Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Returning Home Illinois Policy Brief: Prisoner Reentry and Residential Mobility

Using data from the Returning Home study of male prisoners returning to Chicago, this policy brief examines the extent of and reasons for residential mobility among released prisoners and how mobility affects reentry outcomes. Findings indicate that residential mobility among this group is not particularly high, and that those who do move are not necessarily at greater risk of relapse and recidivism. In fact, it appears that those who move do so either to avoid family conflict and/or to be more independent. Many change residences in order to reside with an intimate partner or friend. From a policy perspective, there may be little reason to identify movers as a particularly vulnerable population. Indeed, moving could be a sign of increased financial responsibility on the part of the released prisoner.
Anatomic Consideration of Nerve Supply to the Vastus Medialis in Knee Surgery

A medial approach for exposure of total knee arthroplasty that splits the vastus medialis muscles may damage the distal portion of the muscle. Ten fresh-frozen cadaver knees without deformity and three retrieved knees were used to dissect nerve branches along the femoral nerve distally until they ended in muscle. Two patterns of nerve distribution were observed. In three specimens, the main trunk ran in the midportion of the vastus medialis and then divided into multiple branches which entered the distal oblique fibers of the muscle at multiple points in the area where it blended with the main body of the muscle. In the remaining specimens, the main trunk ran in the posterior portion of the muscle and branched to the distal oblique fibers, but many branches entered these distal oblique fibers diffusely through the proximal area from branches in the main body of the muscle. No nerve branches were found crossing between the vastus intermedius and vastus medialis. These muscles appear to be innervated separately by direct branches from the femoral nerve. Dissecting between the vastus intermedius and medialis is unlikely to damage the nerve supply to the vastus medialis obliquus whereas dissecting between the vastus medialis obliquus and main body of the vastus medialis may damage the nerve supply of both.
Walking uphill and downhill: redirected walking in the vertical direction

This paper proposes a novel redirected walking technique that creates the feeling of walking uphill and downhill in the virtual environment while actually walking on a flat floor in the real world. We focus on the amount of energy consumed while walking uphill and downhill. Previous studies show that walking uphill takes three times as much energy as walking on a flat ground while walking downhill takes only half as much energy. We believe that the walking feeling in the virtual environment could be improved by changing the walking distance according to the gradient and bringing it closer to the energy consumption at the actual ascending and descending walk. We conducted a preliminary experiment to confirm that the proposed method is effective and the experimental results imply that our method is efficient for walking uphill.
The Core Histone N-Terminal Tail Domains Negatively Regulate Binding of Transcription Factor IIIA to a Nucleosome Containing a 5S RNA Gene via a Novel Mechanism

ABSTRACT Reconstitution of a DNA fragment containing a 5S RNA gene from Xenopus borealis into a nucleosome greatly restricts binding of the primary 5S transcription factor, TFIIIA. Consistent with transcription experiments using reconstituted templates, removal of the histone tail domains stimulates TFIIIA binding to the 5S nucleosome greater than 100-fold. However, we show that tail removal increases the probability of 5S DNA unwrapping from the core histone surface by only approximately fivefold. Moreover, using site-specific histone-to-DNA cross-linking, we show that TFIIIA binding neither induces nor requires nucleosome movement. Binding studies with COOH-terminal deletion mutants of TFIIIA and 5S nucleosomes reconstituted with native and tailless core histones indicate that the core histone tail domains play a direct role in restricting the binding of TFIIIA. Deletion of only the COOH-terminal transcription activation domain dramatically stimulates TFIIIA binding to the native nucleosome, while further C-terminal deletions or removal of the tail domains does not lead to further increases in TFIIIA binding. We conclude that the unmodified core histone tail domains directly negatively influence TFIIIA binding to the nucleosome in a manner that requires the C-terminal transcription activation domain of TFIIIA. Our data suggest an additional mechanism by which the core histone tail domains regulate the binding of trans-acting factors in chromatin.
Supply Response of Corn Farmers in Quebec: Analyzing the Impact of Prices Volatility?

This study examines the supply response and the effect of price predictability of corn in the province of Quebec. A generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process is used to model output price expectations and its volatility. The empirical results show that price predictability has a positive effect on producersO decisions. Estimation of supply elasticity illustrates that expected output price is the most important risk factor for corn producers in Quebec.As expected, we found that the Farm Income Stabilization Insurance (ASRA) in Quebec leads producers to be more sensitive to effective prices than to market prices. Our results also show that application of this program causes less sensitivity to input prices than to output prices. Reducing producersO risk aversion is another implication of this program.
The Relationship between Intergenerational Educational Mobility and Public Spending: Evidence from Canada

Using data from the General Social Survey-2011 (Family), this study examines intergenerational educational mobility in Canada, with a particular focus on the role of public educational spending. This study finds that children's education is significantly correlated with father's education. However, the strength of the correlation declines with an increase in provincial educational spending. In other words, public educational spending positively affects intergenerational educational mobility. To check the robustness of these results, the study compares son's and daughter's education with father's education. Furthermore, this study also compares children's education with both father's and mother's education. In all cases, the results show that the intergenerational educational elasticity declines with an increase in provincial educational spending. This result has important policy implications, particularly at a time when Canada is concerned about growing income inequality.
Apoptosis is the predominant form of epithelial target cell injury in acute experimental graft-versus-host disease.

Cutaneous and mucosal epithelial cells are primary targets of injury in acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), the principal complication of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Recent experimental data in skin suggest that early lesion may precede morphologic evidence of direct infiltration by effector cells. The purpose of this study was to further elucidate the mechanism and kinetics of epithelial injury in acute GVHD produced in mouse strains (B10.BR/CBA) receiving bone marrow transplants across minor histocompatibility loci. Skin and tongue mucosa of hosts receiving CD8 T-cell-enriched, whole T-cell-enriched, or T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplants were sequentially harvested and studied histologically and by the terminal uridine deoxynucleotidyl transferase end ligation technique to detect apoptotic cells. Apoptosis involving putative stem cells is the predominant form of cellular injury in acute experimental GVHD. Although apoptosis correlated with the onset of lymphocyte infiltration relatively late in CD8-mediated disease, apoptosis was bimodal in whole T-cell-mediated disease, with an early peak that preceded histologic evidence of lymphocyte infiltration. These findings establish a central role for apoptosis in epithelial cell injury in acute GVHD and indicate that T-cell composition of the donor marrow inoculum may influence the pattern and kinetics of epithelial damage.
Purification and characterization of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase from Raillietina echinobothrida, a cestode parasite of the domestic fowl

SUMMARY Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK, EC 4.1.1.32) is an essential regulatory enzyme of glycolysis in helminths in contrast to its role in gluconeogenesis in their host. Previously we have reported that phytochemicals from Flemingia vestita (Family: Fabaceae), genistein in particular, have vermifugal action and are known to affect carbohydrate metabolism in the cestode, Raillietina echinobothrida. In order to determine the functional differences of PEPCK from the parasite and its avian host (Gallus domesticus), we purified the parasite enzyme apparently to homogeneity, and characterized it. The native PEPCK is a monomer with a subunit molecular weight of 65 kDa. The purified enzyme displayed standard Michaelis-Menten kinetics with Km value of 42·52 μM for its substrate PEP. The Ki for the competitive inhibitors GTP, GMP, ITP and IMP for the carboxylation reaction were determined and discussed. In order to identify putative modulators from plant sources, phytochemicals from F. vestita and Stephania glabra were tested on the purified PEPCK, which resulted in alteration of its activity. From our results, we hypothesize that PEPCK may be a potential target site for anthelmintic action.
Individual Large Shareholders, Earnings Management, and Capital‐Market Consequences

Using a large hand-collected sample of all blockholders (ownership ≥ 5%) of S&P 1500 firms for the years 2002-2009, we first document significant individual blockholder effects on earnings management (accrual-based earnings management, real earnings management, and restatements). This association is driven primarily by these large shareholders influencing rather than selecting firms' financial reporting practices. Second, the market's reaction to earnings announcements suggests that investors recognize the heterogeneity in blockholders' influence on earnings management. The results highlight the highly individualized effects of blockholders and a mechanism through which shareholders impact reported earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Do electoral rules have an effect on electoral behaviour? An impact assessment

Abstract Electoral democracies worldwide are all organised around elections but the rules under which the elections are organised differ greatly from one country to another. These electoral rules, such as whether voting is compulsory or what electoral system is used, are thought of as strongly affecting voters’ behaviour and the choices they make. If electoral rules indeed shape citizens’ electoral behaviour, the implication is that theories of what explains voters’ choices are country-specific as well. This is in sharp contrast to the idea that theories of electoral behaviour are generalisable. This special issue tackles this question and offers an assessment of the impact of electoral rules on voters’ behaviour, on the one hand, and the generalisability of individual-level theories of voting behaviour, on the other. The collection of papers furthermore offers an important contribution in terms of the kind of electoral rules that are scrutinised, with several papers focusing on the little-investigated phenomenon of preferential voting.
Association between the Five Factor personality traits and perceived stress: is the effect mediated by general self-efficacy?

Abstract Ill-health resulting from chronic stress is influenced by personality traits leading to different ways of appraising and coping with life's daily hassles. Using a large population sample the study aimed to investigate possible associations between perceived stress and the personality dimensions of neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and to explore the role of general self-efficacy (GSE). A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark, in 2006–2008. Men and women (N=3471) aged 18–69, were randomly sampled in the suburbs of Copenhagen. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Negative associations were found between perceived stress and extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness – the latter initially non-significant – whilst neuroticism had a positive association. The associations with agreeableness and openness became positive and significant, respectively, when GSE was included. All five personality-stress models were mediated by GSE, with extroversion and conscientiousness having the strongest mediating effect. The strongest stress-association was found for neuroticism. GSE was shown to change the impact and interpretation of the personality dimensions on perceived stress. These results indicate that GSE is an important factor to consider in the link between personality and perceived stress.
Spectral fingerprints of large‐scale cortical dynamics during ambiguous motion perception

Ambiguous stimuli have been widely used to study the neuronal correlates of consciousness. Recently, it has been suggested that conscious perception might arise from the dynamic interplay of functionally specialized but widely distributed cortical areas. While previous research mainly focused on phase coupling as a correlate of cortical communication, more recent findings indicated that additional coupling modes might coexist and possibly subserve distinct cortical functions. Here, we studied two coupling modes, namely phase and envelope coupling, which might differ in their origins, putative functions and dynamics. Therefore, we recorded 128‐channel EEG while participants performed a bistable motion task and utilized state‐of‐the‐art source‐space connectivity analysis techniques to study the functional relevance of different coupling modes for cortical communication. Our results indicate that gamma‐band phase coupling in extrastriate visual cortex might mediate the integration of visual tokens into a moving stimulus during ambiguous visual stimulation. Furthermore, our results suggest that long‐range fronto‐occipital gamma‐band envelope coupling sustains the horizontal percept during ambiguous motion perception. Additionally, our results support the idea that local parieto‐occipital alpha‐band phase coupling controls the inter‐hemispheric information transfer. These findings provide correlative evidence for the notion that synchronized oscillatory brain activity reflects the processing of sensory input as well as the information integration across several spatiotemporal scales. The results indicate that distinct coupling modes are involved in different cortical computations and that the rich spatiotemporal correlation structure of the brain might constitute the functional architecture for cortical processing and specific multi‐site communication. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4099–4111, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Incorporation of Nanoparticles into Conventional Glass-Ionomer Dental Restorative Cements

Abstract Conventional glass-ionomer cements (GICs) are popular restorative materials, but their use is limited by their relatively low mechanical strength. This paper reports an attempt to improve these materials by incorporation of 10 wt% of three different types of nanoparticles, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, and titanium dioxide, into two commercial GICs (ChemFil® Rock and EQUIA™ Fil). The results indicate that the nanoparticles readily dispersed into the cement matrix by hand mixing and reduced the porosity of set cements by filling the empty spaces between the glass particles. Both cements showed no significant difference in compressive strength with added alumina, and ChemFil® Rock also showed no significant difference with zirconia. By contrast, ChemFil® Rock showed significantly higher compressive strength with added titania, and EQUIA™ Fil showed significantly higher compressive strength with both zirconia and titania. Fewer air voids were observed in all nanoparticle-containing cements and this, in turn, reduced the development of cracks within the matrix of the cements. These changes in microstructure provide a likely reason for the observed increases in compressive strength, and overall the addition of nanoparticles appears to be a promising strategy for improving the physical properties of GICs.
Eriodictyol Inhibits RANKL‐Induced Osteoclast Formation and Function Via Inhibition of NFATc1 Activity

Receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa‐B ligand (RANKL) induces differentiation and function of osteoclasts through triggering multiple signaling cascades, including NF‐κB, MAPK, and Ca2+‐dependent signals, which induce and activate critical transcription factor NFATc1. Targeting these signaling cascades may serve as an effective therapy against osteoclast‐related diseases. Here, by screening a panel of natural plant extracts with known anti‐inflammatory, anti‐tumor, or anti‐oxidant properties for possible anti‐osteoclastogenic activities we identified Eriodictyol. This flavanone potently suppressed RANKL‐induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in a dose‐dependent manner without detectable cytotoxicity, suppressing RANKL‐induced NF‐κB, MAPK, and Ca2+ signaling pathways. Eriodictyol also strongly inhibited RANKL‐induction of c‐Fos levels (a critical component of AP‐1 transcription factor required by osteoclasts) and subsequent activation of NFATc1, concomitant with reduced expression of osteoclast specific genes including cathepsin K (Ctsk), V‐ATPase‐d2 subunit, and tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAcP/Acp5). Taken together, these data provide evidence that Eriodictyol could be useful for the prevention and treatment of osteolytic disorders associated with abnormally increased osteoclast formation and function. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 1983–1993, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Subsets of migrating intestinal dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) in the intestine are heterogeneous. Phenotypically different populations of conventional DCs have been identified in the intestinal lamina propria, Peyer’s patches, and in the draining mesenteric lymph nodes, to which these DCs constitutively migrate. Markers used to identify these populations include major histocompatibility complex class II, CD11c, CD8α, CD11b, and CD103. Extensive studies in rats, summarized here, which involved collection of migrating DCs by thoracic duct cannulation after mesenteric lymphadenectomy, have clearly demonstrated that the subsets of migrating intestinal lymph DCs have different functional properties. The subsets might play different roles in the induction of oral tolerance and in driving systemic immune responses after vaccination or intestinal stimulation with Toll‐like receptor ligands. The use of these surgical techniques allows investigation of the functions of purified subsets of migrating DCs. However, in the rat, these studies are limited by the range of available reagents and are difficult to compare with data from other species in this fast‐moving field. Recent refinements have enabled the collection of migrating intestinal DCs from mice; our initial results are described here. We believe that these studies will generate exciting data and have the potential to resolve important questions about the functions of migrating intestinal DC subsets.
Antimicrobial activity of silver‐containing dressings on wound microorganisms using an in vitro biofilm model

Antimicrobial dressings such as those containing silver are now being used widely to control wound bioburden, and tests to demonstrate their efficacy predominantly involve in vitro models using free‐living or planktonic bacteria. In this present study a wide range of antibiotic‐sensitive and resistant bacteria were tested in their quasi‐sessile state using a standard agar assay and a second method used a poloxamer gel (true biofilm state – poloxamer encourages microorganisms to exhibit a more clinically relevant biofilm phenotype) technique. The antimicrobial activity of two silver dressings, a silver‐containing Hydrofiber® (SCH) dressing and a nanocrystalline silver‐containing dressing (NCS), were evaluated on a variety of microorganisms, using a zone‐of‐inhibition (ZOI) test. When grown on agar (presenting a quasi‐sessile state of each organism), the antibiotic‐susceptible microorganisms were generally more susceptible to the SCH dressing compared with the NCS. ZOIs associated with SCH dressing ranged between 5·7 and 17·5 mm; those for the NCS against the same group of organisms ranged between 1·9 and 8·6 mm. When grown on poloxamer gel, (presenting the biofilm state of each organism) the same group of microorganisms were less susceptible to both dressings. The SCH dressing was most effective against strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus (ZOI range: 2·6–6 mm); the NCS was most effective against strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli (i.e. ZOI range: 1–2·8 mm). Similarly to the antibiotic‐susceptible microorganisms, nine of ten antibiotic‐resistant bacterial strains when grown on agar were more susceptible to the SCH dressing compared with the NCS. Although the microorganisms tested were universally less susceptible to the silver dressings when in their biofilm state, in the majority of cases, the SCH dressing demonstrated greater biofilm‐inhibiting activity than the NCS.
Perspectives in the new Russulales

The Russulales is one of 12 major lineages recently elucidated by molecular sequence data in the homobasidiomycetes. The order is morphologically most diverse, containing a remarkable variety of sporophore forms including resupinate, discoid, effused-reflexed, clavarioid, pileate, or gasteroid and hymenophore configurations from smooth, poroid, hydnoid, lamellate, to labyrinthoid. Functionally these fungi are primarily saprotrophs but others are ectomycorrhizal, root parasites and insect symbionts. A phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear 5.8S, ITS2 and large-subunit rDNA genes comprises the best information to date on relationships of taxa within the Russulales. Two large sister groups encompassing 11–13 major clades have been recovered within the Russulales. Based on molecular and morphological data 12 families and approximately 80 genera have been identified, although placement of many taxa has not yet been determined. The two clades containing ectomycorrhizal taxa, corresponding to the Russulaceae and the Albatrellaceae, represent the greatest diversity of sporophore morphologies. The primarily pileate lamellate family Russulaceae is nested with resupinate species and also contains pileate sequestrate, gasteroid annulate and pleurotoid forms. Albatrellaceae similarly contains resupinate poroid, pileate poroid and pileate labyrinthoid sporophores. Presence of gloeoplerous hyphae containing fluid that typically stains black in sulfoaldehyde compounds is a synapomorphy for the Russulales. Amyloid reactions in spore or hyphal walls that occur frequently throughout the Russulales often are perceived as an obvious synapomorphy but are inconsistent. Approaches including sequencing functional genes, analysis of gene expression and biochemical analysis across the entire order are needed.
Convergence and divergence in British housing space

ABSTRACT The degree of convergence that exists among British house prices is an open question. Inferences vary with the method applied and periods considered. Using the rank of the cointegrating matrix among four decades of regional data, two contiguous groups of regions are revealed. These super-regions have some common members through which price changes are transmitted from south to north. With London found to be deviating from the South East, neither it nor the UK are likely to be indicative of the regional series of the south of England.