Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two Common Bean Genotypes with Contrasting Response to Phosphorus Deficiency Show Variations in the microRNA 399-Mediated PvPHO2 Regulation within the PvPHR1 Signaling Pathway

Crop production of the important legume, the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), is often limited by low phosphorus (P) in the soil. The genotypes, BAT477 and DOR364, of the common bean have contrasting responses to P starvation. Plants from the BAT477 P deficiency tolerant genotype showed higher phosphate content and root biomass as compared to the DOR364 plants under P starvation. The PvPHR1 transcription factor-signaling pathway plays an essential role in the response to P starvation. PvPHO2, a negative regulator of this pathway, encodes an ubiquitin E2 conjugase that promotes degradation of P-responsive proteins and is the target gene of PvmiR399. PvPHO2 is downregulated in BAT477 plants under P deficiency, while such a response is not observed in P-starved DOR364 plants. Five putative PvmiR399 binding sites were identified in the 5′ UTR region in both genotypes. While four sites showed an identical DNA sequence, the fifth (binding site of PvPHO2 one) showed three base changes and higher complementarity scores in DOR364 as compared to BAT477. Modified 5′RACE experiments indicated that PvmiR399 binding and/or processing was affected in DOR364 P-starved plants. We propose that a less efficient cleavage of the PvPHO2 mRNA directed by PvmiR399 would result in a higher PvPHO2-mediated degradation of P-responsive proteins in the DOR364 genotype with decreased P deficiency tolerance.
Social stigma for adults and children with epilepsy

Summary For many people with epilepsy, the continuing social reality of their condition is as a stigma. Epilepsy stigma has three different levels; internalized, interpersonal, and institutional. While there have been documented improvements in public attitudes towards epilepsy, the remnants of “old” ideas about epilepsy continue to inform popular concepts resulting in a difficult social environment for those affected. The social and quality of life problems arising from a diagnosis of epilepsy can represent greater challenges than are warranted by its clinical severity. The relationship between stigma and impaired quality of life is well documented. Tackling the problem of stigma effectively requires that all three of different levels at which it operates are systematically addressed.
Cognitive effects of acute tryptophan depletion in the healthy elderly

Background: Studies investigating the cognitive effects of serotonin depletion, using the technique of acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) by dietary means, have generally suggested that ATD impairs delayed verbal recall and recognition. In two previous studies in the elderly, this result has not been replicated and ATD impaired working memory. These results may be susceptible to type II error but a similar testing schedule in the individual studies allows data to be pooled in a larger analysis. Methods: Data from two separate double-blind placebo-controlled studies of the effects of ATD on cognitive function in the elderly were combined. In one study, a low dose and in the other a high dose of amino acids was used. In a repeated measures analysis of variance, the effects of ATD and the interaction of this with the other factors (age, gender and dose) on cognitive measures was examined. Results: Data from 31 healthy subjects aged between 60 and 81 years were analysed. There were no main effects of ATD or consistent interactions between ATD and age, gender or dose. There were significant interactions between ATD, gender and dose. When tryptophan depleted, females having the higher dose drink had reduced scores on Digit span and immediate recall on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Conclusion: The enlarged data set did not confirm an overall effect of ATD on working memory or on delayed word recall but does suggest an effect of ATD on encoding or registration in the subgroup of females receiving a higher strength drink.
Factores predisponentes en relajación residual neuromuscular

Resumen. Este articulo muestra los resultados del seguimiento y analisis de 210 pacientes que ingresaron a la Unidad de Cuidados Post-anestesicos del Centenario Hospital Miguel Hidalgo de Abril a Septiembre de 2014 en la ciudad de Aguascalientes. La herramienta empleada para la identificacion de los factores predisponentes de relajacion residual neuromuscular fue un algoritmo genetico hibridizado con los conceptos de testor y testor tipico, asi como la integracion de operadores geneticos que permiten la generacion y mejora de individuos prometedores durante el proceso. La relajacion residual neuromuscular es la condicion clinica determinada por la persistencia de los efectos farmacologicos de los bloqueantes neuromusculares; situacion que debe ser evitada debido a que condiciona el aumento de la morbimortalidad del paciente. Los resultados sugieren como factores predisponentes de relajacion muscular residual, variables como el genero y la duracion de los procedimientos (que no han sido reportadas en la literatura), entre otras.
La gestion du régime pédagogique de CEGEPs

Mis en place il y a bientôt huit ans, les collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel sont l'objet de nombreuses critiques et de fréquentes contestations. Chargés d'assurer à tous les Québécois qui en ont les aptitudes la formation générale en même temps qu'une spécialisation suffisante pour accéder à des études universitaires ou au marché du travail, les CEGEPs ont de moins en moins la faveur des universitaires qui déplorent la spécialisation prématurée et l'absence de rigueur intellectuelle, de formation fondamentale chez un trop grand nombre d'étudiants, pas plus, d'ailleurs, qu'ils n'ont su trouver grâce aux yeux des industriels qui jugent insuffisante la formation spécialisée donnée aux futurs techniciens. Appelé à s'ajuster aux définitions souvent contradictoires des besoins de la société québécoise, confronté quotidiennement avec les aspirations souvent incertaines, indécises de la population étudiante, prisonnier d'un régime pédagogique qui réduit chaque institution au même commun dénominateur, le CEGEP n'a pas encore réussi à se situer comme "niveau d'études complet en lui-même, nettement distinct à la fois du cours secondaire et de l'enseignement supérieur" ; le CEGEP est donc toujours à la recherche de son identité.
Is Maternal Touch Used Referentially

Abu-Zhaya, Rana. M.S., Purdue University, August 2014, Is Maternal Touch Used Referentially? Major Professor: Amanda Seidl. Early social interactions are highly multimodal and include a wealth of cues (e.g., speech, facial expressions, motion, gestures and touch). Infant-directed speech by itself may aid in language development. Touch by itself has been also shown to play an important role in dyadic interactions affecting both the infant and the caregiver. However, little is known about the impact of the combination of these two modes of communication on infant language development. In this thesis, I hypothesize that caregiver touch is provided in synchrony with speech, providing the language-learning infant with cues that may not only help her to find words in the continuous stream of speech, but also to map between words and their referents. I examined the naturalistic use of touch by having mother read books to their 5-month-olds. Results suggest that mothers temporally align touches with the production of target words. Thus, the infant is provided with yet another cue to segment the speech stream and pull out the words produced by the caregiver. In addition, results suggest that caregivers tend to touch in locations congruent with their speech (e.g., touch the belly while saying the word belly). This might highlight the meaning of target words to infants through the use of touch. Thus, results suggest that caregiver touch may be useful to the language learning infant for both segmentation and word learning.
Effective Gene Therapy in a Mouse Model of Prion Diseases

Classical drug therapies against prion diseases have encountered serious difficulties. It has become urgent to develop radically different therapeutic strategies. Previously, we showed that VSV-G pseudotyped FIV derived vectors carrying dominant negative mutants of the PrP gene are efficient to inhibit prion replication in chronically prion-infected cells. Besides, they can transduce neurons and cells of the lymphoreticular system, highlighting their potential use in gene therapy approaches. Here, we used lentiviral gene transfer to deliver PrPQ167R virions possessing anti-prion properties to analyse their efficiency in vivo. Since treatment for prion diseases is initiated belatedly in human patients, we focused on the development of a curative therapeutic protocol targeting the late stage of the disease, either at 35 or 105 days post-infection (d.p.i.) with prions. We observed a prolongation in the lifespan of the treated mice that prompted us to develop a system of cannula implantation into the brain of prion-infected mice. Chronic injections of PrPQ167R virions were done at 80 and 95 d.p.i. After only two injections, survival of the treated mice was extended by 30 days (20%), accompanied by substantial improvement in behaviour. This delay was correlated with: (i) a strong reduction of spongiosis in the ipsilateral side of the brain by comparison with the contralateral side; and (ii) a remarkable decrease in astrocytic gliosis in the whole brain. These results suggest that chronic injections of dominant negative lentiviral vectors into the brain, may be a promising approach for a curative treatment of prion diseases.
Atavisms in psychopathological theory

Abstract The long-term persistence of neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, poses difficult problems for any psychological theory. An attempt is made to revive the Watson-Mowrer conditioning theory and to avoid the many criticisms directed against it in the past. It is suggested that recent research has produced changes in learning theory that can be used to render this possible. In the first place, the doctrine of equipotentiality has been shown to be wrong, and some such concept as Seligman's “preparedness” is required, that is the notion that certain CS are biologically prepared to be more readily connected with anxiety responses than others. In the second place, the law of extinction has to be amended, and the law of incubation or enhancement added, according to which the exposure of the CS-only may, under certain specified conditions, have the effect of increasing the strength of the CR, rather than reducing it. The major conditions favouring incubation are (1) Pavlovian B conditioning, that is a type of conditioning in which the CR is a drive; (2) a strong UCS, and (3) short exposure of the CS-only.
[Molecular cancer epidemiology--the present status and future possibilities].

Molecular cancer epidemiology is a relatively new strategy for malignancies. This strategy has made it possible to diagnose the predisposition to cancer. An individual is said to have a predisposition to cancer when a tumor-suppressor gene is inactivated in germ-line cells. Mainly the inactivation of the tumor-suppressor gene is caused by mutations at the coding region of the gene. However, we clarified that point mutations or hypermethylations of the retinoblastoma tumor-suppressor gene (RB) also cause inactivation of the gene, resulting in retinoblastoma. On the other hand, studies to improve the diagnosed predisposition to cancer have not been performed. We therefore started a basic study for this purpose. As the first example of limiting the predisposition to cancer, the cases with a point mutation at the RB promoter region might be good candidates. In these carriers, only the RB promoter region is inactivated in spite of a lack of abnormalities in the coding region. Therefore, if the RB promoter activity is recovered by drugs, predisposition to retinoblastoma should be limited. As the second example, Li-Fraumeni syndrome in which the p53 gene is hereditarily mutated might be a good candidate. Recently p53 has been reported to stimulate the WAF1 gene, and the WAF1 protein to inhibit cdk activity, which inactivates the RB gene product by phosphorylation. In addition, we found that p53 up-regulates the promoter activity of the RB gene. These findings suggest that p53 directly or indirectly activates RB at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. Therefore, reactivation of the WAF1 or RB gene by certain drugs might compensate for the loss of function of p53 in Li-Fraumeni syndrome. We then suggest that it might be possible to prevent cancer by enhancing some intact target genes of the genetically inactivated tumor-suppressor gene. We term this new strategy "gene-regulating chemoprevention. " To test this hypothesis it is important to clarify the structure of the RB promoter. In summary we found that RBF-1 and ATF sites are the core promoter regions, that the neighboring E2F site is a silencer site, and that E4TF1 preferentially binds to the RBF-1 site. We then speculate that drugs interfering with the binding of the E2F complex might become good candidates enhancing RB promoter activity. To find drugs regulating the promoters of these genes, it is reasonable to try G1 arresting drugs, because WAF1 and RB are thought to arrest cells at the G1 phase. Actually we found several drugs causing G1 arrest. They are several flavonoids which we ingest daily from vegetables and fruits, or prostaglandin D2 and its metabolite. In summary, we propose that "gene-regulating chemoprevention" will be a useful method for molecular cancer epidemiology.
3D Lane Boundary Tracking Using Local Linear Segments

In this paper we propose a method for estimating arbitrary lane boundaries using noisy sensor data. Lane boundaries are modelled three dimensionally as consecutive linear segments in real world coordinates fixed in the local environment of the vehicle. A detailed error model is defined in order to estimate and represent uncertainties arising during the perception process. Uncertainties are estimated in lateral direction along lane boundaries. A detailed error model of the vehicle state incorporates the uncertainties arising during the perspective mapping. A two dimensional Interval Map is employed in order to structure the environment and manage the linear segments efficiently. The proposed method enables a compensation of erroneous ego state estimates or a flat world assumption. Results demonstrating the successful three dimensional estimation of lane boundary segments using real world sensor data are presented and discussed. The estimated positions are compared to reference data for evaluation.
Effectiveness of Combining Worked Examples And Deliberate Practice for High School Geometry

Summary Sixty-nine high school students practised on geometry subtopics using worked example–problem pairs. The free-choice group had a choice of their practice pairs, whereas the deliberate practice group was presented with practice tasks that covered all and only their weak areas as determined by a pretest. The results demonstrated a significant instructional group by level of expertise interaction with superior performance by the deliberate practice group over the free-choice group for more knowledgeable learners playing the major role in the significant interaction. On the basis of these findings, optimal strategies for organizing student practice in secondary classrooms are discussed in terms of cognitive load factors and expert–novice differences. It was concluded that a deliberate practice strategy over a free-choice strategy was desirable for more knowledgeable but not for less knowledgeable learners. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PRAGMATICS OF THE COMPLEX DP IN ANCIENT GREEK

In Classical Greek, complex determiner phrases may be formed in various ways. From a semantic point of view, the different formal patterns seem not to be associated with differences in meaning; in traditional grammars they are all claimed to be equally grammatical and equally definite. The distribution of the varieties of complex DP in discourse has not been studied in detail. In this paper I will discuss the combination of a noun with a modifying adjective. I will investigate the various patterns from semantic, pragmatic and, to a certain extent, syntactic points of view. I conclude that the possible configurations are semantically equivalent, but sensitive to information structure, both within the clause and in the larger context. 1 Definiteness in Classical Greek The definite determiner of Classical Greek developed from the well-known Indo-European demonstrative pronoun *so-/to-. This process of semantic and pragmatic function change has been documented for many other languages, e.g. German and the Romance languages (Lyons 1999). In Classical Greek, this development took place between the writing down of the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey (ca. 700 BCE) and the beginning of the Classical period (500-300 BCE). There are some indications of an emerging definite determiner already in Homer, but it is only in the prose literature of the fifth and fourth centuries that we may observe the full extension of the system. The definite determiner attaches to its NP as a proclitic and agrees with it in number and case. Clitics of different types, such as sentence particles, may intervene between the determiner and its noun complement. In the case of a complex NP, there are several possible ways of attaching the determiner (1a-e):
Noncoherent space-time coding: An algebraic perspective

The design of space-time signals for noncoherent block-fading channels where the channel state information is not known a priori at the transmitter and the receiver is considered. In particular, a new algebraic formulation for the diversity advantage design criterion is developed. The new criterion encompasses, as a special case, the well-known diversity advantage for unitary space-time signals and, more importantly, applies to arbitrary signaling schemes and arbitrary channel distributions. This criterion is used to establish the optimal diversity-versus-rate tradeoff for training based schemes in block-fading channels. Our results are then specialized to the class of affine space-time signals which allows for a low complexity decoder. Within this class, space-time constellations based on the threaded algebraic space-time (TAST) architecture are considered. These constellations achieve the optimal diversity-versus-rate tradeoff over noncoherent block-fading channels and outperform previously proposed codes in the considered scenarios as demonstrated by the numerical results. Using the analytical and numerical results developed in this paper, nonunitary space-time codes are argued to offer certain advantages in block-fading channels where the appropriate use of coherent space-time codes is shown to offer a very efficient solution to the noncoherent space-time communication paradigm.
Differences in Industry Specialist Knowledge and Business Risk Identification and Evaluation

ABSTRACT: This paper argues that opportunities for auditors to gain industry-specific knowledge differ across industry settings. This knowledge is of particular benefit when identifying business risks, information sources, evidence-gathering processes and accounts and related assertions. Two groups of auditors, who specialize in very different industries, are compared. One group specializes in a complex industry, which affords them the opportunity to gain relatively more industry specific knowledge than the other group, which specializes in a less complex (generic) industry. Comparing auditor responses with the answers given by expert panels, we find that auditors working in a complex industry have a greater comparative ability to identify business risks, information sources, and evidence-gathering processes in their industry than auditors working in a generic industry.
SPERM CHROMATIN

Available data on dry and hydrated nuclear volume of mammalian spermatozoa indicate that available volume is clearly insufficient to contain sperm chromatin packed in nucleosome-like structures. Therefore, sperm DNA-protein complexes must be packed differently than somatic DNA-protein complexes. Packing of DNA in fixed, dehydrated mammalian sperm approaches the physical limits of molecular compaction, making mammalian sperm chromatin the most condensed eukaryotic DNA known. The fundamental packaging unit of sperm chromatin is a toroid approximately 900-A outer diameter. 200-A thickness, and 150-A diameter hole. Each toroid contains 60 kilobases of DNA and is linked to other toroids by uncoiled DNA stretches. The factors that contribute to mammalian chromatin structuration are still under study. The role of protamines in sperm chromatin condensation and nuclear shaping has been overstressed to the exclusion of other possible factors. Chromatin organization in sperm nuclei is maintained during sperm condensation by tight interactions with the nuclear matrix at fixed sites, inducing the formation of individual toroid-shaped DNA loop stuctures. Observations that abnormal manchettes affect sperm head shape and chromatin organization inducing sterility speak about manchette importance during chromatin organization. The presence in sperm chromatin of regions packaged in specific ways with several types of protamines or even with histones, indicates that nuclear shaping and chromatin organization must be under DNA control. The structural properties that distinguish sperm DNA from somatic DNA may play the most important role in chromatin organization.
Identity security in biometric systems based on keystroking

The most valuable element of biometric security systems are the personal features of its users. Characteristics of individuals are unique and must be protected. We focus in this paper on methods of protection of user identity in systems based on keystroking. Our approach assumes giving minimal information to adversaries and the best responsiveness of the system regardless of user representation or possible usage. We consider keystroking not only in the context of keyboard, but also touch screen, pin pad and any other input device that could be used for typing. We present as results several complete security solutions that are applicable for software as well as hardware systems.
Bacterial Survival under Extreme UV Radiation: A Comparative Proteomics Study of Rhodobacter sp., Isolated from High Altitude Wetlands in Chile

Salar de Huasco, defined as a polyextreme environment, is a high altitude saline wetland in the Chilean Altiplano (3800 m.a.s.l.), permanently exposed to the highest solar radiation doses registered in the world. We present here the first comparative proteomics study of a photoheterotrophic bacterium, Rhodobacter sp. , isolated from this remote and hostile habitat. We developed an innovative experimental approach using different sources of radiation (in situ sunlight and UVB lamps), cut-off filters (Mylar, Lee filters) and a high-throughput, label-free quantitative proteomics method to comprehensively analyze the effect of seven spectral bands on protein regulation. A hierarchical cluster analysis of 40 common proteins revealed that all conditions containing the most damaging UVB radiation induced similar pattern of protein regulation compared with UVA and visible light spectral bands. Moreover, it appeared that the cellular adaptation of Rhodobacter sp. to osmotic stress encountered in the hypersaline environment from which it was originally isolated, might further a higher resistance to damaging UV radiation. Indeed, proteins involved in the synthesis and transport of key osmoprotectants, such as glycine betaine and inositol, were found in very high abundance under UV radiation compared to the dark control, suggesting the function of osmolytes as efficient reactive oxygen scavengers. Our study also revealed a RecA-independent response and a tightly regulated network of protein quality control involving proteases and chaperones to selectively degrade misfolded and/or damaged proteins.