Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of trans-dominant inhibitory mutant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 genes expressed by retroviral vectors in human T lymphocytes

trans-Dominant inhibitory mutant versions of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) regulatory genes tat and rev have previously been described. We have constructed a series of retroviral vectors to transduce these genes and compare their inhibitory activities. The inhibitory activities were measured with transient transfection assays by using a reporter which expresses an HIV-1 gag-Escherichia coli lacZ fusion protein with strict dependence on coexpression of both tat and rev. Additionally, the vectors were packaged as amphotropic virions and used to stably transduce human CEM T lymphocytes. The transduced CEM cells were challenged with HIV-1, and the effects of the mutant HIV-1 genes were determined by measuring the levels of HIV-1 p24gag produced. A tat gene substituted at amino acid 41 (tatk41a) retained partial trans-activating activity and lacked inhibitory activity. A tat gene with a premature stop codon at amino acid 54 (tat54ter) showed moderate trans-dominant inhibition of the reporter plasmid but failed to significantly inhibit HIV-1 replication. The M10 rev mutant, with a 2-amino-acid substitution, showed strong trans-dominant inhibitory activity both in the reporter plasmid and in the HIV-1 infection assay. The greatest inhibition of HIV-1 growth was seen when M10 was expressed under the transcriptional control of a human cytomegalovirus promoter; slightly less inhibition was achieved when expression of M10 was controlled by the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat, and minimal inhibition was seen when the HIV-1 long terminal repeat controlled the M10 gene. These results demonstrate the potential utility of retroviral vectors expressing trans-dominant inhibitory mutant HIV-1 genes for gene therapy approaches to AIDS.
Direct Detection of Escherichia coli Virulence Genes by Real-Time PCR in Fecal Samples from Bats in Brazil

Abstract Guano samples from 412 Brazilian bats were screened with real-time PCR for the virulence genes (eae, est, elt, stx1, stx2, ehxA, invA, bfpA, aggR) representing five intestinal pathotypes of Escherichia coli. From 82 pooled samples, 22% contained Escherichia coli DNA, and eae, est, bfpA, aggR were detected.
Social-biological transitions: how does the social become biological?

The present discussion paper sets forward a model within the life course perspective of how the social becomes biological. The model is intended to provide a framework for thinking about such questions as how does social class get into the molecules, cells and tissues of the body to produce social class differences in life expectancy and cause of death? A categorisation of social exposures and biological processes is suggested; and some principles governing their inter-relations proposed. The paper ends by suggesting two public health applications of this approach.
Data flow oriented UI testing: exploiting data flows and UI elements to test Android applications

Testing user interfaces (UIs) is a challenging task. Ideally, every sequence of UI elements should be tested to guarantee that the application works correctly. This is, however, unfeasible due to the number of UI elements in an application. A better approach is to limit the evaluation to UI elements that affect a specific functionality. In this paper I present a novel technique to identify the relation between UI elements using the statically extracted data flows. I also present a method to refine these relations using dynamic analysis, in order to ensure that relations extracted from unreachable data flows are removed. Using these relations it is possible to more efficiently test a functionality. Finally, I present an approach to evaluate how these UI-aware data flows can be used as an heuristic to measure test coverage.
Ramified microglial cells promote astrogliogenesis and maintenance of neural stem cells through activation of Stat3 function

The differentiation and proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) are regulated by a combination of their intrinsic properties (e.g., transcription factors, epigenetic factors, and microRNA regulation) and cell‐extrinsic properties from the microenvironment around NSC (e.g., cytokines, growth factors, and cell‐cell contact). Recently, there has been a great interest in clarifying the mechanism of the influence of the microenvironment on NSCs, especially cell‐cell contact between NSCs and other types of cells nearby. In this study, we investigated whether microglial (Mi) cells influence the fate of NSCs. Coculture study showed that ramified Mi cells promoted astrogliogenesis and maintenance of NSCs through their paracrine effects. This microglia‐induced astrogliogenesis was inhibited by AG490 and by overexpression of the dominant‐negative form of Stat3 and SOCS3. Promoter assay revealed transactivation of Stat3 function in NSCs by Mi cells. Gene expression study revealed that mRNA of Notch family members (notchl‐3) and sox9 in NSCs was significantly upregulated by Mi cells, and this up‐regulation was inhibited by AG490. These results demonstrated that ramified Mi cells promoted astrogliogenesis and maintenance of NSCs by activating Stat3 function and via notch and sox9 signaling pathways. — Zhu, P., Hata, R. , Cao, F. , Gu, F. , Hanakawa, Y. , Hashimoto, K. , Sakanaka, M. Ramified microglial cells promote astrogliogenesis and maintenance of neural stem cells through activation of Stat3 function. FASEB J. 22, 3866–3877 (2008)
Design and Analysis of CMOS Low-Phase-Noise Low-Jitter Subharmonically Injection-Locked VCO With FLL Self-Alignment Technique

Design and analysis of low-phase-noise low-jitter subharmonically injection-locked voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with frequency-locked loop (FLL) self-alignment technique is presented in this paper using 90-nm CMOS process. The issue of the narrow locking range for the subharmonically injection-locked VCO (SILVCO) can be resolved over the variations, especially for high subharmonic number and millimeter-wave band, since the control voltage is adaptively adjusted using the proposed innovative method to refer to the subharmonic input frequency. A theoretical model of the SILVCO with FLL self-alignment technique is addressed for the design consideration and phase noise evaluation. With a subharmonic number of 16, the operation frequency of the proposed K -band circuit is from 24 to 26.1 GHz. The measured minimum phase noise at 1-MHz offset and jitter integrated from 1 kHz to 40 MHz are -114.3 dBc/Hz and 56.6 fs, respectively. As the temperature is from 20 °C to 70 °C, the measured deviations of output power, phase noise, and jitter are within 2 dB, 3 dB, and 67 fs, respectively. This paper demonstrates excellent performance and good robustness, and it can be compared with the previously reported state-of-the-art clock generators in silicon-based technologies.
Perceived counselor expertness and effectiveness as a function of counselor responsibility, counselor sex, and subject sex

This study was a vicarious participation analogue directed at deter­ mining the effects of counselor responsibility, counselor sex, and subject sex on perceived counselor expertness and effectiveness. The 204 male and female subjects listened to a brief audiotape of a counseling interaction between a male client and either a male or female counselor exhibiting one of three levels of counselor responsibility. The interaction occurred at the generation of alternatives stage of the counseling process. Written information presented prior to the audiotape briefly described the coun­ selor, the client, and their past interaction. Counselor responsibility was operationalized by having the counselor either: (a) prompt the client to generate alternative courses of action (low counselor responsibility); (b) work collaboratively with the client to generate alternatives (moder­ ate counselor responsibility); or (c) tell the client what he ought to do to solve his problem (high counselor responsibility). In general coun­ selors who assumed a moderate amount of responsibility were seen as most expert and effective, followed by those who operated at high and finally low levels of responsibility. The precise nature of the influence of counselor responsibility varied somewhat across the four central dependent measures. Although overall, male and female counselors were viewed as equally expert and effective, the sex of the counselor did interact with counselor responsibility to determine effectiveness in one instance. Perceived expertness and effectiveness were found to be moderately and positively related. The findings of this study generated several ques­ tions for further investigation.
Thyroid hormones and cancer: clinical studies of hypothyroidism in oncology.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To collect and assess clinical reports of a putative relationship between thyroid state and the biology of cancers of various types. RECENT FINDINGS A number of prospective case-control studies reviewed here have suggested that subclinical hyperthyroidism increases risk of certain solid tumors and that spontaneous hypothyroidism may delay onset or reduce aggressiveness of cancers. Small case studies have reached similar conclusions. A controlled prospective trial of induced hypothyroidism beneficially affected the course of glioblastoma. A context in which to interpret such findings is the recent description of a plasma membrane receptor for thyroid hormone on cancer cells and dividing tumor-associated endothelial cells. SUMMARY Accumulating clinical evidence may justify new, broadly-based controlled studies in cancer patients of the possible contribution of thyroid hormone to tumor behavior.
Extracting Social Power Relationships from Natural Language

Sociolinguists have long argued that social context influences language use in all manner of ways, resulting in lects. This paper explores a text classification problem we will call lect modeling, an example of what has been termed computational sociolinguistics. In particular, we use machine learning techniques to identify social power relationships between members of a social network, based purely on the content of their interpersonal communication. We rely on statistical methods, as opposed to language-specific engineering, to extract features which represent vocabulary and grammar usage indicative of social power lect. We then apply support vector machines to model the social power lects representing superior-subordinate communication in the Enron email corpus. Our results validate the treatment of lect modeling as a text classification problem -- albeit a hard one -- and constitute a case for future research in computational sociolinguistics.
The Gradient OCP − Tonal Evidence from Swedish *

The OCP, which is exhibited at various levels of the phonological representation (e.g. featural, melodic, and tonal), has been extensively discussed in numerous studies (Leben 1973, 1978, 1980; McCarthy 1979, 1986; Archangeli 1986; Odden 1986, 1988, 1994; Archangeli & Pulleyblank 1987; Hyman 1987; Kenstowicz & Kidda 1987; Myers 1987, 1997ab; Yip 1988; Hewitt & Prince 1989; Myers & Carleton 1996, Alderete 1997; Itô & Mester 1996ab, 1998, and Keer 1999). These studies have introduced and analyzed patterns obeying the OCP in various languages, and also discussed the internal nature of the phenomenon, as well as offered tools for deriving the OCP effects in different theoretical frameworks.
Reliability of Untrained Observers' Evaluations of Applied Music Instruction.

Systematic observation is a primary component in the evaluation of music teaching. Observational methods have received a high priority in educational research and the widespread application of these methods in music education is clearly documented (e.g., Erbes, 1972; Madsen, Greer, & Madsen, 1975; Madsen & Yarbrough, 1980; Madsen & Prickett, 1987). The process of observation and evaluation plays a crucial role in the success of in-service teachers and is of practical importance in music teacher training. In a recent national survey of undergraduate music teacher training institutions (Schmidt, 1989a), 78% of the responding institutions reported that classroom observation techniques was a content area required of all undergraduate music education students. The results of that survey also revealed substantial requirements in pre-service field experiences, which presumably include a large amount of observation of instruction.
Learning Physical Descriptions From Functional Definitions, Examples, and Precedents

Abstract : It is too hard to tell vision systems what things look like. It is easier to talk about purpose and what things are for. Consequently, we want vision systems to use functional descriptions to identify things, when necessary, and we want them to learn physical descriptions for themselves, when possible. This paper describes a theory that explains how to make such systems work. The theory is a synthesis of two sets of ideas: ideas about learning from precedents and exercises developed at MIT and ideas about physical description developed at Stanford. The strength of the synthesis is illustrated by way of representative experiments. All of these experiments have been performed with an implemented system. (Author)
Affects of symbolic domination through practice colonization across a transnational corporation

This paper examines communities of practice through narrative and metaphor. Situated across a transnational professional services corporation, an 'academy' was established to create a community of practice. A recent contribution by Boussebaa et al. (2012) has likened such institutional practice to neo-colonialism. With critical reference to Bourdieu's theory of practice, the affects of the studied community of practice are found to be more akin to symbolic dominance than the violence of colonialism. An alternative metaphor is thus offered in (being caught in) the wake, or 'vaka' of the academy's passing. The shortcomings of communities of practice dicta (Wenger, 1999) are thus critiqued.
LA STRUCTURE FINANCIERE DES PME FRANÇAISES : UNE ANALYSE SECTORIELLE SUR DONNEES DE PANEL

Cet article analyse la structure financiere de 1535 PME francaises observees sur une duree de 8 annees. Deux representations du comportement de financement sont testees : la premiere considere que les entreprises mettent en oeuvre une politique d'endettement avec un objectif de ratio d'endettement cible ; la seconde qui suppose l'exis-tence d'une hierarchie de financement estime au contraire qu'il n'existe pas un tel ratio cible. Les tests statistiques valident davantage la premiere approche. Le choix de financement des PME fran-caises confirme le plus grand pouvoir explicatif d'une analyse fondee sur l'existence d'un ratio d'endettement cible. La prise en compte de l'appartenance sectorielle ne remet pas en cause ces resultats.
HOW MUCH HERITABLE VARIATION CAN BE MAINTAINED IN FINITE POPULATIONS BY MUTATION–SELECTION BALANCE?

The joint effects of stabilizing selection, mutation, recombination, and random drift on the genetic variability of a polygenic character in a finite population are investigated. A simulation study is performed to test the validity of various analytical predictions on the equilibrium genetic variance. A new formula for the expected equilibrium variance is derived that approximates the observed equilibrium variance very closely for all parameter combinations we have tested. The computer model simulates the continuum‐of‐alleles model of Crow and Kimura. However, it is completely stochastic in the sense that it models evolution as a Markov process and does not use any deterministic evolution equations. The theoretical results are compared with heritability estimates from laboratory and natural populations. Heritabilities ranging from 20% to 50%, as observed even in lab populations under a constant environment, can only be explained by a mutation‐selection balance if the phenotypic character is neutral or the number of genes contributing to the trait is sufficiently high, typically several hundred, or if there are a few highly variable loci that influence quantitative traits.
Crowdsourcing contests: understanding the effect of competitors’ participation history on their performance

Crowdsourcing contests have become increasingly important and prevalent with the ubiquity of the Internet. Designing efficient crowdsourcing contests is not possible without the deep understanding of the factors affecting individuals’ continuous participation and their performance. Prior studies have mainly focused on identifying the effect of task-specific, environment-specific, organisation-specific, and individual-specific factors on individuals’ performance in crowdsourcing contests. And to our knowledge, there are no or very few studies on evaluating the effect of individuals’ participation history on their performance. This paper aims to address this research gap using a data set from TopCoder. This study derives competitors’ participation history factors, such as participation frequency, participation recency, winning frequency, winning recency, tenure, and last performance to construct models depicting effects of these factors on competitors’ performance in online crowdsourcing contests. The research findings demonstrate that most of competitors’ participation history factors have significant effect on their performance. This paper also indicates that competitors’ participation frequency and winning frequency moderate the relationship between last performance and performance, and relationship between tenure and performance positively. On the other hand, individuals’ participation recency and winning recency moderate relationship between last performance and performance negatively, but have no significant effect on the relationship between tenure and performance.
Characterization of metabolites in infiltrating gliomas using ex vivo 1H high-resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy

Gliomas are routinely graded according to histopathological criteria established by the World Health Organization. Although this classification can be used to understand some of the variance in the clinical outcome of patients, there is still substantial heterogeneity within and between lesions of the same grade. This study evaluated image‐guided tissue samples acquired from a large cohort of patients presenting with either new or recurrent gliomas of grades II–IV using ex vivo proton high‐resolution magic angle spinning spectroscopy. The quantification of metabolite levels revealed several discrete profiles associated with primary glioma subtypes, as well as secondary subtypes that had undergone transformation to a higher grade at the time of recurrence. Statistical modeling further demonstrated that these metabolomic profiles could be differentially classified with respect to pathological grading and inter‐grade conversions. Importantly, the myo‐inositol to total choline index allowed for a separation of recurrent low‐grade gliomas on different pathological trajectories, the heightened ratio of phosphocholine to glycerophosphocholine uniformly characterized several forms of glioblastoma multiforme, and the onco‐metabolite D‐2‐hydroxyglutarate was shown to help distinguish secondary from primary grade IV glioma, as well as grade II and III from grade IV glioma. These data provide evidence that metabolite levels are of interest in the assessment of both intra‐grade and intra‐lesional malignancy. Such information could be used to enhance the diagnostic specificity of in vivo spectroscopy and to aid in the selection of the most appropriate therapy for individual patients. © 2014 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Instant Knowledge: Leveraging information on portable devices

Context aware applications are seen as the future of intelligent service delivery, but while dasianetworkpsila context - the state of the userpsilas terminal and the communication network - is relatively easy to gather, mapping from this to user context - what the user wants to do in a certain set of circumstances - is very complex. Any solution which requires user input in order to define their context would be impractical and unwieldy. However, the ubiquity of the ever-present mobile phone makes it an ideal tool to gather context information which can be used by applications more intelligently. The Instant Knowledge programme of Mobile VCE aims to make available context information known to the communications network to applications in a secure manner. A particular emphasis is placed on social networking applications, where context relating to interactions can be gathered by the network with minimal user input. Such tools have important application in the enterprise environment where complex interactions between users abound, but directory-based information structures are very inefficient.
Thermal unfolding of the N‐terminal region of p53 monitored by circular dichroism spectroscopy

It has been estimated that 30% of eukaryotic protein and 70% of transcription factors are intrinsically disordered (ID). The biochemical significance of proteins that lack stable tertiary structure, however, is not clearly understood, largely owing to an inability to assign well‐defined structures to specific biological tasks. In an attempt to investigate the structural character of ID protein, we have measured the circular dichroism spectrum of the N‐terminal region of p53 over a range of temperatures and solution conditions. p53 is a well‐studied transcription factor that has a proline‐rich N‐terminal ID region containing two activation domains. High proline content is a property commonly associated with ID, and thus p53 may be a good model system for investigating the biochemical importance of ID. The spectra presented here suggest that the N‐terminal region of p53 may adopt an ordered structure under physiological conditions and that this structure can be thermally unfolded in an apparent two‐state manner. The midpoint temperature for this thermal unfolding of the N‐terminal region of p53 was at the near‐physiological temperature of 39°C, suggesting the possibility of a physiological role for the observed structural equilibrium.
MeDetect: A LOD-Based System for Collective Entity Annotation in Biomedicine

With the ever-growing use of textual biomedical data, domain entity annotation has become very important in biomedicine. Previous works on annotating domain entities from biomedical references suffer from several issues, such as a data flexibility problem, language dependency, and limitations with respect to word sense disambiguation. Meanwhile, the Linked Open Data (LOD) Initiative aims at interlinking data from various open knowledge bases. The numbers of entities and properties describing semantic relationships between entities within the linked data cloud have become very large. In this paper, we propose a knowledge-incentive approach for entity annotation in biomedicine, and present Me Detect, a prototype system that we developed based on this approach. With this approach, we over-come the problems of previous works using LOD-based collective annotation. Finally, we present the results of experiments that verify the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach.