Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Purification, Redox Sensitivity, and RNA Binding Properties of SECIS-binding Protein 2, a Protein Involved in Selenoprotein Biosynthesis*

In mammalian selenoprotein mRNAs, the highly structured 3′ UTR contains selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) elements that are required for the recognition of UGA as the selenocysteine codon. Our previous work demonstrated a tight correlation between codon-specific translational read-through and the activity of a 120-kDa RNA-binding protein that interacted specifically with the SECIS element in the phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase mRNA. This study reports the RNA binding and biochemical properties of this protein, SECIS-binding protein 2 (SBP2). We detected SBP2 binding activity in liver, hepatoma cell, and testis extracts from which SBP2 has been purified by anion exchange and RNA affinity chromatography. This scheme has allowed us to identify a 120-kDa polypeptide that co-elutes with SBP2 binding activity from wild-type but not mutant RNA affinity columns. A characterization of SBP2 biochemical properties reveals that SBP2 binding is sensitive to oxidation and the presence of heparin, rRNA, and poly(G). SBP2 activity elutes with a molecular mass of ∼500 kDa during gel filtration chromatography, suggesting the existence of a large functional complex. Direct cross-linking and competition experiments demonstrate that the minimal phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase 3′ UTR binding site is between 82 and 102 nucleotides, which correlates with the minimal sequence necessary for translational read-through. SBP2 also interacts specifically with the minimally functional 3′ UTR of another selenoprotein mRNA, deiodinase 1.
The Spiral Structure of the Outer Milky Way in Hydrogen

We produce a detailed map of the perturbed surface density of neutral hydrogen in the outer Milky Way disk, demonstrating that the Galaxy is a non-axisymmetric multiarmed spiral. Spiral structure in the southern half of the Galaxy can be traced out to at least 25 kiloparsecs, implying a minimum radius for the gas disk. Overdensities in the surface density are coincident with regions of reduced gas thickness. The ratio of the surface density to the local median surface density is relatively constant along an arm. Logarithmic spirals can be fit to the arms with pitch angles of 20° to 25°.
Extending Constructivist Perspectives on Opportunity Production Through An Incorporation of Effectual Logics

Abstract Current constructivist theorizing relies heavily on causal logics and, therefore, posits that entrepreneurs either pursue or abandon perceived opportunities shortly after their inception. However, findings from effectuation research illuminate less-direct processes involved in the establishment of entrepreneurial ventures. We describe how effectual and causal logics might be integrated by proposing a supplemented model of entrepreneurial opportunity production that features an alternative effectual pathway. In describing this model, we develop six propositions to explain the unique pattern of cognitions and behaviors found among entrepreneurs employing effectual logics. Our propositions suggest that these entrepreneurs are unlikely to rely on peer feedback to determine the viability of early stage opportunities. Instead, they delay the objectification and evaluation of opportunities because they recognize that predictions made in uncertain environments are unlikely to be correct. The employment of these alternate logics results in different pathways to commercialization and different consequences associated with failures.
The Impact of Maternal Immune Activation on Social Cognition in a Mouse Model of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Autism is characterized by pervasive social-communcation deficits and repetitive, restricted patterns of behaviors and interests, etiologically explained through both genetic and environmental factors. Epidemiological reports have linked maternal exposure to highgrade fever or viral infection during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy with increased risk of having a child later diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder, including Autism and Schizophrenia. It is thought that in-utero exposure to an elevated maternal immune response, rather than a specific pathogen is likely mediating the increased risk of these disorders. Murine models of maternal immune activation (MIA) use Poly I:C (polyinosinic–polycytidylic acid), a viral mimic that is a toll like receptor-3 agonist, to induce an elevated immune response in the mother resulting in deficits in social approach behavior in the offspring. However, neural processes contributing to these social behavior deficits are unknown and may be linked to alterations in social cognitive development, suggesting that MIA might mediate deficits in social recognition as well. To test this hypothesis, this study utilized the Poly I:C MIA model in C57 Bl/ 6J mice to study the effects of maternal immune activation on social recognition behavior in offspring. Pregnant dams were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of either 20mg/kg Poly I:C or saline on gestational day 12.5; offspring were weaned on post-natal day (PND) 21 and a social recognition behavioral test was conducted at PND 30, and again at PND 60. Typically developing control offspring from saline-treated dams showed robust social recognition during the juvenile period and this social memory was maintained in saline offspring when re-tested at PND 60. Conversely, offspring of Poly I:C-treated dams were found to show no preference between novel and littermate mice at PND30, indicating deficits in recognizing novel versus familiar social stimuli, and spent more time with the familiar littermate mice at PND 60. These data suggest that maternal immune activation mediates a delay in social cognitive and social recognition abilities and support the notion that cognitive and recognition deficits might be impacting the social behavior deficits observed in neurodevelopmental disorders like Autism and Schizophrenia.
Comparing machines and humans on a visual categorization test

Automated scene interpretation has benefited from advances in machine learning, and restricted tasks, such as face detection, have been solved with sufficient accuracy for restricted settings. However, the performance of machines in providing rich semantic descriptions of natural scenes from digital images remains highly limited and hugely inferior to that of humans. Here we quantify this “semantic gap” in a particular setting: We compare the efficiency of human and machine learning in assigning an image to one of two categories determined by the spatial arrangement of constituent parts. The images are not real, but the category-defining rules reflect the compositional structure of real images and the type of “reasoning” that appears to be necessary for semantic parsing. Experiments demonstrate that human subjects grasp the separating principles from a handful of examples, whereas the error rates of computer programs fluctuate wildly and remain far behind that of humans even after exposure to thousands of examples. These observations lend support to current trends in computer vision such as integrating machine learning with parts-based modeling.
Walking in adults with spina bifida with respect to muscle function

Abstract The aim of this study was to gather information about walking function in adults with myelomeningocele and, in particular, to investigate walking function with respect to muscle function in adults with spina bifida. Based on muscle strength examination, 45 participants (median age 35 years) were classified according to severity of muscle function (MF groups 0–III). Functional walking ability, outdoor walking distance, and use of orthoses and walking aids were documented. Joint range of motion and lower limb muscle strength were examined. Timed Up and Go (TUG), 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) and 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) were performed. After the 6MWT, the participants estimated pain and perceived breathlessness. Compared to the other groups, MF III took a significantly longer time during TUG and 10MWT, and walked a significantly shorter distance in the 6MWT. Participants in MF III reported shorter walking distances outdoors and less active functional walking ability than those with more muscle function. Pain was equally distributed among the groups, whereas breathlessness was most reported in MF III. In conclusion, patients with severe muscle function loss walk more slowly, walk shorter distances and report breathlessness, indicating great impact on their everyday walking function, with very few walking farther than 100 m daily.
TEACHER LANGUAGE IN THE PRIMARY CLASSROOM: AN EXPLORATION OF THE LANGUAGE USED BY TEACHERS WHEN PREPARING CHILDREN AGED 6-11 FOR IMPORTANT TESTS

Teachers in classrooms use a vast of array of language to support children in their educational development. Previous research with teachers and children in secondary schools has identified that, when supporting children to prepare for important tests, teachers use supportive statements as well as statements stressing the negative outcomes associated with poor performance. However, in the primary school context, research has not identified the specific language that is being used by teachers for test preparation. In this explorative mixed methods study, eight teachers completed communication diaries and were interviewed to identify the types of communication they were using in the classroom towards children aged 6-11 in order to support their test preparations. Two focus groups were also held with children to determine their awareness of teachers? communicative messages. The final phase of the study gathered data from a questionnaire distributed to a large sample of 112 primary school teachers allowing broader exploration of test-related language use in the classroom. Results identified various forms of communication being used by primary school teachers when preparing children for important tests, with children also aware of these statements. This included informative communication about test arrangements, outcome based statements, efficacious statements, reassuring and calming messages, language statements that related to the importance of tests, and test reminders. The findings further suggested that efficacious communication was the most frequent form of communication that was employed in primary classrooms, though use of language varied amongst teachers. Furthermore, the research identified that teachers were combining particular forms of communication, and it is likely that this communication fluctuated over the academic year. Teachers were also judicious in their use of communication towards children, where statements were chosen to have maximum effect on children based on teachers? assessments of children? s characteristics. Additional factors such as teacher control, teacher philosophy, a view of children as dependent, views about testing, and teacher-held beliefs about particular forms of communication were also explored to judge their impact on the language used by teachers. The findings of this study provide a preliminary foundation for future research to explore teacher communication and its effects on children? s test preparations in primary schools.
Instrumental Variables: A Study of Implicit Behavioral Assumptions in One Widely Used Estimator

This paper considers the use of instrumental variables to estimate the mean effect of treatment on the treated, the mean effect of treatment on randomly selected persons and the local average treatment effect. It examines what economic questions these parameters address. When responses to treatment vary, the standard argument justifying the use of instrumental variables fails unless person-specific responses to treatment do not influence decisions to participate in the program being evaluated. This requires that individual gains from the program that cannot be predicted from variables in outcome equations do not influence the decision of the persons being studied to participate in the program. In the likely case in which individuals possess and act on private information about gains from the program that cannot be fully predicted by variables in the outcome equation, instrumental variables methods do not estimate economically interesting evaluation parameters. Instrumental variable methods are extremely sensitive to assumptions about how people process information. These arguments are developed for both continuous and discrete treatment variables, and several explicit economic models are presented.
A practical framework for efficient file synchronization

Efficient synchronization of remote copies of files that have experienced insertions and deletions is an important problem with many applications including data storage, file sharing, online editing, and cloud computing. Suppose that user A is the owner of an original file X, and user B is the owner of the edited file Y that is obtained from X through a series of insertions and deletions. In our recent work [1], [2] we developed the first low-complexity two-way protocol between users A and B for synchronizing from a fixed rate of insertions and deletions. This protocol is order-wise optimal and achieves exponentially low probability of the reconstruction error. In this paper, we report on further results, including a description of implementation details of the synchronization protocol and comparisons with existing methods.
A process examination of the framing effect in younger and older adult medical decision making

A Process Examination of the Framing Effect in Younger and Older Adult Medical Decision Making Erin L. Woodhead, M.S. Older and younger adults are susceptible to a decisional bias when faced with medical decisions, which results in different treatment decisions when presented with survival or mortality data. Although this bias, termed the framing effect, has been demonstrated in multiple studies, no published studies have attempted to determine the decisional process older and younger adults engage in when presented with different information frames. The current study used a thinkaloud procedure to examine decisional process differences in younger and older adults who did and did not demonstrate a framing effect. All participants were presented with two data formats (interval and cumulative probabilities) in both survival and mortality wording. Data were analyzed quantitatively to determine the presence of a framing effect. Think-aloud data were analyzed qualitatively to determine decisional process differences stratified by age and demonstration of the framing effect. Interpretation of results for the interval probability format was limited by typographical errors that were found to exist in the scenario after data collection was complete. No statistically significant framing effects were found for either format among both younger and older adults. Older and younger adults had relatively equal personal and vicarious experience with the decision. Qualitative analyses performed on a subset of the data suggest that, among those older adults who did not demonstrate the framing effect, there was a reliance on pertinent experience with the decision, and little reliance on the presented data. In contrast, among younger adults who demonstrated the framing effect, there was a tendency toward incomplete analysis of the data when younger adults had knowledge about the decision. Across age groups, those that demonstrated the framing effect were significantly more likely to reference the presented data. Older adults were significantly less likely to reference the presented data than younger adults. Younger and older adults did not differ significantly on timeto-decision or word count for the think-aloud transcripts. Results are discussed in terms of agerelated differences in decision making processes.
The Positive Effects of Participative Decision Making for Midlevel Correctional Management

This study examined the effects of increased participation in decision making on perceived supervisory and organizational support among middle managers within corrections. Using data collected from 146 middle managers and structural equation modeling, the authors found that increases in participation in decision making were associated with increases in both perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support. Furthermore, the relationship between participation in decision making and perceived organizational support was partially mediated by perceived supervisor support. The present study extends the literature by being the first examination of the relationships between participation in decision making and perceived supervisor and organizational support within corrections. It also extends the corrections literature by focusing on key individuals within corrections, middle managers, who for the most part have been ignored in the published literature. Suggestions for enhancing the involvement of middle management in decisions are discussed as well as limitations and opportunities for future research.
One Decade of Evolution of Corporate Governance Practices in Brazil

Este estudo apresenta a evolucao de certas praticas de governanca corporativa de empresas brasileiras negociadas em bolsa entre 2004 e 2013 que compoem um indice (CGI). Os resultados indicam que a qualidade dessas praticas melhorou, especialmente apos a criacao dos niveis diferenciados de negociacao de adesao voluntaria na bolsa, que exigem praticas melhores de governanca corporativa e transparencia. O CGI medio de 5,8 (em um total de 10) em 2013 pode ser considerado baixo e sugere que pode haver mais espaco para melhoria. Alem disso, as empresas pontuam muito baixo nos aspectos de etica e conflitos de interesse do CGI, quando comparadas com os componentes sobre transparencia, composicao e funcionamento do conselho e diretos dos acionistas. O numero muito pequeno de empresas que proibem emprestimos a partes relacionadas e que facilitam a participacao nas assembleias de acionistas e uma preocupacao. A diminuicao de mecanismos de aumento do controle, como as acoes sem direito de voto e estruturas indiretas de controle, foi um avanco notavel. Mesmo assim, os acordos de acionistas sao cada vez mais empregados como instrumentos que interferem com a independencia dos conselheiros e aumentam o poder do bloco controlador.
Local Pixel Value Collection Algorithm for Spot Segmentation in Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Research

Two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis (2-DE) images show the expression levels of several hundreds of proteins where each protein is represented as a blob-shaped spot of grey level values. The spot detection, that is, the segmentation process has to be efficient as it is the first step in the gel processing. Such extraction of information is a very complex task. In this paper, we propose a novel spot detector that is basically a morphology-based method with the use of a seeded region growing as a central paradigm and which relies on the spot correlation information. The method is tested on our synthetic as well as on real gels with human samples from SWISS-2DPAGE (two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) database. A comparison of results is done with a method called pixel value collection (PVC). Since our algorithm efficiently uses local spot information, segments the spot by collecting pixel values and its affinity with PVC, we named it local pixel value collection (LPVC). The results show that LPVC achieves similar segmentation results as PVC, but is much faster than PVC.
A case study of teaching and learning strategies in an orchestral composition masterclass

Over recent decades music composition has occupied an increasingly prominent place in international school music curricula with a consequent expansion of opportunities for students and of research into classroom-based composition learning and teaching. Concurrently, creativity researchers have investigated the lives and work of past and living eminent composers. This study of an orchestral composers’ school sits in the gap between research into school-age students’ composition and studies of eminent composers. For non-neophyte, but not yet expert, students, the professional workshop offers a prime space for learning. Drawing on expertise theory, this case study examines practices of expert composers working with advanced composer-students in an orchestral workshop environment. Observation and interview methods were used during and after the workshop to gain insight into outward manifestations of teaching and learning and into longer-term perceptions and reflections. This article focuses on one setting: a masterclass in which expert composers and students discussed issues emerging from the first rehearsal of students’ works. Findings suggest that, in this setting, teaching and learning strategies are characterized by modeling expert thinking, problem-finding, and sharing possibilities deemed promising based on experts’ accumulated experience. By sharing from their more extensive experience, expert composers led students to consider additional dimensions in compositional decision-making, extending students’ understandings of composing for orchestra to include not only nuanced technique, but also more insightful perceptions of professional orchestral culture.
Up-regulation of p21WAF1 expression is mediated by Sp1/Sp3 transcription factors in TGFbeta1-arrested malignant B cells.

BACKGROUND TGFbeta1 has a profound effect on the growth of various mammalian cell types, including B lymphocytes. The inhibitory action of TGFbeta1 is mediated by deactivation of the cell cycle machinery. Several feedback-sensitive pathways determine whether the cells are stopped in G1 phase or allowed to leave G1 phase and enter S phase. Cell cycle-associated molecules, e.g. cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs), may become targets for the inhibitory signaling pathways induced by TGFbeta1. MATERIAL/METHODS Our experimental DoHH2 cell line model was derived from a patient with malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of follicular origin. The effect of TGFbeta1 on cell cycle progression was studied by flow cytometry. We examined the effect of TGFbeta1 on the expression of p21WAF1 by immunoblotting and RT-PCR. The binding activity of transcription factors to the p21 gene promoter was determined by gel mobility shift assay (GMSA). RESULTS Our results showed that TGFbeta1 treatment increased the number of cells arrested in G0/G1 phase compared with untreated control cells. Moreover, we found that p21WAF1 expression was significantly up-regulated on the protein level after TGFbeta1 treatment. Similarly to the protein level, the expression of p21 mRNA was increased in TGFbeta1-treated cells. We further examined the binding activity of the Sp family of transcription factors to examine their role in p21WAF1 up-regulation. CONCLUSIONS The results indicated that p21WAF1 over-expression in TGFbeta1-arrested malignant B cells is mediated by binding of Sp1/Sp3 transcription factors to the (-92/-71), (-77/-58), and (-65/-45) elements of the promoter region of the p21 gene.
Temporal characteristics of visual receptive fields in primary visual cortex and medial superior temporal cortex areas

We mapped the receptive fields of 49 cells from primary visual cortex and 19 cells from medial superior temporal cortex in two awake monkeys. The receptive field structures we obtained lasted a mean time of 32.7 ms in primary visual cortex and 38.4 ms in medial superior temporal cortex, showing no statistical difference. This result suggests that both areas have the same time requirements for processing visual information. In primary visual cortex, 100% of cells had conformed the receptive field structure at 65 ms pre-spike, whereas in medial superior temporal cortex it occurred at 150 ms. In both areas, cells with shorter response latencies had receptive field structures with longer durations. This may indicate that cells tend to synchronize their output to other areas.