Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polymorphisms in the FGF2 Gene and Risk of Serous Ovarian Cancer: Results From the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium

Abstract Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 (basic) is a potent angiogenic molecule involved in tumor progression, and is one of several growth factors with a central role in ovarian carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FGF2 gene may alter angiogenic potential and thereby susceptibility to ovarian cancer. We analyzed 25 FGF2 tgSNPs using five independent study populations from the United States and Australia. Analysis was restricted to non-Hispanic White women with serous ovarian carcinoma (1269 cases and 2829 controls). There were no statistically significant associations between any FGF2 SNPs and ovarian cancer risk. There were two nominally statistically significant associations between heterozygosity for two FGF2 SNPs (rs308379 and rs308447; p < .05) and serous ovarian cancer risk in the combined dataset, but rare homozygous estimates did not achieve statistical significance, nor were they consistent with the log additive model of inheritance. Overall genetic variation in FGF2 does not appear to play a role in susceptibility to ovarian cancer.
Free Entry and Social Inefficiency

Previous articles have noted the possibility of socially inefficient levels of entry in markets in which firms must incur fixed set-up costs upon entry. This article identifies the fundamental and intuitive forces that lie behind these entry biases. If an entrant causes incumbent firms to reduce output, entry is more desirable to the entrant than it is to society. There is therefore a tendency toward excessive entry in homogeneous product markets. The roles of product diversity and the integer constraint on the number of firms are also examined.
Algorithms for cooperative multisensor surveillance

The Video Surveillance and Monitoring (VSAM) team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has developed an end-to-end, multicamera surveillance system that allows a single human operator to monitor activities in a cluttered environment using a distributed network of active video sensors. Video understanding algorithms have been developed to automatically detect people and vehicles, seamlessly track them using a network of cooperating active sensors, determine their three-dimensional locations with respect to a geospatial site model, and present this information to a human operator who controls the system through a graphical user interface. The goal is to automatically collect and disseminate real-time information to improve the situational awareness of security providers and decision makers. The feasibility of real-time video surveillance has been demonstrated within a multicamera testbed system developed on the campus of CMU. This paper presents an overview of the issues and algorithms involved in creating this semiautonomous, multicamera surveillance system.
Mother-infant face-to-face interaction in Japan and the United States: A laboratory comparison using 3-month-old infants.

In this cross-cultural comparison 36 Japanese and 36 American 3-month-old infant-mother dyads were videotaped in a standardized laboratory setting in their own countries. Mothers in both countries responded contingently to these infant behaviors, but there were differences in the type and timing of maternal behavior vis-a-vis infant behavior. Japanese mothers were more likely than American mothers to punctuate their facial expressions and vocalizations with looming upper-body movements and with touches and they were less likely to respond selectively to infant vocalizations. American mothers held their faces closer to the infants' and provided primarily facial and vocal displays for the infant. Japanese infants tended to display longer average durations of smiling and vocalizing with a lower rate of onsets compared with American infants. The results have implications for understanding the role of the face-to-face period in human development and the way in which cultural differences in interpersonal communicative style may guide the development of infant affective expression, Between 2 and 3 months of age infants begin to look into adult's eyes and to express recognition and enjoyment by responsive smiling and disappointment by crying. Because reaching, grasping, and object interest have not yet developed, adult and infant engage in face-to-face play in which the topic of conversation is the mutual exchange of looks, smiles, touches, and sounds (Stern, 1974). The function—infant regulation of positive attention and affect—and the developmental course of infant behavior during this period is similar across a variety of cultures, with only minor variations in the age of onset and peak time for gazing at mother and for social smiling (Super & Harkness, 1982). At 3 months the primary responsibility for the sequencing of faceto-face interaction is with the mother, who provides a repeated series of exaggerated vocalizations, facial expressions, and body movements, all organized in a theme and variation format (Stern, 1974). Moreover, these maternal displays are usually timed to be responsive to changes in the infant's facial expression, vocalization, and gaze direction (Fogel, 1977). It is not
The Influence of Teacher Epistemology and Practice on Student Engagement in Literacy Learning

Learning to read with comprehension requires that students acquire and integrate an increasingly complex set of skills. Students with severe disabilities are often seen as incapable of mastering and integrating the skills required for reading with fluency and comprehension, a presumption that results in decreased access to comprehensive reading instruction. This article reports on one effort to provide comprehensive literacy instruction for students with severe disabilities. Specifically, it reports results of a qualitative exploration of instructional practices and student engagement in two self-contained special education classrooms as teachers implemented a comprehensive literacy program. The MEville to WEville Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters program reflects a research-based instructional framework that balances skills-focused instruction with meaning-focused instruction, focuses on interaction and communication, and emphasizes the application of new skills and understandings. As the two teachers in this study implemented the program, their instruction became increasingly student-centered, interactive, comprehensive, and balanced. The results of this study illustrate how students’ interest, enjoyment, contributions, and cognitive engagement increased as teachers differentially embraced and became more comfortable over time with MeVille’s comprehensive literacy framework.
Effects of cytochalasin B on actin and myosin association with particle binding sites in mouse macrophages: implications with regard to the mechanism of action of the cytochalasins

The intracellular distribution of F-actin and myosin has been examined in mouse peritoneal macrophages by immunofluorescence microscopy. In resting, adherent cells, F-actin was distributed in a fine networklike pattern throughout the cytoplasm. Myosin, in contrast, was distributed in a punctate pattern. After treatment with cytochalasin B (CB), both proteins showed a coarse punctate pattern consistent with a condensation of protein around specific foci. After CB-pretreated cells were exposed to opsonized zymosan particles, immunofluorescent staining for F-actin and myosin showed an increased staining under particle binding sites. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination of whole-cell mounts of such preparations revealed a dense zone of filaments beneath the relatively electron-translucent zymosan particles. At sites where particles had detached during processing, these filament-rich areas were more clearly delineated. At such sites dense arrays of filaments that appeared more or less randomly oriented were apparent. The filaments could be decorated with heavy meromyosin, suggesting that they were composed, in part, of F-actin and were therefore identical to the structures giving rise to the immunofluorescence patterns. After viewing CB-treated preparations by whole-mount TEM, we examined the cells by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Direct SEM comparison of the filament-rich zones seen by TEM showed that these structures resulted from the formation of short lamellipodial protrusions below the site of particle binding. Electron micrographs of thin-sectioned material established that these lamellipodial protrusions were densely packed with microfilaments that were in part associated with the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane. The formation of particle-associated lamellipodia did not appear to represent merely a slower rate of ingestion in the presence of CB, because they formed within minutes of particle contact with the cell membrane and were not followed by particle ingestion even after a 1-h or longer incubation. Furthermore, their formation required cellular energy. These results suggest that cytochalasin B blocks phagocytosis of large particles by affecting the distances over which any putative actomyosin-mediated forces are generated.
A Study of Document Relevance and Lexical Cohesion between Query Terms

Lexical cohesion is a property of text, achieved through lexicalsemantic relations between words in text. Most information retrieval systems make use of lexical relations in text only to a limited extent. In this paper we empirically investigate whether the degree of lexical cohesion between the contexts of query terms' occurrences in a document is related to its relevance to the query. Experiments suggest significant differences between the lexical cohesion in relevant and non-relevant document sets exist.
Diversity and Conflict in Boards of Directors

Abstract This study seeks to contribute to the debate on board behavior by investigating how deeper-level diversity, specifically differences in personality, interacts with demographic diversity to explain board cognitive and affective conflict. Using survey data from a pilot study of 98 directors in 16 UK boards, we show that dissimilarities in personality traits are negatively related to cognitive conflict, but this relationship is moderated by gender and tenure diversity. Personality differences do not explain affective conflict. The study provides insights into how theories from psychology may help us understand antecedents to board behaviors.
Immunomodulatory Activity of Lactococcus lactis A17 from Taiwan Fermented Cabbage in OVA-Sensitized BALB/c Mice

From fermented Taiwan foods, we have isolated numerous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of plant origin and investigated their biological activities. This study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory effect and mechanism of Lactococcus lactis A17 (A17), isolated from Taiwan fermented cabbage, on ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used to verify immune responses of A17 by IFN-γ production. Live (A17-A) and heat-killed A17 (A17-H) were orally administered to OVA-sensitized BALB/c mice to investigate their effects on immunoglobulin (Ig) and cytokine production. The mRNA expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR) and nucleotide binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like protein receptors in spleen cells was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. Both live and heat-killed A17 modulate OVA-induced allergic effects. B-cell response was modulated by diminishing IgE production and raising OVA-specific IgG2a production, while T-cell response was modulated by increasing IFN-γ production and decreasing IL-4 production. The mRNA expression of NOD-1, NOD-2, and TLR-4 was down-regulated by A17 as well. This is the first report to describe a naïve Lactococcus lactis A17 strain as a promising candidate for prophylactic and therapeutic treatments of allergic diseases via oral administration. Our results suggest the ameliorative effects of A17 may be caused by modulating NOD-1 NOD-2, and TLR-4 expression.
Platelet-derived growth factor-D expression in developing and mature human kidneys.

BACKGROUND Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a family of growth regulatory molecules composed of sulfide-bonded dimeric structures. Two well-studied PDGF peptides (PDGF-A and PDGF-B) have been shown to mediate a wide range of biological effects. PDGF-D is a newly recognized member of the PDGF family. Initial studies of the PDGF-D gene found its expression in cells of the vascular wall, suggesting that it could participate in vascular development and pathology. However, its localization in human kidney tissues has never been studied. METHODS PDGF-D expression in fetal (N = 30) and adult (N = 25) human kidney tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry using an affinity-purified antibody raised to human PDGF-D. Antibody absorption with the immunizing peptide was employed to confirm the specificity of this antibody. PDGF-D protein and gene expression in human kidneys also were demonstrated by Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS In the developing kidney, PDGF-D was first expressed by epithelial cells of comma- and S-shaped structures of the developing nephron, and most consistently in the visceral epithelial cells in the later stages of glomerular differentiation. In addition, PDGF-D could be found in mesenchymal, presumptively fibroblast cells in the interstitium of developing renal pelvis and in fetal smooth muscle cells in arterial vessels. In the adult normal kidney, PDGF-D was expressed by the visceral epithelial cells. There was persistent expression in arterial smooth muscle cells as well as in some neointimal smooth muscle cells of arteriosclerotic vessels, and expression in smooth muscle cells of vasa rectae in the medulla. PDGF-D could be identified at the basolateral membrane of some injured tubules in areas of chronic tubulointerstitial injury routinely encountered in aging kidneys. Western blotting of homogenates of adult kidneys demonstrated monospecific bands at 50 kD corresponding to previously established size parameter for this protein. RT-PCR of human kidney RNA resulted in a 918 basepair band, the sequence of which corresponded to human PDGF-D (Genbank number AF336376). CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, these are the first studies to localize PDGF-D in human kidneys and suggest that PDGF-D may have a role in kidney development. PDGF-D was shown to bind to PDGF beta receptor, which localizes to mesangial cells, parietal epithelial cells, and interstitial fibroblasts, suggesting potential paracrine interactions between those cells and the visceral epithelium.
Cinematic citizenship and the illegal city

Abstract This paper examines some of the questions that could emerge from the relationship between Law and Cinema. While there has been some scholarship on law and cinema, most of it has largely focused on the formal properties of film, and not moved beyond the question of representation. This paper argues that for a fruitful enquiry to emerge, we would need to have an understanding of the complex relationship between the spatial implication of cinema, practices of groups like fan clubs, the question of changing technologies of cinema and how they relate to issues of citizenship and modernity. Finally, it argues for a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon of non‐legal media circulation or piracy in the contemporary and links this to the question of citizenship and globalization.
Ruth Wodak & Paul Chilton (eds.), A new agenda in (critical) discourse analysis: Theory, methodology and interdisciplinarity

Ruth Wodak & Paul Chilton (eds.), A new agenda in (critical) discourse analysis: Theory, methodology and interdisciplinarity. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society, and Culture, 13. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. xi, 322. Hb $138.00. The title of this book implicitly raises a number of important questions about the relationships among discourse analysis (DA), critical discourse analysis (CDA), and interdisciplinarity: Is CDA one approach to analyzing text and talk, or is it (by implication of the ambiguous parenthetical reference in the book's title) somehow merging with (an increasingly more critical) DA? To what extent does or should (C)DA embrace interdisciplinary approaches to treating language in use? Finally (and perhaps most compelling of all), what is this new agenda, what is wrong with the old agenda, and why is a new agenda needed at this time? Overall, the book does a fair to good job of addressing these questions.
Nonlinear dynamics of gear-shifting digital phase-locked loops

The nonlinear dynamics of a gear-shifting algorithm applied to a digital phase-looked loop (DPLL) are investigated. Adaptive techniques such as these are being increasingly introduced, in order to improve loop performance. Fixed point stability analysis and other techniques of nonlinear dynamics reveal a significant change in system behavior from previously analyzed DPLLs. The DPLL is a uniformly sampled first-order loop, whose dynamics have been extensively investigated in the absence of gear-shifting. The loop with gear-shifting added is found to have two fixed points, one of which is stable. A heightened sensitivity to initial conditions was also found.
The Maxslope Taxometric Procedure: Mathematical Derivation, Parameter Estimation, Consistency Tests

This article first explains concepts in taxometrics, including the meaning of “taxon” in relation to taxometric procedures. It then mathematically develops the MAXSLOPE procedure of Grove and Meehl which relies on nonlinear regression of one taxometric indicator variable on another. Sufficient conditions for MAXSLOPE's validity are set forth. The relationship between the point of maximum regression slope (MAXSLOPE point) and the HITMAX cut, i.e., the point on a variable which, if used as a diagnostic cut-off score, yields maximum classification accuracy, is analyzed. A sufficient condition is given for the MAXSLOPE point to equal the HITMAX cut; however, most distributions have different MAXSLOPE and HITMAX points. Equations and an algorithm are spelled out for making a graphical test for the existence of a taxon, estimating taxometric parameters, and conducting consistency tests; the latter serve as stringent checks on the validity of a taxonic conjecture. The plausibility of assumptions made, in deriving MAXSLOPE equations, is discussed, and the qualitative effects of violations of these assumptions are explained.
The effects of a recreational exercise program with differentiated frequency on functional capacity and daily activities patterns in older women

The purpose of this study was, first, to evaluate the effects of a 12-week recreational exercise program on the level of physical abilities and on the level ofdaily activities of 55 sedentary elderly women, aged 60 to 75, and second, toexamine the minimal amount of exercise needed to produce these changes. Thevariables used to test the functional capacity were dynamic balance, muscularendurance, sit and reach flexibility, and muscular coordination. The variablesthat tested the daily physical activity (ADL) were 20 of the most habitual dailymovement activities among the elderly. The subjects were allocated to 3 exercise groups (n =15 each) and 1 control group (n =10). Exercise was performedfor 1 hour, 3 times, twice, and once a week for the 3 experimental groups, respectively. The subjects were tested before and after the 12-week exercise intervention on the selected variables. The effects of the 12-week training program were significant (p
Effect of maternal smoking on colostrum and breast milk cytokines.

BACKGROUND Breast milk contains several immune modulator components. The transfer of numerous cytokines via mother's milk may add to an active stimulation of the infant's immune system. There are many factors in breast milk that could either facilitate or inhibit cytokine activities. Smoking negatively influences the immune system and changes the concentrations of important cytokines. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess the effect of smoking during pregnancy on the cytokines found in colostrum and mature human milk. METHODS The study population included 25 smoker and 27 non-smoker nursing mothers who gave birth to a term healthy infant via cesarean section. Breast milk was collected from the mothers on the 2(nd)-3(rd) and 21(st)-25(th) days postpartum during visits to examine the newborns. Samples were analyzed for IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α and TNF-β cytokines by flow cytometric bead array. RESULTS We first saw that concentrations of IL-1 β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TNF-β cytokines, but not IL-12, were measurable both in colostrum and in mature milk, being higher in colostrum. Next we observed that IL-1β and IL-8 levels were significantly lower in colostrum, and IL-6 was found to be significantly lower in the mature milk of smoking mothers. No significant effects of maternal smoking on breast milk concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TNF-β were observed. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that maternal smoking alters the colostrum and mature milk levels of some cytokines. Therefore, it is thought that active smoking during pregnancy decreases the concentration of certain cytokines in breast milk, which might account for the newborn's increased susceptibility to infections.
The tetraplex (CGG)n destabilizing proteins hnRNP A2 and CBF-A enhance the in vivo translation of fragile X premutation mRNA

Expansion of a (CGG)n sequence in the 5′-UTR of the FMR1 gene to >200–2000 repeats abolishes its transcription and initiates fragile X syndrome (FXS). By contrast, levels of FMR1 mRNA are 5–10-fold higher in FXS premutation carriers of >55–200 repeats than in normal subjects. Lack of a corresponding increase in the amount of the product FMRP protein in carrier cells suggest that (CGG)>55–200 tracts thwart translation. Here we report that a (CGG)99 sequence positioned upstream to reporter firefly (FL) gene selectively diminished mRNA translation in coupled and separate T7 promoter-driven in vitro transcription and translation systems. The (CGG)99 tract similarly depressed mRNA utilization in HEK293 human cells transfected with plasmids bearing FMR1 promoter-driven FL gene. A (CGG)33 RNA tract formed a largely RNase T1-resistant intramolecular secondary structure in the presence of K+ ions. Expression of the quadruplex (CGG)n disrupting proteins hnRNP A2 or CBF-A in HEK293 cells significantly elevated the efficacy of (CGG)99 FL mRNA translation whereas hnRNP A2 or CBF-A mutants lacking quadruplex (CGG)n disrupting activity did not. Taken together, our results suggest that secondary structures of (CGG)n in mRNA obstruct its translation and that quadruplex-disrupting proteins alleviate the translational block.
Meta Analysis within Authorship Verification

In an authorship verification problem one is given writing examples from an author A, and one is asked to determine whether or not each text in fact was written by A. In a more general form of the authorship verification problem one is given a single document d only, and the question is whether or not d contains sections from other authors. The heart of authorship verification is the quantization of an author's writing style along with an outlier analysis to identify anomalies. Human readers are well-versed in detecting such spurious sections since they combine a highly-developed sense for wording with context-dependent meta knowledge in their analysis. The intention of this paper is to compile an overview of the algorithmic building blocks for authorship verification. In particular, we introduce authorship verification problems as decision problems, discuss possibilities for the use of meta knowledge, and apply meta analysis to post- process unreliable style analysis results. Our meta analysis combines a confidence-based majority decision with the unmasking approach of Koppel and Schler. With this strategy we can improve the analysis quality in our experiments by 33% in terms of the F-measure.