Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stygiolobus Rod-Shaped Virus and the Interplay of Crenarchaeal Rudiviruses with the CRISPR Antiviral System

ABSTRACT A newly characterized archaeal rudivirus Stygiolobus rod-shaped virus (SRV), which infects a hyperthermophilic Stygiolobus species, was isolated from a hot spring in the Azores, Portugal. Its virions are rod-shaped, 702 (± 50) by 22 (± 3) nm in size, and nonenveloped and carry three tail fibers at each terminus. The linear double-stranded DNA genome contains 28,096 bp and an inverted terminal repeat of 1,030 bp. The SRV shows morphological and genomic similarities to the other characterized rudiviruses Sulfolobus rod-shaped virus 1 (SIRV1), SIRV2, and Acidianus rod-shaped virus 1, isolated from hot acidic springs of Iceland and Italy. The single major rudiviral structural protein is shown to generate long tubular structures in vitro of similar dimensions to those of the virion, and we estimate that the virion constitutes a single, superhelical, double-stranded DNA embedded into such a protein structure. Three additional minor conserved structural proteins are also identified. Ubiquitous rudiviral proteins with assigned functions include glycosyl transferases and a S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, as well as a Holliday junction resolvase, a transcriptionally coupled helicase and nuclease implicated in DNA replication. Analysis of matches between known crenarchaeal chromosomal CRISPR spacer sequences, implicated in a viral defense system, and rudiviral genomes revealed that about 10% of the 3,042 unique acidothermophile spacers yield significant matches to rudiviral genomes, with a bias to highly conserved protein genes, consistent with the widespread presence of rudiviruses in hot acidophilic environments. We propose that the 12-bp indels which are commonly found in conserved rudiviral protein genes may be generated as a reaction to the presence of the host CRISPR defense system.
Towards an approach for multi-device interface design

This paper proposes an approach for multi-device interface design that extends pre-designed interfaces keeping the original application conceptual model without loosing its usability, The proposal reinterprets general aspects of well known Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) lifecycle models and can be extended to the design of any interactive product. When validated through a simple transformation between a large and a small screen interface in an HCI domain, it shall point to a much less maintenance cost/complexity and a better usability, ensuring the user's satisfaction.
Structural basis for developmentally regulated changes in cadherin function at synapses

Members of the cadherin family of calcium‐dependent cell adhesion molecules can bind homophilically across central nervous system (CNS) synapses, but experimental evidence indicates the nature of their contribution to synapse structure and function changes over time. We asked whether changes in function correspond to differences in intrasynaptic distribution. Using quantitative immuno‐electronmicroscopy, we determined where cadherins are localized within synapses at key developmental stages in cultured hippocampal neurons and in hippocampus in vivo. At 5–6 days in culture, when most synapses are newly formed, cadherins are regularly and evenly distributed at synaptic clefts throughout the active zone. In contrast, at 14 days, when the majority of synapses are comparatively mature, cadherin labeling concentrates in discrete clusters. Such clusters can occur at any place within or immediately surrounding synaptic clefts. To assess whether this change in distribution is unique to neurons grown in culture, we compared the distribution of cadherins in the CA1 region of hippocampus at postnatal days 2, 3 (P2–3) and in adult. Consistent with our observations in cultured neurons, synapses in P2–3 hippocampus most often exhibit cadherins distributed regularly throughout the cleft, while adult synapses show predominantly discrete concentrations at single sites. The early developmental pattern of cadherin distribution can also be detected at occasional synapses in adult tissue. Such synapses also have morphological features consistent with immature synapses, suggesting that intrasynaptic cadherin distribution is a feature that may distinguish synapse age. J. Comp. Neurol. 495:324–335, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fast Adaptive Robust Subspace Tracking for Online Background Subtraction

We propose a fast-adapted subspace tracking algorithm for background subtraction in video surveillance. While background scenes are modelled as a linear combination of basis images, foreground scenes are regarded as a sparse image. Every time a video frame streams in, two alternating procedures are repeatedly done: basis images are updated by a recursive least square algorithm and foreground images are extracted by solving the L1-minimization problem. In the aspect that this algorithm is basically an online algorithm fast-adapted to background change, which is very much required for real-time video surveillance, it is the most efficient among all the algorithms that are based on both low-rank condition (for background modelling) and sparsity condition (for foreground modelling).
Fitting into the prevailing teenage culture: A grounded theory on female adolescents with chronic arthritis

The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of female adolescents’ daily living with chronic arthritis. Tape-recorded open interviews were conducted once with six teenage girls (14–17 years), who also wrote diaries for a 12-month period. In addition, 12 interviews of female adolescents diagnosed with chronic arthritis selected from another sample in an earlier study by the authors were included in the data. The Grounded Theory (GT) method was used for analysing the diaries and the transcribed interviews. A core category, labelled Fitting into the prevailing teenage culture, and four related categories labelled (1) mastering a body in pain; (2) living one day at time; (3) using social support; and (4) fighting for health emerged. The categories formed a substantive theory illuminating living with chronic arthritis during adolescence. The theory explains and provides a deeper understanding of the main concern of these female adolescents and their strategies in managing their situation.
Empirical study of trust in Chinese organizations: Joint venture versus state-owned enterprise

Culture offers an important setting for entrepreneurship to grow, and trust is critical for entrepreneurship to thrive. In recent years, there has been debate whether Chinese culture facilitates or hinders entrepreneurship; there has also been a call for empirical investigation of trust in entrepreneurship research. Our paper investigates the relationship between Chinese cultural values and two kinds of trust, in two different enterprises as two subcultures in China. The two kinds of trust are dispositional trust and interpersonal trust; and the two enterprises are a joint venture and a state-owned enterprise. We composed questionnaire from established work about trust and cultural values, ran survey research on 226 employees in the two organizations in China, and analyzed the survey data by descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlations, and MANOVA. We found that dispositional trust and interpersonal trust are different at individual level; Chinese cultural values correlate significantly with both dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and positively correlate to both kinds of trust. Employees in the state-owned enterprise held higher level of Chinese cultural values but had lower level of interpersonal trust, which suggests potential problems in its management. Our study is one of the recent studies that separately measure dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and our findings across two different types of organizations have practical implications for entrepreneurship research in China. Our study is also one of the recent studies that find Chinese cultural values may benefit trust in enterprises, although some earlier studies suggested the opposite.
MicroRNA-223 regulates Glut4 expression and cardiomyocyte glucose metabolism.

AIMS MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important for cardiac function and tissue metabolism. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role(s) of miRNAs in the insulin-resistant heart. METHODS AND RESULTS Left ventricular biopsies were collected from patients with or without type 2 diabetes and from patients with left ventricular dysfunction. Quantitative miRNA expression analyses of 155 miRNAs revealed that miR-223 was consistently upregulated in the insulin-resistant heart. We assessed the effects of miR-223 on glucose metabolism in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes where adenoviral-mediated overexpression of miR-223 increased glucose uptake. Using in silico miRNA target prediction programs, we prioritized candidate miR-223 target genes, but observed no effect of miR-223 on myocyte enhancer factor 2c or insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, and an unexpected miR-223-induced increase in nuclear factor IA. We next examined the effects of miR-223 on insulin signalling and glucose transport proteins. Neither phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling nor AMP kinase activity was affected by miR-223 overexpression, whereas glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) protein expression was increased. miR-223 overexpression-induced Glut4 protein expression in cardiomyocytes was necessary and sufficient for increased glucose uptake as demonstrated by siRNA knockdown of Glut4. Loss-of-function studies in vivo, using a synthetic miR-223 inhibitor, confirmed the effect of miR-223 on Glut4. CONCLUSION These data demonstrate a role for miR-223 in Glut4 regulation and glucose metabolism in the heart, reveal the pleiotropic effects of miRNAs across tissues, and show that miRNAs can upregulate target genes in terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes.
Moderate alcohol intake lowers biochemical markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal women

Objective Epidemiological studies indicate that higher bone mass is associated with moderate alcohol consumption in postmenopausal women. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms responsible for the putative beneficial effects of alcohol on bone are unknown. Excessive bone turnover, combined with an imbalance whereby bone resorption exceeds bone formation, is the principal cause of postmenopausal bone loss. This study investigated the hypothesis that moderate alcohol intake attenuates bone turnover after menopause. Methods Bone mineral density was determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 40 healthy postmenopausal women (mean ± SE age, 56.3 ± 0.5 y) who consumed alcohol at 19 ± 1 g/day. Serum levels of the bone formation marker osteocalcin and the resorption marker C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) were measured by immunoassay at baseline (day 0) and after alcohol withdrawal for 14 days. Participants then consumed alcohol and were assayed on the following morning. Results Bone mineral density at the trochanter and total hip were positively correlated to the level of alcohol consumption. Serum osteocalcin and CTx increased after abstinence (4.1 ± 1.6%, P = 0.01 and 5.8 ± 2.6%, P = 0.02 compared with baseline, respectively). Osteocalcin and CTx decreased after alcohol readministration, compared with the previous day (−3.4 ± 1.4%, P = 0.01 and −3.5 ± 2.1%, P = 0.05, respectively), to values that did not differ from baseline (P > 0.05). Conclusions Abstinence from alcohol results in increased markers of bone turnover, whereas resumption of alcohol reduces bone turnover markers. These results suggest a cellular mechanism for the increased bone density observed in postmenopausal moderate alcohol consumers. Specifically, the inhibitory effect of alcohol on bone turnover attenuates the detrimental skeletal consequences of excessive bone turnover associated with menopause.
Conceptual Workflow Verification and Optimization for Artifact-Centric Business Process

The conceptual workflow can be taken as a middle level between the logical specification level and the physical execution level in business workflow system. The conceptual workflow is very important in providing the independency from both the business operational model and the specified implementation platform, so it supports flexible modifications both in the top level and in the bottom level. In this paper, first, a set of graphic components is proposed here to describe an artifact-centric business process and a conceptual workflow is derived from the business operational model. Then, some syntax rules are proposed for verifying the syntactical correctness of the conceptual workflow. After that several optimization rules are proposed for optimizing the conceptual workflow and the example used shows that the optimization rules can simplify the conceptual workflow thus will improve the performance of the execution of the workflow future.
Maternal Obesity in Sheep Increases Fatty Acid Synthesis, Upregulates Nutrient Transporters, and Increases Adiposity in Adult Male Offspring after a Feeding Challenge

Maternal obesity in women is increasing worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in adipose tissue metabolism and function in adult male offspring from obese and control fed mothers subjected to an ad libitum feeding challenge. We developed a model in which obese ewes were fed 150% of feed provided for controls from 60 days before mating to term. All ewes were fed to requirements during lactation. After weaning, F1 male offspring were fed only to maintenance requirements until adulthood (control = 7, obese = 6), when they were fed ad libitum for 12 weeks with intake monitored. At the end of the feeding challenge offspring were given an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT), necropsied, and adipose tissue collected. During the feeding trial F1obese males consumed more (P < 0.01), gained more weight (P < 0.01) and became heavier (P < 0.05) than F1control males. During IVGTT, Obese F1 offspring were hyperglycemic and hypoinsulinemic (P < 0.01) compared to F1 control F1. At necropsy perirenal and omental adipose depots weights were 47% and 58% greater respectively and subcutaneous fat thickness 41% greater in F1obese vs F1control males (P < 0.05). Adipocyte diameters were greater (P ≤ 0.04) in perirenal, omental and subcutaneous adipose depots in F1obese males (11, 8 and 7% increase vs. control, respectively). When adipose tissue was incubated for 2 hrs with C-14 labeled acetate, subcutaneous, perirenal, and omental adipose tissue of F1 obese males exhibited greater incorporation (290, 83, and 90% increase vs. control, respectively P < 0.05) of acetate into lipids. Expression of fatty acid transporting, binding, and syntheses mRNA and protein was increased (P < 0.05) compared to F1 control offspring. Maternal obesity increased appetite and adiposity associated with increased adipocyte diameters and increased fatty acid synthesis in over-nourished adult male offspring.
Labeler agreement in transcribing korean intonation with K-toBI

This paper reports labeler agreement in the transcription of Korean prosody using Korean ToBI (K-ToBI) [9]. Twenty utterances representing five different types of speech were produced by 18 speakers and transcribed by 21 labelers differing in their levels of experience with K-ToBI. Following the stringent metric used for English ToBI evaluation [14,12], consistency was measured in terms of the number of transcriber pairs agreeing on the labeling of each particular word. The results show that for tonal transcriptions of the 32,130 transcriber-pair-words, agreement was 77% for the type of boundaries at the end of each word (i.e., word, AP, or IP), 78% for AP boundaries, and 91% for IP boundaries. For break indices, the agreement score for exact matching in the labeling was 59%, 69% when relaxing the presence/absence of diacritics, and 99% when relaxing within +/-1 level. In sum, the data confirm that the conventions of K-ToBI are adequate, easy to learn, and can be reliably used for research in Korean prosody and for large-scale prosodic annotation in speech databases.
Changes in serum α2u‐globulin levels in castrated male rats treated with testosterone propionate in a Hershberger assay

The Hershberger assay has been proposed as a candidate screening test method for the detection of androgenic and anti‐androgenic chemicals and is being validated presently under the test guideline programme of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Rat α2u‐globulin is male rat‐specic protein appearing in their serum and urine, and the protein is known to be induced by androgens. We investigated the usefulness of measuring serum α2u‐globulin levels as a parameter for the androgenic activity of chemicals tested in the Hershberger assay. The serum α2u‐globulin level was measured after the administration of testosterone propionate at dosages of 0, 20, 100 or 500 µg kg−1 day−1 for ten consecutive days in the castrated male rats. The ventral prostate, balbocavernosus[sol ]levator ani muscles, glans penis and Cowper's gland were collected and weighed. Although all the androgen‐responsive organ weights were increased signicantly at dosages of 100 and 500 µg kg−1 day−1, the serum α2u‐globulin level was increased signicantly only at a dosage of 500 µg kg−1 day−1. These results show that the serum α2u‐globulin level may be a useful biomarker for detecting androgenic activity caused by test chemicals, but it is less sensitive than the organ weights of androgen‐responsive tissues in the Hershberger assay. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Detection of group C rotavirus in infants with extrahepatic biliary atresia.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine liver tissue from patients with cholestatic disease for the presence of group C rotavirus RNA. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for genes 5 and 6 was used, and the PCR products were subjected to liquid hybridization with a 32P-labeled probe. A second amplification with nested primers was also used. Samples from 32 subjects (20 with biliary atresia or choledochal cyst and 12 controls) were tested. Ten of 20 biliary atresia patients were positive for group C rotavirus RNA; no controls were positive (P < .003). Three of the positive patients were positive for both genes 5 and 6. Six of the 10 had > 1 sample that was positive. These data suggest a possible relationship between group C rotavirus and extrahepatic biliary atresia in the 10 patients in whom virus RNA was detected.
Placement, protective and risk factors in the educational success of young people in care: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

In the present study, we formulated and tested a basic model of the educational success of young people in out-of-home care. We used data from 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009 on a sample of 1106 young people in care in Ontario, Canada. The youths were 12–17 years of age; 56.24% were male and 43.76% female. The indicators of educational success in both years were the youth's average marks and the youth's school performance in reading, math, science and overall, as rated by his or her caregiver. Based on resilience theory and on a model of the influence of maltreatment on educational achievement, our model included four categories of predictors: control variables (youth gender and age and, in the longitudinal analyses, the year 7 value of the year 8 dependent variable), three placement types (foster, kinship care or group homes), three risk factors (previous repetition of a grade in school, a health-related cognitive impairment index and a measure of behavioural difficulties) and three protective factors (caregiver involvement in the youth's school, caregiver educational aspirations for the young person and the youth's total number of internal developmental assets). Cross-sectional and longitudinal hierarchical regression analyses provided mixed support for the proposed model. The youth's gender, level of behavioural difficulties and number of developmental assets, and the caregiver's educational aspirations for the young person, emerged as the most consistent predictors of educational success. The implications and limitations of the findings were discussed.
Elastic online analytical processing on RAMCloud

A shared-nothing architecture is state-of-the-art for deploying a distributed analytical in-memory database management system: it preserves the in-memory performance advantage by processing data locally on each node but is difficult to scale out. Modern switched fabric communication links such as InfiniBand narrow the performance gap between local and remote DRAM data access to a single order of magnitude. Based on these premises, we introduce a distributed in-memory database architecture that separates the query execution engine and data access: this enables a) the usage of a large-scale DRAM-based storage system such as Stanford's RAMCloud and b) the push-down of bandwidth-intensive database operators into the storage system. We address the resulting challenges such as finding the optimal operator execution strategy and partitioning scheme. We demonstrate that such an architecture delivers both: the elasticity of a shared-storage approach and the performance characteristics of operating on local DRAM.
Torus fibrations and localization of index II-Local index for acyclic compatible system -

We give a framework of localization for the index of a Dirac-type operator on an open manifold. Suppose the open manifold has a compact subset whose complement is covered by a finitely many open subset, each of which has a structure of the total space of a torus bundle. Under a certain compatibility condition and acyclicity we show that the index of the Dirac-type operator is localized on the compact set.
Virtual instrument for water quality parameters measurement

Due to the nowadays demanding for the environmental concerns and the growing importance of the pollution reduction for a sustained development, the water quality monitoring it's very important and useful to study the physical and chemical characteristics of all kind of water and essential to understand the needs to protect and recover the quality of one element which is vital to all of us and also all the beings who surround us. The present work has the target to develop a low cost virtual instrument for water quality parameters measurement. The developed system allows to measure three of the most important physical variables in water quality monitoring that are: electrical conductivity, temperature and turbidity. An important characteristic is the flexibility to add also other measurement channel without significant change of the system hardware component. Making measurements for several hours in remote locations is possible due to system autonomy provided by appropriate battery supply selection. The designed and implemented virtual instrument is characterized by accuracy that satisfied the application requirements of water quality assessment in rivers and estuaries.