Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycobacterium tuberculosis cAMP Receptor Protein (Rv3676) Differs from the Escherichia coli Paradigm in Its cAMP Binding and DNA Binding Properties and Transcription Activation Properties*

The pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis produces a burst of cAMP upon infection of macrophages. Bacterial cyclic AMP receptor proteins (CRP) are transcription factors that respond to cAMP by binding at target promoters when cAMP concentrations increase. Rv3676 (CRPMt) is a CRP family protein that regulates expression of genes (rpfA and whiB1) that are potentially involved in M. tuberculosis persistence and/or emergence from the dormant state. Here, the CRPMt homodimer is shown to bind two molecules of cAMP (one per protomer) at noninteracting sites. Furthermore, cAMP binding by CRPMt was relatively weak, entropy driven, and resulted in a relatively small enhancement in DNA binding. Tandem CRPMt-binding sites (CRP1 at −58.5 and CRP2 at −37.5) were identified at the whiB1 promoter (PwhiB1). In vitro transcription reactions showed that CRP1 is an activating site and that CRP2, which was only occupied in the presence of cAMP or at high CRPMt concentrations in the absence of cAMP, is a repressing site. Binding of CRPMt to CRP1 was not essential for open complex formation but was required for transcription activation. Thus, these data suggest that binding of CRPMt to the PwhiB1 CRP1 site activates transcription at a step after open complex formation. In contrast, high cAMP concentrations allowed occupation of both CRP1 and CRP2 sites, resulting in inhibition of open complex formation. Thus, M. tuberculosis CRP has evolved several distinct characteristics, compared with the Escherichia coli CRP paradigm, to allow it to regulate gene expression against a background of high concentrations of cAMP.
‘Did you see that, Mom?’: Social Looking in Three‐Year‐Old Boys

This study examined social looking, defined as child-initiated looking to a caregiver’s face, in a sample of three-year-old boys and their mothers: 59.6% of boys looked to their mothers at least once over the course of emotion-eliciting puppet show vignettes. Social looking occurred more often during puppet show events that were child-focused and positive in valence. Boys’ social looking was related to their concurrent affective state, with more expressions of positive emotion looking associated with more social looks. Patterns of family emotionality predicted children’s use of social looking. Specifically, a history of positive family expressiveness was associated with children’s less frequent use of social looking, whereas a history of negative family expressiveness was associated with children’s more frequent use of social looking.
Multitrait-Multimethod Analyses of the Self-description Questionnaire: Student-Teacher Agreement on Multidimensional Ratings of Student Self-concept

The Self-description Questionnaire is a multidimensional instrument designed to measure seven facets of self-concept hypothesized in Shavelson’s hierarchical model. Fifth and sixth grade students (n = 654) completed the SDQ and several other instruments. Factor analysis of their responses clearly demonstrated the seven factors that the SDQ was designed to measure. Teachers were also asked to evaluate each student’s self-concept along the same seven dimensions, and a multitrait-multimethod analysis offered support for both the convergent and divergent validity of the self-concept dimensions. Not only was there substantial student-teacher agreement on the seven dimensions, but agreement on any one dimension was relatively independent of agreement on other dimensions. The pattern of small correlations among the student self-concept dimensions was generally consistent with those observed for the teacher ratings and those predicted by the hierarchical model on which the instrument was based. Student and teacher ratings of students’ self-concepts each showed similar and predictable correlations with attributions for academic achievement, sex of student, and reading achievement, thus offering further support for the construct validity of interpretations based on the SDQ.
Fashion consumer profiles in the Portuguese market: involvement, innovativeness, self-expression and impulsiveness as segmentation criteria

This study identified fashion consumer profiles among Portuguese young adults. The work was based on four constructs: fashion involvement, fashion innovativeness, self-expression through fashion products and impulsiveness. Another purpose of this study was to test these instruments in this cultural context in order to contribute to the generalizability of the scales. A cluster analysis uncovered three groups: Moderates, Apathetic and Enthusiasts. On the whole, this study proposes a new way of segmenting Portuguese fashion consumers and demonstrates that the four constructs employed can be used in different cultural contexts.
Leren op het werk: Een handelingstheoretisch perspectief

Arbeid speelt een centrale rol in het leven van alledag. Buiten weekenden en vakanties besteden veel volwassenen ongeveer de helft van de tijd dat zij wakker zijn op het werk. Daarnaast heeft werk een belangrijk effect op het functioneren in andere domeinen, zoals de thuissituatie (Geurts & Demerouti, 2003). Het is daarom niet verrassend dat onderzoekers steeds meer geinteresseerd raken in de effecten van de psychosociale werkomgeving op de gezondheid en het welbevinden van werknemers. Het onderzoek op dit terrein is echter vooral gericht op de relatie met stress en onwelbevinden, wellicht omdat fenomenen zoals hoge werkdruk, stress en vermoeidheid het laatste decennium een groot maatschappelijk probleem vormden (Merllie & Paoli, 2001). Dat betekent echter niet dat onderzoek zich uitsluitend op dergelijke aspecten zou moeten richten. Moderne conceptualisaties van arbeidsgebonden welzijn omvatten bijvoorbeeld, naast negatieve aspecten zoals stress, ook positieve aspecten als aspiratie (de mate waarin taakuitvoerders uitdagende doelen nastreven op het werk), zelfvertrouwen en competentie (zie Van Horn, Taris, Schaufeli & Schreurs, 2004).
Human HA and polymerase subunit PB2 proteins confer transmission of an avian influenza virus through the air

The influenza virus genes that confer efficient transmission of epidemic and pandemic strains in humans have not been identified. The rapid spread and severe disease caused by the 1918 influenza pandemic virus makes it an ideal virus to study the transmissibility of potentially pandemic influenza strains. Here, we used a series of human 1918-avian H1N1 influenza reassortant viruses to identify the genetic determinants that govern airborne transmission of avian influenza viruses. We have demonstrated that the 1918 HA gene was necessary for efficient direct contact transmission, but did not allow respiratory droplet transmission between ferrets of an avian influenza virus possessing an avian polymerase subunit PB2. The 1918 PB2 protein was found to be both necessary and sufficient for airborne transmission of a virus expressing the 1918 HA and neuraminidase. Also, it was found that influenza viruses that were able to transmit efficiently in ferrets were able to replicate efficiently at the lower temperature (33 °C) found in the environment of mammalian airway. These findings demonstrate that the adaptation of the HA and PB2 proteins are critical for the development of pandemic influenza strains from avian influenza viruses.
A Review of Attachment and Its Relationship to the Working Alliance.

Attachment theorists propose that attachment styles affect the development of relationships inside and outside of therapy. By integrating attachment theory into their work with clients, therapists may strengthen the working alliance and lower the risk of clients prematurely ending therapy. Attachment theory is reviewed, and methods of integrating it into counselling practice are discussed. Daly and Mallinckrodt’s (2009) model of adapting therapeutic distance to establish safety in the therapy relationship is presented. Also reviewed is how therapists can integrate client culture into the adjustment of therapeutic distance.
Nanoscale Displacement and Strain Measurement

The mechanical testing of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) requires precise measurements of displacement and strain in the nanometer scale. Integrated testing devices, including specimens, actuators and sensors, were designed and fabricated to overcome the aligning and gripping difficulties faced by previous separated micromechanical testing apparatuses. The specimens were “dog-bone” shaped and were deformed in-plane by electrothermal actuators based on bent-beam suspensions. The displacement field was obtained by comparing surface topologies, acquired with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), of undeformed and deformed specimens using the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method. The change in capacitance of the integrated capacitive sensors was measured to determine the total displacement. The behavior of the whole device was simulated by ANSYS multiphysics, which agreed well with the measured results.
Issues of trustworthiness, validity and reliability

As a school nurse it is important that you can tell the difference between good and poor research. This month we are looking at the tests of quality for quantitative and qualitative research respectively. You will find that generally, ‘validity and reliability’ are the terms used when discussing the quality of quantitative research and that ‘trustworthiness’ refers to qualitative research. This article will take qualitative and quantitative research separately and explore what the terms mean for each paradigm.
Assessing language skills in preschool children

This review outlines some of the difficulties involved in assessing preschool children's language development. Language is a sensitive indicator of a range of developmental difficulties yet the accurate identification of children who are experiencing delays or disorders is problematic. A range of different approaches are used to identify and assess language problems including norm-referenced assessments, questionnaires and language samples. Each of these is critically evaluated. In particular the reliability and validity of the measures and their ability to discriminate atypical patterns of development is considered. It is concluded that there are no simple assessment tools that identify and assess language development. Moreover, the use of single measures is considered inadequate for determining whether a child at any age has typical or delayed language. Ways to circumvent the limitations of the assessment tools are considered.
The Initial Development of an Instrument for the Evaluation of Guidance and Counselling Services in Schools

This article describes the initial development of a 45-item self-administered questionnaire/instrument for the evaluation of guidance services in schools. Three domains are tapped in the questionnaire: namely, programme and curriculum, personnel and policies and resources, following the conceptual framework developed by Lung and Luk (1998). The sample for the present study comprises 39 in-service secondary school teachers taking certificate guidance and counselling courses in Hong Kong. This instrument describes the unique characteristics of guidance and counselling services, depicting a blend of international trends as well as local particularities in Hong Kong schools, regardless of school backgrounds.
In vivo imaging of CT26 mouse tumours by using cmHsp70.1 monoclonal antibody

The major stress‐inducible heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is frequently present on the cell surface of human tumours, but not on normal cells. Herein, the binding characteristics of the cmHsp70.1 mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb) were evaluated in vitro and in a syngeneic tumour mouse model. More than 50% of the CT26 mouse colon carcinoma cells express Hsp70 on their cell surface at 4°C. After a temperature shift to 37°C, the cmHsp70.1‐fluorescein isothiocyanate mAb translocates into early endosomes and lysosomes. Intraoperative and near‐infrared fluorescence imaging revealed an enrichment of Cy5.5‐conjugated mAb cmHsp70.1, but not an identically labelled IgG1 isotype‐matched control, in i.p. and s.c. located CT26 tumours, as soon as 30 min. after i.v. injection into the tail vein. Due to the rapid turnover rate of membrane‐bound Hsp70, the fluorescence‐labelled cmHsp70.1 mAb became endocytosed and accumulated in the tumour, reaching a maximum after 24 hrs and remained detectable at least up to 96 hrs after a single i.v. injection. The tumour‐selective internalization of mAb cmHsp70.1 at the physiological temperature of 37°C might enable a targeted uptake of toxins or radionuclides into Hsp70 membrane‐positive tumours. The anti‐tumoral activity of the cmHsp70.1 mAb is further supported by its capacity to mediate antibody‐dependent cytotoxicity.
Family assessment: Centripetal and centrifugal family systems

Abstract A consideration of interactional style is useful to both researchers and clinicians interested in family assessment. This paper offers data and process evaluation scales designed to determine family interactional style, conceptualized as a continuum ranging from centripetal (CP) to centrifugal (CF), and containing at the midpoint a mixed area in which facets of both the CP and the CF styles are found.
Terrain traps: barriers to effective reflective practice in undergraduate vocational outdoor leadership students

Outdoor practitioners widely embed reflective practice (RP) into the delivery of experiential education, but its contribution to their continued professional development remains under developed; by default, claims of its worth to the experiential education, they deliver must be approached with caution. Although the value of RP has been established in other domains, undergraduates on vocational outdoor leadership courses, in common with many other students, find engaging with RP problematic. This might be attributable in part to a focus on practicality and ‘doing rather than thinking’ but also to obstacles encountered in their work experience where data are captured for later critical analysis. This paper sets out to establish the barriers to RP experienced by undergraduates during one season’s summer employment. Data were gathered from focus groups, externally checked by two critical friends and subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Extracts from reflective journals were used to illustrate the emergent themes. The results highlighted several commonly perceived barriers to RP in the outdoor workplace and have been used as discussion points in class to help students understand the nature of work in the outdoor sector and to identify and develop appropriate coping strategies.
Antibacterial and antioxidant activity of Sutherlandia frutescens (Fabaceae), a reputed Anti‐HIV/AIDS phytomedicine

Dried ground leaves of Sutherlandia frutescens were extracted by both sequential extraction with four solvents, starting with the least polar and separately with acetone, ethanol and water. The extracts were tested for antibacterial and antioxidant activity. The hexane extract was, generally, the most active extract against S. aureus, E. faecalis and E. coli with MIC values of 0.31, 1.25 and 2.50 mg/mL, respectively. The second method extracted compounds with antioxidant activity as shown by the DPPH free‐radical scavenging assay. The use of Sutherlandia frutescens for topical staphylococcal infections, when formulated in an oily base appears to have a rational basis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Numerical accuracy issues in using Excel for simulation studies

Many researchers use Excel to perform simulations, but with each upgrade to Excel - Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel XP, and Excel 2003 - numerical accuracy problems have been noted. In the latest version, Excel 2003, some substantial changes have been made to its algorithms as noted on its Web site. This paper discusses generating random numbers in Excel - including uniform, normal, and Poisson variates. In addition, the study assesses how Excel's accuracy stacks up to other statistical software by using the NIST Statistical Reference Datasets tests as certified benchmarks of numerical accuracy. This paper will reveal that Excel 2003 still has room for improvement.
The euro Crisis and the New Impossible Trinity

* This papers draws on presentations made at the XXIV Moneda y Crédito Symposium, Madrid, 3 November 2011, at the Asia-Europe Economic Forum conference in Seoul, 9 December, at De Nederlandsche Bank in Amsterdam on 17 December and at the National Bank of Belgium on 9 March 2012. I am very grateful to Silvia Merler for excellent research assistance. I thank participants in these seminars and Bruegel colleagues for comments and criticisms. Special thanks to Pierre Wunsch for insightful comments.
Regulation of cell growth by vitreous humour.

Extracts of normal vitreous have been found to inhibit angiogenesis in two animal models: tumour-induced neovascularization in the rabbit corneal micropocket and retinal extract-induced angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane assay. Using in vitro assays, we have found recently that an extract of bovine vitreous, free of hyaluronic acid, inhibits proliferation of cells in the aortic wall, i.e. endothelium and smooth muscle cells, as well as capillary and corneal endothelium. The inhibition is dose-dependent, as determined by either cell count or [3H]thymidine incorporation, and not due to cytotoxicity, as demonstrated with a double-label thymidine assay. The inhibitor is trypsin-sensitive and heat-stable (95 degrees C for 10 min). Conversely, proliferation of pericytes, lens epithelium and fibroblasts (dermal and corneal) was stimulated by the vitreous extract. This mitogenic activity was heat-labile. Growth of pigment epithelium and several tumour cell lines was unaffected. The data demonstrate that normal vitreous contains a heat-stable growth inhibitor specific for endothelium and smooth muscle cells, and a non-specific heat-labile mitogen. The paradoxical effect of this antiangiogenic factor on arterial and capillary contractile cells, smooth muscle and pericytes, suggests a basic difference in the regulation of the two vasculatures. The results suggest that a substance in normal vitreous may be important in controlling neovascularization that results from diabetic and other retinopathies, and could be useful for inhibiting tumour-induced angiogenesis.
Benthic macroinvertebrate communities as indicators of river environment quality: an experience in Nicaragua.

Biotic indexes are one of several types of measures that are routinely used in biological monitoring in temperate streams and offer interesting possibilities to assess the environmental quality of rivers in the neotropics. Macroinvertebrate communities of seven southeastern Nicaraguan streams were monitored and seven ecological indexes were applied. The results suggest that information from the Indice Biótico Esteso (I.B.E.) is closely correlated to the results of other methods, but the I.B. E. index is easier to apply as well as avoiding high costs and time-consuming procedures. A calibration of the method is necessary for rapid assessment approaches in the neotropics.
Gender and Attractiveness Biases in Hiring Decisions: Are More Experienced Managers Less Biased?

The relationship of managerial experience to gender and attractiveness biases was examined in decisions involving suitability for hire and probable organizational progression within a typical financial institution. Each of 112 managers evaluated 4 equivalent resume-data sheets, to which different candidate photographs were attached. The photographs were varied using a 2 X 2 (Gender X Attractiveness) design wherein each photograph depicted a woman or a man who was either highly attractive or slightly below average in attractiveness. For both ratings and rankings of candidates, clear evidence of attractiveness and gender biases were present. The extent of the bias was generally smaller for the most experienced managers, although less attractive female applicants were routinely at a disadvantage regardless of managerial experience.
Biochemical Characterization of Rous Sarcoma Virus MA Protein Interaction with Membranes

ABSTRACT The MA domain of retroviral Gag proteins mediates association with the host cell membrane during assembly. The biochemical nature of this interaction is not well understood. We have used an in vitro flotation assay to directly measure Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) MA-membrane interaction in the absence of host cell factors. The association of purified MA and MA-containing proteins with liposomes of defined composition was electrostatic in nature and depended upon the presence of a biologically relevant concentration of negatively charged lipids. A mutant MA protein known to be unable to promote Gag membrane association and budding in vivo failed to bind to liposomes. These results were supported by computational modeling. The intrinsic affinity of RSV MA for negatively charged membranes appears insufficient to promote efficient plasma membrane binding during assembly. However, an artificially dimerized form of MA bound to liposomes by at least an order of magnitude more tightly than monomeric MA. This result suggests that the clustering of MA domains, via Gag-Gag interactions during virus assembly, drives membrane association in vivo.
Improving network connectivity in emergency ad hoc wireless networks

Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) can to provide first responders and disaster management agencies with a reliable communication network in the event of a large-scale natural disaster that devastates majority of the existing communication infrastructure. Without requiring a fixed infrastructure, MANETs can be quickly deployed after a large-scale natural disaster or a terrorist attack. On the other hand, MANETs have dynamic topologies which could be disconnected because of the mobility of nodes. This paper presents a decentralized approach to maintain the connectivity of a MANET using autonomous, intelligent agents. Concepts from the social network analysis along with flocking algorithms are utilized to guide the deployment decision of agents. Unlike a basic flocking algorithm where all nodes have the same importance, network metrics are used to quantify the relative importance of nodes. Computational results are presented to demonstrate the effect of various local agent behaviors on the global network connectivity.
High-Efficiency Screening of Monoclonal Antibodies for Membrane Protein Crystallography

Determination of crystal structures of membrane proteins is often limited by difficulties obtaining crystals diffracting to high resolution. Co-crystallization with Fab fragments of monoclonal antibodies has been reported to improve diffraction of membrane proteins crystals. However, it is not simple to generate useful monoclonal antibodies for membrane protein crystallography. In this report, we present an optimized process for efficient screening from immunization to final validation of monoclonal antibody for membrane protein crystallography.