Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of a New CDC73 Missense Mutation that Impairs Parafibromin Expression and Nucleolar Localization

Mutations of the Cell Division Cycle 73 (CDC73) tumor suppressor gene (previously known as HRPT2), encoding for parafibromin, are associated with the Hyperparathyroidism-Jaw Tumor (HPT-JT) syndrome, an autosomal dominant disease whose clinical manifestations are mainly parathyroid tumors and, less frequently, ossifying fibromas of the jaws, uterine and renal tumors. Most mutations of CDC73 are nonsense or frameshift, while missense mutations are rare and generally affect the N-terminal domain of parafibromin, a region that is still poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to characterize a novel somatic CDC73 missense mutation (Ile60Asn) identified in the mandibular tumor of a HPT-JT patient carrying a germline CDC73 inactivating mutation. Immunostaining of the tumor showed reduced nuclear parafibromin immunoreactivity. Western blotting and confocal microscopy of transfected cells demonstrated that the Ile60Asn mutant parafibromin was less expressed than the wild-type protein and exhibited impaired nucleolar localization. Treatment of transfected cells with translation and proteasome inhibitors demonstrated a decreased stability of the Ile60An mutant, partially due to an increase in proteasomal degradation. Overexpression of the Ile60Asn mutant led to increased cell proliferation and to accumulation in the G2/M phase of cell cycle. Moreover, mutant parafibromin lost the ability to down-regulate c-myc expression. In conclusion, our study shows that a missense mutation in the N-terminus of parafibromin, identified in an ossifying fibroma from a HPT-JT patient, stimulated cell proliferation and impaired parafibromin expression and nucleolar localization, suggesting a relevant role of the N-terminal domain for parafibromin function.
Localization of LTE measurement records with missing information

As cellular networks like 4G LTE networks get more and more sophisticated, mobiles also measure and send enormous amount of mobile measurement data (in TBs/week/metropolitan) during every call and session. The mobile measurement records are saved in data center for further analysis and mining, however, these measurement records are not geo-tagged because the measurement procedures are implemented in mobile LTE stack. Geo-tagging (or localizing) the stored measurement record is a fundamental building block towards network analytics and troubleshooting since the measurement records contain rich information on call quality, latency, throughput, signal quality, error codes etc. In this work, our goal is to localize these mobile measurement records. Precisely, we answer the following question: what was the location of the mobile when it sent a given measurement record? We design and implement novel machine learning based algorithms to infer whether a mobile was outdoor and if so, it infers the latitude-longitude associated with the measurement record. The key technical challenge comes from the fact that measurement records do not contain sufficient information required for triangulation or RF fingerprinting based techniques to work by themselves. Experiments performed with real data sets from an operational 4G network in a major metropolitan show that, the median accuracy of our proposed solution is around 20 m for outdoor mobiles and outdoor classification accuracy is more than 98%.
A Single Camera Vision System for a Humanoid Robot

This paper describes a monocular vision system for humanoid robots designed and built to compete in the RoboCup Humanoid KidSize League. The proposed vision system allows the robots to track a ball, identify goals, field lines, team mates and opponents, providing information such as distances and estimated location for the robots simultaneously, using threads. With experiments using the real robots it was possible to run the vision system in real time with Full HD camera resolution, thus achieving the main goal of this work.
Age, Demographics, and the Demand for Housing, Revisited

The United States is aging, and many baby boomers are reaching or will soon reach theretirement age of sixty-five. On the other hand, the Millennials, the largest generation in the U.S.history, has faced the problems of high rents relative to incomes and volatility in housing market.Given the shifts, we are again seeing growing debates about how these changes in age structurewill affect housing and labor markets.To address these concerns, we revisit Green and Hendershott (1996) and analyze the linksbetween the willingness to pay for a constant-quality house and demographics using the Census2000 and 2005-2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample data.The results generally reconfirm what Green and Hendershott (1996) found: The massivedemographic shift will not result in another housing crisis. This is because the educational andincome levels of the current and future seniors are relatively higher than before, leading them toconsume more than previous generations. Also, the size of the Millennial generation will drivethe growth of aggregate housing demand, although the growth of per household housing demandmay be relatively modest.
Biomarkers in DILI: One More Step Forward

Despite being relatively rare, drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a serious condition, both for the individual patient due to the risk of acute liver failure, and for the drug development industry and regulatory agencies due to associations with drug development attritions, black box warnings, and postmarketing withdrawals. A major limitation in DILI diagnosis and prediction is the current lack of specific biomarkers. Despite refined usage of traditional liver biomarkers in DILI, reliable disease outcome predictions are still difficult to make. These limitations have driven the growing interest in developing new more sensitive and specific DILI biomarkers, which can improve early DILI prediction, diagnosis, and course of action. Several promising DILI biomarker candidates have been discovered to date, including mechanistic-based biomarker candidates such as glutamate dehydrogenase, high-mobility group box 1 protein and keratin-18, which can also provide information on the injury mechanism of different causative agents. Furthermore, microRNAs have received much attention lately as potential non-invasive DILI biomarker candidates, in particular miR-122. Advances in “omics” technologies offer a new approach for biomarker exploration studies. The ability to screen a large number of molecules (e.g., metabolites, proteins, or DNA) simultaneously enables the identification of ‘toxicity signatures,’ which may be used to enhance preclinical safety assessments and disease diagnostics. Omics-based studies can also provide information on the underlying mechanisms of distinct forms of DILI that may further facilitate the identification of early diagnostic biomarkers and safer implementation of personalized medicine. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the area of DILI biomarker studies.
Walking indoors, walking outdoors: an fMRI study

An observation/execution matching system for walking has not been assessed yet. The present fMRI study was aimed at assessing whether, as for object-directed actions, an observation/execution matching system is active for walking and whether the spatial context of walking (open or narrow space) recruits different neural correlates. Two experimental conditions were employed. In the execution condition, while being scanned, participants performed walking on a rolling cylinder located just outside the scanner. The same action was performed also while observing a video presenting either an open space (a country field) or a narrow space (a corridor). In the observation condition, participants observed a video presenting an individual walking on the same cylinder on which the actual action was executed, the open space video and the narrow space video, respectively. Results showed common bilateral activations in the dorsal premotor/supplementary motor areas and in the posterior parietal lobe for both execution and observation of walking, thus supporting a matching system for this action. Moreover, specific sectors of the occipital–temporal cortex and the middle temporal gyrus were consistently active when processing a narrow space versus an open one, thus suggesting their involvement in the visuo-motor transformation required when walking in a narrow space. We forward that the present findings may have implications for rehabilitation of gait and sport training.
The relationship between inflation expectations survey data and inflation

Inflation expectations play an important role in shaping the inflation consequences of economic activity. Hence, they are of special importance for monetary policy. Survey measures of inflation expectations are available, but whether they are a good representation of true beliefs is a moot point. Survey measures of inflation expectations often do not track well with realised inflation rates, sometimes producing large forecast errors. Indeed, survey measures of inflation expectations often tend to track better with current or past inflation than with future inflation, raising questions as to their usefulness as proxies for true expectations. This article examines the relationship between surveyed inflation expectations and inflation in New Zealand since inflation stabilised in the early 1990s. It turns out that while survey data may be inaccurate predictors of the level of inflation, they can still provide useful directional information regarding near-term inflationary pressures. Survey data can be used to supplement other economic indicators, giving a better indication of future inflation.
The Parasitic Dinoflagellates Blastodinium spp. Inhabiting the Gut of Marine, Planktonic Copepods: Morphology, Ecology, and Unrecognized Species Diversity

Blastodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates that live as parasites in the gut of marine, planktonic copepods in the World’s oceans and coastal waters. The taxonomy, phylogeny, and physiology of the genus have only been explored to a limited degree and, based on recent investigations, we hypothesize that the morphological and genetic diversity within this genus may be considerably larger than presently recognized. To address these issues, we obtained 18S rDNA and ITS gene sequences for Blastodinium specimens of different geographical origins, including representatives of the type species. This genetic information was in some cases complemented with new morphological, ultrastructural, physiological, and ecological data. Because most current knowledge about Blastodinium and its effects on copepod hosts stem from publications more than half a century old, we here summarize and discuss the existing knowledge in relation to the new data generated. Most Blastodinium species possess functional chloroplasts, but the parasitic stage, the trophocyte, has etioplasts and probably a limited photosynthetic activity. Sporocytes and swarmer cells have well-developed plastids and plausibly acquire part of their organic carbon needs through photosynthesis. A few species are nearly colorless with no functional chloroplasts. The photosynthetic species are almost exclusively found in warm, oligotrophic waters, indicating a life strategy that may benefit from copepods as microhabitats for acquiring nutrients in a nutrient-limited environment. As reported in the literature, monophyly of the genus is moderately supported, but the three main groups proposed by Chatton in 1920 are consistent with molecular data. However, we demonstrate an important genetic diversity within the genus and provide evidences for new groups and the presence of cryptic species. Finally, we discuss the current knowledge on the occurrence of Blastodinium spp. and their potential impact on natural copepod populations.
Differences in Clinical and Biological Features Between Type I and Type II Tumors in FIGO Stages I-II Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma

Objective The objective of this study was to compare immunohistochemical profile for the apoptosis regulators p53, C-MYC, bax, PUMA, and PTEN and the cell cycle regulatory proteins p21 and p27, as well as clinical factors between types I and II tumors. Methods In total, 131 patients in FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stages I-II were divided into 2 groups of patients after type I tumors (n = 79) and type II tumors (n = 52). Differences in the immunohistochemical profile for the cell cycle–related proteins, detected by tissue microarrays and immune-histochemistry, were compared. For statistical tests, the Pearson χ2 test and the logistic regression model were used. All tests were 2-sided, and the level of statistical significance was P ≤ 0.05. Results In multivariate logistic regression analysis with recurrent disease as endpoint, FIGO stage (odds ratio [OR], 4.7), type I/II tumors (OR, 3.8), body mass index (BMI) (OR, 3.5), and p53 status (OR, 4.2) all were found to be independent predictive factors. In 2 different multivariate logistic regression analyses with type I/II tumors as endpoint, both p53+p21− (OR, 2.9) and p27 status (OR, 3.0) were associated with type II tumors. Differently, C-MYC status (OR, 0.4) was associated with type I tumors. Furthermore, age (OR, 1.04), BMI (OR, 0.4), and recurrent disease (OR, 4.3) all were associated to type II tumors. In survival analysis, there was a trend (P = 0.054) toward better disease-free survival for patients with type I tumors. Conclusions Concomitant positivity for p53 and negativity for p21, positivity for p27, and negativity for C-MYC in an epithelial ovarian tumor might strengthen the diagnostic option of type II tumor ovarian carcinoma. Patients with type II tumors were older, had lower BMI, and had more often recurrent disease than patients with type I tumors.
Identifying the Effects of Simultaneous Monetary Policy Shocks. Fear of Floating under Inflation targeting

Many central banks, particularly in the developing world, aim for exchange rate stability as a macroeconomic goal. However, most are reluctant to relinquish monetary policy autonomy, so they end up operating through both interest rate and foreign exchange interventions. But the use of multiple policy instruments does not necessarily equip monetary authorities with better tools to achieve their targets. On the contrary, their effects can potentially offset each other. Using daily data from the Central Bank of Colombia during the period of 1999-2012, I study the effects of simultaneous policies by first deriving new measures of monetary shocks and then determining their impact on economic activity. The main findings indicate that (i) while interest rate interventions have a significant impact on real and nominal variables, foreign exchange interventions tend to have limited effects; and (ii) empirical anomalies, such as the price puzzle, are eliminated when properly accounting for the systematic responses of policy. Classification JEL: E31, E43, E52, E58, F31.
Elevated MARCKS phosphorylation contributes to unresponsiveness of breast cancer to paclitaxel treatment

Accumulating evidence has suggested that myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) is critical for regulating multiple pathophysiological processes. However, the molecular mechanism underlying increased phosphorylation of MARCKS at Ser159/163 (phospho-MARCKS) and its functional consequence in neoplastic disease remain to be established. Herein, we investigated how phospho-MARCKS is regulated in breast carcinoma, and its role in the context of chemotherapy. In a screen of patients with breast tumors, we find that the abundance of phospho-MARCKS, not MARCKS protein per se, increased in breast cancers and positively correlated with tumor grade and metastatic status. Among chemotherapeutic agents, mitotic inhibitors, including paclitaxel, vincristine or eribulin, notably promoted phospho-MARCKS accumulation in multiple breast cancer cells. We further show that phospho-MARCKS acted upstream of Src activation upon paclitaxel exposure. Reduction of phospho-MARCKS by knockdown of MARCKS or pharmacological agents increased paclitaxel sensitivity. Particularly, a known phospho-MARCKS inhibitor, MANS peptide, was demonstrated to increase paclitaxel efficacy and attenuate angiogenesis/metastasis of xenografted breast cancer cells by decreasing abundance of phospho-MARCKS and messages of inflammatory mediators. Our data suggest that unresponsiveness of breast cancer to paclitaxel treatment is, at least in part, mediated by phospho-MARCKS and also provide an alternative therapeutic strategy against breast cancer by improving taxanes sensitivity.
The Principle of Proportionality: Separating the Impact of Dual Class Shares, Pyramids and Cross-ownership on Firm Value Across Legal Regimes in Western Europe

Recent policy initiatives within the harmonization of European company laws have promoted a so-called “principle of proportionality” through proposals that regulate mechanisms opposing a proportional distribution of ownership and control. We scrutinize the foundation for these initiatives by analyzing the use of instruments to separate ownership from control across legal regimes in a sample of over 4,000 publicly traded firms from 14 Western European countries. First, we confirm the negative impact on firm value from disproportional ownership structures previously established in a sample of Asian firms by Claessens et al. (2002). Second, we show that dual class shares have a larger and more significant negative effect on firm value than pyramids and cross holdings. Third, we find that the impact of disproportionality and the underlying instruments is inversely related to the level of investor protection. Thus, dual class shares and pyramids substitute legal protection in countries with inadequate investor protection. Fourth, we find no evidence of a significant effect of disproportionality instruments on earnings performance. Finally, we discuss policy implications of these findings in relationship to the process of harmonization of the European capital markets.
The latch modulates nucleotide and DNA binding to the helicase-like domain of Thermotoga maritima reverse gyrase and is required for positive DNA supercoiling

Reverse gyrase is the only topoisomerase that can introduce positive supercoils into DNA in an ATP-dependent process. It has a modular structure and harnesses a helicase-like domain to support a topoisomerase activity, thereby creating the unique function of positive DNA supercoiling. The isolated topoisomerase domain can relax negatively supercoiled DNA, an activity that is suppressed in reverse gyrase. The isolated helicase-like domain is a nucleotide-dependent switch that is attenuated by the topoisomerase domain. Inter-domain communication thus appears central for the functional cooperation of the two domains. The latch, an insertion into the helicase-like domain, has been suggested as an important element in coordinating their activities. Here, we have dissected the influence of the latch on nucleotide and DNA binding to the helicase-like domain, and on DNA supercoiling by reverse gyrase. We find that the latch is required for positive DNA supercoiling. It is crucial for the cooperativity of DNA and nucleotide binding to the helicase-like domain. The latch contributes to DNA binding, and affects the preference of reverse gyrase for ssDNA. Thus, the latch coordinates the individual domain activities by modulating the helicase-like domain, and by communicating changes in the nucleotide state to the topoisomerase domain.
XMM-Newton Observations of Evolution of Cluster X-Ray Scaling Relations at z = 0.4-0.7

We present a spatially resolved analysis of the temperature and gas density profiles of galaxy clusters at z = 0.4-0.7 observed with XMM-Newton. These data are used to derive the total cluster mass within the radius r500 without assuming isothermality and also to measure the average temperature and total X-ray luminosity, excluding the cooling cores. We derive the high-redshift M-T and L-T relations and compare them with the local measurements. The high-redshift L-T relation has low scatter and evolves as L ∝ (1 + z)1.8±0.3 for a fixed T, in agreement with several previous Chandra and XMM-Newton studies (Vikhlinin et al., Lumb et al., and Maughan et al.). The observed evolution of the M-T relation follows M500 ∝ E(z)-α, where we measure α = 0.88 ± 0.23. This is in agreement with predictions of the self-similar theory, α = 1.
Trapezius muscle EMG as predictor of mental stress

Stress is a growing problem in society and can cause musculoskeletal complaints. It would be useful to measure stress for prevention of stress-related health problems. An experiment is described in which EMG signals of the upper trapezius muscle were measured with a wireless system during three different stressful conditions: a calculation task (the Norinder test), a logical puzzle task and a memory task. The latter two tests were newly designed and aimed at creating circumstances that are similar to work stress. Amplitudes of the EMG signals were significantly higher during stress compared to rest (+2.6% of reference contraction level) and relative time with EMG gaps was lower during stress (−14.3% of time). Also, mean and median frequencies were significantly lower during stress than during rest (−8.6 and −8.8 Hz, respectively). EMG amplitude increased not only from rest to stress conditions, but also during stressful conditions and decreased during relaxation periods. EMG features correlated with subjectively indicated stress levels (correlations of 0.32 with RMS and −0.32 with relative gaptime). The results indicate that EMG is a useful parameter to detect stress. Together with other physiological sensors, EMG sensors can be included in a wireless system for ambulatory monitoring of stress levels.
SAIL-MAP: Loop-closure detection using saliency-based features

Loop-closure detection, which is the ability to recognize a previously visited place, is of primary importance for robotic localization and navigation problems. We here introduce SAIL-MAP, a method for loop-closure detection based on vision only, applied to topological simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Our method allows the matching of camera images using a novel saliency-based feature detector and descriptor. These features have been designed to benefit from the robustness to viewpoint change and image perturbations of bio-inspired saliency algorithms. Additionally, the same algorithm is used for the detector and descriptor. The results obtained on different large-scale data sets demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solution for localization problems.
Multicore Image Processing with OpenMP [Applications Corner]

One of the recent innovations in computer engineering has been the development of multicore processors, which are composed of two or more independent cores in a single physical package. Today, many processors, including digital signal processors (DSPs), mobile, graphics, and general-purpose central processing units (CPUs) have a multicore design, driven by the demand of higher performance. Major CPU vendors have changed strategy away from increasing the raw clock rate to adding on-chip support for multithreading by increases in the number of cores; dual and quad-core processors are now commonplace. Signal and image processing programmers can benefit dramatically from these advances in hardware, by modifying single-threaded code to exploit parallelism to run on multiple cores.