Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbon Accounting in Harvested Wood Products: Assessment Using Material Flow Analysis Resulting in Larger Pools Compared to the IPCC Default Method

Increasing the amount of carbon stored in harvested wood products (HWPs) is an internationally recognized measure to mitigate climate change. Several approaches and tiers of methods may be used to analyze the contribution of HWP in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and removals at a regional and national level. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides guidelines on three tiers of methods for estimating annual carbon stock changes in the carbon pool of HWPs. These tiers mostly differ by the availability of input data and the level of HWP aggregation. In this case study for the Czech Republic, we have applied the production approach and alternative tiers of accounting methods, which are described in the IPCC guidelines, including the default method (tier 2) and the most advanced method (tier 3). We used country‐specific data and material flow analysis to trace the carbon flow over the entire forest‐based sector, including only the domestic harvest and the primary and secondary wood products manufactured within the country. The results of this study show that the carbon stored in the HWP pool could be underestimated if simpler methods and default values nonspecific to the country are applied. At the national level, applying the tier 3 method resulted in a 15.8% higher annual carbon inflow in the pool of HWPs compared to the tier 2 IPCC default method. This means that the advanced method reveals an apparently higher carbon sink in HWPs. A documented increase of carbon storage might bring additional credits to reporting countries, and, more important, it could promote the use of long‐life HWPs to mitigate climate change.
Expression of ceramide glucosyltransferases, which are essential for glycosphingolipid synthesis, is only required in a small subset of C. elegans cells

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are glycosylated derivatives of ceramide in the lipid bilayer. Their ubiquitous distribution and complexity suggest that they have important functions, but what these are in vivo is still poorly understood. Here, we characterize the phenotype of Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with essentially no GSLs. The C. elegans genome encodes three ceramide glucosyltransferase (CGT) genes, which encode enzymes required for GSL biosynthesis. Animals lacking CGT do not synthesize GSLs, arrest growth at the first larval stage, and display defects in a subset of cells in their digestive tract; these defects impair larval feeding, resulting in a starvation-induced growth arrest. Restoring CGT function in these digestive tract cells – but not in a variety of other tissues – is sufficient to rescue the phenotypes associated with loss of CGT function. These unexpected findings suggest that GSLs are dispensable in most C. elegans cells, including those of the nervous system.
Equity Meets Costly Monitoring and Heterogeneous Social Identities

This paper presents a laboratory experiment that studies the effects of costly monitoring and heterogeneous social identities on an equity principle of reward allocation. In particular, the investigation is based on a two-stage mechanism where a production phase is followed by a distribution phase in which peers can decide on others’ payoff. Previous experiments suggest that most players allocate the payoff based others’ relative contributions of the production phase. I hypothesise that the equity principle may be violated when participants bear a personal cost to monitor others’ contributions, or when heterogeneous social identities are present in reward allocations. The experimental results show that almost half of the allocators are willing to enforce the social norm of equity principle at their own cost. Likewise, with the presence of heterogeneous social identities, though a few participants give more to their in-group member, the majority of them still follow the equity principle to allocate.
Capital Asset Pricing Model in Unconditional and Conditional Framework: Empirical Evidence from Emerging Economy of Pakistan

The present study empirically investigates the risk and return relationship by loading the macroeconomic information in standard CAPM in addition to market information. One hundred financial and non financial companies listed on Karachi Stock Exchange are investigated over a period of January 2005 to August 2011. Monthly data is used for the company asset prices, market portfolio and macroeconomic variables in this study. The macroeconomic variables are used as additional risk forces in the model. The study makes use of CAPM with unconditional and conditional specification for the prediction of future asset prices. The time varying conditional information and lagged macroeconomic variables are added in the model. The GARCH (1, 1) – M technique is applied to capture the conditional volatility clustering of asset returns. The findings of the current study reveals that conditional multifactor CAPM have better results than unconditional multifactor CAPM model. The residuals and conditional variances have significantly positive impact and are helpful in explaining time varying behaviour of asset returns. The macroeconomic variables such as oil prices, foreign exchange rate, foreign exchange reserves, inflation rate, interest rate, and money supply play significant role while industrial production index, unemployment rate, and market returns have inconclusive role in this study. The study concludes that macroeconomic risk factors play a prominent role in explaining stock returns.
Clinical significance of miR-34a expression in thyroid diseases – an 18F-FDG PET-CT study

Purpose To evaluate the possible roles of miR-34a expression in thyroid lesions, to unravel the correlation between fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake and miR-34a expression and moreover, to discover the underlying mechanisms by which miR-34a regulates FDG avidity. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 75 patients with pathology-confirmed thyroid diseases who underwent 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) within 3 months before undergoing thyroid surgery and miR-34a analysis from June 2012 to July 2017. 18F-FDG uptake of thyroid lesions was also analyzed semiquantitatively using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). The association between miR-34a expression and clinicopathological variables (age, sex, TNM stage, histopathology, lesion numbers, location and 18F-FDG avidity) was investigated. When there were multiple lesions in thyroid bed, only the one with the highest 18F-FDG uptake was analyzed. Next, we inhibited the miR-34a expression in TPC-1 cells and detected the expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) mRNA and protein. Results In the patients cohort, miR-34a was upregulated in those with malignant thyroid diseases compared with benign lesions. The expression of miR-34a was associated with tumor stages, histopathological types and SUVmax. There was an inverse relationship between miR-34a expression and SUVmax in patients with thyroid diseases (Spearman correlation coefficient = −0.553, P < 0.0001). With an SUVmax of 4.3 as the threshold, sensitivity and specificity of the prediction of miR-34a expression (low or high) were 70% and 94.3%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.843 (95% confidence interval: 0.749, 0.936; P = 0.001). Inhibiting miR-34a in TPC-1 cells significantly increased GLUT1 mRNA and protein expression. Conclusion miR-34a expression was upregulated in thyroid lesions, negatively correlated with SUVmax and can be predicted by FDG SUVmax. In addition, miR-34a may regulate FDG avidity via targeting GLUT1.
Identification of a Marine AgarolyticPseudoalteromonas Isolate and Characterization of Its Extracellular Agarase

ABSTRACT The phenotypic and agarolytic features of an unidentified marine bacteria that was isolated from the southern Pacific coast was investigated. The strain was gram negative, obligately aerobic, and polarly flagellated. On the basis of several phenotypic characters and a phylogenetic analysis of the genes coding for the 16S rRNA, this strain was identified as Pseudoalteromonas antarcticastrain N-1. In solid agar, this isolate produced a diffusible agarase that caused agar softening around the colonies. An extracellular agarase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The purified protein was determined to be homogeneous on the basis of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and it had a molecular mass of 33 kDa. The enzyme hydrolyzed the β-1,4-glycosydic linkages of agar, yielding neoagarotetraose and neoagarohexaose as the main products, and exhibited maximal activity at pH 7. The enzyme was stable at temperatures up to 30°C, and its activity was not affected by salt concentrations up to 0.5 M NaCl.
Geographical structure and adaptive population differentiation in herbivore defence genes in European aspen (Populus tremula L., Salicaceae)

When a phenotypic trait is subjected to spatially variable selection and local adaptation, the underlying genes controlling the trait are also expected to show strong patterns of genetic differentiation because alternative alleles are favoured in different geographical locations. Here, we study 71 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from seven genes associated with inducible defence responses in a sample of Populus tremula collected from across Sweden. Four of these genes (PPO2, TI2, TI4 and TI5) show substantial population differentiation, and a principal component analyses conducted on the defence SNPs divides the Swedish population into three distinct clusters. Several defence SNPs show latitudinal clines, although these were not robust to multiple testing. However, five SNPs (located within TI4 and TI5) show strong longitudinal clines that remain significant after multiple test correction. Genetic geographical variation, supporting local adaptation, has earlier been confirmed in genes involved in the photoperiod pathway in P. tremula, but this is, to our knowledge, one of the first times that geographical variation has been found in genes involved in plant defence against antagonists.
The Nitric Oxide Synthase InhibitorNG-Nitro-l-Arginine Increases Basal Forebrain Acetylcholine Release during Sleep and Wakefulness

Cholinergic neurotransmission in the basal forebrain changes across the sleep/wake cycle, and considerable data show cortical activation by ACh originating from basal forebrain neurons. These findings have stimulated efforts to elucidate molecular modulators of ACh release within the basal forebrain. Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons contain nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme that produces the gaseous neuromodulator nitric oxide. This study tested the hypothesis that administration of an NOS inhibitor to the basal forebrain would alter basal forebrain ACh release, sleep, and respiratory rate. Seven cats were instrumented for recording sleep and wakefulness and for in vivo microdialysis and microinjection. Compared with Ringer's solution (control), microdialysis delivery of the NOS inhibitorNG-nitro-l-arginine (NLA; 10 mm) increased ACh release during wakefulness (33%), non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep (70%), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (16%). Mean ± SEM ACh levels (pmol/10 min) during control and NLA dialysis, respectively, were 0.58 ± 0.03 and 0.77 ± 0.06 in wakefulness, 0.36 ± 0.01 and 0.61 ± 0.06 in NREM sleep, and 0.68 ± 0.06 and 0.79 ± 0.09 in REM sleep. Increases in ACh release were not evoked by dialysis delivery of the less active enantiomerNG-nitro-d-arginine. Dialysis administration of NLA did not alter respiratory rate. Sleep-dependent changes in basal forebrain ACh release were localized specifically to lateral basal forebrain regions and did not occur in medial basal forebrain sites. Microinjection of NLA into the lateral basal forebrain did not significantly alter the sleep/wake cycle. In contrast to NLA-induced depression of REM sleep and ACh release in the cat pons, the present results demonstrate that NLA increased ACh release in the cat basal forebrain and had no effect on sleep. The different effects of NLA on ACh release in the cat pons and cat basal forebrain may prove relevant for developing compounds that differentially alter cholinergic neurotransmission in specific brain regions.
Prevalence of albuminuria and cardiovascular risk profile in a referred cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes: an Asian perspective.

BACKGROUND Microalbuminuria (MA) is a risk marker for diabetic nephropathy and cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) in patients with diabetes. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of albuminuria, CV risk factors, and treatments for renal and CV protection in an Asian population with type 2 diabetes. METHODS This cross-sectional study conducted in eight Asian countries enrolled normotensive/hypertensive adults with type 2 diabetes without known proteinuria and/or non-diabetic kidney disease. Exclusion criteria were type 1 diabetes, menstruation, pregnancy, and acute fever. A single random urinary albumin/creatinine test was carried out in all patients. RESULTS Of 8,561 patients, 14% had diabetic retinopathy, and 17% and 21% had history of CV disease and smoking, respectively. Normoalbuminuria was seen in 44%, MA in 44%, and macroalbuminuria in 12%. Target glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (<7%) was reached in only 37% of 3,834 patients with available values. Diabetes was managed by diet alone in 6%, while others received oral hypoglycemic drugs and/or insulin. In total, 75% did not reach target blood pressure (BP) of <or=130/80 mm Hg. Antihypertensive drugs were prescribed to 52%, with the number of drugs increasing as the level of systolic BP increased. Drugs blocking the renin-angiotensin system were most commonly prescribed, followed by calcium channel blockers. Lipid-lowering drugs and anticoagulant/antiplatelet agents were used in about 30% and 25% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Asian patients with type 2 diabetes had a high prevalence of MA and reduced kidney function. Furthermore, BP and HbA1c control was only achieved in a minority of patients. Aggressive risk management by administration of reno- and cardioprotective treatments is urgently needed.
[12WashJLTech&Arts095] Privacy Harmonization and the Developing World: The Impact of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation on Developing Economies

Through strengthened third-party obligations for data protection, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation will export privacy norms. However, developing economies may want to consider a co-regulatory industry approach to data protection before adopting similar national legislation. The General Data Protection Regulation can be an ideal model for global harmonization of privacy laws, particularly for adoption among industries and willing participants. To benefit from a co-regulatory approach, however, a developing economy would need to invest in education and legal systems in order to capture the benefits of the growing e-commerce market that will undoubtedly be influenced by the General Data Protection Regulation. * Tiffany Curtiss, University of Washington School of Law, Class of 2017. 1 Curtiss: Privacy Harmonization and the Developing World: The Impact of the Published by UW Law Digital Commons, 2016 96 WASHINGTON JOURNAL OF LAW, TECHNOLOGY & ARTS [VOL. 12:1
Roles of DICER-LIKE and ARGONAUTE Proteins in TAS-Derived Small Interfering RNA-Triggered DNA Methylation1[W]

Trans-acting small interfering RNAs (ta-siRNAs; TAS) emerge as a class of plant-specific small RNAs that are initiated from microRNA-mediated cleavage of TAS gene transcripts. It has been revealed that ta-siRNAs are generated by the sequential activities of SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING3 (SGS3), RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 (RDR6), and DICER-LIKE4 (DCL4), and loaded into ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) proteins to posttranscriptionally regulate several target genes by messenger RNA cleavage in trans. Here, we showed a high cytosine DNA methylation status at ta-siRNA-generating loci in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), which is dependent on RDR6, SGS3, and DNA-DIRECTED RNA POLYMERASE V (PolV). More important, we found that DCL1 is the only DCL protein that is required for TAS3 loci DNA methylation, and all four DCLs exert combinatory functions in the methylation of TAS1 loci, suggesting a previously unknown role for DCL1 in directly processing TAS gene transcripts. Furthermore, we demonstrated that AGO4/6 complexes rather than AGO1 are responsible for TAS siRNA-guided DNA methylation. Based upon these findings, we propose a novel ta-siRNA pathway that acts at both the messenger RNA and chromatin level.
Student time allocation, the learning environment and the acquisition of competencies

This paper investigates the significance of the higher education learning environment and the studentâ€™s time allocation over study related activities for the acquisition of generic and discipline-specific competencies. We discern four learning environments according to the emphasis placed on activating learning methods and the emphasis placed on the teacher as main source of information. Time used is measured for attention of formal education, self-study, extra-curricula activities and paid work. Using a unique data set on European higher education graduates, providing detailed information, we investigate the competencies acquisitions process by stochastic frontier production function methods. The results suggest that activating learning methods are effective in both, the acquisition of generic competencies and the acquisition of discipline-specific competencies. Moreover, the results show that discipline-specific competencies are acquired by attending formal education, by self-study and by paid work, as long as there is a strong link between the work and the study. Generic competencies are acquired by self-study and paid work that is related to the study.
PGE2 synthesis and response pathways in cultured corneal endothelial cells: the effects of in vitro aging.

PURPOSE The purpose of these studies is to develop an in vitro model of corneal endothelial aging and to investigate age-related changes in morphology, mitosis, prostaglandin synthesis and prostaglandin response pathways. METHODS First-passage rabbit corneal endothelial cells were grown in vitro for up to 30 days after subculture. PGE2 synthesis was measured by radioimmunoassay. EP2 receptors were evaluated, by determination of PGE2 stimulated by flow cytometry and by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation in subconfluent, confluent and injured cultures. RESULTS Rabbit corneal endothelial cells become less dense and more irregular in shape as they age in culture, thus resembling their in vivo counterparts. PGE2 synthesis and response decrease with culture age. Injury results in enhanced PGE2 synthesis in both younger and older cultures. In younger cultures, injury also results in mitosis of cells at the wound margin, and this response is greatly diminished in older cultures. CONCLUSIONS The morphologic and mitotic changes seen in rabbit corneal endothelial cultures in vitro resemble those seen as a consequence of aging in humans and rabbits. Prostaglandin synthesis and response pathways are modified as a result of aging and may play a role in the autocrine regulation of wound repair, especially in younger cells.
Development of a clinically feasible logMAR alternative to the Snellen chart: performance of the “compact reduced logMAR” visual acuity chart in amblyopic children

Background/aim: The “compact reduced logMAR” (cRLM) chart is being developed as a logMAR alternative to the Snellen chart. It is closer spaced and has fewer letters per line than conventional logMAR charts. Information regarding the performance of such a chart in amblyopes and children is therefore required. This study aimed to investigate the performance of the cRLM chart in amblyopic children. Methods: Timed test and retest measurements using two versions of each chart design were obtained on the amblyopic eye of 43 children. Using the methods of Bland and Altman the agreement, test-retest variability (95% confidence limits for agreement, TRV) and test time of the cRLM and the current clinical standard Snellen chart were compared to the gold standard ETDRS logMAR chart. Results: No systematic bias between chart designs was found. For line assignment scoring the respective TRVs were 0.20 logMAR, 0.20 logMAR, and 0.30 logMAR. Single letter scoring TRVs were cRLM (95% CL 0.17) logMAR, ETDRS (95% CL 0.14) logMAR, and Snellen (95% CL 0.29) logMAR. Median testing times were ETDRS 60 seconds, cRLM 40 seconds, Snellen 30 seconds. Conclusion: The sensitivity to change of the cRLM equalled or approached that of the gold standard ETDRS and was at least 50% better than that of Snellen. This enhanced sensitivity to change was at the cost of only a 10 second time penalty compared to Snellen. The cRLM chart was approximately half the width of the ETDRS chart. The cRLM chart may represent a clinically acceptable compromise between the desire to obtain logMAR acuities of reasonable and known sensitivity to change, chart size, and testing time.
Black–Litterman, exotic beta and varying efficient portfolios: an integrated approach

This paper brings together Black-Litterman optimization, exotic betas, and varying starting portfolios into one complete, symbiotic framework. The approach is unique because these techniques are often viewed as alternatives, and not as complements to each other. The paper is comprised of two main sections. The first section demonstrates using exotic beta as the “views” in the Black-Litterman optimization. This approach benefits investors who already utilize the classic Black-Litterman approach and appreciate advances in the exotic beta research, and also those who focus on practical implementation of exotic betas. The second section explores using the risk parity portfolio as an efficient starting portfolio for Black-Litterman optimization on both theoretical and practical grounds. This paper demonstrates that risk parity is a highly effective starting point in many situations. Finally, as part of our discussion, we derive conditions under which almost any completely diversified portfolio may be used as a starting portfolio in the Black-Litterman process. The integrated methodology developed is robust, flexible, and easily implemented, which means that a wide range of investors can benefit from this framework.