Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autophagy for Cancer Therapy through Inhibition of Pro-apoptotic Proteins and Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Signaling*

Autophagy is an alternative cell death pathway that is induced by mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors and up-regulated when apoptosis is defective. We investigated radiation-induced autophagy in the presence or absence of Bax/Bak with or without an mTOR inhibitor, Rad001. Two isogenic cell lines, wild type (WT) and Bak/Bak-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts and tumor cell lines were used for this study. Irradiated Bak/Bak-/- cells had a decrease of Akt/mTOR signaling and a significant increase of pro-autophagic proteins ATG5-ATG12 COMPLEX and Beclin-1. These molecular events resulted in an up-regulation of autophagy. Bax/Bak-/- cells were defective in undergoing apoptosis but were more radiosensitive than the WT cells in autophagy. Both autophagy and sensitization of Bak/Bax-/- cells were further enhanced in the presence of Rad001. In contrast, inhibitors of autophagy rendered the Bak/Bax-/- cells radioresistant, whereas overexpression of ATG5 and Beclin-1 made the WT cells radiosensitive. When this novel concept of radiosensitization was tested in cancer models, small interfering RNAs against Bak/Bax also led to increased autophagy and sensitization of human breast and lung cancer cells to gamma radiation, which was further enhanced by Rad001. This is the first report to demonstrate that inhibition of pro-apoptotic proteins and induction of autophagy sensitizes cancer cells to therapy. Therapeutically targeting this novel pathway may yield significant benefits for cancer patients.
Dendritic Cells: More Than Just Adaptive Immunity Inducers?

Dendritic cells (DC) are well known for their capacity to induce immune responses and there is also accumulating evidence of their ability to interact with various cell types of the innate system, such as NK, NKT or TCR cells. These interactions are bi-directional, mediated by soluble or cell surface molecules and have been mainly described in the context of immune responses to infectious agents and tumors. NK, NKT or TCR cells induce the maturation of DC, as shown by the increased expression of CD86, IL12 production and priming of T cell responses. On the other hand, mature DC have the ability to activate NK, NKT or TCR cells for sustained innate immune responses and activated NK cells may kill immature DC. In addition, DC and NK or TCR cells share similar functions such as cytotoxic and antitumor activity, interferon production and antigen presentation capacity.
CD4 Down-Regulation HIV-1 Nef, Is Required for Nef-Mediated Lysine 144, a Ubiquitin Attachment Site in

Nef is a HIV-1 accessory protein critical for the replication of the virus and the development of AIDS. The major pathological activity of Nef is the down-regulation of CD4, the primary receptor of HIV-1 infection. The mechanism underlying Nef-mediated CD4 endocytosis and degradation remains incompletely understood. Since protein ubiquitination is the predominant sorting signal in receptor endocytosis, we investigated whether Nef is ubiquitinated. The in vivo ubiquitination assay showed that both HIV-1 and SIV Nef proteins expressed in Jurkat T cells and 293T cells were multiple ubiquitinated by ubiquitin-His. The lysine-free HIV-1 Nef mutant ( (cid:1) 10K) generated by replacing all 10 lysines with arginines was not ubiquitinated and the major ubiquitin-His attachment sites in HIV-1 Nef were determined to be lysine 144 (di-ubiquitinated) and lysine 204 (mono-ubiquitinated). Lysine-free HIV-1 Nef was completely inactive in Nef-mediated CD4 down-regulation, so was the Nef mutant with a single arginine substitution at K144 but not at K204. A mutant HIV-1 provirion NL4–3 with a single arginine substitution in Nef at K144 was also inactive in Nef-mediated CD4 down-regulation. Lysine-free Nef mutant reintroduced with lysine 144 ( (cid:1) K10 (cid:2) K144) was shown active in CD4 down-regulation. These data suggest that ubiquitination of Nef, particularly diubiquitination of the lysine 144, is necessary for Nef-mediated CD4 down-regulation. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 180: 7878–7886.
Assessment of exposure to drugs of abuse during pregnancy by hair analysis in a Mediterranean island.

AIMS This study aims to estimate the prevalence of drug use by pregnant women living in Ibiza, using structured interviews and biomarkers in maternal hair. In addition, the potentially detrimental effects of maternal drug abuse on their newborns were investigated. Ibiza has a large international night-life resort associated with clubs, music and use of recreational drugs. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Hair samples were collected prospectively from January to March 2010 from a cohort of consecutive mothers after giving birth in the Hospital Can Misses in Ibiza. MEASUREMENTS Opiates, cocaine, cannabis, methadone, amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and their metabolites were detected in a 3-cm-long proximal segment of maternal hair corresponding to the last trimester of pregnancy by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (n = 107). Data on socio-demographic characteristics and on tobacco, alcohol, drugs of prescription and drugs of abuse consumption during pregnancy were collected using a structured questionnaire. FINDINGS Hair analysis showed an overall 16% positivity for drugs of abuse in the third trimester of pregnancy, with a specific prevalence of cannabis, cocaine, MDMA and opiates use of 10.3, 6.4, 0.9 and 0%, respectively. In the questionnaires, only 1.9% of mothers declared using drugs of abuse during pregnancy. Gestational drug of abuse consumption was associated with active tobacco smoking, a higher number of smoked cigarettes and the mother being Spanish. CONCLUSIONS Illicit drug use is substantially under-reported among pregnant women living in Ibiza, particularly among Spanish nationals. Voluntary, routine objective biological toxicology screening should be considered as part of routine examinations in antenatal clinics on this Mediterranean island.
Foreign Financial Flows and Terrorism In Developing Countries

This study examines the differential response of various international financial flows to post 9/11 episode of terrorism in developing countries. Using monthly data for the period from January 2003 to June 2013, we employ ARMAX technique to analyze the impact of terrorism in Pakistan on the inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI), portfolio investments, migrant remittances and exports receipts. We find that FDI falls substantially as a result of terrorist activity, whereas portfolio investments and exports show little change. In contrast, migrant remittances show a significant increase. These differences are also visible among financial flows coming from major source regions and countries. The results are robust to use of alternative definitions and indicators of terrorism as well as the inclusion of various macroeconomic variables. These findings indicate that foreign private capital flees an economy suffering from terrorism whereas domestic producers stay put. Migrant remittances, however, are the only financial flows that rise in the time of difficulty.
Skeletal muscle cell MHC I expression: Implications for statin‐induced myopathy

Statins can induce necrotizing or inflammatory myopathies in some patients. Increased major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) expression has been shown in muscle biopsies of statin‐induced myopathy. Therefore, we investigated the effect of statins on the expression of MHC I in muscle cells. Using flow cytometry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the rhabdomyosarcoma cell line TE671 and primary cultured skeletal muscle cells (SKMC) were investigated for MHC I expression after incubation with different statins and/or interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ). TE671 and SKMC express MHC I in the untreated condition. Statins alone reduced the expression of MHC I in SKMC and had no effect on MHC I in TE671 cells. Statins potentiated the MHC I–inducing effect of IFN‐γ in TE671, but not in SKMC, neither at the protein level nor at the mRNA level. The increased muscle MHC I expression in statin‐induced myopathy might not be induced directly by statins themselves. Muscle Nerve, 2010
PENGARUH KOMPLEKSITASAUDIT,TEKANAN ANGGARAN WAKTU, DANPENGALAMAN AUDITOR TERHADAPKUALITAS AUDIT DENGAN VARIABELMODERATING PEMAHAMAN TERHADAPSISTEM INFORMASI(Studi Empiris pada Auditor KAP di Semarang)

This study aims to examine the effect of audit complexity, budget pressures of time, and experience of auditors on audit quality by moderating variable understanding of information systems. The population in this study were senior auditors and junior auditors in the firm in Hyderabad, with a total population of 230 auditors. The samples are taken using simple random sampling method, so the number of samples obtained from the calculation formula of determining the total sample of 70 respondents. Primary data collection method used is questionnaire method. Of the 230 questionnaires distributed there are 76 questionnaires returned and used as a sample. The data analysis technique used in this test is multiple regression and regression interactions. Results of hypothesis testing in this study show that, the variable complexity of the audit time budget pressures and variable negative effect on audit quality, but with the moderating variable understanding of the interaction of information systems change the direction to be positive. Meanwhile, the variable has positive experience of auditors on audit quality as well as the existence of moderating variable ineraksi understanding of information systems auditor experience variables remain positive effect on audit quality.
The Response of Australian Stock, Foreign Exchange and Bond Markets to Foreign Asset Returns and Volatilities

This paper is a data-analytic study of the relationships among international asset price volatilities and the time-varying correlations of asset returns in a small open economy (Australia) with international asset returns. Making use of recent developments in time-series approaches to volatility estimation, impulse response functions, variance decomposition, and Kalman filtering, I show that the Australian stock market volatility is most closely linked with volatility in the UK stock market, and the correlation of Australian stock returns with UK returns are high when there is increasing turbulence in financial markets. Volatility in the Australian dollar/US dollar exchange rate is most closely linked with volatility measures of the US dollar/Canadian dollar rate, and volatility in Australian long-term bond yields is most closely linked to volatility measures of long term German bond returns. The results indicate that asset markets in a small open economy can adapt in different ways during periods of high or increasing volatility. The ways in which domestic volatility measures react to foreign turbulence, and the ways in which domestic returns correlate with international returns, depend on the particular circumstances (such as transactions costs and degree of risk aversion) which prevail in each financial market.
Communication Steps for Parallel Query Processing

We study the problem of computing conjunctive queries over large databases on parallel architectures without shared storage. Using the structure of such a query q and the skew in the data, we study tradeoffs between the number of processors, the number of rounds of communication, and the per-processor load—the number of bits each processor can send or can receive in a single round—that are required to compute q. Since each processor must store its received bits, the load is at most the number of bits of storage per processor. When the data are free of skew, we obtain essentially tight upper and lower bounds for one round algorithms, and we show how the bounds degrade when there is skew in the data. In the case of skewed data, we show how to improve the algorithms when approximate degrees of the (necessarily small number of) heavy-hitter elements are available, obtaining essentially optimal algorithms for queries such as skewed simple joins and skewed triangle join queries. For queries that we identify as treelike, we also prove nearly matching upper and lower bounds for multi-round algorithms for a natural class of skew-free databases. One consequence of these latter lower bounds is that for any ϵ > 0, using p processors to compute the connected components of a graph, or to output the path, if any, between a specified pair of vertices of a graph with m edges and per-processor load that is O(m/p1−ϵ) requires Ω(logp) rounds of communication. Our upper bounds are given by simple structured algorithms using MapReduce. Our one-round lower bounds are proved in a very general model, which we call the Massively Parallel Communication (MPC) model, that allows processors to communicate arbitrary bits. Our multi-round lower bounds apply in a restricted version of the MPC model in which processors in subsequent rounds after the first communication round are only allowed to send tuples.
Substance abuse prevalence and comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances.

Among 547 adolescents with serious emotional disturbances, ages 12 to 18, this study assessed (1) prevalence of DSM-III substance use disorders (i.e., alcohol and marijuana abuse/dependence), and (2) comorbidity with DSM-III Axis I disorders. Factors of age, sex, state location, and type of treatment program also were examined. Data were analyzed by logistic regression. Significant factors (p less than 0.05) associated with severe alcohol or marijuana abuse/dependency diagnosis included (1) residential mental health treatment program, 2.37 Odds Ratio (OR); (2) conduct disorder diagnosis, 2.18 OR; (3) depression diagnosis, 1.75 OR; (4) states, 1.43 OR; (5) age, 1.29 OR; and (6) a depression x facility interaction, 1.91 OR.
CCG-augmented hierarchical phrase-based statistical machinetranslation

Augmenting Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) systems with syntactic information aims at improving translation quality. Hierarchical Phrase-Based (HPB) SMT takes a step toward incorporating syntax in Phrase-Based (PB) SMT by modelling one aspect of language syntax, namely the hierarchical structure of phrases. Syntax Augmented Machine Translation (SAMT) further incorporates syntactic information extracted using context free phrase structure grammar (CF-PSG) in the HPB SMT model. One of the main challenges facing CF-PSG-based augmentation approaches for SMT systems emerges from the difference in the definition of the constituent in CF-PSG and the ‘phrase’ in SMT systems, which hinders the ability of CF-PSG to express the syntactic function of many SMT phrases. Although the SAMT approach to solving this problem using ‘CCG-like’ operators to combine constituent labels improves syntactic constraint coverage, it significantly increases their sparsity, which restricts translation and negatively affects its quality. In this thesis, we address the problems of sparsity and limited coverage of syntactic constraints facing the CF-PSG-based syntax augmentation approaches for HPB SMT using Combinatory Cateogiral Grammar (CCG). We demonstrate that CCG’s flexible structures and rich syntactic descriptors help to extract richer, more expressive and less sparse syntactic constraints with better coverage than CF-PSG, which enables our CCG-augmented HPB system to outperform the SAMT system. We also try to soften the syntactic constraints imposed by CCG category nonterminal labels by extracting less fine-grained CCG-based labels. We demonstrate that CCG label simplification helps to significantly improve the performance of our CCG category HPB system. Finally, we identify the factors which limit the coverage of the syntactic constraints in our CCG-augmented HPB model. We then try to tackle these factors by extending the definition of the nonterminal label to be composed of a sequence of CCG categories and augmenting the glue grammar with CCG combinatory rules. We demonstrate that our extension approaches help to significantly increase the scope of the syntactic constraints applied in our CCG-augmented HPB model and achieve significant improvements over the HPB SMT baseline.
Energy Efficient Transmission Approach for WBAN Based on Threshold Distance

Energy efficiency is a key concern for wireless sensor nodes, especially for wireless body area network (WBAN) in which sensors operate in close vicinity to, on or even inside a human body. In this paper, we first present a system-level energy consumption model associated with transmission distance d and transmission data rate over on-body wireless communication link. Then, based on the analysis of tradeoff between circuit energy and transmission energy on distance, a threshold distance dth which is responsible for the proportion of transmission energy and circuit energy is derived for energy saving in WBAN. With the case of d ≤ dth , since circuit energy is comparable with transmission energy consumption, the total energy consumption can be saved by optimizing the transmission data rate R. Simulation results show that a 59.77% or even more energy saving is achievable using the optimized scheme, compared with baseline scheme. With d > dth , since the total energy consumption is monotonically decreasing with respect to time t, an offline algorithm is applied to energy saving by prolonging transmission time within the deadline time. In addition, on the basis of the offline algorithm, a battery-aware transmission approach is presented for WBAN using battery electrochemical property. Experimental results show that, using the presented battery-aware approach, 71.05% and 60.81% energy saving can be obtained, in comparison with the baseline and offline schemes, respectively.
Immersive Video Teleconferencing with User-Steerable Views

Existing video teleconferencing techniques suffer from limited field of view, low resolution, and fixed viewpoint. We present a set of novel techniques to overcome these limitations. Based on the light field rendering concept, we utilize an array of cameras to capture the participant(s) from multiple view angles. Based on either assumed or estimated scene geometry, these images are assembled to create a high-resolution seamless image from a user-controllable viewpoint. Two different camera configurations, one dense and one sparse, are presented; the dense format is optimized for high-fidelity view synthesis while the sparse configuration is for expanded viewing volume. For the dense configuration, we provide a detailed analysis on the number of camera images required. For the sparse configuration, we present a robust technique to estimate an approximation of the scene geometry to provide smooth transition when the viewpoint is changed. The novelty of our approach is that it allows the users to electronically steer the viewpoint in real time for a live scene. Therefore it can be used in 3D teleconferencing systems to generate stereoscopic views, or in group teleconferencing to provide virtual camera views that minimize the overall perspective distortions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with a point-to-point teleconferencing system distributed in several locations across the continental United States.
THE FACTORS THAT SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM: A SURVEY IN BANDUNG AND JAKARTA’S TAXPAYER OFFICES

Organizations of public sector in Indonesia generally yield accounting information which is not fully qualified, and oftentimes unreliable. Concerning the condition, it seems that improvement on the quality of accounting information system is needed. Quality Accounting Information Systems is an integration of hardware, software, brain ware, telecommunications network, and database procedure, which is based on input, process and output. In this case, input of data quality is a necessity and serves process in Accounting Information Systems. Generally, the organizations have been performing poor data input quality. This requires commitment from the top management in determining the quality of the data and the accounting information system implementation. This research examines the influence of the top management commitment on the data quality and the accounting information systems implementation and its implications on the quality of accounting information. The data were obtained through survey techniques by distributing questionnaires to 31 tax offices in Bandung and Jakarta. The results showed that there were significant effects of the top management commitment on the data quality and accounting information system implementation. Management commitment quality of data and the accounting information system also had significant effects on the quality of accounting information
The Ownership Advantage of Resource Hosting

This study focuses on the sustainable advantage of National Oil Companies (NOCs) in the global oil and gas resource sector. Specifically we examine ownership attributes, demonstrating that NOCs have increased ownership over strategic global reserves by 6%, from 72% (in 2005) to 78% in 2008. This NOC dominance looks set to redefine the sector, 4,078 oilfields across 79 host countries are used to show that NOCs have ncreased ownership at the expense of all competitor groups. The six giant oil majors ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Chevron, Eni and ConocoPhillips are most affected as they compete for similar assets.
Dividend Policy in the European Union

Using a unique database of over 3400 listed industrial companies, we examine the evolution of dividend policy from 1989 to 2003 in the fifteen nations that were members of the European Union in May 2004. As in the United States, the fraction of European firms paying dividends declines dramatically over this period, from 91 to 62 percent of listed companies, while total real dividends paid and dividend payments as a fraction of total corporate profits increase significantly. Dividends and earnings are concentrating as sharply among European as among American companies, and similar company characteristics like size, profitability, and firm age increase both the propensity to pay dividends and the amount of dividends paid. Asset growth rate, leverage and being headquartered in a civil law country reduce dividend amounts and propensities to pay, but we find neither systematic dividend catering effects in Europe nor conclusive evidence of continent-wide convergence in dividend policy.