Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic model system of chronic diseases in Australia: a novel approach initially focusing on diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Chronic diseases affect around 80% of older Australians, are main causes of premature death, and account for 70% of health expenditures. The novel features, building and validation of an Australian prototype model-system which simulates interventions that target several chronic diseases are described. Chronic disease progression models are linked to a population-wide microsimulation projection model that accounts for demographic, socio-economic and health characteristics, comorbidities, health expenditures, quality of life. It estimates costs vs. benefits of simulated policy interventions. The outcome is a validated person-level prototype able to simultaneously model diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). An illustrative model application is also presented.
Revisiting the survivor syndrome: The role of leadership in implementing downsizing

This article examines the key strategic and operational aspects of managing downsizing in Barclaycard, a credit card company, and SKF (UK), a bearings manufacturing company. The article begins by briefly reviewing the literature on downsizing; it then presents the data collection methods used in this study. The main areas explored were the strategic reasons for downsizing, the implementation strategies used, and the reactions of middle managers and nonmanagerial staff. In both organizations, downsizing was accompanied by significant redesign and transformation. The underlying theme in Barclaycard was that downsizing was a proactive measure in order to protect future jobs; despite this, the survivors' reactions were negative. SKF (UK) had experienced many rounds of downsizing over the years, yet the reactions of survivors were positive. This article provides possible explanations for these contrasting findings and concludes by suggesting actions that organizations need to take in order to avoid the survivor syndrome.
Using an Audio Cueing Procedure to Increase Rate of Parental Attention During Parent Training

ABSTRACT Research supports the effectiveness of behavioral parent training programs in the treatment of oppositional child behavior. Even though parent training seems effective for the majority of families who complete treatment, some families continue to drop out of treatment and do not maintain long-term decreases in oppositional behavior. Parents who have a difficult time quickly learning behavior management skills are at an increased risk for dropping out of treatment. The present study describes an audio cueing procedure used to help a parent learn how to give more frequent descriptions of appropriate child behavior. The changing-criterion design study demonstrates that the parent provided more descriptions in conditions with an audio cue.
The Nucleocapsid Protein of Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus Interacts with the Cellular Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein A1 in Vitro and in Vivo

Abstract The nucleocapsid (N) protein of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and the cellular heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP-A1) are RNA-binding proteins, binding to the leader RNA and the intergenic sequence of MHV negative-strand template RNAs, respectively. Previous studies have suggested a role for both N and hnRNP-A1 proteins in MHV RNA synthesis. However, it is not known whether the two proteins can interact with each other. Here we employed a series of methods to determine their interactions both in vitro and in vivo. Both N and hnRNP-A1 genes were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins, and their interactions were determined with a GST-binding assay. Results showed that N protein directly and specifically interacted with hnRNP-A1 in vitro. To dissect the protein-binding domain on the N protein, 15 deletion constructs were made by PCR and expressed as GST fusion proteins. Two hnRNP-A1-binding sites were identified on N protein: site A is located at amino acids 1 to 292 and site B at amino acids 392 to 455. In addition, we found that N protein interacted with itself and that the self-interacting domain coincided with site A but not with site B. Using a fluorescence double-staining technique, we showed that N protein colocalized with hnRNP-A1 in the cytoplasm, particularly in the perinuclear region, of MHV-infected cells, where viral RNA replication/transcription occurs. The N protein and hnRNP-A1 were coimmunoprecipitated from the lysates of MHV-infected cells either by an N- or by an hnRNP-A1-specific monoclonal antibody, indicating a physical interaction between N and hnRNP-A1 proteins. Furthermore, using the yeast two-hybrid system, we showed that N protein interacted with hnRNP-A1 in vivo. These results thus establish that MHV N protein interacts with hnRNP-A1 both in vitro and in vivo.
Utility of kallikrein-related peptidases (KLKs) as cancer biomarkers.

BACKGROUND The human kallikrein-related peptidase (KLK) family consists of 15 highly conserved serine proteases, which are encoded by the largest uninterrupted cluster of protease genes in the human genome. To date, several members of the family have been reported as potential cancer biomarkers. Although primarily known for their biomarker value in prostate, ovarian, and breast cancers, more recent data suggest analogous roles of KLKs in several other cancers, including gastrointestinal, head and neck, lung, and brain malignancies. Among the proposed KLK cancer biomarkers, prostate-specific antigen (also known as KLK3) is the most widely recognized member in urologic oncology. CONTENT Despite substantial progress in the understanding of the biomarker utility of individual KLKs, the current challenge lies in devising biomarker panels to increase the accuracy of prognosis, prediction of therapy, and diagnosis. To date, multiparametric KLK panels have been proposed for prostate, ovarian, and lung cancers. In addition to their biomarker utility, emerging evidence has revealed a number of critical functional roles for KLKs in the pathogenesis of cancer and their potential use as therapeutic targets. SUMMARY KLKs have biomarker utility in many cancer types but individually lack sufficient specificity or sensitivity to be used in clinical practice; however, groups of KLKs and other candidate biomarkers may offer improved performance.
No time to think: protecting the reflective space in children's services

Over the past few years, first line managers in child care have faced mounting pressure on their time from both the national performance management agenda and the professional demands associated with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. This paper briefly discusses the policy context surrounding this period of unprecedented change and focuses on the potential erosion of the reflective space in supervision as first line managers struggle to cope with the ever-increasing expectations. An argument is made for the creative use of multi-agency action learning/ research projects within the workplace to supplement individual supervision and promote reflective multi-agency child care practice; some examples of successful projects are given. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mutations in E coli cistrons affecting adhesion to human cells do not abolish Pap pili fiber formation.

A chromosomal DNA fragment which mediates Pap (pili associated with pyelonephritis) pili formation, mannose‐resistant hemagglutination (MRHA) and binding to uroepithelial cells has been isolated from the uropathogenic Escherichia coli clinical isolate J96, and genetically studied. Analysis of polypeptides expressed by the Pap DNA led to detection of a number of polypeptides ranging in mol. wt. from 13 000 to 81 000 daltons. The gene order and transcriptional orientation for four of the corresponding cistrons was: 13 000 (papB) 19 500 (papA, structural gene for the Pap pilus subunit), 81 000 (papC) and 28 500 (papD). Analyses of a lacZ‐ papA gene fusion located a promoter upstream from papA within the cloned DNA. Transposon Tn5 insertions in any of these four cistrons decreased or eliminated Pap pili formation. A number of transposon Tn5 mutations were identified in a region distal to papD that expressed normal levels of the papA protein on the cell surface in the form of recognizable pili structures but did not agglutinate human erythrocytes or adhere to uroepithelial cells. This region expressed polypeptides of 15 000, 24 000, 26 000 and 35 000 daltons. This finding shows that Pap pili formation and binding properties can be genetically dissociated.
Enabling NAND Flash Memory Use Soft-Decision Error Correction Codes at Minimal Read Latency Overhead

With the aggressive technology scaling and use of multi-bit per cell storage, NAND flash memory is subject to continuous degradation of raw storage reliability and demands more and more powerful error correction codes (ECC). This inevitable trend makes conventional BCH code increasingly inadequate, and iterative coding solutions such as LDPC codes become very natural alternative options. However, these powerful coding solutions demand soft-decision memory sensing, which results in longer on-chip memory sensing latency and memory-to-controller data transfer latency. Leveraging well-established lossless data compression theories, this paper presents several simple design techniques that can reduce such latency penalty caused by soft-decision ECCs. Their effectiveness have been well demonstrated through extensive simulations, and the results suggest that the latency can be reduced by up to 85.3%.
Identification of Kinase Inhibitor Targets in the Lung Cancer Microenvironment by Chemical and Phosphoproteomics

A growing number of gene mutations, which are recognized as cancer drivers, can be successfully targeted with drugs. The redundant and dynamic nature of oncogenic signaling networks and complex interactions between cancer cells and the microenvironment, however, can cause drug resistance. While these challenges can be addressed by developing drug combinations or polypharmacology drugs, this benefits greatly from a detailed understanding of the proteome-wide target profiles. Using mass spectrometry-based chemical proteomics, we report the comprehensive characterization of the drug–protein interaction networks for the multikinase inhibitors dasatinib and sunitinib in primary lung cancer tissue specimens derived from patients. We observed in excess of 100 protein kinase targets plus various protein complexes involving, for instance, AMPK, TBK1 (sunitinib), and ILK (dasatinib). Importantly, comparison with lung cancer cell lines and mouse xenografts thereof showed that most targets were shared between cell lines and tissues. Several targets, however, were only present in tumor tissues. In xenografts, most of these proteins were of mouse origin suggesting that they originate from the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, intersection with subsequent global phosphoproteomic analysis identified several activated signaling pathways. These included MAPK, immune, and integrin signaling, which were affected by these drugs in both cancer cells and the microenvironment. Thus, the combination of chemical and phosphoproteomics can generate a systems view of proteins, complexes, and signaling pathways that are simultaneously engaged by multitargeted drugs in cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. This may allow for the design of novel anticancer therapies that concurrently target multiple tumor compartments. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(11); 2751–62. ©2014 AACR.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple: A study of some factors affecting history-sharing in the GUM clinic setting

This paper describes a preliminary study undertaken by one of the authors (CB) within a South London GUM clinic in 2000. The research considered sexual history sharing between the patient and the physician. A self-completed questionnaire was used to determine whether patients withhold or falsify information, and what factors influenced this. The findings showed that patients do withhold information and that there are reasons for this. Influences are related to perceived social desirability, language and concerns about confidentiality. Of all factors considered (ethnicity, age, educational level, sexual orientation, relationship status, and gender), only gender proved to be statistically significant. Women acknowledged in the questionnaire that they withheld information from their physician. Results indicated that the subjects were aware of the sensitivity of their situation, and most said they recognized the safety of the GUM setting in sharing a complete history.
Introduction New Challenges to Social Measurement

Surveys are the principal source of data not only for social science, but for consumer research, political polling, and federal statistics. In response to social and technological trends, rates of survey nonresponse have risen markedly in recent years, prompting observers to worry about the continued validity of surveys as a tool for data gathering. This introductory article sets the stage for the comprehensive review that follows of the causes and consequences of nonresponse for survey data and the approaches that have been developed to address it.
A new look at impact ionization-Part II: Gain and noise in short avalanche photodiodes

For Part I see R.J. McIntyre, ibid., vol.46, no.8, pp.1623-31 (1999). In Part I, a new theory for impact ionization that utilizes history-dependent ionization coefficients to account for the nonlocal nature of the ionization process has been described. In this paper, we will review this theory and extend it with the assumptions that are implicitly used in both the local-field theory in which the ionization coefficients are functions only of the local electric field and the new one. A systematic study of the noise characteristics of GaAs homojunction avalanche photodiodes with different multiplication layer thicknesses is also presented. It is demonstrated that there is a definite "size effect" for thin multiplication regions that is not well characterized by the local-field model. The new theory, on the other hand, provides very good fits to the measured gain and noise. The new ionization coefficient model has also been validated by Monte Carlo simulations.
Assessing temporal processing of facial emotion perception with transcranial magnetic stimulation

The ability to process facial expressions can be modified by altering the spatial frequency of the stimuli, an effect that has been attributed to differential properties of visual pathways that convey different types of information to distinct brain regions at different speeds. While this effect suggests a potential influence of spatial frequency on the processing speed of facial emotion, this hypothesis has not been examined directly. We addressed this question using a facial emotion identification task with photographs containing either high spatial frequency (HSF), low spatial frequency (LSF), or broadband spatial frequency (BSF). Temporal processing of emotion perception was manipulated by suppressing visual perception with a single‐pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), delivered to the visual cortex at six intervals prior to (forward masking) or following (backward masking) stimulus presentation. Participants performed best in the BSF, followed by LSF, and finally HSF condition. A spatial frequency by forward/backward masking interaction effect demonstrated reduced performance in the forward masking component in the BSF condition and a reversed performance pattern in the HSF condition, with no significant differences between forward and backward masking in the LSF condition. Results indicate that LSF information may play a greater role than HSF information in emotional processing, but may not be sufficient for fast conscious perception of emotion. As both LSF and HSF filtering reduced the speed of extracting emotional information from faces, it is possible that intact BSF faces have an inherent perceptual advantage and hence benefit from faster temporal processing.
Relationships between Language Skills and Task Effects

The data from a national language assessment in secondary education in The Netherlands were reanalyzed to examine the correlational structure of language skills. On the basis of an hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis, it was concluded that skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing can be differentiated, although their interrelationships were rather high. Further, the measurement of language skills was strongly influenced by task effects. Finally, the data suggested that the across-task generalizability of performance-based assessments is much lower than it is for tests with fixed responses.
Chemotaxis plays a role in the social behaviour of Myxococcus xanthus

Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram‐negative bacterium that glides on a solid surface and displays a wide range of social behaviour including microbial development. The frz genes are homologues to the chemotaxis genes of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium and have been shown to be involved in microbial development. However, chemotaxis has never been clearly demonstrated in Myxococcus. In this study, we showed that M. xanthus exhibited tactic movements to many chemicals when they were subjected to steep and stable chemical gradients. M. xanthus was observed to spread into areas with abundant nutrients like yeast extract or Casitone and avoid areas with no nutrients or repellents (short‐chain alcohols or DMSO. Responses to attractants and repellents were additive. Movement towards attractants or away from repellents required the frz genes and was correlated with methylation or demethylation of FrzCD, a methyl‐accepting taxis protein. Furthermore, the frz genes were found to be required for both fruiting body formation during starvation and swarming in nutrient‐rich medium. In wild‐type strains, cells near the colony edge were observed to swarm towards the surrounding growth medium and to contain highly methylated FrzCD; cells near the colony centre contained mainly demethylated FrzCD and showed directed movement towards the colony edge. FrzCD was also found to be methylated during the aggregation stage of fruiting body formation on agar but largely demethylated in cells shaken in liquid starvation media. An frzf mutant failed to exhibit directed cell movements and no longer showed modification of FrzCD under these conditions. These observations suggest that M. xanthus does show chemotactic movements, that these movements require the frz genes, and that chemotaxis plays a very important role in the social behaviour of this organism.
Identification of fodrin as a major calmodulin-binding protein in postsynaptic density preparations

A major protein of postsynaptic densities (PSDs), a doublet of 230,000 and 235,000 Mr that becomes enriched in PSDs after treatment of synaptic membranes with 0.5% Triton X-100, has been found to be identical to fodrin (Levine, J., and M. Willard, 1981, J. Cell Biol. 90:631) by the following criteria. The upper bands of the PSD doublet and purified fodrin (alpha-fodrin) were found to be identical since both bands (a) co-migrated on SDS gels, (b) reacted with antifodrin, (c) bound calmodulin, and (d) had identical peptide maps after Staphylococcus aureus protease digestion. The lower bands of the PSD doublet and of purified fodrin (beta-fodrin) were found to be identical since both bands co-migrated on SDS gels and both had identical peptide maps after S. aureus protease digestion. The binding of calmodulin to alpha-fodrin was confirmed by cross-linking azido-125I-calmodulin to fodrin before running the protein on SDS gels. No binding of calmodulin to beta-fodrin was observed with either the gel overlay or azido- calmodulin techniques. A second calmodulin binding protein in the PSD has been found to be the proteolytic product of alpha-fodrin. This band (140,000 Mr), which can be created by treating fodrin with chymotrypsin, both binds calmodulin and reacts with antifodrin.
Handicapped Labels and Instructional Segregation: Influences on Children's Self-Concepts versus the Perceptions of Others

Self-concept scores of preadolescent mildly handicapped children enrolled in one of three instructional settings (one- or two-hour resource and self-contained) were compared to those of regular-class students whose teachers indicated they were having sufficient academic difficulties to warrant special education placement. In addition, mothers of children in all groups were asked to complete a copy of the self-concept measure by responding to the items as they would expect their offspring to respond. The relatively higher scores for special education students as opposed to regular-class students was taken in support of the contention that (a) children's self-concepts are largely dependent on social comparisons to others in their primary reference group; and (b) partial instructional segregation in homogeneous groups may enhance young handicapped children's self-concepts by providing them a more favorable environment in which to make social comparisons. The finding that mothers of handicapped children consistently underestimated their children's scores while mothers of regular-class children overestimated their offspring's results was considered evidence that handicapped labels might alter others' perceptions of how special education students feel about themselves. However, no evidence was found to suggest that the low self-concept estimates on the part of handicapped mothers influenced their children's scores. The findings are synthesized within a discussion of new cognitive-developmental models of self-concept formation and maintenance that call into question many long-held assumptions about the influence of special education on children's self-concept.
Cue combination encoding via contextual modulation of V1 and V2 neurons

Neurons in early visual cortical areas encode the local properties of a stimulus in a number of different feature dimensions such as color, orientation, and motion. It has been shown, however, that stimuli presented well beyond the confines of the classical receptive field can augment these responses in a way that emphasizes these local attributes within the greater context of the visual scene. This mechanism imparts global information to cells that are otherwise considered local feature detectors and can potentially serve as an important foundation for surface segmentation, texture representation, and figure–ground segregation. The role of early visual cortex toward these functions remains somewhat of an enigma, as it is unclear how surface segmentation cues are integrated from multiple feature dimensions. We examined the impact of orientation- and motion-defined surface segmentation cues in V1 and V2 neurons using a stimulus in which the two features are completely separable. We find that, although some cells are modulated in a cue-invariant manner, many cells are influenced by only one cue or the other. Furthermore, cells that are modulated by both cues tend to be more strongly affected when both cues are presented together than when presented individually. These results demonstrate two mechanisms by which cue combinations can enhance salience. We find that feature-specific populations are more frequently encountered in V1, while cue additivity is more prominent in V2. These results highlight how two strongly interconnected areas at different stages in the cortical hierarchy can potentially contribute to scene segmentation.