Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MicroRNA-26 a promotes epithelial mesenchymal transition in pleural mesothelial cells

Pleural space is lined with a dynamic monolayer of cells, the Pleural Mesothelial Cells (PMCs). Pleural inflammation/injury often leads to the development of pleural fibrosis. Pleural fibrosis is characterized by the formation of sub-pleural foci of myofibroblasts that contribute to the exuberant pleural fibrosis. Emerging evidence indicate that microRNA-26a (miR-26a) play a key role in the process of fibrosis. In this study we have determined the role of miR26a in PMC Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). We hypothesized that PMCs when stimulated with TGF-β1 undergo EMT targeting E-cadherin and this transformation of PMC to myofibroblasts is dependent on miR26a and smad-2 signaling. The expression of EMT markers such as fibroblast specific protein-1 (FSP-1) and collagen type I, E-cadherin, α-Smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), Vimentin, and Cytokeratin-8 were analyzed in PMC treated with TGF-β1 or transfected with miR-26a. TGF-β1 significantly up-regulated miR-26a expression in PMC, and transfection of miR-26a enhanced α-SMA and collagen type-1 expression while the E-cadherin expression was decreased. In addition, luciferase reporter assay was performed to confirm E-cadherin as a target of miR-26a in PMCs. Furthermore in PMC, silencing miR-26a using anti-sense 2’-O-methyl oligo attenuated α-SMA and enhanced E-cadherin in response to TGF-β1. Consistent with the hypothesis, TGF-β1 increased miR-26a expression in PMC, whereas knocking down of miR-26a attenuated smad-2 phosphorylation overtime in response to TGF-β1. Taken together, these data indicate that miR-26a regulates the process of EMT in PMC which is mediated by TGF-β1 and smad-2 signaling.
RUTIN MODULATES ETHANOL AND HIGH FAT DIET - INDUCED INFLAMMATORY CHANGES IN PANCREAS - A DOSE RESPONSE STUDY IN RATS

The effect of rutin at different concentrations on ethanol (EtOH) and high fat diet (HFD) induced changes in pancreas were investigated in rats. Male albino Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups. Group 1 and 2 served as control to receive normal diet containing 5% fat. Group 3-7 rats were administered orally with EtOH, 8g/kg body weight /day and also fed with high fat diet containing 25% fat for 90 days. In addition, group 4-7 received rutin of 25, 50, 100 and 200mg/kg body weight respectively at the last 60days of the experimental period. Group 2 rats received 200mg/kg body weight of rutin similarly for 60days. Serum lipase, amylase, cytokine IL-1β, thiobarbituric acid reacting substances, oxidative stress index, myeloperoxidase activity and antioxidant status in pancreas were assessed. We observed a significant decrease in the activity of serum amylase, lipase, IL-1β and oxidative stress index in animals received rutin in addition to EtOH and HFD. Rutin supplementation along with EtOH and HFD was found to maintain the activity of myeloperoxidase and antioxidants in pancreas. The optimum protective effect was observed in rats received 100mg/kg body weight of rutin and the histopathological observations added more evidence for our results.
Diversity management in South African companies

An interview schedule was used to test the applicability of the Cox model of diversity management in a sample of South African companies with an attempt to apply the perspectives of meta-analysis for data-analysis. Even though this sample acknowledges the potential advantages of diversity, they do not yet experience a pressing need to optimise diversity in their workforce. This sample can be classified mainly as monolithic companies, although some evidence emerged that specific companies are developing a plural orientation. Guidelines were given to apply tools for organisational change to establish full structural integration and thereby creating multicultural organisations.
L-glutamine:D-fructose-6-phosphate Aminotransferase as a Key Protein Linked to Multidrug Resistance in E. coli KD43162

A microarray study has been employed to understand changes of gene expression in E. coli KD43162 resistant to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, cefazolin, cefepime, aztreonam, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, fosfomycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole except for amikacin using disk diffusion assay. Using Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF MS analyses, 36 kDa of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) was found to be deleted in the multidrug resistant E. coli KD 43162. Microarray analysis was used to determine up- and down-regulated genes in relation to multidrug resistant E. coli KD43162. Among the up-regulated genes, these genes were corresponded to express the proteins as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), tartronate semialdehyde reductase, ethanolamine utilization protein, shikimate kinase I, allantoinase, predicted SAM-dependent methyltransferase, L-glutamine: D-fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase (GFAT), phospho-glucosamine mutase, predicted N-acetylmannosamine kinase, and predicted N-acetylmannosamine-6-P epimerase. Up-regulation of PBPs, one of primary target sites of antibiotics, might be responsible for the multidrug resistance in E. coli with increasing amount of target sites. Up-regulation of GFAT enzyme may be related to the up-regulation of PBPs because GFAT produces N-acetylglucosamine, a precursor of peptidoglycans. One of GFAT inhibitors, azaserine, showed a potent inhibition on the growth of E. coli KD43162. In conclusion, up-regulation of PBPs and GFATs with the loss of 36 kDa OMP refers the multidrug resistance in E. coli KD 43162.
CYTOCHROME B ANALYSIS FOR HYDROPHOBICITY , SURFACE ACCESSIBILITY AND ANTIGENICITY

In this study Cytochrome b (mitochondrion) protein has been used to investigate its role in antigenicity. The cytochrome b protein sequences (367 aa protein) is analyzed through different types Bcell epitope prediction methods.We found that the region of maximal hydrophilicity is likely to be an antigenic site, having hydrophobic characteristics, because the terminal regions of antigen protein is solvent accessible and unstructured, antibodies against those regions are also likely to recognize the native protein. It was seen that an antigen protein is hydrophobic in nature and contains segments of low complexity and high-predicted flexibility. The predicted antigenic protein segments of Cytochrome b (mitochondrion) can take active part in the host immune reactions. In future study the predicted antigenic protein Cytochrome b (mitochondrion) fragments can be used in the investigation of MHC molecules binding and it can be the first bottlenecks in vaccine design.
Atomic Accessibility Radii for Molecular Dynamics Analysis

In molecular structure analysis and visualization, the molecule’s atoms are often modeled as hard spheres parametrized by their positions and radii. While the atom positions result from experiments or molecular simulations, for the radii typically values are taken from literature. Most often, van der Waals (vdW) radii are used, for which diverse values exist. As a consequence, different visualization and analysis tools use different atomic radii, and the analyses are less objective than often believed. Furthermore, for the geometric accessibility analysis of molecular structures, vdW radii are not well suited. The reason is that during the molecular dynamics simulation, depending on the force field and the kinetic energy in the system, non-bonded atoms can come so close to each other that their vdW spheres intersect. In this paper, we introduce a new kind of atomic radius, called atomic accessibility radius’, that better characterizes the accessibility of an atom in a given molecular trajectory. The new radii reflect the movement possibilities of atoms in the simulated physical system. They are computed by solving a linear program that maximizes the radii of the atoms under the constraint that non-bonded spheres do not intersect in the considered molecular trajectory. Using this data-driven approach, the actual accessibility of atoms can be visualized more precisely.
How Do We Encourage Gifted Girls to Pursue and Succeed in Science and Engineering?

Despite having the raw ability to pursue careers in science and engineering, gifted girls often shy away from such careers. Here, the authors explore two explanations for this puzzling phenomenon. Specifically, they argue that exposure to (a) negative stereotypes about women’s intellectual abilities and (b) stereotypes about scientists as “nerdy,” eccentric loners may undermine gifted girls’ confidence in their ability to succeed in science and engineering, their sense of belonging in these fields, and—ultimately—their interest. The authors also suggest evidence-based strategies for inoculating girls against these stereotypes and boosting their interest in science and engineering.
Pauvreté, croissance et redistribution

[fre] L'objectif de cet article est de revisiter la litterature economique qui analyse les interactions entre la croissance, la redistribution des revenus et les dynamiques de la pauvrete. Sur le plan theorique, nous explorons la litterature portant sur les determinants de la croissance, d'une part, et celle portant sur les determinants des inegalites, d'autre part. Sur le plan methodologique, nous nous situons dans le prolongement des travaux de Lindberg et Squire [2003], Lopez [2003] et Kraay [2005]. Nous estimons a cet effet un modele structurel de trois equations endogenes. Le modele nous permet d'identifier l'impact que les differentes variables economiques ont sur la variation de la pauvrete a travers deux canaux : la croissance economique d'une part et la redistribution d'autre part. Nos resultats montrent que la recherche de la croissance pro-pauvres devrait systematiquement passer par la promotion d'un systeme financier developpe, la stabilisation de l'inflation, le renforcement de la productivite agricole, la promotion de la scolarisation, l'amelioration des infrastructures energetiques et la reduction des depenses publiques pour la consommation. [eng] Poverty, Growth and Redistribution . This paper investigates the links between growth, distribution and poverty dynamics. On the theoretical side, we revisit the literature on the determinants of growth and inequality and their effect on the poverty headcount. On the empirical side, we propose an extension of the models estimated by Lindberg and Squire [2003], Lopez [2003] and Kraay [2005]. We estimate a structural model with three endogenous equations. This set-up allows us to identify the effect that a number economic variables have on poverty dynamics through the growth and the redistribution channels. According to our results, various policy measures can contribute to pro-poor growth: financial system development, inflation stabilization, an increase in agricultural productivity, investment in education, the improvement of energy infrastructures and the reduction in government consumption expenditures.
Synthesis Gas Production with an Adjustable H2/CO Ratio through the Coal Gasification Process: Effects of Coal Ranks And Methane Addition

With the decline of oil reserves and production, the gas-to-liquids (GTL) part of Fischer–Tropsch (F-T) synthesis technology has become increasing important. Synthesis gas (H2 + CO) with a stoichiometric ratio (H2/CO) at 2 or ranging from 1 to 2 is generally used in major synthesis-gas-based chemicals production. There are growing interests in the development of an alternative technology, other than the expensive natural-gas-based catalytic process, for cost-effective production of synthesis gas with a flexible hydrogen/carbon monoxide (H2/CO) ratio. Direct production of synthesis gas using coal as a cheap feedstock is attractive but challenging due to its low H2/CO ratio of generated synthesis gas. Three typical U.S. coals of different ranks were tested in a 2.5 in. coal gasifier to investigate their gasification reactivity and adjustability on H2/CO ratio of generated synthesis gas with or without the addition of methane. Tests indicated that lower-rank coals (lignite and sub-bituminous) have higher gas.
ASPE : an Abstraction Framework using ALU Arrays for Scalable Multiple FPGAs System

Multi-FPGA systems have attracted attentions as cost-efficient accelerators for high performance scientific computation. The major problem of such systems for users is programmability. It is difficult especially for Multi-FPGA systems to find the best structure considering the resource and communication capability with HDL-based design. Here, ASPE, a design framework using arrays of processing elements on FPGAs is proposed to address the problem. Instead of HDL-coding, ASPE makes the application executed by defining operations and communication in the ALU arrays on multiple FPGAs. MUSCL, the core program in the computational fluid dynamics is implemented on the ASPE as an example, and evaluation results show that about 4.1 times performance compared with software on Intel Core 2 Duo is achieved.
Constructing universal graphs for induced-hereditary graph properties

Rado constructed a (simple) denumerable graph R with the positive integers as vertex set with the following edges: For given m and n with m < n, m is adjacent to n if n has a 1 in the m’th position of its binary expansion. It is well known that R is a universal graph in the set I of all countable graphs (since every graph in I is isomorphic to an induced subgraph of R). In this paper we describe a general recursive construction which proves the existence of a countable universal graph for any induced-hereditary property of countable general graphs. A general construction of a universal graph for the set of finite graphs in a product of properties of graphs is also presented.The paper is concluded by a comparison between the two types of construction of universal graphs.
Inorganic Nitrite as a Potential Therapy or Biomarker for Concussion

One of the hallmarks of concussion is a disturbance, typically a reduction, in cerebral blood flow. Studies have shown a rapid increase in nitric oxide within minutes following head injury, followed by a decline to below baseline within hours. This reduction in nitrite levels is closely linked to a reduction in cerebral blood flow. Inorganic nitrite has recently been shown to be a source of nitric oxide under conditions of ischemia or hypoxia, and has been shown to increase cerebral blood flow and to improve neurovascular coupling. Dietary nitrate has been shown to be converted to nitrite in the bloodstream. This review suggests that inorganic nitrite, and/or dietary nitrate, should be investigated for their potential in treating concussion symptoms.
A Conceptual Data Model for Health Information Systems

The development of Health Information Systems based on dual models allows modifications to be conducted in the layer of archetypes, reducing dependencies on software developers. However, we identified a lack of conceptual models to represent two-level database entities. This paper proposes a novel conceptual data model, called ArcheER, which is a dual modeling approach and aims to reduce redundant entities and guarantee the creation of unique electronic health records. ArcheER is an extension of the Entity-Relationship model and is based on archetypes. A CASE modeling tool based on ArcheER is outlined. Finally, to illustrate the key features of the proposed model, an ArcheER conceptual schema built for a legacy system is discussed, and results collected from a test with 18 human subjects are reported. Results indicated a reduction of 83,35% in the representation of redundant entities and a gain of 78,9% concerning the modeling of entities characterizing knowledge.
Operation of multiple 90° switching systems in barium titanate single crystals under electromechanical loading

Hysteresis evolution of a 5×5×2mm3 barium titanate single crystal during a combined electromechanical loading sequence reveals incomplete switching characteristics and a considerable disproportion of slope gradients at zero electric field for the measured polarization and strain hysteresis curves. A likely cause for the disproportion of gradients is the cooperative operation of multiple 90° switching systems by which “polarization-free” strain changes are induced. In addition, a theoretical study indicates that the presence of depolarization fields generated from the unshielded boundaries and/or incompatible domains within the crystal can have a substantial influence on the polarization measurement in the loading direction.
An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability

This paper focuses on the causes of marital instability. Section I develops a theoretical analysis of marital dissolution, incorporating uncertainty about outcomes of marital decisions into a framework of utility maximization and the marriage market. Section II explores implications of the theoretical analysis with cross-sectional data, primarily the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity and the Terman sample. The relevance of both the theoretical and empirical analyses in explaining the recent acceleration in divorce rates is also discussed.
Liquidity Risk Assessment of Private Equity Investments : Evidence from European Divestment Processes 1

This research proposes a novel approach to assess the liquidity risk level of private equity investments by disentangling risk into the probability of not being able to sell a private equity stake at its fair market value at a given time and the impact resulting from a failed divestment process. In collaboration with investment professionals, a framework for the assessment of the probability of a failed divestment process has been developed. The framework is characterized by a large number of identified factors that are both quantitative and qualitative in nature, which inevitably leads to a high level of complexity, i.e. correlation, dependency, incomplete and imprecise information. Applying unique deal-level data from past transactions, it will be shown how a modified evidential reasoning model is superior to more traditional methodologies such as multiple regression analysis and neural networks in providing investment professionals with a transparent and accurate tool for assessing the probability of a failed divestment process.
Preliminary analysis of an expanded corona database for Venus

We have conducted an extensive survey of the Magellan data to reassess the population of coronae. We identify a new type of coronae, here referred to as ‘Type 2 coronae’, having the same basic morphology as previously identified coronae (Type 1), but lacking a significant (>50%) annulus of closely spaced fractures. 106 Type 2 coronae are included in the new database giving a total of 515 coronae on Venus. The characteristics of the expanded population of Type 1 coronae are similar to those of the previously described population, but the Type 2 coronae are smaller, tend to have relatively flat interiors surrounded by a topographic rim, and are more likely to be found isolated from other features. Our observations, in particular the morphology and setting of the Type 2 coronae, may provide supporting evidence for the existence of a depleted mantle layer under the venusian plains.
New efficient algorithms for multiple change-point detection with kernels

Several statistical approaches based on reproducing kernels have been proposed to detect abrupt changes arising in the full distribution of the observations and not only in the mean or variance. Some of these approaches enjoy good statistical properties (oracle inequality, \ldots). Nonetheless, they have a high computational cost both in terms of time and memory. This makes their application difficult even for small and medium sample sizes ($n< 10^4$). This computational issue is addressed by first describing a new efficient and exact algorithm for kernel multiple change-point detection with an improved worst-case complexity that is quadratic in time and linear in space. It allows dealing with medium size signals (up to $n \approx 10^5$). Second, a faster but approximation algorithm is described. It is based on a low-rank approximation to the Gram matrix. It is linear in time and space. This approximation algorithm can be applied to large-scale signals ($n \geq 10^6$). These exact and approximation algorithms have been implemented in \texttt{R} and \texttt{C} for various kernels. The computational and statistical performances of these new algorithms have been assessed through empirical experiments. The runtime of the new algorithms is observed to be faster than that of other considered procedures. Finally, simulations confirmed the higher statistical accuracy of kernel-based approaches to detect changes that are not only in the mean. These simulations also illustrate the flexibility of kernel-based approaches to analyze complex biological profiles made of DNA copy number and allele B frequencies. An R package implementing the approach will be made available on github.
Performance Measurement of TCP / IP Header Compression

Compressed Header TCP/IP has recently become a research goal. Different compression schemes of header are found in literature. In this paper optimum size of packets traversing over the Internet is investigated. A suitable parameter is defined to study the benefits of Header Compression. A modified header compression scheme is proposed and its benefits are studied.
Chandrayaan‐1 observations of backscattered solar wind protons from the lunar regolith: Dependence on the solar wind speed

We study the backscattering of solar wind protons from the lunar regolith using the Solar Wind Monitor of the Sub‐keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer on Chandrayaan‐1. Our study focuses on the component of the backscattered particles that leaves the regolith with a positive charge. We find that the fraction of the incident solar wind protons that backscatter as protons, i.e., the proton‐backscattering efficiency, has an exponential dependence on the solar wind speed that varies from ~0.01% to ~1% for solar wind speeds of 250 km/s to 550 km/s. We also study the speed distribution of the backscattered protons in the fast (~550 km/s) solar wind case and find both a peak speed at ~80% of the solar wind speed and a spread of ~85 km/s. The observed flux variations and speed distribution of the backscattered protons can be explained by a speed‐dependent charge state of the backscattered particles.
The dynamics of welfare entry and exit amongst natives and immigrants

This article studies welfare entry and exit in Germany and determines the relevance of state dependence for natives and immigrants. Based on dynamic multinomial logit estimations, we calculate transition matrices between three labour market states. We find that temporal persistence in welfare participation can mostly be explained by observed and unobserved characteristics. Immigrants appear to have a higher risk of welfare entry and a lower probability of welfare exit compared to natives. The results do not yield strong evidence of state dependence or of an overall welfare trap.