Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synergistic effects of gene-end signal mutations and the M2-1 protein on transcription termination by respiratory syncytial virus.

Individual mononegavirus genes terminate with a short cis-acting element, the gene-end (GE) signal, that directs polyadenylation and termination and might also influence the efficiency of reinitiation at the next downstream gene. The 12-13 nucleotide (nt) GE signals of human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) consist of a conserved pentanucleotide (3'-UCAAU, negative sense), followed by a 3-nt middle region that is AU-rich but otherwise not conserved, followed by a 4- or 5-nt poly(U) region that is thought to generate the poly(A) tail of the encoded mRNA by reiterative copying. Most of the naturally occurring differences in the GE signals of the various RSV genes occur in the "middle" and "poly(U)" regions. We mutated a copy of the fusion protein (F) GE signal that was positioned at the end of the promoter-proximal gene of a tricistronic minigenome and evaluated the effect of these mutations on RSV transcription in a plasmid-initiated, intracellular assay. Mutations confirmed the importance of the middle region's AU-rich nature and 3-nt length, and the poly(U) tract's 4-nt minimum functional length, with maximal termination efficiency observed at five U residues. Nt assignments other than U at position 13 also affected the efficiency of termination, showing that this position is part of the functional 13-nt GE signal. These results indicate that differences in nt assignments in the middle and poly(U) regions of the GE signal, which occur frequently in nature, affect the efficiency of termination. Unexpectedly, the ability of certain mutations to inhibit termination was completely dependent on coexpression of the M2-1 protein, and in many other cases the inhibitory effect of the mutation was greatly enhanced in the presence of M2-1. Thus, M2-1 appears to have the effect of altering the polymerase such that it ignores suboptimal GE signals. Interestingly, certain mutations that greatly decreased the efficiency of termination in the absence of M2-1 did not have much effect on the expression of the second gene, implying that correct termination and/or polyadenylation at the upstream gene is not obligatory for reinitiation at the next downstream gene.
Nuclear safety for nuclear electricity – the search for a solid legal basis for nuclear safety in an enlarged European Union

Argues that there is no guarantee that it will be possible to maintain the present situation, with regard to energy, in an enlarged EU. Indeed, the enlargement has heightened concerns that the current approach may be undermined. Deplores the absence of a clear safety framework for EU nuclear installations and further details the problems, in full, in the article.
Support for third parties under plurality rule electoral systems: A public choice analysis of Britain, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.

Why do parties other than major parties survive or even flourish under plurality rule electoral systems, when according to Duverger's law we should expect them to disappear. Why should rational voters support third parties, even though their chances of being successful are often low . Using an institutional public choice approach, this study analyses third party voting as one amongst a continuum of choices faced by electors who pay attention both to the ideological proximity of parties, and to their perceived efficacy measured against a community-wide level of minimum efficacy. The approach is applied in detailed case study chapters examining four different third parties. Two of the cases cover long-established and relatively successful third parties - the British Liberal Democrats; the Canadian NDP. The other two cases cover shorter-lived third parties - the New Zealand Social Credit; and the UNP in South Korea. In each case the study examines the party's specific history and dynamics, looks at the social base of its support and its ideological positioning, explores the party's perceived efficacy, and analyses the articulation of the third party's strategy. Two key themes emerge. First, plurality rule electoral systems impose severe constraints on third parties, but also create niches (such as one-party safe seats or regions, or unoccupied ideological space) within which a long-term third party can become established, flourish and develop strategies to partially overcome its lower perceived efficacy. Second, third party voting under plurality rule is not an isolated behaviour, but part of an integrated spectrum of choices (encompassing abstention, protest voting, tactical voting, and positive party support) which citizens make. People respond both to the ideological positioning and to the perceived efficacy of the competing political parties, within a specific voting context and using a collectively defined sense of what constitutes efficacious political behaviour.
What drives the Choice of Money-based Targets in the World?

Money targeting (MT) was a highly popular monetary regime among central banks in both industrial and developing countries during the 1980s and 1990s. This paper presents a comprehensive empirical exploration of the possible explanations of why countries choose (and abandon) a MT regime. The paper uses a large world panel dataset for treatment and control country groups, applies five panel-data estimation techniques for discrete-choice dependent variables, and conducts robustness checks for different control groups and time periods. The paper’s evidence shows that the likelihood of having MT in place declines significantly and robustly with trade openness, financial development, a strong fiscal position, and monetary instability.
Aneuploidy in oncocytic lesions of the thyroid gland: Diffuse accumulation of mitochondria within the cell is associated with trisomy 7 and progressive numerical chromosomal alterations

Oncocytic cells are characterized by a greatly increased number of mitochondria that distend the cell cytoplasm and result in a distinctive granular appearance of the cell on conventional histology sections. Oncocytes are frequently found in metabolically active human tissues including the thyroid gland, and, as a general rule, when their proportion in a thyroid tumor is greater than 75% the tumor is referred to as oncocytic (Hürthle cell) adenoma or carcinoma. Such tumors represent a subset of thyroid lesions, and recently, both interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies reported that they may show aneuploidy, with widespread numerical chromosomal alterations. In contrast, very few cases have been studied by conventional cytogenetic analysis. Whether the cells with chromosomal changes are the same as those with mitochondrial accumulation or whether lesions only partially composed of oncocytic cells also have cytogenetic alterations is unclear. To investigate the relationship between acquisition of the oncocytic phenotype and numerical chromosomal changes, we analyzed a random selection of thyroid lesions with (18 cases) and without (11 cases) morphological evidence of oncocytic differentiation. Lesions with oncocytes included hyperplastic nodules, adenomas, Hürthle cell tumors, and papillary carcinomas with lymphocytic stroma (Whartin‐like tumors of the thyroid). Karyotypic changes were analyzed by cytogenetic analysis, FISH, or CGH, and the results were compared with in situ analysis of mitochondrial accumulation by immunofluorescence. A striking correlation between the presence of oncocytes and the presence of aneuploid katyotypes was seen in the oncocytic follicular thyroid nodules, but not in the oncocytic papillary tumors. Structural chromosome changes or normal karyotypes were observed in the lesions lacking oncocytic features. Extending the FICTION technique to the evaluation of a cytoplasmic antigen (mitochondrial membrane antigen), we pursued the simultaneous visualization of both mitochondrial increase and numerical chromosomal alterations, and showed that oncocytes of follicular lesions are prone to become aneuploid. Our data support the contention that follicular tumors composed of oncocytes should be regarded as a distinct subset. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Altruism and Local Interaction

This paper studies altruistic behavior in a model of local interaction. Individuals live on a circle and choose whether to altruistically provide a local public good. Choices are based on imitation of successful neighbors and experimentation. The public good is assumed to be less local than imitation. In the absence of experimentation altruism can prevail and coexist with egoism as long as the public good is non-global. With experimentation altruism persists in the long run only if the population is large relative to the reach of the public good.
[The influence of intermittent hypoxia on long-term facilitation of hypoglossal nerve discharge in spontaneously breathing rats].

OBJECTIVE To explore the impact of intermittent hypoxia on long-term facilitation (LTF) of hypoglossal nerve discharge. METHODS Twelve adult SD rats were divided into the experimental group (CIH group, n = 6) and the control group (normoxia group, n = 6) by the random number table. The rats in the CIH group were fed in the intermittent hypoxia animal chambers, while the control group was placed in the normoxia animal chambers for 8 h per day (from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) for 4 consecutive weeks. After that, 5 min×3 stimulations of acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) were administered and the hypoglossal never signals were recorded before and after AIH. RESULTS The baseline frequency and average peak amplitude of hypoglossal nerve discharge in the CIH experimental group were significantly greater than those in the control group. The discharge frequency in the CIH and the control groups was (73 ± 13) Hz, and (58 ± 11) Hz, respectively(P < 0.05); and the discharge amplitude in the 2 groups was (4.6 ± 1.1) µV, and (3.3 ± 0.7) µV, respectively(P < 0.05). After intervention with AIH, the frequency and the average peak amplitude of the hypoglossal nerve discharge in the experimental and the control groups were significantly increased(all P < 0.05). The increased discharge lasted more than 1 h and this typical phenomenon was referred to as LTF. In the CIH group, the discharge frequency before and after exposure to AIH was (68 ± 16) Hz and (133 ± 20) Hz, respectively; and the discharge amplitude was (4.6 ± 1.1) µV and (8.9 ± 1.4) µV, respectively. In the control group, the discharge frequency before and after AIH was (59 ± 12) Hz and (102 ± 16) Hz, respectively; and the discharge amplitude was (3.3 ± 0.7) µV and (4.5 ± 0.7) µV, respectively(P < 0.05). After AIH stimulation, the enhanced respiratory intensity of rats in CIH group was much higher than that in the control group [(408 ± 149)% vs (242 ± 31)%, P < 0.05]. CONCLUSION Both AIH and CIH can induce LTF of the hypoglossal nerve discharge, while the induction of LTF by AIH can be strengthened by CIH.
To partner or to acquire? A longitudinal study of alliances in the shipping industry

How do firms in the liner shipping industry choose between partnerships and acquisitions? In this longitudinal empirical study, we examine dyadic partnerships and acquisitions that took place in the liner shipping industry from 1994 to 2006. We identify and test specific factors that influence liner shipping firms in their strategic choice between partnerships and acquisitions. Using Cox regressions for our analyses, we find that two factors, the extent of redundant resources and the intensity of competition, increase the likelihood of the choice of acquisition, while a third factor, the nature of resources, affects the likelihood of acquisition in an inverted-U shaped (∩) manner. In addition, the home region of a firm and prior acquisition experience increases the probability of acquisitions while prior partnership experience decreases it. The level of synergy and degree of market uncertainty do not affect the mode of alliance choice. We discuss the implications of our findings for the “partner versus acquire” strategic decision made by liner shipping firms.
The Effect of the Charter of Rights on Canadian Federalism

Canadian experience under the 1982 Charter of Rights contradicts the orthodox understanding ofjudicial review as a decentralizing institution that performs a checking or blockingfunction. Charter politics in Canada suggest that in a federal system, judicial review can also enhance values and policies favored by the national government at the expense of the constituent units. Rather than weakening the policy capabilities of the federal government, the Canadian Charter has enhanced its influence. The Charter has undermined the policy autonomy of the provinces by giving a policy veto to the Supreme Court, an institution that is more receptive to the policy preferences of national elites, especially in the area of language policy. This has aggravated French-English relations, because of the high incidence of judicial nullifications of Quebec's restrictive language policies. Elite attempts to compensate Quebec by way of new constitutional amendments (e.g., the Meech Lake Accord) have been thwarted by the emergence of an influential coalition of postmaterialist social interests, which use Charter litigation to promote their nonterritorial policy objectives. These "Charter Canadians" have opposed constitutional amendments that would "weaken" the Charter or the Court. This coalition has broken Canadian governments' historical monopoly on the constitutional amending process. By stimulating the democratization of constitutional politics, the Charter has weakened the institutions of consociational democracy and elite accommodation. This has diminished the influence of all the provinces, but especially Quebec, thereby contributing to the recent rise in secessionist tendencies within Quebec.
Long peptides induce polyfunctional T cells against conserved regions of HIV‐1 with superior breadth to single‐gene vaccines in macaques

A novel T‐cell vaccine strategy designed to deal with the enormity of HIV‐1 variation is described and tested for the first time in macaques to inform and complement approaching clinical trials. T‐cell immunogen HIVconsv, which directs vaccine‐induced responses to the most conserved regions of the HIV‐1, proteome and thus both targets diverse clades in the population and reduces the chance of escape in infected individuals, was delivered using six different vaccine modalities: plasmid DNA (D), attenuated human (A) and chimpanzee (C) adenoviruses, modified vaccinia virus Ankara (M), synthetic long peptides, and Semliki Forest virus replicons. We confirmed that the initial DDDAM regimen, which mimics one of the clinical schedules (DDDCM), is highly immunogenic in macaques. Furthermore, adjuvanted synthetic long peptides divided into sub‐pools and delivered into anatomically separate sites induced T‐cell responses that were markedly broader than those elicited by traditional single‐open‐reading‐frame genetic vaccines and increased by 30% the overall response magnitude compared with DDDAM. Thus, by improving both the HIV‐1‐derived immunogen and vector regimen/delivery, this approach could induce stronger, broader, and theoretically more protective T‐cell responses than vaccines previously used in humans.
A Model of Labour-Market Interdependencies in the London Region

This paper develops an approach to the analysis of labour markets in a metropolitan region, emphasising the interdependencies between submarket areas arising from housing-related as well as employment-related migration and from induced shifts in commuting patterns. Three distinct migration streams with differing sensitivity to distance are identified and separately incorporated in a simultaneous equation model in which employment growth, unemployment, house construction, and house prices are also endogenous. Results are presented for estimation of this eleven-equation model with cross-sectional data for seventy-one areas in inner London, outer London, and the Outer Metropolitan Area. Important linkages are identified between the availability of rentable accommodation, labour migration and thus unemployment, between long-distance migration, and rates of private construction both in the areas of original destination and subsequent dispersal, and between intrametropolitan housing-related moves and the consequent decentralisation of employment. The distribution of new housing and employment opportunities, more than residential preference, is seen as the key factor in locational change within the region.
IJTAG supported 3D DFT using chiplet-footprints for testing multi-chips active interposer system

In order to increase the circuit yield, 2.5D technology have been introduced to partition a single large circuit in multiple circuits, which are tested before bonding and then assembled in 3D onto a passive silicon interposer. Active interposer is nowadays envisioned in order to provide added values within the interposer and the 3D complete system. The testability of 2.5D interposers have already been well studied but no 3D DFT have already been proposed for active interposers. In this paper, a 3D Design-for-Test architecture is proposed for testing multi-chips stacked onto an active interposer. The 3D-DFT is based on a chiplet footprint architecture, allowing the modular test of any chiplets, and is implemented using IJTAG IEEE1687 standard, offering easy test pattern retargeting from chiplet pre-bond test to the 3D circuit final test. The proposed 3D-DFT architecture and the associated 3D test flow have been fully applied onto a 3D active interposer circuit prototype and used extensively to test interposer active links, interposer passive links and all embedded memory BIST engines.
Localism in Practice: Investigating Citizen Participation and Good Governance in Local Government Standards of Conduct

This article examines how, against a background of localism endorsed by the 2010 coalition government in the United Kingdom, a key component of local integrity and governance was fundamentally altered. The Localism Act 2011 abolished the English local integrity framework, which relied on the participation of local citizens in the policy making and implementation of local government standards of conduct. The article utilizes Henrik Bang's concepts of “expert citizen” and “everyday maker” to explore citizen participation in local standards committees. Using a case study approach, the article demonstrates how standards committees shaped processes and practices in the local governance of integrity. The authors argue that standards committees were crucial in promoting local participation and enhancing good governance.
A High-Speed High-Resolution Low-Distortion CMOS Bootstrapped Switch

This paper presents a low-voltage and low-distortion CMOS bootstrapped switch that adopts a new technique to improve the accuracy of sample-and-hold (S/H) circuits. In order to reduce distortion due to variation of the gate overdrive and the threshold voltage in conventional bootstrapped switches, a PMOS-type bootstrapped circuit combining with a NMOS-type one forms a double sampling switch that transmits input signals to the output terminal. The switch reduces the on-resistance greatly and keeps it constant, resulting in precise sampling of signals and better input bandwidth. A test S/H circuit based on this switch was designed and fabricated in SMIC 0.18-mum CMOS mixed signal technology. Experiments show at 100 MSample/s, a peak signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 100.9 dB, spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 102 dB and total harmonic distortion (THD) of 101 dB can be acquired, and for input frequency up to the Nyquist frequency, this circuit maintains SNDR over 90 dB, SFDR and THD better than 92.7 dB, respectively
Impact on the T-Cell Response Interleukin-10 but Low Levels of CXCL 10 : Stimulates Production of High Levels of Mutant Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigE Infection of Human Dendritic Cells with a

2006, 74(6):3296. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.01687-05. Infect. Immun. Eliana M. Coccia Lanfranco Fattorini, Issar Smith, Riccardo Manganelli and Severa, Maria Elena Remoli, Valerie Gafa, Roberto Lande, Elena Giacomini, Ambar Sotolongo, Elisabetta Iona, Martina Impact on the T-Cell Response Interleukin-10 but Low Levels of CXCL10: Stimulates Production of High Levels of Mutant Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigE Infection of Human Dendritic Cells with a
Hypo-osmotic Shock of Tobacco Cells Stimulates Ca2+Fluxes Deriving First from External and then Internal Ca2+Stores*

Hypo-osmotic shock of aequorin-transformed tobacco cells induces a biphasic cytosolic Ca2+influx. Because both phases of Ca2+ entry are readily blocked by Ca2+ channel inhibitors, we conclude that the Ca2+ transients are mediated by Ca2+ channels. Evidence that the first but not second Ca2+ transient derives from external Ca2+ stores is that the first but not second influx is (i) eliminated by membrane-impermeable Ca2+ chelators, (ii) enlarged by supplementation of the medium with excess Ca2+, and (iii) reduced by the addition of competitive cations such as Mg2+ and Mn2+. Furthermore, entry of 45Ca during osmotic shock is prevented by inhibitors of the first but not second phase of Ca2+ entry. Evidence that the second wave of Ca2+ influx stems from release of intracellular Ca2+ is based on the above data plus observations that probable modulators of intracellular Ca2+ channels selectively block this phase of Ca2+ influx. Finally, a mechanism of communication between the two Ca2+ release pathways has become apparent, since perturbations that elevate or reduce the first Ca2+ transient lead to a compensating diminution/elevation of the second and vice versa. These data thus suggest that osmotic shock leads to the sequential opening of extracellular followed by intracellular Ca2+ stores and that these Ca2+ release pathways are internally compensated.
Corporate Governance and Training

This article uses the notion of national recipes of corporate governance to explore national differences in the provision, extent, range, cost and arrangements made for training by employers. Drawing on an extensive database, careful analysis shows that there are significant differences between the liberal market economies and others in their employer training provision and systems. The research also highlighted considerable differences in practice in coordinated market economies, most notably between the social democracies of the Nordic countries and the Rhineland continental economies. The data also shows evidence of the embeddedness of training systems in the society and the industrial relations systems in which they operate: there are a limited number of clusters of countries that retain distinctive features. These clusters broadly correspond to the five different models of capitalism identified by Amable (2003), with differences encountered being generally on the lines predicted by the latter.
Les nouvelles logiques de décomposition internationale des processus productifs

Au debut des annees 1980, Bernard Lassudrie-Duchene a ete parmi les premiers a livrer une analyse theorique de la decomposition (ou fragmentation) internationale des processus productif (la DIPP). Ce phenomene, en large partie a l’origine de l’augmentation du commerce de biens intermediaires dans le commerce mondial, est devenu l’une des composantes importantes de la globalisation industrielle. Dans cet article, nous proposons de rendre compte de certaines orientations contemporaines de la DIPP par la prise en compte dans l’analyse de la nature, «technique » ou «cognitive », du principe de division du travail qui preside a la fragmentation des processus de production, ainsi que de la specificite des mecanismes de coordination qui leur sont associes.