Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Specificity and Mechanism of RNA Cap Guanine-N2 Methyltransferase (Tgs1)*

The 2,2,7-trimethylguanosine (TMG) cap structure is characteristic of certain eukaryotic small nuclear and small nucleolar RNAs. Prior studies have suggested that cap trimethylation might be contingent on cis-acting elements in the RNA substrate, protein components of a ribonucleoprotein complex, or intracellular localization of the RNA substrate. However, the enzymatic requirements for TMG cap formation remain obscure because TMG synthesis has not been reconstituted in vitro from defined components. Tgs1 is a conserved eukaryal protein that was initially identified as being required for RNA cap trimethylation in vivo in budding yeast. Here we show that purified recombinant fission yeast Tgs1 catalyzes methyl transfer from S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) to m7GTP and m7GDP. Tgs1 also methylates the cap analog m7GpppA but is unreactive with GTP, GDP, GpppA, m2,2,7GTP, m2,2,7GDP, ATP, CTP, UTP, and ITP. The products of methyl transfer to m7GTP and m7GDP formed under conditions of excess methyl acceptor are 2,7-dimethyl GTP and 2,7-dimethyl GDP, respectively. Under conditions of limiting methyl acceptor, the initial m2,7GDP product is converted to m2,2,7GDP in the presence of excess AdoMet. We conclude that Tgs1 is guanine-specific, that N7 methylation must precede N2 methylation, that Tgs1 acts via a distributive mechanism, and that the chemical steps of TMG synthesis do not require input from RNA or protein cofactors.
Making a Life Worth Living

Despite the vast literature that has implicated asymmetric activation of the prefrontal cortex in approach-withdrawal motivation and emotion, no published reports have directly explored the neural correlates of well-being. Eighty-four right-handed adults (ages 57–60) completed self-report measures of eudaimonic well-being, hedonic well-being, and positive affect prior to resting electroencephalography. As hypothesized, greater left than right superior frontal activation was associated with higher levels of both forms of well-being. Hemisphere-specific analyses documented the importance of goal-directed approach tendencies beyond those captured by approach-related positive affect for eudaimonic but not for hedonic well-being. Appropriately engaging sources of appetitive motivation, characteristic of higher left than right baseline levels of prefrontal activation, may encourage the experience of well-being.
Sepsis after major visceral surgery is associated with sustained and interferon-gamma-resistant defects of monocyte cytokine production.

BACKGROUND Recent clinical trials failed to demonstrate beneficial effects of anti-inflammatory sepsis therapy. The present study therefore asked the following questions: Is there evidence for immunosuppression during postoperative sepsis? When, during the septic course, may immunosuppression develop? Can defective cellular functions be restored by in vitro treatment with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)? METHODS The study included 35 patients with sepsis after major visceral surgery and 85 control patients. Monocyte secretion of interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-12 p40 and p70, IL-18, tumor necrosing factor, and IL-10 with or without IFN-gamma treatment and its correlation with the course and outcome of postoperative sepsis were determined. RESULTS Postoperative sepsis was associated with an immediate defect of endotoxin-stimulated monocyte production of IL-12 p40, IL-1 beta, and IL-10 in both surviving and nonsurviving patients. During the final phase of postoperative sepsis, a significant recovery of IL-12 p40 and IL-1 beta secretion, but not of IL-10 production, correlated with survival. Despite the exposure of monocytes in vitro to IFN-gamma for 16 hours, the production of the biologically active IL-12 p70 heterodimer was severely suppressed both in survivors and nonsurvivors, although the secretion of the p40 subunit was restored. In contrast, IFN-gamma treatment resulted in a significant suppression of monocyte IL-1 beta production in all patient subgroups. Alterations of monocyte tumor necrosing factor secretion were not observed. The production of IL-18 was below the limits of detection in all samples. CONCLUSIONS Postoperative sepsis was associated with immediate monocyte defects that affected both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine secretion, which suggests that immunosuppression is a primary rather than a compensatory response to a septic challenge. Sepsis survival correlated with the recovery of the proinflammatory, but not the anti-inflammatory, response. The treatment of monocytes with IFN-gamma did not reconstitute defective proinflammatory cytokine production.
Applied Sport Psychology: A Profession?

Although the field of applied sport psychology has developed, it faces further challenges on its way towards gaining greater professional status. The following principal criteria of professionalism are proposed as a test of such status (Carr, 1999): (a) provide an important public service; (b) underpinning knowledge base; (c) organizational regulation; (d) distinct ethical dimension; and (e) professional autonomy. This paper undertakes to explore the nature of implications for practice and the extent to which the suggested principal criteria justify a distinctive applied sport psychology profession. In doing so, we hope to stimulate debate on these, and other issues, in order that an even greater professionalization of our applied discipline may emerge.
Predictors of Views about Punishing Animal Abuse

ABSTRACT The current study used scenarios of animal cruelty based on actual events to explore what factors predict perceptions of punishments for animal cruelty. Five hundred thirty-eight university undergraduates participated in the study. Participants read scenarios based on an actual event of animal cruelty and with information on statutes addressing animal cruelty in their state. Participants were then asked to give ratings for punishment of the animal cruelty perpetrator. A canonical correlation analysis was used to test the multivariate shared relationship between the set of eight predictor variables and the criterion variable set of 15 punishment ratings. The response distributions were highly skewed for seven of the 15 criterion variables, highlighting the strong sentiments participants expressed against animal cruelty. The canonical correlation analysis identified significant criterion variables that were predicted by two of the empirically manipulated predictor variables (Perpetrator Age and Location of Crime) along with one subject variable (Participant Femininity). This set of predictor variables correlated with the criterion variable set that included Allowed with Children and Amount of Fine for Suffering. There was a main effect for Perpetrator Age, such that the degree to which participants thought a perpetrator of animal cruelty should be allowed alone with children depends on the age of the perpetrator. Mean responses were stronger for scenarios with perpetrators aged 28 than with perpetrators aged 12. The average response to Amount of Fine for Suffering was larger when the animal cruelty happened at a pet kennel than if the crime occurred at an animal shelter. Implications for these significant predictor and criterion variables are discussed in the context of interdisciplinary theory and practical implications for public policy.
Generating Diverse Clusterings

Traditional clustering algorithms search for an optimal clustering based on a pre-specified clustering criterion, e.g. the squared error distortion of Kmeans. However, most real-world data sets allow alternate clusterings that are potentially useful to different users. We propose a clustering algorithm called Diverse-Kmeansthat automatically generates a diverse set of alternate and informative clusterings. Experiments show that our proposed clustering algorithm thoroughly explores the space of clusterings, allowing it to find multiple high-quality that are missed by traditional clustering algorithms such as Kmeans.
One Double-Reduct Approach to Get Key Rules and the Experiment in Prison Computer Information Security

We introduce one Double-Reduct approach to get key rules of data set in this paper. Adopting rule usefulness as a measure of key rules, our approach greatly reduces the rule numbers comparing to the traditional method. Through an experimental study of computer information security in prison, this approach is proved to be feasible and effective.
FE Controls the Transcription of Downstream Flowering Regulators Through Two Distinct Mechanisms in Leaf Phloem Companion Cells

In the facultative long-day plant Arabidopsis thaliana, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), encoding the mobile hormone florigen, plays an essential role in modulating the optimal timing of flowering to ensure reproductive success. Under inductive long-day conditions, the transcription of FT is activated by the CONSTANS (CO)/NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y (NF-Y) protein complex in leaf phloem companion cells. FT is transported to the shoot apical meristem through interaction with florigen transporters, such as SODIUM POTASSIUM ROOT DEFECTIVE 1 (NaKR1). Some regulators involved in photoperiod-dependent FT function have been reported previously; however, the molecular mechanism that coordinates FT protein synthesis and transport efficiently needs to be investigated. The present study examined the role of an Myb-related transcription factor, FE, in the activation of FT gene transcription and FT protein transport. Expression analysis using FE-inducible systems and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that FE directly bound to the FT and NaKR1 promoters and activated the transcription of downstream target genes. FE failed to activate FT expression without CO function, whereas FE-mediated NaKR1 induction was not affected by CO function. Taken together, our data indicate that FE regulates the transcription of FT and florigen transporter genes via different mechanisms.
GeDA-3D Agent Architecture

This paper presents an agent-architecture useful to generate suitable behaviors to virtual creatures participating in virtual environments created by a declarative description. This architecture is used in a platform to design and run dynamic virtual environments that allows users to generate virtual scenes involving two phases: 1) description of the attributes and intentions of the characters participants throughout a declarative description, and 2) graphical simulation of a dynamic scene during which the characters interact with each other in order to achieve individual and/or collective goals
Game theoretical mapping of causal interactions underlying visuo‐spatial attention in the human brain based on stroke lesions

Anatomical studies conducted in neurological conditions have developed our understanding of the causal relationships between brain lesions and their clinical consequences. The analysis of lesion patterns extended across brain networks has been particularly useful in offering new insights on brain–behavior relationships. Here we applied multiperturbation Shapley value Analysis (MSA), a multivariate method based on coalitional game theory inferring causal regional contributions to specific behavioral outcomes from the characteristic functional deficits after stroke lesions. We established the causal patterns of contributions and interactions of nodes of the attentional orienting network on the basis of lesion and behavioral data from 25 right hemisphere stroke patients tested in visuo‐spatial attention tasks. We calculated the percentage of damaged voxels for five right hemisphere cortical regions contributing to attentional orienting, involving seven specific Brodmann Areas (BA): Frontal Eye Fields, (FEF‐BA6), Intraparietal Sulcus (IPS‐BA7), Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG‐BA44/BA45), Temporo‐Parietal Junction (TPJ‐BA39/BA40), and Inferior Occipital Gyrus (IOG‐BA19). We computed the MSA contributions of these seven BAs to three behavioral clinical tests (line bisection, bells cancellation, and letter cancelation). Our analyses indicated IPS as the main contributor to the attentional orienting and also revealed synergistic influences among IPS, TPJ, and IOG (for bells cancellation and line bisection) and between TPJ and IFG (for bells and letter cancellation tasks). The findings demonstrate the ability of the MSA approach to infer plausible causal contributions of relevant right hemisphere sites in poststroke visuo‐spatial attention and awareness disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3454–3471, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fault Diagnosis Based on Improved Kernel Fisher Discriminant Analysis

There are two fundamental problems of the Kernel Fisher Discriminant Analysis (KFDA) for nonlinear fault diagnosis. The first one is the classification performance of KFDA between the normal data and fault data degenerates as long as overlapping samples exist. The second one is that the computational cost of kernel matrix becomes large when the training sample number increases. Aiming at the two major problems, in this paper, an improved fault diagnosis method based on KFDA(IKFDA) is proposed. There are two aspects are improved in the method. Firstly, the variable weighting vector was incorprated into KFDA which can improve the discriminant performance. Secondly, when the training sample number becomes large, a feature vector selection scheme based on a geometrical consideration is given to reduce the computational complexity of KFDA for fault diagnosis. Finally, Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is applied for fault isolation and diagnosis on the KFDA subspace. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms traditional kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and general KDA algorithms.
Dryade: a new approach for discovering closed frequent trees in heterogeneous tree databases

In this paper we present a novel algorithm for discovering tree patterns in a tree database. This algorithm uses a relaxed tree inclusion definition, making the problem more complex (checking tree inclusion is NP-complete), but allowing to mine highly heterogeneous databases. To obtain good performances, our DRYADE algorithm, discovers only closed frequent tree patterns.
Toward practical semi-autonomous teleoperation: Do what i intend, not what i do

The discussed research trajectory could begin improving the capabilities and robustness of teleoperation immediately. Initial work related to the RRM project described in Section I-A is beginning to incorporate explicit task models that can be used to bootstrap more sophisticated approaches like those used in the Language of Surgery project. The inclusion of task and skill modeling into robotic automation, and in general the movement to more seamless human-robotic task collaboration, will have long term effects in both the technical aspects of robotics, as well as industrial and societal acceptance of robotics. One of the significant limitations to the continuing adoption of robotics has been a lack of trust. This lack of trust often manifests itself in a technical form; for instance, engineers in industry will often double check by hand the calculations or task execution plans generated by an autonomous system before allowing an action to be performed. This gives us greater confidence that the robot is performing as we would, given the situation.
Characterization of Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome Caused by Hantaviruses, Estonia

Thirty cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) due to Puumala virus (PUUV), Saaremaa virus (SAAV), and Dobrava virus infection were confirmed in Estonia. Except for the levels of serum creatinine, no remarkable differences were found in the clinical course of HFRS caused by PUUV and SAAV.
On the Sample Complexity of Robust PCA

We estimate the rate of convergence and sample complexity of a recent robust estimator for a generalized version of the inverse covariance matrix. This estimator is used in a convex algorithm for robust subspace recovery (i.e., robust PCA). Our model assumes a sub-Gaussian underlying distribution and an i.i. d. sample from it. Our main result shows with high probability that the norm of the difference between the generalized inverse covariance of the underlying distribution and its estimator from an i.i. d. sample of size N is of order O(N-0.5+e) for arbitrarily small e > 0 (affecting the probabilistic estimate); this rate of convergence is close to the one of direct covariance estimation, i.e., O(N-0.5). Our precise probabilistic estimate implies for some natural settings that the sample complexity of the generalized inverse covariance estimation when using the Frobenius norm is O(D2+δ) for arbitrarily small δ > 0 (whereas the sample complexity of direct covariance estimation with Frobenius norm is O(D2)). These results provide similar rates of convergence and sample complexity for the corresponding robust subspace recovery algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only work analyzing the sample complexity of any robust PCA algorithm.
Developing a reflective mind

What do infants know about themselves? Do they have thoughts about their own thoughts? The aim of this thesis was to investigate this issue by focusing on the early development of metacognition, our capacity to monitor and regulate our own cognitive processes. Previous research essentially relied on verbal reports, and showed that reflecting upon their own mental states is difficult for preschoolers. Yet, these observations might reflect children’s limited capacities in explicitly reporting their own mental states, rather than limitations in metacognition per se. Here, by relying on methods coming from the comparative literature, we investigated the possibility that even infants could demonstrate rudimentary forms of metacognition in non-verbal settings. In a first study, we found that 12- and 18-month-olds can evaluate decision confidence, monitor their errors, and use these metacognitive computations to regulate subsequent behaviour. In a second study, we further show that 20-month-olds are able to share their own uncertainty with others in order to regulate behaviour. This last aspect of our results suggests that infants can consciously access metacognitive representations, although they remain unable to manipulate them verbally until much later during childhood. Taken together, our results highlight an important dissociation between core metacognitive capacities, already present in infancy, and more explicit aspects of metacognition, developing through an effortful process during childhood. More generally, the present work provides some evidence that infants not only consider their physical and social surroundings, but also, reflect upon their own cognitive states.
Can the Crowd Do the Job? Exploring the Effects of Integrating Customers into a Company’s Business Model Innovation

While collaborative business modeling (CBM) constitutes a promising new approach for opening up a company’s innovation process, existing literature lacks empirical evidence of the effects related to this approach. Drawing on related literature on the quality of creative output, this paper proposes that in the context of a CBM initiative, the integration of customers will improve the quality of the generated output. As indicated by the results of our empirical evaluation, customers are indeed capable of developing high quality business models and are able to outperform company experts when it comes to the task of developing new business models.
IL-3 Induces Down-Regulation of CCR3 Protein and mRNA in Human Eosinophils1

Cytokines and chemokines are responsible for the attraction and activation of eosinophils in allergic and inflammatory diseases. Whereas cytokines such as IL-3, IL-5, and GM-CSF activate eosinophils via heterodimeric receptors containing a distinct α-chain (binding domain) and a common β-chain (signaling domain), chemokines such as eotaxin activate eosinophils via seven-transmembrane Gi protein-coupled CCRs. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of CCR3 on human eosinophils that undergo receptor recycling after chemokine activation, but the modulation of this receptor by cytokines has not yet been addressed. In this study, we demonstrate that IL-3 induces a dose- and time-dependent down-regulation of CCR3 from the surface of human eosinophils comparable to the CCR3-specific ligand eotaxin, whereas IL-5, GM-CSF, IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, IFN-γ, and TNF-α had no effect. Maximal down-regulation of CCR3 in response to IL-3 was reached at 24 h. Reduction of CCR3 surface protein in response to IL-3 could be prevented by an anti-IL-3 mAb and was neither due to the release of CC chemokines nor to nonspecific binding of IL-3 to CCR3. Moreover, down-regulation was prevented by phenylarsine oxide, a nonspecific inhibitor of receptor internalization. After 24 h, IL-3-induced decrease of CCR3 surface expression correlated with diminished mRNA expression, suggesting a transcriptional regulation mechanism. Since wortmannin partially inhibited IL-3- but not eotaxin-induced CCR3 down-regulation, receptor down-modulation seems to underlie different signaling events. Therefore, these data suggest a novel role for the cytokine IL-3 in the activation process of eosinophils and its predominant chemokine receptor CCR3.
Deep learning and block Go

Google Deepmind AlphaGo successfully defeated a professional nine dan Go player last March. One of the reasons is that they use deep learning to do a pure pattern-matching approach and predict the next move. In this paper, we use deep learning on the game of Block Go. Block Go is a variance of Go. In this paper, firstly we introduce the complexity of Block Go which is between checkers and Othello. Then we apply Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) on Block Go. Finally, we show that Block Go is a good research topic for deep learning.
Insights on How Museum Objects Mediate Recall of Nostalgic Life Episodes at a Shōwa Era Museum in Japan

Understanding visitors' nostalgic experiences in museums as they make connections between museum objects and their life histories is of considerable interest to the museum field. This study employed a qualitative multiple-case narrative approach to understand the common characteristic themes about the nature of visitors' nostalgic recall, mediated though exhibits at a Shōwa era social history museum in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Five sustaining characteristic themes about visitors' nostalgic recall are exemplified through five visitor cases in this study, including, a) Objects tied to collective identity and values perceived to be lost; b) Objects used or consumed as part of visitors' life-scripts; c) Objects associated with individuals dear to the visitor; d) Objects associated with childhood; and e) Objects that invoke vicarious nostalgia. The outcomes of this study contribute to the broader understandings of the power of museum objects to incite strong nostalgic recollections and more broadly to our understanding of visitors' long-term memories through their encounters with museum objects.
Latent semantic analysis and fiedler embeddings.

Latent semantic analysis (LSA) is a method for information retrieval and processing which is based upon the singular value decomposition. It has a geometric interpretation in which objects (e.g. documents and keywords) are placed in a low-dimensional geometric space. In this paper, we derive an alternative algebraic/geometric method for placing objects in space to facilitate information analysis. We show that our method is closely related to LSA, and essentially equivalent for particular choices of scaling parameters. We then show that our approach supports a number of generalizations and extensions that existing LSA approaches cannot handle.