Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microinjection of covalently cross-linked actin oligomers causes disruption of existing actin filament architecture in PtK2 cells.

Experiments were performed to determine the effects of interrupting the flux of actin monomers between unpolymerised and polymerised pools in PtK2 cells by (1) microinjecting exogenous polymerisation nuclei and (2) blocking endogenous assembly sites with low concentrations of cytochalasin D. Fluorescent actin oligomers were prepared by glutaraldehyde cross-linking F-actin derivatised at cysteine-374 with 5-iodoacetamido-fluorescein. These oligomers caused rapid nucleation of polymerisation of pyrene-labelled actin in vitro. Different numbers of polymerisation nuclei were injected into PtK2 cells and the cells were incubated for various times. Microinjection of between 1.2 X 10(4) and 1.8 X 10(4) nuclei per cell resulted in the complete disassembly of existing actin filament structures in nearly half of the cells within 15 min. Existing structures in such cells were replaced by foci of polymerised actin, which co-localised with concentrations of nuclei. Injection of increasing numbers of nuclei between 3 X 10(3) and 1.2 X 10(4) caused fragmentation of stress fibres in an increasing proportion of cells, whereas injection of less than 3 X 10(3) caused no obvious effects even over a 90 min incubation period. These data indicate that the degree of disruption of stress fibres was a function of the number of nuclei injected, but that it was less dependent on the incubation time. The minimum number of injected nuclei causing complete disruption of actin filament structures provides an estimate for the number of endogenous nuclei involved in filament turnover, whereas the minimum period for reorganisation (about 15min) implies a maximum time for the complete turnover of actin in the system. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Periconceptional Undernutrition in Sheep Affects Adult Phenotype Only in Males

Periconceptional undernutrition (PCUN) in sheep alters fetal growth and metabolism and postnatal growth regulation, but effects on adult body composition are unknown. We investigated the effects of PCUN on adult phenotype. Singleton lambs of ewes fed normally (N, n = 17) or undernourished before (UN-61-0 d, n = 23), before and after (UN-61-30 d, n = 19), or after (UN-2-30d, n = 17) mating (d0) were weighed at birth, 12 weeks, and intermittently to adulthood. At the age of 3-4 years, body composition was assessed by dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry followed by postmortem examination. Compared with N animals, male, but not female, offspring of all UN groups had greater % fat mass (all UN versus N: 9 ± 1 versus 2 ± 1%, P < 0.001) and perirenal fat (544 ± 36 versus 222 ± 44 g, P = 0.002), and proportionately smaller hearts (4.5 ± 0.1 versus 5.2 ± 0.2 g·kg−1), lungs (9.1 ± 0.2 versus 10.6 ± 0.5 g·kg−1), and adrenals (0.06 ± 0.002 versus 0.08 ± 0.003 g·kg−1). UN males also had larger testes (726 ± 21 versus 545 ± 32 g, P = 0.007), but UN females had smaller ovaries (2.7 ± 0.08 versus 3.4 ± 0.4 g, P = 0.01). Changes were independent of birth weight or postnatal growth velocity. Brief PCUN has sex-specific effects on adult phenotype, predominantly affecting males, which may contribute to adverse metabolic outcomes.
Absence of MutY homologue mutation in patients with multiple sporadic adenomatous polyps in Korea.

AIM Recently, germ-line mutation in the base excision repair gene MYH has been identified to cause a novel autosomal recessive form of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Interestingly, a striking evidence for MYH mutations within different ethnic groups has been demonstrated. In this study, we screened 30 patients with multiple adenomatous polyps for MYH mutations to assess its prevalence and ethnic specificity in Korea. METHODS Thirty patients (21 men and 9 women; mean age 62.3 years) with multiple adenomatous polyps were examined for MYH mutations. The mean number of adenomas per patient was 10.0. Sixteen exonic regions and their intronic sequences were amplified by PCR and subjected to SSCP and DNA sequencing analyses. RESULTS None of the patients was identified to carry any truncating or sequence alterations in MYH. Our screening for the mutational regions, which were recognized from Caucasian patients or affected Indian families, also failed to detect sequence substitutions. CONCLUSION Mutation in MYH may be rarely involved in the pathogenesis of multiple sporadic colorectal adenomas in Korean population, although a large-scale analysis will be required to clarify the presence of specific MYH variants in a subset of patients and their role in the predisposition of multiple colorectal adenomas in Korean population.
Growth of Infants Prenatally Exposed to Cocaine/Crack: Comparison of a Prenatal Care and a No Prenatal Care Sample

Objective. It has not been possible to draw firm conclusions about the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure because of methodologic problems involved in the conduct of this research. This study, designed to overcome some of these methodologic problems, is a prospective, longitudinal investigation of the effects of prenatal cocaine/crack exposure on neonatal growth in two samples, one with and one without prenatal care (PC). Methods. Women in the PC sample (n = 295) were interviewed at the end of each trimester about their use of cocaine, crack, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs. Women in the no prenatal care (NPC) sample (n = 98) were interviewed at delivery about their drug use during each trimester of pregnancy. In both samples, information was also obtained about sociodemographic, lifestyle, psychologic, and social support characteristics. Both samples consisted of women who were predominantly low income, single, and high school educated. Of the women, 48% in the PC sample were black; 81% in the NPC sample were black. Infants were examined during the postpartum hospital stay by project nurses who were blind to maternal substance use status. Results. Women in both samples who used cocaine/crack during pregnancy were older, had lower family incomes, and used more alcohol than did women who did not use cocaine/crack during pregnancy. In addition, women in the NPC sample were more likely to be black, less educated, gained less weight during pregnancy, and used more alcohol than did women in the PC sample, regardless of cocaine use. In both samples, cocaine/crack use during early pregnancy predicted reduced gestational age, birth weight, length, and head circumference, after controlling for the significant covariates of cocaine use. In a comparison of the samples, the offspring of the NPC/cocaine group were significantly smaller than were the offspring of the PC/no cocaine group, whereas the offspring of the PC/cocaine and NPC/cocaine groups did not differ. Conclusions. These results indicate that exposure to cocaine/crack during early pregnancy decreases the intrauterine growth of exposed offspring in women with and without PC. Each of the growth parameters was affected indicating symmetric growth retardation. The adequacy of PC was not a significant factor in determining the difference between cocaine-exposed and nonexposed infants. These samples are being followed throughout childhood to determine whether there are long-term effects of prenatal cocaine/crack exposure on growth.
MsbA Transporter-dependent Lipid A 1-Dephosphorylation on the Periplasmic Surface of the Inner Membrane

The lipid A anchor of Francisella tularensis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) lacks both phosphate groups present in Escherichia coli lipid A. Membranes of Francisella novicida (an environmental strain related to F. tularensis) contain enzymes that dephosphorylate lipid A and its precursors at the 1- and 4′-positions. We now report the cloning and characterization of a membrane-bound phosphatase of F. novicida that selectively dephosphorylates the 1-position. By transferring an F. novicida genomic DNA library into E. coli and selecting for low level polymyxin resistance, we isolated FnlpxE as the structural gene for the 1-phosphatase, an inner membrane enzyme of 239 amino acid residues. Expression of FnlpxE in a heptose-deficient mutant of E. coli caused massive accumulation of a previously uncharacterized LPS molecule, identified by mass spectrometry as 1-dephospho-Kdo2-lipid A. The predicted periplasmic orientation of the FnLpxE active site suggested that LPS export might be required for 1-dephosphorylation of lipid A. LPS and phospholipid export depend on the activity of MsbA, an essential inner membrane ABC transporter. Expression of FnlpxE in the msbA temperature-sensitive E. coli mutant WD2 resulted in 90% 1-dephosphorylation of lipid A at the permissive temperature (30 °C). However, the 1-phosphate group of newly synthesized lipid A was not cleaved at the nonpermissive temperature (44 °C). Our findings provide the first direct evidence that lipid A 1-dephosphorylation catalyzed by LpxE occurs on the periplasmic surface of the inner membrane.
A Multipath Channel Model for PLC Systems based on Nodal Method and Modal Analysis

One main concern in PLC applications is related to multipath signal transmission and poses certain problems in the prediction of the signal characteristics. In this paper a simple model, suitable for the calculation of the signal voltage and current profiles in cases of multipath PLC channels is proposed. The model is based on the nodal admittance method and can be applied in multiconductor grids, which are decoupled using modal transformations. The model is based on the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) assumption. Several test cases are investigated, including different topologies of a power distribution circuit with the random addition of branches of varying lengths. Phase to phase and phase to ground signal injection cases are examined. The results are checked against the corresponding obtained by the well-known Electromagnetic Transients Program (ATP-EMTP), showing very good agreement.
The Impact of Yoga on Military Personnel with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of yoga on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, resilience, and mindfulness in military personnel. Participants were 12 military members who met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The study assessed pre-post within-subject scores on PTSD, resilience and mindfulness measures. It also compared, through benchmarking, results obtained from the PTSD measure utilized in this study (Clinician Administered PTSD Scale: CAPS; Blake et al., 1998) with those of other military intervention studies of PTSD using the CAPS as an outcome measure. Results of within-subject analyses supported the study's primary hypothesis that yoga would reduce PTSD symptoms but did not support the hypothesis that yoga would increase mindfulness and resilience in this population. Benchmarking results indicated that although the current intervention was significantly more effective than the control condition, it was also significantly less effective than the aggregated treatment benchmark derived from other studies.
Voluntary Association Memberships of American Adults: Evidence from National Sample Surveys

differentiation takes place. Knowledge of the association of the dimensions becomes important as a basis for further evaluations of the Shevky theory. In the reported factor analysis tests, the social rank, urbanization, and segregation factors were allowed to assume whatever relationships were necessary to best fit the predicted models. Factor correlations were computed from the original rotated matrices for all cities.26 As Table 5 indicates, these correlations show a rather consistent pattern. The low correlations, ranging from -. 143 in Akron to . 224 in Atlanta, between social rank and urbanization factors, indicate that they are almost independent of each other. The segregation factor, however, is related to both social rank and to urbanization. Correlations of segregation with social rank are consistently negative for the separate cities and range from -. 015 in Atlanta to -. 752 in Providence. Segregation is positively correlated with urbanization, with values varying from effectively zero in Portland to . 344 in Akron.
Improvement of the Outcome of Relapsed or Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children Using a Risk-Based Treatment Strategy

Relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a leading cause of death by cancer in children. Our institution has switched relapse treatment strategy to improve survival. We reviewed records of first relapse/refractory childhood ALL between 1996 and 2012. Based on length of first remission, relapse site and immunophenotype, patients were classified into two groups: standard-risk relapse (SRR) and high-risk relapse and refractory (HRRR). Before 2007, all patients were uniformly treated with the same induction as at presentation, followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Since 2007, treatment was given according to risk of failure: SRR were mostly treated with chemotherapy; HRRR patients underwent HSCT after intensive chemotherapy, aiming reduction of pre-transplant disease burden. Sixty-four patients were included. Thirty (47%) were SRR and 34 (53%) HRRR, including 11 with refractory ALL. Five-years overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were similar for SRR, but were significantly higher with new risk-based strategy for HRRR: 56% versus 17% (P = 0.03) for OS, and 56% vs 11% for EFS (P = 0.008), respectively. In multivariate analysis, treatment strategy was significantly associated with survival. In conclusion, change for a risk-based strategy in our institution increased survival of high-risk patients to levels similar of those of standard-risk patients.
Democracy and Communicative Rifts: Foucault, Fish, and Yucca Mountain

This paper explores the descriptive, critical, and prescriptive potential of a discourse approach for the analysis of environmental policy processes by examining the political controversy surrounding the siting of a radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Following the work of Michel Foucault, we take different discourses as being immediately incommensurable with one another, thereby leading to breakdowns in communication among those negotiating policy. A discourse approach can, at a descriptive level, map the different and competing rhetorical positions available to possible participants. Critically, such an approach alerts us to processes of exclusion by which any discourse gains its coherence. Going beyond uncovering the difficulty that different actors might have communicating with one another, this paper uses Stanley Fish's account of how communication between actors ensconced in different discourses actually occurs as the theoretical basis for overcoming the incommensurability problem. Drawing on these complementary insights from Foucault and Fish, we offer a discourse approach to policy issues that can both orient our analysis of the discursive terrain on which a given issue is contested and suggest an ethic of participation that informs our judgment of real world policy processes such as the Yucca Mountain siting controversy.
Qualified Audit Opinion, Accounting Earnings Management and Real Earnings Management: Evidence from Iran

This study examines the relationship between qualified audit opinions and earnings management, as measured by discretionary accruals (accounting earnings management) and abnormal production cost (real earnings management), for listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). For this purpose, four hypotheses are developed and tested by using multiple regressions and sample of 2818 firm-years. The results show that qualified opinions are related to accounting earnings management but are not related to real earnings management. Client financial characteristics, such as profitability, size, experience, type of audit opinion in previous year and prior year loss are determinants of the qualified audit opinion decision.
Optimal control of (min,+) linear time-varying systems

The class of discrete event dynamic systems involving only synchronization phenomena can be seen as linear time-invariant systems in a particular algebraic structure called (min,+) algebra. In the same framework, this paper deals with linear time-varying systems, that is, systems whose parameters may change as functions of time. For example, in a manufacturing system the number of working machines, or the number of trains running in a closed network of railway connections, can vary as functions of time. For such systems, the output tracking problem is optimally solved under just-in-time criterion.
Soviet Elections Revisited: Voter Abstention in Noncompetitive Voting

This analysis of voters and nonvoters in a large sample of recent emigrants from the Soviet Union shows that nonvoting is correlated with high interest in politics, a critical political outlook, and dissident modes of behavior. Thus, voter abstention in noncompetitive balloting can be hypothesized to constitute a significant political act rather than passivity. Single-party states use single-candidate elections for a variety of purposes, one of these being the psychological reinforcement of unity between regime and subjects. In this context, the only choice left to the dissenting citizen is not to vote at all. In the contemporary Soviet Union, nonvoting is regionally focused on Moscow and Leningrad, and is associated with post-Stalinist generational change. The covert nature of vote evasion and its informal tolerance provide a new perspective on the character of the Soviet system and its political culture.
Personal and Cultural Identity Development in Recently Immigrated Hispanic Adolescents: Links With Psychosocial Functioning

Objectives: This study examined directionality between personal (i.e., coherence and confusion) and cultural identity (i.e., ethnic and U.S.) as well as their additive effects on psychosocial functioning in a sample of recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents. Method: The sample consisted of 302 recent (<5 years) immigrant Hispanic adolescents (53% boys; Mage = 14.51 years at baseline; SD = .88 years) from Miami and Los Angeles who participated in a longitudinal study. Results: Results indicated a bidirectional relationship between personal identity coherence and both ethnic and U.S. identity. Ethnic and U.S. affirmation/commitment (A/C) positively and indirectly predicted optimism and negatively predicted rule breaking and aggression through coherence. However, confusion predicted lower self-esteem and optimism and higher depressive symptoms, rule breaking, unprotected sex, and cigarette use. Results further indicated significant site differences. In Los Angeles (but not Miami), ethnic A/C also negatively predicted confusion. Conclusion: Given the direct effects of coherence and confusion on nearly every outcome, it may be beneficial for interventions to target personal identity. However, in contexts such as Los Angeles, which has at least some ambivalence toward recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents, it may be more beneficial for interventions to also target cultural identity to reduce confusion and thus promote positive development.
Orality and literacy : the technologizing of the word

John Hartley: Before Ongism: "To become what we want to be, we have to decide what we were" Orality & Literacy: The Technologization Of The Word Introduction Part 1: The orality of language 1. The literate mind and the oral past 2. Did you say 'oral literature'? Part 2: The modern discovery of primary oral cultures 1. Early awareness of oral tradition 2. The Homeric question 3. Milman Parry's discovery 4. Consequent and related work Part 3: Some psychodynamics of orality 1. Sounded word as power and action 2. You know what you can recall: mnemonics and formulas 3. Further characteristics of orally based thought and expression 4. Additive rather than subordinative 5. Aggregative rather than analytic 6. Redundant or 'copious' 7. Conservative or traditionalist 8. Close to the human lifeworld 9. Agonistically toned 10. Empathetic and participatory rather than objectively distanced 11. Homeostatic 12. Situational rather than abstract 13. Oral memorization 14. Verbomotor lifestyle 15. The noetic role of heroic 'heavy' figures and of the bizarre 16. The interiority of sound 17. Orality, community and the sacral 18. Words are not signs Part 4: Writing restructures consciousness 1. The new world of autonomous discourse 2. Plato, writing and computers 3. Writing is a technology 4. What is 'writing' or 'script'? 5. Many scripts but only one alphabet 6. The onset of literacy 7. From memory to written records 8. Some dynamics of textuality 9. Distance, precision, grapholects and magnavocabularies 10. Interactions: rhetoric and the places 11. Interactions: learned languages 12. Tenaciousness of orality Part 5: Print, space and closure 1. Hearing-dominance yields to sight-dominance 2. Space and meaning 3. Indexes 4. Books, contents and labels 5. Meaningful surface 6. Typographic space 7. More diffuse effects 8. Print and closure: intertextuality 9. Post-typography: electronics Part 6: Oral memory, the story line and characterization 1. The primacy of the story line 2. Narrative and oral cultures 3. Oral memory and the story line 4. Closure of plot: travelogue to detective story 5. The 'round' character, writing and print Part 7: Some theorems 1. Literary history 2. New Criticism and Formalism 3. Structuralism 4. Textualists and deconstructionists 5. Speech-act and reader-response theory 6. Social sciences, philosophy, biblical studies 7. Orality, writing and being human 8. 'Media' versus human communication 9. The inward turn: consciousness and the text John Hartley: After Ongism: The Evolution of Networked Intelligence
The Sprite network operating system

A description is given of Sprite, an experimental network operating system under development at the University of California at Berkeley. It is part of a larger research project, SPUR, for the design and construction of a high-performance multiprocessor workstation with special hardware support of Lisp applications. Sprite implements a set of kernel calls that provide sharing, flexibility, and high performance to networked workstations. The discussion covers: the application interface: the basic kernel structure; management of the file name space and file data, virtual memory; and process migration. <<ETX>>
Screening the Medicines for Malaria Venture Pathogen Box across Multiple Pathogens Reclassifies Starting Points for Open-Source Drug Discovery

ABSTRACT Open-access drug discovery provides a substantial resource for diseases primarily affecting the poor and disadvantaged. The open-access Pathogen Box collection is comprised of compounds with demonstrated biological activity against specific pathogenic organisms. The supply of this resource by the Medicines for Malaria Venture has the potential to provide new chemical starting points for a number of tropical and neglected diseases, through repurposing of these compounds for use in drug discovery campaigns for these additional pathogens. We tested the Pathogen Box against kinetoplastid parasites and malaria life cycle stages in vitro. Consequently, chemical starting points for malaria, human African trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis drug discovery efforts have been identified. Inclusive of this in vitro biological evaluation, outcomes from extensive literature reviews and database searches are provided. This information encompasses commercial availability, literature reference citations, other aliases and ChEMBL number with associated biological activity, where available. The release of this new data for the Pathogen Box collection into the public domain will aid the open-source model of drug discovery. Importantly, this will provide novel chemical starting points for drug discovery and target identification in tropical disease research.