Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Getting Norway to eat healthier: What are the opportunities?

Aim: Increased food consumption and the related problem of obesity have spurred initiatives to motivate consumers to eat healthier. Some strategies have shown positive but only short-term effects, as consumers or other stakeholders do not accept them sufficiently in the long term. The aim of this study was to investigate opportunities for healthier eating in Norway according to both consumers and other stakeholders. Methods: Five focus-group sessions were conducted with individuals working in the food industry, retail, public health, research and various non-governmental organisations related to food consumption. Topics that were discussed in the focus groups were transformed into a consumer survey, which was conducted with 1178 respondents. Results: The focus groups often indicated a specific responsibility for the food industry to get people to eat healthier. Survey respondents indicated that all actors in the food chain had responsibility for healthier eating in the population, but agreed that the food industry, as well as the health authority, have major responsibilities. Food education was regarded as a favourable strategy in the focus groups and by survey respondents to help people to eat healthier, as were less advertising of unhealthy food and developing new healthy food products. Such strategies should be focused on parents, families, schools and children according to both focus group and survey participants. Implementation challenges include consumers wanting freedom to choose what they eat and consumers wanting food information that is easier to understand. Conclusions: This study showed that consumers and other stakeholders see opportunities for healthier eating in Norway by providing more food education and clearer food information, targeted towards children, families and parents.
Up-Regulation of Gene Related to Anergy in Lymphocytes Is Associated with Notch-Mediated Human T Cell Suppression1

A growing body of literature indicates that the Notch pathway can influence the activation and differentiation of peripheral murine T cells, though comparatively little is known about the effects of Notch signaling in human T cells. In the present report we demonstrate that Jagged-1-induced Notch signaling (using immobilized Jagged-1 fusion protein) during stimulation of purified human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells potently inhibits T cell proliferation and effector function, including both Th1- and Th2-associated cytokines. Inhibition of T cell activation is not due to apoptosis or disruption of proximal TCR signaling, but is associated with up-regulation of GRAIL (gene related to anergy in lymphocytes) in CD4+ T cells, with modest effects on other E3 ubiquitin ligases such as c-Cbl and Itch. When evaluated for its effects on CD4+ T cell differentiation, Jagged-1-mediated signaling inhibits T cell cytokine secretion with no significant effect on proliferative responses. Collectively, these data demonstrate that Notch signaling in human T cells induced by Jagged-1 promotes a novel form of T cell hyporesponsiveness that differs from anergy, whereby primary T cell proliferation and cytokine secretion are potently inhibited, and effector function but not proliferative capacity are ameliorated upon secondary stimulation.
Learning to Control Forest Fires with ESP

Reinforcement Learning (Kaelbling et al., 1996) can be used to learn to control an agent by letting it interact with its environment. In general there are two kinds of reinforcement learning; (1) Value-function based reinforcement learning, which are based on the use of heuristic dynamic programming algorithms such as temporal difference learning (Sutton, 1988) and Q-learning (Watkins, 1989), and (2) Evolutionary algorithms such as genetic programming (Koza, 1992), Symbiotic Adaptive Neuron Evolution (SANE) (Moriarty & Miikkulainen, 1996), and Enforced SubPopulations (ESP) (Gomez & Miikkulainen, 1998). There is still an ongoing debate which of these algorithms works best for a particular problem. E.g. for learning to play games, often value-function based RL seems appropriate since the Markov assumption holds. E.g., Tesauro (1992) used temporal difference learning to let a program learn to play backgammon by playing against itself, and this led to human-expert level. However, for non-Markovian environments evolutionary approaches may sometimes be more beneficial.
A stereo vision-based augmented reality system with an inertial sensor

This paper proposes a robust registration method with stereo cameras and an inertial sensor for augmented reality. The geometric registration is one of the most important problems because virtual objects should be superimposed on the right place as if they really exist in the real world. The vision-based registration is achieved by estimating a position and an orientation of camera(s) by tracking markers in the real world. The proposed method realizes a robust tracking of markers using stereo images and a camera orientation obtained by the inertial sensor.
Une architecture de sécurité hiérarchique, adaptable et dynamique pour la grille. (An hierarchical, versatile and dynamic security architecture for the Grid)

Si la securite est une notion essentielle aux applications, particulierement aux applications distribuees, ses nombreux concepts representent une etape difficile de leur developpement. Les intergiciels actuels integrent un grand nombre de technologies relatives aux concepts de securite. Cependant, ils laissent aux developpeurs la tâche de choisir la technologie la plus adaptee ainsi que la gestion des processus sous-jacents. Cet exercice se revele d'autant plus difficile lorsque l'application evolue dans un environnement dynamique tel que celui des grilles de calcul. Afin de faciliter le deploiement d'applications distribuees et securisees, cette these presente un modele de securite decentralise permettant aux divers acteurs (administrateurs, fournisseurs de ressources, utilisateur) d'exprimer leurs politiques de securite. Son utilisation se veut totalement transparente au code metier des applications. La configuration de la politique de securite d'une application est exprimee dans des fichiers externes en dehors du code source de cette derniere. Il est ainsi possible d'adapter la securite de l'application en fonction de son deploiement. Notre mecanisme de securite est concu pour s'adapter dynamiquement aux situations survenant dans le cycle de vie d'une application distribuee, notamment l'acquisition de nouvelles ressources et la creation de nouveaux objets. L'implantation du modele au sein d'une bibliotheque pour le calcul distribue a permis de demontrer la faisabilite de l'approche et ses avantages. En effet, son implantation transparente a permis son integration immediate avec les autres modules de la bibliotheque (communications de groupe, mobilite, composants, pair-a-pair). Les tests de performance realises afin d'evaluer son surcout ont confirme la validite de l'approche.
Quantitative Development and Molecular Forms of Acetyl‐and Butyrylcholinesterase During Morphogenesis and Synaptogenesis of Chick Brain and Retina

Abstract: The embryonic development of total specific activities as well as of molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) and of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 3.1.1.8) have been studied in the chick brain. A comparison of the development in different brain parts shows that cholinesterases first develop in diencephalon, then in tectum and telencephalon; cholinesterase development in retina is delayed by about 2–3 days; and the development in rhomb‐encephalon [not studied until embryonic day 6 (E6)] and cerebellum is last. Both enzymes show complex and independent developmental patterns. During the early period (E3‐E7) first BChE expresses high specific activities that decline rapidly, but in contrast AChE increases more or less constantly with a short temporal delay. Thereafter the developmental courses approach a late phase (E14‐E20), during which AChE reaches very high specific activities and BChE follows at much lower but about parallel levels. By extraction of tissues from brain and retina in high salt plus 1% Triton X‐100, we find that both cholinesterases are present in two major molecular forms, AChE sedimenting at 5.9S and 11.68 (corresponding to G2 and G4 globular forms) and BChE at 2.9S and 10.3S (G1 and G4, globular). During development there is a continuous increase of G4 over G2 AChE, the G4 form reaching 80% in brain but only 30% in retina. The proportion of G1 BChE in brain remains almost constant at 55%, but in retina there is a drastic shift from 65% G1 before E5 to 70% G4 form at E7. Our results show that the light‐molecular‐weight forms of both enzymes are prevalent during the morphogenetic period, whereas the G4 forms correlate with final differentiation processes, e.g., synaptogenesis.
Thyroid dysfunction and affective illness.

SIR,-Professor E Szabadi's editorial on thyroid dysfunction and affective illness raised the question of whether subclinical dysfunction of the thyroid has a role in affective illnesses. ' Lithium is well recognised to affect thyroid hormones; cases of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism have been reported.2 Primary affective disorders may themselves have a role in the development of autoimmune thyroid disease. A recent study was designed to determine whether the development of autoimmune thyroid disease was due to lithium treatment or depressive illness.4 Three main groups were studied: a control group, patients receiving treatment other than lithium for depression, and patients receiving lithium for their manic depressive illness. All patients were clinically and biochemically euthyroid. The serum samples obtained were tested for thyroid microsomal and thyroglobulin antibodies. None of the controls were positive for thyroid antibodies, but 7-5% of the patients receiving treatment other than lithium for depression were positive for the antibodies. This, however, is not significantly high when compared with the incidence in the general population. ' The patients receiving lithium for their manic depressive illness showed a greatly increased incidence of thyroid antibodies (20%), in keeping with results of other studies. ' 6 The authors concluded that lithium treatment induces the formation of antibodies in susceptible people, which may lead to the development of thyroid disease in these patients. A larger study will be necessary to determine whether affective disorders alone play any part in the development of subclinical hypothyroidism.
Distributed In-Network Processing of k-MaxRS in Wireless Sensor Networks

We address the problem of in-network processing of k-Maximizing Range Sum (k-MaxRS) queries in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). The traditional, Computational Geometry version of the MaxRS problem considers the setting in which, given a set of (possibly weighted) 2D points, the goal is to determine the optimal location for a given (axes-parallel) rectangle R to be placed so that the sum of the weights (or, a simple count) of the input points in R’s interior is maximized. In WSN, this corresponds to finding the location of region R such that the sum of the sensors’ readings inside R is maximized. The k-MaxRS problem deals with maximizing the overall sum over k such rectangular regions. Since centralized processing – i.e., transmitting the raw readings and subsequently determining the k-MaxRS in a dedicated sink – incur communication overheads, we devised an efficient distributed algorithm for in-network computation of k-MaxRS. Our experimental observations show that the novel algorithm provides significant energy/communication savings when compared to the centralized approach.
High frequency of T cells specific for cryptic epitopes in melanoma patients

A number of cytotoxic T-cell epitopes are cryptic epitopes generated from non-conventional sources. These include epitopes that are encoded by alternative open reading frames or in generally non-coding genomic regions, such as introns. We have previously observed a frequent recognition of cryptic epitopes by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes isolated from melanoma patients. Here, we show that such cryptic epitopes are more frequently recognized than antigens of the same class encoded by canonical reading frames. Furthermore, we report the presence of T cells specific for three cryptic epitopes encoded in intronic sequences, as a result of incomplete splicing, in the circulation of melanoma patients. One of these epitopes derives from antigen isolated from immunoselected melanoma 2 (AIM2), while the two others are encoded in an alternative open reading frame of an incompletely spliced form of N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferase V (GNT-V) known as NA17-A. We have detected frequent T-cell responses against AIM2 and NA17-A epitopes in the blood of melanoma patients, both prior and after one round of in vitro peptide stimulation, but not in the circulation of healthy individuals and patients with breast or renal carcinoma. In summary, our findings indicate that the T-cell reactivity against AIM2 and NA17-A in the blood of melanoma patients is extensive, suggesting that—similar to melan A (also known as MART1)—these antigens might be used for immunomonitoring or as model antigens in several clinical and preclinical settings.
Extracellularly Extruded Syntaxin-4 Is a Potent Cornification Regulator of Epidermal Keratinocytes

In the skin epidermis, keratinocytes undergo anchorage-dependent cornification, which gives rise to stratified multilayers, each with a distinct differentiation feature. The active formation of the cornified cell envelope (CCE), an important element in the skin barrier, occurs in keratinocytes of the upper epidermal layers and impacts their terminal differentiation. In the present study, we identified the extracellularly extruded syntaxin-4 as a potent differentiation regulator of epidermal keratinocytes. We found that differentiation stimuli led to the acceleration of syntaxin-4 exposure at the keratinocyte cell surface and that the artificial control of extracellular syntaxin-4, either by the forced expression of several syntaxin-4 mutants with structural alterations at the putative functional core site (AIEPQK), or by using antagonistic circular peptides containing this core sequence, dramatically influenced the CCE formation, with spatial misexpression of TGase1 and involucrin. We also found that the topical application of a peptide that exerted the most prominent antagonistic activity for syntaxin-4, named ST4n1, evidently prevented the formation of the hyperplastic and hyperkeratotic epidermis generated by physical irritation in HR-1 mice skin. Collectively, these results demonstrate that extracellularly extruded syntaxin-4 is a potent regulator of CCE differentiation, and that ST4n1 has potential as a clinically applicable reagent for keratotic skin lesions.
Effect of bicuculline on the spontaneous and evoked activity of patterned embryonic hippocampal neurons cultured in vitro

Characterization of the spontaneous and evoked activity of patterned biological neural networks and discovery of the underlying mechanisms is a major step towards designing functional networks for biosensor, biocomputing and neural prosthetic applications. Here we report on the addition of bicuculline methiodide, a GABA/sub A/ antagonist, to a low density network of embryonic hippocampal neurons linearly patterned on top of planar microelectrode arrays. Our investigation of the differences in the spontaneous and evoked activities before and after drug addition revealed two distinct behavioral trends. One group of electrodes (Group II) showed a marked increase in spontaneous spike rate, burst rate, and burst duration whereas the other (Group I) was unaffected. Likewise, the reliability of evoked activity was observed to be significantly lower in the presence of bicuculline if the stimulating electrode belonged to Group I as compared with Group II. We discuss how these findings might suggest the existence of cells at various stages of maturity in our culture system.
The impact of intravenous aspirin administration on platelet aspirin resistance after on-pump coronary artery bypass surgery

Aspirin resistance continues to be a major challenge in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We investigated the impact of intravenous aspirin on platelet function in this clinical setting. Forty-two patients received 100 mg of oral aspirin once daily, beginning on day 1 after the operation. Between day 6 and 8 post operation one oral dose was replaced by an intravenous dose of 300 mg. Platelet function analyzer (PFA-100™) closure times (CT), turbidimetric platelet aggregation (TPA) and impedance platelet aggregation (IPA) induced by arachidonic acid (AA), collagen and ADP were measured prior to and 1 h and 24 h after intravenous aspirin. Results obtained prior to the intravenous aspirin were compared with respective values from 120 healthy individuals. Despite the postoperative oral aspirin that was given once daily, ADP-induced TPA (ADPTPA) and IPA values induced by AA, ADP or collagen were significantly greater in patients than in controls, while PFA-100™ CT were significantly shorter. Intravenous aspirin induced a significant reduction of platelet aggregability as measured by collagen/epinephrine (CEPI) CT, TPA and IPA induced by AA and collagen 1 h and 24 h after administration. Intravenous aspirin was not found to influence collagen/ADP (CADP) CT and IPA induced by ADP. Concomitantly, the number of patients with laboratory aspirin resistance as measured by CEPI-CT and TPA but not by IPA induced by AA or collagen dropped significantly. Agreement in the detection of aspirin responders and non-responders among platelet function tests was poor. Our findings indicate that the intravenous aspirin appears to be a promising approach for reducing laboratory aspirin resistance during the postoperative phase of CABG.
Two factors responsible for the development of denervation hypersensitivity

1. Innervated adult skeletal muscle is sensitive to acetylcholine at the end‐plate region only. After denervation the entire muscle membrane becomes chemosensitive. The period of greatest increase in sensitivity in rat soleus muscles following section of the sciatic nerve in the thigh is between 48 and 72 hr post‐operatively.
Impact of strain and strain-relaxation on the low-frequency noise of SRB silicon n-MOSFETs

This paper describes the low-frequency noise behaviour of n-MOSFETs, fabricated in different types of strained-silicon (SSi) substrates. It is shown that compared with standard silicon devices, both a lower and a higher LF noise can be obtained for long-channel (L=1/spl mu/m) transistors. The noise reduction is ascribed to the inherently better Si-SiO/sub 2/ interface quality on a tensile-strained silicon substrate. The higher noise has been found in components were it is believed that the strain is completely relaxed, giving rise to extended defects near the active device regions and an associated excess generation-recombination noise component. It will finally be shown that the better noise performance on SSi substrates may become lost for shorter channel lengths (L=0.15 /spl mu/m), due to the dominance of random telegraph signal fluctuations.
VEGF/VEGFR-2 Upregulates EZH2 Expression in Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells and EZH2 Depletion Enhances the Response to Platinum-Based and VEGFR-2–Targeted Therapy

Purpose: To investigate the mechanisms of regulation and role associated with enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) expression in lung cancer cells. Experimental Design: We investigated the mechanisms of EZH2 expression associated with the VEGF/VEGFR-2 pathway. Furthermore, we sought to determine the role of EZH2 in response of lung adenocarcinoma to platinum-based chemotherapy, as well as the effect of EZH2 depletion on VEGFR-2–targeted therapy in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. In addition, we characterized EZH2 expression in lung adenocarcinoma specimens and correlated it with patients' clinical characteristics. Results: In this study, we demonstrate that VEGF/VEGFR-2 activation induces expression of EZH2 through the upregulation of E2F3 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1α), and downregulated expression of miR-101. EZH2 depletion by treatment with 3-deazaneplanocin A and knockdown by siRNA decreased the expression of EZH2 and H3K27me3, increased PARP-C level, reduced cell proliferation and migration, and increased sensitivity of the cells to treatment with cisplatin and carboplatin. In addition, high EZH2 expression was associated with poor overall survival in patients who received platinum-based adjuvant therapy, but not in patients who did not receive this therapy. Furthermore, we demonstrated for the first time that the inhibition of EZH2 greatly increased the sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma cells to the anti–VEGFR-2 drug AZD2171. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the VEGF/VEGFR-2 pathway plays a role in regulation of EZH2 expression via E2F3, HIF1α, and miR-101. EZH2 depletion decreases the malignant potential of lung adenocarcinoma and sensitivity of the cells to both platinum-based and VEGFR-2–targeted therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 20(14); 3849–61. ©2014 AACR.
Vietnamese news classification based on BoW with keywords extraction and neural network

Nowadays, text classification (TC) becomes the main applications of NLP (natural language processing). Actually, we have a lot of researches in classifying text documents, such as Random Forest, Support Vector Machines and Naive Bayes. However, most of them are applied for English documents. Therefore, the text classification researches on Vietnamese still are limited. By using a Vietnamese news corpus, we propose some methods to solve Vietnamese news classification problems. By employing the Bag of Words (BoW) with keywords extraction and Neural Network approaches, we trained a machine learning model that could achieve an average of « 99.75% accuracy. We also analyzed the merit and demerit of each method in order to find out the best one to solve the text classification in Vietnamese news.
Selection criteria of customers of Chinese restaurants and their dining habits

The present study investigates the selection criteria used by restaurant customers in India while choosing Chinese restaurant for dining and also to understand their contemporary dining habits. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. Respondents were selected using the convenience sampling approach. The study used descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis to interpret the data. The results of the study would assist the Chinese restaurant marketers to understand the important restaurant attributesfrom the customer's perspective. It would also help to formulate required marketing and operational strategies incorporating food quality, service quality, customer relationship practices and promotional offers, so that the restaurant can stay competitive in the market by better meeting the needs and expectations of the customers. This study was an attempt to examine the Chinese restaurant consumer behaviour in the Indian context, particularly from the Chennai City. The research also provided vital information and insights for the researchers, academicians and the practitioners in the restaurant industry.
To be good physicians, we must all fight against the battle against cancer

I’m not a fighter, or at least I’m not a fighter when the fight is pointless. A fight “to beat” metastatic cancer is usually pointless. This use of military metaphors1 chimes with modern Western ideas about fighting injustice. It’s a compelling idea (how could anyone say fighting injustice was bad? ), unites most of us with a common purpose, and helps …