Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of somatostatin receptors 2 and 5 polymorphisms in patients with acromegaly.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to investigate the possible correlation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in somatostatin receptor (SSTR)2 and SSTR5 genes with the responsiveness to somatostatin analogs in a cohort of acromegalic patients. STUDY DESIGN Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (a-83 g, c-57 g, and t80c) of SSTR2 and three (t-461c, c325t, and c1004t) of SSTR5 were analyzed in 66 acromegalic patients with different responsiveness to somatostatin analogs and 66 healthy controls. RESULTS Allele frequencies in patients and controls were similar. No association between SSTR2 genotypes and GH and IGF-I levels was found. When considering SSTR5 variants, patients homozygous or heterozygous for the substitution c1004 (P+) showed basal IGF-I levels significantly lower than patients homozygous for 1004t (P-). Moreover, serum GH levels were lower in patients with P+/T- haplotype (having c1004 allele and no t-461 allele) than in those with P-/T+. No correlation between SSTR2 and SSTR5 genotypes, responsiveness to somatostatin therapy, and mRNA expression in the removed adenomas (n = 10) was found. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest a role for SSTR5 t-461c and c1004t alleles in influencing GH and IGF-I levels in patients with acromegaly, whereas SSTR2 and SSTR5 variants seem to have a minor role in determining the responsiveness to somatostatin analogs.
Beyond Subordination vs. Resistance: An Intersectional Approach to the Agency of Veiled Muslim Women

Engaging with a figure that came to operate as a powerful cultural signifier of otherness in debates over migrant/Muslim integration across the West, the ‘veiled woman’; the paper questions the idea of agency that inheres in the contemporary feminist discourses on Muslim veil. After showing the shortcomings and adverse effects of two dominant readings of the Muslim veil, as a symbol of women's subordination to men, or as an act of resistance to Western hegemony, it explores an alternative avenue drawing on both the poststructuralist critique of the humanist subject and feminist intersectional theorising to answer the question of what kind of conception of agency can help us to think about the agency of the veiled woman without binding a priori the meaning of her veiling to the teleology of emancipation, whether feminist or anti-imperialist.
Functional and Evolutionary Characterization of a Gene Transfer Agent’s Multilocus “Genome”

Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are phage-like particles that can package and transfer a random piece of the producing cell’s genome, but are unable to transfer all the genes required for their own production. As such, GTAs represent an evolutionary conundrum: are they selfish genetic elements propagating through an unknown mechanism, defective viruses, or viral structures “repurposed” by cells for gene exchange, as their name implies? In Rhodobacter capsulatus, production of the R. capsulatus GTA (RcGTA) particles is associated with a cluster of genes resembling a small prophage. Utilizing transcriptomic, genetic and biochemical approaches, we report that the RcGTA “genome” consists of at least 24 genes distributed across five distinct loci. We demonstrate that, of these additional loci, two are involved in cell recognition and binding and one in the production and maturation of RcGTA particles. The five RcGTA “genome” loci are widespread within Rhodobacterales, but not all loci have the same evolutionary histories. Specifically, two of the loci have been subject to frequent, probably virus-mediated, gene transfer events. We argue that it is unlikely that RcGTA is a selfish genetic element. Instead, our findings are compatible with the scenario that RcGTA is a virus-derived element maintained by the producing organism due to a selective advantage of within-population gene exchange. The modularity of the RcGTA “genome” is presumably a result of selection on the host organism to retain GTA functionality.
Piecewise Quadratic Approximations on Triangles

The problem of constructing a function 4,(x, y) of two variables on a triangle, such that ~(x, y) and its first derivatives take given values at the vertices, where ¢(x, y) is composed of quadratic pieces, is considered. Two methods of constructing piecewise quadratic approximations are described which have the property that, if they are applied on each triangle of a triangulation, then ~(x, y) and its first derivatives are continuous everywhere.
Adaptive density estimation using the blockwise Stein method

We study the problem of nonparametric estimation of a probability density of unknown smoothness in L2(R). Expressing mean integrated squared error (MISE) in the Fourier domain, we show that it is close to mean squared error in the Gaussian sequence model. Then applying a modified version of Stein’s blockwise method, we obtain a linear monotone oracle inequality. Two consequences of this oracle inequality are that the proposed estimator is sharp minimax adaptive over a scale of Sobolev classes of densities, and that its MISE is asymptotically smaller than or equal to that of kernel density estimators with any bandwidth provided that the kernel belongs to a large class of functions including many standard kernels.
Influence of variations in hydration and in solute excretion on the effects of lysine‐vasopressin infusion on urinary and renal tissue composition in the conscious rat

1. The changes in urinary and renal tissue composition induced by continuous, intravenous infusion of lysine‐vasopressin (60 μ‐u./min. 100 g body wt. until steady‐state conditions prevailed) in normally hydrated, hydropaenic, saline‐loaded (0·9%, w/v) and mannitol‐loaded (15%, w/v) rats were determined and compared with those induced in water‐loaded rats.
When a "happy" worker is really a "productive" worker: A review and further refinement of the happy-productive worker thesis.

For decades, organizational scientists and practitioners alike have been fascinated by the happyproductive worker thesis. According to this hypothesis, happy employees exhibit higher levels of job-related performance behaviors than do unhappy employees. However, despite years of research, support for the happy-productive worker thesis remains equivocal. These ambiguous findings result from the variety of ways in which happiness has been operationalized. Researchers have operationalized happiness as job satisfaction, as the presence of positive affect, as the absence of negative affect, as the lack of emotional exhaustion, and as psychological well-being. Some of these measures exhibit appreciable associations with job performance, others do not. The circumplex framework is offered as a potentially useful taxonomy for researchers interested in better understanding and promoting a happy and productive workforce.
Trip timing and scheduling preferences

This note summarizes the results from the project SURPRICE: Trip timing and scheduling preferences. The general emphasis of this project is the importance of trip timing as a cause of congestion. It is important to recognize that departure time is a choice of travellers and that congestion arises because many travellers choose to travel at the same time. The design and evaluation of pricing schemes should explicitly take changes in departure time patterns into account, in particular with time-varying charges. Failure to take trip timing into account will lead to failure in identifying important benefits and will lead to less efficient pricing schemes.
Effects of Dynamic and Static Imagery on Vividness of Imagery, Skiing Performance, and Confidence

The present study examined the effects of dynamic and static imagery on the vividness of imagery, down-hill ski-slalom performance, and confidence. An opportunistic sample of 24 race-standard skiers were randomly assigned to one of three groups; a dynamic imagery group, a static imagery group or a control group. Participants in the first two groups were administered an imagery script instructing them to imagine themselves completing the down-hill ski-slalom course. In addition, the dynamic group conducted the imagery in their ski equipment on the ski slope, where as, the static group conducted their imagery away from the snow, while seated in a chair. Once participants completed the imagery scripts, they were administered Hale's (1998) imagery vividness evaluation form. Participants in the control group conducted light stretches. After completing the respective imagery and light stretches, participants skied the course and then completed a post-experimental questionnaire. The time taken to complete each run was recorded. An independent t-test revealed a significant difference between the two imagery groups in terms of vividness of imagery, t = (16) = -3.28, p <. 005 and confidence t = (16) = -3.59, p <. 002. Visual inspection of the cell means indicated that the dynamic group had higher vividness and confidence scores than the static group. A one-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between the groups in the time taken to complete the course, F(2,21)=3.37, p < . 05. Follow-up Tukey's tests indicated a significant difference between the control group and dynamic imagery group, with visual inspection of the means revealing that the dynamic group completed the task in the quickest time. The results are discussed in terms of dynamic imagery aiding the representational display in short-term working memory, and the use of dynamic imagery in applied settings.
Joint multi-cell processing for downlink channels with limited-capacity backhaul

Multicell processing in the form of joint encoding for the downlink of a cellular system is studied under the realistic assumption that the base stations (BSs) are connected to a central unit via finite-capacity links (finite-capacity backhaul). Three scenarios are considered that present different trade-offs between global processing at the central unit and local processing at the base stations and different requirements in terms of codebook information (CI) at the BSs: 1) local encoding with CI limited to a subset of nearby BSs; 2) mixed local and central encoding with only local CI; 3) central encoding with oblivious cells (no CI). Three transmission strategies are proposed that provide achievable rates for the considered scenarios. Performance is evaluated in asymptotic regimes of interest (high backhaul capacity and extreme signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) and further corroborated by numerical results. The major finding of this work is that central encoding with oblivious cells is a very attractive option for both ease of implementation and performance, unless the application of interest requires high data rate (i.e., high SNR) and the backhaul capacity is not allowed to increase with the SNR. In this latter cases, some form of CI at the BSs becomes necessary.
Multi‐factorial engineering of heterologous polyketide production in Escherichia coli reveals complex pathway interactions

Polyketides represent a significant fraction of all natural products. Many possess pharmacological activity which makes them attractive drug candidates. The production of the parent macrocyclic aglycones is catalyzed by multi‐modular polyketide synthases utilizing short‐chain acyl‐CoA monomers. When producing polyketides through heterologous hosts, one must not only functionally express the synthase itself, but activate the machinery used to generate the required substrate acyl‐CoA's. As a result, metabolic engineering of these pathways is necessary for high‐level production of heterologous polyketides. In this study, we over‐express three different pathways for provision of the two substrates (propionyl‐CoA and (2S)‐methylmalonyl‐CoA) utilized for the biosynthesis of 6‐deoxyerythronolide B (6‐dEB; the macrolactone precursor of erythromycin): (1) a propionate → propionyl‐CoA → (2S)‐methylmalonyl‐CoA pathway, (2) a methylmalonate → methylmalonyl‐CoA → propionyl‐CoA pathway, and (3) a succinate → succinyl‐CoA → (2R)‐methylmalonyl‐CoA → (2S)‐methylmalonyl‐CoA → propionyl‐CoA pathway. The current study revealed that propionate is a necessary component for greater than 5 mg L−1 titers. Deletion of the propionyl‐CoA:succinate CoA transferase (ygfH) or over‐expression of the transcriptional activator of short chain fatty acid uptake improved titer to over 100 mg L−1, while the combination of the two improved titer to over 130 mg L−1. The addition of exogenous methylmalonate could also improve titer to over 100 mg L−1. Expression of a Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) methylmalonyl‐CoA epimerase, in conjunction with over‐expression of Escherichia coli's native methylmalonyl‐CoA mutase, allowed for the incorporation of exogenously fed succinate into the 6‐dEB core. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011; 108:1360–1371. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The role of cue familiarity in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition

Are adults’ decisions to use direct memory retrieval for simple addition influenced by the familiarity of problem operands? We manipulated the familiarity of a subset of operands by having adults repeatedly practise specific additions (two+five=? ; Experiment 1) or magnitude comparisons (two five, choose the larger; Experiment 2). Both experiments provided evidence that pre-exposure to single-digit operands increased reported use of direct retrieval for new combinations of the familiarised operands. RT and error patterns across experiments also supported the conclusion that increased use of retrieval facilitated performance. These results show that operand familiarity potentially plays a significant role in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition.
HIGH-RESOLUTION CMB POWER SPECTRUM FROM THE COMPLETE ACBAR DATA SET

In this paper, we present results from the complete set of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation temperature anisotropy observations made with the Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver (ACBAR) operating at 150 GHz. We include new data from the final 2005 observing season, expanding the number of detector hours by 210% and the sky coverage by 490% over that used for the previous ACBAR release. As a result, the band-power uncertainties have been reduced by more than a factor of two on angular scales encompassing the third to fifth acoustic peaks as well as the damping tail of the CMB power spectrum. The calibration uncertainty has been reduced from 6% to 2.1% in temperature through a direct comparison of the CMB anisotropy measured by ACBAR with that of the dipole-calibrated WMAP5 experiment. The measured power spectrum is consistent with a spatially flat, ΛCDM cosmological model. We include the effects of weak lensing in the power spectrum model computations and find that this significantly improves the fits of the models to the combined ACBAR+WMAP5 power spectrum. The preferred strength of the lensing is consistent with theoretical expectations. On fine angular scales, there is weak evidence (1.1σ) for excess power above the level expected from primary anisotropies. We expect any excess power to be dominated by the combination of emission from dusty protogalaxies and the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect (SZE). However, the excess observed by ACBAR is significantly smaller than the excess power at ℓ>2000 reported by the CBI experiment operating at 30 GHz. Therefore, while it is unlikely that the CBI excess has a primordial origin; the combined ACBAR and CBI results are consistent with the source of the CBI excess being either the SZE or radio source contamination.
Public Demand for Preserving Local Open Space

Increased development results in the loss of forest, farm, range, and other open space lands that contribute to the quality of life of U.S. residents. I describe an economic rationale for growing public support for preserving local open space, based the growing scarcity of open space lands. I test the rationale empirically by correlating the prevalence of open space referenda in U.S. counties to socioeconomic variables, including population density, change in density, per capita income, education, and other factors. Data come from the Trust for Public Land LandVote database and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The results suggest how key socioeconomic trends—most notably, population growth, rising incomes, development, and increasing open space scarcity—motivate interest and support for preserving open space, when open space lands remain unprotected. The analysis provides a context for discussing policy and management strategies for addressing urban sprawl and open space loss.
A Comparison of Methods for Estimating Directions in Egocentric Space

A central issue for researchers of human spatial knowledge, whether focused on perceptually guided action or cognitive-map acquisition, is knowledge of egocentric directions, directions from the body to objects and places. Several methods exist for measuring this knowledge. We compared two particularly important methods, manual pointing with a dial and whole-body rotation (body heading), under various conditions of sensory or memory access to targets. In two experiments, blindfolded body rotation resulted in the greatest variability of performance (variable error), while the manual dial resulted in greater consistent bias (constant error). The variability of performance with body rotation was no greater than that of the dial when subjects' memory loads for directions to targets was reduced by allowing them to peek at targets in between trials, point to concurrent auditory targets, or point with their eyes open. In both experiments, errors with the manual dial were greater for directions to targets that were further from the closest orthogonal axis (ahead, behind, right, left), while errors with body rotation with restricted perceptual access were greater for directions to targets that were further from an axis straight ahead of subjects. This suggests that the two methods will produce evidence of different organizational frameworks for egocentric spatial knowledge. Implications for the structures and processes that underlie egocentric spatial knowledge, and are involved in estimating directions, are discussed, as is the value of decomposing absolute errors into variable and constant errors.
Adoption of Mobile Technology in the Supply Chain: An Exploratory Cross-Case Analysis

The increasing utilization of mobile commerce technologies in e-business raises the question of their use in supply chain integration and management. This article presents a multiple case study investigation of the adoption of mobile technology in the supply chain. A technology-organization-environment framework of the contextual influences on technological innovation adoption is used to inform an analysis of three companiesâ€™ adoption and use of mobile data solutions for sales automation, freight tracking, and service support. Analysis of the three case studies found that the relative advantage of the technological innovation and the information intensity of the company were the most important factors influencing adoption. Other factors that appeared to influence adoption included the compatibility of the technology with the companyâ€™s business approach, the presence of top management support, and the degree of organizational readiness. Environmental factors such as competition within the industry or business partner influence seemed less influential for these pioneers of mobile technology use in supply-side activities.
Histograms of Optical Flow Orientation for Visual Abnormal Events Detection

In this paper, we propose an algorithm to detect abnormal events based on video streams. The algorithm is based on histograms of the orientation of optical flow descriptor and one-class SVM classifier. We introduce grids of Histograms of the Orientation of Optical Flow (HOFs) as the descriptors for motion information of the monolithic video frame. The one-class SVM, after a learning period characterizing normal behaviors, detects the abnormal events in the current frame. Extensive testing on benchmark dataset corroborates the effectiveness of the proposed detection method.
Latest developments in high-power tunable CW narrow line thulium fiber laser for deployment to the ISTEF

We have designed and developed a grating based thulium (Tm) doped fiber laser with ~150 nm tuning range which is used as the master oscillator in a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) thulium fiber laser system. Due to thermal instability in the grating used for tuning, the MO could produce a power up to 4.5 W, beyond which the oscillator became unstable. Injecting the seed laser into a bidirectionally pumped large mode area (LMA) Tm fiber amplifier, a stable, tunable, narrow linewidth high beam quality amplified signal of >100 W was achieved. In the absence of stable and sufficiently high power from the seed laser, the amplifier could not be tested to its full potential. The amplifier was also, converted into an oscillator to investigate its power handling capability. An excellent beam quality and ~200 W of power were achieved by running the power amplifier as an oscillator. Operation stability of the oscillator was measured to be more than one hour with a minimum power fluctuation of 0.5%. Currently efforts are underway to increase the seed laser power to ~10 W, large enough to reduce ASE and mitigate feedback to the master oscillator to demonstrate a 200 W, tunable (150 nm) and narrow linewidth (0.15 nm) MOPA system. The MOPA system will be one of a number of new state-of-the-art high power lasers to be located at the Innovative Science & Technology Experimentation Facility, creating a unique laser range facility for next generation studies and tests across a broad range of sciences and technologies.
Design and modeling of GaAs/AlGaAs nonlinear waveguides by Hertzian potential formulation

We present in this work the design of second harmonic generation process in χ<sup>(2)</sup> nonlinear waveguides by a new time domain simulator. The presented Hertzian potential formulation (HPF) is applied to quasi-phase-matched GaAs/AlGaAs nonlinear waveguide with dielectric discontinuities. With the introduction of the presented rigorous time domain method it is possible to represent the physical phenomena such as light propagation and second harmonic generation (SHG) process inside a nonlinear optical device with a good convergent solution and low computational cost. We first check the convergence of the HPF approach by comparing the numerical results with experimental ones for a GaAs/AlGaAs nonlinear waveguide with a fundamental mode at λ<inf>FU</inf>=1.955 μm coupled to a coprapagating second-harmonic SH mode (λ<inf>SH</inf>=9.775 μm) through an appropriate nonlinear susceptibility coefficient. Then we apply the modelling to a GaAs/AlGaAs ridge waveguide with λ<inf>FU</inf>=1.55 μm and λ<inf>SH</inf>=0.775 μm by evaluating the second harmonic conversion efficiency versus the waveguide length. The model is generic and can be applied also to periodic microwave waveguides.
Occupational and Educational Goals and Expectations: The Effects of Race and Sex

The effect of race and sex on the discrepancy between educational as well as occupational goals and expectations is examined among a sample of 812 urban college youth from a mixed social class background. Contrary to expectations, race-sex characteristics do not affect mobility discrepancies. However, when level of aspiration is controlled, differences do emerge among high occupational aspirers, those aiming to be executives or major professionals. Black and particularly black males reveal the least discrepancy. It is suggested that women are not convinced that the opportunity structure is open to them. Moreover, race/sex differences in level of aspiration, along with the importance of this variable in explaining goals-expectation discrepancy, suggest that the effects of discriminatory practices operate through the mechanism of limiting the educational and occupational objectives which young people set for themselves.