Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluations of LIDAR reflectance amplitude sensitivity towards land cover conditions

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of LIDAR intensity data for executing land cover classification. The quantitative and qualitative analysis was executed with reflection geometry model and land cover classification data. By these analyses, the LIDAR intensity feasibility for classification was discussed. The survey found that intensity is inversely proportional to angle and distance, though their relation did not agree with the theoretical model. The survey also found that intensity correction with distance and angle is not always applicable, the effect of correction is not significant, and consequently raw intensity value usage is justified. We conclude that some land cover and building materials were separable with intensity data. Old asphalt and grass were separable though cement, slate & zinc, brick, and trees were not easy to recognize. Soil, gravel, and grass could be distinguishable each other.
Deployment of Distributed Antenna Systems in High Buildings

It has been demonstrated that distributed antenna systems (DASs) improve the transmission performance in indoor environment by reducing the radio transmission distance and providing macro diversity. In this paper, indoor DAS is proposed for high building environments. The objective is to provide high data rate transmission for indoor mobile users. The radio signal in high buildings can propagate through floors, a mathematical channel model is proposed in this work based on measurement results. The spectrum is reused among floors but can not be used in the same floor. Therefore co-channel interference exists between floors using the same frequency. Theoretical analysis is presented based on the mathematical channel model proposed. The performance of the system is evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER) and the effect of the frequency reuse factor is presented. It is demonstrated as well that the shape of the floor and the deployment of the RAUs have a significant effect on the BER performance.
Animal welfare and ethical issues in island pest eradication

Island pest eradications almost always involve killing, often of large numbers of animals. Future eradications must pay more attention to the issues this raises, not only because the issues are important in themselves but also because eradications sit within a wider context of increasing welfare and ethical concerns about animal pest management. The welfare issues include the pain and suffering caused directly by the control method used (to both target and non-target) and any flow on effects (eg. trophic cascades), while the ethical costs relate more to the justification and outcomes of the eradication programme. Eradication programmes will always have uncertainty related to funding, ability to target all individuals, and probability of reinvasion. This uncertainty means such programmes should only proceed and can only be defended on ethical grounds if they are structured in such a way that learning is maximised and applied to reducing uncertainties in future operations. Because structuring eradication programmes as learning experiments will have additional costs (eg. additional monitoring) this approach raises the issue of how much we are willing to pay for that learning and for more rapidly mitigating the welfare and ethical costs of island pest eradication. The consequences of not doing so may put at the risk the support for future eradication programmes.
HMGA1-pseudogene overexpression contributes to cancer progression

Two pseudogenes for HMGA1, whose overexpression has a critical role in cancer progression, have been identified. They act as decoy for miRNAs that are able to target the HMGA1 gene then enhancing cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, these pseudogenes contain sequences that are potential target sites for cancer-related miRNAs. Interestingly, HMGA1 pseudogenes are highly expressed in human anaplastic thyroid carcinomas, that is one of the most aggressive tumor in mankind, but almost undetectable in well differentiated thyroid carcinomas.
Interferon induction by viruses. XVIII. Vesicular stomatitis virus-New Jersey: a single infectious particle can both induce and suppress interferon production.

In contrast to wild-type vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) of Indiana (Ind.) origin which express interferon (IFN) inducing- and IFN induction-suppressing activities as mutually exclusive properties, individual particles of wild-type VSV of the New Jersey (N.J.) serotype (Hazelhurst [H] isolate) paradoxically can both induce IFN and suppress its induction in cells coinfected with a potent inducer of IFN. The properties of IFN induction, and its suppression, appear to reside in the particle that manifests infectivity. Analyses of IFN induction dose-response curves to measure IFN-inducing particles (IFP), and IFN yield-reduction curves to measure IFN induction-suppressing particles (ISP) generated by VSV-N.J.(H) in aged chick embryo cells revealed that (i) a single particle per cell sufficed to induce a quantum (full) yield of IFN, or to suppress fully IFN production by a coinfecting inducing virus, and (ii) the addition of one or more IFP per cell did not suppress the yield of IFN beyond the plateau level. The time-course of IFN production in chick cells infected with VSV-N.J. (H) revealed about a 4-h lag, even when the cells were coinfected with a potent inducer that normally induced IFN 1 or 2 h sooner. Thus, VSV-N.J.(H) appears to regulate the production of IFN in cells--even that initiated by other inducers. Expression of IFP and ISP activities both required primary transcription, with respective genomic targets similar to those reported for VSV-Ind. N.J.(H) is the first wild-type VSV observed to express IFP and ISP activities concomitantly. A model is presented to suggest how these two antagonistic properties might be expressed by a single infectious particle.
In vitro evaluation of peri-implantitis treatment modalities on Saos-2osteoblasts.

OBJECTIVES Mechanical treatment of the implant surface through surgical approach is recommended to control peri-implantitis. Few conclusive data exist about the physical and chemical properties of treated titanium surfaces and their biocompatibility towards osteoblasts. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate four clinical procedures: plastic curette, air-abrasive device (Perio-Flow(®) ), titanium brush (Ti-Brush(®) ) and implantoplasty in terms of biocompatibility and osteogenic effect when cultured with Saos2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Titanium disks were treated with plastic curette, air-abrasive device (Perio-Flow(®) ), titanium brush (Ti-Brush(®) ) and implantoplasty. Their surface microtopography (SEM), chemical composition (EDX) and wettability were evaluated. After seeding with Saos-2, cell morphology (1 h, 24 h), viability (three and 6 days) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteocalcin (OCN) production (7 days) were analyzed. RESULTS Control, plastic curette, Perio-Flow(®) and Ti-Brush(®) groups presented complex microstructures including craters and micropits, whereas the implantoplasty group appeared much smoother (SEM). Titanium, oxygen, aluminium and carbon were identified as the main components in all disks with a decrease in the percentage of oxygen, carbon and an increase in the percentage of titanium in the implantoplasty group (EDX). Implantoplasty disks were also significantly more hydrophilic than the other ones, whose surfaces appeared hydrophobic. Saos-2 showed no morphological difference at 1 h. At 24 h, they appeared round shaped in all groups, except the implantoplasty group where the cells appeared stretched and elongated. Viability was similar in all groups, but significantly higher in the Perio-Flow(®) than the control group at day six. ALP, OPG and OCN protein expression at 7 days was similar in all groups. CONCLUSIONS Although implantoplasty was the only modality to modify the titanium surface morphology, composition and wettability, all treatment modalities promoted ALP, OPG and OCN production and appeared as valid approaches in terms of biocompatibility.
Herpes simplex virus 1 alpha regulatory protein ICP0 interacts with and stabilizes the cell cycle regulator cyclin D3

The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infected-cell protein 0 (ICP0) has the characteristics of a promiscuous transactivator of genes introduced into cells by infection or transfection. To identify cellular proteins interacting with ICP0, we used a domain of exon II of ICP0 that is known to be crucial for regulatory function of the protein as bait in the yeast two-hybrid screen. Our results were as follows. (i) A cDNA in a positive yeast colony was found to encode cyclin D3, a cell cycle regulator of G1 phase. (ii) A purified chimeric protein consisting of glutathione S-transferase (GST) fused to cyclin D3 specifically formed complexes with ICP0 contained in HSV-1-infected cell lysate. (iii) To enhance the expression of cyclin D3, the gene was inserted into the viral genome and overexpressed in infected cells. The overexpressed cyclin D3 colocalized with ICP0 in nuclear structures characteristic of ND10 and which earlier have been reported to contain ICP0. (iv) The accumulation of cyclin D3 protein in Vero cells infected with an alpha0 deletion mutant was reduced relative to that of cells infected with wild-type virus or a recombinant virus in which the deleted alpha0 sequences were restored. (v) Lysates of Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells doubly infected with baculoviruses genetically engineered to express cyclin D3 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) phosphorylated GST fused to retinoblastoma protein (GST-pRb) but did not phosphorylate the GST-alpha0(20-241) or GST-alpha0(543-768) fusion protein or immunoprecipitated ICP0 proteins. Moreover, the chimeric GST-ICP0(exon II) protein shown to bind cyclin D3 had no effect on the activity of the kinase on GST-pRb when added to mixtures of lysates of Sf9 cells which coexpressed cyclin D3 and CDK4. These results indicate that ICP0 interacts with, colocalizes with, and stabilizes the cyclin D3 cell cycle regulator and does not affect its interaction with the cyclin-dependent kinase.
Reducing global poverty through universal primary and secondary education; UIS fact sheet; Vol.:44; 2017

The eradication of poverty and the provision of equitable and inclusive quality education for all are two intricately linked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As this year’s High Level Political Forum focuses on prosperity and poverty reduction, this paper, jointly released by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, shows why education is so central to the achievement of the SDGs and presents the latest estimates on out-ofschool children, adolescents and youth to demonstrate how much is at stake. The out-ofschool rate has not budged since 2008 at the primary level, since 2012 at the lower secondary level and since 2013 at the upper secondary level. The consequences are grave: if all adults completed secondary school, the global poverty rate would be more than halved. Reducing global poverty through universal primary and secondary education
Comments on local minima free conditions in multilayer perceptrons

In this letter we point out that multilayer neural networks (MLP's) with either sigmoidal units or radial basis functions can be given a canonical form with positive interunits weights, which does not restrict the well-known MLP universal computational capabilities. We give some results on the local minima of the error function using this canonical form. In particular, we prove that the local minima free conditions established in previous works can be relaxed significantly.
How well prepared are Australian teachers to meet the challenge of raising standards of English literacy

This paper draws on the most recent national, census style study of Teachers in Australian Schools (Dempster, Sim, Beere and Logan, 2000), to examine the preservice and inservice training that teachers have experienced in three important aspects of literacy education. First, the study is contextualised in relation to contemporary education policy and initiatives, then the data analysed, bringing to light marked variability in the provision of professional development in literacy. The analyses provide an opening for considering the scope of such development and the implications of any discontinuities that exist between current literacy education policy and practice. Throughout the discussion, we ask readers to consider the extent to which the findings about professional development in literacy education resonate with their individual experiences at system and local levels.
Early Warning Systems : A Comparison of Currency Crises Forecasting Methods

This paper proposes a new statistical framework inherited from the traditional credit-scoring literature, to evaluate currency crises Early Warning System (EWS). Applied to evaluate for the predictive power of panel logit and Markov frameworks, it results that the panel logit is outperforming the Markov switching ones. Furthermore, the introduction of forward looking variables clearly improves the forecasting properties of the EWS. It thus confirms the adequacy of the second generation crisis models in explaining the occurrence of crises.
ENDINg THE CyClE of VulNERAbIlITy THE HEAlTH of INDIgENouS CHIlDREN AustrAliAn MedicAl AssociAtion report cArd series 2008 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children throughout Australia are in urgent need. The Australian Medical Association’s 2008 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Report Card – the AMA’s seventh annual Report Card – reveals the plight confronting these most vulnerable of citizens. This Report Card presents a snapshot of the health of Indigenous children, using the most recent and relevant data. It also maps out a range of solutions and measures to assist in the public effort to improve the health of Indigenous people and, in turn, their life prospects and opportunities.
Targeted mutagenesis of the human papillomavirus type 16 E2 transactivation domain reveals separable transcriptional activation and DNA replication functions

The E2 gene products of papillomavirus play key roles in viral replication, both as regulators of viral transcription and as auxiliary factors that act with E1 in viral DNA replication. We have carried out a detailed structure-function analysis of conserved amino acids within the N-terminal domain of the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) E2 protein. These mutants were tested for their transcriptional activation activities as well as transient DNA replication and E1 binding activities. Analysis of the stably expressed mutants revealed that the transcriptional activation and replication activities of HPV16 E2 could be dissociated. The 173A mutant was defective for the transcriptional activation function but retained wild-type DNA replication activity, whereas the E39A mutant wild-type transcriptional activation function but was defective in transient DNA replication assays. The E39A mutant was also defective for HPV16 E1 binding in vitro, suggesting that the ability of E2 protein to form a complex with E1 appears to be essential for its function as an auxiliary replication factor.
Single scattering in heterogenous participating media

The interaction between light and light-transmitting objects, known as participating media, involves complex physical phenomena such as light absorption and scattering. Media such as clouds, smoke and translucent materials often feature heterogeneous scattering properties. Hence the radiance transmitted by the medium potentially depends on such varying properties on the entire light paths, yielding soft light shafts and opacity variations (Figure 1).
Antimicrobial peptides: to membranes and beyond

Background: Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are widely recognized as promising alternatives to the current use of antibiotics and fungicides. Amino-acid sequences of a vast majority of AMP share cationic and amphipathic biophysical properties that allow their insertion into lipid bilayers and can lead to alteration of biological membrane functions. Initial characterization studies linked these properties to antimicrobial killing activity. However, further data indicate that this is not the sole mode of action and that more subtle mechanisms might mediate the interaction with and effect to target microbes, as well as the specificity and toxicity of peptides. As such, AMP are increasingly viewed as powerful multifunctional drugs. Objective: This review summarizes findings on these alternative non-lytic modes of antimicrobial action that go beyond membrane disruption, with an emphasis on the specific interaction with microbial cell wall/membrane components, signaling of AMP exposure and intracellular targets of peptide action. We also explore how novel technologies can help to reveal, characterize and exploit these antimicrobial properties. Conclusion: Detailed knowledge on non-lytic modes of action of AMP will help in the design and discovery of novel antibacterial and antifungal compounds.
Factors predicting malignant transformation in oral potentially malignant disorders among patients accrued over a 10-year period in South East England.

OBJECTIVE The aims of the study were to determine how frequently oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) transform to cancer and to identify clinical and histological factors determining the rates of transformation. METHODS The study included 1357 patients with biopsy-confirmed OPMDs seen at Guy's Hospital between 1990 and 1999 and followed up until 2005. The patients' details (name, date of birth, gender and any other relevant information) were matched to the Thames Cancer Registry (TCR) database and Office for National Statistics (ONS) to identify patients who subsequently developed oral cancer (ICD-10 C00-C06). From each patient's record, we identified their highest grade of dysplasia, graded as none, mild, moderate or severe. The outcome of principal interest was transformation to oral squamous cell carcinoma. To avoid co-existing malignancies, follow-up was started 6 months after the date of the index biopsy. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional hazard analysis were undertaken to explore the factors associated with the time to transformation to oral cancer. RESULTS One thousand three hundred and fifty-seven patients were included in the study. The majority of patients were women (60.9%), and ∼30% were under 47 years of age. The most common OPMD was lichen planus/lichenoid reaction. Among all OPMDs, 204 (15.1%) had oral epithelial dysplasia (30 severe, 70 moderate and 104 mild). Thirty-five patients developed oral cancer over the follow-up period (2.6%). There was an association between dysplasia grade and time to transformation. Patients with severe dysplasia had a higher risk of transformation to oral cancer [HR 35.4 95% CI (14.2-88.3)] compared to those with no dysplasia. This association remained significant although attenuated [HR 21.6 95% CI (5.8-80.5)] following adjustment for sex, age, anatomical site of OPMD and diagnosis. A significant trend over dysplasia grades was evident (P < 0.0001). Transformation to oral cancer was also associated with increasing age (P = 0.0390). CONCLUSIONS In 2.6% of cases, OPMDs transformed to invasive cancer for a total person follow-up time of 12,273 years (mean 9.04 years). The severity of dysplasia is a significant predictor for malignant transformation.
Phototherapy in systemic sclerosis: Review

Systemic scleroderma—also known as systemic sclerosis (SSc)—is a chronic systemic connective tissue disease characterized by collagen deposition in cutaneous and internal organs, leading to skin sclerosis and multiple organ fibrosis. The pathogenesis is complex and remains poorly understood. Treatment is based on organ involvement and requires a multidisciplinary approach. Skin sclerosis can cause disability, leading to decreasing quality of life. Various systemic antifibrotic therapies have been used; however, most have unsatisfactory results. Recently, phototherapy and in particular ultraviolet A (UVA) has been used to treat skin sclerosis in SSc patients with satisfactory results. The main mechanisms include lymphocyte apoptosis, cytokine alteration, inhibition of collagen synthesis and increased collagenase production, and neovascularization, leading to the breakdown of collagen fibrils resulting in skin softening or even healing digital ulcers. Most studies reported that psoralen plus UVA (PUVA) and UVA1 phototherapy improved clinical outcomes vis‐à‐vis skin sclerosis, joint mobility, ulcers, and histopathology. PUVA and UVA1 phototherapy therefore have potential as an alternative or adjunctive therapy for patients with SSc.
Fertility and replacement: Some alternative stochastic models and results for Brazil

The observed joint distribution of births and child deaths for a cohort of women at a given point in time depends on the number of children that would have been born had the family experienced no deaths, the number of child deaths experienced, and the proportion of these deaths that are replaced by a subsequent birth. In this paper we estimate the parameters of the assumed distributions of these three events using a minimum distance estimation model and data from the 1970 Brazilian census. The parameter estimates are shown to be similar to those obtained previously using a maximum likelihood estimation model. When the data are subdivided according to women’s years of schooling, estimates of probability of a child death and mean and variance of children born if no deaths decrease while estimates of probability of replacement of a dead child increase as years of schooling increase.
Assessment of Nutritional Status through Body Mass Index among Adult Males of 7 Tribal Populations of Maharashtra, India

This paper deals with the assessment of nutritional status through body mass index (BMI) in adult males of 7 tribal populations of the Maharashtra state of India. Anthropometric data collected by the Anthropological Survey of India on 600 adult males aged 18-60 years were used in this analysis. Majority of them were thin and lean with medium to short stature. The mean BMI was found to be highest among the Gond (18.33 kg/m2) followed by Korku (18.30 kg/m2) and Mahadeokoli (18.17 kg/m2). There were significant variations in the mean BMI among the tribal populations, ranging between 16.82 kg/m2 and 18.33 kg/m2. The prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) was highest among the Warli, among whom 30.0% were found to be suffering from severe CED, 32.0% moderate CED and 26.0% mild CED. A greater prevalence (36.0%) of normal status of nutrition was found among the Korku. The linear regression coefficient (b f standard error) of BMI on Cormic Index or CI (SH/H) for these tribal groups was 13.68 f 3.3 (t=4.14, p < 0.000), and the correlation coefficient (r f standard error) was 0.16 f 0.02. The differences in BMI across the tribes were significant even after allowing for the Cormic Index. It can be said that the majority of the tribal populations of Maharashtra were lean. The high proportion of individuals with CED corroborates their low social and -. economic status.