Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loss of GltB Inhibits Biofilm Formation and Biocontrol Efficiency of Bacillus subtilis Bs916 by Altering the Production of γ-Polyglutamate and Three Lipopeptides

Aims This study examined the contribution of GltB on biofilm formation and biocontrol efficiency of B. subtilis Bs916. Methods and Results The gltB gene was identified through a biofilm phenotype screen and a bioinformatics analysis of serious biofilm formation defects, and then a gltB single knockout mutant was constructed using homologous recombination. This mutant demonstrated severe deficits in biofilm formation and colonisation along with significantly altered production ofγ-polyglutamate (γ-PGA) and three lipopeptide antibiotics (LPs) as measured by a transcriptional analysis of both the wild type B. subtilis Bs916 and the gltB mutant. Consequently, the mutant strain retained almost no antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani and exhibited decreased biocontrol efficiency against rice sheath blight. Very few gltB mutant cells colonised the rice stem, and they exhibited no significant nutrient chemotaxis compared to the wild type B. subtilis Bs916. The mechanism underlying these deficits in the gltB mutant appears to be decreased significantly in production of γ-PGA and a reduction in the production of both bacillomycin L and fengycin. Biofilm restoration of gltB mutant by additionγ-PGA in the EM medium demonstrated that biofilm formation was able to restore significantly at 20 g/L. Conclusions GltB regulates biofilm formation by altering the production ofγ-PGA, the LPs bacillomycin L and fengcin and influences bacterial colonisation on the rice stem, which consequently leads to poor biocontrol efficiency against rice sheath blight. Significance and Impact of Study This is the first report of a key regulatory protein (GltB) that is involved in biofilm regulation and its regulation mechanism and biocontrol efficiency by B. subtilis.
A multiple ascending dose study of CSL112, an infused formulation of ApoA‐I

CSL112 is apoA‐I purified from human plasma and reconstituted with phosphatidylcholine (PC) to form high‐density lipoprotein (HDL)‐particles suitable for infusion. CSL112 is in development for the potential treatment of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) by optimizing cholesterol efflux. This study assesses the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and tolerability of CSL112. Repeat doses of CSL112 or placebo were administered intravenously once‐ (3.4 g or 6.8 g) or twice‐weekly (3.4 g) to healthy subjects in a placebo‐controlled, randomized (3 CSL112: 1 placebo), ascending‐dose study (NCT01281774). Twenty‐seven subjects received CSL112 and nine received placebo. Study endpoints included plasma apoA‐I and PC concentrations and specific PK parameters. CSL112 infusions immediately produced robust increases in apoA‐I concentration in a dose‐proportional manner, reaching levels higher than observed with currently available or investigational HDL products. After infusion of CSL112, apoA‐I levels remained above baseline for approximately 3 days. Multiple infusions of CSL112 were safe and well tolerated with no evidence of major organ toxicity or immunogenicity. CSL112 may provide a novel option to rapidly transport cholesterol from atherosclerotic plaque to the liver and reduce early recurrent events following ACS. The data presented here support continued clinical development of CSL112 in patient populations.
Educational Leadership and Student Achievement: The Elusive Search for an Association

This study revisits the existing scholarly debate on the possible impact of the principal's leadership on student achievement. Both `direct effect' and `indirect effect' models are discussed. A quantitative meta-analysis examines to what extent principals directly affect student outcomes. The small positive effects found in this meta-analysis confirm earlier research findings on the limitations of the direct effects approach to linking leadership with student achievement. Finally, lines of future research inquiry are discussed.
Sugar Potentiation of Fatty Acid and Triacylglycerol Accumulation1[OPEN]

Repressing leaf sugar export and starch synthesis in Arabidopsis increases sugar levels potentiating fatty acid and triacylglycerol accumulation by stabilizing WRINKLED1 and increasing the fatty acid synthesis rate. Photosynthetically derived sugar provides carbon skeletons for lipid biosynthesis. We used mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and the expression of oleogenic factors to investigate relationships among sugar availability, lipid synthesis, and the accumulation of triacylglycerol (TAG) in leaf tissue. The adg1 mutation disables the small subunit of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, the first step in starch synthesis, and the suc2 mutation disables a sucrose/proton symporter that facilitates sucrose loading from leaves into phloem. The adg1suc2 double mutant increases glucose plus sucrose content in leaves 80-fold relative to the wild type, total fatty acid (FA) content 1.8-fold to 8.3% dry weight, and TAG more than 10-fold to 1.2% dry weight. The WRINKLED1 transcription factor also accumulates to higher levels in these leaves, and the rate of FA synthesis increases by 58%. Adding tt4, which disables chalcone synthase, had little effect, but adding the tgd1 mutation, which disables an importer of lipids into plastids to create adg1suc2tt4tgd1, increased total leaf FA to 13.5% dry weight and TAG to 3.8% dry weight, demonstrating a synergistic effect upon combining these mutations. Combining adg1suc2 with the sdp1 mutation, deficient in the predominant TAG lipase, had little effect on total FA content but increased the TAG accumulation by 66% to 2% dry weight. Expression of the WRINKLED1 transcription factor, along with DIACYLGLYCEROL ACYLTRANSFERASE1 and the OLEOSIN1 oil body-associated protein, in the adg1suc2 mutant doubled leaf FA content and increased TAG content to 2.3% dry weight, a level 4.6-fold higher than that resulting from expression of the same factors in the wild type.
Towards a new party system

The results of the 2009 Bundestag election and subsequent Land elections suggest that the German party system is changing fundamentally. A few facts suffice to corroborate this statement: Volatility has now reached levels that were last recorded in the 1950s; turnout in national elections has reached an all-time low; the two large parties have had unprecedentedly poor results in the Bundestag elections while all three smaller parties reached more than 10 percent. The article shows that German catch-all parties are about to lose their hold on the electorate and, as a result, can no longer rely on being the senior parties of government. The article analyses these changes systematically using a range of quantitative indicators covering the entire post-war period. It shows a seminal erosion of the forces which have stabilized the German party system in earlier decades and discusses the repercussions for the functioning of German party democracy.
An Empirical Test of Labeling Theory Using Longitudinal Data

This article uses panel data and multiple regression of follow-up on baseline variables to test direction of causality among drug use behavior, informal labels, and formal labels. Baseline and follow-up data were collected on a random sample of 100 adolescents (54 males) and a clinical sample of 88 adolescents (49 males). Separate regressions were performed on male and female respondents using both samples. Slope differences across samples were tested using interaction terms computed by multiplying sample type (coded as 0 = random, 1 = clinical) by each regressor. Results partially supported by the labeling theory proposition of secondary deviance among males, although changes are suggested in this proposition. Among females, drug use behavior was causally prior to labels, which contradicts secondary deviance. Further research is needed to clarify reasons for this sex difference in causal processes over time. An implication for research is to use panel data where possible in testing direction of causality. An implication for theory in the social sciences is that theories may be sex-specific. Thus theories must be tested separately on each sex as well as on samples including both sexes.
Vocabulary uptake from informal learning tasks

It is common to encourage foreign-language learners to use their language outside the classroom and to read books and papers, listen to songs and watch films in the foreign language. One of the benefits which are thought to accrue from these activities is that learners can build good vocabularies. It has even been argued that casual exposure to the foreign language of this kind is the only way to build a good vocabulary. This paper reviews the published evidence concerning vocabulary acquisition inside and outside the classroom, and reports a series of small and case studies of learners using films, comic books and songs which test in some detail the volumes of lexis gained. It appears that these techniques can lead to very sizeable vocabulary gains but there are some caveats. One is that learners must want to carry out these informal tasks and learn the language. A second is that success appears to be associated with a focus on form, and it is not clear that genuinely incidental exposure to the foreign language results in worthwhile language gains.
LOCATING HISTORICAL FEATURES ON RECENT IMAGERY USING AN EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM

Using the automatic feature extraction software package GENIE (GENetic Imagery Exploitation) developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), an algorithm has been generated that identifies ground features associated with historical burial sites. GENIE uses a genetic algorithm approach to evolve new feature extraction algorithms from a library of commonly-used spectral and spatial/textural image processing operators. For this particular application, GENIE used Daedalus airborne 5m visible/infrared multispectral imagery (MSI), and was trained using known trench locations from the 1940s. As part of our algorithm validation process, additional similar vintage trenches were located off LANL property on county, federal, and Native American lands. Available ground truth reports and visits to these sites confirmed the presence of historical disturbances. Hence, our initial results suggest that it may be possible to automate the mapping of these and other burial sites. This paper will briefly describe GENIE and its application in identifying these sites.
Psychometric properties of the CAMCOG and its efficacy in the diagnosis of dementia

Abstract The Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG) is a concise neuropsychological test for the assessment of cognitive impairment in elderly people. It was designed specifically to assist in the diagnosis of dementia in an early stage. CAMCOG assesses a broad range of cognitive functions, as is required for the diagnosis of dementia, and it minimizes floor and ceiling effects by covering a range of item difficulty. We report here some psychometric properties of the CAMCOG in two stages of a population survey of people over the age of 75 years. Total score on the CAMCOG was found to have excellent internal reliability and test-retest reliability. the reliability of the individual subscales, which corresponded to different cognitive abilities, was also acceptable. Principal components analysis on the individual CAMCOG items revealed two easily interpretable factors, corresponding to general intelligence and memory. CAMCOG scores were very effective in differentiating between demented and nondemented ind.
Logical and Substantive Scales in Phonology

Logical and Substantive Scales in Phonology by David Roland Mortensen B.A (Utah State University) 2000 M.A. (University of California, Berkeley) 2003 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Sharon Inkelas (co-chair) Professor James A. Matisoff (co-chair) Professor Larry M. Hyman Professor Johanna Nichols Fall 2006
Torque or no torque?! The resolution of the paradox using 4D geometric quantities with the explanation of the Trouton-Noble experiment

In this paper we have resolved the apparent paradox of different mechanical equations for force and torque governing the motion of a charged particle in different inertial frames. The same paradox arises in all usual ``explanations'' of the Trouton-Noble experiment. It is shown that the real cause of the paradoxes is - \emph{the use of three dimensional (3D) quantities}, e.g., $\mathbf{E}$, $\mathbf{B}$, $\mathbf{F}$, $\mathbf{L}$, $% \mathbf{N}$, \emph{their transformations and equations with them. } Instead of using 3D quantities we deal with \emph{4D geometric quantities, their Lorentz transformations and equations with them}. In such treatment the paradoxes do not appear. The explanation with \emph{4D geometric quantities}% is in a complete agreement with the principle of relativity and with the Trouton-Noble experiment.
Job submission and management through web services: the experience with the CREAM service

Modern Grid middleware is built around components providing basic functionality, such as data storage, authentication, security, job management, resource monitoring and reservation. In this paper we describe the Computing Resource Execution and Management (CREAM) service. CREAM provides a Web service-based job execution and management capability for Grid systems; in particular, it is being used within the gLite middleware. CREAM exposes a Web service interface allowing conforming clients to submit and manage computational jobs to a Local Resource Management System. We developed a special component, called ICE (Interface to CREAM Environment) to integrate CREAM in gLite. ICE transfers job submissions and cancellations from the Workload Management System, allowing users to manage CREAM jobs from the gLite User Interface. This paper describes some recent studies aimed at assessing the performance and reliability of CREAM and ICE; those tests have been performed as part of the acceptance tests for integration of CREAM and ICE in gLite. We also discuss recent work towards enhancing CREAM with a BES and JSDL compliant interface.
Automatic detection of early stages of Parkinson's disease through acoustic voice analysis with mel-frequency cepstral coefficients

Vocal impairments are one of the earliest disrupted modalities in Parkinson's disease (PD). Most of the studies whose aim was to detect Parkinson's disease through acoustic analysis use global parameters. In the meantime, in speaker and speech recognition, analyses are carried out by short-term parameters, and more precisely by Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), combined with Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM). This paper presents an adaptation of the classical methodology used in speaker recognition to the detection of early stages of Parkinson's disease. Automatic analyses were performed during 4 tasks: sustained vowels, fast syllable repetitions, free speech and reading. Men and women were considered separately in order to improve the classification performance. Leave one subject out cross validation exhibits accuracies ranging from 60% to 91% depending on the speech task and on the gender. Best performances are reached during the reading task (91% for men). This accuracy, obtained with a simple and fast methodology, is in line with the best classification results in early PD detection found in literature, obtained with more complex methods.
Consequences of the halloween nightmare: analysis of investorsõ response to an overnight tax legislation change in the canadian income trust sector

On October 31, 2006, the Canadian federal government announced increased taxation of income trusts, beginning in 2011. Using discounted cash flow analysis, we investigated timing of the market adjustment. Energy, utility, and business trust prices dropped by predicted amounts, indicating a rational market response. Following the announcement, however, affected sectors reacted differently: Energy and utility trusts were more likely to merge within their sectors while business trusts became private equity targets. The income trust case is a classic example of a natural event, and our results underscore the efficiency of Canadian capital markets. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Le 31 octobre 2006, le gouvernement federal canadien annoncait une augmentation de la taxation des fiducies de revenu, a partir de 2011. La presente etude examine, a partir de l'analyse des flux de tresorerie actualises, la synchronisation de l'ajustement du marche. Les fiducies de l'energie, du service public et de revenu d'entreprise ont chute tel que prevu, indiquant une reponse rationnelle du marche. Cependant, au lendemain de l'annonce, les secteurs touches ont reagi differemment: il y avait de forte chance que les fiducies de l'energie et du service public se fusionnent a l'interieur de leur secteur et que les fiducies d'entreprise deviennent les cibles des fonds d'investissement prives. Les fiducies de revenu constituent un cas classique d'evenement naturel et nos resultats mettent en exergue l'efficacite du marche des capitaux canadien. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimal Allocation Method of Irrigation Water from River and Lake by Considering the Field Water Cycle Process

At present, the shortage of water resources has become a serious constraint to the further development of social economy. The optimal allocation of multi-water resources is valuable for agricultural water management in arid and semi-arid regions. However, traditional deterministic programming does not solve the complex water resources allocation in irrigation systems. Furthermore, previous allocation methods of irrigation water seldom considered the water cycle process, especially for multi-sources of irrigation. In this study, we develop an inexact fuzzy stochastic simulation-optimization programming (IFSSOP) model for the irrigation water optimal allocation of two water sources. The model combines the crop water model and the field water cycle model with an uncertainty optimization model, which considers the contribution of groundwater to crop water consumption. As a case study, the developed model is used in an arid area with two irrigation water sources: a river and a lake. Accordingly, the total optimal allocation irrigation water amounts of river and lake water under different violation probabilities in various hydrological years were obtained. By comparing the IFSSOP model with the IFSSOP model without considering the contribution of shallow groundwater (IFSSOP-NG model), it can be shown that the system benefits of the developed model are higher. With the lake water source from flood water, the region can save 30–34% of the river water, maintaining the original crop water deficit irrigation ratio. Consequently, application of the IFSSOP model in irrigation scheduling will provide effective water allocation patterns to save more water in an arid region with shallow groundwater.
The Black-White Difference On the K-ABC: Implications for Future Tests

Claims that the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is less culturally biased than other standard tests of intelligence and therefore shows a much smaller average difference between black and white children are critically examined in terms of the psychometric properties of the K-ABC. It is concluded that the apparently reduced difference between black and white samples, as compared with the one standard deviation difference typically found on other IQ tests, is not the result of greater validity or of less biased measurement of children's intelligence by the K-ABC. The diminished black-white difference on the K-ABC seems to be largely the result of psychometric and statistical artifacts: lower g loadings of the mental processing scales and greater heterogeneity of the standardization sample, which causes mean group differences to be smaller when they are expressed in standard score units. The general factor measured by the K-ABC is essentially the same g as that of the Stanford-Binet and Wechsler scales. But the K-ABC yields a more diluted and less valid measure of g than do the other tests. The K-ABC factors of successive and simultaneous mental processing, independent of the g factor, constitute only a small fraction of the total variance in K-ABC scores, and the predictive validity of these small factors per se is probably nil. The present criticisms of the K-ABC suggest new means for improving the design of future tests for measuring general intelligence.
Synthesis Reactions Involving XLPE Subjected to aartial Discharges

It is shown that the degradation of XLPE, resulting from its exposure to partial discharges, leads to the formation of solid, liquid and gaseous products that result directly from the discharge synthesis reactions taking place within the intervening electrode gap space. The prime reagents in the discharge synthesis process are found to be CO2, CO, H20 and acetophenone. In order that these synthesis reactions occur without any impediment, a non-vented test cell is required; this condition is complied within most physically real cavities occluded within the insulation systems of XLPE cables.
“Unpackaging” Acculturation

In order to “unpackage” acculturation and gain a more nuanced understanding of the process, we examined separate aspects of acculturation as predictors of traditional sex role attitudes. Participants were 170 Hispanic adults (83 females and 87 males), including first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants with varying levels of education. Participants completed measures of each dimension of acculturation—ethnic retention (e.g., Spanish language, Hispanic friendships) and mainstream involvement (English language, non-Hispanic friendships)—and of traditional sex role attitudes. English language and non-Hispanic friendships were significant negative correlates of traditional sex role attitudes, but Spanish language and Hispanic friendships were unrelated to such attitudes. Being male, less educated, and of an earlier generation predicted traditional sex role attitudes, but gender differences in attitudes varied by generation and education levels. Results demonstrate that the acculturation process can be better understood by examining distinct aspects rather than combining the separate components into a single variable.
Reports Spread of Murine Cytomegalovirus to Inner Ocular Structures Following Disruption of the Blood-Retina Barrier in Immunosuppressed BALB / c Mice

Methods. The BRB of the left eye of normal and immunosuppressed mice was disrupted by supraciliary inoculation of tissue culture medium followed 2 hours later by intraperitoneal injection of MCMV. Plaque assay of homogenized ocular tissue was used to determine the frequency of virus-positive eyes and the titer of virus in the eyes. /3-galactosidase staining of frozen sections was used to locate virus in the eyes.
Diarrheal deaths in American children.

To the Editor. — Since most of the deaths occurred in infants, many physicians will be surprised that in the article and the editorial on prevention of diarrheal deaths in the December 9 issue 1,2 no mention was made of breast-feeding. Breast-feeding is an established means of preventing gastrointestinal illness and mortality in developed and developing nations. 3-5 Moreover, the risk groups identified in the article are precisely those in which infants are least likely to be breast-fed. These include infants whose mothers are young, poor, and black and those from southern states. 6 Do the authors have data on the feeding status of infants in their study?