Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of cell-cell or cell-substrate adhesion effect on cellular differentiation using a microwell array having convertible culture surface

In this paper, effects of cell-cell adhesion or cell-substrate adhesion on cellular differentiation are evaluated using a microwell array having convertible culture surface (CCS microwell array). The CCS microwell array is used for limitation of culture area and regulation of the adhesion timing. The CCS microwell array is fabricated by photolithography of SU-8 photoresist on the cover slip, and coating of the alginate thin film on the microwell bottoms. The alginate thin film is used as a material that inhibits adhesion of cells. It uses an alginate film that is not toxic to cells and can be removed by ethylendiaminetetraacetate (EDTA), which is calcium chelator, at arbitrary timing during cell culture. A single spheroid is formed by cell-cell adhesion in microwells because cells can't adhere to the culture surface by adhesion inhibition effect of the alginate thin film. When the culture surface is converted to cell-adhesiveness surface by removing alginate thin film, cells adhere to the microwell bottoms. The transition of the diameter of spheroid cultured in the CCS microwell array was evaluated by observation of an inverted microscope. Also, cellular differentiation behavior under four kinds of conditions was compared for verification of cell-cell or cell-substrate adhesion effect. This result shows the efficiency of induction of cellular differentiation was increased by cell culture in the CCS microwell array compared with three kinds of other culture conditions.
Factors associated with changes in visual acuity and central subfield thickness at 1 year after treatment for diabetic macular edema with ranibizumab.

OBJECTIVE To identify factors that predict the success or failure of treatment with intravitreal ranibizumab for patients with diabetic macular edema. METHODS A total of 37 baseline demographic, systemic, ocular, optical coherence tomographic, and fundus photographic variables were assessed for association with change in visual acuity or central subfield thickness between baseline and 1 year in 361 eyes that were randomly assigned to intravitreal ranibizumab with prompt or deferred laser treatment within a trial of ranibizumab, triamcinolone acetonide, and laser treatment for center-involved diabetic macular edema. A categorical variable describing follow-up anatomic responses to therapy was added to the visual acuity outcome model. RESULTS After adjusting for baseline visual acuity, a larger visual acuity treatment benefit was associated with younger age (P< .001), less severe diabetic retinopathy on clinical examination (P= .003), and absence of surface wrinkling retinopathy (P< .001). The reduction in central subfield thickness during the first treatment year also predicted better visual acuity outcomes (P< .001). After adjusting for baseline central subfield thickness, the presence of hard exudates was associated with more favorable improvement on optical coherence tomographic scan (P= .004). Because only 11 eyes experienced vision loss and 6 eyes experienced an increase in central subfield thickness, factors for poor outcomes could not be evaluated. CONCLUSIONS A review of baseline factors and anatomic responses during the first year of ranibizumab therapy for association with visual acuity outcome did not identify any features that would preclude ranibizumab treatment. However, baseline central subfield thickness is the strongest predictor of anatomic outcome, and reduction in central subfield thickness during the first treatment year is associated with better visual acuity outcomes.
Towards a safer banking system

Diese Masterarbeit beschreibt die Reformen der Eigenkapitalregulierung, die nach der Finanzkrise unternommen wurden. Sie untersucht besonders die moglichen Folgen der Erhohung des Eigenkapitals der Banken auf die Gesellschaft. Die Aufsichtsbehorden waren von der Finanzkrise gezwungen, so schnell wie moglich Regulierungsmasnahmen zu ergreifen. Folglich hatten sie nicht die Zeit gehabt, genau zu untersuchen, warum das weltweite Bankensystem so instabil sein konnte. Das vorgeschlagene Konzept von Basel III, die keine empirischen Uberprufungen unterzogen wurde, sollte das weltweite Banksystem rehabilitieren. Diese Masterarbeit will beweisen, dass eine der Hauptursachen der Finanzkrise das niedrigere Niveau des Eigenkapitals der Banken war. Die weltweite Unterkapitalisierung der Banken wurde tatsachlich von dem risikoadjustierten Ansatz von Basel angeregt. Daruber hinaus stellt sie starke Argumente vor, dass die minimalen regulatorischen Anderungen nicht in der Lage sein werden, ein gesundes weltweites Banksystem aufzubauen. Diese Studie fordert eine grundliche Nachprufung der Regulierungssysteme mit empirisch gepruften Beweisen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen, dass die Beseitigung des risikoadjustierten Basel Ansatzes von dem internationalen Rechtsrahmen eine Grundanforderung der Auferstehung des Banksystems ist. Dafur sei notwendig eine wesentliche Erhohung des Eigenkapitals der Banken, beispielsweise 20 bis 30% von dem Gesamtvermogen. Es ist die hochste Zeit fur die Bankgesellschafter mehr Risiko zu ubernehmen und mehr Eigenkapital zu bringen. Die Steigerung des Eigenkapitals ist ein heikles Thema nicht nur wegen einer moglichen Erhohung der Gesamtfinanzierungskosten der Banken, sondern auch wegen einer Steigerung der Kreditzinsen.
Observation of a precursor during the crystallization of amorphous NiZr2.

In situ studies of the isothermal crystallization of an amorphous alloy (NiZr/sub 2/) have been performed using time-resolved x-ray diffraction, with a time resolution as short as 3 ms. In the temperature range studied (628--680 K), a transient structural precursor is present during the crystallization. The maximum volume fraction reached by this precursor during crystallization increases with the rate of crystallization.
The Heart in Human Dystrophinopathies

Dystrophinopathies are due to mutations in the dystrophin gene on chromosome Xp21.1 and comprise the allelic entities Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) and X-linked dilative cardiomyopathy (XLDCM). In all three entities, the heart is affected to various degrees, depending on the stage of the disease and the type of the mutation (cardiac involvement, CI). The pathoanatomic evidence of CI in dystrophinopathies is the replacement of myocardium by connective tissue or fat. In DMD/BMD, the left ventricular posterobasal and lateral walls are most extensively affected, sparing the right ventricle and the atrium. Degree and dynamics of CI vary among the three entities. In DMD/BMD, CI usually remains subclinical in the early stages of the disease. Typical initial manifestations of CI in DMD/BMD are sinus tachycardia, tall R1 in V1, prominent Q in I, aVL, V6 or in II, III, and aVF, increased QT dispersion and possibly autonomic dysfunction. Initially, echocardiography is normal or shows regional wall motion abnormalities in areas of fibrosis. With spreading of fibrosis, left ventricular dysfunction and ventricular arrhythmias additionally occur. In the final stages of the disease, systolic function may lead to heart failure and sudden death. Subclinical or clinical CI is present in about 90% of the DMD/BMD patients but is the cause of death in only 20% of the DMD and 50% of the BMD patients. XLDCM is a rapidly progressive, almost exclusively myocardial disorder, starting in teenage males as heart failure due to dilative cardiomyopathy (CMP), leading to death from intractable heart failure within 1–2 years after diagnosis. Therapy of arrhythmias and CMP in all three disorders follows the established cardiological recommendations. Due to its protective effect, ACE inhibitors are recommended already at the early stages of the disease. β-Blockers may be an additional option if indicated.
Critical intracellular Ca2+ concentration for all‐or‐none Ca2+ spiking in single smooth muscle cells.

Neurotransmitters induce contractions of smooth muscle cells initially by mobilizing Ca2+ from intracellular Ca2+ stores through inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (InsP3) receptors. Here we studied roles of the molecules involved in Ca2+ mobilization in single smooth muscle cells. A slow rise in cytoplasmic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in agonist‐stimulated smooth muscle cells was followed by a wave of rapid regenerative Ca2+ release as the local [Ca2+]i reached a critical concentration of approximately 160 nM. Neither feedback regulation of phospholipase C nor caffeine‐sensitive Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release was found to be required in the regenerative Ca2+ release. These results indicate that Ca(2+)‐dependent feedback control of InsP3‐induced Ca2+ release plays a dominant role in the generation of the regenerative Ca2+ release. The resulting Ca2+ release in a whole cell was an all‐or‐none event, i.e. constant peak [Ca2+]i was attained with agonist concentrations above the threshold value. This finding suggests a possible digital mode involved in the neural control of smooth muscle contraction.
Introduction to the Special Issue: Insights and Applications from Financial Risk Analysis

This special issue is devoted to bridging the gap between financial and nonfinancial risk analysis methods. These two branches of risk science have developed separately and largely independently, which has inhibited a deep exchange of ideas and methods. Classical financial risk analysis is concerned primarily with frequent but moderate deviations of financial returns from their expected values. In most cases, approximately multivariate normal or lognormal distributions and Brownian motions have been the models of choice. By contrast, the nonfinancial risk field was mostly concerned with rare events having large or catastrophic consequences and hard-to-evaluate outcomes, such as loss of life or health. The gap between financial and nonfinancial risk analysis has started to narrow, especially in the past decade. The financial industry experienced huge unpredicted jumps in returns, far from the (log) normal distributions and Brownian diffusion processes of simple textbook models. Modern financial risk theory is expected to properly describe this new behavior, and to make processes controllable and risks manageable again. This has led to technical innovations such as jump-diffusion and hidden Markov models, and to careful study of catastrophic risk, or extreme risk, into the financial risk area. Although there are important principles (such as noarbitrage) that hold in financial markets, but not necessarily in engineering applications, there are many others (such as statistical laws and probability models for
De nieuwe Corporate Governance Code en vereisten voor niet-financiële informatie

De nieuwe Corporate Governance Code is voor het eerst van toepassing op de jaarverslaggeving over het boekjaar 2017. De nieuwe Code onderkent een aantal nieuwe aandachtspunten zoals langetermijnwaardecreatie, cultuur en waarden en meer aandacht voor risicobeheersing. De onderzochte ondernemingen hebben hier invulling aan gegeven, maar de inhoud en diepgang varieert sterk. Na dit eerste jaar kunnen ondernemingen verdere verbetering realiseren in de concrete invulling van bijvoorbeeld de (informatieverschaffing over) inbedding van cultuur en waarden in de organisatie, behaalde resultaten op niet-financiële aspecten en doelstellingen en resultaten ten aanzien van andere vormen van diversiteit dan de man-vrouwverhouding op bestuursniveau. Op basis van de resultaten van het onderzoek en de geïdentificeerde best practices roepen wij ondernemingen op om de volgende zaken te overwegen voor opname in het bestuursverslag over 2018: • een materialiteitsmatrix die de uitkomsten van de stakeholdersdialoog weergeeft, de materiële onderwerpen en op welke wijze daarop wordt gestuurd; • een helder overzicht waaruit het belang van de geïdentificeerde risico’s blijkt aan de hand van indicatie van kans en impact; • een ‘toekomstbestendigheidsparagraaf’ waarin ondernemingen een analyse opnemen van de risico’s en mitigerende maatregelen alsmede een conclusie ten aanzien van continuïteit op langere termijn.
Genome Sequence of the Marine Bacterium Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus SP17, Which Forms Biofilms on Hydrophobic Organic Compounds

ABSTRACT Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus SP17 forms biofilms specifically at the interface between water and hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) that are used as carbon and energy sources. Biofilm formation at the HOC-water interface has been recognized as a strategy to overcome the low availability of these nearly water-insoluble substrates. Here, we present the genome sequence of SP17, which could provide further insights into the mechanisms of enhancement of HOCs assimilation through biofilm formation.
Phytoestrogens increase the capacity of serum to stimulate prostacyclin release in human endothelial cells

Background. Both the estrogen receptor (ER) alpha and beta isoforms are expressed in the endothelium. The ER beta has been assigned a crucial role in normal vascular wall function. Prostacyclin has been ascribed a beneficial effect on vessel wall physiology. Isoflavones bind with higher affinity to ER beta. We investigated the hypothesis that their administration to postmenopausal women can promote endothelial prostacyclin production.
Oral Aggregations of Microbes

The local microbial population in any part of the body is largely determined by physical and chemical factors. In the oral cavity the microbial population is often regarded as a more or less uniform population although local differences in the physicochemical properties must surely influence the bacterial population on various surfaces in the mouth. Differences between some parts are known, but not between all. Bibby' has found no definite differences between various parts of the oral cavity in
The effect of low external pH on properties of the paracellular pathway and junctional structure in isolated frog skin.

1. Undirectional and net fluxes of Na, Cl and mannitol were measured across the isolated short‐circuited frog skin when the mucosal surface was bathed with Ringer solution at normal (7.4) or low (2.5) pH. When this solution was changed from normal to low pH, there was a marked increase in both influx and backflux of Cl and mannitol. Na backflux increased markedly but Na influx did not, resulting in a substantial decrease in net flux. 2. In open‐circuit conditions at low pH both undirectional fluxes of Na increased and the potential across the skin dropped by a third. 3. The total conductance, Gt and the short‐circuit current, Isc increased when the mucosal solution was changed from normal to low pH. The structural integrity of the ‘tight junctions’ in the epithelium was disrupted by the low pH treatment and at least 50% of the junctions examined showed a separation of the two, previously apposed, membranes. 4. It has been shown previously that when a low pH solution bathes the mucosal surface the total and shunt conductance increase; the present results demonstrate that under these conditions the short‐circuit current no longer provides a good estimate of the net Na flux. We present calculations to show that protons can be the carriers for the extra charge transfer. 5. Using our values for net Na flux in open circuit and published values for the solute‐linked volume flow, Jv, it could be shown that the osmolarity of the absorbate decreased at low pH.
Characterization of E2F3a function in HepG2 liver cancer cells

E2F3a is a transcription factor that has been shown to be overexpressed in liver cancer tissues. To characterize the function of E2F3a in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), effects of ectopic overexpression of E2F3a on cell cycle, apoptosis, and gene expression of HepG2 cells were studied. E2F3a significantly enhances the apoptotic rate of HepG2 cells by 33% but only has minor effects on cell proliferation. By using microarray analyses, we identified 162 target genes (160 upregulated and 2 downregulated) of the E2F3a. Differential expression of 11 genes was further confirmed by real‐time PCR. Eight of these 11 genes, including XAF1, CEACAM1, STAT1, ATF3, TNFSF10, KLF6, CLDN1, and TAP1, were confirmed to be upregulated by more than twofold. Functional enrichments of differentially expressed genes retrieved 21 apoptosis‐related genes and 32 transcriptional regulation‐related genes. These results suggest that E2F3a induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells and plays important roles in regulating transcription. Finally, positive correlation was found between E2F3a and CEACAM1 mRNA levels in clinically well‐differentiated human HCC specimens. J. Cell. Biochem. 111: 1244–1251, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Distribution of Eschar in Pediatric Scrub Typhus.

BACKGROUND Identifying an eschar in scrub typhus is useful for initiation of prompt and appropriate antibiotic therapy. METHODS The distribution of eschars in all children <15 years of age admitted with confirmed scrub typhus over a 5 year period is described. RESULTS Of 431 children admitted with scrub typhus, eschars were present in 176 (40.8%) children with the following distribution: head, face and neck, 33 (19.1%); axillae, 37 (21%); chest and abdomen, 21 (11.9%); genitalia, inguinal region and buttocks, 58 (33%); back, 8 (4.5%); upper extremities, 13 (7.4%); and lower extremities, 5 (2.8%). The commonest sites of eschars were scrotum (27 of 106; 25.5%) and axillae (15 of 106; 14.2%) in males and axillae (22 of 70; 31.4%) and groin (16 of 70; 22.9%) in females. Eschars were seen within skin folds in 100 of 176 (56.8%) children. CONCLUSION Children should be carefully examined for the presence of eschar especially in the skin folds of the genitalia, axillae and groin to make an early diagnosis of scrub typhus.
Data association in remote health monitoring systems

Pervasive healthcare using remote health monitoring offers solutions to many of today's healthcare challenges, including chronic diseases and an ageing population. Reliability of such remote medical monitoring systems depends on reliable data association. This article first identifies and characterizes the data association problem, it sets the requirements for correct data association, and it presents a taxonomy for the problem.
Inhibition of DNA synthesis in HeLa cells by hydroxyurea.

Summary Hydroxyurea is a highly specific, rapidly acting inhibitor of DNA synthesis in HeLa S3 cells. It is without detectable effect on cells that are not synthesizing DNA. Incubation in inhibitory concentrations for as long as 19 hr does not kill cells in any phase of the division cycle. Rapid and complete reversal is accomplished simply by removing the drug from the culture medium.
Back-stepping Adaptive SVM Direct Torque Control of SPMSM Drive system

A novel back-stepping adaptive control strategy is proposed to direct torque control (DTC) of surface permanent magnet synchronous motor (SPMSM) in order to solve some problems existed in conventional DTC, such as high flux , torque and current ripple, variable switching frequency, and acoustic noises. PI speed regulator and two hysteresis regulators in the conventional DTC system are substituted by the proposed back-stepping adaptive controller respectively. The output of the designed controller makes space vector modulation (SVM) possible, which further ensures the inverter switching frequency to be fixed. The stability of the controller is verified via Lyapunov stable theory.Simulation results show that the presented control strategy can solve these problems effectively and show strong robust to external disturbance and noise.
Understanding Object Configurations using Range Images

The authors describe techniques that generate multiple interpretations from dense range images of piles of unknown objects and methods that use physical law, such as object stability, to rank the interpretations. Each of the interpretations completely accounts for the observed range data, but the interpretations differ in the ways visible portions of objects are extended into the occluded portions of the scene. Experiments with 100 range images indicate that the techniques are fairly robust when the scenes consist of shapes that are approximately prismatic or cylindrical. These techniques are based on novel approaches in several key areas, including explicit use of sensor geometry, generic shape models to synthesize scene descriptions, spatial-reasoning techniques that incorporate knowledge about the laws of physics, direct estimation of the physical properties of the objects in the scene, and detection and refinement of descriptions of approximately planar or cylindrical surfaces. >
Adaptation strategies in perturbed /s/

The purpose of this work is to investigate the role of three articulatory parameters (tongue position, jaw position and tongue grooving) in the production of /s/. Six normal speakers' speech was perturbed by a palatal prosthesis. The fricative was recorded acoustically and through electromagnetic articulography in four conditions: (1) unperturbed, (2) perturbed with auditory feedback masked, (3) perturbed with auditory feedback available and (4) perturbed after a 2-week adaptation period. At the end of the adaptation, speakers produced more high-frequency noise while either having a higher jaw position or more grooving of the tongue or both. We discuss the potential clinical implications of the results with regard to the role of jaw height and tongue grooving in the treatment of impaired /s/.
Influenza-Specific Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity: Toward a Universal Influenza Vaccine

There is an urgent need for universal influenza vaccines that can control emerging pandemic influenza virus threats without the need to generate new vaccines for each strain. Neutralizing Abs to the influenza virus hemagglutinin glycoprotein are effective at controlling influenza infection but generally target highly variable regions. Abs that can mediate other functions, such as killing influenza-infected cells and activating innate immune responses (termed “Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity [ADCC]-mediating Abs”), may assist in protective immunity to influenza. ADCC-mediating Abs can target more conserved regions of influenza virus proteins and recognize a broader array of influenza strains. We review recent research on influenza-specific ADCC Abs and their potential role in improved influenza-vaccination strategies.