Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dissection of a Nuclear Localization Signal*

The regulated process of protein import into the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell is mediated by specific nuclear localization signals (NLSs) that are recognized by protein import receptors. This study seeks to decipher the energetic details of NLS recognition by the receptor importin α through quantitative analysis of variant NLSs. The relative importance of each residue in two monopartite NLS sequences was determined using an alanine scanning approach. These measurements yield an energetic definition of a monopartite NLS sequence where a required lysine residue is followed by two other basic residues in the sequence K(K/R)X(K/R). In addition, the energetic contributions of the second basic cluster in a bipartite NLS (∼3 kcal/mol) as well as the energy of inhibition of the importin α importin β-binding domain (∼3 kcal/mol) were also measured. These data allow the generation of an energetic scale of nuclear localization sequences based on a peptide's affinity for the importin α-importin β complex. On this scale, a functional NLS has a binding constant of ∼10 nm, whereas a nonfunctional NLS has a 100-fold weaker affinity of 1 μm. Further correlation between the current in vitro data and in vivo function will provide the foundation for a comprehensive quantitative model of protein import.
Jazz as a Process of Organizational Innovation

Jazz is an art from that is inventive and social. It enables individual musicians to create new musical ideas in a collective context and, thereby, to achieve an inventive and integrated performance. Here we present a case study of the process through which four jazz musicians were able to coordinate an inventive performance without the benefit of a rehearsal or the use of sheet music. A videotape of the performance and participant observations provided the data for our analysis. We identify two levels of information—musical and social structures—that constrain invention and enable integration. We then adapt Poole's Multiple Sequence Model (1983) as a device for tracking cognitive and behavioral components of the jazz process in, and across, time. Our analysis highlights the crucial roles of shared information, communication, and attention in this process and identifies a basic strategy that enabled the musicians to invent and coordinate increasingly complex musical ideas. We conclude with implications of our findings for the study and management of organizational innovation in contexts beyond those of group jazz.
Cross-National Variation in Political Violence

Propositions about determinants of political violence at the cross-national level are derived from rational action theory and tested across the entire population of independent states in the mid-1970s. The data support two rational action hypotheses: Rates of domestic political violence are higher at intermediate levels of both regime repressiveness and negative sanctions than at either low or high levels of these indicators of institutionalized and behavioral coercion. Two hypotheses that can be interpreted within either a rational action or a deprivation framework also are supported: High rates of economic growth reduce the incidence of political violence, and potential separatism increases the incidence of violence. A deprivation hypothesis that high life expectancy reduces the incidence of political violence is not supported. Overall, this set of findings favors a rational action rather than a deprivation approach to explaining why nations differ in rates of political violence.
Bayesian Online Learning for Multi-label and Multi-variate Performance Measures

Many real world applications employ multivariate performance measures and each example can belong to multiple classes. The currently most popular approaches train an SVM for each class, followed by ad hoc thresholding. Probabilistic models using Bayesian decision theory are also commonly adopted. In this paper, we propose aBayesian online multi-label classication framework (BOMC) which learns a probabilistic linear classier. The likelihood is modeled by a graphical model similar to TrueSkill TM , and inference is based on Gaussian density ltering with expectation propagation. Using samples from the posterior, we label the testing data by maximizing the expected F1-score. Our experiments on Reuters1-v2 dataset show BOMC compares favorably to the state-of-the-art online learners in macroaveraged F1-score and training time.
The connection between verbs and argument structures: Native speaker production of the double object dative

Abstract This study is an investigation of the patterns and strength of the connections between English dative verbs and the double object dative (DOD) argument structure in native speaker production. The subjects completed three written production tasks using dative and other verbs from different semantic classes of verbs. The results show that alternating dative verbs varied in their patterns of connection to argument structures, but were consistent in the strength of their connection to the DOD argument structure across subjects and tasks. There was no support for production differences due to verb class membership, but the results do support a model of lexical representation that represents variable strengths of association between individual verbs and argument structures. With respect to the design of production and processing studies, the results do not support the treatment of alternating dative verbs as a unitary group, nor a priori assumptions about relative argument structure complexity between alternating and nonalternating verbs, but do support the use of production tasks to determine individual verb argument structure preferences.
Item banking for C-tests: A polytomous Rasch modeling approach

C-tests are gap-filling tests widely used to assess general language proficiency for purposes of placement, screening, or provision of feedback to language learners. C-tests consist of several short texts in which parts of words are missing. Development, administration, and scoring of C-tests are particularly efficient when use is made of a calibrated item bank. Rasch measurement provides a powerful approach to item bank construction. Based on construing C-test texts as superitems, where item values correspond to the number of gaps in the text filled in correctly, two polytomous Rasch models were applied to analyze and evaluate a large set of texts: Andrich’s (1978) rating scale model and Muller’s (1987, 1999b) continuous rating scale model. The test construction phase comprised a total of 218 texts trialled in 27 independent samples, covering a total of 5,927 participants. Across samples, reliability indices ranged from . 94 to . 98. Texts showing unsatisfactory model fit or DIF were eliminated. The remaining texts were put on the same difficulty scale through a concurrent estimation procedure. Results clearly attested to the suitability of polytomous Rasch models to calibrate texts for purposes of item banking.
Cultural competence in institutional care for youths: experts with ambivalent positions

Abstract In Sweden, cultural competence if often singled out as both a strategy and solution for managing differences attributed to migrants, but few studies have critically investigated the idea of cultural competence. This article is an empirical contribution, based on an ethnographic study, and analyses talk and actions in the everyday practice in special residential homes for boys and young men. It examines when, how and in relation to what and whom cultural competence is made relevant, with special focus on how notions about cultural competence positions the staff in the studied institutions; organisationally, in relation to different work tasks and in narratives about the care and treatment provided. The analysis shows that cultural competence is almost exclusively attributed to staff who have a migrant background, and that the position as cultural competent is ambiguous. On the one hand a position as expert, on the other hand surrounded by a suspicion not to be professional. Staff who are ascribed cultural competence are made into representatives of cultural difference and locked into culturalised and ethnified positions. Thus, cultural competence rather emerges as a tool to master and control the boys who are placed in the studied institutions than as a tool to affect a change process in support of multiculturalism.
Automatic Selectional Preference Acquisition for Latin Verbs

We present a system that automatically induces Selectional Preferences (SPs) for Latin verbs from two treebanks by using Latin WordNet. Our method overcomes some of the problems connected with data sparseness and the small size of the input corpora. We also suggest a way to evaluate the acquired SPs on unseen events extracted from other Latin corpora.
A distributed calculus for role-based access control

Role-based access control (RBAC) is increasingly attracting attention because it reduces the complexity and cost of security administration by interposing the notion of role in the assignment of permissions to users. In this paper, we present a formal framework relying on an extension of the /spl pi/ calculus to study the behavior of concurrent systems in a RBAC scenario. We define a type system ensuring that the specified policy is respected during computations, and a bisimulation to equate systems. The theory is then applied to three meaningful examples, namely finding the 'minimal' policy to run a given system, refining a system to be run under a given policy (whenever possible), and minimizing the number of users in a given system without changing the overall behavior.
Effective Intervention with Neglectful Families

The limited research on approaches to intervention with neglectful families is reviewed and guidelines for intervening with neglect are suggested. Most outcome studies have not employed experimental designs with control groups. Definitions of neglect vary among studies and distinctions have not been made between subtypes of neglect treated. Intervention programs have been successful in remedying neglect with less than 50% of the families served. Group interventions with child and adolescent victims have been more successful. Behavioral techniques have be used to successfully teach home management, parent-child interaction, and meal preparation skills to neglectful parents. Multiservice interventions are necessary to remedy the multiple problems presented by neglectful families. Group approaches, family treatment, use of paraprofessionals, and social network interventions have been used successfully with neglectful families. Short-term interventions have not been successful.
Functional and Structural Changes in the Rabbit Ear Artery after Sympathetic Denervation

We studied the tissue weight, dimensions, contractility, elasticity, and sensitivity to exogenous norepinephrine (NE) of denervated «nd innervated segments of the central ear arteries of white New Zealand rabbits. Three different age groups received unilateral superior cervical ganglionectomies, “growing” at 3–4 weeks, “young adult” at 9–11 weeks, and “mature” at 16–20 weeks. In the growing group, 8 weeks after ganglionectomy, the denervated arteries showed mean decreases in tissue weight (11%), total wall thickness (12%), cross-sectional area of media (17%), contractility (16%), and increases in the tangential modulus of elasticity and sensitivity to NE (2.3-fold) compared to the contralateral control vessels. The change in medial cross-sectional area was significant in the growing and young adult but not the mature animals. The other changes, however, although consistently seen, differed quantitatively among the groups. These results indicate that an intact innervation is necessary for normal development and maintenance of the artery wall. However, the precise consequences of this influence vary at different ages. Whether this influence involves a special trophic factor is not known.
Flexible and Efficient Resolution of Skyline Query Size Constraints

Given a set of multidimensional points, a skyline query returns the interesting points that are not dominated by other points. It has been observed that the actual cardinality (s) of a skyline query result may differ substantially from the desired result cardinality (k), which has prompted studies on how to reduce s for the case where k<;s. This paper goes further by addressing the general case where the relationship between k and s is not known beforehand. Due to their complexity, the existing pointwise ranking and set-wide maximization techniques are not well suited for this problem. Moreover, the former often incurs too many ties in its ranking, and the latter is inapplicable for k>;s. Based on these observations, the paper proposes a new approach, called skyline ordering, that forms a skyline-based partitioning of a given data set such that an order exists among the partitions. Then, set-wide maximization techniques may be applied within each partition. Efficient algorithms are developed for skyline ordering and for resolving size constraints using the skyline order. The results of extensive experiments show that skyline ordering yields a flexible framework for the efficient and scalable resolution of arbitrary size constraints on skyline queries.
Early Onset of Diabetes in the Proband Is the Major Determinant of Risk in HLA DR3-DQ2/DR4-DQ8 Siblings

Islet autoimmunity is initiated in infancy, and primary prevention trials require children at high genetic risk to be identified before autoantibodies appear. To inform screening strategies, we evaluated risks of autoimmunity and diabetes associated with HLA DR3-DQ2/DR4-DQ8 in U.K. families. Extended HLA haplotypes were determined in 2,134 siblings from the Bart’s-Oxford Study followed to a median age of 22 years. Risks of diabetes and islet autoimmunity (more than two antibodies) were estimated by survival analysis. Of 138 informative DR3-DQ2/DR4-DQ8 siblings, 63% shared both haplotypes with their diabetic proband, 29% shared one, and 8% shared neither. In HLA-identical DR3-DQ2/DR4-DQ8 siblings, the cumulative risk of diabetes by age 15 was 17% (vs. 6% in those sharing one haplotype or none; P = 0.095). Risk varied, however, with the age at the onset of diabetes in the proband; the cumulative risk of autoimmunity and/or diabetes by age 15 was 61% in siblings of probands diagnosed when younger than 10 years old compared with only 4.7% in those diagnosed after age 10 years (P < 0.001). The age of the proband at diagnosis, but not HLA haplotype sharing, was an independent determinant of sibling risk. This suggests that non-HLA genes or epigenetic/environmental factors that accelerate the progression of type 1 diabetes in the proband strongly affect risk in siblings.
Three types of ependymal cells with intracellular calcium oscillation are characterized by distinct cilia beating properties

Ependymal cells are multiciliated epithelial cells that line the ventricles in the adult brain. Abnormal function or structure of ependymal cilia has been associated with various neurological deficits. For the first time, we report three distinct ependymal cell types, I, II, and III, based on their unique ciliary beating frequency and beating angle. These ependymal cells have specific localizations within the third ventricle of the mouse brain. Furthermore, neither ependymal cell types nor their localizations are altered by aging. Our high‐speed fluorescence imaging analysis reveals that these ependymal cells have an intracellular pacing calcium oscillation property. Our study further shows that alcohol can significantly repress the amplitude of calcium oscillation and the frequency of ciliary beating, resulting in an overall decrease in volume replacement by the cilia. Furthermore, the pharmacological agent cilostazol could differentially increase cilia beating frequency in type II, but not in type I or type III, ependymal cells. In summary, we provide the first evidence of three distinct types of ependymal cells with calcium oscillation properties. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optimized three‐dimensional fast‐spin‐echo MRI

Spin‐echo‐based acquisitions are the workhorse of clinical MRI because they provide a variety of useful image contrasts and are resistant to image artifacts from radio‐frequency or static field inhomogeneity. Three‐dimensional (3D) acquisitions provide datasets that can be retrospectively reformatted for viewing in freely selectable orientations, and are thus advantageous for evaluating the complex anatomy associated with many clinical applications of MRI. Historically, however, 3D spin‐echo‐based acquisitions have not played a significant role in clinical MRI due to unacceptably long acquisition times or image artifacts associated with details of the acquisition method. Recently, optimized forms of 3D fast/turbo spin‐echo imaging have become available from several MR‐equipment manufacturers (for example, CUBE [GE], SPACE [Siemens], and VISTA [Philips]). Through specific design strategies and optimization, including short non–spatially selective radio‐frequency pulses to significantly shorten the echo spacing and variable flip angles for the refocusing radio‐frequency pulses to suppress blurring or considerably lengthen the useable duration of the spin‐echo train, these techniques permit single‐slab 3D imaging of sizeable volumes in clinically acceptable acquisition times. These optimized fast/turbo spin‐echo pulse sequences provide a robust and flexible approach for 3D spin‐echo‐based imaging with a broad range of clinical applications. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014;39:745–767. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The simulation research on passive heave compensation system for deep sea mining

A passive heave compensation system with accumulators is proposed according to the requirements of 6000m deep sea poly-metallic mining system. The principle of the heave compensation system is described, the main parameters of the system are calculated, a corresponding mathematical model of this system is built. The parameters which affect the performance of the system are simulated and analyzed by MATLAB. The simulation study of the passive heave compensation system is conducted. The results show that the satisfactory control effectiveness can be obtained under sea condition 4. The compensation rate of the system is higher than 80% under the influence of random wave. The results of modeling and simulation research offer theoretical basis and technical reference for the development of passive heave compensation system.
Human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells and chorionic plate-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote axon survival in a rat model of optic nerve crush injury

The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in cell therapy in regenerative medicine has great potential, particularly in the treatment of nerve injury. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) reportedly contains stem cells, which have been widely used as a hematopoietic source and may have therapeutic potential for neurological impairment. Although ongoing research is dedicated to the management of traumatic optic nerve injury using various measures, novel therapeutic strategies based on the complex underlying mechanisms responsible for optic nerve injury, such as inflammation and/or ischemia, are required. In the present study, a rat model of optic nerve crush (ONC) injury was established in order to examine the effects of transplanting human chorionic plate-derived MSCs (CP-MSCs) isolated from the placenta, as well as human UCB mononuclear cells (CB-MNCs) on compressed rat optic nerves. Expression markers for inflammation, apoptosis, and optic nerve regeneration were analyzed, as well as the axon survival rate by direct counting. Increased axon survival rates were observed following the injection of CB-MNCs at at 1 week post-transplantation compared with the controls. The levels of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) were increased after the injection of CB-MNCs or CP-MSCs compared with the controls, and the expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) were also significantly increased following the injection of CB-MNCs or CP-MSCs. ERM-like protein (ERMN) and SLIT-ROBO Rho GTPase activating protein 2 (SRGAP2) were found to be expressed in the optic nerves of the CP-MSC-injected rats with ONC injury. The findings of our study suggest that the administration of CB-MNCs or CP-MSCs may promote axon survival through systemic concomitant mechanisms involving GAP-43 and HIF-1α. Taken together, these findings provide further understanding of the mechanisms repsonsible for optic nerve injury and may aid in the development of novel cell-based therapeutic strategies with future applications in regenerative medicine, particularly in the management of optic nerve disorders.
Modified constraint-induced movement therapy in a day camp for children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy: intervention effects and consideration of personal factors

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) has been demonstrated to yield functional improvements for children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP); however, many studies have reported inconsistent findings with regards to the extent of the benefits observed following the intervention. This study sought to examine the effects of CIMT in the context of a day camp in this population; it also examined the child-therapist (C-T) interaction during the assessment sessions as a potential factor influencing the child’s scores on tests of motor performance. This interaction has not yet been formally measured in the literature, and may influence the perceived outcomes of CIMT. Motor Outcomes: Results demonstrated significant improvements in quality of use of the upper extremity following the intervention; the improvements were maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Analysis of each individual participant yielded additional information on clinically significant improvements. C-T Outcomes: Results demonstrated that the strength of the C-T interaction was significantly and positively correlated with the scores obtained by participants on motor assessments. The results of this study indicate that modified CIMT is effective in inducing lasting and meaningful changes in children with spastic hemiplegic CP. They also suggest that the C-T interaction may contribute to a participant’s performance during the assessment session, which may ultimately affect the perceived outcomes of CIMT.