Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fas-Associated Factor 1 Negatively Regulates the Antiviral Immune Response by Inhibiting Translocation of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 to the Nucleus

ABSTRACT This study is designed to examine the cellular functions of human Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) containing multiple ubiquitin-related domains. Microarray analyses revealed that interferon-stimulated genes related to the antiviral response are significantly increased in FAF1-knockdown HeLa cells. Silencing FAF1 enhanced the poly(I·C)- and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-induced production of type I interferons (IFNs), the target genes of interferon regulator factor 3 (IRF3). IRF3 is a key transcription factor in IFN-β signaling responsible for the host innate immune response. This study also found that FAF1 and IRF3 physically associate with IPO5/importin-β3 and that overexpression of FAF1 reduces the interaction between IRF3 and IPO5/importin-β3. These findings suggest that FAF1 negatively regulates IRF3-mediated IFN-β production and the antiviral innate immune response by regulating nuclear translocation of IRF3. We conclude that FAF1 plays a novel role in negatively regulating virus-induced IFN-β production and the antiviral response by inhibiting the translocation of active, phosphorylated IRF3 from the cytosol to the nucleus.
Protease Activity, Self Interaction, and Small Interfering RNA Binding of the Silencing Suppressor P1b from Cucumber Vein Yellowing Ipomovirus

ABSTRACT The RNA silencing pathway mediated by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) plays an important antiviral role in eukaryotes. To counteract this defense barrier, a large number of plant viruses express proteins with RNA silencing suppression activity. Recently, it was reported that the ipomovirus Cucumber vein yellowing virus (CVYV), which lacks the typical silencing suppressor of members of the family Potyviridae, i.e., HCPro, has a duplicated P1 coding sequence and that the downstream P1 copy, named P1b, has silencing suppression activity. In this study, we provide experimental evidence that P1b is a serine protease that self-cleaves at its C terminus but that its proteolytic activity is not essential for silencing suppression. In contrast, a putative zinc finger and a conserved basic motif in the N-terminal region of the protein are required for efficient silencing suppression. In vitro gel filtration-fast protein liquid chromatography and in vivo bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays showed that P1b binds itself to form oligomeric structures and that the zinc finger-like motif is essential for the self interaction. Moreover, we observed that CVYV P1b forms complexes with synthetic siRNAs, and this ability correlated with both silencing suppression activity and enhancement of Potato virus X pathogenicity in a mutational analysis. Together, these results suggest that CVYV P1b resembles potyviral HCPro and other viral proteins in interfering RNA silencing by preventing siRNA loading into the RNA-induced silencing complex.
Water slope and discharge in the Amazon River estimated using the shuttle radar topography mission digital elevation model

We find that the standard deviation, hence error, of the water surface elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is 5.51 m for basin‐wide, regional and local Amazon mainstem reaches. This error implies a minimum reach length of 733km in order to calculate a reliable water‐surface slope. Resulting slopes are 1.92 ± 0.19 cm/km for Manacapuru, 2.86 ± 0.24 cm/km for Itapeua and 3.20 ± 0.34 cm/km for Tupe. Manning's equation is applied with these slopes and with channel width measurements from the Global Rain Forest Mapping project synthetic aperture radar mosaics (GRFM SAR), channel depths averaged from nautical charts, and reasonable estimates of Manning's n. Resulting discharge values are 84,800 m3/s at Manacapuru, 79,800 m3/s at Itapeua, and 62,900 m3/s at Tupe averaged over the SRTM mission period. These values are within 6.2% at Manacapuru, 7.6% at Itapeua, and 0.3% at Tupe of the in‐situ gage‐based estimates for the same or similar time period.
Lumpy Capital, Labor Market Search and Employment Dynamics over Business Cycles

This paper incorporates labor search frictions into a model with lumpy investment to explain a set of rm-size-related facts about the United States labor market dynamics over business cycles. Contrary to the predictions of standard models, we observe that job destruction is procyclical in small rms but countercyclical in large ones. Calibrated to U.S. data, the model generates this asymmetric pattern of employment dynamics in small versus large rms. In the model, ex ante identical rms face random investment opportunities. Small rms are those that have a fewer number of workers either because they forgo investment for many periods and thus have a lower marginal labor productivity or because they fail to hire workers from a frictional labor market. If a small rm has a low level of capital stock, it tends to make lumpy investment and grow fast. Labor market frictions inuence the small rms investment decisions. If hiring is costly and time consuming, the small rms may give up some investment projects which they would undertake if the labor market were Walrasian. A fovarable aggregate productivity shock tightens the labor market and makes hiring more di¢ cult. A tighter labor market hurts investing small rms, so investment increases more in large rms. As a result, a favorable productivity shock reallocates some workers from small to large rms, making procyclical job destruction in small rms possible. The paper contributes to a better understanding of rmsinteractive investment behavior and employment behavior in the presence of factor market frictions, with the resulting aggregate employment dynamics in small versus large rms. Keywords: labor market search, lumpy capital, business cycle, job creation, job destruction JEL Classi cation: E22 E24 E32 E37 Acknowledgement: I thank my advisors Shouyong Shi, Miquel Faig, and Diego Restuccia for guidance and suggestions. I have also bene ted from comments and suggestions from Ruediger Bachmann, Jianfei Sun, Aloysius Siow, Aubhik Khan, Gueorgui Kambourov, Xiaodong Zhu, Elena Capatina, and seminar participants at the Univeristy of Toronto 2008, Tsinghua University 2009, the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) meeting 2009, the Midwest Macro Meeting (MMM) 2008, and the Canadian Economic Association (CEA) Meeting 2008. Finally, I would like to thank Julia Thomas for providing the original computational program. All errors are mine. 0
A Time Slicing Technique for Mobile Multimedia Communications using MSE-OFDM System

A new multicarrier system, termed multi-symbol encapsulated orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MSE-OFDM), was proposed earlier, in which one cyclic prefix (CP) is used for multiple OFDM symbols. The motivation of MSE-OFDM is to address the disadvantages of OFDM system, i.e., the sensitivity to carrier frequency offset and high peak to average power ratio at the same time. In this paper, we propose a new time slicing technique by replacing the cyclic prefix with preceded pseudo random sequence for MSE-OFDM system. With the proposed time slicing technique, multiple multimedia data streams with dynamic data rates can be easily multiplexed. In addition, this system overcomes the high sensitivity to frequency offset inherited with OFDMA system and can be used for both uplink and downlink for mobile multimedia communications with variable data rates. The proposed time slicing system also enables the power saving for mobile receivers, through which the batter life can be substantially extended.
A Review of the Linguistic Research on Definite Descriptions

We present in this paper a review on the linguistic literature on the types of uses of definite descriptions (noun phrases with the definite article the). Definite descriptions have been studied extensively by linguists, philosophers, psychologists, and computational linguists. The theories discussed in this paper help us to understand the problem of interpreting definite descriptions. We look at research studying the various ways in which definite descriptions relate to their antecedents and/or to the context. We compare terms referring to the various types of uses of definite descriptions by presenting tables that relate examples of definite description use to different terminology, according to different authors.
Pharmacoeconomics: Cost of Illness Studies

Cost-of-illness studies measure the economic burden of a disease and estimate the maximum amount that could potentially be saved or gained if a disease were to be eradicated. Direct medical costs and indirect costs are measured using top down and bottom up approaches Human Capital approach, Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) approach and Friction Costs approach respectively. The perspectives may measure costs to society, the health care system, third-party payers, businesses, the government, and participants and their families. Incidence-based studies, estimate lifetime costs, measure the costs of an illness from onset to conclusion for cases beginning within the period of the study, usually a year. Incidence costs include the discounted, lifetime medical, morbidity, and mortality costs for the incident cohort. Prevalence-based studies measure the costs of an illness in a year, regardless of the date of onset and include all medical care costs and morbidity costs for a disease. Indirect costs include the loss of resources due to morbidity and mortality, which inherently places a monetary value on the value of life. The human capital method is the most common approach used to calculate the indirect costs of an illness. The costs attributable to an illness depend largely on how the illness is defined diagnostically. Studies typically use the International Classification of Diseases, as a basis of defining the illness of interest and whether to include secondary diagnoses. The appropriate data source to use for a cost-of-illness study varies by the illness, perspective, and approach of the study. Introduction Diabetes mellitus presents a huge burden for individuals and society. Medical expenditures for people with diabetes
Implications of Asymmetric Price Rigidity for Monetary Policy

There is convincing empirical evidence that prices are asymmetrically rigid in response to positive and negative demand shocks. Such asymmetry should play an important role in monetary policy. I analyze the implications of the asymmetric price rigidity for the optimal monetary policy in a microfounded New Keynesian model of a small open economy. I find that inflationary and deflationary shocks should be treated asymmetrically in the presence of asymmetric price rigidity but that the asymmetry depends on the local price rigidity and the social preferences. In particular, if prices are sufficiently flexible and/or the output gap is not very important (e.g., if there is strict inflation targeting), then the monetary policy should respond more to inflationary shocks than to deflationary ones of the same size. In the opposite case, however, the optimal asymmetry is reversed. This model attempts to explain in terms of the social preferences why different directions in the monetary policy asymmetry are observed in different countries, and provide normative prescriptions for the design of monetary policy in the presence of asymmetric price rigidity.
Multiple-degree-of-freedom motion data transmission using audio signal and its application in a presentation robot system

Employing an audio signal as a data carrier, we study a wired data transmission method for a multi-degree-of-freedom robot. In this paper, we propose a frequency division multiplexed amplitude modulation method and its demodulation parameter design method to minimize the processing time. To verify the proposed method, an experimental system is implemented on a single PC with a 3DOF robot. As a practical application, a presentation robot system synchronized with a slide show in PowerPoint is introduced.
The Exclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Education in New Zealand: Issues and Implications for Inclusion

IN NEW ZEALAND, LEGISLATION and policy states that every young child has the right to participate in, and receive, a high-quality early childhood education. However, this is not always the case for children with disabilities and their families. This article addresses issues related to the exclusion of such children in early childhood education in New Zealand. In particular, the article highlights the exclusive cultures, policies and practices that compromise the nationally legislated policy of inclusion for children with disabilities and their families. It also offers ideas on bringing about changes in thought and practice that might help to progress inclusion.
Homogenization for inertial particles in a random flow

We study the problem of homogenization for inertial particles moving in a time-dependent random velocity field and subject to molecular diffusion. We show that, under appropriate assumptions on the velocity field, the large-scale, long-time behavior of the inertial particles is governed by an effective diffusion equation for the position variable alone. This is achieved by the use of a formal multiple scales expansion in the scale parameter. The expansion relies on the hypoellipticity of the underlying diffusion. An expression for the diffusivity tensor is found and various of its properties are studied. The results of the formal multiscale analysis are justified rigorously by the use of the martingale central limit theorem. Our theoretical findings are supported by numerical investigations where we study the parametric dependence of the effective diffusivity on the various non-dimensional parameters of the problem.
Axillary Branching and Callus Culture

Orthosiphun stamineus is a herbaceous plant that is popularly known as Misai Kucing. It is widely used in traditional medicine as diuretic agent. This study was divided into two parts that was the in vitro production of complete plantlet through axillary branching and callus culture derived from leaf explant. In axillary branching method, sterilization was conducted using 0.02mg/100ml of mercuric chloride followed by rinsing with 20% and 50% of Clorox for 20 minutes and 5 minutes respectively. This sterilization method was able to remove the contaminants from the surface of the axillary stem and almost 70% of the explants were survived. Axillary bud was placed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basic medium and cultured for 1 month. The in vitro shoot was inoculated on MS medium which was supplemented with different concentrations of BAP and NAA. The medium that contained 1.0mg/L of BAP gave the best shoot multiplication (13.25) and shoot length (6.23cm) after 8 weeks in culture. Root formation in term of percentage of root (70%) and the number of root produced (10.50) were the best when shoot inserted into medium contained 6mg/L IBA after 3 weeks in culture. However, MS medium that was supplemented with 2 mg/L IBA enhanced in the root length (3.85 cm). Meanwhile, in callus culture, the leaf explant was placed on MS medium containing with various concentrations of 2,4-D for induction of callus. The optimum level of callus induction and proliferation rate (0.42) were obtained with 4mg/L 2,4-D. The callus cells were tested in medium with Evan’s Blue staining and the result showed that the cells were embryogenic. However, the shoot induction from the callus was failed in all tested mediums containing different combinations of BAP and 2,4-D. [Kamaludin Rashid, Arash Nezhadahmadi, Roihan Mohsin, Shamrul Azhar, Shahril Efzueni. In Vitro Propagation of Medicinal Plant Orthosiphun Stamineus (Misai Kucing) Through Axillary Branching and Callus Culture. Life Sci J 2012;9(4):5283-5294] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 787
Bioinspired Fingertip for Anthropomorphic Robotic Hands

BACKGROUND: An artificial fingertip with mechanical features and appearance similar to the human fingertip could represent a significant step forward towards the development of the next generation artificial hands. However, so far, a fingertip showing a good trade-off among mechanical features, appearance and anthropomorphism, along with its 3D computational model, is still missing. OBJECTIVE: To explore and develop an artificial fingertip demonstrating a mechanical response similar to the human fingertip, in order to improve the grasp stability of robotic hands. METHODS: Taking inspiration from the multi-layered structure of the human finger, novel artificial fingertips, composed of a rigid core and covered by layers of polymeric materials with different degrees of stiffness and topped by a hard nail were developed. An accurate 3D finite element (FE) model was also developed in order to simulate and evaluate the internal mechanical behavior of the prototypes under external indentations. The mechanical response of the prototypes was assessed and compared with that of the human fingertip and the FE model results, under different experimental conditions. Finally, the artificial fingertips were integrated into an anthropomorphic robotic hand and evaluated in grip tests, in order to compare the grasp stability with respect to conventional stiff (metal) fingertips. RESULTS: The developed prototypes demonstrated a response to compression tests similar to the human finger and the FE model showed a discrete accuracy (mean error 7%). Finally, an increased ability (by 96%) in stably holding objects during precision grips with respect to conventional stiff fingers was demonstrated. CONCLUSION: Multi-layered biomimetic fingertips can improve grasp stability and cosmetic appearance of anthropomorphic robot hands.
SOLID INCLUSION COMPLEXES OF CLASS II IMIDAZOLE DERIVATIVE WITH Β – CYCLODEXTRIN

Low aqueous solubility of Ketoconazole can be incre ased by complexing it with β-cyclodextrin. Two systems were prepared i.e. binary complexes prepared with β-cyclodextrin and multicomponent systems ( β-cyclodextrin and an acid compound), obtained by spray drying method. The com plexes were characterized by X-ray diffractometry a nd differential scanning calorimetry which showed diff erences between ketoconazole/cyclodextrin complexes and their corresponding physical mixtures and individual comp nents. The dissolution behavior of KTZ from the ph ysical mixtures, and 1:1 complex is similar to the obtaine d at pH 5. From the binary system 1:2, it has been not possible to dissolve all the drug (around 80%) and after 30 min , the concentration decreased due to the recrystall ization of KTZ in the medium. Both multicomponent complexes show diff erent dissolution profiles. The system prepared wit h citric acid reach a percentage close to 100% but after 90 min t he concentration decreases as above, whereas that p repared with hydrochloric acid, 100%, of the dose dissolved and remained in the solution all during the assay. The solubility of ketoconazole increased significantly with the cyclo dextrin complexes.
On the Perturbative Approach in the Randall-Sundrum Model

We study a SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y gauge theory in the Randall-Sundrum background, including electroweak symmetry breaking due to a brane-localized Higgs sector. We work in the decomposed four dimensional theory and treat the symmetry breaking effects as a perturbation. Although there is an exact approach, this method is widely used and quite intuitive. We extend existing studies by giving explicit analytical expressions in a covariant R_xi gauge, needed for loop calculations in the decomposed theory. The perturbative approach is also applied to fermions and a comparison of the gauge boson and fermion spectra with the exact results is presented, validating the perturbative method used in the literature.
PeerTrack: a platform for tracking and tracing objects in large-scale traceability networks

The ability to track and trace individual items, especially through large-scale and distributed networks, is the key to realizing many important business applications such as supply chain management, asset tracking, and counterfeit detection. Unfortunately, enabling traceability across independent organizations still poses significant challenges in dealing with large volume of data and sovereignty of the participants. This paper describes PeerTrack, a scalable platform for efficiently and effectively tracking and tracing objects in large-scale traceability networks. With a novel data model, a DHT-based indexer, and a distributed query processor, PeerTrack provides an environment where traceability applications can share data across independent organizations in a peer-to-peer fashion. This paper presents the motivation, system design, implementation, and a proof-of-concept system of the PeerTrack platform.
Probabilistic Proof Systems

Various types of probabilistic proof systems have played a central role in the development of computer science in the last decade. In this exposition, we concentrate on three such proof systems -- interactive proofs , zero-knowledge proofs , and probabilistic checkable proofs -- stressing the essential role of randomness in each of them. This exposition is an expanded version of a survey written for the proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians ( ICM94 ) held in Zurich in 1994. It is hope that this exposition may be accessible to a broad audience of computer scientists and mathematians.
Molecular Divergence in Allopatric Ceratosolen (Agaonidae) Pollinators of Geographically Widespread Ficus (Moraceae) Species

ABSTRACT Speciation in pollinating seed predators such as fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) is likely to have been influenced by a combination of ecological and geographical isolating mechanisms, but recent molecular analyses of fig wasps have focused on pollinator specialization as the main factor driving speciation. This study investigates the contribution of geographic modes of speciation such as dispersal, vicariance, and isolation by distance. We sampled haplotypes of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I from Ceratosolen pollinators of six geographically widespread Australasian fig (Moraceae: Ficus) species, including four species spanning Wallacea. Phylogenetic analysis investigated the extent of host conservatism and host switching accompanying divergence in Ceratosolen. Geographically widespread Ceratosolen showed deep intraspecific divergence exceeding or comparable to divergence between named sister species. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses supported species monophyly in five of six cases, whereas results for a sixth species were equivocal. Bayesian divergence time estimation suggested dispersal across Wallacea during the Miocene epoch, after the collision of Australian and Asian continental plates. Cryptic species were evident in all six focal taxa. Because the deep mitochondrial divergence within these taxa is regionally distributed, allopatric divergence provides a simple explanation for the existence of these cryptic lineages pollinating widespread fig species. We found little evidence of divergence accompanied by host switching. The ancient origin of cryptic and geographically isolated species suggests that long-distance dispersal may be rare in Ceratosolen and that host associations are generally conserved during range expansion.