Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cre mediated approaches to the role of Oct-4 in the mammalian germline

Oct-4 is a member of the POU family of transcriptional regulators the majority of which are expressed during embryonic development and are involved in the regulation of cell fate decisions (Ryan et al. 1997). Previous research has demonstrated that Oct-4 is absolutely required for the maintenance of pluripotency, both in vivo and in vitro (Nichols et al. 1998; Niwa et al. 2000). Oct-4 is expressed by the pluripotent cells of the early embryo, and, it is also expressed during specification and development of the germ cell lineage and in developing oocytes (Yeom etal. 1996). This project is concerned with investigating the consequence of inactivating Oct-4 during germ cell lineage specification/development and oogenesis using a Cre-loxP approach. To address this issue it is imperative that the Cre-loxP systems employed cause deletion of the foxed Oct-4 target gene in a spatially and temporally predicted manner with a high efficiency. To achieve targeted inactivation in primordial genu cells, the TNAP-Cre line was used (Lomei et al. 2000). Adult mice that were expected to lack Oct-4 in their germ cells were fertile and E12.5 embryos had no overt defects in germ cell numbers in their genital ridges. Pups born from these animals exhibited a mosaic pattern of inheritance of the recombined/non-recombined allele indicating that Crc mediated deletion occurred post fertilisation in these pups and not as a result of deletion in the germ cells. No pups were born that could be attributed to originate from an Oct-4 null germ cell. Furthermore and unexpectedly, using dormant reporter lines ectopic TNAP-Cre activity was detected in preimplantation embryos as opposed to being confined to the germ cells later during development. To achieve targeted inactivation in oocytes during oogenesis, the ZP3-Cre line was employed (Lewandoski et al. 1997). ZP3-Cre mediated deletion was found to be specifically confined to developing oocytes and was detectable in primary oocytes onwards. Unexpectedly, pups born from females that theoretically lacked Oct-4 in their oocytes always inherited the recombined Oct-4 allele in a Mendelian fashion. This suggests that recombination at the floxed Oct-4 locus had occurred in the oocyte or possibly in the single cell embryo, raising the possibility that Oct-4 is not required in oocytes. The complications that have arisen in using the TNAP-Cre expression line have detracted from addressing the original question of the role of Oct-4 in germ cells. FurthenTnore, since no reporter gene was activated on recombination at the floxed Oct-4 locus, the assessment of Cre activity relied on the activation of silent reporters which may not have necessarily reflected the activity at the foxed Oct-4 locus. Mosaic ectopic TNAP-Cre mediated deletion in the early embryo is likely to account for recombination at the floxed Oct-4 target allele since no Crc recombinase was detected in genital ridges from E12.5 TNAP-Cre" embryos.
Design of microwave wide-band quadrature hybrid using planar transformer coupling method

A lumped-element quadrature hybrid consisting of two-section inductive coupled /spl pi/-networks is presented. A synthesizing method involving a new set of design equations are also developed to realize the proposed hybrid with very good balance in both magnitude and phase between the output ports over a 38% fractional bandwidth. The measurements of the two prototypes show quite good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The proposed hybrid is compact and suited to be implemented by conventional microwave-integrated-circuit technology.
Is pro-environmentalism a privilege? Country development factors as moderators of socio-psychological drivers of pro-environmental behavior

ABSTRACT Explaining cross-national differences in individual pro-environmental behaviors is usually grounded in large, heterogeneous data sets. Consequently, research findings may over- or underestimate the effects of environmental variables of interest when analyzing cross-level interactions. This research contextualizes environmental behavior in the European Union, a set of socioeconomically different countries that share a common institutional framework. We explore the effects of country-level drivers on behavior after controlling for individual-level drivers using multilevel regression analysis to estimate the impact of country-level drivers on both the mean behavior of individuals and cross-level interactions. The direct impact of country-level drivers on pro-environmental behaviors was as expected: country affluence and income inequality had positive and negative impacts, respectively, whereas country education level, environmental issues, and cultural values had no direct impact. Nonetheless, in terms of cross-level interactions, country education level increased the effect of perceived behavioral control on behaviors. In Western countries, the influence of country affluence and education level on behavior, operating through social-psychological drivers, maybe underpinned by different socioeconomic mechanisms. Income may not be enough to change perceptions of reality, but income can be transformed into cultural capital that, in turn, may change socially ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions.
Back and front interface related generation-recombination noise in buried-channel SOI pMOSFETs

This paper reports on a detailed study of generation-recombination (GR) noise in buried-channel silicon-on-insulator (SOI) pMOSFETs, occurring in the linear operation mode. In particular, the plateau amplitude and the corner frequency (relaxation time /spl tau/) of the Lorentzian are investigated as a function of the front (V/sub Gf/) and of the back gate bias (V/sub Gb/). It is shown that different cases can be distinguished, depending of the conduction mode of the device, i.e. for surface or buried channel operation. For surface channel operation the GR noise parameters are strongly influenced by the back gate bias and only weakly dependent on V/sub Gf/. The opposite is true when the front interface starts to deplete, thereby pushing the channel deeper into the Si film. As is shown, the relaxation time depends exponentially on either V/sub Gf/ or V/sub Gb/. A similar exponential gate-bias dependence is found for the Lorentzian amplitude. Based on the observations, it is concluded that the GR noise originates from the front or the back interface, depending on the operation mode. The effective density of front and back interface traps can be derived from the GR noise amplitude.
The Development History and Research Tendency of Medical Informatics: Topic Evolution Analysis

Background Medical informatics has attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. It is necessary to understand the development of its research hot spots as well as directions for future research. Objective The aim of this study is to explore the evolution of medical informatics research topics by analyzing research articles published between 1964 and 2020. Methods A total of 56,466 publications were collected from 27 representative medical informatics journals indexed by the Web of Science Core Collection. We identified the research stages based on the literature growth curve, extracted research topics using the latent Dirichlet allocation model, and analyzed topic evolution patterns by calculating the cosine similarity between topics from the adjacent stages. Results The following three research stages were identified: early birth, early development, and rapid development. Medical informatics has entered the fast development stage, with literature growing exponentially. Research topics in medical informatics can be classified into the following two categories: data-centered studies and people-centered studies. Medical data analysis has been a research hot spot across all 3 stages, and the integration of emerging technologies into data analysis might be a future hot spot. Researchers have focused more on user needs in the last 2 stages. Another potential hot spot might be how to meet user needs and improve the usability of health tools. Conclusions Our study provides a comprehensive understanding of research hot spots in medical informatics, as well as evolution patterns among them, which was helpful for researchers to grasp research trends and design their studies.
Relationship between adverse childhood experiences and premenstrual syndrome

Aim: It is known that adverse experiences in childhood are associated with various mental and physical illnesses. In some studies, it is stated that it also affects women’s reproductive health. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between childhood adverse experiences and the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome. Material and Method: The research was conducted as a cross-sectional and relationship seeker at a public university on young girls aged between 18 and 25 years. The sample size was calculated to be at least 623 students with 0.05 error level, 80% representation power and 99% confidence interval, and the study was conducted with 754 participants. To collect data; “Personal Introduction Form”, “Childhood Adverse Experiences Scale (ACES)” and “Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSÖ)” were used. In statistical evaluation; arithmetic mean, percentage distribution, standard deviation, linear regression analysis were used. Results: 60.5% of the students had at least one ACE, the average age was 20.68±1.98, 52% studied at the faculty of health sciences, 40.3% studied in the first year, 73.2% had PMS, the average age of menarche was found to be 14.84±28.82. In addition, the mean score of ACES is 1.50±1.75, and the average of PMSÖ is 132.36±36.22. As a result of the linear regression analysis, it has been determined that ACES affects the total and all sub-dimensions of PMSÖ. Conclusion: In conclusion, it can be said that adverse childhood experiences affect PMS symptoms and PMS symptoms increase as the number of ACES increases.
Viral load as a risk factor of reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug resistance mutation in antiretroviral-treated people living with HIV/AIDS

Background The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a major contagion faced by the population of Indonesia. The success of antiretroviral treatment (ART) is threatened by the emergence of drug resistance mutations (DRM). The aim of this study was to determine the association between CD4 count, CD4 count changes, viral load, adherence to therapy, and therapy history in the presence of DRM in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving 269 adults who underwent antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for at least 6 months. The frequencies of DRM and polymorphisms were measured by partial amplification of the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene using RT-nested PCR on samples with viral loads of >1000 copies/mL. Sequencing was performed using the Sanger method, and edited by BioEdit. The edited sequences were submitted to http://hivdb.stanford. edu for DRM determination. Respondents’ medical data, CD4 count, viral load, and DRM were analyzed by simple and multiple logistic regression. ResultsThe multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association of CD4 count (aOR=12.47; 95% CI: 1.45 -107.39; p=0.023) and viral load at the time of study (aOR=29.56; 95% CI: 3.47-251.52; p=0.002) with the presence of DRM in respondents. ARV substitution history was not associated with the presence of DRM. There were 17 respondents (6.3%) carrying HIV-1 DRM, with M184V/I (11 sequences) as the most frequent pattern of NRTI resistance, and K103 (9 sequences) as that of NNRTI resistance. ConclusionThis study demonstrated that viral load at the time of the study was the most influential determinant factor for the presence of DRM in PLWHA.
A tale of two plasmids: contributions of plasmid associated phenotypes to epidemiological success among Shigella

Dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) mediated through plasmids is a major global concern. Genomic epidemiology studies have shown varying success of different AMR plasmids during outbreaks, but the underlying reasons for these differences are unclear. Here, we investigated two Shigella plasmids (pKSR100 and pAPR100) that circulated in the same transmission network but had starkly contrasting epidemiological outcomes to identify plasmid features that may have contributed to the differences. We used plasmid comparative genomics to reveal divergence between the two plasmids in genes encoding AMR, SOS response alleviation, and conjugation. Experimental analyses revealed that these genomic differences corresponded with reduced conjugation rates for the epidemiologically successful pKSR100, but more extensive AMR, reduced fitness costs, and a reduced SOS response in the presence of antimicrobials, compared with the less successful pAPR100. The discrepant phenotypes between the two plasmids are consistent with the hypothesis that plasmid associated phenotypes contribute to determining the epidemiological outcome of AMR HGT and suggest that phenotypes relevant in responding to antimicrobial pressure and fitness impact may be more important than those around conjugation in this setting. Plasmid phenotypes could thus be valuable tools in conjunction with genomic epidemiology for predicting AMR dissemination.
APPLYING AND COMPARING FOUR DIFFERENT PSO APPROACHES IN INTEGRATED PROBLEM OF PRODUCT CHANGE PLANNING, PART SUPPLIER SELECTION, AND QUANTITY ALLOCATION

ABSTRACT Previous studies on strategy selection of product configuration changes often ignored part supplies, resulting in disruptions to the execution of modification strategies during the manufacturing process. Therefore, this study focuses on an optimization assessment of simultaneous product changes in order to establish a mathematical model, which included supplier selection, coupled with quantity discounts from each part supplier. For instance, this study used external Hard Disk Drive (HDD) enclosures; we designed models using Particle Swarm Optimization-Original (PSO-O), Particle Swarm Optimization-Inertia Weight (PSO-IW), Particle Swarm Optimization-Constriction Factor (PSO-CF), Particle Swarm Optimization-Dynamically Changing Inertia weight (PSO-DW), and then compared the efficiency of the strategies obtained by the four methods. Results showed that PSO-CF was more efficient than the other three methods for this problem.
Incremental Dynamic Analysis of Highway Bridges with Novel Shape Memory Alloy Isolators

Base isolators are commonly used to protect highway bridges from severe seismic damage. A novel self-centering isolator based on superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) has been proposed to be installed between the piers and decks of highway bridges. This paper systematically evaluates the seismic performance of SMA isolators via the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) of a prototype highway bridge with SMA isolators. The multi-span reinforced concrete highway bridge and the corresponding SMA isolators are designed according to an ad hoc displacement-based design (DBD) approach. The seismic analyses are conducted under different seismic intensity levels using the computation program DRAIN2DX. IDA results indicate that the SMA isolators can effectively protect the superstructure of the highway bridge and minimize the post-earthquake residual deformation. The properly designed highway bridges with SMA isolators are subjected to limited damage under frequent and design basis earthquakes.
Distribution of Aspergillus Species and Prevalence of Azole Resistance in Respiratory Samples From Swiss Tertiary Care Hospitals

Abstract Among 400 Aspergillus species from respiratory samples in Switzerland, Aspergillus fumigatus was the most frequent species. Non-fumigatus Aspergillus spp were more prevalent among solid organ transplant recipients and after azole exposure. Azole resistance was detected in 4 A fumigatus isolates, 3 of them with the “environmental” mutation TR34/L98H in the cyp51A gene.
Conflict or alignment? The role of return-oriented foreign shareholders and domestic relational shareholders in mitigating earnings management

This study investigates the effects of foreign return-oriented shareholders and domestic relational shareholders of Japanese companies on the earnings management behavior of their invested firms when stock option pay is adopted. We theorize that foreign shareholders seek short-term returns and do not engage in close monitoring due to an information disadvantage while domestic shareholders prevent managerial behavior that distorts information disclosure. Our findings show that managers of firms that use stock option pay engage in earnings management to increase their private financial benefits and meet capital markets’ expectations, which allows them to enhance their own reputation. However, this managerial behavior is contingent on the firm’s ownership structure. Our results show that while foreign shareholders enhance the positive impact of stock options on earning management, domestic shareholders and affiliated directors mitigate this positive effect. Our empirical analyses support the argument that ownership heterogeneity is a key determinant of managerial propensity to engage in earnings management when Japanese firms adopt stock option pay.
Particle Water Partitioning and Organotin Dispersal in an Estuary

Contrasting patterns in the axial transport of dissolved and particulate material in estuaries imply that the dispersal of an estuarine contaminant can be critically dependent on the way in which it partitions between dissolved and particle-adsorbed states. Relations of this partition to salinity and particle concentration have been determined in the case of tributyl tin using sediment from two British estuaries (the Crouch and the Tamar). The significance of these for estuarine impact will be discussed in the context of a numerical model of the axial dispersal of tributyl tin in an estuary.
High speed voltage follower for standard BiCMOS technology

A new wideband low-distortion class A unitary gain voltage follower is presented in this brief. Based on a Gilbert's translinear loop of four transistors, the proposed topology only includes high frequency n-p-n transistors in signal paths. The circuit has been simulated under /spl plusmn/1.5 V using the 0.8-/spl mu/m BiCMOS technology from AMS. Simulation results confirm low output distortion and high frequency operation performances. For a total power consumption of only 3 mW, the -3-dB bandwidth of the voltage transfer function is higher than 2.5 GHz with a 1-k/spl Omega/ loading resistance. The corresponding total harmonic distortion rate is lower than 0.06% when a 100-mV peak-to-peak input sinusoidal voltage is applied.
Linkages among Soil Fertilization Regimes, Chemical Properties and Maize Grains Yield in Humid Tropic

We hypothesize that there is a linkage among different soil fertilization regimes, soil chemical attributes and maize grains yield. We aimed to evaluate the relationships between different soil fertilization regimes, soil chemical properties and maize grains yield. The experiment was performed in northeastern Brazil, in a randomized block design, at an area divided into 24 plots with six treatments and four replicates (Nitrogen (N); Leucaena (L); Nitrogen+Leucaena (N+L); Humic Acid+Leucaena (HA+L); Humic Acid+Nitrogen (HA+N) and Humic Acid+Nitrogen+Leucaena (HA+N+L)). Each plot was cropped with maize (Zea mays L.) and the grains yield was estimated. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0–5 cm, 5–10 cm and 10–20 cm. Potential acidity, pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, calcium and magnesium, cation exchange capacity (CEC), sum of basic cations (SBC) and base saturation (BS) were determined. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to correlate soil chemical attributes with maize yield. Calcium, magnesium, available P and SBC were related to the maize grains yield in upper soil layer, especially at nitrogen fertilization. This research confirms the hypothesis that there is a linkage between different soil fertilization regimes, soil properties and the maize grains yield.
Translanguaging space and translanguaging practices in multilingual Russian-speaking families

Translanguaging is seen both as a threat and as an opportunity for minority language development and transmission. While the theme of translanguaging has been explored especially in a context of migration, the novelty of this study lies in its investigation of the multiple contexts in which translanguaging is examined. In order to understand the nature of translanguaging, we adopt a novel interdisciplinary approach and view it in all its complexity, including liminal spaces of linguistic landscape. Family language policy affects the home linguistic environment. Our purpose is to investigate language choices by multilingual Russian-speakers in Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia, immigrant and minority settings, and try to understand how they are reflected in the multilingual interaction of the families. Using ethnographic participant observations and oral spontaneous multilingual production, our study attempts to describe how communication is managed through translanguaging practices among multilingual Russian-speaking families members in the cultural and linguistic environments of the three countries. By looking closely at the complexities of translanguaging space, it is our ambition to gain new insights about how it is organised and how translanguaging becomes a valuable linguistic resource in multilingual families. Our results indicate that translanguaging practices can be used in family conversational contexts and contribute to the creation of a rich and positive family repertoire. A new norm of Russian has been developed in all the three settings. A language shift can happen more quickly than expected, and, thus, it is important for parents to provide many opportunities for practising Russian as the L1.
The effect of etanercept and anakinra on experimental type 2 diabetes pathology in rats

In this study, the effects of etanercept, anakinra, and their combination on streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes in rats were pathologically evaluated. A total of 30 rats were separated into 5 groups as control (C), diabetes (D), diabetes + anakinra (DA), diabetes + etanercept (DE), and diabetes + anakinra + etanercept (DAE). Anakinra (10 mg/kg/day, s.c.) and etanercept (10 mg/kg, twice weekly, s.c.) were administered to the DA and DE groups, respectively, and the DAE group received both anakinra and etanercept for 21 days. Histopathologically, pathological changes related to diabetes in internal organs occurred in the diabetes group, and there was a significant decrease (improvement) in these changes in the treatment groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the treatment groups, but some changes in the liver and kidneys were higher in the combined group which should be taken into account for longer use. Although there was no significant difference, etanercept was more effective on pancreatic lesion scores and anakinra was more effective on testicular changes. As a result, the single or combined use of IL-1 and TNF-α antagonists anakinra and etanercept were effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in rats without any toxic-pathological effect.
Broadband circularly polarised hexagonal slot antenna excited by a tapered microstrip feeder

In this article, a broadband circularly polarised slot antenna fed by a single microstrip line is implemented. The proposed antenna is composed of an unequilateral hexagonal slot to implement circular polarisation and tapered microstrip feeding line to enhance the impedance bandwidth. A conducting reflector is also employed to enhance the antenna gain. The proposed antenna, 60 mm × 60 mm × 18.12 mm in size, was fabricated and tested. The measured −10 dB reflection bandwidth and 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth were 48.9% and 17%, respectively. The measured gain of the fabricated antenna ranged from 5.4 dBi to 6 dBi within an axial ratio bandwidth of 3 dB.