Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity among Field Populations of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in Poland

Genetic structure in field populations of Bradyrhizobium japonicum isolated in Poland was determined by using several complementary techniques. Of the 10 field sites examined, only 4 contained populations of indigenous B. japonicum strains. The Polish bradyrhizobia were divided into at least two major groups on the basis of protein profiles on polyacrylamide gels, serological reaction with polyclonal antisera, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR fingerprints of genomic DNA, and Southern hybridization analyses with nif and nod gene probes. Serological analyses indicated that 87.5% of the Polish B. japonicum isolates tested were in serogroups 123 and 129, while seven (12.5%) of the isolates tested belonged to their own unique serogroup. These seven strains also could be grouped together on the basis of repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR fingerprints, protein profiles, and Southern hybridization analyses. Cluster analyses indicated that the seven serologically undefined isolates were genetically dissimilar from the majority of the Polish B. japonicum strains. Moreover, immuno-cross-adsorption studies indicated that although the Polish B. japonicum strains reacted with polyclonal antisera prepared against strain USDA123, the majority failed to react with serogroup 123- and 129-specific antisera, suggesting that Polish bradyrhizobia comprise a unique group of root nodule bacteria which have only a few antigens in common with strains USDA123 and USDA129. Nodulation studies indicated that members of the serologically distinct group were very competitive for nodulation of Glycine max cv. Nawiko. None of the Polish serogroup 123 or 129 isolates were restricted for nodulation by USDA123- and USDA129-restricting soybean plant introduction genotypes. Taken together, our results indicate that while genetically diverse B. japonicum strains were isolated from some Polish soils, the majority of field sites contained no soybean-nodulating bacteria. In addition, despite the lack of long-term soybean production in Poland, field populations of unique B. japonicum strains are present in some Polish soils and these strains are very competitive for nodulation of currently used Polish soybean varieties.
Anterior Cingulate Glutamate Is Reduced by Acamprosate Treatment in Patients With Alcohol Dependence

Abstract Although the precise drug mechanism of action of acamprosate remains unclear, its antidipsotropic effect is mediated in part through glutamatergic neurotransmission. We evaluated the effect of 4 weeks of acamprosate treatment in a cohort of 13 subjects with alcohol dependence (confirmed by a structured interview, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision) on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy glutamate levels in the midline anterior cingulate cortex (MACC). We compared levels of metabolites with a group of 16 healthy controls. The Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale was used to assess craving intensity. At baseline, before treatment, the mean cerebrospinal fluid–corrected MACC glutamate (Glu) level was significantly elevated in subjects with alcohol dependence compared with controls (P = 0.004). Four weeks of acamprosate treatment reduced glutamate levels (P = 0.025), an effect that was not observed in subjects who did not take acamprosate. At baseline, there was a significant positive correlation between cravings, measured by the Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale, and MACC (Glu) levels (P = 0.019). Overall, these data would suggest a normalizing effect of acamprosate on a hyperglutamatergic state observed in recently withdrawn patients with alcohol dependence and a positive association between MACC glutamate levels and craving intensity in early abstinence. Further research is needed to evaluate the use of these findings for clinical practice, including monitoring of craving intensity and individualized selection of treatment with antidipsotropic medications in subjects with alcohol dependence.
Liberalising the Canadian scheduled aviation market

The past decade has witnessed a considerable relaxation of traditional, economic regulation of markets (Swann (1988)). In particular there has been a movement away from direct controls over market entry and exit, output, rates of return, and price setting, and towards regimes of quality and social regulation which aim to regulate the standards adopted by those active in the market. This shift in emphasis of policy has been both broad in its international coverage and extensive in the sectors involved (Button and Swann (1989a)). Accompanying the changes in economic regulation has often been a reduction of public sector involvement more generally. There have been, for example, extensive programmes of privatisation in many countries and even under many communist regimes there has been active encouragement of greater private sector participation in the economy.
A Multi-Parameter Extension of Figlewski’s Option-Pricing Formula

The Black–Scholes (BS) model was a major conceptual breakthrough, and it established the theoretical framework within which valuation models for all kinds of derivatives are developed. But it was quickly found to be problematic as a practical tool for traders. The ubiquitous and anomalous “volatility smile” means that a set of options written on a single underlying asset are routinely priced in the market as if it had multiple different volatilities. In practice, traders replace the theoretical model with “practitioner Black–Scholes,” which is the BS equation but with a different volatility input for each option. That is, the market uses the BS equation, not the BS model. This inconsistency led Figlewski to ask: If the BS equation is used as practitioner Black–Scholes, in a way that is inconsistent with its theoretical foundation, how much better is it, if at all, than some other equation that satisfies the basic conditions necessary to avoid profitable static arbitrage (e.g., convex shape, call value increases with asset price, etc.) and has one free parameter (like implied volatility) that can be calibrated to the market, but has no pretense of economic content beyond that? For the S&P 500, it turned out that such a model-free model performed just about as well as the BS equation. Figlewski’s equation applied only to a single maturity. In this article, Orosi extends the equation to cover the full term structure of options, with an adjustment to prevent arbitrage, and compares it against several alternatives, including a variant of practitioner Black–Scholes. In sample and out of sample, the model-free model performs comparably to the best of the BS-based alternatives.
Chick embryos can form teratomas from microinjected mouse embryonic stem cells

We examined whether chick embryos are a suitable experimental model for the evaluation of pluripotency of stem cells. Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) expressing the reporter gene, LacZ or GFP were injected into the subgerminal cavity of blastoderms (freshly oviposited) or the marginal vein of chick embryos (2 days of incubation). Injected mESCs were efficiently incorporated into the body and extra‐embryonic tissues of chick embryos and formed small clusters. Increased donor cell numbers injected were positively associated with the efficiency of chimera production, but with lower viability. A single mESC injected into the blastoderm proliferated into 34.7 ± 3.8 cells in 3 days, implying that the chick embryo provides an optimal environment for the growth of xenogenic cells. In the embryo body, mESCs were interspersed as small clustered chimeras in various tissues. Teratomas were observed in the yolk sac and the brain with three germ layers. In the yolk sac, clusters of mESCs gradually increased in volume and exhibited varied morphology such as a water balloon‐like or dark‐red solid mass. However, mESCs in the brain developed into a large soft tissue mass of whitish color and showed a tendency to differentiate into ectodermal lineage cells, including primitive neural ectodermal and neuronal cells expressing the neurofilament protein. These results indicate that chick embryos are useful for the teratoma formation assays of mESCs and have a broad‐range potential as an experimental host model.
Spatial Econometrics: Methods and Models

1: Introduction. - 2: The Scope of Spatial Econometrics. - 3: The Formal Expression of Spatial Effects. - 4: A Typology of Spatial Econometric Models. - 5: Spatial Stochastic Processes: Terminology and General Properties. - 6: The Maximum Likelihood Approach to Spatial Process Models. - 7: Alternative Approaches to Inference in Spatial Process Models. - 8: Spatial Dependence in Regression Error Terms. - 9: Spatial Heterogeneity. - 10: Models in Space and Time. - 11: Problem Areas in Estimation and Testing for Spatial Process Models. - 12: Operational Issues and Empirical Applications. - 13: Model Validation and Specification Tests in Spatial Econometric Models. - 14: Model Selection in Spatial Econometric Models. - 15: Conclusions. - References.
Economic freedom and social capital

This article brings together two growing literatures, social capital and economic freedom, to examine whether economic freedom contributes to social capital. More specifically, using US state-level data from 1986 to 2004 and both OLS and System GMM dynamic panel estimation, we find that there is no clear trade-off between economic freedom and either the level or growth of social capital.
Regulation of Ca2+ Signaling in Mast Cells by Tyrosine-Phosphorylated and Unphosphorylated Non-T Cell Activation Linker1

Engagement of the FcεRI in mast cells and basophils leads to a rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of the transmembrane adaptors LAT (linker for activation of T cells) and NTAL (non-T cell activation linker, also called LAB or LAT2). NTAL regulates activation of mast cells by a mechanism, which is incompletely understood. Here we report properties of rat basophilic leukemia cells with enhanced or reduced NTAL expression. Overexpression of NTAL led to changes in cell morphology, enhanced formation of actin filaments and inhibition of the FcεRI-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the FcεRI subunits, Syk kinase and LAT and all downstream activation events, including calcium and secretory responses. In contrast, reduced expression of NTAL had little effect on early FcεRI-induced signaling events but inhibited calcium mobilization and secretory response. Calcium response was also repressed in Ag-activated cells defective in Grb2, a major target of phosphorylated NTAL. Unexpectedly, in cells stimulated with thapsigargin, an inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase, the amount of cellular NTAL directly correlated with the uptake of extracellular calcium even though no enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of NTAL was observed. The combined data indicate that NTAL regulates FcεRI-mediated signaling at multiple steps and by different mechanisms. At early stages NTAL interferes with tyrosine phosphorylation of several substrates and formation of signaling assemblies, whereas at later stages it regulates the activity of store-operated calcium channels through a distinct mechanism independent of enhanced NTAL tyrosine phosphorylation.
Contribution of education and educational equality to economic growth

In this article we examine how the contribution of investment in education to economic growth varies if the initial level of education and the improvement of educational equality are different. Our main finding is that the contribution of education to economic growth is larger and statistically more significant in the countries with relatively low level of initial education and in the countries with relatively high improvement of educational equality.
The Impact of Peer Collaboration in Enhancing Mathematics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Skills : Lessons from Tanzania

It is reported that the Tanzania government is facing a big challenge of organising in-service education programmes that would have impact on mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills (PCK&S), which ultimately improve students’ performance in the subject. By using development research approach, a study was designed to evaluate the impact of peer collaboration with the use exemplary materials in probability. The investigation involved 6 ordinary level (junior secondary) mathematics teachers and 130 Form 4 (12th Graders) mathematics students. In data collection, the study used triangulation process that involved observation of collaborative activities, interviews, and student test. Findings from this study revealed that teachers had adopted the collaborative activities that were promoted through the programme for the purpose of enhancing their PCK&S. Moreover, they were also stimulated to conduct other collaborative activities. Findings from students’ test results showed that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores, demonstrating that students gained knowledge as a result of activity-based probability lessons. Combining the results from teachers’ experiences with peer collaboration and students’ learning, it can be concluded that the COllaboration to Support MAthematics Teachers (COSMAT) programme had yielded a positive impact on teachers’ PCK&S and teacher collaboration.
Changes of plasma total homocysteine levels during the menstrual cycle

It is known that plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) levels are lower in premenopausal and pregnant women compared with postmenopausal women. To confirm the suggestion that sex steroid hormones are nongenetic factors affecting homocysteine metabolism, we investigated the effect of natural steroid hormone levels on the fasting plasma tHcy in healthy women during the menstrual cycle.
Understanding the Sociocultural Context of Coping for African American Family Members of Homicide Victims

The disproportionate representation of African American survivors of homicide victims places them at greater risk for compromised mental health. However, an examination of factors that influence how this population copes with this traumatic event is absent from the literature. This article elucidates the importance of sociocultural factors that influence coping resources and strategies for African Americans surviving the homicide of a loved one. A socioculturally responsive model of coping is presented that can be utilized in furthering the development of research and practice that is culturally responsive to the needs of African American survivors of homicide victims.
Study on the current control loop of PMSM based on sinusoidal commutation

This paper focuses on the current control loop design of the permanent magnet synchronous motor based on sinusoidal commutation. It is well known that sinusoidal commutation can provide a smooth and fast torque response and is particularly suitable for a permanent magnet synchronous motor with sinusoidal back EMF. In general, sinusoidal commutation can be further divided into SPWM and SVPWM. In this paper, simulations of different current control loop approaches, e.g., three-phase current control and field oriented control are performed using Matlab/simulink to obtain suitable control parameters. Moreover, this paper also develops a motor drive for a permanent magnet synchronous motor, in which both SVPWM sinusoidal commutation and field oriented control are implemented using a cost effective microcontroller. Experimental results indicate that the motor drive developed in this paper exhibits satisfactory performance.
Modeling Cancer Cell Growth Dynamics In vitro in Response to Antimitotic Drug Treatment

Investigating the role of intrinsic cell heterogeneity emerging from variations in cell-cycle parameters and apoptosis is a crucial step toward better informing drug administration. Antimitotic agents, widely used in chemotherapy, target exclusively proliferative cells and commonly induce a prolonged mitotic arrest followed by cell death via apoptosis. In this paper, we developed a physiologically motivated mathematical framework for describing cancer cell growth dynamics that incorporates the intrinsic heterogeneity in the time individual cells spend in the cell-cycle and apoptosis process. More precisely, our model comprises two age-structured partial differential equations for the proliferative and apoptotic cell compartments and one ordinary differential equation for the quiescent compartment. To reflect the intrinsic cell heterogeneity that governs the growth dynamics, proliferative and apoptotic cells are structured in “age,” i.e., the amount of time remaining to be spent in each respective compartment. In our model, we considered an antimitotic drug whose effect on the cellular dynamics is to induce mitotic arrest, extending the average cell-cycle length. The prolonged mitotic arrest induced by the drug can trigger apoptosis if the time a cell will spend in the cell cycle is greater than the mitotic arrest threshold. We studied the drug’s effect on the long-term cancer cell growth dynamics using different durations of prolonged mitotic arrest induced by the drug. Our numerical simulations suggest that at confluence and in the absence of the drug, quiescence is the long-term asymptotic behavior emerging from the cancer cell growth dynamics. This pattern is maintained in the presence of small increases in the average cell-cycle length. However, intermediate increases in cell-cycle length markedly decrease the total number of cells and can drive the cancer population to extinction. Intriguingly, a large “switch-on/switch-off” increase in the average cell-cycle length maintains an active cell population in the long term, with oscillating numbers of proliferative cells and a relatively constant quiescent cell number.
Shareholders wealth effects and intra-industry signals from European financial institution consolidation announcements

This study examines shareholder wealth effects and intra-industry signals of consolidation announcements in the European financial sector over the period 2000 to 2006. Results show that announcements generate strong positive valuation effects for targets that become higher in cross-border and small value deals, and are negatively related to their relative size and prior performance. Evidence of acquirer returns is mixed depending on value size, geographic location and legal status of the deal, while returns of combined entities are mostly positive. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that European consolidation announcements transmit intra-industry signals that may encourage or discourage future takeover deals through the revaluation of other similar European financial institutions that are considered prospective targets ‘rival financial institutions’.
Clinical evaluation of the aqueous outflow system in primary open-angle glaucoma for canaloplasty.

PURPOSE To assess the aqueous outflow pathway in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) through provocative gonioscopy and channelography with a flexible microcatheter and fluorescein tracer during canaloplasty. METHODS One eye each was randomly selected from 28 consecutive black African POAG patients undergoing canaloplasty. Provocative gonioscopy was performed at the beginning of surgery, and blood reflux from collector channels into Schlemm's canal (SC) was semiquantitatively evaluated. During canaloplasty, a flexible microcatheter injected fluorescein tracer stepwise into SC. The outflow pathway parameters of interest were blood reflux, transtrabecular passage of fluorescein, and episcleral vein filling. RESULTS Mean age, intraocular pressure (IOP), and cup-to-disc ratio were 45.9 years (SD +/- 13.3), 41.0 mm Hg (SD +/- 11.9), and 0.78 (SD +/- 0.22), respectively. Mean IOP (P < 0.001) and episcleral venous egress (P = 0.01) correlated significantly with blood reflux, but cup-to-disc ratio (P = 0.71), age (P = 0.70), and fluorescein diffusion (P = 0.90) did not. A multinomial regression model showed that higher IOP (P < 0.001, OR, 1.687; 95% CI, 1.151-2.472) was strongly associated with poor blood reflux, independent of the patient's age (P = 0.383, OR, 0.942; 95% CI, 0.823-1.078). No correlation was found between preoperative IOP, transtrabecular passage, episcleral venous egress, and cup-to-disc ratio. The mean IOP was 17.5 mm Hg (SD +/- 3.7) 6 months after surgery. The level of IOP after surgery correlated with the grade of blood reflux and episcleral venous egress (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS High mean IOP may be associated with poor blood reflux and filling of SC. A collapsed canal, probably secondary to high IOP, may be an underestimated sign in black African patients with POAG. The quality of blood reflux and episcleral venous egress may both be predictive of the level of IOP after surgery. Provocative gonioscopy and channelography may reflect the function of the outflow pathway and may be helpful in assessing the surgical outcome of canaloplasty.
Space—Time Budgets, Public Transport, and Spatial Choice

This paper addresses the problem of access to urban facilities for housewives without cars, and the methodology of the Lund School is used to investigate the spatial constraints affecting access to and choice between a selected group of urban facilities in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. To do this, the characteristics of the public transport system are investigated, and time-budget data used to specify typical windows of free time during a housespouse's day. From there the potential action and activity spaces of individuals in four suburbs are delimited, and these are used in assessing the variations in access to and choice between facilities in these suburbs. Finally, the social impact of the current bus provision in the context of the social structure of the city is raised as a policy issue.
Analysis of Longitudinal and Survival Data: Joint Modeling, Inference Methods, and Issues

In the past two decades, joint models of longitudinal and survival data have received much attention in the literature. These models are often desirable in the following situations: (i) survival models with measurement errors or missing data in time-dependent covariates, (ii) longitudinal models with informative dropouts, and (iii) a survival process and a longitudinal process are associated via latent variables. In these cases, separate inferences based on the longitudinal model and the survival model may lead to biased or inefficient results. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of joint models for longitudinal and survival data and commonly used methods, including the likelihood method and two-stage methods.
A CMOS Time-of-Flight Range Image Sensor With Gates-on-Field-Oxide Structure

This paper presents a new type of CMOS time-of-flight (TOF) range image sensor using single-layer gates on field oxide structure for photo conversion and charge transfer. This simple structure allows the realization of a dense TOF range imaging array with 1515 mum2 pixels in a standard CMOS process. Only an additional process step to create an n-type buried layer which is necessary for high-speed charge transfer is added to the fabrication process. The sensor operates based on time-delay dependent modulation of photocharge induced by back reflected infrared light pulses from an active illumination light source. To reduce the influence of background light, a small duty cycle light pulse is used and charge draining structures are included in the pixel. The TOF sensor chip fabricated measures a range resolution of 2.35 cm at 30 frames per second and an improvement to 0.74 cm at three frames per second with a pulsewidth of 100 ns.