Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three related receptor-like kinases are required for optimal cell elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Cell elongation in plants is controlled by environmental cues such as light and internal growth regulators including plant steroid hormones, brassinosteroids (BRs). In this study, we found that 3 related receptor-like kinases (RLKs), HERCULES1, THESEUS1, and FERONIA, are transcriptionally induced by BRs and are down-regulated in the loss-of-function BR mutant bri1 and up-regulated in the constitutive BR-response mutant bes1-D. These RLKs belong to the CrRLK family that has 17 members in Arabidopsis. We hypothesize that these RLKs are involved in BR-regulated processes. Although 2 of the RLKs were recently found to mediate male-female interaction during pollen tube reception (FERONIA) and to sense cell wall integrity (THESEUS1), our genetic studies demonstrated that they are required for cell elongation during vegetative growth as herk1 the1 double and fer RNAi mutants displayed striking dwarf phenotypes. The herk1 the1 double mutant enhances the dwarf phenotype of bri1 and partially suppresses bes1-D phenotype, supporting a role of HERK1/THE1 in BR-mediated cell elongation. Microarray experiments demonstrated that these RLKs control the expression of a unique set of genes including those implicated in cell elongation and 16% of the genes affected in herk1 the1 are regulated by BRs. Our results, therefore, identify a previously unknown pathway that functions cooperatively with, but largely independent of the BR pathway to regulate cell elongation. The work establishes a platform to identify other signaling components in this important pathway for plant growth and provides a paradigm to study the coordination of independent pathways in the regulation of a common biological process.
Notice of RetractionOn convergence of aggregated traffic to long-range dependent α-stable processes

Recent researches have highlighted the long-range dependence and impulsive nature of the aggregated network traffic, and consequently long-range dependent α-stable processes model has been widely used to capture the network traffic. This paper presents an analytical demonstration of aggregated network traffic converging to long-range dependent α-stable processes, which provides inherent mechanism explanation for the widely used long-range dependent α-stable processes model. Simulations validate the accuracy of the presented theoretical analysis.
The Global Child Labor Problem: What Do We Know and What Can We Do?

The problem of child labor has moved from a matter of regional and national concern to one of international debate and possible global persuasion and policy intervention. In crafting policy for mitigating this enormous problem of our times, it is important to start with a proper theoretical and empirical understanding of the phenomenon. What gives rise to child labor, and what are its consequences? What interventions might end child labor without hurting children? A well-meaning but poorly designed policy can exacerbate the poverty in which these laboring children live, even leading to starvation. The article surveys the large and rapidly growing literature on this subject, focusing mainly on the new literature based on modern economic theory and econometrics. It also looks at some of the broad policy implications of these new findings, with the objective of contributing to better informed discussion and policy design.
Transparent Frameworks, Fiscal Rules and Policy-Making Under Uncertainty

Kilpatrick examines UK past economic policy and notes its problems in terms of instability, imprecise objectives and poor coordination of policies. He describes the recent reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability of fiscal policy, introducing firm fiscal rules and establishing an independent monetary policy. He points to the crucial role of the Code for Fiscal Stability introduced in 1998 which specifies principles of fiscal management and transparency standards. Kilpatrick emphasises the joint roles of transparency and rules in promoting fiscal discipline and better policies in a democracy. Rules can offset political pressures towards higher deficit levels and improve the credibility of government’s commitments. Transparency can obviate to one of the main problems of rules, that is the potential lack of flexibility. He notes that there is a trade off between the credibility of policies and the flexibility in their implementation. Transparency can allow more of the latter without losing the former. He states that capital spending ought to be financed through borrowing but within limits set by the need to restrain debt levels. Finally, he stresses the inherent uncertainty of budgetary projections and trends and points to the need for a cautious approach in setting targets and implementing rules.
Help Seeking Pattern among Postpartum Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence in Osogbo, Nigeria

Aim: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health issue in both developed and developing countries. A view of IPV as a personal problem, often reinforced by community and perpetrator denial as well as fear of retaliation and social ostracisation, deter many women from confiding in others and seeking help. The study aimed to assess help seeking pattern and knowledge about non-governmental organizations (NGO) among postpartum women attending postnatal and infant welfare clinics of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital (LTH), Osogbo. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at LTH, Osogbo Nigeria, between September and November 2015. Methodology: The study was conducted among 220 consenting postpartum women attending postnatal and infant welfare clinics of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo using composite abuse scale and socio-demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results: Majority of those who experienced IPV, 42 (71.2%) did not seek help. Among the 28.8% that sought help, majority used informal strategies like mother and other family members. Ninety-four percent of those who sought help said it was helpful and sixty-one percent of those exposed to intimate partner violence are aware of non-governmental organizations. Conclusion: There is need to strengthen the family members on how to support those exposed to intimate partner violence (through education on the media) since many women prefer them to formal services and more awareness creation about existence of NGO is needed.
Family Structure and Transfer Measures in the Health and Retirement Study: Background and Overview

This paper describes the rationale for and the measures offamily structure and inter-vivos giving in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Of particular interest to the HRS is the extent to which transfers affect the labor supply of donors, especially women. Because all children and parents are individually profiled, HRS data can be used to examine the joint allocation of space, time, and money among competing kin. Data on siblings of respondents with living parents provide further opportunities to consider how adult children distribute the burden of parent care among themselves. Using the baseline HRS, we describe the quality of data on kin attributes and the correlations among family structures, transfers, and work.
Prospects of HA-Based Universal Influenza Vaccine

Current influenza vaccines afford substantial protection in humans by inducing strain-specific neutralizing antibodies (Abs). Most of these Abs target highly variable immunodominant epitopes in the globular domain of the viral hemagglutinin (HA). Therefore, current vaccines may not be able to induce heterosubtypic immunity against the divergent influenza subtypes. The identification of broadly neutralizing Abs (BnAbs) against influenza HA using recent technological advancements in antibody libraries, hybridoma, and isolation of single Ab-secreting plasma cells has increased the interest in developing a universal influenza vaccine as it could provide life-long protection. While these BnAbs can serve as a source for passive immunotherapy, their identification represents an important step towards the design of such a universal vaccine. This review describes the recent advances and approaches used in the development of universal influenza vaccine based on highly conserved HA regions identified by BnAbs.
Microscopy techniques and the study of synapses

Microscope techniques have been largely underestimated as powerful tools for the study of cell function and with some exceptions mostly restricted to descriptive studies. The development of new techniques and methods as well as the development of more powerful image analysis software in the last decade finally has provided the conditions to use microscopy in much more extensive and powerful ways. The development of new imaging software has also resuscitated the interest in “old” techniques such as Golgi staining methods that have suddenly come back to the spot light due to the possibility to be combined with image analysis tools. Microscopy is no longer the way to only get a “pretty picture” to illustrate our papers, but also a very powerful tool to study brain function. We propose here different strategies and methodologies that can be applied to the study of synaptic development and function using fluorescence, brightfield and electron microscopy. The use of these techniques allows the study of parameters such as the expression of synaptic proteins, number and morphology of dendritic spines, and number, type and structure of synapses.
Low Vitamin D Status Is Associated with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Independent of Visceral Obesity in Korean Adults

Objective To investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) independent of visceral obesity in Koreans and to examine whether the associations differ according to the presence of diabetes or insulin resistance. Research Design and Methods A total of 1081 adults were enrolled from a population-based cohort in Ansan city. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured in all subjects. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Using computed tomography, NAFLD was diagnosed if the liver attenuation index (LAI, the difference between the mean hepatic and splenic attenuation) was <5 Hounsfield Units. Results In subjects with diabetes (n = 282), 25(OH)D levels were negatively associated with waist circumference, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, triglyceride levels, and visceral abdominal fat, and were positively associated with LAI after adjusting for age, sex, season, exercise, and vitamin supplementation. In subjects without diabetes, only triglyceride level was negatively associated with 25(OH)D. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for NAFLD increased sequentially across decreasing quartiles of 25(OH)D in subjects with diabetes even after adjusting for visceral fat [Q1 vs. Q4; OR for NAFLD 2.5 (95% CI:1.0–6.2)]. In contrast, no significant difference in OR was observed in subjects without diabetes. When we classified non-diabetic subjects by HOMA-IR, an increase in the OR for NAFLD across decreasing quartiles of 25(OH)D was observed in the high HOMA-IR (≥2.5) group [n = 207, Q1 vs. Q4; OR 3.8(1.4–10.3)], but not in the low HOMA-IR (<2.5) group [n = 592, OR 0.8 (0.3–1.9)]. Conclusions Low vitamin D status is closely associated with NAFLD, independent of visceral obesity in subjects with diabetes or insulin resistance.
Gateway Congestion Control Survey

The growth of network intensive Internet applications has made gateway congestion control a high priority. The IETF Performance and Congestion Control Working Group surveyed and reviewed gateway congestion control and avoidance approaches. The purpose of this paper is to present our review of the congestion control approaches, as a way of encouraging new discussion and experimentation. Included in the survey are Source Quench, Random Drop, Congestion Indication (DEC Bit), and Fair Queueing. The task remains for Internet implementors to determine and agree on the most effective mechanisms for controlling gateway congestion.
On-line scheduling of real-time distributed computers with complex communication constraints

We consider the scheduling of periodic tasks running on distributed computers. Every execution of a task must meet its deadline. Response time analysis of the tasks is used to prove the schedulability of hard real-time distributed systems according to the on-line priority rules that schedule the processors and the network. Its main advantage is to take into account the precedence dependencies of the schedules of the tasks on the processors and the messages sent on the network(s). Past works have addressed the issue of tasks related by asynchronous communication constraints with the senders and the receivers working at the same rate. We study more general relations among tasks when the rates of dependent tasks are not equal. We call such relations generalized communication constraints. Usually distributed systems are scheduled using a synchronization protocol and an on-line scheduling algorithm by processor. We present a graph theoretical approach to this schedulability analysis. Our algorithm transforms complex communication relations into classical ones, so that the classical scheduling analysis can be fully applied. That transformation is independent of the architecture of the distributed systems and no assumption is made on the synchronization protocol considered.
En vårdvetenskaplig syntes mellan vårdandets ethos och vårdintensitet

Frilund, Marianne. 2013. A synthesizer of Caring science and nursing intensity. Supervisors: Professor (emerita) Katie Eriksson and Professor Lisbeth Fagerström Department of Caring Science, Department of Social Sciences, Åbo Akademi University This is a study in the field of caring science. The kinds of knowledge expansion and theoretical formation outlined in this thesis have a hypothetic-deductive design. The synthesizer of caring science between caring ethos and nursing intensity evolves through a hermeneutic movement between understanding and interpretation, in the dialectic tension between thesis and antithesis. The study had three main aims with corresponding research questions. The first aim was to deepen the understanding of caring ethos within the care of older people from the perspective of caring science. The second aim was to deepen the understanding of nursing intensity within the care of older people, again from the perspective of caring science. The third aim of the study was to create a theoretical model describing the synthesizer between the caring ethos and nursing intensity. The synthesizer of caring science between caring ethos and nursing intensity took place in a process of creativity, which resulted in six new patterns of interpretation. Good care is in constant movement and tension between the ethical and the unethical. In order to guarantee the older person of the future dignity, a caring community, and integrity in care, there is a need for an awareness of and responsibility for those entities than can become ethical problems and dilemmas. The model that describes the synthesizer between caring ethos and nursing intensity, consist of four cornerstones such as caring ethics, wishes and anticipations, an ethical manner in words and action, and ethical leadership. Good care based on the values dignity, a caring community, safety, and integrity, receive their legitimacy through ethical awareness, and consent among caregivers. Ethical awareness deepens the understanding of wishes and expectations that may arise as special needs. Care thus requires an awareness of the balance between the patient’s care need and optimal level of nursing intensity. An ethical leadership considers the needs of the patient and accepts nothing but a work situation where optimal nursing intensity and optimal resource allocation makes good care possible.
On the role of kerato-epithelin in the pathogenesis of 5q31-linked corneal dystrophies.

PURPOSE Recently, the authors identified a gene, BIGH3, in which different mutations cause a group of hereditary corneal dystrophies: lattice type I and IIIA (CDLI and CDLIIIA), granular Groenouw type I (CDGGI), Avellino (CDA), and Reis-Bücklers' (CDRB). All these disorders are characterized by the progressive accumulation of corneal deposits with different structural organization. Experiments were conducted to determine the role of kerato-epithelin (KE), the product of BIGH3, in the pathogenesis of the diseases. METHODS KE-15 and KE-2, two rabbit antisera raised against peptides from the 69-364 and 426 - 682 amino acid regions of KE respectively, were used for immunohistology of the corneas obtained after keratoplasty in six CDLI patients, three CDGGI patients, and one CDA patient. RESULTS The nonamyloid deposits observed in CDGGI stained intensively with KE-15 and KE-2, whereas the amyloid deposits in all analyzed CDLI corneas reacted to KE-2 but not to KE-15. In the CDA cornea, where amyloid and nonamyloid inclusions were present, positive staining with both antisera was observed. CONCLUSIONS Pathologic amyloid and nonamyloid deposits observed in CDLI, CDGGI-, and CDA-affected corneas are caused by KE accumulation. Different staining patterns of amyloid and nonamyloid deposits observed with antibodies against the amino and carboxyl termini of KE suggest that two mechanisms of KE misfolding are implicated in the pathogenesis of 5q31-linked corneal dystrophies.
A 314 GHz, fully-integrated SiGe transmitter and receiver with integrated antenna

We present a 314 GHz transmitter and receiver chipset which is implemented in an advanced SiGe HBT platform, and which has on-chip antennas. The transmitter uses an active antenna structure, where the generated on-chip signal is directly fed into the antenna. The receiver consists of a novel sub-harmonic resistive mixer with an on-chip high-power differential signal source feeding the LO port. A test link which directly connects the transmitter to the receiver was also implemented as a reference for characterization. This reference circuit enables a simple and accurate measurement method for conversion loss and antenna gain by omitting external high frequency signal sources. To further facilitate the characterization, the utilized on-chip signals were implemented and tested separately as well. The receiver achieves 22.5 dB conversion loss and the transmitter generates a signal power of -8 dBm at 314 GHz. On-die end-fire antennas were designed for both transmit and receive paths, and utilize a substrate etching technology to boost performance. This work demonstrates the feasibility of fully-integrated and compact sub-mmW transceiver implementations using SiGe technology.
Psychological resilience: an approach to the concept, theoretical framework and relation with child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a serious public health problem and a violation of human rights from children and adolescents. A prolific research has been developed to determine the magnitude of the problem, psychological effects, risk factors and protective factors. In this context, resilience approach becomes important by explain the mechanisms that promote positive adaptation to adversity. In this paper, it is discussed in the first part, the analysis of the concept of resilience and its various stages of investigation over time. Finally, an integration of this model in understanding and approaching child and adolescent victimization is done
Lack of Functional Benefit with Glutamine versus Placebo in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Background Oral glutamine decreases whole body protein breakdown in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We evaluated the functional benefit of 4 months oral glutamine in DMD. Methodology/Principal Findings 30 ambulant DMD boys were included in this double-blind, randomized crossover trial with 2 intervention periods: glutamine (0.5 g/kg/d) and placebo, 4 months each, separated by a 1-month wash-out, at 3 outpatient clinical investigation centers in France. Functional benefit was tested by comparing glutamine versus placebo on change in walking speed at 4 months. Secondary outcome measures were: 2-minute walk test, work, power, muscle mass (urinary creatinine), markers of myofibrillar protein breakdown (urinary 3-methyl-histidine/creatinine), serum creatine phospho-kinase, body composition (fat free mass, fat mass percentage), safety and oral nutrient intake. There was no improvement in the primary end point (walking speed) or in secondary measures of muscle function (2-minute walk test, work, power) in the glutamine group compared with placebo. However, subjects receiving glutamine or placebo showed no deterioration in functional measures over the course of the 9-month trial. No differences in muscle mass, markers of protein breakdown or serum creatine phosho-kinase were observed, except for a blunted increase in fat free mass in the glutamine group which led to a greater increase in fat mass percentage. Glutamine was safe and well-tolerated. Conclusions This trial did not identify additional benefit of 4 months oral glutamine over placebo on muscle mass or function in ambulatory DMD boys. Although apparently safe, current data cannot support routine supplementation in this population as a whole, until further research proves otherwise. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00296621
Privacy-sensitive monitoring with a mix of ir sensors and cameras

Consider an installation which has an entrance and various private areas. The goal is to monitor the private areas to assist in prosecuting theft afterthe-fact. Sensor nodes are equipped with cameras and PIR sensors. For privacy reasons, cameras are not deployed in private areas, however, they are considered acceptable for the entrance. Private areas have only PIR sensors, able to detect the presence or absence of a human. We assume sensors are deployed densely enough that a human moving through the sensor field triggers multiple sensors.
Emission-line abundances of absorption-selected galaxies at z < 0.5

We have obtained optical spectra of four galaxies associated with Mg II quasi-stellar object (QSO) absorbers at redshifts 0.10 < z < 0.45. We calculate the gas-phase oxygen abundance of these galaxies using the empirical R 23 strong-line method. The absolute B-band magnitudes of the galaxies span -20.6 < M B < -18.3. Ifthe metallicities lie on the R 23 upper branch (8.4 < log (O/H) + 12 < 8.9), then the metallicities of these absorption-selected galaxies span the range between 0.5 and 1.4 Z○. and would be consistent with the well-known luminosity-metallicity relation for 0.10 < z < 0.45 emission-line galaxies. However, such metallicities would be 0.5-1.0 dex higher than those observed in damped Lyman a systems (DLAs) via absorption-line measurements at similar redshifts. Conversely, the lower R 23 branch calibration yields metallicities Z ∼ 1 /7 Z○. , consistent with the DLA absorption metallicities at low redshifts. In this case, the absorption-selected galaxies would lie significantly lower than the luminosity-metallicity relation for emission-line galaxies at z < 0.5. We discuss the implications and possible solutions for each scenario.