Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Possible Involvement of Phosphorylation of Occludin in Tight Junction Formation

Occludin is an integral membrane protein localizing at tight junctions in epithelial and endothelial cells. Occludin from confluent culture MDCK I cells resolved as several (>10) bands between 62 and 82 kD in SDS-PAGE, of which two or three bands of the lowest M r were predominant. Among these bands, the lower predominant bands were essentially extracted with 1% NP-40, whereas the other higher M r bands were selectively recovered in the NP-40–insoluble fraction. Alkaline phosphatase treatment converged these bands of occludin both in NP-40–soluble and -insoluble fractions into the lowest M r band, and phosphoamino acid analyses identified phosphoserine (and phosphothreonine weakly) in the higher M r bands of occludin. These findings indicated that phosphorylation causes an upward shift of occludin bands and that highly phosphorylated occludin resists NP-40 extraction. When cells were grown in low Ca medium, almost all occludin was NP-40 soluble. Switching from low to normal Ca medium increased the amount of NP-40–insoluble occludin within 10 min, followed by gradual upward shift of bands. This insolubilization and the band shift correlated temporally with tight junction formation detected by immunofluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, we found that the anti–chicken occludin mAb, Oc-3, did not recognize the predominant lower M r bands of occludin (non- or less phosphorylated form) but was specific to the higher M r bands (phosphorylated form) on immunoblotting. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that this mAb mainly stained the tight junction proper of intestinal epithelial cells, whereas other anti-occludin mAbs, which can recognize the predominant lower M r bands, labeled their basolateral membranes (and the cytoplasm) as well as tight junctions. Therefore, we conclude that non- or less phosphorylated occludin is distributed on the basolateral membranes and that highly phosphorylated occludin is selectively concentrated at tight juctions as the NP-40–insoluble form. These findings suggest that the phosphorylation of occludin is a key step in tight junction assembly.
Meaning of Social Inclusion to Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training

The 'social inclusion' of young people, particularly those who are 'not in education, employment or training', is a contemporary concern in policy discourses. However, it has been argued that the term 'social inclusion' is defined by adults and imposed on young people, and there is little understanding of what 'social inclusion' means to young people themselves. Using a participatory methodology, this study investigated what 'being included' meant to young people. A qualitative approach with a thematic analysis was used to explore the accounts of 11 participants and yielded three main themes. '"Acceptance"-the building blocks of inclusion' reflected the power of interpersonal acceptance in determining young people's sense of inclusion. '"Learning why I don't matter"-when power and discourse shape inclusion' illustrated how social discourses and power dynamics influenced young people's experience of inclusion. '"Keeping up or falling behind"-internalising the discourse of inclusion' reflected how young people internalised some of these societal definitions of inclusion and responded to them. Those who felt 'accepted' or 'included' in a 'mainstream' sense articulated a sense of agency and hope. For those who did not, it appeared that agency dissolved as did a sense of hope for the future. Although the participants negotiated their 'inclusion' through close, trusting relationships with others, the application of the societal discourses of inclusion such as productivity, independence and career mindedness had the potential to leave them feeling excluded, isolated and distressed. Copyright (c) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Attachment and pornography use: The influence of romantic attachment styles, intimacy, and pornography use on marital satisfaction

ATTACHMENT AND PORNOGRAPHY USE: THE INFLUENCE OF ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT STYLES, INTIMACY, AND PORNOGRAPHY USE ON MARITAL SATISFACTION Saudia L. Twine Center for Counseling and Family Studies Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling The current study sought to answer the following research questions: First, what is the relationship between attachment, intimacy, pornography use, and marital satisfaction? Second, in what ways does intimacy influence marital satisfaction among pornography users with insecure attachment? Finally, is pornography used to regulate attachment emotions among pornography users with insecure attachment? The study revealed that Pornography Use caused an interaction in the relationship between Intimacy and Marital Satisfaction for those higher in Attachment Avoidance. Pornography Use accounted for 3% unique variance on Marital Satisfaction after controlling for Intimacy and Attachment Avoidance. Results also revealed Intimacy had a direct effect on Marital Satisfaction. However, Intimacy accounted for nearly 65% of the variance on Marital Satisfaction. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.
An overview of semistructured data

Research on semistructured data started from the observation that much of today's electronic dat a does not conform to traditional relational, or object oriented data models . Several applications store their data in non-standard data formats ; legacy systems . structured documents . like HTML or SGML etc . Another instance is the integration of heterogeneous data sources : often these sources belong to external organizations . or partners . not under the application's control, and thei r structure is only partially known. and may change without notice . Data in these applications could be modeled as an object-oriented data . but its structure is irregular : some objects may have missing attributes . others may have multiple occurrences of the same attribute . the same attribut e may have different types in different objects, semantically related information may be represented differently in various objects . Data with these characteristics has been called semistructured data . Recent research has aimed at extending database management techniques to semistructure d data. The result of this work is a new paradigm in databases . complementing the relational an d object-oriented one. The new model has been applied to a. few research prototypes, like dat a integration [PGMW95 . PAGM96] . Web site management [FFK +98] . general-purpose management of semistructured data [QRS + 95 . AQUIt 97, MAG + 97], and data conversion [SCJK98] . Other research work has addressed query language design [AQM + 97. BDHS96a. PAGM96 . FFLS97a . FFLS97b] schema specification [BDFS97. MS99 . DGM98. BM99] . schema extraction [NUWC97 . BDFS97 . GW97 . NAM97], optimizations [AV97b, Suc96 . Suc97 . FS98. MW97] . indexing [MWA+98 . NIS99] . as well as formal aspects [AV97a, AV97b . MM97 . FLS98] . The interested reader may wan t to consult the tutorials by Abiteboul [Abi97] and Bunernan [Bun97] . In the traditional relational paradigm a database is modeled as a finite . first order structure . The first order vocabulary, i . e . the names and arities of the relations of that structure models th e database schema (the list of all table names and their attributes), and first order logic, or highe r logic formulae model queries . Database theory is related to both finite model theory and descriptiv e complexity. It makes no sense however to talk about finite structures or formulae without fixing the vocabulary first . In semistructured databases we do not have an a priory schema, hence no vocabulary . One way to model semistructured databases is to represent them as graphs . Thus. the vocabulary is fixed once and forever to be that of graphs . The real schema of a given database instance is now
Infection Spreading and Source Identification: A Hide and Seek Game

The goal of an infection source node (e.g., a rumor or computer virus source) in a network is to spread its infection to as many nodes as possible, while remaining hidden from the network administrator. On the other hand, the network administrator aims to identify the source node based on knowledge of which nodes have been infected. We model the infection spreading and source identification problem as a strategic game, where the infection source and the network administrator are the two players. As the Jordan center estimator is a minimax source estimator that has been shown to be robust in recent works, we assume that the network administrator utilizes a source estimation strategy that can probe any nodes within a given radius of the Jordan center. Given any estimation strategy, we design a best-response infection strategy for the source. Given any infection strategy, we design a best-response estimation strategy for the network administrator. We derive conditions under which a Nash equilibrium of the strategic game exists. Simulations in both synthetic and real-world networks demonstrate that our proposed infection strategy infects more nodes while maintaining the same safety margin between the true source node and the Jordan center source estimator.
Cool Girls, Inc. and Self-Concept

Social capital was examined as a mediator of the association between youth development program participation and gains in self-concept in a sample of 86 primarily African American female adolescents in the Cool Girls, program, and 89 comparisons. Two dimensions of social capital (the diversity of girls’ social networks and the number of life domains in which girls were able to access help) were examined. It was hypothesized that participation in Cool Girls would be associated with increases in social capital and that this would mediate the relationship between participation in Cool Girls and increases in self-concept. Social capital was associated with gains in two dimensions of self-concept regardless of program participation: social acceptance and behavioral conduct. Finally, there was a significant indirect effect of participation on social acceptance and behavioral conduct, mediated through social capital. Implications are discussed.
Genome Implosion Elicits Host-Confinement in Alcaligenaceae: Evidence from the Comparative Genomics of Tetrathiobacter kashmirensis, a Pathogen in the Making

This study elucidates the genomic basis of the evolution of pathogens alongside free-living organisms within the family Alcaligenaceae of Betaproteobacteria. Towards that end, the complete genome sequence of the sulfur-chemolithoautotroph Tetrathiobacter kashmirensis WT001T was determined and compared with the soil isolate Achromobacter xylosoxidans A8 and the two pathogens Bordetella bronchiseptica RB50 and Taylorella equigenitalis MCE9. All analyses comprehensively indicated that the RB50 and MCE9 genomes were almost the subsets of A8 and WT001T, respectively. In the immediate evolutionary past Achromobacter and Bordetella shared a common ancestor, which was distinct from the other contemporary stock that gave rise to Tetrathiobacter and Taylorella. The Achromobacter-Bordetella precursor, after diverging from the family ancestor, evolved through extensive genome inflation, subsequent to which the two genera separated via differential gene losses and acquisitions. Tetrathiobacter, meanwhile, retained the core characteristics of the family ancestor, and Taylorella underwent massive genome degeneration to reach an evolutionary dead-end. Interestingly, the WT001T genome, despite its conserved architecture, had only 85% coding density, besides which 578 out of its 4452 protein-coding sequences were found to be pseudogenized. Translational impairment of several DNA repair-recombination genes in the first place seemed to have ushered the rampant and indiscriminate frame-shift mutations across the WT001T genome. Presumably, this strain has just come out of a recent evolutionary bottleneck, representing a unique transition state where genome self-degeneration has started comprehensively but selective host-confinement has not yet set in. In the light of this evolutionary link, host-adaptation of Taylorella clearly appears to be the aftereffect of genome implosion in another member of the same bottleneck. Remarkably again, potent virulence factors were found widespread in Alcaligenaceae, corroborating which hemolytic and mammalian cell-adhering abilities were discovered in WT001T. So, while WT001T relatives/derivatives in nature could be going the Taylorella way, the lineage as such was well-prepared for imminent host-confinement.
In vitro study of chondrocyte redifferentiation with lentiviral vector‐mediated transgenic TGF‐β3 and shRNA suppressing type I collagen in three‐dimensional culture

Chondrocytes are the primary candidate therapeutic cells to cure cartilaginous lesions. Ideally, for transplantation, autologous chondrocytes are isolated from the patient, amplified in vitro, seeded in a scaffold and implanted back. However, significant concerns arise with chondrocyte dedifferentiation during monolayer amplification, whereby cells lose their chondrocytic phenotype by rapidly downregulating the expression of cartilage markers such as type II collagen (Col II) and aggrecan. The accompanying upregulation in type I collagen (Col I) is also problematic, as it leads to unexpected fibrosis and causes such engineered cartilage to lack the desired mechanical strength to make up joint lesions. Transforming growth factor‐β3 (TGF‐β3) has been proved effective in maintaining chondrocytic morphology and promoting total collagen production. In this study, we aimed to deliver the TGF‐β3 gene into dedifferentiated chondrocytes with recombinant lentiviral vectors; by transgenic expression of TGF‐β3, chondrocytic redifferentiation is catalysed. Simultaneously, shRNA targeting Col I was also incorporated into the vector to suppress Col I production. The results indicated that chondrocytes underwent dedifferentiation in monolayer culture in the presence or absence of transgenic TGF‐β3. In three‐dimensional culture, effective redifferentiation was managed in the dedifferentiated chondrocytes that were transduced with transgenic TGF‐β3. The incorporation and expression of Col I‐targeting shRNA were also effective in reducing Col I production in a post‐transcriptional manner. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Teachers’ constructs of effective classroom practice: variations across career phases

This paper outlines a theoretical framework which offers an explanation of the complexity of how teachers define their effectiveness in relation to their classroom practice. The research from which this framework emerged was a two-year, mixed method study of 81 primary and secondary school teachers. The use of repertory grid interviews combined with a number of other methods is unique in a study of teachers’ practice and, from the elicited constructs, seven key themes emerged. These themes, analysed in relation to three broad career phases, indicate a number of issues important for teachers as they transfer from early- to late-career.
Dynamic protection provisioning with FIPP p-cycles in WDM networks

Application opportunities associated with video, voice and data triple play result in a dramatic demand increase in metro transport networks, with many traffic patterns becoming increasingly dynamic and difficult to predict. This is driving the need of core networks with a high degree of flexibility and granularity to carry traffic. We propose to investigate the question of what this means in terms of dynamic protection provisioning. In other words, we want to study how much a dynamic traffic affects the protection structures and how stable are the protection structures under dynamic traffic. While most studies on the stability of protection structures have been done on p-cycles and link shared protection, we investigate here the stability of FIPP p-cycles under dynamic traffic. For doing so, we design and develop a scalable mathematical model that we solve using large scale optimization tools. Numerical results show that FIPP p-cycles are remarkably stable with respect to the evaluation of the number of cross-connections to be reset under dynamic traffic.
Multiple Object Detection for Pick-and-Place Applications

This paper presents a novel approach for detecting multiple instances of the same object for pick-and-place automation. The working conditions are very challenging, with complex objects, arranged at random in the scene, and heavily occluded. This approach exploits SIFT to obtain a set of correspondences between the object model and the current image. In order to segment the multiple instances of the object, the correspondences are clustered among the objects using a voting scheme which determines the best estimate of the object’s center through mean shift. This procedure is compared in terms of accuracy with existing homography-based solutions which make use of RANSAC to eliminate outliers in the homography estimation.
Assessing the role of current and cumulative exposure in simultaneous bilingual acquisition: The case of Dutch gender*

This paper investigates the role of amount of current and cumulative exposure in bilingual development and ultimate attainment by exploring the extent to which simultaneous bilingual children's knowledge of grammatical gender is affected by current and previous amount of exposure, including in the early years. Elicited production and grammaticality judgement data collected from 136 English–Dutch-speaking bilingual children aged between three and 17 years are used to examine the lexical and grammatical aspects of Dutch gender, viz. definite determiners and adjectival inflection. It is argued that the results are more consistent with a rule-based than a piecemeal approach to acquisition (Blom, Polišenskà & Weerman, 2008a; Gathercole & Thomas, 2005, 2009), and that non-target performance on the production task can be explained by the Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (Haznedar & Schwartz, 1997; Prévost & White, 2000; Weerman, Duijnmeijer & Orgassa, 2011).
Modification of Outer Membrane Protein Profile and Evidence Suggesting an Active Drug Pump in Enterobacter aerogenes Clinical Strains

ABSTRACT Two clinical strains of Enterobacter aerogenes that exhibited phenotypes of multiresistance to β-lactam antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, and kanamycin were investigated. Both strains showed a porin pattern different from that of a susceptible strain, with a drastic reduction in the amount of the major porin but with an apparently conserved normal structure (size and immunogenicity), together with overproduction of two known outer membrane proteins, OmpX and LamB. In addition, the full-length O-polysaccharide phenotype was replaced by a semirough Ra phenotype. Moreover, in one isolate the intracellular accumulation of chloramphenicol was increased in the presence of the energy uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, suggesting an energy-dependent efflux of chloramphenicol in this strain. The resistance strategies used by these isolates appear to be similar to that induced by stress in Escherichia coli cells.
Universal nonuniform sampling of ECG signals: Opportunities and obstacles

Sampling of ECG signals has been studied for several decades. However, nonuniform sampling at low average rate has received much less attention. While uniform sampling rate needs to be at least twice the bandwidth of a signal (Nyquist rate), in theory, nonuniform sampling at sub-Nyquist rate should be adequate for faithful reconstruction if the signal is sufficiently sparse. Noting the known sparsity ECG signals, we attempt to demonstrate sub-Nyquist sampling of such signals. However, alongside this opportunity, reconstruction from nonuniform samples also poses a particular challenge. While uniform sampling admits universal (signal-independent) reconstruction (via sinc interpolation), reconstruction from nonuniform samples is generally data-dependent. In this paper, we make use of compressive sampling theory to demonstrate that nonuniform sampling does provide universal performance guarantee. In our experiments, we use ANSI/AAMI standard test ECG signals, and tune the orthogonal mathing pursuit algorithm for those to obtain superior performance. Our results potentially facilitates development of low-power ECG recording devices with potential application in remote locations without grid power.
Insulin Resistance and Insulin Secretion Are Determinants of Oral Glucose Tolerance in Normal Individuals

Plasma glucose values after oral glucose challenge vary widely in nondiabetic subjects. We have now evaluated the role of insulin resistance in determining the plasma glucose response to oral glucose in 74 volunteer subjects with normal glucose tolerance. In these subjects, we determined the plasma glucose and insulin responses over a 3-h period to a 75-g oral glucose challenge, and the steady-state plasma glucose concentration during a continuous infusion of somatostatin, glucose, and insulin (a quantitative measure of insulin resistance). The plasma glucose response was defined as the incremental increase in plasma glucose concentration above the fasting value for 3 h after the oral glucose challenge. Multiple regression analysis was used to define the relationship between the dependent variable (plasma glucose response) and various predictors of this response. These analyses indicated that both the steady-state plasma glucose and the incremental insulin response during the first 30 min after the glucose load were significant predictors of the plasma glucose response. In those individuals in whom insulin action was impaired and the 30-min plasma insulin response was decreased, plasma glucose values reached higher levels. When standardized regression coefficients were determined, the incremental glucose response was directly correlated with steady-state plasma glucose (r = 0.700, P < 0.001) and inversely with the insulin response during the first 30 min (r = 0.268, P = 0.023). Furthermore, the correlation between steady-state plasma glucose and glucose response was significantly greater (P < 0.005) than that between the glucose response and 30-min insulin concentration. These data demonstrate that both insulin action and insulin secretion are determinants of the plasma glucose response to oral glucose in individuals with normal glucose tolerance.
Comparing asynchronous l-complete approximations and quotient based abstractions

This paper is concerned with a detailed comparison of two different abstraction techniques for the construction of finite state symbolic models for controller synthesis of hybrid systems. Namely, we compare quotient based abstractions (QBA) with different realizations of strongest (asynchronous) l-complete approximations (SAlCA). Even though the idea behind their construction is very similar, we show that they are generally incomparable both in terms of behavioral inclusion and similarity relations. We therefore derive necessary and sufficient conditions for QBA to coincide with particular realizations of SAlCA. Depending on the original system, either QBA or SAlCA can be a tighter abstraction.
Acoustical method for objective food intake monitoring using a wearable sensor system

A method for non-invasive monitoring of human food intake behavior and long-term dietary protocol has been developed by the sole use of chewing and swallowing sound sensors. A hierarchical model of daily food intake is introduced for dietary protocol. Microphones were found to be more useable for this recording task than accelerometers. Hence, a novel sensor system has been built containing two microphones in a hearing aid case in order to record chewing and swallowing sounds in the ear canal and environmental noise, respectively. Records of the intake sounds of 51 participants consuming seven types of food and one drink were taken for the development of detection and classification algorithms.