of the existence of two J-spectral factorizations. Furthermore, a formula for the set of all stabilizing controllers is given.
La generación de preguntas y la comprensión lectora

Existen investigaciones e interesante evidencia empirica que senala la eficacia que tiene en la comprension lectora la estrategia de que sean los mismos lectores quienes generen las preguntas a los textos (y no sus maestros o los mismos textos). Sin embargo, este recurso aparece con poca frecuencia en las aulas. En efecto, durante las clases, en todos los niveles de la escolaridad, la tarea de comprension se organiza a traves de pregunas preformuladas y deja muy poco especio para que sean los mismos lectores quienes interroguen al texto. En este articulo se revisa esta perspectiva, se presenta algunos resultados de investigaciones recientes y se explicita el tipo de destrezas y aprendizajes que la estrategia de la formulacion de preguntas por parte del lector ha generado en alumnos de todos los niveles. Se senalan en particular los efectos cognitivos y motivacionales del recurso. Para finalizar, se expone detalladamente una investigacion con ninos de primaria en la que se han graduado los tipos de pregunta que realizan los lectores, en funcion de su nivel de profundidad conceptual, lo que permite analizar la progresiva comprension y el papel del conocimiento previo.
The Contribution of Environmental Scanning to Organizational Performance

Environmental scanning, the radar to detect environmental signals, is serving as an effective way for organizations to cope with uncertainties and formulate adaptive strategies. Strategists and strategic management scholars also believe that effective environmental scanning would help organizations to achieve better alignment with rapidly changing external factors and hence improve their performance. It is, therefore, desirable to explore the relationship among environmental uncertainty, environmental scanning, and organizational performance. This paper starts with the definition and process of environmental scanning, followed by the introduction of environmental uncertainty as well as the indirect impact of environmental scanning on organization performance. Prior empirical studies trying to discover or demonstrate the potential relationships are also reviewed. Finally, the refined theoretical model as well as the proposed research methodology is presented.
Serum Lipid Profile In Ischaemic Stroke Patients in Southern Nigeria

Several studies in the past failed to demonstrate the relationship between serum lipid profiles as a risk factor for stroke. Aim: To determine the relationship between lipid profile and ischaemic stroke. Methodology: A total of 100 patients were included in the study, with 50 acute ischaemic stroke patients and 50 non-stroke patients. Results: The non-stroke patients had statistically significant higher total cholesterol concentrations when compared to those with ischaemic stroke. There was no significant difference between the HDL, LDL and triglyceride concentrations of the ischemic stroke patients when compared to the control group.
The Evolution of Local Economic Development in South Africa: The Case of Stutterheim and Social Capital

Local economic development and promoting racial reconciliation have been key foci in addressing the legacy of apartheid in South Africa. This article examines what is arguably the most well-established example of local economic development in South Africa, namely a local government and community-led development initiative in the small rural town of Stutterheim. As the project has evolved over a decade, it has changed its development focus to reflect the changing context and various internal constraints. The study reveals that even though the project has had difficulties, its sheer survival and ability to adapt in a rapidly changing society have been important. More general lessons include the significance of key social entrepreneurs and the development of social and human capital in concert with physical and business infrastructure.
Efficient Multi-Channel Communications in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper demonstrates how to use multiple channels to improve communication performance in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We first investigate multi-channel realities in WSNs through intensive empirical experiments with Micaz motes. Our study shows that current multi-channel protocols are not suitable for WSNs, because of the small number of available channels and unavoidable time errors found in real networks. With these observations, we propose a novel tree-based multi-channel scheme for data collection applications, which allocates channels to disjoint trees and exploits parallel transmissions among trees. In order to minimize interference within trees, we define a new channel assignment problem which is proven NP-complete. Then we propose a greedy channel allocation algorithm which outperforms other schemes in dense networks with a small number of channels. We implement our protocol, called TMCP, in a real testbed. To adjust to networks with link quality heterogeneity, an extension of TMCP is also proposed. Through both simulation and real experiments, we show that TMCP can significantly improve network throughput and reduce packet losses. More importantly, evaluation results show that TMCP better accommodates multichannel realities found in WSNs than other multi-channel protocols. CCS Concepts: rNetworks→ Network protocol design;
Imaging Crohn Disease: MR Enterography

Abstract Magnetic resonance enterography in Crohn disease management has been rapidly growing in importance during recent years. Being familiar to this technique is essential for radiologists and also, to some extent, for gastroenterologists. Our aim is to study and describe the imaging findings in magnetic resonance enterography in Crohn disease to develop a comprehensive and useful review article and imaging atlas.
WAMS information security assessment based on evidence theory

In this paper, a framework for WAMS communication system security assessment is presented. Firstly, it divided the communication systems of WAMS into several subcomponents according to ISO/IEC 17799, and then associated the assets' property by the Architecture Theory Diagrams (ATD). Secondly, the AHP is introduced to build the assessment hierarchy and distribute the index weight. At last, the data of subcomponents is aggregated by the D-S algorithm. In this way, it compensates for the side-effects of the inherent uncertainties of WAMS and makes the result more accurate. At last a case study shows that the framework and evaluation methods presented in this paper have an instructional significance on improving the information security of WAMS. They also can be applied in other communication systems of power systems.
Early Motherhood and the Disruption in Significant Attachments

Based on a qualitative study of 48 teenage mothers living in the Denver metropolitan area, this research examines the loss of multiple attachments, including mothers, siblings, and other extended family members and friends, among African American and Latina girls who become young mothers. Through life history narratives, this article explores the isolating effects of teen motherhood on the relational world of young mothers and the transition to “forced autonomy” that emerges out of the relationship strains in the teen mothers’ lives. Faced with ruptures in significant childhood attachments and strains in the mother–daughter bond, young mothers develop strategies of accommodation to cope with the disruptions to connectivity and the demands of forced autonomy that are the result of early motherhood. These findings are interpreted through the frame of self-in-relation theory as this theoretical perspective has been informed by the scholarship on race and ethnicity. In reengaging the discourse on race, class, and gender, our findings contribute to the field in a number of significant and related ways: first, through an investigation into relationship loss and repair among teen mothers; second, by addressing the conditions under which teen mothers gain acceptance in their families; and third, in applying self-in-relation theory to the experience of adolescent girls of color whose relational lives are disrupted by the stigma and adversity of teen motherhood.
Capacitance and tan δ measuring equipment for high voltage insulation modelling and simulation

Capacitance and tan δ measurements are usually carried out to check the healthiness of an insulation. Measuring equipment based on different methodologies to test insulation in cables, transformer bushings etc. are available. This paper presents the development of such a measuring equipment for a high voltage (HV) laboratory of a University. The design is divided into three parts as filter unit, test unit, and the measuring unit. These units are separately modeled and simulated using software (MATLAB and PSpice). Filter unit and the test unit are combined to analyze the results through simulation. Simulation results are used to improve the design.
Job Satisfaction Among Young Workers in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Comparative Analysis

The creation of job opportunities for the increasingly educated youth population is a major current policy challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, even though very little is known about the extent to which young workers in the region are satisfied with the employment they currently have. This paper aims to help to fill this latter gap by presenting an analysis of job satisfaction of youth aged 15-29 in four countries from Eastern and Southern Africa: Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia. We estimate ordered probit models of the degree of satisfaction in a respondent's main job, using data from the School-to-work Transition Survey (SWTS). It turns out that while a majority of workers are satisfied with their work, a large minority are not. We find that being over-educated or under-educated for the current job is strongly and negatively correlated with job satisfaction in all four countries. With respect to employment status, we find that those who report having chosen to be self-employed are substantially most satisfied in all four countries compared to formal sector wage employees, after controlling for many other factors. Formal wage employees are more satisfied than informal employees in only two of the four countries. These results reinforce the case made by Fields (2014) for not assuming that all self-employment is a 'last resort'. They also raise questions about the quality of available wage jobs for young people.
Professor Donald N. Reed: the development of endoscopy.

Professor Donald N. Reed Jr. ( Figure 1 ) is the medical director of trauma services at Lutheran Hospital, who was instrumental in leading Lutheran Hospital to verification as a level II trauma center in July 2009. He is now also the editorial board member of the journal “ Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition (HBSN) ”
Human papillomavirus in exophytic condylomatous lesions on different female genital regions

Clinically diagnosed exophytic condylomatous lesions on the vulva (20 cases), vagina (5 cases), and cervix (9 cases) were examined pathologically, and human papillomavirus (HPV) types present in those lesions were identified by Southern blot hybridization analysis. All vulvar and vaginal lesions showed typical histopathological features of classical condylomata, and HPV 6 and 11 were found in 15 vulvar and 3 vaginal lesions and in 5 vulvar and 2 vaginal lesions, respectively. In 5 cervical lesions with typical condylomatous changes, HPV 6 or 11 was also detected; however, HPV 16 was found in 2 cases of cervical lesion surrounded by prominent intraepithelial neoplasia, and HPV 31 was found in 2 cases of slightly elevated lesion with intraepithelial neoplasia. These observations suggest that HPV 6 and 11 have the potency to induce the specific pathological changes, condylomatous, in any regions of the female lower genital tract.
Leishmanial lipid suppresses the bacterial endotoxin‐induced inflammatory response with attenuation of tissue injury in sepsis

The use of live, attenuated, or genetically modified microbes or their cellular component(s) or metabolites has begun to emerge as a potential new approach in medicinal research to deliver biologically active entities. Thus, advancing our knowledge of such microbe‐mediated therapy may suggest new avenues for therapeutic intervention in many diseases. We had earlier reported that the total lipid of attenuated Leishmania donovani suppressed the inflammatory responses in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Our present study reveals that the pLLD, isolated from pathogenic L. donovani, decreases the inflammatory level of bacterial endotoxin in stimulated mouse macrophages, as also in the in vivo murine system. It exerts the activity by reducing the level of different mediators, such as cytokine‐chemokine(s). It also suppresses the expression of the ubiquitous transcription factor NF‐κBp65 in stimulated macrophage cells, improves the endotoxin‐associated liver damage, reduces the vascular permeability factors, such as VEGF, and suppresses the expression of cell adhesion molecules, including ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1, PECAM‐1, P‐selectin, and E‐selectin, in liver of septic mice. These findings indicate that pLLD may prove to be a potential anti‐inflammatory agent and protect from endotoxin‐induced sepsis in hepatic impairment.
Passenger satisfaction with railway station service quality: An Ordinal Logistic Regression approach

The objective of this paper is to examine the service quality dimensions and passenger characteristics and its effect on passenger’s satisfaction on railway station. Jember Railway Station is a survey location where the questionnaires were spread. A total of 400 respondents who departure from Jember Railway Station were selected via convenience sampling method. The effects of characteristics and service quality items on the overall satisfaction were estimated using probabilistic approach. The thirteen service items extracted from Guidelines for Standardization of Railway Stations provide a representative framework of how passengers evaluate railway station service quality. This study illustrates how the probabilistic approach may be used for the direction of the effects of service quality and passengers’ characteristics on the probability that a passenger presents higher level of overall satisfaction. Direction for future research is presented.
A Miniaturized Wide-Beamwidth Circularly Polarized Planar Antenna via Two Pairs of Folded Dipoles in a Square Contour

A circularly polarized (CP) antenna with a wide axial-ratio (AR) beamwidth is presented by placing the two pairs of folded dipoles in a square contour. First, our study demonstrates that the CP radiation can be achieved at the broadside by setting a 90° phase difference between the verticaland horizontal-paired folded dipole radiators. Second, a radiation pattern subtraction approach is presented to explain how the radiation beamwidth of the paired folded dipoles could be appropriately widened or narrowed according to the radiation pattern subtraction of two opposite electric current densities in the folded dipoles. Using this approach, the E-plane beamwidth of a pair of folded dipoles is made certainly widened, whereas its H-plane counterpart becomes narrowed. On this basis, theEand H-plane radiation patterns can still be made approximately identical with each other over a wide range of polar angle, even though the distance between dipoles is deliberately shortened. As such, the desired CP antenna with shortened dipole-to-dipole distance and unaffected wide AR beamwidth can be achieved using two pairs of parallel folded dipoles with shortened distance between them instead of linear dipoles in [24]. Finally, a CP printed antenna is designed and fabricated on a single dielectric substrate. Experimental results are found in good agreement with the simulated ones in terms of radiation patterns, gain, AR, efficiency, and reflection coefficient. In particular, the 3-dB AR beamwidth at the central frequency of 1.6 GHz is extended to 135° at XZ-plane and 142° at YZ-plane. Moreover, the overall size of the constituted CP antenna with folded dipoles is decreased to 0.43 λ0 × 0.43 λ0 (λ0 is the wavelength in free space).
Increased neck soft tissue mass and worsening of obstructive sleep apnea after growth hormone treatment in men with abdominal obesity.

BACKGROUND Risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are male gender, obesity and abnormalities in neck soft tissue mass. OSA is associated with both growth hormone (GH) excess and severe GH deficiency in adults. Adults with abdominal obesity have markedly suppressed GH secretion. AIM To study the effect of GH treatment on OSA in abdominally obese men with impaired glucose tolerance. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty men with abdominal obesity and glucose intolerance were randomized in a prospective, 12-month double-blind trial to receive either GH or placebo. The treatment groups had similar BMI and waist circumference. Overnight polysomnography and computed tomography to assess muscle and fat distribution in the neck and abdomen were performed at baseline and after 12 months. RESULTS GH treatment increased insulin-like growth-factor-1i from (mean [SD]) 168 (72) to 292 (117) microg/L, the apnea-hypopnea index from (n/h) 31 (20) to 43 (25) and oxygen-desaturation index from (n/h) 18 (14) to 29 (21) (p = 0.0001, 0.001, 0.002). Neck transverse diameter, circumference and total cross-sectional area (p = 0.007, 0.01, 0.02) increased, while abdominal visceral adipose tissue (p = 0.007) was reduced. No between-group differences in total sleep time, REM sleep, NREM sleep, and time spent in supine position were found. The Epworth sleepiness scale score was unchanged. CONCLUSIONS GH treatment increased the severity of OSA in abdominally obese men. The possible mechanism appears to be reflected by the GH-induced increase of measures of neck volume. The present results, to some extent, argue against that low GH/IGF-I activity is a primary cause of OSA in abdominally obese men.
Electronic marketplace definition and classification: literature review and clarifications

The definitions and classifications of any new phenomenon build a strong foundation for further research. Although research on electronic marketplaces (EMs) has proliferated in recent years, related definitions and classifications are still confusing and misleading. The purpose of this paper is to perform a review of the EM literature, and to clarify and explain published information about electronic marketplaces. For EM definitions, we emphasise (1) the difference between EMs as governance structures and as business models, and (2) EMs at different levels of centralisation. For EM classifications, we summarise nine of the most commonly mentioned classifications, and examine the differences and correlations among them. By doing so, potential confusion and common misunderstanding about the different EM definitions and classifications are clarified.
A bionic micro sucker actuated by IPMC

A bionic micro sucker was designed in this study based on the analyses of the structure and behavior of leech suckers. This sucker helps micro medical robot to adhere to the inner wall of the gastrointestinal tract and perform long-term test of the peristalsis. It is actuated by petaloid ionic-polymer metal composite (IPMC), and wrapped by innocuous silicone rubber, which makes it like a foveate plate and fit closely on the inner wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The silicone elastomer structure bends when 3-5V direct voltage is applied to the IPMC, and forms a negative pressure by closely contact with the gastrointestinal tract, thus realizing the initiative adsorption that imitates leech suckers. The preliminary experiment showed that this micro sucker is able to bear a load of 200g successfully when it sucks on a glass surface.
Further evidence to support bimodality of oestrogen receptor expression in breast cancer

Although oestrogen receptor (ER)‐negative breast cancers (BCs) do not respond to hormone therapy, the response of ER‐positive BCs is reported to be variable, which may suggest a dose‐dependent effect. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of ER expression in BCs at the protein (immunohistochemistry) and transcriptome (microarray‐based gene expression) levels.