Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auxin-regulated genes encoding cell wall-modifying proteins are expressed during early tomato fruit growth.

An expansin gene, LeExp2, was isolated from auxin-treated, etiolated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv T5) hypocotyls. LeExp2 mRNA expression was restricted to the growing regions of the tomato hypocotyl and was up-regulated during incubation of hypocotyl segments with auxin. The pattern of expression of LeExp2 was also studied during tomato fruit growth, a developmental process involving rapid cell enlargement. The expression of genes encoding a xyloglucan endotransglycosylase (LeEXT1) and an endo-1, 4-beta-glucanase (Cel7), which, like LeExp2, are auxin-regulated in etiolated hypocotyls (C. Catalá, J.K.C. Rose, A.B. Bennett [1997] Plant J 12: 417-426), was also studied to examine the potential for synergistic action with expansins. LeExp2 and LeEXT1 genes were coordinately regulated, with their mRNA accumulation peaking during the stages of highest growth, while Cel7 mRNA abundance increased and remained constant during later stages of fruit growth. The expression of LeExp2, LeEXT1, and Cel7 was undetectable or negligible at the onset of and during fruit ripening, which is consistent with a specific role of these genes in regulating cell wall loosening during fruit growth, not in ripening-associated cell wall disassembly.
Transcribing nonsense words: The effect of numbers of voices and repetitions

Transcription skills are crucially important to all phoneticians, and particularly for speech and language therapists who may use transcriptions to make decisions about diagnosis and intervention. Whilst interest in factors affecting transcription accuracy is increasing, there are still a number of issues that are yet to be investigated. The present paper considers how the number of voices and the number of repetitions affects the transcription of nonsense words. Thirty-two students in their second year of study for a BSc in Speech and Language Therapy were participants in an experiment. They heard two nonsense words presented 10 times in either one or two voices. Results show that the number of voices did not affect accuracy, but that accuracy increased between six and ten repetitions. The reasons behind these findings, and implications for teaching and learning, and further research are discussed.
Zebrafish IRF1 Regulates IFN Antiviral Response through Binding to IFNϕ1 and IFNϕ3 Promoters Downstream of MyD88 Signaling

In mammals, type I IFNs (mainly IFN-α/β) are primarily regulated by transcription factors of the IFN regulatory factor (IRF) family. Fish IFNs do not show a one-to-one orthologous relationship with mammalian type I IFN homologues. Using a bacterial one-hybrid reporter screening system and an overexpression approach to explore the molecular mechanism underlying fish IFN induction, we identified zebrafish Danio rerio IRF (DrIRF)1 as a positive regulator of the fish IFN antiviral response. Among 12 zebrafish IRF family genes, DrIRF1 is most abundant in zebrafish immune tissues, including head kidney and spleen; upon virus infection, it is one of most significantly induced genes. Overexpression of DrIRF1 induces the expression of IFN and IFN-stimulated genes, hence protecting epithelioma papulosum cyprini cells against spring viremia of carp virus infection. As a transcription factor with constitutively nuclear retention, DrIRF1 directly binds to the IFN-stimulated regulatory element/IRF-binding element sites of zebrafish IFN promoters, which are dependent on four conserved amino acids of the N-terminal DNA-binding domain helix α3 motif. Mutation of either residue reveals a differential requirement for DrIRF1-mediated activation of zebrafish IFNϕ1 and IFNϕ3 promoters. Notably, C-terminal phosphorylation of DrIRF1 is observed and is not required for in vitro binding of DrIRF1 to fish IFN promoters. Unlike DrIRF3 and DrIRF7, which are responsible for differential expression of zebrafish IFNϕ1 and IFNϕ3 through the retinoic acid–inducible gene I–like receptor pathway, DrIRF1 works in concert with MyD88 to activate zebrafish IFNϕ3 but not IFNϕ1. These results provide insights into the evolving function of IRF1 as a positive IFN regulator.
The Great Financial Crisis of 1914: What Can We Learn from Aldrich-Vreeland Emergency Currency?

At the outbreak of World War I, the biggest gold outflow in a generation posed a double-barreled threat to American finance: An internal drain of currency from the banking system and an external drain of gold to Europe. The absence of an operational central bank encouraged Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo to improvise the modern principle of aiming an independent weapon at each policy target. He employed a form of capital controls to deal with the external threat, shutting the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for more than four months to prevent Europeans from selling their American securities and demanding gold in return. And he invoked the emergency currency provisions of the Aldrich-Vreeland Act to deal with the internal threat, allowing banks to issue national bank notes without the normal requirement that the currency be secured by U.S. goverment bonds. According to Friedman and Schwartz (1963, p.196), by November 1914 "the country had recovered from. the declaration of war in Europe, thanks in no small part to the availability of Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency. " This paper tests Friedman and Schwartz's conjecture about the power of Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency and draws lessons for monetary policy.
Assessment of technological device parameters by low-frequency noise investigation in SOI omega-gate nanowire NMOS FETs

We report an experimental investigation of oxide/channel interface quality in SOI omega-gate nanowire NMOS FETs with cross-section as small as 10nm×10nm by low-frequency noise measurements. The noise study has been efficiently applied for the characterization of various technological parameters, including strained channel, H2 anneal, or channel orientation. A method for rigorous contribution assessment of the two interfaces (top surface vs. side-walls) is also demonstrated. Excellent quality of the interfaces is extracted for all our technological and structural parameters.
Ownership reform and total factor productivity growth in Chinese industry

This paper contributes to the literature on total factor productivity (TFP) in Chinese industry. First, an adjusted TFP index is calculated through deflating raw data on TFP in Chinese industry using indexes on technological innovation in Japan and the United States. Second, the TFP index is regessed on the percentage of gross industrial output produced by non-state firms for the period 1980 to 1995. The results suggest that ownership reform was an important determinant of growth in industrial TFP over the period.
Analysis of gene expressions of embryonic stem‐derived Pdx1‐expressing cells: Implications of genes involved in pancreas differentiation

We have recently reported the method by which embryonic stem (ES) cells were induced into Pdx1‐expressing cells. To gain insights into the ES cell‐derived Pdx1‐expressing cells, we examined gene expression profiles of the cells by microarray experiments. Microarray analyses followed by a comparison with the data of the cells in developing pancreatic and adult islet suggested that the ES cell‐derived Pdx1‐positive cells were immature pancreatic progenitor cells with endodermal characteristics. The analyses of the genes upregulated in the ES cell‐derived Pdx1‐positive cells would give us knowledge on early pancreatic development. Here, we first listed the genes and found that these contained not only those known to be expressed in the endoderm or pancreatic progenitor cells, but also those known to be involved in left–right axis formation. Second, we examined the gene expression patterns and found that several genes were expressed in the ventral foregut lip at the anterior intestinal portal in E8.5 embryo. Given that the Pdx1/GFP‐expressing cells are first observed in the same region at the anterior intestinal portal, these results suggest that the pancreatic progenitor cells first give rise at the ventral endoderm prior to the formation of dorsal and ventral pancreatic buds.
Long-term worsening of bipolar disorder related with frequency of antidepressant exposure.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study of 53 persons with bipolar disorder (BD) was to evaluate the relationship between history of exposure to antidepressants (AD) and mood stabilizers (MS) and the percentage of time spent ill. METHODS BD outpatients with more than 12 months of prospective follow-up were included. Outcome was documented using a life charting technique. Current and previous exposure to AD and MS were assessed using a scale that provides a quantitative measure of exposure to psychotropic medications. Regression models were used to correct for possible confounders. RESULTS Previous treatment with AD was an independent predictor of polarity changes (P < .001) and mixed symptoms (P = .01). In contrast, "years of exposure to MS" was an independent predictor of time spent asymptomatic (P = .019). The ratio between exposure to AD vs MS was associated with less weeks asymptomatic (P = .03), more mixed symptomatology (P = .019), and more polarity changes (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS Antidepressant exposure was a major predictor of mood instability in the long-term outcome of BD. The ratio used of previous exposure to AD vs MS was associated with poor outcomes, suggesting that the harmful effect of AD may be additive and related to how much they are used.
Effect of Weissella cibaria on Fusobacterium nucleatum-induced Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-8 Production in KB Cells

Oral microorganisms, including pathogens together with commensals, interact with oral epithelial cells, which can lead to the activation and expression of a variety of inflammatory mediators in epithelial cells. Fusobacterium nucleatum is a filamentous human pathogen that is strongly associated with periodontal diseases. Our previous data suggest that Weissella cibaria, an oral commensal, inhibits the proliferation of periodontopathic bacteria including F. nucleatum. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of W. cibaria on the inflammatory mediators, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, in KB cells stimulated by F. nucleatum. In a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, live F. nucleatum alone induced high levels of gene expression and protein release of IL-6 and IL-8, whereas W. cibaria alone did not induce IL-6 and IL-8 responses in KB cells. W. cibaria dose-dependently inhibited the increases of the IL-6 and IL-8 gene expression as well as IL-6 protein level in KB cells which was induced by F. nucleatum. Bacterial viability and its coaggregation with F. nucleatum are not essential in the inhibitory effect of W. cibaria. Visible effects of W. cibaria on the attachment and invasion of KB cells by F. nucleatum were observed. In conclusion, W. cibaria may exert immunomodulatory effects on the IL-6 and IL-8 responses to F. nucleatum-activated KB cells.
The Annual Earnings Press Release's Dual Role: An Examination of Relationships with Local and National Media Coverage and Reputation

This study analyzed annual earnings press releases and local and national newspaper coverage of those earnings for 207 of Fortune's America's Most Admired companies to explore intermedia agenda setting and relationships with reputation. The annual earnings press releases were found to have the greatest relationship with the positive content in local media coverage and negative content in national media coverage. The reputation, as determined by sophisticated investors, was related to the neutrality of the annual earnings press release in combination with the length of local and national newspaper coverage.
Large-Format Voltage-Tunable Dual-Color Midwavelength Infrared Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetector Focal Plane Array

We report a large-format (640 times 512) voltage-tunable quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) focal plane array (FPA) for dual-color imaging in the midwavelength infrared (3-5 mum) band. Voltage-tunable spectral response has been achieved through series connection of two eight-well stacks of AlGaAs-InGaAs epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrate. The peak responsivity wavelength of the detectors is shifted from 4.1 mum (color 1) to 4.7 mum (color 2) as the bias is increased within the limit applicable by commercial read-out integrated circuits. The operability of the FPA is ~99.5% with noise equivalent temperature differences of ~60 and 30 mK (f/1.5) in color modes 1 and 2, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first large-format voltage-tunable dual-color QWIP FPA reported for midwavelength thermal imaging.
Perceived Similarity of Shapes is an Asymmetrical Relationship: A Study of Typical Contours

Two experiments are reported in which the relationship between perceived similarity amongst simple geometric solids and the set of projections arising from rotation of the typical contour of the solids about a vertical axis in its plane are examined. The results indicate (1) that judgments of similarity are affected by pronouncedness of typical contours, (2) similarity of simple geometrical solids is an asymmetrical attribute, in that where a set of possible projections of model X contains a set of possible projections of model Y, then model Y is judged as more similar to model X than X is to Y. The implications of this asymmetry for perceptual constancy and theories of object recognition are discussed.
Social innovation in a developing country: invention and diffusion of the Brazilian cooperative incubator

The incubator model of a support structure to develop high-tech firms from academic research was imported from the USA to Brazil, where it serves a variety of economic and social purposes. The Brazilian cooperative incubator is a creative reinterpretation of the business incubator model to advance social innovation. It addresses issues of social exclusion, poverty and unemployment by empowering favela residents to create their own jobs. Having diffused broadly, the Brazilian cooperative incubator allows us to address the issue of growth in social enterprises. This paper employs a triple helix dynamic model, including government (local, regional and national), academic (different types of universities, industry (firms of varying scale and sector, industry associations) and NGOs (non governamental organizations) to explain the diffusion and expansion of this innovation in social entrepreneurship.
UMBO displacement transfer function analysis using finite element modeling

Human auditory system is a complex biomechanical structure and tympanic membrane (TM) is one of the important structures in the air conduction pathway. It moves when sound waves are applied on it and transfers to the sensorineural part through the ossicles. To detect any middle ear problems, it is important to observe the tympanic membrane response under sound loads of various frequencies. Finite element (FE) method is a mathematical technique that used to analyze the TM behavior. The geometrical model of TM was built using CAD software. ABAQUS CAE software was used to discretize the geometrical model and analyze the response of the TM by using the FE method. Mechanical properties of the TM were found from previous works. The model was analyzed to observe the TM response under the sound load of one-third octave band over a frequency range of 100 Hz to 4 kHz with 80 dB and 60dB sound pressure levels. Umbo displacements were obtained for those frequencies. The umbo displacement transfer function (UDTF) was calculated from the obtained responses. The obtained response was compared with the previous FE model and also with the experimental responses.
Edge Bifurcations for Near Integrable Systems via Evans Function Techniques

When studying the linearstability of waves for near integrable systems, a fundamental problem is the location of the point spectrum of the linearized operator. Internal modes may be created upon the perturbation, i.e., eigenvalues may bifurcate out of the continuous spectrum, even if the corresponding eigenfunction is not initially localized. This phenomenon is also known as an edge bifurcation. It has recently been shown that the Evans function is a powerful tool when one wishes to detect an edge bifurcation and track the resulting eigenvalues. It has been an open question as to the role played by the solutions to the Lax pair, associated with the integrable problem, in the construction of the Evans function and the detection of edge bifurcations. Using the Zakharov--Shabat eigenvalue problem and the massive Thirring model as illustrations, we show the connection between the inverse scattering formalism and the linear stability analysis of waves. In particular, we show a direct connection between the sca.
Safeguarding Buyers with Attack-Resilient Reputation Parameters

Agent-mediated reputation systems provide the necessary decision making support to facilitate the automation of processes, and to improve the quality of services in an information asymmetric e-market. Reputation systems encourage honest behavior and discourage malicious behavior of buyer and seller agents by safeguarding honest participants and by laying a foundation for security through social control mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a reputation system that aims to safeguard honest buyers from rogue behavior by counterparties and deceptive buying peers. It employs reputation functions with attack-resilient parameters based on the e-market parameters like value of the transaction and varying experience of agents. These parameters help to reduce the incentive for dishonest behavior, and to minimize harm in case of attacks by rogue sellers in order to improve the trustworthiness among participants in the e-market.
Disaggregating Management Forecasts to Reduce Investors’ Susceptibility to Earnings Fixation

ABSTRACT: This study examines disaggregated management forecasts as a mechanism to reduce investors’ fixation on announced earnings. Our experimental results suggest that investors’ earnings fixation is reduced when they initially observe a disaggregated management forecast (earnings and its components) versus when they observe an aggregated forecast (earnings only). We also provide theory-consistent evidence that this reduction in earnings fixation is associated with investors interpreting the summary net income figure as one of several similarly important evaluation inputs rather than a substantially more important input (relative to its components). Finally, we provide evidence that suggests our results are not bounded by the level of emphasis on net income in the subsequent earnings announcement, and not fully explained by three plausible alternative explanations. Our study extends the voluntary disclosure literature by providing evidence that the form of management disclosures can influence investors.
Knowledge, power and politics: the environmental policy-making process in Ethiopia

Policy discourses urging environmental rehabilitation, and rapid agricultural intensification for food self-sufficiency are firmly entrenched in Ethiopia. This paper examines the actor-networks and key policy spaces associated with the establishment of these discourses, taking natural resource management policies, and institutionalisation of the SG-2000 extension programme as case studies. An emergent, and potentially challenging, participatory natural resource management discourse is also identified. Contrasting the regions of Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), the paper concludes by arguing that, with decentralisation, differences between regional administrative and political cultures are key to policy processes, affecting the degree to which central policies reflect local concerns.
Testing for HIV among patients with tuberculosis in Montreal.

OBJECTIVE To determine the rate of HIV testing among patients with tuberculosis (TB) in Montreal, and to identify patient characteristics associated with physician screening patterns. Knowledge of local patterns of HIV testing among patients with TB could be used to facilitate the development of strategies to improve compliance with recommendations that all patients with TB be screened for HIV. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. PATIENTS All patients with TB reported to the Montreal Public Health Unit from 1992 to 1994 (ages 19 to 50) and from 1992 to 1995 (ages 18 and under) and for whom a chart could be reviewed. OUTCOME MEASURES Patients with TB screened versus not screened for HIV infection, analyzed to determine which variables independently predict the likelihood of screening for HIV infection. RESULTS Of the 376 patients with TB for whom data were available, 192 (51%) were screened for HIV. Of those, 33 (17%) had been tested before having received the diagnosis of TB. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with TB who were male, aged 30 to 39, had a positive sputum smear, displayed at least 1 clinical symptom, received the TB diagnosis from a microbiologist or infectious disease specialist, or reported 1 or more HIV risk factors were more likely to be screened for HIV. CONCLUSIONS HIV screening of patients with TB is selective, depending on both patient and physician characteristics. Physicians' awareness of recommendations needs to be increased to improve the diagnosis and treatment of TB/HIV co-infection.
Accommodating Normative Divergence in European Foreign Policy Co-Ordination: The Example of the Iraq Crisis

In situations of international crises normative divergence regarding policy responses is a recurrent phenomenon. It is a problem which remains to be addressed despite assumptions about internationally established communities such as the liberal community of Western states. The case of the European Union's failure to co-ordinate a common policy response in connection with the war on Iraq demonstrates that conflict between Member States about appropriate common policy responses is enhanced by external crises. Common commitment to shared community norms is hence considered as an insufficient basis for policy consensus or, for that matter, sustainable compromise. The article discusses how and why these divergences emerge and suggests institutionalizing collective processes of norm contestation at the European level.
Muscle wastage in chronic heart failure, between apoptosis, catabolism and altered anabolism: a chimaeric view of inflammation?

Purpose of the reviewThe mechanisms involved in determining skeletal muscle wastage and cachexia in heart failure are complex and not unequivocal. There are however three different mechanisms that are in some way related to each other and play a very important role. These are inflammation, the catabolic/anabolic imbalance and apoptosis. We have tried to link these pathophysiological processes with the aim of giving a holistic view. Recent findingsRecent experiments have demonstrated that a major determinant of muscle atrophy in congestive heart failure is apoptosis of skeletal myocytes. Apoptosis is triggered by tumour necrosis factor α and its second messenger sphingosine. The source of tumour necrosis factor α has to be searched for in inflammation, which may have its origin in the bowel, in the heart, in peripheral hypoxic tissues or in neurohormonal activation. It has also been shown that the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 axis regulates contractile protein synthesis (transition from slow to fast fibres) and apoptosis, through calcineurin, FK506-FK506-binding protein, mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor κB. Tumour necrosis factor α also intervenes in this interplay by activating nuclear factor κB. SummaryAccording to these new pathophysiological insights, some strategies aiming to prevent or revert congestive heart failure myopathy with pharmacological interventions blocking inflammation, tumour necrosis factor α and apoptosis have been proposed. Future perspectives are based on stem cell implantation, transcription and gene therapy, for instance by overexpression of insulin-like growth factor 1.