Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technology Features, Empowering Perceptions, and Voicing Behavior on Microblog

Recently, we have observed rapid growth of individual daily technologies such as microblogs, and the technology’s influence on people’s social life. To investigate such self-determined technology usage, we choose an empowerment perspective as our theoretical lens, because the empowerment concept highlights human beings’ proactive nature. We investigate a specific microblog usage, i.e. publicly voicing personal views on social affairs, which is an initial yet fundamental step in citizen participation. The study reveals that microblog features have transformed the way social news disseminate, and hence influence information quality and users’ social network building. These changes further influence users’ empowerment perceptions through raising users’ perceptions of internal political self-efficacy, autonomy, meaning, and impact. The more empowered users are, the more likely users will voice on microblog. We integrate context into our theorizing, and the empowerment framework allow us to uncover the psychological mechanism through which microblog technology features enable voicing, a specific technology usage.
A Novel High-Efficiency Battery Charger With a Buck Zero-Voltage-Switching Resonant Converter

The high-frequency resonant converter has numerous well-known advantages over the traditional hard-switching converters. The most important advantage is that it offers a lower switching loss and a higher power density. Additionally, the soft-switching current waveform characterizes a lower electromagnetic interference (EMI). This study presents the circuit configuration with the least components to realize a highly efficient solar energy battery charger with a zero-voltage-switching resonant converter. The optimal values of the resonant components are determined by applying the characteristic curve and the electric functions derived from the circuit configuration. The experiment demonstrates the switching on and off of the main switches in a solar energy battery charger with a zero-voltage-switching resonant converter, wherein the switches are all operated using zero-voltage switching. The circuit efficiency in the overall charging process exceeds 80%.
The focal adhesion protein paxillin regulates contraction in canine tracheal smooth muscle

The adapter protein paxillin localizes to the focal adhesions of adherent cells and has been implicated in the regulation of cytoskeletal organization and cell motility. Paxillin undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation in response to the contractile stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle. We therefore hypothesized that paxillin may be involved in regulating smooth muscle contraction. Tracheal smooth muscle strips were treated with paxillin antisense oligonucleotides to inhibit the expression of paxillin protein selectively. Paxillin antisense or sense was introduced into muscle strips by reversible permeabilization and strips were incubated with antisense or sense for 3 days. Paxillin antisense selectively depressed paxillin expression, but it did not affect the expression of vinculin, focal adhesion kinase, myosin light chain kinase, myosin heavy chain or myosin light chain. Tension development in response to stimulation with ACh or KCl was markedly depressed in paxillin‐depleted muscle strips. Active force and paxillin protein expression were restored by incubation of antisense‐treated strips in the absence of oligonucleotides. The depletion of paxillin did not inhibit the increase in intracellular free Ca2+, myosin light chain phosphorylation or myosin ATPase activity in response to contractile stimulation. The concentration of G‐actin was significantly lower in unstimulated paxillin‐depleted smooth muscle tissues than in normal tissues. While stimulation with acetylcholine caused a decrease in G‐actin in normal muscle strips, it caused little change in the G‐actin concentration in paxillin‐depleted muscle strips, suggesting that paxillin is necessary for normal actin dynamics in smooth muscle. We conclude that paxillin is required for active tension development in smooth muscle, but that it does not regulate increases in intracellular Ca2+, myosin light chain phosphorylation or myosin ATPase activity during contractile stimulation. Paxillin may be important in regulating actin filament dynamics and organization during smooth muscle contraction.
Central or peripheral systolic or pulse pressure: which best relates to target organs and future mortality?

Objective To examine the relationship between brachial and central carotid pressures and target organ indices at baseline and their association with future mortality. Methods We examined, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, the relations of baseline systolic and pulse pressures in central (calibrated tonometric carotid pulse) and peripheral (brachial, mercury sphygmomanometer) arteries to baseline left ventricular mass, carotid intima-media thickness, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and 10-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in 1272 participants (47% women aged 30–79 years) from a community of homogeneous Chinese. Results Left ventricular mass was more strongly related to central and peripheral systolic pressures than pulse pressures. Intima-media thickness and glomerular filtration rate were more strongly related to central pressures than peripheral pressures. A total of 130 participants died, 37 from cardiovascular causes. In univariate analysis, all four blood pressure variables significantly predicted all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Each blood pressure variable was entered into the multivariate models, both individually and jointly with another blood pressure variable. After adjustment for age, sex, heart rate, BMI, current smoking, glucose, ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity, left ventricular mass, intima-media thickness, and glomerular filtration rate, only central systolic pressure consistently and independently predicted cardiovascular mortality (hazards ratio, 1.30 per 10 mmHg). No significant sex interactions were observed in all analyses. Conclusion Systolic and pulse pressures relate differently to different target organs. Central systolic pressure is more valuable than other blood pressure variables in predicting cardiovascular mortality.
Longitudinal Study of Viewing Smoking in Movies and Initiation of Smoking by Children

BACKGROUND. Previous studies showed an association between viewing of smoking in movies and initiation of smoking among adolescents. However, all studies except one were cross-sectional, and none updated movie smoking exposure prospectively or assessed its influence on children. METHODS. We enrolled elementary school students, 9 to 12 years of age, in a longitudinal study to assess the influence of movie smoking exposure on smoking initiation among children. Movie smoking content was coded for the most popular movie releases; exposure was assessed by asking children which movies they had seen, on the basis of unique lists of 50 movies sampled randomly from top box office hits and video rentals. Data collection occurred in 3 waves (the baseline survey and 2 follow-up surveys), ∼1 year apart. Movie lists were updated for each data collection wave, to reflect recent releases. Movie smoking exposure was analyzed in relation to smoking initiation by the end of the study period. RESULTS. Approximately 80% of the children's smoking exposure occurred through movies rated G, PG, or PG-13. Children's movie smoking exposure predicted smoking initiation significantly, after adjustment for multiple covariates including child and parent characteristics. The relative risks were 1.09, 1.09, and 1.07 for a 1-decile increase of movie smoking exposure measured at the baseline, second, and third data collection waves, respectively. The adjusted attributable risk of smoking initiation attributable to movie smoking exposure was 0.35. CONCLUSION. Our study, which is the first to enroll children in elementary school and to update movie smoking exposure longitudinally, indicates that early exposure has as much influence on smoking risk as does exposure nearer the outcome. Overall, movie smoking may be responsible for at least one third of smoking initiation for children in this age group.
Algebraic Second Order Hodge Operator for Poisson's Equation

Algebraic methods, like the cell method or the finite integration technique are known to be effective in solving numerical problems, but they are limited to linear convergence, i.e., they exactly reconstruct constant fields inside the element. A few attempts in the literature have been aimed at extending the method to higher order, but results have not been completely satisfactory. This paper proposes a novel technique to extend the cell method to second order convergence. The consistency and convergence of the proposed approach are established by numerical results.
Isolation and Characterization of 2 New Human Rotator Cuff and Long Head of Biceps Tendon Cells Possessing Stem Cell–Like Self-Renewal and Multipotential Differentiation Capacity

Background: Stem cell therapy is expected to offer new alternatives to the traditional therapies of rotator cuff tendon tears. In particular, resident, tissue-specific, adult stem cells seem to have a higher regenerative potential for the tissue where they reside. Hypothesis: Rotator cuff tendon and long head of the biceps tendon possess a resident stem cell population that, when properly stimulated, may be induced to proliferate, thus being potentially usable for tendon regeneration. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Human tendon samples from the supraspinatus and the long head of the biceps were collected during rotator cuff tendon surgeries from 26 patients, washed with phosphate-buffered saline, cut into small pieces, and digested with collagenase type I and dispase. After centrifugation, cell pellets were resuspended in appropriate culture medium and plated. Adherent cells were cultured, phenotypically characterized, and then compared with human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), as an example of adult stem cells, and human dermal fibroblasts, as normal proliferating cells with no stem cell properties. Results: Two new adult stem cell populations from the supraspinatus and long head of the biceps tendons were isolated, characterized, and cultured in vitro. Cells showed adult stem cell characteristics (ie, they were self-renewing in vitro, clonogenic, and multipotent), as they could be induced to differentiate into different cell types—namely, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and skeletal muscle cells. Conclusion: This work demonstrated that human rotator cuff tendon stem cells and human long head of the biceps tendon stem cells can be isolated and possess a high regenerative potential, which is comparable with that of BMSCs. Moreover, comparative analysis of the sphingolipid pattern of isolated cells with that of BMSCs and fibroblasts revealed the possibility of using this class of lipids as new possible markers of the cell differentiation status. Clinical Relevance: Rotator cuff and long head of the biceps tendons contain a stem cell population that can proliferate in vitro and could constitute an easily accessible stem cell source to develop novel therapies for tendon regeneration.
Prenatal Androgens Time Neuroendocrine Puberty in the Sheep: Effect of Testosterone Dose.

In sheep, prenatal exposure to androgens during a critical period for sexual differentiation of the brain (30–90 days of gestation; 145 days is term) can advance the timing of puberty in females and prevent the preovulatory LH surge. The present study tests the hypothesis that in sheep, the timing of neuroendocrine sexual maturation is related to the amount of prenatal steroid exposure. In addition, we determined if different steroid requirements exist for sexual differentiation of the tonic and surge modes of gonadotropin secretion. Testosterone was administered weekly to three groups of pregnant ewes from days 30–90 of gestation at doses of 200, 80, or 32 mg/week. The resulting androgenized female lambs together with control males and females (n = 5–7/group) were gonadectomized at 3 weeks of age, and gonadal steroids were replaced with a SILASTIC brand estradiol-filled capsule. LH concentrations were measured from biweekly blood samples. Sustained increases in circulating LH were considered to reflect t.
Situated mappings : augmented-reality clay and adaptive interfacing

Our collectively developed methods of structuring information through graphical and natural user interfaces (GUI, NUI) largely emphasize visual and visuo-spatial representation over other types of sensory information. As our interfaces continue to develop we seem to select for fidelity of visual stimulation, while neglecting the behavioral aspects of physical materiality. In this thesis, I advocate for the use of expressive mediums of material engagement as part of the design of interaction within interfaces. I present an approach to interfacing using Computer-Mediated Material Interaction (CMMI), by augmenting the visual appearance and behavior of clay. This approach considers the subject's situated learning as the crucial factor in building coherent and immersive interfacing. Taking precedents from the domains of perceptual science and cognitive ecology, such as information-search, affordances and adaptive learning, I suggest that the sense of immersion and ease of learning in an interaction stems from how much it supports the subject's self-guided, iterative, discovery process. To illustrate this approach, I present a series of oil clay augmented-reality prototypes that encourage situated mappings to be discovered by the subject. I also discuss how interface design could further honor the adaptive principles latent in human-material-interactions. Thesis Supervisor: Terry Knight Professor of Design and Computation, Department of Architecture Thesis Supervisor: Ruth Rosenholtz Principal Research Scientist, Vision & Graphics, CSAIL
On the separability of the parameter space of dynamical systems in terms of types of phase portraits

We investigate the question of the separability of the space of input parameters of industrial reaction-regeneration systems in terms of topological structures of the phase trajectories. The phase trajectories are investigated in the vicinity of the set of attractors. We propose a method for fixing the conformity for each input vector of the 3D phase portrait of a particular system. Results of the decision of a problem of visualisation of the control with use of phase portraits of nonlinear dynamic systems are presented.
Towards Real-Time Machine Learning

Mining data streams has become an important topic within the last decade, and numerous approaches have addressed various issues in this domain. However, little work has been devoted to the setting where high-speed data streams are potentially faster than the underlying learning algorithm, and nevertheless a prediction needs to be given promptly for each unlabeled instance in the stream. Additionally, a model has still to be trained on the labeled instances of the stream in parallel. To solve this problem, we propose a framework and controller-based approach that ensures proper training of a model and a prediction for each unlabeled instance in the stream. The approach can also be used for data streams with altering stream speeds. We show that the method performs well under heavy system load on both synthetic and real-world data using different learning algorithms. We believe that this type of realtime machine learning, the synthesis of machine learning and real-time systems, raises a number of interesting questions for machine learning research.
Pathogenesis of the vascular and glomerular damage in ANCA-positive vasculitis.

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) Subsequently, there have been many publications that are specific for antigens in the cytoplasm of neutrophils have addressed the correlation between ANCA titer and monocytes. Approximately 90% of ANCA in and the clinical course of the disease [2]. Although patients with vasculitis or glomerulonephritis have there is controversy over whether or not the correlation specificity for either myeloperoxidase (MPO) or pro- is close enough to be used for making therapeutic teinase 3 (PR3), which are located in the primary decisions, there is general agreement that there is at granules of neutrophils and the peroxidase-positive least a rough positive correlation between ANCAlysosomes of monocytes. positivity and disease activity. This is consistent with Beginning with the initial publication about ANCA a cause and eVect relationship, but would also occur [1], they have been strongly associated with a spectrum with an epiphenomenon that was secondary to active of necrotizing small vessel vasculitides that includes Wegener’s granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, and Churg-Strauss syndrome [2,3]. These vasculitides often have necrotizing and crescentic glomerulo- Table 1. Clinical, pathological and experimental evidence of nephritis as a component of the systemic vascular pathogenesis of vasculitis by ANCA injury. A pathologically identical glomerulonephritis also occurs as a renal-limited disease. There is mount- Clinical and pathologic evidence: ing clinical, pathological, and experimental evidence ANCA are very frequent in patients with necrotizing that ANCA are pathogenic ( Table 1). glomerulonephritis and vasculitis ANCA-disease responds to immunosuppressive treatment The vasculitis and glomerulonephritis that are asso- ANCA titers correlate with disease activity ciated with ANCA are characterized, in the acute There is no evidence for anti-GBM or immune complex phase, by segmental fibrinoid necrosis of vessel walls, mediation of pauci-immune ANCA-vasculitis neutrophil and monocyte infiltration with leukocyto- Drug-induced ANCA are associated with pauci-immune necrotizing vasculitis that disappears with discontinuation of
Tumor‐associated antigen 43‐9F is of prognostic value in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. A retrospective immunohistochemical study

Background. Squamous cell lung carcinoma (SLC), the most frequent type of lung cancer, generally is treated surgically and its prognosis is poor. The only current clinically useful prognostic criterion is lymph node staging (TNM classification). Expression of a novel tumor‐associated carbohydrate epitope Galβ1–3[Fucαl‐4]GlcNAcβ1‐4[Fucα1–3]GlcNAcβ1–3Galßl‐4Glc identified by the 43‐9F monoclonal antibody (MoAb) is associated with the growth pattern of SLC cell lines in athymic mice and in vitro. This implies that the 43‐9F epitope may be related to tumor progression in patients with SLC and that, as such, it could be of prognostic value.
Changing Concepts in the Diagnosis and Management of Blepharitis

Purpose. Chronic blepharitis is one of the most common conditions seen in the ophthalmologist's office; but, it is difficult to treat effectively. Nevertheless, much progress has been made over the last quarter century, not only in diagnosis but also in treatment of blepharitis. Methods. Perhaps the most important progress has been made as the result of extensive and detailed clinical evaluations of patients, sometimes over extended periods of time with diverse patient populations. Results. The availability of sophisticated instrumentation and laboratory techniques, as well as an array of antibiotics, has enhanced the whole picture for effective blepharitis treatment. Conclusion. Although much progress has been made, it is important to build on the present understanding. Most important is the continued development of targeted treatment protocols that address specific signs, as is now possible with microbial abnormalities. Progress in the understanding and treatment of relevant inflammatory processes will benefit from continuing biomedical discoveries.
Internuclear ophthalmoplegia following African tick bite fever

A 29-year-old previously healthy man presented with a diarrhoeal illness, headache and malaise while in South Africa where he had been living for 6 months. Two weeks later, he developed diplopia and incoordination. Neurological examination revealed a left internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) and limb ataxia. The rest of his cranial nerve examination was normal as was tone, power, reflexes and sensation in his limbs. His general systemic examination was unremarkable; in particular, there were no skin lesions. …
Expression of the Rous sarcoma virus env gene from a simian virus 40 late-region replacement vector: effects of upstream initiation codons

Expression of the Rous sarcoma virus envelope gene (env) from a simian virus 40 (SV40) late-region replacement vector is dependent on the position of env within the SV40 late-region sequences. The difference in expression levels appeared to be due to differences in the efficiency with which the env-specific transcripts were translated, because transcription levels from different constructions were similar. Deletion of the nucleotides encoding the agnoprotein initiator codon, located upstream of the env sequences in the poorly expressed construct, resulted in high levels of env expression. The agnoprotein initiator codon and overlapping open reading frame thus act as strong barriers to further ribosome scanning and prevent initiation at the env AUG codon. We conclude that AUG codons present in the late region of SV40 can reduce expression of inserted genes positioned downstream. Nevertheless, intrinsic properties of the gene may determine its ultimate level of expression.
Morphofunctional study of 12‐O‐tetradecanoyl‐13‐phorbol acetate (TPA)‐induced differentiation of U937 cells under exposure to a 6 mT static magnetic field

This study deals with the morphofunctional influence of 72 h exposure to a 6 mT static magnetic field (SMF) during differentiation induced by 50 ng/ml 12‐O‐tetradecanoyl‐13‐phorbol acetate (TPA) in human leukaemia U937 cells. The cell morphology of U937 cells was investigated by optic and electron microscopy. Specific antibodies and/or molecules were used to label CD11c, CD14, phosphatidylserine, F‐actin and to investigate the distribution and activity of lysosomes, mitochondria and SER. [Ca2+]i was evaluated with a spectrophotometer. The degree of differentiation in SMF‐exposed cells was lower than that of non‐exposed cells, the difference being exposure time‐dependent. SMF‐exposed cells showed cell shape and F‐actin modification, inhibition of cell attachment, appearance of membrane roughness and large blebs and impaired expression of specific macrophagic markers on the cell surface. The intracellular localization of SER and lysosomes was only partially affected by exposure. A significant localization of mitochondria with an intact membrane potential at the cell periphery in non‐exposed, TPA‐stimulated cells was observed; conversely, in the presence of SMF, mitochondria were mainly localised near the nucleus. In no case did SMF exposure affect cell viability. The sharp intracellular increase of [Ca2+]i could be one of the causes of the above‐described changes. Bioelectromagnetics 30:352–364, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.