Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous Catabolism of Plant-Derived Aromatic Compounds Results in Enhanced Growth for Members of the Roseobacter Lineage

ABSTRACT Plant-derived aromatic compounds are important components of the dissolved organic carbon pool in coastal salt marshes, and their mineralization by resident bacteria contributes to carbon cycling in these systems. Members of the roseobacter lineage of marine bacteria are abundant in coastal salt marshes, and several characterized strains, including Sagittula stellata E-37, utilize aromatic compounds as primary growth substrates. The genome sequence of S. stellata contains multiple, potentially competing, aerobic ring-cleaving pathways. Preferential hierarchies in substrate utilization and complex transcriptional regulation have been demonstrated to be the norm in many soil bacteria that also contain multiple ring-cleaving pathways. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether substrate preference exists in S. stellata when the organism is provided a mixture of aromatic compounds that proceed through different ring-cleaving pathways. We focused on the protocatechuate (pca) and the aerobic benzoyl coenzyme A (box) pathways and the substrates known to proceed through them, p-hydroxybenzoate (POB) and benzoate, respectively. When these two substrates were provided at nonlimiting carbon concentrations, temporal patterns of cell density, gene transcript abundance, enzyme activity, and substrate concentrations indicated that S. stellata simultaneously catabolized both substrates. Furthermore, enhanced growth rates were observed when S. stellata was provided both compounds simultaneously compared to the rates of cells grown singly with an equimolar concentration of either substrate alone. This simultaneous-catabolism phenotype was also demonstrated in another lineage member, Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3. These findings challenge the paradigm of sequential aromatic catabolism reported for soil bacteria and contribute to the growing body of physiological evidence demonstrating the metabolic versatility of roseobacters.
How does writing for publication help professional development of teachers? A case study in China

Publications by teachers reporting results or case studies of school-based teacher inquiry activities benchmark their professional development by indicating they have a ‘stance of inquiry’. Such papers also disseminate valuable knowledge to the education community for sharing. Essay or case writing has always been a part of school-based teacher learning in China. The small-scale qualitative study reported here examines the impact of producing publications on the professional development of teachers within the context of educational reform. Findings show that producing publications contributes to teacher development in three ways. First, an expanded knowledge base gives the teachers new understandings of student-based learning. Second, teachers obtain insight into their practices by making their tacit knowledge explicit. Third, teachers have a sense of achievement by theorising personal experience. Publications serve as ‘boundary objects’ which can potentially help teachers achieve and develop their professionalism by disseminating individual knowledge into the public knowledge domain with transformative learning. Such developments, however, normally tend to focus on expanding local pedagogical practice. More emphasis on the notion of ‘teachers as researchers’ through critical reflection may help teachers perform as transformative intellectuals whilst searching for ways to retain teachers’ voices in their written publications.
Generalizing over Lexical Features: Selectional Preferences for Semantic Role Classification

This paper explores methods to alleviate the effect of lexical sparseness in the classification of verbal arguments. We show how automatically generated selectional preferences are able to generalize and perform better than lexical features in a large dataset for semantic role classification. The best results are obtained with a novel second-order distributional similarity measure, and the positive effect is specially relevant for out-of-domain data. Our findings suggest that selectional preferences have potential for improving a full system for Semantic Role Labeling.
Extrahepatic portal vein thrombosis: aetiology and determinants of survival

BACKGROUND Malignancy, hypercoagulability, and conditions leading to decreased portal flow have been reported to contribute to the aetiology of extrahepatic portal vein thrombosis (EPVT). Mortality of patients with EPVT may be associated with these concurrent medical conditions or with manifestations of portal hypertension, such as variceal haemorrhage. PATIENTS AND METHODS To determine which variables have prognostic significance with respect to survival, we performed a retrospective study of 172 adult EPVT patients who were followed over the period 1984–1997 in eight university hospitals. RESULTS Mean follow up was 3.9 years (range 0.1–13.1). Overall survival was 70% (95% confidence interval (CI) 62–76%) at one year, 61% (95% CI, 52–67%) at five years, and 54% (95% CI, 45–62%) at 10 years. The one, five, and 10 year survival rates in the absence of cancer, cirrhosis, and mesenteric vein thrombosis were 95% (95% CI 87–98%), 89% (95% CI 78–94%), and 81% (95% CI 67–89%), respectively (n=83). Variables at diagnosis associated with reduced survival according to multivariate analysis were advanced age, malignancy, cirrhosis, mesenteric vein thrombosis, absence of abdominal inflammation, and serum levels of aminotransferase and albumin. The presence of variceal haemorrhage and myeloproliferative disorders did not influence survival. Only four patients died due to variceal haemorrhage and one due to complications of a portosystemic shunt procedure. CONCLUSION We conclude that mortality among patients with EPVT is related primarily to concurrent disorders leading to EPVT and not to complications of portal hypertension.
Organizations in Society

Course Description: Modern life involves interaction with a wide variety of complex, interconnecting organizations, from multi-national corporations to churches, non-profits to social media start-ups, social service agencies to volunteer organizations. Today, even our interpersonal relationships like friendship and dating are mediated through organizations. In this course we will learn about the structure, internal processes, and environments of different forms of organization. We will analyze how organizational features affect individual behavior, and vice versa. We will also consider how organizations affect social outcomes, and the basic structure of society. We will look at a wide variety of organizations, including corporations and voluntary organizations, schools, hospitals, and NGOs. Our objectives will be to learn the various ways sociologists and others have addressed these issues through theory and research, as well as to conduct our own observations of organizations. After this course you should be able to: 1) Identify and define key components of formal organizational structure 2) Analyze how organizational components affect individual behavior, and vice versa 3) Discuss how organizations affect social patterns and outcomes 4) Identify and discuss sociological theories of organization and relevant empirical research findings from organizational studies 5) Apply relevant theories and research to a specific organization as a case study 6) Work independently and in small groups; present on the objectives above
Psychosocial Influences on College Adjustment in Division I Student-Athletes: The Role of Athletic Identity

Traditionally, graduation rates have been employed as a primary measure of college success for student-athletes. However, other sport related factors influencing college success and adjustment have yet to be adequately researched in the literature. The purpose of this study was to examine more closely the impact of race, gender, and athletic identity on the college adjustment of a group of freshmen and sophomore varsity student-athletes. A regression model employing athletic identity as a moderator of race for specific indices of college adjustment in student-athletes was tested. One-hundred and one varsity student-athletes from three Division 1 universities participated in the study. Findings revealed significant correlations among the variables of gender, race, athletic identity, and certain aspects of college adjustment. In addition, the model of athletic identity as a moderator of race in student-athletes was partially supported. Implications of the current findings to student-athlete retention and support services are discussed.
H∞ iterative learning controller design for a class of discrete-time systems with data dropouts

In this paper, the issue of H∞ iterative learning controller design is considered for a class of discrete-time systems with data dropouts. With the super-vector formulation of iterative learning control (ILC), such a system can be formulated as a linear discrete-time stochastic system in the iteration domain, and then a sufficient condition guaranteeing both stability of the ILC process and the desired H∞ performance in the iteration domain is presented. The condition can be derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities that can be solved by using existing numerical techniques. A numerical simulation example is also included to validate the theoretical results.
A microarray analysis of retinal transcripts that are controlled by image contrast in mice

Purpose The development of myopia is controlled by still largely unknown retinal signals. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in retinal mRNA expression after different periods of visual deprivation in mice, while controlling for retinal illuminance. Methods Each group consisted of three male C57BL/6 mice. Treatment periods were 30 min, 4 h, and 6+6 h. High spatial frequencies were filtered from the retinal image by frosted diffusers over one eye while the fellow eyes were covered by clear neutral density (ND) filters that exhibited similar light attenuating properties (0.1 log units) as the diffusers. For the final 30 min of the respective treatment period mice were individually placed in a clear Perspex cylinder that was positioned in the center of a rotating (60 degrees) large drum. The inside of the drum was covered with a 0.1 cyc/degree vertical square wave grating. This visual environment was chosen to standardize illuminances and contrasts seen by the mice. Labeled cRNA was prepared and hybridized to Affymetrix GeneChip® Mouse Genome 430 2.0 arrays. Alterations in mRNA expression levels of candidate genes with potential biological relevance were confirmed by semi-quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results In all groups, Egr-1 mRNA expression was reduced in diffuser-treated eyes. Furthermore, the degradation of the spatial frequency spectrum also changed the cFos mRNA level, with reduced expression after 4 h of diffuser treatment. Other interesting candidates were Akt2, which was up-regulated after 30 min of deprivation and Mapk8ip3, a neuron specific JNK binding and scaffolding protein that was temporally regulated in the diffuser-treated eyes only. Conclusions The microarray analysis demonstrated a pattern of differential transcriptional changes, even though differences in the retinal images were restricted to spatial features. The candidate genes may provide further insight into the biochemical short-term changes following retinal image degradation in mice. Because deprivation of spatial vision leads to increased eye growth and myopia in both animals and humans, it is believed some of the identified genes play a role in myopia development.
Psychiatric morbidity in older prisoners: unrecognized and undertreated

ABSTRACT Background: The aging population in prison is growing rapidly in the United Kingdom. This trend is also found in other countries worldwide. As this population increases prison authorities will need to adjust the custody process to accommodate increasing mental and physical frailty. Methods: This study examined the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and physical disorders, including dementia, in prisoners aged 50 years and over from four prisons in and around Staffordshire to see whether detection and treatment rates have improved over the past decade during which there has been a dramatic increase in the number of older prisoners. Subjects were assessed using the Geriatric Mental State Examination, the Mini-Mental State Examination and Short Form 12 and their prison records. Results: Sixty prisoners (50%) had a diagnosable mental disorder, with depression being most common, and 15 (12%) prisoners had signs of cognitive impairment. Only 18% of those with a psychiatric diagnosis were prescribed medication from the appropriate class. Physical problems were also common in this population with an average self-report of 2.26 problems per prisoner. Conclusions: Mental disorders in older prisoners are common, but despite recent training initiatives they often go undetected and untreated. Prisoners themselves accurately self-report mental disorder, but the best way of detecting dementia in the prison population remains unclear. The psychological and physical health of this prison population was poorer than that of their community-based peers.
MCDB-R

Enterprises often need to assess and manage the risk arising from uncertainty in their data. Such uncertainty is typically modeled as a probability distribution over the uncertain data values, specified by means of a complex (often predictive) stochastic model. The probability distribution over data values leads to a probability distribution over database query results, and risk assessment amounts to exploration of the upper or lower tail of a query-result distribution. In this paper, we extend the Monte Carlo Database System to efficiently obtain a set of samples from the tail of a query-result distribution by adapting recent "Gibbs cloning" ideas from the simulation literature to a database setting.
The Influence of Text Pre-processing on Plagiarism Detection

This paper explores the influence of text preprocessing techniques on plagiarism detection. We examine stop-word removal, lemmatization,number replacement, synonymy recognition, and word generalization. We also look into the influence of punctuation and word-order within N-grams. All these techniques are evaluated according to their impact on F1-measure and speed of execution. Our experiments were performed on a Czech corpus of plagiarized documents about politics. At the end of this paper, we propose what we consider to be the best combination of text pre-processing techniques.
What Do We Mean by Jewish Education in Professional Development for Early Childhood Education?

In this study we investigated the perceptions and interpretations of 14 various stakeholders in the field of teacher preparation and early childhood education regarding what and how Jewish education should be learned and taught, in general, and to preschool children in contemporary Israel, in particular. The present study, carried out in the spring of 2011, employed an “ethogenic” methodology (Harré & Secord, 1972), such that that the interpretations of Jewish education were extracted from the respondents’ written statements about what they consider Jewish education and what they believe the implications are for teaching students and young children in Israel.
Identification of a small-molecule inhibitor of the PICK1 PDZ domain that inhibits hippocampal LTP and LTD

Proteins containing PSD-95/Discs-large/ZO-1 homology (PDZ) domains play key roles in the assembly and regulation of cellular signaling pathways and represent putative targets for new pharmacotherapeutics. Here we describe the first small-molecule inhibitor (FSC231) of the PDZ domain in protein interacting with C kinase 1 (PICK1) identified by a screening of ~44,000 compounds in a fluorescent polarization assay. The inhibitor bound the PICK1 PDZ domain with an affinity similar to that observed for endogenous peptide ligands (Ki~10.1 μM). Mutational analysis, together with computational docking of the compound in simulations starting from the PDZ domain structure, identified the binding mode of FSC231. The specificity of FSC231 for the PICK1 PDZ domain was supported by the lack of binding to PDZ domains of postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) and glutamate receptor interacting protein 1 (GRIP1). Pretreatment of cultured hippocampal neurons with FSC231 inhibited coimmunopreciptation of the AMPA receptor GluR2 subunit with PICK1. In agreement with inhibiting the role of PICK1 in GluR2 trafficking, FSC231 accelerated recycling of pHluorin-tagged GluR2 in hippocampal neurons after internalization in response to NMDA receptor activation. FSC231 blocked the expression of both long-term depression and long-term potentiation in hippocampal CA1 neurons from acute slices, consistent with inhibition of the bidirectional function of PICK1 in synaptic plasticity. Given the proposed role of the PICK1/AMPA receptor interaction in neuropathic pain, excitotoxicity, and cocaine addiction, FSC231 might serve as a lead in the future development of new therapeutics against these conditions.
The electrical circuitry of an olfactory sensillum in Antheraea polyphemus

The aim of this study was to obtain a better insight into the distribution of active and passive electrical properties of the membranes of al olfactory sensillum. Such a sensillum is composed of three accessory cells which envelope the somata of two receptor neurons which have long (300 micron) dendrites that are incorporated in cuticular protuberances (hairs). An electrical equivalent circuit of this organ is reconstructed which is based upon the response of sensilla to current transients, the shape of extracellularly recorded spikes, and the effects of lesions on these signals. A strong influence of membrane capacitances on the overall response and on the shape of spikes becomes apparent. From the combination of electrical and morphometric data it follows that the resistance of the apical membranes of the accessory cells in much higher than the resistance of their basolateral membranes. Neither in simultaneous tip and sidewall recordings nor in the hair (dendrite) amputation experiments could antidromic propagation of action potentials into the dendrite be demonstrated. The commonly accepted retrograde propagation explanation for the biphasic waveform of the spike is, therefore, rejected. Dendrite amputation experiments showed that the impedance of the dendrite does not limit the spike amplitude and that the dendrite contributes slightly to the duration of the positive phases of spikes. Both of these observations indicate that the dendrite is also involved in the generation of the leading phase of the spike. Consequently the proposition is made that action potentials are initiated at a dendritic location.
Exploiting the Structure of Background Knowledge Used in Ontology Matching

We investigate the use of a background knowledge ontology in ontology matching. We conducted experiments on matching two medical ontologies using a third extensive one as background knowledge, and compare the results with directly matching the two ontologies. Our results indicate that using background knowledge, in particular the exploitation of its structure, has enormous benefits on the matching. The structure of the background ontology needs closer examination to determine how to use it in order to obtain maximal benefit.
Economic Recommendation with Surplus Maximization

A prime function of many major World Wide Web applications is Online Service Allocation (OSA), the function of matching individual consumers with particular services/goods (which may include loans or jobs as well as products) each with its own producer. In the applications of interest, consumers are free to choose, so OSA usually takes the form of personalized recommendation or search in practice. The performance metrics of recommender and search systems currently tend to focus on just one side of the match, in some cases the consumers (e.g. satisfaction) and in other cases the producers (e.g., profit). However, a sustainable OSA platform needs benefit both consumers and producers; otherwise the neglected party eventually may stop using it. In this paper, we show how to adapt economists' traditional idea of maximizing total surplus (the sum of consumer net benefit and producer profit) to the heterogeneous world of online service allocation, in an effort to promote the web intelligence for social good in online eco-systems. Modifications of traditional personalized recommendation algorithms enable us to apply Total Surplus Maximization (TSM) to three very different types of real-world tasks -- e-commerce, P2P lending and freelancing. The results for all three tasks suggest that TSM compares very favorably to currently popular approaches, to the benefit of both producers and consumers.
Unipolar Hot Electron Transistors

We discuss kinematic and dynamical constrains in design of useful unipolar hot electron transistors. In addition, we demonstrate room temperature operation of a double heterojunction hot electron transistor with a two-dimensional electron gas forming the base region. Our test structure has the narrowest ever reported base width at a mere 100 Å and is the first such transistor to show current gain in excess of 10 at room temperature. The device uses an indirect, wide bandgap AlSb0.92As0. 08 emitter and the transistor base is a thin InAs layer.
On the Age of Information in Status Update Systems With Packet Management

We consider a communication system in which status updates arrive at a source node, and should be transmitted through a network to the intended destination node. The status updates are samples of a random process under observation, transmitted as packets, which also contain the time stamp to identify when the sample was generated. The age of the information available to the destination node is the time elapsed, since the last received update was generated. In this paper, we model the source-destination link using the queuing theory, and we assume that the time it takes to successfully transmit a packet to the destination is an exponentially distributed service time. We analyze the age of information in the case that the source node has the capability to manage the arriving samples, possibly discarding packets in order to avoid wasting network resources with the transmission of stale information. In addition to characterizing the average age, we propose a new metric, called peak age, which provides information about the maximum value of the age, achieved immediately before receiving an update.
Exploring Parallel Programming Models for Heterogeneous Computing Systems

Parallel systems that employ CPUs and GPUs as two heterogeneous computational units have become immensely popular due to their ability to maximize performance under restrictive thermal budgets. However, programming heterogeneous systems via traditional programming models like OpenCL or CUDA involves rewriting large portions of application-code. They also lead to code that is not performance portable across different architectures or even across different generations of the same architecture. In this paper, we evaluate the current state of two emerging parallel programming models: C++ AMP and OpenACC. These emerging programming paradigms require minimal code changes and rely on compilers to interact with the low-level hardware language, thereby producing performance portable code from an application standpoint. We analyze the performance and productivity of the emerging programming models and compare them with OpenCL using a diverse set of applications on two different architectures, a CPU coupled with a discrete GPU and an Accelerated Programming Unit (APU). Our experiments demonstrate that while the emerging programming models improve programmer productivity, they do not yet expose enough flexibility to extract maximum performance as compared to traditional programming models.