Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Application of a Transparent and Scalable Weight-of-Evidence Framework: An Example From Wabamun Lake, Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACT A weight-of-evidence (WOE) framework was developed to evaluate potential effects on the aquatic ecosystem of Wabamun Lake (Alberta, Canada) associated with the release of Bunker “C” oil after a train derailment. The wide variety of stakeholders and interested regulatory agencies made it necessary to develop a consistent and transparent approach to assessing ecological effects on multiple ecosystem components within the lake with the use of a large number of lines of evidence (LOEs). Consequently, a scalable WOE framework was necessary to integrate the findings of 38 different LOEs. A priori and a posteriori weighting factors were applied to each individual LOE, and a combination of numeric and nonnumeric rating systems was used to integrate LOEs into an overall WOE conclusion for 5 different ecosystem components. We provide guidance regarding the development of a WOE framework and emphasize techniques that enhance the application of best professional judgement during the WOE process.
Multiple classifier-based spatiotemporal features for living activity prediction

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the action prediction technique plays an important role in many automatic systems. There are some proposed methods for this issue. However, they retain limitations such as accuracy and computational time, especially for applying in limited resource systems. This paper presents an approach to enhance the efficiency of the activity prediction task. The work processes on multiple classifiers using spatiotemporal features based on scalable feature descriptors, such as histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), histogram of oriented optical flow (HOF), and motion boundary histogram (MBH). In order to improve prediction accuracy, two layers of classified machine models are studied for applying on spatiotemporal features with the dynamic foreground extraction process. The first layer based on unsupervised classification is proposed to construct a dictionary of features, which supports for distinguishing and uniform the number of features. The next task is that supervised machine learning supports for final decision of action classes. The proposed approach was evaluated on several benchmark datasets, which are available online. The results demonstrate that the approach enhances accuracy and efficiency of the prediction system.
Release of 7-methylguanine residues whose imidazole rings have been opened from damaged DNA by a DNA glycosylase from Escherichia coli.

Double-stranded DNA containing 7-methylguanine residues whose imidazole rings have been opened, i.e. 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-N-methylformamido-pyrimidine residues, may be prepared by treatment of DNA with dimethyl sulfate followed by prolonged incubation at pH 11.4. These substituted formamidopyrimidine residues are actively removed from DNA by a DNA glycosylase present in E. coli cell extracts. The enz;me shows no apparent cofactor requirement and has a molecular weight of about 30 000. The release of ring-opened 7-methyl-guanine residues is due to a previously unrecognized activity, different from the three known E. coli DNA glycosylases that release uracil, 3-methyladenine, and hypoxanthine from DNA. This enzyme may serve to repair a major secondary alkylation product in DNA. In addition, it may remove nonmethylated purines, whose imidazole rings have been opened, from X-irradiated DNA.
Subthreshold depression and depressive disorder: clinical characteristics of general medical and mental health specialty outpatients.

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the clinical significance of depressive symptoms below the threshold for depressive disorder in outpatient samples. METHOD The subjects were 775 adult patients with current depressive disorder, 1,420 patients with subthreshold depression, and 1,767 hypertensive patients with and without depression, all of whom were visiting the offices of mental health specialists and general medical care providers in three U.S. cities. Data on demographic characteristics, severity of depression, extent of psychiatric and medical comorbidity, family psychiatric history, and treatment history for the patients with depressive disorder and those with subthreshold depression were compared. RESULTS The percentage of patients with subthreshold depression who had a family history of depression (41%) was nearly as high as that of the patients with depressive disorder (59%). The two groups of patients had similar levels of medical and psychiatric comorbidity except for anxiety disorders, which were greater among the patients with depressive disorder. Among the hypertensive patients in the general medical sector, those with subthreshold depression were more similar to those with depressive disorder than to the nondepressed hypertensive patients. Treatment rates were considerably lower for patients with subthreshold depression than for patients with depressive disorder in the general medical sector, but they were similar in the mental health specialty sector. CONCLUSIONS In these outpatients, subthreshold depression appeared to be a variant of affective disorder and was treated as such in the mental health specialty sector but not in the general medical sector. The findings emphasize the importance of treatment outcome studies of patients with subthreshold depression.
Age-specific population centiles for androgen status in men.

AIM The age-specific population profiles in men of circulating testosterone and its two bioactive metabolites dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol (E2) across the adult lifespan and its determinants are not well described. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to deduce smoothed age-specific centiles of circulating testosterone, DHT, and E2 in men using pooled data from population-based studies in three Australian cities from liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry steroid measurements in a single laboratory. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We pooled data of 10 904 serum samples (serum testosterone, DHT, E2, age, height, and weight) from observational population-based studies in three major cities across Australia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Age-specific smoothed centiles for serum testosterone, DHT, and E2 in men aged 35-100 years were deduced by large sample data analysis methods. RESULTS We found that serum testosterone, DHT, and E2 decline gradually from ages 35 onwards with a more marked decline after 80 years of age. Higher weight, BMI, and body surface area as well as shorter stature are associated with reduced serum testosterone, DHT, and E2. CONCLUSIONS Among Australian men, there is a gradual progressive population-wide decline in androgen status during male aging until the age of 80 years after which there is a more marked decline. Obesity and short stature are associated with reduced androgen status. Research into the age-related decline in androgen status should focus on the progressive accumulation of age-related comorbidities to better inform optimal clinical trial design.
Endosomal Accumulation of the Activated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Induces Apoptosis*

Background: EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling is regulated by endocytosis. Results: The intracellular localization of the EGFR affects its signaling. Conclusion: EGFRs on the limiting membrane of endosomes, but not from the intraluminal vesicles, can induce apoptosis. Significance: EGFR signaling is spatially regulated at multiple steps of the endocytic pathway. Endocytosis positively and negatively regulates cell surface receptor signaling by temporally and spatially controlling interactions with downstream effectors. This process controls receptor-effector communication. However, the relationship between receptor endocytic trafficking and cell physiology is unclear. In MDA-MB-468 cells, cell surface EGF receptors (EGFRs) promote cell growth, whereas intracellular EGFRs induce apoptosis, making these cells an excellent model for studying the endocytic regulation of EGFR signaling. In addition, MDA-MB-468 cells have limited EGFR degradation following stimulation. Here, we report that in MDA-MB-468 cells the phosphorylated EGFR accumulates on the limiting membrane of the endosome with its carboxyl terminus oriented to the cytoplasm. To determine whether perturbation of EGFR trafficking is sufficient to cause apoptosis, we used pharmacological and biochemical strategies to disrupt EGFR endocytic trafficking in HeLa cells, which do not undergo EGF-dependent apoptosis. Manipulation of HeLa cells so that active EGF·EGFRs accumulate on the limiting membrane of endosomes reveals that receptor phosphorylation is sustained and leads to apoptosis. When EGF·EGFR complexes accumulated in the intraluminal vesicles of the late endosome, phosphorylation of the receptor was not sustained, nor did the cells undergo apoptosis. These data demonstrate that EGFR-mediated apoptosis is initiated by the activated EGFR from the limiting membrane of the endosome.
Is economic growth good for us

This article reviews Britainâ€™s experience of economic growth in the twentieth century. It argues that average living standards have risen much more rapidly than is generally appreciated. The main reasons for this include increased life expectancy which is highly valued by the public and downward bias in conventional estimates introduced by traditional price deflators which do not measure the true cost of living. The main policy implication of this analysis is the need to think about the value of outcomes if appropriate public expenditure policies are to be implemented.
Current status of 18F-DOPA PET imaging in the detection of brain tumor recurrence.

UNLABELLED Considering the intrinsic limits of fluorine-18-dfluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) for diagnosing brain tumors and tumor recurrence, several radiopharmaceuticals have been developed to detect brain tumor recurrence after treatment. Among others, a promising tracer is fluorine-18-desoxyphenylalanine (DOPA), due to its very low rate of physiological distribution in normal brain structures of white and grey matter. The aim of our study was to assess the feasibility of PET/CT with (18)F-DOPA in the detection of brain tumor recurrence after treatment, in comparison with MRI performance and other PET radiopharmaceuticals, currently employed in this field. CONCLUSION The (18)F-DOPA PET/CT seems to be useful in the diagnosis of patients with suspected brain tumor recurrence, because of low signal ratio in normal brain white and grey matter, in particular as compared to (18)F-FDG PET/CT low performance. Related data are presented for other fluorinated amino acid tracers. Magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard of diagnosis and (18)F-DOPA PET/CT is adjuvant to diagnosis. Further studies are needed to enrich our knowledge about this promising tracer,(18)F-DOPA, especially on its possible role on semi-quantitative measurements in brain tumors.
Good Governance, Scale and Power: A Case Study of North Sea Fisheries

In recent years there have been several alarming predictions about the future of the planet's fish stocks. As a result, many national governments and supranational institutions, including the European Union, have instituted reforms designed to mitigate the crisis. This book examines the discourse and practice of 'good governance' in the context of fisheries management. It starts by examining the 'crisis' of fisheries in the North Sea, caused primarily by overfishing and failure of the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy. It then goes on to analyse reforms to this policy enacted and planned between 2002 and 2013, and the proposition that collapse of fish stocks could occur as a result of deficiencies in new governing arrangements, i.e. failure to apply 'principles of good governance'. The book argues that impediments to good governance practice in fisheries are not merely the result of implementation deficits, but that they constitute a more systematic failure. Governance theory addresses issues of power, but it does not recognise the many important spatially contingent and relational forms of power that are exercised in actual governing practice. For example, it frequently overlooks spatial practices and strategies, such as 'scale jumping, 'rescaling' and the discursive redrawing of governing boundaries. This book exposes some of these spatial power relationships, showing that the presence of such relationships has implications for accountability and effective policymaking. In sum, this book explores some of the ways in which we might better understand governance practice using theories of scale and relational concepts of power, and in the process it offers a critique and rethinking of governance theory. These reflections are made on the basis of an in-depth case study of the attempted pursuit of 'good governance' in the European Union via institutional reforms, focusing particularly on the thorny and fascinating case of North Sea fisheries management. © 2013 Liza Griffin. All rights reserved.
Inflation Persistence in Brazil: A Cross Country Comparison

Inflation persistence is sometimes defined as the tendency for price shocks to push the inflation rate away from its steady state - including an inflation target - for a prolonged period. Persistence is important because it affects the output costs of lowering inflation back to the target, often described as the “sacrifice ratio”. In this paper I use inflation expectations to provide a comparison of inflation persistence in Brazil with a sample of inflation targeting (IT) countries. This approach suggests that inflation persistence increased in Brazil through early 2013, in contrast to many of its IT peers, mainly due to “upward” persistence. The 2013 rate hiking cycle may have contributed to some recent decline in persistence.
Complementary transcripts from two genes necessary for normal meiosis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The SPO12 gene, which is required for meiosis I chromosome division during sporulation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been isolated. DNA sequencing has identified an open reading frame of 173 codons that encodes the putative SPO12 protein and has no significant sequence similarities to known genes. The last 15 amino acids of this putative protein have a high negative charge, which appears to be required for function. A second sporulation-specific gene, designated SPO16, was found adjacent to SPO12 and shown to be necessary for efficient spore formation. The two genes are encoded on opposite DNA strands with only 103 nucleotides between the termination codons. Up to 700 nucleotides of the SPO12 and SPO16 transcripts are complementary, and the 3' untranslated region of the longest SPO16 transcript is complementary to all or nearly all of the SPO12 mRNA. A strain homozygous for an insertion which removes the complementarity between the SPO12 and SPO16 mRNAs has an efficiency of sporulation, number of spores per ascus, and spore viability identical to those of a wild-type strain. The complementarity therefore has either no function or only a subtle function in meiosis and sporulation.
Reduction of Variability in Junctionless and Inversion-Mode FinFETs by Stringer Gate Structure

Variabilities such as threshold voltage, on-current, and subthreshold swing due to random dopant fluctuation (RDF), work function variation (WFV), and line edge roughness (LER) are studied in junctionless (JL) stringer FinFETs and compared with inversion-mode devices using technology computer-aided design analysis. Compared with a conventional JL FinFET, the stringer gate JL FinFET shows suppressed variabilities due to RDF, WFV, and LER with better gate controllability and larger effective gate length, respectively.
Simultaneously Modeling the Supply of Weeks and Hours of Work among Female Household Heads

This paper explores the differential nature of labor-supply decisions regarding weeks of work per year and hours of work per week among female household heads. A model of labor supply that separates the weeks/hours decision is presented and estimated, allowing for simultaneity in the weeks/hours decision, as well as for the presence of either fixed costs or weeks and hours constraints. The results indicate that not only are weeks and hours decisions separate from the labormarket participation decision, but they are also quite different from each other, although they appear to be simultaneously determined.
The Impact of R&D Investment on Productivity - New Evidence Using Linked R&D-Lrd Data

This paper uses confidential Census longitudinal microdata to examine the association between R&D and productivity for the period 1972.1985. These data allow for significant improvements in measurement and model specification, yielding more precise estimates of the returns to R&D. Our results confirm the findings of existing studies: 1) positive returns to R&D investment 2) higher returns to company-financed research 3) a productivity "premium" on basic research These results are robust to our attempts to adjust for "influential" outliers. Also, it appears that the return to company-financed R&D (but not total R&D) is an increasing function of firm size.
A Survey of Face Morphing Techniques

Nowadays, face morphing is used in various fields of works such as computer animations, games and movies. Face morphing is an effect that shows a transition from one face image to another face image smoothly. Research on face morphing is as vast as the many interests and needs that can be found in the general public, television or film production. In this paper, we thus review the different morphing techniques that can be used to generate and manipulate faces. Due to the advantages in applying face morphing in various kinds of work, there are several works on face morphing and we can categorize them into three groups, based on their corresponding fields of works as Face Transfer, Facial Animation and Enhancement of Facial Attractiveness.
Initial genome sequencing of the sugarcane CP 96-1252 complex hybrid

The CP 96-1252 cultivar of sugarcane is a complex hybrid of commercial importance. DNA was extracted from lab-grown leaf tissue and sequenced. The raw Illumina DNA sequencing results provide 101 Gbp of genome sequence reads. The dataset is available from https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih. gov/bioproject/PRJNA345486/.
Detergent-free isolation, characterization, and functional reconstitution of a tetrameric K+ channel: The power of native nanodiscs

Significance The study of membrane proteins is often hampered by their tendency to misfold when extracted by detergent. Here, we explore a detergent-free approach to isolating membrane proteins while retaining their native lipid environment, making use of an amphipathic polymer that solubilizes intact membrane patches in the form of nanodiscs. Using a potassium channel as a model protein, we show that these “native nanodiscs” are highly thermostable particles that are suitable for spectroscopic studies, allowing structural characterization of the protein in its native environment and direct analysis of the lipids in its immediate surroundings. We also demonstrate that the channel can be reconstituted from nanodiscs into planar lipid bilayers for functional characterization, thus making native nanodiscs an excellent alternative to detergent solubilization. A major obstacle in the study of membrane proteins is their solubilization in a stable and active conformation when using detergents. Here, we explored a detergent-free approach to isolating the tetrameric potassium channel KcsA directly from the membrane of Escherichia coli, using a styrene-maleic acid copolymer. This polymer self-inserts into membranes and is capable of extracting membrane patches in the form of nanosize discoidal proteolipid particles or “native nanodiscs. ” Using circular dichroism and tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy, we show that the conformation of KcsA in native nanodiscs is very similar to that in detergent micelles, but that the thermal stability of the protein is higher in the nanodiscs. Furthermore, as a promising new application, we show that quantitative analysis of the co-isolated lipids in purified KcsA-containing nanodiscs allows determination of preferential lipid–protein interactions. Thin-layer chromatography experiments revealed an enrichment of the anionic lipids cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol, indicating their close proximity to the channel in biological membranes and supporting their functional relevance. Finally, we demonstrate that KcsA can be reconstituted into planar lipid bilayers directly from native nanodiscs, which enables functional characterization of the channel by electrophysiology without first depriving the protein of its native environment. Together, these findings highlight the potential of the use of native nanodiscs as a tool in the study of ion channels, and of membrane proteins in general.
Modulation of Breast Cancer Risk Biomarkers by High-Dose Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Phase II Pilot Study in Premenopausal Women

Higher intakes of the omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) relative to the omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) have been variably associated with reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer. The purpose of this pilot trial was to assess feasibility and explore the effects of high-dose EPA and DHA on blood and benign breast tissue risk biomarkers before design of a placebo-controlled phase IIB trial. Premenopausal women with evidence of hyperplasia ± atypia by baseline random periareolar fine needle aspiration were given 1860 mg of EPA + 1500 mg of DHA ethyl esters daily for 6 months. Blood and benign breast tissue were sampled during the same menstrual cycle phase prestudy and a median of 3 weeks after last dose. Additional blood was obtained within 24 hours of last dose. Feasibility, which was predefined as 50% uptake, 85% retention, and 70% compliance, was demonstrated with 46% uptake, 94% completion, and 85% compliance. Cytologic atypia decreased from 77% to 38% (P = 0.002), and Ki-67 from a median of 2.1% to 1.0% (P = 0.021) with an increase in the ratio of EPA + DHA to AA in erythrocyte phospholipids but no change in blood hormones, adipokines, or cytokines. Exploratory breast proteomics assessment showed decreases in several proteins involved in hormone and cytokine signaling with mixed effects on those in the AKT/mTOR pathways. Further investigation of EPA plus DHA for breast cancer prevention in a placebo-controlled trial in premenopausal women is warranted. Cancer Prev Res; 8(10); 912–21. ©2015 AACR. See related article, p. 922.