Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Level Expression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 Vif Inhibits Viral Infectivity by Modulating Proteolytic Processing of the Gag Precursor at the p2/Nucleocapsid Processing Site*

The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 Vif protein has a crucial role in regulating viral infectivity. However, we found that newly synthesized Vif is rapidly degraded by cellular proteases. We tested the dose dependence of Vif in non-permissive H9 cells and found that Vif, when expressed at low levels, increased virus infectivity in a dose-dependent manner. Surprisingly, however, the range of Vif required for optimal virus infectivity was narrow, and further increases in Vif severely reduced viral infectivity. Inhibition of viral infectivity at higher levels of Vif was cell type-independent and was associated with an accumulation of Gag-processing intermediates. Vif did not act as a general protease inhibitor but selectively inhibited Gag processing at the capsid and nucleocapsid (NC) boundary. Identification of Vif variants that were efficiently packaged but were unable to modulate Gag processing suggests that Vif packaging was necessary but insufficient for the production of 33- and 34-kDa processing intermediates. Interestingly, these processing intermediates, like Vif, associated with viral nucleoprotein complexes more rigidly than mature capsid and NC. We conclude that virus-associated Vif inhibits processing of a subset of Gag precursor molecules at the p2/NC primary cleavage site. Modulation of processing of a small subset of Gag molecules by physiological levels of Vif may be important for virus maturation. However, the accumulation of such processing intermediates at high levels of Vif is inhibitory. Thus, rapid intracellular degradation of Vif may have evolved as a mechanism to prevent such inhibitory effects of Vif.
Uncomplicated Mason type-II and III fractures of the radial head and neck in adults. A long-term follow-up study.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and the long-term results of closed uncomplicated Mason type-II and III fractures in a defined population of adults. METHODS Seventy women and thirty men who were a mean of forty-seven years old when they sustained a fracture of the radial head or neck (a Mason type-II fracture in seventy-six patients and a Mason type-III fracture in twenty-four) were reexamined after a mean of nineteen years. Radiographic signs of degenerative changes of the elbow were recorded. The fracture had been treated with an elastic bandage or a collar and cuff sling with mobilization for forty-four individuals, with cast immobilization for thirty-four, with resection of the radial head in nineteen, with open reduction of the radial head in two, and with a collateral ligament repair in one. Secondary excision of the radial head was performed because of residual pain in nine patients, and a neurolysis of the ulnar nerve was performed in one patient. RESULTS Seventy-seven individuals had no symptoms in the injured elbow at the time of follow-up, twenty-one had occasional pain, and two had daily pain. The injured elbows had a slight flexion deficit compared with the uninjured elbows (mean and standard deviation, 138 degrees +/- 8 degrees compared with 140 degrees +/- 7 degrees ) as well as a small extension deficit (mean and standard deviation, -4 degrees +/- 8 degrees compared with -1 degrees +/- 6 degrees ) (p < 0.001 for both). The prevalence of degenerative changes was higher in the injured elbows than in the uninjured ones (76% compared with 16%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The results following uncomplicated Mason type-II and III fractures are predominantly favorable. A secondary radial head resection is usually effective for patients with an unfavorable outcome (predominantly long-standing pain). LEVELS OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, Level IV (case series [no, or historical, control group]). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Trajectories of Delinquency among Puerto Rican Children and Adolescents at Two Sites

This study examined the trajectories of delinquency among Puerto Rican children and adolescents in two cultural contexts. Relying on data from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of children and youth from Bronx, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, a group-based trajectory procedure estimated the number of delinquency trajectories, whether trajectories differed across contexts, and the relation of risk and protective factors to each. Five trajectories fit the Bronx sample, and four fit the San Juan sample. Differences and similarities were observed. The Bronx sample had a higher rate of delinquency and sensation seeking and violence exposure strongly discriminated offender trajectories. In San Juan, the results were substantively the same. Thus, while the youth lived in different contexts, and the nature and level of delinquency varied across the sites, the effects of most risk factors were more similar than different.
A high voltage gain current fed non-isolated dc-dc converter

In this paper, a non-isolated current fed boost dc-dc converter with coupled inductors is proposed. This converter achieves a high voltage gain ratio with zero-ripple input current. An active snubber circuit is employed to reduce the voltage spike of main switch generated by leakage inductance and realize zero voltage switching at turn-on. The circuit configuration, operation principle and design considerations of the proposed converter are presented. Experimental results for a 300 W hardware prototype with an input voltage range of 40–50 V and regulated output voltage of 400 V are obtained for validation of the proposed converter topology.
CARMA LARGE AREA STAR FORMATION SURVEY: STRUCTURE AND KINEMATICS OF DENSE GAS IN SERPENS MAIN

We present observations of N2H+ (J = 1 → 0), HCO+ (J = 1 → 0), and HCN (J = 1 → 0) toward the Serpens Main molecular cloud from the CARMA Large Area Star Formation Survey (CLASSy). We mapped 150 arcmin2 of Serpens Main with an angular resolution of ∼7″. The gas emission is concentrated in two subclusters (the NW and SE subclusters). The SE subcluster has more prominent filamentary structures and more complicated kinematics compared to the NW subcluster. The majority of gas in the two subclusters has subsonic to sonic velocity dispersions. We applied a dendrogram technique with N2H+(1–0) to study the gas structures; the SE subcluster has a higher degree of hierarchy than the NW subcluster. Combining the dendrogram and line fitting analyses reveals two distinct relations: a flat relation between nonthermal velocity dispersion and size, and a positive correlation between variation in velocity centroids and size. The two relations imply a characteristic depth of 0.15 pc for the cloud. Furthermore, we have identified six filaments in the SE subcluster. These filaments have lengths of ∼0.2 pc and widths of ∼0.03 pc, which is smaller than a characteristic width of 0.1 pc suggested by Herschel observations. The filaments can be classified into two types based on their properties. The first type, located in the northeast of the SE subcluster, has larger velocity gradients, smaller masses, and nearly critical mass-per-unit-length ratios. The other type, located in the southwest of the SE subcluster, has the opposite properties. Several YSOs are formed along two filaments which have supercritical mass per unit length ratios, while filaments with nearly critical mass-per-unit-length ratios are not associated with YSOs, suggesting that stars are formed on gravitationally unstable filaments.
Expert Testimony on the Psychology of Confessions: A Pyramidal Framework of the Relevant Science

Increasingly, psychologists are being called to serve as consultants and expert witnesses in criminal cases involving coerced – and possibly false – confessions. In some instances, the main purpose is to assess a defendant’s competence or vulnerability, an inquiry that brings into focus individual characteristics such as age, intelligence, mental health, criminal justice experience, and personality traits such as interrogative compliance and suggestibility. In other instances, the main purpose is to evaluate the social infl uence conditions under which the accused waived his or her Miranda rights and then confessed. This latter inquiry brings into play a number of foundational principles of psychology and, more specifi cally, social psychology. The trials and tribulations of John Kogut, Dennis Halstead, and John Restivo are a case in point. In 1986, largely on the basis of his confession, Kogut and the two other young men that he had implicated were tried for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl. Two trials were held in Nassau County, New York, at which these defendants were convicted and sentenced to prison. They remained incarcerated for 17 years until DNA tests on the semen originally recovered from the victim’s body conclusively excluded all three men, rendering the confession an inaccurate description of the crime. Through the
Rehabilitation and Functional Neuroimaging Dose-Response Trajectories for Clinical Trials

Background. In clinical trials, behavioral outcomes and physiological measures of activity-dependent plasticity that evolve with task-oriented therapies may fail to reach statistical significance. When significant, clinical effectiveness may not be robust enough to alter professional practices. Objective. Provide the conceptual basis for a research design to optimize the effect of an experimental treatment. Methods. Literature review. Results. Research designs usually do not take into consideration the dynamic state of each subject’s potential responsiveness to an intervention. Providing a rational, rather than convenient, intensity and duration of therapy may remedy this potential confounder for clinical trials. To determine whether a most effective dose of a therapy exists, investigators could assess subjects before the intervention, administer interim measures at planned intervals, and continue the intervention until the primary behavioral outcomes or functional imaging parameters or both reach a plateau for at least 15 h of additional treatment. Conclusion. Promising interventions ought to be continued in phase II/III trials until subjects reach an asymptote in the primary outcome for behavioral gains. For neuroimaging studies that aim to correlate brain-behavior measures during rehabilitation, the specific intervention should also continue until behavioral gains and cerebral adaptations have attained a persistent plateau. Future trials can investigate whether functional neuroimaging performed in parallel with repeated behavioral assessments can better inform researchers about the optimal duration of an experimental therapy and a subject’s maximal capacity for intervention-induced cerebral reorganization.
Lesions as Therapy: Rigidity and Parkinsons Disease

Since James Parkinson (1817) first characterized the shaking palsy as a unique condition, significant confusion has remained concerning the causes and treatments of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Through the 19th century, a wide variety of approaches were attempted in an effort to reduce its cardinal signs – rigidity, tremor, and bradykinesia – but to little effect. Today, approaching 200 years after Parkinson’s seminal work, this disorder is commonly treated by surgical means, inducing a lesion in one specific portion of a small nucleus in the central nervous system (Desaloms et al., 1998, Lang et al., 1999). The notion of providing a lesion to the nervous system as a therapy for PD, however, began in earnest at the beginning of the 20th century. The first attempt to alleviate the symptoms of PD through surgical means involved a section of the dorsal roots of the spinal cord supplying the affected limb (also known as dorsal rhizotomy). Today, selective dorsal rhizotomy is commonly performed to treat chronic pain (Scrivani et al., 1999) and spasticity in children with cerebral palsy (Vaughan et al., 1998). Thus, for certain types of paralysis, this procedure relieves some measure of rigidity without producing further complications.
Evaluation of a New Computer Intervention to Teach People with Autism or Asperger Syndrome to Recognize and Predict Emotions in Others

This randomized controlled trial looked at the effect of a new computer program designed to teach people with autistic spectrum disorders to better recognize and predict emotional responses in others. Two groups of 11 children (age 12-18) with autism or Asperger syndrome at two special schools participated: one group used the computer program for 10 half-hour sessions over 2 weeks. Within-program data showed a significant reduction in errors made from first to last use. Students were assessed pre- and post-intervention using facial expression photographs, cartoons depicting emotion-laden situations, and non-literal stories. Scores were not related to age or verbal ability. The experimental group made gains relative to the control group on all three measures. Gains correlated significantly with the number of times the computer program was used and results suggest positive effects. Further research could assess whether these gains generalized into real life or improved performance on theory of mind measures.
On the Effect of Public Announcements in the Trading Patterns of Investors: Evidence of Taiwan

This paper aims to examine the reactions among institutional and individual investors when facing those listed firms' public announcements, and the effects of their trading on stock returns on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). By employing a trivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) model, we find that institutional investors are informed traders combined with herding behavior. In contrast, individual investors are liquidity providers and also suffer from both overconfidence and disposition effect.
Provider Strategic Behavior in the Global Budget System

Given the increasing pressure of health expenditure growth in recent decades, global budget payment has become an important policy option to contain health care cost. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the incentive structure of the global budget system as well as the strategic behavioral response of the providers. I argue that global budget is a type of common‐pool resources (CPR) and therefore presents the providers a social dilemma, in which the individual and group interests conflict. Under a bounded rationality framework, the analysis shows that as the payment system shifts from fee‐for‐service to global budget, the providers would first engage in a non‐cooperative competition where the providers pay more attention to services with higher price‐cost ratios. The resulting volume race would lead to a vicious circle of working harder but declining profits. However, in the awareness of the need for collective action, the providers could, with varied levels of success, overcome " the tragedy of the commons " by engaging in cooperative competition, which poses a different set of financial incentives than the earlier phase and could result in structural changes of the health care market in the long‐run. Implications for empirical testing are then discussed.
Comparison of Efficient Global Optimization and Output Space Mapping on the Biobjective Optimization of a Safety Isolating Transformer

The optimal design of electromagnetic devices needs to address two particular aspects: 1) the use of accurate tools and 2) the limited time budget affected to this task. In order to respond to these issues, two low evaluation budget multiobjective optimization techniques-efficient global optimization (EGO) and output space mapping (OSM)-are investigated in this paper with regard to a biobjective optimization benchmark. The device to be optimally sized is a low-voltage safety isolating transformer, represented through two levels of modeling: 1) coarse (analytical model) and 2) fine (numerical 3-D FEM). The biobjective character of the problem is accounted for by OSM through an epsilon-constraint technique. A transformation technique is set up with EGO by considering the constraints as an additional objective function in order to handle the constraints of the initial optimization problem. The biobjective comparison of the two techniques on the transformer benchmark is discussed.
Threshold Effects of Dismissal Protection Regulations and Employment Dynamics

Labour market regulations aimed at enhancing job-security are dominant in several OECD countries. These regulations seek to reduce dismissals of workers and fluctuations in employment. The main theoretical contribution is to gauge the effects of such regulations on labour demand across establishment sizes. In order to achieve this, we investigate an optimising model of labour demand under uncertainty through the application of real option theory. The calibration results indicate that labour market rigidities may be crucial for understanding sluggishness in firms´ labour demand across plant sizes in continental Europe.
Effect of 1,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 on Insulin Secretion

Recent autoradiographic studies demonstrated that Bcells concentrate 1,25 (OH)2 D3 in their nuclei, suggesting a genomic action on B-cell function. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of 1,25 (OH)2 D3 on insulin secretion in vitamin D-deficient rats. Mature vitamin D-deficient rats were injected with 1,25 (OH)2 D3 or the ethanol-isotonic saline vehicle. Administration of 1,25 (OH)2 D3 to 10 rats resulted in a 17 μu/ml (113%) increase in insulin levels and 0.9 mg/dl (16%) increase in plasma calcium. No changes were found in insulin or calcium levels in 5 control rats given vehicle alone. A group of vitamin D-deficient rats with plasma calcium levels of 5.4 ± 0.1 mg/dl had insulin levels that were the same as those observed in a group of vitamin D-deficient rats with plasma calcium levels of 6.3 ± 0.1 mg/dl. The difference in calcium levels between these two groups is similar to the increase in plasma calcium found after 1,25 (OH)2 D3 administration. The results of these studies indicate that 1,25 (OH)2 D3 action on pancreatic B-cells affects insulin secretion. Since insulin increases synthesis of 1,25 (OH)2 D3, the existence of a feedback loop between B-cells and kidney proximal tubule cells is suggested.
Src Mediates Cigarette Smoke–Induced Resistance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in NSCLC Cells

The EGF receptor (EGFR) is a proto-oncogene commonly dysregulated in several cancers including non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and, thus, is targeted for treatment using tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as erlotinib. However, despite the efficacy observed in patients with NSCLC harboring oncogenic variants of the EGFR, general ineffectiveness of TKIs in patients with NSCLC who are current and former smokers necessitates identification of novel mechanisms to overcome this phenomenon. Previously, we showed that NSCLC cells harboring either wild-type (WT) EGFR or oncogenic mutant (MT) L858R EGFR become resistant to the effects of TKIs when exposed to cigarette smoke, evidenced by their autophosphorylation and prolonged downstream signaling. Here, we present Src as a target mediating cigarette smoke–induced resistance to TKIs in both WT EGFR- and L858R MT EGFR–expressing NSCLC cells. First, we show that cigarette smoke exposure of A549 cells leads to time-dependent activation of Src, which then abnormally binds to the WT EGFR causing TKI resistance, contrasting previous observations of constitutive binding between inactive Src and TKI-sensitive L858R MT EGFR. Next, we show that Src inhibition restores TKI sensitivity in cigarette smoke–exposed NSCLC cells, preventing EGFR autophosphorylation in the presence of erlotinib. Furthermore, we show that overexpression of a dominant-negative Src (Y527F/K295R) restores TKI sensitivity to A549 exposed to cigarette smoke. Importantly, the TKI resistance that emerges even in cigarette smoke–exposed L858R EGFR–expressing NSCLC cells could be eliminated with Src inhibition. Together, these findings offer new rationale for using Src inhibitors for treating TKI-resistant NSCLC commonly observed in smokers. Mol Cancer Ther; 12(8); 1579–90. ©2013 AACR.
Official Dollarisation/Euroisation: Motives, Features and Policy Implications of Current Cases

Official and unilateral dollarisation/euroisation has become a common policy advice for emerging market economies. Against this background, the paper provides a comprehensive review of all the main cases of dollarisation/euroisation, analysing motives, features and policy implications of this exchange rate regime. The main results are that policies fostering integration with the anchor country, in particular fiscal transfers, tourism and offshore finance, have been crucial in supporting the exchange rate regime. To this end, most dollarised/euroised countries have exploited advantages that are largely prior to the choice of exchange rate regime, namely their small size, geographic proximity to the anchor country, and politically dependent status. Thus, recommending dollarisation/euroisation irrespective of countries’ ex ante degree of integration with the potential anchor country seems to bear considerable risks, as dollarisation/euroisation does not seem to be a straightforward substitute for integration.
Uncovering Market Discrepancies in the Corporate Bond Market using Estimated Asset Volatility Theory and Trading Simulation

In this master thesis we empirically tests Merton’s (1974) structural model for valuing the corporate bonds of Ericsson and ABB. We argue that market inefficiencies are demonstrated by overreactions in asset volatility and Merton’s model is applied to identify these discrepancies. When testing Merton’s model, five different trading strategies are developed. The strategy with the highest risk adjusted return is the hedge fund approach. This proves that the model can provide useful information, since the hedge strategy is more sensitive to changes in asset volatility than any other strategy. The asset volatility discrepancies are uncovered and can be used to increase trading profits.
The fibrin(ogen)olytic properties of cathepsin D.

Fibrin(ogen) is important for hemostasis and is cleared from sites of vascular injury primarily by the plasminogen activator system. However, there is emerging evidence in plasminogen activator-deficient transgenic mice that non-plasmin pathways may also be important for endogenous fibrinolysis. We have recently described an alternative, plasmin-independent fibrinolytic pathway in activated human monocytes that utilizes the integrin Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18), which directly binds and internalizes fibrin, resulting in its lysosomal degradation. The identity of the lysosomal fibrinolytic enzyme(s) responsible for monocyte/macrophage-mediated fibrinolytic is unknown. Protease inhibitor studies now suggest that an aspartyl protease is responsible for this fibrinolytic activity. We, therefore, examined the fibrinolytic properties of cathepsin D, a lysosomal aspartyl protease, and report that cathepsin D possesses both fibrinogenolytic and fibrinolytic activity. Cathepsin D cleavage of fibrinogen follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Michaelis constant, Km, of 1.5 microM; catalytic rate constant, kcat, of 1.4 x 10(-3) s-1; and catalytic efficiency, kcat/Km, of 9.3 x 10(-4) microM-1 s-1. A pH-activity profile of fibrinogen digestion by cathepsin D demonstrates a pH optimum of 3.5 with 50% residual activity at pH 5.0. Fibrinolysis was assessed by fibrin plate and fibrin clot lysis assays. Cathepsin D possesses significant fibrinolytic activity over a dose range of 100 nM to 10 microM and is able to lyse fibrin, as well as albumin-enriched and albumin/red cell-enriched fibrin clots. Cathepsin D cleaves the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-chains of FGN, generating multiple low-molecular-weight fragments. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)