Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enterobactin as Part of the Oxidative Stress Response Repertoire

Microorganisms produce siderophores to facilitate iron uptake and even though this trait has been extensively studied, there is growing evidence suggesting that siderophores may have other physiological roles aside from iron acquisition. In support of this notion, we previously linked the archetypal siderophore enterobactin with oxidative stress alleviation. To further characterize this association, we studied the sensitivity of Escherichia coli strains lacking different components of the enterobactin system to the classical oxidative stressors hydrogen peroxide and paraquat. We observed that strains impaired in enterobactin production, uptake and hydrolysis were more susceptible to the oxidative damage caused by both compounds than the wild-type strain. In addition, meanwhile iron supplementation had little impact on the sensitivity, the reducing agent ascorbic acid alleviated the oxidative stress and therefore significantly decreased the sensitivity to the stressors. This indicated that the enterobactin-mediated protection is independent of its ability to scavenge iron. Furthermore, enterobactin supplementation conferred resistance to the entE mutant but did not have any protective effect on the fepG and fes mutants. Thus, we inferred that only after enterobactin is hydrolysed by Fes in the cell cytoplasm and iron is released, the free hydroxyl groups are available for radical stabilization. This hypothesis was validated testing the ability of enterobactin to scavenge radicals in vitro. Given the strong connection between enterobactin and oxidative stress, we studied the transcription of the entE gene and the concomitant production of the siderophore in response to such kind of stress. Interestingly, we observed that meanwhile iron represses the expression and production of the siderophore, hydrogen peroxide and paraquat favour these events even if iron is present. Our results support the involvement of enterobactin as part of the oxidative stress response and highlight the existence of a novel regulation mechanism for enterobactin biosynthesis.
NEIGHBORHOOD-LEVEL LINKS BETWEEN PHYSICAL FEATURES AND LOCAL SENTIMENTS DETERIORATION, FEAR OF CRIME, AND CONFIDENCE

drawn on to support the hypothesis that higher levels of physical decay or deterioration would be associated with higher levels of fear of crime, and lower levels of neighborhood confidence. A more conditional model of physical impacts was also proposed, which suggested that negative impacts of physical environment would be demonstrated only in neighborhoods with moderate-income residents. These hypotheses were tested in 66 neighborhoods in Baltimore City (MD). Twenty percent {n = 808) of all occupied street blocks in these neighborhoods were assessed by trained teams of raters. The items assessed had high levels of interrater reliability. From these items we were able to produce two clear-cut, independent physical dimensions: physical decay, and nonresidential versus residential land use. Zero-order correlations of the decay parameter with perception of physical problems, fear, and confidence were quite high. Physical decay was not linked to attachment. When socioeconomic characteristics of the full set of neighborhoods were partialled, the links between physical environment and local sentiment were weakened considerably. Thus the general model of physical impacts was not strongly supported. The proposed conditional-level model, however, received strong confirmation. In moderate-income neighborhoods, controlling for social class, physical decay was clearly tied to local sentiments. These results disconfirm some broad-gauged theories about neighborhood-level physical impacts that have been proposed, but they suggest that physical impacts are conditional, i.e., dependent upon overall neighborhood context and how residents "explain" the causes of surrounding physical conditions. □
The influence of servant leadership, trust in leader and thriving on employee creativity

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how servant leadership, trust in leader and thriving drive employee creativity. ,Using a dyadic sample of 48 teams (each team comprising a supervisor and the subordinates under him), the authors investigated the role of servant leadership in predicting employee creativity, the mediating role of trust in leader and interactive role of thriving therein. ,Findings of the study revealed that servant leaders instilled trust within followers, which acted as a mediator in predicting creativity. Further, thriving was found to act as a moderator that influenced the relationship between trust in leader and employee creativity. Findings also indicated that thriving employees exhibited a greater degree of creative behavior when they trusted their leader. ,Based on these findings, the study draws the attention of managers toward the role of servant leadership, trust in leaders and thriving in promoting employee creativity. ,This is one of the first studies to integrate servant leadership, trust in leader, thriving and creative behavior into a single theoretical model. The study further provides evidence to validate the proposed model in context of predicting employee creativity.
Psychological Risk Factors for Childhood Nonhuman Animal Cruelty

Despite growing research into human-nonhuman animal relationships, little is known about childhood cruelty to nonhuman animals. The purpose of this review was to investigate the potential psychological risk factors for childhood cruelty to animals. The aim was to assemble, synthesize, and evaluate the quality and breadth of existing empirical research and highlight areas in need of further study. The review reveals a myriad of potential psychological risk factors associated with childhood animal cruelty, but highlights the decrease in publications on this topic over time and the lack of high-quality publications. Investigating the factors underlying cruel behavior toward animals has great implications for animal welfare and child wellbeing, and is vital for designing and implementing successful universal and targeted interventions to prevent cruelty to animals.
A Distinct Form of Deviance or a Variation of Bullying? Examining the Developmental Pathways and Motives of Cyberbullying Compared With Traditional Bullying in South Korea

Cyberbullying has been subject to a debate about whether it is a subtype of traditional bullying or a distinct deviant behavior from traditional bullying. Applying a longitudinal South Korean youth sample and latent group-based trajectory modeling, the current study examines (a) an overlap of developmental trajectories between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, and (b) effects of predictors on developmental trajectory groups for both cyberbullying and traditional bullying. It is concluded that cyberbullying is close to a variation of bullying rather than a distinct deviant behavior and reported an overlap of developmental trajectories between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, and strong associations between both forms of bullying and peer-related predictors. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
The Protestant Ethic and Work: Micro Evidence from Contemporary Germany ∗

Few theories in the social sciences have gained more widespread acceptance than Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism—despite a lack of conclusive empirical evidence. At the core of Weber’s theory lies a connection between Protestantism and attitudes toward work. Using micro-data from contemporary Germany, this paper investigates the impact of Protestantism on economic outcomes and whether any such connection still exists. To break the endogeneity in religious affiliation the paper exploits the fact that the geographic distribution of Catholics and Protestants is an artifact of a provision in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Reduced form and instrumental variable estimates indicate that, even today, Protestantism leads to higher earnings through increased hours of work, and substantially more self-employment. Institutional factors, or differences in human capital acquisition cannot account for this effect. Instead, the data point to an explanation based on individual values akin to a Protestant Ethic.
The Determinants of Educational Corruption in Higher Education: The Case of Ukraine

Educational corruption is a relatively new area of study in economics due mainly to the lack of available data. This paper utilizes a unique data set to examine educational corruption of various types including bribing on exams and term papers as well as bribing to obtain credits and bribing to enter educational institutions. The data was gathered from 1588 students attending educational institutions throughout Ukraine. The paper attempts to identify the determinants of bribery across various institutions and cities throughout Ukraine. The results reinforce the importance of corruption perceptions and the relationship they have with actual bribing behavior. The paper concludes that women tend to have a higher probability of bribing on exams and for entrance after controlling for job market perceptions. The results also suggest that students whose fathers are in agriculture have a higher probability of bribing compared to students with fathers in the private or entrepreneurial sector. Bribing during secondary school is also a strong predictor of bribing on term papers and for entrance to tertiary school. Finally, a student’s opinion on the act of bribing stands out as a significant determinant of bribing on exams, for entrance, and for credit. Preliminary and Incomplete JEL codes: C35, D73, Z13 ∗The author would like to thank Lena Redko, Nicholas Shunda, Bryant Goulding, Christian Zimmermann, Gautam Tripathi, Susan Randolph, and Dhammika Dharmapala for their suggestions and comments, and to A Partnership for a Transparent Society for access to the data used in this paper.
Geostatistical Model-Based Estimates of Schistosomiasis Prevalence among Individuals Aged ≤20 Years in West Africa

Background Schistosomiasis is a water-based disease that is believed to affect over 200 million people with an estimated 97% of the infections concentrated in Africa. However, these statistics are largely based on population re-adjusted data originally published by Utroska and colleagues more than 20 years ago. Hence, these estimates are outdated due to large-scale preventive chemotherapy programs, improved sanitation, water resources development and management, among other reasons. For planning, coordination, and evaluation of control activities, it is essential to possess reliable schistosomiasis prevalence maps. Methodology We analyzed survey data compiled on a newly established open-access global neglected tropical diseases database (i) to create smooth empirical prevalence maps for Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium for individuals aged ≤20 years in West Africa, including Cameroon, and (ii) to derive country-specific prevalence estimates. We used Bayesian geostatistical models based on environmental predictors to take into account potential clustering due to common spatially structured exposures. Prediction at unobserved locations was facilitated by joint kriging. Principal Findings Our models revealed that 50.8 million individuals aged ≤20 years in West Africa are infected with either S. mansoni, or S. haematobium, or both species concurrently. The country prevalence estimates ranged between 0.5% (The Gambia) and 37.1% (Liberia) for S. mansoni, and between 17.6% (The Gambia) and 51.6% (Sierra Leone) for S. haematobium. We observed that the combined prevalence for both schistosome species is two-fold lower in Gambia than previously reported, while we found an almost two-fold higher estimate for Liberia (58.3%) than reported before (30.0%). Our predictions are likely to overestimate overall country prevalence, since modeling was based on children and adolescents up to the age of 20 years who are at highest risk of infection. Conclusion/Significance We present the first empirical estimates for S. mansoni and S. haematobium prevalence at high spatial resolution throughout West Africa. Our prediction maps allow prioritizing of interventions in a spatially explicit manner, and will be useful for monitoring and evaluation of schistosomiasis control programs.
New Agents Targeting Angiogenesis in Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant glioma in adults, and despite recent advances in standard treatment, the prognosis still remains dismal, with a median survival of 15 months. The incorporation of bevacizumab in the standard treatment of relapsed glioblastoma has been a significant step towards combining targeted agents with chemotherapy, and there is an increasing number of new antiangiogenic agents in various stages of development, that are being tested both in relapsed and newly diagnosed disease, alone or in combination with standard treatment. The relatively favorable toxicity profile for most of them presents an advantage, but several concerns arise regarding their actual efficacy on the clinical level and the most efficient schedule of administration for each of them, as their molecular targets and patterns of action may vary significantly. This may lead to future modifications of the current rational of administering these agents concomitantly with initial chemotherapy or maintenance treatment.
Implicit and explicit social mentalizing: dual processes driven by a shared neural network

Recent social neuroscientific evidence indicates that implicit and explicit inferences on the mind of another person (i.e., intentions, attributions or traits), are subserved by a shared mentalizing network. Under both implicit and explicit instructions, ERP studies reveal that early inferences occur at about the same time, and fMRI studies demonstrate an overlap in core mentalizing areas, including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). These results suggest a rapid shared implicit intuition followed by a slower explicit verification processes (as revealed by additional brain activation during explicit vs. implicit inferences). These data provide support for a default-adjustment dual-process framework of social mentalizing.
Choosing Among Competing Theories of The Wage Curve

This paper examines the role of regional unemployment in wage determination. Recent empirical studies have found a negative relationship between local unemployment and the level of wages. The resulting downward sloping curve in the wage-unemployment space has become known as “the wage curve. ” While the existence of the wage curve has been well established, little is known about what gives rise to it. Two noncompetitive theories have become the most widely accepted. One is based on a bargaining model, while the other is based on an efficiency wage model. This study provides empirical evidence to help choose among competing theories. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) are used to estimate wage curves for three different types of workers: those whose wages are set by collective bargaining, those who receive performance-based pay, and those who are self-employed. It is argued that, 1) workers whose wages are set by collective bargaining should have steeper wage curves under the bargaining theory, but not under the efficiency wage theory 2) workers who receive performance based pay should have flatter wage curves under the efficiency wage theory, but not under the bargaining theory, and 3) there should be no wage curve for the self-employed under either theory. The results suggest that neither noncompetitive theory provides a very convincing rationale for the wage curve. It is concluded that competitive theories should be reexamined.
Arabinogalactan-protein secretion is associated with the acquisition of stigmatic receptivity in the apple flower

Background and Aims Stigmatic receptivity plays a clear role in pollination dynamics; however, little is known about the factors that confer to a stigma the competence to be receptive for the germination of pollen grains. In this work, a developmental approach is used to evaluate the acquisition of stigmatic receptivity and its relationship with a possible change in arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs). Methods Flowers of the domestic apple, Malus × domestica, were assessed for their capacity to support pollen germination at different developmental stages. Stigmas from these same stages were characterized morphologically and different AGP epitopes detected by immunocytochemistry. Key Results Acquisition of stigmatic receptivity and the secretion of classical AGPs from stigmatic cells occurred concurrently and following the same spatial distribution. While in unpollinated stigmas AGPs appeared unaltered, in cross-pollinated stigmas AGPs epitopes vanished as pollen tubes passed by. Conclusions The concurrent secretion of AGPs with the acquisition of stigmatic receptivity, together with the differential response in unpollinated and cross-pollinated pistils point out a role of AGPs in supporting pollen tube germination and strongly suggest that secretion of AGPs is associated with the acquisition of stigma receptivity.
Customer Use of Virtual Channels in Multichannel Services: Does Type of Activity Matter?

Many firms have recently adopted virtual channels, based most notably on the Internet and the phone, to complement the delivery of services to their customers by their existing physical facilities. The success of such multichannel (MC) strategies relies on the alignment of service design decisions—namely those concerning the allocation of service activities to virtual channels—with customers’ MC behavior. Although prior studies have looked at the intensity with which customers use virtual channels, they have not addressed virtual channel use for different types of service activities. In our study, we investigate whether customers’ use of virtual channels for MC services varies with the type of service activities they engage in, and if so, in what way. In doing so, we address two objectives. First, we investigate the impact of accessibility to the physical channel on the degree of use of virtual channels (Internet and phone, aggregated) for different types of activities. Second, we look at channel preferences (Internet vs. phone) for different types of activities when customers do resort to virtual channels to conduct activities. To address our objectives, we develop and test hypotheses regarding customers’ use of virtual channels based on the match between activity attributes (complexity and volume) and channel attributes (access efficiency, interface efficiency, interface richness). Using data from a MC bank, we find that the impact of accessibility to physical channels (specifically, customer distance) on customers’ use of virtual channels, as well as the relative use of Internet versus phone, depend on the type of activities.
Habitat dependent associations between parasitism and fluctuating asymmetry among endemic stickleback populations

Inconsistencies in the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and fitness may be due to selection acting on the degree of trait asymmetry that differs among populations or among traits. We assessed relationships between parasite susceptibility and fluctuating asymmetry in the number of bony lateral plates among 83 populations of freshwater Gasterosteus aculeatus (three spined stickleback) and among lateral plate positions that vary in the selection they experience for symmetry. The correlation between FA and parasite infection was highly variable among samples. Excess of infected asymmetric G. aculeatus increased significantly as the robustness of structural predator defences decreased. This effect was found for one parasite species only (Eustrongylides sp.) and was slightly stronger in females. In addition, there was a trend for there to be an excess of infected females asymmetric in those lateral plates positions that did not experience selection for their symmetry, although the trend only approached significance. These results suggest that selection for trait symmetry can obscure relationships between fitness and individual‐wide developmental stability, providing one possible explanation for some of the heterogeneity in FA/fitness relationships seen in the literature. These results are also consistent with previous reports showing that ecological segregation between symmetric and asymmetric G. aculeatus and between sexes can alter the FA/fitness relationship.
Oncotargets and Therapy Dovepress Positive Expression of Kif20a Indicates Poor Prognosis of Glioma Patients

hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Abstract: Glioma patients have a poor overall survival; however, patients can show distinct clinical outcomes due to the high heterogeneity of the tumor, which may be indicated by certain clinicobiological parameters. Kinesin family member 20A (KIF20A), which participates in cytokinesis and intracellular transportation, has been recently reported to be upregulated in pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and bladder cancer. In the current study, we investigated the expression of KIF20A in gliomas and its significance in predicting the prognosis after surgery. We found that KIF20A positive expression in glioma tissues correlated significantly with Ki67 protein expression and advanced World Health Organization grade. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that KIF20A can act as an independent prognostic factor for predicting the overall survival of glioma patients. Moreover, we demonstrated that KIF20A can positively regulate the expression of Ki67 in glioma cell lines. Correspondingly, overexpres-sion of KIF20A can promote cell proliferation and invasion, whereas knockdown of KIF20A can inhibit cell viability and invasion capacity. In vitro study also showed that under the treatment of plumbagin, an anticancer drug, KIF20A expression decreased in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the overexpression of KIF20A can also increase the drug resistance toward plumbagin, which provided the possibility that KIF20A may contribute to the chemotherapy resistance of gliomas.
Competencies that Teachers Need for Teaching Children Who Are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) in Jordan

Abstract This study investigates what competencies are needed by teachers of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH), in the changing circumstances of their profession in Jordan. One hundred and five teachers of children who are DHH from kindergarten up to primary grade took part in this study. A scale was developed in order to achieve the goals of the study. The results revealed that the teachers’ competencies on the development of Instructional Planning Strategies subscale ranked first as the most important teaching competency that teachers need to develop. Competencies in definitions and communication skills, assessment, managing the classroom environment, and team working ranked lower, with developing positive attitude ranked the last. Moreover, the results showed that there were significant differences at (α = 0.05) according to school type in favour of private schools, according to educational settings in favour of local public schools (inclusion settings), and according to teachers’ background in favour of ordinary teachers with general teaching qualifications. Based on the findings, appropriate recommendations for the educational system of the DHH in Jordan were outlined.