Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulations of host–plasmid interactions in Escherichia coli: Copy number, promoter strength, and ribosome binding site strength effects on metabolic activity and plasmid gene expression

A mechanistically detailed single‐cell model E. coli B/r‐A was adapted to simulate the effects of vector presence on cell metabolism. Competition for RNA polymerase between chromosome and plasmid DNA is explicitly included. Distribution of active ribosomes among chromosome‐ and plasmid‐derived messenger RNA, another key facet of host–plasmid interactions, is also treated in detail. Simulations of recombinant cell growth rate and cloned‐gene productivity as a function of relative plasmid number per cell agree closely with experimental results. Model prediction of the variation of cell cycle parameters C and D with plasmid number are roughly consistent with available data. Models of this class can be used to simulate changes in productivity resulting from specific alterations in the expression vector. The effects of changing cloned‐gene promoter and ribosome binding strengths and of augmenting cell transcription or translation capacity have been studied using the recombinant cell model. Results suggest that cloned‐gene expression is limited by cellular transcription capacity. These and other parametric studies, conveniently implemented using the computer cell, provide important guidance for future experiments directed at better understanding of host–plasmid interactions and at optimizing recombinant system productivity.
Multiple male traits interact: attractive bower decorations facilitate attractive behavioural displays in satin bowerbirds

Sexually selected male courtship displays often involve multiple behavioural and physical traits, but little is known about the function of different traits in mate choice. Here, we examine female courtship behaviours to learn how male traits interact to influence female mating decisions. In satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), successful males give highly aggressive, intense behavioural displays without startling females. Males do this by modulating their displays in response to female crouching, which signals the display intensity that females will tolerate without being startled. Females typically visit multiple males for multiple courtships before choosing a mate, and females show differing tolerance for intense displays during their first courtship with each male. We test three hypotheses that may explain this: (i) familiarity with the courting male; (ii) the order of the courtship in mate-searching; and (iii) the attractiveness of the courting male. We found that females are more tolerant of intense displays during first courtships with attractive males; this increased female tolerance may allow attractive males to give higher intensity courtship displays that further enhance their attractiveness. We then examined why this is so, finding evidence that females are less likely to be startled by males with better physical displays (bower decorations), and this reduced startling then contributes to male courtship success. This role of physical displays in facilitating behavioural displays suggests a novel mechanism by which multiple physical and behavioural traits may influence female choice.
ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF PAST TO FUTURE PARTICIPATION IN DELINQUENCY

Among the best documented empirical regularities in criminology is the positive association between past and future delinquency and criminality. In this paper, we examine alternative interpretations of this association. One is that prior participation has a genuine behavioral impact on the individual. Prior participation may, for example, reduce inhibitions against engaging in delinquent activity. Such an effect is termed state dependence. A second explanation is that individuals differ in unmeasured delinquent propensity and this unmeasured propensity is persistent over time. This second explanation is a consequence of population heterogeneity. Using a three-wave panel data set, we attempt to distinguish these two interpretations of the positive association between past and future delinquency. Our results suggest that the positive association is principally due to a state-dependent influence. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.
Importance of glutamate synthase in glutamate synthesis by soybean cell suspension cultures.

The specific activities of glutamate synthase|EC 2.6. 1.53, l-glutamine: alpha-ketoglutarate amino transferase (NADPH-oxidising)| and glutamine synthetase|EC 6.3. 1.2, l-glutamate: ammonia ligase (ADP-forming)| extracted from soybean (Glycine max L.) cells grown in modified B5 medium were found to vary significantly in response to variations in the nitrogen content of the medium. The changes seen in specific activity levels could be correlated with similar patterns seen in the growth of the cells, in response to changes in the nitrogen content of the medium. By contrast, the specific activity of glutamate dehydrogenase|EC 1.4. 1.2, l-glutamate: NAD(+) oxidoreductase (deaminating)|, was relatively low and invariant. Glutamate synthase was extracted from cells grown under optimal conditions, partially purified, and shown to have many properties in common with preparations of this enzyme extracted from other plant sources. Glutamate synthase was purified to homogeneity, using affinity chromatography on blue Sepharose.
Cocaine activates Homer1 immediate early gene transcription in the mesocorticolimbic circuit: Differential regulation by dopamine and glutamate signaling

Homer proteins are intracellular scaffolding proteins that, among glutamate receptors, selectively bind to group1 metabotropic glutamate receptors and regulate their trafficking and intracellular signaling. Homer proteins have been implicated in synaptic and behavioral plasticity, including drug‐seeking behavior after cocaine treatment. Homer1 gene activation leads to transcription of a variant mRNA (Homer1a), which functions as an immediate early gene. Homer1a competes with the constitutive Homer proteins (Homer1b/c/d, Homer2a/b, Homer3) for binding to group1 metabotropic glutamate and IP3 receptors. Binding of Homer1a to these proteins disrupts their association with the intracellular signaling scaffold and modulates receptor function. In this study, using RT‐PCR, activation of Homer1a mRNA transcription in response to acute and repeated administration of cocaine was characterized in prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmental area, three mesocorticolimbic nuclei of the rat brain. Moreover, the dopaminergic and glutamatergic regulation of Homer1 gene activation by cocaine was investigated. Acute cocaine rapidly and transiently activated transcription of Homer1a mRNA in all three nuclei. However, repeated administration of cocaine was not effective in inducing the Homer1a mRNA transcription after various withdrawal times ranging from 2 h to 3 weeks. The acute cocaine‐mediated activation of Homer1 gene was regulated by D1 but not D2 dopamine receptors. The blockade of AMPA or NMDA glutamate receptors did not prevent cocaine‐mediated activation of Homer1 gene in the three mesocorticolimbic nuclei. These data indicate that acute administration of cocaine transiently activates Homer1 gene producing the immediate early gene Homer1a mRNA in the three mesocorticolimbic nuclei of the rat brain. Activation of Homer1 gene may contribute to the cocaine‐mediated synaptic and behavioral plasticity. Synapse 63:42–53, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The influence of cultural aspects on public perception of the importance of CSR activity and purchase intention in Korea

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important for successful businesses; thus, companies spend large amounts of money participating in CSR activities. However, the fact that no single activity can ensure consumers' favorable perception or greater purchase intention leaves room for consideration of consumers' individual-specific factors leveraging the impact of CSR activities. This study suggests that consumers' cultural characteristics, namely, individual-specific factors, could affect their perception of CSR activities. Using the five cultural dimensions introduced by Hofstede, this study reveals that the different cultural characteristics of Koreans tend to influence the importance they attribute to CSR activities (in economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic dimensions). The study also shows that the differences in the perceived importance of each CSR dimension could influence consumers' purchase intention to buy products made by for-profit companies that are fulfilling social responsibilities. The theoretical and practical implications of CSR for public relations are also discussed.
Control system based on pressure distribution for wearable assist robot on multi-joint body part

Wearable assist robots deliver power in form of direct contacts with the user, therefore, safety control is considered to be the prior requirement for wearable assist robots. To improve safety, the robot needs to be controlled based on the current contact state feedback. As a state estimation concept approach, a feedback control system based on joint torque has been proposed. The principle of this approach is that the physical contact forces appear as a certain change in measured joint torque. However, as the joint torque is the resultant of contact forces, the case of user is in danger contact state may not be detected. In this paper, a new control system based on pressure distribution is proposed. Utilizing the pressure sensors directly mounted on the robot's link surface, the robot is controlled to suppress excessive contact forces. On computer simulations, the proposed system was confirmed to be effective to improve safety.
Alter Versus Ego: An Exploratory Assessment of Altruism

of individual performances may undermine or fail to maintain the system. These larger consequences of individual role bargains can be traced out, but they figure only rarely in the individual role decision. With respect to its utility in empirical research, this conception permits a more adequate delineation of social structures by focussing on their more observable elements, the role transactions. This permits such questions as: Would you increase the time and energy you now give to role relationship X? Or, granted that these are the ideal obligations of this relationship, how little can you get away with performing? Or, by probing the decision, it is possible to ascertain why the individual has moved from one role transaction to another, or from one role organization to another. Finally, this conception is especially useful in tracing out the articulation between one institution or organization and another, by following the sequence of an individual's role performance and their effects on the role performances of other individuals with relation to different institutional orders.
Theory and Practice of Community Development: a Case Study from the United Kingdom

This paper considers the current concept of community and provides a brief overview of the historical context of British community work with reference to “top-down” and “bottomup” approaches. The top-down approach has roots in Victorian benevolent paternalism, while the bottom-up approach is associated with radical neighborhood action. Community development is considered in the context of current British government initiatives aimed at addressing social exclusion1 and health improvement targets. The strategic objectives for these include empowering local communities, developing effective partnerships, working as multi-agencies, and becoming learning organizations. A case study is presented, the ACHIEVE project, a community-based health improvement project in Bournemouth, UK. The conclusion draws attention to the manner in which community development is embodied in the government's attempt to engage in social engineering in economically disadvantaged communities.
Comparison of Risk of Preterm Labor between Vaginal Progesterone and17-Alpha-Hydroxy-Progesterone Caproate in Women with Threatened Abortion: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background Threatened miscarriage is a common complication in pregnancy that leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm labor. This study aimed to compare the vaginal progesterone (Cyclogest) versus 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (Proluton) on preventing preterm labor in pregnant women with threatened abortion at less than 34 weeks’ gestational age. Materials and Methods This balanced randomized, double-blind, single-center controlled clinical trial included 190 women with threatened abortion. They were then randomly allocated into Cyclogest (n=95) and 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (Proluton, n=95) groups. Interested outcome was preterm labor less than 34 weeks. The Pearson chi-square and Student’s t test were used to compare two groups. The data were analyzed by Stata software version 13. Results The risks of preterm labor less than 34 weeks in Proluton and Cyclogest groups were 8.6 and 6.52%, respectively. There was no significant difference for risk of preterm labor less than 34 weeks [relative ratio (RR): 1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47- 3.66, P=0.59] between two groups. Conclusion Risk of preterm labor in the vaginal progesterone group and 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate group in pregnant women with threatened abortion is the same (Registration Number: IRCT2014123120504N1).
Implementing Effective Hypertension Quality Improvement Strategies: Barriers and Potential Solutions

Many quality improvement strategies have focused on improving blood pressure control, and these strategies can target the patient, the provider, and/or the system. Strategies that seem to have the biggest effect on blood pressure outcomes are team change, patient education, facilitated relay of clinical information, and promotion of self‐management. Barriers to effective blood pressure control can affect the patient, the physician, the system, and/or “cues to action. ”We review the barriers to achieving blood pressure control and describe current and potential creative strategies for optimizing blood pressure control. These include home‐based disease management, combined patient and provider education, and automatic decision support systems. Future research must address which components of quality improvement interventions are most successful in achieving blood pressure control.
An engineering method for context-aware and reactive systems

Ubiquity in Information Systems (ISs) is a new requirement widely expressed by customers and users due to emerging and evolving communication and mobile technologies. The design of IS dealing with high technological risks requires a precise and appropriate development process which is lacking today. This paper tries to contribute to solving this problem by proposing a process for identifying and modeling ubiquitous requirements that is integrated into an existent IS engineering process. The process is model driven based on a set of model transformations intended to help model refinement and specific platform models generation. This approach is original by the use of an event driven logic as dynamicity and reactivity constitute major required properties from ubiquitous applications. The method is used to create a passenger assistant application in the intelligent transport domain.
Enhancing wireless location privacy using silent period

The advance of ISM-band radio-based tracking systems (for example, wireless LAN-based tracking system) extends the application of location-based services (LBS), but it also threatens to allow the movement of users to be tracked when they are transmitting frames. Several protection methods based on periodic address updates have already been proposed. However, new correlation attacks, which utilize the correlation between the old and new addresses of the same node, can defeat current protection methods. To combat such attacks, we propose the concept of a silent period. A silent period is defined as a transition period between the use of new and old pseudonyms, when a node is not allowed to disclose either the old or the new address. Through analysis, we find that a silent period should contain a constant period and a variable period. The effect of the constant period is to mix the spatial relation between the node's disappearing points and emerging points. The variable period mixes the temporal relation between the node's disappearing times and emerging times. We evaluate the performance of the silent period through simulation. The results show that the silent period proposal significantly reduces the duration of time a node can be tracked continuously. There are still many open research problems before random address can be implemented to protect wireless location privacy, but silent period protocol is the first step to realizing it.
Knowledge acquisition for knowledge management: position paper

With this paper, we propose a set of techniques to largely automate the process of KA, by using technologies based on Information Extraction (IE) , Information Retrieval and Natural Language Processing. We aim to reduce all the impeding factors mention above and thereby contribute to the wider utility of the knowledge management tools. In particular we intend to reduce the introspection of knowledge engineers or the extended elicitations of knowledge from experts by extensive textual analysis using a variety of methods and tools, as texts are largely available and in them - we believe - lies most of an organization's memory.
Genetic Association Studies of Cleft Lip and/or Palate with Hypodontia outside the Cleft Region

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether the candidate genes previously studied in subjects with cleft lip, cleft palate, or both are associated with hypodontia outside the region of the cleft. Subjects One hundred twenty subjects from the Iowa Craniofacial Anomalies Research Center were selected based on the availability of both dental records and genotype information. Method The type of orofacial clefting and type and location of dental anomalies (missing teeth, supernumerary teeth, or peg laterals) were assessed by dental chart review and radiographic examination. Genotype analysis of candidate genes was performed using polymerase chain reaction/single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. Results The prevalence of hypodontia in this sample was 47.5%, with 30.0% of subjects having missing teeth outside the cleft. There was a positive association between subjects with cleft lip or cleft lip and palate who had hypodontia outside the cleft region (compared with noncleft controls) and both muscle segment homeo box homolog 1 (MSX1) (p = .029) and transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFB3) (p = .024). It was not possible in this analysis to determine whether this association was specifically associated with orofacial clefting combined with hypodontia or whether it was due primarily to the clefting phenotype. Conclusions In this sample, there was a significantly greater incidence of hypodontia outside the cleft region in subjects with cleft lip and palate, compared with cleft lip only or cleft palate only. Cleft lip and/or palate with hypodontia outside the cleft region was positively associated with both TGFB3 and MSX1, compared with noncleft controls.
Do FIGO Stage IA and Small (⩽2 cm) IB1 Cervical Adenocarcinomas Have a Good Prognosis and Warrant Less Radical Surgery?

Objectives There is a controversy regarding the optimal management of small cervical adenocarcinomas, and more radical surgery is often undertaken compared to similar size squamous carcinomas. We wished to determine the risk of parametrial involvement and metastatic disease and the outcome in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IA and small (⩽2 cm) stage IB1 cervical adenocarcinomas. Methods All women with a diagnosis of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages IA1, IA2, or IB1 cervical adenocarcinoma with a maximum tumor size of 2 cm were identified between 1999 and 2010 in Northern Ireland. A single pathologist reviewed all pathology prospectively at a cancer center tumor board. Results A total of 74 women were identified (mean age, 39 years; range, 25–72 years). In total, 36 women had stage IA1, 9 women had stage IA2, and 29 women had stage IB1 cervical adenocarcinomas. Surgical treatment ranged from local excision (cone or large loop excision of transformation zone) to radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection; adjuvant therapy was not administered in any case. No parametrial involvement was seen in the 36 women who underwent parametrial resection. No lymph node metastasis was identified in the 45 women who underwent pelvic lymph node dissection. Lymphovascular space invasion was identified in 6 cases. No tumor recurrence or metastasis was noted during a mean follow-up of 35 months. Conclusions The optimal management of women with IA or small IB1 cervical adenocarcinoma is controversial, and radical surgery is often undertaken. Our data suggest that there is an extremely low risk of parametrial and lymph node involvement with tumors 2 cm or smaller and a low recurrence rate. Less radical surgery may be warranted for small cervical adenocarcinomas, and this should be addressed by future studies.
Robot-by-voice: experiments on commanding an industrial robot using the human voice

Purpose – This paper reports a few results of an ongoing research project that aims to explore ways to command an industrial robot using the human voice. This feature can be interesting with several industrial, laboratory and clean‐room applications, where a close cooperation between robots and humans is desirable.Design/methodology/approach – A demonstration is presented using two industrial robots and a personal computer (PC) equipped with a sound board and a headset microphone. The demonstration was coded using the Microsoft Visual Basic and C#. NET 2003 and associated with two simple robot applications: one capable of picking‐and‐placing objects and going to predefined positions, and the other capable of performing a simple linear weld on a work‐piece. The speech recognition grammar is specified using the grammar builder from the Microsoft Speech SDK 5.1. The paper also introduces the concepts of text‐to‐speech translation and voice recognition, and shows how these features can be used with application.
Managing Coworker Assistance Through Organizational Identification

This article investigates how different sources of management support promote coworker helping behavior in organizations. We contend that senior management, managers responsible for Human Resource practices, and team leaders contribute to coworker assistance by encouraging employees to identify with the organization. Based on survey evidence drawn from nine Australian (N = 1,349 employees) and six Chinese firms (N = 828 employees), and using structural equation modeling, we show that organizational identification mediates the effects of perceived support from these three sources on coworker assistance. Differences in the strength of relationships between the variables are highlighted and discussed.
Multiphoton fabrication of chemically responsive protein hydrogels for microactuation

We report a method for creating stimuli-responsive biomaterials in which scanning nonlinear excitation is used to photocrosslink proteins at submicrometer 3D coordinates. Proteins with differing hydration properties can be combined to achieve tunable volume changes that are rapid and reversible in response to changes in chemical environment. Protein matrices having arbitrary 3D topographies and definable density gradients over micrometer dimensions provide the ability to effect rapid (<1 sec) and precise mechanical manipulations by means of changes in hydrogel size and shape, and applicability of these materials to cell biology is shown through the fabrication of responsive bacterial cages.