Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Actin binding proteins: regulation of cytoskeletal microfilaments.

The actin cytoskeleton is a complex structure that performs a wide range of cellular functions. In 2001, significant advances were made to our understanding of the structure and function of actin monomers. Many of these are likely to help us understand and distinguish between the structural models of actin microfilaments. In particular, 1) the structure of actin was resolved from crystals in the absence of cocrystallized actin binding proteins (ABPs), 2) the prokaryotic ancestral gene of actin was crystallized and its function as a bacterial cytoskeleton was revealed, and 3) the structure of the Arp2/3 complex was described for the first time. In this review we selected several ABPs (ADF/cofilin, profilin, gelsolin, thymosin beta4, DNase I, CapZ, tropomodulin, and Arp2/3) that regulate actin-driven assembly, i.e., movement that is independent of motor proteins. They were chosen because 1) they represent a family of related proteins, 2) they are widely distributed in nature, 3) an atomic structure (or at least a plausible model) is available for each of them, and 4) each is expressed in significant quantities in cells. These ABPs perform the following cellular functions: 1) they maintain the population of unassembled but assembly-ready actin monomers (profilin), 2) they regulate the state of polymerization of filaments (ADF/cofilin, profilin), 3) they bind to and block the growing ends of actin filaments (gelsolin), 4) they nucleate actin assembly (gelsolin, Arp2/3, cofilin), 5) they sever actin filaments (gelsolin, ADF/cofilin), 6) they bind to the sides of actin filaments (gelsolin, Arp2/3), and 7) they cross-link actin filaments (Arp2/3). Some of these ABPs are essential, whereas others may form regulatory ternary complexes. Some play crucial roles in human disorders, and for all of them, there are good reasons why investigations into their structures and functions should continue.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Very Large Telescope Spectra of Carbon Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Their Metallicity Dependence

Very Large Telescope (VLT) L-band spectra of six carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud are presented. The stars show absorption bands at 3.1 mm (HCN and C2H2), and 3.8mm, which is probably due to C 2H2. Two LMC stars show strong 3.5mm HCN absorption. The equivalent widths of the 3.1 mm and 3.8mm bands are systematically larger in LMC carbon stars than in carbon stars in the solar neighborhood. Moreover, the ratio of the equivalent widths of the 3.8 and 3.1 mm bands is much larger in the LMC, suggesting a higher ratio of n(C2H2)/n(HCN). The stronger absorption bands are in contrast to the assumption that if the elemental abundances are scaled from the carbon star’s abundances in the solar neighbor, the abundances of these molecules are less at lower metallicity. We argue for a systematically larger C/O ratio in LMC carbon stars. In the Galactic carbon stars on average; our chemical model shows that the stronger molecular bands in the LMC n(C)/n(O) ≈ 1.05–1.1 carbon stars could be explained with . The higher C/O ratio can also explain the higher ratio of n(C)/n(O) 1 1.2 n(C2H2)/n(HCN) in LMC stars than in the solar neighborhood. Subject headings: infrared: stars — Magellanic Clouds — stars: abundances — stars: AGB and post-AGB — stars: atmospheres — stars: carbon
Job Embeddedness: A Ten-year Literature Review and Proposed Guidelines

Job embeddedness (JE) construct is a construct that is relatively new and still somewhat ‘hazy’ in its definition. A clearer understanding of what we know and what we still do not know about JE and its relationships would lend a better suggestion to future research directions for testing the JE construct. This study reviews 37 papers published between 2001 and 2011 that met the criteria of being quantitative and qualitative studies on JE. Through an inductive review, we unravel a model of (a) antecedents to JE that explains what factors affect JE, (b) moderating and mediating effect of JE and (c) an outcome of JE. Based on our review, we propose directions for future research that will bring greater understanding of the relationship between JE and other constructs.
Solving routing problems by exploiting the dual of a master LP formulation

This paper introduces a duality analysis of a master Linear Programming (MLP) formulation of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). The considered MLP model is the slightly modiﬁed version of the relaxation of the Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition by expressing a VRPTW solution as a non-negative convex combination of constructed routes. The MLP model is basically the so-called reformulation of the VRPTW used in many Branch-and-Price (BP) algorithms. Our dual analysis shows that a pricing competition occurs in the dual model and the dual values of decision variables can guide us in making certain decision like customer grouping and introducing a new vehicle to an existing (incomplete) solution. By using our dual interpretation, we propose a heuristic algorithm that greedily constructs a routing plan by iteratively solving the MLP model as a central optimization mechanism. The objects to select in the MLP model are routes that are constructed by using a Dynamic Programming (DP) based method. We keep total number of routes bounded by a constant number, hence the size of the MLP model is ﬁxed. A complete routing plan, i.e. an integer solution to the MLP model, is obtained by making the aforementioned decisions. We provide further details of the algorithm and show its eﬃciency by means of a computational study.
Comparative performance study of wore segmentation techniques for handwritten Odia documents

Word segmentation of handwritten documents is a vital step in the Optical Character Recognition system as its accuracy greatly influences the overall recognition performance. In the literature, various methods have been proposed for word segmentation of handwritten documents of various languages. However, it is observed that for Odia, which is an important Indian language, very little work has been reported on word segmentation. Hence, the objective of this paper is to employ two standard existing methods to segment words of Odia handwritten documents and compare the segmentation performance of these methods with the lone Water Reservoir Algorithm available in the literature and finally rank those methods based on their segmentation performance. It is observed that out of three methods, the Tree Structure method performs the best comparing four different performance measures.
Spatial distribution of synapses on tyrosine hydroxylase–expressing juxtaglomerular cells in the mouse olfactory glomerulus

Olfactory sensory axons converge in specific glomeruli where they form excitatory synapses onto dendrites of mitral/tufted (M/T) and juxtaglomerular (JG) cells, including periglomerular (PG), external tufted (ET), and superficial‐short axon cells. JG cells consist of heterogeneous subpopulations with different neurochemical, physiological, and morphological properties. Among JG cells, previous electron microscopic (EM) studies have shown that the majority of synaptic inputs to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)‐immunoreactive neurons were asymmetrical synapses from olfactory nerve (ON) terminals. However, recent physiological results revealed that 70% of dopaminergic/γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons received polysynaptic inputs via ET cells, whereas the remaining 30% received monosynaptic ON inputs. To understand the discrepancies between EM and physiological data, we used serial EM analysis combined with confocal laser scanning microscope images to examine the spatial distribution of synapses on dendrites using mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein under the control of the TH promoter. The majority of synaptic inputs to TH‐expressing JG cells were from ON terminals, and they preferentially targeted distal dendrites from the soma. On the other hand, the numbers of non‐ON inputs were fewer and targeted proximal dendrites. Furthermore, individual TH‐expressing JG cells formed serial synapses, such as M/T→TH→another presumed M/T or ON→TH→presumed M/T, but not reciprocal synapses. Serotonergic fibers also associated with somatic regions of TH neurons, displaying non‐ON profiles. Thus, fewer proximal non‐ON synapses provide more effective inputs than large numbers of distal ON synapses and may occur on the physiologically characterized population of dopaminergic‐GABAergic neurons (70%) that receive their most effective inputs indirectly via an ON→ET→TH circuit. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:1059–1074, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Treatment goals in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer remains the number one gynecological killer in the Western world. Most ovarian cancer patients present with advanced-stage disease and are treated with cytoreductive surgery followed by combination chemotherapy. While the majority of patients respond to treatment, most will relapse such that the 5-year survival rates for advanced disease are approximately 20–25%. Overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) are the primary endpoints in clinical trials in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. In patients with early-stage ovarian cancer, PFS may be the preferred trial endpoint, whereas in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, the primary goal of therapy remains palliation and control of symptoms. Recent studies in recurrent disease have demonstrated that chemotherapy can improve the endpoints of PFS and overall survival, and so they are being used as the primary endpoints for comparing new regimens in phase III trials in relapsed patients. However, it would be easier to compare new treatment modalities if a uniformly accepted instrument was available that could evaluate quality of life and symptom control.
Appraising Alternative Methods of Accounting for Accelerated Tax Depreciation: A Relative-Accuracy Approach

A significant accounting problem arises whenever a taxpaying firm uses accelerated depreciation for tax purposes but straight-line for financial reporting. Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 11 requires that a firm which uses different methods of depreciation for tax and book purposes must set up a deferred credit account to record the difference between taxes actually paid and the taxes which would have been paid if straightline depreciation had been used for tax reporting. In this paper, an effort is made to assess the deferral method (D) using a criterion of earnings and rate-of-return accuracy. For this purpose, the deferred credit will be viewed as an offset to the asset's book balance. The assessment is made against two alternative methods of accountingflow-through (F) and accelerated (A) where the latter assumes that accelerated depreciation is used for tax and book purposes.
A Workers Co-operative in Tea-Success Turned into Failure

﻿A Workers' Co-operative in Tea Success Turned into Failure Shark Bhowmik THE Left Front government in Tripura has initiated a scheme through which workers of sick tea gardens are encouraged to form workers' co-operatives for managing them. There are at present three tea gardens which are being run in this way and plans have been announced to start two more. This scheme, if allowed to expand, can effectively serve as an alternative to the present system of private ownership. In contrast, the West Bengal Left Front's policies towards workers' cooperatives have not been very encouraging.
18F-FDG small-animal PET for monitoring the therapeutic effect of CT-guided radiofrequency ablation on implanted VX2 lung tumors in rabbits.

UNLABELLED The primary goals of this study were to investigate the behavior of normal lung tissues after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and to determine the suitability of 18F-FDG PET, using a dedicated small-animal scanner, for monitoring the early therapeutic effects of RFA on VX2 lung tumors (VX2s) in rabbits. METHODS Fourteen Japanese white rabbits with normal lungs underwent RFA, followed by 18F-FDG PET at 1 d and at 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk. In addition, 7 rabbits with untreated VX2s underwent 18F-FDG PET, and 13 rabbits with RFA-treated VX2s underwent 18F-FDG PET at 1 d (n = 7) or 1 wk (n = 6) after the treatment. RESULTS After RFA of normal lungs, ring-shaped accumulations of 18F-FDG, which coincided with inflammation caused by ablation, were observed. The mean early- (40-60 min after injection) and delayed (100-120 min)-phase ablated lesion-to-muscle ratios were, respectively, 2.9 +/- 1.0 and 3.3 +/- 0.8 (1 d), 4.1 +/- 0.6 and 5.2 +/- 0.9 (1 wk), 4.1 +/- 1.0 and 5.3 +/- 1.5 (2 wk), 3.1 +/- 0.5 and 3.6 +/- 1.1 (4 wk), and 1.8 +/- 0.1 and 2.3 +/- 0.1 (8 wk). At 4 and 8 wk, the uptake was less than that at 1 and 2 wk (P < 0.05). VX2s showed mean tumor-to-muscle ratios of 6.6 +/- 2.1 and 8.6 +/- 3.3 at the early and delayed phases, respectively. For ablated tumors, the respective ratios were 0.8 +/- 0.4 and 1.1 +/- 0.7 (1 d) and 1.2 +/- 0.5 and 1.5 +/- 0.7 (1 wk). These values were significantly lower than those for nonablated tumors (P < 0.001). Histopathologic examination confirmed the absence of viable tumors. 18F-FDG accumulation around ablated tumors reflected thermally damaged normal tissues and was significantly lower than that of control VX2s (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Our data suggest that 18F-FDG PET is promising for evaluating the therapeutic response of lung malignancies to RFA: Accumulation of 18F-FDG in surrounding normal tissues appears to be time dependent, and the data suggest that, clinically, 18F-FDG PET should be performed 4 wk or more after RFA. Delayed-phase images seem to better distinguish tumor from inflammation than do early-phase images.
Long-term administration of scopolamine interferes with nerve cell proliferation, differentiation and migration in adult mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus, but it does not induce cell death

Long-term administration of scopolamine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, can inhibit the survival of newly generated cells, but its effect on the proliferation, differentiation and migration of nerve cells in the adult mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus remain poorly understood. In this study, we used immunohistochemistry and western blot methods to weekly detect the biological behaviors of nerve cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of adult mice that received intraperitoneal administration of scopolamine for 4 weeks. Expression of neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN; a neuronal marker) and Fluoro-Jade B (a marker for the localization of neuronal degeneration) was also detected. After scopolamine treatment, mouse hippocampal neurons did not die, and Ki-67 (a marker for proliferating cells)-immunoreactive cells were reduced in number and reached the lowest level at 4 weeks. Doublecortin (DCX; a marker for newly generated neurons)-immunoreactive cells were gradually shortened in length and reduced in number with time. After scopolamine treatment for 4 weeks, nearly all of the 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled newly generated cells were located in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus, but they did not migrate into the granule cell layer. Few mature BrdU/NeuN double-labeled cells were seen in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. These findings suggest that long-term administration of scopolamine interferes with the proliferation, differentiation and migration of nerve cells in the adult mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus, but it does not induce cell death.
The author replies.

The letter by Spentzas (1) presents several interesting issues regarding severity of illness scores and their uses. Spentzas (1) comments that Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) “carries issues from the past structure of the PICU. ” Actually, the current series of investigations are designed to not only meet the evolutionary changes of the PICU but also stimulate future PICU assessments to keep up with the new focus of pediatric critical care and the prevention of morbidity and mortality. First, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network developed a measure of morbidity, the Functional Status Score, that is suitable for use in large-scale pediatric such as those required for quality studies (2). Second, the CPCCRN revised the time period for collecting the PRISM score to better separate the assessment of severity of illness (physiological instability) from the outcome (3). Third, the CPCCRN will construct predictors of both morbidity and mortality. This prospective dataset of over 10,000 patients is nearing completion.
A survey on Analyzing and Measuring Trustworthiness of User-Generated Content on Twitter during High-Impact Events

Over the past few years, emergence and advances in the Internet and mobile services have revolutionized the landscape of communication by common people. Online social media provides people with an open platform to share information and opinions on diverse topics. Twitter is a micro-blogging service, which has gained popularity as one of the prominent news source and information dissemination agent over last few years. During real-world impactful events like earthquakes, elections and social movements, we see a sudden rise in activity over the Internet. People log on to Twitter and other social media, to check for updates about these events, and to share information about the events. As this data is generated in real-time by users, who are directly or indirectly linked to the event, mining this data can yield useful knowledge about the event. The content on Twitter can provide rich information about the event, however, this vast resource of information is often is not credible, unstructured and full of noise. The unmonitored and anonymous nature of online social media makes it difficult to assess the accuracy, credibility or truthfulness of the information. Spread of misinformation, rumors, spams and inflammatory content on Twitter, can often have adverse effects on ground to real people. On the other hand, extracting timely, actionable and accurate information can be very useful in dealing with high impact events. We present a literature survey of the various research work done around the domain of analyzing and measuring trustworthiness of user-generated content onTwitter to study high-impact events.
Cell Wall Thickening Is Not a Universal Accompaniment of the Daptomycin Nonsusceptibility Phenotype in Staphylococcus aureus: Evidence for Multiple Resistance Mechanisms

ABSTRACT The mechanism(s) of daptomycin (DAP) resistance (DAPr) is incompletely defined. Thickened cell walls (CWs) acting as either a mechanical barrier or an affinity trap for DAP have been purported to be a major contributor to the DAPr phenotype. To this end, we studied an isogenic set of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates (pulsotype USA 300) from the bloodstream of a DAP-treated patient with endocarditis in which serial strains exhibited increasing DAPr. Of interest, the DAPr isolate differed from its parental strain in several parameters, including acquisition of a point mutation within the putative synthase domain of the mprF gene in association with enhanced mprF expression, increased synthesis of lysyl-phosphotidylglycerol, an enhanced positive envelope charge, and reduced DAP surface binding. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed no significant increases in CW thickness in the two DAPr isolates (MRSA 11/21 and REF2145) compared with that in the DAP-susceptible (DAPs) parental strain, MRSA 11/11. The rates of Triton X-100-induced autolysis were also identical for the strain set. Furthermore, among six additional clinically isolated DAPs/DAPrS. aureus strain pairs, only three DAPr isolates exhibited CWs significantly thicker than those of the respective DAPs parent. These data confirm that CW thickening is neither universal to DAPrS. aureus nor sufficient to yield the DAPr phenotype among S. aureus strains.
The responses of Labour-controlled London local authorities to major changes in housing policy, 1971-1983

This thesis explores the relationship between town halls and Conservative governments over two policy changes which reduced local autonomy: the Housing Finance Act 1972 imposed rent increases on council housing, and the 1980 Housing Act gave tenants the Right to Buy. The literature on local authority resistance concentrates on high-profile battles between government ministers and Clay Cross and Norwich councils, but the coverage of London boroughs is sparse, except for that on Camden’s defiance in 1972. This thesis aims to assess the responses of eight Labour-controlled boroughs in the capital to the controversial legislation, including Greenwich, targeted by government ministers for being especially ‘difficult’ over the Right to Buy. The thesis examines the extent to which Labour-controlled local authorities sought to resist the government measures, their strategies and the outcomes; splits in Labour groups over implementation and any differences between 1972 and 1980. Attention is paid to the role of local Conservatives in the controversies. The thesis relies on minutes of council meetings and reports in local newspapers, supplemented by some oral interviews. It was recognised in 1972 that for resistance to be effective, Labour authorities needed to agree a common strategy, but attempts to do so failed. While councillors increasingly feared incurring legal sanctions, the Parliamentary Labour Party urged them to accept a compromise which could lessen the rent increases. Camden rebelled for several months, despite a serious split among Labour councillors, and only complied when ministers made their position financially untenable. Labour groups remained more united over implementing the Right to Buy scheme as they had other priorities and could delay or frustrate individual sales. The boroughs did the minimum necessary to operate the government scheme and resisted pressure from ministers over their performance. After initially refusing to implement the 1980 legislation, Greenwich subsequently survived threats of intervention through negotiation. Overall this thesis demonstrates that there was resistance among the boroughs studied to both policy changes which encroached upon their autonomy, but that the political battles were mainly fought on housing issues with Conservative councillors invariably supporting their party in government.
PUNCTATE HYPERFLUORESCENT SPOTS ASSOCIATED WITH CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY AS SEEN ON INDOCYANINE GREEN ANGIOGRAPHY

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine indocyanine green angiography of eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods: We retrospectively studied the medical records of 39 patients (41 eyes) with active CSC who were <50 years of age. All patients had undergone fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography using a confocal laser scanning system. Results: On indocyanine green angiography, most patients showed choroidal abnormalities, such as filling delay, venous dilation, subretinal leakage, or focal areas of hyperfluorescence, that were attributed to choroidal vascular hyperpermeability. In addition, punctate hyperfluorescent spots were seen in 38 of 41 eyes (93%) with active CSC and in 29 of 37 fellow eyes (78%); these spots were seen in the macular area and outside the vascular arcade or in peripapillary locations, and they often appeared as clusters of distinct spots. A cluster of punctate hyperfluorescent spots was seen on midphase indocyanine green angiography, and focal areas of hyperfluorescence often appeared to expand with time from these punctate hyperfluorescent spots. Conclusion: Focal areas of hyperpermeability in CSC may be derived from the leakage of tiny punctate spots in the inner choroid. Hyperpermeability of these lesions may be involved in the development of serous retinal detachment associated with CSC.