Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Viral Strain, Transgene Position, and Target Cell Type on Replication Kinetics, Genomic Stability, and Transgene Expression of Replication-Competent Murine Leukemia Virus-Based Vectors

ABSTRACT The limited efficiency of in vivo gene transfer by replication-deficient retroviral vectors remains an obstacle to achieving effective gene therapy for solid tumors. One approach to circumvent this problem is the use of replication-competent retroviral vectors. However, the application of such vectors is at a comparatively early stage and the effects which virus strain, transgene cassette position, and target cell can exert on vector spread kinetics, genomic stability, and transgene expression levels remain to be fully elucidated. Thus, in this study a panel of vectors allowing the investigation of different design features on an otherwise genetically identical background were analyzed with respect to these readout parameters in cultures of both murine and human cells and in preformed tumors in nude mice. The obtained data revealed that (i) Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MLV)-based vectors spread with faster kinetics, drive higher levels of transgene expression, and are more stable than equivalent Akv-MLV-based vectors; (ii) vectors containing the transgene cassette directly downstream of the envelope gene are genomically more stable than those containing it within the 3′-long terminal repeat U3 region; and (iii) the genomic stability of both strains seems to be cell line dependent.
Why Do Alzheimer Patients Have Difficulty with Pronouns? Working Memory, Semantics, and Reference in Comprehension and Production in Alzheimer's Disease

Three experiments investigated the extent to which semantic and working-memory deficits contribute to Alzheimer patients' impairments in producing and comprehending referring expressions. In Experiment 1, the spontaneous speech of 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) contained a greater ratio of pronouns to full noun phrases than did the spontaneous speech produced by 9 healthy controls. Experiments 2 and 3 used a cross-modal naming methodology to compare reference comprehension in another group of 10 patients and 10 age-matched controls. In Experiment 2, patients were less sensitive than healthy controls to the grammatical information necessary for processing pronouns. In Experiment 3, patients were better able to remember referent information in short paragraphs when reference was maintained with full noun phrases rather than pronouns, but healthy controls showed the reverse pattern. Performance in all three experiments was linked to working memory performance but not to word finding difficulty. We discuss these findings in terms of a theory of reference processing, the Informational Load Hypothesis, which views referential impairments in AD as the consequence of normal discourse processing in the context of a working memory impairment.
“I Disagree”

Effective coaches must understand and manage athletes’ expressions of disagreement or dissatisfaction. The current study identified the triggering events that athletes reported as the impetus for their dissent, the messages that they utilized when dissenting, and the success of these messages. Four categories of triggers were identified within data collected from 262 former high school athletes: (a) performance issues, (b) power and influence, (c) logistics, and (d) communicative climate and culture. These triggers were associated with athletes’ subsequent expressions of dissent. Athletes most commonly utilized solution presentation and direct-factual appeals when dissenting about these triggers. Athletes’ dissent messages predicted the success of their dissent; effective expressions more readily featured solution presentation messages, direct-factual appeals, and an absence of humor. Appropriate expressions were predicted by the use of solution presentation messages and the avoidance of pressure, circumvention, and humor. Collectively, this research highlights features unique to the sports team context, including team interdependence, the balancing of the multiple roles that come with being a student-athlete, and cultures of rationalism and respect for authority and sporting norms.
Maximal bite force, facial morphology and sucking habits in young children with functional posterior crossbite

Objective The maintenance of normal conditions of the masticatory function is determinant for the correct growth and development of its structures. Thus, the aims of this study were to evaluate the influence of sucking habits on the presence of crossbite and its relationship with maximal bite force, facial morphology and body variables in 67 children of both genders (3.5-7 years) with primary or early mixed dentition. Material and methods The children were divided in four groups: primary-normocclusion (PN, n=19), primary-crossbite (PC, n=19), mixed-normocclusion (MN, n=13), and mixed-crossbite (MC, n=16). Bite force was measured with a pressurized tube, and facial morphology was determined by standardized frontal photographs: AFH (anterior face height) and BFW (bizygomatic facial width). Results It was observed that MC group showed lower bite force than MN, and AFH/ BFW was significantly smaller in PN than PC (t-test). Weight and height were only significantly correlated with bite force in PC group (Pearson’s correlation test). In the primary dentition, AFH/BFW and breast-feeding (at least six months) were positive and negatively associated with crossbite, respectively (multiple logistic regression). In the mixed dentition, breastfeeding and bite force showed negative associations with crossbite (univariate regression), while nonnutritive sucking (up to 3 years) associated significantly with crossbite in all groups (multiple logistic regression). Conclusions In the studied sample, sucking habits played an important role in the etiology of crossbite, which was associated with lower bite force and long-face tendency.
Perceived relevance of an introductory information systems course to prospective business students

The study is designed to examine students’ perceptions of the introductory Information Systems (IS) course. It was an exploratory study in which 67 students participated. A quantitative approach was followed making use of questionnaires for the collection of data. Using the theory of reasoned action as a framework, the study explores the factors that influence non-IS major students’ perceived relevance of the IS introductory course. The analysis of collected data included descriptive and inferential statistics. Using multiple regression analysis, the results suggest that overall, the independent variables, relevance of the content, previous IT knowledge, relevance for professional practice, IT preference in courses and peers’ influence may account for 72% of the explanatory power for the dependent variable, perceived relevance of the IS course. In addition, the results have shown some strong predictors (IT preference and peers’ influence) that influence students’ perceived relevance of the IS course. Practical work was found to be a strong mediating variable toward positive perceptions of IS. The results of this study suggest that students do indeed perceive the introductory IS course to be relevant and match their professional needs, but more practical work would enhance their learning. Implications for theory and practice are discussed as a result of the behavioural intention to perceive the IS course to be relevant and eventually to recruit more IS students.
Perceived discrimination, schooling arrangements and psychological adjustments of rural-to-urban migrant children in Beijing, China

Objectives: The global literature has revealed potential negative impacts of migration and discrimination on individual's psychological adjustments. However, the psychological adjustments among internal migrant children in developing countries are rarely assessed. This study simultaneously examines perceived discrimination and schooling arrangements in relation to psychological adjustments among rural-to-urban migrant children in China. Methods: A sample of 657 migrant children was recruited in Beijing, China. Cross-sectional associations of self-reported perceived discrimination and schooling arrangements (i.e. public school and migrant children school (MCS)) with psychological adjustment outcomes (i.e. social anxiety, depression and loneliness) were examined by general linear model. Results: (1) Compared with migrant children in public school, migrant children in MCS had lower family incomes, and their parents had received less education. (2) Migrant children in MCS reported higher levels of social anxiety, depression and loneliness than did their counterparts. Children who reported high level of perceived discrimination also reported the highest level of social anxiety, depression and loneliness. (3) Perceived discrimination had main effects on social anxiety and depression after controlling for the covariates. A significant interaction between perceived discrimination and schooling arrangements on loneliness was found. Specifically, the migrant children in MCS reported higher loneliness scores than did migrant children in public school only at low level of perceived discrimination; however, schooling arrangements was unrelated to loneliness at medium and high levels of discrimination. Conclusions: These results indicate that migration-related perceived discrimination is negatively associated with migrant children's psychological adjustments. These findings suggest that effective interventions should be developed to improve migrant children's capacities to cope with migration-related discrimination and improve their psychological adjustments, especially in terms of loneliness.
Nutrient levels within leaves, stems, and roots of the xeric species Reaumuria soongorica in relation to geographical, climatic, and soil conditions

Besides water relations, nutrient allocation, and stoichiometric traits are fundamental feature of shrubs. Knowledge concerning the nutrient stoichiometry of xerophytes is essential to predicting the biogeochemical cycling in desert ecosystems as well as to understanding the homoeostasis and variability of nutrient traits in desert plants. Here, we focused on the temperate desert species Reaumuria soongorica and collected samples from plant organs and soil over 28 different locations that covered a wide distributional gradient of this species. Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometry were determined and subsequently compared with geographic, climatic, and edaphic factors. The mean leaf C, N, and P concentrations and C/N, C/P, and N/P ratios were 371.6 mg g−1, 10.6 mg g−1, 0.73 mg g−1, and 59.7, 837.9, 15.7, respectively. Stem and root C concentrations were higher than leaf C, while leaf N was higher than stem and root N. Phosphorus concentration and N/P did not differ among plant organs. Significant differences were found between root C/N and leaf C/N as well as between root C/P and leaf C/P. Leaf nutrient traits respond to geographic and climatic factors, while nutrient concentrations of stems and roots are mostly affected by soil P and pH. We show that stoichiometric patterns in different plant organs had different responses to environmental variables. Studies of species-specific nutrient stoichiometry can help clarify plant–environment relationships and nutrient cycling patterns in desert ecosystems.
Carotenoids in Fruits of Different Persimmon Cultivars

Carotenoids in the peel and the flesh of persimmon fruit were identified, and the contents of carotenoids in the fleshes of 46 different persimmon cultivars were analyzed. The results indicated that 31 specific carotenoids were detected in both cultivars of persimmons, among which nine specific carotenoids were characterized. β-Cryptoxanthin was the most abundant carotenoid among all individual components in both the peel and the flesh, accounting for about 20-30% of the total carotenoids in both cultivars. The contents of total carotenoids in the fleshes of different persimmon cultivars were between 194.61 µg/100g FW and 1,566.30 µg/100g FW. Zeaxanthin was also the most abundant in all persimmon fleshes besides β-Cryptoxanthin, and the total amount of these two components accounted for 37.84-85.11% of the total carotenoids. The RE values in the fleshes of different cultivars also differed greatly. Besides, the stage of maturation was also important factor which could influence the carotenoid content and RE value in the fleshes.
Multidimensional family prevention for at-risk adolescents.

The science of mental health prevention has made significant conceptual and empirical advances over the past two decades (Bryant, Windle, & West, 1997). During that time, prevention has emerged as a major focus of programmatic, research, and policy work in the mental health arena (Munoz, Mrazek, & Hag­ gerty, 1996). These efforts are aimed at pre­ venting, delaying, or moderating the onset of psychological disorders in the general popula­ tion and within high-risk subgroups. Specifi­ cally, mental health prevention is concerned with (1) investigating the etiology, developmen­ tal course, and psychosocial correlates of psy­ chological disorders; (2) identifying risk factors that predict future disorders and protective
An Examination of the Spontaneously Generated and Retold Narratives Produced by Gifted/Learning-Disabled Adolescents From an Integrated Perspective of Language Development.

Few studies have examined the narrative abilities of gifted children with learning disabilities. This study investigated the ability of eighth-grade gifted children with learning disabilities (gifted/LD) to produce oral and written narratives by comparing their stories to those produced by gifted peers with no learning deficits (nonLD/gifted). It was hypothesized that evidence of difficulty generating the stories relative to the macrostructure (organization of ideas across sentences) and the microstructure (organization of ideas within sentences) would be exhibited by the gifted/LD population. Twenty, 13-year-old eighth-graders served as subjects in the present investigation. All were identified as gifted by their local school system and were enrolled in the gifted program at the time of their participation in the study. Ten of the subjects met criteria for the gifted/LD group and ten met criteria for the nonLD/gifted group. Each subject produced stories under four different conditions, including a spontaneously generated oral story, a spontaneously generated written story, a retold oral story, and a retold written story. The stories produced by the gifted/LD subjects were compared to their gifted peers for differences in thirteen dependent measures of story length, episodic integrity, story grammar components, and sentence complexity.
Gender and Emotion Stereotypes in Children’s Television

The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of emotion stereotypes in children’s television programming, in both educational and non-educational programming. It was hypothesized that gender stereotypes of emotion would still be prevalent in both entertainment and educational programming, with females showing more fear and sadness and males showing more anger, and that all shows would have more male than female characters. A total of 8 children’s programs were included for analysis: 4 entertainment programs and 4 educational programs. Programs were coded for the total number of males and females and for the emotions displayed by each character: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Overall, the analyses revealed that the majority of shows still have more male than female characters. Males were found to portray more of all emotions than females. Educational programming did not differ much in the amount of stereotypical versus counter-stereotypical emotion portrayed. Entertainment programming showed a trend toward more counter-stereotyped emotions. Future research should explore the influence of viewing specific shows on young children’s current gender stereotypes to assess the immediate impact of such viewing.
Moving along the Number Line: Operational Momentum in Nonsymbolic Arithmetic

1324 Human adults possess an ability to estimate and manipulate approximate numerical magnitudes, which has been termed number sense (Dehaene, 1997). This ability appears to be largely independent of language and other symbol systems, since it is present in both infants (Xu & Spelke, 2000) and other animal species (Brannon & Roitman, 2003; Gallistel, 1990). In the present article, we present a new method that enables a direct, psychophysical evaluation of the precision of human numerical cognition in tasks of addition and subtraction of estimated sets comparable to those used in animals and in young children. The resulting numerical psychophysics paves the way to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of approximate arithmetic. Much of the research in numerical cognition started with psychophysical work in nonhuman animals (Meck & Church, 1983; Platt & Johnson, 1971). Platt and Johnson systematically varied the number of barpresses that rats must make in order to obtain a reward. By plotting the distribution of barpresses before the rats went to the feeder, they found that the number of presses formed a curve around the target amount. This indicated that the rats had an approximate representation of how many presses were required. This curve was relatively narrow for small magnitudes but wider for large magnitudes, indicating that the variability of the representation increased as the number of required presses increased. This scalar variability conforms to Weber's law, which states that the just-noticeable difference increases linearly with increases in the reference magnitude or, more generally, that the discriminability of two magnitudes depends only on their ratio (Izard, 2005). Scalar variability is a classic signature of the approximate magnitude representation of numbers, observed in a broad variety of tasks in human adults, infants, and animals (Fei-genson, Dehaene, & Spelke, 2004; Gallistel, 1990). In addition to the representation of approximate numer-osity, there is behavioral evidence that both animals and infants can perform elementary arithmetic computations over these numerosities. Flombaum, Junge, and Hauser (2005) found that rhesus macaques can spontaneously add two quantities of foodstuffs, and Brannon, Wusthoff, Gal-listel, and Gibbon (2001) found that pigeons can subtract one set of light flashes from another and, subsequently, peck the estimated number of flashes that are left over. Wynn (1992) found that very young infants are able to add and subtract small sets of objects, and McCrink and Wynn (2004) found that preverbal infants can discriminate correct and incorrect outcomes of large-number …
Comment to “ ` 1-Penalization for Mixture Regression Models ” by

I would like to congratulate the authors for this very interesting contribution. The generalization of `1-penalized linear regression to the “mixture-of-Gaussian-regressions” model raises some very interesting questions both from theoretical and algorithmic points of view and the paper offers a variety of powerful tools to attack both problems. In this comment I would like to mention another direction in which algorithmic issues become a relevant and non-trivial challenge. The basic underlying assumption behind lasso and various related methods of linear regression is sparsity. In the simplest fixed design regression model, one observes a random vector Y = (Y1, . . . , Yn) generated by
Phosphorylation-dependent translocation of sphingosine kinase to the plasma membrane drives its oncogenic signalling

Sphingosine kinase (SK) 1 catalyzes the formation of the bioactive lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate, and has been implicated in several biological processes in mammalian cells, including enhanced proliferation, inhibition of apoptosis, and oncogenesis. Human SK (hSK) 1 possesses high instrinsic catalytic activity which can be further increased by a diverse array of cellular agonists. We have shown previously that this activation occurs as a direct consequence of extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2–mediated phosphorylation at Ser225, which not only increases catalytic activity, but is also necessary for agonist-induced translocation of hSK1 to the plasma membrane. In this study, we report that the oncogenic effects of overexpressed hSK1 are blocked by mutation of the phosphorylation site despite the phosphorylation-deficient form of the enzyme retaining full instrinsic catalytic activity. This indicates that oncogenic signaling by hSK1 relies on a phosphorylation-dependent function beyond increasing enzyme activity. We demonstrate, through constitutive localization of the phosphorylation-deficient form of hSK1 to the plasma membrane, that hSK1 translocation is the key effect of phosphorylation in oncogenic signaling by this enzyme. Thus, phosphorylation of hSK1 is essential for oncogenic signaling, and is brought about through phosphorylation-induced translocation of hSK1 to the plasma membrane, rather than from enhanced catalytic activity of this enzyme.
Asymptotics for Selfdual Vortices on the Torus and on the Plane: A Gluing Technique

We consider multivortex solutions for the selfdual Abelian Higgs model, as the ratio of the vortex core size to the separation distance between vortex points (the scaling parameter) tends to zero. To this end, we use a gluing technique (a shadowing lemma) for solutions to the corresponding semilinear elliptic equation on the plane, allowing any number (finite or countable) of arbitrarily prescribed singular sources. Our approach is particularly convenient and natural for the study of the asymptotics. In particular, in the physically relevant cases where the vortex points are either finite or periodically arranged in the plane, we prove that a frequently used factorization ansatz for multivortex solutions is rigorously satisfied, up to an error which is exponentially small.
The emotion of guilt as a motivator: can transgressors overcome ego-depletion to help their victims?

THE EMOTION OF GUILT AS A MOTIVATOR: CAN TRANSGRESSORS OVERCOME EGO-DEPLETION TO HELP THEIR VICTIMS? Brandon L. Boring Self-control is a limited resource; exerting it leads to a state termed ego-depletion. Research suggests that techniques can overcome this loss of resources; one such avenue may lie in the experience of guilt, an emotion arising following transgressions. Transgressors are motivated to repay their victims, and are also motivated to alleviate the feelings associated with guilt. This study examined whether guilt can motivate people to overcome ego-depletion. Participants completed a task requiring self-control, and were then made to believe that they had caused harm to the researcher. Persistence on a subsequent task helping the researcher was then measured. The results showed that depleted participants who experienced guilt persisted longer on the subsequent task than depleted participants who did not experience guilt. However, guilt without prior depletion debilitated participants’ self-control as much as the ego-depletion induction. This study showed that guilt can both restore and exhaust self-control depending upon prior circumstance.