Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for Symplastic Involvement in the Radial Movement of Calcium in Onion Roots1

The pathway of Ca2+ movement from the soil solution into the stele of the root is not known with certainty despite a considerable body of literature on the subject. Does this ion cross an intact, mature exodermis and endodermis? If so, is its movement through these layers primarily apoplastic or symplastic? These questions were addressed using onion (Allium cepa) adventitious roots lacking laterals. Radioactive Ca2+ applied to the root tip was not transported to the remainder of the plant, indicating that this ion cannot be supplied to the shoot through this region where the exodermis and endodermis are immature. A more mature zone, in which the endodermal Casparian band was present, delivered 2.67 nmol of Ca2+ mm−1 treated root length d−1 to the transpiration stream, demonstrating that the ion had moved through an intact endodermis. Farther from the root tip, a third zone in which Casparian bands were present in the exodermis as well as the endodermis delivered 0.87 nmol Ca2+ mm−1 root length d−1 to the transpiration stream, proving that the ion had moved through an unbroken exodermis. Compartmental elution analyses indicated that Ca2+ had not diffused through the Casparian bands of the exodermis, and inhibitor studies using La3+ and vanadate (VO43−) pointed to a major involvement of the symplast in the radial transport of Ca2+ through the endodermis. It was concluded that in onion roots, the radial movement of Ca2+ through the exodermis and endodermis is primarily symplastic.
Professional Doctorates—A Better Route for Researching Professionals?

This paper explores the model of professional doctorate (D.Prof) as a route for those immersed in professional practice but who wish to undertake research at the doctoral level. One definition of the professional doctorate given by the United Kingdom Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) describes it as ‘a programme of advanced study and research which, whilst satisfying the university criteria for the award of a doctorate, is designed to meet the specific needs of a professional group external to the university’. Central to the heart of the D.Prof is professional practice. It has been described as developing ‘researching professionals’ rather than ‘professional researchers’, and as part of the move towards the knowledge economy in higher education, can be seen as part of the transformation from ‘autonomous scholar’ into ‘enterprising self’. This paper explores my choice of a professional doctorate over a traditional PhD, and the role that reflection and reflexivity have in informing the research focus, methodology and practice development aspects of my study. It is argued that as social work is a practice based discipline, and one in which research is aimed at providing practice improvement, models of doctoral study which have at their heart the centrality of professional practice are more appropriate vehicles for those practitioners who wish to become ‘scholarly professionals’.
Dietary Fluoride Intake and Associated Skeletal and Dental Fluorosis in School Age Children in Rural Ethiopian Rift Valley

An observational study was conducted to determine dietary fluoride intake, diet, and prevalence of dental and skeletal fluorosis of school age children in three fluorosis endemic districts of the Ethiopian Rift Valley having similar concentrations of fluoride (F) in drinking water (~5 mg F/L). The duplicate plate method was used to collect foods consumed by children over 24 h from 20 households in each community (n = 60) and the foods, along with water and beverages, were analyzed for fluoride (F) content. Prevalence of dental and skeletal fluorosis was determined using presence of clinical symptoms in children (n = 220). Daily dietary fluoride intake was at or above tolerable upper intake level (UL) of 10 mg F/day and the dietary sources (water, prepared food and beverages) all contributed to the daily fluoride burden. Urinary fluoride in children from Fentale and Adamitulu was almost twice (>5 mg/L) the concentration found in urine from children from Alaba, where rain water harvesting was most common. Severe and moderate dental fluorosis was found in Alaba and Adamitulu, the highest severity and prevalence being in the latter district where staple foods were lowest in calcium. Children in all three areas showed evidence of both skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis. Our data support the hypothesis that intake of calcium rich foods in addition to using rain water for household consumption and preparation of food, may help in reducing risk of fluorosis in Ethiopia, but prospective studies are needed.
Decision‐making styles, stress and gender among investigators

– The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between police investigators' decision‐making styles, degree of judgmental self‐doubt and work conditions, on the one hand, and their wellbeing, stress, burnout tendency and sleep quality, on the other. , – The study concerns investigative police officers (n=203). Decision‐making styles were measured by Scott and Bruce's General Decision Making Style scale (GDMS), and judgmental self‐doubt by Mirels et al.'s Judgmental Self‐Doubt Scale (JSDS). Wellbeing was measured by the Satisfaction With Life scale (SWL), and stress and burnout tendency by the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and a scale for Performance Based Self‐Esteem (PBS). Questions on sleep quality and work conditions were also used. , – High values on the decision‐making styles Avoidant (tries to avoid making decisions) and Dependent (dependent on advice from others before important decisions) were associated with higher PBS, higher PSQ and poorer sleep quality. In addition, the Avoidant style was associated with lower SWL. Both the Dependent and the Avoidant styles were associated with higher influence experienced by others in the investigative work. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that JSDS explained the outcome measures better than the Dependent and the Avoidant decision‐making styles. Gender analyses showed that male investigators showed higher values on Rational decision‐making style (“exhaustive information search” and “logical evaluation of alternatives”) and female investigators higher values on the Dependent decision‐making style. Female investigators also evidenced a higher degree of stress and performance‐based self‐esteem. , – The data were collected in a Swedish context and may not be fully generalizable to other countries. , – These results suggest the need to individualize training programs that seek to ameliorate stress and burnout. , – This paper furthers understanding of the relation between decision‐making styles and wellbeing and stress in police investigators.
An initial evaluation of cattle showing clinical signs suggestive of malignant catarrhal fever in New Zealand and the results of a diagnostic quantitative PCR assay

An initial evaluation of cattle showing clinical signs suggestive of malignant catarrhal fever in New Zealand and the results of a diagnostic quantitative PCR assay FI Hill, DJ Tisdall & JM Gill a Gribbles Veterinary, 840 Tremaine Avenue, Palmerston North 4440, New Zealand b Gribbles Veterinary, Invermay Research Centre, Puddle Alley, Mosgiel, Dunedin 9092, New Zealand Accepted author version posted online: 18 Feb 2014.Published online: 17 Apr 2014.
Soluble levels of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) in coronary artery disease.

AIMS To analyze soluble levels ofcell adhesion molecules (CAM) such as Intercellular CAM (ICAM), vascular CAM (VCAM-1), platelet endothelial CAM (PECAM-1), Endothelial (E)-selectin, and Platelet (P)-selectin in coronary artery disease patients and correlate with degree of severity of the disease. METHODS Study population included patients who suffered myocardial infarction at presentation (N=49) and those with unstable angina (N=79) and stable angina (N=14). Soluble levels of CAMs were measured by ELISA. RESULTS At acute event in AMI patients, there was significant rise of soluble (s) E-selectin (4.5 fold, P = 0.001), sVCAM-1 (65.6%, p = 0.001), sPECAM-1 (46.2%, p = 0.02), sP-selectin (42.7%, p = 0.001) and sICAM-1 (20.1%, p = 0.003) as compared to controls. In unstable angina group as compared to AMI there was significant decrease in the levels observed in, sE-selectin (62.7%, p = 0.001), sPECAM-1 (47.5%, p = 0.001) as well as sVCAM-1 (17.9%, p = 0.04) and insignificant decrease with respect to sICAM-1 and no change with respect to sP-selectin levels. Stable angina group as compared to unstable angina group demonstrated no significant difference in sCAMs and the trend with AMI group was similar to that seen between unstable angina and AMI group. Significantly elevated levels of sE-selectin, sVCAM-1 and sPECAM-1 at acute event suggest them to be causal molecules as well as markers of plaque destabilization. Levels of sP-selectin in stable angina were similar to that observed in AMI and unstable angina groups suggesting elevated platelet activation in stable angina as well.
Exploring the Expressed Spiritual Needs and Concerns of Drug-Dependent Males in Modified, Therapeutic Community Treatment

Abstract Two hundred male admissions into one of two inner-city residential substance abuse treatment programs were evaluated for spirituality/religious concerns with the Substance Abuse Problem Checklist (Carroll, 1983). Results indicated considerable levels of religious/spiritual needs and concerns for residents of both a Philadelphia and New York City modified therapeutic community program. Implications of these identified needs are identified and considered.
Overproduction of Geranylgeraniol by Metabolically Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT (E, E, E)-Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) is a valuable starting material for perfumes and pharmaceutical products. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, GGOH is synthesized from the end products of the mevalonate pathway through the sequential reactions of farnesyl diphosphate synthetase (encoded by the ERG20 gene), geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (the BTS1 gene), and some endogenous phosphatases. We demonstrated that overexpression of the diacylglycerol diphosphate phosphatase (DPP1) gene could promote GGOH production. We also found that overexpression of a BTS1-DPP1 fusion gene was more efficient for producing GGOH than coexpression of these genes separately. Overexpression of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG1) gene, which encodes the major rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway, resulted in overproduction of squalene (191.9 mg liter−1) rather than GGOH (0.2 mg liter−1) in test tube cultures. Coexpression of the BTS1-DPP1 fusion gene along with the HMG1 gene partially redirected the metabolic flux from squalene to GGOH. Additional expression of a BTS1-ERG20 fusion gene resulted in an almost complete shift of the flux to GGOH production (228.8 mg liter−1 GGOH and 6.5 mg liter−1 squalene). Finally, we constructed a diploid prototrophic strain coexpressing the HMG1, BTS1-DPP1, and BTS1-ERG20 genes from multicopy integration vectors. This strain attained 3.31 g liter−1 GGOH production in a 10-liter jar fermentor with gradual feeding of a mixed glucose and ethanol solution. The use of bifunctional fusion genes such as the BTS1-DPP1 and ERG20-BTS1 genes that code sequential enzymes in the metabolic pathway was an effective method for metabolic engineering.
Family hospitality and ethnic tradition among South Asian, Italian and general population women in the West of Scotland

South Asians have a high risk of heart disease in Britain and Italians low, and there are corresponding differences in total energy and total fat intake. The present paper explores how far obligatory patterns of food intake exist in either group and are reflected in conventions of hospitality. Both groups are from peasant-based economies, where, despite the common pattern of low fat intake, food occupies a high proportion of family income, and is correspondingly important as a part of gift exchange in marriage, and as a bearer of collective meanings. Open-ended questions on meals suitable for family hospitality were asked of South Asian women (63 born abroad, 56 in Britain), and Italian women (39 abroad, 51 in Britain) together with 50 women from the general population, all aged 20–40 and resident in the West of Scotland urban area. The traditional family meal of the Glasgow general population corresponds to the cooked dinner described in South Wales, and suggests a pan-British cultural symbol. However traditional family hospitality meals play a more important part in the life of migrant South Asians and Italians than they do in the majority culture, and British-born South Asians maintain this pattern more than British-born Italians. This pattern of hospitality, in an economy where energy-dense foods are readily available, may result in high energy intake and increased coronary risk. However realisation of these implications, and increased weight consciousness, can lead to restoration of the traditional cardioprotective diet.
Developing Resilient Agency in Learning: The Internal Structure of Learning Power

ABSTRACT Understanding students’ learning dispositions has been a focus for research in education for many years. A range of alternative approaches to conceptualising and measuring this broad construct have been developed. Traditional psychometric measures aim to produce scales that satisfy the requirements for research; however, such measures have an additional use – to provide formative feedback to the learner. In this article we reanalyse 15 years of data derived from the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory. We explore patterns and relationships within its practical measures and generate a more robust, parsimonious measurement model, strengthening its research attributes and its practical value. We show how the constructs included in the model link to relevant research and how it serves to integrate a number of ideas that have hitherto been treated as separate. The new model suggests a view of learning that is an embodied and relational process through which we regulate the flow of energy and information over time in order to achieve a particular purpose. Learning dispositions reflect the ways in which we develop resilient agency in learning by regulating this flow of energy and information in order to engage with challenge, risk and uncertainty and to adapt and change positively.
Defining and Measuring Social Support: Guidelines for Social Work Practitioners

This article reviews the literature on social support and presents the theoretical foundations and basic concepts of social support. A framework is presented for assessing measures of social support, and eight measures are reviewed using the framework. The framework focuses on basic conceptualizations of social support, the psychometric characteristics of the measures, and their clinical utility. Suggestions are made for both using and improving existing measures of social support in social work practices.
Behavioral Differences between Provisioned and Non-Provisioned Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

ABSTRACT The majority of Gibraltar's Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) are provided with fruit and vegetable rations to keep them in the nature reserve and away from town. Recent fissioning of one troop has created a vagrant group that is denied access to official feeding sites by other troops, and which visits major tourist sites less often. Using focal follows and instantaneous sampling, this study compared behavioral differences between two troops of provisioned and one troop of non-provisioned macaques. Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that the proportion of scans individuals devoted to foraging and vigilance differed significantly between the three groups (foraging χ2 = 10.19, df = 2, p < 0.05; vigilance χ2 = 9.35, df = 2, p < 0.05), whereas those devoted to feeding and grooming did not. As expected, foraging was highest in the non-provisioned troop. Whilst the proportion of feeding records individuals allocated to natural and tourist foods did not differ significantly between the three groups, only macaques from provisioned groups were observed to feed on official provisions, and only those from the non-provisioned group fed on waste food at the rubbish tip. Differences in the diet of provisioned and non-provisioned macaques are discussed with respect to the available foods. Provisioning had no effect on the distance to nearest conspecifics, the rate of interaction with humans or the proportion of human–primate interactions initiated by macaques. The effectiveness of official provisioning and the welfare implications of this and tourist feeding are also discussed.
Motivational Perspectives on Student Cheating: Toward an Integrated Model of Academic Dishonesty

This article uses theoretical concepts from self-efficacy theory, goal theory, expectancy value, and intrinsic motivation theory as a way to organize the vast and largely atheoretical literature on academic cheating. Specifically, it draws on 3 particular questions that students encounter when deciding whether to cheat: (a) What is my purpose? , (b) Can I do this task? , and (c) What are the costs associated with cheating? This article reviews both experimental and nonexperimental evidence related to each of these questions and offers suggestions for future research and instructional practices that will lessen the likelihood of cheating.
Effect of Perforated Plate Open Area on Gas Holdup in Rayon Fiber Suspensions

Three different aeration plates are used to study their effect on gas holdup and flow regime transition in fiber suspensions. The aeration plates differ by their open-area ratios (A =0.57%, 0.99%, and 2.14%), where the hole diameter remains the same while the number of holes increase. Experiments are performed using three different Rayon fiber lengths (L =3, 6, and 12 mm) over a range of superficial gas velocities Ug18 cm/s and fiber mass fractions 0C1.8% in a 15.24 cm dia semi-batch bubble column. Experimental results show that the aeration plate with A =0.99% produces the highest gas holdup in an air-water system and low fiber mass fraction suspensions, and the plate with A =2.14% yields the lowest gas holdup in these systems. In medium fiber mass fraction suspensions, the plate with A =0.57% produces slightly higher gas holdup values, while the other two plates yield similar results. The effect of the aeration plate open area on gas holdup diminishes at high fiber mass fractions C1.2%. All aeration plates generate homogeneous, transitional, and heterogeneous flow regimes over the range of superficial gas velocities for air-water and low fiber mass fraction suspensions. However, the aeration plate with A =2.14% enhances the flow regime transition, i.e., the superficial gas velocity at which transitional flow appears is lower. Additionally, the fiber mass fraction at which pure heterogeneous flow is observed is lower when A =2.14%. DOI: 10.1115/1.1994878
Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Perceptions of Self-Efficacy

Following Bandura's (1982) social-cognitive theory of self-efficacy, Wilson (1996) hypothesizes a relationship between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status and individual-level perceptions of efficacy. This article evaluates this hypothesis and pursues the following research questions: (1) Are the socioeconomic characteristics of individual's neighborhoods related to their level of self-efficacy? and (2) if so, is this relationship simply due to lower individual-level socioeconomic status (SES), or is neighborhood SES associated with self-efficacy over and above individual-level SES? This project links individual-level data from a national sample of adults in the United States (Americans Changing Lives Survey [1986]) with contextual information from the 1980 census on the poverty and unemployment characteristics of respondents' neighborhoods. Results indicate that high proportions of neighborhood unemployment and public assistance are associated with low levels of self-efficacy above and beyond individual-level SES.
Comparative Genomics of a Plant-Pathogenic Fungus, Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, Reveals Transduplication and the Impact of Repeat Elements on Pathogenicity and Population Divergence

Pyrenophora tritici-repentis is a necrotrophic fungus causal to the disease tan spot of wheat, whose contribution to crop loss has increased significantly during the last few decades. Pathogenicity by this fungus is attributed to the production of host-selective toxins (HST), which are recognized by their host in a genotype-specific manner. To better understand the mechanisms that have led to the increase in disease incidence related to this pathogen, we sequenced the genomes of three P. tritici-repentis isolates. A pathogenic isolate that produces two known HSTs was used to assemble a reference nuclear genome of approximately 40 Mb composed of 11 chromosomes that encode 12,141 predicted genes. Comparison of the reference genome with those of a pathogenic isolate that produces a third HST, and a nonpathogenic isolate, showed the nonpathogen genome to be more diverged than those of the two pathogens. Examination of gene-coding regions has provided candidate pathogen-specific proteins and revealed gene families that may play a role in a necrotrophic lifestyle. Analysis of transposable elements suggests that their presence in the genome of pathogenic isolates contributes to the creation of novel genes, effector diversification, possible horizontal gene transfer events, identified copy number variation, and the first example of transduplication by DNA transposable elements in fungi. Overall, comparative analysis of these genomes provides evidence that pathogenicity in this species arose through an influx of transposable elements, which created a genetically flexible landscape that can easily respond to environmental changes.
Pilot Study Evaluating the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety of the Combination of Exemestane and Tamoxifen

Purpose: We conducted a pilot study assessing the effects of the selective estrogen receptor modulator, tamoxifen, on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of the steroidal, irreversible aromatase inhibitor (AI), exemestane, when the two were coadministered in postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. Experimental Design: Patients with documented or unknown hormone receptor sensitivity were eligible. Patients received oral exemestane at 25-mg once daily. Starting day 15, oral tamoxifen at 20-mg once daily, was added. We measured plasma concentrations of exemestane, estrone, estrone sulfate, and estradiol after 14 days of exemestane monotherapy and after ∼4 weeks of combination therapy. The incidence and severity of adverse events were assessed by physical examination and patient reporting. Results: We treated 18 patients. All had received prior chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy, eight and six, respectively, with single-agent selective estrogen receptor modulators or irreversible aromatase inhibitors; no hormonal therapy was given within 30 days of study entry. Plasma exemestane concentrations and estrone, estrone sulfate, and estradiol suppression were unchanged after ∼4 weeks of tamoxifen coadministration. All drug-related adverse events were grades 1 or 2; none was unexpected. Although not a formal study end point, antitumor activity was noted, with two partial responses and four cases of stable disease among 17 evaluable patients after a 9-month median follow-up (range, 2.5–19 months). Conclusions: This pilot study provides evidence that coadministration of tamoxifen does not affect exemestane pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics and that the combination is well-tolerated and active. Further clinical investigation is warranted.