Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Actin and myosin in transcriptional and post-transcriptional control of gene expression

Actin plays a key role in basal gene regulation. In the past decade actin has been found to be a component of chromatin remodeling complexes, ribonucleoprotein particles and to associate with all eukaryotic RNA polymerases. Based on the above discoveries the main objective of this thesis has been to elucidate some of the molecular mechanisms through which nuclear actin controls synthesis and processing of RNA transcripts. In mammals, elongation of pre-mRNA transcripts is regulated by the interaction between actin and the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein hnRNP U. In Paper I we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying their cooperative function. We discovered that actin and hnRNP U interact with the phosphorylated RNA polymerase II carboxy-terminal domain to recruit the histone acetyl transferase PCAF to active genes. This mechanism is required to establish permissive chromatin for efficient transcription elongation. There is emerging evidence that changes in the polymerization state of nuclear actin are important for gene regulation. Along these lines, in Paper II we found that nuclear actin dynamics is necessary for RNA polymerase II mediated transcription. We show that the F-actin severing protein cofilin-1 maintains the pool of monomeric actin to be fed into growing actin polymers and this mechanism is specifically required for elongation of pre-mRNA. Altogether these findings suggest actin polymerization occurs to facilitate migration of elongating RNA polymerase II along active genes. Evidence that the interaction between actin and nuclear myosin 1 (NM1) is important for RNA polymerase I transcription elongation led us to investigate their potential synergy in post-transcriptional control of rRNA biogenesis. In Paper III we found that in nucleoli NM1 associates with rRNA, NM1 becomes incorporated into newly synthesized ribosomal subunits and cooperates with actin for their maturation. We also found that rRNA-associated NM1 interacts with the export receptor CRM1 and the RNA binding nucleoporin Nup153 at the basket of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). We propose that NM1 accompanies newly assembled export-competent ribosomal subunits from nucleolus to NPC, thus modulating both their maturation and export. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I. Obrdlik Ales, Kukalev Alexander, Louvet Emilie, Ostlund Farrants AnnKristin, Caputo Luca and Percipalle Piergiorgio. The histone acetyltransferase PCAF associates with actin and hnRNP U for RNA polymerase II transcription. Mol Cell Biol (2008) 28, 6342-6357. II. Obrdlik Ales & Percipalle Piergiorgio. Cofilin-1 controls a nuclear pool of monomeric actin required for RNA polymerase II transcription elongation Submitted manuscript. III. Obrdlik Ales, Louvet Emilie, Kukalev Alexander, Naschekin Dimitri, Kiseleva Elena, Fahrenkrog Birthe and Percipalle Piergiorgio. Nuclear myosin 1 is in complex with mature rRNA transcripts and associates with the nuclear pore basket. FASEB J (2010) 24, 146-157. Reprints are made with permission from the publishers.
Omani Young Children's Language Proficiencies: The Outcomes of a Bilingual Education Program

Due to a globalizing world context and contemporary trends in society, today’s parents are more interested in having their children acquire English language skills as early as possible. In Oman, the movement to offer early childhood education in two languages—English and Arabic—has been accelerating. Through the efforts of Sultan Qaboos University, a model Child Care Center (CCC) was established on campus to pioneer bilingual education in the early years of life. This type of educational program also has the potential to impact young children’s development and acquisition of their primary language. In addition, bilingual children’s language usage outside the school in daily communications is another significant topic for study. However, there has been little solid research on this topic. Hence, this research study aimed to assess and evaluate English and primary language proficiency levels of young children enrolled at CCC and their language usage in communications outside the school environment. Implications are discussed and recommendations are made for teachers, parents, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n23p784
Explanatory Factors for Market Multiples and Expected Returns

Market multiples of the largest firms are most likely to reflect efficient pricing of stocks. For such firms, variations in market multiples should be largely explained by fundamental variables, and expected returns should be positively related to beta but not significantly related to other factors. This study shows that, for stocks in the Standard & Poorâ€™s 100 index, fundamental factors explain almost all of the variations in price/book and price/sales multiples but only 25% of variations in forward price/earnings multiples. Expected returns are positively related to beta, as postulated by the capital asset pricing model. However, contrary to the expectations of the capital asset pricing model and the weak and semistrong forms of the efficient market hypothesis, expected returns are also significantly negatively related to prior returns and forward price/earnings multiples. These findings are surprising for a sample comprising the largest stocks.
Viral Load in Epstein‐Barr Virus‐Associated Hemophagocytic Syndrome

The viral load in peripheral blood from patients with Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV)‐associated hemophagocytic syndrome was measured by real‐time quantitative PCR and compared with that in infectious mononucleosis. Patients with EBV‐associated hemophagocytic syndrome generally had larger viral burdens, although it was difficult to differentiate EBV‐associated hemophagocytic syndrome from infectious mononucleosis simply by viral load. The difference in viral load seemed to be clearer in peripheral blood mononuclear cells than in plasma.
Moral Hazard and Moral Imperative

In a recent article in this Journal, Wu and Colwell 1988) seek to describe how the optimal level of safety production chosen by an individual is determined. Their objective is to " . handle questions of moral hazard, and moral imperative in a simpler and more heuristic manner than the previous literature" (p. 101). The authors attempt to determine how the marginal benefit of safety production is impacted by various parameters for the cases of full and partial insurance coverage. The conditions under which the presence of insurance will lead to more safety production (moral imperative), and when it will lead to less safety production (moral hazard), are examined. While the questions explored by Wu and Colwell are of interest, many of their conclusions are incorrect, as several of their proofs contain a fundamental error. In particular, the discussion of partial insurance (section Ill of their paper) is fatally flawed, as the proofs of Propositions 1 and 2 are both invalid. Thus, the comparative statics results which follow (section IV of the paper) do not necessarily hold for the case of partial insurance coverage. Furthermore, a portion of their comparative statics results is also invalid for the case of full insurance coverage. The problem in their analysis occurs when equalities are incorrectly treated as identities. The mistake first appears in the proof of Proposition 1, which is contained in Appendix A (p. 116). The incorrect demonstration begins with equation A.1, which is reproduced below using the authors' notation. p'(U[.sub.1] - U[.sub.o]) = [(1 - p)U[. sub.1]' + pUo'](1 - [alpha])L[pi]' The function U[. sub.o] represents utility in the event that a fixed loss (L) occurs, and thus can be expressed as U[. sub.o] = Uo[W - [alpha][pi](s)L - (1 - [alpha])L - C(s)], where W is initial wealth, a is the insurance coverage ratio, C(s) is the cost of safety production, 7r(s) is the price of insurance, and s is the amount of safety production. If a loss does not occur, utility is U[. sub.1] = U[. sub.1](W - [alpha][pi](s)L - C(s)). The probability of a loss (p) depends on the level of safety production, and is written as p = p(s). Wu and Colwell state that the above " . equality implies that the derivatives of both sides of (A. 1) with respect to a are equal" (p. I 1 6). Taking the derivative Wu and Colwell obtain equation A.2 (p. 116), which is repeated below. [Mathematical Expression Omitted] This equation is not correct. Both sides of equation A.1 depend on s, [alpha], L, and W, and for a particular vector (s, [alpha], L, W) the equality may hold. However, and this is the important point, equation A. I is not an identity, and it does not hold for all [alpha]. Therefore, it is wrong to claim that the derivative of the left-hand side with respect to a will be equal to the derivative of the right-hand side. …
Mayoral Perceptions of Developmental and Redistributive Policies

The validity of Peterson’s policy typology, outlined in City Limits (1981), is dependent on the assumption that local government decision makers understand and order public policies in specific ways. Using confirmatory factor analysis of international survey data on mayoral public policy spending preferences from the Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project, the authors find that the categories of redistributive and developmental policies are more than creations of deductive reasoning. The spending preferences of mayors in selected industrial democracies conform to the structure and order as specified in Peterson’s theory.
Preferential Trade Agreement Policies for Development: A Handbook

Regional integration is increasingly recognized as a key avenue for promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have become a central instrument of regional integration in all parts of the world. Beyond market access and the progressive elimination of barriers at the border, PTAs are increasingly being used to address a host of behind-the-border issues, also known as 'deep integration' issues, in order to promote cooperation in the areas of investment, trade facilitation, competition policy, and government procurement, as well as wider social issues related to the regulation of the environment and the protection of labor and human rights. The purpose of this handbook is to explore the various ways in which policy makers and trade negotiators in the developing world can limit the costs and maximize the benefits of their regional integration efforts. PTAs have become a cornerstone of the international trade system. The surge in their number and scope is fast reshaping the architecture of the world trading system and the trading environment of developing countries. The integration of these diverse agreements into a multilateral framework that facilitates the expansion of trade is likely to be one of the main challenges facing the world trading system in the coming years. This handbook offers an introduction to the complex world of modern PTAs. It follows in the steps of earlier, seminal World Bank publications on the economics and practice of PTAs, notably new dimensions in regional integration, trade blocs, and regional integration and development. Supplementing these earlier publications, this volume aims at taking its audience beyond the traditional market access paradigm to consider more broadly and systematically the numerous regulatory policy dimensions that are contained in modern PTAs. In particular, it offers a framework for understanding a number of behind-the-border policies typically covered in PTAs, including labor mobility, investment, trade facilitation, competition, and government procurement, as well as other societal and more normative policies related to intellectual property, environment, labor rights, and human rights. These latter are increasingly among the policies driven by powerful trading blocs as they strive to influence developing countries and the evolution of the global trading system. The handbook is also inspired by the numerous requests received by the World Bank from developing countries or groups of developing countries worldwide for advice on PTAs, including those currently being negotiated, as an aid in understanding the obligations and the possible economic and development implications of various provisions.
Childhood and adulthood psychological ill health as predictors of midlife affective and anxiety disorders: the 1958 British Birth Cohort.

CONTEXT Affective and anxiety disorders in early adulthood are associated with internalizing and externalizing disorders in childhood. Previous studies have not examined whether the risk associated with childhood psychological ill health persists for midlife psychological health. OBJECTIVES To examine whether childhood and adulthood psychological health are associated with midlife affective and anxiety disorders and to examine sex differences in these associations. DESIGN Data were gathered during a biomedical survey of the 1958 British Birth Cohort, a 45-year longitudinal study of 98% of births in 1 week in 1958. SETTING General population sample in England, Scotland, and Wales. PARTICIPANTS Analyses were based on 9297 participants, 54% of the surviving sample. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Diagnoses according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) at age 45 years for depressive episode and generalized anxiety disorder. RESULTS Internalizing and externalizing disorders at ages 7, 11, and 16 years were associated with a 1.5- to 2-fold increase in risk for midlife anxiety and affective disorder (P<.05), whereas psychological ill health at ages 23, 33, and 42 years was associated with a 2- to 7-fold increase in risk for midlife disorder (P<.05). Early-adulthood associations were significantly stronger for men (P<.05). Type and age at onset of childhood problems did not contribute to variations in the associations with midlife disorder. Risk for midlife disorder increased significantly with the cumulative number of adulthood reports of psychological ill health (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Childhood psychological health is an important independent distal factor in adulthood psychological health. Adulthood psychological health shows stronger associations with midlife disorders, indicating a poorer prognosis for adulthood than childhood psychological ill health. Men may be more susceptible than women to the effects of psychological ill health in early adulthood on midlife disorders. Targeting prevention, recognition, and treatment efforts in early adulthood, as well as in childhood and adolescence, may significantly reduce the burden of disease.
Survival of Dogs Following Surgical Excision of Histologically Well-differentiated Melanocytic Neoplasms of the Mucous Membranes of the Lips and Oral Cavity

Postsurgical follow-up information was obtained on 64 dogs with 69 histologically well-differentiated melanocytic neoplasms that involved the mucous membranes of the lips and oral cavity. The patients received no adjunct therapy. Sixty one of 64 dogs (95%) were alive at the end of the study or had died of causes unrelated to the tumor, with a mean survival of 23.4 months and a median survival of 34 months after surgery. Twenty-eight dogs alive at the end of the study had a mean survival of 31.3 months after surgery. There were 2 dogs, which had recurrent tumors, that were still alive at the end of the study. All dogs that died of tumor-related causes (3) and all dogs with recurrent tumors (2) had tumors in the oral cavity. Results of this study indicate that a favorable clinical course and prolonged survival can be expected in most dogs with histologically well-differentiated melanocytic neoplasms of the mucous membranes of the lips and oral cavity, with only local excision of the lesions and no adjunct therapy.
A Right Price for Rice? Côte D’Ivoire Insights into the Welfare Implications of the ‘Global Food Crisis’

Abstract Using 2008 LSMS data for Cote d’Ivoire, we study the welfare implications of the price increase of key imported staple food – rice – and consider the consumption smoothing effect of locally produced food and cash crop varieties. While middle-income households are found to be hardest hit by a price shock, the poorest appear to be immune to it. When both cash and food crop production is taken into account, the negative impact becomes negligible. We find interesting income reallocations from richer to poorer households, which can potentially be generalised across similar African countries.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND FUNCTIONS FOR UK AGRICULTURE: BIASES OF TECHNICAL CHANGE AND THE RETURNS TO PUBLIC R&D

This study is the first UK application of the integrated, single‐stage approach to estimating the returns to R&D. Fitting a residual profit function, which incorporates the technology variables, to new data for UK agriculture for 1954–1990 produces short‐ and long‐run estimates of the output supply and input‐demand price elasticities, elasticities of the effects of relaxing the non‐variable input constraints and shadow prices for these non‐variable factors. All of the supply and demand relationships are found to be inelastic, but the price‐responsiveness of the system has increased over time. The long‐run model, in which all of the inputs except land are treated as variable and private‐sector research is included, gives a marginal rate of return to public agricultural R&D of only 18 per cent. Estimates of the factor‐saving biases of the technology variables suggest that public R&D has had its greatest effect in the animal sector.
Idiopathic membranous nephropathy: definition and relevance of a partial remission.

BACKGROUND Membranous nephropathy (MGN) remains the most common cause of adult onset nephrotic syndrome, and within the primary glomerulonephritis group is a leading cause of renal failure. A complete remission (CR) confers an excellent long-term prognosis, but the quantitative benefits of partial remissions (PR) have not been defined. METHODS This study evaluated the rate of renal function decline (slope), relapse, and renal survival in nephrotic MGN patients with CR, PR, or no remission (NR). Multivariate analysis included clinical and laboratory data at presentation and over follow-up, blood pressure control and agents employed, and immunosuppressive therapy. RESULTS The study cohort consisted of 348 nephrotic MGN patients with a minimum of 12 months follow-up identified from the Toronto Glomerulonephritis Registry. Over a median follow-up of 60 months, 102 experienced a CR, 136 had a PR, and 110 had no remission. A PR was independently predictive of slope and survival from renal failure by multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 0.08, 95% CI 0.03-0.19, P < 0.001). Benefit from immunosuppression could only be shown in a subset of high-risk patients. Treatment-related PR had the same long-term implication as spontaneous ones. Relapses from PR were high (47%) but often reversible. CONCLUSION A partial remission is an important therapeutic target with implications for both progression rate and renal survival.
Intercropping in traditional farming systems.

Though largely neglected by researchers and planners, intercropping is a key element of traditional farming systems. Its superiority over sole cropping in several respects has been indicated by different studies. The present paper, based on farm level data for three years collected under ongoing village level studies programmes of ICRISAT, clearly reveals the following: (1) Intercropping is essentially a system of small and dry land farmers. Hence research resource allocation favouring intercropping can help serve equity goals. (2) Traditional intercropping is highly complex and diverse. It is designed to meet the farmer's multiple objectives simultaneously. Scientists cannot and need not generate equally complex systems. They can help by generating more and better options regarding various components of intercropping systems and leaving their selection to the farmer.
Health complaints and immunological markers of exposure to bioaerosols among biowaste collectors and compost workers

OBJECTIVES In a cross sectional study, work related health complaints and diseases of 58 compost workers and 53 biowaste collectors were investigated and compared with 40 control subjects. Levels of specific IgG antibodies to moulds and bacteria were measured as immunological markers of exposure to bioaerosols. METHODS With a standardised protocol, the participants of the study were interviewed for work related symptoms, conditions of exposure to bioaerosols at their workplaces, exposure to bioaerosols from other sources, atopic diseases, and smoking habits. They were clinically examined by physicians specialised in occupational medicine. Also, concentrations of specific IgG antibodies against antigens of moulds and actinomycetes occurring regularly at these workplaces were measured and compared with the health complaints of the workers. RESULTS Compost workers had significantly more symptoms and diseases of the airways (p=0.003) and the skin (p=0.02) than the control subjects. Health complaints of biowaste collectors did not differ significantly from those of the control group. Subjects with atopic diseases were underrepresented in the compost workers (p=0.003). Significantly increased antibody concentrations against fungi and actinomycetes were measured in workers at composting plants. The concentrations in biowaste collectors did not differ significantly from those in the control subjects. A significant association between the diseases and increased antibody concentrations were found in the compost workers. CONCLUSION The high exposure to bioaerosols of compost workers is significantly associated with a higher frequency of health complaints and diseases as well as higher concentrations of specific antibodies against moulds and actinomycetes. A healthy worker effect is indicated by the underrepresentation of atopic diseases among the compost workers compared with biowaste collectors and the control group.
Is business saving really none of our business?

ABSTRACT This paper revisits the role of business saving in the economy by critically scrutinizing the existing macroeoconomic and corporate finance literatures. We assemble and exploit a broad international, unbalanced panel of 47 countries over 1995–2013 on saving and investment by institutional sector to shed new light on the relevance of business saving for private saving and investment around the world. We show that businesses contribute on average more than 50% of national saving around the world. Using this unique dataset, we find evidence of partial piercing of the corporate veil: a $1 increase in business saving gives rise to a decrease of approximately $0.40 in household saving–thereby raising private saving by as much as $0.60. We also find that a $1 increase in business saving increases private investment by as much as $0.20 in countries where limited financing is a binding constraint on firms’ investment. The evidence suggests that business saving and external financing are complementary sources of financing for investment.
A Model for Evaluating Topical Antimicrobial Efficacy against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms in Superficial Murine Wounds

ABSTRACT A wound biofilm model was created by adapting a superficial infection model. Partial-thickness murine wounds were inoculated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Dense biofilm communities developed at the wound surface after 24 h as demonstrated by microscopy and quantitative microbiology. Common topical antimicrobial agents had reduced efficacy when treatment was initiated 24 h after inoculation compared to 4 h after inoculation. This model provides a rapid in vivo test for new agents to treat wound biofilm infections.