Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selection, genome‐wide fitness effects and evolutionary rates in the model legume Medicago truncatula

Sequence data for >20 000 annotated genes from 56 accessions of Medicago truncatula were used to identify potential targets of positive selection, the determinants of evolutionary rate variation and the relative importance of positive and purifying selection in shaping nucleotide diversity. Based upon patterns of intraspecific diversity and interspecific divergence, c. 50–75% of nonsynonymous polymorphisms are subject to strong purifying selection and 1% of the sampled genes harbour a signature of positive selection. Combining polymorphism with expression data, we estimated the distribution of fitness effects and found that the proportion of deleterious mutations is significantly greater for expressed genes than for genes with undetected transcripts (nonexpressed) in a previous RNA‐seq experiment and greater for broadly expressed genes than those expressed in only a single tissue. Expression level is the strongest correlate of evolutionary rates at nonsynonymous sites, and despite multiple genomic features being significantly correlated with evolutionary rates, they explain less than 20% of the variation in nonsynonymous rates (dN) and <15% of the variation in either synonymous rates (dS) or dN:dS. Among putative targets of selection were genes involved in defence against pathogens and herbivores, genes with roles in mediating the relationship with rhizobial symbionts and one‐third of annotated histone‐lysine methyltransferases. Adaptive evolution of the methyltransferases suggests that positive selection in gene expression may have occurred through evolution of enzymes involved in epigenetic modification.
PKC?-dependent activation of the ubiquitin proteasome system is responsible for high glucose-induced human breast cancer MCF-7 cell proliferation, migration and invasion.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has contributed to advanced breast cancer development over the past decades. However, the mechanism underlying this contribution is poorly understood. In this study, we determined that high glucose enhanced proteasome activity was accompanied by enhanced proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as suppressed apoptosis, in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (BZM) pretreatment mitigated high glucose-induced MCF-7 cell growth and invasion. Furthermore, high glucose increased protein kinase C delta (PKC? )-phosphorylation. Administration of the specific PKC? inhibitor rottlerin attenuated high glucose-stimulated cancer cell growth and invasion. In addition, PKC? inhibition by both rottlerin and PKC? shRNA significantly suppressed high glucose-induced proteasome activity. Our results suggest that PKC? -dependent ubiquitin proteasome system activation plays an important role in high glucose- induced breast cancer cell growth and metastasis.
Hydrogen Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Autism: Preliminary Evidence of Elevated Choline/Creatine Ratio

Hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy is only beginning to be studied in autistic individuals. We report an association between hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy choline/creatine ratios and severity of autism as measured by the Children's Autistic Rating Scale (Pearson r = .657, P = .04) in 10 autistic children. Hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy choline/creatine ratio measures the concentration of cytosolic choline including free choline used in the synthesis of acetylcholine. Elevation in this ratio has been interpreted as a result of membrane degradation such as caused by a tumor or, alternatively, as a result of choline synthesis associated with increased cellular proliferation. Recent neuropathologic evidence has implicated disruption of acetylcholine transmission in the brains of autistic adults. A case-controlled study of hydrogen proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy choline/creatine ratios is warranted. (J Child Neurol 2002;17:245-249).
What employers look for: the skills debate and the fit with youth perceptions

The notion of skills shortage pervades the rhetoric of economic reform and calls for Australia to become a skilled nation, and it is implicitly associated with conceptions of youth as attitudinally deficient and inadequately prepared to meet the needs of the contemporary economy. However, a lack of clarity exists regarding the term ‘skills’, the nature of the shortfall and the distinction between ‘soft’ as opposed to ‘hard’ skills. While the new Australian employability skills framework identifies the attributes and dispositional skills considered to constitute an employment‐oriented soft skills regime, it leaves important questions unanswered. With reference to a group of trade‐oriented youths in transition, the skills debate is critiqued to show that the promotion of soft skills as measurable competencies has compounded an already ambiguous and imprecise field. The so‐called employability skills identified in the new framework are in fact life skills and attributes, and as such, it is argued that they s.
Assessing the Welfare Impact of Tax Reform: A Case Study of the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut

type="main"> This note acknowledges a programming error in our paper, “Assessing the Welfare Impact of Tax Reform: A Case Study of the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut” (Review of Income and Wealth, 58(2), 233–56, 2012). Correcting the error primarily has the effect of scaling the calculated family welfare impact of 2001 U.S. Tax Cut. The primary conclusions from the analysis, however, are unaffected.
Learning from Second-Hand Experience: Methodology for Extrapolation-Oriented Case Research

Critics of public management reform complain that governments copy legitimated foreign practices. Recent work by Eugene Bardach helps to explain why: neither government analysts nor academic researchers possess an adequate methodology to examine practices in source sites, with a view toward adaptation in target sites. Rather than complain, Bardach takes steps to develop such a methodology, drawing analogies with reverse engineering. This article offers specific guidance about how researchers can effectively investigate practices in source sites to prepare the ground for disciplined and ingenious extrapolation of practices from source to target sites. The resulting translation is illustrated by an extrapolation-oriented case study.
The Mixed Political Blessing of Campus Sustainability

Abstract The rise of sustainability rhetoric, curriculum, infrastructure, and marketing on college campuses is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, college presidents are pledging to eliminate their campuses' global warming emissions; colleges and universities are building wind turbines, composters, and green buildings; and sustainability coordinators are the latest surge in new staff hires. However, the greening of college campuses has a less welcome side as well, and examination of the campus sustainability movement suggests an unsettling lack of theoretical and ideological analysis. In this article, I praise what is being done well, identify the political analysis that has been avoided, and provide arguments for what has yet to be addressed. I argue that the trend toward campus sustainability, while praiseworthy in some significant ways, has left some troubling theoretical assumptions largely undisturbed.
Structural Change in the Probability of Part‐Time Participation by Married Women

Results from an ordered probit model are provided at two points in time for the probability of participation. The findings indicate a structural change between 1976 and 1986 in the determinants of whether married women choose non-participation, full-time or part-time participation. In 1976 more education and experience shifted women out of non-participation and into full-time and part-time participation. By 1986 more education and experience shifted women out of non-participation and part-time work into full-time work.
Reputation and Performance Among Security Analysts

Members of the Institutional Investor All-American Research Team supply more accurate earnings forecasts than other analysts when forecasts are matched.by the corporation followed and by the date of brokerage house issuance. This contemporaneous advantage is complemented by a timing advantage; All-Americans supply forecasts more often than other analysts. Stocks returns immediately following large upward forecast revisions suggest that All-Americans impact prices more than other analysts. However, there is virtually no difference in returns following large downward revisions. Nevertheless, the collective results suggest a positive relation between reputation and performance, and assuming that All-Americans are better paid, pay and performance. Copyright 1992 by American Finance Association.
The rapid in vivo evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in ventilator-associated pneumonia patients leads to attenuated virulence

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes severe airway infections in humans. These infections are usually difficult to treat and associated with high mortality rates. While colonizing the human airways, P. aeruginosa could accumulate genetic mutations that often lead to its better adaptability to the host environment. Understanding these evolutionary traits may provide important clues for the development of effective therapies to treat P. aeruginosa infections. In this study, 25 P. aeruginosa isolates were longitudinally sampled from the airways of four ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) patients. Pacbio and Illumina sequencing were used to analyse the in vivo evolutionary trajectories of these isolates. Our analysis showed that positive selection dominantly shaped P. aeruginosa genomes during VAP infections and led to three convergent evolution events, including loss-of-function mutations of lasR and mpl, and a pyoverdine-deficient phenotype. Specifically, lasR encodes one of the major transcriptional regulators in quorum sensing, whereas mpl encodes an enzyme responsible for recycling cell wall peptidoglycan. We also found that P. aeruginosa isolated at late stages of VAP infections produce less elastase and are less virulent in vivo than their earlier isolated counterparts, suggesting the short-term in vivo evolution of P. aeruginosa leads to attenuated virulence.
Sequential evaluation of portal venous hemodynamics by Doppler ultrasound in patients with severe acute hepatitis.

OBJECTIVES Portal hypertension may develop in patients with severe acute hepatitis. Sequential changes of portal venous hemodynamics in acute hepatitis is not well understood. This study evaluated portal hemodynamic changes and prognostic values in patients with severe, acute hepatitis. METHODS Doppler studies, liver function tests, and virology studies were done in the inclusion, the 3rd month, and the 6th month for patients with severe, acute hepatitis. An indocyanine green clearance was done in the inclusion. Doppler portal hemodynamic studies were done in the hilar area by an average of two measurements. RESULTS A total of 88 consecutive patients was included. Nine of them died. On initial study, fatalities were generally older patients with more delayed indocyanine green clearance, lower portal vein velocity, lower albumin values, higher bilirubin values, longer prothrombin time, and ascites. Using stepwise logistic regression, portal blood flow and prothrombin time were the two independence prognostic factors. By multiple linear regression, portal blood flow was associated with ascites, and average portal blood velocity was associated with bilirubin. During the hospital days, transient, depressed portal blood velocities followed by a hyperdynamic stage were found in survivors. The portal vein velocity changes for fatalities either were kept at a lower level or had a declining pattern. CONCLUSIONS Doppler ultrasound detects portal hemodynamic changes for patients with severe, acute hepatitis. Sequential portal hemodynamic studies will be helpful for evaluating patients with severe, acute hepatitis.
Toward an Understanding of Technology Adoption: Risk, Learning, and Neighborhood Effects

Agricultural pollution frequently is addressed through economic incentives for adopting alternative management practices. Designing efficient incentives requires understanding technology adoption behavior. This study estimates an adoption model incorporating risk preferences, endogenous learning, and peer-group influence to examine the importance of these behavioral drivers. Results suggest risk preferences and learning are key determinants, and that peer-group influence is less relevant. Thus the impact of a policy may depend more on the ability of the incentive to compensate producers for anticipated losses, and the extent to which information is shared, rather than on the “bandwagon” effect produced by early adopters or targeted incentives. (JEL Q21)
Determinants of the Adoption of Executive Stock Options in China

This study examines the factors that determine the adoption of stock option plans by Chinese listed firms. The results show that adoption of executive stock option plans is positively related to return on assets, market-to-book ratio, and chief executive officer duality structures, but negatively related to debt ratio and state ownership. In addition, the adoption of a stock option plan results in significantly positive cumulative abnormal returns during the three-day period following the adoption announcement date.
The impact of school finance litigation on resource distribution: a comparison of court‐mandated equity and adequacy reforms

While there is a wealth of research on school finance equity and adequacy, and school finance theory clearly documents differences between the two concepts, no study has examined whether the reforms engendered by each approach actually differ in terms of resource distribution. The present study examines the issues using district‐level data on expenditure by function from two, large national data‐sets: the US Census of Governments School System Finance File F‐33 (1972–2002) and the National Center for Education Statistics’ Longitudinal School District Fiscal–Nonfiscal File (1990–2000). A difference‐in‐differences estimator with state and year fixed effects indicates that both court‐mandated equity and adequacy reforms decrease resource inequities. However, estimates based on data from the F‐33 file show negligible differences between equity and adequacy reforms, while estimates based on data from the Fiscal–Nonfiscal File indicate adequacy reform does not decrease horizontal inequities as much as court‐mandated equity reform. To explore these contradictory findings, we implement a two‐stage regression approach that examines whether court‐mandated adequacy reform is associated with a state funding mechanism accounting for certain educational needs of students. Court‐mandated adequacy reform does not result in the allocation of additional resources to low‐income districts when compared with states under court‐mandated equity reform. We conclude that, contrary to school finance theory, resource distribution patterns following court‐mandated equity and adequacy reforms are not statistically different.
Modelos de retornos esperados no mercado brasileiro: testes empíricos utilizando metodologia preditiva

Predictive methodologies for test of the expected returns models are largely diffused on the international academic environment. However, these methods have not been used in Brazil in a systematic way. Generally, empirical studies proceeded with Brazilian stock market data are concentrated only in the first step of these methodologies. The purpose of this article was test and compare the models CAPM, 3-factors and 4-factors using a predictive methodology, considering two steps – temporal and cross-section regressions – with standard errors obtained by the techniques of Fama and Macbeth (1973). The results indicated the superiority of the 4-fators model as compared to the 3-fators model, and the superiority of the 3- factors model as compared to the CAPM, but no one of the tested models were enough on the explanation of the Brazilian stock returns. Contrary to some empirical evidences, that do not use predictive methodology, the size and momentum effect seem do not exist on the Brazilian capital markets, but there are evidences of the value effect and the relevance of the market for explanation of expected returns. These finds rise some questions, mainly caused by the originality of the methodology on the local market and by the fact that this subject is still incipient and polemic on the Brazilian academic environment.
Employee Problems and Their Consequences in the Technology Industry: Evidence from Surveys and Counseling Records

To support employees' work and health, organizations should help employees cope with common problems. Previous studies have focused primarily on work-related problems across multiple industries rather than on evaluating industry-specific issues. Here, two approaches identified common work and nonwork employee problems in the technology industry with the strongest correlations with psychosomatic health and life satisfaction. Study 1 used questionnaires to identify the problems that were perceived as the most frequent by lower-level employees (N=355) working in the technology industry. Study 2 evaluated employees' coping behaviors by analyzing (with permission) counseling records collected from an employee assistance service company (N=276). Employees reported a variety of problems; work problems were the only problems (of the top 5 problems) reported in both studies. Several problems emerged in the counseling records (e.g., legal issues, career development, family and marriage problems, and emotional problems) but not in the surveys. Future research should apply these observations to develop scales for measuring employee stressors.
Gene Polymorphism of Myospryn (Cardiomyopathy-Associated 5) Is Associated with Left Ventricular Wall Thickness in Patients with Hypertension

We examined a gene polymorphism of a novel Z-disc–related protein, myospryn (cardiomyopathy-associated 5). We focused on one haplotype block associated with a tag single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that covered 16 of 27 coding SNPs with linkage disequilibrium (minor allele frequency 0.413). Screening a myospryn polymorphism (K2906N) in a general health check-up of a rural Japanese population revealed an association with cardiac diseases (p=0.0082). In further analysis of the interaction between K2906N and cardiac function in patients, K2906N was associated with the anteroseptal wall thickness of the left ventricle in a recessive model (p=0.0324) and with the ratio of the peak velocity of the early diastolic filling wave to the peak velocity of atrial filling (A/E) (p=0.0278). In an association study based on left ventricular wall thickness, we found a significant difference in the K2906N genotype between controls and patients with cardiac hypertrophy. These results suggest that the K2906N polymorphism could be clinically associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction independent of known parameters. Although the precise mechanism underlying this association remains to be elucidated, treatment with angiotensin II induced an increase in heart myospryn mRNA level in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that the polymorphism of myospryn is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, and an association between a Z-disc protein and cardiac adaptation in response to pressure overload.
An examination of the effects of perceived value and attitude on customers behavioral intentions in e-shopping

The main purpose of this research is to construct a new model for factors that affect online consumer behavioral intentions, including various dimensions of perceived value (monetary, convenience and epistemic) and attitude. This paper also examines the effects of consumer behavioral intentions on word-of-mouth and repurchase intentions in the context of internet shopping. Data from a survey of 753 online consumers in Tehran (Iran) were used to test the research model. Conﬁrmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to test the research model. The findings of the study supported all of the six hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest that behavioral intentions were most influenced by attitude (31%), monetary value (29%), convenience value (21%) and epistemic value (19%). Beside, this study shows that the most impacts of behavioral intentions are on repurchase intentions (38%) and word-of-mouth (33%). Future research can use different methodologies, such as longitudinal studies and focus groups, to examine the relationship between perceived value, attitude and customer behaviour intentions in online shopping contexts. This study suggests that to enhance customer repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth, online bookstores should develop marketing strategies. Also, bookstores' managers should direct marketing activities with the aim to enhance behavioral intentions from e-shopping. To encourage internet usage intentions, it appears worthwhile to create in potential users, a sense that the technology is useful, easy to use, and that others have expectations regarding its usage. Key words: Monetary value, convenience value, epistemic value, attitude, word-of-mouth, repurchase intention, behavioral intentions.
PATERNAL CONTRIBUTION TO EMBRYONIC DEATH.

Summary. This essay advances the theory that an unsuspectedly large part of embryonic death is attributable to genetic causes. The genetic factors involved are not necessarily inherited by the parents, indeed the majority probably arise de novo in each parent generation and some are likely to arise in the definitive gametes. The theory seeks to account for the nature of unexplained fertility differences between males, and of idiogenic infertility, and of some of the decline in fertility that is associated with age. It suggests that a considerable part of embryonic death is unavoidable and should be regarded as a normal way of eliminating unfit genotypes in each generation.
Analysis of Small-Business Financial Statements Using Neural Nets

This paper provides a tutorial in the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in accounting and finance in the form of a well-documented exploratory application of an ANN with automatic learning to the analysis and interpretation of the noisy data contained in the financial statements of a sample of small businesses. The application uses the learning algorithm of the Boltzmann machine (BM), which employs the technique of stochastic optimization called simulated annealing. Various experiments are run using balanced training sets and (un)balanced test sets. Since most assessment errors are boundary errors and the ratios of successful classifications for the test sets are clearly above chance for the balanced training/test sets, the BM with two- and three-class output separation appears to have practical value. As expected, the BM demonstrates better accuracy as the size of the training sample increases in a balanced fashion, and less accuracy as the test set is augmented in an unbalanced manner.