Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular taxonomic identification in the absence of a ‘barcoding gap’: a test with the endemic flora of the Canarian oceanic hotspot

We use a comprehensive subset of Canarian angiosperms corresponding to 23 families, 35 genera and 60 Canarian endemic taxa to test whether this flora is suitable to taxonomic identification with the two proposed plant DNA barcode sequences and whether these sequences may reveal the existence of cryptic species overlooked by morphology. The rate of discrimination success between the insular congeneric samples using the rbcL+matK combination and a ‘character‐based’ approach (where we use only the combination of nucleotide positions in an alignment that allows unambiguous species identification) is higher (82.29%) than that obtained with the ‘distance‐based’ approach (80.20%) used by the CBOL Plant Working Group in 2009 and also when compared with tests conducted in other floras. This suggests that the molecular identification of the Canarian endemic flora can be achieved as successfully as in other floras where the incidence of radiation is not as relevant. The facts that (i) a distance‐based criterion was unable to discriminate between congeneric and conspecific comparisons and (ii) only the character‐based discrimination criterion resolved cases that the distance‐based criterion did not, further support the use of a character discrimination approach for a more efficient DNA barcoding of floras from oceanic islands like the Canaries. Thus, a barcoding gap seems not to be necessary for the correct molecular characterization of the Canarian flora. DNA barcodes also suggest the possible existence of cryptic taxa to be further investigated by morphology and that the current taxonomic status of some of the taxa analysed may need revision.
A comparison of predictive measures of problem difficulty in evolutionary algorithms

This paper studies a number of predictive measures of problem difficulty, among which epistasis variance and fitness distance correlation are the most widely known. Our approach is based on comparing the reference class of a measure to a number of known easy function classes. First, we generalize the reference classes of fitness distance correlation and epistasis variance, and construct a new predictive measure that is insensitive to nonlinear fitness scaling. We then investigate the relations between the reference classes of the measures and a number of intuitively easy classes. We also point out the need to further identify which functions are easy for a given class of evolutionary algorithms in order to design more efficient hardness indicators for them. We finally restrict attention to the genetic algorithm (GA), and consider both GA-easy and GA-hard fitness functions, and give experimental evidence that the values of the measures, based on random samples, can be completely unreliable and entirely uncorrelated to the convergence quality and convergence speed of GA instances using either proportional or ranking selection.
Postmodernism, Therapeutic Common Factors, and Innovation: Contemporary Influences Shaping a More Efficient and Effective Model of School Counseling

School counseling lacks clarity. This confusion is the result of competing models and confusing standards, domains, and competencies. This article offers a simplified model of school counseling entitled the “Six ‘C’ Model” (i.e., Care, Collaboration, Champion, Challenge, Courage, and Commitment). The interactive model is informed by the following contemporary influences: (a) postmodernism, (b) the therapeutic common factors, and (c) innovative educational research.
Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, Social Status, and Well-Being among English Language Proficient Immigrants

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Associate Professor Guerda Nicolas. No. of pages in text. (148) The effects of social status on well-being are pervasive (American Psychological Association Task Force on Socioeconomic Status, 2006; Marmot, 2004). Social status has been proposed to play a role (Berry, 1987; Padilla & Perez, 2003) in the complex association between both acculturation and acculturative stress and psychological wellbeing (Koneru, 2007). Subjective Social Status is a promising method of measuring social status (Adler, 2013) that has not been examined in regard to immigrants’ wellbeing. In an attempt to fill this gap in the literature, this study explored questions about immigrants’ well-being as they acculturate to and deal with acculturative stressors in the United States. In particular, the potential role of subjective social status (SSS) in the acculturation and acculturative stress process was examined. Based on a review of the literature, the expectation was that immigrant perceived social status would be related to well-being, and that this perceived social status would moderate the relationship between acculturation, acculturative stress, and well-being. To explore this hypothesis, two hundred and one adult immigrants were recruited using the Mechanical Turk website. The resulting sample was more acculturated to the United States than their own culture and approximately half the participants identified as non-Latino White/Caucasian. Overall, the results indicated a negative association between acculturative stress with both quality of life and psychological health. Increased acculturation was also positively associated with quality of life and psychological health. Regression analysis also indicated that subjective social status moderated the association between acculturative stress and well-being. The results make the novel contribution that SSS is relevant to immigrants’ well-being. Future research should be conducted in populations that are less acculturated to the United States and examine the factors that affect immigrant’s subjective experience of status. Limitations and further direction for future study focusing on subjective social status in immigrants are discussed.
Blockade of the BAK Hydrophobic Groove by Inhibitory Phosphorylation Regulates Commitment to Apoptosis

The BCL-2 family protein BAK is a key regulator of mitochondrial apoptosis. BAK activation first involves N-terminal conformational changes that lead to the transient exposure of the BAK BH3 domain that then inserts into a hydrophobic groove on another BAK molecule to form symmetric dimers. We showed recently that post-translational modifications are important in the regulation of BAK conformational change and multimerization, with dephosphorylation at tyrosine 108 constituting an initial step in the BAK activation process. We now show that dephosphorylation of serine 117 (S117), located in the BAK hydrophobic groove, is also critical for BAK activation to proceed to completion. Phosphorylation of BAK at S117 has two important regulatory functions: first, it occludes the binding of BH3-containing peptides that bind to BAK causing activation and cytochrome c release from mitochondria; second, it prevents BAK-BH3:BAK-Groove interactions that nucleate dimer formation for subsequent multimerization. Hence, BH3-mediated BAK conformational change and subsequent BAK multimerization for cytochrome c release and cell death is intimately linked to, and dependent on, dephosphorylation at S117. Our study reveals important novel mechanistic and structural insights into the temporal sequence of events governing the process of BAK activation in commitment to cell death and how they are regulated.
In Vivo Imaging Enables High Resolution Preclinical Trials on Patients’ Leukemia Cells Growing in Mice

Background Xenograft mouse models represent helpful tools for preclinical studies on human tumors. For modeling the complexity of the human disease, primary tumor cells are by far superior to established cell lines. As qualified exemplary model, patients’ acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells reliably engraft in mice inducing orthotopic disseminated leukemia closely resembling the disease in men. Unfortunately, disease monitoring of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in mice is hampered by lack of a suitable readout parameter. Design and Methods Patients’ acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells were lentivirally transduced to express the membrane-bound form of Gaussia luciferase. In vivo imaging was established in individual patients’ leukemias and extensively validated. Results Bioluminescence in vivo imaging enabled reliable and continuous follow-up of individual mice. Light emission strictly correlated to post mortem quantification of leukemic burden and revealed a logarithmic, time and cell number dependent growth pattern. Imaging conveniently quantified frequencies of leukemia initiating cells in limiting dilution transplantation assays. Upon detecting a single leukemia cell within more than 10,000 bone marrow cells, imaging enabled monitoring minimal residual disease, time to tumor re-growth and relapse. Imaging quantified therapy effects precisely and with low variances, discriminating treatment failure from partial and complete responses. Conclusions For the first time, we characterized in detail how in vivo imaging reforms preclinical studies on patient-derived tumors upon increasing monitoring resolution. In the future, in vivo imaging will enable performing precise preclinical studies on a broad range of highly demanding clinical challenges, such as treatment failure, resistance in leukemia initiating cells, minimal residual disease and relapse.
The Impact of Leadership Style on Global Management Practices1

A study was conducted to explore the impact of differences in leadership style on the practice of global leadership and management. Data were collected from 391 senior managers from a global organization and 1,701 of their direct reports, 358 straight-line supervisors, and 266 dotted-line supervisors. ANOVA results indicate that transformational leaders were rated significantly higher on all behaviors by their direct reports than were transactional leaders. Straight-line supervisors rated transformational leaders significantly higher on managing change- and relationship-management behaviors, whereas dotted-line supervisors rated transformational leaders higher on learning orientation. Finally, transformational leaders were significantly more self-aware (greater congruence in self vs. direct reports' average ratings) regarding the practice of these behaviors. implications for future research are discussed.
Ion Channel Function of Aquaporin-1 Natively Expressed in Choroid Plexus

Aquaporins are known as water channels; however, an additional ion channel function has been observed for several including aquaporin-1 (AQP1). Using primary cultures of rat choroid plexus, a brain tissue that secretes CSF and abundantly expresses AQP1, we confirmed the ion channel function of AQP1 and assessed its functional relevance. The cGMP-gated cationic conductance associated with AQP1 is activated by an endogenous receptor guanylate cyclase for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). Fluid transport assays with confluent polarized choroid plexus cultures showed that AQP1 current activation by 4.5 μm ANP decreases the normal basal-to-apical fluid transport in the choroid plexus; conversely, AQP1 block with 500 μm Cd2+ restores fluid transport. The cGMP-gated conductance in the choroid plexus is lost with targeted knockdown of AQP1 by small interfering RNA (siRNA), as confirmed by immunocytochemistry and whole-cell patch electrophysiology of transiently transfected cells identified by enhanced green fluorescent protein. The properties of the current (permeability to Na+, K+, TEA+, and Cs+; voltage insensitivity; and dependence on cGMP) matched properties characterized previously in AQP1-expressing oocytes. Background K+ and Cl− currents in the choroid plexus were dissected from AQP1 currents using Cs-methanesulfonate recording salines; the background currents recorded in physiological salines were not affected by AQP1–siRNA treatment. These results confirm that AQP1 can function as both a water channel and a gated ion channel. The conclusion that the AQP1-associated cation current contributes to modulating CSF production resolves a lingering concern as to whether an aquaporin ionic conductance can have a physiologically relevant function.
JavaGI in the battlefield: practical experience with generalized interfaces

Generalized interfaces are an extension of the interface concept found in object-oriented languages such as Java or C#. The extension is inspired by Haskell's type classes. It supports retroactive and type-conditional interface implementations, binary methods, symmetric multimethods, interfaces over families of types, and static interface methods. This article reports practical experience with generalized interfaces as implemented in the JavaGI language. Several real-world case studies demonstrate how generalized interfaces provide solutions to extension and integration problems with components in binary form, how they make certain design patterns redundant, and how they eliminate various run-time errors. In each case study, the use of JavaGI results in elegant and highly readable code. Furthermore, the article discusses the implementation of a compiler and a run-time system for JavaGI. Benchmarks show that our implementation offers acceptable performance.
Personal Adviser Interviews With Benefits Claimants in UK Jobcentres

We report on a study commissioned by the UK government of the ways in which advisers conduct mandatory interviews with unemployment benefits claimants. Among other results, we identified practices in soliciting claimants’ job goals and job plans that were more, or less, effective in achieving desired outcomes during these interactions. Moreover, we found that making a calculation of how much better off a claimant would be by retaining some benefit and working part-time was ineffective. Our reports, recommendations, and presentation to officials of the Department of Work & Pensions were acknowledged to have influenced policy changes concerning Jobcentre service delivery. Data are in British English.
Features of Disagreement Between Retrieval Effectiveness Measures

Many IR effectiveness measures are motivated from intuition, theory, or user studies. In general, most effectiveness measures are well correlated with each other. But, what about where they don't correlate? Which rankings cause measures to disagree? Are these rankings predictable for particular pairs of measures? In this work, we examine how and where metrics disagree, and identify differences that should be considered when selecting metrics for use in evaluating retrieval systems.
Productive Engagement and Late Life Physical and Mental Health

This study examines the association between engagement in productive roles and the physical and mental health of adults aged 60 and over. We present secondary analyses of data from three waves of the Americans' Changing Lives Study (n = 1,644). Self-rated health, functional impairment, and depressive mood were regressed on measures of engagement during the previous 12 months using generalized estimating equations, while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health measures at the previous wave. Five productive roles were included: paid worker, irregular paid worker, unpaid volunteer, caregiver, and provider of informal social assistance. The findings reveal that being engaged in at least one productive role and the total role number are associated with better self-rated health and less functional impairment but not depressive mood. There is no effect of hours of engagement. The findings illuminate productive engagement as an important, but not necessarily causal, pathway to health in late life.
A Fully Reconfigurable Software-Defined Radio Transceiver in 0.13μm CMOS

A fully reconfigurable SDR contains an RX, a TX, and 2 synthesizers for true multi-standard operation. A MEMS-enabled dual-band LNA proves the feasibility of switched antenna filtering for interference robustness. The baseband section is programmable in noise level and in bandwidth from 350kHz to 23MHz. The receiver has 6dB NF, -9dBm IIP3, and up to 90dB gain. Implemented in a 0. 13μmum CMOS process, it draws 62mA to 120mA in RX mode and 56mA to 89mA in TX mode from a 1.2V supply.
The Person-Event Data Environment: leveraging big data for studies of psychological strengths in soldiers

The Department of Defense (DoD) strives to efficiently manage the large volumes of administrative data collected and repurpose this information for research and analyses with policy implications. This need is especially present in the United States Army, which maintains numerous electronic databases with information on more than one million Active-Duty, Reserve, and National Guard soldiers, their family members, and Army civilian employees. The accumulation of vast amounts of digitized health, military service, and demographic data thus approaches, and may even exceed, traditional benchmarks for Big Data. Given the challenges of disseminating sensitive personal and health information, the Person-Event Data Environment (PDE) was created to unify disparate Army and DoD databases in a secure cloud-based enclave. This electronic repository serves the ultimate goal of achieving cost efficiencies in psychological and healthcare studies and provides a platform for collaboration among diverse scientists. This paper provides an overview of the uses of the PDE to perform command surveillance and policy analysis for Army leadership. The paper highlights the confluence of both economic and behavioral science perspectives elucidating empirically-based studies examining relations between psychological assets, health, and healthcare utilization. Specific examples explore the role of psychological assets in major cost drivers such as medical expenditures both during deployment and stateside, drug use, attrition from basic training, and low reenlistment rates. Through creation of the PDE, the Army and scientific community can now capitalize on the vast amounts of personnel, financial, medical, training and education, deployment, and security systems that influence Army-wide policies and procedures.
Myxococcus xanthus Displays Frz-Dependent Chemokinetic Behavior during Vegetative Swarming

ABSTRACT Myxococcus xanthus has been shown to utilize both directed (tactic) and undirected (kinetic) movements during different stages of its complex life cycle. We have used time-lapse video microscopic analysis to separate tactic and kinetic behaviors associated specifically with vegetatively swarming cells. Isolated individual cells separated by a thin agar barrier from mature swarms showed significant increases in gliding velocity compared to that of similar cells some distance from the swarm. This orthokinetic behavior was independent of the frequency of reversals of gliding direction (klinokinesis) but did require both the Frz signal transduction system and S-motility. We propose that M. xanthus uses Frz-dependent, auto-orthokinetic behavior to facilitate the dispersal of cells under conditions where both cell density and nutrient levels are high.
Japan in the Seventeenth Century: Labour Relations and Work Ethics*

Summary In Japan, the transformation of labour relations from medieval forms of serfdom, lifelong service, and corvée labour to short-term contracts and wage labour was already under way by the seventeenth century. In the second half of the seventeenth century short-term employment based on contracts became common. Indentured labour gradually changed into wage labour. Government policies included enabling greater mobility for the workers, while also trying to set limits to migration flow to the cities. Some Confucian scholars welcomed this new form of labour relations; others condemned them. The few sources about the work ethics of waged workers imply mockery about their loose morals and work attitudes, but also complaints about workloads and exploitation.
Glucocorticoid alternative effects on proliferating and differentiated mammary epithelium are associated to opposite regulation of cell‐cycle inhibitor expression

Glucocorticoids influence post‐natal mammary gland development by sequentially controlling cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In the mammary gland, it has been demonstrated that glucocorticoid treatment inhibits epithelial apoptosis in post‐lactating glands. In this study, our first goal was to identify new glucocorticoid target genes that could be involved in generating this effect. Expression profiling, by microarray analysis, revealed that expression of several cell‐cycle control genes was altered by dexamethasone (DEX) treatment after lactation. Importantly, it was determined that not only the exogenous synthetic hormone, but also the endogenous glucocorticoids regulated the expression of these genes. Particularly, we found that the expression of cell cycle inhibitors p21CIP1, p18INK4c, and Atm was differentially regulated by glucocorticoids through the successive stages of mammary gland development. In undifferentiated cells, DEX treatment induced their expression and reduced cell proliferation, while in differentiated cells this hormone repressed expression of those cell cycle inhibitors and promoted survival. Therefore, differentiation status determined the effect of glucocorticoids on mammary cell fate. Particularly, we have determined that p21CIP1 inhibition would mediate the activity of these hormones in differentiated mammary cells because over‐expression of this protein blocked DEX‐induced apoptosis protection. Together, our data suggest that the multiple roles played by glucocorticoids in mammary gland development and function might be at least partially due to the alternative roles that these hormones play on the expression of cell cycle regulators. J. Cell. Physiol. 227: 1721–1730, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Significance of Pulmonary Elastic and Viscous Resistance in Orthopnea

The mechanical properties of the lungs were measured in the sitting and supine positions in 5 normal subjects and in 5 patients with orthopnea due to congestive heart failure. The patients had higher elastic and viscous resistances in the sitting position. Recumbency increased both resistances in both groups but there was a disproportionate increase in the viscous resistance of the patients. This increase was most marked in late expiration and early inspiration. The significance of these findings to orthopnea is discussed.
Utilization of Noise-Only Samples in Array Processing With Prior Knowledge

For array processing, we consider the problem of estimating signals of interest, and their directions of arrival (DOA), in unknown colored noise fields. We develop an estimator that efficiently utilizes a set of noise-only samples and, further, can incorporate prior knowledge of the DOAs with varying degrees of certainty. The estimator is compared with state of the art estimators that utilize noise-only samples, and the Cramér-Rao bound, exhibiting improved performance for smaller sample sets and in poor signal conditions.