Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Location of breakpoints within the major breakpoint cluster region (bcr) in 33 patients with bcr rearrangement‐positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with complex or absent Philadelphia chromosomes

We report the sublocalization of the breakpoint in chromosome 22 in 33 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who also had unusual marrow cytogenetics. In 23 patients, the leukemic clones were characterized by Philadelphia (Ph1) chromosomes that arose through complex translocations that involved three or more chromosomes. In the remaining ten patients, there were no detectable Ph1 chromosomes despite molecular evidence for the presence of rearrangements in the major breakpoint cluster region (bcr) of chromosome 22 in all cases. There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to location of the breakpoints within the bcr. When these two groups of patients were combined, there was a significant excess of breakpoints in one segment of the bcr when compared to the distribution of breakpoints seen in 119 patients with simple 9;22 translocations. The difference in breakpoint distributions did not appear to be entirely attributable to differences between groups in disease duration at the time of study. These data support the notion that the unusual genetic recombinations that give rise to BCR/ABL fusion genes in CML involve specific DNA sequences of BCR (and possibly ABL) and additional, recombinogenic sequences, at least some of which are present in loci known to be nonrandomly involved in complex Ph1 translocations.
Francisella tularensis Subspecies holarctica, Tasmania, Australia, 2011

We report a case of ulceroglandular tularemia that developed in a woman after she was bitten by a ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) in a forest in Tasmania, Australia. Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica was identified. This case indicates the emergence of F. tularensis type B in the Southern Hemisphere.
Regional Economic Impacts of Environmental Management of Radiological Hazards: An Initial Analysis of a Complex Problem

We conducted an economic analysis of four different billion-plus dollar technological options for managing the salt wastes in the high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River nuclear weapons site (SRS) in South Carolina, USA. While US Department of Energy leadership is appropriately most concerned with health, safety and the environment, the economic implications of the choice cannot be dismissed. Combinations of technologies, where the technology is to be designed and tested, and who pays for it, were considered. With the caveat that the engineering designs are not the final versions and are therefore subject to change, we found that the most expensive technologies to design and build may not produce the most jobs or the greatest gross regional product in the SRS region because a great deal of the design and engineering from prototype to testing will not be done in the host region. Furthermore, in terms of the local economic impacts in the SRS region, this analysis shows that the policy choice regarding the method of funding the project (which budget the money comes from) matters as much as the selection of the remediation technology.
The Ecology of Organizational Demography: Managerial Tenure Distributions and Organizational Competition

This paper argues that turnover processes in top management teams create inter-organizational interdependencies. I argue that managerial capabilities are shaped by their experiences in a given competitive context; differences in managerial tenure therefore lead to differences in managerial capabilities. A comparison of the tenure distribution of a top management team with those of its competitors therefore captures the extent to which a firm relies on managerial capabilities similar to those of its competitors. Overlap in managerial capabilities will lead to greater competition for resources, since managers shape a firm's pattern of resource utilization. I hypothesize that organizational growth rates will decline to the extent that competitors are crowded around a firm's location in the tenure distribution. Analyses of growth in viewership among commercial television stations support this claim. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.
Stage of perinatal development regulates skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and myogenic regulatory factor genes with little impact of growth restriction or cross-fostering

Foetal growth restriction impairs skeletal muscle development and adult muscle mitochondrial biogenesis. We hypothesized that key genes involved in muscle development and mitochondrial biogenesis would be altered following uteroplacental insufficiency in rat pups, and improving postnatal nutrition by cross-fostering would ameliorate these deficits. Bilateral uterine vessel ligation (Restricted) or sham (Control) surgery was performed on day 18 of gestation. Males and females were investigated at day 20 of gestation (E20), 1 (PN1), 7 (PN7) and 35 (PN35) days postnatally. A separate cohort of Control and Restricted pups were cross-fostered onto a different Control or Restricted mother and examined at PN7. In both sexes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), cytochrome c oxidase subunits 3 and 4 (COX III and IV) and myogenic regulatory factor 4 expression increased from late gestation to postnatal life, whereas mitochondrial transcription factor A, myogenic differentiation 1 (MyoD), myogenin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) decreased. Foetal growth restriction increased MyoD mRNA in females at PN7, whereas in males IGF-I mRNA was higher at E20 and PN1. Cross-fostering Restricted pups onto a Control mother significantly increased COX III mRNA in males and COX IV mRNA in both sexes above controls with little effect on other genes. Developmental age appears to be a major factor regulating skeletal muscle mitochondrial and developmental genes, with growth restriction and cross-fostering having only subtle effects. It therefore appears that reductions in adult mitochondrial biogenesis markers likely develop after weaning.
Thrombolytic effect of nattokinase on a chemically induced thrombosis model in rat.

Nattokinase is a new fibrinolytic enzyme which cleaves directly cross-linked fibrin in vitro. In this study, we investigated the thrombolytic effect of nattokinase on a thrombus in the common carotid artery of rat in which the endothelial cells of the vessel wall were injured by acetic acid. When a section of occluded vessel was stained for CD61 antigen by immunofluorescence utilizing a monoclonal antibody, the antigen was localized around the surface of the occluded blood vessels. This result suggests that the occlusive thrombosis was caused by platelet aggregation. In addition, thrombolysis with urokinase (UK; 50000 IU/kg, i.v.) or tissue plasminogen activator (tPA; 13300 IU/kg, i.v.) in our model was observed to restore the blood flow over a 60 min monitoring period. The results indicate that our chemically induced model is useful for screening and evaluating a thrombolytic agent. We evaluated the thrombolytic activity of nattokinase using this model and compared it with fibrino(geno)lytic enzyme, plasmin or elastase. On a molar basis, the recovery of the arterial blood flow with nattokinase, plasmin and elastase were 62.0 +/- 5.3%, 15.8 +/- 0.7% and 0%, respectively. The results indicate that the thrombolytic activity of nattokinase is stronger than that of plasmin or elastase in vivo.
On the Relationship of Information Technology with Other Inputs

The ability to take advantage of the economic opportunities that are created by the price adjusted performance improvement in IT depends in part on the ability of IT capital to substitute for other inputs in production. To examine substitution of IT capital for other inputs we adopt a less-well-known measure for the elasticity of substitution, the Morishima Elasticity of Substitution (MES), and calibrate our estimates from regression methods by using Bayesian techniques to impose regularity. Using two industry-level datasets for manufacturing, one 1953-00 at the two-digit SIC level and one 1987-99 at the three-digit SIC level, MES results show that IT capital and non-IT capital are Morishima complements when the price of IT capital changes. IT capital and labor are Morishima complements when the price of labor changes, and over the longer period are also Morishima complements when the price of IT capital changes. These result is at odds with our results for the Allen Elasticity of Substitution (AES), and that of most other studies using the AES that indicate IT capital is a substitute for both non-IT capital and labor. Dividing industries into groups based on IT capital intensity, we find that over the longer period the MES and AES for non-IT intensive industries match the pooled results. Our Bayesian analysis showed the pooled results were remarkably stable. However, we find that our production function estimates for IT intensive industries violate regularity conditions at almost all observations in both datasets, suggesting that production in IT intensive industries may be structurally different. In addition, we find that after the Bayesian analysis the AES results converge to unity from below, suggesting the AES may artificially support production function forms like the Cobb-Douglas.
Kernel Projection of Latent Structures Regression for Facial Animation Retargeting

Inspired by kernel methods that have been used extensively in achieving efficient facial animation retargeting, this paper presents a solution to retargeting facial animation in virtual character's face model based on the kernel projection of latent structure (KPLS) regression between semantically similar facial expressions. Specifically, a given number of corresponding semantically similar facial expressions are projected into the latent space. By using the Nonlinear Iterative Partial Least Square method, decomposition of the latent variables is achieved. Finally, the KPLS is achieved by solving a kernalized version of the eigenvalue problem. By evaluating our methodology with other kernel-based solutions, the efficiency of the presented methodology in transferring facial animation to face models with different morphological variations is demonstrated.
MinK-Related Peptide 2 Modulates Kv2.1 and Kv3.1 Potassium Channels in Mammalian Brain

Delayed rectifier potassium current diversity and regulation are essential for signal processing and integration in neuronal circuits. Here, we investigated a neuronal role for MinK-related peptides (MiRPs), membrane-spanning modulatory subunits that generate phenotypic diversity in cardiac potassium channels. Native coimmunoprecipitation from rat brain membranes identified two novel potassium channel complexes, MiRP2-Kv2.1 and MiRP2-Kv3.1b. MiRP2 reduces the current density of both channels, slows Kv3.1b activation, and slows both activation and deactivation of Kv2.1. Altering native MiRP2 expression levels by RNAi gene silencing or cDNA transfection toggles the magnitude and kinetics of endogenous delayed rectifier currents in PC12 cells and hippocampal neurons. Computer simulations predict that the slower gating of Kv3.1b in complexes with MiRP2 will broaden action potentials and lower sustainable firing frequency. Thus, MiRP2, unlike other known neuronal β subunits, provides a mechanism for influence over multiple delayed rectifier potassium currents in mammalian CNS via modulation of α subunits from structurally and kinetically distinct subfamilies.
Induction of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Interleukin-8 Gene Expression in Bronchial Epithelial Cells by Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1

ABSTRACT Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II engagement by toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) transduces signals leading to proinflammatory cytokine gene expression (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]) in human monocytes. To study the proinflammatory role of MHC class II molecules expressed by bronchial epithelial cells (BEC), primary human BEC were isolated from surgical bronchial samples, expanded in vitro, and cultured in the presence or absence of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) for 48 h. 125I-TSST-1 binding to BEC pretreated with IFN-γ was inhibited up to 97% by anti-MHC class II monoclonal antibody 3B12, indicating that in BEC also MHC class II molecules were targets for the staphylococcal exotoxin. As analyzed by a quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR, a 1-h stimulation of BEC with TSST-1 resulted in a vigorous expression of TNF-α and interleukin-8 (IL-8) genes. TNF-α and IL-8 expression was optimal in BEC pretreated with 50 IU of IFN-γ/ml, whereas TSST-1 stimulation of BEC pretreated with 200 IU of IFN-γ/ml failed to enhance either TNF-α or IL-8 transcripts. In a time course study, peak expression of TNF-α and IL-8 mRNA was reached 6 h after TSST-1 stimulation. These results demonstrate that bacterial superantigen TSST-1 binds to MHC molecules on BEC and induces TNF-α and IL-8 gene expression upon engagement of MHC class II molecules on BEC, thus contributing to the perpetuation of bronchial mucosa inflammation via chemokine or cytokine gene expression.
Evaluating on-chip interconnects for low operating frequency silicon neuron arrays

We present a quantitative analysis of the limits of the time-multiplexed Address Event Representation (AER) bus for on-chip connectivity of silicon neuron arrays. In particular, we evaluate its potential to support high density and low power neural arrays operating in the subthreshold regime. Our analysis shows that due to low clock frequencies when operating in the subthreshold regime, the traditional single AER bus does not scale to large neural arrays. We find that a switched mesh network improves scalability, however, a crosspoint architecture overcomes the bandwidth limitations altogether. By trading off area for improved performance, it increases the number of neurons that can be supported in a single chip neural array.
Business Cycles for G7 and European Countries

This article proposes classical business cycle turning points for the G7 and a number of European countries based on industrial production. This enables the authors to examine the international nature of cyclical movements free from arbitrary assumptions about the trend. In particular, they show that cyclical assymetry is common, with slopes during declines being generally larger in magnitude than during expansions. A binary measure of association for expansion and contradiction regimes indicates a core group of European countries related to each other and apparently linked to the United States and Japan through Germany. Copyright 1997 by University of Chicago Press.
The Effect of Import Penetration on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Austrian Manufacturing Industry

This article estimates the effects of imports on employment, wages, and the wage share in Austria for the period of 1990–2005 using panel data of the manufacturing industry. There is evidence of a statistically significant but overall rather low negative effect of imports on both employment and wages, and thereby the wage share. However, the effects are economically much more significant and at times in the opposite direction when we distinguish final vs. intermediate imports as well as the origin of imports. Offshoring to Eastern Europe has a negative impact on employment but a positive effect on wages, indicating the dominance of scope effects.
Independent and Exclusive Agency Insurers: A Reexamination of the Cost Differential

Using 1967 data, Joskow (1973) found the independent agency system relatively inefficient for marketing insurance. Cummins and VanDerhei (1979) extended the study through 1976 and confirmed Joskow's findings. However, they found a smaller cost differential using total expenses rather than underwriting expenses alone. The current study extends the investigation through 1990, links the empirical evidence with the logic of agency theory, and provides an alternative measurement of marketing methods. The existence of a cost differential is reaffirmed, and the alternate marketing specification shows that exclusive agency firms have lower expenses than independent agency firms but that direct mail merchandisers have lower expenses than either type of agency firm. The estimated cost differentials are insignificant in some years when losses are used as a proxy for output.
Union Wage Effects in Australia: Is There Variation along the Distribution?

This study uses quantile regression models to examine whether the union wage effect varies across the conditional wage distribution. Although for men it is evident that the union wage effect decreases when moving up the conditional wage distribution, the effect for women is relatively stable except at the extremities of the distribution. Overall, unions are found to have a larger effect on men than on women wages. The decomposition results show that for men, the union wage effect explains a substantial proportion of the observed wage gap between union and non-union workers; this is not the case for women.
The trends of intellectual capital disclosures: evidence from the Nigerian banking sector

Purpose – This paper longitudinally examines the intellectual capital (IC) disclosure practices of Nigerian banks following the restructuring exercise and the subsequent policy changes in the Banking sector.Design/methodology/approach – Content analysis of annual reports of the banks was carried out over a period of four years (2006‐2009), a period following the consolidation exercise and the subsequent introduction of the mandatory code of corporate governance. A self‐constructed IC disclosure checklist was used to measure the extent of IC information disclosed in the annual reports. A number of statistical techniques were performed to assess the trend of IC disclosures and compare the IC disclosure categories.Findings – The results show that the overall IC disclosures of the Nigerian banks increased moderately over the four year period. Human and internal capital disclosures dominated the banks' IC disclosures, with only internal capital disclosures showing a significant increasing trend over time.Resea.
Modeling of a C‐end rule peptide adsorbed onto gold nanoparticles

The RPAR peptide, a prototype C‐end Rule (CendR) sequence that binds to neuropilin‐1 (NRP‐1), has potential therapeutic uses as internalization trigger in anticancer nanodevices. Recently, the functionalization of gold nanoparticles with CendR peptides has been proved to be a successful strategy to target the NRP‐1 receptor in prostate cancer cells. In this work, we investigate the influence of two gold surface facets, (100) and (111), on the conformational preferences of RPAR using molecular dynamics simulations. Both clustering and conformational analyses revealed that the peptide backbone becomes very rigid upon adsorption onto gold, which is a very fast and favored process, the only flexibility being attributed to the side chains of the two Arg residues. Thus, the different components of RPAR tend to adopt an elongated shape, which is characterized by the pseudo‐extended conformation of both the backbone and the Arg side chains. This conformation is very different from the already known bioactive conformation, indicating that RPAR is drastically affected by the substrate. Interestingly, the preferred conformations of the peptide adsorbed onto gold facets are not stabilized by salt bridges and/or specific intramolecular hydrogen bonds, which represent an important difference with respect to the conformations found in other environments (e.g. the peptide in solution and interacting with NRP‐1 receptor). However, the conformational changes induced by the substrate are not detrimental for the use of gold nanoparticles as appropriate vehicles for the transport and targeted delivery of the RPAR. Thus, once their high affinity for the NRP‐1 receptor induces the targeted delivery of the elongated peptide molecules from the gold nanoparticles, the lack of intramolecular interactions facilitates their evolution towards the bioactive conformation, increasing the therapeutic efficacy of the peptide.
Labor Productivity of Small and Large Manufacturing Firms: The Case of Taiwan

This work studies the factors influencing the labor productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms using Taiwan as a case study. A special emphasis is placed on two possible international channels: exports and foreign direct investment (FDI). Different from conventional studies, we employ the two-stage switching regressions to correct the firm-size effect on labor productivity and estimate labor productivity for SMEs and large firms. The main findings are as follows. First, the estimates of the selectivity variable are statistically significant for both SMEs and large firms, supporting the hypothesis of correcting the effect of firm-size truncation. Second, while a larger trade intensity significantly increases the labor productivity of SMEs, it deteriorates significantly that of large firms. Third, FDI enhances the labor productivity of SMEs internally, whereas it has a negative spillover on that of other small and large firms in the industry. While the first outcome lends supports to the role of self-selection, the remaining stands in sharp contrast to conventional wisdom.
Combined 2-D Vector Velocity Imaging and Tracking Doppler for Improved Vascular Blood Velocity Quantification

Measurement of the maximum blood flow velocity is the primary means for determining the degree of carotid stenosis using ultrasound. The current standard for estimating the maximum velocity is pulsed-wave Doppler with manual angle correction, which is prone to error and interobserver variability. In addition, spectral broadening in the velocity spectra leads to overestimation of maximal velocities. In this paper, we propose to combine two velocity estimation methods to reduce the bias and variability in maximum velocity measurements. First, the direction of the blood flow is estimated using an aliasing-resistant least squares vector Doppler technique. Then, tracking Doppler is performed on the same data, using the direction of the vector Doppler estimate as the tracking direction. Simulations show that the method can estimate a maximum velocity of 2 m/s with accuracy 5% for beam-to-flow angles between 20° and 75°, and that the primary source of error is inaccuracy in the flow direction estimate from vector Doppler. Simulations of complex flow in a carotid bifurcation demonstrated that the combined technique provided spectral velocity profiles corresponding well with the true maximum velocity trace, and that the bias originating from the directional estimate was within 5% for all spatial points. A healthy volunteer and a volunteer with carotid artery stenosis were imaged, showing in vivo feasibility of the method, for high velocities and with beam-to-flow angles varying throughout the cardiac cycle.
Changes in Sectoral Composition Associated with Economic Growth

In this paper, the author uses dynamic general equilibrium methods to examine the interrelationship between sectoral composition and growth. She shows that growth is affected by sectoral composition and vice versa. The model is basically a Solow model of sustained growth with multiple consumption goods and nonhomothetic preferences. Each consumption good is produced using different factor intensities. The rate of exogenous technological change is different in each sector. Nonhomotheticity of preferences drives the result that sectoral composition affects growth rates. Copyright 1997 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.