Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Msc1 Acts Through Histone H2A.Z to Promote Chromosome Stability in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

As a central component of the DNA damage checkpoint pathway, the conserved protein kinase Chk1 mediates cell cycle progression when DNA damage is generated. Msc1 was identified as a multicopy suppressor capable of facilitating survival in response to DNA damage of cells mutant for chk1. We demonstrate that loss of msc1 function results in an increased rate of chromosome loss and that an msc1 null allele exhibits genetic interactions with mutants in key kinetochore components. Multicopy expression of msc1 robustly suppresses a temperature-sensitive mutant (cnp1-1) in the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A, and localization of CENP-A to the centromere is compromised in msc1 null cells. We present several lines of evidence to suggest that Msc1 carries out its function through the histone H2A variant H2A.Z, encoded by pht1 in fission yeast. Like an msc1 mutant, a pht1 mutant also exhibits chromosome instability and genetic interactions with kinetochore mutants. Suppression of cnp1-1 by multicopy msc1 requires pht1. Likewise, suppression of the DNA damage sensitivity of a chk1 mutant by multicopy msc1 also requires pht1. We present the first genetic evidence that histone H2A.Z may participate in centromere function in fission yeast and propose that Msc1 acts through H2A.Z to promote chromosome stability and cell survival following DNA damage.
Examining the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand pre-service teachers' intention to use technology

This study examined pre-service teachers’ self-reported intention to use technology by employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the research framework. One hundred and fifty-seven participants completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to four constructs in the TPB. These were administered at the beginning of the course in which technology was taught and used. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis. The results of this study showed that attitudes toward usage and subjective norms were significant predictors of behavioral intention to use technology while perceived behavioral control was not. Overall, this study found that the three explanatory variables in the TPB explained about 40% of the variance in behavioral intention to use technology.
Hepatocytes targeting of cationic liposomes modified with soybean sterylglucoside and polyethylene glycol.

AIM In this study, a hepatocyte-specific targeting technology was developed by modifying cationic liposomes with soybean sterylglucoside (SG) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) (C/SG/PEG-liposomes). METHODS The liposomal transfection efficiencies in HepG(2) 2.2. 15 cells were estimated with the use of fluorescein sodium (FS) as a model drug, by flow cytometry. The antisense activity of C/SG/PEG-liposomes entrapped antisense oligonucleotides (ODN) was determined as HBsAg and HBeAg in HepG(2) 2.2. 15 cells by ELISA. The liposome uptake by liver and liver cells in mice was carried out after intravenous injection of (3)H-labeled liposomes. RESULTS C/SG-liposomes entrapped FS were effectively transfected into HepG(2) 2.2. 15 cells in vitro. C/SG/PEG-liposomes entrapped ODN, reduced the secretion of both HBsAg and HBeAg in HepG(2) 2.2. 15 cells when compared to free ODN. After in vivo injection of (3)H-labeled C/SG/PEG-liposomes, higher radiation accumulation was observed in the hepatocytes than non-parenchymal cells of the liver. CONCLUSION C/SG/PEG-liposomes mediated gene transfer to the liver is an effective gene-delivery method for hepatocytes-specific targeting, which appears to have a potential for gene therapy of HBV infections.
InlA‐ but not InlB‐mediated internalization of Listeria monocytogenes by non‐phagocytic mammalian cells needs the support of other internalins

To determine the contribution of the previously identified internalins, InlA, InlB, InlC, InlE, InlG, and InlH, to internalization of Listeria monocytogenes by non‐professional phagocytic mammalian cells, we constructed mutants with various combinations of deletions in the respective inl genes. Internalization of these mutants into the epithelial‐like Caco‐2 and the microvascular endothelial HBMEC cell lines were studied. Deletion of the inlGHE gene cluster, or of the single genes, led to a two to fourfold increased internalization by HBMEC and other non‐phagocytic mammalian cells. Invasion into HBMEC was totally blocked in the absence of InlB, and InlB‐dependent internalization did not require the presence of any of the other internalins. Internalization by Caco‐2 cells was reduced to a level of about 1% in the absence of InlA and InlB, and was most efficient in the presence of InlA, InlB and InlC and in the absence of InlG, InlH and InlE. InlB and InlA, in each case in the absence of the other internalins, led (compared with the wild‐type strain) to reduced internalization of about 20% and less than 10% respectively. InlA‐dependent internalization (in the absence of InlB) required the additional function of InlC and InlGHE. The deletion of inlGHE enhanced the expression of InlA and InlB. The increased amount of InlA led to an increase in early association of L. monocytogenes with Caco‐2 cells without enhancing its uptake in the absence of the other internalins, whereas the larger amount of InlB did not enhance early association of L. monocytogenes with HBMEC but led to an increase in internalization of L. monocytogenes. The results suggest that InlB is able to induce phagocytosis in HBMEC and (at a lower efficiency) in Caco‐2 cells by itself, but InlA needs the supportive functions of the other internalins to trigger phagocytosis. None of these internalins seems to be required for cell‐to‐cell spread by L. monocytogenes, as shown by microinjection of Caco‐2 cells with appropriate inl mutants.
Kinetics of metal fixation in soils: Measurement and modeling by isotopic dilution

The bioavailability of metal contaminants in soils varies widely, depending on soil characteristics and the source of the contaminant. As a consequence, site‐specific risk assessment requires accurate prediction of the bioavailable (or labile) fraction of soil metal. Moreover, metals in soil are subject to time‐dependent processes, which affect their bioavailability and thereby complicate the prediction of future risk. The aim of the present study was to describe the development of simple, readily applicable models for the time‐dependent changes in lability of Cd and Zn in soils. We present data showing the time‐dependent behavior of radiolabile and soil solution concentrations of Cd and Zn during an incubation study over a period of 813 d in 23 diverse soils. The data are used to parameterize candidate models of metal fixation in soils designed to be readily applicable and therefore relevant to risk assessment. We conclude that the final extent of metal fixation increases with pH and generally is greater for Zn than for Cd; however, the rate of fixation is independent of pH and equivalent to a half‐time to equilibrium of 29 and 89 d for Cd and Zn, respectively. It is possible that longer‐term processes occur, especially for Zn, but these could not be detected in the present study.
Pyramidal cells and stratum lacunosum‐moleculare interneurons in the CA1 hippocampal region share a GABAergic spontaneous input

Patch‐clamp technique was used in the CA1 region of the hippocampal rat slice preparation in order to perform a comparison between synaptic GABAergic spontaneous postsynaptic currents (sPSCs) recorded from pyramidal cells (PCs) of stratum pyramidale (SP) and interneurons of stratum‐lacunosum moleculare (SL‐M INs). GABAergic sPSCs from PCs and from SL‐M INs displayed similar frequency (0.75 ± 0.26 Hz vs. 0.53 ± 0.11 Hz, respectively), amplitude (34.6 ± 5.0 pA vs. 39.6 ± 4.1 pA), rise‐time (2.9 ± 0.4 ms vs. 3.2 ± 0.3 ms), and decay‐time (31.7 ± 1.5 vs. 32.3 ± 2.4). Agonists of receptors for endogenously released transmitters were bath‐applied to induce variations in the frequency of sPSCs. Spontaneous PSC frequency increased after carbachol and trans‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐1,3‐dicarboxilic acid (t‐ACPD), whereas it decreased after 5‐hydroxy‐tryptamine (5‐HT) and baclofen in both classes of cells. Cross‐correlation analysis of double‐patch recordings (one PC and one SL‐M IN) revealed 4.4 times as many coincident events as would be expected at random. The ratio between measured and random coincidences did not vary when the sPSCs frequency was increased. These results suggest that the same class of spontaneously active GABAergic cells impinge both on PCs and on SL‐M INs, exerting control over them by varying the level of released GABA. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Detection of Human Intestinal Catalase-Negative, Gram-Positive Cocci by rRNA-Targeted Reverse Transcription-PCR

ABSTRACT An analytical system based on rRNA-targeted reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) for enumeration of catalase-negative, Gram-positive cocci was established. Subgroup- or species-specific primer sets targeting 16S or 23S rRNA from Enterococcus, Streptococcus, and Lactococcus were newly developed. The RT-qPCR method using these primers together with the previously reported primer sets specific for the Enterococcus genus, the Streptococcus genus, and several Streptococcus species was found to be able to quantify the target populations with detection limits of 103 to 104 cells per gram feces, which was more than 100 times as sensitive as the qPCR method (106 to 108 cells per gram feces). The RT-qPCR analysis of fecal samples from 24 healthy adult volunteers using the genus-specific primer sets revealed that Enterococcus and Streptococcus were present as intestinal commensals at population levels of log10 6.2 ± 1.4 and 7.5 ± 0.9 per gram feces (mean ± standard deviation [SD]), respectively. Detailed investigation using species- or subgroup-specific primer sets revealed that the volunteers harbored unique Enterococcus species, including the E. avium subgroup, the E. faecium subgroup, E. faecalis, the E. casseliflavus subgroup, and E. caccae, while the dominant human intestinal Streptococcus species was found to be S. salivarius. Various Lactococcus species, such as L. lactis subsp. lactis or L. lactis subsp. cremoris, L. garvieae, L. piscium, and L. plantarum, were also detected but at a lower population level (log10 4.6 ± 1.2 per gram feces) and prevalence (33%). These results suggest that the RT-qPCR method enables the accurate and sensitive enumeration of human intestinal subdominant but still important populations, such as Gram-positive cocci.
A Phase I Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Exploration Study of Single-Dose Inhaled Montelukast in Patients with Chronic Asthma

Background. The efficacy of oral montelukast has been well established in asthma and allergic rhinitis in adults and children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dose-related bronchodilation and tolerability of inhaled montelukast. Methods. Randomized, double-blind, crossover, adaptive-design study comparing single-dose administration of inhaled montelukast versus placebo in patients age 15–65 years with chronic asthma (n = 68). Montelukast was delivered as a witnessed dose through dry powder inhaler at doses of 25, 250, or 1000 μg, and doses of 50, 100, and 500 μg could be used if needed based on a prespecified dose–response algorithm. Each administration was followed by a 4- to 7-day washout period before crossing over to the next treatment. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline in a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) over the first 4 hours after administration, calculated as a time-weighted average (ΔFEV1 [0–4 hours]). Other endpoints included the onset and duration of bronchodilation and the effect of albuterol when added to inhaled montelukast. Results. Over 4 hours postdose, and compared with placebo (least-squares [LS] mean 0.03 L), inhaled montelukast 100 μg (0.13 L; p ≤ .001), 250 μg (0.10 L; p < .01), and 1000 μg (0.12 L; p ≤ .001) had significantly greater ΔFEV1 (0–4 hours). At 24 hours postdose, inhaled montelukast 100 μg (0.10 L) and 1000 μg (0.09 L) had significantly greater bronchodilation compared with placebo (0.02 L; p < .05 vs. montelukast). Montelukast 1000 μg provided significant bronchodilation versus placebo within 20 minutes of administration (0.03 L vs. –0.05 L), whereas montelukast 100 μg provided significant bronchodilation relative to placebo within 2 hours of dosing (0.09 L vs. 0.01 L). Montelukast (pooled doses) plus albuterol was significantly more effective than montelukast plus placebo for ΔFEV1 (0–90 minutes) (0.34 L vs. 0.15 L; p = .015). The tolerability of inhaled montelukast was similar to that of placebo. No serious adverse experiences were reported. Conclusions. Inhaled montelukast provided significant bronchodilation compared with placebo as early as 20 minutes after the administration that persisted for 24 hours and provided additive bronchodilation to albuterol.
Hit-Highlighting off education production functions

The accumulated economic analysis of education suggests that current provision of schooling is very inefficient. Commonly purchased inputs to schools – class size, teacher experience, and teacher education – bear little systematic relationship to student outcomes, implying that conventional input policies are unlikely to improve achievement. At the same time, differences in teacher quality have been shown to be very important. Unfortunately, teacher quality, defined in terms of effects on student performance, is not closely related to salaries or readily identified attributes of teachers.
Skew deviation with ocular torsion: A vestibular brainstem sign of topographic diagnostic value

Fifty‐six patients with unilateral brainstem infarctions presenting with skew deviation of the eyes were analyzed for static vestibular function in the roll plane. Ischemic lesions were allocated to the level and side of the brainstem by the clinical syndrome and neuroimaging. Two findings of clinical relevance were obtained: (1) All skew deviations were ipsiversive (ipsilateral eye was undermost) with caudal pontomedullary lesions and contraversive (contralateral eye was lowermost) with rostral pontomesencephalic lesions. (2) All skew deviations were associated with concomitant ocular torsion and tilts of subjective visual vertical toward the undermost eye. Thus, skew deviation or more correctly, ocular skew torsion is a sensitive brainstem sign of localizing and lateralizing value. Evidence is presented that the ocular skew torsion sign indicates a vestibular tone imbalance in the roll plane secondary to graviceptive pathway lesions.
Chapter 7 Closing Dewey ’ s Circuit

One hundred and twenty years ago, the American philosopher and psychologist John Dewey (Fig. 1) published his seminal paper The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology in the Psychological Review (Dewey, 1896). In this paper, Dewey challenged the reflex arc, a by-then (and since then, as we will soon demonstrate) consensual unifying framework for action and perception. The framework, advanced by European experimental psychologists, pertains to a general interpretation that was referred to, at the time, as “structural psychology. ” Advocates of this framework, which Dewey so fiercely opposed, viewed psychological processes as sequences of distinct steps that are executed in a timely and precise manner. The structure of the system—the identity and location of the elements executing the different stages of the process—is at the epicenter of interest. Dewey, a key proponent of the philosophy of Pragmatism and one of the founders of the Chicago group of psychologists, sought to advance an alternative, “functional psychology,” focussing on system-environment interactions and their value in achieving functionally meaningful goals. Functional psychologists did not ignore or deny the impacts of structures and mechanisms inherent to the individual in the emergence of behavior; likewise, structural psychologists did not ignore or deny the functional attributes of behavior. Rather, the main difference between these two strands of academic psychology pertained to the methods that are most likely to produce understanding of behavior. Structuralists sought to identify program-like processes hidden deep inside the machine, the human brain; functionalists could not see how the emergence of behavior can be understood in isolation from coupled subject-environment dynamics. In this context, Marom (2015) offered to use the more indicative terms structural-programmatic and functional-dynamic to designate the two stances. In this chapter, we juxtapose these two stances, discuss the methodological reasons for the dominance of the structural-programmatic stance in neuroscience, and offer closed-loop methodologies as a functional-dynamic alternative for studying action and perception as a complete circuit.
Experimental investigations of trench field stop IGBT under repetitive short-circuits operations

Robustness of IGBT transistors under repetitive short-circuit conditions is an important requirement. Short-circuit is one of the most severe stress conditions on IGBTs since a large current flows through the device while supporting whole supply voltage. In this paper, experimental results concerning the ageing of 600 V IGBT under repetitive short circuit operations are presented. A critical energy, which is dependant on test conditions, has been already pointed out which separates two failure modes. The first one, with a cumulative degradation effect, requires some 104 short circuits to reach failure and the other one leads to the failure at the first short-circuit with a thermal runaway effect. This paper is focused on the first failure mode. In order to understand the ageing mechanism, 600 V IGBT dies have been packaged by Microsemi. The packaging has been made in order to make possible the characterization of some degradations by the measurement of different electrical characteristics. In this paper, we will detail effects of device ageing on on-state voltage, short- circuit current and Al metallization degradation which leads to resistance increase.
Long-term Results of ABI in Children With Severe Inner Ear Malformations

Objective: To report the long-term outcomes of children who received auditory brainstem implant (ABI) because of severe inner ear malformations. Study Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Tertiary referral otolaryngology clinic. Subjects and Methods: Between July 2006 and October 2014, 60 children received ABI at Hacettepe University. Preoperative work up included otolaryngologic examination, audiological assessment, radiological evaluation together with assessment of language development and psychological status. The surgeries were performed via retrosigmoid approach with a pediatric neurosurgeon. Intraoperatively, electrical auditory brainstem response was utilized. Initial stimulation was done 4 to 5 weeks postoperatively. Outcomes were evaluated with Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), speech intelligibility rate (SIR), functional auditory performance of cochlear implant (FAPCI) and Manchester Spoken Language Development Scale scores; receptive and expressive language ages were determined. Results: Sixty children who received ABI were between ages of 12 and 64 months. Thirty-five patients with follow up period of at least 1 year, were reported in means of long-term audiological and language results. The most prevelant inner ear malformation was cochlear hypoplasia (n = 19). No major complication was encountered. Majority of the patients were in CAP 5 category, which implies that they can understand common phrases without lip reading. SIR was found out to be better with improving hearing thresholds. Children with ABI were performing worse than average cochlear implantation (CI) users when FAPCI scores were compared. Patients with the best hearing thresholds have expressive vocabulary of 50 to 200 words when evaluated with Manchester Spoken Language Development Scale. There was no relationship between the number of active electrodes and hearing thresholds. The type of inner ear anomaly with the best and the worst hearing thresholds were common cavity and cochlear aperture aplasia, respectively. Patients with additional handicaps had worse outcomes. Among 35 children, 29 had closed set discrimination and 12 developed open set discrimination above 50%. It was determined that, progress of the patients is faster in the initial 2 years when compared with further use of ABI. Conclusion: ABI is an acceptable and effective treatment modality for pediatric population with severe inner ear malformations. Bilateral stimulation together with CI and contralateral ABI should be utilized in suitable cases.
HEMATOLOGIC AND SERUM CHEMISTRY VALUES OF PEN-RAISED COYOTES1

Blood samples obtained from 48, eighteen-month-old pen-raised coyotes (Canis latrans) were analyzed for 32 hematologic and serum chemistry parameters. Mean, standard deviation, and range were established for each parameter. No differences attributable to sex were observed for any parameter. The reported hematologic and serum chemistry values establish non-fasting baseline values for pen-raised coyotes.
Predictive biomarkers with potential of converting conventional chemotherapy to targeted therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Abstract The availability of systemic chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is based on the results from large prospective, randomized studies. The main chemotherapeutic drugs used in treatment of mCRC are the fluoropyrimidines (5-fluorouracil (5-FU); capecitabine) in combination with either oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) or irinotecan (FOLFIRI). The objective response rate to either combination is approximately 50%, where no significant differences with regard to progression free survival or overall survival have been observed. Interestingly, a number of preclinical and clinical studies have indicated lack of full cross resistance between oxaliplatin based and irinotecan based treatment. Therefore, it is possible that certain mCRC patient subpopulations would benefit more from one drug combination rather than the other. To address this clinical problem there has been much focus on development and validation of predictive biomarkers for these three drugs. Here, we present a thorough review on the current status of predictive biomarkers for 5-FU, oxaliplatin and irinotecan treatment of mCRC patients. The overall conclusions were as follows: Several promising biomarker candidates were identified, notably thymidylate synthase for 5-FU, topoisomerase I for irinotecan and ERCC1 for oxaliplatin. However, these candidates warrant further analysis, where assay performance and clinical trial design should be in focus.
Hidden Reserve Prices with Risk-Averse Bidders

In this paper, we provide an alternative explanation for why auctioneers often keep the reserve price hidden or secret. We consider a standard independent private values environment in which the buyers are risk-averse and the seller has private information about her valuation of the object to be auctioned. The seller uses a first-price sealed-bid auction mechanism combined with either an announced reserve price or a hidden reserve price. We compare the selleri¯s ex ante expected profits under these two policies and find that the optimal hidden reserve price policy generates higher expected profits for the seller when the buyers are fairly risk-averse under particular restrictions on buyersi¯ preferences and the distributions of private values. As the number of the buyers increases, the hidden reserve price is more likely to dominate. Numerical methods are used to demonstrate the generality of our main results.