Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lambda Gam protein inhibits the helicase and chi-stimulated recombination activities of Escherichia coli RecBCD enzyme

The lambda Gam protein was isolated from cells containing a Gam-producing plasmid. The purified Gam protein was found to bind to RecBCD without displacing any of its subunits. Gam was shown to inhibit all known enzymatic activities of RecBCD: ATP-dependent single- and double-stranded DNA exonucleases, ATP-independent single-stranded endonuclease, and the ATP-dependent helicase. When produced in vivo, Gam inhibited chi-activated recombination in lambda red gam crosses but had little effect on the host's ability to act as a recipient in conjugational recombination. These experiments suggest that RecBCD possesses an additional "unknown" activity that is resistant to or induced by Gam. Additionally, the expression of Gam in recD mutants sensitizes the host to UV irradiation, indicating that Gam alters one or more of the in vivo activities of RecBC(D-).
A Comparison of the Item Difficulty and Item Discrimination of Multiple-Choice Items Using the "None of the Above" and One Correct Response Options

Twelve multiple-choice items in a college statistics examination were written in three formats: (a) one correct answer, (b) "none of the above" as a foil, and (c) "none of the above" as the correct answer. The format using "none of the above" as the correct answer was the most difficult of the three formats. No consistent differences in item discrimination indices were found among the three formats. The test composed of multiple-choice items with one correct answer was more reliable than the two test forms using the "none of the above" option.
Relational Stability in the Expression of Normality, Variation, and Control of Thyroid Function

Thyroid hormone concentrations only become sufficient to maintain a euthyroid state through appropriate stimulation by pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). In such a dynamic system under constant high pressure, guarding against overstimulation becomes vital. Therefore, several defensive mechanisms protect against accidental overstimulation, such as plasma protein binding, conversion of T4 into the more active T3, active transmembrane transport, counter-regulatory activities of reverse T3 and thyronamines, and negative hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid feedback control of TSH. TSH has gained a dominant but misguided role in interpreting thyroid function testing in assuming that its exceptional sensitivity thereby translates into superior diagnostic performance. However, TSH-dependent thyroid disease classification is heavily influenced by statistical analytic techniques such as uni- or multivariate-defined normality. This demands a separation of its conjoint roles as a sensitive screening test and accurate diagnostic tool. Homeostatic equilibria (set points) in healthy subjects are less variable and do not follow a pattern of random variation, rather indicating signs of early and progressive homeostatic control across the euthyroid range. In the event of imminent thyroid failure with a reduced FT4 output per unit TSH, conversion efficiency increases in order to maintain FT3 stability. In such situations, T3 stability takes priority over set point maintenance. This suggests a concept of relational stability. These findings have important implications for both TSH reference limits and treatment targets for patients on levothyroxine. The use of archival markers is proposed to facilitate the homeostatic interpretation of all parameters.
Humanistic qualities of the teacher as perceived by undergraduate students in Bahrain and Kuwait

The objective of this study was to identify the main qualities of the teacher as a person as perceived by university students in Bahrain and Kuwait. A 25‐item questionnaire, which reflected the basic humanistic qualities of the teacher as related to effective teaching, was designed and then administered to a random sample of 520 students enrolled in the Colleges of Education in Bahrain and Kuwait. In addition to the questionnaire, students’ own qualitative descriptions of effective teachers were collected by means of two open‐ended questions. The results of the study showed no significant differences between the perceptions of male and female undergraduate students of the most important human characteristics of the effective teacher. Consequently, the authors suggest that the main qualities of the teacher as a person should be considered for inclusion in teacher education programmes in both Bahrain and Kuwait.
Conceptualizing Communication Capital for a Changing Environment

With rapidly evolving technologies, boundaries between traditional modes of communication have blurred, creating an environment that scholars still describe from viewpoints as researchers in interpersonal, organizational or mass communication. This manuscript looks at the social capital literature and argues for conceptualizing “communication capital” to help understand the impact of communication phenomena in a changing environment. The literature has treated interpersonal communication variables as components of social capital and mass communication variables as factors affecting social capital, but scholars long ago recognized their reinforcing nature, leading us to develop a concept of communication capital merging symbolic activity across domains in its potential for impacting civic engagement, defined as persistent communication patterns that facilitate social problem solving in the community. Analysis of survey data shows that 4 dimensions of communication capital explain variance in civic engagement beyond that accounted for by traditional measures of social capital, media use, neighborhood communication, and efficacy.
Reassessing the “Race to the Bottom” in State Welfare Policy

On the assumption that poor people migrate to obtain better welfare benefits, the magnet hypothesis predicts that a state's poverty rate increases when its welfare benefit rises faster than benefits in surrounding states. The benefit competition hypothesis proposes that states lower welfare benefits to avoid attracting the poor from neighboring states. Previous investigations, which yield support for these propositions, suffer from weaknesses in model specification and methodology. We correct these deficiencies in a simultaneous equation model including a state's poverty rate and its benefit level for AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) as endogenous variables. We estimate the model using pooled annual data for the American states from 1960 to 1990 and find that a state's poverty rate does not jump significantly when its welfare payments outpace benefits in neighboring states. Furthermore, there is no evidence of vigorous benefit competition among states: states respond to decreases in neighbor.
Towards theory integration: Threshold model as a link between signal detection theory, fast‐and‐frugal trees and evidence accumulation theory

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Theories of decision making are divided between those aiming to help decision makers in the real, 'large' world and those who study decisions in idealized 'small' world settings. For the most part, these large- and small-world decision theories remain disconnected. METHODS We linked the small-world decision theoretic concepts of signal detection theory (SDT) and evidence accumulation theory (EAT) to the threshold model and the large world of heuristic decision making that rely on fast-and-frugal decision trees (FFT). RESULTS We connected these large- and small-world theories by demonstrating that seemingly different decision-making concepts are actually equivalent. In doing so, we were able (1) to link the threshold model to EAT and FFT, thereby creating decision criteria that take into account both the classification accuracy of FFT and the consequences built in the threshold model; (2) to demonstrate how threshold criteria can be used as a strategy for optimal selection of cues when constructing FFT; and (3) to show that the compensatory strategy expressed in the threshold model can be linked to a non-compensatory FFT approach to decision making. We also showed how construction and performance of FFT depend on having reliable information - the results were highly sensitive to the estimates of benefits and harms of health interventions. We illustrate the practical usefulness of our analysis by describing an FFT we developed for prescribing statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS By linking SDT and EAT to the compensatory threshold model and to non-compensatory heuristic decision making (FFT), we showed how these two decision strategies are ultimately linked within a broader theoretical framework and thereby respond to calls for integrating decision theory paradigms.
Case study: pearls in hypertension pharmacotherapy.

BACKGROUND Research and therapy only has relevance when applied to an actual patient. OBJECTIVE To review a case study of a patient with hypertension and diabetes. SUMMARY The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) of 2004 recommends that a diagnostic workup include an assessment of risk factors and comorbidities using history, physical exam, and laboratory parameters. The presence of comorbidities influences drug selection. Patient evaluation should also include identification of possible causes of hypertension, such as renal arterial stenosis, and an assessment for the presence of target organ damage. Treatment is always influenced by the presence or absence of comorbidities. Lifestyle modifications are crucial to enhancing the success of pharmacologic therapy and should be ongoing. If lifestyle modifications do not work, the clinician must consider drugs. Study data and JNC 7 recommend beta-blockers for hypertension in patients with compelling indications, e.g., high risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. CONCLUSION JNC 7 emphasizes that evaluation for hypertension includes the assessment for the presence of compelling indications, e.g., diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and high coronary risk. These comorbidities may inform and direct pharmacologic choices.
Take me by the hand: haptic compasses in mobile devices through shape change and weight shift

This paper compares two novel physical information displays, both of which allow for haptic, non-invasive, non-audiovisual information display: a shape-changing device and a weight-shifting device. As for their suitability in mobile navigation applications, the two haptic systems are compared against each other, and also against a GUI-based solution, which serves as a baseline. The results of the study indicate that the shape- and weight-based displays are less accurate than the GUI-based variant, but may be suitable for simple directional guidance (e.g. walking ahead, or turning left or right) and beneficial in terms of reaction times to visual cues (e.g. traffic lights). This paper concludes with an outlook towards potential future research activities in this field.
LY-127935: a novel beta-lactam antibiotic with unusual antibacterial activity

The in vitro activity of LY-127935, a new beta-lactam antibiotic, was examined by using 370 clinical bacterial strains. In comparison with several other beta-lactam agents, LY-127935 was the most inhibitory against the Enterobacteriaceae. It was remarkably active against multi-drug-resistant strains of Enterobacter spp. , Serratia spp. , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. LY-127935 had four- to eightfold greater activity than did cefoxitin against Bacteroides fragilis. Production of beta-lactamase by Enterobacteriaceae did not influence the minimal inhibitory concentration of LY-127935. However, the beta-lactamase-producing strains of B. fragilis and Haemophilus influenzae had generally higher minimal inhibitory concentrations. LY-127935 was the least active agent tested against gram-positive aerobic cocci. Variations in pH, salt content, protein content, or inocula size had little influence on susceptibility to LY-127935. Although combination studies with LY-127935 and gentamicin demonstrated synergy for P. aeruginosa, the rates of killing for the combination and for gentamicin alone were similar.
Automatically Learning Semantic Features for Defect Prediction

Software defect prediction, which predicts defective code regions, can help developers find bugs and prioritize their testing efforts. To build accurate prediction models, previous studies focus on manually designing features that encode the characteristics of programs and exploring different machine learning algorithms. Existing traditional features often fail to capture the semantic differences of programs, and such a capability is needed for building accurate prediction models. To bridge the gap between programs' semantics and defect prediction features, this paper proposes to leverage a powerful representation-learning algorithm, deep learning, to learn semantic representation of programs automatically from source code. Specifically, we leverage Deep Belief Network (DBN) to automatically learn semantic features from token vectors extracted from programs' Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs). Our evaluation on ten open source projects shows that our automatically learned semantic features significantly improve both within-project defect prediction (WPDP) and cross-project defect prediction (CPDP) compared to traditional features. Our semantic features improve WPDP on average by 14.7% in precision, 11.5% in recall, and 14.2% in F1. For CPDP, our semantic features based approach outperforms the state-of-the-art technique TCA+ with traditional features by 8.9% in F1.
Facial and speech relationships to behavior of children with clefts across three age levels.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to examine relationships of facial and speech ratings to behavior at three ages. DESIGN Multiple correlations to control for gender, IQ, and socioeconomic status (SES). Partial correlations between speech or facial ratings and behavior. SETTING A university hospital interdisciplinary cleft/craniofacial center. PATIENTS Sixty-five children with CP or CLP and no other anomalies seen at ages 6, 9, and 12 years. INTERVENTIONS Speech ratings, facial ratings, hearing assessment, and SES ratings, were collected at ages 6, 9, and 12. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The Behavior Problem Checklist was used and internalizing problems were expected. RESULTS Less severe speech problems associated with behavioral inhibition were noted at age 9 years (p < .01). Greater facial disfigurement was correlated with greater inhibition at age 12 (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal data indicates different associations of speech and facial variables were made to behavior at different ages (9 and 12). No significant relationships were identified at age 6.
The role of assertiveness and cognitive flexibility in the development of postpartum depressive symptoms

Objective: To examine whether lower levels of assertiveness and cognitive flexibility as well as the interaction of these variables would predict postpartum depressive symptoms. Background: Prevalence rates estimate that 13% of women experience postpartum depression. Studies of depression in the general population suggest that lower levels of assertiveness and cognitive flexibility are associated with depression. Research is needed to identify whether these variables influence the development of postpartum depression. Methods: A prospective cohort design with 45 women who were 18 years of age or older and in their third trimester of pregnancy (28 weeks or beyond) from urban and suburban hospital-based obstetrician/midwifery offices. Women’s levels of assertiveness and cognitive flexibility were assessed in the offices of healthcare providers during the third trimester of pregnancy. Postpartum depressive symptoms were assessed two months postpartum or beyond via postal mail or online. Results: The hypotheses that lower levels of assertiveness and cognitive flexibility would predict subclinical symptoms of postpartum depression were not supported. Cognitive flexibility was found to moderate the relationship between assertiveness and subclinical postpartum depressive symptoms. For women with higher cognitive flexibility, being more assertive was associated with fewer postpartum depressive symptoms. Conversely, for women with lower cognitive flexibility, being more assertive was associated with more postpartum depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of identifying interpersonal predictors of postpartum depressive symptoms in order to inform treatment and prevention efforts, which could potentially increase long-term benefits for the mother, infant, and family system.
The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same? Evaluating Strategic Leadership in Organizational Transformations

This study considers what has changed in strategic leadership during the last century and if we could learn something from the past. These questions are addressed through an historical case analysis of a Finnish pulp and paper industry leader, Gösta Serlachius. The findings show that at the surface level the world of strategic leadership is likely to be transient and contingent, but at the deeper level it seems to be based on much more stable elements. A correct combination of absorptive and adaptive capacities merged with managerial wisdom provided the basis for effective strategic leadership at the beginning of the 20th century in a similar way as today. Indeed, the more things change, the more crucial is the combination of these basic elements matching with the organizational environment. It is concluded that historical studies can add substantially to the future strategic leadership research.
Octupole deformation in the ground states of even-even nuclei: A global analysis within the covariant density functional theory

A systematic investigation of octupole deformed nuclei is presented for even-even systems with $Z\leq 106$ located between the two-proton and two-neutron drip lines. For this study we use five most up-to-date covariant energy density functionals of different types, with a non-linear meson coupling, with density dependent meson couplings, and with density-dependent zero-range interactions. Pairing correlations are treated within relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) theory based on an effective separable particle-particle interaction of finite range. This allows us to assess theoretical uncertainties within the present covariant models for the prediction of physical observables relevant for octupole deformed nuclei. In addition, a detailed comparison with the predictions of non-relativistic models is performed. A new region of octupole deformation, centered around $Z\sim 98, N\sim 196$ is predicted for the first time. In terms of its size in the $(Z,N)$ plane and the impact of octupole deformation on binding energies this region is similar to the best known region of octupole deformed nuclei centered at $Z\sim 90, N\sim 136$. For the later island of octupole deformed nuclei, the calculations suggest substantial increase of its size as compared with available experimental data.
Repeated reading and reading fluency in learning disabled children.

THIS STUDY investigated whether improved fluency and comprehension across different stories in repeated reading depend on the degree of word overlap among passages and whether repeated reading is more effective than an equivalent amount of nonrepetitive reading. Nonfluent, learning disabled students read passages presented and timed by a computer under three different conditions. In Conditions 1 and 2 (repeated reading) the same passage was read four times before proceeding to a new story in the next session. Stories in Condition 2 contained three times as many overlapping words as stories in Condition 1. In Condition 3 (nonrepetitive reading), each of the four passages in a session was different. Results suggest that over short periods of time, increases in reading speed with the repeated reading method depend on the amount of shared words among stories, and that if stories have few shared words, repeated reading is not more effective for improving speed than an equivalent amount of nonrepetitive reading.
Reactivation of Reward-Related Patterns from Single Past Episodes Supports Memory-Based Decision Making

Rewarding experiences exert a strong influence on later decision making. While decades of neuroscience research have shown how reinforcement gradually shapes preferences, decisions are often influenced by single past experiences. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about the influence of single learning episodes. Although recent work has proposed a role for episodes in decision making, it is largely unknown whether and how episodic experiences contribute to value-based decision making and how the values of single episodes are represented in the brain. In multiple behavioral experiments and an fMRI experiment, we tested whether and how rewarding episodes could support later decision making. Participants experienced episodes of high reward or low reward in conjunction with incidental, trial-unique neutral pictures. In a surprise test phase, we found that participants could indeed remember the associated level of reward, as evidenced by accurate source memory for value and preferences to re-engage with rewarded objects. Further, in a separate experiment, we found that high-reward objects shown as primes before a gambling task increased financial risk taking. Neurally, re-exposure to objects in the test phase led to significant reactivation of reward-related patterns. Importantly, individual variability in the strength of reactivation predicted value memory performance. Our results provide a novel demonstration that affect-related neural patterns are reactivated during later experience. Reactivation of value information represents a mechanism by which memory can guide decision making. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Rewarding and aversive experiences exert a strong influence on later decision making. Although much is known about how many associations between stimuli and reward shapes preferences, decisions are often supported by the value of single past experiences. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about how episodic experiences influence later behavior. In experiments using monetary reward anticipation in conjunction with incidental objects, we found that later behavior was indeed influenced by the value incidentally associated with objects. Critically, neural patterns related to reward experiences were re-expressed on later exposure and reactivation correlated with behavioral performance. Our results suggest a mechanism by which good and bad episodes from daily life can guide later decision making.