Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Targeted therapy for Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric carcinoma using low-dose gemcitabine-induced lytic activation

The constant presence of the viral genome in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric cancers (EBVaGCs) suggests the applicability of novel EBV-targeted therapies. The antiviral nucleoside drug, ganciclovir (GCV), is effective only in the context of the viral lytic cycle in the presence of EBV-encoded thymidine kinase (TK)/protein kinase (PK) expression. In this study, screening of the Johns Hopkins Drug Library identified gemcitabine as a candidate for combination treatment with GCV. Pharmacological induction of EBV-TK or PK in EBVaGC-originated tumor cells were used to study combination treatment with GCV in vitro and in vivo. Gemcitabine was found to be a lytic inducer via activation of the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM)/p53 genotoxic stress pathway in EBVaGC. Using an EBVaGC mouse model and a [125I] fialuridine (FIAU)-based lytic activation imaging system, we evaluated gemcitabine-induced lytic activation in an in vivo system and confirmed the efficacy of gemcitabine-GCV combination treatment. This viral enzyme-targeted anti-tumor strategy may provide a new therapeutic approach for EBVaGCs.
An Empirical Investigation of the Employee Work Passion Appraisal Model Using Self-Determination Theory

The Problem Employee work passion theory offers an appraisal-based approach that explains how work passion is formulated in individuals. Self-determination theory postulates that the satisfaction of three basic psychological human needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy) is essential for individuals to flourish and thrive at work. The role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the employee work passion appraisal process is yet to be examined. The Solution We investigated the relations between employees’ cognitive appraisals of their work environment characteristics (work cognitions), their basic psychological need satisfaction, and their work intentions. Our study provided empirical evidence showing that employees’ cognitive appraisals of work characteristics such as job autonomy, task variety, meaningful work, and performance expectations were positively related to basic psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, positively impacted their work intentions, thus indicating the subjective experience of work passion. The Stakeholders Results suggest that organizational leaders, supervisors, and human resource development (HRD) practitioners could develop interventions that promote specific workplace characteristics and are aimed at contributing to the fulfillment of employees’ basic psychological needs. In so doing, employees and stakeholders could benefit from the individual and organizational outcomes that flow from employees experiencing greater work passion.
Assessing the impact of late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions on global vegetation and climate

Abstract. The end of the Pleistocene was a turning point for the Earth system as climate gradually emerged from millennia of severe glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere. The deglacial climate change coincided with an unprecedented decline in many species of Pleistocene megafauna, including the near-total eradication of the woolly mammoth. Due to an herbivorous diet that presumably involved large-scale tree grazing, the mammoth extinction has been associated with the rapid expansion of dwarf deciduous trees in Siberia and Beringia, thus potentially contributing to the changing climate of the period. In this study, we use the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) to simulate the possible effects of these extinctions on climate during the latest deglacial period. We have explored various hypothetical scenarios of forest expansion in the northern high latitudes, quantifying the biogeophysical effects in terms of changes in surface albedo and air temperature. These scenarios include a Maximum Impact Scenario (MIS) which simulates the greatest possible post-extinction reforestation in the model, and sensitivity tests which investigate the timing of extinction, the fraction of trees grazed by mammoths, and the southern extent of mammoth habitats. We also show the results of a simulation with free atmospheric CO2-carbon cycle interactions. For the MIS, we obtained a surface albedo increase and global warming of 0.006 and 0.175 °C, respectively. Less extreme scenarios produced smaller global mean temperature changes, though local warming in some locations exceeded 0.3 °C even in the more realistic extinction scenarios. In the free CO2 simulation, the biogeophysical-induced warming was amplified by a biogeochemical effect, whereby the replacement of high-latitude tundra with shrub forest led to a release of soil carbon to the atmosphere and a small atmospheric CO2 increase. Overall, our results suggest the potential for a small, though non-trivial, effect of megafaunal extinctions on Pleistocene climate.
A Methodological Approach for Estimating Temporal and Spatial Extent of Delays Caused by Freeway Accidents

Given that reliable prediction of such relatively rare-and random-events as accident occurrence will remain elusive, the most important potentially soluble factor in the development of accident management strategies is to identify and quantify the conditions affecting the nonrecurrent congestion caused by accidents once they have been known to have occurred. The objective of the research reported in this paper is to develop a method of quantifying the delay due to accidents on urban freeways, as well as to identify the causal factors affecting the total delay caused by such accidents. Binary integer programming (BIP) is applied in estimating the temporal and spatial extent of delay caused by freeway accidents, based solely on commonly available inductance loop detector data. The basic idea behind the method is to estimate the most likely temporal and spatial extent of the region of congestion caused by an accident by solving a BIP problem that is consistent with the topology of the spatio-temporal region that defines candidate speed differences between normal flow conditions and accident conditions. The procedures developed in this paper will be useful for the performance evaluation of accident management systems by quantifying accident congestion in terms of the total delay to evaluate the benefit of accident management systems accrued from efficient traffic operations. The procedures are demonstrated by a case study using accident data collected from six major freeways in Orange County, CA.
One of the few: the experiences of female elite-level coaches in Norwegian football

The aim of this article is to explore the experiences of female elite-level Norwegian coaches in football. More precisely, we wanted to find out the meaning of gender for these coaches’ football experiences. The results presented are based on five in-depth interviews with female elite-level coaches between 36 and 50 years of age. A feminist cultural and a gender perspective are used to understand and discuss the findings. As shown in other studies, the culture of football in Norway is very gendered. This has an impact on the female football coaches’ experiences, both in relation to how they perceive their own role, their coach education and with respect to their self-confidence and how they look upon their own chances in the job market. As a group, they represent a form of pariah femininity, and very little resistance femininity and a liberal feminist perspective, i.e. equality on the men’s premises.
The outcome of tuberculosis treatment in subjects with chronic kidney disease in Brazil: a multinomial analysis

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between clinical/epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of tuberculosis treatment in patients with concomitant tuberculosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Brazil. METHODS: We used the Brazilian Ministry of Health National Case Registry Database to identify patients with tuberculosis and CKD, treated between 2007 and 2011. The tuberculosis treatment outcomes were compared with epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the subjects using a hierarchical multinomial logistic regression model, in which cure was the reference outcome. RESULTS: The prevalence of CKD among patients with tuberculosis was 0.4% (95% CI: 0.37-0.42%). The sample comprised 1,077 subjects. The outcomes were cure, in 58%; treatment abandonment, in 7%; death from tuberculosis, in 13%; and death from other causes, in 22%. The characteristics that differentiated the ORs for treatment abandonment or death were age; alcoholism; AIDS; previous noncompliance with treatment; transfer to another facility; suspected tuberculosis on chest X-ray; positive results in the first smear microscopy; and indications for/use of directly observed treatment, short-course strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate the importance of sociodemographic characteristics for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in patients with CKD and underscore the need for tuberculosis control strategies targeting patients with chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as CKD.
On-demand routing in large ad hoc wireless networks with passive clustering

This paper presents on-demand routing scalability improvements achieved using a "passive" clustering. Any on-demand routing typically requires some form of flooding. Clustering can dramatically reduce transmission overhead during flooding. In fact, by using clustering, we restrict the set of forwarding nodes during flood search and thus reduce the energy cost and traffic overhead of routing in dynamic traffic and topology environments. However existing "active" clustering mechanisms require periodic refresh of neighborhood information and tend to introduce quite a large amount of communication maintenance overhead. We introduce a passive clustering protocol scheme which is mostly supported/maintained by user data packets instead of explicit control packets. The passive scheme is consistent with the on-demand routing philosophy. Simulation results show significant performance improvements when passive clustering is used.
Comparing Haar-Hilbert and Log-Gabor based iris encoders on Bath Iris Image Database

This papers introduces a new family of iris encoders which use 2-dimensional Haar Wavelet Transform for noise attenuation, and Hilbert Transform to encode the iris texture. In order to prove the usefulness of the newly proposed iris encoding approach, the recognition results obtained by using these new encoders are compared to those obtained using the classical Log-Gabor iris encoder. Twelve tests involving single/multienrollment and conducted on Bath Iris Image Database are presented here. One of these tests achieves an Equal Error Rate comparable to the lowest value reported so far for this database. New Matlab tools for iris image processing are also released together with this paper: a second version of the Circular Fuzzy Iris Segmentator (CFIS2), a fast Log-Gabor encoder and two Haar-Hilbert based encoders.
Modeling the Loss Distribution

In this paper, we focus on modeling and predicting the loss distribution for credit risky assets such as bonds and loans. We model the probability of default and the recovery rate given default based on shared covariates. We develop a new class of default models that explicitly accounts for sector specific and regime dependent unobservable heterogeneity in firm characteristics. Based on the analysis of a large default and recovery data set over the horizon 1980--2008, we document that the specification of the default model has a major impact on the predicted loss distribution, whereas the specification of the recovery model is less important. In particular, we find evidence that industry factors and regime dynamics affect the performance of default models, implying that the appropriate choice of default models for loss prediction will depend on the credit cycle and on portfolio characteristics. Finally, we show that default probabilities and recovery rates predicted out of sample are negatively correlated and that the magnitude of the correlation varies with seniority class, industry, and credit cycle. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.
The Gemini Deep Deep Survey: II. Metals in Star-Forming Galaxies at Redshift 1.3

The goal of the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS) is to study an unbiased sample of K 1.3. The selected objects have colors typical of irregular and Sbc galaxies. Strong [OII] emission indicates high star formation activity in the HII regions (SFR~13-106 M_sun/yr). The high S/N composite spectrum shows strong ISM MgII and FeII absorption, together with weak MnII and MgI lines. The FeII column density, derived using the curve of growth analysis, is logN_FeII = 15.54^{+0.23}_{-0.13}. This is considerably larger than typical values found in damped Ly-alpha systems (DLAs) along QSO sight lines, where only 10 out of 87 (~11%) have logN_FeII > 15.2. High FeII column densities are observed in the z=2.72 Lyman break galaxy cB58 (logN_FeII ~ 15.25) and in gamma-ray burst host galaxies (logN_FeII ~ 14.8-15.9). Given our measured FeII column density and assuming a moderate iron dust depletion (delta_Fe ~ 1 dex), we derive an optical dust extinction A_V ~ 0.6. If the HI column density is log N(HI) 0.2. The high completeness of the GDDS sample implies that these results are typical of star-forming galaxies in the 1
Interactions between an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus and a soil microbial community mediating litter decomposition.

We investigated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) alteration of microbial mediation of litter decomposition. AMF (Glomus hoi) were either allowed access to or excluded from Plantago lanceolata L. root litter embedded in soil; litter was labeled with either (13) C only or (13) C and (15) N. Plant N uptake was significantly increased if AMF accessed the litter, and (15) N analysis of the plant material indicated that 2-3% of plant N originated from litter. Succession of the soil community mediating decomposition was assessed by phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) combined with (13) C-PLFA. During the first 21 days of decomposition, saprotrophic fungi and Gram-negative bacteria were the dominant consumers of litter C. As decomposition progressed however, (13) C content of the fungal biomarkers declined substantially, and Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria became the primary reservoirs of labeled litter C. The putative PLFA marker for AMF (16:1ω5c) originated primarily from non-AMF sources. In AMF-invaded root litter, Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and 16:1ω5c markers became less (13) C-enriched relative to their counterparts in non-AMF-invaded microcosms during active decomposition. These patterns of (13) C: (12) C enrichment may result from AMF supply of (12) C from the plant to the decomposing soil microbial community; such C inputs could alter the microbial mediation of litter decomposition.
Response modulation by texture surround in primate area V1: Correlates of “popout” under anesthesia

We studied the effects of contextual modulation in area V1 of anesthetized macaque monkeys. In 146 cells, responses to a single line over the center of the receptive field were compared with those to full texture patterns in which the center line was surrounded by similar lines at either the same orientation (uniform texture) or the orthogonal orientation (orientation contrast). On average, the responses to single lines were reduced by 42% when texture was presented in the surround. Uniform textures often produced stronger suppression (7% more, on average) so that lines with orientation contrast on average evoked larger responses than lines in uniform texture fields. This difference is correlated with perceptual differences between such stimuli, suggesting that physiological mechanisms contributing to the saliency (“popout”) of textural stimuli operate, at least to some degree, even under anesthesia. Significant response modulation by the texture surround was seen in 112 cells (77%). Fifty-three cells (36%) responded differently to the two texture patterns; response preferences for orientation contrast (35 cells; 24%) were seen more often than preferences for uniform textures (18 cells; 12%). The remaining 59 cells (40%) were similarly suppressed by both texture surrounds. Detailed analysis of texture modulation revealed two major components of surround effects: (1) fast nonspecific (“general”) suppression that occurred at about the same latency as excitatory responses and was found in all layers of striate cortex; and (2) differential response modulation that began about 60–70 ms after stimulus onset (about 15–20 ms after the onset of the excitatory response) and was less homogeneously distributed over cortical layers.
Toxoplasma gondii Inhibits Apoptosis in Infected Cells by Caspase Inactivation and NF-κB Activation

Our experiments aimed to clarify the mechanism by which host cell apoptosis is inhibited by infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Mouse spleen cells were cultured in 6-well plates with RPMI 1640/10% FBS at 37℃, in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Apoptosis of spleen cells was induced by actinomycin-D (AD) treatment for 1 h prior to infection with T. gondii. A variety of assays were used to assess the progression of apoptosis: DNA size analysis on agarose gel electrophoresis, flow cytometry with annexin V/PI staining, and analysis of expression levels of Bcl-2 family and NF-κB mRNA and proteins by RT-PCR, Western blotting, and EMSA. Additionally, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed to observe changes in cell morphology. Fragmentation of DNA was inhibited in spleen cells treated with AD and T. gondii 5 h and 18 h post infection, respectively, and flow cytometry studies showed a decreased apoptotic rates in AD and T. gondii treated spleen cells. We observed decreased expression of Bax mRNA and protein, while levels of Bcl-2 mRNA remained constant in spleen cells treated with AD and T. gondii. Caspase 3 and PARP were inactivated in cells treated with AD and T. gondii, and increased levels of cleaved caspase 8 were also observed. Analysis of EMSA and Western blot data suggests that activation of transcription factor NF-κB may be involved in the blockade of apoptosis by T. gondii. TEM analysis showed nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation occurring in spleen cells treated with AD; however, such apoptosis-associated morphological changes were not observed in cells treated with both AD and T. gondii tachyzoites. Together, these data show that T. gondii infection inhibits AD induced apoptosis via caspase inactivation and NF-κB activation in mouse spleen cells.
Access to Drugs at Risk: Securing Access to Medicines for Least Developed Countries

Is access to medicines at risk despite the Doha Declaration? What are the alternative mechanisms that should be instituted to guarantee continued access to life saving drugs for many in the least developed countries (LDCs)? The Doha Declaration affirmed that patent rules should be interpreted and implemented to protect public health. Since Doha, access to drugs has dramatically increased to reach more than five billion people in developing countries. The Doha declaration also gave WTO members that are among the least-developed countries, an extended transition period, until 1 January 2016, with regard to pharmaceutical patents and test data protection for pharmaceutical products. The transition period extension in favour of least developed countries is to allow additional access to generic medicines. Post the transition period, efforts are needed to protect what has been achieved. This is necessary because of the stifled research and development for new drugs on neglected tropical diseases and the current trend of the abuse of intellectual property enforcement measures provided for in the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Finding the right balance between health, trade and Intellectual Property policies to sustain innovation and ensure widespread access to life-saving technologies is one of the primary public policy challenges of our time.
Öğretmenlik Mesleği ve Yaşam Boyu Öğrenme: Öğretmen Adayları Penceresinden

Egitim programi, yoneticiler, egitim uzmanlari, egitim teknolojisi, fiziki olanaklar, finans kaynaklari, ogrenci ve ogretmen, egitim sistemini olusturan ogelerdir ve egitim programinin uygulayicisi olan ogretmenler, onemli bir ogedir. Bundan dolayi, gunumuz ogretmenlerinin ozverili calisabilmeleri icin ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik olumlu bir tutuma sahip olmalari ve guncel gelismeleri takip edebilecekleri, degisimlere uyum saglayabilecekleri ve kendilerini surekli gelistirebilecekleri, ayrica bu degisimleri sinifa yansitabilecekleri yasam boyu ogrenme becerilerine sahip olmalari buyuk onem tasimaktadir. Bu calismada, pedagojik formasyon egitimi alan ogretmen adaylarinin ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik tutumlarini ve yasam boyu ogrenmeye iliskin egilimleri cesitli degiskenlere gore belirlenmis ve ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik tutumlari ile yasam boyu ogrenmeye iliskin egilimleri arasinda herhangi bir iliskisinin olup olmadigi incelenmistir. Ogretmen adaylarinin ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik olumlu tutum icinde olduklari saptanmistir. Ogretmen adaylarinin yasam boyu ogrenme egilimlerine bakildiginda, yasam boyu ogrenme egilimlerinin yuksek oldugu belirlenmistir. Ogretmen adaylarinin “yasam boyu ogrenme egilimleri” ile “ogretmenlik meslegine yonelik tutumlari” arasinda, dogru (pozitif) yonlu orta duzeyde bir iliskinin oldugu bulunmustur. Ayrica, ogretmen adaylarinin acik uclu sorulara verdikleri cevaplardan ogretmenligi nasil gordukleri uc tema altinda, yasam boyu ogrenmeyi nasil gordukleri de iki tema altinda toplanmistir.
Decision making in civil disputes: the effect of role and frame.

xiv Declaration . xvi Acknowledgements . xvii
Illness severity in community-onset invasive Staphylococcus aureus infection and the presence of virulence genes.

BACKGROUND It is uncertain whether particular clones causing invasive community-onset methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (cMRSA/cMSSA) infection differ in virulence. METHODS Invasive cMRSA and cMSSA cases were prospectively identified. Principal component analysis was used to derive an illness severity score (ISS) from clinical data, including 30-day mortality, requirement for intensive hospital support, the presence of bloodstream infection, and hospital length of stay. The mean ISS for each S. aureus clone (based on MLST) was compared with its DNA microarray-based genotype. RESULTS Fifty-seven cMRSA and 50 cMSSA infections were analyzed. Ten clones caused 82 (77%) of these infections and had an ISS calculated. The enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) and the collagen adhesin (cna) gene were found in 4 of the 5 highest-ranked clones (ST47-MSSA, ST30-MRSA-IV[2B], ST45-MSSA, and ST22-MRSA-IV[2B]) compared with none and 1 of the lowest 5 ranked clones, respectively. cMSSA clones caused more severe infection than cMRSA clones. The lukF/lukS Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes did not directly correlate with the ISS, being present in the second, fourth, and 10th most virulent clones. CONCLUSIONS The clinical severity of invasive cMRSA and cMSSA infection is likely to be attributable to the isolates' entire genotype rather than a single putative virulence determinant such as PVL.