Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Mus81 solution to resolution: generating meiotic crossovers without Holliday junctions.

During meiosis, recombination between homologous chromosomes creates a physical connection that is necessary for proper chromosome segregation at the first meiotic division. For many years, the paradigm used to explain the molecular mechanism of recombination has been the double-strand break repair (DSBR) model (Fig. 1; Szostak et al. 1983). (The definitions of the acronyms used in this review, in order of their appearance, can be found in Table 1.) One key feature of this model is that recombination is initiated by the formation of programmed DSBs (double-strand breaks). The meiosis-specific protein responsible for catalyzing these breaks is a topoisomerase-like protein called Spo11 (Bergerat et al. 1997; Keeney et al. 1997). The identification and functional analysis of Spo11 homologs from a wide variety of organisms, including worms, fruit flies, fission yeast, and mammals, indicates that repair of programmed DSBs is a universal feature of meiotic recombination (Keeney 2001). A second key feature of the model is the generation of a recombination intermediate called a double Holliday junction (dHJ). Differential resolution of this intermediate was proposed to determine the formation of crossover (CO) versus noncrossover (NCO) chromosomes. Recent advances indicate, however, that the decision of whether a recombination event will result in a CO or NCO chromosome occurs much earlier, soon after DSB formation (Allers and Lichten 2001a; Hunter and Kleckner 2001; Clyne et al. 2003). In addition, studies of a newly discovered endonuclease, Mus81, indicate that, in addition to dHJ resolution, COs may be formed by the processing of non-dHJ intermediates (Heyer et al. 2003; Osman et al. 2003). The decision of which crossover pathway to use appears to vary between organisms and may, therefore, be evolutionarily significant (de los Santos et al. 2003). The double-strand break repair model for meiotic recombination
Language and Dialect Contact in Spanish in New York: Toward the Formation of a Speech Community

Subject personal pronouns are highly variable in Spanish but nearly obligatory in many contexts in English, and regions of Latin America differ significantly in rates and constraints on use. We investigate language and dialect contact by analyzing these pronouns in a corpus of 63,500 verbs extracted from sociolinguistic interviews of a stratified sample of 142 members of the six largest Spanish-speaking communities in New York City. A variationist approach to rates of overt pronouns and variable and constraint hierarchies, comparing speakers from different dialect regions (Caribbeans vs. Mainlanders) and different generations (those recently arrived vs. those born and/or raised in New York), reveals the influence of English on speakers from both regions. In addition, generational changes in constraint hierarchies demonstrate that Caribbeans and Mainlanders are accommodating to one another. Both dialect and language contact are shaping Spanish in New York City and promoting, in the second generation, the formation of a New York Spanish speech community. *
Characterizations of Polyamidoamine Dendrimers with Scattering Techniques

Dendrimers are highly branched, open, covalent assemblies of branch cells (monomers) radially attached to a core in successive layers or generations. Major types of dendrimers include polyamidoamine, polypropylenimine, multiple antigen peptide, chiral, and Frechet-type dendrimers. Their structure and dynamics can be explored by various techniques, such as scattering, spectrometry, and microscopy techniques. Specifically, the scattering techniques include small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and light scattering. Examples of their properties that can be explored by scattering techniques include: inter-molecular structure, intra-molecular cavity, radius-of-gyration (RG), hydrodynamic radius (RH), molecular weight, effective charge number of a single dendrimer molecule, water penetration into the interior of the dendrimers, and the internal dynamics. Of these properties, the hydrodynamic radius and molecular weight may be explored by DLS; the internal dynamics of dendrimers may be studied by QENS; and the others may be explored through SAXS and SANS. During the past several years, SANS and QENS have been used to study the structural properties and internal dynamics of various generations of polyamidoamine dendrimers (PAMAMs). Their potential prospects as anticancer polymer drug carriers are also discussed.
Providing a Wide Field of View for Effective Interaction in Desktop Tangible Augmented Reality

This paper proposes to generate and provide wide field of view (FOV) augmented reality (AR) imagery by mosaicing images from smaller fields of moving views in "desktop" tangible AR (DTAR) environments. AR systems usually offer a limited FOV into the interaction space, constrained by the FOV of the camera and/or the display, which causes serious usability problems especially when the interaction space is large and many tangible props/markers are used. This problem is more apparent in DTAR environments in which an upright frontal display is used, instead of a head mounted display. This can be solved partly by placing the camera at a relatively far location or by using multiple cameras and increasing the working FOV. However, as for the former solution, the large distance between the interaction space and the fixed camera decreases the tracking and recognition reliability of the tangible markers, and the latter solution introduces significant additional set-up, cost, and computational load. Thus, we propose to use a mosaiced image to provide wide FOV AR imagery. We experimentally compare our solution, i.e. to offer the entire view of the interaction space at once, to other nominal AR set-ups. The experimental results show that, despite some amounts of visual artifacts due to the imperfect mosaicing, the proposed solution can improve task performance and usability for a typical DTAR system. Our findings should contribute to making AR systems more practical and usable for the mass.
A New Approach to Precipitation Monitoring: A critical survey of existing technologies and challenges

Accurate measurements of precipitation are essential for many applications, ranging from flash-flood warnings to water resource management. However, the accuracy of the existing tools is limited by various technical and practical reasons. Percipitation monitoring has traditionally been known to rely on gauges, weather radars, and satellites. Recently, a new approach has begun to be examined, the usage of commercial wireless communication networks (CWCNs), which enjoys the lack of any need for deployment procedures or costs, and which is already widely spread across countries. The goal of this article is to present a critical survey of the existing papers and works on this topic. We emphasize the works relating this topic to multidimensional signal processing. The importance of precipitation (rain, sleet, hail, snow, and any other outcomes of the condensation of water vapor that falls by virtue of gravity) is clear to any layman. Whether it is required for the purpose of precisely measuring past precipitation quantities or for generating future predictions, monitoring such phenomena has been of interest to humankind since early biblical days.
A Novel Polymorphism in a Forkhead Box A1 (FOXA1) Binding Site of the Human UDP Glucuronosyltransferase 2B17 Gene Modulates Promoter Activity and Is Associated with Altered Levels of Circulating Androstane-3α,17β-diol Glucuronide

UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2B17 is present in the prostate, where it catalyzes the addition of glucuronic acid to testosterone and dihydrotestosterone and their metabolites androsterone and androstane-3α,17β-diol. Hence, changes in UGT2B17 gene expression may affect the capacity of the prostate to inactivate and eliminate male sex hormones. In this work, we identify a prevalent polymorphism, −155G/A, in the proximal promoter of the UGT2B17 gene. This polymorphism modulates UGT2B17 promoter activity, because luciferase-gene reporter constructs containing the −155A allele were 13-fold more active than those containing the −155G allele in prostate cancer LNCaP cells. The −155G/A polymorphism is contained within a putative binding site for the transcription factor Forkhead Box A1 (FOXA1). Using gene reporter, electromobility shift, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses, we show that FOXA1 binds to this site and stimulates the UGT2B17 promoter. Furthermore, down-regulation of FOXA1 in LNCaP cells substantially reduces UGT2B17 mRNA levels. The binding of FOXA1 and subsequent stimulation of the UGT2B17 promoter is greatly reduced in the presence of the −155G allele compared with the −155A allele. Consonant with its capacity to be stimulated by FOXA1, the UGT2B17 −155A allele, compared with the −155G allele, is associated with higher levels of circulating androstane-3α,17β-diol glucuronide. Although the initial phases of prostate cancer are androgen-dependent and UGT2B17 inactivates androgens, there was no association of the UGT2B17 −155G/A polymorphism with prostate cancer risk. In summary, this work identifies FOXA1 as an important regulator of UGT2B17 expression in prostate cancer LNCaP cells and identifies a polymorphism that alters this regulation.
SMOOTHNESS OF DEFINITE EIGENVARIETIES AT CRITICAL POINTS

We compute an upper bound for the dimension of the tangent spaces of certain definite eigenvarieties at classical points, especially including the so-called critically refined cases. Our bound is given in terms of “critical types” and when our bound is minimized it matches the dimension of the eigenvariety. In those cases, which we explicitly determine, the eigenvariety is necessarily smooth and our proof also shows that the completed local ring on the eigenvariety is naturally a certain universal Galois deformation ring.
Exploiting knowledge management for supporting spectrum selection in Cognitive Radio networks

In order to increase Cognitive Radio operation efficiency, this paper builds up a new knowledge management functional architecture for supporting spectrum management. It integrates the fittingness factor concept proposed by the authors in a prior work and includes a set of advanced statistics capturing the influence of the radio environment. Then, a Knowledge Manager (KM) exploiting these statistics and observed fittingness factor values has been developed to monitor the time-varying suitability of spectrum resources to support heterogeneous services. Based on estimated suitability levels, a new strategy combining Spectrum Selection (SS) and Spectrum Mobility (SM) functionalities has been proposed. Results have shown that the proposed strategy efficiently exploits the KM support at low loads and the SM functionality at high loads to introduce significant gains (ranging from 85% to 100%) w.r. t. a pure random selection while exhibiting substantial robustness to changes in interference levels.
Self-definition of women experiencing a nontraditional graduate fellowship program†

Women continue to be underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One factor contributing to this underrepresentation is the graduate school experience. Graduate programs in STEM fields are constructed around assumptions that ignore the reality of women's lives; however, emerging opportunities may lead to experiences that are more compatible for women. One such opportunity is the Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12) Program, which was introduced by the National Science Foundation in 1999. Although this nontraditional graduate program was not designed explicitly for women, it provided an unprecedented context in which to research how changing some of the basic assumptions upon which a graduate school operates may impact women in science. This exploratory case study examines the self-definition of 8 women graduate students who participated in a GK–12 program at a major research university. The findings from this case study contribute to higher education's understanding of the terrain women graduate students in the STEM areas must navigate as they participate in programs that are thought to be more conducive to their modes of self-definition while they continue to seek to be successful in the historically Eurocentric, masculine STEM fields. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 852–873, 2006
Association of Body Mass Index with Cause Specific Deaths in Chinese Elderly Hypertensive Patients: Minhang Community Study

Background Most studies have suggested that elevated body mass index (BMI) was associated with the risk of death from all cause and from specific causes. However, there was little evidence illustrating the effect of BMI on the mortality in elderly hypertensive patients in Chinese population. Methods The information of 10,957 hypertensive patients at baseline not less than 60 years were from Xinzhuang, a town in Minhang district of Shanghai, was extracted from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. All study participants were divided into eight categories of baseline BMI (with cut-points at 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 kg/m2). Relative hazard ratio of death from all cause, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular cause by baseline BMI groups were calculated, standardized for sex, age, smoking, drinking, physical activity, systolic blood pressure, history of cardiovascular disorders, serum lipid disturbance, diabetes mellitus and antihypertensive drug treatment. Results During follow up (median: 3.7 years), 561 deaths occurred. Underweight (BMI<18 kg/m2) was associated with significantly increased mortality from all cause mortality (OR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.43–2.79) and non cardiovascular mortality (OR: 2.76; 95% CI: 1.87–4.07), but not with cardiovascular mortality. For the cause specific analysis, the underweight was associated significantly with neoplasms (OR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.16–4.00) and respiratory disorders (OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 1.64–7.06). The results for total mortality and specific cause mortality were not influenced by sex, age and smoking status. Conclusion Our study revealed an association between underweight and increased mortality from non-cardiovascular disorders in elderly hypertensive patients in Chinese community. Overweight and obesity were not associated with all cause or cause specific death.
Explaining the Chinese Preference for Conflict Avoiding: an Exploration of Five Alternative Models

This paper develops five alternative models for Chinese-American differences in conflict avoiding tendencies, and test them using a scenario study with respondents from Taiwan and the U.S. Our results show that, contrary to expectations, differences in the expected career costs/benefits of good/bad relations with others does not explain Chinese-American differences in conflict avoiding, nor do differences in attributional styles. The most important explanation for differences in avoiding is strong social norms that favor avoiding among Chinese. In addition, Chinese prefer avoiding more than Americans due to their expectation that direct expressions of conflict would damage the relationship and the greater value they place in having good relationships, as well as due to lower confidence in their own conflict management skills. The Chinese preference for avoiding, then, is not a matter of rational utility maximizing, but rather is an expression of deeply-held values and norms.
Regions in comparative perspective

This working paper is the introduction to New Regionalisms in the Global Political Economy: Theories and Cases, edited by Shaun Breslin, Christopher Hughes, Nicola Phillips and Ben Rosamond. New Regionalisms is published by Routledge for the “Warwick Studies In Globalzation” series, and this paper is reproduced with permission from Routlegde/Taylor and Francis.
Glycophorin A Gene Mutations of Atomic Bomb Survivors Cancer Susceptibility : Prospective Study on Erythrocyte Individual Variation of Somatic Gene Mutability in Relation to

It has previously been reported that hemizygous mutant fraction (Mf) at the glycophorin A (GPA) locus in erythrocytes increased with radiation dose in heterozygotes among Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors. In the present study, we analyzed the relationship between GPA Mf and cancer risk using newly developed cancers among previously cancer-free subjects whose GPA Mf had been measured between 1988 and 1996. Among 1,723 survivors (1,117 in Hiroshima and 606 in Nagasaki), we identified 186 subjects who developed a first cancer by the end of 2000. We compared the radiation dose responses of GPA Mf between cancer and cancer-free groups using a linear-quadratic model fit by multiple regression analysis in combination with age, sex, and city. The slope of the GPA Mf dose-response curve was significantly higher in the cancer group than in the cancerfree group among Hiroshima subjects. Moreover, no significant difference of GPA Mf between cancer and cancer-free groups was found in unexposed controls in the two cities. The same conclusions were obtained using a linear dose-response model and by further analysis using Cox regression of cancer incidence. These findings suggest that there might be interindividual variation in mutability of somatic genes and that Hiroshima survivors who have higher mutability in response to radiation exposure would be expected to have a higher probability of suffering radiation-related cancer. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(12): 5462-9)
Hypothesis testing with the general source

The asymptotically optimal hypothesis testing problem, with general sources as the null and alternative hypotheses, is studied under exponential-type error constraints on the first kind of error probability. Our fundamental philosophy is to convert all of the hypothesis testing problems to the pertinent computation problems in the large deviation-probability theory. This methodologically new approach enables us to establish compact general formulas of the optimal exponents of the second kind of error and correct testing probabilities for the general sources including all nonstationary and/or nonergodic sources with arbitrary abstract alphabet (countable or uncountable). These general formulas are presented from the information-spectrum point of view.
Non‐word repetition: An investigation of phonological complexity in children with Grammatical SLI

We investigate whether children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G‐SLI) are also phonologically impaired and, if so, what the nature of that impairment is. We focus on the prosodic complexity of words, based on their syllabic and metrical (stress) structure, and investigate this using a novel non‐word repetition procedure, the Test of Phonological Structure (TOPhS). Participants with G‐SLI (aged 12–20 years) were compared to language‐matched, typically developing children (aged 4–8 years). The results reveal that, in contrast to the controls, the accuracy with which the G‐SLI group repeated non‐words decreased as prosodic complexity increased, even in non‐words with only one‐ and two‐syllables. The study indicates that, in G‐SLI, complexity deficits in morphology and syntax can extend to prosodic phonology. The study highlights the importance of taking into account prosodic complexity in phonological assessment and the design of non‐word repetition procedures.
Infection Sources of a Common Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Pathogen, Mycobacterium avium Complex

Numerous studies have revealed a continuous increase in the worldwide incidence and prevalence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) diseases, especially pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) diseases. Although it is not clear why NTM diseases have been increasing, one possibility is an increase of mycobacterial infection sources in the environment. Thus, in this review, we focused on the infection sources of pathogenic NTM, especially MAC. The environmental niches for MAC include water, soil, and dust. The formation of aerosols containing NTM arising from shower water, soil, and pool water implies that these niches can be infection sources. Furthermore, genotyping has shown that clinical isolates are identical to environmental ones from household tap water, bathrooms, potting soil, and garden soil. Therefore, to prevent and treat MAC diseases, it is essential to identify the infection sources for these organisms, because patients with these diseases often suffer from reinfections and recurrent infections with them. In the environmental sources, MAC and other NTM organisms can form biofilms, survive within amoebae, and exist in a free-living state. Mycobacterial communities are also likely to occur in these infection sources in households. Water distribution systems are a transmission route from natural water reservoirs to household tap water. Other infection sources include areas with frequent human contact, such as soil and bathrooms, indicating that individuals may carry NTM organisms that concomitantly attach to their household belongings. To explore the mechanisms associated with the global spread of infection and MAC transmission routes, an epidemiological population-wide genotyping survey would be very useful. A good example of the power of genotyping comes from M. avium subsp. hominissuis, where close genetic relatedness was found between isolates of it from European patients and pigs in Japan and Europe, implying global transmission of this bacterium. It is anticipated that whole genome sequencing technologies will improve NTM surveys so that the mechanisms for the global spread of MAC disease will become clearer in the near future. Better understanding of the niches exploited by MAC and its ecology is essential for preventing MAC infections and developing new methods for its effective treatment and elimination.
Expression of Kv1 Potassium Channels in Mouse Hippocampal Primary Cultures: Development and Activity-Dependent Regulation

Excitability and discharge behavior of neurons depends on the highly variable expression pattern of voltage-dependent potassium (Kv) channels throughout the nervous system. To learn more about distribution, development, and activity-dependent regulation of Kv channel subunit expression in the rodent hippocampus, we studied the protein expression of members of the Kv1 subfamily in mouse hippocampusin situ and in primary cultures. In adult hippocampus, Kv1 (1–6) channel α-subunits were present, whereas at postnatal day 2, none of these proteins could be detected in CA1–CA3 and dentate gyrus. Kv1.1 was the first channel to be observed at postnatal day 6. The delayed postnatal expression and most of the subcellular distribution observed in hippocampal sections were mimicked by cultured hippocampal neurons in which Kv channels appeared only after 10 days in vitro. This developmental upregulation was paralleled by a dramatic increase in total K+current, as well as an elevated GABA release in the presence of 4-aminopyridine. Thus, the developmental profile, subcellular localization, and functionality of Kv1 channels in primary culture of hippocampus closely resembles the in situ situation. Impairing secretion by clostridial neurotoxins or blocking activity by tetrodotoxin inhibited the expression of Kv1.1, Kv1.2, and Kv1.4, whereas the other Kv1 channels still appeared. This activity-dependent depression was only observed before the initial appearance of the respective channels and lost after they had been expressed. Our data show that hippocampal neurons in culture are a convenient model to study the developmental expression and regulation of Kv1 channels. The ontogenetic regulation and the activity-dependent expression of Kv1.1, Kv1.2, and Kv1.4 indicate that neuronal activity plays a crucial role for the development of the mature Kv channel pattern in hippocampal neurons.