Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Explaining Income Inequality Trends in Countries: An Integrated Approach

What can we say about systematic global and broad regional trends in the drivers of income inequality in countries? In order to address this question, this work takes an integrated approach in that it looks at a broad set of countries and examines a broad set of determinants. We thus model technological progress, non-resource trade flows, the education distribution, labor vs. capital income as well as heterogeneity in public social spending and analyze the relation to three income inequality measures in Advanced and Developing Economies. Our findings indicate the main factors adding to increasing inequality globally to be technological progress and trade with high-income countries. Trade with low-income countries, public spending on health and decreasing shares of people without any formal education, on the other hand, had significant equalizing effects on the income distribution. The estimated effects of the education distribution, public education spending and the labor income share are highly region specific and thus indicate the importance of disentangling global effects.
Analysis of Cdh22 expression and function in the developing mouse brain

Classical cadherins are important cell adhesion molecules specifying and separating brain nuclei and developmental compartments. Cadherin‐22 (Cdh22) belongs to type II subfamily of classical cadherins, and is expressed at the midbrain‐hindbrain boundary during early embryogenesis. In Fgfr1 mutant mouse embryos, which have a disturbed midbrain‐hindbrain border, Cdh22 is down‐regulated. Here, we studied expression of Cdh22 in developing mouse brain in more detail and compared it to expression of related family members. This revealed both complementary and overlapping patterns of Cdh22, Cdh11, Cdh8, and Cdh6 expression in distinct regions of the forebrain and midbrain. We used a mutated allele of Cdh22 to study its function in brain development. Loss of Cdh22 caused reduced postnatal viability. Despite strong Cdh22 expression in the developing brain, we did not observe defects in compartmentalization or abnormalities in the midbrain and forebrain nuclei in Cdh22 mutants. This may be explained by functional redundancy between type II cadherins. Developmental Dynamics 240:1989–2001, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Image processing-based measurement of volume for droplets in the microfluidic system

This paper describes a new approach on the measurement of droplets volume in microfluidic system based on image processing. This approach successfully detects the diameter of a single droplet. Image processing via MATLAB is used to capture droplets volume in the microfluidic system. Compared with other methods, this approach has enormous advantages of real-time, simpleness and wide applications. Because of the demand of constant accurate flow in microfluidic system, the approach to measure volume of microfluid is in urgent need. The accuracy of the volume measurements is limited by the selected parameters of the image processing. During the experiment, the optimum parameters of the image processing are selected through repeated tests. The obtained results are in good agreement with the demand. The results show that microfluid can be controlled in quantitative. That makes an important application field of micro fluidic is in pharmacy, microchemistry, biochemistry and bioanalysis.
Miniaturized bacterial biosensor system for arsenic detection holds great promise for making integrated measurement device

Combining bacterial bioreporters with microfluidics systems holds great promise for in-field detection of chemical or toxicity targets. Recently we showed how Escherichia coli cells engineered to produce a variant of green fluorescent protein after contact to arsenite and arsenate can be encapsulated in agarose beads and incorporated into a microfluidic chip to create a device for in-field detection of arsenic, a contaminant of well known toxicity and carcinogenicity in potable water both in industrialized and developing countries. Cell-beads stored in the microfluidics chip at -20°C retained inducibility up to one month and we were able to reproducibly discriminate concentrations of 10 and 50 μg arsenite per L (the drinking water standards for European countries and the United States, and for the developing countries, respectively) from the blank in less than 200 minutes. We discuss here the reasons for decreasing bioreporter signal development upon increased storage of cell beads but also show how this decrease can be reduced, leading to a faster detection and a longer lifetime of the device.
Downward flexibility: Who is willing to take an inferior job?

Most workers look forward to better jobs across their careers, but in an age of rising inequality and insecurity at work, some are willing to accept an inferior job in order to avoid joblessness. We use the Work Orientations III survey from the 2005 International Social Survey Programme to explore such ‘downward flexibility’ and develop several regression models specified for 19 OECD countries to test hypotheses and explore macro- and individual-level variations. Workers in liberal ‘labour market regimes’ are more tolerant of downward adaptations, in line with evidence that these regimes produce strongly institutionalized norms of flexibility. Tolerance of a worse job is also higher among those with weak labour market positions (low-income respondents, women and young people). Further macro-level analysis suggests that the ‘model’ country with the most downwardly flexible workers would be rich and unequal, with weak unions and low levels of social protection and industrial rights.
Miniaturization of CPW-Fed Slot Antennas Using Reactive Terminations and Truncated Bilateral Ground Plane

Two miniaturized designs of coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed slot antennas are proposed using reactive terminations and truncated bilateral ground plane. The slot radiators are shortened by employing meandered thin strips or interdigital capacitors (IDCs) as the reactive terminations, while the reduction in total antenna area is accomplished by the truncated bilateral ground plane. Design considerations to truncate the bilateral ground plane while maintaining satisfactory transmission characteristics of the feeding CPW are discussed. The slot radiators of the 5.8-GHz prototype designs both measure , and the ground planes occupy a small area of . The measured gains of the designs using inductive and capacitive terminations are 1 and 0.7 dBi, respectively. Also, it is shown that the design using IDCs can be further miniaturized. A 2.4-GHz prototype antenna is thus realized with a ground plane size, or total antenna area, of merely .
Trinitratobis{N'-[1-(2-pyridyl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazide}cerium(III): a three-dimensional cerium-organic supramolecular structure.

The Ce(III) ion in the title complex, [Ce(NO(3))(3)(C(13)H(12)N(4)O)(2)], is 12-coordinated by six chelating nitrate O atoms and six donors (2 O and 4 N atoms) of two N'-[1-(2-pyridyl)ethylidene]isonicotinohydrazide ligands, exhibiting a bicapped pentagonal-antiprism-type coordination geometry. The title complex possesses C(2) point symmetry and is located on a twofold crystallographic axis. Each molecule is linked with four surrounding molecules by four N-H.N hydrogen bonds, resulting in an extended two-dimensional layer parallel to the ab plane, while pi-pi interactions between pyridine rings from neighboring complex molecules connect the two-dimensional layers into a three-dimensional cerium-organic supramolecular structure.
System Dynamics Evaluation of Traffic Safety Policy : A Feasibility Study

System dynamics (SD) is a method for learning about complex systems and it includes a range of tools such as causal loop diagrams and computer simulation. SD has been used to facilitate the analysis of complex physical and social systems, e.g. water resources, climate change and industrial accidents. One of the key reasons for its growing popularity is that SD allows policy “experimentation” and facilitates discussion of “what-if” scenarios. Due to the complexity of traffic policies, SD has been used to facilitate traffic policy analysis. However, there is a lack of application of SD in traffic safety policy, which tends to focus on micro level issues, e.g. interactions between the driver, infrastructure and the vehicle. Even though such micro level analysis are important, macro traffic safety policies can create more sustainable systems that pre-empt safety issues and reduce likelihood of traffic accidents. This paper presents two preliminary case studies of how SD can facilitate and encourage macro and meso levels traffic safety policy. In the first case study, a small SD model was created to assess the policy options to encourage purchase cars with higher safety rating. In the second case study, an existing SD simulation model that evaluates the impact of public transport policies on travel time is extended to include traffic safety consideration. The authors draw on the experience of developing the two hypothetical case studies to assess the usefulness and challenges of using SD to facilitate traffic safety policy.
Effect of neohesperidin dihydrochalcone on the activity and stability of alpha‐amylase: a comparative study on bacterial, fungal, and mammalian enzymes

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC) was recently introduced as an activator of mammalian alpha‐amylase. In the current study, the effect of NHDC has been investigated on bacterial and fungal alpha‐amylases. Enzyme assays and kinetic analysis demonstrated the capability of NHDC to significantly activate both tested alpha‐amylases. The ligand activation pattern was found to be more similar between the fungal and mammalian enzyme in comparison with the bacterial one. Further, thermostability experiments indicated a stability increase in the presence of NHDC for the bacterial enzyme. In silico (docking) test locates a putative binding site for NHDC on alpha‐amylase surface in domain B. This domain shows differences in various alpha‐amylase types, and the different behavior of the ligand toward the studied enzymes may be attributed to this fact. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Acridine orange as a fluorescent probe for lysosomal proton pump.

Acridine orange was found to accumulate in pure lysosomal particles (tritosomes) in vitro, and the quenching of its fluorescence correlated well with the delta pH (inside acid) across the lysosomal membrane. Use of this dye showed that Mg-ATP caused lysosomal acidification. This acidification was sensitive to N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, N-ethylmaleimide, and azide, but not to oligomycin, ouabain or vanadate. These results supported the idea of the existence of a lysosomal H+-pump, suggested in a previous paper (Ohkuma et al. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. 79, 2758-2762).
Structural Basis of Rev1-mediated Assembly of a Quaternary Vertebrate Translesion Polymerase Complex Consisting of Rev1, Heterodimeric Polymerase (Pol) ζ, and Pol κ*

Background: Translesion synthesis in mammalian cells is achieved by sequential actions of insertion and extension polymerases. Results: We determined the Rev1-Pol ζ-Pol κ complex structure and verified the binding interface with in vivo studies. Conclusion: Mammalian insertion and extension polymerases could cooperate within a megatranslesion polymerase complex nucleated by Rev1. Significance: The Rev1-Pol ζ interface is a target for developing novel cancer therapeutics. DNA synthesis across lesions during genomic replication requires concerted actions of specialized DNA polymerases in a potentially mutagenic process known as translesion synthesis. Current models suggest that translesion synthesis in mammalian cells is achieved in two sequential steps, with a Y-family DNA polymerase (κ, η, ι, or Rev1) inserting a nucleotide opposite the lesion and with the heterodimeric B-family polymerase ζ, consisting of the catalytic Rev3 subunit and the accessory Rev7 subunit, replacing the insertion polymerase to carry out primer extension past the lesion. Effective translesion synthesis in vertebrates requires the scaffolding function of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of Rev1 that interacts with the Rev1-interacting region of polymerases κ, η, and ι and with the Rev7 subunit of polymerase ζ. We report the purification and structure determination of a quaternary translesion polymerase complex consisting of the Rev1 CTD, the heterodimeric Pol ζ complex, and the Pol κ Rev1-interacting region. Yeast two-hybrid assays were employed to identify important interface residues of the translesion polymerase complex. The structural elucidation of such a quaternary translesion polymerase complex encompassing both insertion and extension polymerases bridged by the Rev1 CTD provides the first molecular explanation of the essential scaffolding function of Rev1 and highlights the Rev1 CTD as a promising target for developing novel cancer therapeutics to suppress translesion synthesis. Our studies support the notion that vertebrate insertion and extension polymerases could structurally cooperate within a megatranslesion polymerase complex (translesionsome) nucleated by Rev1 to achieve efficient lesion bypass without incurring an additional switching mechanism.
Antibiotic prophylaxis by teicoplanin and risk of acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) associated with antibiotic prophylaxis with teicoplanin in cardiac surgery. DESIGN Observational cohort study. Data were gathered from patient charts and national registers. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS All adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery at the authors' institution between January 1, 2010 and July 31, 2013 were eligible for the study. INTERVENTIONS The risk for AKI associated with teicoplanin prophylaxis was estimated by multivariate logistic regression. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The primary endpoint, AKI, was defined according to the Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria stage 1, as an increase of postoperative serum creatinine by ≥26 μmol/L (≥0.3 mg/dL) or a relative increase of ≥50% compared to the preoperative value. The authors included 2,809 patients, and 1,056 (38%) received a combination of teicoplanin and cloxacillin for antibiotic prophylaxis. The remaining 1,753 (62%) patients received only cloxacillin and constituted the control group. AKI occurred in 32% (n = 343) in the teicoplanin group compared to 29% (n = 517) in the control group. There was a significant association between antibiotic prophylaxis with teicoplanin and AKI; multivariate adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.41 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-1.70). There was a dose-dependent relationship; 600 mg OR: 1.48 (95% CI 1.17-1.87), and 400 mg OR: 1.34 (95% CI 1.06-1.71). The findings were confirmed in several subgroup analyses; men (OR: 1.27; 95% CI 1.03-1.56); women (OR: 1.90; 95% CI 1.30-2.80); normal renal function (OR: 1.31; 95% CI 1.07-1.60), and reduced renal function (OR: 1.80; 95% CI 1.13-2.85). CONCLUSIONS Antibiotic prophylaxis with teicoplanin was associated with an increased risk of AKI after cardiac surgery. The relative risk of AKI was higher in women and in patients with impaired renal function.
Detection of Specific Glycosaminoglycans and Glycan Epitopes by in vitro Sulfation using Recombinant Sulfotransferases

ulfated glycans play critical roles during the development, differentiation and growth of various organisms. The most well‐studied sulfated molecules are sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Sulfation at any particular site on a certain glycan is usually unsaturated in vivo. Therefore it is possible to introduce radioisotope 35S to specific glycans using recombinant sulfotransferases in vitro, thereby allowing detection of minute quantities of particular glycans. As examples, we tested contaminant GAGs in commercial heparin, heparan sulfate and chondroitin samples. The identities of the contaminating GAGs were further confirmed by digestion using GAG‐specific lyases. This strategy can also be used to detect oversulfated chondroitin sulfate following a simple desulfation step. In addition, in vitro sulfation by sulfotransferases allowed us to map glycan epitopes in biological samples. This was illustrated using mouse embryo and rat organ tissue sections labeled with sulfotransferases of CHST3, CHST15, HS3ST1, CHST4 and CHST10.
Magnetic Resonance Gd-RGD Imaging Study of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with High and Low Metastatic Potential before and after Human Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Intervention

Background: Biotherapy based on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is currently the focus of research, especially in the field of autologous stem cell transplantation. A novel type of metastasis-associated magnetic resonance (MR) molecular imaging probe was constructed, and the changes in metastasis and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before and after BMSC intervention were observed through MR imaging (MRI). Methods: Metastasis-associated MR molecular imaging probe, integrin &agr;v&bgr;3 ligand cRGD-PEG-DGL-DTPA-Gd (Gd-RGD), were constructed. After human BMSC intervention was performed for 6 weeks, tumor weight inhibition rates were calculated, and the RGD molecular probe was imaged through MRI with molecular imaging agent Gd-DTPA as control. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in the MRI experiment were used as semi-quantitative indicators. Polymerase chain reaction method was performed to detect proliferation- and metastasis-associated indicators, transforming growth factor &bgr;-1 (TGF&bgr;1), osteopontin (OPN), and integrin subunit &agr;v and &bgr;3. Results: The highest tumor weight inhibition rates were observed 3 weeks after the BMSC transplantation. The MR Gd-RGD in the HCC tissues after the BMSC intervention showed less enhancement than Gd-DTPA. The Gd-DTPA MRI of control group had higher SNR and CNR than Gd-RGD MRI in the experimental groups (P < 0.05). For high metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-H), significant differences were observed in the SNRs and CNRs of Gd-RGD MRI before and after the BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). For low metastatic potential hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-L), the CNRs of Gd-RGD MRI were statistically different before and after BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). With regard to MHCC97-H, OPN, &bgr;3, and TGF&bgr;1 expression significantly decreased after BMSC intervention (P < 0.05). In MHCC97-L and OPN, &bgr;3, TGF&bgr;1, and &agr;v expression after BMSC intervention decreased, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The CNR index of MRI is a good indicator for distinguishing high- and low-metastatic potential HCC tissues. After BMSC transplantation of MRI through the two kinds of tracer, the SNR and CNR indexes can distinguish two kinds of high and low metastatic potential HCC tissues, and Gd-RGD imaging is more suitable in distinguishing the metastatic potential changes through BMSC intervention.
Generating and Estimating Nonverbal Alphabets for Situated and Multimodal Communications

In this paper, we discuss the formalized approach for generating and estimating symbols (and alphabets), which can be communicated by the wide range of non-verbal means based on specific user requirements (medium, priorities, type of information that needs to be conveyed). The short characterization of basic terms and parameters of such symbols (and alphabets) with approaches to generate them are given. Then the framework, experimental setup, and some machine learning methods to estimate usefulness and effectiveness of the nonverbal alphabets and systems are presented. The previous results demonstrate that usage of multimodal data sources (like wearable accelerometer, heart monitor, muscle movements sensors, braincomputer interface) along with machine learning approaches can provide the deeper understanding of the usefulness and effectiveness of such alphabets and systems for nonverbal and situated communication. The symbols (and alphabets) generated and estimated by such methods may be useful in various applications: from synthetic languages and constructed scripts to multimodal nonverbal and situated interaction between people and artificial intelligence systems through Human-Computer Interfaces, such as mouse gestures, touchpads, body gestures, eyetracking cameras, wearables, and brain-computing interfaces, especially in applications for elderly care and people with disabilities.
Limited association between Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene and bipolar disorder in the Chinese population

Objective Bipolar disorder is a common, severe, and recurrent psychiatric disorder. The Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene has been associated with the risk of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, autism, and Asperger syndrome in different populations. Here, we report the first association study for the DISC1 with bipolar disorder in Chinese cohorts. Methods We conducted a case-control study and genotyped 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 506 bipolar patients and 507 controls recruited from Anhui province in China. The genotyping procedure was carried on the ABI 7900 DNA detection platform by using TaqMan probe technology. Result Although the data did not show association between any individual single nucleotide polymorphism in the DISC1 gene and bipolar disorder, a haplotype [rs2738864 (C)–rs16841582 (C)] was found to be associated with the disorder (P=0.0191). Conclusion This finding provides evidence supporting the role of DISC1 gene in bipolar disorder, and shows the presence of population heterogeneity.
Spatial Variations in Archaeal Lipids of Surface Water and Core-Top Sediments in the South China Sea and Their Implications for Paleoclimate Studies

ABSTRACT The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, yet little is known about archaeal distributions and TEX86-based temperatures in this unique oceanic setting. Here we report findings of abundances in both core lipids (CL) and intact polar lipids (IPL) of Archaea from surface water (CL only) and core-top sediments from different regions of the SCS. TEX86-derived temperatures were also calculated for these samples. The surface water had extremely low abundances of CL (average of 0.05 ± 0.13 ng/liter; n = 75), with higher values present in regions where upwelling is known to occur. The core-top sediments had CL values of 0.1 to 0.9 μg/g, which are on the low end of CL concentrations reported for other marine sediments and may reflect the oligotrophic nature of the open SCS. The IPL of Archaea accounted for 6 to 36.4% of total lipids (CL plus IPL), indicating that the majority of archaeal lipids in core-top sediments were derived from nonliving cells. The TEX86-based temperatures of surface water were overall lower than satellite-based sea surface temperatures or CTD-measured in situ temperatures. The core-top sediment samples, however, had TEX86 temperatures very close to the mean annual sea surface temperatures, except for samples with water depths of less than 100 m. Our results demonstrated low and heterogeneous distributions of archaeal lipids in surface water and core-top sediments of the SCS, which may reflect local or regional differences in productivity of Archaea. While TEX86-based temperatures for core-top marine sediments at deep water depths (>100 m) generally reflected mean annual sea surface temperatures, TEX86 temperatures in surface water varied basin wide and underestimated sea surface temperatures in most locations for the season when surface water samples were collected.