Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human monocytes/macrophages in the antitumour response of the host

Monocytes/macrophages play a significant role in the host’s response to tumours. This includes: cytotoxic/cytostatic activity, presentation of tumour-associated antigens and induction of specific anticancer response of lymphocytes. Circulating blood monocytes respond to a gradient of chemoattractants produced by the tumour, migrate out from the blood to the tumour bed and form a large part of the cellular infiltrate as tumour infiltrating macrophages (TIM). Monocytes and macrophages produce a large array of factors (cytokines, reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates, growth factors, prostacyclins, ect.) with opposing biological activities. Consequently, TIM exhibit both tumour growth promoting and inhibitory activities. Furthermore, tumour-derived molecules also modulate TIM activity. In some circumstances monocytes/macrophages are involved in the metastatic process. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge in this area indicating that in fact macrophage-tumour interactions are quite complicated and a delicate balance exists between antitumour response and protumour effect of TIM and the suppression of TIM activity by the tumour. The clinical implications of these findings are also discussed.
Board composition in federated structures: a case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association

ABSTRACT This paper examines the issue of board composition within non-profit sport organizations operating in a federated governance structure. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is used as a case study to illustrate the challenges and complexities of comprising a board that has the requisite skill set to carry out its function in a rapidly changing operating environment. Interviews (n = 10) supported by document analysis were conducted with senior ranking officials within the Association in order to analyse the integral factors related to board composition within the GAA. Findings show that the Association heavily relies on the delegate system of board composition, potentially limiting its ability to appoint a board that has a commercially orientated focus reflecting the professionalization and commercialization of the contemporary sport industry. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.
Assessment of the Usability of Digital TV Remote Control Pointing Methods

Along with the development of communication technology, DTV is gradually evolving into media that provide diverse services and information. This study is related with remote controls that control DTV interfaces and assessed the usability of remote pointing device. To this end, pointing devices using three different interaction methods that have been attempted recently by the industry were selected to conduct empirical experiments. The usability assessment was conducted centering on the existing directional task on straight tracks presented in ISO 9241-Part 9 and the steering tunnel task on curved tracks proposed in this study. The measurement variables included movement time, accuracy, throughput, subjective satisfaction and user behaviors. Based on the results of the assessment, in the case of movements on straight tracks, the GyroPoint method showed better implementing time but lower accuracy compared to the Hall Mouse and OFN methods while in the case of assessment on curved tracks, all of the GyroPoint method, Hall Mouse and OFN methods showed excellent results on both implementing time and accuracy. Besides, differences in efficiency and subjective satisfaction were shown among individual pointing devices. Based on these results, it is considered that individual pointing methods have different advantageous and disadvantageous characteristics. In this study, the usability of remote control pointing methods was assessed and diagnosed reflecting environments where DTVs are used through assessments considering the aspect of straight tracks along with curved tracks. Among others, this study is considered to be meaningful in that it provides assessment criteria and basic data for the development of remote controls suitable for the evolving DTV environments.
The role of competitive intelligence and its sub-types on achieving market performance

Abstract During recent volatile and competitive environment, competitive intelligence (CI) has emerged and grown into a discipline to help organizations adapt to environmental change. Although existing literature provides a proper insight about the drivers of CI activities, its organization, usage and dissemination within firms, researches on the outcomes of CI activities as to whether these practices collectively have any relationship with performance are rare. Furthermore, there is no investigation on the influence of each subtype of CI on performance that could provide beneficial insight for managers to select their emphasis domains in CI activities and consequently achieving effectiveness and efficiency in marketing efforts. Especially, it could be more crucial in today’s tough economic situation in which companies are gripped by widespread cost-cutting and layoffs programs. Thus, this paper analyzes the effect of CI and its subtypes on market performance. The results illustrate that CI positively affects market performance. Among subtypes of CI, competitor intelligence, market intelligence and technological intelligence leave the greatest impact, respectively.
Running head: AUDITORY EXPERIENCES IN GAME TRANSFER PHENOMENA

This study investigated gamers’ auditory experiences as after effects of playing. This was done by classifying, quantifying, and analysing 192 experiences from 155 gamers collected from online videogame forums. The gamers’ experiences were classified as: (i) auditory imagery (e.g., constantly hearing the music from the game), (ii) inner speech (e.g., completing phrases in the mind), (iii) auditory misperceptions (e.g., confusing real life sounds with videogame sounds), and (iv) multisensorial auditory experiences (e.g., hearing music while involuntary moving the fingers). Gamers heard auditory cues from the game in their heads, in their ears, but also coming from external sources. Occasionally, the vividness of the sound evoked thoughts and emotions that resulted in behaviours and copying strategies. The psychosocial implications of the gamers’ auditory experiences are discussed. This study contributes to the understanding of the effects of auditory features in videogames, and to the phenomenology of non-volitional experiences (e.g., auditory imagery, auditory
Uncertainty analysis: an evaluation metric for synthesis science

The methods for conducting reductionist ecological science are well known and widely used. In contrast, those used in the synthesis of ecological science (i.e., synthesis science) are still being developed, vary widely, and often lack the rigor of reductionist approaches. This is unfortunate because the synthesis of ecological parts into a greater whole is critical to understanding many of the environmental challenges faced by society. To help address this imbalance in approaches, we examine how the rigor of ecological synthesis science might be increased by using uncertainty as an evaluation metric—as a parallel to methods used in reductionist science. To estimate and understand uncertainty we propose that it be divided into four general classes: (1) measurement uncertainty (i.e., experimental error) as defined by precision and accuracy, (2) sampling uncertainty that reflects natural variation in space and time as quantified by classical statistical moments (e.g., mean and variance), (3) model prediction.
Bionomics of patterned herbicide application for wildlife habitat enhancement.

Outcomes of net-present v&e uulyses were projected for patterned applications of berbkide sprays and pellets to mixed brush in south Texas. Picloram + 2,4&T (1:l) were applied but 1987 costs of trklopyr + picloram sprays, currently registered and considered the biological quivalent treatment, were used for analyses. Projected internal rates of return (IRR) ranged from 7.3 to 8.s when 60 to 65% of tbe Rruiscape was sprayed in a variable-rate pattern (VRP) at 0,0.6, and 1.1 kg/ha; sprayed in strips witb the bigber dosage alternating witb untreated strips; or completely sprayed witb 1.1 kg/b& Investment capital rqtilrements were reduced when tbe VRP or strips were used by 4% and 35%, respectively, compared to complete treatment of the landscape with herbicide sprays. Treatment of 80% of landscapes at 2 locations witb tebutbiuron in VRPs generated IRRs roughly quivalent to those from 2.2 kg ai/ba of tebutbiuron pellets applied in strips. Complete treatment of management units with 2.2 kg/ha of the pellets generated more additional beef and bigber IRRs than did treatment wltb either pattern, but rquired from m to 75% greater investments of capital. Kconomk response &XI d&red among sftes of differfng forage production capabilities and between otherwise similar sites because of variation in botnnical composition of tbe brush stands. For example, IRRs at tbe locations, respectively, were 6.3 and 1.3% when 2.2 kg/b8 of tebutbiuron were applied to sites with deep soils (drabrages), 3.1 and CO% following treatment of uplands, and were negative following application to shallow ridges. Sites with 8 greater proportion of the woody cover contributed by tebutbiuron-susceptible species such as wbitebrusb yielded greater IRRs from the investment than did sites witb be8vy cover of boney mesquite (tebutbiuron tolerant).
The eXperience Induction Machine and its Role in the Research on Presence

The eXperience Induction Machine (XIM) is an immersive room equipped with a number of sensors and effectors that has been constructed to conduct experiment in mixed-reality. XIM is an abstraction and further development of its predecessor, the installation “Ada – the intelligent space” that was built for the Swiss national exhibition Expo02. We will outline the hardware and software infrastructure of XIM, and describe in detail one application of XIM, the Persistent Virtual Community (PVC). We will conclude with the description of the development work currently underway and an outlook of the future public exhibition of the space.
DETERMINATION OF IN VITRO FUNCTIONAL EFFICACY OF FIBER ISOLATE FROM MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms are gaining importance on account of their excellent nutritional and medicinal properties. A number of polysaccharides have been isolated from mushrooms and their chemical structures have been determined. Commercial importance of fungal polysaccharides has attracted attention in the field of functional foods. The present study was undertaken to determine the fiber profile mushrooms and to study the fat-binding and swelling capacities of isolated fiber fractions from mushroom. Calocybe indica was found to contain good profile of carbohydrates with higher content of acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, hemicellulose and pectin. The functional efficacy of mushroom fiber was found equivalent to soluble fiber sample.
On Setting the Poverty Line Based on Estimated Nutrient Prices

The mounting evidence on the inconsistency between the official poverty estimates in India and those based on a direct specification of the calorie requirements raises serious questions on the credibility of the official poverty line as a measure of the true cost of obtaining the minimum calorie requirements today. This study provides evidence, based on estimated nutrient prices and a ? balanced diet? , that shows how far the official poverty lines have fallen out of line with their ? true? measure. The paper provides robust evidence, with special reference to the socially disadvantaged groups, that suggests that the poverty situation in India is much worse than that revealed in official poverty statistics (? adjusted? or not). This paper makes a methodological contribution by proposing an expenditure-based poverty line, using the household specific estimated nutrient prices, that serves as a compromise between the official poverty line and that specified directly in terms of calories. The proposed poverty line has the advantage of incorporating inter household variation in food preferences due to regional, class, caste and other non-demographic factors that the ? official poverty line? does not do. The study confirms the inferior poverty status, on both poverty measures, of the socially disadvantaged groups vis-? -vis the others. This paper, also, contains evidence that points to the usefulness of the public distribution system in the anti-poverty programme for the backward classes.
A Study of Relationship between Board Characteristics and Earning Management: Iranian Scenario

The present study seeks to find out the effects of characteristics including combined chairman-CEO roles, non-executive directors, board size, and change in the members of board director, type of their agency and presence of woman members in the board director on earnings management in listed companies on Tehran Stock Exchange during 2006-2009. In this research to determine discretionary accruals as earnings management indicator the Modified Jones Model has been applied. Research results show that when operating cash flows in reducing the presence of non-executives and changes in the members of board director (or their agencies) account for effective factor in reducing management level. Also, it seem that conditions which govern in Iran have caused as increase firm size the management will have greater incentives to increase earnings for providing better figure of its performance to shareholders and authorities despite western results of researches. Although in situations which auditor organizations have been responsible to audit financial statements of corporation the firm size have not a significant relationship with earnings management level.
Effects of defects in composite wind turbine blades – Part 2: Progressive damage modeling of fiberglass-reinforced epoxy composites with manufacturing-induced waves

Abstract. Composite wind turbine blades are typically reliable; however, premature failures are often in regions of manufacturing defects. While the use of damage modeling has increased with improved computational capabilities, they are often performed for worst-case scenarios in which damage or defects are replaced with notches or holes. To better understand and predict these effects, an effects-of-defects study has been undertaken. As a portion of this study, various progressive damage modeling approaches were investigated to determine if proven modeling capabilities could be adapted to predict damage progression of composite laminates with typical manufacturing flaws commonly found in wind turbine blades. Models were constructed to match the coupons from, and compare the results to, the characterization and material testing study presented as a companion. Modeling methods were chosen from established methodologies and included continuum damage models (linear elastic with Hashin failure criteria, user-defined failure criteria, nonlinear shear criteria), a discrete damage model (cohesive elements), and a combined damage model (nonlinear shear with cohesive elements). A systematic, combined qualitative–quantitative approach was used to compare consistency, accuracy, and predictive capability for each model to responses found experimentally. Results indicated that the Hashin and combined models were best able to predict material response to be within 10 % of the strain at peak stress and within 10 % of the peak stress. In both cases, the correlation was not as accurate as the wave shapes were changed in the model; correlation was still within 20 % in many cases. The other modeling approaches did not correlate well within the comparative framework. Overall, the results indicate that this combined approach may provide insight into blade performance with known defects when used in conjunction with a probabilistic flaw framework.
Exposure Evaluation Method Based on Histogram Statistics

Aiming at the inadequate or excessive exposure problem existed in the imaging system in a scene where there is no specific background or foreground, this paper presents a histogram-based exposure evaluation method. With analysis of statistics features of histograms in different exposure type images, the third moment about middle gray is used to evaluate the exposure effect. For color images, the histogram is calculated only in the component which holds the largest mean brightness considering of efficiency. Experimental result shows that the proposed method can evaluate the exposure effect without the support of database, and it has low complexity and is easy to implement. Keywords-exposure evaluation;image histogram; third moment; middle gray
EOCENE–MIOCENE SHALLOW-WATER CARBONATE PLATFORMS AND INCREASED HABITAT DIVERSITY IN SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

ABSTRACT The Indo-Pacific marine biodiversity hotspot originated between the late Eocene and the early Miocene. Its origin coincides with an increase in availability of shallow-marine habitats driven by the opening of the South China Sea and the collision of Australia with the Pacific arcs and the southeast Asian margin. However, little is known about the distribution and diversity of past Indo-Pacific marine habitats. Understanding habitat diversity is key for understanding the significance of biodiversity origins and a necessary prerequisite for interpreting biodiversity patterns through time. Here we describe and interpret past carbonate platform environments in Sarawak, Malaysia during a time of active tectonism. We examine upper Eocene to lower Miocene marine shallow-water carbonate deposits from six localities in two limestone formations: the large ramplike Melinau carbonate platform (middle Eocene to early Miocene) and the unattached Subis carbonate platform (early Miocene). Deposits examined in this study represent paleoenvironments. Our analysis reveals an increase in habitat diversity from the Eocene to the Miocene. Mesophotic to oligophotic low-energy environments are typical for the Eocene sites. The corals first appear in the Oligocene deposits, but genuine reef depositional settings are not observed until the Miocene. This study provides both insight into the evolution of the carbonate platform environments along the Sarawak margin, and context for the origin of the Indo-Pacific marine biodiversity hotspot.
The Role of Activities and Verbal Interactions on Engineering Students' Learning Outcomes across Dyadic and Individual Conditions

Muhsin Menekse is an assistant professor at Purdue University with a joint appointment in the School of Engineering Education and the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Dr. Menekse’s primary research investigates how learning activities affect students’ conceptual understanding of engineering and science concepts. His second research focus is on verbal interactions that can enhance productive discussions in collaborative learning settings. And his third research focus is on metacognition and its implications for learning. Much of this research focuses on learning processes in K-12 and college level classroom settings. Dr. Menekse is the recipient of the 2014 William Elgin Wickenden Award by the American Society for Engineering Education.
Evaluation of serum placental growth factor in predicting pregnancy outcomes in women with suspected pre-eclampsia

Background: Amount of Placental Growth Factor (PLGF) in the blood at 9 to 11 weeks before the onset of clinical signs of pre-eclampsia is reduced. So, diagnostic tests based on the pathophysiology of disease such as PLGF as an ideal marker for early screening in the diagnosis and management of women with preeclampsia, may be useful. The aim of this study was to investigate PLGF in predicting pregnancy outcome in women with suspected pre-eclampsia. Methods: A case - control study was conducted on 30 women with suspected pre-eclampsia and 101 healthy pregnant women which selected randomly among all pregnant women referred to clinic. Both groups were followed until pregnancy termination and in terms of pregnancy outcomes (Gestational age, Type of delivery and birth weight). Two groups were matched in terms of age, weight, education, substance abuse and socio-economic status. Placental growth factor assay was done by ELISA kit. Data collected by a checklist and analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS.19. Results: The mean PLGF level was lower for women who experienced preeclampsia compared with healthy women (71.5 pg/ml vs 272.1 pg/ml, p=0.001). Also, PLGF concentrations was very low in women with preeclampsia who had a preterm birth prematurity. Conclusions: Study findings identified PlGF as an ideal, simple and non-invasive marker for primary screening at prenatal care for women at risk of pre-eclampsia.
Algebraic proof of the non-integrability of Hill's problem

Hill's lunar problem appears in celestial mechanics as a limit of the restricted three-body problem. It is parameter-free and thus globally far from any simple well-known problem, and has shed strong numerical evidence of its lack of integrability in the past. An algebraic proof of meromorphic non-integrability is presented here. Beyond the result itself, the paper can also be considered as an example of the application of differential Galois and Morales–Ramis theories to a significant problem.
Bacteria undergo programmed cell death upon low dose gamma radiation exposure

A B S T R A C T A subpopulation of Salmonella enterica sv. Typhimurium, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Xanthomonas campestris and Bacillus subtilis was found to undergo caspase dependent programmed cell death (PCD) upon exposure to gamma radiation. Irradiating these bacteria at their respective D10 dose in the presence of inhibitor of caspase-3 or poly (ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP) increased the cell survival significantly. FACS analysis indicated phosphatidylserine externalization (PS) in these bacteria upon radiation exposure. A PCD negative mutant of Xanthomonas lacking caspase-3-like activity and displaying reduced PS externalization was found to be comparatively less susceptible to radiation than its wild type counterpart. Together these findings established the involvement of PCD in a subpopulation of radiation exposed bacteria.
New Mechanisms for Laser Cooling

When an atom or a molecule interacts with a light beam, the light emitted or absorbed carries valuable information about the atomic or molecular structure. This phenomenon underlies the whole field of spectroscopy. But the interaction of a photon with an atom can be used to manipulate the atom as well as to probe its structure. For example, in an approach called optical pumping, invented by Alfred Kastler, one can use the resonant exchange of angular momentum between atoms and polarized photons to align or orient the spins of atoms or to put them in nonequilibrium situations. In his original 1950 paper Kastler also proposed using optical pumping to cool and to heat the internal degrees of freedom, calling the phenomena the “effet luminofrigorique” and the “effet luminocalorique. ” Another famous example of the use of photon‐atom interaction to control atoms is laser cooling. This technique relies on resonant exchange of linear momentum between photons and atoms to control their external degrees of freedom .