Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Esteem Accuracy and Externalizing Problems in Preschool-Aged Boys

ABSTRACT Although the existing literature addressing the relation between self-esteem and externalizing problems is inconsistent, it appears that accuracy of self-esteem ratings may be an important factor to consider. However, no studies to date have explored this with preschool-aged children. In this study, the authors investigated differences in externalizing problems between underraters, realistic raters, and overraters of self-esteem of 5-year-old boys in three domains: cognitive competence, physical competence, and peer acceptance. Compared to teacher ratings of competence, boys who overrated their cognitive competence and peer acceptance were more likely to be rated by teachers as exhibiting more externalizing problems the following year. Findings suggest that overconfidence may have important implications for the development of externalizing problems in young children.
Pulmonary Inflammation Induced by Subacute Ozone Is Augmented in Adiponectin-Deficient Mice: Role of IL-17A

Pulmonary responses to ozone, a common air pollutant, are augmented in obese individuals. Adiponectin, an adipose-derived hormone that declines in obesity, has regulatory effects on the immune system. To determine the role of adiponectin in the pulmonary inflammation induced by extended (48–72 h) low-dose (0.3 parts per million) exposure to ozone, adiponectin-deficient (Adipo−/−) and wild-type mice were exposed to ozone or to room air. In wild-type mice, ozone exposure increased total bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) adiponectin. Ozone-induced lung inflammation, including increases in BAL neutrophils, protein (an index of lung injury), IL-6, keratinocyte-derived chemokine, LPS-induced CXC chemokine, and G-CSF were augmented in Adipo−/− versus wild-type mice. Ozone also increased IL-17A mRNA expression to a greater extent in Adipo−/− versus wild-type mice. Moreover, compared with control Ab, anti–IL-17A Ab attenuated ozone-induced increases in BAL neutrophils and G-CSF in Adipo−/− but not in wild-type mice, suggesting that IL-17A, by promoting G-CSF release, contributed to augmented neutrophilia in Adipo−/− mice. Flow cytometric analysis of lung cells revealed that the number of CD45+/F4/80+/IL-17A+ macrophages and γδ T cells expressing IL-17A increased after ozone exposure in wild-type mice and further increased in Adipo−/− mice. The IL-17+ macrophages were CD11c− (interstitial macrophages), whereas CD11c+ macrophages (alveolar macrophages) did not express IL-17A. Taken together, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that adiponectin protects against neutrophil recruitment induced by extended low-dose ozone exposure by inhibiting the induction and/or recruitment of IL-17A in interstitial macrophages and/or γδ T cells.
Conversion Efficiency of Bank Vole Prion Protein in Vitro Is Determined by Residues 155 and 170, but Does Not Correlate with the High Susceptibility of Bank Voles to Sheep Scrapie in Vivo*

The misfolded infectious isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc) is thought to replicate in an autocatalytic manner by converting the cellular form (PrPC) into its pathogenic folding variant. The similarity in the amino acid sequence of PrPC and PrPSc influences the conversion efficiency and is considered as the major determinant for the species barrier. We performed in vitro conversion reactions on wild-type and mutated PrPC to determine the role of the primary sequence for the high susceptibility of bank voles to scrapie. Different conversion efficiencies obtained with bank vole and mouse PrPC in reactions with several prion strains were due to differences at amino acid residues 155 and 170. However, the conversion efficiencies obtained with mouse and vole PrPC in reactions with sheep scrapie did not correlate with the susceptibility of the respective species to this prion strain. This discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo data may indicate that at least in the case of scrapie transmission to bank voles additional host factors can strongly modulate the species barrier. Furthermore, in vitro conversion reactions with different prion strains revealed that the degree of alteration of the conversion efficiency induced by amino acid exchanges was varying according to the prion strain. These results support the assumption that the repertoire of conformations adopted by a certain PrPC primary sequence is decisive for its convertibility to the strain-specific PrPSc conformation.
Housekeeping sortase facilitates the cell wall anchoring of pilus polymers in Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Many surface proteins in Gram‐positive bacteria are covalently linked to the cell wall through a transpeptidation reaction catalysed by the enzyme sortase. Corynebacterium diphtheriae encodes six sortases, five of which are devoted to the assembly of three distinct types of pilus fibres – SrtA for the SpaA‐type pilus, SrtB/SrtC for the SpaD‐type pilus, and SrtD/SrtE for the SpaH‐type pilus. We demonstrate here the function of SrtF, the so‐called housekeeping sortase, in the cell wall anchoring of pili. We show that a multiple deletion mutant strain expressing only SrtA secretes a large portion of SpaA polymers into the culture medium, with concomitant decrease in the cell wall‐linked pili. The same phenotype is observed with the mutant that is missing SrtF alone. By contrast, a strain that expresses only SrtF displays surface‐linked pilins but no polymers. Therefore, SrtF can catalyse the cell wall anchoring of pilin monomers as well as pili, but it does not polymerize pilins. We show that SrtA and SrtF together generate wild‐type levels of the SpaA‐type pilus on the bacterial surface. Furthermore, by regulating the expression of SpaA in the cell, we demonstrate that the SrtF function becomes critical when the SpaA level is sufficiently high. Together, these findings provide key evidence for a two‐stage model of pilus assembly: pilins are first polymerized by a pilus‐specific sortase, and the resulting fibre is then attached to the cell wall by either the cognate sortase or the housekeeping sortase.
Writing Instruction in Kindergarten

This review examines the literature on how to teach kindergarten children with reading and writing difficulties how to write. Specifically, research on handwriting instruction, spelling instruction, and composition writing is discussed. Due to the limited number of empirical studies on writing that included kindergarten students with diagnosed reading and writing difficulties, selected studies conducted with the full range of kindergarten children, as well as studies conducted in the early elementary grades, are presented to highlight future directions for research.
Estimation of total soluble solids in grape berries using a hand-held NIR spectrometer under field conditions.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have reported the potential of near infrared (NIR) spectral analysers for monitoring the ripeness of grape berries as an alternative to wet chemistry methods. This study covers various aspects regarding the calibration and implementation of predictive models of total soluble solids (TSS) in grape berries using laboratory and in-field collected NIR spectra. RESULTS The performance of the calibration models obtained under laboratory conditions indicated that at least 700 berry samples are required to assure enough prediction accuracy. A statistically significant error reduction (ΔRMSECV = 0.1°Brix) with P < 0.001 was observed when measuring berries without epicuticular wax, which was negligible from a practical point of view. Under field conditions, the prediction errors (RMSEP = 1.68°Brix, and SEP = 1.67°Brix) were close to those obtained with the laboratory dataset (RMSEP = 1.42°Brix, SEP = 1.40°Brix). CONCLUSION This work clarifies several methodological factors to develop a protocol for in-field assessing TSS in grape berries using an affordable, non-invasive, portable NIR spectral analyser. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.
Inhibition of CYP3A‐mediated oxidation in human hepatic microsomes by the dietary derived complex phenol, gallic acid

Plant polyphenols, such as gallic acid, have been reported to have a range of biological activities including antimutagenic effects. Previously, we reported that gallic acid (3,4,5‐trihydroxy‐benzoic acid), an agent found in wine and tea, inhibits androstenedione 6β‐hydroxylase activity (Ki 70 μM), a cytochrome P450 (CYP3A) marker in human liver microsomes. The preincubation of gallic acid (100 μM) with human liver microsomes in the absence of NADPH, as compared with the presence of NADPH, before assay of androstenedione 6β‐hydroxylase activity significantly increased the inhibitory effects of the gallic acid (0.03 ± 0.03 nmol (mg microsomal protein)−1 min−1 compared with 0.20 ± 0.06 nmol (mg microsomal protein)−1 min−1 (P< 0.05)). The antioxidant ascorbic acid and the radical scavenger glutathione prevented this observed increase in inhibition. Removal of gallic acid‐derived products from the incubation completely restored CYP3A activity. In contrast, the activities of CYP1A and CYP2E, and non‐CYP mediated reductive microsomal 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity were refractory to inhibition by gallic acid.
Understanding the Context is Understanding the Impact: Evidence from a Qualitative Microinsurance Impact Survey in Indonesia

This paper presents the findings from a qualitative-explorative longitudinal impact assessment of an enhanced credit life microinsurance pilot in Indonesia. Different from the practical or econometric-quantitative approaches of the few microinsurance impact assessments available today, the approach applied here is sociological. Emphasis is put on contextualization. A variety of research components were executed: a baseline/endline survey of customers, interviews with 24 Muslim beneficiaries and additional research with loan officers, credit group leaders, experts, and MFI managers. Despite a number of methodological constraints which preempt absolute data accuracy, the breadth of available data nonetheless allows for indicative conclusions. This impact assessment identifies microinsurance as an agent of social change and highlights the complex interplay of the actual product with its respective sociocultural context in producing impact. It turns out that the social impact of the surveyed product which waives the loan balance and provides substantial additional payouts upon death of a micro-borrower, was literally "micro". For reasons of religion and tradition, most additional payouts were used for social investments. Payouts appear to substitute some of the traditional, informal, post-mortem family assistance (crowding out). To some extent, the insurance payouts also seem to have contributed to an inflation of funeral costs. Dependence on informal assistance was reduced leading to a potential erosion of equality-focused social cohesion. Positive impacts were found in the form of an increase in financial literacy. Also peace of mind of the insured increased. However, some of those insured felt less secure for reasons of religion and superstition. Customer satisfaction was nonetheless high. The insured voiced a strong demand for more urgent risk management challenges such as education and health costs.
Sex differences in anthropometric characteristics among 11-14-year-old urban Bengalees of north 24 Parganas, west Bengal, India

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate sex differences in anthropometric characteristics, including central body fat distribution, among 11-14-year-old urban Bengalees of West Bengal, India. The sample consisted of 559 (314 boys and 245 girls) randomly selected students from two schools of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. Height, weight, six circumference and ten skinfold measurements were made on each subject. Waist-hip ratio (WHR) was used as a measure of central body fat distribution. Results revealed that significant sex differences existed in mean anthropometric characteristics. On average, girls were significantly taller and heavier and had greater mean waist circumference (WC) than boys until 13 years of age, after which boys had significantly greater mean height, weight and WC. Girls had significantly greater mean hip circumference and mean skinfolds at all ages, compared with boys. Mean WHR among boys was significantly greater at all ages. Of all the anthropometric measurements studied, only for mean WHR no significant age trend was observed, in both sexes. In conclusion, this study indicated that there existed sexual dimorphism in adiposity and central fat distribution among 11-14-year-old urban Bengalees. Furthermore, significant positive age trends were observed, in both sexes, for all anthropometric variables except WHR. Thus, central body fat distribution remains unchanged during this period, in both sexes.
Empirical Tests on Turnover Information

The objective of this study is to investigate turnover information and to test whether this information affects asset returnｓ. We explore the relationship between turnover and price momentum (reversalｓ) for Japanese stocks. In the Japanese stock market, the return reversal effect is known to be stronger than in other developed capital markets and most preceding studies show that price momentum cannot be found in the Japanese stock market. In this study, we investigate the relationship between price momentum and turnover, particularly, conditional upon the level of turnover; we find that high turnover tends to induce momentum in short-term periods. The study also investigates whether the coskewness premium affects price momentum effects, like the findings in previous studies of U.S. data, which demonstrated that coskewness helps explain some of the profitability of momentum-based trading strategies. Our results show that the coskewness of past losers is larger than that of past winners. This indicates that negative coskewness stock has a coskewness premium and that investors require a premium for negative coskewness stocks. Furthermore, the coskewness premium helps enhance price momentum as the turnover level increases and depresses return reversal effects for the highest turnover stock group.
Extensive homoeologous genome exchanges in allopolyploid crops revealed by mRNAseq‐based visualization

Summary Polyploidy, the possession of multiple sets of chromosomes, has been a predominant factor in the evolution and success of the angiosperms. Although artificially formed allopolyploids show a high rate of genome rearrangement, the genomes of cultivars and germplasm used for crop breeding were assumed stable and genome structural variation under the artificial selection process of commercial breeding has remained little studied. Here, we show, using a repurposed visualization method based on transcriptome sequence data, that genome structural rearrangement occurs frequently in varieties of three polyploid crops (oilseed rape, mustard rape and bread wheat), meaning that the extent of genome structural variation present in commercial crops is much higher than expected. Exchanges were found to occur most frequently where homoeologous chromosome segments are collinear to telomeres and in material produced as doubled haploids. The new insights into genome structural evolution enable us to reinterpret the results of recent studies and implicate homoeologous exchanges, not deletions, as being responsible for variation controlling important seed quality traits in rapeseed. Having begun to identify the extent of genome structural variation in polyploid crops, we can envisage new strategies for the global challenge of broadening crop genetic diversity and accelerating adaptation, such as the molecular identification and selection of genome deletions or duplications encompassing genes with trait‐controlling dosage effects.
Focal Localization of Placental Protein 14 Toward Sites of TCR Engagement1

TCR signal transduction is amplified by the dynamic accumulation of accessory molecules at APC-T cell contact sites, along with the simultaneous exclusion from these sites of negative regulators, such as certain tyrosine phosphatases and large glycosylated proteins. However, given the general nature of the cytoskeleton-driven clustering mechanism underlying molecular segregation events at the APC-T cell interaction site, the possibility exists that negative regulators might similarly be segregated at these sites. Using fluorescence microscopy, we have demonstrated that placental protein 14 (PP14), a direct T cell inhibitor, focuses toward APC-T cell contact sites in conjunction with conjugate formation. We have further established that the function of PP14 is dependent upon its localization to the sites of TCR triggering, where it negatively regulates T cell activation. Thus, PP14 provides an example of a soluble negative T cell regulator whose inhibitory activity is linked to modulation of the APC-T cell contact site, thereby hindering early events triggered by the TCR.
Stroke rates and diving air volumes of emperor penguins: implications for dive performance

SUMMARY Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri), both at sea and at an experimental dive hole, often have minimal surface periods even after performance of dives far beyond their measured 5.6 min aerobic dive limit (ADL: dive duration associated with the onset of post-dive blood lactate accumulation). Accelerometer-based data loggers were attached to emperor penguins diving in these two different situations to further evaluate the capacity of these birds to perform such dives without any apparent prolonged recovery periods. Minimum surface intervals for dives as long as 10 min were less than 1 min at both sites. Stroke rates for dives at sea were significantly greater than those for dives at the isolated dive hole. Calculated diving air volumes at sea were variable, increased with maximum depth of dive to a depth of 250 m, and decreased for deeper dives. It is hypothesized that lower air volumes for the deepest dives are the result of exhalation of air underwater. Mean maximal air volumes for deep dives at sea were approximately 83% greater than those during shallow (<50 m) dives. We conclude that (a) dives beyond the 5.6 min ADL do not always require prolongation of surface intervals in emperor penguins, (b) stroke rate at sea is greater than at the isolated dive hole and, therefore, a reduction in muscle stroke rate does not extend the duration of aerobic metabolism during dives at sea, and (c) a larger diving air volume facilitates performance of deep dives by increasing the total body O2 store to 68 ml O2 kg–1. Although increased O2 storage and cardiovascular adjustments presumably optimize aerobic metabolism during dives, enhanced anaerobic capacity and hypoxemic tolerance are also essential for longer dives. This was exemplified by a 27.6 min dive, after which the bird required 6 min before it stood up from a prone position, another 20 min before it began to walk, and 8.4 h before it dived again.
Collective Accountability in State Legislative Elections Obama: the State Legislator People Vote Against 1

Party labels allow voters to hold elected officials collectively accountable. This form of accountability is seen at the national level, but it is unclear if voters similarly hold state legislative parties accountable. In studies of parties in state legislative elections, previous research ignores the state house majority party and does not account for voters' approval or knowledge of the legislature. To overcome these limitations, I use two data sets to investigate collective accountability. With recent surveys, I show respondents' approval of the state legislature correlates with a party's state house votes, suggesting elections serve to hold state legislative parties accountable. Examining past elections, I find the state house majority party receives little reward for good economies. Evaluations of the president, however, play a stronger role in both analyses. Presidential approval has twice the impact of state legislative approval on voting decisions, even amongst those who knew which party controlled their legislature. The role misinformation and federal evaluations play in legislative elections raises concerns for how voters hold state legislative parties accountable.
Calls of the black drum (Pogonias cromis: Sciaenidae): geographical differences in sound production between northern and southern hemisphere populations.

Because of apparent reproductive isolation between Northern and Southern hemisphere populations of the black drum Pogonius cromis, we tested the hypothesis that advertisement calls from a southern population would differ from known calls of North American populations. Additionally, we quantified disturbance and advertisement calls, their changes with fish size and sex, not previously examined in this species. Unlike most sciaenids, both sexes of P. cromis possess robust sonic muscles, and both produce disturbance calls when handled. However, only males produce an advertisement call used in courtship. The disturbance call consists of a variable train of short-duration pulses (average 23 ms). The duration, interpulse interval, and dominant frequency of pulses are similar in males and females and change developmentally: pulse duration and interpulse interval increase and dominant frequency decreases with fish size. Advertisement calls, recorded in the field and in captivity, are long-duration (average 184 ms) and tonal. Based on variation in fundamental frequency, which decreases with fish size, field choruses are composed of different-sized individuals. The duration of advertisement calls, about a third of those from Florida populations, suggests genetic differentiation between northern and southern populations.
Involvement of P2X7 receptors in the hypoxia-induced death of rat retinal neurons.

PURPOSE To investigate the hypoxia-induced death of rat retinal neurons and to determine whether P2X(7) activation is involved in this type of neuronal death. METHODS Cultured retinal neurons from fetal rats were used. The effects and time course of various degrees of hypoxia (1%-5% O(2)) in the death of retinal neurons, were examined. The effects of P2X(7) antagonists, oxidized adenosine triphosphate (oxidized ATP; 30-100 microM), and brilliant blue G (BBG; 100 nM-10 microM) on hypoxia-induced neuronal death, including apoptosis, were assessed by using trypan blue exclusion, TUNEL assays, and cleaved caspase-3 immunoreactivity. Immunocytochemical analysis was performed to determine whether these neurons express P2X(7) receptors. The effects of P2X(7) receptor stimulation, induced by the P2X(7) agonist benzoyl- benzoyl-ATP (BzATP), on neuronal viability and intracellular Ca(2+) levels ([Ca(2+)](i)) were examined. RESULTS Retinal neuronal death increased according to the degree of hypoxia and became more severe after 12 hours. Both oxidized ATP and BBG significantly decreased hypoxia-induced neuronal death. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated that P2X(7) receptors were expressed by the cultured retinal neurons. ATP and BzATP caused P2X(7) receptor-dependent neuronal death in a dose-dependent manner and led to a sustained increase in [Ca(2+)](i), with BzATP being more effective than ATP. These effects were hypoxia-induced factor-1alpha- independent and were prevented by oxidized ATP. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the death of retinal neurons can be triggered by hypoxia and that P2X(7) activation is involved in the hypoxia-induced death of retinal neurons. P2X(7) antagonists can prevent hypoxia-induced damage in retinal neurons.