Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A focus on the future: Pathways for undergraduate student persistence at North Carolina public historically Black Colleges and Universities

Undergraduate withdrawal is a problem for public historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina. Research indicates that many factors contribute to this problem, including student personal characteristics, family background, and high school academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to learn whether student developmental courses, financial aid receipt, and parental socioeconomic status are predictive of undergraduate student withdrawal in public HBCUs in North Carolina. A sample of participants included first-time, first-year students who entered four public post-secondary institutions in North Carolina during the academic period from August 1999 to May 2005. Findings of the study suggest that a significant relationship exists between developmental math scores, a financial aid award, parental income of students, and undergraduate student withdrawal. Although the study utilized HBCUs in North Carolina, the students studied included ethnicities other than Blacks. While the study is exploratory, a number of policy implications and interventions are suggested.
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II

The NASEM panel evaluated the draft NCA4 Vol. II and published a document that captured consensus responses to questions posed within a carefully designed Statement of Task. The final report can be accessed here and an acknowledgment generated by USGCRP leadership here. This memo explains actions taken by the NCA4 Vol. II writing team to accommodate the expert judgment of the committee. In addition to the narrative review provided by the NASEM penal, each chapter writing team considered any chapterspecific line-by-line comments made by the panel, noted edits and rationale, and revise the report. The annotation to these line-by-line comments from the NASEM panel can be accessed here.
Residue–Residue contact substitution probabilities derived from aligned three‐dimensional structures and the identification of common folds

We report the derivation of scores that are based on the analysis of residue‐residue contact matrices from 443 3‐dimensional structures aligned structurally as 96 families, which can be used to evaluate sequence‐structure matches. Residue–residue contacts and the more than 3 × 106 amino acid substitutions that take place between pairs of these contacts at aligned positions within each family of structures have been tabulated and segregated according to the solvent accessibility of the residues involved. Contact maps within a family of structures are shown to be highly conserved (∼75%) even when the sequence identity is approaching 10%. In a comparison involving a globin structure and the search of a sequence databank (>21,000 sequences), the contact probability scores are shown to provide a very powerful secondary screen for the top scoring sequence–structure matches, where between 69% and 84% of the unrelated matches are eliminated. The search of an aligned set of 2 globins against a sequence databank and the subsequent residue contact‐based evaluation of matches locates all 618 globin sequences before the first non‐globin match. From a single bacterial serine proteinase structure, the structural template approach coupled with residue–residue contact substitution data lead to the detection of the mammalian serine proteinase family among the top matches in the search of a sequence databank.
Marked Regional Heterogeneity in the Magnitude of EDRF/NO‐Mediated Vascular Tone in Awake Rats

The systemic and regional hemodynamic effects of inhibition of endothelium-derived relaxing factor/ nitric oxide (EDRF/NO) were studied in awake, indo-methacin-treated rats. The radiolabeled microsphere method was used to determine the cardiac output, systemic vascular resistance (SVR), and regional blood flows and regional vascular resistances in 12 tissues before and after infusion of the EDRF/NO synthesis inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMMA, 100 mg/kg), and after reversal of NMMA by infusion of L-arginine (300 mg/kg). NMMA infusion resulted in increases in the blood pressure and SVR. After NMMA, blood flows were decreased to the cerebrum, heart, kidney, spleen, gastrointestinal tract, skin, ear, and white fat, whereas flow in the hepatic artery was increased. Vascular resistances were increased in every tissue studied except the hepatic artery, in which the resistance decreased after NMMA. L-arginine restored the vascular resistance to control values in 8 of the 12 tissues. The magnitude of the increase in the regional resistance was not uniform among the organs studied, and ranged from a maximum of 253% in brown fat to 22% in heart. These results indicate that EDRF/NO is an important mediator of regional hemodynamic control in numerous tissues of the intact rat. The marked heterogeneity in the magnitude of basal EDRF/ NO-dependent tone suggests that the mechanisms mediating this cardiovascular control system are regulated locally.
RUNX1 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia: results from a comprehensive genetic and clinical analysis from the AML study group.

PURPOSE To evaluate frequency, biologic features, and clinical relevance of RUNX1 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). PATIENTS AND METHODS Diagnostic samples from 945 patients (age 18 to 60 years) were analyzed for RUNX1 mutations. In a subset of cases (n = 269), microarray gene expression analysis was performed. RESULTS Fifty-nine RUNX1 mutations were identified in 53 (5.6%) of 945 cases, predominantly in exons 3 (n = 11), 4 (n = 10), and 8 (n = 23). RUNX1 mutations clustered in the intermediate-risk cytogenetic group (46 of 640, 7.2%; cytogenetically normal, 34 of 538, 6.3%), whereas they were less frequent in adverse-risk cytogenetics (five of 109, 4.6%) and absent in core-binding-factor AML (0 of 77) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (0 of 61). RUNX1 mutations were associated with MLL-partial tandem duplications (P = .0007) and IDH1/IDH2 mutations (P = .03), inversely correlated with NPM1 (P < .0001), and in trend with CEBPA (P = .10) mutations. RUNX1 mutations were characterized by a distinct gene expression pattern; this RUNX1 mutation-derived signature was not exclusive for the mutation, but also included mostly adverse-risk AML [eg, 7q-, -7, inv(3), or t(3;3)]. RUNX1 mutations predicted for resistance to chemotherapy (rates of refractory disease 30% and 19%, P = .047, for RUNX1-mutated and wild-type patients, respectively), as well as inferior event-free survival (EFS; P < .0001), relapse-free survival (RFS, P = .022), and overall survival (P = .051). In multivariable analysis, RUNX1 mutations were an independent prognostic marker for shorter EFS (P = .007). Explorative subgroup analysis revealed that allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation had a favorable impact on RFS in RUNX1-mutated patients (P < .0001). CONCLUSION AML with RUNX1 mutations are characterized by distinct genetic properties and are associated with resistance to therapy and inferior outcome.
Olfactory Computations and Network Oscillation

Oscillatory activity is a universal design feature of olfactory systems ([Tank et al., 1994][1]), having been demonstrated by Lord Adrian in the olfactory bulb of the hedgehog >60 years ago ([Adrian, 1942][2]). Hints as to the computational role of olfactory oscillations have only recently begun to
Time dependent effect on mortality of drug-eluting stents versus bare metal stents

Abstract Objective. The comparison of all-cause long-term mortality between the use of drug-eluting stents versus bare metal stents in patients treated with percutaneous coronary interventions. Design. Observational data from patients treated at Feiring Heart Clinic from 1999 until 2010 with a follow-up of survival at March 8, 2011. The survival was compared using Cox regression with ordinary covariates, propensity score used as covariate and 1:1 propensity score matching. Results. The analyses included 5690 patients treated solely with bare metal stents and 2916 with drug-eluting stents. During the study period (October 2002 to March 2011), 996 deaths were observed. Due to nonproportional hazard effect on mortality of drug-eluting stents compared to bare metal stents, a landmark analysis splitting time at 9 months was employed. All analyses indicated a significantly reduced mortality by drug-eluting stents in the first 9 months with hazard ratios ranging from 0.42 to 0.51 with no difference in mortality from 9 months to 8 years of follow-up. Conclusions. Short-term mortality was significantly reduced in the drug-eluting stent group compared to the bare metal stent group. A selection bias could not be ruled out as an explanation for this effect. No difference was observed in mortality after 9 months.
Economic Freedom and Participation in Physical Activity

Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and influences a variety of health outcomes. Across countries, economic freedom has been found to be positively associated with greater participation in physical activity and well-being. We empirically investigate the relationship between economic freedom and physical activity across U.S. states. Contrary to the cross-country results, we find that states with higher levels of economic freedom have lower rates of participation in physical activity.
A theoretical model to measure user's behavioural intention to use iMAP-CampUS app

Technology has become a part of our daily life, growing the vital need for institutions to provide rapid access to information available all the time. Recently, Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as a technology for educational institutions to enhance students' and visitors' experience through its capability to overlay information into the real world environment. In spite of the popularity of widespread AR applications and user acceptance of geo-based AR technology, there is limited academic research conducted to study users' acceptance of AR applications. The aim of this paper is to propose an AR Technology (ART) Acceptance framework by developing a mobile AR application. The mobile AR application shows campus-related information superimposed on a map of Macquarie University, Sydney. We use this app to review the factors influencing the acceptance of AR technology. The ART Acceptance Framework integrates the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with the IS success factors and Motivation theory. This integration results in three success measures (information quality, system quality, and user satisfaction) and three acceptance constructs (effort expectancy, facilitating condition, and visual quality). These measures and constructs form the ART acceptance model we propose.
Intragenic ERG Deletions Do Not Explain the Biology of ERG-Related Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Intragenic ERG deletions occur in 3–5% of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, specifically in B-other subtype lacking the classifying genetic lesions. They represent the only genetic lesion described so far present in the majority of cases clustering into a subgroup of B-other subtype characterized by a unique gene expression profile, probably sharing a common, however, not yet fully described, biological background. We aimed to elucidate whether ERG deletions could drive the specific biology of this ERG-related leukemia subgroup through expression of aberrant or decreased expression of wild type ERG isoforms. We showed that leukemic cells with endogenous ERG deletion express an aberrant transcript translated into two proteins in transfected cell lines and that one of these proteins colocalizes with wild type ERG. However, we did not confirm expression of the proteins in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases with endogenous ERG deletion. ERG deletions resulted in significantly lower expression of wild type ERG transcripts compared to B-other cases without ERG deletion. However, cases with subclonal ERG deletion, clustering to the same ERG deletion associated subgroup, presented similar levels of wild type ERG as cases without ERG deletion. In conclusion, our data suggest that neither the expression of aberrant proteins from internally deleted allele nor the reduced expression of wild type ERG seem to provide a plausible explanation of the specific biology of ERG -related leukemia subgroup.
Alu and Satα hypomethylation in Helicobacter pylori‐infected gastric mucosae

Global hypomethylation and regional hypermethylation are supposed to be hallmarks of cancer cells. During gastric carcinogenesis, in which Helicobacter pylori infection is causally involved, aberrant hypermethylation is already present in H. pylori‐infected gastric mucosae. In contrast, little is known about global hypomethylation, which can be caused by hypomethylation of individual repetitive elements and other sequences. We, therefore, investigated hypomethylation of individual repetitive elements and the global 5‐methylcytosine content in four groups of gastric mucosal samples that represented the time course of H. pylori infection and gastric carcinogenesis [gastric mucosae of H. pylori‐negative healthy volunteers (G1, n = 34), H. pylori‐positive healthy volunteers (G2, n = 42), H. pylori‐positive gastric cancer patients (G3, n = 34) and H. pylori‐negative gastric cancer patients (G4, n = 20)] and 52 primary gastric cancers. Major variants of Alu, LINE1 and Satα were identified, and their methylation levels were quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing. Compared with G1, the Alu methylation level was decreased in G2, G3, G4 and cancers (89.2–97.1% of that in G1, p < 0.05). The Satα methylation level was decreased in G2 (91.6%, p < 0.05) and G3 (94.3%, p = 0.08) but not in G4 and cancers. The LINE1 methylation level was decreased only in cancers. The 5‐methylcytosine content was at similar levels in G2, G3 and G4 and highly variable in cancers. These results showed that Alu and Satα hypomethylation is induced in gastric mucosae by H. pylori infection during gastric carcinogenesis, possibly in different target cells, and that global hypomethylation is not always present in human gastric cancers.
Model Dynamics and Risk Premia in the Short Term Market for Crude Oil

This paper investigates model dynamics and risk premia in the short term market for crude oil futures. Stochastic volatility models, with and without jumps, are estimated using data on both futures and option prices. As an economic application we apply the estimated models to the pricing of crude oil variance swaps and an evaluation of the associated variance risk premium. The empirical results point to a positive return risk premium attached to diffusive stochastic volatility while there is not strong evidence of jump risk being priced in the market. Negative volatility and variance risk premia stand out as a robust and significant feature of the data. Jumps play a minor role for representing data and the jump risk component in both variance swaps and variance risk premia is small. Finally, a non-affine model that allows for level dependent volatility of volatility is found to have the best fit to data.
Great Expectations and Hard Times

This contribution investigates the role of education in domestic terrorism for 133 countries between 1984 and 2007. The findings point to a nontrivial effect of education on terrorism. Lower education tends to promote terrorism in a cluster of countries where socioeconomic, political, and demographic conditions are unfavorable, while higher education reduces terrorism in a cluster of countries where conditions are more favorable. This suggests that country-specific circumstances moderate the effect of education on terrorism. The results of this study imply that promoting education needs to be accompanied by sound structural change to positively affect (individual and society-wide) development and consequently reduce terrorism.
The Cortex-based Alignment Approach to TMS Coil Positioning

TMS allows noninvasive manipulation of brain activity in healthy participants and patients. The effectiveness of TMS experiments critically depends on precise TMS coil positioning, which is best for most brain areas when a frameless stereotactic system is used to target activation foci based on individual fMRI data. From a purely scientific perspective, individual fMRI-guided TMS is thus the method of choice to ensure optimal TMS efficiency. Yet, from a more practical perspective, such individual functional data are not always available, and therefore alternative TMS coil positioning approaches are often applied, for example, based on functional group data reported in Talairach coordinates. We here propose a novel method for TMS coil positioning that is based on functional group data, yet only requires individual anatomical data. We used cortex-based alignment (CBA) to transform individual anatomical data to an atlas brain that includes probabilistic group maps of two functional regions (FEF and hMT+/V5). Then, these functional group maps were back-transformed to the individual brain anatomy, preserving functional–anatomical correspondence. As a proof of principle, the resulting CBA-based functional targets in individual brain space were compared with individual FEF and hMT+/V5 hotspots as conventionally localized with individual fMRI data and with targets based on Talairach coordinates as commonly done in TMS research in case only individual anatomical data are available. The CBA-based approach significantly improved localization of functional brain areas compared with traditional Talairach-based targeting. Given the widespread availability of CBA schemes and preexisting functional group data, the proposed procedure is easy to implement and at no additional measurement costs. However, the accuracy of individual fMRI-guided TMS remains unparalleled, and the CBA-based approach should only be the method of choice when individual functional data cannot be obtained or experimental factors argue against it.
Gelation of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) minced muscle as affected by pressure and thermal treatments at low salt concentration.

BACKGROUND Barramundi minced muscle with salt 10 g kg-1 and 20 g kg-1 added is gelled by different combinations of pressurisation (300, 400 and 500 MPa at 4 °C for 10 min), cooking (0.1 MPa, 90 °C for 30 min) and setting (0.1 MPa, 50 °C for 2 h) to improve mechanical properties of barramundi gels and reduce salt added to barramundi gels. RESULTS At the low salt concentration of 10 g kg-1 , pressurisation prior to cooking (P-C) treatment induced barramundi gels with comparable mechanical properties and water-holding capacity to those of conventional heat induced (HI) gels with 20 g kg-1 added salt. At salt concentration of 20 g kg-1 , pressurisation prior to setting (P-S) and P-C gels exhibited higher mechanical properties and water-holding capacity as compared to HI gels. Scanning electron microscopy images showed a smooth and dense microstructure of P-C and P-S gels whereas the microstructure of HI gels is rough and less compact. CONCLUSIONS P-C treatment can reduce salt concentration added to barramundi gels to 10 g kg-1 . P-S and P-C treatment can result in higher mechanical and functional properties of barramundi gels at conventional salt concentration (20 g kg-1 ) as compared to HI gels. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Residues of β-lactam antibiotics in bovine milk: confirmatory analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry after microbial assay screening

A procedure for the simultaneous determination of the residues of seven β-lactam antibiotics (penicillin G, ampicillin, oxacillin, amoxicillin, dicloxacillin, cephalexin, cephapirin) in bovine raw milk using tandem liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is described. The antibiotics were extracted by an acetic acid solution after centrifugation and filtration. The β-lactams were separated using reversed-phase liquid chromatography. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used in positive-ion mode as a detector via a Turbo Ionspray interface for electrospray ionization (ESI). The limits of detection and quantitation of the method were below the legal tolerances, except for ampicillin. The method was used to confirm 53 samples found positive by a microbial method (Delvotest SP®) at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale per la Lombardia e l'Emilia Romagna of Brescia during 2001. Penicillin G was found in 26 samples at concentrations ranging from less than 4 to 6240 ± 550 μg l−1. Amoxicillin was found in three samples at concentrations ranging from 8.5 ± 0.1 to 53.7 ± 2.3 μg l−1. Cephapirin was found in two samples at 5.7 ± 0.1 and 6.4 ± 0.3 μg l−1.
Phosphorylation‐ and stimulus‐dependent inhibition of cellular 5‐lipoxygenase activity by nonredox‐type inhibitors

Nonredox‐type 5‐lipoxygenase (5‐LO) inhibitors such as ZM230487 or L‐739.010 potently suppress leukotriene biosynthesis at low cellular peroxide tone. Here, we show that inhibition of 5‐LO product formation by nonredox‐type 5‐LO inhibitors in human isolated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) depends on the activation pathway of 5‐LO. Thus, compared with 5‐LO product synthesis induced by the Ca2+‐mobilizing agent ionophore A23187, cell stress‐induced 5‐LO product formation involving 5‐LO kinase pathways required ∼10‐ to 100‐fold higher concentrations of ZM230487 or L‐739.010 for comparable 5‐LO inhibition. No such differences were observed for the iron ligand‐type 5‐LO inhibitor BWA4C or the novel‐type 5‐LO inhibitors hyperforin and 3‐O‐acetyl‐11‐keto‐boswellic acid. Experiments using purified 5‐LO revealed that Ca2+ is no prerequisite for potent enzyme inhibition by ZM230487, and exposure of PMNL to the combination of ionophore and cell stress did not restore potent 5‐LO suppression. Intriguingly, a significant difference in the potency of nonredox‐type inhibitors (but not of BWA4C) was determined between wild‐type 5‐LO and the mutant S271A/S663A‐5‐LO (lacking phosphorylation sites for ERK1/2 and MAPKAPK‐2) in HeLa cells. Collectively, our data suggest that compared with Ca2+‐mediated 5‐LO product formation, enzyme activation involving 5‐LO phosphorylation events specifically and strongly alters the susceptibility of 5‐LO toward nonredox‐type inhibitors in intact cells.
Azithromycin maintenance therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis: A dose advice based on a review of pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and side effects

Azithromycin maintenance therapy results in improvement of respiratory function in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In azithromycin maintenance therapy, several dosing schemes are applied. In this review, we combine current knowledge about azithromycin pharmacokinetics with the dosing schedules used in clinical trials in order to come to a dosing advise which could be generally applicable. We used data from a recently updated Cochrane meta analysis (2011), the reports of clinical trials and pharmacokinetic studies. Based on these data, it was concluded that a dose level of 22–30 mg/kg/week is the lowest dose level with proven efficacy. Due to the extended half‐life in patients with CF, the weekly dose of azithromycin can be divided in one to seven dosing moments, depending on patient preference and gastro‐intestinal tolerance. No important side effects or interactions with other CF‐related drugs have been documented so far. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2012; 47:658–665. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.