Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ontogeny of embryogenic callus in Medicago truncatula: the fate of the pluripotent and totipotent stem cells.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Understanding the fate and dynamics of cells during callus formation is essential to understanding totipotency and the mechanisms of somatic embryogenesis. Here, the fate of leaf explant cells during the development of embryogenic callus was investigated in the model legume Medicago truncatula. METHODS Callus development was examined from cultured leaf explants of the highly regenerable genotype Jemalong 2HA (2HA) and from mesophyll protoplasts of 2HA and wild-type Jemalong. Callus development was studied by histology, manipulation of the culture system, detection of early production of reactive oxygen species and visualization of SERK1 (SOMATIC EMBRYO RECEPTOR KINASE1) gene expression. KEY RESULTS Callus formation in leaf explants initiates at the cut surface and within veins of the explant. The ontogeny of callus development is dominated by the division and differentiation of cells derived from pluripotent procambial cells and from dedifferentiated mesophyll cells. Procambium-derived cells differentiated into vascular tissue and rarely formed somatic embryos, whereas dedifferentiated mesophyll cells were competent to form somatic embryos. Interestingly, explants incubated adaxial-side down had substantially less cell proliferation associated with veins yet produced similar numbers of somatic embryos to explants incubated abaxial-side down. Somatic embryos mostly formed on the explant surface originally in contact with the medium, while in protoplast microcalli, somatic embryos only fully developed once at the surface of the callus. Mesophyll protoplasts of 2HA formed embryogenic callus while Jemalong mesophyll protoplasts produced callus rich in vasculature. CONCLUSIONS The ontogeny of embryogenic callus in M. truncatula relates to explant orientation and is driven by the dynamics of pluripotent procambial cells, which proliferate and differentiate into vasculature. The ontogeny is also related to de-differentiated mesophyll cells that acquire totipotency and form the majority of embryos. This contrasts with other species where totipotent embryo-forming initials mostly originate from procambial cells.
Low CD8 T-Cell Proliferative Potential and High Viral Load Limit the Effectiveness of Therapeutic Vaccination

ABSTRACT Therapeutic vaccination has the potential to boost immune responses and enhance viral control during chronic infections. However, many therapeutic vaccination approaches have fallen short of expectations, and effective boosting of antiviral T-cell responses is not always observed. To examine these issues, we studied the impact of therapeutic vaccination, using a murine model of chronic infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Our results demonstrate that therapeutic vaccination using a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the LCMV GP33 CD8 T-cell epitope can be effective at accelerating viral control. However, mice with lower viral loads at the time of vaccination responded better to therapeutic vaccination than did those with high viral loads. Also, the proliferative potential of GP33-specific CD8 T cells from chronically infected mice was substantially lower than that of GP33-specific memory CD8 T cells from mice with immunity to LCMV, suggesting that poor T-cell expansion may be an important reason for suboptimal responses to therapeutic vaccination. Thus, our results highlight the potential positive effects of therapeutic vaccination on viral control during chronic infection but also provide evidence that a high viral load at the time of vaccination and the low proliferative potential of responding T cells are likely to limit the effectiveness of therapeutic vaccination.
A generative, probabilistic model of local protein structure

Despite significant progress in recent years, protein structure prediction maintains its status as one of the prime unsolved problems in computational biology. One of the key remaining challenges is an efficient probabilistic exploration of the structural space that correctly reflects the relative conformational stabilities. Here, we present a fully probabilistic, continuous model of local protein structure in atomic detail. The generative model makes efficient conformational sampling possible and provides a framework for the rigorous analysis of local sequence–structure correlations in the native state. Our method represents a significant theoretical and practical improvement over the widely used fragment assembly technique by avoiding the drawbacks associated with a discrete and nonprobabilistic approach.
Alternating projection for MIMO radar waveform design

Recently there has been a surge of interest in waveform design for Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar, and a great deal of efforts have been devoted to this topic. In this paper, we revisit an earlier examined MIMO radar waveform design problem which optimizes both minimum mean-square error estimation (MMSE) and mutual information (MI). We formulate a new waveform design problem and provide some further results, which complement the previous study. More specifically, we present an iterative optimization algorithm based on the alternating projection method, to determine waveform solutions that can simultaneously satisfy a structure constraint and optimize the design criteria. Numerical examples are provided, which illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In particular, we find that the waveform solutions obtained through our proposed algorithm can achieve very close and virtually indistinguishable performance from that predicted in the previous study.
Probability distribution function of tracer differences and the diffusive scale in the stratosphere

The PDF of N2O mixing ratio differences over various separation distances is studied using ER-2 airborne data. It is found that the PDF shape ranges from Gaussian, through stretched exponential and exponential, back to Gaussian as the separation distance increases from 200 m to about 200 km. With the PDF as a diagnostic tool, we identify the horizontal diffusive scale in the lower stratosphere to be about 2 km, and the corresponding vertical diffusivity to be on the order of molecular diffusivity, 1.0× 10−4 m2s−1. For the typical stretching rate of the stratospheric flow, 0.25 day−1, it takes about 25 days to stretch a tracer parcel with initial size of 1000 km into a diffusive-scale filament.
Emotional intelligence and personality traits as predictors of psychological well-being in Spanish undergraduates

The relationships were analyzed among emotional intelligence (EI), personality traits, and psychological well-being in undergraduates. In addition, the predictive capacity of EI and personality traits was analyzed. Results showed that low scores in neuroticism and high scores in extraversion are the dimensions of personality most related to all the psychological well-being scales, and also the best predictors of psychological well-being. Furthermore, high scores in clarity and emotional repair were found to be two consistent predictors for all the scales of psychological well-being, after controlling for personality factors. These results confirm the prognostic significance for EI on psychological well-being.
Types of aggressive victims in bullying situations at secondary school / Tipos de víctimas agresivas en situaciones de bullying en Educación Secundaria

Abstract The distinction between subtypes of passive and aggressive victims in studies of bullying has been a cornerstone of research in recent decades. However, some aspects of victimization still need further elaboration, such as the differentiation of subtypes of aggressive victims of bullying, the dynamics of the process of victimization, and the perceptions that participants have of their victimized classmates. The objective of this qualitative research is to distinguish between different types of aggressive victims, taking account of the testimonies of secondary school students. Focus groups and in-depth interviews have been conducted with 72 adolescents from the second, third and fourth years of Compulsory Secondary Education and the information has been analysed following the steps proposed by Grounded Theory; a systematic methodology involving the discovery of theory through the analysis of data. The results identify six types of aggressive victims: due to the accumulation of stress, provocative victims, victims through contagion, passive telltale victims, academically gifted victims protected by teachers, and finally, displaced aggression victims.
Thermomechanical Transitions of Rice Kernels

Cereal Chem. 79(3):349–353 Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to investigate the thermal transitions of long-grain rice kernels. Three distinct thermomechanical transitions were identified as rice kernels were heated from 0 to 200°C. The identified transitions were a low temperature transition with onset at ≈45°C, an intermediate temperature transition at ≈80°C, and a high temperature transition at ≈180°C. Low temperature transition with onset from ≈60°C at 5% moisture content (MC) to 30°C at 20% MC was identified as the glass transition of the rice kernels. Intermediate temperature transition from 60 to 100°C, depending on MC, may be caused by rapid evaporation of moisture in the rice kernels. High temperature transition was associated with melting of the crystalline structure of rice starch. The temperatures of all three transitions decreased as MC increased, confirming that moisture acted as a plasticizer in rice kernels.
A Psychometric Study of Incarcerated Presidential Threateners

Because of the difficulties associated with studying actual presidential assailants, “proxies” have been used to help us understand those who have a pathological fixation on the presidency. The literature describing two groups of proxies, White House visitors who behave irrationally and people who threaten the president, was reviewed. MMPIs were collected on 45 presidential threateners and 45 nonthreateners evaluated at mental health facilities for federal prisoners. The threateners' characteristics resembled reports of other proxy groups in certain respects, but their criminal histories suggested more antisocial behavior and violence than previously indicated. Their MMPI profiles and classifications on Megargee et al.'s MMPI-based offender classification system were significantly more deviant than those of the nonthreateners. Overall, both samples of mental health patients had more elevated MMPIs and were classified into more pathological types on the MMPI-based typology than offenders previously tested in nonpsychiatric federal correctional settings. Implications were drawn regarding the characteristics of presidential threateners and the validity of the MMPI-based typology.
Human Affection Exchange: XV. Metabolic and Cardiovascular Correlates of Trait Expressed Affection

Recent research on the communication of affection has begun to illuminate its implications for mental and physical health. Specifically, when compared to non-affectionate people, self-report studies have indicated that highly affectionate people are less susceptible to depression and stress, and endocrine studies have shown that highly affectionate people have more differentiated 24-hour cortisol rhythms (a pattern indicative of adaptive physiological stress management). The present studies extend this knowledge by focusing on the associations that trait affection has with cardiologic (resting heart rate), vascular (resting blood pressure), and metabolic (glycosylated hemoglobin) properties of physical health. Participants in both studies provided self-assessments of their trait levels of expressed affection and received affection (the latter for use as a covariate). Resting heart rate and blood pressure were assessed in the first study, and glycosylated hemoglobin was assessed in the second study. Results indicate that when the influence of received affection is controlled for, trait expressed affection was inversely related to resting blood pressure and glycosylated hemoglobin (but not heart rate), suggesting that the expression of affection is associated with a healthy vascular and metabolic profile.
Self-Esteem as Folk Theory: A Comparison of European American and Taiwanese Mothers' Beliefs

Objective. Self-esteem is seldom recognized to be a culture-specific, historically situated idea, and parents' folk theories of self-esteem are rarely investigated empirically. This paper remedies these omissions by comparing European American and Taiwanese mothers' beliefs about childrearing and self-esteem. The substantive goals are to understand the variety of meanings that these mothers associate with self-esteem and to delineate the local folk theories that contextualize this idea or offer alternatives. A related methodological goal is to develop an approach to interviewing that respects local communicative norms and thereby offers a sounder basis for comparison. Design. The study was situated in two large towns in rural areas, one in the Midwest and one in Taiwan. In each site, 16 mothers of 3-year-olds participated in in-depth, open-ended interviews concerning childrearing beliefs and practices. Results. Nearly all American mothers spontaneously invoked self-esteem early and often in response to a variety of childrearing questions and spoke at length about the importance of building children's self-esteem. In contrast, very few Taiwanese mothers talked about "self-respect-heart/mind" (a Chinese term that approximates self-esteem) and those who did articulated a view that contradicted the European American view. Conclusions. Self-esteem looms much larger in American mothers' folk theories of childrearing than it does in their Taiwanese counterparts'. In the American version, self-esteem is a central organizing concept, believed to be crucial to many aspects of healthy development. In the Taiwanese version, self-esteem is either not something that mothers worry very much about, or it is believed to create psychological vulnerabilities rather than strengths. Adaptation of the interview to local communicative practice enhanced the cultural validity of these findings.
Pre-implantation genetic screening using fluorescence in situ hybridization in couples of Indian ethnicity: Is there a scope?

CONTEXT: There is a high incidence of numerical chromosomal aberration in couples with repeated in vitro fertilization (IVF) failure, advanced maternal age, repeated unexplained abortions, severe male factor infertility and unexplained infertility. Pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS), a variant of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, screens numerical chromosomal aberrations in couples with normal karyotype, experiencing poor reproductive outcome. The present study includes the results of the initial pilot study on 9 couples who underwent 10 PGS cycles. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the beneficial effects of PGS in couples with poor reproductive outcome. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Data of initial 9 couples who underwent 10 PGS for various indications was evaluated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Blastomere biopsy was performed on cleavage stage embryos and subjected to two round fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y as a two-step procedure. RESULTS: Six of the 9 couples (10 PGS cycles) conceived, including a twin pregnancy in a couple with male factor infertility, singleton pregnancies in a couple with secondary infertility, in three couples with adverse obstetric outcome in earlier pregnancies and in one couple with repeated IVF failure. CONCLUSION: In the absence of availability of array-comparative genomic hybridization in diagnostic clinical scenario for PGS and promising results with FISH based PGS as evident from the current pilot study, it is imperative to offer the best available services in the present scenario for better pregnancy outcome for patients.
When Values and Behaviors Conflict: Immigrant BSW Students’ Experiences Revealed

This qualitative study reveals the discomfort seven immigrant bachelor of social work students reported experiencing when the behaviors expected of them as Canadian social workers conflicted with their fundamental family values. Behaviorally, participants had assimilated to Canadian and to social work cultures; however, the values they held from their home countries remained unchanged. The conflict between their unchanged values and their adapted behavior led to emotional stress in various aspects of their lives. The implications for social work education, supervision, recruiting people to the social work profession, acculturation theory, and future research are discussed.
Altered Wall Shear Stresses in Embryonic Chicken Outflow Tract due to Homocysteine Exposure

The embryonic heart is already beating before cardiac morphogenesis is complete. Therefore, the effect of blood flow on cardiogenesis has been subject of many studies. Shear stress, acting on the endocardial cells, has been shown to alter the expression of shear-responsive genes implicated in heart development. The congenital heart defects (CHDs) induced in the chicken embryo after altering blood flow and intracardiac shear stress are comparable to the type of defects observed after homocysteine (Hcy) exposure. This may suggest that altered blood flow and shear stress have a role in the etiology of Hcy-induced CHDs. The aim of this study is to quantitate wall shear stress (WSS) in the outflow tract (OFT) of Hcy-exposed chicken embryos. WSS was derived from the velocity field obtained with microscopic particle image velocimetry in the OFT of the embryonic-day-3 Hcy- and sham-treated chicken embryos. Hcy treatment consisted of L-Hcy-thiolactone 30 ? M solution injected into the neural tube of the embryos. The results suggest that Hcy has an inhibiting effect on WSS in the early embryonic chicken heart. These alterations in shear stress may cause altered gene expression and behaviour of endothelial cells, eventually contributing to the development of CHDs
Risky Business: Heterosexual Credit and Lending Practice

In this article I reconsider the biased impact of discourses of `gender neutrality', `capacity to repay' and `acceptable risk' in the sexual economic sites of bank lending policy and the practices of loans officers. My analysis of bank tests for propensity to repay demonstrates how easily the complex production, operation and interweaving of (hetero) normative gender-sex-sexuality can be refigured as neutral through the application of equal opportunity rhetorics of equal access and sameness of treatment. Together queer/feminist research can demonstrate that it is often apparently neutral economic practices which place sexual subjects within culture and give meaning and substance to heteronormative sexual identity politics.
The interface between football and ethnic identity discourses in Zimbabwe

This research is based on Fletcher's [2012. “These Whites Never Come to Our Game, What do They Know about our Soccer? Soccer Fandom, Race and the Rainbow Nation in South Africa. ” Doctoral diss. , University of Edinburgh. United Kingdom] argument that researching sport is not, and should not be restricted to sport but should be seen as opening up wider avenues of enquiry into everyday life. Theoretically, this study combines a Foucauldian discourse and Neo-Gramscian approach, which views popular culture (including football) as a formative site for the play of power, where identities are negotiated and contested in people's everyday lives. Through ethnographic methods, particularly participant observation in purposively selected football stadia, this study qualitatively explores the contribution of Zimbabwe's most followed teams, Dynamos FC and Highlanders FC, in the performance and expression of social ethnic identities in Zimbabwe. Purposively selected songs and chants by football supporters in stadia were subjected to critical discourse analysis. Findings suggest that Highlanders/Dynamos FC matches are a representation of historical and contemporary ethnic conflicts, particularly between the Ndebele and Shona ethnic groups in Zimbabwe.
Trends in the Neonatal Mortality Rate in the Last Decade with Respect to Demographic Factors and Health Care Resources

To understand factors contributing to the neonatal mortality rate (NMR), we studied trends in the NMR during 2000 to 2009 with respect to demographic factors and health care resources. Birth- and death-linked mortality data for 14,168 neonatal deaths that occurred between 2000 and 2009 were obtained from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Demographic factors and health care resource data were analyzed using analysis of variance, chi-square tests, and linear regression analysis. The average NMR increased from 3.37 in 2000 to 3.77 in 2009. The NMR in blacks ranged from 6.57 to 8.97 during the study period. Among the babies who died, the mean birthweight decreased from 1505 to 1275 g (P < 0.001) and the mean gestational age decreased from 28.4 to 27.8 weeks (P < 0.001). Cesarean section deliveries increased from 32.7% to 44.9% (P < 0.001). The percentage of mothers receiving prenatal care increased from 81.4% to 86.6% (P < 0.001). Mothers with a college education increased from 8.8% to 20.5% (P < 0.001). The median household income increased from $41,047 to $49,189 (P < 0.001). The number of neonatal intensive care unit beds increased from 33.4 to 56 per 10,000 births, and the number of neonatologists increased from 0.27 to 0.40 per 10,000 women of 15 to 44 years of age. In conclusion, the NMR didn't improve despite improvements in demographic factors and health care resources. Racial disparities persist, with a high NMR in the black population. We speculate a possible genetic predisposition related to ethnicity, and a potentially higher rate of extreme prematurity might have contributed to a high NMR in the study population.
Impediments to Partnership: A literature review of school‐university links

Partnership innovations between teacher educators on school and university sites have become ubiquitous. Calls for bridging the theory/practice gap have been answered with reappraisal and restructuring of programs. The literature on the rationale and implementation of a partnership approach has grown steadily since the early 1980s. Praise for measures that promote increased and meaningful interaction between the key players is now almost universal. Ironically, simultaneously, this documentation reveals the challenges as well as the promises of partnership. Clear impediments to the creation and nurturing of partnership have emerged. This paper takes as its principal focus an exploration of the literature that examines the range of barriers encountered by teachers of future teachers.