Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modes and rates of horizontal deformation from rotated river basins: Application to the Dead Sea fault system in Lebanon

Partitioning of horizontal deformation between localized and distributed modes in regions of oblique tectonic convergence is, in many cases, hard to quantify. Here we use the geometry of river basins and numerical modeling to evaluate modes and rates of horizontal deformation associated with the Arabia-Sinai relative plate motion in Lebanon. We focus on river basins that drain Mount Lebanon to the west and are bounded by the Yammouneh fault, a segment of the Dead Sea fault system that transfers left-lateral deformation across the Lebanese restraining bend. We quantify a systematic counterclockwise rotation of these basins and evaluate drainage area disequilibrium using the χ metric. The analysis indicates a systematic spatial pattern whereby tributaries of the rotated basins appear to experience drainage area loss or gain with respect to channel length. A kinematic model reveals that since the late Miocene, 23%–31% of the relative plate motion parallel to the plate boundary has been distributed along a wide band of deformation to the west of the Yammouneh fault. Taken together with previous, shorter-term estimates, the model indicates little variation of slip rate along the Yammouneh fault since the late Miocene. Kinematic model results are compatible with late Miocene paleomagnetic rotations in western Mount Lebanon. A numerical landscape evolution experiment demonstrates the emergence of a similar pattern of drainage area disequilibrium in response to progressive distributed shear deformation of river basins with relatively minor drainage network reorganization.
Sex differences in self-disclosure: a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of 205 studies involving 23,702 Ss was conducted to determine whether there are sex differences in self-disclosure. Across these studies, women disclosed slightly more than men (d = .18). This effect size was not homogeneous across studies. Several moderator variables were found. Sex of target and the interaction effect of relationship to target and measure of self-disclosure moderated the effect of sex on self-disclosure. Sex differences in self-disclosure were significantly greater to female and same-sex partners than to opposite-sex or male partners. When the target had a relationship with the discloser (i.e., friend, parent, or spouse), women disclosed more than men regardless of whether self-disclosure was measured by self-report or observation. When the target was a stranger, men reported that they disclosed similarly to women; however, studies using observational measures of self-disclosure found that women disclosed more than men.
Incidence of placental mosaicism leading to discrepant results between QF‐PCR and karyotyping in 22,825 chorionic villus samples

To review the frequency and analyse the origin of completely discrepant results observed between QF‐PCR and karyotyping in chorionic villus samples (CVS) as a result of placental mosaicism. Also, to assess QF‐PCR results for biallelic or triallelic patterns and determine their significance.
Influence of framing on medical decision making

Numerous studies have demonstrated the robustness of the framing effect in a variety of contexts, especially in medical decision making. Unfortunately, research is still inconsistent as to how so many variables impact framing effects in medical decision making. Additionally, much attention should be paid to the framing effect not only in hypothetical scenarios but also in clinical experience.
An investigation into the impact of language games on classroom interaction and pupil learning in Libyan EFL primary classrooms

The present investigation is guided by the assumption that using a language games-based approach is likely to provide more learning opportunities for pupils through creating an enjoyable learning environment which will enhance pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil interaction. This study involves the use of language games in teaching English to young Libyan learners in two state schools in Libya's capital, Tripoli. One hundred 11 year old pupils and two teachers took part in this study. Pupils were divided into four classes, two traditional classes and two language games classes. Activities based on language games replaced some activities presently in the course book. The main purpose of the study is to explore the nature of classroom interaction in Libyan EFL primary classrooms and how this is affected by the use of language games. The study also aims to discover the teachers' perceptions concerning the use of language games and their impact on pupil learning in action. The study employed a multi-method research design based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data was gathered by means of live classroom observation using computerised observation software as well as videorecording, stimulated recall and semi-structured interviews with teachers, and the analysis of pupil-pupil talk during a spot-the differences game. The coding scheme used as a general framework in this study was adapted from the work of Sinclair and Coulthard (1975). Transcripts of the observations were coded and analysed at the level of acts. The nature of classroom interaction in the traditional classes and language games-based classes was compared. The overall findings revealed that, although teachers still dominated the talk and controlled classroom discourse, some significant differences were found in the nature of classroom interaction between traditional and language gamesbased classes. It also emerged that pupils who used language games were more successful than their counterparts in traditional classes in producing more and longer utterances containing English. It was also found that the teachers participating in this stud y developed positive perceptions concerning the use of language games.
Possible Role of Platelet GluR1 Receptors in Comorbid Depression and Cardiovascular Disease

The exact nature of the comorbidity between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is poorly understood. The proposed mechanisms include various biochemical and molecular pathways as well as health behaviors such as physical inactivity. One possible link between MDD and CVD is increased platelet activity and blood viscosity. Recently, it was discovered that platelets express functional subtype of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, for example, glutamate receptor 1 (GluR1). Here, I propose that this type of AMPA receptor could play a role in comorbid MDD and CVD, and antidepressants may interfere with platelet activation via direct or indirect effects on platelet GluR1 phosphorylation. Testing this hypothesis could provide a novel view on the pathobiological mechanisms of comorbid MDD and CVD. With respect to the recently discovered role of AMPA receptors in regulating platelet activation and thrombosis, it appears that the information about the putative effects of psychoactive AMPA-modifying drugs on platelet AMPA receptors would be critical in evaluating the putative effects of such drugs on CVD.
Input-to-Output Gate to Improve RNN Language Models

This paper proposes a reinforcing method that refines the output layers of existing Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) language models. We refer to our proposed method as Input-to-Output Gate (IOG). IOG has an extremely simple structure, and thus, can be easily combined with any RNN language models. Our experiments on the Penn Treebank and WikiText-2 datasets demonstrate that IOG consistently boosts the performance of several different types of current topline RNN language models.
Further constraints on variation of the fine‐structure constant from alkali‐doublet QSO absorption lines

Comparison of quasar (QSO) absorption-line spectra with laboratory spectra provides a precise probe for variability of the fine-structure constant, α, over cosmological time-scales. We constrain variation in α in 21 Keck/HIRES Si iv absorption systems using the alkali-doublet (AD) method in which changes in α are related to changes in the doublet spacing. The precision obtained with the AD method has been increased by a factor of 3: . We also analyse potential systematic errors in this result. Finally, we compare the AD method with the many-multiplet method, which has achieved an order of magnitude greater precision, and we discuss the future of the AD method.
Sevoflurane-induced cardioprotection depends on PKC-alpha activation via production of reactive oxygen species.

BACKGROUND We previously demonstrated the involvement of the Ca2+-independent protein kinase C-delta (PKC-delta) isoform in sevoflurane-induced cardioprotection against ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Since sevoflurane is known to modulate myocardial Ca2+-handling directly, in this study we investigated the role of the Ca2+-dependent PKC-alpha isoform in sevoflurane-induced cardioprotective signalling in relation to reactive oxygen species (ROS), adenosine triphosphate-sensitive mitochondrial K+ (mitoK+(ATP)) channels, and PKC-delta. METHODS Preconditioned (15 min 3.8 vol% sevoflurane) isolated rat right ventricular trabeculae were subjected to I/R, consisting of 40 min superfusion with hypoxic, glucose-free buffer, followed by normoxic glucose-containing buffer for 60 min. After reperfusion, contractile recovery was expressed as percentage of force development before I/R. The role of PKC-alpha, ROS, mitoK+(ATP) channels, and PKC-delta was established using the following pharmacological inhibitors: Go6976 (GO; 50 nM), n-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine (MPG; 300 microM), 5-hydroxydecanoic acid sodium (5HD; 100 microM), and rottlerin (ROT; 1 microM). RESULTS Preconditioning of trabeculae with sevoflurane improved contractile recovery after I/R [65 (3)% (I/R + SEVO) vs 47 (3)% (I/R); n = 8; P < 0.05]. This cardioprotective effect was attenuated in trabeculae treated with GO [42 (4)% (I/R + SEVO + GO); P > 0.05 vs (I/R)]. In sevoflurane-treated trabeculae, PKC-alpha translocated towards mitochondria, as shown by immunofluorescent co-localization analysis. GO and MPG, but not 5HD or ROT, abolished this translocation. CONCLUSIONS Sevoflurane improves post-ischaemic contractile recovery via activation of PKC-alpha. ROS production, but not opening of mitoK+(ATP) channels, precedes PKC-alpha translocation towards mitochondria. This study shows the involvement of Ca2+-dependent PKC-alpha in addition to the well-established role of Ca2+-independent PKC isoforms in sevoflurane-induced cardioprotection.
Recruitment of the Complete hTREX Complex Is Required for Kaposi's Sarcoma–Associated Herpesvirus Intronless mRNA Nuclear Export and Virus Replication

A cellular pre-mRNA undergoes various post-transcriptional processing events, including capping, splicing and polyadenylation prior to nuclear export. Splicing is particularly important for mRNA nuclear export as two distinct multi-protein complexes, known as human TREX (hTREX) and the exon-junction complex (EJC), are recruited to the mRNA in a splicing-dependent manner. In contrast, a number of Kaposi's sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) lytic mRNAs lack introns and are exported by the virus-encoded ORF57 protein. Herein we show that ORF57 binds to intronless viral mRNAs and functions to recruit the complete hTREX complex, but not the EJC, in order assemble an export component viral ribonucleoprotein particle (vRNP). The formation of this vRNP is mediated by a direct interaction between ORF57 and the hTREX export adapter protein, Aly. Aly in turn interacts directly with the DEAD-box protein UAP56, which functions as a bridge to recruit the remaining hTREX proteins to the complex. Moreover, we show that a point mutation in ORF57 which disrupts the ORF57-Aly interaction leads to a failure in the ORF57-mediated recruitment of the entire hTREX complex to the intronless viral mRNA and inhibits the mRNAs subsequent nuclear export and virus replication. Furthermore, we have utilised a trans-dominant Aly mutant to prevent the assembly of the complete ORF57-hTREX complex; this results in a vRNP consisting of viral mRNA bound to ORF57, Aly and the nuclear export factor, TAP. Strikingly, although both the export adapter Aly and the export factor TAP were present on the viral mRNP, a dramatic decrease in intronless viral mRNA export and virus replication was observed in the absence of the remaining hTREX components (UAP56 and hTHO-complex). Together, these data provide the first direct evidence that the complete hTREX complex is essential for the export of KSHV intronless mRNAs and infectious virus production.
Regulation of tissue-specific expression of SPATULA, a bHLH gene involved in carpel development, seedling germination, and lateral organ growth in Arabidopsis

SPATULA is a bHLH transcription factor that promotes growth of tissues arising from the carpel margins, including the septum and transmitting tract. It is also involved in repressing germination of newly harvested seeds, and in inhibiting cotyledon, leaf, and petal expansion. Using a reporter gene construct, its expression profile was fully defined. Consistent with its known functions, SPT was expressed in developing carpel margin tissues, and in the hypocotyls and cotyledons of germinating seedlings, and in developing leaves and petals. It was also strongly expressed in tissues where no functions have been identified to date, including the dehiscence zone of fruits, developing anthers, embryos, and in the epidermal initials and new stele of root tips. The promoter region of SPT was dissected by truncation and deletion, and two main regions occupied by tissue-specific enhancers were identified. These were correlated with eight regions conserved between promoter regions of Arabidopsis, Brassica oleracea, and Brassica rapa. When transformed into Arabidopsis, the B. oleracea promoter drove expression in reproductive tissues mostly comparable to the equivalent Arabidopsis promoter. There is genetic evidence that SPT function in the gynoecium is associated with the perception of auxin. However, site-directed mutagenesis of three putative auxin-response elements had no detectable effect on SPT expression patterns. Even so, disruption of a putative E-box variant adjacent to one of these resulted in a loss of valve dehiscence zone expression. This expression was also specifically lost in mutants of another bHLH gene INDEHISCENT, indicating that IND may directly regulate SPT expression through this variant E-box.
Eighth-Grade Algebra: Findings from the Eighth-Grade Round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Statistics in Brief. NCES 2010-016.

Introduction . 1 Focus of This Statistics in Brief . 2 The ECLS-K Cohort . 2 Mathematics Course Enrollment . 3 Eighth-Grade Algebra Enrollment in the Schools . 3 Fifth-Grade Mathematics Performance and Enjoyment of Mathematics . 6 Eighth-Grade Mathematics Performance . 6 Enjoyment of Mathematics and Educational Expectations in the Eighth Grade . 9 Summary . 10 Methodology and Technical Notes. 11 Glossary: Constructs and Variables Used in the Analysis . 13 References . 15 Appendix A. Standard Error Tables . 17
Transcription of spoIVB is the only role of sigma G that is essential for pro-sigma K processing during spore formation in Bacillus subtilis

Activation of pro-sigma K processing in the mother cell at late stages of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis requires the presence of active sigma G in the forespore. Placing the spoIVB gene under the control of sigma F, the early forespore transcription factor, allows sigma K to become active in the absence of sigma G. Therefore, transcription of spoIVB is the only role of sigma G that is essential for the signaling pathway between sigma G and sigma K.
Hypomethylation of DNA-binding inhibitor 4 serves as a potential biomarker in distinguishing acquired tamoxifen-refractory breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE To explore the methylation status of DNA-binding inhibitor 4 (ID4) in tamoxifen-refractory (TR) breast cancer. METHODS From January 2012 to December 2014, breast cancer patients managed by radical mastectomy previously and receiving tamoxifen treatment for at least 12 months were enrolled. According to the response to tamoxifen, patients were divided into TR group and tamoxifen-sensitive (TS) group. Genomic DNA was isolated from fasting venous blood, and methylight technique was applied to determine the methylation status of ID4. RESULTS 43 patients with TS breast cancer and 31 patients with TR breast cancer were enrolled. No significant difference between groups was observed in term of patients' characteristics, such as age (P=0.693), progesterone receptor (P=0.970), menopausal status (P=0.784) and histological type (P=0.537), while the stage of cancer in TR group was significantly higher than TS group (P<0.001). Compared to TS group, PMR of ID4 was significantly higher in TR group (P=0.002). ROC curve analysis indicated that ID4 yielded an AUC of 0.716 with 77.4% sensitivity and 62.79% specificity in distinguishing TR breast cancer at the cut point of 3.8%. The PMR cut point of ID4 was set at 6.8% in survival analysis, log-rank test indicated the risk of disease progression was comparable between patients with ID4 hypermethylation or hypomethylation (P=0.287). CONCLUSION ID4 hypomethylation is present in TR breast cancer, and it may serve as a potential biomarker in distinguishing TR breast cancer. However, the results need further validation in larger studies.
Strategies for statistical spoken language understanding with small amount of data - an empirical study

The semantic frame based spoken language understanding involves two decisions – frame classification and slot filling. The two decisions can be made either separately or jointly. This paper compares the different strategies and presents some empirical results in the conditional model framework when only a small amount of training data is available. It is found that while the two pass classification/slot filling solution has resulted in the much better frame classification accuracy, the joint model has yielded better results for slot filling. Application developers need to carefully choose the strategy appropriate to the application scenarios. Index Terms: spoken language understanding, classification, maximum entropy model, conditional random fields
The intramitochondrial dynamin-related GTPase, Mgm1p, is a component of a protein complex that mediates mitochondrial fusion

Abalance between fission and fusion events determines the morphology of mitochondria. In yeast, mitochondrial fission is regulated by the outer membrane–associated dynamin-related GTPase, Dnm1p. Mitochondrial fusion requires two integral outer membrane components, Fzo1p and Ugo1p. Interestingly, mutations in a second mitochondrial-associated dynamin-related GTPase, Mgm1p, produce similar phenotypes to fzo1 and ugo cells. Specifically, mutations in MGM1 cause mitochondrial fragmentation and a loss of mitochondrial DNA that are suppressed by abolishing DNM1-dependent fission. In contrast to fzo1 ts mutants, blocking DNM1-dependent fission restores mitochondrial fusion in mgm1 ts cells during mating. Here we show that blocking DNM1-dependent fission in Δmgm1 cells fails to restore mitochondrial fusion during mating. To examine the role of Mgm1p in mitochondrial fusion, we looked for molecular interactions with known fusion components. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that Mgm1p is associated with both Ugo1p and Fzo1p in mitochondria, and that Ugo1p and Fzo1p also are associated with each other. In addition, genetic analysis of specific mgm1 alleles indicates that Mgm1p's GTPase and GTPase effector domains are required for its ability to promote mitochondrial fusion and that Mgm1p self-interacts, suggesting that it functions in fusion as a self-assembling GTPase. Mgm1p's localization within mitochondria has been controversial. Using protease protection and immuno-EM, we have shown previously that Mgm1p localizes to the intermembrane space, associated with the inner membrane. To further test our conclusions, we have used a novel method using the tobacco etch virus protease and confirm that Mgm1p is present in the intermembrane space compartment in vivo. Taken together, these data suggest a model where Mgm1p functions in fusion to remodel the inner membrane and to connect the inner membrane to the outer membrane via its interactions with Ugo1p and Fzo1p, thereby helping to coordinate the behavior of the four mitochondrial membranes during fusion.
The discovery of a new non-thermal X-ray filament near the Galactic Centre

We report the discovery by XMM-Newton and Chandra of a hard extended X-ray source (XMM J174540-2904.5) associated with a compact non-thermal radio filament (the Sgr A-E 'wisp' = lLC 359.888-0.086 = G359.88-0.07), which is located within ∼4 arcmin of the Galactic Centre. The source position is also coincident with the peak of the molecular cloud M-0.13-0.08 (the '20 km s - 1 ' cloud). The X-ray spectrum is non-thermal with an energy index of 1.0 + 1 . 1 - 0 . 9 and a column density of 38 + 7 - 1 1 x 10 2 2 H cm - 2 . The observed 2-10 keV flux of 4 x 10 - 1 3 erg s - 1 cm - 2 converts to an unabsorbed X-ray luminosity of 1 x 10 3 4 erg s - 1 assuming a distance of 8.0 kpc. The high column density strongly suggests that this source is located in or behind the Galactic Centre region. Taking account of the broad-band spectrum, as well as the source morphology and the positional coincidence with a molecular cloud, we conclude that both the radio and X-ray emission are the result of synchrotron radiation. This is the first time that a filamentary structure in the Galactic Centre region has been shown, unequivocally, to have a non-thermal X-ray spectrum.
Chapter Fifteen. Syllable Markedness And Misperception: It’s A Two-Way Street

The typology of syllables, while providing clues concerning language transmission, is irrelevant to the study of linguistic competence, in general, and the grammatical theory of syllable structure, in particular. The disagreement between the two accounts centers on two key issues. The research described in this chapter addresses both issues by examining the universal restrictions on the structure of onset clusters. It shows that the typological preference for blif -type syllables is synchronically active and it extends even to syllables that are unattested in one's language: marked syllables are systematically misperceived relative to less marked syllables. The chapter describes two novel experiments demonstrating that the misperception of marked syllables reflects preferences that are internal to the faculty of language. The results reported suggests that universal markedness restrictions are synchronically active in the grammars of all speakers, and are causally linked to perceptibility. Keywords: blif ; marked syllables