Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Actin Interacts with Dengue Virus 2 and 4 Envelope Proteins

Dengue virus (DENV) remains a significant public health problem in many tropical and sub-tropical countries worldwide. The DENV envelope (E) protein is the major antigenic determinant and the protein that mediates receptor binding and endosomal fusion. In contrast to some other DENV proteins, relatively few cellular interacting proteins have been identified. To address this issue a co-immuoprecipitation strategy was employed. The predominant co-immunoprecipitating proteins identified were actin and actin related proteins, however the results suggested that actin was the only bona fide interacting partner. Actin was shown to interact with the E protein of DENV 2 and 4, and the interaction between actin and DENV E protein was shown to occur in a truncated DENV consisting of only domains I and II. Actin was shown to decrease during infection, but this was not associated with a decrease in gene transcription. Actin-related proteins also showed a decrease in expression during infection that was not transcriptionally regulated. Cytoskeletal reorganization was not observed during infection, suggesting that the interaction between actin and E protein has a cell type specific component.
Child sexual abuse and subsequent psychopathology: results from the National Comorbidity Survey.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the relationship between child sexual abuse (CSA) and subsequent onset of psychiatric disorders, accounting for other childhood adversities, CSA type, and chronicity of the abuse. METHODS Retrospective reports of CSA, other adversities, and psychiatric disorders were obtained by the National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative survey of the United States (n = 5877). Reports were analyzed by multivariate methods. RESULTS CSA was reported by 13.5% of women and 2.5% of men. When other childhood adversities were controlled for, significant associations were found between CSA and subsequent onset of 14 mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders among women and 5 among men. In a subsample of respondents reporting no other adversities, odds of depression and substance problems associated with CSA were higher. Among women, rape (vs molestation), knowing the perpetrator (vs strangers), and chronicity of CSA (vs isolated incidents) were associated with higher odds of some disorders. CONCLUSIONS CSA usually occurs as part of a larger syndrome of childhood adversities. Nonetheless, CSA, whether alone or in a larger adversity cluster, is associated with substantial increased risk of subsequent psychopathology.
Rainfall statistics changes in Sicily

Changes in rainfall characteristics are one of the most relevant signs of current climate alterations. Many stud- ies have demonstrated an increase in rainfall intensity and a reduction of frequency in several areas of the world, in- cluding Mediterranean areas. Rainfall characteristics may be crucial for vegetation patterns formation and evolution in Mediterranean ecosystems, with important implications, for example, in vegetation water stress or coexistence and com- petition dynamics. At the same time, characteristics of ex- treme rainfall events are fundamental for the estimation of flood peaks and quantiles that can be used in many hydro- logical applications, such as design of the most common hydraulic structures, or planning and management of flood- prone areas. In the past, Sicily has been screened for several signals of possible climate change. Annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall data in the entire Sicilian region have been analyzed, showing a global reduction of total annual rainfall. More- over, annual maximum rainfall series for different durations have been rarely analyzed in order to detect the presence of trends. Results indicated that for short durations, historical series generally exhibit increasing trends, while for longer durations the trends are mainly negative. Starting from these premises, the aim of this study is to in- vestigate and quantify changes in rainfall statistics in Sicily, during the second half of the last century. Time series of about 60 stations over the region have been processed and screened by using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test. In particular, extreme events have been analyzed using an- nual maximum rainfall series at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h duration, while daily rainfall properties have been analyzed in terms of frequency and intensity, also characterizing seasonal rainfall features. Results of extreme events analysis confirmed an in- creasing trend for rainfall of short durations, especially for 1 h rainfall duration. Conversely, precipitation events of long durations have exhibited a decreased trend. Increase in short- duration precipitation has been observed especially in sta- tions located along the coastline; however, no clear and well- defined spatial pattern has been outlined by the results. Out- comes of analysis for daily rainfall properties have showed that heavy-torrential precipitation events tend to be more fre- quent at regional scale, while light rainfall events exhibited a negative trend at some sites. Values of total annual precip- itation events confirmed a significant negative trend, mainly due to the reduction during the winter season.
Structural organization of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase: phosphorylation and translocation during priming and activation

The reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase is part of the microbicidal arsenal used by human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) to eradicate invading pathogens. The production of a superoxide anion (O2–) into the phagolysosome is the precursor for the generation of more potent products, such as hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorite. However, this production of O2– is dependent on translocation of the oxidase subunits, including gp91phox, p22phox, p47phox, p67phox, p40phox, and Rac2 from the cytosol or specific granules to the plasma membrane. In response to an external stimuli, PMNs change from a resting, nonadhesive state to a primed, adherent phenotype, which allows for margination from the vasculature into the tissue and chemotaxis to the site of infection upon activation. Depending on the stimuli, primed PMNs display altered structural organization of the NADPH oxidase, in that there is phosphorylation of the oxidase subunits and/or translocation from the cytosol to the plasma or granular membrane, but there is not the complete assembly required for O2– generation. Activation of PMNs is the complete assembly of the membrane‐linked and cytosolic NADPH oxidase components on a PMN membrane, the plasma or granular membrane. This review will discuss the individual components associated with the NADPH oxidase complex and the function of each of these units in each physiologic stage of the PMN: rested, primed, and activated.
Some New applications of General Wall Crossing Formula, Gompf’s Conjecture and its Applications

As early as the birth of Seiberg Witten invariants [W1], the positive scalar curvature metrics on four dimensional manifolds have played a very important role. It was Witten [W] who first noticed that assuming b2 > 1 then one could easily derive the vanishing result of Seiberg Witten Invariants for those manifolds which carried the positive scalar curvature (psc) metrics. Combined with Taubes’ nonvanishing result [T2] for symplectic four manifolds, one could easily conclude that if a symplectic four manifold carries some psc metric, then its b2 must be equal to one. In addition the same vanishing result was used by P. Kronheimer and T. Mrowka [K.M. ] in proving the Thom conjecture, and by C.H. Taubes in his “more constraints of symplectic forms on CP ” [T3]. Furthermore R. Friedman and J. Morgan [FM] systematically discussed which kind of Kahler manifold can carry the psc metrics. Based on surface classification theory, Friedman and Morgan could argue that the Kahler surfaces carrying psc metrics are either rational, rational ruled or irrational ruled. Recently, the same vanishing result has been used by Taubes [T4] to show that CP 2 has a unique symplectic structure. At this point it is interesting to ask about the possibilities of classifying symplectic four manifolds carrying psc metrics. One of the purposes of this paper is to address this possibility. Another goal of this paper is to address the question raised by Gompf [Gom] which states that:
Information Empowered: The School Librarian as an Agent of Academic Achievement in Alaska Schools. Revised Edition.

This study is an assessment of the impact of Alaska school librarians on academic achievement in the state's public schools. It examines the direct relationship between such staffing and student performance and identifies selected activities of library media staff that affect test scores. Other conditions of library media center operation were also considered as potential predictors of academic achievement. During the 1997-98 school year, library media centers in 211 Alaska public schools were surveyed about their staffing levels, hours of operation, staff activities, usage, technology, policies, and cooperation with public libraries. Each library media program characteristic was assessed as a potential predictor of academic achievement, and relationships among potential library media predictors that might create indirect effects on academic achievement were also examined. Recommendations for raising student achievement levels are included. Appendices include a bibliography, list of participants, copy of the questionnaire, a brochure entitled "A School Librarian Can Make a Difference! " and early results briefs. Although the findings, conclusions, and recommendations reported in this work are substantially the same as those of its original edition, this edition corrects typographical and transcription errors, eliminates unnecessary and misleading methodological information, clarifies ambiguous statements, corrects misinterpretations of statistical details, and contains citations accidentally left out of the original bibliography. (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Information Empowered PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
Key Regulatory Role of Dermal Fibroblasts in Pigmentation as Demonstrated Using a Reconstructed Skin Model: Impact of Photo-Aging

To study cutaneous pigmentation in a physiological context, we have previously developed a functional pigmented reconstructed skin model composed of a melanocyte-containing epidermis grown on a dermal equivalent comprising living fibroblasts. The present studies, using the same model, aimed to demonstrate that dermal fibroblasts influence skin pigmentation up to the macroscopic level. The proof of principle was performed with pigmented skins differing only in the fibroblast component. First, the in vitro system was reconstructed with or without fibroblasts in order to test the global influence of the presence of this cell type. We then assessed the impact of the origin of the fibroblast strain on the degree of pigmentation using fetal versus adult fibroblasts. In both experiments, impressive variation in skin pigmentation at the macroscopic level was observed and confirmed by quantitative parameters related to skin color, melanin content and melanocyte numbers. These data confirmed the responsiveness of the model and demonstrated that dermal fibroblasts do indeed impact the degree of skin pigmentation. We then hypothesized that a physiological state associated with pigmentary alterations such as photo-aging could be linked to dermal fibroblasts modifications that accumulate over time. Pigmentation of skin reconstructed using young unexposed fibroblasts (n = 3) was compared to that of tissues containing natural photo-aged fibroblasts (n = 3) which express a senescent phenotype. A stimulation of pigmentation in the presence of the natural photo-aged fibroblasts was revealed by a significant increase in the skin color (decrease in Luminance) and an increase in both epidermal melanin content and melanogenic gene expression, thus confirming our hypothesis. Altogether, these data demonstrate that the level of pigmentation of the skin model is influenced by dermal fibroblasts and that natural photo-aged fibroblasts can contribute to the hyperpigmentation that is associated with photo-aging.
Expectations and Household Spending

We estimate the effect of expectations about unemployment on household spending using high-frequency panel data from the RAND American Life Panel. The data were collected during the Great Recession and its aftermath, a time of great economic uncertainty. We use monthly data both on total household spending and on subcategories of spending. We find that changes in total spending made in response to changes in the chances of becoming unemployed are difficult to detect empirically. This is because many categories of spending, such as rent, utilities, and car payments, tend to be fixed from month to month. Nevertheless, when studying subcategories of spending that are more easily adjusted in the short-term we find significant effects. For example, in response to an increase from 0 to 1 in the probability of becoming unemployed, we estimate that households reduce spending on clothing by about 14%, dining out and other entertainment by 11%, and personal care by 12%.
Phosphorylation-induced mechanical regulation of intrinsically disordered neurofilament protein assemblies

The biological function of protein assemblies was conventionally equated with a unique three-dimensional protein structure and protein-specific interactions. However, in the past 20 years it was found that some assemblies contain long flexible regions that adopt multiple structural conformations. These include neurofilament (NF) proteins that constitute the stressresponsive supportive network of neurons. Herein, we show that NF networks macroscopic properties are tuned by enzymatic regulation of the charge found on the flexible protein regions. The results reveal an enzymatic (phosphorylation) regulation of macroscopic properties such as orientation, stress-response and expansion in flexible protein assemblies. Together with a model explaining the attractive electrostatic interactions induced by enzymatically added charges, we demonstrate that phosphorylation-regulation is far richer and versatile than previously considered.
Self-Regulation and Ability Predictors of Academic Success During College: A Predictive Validity Study

Knowledge about self-regulation and motivation processes enables students to maximize their college career paths and allows universities to implement better intervention programs to encourage struggling students to persist and complete their educational studies. College administrators and instructors should focus on developing interventions to instill a healthy sense of self-efficacy in students and teach them how to manage their time effectively. Interventions in the form of learning how to learn courses and/or workshops should be designed specifically for first-year students to provide them with helpful adjustment strategies such as setting strategic goals, planning effectively throughout the first year of undergraduate study, and seeking help when needed. Furthermore, instructors of introductory-level classes should provide first-year students with successful peer role models to enhance their self-efficacy beliefs in completing their course requirements. For example, they can make available samples of past projects to their current students, which may allow them to observe successful peers and encourage them to believe that they can succeed. Equipping students with self-regulatory strategies and positive motivational beliefs earlier on in their studies will prepare and sustain their motivation for more demanding, upper level courses as they progress through their academic career.
GOAL SETTING AND GOAL ORIENTATION : AN INTEGRATION OF TWO DIFFERENT YET RELATED LITERATURES

Uniting separate research streams on situational and dispositional goals, we investigated goal setting and goal orientation together in a complex business simulation. A specific learning goal led to higher performance than did either a specific performance goal or a vague goal. Goal orientation predicted performance when the goal was vague. The performance goal attenuated correlations between goal orientation and performance. The correlation between a learning goal orientation and performance was significant when a learning goal was set. Self-efficacy and information search mediated the effect of a learning goal on performance.
The intraflagellar transport dynein complex of trypanosomes is made of a heterodimer of dynein heavy chains and of light and intermediate chains of distinct functions

Cilia and flagella are assembled by intraflagellar transport (IFT). The protist Trypanosoma brucei is used to investigate retrograde IFT. A model is proposed by which the IFT dynein particle is assembled in the cytoplasm, transferred to the base of the flagellum, and associated with the IFT machinery in a manner dependent on the IFT-A complex.
Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and Political Aspects

The main idea of the article is to show the importance of education as a factor in identifying the middle class. This means that people with middle class status are involved in various structures of society and they have reached prestigious positions respectively which, in turn, affect the extent of their inclusion in society. Middle-class representatives have complete and successful career realization, and they are signifiantly more inflential from a social point of view in comparison to other individuals which are less integrated and less successful following the public indicators of personal success: education, income, prestige and political power. The paper is primarily based on results obtained through the European Social Survey (ESS) under the 2006, 2009 and 2013 waves. Findings of the present paper are that quality education is not only a function of effort, ambition and persistence, but also of parental involvement, culture capital and family background. Educational achievements are a stimulus for middle-class expansion because they present investment in social contacts and competition on the labour market.
Observing others’ behavior and risk taking in decisions from experience

This paper examines how observing other people’s behavior affects risk taking in repeated decision tasks. In Study 1, 100 participants performed experience-based decision tasks either alone or in pairs, with the two members being exposed to each others’ choices and outcomes. The tasks involved either equiprobable gains and losses or frequent small gains and rare large losses. The results indicated that, in both risk types, the social exposure increased the proportion of risky selection, but its effect was stronger in the rare-loss condition. In Study 2 the rare-loss task was administered to 32 study participants, with a target individual observing the choices of a paired individual. The results showed that observing others, rather than being observed, led to the pattern of increased risk taking. The findings of the two studies indicate the importance of distinguishing different types of risky situations and shed light on contradictory findings in the literature.
ESSAYS ON LIFE CYCLE DYNASTIC DISCRETE CHOICE MODELS

Models of dynastic households have been traditionally used to analyze persistence in earnings and wealth across generations, more recently to study patterns of wealth and fertility, transfers to children and education choices. However most of those models have looked at the theoretical outcomes and there are some limited calibration studies. Some other literature follows the regression based techniques to answer empirical questions regarding the generational transfers. In Chapter 2 -co-authored with Gayle and Golan- we develop an estimator that makes the structural estimation of dynastic models feasible. We propose an estimation framework for dynastic models which allows the estimation of the problem in several steps. Our estimator compared to the full solution structural estimation known as the Nested Fixed Point Algorithm (NFXP) performs comparable in small samples while reducing the computation time considerably. A Monte Carlo exercise compares our estimator to the NFXP. We show that the alternative representation of the continuation value of the problem enables us to apply the Hotz and Miller (1993) estimation to the dynastic problem.Using data of two generations from the PSID, Chapter 3 estimates a dynastic life-cycle model with endogenous fertility, labor supply and inter-generational transfers. This chapter uses data on time spent with children and measures outcomes in terms of education. Education and skills both affect the children's earnings and marriage market outcomes stochastically. We contribute to the literature by measuring the returns in a life-cycle dynastic model in which fertility and time spent with children is endogenous and the different aspects of returns to investment (i.e. education and skill) in children are aggregated and measured in terms of their life-time utility. We model couples decisions as a noncooperative game and solve for a Markov Perfect Equilibrium (MPE) in pure strategies. Therefore the valuation functions of the dynastic model are not only the optimal solution to the problem given the state variables for the individual, but they are the best response valuation functions given the spouse's choice. This requires an equilibrium choice which we assume as MPE in pure strategies.
The role of D-GADD45 in oxidative, thermal and genotoxic stress resistance

There is a relationship between various cellular stress factors and aging. In earlier studies, we demonstrated that overexpression of the D-GADD45 gene increases the life span of Drosophila melanogaster. In this study, we investigate the relationship between D-GADD45 activity and resistance to oxidative, genotoxic and thermal stresses as well as starvation. In most cases, flies with constitutive and conditional D-GADD45 overexpression in the nervous system were more stress-resistant than ones without overexpression. At the same time, most of the studied stress factors increased D-GADD45 expression in the wild-type strain. The lifespan-extending effect of D-GADD45 overexpression was also retained after exposure to chronic and acute gamma-irradiation, with doses of 40 сGy and 30 Gy, respectively. However, knocking out D-GADD45 resulted in a significant reduction in lifespan, lack of radiation hormesis and radioadaptive response. A dramatic decrease in the spontaneous level of D-GADD45 expression was observed in the nervous system as age progressed, which may be one of the causes of the age-related deterioration of organismal stress resistance. Thus, D-GADD45 expression is activated by most of the studied stress factors, and D-GADD45 overexpression resulted in an increase of stress resistance.