Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Troubleshooting coupled in vitro transcription–translation system derived from Escherichia coli cells: synthesis of high-yield fully active proteins

Cell-free coupled transcription–translation systems with bacterial lysates are widely used to synthesize recombinant proteins in amounts of several mg per ml. By using reporter green fluorescence protein (GFP) we demonstrate that proteins are synthesized with an unsatisfyingly low-active fraction of (50 ± 20)%. One reason is probably the T7 polymerase used, being up to eight times faster than the intrinsic transcriptase and thus breaking the coupling between transcription and translation in bacterial systems. The active fraction of the synthesized protein was improved by using either a slower T7 transcriptase mutant or lowering the incubation temperature to 20°C. A drop of protein synthesis observed after 7 h incubation time was not due to a shortage of nucleotide triphosphates, but rather to a shortage of amino acids. Accordingly, a second addition of amino acids after 10 h during an incubation at 20°C led to synthesis of up to 4 mg/ml of GFP with virtually 100% activity.
Development and localization of reverse-polarity mechanotransducer channels in cochlear hair cells

Significance Cochlear hair cells are the receptors of the inner ear, detecting sound stimuli by to-and-fro motion of their sensory hair bundle to open mechano-electrical transduction (MT) channels at the tips of the hairs. During embryonic development, mechanically sensitive ion channels appear transiently in mouse cochlear hair cells before acquisition of the normal adult MT channel. These channels are located on the hair-cell apical plasma membrane, are stretch-activated by membrane deformation, and have similar but not identical properties to normal MT channels. It will be important to establish whether the two types of channel possess the same protein core or are structurally distinct, as this may provide a clue to the functional significance of these supernumerary mechanically sensitive channels. Cochlear hair cells normally detect positive deflections of their hair bundles, rotating toward their tallest edge, which opens mechanotransducer (MT) channels by increased tension in interciliary tip links. After tip-link destruction, the normal polarity of MT current is replaced by a mechanically sensitive current evoked by negative bundle deflections. The “reverse-polarity” current was investigated in cochlear hair cells after tip-link destruction with BAPTA, in transmembrane channel-like protein isoforms 1/2 (Tmc1:Tmc2) double mutants, and during perinatal development. This current is a natural adjunct of embryonic development, present in all wild-type hair cells but declining after birth with emergence of the normal-polarity current. Evidence indicated the reverse-polarity current seen developmentally was a manifestation of the same ion channel as that evident under abnormal conditions in Tmc mutants or after tip-link destruction. In all cases, sinusoidal fluid-jet stimuli from different orientations suggested the underlying channels were opened not directly by deflections of the hair bundle but by deformation of the apical plasma membrane. Cell-attached patch recording on the hair-cell apical membrane revealed, after BAPTA treatment or during perinatal development, 90-pS stretch-activated cation channels that could be blocked by Ca2+ and by FM1-43. High-speed Ca2+ imaging, using swept-field confocal microscopy, showed the Ca2+ influx through the reverse-polarity channels was not localized to the hair bundle, but distributed across the apical plasma membrane. These reverse-polarity channels, which we propose to be renamed “unconventional” mechanically sensitive channels, have some properties similar to the normal MT channels, but the relationship between the two types is still not well defined.
Seeing Is Believing: Task-Exposure Specificity and the Development of Mathematics Self-Efficacy Evaluations

We examine the relevance of task exposure specificity in the development of self-efficacy evaluations among 15-year-old students in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. We use data from the 2012 edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess if students’ self-efficacy evaluations with respect to a set of mathematics tasks are associated with how frequently they encountered those same tasks or tasks requiring them to apply similar processes or procedures. We find evidence of task exposure specificity in the development of self-efficacy evaluations toward both applied and pure mathematics problems. The relationship between task exposure and self-efficacy evaluations is not moderated by students’ socioeconomic status (SES) or anxiety toward mathematics. Exposure to easy items appears to be more strongly associated with the development of self-efficacy among high achieving students and exposure to pure mathematics problems is more strongly associated with the development of self-efficacy among girls.
Auroral field-aligned currents by incoherent scatter plasma line observations in the E region

The aim of the Swedish-Japanese EISCAT campaign in February 1999 was to measure the ionospheric parameters inside and outside the auroral arcs. The ion line radar experiment was optimised to probe the E-region and lower F-region with as high a speed as possible. Two extra channels were used for the plasma line measurements covering the same altitudes, giving a total of 3 upshifted and 3 downshifted frequency bands of 25 kHz each. For most of the time the shifted channels were tuned to 3 (both), 4 (up), 5.5 (down) and 6.5 (both) MHz. Weak plasma line signals are seen whenever the radar is probing the diffuse aurora, corresponding to the relatively low plasma frequencies. At times when auroral arcs pass the radar beam, significant increases in return power are observed. Many cases with simultaneously up and down shifted plasma lines are recorded. In spite of the rather active environment, the highly optimised measurements enable investigation of the properties of the plasma lines. A modified theoretical incoherent scatter spectrum is used to explain the measurements. The general trend is an upgoing field-aligned suprathermal current in the diffuse aurora, There are also cases with strong suprathermal currents indicated by large differences in signal strength between up- and downshifted plasma lines. A full fit of the combined ion and plasma line spektra resulted in suprathermal electron distributions consistent with models.
Exploring Data Quality in Games With a Purpose

A key problem for crowd-sourcing systems is motivating contributions from participants and ensuring the quality of these contributions. Games have been suggested as a motivational approach to encourage contribution, but attracting participation through game play rather than scientific interest raises concerns about the quality of the data provided, which is particularly important when the data are to be used for scientific research. To assess whether these concerns are justified, we compare the quality of data obtained from two citizen science games, one a “gamified” version of a species classification task and one a fantasy game that used the classification task only as a way to advance in the game play. Surprisingly, though we did observe cheating in the fantasy game, data quality (i.e., classification accuracy) from participants in the two games was not significantly different. As well, the quality of data from short-time contributors was at a usable level of accuracy. These findings suggest that various approaches to gamification can be useful for motivating contributions to citizen science projects.
Effects of search intent on eye-movement patterns in a change detection task

The goal of the present study was to examine whether intention type affects eye movement patterns in a change detection task In addition, we assessed whether the eye movement index could be used to identify human implicit intent. We attempted to generate three types of intent amongst the study participants, dividing them into one of three conditions; each condition received different information regarding an impending change to the visual stimuli. In the “navigational intent” condition, participants were asked to look for any interesting objects, and were not given any more information about the impending change. In the “low-specific intent” condition, participants were informed that a change would occur. In the “high-specific intent” condition, participants were told that a change would occur, and that an object would disappear. In addition to this main change detection task, participants also had to perform a primary task, in which they were required to name aloud the colors of objects in the pre-change scene. This allowed us to control for the visual searching process during the pre-change scene. The main results were as follows: firstly, the primary task successfully controlled for the visual search process during the pre-change scene, establishing that there were no differences in the patterns of eye movements across all three conditions despite differing intents. Secondly, we observed significantly different patterns of eye movement between the conditions in the post-change scene, suggesting that generating a specific intent for change detection yields a distinctive pattern of eye-movements. Finally, discriminant function analysis showed a reasonable classification rate for identifying a specific intent. Taken together, it was found that both participant intent and the specificity of information provided to the participants affect eye movements in a change detection task.
Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics The State of Corporate Governance Research

This paper, which introduces the special issue on corporate governance co-sponsored by the Review of Financial Studies and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), reviews and comments on the state of corporate governance research. The special issue features seven papers on corporate governance that were presented in a meeting of the NBER‘s corporate governance project. Each of the papers represents state-of-the-art research in an important area of corporate governance research. For each of these areas, we discuss the importance of the area and the questions it focuses on, how the paper in the special issue makes a significant contribution to this area, and what we do and do not know about the area. We discuss in turn work on shareholders and shareholder activism, directors, executives and their compensation, controlling shareholders, comparative corporate governance, cross-border investments in global capital markets, and the political economy of corporate governance.
First results of the XI Groups Project: studying an unbiased sample of galaxy groups

X-ray observations of hot, intergalactic gas in galaxy groups provide a useful means of characterizing the global properties of groups. However, X-ray studies of large group samples have typically involved very shallow X-ray exposures or have been based on rather heterogeneous samples. Here we present the first results of the XI (XMM/IMACS) Groups Project, a study targeting, for the first time, a redshift-selected, statistically unbiased sample of galaxy groups using deep X-ray data. Combining this with radio observations of cold gas and optical imaging and spectroscopy of the galaxy population, the project aims to advance the understanding of how the properties and dynamics of group galaxies relate to global group properties. Here, X-ray and optical data of the first four galaxy groups observed as part of the project are presented. In two of the groups we detect diffuse emission with a luminosity of L X ≈ 10 41 erg s -1 , among the lowest found for any X-ray detected group thus far, with a comparable upper limit for the other two. Compared to typical X-ray selected groups of similar velocity dispersion, these four systems are all surprisingly X-ray faint. We discuss possible explanations for the lack of significant X-ray emission in the groups, concluding that these systems are most likely collapsing for the first time. Our results strongly suggest that, unlike our current optically selected sample, previous X-ray selected group samples represented a biased picture of the group population. This underlines the necessity of a study of this kind, if one is to reach an unbiased census of the properties of galaxy groups and the distribution of baryons in the Universe.
The capability approach and national development in Nigeria: towards a youth transition model

ABSTRACT This paper adapts a qualitative-dominant mixed method approach by utilizing policy documents, semi-structured interviews, a focus group discussion, and structured questionnaires (SQs) to explore the different bottlenecks that impedes the education–National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)–work transition, with a specific focus on the NYSC route. This paper reveals that youth’s (aged 18–30) ability to navigate the formal education phase partly depends on multi-stakeholder contributions that provide support structures to ensure youths obtain a tertiary degree before age 30. Successful completion of the formal education phase makes them eligible to be mobilized for 1-year mandatory service. While in the NYSC route, youth capability development programmes ensure that youths are further developed and deployed to opportunity structures needed to address national development needs. The challenge however is that both state mobilization processes and deployment practice create restrictive opportunity concerns that impede the effective functioning and freedoms for youth capabilities to thrive. This paper broadly contributes to human resource development practice by utilizing a youth capability analytic framework to better understand how well youth capabilities can be further developed and strategically aligned in addressing complex national development challenges as youth navigate the education–NYSC–work transition pathway.
Platelets: No longer bystanders in liver disease

Growing lines of evidence recognize that platelets play a central role in liver homeostasis and pathobiology. Platelets have important roles at every stage during the continuum of liver injury and healing. These cells contribute to the initiation of liver inflammation by promoting leukocyte recruitment through sinusoidal endothelium. They can activate effector cells, thus amplifying liver damage, and by modifying the hepatic cellular and cytokine milieu drive both hepatoprotective and hepatotoxic processes. Conclusion: In this review we summarize how platelets drive such pleiotropic actions and attempt to reconcile the paradox of platelets being both deleterious and beneficial to liver function; with increasingly novel methods of manipulating platelet function at our disposal, we highlight avenues for future therapeutic intervention in liver disease. (Hepatology 2016;64:1774‐1784)
What Object Attributes Determine Canonical Views?

We investigated preferred or canonical views for familiar and three-dimensional nonsense objects using computer-graphics psychophysics. We assessed the canonical views for objects by allowing participants to actively rotate realistically shaded three-dimensional models in realtime. Objects were viewed on a Silicon Graphics workstation and manipulated in virtual space with a three-degree-of-freedom input device. In the first experiment, participants adjusted each object to the viewpoint from which they would take a photograph if they planned to use the object to illustrate a brochure. In the second experiment, participants mentally imaged each object on the basis of the name and then adjusted the object to the viewpoint from which they imagined it. In both experiments, there was a large degree of consistency across participants in terms of the preferred view for a given object. Our results provide new insights on the geometrical, experiential, and functional attributes that determine canonical views under ecological conditions.
Isotopic measurements of precipitation on central Asian glaciers (Southeastern Tibet, northern Himalayas, central Tien Shan)

The glacial regions of central Asia considered in our study are influenced by tropical monsoons and western extratropical cyclones. Isotopic δ18O and δD data were obtained over 3 years in three climatic regions: Gongga massif of southeastern Tibet (windward slope of summer monsoon), Xixibangma massif on the northern slope of the Himalayas (leeward of summer monsoon), and the massifs of Pobeda-Khan Tengry in the central Tien Shan (exposed to western airstreams). The survey reported here provides information from atmospheric precipitation, snow pits and a 23 m ice core. The significant differences of oxygen isotopic ratios (from −25.1 per mil to −9.5 per mil) indicate that the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as the Atlantic Ocean are sources of moisture on the northern slope of the Himalayas and southeastern Tibet. Sharply changing isotopic ratios in precipitation corresponded to changing wind direction and were associated with different sources of air masses on the northern slope of the Himalayas and southeastern Tibet. Steady isotopic ratios in atmospheric precipitation and the absence of changing δ18O composition in a 23 m ice core suggest only one source of moisture in central Tien Shan. The relatively heavier oxygen isotopic ratios in atmospheric precipitation and ice core indicate the moisture from which the precipitation was derived originated over the Caspian or Mediterranean seas. Within the Eurasian continent, air masses developed over the Atlantic Ocean advance farther than those from the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Evaluation of the relationship between body composition and aerobic fitness in youth soccer players

Background and Study Aim: The purpose of the study was to make an evaluation between aerobic fitnes (VO2max) and body composition in youth soccer players. Material and Methods: U19, U17, U16 and U15 age groups participated in the study. Twenty-eight U19 (average age 18,03±0,58), twenty-three U17 (average age 16,72±0,30), twenty-seven U16 (average age 15,79±0,23) and twenty-one U15 (average age 14,67±0,31) totally ninety-nine athletes voluntarily participated in the study. The subjects’ body weight and fat percentage were estimated by bioelectrical impedance. VO2max was determined by YOYO Intermittan Recovery test protocol. Shapiro-wilk test, Independent t test, hierarchical regression and analysis of covariance were used to compare the relationships between aerobic fitness and body composition. Additionally, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationships between variables. The level of significance for all statistics was set at p<0.05. SPSS 23 software was used to calculate the data. The total value of all estimators is f = 18,001 and p <0.0001. Results : Although all variables were included in the model, the BMI was considered the greatest explanatory factor for fatness. Aerobic endurance was assessed in direct proportion to age, sit and reach test, crunch test, plank, and long jump test. As the distance increased, the% fat ratio decreased (p <0.001), and the fat ratio decreased with the decrease in the T test (p <0.001). Conclusions: In this study, it was determined that body fat ratio determined by BMI, body fat percentage decreased with increasing aerobic endurance, body fat ratio was negatively correlated with aerobic fitness and lean body ratio. It was also determined that aerobic fitness was positively correlated with age, sit and reach, crunch test, plank, standing long jump and T test.
The social system identification problem

The focus of this paper is modeling what we call a Social Radar, i.e. a method to estimate the relative influence between social agents, by sampling their opinions and as they evolve, after injecting in the network stubborn agents. The stubborn agents opinion is not influenced by the peers they seek to sway, and their opinion bias is the known input to the social network system. The novelty is in the model presented to probe a social network and the solution of the associated regression problem. The model allows to map the observed opinion onto system equations that can be used to infer the social graph and the amount of trust that characterizes the links.
Clock Genes Regulate the Circadian Expression of Piezo1, TRPV4, Connexin26, and VNUT in an Ex Vivo Mouse Bladder Mucosa

Objectives ClockΔ19/Δ19 mice is an experimental model mouse for nocturia (NOC). Using the bladder mucosa obtained from ClockΔ19/Δ19 mice, we investigated the gene expression rhythms of mechanosensory cation channels such as transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4 (TRPV4) and Piezo1, and main ATP release pathways including vesicular nucleotide transporter (VNUT) and Connexin26(Cx26), in addition to clock genes. Materials and methods Eight- to twelve-week-old male C57BL/6 mice (WT) and age- and sex-matched C57BL/6 ClockΔ19/Δ19 mice, which were bred under 12-h light/dark conditions for 2 weeks, were used. Gene expression rhythms and transcriptional regulation mechanisms in clock genes, mechanosensor, Cx26 and VNUT were measured in the mouse bladder mucosa, collected every 4 hours from WT and ClockΔ19/Δ19 mice using quantitative RT-PCR, a Western blot analysis, and ChIP assays. Results WT mice showed circadian rhythms in clock genes as well as mechanosensor, Cx26 and VNUT. Their expression was low during the sleep phase. The results of ChIP assays showed Clock protein binding to the promotor regions and the transcriptional regulation of mechanosensor, Cx26 and VNUT. In contrast, all of these circadian expressions were disrupted in ClockΔ19/Δ19 mice. The gene expression of mechanosensor, Cx26 and VNUT was maintained at a higher level in spite of the sleep phase. Conclusions Mechanosensor, Cx26 and VNUT expressed with circadian rhythm in the mouse bladder mucosa. The disruption of circadian rhythms in these genes, induced by the abnormalities in clock genes, may be factors contributing to NOC because of hypersensitivity to bladder wall extension.
Benefits of exercise training in the treatment of heart failure: study with a control group.

OBJECTIVE Exercise training programs have been proposed as adjuncts to treatment of heart failure. The effects of a 3-month-exercise-training-program with 3 exercise sessions per week were assessed in patients with stable systolic chronic heart failure. METHODS We studied 24 patients with final left ventricle diastolic diameter of 70+/-10mm and left ventricular ejection fraction of 37+/-4%. Mean age was 52+/-16 years. Twelve patients were assigned to an exercise training group (G1), and 12 patients were assigned to a control group (G2). Patients underwent treadmill testing, before and after exercise training, to assess distance walked, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and double product. RESULTS In G2 group, before and after 3 months, we observed, respectively distance walked, 623+/-553 and 561+/- 460m (ns); peak heart rate, 142+/-23 and 146+/- 33b/min (ns); systolic blood pressure, 154+/-36 and 164+/-26 mmHg (ns); and double product, 22211+/- 6454 and 24293+/-7373 (ns). In G1 group, before and after exercise, we observed: distance walked, 615+/-394 and 970+/- 537m (p<0.003) peak heart rate, 143+/-24 and 143+/-29b/min (ns); systolic blood pressure, 136+/-33 and 133+/-24 mmHg (ns); and double product, 19907+/- 7323 and 19115+/-5776, respectively. Comparing the groups, a significant difference existed regarding the variation in the double product, and in distance walked. CONCLUSION Exercise training programs in patients with heart failure can bring about an improvement in physical capacity.