Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconstitution of a Functional Duck Hepatitis B Virus Replication Initiation Complex from Separate Reverse Transcriptase Domains Expressed in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Hepatitis B viruses replicate through reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate, the pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). Replication is initiated de novo and requires formation of a ribonucleoprotein complex comprising the viral reverse transcriptase (P protein), an RNA stem-loop structure (ɛ) on the pgRNA, and cellular proteins, including the heat shock protein Hsp90, the cochaperone p23, and additional, as yet unknown, factors. Functional complexes catalyze the synthesis of a short DNA primer that is templated by ɛ and covalently linked to the terminal protein (TP) domain of P protein. Currently, the only system for generating such complexes in the test tube is in vitro translation of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) P protein in rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL), which also provides the necessary factors. However, its limited translation capacity precludes a closer analysis of the complex. To overcome this restriction we sought to produce larger amounts of DHBV P protein by expression in Escherichia coli, followed by complex reconstitution in RRL. Because previous attempts to generate full-length P protein in bacteria have failed we investigated whether separate expression of the TP and reverse transcriptase-RNase H (RT-RH) domains would allow higher yields and whether these domains could trans complement each other. Indeed, TP and, after minor C-terminal modifications, also RT-RH could be expressed in substantial amounts, and when added to RRL, they were capable of ɛ-dependent DNA primer synthesis, demonstrating posttranslational activation. This reconstitution system should pave the way for a detailed understanding of the unique hepadnaviral replication initiation mechanism.
CBMIR: Content-based Image Retrieval Algorithm for Medical Image Databases

We propose a novel algorithm for the retrieval of images from medical image databases by content. The aim of this article is to present a content-based retrieval algorithm that is robust to scaling, with translation of objects within an image. For the best result and efficient representation and retrieval of medical images, attention is focused on the methodology, and the content of medical images is represented by the regions and relationships between such objects or regions of the Image Attributes (IA) of the objects. The CBMIR employs a new model in which each image is first decomposed into regions. The similarity measurement between images is developed based on a scheme that integrates the properties of all the regions in the images using regional matching. The method can answer queries by example. The efficiency and performance of the presented method has been evaluated using a dataset of about 5,000 simulated, but realistic computed tomography and magnetic resonance images, from which the original images are selected from three large medical image databases. The results of our experiments show more than a 93 percent success rate, which is satisfactory.
Evaluating the Benefits and Costs of the Job Corps

Social programs have a wide variety of effects and often have the explicit objective of improving the economic status of the people they serve. In order to be useful to policymakers, benefit-cost analysis of social programs should explicitly take account of these two important program features. The approach used in this analysis of the benefits and costs of the Job Corps does this and provides a useful methodology for evaluating other social programs. According to the analysis, the program has substantial net value for society as a whole as well as for the average Corpsmember.
Airway Management Using the Intubating Laryngeal Mask Airway for the Morbidly Obese Patient

We studied the effectiveness of the intubating laryngeal mask airway (ILMA) in morbidly obese patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. We included 118 consecutive morbidly obese patients (body mass index, 45 ± 5 kg/m2). After the induction of general anesthesia, the laryngeal view was classified by the first observer according to the method of Cormack and Lehane. The ILMA was then inserted, and the trachea was intubated through the ILMA by a second observer. The rate of successful tracheal intubation with ILMA was 96.3%. The success rate, the number of attempts, and the total duration of the procedure were not different among patients with low-grade (Cormack 1–2) and patients with high-grade (Cormack 3–4) laryngeal views. The time required for insertion of the ILMA was slightly longer in patients with high-grade laryngeal views. Failures of the technique were not explained by the experience of the practitioner or airway characteristics. No adverse effect related to the technique was reported. Results of this study suggest that using the ILMA provides an additional technique for airway management of morbidly obese patients.
The Evolution and Mechanics of Pay Equity in Ontario

The evolution of pay equity in Ontario is traced through its various stages, along with the rationale for each stage and the complexity that results from each advancement. The current practice of pay equity is then analyzed with respect to various design and implementation features as well as the basic mechanics that are involved in each implementation step: identifying gender-dominated jobs within the same establishment; applying gender-neutral job-evaluation procedures; establishing the relationship between pay and the job- evaluation results, and adjusting pay in the predominantly female-dominated jobs. The rationales for these features are discussed as is the implementation problems associated with their complexity.
Acute and long-term transcriptional responses in sulfur mustard-exposed SKH-1 hairless mouse skin

Sulfur mustard (HD) ranks among the alkylating chemical warfare agents. Skin contact with HD produces an inflammatory response that evolves into separation at the epidermal–dermal junction conducting to blistering and epidermis necrosis. Up to now, current treatment strategies of HD burns have solely consisted in symptomatic management of skin damage. Therapeutic efficacy studies are still being conducted; classically using appropriate animal skin toxicity models. In order to substantiate the use of SKH-1 hairless mouse as an appropriate model for HD-induced skin lesions, we investigate the time-dependent quantitative gene expression of various selected transcripts associated to the dorsal skin exposure to HD saturated vapors. Using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), the expression of interleukins (IL-1β and IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, macrophage inflammatory proteins (MIP)-2α (also called Cxcl2) and MIP-1αR (also called Ccr1), matrix metalloproteases (MMP-9 and MMP-2), laminin γ2 monomer (Lamc2) and keratin (K)1 was determined up to 21 days after HD challenge in order to allow enough time for wound repair to begin. Specific transcript RT-qPCR analysis demonstrated that IL-6, IL-1β, Ccr1, Cxcl2 mRNA levels increased as early as 6 h in HD-exposed skins and remained up-regulated over a 14-day period. Topical application of HD also significantly up-regulated MMP-9, TNF-α, and Lamc2 expression at specific time points. In contrast, MMP-2 mRNA levels remained unaffected by HD over the time-period considered, whereas that long-term study revealed that K1 mRNA level significantly increased only 21 days after HD challenge. Our study hereby provides first-hand evidence to substantiate a long period variation expression in the inflammatory cytokine, MMPs and structural components following cutaneous HD exposure in hairless mouse SKH-1. Our data credit the use of SKH-1 for investigating mechanisms of HD-induced skin toxicity and for the development of pharmacological countermeasures.
Idiosyncratic Risk, Long-Term Reversal, and Momentum

Abstract This paper tests whether the persistence of the momentum and reversal effects is the result of idiosyncratic risk limiting arbitrage. Idiosyncratic risk deters arbitrage, regardless of the arbitrageur’s diversification. Reversal is prevalent only in high idiosyncratic risk stocks, suggesting that idiosyncratic risk limits arbitrage in reversal mispricing. This finding is robust to controls for transaction costs, informed trading, and systematic relations between idiosyncratic risk and subsequent returns. Momentum is not related to idiosyncratic risk. Momentum generates a smaller aggregate return than reversal, so the findings along with those in related studies suggest that transaction costs are sufficient to prevent arbitrageurs from eliminating momentum mispricing.
Scalable Massively Parallel Learning of Multiple Linear Regression Algorithm with MapReduce

The large volumes of information emerging by the progress of technology and the growing individual needs of data mining, makes training of very large scale of data a challenging task. However, this information cannot be practically analyzed on a single machine due to the sheer size of the data to fit in memory. For this purpose, the process of such data requires the use of high-performance analytical systems running on distributed environments. To this end standard analytics algorithms need to be adapted to take advantage of cloud computing models which provide scalability and flexibility. This paper introduces a new distributed training method, which combines the widely used framework, MapReduce, for Multiple Linear Regression which will be based on the QR decomposition and the ordinary least squares method adapted to MapReduce. Our platform is deployed on Cloud Amazon EMR service. Experimental results demonstrate that our parallel version of the Multiple Linear Regression can efficiently handle very large datasets with different parameter settings (number, size and structure of machines).
Chapter XXIV Organizational Culture for Knowledge Management Systems: A Study of Corporate Users

Knowledge is increasingly being viewed as a critical component for organizations. It is largely people-based and the characteristics of groups of individuals, in the form of organizational cultures, may play a key role in the factors that lead to either the acceptance or rejection of knowledge management systems (KMS). The primary objective of this research is to explore how dimensions of organizational culture influence factors that lead to the acceptance of KMS. While researchers have agreed that culture plays an important role in KMS, the literature has only recently begun to examine organizational culture within this context. We examined the effects of three dimensions of organizational culture through a research model that was tested and analyzed utilizing a field survey of corporate knowledge management users. Our results indicated that both process-oriented and open communication system organizational cultures significantly influenced the factors that led to the acceptance of KMS.
Improved Neural Network Initialization by Grouping Context-Dependent Targets for Acoustic Modeling

Neural Network (NN) Acoustic Models (AMs) are usually trained using context-dependent Hidden Markov Model (CDHMM) states as independent targets. For example, the CDHMM states of A-b-2 (second variant of beginning state of A) and A-m-1 (first variant of middle state of A) both correspond to the phone A, and A-b-1 and A-b-2 both correspond to the Context-independent HMM (CI-HMM) state A-b, but this relationship is not explicitly modeled. We propose a method that treats some neurons in the final hidden layer just below the output layer as dedicated neurons for phones or CI-HMM states by initializing connections between the dedicated neurons and the corresponding CD-HMM outputs with stronger weights than to other outputs. We obtained 6.5% and 3.6% relative error reductions with a DNN AM and a CNN AM, respectively, on a 50-hour English broadcast news task and 4.6% reduction with a CNN AM on a 500-hour Japanese task, in all cases after Hessian-free sequence training. Our proposed method only changes the NN parameter initialization and requires no additional computation in NN training or speech recognition runtime.
Etoposide (VP‐16) is a potent inducer of micronuclei in male rat meiosis: Spermatid micronucleus test and DNA flow cytometry after etoposide treatment

The genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of etoposide (VP‐16), a topoisomerase II inhibitor, on male rat spermatogenic cells were studied by analysing induction of micronuclei during meiosis. Micronuclei (MN) were scored in early spermatids offer different time intervals corresponding to exposure of different stages of meiotic prophase. Etoposide had a strong effect on diplotene‐diakinesis I cells harvested 1 day after exposure, and a significant effect also on late pachytene cells harvested 3 days after exposure. The effect at 18 days corresponding to exposure of preleptotene stage of meiosis (S‐phase) was weaker but also statistically significant. Adriamycin was used as a positive control in this study. The results indicate a different mechanism of action of etoposide compared with adriamycin and other chemicals studied previously with the spermatid micronucleus test.
Analyzing the Effect of Recession on Auto Industry in India Using DuPont 5 Point Ratios

Global recession of 2008 had a major effect on the auto industry worldwide. This paper is an attempt at analyzing the impact of recession on the auto industry in India. The financial data of auto companies in the passenger vehicle segment having 80% share in market, is used. The DuPont 5 point ratios are compared for two different periods of pre­2008 and post­2008. To validate their correlation with the financial health of the companies, multiple linear regression was applied on 3 of the 5 ratios (as the independent variables) and net earnings (as the dependent variable). Each of the DuPont 5 point ratios were compared with their corresponding values in pre­ and post­ recession phase, to identify the extent of change, using T­ test. The paper highlights the extent of affect, the DuPont ratios have on EAT in the two phases. An insignificant change was observed in the coefficient of equity multiplier, the ratio of total asset and share holders' equity, which implies that there was no effect of recession on Shareholder's equity and the total assets trends. On the other hand, asset turnover, the ratio of net sales and total assets, became less significant in controlling EAT after recession. This implies that even if there was an increase in total assets, the net sales were still low.
HEDONIC PRICE ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF A FLOODPLAIN ON PROPERTY VALUES1

ABSTRACT: The effect of a floodplain location on the market value for property is controversial, with the conventional wisdom being that buyers are myopic. Previous parametric and nonparametric statistical tests have proven inconclusive in deciding the issue. Herein, a theoretical model, that of hedonic price indexes, is posited and tested, using housing sales characteristics data obtained from a Multi-List Service cooperative. This study suggests that home buyers do adjust the purchase price for houses within a floodplain, and this amounts to, on average, just over 12 percent. The data are from a small midwestern town in which the last severe flooding occurred a decade ago.
A Method of Stator Voltage Error Compensation in MRAS Sensorless Vector Control of Induction Motor

In sensorless vector control of induction motor using voltage-fed inverter, the flux estimation error caused by stator voltage error due to the dead time and switch voltage drop and so on can deteriorate the performance of vector control. This paper proposes a method to compensate the stator voltage error by utilizing the error value between the measured current and estimated current. The DC component and fundamental component of reconstructed stator voltage errors have been compensated
The measurement of environmental and resource values : theory and methods

Freeman's "The Benefits of Environmental Improvement: Theory and Practice", published in 1979, examined the relationship between benefits and environmental decision-making and the problems involved in measuring the values of environmental changes. The years following the publication of this study have seen a virtual explosion of new theoretical developments and empirical applications in resource and environmental valuation. This work presents a comprehensive treatment of benefit measurement that includes entirely reworked analyses of such topics as the contingent valuation technique, valuing improved health, property value models, and the travel cost approach. New topics include intertemporal welfare measures, the use of discrete choice models, the valuation of risk changes, hedonic wage models, non-use values, and measurement of the cost of environmental policies. "The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values" aims to provide an introduction to the principal methods and techniques of resource and environmental valuation to professional economists and graduate students who are not directly engaged in the field. Practitioners in the field should find the work an up-do-date reference on recent developments in the theory and methods underlying the practice of resource valuation.
Group and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety disorders: a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of group and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in children with Axis I anxiety disorders. It was hypothesized that certain subgroups would respond preferentially to one modality. METHOD Seventy-eight children aged 8-12 years with diagnosed anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to a 12-week, manual-based program of group or individual CBT, both with parental involvement. Outcomes included child anxiety (child and parent report) and global functioning as estimated by clinicians. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were done. The sample was then dichotomized by self-reported social anxiety (high/low) and parent-reported hyperactivity (high/low) using median splits, and diagnostically by generalized anxiety disorder versus phobic disorders. ANOVAs were repeated. RESULTS Children and parents reported significantly decreased anxiety and clinicians reported significantly improved global functioning regardless of treatment modality. Children reporting high social anxiety reported greater gains in individual treatment than in group treatment (p <.01). Parent reports of hyperactivity and diagnostic differences were not associated with differential treatment response by modality. CONCLUSIONS Children with anxiety disorders appear to improve with CBT, whether administered in a group or individual format. A subgroup of children reporting high social anxiety may respond preferentially to individual treatment. Replication of these findings is indicated.
Redox Signaling and Its Impact on Skeletal and Vascular Responses to Spaceflight

Spaceflight entails exposure to numerous environmental challenges with the potential to contribute to both musculoskeletal and vascular dysfunction. The purpose of this review is to describe current understanding of microgravity and radiation impacts on the mammalian skeleton and associated vasculature at the level of the whole organism. Recent experiments from spaceflight and ground-based models have provided fresh insights into how these environmental stresses influence mechanisms that are related to redox signaling, oxidative stress, and tissue dysfunction. Emerging mechanistic knowledge on cellular defenses to radiation and other environmental stressors, including microgravity, are useful for both screening and developing interventions against spaceflight-induced deficits in bone and vascular function.
Determinants of the Consumer Bankruptcy Decision

Qualitative choice models of consumers' decisions to file for bankruptcy and their choice of bankruptcy chapter are estimated jointly, combining choice-based sampling techniques with a nested estimation procedure. Medical and credit card debt are found to be the strongest contributors to bankruptcy, with homeownership playing an important role with respect to both the decision to declare bankruptcy and the choice of bankruptcy alternative. The potential effects of legal changes relating to property exemptions and dischargeable debt categories are found to encourage debt repayment through Chapter 13. Copyright The American Finance Association 1999.
Daily physical activity assessment with accelerometers: new insights and validation studies

The field of application of accelerometry is diverse and ever expanding. Because by definition all physical activities lead to energy expenditure, the doubly labelled water (DLW) method as gold standard to assess total energy expenditure over longer periods of time is the method of choice to validate accelerometers in their ability to assess daily physical activities. The aim of this paper was to provide a systematic overview of all recent (2007–2011) accelerometer validation studies using DLW as the reference. The PubMed Central database was searched using the following keywords: doubly or double labelled or labeled water in combination with accelerometer, accelerometry, motion sensor, or activity monitor. Limits were set to include articles from 2007 to 2011, as earlier publications were covered in a previous review. In total, 38 articles were identified, of which 25 were selected to contain sufficient new data. Eighteen different accelerometers were validated. There was a large variability in accelerometer output and their validity to assess daily physical activity. Activity type recognition has great potential to improve the assessment of physical activity‐related health outcomes. So far, there is little evidence that adding other physiological measures such as heart rate significantly improves the estimation of energy expenditure.
CONSTRUCTING AN INTERNATIONAL MARKET FOR CARBON TRADING: AN INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Mitigating climate change requires the collaborative and international management of a range of socio-economic processes that produce greenhouse gas emissions. Governments in a number of regions are developing carbon markets to mitigate climate change by limiting the production of greenhouse gases. This thesis examines the construction of carbon markets in the United States and Europe to understand what role these markets play in mitigating climate change. Using a relational economic geography framework and institutional theory, I frame the markets into two components: 1) the regulatory structures which give the markets existence and bound their rules of operation, and 2) the financial and service components which operationalized the markets. Within these components, I investigate four specific facets of market development: complementarity, spacetime, design vs. path dependence and institutional development. The study is conducted through close dialogue and case studies of organization in London, New York and Chicago as well as interviews with policymakers in Washington D.C. Sacramento, and San Francisco. I find that the regulatory components of the market are built both by regulatory agencies and private organizations such as legal firms. Political path dependence constrains the development of the regulatory framework of the carbon markets. The financial service components are constructed in existing financial service centers such as London and New York by directly adopting expertise, products, services and infrastructure from other markets. With respect to the spacetime construction of markets, I find that carbon markets are being adapted to management in existing time zones, with a seamless transaction of activity between North America, Europe and Asia. However, the nature of spacetime within the markets is changing; the markets now manage non-spacetime. In sum, the carbon markets are constructed as a social institution which mitigates greenhouse gas production by communicating and widely disseminating the value of the absence of emissions.