Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Levels of Aβ42 and Aβ40 in Alzheimer Patients during Treatment with the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Tacrine

Deregulation of amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing with increased production of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) is considered to be a key pathogenic event in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It has been suggested that stimulation of the muscarinic M1 receptor subtype affects APP processing and leads to a change in Aβ concentration. To test the hypothesis that treatment with a cholinesterase inhibitor could change the levels of Aβ in plasma, we measured Aβ42 and Aβ40 plasma levels in AD subjects before tacrine treatment and at weeks 2 and 6 of treatment. Treatment with tacrine had no statistically significant effect on plasma Aβ42 and Aβ40 either at 2 weeks or at 6 weeks of administration compared to baseline levels. Plasma Aβ42 and Aβ40 levels showed large subject-to-subject variation but small variation within the same patient over the 3-sample interval. After 2 weeks of treatment with tacrine, there was a strong negative correlation between tacrine concentration and levels of Aβ42 (r = –0.64; p = 0.01) and Aβ40 (r = –0.55; p = 0.04). However, after 6 weeks there was no correlation between plasma concentrations of tacrine and Aβ42 (r = 0.33; p = 0.34) or Aβ40 (r = –0.22; p = 0.54) levels in plasma. After 2 weeks of treatment with an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, we found a correlation between higher drug concentrations and lower β-amyloid levels. This might indicate an effect on APP metabolism with an increased α-cleavage. But after 6 weeks of drug treatment, there was no obvious drug effect on β-amyloid concentrations. This finding may indicate that compensatory mechanisms have started at 6 weeks and that no long-term effect on key pathological features in AD is to be expected by an inhibition of acetylcholinesterase.
Mobile Data Sync in a Blink

Mobile applications are becoming increasingly data-centric - often relying on cloud services to store, share, and analyze data. App developers have to frequently manage the local storage on the device (e.g., SQLite databases, file systems), as well as data synchronization with cloud services. Developers have to address common issues such as data packaging, handling network failures, supporting disconnected operations, propagating changes, and detecting and resolving conflicts. To free mobile developers from this burden, we are building Simba, a platform to rapidly develop and deploy data-centric mobile apps. Simba provides a unified storage and synchronization API for both structured data and unstructured objects. Apps can specify a data model spanning tables and objects, and atomically sync such data with the cloud without worrying about network disruptions. Simba is also frugal in consuming network resources.
THE “RADICAL”, THE “ACTIVIST” AND THE HEGEMONIC NEWSPAPER ARTICULATION OF THE AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND FORESHORE AND SEABED CONFLICT

Popular assessments of the media treatment of the foreshore and seabed conflict point to a picture largely consistent with the well-established argument that mainstream Aotearoa New Zealand media function as hegemonic agents of the dominant Pakeha culture. This paper reflects on the hegemonic representation of the 2003/4 conflict over the “ownership” of the country's foreshore and seabed by examining specifically how two ideologically potent signifiers, “activist” and “radical”, were articulated in a newspaper corpus of over one million words. Our theoretical and methodological approach is structured around a combination of macro- and micro-textual discourse analysis approaches. We justify our particular empirical focus by arguing that the controversy associated with the figures of the (predominantly Maori) radical and the activist can be regarded as both symptomatic and constitutive of wider race relations antagonisms. Our analysis examines the media-political significance of textual presences and absences and presents an overview of how all relevant lexical variants of activist and radical were articulated in our newspaper corpus. We also discuss the political significance of our findings, partly by briefly considering additional empirical evidence of how Maori identities were represented in the corpus.
Horizontal Transfer of Genetic Material amongSaccharomyces Yeasts

ABSTRACT The genus Saccharomyces consists of several species divided into the sensu stricto and the sensu lato groups. The genomes of these species differ in the number and organization of nuclear chromosomes and in the size and organization of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In the present experiments we examined whether these yeasts can exchange DNA and thereby create novel combinations of genetic material. Several putative haploid, heterothallic yeast strains were isolated from different Saccharomyces species. All of these strains secreted an a- or α-like pheromone recognized by S. cerevisiae tester strains. When interspecific crosses were performed by mass mating between these strains, hybrid zygotes were often detected. In general, the less related the two parental species were, the fewer hybrids they gave. For some crosses, viable hybrids could be obtained by selection on minimal medium and their nuclear chromosomes and mtDNA were examined. Often the frequency of viable hybrids was very low. Sometimes putative hybrids could not be propagated at all. In the case of sensu stricto yeasts, stable viable hybrids were obtained. These contained both parental sets of chromosomes but mtDNA from only one parent. In the case of sensu lato hybrids, during genetic stabilization one set of the parental chromosomes was partially or completely lost and the stable mtDNA originated from the same parent as the majority of the nuclear chromosomes. Apparently, the interspecific hybrid genome was genetically more or less stable when the genetic material originated from phylogenetically relatively closely related parents; both sets of nuclear genetic material could be transmitted and preserved in the progeny. In the case of more distantly related parents, only one parental set, and perhaps some fragments of the other one, could be found in genetically stabilized hybrid lines. The results obtained indicate that Saccharomyces yeasts have a potential to exchange genetic material. If Saccharomyces isolates could mate freely in nature, horizontal transfer of genetic material could have occurred during the evolution of modern yeast species.
Chromatin disruption in the promoter of Bovine Leukemia Virus during transcriptional activation

Bovine leukemia virus expression relies on its chromatin organization after integration into the host cell genome. Proviral latency, which results from transcriptional repression in vivo, represents a viral strategy to escape the host immune system and likely allows for tumor progression. Here, we discriminated two types of latency: an easily reactivable latent state of the YR2 provirus and a ‘locked’ latent state of the L267 provirus. The defective YR2 provirus was characterized by the presence of nuclease hypersensitive sites at the U3/R junction and in the R/U5 region of the 5′-long terminal repeat (5′-LTR), whereas the L267 provirus displayed a closed chromatin configuration at the U3/R junction. Reactivation of viral expression in YR2 cells by the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus ionomycin combination was accompanied by a rapid but transient chromatin remodeling in the 5′-LTR, leading to an increased PU.1 and USF-1/USF-2 recruitment in vivo sustained by PMA/ionomycin-mediated USF phosphorylation. In contrast, viral expression was not reactivated by PMA/ionomycin in L267 cells, because the 5′-LTR U3/R region remained inaccessible to nucleases and hypermethylated at CpG dinucleotides. Remarkably, we elucidated the BLV 5′-LTR chromatin organization in PBMCs isolated from BLV-infected cows, thereby depicting the virus hiding in vivo in its natural host.
A Model-Driven Prototype Evaluation to Elicit Requirements for a Sensemaking Support Tool

This paper presents a model-driven evaluation approach to elicit requirements. This approach has been applied to evaluate a technology-driven prototype designed to help analysts make sense of Internet forums. Due to the complexity of sensemaking and the immature nature of the prototype, we believe a user evaluation informed by a sensemaking model is beneficial for requirement elicitation. From the evaluation, we have revealed how this tool can be improved by providing a set of requirements in the design space of people, activity in context and technology. Our case study illustrates how a cognitive model can be used in an evaluation to elicit requirements for issues with cognitive complexity.
Partitioning of Evaporative Water Loss into Respiratory and Cutaneous Pathways in Wahlberg's Epauletted Fruit Bats (Epomophorus wahlbergi)

The relative contributions of respiratory and cutaneous evaporation to total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and how the partitioning of these two avenues varies with environmental temperature has received little attention in bats. We trained Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bats (Epomophorus wahlbergi) captured in Pretoria, South Africa, to wear latex masks while hanging in respirometry chambers, and we measured respiratory evaporative water loss (REWL) and cutaneous evaporative water loss (CEWL) over air temperatures (Ta) from 10° to 40°C. The bats’ normothermic body temperature (Tb) was approximately 36°C, which increased at higher Ta to 40.5° ± 1.0°C at Ta ≈ 40°C. Both TEWL and resting metabolic rate (RMR) increased sharply at Ta >35°C, with a mean TEWL at 40°C equivalent to 411% of that at 30°C. The increase in TEWL was driven by large increases in both CEWL and REWL. CEWL comprised more than 50% of TEWL over the entire Ta range, with the exception of Ta ≈ 40°C, where REWL accounted for 58% of evaporative water loss. Surface area–specific CEWL increased approximately sixfold with increasing Ta. Thermoregulation at Ta approaching or exceeding Tb involved a considerable energetic cost, with RMR at Ta ≈ 40°C exceeding by 24% that measured at Ta ≈ 10°C. Our data do not support recent arguments that respiratory gas exchange across the wing membranes represents 5%–10% of the total in E. wahlbergi.
Effects of inactivity on myosin heavy chain composition and size of rat soleus fibers

Myosin heavy chain (MHC) and fiber size properties of the adult rat soleus were determined after 4–60 days of complete inactivity, i.e., lumbar spinal cord isolation. Soleus atrophy was rapid and progressive, i.e., 25% and 64% decrease in weight and 33% and 75% decrease in fiber size after 4 and 60 days of inactivity, respectively. Changes in MHC occurred at a slower rate than the atrophic response. After 15 days there was de novo expression of type IIx MHC (∼10%). By 60 days, type IIx MHC accounted for 33% of the total MHC content, and 7% of the fibers contained only type IIx MHC. The relative amount of type I MHC was reduced from 93% in control to 49% after 60 days of inactivity. Therefore, the effects of 60 days of inactivity suggest that during this time period at least 75% of fiber size and ∼40% of type I MHC composition of the adult rat soleus can be attributed to activation‐related events. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 21:375–389, 1998.
The use of teacher ratings in a mental health study: a method for measuring the effectiveness of a therapeutic nursery program.

THE MAGNITUDE of the public health problem posed by mental illness has led to an increasing emphasis on programs of prevention. The prevailing belief that the origins of mental disorder are, in part or in whole, to be found in disturbances in early childhood has as its corollary the hypothesis that effective treatment at this age might serve to lower the rate of psychiatric illness in later life. ' Whether or not this thesis of early origin is completely supportable with present evidence, it has been a motivating force in a number of cities for the establishment of therapeutic nursery programs, of which the Children's Guild of Baltimore is one recent example. The multiplication of such programs, their potential value and, we must add, their cost, all combine to suggest the importance of attempts to measure their effectiveness. In a service setting, this is more easily said than done; problems of method and conflicts in philosophy between research workers and clinicians tend to abort enthusiasm for such unLandowne, M.S.W. ; Daniel M. Wilner, Ph.D.;
Characterization of X-ray data sets

With the emergence of structural genomics, more effort is being invested into developing methods that incorporate basic crystallographic knowledge to enhance decision making procedures (e.g. Panjikar, 2005). A key area where some crystallographic knowledge is often vital for the smooth progress of structure solution is that of judging the quality or characteristics of an X-ray dataset. For instance, detecting the presence of anisotropic diffraction or twinning while a crystal is on the beam line, may allow the user to change the data collection strategy in order to obtain a better or a more complete data set. In post-collection analyses, the presence of (for instance) non-crystallographic translational symmetry might help the user (or program! ) to solve the structure more easily. Of course, the identification of problems is by no means a guarantee that the problems can be overcome, but knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of a given X-ray data set permits the user or software pipeline to tailor the structure solution and refinement procedures to increase the chances of success. In this report, a number of routines are presented that assist the user in detecting specific problems or features within a given dataset. The routines are made available via the open sourcemore » CCTBX libraries (http://cctbx.sourceforge.net) and will also be included in the next available PHENIX (Adams, et al., 2004) release. « less
Educational administrators' conceptions of whiteness, anti‐racism and social justice

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the intersections of whiteness, anti‐racism and social justice in educational administration. It is an attempt to understand how white administrators who work in racially minoritized school communities reconcile the moral challenges of articulations of racial equity with the hierarchical institutions of schooling.Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study asks ten white administrators how they understand themselves as raced, the ways they see race operating at individual and institutional levels in schools and districts, and factors that facilitate and/or hinder social justice work as it pertains to race.Findings – The data indicates that whiteness is a difficult subject for white administrators, even those who agreed to be interviewed about whiteness, racism, equity and social justice. As agents of the school districts where they are employed, the administrators generally view these issues from an organizational perspective that does not challen.
The Talk of the Party: Political Labels, Symbolic Capital, and American Life

The Talk of the Party: Political Labels, Symbolic Capital, and American Life. By Sharon E. Jarvis. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. 304p. $80.00 cloth, $27.95 paper. How did the term “liberal” become a dirty word in American politics? Why are Democrats “accused” of being liberal as a campaign tactic? These types of questions motivate Sharon Jarvis's book. The language of politics, especially partisan politics, is a topic visited by political scientists and other social scientists with modest frequency, but Jarvis offers a different, and fresh, perspective that bridges public opinion approaches with rhetorical analysis. This method should prove appealing to a variety of social scientists and students and illuminate new ways of studying political language.
The relation of coping strategies to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences in a college sample

According to the SLT of alcohol abuse, problem drinkers exhibit coping deficits and hold positive expectancies or beliefs about the effects of alcohol that promote the use of alcohol as a generalized coping strategy (Abrams, D.B. and Niura, R.S. (1987). Social learning theory. In: Blane, H.T. and Leonard, K.E. (Eds.), Psychological Theories of Drinking and Alcoholism, pp. 131–178. Guilford Press, New York; Wilson, T.G. (1987). Cognitive studies in alcoholism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 325–331. ). Coping is often conceptualized as consisting of emotion-focused, problem-focused, and avoidance coping categories (Folkman, S. and Lazarus, R.S. (1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21(3), 219–239; Billings, A.G. and Moos, R.H. (1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(2), 139–157. ). Despite some researchers’ belief that this is an oversimplification (Carver, C.S., Scheier, M.F. and Weintraub, J.K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(2), 267–283. ), studies that have examined the relation of coping tendencies to alcohol consumption in college samples have used these categories (Evans, M. and Dunn, N.J. (1994). Alcohol expectancies, coping responses and self-efficacy judgements: a replication and extension of Cooper et al.'s 1988 study in a college sample. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 56(2), 186–193; Fromme, K. and Rivet, K. (1994). Young adults’ coping style as a predictor of their alcohol use and response to daily events. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23(1), 85–97. ). The results of the current investigation indicate that researchers should consider the relation of individual coping strategies to different aspects of consumption and alcohol-related consequences, and suggest that the tendency to use substances to cope may be an especially important determinant of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences for college students.
Increased temperature, but not acidification, enhances fertilization and development in a tropical urchin: potential for adaptation to a tropicalized eastern Australia

To predict the effects of global change on marine populations, it is important to measure the effects of climate stressors on performance and potential for adaptation. Adaptation depends on heritable genetic variance for stress tolerance being present in populations. We determined the effects of near‐future ocean conditions on fertilization success of the sea urchin Pseudoboletia indiana. In 16 multiple dam‐sire crosses, we quantified genetic variation in tolerance of warming (+3°C) and acidification (−0.3 to 0.5 pH units) at the gastrulation stage. Ocean acidification decreased fertilization across all dam‐sire combinations with effects of pH significantly differing among the pairings. Decreased pH reduced the percentage of normal gastrulae with negative effects alleviated by increased temperature. Significant sire by environment interactions indicated the presence of heritable variation in tolerance of stressors at gastrulation and thus the potential for selection of resistant genotypes, which may enhance population persistence. A low genetic correlation indicated that genotypes that performed well at gastrulation in low pH did not necessarily perform well at higher temperatures. Furthermore, performance at fertilization was not necessarily a good predictor of performance at the later stage of gastrulation. Southern range edge populations of Pseudoboletia indiana may benefit from future warming with potential for extension of their distribution in south‐east Australia.
A comprehensive assessment of sequence-based and template-based methods for protein contact prediction

MOTIVATION Pair-wise residue-residue contacts in proteins can be predicted from both threading templates and sequence-based machine learning. However, most structure modeling approaches only use the template-based contact predictions in guiding the simulations; this is partly because the sequence-based contact predictions are usually considered to be less accurate than that by threading. With the rapid progress in sequence databases and machine-learning techniques, it is necessary to have a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the contact-prediction methods in different template conditions. RESULTS We develop two methods for protein-contact predictions: SVM-SEQ is a sequence-based machine learning approach which trains a variety of sequence-derived features on contact maps; SVM-LOMETS collects consensus contact predictions from multiple threading templates. We test both methods on the same set of 554 proteins which are categorized into 'Easy', 'Medium', 'Hard' and 'Very Hard' targets based on the evolutionary and structural distance between templates and targets. For the Easy and Medium targets, SVM-LOMETS obviously outperforms SVM-SEQ; but for the Hard and Very Hard targets, the accuracy of the SVM-SEQ predictions is higher than that of SVM-LOMETS by 12-25%. If we combine the SVM-SEQ and SVM-LOMETS predictions together, the total number of correctly predicted contacts in the Hard proteins will increase by more than 60% (or 70% for the long-range contact with a sequence separation > or =24), compared with SVM-LOMETS alone. The advantage of SVM-SEQ is also shown in the CASP7 free modeling targets where the SVM-SEQ is around four times more accurate than SVM-LOMETS in the long-range contact prediction. These data demonstrate that the state-of-the-art sequence-based contact prediction has reached a level which may be helpful in assisting tertiary structure modeling for the targets which do not have close structure templates. The maximum yield should be obtained by the combination of both sequence- and template-based predictions.
A Novel and Generic Model for Synthesizing Disk I/O Traffic Based on The Alpha-stable Process

Obtaining representative and concise I/O workloads for the purpose of projecting the performance of storage systems remains a challenge due to the complex nature of I/O behaviors. Previous studies have shown that disk I/O traffic can be represented as an independent and identically distributed random process in some workloads and a self-similar process in others. Additionally, workloads in the presence of self-similarity can exhibit either Gaussian or non-Gaussian characteristics. This paper proposes a new and generic model based on the alpha-stable process to accurately build a synthetic workload representative of I/O traffic in production storage systems. The novelty of this new model is that it has the capability of characterizing both self-similar Gaussian and non-Gaussian workloads. Experimental results show that this model can accurately capture the complex I/O behaviors of real storage systems and more faithful than conventional models, particularly the burstiness and heavy-tail characteristics under the Gaussian and non-Gaussian workloads.