Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alternative processing of bovine growth hormone mRNA is influenced by downstream exon sequences

In a previous report, we described the presence, in pituitary tissue, of an alternatively processed species of bovine growth hormone mRNA from which the last intron (intron D) has not been removed by splicing (R. K. Hampson and F. M. Rottman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:2673-2677, 1987). Using transient expression of the bovine growth hormone gene in Cos I cells, we observed that splicing of intron D was affected by sequences within the downstream exon (exon 5). Deletion of a 115-base-pair FspI-PvuII restriction fragment in exon 5 beginning 73 base pairs downstream of the intron 4-exon 5 junction resulted in cytoplasmic bovine growth hormone mRNA, more than 95% of which retained intron D. This contrasted with less than 5% of the growth hormone mRNA retaining intron D observed with expression of the unaltered gene. Insertion of a 10-base-pair inverted repeat sequence, CTTCCGGAAG, which was located in the middle of this deleted segment, partially reversed this pattern, resulting in cytosolic mRNA from which intron D was predominantly removed. More detailed deletion analysis of this region indicated that multiple sequence elements within the exon 5, in addition to the 10-base-pair inverted repeat sequence, are capable of influencing splicing of intron D. The effect of these exon sequences on splicing of bovine growth hormone precursor mRNA appeared to be specific for the growth hormone intron D. Deletions in exon 5 which resulted in marked alterations in splicing of growth hormone intron D had no effect on splicing when exon 5 of bovine growth hormone was placed downstream of the heterologous bovine prolactin intron D. Deletions in exon 5 which resulted in marked alterations in splicing of growth hormone intron D had no effect on splicing when exon 5 of bovine growth hormone was placed downstream of the heterologous bovine prolactin intron D. The results of this study suggest a unique interaction between sequences located near the center of exon 5 and splicing of the adjacent intron D.
What to do about the end of Moore's law, probably!

Computers process bits of information. A bit can take a value of 0 or 1, and computers process these bits through some physical mechanism. In the early days of electronic computers, this was done by electromechanical relays [28] which were soon replaced by vacuum tubes [6]. From the very beginning, these devices and the computers they were used to build were affected by concerns of reliability. For example, in a relatively recent interview with Presper Eckert [1] who co-designed ENIAC, widely believed to be the first electronic computer built, he notes: “we had a tube fail about every two days, and we could locate the problem within 15 minutes. ”
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DOSES OF DEOXYNIVALENOL ON METABOLISM IN BROILER CHICKENS

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different doses of deoxynivalenol on plasma indices of broiler chickens. Forty-two one-day-old male broiler chicks were fed 1 of 3 diets containing deoxynivalenol (DON) for 42 d. The diets included: (1) control (0.2 ppm of deoxynivalenol), (2) low level of deoxynivalenol (1 ppm of DON), and (3) high level of deoxynivalenol (3 ppm of DON). Then, all the birds were sacrificed and blood samples for biochemical analyses were collected. The mycotoxin doses in diets were verified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The administration of 1 ppm of DON altered total protein, triglycerides, free glycerol, and potassium levels. Dietary addition of 3 ppm of DON resulted in altered calcium, potassium, total protein, triglycerides, along with free glycerol levels, and aspartate aminotransferase activity. No biochemical parameter, however, responded to increased DON concentration in the diet. The feeding of DON-containing diets did not significantly alter plasma chloride, cholesterol, and albumin levels or aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase activities. It was concluded that both levels of deoxynivalenol in the diets tested significantly affected protein and lipid metabolism in broiler chicks.
It's not just what you say: Relationships of HIV dislosure and risk reduction among MSM in the post-HAART era

Abstract In the post-HAART era, critical questions arise as to what factors affect disclosure decisions and how these decisions are associated with factors such as high-risk behaviors and partner variables. We interviewed 1,828 HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), of whom 46% disclosed to all partners. Among men with casual partners, 41.8% disclosed to all of these partners and 21.5% to none. Disclosure was associated with relationship type, perceived partner HIV status and sexual behaviors. Overall, 36.5% of respondents had unprotected anal sex (UAS) with partners of negative/unknown HIV status. Of those with only casual partners, 80.4% had >1 act of UAS and 58% of these did not disclose to all partners. This 58% were more likely to self-identify as gay (versus bisexual), be aware of their status for <5 years and have more partners. Being on HAART, viral load and number of symptoms were not associated with disclosure. This study—the largest conducted to date of disclosure among MSM and one of the few conducted post-HAART—indicates that almost 1/5th reported UAS with casual partners without disclosure, highlighting a public health challenge. Disclosure needs to be addressed in the context of relationship type, partner status and broader risk-reduction strategies.
Bias and Sensitivity Analysis When Estimating Treatment Effects from the Cox Model with Omitted Covariates

Omission of relevant covariates can lead to bias when estimating treatment or exposure effects from survival data in both randomized controlled trials and observational studies. This paper presents a general approach to assessing bias when covariates are omitted from the Cox model. The proposed method is applicable to both randomized and non‐randomized studies. We distinguish between the effects of three possible sources of bias: omission of a balanced covariate, data censoring and unmeasured confounding. Asymptotic formulae for determining the bias are derived from the large sample properties of the maximum likelihood estimator. A simulation study is used to demonstrate the validity of the bias formulae and to characterize the influence of the different sources of bias. It is shown that the bias converges to fixed limits as the effect of the omitted covariate increases, irrespective of the degree of confounding. The bias formulae are used as the basis for developing a new method of sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of omitted covariates on estimates of treatment or exposure effects. In simulation studies, the proposed method gave unbiased treatment estimates and confidence intervals with good coverage when the true sensitivity parameters were known. We describe application of the method to a randomized controlled trial and a non‐randomized study.
Dynamic Resource Allocation in OFDMA Uplink for MAI Mitigation and Throughput Improvement

In OFDMA uplink, Multiple Access Interference (MAI) caused by synchronization offsets in user signals can considerably degrade user throughputs. In this paper, we investigate the problem of applying Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) to mitigate MAI and simultaneously improve user throughputs. Firstly, we introduce a novel solvable optimization problem (OP) following DRA to maximize the minimum user throughput. Using this proposed OP, we show the optimal resource allocation schemes can increase minimum user throughput up to 300% compared to existing DRA heuristics, and to 25% compared to the estimation and correction based approach. Secondly, by investigating the frequency assignment, we show an insight about the advantage of DRA in uplink, where better exploitation of frequency and multiuser diversities leads to efficient MAI mitigation and significant throughput gain. Finally, we introduce suboptimal OPs to reduce the complexity, among that the one based on chunking can significantly reduce the complexity and still provide comparable throughput gain.
Performance Evaluation of Impulse Radio UWB Networks Using Common or Private Acquisition Preambles

For impulse-radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) networks without global synchronization, the first step for correct packet reception is packet detection and timing acquisition: Before recovering the payload of the packet, the destination must detect that the packet is on the medium and determine when exactly the payload begins. Packet detection and timing acquisition rely on the presence of an acquisition preamble at the beginning of each packet. How this preamble is chosen is a network design issue and it may have quite an impact on the network performance. A simple design choice of the network is to use a common acquisition preamble for the whole network. A second design choice is to use an acquisition preamble that is private to each destination. The throughput with the latter choice is likely to be much higher, albeit at the cost of learning the private acquisition preamble of a destination. In this paper, we evaluate how using a common or private acquisition preambles affects the network throughput. Our analysis is based on analytical modeling and simulations. Using our analytical model, we show that a private acquisition preamble yields a tremendous increase in throughput compared to a common acquisition preamble. The throughput difference grows with the number of concurrent transmitters and interferers. This result is confirmed by simulations. Furthermore, additional simulations on multihop topologies with TCP flows demonstrate that a network using private acquisition preambles has a stable throughput. On the contrary, using a common acquisition preamble exhibits the presence of a compounding effect similar to the exposed terminal issue in IEEE 802.11 networks: The throughput is severely degraded and complete flow starvation may occur.
The form-transformation of the abdomen of the female pea-crab, Pinnotheres pisum Leach

The growth in width (W) of the segments of the abdomen relative to carapace size (S), and the graded distribution of growth along the abdomen, are analyzed by the method of fitting, to the observed values of W, polynomial regressions of progressively higher power in S. The simplest (linear) relation reveals the main features and each closer approximation furnishes further detail. The second object of the method, to select the lowest power of polynomial which adequately represents the data, gives the quadratic, though it is found that its adequacy varies in the different segments, which demand, for uniform adequacy, a non-affine set of polynomials. Adequacy is determined from the residual variance. The set of quadratics for the seven segments of the abdomen are combined, by a modification of Medawar’s transformation method, to give a single key relation which, within the scope of the data, defines abdomen width completely, spatially and temporally. This step involves the definition of the parameters of the quadratics as continuous functions of abdomen width at selected body size. It is suggested that the key relation to the transformation might, by analogy, be termed the ‘form-cinematogram’ for abdomen width. The equation: ‘form = shape+size’ is useful in the present context and is advocated for general recognition. The ‘shape-cinematogram’ may be derived from the form-cinematogram . Alternative attempts to derive a satisfactory form-cinematogram from the data are outlined. The form change is surprisingly simplified by the excision of the initial width measurements from all subsequent width measurements. The overall change in shape of the abdomen is visualized by the co-ordinate transformation method applied reciprocally between initial and final proportions.
Pulmonary Permeability Assessed by Fluorescent-Labeled Dextran Instilled Intranasally into Mice with LPS-Induced Acute Lung Injury

Background Several different methods have been used to assess pulmonary permeability in response to acute lung injury (ALI). However, these methods often involve complicated procedures and algorithms that are difficult to precisely control. The purpose of the current study is to establish a feasible method to evaluate alterations in lung permeability by instilling fluorescently labeled dextran (FITC-Dextran) intranasally. Methods/Principal Findings For the mouse model of direct ALI, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered intranasally. FITC-Dextran was instilled intranasally one hour before the mice were euthanized. Plasma fluorescence intensities from the LPS group were significantly higher than in the control group. To determine the reliability and reproducibility of the procedure, we also measured the lung wet-to-dry weight ratio, the protein concentration of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, tight and adherens junction markers and pathological changes. Consistent results were observed when the LPS group was compared with the control group. Simultaneously, we found that the concentration of plasma FITC-Dextran was LPS dose-dependent. The concentration of plasma FITC-Dextran also increased with initial intranasal FITC-Dextran doses. Furthermore, increased fluorescence intensity of plasma FITC-Dextran was found in the intraperitoneally LPS-induced ALI model. Conclusion/Significance In conclusion, the measurement of FITC-Dextran in plasma after intranasal instillation is a simple, reliable, and reproducible method to evaluate lung permeability alterations in vivo. The concentration of FITC-Dextran in the plasma may be useful as a potential peripheral biomarker of ALI in experimental clinical studies.
Phase Precession Through Synaptic Facilitation

Phase precession is a relational code that is thought to be important for episodic-like memory, for instance, the learning of a sequence of places. In the hippocampus, places are encoded through bursting activity of so-called place cells. The spikes in such a burst exhibit a precession of their firing phases relative to field potential theta oscillations (412 Hz); the theta phase of action potentials in successive theta cycles progressively decreases toward earlier phases. The mechanisms underlying the generation of phase precession are, however, unknown. In this letter, we show through mathematical analysis and numerical simulations that synaptic facilitation in combination with membrane potential oscillations of a neuron gives rise to phase precession. This biologically plausible model reproduces experimentally observed features of phase precession, such as (1) the progressive decrease of spike phases, (2) the nonlinear and often also bimodal relation between spike phases and the animal's place, (3) the range of phase precession being smaller than one theta cycle, and (4) the dependence of phase jitter on the animal's location within the place field. The model suggests that the peculiar features of the hippocampal mossy fiber synapse, such as its large efficacy, long-lasting and strong facilitation, and its phase-locked activation, are essential for phase precession in the CA3 region of the hippocampus.
An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Gender Perception of Computing, Computer Self-Efficacy and Anxiety: Comparison Between the US and India

Computing has always been perceived as a male domain. This perception can discourage women to participate in computingrelated careers/educations/activities. The researchers’ previous studies on gender perception toward computing compared the difference of gender perception toward computing, computer self-efficacy, and computer anxiety across cultures. The goal of this study is to continue what left out and overcome problems we found from the previous research. In the nutshells, this study aims to (1) define more parsimonious gender perception toward computing construct, computer self-efficacy construct and computer anxiety construct, (2) empirically tests the relationship that forms a model among these constructs, and (3) conducts the cross cultural study by comparing the model results from two populations, namely the US and the Indian. A model developed to explain behaviors/phenomena in one country may not hold in other countries due to culture difference. Thus, a model should be subjected to test before applying it in other cultures. One of the main findings shows that in the US computer anxiety has negative impact to gender perception toward computing in the US. This relationship, however, is not found in India.
Summary and meta-analysis of prospective studies of animal fat intake and breast cancer

The objective of the present review was to examine the potential association between animal fat intake and breast cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis and review of epidemiological cohort studies, including data reported in the Pooling Project publication of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer. Random- and fixed-effects models were utilised to generate summary relative risk estimates (SRRE), and sensitivity and influence analyses were conducted. In the meta-analysis that included data reported in the Pooling Project publication of prospective cohorts (n 8) and subsequent publications of cohort studies (n 3), no significant association was observed comparing the highest category of animal fat intake with the lowest (SRRE 1·03; 95 % CI: 0·76, 1·40). Similarly, no significant association between a 5 % increment of energy from animal fat intake and breast cancer (SRRE 1·02; 95 % CI 0·97, 1·07) was observed in the meta-analysis of these studies. In conclusion, the results of the present quantitative assessment are not supportive of a positive independent association between consumption of animal fat and breast cancer, although findings may be sensitive to the type of dietary instrument used in cohort studies.
Social Intelligence, Role-Taking Ability, and Cognitive Style: A Factor Analytic Study

or verbal intelligence. In order to examine the relationship of the measures of social intelligence employed in this study to verbal intelligence, two measures of verbal intelligence were also included, the Terman Concept Mastery Test and SAT Verbal scores. Table 2 contains the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients computed between the Concept Mastery Total scores and the Hidden Figures, RoleTaking 1 and 2, and the five Guilford scores for males> females, and all
IT OUTSOURCING PROJECT RISKS : FROM CLIENT AND VENDOR PERSPECTIVES

This study examines the risk factors of IT outsourcing projects from client and vendor perspective, and compares their difference. The quasi-Delphi study which consisted of three ranking rounds was conducted. A number of 41 client project managers and 21 vendor project managers were participated. This study identifies one of the top three risks ranked by the client has been considered to be of little importance by the vendor. The findings reveal that the client and vendor have different perceptions on project risks.
Fetal Growth and Subsequent Maternal Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Background: High birth weight has been associated with subsequent increased risk of breast cancer in the infant's mother, possibly related to maternal estrogen and growth factor pathways. However, its association with maternal risk of colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer among women, is unknown. Methods: We conducted a national cohort study of 1,838,509 mothers who delivered 3,590,523 babies in Sweden in 1973–2008, followed up for colorectal cancer incidence through 2009. Results: There were 7,318 mothers diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 36.8 million person-years of follow-up. After adjusting for maternal age, body mass index, diabetes, and other potential confounders, high fetal growth was associated with a subsequent increased risk of colorectal cancer in the mother [incidence rate ratio (IRR) per additional 1 SD relative to mean birth weight for gestational age and sex, 1.05; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.03–1.07; P < 0.0001]. Each 1,000 g increase in the infant's birth weight was associated with a 12% increase in the mother's subsequent risk of colorectal cancer (IRR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07–1.17; P < 0.0001). Multiple gestation was also independently associated with increased maternal risk of colorectal cancer (IRR for twin or higher order vs. singleton, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04–1.44; P = 0.02). Conclusion: In this large cohort study, high fetal growth and multiple gestation were independently associated with subsequent higher maternal risk of colorectal cancer. These findings warrant further investigation of maternal growth factor and estrogen pathways in the etiology of colorectal cancer. Impact: If confirmed, our findings may help identify subgroups of women at high risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 24(8); 1184–9. ©2015 AACR.
Explaining European Identity

© The several contributors, 2012. All rights reserved. This chapter analyses individual and national differences in the intensity of European identity, and provides an assessment of the many factors that sustain or hinder the development of a European identification among citizens of EU member states. A model of the intensity of EU identity - comprising feelings of EU belonging and their salience - is elaborated, taking account of the various perspectives outlined above (cognitive mobilization, instrumental rationality, political mobilization, national identity), and their distinct explanatory power across the European public is examined. Socio-structural individual level characteristics as well as system-level features are found to exert modest effects on identity. Cognitive mobilization and instrumental 'rational' considerations are far more important in framing the image of Europe and identification with it.
Dietary choice for a balanced nutrient intake increases the mean and reduces the variance in the reproductive performance of male and female cockroaches

Abstract Sexual selection may cause dietary requirements for reproduction to diverge across the sexes and promote the evolution of different foraging strategies in males and females. However, our understanding of how the sexes regulate their nutrition and the effects that this has on sex‐specific fitness is limited. We quantified how protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intakes affect reproductive traits in male (pheromone expression) and female (clutch size and gestation time) cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea). We then determined how the sexes regulate their intake of nutrients when restricted to a single diet and when given dietary choice and how this affected expression of these important reproductive traits. Pheromone levels that improve male attractiveness, female clutch size and gestation time all peaked at a high daily intake of P:C in a 1:8 ratio. This is surprising because female insects typically require more P than males to maximize reproduction. The relatively low P requirement of females may reflect the action of cockroach endosymbionts that help recycle stored nitrogen for protein synthesis. When constrained to a single diet, both sexes prioritized regulating their daily intake of P over C, although this prioritization was stronger in females than males. When given the choice between diets, both sexes actively regulated their intake of nutrients at a 1:4.8 P:C ratio. The P:C ratio did not overlap exactly with the intake of nutrients that optimized reproductive trait expression. Despite this, cockroaches of both sexes that were given dietary choice generally improved the mean and reduced the variance in all reproductive traits we measured relative to animals fed a single diet from the diet choice pair. This pattern was not as strong when compared to the single best diet in our geometric array, suggesting that the relationship between nutrient balancing and reproduction is complex in this species.