Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iron Inhibits Activation-induced Cytidine Deaminase Enzymatic Activity and Modulates Immunoglobulin Class Switch DNA Recombination*

Background: AID is critical for effective immune responses, as it initiates antibody class switching and somatic hypermutation by deaminating deoxycytidines in the immunoglobulin locus switch region and V(D)J DNA. Results: Fe2+ inhibited AID-mediated deoxycytidine deamination and class switch DNA recombination in B cells. Conclusion: Iron inhibits the enzymatic function of AID. Significance: Iron can modulate antibody responses and may dampen AID-dependent autoimmunity and neoplastic transformation. Immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch DNA recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) are critical for the maturation of the antibody response. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) initiates CSR and SHM by deaminating deoxycytidines (dCs) in switch (S) and V(D)J region DNA, respectively, to generate deoxyuracils (dUs). Processing of dUs by uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG) yields abasic sites, which are excised by apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucleases, eventually generating double strand DNA breaks, the obligatory intermediates of CSR. Here, we found that the bivalent iron ion (Fe2+, ferrous) suppressed CSR, leading to decreased number of switched B cells, decreased postrecombination Iμ-CH transcripts, and reduced titers of secreted class-switched IgG1, IgG3, and IgA antibodies, without alterations in critical CSR factors, such as AID, 14-3-3γ, or PTIP, or in general germline IH-S-CH transcription. Fe2+ did not affect B cell proliferation or plasmacytoid differentiation. Rather, it inhibited AID-mediated dC deamination in a dose-dependent fashion. The inhibition of intrinsic AID enzymatic activity by Fe2+ was specific, as shown by lack of inhibition of AID-mediated dC deamination by other bivalent metal ions, such as Zn2+, Mn2+, Mg2+, or Ni2+, and the inability of Fe2+ to inhibit UNG-mediated dU excision. Overall, our findings have outlined a novel role of iron in modulating a B cell differentiation process that is critical to the generation of effective antibody responses to microbial pathogens and tumoral cells. They also suggest a possible role of iron in dampening AID-dependent autoimmunity and neoplastic transformation.
Superficial Soft‐Tissue Injury

In 1992, Lee and Opeskin published an article on the little-recognized problem of death related to multiple superficial soft-tissue injuries following an assault. These deaths resulted from an acute assault and were restricted to young aboriginal women with a history of alcoholism. Presented here is a similar case occurring in a 22-year-old Polynesian woman. However, there are some significant differences. Aside from the final acute assault, there was evidence of chronic repeated episodes of superficial soft-tissue injury that resulted in undermining of connections between large areas of different tissue planes. These injuries produced pockets and spaces lined by fibrous tissue and numerous old intramuscular and subcutaneous hematomas, some of which showed secondary infection. There was also dense soft-tissue and subcutaneous fibrosis, and myositis ossificans.
"He just doesn’t catch it in his heart"

Collaboration is a well-used term in all kinds of settings. The term often encapsulates beliefs around how collective action yields improved results compared to individual action. Such improved results from inter-organisational collaboration now appear utterly taken for granted. Has working with people from other organisations become a value to pursue in and of itself? Abstract overall goals for joint work bolster the make-believe around how people from different organisations easily agree a set of joint goals. In practice there is a web of goals: people bring their own personal goals, as well as the goals that they conceptualise as belonging to their home organisations and to the organisation-of-organisations. I draw on participant observation in two settings of inter-organisational collaboration. My interpretation of practices in the two settings makes clearer how values underpin everyday encounters. I explore how talk of goals in each setting hints at values that people associate with participation in joint work. I suggest that participants in settings of inter-organisational collaboration build in moments to explore and recognise the values that underpin goals. This helps counter idealisation of what it means to work together with colleagues from other organisations. Without such exploratory moments, people risk speaking past each other rather than truly making the difference they hoped their joint work would bring about.
Remittances and Protest in Dictatorships

Remittances - money migrant workers send back home - are the second largest source of international financial flows in developing countries. As with other sources of international finance, such as foreign direct investment and foreign aid, worker remittances shape politics in recipient countries. We examine the political consequences of remittances by exploring how they influence anti-government protest behavior. While recent research argues that remittances have a pernicious effect on politics by contributing to authoritarian stability, we argue the opposite: remittances increase political protest in non-democracies by augmenting the resources available to potential political opponents. Using cross-national data on a latent measure of anti-government political protest, we show that remittances increase protest. To explore the mechanism linking remittances to protest, we turn to individual-level data from eight non-democracies in Africa to show that remittance receipt increases protest in opposition areas but not in progovernment regions.
Meta-analysis suggests that smoking is associated with an increased risk of early natural menopause

ObjectiveAge at natural menopause (ANM) is usually defined as the age at the last menstrual bleeding followed by the absence of menses for 12 consecutive months. Although many studies have suggested an association between smoking and early age at natural menopause, evidence remains conflicting because some studies reported inconsistent or contrasting results. To resolve this ambiguity and to quantitatively evaluate the effect of smoking on ANM, we conducted a meta-analysis of the available data about smoking and ANM. MethodsAfter extensive searching of public literature databases, a total of 11 studies were selected for this meta-analysis. Among them, the phenotype of the participants in five studies (dichotomous studies) was classified as early or late ANM, and odds ratio (OR) was used to evaluate the effect of smoking on early ANM. For the other six studies (continuous studies), mean and SD were provided for smoking and nonsmoking samples, and weighted mean difference (WMD) was used as the effect size. ResultsWe found that smoking was significantly associated with early ANM in both dichotomous and continuous studies. The pooled effect was OR = 0.74 (95% CI, 0.60-0.91, P < 0.01) in the dichotomous studies. For the continuous studies, the pooled effect estimated by WMD was −1.12 (95% CI, −1.80 to −0.44, P = 0.04). After adjustment of the original data for heterogeneity, the pooled results changed only a little: OR = 0.67 (95% CI, 0.61-0.73, P < 0.01) for dichotomous studies and WMD = −0.90 (95% CI, −1.58 to −0.21, P = 0.01) for the continuous studies. ConclusionsThe results of our study suggest that smoking is a significant independent factor for early ANM.
Feature-Based Localization Methods for Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are virtually regarded as the panaceas for the future of road transport due to numerous promising benefits. Thus, they have attracted wide attention from both academia and industry. Although associated technologies have been investigated and developed for decades, several obstacles still need to be overcome. One of the major obstacles is the total cost of the needed sensors. Therefore, it would be a long-term and effective solution to use less expensive sensors that can provide the same or even better performance. The main focus of this dissertation is to design and implement a feature-based localization system. It aims to substitute the most expensive part of the present autonomous test vehicle, Applanix POS LV 510 which is four times more expensive than the vehicle. To do that, feature maps were first constructed through the log files of the test drive in Berlin. Then an algorithm is proposed to localize the test vehicle within the pre-built maps by using the Velodyne LIDAR and the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) associated sensors. The Velodyne LIDAR is employed to extract pole-like features from the previously mapped environments. Gyroscope and wheel speed sensors from the ESP are utilized to carry out the relative localization. The estimation does not need any GPS information after initialization. The performance of the proposed localization algorithm was evaluated through two datasets and the results indicate that it is comparable to the Applanix system. The real on-road tests also verified its effectiveness and robustness in terms of accuracy and precision. It is even more precise than the Applanix system as it shows higher repeatability. The main innovations and contributions of this thesis can be summarized in three aspects. First, an innovative two-point localization scheme is proposed. It can greatly mitigate the influence of the wrong feature matching during the data association stage, thus it can get more accurate estimations. Second, an Ackermann constraint based trajectory smoothing method is proposed, which can smooth the trajectories especially during U-turns. Finally, the idea of using the online data to create feature maps is also evaluated and tested on the real roads. It is less accurate than the method of using the log files to create feature maps, but it can create city scale feature maps in a more efficient and convenient way.
Implementation of optimized trigonometric functions for a self-mixing laser diode displacement sensor under moderate feedback

The real-time hardware implementation of a self-mixing (SM) displacement sensor algorithm for moderate feedback necessitates the optimization of trigonometric functions such as sin and arccos for example, needed for its signal processing. Two approaches, the limited Taylor series as well as the CORDIC (for COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer) method traditionally used in computer systems, have been evaluated for the implementation of these trigonometric functions. The increasingly higher ordered Taylor series cases have been compared along with their 12 bit and 16 bit fixed point implementations. Efforts have been done to optimize these trigonometric functions in order to reduce the error as well as the time needed for a future real-time sensor requiring such signal processing.
Modular integration of RF SAW filters

A desire to incorporate multiple functions into a single component continues to drive product size reduction in the wireless electronics industry. In the radio portion of wireless handsets, many of the functions have been modularized. Because surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are built using a piezoelectric substrate, they require unique packaging in order to ensure their functionality. Some form of a hermetic cavity over the active area of the SAW die is necessary to avoid damage or mass loading to the unpassivated surface. This paper reviews the nature of the RF SAW filters and current packaging approaches. A novel encapsulation process for these filters is discussed. The active area of the filter is protected at the wafer level by a low profile hermetic lid. It can thereafter be tested, singulated and integrated along with other devices into a module. Examples of modules used in wireless products with integrated SAW filters are given.
Representations of fatigue in women receiving chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe women's representations of fatigue and fatigue-related coping efforts by women receiving chemotherapy. DESIGN Descriptive, correlational. SETTING Outpatient gynecologic oncology clinic. SAMPLE Women receiving chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers. Fifty-four women were recruited; 49 (91%) completed measures. This report focuses on the 27 women who identified fatigue as one of their most noticed symptoms and subsequently completed the fatigue representations measure. METHODS Women completed measures of key research variables at home seven days after receiving chemotherapy. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Representations of fatigue (identity, cause, timeline, consequences, cure or controllability, and emotional representation), fatigue-related coping efforts (communication with healthcare provider, adherence, and self-directed coping strategies), and overall symptom interference with life activities. FINDINGS Women reported a mean of 13.44 different symptoms. They reported a mean fatigue identity (severity) score of 6.48 on a scale of 0-10. On a 0-4 scale, women reported mean fatigue consequences of 2.21, cure or controllability of 1.58, and emotional representations (distress) of 2.16. A majority (59%) had not communicated with their healthcare providers about fatigue at their last appointments, and 56% reported never receiving recommendations for managing fatigue. Sleep or rest was the most common strategy used for managing fatigue. CONCLUSIONS Fatigue is a prevalent, severe symptom that is perceived as distressing and uncontrollable by women receiving chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers. These perceptions may be reinforced by a lack of recommendations from healthcare providers for managing fatigue. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Nurses must make extra efforts to ask patients about fatigue and to provide self-care suggestions for coping with fatigue. Research efforts must continue to evaluate the efficacy of nursing interventions aimed at decreasing cancer-related fatigue.
Investigating local creative industries development initiatives in England : case studies in Urban South Hampshire, 2011-14

In recent years the creative industries have become a focus of policy and academic discussion across the world. However, much of the existing literature has concentrated on national perspectives or on social and economic regeneration strategies in large cultural cities while data and understanding at the local level is more limited. This thesis aims to help redress this imbalance by focussing on the smaller and less established context of Urban South Hampshire on the central south coast of England. Longitudinal case studies are used to explore two key research questions, firstly, what are the needs, motivations and experiences of people hoping to develop careers and businesses in the sector; and secondly, how can local initiatives and public sector interventions support creative industries development. While some guidance is available to assist local and regional decision-makers there are few studies which follow the evolution of specific interventions over time to evaluate their effectiveness and inform future sectoral strategies. Although the urban bias of the creative industries is well documented this thesis argues that under the right conditions and with the right policies and initiatives towns and smaller cities can offer a more welcoming, affordable and socially cohesive creative milieu in contrast to the highly competitive environments of major cities. Demand for specialist initiatives with a dual focus on nurturing creative practice as well as promoting enterprise and business skills is also highlighted. This is especially relevant at the cultural-end of the sector which is becoming increasingly exposed to market pressures in part due to recent cuts in public sector spending. The thesis also argues that creative individuals are seeking new spaces to exist within the sector which allow them a level of creative autonomy over their practice while also enabling them to develop sustainable careers and successful businesses.
ANP secretion from small cell lung cancer cell lines: a potential model of ANP release.

Although atrial distension is widely accepted as the primary stimulus for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) release, a number of agonists are also known to induce its secretion. The mechanisms underlying these processes are not well understood. Studies of this nature are hampered by the inherent difficulty in culturing homogeneous populations of cardiac myocytes in sufficient quantities to perform molecular investigations. For this reason, we have examined the possibility of using other cell types as a model of ANP release. It has been reported that a number of tumor samples from small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients express the ANP gene. Characterization of a large number of cell lines derived from SCLC tumor samples indicated that two of these cell lines, OS-A and SHP-77, secrete ANP at rates of approximately 10(-20) g.cell-1.min-1. This is a sufficient quantity to facilitate secretion studies using a perifusion system. We have demonstrated that ANP is released through regulated secretory pathways, as the Ca2+ ionophore A-23187, arginine vasopressin (AVP), and the sodium ionophore, monensin, were capable of modifying secretion rates. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis indicated that the primary secretory product is ANP-(99-126), the circulating form of this hormone. Intracellularly, both ANP-(99-126) and ANP-(1-126) were present, suggesting the synthesis and appropriate cleavage of pro-ANP-(1-126). Because both of these cell lines have doubling times in the range of 3-5 days, they could serve as a rapidly proliferating and easily maintainable supply of homogeneous tissue for release studies. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase gene, amyL, is subject to promoter-independent catabolite repression in Bacillus subtilis

Expression of the Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase gene, amyL, was temporally activated and subject to catabolite repression both in its natural host and when cloned on a 3.55-kilobase fragment in Bacillus subtilis. A subclone from which the promoter region of amyL and sequences upstream from the promoter were deleted had a low level of amylase activity. Expression of the promoterless gene was still subject to repression by glucose when the gene was present either on a multicopy plasmid or integrated into the B. subtilis chromosome. Catabolite repression occurred independently of the amylase promoter and irrespective of the distance of the promoterless amyL gene from the promoter which transcribed it. The transcriptional start sites of amyL activated by its own promoter and by a vector sequence promoter were determined by S1 mapping. alpha-Amylase-specific mRNA levels were measured in repressing and nonrepressing media, and catabolite repression was found to act at the level of transcription.
ASSESSING TEACHING PRACTICE EVALUATION PROCESSES EMPLOYED BY A SOUTH AFRICAN TEACHER EDUCATION UNIVERSITY: APPROPRIATE TO ASSESS QUALITY TEACHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING?

The use of portfolios for evaluating the quality of skills acquired during the four years of teacher training and development in Higher Education Institutions has been a highlight in the international research on teaching and learning discourses. South African Higher Education Institutions have since been restructuring their teaching and learning programmes to accommodate needs of secondary school curriculum through the implementation of Department of Higher Education recently promulgated policy on Minimum Requirements for Techer Education Qualification’s recommendations on the graduates’ attributes. Recent studies conducted in South Africa have unveiled a need of more clarity on how portfolios can be used as tool to develop and produce the envisaged teachers who are an embodiment of what reflective practice in education is. Two teacher educators (researchers) were appointed to assess teaching practice portfolios and found it difficult to understand how the instruments used for evaluation were able to demonstrate the abilities required for effective teaching. Programme Evaluation was used as a research methodological tool to zoom in at the quality of instruments used for assessing the skills required for competency. Document analysis was used as a qualitative method. The results unveiled the poorly structured instrument to measure the abilities required in the classroom as pre-service teachers were observed. There arose a concern of questionable way of how marks allocated by both lectures to evaluate their lesson and marks allocated by mentor teacher lesson evaluations. Results also demonstrated the possibility of biasness on awarded marks for each lesson as criteria for evaluation are not spelt out in the document used for evaluation. Using such an instrument seemed to pose a challenge of mismatch of allocation of scores as they are reflective of what could be the outdated methods of assessment due to the instrument which is based on a theory that has existed for more than two decades. As a result, students’ marks could be either inflated or severely reduced due to subjectivity resulting from the outdated assessment criteria in the instrument used. The results also show the lack of accuracy and trustworthiness of the information presented in the portfolios by the students. The lack of mechanism used to check the accuracy of the information is likely to lead students to cheat by presenting the information that they think the lecturer would be happy to know despite its credibility thus defeating the its main purpose.
Knowledge Fields and Inner Patterns in Clinical Laboratory Science

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to clarify the knowledge base of clinical laboratory science (CLS). This research was motivated by questions concerning the knowledge base itself and its abilities to meet the demands of reality. The following questions were therefore asked to achieve the purposes of the study: What are the knowledge fields and inner patterns in CLS? Which research objects could CLS focus on in order to promote development in practice, education, and research? DESIGN: The findings of the study were arrived at by means of hypothetical-deductive approach and inductive, content analytical strategy. The journal Clinical Laboratory Science of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) provides the source material for the analysis. SETTING: Åbo Akademi University. Faculty of Social and Caring Sciences. RESULTS: The findings of the study are discussed in the light of starting points of the theory of science and lead to nine hypotheses concerning CLS. CONCLUSION: The purpose of the present study was to create clarity in CLS as a science of its own. This has been achieved by capturing and describing facts and qualities, and thereafter presenting fundamental hypotheses in CLS. The results of this study give a thought structure for continued development and deepening within the theory and practice of CLS. ABBREVIATIONS: ASCLS = American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science; CLS = clinical laboratory science; MT = medical technologist.