Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of a silencer, enhancer, and basal promoter region in the human CD95 (Fas/APO-1) gene.

Genomic clones for the human CD95 (Fas/APO-1) and CD40 genes have been isolated and 2.3 kb of the CD95 and 0.8 kb of the CD40 gene 5'-flanking regions sequenced. Comparisons of the human CD95 gene with the human CD40 and the murine CD40 and TNFR-II genes showed a low degree of sequence similarity. However, dot matrix analyses revealed conservation of two stretches between human CD95 (-387 to -362 and -288 to 261 in CD95) and murine TNFR-II genes. Additionally, TCCTCC motifs are present within 400 bp up-stream of the ATG of all genes examined. Repeated interferon-beta (IFN-beta) silencer B motifs and a lysozyme silencer 1 motif have been found in the CD95 gene at approximately -1,600 and -1,100, respectively. Sequence comparison of the 5'-flanking regions of the murine and human CD40 genes revealed the presence of a conserved AP-4 site and two SP-1 sites. CD95, CD40, and TNFR-II genes all lack classical TATA and CAAT boxes. However, a strongly increased frequency of CpG dinucleotides was found. Primer extension analysis revealed multiple transcriptional start sites in the CD95 gene, where the usage of individual start sites appeared to be cell type-specific. Functional analysis, using reporter constructs and transient transfections, identified a silencer activity residing between nucleotide positions -1,781 and -1007 and a strong enhancer region between -1,007 and -425 in the human CD95 gene. The region between -425 and -1 retained a basal promoter activity. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
E-Discussions as a Complement to Traditional Instruction: Did the Students Like Online Communication and Why?

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate students' perceptions of online discussion used as a complement to a traditional classroom setting during the fall 2004 and spring 2005 semesters. Sixty-nine undergraduate students volunteered to participate in this study and completed a questionnaire after this experience. These participants took one or two courses over one of two semesters in a teacher education preparation program at a comprehensive midwestern university. The participants' support for online discussion was recorded as answers to a question designed by using a 5-point scale, with 1 being the least favorable and 5 the most favorable response. Each participant was asked for one to three justifications for her or his response. Descriptive analyses and t-tests were performed to explore the students' general support level and to examine the means between those who participated in online discussion once a week and those who did twice a week. The results show that the majority of the students were in favor of the online discussion. No statistically significant difference was found between these two groups [t (69) = − . 47, p = . 65]. The reasons for students' support for and disapproval of online discussion are discussed. Also highlighted are the educational importance of the study and suggestions for further research.
Everyday reading and writing practices of normal adults: Implications for aphasia assessment

Abstract The everyday reading and writing practices of 50 non-neurologically damaged adults were surveyed using a semi-structured interview format. The subjects rated the elicited activities in terms of the frequency with which they were performed and their relative importance. Data analysis made it possible to rank the 131 cited activities using an index of importance. Each of the top-ranking activities was then considered in terms of its representativeness for each individual subject. They were found to represent only a small percentage of each individual's total range of activities. Group differences were considered in terms of age, sex, marital status, education and social class. Few significant differences were found between the various groups which were compared. Incidental findings regarding some subjects' use of social networks were also taken into account. The results suggest that everyday reading and writing practices typical of a normal adult cannot be predicted. The implications for existing f.
The Incidence and Predictors of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation After Noncardiothoracic Surgery

Background and Objectives The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery is known to be very rare; there have been few prior studies on this topic. We evaluated the incidence, predictors, and prognosis of atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery. Subjects and Methods Patients who underwent noncardiothoracic surgery at our medical center under general anesthesia were enrolled. We reviewed medical records retrospectively and evaluated whether the atrial fibrillation developed postoperatively or was pre-existing. Patients who had a previous history of atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation on the pre-operative electrocardiogram were excluded. Results Between January 2005 and December 2006, 7,756 patients (mean age: 69 years, male: 46%) underwent noncardiothoracic surgery in Samsung Medical Center and 30 patients (0.39%) were diagnosed with newly-developed atrial fibrillation. Patients who developed atrial fibrillation were significantly older and had significantly lower body mass indexes. Newly-developed atrial fibrillation was detected in 0.53% of the male patients and 0.26% of the female patients. The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after an emergency operation was more frequent than that of elective operations (p<0.001). According to the multivariate analysis, age and emergency operations were independent predictors for new onset atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery. Postoperative atrial fibrillation developed after a median of 2 days after the noncardiothoracic surgery and was associated with a longer hospitalization and increased in-hospital mortality. Four (13.3%) patients died and the causes of death were non-cardiovascular events such as pneumonia or hemorrhage. Conclusion Postoperative atrial fibrillation after noncardiothoracic surgery is a rare complication and is associated with older age and emergency operations. Patients who develop atrial fibrillation have longer hospitalizations and higher in-hospital mortality rates.
Peer and subordinate performance appraisal measurement equivalence.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) were applied to determine the extent to which peer and subordinate ratings of managers on a team-building skill dimension are directly comparable. Simultaneous CFA in the 2 groups of raters suggested that the 2 sets of ratings are calibrated equivalently, and polytomous IRT methods led to similar conclusions. The results were replicated in independent samples of raters. These are encouraging results for practitioners or researchers who compare ratings from these 2 groups. In addition to presenting the empirical findings from the study and illustrating how CFA and IRT methods of testing measurement equivalence compare, the article shows the unique types of information about performance appraisals that IRT and CFA can provide to researchers and practitioners, with implications for future research.
Bad News for Conservatives? Moral Judgments and the Dark Triad Personality Traits: A Correlational Study

This study examined correlations between moral value judgments on a 17-item Moral Intuition Survey (MIS), and participant scores on the Short-D3 “Dark Triad” Personality Inventory—a measure of three related “dark and socially destructive” personality traits: Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy. Five hundred sixty-seven participants (302 male, 257 female, 2 transgendered; median age 28) were recruited online through Amazon Mechanical Turk and Yale Experiment Month web advertisements. Different responses to MIS items were initially hypothesized to be “conservative” or “liberal” in line with traditional public divides. Our demographic data confirmed all of these hypothesized categorizations. We then tested two broad, exploratory hypotheses: (H1) the hypothesis that there would be “many” significant correlations between conservative MIS judgments and the Dark Triad, and (H2) the hypothesis that there would be no significant correlations between liberal MIS judgments and Machiavellianism or Psychopathy, but “some” significant correlations between liberal MIS judgments and Narcissism. Because our hypotheses were exploratory and we ran a large number of statistical tests (62 total), we utilized a Bonferroni Correction to set a very high threshold for significance (p = .0008). Our results broadly supported our two hypotheses. We found eleven significant correlations between conservative MIS judgments and the Dark Triad—all at significance level of p < . 00001—but no significant correlations between the Dark Triad and liberal MIS judgments. We believe that these results raise provocative moral questions about the personality bases of moral judgments. In particular, we propose that because the Short-D3 measures three “dark and antisocial” personality traits, our results raise some prima facie worries about the moral justification of some conservative moral judgments.
Integrating the message level into treatment for agrammatism using story retelling

Background: Treatments for agrammatic production generally target sentence forms, inflectional morphology, verb retrieval, thematic roles, or underlying grammatical forms. Reviews of these and related methods suggest that they address Garrett's functional and positional levels of sentence processing. Such reviews also demonstrate that little attention has been given to developing treatments that emphasise the message level of sentence production. Message‐level representations appear to have robust potential for influencing sentence‐level processes following aphasia, since varying levels of language representation are thought to influence their downstream counterparts. Aims: The study aimed to determine whether functional and positional‐level syntactic training applied in a context requiring structuring of message‐level representations would improve expressive syntax in a patient with agrammatism. Methods & Procedures: A 10‐week programme was divided into two 5‐week phases requiring story retelling of three fables in each phase with critical oral and written feedback. Story retellings were analysed along three dimensions: grammaticality, complexity, and content. The programme was evaluated using a multiple‐baseline across behaviours single‐subject design. Outcomes & Results: Overall, this treatment programme appeared to produce highly beneficial outcomes with regard to improved expressive syntax. Substantial generalisation of treatment effects was observed in post‐treatment testing, while long‐term maintenance of the gains achieved in treatment was observed. Conclusions: The story‐retelling procedure, with oral and written feedback, stimulated and improved the participant's expressive syntax. Unlike treatment approaches that simply target surface grammar, the story retelling approach appears to be rich with regard to stimulating conceptual syntax as well as lower‐level syntactic processes. Functional communication also benefited by treating discourse‐level behaviours to improve linguistic processing.
Production, regulation and role of nitric oxide in glial cells.

The central ne rvous system (CNS) consists of tw o major ce ll type s, neurones and glial ce lls. Neuronal communication w ith other neurone s or glial c ells is effected mainly through ne uro-transmitte rs and peptides, w hile glial ce lls appear to use an abundant range of factors for the communication w ith either ne urone s or other glial c ells. The communication betw een ne urone s can span large distances in the body, w hile glial c ell communication is mainly local or paracrine . During the past decade it has become clear that the glial c ells named afte r glue (= glia) have more functions besides acting as a “nerve-glue” to form the brain. ,2 The glial ce lls appeared to be e ssential for ne uronal prote ction, survival and outgrow th during deve lopment and for the neuronal degeneration and regeneration under pathological conditions. In this review we summarize glial ce ll functions and focus on the role , production and regulation of nitric ox ide (NO), a molecule w hich has be en show n to be involved in various ne uroimmune proce sse s.
Automatic Extraction and Analysis of Ice Layering in Radar Sounder Data

Nowadays, the interest on the development of orbiting radar sounders for the observation of Earth polar areas is increasing. In this context, the analysis of the structure of the ice stratigraphy is of primary importance for the study of the past history and for the prediction of the evPolution of icy environments. However, as proven by planetary missions, orbiting radar sounders provide a huge amount of data. Thus, the development of automatic techniques for the analysis of these data is of fundamental importance for proper data exploitation. In this paper, we propose a novel method for the automatic detection of subsurface linear features from radar sounder data acquired in icy regions showing extended layering. The proposed method allows the estimation of the position of the linear features with subpixel accuracy. Moreover, each detected linear interface is treated as a single object which is completely described by the position of its points, the estimated local width, and the contrast. This allows the direct measurement of geometrical and radiometric parameters (e.g., slope angle and intensity) without the need of further postprocessing steps. This paper also proposes some measurements for deriving from the output of the proposed technique important variables that can characterize quantitatively the properties of the detected linear features (e.g., mean depth and mean intensity) and their distribution (e.g., number and density of layers). The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by the results obtained on several radargrams acquired by the Shallow Radar on the North Pole of Mars.
Automatic Noun Compound Interpretation using Deep Neural Networks and Word Embeddings

The present paper reports on the results of automatic noun compound interpretation for English using a deep neural network classifier and a selection of publicly available word embeddings to represent the individual compound constituents. The task at hand consists of identifying the semantic relation that holds between the constituents of a compound (e.g. WHOLE+PART_OR_MEMBER_OF in the case of ‘robot arm’, LOCATION in the case of ‘hillside home’). The experiments reported in the present paper use the noun compound dataset described in Tratz (2011), a revised version of the dataset used by Tratz and Hovy (2010) for training their Maximum Entropy classifier. Our experiments yield results that are comparable to those reported in Tratz and Hovy (2010) in a crossvalidation setting, but outperform their system on unseen compounds by a large margin.
An Equivalence between the Lasso and Support Vector Machines

We investigate the relation of two fundamental tools in machine learning and signal processing, that is the support vector machine (SVM) for classification, and the Lasso technique used in regression. We show that the resulting optimization problems are equivalent, in the following sense. Given any instance of an $\ell_2$-loss soft-margin (or hard-margin) SVM, we construct a Lasso instance having the same optimal solutions, and vice versa. As a consequence, many existing optimization algorithms for both SVMs and Lasso can also be applied to the respective other problem instances. Also, the equivalence allows for many known theoretical insights for SVM and Lasso to be translated between the two settings. One such implication gives a simple kernelized version of the Lasso, analogous to the kernels used in the SVM setting. Another consequence is that the sparsity of a Lasso solution is equal to the number of support vectors for the corresponding SVM instance, and that one can use screening rules to prune the set of support vectors. Furthermore, we can relate sublinear time algorithms for the two problems, and give a new such algorithm variant for the Lasso. We also study the regularization paths for both methods.
Positive roles of SAS2 in DNA replication and transcriptional silencing in yeast

Sas2p is a histone acetyltransferase implicated in the regulation of transcriptional silencing, and ORC is the six-subunit origin recognition complex involved in the initiation of DNA replication and the establishment of transcriptionally silent chromatin by silencers in yeast. We show here that SAS2 deletion (sas2Δ) exacerbates the temperature sensitivity of the ORC mutants orc2-1 and orc5-1. Moreover, sas2Δ and orc2-1 have a synthetic effect on cell cycle progression through S phase and initiation of DNA replication. These results suggest that SAS2 plays a positive role in DNA replication and cell cycle progression. We also show that sas2Δ and orc5-1 have a synthetic effect on transcriptional silencing at the HMR locus. Moreover, we demonstrate that sas2Δ reduces the silencing activities of silencers regardless of their locations and contexts, indicating that SAS2 plays a positive role in silencer function. In addition, we show that SAS2 is required for maintaining the structure of transcriptionally silent chromatin.
Full Digital Adaptive Equalization in 64-QAM Radio Systems

In view of a digital implementation of most of the signal processing required in a QAM demodulation-equalization Structure, a performance analysis as a function of equalizer complexity, A/D conversion resolution, and precision of internal arithmetic is presented. The analysis is focused on a 140 Mbit/s 64-QAM modulation scheme (corresponding to CEPT-4 or 3 \times DS3 systems), but extension to other QAM constellations is straightforward. Considerations of currently available technology, overall computational complexity, and related optimal quantization formats are presented. For high-speed 64 QAM, it is shown that satisfactory performance may be expected from a full digital implementation of reasonable complexity, using current technology.
Teenage Sexual Orientation, Adult Openness, and Status Attainment in Gay Males

Research on the effects of sexual orientation on gay male status attainment has been hampered by the use of opportunistic samples and by the inability to control for family background and sexual orientation characteristics. This research uses data from the Urban Men's Health Study, a multicity probability sample, to examine the status attainment process among men who identify as gay or bisexual (N = 2,290). Logistic regression is used to measure the effects of teen sexual orientation and adult expression of sexual orientation on educational achievement and household income. Early decision that one is gay and early homosexual activity are related to reduced educational achievement. Teen sexual orientation and adult expression of sexual orientation are not directly related to income, though education was. These findings suggest that the costs of discrimination encountered early in life are an important component of the reduced status attainment of gay males.
Validation of Large-Scale Alternate Assessment Systems and Their Influence on Instruction —What Are the Consequences?

In conjunction with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA; PL 105-17), the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB; PL 107-110) calls for enhancements to existing assessment and accountability systems within specific timelines. The NCLB Act also stresses the importance of using reliable and valid data for decision making. This study examined the consequential validity of a large-scale alternate assessment system for students with severe cognitive disabilities in one midwestern state. Three hundred and four teachers completed a survey designed to measure their perceptions of the alternate assessment's influence on instruction and the development of individualized education programs (IEPs). Findings indicated the assessment had a strong influence on instruction and a strong, but lesser influence on the development of IEPs.
In Vivo Characterization of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Various Organs of a Murine Sepsis Model

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) represent extracellular microbial trapping and killing. Recently, it has been implicated in thrombogenesis, autoimmune disease, and cancer progression. The aim of this study was to characterize NETs in various organs of a murine sepsis model in vivo and to investigate their associations with platelets, leukocytes, or vascular endothelium. NETs were classified as two distinct forms; cell-free NETs that were released away from neutrophils and anchored NETs that were anchored to neutrophils. Circulating cell-free NETs were characterized as fragmented or cotton-like structures, while anchored NETs were characterized as linear, reticular, membranous, or spot-like structures. In septic mice, both anchored and cell-free NETs were significantly increased in postcapillary venules of the cecum and hepatic sinusoids with increased leukocyte-endothelial interactions. NETs were also observed in both alveolar space and pulmonary capillaries of the lung. The interactions of NETs with platelet aggregates, leukocyte-platelet aggregates or vascular endothelium of arterioles and venules were observed in the microcirculation of septic mice. Microvessel occlusions which may be caused by platelet aggregates or leukocyte-platelet aggregates and heterogeneously decreased blood flow were also observed in septic mice. NETs appeared to be associated with the formation of platelet aggregates or leukocyte-platelet aggregates. These observational findings may suggest the adverse effect of intravascular NETs on the host during a sepsis.
On the form and function of severe self‐injurious behavior

Three adults with developmental disabilities and severe, chronic self-injurious behavior (SIB) were exposed in separate studies to multi-element functional analog experimental and control conditions. Participants' physiological status, primarily cardiac function, was recorded with a sophisticated computerized ambulatory monitoring garment (VivoMetrics® LifeShirt system). Results revealed a reliable and consistent heart rate (HR) pattern in all conditions, consisting of an escalating HR immediately before SIB occurrence, and quickly followed by a temporary drop in HR level occasioned by SIB action. This waveform was not an artifact of movement, HR level, respiration, posture, or SIB topography. This discovery suggests that the fundamental function of SIB is an escape from autonomic arousal. This function is consistent with other physiological and clinical findings. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Religious Influences on Shopping Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

The significance of religious value systems has long been recognized in sociology and psychology but is not yet fully acknowledged in consumer research. Studies in the marketing literature suggest that religion is a key element of culture, influencing both behaviour and purchasing decisions. This paper examines the influence of religion on consumer choice and is based on the proposition that adherence to a particular religious faith significantly influences shopping behaviour. Using the purchase of a television as the basis, the research examines the contrasting shopping behaviour of Hindus, Muslims and Catholics. The results suggest that religious affiliation should be included in future cross-cultural research and that there is considerable potential for extending research into the influence of religious affiliation on consumer behaviour.