Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Jaagsiekte Sheep Retrovirus Transformation in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney Epithelial Cell Three-Dimensional Culture

ABSTRACT Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is the causative agent of a contagious lung cancer in sheep that shares similarities with human bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC). JSRV is unique because the envelope gene (env) is the oncogene, as it can transform cells in culture and induce tumors in animals. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt-mTOR and H/N-Ras-MEK-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways have been shown to be critical for Env transformation. However, the question still remains of how disruption of these pathways relates to tumor formation. To address this, JSRV Env transformation was studied in the context of epithelial structure, using the polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell three-dimensional (3-D) culture system. The results indicated that JSRV Env-transformed MDCK cells were larger and had full or multiple lumens, in contrast to the single lumens observed in controls. The altered phenotype was largely mediated by an increase in proliferation, in addition to overcoming the proliferative suppression signal. JSRV Env was not found to disrupt polarity or tight junctions or to inhibit lumen apoptosis. The PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway was important for Env transformation in MDCK cells, although the mechanisms of action differed in 3-D and monolayer cultures. PI3K-dependent signaling to mTOR occurred in monolayers, while PI3K-independent signaling to mTOR occurred in 3-D culture. In contrast, the H/N-Ras-MEK-MAPK pathway was found to be inhibitory to transformation in both normal and transformed MDCK cells in 3-D culture. However, in monolayer culture, inhibition of MEK reverted the transformed phenotype, suggesting a different mechanism(s) of action in monolayer versus 3-D culture.
Productive Classroom Dialogue as an Activity of Shared Thinking and Communicating: A Commentary on Marsal

In Eva Marsal’s article, a model is presented that teaches children to philosophize by acquiring a set of skills in step-by-step exercises. In the classroom examples that Marsal provides, however, it remains unclear how teachers support the kinds of thinking and philosophizing that her Five Finger Model aims to promote. This is why, in response to Eva Marsal’s article, we argue that productive classroom dialogue can be seen as a complementary approach that supports teachers in bringing dialogue into their classrooms. As its aim is to promote children’s “meaningful learning and cultural development in an emancipatory way” (van Oers, 2012a, p. 59), it enables them to do more than appropriate or reconstruct conventional cultural meanings. Through productive classroom dialogue, children learn how to collaboratively progress in communicating, thinking, and understanding. As such, we believe it to be a suitable context for philosophizing with children that goes beyond step-by-step exercises. In this commentary, we subsequently elaborate the notion of productive classroom dialogue and discuss how it interanimates with Marsal’s Five Finger Model.
Beliefs in Paranormal Phenomena and Locus of Control: A Field Study

Beliefs in paranormal phenomena and their relationship to locus of control were investigated for four groups that varied in terms of their involvement with paranormal practices. Subjects completed a questionnaire designed to assess degree of involvement and beliefs in paranormal phenomena, locus of control, sociopolitical attitudes, and demographic characteristics. It was predicted and found that (a) paranormal beliefs increased as involvement increased; (b) internality increased as involvement increased; and (c) involvement and locus of control interacted so that with high and moderate involvement, paranormal beliefs were associated with an internal locus of control, whereas with low involvement, there was a slight tendency for paranormal beliefs to be related to an external locus of control. Analyses of the paranormal beliefs questionnaire and the relationship between paranormal beliefs and sociopolitical attitudes, demographics, and locus of control scores are also reported. Re-evaluation of previous studies of personality dimensions associated with esoteric belief systems that have relied solely on low-involveme nt (student) samples is suggested.
The TECO Connectionist Theory of Recognition Failure

Data from experiments on the phenomenon of recognition failure of recallable words show moderate dependence between recognition and recall. TECO, a connectionist theory, is proposed to account for the phenomenon. Cued recall is assumed to be cued with the cue word and the event. Recognition is assumed to be cued with the event and the copy cue. Moderate dependence is predicted because recall and recognition are cued with the event. The large degree of independence is predicted because recognition lacks the word cue and recall lacks the copy cue. TECO predicts exceptions from the regularity of independence when recognition is cued and recall is uncued. Dependency increases when both tests are cued with the cue word and when recall is uncued. Functions for the various levels of cue information are derived. A comparison with experimental data shows a better fit for the TECO theory than for the Tulving-Wiseman function, especially for the cued recognition and free recall exceptions.
Preferences and learner control over amount of instruction.

This study examined the effects of assigning high school students to a computer-delivered geometry program that either matched or did not match their preferred amount of instruction as measured by a preprogram questionnaire. Students could adjust their program length by adding screens in a lean version of the program or by bypassing them in a full version. Matching students with their preferred program length did not produce improved posttest achievement and was particularly ineffective with students who preferred a low amount of instruction. The full version of the program was somewhat more effective than the lean version, primarily because of the better performance of low-preference students in the full version (mismatched) than in the lean one (matched).
Evaluation of Named Entity Extraction Systems

The suitability of the algorithms for recognition and classification of entities (NERC) is evaluated through competitions such as MUC, CONLL or ACE. In general, these competitions are limited to the recognition of predefined entity types in certain languages. In addition, the evaluation of free applications and commercial systems that do not attend the competitions has been lightly studied. Shallowly studied have also been the causes of erroneous results. In this study a set of NERC tools are assessed. The assessment of the tools has consisted of: 1) the elaboration of a test corpus with typical and marginal types of entities; 2) the elaboration of a brief technical specification for the tools evaluated; 3) the assessment of the quality of the tools for the developed corpus by means of precision-recall ratios; 4) the analysis of the most frequent errors. The sufficiency of the technical characteristics of the tools and their evaluation ratios, presents an objective perspective of the quality and the effectiveness of the recognition and classification techniques of each tool. Thus, the study complements the information provided by other competitions and aids the choice or the design of more suitable NER tools for a specific project.
A populist Zeitgeist? Programmatic contagion by populist parties in Western Europe

In this article, we examine the programmatic reactions to the rise of populist parties. It has been argued that populism is not necessarily the prerogative of populist parties; it has been adopted by mainstream parties as well. The article investigates whether populism is contagious. On the basis of the results of a content analysis of election manifestos of parties in five Western European countries (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom), we conclude that the programmes of mainstream parties have not become more populist in recent years. We find no evidence that mainstream parties change their programmes when confronted with electoral losses or successful populist challengers. Yet, we do find that populist parties change their own programmes when they have been successful: Their initial success makes them tone down their populism.
Psychological maladjustment among Asian and White American college students: Controlling for confounds.

L'objet de cette recherche est d'etudier les differences d'adaptation psychologique entre etudiants blancs americains d'origine asiatique et ceux natifs du pays. Le probleme de controle de certains variables demographiques, de personnalite ou de type de reponse deja confondus avec certaines variables ethniques dans des etudes anterieures est apprecie. Les resultats des observations realisees aupres de 136 etudiants revelent des differences liees a l'appartenance ethnique covariant avec la generation etudiee. Il est egalement precise que ces differences ne sont pas seulement liees aux variations culturelles. Les implications en matiere de conseil sont discutees
Fine structural modifications of the rat chromatoid body during spermiogenesis.

The chromatoid body of rat spermatocytes and spermatids was studied with routine electron microscopy and the PA-silver method for detection of glycoproteins. The chromatoid body consists of a membrane-free aggregate of electron dense, finely filamentous material, in association with small vesicles. In late pachytene spermatocytes, there may be more than one chromatoid body; its dense component is diffusely reticulated. In young spermatids, there is only one chromatoid body per cell; the dense component is fairly compact, but it encloses less dense areas continuous with the cytoplasm. Within the less dense areas, as well as at the periphery of the dense component, small (400–800 A) oval or tubular vesicular structures are observed whose contents exhibit a positive reaction for glycoprotein in PA-silver stained sections. When the spermatid nucleus begins to elongate, the chromatoid body takes the form of an arc around the axial filament proximal to the centriolar apparatus. Soon thereafter, the bulk of the chromatoid body condenses into a sphere of very dense filamentous material surrounded by a corona of enlarged glycoprotein-containing vesicles. In the later stages of spermiogenesis, the chromatoid body migrates away from the nucleus and disintegrates by fragmentation. It is noted that the chromatoid body undergoes its major morphological changes, possibly indicative of its active phase, while located in the para-centriolar region, at the time when the nucleus elongates, and the connecting piece and ring of the spermatid are formed.
Blinded Evaluation of the Effects of Hyaluronic Acid Filler Injections on First Impressions

BACKGROUND Facial appearance has profound influence on the first impression that is projected to others. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects that complete correction of the nasolabial folds (NLFs) with hyaluronic acid (HA) filler has on the first impression one makes. METHODS Twenty‐two subjects received injections of HA filler into the NLFs. Photographs of the face in a relaxed pose were taken at baseline, optimal correction visit, and 4 weeks after optimal correction. Three hundred four blinded evaluators completed a survey rating first impression on various measures of success for each photo. In total, 5,776 first impressions were recorded, totaling 46,208 individual assessments of first impression. RESULTS Our findings indicate a significant improvement in mean first impression in the categories of dating success, attractiveness, financial success, relationship success, athletic success, and overall first impression at the optimal correction visit. At 4 weeks after the optimal correction visit, significance was observed in all categories measured: social skills, academic performance, dating success, occupational success, attractiveness, financial success, relationship success, athletic success, and overall first impression. CONCLUSION Full correction of the NLFs with HA filler significantly and positively influences the first impression an individual projects. This study was funded by a grant from Medicis. The Restylane materials were supplied by Medicis. Dr. Dayan has received research support or provided consulting for Allergan, Medicis, Contura, Bioform, Ortho, and Coapt.
Activation of BMP-Smad1/5/8 Signaling Promotes Survival of Retinal Ganglion Cells after Damage In Vivo

While the essential role of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling in nervous system development is well established, its function in the adult CNS is poorly understood. We investigated the role of BMP signaling in the adult mouse retina following damage in vivo. Intravitreal injection of N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) induced extensive retinal ganglion cell death by 2 days. During this period, BMP2, -4 and -7 were upregulated, leading to phosphorylation of the downstream effector, Smad1/5/8 in the inner retina, including in retinal ganglion cells. Expression of Inhibitor of differentiation 1 (Id1; a known BMP-Smad1/5/8 target) was also upregulated in the retina. This activation of BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling was also observed following light damage, suggesting that it is a general response to retinal injuries. Co-injection of BMP inhibitors with NMDA effectively blocked the damage-induced BMP-Smad1/5/8 activation and led to further cell death of retinal ganglion cells, when compared with NMDA injection alone. Moreover, treatment of the retina with exogenous BMP4 along with NMDA damage led to a significant rescue of retinal ganglion cells. These data demonstrate that BMP-Smad1/5/8 signaling is neuroprotective for retinal ganglion cells after damage, and suggest that stimulation of this pathway can serve as a potential target for neuroprotective therapies in retinal ganglion cell diseases, such as glaucoma.
THE EFFECT OF PHLEBOTOMY-INDUCED HEMOLYSIS ON INSULIN LEVEL DETERMINATION.

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of phlebotomy-induced hemolysis on serum insulin and C-peptide measurement by an immunochemiluminometric assay. METHODS As part of a study designed to evaluate β-cell function in a group of adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, we tested insulin and C-peptide levels in 1,048 samples. In order to evaluate the effect of phlebotomy-induced hemolysis, we determined insulin and C-peptide levels simultaneously in hemolyzed and nonhemolyzed samples. RESULTS Forty-seven (4.5%) of the 1,048 samples were affected by hemolysis. In 26 cases, we had paired hemolyzed and nonhemolyzed serum samples that allowed a simultaneous comparison. We found that all degrees of hemolysis led to a significant decrease in insulin level. In hemolyzed serum, the median (interquartile range) of the insulin was 5.6 (1.8 to 24.3) mIU/L, versus 21.3 (11.4 to 48.5) mIU/L in nonhemolyzed serum, representing a 25 to 98% loss. This phenomenon was not found for C-peptide levels. CONCLUSION Clinicians have to be aware that even a mild degree of phlebotomy-induced hemolysis has a significant effect on serum insulin level determination, which can lead to misinterpretation of test results. This finding has important implications, especially in the evaluation of suspected cases of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia.
Expatriate Selection: Evaluating the Discriminant, Convergent, and Predictive Validity of Five Measures of Interpersonal and Intercultural Competence

Effective screening and selection of expatriates is a critical function in organizations, yet the use of paper and pencil instruments in expatriate selection is limited by the paucity of existing validity evidence. This study assessed the discriminant, convergent, and predictive validity of two Intercultural Competence measures (the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Intercultural Communication Effectiveness and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale) and three Interpersonal Competence measures (the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire, the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised: Short Version, and the Self-Monitoring Scale). The Intercultural competence measures exhibited discriminant validity with the Interpersonal competence measures and none of the five measures exhibited convergent validity. However, four of the five measures did predict ratings of intercultural decision quality in an intercultural organizational scenario.
Cross-Cultural Comparisons and the Presumption of Equivalent Measurement and Theoretical Structure

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate, paradigmatically, the extent to which item score data can vary across cultures despite measurements from an instrument for which the factorial structure is equivalently specified in each group. Based on item scores from the Beck Depression Inventory, the authors first tested for the group invariance of factorial structure and then examined the patterns of item score distributions and response frequencies across Canadian (n = 658), Swedish (n = 1,096), and Bulgarian (n = 691) high school adolescents. Findings carry important implications for multigroup comparisons research in general, and for cross-cultural research in particular, where the primary interest focuses on testing for mean group differences.
Composites of local structure propensities: Evidence for local encoding of long‐range structure

To estimate how extensively the ensemble of denatured‐state conformations is constrained by local side‐chain–backbone interactions, propensities of each of the 20 amino acids to occur in mono‐ and dipeptides mapped to discrete regions of the Ramachandran map are computed from proteins of known structure. In addition, propensities are computed for the trans, gauche−, and gauche+ rotamers, with or without consideration of the values of phi and psi. These propensities are used in scoring functions for fragment threading, which estimates the energetic favorability of fragments of protein sequence to adopt the native conformation as opposed to hundreds of thousands of incorrect conformations. As finer subdivisions of the Ramachandran plot, neighboring residue phi/psi angles, and rotamers are incorporated, scoring functions become better at ranking the native conformation as the most favorable. With the best composite propensity function, the native structure can be distinguished from 300,000 incorrect structures for 71% of the 2130 arbitrary protein segments of length 40, 48% of 2247 segments of length 30, and 20% of 2368 segments of length 20. A majority of fragments of length 30–40 are estimated to be folded into the native conformation a substantial fraction of the time. These data suggest that the variations observed in amino acid frequencies in different phi/psi/chi1 environments in folded proteins reflect energetically important local side‐chain–backbone interactions, interactions that may severely restrict the ensemble of conformations populated in the denatured state to a relatively small subset with nativelike structure.
Collective fit perceptions: A multilevel investigation of person–group fit with individual-level and team-level outcomes

Summary This study describes a multilevel examination of person–group (PG) fit perceptions in a sample of 1023 individuals working in 92 teams at a private sector R&D firm. Using confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel random coefficient modeling, we provide evidence that perceptions of team-level collective fit are unique from aggregated individual-level PG fit perceptions at the individual and team levels. We demonstrate that collective values-based and abilities-based fit perceptions showed unique and positive relationships with team cohesion, team efficacy, and team performance, after accounting for aggregated individual perceptions of PG fit. Results also demonstrate that cohesion partially mediates the relationship between collective fit and team performance. Cross-level effects were also supported, indicating that collective fit explains additional variance in individual-level outcomes, beyond individual-level PG fit perceptions. The usefulness of employing a multilevel approach to studying PG fit is discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Treating bleeding oesophageal varices with vasoactive agents:good value for money?

ABSTRACT This article provides an editorial commentary to accompany the publication of an article on the economic evaluation of vasoactive agents used in the United Kingdom for acute bleeding oesophageal varices in patients with cirrhosis by Wechowski et al. From a clinical standpoint, the successful management of bleeding oesophageal varices should be based on definitive treatments such as therapeutic endoscopy or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt (TIPSS). Vasoactive agents such as terlipressin can be useful and potentially cost-effective additional therapy, however, particularly in patients where endoscopic treatment is likely to be delayed or is contraindicated.
Una clave para la calidad de la institución educativa: Los planes de mejora

The article talks about the relationship between “plans of improvement and educational organizations that learn”, and about how the quality in education does not make sense, at the moment, without their symbiosis. On the other hand, the paradoxical situation generated by the approach of Education to business and quality management models, is solved when the plans of improvement are based on the educational institution, at school as a unit, but also on the teacher as the axis of the process of change. The innovations to be developed should begin at the classroom, but they should affect every level of the organization. No school improvement will exist without clear decisions on the development and the maintenance of the process. A balance between change and stability should be aimed to, or in other words, to make decisions on which changes to carry out and how to relate them to each other, maintaining the good and positive things at school without quitting to respond to innovation. The success of school improvement implies to adapt external changes to internal purposes. Thus, it is proved that those schools that recognize the consonance between internal priorities (belonging to the center) and external demands (more characteristic of the social/cultural contexts) respond better to educational reforms.
A solvent I detergent treated, pasteurised and highly purified factor VIII concentrate.

In an assessment of the risks of virus transmission by clotting concentrates it is clear that the currently practised procedures for virus inactivation are not equally effective against all types of viruses; neither a pasteurisation nor the solvent detergent (SID) process alone are adequate enough to inactivate viruses that are strongly resistant to heat and organic solvents. In this context, human parvovirus B19 and hepatitis A virus (HAV) are of particular concern. In order to improve this situation which still poses a risk to the haemophiliac patients, a more effective pasteurisation process has been developed that could be easily applied to an already well established factor VIII (FVIII) process in addition to the SID-treatment. Experiments using temperatures above 60 degrees C were performed prompted by two recent publications, which demonstrate that HAV becomes instable at temperatures exceeding 62 degrees C. It is the purpose of this paper to present the following progress: achievement of a pasteurisation procedure for FVIII at 63 degrees C for 10 h with no discernible change in the structure of the factor VIII/von Willebrand factor (FVIII/VWF) complex owing to a newly developed composition of stabilizers; application of this pasteurisation procedure to a purified FVIII fraction that has already been submitted to a SID-treatment: Doing so, two independent virus inactivation steps are performed as previously recommended by the International Association of Biological Standardization (IABS). Introduction of a second purification step on an anion exchange resin, achieving an additional virus reduction over the presently manufactured FVIII preparation. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)