Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Antitumor Activity of 3-Bromopyruvate in Combination with Rapamycin In Vivo and In Vitro

3-Bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) is an alkylating agent and a well-known inhibitor of energy metabolism. Rapamycin is an inhibitor of the serine/threonine protein kinase mTOR. Both 3-BrPA and rapamycin show chemopreventive efficacy in mouse models of lung cancer. Aerosol delivery of therapeutic drugs for lung cancer has been reported to be an effective route of delivery with little systemic distribution in humans. In this study, 3-BrPA and rapamycin were evaluated in combination for their preventive effects against lung cancer in mice by aerosol treatment, revealing a synergistic ability as measured by tumor multiplicity and tumor load compared treatment with either single-agent alone. No evidence of liver toxicity was detected by monitoring serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymes. To understand the mechanism in vitro experiments were performed using human non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. 3-BrPA and rapamycin also synergistically inhibited cell proliferation. Rapamycin alone blocked the mTOR signaling pathway, whereas 3-BrPA did not potentiate this effect. Given the known role of 3-BrPA as an inhibitor of glycolysis, we investigated mitochondrial bioenergetics changes in vitro in 3-BrPA–treated NSCLC cells. 3-BrPA significantly decreased glycolytic activity, which may be due to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion and decreased expression of GAPDH. Our results demonstrate that rapamycin enhanced the antitumor efficacy of 3-BrPA, and that dual inhibition of mTOR signaling and glycolysis may be an effective therapeutic strategy for lung cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Prev Res; 8(4); 318–26. ©2015 AACR.
Pre-Service Teacher Candidates’ Knowledge and Attitudes of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) mandates teachers to provide equitable access to the core curriculum by maximizing academic achievement for all students, including those who are lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB), (Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2014). Without the knowledge, support, and acceptance of their teachers, LGB youth will experience multiple challenges during their K-12 educational careers. Scholarly literature reveals that the understanding and abilities of pre-service teachers to create safe spaces for LGB youth needs to be developed if pre-service teachers are eventually to become allies for LGB youth (Kearns, Mitton-Kukner, & Tompkins, 2014). Pre-service teacher education bears the responsibility of equipping potential educators with the knowledge, awareness, and competencies to address the educational inequities of both access and success for diverse populations (Wyatt, Oswalt, White, & Peterson, 2008). The following quantitative study surveyed a sample of the pre-service teacher population in California to examine their knowledge of, and attitudes toward LGB people. The results indicated that the attitudes of preservice teacher candidates toward LGB people were not significantly different from the general population, showing that pre-service teachers do tend to hold personal biases which may affect their interation with LGB students. Additionally, the results from this study also indicated that the knowledge of pre-service teacher candidates regarding LGB people is limited, and suggest that there may be opportunities for improvement. PRE-SERVICE TEACHER KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES 10 Chapter
Vascular Health and Risk Management Dovepress Prevalence of Ldl Atherogenic Phenotype in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Background: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are 5–8 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than the general population. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of the small dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol particle in patients with SLE. Methods: We recruited 50 consecutive patients with SLE who had no evidence of hypertension or renal failure. Fifty age-and gender-matched healthy controls were also recruited. We measured serum lipid levels and LDL particle diameters by gradient gel electrophoresis in both patients and controls. Results: Patients with SLE had significant dyslipidemia, characterized by elevated plasma triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, Apoprotein B, triglyceride:high-density (HDL) lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and decreased plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol. The LDL particle size in SLE (24.8 ± 1.23 nm) was significantly (P , 0.01) smaller than that in controls (26.1 ± 1.31 nm). The prevalence of the LDL phenotype B (the atherogenic phenotype) was 52% in SLE but only 20% in healthy controls. Conclusion: We conclude that the high prevalence of small dense LDL in SLE may contribute to the high incidence of coronary heart disease seen in this disorder.
Verification of generalized inference diagnosability for decentralized diagnosis in discrete event systems

Previously we have introduced an inference-based framework for decentralized decision-making, where inferencing over the ambiguities of the self and the others is used to issue decisions. In this setting, we previously introduced the notion of N-inference V-diagnosability to characterize the existence of a disjunctive decentralized diagnosis scheme so that any fault can be detected within bounded delay, using at most N-levels of inferencing, by one of the diagnosers. While the disjunctive scheme relies on one of the diagnosers making the failure decision, the dual conjunctive scheme relies on none of the diagnosers making the nonfailure decision. It is known that the two schemes are incomparable, and in another paper we extend our earlier work to provide a more general framework, introducing the notion of N-inference diagnosability, capturing both disjunctive and conjunctive schemes. The contribution of this paper is developing a method for verifying N-inference diagnosability.
Efficacy of the Kinase Inhibitor SU11248 against Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Mutants Refractory to Imatinib Mesylate

Purpose: The majority of gastrointestinal stromal tumors harbor mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinases KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA), and respond to treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib. Some tumors, however, show primary resistance to imatinib treatment, and most others become resistant during treatment. The most common mechanism of imatinib resistance involves specific mutations in the kinase domains of KIT or PDGFRA. We tested the activity of SU11248, an orally active small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to inhibit important imatinib-resistant KIT and PDGFRA mutants. Experimental Design: Primary imatinib-resistant tumor cells and cell lines expressing clinically identified imatinib-resistant KIT-V654A, KIT-T670I, or PDGFRA-D842V mutant isoforms were evaluated for sensitivity to SU11248 by Western immunoblotting and proliferation assays. Three patients with the KIT-V654A mutation were treated with SU11248. Results: Based on ex vivo assays, SU11248 potently inhibits KIT kinase activity of V654A and T670I mutants and suppresses proliferation of the cells expressing these mutations. Sensitivity of KIT-V654A and KIT-T670I mutants to SU11248 was confirmed using cell lines expressing these mutants. In contrast, SU11248 did not potently inhibit the PDGFRA-D842V mutant. In agreement with these results, two of the three imatinib-resistant patients with the KIT-V654A mutation responded to SU11248 treatment. Conclusions: These studies suggest that SU11248 may be a useful therapeutic agent to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors harboring the imatinib-resistant KIT-V654A or KIT-T670I mutations, but it has no effect on the activity of the PDGFRA-D842V mutant. Specific kinase inhibitors should be designed to inhibit the constitutive activating PDGFRA mutation at codon 842.
The Relation of Perceived Motivational Climate, Mindset, and Achievement Goal Orientation to Grit in Male High School Soccer Players

Grit is defined as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals. " Although studied in relation to various outcomes, such as retention and academic performance, few studies have examined variables that may contribute to grit's development. Further, few studies have examined this construct in relation to sport performance or within athletic environments, despite its clear connection to sport-related constructs like mental toughness and resilience. Thus, based in achievement motivation theory, this study examined the relations of the perceived motivational climate as defined by athletes' perceptions of the coaches' behaviors (task vs. ego), athletes' perceptions of their achievement goal orientation (task vs. ego), athletes' perceptions of their implicit theory (i.e., fundamental beliefs regarding whether or not ability can change; growth vs. fixed), and athletes' perception of their level of grit. Male varsity soccer players (N = 81; Mage = 15.80 ± .81) from a large metropolitan area in the south central U.S. completed questionnaires measuring these achievement motivation constructs. The full regression model was significant, accounting for 18% of the grit variance, F(6, 74) = 2.77, p = . 017. Within the full model, having a growth mindset (β = .25, p = .035) and endorsing a task goal orientation (β = .36, p = .004) predicted higher levels of grit for the athletes. Neither the coach-created motivational climate, nor the athletes' ego orientation or fixed mindset, were significantly predicted their grit scores. Consistent with Dweck and Duckworth, components of achievement motivation theory, particularly related to a task or growth perspective, may play an important role in athletes' developing a perspective that allows them to work effectively and diligently toward long-term goals.
Association between p53 Codon 72 (Arg72Pro) Polymorphism and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Iranian Patients

Background: Glaucomatous neuropathy is a type of cell death due to apoptosis. The p53 gene is one of the regulatory genes of apoptosis. Recently, the association between the p53 gene encoding for proline at codon 72 and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) has been studied in some ethnic groups. This study is the first association analysis of POAG and p53 codon 72 polymorphism in Iranian patients. Methods: A cohort of 65 unrelated patients with POAG (age range from 12-62 years, mean ± SD of 40.16 ± 17.51 years) and 65 unrelated control subjects (without glaucoma, age range of 14-63 years, mean ± SD of 35.64 ± 13.61 years) were selected. In Iranian POAG patients and normal healthy controls, the p53 codon 72 polymorphism in exon 4 was amplified using polymerase chain reaction. The amplified DNA fragments were digested with the BstUI restriction enzyme, and the digestion patterns were used to identify the alleles for the polymorphic site. Results: Comparisons revealed significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of Pro72Arg between POAG patients and control group. A higher risk of POAG was associated with allele Pro (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.2–3.4) and genotype Pro/Pro (OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 0.13-12.7). Conclusion: The p53 Pro72 allele was more frequent in Iranian POAG patients than in the control group (P<0.05). The present findings show that the individuals with the Pro/Pro genotype may be more likely to develop POAG. However, additional studies are necessary to confirm this association.
Estimation of the Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity of Peat Soils: Laboratory versus Field Data

As compared with mineral soils, there are few in situ measurements of the unsaturated hydraulic properties of peat soils available. We used parameter estimation (inverse) methods to estimate the water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions of drained peat soils from both laboratory and field data. The laboratory data were obtained on small cores using the traditional evaporation method, while the field data were obtained by means of evaporation experiments using groundwater lysimeters with and without vegetation. The field experiments without vegetation produced highly uncertain parameters and were limited to a relatively small pressure head range. Better results were obtained for the lysimeter with a grass cover that caused the peat soil to dry out more. However, a physically realistic minimum in the objective function for the plant‐covered lysimeter could be found only when prior information about several parameters was included in the optimization. Good agreement was obtained between the laboratory and field measurements. The hydraulic functions were subsequently tested by comparing forward simulations with independently measured pressure heads and water contents of an additional lysimeter experiment under grass. The dynamics of the drying process was described well using the optimized soil hydraulic properties.
Impact of hindcast length on estimates of seasonal climate predictability

It has recently been argued that single‐model seasonal forecast ensembles are overdispersive, implying that the real world is more predictable than indicated by estimates of so‐called perfect model predictability, particularly over the North Atlantic. However, such estimates are based on relatively short forecast data sets comprising just 20 years of seasonal predictions. Here we study longer 40 year seasonal forecast data sets from multimodel seasonal forecast ensemble projects and show that sampling uncertainty due to the length of the hindcast periods is large. The skill of forecasting the North Atlantic Oscillation during winter varies within the 40 year data sets with high levels of skill found for some subperiods. It is demonstrated that while 20 year estimates of seasonal reliability can show evidence of overdispersive behavior, the 40 year estimates are more stable and show no evidence of overdispersion. Instead, the predominant feature on these longer time scales is underdispersion, particularly in the tropics.
Optimal Discretionary Monetary Policy under Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity ∗

We study the implications for optimal monetary policy when declining nominal wages is not a viable margin for adjustment to adverse economic conditions. To this end, we develop a New Keynesian model where downward nominal wage rigidity arises endogenously. We show that the optimal policy response to changing economic conditions is asymmetric. Another important finding is that downward nominal rigidity actually increases welfare. The reason is that downward nominal rigidity is a constraint that changes the choice set, which opens up for a more effective stabilization in terms of welfare losses. Thus, downward nominal rigidity is not just an additional constraint on the policy makers problem.
Efficient Indexing of Complex Objects for Density-based Clustering

Databases are getting more and more important for storing complex objects from scientific, engineering or multimedia applications. Examples for such data are chemical compounds, CAD drawings or XML data. The efficient search for similar objects in such databases is a key feature. However, the general problem of many similarity measures for complex objects is their computational complexity, which makes them unusable for large databases. An area where this complexity problem is a strong handicap is that of densitybased clustering where many similarity range queries have to be performed. In this paper, we combine and extend the two techniques of metric index structures and multistep query processing to improve the performance of range query processing. The efficiency of our methods is demonstrated in extensive experiments on real world data including graphs, trees and vector sets.
Is It Just Me or Was That Sexist? Perception of Hostile and Benevolent Sexism in the Context of Race

IS IT JUST ME, OR WAS THAT SEXIST? PERCEPTION OF HOSTILE AND BENEVOLENT SEXISM IN THE CONTEXT OF RACE Mackenzie Kirkman Marquette University, 2017 Sexism is a common problem in the U.S. A major component of addressing this problem is determining the circumstances in which sexism is identified. One particular characteristic relevant to the perception of sexism is the race of the perpetrator of sexist behaviors. Using a vignette design, the current project explored whether sexism was identified at different rates or perceived as more or less sexist depending on the race of the man perpetrating sexist behaviors and whether it was hostile or benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996). When a Black man engaged in sexist behavior, he was perceived as more sexist that White men when engaging in benevolent sexism – paternalistic, superficially positive sexist behaviors – and non-sexist behaviors. There were no differences based on the race of the perpetrator in the perception of hostile sexism – overtly negative and hostile forms of sexism. Women identified sexism more often and viewed it as more sexist than men did, especially in the context of hostile sexism. These findings suggest there are significant effects of perceiver gender and perpetrator race in the perception of sexism. This demonstrates the importance of examining both raceand gender-based discrimination together.
Preadapted for invasiveness: do species traits or their plastic response to shading differ between invasive and non‐invasive plant species in their native range?

Aim Species capable of vigorous growth under a wide range of environmental conditions should have a higher chance of becoming invasive after introduction into new regions. High performance across environments can be achieved either by constitutively expressed traits that allow for high resource uptake under different environmental conditions or by adaptive plasticity of traits. Here we test whether invasive and non‐invasive species differ in presumably adaptive plasticity.
Selecting decision strategies: The differential role of affect

Many theories on cognition assume that people adapt their decision strategies depending on the situation they face. To test if and how affect guides the selection of decision strategies, we conducted an online study (N = 166), where different mood states were induced through video clips. Results indicate that mood influenced the use of decision strategies. Negative mood, in particular anger, facilitated the use of non-compensatory strategies, whereas positive mood promoted compensatory decision rules. These results are in line with the idea that positive mood broadens the focus of attention and thus increases the use of compensatory decision strategies that take many pieces of information into account, whereas negative mood narrows the focus of attention and thus fosters non-compensatory strategies that rely on a selective use of information. The results further indicate that gaining a deeper theoretical understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that govern decision processes requires taking emotions into account.
Real-Time Lane Region Detection Using a Combination of Geometrical and Image Features

Over the past few decades, pavement markings have played a key role in intelligent vehicle applications such as guidance, navigation, and control. However, there are still serious issues facing the problem of lane marking detection. For example, problems include excessive processing time and false detection due to similarities in color and edges between traffic signs (channeling lines, stop lines, crosswalk, arrows, etc.). This paper proposes a strategy to extract the lane marking information taking into consideration its features such as color, edge, and width, as well as the vehicle speed. Firstly, defining the region of interest is a critical task to achieve real-time performance. In this sense, the region of interest is dependent on vehicle speed. Secondly, the lane markings are detected by using a hybrid color-edge feature method along with a probabilistic method, based on distance-color dependence and a hierarchical fitting model. Thirdly, the following lane marking information is extracted: the number of lane markings to both sides of the vehicle, the respective fitting model, and the centroid information of the lane. Using these parameters, the region is computed by using a road geometric model. To evaluate the proposed method, a set of consecutive frames was used in order to validate the performance.
Hochschulen zwischen Social Media-Spezialisten und Online-Verweigerern. Eine Analyse der Online- und Social Media-Kommunikation promotionsberechtigter Hochschulen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

Hochschulen haben in den letzten Jahren eine Phase intensiver Veranderungen erlebt. Unter anderem hat der Druck zugenommen, sich gegenuber der Offentlichkeit zu legitimieren. Ein Weg, auf diesen Druck zu reagieren, ist offentliche Kommunikation. Online-Kommunikationskanale bieten Hochschulen die Moglichkeit, nicht nur journalistische Medien zu adressieren, sondern eigene Themen zu setzen und in neuer Weise zu kommunizieren. Wir untersuchen daher die Online-Kommunikation aller 190 promotionsberechtigen Hochschulen im Jahr 2014 in Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz. Mittels standardisierter Inhaltsanalyse wurden die Webseiten der Hochschulen, darauf veroffentlichte Beitrage sowie ihre Facebook- und Twitter-Auftritte analysiert. Im Hinblick auf die codierten Dimensionen Selbstthematisierung, Adressierung der Medien, Hypertextualitat, Multimedialitat und Interaktivitat lassen sich mittels Clusteranalyse funf Typen von Hochschulen identifizieren: Social Media-Spezialisten, Allrounder, Verweigerer, Traditionelle und Mainstream-Hochschulen. Social Media-Spezialisten und Allrounder nutzen die Moglichkeiten der Online-Kommunikation intensiv und kommunizieren haufig uber hochschuleigene Themen. Verweigerer betreiben nur zuruckhaltend Online-Kommunikation. Die verschiedenen Hochschultypen zeigen daruber hinaus Unterschiede in strukturellen Merkmalen. Vor allem grose Hochschulen mit vielen Studierenden engagieren sich starker in der Online-Kommunikation und betreiben eine starkere Selbstthematisierung.
Assigning folds to the proteins encoded by the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium.

A crucial step in exploiting the information inherent in genome sequences is to assign to each protein sequence its three-dimensional fold and biological function. Here we describe fold assignment for the proteins encoded by the small genome of Mycoplasma genitalium. The assignment was carried out by our computer server (http://www.doe-mbi.ucla.edu/people/frsvr/ frsvr. html), which assigns folds to amino acid sequences by comparing sequence-derived predictions with known structures. Of the total of 468 protein ORFs, 103 (22%) can be assigned a known protein fold with high confidence, as cross-validated with tests on known structures. Of these sequences, 75 (16%) show enough sequence similarity to proteins of known structure that they can also be detected by traditional sequence-sequence comparison methods. That is, the difference of 28 sequences (6%) are assignable by the sequence-structure method of the server but not by current sequence-sequence methods. Of the remaining 78% of sequences in the genome, 18% belong to membrane proteins and the remaining 60% cannot be assigned either because these sequences correspond to no presently known fold or because of insensitivity of the method. At the current rate of determination of new folds by x-ray and NMR methods, extrapolation suggests that folds will be assigned to most soluble proteins in the next decade.