Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The stationary‐phase morphogene bolA from Escherichia coli is induced by stress during early stages of growth

The Escherichia coli morphogene bolA causes round morphology when overexpressed. The expression of bolA is mainly regulated by a σs‐dependent gearbox promoter bolA1p. Such regulation results in increased relative levels of expression at slow growth rates, as seen with those attained at the onset of stationary phase. We demonstrate that bolA1p is also induced during early logarithmic growth in response to several forms of stress, and that this induction can be partially σs independent. Sudden carbon starvation results in a 17‐fold increase in mRNA levels derived from bolA1p 1 h after stress imposition. Increased osmolarity results in a more than 20‐fold increase after the same period. Considerable increases in bolA1p mRNA levels were also detected as a result of heat shock, acidic stress and oxidative stress, which has been shown to inhibit σs translation. The orders of magnitude of bolA1p induction in log phase due to sudden starvation, osmotic shock and oxidative stress surpass the levels reached in stationary phase. Under sudden carbon starvation and osmotic shock, the cells changed their morphology, resembling those cells in which bolA is overexpressed in stationary phase. Increased expression and morphological changes due to sudden carbon starvation and osmotic shock still occur when σS is not present in a rpoS− background. The results show that expression of bolA is not confined to stationary phase, but it can also play an important role in general stress response. We propose that bolA1p stress induction overrides the normal regulation imposed by growth rate, which is strictly the result of σS‐directed transcription.
Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of public bicycle usage: A case study of Hangzhou, China

Abstract Bicycle sharing has become an increasingly popular transportation option for promoting non-motorized transport and reducing automobile dependence. Hangzhou, China currently has the largest bicycle-sharing program in the world; however, this program faces challenges from the dynamic and unevenly distributed demand for public bicycles and docking spaces. In this study, we propose an approach for understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of bicycle sharing activities by analyzing bicycle usage data streams from approximately 1500 bicycle stations collected at one-minute intervals for the entire month of October 2012. To extract useful information from this large dataset, we extract the spatiotemporal dynamics of public bicycle usage and apply a fuzzy clustering algorithm to cluster bicycle stations into various types based on temporal distribution of usage over a day. We then employ spatial regression models to assess the relationship between the type of stations and corresponding locational characteristics after controlling for the spatial dependence of neighboring stations. The proposed approach offers useful insights that could support the operation of bicycle sharing programs. The study also demonstrates the enormous potential of mining emergent big datasets, such as urban sensing data streams, for improving transportation infrastructure management and urban planning practices.
Decoherence as decay of the Loschmidt echo in a Lorentz gas.

Classical chaotic dynamics is characterized by exponential sensitivity to initial conditions. Quantum mechanics, however, does not show this feature. We consider instead the sensitivity of quantum evolution to perturbations in the Hamiltonian. This is observed as an attenuation of the Loschmidt echo M(t), i.e., the amount of the original state (wave packet of width sigma) which is recovered after a time reversed evolution, in the presence of a classically weak perturbation. By considering a Lorentz gas of size L, which for large L is a model for an unbounded classically chaotic system, we find numerical evidence that, if the perturbation is within a certain range, M(t) decays exponentially with a rate 1/tau(phi) determined by the Lyapunov exponent lambda of the corresponding classical dynamics. This exponential decay extends much beyond the Eherenfest time t(E) and saturates at a time t(s) approximately equal to lambda(-1)ln[N], where N approximately (L/sigma)(2) is the effective dimensionality of the Hilbert space. Since tau(phi) quantifies the increasing uncontrollability of the quantum phase (decoherence) its characterization and control has fundamental interest.
Distribution of calcitonin gene‐related peptide‐like immunoreactivity in the brain of the lizard Podarcis hispanica

The present work studies the distribution of calcitonin gene‐related peptide‐immunoreactive (CGRP‐li) neurons and fibers in the brain of a reptile, the lizard Podarcis hispanica. CGRP‐li perikarya were not present in the telencephalon. In the thalamus, CGRP‐li perikarya were restricted to the posteromedial and posterolateral nuclei. In the hypothalamus, CGRP‐li cells were found mainly in the supramammillary and mammillary nuclei. In the midbrain and brainstem, CGRP‐li cells appeared in the ventral tegmental area, the parabrachial nucleus, and the motor nuclei of the III–VII, IX, X, and XII cranial nerves. Motoneurons of the ventral horn of the spinal cord were also immunoreactive for CGRP. CGRP‐li fibers were seen in the telencephalic hemispheres, where a dense plexus of reactive fibers appeared in the septum and in the lateral striatoamygdaloid transition area. From the latter, CGRP‐li fibers entered the posterior dorsal ventricular ridge, the cell layer and deep stratum of the ventral lateral cortex, and various amygdaloid nuclei. Parts of the striatum (nucleus accumbens) and pallidum also displayed CGRP‐li innervation. In the diencephalon, CGRP‐li innervation was observed in parts of the dorsal thalamus and in the periventricular and medial hypothalamus. The pretectum and deep layers of the optic tectum also showed CGRP‐li fibers, and numerous CGRP‐li fibers were observed in the midbrain central gray, tegmentum, and pons. Some of the sensory fibers of the trigeminal, vagal, and spinal nerves were also CGRP‐li. These results show that the distribution of CGRP‐li structures in the reptilian brain is similar to that described for other vertebrates and suggest that the thalamotelencephalic CGRPergic projections appear to be conserved among amniote vertebrates. J. Comp. Neurol. 447:99–113, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A point mutation in a glutamate‐gated chloride channel confers abamectin resistance in the two‐spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch

The molecular mechanisms and genetics of abamectin resistance mediated by target site insensitivity in the two‐spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, were investigated by comparing two isogenic abamectin‐susceptible (AbaS) and abamectin‐resistant (AbaR) strains. Cloning and sequencing of full‐length cDNA fragments of γ‐amino butyric acid (GABA)‐gated chloride channel genes revealed no polymorphisms between the two strains. However, sequence comparison of the full‐length cDNA fragment of a T. urticae glutamate‐gated chloride channel gene (TuGluCl) identified a G323D point mutation as being tentatively related with abamectin resistance. In individual F2 progenies obtained by backcrossing, the G323D genotype was confirmed to correlate with abamectin resistance. Bioassays using progeny from reciprocal crossings revealed that the abamectin resistance trait resulting from TuGluCl insensitivity is incompletely recessive.
Subjective Knowledge Acquisition and Enrichment Powered By Crowdsourcing

Knowledge bases (KBs) have attracted increasing attention due to its great success in various areas, such as Web and mobile search.Existing KBs are restricted to objective factual knowledge, such as city population or fruit shape, whereas,subjective knowledge, such as big city, which is commonly mentioned in Web and mobile queries, has been neglected. Subjective knowledge differs from objective knowledge in that it has no documented or observed ground truth. Instead, the truth relies on people's dominant opinion. Thus, we can use the crowdsourcing technique to get opinion from the crowd. In our work, we propose a system, called crowdsourced subjective knowledge acquisition (CoSKA),for subjective knowledge acquisition powered by crowdsourcing and existing KBs. The acquired knowledge can be used to enrich existing KBs in the subjective dimension which bridges the gap between existing objective knowledge and subjective queries.The main challenge of CoSKA is the conflict between large scale knowledge facts and limited crowdsourcing resource. To address this challenge, in this work, we define knowledge inference rules and then select the seed knowledge judiciously for crowdsourcing to maximize the inference power under the resource constraint. Our experimental results on real knowledge base and crowdsourcing platform verify the effectiveness of CoSKA system.
Lifelong commitment to the wrong partner: hybridization in ants

The extraordinary lifelong partner commitment in social insects is expected to increase choosiness in both sexes and therefore to be associated with particularly low hybridization frequencies. Yet, more and more studies reveal that in many ant taxa hybrids are surprisingly common, with up to half of all female sexuals receiving sperm from allospecific males in extreme cases. In a few ant species, hybridization has led to the evolution of reproductively isolated new lineages with a bizarre system of genetic caste differentiation: colonies produce hybrid workers and pure-lineage female sexuals. This requires that colonies either contain multiple queens or that queens mate multiple times. In most other cases, hybridization appears to be an evolutionary dead end and fertile hybrid queens are rarely found. In such cases, haplodiploid sex determination appears to decrease the costs of mating with an allospecific male. As long as hybrid workers are viable, a cross-mated queen can partially rescue its fitness by producing males from unfertilized eggs. Mating with an allospecific partner may thus be an option for queens when conspecific mates are not available. The morphological similarity of most ant males, perhaps resulting from the lack of sexual conflict, may similarly contribute to the commonness of hybridization.
When do workarounds help or hurt patient outcomes? The moderating role of operational failures

Hospital providers often use workarounds to circumvent processes so that patients can receive care. Workarounds in response to operational failures enable care to continue and therefore may be indicative of workers' commitment. On the other hand, workarounds in the absence of operational failures may signal an ineffective approach associated with lower quality of care and worse patient outcomes. Working closely with healthcare providers, we developed a survey to measure workaround behaviors and operational failures on medical/surgical units. The lead author surveyed over 4,000 nurses from 63 hospitals throughout the United States. We matched this data with audit data on the incidence of pressure injuries among over 21,000 patients on 262 nursing units in 56 survey hospitals. Hospital-acquired pressure injuries are a significant risk to patient health and hospital costs. We do not find support for our hypothesis that workarounds are associated with a higher rate of hospital-acquired pressure injuries. However, when we take into account the moderating role of operational failures on the relationship between workarounds and pressure injuries, we find significant results. When nursing units have lower levels of operational failures, workarounds are associated with higher rates of hospital-acquired pressure injuries. Our results provide evidence that workarounds may be associated with negative patient outcomes, if they stem from a process-avoiding approach. The best results can be achieved by reducing both operational failures and workarounds via instilling a process-focused approach.
Thermal unfolding molecular dynamics simulation of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase: Thermal stability of protein domains and unfolding pathway

Temperature‐induced unfolding of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase was carried out by using molecular dynamic simulations. The simulations show that the unfolding generally involves an initial end‐to‐end collapse of the adenine binding domain into partially extended loops, followed by a gradual breakdown of the remaining β‐sheet core structure. The core, which consists of β‐strands 5–7, was observed to be the most resistant to thermal unfolding. This region, which is made up of part of the N‐terminus domain and part of the large domain of the E. coli dihydrofolate reductase, may constitute the nucleation site for protein folding and may be important for the eventual formation of both domains. The unfolding of different domains at different stages of the unfolding process suggests that protein domains vary in stability and that the rate at which they unfold can affect the overall outcome of the unfolding pathway. This observation is compared with the recently proposed hierarchical folding model. Finally, the results of the simulation were found to be consistent with a previous experimental study (Frieden, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1990;87:4413–4416) which showed that the folding process of E. coli dihydrofolate reductase involves sequential formation of the substrate‐binding sites. Proteins 2002;46:308–320. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Modelling Foreign Exchange Realized Volatility Using High Frequency Data: Long Memory versus Structural Breaks

In this study, we model realized volatility constructed from intra-day high-frequency data. We explore the possibility of confusing long memory andstructural breaks in the realized volatility of the following spot exchange rates: EUR/USD, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF, EUR/GBP, and EUR/AUD. The results show evidence for the presence of long memory in the exchange rates’ realized volatility. From the Bai–Perron test, we found structural breakpoints that match significant events in financial markets. Furthermore, the findings provide strong evidence in favour of the presence of long memory.
Self-service technology adoption by air passengers: a case study of fast air travel services in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Self-service kiosks have become increasingly visible at airports. To date, however, research has not fully investigated air travelers’ perceptions of fast air travel services and the factors influencing air travelers’ intentions to adopt fast air travel services. Filling this gap and built upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model, the present study proposed an integrated model featuring the relationship among perceived benefits of fast air travel services, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived behavioral control, attitude, subjective norm, and adoption intentions. Using the mall intercept approach, a survey research project was conducted at an international airport in Taiwan, and a total of 582 valid responses were obtained. Empirical findings reveal that the perceived benefits of fast air travel services could be further categorized into six benefits: document scanning, bags to go, flight rebooking, self-boarding, bag recovery, and self-check-in. Meanwhile, the perceived benefits of fast air travel services positively and significantly influence perceived behavioral control, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use positively and significantly influences the perceived usefulness of fast air travel services. Moreover, perceived usefulness predicts air travelers’ attitudes toward and intentions to use fast air travel services. Perceived behavioral control positively influences adoption intentions. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed at the end of this paper.
Deep View-Sensitive Pedestrian Attribute Inference in an end-to-end Model

Pedestrian attribute inference is a demanding problem in visual surveillance that can facilitate person retrieval, search and indexing. To exploit semantic relations between attributes, recent research treats it as a multi-label image classification task. The visual cues hinting at attributes can be strongly localized and inference of person attributes such as hair, backpack, shorts, etc., are highly dependent on the acquired view of the pedestrian. In this paper we assert this dependence in an end-to-end learning framework and show that a view-sensitive attribute inference is able to learn better attribute predictions. Our proposed model jointly predicts the coarse pose (view) of the pedestrian and learns specialized view-specific multi-label attribute predictions. We show in an extensive evaluation on three challenging datasets (PETA, RAP and WIDER) that our proposed end-to-end view-aware attribute prediction model provides competitive performance and improves on the published state-of-the-art on these datasets.
A proteomic approach to analyze salt‐responsive proteins in rice leaf sheath

To examine the response of rice to salt stress, changes in protein expression were analyzed using a proteomic approach. To investigate dose‐ and time‐dependent responses, rice seedlings were exposed to 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl for 6 to 48 h. Proteins were extracted from leaf sheath and separated by two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Eight proteins showed 1‐ to 3‐fold up‐regulation in leaf sheath, in response to 50 mM NaCl for 24 h. Among these, three proteins were unidentified (LSY081, LSY262 and LSY363) while five proteins were identified as fructose bisphosphate aldolases, photosystem II (PSII) oxygen evolving complex protein, oxygen evolving enhancer protein 2 (OEE2) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The maximum expression levels of seven proteins were at 24 h. Their expression declined after 48 h of 50 mM NaCl treatment. In contrast, SOD maintained its elevated expression throughout these conditions. The increased expression of proteins seen in the 50 mM NaCl treatment group was less pronounced in the groups receiving 100 or 150 mM NaCl for 24 h. The expression of SOD was a common response to cold, drought, salt and abscisic acid (ABA) stresses while the expression of LSY081, LSY363 and OEE2 was enhanced by salt and ABA stresses. LSY262 was expressed in leaf sheath and root, while fructose bisphosphate aldolases, PSII oxygen evolving complex protein and OEE2 were expressed in leaf sheath and leaf blade. LSY363 was expressed in leaf sheath but was below the level of detection in leaf blade and root. These results indicate that specific proteins expressed in specific regions of rice show a coordinated response to salt stress.
In vitro transcription of Myxococcus xanthus genes with RNA polymerase containing σA, the major sigma factor in growing cells

Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram‐negative bacterium that undergoes multicellular development upon starvation. We have developed a simple and rapid procedure for partial purification of RNA polymerase from growing M. xanthus cells, using heparin–agarose and DNA–cellulose chromatographies. In addition to core subunits, the enzyme contains one fairly abundant polypeptide of approximately 105 kDa. We have shown by Western blot analysis and protein sequencing that the 105‐kDa polypeptide is σA, the product of the M. xanthus sigA gene. Partially purified σA RNA polymerase, or holoenzyme reconstituted from σA and core RNA polymerase, transcribed in vitro the vegA and aphII genes that are known to be expressed in growing M. xanthus cells. Reconstituted σA RNA polymerase produced vegA mRNA in vitro with the same 5′ end as vegA mRNA produced in vivo, demonstrating that initiation of transcription was accurate in vitro. These results provide biochemical evidence that σA is the major vegetative sigma factor of M. xanthus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of in vitro transcription of M. xanthus chromosomal genes, providing a foundation for further biochemical analysis of transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in a microbe that relies extensively on cell–cell interactions.
Improvement of Huangqi Decoction on Endothelial Dysfunction in 5/6 Nephrectomized Rats

Background/Aims: Endothelial dysfunction is a major factor in the progression of chronic kidney disease, which correlates with oxidative stress and NO deficiency. Huangqi decoction (HQD) is a potential anti-oxidant ingredient in renoprotection. However, the underlying mechanisms remained identified. Therefore, we investigated whether HQD exhibit improvement in endothelial dysfunction in the 5/6 nephrectomy (Nx) rat model. Methods: Male Wistar rats (180 - 250 g) were divided into sham, Nx and Nx + HQD (0.05, 0.15 and 0.45 g/kg) group, respectively. Renal function and histology were examined with ELISA and Immunohistochemical analysis. Endothelium-dependent relaxation of rat aortas was investigated by isometric tension recordings. Oxidative stress and NO bioavailability were detected by ELISA, DHE-staining, DAF-2 staining and western blotting. Results: Compared with Nx rats, HQD treatment reversed the functional and structural changes of kidney significantly. Besides, endothelium-dependent relaxation of rat aortas was also improved by HQD treatment. NADPH oxidase and ROS generation were inhibited while NO bioavailability was enhanced. Conclusion: HQD can act as a potent prescription for the treatment of endothelium related vascular complications.
Prenatal tobacco exposure and self-regulation in early childhood: Implications for developmental psychopathology

Abstract Prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) has a well-documented association with disruptive behavior in childhood, but the neurocognitive effects of exposure that underlie this link are not sufficiently understood. The present study was designed to address this gap, through longitudinal follow-up in early childhood of a prospectively enrolled cohort with well-characterized prenatal exposure. Three-year-old children (n = 151) were assessed using a developmentally sensitive battery capturing both cognitive and motivational aspects of self-regulation. PTE was related to motivational self-regulation, where children had to delay approach to attractive rewards, but not cognitive self-regulation, where children had to hold information in mind and inhibit prepotent motor responses. Furthermore, PTE predicted motivational self-regulation more strongly in boys than in girls, and when propensity scores were covaried to control for confounding risk factors, the effect of PTE on motivational self-regulation was significant only in boys. These findings suggest that PTE's impact on neurodevelopment may be greater in boys than in girls, perhaps reflecting vulnerability in neural circuits that subserve reward sensitivity and emotion regulation, and may also help to explain why PTE is more consistently related to disruptive behavior disorders than attention problems.