Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Adults’ Career Exploration

To promote our theoretical understanding regarding the exploration process during adulthood, the current study focusses on this process as it relates to work and family life roles and the relations between them, during the transition to motherhood. Two instruments assessing vocational and maternal exploration, relating to self and environment dimensions, were developed. Validation was conducted through two independent studies of two groups of Israeli Jewish women during their transition to motherhood: exploratory factor analysis (N = 125) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 232). Results demonstrated good fit of the model to the data, and reveal statistically significant estimates for each of the measurements. Positive, significant correlations between the two exploration processes were found. The findings support the life-long and holistic approach of career development that exploration is an ongoing process, which occur in different life domains simultaneously. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Orphan Toxin OrtT (YdcX) of Escherichia coli Reduces Growth during the Stringent Response

Toxin/antitoxin (TA) systems are nearly universal in prokaryotes; toxins are paired with antitoxins which inactivate them until the toxins are utilized. Here we explore whether toxins may function alone; i.e., whether a toxin which lacks a corresponding antitoxin (orphan toxin) is physiologically relevant. By focusing on a homologous protein of the membrane-damaging toxin GhoT of the Escherichia coli GhoT/GhoS type V TA system, we found that YdcX (renamed OrtT for orphan toxin related to tetrahydrofolate) is toxic but is not part of TA pair. OrtT is not inactivated by neighboring YdcY (which is demonstrated to be a protein), nor is it inactivated by antitoxin GhoS. Also, OrtT is not inactivated by small RNA upstream or downstream of ortT. Moreover, screening a genomic library did not identify an antitoxin partner for OrtT. OrtT is a protein and its toxicity stems from membrane damage as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy and cell lysis. Furthermore, OrtT reduces cell growth and metabolism in the presence of both antimicrobials trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole; these antimicrobials induce the stringent response by inhibiting tetrahydrofolate synthesis. Therefore, we demonstrate that OrtT acts as an independent toxin to reduce growth during stress related to amino acid and DNA synthesis.
Chemical Modification of Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) in Water

Partial chemical modification of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was performed through tosylation followed by azidation. Amine functional PVA was also prepared by grafting propargylamine using click chemistry reaction. Through this approach, a tosyl group (a good leaving group), azide group (a group used in click chemistry) and amine group (a group used for amidation) were attached to PVA polymer chains. The three chemical modifications were performed in water. FTIR and XPS analysis confirmed the chemical modification after each step. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to study the thermal stability of the modified PVA.
Is distrust the negation of trust?: the value of distrust in social media

Trust plays an important role in helping online users collect reliable information, and has attracted increasing attention in recent years. We learn from social sciences that, as the conceptual counterpart of trust, distrust could be as important as trust. However, little work exists in studying distrust in social media. What is the relationship between trust and distrust? Can we directly apply methodologies from social sciences to study distrust in social media? In this paper, we design two computational tasks by leveraging data mining and machine learning techniques to enable the computational understanding of distrust with social media data. The first task is to predict distrust from only trust, and the second task is to predict trust with distrust. We conduct experiments in real-world social media data. The empirical results of the first task provide concrete evidence to answer the question, "is distrust the negation of trust? " while the results of the second task help us figure out how valuable the use of distrust in trust prediction.
Accuracy of Urine Circulating Cathodic Antigen (CCA) Test for Schistosoma mansoni Diagnosis in Different Settings of Côte d'Ivoire

Background Promising results have been reported for a urine circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) test for the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni. We assessed the accuracy of a commercially available CCA cassette test (designated CCA-A) and an experimental formulation (CCA-B) for S. mansoni diagnosis. Methodology We conducted a cross-sectional survey in three settings of Côte d'Ivoire: settings A and B are endemic for S. mansoni, whereas S. haematobium co-exists in setting C. Overall, 446 children, aged 8–12 years, submitted multiple stool and urine samples. For S. mansoni diagnosis, stool samples were examined with triplicate Kato-Katz, whereas urine samples were tested with CCA-A. The first stool and urine samples were additionally subjected to an ether-concentration technique and CCA-B, respectively. Urine samples were examined for S. haematobium using a filtration method, and for microhematuria using Hemastix dipsticks. Principal Findings Considering nine Kato-Katz as diagnostic ‘gold’ standard, the prevalence of S. mansoni in setting A, B and C was 32.9%, 53.1% and 91.8%, respectively. The sensitivity of triplicate Kato-Katz from the first stool and a single CCA-A test was 47.9% and 56.3% (setting A), 73.9% and 69.6% (setting B), and 94.2% and 89.6% (setting C). The respective sensitivity of a single CCA-B was 10.4%, 29.9% and 75.0%. The ether-concentration technique showed a low sensitivity for S. mansoni diagnosis (8.3–41.0%). The specificity of CCA-A was moderate (76.9–84.2%); CCA-B was high (96.7–100%). The likelihood of a CCA-A color reaction increased with higher S. mansoni fecal egg counts (odds ratio: 1.07, p<0.001). A concurrent S. haematobium infection or the presence of microhematuria did not influence the CCA-A test results for S. mansoni diagnosis. Conclusion/Significance CCA-A showed similar sensitivity than triplicate Kato-Katz for S. mansoni diagnosis with no cross-reactivity to S. haematobium and microhematuria. The low sensitivity of CCA-B in our study area precludes its use for S. mansoni diagnosis.
Paradigm shifts in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders: The emerging role of oligomeric assemblies

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by amyloid deposition in the cerebral neuropil and vasculature. These amyloid deposits comprise predominantly fragments and full‐length (40 or 42 residue) forms of the amyloid β‐protein (Aβ) organized into fibrillar assemblies. Compelling evidence indicates that factors that increase overall Aβ production or the ratio of longer to shorter forms, or which facilitate deposition or inhibit elimination of amyloid deposits, cause AD or are risk factors for the disease. In vitro studies have demonstrated that fibrillar Aβ has potent neurotoxic effects on cultured neurons. In vivo experiments in non‐human primates have demonstrated that Aβ fibrils directly cause pathologic changes, including tau hyperphosphorylation. In concert with histologic studies revealing a lack of tissue injury in areas of the neuropil in which non‐fibrillar deposits were found, these data suggested that fibril assembly was a prerequisite for Aβ‐mediated neurotoxicity in vivo. Recently, however, both in vitro and in vivo studies have revealed that soluble, oligomeric forms of Aβ also have potent neurotoxic activities, and in fact, may be the proximate effectors of the neuronal injury and death occurring in AD. A paradigm shift is thus emerging that necessitates the reevaluation of the relative importance of polymeric (fibrillar) vs. oligomeric assemblies in the pathobiology of AD. In addition to AD, an increasing number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease, familial British dementia, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and prion diseases, are associated with abnormal protein assembly processes. The archetypal features of the assembly‐dependent neuropathogenetic effects of Aβ may thus be of relevance not only to AD but to these other disorders as well. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Inclusion without Potential: Disability and the Biopolitics of Neuro-logical Human Capital Investments

Parents challenged Canada’s National Children’s Agenda (NCA)—a policy umbrella for neoliberal investments in early childhood introduced in 1999—for mobilizing a brain-focused conceptualization of child development they felt excluded children with disabilities. This conceptualization cast early brain formation as a critical developmental stage and investment phase for human capital development at the population level, assembling a linkage between brain-economy-population that I term the “neuro-logical” model. Although studies show that political efforts to invest in human capital through early childhood reproduce inequality for many, few have considered the exclusionary effects on children with disabilities. To elucidate the inclusion/exclusion of disability, I examine how developmental differences were discursively incorporated in attempts to mobilize and operationalize the neuro-logical model in policy between 1994-2011. Drawing on Lemke’s approach to Foucauldian biopolitics, I conceptualize the NCA as an effort to assemble knowledge and strategies for optimizing life at the population level, and read the neuro-logical model as a strategy to calibrate biopolitics to both emergent neuroscientific “truths” and rapid social and economic change. Using a critical interpretive, “anthropology of policy” methodology that analyzes policy as both discourse and governmental technique, I analyze the neuro-logical model through relevant documentary sources. While the NCA was rhetorically about investing in all children, it was more directly about investing in normal and normalizable brain development as a means to optimize population vitality and ensure global economic competitiveness. I develop the argument that the possibilities for including disability as a form of developmental difference were inscribed in the neuro-logical
"If You Don't Score High Enough, Then That's Your Fault": Student Civic Dispositions in the Context of Competitive School Choice Policy.

When school choice policies position young people to compete with one another to access public educational resources, students stand to experience these policies in not only academic, but also civic dimensions. Young people’s very encounters with competitive school choice policy through their day-to-day schooling constitute a civic experience. This article, then, explores how students who encounter competitive school choice policies come to understand themselves and other youth as citizens. We pursue this line of inquiry through a critically-oriented, qualitative case study conducted with a racially, ethnically, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse group of 36 students undergoing Chicago’s competitive high school admissions process. Our findings strongly suggest that competitive school choice policies position youth to see their fellow citizens (and themselves) as individuals with unequal degrees of civic entitlement and capacity, who must earn their rights, and who have limited civic obligations to others. This article concludes with a discussion of implications for school choice policy equity, civic learning, and the role of youth as powerful policy actors.
Phosphorylation at serines 104 and 106 by Erk1/2 MAPK is important for estrogen receptor-α activity

Phosphorylation of estrogen receptor-α (ERα) at specific residues in transcription activation function 1 (AF-1) can stimulate ERα activity in a ligand-independent manner. This has led to the proposal that AF-1 phosphorylation and the consequent increase in ERα activity could contribute to resistance to endocrine therapies in breast cancer patients. Previous studies have shown that serine 118 (S118) in AF-1 is phosphorylated by extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (Erk1/2) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in a ligand-independent manner. Here, we show that serines 104 (S104) and 106 (S106) are also phosphorylated by MAPK in vitro and upon stimulation of MAPK activity in vivo. Phosphorylation of S104 and S106 can be inhibited by the MAP-erk kinase (MEK)1/2 inhibitor U0126 and by expression of kinase-dead Raf1. Further, we show that, although S118 is important for the stimulation of ERα activity by the selective ER modulator 4-hydroxytamoxifen (OHT), S104 and S106 are also required for the agonist activity of OHT. Acidic amino acid substitution of S104 or S106 stimulates ERα activity to a greater extent than the equivalent substitution at S118, suggesting that phosphorylation at S104 and S106 is important for ERα activity. Collectively, these data indicate that the MAPK stimulation of ERα activity involves the phosphorylation not only of S118 but also of S104 and S106, and that MAPK-mediated hyperphosphorylation of ERα at these sites may contribute to resistance to tamoxifen in breast cancer.
Serologically Defined Variations in Malaria Endemicity in Pará State, Brazil

Background Measurement of malaria endemicity is typically based on vector or parasite measures. A complementary approach is the detection of parasite specific IgG antibodies. We determined the antibody levels and seroconversion rates to both P. vivax and P. falciparum merozoite antigens in individuals living in areas of varying P. vivax endemicity in Pará state, Brazilian Amazon region. Methodology/Principal Findings The prevalence of antibodies to recombinant antigens from P. vivax and P. falciparum was determined in 1,330 individuals. Cross sectional surveys were conducted in the north of Brazil in Anajás, Belém, Goianésia do Pará, Jacareacanga, Itaituba, Trairão, all in the Pará state, and Sucuriju, a free-malaria site in the neighboring state Amapá. Seroprevalence to any P. vivax antigens (MSP1 or AMA-1) was 52.5%, whereas 24.7% of the individuals were seropositive to any P. falciparum antigens (MSP1 or AMA-1). For P. vivax antigens, the seroconversion rates (SCR) ranged from 0.005 (Sucuriju) to 0.201 (Goianésia do Pará), and are strongly correlated to the corresponding Annual Parasite Index (API). We detected two sites with distinct characteristics: Goianésia do Pará where seroprevalence curve does not change with age, and Sucuriju where seroprevalence curve is better described by a model with two SCRs compatible with a decrease in force of infection occurred 14 years ago (from 0.069 to 0.005). For P. falciparum antigens, current SCR estimates varied from 0.002 (Belém) to 0.018 (Goianésia do Pará). We also detected a putative decrease in disease transmission occurred ∼29 years ago in Anajás, Goianésia do Pará, Itaituba, Jacareacanga, and Trairão. Conclusions We observed heterogeneity of serological indices across study sites with different endemicity levels and temporal changes in the force of infection in some of the sites. Our study provides further evidence that serology can be used to measure and monitor transmission of both major species of malaria parasite.
Bayesian variable selection regression for genome-wide association studies and other large-scale problems

We consider applying Bayesian Variable Selection Regression, or BVSR, to genome-wide association studies and similar large-scale regression problems. Currently, typical genome-wide association studies measure hundreds of thousands, or millions, of genetic variants (SNPs), in thousands or tens of thousands of individuals, and attempt to identify regions harboring SNPs that affect some phenotype or outcome of interest. This goal can naturally be cast as a variable selection regression problem, with the SNPs as the covariates in the regression. Characteristic features of genome-wide association studies include the following: (i) a focus primarily on identifying relevant variables, rather than on prediction; and (ii) many relevant covariates may have tiny effects, making it effectively impossible to confidently identify the complete "correct" subset of variables. Taken together, these factors put a premium on having interpretable measures of confidence for individual covariates being included in the model, which we argue is a strength of BVSR compared with alternatives such as penalized regression methods. Here we focus primarily on analysis of quantitative phenotypes, and on appropriate prior specification for BVSR in this setting, emphasizing the idea of considering what the priors imply about the total proportion of variance in outcome explained by relevant covariates. We also emphasize the potential for BVSR to estimate this proportion of variance explained, and hence shed light on the issue of "missing heritability" in genome-wide association studies.
A kinesin with calponin-homology domain is involved in premitotic nuclear migration

Interaction and cross-talk between microtubules and actin microfilaments are important for numerous processes during plant growth and development, including the control of cell elongation and tissue expansion, but little is known about the molecular components of this interaction. Plant kinesins with the calponin-homology domain (KCH) were recently identified and associated with a putative role in microtubule-microfilament cross-linking. The putative biological role of the rice KCH member OsKCH1 is addressed here using a combined approach with Tos17 kch1 knock-out mutants on the one hand, and a KCH1 overexpression line generated in tobacco BY-2 cells. It is shown that OsKCH1 is expressed in a development and tissue-specific manner in rice and antagonistic cell elongation and division phenotypes as a result of knock-down and overexpression are reported. Further, the dynamic repartitioning of OsKCH1 during the cell cycle is described and it is demonstrated that KCH overexpression delays nuclear positioning and mitosis in BY-2 cells. These findings are discussed with respect to a putative role of KCHs as linkers between actin filaments and microtubules during nuclear positioning.
Demand elasticity analysis by least squares support vector machine

Demand-side management (DSM) has been introduced and paid much effort in the electricity industry for such a long time, and become more and more focused in the most of the electricity markets recent years, because of its effect on the modification of consumer demand for energy through various methods especially financial incentives. But due to the complexity of the influence factors, the demand elasticity analysis on electric load is along one of focused and unsolved problems in the researches of electricity market. This paper presents a mathematical tool based on optimization models that is intended to be used to evaluate the load elasticity. Here one effective way of tackling the elasticity computation problem is proposed to simulate the accurate demand response for its influence factors, where least square support vector machine (LS-SVM) is generalized to build the simulation model. First to overcome the limitations of traditional parametric regression methods based on least square rule, load mapping model are accomplished by LS-SVM that is a strong nonlinear regression tool and outperforms standard support vector machine in the regression accuracy and modeling velocity by obtaining the solutions of a set of linear equations instead of solving a quadratic programming problem. Based on that model, numerical simulation is performed to simulate the changes in load and its influence factor in consistency with the latent mapping relationship. Then demand elasticity models are deduced, whose elasticity coefficients are computed by the generated samples. The method embodies clear concepts, so it can be easily understood theoretical and computationally realized. Case studies are used to test the proposed model. In this scenario, the goal is to show the response of demands to different influence signals. Alternative analyses based on assessing the elasticity of power to other input parameters could be also carried out.
Treating strong adjoint sensitivities in tropical eddy‐permitting variational data assimilation

A variational data assimilation system has been implemented for the tropical Pacific Ocean using an eddy‐permitting regional implementation of the MITgcm. The adjoint assimilation system was developed by the Estimation of the Circulation and the Climate of the Ocean consortium, and has been extended to deal with open boundaries. This system is used to adjust the model to match observations in the tropical Pacific region using control parameters which include initial conditions, open boundaries and time‐dependent surface fluxes. This paper focuses on problems related to strong adjoint sensitivities that may impede the model fit to the observations. A decomposition of the velocities at the open boundaries into barotropic and baroclinic modes is introduced to deal with very strong sensitivities of the model sea surface height to the barotropic component of the inflow. Increased viscosity and diffusivity terms are used in the adjoint model to reduce exponentially growing sensitivities in the backward run associated with nonlinearity of the forward model. Simplified experiments in which the model was constrained with Levitus temperature and salinity data, Reynolds sea surface temperature data and TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data were performed to demonstrate the controllability of this assimilation system and to study its sensitivity to the starting guesses for forcing and initial conditions. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society
Joint denoising / compression of image contours via geometric prior and variable-length context tree

The advent of depth sensing technologies has eased the detection of object contours in images. For efficient image compression, coded contours can enable edge-adaptive coding techniques such as graph Fourier transform (GFT) and arbitrarily shaped sub-block motion prediction. However, acquisition noise in captured depth images means that detected contours also suffer from errors. In this paper, we propose to jointly denoise and compress detected contours in an image. Specifically, we first propose a burst error model that models typical errors encountered in an observed string y of directional edges. We then formulate a rate-constrained maximum a posteriori (MAP) problem that trades off the posterior probability P(x|y) of an estimated string x given y with its code rate R(x). Given our burst error model, we show that the negative log of the likelihood P(y|x) can be written as a simple sum of burst error events, error symbols and burst lengths, while the geometric prior P(x) states intuitively that contours are more likely straight than curvy. We design a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm that solves the posed problem optimally. Experimental results show that our joint denoising / compression scheme outperformed a competing separate scheme in rate-distortion performance noticeably.