Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comprehensive View of Regulation of Gene Expression by Double-stranded RNA-mediated Cell Signaling*

Double-stranded (ds) RNA, a common component of virus-infected cells, is a potent inducer of the type I interferon and other cellular genes. For identifying the full repertoire of human dsRNA-regulated genes, a cDNA microarray hybridization screening was conducted using mRNA from dsRNA-treated GRE cells. Because these cells lack all type I interferon genes, the possibility of gene induction by autocrine actions of interferon was eliminated. Our screen identified 175 dsRNA-stimulated genes (DSG) and 95 dsRNA-repressed genes. A subset of the DSGs was also induced by different inflammatory cytokines and viruses demonstrating interconnections among disparate signaling pathways. Functionally, the DSGs encode proteins involved in signaling, apoptosis, RNA synthesis, protein synthesis and processing, cell metabolism, transport, and structure. Induction of such a diverse family of genes by dsRNA has major implications in host-virus interactions and in the use of RNAi technology for functional ablation of specific genes.
Associations Between Intestinal Mucosal Function and Changes in Plasma Zinc Concentration Following Zinc Supplementation

Objectives: Subclinical environmental enteropathy is associated with malabsorption of fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins A, B12, and folate; however, little information is available on mineral absorption. We therefore investigated the relation between intestinal mucosal function (measured by the lactulose:mannitol permeability test and plasma citrulline concentration), and zinc (Zn) absorption, as estimated by the change in plasma Zn concentration (PZC) following short-term Zn or placebo supplementation. Methods: We conducted a randomized, partially masked, placebo-controlled trial among 282 apparently healthy children 6 to 23 months of age in Burkina Faso. After completing baseline intestinal function tests, participants received either 5 mg Zn, as zinc sulfate, or placebo, daily for 21 days. Results: At baseline, mean ± standard deviation PZC was 62.9 ± 11.9 &mgr;g/dL; median (interquartile range) urinary lactulose:mannitol (L:M) recovery ratio and plasma citrulline concentrations were 0.04 (0.03–0.07) and 11.4 (9.0–15.6) &mgr;mol/L, respectively. Change in PZC was significantly greater in the Zn-supplemented versus placebo group (15.6 ± 13.3 vs 0.02 ± 10.9 &mgr;g/dL; P < 0.0001), and was negatively associated with initial urinary L:M recovery ratio (−1.1 &mgr;g/dL per 50% increase in urinary L:M recovery ratio; P = 0.014); this latter relation did not differ between supplementation groups (P = 0.26). Baseline plasma citrulline concentration was not associated with change in PZC. Conclusions: Although altered intestinal permeability may reduce dietary Zn absorption, it likely does not undermine the efficacy of Zn supplementation, given the large increases in PZC following short-term Zn supplementation observed in this study, even among those with increased urinary L:M recovery ratios.
Back to Basics in Banking Theory and Varieties of Finance Capitalism

Abstract This article argues for a back to basics approach in banking theory and broaden comparative and historical perspectives on bank change. Evidence across advanced economies suggests varieties of finance capitalism rather than convergence toward joint stock banks and capital markets through privatizations, liberalization and deregulation. A minimal definition of banks as deposit-taking and loan-making institutions suggests that the US experience remains, paradoxically, both paradigm and exceptional, and that Minskyian approaches both contribute to recent debates about finance and banking and may profit by expanding the scope of analysis to include bank-centered finance abroad.
Holographic Surface Leaky-Wave Lenses With Circularly-Polarized Focused Near-Fields—Part II: Experiments and Description of Frequency Steering of Focal Length

This paper reports experimental results which demonstrate the possibility to synthesize focused near-fields from a planar printed circuit which is fed with a simple coaxial probe. A prototype operating at 10 GHz has been manufactured and tested. As predicted by the theory described in the first part of this paper, high 75% focusing efficiency of circularly polarized fields is obtained as a result of the proper modulation of the dimensions of the Archimedean-shaped printed slot. The designed coaxial feeding provides good matching (below -10 dB) in the entire frequency band. Finally, the scanning of the focal length as a function of the frequency is described in this paper, showing measured results and accurate theoretical explanation based on the frequency dispersion of the tapered leaky mode. This phenomenon is general for this type of two dimensional leaky-wave lenses, and might find many applications in imaging, sensing and heating.
Private Policing and Private Roads: A Coasian Approach to Drunk-Driving Policy

"Alcohol-related traffic accidents are externalities, not because of drinking, but because of relatively free access to public roads. Access limits are Coasian (property-rights) policies, but more effective limits will arise if road owners are liable for failing to provide safe roads. This can be achieved by privatising roads, thereby creating strong incentives to employ innovative private traffic policing. " Copyright (c) 2007 The Author. Journal compilation (c) Institute of Economic Affairs 2007.
Results and Analysis of ChaLearn LAP Multi-modal Isolated and Continuous Gesture Recognition, and Real Versus Fake Expressed Emotions Challenges

We analyze the results of the 2017 ChaLearn Looking at People Challenge at ICCV The challenge comprised three tracks: (1) large-scale isolated (2) continuous gesture recognition, and (3) real versus fake expressed emotions tracks. It is the second round for both gesture recognition challenges, which were held first in the context of the ICPR 2016 workshop on "multimedia challenges beyond visual analysis". In this second round, more participants joined the competitions, and the performances considerably improved compared to the first round. Particularly, the best recognition accuracy of isolated gesture recognition has improved from 56.90% to 67.71% in the IsoGD test set, and Mean Jaccard Index (MJI) of continuous gesture recognition has improved from 0.2869 to 0.6103 in the ConGD test set. The third track is the first challenge on real versus fake expressed emotion classification, including six emotion categories, for which a novel database was introduced. The first place was shared between two teams who achieved 67.70% averaged recognition rate on the test set. The data of the three tracks, the participants' code and method descriptions are publicly available to allow researchers to keep making progress in the field.
The Optimum Span of Control in a Pure Hierarchy

This is a model of a pure hierarchy which oversees a given number of productive units. Its aim is to minimize costs, which are the sum of wage costs and costs caused by delays in decision making. The advantage of the model is that it permits the calculation of an optimum formal structure of the hierarchy in terms of the span of control at different levels. The general result is that spans of control should increase as one goes down the levels of the hierarchy. However, when time savings become more and wage costs less important, the difference between the optimum spans of control shrinks; in the limit, when wage costs are not considered at all, they become equal. These results support the findings of some empirical studies: there is evidence for increasing spans of control in business organizations, while in armies, where cost considerations are secondary, spans of control tend to be more uniform.
Seasonal fractional components in macroeconomic time series

Seasonal fractional models are shown in this article to be alternative credible ways of modelling the seasonal component in macroeconomic time series. A testing procedure that allows one to test different orders of integration at zero and at each of the seasonal frequencies is described. This procedure is then applied to the Italian consumption and income series, the results being very sensitive to the way of modelling the I(0) disturbances.
The Organization of Purchasing at German Universities: An Empirical Investigation

The objective of this article is two-fold: first, it studies how German universities organize their purchasing activities, and, second, it identifies patterns in the structure of the purchasing function and analyzes factors that influence the design of purchasing. For this purpose, the article develops an analytical framework based on ideas of contingency and organization theory and presents the results of an empirical study which analyzed the purchasing organization of 65 German universities. The results of the study indicate that German universities use a medium level of centralization and specialization to organize their purchasing activities, and that the purchasing process is highly formalized in most universities. As to influential factors of the structure of purchasing, the study indicates that the number of employees, the number of employees with purchasing-responsibility, the purchasing volume, and the number of students enrolled at the university influence the structural variables.
An account of the discrepancy between MRI and PET cerebral blood flow measures. A high‐field MRI investigation

There is controversy concerning the discrepancy between absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF) values measured using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To gain insight into this problem, the increased signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and extended T1 relaxation times of blood and tissue at 3.0 T were exploited to perform pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) MRI measurements as a function of spatial resolution and post‐labeling delay. The results indicate that, when using post‐labeling delays shorter than 1500 ms, MRI gray matter flow values may become as high as several times the correct CBF values owing to tissue signal contamination by remaining arterial blood water label. For delays above 1500 ms, regional PASL‐based CBF values (n = 5; frontal gray matter: 48.8 ± 3.3(SD) ml/100 g/min; occipital gray matter: 49.3 ± 4.5 ml/100 g/min) comparable with PET‐based measurements can be obtained by using spatial resolutions comparable with PET (5–7.5 mm in‐plane). At very high resolution (2.5 × 2.5 × 3 mm3), gray matter CBF values were found to increase by 10–20%, a consequence attributed to reduction in partial volume effects with cerebrospinal fluid and white matter. The recent availability of MRI field strengths of 3.0 T and higher will facilitate the use of MRI‐based CBF measurements in the clinic. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Moral Hazard in Corporate Investment and the Disciplinary Role of Voluntary Capital Rationing

This paper compares three capital-budgeting rules, the NPV rule, a high hurdle rate and capital rationing, and explains why some firms may voluntarily impose capital rationing. Under both capital rationing and a high hurdle, a restrictive investment criterion is used to control managerial shirking. However, implementation of these budgeting rules requires a mechanism to prevent the firm from expanding the investment scale ex post. Capital rationing, in the form of a predetermined, fixed budget, differs from the high-hurdle-rate rule in that the former requires the firm to overcome the cost of raising additional capital before making further investment.
Discrete Negative Emotions and Customer Dissatisfaction Responses in a Casual Restaurant Setting

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate customers' emotional responses following a service failure in a restaurant setting. Specifically, this study investigates how specific emotions (anger, disappointment or regret, worry) influence consumers' behavioral intentions. To gain a richer understanding of consumers' coping behaviors, the authors examine customers' locus of failure attributions. By using a 3 × 2 factorial between-subjects design, three attribution types (internal, external, and control condition) are matched with two service recovery outcomes (positive and negative). Findings suggest that customers with feelings of anger and disappointment or regret are likely to engage in various dissatisfaction responses (e.g., direct complaining, negative word-of-mouth, and switching), whereas worried customers are not. Attributing the failure to internal or external causes reduce switching and negative word-of-mouth intentions. Finally, the study results indicate that feelings of anger spill over to postrecovery satisfaction.
Stack auto-encoders approach for malignant melanoma diagnosis in dermoscopy images

In this paper we present Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) system for malignant melanoma diagnostic based on deep learning using Stack Auto-Encoders. The dermoscopy images are taken from Dermatology Information System (DermIS) and DermQuest, the image enhancement is achieved by various pre-processing approaches. The extracted features are based on Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and texture Analysis. These features become the input to Stack Auto-Encoders (SAEs) for training and testing the lesions as malignant or benign. The experimental results show the rate of accuracy for texture analysis and SAEs is 89.3%, while using DWT and SAEs gives a higher rate of accuracy about 94%. The experimental results prove that the proposed approaches are more accurate than other approaches in this field of melanoma diagnosis.
Validation of the Barcelona Bipolar Eating Disorder Scale for Bipolar Patients with Eating Disturbances

Background: Eating disturbances are frequent in bipolar disorder and are associated with poor outcome. Our objective is to assess the psychometric properties of a specific scale for the evaluation of eating disturbances in bipolar patients. Sampling and Methods: Validation study of 2 groups with a 6-month follow-up (90 patients diagnosed with bipolar and eating disturbances and 40 healthy controls). Results: The scale showed: (1) adequate feasibility (non- response <2.5%); (2) adequate reliability (Cronbach’s α coefficients = 0.79 and 0.57 in groups A and B; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.79 in group A); (3) adequate discriminant validity between patients and controls [AUC = 0.85; moderate correlations with the Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh (r = 0.32–0.64); low correlations with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17 (r < 0.3)]; (4) adequate sensitivity to changes. Conclusions: The Barcelona Bipolar Eating Disorder Scale showed adequate psychometric properties to assess eating disturbances in bipolar patients in clinical practice and research.
Analysis of the thiol status of peripheral blood leukocytes in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Although the exact etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unknown, there is increasing evidence that reactive oxygen species and a pro‐oxidant/antioxidant imbalance are an important part of the pathogenesis of joint tissue injury. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the thiol status [surface‐thiols and intracellular glutathione (iGSH)] of leukocytes from RA patients and controls. Levels of surface‐thiols and iGSH of leukocytes from RA patients were significantly lower than of leukocytes from controls. CD53, a glycoprotein of the tetraspanin superfamily, which coprecipitates with the GSH recycling enzyme γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase, was elevated significantly on leukocytes from RA patients compared with leukocytes from controls. Surface‐thiols and GSH play important roles in redox buffering of cells, providing protection from oxidative stress. The chronic inflammation of RA has been associated with oxidative stress, which is shown to cause a decline in the levels of cellular antioxidant sulfhydryls (R‐SH). As antioxidant‐protective levels also decline with age, the problem is compounded in older RA patients, who did have fewer R‐SH. Chronic stress can also have an effect on telomere lengths, determining cell senescence and longevity. Although telomeres shorten with increasing age, our flow cytometry studies indicate that accelerated shortening in telomere lengths occurs with increasing age of RA patients, suggesting premature cellular aging. The paradox is that lymphocytes from RA patients are believed to resist apoptosis, and we suggest that the elevated expression of CD53, which results from the increased oxidative stress, may protect against apoptosis.
Importance of Hotel Website Dimensions and Attributes: Perceptions of Online Browsers and Online Purchasers

The recent introduction of Internet technology to general business has led to its wide-scale application in the hotel industry. Consumers have been increasingly using the Internet to search for accommodation-related information on hotel Websites. To facilitate a better understanding of e-commerce, hospitality and tourism researchers have shown the importance of establishing content-rich and user-friendly Websites. The existing hospitality literature, however, has a very limited number of published articles that investigated the perceptions of hotel Website users on the importance of specific features on hotel Websites. The absence of prior studies on assessing the importance of hotel Website dimensions and attributes is particularly true in the comparison of online browsers who only search for information and online purchasers who have made online bookings. This article reports on a study that examined these two groups of international hotel Website users on their perceived importance level of specific dimensions and attributes on hotel Websites. Empirical evidence indicates that there was no significant difference in most of the included dimensions and attributes between these two groups of users. In addition, the respondents viewed that the included dimensions and attributes are important on Websites of 3-star or above hotels.
Developing a Semantic Web-based Framework for Executing the Clinical Quality Language Using FHIR

The Clinical Quality Language (CQL) is an HL7 specification, aiming to provide a human-readable language to define clinical quality measures and decision support rules while it expresses logic independent of any specific data models (e.g., Quality Data Model, HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources – FHIR). FHIR adopts RDF as its third representation/interchange format in addition to XML and JSON, and uses Shape Expressions (ShEx) schema to standardize and validate FHIR RDF graphs. In this presentation, we propose a Semantic Web-based framework that enables the execution of CQL using FHIR RDF technologies. The framework comprises the following four modules: 1) a CQL2SPARQL transformation module; 2) a value set service module; 3) a FHIR RDF transformation module; and 4) a ShEx-based data validation module. We implemented a prototype to demonstrate the utility of the framework and discussed the challenges and ongoing tasks.
The Safe-Asset Share

We document that the percentage of all U.S. assets that are "safe" has remained stable at about 33 percent since 1952. This stable ratio is a rare example of calm in a rapidly changing financial world. Over the same time period, the ratio of U.S. assets to GDP has increased by a factor of 2.5, and the main supplier of safe financial debt has shifted from commercial banks to the "shadow banking system. " We analyze this pattern of stylized facts and offer some tentative conclusions about the composition of the safe-asset share and its role within the overall economy.
A Novel Approach to Development of Renewable Heating Support Policies in Turkey

In Turkey, potential of renewable energy for both heating and cooling systems remains mostly untapped. Turkey’s energy demand is met to a great extent by imported energy sources which constitutes a substantial economic burden for Turkey. The main types of supporting financial mechanisms are limited to feed-in tariff for electricity production. The first aim of this paper is, to analyze current best practice policy design and harmonization of support schemes for renewable heating technologies in European countries. Secondly, the paper proposes a two steps model to develop support mechanisms for renewable heating technologies in Turkey. The paper analyzed the impacts of different policy harmonization options in the field of renewable energy heating and cooling, taking into account various determinants such as survey of current best-available RE policies in Europe, available national RE potential, data on different regional characteristics of Turkey, accompanying regulations, laws and implementation measures, support policies with regard to domestic RE technologies. Based on the bottom-up modeling, the scheme shows that a harmonized use of different inputs would generate a comprehensive policy instruments, such as subsides, regulations and local targets. Keywords: Renewable energy, Energy economics, Renewable heating technologies, Policy design, Global warming JEL Classifications: Q20; Q28; Q48; Q58
An Intestinal Parasitic Protist, Entamoeba histolytica, Possesses a Non-redundant Nitrogen Fixation-like System for Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly under Anaerobic Conditions*

We have characterized the iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster formation in an anaerobic amitochondrial protozoan parasite, Entamoeba histolytica, in which Fe-S proteins play an important role in energy metabolism and electron transfer. A genomewide search showed that E. histolytica apparently possesses a simplified and non-redundant NIF (nitrogen fixation)-like system for the Fe-S cluster formation, composed of only a catalytic component, NifS, and a scaffold component, NifU. Amino acid alignment and phylogenetic analyses revealed that both amebic NifS and NifU (EhNifS and EhNifU, respectively) showed a close kinship to orthologs from ϵ-proteobacteria, suggesting that both of these genes were likely transferred by lateral gene transfer from an ancestor of ϵ-proteobacteria to E. histolytica. The EhNifS protein expressed in E. coli was present as a homodimer, showing cysteine desulfurase activity with a very basic optimum pH compared with NifS from other organisms. Eh-NifU protein existed as a tetramer and contained one stable [2Fe-2S]2+ cluster per monomer, revealed by spectroscopic and iron analyses. Fractionation of the whole parasite lysate by anion exchange chromatography revealed three major cysteine desulfurase activities, one of which corresponded to the EhNifS protein, verified by immunoblot analysis using the specific EhNifS antibody; the other two peaks corresponded to methionine γ-lyase and cysteine synthase. Finally, ectopic expression of the EhNifS and EhNifU genes successfully complemented, under anaerobic but not aerobic conditions, the growth defect of an Escherichia coli strain, in which both the isc and suf operons were deleted, suggesting that EhNifS and EhNifU are necessary and sufficient for Fe-S clusters of non-nitrogenase Fe-S proteins to form under anaerobic conditions. This is the first demonstration of the presence and biological significance of the NIF-like system in eukaryotes.