Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-Throughput Genotyping of Forensic STRs and SNPs Using Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry offers a rapid, accurate, and cost-effective means for high-throughput DNA analysis. Using proprietary chemistry and robotic sample preparation, GeneTrace has demonstrated that several thousand DNA samples may be processed daily with a single mass spectrometer. This mass spectrometry approach is a potential solution to the processing of samples currently being gathered for large criminal DNA databases around the world. We present results from a number of tetranucleotide STR markers of forensic interest including the 13 CODIS core loci. We are also working on some new Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers that may prove useful in screening forensic samples.
[Mechanism of action of glucocorticoids in asthma].

While on the basis of clinical studies glucocorticoids (GC) became the first-line therapy for asthma, the molecular basis of GC action has been extensively studied. Glucocorticoids exert their effects by binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which then inhibits or increases gene transcription through processes known as transrepression and transactivation, respectively. Transrepression results from the inhibitory interaction between the GR and other transcription factors like AP-1 and NF-kappa B. Since AP-1 and NF-kappa B DNA binding sites have been mapped to the promoter regions of many genes coding for proinflammatory mediators (IL-1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 13, TNF-alpha, RANTES, Eotaxin, GM-CSF, metalloproteinases, ICAM-1 .), this interaction may be an important aspect of the GC anti-inflammatory properties. Transactivation is mediated through binding of the GC-activated GR to a DNA sequence called glucocorticoid response element (GRE) and may result in some benefits and side effects since GRE has been mapped to the promoter regions of genes coding for lipocortin, beta 2-adrenergic receptor, and for genes involved in the onset of metabolic effects (diabetes, hypokaliemia, hydrosodic retention) and glaucoma. Other molecular mechanisms may also be involved like the binding to the GR to a negative GRE (nGRE), the interaction with the basal transcriptional machinery, and the post transcriptional modulation of mRNA stability. In asthma, the relative importance of each mechanism remains to be studied, but both mechanisms may probably be involved.
Association between Streptococcus infantarius (Formerly S. bovis II/1) Bacteremia and Noncolonic Cancer

The association of Streptococcus bovis bacteremia with colon tumors has been known since the late 1970s (3). Later, it was established that this association corresponded to biotype I (6). The association of S. bovis biotype II is less known. A few studies have related biliary tract infections and cirrhotic bacteremia (1, 5, 6, 8). Extensive taxonomic changes have occurred in this group, and strains formerly known as human S. bovis isolates are now designated different species (2, 7). Thus, in human pathology today, there are two species of principal interest: Streptococcus gallolyticus, with the subspecies gallolyticus (formerly S. bovis I) and pasteurianus (formerly S. bovis II/2), and Streptococcus infantarius (formerly S. bovis II/1), with the subspecies coli and infantarius. We have studied all the S. bovis bacteremias prospectively over 20 years (1988 to 2007). The identification was determined by the API 20 strep method (bioMerieux, Marcy- l′Etoile, France), and since 2005, we have used, in addition, the GP card of the VITEK 2 system (bioMerieux, Marcy-l′Etoile, France). Over this period, we have found 133 bacteremias, 90 caused by S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus, 15 by S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus, and 28 by S. infantarius. The association of colon tumors with S. gallolyticus was 48.5% (51 of 105) versus 11% (3 of 28) for S. infantarius (P < 0.0003). Nevertheless, for noncolonic cancer the association was 6% (6 of 105) for S. gallolyticus versus 57% (16 of 28) for S. infantarius (P < 0.0001). Of these 16 noncolonic cancers associated with S. infantarius, 12 (75%) were of the digestive tract (fundamentally pancreas and biliary tract), 9 of them appearing as cholangitis. In an extensive review of the literature carried out by Klein et al. (4), no association between S. bovis and noncolonic digestive cancers was found, although at that time, the biotypes of the strains were not considered. New studies are needed to confirm our findings, in which we observe a strong association of S. infantarius with noncolonic digestive cancers.
Dysregulation of peritoneal cavity B1a cells and murine primary biliary cholangitis

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic autoimmune liver disease with progressive cholestasis and liver fibrosis. Similar to human patients with PBC, p40−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice spontaneously develop severe autoimmune cholangitis. Although there has been considerable work on immune regulation and autoimmunity, there is a relative paucity of work directed at the functional implications of the key peritoneal cavity (PC) B cell subset, coined B1a cells in PBC. We used flow cytometry and high-resolution microarrays to study the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of B cells, particularly B1a cells, in the PC of p40−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice compared to controls. Importantly, B1a cell proliferation was markedly lower as the expression of Ki67 decreased. Meanwhile, the apoptosis level was much higher. These lead to a reduction of B1a cells in the PC of p40−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice compared to controls. In contrast, there was a dramatic increase of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells accompanied by elevated production of IFN-γ. In addition, we found a negative correlation between the frequency of B1a cells and the presence of autoreactive CD8+ T cells in both liver and PC of p40−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice. From a functional perspective, B cells from p40−/−IL-2Rα−/− mice downregulated IL-10 production and CTLA-4 expression, leading to loss of B cell regulatory function. We suggest that the dysfunction of B1a cells in the PC in this murine model of autoimmune cholangitis results in defective regulatory function. This highlights a new potential therapeutic target in PBC.
Cloning from Insulinoma Cells of Synapsin I Associated with Insulin Secretory Granules*

Synapsin I is a synaptic vesicle-associated protein involved in neurotransmitter release. The functions of this protein are apparently regulated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II). We reported evidence for CaM kinase II and a synapsin I-like protein present in mouse insulinoma MIN6 cells (Matsumoto, K., Fukunaga, K., Miyazaki, J., Shichiri, M., and Miyamoto, E. (1995) Endocrinology 136, 3784–3793). Phosphorylation of the synapsin I-like protein in these cells correlated with the activation of CaM kinase II and insulin secretion. In the present study, we screened the MIN6 cDNA library with the full-length cDNA probe of rat brain synapsin Ia and obtained seven positive clones; the largest one was then sequenced. The largest open reading frame deduced from the cDNA sequence of 3695 base pairs encoded a polypeptide of 670 amino acids, which exhibited significant sequence similarity to rat synapsin Ib. The cDNA contained the same sequence as the first exon of the mouse synapsin I gene. These results indicate that synapsin Ib is present in MIN6 cells. Synapsin I was expressed in normal rat islets, as determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis. Immunoblot analysis after subcellular fractionation of MIN6 cells demonstrated that synapsin Ib and δ subunit of CaM kinase II co-localized with insulin secretory granules. By analogy concerning regulation of neurotransmitter release, our results suggest that phosphorylation of synapsin I by CaM kinase II may induce the release of insulin from islet cells.
Stages and processes of pedagogical change — An application of TTM

Faculty adoption of evidence-based instructional practices and their overall approach to pedagogical change has primarily been examined through stage-based models of change. While not readily applied to education, the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change (TTM) provides a cyclic, stage-based model of change that provides processes to advance through the stages while recognizing faculty context and self-efficacy that will support their pursuit of pedagogical change. This paper compares the currently used models of change to TTM and explores the application of TTM to Engineering Education.
Effect of Glass-ionomer Cement on the Progression of Proximal Caries

Although effective preventive strategies exist for pit and fissure caries, prevention of proximal caries remains a significant challenge. This split-mouth study was designed to investigate the effect of glass-ionomer cement (GIC) on the progression of initial proximal caries in posterior teeth, testing the hypothesis that local application of fluoride-releasing GIC would reduce this progression. GIC was applied to 41 pairs of posterior teeth after elastic band separation in 7- to 19-year-old individuals. Follow-up bitewing radiographs were taken at 6 and 12 months. Differences in Δ mean lesion depth at 6 and 12 months between test and control groups were significant (p < 0.05, p < 0.000). Lesions treated with GIC were more likely to remain in or regress to the outer half of enamel (OR = 6.3; 95%CI, 1.3-30.9). GIC provides an effective approach to the clinical management of incipient proximal caries.
Issues in online patient self-reporting of health status

Patient self-reporting of symptoms and quality of life following surgical interventions is generally delivered in the form of paper-based questionnaires to be completed in the outpatient clinic or at home. A commonly used tool for patient self-reporting of quality of life is the EQ5D health status questionnaire which, while limited in scope, has general applicability across a range of health interventions. In this article we examine the issues relating to online patient self-reporting using this questionnaire and the wider implications for the online reporting of health status.
A Survey on Load Balancing Techniques in Cloud Computing

Load Balancing is the one of the most significant parts in distributed environments. As Cloud Computing is one of the best platform that gives storage of data in very minimal cost and accessible for all time over the internet, load balancing for the cloud computing has turned into a very interesting and important study area. Load balancing supports to get a high user satisfaction and usage of resource ratio by guaranteeing a proficient and reasonable allocation of each computing resource. There are numerous difficulties in the load balancing techniques such as security, fault tolerance etc. in cloud computing environments. Many researchers have been proposed several techniques to enhance the load balancing. This paper portrays an overview on load balancing schemes in cloud environments. We explore the diverse types of algorithms that is proposed by many researchers to solve the problem of load balancing in cloud computing.
Was Coming of Age in Samoa based on a fateful hoaxing? A close look at Freeman's claim based on the Mead-Boas correspondence. Author's reply : CA Forum on theory in anthropology: Sex and Hoax in Samoa

Revenant sur la controverse concernant les recherches de Margaret Mead sur la sexualite des adolescents a Samoa et sur l'affaire du canular, l'A. propose une analyse critique des arguments les plus recents de Derek Freeman, arguments que celui-ci avait fondes sur la correspondance entre M. Mead et F. Boas. Selon l'A. , la correspondance Mead-Boas, ne fournit pas d'elements soutenant la these de Freeman sur le canular
Influence of pH and protein concentration on rheological properties of whey protein dispersions.

This experiment was carried out to study the flow properties of whey protein (WP) dispersions as influenced by pH and protein concentration. All WP dispersions showed shear thinning behaviour around the ambient temperature which was not affected by pH at low protein concentrations (10%). Consistency coefficient of the dispersions was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by pH while the flow behaviour index was influenced by both, the pH and protein concentration. The storage moduli of heat induced gels increased with increase in protein concentration. The heat induced gels formed at low pH (4) were less elastic than those formed at pH 5 and 6.
The specificity of surface membrane immunofluorescence in human malignant melanoma

A study of membrane immunofluorescence on human malignant melanoma cells confirms previous preliminary reports indicating lack of significant cross‐reactivity with other melanoma sera, similar to that described in chemical carcinogen induced tumours. The importance of careful and critical appraisal of this technique is emphasized, and is supported by several other test systems, including cytotoxicity, demonstrating lack of cross‐reactivity. Multiple cross‐reactions with EB3 virus‐infected Burkitt lymphoma cells and glandular fever sera were clearly seen using the same methods of immunofluorescence and interpretation.
In vitro fertilization and the sperm acrosome reaction in the hamster.

The feasibility of procuring fertilization of ovulated hamster eggs in vitro with epididymal spermatozoa has been confirmed, and additional evidence is brought forward to show that a period of just under four hours is needed for sperm capacitation in vitro. It has also been found that follicular eggs can be fertilized in vitro with epididymal spermatozoa, and at a higher incidence than ovulated eggs. Female tract secretion in the hamster therefore play no unique role in sperm capacitation or sperm penetration into eggs. A close correlation, both in time and the nature of effective media, existed between the acquisition of fertilizing capacity by spermatozoa and the occurrence of the sperm acrosome reaction. The highest incidence of spermatozoa showing the acrosome reaction was seen when the cells were incubated in the contents of mature follicles; the incidence was lower with the contents of part-grown follicles and with the secretions of the Fallopian tube. Neither the egg nor its investments appear to be the source of significant amounts of the agent or agents responsible. Induction of the acrosome reaction by follicular contents showed partial species specificity. No reactions were seen with homologous aqueous humor and fluid hen egg-white. From observations on the frequency of polyspermy and numbers of supplementary spermatozoa it is inferred that the efficiency of both the zona reaction and the block to polyspermy increases during preovulatory follicular enlargement to reach a peak during the first 2 or 3 hours after ovulation.
On So-Called Paradoxical Monocular Stereoscopy

Human observers are apparently well able to judge properties of ‘three-dimensional objects’ on the basis of flat pictures such as photographs of physical objects. They obtain this ‘pictorial relief’ without much conscious effort and with little interference from the (flat) picture surface. Methods for ‘magnifying’ pictorial relief from single pictures include viewing instructions as well as a variety of monocular and binocular ‘viewboxes’. Such devices are reputed to yield highly increased pictorial depth, though no methodologies for the objective verification of such claims exist. A binocular viewbox has been reconstructed and pictorial relief under monocular, ‘synoptic’, and natural binocular viewing is described. The results corroborate and go beyond early introspective reports and turn out to pose intriguing problems for modern research.
Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies

Most species of social insects have singly mated queens, but in some species each queen mates with numerous males to create a colony with a genetically diverse worker force. The adaptive significance of polyandry by social insect queens remains an evolutionary puzzle. Using the honeybee (Apis mellifera), we tested the hypothesis that polyandry improves a colony's resistance to disease. We established colonies headed by queens that had been artificially inseminated by either one or 10 drones. Later, we inoculated these colonies with spores of Paenibacillus larvae, the bacterium that causes a highly virulent disease of honeybee larvae (American foulbrood). We found that, on average, colonies headed by multiple-drone inseminated queens had markedly lower disease intensity and higher colony strength at the end of the summer relative to colonies headed by single-drone inseminated queens. These findings support the hypothesis that polyandry by social insect queens is an adaptation to counter disease within their colonies.
Understanding the factors associated with the surgical management of early breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women and the second common cause of cancer-related mortality (1). Recent advances in the field of breast cancer biology have revealed that breast cancer is a complex disease composed of at least four main subtypes at the molecular level (2-4). Each has distinct prognosis, and unique molecular portrait that governs tumor progression. Nevertheless, surgery continues to play a pivotal role in managing patients in the early setting.
Prospective randomized study comparing amiodarone vs. amiodarone plus losartan vs. amiodarone plus perindopril for the prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence in patients with lone paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

In reference to the interesting study by Yin et al. ,1 we would like to raise the following comments regarding randomization and effect size. The study design follows a non-concealed allocation sequence by serially placing the eligible patients into each of the three groups, and the assigned patients to each of the treatment groups …
Age Effects in L2 Grammar Processing as Revealed by ERPs and How (Not) to Study Them

In this study we investigate the effect of age of acquisition (AoA) on grammatical processing in second language learners as measured by event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We compare a traditional analysis involving the calculation of averages across a certain time window of the ERP waveform, analyzed with categorical groups (early vs. late), with a generalized additive modeling analysis, which allows us to take into account the full range of variability in both AoA and time. Sixty-six Slavic advanced learners of German listened to German sentences with correct and incorrect use of non-finite verbs and grammatical gender agreement. We show that the ERP signal depends on the AoA of the learner, as well as on the regularity of the structure under investigation. For gender agreement, a gradual change in processing strategies can be shown that varies by AoA, with younger learners showing a P600 and older learners showing a posterior negativity. For verb agreement, all learners show a P600 effect, irrespective of AoA. Based on their behavioral responses in an offline grammaticality judgment task, we argue that the late learners resort to computationally less efficient processing strategies when confronted with (lexically determined) syntactic constructions different from the L1. In addition, this study highlights the insights the explicit focus on the time course of the ERP signal in our analysis framework can offer compared to the traditional analysis.
Usabilidad y Satisfacción de la e-Rúbrica.

En este trabajo se evalua la usabilidad de herramientas en linea utilizadas en la educacion universitaria. De todas las posibles herramientas se centra en especial en las e-Rubricas utilizadas para la autoevaluacion y la evaluacion entre pares. Los resultados muestran un alto grado de usabilidad de esta herramienta y de satisfaccion por parte de estudiantes que la emplean como recurso en su formacion academica. Desde la perspectiva del diseno y de la accesibilidad se senalan los aspectos a mejorar en las e-Rubricas evaluadas, sin entrar en aspectos de contenido de las mismas, o de los indicadores empleados, o de otras caracteristicas propias de los instrumentos de evaluacion, sino desde la perspectiva tecnica de manejo en la web. Los resultados se han obtenido de la aplicacion de un instrumento en linea del que se tiene un coeficiente de fiabilidad alfa de Cronbach de 0,889. El instrumento utilizado consta de unas pocas preguntas descriptivas sobre quien contesta y que herramienta evalua, seguidas de 22 enunciados en una escala Likert del 1 al 5. Los enunciados estan dispuestos alternativamente en forma directa (1 peor valoracion, a 5 mejor valoracion), e indirecta (1 mejor valoracion, a 5 peor valoracion). Los resultados muestran que mas del 50% de los que completan el cuestionario valoran la usabilidad de las herramientas evaluadas positivamente, en especial la e-Rubrica, y menos del 20% valoran la usabilidad como baja. Este cuestionario puede utilizarse en la evaluacion de la usabilidad de cualquier herramienta en la Web.
Push-push oscillators for 94 and 140 GHz applications using standard pseudomorphic GaAs HEMTs

Millimeter wave harmonic oscillators taking advantage of the push-push principle are demonstrated, allowing the use of the second harmonic of the oscillators to extend the applicable frequency range of standard pseudomorphic HEMTs to 94 and 140 GHz. Two configuration schemes are realized. An improved approach using a drain-connected pair of oscillators for efficient and compact circuit design and high output power is presented. Using this approach, oscillators at 94 GHz and 135 GHz were developed, with more than 0 dBm and -2 dBm output power and a high suppression of the fundamental signal of 38 dBc and 20 dBc, respectively. All MMICs were realized in a standard 0.13 /spl mu/m pHEMT technology using optical stepper lithography.
Survey on Digital Investigation Process Model

In this paper, a process model for digital investigations is defined using the theories and techniques from the physical investigation world. While digital investigations have recently become more common, physical investigations have existed for thousands of years and the experience from them can be applied to the digital world. This paper introduces the notion of a digital crime scene with its own witnesses, evidence, and events that can be investigated using the same model as a physical crime scene. This paper provides a useful review of previous work and then maps the digital investigative process to the physical investigative process. Their product is called the Integrated Digital Investigation Process and defines 17 phases organized into 5 groups: Readiness, Deployment, Physical Crime Scene Investigation, Digital Crime Scene Investigation and Review Phases. The proposed model integrates the physical crime scene investigation with the digital crime scene investigation to identify a person who is responsible for the digital activity and applies to both law enforcement and corporate investigations [2]. The focus of the investigation is on the reconstruction of events using evidence so that hypothesis can be developed and tested. This paper also includes definitions and description of the basic and core concepts that the framework [3].