Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Regard Explains Self- Esteem Differences in Expressivity

Baumeister, Tice, and Hutton proposed that individuals with low self-esteem (LSEs) adopt a more cautious, self-protective self-presentational style than individuals with high self-esteem (HSEs). The authors predicted that LSEs’ self-protectiveness leads them to be less expressive—less revealing of their thoughts and feelings—with others than HSEs, and that this self-esteem difference is mediated by their perceptions of the interaction partner’s regard for them. Two correlational studies supported these predictions (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, LSEs became more expressive when their perceived regard was experimentally heightened—when they imagined speaking to someone who was unconditionally accepting rather than judgmental (Study 3) and when their perceptions of regard were increased through Marigold, Holmes, and Ross’s compliment-reframing task (Study 4). These findings suggest that LSEs’ expressiveness can be heightened through interventions that reduce their concerns about social acceptance.
Blocking LINGO-1 function promotes retinal ganglion cell survival following ocular hypertension and optic nerve transection.

PURPOSE LINGO-1 is a functional member of the Nogo66 receptor (NgR1)/p75 and NgR1/TROY signaling complexes that prevent axonal regeneration through RhoA in the central nervous system. LINGO-1 also promotes cell death after neuronal injury and spinal cord injury. The authors sought to examine whether blocking LINGO-1 function with LINGO-1 antagonists promotes retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival after ocular hypertension and optic nerve transection. METHODS An experimental ocular hypertension model was induced in adult rats using an argon laser to photocoagulate the episcleral and limbal veins. LINGO-1 expression in the retinas was investigated using immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Soluble LINGO-1 protein (LINGO-1-Fc) and anti-LINGO-1 mAb 1A7 were injected into the vitreous body to examine their effects on RGC survival after ocular hypertension and optic nerve transection. Signal transduction pathways mediating neuroprotective LINGO-1-Fc effects were characterized using Western blotting and specific kinase inhibitors. RESULTS LINGO-1 was expressed in RGCs and up-regulated after intraocular pressure elevation. Blocking LINGO-1 function with LINGO-1 antagonists, LINGO-1-Fc and 1A7 significantly reduced RGC loss 2 and 4 weeks after ocular hypertension and also promoted RGC survival after optic nerve transection. LINGO-1-Fc treatment blocked the RhoA, JNK pathway and promoted Akt activation. LINGO-1-Fc induced Akt phosphorylation, and the survival effect of LINGO-1 antagonists was abolished by Akt phosphorylation inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS The authors demonstrated that blocking LINGO-1 function with LINGO-1 antagonists rescues RGCs from cell death after ocular hypertension and optic nerve transection. They also delineated the RhoA and PI-3K/Akt pathways as the predominant mediator of LINGO-1-Fc neuroprotection in this paradigm of RGC death.
TGF‐β1 signal pathway may contribute to rhabdomyosarcoma development by inhibiting differentiation

Overexpression of transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) and its downstream molecules in the rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) RD cell line has been reported previously, but the regulatory role of TGF‐β1 on RMS has not been studied extensively. In the present study, we showed that expression of TGF‐β1 and its downstream molecules type II TGF‐β receptor (TβRII) and Smad4 was significantly higher in RMS than in normal skeletal muscle, and there was a significant relationship between TGF‐β1 expression and histological grade. Gene silencing with TGF‐β1 short‐hairpin RNA (shRNA)‐expressing vectors significantly decreased the growth of RD cells, which was confirmed by caspase‐3 (in vitro) and TUNEL (in vivo) assays. Moreover, a proportion of treated rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells changed to a round shape from the normal fusiform or polygonal shape and expressed myofilaments. Myogenin is one of the myogenic differentiation genes (MyoD) family of myogenic regulators, and was obviously higher in TGF‐β1‐shRNA‐treated tumors than it in control at the mRNA and protein level. Immunohistochemical staining with myogenic differentiation markers such as myosin and desmin in subcutaneous RMS tissue showed that TGF‐β1 shRNA increased staining for myosin. These results provide new insight into the biological function of TGF‐β1 in malignant tumors, and imply that the TGF‐β1 signal pathway is a potential therapeutic target for drugs that induce differentiation of RMS.
Linkage between muscle and bone: common catabolic signals resulting in osteoporosis and sarcopenia

Purpose of review This review summarizes the recent articles and perspectives about the linkage between muscle and bone. Moreover, it focuses on common, clinically important signals affecting both muscle and bone. Recent findings The clinical significance of sarcopenia has recently been highlighted, and muscle mass and muscle strength affect osteoporosis differently. The link between muscle and bone is also important from the viewpoint of exercise therapy. The clinical evaluation of vitamin D insufficiency has been developed, and vitamin D action is important for both muscle and bone. Although several studies have suggested that there are some interactions between muscle tissues and bone, we found a novel local regulator that might induce osteoblast differentiation of myoblasts. Moreover, several factors were proposed as muscle-derived soluble factors that induce bone anabolic action. There have been identified linkages from bone to muscle, such as osteocyte-producing or bone marrow mesenchymal cell-producing factors affecting muscle. Summary The links between muscle and bone are not fully understood at the present time. However, the development of research on the interactions between muscle and bone will be crucial for the development of novel drugs for sarcopenia and osteoporosis, as well as for the understanding of the physiological and pathological relationships of muscle and bone.
Genetic validation of a therapeutic target in a mouse model of ALS

The DP1 receptor mediates toxicity of microglia in human stem cell and transgenic animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A New Therapeutic Target for ALS It has long been known that the devastating paralysis that occurs in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is caused by the death of motor neurons, which are responsible for communication between the brain and musculature. However, it has only more recently become appreciated that nonneuronal cells in the nervous system are altered by the disease and contribute to neuronal degeneration. Here, de Boer et al. use a combination of stem cell technologies and animal models to demonstrate that the DP1 receptor plays an important role in mediating the toxic effect that one class of nonneuronal cells, called microglia, have on motor neurons in ALS. The findings suggest that inhibiting the DP1 receptor could be a viable therapeutic strategy for treating ALS in the future. Neurons produced from stem cells have emerged as a tool to identify new therapeutic targets for neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, it remains unclear to what extent these new mechanistic insights will translate to animal models, an important step in the validation of new targets. Previously, we found that glia from mice carrying the SOD1G93A mutation, a model of ALS, were toxic to stem cell–derived human motor neurons. We use pharmacological and genetic approaches to demonstrate that the prostanoid receptor DP1 mediates this glial toxicity. Furthermore, we validate the importance of this mechanism for neural degeneration in vivo. Genetic ablation of DP1 in SOD1G93A mice extended life span, decreased microglial activation, and reduced motor neuron loss. Our findings suggest that blocking DP1 may be a therapeutic strategy in ALS and demonstrate that discoveries from stem cell models of disease can be corroborated in vivo.
Trust in Transitional Societies : Experimental Results from Russia

To what extent do individuals trust one another in transitional societies? Does trust survive when political institutions are weak, when the potential for ethnic conflict is high and when old mechanisms for social control have disappeared? This study uses a combination of survey data and laboratory experimental methods to investigate this question. The data are unique in that the experiments were conducted in the field, the subjects in the experiments were a sub-sample of a larger, face-to-face survey of the population and the respondents were drawn from a pair of matched republics from the Russian Federation. Measures of generalized and individual trust are used, as well an experimental design that taps the willing of an individual to trust an anonymous partner (and the reciprocated level of trust). The results are correlated with confidence in political and economic institutions, inter-ethnic conflict and generational change. This paper was prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association Meetings, Chicago, Illinois, September 2-5, 2004. Support from the National Science Foundation (OPP 00-82715), the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research and the Russell Sage Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. Those entities are not responsible for the contents of this manuscript. Trust in Transitional Societies – p. 1 -4/27/2005 2:42 PM
The creation and consequences of the social world: an interactional analysis of extraversion

Seventy‐six previously unacquainted, opposite‐sex pairs of undergraduate participants engaged in a 5 min videotaped interaction, then provided their mutual impressions. Research assistants coded 64 behaviours from the videotapes; these ratings were combined into behavioural factors. Participants provided self‐descriptions of personality and were described by two acquaintances. Path analyses indicated that targets extraversion was associated with their behavioural involvement, which in turn was associated with partners subsequent ratings of their personality. Targets interpersonal positive affectivity was associated with their partners extraversion. Similar patterns of behavioural associations were found in relation to self‐reported, partner‐reported, and acquaintance‐reported extraversion. These results demonstrate how extraverts may create a positive social environment through their own positivity and by creating a social press for positivity in return. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thermal plasticity of wing size and shape in Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans and their hybrids

Populations of Drosophila melanogaster, as well as of other Drosophila species, show body size differences according to their geographic origin. Thermal selection is considered to be the most likely cause explaining these differences. We investigated wing size, wing shape and their rela- tionship in 3 different geographic populations of D. melanogaster, 1 population of D. simulans, and their interspecific hybrids grown at 18, 21, 25 and 28°C. The aim was to explore how the past adap- tive history of 2 related species, or populations of the same species, modulates the plastic response to the environment. The wing size plasticity of hybrids between the temperate D. simulans (Bologna) and the 2 tropical D. melanogaster populations (Belem and Rio de Janeiro) was higher than that of parental species, probably as a side effect of a decanalized and compromised development at higher temperatures. The wing size plasticity of Bologna hybrids was the same as the parents, suggesting that the 2 species are subjected to the same plasticity selection. Wing shape was typical of each spe- cies, population and temperature. Shape differences increased in hybrids at higher temperatures as a consequence of developmental perturbation. The allometric relationship between size and shape changed among temperatures and among species, suggesting that the wing development is differ- ently regulated in the 2 species and can be altered by natural selection. The allometry changed between populations of different geographic origin of D. melanogaster, but was similar in the 2 spe- cies that shared the same selective environment. Two species would have been subjected to the same plasticity selection, so the breakdown of the plastic response is avoided in hybrids. As a whole, these data suggest that thermal plasticity is a trait under selection and that similar mechanisms are at work in different species.
Phylogenetic Analysis of the Genus Bifidobacterium and Related Genera Based on 16S rDNA Sequences

The 16S rRNA gene sequences were determined for type strains of 21 Bifidobacterium species. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the determined sequences and sequences from DNA databases, which contain the sequences of 11 type strains of Bifidobacterium species and 11 strains of related genera. All species of the genus Bifidobacterium and Gardnerella vaginalis ATCC 14018 belonged to a cluster phylogenetically distinct from the other genera. The cluster was divided into two subclusters: subcluster 1 composed of most species of Bifidobacterium and G. vaginalis, and subcluster 2 consisting of two species, B. denticolens and B. inopinatum; both of which were isolated from human dental caries. In the genus Bifidobacterium, four groups of species are known to be moderately to highly related by DNA‐DNA hybridization. The four groups of species exhibited more than 99% similarity among their 16S rDNA sequences within each group. These results indicated that species with around 99% or more similarity in their 16S rDNA sequences should be confirmed for species identities.
Modeling Quantitative Literacy

Quantitative literacy is a habit of mind that is characterized by the interrelationship among a person’s everyday understanding of mathematics, his or her beliefs about mathematics, and his or her disposition toward mathematics. To assess quantitative literacy, it is important to devise measurement tools that provide valid and reliable information about a person’s quantitative literacy. In this study, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to build and evaluate a measurement model of quantitative literacy. Data from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) were used to create calibration (N = 1,429) and validation samples (N = 1,429) of high school students for testing an initial model and cross-validation. An additional sample of high school students (N = 1,429) collected from the midwestern part of the United States was used in a replication study. In each stage, a hierarchical three-factor model was compared with two alternative rival models: a one-factor model and a hierarchical two-factor model. The results of the analyses supported the structure of the hierarchical three-factor model. Implications and limitations associated with the findings from the study are discussed.
INTRINSIC ELLIPTICITY CORRELATION OF SDSS LUMINOUS RED GALAXIES AND MISALIGNMENT WITH THEIR HOST DARK MATTER HALOS

We investigate the orientation correlation of giant elliptical galaxies by measuring the intrinsic ellipticity correlation function of 83,773 luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at redshifts 0.16–0.47 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have accurately determined the correlation up to 30 h-1 Mpc. Luminosity dependence of the ellipticity correlation is also detected although the error bars are large, while no evidence is found for its redshift evolution between z = 0.2 and z = 0.4. Then we use a cosmological N-body simulation to examine misalignment between the central LRGs and their parent dark matter halos. Central and satellite galaxies are assigned to simulated halos by employing a halo occupation distribution model for the LRGs. The ellipticity correlation is predicted to have the same shape as, but an amplitude about four times higher than, our observation if the central LRGs are perfectly aligned with their host halos. This indicates that the central LRG galaxies are preferentially but not perfectly aligned with their host halos. With the assumption that there is a misalignment angle between a central LRG and its host halo which follows a Gaussian distribution with a zero mean and a width σθ, we obtain a tight constraint on the misalignment parameter, σθ = 35.4+4.0−3.3 deg. This type of intrinsic ellipticity correlation, if not corrected, can lead to contamination at 5% level to the shear power spectrum in weak lensing surveys of limiting magnitude RAB = 24.5 if the source central galaxies follow the same misalignment distribution as the LRGs.
Appraisals of a Consistent Versus a Similar Politician: Voter Preferences and Intuitive Judgments

Four studies examined how people view a consistent politician versus one with whom they agree. In 2 studies, college students evaluated a candidate who either favored or opposed restrictions on access to abortion. In Study 1, the candidate either held his position on abortion consistently over time or changed positions. In Study 2, the candidate switched positions either because of a reasoned change of opinion or to gain votes. In both Studies 1 and 2, the only determinant of participants' evaluations was whether they agreed with the candidate's final stand. Studies 3 and 4 addressed participants' intuitive judgments. College students believed that voters prefer a consistent politician, a belief shared by North Dakota state legislators. Voters prefer a politician who shares their views over one who is merely consistent ― contrary to the intuitive judgments of voters and politicians alike
Fast and Accurate Digit Classification Subhransu

We explore the use of certain image features, blockwise hist ograms of local orientations, used in many current object recognition algorithm s, for the task of handwritten digit recognition. Existing approaches find that po lyn mial kernel SVMs trained on raw pixels achieve state of the art performance. H owever such kernel SVM approaches are impractical as they have a huge comple xity at runtime. We demonstrate that with improved features a low complexity classifier, in particular an additive-kernel SVM, can achieve state of the art pe formance. Our approach achieves an error of 0.79% on the MNIST dataset and 3.4% error on the USPS dataset, while running at speeds comparable to the f astest algorithms on these datasets which are based on multilayer neural network s and are significantly faster and easier to train.
COP9 signalosome subunits protect Capicua from MAPK-dependent and -independent mechanisms of degradation

The COP9 signalosome removes Nedd8 modifications from the Cullin subunits of ubiquitin ligase complexes, reducing their activity. Here, we show that mutations in the Drosophila COP9 signalosome subunit 1b (CSN1b) gene increase the activity of ubiquitin ligases that contain Cullin 1. Analysis of CSN1b mutant phenotypes revealed a requirement for the COP9 signalosome to prevent ectopic expression of Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) target genes. It does so by protecting Capicua, a transcriptional repressor of EGFR target genes, from EGFR pathway-dependent ubiquitylation by a Cullin 1/SKP1-related A/Archipelago E3 ligase and subsequent proteasomal degradation. The CSN1b subunit also maintains basal Capicua levels by protecting it from a separate mechanism of degradation that is independent of EGFR signaling. As a suppressor of tumor growth and metastasis, Capicua may be an important target of the COP9 signalosome in cancer. Summary: Mutations in the COP9 signalosome component CSN1b promote degradation of the tumor suppressor Capicua, by both a cullin-mediated EGFR-dependent mechanism and by an alternative route.
Enhanced Recombinant Protein Productivity by Genome Reduction in Bacillus subtilis

The emerging field of synthetic genomics is expected to facilitate the generation of microorganisms with the potential to achieve a sustainable society. One approach towards this goal is the reduction of microbial genomes by rationally designed deletions to create simplified cells with predictable behavior that act as a platform to build in various genetic systems for specific purposes. We report a novel Bacillus subtilis strain, MBG874, depleted of 874 kb (20%) of the genomic sequence. When compared with wild-type cells, the regulatory network of gene expression of the mutant strain is reorganized after entry into the transition state due to the synergistic effect of multiple deletions, and productivity of extracellular cellulase and protease from transformed plasmids harboring the corresponding genes is remarkably enhanced. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that genome reduction actually contributes to the creation of bacterial cells with a practical application in industry. Further systematic analysis of changes in the transcriptional regulatory network of MGB874 cells in relation to protein productivity should facilitate the generation of improved B. subtilis cells as hosts of industrial protein production.
Benchmarking the Use of Telework Arrangements in Canada

This paper uses data collected in 1999 and 2001 from over 20,000 employees and 6,300 workplaces by Statistics Canada and HRDC as part of their Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) to provide quality estimates of the number of teleworkers in Canada at the turn of the millennium. Characteristics of companies who offer telework arrangements and the employees who use them are also explored. These data will allow Canadian companies to benchmark their use of telework arrangements to national and international data. Such information is critical to both public and private sector employers, as abundant evidence exists to suggest that organizations that support the use of telework and other alternate work arrangements will be more able to attract and retain knowledge workers. Resume La presente etude est une evaluation du nombre des tele-travailleurs au Canada en ce debut de millenaire. Elle se sert des donnees collectees en 1999 et 2001 par Statistique Canada et la DRHC aupres de 20 000 employes et 6300 lieux de travail. L'etude examine egalement les caracteristiques des entreprises qui offrent des regimes de teletravail et des employes qui les utilisent. Les resultats permettront aux entreprises canadiennes de comparer leur utilisation des regimes de teletravail aux regimes nationaux et internationaux. Ces resultats seront d'autant plus utiles aux employeurs des secteurs prives et publics, que d'apres plusieurs recherches les entreprises qui utilisent le teletravail et les autres regimes de travail de rechange seront plus en mesure d'attirer et de retenir les travailleurs intellectuels.
The Effect of Prejudice and Judicial Ambiguity on Defendant Guilt Ratings

Abstract Two related issues concerning guilt determinations in a simulated rape trial were examined: (a) the effect of prejudicial perceptions of the defendant and victim and (b) the impact of judicial instructions. Two hundred fifty-five American students randomly assigned to 1 of 18 conditions were asked to assume the role of juror and to read an abbreviated transcript describing a rape trial. Both the victim and the defendant aggregate attribute ratings and the presence of judicial instructions were significant predictor variables of verdict. In contrast to previous investigations, victim race was not predictive of verdict under the trial condition without judicial instructions.