Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential expression of two closely related deoxyribonuclease genes, nucA and nucB, in Bacillus subtilis

Despite the lack of involvement of the competence‐specific, membrane‐associated deoxyribonuclease (DNase) in competence development, the expression of the gene encoding this protein, nucA, was shown to be dependent on the competence signal transduction pathway, and in particular on ComK, the competence transcription factor, which was shown to bind to the DNA region upstream of nucA. The expression of nucB, specifying an extracellular DNase, which was cloned on the basis of its homology to nucA, was shown to be sporulation‐specific and dependent on the gene products of spo0A and spollG, the latter constituting an operon responsible for the synthesis of the mother‐cell‐specific sigma factor σE. The observed differential expression of nucA and nucB demarcates the appearance of DNase activities which are either associated with the cytoplasmic membrane or secreted into the medium during different post‐exponential growth‐phase processes.
Hybridization and polyploidy of an aquatic plant, Ruppia (Ruppiaceae), inferred from plastid and nuclear DNA phylogenies.

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY The monogeneric family Ruppiaceae is found primarily in brackish water and is widely distributed on all continents, many islands, and from subartic to tropical zones. Ruppia taxonomy has been confusing because of its simplified morphology yet high phenotypic plasticity and the existence of polyploidy and putative hybrids. This study addresses the current classification of species in the genus, the origin of putative hybrids and polyploids, and the distribution of Ruppia species. • METHODS Separate molecular phylogenetic analyses using plastid DNA and nuclear-encoded PHYB data sets were performed after chromosome observations. • KEY RESULTS The resultant trees were largely congruent between genomes, but were incongruent in two respects: the first incongruence may be caused by long outgroup branches and their effect on ingroup rooting, and the second is caused by the existence of heterogeneous PHYB sequences for several accessions that may reflect several independent hybridization events. Several morphological species recognized in previous taxonomic revisions appear paraphyletic in plastid DNA and PHYB trees. • CONCLUSIONS Given the molecular phylogenies, and considering chromosome number and morphology, three species and one species complex comprising six lineages were discerned. A putative allotriploid, an allotetraploid, and a lineage of hybrid origin were identified within the species complex, and a hybrid was found outside the species complex, and their respective putative parental taxa were inferred. With respect to biogeography, a remarkably discontinuous distribution was identified in two cases, for which bird-mediated seed dispersal may be a reasonable explanation.
A joint venture in mass customization

In 1986, Azimuth Corporation, a two‐person St. Paul, Minnesota, consulting firm with an innovative marketing plan to sell signage to small business, forged a joint venture with 3M, a $10 billion corporation that wanted to find new niches for its SCOTCHCAL vinyl film.
Hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis to the condyle: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND Metastatic tumor invasion of the condyle from the liver is rare. It is important for dental practitioners to differentiate tumor involvement from musculoskeletal disorders such as temporomandibular disorders. CASE DESCRIPTION The authors present a case report of a patient with temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction consistent with musculoskeletal disorders. Because of the patient's medical history, comprehensive examination results and findings of imaging studies performed, the dental practitioners referred him to other health care providers for further and more in-depth investigation. This resulted in the establishment of an accurate diagnosis, with treatment directed at the primary source. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS A thorough medical history, comprehensive clinical examination and adjunctive testing, when necessary, are paramount in establishing a definitive diagnosis for patients with orofacial pain, thereby enabling the delivery of appropriate treatment.
Human Capital and Other Determinants of the Price Life Cycle of a Slave: Peru and La Plata in the Eighteenth Century

Toward the end of the eighteenth century Spanish America had about 400,000 slaves, which made 3 percent of the population. Before this time the importance of slavery had been greater, having received a large stimulus because of the sharp demographic decline of the natives following the Conquest. The arrival of Africans meant that in 1650 the proportion of slaves to total population was from 5 to 10 percent.
Towards a Comprehensive Teamwork Model for Highly Dynamic Domains

Cooperative behaviour of agents within highly dynamic and nondeterministic domains is an active field of research. In particular establishing responsive teamwork, where agents are able to react to dynamic changes in the environment while facing unreliable communication and sensory noise, is an open problem. Unexpectedly changing situations force agents to react and adapt under tight time-constraints. Hence they often cannot communicate or agree upon their decisions before acting upon them. We present a novel model for cooperative behaviour geared towards such domains. In our approach, the agents estimate each other’s decision and correct these estimations once they receive contradictory information. We aim at a comprehensive approach for agent teamwork featuring intuitive modelling capabilities for multi-agent activities, abstractions over activities and agents, and clear operational semantics for the new model. We show experimentally that the resulting behaviour stabilises towards teamwork and can achieve a cooperative goal.
Multifrequency Vector Impedance Measurement: Undersampled DFT with Noise Pre-filtering

Multifrequency vector impedance measurement can be used for bio-impedance analysis, and in many other test and measurement applications. Computationally, efficient digital signal processing algorithm for multifrequency vector impedance measurement uses the synchronous under-sampled discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The main practical problem arising from this approach is significantly high noise level, due to aliasing of whole signal spectrum over multiples of under-sampling frequencies. For aliased noise suppression, a solution of digital bandpass pre-filtering of the signals is proposed and analysed on practical examples using MATLAB simulations. The efficiency of the proposed solution is shown
Work incentives in the Social Security Disability benefit formula

Abstract We examine the connection between taxes paid and benefits accrued under the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program on both the intensive and extensive margins. We perform these calculations for stylized workers given the existing benefit structure and disability hazard rates. On the intensive margin, we examine the effect of an additional dollar of earnings on the marginal payroll taxes contributed and future benefits earned. We find that the present discounted value of disability benefits received from an additional dollar of earnings, net of the SSDI payroll tax, generally declines with age, becoming negative around age 40 and reaching almost zero at age 63. On the extensive margin, we determine the effect of working an additional year on the additional payroll taxes and future benefits as a percentage of income. The return to working an additional year at an income level just large enough to earn Social Security credits for the year is large and positive through age 60. However, the return to working an additional full year is substantially smaller and becomes negative at approximately age 57. Thus, older workers face strong incentives to earn enough to obtain creditable coverage through age 60, but they face disincentives for additional earnings. In addition, workers aged 61 and older face work disincentives at any level of earnings. We repeat this analysis for stylized workers at different levels of earnings and find that, while the program transfers resources from high earners to low earners, the workers experience similar patterns in the returns to working.
On Gaussian Interference Channels with Constellation-Based Transmitters

In this letter, we study a two-user Gaussian Interference Channel (GIC) with constellation-based transmitters where both transmitters utilize PSK signaling and both receivers treat interference as noise. It is verified that if one user rotates its constellation appropriately compared to the constellation of the other user, the achievable sum-rate in the network considerably increases. Due to the fact that the noise plus interference at each receiver is mixed-Gaussian, there is no closed formula for the sum-rate. Using Fano's inequality, a lower bound is developed on the sum-rate in the network. The lower bound is tight in the sense that it identifies the optimal value for the angle of rotation. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the proposed lower bound can be larger than the exact value of sum-rate achieved by random Gaussian codes or Time-Division-Multiplexing (TDM).
The role of policy in the evolution of technological innovation systems for photovoltaic power in Germany and the Netherlands

In this paper, we examine the role of policy in the evolution of technological innovation system and diffusion of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in Germany and the Netherlands. PV power development and diffusion have been actively supported in both countries; however, Germany has a well- developed technological innovation system and a successful industry, whereas the Netherlands has not. The focus of this paper is on the dynamic relationship between policy developments and technology innovation systems developments. Within both countries policy has changed over time but the German feed-in law provided an element of continuity which the Dutch policy lacked. The creation of a successful industry for PV in Germany can be attributed to the greater consistency and continuity of the German policies.
TRUE HOUSEHOLD EQUIVALENCE SCALES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POOR IN THE UNITED STATES

In this paper we deal with the question of which measures of economic well‐being are adequate to identify those groups of households in the U.S. whose economic conditions justify public concern and assistance. We derive a utility based measure of economic well‐being from the estimation of a complete set of consumer demand equations. The demand system is Lluch's Extended Linear Expenditure System (Lluch, 1973). Household characteristics are incorporated using the scaling method proposed by Barten (1966). Using the welfare indicator derived, we study the composition of the poorest part of the population, using data from the 1972–73 Consumer Expenditure Survey. We compare our results with those obtained using various other welfare indicators, including the official U.S. poverty line. We show that using different family composition adjustments significantly and systematically affects just who are considered to be at the bottom of the welfare distribution. We finally suggest that program designers therefore can improve their target efficiency by carefully selecting from among the acceptable indices of welfare when defining program eligibility.
A new image-based real-time flame detection method using color analysis

A new image-based real-time flame detection method is proposed in this paper. First, fire flame features based on the HSI color model are extracted by analyzing 70 flame images. Then, based on these flame features, regions with fire-like colors are roughly separated from an image. Besides segmenting fire flame regions, background objects with similar fire colors or caused by color shift resulted from the reflection of fire flames are also separated from the image. In order to get rid of these spurious fire-like regions, the image difference method and the invented color masking technique are applied. Finally, a simple method is devised to estimate the burning degree of fire flames so that users could be informed with a proper warning alarm. The proposed method is tested with seven diverse fire flame video clips on a Pentium II 350 processor with 128 MB RAM at the process speed of thirty frames per second. The experimental results are quite encouraging. The proposed method can achieve more than 96.97% detection rate on average. In addition, the system can correctly recognize fire flames within one second on the initial combustion from the test video clips, which seems very promising.
Optimization of a neutrino factory oscillation experiment

We discuss the optimization of a neutrino factory experiment for neutrino oscillation physics in terms of muon energy, baselines, and oscillation channels (gold, silver, platinum). In addition, we study the impact and requirements for detector technology improvements, and we compare the results to beta beams. We find that the optimized neutrino factory has two baselines, one at about 3000 to 5000 km, the other at about 7500 km ('magic' baseline). The threshold and energy resolution of the golden channel detector have the most promising optimization potential. This, in turn, could be used to lower the muon energy from about 50 GeV to about 20 GeV. Furthermore, the inclusion of electron neutrino appearance with charge identification (platinum channel) could help for large values of sin{sup 2}2{theta}{sub 13}. Though tau neutrino appearance with charge identification (silver channel) helps, in principle, to resolve degeneracies for intermediate sin{sup 2}2{theta}{sub 13}, we find that alternative strategies may be more feasible in this parameter range. As far as matter density uncertainties are concerned, we demonstrate that their impact can be reduced by the combination of different baselines and channels. Finally, in comparison to beta beams and other alternative technologies, we clearly can establish a superior performancemore » for a neutrino factory in the case sin{sup 2}2{theta}{sub 13} < or approx. 0.01. « less
Infrastructure and Inequality

We develop a model in which public capital is both an engine of growth and a determinant of the distributions of wealth, income, and welfare. Government investment increases wealth inequality over time, regardless of its financing. The time path of income inequality is, however, highly sensitive to financing policies, and is often characterized by sharp intertemporal tradeoffs, with income inequality declining in the short run but increasing in the long run. Public investment generates a positive correlation between growth and income inequality along the transition path, but their short-run and long-run relationship depends critically on (i) how externalities impinge on allocation decisions, (ii) financing policies, and (iii) the time period of consideration. Finally, these policies also generate sharp trade-offs between average welfare and its distribution, with government investment improving average welfare, but also increasing its dispersion. Our results are obtained numerically but extensive sensitivity analysis confirms their robustness across key parameter values.
Embedding risk management: structures and approaches

Purpose – The paper aims to report research into ways by which companies identify risks and embed risk management and control procedures and also to report on interactions between internal audit and audit committees and their contributions to risk management.Design/methodology/approach – The first section of the paper comprises a review of the literature on risk management and the roles played by internal audit and audit committees. The paper then reports the results of a series of interviews with officers in UK plcs and external auditors on the issues identified from the literature.Findings – There was agreement that, while parent boards have ultimate responsibility, the ownership of risks must reside with management at lower levels. Companies tended to adopt a multi‐procedural approach to developing consistent risk management procedures. Internal auditors were believed to have a role to play but concerns were expressed about expertise and independence. The paper recommends a split of the internal audit .
Reaping Relationship Marketing Benefits from Corporate Social Initiatives

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is very prominent on the corporate agenda. Our research examines the individual-level dynamics of how a brand’s social initiatives can generate relationship marketing benefits. We find that positive CSR beliefs strengthen consumers’ relationships with the brand, generating benefits for the brand such as greater likelihood of purchase, increased loyalty, and greater consumer advocacy. More interestingly, we find that not all CSR initiatives are created equal; a brand that integrates its CSR strategy into the core business strategy is likely to reap greater relational benefits from its CSR initiatives. Regarding antecedent conditions of CSR beliefs, we demonstrate that perceived intrinsic (but not extrinsic) motives underlying CSR initiatives play an important role. Our research contributes to both relationship marketing and CSR literature.
The Impact of Exchange Rate Changes on Disaggregated Agricultural Output in Nigeria: A Two-Stage-Least-Squares Approach

Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy prior to independence and immediately after. Agriculture however, has suffered persistent decline since the 1970s with the exchange rate policy being implicated in the misfortune of this sector. Earlier studies on the effect of exchange rate on agricultural output focussed on aggregate output and ignored the possibility of differences in the response of components of agricultural output. Besides, the fact that there may be a possibility of reverse causality between the exchange rate and agricultural output has been ignored in earlier studies. This study attempts to fill these gaps, by investigating the effect of the exchange rate changes on the components of agricultural output using the two-stage-least-squares techniques for the period between 1970 and 2008. The obtained result indicates that there are differences in the way the output of different sub-sectors responds to the exchange rate changes. While the exchange rate changes have negative effects on crop and fishery output, they have positive effects on livestock and forestry. The fact that the real exchange rate has differential effect on the output of the agricultural sub-sectors indicates the need for policy to be put in place to mitigate the adverse consequences of the exchange rate depreciation on crop and fishery output.
G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels in dorsal root ganglion neurons

AbstractAim:G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels (GIRK) are important for neuronal signaling and membrane excitability. In the present study, we intend to find whether GIRK channels express functionally in adult rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons.Methods:We used RT-PCR to detect mRNA for 4 subunits of GIRK in the adult DRG. The whole-cell patch clamp recording was used to confirm GIRK channels functionally expressed.Results:The mRNA for the 4 subunits of GIRK were detected in the adult DRG. GTPγS enhanced inwardly rectifying potassium (K+) currents of the DRG neurons, while Ba2+ inhibited such currents. Furthermore, the GIRK channels were shown to be coupled to the GABAB receptor, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor family, as baclofen increased the inwardly rectifying K+ currents.Conclusion:GIRK channels are expressed and functionally coupled with GABAB receptors in adult rat DRG neurons.
Social Isolation: A Practical Guide for Nurses Assisting Clients with Chronic Illness

&NA; Social isolation is a serious problem in our society, and the chronically ill are especially vulnerable. The lack of needed and wanted social contacts is a serious source of discomfort that can lead to further health problems. Many factors are involved, including limited mobility, lack of transportation, apparent and hidden disabilities that are socially undesirable, lack of employment, drained relationships with caregivers, changes of social roles, and emotional and psychological stress and dysfunction. Nurses are in a unique position to intervene on behalf of those social isolates. Practical interventions include contacting peer counselors, referring the patient to a support group, helping to rebuild the family network, enhancing the patient's spirituality, helping the patient use Internet‐based supports, and practicing the therapeutic use of self. Social isolation is a threatening condition for many people, but it has many solutions. In order to provide holistic care, nurses can address this problem on an individual and societal level.
Human-Associated Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase in the Antarctic

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli bacteria with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) type CTX-M resistance were isolated from water samples collected close to research stations in Antarctica. The isolates had bla CTX-M-1 and bla CTX-M-15 genotypes and sequence types (ST) indicative of a human-associated origin. This is the first record of ESBL-producing enterobacteria from Antarctica.
Developing a new, national approach to surveillance for ventilator-associated events: executive summary.

Shelley S Magill MD PhD, Michael Klompas MD MPH, Robert Balk MD, Suzanne M Burns RN ACNP MSN RRT, Clifford S Deutschman MS MD, Daniel Diekema MD, Scott Fridkin MD, Linda Greene RN MPS, Alice Guh MD MPH, David Gutterman MD, Beth Hammer RN MSN ANP-BC, David Henderson MD, Dean R Hess PhD RRT, Nicholas S Hill MD, Teresa Horan MPH, Marin Kollef MD, Mitchell Levy MD, Edward Septimus MD, Carole VanAntwerpen RN BSN, Don Wright MD MPH, and Pamela Lipsett MD MHPE
Relationships Between Implied Volatility Indexes and Stock Index Returns

There is a negative and statistically significant relationship between the returns of the S&P 100 and the Nasdaq 100 stock indexes and their corresponding implied volatility indexes, VIX and VXN. For the S&P 100, the relationship is asymmetric, as negative stock index returns are more associated than positive returns with greater changes in VIX. VIX changes when negative stock index returns are observed are greater in low–volatility periods. For the Nasdaq 100, the asymmetric effect is rather weak, but the VXN and underlying index co–movement is also somewhat muted in high–volatility trading environments. There is some evidence that positive forward–looking returns are to be expected for long positions triggered by extremely high levels of the implied volatility indexes.
Measuring the Persistence of Expected Returns

This paper summarizes earlier research On the sources of variation in monthly U.S. stock returns in the period 1927-88. A log-linear model is used to break unexpected returns into changing expectations about future dividends and changing expectations about future returns. Even though stock returns are not highly forecastable, the model attributes one-third of the variation in returns to changing expected returns, one-third to changing future dividends, and one-third to the covariance between these components. Changing expected returns have a large effect on the stock market because their movements are persistent and negatively correlated with changing expected dividends.