Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probing strigolactone receptors in Striga hermonthica with fluorescence

Germination signals illuminated The noxious weed Striga can take down an entire crop. Fields in Africa are particularly susceptible to the devastation it can cause. Striga seeds germinate in response to faint traces of the hormone strigolactone released by its targets. Tsuchiya et al. designed a mimic of strigolactone that, when cleaved by the Striga receptor, generates a fluorescent end product. This photogenic mimic lit up Striga seeds upon germination and led to the identification of its strigolactone receptor. Abolishing the activity of this receptor could be an effective defensive strategy. Science, this issue p. 864 The parasitic weed Striga has given up the secret of its key receptor. Elucidating the signaling mechanism of strigolactones has been the key to controlling the devastating problem caused by the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica. To overcome the genetic intractability that has previously interfered with identification of the strigolactone receptor, we developed a fluorescence turn-on probe, Yoshimulactone Green (YLG), which activates strigolactone signaling and illuminates signal perception by the strigolactone receptors. Here we describe how strigolactones bind to and act via ShHTLs, the diverged family of α/β hydrolase-fold proteins in Striga. Live imaging using YLGs revealed that a dynamic wavelike propagation of strigolactone perception wakes up Striga seeds. We conclude that ShHTLs function as the strigolactone receptors mediating seed germination in Striga. Our findings enable access to strigolactone receptors and observation of the regulatory dynamics for strigolactone signal transduction in Striga.
The Whistleblowing Process

Little empirical work has been completed on the whistleblowing process in organizations. This study examines questionnaire data from 72 respondents who blew the whistle on their employers with regard to alleged sex discrimination. Results indicate that whistleblowers considered the process to be more effective when their cases were determined to have merit and when they felt they had succeeded in changing management's attitudes. Retaliation by employer had little influence on whether the whistleblower considered the process to be effective. Further, retaliation was less likely to occur when the whistleblower's case was determined to have merit.
A Drosophila Winged‐helix nude (Whn)‐like transcription factor with essential functions throughout development

A Drosophila gene, Dwhn (Drosophila whn‐like), encoding a putative transcriptional regulator with a DNA binding domain similar to that of mouse Winged‐helix nude (Whn) was cloned. Analyses of the phenotypes produced by a hypomorphic mutation and transgene expression suggested a role in cell fate decision during the differentiation of the compound eye, wing veins and bristles. During embryonic development, Dwhn expression started ubiquitously followed by more restricted expression in striking contrast to the expression patterns of other Drosophila forkhead (fkh) family genes whose local expression correlate well to their roles as local homeotic genes. This broad expression may correspond to the multiple defects in embryos homozygous for strong alleles, such as defects in the formation of central and peripheral nervous systems, germ band retraction, head involution, and dorsal closure. The DNA binding specificity of Dwhn differed from that of Whn despite the strong sequence conservation in the DNA binding domain. Dwhn is the first invertebrate Whn‐like transcriptional regulator, and should provide insights into the basic functions and evolution of the whn family genes.
What Readers Have and Do: Effects of Students' Verbal Ability and Reading Time Components on Comprehension with and without Text Availability

This study investigated the reading behavior of 15-year-old students while reading texts and answering corresponding multiple-choice questions. The availability of the texts during question answering was manipulated experimentally. Allocation of resources to several cognitive processes at the word, sentence, and text level was measured by decomposing word-by-word reading times in mixed-model analyses. Results showed that resource allocation was systematically related to measures of verbal ability and test performance. Students with higher verbal ability and better comprehension encoded infrequent concepts more carefully, spent more time on conceptual integration, and updated their situation model more carefully. In addition, reading time components associated with high-level integration processing proved more important when students were unable to reread the texts during question answering. This finding provides support for the claim that test performance without text availability is more sensitive to the quality of the mental representation that readers form online while reading.
Testing a new measure of work–life balance: a study of parent and non-parent employees from New Zealand

The present study extends the established theoretical lenses for understanding the work–family interface beyond conflict and enrichment, suggesting role balance as a theory for understanding how balance among roles can be beneficial for employees. The present study develops a measure of work–life balance and tests whether work–life balance is beneficial beyond conflict and enrichment for all employees. Two employee studies were conducted on (1) 609 parents and (2) 708 non-parents, and structural equation modeling confirmed that the balance dimension was distinct from other work–life dimensions and outcomes, and the analysis of multiple models showed that work–life balance plays a significant indirect mediation effect between conflict and enrichment toward outcomes. Overall, work–life balance was important and broadly identical for both samples with consistent effects toward job and life satisfaction, and psychological outcomes, with work–life conflict being detrimental, work–life enrichment beneficial and work–life balance providing additional benefits, especially toward life satisfaction. The findings provide greater generalizability and highlight the importance of balance for all employees, especially those typically excluded in the work–family literature such as single and childless employees.
FF: The Fast-Forward Planning System

Fast-forward (FF) was the most successful automatic planner in the Fifth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling (AIPS '00) planning systems competition. Like the well-known hsp system, FF relies on forward search in the state space, guided by a heuristic that estimates goal distances by ignoring delete lists. It differs from HSP in a number of important details. This article describes the algorithmic techniques used in FF in comparison to hsp and evaluates their benefits in terms of run-time and solution-length behavior.
The Development of a Happiness Measure for Schoolchildren

Happiness, or subjective well‐being, the self‐evaluation of how happy or unhappy a person is, has been studied amongst adults using a variety of self‐report methods. However, there has been relatively little related work with children. A psychometrically valid and reliable SWB measure for schoolchildren aged 8‐ to 15‐years‐old, the School Children’s Happiness Inventory (SCHI), was piloted and developed against existing measures of self‐esteem, affect and depression (n = 71). Predictive validity (n = 771) was assessed using a measure of being bullied, sharing the same context (school) and time scale (the previous week). The School Children’s Happiness Inventory (SCHI) may be especially useful in assessing the effect of school‐based interventions and influences on schoolchildren’s well‐being.
Integral high order sliding mode control of single-phase induction motor

An observer-based controller for the single-phase induction motor is proposed in this paper. The scheme presented is formulated using block control feedback linearization technique and high order sliding mode algorithms with measurements of the rotor speed and stator currents. A second order sliding mode observer is included into the controller design in order to obtain estimates of the rotor flux. The stability of the complete closed-loop system is analyzed in the presence of model uncertainty, namely, rotor resistance variation and bounded time-varying load torque.
Attitudinal outcomes of boundary permeability: A comparison of Australian and Singaporean employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of culture in the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and work group identification. In addition, the levels of boundary permeability of Australians and Singaporeans are compared.Design/methodology/approach – Survey questionnaires were administered to 134 employees (87 Singaporeans and 47 Australians) working in multinational corporations in both Australia and Singapore. Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test whether culture moderated the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification.Findings – Results indicated that workplace boundary permeability was marginally and positively related to cooperation but not to workgroup identification. Further analysis revealed that culture moderated the relationships between workplace boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification. Specifically, a stronger positive relationship was found between boundary p.
Social Environment Affects Peripheral Oxytocin and Cortisol during Stress Responses in Guinea‐Pigs

Numerous studies have demonstrated interactions between oxytocin (OT) secretion, adrenal activity, an animal's social environment, and stress responses. In the present study, we hypothesized that partner preference and pair bonding cause increased peripheral OT, which down-regulates the adrenal and behavioral response in stress. In addition, we tested whether these interactions depended on sex, the social environment of the individual, or the type of stressor. Experiments were carried out on guinea-pigs held in sexual-pairs or stressed by isolation. Among the paired individuals choice tests were carried out to document partner preference. Female preference for a male was expressed by spatial cohesion. Stress responses to abiotic stimuli were examined and compared between isolated and cohabited animals with or without preference. Results show that OT of cohabited animals was significantly higher than during isolation. OT levels were further increased in males preferred by females. Cortisol (CORT) levels were elevated in isolated animals. There were no significant differences between pairs with and without female preference. Behaviorally, partner preferences were expressed by high amounts of tactile contact. The stress-induced behavioral immobility response after exposure to a noise stressor was significantly reduced in preferred males and to a lesser extent in their female partners. Only females with preferences showed an endocrine stress response. Their levels of OT increased. There was no consistent post-stressor release of CORT. The data indicate that the social environment of an individual, here expressed as preference or isolation, influences peripheral OT secretion. Behavioral stress responses were similarly affected by social factors without a clear involvement of peripheral CORT or OT.
The importance of visual cues for nocturnal species: eagle owls signal by badge brightness

Nocturnal species may communicate by visual signals more frequently than previously thought. In fact, such species are habitually active around sunset and sunrise, when light conditions are still suitable for visual communication. We investigated the communication function of a visual cue in the eagle owl Bubo bubo, a nocturnal predator. In this species, territorial and courtship displays peak during the sunset and sunrise periods and involve the display of a white badge located on the throat whose reflectance properties are sex and period dependent. Experimental intrusions were conducted at 30 eagle owl territories in order to understand the function of the white badge during contests. We analyzed the reactions of both male and female owners toward a taxidermic mount with a normal brightness and a brightness-reduced white badge, with both male and female territorial calls. Our results indicate that the white badge of eagle owls plays an important role in visual communication during contests. Males displayed more frequently toward male low-brightness mounts, which were also approached more closely or attacked. Female behavior did not differ between experimental groups. Furthermore, a positive relationship between male badge brightness and breeding output suggested a potential role of the white badge as an honest signal of male quality. The need to convey information by visual communication in a nocturnal species may have promoted the evolution of visual signals employed at crepuscule. Copyright 2007.
Role of Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Motivation in Mathematics Performance Across Ethnicity

The authors evaluated self-efficacy and motivational orientation across Hispanic and Caucasian students to predict variables related to mathematics achievement, including mathematics performance and students' plans to take additional mathematics courses. Path models were analyzed for 358 students in Grades 9 and 10 who attended a West Texas high school and for the sample split by ethnicity. The tested models provided adequate goodness of fit to the data, supporting the finding that self-efficacy predicts motivational orientation and mathematics performance. Tests of each model parameter across ethnicity revealed 1 significant difference, suggesting that the relationship between prior mathematics achievement and self-efficacy was stronger for Hispanic students. Findings indicate that similar motivational systems exist to predict mathematics achievement across ethnicity; however, Caucasian students do not place as much emphasis on prior mastery experiences as do Hispanic students, suggesting that other factors are active in influencing their self-efficacy.
Research on Anti-Error Performance of Speed and Flux Estimation for Induction Motors Based on Robust Adaptive State Observer

A speed and flux estimation method for induction motors (IMs) based on robust adaptive state observer is proposed in this paper as a modification of the adaptive state observer. The effect of gross errors on estimation accuracy of the adaptive state observer is analyzed. Whether the robust adaptive state observer can give better estimation performance and robust ability than traditional adaptive state observer for speed and flux estimation of IMs is discussed. Through the simulation and experiments, the speed estimated error and the flux fluctuation of robust adaptive state observer by gross external disturbance and internal estimated error is compared with traditional adaptive state observer. The simulation and experimental results show that the robust adaptive state observer has the better estimation performance of antigross error than traditional adaptive state observer.
Retrospective study of predictors of bone metastasis in prostate cancer cases.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to identify clinical profiles of patients with low risk of having bone metastases, for which bone scanning could be safely eliminated. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective cross sectional study looked at prostate cancer patients seen in the Urology Departments in 2 tertiary centres over the 11 year period starting from January 2000 to May 2011. Patient demographic data, levels of PSA at diagnosis, Gleason score for the biopsy core, T-staging as well as the lymph node status were recorded and analysed. RESULTS 258 men were included. The mean age of those 90 men (34.9%) with bone metastasis was 69.2 ± 7.3 years. Logistic regression found that PSA level (P=0.000) at diagnosis and patient's nodal-stage (P=0.02) were the only two independent variables able to predict the probability of bone metastasis among the newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. Among those with a low PSA level less than 20 ng/ml, and less than 10 ng/ml, bone metastasis were detected in 10.3% (12 out of 117) and 9.7% (7 out of 72), respectively. However, by combining PSA level of 10 ng/ml or lower, and nodal negative as the two criteria to predict negative bone scan, a relatively high negative predictive value of 93.8% was obtained. The probability of bone metastasis in prostate cancer can be calculated with this formula: -1.069+0.007(PSA value, ng/ml) +1.021(Nodal status, 0 or 1)=x Probability of bone metastasis=2.718 x/1+2.718 x. CONCLUSION Newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients with a PSA level of 10 ng/ml or lower and negative nodes have a very low risk of bone metastasis (negative predictive value 93.8%) and therefore bone scans may not be necessary.
Structural and Genetic Analyses of O Polysaccharide from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Serotype f

ABSTRACT The oral bacterium Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is implicated as a causative agent of localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP). A. actinomycetemcomitans is classified into five serotypes (a to e) corresponding to five structurally and antigenically distinct O polysaccharide (O-PS) components of their respective lipopolysaccharide molecules. Serotype b has been reported to be the dominant serotype isolated from LJP patients. We determined the lipopolysaccharide O-PS structure from A. actinomycetemcomitans CU1000, a strain isolated from a 13-year-old African-American female with LJP which had previously been classified as serotype b. The O-PS of strain CU1000 consisted of a trisaccharide repeating unit composed ofl-rhamnose and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-galactose (molar ratio, 2:1) with the structure →2)-α-l-Rhap-(1–3)-2-O-(β-d-GalpNAc)-α-l-Rhap-(1→. O-PS from strain CU1000 was structurally and antigenically distinct from the O-PS molecules of the five known A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes. Strain CU1000 was mutagenized with transposon IS903φkan, and three mutants that were deficient in O-PS synthesis were isolated. All three transposon insertions mapped to a single 1-kb region on the chromosome. The DNA sequence of a 13.1-kb region surrounding these transposon insertions contained a cluster of 14 open reading frames that was homologous to gene clusters responsible for the synthesis of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype b, c, and e O-PS antigens. The CU1000 gene cluster contained two genes that were not present in serotype-specific O-PS antigen clusters of the other five knownA. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes. These data indicate that strain CU1000 should be assigned to a new A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype, designated serotype f. A PCR assay using serotype-specific PCR primers showed that 3 out of 20 LJP patients surveyed (15%) harbored A. actinomycetemcomitans strains carrying the serotype f gene cluster. The finding of an A. actinomycetemcomitansserotype showing serological cross-reactivity with anti-serotype b-specific antiserum suggests that a reevaluation of strains previously classified as serotype b may be warranted.
The cutthroat trout Y chromosome is conserved with that of rainbow trout

Five genetic markers previously shown to be located on the sex chromosomes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were tested for linkage with the sex locus of Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) in a genetic cross created from a rainbow × cutthroat male hybrid. We show that the sex locus of both rainbow and cutthroat trout is on the same homologous linkage group. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a probe for the microsatellite marker Omm1665, which maps close to the sex locus of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, was used to identify the Y chromosome of cutthroat trout in the hybrid. The Y chromosome of cutthroat trout is sub-telocentric and lacks a DAPI band found on the short arm of the Y chromosome of some rainbow trout males.
The costs of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, according to type of care

Our objective was to estimate the economic burden of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and to examine the effect of treatment in a multidisciplinary ALS treatment centre versus general care on costs and to describe differences in costs according to clinical characteristics. In a cross-sectional study 208 patients with ALS and their caregivers were interviewed and were asked to fill in a cost diary for six months. Patients were divided in groups according to type of treatment they received and according to clinical characteristics (site of onset, severity). The direct healthcare and non-healthcare costs were calculated according to Dutch guidelines for cost analysis in healthcare research, standardized for the year 2003. Ninety-eight patients were included when they had filled in the cost diary for at least three months and were affected for three years or less. Mean monthly costs were 1336 euros for the group receiving multidisciplinary care and 1271 euros for those receiving general care. This study shows that the costs of multidisciplinary ALS care were practically identical to the costs of general care. Earlier study showed that patients receiving multidisciplinary care had a better quality of life; therefore, the present study encourages the formation of multidisciplinary teams of professionals specialized in ALS care to further improve standards of care and QoL of patients suffering from ALS.
From hepatitis C virus infection to B-cell lymphoma

In addition to liver disorders, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is also associated with extrahepatic immune manifestations and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), especially marginal zone lymphoma, de novo or transformed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and to a lesser extent, follicular lymphoma. Epidemiological data and clinical observations argue for an association between HCV and lymphoproliferative disorders. The causative role of HCV in NHL has been further supported by the response to antiviral therapy. Pathophysiological processes at stake leading from HCV infection to overt lymphoma still need to be further elucidated. Based on reported biological studies, several mechanisms of transformation seem however to emerge. A strong body of evidence supports the hypothesis of an indirect transformation mechanism by which sustained antigenic stimulation leads from oligoclonal to monoclonal expansion and sometimes to frank lymphoma, mostly of marginal zone subtype. By infecting lymphocytes, HCV could play a direct role in cellular transformation, particularly in de novo large B-cell lymphoma. Finally, HCV is associated with follicular lymphoma in a subset of patients. In this setting, it may be hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines stimulate proliferation and transformation of IgH-BCL2 clones that are increased during chronic HCV infection. Unraveling the pathogenesis of HCV-related B-cell lymphoproliferation is of prime importance to optimize therapeutic strategies, especially with the recent development of new direct-acting antiviral drugs.
BIS Sensitivity, Negative Affect and Performance: Dynamic and Multilevel Relationships

This study examined the dynamic and multi-level relationships among the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), negative affect and performance. Participants performed multiple trials of a simulated air traffic control task. A single measure of BIS was taken before practice, whereas negative affect and performance were measured at repeated intervals. As expected, there was a negative relationship between negative affect and performance at both an inter- and intraindividual level of analysis. The key findings from this research relate to dynamic effects. The detrimental effect of negative affect on task performance strengthened across practice, at both levels of analysis. The negative relationship between BIS and performance was also found to change over time. These findings are discussed by drawing on resource allocation theory and reinforcement sensitivity theory. This study emphasizes the importance of examining dynamic and multilevel relationships to understand how BIS and negative affect relate to task performance.