Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Conserved Membrane-proximal Region of an Integrin Cytoplasmic Domain Specifies Ligand Binding Affinity (*)

Integrin affinities for ligands can change markedly via a process termed inside-out signaling. We expressed several truncations of the β3 cytoplasmic domain in conjunction with an “activating” α subunit chimera, αIIbα6B. Deletion of the 4 C-terminal residues of the β3 tail blocked inside-out signaling as assessed by the binding of an activation-specific antibody, PAC1. Several additional truncations remained in the low affinity state, but complete truncation (β3Δ717) caused PAC1 binding. Activation by this truncation mutant did not depend on the α subunit cytoplasmic domain and was resistant to inhibitors of cellular metabolism and the over-expression of an isolated β3 cytoplasmic domain. Since deletion of β3(Leu717-Asp723) results in a constitutively activated integrin, this membrane-proximal seven amino acids of the β3 cytoplasmic domain is required to maintain αIIbβ3 in a default low affinity state. The amino acid sequence of this region is conserved among integrins. Moreover, the conserved membrane-proximal sequence in α subunit tails seems to serve a similar function. Consequently, the conserved membrane-proximal regions of both integrin cytoplasmic domains control the ligand binding affinity of the extracellular domain.
The changing impact of conjugal status and motherhood on employment across generations of Canadian women

We use event history analysis and retrospective data from the 2001 General Social Survey to study the changing relationships between conjugal life and motherhood and the employment behaviour of Canadian women who were born between 1937 and 1976. Our results show thedecreasing importance of marriage to explain the rhythm of entry and return into the labour market among younger generations of women. However, marriage still appears to increase the rate of work interruption for those who had started working. The effect of motherhood on the key stages of women’s working lives was also found to vary across generations.
Not Your Father's Credit Union

Market forces and regulatory changes have produced an evolution of the credit union industry so that many credit unions now compete more directly with banks than in the past. Because credit unions are tax-exempt, while in general banks are not, observers note that credit unions may have an advantage in the competition. The goal of this article is to provide a history of the evolution without taking a stand on the merits of either side of the tax debate.
Conditions for reporting performance measurement

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting the quality of a performance measurement (PM) system with particular focus on its ability to produce valid, trustworthy information. The study is based on a cross-case study design. Interviews were conducted with reporters to the national performance measurement system of waiting times in Swedish healthcare. The study focuses on the premises that managing operations through measures is not possible without a functioning reporting system. Thus, in order to put any performance measurement system into practice, several types of resources are needed. The results from the study show large differences in the conditions for reporting within a healthcare performance measurement system. We propose how various resources, contextual factors and internal dynamics create conditions for reporting of waiting time data. This is described in a framework that clarifies six different patterns: (1) Encouraging reporting; (2) Active responsibility; (3) Limited opportunities for reporting; (4) Abandoned reporting; (5) Passive responsibility; and (6) Total inactivity. This study provides the scholarly field of quality management research with a theoretical model for understanding various components of a performance measurement system.
Polynomial Codes: an Optimal Design for High-Dimensional Coded Matrix Multiplication

We consider a large-scale matrix multiplication problem where the computation is carried out using a distributed system with a master node and multiple worker nodes, where each worker can store parts of the input matrices. We propose a computation strategy that leverages ideas from coding theory to design intermediate computations at the worker nodes, in order to efficiently deal with straggling workers. The proposed strategy, named as \emph{polynomial codes}, achieves the optimum recovery threshold, defined as the minimum number of workers that the master needs to wait for in order to compute the output. Furthermore, by leveraging the algebraic structure of polynomial codes, we can map the reconstruction problem of the final output to a polynomial interpolation problem, which can be solved efficiently. Polynomial codes provide order-wise improvement over the state of the art in terms of recovery threshold, and are also optimal in terms of several other metrics. Furthermore, we extend this code to distributed convolution and show its order-wise optimality.
Microcredit participation and nutrition outcomes among women in Peru

Background Microcredit services—the awarding of small loans to individuals who are too poor to take advantage of traditional financial services—are an increasingly popular scheme for poverty alleviation. Several studies have examined the ability of microcredit programmes to influence the financial standing of borrowers, but only a few studies have examined whether the added household income improves health and nutritional outcomes among household members. This study examined the hypothesis that longer participation in microcredit services would be associated with better nutritional status in women. Methods Cross-sectional data were obtained in February 2007 from 1593 female clients of a microcredit organisation in Peru. The primary predictor variable was length of time as a microcredit client measured in number of completed loan cycles (range 0 to 5.5 years, average loan size US$350). The outcome variables were age-adjusted body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin levels (g/dl) and food insecurity measured using the US household food security survey module. Extensive data on demographic and socioeconomic status were also collected. Results Longer microcredit participation was associated with higher BMI (β=0.05, p=0.06), higher haemoglobin levels (β=0.07, p<0.01) and lower food insecurity (β=−0.13, p<0.01). With the inclusion of demographic and socioeconomic variables, the associations with higher haemoglobin (β=0.03, p=0.04) and lower food insecurity (β=−0.08, p<0.01) were sustained. Conclusion This study supports the notion that microcredit participation has positive effects on the nutritional status of female clients. Further research should explore more definitive causal pathways through which these effects may occur and should examine the effects on other household members.
Are Shadow System Users the Better IS Users? - Insights of a Lab Experiment

Prior research argues that the effective usage of a mandatory system varies with users’ individual differences and engagement, the tasks carried out, and the system features applied. In this study, we analyze individual-level system usage to improve performance by adapting and expanding the number and configuration of systems in use. Thus, we address IT executives’ increasing challenge of users deploying shadow systems besides or instead of the mandatory system. Integrating the existing knowledge of adaptive system use and shadow IT, we theoretically conceptualize individuals’ shadow system usage, hypothesize cognitive, affective, and behavioral drivers, and its impact on job performance. Results of a lab experiment show that compared to nonusers, shadow system users are more intrinsically motivated, easier accept neutralization techniques, and perform significantly better, regarding both task output and task behavior. New insights are provided that deviant usage behavior improves not only task achievement, but also the mandatory system’s functionality.
Functional status and somatization as predictors of medical offset in anxious and depressed patients.

OBJECTIVE Certain anxious/depressed primary care patients decrease medical utilization after mental health treatment. Previous research has established demo-graphic and medical comorbidities as distinguishing these patients. We asked whether characteristics such as symptom severity, somatization, or health-related quality of life (HRQoL) could also distinguish patients who reduce or increase primary care utilization after mental health care. METHODS Primary care patients in a mixed-model HMO were screened for untreated anxiety with and without depression, using the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) and medical records abstractions, and also for HRQoL (SF-36). We identified 165 symptomatic patients who subsequently received mental health treatment and then defined two subgroups: 1) offset patients (reduced medical utilization the year after initiation of mental health treatment) (N=97); and 2) no-offset patients (increased utilization) (N =68). RESULTS Three HRQoL domains (general health perceptions, physical functioning, and role functioning- physical) predicted increased offset savings in the year after initiation of mental health treatment. Each point of improved functioning in these domains was associated with 4 dollars to 10 dollars of additional offset savings. Somatization-related comorbidities were predictive of greater additional costs (230 dollars). CONCLUSION Using models to predict individual patient costs, we found that HRQoL and somatic comorbidities did not predict by anxiety/depression symptom severity or medical comorbidities, but by increasing or decreasing utilization after mental health care. Patients with higher functioning levels and no somatic comorbidities were most likely to reduce utilization. These findings support growing evidence for the need of inclusion of reliable indicators of somatization and patients' functioning in offset research and inpatient care.
Traffic-aware task allocation for cooperative execution in mobile cloud computing

Cooperative application execution among mobile devices has recently received significant attention in mobile cloud computing. However, it may incur extra traffic among devices, e.g., exchanging the results of the tasks, especially for data-dependency tasks. In this paper, we focus on the task execution in a chain structure, where each task must be executed based on the output result of its precedent task in the chain. We design task allocation schemes to the mobile devices such that the total traffic incurred during task execution is minimum, while the constraint of the resources on mobile device is not violated. Based on that, we also aim to minimize the total number of mobile devices participated in task execution. A dynamic programming and a bin packing algorithm are proposed to complete the above two objectives respectively. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes in reducing the traffic and the number of required mobile devices.
Using Non-Time-Series to Determine Supply Elasticity: How Far Do Prices Change the Hubbert Curve?

An important concern of OPEC's work is to be able to understand how much supply of oil exists in different countries, in order to help better conserve oil. This paper extends M. King Hubbert's oil production and discovery forecasting model (Hubbert, 1962), using a non-time-series cumulative discovery and production quadratic Hubbert curve and structural shift variables to model technology and regulation changes. The model can be used to determine better world oil supplies. Price is tested, to see how powerful it is for increasing or decreasing oil supply. Using a trend of cumulative production, instead of time, will help to better fix the supply elasticity with respect to price, which is shown to be very inelastic. An interesting question is whether cumulative discovery or production constitutes an I(2) variable. This paper explains that they are not I(2) variables.
D&O Insurance and IPO Performance: What Can We Learn from Insurers?

We investigate whether a firm’s directors’ and officers’ liability insurance contract at the time of the IPO is related to insured firms’ first year post-IPO performance. We find that insurers charge a higher premium per dollar of coverage to protect the directors and officers of firms that will subsequently have poor first year post-IPO stock performance. A higher price of coverage is also associated with a higher post-IPO volatility and lower Sharpe ratio. Our results are robust to various econometric specifications and suggest that even when the high level of information asymmetry inherent to the IPO context prevails, insurers have information about the firms’ prospects that should be valuable to outside investors.
Elasticity Estimates of Urban Resident Demand for Electricity: A Case Study in Beijing

Based on the monthly micro-level data of Beijing urban households from 2002 to 2009, we estimate the price and income elasticities of residential electricity demand among income groups with both the almost-ideal-demand-system (AIDS) and the linear double-logarithmic (LDL) model specifications. The estimated price elasticity is close to unit elasticity and increases as income grows, and income elasticity is low and positive and approximates to zero as income increases. Thus, we conclude that it might be effective by using pricing policies for demand-side management to adjust the electricity consumption of high-income groups, while increasing price will severely hit low-income groups. In addition, low-income groups will consume more electricity if their income increases. This suggests that while tariff reform is necessary, supporting policies are needed. In this regard, either directly subsidizing low-income families or rationally setting the price levels of different tariff blocks can be helpful.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus: suspicion of presence based on aberrant biochemical and morphological features

Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated from a stool specimen of a patient who developed gastroenteritis after ingestion of crab meat. Recognition and identification of this halophilic microorganism was facilitated by the microscopic observation of a darting, vibrant motility in condensate derived from Kligler iron agar and the bizarre morphological aberrations noted in the condensate obtained from Christensen urea agar. Sodium chloride supplementation (1.1%) of biochemical test media revealed the halophilic nature and fermentative capability of the isolate and abolished the aberrent morphology observed in unsupplemented Christensen medium.
Voluntary Labor, Responsible Citizenship, and International NGOs

This article focuses on the relationship between volunteer labor and responsible citizenship in an international NGO context. Situated within critical assessments of the voluntary sector, the article examines how voluntary labor is increasingly shaped and steered by the initiatives of advanced liberalism. Under advanced liberalism, diverse tasks of government are redirected from state bureaucracy and distributed to various organizations, agencies, individuals, and citizen groups. Within this context, it explores some key social transformations that have led to an increasing reliance on voluntary labor in both government and international NGOs. It emphasizes that a range of authorities establish the contemporary voluntary sector as a site for providing answers and solutions to social and economic problems that are now determined to lie outside the reach of the formal domain of the state. Through the use of substantive international examples on voluntary labor in the international development NGO sector, the authors argue that this sector is increasingly implicated in assembling volunteers as ‘responsible citizens' in the delivery of public services. This responsibilization process produces new effects and plans of actions that are different from the way traditional liberal approaches viewed volunteers and volunteerism. The work calls attention to contemporary concerns underscoring voluntary labor and international NGOs, and raises broader questions pertaining to issues of social justice.
Therapeutic Effect of Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter 2 Inhibitor Dapagliflozin on Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a high incidence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and high sodium glucose co-transporters 2 (SGLT2) expressions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of dapagliflozin as an SGLT2 inhibitor on RCC cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Material/Methods qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect SGLT2 expression on different human renal cells. Then, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to investigate the effects of dapagliflozin on cell cycle, apoptosis, and SGLT2 expression of CaKi-1 cells. Finally, a xenograft model and immunohistochemical staining were used to investigate the function of dapagliflozin in nude mice. Results We proved that SGLT2 is highly expressed in RCC cell lines. We found that dapagliflozin exerts a higher cytotoxic effect on human RCC than on normal human renal cells, regulates the cell cycle and apoptosis, and reduces the glucose uptake and SGLT2 expression of CaKi-1 cells. Moreover, dapagliflozin inhibits tumor growth and reduces SGLT2 expression in vivo. Conclusions Our results indicate that dapagliflozin has high efficiency and low toxicity and could be a new therapeutic target for RCC.
Incorporating Generalized Marginal Budget Shares in a Mixed Demand System

This article extends a Rotterdam type of mixed demand system by replacing its constant marginal budget shares with the ones derived from originally defined and specified mixed Engel curves that take a generalized functional form using the Box-Cox transformation. An empirical illustration is given for Japanese demand for fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. The results show that the Rotterdam parameterization of marginal budget shares, which corresponds to those in linear mixed Engel curves, is preferred by the data, and that improper assumptions of the form of mixed Engel curves underlying a mixed demand system can bias its elasticities. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
Biharmonic spline interpolation for solar radiation mapping using Puerto Rico as a case of study

This paper proposes the use of the Biharmonic Spline Interpolation (BSI) method as a means of mapping solar radiation data given several solar radiation measurements of Puerto Rico. The method is implemented in MATLAB, producing a contour output of solar radiation. The radiation map is then validated by studying the statistical correlation of the radiation average clearness index to rainfall. It is the intention of the proposed work that this method of interpolation can be used for other geographical locations to model the solar radiation.
Patent Image Classification Using Local-Constrained Linear Coding and Spatial Pyramid Matching

In this paper, we proposes a method which use locality-constrained linear coding (LLC) and spatial pyramid matching (SPM) for patent image classification. Patent images usually have no texture and color information which makes it hard for recognition. Many methods based on contour, shape or edge of image have been proposed, however, as far as we are concerned, our method is the first attempt using coding features for patent image classification. First, we extract dense Scale-Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT) features and use k-means clustering to train a codebook which based on LLC. Second, we divide the image into increasing fine sub-regions and generate the feature for each sub-region as SPM do. Finally, we use a linear SVM classifier for patent image classification. The experiment on a public database for patent image has demonstrated our method has achieved the stated-of-the-art accuracy rate of 94.2%. It proves model based on SPM and LLC have bright future in patent image recognition.
Molecular mechanisms of sleep-wake regulation: a role of prostaglandin D2.

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 is a major prostanoid in the brains of rats and other mammals, including humans. When PGD synthase (PGDS), the enzyme that produces PGD2 in the brain, was inhibited by the intracerebroventricular infusion of its selective inhibitors, i.e. tetravalent selenium compounds, the amount of sleep decreased both time and dose dependently. The amount of sleep of transgenic mice, in which the human PGDS gene had been incorporated, increased several fold under appropriate conditions. These data indicate that PGDS is a key enzyme in sleep regulation. In situ hybridization, immunoperoxidase staining and direct enzyme activity determination of tissue samples revealed that PGDS is hardly detectable in the brain parenchyma but is localized in the membrane systems surrounding the brain, namely, the arachnoid membrane and choroid plexus, from which it is secreted into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to become beta-trace, a major protein component of the CSF. PGD2 exerts its somnogenic activity by binding to PGD2 receptors exclusively localized at the ventrorostral surface of the basal forebrain. When PGD2 was infused into the subarachnoid space below the rostral basal forebrain, striking expression of proto-oncogene Fos immunoreactivity (FosIR) was observed in the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO), a putative sleep centre, concurrent with sleep induction. Fos expression in the VLPO was positively correlated with the preceding amount of sleep and negatively correlated with Fos expression in the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), a putative wake centre. These observations suggest that PGD2 may induce sleep via leptomeningeal PGD2 receptors with subsequent activation of the VLPO neurons and downregulation of the wake neurons in the TMN area. Adenosine may be involved in the signal transduction associated with PGD2.
Distribution of the Trp64Arg polymorphism in the ß 3-adrenergic receptor gene in athletes and its influence on cardiovascular function.

BACKGROUND The Trp64Arg polymorphism in the beta₃-adrenergic receptor (beta₃-AR) gene was extensively studied concerning the relationship with cardiovascular (CV) diseases, but few studies addressed this issue in athletes. AIM To examine the relationship between the Trp64Arg polymorphism in the beta₃-AR gene and several CV functions such as cardiac structure and function or blood biochemical parameters in Korean male controls and athletes. METHODS We recruited a total of 114 study subjects, including 81 male athletes (8 long distance runners, 17 soccer, 8 baseball, 10 basketball, 8 volleyball, 8 ice hockey, 8 judo, 6 taekwondo and 8 gymnastics) and 33 controls. Two dimensional echocardiography was performed in order to assess the cardiac structure and function and blood biochemical parameters were measured. Genotyping of Trp64Arg polymorphism in the beta₃-AR gene was also performed by the SNaPshot method. RESULTS The genotype and allele distribution of Trp64Arg polymorphism in the beta₃-AR gene were significantly different among each sporting discipline, showing the highest Arg allele frequency in volleyball and gymnastics (p < 0.05). Also, this polymorphism was significantly associated with serum HDL-cholesterol and glucose level in athletes only (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our data showed the significant associations between the Trp64Arg polymorphism in the beta₃-AR gene and some CV parameters such as serum HDL-cholesterol and glucose levels in athletes. However, further studies of the precise mechanism behind these associations are needed.