Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Authoritarianism Among Border Police Officers, Career Soldiers, and Airport Security Guards at the Israeli Border

Several personality theories focusing on specific personality variables involved in career choice and job satisfaction are based on the assumption that individuals choose certain career choices because they believe that they may be able to meet their emotional needs (J. L. Holland, 1977). The author of this study investigated the personality traits of border police officers, career soldiers, and airport security guards in Israel. The participants were 160 men—40 border policemen, 40 career soldiers, 40 airport security guards, and 40 control participants—who filled out a demographic questionnaire and a Hebrew version of the right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) shortened scale (B. Altemeyer, personal communication, February 2000). The present hypothesis predicted that the RWA scores of border police officers would be the highest, followed by those of career soldiers, airport security guards, and control participants, in that order. Statistically significant differences in RWA scores occurred between these groups in the predicted order, with the exception of the career soldiers' RWA scores, which did not significantly differ from those of the airport security guards.
Multimodal Recontextualisations of Images in Violent Extremist Discourse

This chapter presents the results of a pilot study which aims to analyse violent extremist propaganda materials and the multimodal recontextualisation of images from these sources across different media platforms. The approach builds upon van Leeuwen’s (2008) model of ‘recontextualisation principles’, which explains how changes in social practices take place recursively through multimodal discourse, and which involves the reconfiguration of social actors, activities, and circumstantial elements across sequences of multimodal activities (or genres), which function to regulate social practices. The larger aim of the project is to develop a mixed methods approach for integrating qualitative methods of multimodal discourse analysis with quantitative methods of data mining and information visualisation to study discourse patterns in large datasets of multimodal texts in the field of violent extremism. The Islamic State and their online magazine Dabiq are chosen for this purpose. In this chapter, we develop a framework for categorising the images and article types in Dabiq. Following this, we use an interactive visualisation application (a) to investigate how the images, article types and their combinations in Dabiq change over time, and (b) to trace recontextualised images imported into Dabiq and recontextualisations of images from Dabiq in different media. The results reveal that ISIS adapt their propaganda materials in accordance with their own agenda, activities, and practices (e.g. through visual icons and article types), and that images from Dabiq are used to both support and resist terrorism across a wide variety of media platforms. The project establishes the need for digital techniques to develop evidence-based approaches to the study of multimodal recontextualising practices.
In-car shopping: A data dissemination scheme for vehicular networks in urban areas

Vehicular Ad hoc Network(VANET), an infusive area for the development of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), is going to be a significant communication pattern in our moving life. Data dissemination is an important part of VANETs. The demand of disseminate commercial advertisements in moving cars emerges. To satisfy the demand of shopping in car, we proposed a new data dissemination scheme in this paper. Our scheme aims at disseminating the shopping information cached in RSUs. We adopt the Information Centric Network (ICN) in forward mechanism and take both pull-based and push-based in to account. At the same time, our communication model combines V2V and V2I. In this way, our scheme improves the performance of traditional data dissemination and makes in-car shopping a reality. In addition, in order to avoid broadcast storm and the waste of resources, Distance Based Forwarding (DBF) is employed in broadcasting when vehicle desire a content unit. A computing method of XOR is also adopted in RSUs to avoid information redundancy. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol outperforms existing protocols in terms of the request success ratio, request-response delay, message overhead and collision rate.
Nonrigid Motion Modeling of the Liver From 3-D Undersampled Self-Gated Golden-Radial Phase Encoded MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been commonly used for guiding and planning image guided interventions since it provides excellent soft tissue visualization of anatomy and allows motion modeling to predict the position of target tissues during the procedure. However, MRI-based motion modeling remains challenging due to the difficulty of acquiring multiple motion-free 3-D respiratory phases with adequate contrast and spatial resolution. Here, we propose a novel retrospective respiratory gating scheme from a 3-D undersampled high-resolution MRI acquisition combined with fast and robust image registrations to model the nonrigid deformation of the liver. The acquisition takes advantage of the recently introduced golden-radial phase encoding (G-RPE) trajectory. G-RPE is self-gated, i.e., the respiratory signal can be derived from the acquired data itself, and allows retrospective reconstructions of multiple respiratory phases at any arbitrary respiratory position. Nonrigid motion modeling is applied to predict the liver deformation of an average breathing cycle. The proposed approach was validated on 10 healthy volunteers. Motion model accuracy was assessed using similarity-, surface-, and landmark-based validation methods, demonstrating precise model predictions with an overall target registration error of TRE = 1.70 ± 0.94 mm which is within the range of the acquired resolution.
Designing a New Diels-Alderase: A Combinatorial, Semirational Approach Including Dynamic Optimization

A computationally inexpensive design strategy involving 'semirational' screening for enzymatic catalysis is presented. The protocol is based on well-established computational methods and represents a holistic approach to the catalytic process. The model reaction studied here is the Diels-Alder, for which a successful computational design has recently been published (Siegel, J. B. et al. Science 2010, 329, 309-313). While it is a leap forward in the field of computational design, the focus on designing only a small fraction of the active site gives little control over dynamics. Our approach explicitly incorporates mutagenesis and the analysis of binding events and transition states, and a promising enzyme-substrate candidate is generated with relatively little effort. We estimate catalytic rate accelerations of up to 10⁵.
Phosphorylation of α-Synuclein Protein at Ser-129 Reduces Neuronal Dysfunction by Lowering Its Membrane Binding Property in Caenorhabditis elegans*

Background: The pathogenic role of phosphorylation of α-synuclein in Parkinson disease remains unclear. Results: Ser-129-substituted α-synuclein was expressed in transgenic C. elegans. Nonphosphorylatable (S129A) α-synuclein showed severe defects. The level of membrane-bound α-synuclein was increased in S129A-α-synuclein. Conclusion: Ser-129 phosphorylation of α-synuclein attenuates neuronal dysfunction and downstream stress response by lowering the membrane binding property. Significance: Phosphorylation of α-synuclein is protective against neurotoxicity. α-Synuclein is causative for autosomal dominant familial Parkinson disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, and the phosphorylation of α-synuclein at residue Ser-129 is a key posttranslational modification detected in Parkinson disease/dementia with Lewy bodies lesions. However, the role of Ser-129 phosphorylation on the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease/dementia with Lewy bodies remains unclear. Here we investigated the neurotoxicity of Ser-129-substituted α-synuclein in the transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (Tg worm) model of synucleinopathy. Tg worms pan-neuronally overexpressing nonphosphorylatable (S129A) α-synuclein showed severe defects including motor dysfunction, growth retardation, and synaptic abnormalities. In contrast, Tg worms expressing phosphorylation mimic (S129D) α-synuclein exhibited nearly normal phenotypes. Biochemical fractionation revealed that the level of membrane-bound α-synuclein was significantly increased in S129A-α-synuclein Tg worms, whereas S129D- as well as A30P-α-synuclein displayed lower membrane binding properties. Furthermore, A30P/S129A double mutant α-synuclein did not cause neuronal dysfunction and displayed low membrane binding property. In human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, localization of S129A-α-synuclein to membranes was significantly increased. Finally, gene expression profiling of S129A-Tg worms revealed a dramatic up-regulation of Daf-16/FOXO pathway genes, which likely act against the dysfunction caused by S129A-α-synuclein. These results imply a role of Ser-129 phosphorylation of α-synuclein in the attenuation of α-synuclein-induced neuronal dysfunction and downstream stress response by lowering the membrane binding property.
Convulsive pseudoseizures: a review of current concepts.

Convulsive pseudoseizures thought to represent psychiatric disease can usually be detected early if they are considered in the epileptologist's differential diagnosis. No single diagnostic criterion for this behavioural disorder is known to be pathognomonic. Epilepsy and all physiological explanations have to be thoroughly ruled out and positive evidence of relevant psychopathology has to be gathered.The presence of pseudo seizures often heralds severe psychopathology, most frequently major affective disorder and major personality disorder, and occasionally, factitious disorder. Pseudoseizures can coexist with epileptic seizures and are often triggered by anticonvulsant toxicity.Diagnostic problems are more likely to be encountered in patients with frontal or parietal epilepsies, and in patients whose severe psychopathology is refractory to psychiatric intervention.
The origin and evolution of human pathogens

What are the genetic origins of human pathogens? An international group of scientists discussed this topic at a workshop that took place in late October 2004 in Baeza (Spain). Focusing primarily on bacterial pathogens, they examined the role that pathogenicity islands and bacteriophages play on determining the virulence properties that distinguish closely related members of a given species, such as host range and tissue specificity. They also discussed an instance in which closely related bacterial species differ in the production of a cell surface modification mediating resistance to an antibiotic as a result of the disparate regulation of homologous genes. In certain pathogens, genes normally carrying out housekeeping functions may adopt new functions, whereas in other organisms, genes that respond to stresses associated with non‐host environments are silenced during infection to prevent the expression of products that interfere with the normal colonization process. The adaptive behaviour of certain pathogens relies on gene variation at certain loci that by virtue of containing polymeric repeats in regulatory or coding regions, can generate variants that may or may not express products that modify the cell surface of the organism. The meeting also addressed the properties of ORFan genes, which have no homologues in the sequence databases, as well as the creation of genes de novo by duplication and divergence.
Performance indicators and democracy: citizens’ views on the purposes of government websites

ABSTRACT Despite the ongoing interest in performance measurement amongst public managers, little is known about citizens’ views on the purposes of performance indicators (PIs). A cross-sectional survey of the Australian adult population was used to examine citizens’ views on government websites which provide PIs. Citizens identified three distinct purposes for these: evaluation and improvement; transparency and accountability; and reward and punishment. These different purposes were found to be related to political attributes, indicating how PIs might support democratic empowerment.
Transcript and protein profiling analysis of OTA-induced cell death reveals the regulation of the toxicity response process in Arabidopsis thaliana

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic isocoumarin derivative produced by various species of mould which mainly grow on grain, coffee, and nuts. Recent studies have suggested that OTA induces cell death in plants. To investigate possible mechanisms of OTA phytotoxicity, both digital gene expression (DGE) transcriptomic and two-dimensional electrophoresis proteomic analyses were used, through which 3118 genes and 23 proteins were identified as being up- or down-regulated at least 2-fold in Arabidopsis leaf in response to OTA treatment. First, exposure of excised Arabidopsis thaliana leaves to OTA rapidly causes the hypersensitive reponse, significantly accelerates the increase of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, and enhances antioxidant enzyme defence responses and xenobiotic detoxification. Secondly, OTA stimulation causes dynamic changes in transcription factors and activates the membrane transport system dramatically. Thirdly, a concomitant persistence of compromised photosynthesis and photorespiration is indicative of a metabolic shift from a highly active to a weak state. Finally, the data revealed that ethylene, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling molecules mediate the process of toxicity caused by OTA. Profiling analyses on Arabidopsis in response to OTA will provide new insights into signalling transduction that modulates the OTA phytotoxicity mechanism, facilitate mapping of regulatory networks, and extend the ability to improve OTA tolerance in Arabidopsis.
Antagonism of the Thromboxane-Prostanoid Receptor is Cardioprotective against Right Ventricular Pressure Overload

Right ventricular (RV) failure is the primary cause of death in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in other forms of pulmonary hypertension. There are no approved therapies directed at preserving RV function. F-series and E-series isoprostanes are increased in heart failure and PAH, correlate to the severity of disease, and can signal through the thromboxane-prostanoid (TP) receptor, with effects from vasoconstriction to fibrosis. The goal of these studies was to determine whether blockade of the TP receptor with the antagonist CPI211 was beneficial therapeutically in PAH-induced RV dysfunction. Mice with RV dysfunction due to pressure overload by pulmonary artery banding (PAB) were given vehicle or CPI211. Two weeks after PAB, CPI211-treated mice were protected from fibrosis with pressure overload. Gene expression arrays and immunoblotting, quantitative histology and morphometry, and flow cytometric analysis were used to determine the mechanism of CPI211 protection. TP receptor inhibition caused a near normalization of fibrotic area, prevented cellular hypertrophy while allowing increased RV mass, increased expression of antifibrotic thrombospondin-4, and blocked induction of the profibrotic transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) pathway. A thromboxane synthase inhibitor or low-dose aspirin failed to replicate these results, which suggests that a ligand other than thromboxane mediates fibrosis through the TP receptor after pressure overload. This study suggests that TP receptor antagonism may improve RV adaptation in situations of pressure overload by decreasing fibrosis and TGF-β signaling.
Validation and justification of the phylum name Cryptomycota phyl. nov.

The recently proposed new phylum name Cryptomycota phyl. nov. is validly published in order to facilitate its use in future discussions of the ecology, biology, and phylogenetic relationships of the constituent organisms. This name is preferred over the previously tentatively proposed “Rozellida” as new data suggest that the life-style and morphology of Rozella is not representative of the large radiation to which it and other Cryptomycota belong. Furthermore, taxa at higher ranks such as phylum are considered better not based on individual names of included genera, but rather on some special characteristics – in this case the cryptic nature of this group and that they were initially revealed by molecular methods rather than morphological discovery. If the group were later viewed as a member of a different kingdom, the name should be retained to indicate its fungal affinities, as is the practice for other fungal-like protist groups.
MILINDA: A new dataset on United Nations-led and non-united Nations-led peace operations

Is there a trend toward the regionalization of peacekeeping? Does regionalization undermine the United Nations (UN) system of collective security? To answer these questions, we present an innovative dataset of peace operations. Covering the 1947–2016 period, the dataset captures every UN and non-UN peace operation, information on mission type, the existence of target state consent and UN authorization. The unit of analysis is the mission. The first analysis of the dataset yields three findings: (1) There is a significant regionalization of peace operations; (2) regions show distinct intervention patterns; and (3) regionalization does not directly challenge the UN authority.
Spatial receptive field properties of lateral geniculate cells in the owl monkey (Aotus azarae) at different contrasts: a comparative study

Several physiological properties of owl monkey lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells were studied to verify whether its nocturnal habit has an influence on the organization of its subcortical visual system. Receptive field (RF) dimensions were measured using drifting gratings and bipartite field stimuli. We found that owl monkey cells LGN have larger RFs and were on average more non‐linear than those of diurnal monkeys. But, as in other anthropoids, there is an increase in RF centre size with increasing eccentricity, and there is a limited correlation between these centre sizes and retinal ganglion cell dendritic tree sizes. The influence of contrast on sizes and peak sensitivities of RF centres and surrounds and on the response phases was studied. Both the sizes and peak sensitivities of the RF centres and surrounds decrease as contrast increases. As a result, the responses to low spatial frequency stimuli saturate with increasing contrast. Estimates of contrasts at half‐maximal responses confirm the presence of saturation. It was found that the magnocellular cells saturate more strongly than parvocellular cells. The response phase increases with increasing contrast. These data resemble those obtained in the common marmoset, indicating that these are basic features of the primate visual system. We conclude that during evolution and as an adaptation to a nocturnal lifestyle, cells in the owl monkey LGN display an increased spatial integration in comparison with diurnal primate species, without a change in the basic organization common to the primate subcortical visual system.
Role of Adenovirus Type 5 Early Region 3 in the Pathogenesis of Ocular Disease and Cell Culture Infection

Experimental animal virus replication models make it possible to study the role of viral gene products in adenovirus (Ad)-induced ocular disease. This study tested the hypothesis that the early region 3 (E3) of the human Ad genome plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Ad-induced ocular disease. Both Ad5 wt300, a genetically defined E3+ parent, and Ad5 dl327, a deletion mutant without E3 (E3-), replicated in ocular-derived cell cultures. Ad5 E3+ and Ad8 replicated more efficiently than did Ad5 E3- in cornea and conjunctival cell cultures. Lacrimal gland-derived cell cultures supported human Ad8 replication significantly more efficiently than did either Ad5 E3 + or Ad5 E3 -. After intrastromal and topical inoculation of rabbits with either Ad wt300 or Ad dl327, a specific immune response was elicited that coincided with the appearance of subepithelial opacities that mimicked human disease both clinically and histologically. The clinical features (i.e., conjunctivitis, iritis, and corneal edema) were not significantly different for Ad5 E3 + - and Ad5 E3--induced ocular infection. Ad5 E3 + - and Ad5 E3 - -inoculated eyes shed virus for up to 7 and 5 days, respectively, and occasionally established persistent and/ or latent infections in corneal, conjunctival, and, infrequently, lacrimal gland cells. Both Ad5 E3+ and Ad5 E3 - spread from virus-inoculated animals to the cornea and conjunctiva of normal animals. Under current experimental conditions, expression of the E3 gene does not appear to affect the degree of virulence in ocular disease induced by Ad5 in the rabbit eye model. Deletion of the E3 gene from Ad5 does not make the model more like human disease.
The Labor Share of Income around the World: Evidence from a Panel Dataset

This study provides an evaluation of five different methodologies of estimation commonly used in the labor share literature and propose a new measurement. Theglobal dataset of the labor income share across 151 economies is compiledâ€”both developing and developedâ€”for all or part of the period 1970â€“2015. Results show that our suggested indicator is correlated to the other five measures but it also retains unique information. Contrary to the traditional assumption of stable factor shares, it documents the existence of considerable heterogeneity across economies and variability over time. Specifically, there has been a general decline in the labor share around the world, in particular from the mid-1980s onwards.
Cutting Edge: Inhibitory Functions of the Killer Cell Lectin-Like Receptor G1 Molecule During the Activation of Mouse NK Cells1

The killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) is the mouse homolog of the rat mast cell function-associated Ag and contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif in its cytoplasmic domain. In this study we demonstrate that both pathogenic and nonpathogenic in vivo activation of NK cells induces the expression of KLRG1 on their cell surface. Upon infection with murine CMV, this induction peaks between days 5 and 7 with ∼90% of the NK cells expressing KLRG1. On day 1.5 post-murine CMV infection of C57BL/6 mice, the main producers of IFN-γ are the KLRG1-negative NK cells. This effect has been recapitulated in vitro as we show that engagement of KLRG1 on a transfected NK cell line inhibits both cytokine production and NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Taken together, these data illustrate the crucial role played by KLRG1 during the termination of mouse NK cell activation.