Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New Human Breast Cancer Cells to Study Progesterone Receptor Isoform Ratio Effects and Ligand-independent Gene Regulation*

All known progesterone target cells coexpress two functionally different progesterone receptor (PR) isoforms: 120-kDa B-receptors (PR-B) and N-terminally truncated, 94-kDa A-receptors (PR-A). Their ratio varies in normal and malignant tissues. In human breast cancer cells, homodimers of progesterone-occupied PR-A or PR-B regulate different gene subsets. To study PR homo- and heterodimers, we constructed breast cancer cell lines in which isoform expression is controlled by an inducible system. PR-negative cells or cells that stably express one or the other isoform were used to construct five sets of cells: (i) PR-negative control cells (Y iNull), (ii) inducible PR-A cells (Y iA), (iii) inducible PR-B cells (Y iB), (iv) stable PR-B plus inducible PR-A cells (B iA), and (v) stable PR-A plus inducible PR-B cells (A iB). Expression levels of each isoform and/or the PR-A/PR-B ratios could be tightly controlled by the dose of inducer as demonstrated by immunoblotting and transcription studies. Induced PRs underwent normal progestin-dependent phosphorylation and down-regulation and regulated exogenous promoters as well as endogenous gene expression. Transcription of exogenous promoters was dependent on the PR-A/PR-B ratio, whereas transcription of endogenous genes was more complex. Finally, we have described several genes that are regulated by induced PR-A even in the absence of ligand.
Reduction in Mitochondrial Superoxide Dismutase Modulates Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology and Accelerates the Onset of Behavioral Changes in Human Amyloid Precursor Protein Transgenic Mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with accumulations of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodegeneration, and dementia. The mitochondrial antioxidant manganese superoxide dismutase-2 (Sod2) might protect against these alterations. To test this hypothesis, we inactivated one Sod2 allele (Sod2+/−) in human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) transgenic mice, reducing Sod2 activity to ∼50% of that in Sod2 wild-type (Sod2+/+) mice. A reduction in Sod2 activity did not obviously impair mice without hAPP/Aβ expression. In hAPP mice, however, it accelerated the onset of behavioral alterations and of deficits in prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle, a measure of sensorimotor gating. In these mice, it also worsened hAPP/Aβ-dependent depletion of microtubule-associated protein 2, a marker of neuronal dendrites. Sod2 reduction decreased amyloid plaques in the brain parenchyma but promoted the development of cerebrovascular amyloidosis, gliosis, and plaque-independent neuritic dystrophy. Sod2 reduction also increased the DNA binding activity of the transcription factor nuclear factor κB. These results suggest that Sod2 protects the aging brain against hAPP/Aβ-induced impairments. Whereas reductions in Sod2 would be expected to trigger or exacerbate neuronal and vascular pathology in AD, increasing Sod2 activity might be of therapeutic benefit.
PREDICTING COLLEGE ADAPTATION AMONG STUDENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES

Title of Dissertation: PREDICTING COLLEGE ADAPTATION AMONG STUDENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES Chia-Huei Lin, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation Directed by: Kim MacDonald-Wilson, Sc. D. Counseling, Higher Education, & Special Education The number of college students with psychiatric disabilities has been growing steadily in higher education in recent years. Most of these students choose not to disclose their mental health conditions and do not register with disability services. Thus, little is known about the subjective experiences of these students in their college lives. This study seeks to identify college students with psychiatric disabilities and to explore the factors predicting college adaptation among these students. Participants in the study were 292 college students with psychiatric disabilities who completed at least one semester in a large mid-Atlantic University. Participants completed an on-line survey of college adaptation, internalized stigma, social supports, and coping strategies. With hierarchical multiple regression analyses, results of the study suggest that internalized stigma of mental illness has significant relationships with college adaptation. Supports from different sources may play different roles in adaptation to college. Family support was found to be associated with academic adjustment and personal-emotional adjustment, while support from friends was significantly related to better social adjustment and attachment. Use of coping strategies was also found to be predictive of college adaptation. Greater use of seeking support and less use of venting and self-distraction are associated with better academic adjustment. Particularly, self-blame coping was negatively related to all three types of psychosocial adaptation. The current study suggests that interventions that reduce internalized stigma and increase use of effective coping strategies should be developed and implemented in college. Collaboration among special educators in middle schools, families, and college disability services staff is also addressed. Finally, efforts should be made to create services that meet students’ needs and increase their willingness to understand and use available resources. PREDICTING COLLEGE ADAPTATION AMONG STUDENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES
Investigating social curation websites: A crowd computing perspective

This paper analyzes five social curation tools, chosen for having a relevant number of users and for being subject of other academic studies. Based on existing literature, the concepts of curation, digital curation, and social curation are discussed. Three main research questions are the objective of the research: how `social' are the studied tools, if they are adequate to crowd work, and how good they are as search engines. It is concluded that in the current state of affairs, these tools are quite social as social media sites, but little social as social curation sites; that they are not adequate to crowd work. It is observed, however, that these tools use the wisdom of the crowds to filter the vast web content, and that they may be seen as crowd computing tools.
Role of miR-142-3p in the Post-Transcriptional Regulation of the Clock Gene Bmal1 in the Mouse SCN

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that function as post-transcriptional modulators by regulating stability or translation of target mRNAs. Recent studies have implicated miRNAs in the regulation of mammalian circadian rhythms. To explore the role of miRNAs in the post-transcriptional modulation of core clock genes in the master circadian pacemaker, we examined miR-142-3p for evidence of circadian expression in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), regulation of its putative clock gene target Bmal1 via specific binding sites in the 3′ UTR and overexpression-induced changes in the circadian rhythm of BMAL1 protein levels in SCN cells. In mice exposed to constant darkness (DD), miR-142-3p levels in the SCN were characterized by circadian rhythmicity with peak expression during early subjective day at CT 3. Mutagenesis studies indicate that two independent miRNA recognition elements located at nucleotides 1–7 and 335–357 contribute equally to miR-142-3p-induced repression of luciferase-reported Bmal1 3′ UTR activity. Importantly, overexpression of miR-142-3p in immortalized SCN cells abolished circadian variation in endogenous BMAL1 protein levels in vitro. Collectively, our results suggest that miR-142-3p may play a role in the post-transcriptional modulation of Bmal1 and its oscillatory regulation in molecular feedback loops mediating SCN circadian function.
Uncertainty and anxiety after mastectomy for breast cancer

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between uncertainty and anxiety in women after mastectomy for breast cancer and to describe women's responses to partial or complete mastectomy for breast cancer during the early rehabilitative phase after surgery. A theoretical framework for the study was derived from the Scott, Oberst, and Dropkin Stress-Coping Model and from a review of the literature. Major study variables and variable measures were uncertainty, measured by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), and anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Twenty-five women admitted to two acute-care teaching hospitals for their first partial or modified radical mastectomy made up the convenience sample of this study. Data were collected 1–2 days before and' 1–2 weeks after hospital discharge. From study findings, it was shown that only at the postdischarge testing was there a significant positive correlation between uncertainty and state anxiety. The development of appropriate interventions to assist breast cancer patients in dealing with the fears of recurrence and uncertainties regarding treatment effectiveness and sequelae has relevance for nursing practice.
Int6 Expression Can Predict Survival in Early-Stage Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Purpose: The Int6 gene was originally identified as a common insertion site for the mouse mammary tumor virus in virally induced mouse mammary tumors. Recent studies indicate that Int6 is a multifaceted protein involved in the regulation of protein translation and degradation through binding with three complexes: the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3, the proteasome regulatory lid, and the constitutive photomorphogenesis 9 signalosome. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of Int6 in a large series of stage I non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) patients with long-term follow-up. Experimental Design: We determined the methylation status of Int6 DNA by methylation-specific PCR and the steady-state levels of Int6 RNA by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR in 101 NSCLCs and matched normal lung tissues. Results: In 27% of the tumors, Int6 RNA levels were reduced relative to normal tissue. In 85% of the tumors with reduced Int6 expression, the transcription promoter and first exon were hypermethylated, whereas only 4% of the tumors with elevated Int6 RNA levels were hypermethylated (P < 0.000001). Low levels of Int6 RNA were found a significant predictor of overall and disease-free survival (P = 0.0004 and P = 0.0020, respectively). A multivariate analysis confirmed that low Int6 expression was the only independent factor to predict poor prognosis, for both overall (P = 0.0006) and disease-free (P = 0.024) survival. Conclusions: Our results suggest that Int6 expression, evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR, may represent a new prognostic factor in patients with stage I NSCLC.
A call to action: variability in guidelines for cardiac evaluation before renal transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Candidates for renal transplantation are at increased risk for complications related to cardiovascular disease; however, the optimal strategy to reduce this risk is not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variability among existing guidelines for preoperative cardiac evaluation of renal transplant candidates. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS A consecutive series of renal transplant candidates (n=204) were identified, and four prominent preoperative cardiac evaluation guidelines, pertaining to this population, were retrospectively applied to determine the rate at which each guideline recommended cardiac stress testing. RESULTS The rate of pretransplant cardiac stress testing would have ranged from 20 to 100% depending on which guideline was applied. The American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (ACC/AHA) guideline resulted in the lowest rate of testing (20%). In our population, 178 study subjects underwent stress testing: 17 were found to have ischemia and 10 underwent revascularization. The ACC/AHA approach would have decreased the number of noninvasive tests from 178 to 39; it would have identified only 4 of the 10 patients who underwent revascularization. The three other guidelines (renal transplant-specific guidelines) recommended widespread pretransplant cardiac testing and thus identified nearly all patients who had ischemia on stress testing. CONCLUSIONS The ACC/AHA perioperative guideline may be inadequate for identifying renal transplant candidates with coronary disease; however, renal transplant-specific guidelines may provoke significant overtesting. An intermediate approach based on risk factors specific to the ESRD population may optimize detection of coronary disease and limit testing.
Galantamine improves sustained attention in chronic cocaine users.

Chronic cocaine users are known to have cognitive deficits that are predictive of poor treatment response. Whether these deficits improve with medications targeting specific cognitive functions has not been examined in previous studies. The goal of this study was to evaluate galantamine's efficacy on selected cognitive outcomes, including measures of sustained attention, response inhibition, and attentional bias in recently abstinent cocaine users. Galantamine, a reversible and competitive inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, is used clinically in the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. In a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study, 34 participants were randomized to galantamine (8 mg/day) or placebo treatment for 10 days. Cognitive and self-report mood measures were obtained at baseline and on Days 5 and 10 after the initiation of treatment. Galantamine treatment, compared to placebo, improved the reaction time, F(2, 50) = 8.6, p < . 01, detection sensitivity (A'), F(2, 50) = 4.9, p < . 03, number of hits, F(2, 50) = 4.2, p < . 04, and number of correct rejections, F(2, 50) = 5.6, p < . 02, on the Rapid Visual Information Processing task. With the exception of speeding the reaction time on the Stroop, galantamine did not affect performance on other tasks, (p > .05). These results demonstrate that medications can enhance cognitive function (e.g., sustained attention) in abstinent cocaine users. The potential efficacy of galantamine as a treatment for cocaine abuse needs to be further evaluated in clinical trials.
VLT optical observations of the isolated neutron star RX J0420.0-5022

Context. X-ray observations performed with the Rontgen Satellite ( ROSAT ) led to the discovery of seven radio-silent isolated neutron stars (INSs) which are detected only through the relatively dim and purely thermal X-ray emission from the cooling star surface. A few of these INSs (X-ray Dim INSs, or XDINSs) have been also detected at optical wavelengths where they seem to feature thermal spectra. Optical studies of XDINSs thus play a crucial role in mapping the temperature distribution on the neutron star surface and in investigating the existence of an atmosphere around the neutron star. Aims. The aim of this work is to investigate the optical identification of the XDINS RX J0420.0-5022, tentatively proposed in the literature based on Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) observations. Methods. We re-analysed the original VLT observations of the proposed counterpart to assess its detection significance and we performed deeper VLT observations aiming at a higher confidence detection. Results. With a ∼ $2 \sigma$ detection significance and a re-computed flux of $B=27.52 \pm 0.61$, we cannot rule out that the proposed counterpart was spurious and produced by the halo of a very bright nearby star. While we could not detect the proposed counterpart in our deeper VLT observations, we found evidence for a marginally significant (~$ 3.9 \sigma$) detection of a similarly faint object ($B= 27.5\pm 0.3$), $\approx $$0\farcs5$ north of it and coincident with the updated Chandra position of RX J0420.0-5022. Interestingly, the angular separation is consistent with the upper limit on the RX J0420.0-5022 proper motion, which suggests that we might have actually detected the originally proposed counterpart. From the flux of the putative RX J0420.0-5022 counterpart we can rule out a >7 optical excess with respect to the extrapolation of the XMM-Newton spectrum. Conclusions. High spatial resolution observations with the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) are the only way to confirm the detection of the putative candidate counterpart and to validate its identification with RX J0420.0-5022.
Estimation of land surface temperature and emissivity from AMSR-E data

A radiative transfer model to compute brightness temperatures in the microwave region for the soil-vegetation- atmosphere system has been developed in this study. Considering the various atmospheric conditions, a microwave brightness temperature database is generated for a wide range of surface dielectric constant and roughness properties under AMSR-E sensor configurations by using the soil-vegetation-atmosphere radiative transfer model. From the land surface emissivities in the simulated database, the linear relationships of surface emissivities between different channels for the advanced microwave scanning radiometer-earth observing system (AMSR-E) are established in this study. The analysis of the stability and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) for these linear relations indicates that the relationship using three channels is the best of all. The cloud-free AMSR-E actual satellite microwave data combining with MODIS land surface temperature product are used to validate these relationships. The linear relationship derived from the simulated database is in agreement with that from AMSR-E data. This emissivity model as a constrain condition of the radiative transfer equation is applied to retrieval LST and emissivity, and the RMSE of the results is lower than 1 K for LST, 0.0025 for emissivity. So the relationships of emissivity between different channels are very useful to derive land surface parameters directly from AMSR-E data, which will promote the application of AMSR-E data in many fields, such as climate, hydrology, and ecology.
Regenerative potential of human skeletal muscle during aging

In this study, we have investigated the consequences of aging on the regenerative capacity of human skeletal muscle by evaluating two parameters: (i) variation in telomere length which was used to evaluate the in vivo turn‐over and (ii) the proportion of satellite cells calculated as compared to the total number of nuclei in a muscle fibre. Two skeletal muscles which have different types of innervation were analysed: the biceps brachii, a limb muscle, and the masseter, a masticatory muscle. The biopsies were obtained from two groups: young adults (23 ± 1.15 years old) and aged adults (74 ± 4.25 years old). Our results showed that during adult life, minimum telomere lengths and mean telomere lengths remained stable in the two muscles. The mean number of myonuclei per fibre was lower in the biceps brachii than in the masseter but no significant change was observed in either muscle with increasing age. However, the number of satellite cells, expressed as a proportion of myonuclei, decreased with age in both muscles. Therefore, normal aging of skeletal muscle in vivo is reflected by the number of satellite cells available for regeneration, but not by the mean number of myonuclei per fibre or by telomere lengths. We conclude that a decrease in regenerative capacity with age may be partially explained by a reduced availability of satellite cells.
Uncovering the Basis of ATP Hydrolysis Activity in Purified Human p53 Protein: A Reinvestigation

p53 is one of the most well studied tumor suppressor proteins and regarded as the guardian of the genome. The protein mediates cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis in response to myriads of cellular stresses including DNA damage via its trascriptional as well as non-transcriptional roles. ATP binding/hydrolysis by p53 had been implicated in its DNA binding functions. However, till date, no ATP binding/hydrolysis domains have been mapped in p53. In the current study, we have reinvestigated the ATP hydrolysis activity associated with recombinant human p53 protein expressed and purified from E.coli. We confirmed the source of ATPase activity using various deletion constructs of p53 and an In-gel ATPase assay followed by LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the activity band. The activity was associated with Hsp70 homologue in E.coli, DnaK, a known interactor of p53. We clarify that wildtype human p53, expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) strain, carries no ATPase activity.
Thick Narratives

In this article, we report upon the adoption of Jerome Bruner’s narrative approach, which served as a theoretical framework for analyzing, representing, and disseminating more than 60 hrs of documentary research footage. We invited international scholars in the field of the social sciences and humanities to document their philosophies and autobiographies on videotape. We asked the following questions: What are the overarching themes or theories that unite the scholars’ methodological and conceptual frameworks? How have the scholars’ unique lived experiences contributed to their interpretivist or critical viewpoints? What autobiographical stories rise to the forefront? Can these stories be linked or connected to represent an unfolding narrative through both space and time? Through the course of narrative analysis, significant themes such as poverty, social inequality, classism, oppression, and colonization emerged from the videotaped dialogues. The scholars’ unique narratives coalesced into a single narrative that traced and documented the history of qualitative research.
The CMU syntax-augmented machine translation system: SAMT on Hadoop with n-best alignments.

We present the CMU Syntax Augmented Machine Translation System that was used in the IWSLT-08 evaluation campaign. We participated in the Full-BTEC data track for Chinese-English translation, focusing on transcript translation. For this year’s evaluation, we ported the Syntax Augmented MT toolkit [1] to the Hadoop MapReduce [2] parallel processing architecture, allowing us to efficiently run experiments evaluating a novel “wider pipelines” approach to integrate evidence from N-best alignments into our translation models. We describe each step of the MapReduce pipeline as it is implemented in the open-source SAMT toolkit, and show improvements in translation quality by using N-best alignments in both hierarchical and syntax augmented translation systems.
Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Emerging Infectious Diseases : using PCV 2 as a model of disease transmission dynamics at the livestock-wildlife interface in Uganda

3 INTRODUCTION . 4 Background . 4 Emerging infectious diseases . 4 Porcine Circo Virus 2 . 5 Viral transmission . 6 Porcine circovirus associated diseases . 6 Factors contributing to the development of PCVAD . 7 Vaccines . 8 Prevalence . 8 Pig production in Uganda . 8 OBJECTIVE . 9 Aims. 9 MATERIAL AND METHODS . 9 Study region . 9 Sampling and data collection . 10 Laboratory analysis . 11 DNA extraction . 12 PCR . 12 Sequencing . 12 RESULTS . 13 Prevalence of PCV2 in domestic pigs . 13 Sequences . 15 Questionnaire . 15 DISCUSSION . 16 Conclusion. 18 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . 19 REFERENCES . 20 APPENDIX A . 24
Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for classification of ECG signal

The heart is one of the important parts of any human being. The heart produces electrical signals thus electrical signals are normally called as Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. The Electrocardiogram signal is used for identifying the heart problems. The objective of this work is to implement an ANFIS algorithm for (ECG) signals classification. In this work, the classification is done using the ANFIS associated with back propagation algorithm. The ANFIS model is combination of adaptive capabilities with neural network the qualitative approach of fuzzy logic. The feature selection process is done before classification. Four types of ECG beats are collected from the PhysioBank databases. These heart signals are classified by four ANFIS classifiers. The fifth ANFIS classifier is used to get an improved diagnostic accuracy in the ECGs.