Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single-contact pressure solution creep on calcite monocrystals

Abstract Pressure solution creep rates and interface structures have been measured by two methods on calcite single crystals. In the first kind of experiments, calcite monocrystals were indented at 40 °C for six weeks using ceramic indenters under stresses in the 50–200 MPa range in a saturated solution of calcite and in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution of NH4Cl. The deformation (depth of the hole below the indenter) is measured ex situ at the end of the experiment. In the second type of experiment, calcite monocrystals were indented by spherical glass indenters for 200 hours under stresses in the 0–100 MPa range at room temperature in a saturated aqueous solution of calcite. The displacement of the indenter was continuously recorded using a specially constructed differential dilatometer. The experiments conducted in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution of NH4Cl show an enhanced indentation rate owing to the fairly high solubility of calcite in this solution. In contrast, the experiments conducted in a calcite-saturated aqueous solution show moderate indentation rate and the dry control experiments did not show any measurable deformation. The rate of calcite indentation is found to be inversely proportional to the indenter diameter, thus indicating that the process is diffusion-controlled. The microcracks in the dissolution region under the indenter dramatically enhance the rate of calcite indentation by a significant reduction of the distance of solute transport in the trapped fluid phase. This result indicates that care should be taken in extrapolating the kinetic data of pressure solution creep from one mineral to another.
Boosting d'un pool d'apprenants faibles

Nous considerons ici des problemes d'apprentissage ou les donnees sont presentees a l'aide de caracteristiques fortement heterogenes, par exemple, une base de personnes ou chaque individu est decrit par son nom (une chaine de caracteres), sa photo (une image), un enregistrement de sa voix (du son) et ses mensurations (des reels). Il n'existe aucun algorithme capable d'apprendre en travaillant sur toutes ces caracteristiques a la fois (sauf en utilisant un codage et donc en perdant de l'information), mais nous disposons d'algorithmes performants et specialises pour traiter efficacement chaque type de caracteristiques. Dans ce travail, nous proposons une nouvelle procedure de boosting, kBOOST, permettant a ces algorithmes de collaborer activement pendant la phase d'apprentissage, et de construire ainsi une hypothese globale tres performante. Nous etudions les proprietes theoriques de kBOOST puis nous menons des experimentations prouvant que notre methode fonctionne significativement mieux que toute autre combinaison d'hypotheses qui seraient construites sans collaboration.
HSP90 and the R2TP co-chaperone complex: Building multi-protein machineries essential for cell growth and gene expression

HSP90 (Heat Shock Protein 90) is an essential chaperone involved in the last folding steps of client proteins. It has many clients, and these are often recognized through specific adaptors. Recently, the conserved R2TP complex was identified as a key HSP90 co-chaperone. Current evidences indicate that the HSP90/R2TP system assembles multi-molecular protein complexes. Strikingly, these comprise basic machineries of gene expression: (1) nuclear RNA polymerases; (2) the snoRNPs, essential to produce ribosomes; and (3) mTOR Complex 1 and 2, which control translational activity and cell growth. Another important substrate is the telomerase RNP, required for continuous cell proliferation. We discuss here the assembly of RNA polymerases in bacteria and eukaryotes, the role of HSP90/R2TP in this process and in the assembly of snoRNPs and the PIKK family of TORC1 kinase. Finally, we speculate on the roles of R2TP as a master regulator of cell growth under normal or pathological conditions.
Broadband printed dipole antenna with a pair of sleeves for 2–6 GHz WiMAX application

A novel microstrip-line-fed broadband printed dipole antenna with a pair of sleeves has been demonstrated. In this design, a printed dipole with parallelogram arms and a pair of sleeves are used in particular. By the use of the coupling between them, more desired resonant modes operating can be excited to form a broadband operation for the 2–6 GHz WiMAX application. Experimental results show that the impedance bandwidth, determined by 10 dB return loss, can reach 4190 MHz which is about 3 times of that of the corresponding proposed antenna without sleeves. In addition to the advantages of low cost, simple structure, easy fabrication, light weight and good suitability for integration with microwave integrated circuit modules, the proposed antenna can have similar dipole radiations for operations at 2.5/3.5/5.5 GHz WiMAX bands.
Serum and tissue cytokines and chemokines increase with repetitive upper extremity tasks

We investigated inflammation in rats performing a low repetition, negligible force (LRNF) or high repetition, negligible force (HRNF) task of reaching and retrieving food pellets at target rates of two or four reaches/min for 2 h/day, for 6–8 weeks. Serum was assayed for 11 cytokines and chemokines; forelimb tissues for four cytokines. Macrophages were counted in forelimb tissues of LRNF rats to add to results from our previous studies of HRNF rats. In HRNF rats, serum IL‐1α, IL‐1β, TNFα, MIP2, MIP3a, and RANTES were elevated in weeks 6 and 8. In contrast, only MIP2 and MIP3a increased in serum of LRNF rats. In 8 week HRNF reach limb tissues, IL‐1α, IL‐1β, TNFα, and IL‐10 increased in distal bones, IL‐1α and ‐β in muscles, and TNFα in tendons. Only IL‐10 increased in LRNF reach limb muscles in week 8. Serum IL‐1α and MIP2 correlated with macrophages in LRNF loose connective tissues, serum MIP3a and MIP2 correlated negatively with grip strength, while serum TNFα, MIP3a, and MIP2 correlated positively with total number of reaches. Thus, several tissue and circulating cytokines/chemokines increase in an exposure dependent manner following short‐term performance of repetitive reaching tasks and correlate with macrophage infiltration and decreasing grip strength. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 26:1320–1326, 2008
Glycemic variability in insulin treated type 2 diabetes with well-controlled hemoglobin A1c and its response to further treatment with acarbose.

BACKGROUND Glycemic variability, an HbA1c-independent risk factor, has more deleterious effects than sustained hyperglycemia in the development of diabetic complications. This study analyzed the characteristics of glycemic variability in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with HbA1c < 6.5% in duration of twice daily premixed insulin treatment and the effect of further treatment with acarbose. METHODS Eighty-six T2DM patients who used premixed insulin analogue (insulin aspart 30) twice daily and had HbA1c < 6.5% and 20 controlled subjects with normal glucose regulation (NGR) were monitored using the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. The mean amplitude of glycemic excursions (MAGE), mean of daily differences (MODD) were used for assessing intra-day, inter-day glycemic variability. Hypoglycemia was defined as glucose level < 3.9 mmol/L for at least 15 minutes in CGM. According to reference values of MAGE, T2DM patients were classified into two groups: low-MAGE group with MAGE < 3.4 mmol/L (L-MAGE) and high-MAGE group with MAGE ≥ 3.4 mmol/L (H-MAGE). H-MAGE group received further treatment with acarbose for 2 weeks and was monitored a second time with CGM system. RESULTS After first CGM, L-MAGE group had 41 cases, and H-MAGE group had 45 cases. The MAGE and MODD of T2DM group were all higher than those of subjects with NGR (P < 0.01). Twenty-four percent (n = 11) in H-MAGE group had a total of 13 hypoglycemic events, 10 of the 13 events occurred at night, meanwhile 5% (n = 2) in L-MAGE group had a total of 2 hypoglycemic events, which also occurred at night (hypoglycemic events: 24% vs. 5%, χ(2) = 6.40, P < 0.01). MAGE value was correlated with hypoglycemia value and 2-hour postprandial plasma glucose value (r = -0.32 and 0.26, respectively, P < 0.05). After further acarbose therapy and secondly CGM, MAGE and MODD values in H-MAGE group were all significantly decreased (40%, P < 0.01, and 15%, P < 0.05, respectively), but remained higher than in the subjects with NGR (P < 0.05); 2% (n = 1) had a total of 1 hypoglycemic event, incidence significantly decreased (2% vs. 24%, χ(2) = 9.61, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS CGM system can detect the glycemic variability and asymptomatic hypoglycemic events of T2DM with well-controlled HbA1c in duration of insulin treatment. Combination therapy of premixed insulin twice daily with acarbose can flat glycemic variability and decrease hypoglycemic events.
Robust Malware Detection using Integrated Static and Dynamic Analysis

An alarming trend in malware attack’s are that they are equipped with advance sophisticated techniques to breakout from security countermeasures. Detecting a malware is challenging but combining different detection models together increases the chances by exploring malicious activity from different viewpoints, this paper proposes a collaborative static and dynamic analysis for spotting malicious behaviors of files. Malware detector is the essential tool in protecting against malware’s. The results of such detector are determined by the methodologies it uses. therefore, it is essential to investigate malware detection techniques and identify their strengths and boundaries.
Pharmacokinetics of Metformin Gastric‐Retentive Tablets in Healthy Volunteers

The single‐dose pharmacokinetics of two gastric‐retentive, extended‐release tablet formulations of metformin hydrochloride in fed, healthy volunteers were compared with those of the currently marketed immediate‐release metformin hydrochloride product. The plasma concentration‐time profiles demonstrated extended‐release characteristics from the gastric‐retentive tablets. The mean bioavailability from each gastric‐retentive tablet was approximately 115%, relative to the immediate‐release (IR) product. Cmax values were lower and tmax values were greater for the gastric‐retentive tablets compared with the IR product. In contrast to conventional extended‐release metformin tablets reported in the literature, these gastric‐retentive tablets showed extended‐release plasma concentration profiles of metformin hydrochloride and increased bioavailability compared with the immediate‐release tablet.
Self-management goal setting: identifying the practice patterns of community-based physical therapists.

PURPOSE To describe the collaborative goal-setting practices of community-based physical therapists trained in a self-management (SM) approach who work with clients with chronic conditions and to describe clients' goal-achievement rates. Methods : A retrospective chart review was conducted for 296 randomly selected home-care clients from July 2009 through July 2010 using a chart-abstraction form created to capture demographic data and information related to goal setting and achievement. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and Pearson's chi-square tests. RESULTS There was no significant relationship between sex, age, or number of chronic conditions and setting SM or non-self-management (NSM) goals or the type of SM goal set. The majority of goals set were "action" as opposed to "verbal" goals. A high proportion (89-100%) of both SM and NSM goals were met. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians should be aware that it is possible to set SM goals regardless of the client's sex, age, or number of chronic conditions. Other possible influences on goal setting, such as severity of chronic conditions and challenges of the health care system, should be further investigated.
Modelling carbon responses of tundra ecosystems to historical and projected climate: a comparison of a plot‐ and a global‐scale ecosystem model to identify process‐based uncertainties

We are developing a process‐based modelling approach to investigate how carbon (C) storage of tundra across the entire Arctic will respond to projected climate change. To implement the approach, the processes that are least understood, and thus have the most uncertainty, need to be identified and studied. In this paper, we identified a key uncertainty by comparing the responses of C storage in tussock tundra at one site between the simulations of two models – one a global‐scale ecosystem model (Terrestrial Ecosystem Model, TEM) and one a plot‐scale ecosystem model (General Ecosystem Model, GEM). The simulations spanned the historical period (1921–94) and the projected period (1995–2100). In the historical period, the model simulations of net primary production (NPP) differed in their sensitivity to variability in climate. However, the long‐term changes in C storage were similar in both simulations, because the dynamics of heterotrophic respiration (RH) were similar in both models. In contrast, the responses of C storage in the two model simulations diverged during the projected period. In the GEM simulation for this period, increases in RH tracked increases in NPP, whereas in the TEM simulation increases in RH lagged increases in NPP. We were able to make the long‐term C dynamics of the two simulations agree by parameterizing TEM to the fast soil C pools of GEM. We concluded that the differences between the long‐term C dynamics of the two simulations lay in modelling the role of the recalcitrant soil C. These differences, which reflect an incomplete understanding of soil processes, lead to quite different projections of the response of pan‐Arctic C storage to global change. For example, the reference parameterization of TEM resulted in an estimate of cumulative C storage of 2032 g C m−2 for moist tundra north of 50°N, which was substantially higher than the 463 g C m−2 estimated for a parameterization of fast soil C dynamics. This uncertainty in the depiction of the role of recalcitrant soil C in long‐term ecosystem C dynamics resulted from our incomplete understanding of controls over C and N transformations in Arctic soils. Mechanistic studies of these issues are needed to improve our ability to model the response of Arctic ecosystems to global change.
Online/onsite activity in elementary and secondary classrooms using advanced collaborative technologies

This research paper examines coconstruction of knowledge in three different school contexts. Systematic interaction analyses were conducted in over twenty elementary and secondary classrooms. An array of descriptive statistics was produced, including a number of significant differences. The verbal face-to-face context, in which no collaborative technologies were used, revealed to be the one where less coconstruction was observed. Coconstruction was often limited to the expression of opinions. Explanation was present but justification almost absent.
Behavioral Heterogeneity in the Options Market-Preliminary Draft-March 2008

This paper develops and tests a heterogeneous agents model for the option market. Our agents have differing beliefs about the level of volatility of the underlying stock index and trade accordingly. We consider two types of agents: fundamentalists, who are assumed to expect the conditional volatility to return to the unconditional volatility, and chartists who respond solely to noise from the level process. Agents are able to switch between groups according to a multinomial logit switching mechanism. The model simplifies to a GARCH-type specification with time-varying parameters, which depend on the distribution of agents across types. Estimation results for index options on the German DAX30 reveal that different types of traders are also actively involved in trading volatility. We find evidence that the observed patterns in option prices are the result of heterogeneity in expectations about future volatility.
A cross-national comparison of the institutionalized elderly in the cities of New York and London

SYNOPSIS Two random samples, each constituting 0·5 % of the institutionalized elderly (over 65) in the cities of New York and London have been compared. This preliminary report of a collaborative study demonstrates the similarity of the 2 samples. Institutions in the 2 cities are shown to differ in size, type of ownership and the frequency that skilled nursing is provided. Some implications of these 2 findings are raised now, and will be discussed later when the full data for the study are presented.
Infection rate and spontaneous seroreversion of anti-hepatitis C virus during the natural course of hepatitis C virus infection in the general population

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common worldwide but there are different prevalence rates in different countries. Data on the incidence of HCV in the general population are scarce. Spontaneous viral clearance occurs in 10–25% of infected individuals after acute infection yet controversy exists regarding the frequency of spontaneous clearance during the natural course of HCV infection in the general population. Aims: Anti-HCV prevalence, HCV infection rate, and the kinetics of anti-HCV were studied in a cross section of the general population of central Italy. Study population and methods: Anti-HCV prevalence (EIA-3 Ortho, RIBA-3 Ortho Chiron) was estimated in 3884 randomly selected individuals. Infection rate and antibody kinetics were estimated in 2032 participants for whom a second blood sample was taken after a median follow up of seven years. HCV-RNA determination by polymerase chain reaction was performed on follow up sera. Results: The overall confirmed anti-HCV prevalence was 2.4%. Two participants seroconverted for anti-HCV, giving an overall infection rate of 1.4 cases per 10 000 person years (95% confidence interval 0.2–5.2 per 10 000 person years). Of the 36 individuals confirmed as anti-HCV positive at enrolment, seven (19.4%) showed complete seroreversion. Seven (87%) of the eight individuals with indeterminate results at enrolment were serologically non-reactive at the end of follow up. Of the 25 participants confirmed to be anti-HCV positive at both enrolment and follow up, 23 (92.0%) with stable serological profiles tested positive for HCV-RNA at the end of follow up. Conclusions: There is still a permanent risk, although low, of HCV spread in the general population in an area of low level endemicity. In this setting, a wide spectrum of modifications of viral and antibody patterns can be observed in HCV infected patients.
The Prooncoprotein EWS Binds Calmodulin and Is Phosphorylated by Protein Kinase C through an IQ Domain*

A growing family of proteins is regulated by protein kinase C and calmodulin through IQ domains, a regulatory motif originally identified in neuromodulin (Alexander, K. A., Wakim, B. T., Doyle, G. S., Walsh, K. A., and Storm, D. R. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 7544–7549). Here we report that EWS, a nuclear RNA-binding prooncoprotein, contains an IQ domain, is phosphorylated by protein kinase C, and interacts with calmodulin. Interestingly, PKC phosphorylation of EWS inhibits its binding to RNA homopolymers, and conversely, RNA binding to EWS interferes with PKC phosphorylation. Several other RNA-binding proteins, including TLS/FUS and PSF, co-purify with EWS. PKC phosphorylation of these proteins also inhibits their binding to RNAin vitro. These data suggest that PKC may regulate interactions of EWS and other RNA-binding proteins with their RNA targets and that IQ domains may provide a regulatory link between Ca2+ signal transduction pathways and RNA processing.
Wiley StatsRef : Environmental Informatics

Environmental Informatics uses a panoply of tools from the Statistics, Mathematics, Computing, and Visualisation disciplines. It uses these tools to reveal, quantify, and validate scientific hypotheses in the environmental sciences, with the quantification of uncertainty central to its approach. There is now a strong recognition that scientific models need to incorporate stochastic components throughout: While it has always been recognised that data have a component of measurement error, attention is now being given to the quantification of model error, and it is becoming accepted by environmental scientists that probability models for the latter allows for a coherent way to make scientific inference. In Environmental Informatics, uncertainty may be assigned not only to datasets of measurements, but also to computer-generated climate-model output. Methodological advances, in the form of hierarchical statistical models and the accompanying computational developments, have expanded the scope of statistical analyses into very large spatial domains. This has led to studies of the dynamical evolution of entire spatial fields of geophysical variables, where results are given in terms of predictive distributions. Environmental Informatics is not only involved in characterising the environment, it can also be used to make decisions about mitigation and adaptation strategies. The steps taken by environmental scientists, from data to information, from information to knowledge, and from knowledge to decisions, are all taken in the presence of uncertainty. Environmental Informatics encompasses all these aspects. Keywords— Spatial statistics, decision-making, hierarchical statistical modelling, sea surface temperature, Big Data, remote sensing, Bayesian statistics ∗ncressie@uow.edu. au
Magnetoencephalography cortical source imaging using spherical mapping

This paper proposes a novel approach to enhancing results of magnetoencephalography cortical source imaging. The proposed approach utilizes bell-shaped functions defined on an inflated cortical surface, which has one-to-one correspondence with original tessellated cortical surface. The coefficients of the functions are then determined using sensitivity analysis with conjugate gradient updating scheme. Applications of the approach to a simulation study and a practical experiment have resulted in more stable and smoother brain source distribution, compared to conventional linear inverse approach.
Thyroperoxidase mRNA in quiescent and proliferating thyroid epithelial cells: expression and subcellular localization studied by in situ hybridization.

Using in situ hybridization procedure, we have investigated the regulation and the cellular localization of thyroperoxidase (TPO) messenger RNA accumulation as a marker of differentiation in dog thyroid epithelial cells in primary culture. The response to different mitogens (TSH acting through cAMP, EGF and TPA) has been compared. TPO mRNA accumulation was exquisitely dependent on a continuous TSH/cAMP stimulation. It was induced within 1 h in the whole cell population from a very low basal level. This effect was inhibited by the cAMP-independent mitogens EGF and TPA. By contrast, the TSH-induction of TPO mRNA accumulation was observed irrespectively of the proliferative activity of the cells, i.e. in the presence or the absence of insulin, which is required for mitogenesis. The short half-life of TPO mRNA (+/- 2 h) implies that it was continuously transcribed during TSH/cAMP-dependent cell cycling. As compared to another thyroid differentiation marker, thyroglobulin mRNA (Pohl et al., J. Cell Biol. 111, 663-672 (1990)), TPO mRNA accumulation differed by the rapidity of its control by cAMP, the pattern of its intercellular heterogeneity, and the unexpected segregation to a perinuclear region, probably the nuclear envelope that constitutes a specialized part of the endoplasmic reticulum. Despite these differences, both TPO and thyroglobulin gene transcriptions are unequivocally compatible with the cell cycle when induced by cAMP, at variance with the generally observed antagonism between growth and differentiation expression.