Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrate addition has minimal short‐term impacts on Greenland ice sheet supraglacial prokaryotes

Tropospheric nitrate levels are predicted to increase throughout the 21st century, with potential effects on terrestrial ecosystems, including the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). This study considers the impacts of elevated nitrate concentrations on the abundance and composition of dominant bulk and active prokaryotic communities sampled from in situ nitrate fertilization plots on the GrIS surface. Nitrate concentrations were successfully elevated within sediment-filled meltwater pools, known as cryoconite holes; however, nitrate additions applied to surface ice did not persist. Estimated bulk and active cryoconite community cell abundance was unaltered by nitrate additions when compared to control holes using a quantitative PCR approach, and nitrate was found to have a minimal affect on the dominant 16S rRNA gene-based community composition. Together, these results indicate that sampled cryoconite communities were not nitrate limited at the time of sampling. Instead, temporal changes in biomass and community composition were more pronounced. As these in situ incubations were short (6 weeks), and the community composition across GrIS surface ice is highly variable, we suggest that further efforts should be considered to investigate the potential long-term impacts of increased nitrate across the GrIS.
Conscious and Unconscious Decision-Making in Younger and Older Adults

The Unconscious Thought Theory (e.g. Dijksterhuis, 2004) supposes two modes of thought in decision making: unconscious and conscious. Conscious thinking requires attention whereas unconscious thinking does not. Because in older people cognitive resources are declined it was hypothesized that older people should show impaired performance in a conscious decision task whereas task performance that requires unconscious thinking should not be impaired. Surprisingly we found no differences at all between younger and older people in both task.
Significance of the Melanocortin 1 Receptor in Regulating Human Melanocyte Pigmentation, Proliferation, and Survival

Abstract: The characterization of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) expressed on human melanocytes and the findings that certain mutations in the POMC gene or the MC1R gene result in red hair phenotype underscore the significance of melanocortins and MC1R in regulating human pigmentation. We demonstrated that human melanocytes respond to α‐melanocortin (α‐MSH) or ACTH with increased proliferation and melanogenesis, and to agouti signaling protein by abrogation of these effects. α‐MSH and ACTH were equipotent and more potent than β‐MSH, and γ‐MSH was the least potent in activating the MC1R and stimulating melanogenesis and proliferation of human melanocytes. We characterized the MC1R genotype in a panel of human melanocyte cultures and identified three cultures that were homozygous for Arg160Trp, heterozygous for Arg151Cys and Asp294His, and heterozygous for Arg160Trp and Asp294His substitutions, respectively. Those cultures failed to respond to α‐MSH with increase in cAMP levels, tyrosinase activity, or proliferation and had an exaggerated response to the cytotoxic effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. These loss‐of‐function mutations have been associated with red hair phenotype and increased risk for skin cancer. Melanocytes homozygous for Val29Met substitution in MC1R responded normally to α‐MSH and UVB, suggesting that this variant is a polymorphism. We observed that α‐MSH promotes human melanocyte survival by inhibiting the UV‐induced apoptosis independently of melanin synthesis. This effect was absent in human melanocytes with loss of function MC1R mutations. We predict that the survival effect of α‐MSH is caused by reduction of UV‐induced DNA damage and contributes to the prevention of melanoma.
Intelligence : the new look

Published posthumously, this volume gives the reader an opportunity to "listen" to Eysenck's integration of developments in several areas - heredity of aspects of intelligence, the role of DNA in behavioural influences which implicate the nature of intelligence, contributions from study of elementary cognitive tasks (reaction time and "inspection time" when speed of execution is measured, plus varied special abilities) and, particularly, one which interested him most: "creativity and intuition and the production of works of arts and science by the geniuses of this world". Conspicuously omitted are the "politics of IQ" since this topic does not concern facts. His stated focus is that "intelligence is a meaningful concept, can be scientifically measured, and has a respectable theory to contain it". Eysenck's pursuit is typically Eysenckian - a large variety is put into the mix, stirred by his cuttingly focused criticism, and seasoned with much humour. Readers will gulp mouthfuls of statistical data, be guided by simple logic and close the book with a much clearer understanding of what we know, what we have yet to learn, and which questions may be especially interesting.
Gravitational collapse of a macroscopic string by a Newtonian description including the effect of gravitational radiation

We make an attempt to dynamically study, in four space-time dimensions, the classical gravitational collapse of a macroscopic circular fundamental string, by a truncation of the Einstein equations that suppresses retarded features but keeps the main self-gravity peculiarities of the relativistic string dynamics, and allows the investigation of a possible infinite red-shift. The numerical solution of the string evolution in the self-induced metric shows an infinite red shift at a macroscopic size of the string, when the string reaches the velocity of light. We further include the back-reaction of the radiation of gravitons which induces energy dissipation: now the velocity of light is not reached, the infinite red-shift does not form and the string simply shrinks with damped oscillations.
Accuracy Requirements for Image-Guided Spinal Pedicle Screw Placement

Study Design Accuracy requirement analysis for image-guided pedicle screw placement. Objectives To derive theoretical accuracy requirements for image-guided spinal pedicle screw placement. Summary of Background Data Underlying causes of inaccuracy in image-guided surgical systems and methods for quantifying this inaccuracy have been studied. However, accuracy requirements for specific spinal surgical procedures have not been delineated. In particular, the accuracy requirements for image-guided spinal pedicle screw placement have not been previously reported. Methods A geometric model was developed relating spinal pedicle anatomy to accuracy requirements for image-guided surgery. This model was used to derive error tolerances for pedicle screw placement when using clinically relevant screw diameters in the cervical (3.5 mm), thoracic (5.0 mm), and thoracolumbar spine (6.5 mm). The error tolerances were represented as the permissible rotational and translational deviations from the ideal screw trajectory that would avoid pedicle wall perforation. The relevant dimensions of the pedicle model were extracted from existing morphometric data. Results As anticipated, accuracy requirements were greatest at spinal levels where the relevant screw diameter approximated the dimensions of the pedicle. These requirements were highest for T5, followed in descending order by T4, T7, T6, T3, T12, L1, T8, T11, C4, L2, C3, T10, C5, T2, T9, C6, L3, C2, T1, C7, L4, and L5. Maximum permissible translational/rotational error tolerances ranged from 0.0 mm/0.0° at T5 to 3.8 mm/12.7° at L5. Conclusions These results, obtained by mathematical analysis, demonstrate that extremely high accuracy is necessary to place pedicle screws at certain levels of the spine without perforating the pedicle wall. These accuracy requirements exceed the accuracy of current image-guided surgical systems, based on clinical utility errors reported in the literature. In actual use, however, these systems have been shown to improve the accuracy of pedicle screw placement. This dichotomy indicates that other factors, such as the surgeon’s visual and tactile feedback, may be operative.
EULAR recommendations for the management of systemic lupus erythematosus with neuropsychiatric manifestations: report of a task force of the EULAR standing committee for clinical affairs

Objectives To develop recommendations for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) manifestations. Methods The authors compiled questions on prevalence and risk factors, diagnosis and monitoring, therapy and prognosis of NPSLE. A systematic literature search was performed and evidence was categorised based on sample size and study design. Results Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are at increased risk of several neuropsychiatric manifestations. Common (cumulative incidence >5%) manifestations include cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and seizures; relatively uncommon (1–5%) are severe cognitive dysfunction, major depression, acute confusional state (ACS), peripheral nervous disorders psychosis. Strong risk factors (at least fivefold increased risk) are previous or concurrent severe NPSLE (for cognitive dysfunction, seizures) and antiphospholipid antibodies (for CVD, seizures, chorea). The diagnostic work-up of suspected NPSLE is comparable to that in patients without SLE who present with the same manifestations, and aims to exclude causes unrelated to SLE. Investigations include cerebrospinal fluid analysis (to exclude central nervous system infection), EEG (to diagnose seizure disorder), neuropsychological tests (to assess cognitive dysfunction), nerve conduction studies (for peripheral neuropathy) and MRI (T1/T2, fluid-attenuating inversion recovery, diffusion-weighted imaging, enhanced T1 sequence). Glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive therapy are indicated when NPSLE is thought to reflect an inflammatory process (optic neuritis, transverse myelitis, peripheral neuropathy, refractory seizures, psychosis, ACS) and in the presence of generalised lupus activity. Antiplatelet/anticoagulation therapy is indicated when manifestations are related to antiphospholipid antibodies, particularly thrombotic CVD. Conclusions Neuropsychiatric manifestations in SLE patients should be first evaluated and treated as in patients without SLE, and secondarily attributed to SLE and treated accordingly.
Firing properties of GABAergic vs . non-GABAergic vestibular nucleus neurons conferred by a differential balance of potassium currents Abbreviated title : Balance of potassium currents in MVN neurons

Neural circuits are composed of diverse cell types whose firing properties reflect their intrinsic ionic currents. GABAergic and non-GABAergic neurons in the medial vestibular nuclei, identified in GIN and YFP-16 lines of transgenic mice, respectively, exhibit different firing properties in brain slices. The intrinsic ionic currents of these cell types were investigated in acutely dissociated neurons from 3-4 week-old mice, where differences in spontaneous firing and action potential parameters observed in slice preparations are preserved. Both GIN and YFP-16 neurons express a combination of four major outward currents: Ca 2+-dependent K + currents (I KCa), 1 mM TEA-sensitive delayed rectifier K + currents (I 1TEA), 10 mM TEA-sensitive delayed rectifier K + currents (I 10TEA), and A-type K + currents (I A). The balance of these currents varied across cells, with GIN neurons tending to express proportionately more I KCa and I A and YFP-16 neurons tending to express proportionately more I 1TEA and I 10TEA. Correlations in charge densities suggested that several currents were coregulated. Variations in the kinetics and density of I 1TEA could account for differences in repolarization rates observed both within and between cell types. These data indicate that diversity in the firing properties of GABAergic and non-GABAergic vestibular nucleus neurons arises from graded differences in the balance and kinetics of ionic currents.
Circulating hepcidin in the crossroads of anemia and inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of circulating hepcidin, which is a homeostatic regulator of iron metabolism and a mediator of inflammation, in anemia associated with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Forty patients with rheumatoid arthritis (19 with anemia and 21 without anemia), 12 patients with iron deficiency anemia and 14 healthy adults were studied. Serum hepcidin levels were analyzed with hepcidin prohormone solid phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS The mean serum hepcidin levels were significantly higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis with anemia compared to healthy adults and those with iron deficiency anemia. The active rheumatoid arthritis group had significantly higher mean serum hepcidin levels than the inactive rheumatoid arthritis group. In the rheumatoid arthritis group, serum hepcidin levels were positively correlated with disease activity, but inversely correlated with hemoglobin levels. The serum hepcidin level was found to be a significant predictor for hemoglobin level. CONCLUSION Serum hepcidin levels are closely associated with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis patients and might play a role in the pathobiology of chronic disease anemia associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
The Dynamics of Action Selection

The paper addresses the problem of action selection for an autonomous agent. An autonomous agent is viewed as a collection of "competence modules". The hypothesis that is put forward is that rational action selection can be modeled as an emergent property of an activation/inhibition dynamics among these modules. Results of a computer simulation are discussed and a first step towards a qualitative theory is presented. The advantages and disadvantages of this nonhierarchical, distributed form of control of action over the classical, programmed, centralized method are studied.
THE USE OF ROLE-PLAY TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL

This research is conducted; (1) to find out whether role play can improve students’ speaking ability of Science Class XI-3 in SMA Negeri 7 Surakarta; (2) to find out whether role-play can improve class situation’s problem in learning-teaching activity. The method of this study is a classroom action research. It consists of planning, action, observing, and reflection. The class consists of 28 students. The techniques of collecting data used were field notes, photographs, speaking test, and interview techniques. Quantitative data were analyzed by comparing score before and after each cycle. Qualitative data were analyzed by constant comparative method. The research findings are the improvement of students’ speaking ability and classroom situation. The students’’ mean score of pre test is 60.48, it improves up to 66.92 in the first cycle, and up to 75.58 in the second cycle. Keywords: role-play, speaking achievement
Does Foreign Aid Promote Democracy? Aid, democracy, and instability from trade

This study revisits the effect of aid on the quality of institutions and examines the effects of a major source of instability, namely terms-of-trade instability, on the quality of democracy. We take advantage of previous empirical findings which explain the role of aid in mitigating the adverse effects of external shocks, and argue that in the long term, aggregate aid flows can potentially dampen the effects of terms-of-trade instability on the quality of democracy. An empirical investigation with data from 71 developing countries (including 28 African states) over the period 1980-2003 provides supportive results.
Socialization Goals and strategies for deaf children that their mothers value for their children

Research in Brazil has drawn attention to the prevalence of distinct models for creativity that arise from the social background, which are as follows: interdependent, independent and autonomous-relational. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to uncover the socialization goals and expectations of mothers of deaf children with regard to the future of their children. Interviews were conducted with 13 mothers of deaf children enrolled in a deaf public school; the study was carried out using a semi-structured questionnaire (officially recognized in Brazil) comprising questions about the goals and strategies of socialization. The group of participants consisted of the following: low-income mothers residing in an urban environment, with little formal education and aged between 31 and 40. The study reported 20 socialization goals that were divided into the following categories: social expectations, good behavior and self-improvement–in descending order–which suggests a tendency towards a ‘sociocentric’ dimension. The interdependent category was the predominant model of creativity. With regard to strategies of socialization, 37 were described, one of which (the category centered on itself ) obtained the highest score with stress being laid on its cognitive features. It should be understood that although the model of creativity is independent, the strategies were concentrated on the figure of the mother. One possible analytical approach is to examine the linguistic barriers that are caused by deafness and which prevent the child and the environment from being taken into account by mothers as mediators of the children.
The Context of Religiosity, Social Support and Health Locus of Control

Abstract Most African-Americans choose hemodialysis as a treatment regimen when diagnosed with renal failure modality. Some researchers suggest that African-American hemodialysis patients’ health-related quality of life enables them to cope with and survive this type of difficult renal therapy better than other racial and ethnic groups. This article examines how the sociocultural and social psychological constructs of religiosity, social support and health locus of control, relate to the health-related quality of life for this population group.
Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of cell‐free protein synthesis: identification of multiple protein properties that correlate with successful expression

High‐throughput cell‐free protein synthesis is being used increasingly in structural/functional genomics projects. However, the factors determining expression success are poorly understood. Here, we evaluated the expression of 3066 human proteins and their domains in a bacterial cell‐free system and analyzed the correlation of protein expression with 39 physicochemical and structural properties of proteins. As a result of the bioinformatics analysis performed, we determined the 18 most influential features that affect protein amenability to cell‐free expression. They include protein length;hydrophobicity;pI;content of charged, nonpolar, and aromatic residues;, cysteine content;solvent accessibility,presence of coiled coil;content of intrinsically disordered and structured (α‐helix and β‐sheet) sequence;number of disulfide bonds and functional domains;presence of transmembrane regions;PEST motifs;and signaling sequences. This study represents the first comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of heterologous protein synthesis in a cell‐free system. The rules and correlations revealed here provide a plethora of important insights into rationalization of cell‐free protein production and can be of practical use for protein engineering with the aim of increasing expression success. —Kurotani, A. , Takagi, T. , Toyama, M. , Shirouzu, M. , Yokoyama, S. , Fukami, Y. , Tokmakov, A. A. Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of cell‐free protein synthesis: identification of multiple protein properties that correlate with successful expression. FASEB J. 24, 1095–1104 (2010). www.fasebj. org
Automated design of hammerhead ribozymes and validation by targeting the PABPN1 gene transcript

We present a new publicly accessible web-service, RiboSoft, which implements a comprehensive hammerhead ribozyme design procedure. It accepts as input a target sequence (and some design parameters) then generates a set of ranked hammerhead ribozymes, which target the input sequence. This paper describes the implemented procedure, which takes into consideration multiple objectives leading to a multi-objective ranking of the computer-generated ribozymes. Many ribozymes were assayed and validated, including four ribozymes targeting the transcript of a disease-causing gene (a mutant version of PABPN1). These four ribozymes were successfully tested in vitro and in vivo, for their ability to cleave the targeted transcript. The wet-lab positive results of the test are presented here demonstrating the real-world potential of both hammerhead ribozymes and RiboSoft. RiboSoft is freely available at the website http://ribosoft.fungalgenomics. ca/ribosoft/.
Tomada de consciência da fonologia em L2: instrução explícita e a aquisição do aspirado /p/ por falantes de português brasileiro

Currently, there has been a large number of studies involving pronunciation and pronunciation teaching. However, the role of explicit instruction has received very little attention in this field. This research study aims to investigate the effects of explicit instruction on the production of the voiceless plosive /p/ in word-initial position in English. We have carried out quantitative analyses involving 12 Brazilian native speakers who have been studying English as a second language. Participants were divided in 2 groups: (a) an Experimental Group, which received contextualized pronunciation classes on aspiration; and (b) a Control Group, which did not receive any kind of instruction. Prior to classes, participants took a production test both in English and in Portuguese, which allowed us to measure their Voice Onset Time (VOT) values in milliseconds (ms). Following the instruction classes, participants took the same test again, so that their progress could be assessed. The tests consisted of a list of words with word-initial /p/ as well as distracters. Our data show that explicit instruction contributed to an increase in the averages of VOT produced by the participants in the Experimental Group. On the other hand, the Control Group did not produce the aspirated /p/ in a target-like manner. Overall, explicit instruction with contextualization has proved to have a positive effect on the acquisition of aspirated /p/ by Brazilian speakers.
Analysis of the haemolysin transport process through the secretion from Escherichia coli of PCM, CAT or β‐galactosidase fused to the Hly C‐terminal signal domain

Secretion of haemolysin (HlyA) is secA independent, but depends upon two accessory membrane proteins, HlyB and HlyD, encoded by the hly determinant. A fourth (cytoplasmic) protein, HlyC, is required to activate HlyA post‐translationally, but has no role in export. Deletion studies have previously shown that the HlyA molecule contains a targeting signal close to the C‐terminus which specifically directs its secretion to the medium. This targeting signal has been variously located within the terminal 27, 53, 60 or 113 amino acids.