Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inscuteable Regulates the Pins-Mud Spindle Orientation Pathway

During asymmetric cell division, alignment of the mitotic spindle with the cell polarity axis ensures that the cleavage furrow separates fate determinants into distinct daughter cells. The protein Inscuteable (Insc) is thought to link cell polarity and spindle positioning in diverse systems by binding the polarity protein Bazooka (Baz; aka Par-3) and the spindle orienting protein Partner of Inscuteable (Pins; mPins or LGN in mammals). Here we investigate the mechanism of spindle orientation by the Insc-Pins complex. Previously, we defined two Pins spindle orientation pathways: a complex with Mushroom body defect (Mud; NuMA in mammals) is required for full activity, whereas binding to Discs large (Dlg) is sufficient for partial activity. In the current study, we have examined the role of Inscuteable in mediating downstream Pins-mediated spindle orientation pathways. We find that the Insc-Pins complex requires Gαi for partial activity and that the complex specifically recruits Dlg but not Mud. In vitro competition experiments revealed that Insc and Mud compete for binding to the Pins TPR motifs, while Dlg can form a ternary complex with Insc-Pins. Our results suggest that Insc does not passively couple polarity and spindle orientation but preferentially inhibits the Mud pathway, while allowing the Dlg pathway to remain active. Insc-regulated complex assembly may ensure that the spindle is attached to the cortex (via Dlg) before activation of spindle pulling forces by Dynein/Dynactin (via Mud).
Tools of the trade: the socio-technology of arbitrage in a Wall Street trading room

To analyze the organization of trading in the era of quantitative finance we conduct an ethnography of arbitrage, the trading strategy that best exemplifies finance in the wake of the quantitative revolution. In contrast to value and momentum investing, we argue, arbitrage involves an art of association—the construction of comparability across different assets. In place of essential or relational characteristics, the peculiar valuation that takes place in arbitrage is based on an operation that makes something the measure of something else—associating securities to each other. The process of recognizing opportunities and the practices of making novel associations are shaped by the specific socio-spatial and socio-technical configurations of the trading room. Calculation is distributed across persons and instruments as the trading room organizes interaction among diverse principles of valuation.
Flow Cytometric Quantification of Peripheral Blood Cell β-Adrenergic Receptor Density and Urinary Endothelial Cell-Derived Microparticles in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by severe angiogenic remodeling of the pulmonary artery wall and right ventricular hypertrophy. Thus, there is an increasing need for novel biomarkers to dissect disease heterogeneity, and predict treatment response. Although β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) dysfunction is well documented in left heart disease while endothelial cell-derived microparticles (Ec-MPs) are established biomarkers of angiogenic remodeling, methods for easy large clinical cohort analysis of these biomarkers are currently absent. Here we describe flow cytometric methods for quantification of βAR density on circulating white blood cells (WBC) and Ec-MPs in urine samples that can be used as potential biomarkers of right heart failure in PAH. Biotinylated β-blocker alprenolol was synthesized and validated as a βAR specific probe that was combined with immunophenotyping to quantify βAR density in circulating WBC subsets. Ec-MPs obtained from urine samples were stained for annexin-V and CD144, and analyzed by a micro flow cytometer. Flow cytometric detection of alprenolol showed that βAR density was decreased in most WBC subsets in PAH samples compared to healthy controls. Ec-MPs in urine was increased in PAH compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a direct correlation between Ec-MPs and Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) in PAH patients. Therefore, flow cytometric quantification of peripheral blood cell βAR density and urinary Ec-MPs may be useful as potential biomarkers of right ventricular function in PAH.
Recognizing Affect from Linguistic Information in 3D Continuous Space

Most research efforts dealing with recognition of emotion-related states from the human speech signal concentrate on acoustic analysis. However, the last decade's research results show that the task cannot be solved to complete satisfaction, especially when it comes to real life speech data and in particular to the assessment of speakers' valence. This paper therefore investigates novel approaches to the additional exploitation of linguistic information. To ensure good applicability to the real world, spontaneous speech and nonacted nonprototypical emotions are examined in the recently popular dimensional model in 3D continuous space. As there is a lack of linguistic analysis approaches and experiments for this model, various methods are proposed. Best results are obtained with the described bag of n-gram and character n-gram approaches introduced for the first time for this task and allowing for advanced vector space representation of the spoken contents. Furthermore, string kernels are considered. By early fusion and combined space optimization of the proposed linguistic features with acoustic ones, the regression of continuous emotion primitives outperforms reported benchmark results on the VAM corpus of highly emotional face-to-face communication.
Temporal-Nasal Asymmetry in Facial Emotion Processing

Whilst many have argued for a right hemisphere advantage for the processing of emotional stimuli, reflected in a left hemifield bias for attending, researchers have also highlighted the attentional biases of the superior colliculus, which shows an enhanced response to stimuli in the temporal hemifields. This structure has been found to be part of a subcortical network involving the pulvinar and amygdala, activated in response to emotional signals in our environment. The present study was therefore designed to investigate hemispheric lateralisation effects in facial emotion processing, as well as to determine if a temporal-nasal asymmetry in processing could be found for emotional faces, via activation of the colliculo-pulvinar-amygdala pathway. This was attempted using a behavioural choice-reaction time study, whereby participant responses to the location of monocularly presented emotional faces of varying intensities were measured. Based on suggestions of the combined influence of cortical and subcortical systems on spatial attention (Zackon et al, 1997), it was hypothesised that a left hemifield cortical advantage for attending to emotional stimuli would interact with a temporal hemifield subcortical advantage for attending, giving a left temporal hemifield advantage for attending. Data analyses showed that whilst reaction time and accuracy responses significantly improved with greater intensity of facial expression, the hemispheric lateralisation and temporal-nasal asymmetry hypotheses could not be supported. However, patterns in the data which demonstrated these effects, though non-significant, suggested flaws in the current experimental design. It is therefore argued that there is a need for more ecologically valid procedures for these effects to be surfaced. Suggestions are made for future research.
Averaging Principle for Quasi-Geostrophic Motions under Rapidly Oscillating Forcing

In this paper, the averaging principle for quasi-geostrophic motions with rapidly oscillating forcing is proved, both on finite but large time intervals and on the entire time axis. This includes comparison estimate, stability estimate, and convergence result between quasi-geostrophic motions and its averaged motions. Furthermore, the existence of almost periodic quasi-geostrophic motions and attractor convergence are also investigated.
Sudden Stops and the Mexican Wave: Currency Crises, Capital Flow Reversals and Output Loss in Emerging Markets

Sudden Stops are the simultaneous occurrence of a currency/balance of payments crisis with a reversal in capital flows (Calvo, 1998). We investigate the output effects of financial crises in emerging markets, focusing on whether sudden-stop crises are a unique phenomenon and whether they entail an especially large and abrupt pattern of output collapse (a “Mexican wave”). Despite an emerging theoretical literature on Sudden Stops, empirical work to date has not precisely identified their occurrences nor measured their subsequent output effects in broad samples. Analysis of Sudden Stops may provide the key to understanding why some currency/balance of payments crises entail very large output losses, while others are frequently followed by expansions. Using a panel data set over the 1975-97 period and covering 24 emerging-market economies, we distinguish between the output effects of currency crises, capital inflow reversals, and sudden-stop crises. We find that sudden-stop crises have a large negative, but short-lived, impact on output growth over and above that found with currency crises. A currency crisis typically reduces output by about 2-3 percent, while a Sudden Stop reduces output by an additional 6-8 percent in the year of the crisis. The cumulative output loss of a Sudden Stop is even larger, around 13-15 percent over a three-year period. Our model estimates correspond closely to the output dynamics of the ‘Mexican wave’ (such as seen in Mexico in 1995, Turkey in 1994 and elsewhere), and out-of-sample predictions of the model explain well the sudden (and seemingly unexpected) collapse in output associated with the 1997-98 Asian Crisis. The empirical results are robust to alternative model specifications, lag structures and using estimation procedures (IV and GMM) that correct for bias associated with estimation of dynamic panel models with country-specific effects. Our study supports the hypothesis that sudden stops have a much larger adverse effect on output than other forms of currency attack, and explains the wide divergence in economies’ performances following international financial crises. Establishing this empirical regularity for emerging market economies is the first step in empirically identifying the transmission mechanism through which sudden stops have such large output effects.
Surrounding robots - A localized solution for the intruder problem

In this paper we present a distributed localized algorithm for the problem, where a group of autonomous mobile robots have to capture a target by forming a circle around it. The robots do not have memory of the past (oblivious) and only use local sensing. Dedicated communication between the robots is not needed. We introduce the discrete multi-orbit target surrounding problem and present a solution for it. We prove that our solution always guarantees that the robots enclose the target and circulate around it in O(D) time, where D is the sum of distances of the robots from the target in the start configuration. We also evaluate our solution by simulations.
Eliminating Aluminum Toxicity in an Acid Sulfate Soil for Rice Cultivation Using Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria

Aluminum toxicity is widely considered as the most important limiting factor for plants growing in acid sulfate soils. A study was conducted in laboratory and in field to ameliorate Al toxicity using plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), ground magnesium limestone (GML) and ground basalt. Five-day-old rice seedlings were inoculated by Bacillus sp. , Stenotrophomonas maltophila, Burkholderia thailandensis and Burkholderia seminalis and grown for 21 days in Hoagland solution (pH 4.0) at various Al concentrations (0, 50 and 100 μM). Toxicity symptoms in root and leaf were studied using scanning electron microscope. In the field, biofertilizer (PGPB), GML and basalt were applied (4 t·ha−1 each). Results showed that Al severely affected the growth of rice. At high concentrations, the root surface was ruptured, leading to cell collapse; however, no damages were observed in the PGPB inoculated seedlings. After 21 days of inoculation, solution pH increased to >6.0, while the control treatment remained same. Field study showed that the highest rice growth and yield were obtained in the bio-fertilizer and GML treatments. This study showed that Al toxicity was reduced by PGPB via production of organic acids that were able to chelate the Al and the production of polysaccharides that increased solution pH. The release of phytohormones further enhanced rice growth that resulted in yield increase.
Suppressed sympathetic outflow to skeletal muscle, muscle thermogenesis, and activity energy expenditure with calorie restriction

During weight loss, adaptive thermogenesis occurs where energy expenditure (EE) is suppressed beyond that predicted for the smaller body size. Here, we investigated the contributions of resting and nonresting EE to the reduced total EE seen after 3 weeks of 50% calorie restriction (CR) in rats, focusing on activity‐associated EE, muscle thermogenesis, and sympathetic outflow. Prolonged food restriction resulted in a 42% reduction in daily EE, through a 40% decrease in resting EE, and a 48% decline in nonresting EE. These decreases in EE were significant even when the reductions in body weight and lean mass were taken into account. Along with a decreased caloric need for low‐to‐moderate‐intensity treadmill activity with 50% CR, baseline and activity‐related muscle thermogenesis were also suppressed, though the ability to increase muscle thermogenesis above baseline levels was not compromised. When sympathetic drive was measured by assessing norepinephrine turnover (NETO), 50% CR was found to decrease NETO in three of the four muscle groups examined, whereas elevated NETO was found in white adipose tissue of food‐restricted rats. Central activation of melanocortin 4 receptors in the ventromedial hypothalamus stimulated this pathway, enhancing activity EE; this was not compromised by 50% CR. These data suggest that suppressed activity EE contributes to adaptive thermogenesis during energy restriction. This may stem from decreased sympathetic drive to skeletal muscle, increasing locomotor efficiency and reducing skeletal muscle thermogenesis. The capacity to increase activity EE in response to central stimuli is retained, however, presenting a potential target for preventing weight regain.
Learning subversion in the business school: An ‘improbable’ encounter

Entrepreneurs develop activities that aim to challenge the status quo, break rules and subvert systems. How can such a thing be taught/learnt in a business school? This article contributes to current debates within entrepreneurship studies that seek to address the subversive nature of entrepreneurial activity. It presents an ethnographic case study of an entrepreneurship course that attempts to re-define the teaching and learning boundaries of subversive activities in a leading European business school. Drawing on the theory of Bakhtin, which has thus far been overlooked in entrepreneurship studies, we unpick the potentiality of art practices in the learning and experiencing of the subversive dimension of entrepreneurship. We employ the concept of ‘dialogical pedagogy’ in order to address calls for more ‘relationally experienced’ approaches to management learning that foreground the conflicts, emotional strains and uncertainties that are embedded in the fabric of entrepreneurial practice. We show how ‘subversive dialogues’ are enacted between students and teachers as they engage in the learning process, and we discuss implications for critical entrepreneurship teaching in an increasingly commoditized education environment.
NMDA, But Not Dopamine D2, Receptors in the Rat Nucleus Accumbens Are Involved in Guidance of Instrumental Behavior by Stimuli Predicting Reward Magnitude

Expectancy of future reward is an important factor guiding the speed of instrumental behavior. The present study sought to explore whether signals transmitted via the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors and via dopamine D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) are critical for the determination of reaction times (RTs) of instrumental responses by the expectancy of future reward. A simple RT task for rats demanding conditioned lever release was used in which the upcoming reward magnitude (5 or 1 pellet) was signaled in advance by discriminative stimuli. In trained rats, RTs of conditioned responses with expectancy of a high reward magnitude were found to be significantly shorter. The shortening of RTs by stimuli predictive of high reward to be obtained was dose-dependently impaired by bilateral intra-NAc infusion of the competitive NMDA antagonistdl-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) (1, 2, or 10 μg in 0.5 μl/side), but not by infusion of the preferential dopamine D2 antagonist haloperidol (5 and 12.5 μg in 0.5 μl/side) or by infusion of vehicle (0.5 μl/side). In conclusion, the data reveal that in well trained animals stimulation of intra-NAc NMDA, but not of dopamine D2, receptors, is critically involved in guiding the speed of instrumental responses according to stimuli predictive of the upcoming reward magnitude.
Anxiété et nosologie. Un aperçu historique

L'isolation de troubles en relation avec l'anxiete commence a la deuxieme moitie du XIX e siecle par la description des phobies et des obsessions. Vers 1900 la psychanalyse extrait la nevrose d'angoisse de la neurasthenie.Recemment,la recherche pharmacotherapeutique suggere la division de la nevrose d'angoisse en anxiete generalisee et attaques de panique en postulant pour ces dernieres une origine genetique, hypothese qui ne fut pas universellement acceptee.La diversification des troubles anxieux n'a donc pas encore abouti a une classification nosologique.
Expression of Functional Tyrosine Kinase B Receptors by Rhythmically Active Respiratory Neurons in the Pre-Bötzinger Complex of Neonatal Mice

Genetic loss of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) severely disrupts brainstem control of respiratory rhythmogenesis in newborn mice; however, the sites at which BDNF acts to regulate respiratory rhythmogenesis are unknown. Using immunochemical and multiplex RT-PCR analysis in mouse brainstem slices, we report that the BDNF receptor, Tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), is strongly expressed in the pre-Bötzinger complex (PBC), the presumed site for rhythm generation, and colocalizes with neurokinin 1 (NK1), a marker of neurons critical for breathing. The period of the respiratory rhythm generated by PBC neurons in vitro was increased by 30% after BDNF treatment (100 ng/ml) and not by nerve growth factor (100 ng/ml) or BDNF (100 ng/ml) in the presence of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor K252a (200 nm). Both synaptic and voltage-dependent properties of PBC neurons were modified by BDNF. Synaptic currents underlying spontaneous rhythmic bursts and glutamate-evoked currents were enhanced by 66 and 33%, respectively. BDNF reduced the Ih current amplitude in rhythmic neurons by 46% and shifted its activation curve by -17 mV. All neurons expressing TrkB mRNA (n = 8) also expressed mRNAs for the Ih current [hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-sensitive cation nonselective channel (HCN1)], and three of four NK1-positive neurons coexpressed TrkB and HCN mRNA. Six of 16 PBC neurons expressed BDNF mRNA, supporting the possibility of autocrine and paracrine actions of BDNF within the respiratory pattern generator. Our data demonstrate that BDNF can modulate respiratory network activity through TrkB signaling in rhythmic PBC neurons.
Mitochondrion-Permeable Antioxidants to Treat ROS-Burst-Mediated Acute Diseases

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in the inflammatory response and cytokine outbreak, such as during virus infections, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, antioxidant is an important medicine to ROS-related diseases. For example, ascorbic acid (vitamin C, VC) was suggested as the candidate antioxidant to treat multiple diseases. However, long-term use of high-dose VC causes many side effects. In this review, we compare and analyze all kinds of mitochondrion-permeable antioxidants, including edaravone, idebenone, α-Lipoic acid, carotenoids, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10, and mitochondria-targeted antioxidants MitoQ and SkQ and propose astaxanthin (a special carotenoid) to be the best antioxidant for ROS-burst-mediated acute diseases, like avian influenza infection and ischemia-reperfusion. Nevertheless, astaxanthins are so unstable that most of them are inactivated after oral administration. Therefore, astaxanthin injection is suggested hypothetically. The drawbacks of the antioxidants are also reviewed, which limit the use of antioxidants as coadjuvants in the treatment of ROS-associated disorders.
ACCEPTANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING IN NIGERIAN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION: A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS

This study was conducted to determine the correlation among four factors influencing acceptance of IT for teaching. The study attempted to re-examine the indicators of technology acceptance theory through confirmatory factor analysis. Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) of the Technology Acceptance Model was the theoretical base of the study. Construct of Computer Self-Efficacy and Facilitating Condition was tested along PU and PEOU. The participants of the study consist of one hundred and twenty-three (123) technical and vocational education teachers in selected secondary schools in Ilorin West, East and South of Kwara State, Nigeria. To ascertain the correlation among the four constructs of the study, a correlation model was proposed, and statistical analysis was conducted. The instrument reliability was ascertained. Similarly, convergent and discriminant validity was conducted through factor analysis with SPSS 16. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out with Structural Equation Modeling. The data were equally subjected to t-test analysis to identify if vocational and technical education teacher use of IT for teaching differed by gender. The result showed that there is no difference by gender in IT use for teaching. Moreover, the results showed a significant correlation among all the factors in influencing acceptance of IT for teaching. The study has implications for all stakeholders in preventing problems associated with IT acceptance for teaching. The study also serves as a template for understanding acceptance of IT for teaching in the Nigerian school system.