Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of health promoting lifestyle profile-II: A confirmatory study with a Malaysian undergraduate students sample

Objective : To determine the factor structure of the Health Promoting Behaviours (HPB) component of Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II among undergraduate students in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Methods : A cross sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students. A total of 788 students participated in the study. The data was collected in the USM campus using a proportionate cluster sampling method. The HPB questionnaire was handed to students in the lecture hall and collected immediately when the lecture finished. CFA was conducted using robust maximum likelihood estimation due to violation of multivariate normality assumption. A three-factor model was tested for measurement model validity and construct validity. Results : A total of 788 students participated in the study. CFA of a 21-item, three-factor model yielded an adequate goodness-of-fit values. The measurement model also showed a good convergent and discriminant validity after model re-specification. Conclusion : The health promoting behaviours scale was proven to have a valid measurement model and reliable constructs. It was deemed suitable for use to measure the health promoting behaviours components of a healthy lifestyle among Malaysian undergraduate students. It was recommended to further conduct cross-validation studies in other Malaysian public universities to provide additional empirical evidence to support its use.
IL-15 Promotes the Survival of Naive and Memory Phenotype CD8+ T Cells1

IL-15 stimulates the proliferation of memory phenotype CD44highCD8+ T cells and is thought to play a key role in regulating the turnover of these cells in vivo. We have investigated whether IL-15 also has the capacity to affect the life span of naive phenotype (CD44low) CD8+ T cells. We report that IL-15 promotes the survival of both CD44low and CD44high CD8+ T cells, doing so at much lower concentrations than required to induce proliferation of CD44high cells. Rescue from apoptosis was associated with the up-regulation of Bcl-2 in both cell types, whereas elevated expression of Bcl-xL was observed among CD44high but not CD44low CD8+ cells. An investigation into the role of IL-15R subunits in mediating the effects of IL-15 revealed distinct contributions of the α- and β- and γ-chains. Most strikingly, IL-15Rα was not essential for either induction of proliferation or promotion of survival by IL-15, but did greatly enhance the sensitivity of cells to low concentrations of IL-15. By contrast, the β- and γ-chains of the IL-15R were absolutely required for the proliferative and pro-survival effects of IL-15, although it was not necessary for CD44highCD8+ cells to express higher levels of IL-15Rβ than CD44low cells to proliferate in response to IL-15. These results show that IL-15 has multiple effects on CD8 T cells and possesses the potential to regulate the life span of naive as well as memory CD8+ T cells.
A Counterexample to Strong Parallel Repetition

The parallel repetition theorem states that for any two-prover game, with value 1 - isin (for, say, isin les 1/2), the value of the game repeated in parallel n times is at most (1 - isinc)Omega(n/s), where s is the answers' length (of the original game) and c is a universal constant. Several researchers asked wether this bound could be improved to (1 - isin)Omega(n/s); this question is usually referred to as the strong parallel repetition problem. We show that the answer for this question is negative. More precisely, we consider the odd cycle game of size m; a two-prover game with value 1 - 1/2 m. We show that the value of the odd cycle game repeated in parallel n times is at least 1 - (1/m) ldr O(radicn). This implies that for large enough n (say, n ges Omega(m2)), the value of the odd cycle game repeated in parallel n times is at least (1 - 1/4 m2)O(n). Thus: 1. For parallel repetition of general games: the bounds of (1 - isinc)Omega(n/s) given in are of the right form, up to determining the exact value of the constant c ges 2. 2. For parallel repetition of XOR games, unique games and projection games: the bounds of (1 - isin2)Omega(n) given in (for XOR games) and in (for unique and projection games) are tight. 3. For parallel repetition of the odd cycle game: the bound of 1 - (1/m) ldr Omegatilde(radicn) given in is almost tight. A major motivation for the recent interest in the strong parallel repetition problem is that a strong parallel repetition theorem would have implied that the unique game conjecture is equivalent to the NP hardness of distinguishing between instances of Max-Cut that are at least 1 - isin2 satisfiable from instances that are at most 1 - (2/pi) ldr isin satisfiable. Our results suggest that this cannot be proved just by improving the known bounds on parallel repetition.
Association of a polymorphism at the 5′‐region of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor with hypertension

Molecular variants of individual components of the renin‐angiotensin system are thought to contribute to inherited predisposition towards essential hypertension. Using polymerase chain reaction‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR‐DGGE) and sequence analysis, we identified seven polymorphisms in the 5′‐flanking region of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1/AT1) gene. We conducted a case‐control study in a sample from the Japanese population to determine whether polymorphic markers in the 5′‐flanking region of the AT1gene were associated with essential hypertension. The study compared 149 hypertensive subjects to 156 normotensive control subjects. A significantly higher frequency of the AT1(−535)*T allele was observed in hypertensive subjects. Evidence was obtained that the AT1(−535)*T allele showed a synergistic effect on risk of hypertension with angiotensin I converting enzyme D allele (ACE*D).
The Effects of Over and Under Sampling on Fault-prone Module Detection

The goal of this paper is to improve the prediction performance of fault-prone module prediction models (fault-proneness models) by employing over/under sampling methods, which are preprocessing procedures for a fit dataset. The sampling methods are expected to improve prediction performance when the fit dataset is unbalanced, i.e. there exists a large difference between the number of fault-prone modules and not-fault-prone modules. So far, there has been no research reporting the effects of applying sampling methods to fault-proneness models. In this paper, we experimentally evaluated the effects of four sampling methods (random over sampling, synthetic minority over sampling, random under sampling and one-sided selection) applied to four fault-proneness models (linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression analysis, neural network and classification tree) by using two module sets of industry legacy software. All four sampling methods improved the prediction performance of the linear and logistic models, while neural network and classification tree models did not benefit from the sampling methods. The improvements of Fl-values in linear and logistic models were 0.078 at minimum, 0.224 at maximum and 0.121 at the mean.
hnRNP K post-transcriptionally co-regulates multiple cytoskeletal genes needed for axonogenesis

The RNA-binding protein, hnRNP K, is essential for axonogenesis. Suppressing its expression in Xenopus embryos yields terminally specified neurons with severely disorganized microtubules, microfilaments and neurofilaments, raising the hypothesis that hnRNP K post-transcriptionally regulates multiple transcripts of proteins that organize the axonal cytoskeleton. To identify downstream candidates for this regulation, RNAs that co-immunoprecipitated from juvenile brain with hnRNP K were identified on microarrays. A substantial number of these transcripts were linked to the cytoskeleton and to intracellular localization, trafficking and transport. Injection into embryos of a non-coding RNA bearing multiple copies of an hnRNP K RNA-binding consensus sequence found within these transcripts largely phenocopied hnRNP K knockdown, further supporting the idea that it regulates axonogenesis through its binding to downstream target RNAs. For further study of regulation by hnRNP K of the cytoskeleton during axon outgrowth, we focused on three validated RNAs representing elements associated with all three polymers – Arp2, tau and an α-internexin-like neurofilament. All three were co-regulated post-transcriptionally by hnRNP K, as hnRNP K knockdown yielded comparable defects in their nuclear export and translation but not transcription. Directly knocking down expression of all three together, but not each one individually, substantially reproduced the axonless phenotype, providing further evidence that regulation of axonogenesis by hnRNP K occurs largely through pleiotropic effects on cytoskeletal-associated targets. These experiments provide evidence that hnRNP K is the nexus of a novel post-transcriptional regulatory module controlling the synthesis of proteins that integrate all three cytoskeletal polymers to form the axon.
Incorporating Generator Equivalent Model Into Voltage Stability Analysis

In most voltage stability indices, generators are normally modeled as either PV buses or ideal voltage sources. These assumptions cannot cover the entire process of systems losing voltage stability, especially when PV generators have converted to PQ nodes in case of reactive power shortage. In this paper, an alternative generator equivalent model (GEM) is proposed for voltage stability analysis. Based on their dynamic models and real-time measurements, generators are modeled by time-varying internal voltages and impedances to capture the dynamic behaviors of generators. Furthermore, the traditional L-index is extended to incorporate GEMs for system voltage stability analysis. Simulation studies have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed new index and to show the impacts of GEM on voltage stability analysis. The simulation results of four test systems show that, in certain scenarios, incorporating GEM is necessary and can significantly improve the accuracy of voltage stability analysis.
Mas37p, a novel receptor subunit for protein import into mitochondria

By screening a collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants temperature sensitive for growth on a nonfermentable carbon source, we have isolated a gene (termed MAS37) which encodes a novel receptor for protein import into mitochondria. Mas37p is a 37-kD outer membrane protein with two putative membrane-spanning regions. Inactivation of the MAS37 gene renders cells temperature-sensitive for respiration- driven growth, inhibits import of precursors into isolated mitochondria, and is synthetically lethal with a deletion of one of the genes encoding the import receptors Mas70p or Mas20p. Inactivation of Mas37p with specific antibodies inhibits import of different precursors to different extents; the precursor specificity of Mas37p resembles that of the previously described import receptor Mas70p. Mas70p and Mas37p form a 1:1 complex in detergent extracts of mitochondria and overexpression of one protein enhances that of the other. We suggest that the Mas37p/Mas70p heterodimer functions as a receptor for protein import into yeast mitochondria and that the mitochondrial receptor system consists of hetero-oligomeric subcomplexes with distinct binding activities, but overlapping precursor specificities.
POPULATION GENETIC STRUCTURE AND SECONDARY SYMBIONTS IN HOST‐ASSOCIATED POPULATIONS OF THE PEA APHID COMPLEX

Polyphagous insect herbivores experience different selection pressures on their various host plant species. How this affects population divergence and speciation may be influenced by the bacterial endosymbionts that many harbor. Here, we study the population structure and symbiont community of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), which feeds on a range of legume species and is known to form genetically differentiated host‐adapted populations. Aphids were collected from eight legume genera in England and Germany. Extensive host plant associated differentiation was observed with this collection of pea aphids comprising nine genetic clusters, each of which could be associated with a specific food plant. Compared to host plant, geography contributed little to genetic differentiation. The genetic clusters were differentiated to varying degrees, but this did not correlate with their degree of divergence in host use. We surveyed the pea aphid clones for the presence of six facultative (secondary) bacterial endosymbionts and found they were nonrandomly distributed across the aphid genetic clusters and this distribution was similar in the two countries. Aphid clones on average carried 1.4 species of secondary symbiont with those associated with Lathyrus having significantly fewer. The results are interpreted in the light of the evolution of specialization and ecological speciation.
Urinary leukotriene E4 in preschool children with acute clinical viral wheeze

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cystLTs) are important mediators of wheeze in atopic asthma, but the role of cystLTs in the pathogenesis of preschool viral wheeze (PVW) is unclear. Therefore, evidence for increased production of cystLTs in PVW was sought. Urinary leukotriene E4 (uLTE4) and serum total immunoglobulin (Ig)E were measured in children (1–5 yrs) with PVW during an acute attack (n=44) and in the convalescent phase (n=19), and compared with normal controls (n=15). The effect of atopic sensitisation was assessed in a separate group of atopic controls (n=6) in whom only uLTE4 was measured. The levels of uLTE4 were similar in normal and atopic controls and increased in acute PVW (median (interquartile range) 165 (101–285) versus 125 (82–163) ng·mM creatinine−1). Stratification by IgE showed that whereas uLTE4 was increased in 23 children with acute PVW and IgE >95th percentile (median 211 (118–312) ng·mM creatinine−1), uLTE4 was not increased in the 21 children with acute PVW and IgE ≤95th percentile. In the convalescent phase, uLTE4 fell in the subgroup with high IgE but not in the subgroup with low IgE. It is concluded that increased cysteinyl leukotriene production during acute preschool viral wheeze is associated with high serum immunoglobulin E.
High- and low-dose expectancies as mediators of personality dimensions and alcohol involvement.

OBJECTIVE The present study examined the influences of personality dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism) on college alcohol involvement both (1) directly and (2) mediated by positive and negative alcohol expectancies across two imagined (high and low) alcohol doses. METHOD Participants (N = 339; 176 women) were regularly drinking college students who completed a questionnaire battery on demographic characteristics, personality, expectancies, and alcohol use and problems. RESULTS Structural equation modeling analysis of low- and high-dose models revealed partial support for the Social Learning Theory conceptualization of expectancies as mediators of more distal (personality) influences. Interestingly, patterns of association differed by dose. At high-expectancy doses, positive alcohol expectancies fully mediated the extraversion-use association. At low doses, positive expectancies did not play a critical role. Two distinct pathways from neuroticism to alcohol use were observed: a direct pathway, whereby neuroticism is a protective factor for alcohol use, and an indirect pathway, through positive expectancies, whereby neuroticism is a risk factor. The protective pathway was evident regardless of expectancy doses, whereas the risk pathway was evident only at high doses. Negative expectancies partially mediated the association between neuroticism and alcohol problems at both high- and low-expectancy doses. CONCLUSIONS These data underscore the unique role of both positive and negative expectancies in the association between personality and drinking behavior and point to the importance of considering alcohol dose when assessing expectancies. Findings suggest that it may be beliefs about the effects resulting from heavy (rather than moderate) drinking that may be the active mechanism underlying drinking behavior.
Increased Systolic Performance With Diastolic Dysfunction in Adult Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Abstract—Hypertensive heart disease is characterized by early development of hypertrophy and fibrosis that leads to heart failure (HF). HF develops in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) after 18 months; however, it is not clear whether hypertrophy leads to altered cardiac performance at an earlier age in these rats. We studied cardiac performance in 10- to 11-month-old SHR and age-matched Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY), using presssure-volume (PV) conductance catheter system to evaluate systolic and diastolic function in vivo at different preloads, including preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW), +dP/dt, and its relation to end-diastolic volume (+dP/dt–EDV) and preload-adjusted maximal power (PWRmax–EDV2) as well as the time constant of left ventricular pressure decay, tau (&tgr;), as an index of relaxation. The slope of the end-diastolic pressure-volume relation (EDPVR) and the ex vivo PV relation, both indexes of stiffness, were also calculated for each heart, and the Doppler E/A ratio was determined. In addition, plasma samples were obtained to assess B-type natriuretic peptide levels (BNP). We found that PRSW was higher in SHR than in WKY (174.5±15.6 versus 92.6±18.9 mm Hg;P <0.01). +dP/dt and +dP/dt–EDV were also enhanced in SHR versus WKY (9125±662 versus 6633±392 mm Hg/sec, P <0.01, and 28.14±4.35 versus 12.7±2.8 mm Hg/s per &mgr;L, P <0.02). In addition, PWR-EDV2 was elevated in SHR (7.3±1.5 versus 3.1±0.6 mW/&mgr;L2). &tgr; was prolonged in SHR (14.5±1 ms versus 10.8±0.8 for WKY, P <0.02) and EDPVR was significantly greater in SHR than in WKY (0.01±0.005 versus 0.004±0.001, P <0.05). The ex vivo pressure-volume relation was also steeper for SHR and the E/A ratio was 2.53±0.15 for SHR versus 1.67±0.08 for WKY (P <0.02). BNP was 45±2.5 pg/mL for SHR and 33.3±1.8 pg/mL for WKY (P <0.02). Taken together, these data suggest that at 10 to 11 months of age, before HF develops, SHR have increased systolic performance accompanied by delayed relaxation and increased diastolic stiffness.
A Modified HSP70 Inhibitor Shows Broad Activity as an Anticancer Agent

The stress-induced HSP70 is an ATP-dependent molecular chaperone that plays a key role in refolding misfolded proteins and promoting cell survival following stress. HSP70 is marginally expressed in nontransformed cells, but is greatly overexpressed in tumor cells. Silencing HSP70 is uniformly cytotoxic to tumor but not normal cells; therefore, there has been great interest in the development of HSP70 inhibitors for cancer therapy. Here, we report that the HSP70 inhibitor 2-phenylethynesulfonamide (PES) binds to the substrate-binding domain of HSP70 and requires the C-terminal helical “lid” of this protein (amino acids 573–616) to bind. Using molecular modeling and in silico docking, we have identified a candidate binding site for PES in this region of HSP70, and we identify point mutants that fail to interact with PES. A preliminary structure–activity relationship analysis has revealed a derivative of PES, 2-(3-chlorophenyl) ethynesulfonamide (PES-Cl), which shows increased cytotoxicity and ability to inhibit autophagy, along with significantly improved ability to extend the life of mice with pre-B-cell lymphoma, compared with the parent compound (P = 0.015). Interestingly, we also show that these HSP70 inhibitors impair the activity of the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) in cell-free extracts, and induce G2–M arrest and genomic instability in cancer cells. PES-Cl is thus a promising new anticancer compound with several notable mechanisms of action. Mol Cancer Res; 11(3); 219–29. ©2013 AACR.
Control-theoretic dynamic frequency and voltage scaling

ABSTRACT This paper des ribes a formal feedba kontrol algorithm for dynami voltage/frequen y s aling (DVS) in a portable multimedia system to save power while maintaining a desired playba k rate. Our algorithm is similar in omplexity to the previously-proposed hange-point dete tion algorithm [15℄ but does a better job of maintaining stable throughput and is not dependent on the assumption of an exponential distribution of the frame de oding rate. For approximately the same energy savings as reported by [15℄, our ontroller is able to keep the average frame delay within 10% of the target more than 90% of the time.
Size and causes of the underground economy in Spain: a correction of the record and new evidence from the MCDR approach

We review existing estimates of the size of the S panish underground economy, apply the Ahumada et al. (2007, RIW) correction procedure to some of them and calculat e the size of the underground economy in Spain for the pe riod 1960 through 2009 by using the modified-cash-deposits-ratio (MCDR) approach recent ly developed by Pickhardt and Sardà (2011, EJLE). We then extend the MCDR approach with respect to an analysis of the causes of the Spanish underground economy. Contrary to mos t other studies, we show that the latter is not predominantly caused by tax pressure, but by la or market aspects, macroeconomic influences and criminal activities. Based on these findings we derive some unprecedented policy recommendations. JEL: O17, H26, C22,
Trust In Co-Workers and Employee Behaviours At Work

Research on interpersonal trust within organizational contexts tends to focus on managers as the trust referent, largely ignoring the topic of trust amongst co-workers. Investigations of co-worker trust focus on a different referent, and are expected to have unique effects on employee behaviours at work. In this paper, the researcher first reviews the extant literature on trust in co-workers, trustworthiness, social undermining, organizational citizenship behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour. Then, a model is presented to better understand the role of co-workers in shaping focal employee trust in co-workers, which in turn may affects his or her organizational citizenship behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour. Finally, this paper explains how the propositions derived from the proposed model.
Identification of a cryptic N-terminal signal in Saccharomyces cerevisiae peroxisomal citrate synthase that functions in both peroxisomal and mitochondrial targeting.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has three distinct citrate synthases, two located in mitochondria (mature Cit1p and Cit3p) and one in peroxisomes (mature Cit2p). While the precursor of the major mitochondrial enzyme, Cit1p, has a signal for mitochondrial targeting at its N-terminus (MTS), Cit2p has one for peroxisomal targeting (PTS1) at its C-terminus. We have previously shown that the N-terminal segment of Cit2p is removed during import into peroxisomes [Lee, H.S. et al. (1994) Kor. J. Microbiol. 32, 558-564], which implied the presence of an additional N-terminal sorting signal. To analyze the function of the N-terminal region of Cit2p in protein trafficking, we constructed the N-terminal domain-swapped versions of Cit1p and Cit2p. Both fusions, Cit1::Cit2 and Cit2::Cit1, complemented the glutamate auxotrophy caused by the double-disruption of the CIT1 and CIT2 genes. In addition, part of the Cit2::Cit1 fusion protein, as well as Cit1::Cit2, was shown to be transported into both mitochondria and peroxisomes. The subcellular localization of the recombinant fusion proteins containing various N-terminal segments of Cit2p fused to a mutant version of green fluorescent protein (GFP2) was also examined. As a result, we found that the 20-amino acid N-terminal segment of Cit2p contains a cryptic cleavable targeting signal for both peroxisomes and mitochondria. In addition, we show that the peroxisomal import process mediated by the N-terminal segment of Cit2p was not affected by the disruption of either PEX5 (encoding PTS1 receptor) or PEX7 (encoding PTS2 receptor).