Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking Time-Varying Symptomatology and Intensity of Infectiousness to Patterns of Norovirus Transmission

Background Norovirus (NoV) transmission may be impacted by changes in symptom intensity. Sudden onset of vomiting, which may cause an initial period of hyper-infectiousness, often marks the beginning of symptoms. This is often followed by: a 1–3 day period of milder symptoms, environmental contamination following vomiting, and post-symptomatic shedding that may result in transmission at progressively lower rates. Existing models have not included time-varying infectiousness, though representing these features could add utility to models of NoV transmission. Methods We address this by comparing the fit of three models (Models 1–3) of NoV infection to household transmission data from a 2009 point-source outbreak of GII.12 norovirus in North Carolina. Model 1 is an SEIR compartmental model, modified to allow Gamma-distributed sojourn times in the latent and infectious classes, where symptomatic cases are uniformly infectious over time. Model 2 assumes infectiousness decays exponentially as a function of time since onset, while Model 3 is discontinuous, with a spike concentrating 50% of transmissibility at onset. We use Bayesian data augmentation techniques to estimate transmission parameters for each model, and compare their goodness of fit using qualitative and quantitative model comparison. We also assess the robustness of our findings to asymptomatic infections. Results We find that Model 3 (initial spike in shedding) best explains the household transmission data, using both quantitative and qualitative model comparisons. We also show that these results are robust to the presence of asymptomatic infections. Conclusions Explicitly representing explosive NoV infectiousness at onset should be considered when developing models and interventions to interrupt and prevent outbreaks of norovirus in the community. The methods presented here are generally applicable to the transmission of pathogens that exhibit large variation in transmissibility over an infection.
Selective Alterations in GABAA Receptor Subtypes in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with impaired inhibitory neurotransmission. Studies in animal models suggest that GABAA receptor dysfunction contributes to epileptogenesis. To understand the mechanisms underlying TLE in humans, it is fundamental to determine whether and how GABAA receptor subtypes are altered. Furthermore, identifying novel receptor targets is a prerequisite for developing selective antiepileptic drugs. We have therefore analyzed subunit composition and distribution of the three major GABAA receptor subtypes immunohistochemically with subunit-specific antibodies (α1, α2, α3, β2,3, and γ2) in surgical specimens from TLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis (n = 16). Profound alterations in GABAAreceptor subtype expression were observed when compared with control hippocampi (n = 10). Although decreased GABAA receptor subunit staining, reflecting cell loss, was observed in CA1, CA3, and hilus, the distinct neuron-specific expression pattern of the α-subunit variants observed in controls was markedly changed in surviving neurons. In granule cells, prominent upregulation mainly of the α2-subunit was seen on somata and apical dendrites with reduced labeling on basal dendrites. In CA2, differential rearrangement of all three α-subunits occurred. Moreover, there was layer-specific loss of α1-subunit-immunoreactive interneurons in hippocampus proper, whereas surviving interneurons exhibited extensive changes in dendritic morphology. Throughout, expression patterns of β2,3- and γ2-subunits largely followed those of α-subunit variants. These results demonstrate unique subtype-specific expression of GABAA receptors in human hippocampus. The significant reorganization of distinct receptor subtypes in surviving hippocampal neurons of TLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis underlines the potential for synaptic plasticity in the human GABA system.
Lower bounds on the complexity of multidimensional searching

We establish new lower bounds on the complexity of several searching problems. We show that the time for solving the partial sum problem on n points in d dimensions is at least proportional to (log n/log 2m/n)d-1 in both the worst and average cases; m denotes the amount of storage used. This bound is provably tight for m = Ω(nlogcn) and any c ≫ d- 1. We also prove a lower bound of Ω(n(log n/log log n)d) on the time required for executing n inserts and queries. Other results include a lower bound on the complexity of orthogonal range searching in d dimensions (in report-mode). We show that on a pointer machine a query time of O(s+polylog(n)) time can only be achieved at the expense of Ω(n(log n/log log n)d-1) space, which is optimal; n and s denote respectively the input and output sizes.
Impact of Ethanol Plants on Local Land Use Change

We investigate effects of corn-based ethanol plants on local land uses using county-level panel data for Iowa for 1997 through 2009 and an Arellano-Bond difference-generalized method-of-moments estimator. Our results show that ethanol plants have statistically significant effects on the proportion of acres planted to corn in the plants’ host counties. Furthermore, ceteris paribus, the land-use-change effect of locally owned plants (owned by local farmers or cooperatives) is about twice as large as the effect of plants with nonlocal owners. We also explore implications for the environment of ethanol plants and the changes in land use that they induce.
Identification of a novel recurrent 1q42.2‐1qter deletion in high risk MYCN single copy 11q deleted neuroblastomas

Neuroblastoma is an aggressive embryonal tumor that accounts for ∼15% of childhood cancer deaths. Hitherto, despite the availability of comprehensive genomic data on DNA copy number changes in neuroblastoma, relatively little is known about the genes driving neuroblastoma tumorigenesis. In this study, high resolution array comparative genome hybridization (CGH) was performed on 188 primary neuroblastoma tumors and 33 neuroblastoma cell lines to search for previously undetected recurrent DNA copy number gains and losses. A new recurrent distal chromosome 1q deletion (del(1)(q42.2qter)) was detected in seven cases. Further analysis of available array CGH datasets revealed 13 additional similar distal 1q deletions. The majority of all detected 1q deletions was found in high risk 11q deleted tumors without MYCN amplification (Fisher exact test p = 5.61 × 10−5). Using ultra‐high resolution (∼115 bp resolution) custom arrays covering the breakpoints on 1q for 11 samples, clustering of nine breakpoints was observed within a 12.5‐kb region, of which eight were found in a 7‐kb copy number variable region, whereas the remaining two breakpoints were colocated 1.4‐Mb proximal. The commonly deleted region contains one miRNA (hsa‐mir‐1537), four transcribed ultra conserved region elements (uc.43‐uc.46) and 130 protein coding genes including at least two bona fide tumor suppressor genes, EGLN1 (or PHD2) and FH. This finding further contributes to the delineation of the genomic profile of aggressive neuroblastoma, offers perspectives for the identification of genes contributing to the disease phenotype and may be relevant in the light of assessment of response to new molecular treatments.
Boosted classification trees result in minor to modest improvement in the accuracy in classifying cardiovascular outcomes compared to conventional classification trees.

PURPOSE Classification trees are increasingly being used to classifying patients according to the presence or absence of a disease or health outcome. A limitation of classification trees is their limited predictive accuracy. In the data-mining and machine learning literature, boosting has been developed to improve classification. Boosting with classification trees iteratively grows classification trees in a sequence of reweighted datasets. In a given iteration, subjects that were misclassified in the previous iteration are weighted more highly than subjects that were correctly classified. Classifications from each of the classification trees in the sequence are combined through a weighted majority vote to produce a final classification. The authors' objective was to examine whether boosting improved the accuracy of classification trees for predicting outcomes in cardiovascular patients. METHODS We examined the utility of boosting classification trees for classifying 30-day mortality outcomes in patients hospitalized with either acute myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure. RESULTS Improvements in the misclassification rate using boosted classification trees were at best minor compared to when conventional classification trees were used. Minor to modest improvements to sensitivity were observed, with only a negligible reduction in specificity. For predicting cardiovascular mortality, boosted classification trees had high specificity, but low sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS Gains in predictive accuracy for predicting cardiovascular outcomes were less impressive than gains in performance observed in the data mining literature.
Activation of plasminogen by staphylokinase reduces the severity of Staphylococcus aureus systemic infection.

BACKGROUND Staphylokinase (SAK) is produced by the majority of Staphylococcus aureus strains. It is an extracellular protein that activates the conversion of human plasminogen (plg) to plasmin. The role played by SAK in staphylococcal infection is unclear. METHODS Wild-type S. aureus strain LS-1, which lacks the ability to produce SAK, was modified by an insertion of the sak gene into its chromosome. The sak gene was integrated in 2 forms--(1) linked to its own promoter and (2) fused to the promoter of the protein A gene--which resulted in the overexpression of SAK. SAK is highly specific for human plg and exhibits almost no activity toward murine plg. To investigate the role played by SAK in a murine infection model, human plg transgenic mice and their wild-type counterparts were inoculated intravenously with congenic S. aureus strains differing in SAK production. RESULTS Human plg transgenic mice inoculated with SAK-expressing strains displayed significantly reduced mortality, less weight loss, and lower bacterial loads in kidneys than did the wild-type mice. No difference in the severity of sepsis was observed between transgenic and wild-type mice infected with a SAK-deficient strain. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that expression of SAK followed by activation of plg alleviates the course of S. aureus sepsis.
Theory and applications of evolvable embedded systems

We represent the first attempt to formulate a concept of the evolvable embedded system as a specialized kind of evolvable (hardware) systems. We define the class of evolvable embedded systems, describes a general framework for their modeling, introduces theoretical models, and reviews possible implementations and applications. As a typical example, evolutionary functional recovery of damaged median circuits is considered and simulated.
More Than Weighting Cognitive Importance: A Dual‐Process Model of Issue Framing Effects

Issue frames in policy discourse and news reporting regularly influence citizens' political opinions. Yet, we only have a limited understanding of how and among whom these framing effects occur. I propose a dual-process model of issue framing effects arguing that we must understand mediators of framing (the how question) in connection with individual-level moderators of framing (the whom question). Experimental results show that issue framing affects opinion through different psychological processes depending on who the receiver of the frame is. Among the moderately politically aware or those having weak political values, framing effects were mediated through processes of changing importance of considerations as well as changing content of considerations. Among the highly aware, only the importance change process mediated framing effects, while there were no framing effects among those least aware or those having strong values.
Consequences of Increasing Hypoxic Disturbance on Benthic Communities and Ecosystem Functioning

Disturbance-mediated species loss has prompted research considering how ecosystem functions are changed when biota is impaired. However, there is still limited empirical evidence from natural environments evaluating the direct and indirect (i.e. via biota) effects of disturbance on ecosystem functioning. Oxygen deficiency is a widespread threat to coastal and estuarine communities. While the negative impacts of hypoxia on benthic communities are well known, few studies have assessed in situ how benthic communities subjected to different degrees of hypoxic stress alter their contribution to ecosystem functioning. We studied changes in sediment ecosystem function (i.e. oxygen and nutrient fluxes across the sediment water-interface) by artificially inducing hypoxia of different durations (0, 3, 7 and 48 days) in a subtidal sandy habitat. Benthic chamber incubations were used for measuring responses in sediment oxygen and nutrient fluxes. Changes in benthic species richness, structure and traits were quantified, while stress-induced behavioral changes were documented by observing bivalve reburial rates. The initial change in faunal behavior was followed by non-linear degradation in benthic parameters (abundance, biomass, bioturbation potential), gradually impairing the structural and functional composition of the benthic community. In terms of ecosystem function, the increasing duration of hypoxia altered sediment oxygen consumption and enhanced sediment effluxes of NH4 + and dissolved Si. Although effluxes of PO4 3− were not altered significantly, changes were observed in sediment PO4 3− sorption capability. The duration of hypoxia (i.e. number of days of stress) explained a minor part of the changes in ecosystem function. Instead, the benthic community and disturbance-driven changes within the benthos explained a larger proportion of the variability in sediment oxygen- and nutrient fluxes. Our results emphasize that the level of stress to the benthic habitat matters, and that the link between biodiversity and ecosystem function is likely to be affected by a range of factors in complex, natural environments.
Excitatory Role of the Hyperpolarization-Activated Inward Current in Phasic and Tonic Firing of Rat Supraoptic Neurons

The properties and functional roles of the hyperpolarization-activated inward current (IH) in magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) were investigated during sharp microelectrode recordings from supraoptic neurons in superfused explants of rat hypothalamus. Under current clamp, voltage responses to hyperpolarizing current pulses featured depolarizing sags that were abolished by theIH blocker ZD 7288. Under voltage clamp, subtraction of current responses to hyperpolarizing steps recorded in the absence and presence of ZD 7288 was used to investigate the properties of IH. Current-voltage analysis revealed that steady-state IH amplitude increases with hyperpolarization, with half-maximal activation of the underlying conductance occurring at −78 mV. The time course of activation of IH during hyperpolarizing steps was monoexponential with time constants (100–800 msec) decreasing with hyperpolarization. The effects of ZD 7288 onIH were slow (τ, ∼15 min), irreversible, and half-maximal at 1.8 μm. When tested on continuously active MNCs, application of 30–60 μm ZD 7288 caused a significant reduction in firing rate. In phasically active MNCs, the drug decreased burst duration and intraburst firing frequency and caused an increase in the duration of interburst intervals. These effects were accompanied with a small hyperpolarization of the membrane potential. In contrast, ZD 7288 had no effect on spike duration, on the amplitude of calcium-dependent afterpotentials, or on the frequencies and amplitudes of spontaneous synaptic potentials. These results confirm the presence of IH in MNCs of the rat supraoptic nucleus and suggest that the presence of this conductance provides an excitatory drive that contributes to phasic and tonic firing.
EMOTIONS AT WORK: THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMOTIONAL LABOR IN PREDICTING WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT, PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS, AND LIFE SATISFACTION

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships amongst emotional intelligence, emotional labor, work-family conflict, satisfaction with life, and psychological distress among a sample of employees working in three public sector organizations in Pakistan. After establishing the psychometric properties of the scales, hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares structural equation modeling. Results indicated that (a) emotional intelligence was positively related to deep acting and satisfaction with life and negatively to psychological distress; (b) deep acting was positively related to work-family conflict and psychological distress; (c) satisfaction with life was negatively related to psychological distress; and finally (e) work-family conflict was positively related to psychological distress.
Comparison of inherent optical properties as a surrogate for particulate matter concentration in coastal waters

Particulate matter concentration (PM, often referred to as total suspended solids [TSS]) is an important parameter in the evaluation of water quality. Several optical measurements used to provide an estimate of water turbidity have also been used to estimate PM, among them light transmission, backscattering, and side‐scattering. Here we analyze such measurements performed by the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) at various coastal locations to establish whether a given optical method performs better than others for the estimation of PM. All the technologies were found to perform well, predicting PM within less than 55% relative difference for 95% of samples (n = 85, four locations). Backscattering performed best as a predictor of PM, predicting PM with less than 37% relative difference for 95% of samples. The correlation coefficient (R) was between 0.96 and 0.98 for all methods with PM data ranging between 1.2 to 82.4 g m−3. In addition, co‐located measurements of backscattering and attenuation improves PM prediction and provides compositional information about the suspended particles; when their ratio is high, the bulk particulate matter is dominated by inorganic material while when low, dominated by organic material.
J1/tenascin in substrate-bound and soluble form displays contrary effects on neurite outgrowth

The influence of J1/tenascin adsorbed to polyornithine-conditioned plastic (substrate-bound J1/tenascin) and J1/tenascin present in the culture medium (soluble J1/tenascin) on neurite outgrowth was studied with cultured single cells from hippocampus and mesencephalon of embryonic rats. Neurons at low density grew well on J1/tenascin substrates and extended neurites that were approximately 40% longer than on the polyornithine control substrate after 24 h in vitro. The neurite outgrowth promoting effect of substrate bound J1/tenascin was largely abolished in the presence of mAb J1/tn2, but not by mAb J1/tn1. In contrast to the neurite growth-promoting effects of substrate bound J1/tenascin, neurite outgrowth on polyornithine, laminin, fibronectin, or J1/tenascin as substrates was inhibited by addition of soluble J1/tenascin to the cultures. Neither of the two mAbs neutralized the neurite outgrowth-inhibitory properties of soluble J1/tenascin. In contrast to their opposite effects on neurite outgrowth, both substrate- bound and soluble J1/tenascin reduced spreading of the neuronal cell bodies, suggesting that the neurite outgrowth-promoting and antispreading effects are mediated by two different sites on the molecule. This was further supported by the inability of the mAb J1/tn2 to neutralize the antispreading effect. The J1/tn2 epitope localizes to a fibronectin type III homology domain that is presumably distinct from the putative Tn68 cell-binding domain of chicken tenascin for fibroblasts, as shown by electronmicroscopic localization of antibody binding sites. We infer from these experiments that J1/tenascin contains a neurite outgrowth promoting domain that is distinguishable from the cell-binding site and presumably not involved in the inhibition of neurite outgrowth or cell spreading. Our observations support the notion that J1/tenascin is a multifunctional extracellular matrix molecule.
A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the 3′-UTR region of the adipocyte fatty acid binding protein 4 gene is associated with prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis and high heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to screen patients for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the prognosis of TNBC. Database-derived SNPs (NextBio, Ensembl, NCBI and MirSNP) located in the 3′-untranslated regions (3′-UTRs) of genes that are differentially expressed in breast cancer were selected. The possible associations between 111 SNPs and progression risk among 323 TNBC patients were investigated using a two-step case-control study with a discovery cohort (n=162) and a validation cohort (n=161). We identified the rs1054135 SNP in the adipocyte fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) gene as a predictor of TNBC recurrence. The G allele of rs1054135 was associated with a reduced risk of disease progression as well as a prolonged disease-free survival time (DFS), with a hazard ratio (HR) for recurrence in the combined sample of 0.269 [95%CI: 0.098−0.735;P=0.001]. Notably, for individuals having the rs1054135 SNP with the AA/AG genotype, the magnitude of increased tumour recurrence risk for overweight patients (BMI≥25kg/m2) was significantly elevated (HR2.53; 95%CI: 1.06–6.03). Immunohistochemical staining of adipocytes adjacent to TNBC tissues showed that the expression level of FABP4 was statistically significantly lower in patients with the rs1054135-GG genotype and those in the disease-free group (P=0.0004 and P=0.0091, respectively). These results suggested that the expression of a lipid metabolism-related gene and an important SNP in the 3′-UTR of FABP4 are associated with TNBC prognosis, which may aid in the screening of high-risk patients with TNBC recurrence and the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents.
Asset Management within Commercial Banking Groups: International Evidence

Funfing agency: International Monetary Fund (IMF), University of Toronto, Villanova University, Fuel Cell Technologies Program, Texas A and M University, University of Hong Kong, Universiteit Maastricht, Georgia State University, McGill University, Howard University School of Business, Universiteit van Tilburg, European Research Council (ERC), Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) and Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management at the Darden School of Business