Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retrovirus-Induced Spongiform Neurodegeneration Is Mediated by Unique Central Nervous System Viral Targeting and Expression of Env Alone

ABSTRACT Certain murine leukemia viruses (MLVs) can induce progressive noninflammatory spongiform neurodegeneration similar to that caused by prions. The primary MLV determinants responsible have been mapped to within the env gene; however, it has remained unclear how env mediates disease, whether non-Env viral components are required, and what central nervous system (CNS) cells constitute the critical CNS targets. To address these questions, we examined the effect of transplanting engraftable C17.2 neural stem cells engineered to pseudotype, disseminate, and trans-complement neurovirulent (CasBrE, CasE, and CasES) or non-neurovirulent (Friend and SFF-FE) env sequences (SU or SU/TM) within the CNS using either the “non-neurovirulent” amphotropic helper virus, 4070A, or pgag-polgpt (a nonpackaged vector encoding Gag-Pol). These studies revealed that acute MLV-induced spongiosis results from two separable activities of Env. First, Env causes neuropathology through unique viral targeting within the CNS, which was efficiently mediated by ecotropic Envs (CasBrE and Friend), but not 4070A amphotropic Env. Second, Env induces spongiosis through a toxin activity that is MLV-receptor independent and does not require the coexpression of other viral structural proteins. CasBrE and 4070A Envs possess the toxin activity, whereas Friend Env does not. Although the identity of the critical viral target cell(s) remains unresolved, our results appear to exclude microglia and oligodendrocyte lineage cells, while implicating viral entry into susceptible neurons. Thus, MLV-induced disease parallels prionopathies in that a single protein, Env, mediates both the CNS targeting and the toxicity of the infectious agent that manifests itself as progressive vacuolar neurodegeneration.
QoS Management for WiFi MAC Layer Processing in the Cloud: Demo Description

We present a demo of Quality of Service Management for CloudMAC, which combines SDN with NFV for processing WLAN MAC layer management frames in the Cloud. With CloudMAC, enterprise WLANs can be managed in the cloud which enables simple support for authentication, authorization and accounting, or mobility management. With CloudMAC, clients are associated with Virtual Machines and mobility management is simplified by updating OpenFlow forwarding rules. This enables seamless mobility. While CloudMAC works with standard WLAN clients, CloudMAC APs are very lightweight. In this demo, we show how we can manage different QoS classes in SDN enabled networks which allows a flexible WLAN MAC frame prioritisation. As an example, we implement 802.11ae based WLAN MAC management frame priorization in both the SDN network and the CloudMAC lightweight APs.
Quantitative Phosphoproteome Profiling of Wnt3a-mediated Signaling Network

The complexity of canonical Wnt signaling comes not only from the numerous components but also from multiple post-translational modifications. Protein phosphorylation is one of the most common modifications that propagates signals from extracellular stimuli to downstream effectors. To investigate the global phosphorylation regulation and uncover novel phosphoproteins at the early stages of canonical Wnt signaling, HEK293 cells were metabolically labeled with two stable isotopic forms of lysine and were stimulated for 0, 1, or 30 min with purified Wnt3a. After phosphoprotein enrichment and LC-MS/MS analysis, 1057 proteins were identified in all three time points. In total 287 proteins showed a 1.5-fold or greater change in at least one time point. In addition to many known Wnt signaling transducers, other phosphoproteins were identified and quantitated, implicating their involvement in canonical Wnt signaling. k-Means clustering analysis showed dynamic patterns for the differential phosphoproteins. Profile pattern and interaction network analysis of the differential phosphoproteins implicated the possible roles for those unreported components in Wnt signaling. Moreover 100 unique phosphorylation sites were identified, and 54 of them were quantitated in the three time points. Site-specific phosphopeptide quantitation revealed that Ser-20 phosphorylation on RRM2 increased upon 30-min Wnt3a stimulation. Further studies with mutagenesis, the Wnt reporter gene assay, and RNA interference indicated that RRM2 functioned downstream of β-catenin as an inhibitor of Wnt signaling and that Ser-20 phosphorylation of RRM2 counteracted its inhibition effect. Our systematic profiling of dynamic phosphorylation changes responding to Wnt3a stimulation not only presented a comprehensive phosphorylation network regulated by canonical Wnt signaling but also found novel molecules and phosphorylation involved in Wnt signaling.
Ectopic Expression of Retrotransposon-Derived PEG11/RTL1 Contributes to the Callipyge Muscular Hypertrophy

The callipyge phenotype is an ovine muscular hypertrophy characterized by polar overdominance: only heterozygous + Mat /CLPG Pat animals receiving the CLPG mutation from their father express the phenotype. + Mat /CLPG Pat animals are characterized by postnatal, ectopic expression of Delta-like 1 homologue (DLK1) and Paternally expressed gene 11/Retrotransposon-like 1 (PEG11/RTL1) proteins in skeletal muscle. We showed previously in transgenic mice that ectopic expression of DLK1 alone induces a muscular hypertrophy, hence demonstrating a role for DLK1 in determining the callipyge hypertrophy. We herein describe newly generated transgenic mice that ectopically express PEG11 in skeletal muscle, and show that they also exhibit a muscular hypertrophy phenotype. Our data suggest that both DLK1 and PEG11 act together in causing the muscular hypertrophy of callipyge sheep.
Scale Development in Behavioral Sciences (Based on Exploratory Factor Analysis)

In the measurement of a trait in behavioral sciences two basic approaches stand out: Those are psychometric and impressionistic approaches. Psychometric approach places emphasis on development of measurement instruments based on scientific methods with high validity and reliability and is guiding at the same time. In this study, scale development process in behavioral sciences, problems encountered, steps to be taken and statistical methods to be used are discussed in detail and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) as a technique used in search of dimensions of a scale is mentioned. This study is anticipated to guide the researchers in scale development process. Davranis bilimlerinde, herhangi bir ozelligin olculmesi soz konusu oldugunda iki temel yaklasim one cikmaktadir. Bu yaklasimlar, psikometrik ve izlenimci yaklasimdir. Psikometrik yaklasim, bilimsel yontemlere dayanarak gecerligi ve guvenirligi yuksek olcme araclarinin gelistirilmesine onem verir, ayni zamanda yol gosterir. Bu makalede, davranis bilimlerinde olcek gelistirme sureci, karsilasilabilecek sorunlar, izlenmesi gereken adimlar ve kullanilabilecek istatistiksel yontemler ayrintili olarak ele alinmis, olcek boyutlarini kesfetmek amaciyla basvurulan aciklayici faktor analizi (AFA) teknigine yer verilmistir. Makalenin, olcek gelistirmek isteyen arastirmacilara yol gosterecegi umulmaktadir.
Top management team diversity: positive in the short run, but negative in the long run?

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the moderating role of top management team (TMT) longevity on the TMT diversity‐firm performance relationship.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents results from a quantitative longitudinal study of 59 TMTs in German companies in different industries.Findings – For age diversity, dominant educational background diversity, and diversity in dominant industry experience, the curvilinear moderating effect of TMT longevity on the TMT diversity–firm performance relationship is confirmed. However, for organizational tenure diversity, the form of the moderating effect is contrary to expectations (being u‐shaped). Research limitations/implication – In line with previous studies, the results were sensitive to the performance measures in use. Furthermore, the results should not be generalized since they may be sensitive to the sector under study and the small sample size.Originality/value – First, a curvilinear moderating effect of TMT longevity on the TMT diversity‐.
Mean Shift, Mode Seeking, and Clustering

Mean shift, a simple interactive procedure that shifts each data point to the average of data points in its neighborhood is generalized and analyzed in the paper. This generalization makes some k-means like clustering algorithms its special cases. It is shown that mean shift is a mode-seeking process on the surface constructed with a "shadow" kernal. For Gaussian kernels, mean shift is a gradient mapping. Convergence is studied for mean shift iterations. Cluster analysis if treated as a deterministic problem of finding a fixed point of mean shift that characterizes the data. Applications in clustering and Hough transform are demonstrated. Mean shift is also considered as an evolutionary strategy that performs multistart global optimization. >
Types of Information Portraits in a Journalistic Discourse

The article is intended to substantiate the allocation of genre semantic-stylistic categories and to show sequentialization of the use of language means in a speech genre as a text-type. Genre category is understood as a hierarchical relationship of a composite-text technique and multilevel linguistic resources that transmit specific of the genre model meanings – communicativeness, reference, and illocution. The categories, which means form a speech genre, are the following: dialogism, illocutionary, and referentiality, which are, on the one hand, in the hierarchical relations and, on the other hand, in the relations of interaction and intersection. The means of expression of dialogism, reference and illocution can be represented in a functionalsemantic field, including the micro fields, as these meanings variably appear in speech genres. We illustrate the categorical-linguistic analysis on the example of two information portrait speech genres, differing in illocutive directionalities of the message: presentation of a previously unknown person to the audience or a reminder of the well-known personality.
Geminivirus-Mediated Genome Editing in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Using Sequence-Specific Nucleases

Genome editing using sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) is rapidly being developed for genetic engineering in crop species. The utilization of zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated systems (CRISPR/Cas) for inducing double-strand breaks facilitates targeting of virtually any sequence for modification. Targeted mutagenesis via non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) has been demonstrated extensively as being the preferred DNA repair pathway in plants. However, gene targeting via homologous recombination (HR) remains more elusive but could be a powerful tool for directed DNA repair. To overcome barriers associated with gene targeting, a geminivirus replicon (GVR) was used to deliver SSNs targeting the potato ACETOLACTATE SYNTHASE1 (ALS1) gene and repair templates designed to incorporate herbicide-inhibiting point mutations within the ALS1 locus. Transformed events modified with GVRs held point mutations that were capable of supporting a reduced herbicide susceptibility phenotype, while events transformed with conventional T-DNAs held no detectable mutations and were similar to wild-type. Regeneration of transformed events improved detection of point mutations that supported a stronger reduced herbicide susceptibility phenotype. These results demonstrate the use of geminiviruses for delivering genome editing reagents in plant species, and a novel approach to gene targeting in a vegetatively propagated species.
Efficient Sensor Network Reprogramming through Compression of Executable Modules

Software in deployed sensor networks needs to be updated to introduce new functionality or to fix bugs. Reducing dissemination time is important because the dissemination disturbs the regular operation of the network. We present a method for reducing the dissemination time and energy consumption based on compression of native code modules. Code compression reduces the size of the software update, but the decompression on the sensor nodes requires processing time and energy. We quantify these trade-offs for seven different compression algorithms. Our results show that GZIP has the most favorable trade-offs, saving on average 67% of the dissemination time and 69% of the energy in a multi-hop wireless sensor network.
Revisiting Dynamic Complementarity in the Production of Cognitive Skill and its Implications for a Cognitive Achievement Gap Decomposition

The literature shows evidence of dynamic complementarity in the production of cognitive skill. This means that skill attained at earlier stages increases the productivity of inputs occurring later in the life of children. For educational inputs, however, the relation between their productivity and prior cognitive achievement might not always be positive. If the input has a low cognitive demand, more advantaged students will not necessarily benefit from it, but it can be productive among less advantaged children. This is the first study to explore this possibility. I find evidence of heterogeneity in the relation between preschool cognitive achievement and the effect of primary school inputs in Peru. I find dynamic complementarity but only in the upper quintile of the school quality distribution. In the lower 20% of this distribution, a raise in preschool skill reduces the productivity of school inputs. I also propose a decomposition strategy that accounts for complementarity between preschool skill and school inputs. I use it to measure the contribution of school influences to the cognitive skill gap observed between urban and rural children in Peru. I obtain an estimate for this contribution (37%) larger than that found in previous studies that relied on a linear production function. An important implication of this is that one does not need to wait until urban and rural children share similar levels of preschool skill to exploit the equalizing potential of school influences. It is not “too late” for rural children currently at school, despite their preschool skill deficits.
KARMA: knowledge acquisition, retention and maintenance analysis

KARMA is a quantitative model which can be used to predict a user's acquisition, retention, maintenance, and transfer of system knowledge. In KARMA, three stages over the course of an operator's model (see Schumacher & Czerwinski, in press) are characterized: pretheoretic- the understanding of system structure centers on the retrieval of superficially similar instances in memory; experiential - some understanding of causal system relationships emerges, as does some reliance upon structural system information. Also, abstraction begins to occur across different, but similar systems; and expert - at this stage, the user makes abstractions across various system representations stored in memory; full reliance upon structural system knowledge emerges. Currently, a programmed simulation is used to compare our theoretical predictions and assumptions with experimental data. The simulation is running in Scheme (a dialect of LISP).
Analysis of PAPR of Real and Complex OFDM systems

For wireless applications, Multicarrier transmission, also known as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete multitone (DMT), based system can be of huge interest because it provides greater immunity to multipath fading and impulse noise, and eliminates the need for equalizers, while efficient hardware implementation can be realized
A global change in RNA polymerase II pausing during the Drosophila midblastula transition

Massive zygotic transcription begins in many organisms during the midblastula transition when the cell cycle of the dividing egg slows down. A few genes are transcribed before this stage but how this differential activation is accomplished is still an open question. We have performed ChIP-seq experiments on tightly staged Drosophila embryos and show that massive recruitment of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) with widespread pausing occurs de novo during the midblastula transition. However, ∼100 genes are strongly occupied by Pol II before this timepoint and most of them do not show Pol II pausing, consistent with a requirement for rapid transcription during the fast nuclear cycles. This global change in Pol II pausing correlates with distinct core promoter elements and associates a TATA-enriched promoter with the rapid early transcription. This suggests that promoters are differentially used during the zygotic genome activation, presumably because they have distinct dynamic properties. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.00861. 001
Theory Refinement and Natural Language Learning

This paper presents a learning system for identifying syntactic structures. This system relies on the use of background knowledge and default values in order to build up an initial grammar and the use of theory refinement in order to improve this grammar. This combination provides a good machine learning framework for Natural Language Learning. We illustrate this point with the presentation of ALLiS, a learning system which generates a regular expression grammar of non-recursive phrases from bracketed corpora.
The Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale: How Does It Compare with a "Gold Standard"?

Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions directed toward the treatment of preoperative anxiety in children has been hindered by the absence of a statistically valid measurement tool.In a previous investigation, we developed an instrument (Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale [YPAS]) that can be used to assess anxiety in children undergoing induction of anesthesia. The purpose of the present investigation was to modify and expand the applicability of the instrument to the preoperative holding area and to validate the modified instrument (m-YPAS) against a recognized "gold standard" (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Childrens [STAIC]). Videotapes of children in a preoperative holding area were analyzed by the investigators. The existing five categories of the YPAS were found to reflect most of the behaviors observed. Several items, however, were modified to describe new behaviors observed. Reliability analysis using weighted kappa statistics revealed that interobserver agreement ranged from 0.68 to 0.86, whereas intraobserver weighted kappa ranged from 0.63 to 0.90. Concurrent validity between the YPAS and the STAIC was acceptable (P = 0.01, r = 0.79). Construct validity was high as assessed by increased m-YPAS scores from the preoperative holding area (28 +/- 8) to entering the operating room (35 +/- 12), to introduction of the anesthesia mask (43 +/- 15;F [1,36] = 0.6, P = 0.001]. Showing good to excellent observer reliability and high concurrent and construct validity, the m-YPAS proved to be an appropriate tool for assessing children's anxiety during the perioperative period. Implications: The absence of a statistically valid measurement tool that can be applied easily in perioperative settings hinders the evaluation of interventions directed toward treatment of preoperative anxiety in children. The authors describe the development of such a tool, the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale. (Anesth Analg 1997;85:783-8)
On Thermodynamic Interpretation of Transfer Entropy

We propose a thermodynamic interpretation of transfer entropy near equilibrium, using a specialised Boltzmann’s principle. The approach relates conditional probabilities to the probabilities of the corresponding state transitions. This in turn characterises transfer entropy as a difference of two entropy rates: the rate for a resultant transition and another rate for a possibly irreversible transition within the system affected by an additional source. We then show that this difference, the local transfer entropy, is proportional to the external entropy production, possibly due to irreversibility. Near equilibrium, transfer entropy is also interpreted as the difference in equilibrium stabilities with respect to two scenarios: a default case and the case with an additional source. Finally, we demonstrated that such a thermodynamic treatment is not applicable to information flow, a measure of causal effect.
Accumulation of hns mutations specifically in stationary phase in an E. coli strain carrying an impaired rpoS locus.

Interplay between regulators in a cell can lead to differential gene regulation and allow the organism to respond to a range of stimuli. In bacteria, this is exemplified by the global regulators RpoS and H-NS. RpoS, the σs subunit of RNA polymerase, acts as a master regulator of a subset of stationary-phase-specific genes (for a review see Loewen and Hengge-Aronis 1994). The genes under the rpoS regulon are specifically induced when cells encounter stressful conditions for growth such as nutrient deprivation experienced during stationary phase. H-NS is an abundant nucleoid structuring protein, which has been classified as a global transcriptional silencer. H-NS preferentially binds to DNA that has an intrinsic curvature and represses many genes that are required to tide over environmental stress (Goransson et al. 1990; Owen-Hughes et al. 1992). H-NS also regulates RpoS at the posttranscriptional level (Yamashino et al. 1995). The opposing actions of these two global regulators in the bacterial cell help in the homeostatic control of the genes of the rpoS regulon. Many hns strains also carry spontaneously arising second-site mutations in the rpoS gene (Barth et al. 1995). These may be selected to prevent the constitutive expression of the genes of the rpoS regulon that may be detrimental to the cell. This is consistent with the report that hns rpoS double mutants have a faster doubling time than rpoS single mutants (Barth et al. 1995). The bgl operon, encoding the functions necessary for the uptake and catabolism of β-glucosides, is silent and uninducible in wild-type E. coli and is activated by spontaneous cis-acting and trans-acting mutations (Mukerji and Mahadevan 1997, and references therein). Mutations in the hns locus constitute a major class among the trans-acting mutations that activate the operon. Earlier work in our laboratory