Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dibenzofuran 4,4a-dioxygenase from Sphingomonas sp. strain RW1: angular dioxygenation by a three-component enzyme system

Sphingomonas sp. strain RW1 synthesized a constitutive enzyme system that oxygenated dibenzofuran (DBF) to 2,2',3-trihydroxybiphenyl (THB). We purified this dibenzofuran 4,4a-dioxygenase system (DBFDOS) and found it to consist of four components which catalyzed three activities. Two isofunctional, monomeric flavoproteins (components A1 and A2; M(r) of about 44,000) transferred electrons from NADH to the second component (B; M(r) of about 12,000), a ferredoxin, which transported electrons to the heteromultimeric (alpha 2 beta 2) oxygenase component (C; M(r) of alpha, 45,000; M(r) of beta, 23,000). DBFDOS consumed 1 mol each of NADH, O2, and DBF, which was dioxygenated to about 1 mol of THB; no intermediate was observed. The reaction was thus the dioxygenation of DBF at the 4 and 4a positions to give a diene-diol-hemiacetal which rearomatized by spontaneous loss of a phenolate group to form THB. Components A1 and A2 each reduced dichlorophenolindophenol but had negligible activity with cytochrome c; each lost the yellow color, observed to be flavin adenine dinucleotide, upon purification. Component B, which transported electrons to the oxygenase or cytochrome c, had an N-terminal amino acid sequence with high homology to the putidaredoxin of cytochrome P-450cam. The oxygenase had the UV spectrum of a Rieske iron-sulfur center. We presume DBFDOS to be a class IIA dioxygenase system (EC 1.14.12.-), functionally similar to pyrazon dioxygenase.
A parallel feature tracker for extended image sequences

This paper presents a feature tracker for long image sequences based on simultaneously estimating die motions and deformations of a collection of adjacent image patches. By sharing common corner nodes, the patches achieve greater stability than independent patch trackers. Modeling full bilinear deformations enables tracking in sequences which have large non-translational motions and/or foreshortening effects. We demonstrate the advantages of our technique with respect to previous algorithms using experimental results.
The Reciprocal Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Mathematics Achievement: Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Modeling

This study focused on comparing the longitudinal associations between two types of parental involvement (i.e., mathematics value and academic reinforcement) and high school students’ mathematics achievement, using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth(LSAY). Results, based on multivariate autoregressive cross-lagged modeling, indicated that parents’ academic reinforcement had no effect on students’ mathematics achievement and vice versa; however, a statistically significant positive reciprocal influence existed between parents’ mathematics value and students’ mathematics achievement throughout high school. This result not only reaffirms that parental involvement is a multidimensional construct but also implies that parental involvement has a domain-specific effect. Results from multigroup analyses revealed that students’ gender did not have a differential effect on these associations.
Christianity and Secularisation in South Africa: Probing the Possible Link between Modernisation and Secularisation

The secularisation theory of Max Weber states that modernisation inevitably leads to the decline of religion. This theory has in recent years been challenged by the desecularisation theories of various sociologists and philosophers. This article probes the possible link between modernisation and secularisation through a case study of the Republic of South Africa. South Africa is an important case study because it went through a rapid process of modernisation from the 1990s onwards. The first section examines the secularisation thesis of Weber and his supporters, as well as theories of desecularisation. The second section discusses the periods of anti-modernisation (1910–90) and modernisation (1990–2012) in South Africa. The third section analyses statistical data on the state of religion in South Africa, while the last section offers some concluding remarks on the relationship between modernisation and secularisation in South Africa thus far. The finding of the article is that the South African experience.
Impact of experience sampling methods on tap pattern based emotion recognition

Smartphone based emotion recognition uses predictive modeling to recognize user's mental states. In predictive modeling, determining ground truth plays a crucial role in labeling and training the model. Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is widely used in behavioral science to gather user responses about mental states. Smartphones equipped with sensors provide new avenues to design Experience Sampling Methods. Sensors provide multiple contexts that can be used to trigger collection of user responses. However, subsampling of sensor data can bias the inference drawn from trigger based ESM. We investigate whether continuous sensor data simplify the design of ESM. We use the typing pattern of users on smartphone as the context that can trigger response collection. We compare the context based and time based ESM designs to determine the impact of ESM strategies on emotion modeling. The results indicate how different ESM designs compare against each other.
Prognostic Signi fi cance of Plasma Osteopontin in Patients with Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated on TROG 02 . 02 Phase III Trial

Purpose:Highplasmaosteopontin (OPN) levels have been reported to be an adverse prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), correlate with tumor hypoxia, and be predictive of benefit from hypoxia-targeted therapy. We sought to confirm the prognostic and predictive significance of OPN in patients treated on a large international trial. Experimental Design: Patients with stage III/IV HNSCC were randomized to receive definitive radiotherapy concurrently with cisplatin or cisplatin plus the hypoxic cell cytotoxin, tirapazamine (TPZ). Eligibility criteria for this prospective substudy included plasma sample availability for OPN assay by ELISA and absence ofmajor radiation therapy deviations (N1⁄4 578). OPN concentrations were analyzed for overall survival (OS) and time to locoregional failure (TTLRF), adjusting for known prognostic factors. Additional analysis was carried out in patients with available tumor p16 staining status. Results: The median OPN level was 544 ng/mL (range: 7–2,640). High OPN levels were not associated withworseOS (relativeHR, 1.03 for highest tertile) or TTLRF (relativeHR 0.91 for highest tertile). Therewas no interaction betweenOPN and treatment arm for OS or TTLRF (P1⁄4 0.93 for OS; P1⁄4 0.87 for TTLRF). For the highest tertile the 2-year OS was 66% on control arm and 67% on TPZ arm (HR 1⁄4 1.11, P 1⁄4 0.67). Similarly for p16 negative patients in the highest tertile, the 2-year OS was 61% on control arm and 63% on TPZ arm (HR 1⁄4 1.05, P 1⁄4 0.86). Conclusions: We found no evidence that high plasma OPN levels were associated with an adverse prognosis in HNSCC, or were predictive of benefit with hypoxia targeting therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 18(1); 301–7. 2011 AACR.
Relationships Matter: Adolescent Girls and Relational Development in Adventure Education

Relational processes are well known to play a central role in human development. This qualitative, descriptive case study examined relational issues of early adolescent girls that arose during a two-week adventure education expedition. Interviews were conducted with 12 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse girls. Results revealed the importance of relationships to girls' experiences on course and that relational aggression affected students' overall course experience. The structure and culture of the course encouraged girls to develop authentic relationships with their peers and to reject engaging in relational aggression. Two students resisted these programmatic interventions. Students who embraced these programmatic interventions reported feeling more trustful of peers, more able to share their feelings and opinions, and more optimistic about making new friendships.
Preservice Classroom Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Music in the Elementary Curriculum

The purpose of this study is to survey preservice classroom teachers at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to determine their attitudes toward music in the elementary curriculum. Research questions examined participants’ (a) musical abilities and experience as well as beliefs regarding (b) the roles of the classroom teacher and music specialist, (c) their comfort level with teaching music as a subject and integrating music with other disciplines, (d) the importance of music in relation to other subjects, and (e) the importance of various outcomes of the general music program. A survey was administered to 116 preservice elementary classroom teachers enrolled in either student teaching or early field experience during the 2008—2009 academic year. Data indicated that most of these respondents do not feel comfortable teaching music as a subject, believe music should be taught by a specialist, and disagree that classroom teachers should be capable of teaching music. Results also suggest that participants regard music as less important than other subjects and nonmusical outcomes of music instruction as more important than musical outcomes. The majority of respondents, however, agree that music can improve achievement in other disciplines and are supportive of music integration. These findings were helpful in designing the music portion of an art and music methods course at Calvin College and may have implications for elementary music methods classes offered at other institutions.
Effect of NDP-α-MSH on PPAR-γ and –β Expression and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokine Release in Rat Astrocytes and Microglia

Brain inflammation plays a central role in numerous brain pathologies. Microglia and astrocytes are the main effector cells that become activated when an inflammatory process takes place within the central nervous system. α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is a neuropeptide with proven anti-inflammatory properties. It binds with highest affinity to the melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R), which is present in astrocytes and upon activation triggers anti-inflammatory pathways. The aim of this research was to identify anti-inflammatory mediators that may participate in the immunomodulatory effects of melanocortins in glial cells. Since peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) have recently been implicated in the modulation of inflammation, we investigated the effect of an α-MSH analog, [Nle4, D-Phe7]-α-MSH (NDP-α-MSH), on PPAR-β and PPAR-γ gene and protein expression in rat primary astrocytes and microglia. We initially demonstrated that rat primary microglia express MC4R and showed that treatment with NDP-α-MSH increases PPAR-γ protein levels and strongly decreases PPAR-β levels in both astrocytes and microglia. We also showed that extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)–mediated signaling is partially involved in these effects in a cell-specific fashion. Finally, we showed that NDP-α-MSH stimulates the release of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-β from microglia and astrocytes, respectively. The presented data suggest a role for IL-10 and TGF-β in the protective action of melanocortins and a connection between MC4R pathway and that of the nuclear receptor PPAR-γ. This is the first report providing evidence that MC4R is expressed in rat primary microglia and that melanocortins modulate PPAR levels in glial cells. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the activation of glial MC4R and open perspectives for new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of inflammation-mediated brain diseases.
Who is going to mentor newcomers in open source projects?

When newcomers join a software project, they need to be properly trained to understand the technical and organizational aspects of the project. Inadequate training could likely lead to project delay or failure. In this paper we propose an approach, named Yoda (Young and newcOmer Developer Assistant) aimed at identifying and recommending mentors in software projects by mining data from mailing lists and versioning systems. Candidate mentors are identified among experienced developers who actively interact with newcomers. Then, when a newcomer joins the project, Yoda recommends her a mentor that, among the available ones, has already discussed topics relevant for the newcomer. Yoda has been evaluated on software repositories of five open source projects. We have also surveyed some developers of these projects to understand whether mentoring was actually performed in their projects, and asked them to evaluate the mentoring relations Yoda identified. Results indicate that top committers are not always the most appropriate mentors, and show the potential usefulness of Yoda as a recommendation system to aid project managers in supporting newcomers joining a software project.
Uncovering Causal Relationships between Software Metrics and Bugs

Bug prediction is an important challenge for software engineering research. It consist in looking for possible early indicators of the presence of bugs in a software. However, despite the relevance of the issue, most experiments designed to evaluate bug prediction only investigate whether there is a linear relation between the predictor and the presence of bugs. However, it is well known that standard regression models cannot filter out spurious relations. Therefore, in this paper we describe an experiment to discover more robust evidences towards causality between software metrics (as predictors) and the occurrence of bugs. For this purpose, we have relied on Granger Causality Test to evaluate whether past changes in a given time series are useful to forecast changes in another series. As its name suggests, Granger Test is a better indication of causality between two variables. We present and discuss the results of experiments on four real world systems evaluated over a time frame of almost four years. Particularly, we have been able to discover in the history of metrics the causes - in the terms of the Granger Test - for 64% to 93% of the defects reported for the systems considered in our experiment.
Institutionalisation of assessment capacity in developing nations: the case of Malawi

Building assessment capacity of educators has historically been unregulated practice in post-independence Malawi. However, recent attempts by government to integrate curriculum and assessment reforms and the introduction of continuous assessment in the system have represented a significant policy shift. These and several other initiatives have necessitated the empowerment, in terms of assessment knowledge and skills, of educators at different levels of the system to support implementation of the reforms. This paper discusses the strategies that Malawi has followed so far to institutionalise the development of assessment capacity and highlights the challenges that it has faced in its efforts to improve the capacity of its staff in assessment. Key lessons for other African and developing nations from the Malawian experience have also been noted.
Noninvasive estimation of central blood pressure and the augmentation index in the seated position: a validation study of two commercially available methods

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the utility of the generalized transfer function (GTF) and the late systolic shoulder of the radial pressure waveform (SBP2) for estimating seated central systolic blood pressure (c-SBP) and seated c-augmentation index (c-AIx). Methods: In 199 participants (182 cardiovascular disease patients and 17 normal individuals; mean age: 65.7 ± 10.6 years), c-SBP and c-AIx were estimated using the SphygmoCor and Omron HEM-9000AI systems. Both estimates were compared with carotid SBP and augmentation index (AIx). All measurements were performed with the participants in the seated position. Results: Mean c-SBP was 121.7 ± 18.6 mmHg and 122.6 ± 19.8 mmHg according to the GTF and SBP2 methods, respectively, and carotid SBP was 124.4 ± 19.2 mmHg. There were close correlations between the three values (GTF vs. carotid SBP: r = 0.986, SBP2 vs. carotid SBP: r = 0.975, GTF vs. SBP2: r = 0.989, all P < 0.0001), all of which met the AAMI SP10 criteria and the grade A British Society of Hypertension criteria. The relationship between c-AIx estimated using the GTF method and carotid AIx was comparable to that reported previously for supine individuals (r = 0.703, P < 0.0001). The seated carotid-radial artery amplifications of the first and second harmonics were identical to those reported in previous supine studies. Both methods produced reproducible estimates of c-SBP and c-AIx (r = 0.997–0.910, all P < 0.0001). Conclusion: The present study indicates that the GTF and SBP2 methods can be used to estimate c-SBP and c-AIx in seated individuals.
Impact of Low Maternal Education on Early Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Europe.

BACKGROUND Comparable evidence on adiposity inequalities in early life is lacking across a range of European countries. This study investigates whether low maternal education is associated with overweight and obesity risk in children from distinct European settings during early childhood. METHODS Prospective data of 45 413 children from 11 European cohorts were used. Children's height and weight obtained at ages 4-7 years were used to assess prevalent overweight and obesity according to the International Obesity Task Force definition. The Relative/Slope Indices of Inequality (RII/SII) were estimated within each cohort and by gender to investigate adiposity risk among children born to mothers with low education as compared to counterparts born to mothers with high education. Individual-data meta-analyses were conducted to obtain aggregate estimates and to assess heterogeneity between cohorts. RESULTS Low maternal education yielded a substantial risk of early childhood adiposity across 11 European countries. Low maternal education yielded a mean risk ratio of 1.58 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34, 1.85) and a mean risk difference of 7.78% (5.34, 10.22) in early childhood overweight, respectively, measured by the RII and SII. Early childhood obesity risk by low maternal education was as substantial for all cohorts combined (RII = 2.61 (2.10, 3.23)) and (SII = 4.01% (3.14, 4.88)). Inequalities in early childhood adiposity were consistent among boys, but varied among girls in a few cohorts. CONCLUSIONS Considerable inequalities in overweight and obesity are evident among European children in early life. Tackling early childhood adiposity is necessary to promote children's immediate health and well-being and throughout the life course.
Identification of pinostilbene as a major colonic metabolite of pterostilbene and its inhibitory effects on colon cancer cells.

SCOPE Pterostilbene (PTE) is a resveratrol derivative mainly found in blueberries, and it has been shown to inhibit colon carcinogenesis in multiple animal models. To shed light on the mechanism of PTE in inhibiting colon carcinogenesis, we investigated the PTE metabolites in the mouse colon and in the human colon cancer cells. METHODS AND RESULTS CD-1 mice were fed PTE-containing diet for 3 weeks, and colonic content and colonic mucosa were collected and subjected to LC-MS analysis. Pinostilbene (PIN) was identified as a major metabolite of PTE in the mouse colon. Importantly, the level of PIN was found to be approximately equivalent to that of PTE in the colonic mucosa. PIN significantly inhibited the growth of human colon cancer cells, i.e., HCT116 and HT29. These inhibitory effects were similar to those produced by PTE. Moreover, under physiologically relevant conditions, 20 and 40 μM of PIN caused cell cycle arrest at S phase and induced apoptosis in colon cancer cells. These effects were associated with profound modulation of signaling proteins related with cell proliferation and programmed cell death. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that PIN is a major metabolite of PTE in the colon of mice fed with PTE, and PIN may play important roles in the anti-colon cancer effects elicited by orally administered PTE.
Continuous Time Contests with Private Information

This paper introduces a class of contest models in which each player decides when to stop a privately observed Brownian motion with drift and incurs costs depending on his stopping time. The player who stops his process at the highest value wins a prize. We prove existence and uniqueness of a Nash equilibrium outcome and derive the equilibrium distribution in closed form. As the variance tends to zero, the equilibrium outcome converges to the symmetric equilibrium of an all-pay auction. For two players and constant costs, each player’s equilibrium profit decreases if the drift increases, the variance decreases, or the costs decrease.
Opportunistic routing in wireless ad hoc networks: upper bounds for the packet propagation speed

Classical routing strategies for mobile ad hoc networks operate in a hop by hop "push mode" basis: packets are forwarded on pre-determined relay nodes, according to previously and independently established link performance metrics (e.g., using hellos or route discovery messages). Conversely, recent research has highlighted the interest in developing opportunistic routing schemes, operating in "pull mode": the next relay can be selected dynamically for each packet and each hop, on the basis of the actual network performance. This allows each packet to take advantage of the local pattern of transmissions at any time. The objective of such opportunistic routing schemes is to minimize the end-to-end delay required to carry a packet from the source to the destination. In this paper, we provide upper bounds on the packet propagation speed for opportunistic routing, in a realistic network model where link conditions are variable. We analyze the performance of various opportunistic routing strategies and we compare them with classical routing schemes. The analysis and the simulations show that opportunistic routing performs significantly better. We also investigate the effects of mobility and of random fading. Finally, we present numerical simulations that confirm the accuracy of our bounds.
The Player Kernel: Learning Team Strengths Based on Implicit Player Contributions

In this work, we draw attention to a connection between skill-based models of game outcomes and Gaussian process classification models. The Gaussian process perspective enables a) a principled way of dealing with uncertainty and b) rich models, specified through kernel functions. Using this connection, we tackle the problem of predicting outcomes of football matches between national teams. We develop a player kernel that relates any two football matches through the players lined up on the field. This makes it possible to share knowledge gained from observing matches between clubs (available in large quantities) and matches between national teams (available only in limited quantities). We evaluate our approach on the Euro 2008, 2012 and 2016 final tournaments.