Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ER stress is involved in T17M rhodopsin-induced retinal degeneration.

PURPOSE The human rhodopsin (Rho) mutation T17M leads to autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP). The goal of our study was to elucidate the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in retinal degeneration in hT17M Rho mice and identify potential candidates for adRP gene therapy. METHODS We used transgenic mice expressing the ER stress-activated indicator (ERAI) and hT17M Rho to evaluate the activation of ER stress responses. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze changes in the expression of 30 unfolded protein response (UPR)-associated genes at P12, 15, 18, 21, and 25. The cytosolic fraction of hT17M Rho retinal cells was used to measure the release of cytochrome C and apoptotic inducing factor-1 (AIF1) by Western blotting. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) analysis was performed for 1-month-old hT17M Rho mice. RESULTS hT17M Rho was localized in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of T17M(+/-)ERAI(+/-) photoreceptors as well as C57BL/6 retinas injected with AAV-hT17M Rho-GFP. In P15 hT17M Rho retinas, we observed an up-regulation of UPR genes (Atf4, Eif2α, Xbp1, Bip, Canx, and Hsp90), autophagy genes and proapoptotic Bcl2 genes. OCT, and the downregulation of Nrl and Crx gene expression confirmed that cell death occurs in 55% of photoreceptors via the up-regulation of caspase-3 and caspase-12, and the release of AIF1 from the mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS The ER stress response is involved in retinal degeneration in hT17M Rho mice. The final demise of photoreceptors occurs via apoptosis involving ER stress-associated and mitochondria-induced caspase activation. We identified Atg5, Atg7, Bax, Bid, Bik, and Noxa as potential therapeutic targets for adRP treatment.
Mock Circulatory System of the Fontan Circulation to Study Respiration Effects on Venous Flow Behavior

We describe an in vitro model of the Fontan circulation with respiration to study subdiaphragmatic venous flow behavior. The venous and arterial connections of a total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) test section were coupled with a physical lumped parameter (LP) model of the circulation. Intrathoracic and subdiaphragmatic pressure changes associated with normal breathing were applied. This system was tuned for two patients (5 years, 0.67 m2; 10 years, 1.2 m2) to physiological values. System function was verified by comparison to the analytical model on which it was based and by consistency with published clinical measurements. Overall, subdiaphragmatic venous flow was influenced by respiration. Flow within the arteries and veins increased during inspiration but decreased during expiration, with retrograde flow in the inferior venous territories. System pressures and flows showed close agreement with the analytical LP model (p < 0.05). The ratio of the flow rates occurring during inspiration to expiration were within the clinical range of values reported elsewhere. The approach used to set up and control the model was effective and provided reasonable comparisons with clinical data.
Firm Heterogeneity in TFP, Sectoral Innovation and Geography: Evidence from Italy

Sectoral and territorial specificities affect the firm’s capabilities of being productive. While there is a wide consensus on this, a quantitative measure of the these effects has been lacking. To this end, we combine a dataset of Italian firms with some meso regional and sectoral variables and apply a cross-classified model that allows for a clear distinction between firm, region-specific and sector-specific effects. After observing a marked TFP heterogeneity across firms, the paper addresses the issue of understanding how much differences in firms’ productivity depend on regional localisation and sector specificities. Results refer to 2004-2006 and are threefold. Firstly, they confirm that the main source of firm variety is mostly due to differences revealed at individual level. Secondly, we find that sector is more important than location in explaining firms’ TFP. Lastly, the results show that firm TFP increases when it belongs to more innovative sectors. Similarly, companies get benefits from belonging to sectors where there is a high proportion of firms using R&D public support and a high propensity to collaborate in innovative projects.
Serosurvey for West Nile Virus Antibodies in Steller's Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) Captured in Coastal California, USA

Abstract West Nile virus (WNV) was first detected in New York in 1999 and, during its expansion across the continental US, southern Canada, and Mexico, members of the Corvidae (ravens, crows, magpies, and jays) were frequently infected and highly susceptible to the virus. As part of a behavioral study of Steller's Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) conducted from 2011–14 in the coastal California counties of San Mateo and Santa Cruz, 380 Steller's Jays were captured and tested for antibodies to WNV. Using the wild bird immunoglobulin G enzyme linked immunoassay, we failed to detect antibodies to WNV, indicating either that there was no previous exposure to the virus or that exposed birds had died.
Modeling and simulation competency center for mature enterprises

Modeling and simulation (M&S) play a significant role in management and decision making in modern enterprises. New methods, techniques and tools have been arising to help organizations to succeed in M&S. We can find many cases of successfully application of M&S in organizations, but normally departmental efforts. Mature enterprises must have M&S managed and optimized efforts in all their departments. Enterprise wide M&S efforts are challenging and few enterprises succeed on it. This challenge is little explored in literature. Enterprise wide M&S is a complex and multidisciplinary effort and need an integrated view. This paper explores M&S enterprise wide efforts. It offers an integrated approach that links technical and behavioral aspects. It also recommends an enterprise competence center in order to organize and drive the modeling and simulation efforts.
Full Versus Partial Collusion Among Brands and Private Label Producers

We analyze the incentives to collude when brand manufacturers compete with a private label producer of inferior quality. Full collusion is easier to sustain than partial collusion from the brands.perspective when horizontal differentiation is large and vertical differentiation is small. The private label firm is better off under full collusion than under partial collusion if goods are sufficiently homogenous (horizontal and/or vertical). Partial collusion could be preferred by the private label exactly when full collusion is easier to sustain. Improving the private label's quality makes full collusion more likely, either because it relaxes the brand producers' incentive constraint or because it shifts the preference of the private label firm from partial collusion to full collusion. Fully collusive behavior reveals itself through a nonnegative price effect on the brands' side caused by a quality increase of the private label good.
Anatomical variations of aortic arch branching: evaluation with computed tomographic angiography

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and gender distribution of variations in the aortic arch branching pattern using 64-slice computed tomograhic angiography. Materials and methods: A total of 1000 patients with a normal left-sided aortic arch who underwent computed tomographic angiography for various reasons were analysed retrospectively for the frequency of variation of aortic arch branching; the variations were categorised into seven types. Results: Of the 1000 patients, 79.2% had a normal aortic arch branching pattern – type 1 – and 20.8% had variations. The frequency of type 2 variation – brachiocephalic and left common carotid arteries arising from the aortic arch in a common trunk – was 14.1%, that of type 3 – left vertebral artery originating from the aortic arch – was 4.1%, that of type 4 – coexistence of type 2 and type 3 – was 1.2%, that of type 5 – aberrant right subclavian artery – was 0.6%, that of type 6 – coexistence of aberrant right subclavian artery and bicarotid trunk – was 0.7%, and that for type 7 – thyroidea ima artery arising from the aortic arch – was 0.1%. The incidences of the variations of aortic arch branching were similar among males and females (20% versus 22.1%). The incidence of an aberrant right subclavian artery – type 5 and type 6 – was higher among females compared with males (2.5% versus 0.5), whereas the frequencies of the other variations were either equal or similar in both genders. Conclusion: Recognition of variations of aortic arch branching is important because they may cause symptoms due to tracheoesophageal compression or complications during surgical or endovascular interventional procedures of the aorta and its branches.
Genetic improvement in feed efficiency in beef cattle

Summary Net feed conversion efficiency (NFCE) describes whether an animal eats more or less feed than expected for its size and growth rate. Early results from the Trangie NFCE Project, and from the Beef CRC, show that considerable variation in NFCE exists within each of the British breeds tested and is moderately heritable. Estimates of heritability for average daily gain, 365-day weight, feed intake, net feed intake, feed conversion ratio, fat depth at the 12th/13th rib and eye muscle area are 0.41, 0.68, 0.59, 0.44, 0.31, 0.47 and 0.31 respectively. Phenotypic correlations of net feed intake with average daily gain, 36%weight and eye muscle area are non-significant, while correlations with feed intake, feed conversion ratio and rib fat depth are 0.52, 0.5 1 and 0.19. For the postweaning phase of beef production, initial results indicate that feed costs could be reduced by using cattle of above average postweaning NFCE.
Computed Tomography-Based Thrombus Imaging for the Prediction of Recanalization after Reperfusion Therapy in Stroke

The prediction of successful recanalization following thrombolytic or endovascular treatment may be helpful to determine the strategy of recanalization treatment in acute stroke. Thrombus can be detected using noncontrast computed tomography (CT) as a hyperdense artery sign or blooming artifact on a T2*-weighted gradient-recalled image. The detection of thrombus using CT depends on slice thickness. Thrombus burden can be determined in terms of the length, volume, and clot burden score. The thrombus size can be quantitatively measured on thin-section CT or CT angiography/magnetic resonance angiography. The determination of thrombus size may be predictive of successful recanalization/non-recanalization after intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment. However, cut-offs of thrombus size for predicting recanalization/non-recanalization are different among studies, due to different methods of measurements. Thus, a standardized method to measure the thrombus is necessary for thrombus imaging to be useful and reliable in clinical practice. Software-based measurements may provide a reliable and accurate assessment. The measurement should be easy and rapid to be more widely used in practice, which could be achieved by improvement of the user interface. In addition to prediction of recanalization, sequential measurements of thrombus volume before and after the treatment may also be useful to determine the efficacy of new thrombolytic drugs. This manuscript reviews the diagnosis of thrombus, prediction of recanalization using thrombus imaging, and practical considerations for the measurement of thrombus burden and density on CT.
THE REACTION OF INTRADAY WIG RETURNS TO THE U.S. MACROECONOMIC NEWS ANNOUNCEMENTS

: This paper analyses the reaction of stock returns on the Warsaw Stock Exchange to U.S. macroeconomic news announcements. The study is 9 conducted on the basis of five-minute returns of WIG from January 2004 to 10 December 2012. This nine-year period includes different stages of economic cycle and additionally the global financial crisis. Hence results of our analysis are not limited only to contraction or expansion and can be applied to bull and bear market. The application of event study analysis allows us to 14 measure not only the strength of the impact of information release but also its duration.
Lifestyle disease prevention: Health literacy, health attitude and mHealth

Lifestyle disease has been a sprawling issue not only in Malaysia, but worldwide. In the literature, low health literacy and negative health attitude are the two main causal factors for high number of lifestyle disease. Meanwhile, mobile health or better known as mHealth is found to enhance health literacy and encourage positive health attitude. This study aims to find the relationship between health literacy, health attitude and lifestyle disease for residence in Malaysia. A total of 150 responses have been collected using a questionnaire posted via social media platforms. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between health literacy and lifestyle disease as well as health attitude and lifestyle disease. Majority of the respondents have been found to have low health literacy and negative health attitude too. A mHealth application with features of disease information, symptoms checker, calorie counter, medication information and exercise can be proposed with hope to improve health literacy and attitude of Malaysia residence. The proposed features are based on responses solicited from the questionnaire.
How Learning Capacity Influences On Performance: An Empirical Evidence

(WP 06/03 Clave pdf) ItÂ´s recognized that the development of a learning capacity is a fundamental factor for the achievement of a durable competitive advantage.But the relevance of the learning capacity for the improvement of the organizational performance, and thus competence, has been insufficiently developed. Based on data from 111 Spanish Co., this WP explores the relation between the learning capacity and the improvement of business performance by comparing how the stocks and flows of knowledge impact on performance, in economic and non-economic terms. Results indicate that those organizations with the highest levels in their stocks and flows of knowledge obtain a superior performance.
SUPERFAMILY: HMMs representing all proteins of known structure. SCOP sequence searches, alignments and genome assignments

The SUPERFAMILY database contains a library of hidden Markov models representing all proteins of known structure. The database is based on the SCOP 'superfamily' level of protein domain classification which groups together the most distantly related proteins which have a common evolutionary ancestor. There is a public server at http://supfam.org which provides three services: sequence searching, multiple alignments to sequences of known structure, and structural assignments to all complete genomes. Given an amino acid or nucleotide query sequence the server will return the domain architecture and SCOP classification. The server produces alignments of the query sequences with sequences of known structure, and includes multiple alignments of genome and PDB sequences. The structural assignments are carried out on all complete genomes (currently 59) covering approximately half of the soluble protein domains. The assignments, superfamily breakdown and statistics on them are available from the server. The database is currently used by this group and others for genome annotation, structural genomics, gene prediction and domain-based genomic studies.
Supervisor control for a stand-alone hybrid generation system using wind and photovoltaic energy

A comprehensive supervisor control for a hybrid system that comprises wind and photovoltaic generation subsystems, a battery bank, and an ac load is developed in this paper. The objectives of the supervisor control are, primarily, to satisfy the load power demand and, second, to maintain the state of charge of the battery bank to prevent blackout and to extend the life of the batteries. For these purposes, the supervisor controller determines online the operation mode of both generation subsystems, switching from power regulation to maximum power conversion. Decision criteria for the supervisor based on measurable system variables are presented. Finally, the performance of the supervisor controller is extensively assessed through computer simulation using a comprehensive nonlinear model of the plant.
Establishment of an interleukin 6 (IL 6)/B cell stimulatory factor 2‐dependent cell line and preparation of anti‐IL 6 monoclonal antibodies

Murine hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (mAb) specific to human interleukin 6 (IL6/BSF‐2) were established. One of these hybridomas (MH60.BSF2) was found to be dependent on IL6 for its in vitro growth. None of the known biological factors tested, such as recombinant (r) human (Hu) Illα, rHuILlα, rHuIL2, rHuIL3, rHuIL4, rHu interferon (1FN)‐γ, HuIFN‐β, rHuG‐CSF, or recombinant murine (Mu) IL3, MuIL4, rMuIL5, could induce the in vitro growth of MH60.BSF2 cells. The half‐maximum tritiated thymidine uptake by MH60.BSF2 cells could be achieved by picogram amounts of rIL 6, making this hybridoma clone an indicator cell for specific and sensitive detection of the IL6 activity in test samples. The MH166.BSF2 clone was found to produce IgGl,χ type mAb (αBSF2‐166) capable of neutralizing IL6 activity. The other clone, MH60.BSF2, produced IgM,x type mAb (aBSF2‐60) unable to neutralize IL6 activity. Both mAb specifically reacted with IL6 as demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting analysis. An enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) utilizing αBSF2‐166 and rabbit anti‐IL 6 antibodies was established which could detect as low as 50 pg/ml of IL6. Since both the ELISA and MH60.BSF2 hybridoma could detect small amounts of IL6 in biological fluids, they constitute powerful tools in exploring the presence or the role of IL6 in various immunological disorders.
Chronic treatment with melatonin stimulates dendrite maturation and complexity in adult hippocampal neurogenesis of mice

Abstract: In the course of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, the postmitotic maturation and survival phase is associated with dendrite maturation. Melatonin modulates the survival of new neurons with relative specificity. During this phase, the new neurons express microtubule‐associated protein doublecortin (DCX). Here, we show that the entire population of cells expressing DCX is increased after 14 days of treatment with melatonin. As melatonin also affects microtubule polymerization which is important for neuritogenesis and dendritogenesis, we studied the consequences of chronic melatonin administration on dendrite maturation of DCX‐positive cells. Treatment with melatonin increased the number of DCX‐positive immature neurons with more complex dendrites. Sholl analysis revealed that melatonin treatment lead to greater complexity of the dendritic tree. In addition, melatonin increased the total volume of the granular cell layer. Besides its survival‐promoting effect, melatonin thus also increases dendritic maturation in adult neurogenesis. This might open the opportunity of using melatonin as an adjuvant in attempts to extrinsically stimulate adult hippocampal neurogenesis in neuropsychiatric disease, dementia or cognitive ageing.
Integrins α2β1 and α4β1 Can Mediate SA11 Rotavirus Attachment and Entry into Cells

ABSTRACT Most mammalian rotaviruses contain tripeptide amino acid sequences in outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7 which have been shown to act as ligands for integrins α2β1 and α4β1. Peptides containing these sequences and monoclonal antibodies directed to these integrins block rotavirus infection of cells. Here we report that SA11 rotavirus binding to and infection of K562 cells expressing α2β1 or α4β1 integrins via transfection is increased over virus binding to and infection of cells transfected with α3 integrin or parent cells. The increased binding and growth were specifically blocked by a monoclonal antibody to the transfected integrin subunit but not by irrelevant antibodies. In our experiments, integrin activation with phorbol ester did not affect virus binding to cells. However, phorbol ester treatment of K562 parent and transfected cells induced endogenous gene expression of α2β1 integrin, which was detectable by flow cytometry 16 h after treatment and quantitatively correlated with the increased level of SA11 virus growth observed after this time. Virus binding to K562 cells treated with phorbol ester 24 h previously and expressing α2β1 was elevated over binding to control cells and was specifically blocked by the anti-α2 monoclonal antibody AK7. Virus growth in α4-transfected K562 cells which had also been induced to express α2β1 integrin with phorbol ester occurred at a level approaching that in the permissive MA104 cell line. We therefore have demonstrated that two integrins, α2β1 and α4β1, are capable of acting as cellular receptors for SA11 rotavirus.
Metaphor Detection in a Poetry Corpus

Metaphor is indispensable in poetry. It showcases the poet’s creativity, and contributes to the overall emotional pertinence of the poem while honing its specific rhetorical impact. Previous work on metaphor detection relies on either rule-based or statistical models, none of them applied to poetry. Our method focuses on metaphor detection in a poetry corpus. It combines rule-based and statistical models (word embeddings) to develop a new classification system. Our system has achieved a precision of 0.759 and a recall of 0.804 in identifying one type of metaphor in poetry.
What is a Clinically Important Level of Improvement in Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

Objective: To compare the desired and actual reduction in scores on a parent reported behaviour rating scale in a naturalistic sample of children and adolescents who had been treated with psychostimulant medication, referenced to global ratings of treatment benefit. Method: Forty-five parents reporting poor global response to psychostimulant treatment, 44 reporting moderate response, and 49 reporting a high response retrospectively completed Conners rating scales describing their child prior to treatment, the child currently, and how the parent hoped the child would be following treatment. Results: Percentage actual improvement in behaviour rating scales from baseline ranged from around 25% for the poor responders to above 50% for the high responders. Desired improvement was above 50%, with no significant difference between the groups on level of expectation. Conclusions: Percentage cut points used to indicate clinical improvement reported in previous controlled trials of psychostimulant medication are probably too low, and could lead to an overestimate of treatment effect. Expectation of treatment benefit is unlikely to contribute to variation in treatment response.