Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vang-like protein 2 and Rac1 interact to regulate adherens junctions

The Wnt planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP) pathway signals through small Rho-like GTPases to regulate the cytoskeleton. The core PCP proteins have been mapped to the Wnt/PCP pathway genetically, but the molecular mechanism of their action remains unknown. Here, we investigate the function of the mammalian PCP protein Vang-like protein 2 (Vangl2). RNAi knockdown of Vangl2 impaired cell-cell adhesion and cytoskeletal integrity in the epithelial cell lines HEK293T and MDCK. Similar effects were observed when Vangl2 was overexpressed in HEK293T, MDCK or C17.2 cells. The effects of Vangl2 overexpression could be blocked by knockdown of the small GTPase Rac1 or by dominant-negative Rac1. In itself, knockdown of Rac1 impaired cytoskeletal integrity and reduced cell-cell adhesion. We found that Vangl2 bound and re-distributed Rac1 within the cells but did not alter Rac1 activity. Moreover, both transgenic mouse embryos overexpressing Vangl2 in neural stem cells and loop-tail Vangl2 loss-of-function embryos displayed impaired adherens junctions, a cytoskeletal unit essential for neural tube rigidity and neural tube closure. In vivo, Rac1 was re-distributed within the cells in a similar way to that observed by us in vitro. We propose that Vangl2 affects cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton by recruiting Rac1 and targeting its activity in the cell to adherens junctions.
Carotenoids biosynthesis and cleavage related genes from bacteria to plants

ABSTRACT Carotenoids are essential for photosynthesis and photoprotection in photosynthetic organisms and beneficial for human health. Apocarotenoids derived from carotenoid degradation can serve critical functions including hormones, volatiles, and signals. They have been used commercially as food colorants, animal feed supplements, and nutraceuticals for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes. This review focuses on the molecular evolution of carotenogenic enzymes and carotenoid cleavage oxygenases (CCOs) from bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria, algae, and plants. The diversity of carotenoids and apocarotenoids as well as their complicated biosynthetic pathway in different species can shed light on the history of early molecular evolution. Some carotenogenic genes (such as phytoene synthases) have high protein sequence similarity from bacteria to land plants, but some (such as phytoene desaturases, lycopene cyclases, carotenoid hydroxylases, and CCOs) have low similarity. The broad diversity of apocarotenoid volatile compounds can be attributed to large numbers of carotenoid precursors and the various cleavage sites catalyzed by CCOs enzymes. A variety of carotenogenic enzymes and CCOs indicate the functional diversification of carotenoids and apocrotenoids in different species. New carotenoids, new apocarotenoids, new carotenogenic enzymes, new CCOs, and new pathways still need to be explored.
Implications of Channel Structure and Operational Mode Upon a Manufacturer's Durability Choice

Motivated by the observation that durability ratings of automobile manufacturers are not necessarily linked to the proportion of leasing but tend to decrease with the density of their dealer networks, we explore the interactions between channel structure (direct interaction with consumers vs. through an intermediary(ies)) and mode of operations (leasing vs. selling) and their implications for a manufacturer's willingness to invest in making her product more durable. Using a manufacturer who leases her product directly to consumers as a point of reference, we find that an isolated change in either the channel structure (selling through an intermediary), or the operational mode (leasing to selling) can decrease the manufacturer's willingness to provide durability. However, if combined, these two changes together may strengthen the manufacturer's willingness to invest in durability. Specifically, the traditional result that a manufacturer who leases provides more durability than one who sells, can be reversed in a decentralized channel.
Israeli State Terrorism: An Analysis of the Sharett Diaries

Since Menahem Begin came to power in May 1977, Israel's international position has deteriorated sharply. Today a growing number of Israelis are uneasily aware that it is Israel rather than the Arabs whom the outside world blames for the failure to reach a peaceful settlement in the Middle East. They are disconcerted by the realization that they can no longer count on automatic Western (and not necessarily even on American) support for the policy which has served Israel so well in the past: the policy of provoking Arab hostility and then taking advantage of it to carry out a carefully prepared plan for territorial expansion. For those who still doubt that this has been the consistent policy of successive Israeli governments ever since the establishment of the state, an
Direct association between orbitofrontal atrophy and the response of psychotic symptoms to olanzapine in schizophrenia

The study of cerebral variables associated with response to neuroleptics holds interest from both theoretical and clinical points of view. To date, no studies have aimed to identify predictors of response to olanzapine based on cerebral measurements. Here, we used magnetic resonance to assess the relationship between volumes of the prefrontal (dorsolateral and orbitofrontal) and temporal (temporal lobe and hippocampus) cortical regions and ventricles and, on the other hand, the response to olanzapine in 16 schizophrenic patients. Data from 42 healthy controls were used to calculate volume residuals in the patients, defined as deviations from the expected values, given individual age and intracranial volume. Residuals thus represent the effect of illness on regional measurements. The association between clinical change and those residuals was calculated separately for the positive, negative and total scores from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). There was a significant direct association between the degree of orbitofrontal atrophy and the improvement of positive symptoms with olanzapine. No predictors were found for change in the negative dimension. A trend was found for patients with larger ventricles to show a greater global decrease in total PANSS scores. Neither age nor duration of illness explained a significant proportion of the symptom improvement. This result, together with others from the literature, supports the idea that atypical antipsychotics may offer some benefit to patients with significant regional atrophy, and this may have implications for the choice of antipsychotic in clinical practice.
Advertising and the homogenization of cultures: Perspectives from ASEAN

Over the past few decades, ASEAN countries have been constructing coherent national identities by establishing national ideologies based on a unified set of cultural values. International advertising presents a challenge to these nation‐building projects because it tends to act as a global cultural homogenizing force. In efforts to temper the cultural impact of international advertising, ASEAN governments have responded by regulating the cultural content of advertising. This paper examines the cultural regulation of advertising in three ASEAN nations, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. These nations offer interesting contrasts; while they share a certain geographic proximity, they differ in language, culture, religion, economic systems, and political ideology, and each has unique methods for protecting local cultures through the regulation of advertising.
Internationalisation of small and medium software firms from India

The growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been a distinct feature of globalisation. This paper empirically studies the impact of internationalisation on performance of SMEs. This paper also explores the effects of geographic scope and international experience on SME performance. Based on secondary data for 29 software SMEs from India for the period 2002 to 2008, this paper finds a positive effect of internationalisation on firm performance. Drawing from multiple theoretical viewpoints, this paper discovers that while geographic scope is significantly related with SME performance, international experience has a weak association with SME performance. This paper contributes to the study of internationalisation-performance relationship of Indian software SMEs by empirically validating the positive relationship between internationalisation and performance among SMEs. The results imply internationalisation in diverse geographies and establishment of systems which facilitate knowledge transfer among .
Pricing VIX futures: Evidence from integrated physical and risk‐neutral probability measures

This study derives closed‐form solutions to the fair value of VIX (volatility index) futures under alternate stochastic variance models with simultaneous jumps both in the asset price and variance processes. Model parameters are estimated using an integrated analysis of integrated volatility and VIX time series from April 21, 2004 to April 18, 2006. The stochastic volatility model with price jumps outperforms for the short‐dated futures, whereas additionally including a state‐dependent volatility jump can further reduce out‐of‐sample pricing errors for other futures maturities. Finally, adding volatility jumps enhances hedging performance except for the short‐dated futures on a daily‐rebalanced basis. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 27:1175–1217, 2007
Isolation and Chronobiological Analysis of a Neuropeptide Pigment-Dispersing Factor Gene in Drosophila melanogaster

In this article, the authors isolate a gene encoding a neuropeptide in Drosophila melanogaster. The substance is called pigment-dispersing factor (PDF), based on one of the roles it plays in crustaceans (the arthropods in which this factor was initially discovered). The PDF-encoding Drosophila gene (pdf) is intronless and present in a single copy per haploid genome. The cytological location of pdf is 97B on the third chromosome. The putative 102-amino-acid precursor (prepro-PDF) consists of a signal peptide and a PDF-associated peptide, followed by the mature PDF. The PDF-associated peptide region of the precursor is highly diverged from those of the crustacean precursors, whereas the primary structure of the mature PDF is conserved in other members of the pigment-dispersing hormone family. A single pdf transcript (ca. 0.8 kb) is expressed predominantly in the head; the expression levels of pdf mRNA are consistently higher in males than in females. Putative pdf homologous transcripts are present in other Drosophila species, which exhibit similar sexual dimorphic expression patterns. Cyclic expression of pdf over the course of the day and night was assessed, but the mRNA exhibited at best very gentle cycling. The pdfexpression in two behaviorally arrhythmic mutants were examined; the expression was intact in a period0 mutant but absent in the disconnected mutant.
Factors affecting balanced scorecard usage

The paper aims to focus on antecedents of the individual-level determinants of the model as opposed to firm-level determinants and how this might contribute to greater understanding for the implementation of the balanced scorecard (BSC). The paper is based on an empirical study of the data collected using the Dunn and Bradstreet database through a survey questionnaire. The analysis of the data shows that the awareness of BSC capabilities is positively associated with the adoption of the BSC. This is the most important variable leading to the adoption of the BSC by the sample companies. The current research has tried to make use of and discussed the available research in this area and has provided an antecedent to and direction for the implementation of the BSC. Though more empirical research is needed to generalise the findings, the current research has identified some factors and future research that may be undertaken in that direction.
Research on software defect localization technology

Software defect localization is an important step in the process of fixing defects and is a necessary means to improve software quality. In the process of fixing defects, it is also the most time-consuming and laborious task to accurately locate the files where the defects should be fixed. In order to clarify the research progress in the field of defect localization, we introduce the key technologies and problems of software defect localization in recent years, and classify the various localization methods, point out the research hotspot and direction in future.
The Discrepancy between 'Ideal' and 'Real World' International Tax Rules - What Drives Politicians When Making the Rules?

The current international tax system diverges greatly from a theoretically ‘‘optimal’’ tax system. One reason for this discrepancy may be that politicians strive for other objectives rather than making tax rules that comply with the theoretical concepts of optimal taxation. In this article, I overview the approaches used in the economic and legal literature to explain the motivations of policymakers involved in international taxation and contrast them with ‘real world’ observations. The article illustrates that the making of international tax policy is affected by various factors: the structure of the international tax system, domestic pressure groups, along with self-interested politicians and bureaucrats. Considering the complexity of the conditions under which international tax policy is made, it is not astonishing that international tax law deviates significantly from the principles characterizing ‘‘ideal’’ taxation.
Level set methods and image segmentation

We discuss some questions for applying level set methods to image segmentation. During image segmentation, it has been found that the level sets function could be changed into a non-distance function with the initial level set function defined as a distance function. This causes some applications to fail, such as coupled surfaces propagation. In addition, the solution existence and uniqueness of the evolving equation in the level set method has not been discussed in detail. We firstly prove that the signed distance function could be presented to the level set function during the evolution of the level set function through the methods presented in (Sethian, 1999; Gomes and Faugeras, 2000). Furthermore, the solution existence and uniqueness of the level set function evolution equations are analyzed in detail under the distance function restriction. It has been proved that the solutions exist, but are not unique. Finally, this conclusion can be validated in the results of implementation on image segmentation.
Are gross job flows in Australia sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations

This article considers whether rates of job destruction and creation are influenced by exchange rate movements. It shows that gross job flows in the goods-producing sector are significantly impacted by exchange rate fluctuations, with an appreciation increasing both job creation and destruction rates and hence job reallocation. However, job destruction does not dominate the adjustment process. Trading-services sector job destruction rate is marginally and negatively responsive to exchange rates, with the remaining-services sector unresponsive to exchange rate movements.
On the Credibility of Currency Boards

The paper compares the credibility of currency boards and (standard) pegs. Abandoning a currency board requires a time-consuming legislative process and an abolition will thus be well-anticipated. Therefore, a currency board solves the time-inconsistency problem of monetary policy. However, policy can react to unexpected shocks only with a time lag, thus the threat of large shocks makes the abolition more likely. Currency boards are more credible than standard pegs if the time-inconsistency problem dominates. In contrast, standard pegs, that can be left at short notice, are more credible if exogenous shocks are highly volatile and constitute the dominant problem.
Regulation of thioredoxin peroxidase activity by C-terminal truncation.

Thioredoxin peroxidase is a member of peroxiredoxin (Prx) family, which uses a thioredoxin (Trx) as an immediate electron donor for the reduction of peroxide. We have identified C-terminal truncated TPx from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and also have found the truncated form is significantly tenacious against the inactivation of H2O2 than the intact form. Peroxidase assay of a series of recombinant C-terminal truncation mutants (Delta192, Delta191, Delta188, Delta184, Delta176, and Delta165) revealed that TPx could be inactivated (Delta192), reactivated (Delta191-Delta176) and reinactivated (Delta165) by serial truncation from C-terminus. We did not find any significant kinetic difference among reactivated forms; however, distinctive loss of affinity to H2O2 (K(m) = 5 microM) than that of the intact form (<<5 microM, undeterminable) was monitored. Characterization of a series of Lys(191) point mutants manifested that the loss of affinity caused by a deprivation of positive charge born in Lys(191) and the loss of affinity resulted in the resistibility to H2O2. Disk inhibition assay with S. pombe cells overexpressing wild-type, Delta192 and Delta191 mutants evidenced that the truncated forms functioning in vitro as well as in vivo.
Gcn5 determines the fate of Drosophila germline stem cells through degradation of Cyclin A

The fluctuating CDK‐CYCLIN complex plays a general role in cell‐cycle control. Many types of stem cells use unique features of the cell cycle to facilitate asymmetric division. However, the manner in which these features are established remains poorly understood. The cell cycle of Drosophila female germline stem cells (GSCs) is characterized by short G1 and very long G2 phases, making it an excellent model for the study of cell cycle control in stem cell fate determination. Using a Drosophila female GSC model, we found Gcn5, the first discovered histone acetyltransferase, to maintain germline stem cells in Drosophila ovaries. Results showed that Gcn5 is dispensable for the transcriptional silencing of bam, but interacts with Cyclin A to facilitate proper turnover in GSCs. Results also showed that Gcn5 promotes Cyclin A ubiquitination, which is dependent on its acetylating activity. Finally, results showed that knockdown of Cyclin A rescued the GSC‐loss phenotype caused by lack of Gcn5. Collectively, these findings support the conclusion that Gcn5 acts through acetylation to facilitate Cyclin A ubiquitination and proper turnover, thereby determining the fate of GSCs. —Liu, T. , Wang, Q. , Li, W. , Mao, F. , Yue, S. , Liu, S. , Liu, X. , Xiao, S. , Xia, L. Gcn5 determines the fate of Drosophila germline stem cells through degradation of Cyclin A. FASEB J. 31, 2185–2194 (2017). www.fasebj. org
A Model of Organizational Antecedents to Franchise Revenues

Abstract This study investigates antecedents to financial outcomes in franchised distribution channels. A model is developed which implicates authoritative and normative control as antecedents to franchise revenues. The model is tested with data from two hundred sixteen franchises in the Norwegian distribution system of a multinational oil refiner. The results indicate that authoritative control engenders normative control and control mechanisms are associated with franchise revenues. Implications for franchise management and channels research are outlined.
Identification and Validation of an 6-Metabolism-Related Gene Signature and Its Correlation With Immune Checkpoint in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with relatively high malignancy and rapid disease progression. Metabolism-related genes (MRGs) are involved in the pathogenesis of HCC. This study explored potential key MRGs and their effect on T-cell immune function in the tumor immune microenvironment to provide new insight for the treatment of HCC. Of 456 differentially expressed MRGs identified from TCGA database, 21 were screened by MCODE and cytoHubba algorithms. From the key module, GAD1, SPP1, WFS1, GOT2, EHHADH, and APOA1 were selected for validation. The six MRGs were closely correlated with survival outcomes and clinicopathological characteristics in HCC. Receiver operating characteristics analysis and Kaplan-Meier plots showed that these genes had good prognostic value for HCC. Gene set enrichment analysis of the six MRGs indicated that they were associated with HCC development. TIMER and GEPIA databases revealed that WFS1 was significantly positively correlated and EHHADH was negatively correlated with tumor immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression. Finally, quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) confirmed the expression of WFS1 and EHHADH mRNA in our own patients’ cohort samples and four HCC cell lines. Collectively, the present study identified six potential MRG biomarkers associated with the prognosis and tumor immune infiltration of HCC, thus providing new insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of HCC.
System-Level Studies for Multi-User Interference Alignment in a Homogeneous Network

In this paper we study multi-user interference alignment at system level. Interference alignment (IA) is a quite recently proposed transmission strategy with varying precoding solutions. In IA, precoders and receivers are designed cooperatively between transmission points such that interference is aligned in a smaller vector space at each receiver than it would be without IA. One known problem for all IA schemes is that they are prone to external interference, interference from transmission points that are outside of the cooperation set. In this paper, we evaluate the system level performance of a multi-user IA scheme with a 3GPP LTE-Advanced compliant system level simulator. We found that IA is very prone to external interference and that a receiver that is cancelling also external interference is outperforming IA.
Overfishing in the Gulf of Thailand: policy challenges and bioeconomic analysis

This paper estimates maximum sustainable yield and maximum economic yield from Schaefer and Fox surplus production bioeconomic models to find evidence of biological and economic overfishing, and their consequences in Gulf of Thailand demersal fisheries. The paper examines alternative policy instruments to reduce overfishing. The discussion emphasizes strengthening fishery management for implementing limited access, and a combination of co-management, and decentralization of fisheries management. The use of license fees that serves as a double dividend tax to reduce fishing effort and fund monitoring and enforcement has been proposed as one of the possible economic instruments.
Nuclear factor I and mammary gland factor (STAT5) play a critical role in regulating rat whey acidic protein gene expression in transgenic mice

The rat whey acidic protein (WAP) gene contains a mammary gland-specific and hormonally regulated DNase I-hypersensitive site 830 to 720 bp 5' to the site of transcription initiation. We have reported previously that nuclear factor I (NFI) binding at a palindromic site and binding at a half-site are the major DNA-protein interactions detected within this tissue-specific nuclease-hypersensitive region. We now show that point mutations introduced into these NFI-binding sites dramatically affect WAP gene expression in transgenic mice. Transgene expression was totally abrogated when the palindromic NFI site or both binding sites were mutated, suggesting that NFI is a key regulator of WAP gene expression. In addition, a recognition site for mammary gland factor (STAT5), which mediates prolactin induction of milk protein gene expression, was also identified immediately proximal to the NFI-binding sites. Mutation of this site reduced transgene expression by approximately 90% per gene copy, but did not alter tissue specificity. These results suggest that regulation of WAP gene expression is determined by the cooperative interactions among several enhancers that constitute a composite response element.