Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Threonine 308 phosphorylated form of akt translocates to the nucleus of PC12 cells under nerve growth factor stimulation and associates with the nuclear matrix protein nucleolin

We have examined the issue of whether or not in PC12 cells it may be observed a nerve growth factor (NGF) nuclear translocation of an active (phosphorylated) Akt. Western blot analysis with antibodies to either total or phosphorylated Akt showed a maximal nuclear translocation after 15 min of NGF stimulation. NGF increased rapidly and transiently the enzymatic activity of immunoprecipitable nuclear Akt and after 45 min the values returned to a level close to the basal one. Enzyme translocation was blocked by the selective phosphoinositide 3‐kinase inhibitor, LY294002. Confocal microscopy of samples stained with antibody to Akt showed an evident increase in immunostaining intensity in the nuclear interior after NGF treatment. Treatment of cells with inhibitors of protein phosphatase PP2A, calyculin A, or okadaic acid, maintained the phosphorylation levels of nuclear Akt. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed an association between Akt and PP2A that was maximal when nuclear Akt activity was decreased. Both total and active Akt associated with the nuclear matrix and, in particular, with the protein nucleolin, with which Akt co‐immunoprecipitated. These findings strongly suggest that the intranuclear translocation of active Akt is an important step in the signaling pathways elicited by the neurotrophin NGF and that the intranuclear control of Akt is achieved through the action of PP2A. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Two novel methods for the determination of CYP1A2 activity using the paraxanthine/caffeine ratio

Cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) plays an important role in drug metabolism. Provocation with caffeine is used to estimate CYP1A2 activity, but in most tests a long period of caffeine abstinence has to be taken into account. We compared two novel methods with the currently applied test.
Transit as a Service

Increasingly, the Internet is being used for services, such as home health monitoring, where correct and continuous operation is essential. Yet the current Internet is not up to the task. There are numerous issues that should make anyone pause before trusting the Internet with the timely delivery of something that truly mattered. We propose a novel approach, called Transit as a Service (TaaS), that is designed to allow for enterprises and governments to configure reliable and secure end to end paths through participating providers. Unlike efforts to redesign the Internet from scratch, TaaS provides ISPs incremental incentives to adopt. A highly reliable ISP can offer transit through its network as a service to remote paying customers. Those customers can stitch together reliable end to end paths through a combination of participating and non-participating ISPs in order to improve the fault-tolerance and robustness of mission critical transmissions. We provide an implementation of TaaS, evaluate its performance in testbed settings, and demonstrate using simulations its ability to provide improved reliability and security.
Characterizing and Improving Spatial Visualization Skills

Three-dimensional spatial visualization is an essential skill for geoscientists. We conducted two evaluations of students’ spatial skills to examine whether their skills improve after enrollment in a geology course or courses. First, we present results of pre- and post-course survey of abstract visualization skills used to characterize the range of spatial abilities in the student population at Carleton College. In Introductory Geology, there was a correlation between those who score very poorly on the spatial survey and those who receive a grade of C or lower. Students in higher-level courses had better developed visualization skills than those in Introductory Geology. Gender differences disappeared in upper-level courses except for the spatial relations (mental rotation) task, where male students consistently outperformed females. Second, we describe the efficacy of instructional materials designed for a Structural Geology course at the University of Wisconsin. This study included a qualitative controlled experiment investigating whether frequent use of stereographic projections affected student performance on exam questions requiring spatial skills. The results of both the survey-based quantitative study and materials-based qualitative study suggest that students’ spatial abilities can improve through practice provided in geology courses.
Evidence on the Efficiency of Index Options Markets LUCY F. ACKERT AND

Index options have been one of the most successful of the many innovative financial instruments introduced over the last few decades, as their high trading volume indicates. Given their prominence, the pricing efficiency of these markets is of great importance. ; Detecting inefficient pricing, or mispricing, requires comparing a theoretically efficient price with prices of options traded in financial markets. One popular approach to deriving pricing relationships is based on a principle called no-arbitrage, which simply assumes that arbitrageurs enter the market and quickly eliminate mispricing if a profit opportunity without risk exists. However, in a well-functioning economy there is no such opportunity; arbitrage is critical for ensuring market efficiency. ; The authors analyze earlier evidence that has been taken to indicate that options markets are inefficient and that casts doubt on whether options markets contribute to price discovery, hedging, and efficient capital allocation. The article presents new evidence on index option pricing, examining arbitrage strategies that do not involve trading a stock index and relationships that hold for any given value of the underlying asset. This approach avoids some of the difficulties that can arise from impediments to arbitrage. The article also examines the efficiency of the market for the popular Standard and Poor's 500 index options. While the results indicate that these options are frequently mispriced, the mispricing may not indicate market inefficiency because there are limits to arbitrage.
[Ocular pulse amplitude: a new biometrical parameter for the diagnose of glaucoma?].

BACKGROUND Dynamic contour tonometry (DCT) enables accurate transcorneal measurements of the intraocular pressure and ocular pulse amplitude (OPA). In this study, we investigated whether this new biometrical parameter can characterize different glaucoma types and serve as a helpful tool in the diagnosis and therapy of the disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 441 eyes of 222 patients were included. Pressure measurements were performed with contour and applanation tonometry. RESULTS Mean OPA was 3.1+/-1.4 mmHg. Eyes with ocular hypertension showed significantly higher OPA values (3.6+/-1.3 mmHg) than healthy eyes (3.1+/-1.4 mmHg) and eyes with low-tension glaucoma (2.9+/-1.4 mmHg). After trabeculectomy, the values were significantly lower (2.4+/-1.3 mmHg) than in healthy eyes. CONCLUSION The size of the OPA seems to be characteristic for different types of glaucoma and directly dependent on intraocular pressure levels. Further investigation is indicated to clarify its diagnostic usefulness.
A Efetividade da Missão e a Evidenciação da Responsabilidade Socioambiental: Uma Análise em Organizações do Segmento de Papel e Celulose

A missao institucional e considerada um norte quanto a conducao de acoes empresariais no seu direcionamento frente a sociedade. Este estudo objetivou investigar o eventual alinhamento da declaracao da missao institucional com as acoes e decisoes organizacionais relacionadas a responsabilidade social e ambiental. Para tanto, avaliou se a missao institucional serve como um direcionador efetivo do planejamento estrategico, verificando a incidencia dos elementos elencados pelo modelo estabelecido por Pearce (1982); e analisou as informacoes socioambientais evidenciados nos relatorios de sustentabilidade por quatro grupos de indicadores em consonância com os procedimentos fixados pela Norma Brasileira de Contabilidade T-15 e outras recomendacoes dos Institutos Ethos e Ibase, alem das diretrizes da Global Reporting Iniciative (GRI) estabelecidos por Sampaio et al. (2012). A amostra deste estudo foi formada por empresas do segmento de papel e celulose da base de dados da Revista Exame Maiores e Melhores do ano de 2012, que foram encontradas as missoes institucionais com terminologias indicando declaracao publica de responsabilidade socioambiental e os relatorios de sustentabilidade. A tecnica estatistica utilizada foi a comparacao das medias obtidas por cada item que formava os grupos de indicadores. Os achados empiricos permitem evidenciar uma eventual existencia que as organizacoes do segmento de papel e celulose buscam por intermedio desses dois sinalizadores se legitimarem perante a sociedade, alinhando-se como respostas as pressoes sociais por um desenvolvimento sustentavel, comportamento socialmente aceitavel e para que se mantenham operando prosperamente.
Conformational changes induced in the human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein by soluble CD4 binding

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) binds to the surface of T lymphocytes and other cells of the immune system via a high affinity interaction between CD4 and the HIV outer envelope glycoprotein, gp120. By analogy with certain other enveloped viruses, receptor binding by HIV may be followed by exposure of the hydrophobic NH2 terminus of its transmembrane glycoprotein, gp41, and fusion of the virus and cell membranes. A similar sequence of events is thought to take place between HIV-infected and uninfected CD4+ cells, resulting in their fusion to form syncytia. In this study, we have used a soluble, recombinant form of CD4 (sCD4) to model events taking place after receptor binding by the HIV envelope glycoproteins. We demonstrate that the complexing of sCD4 with gp120 induces conformational changes within envelope glycoprotein oligomers. This was measured on HIV-1-infected cells by the increased binding of antibodies to the gp120/V3 loops, and on the surface of virions by increased cleavage of this loop by an exogenous proteinase. At 37 degrees C, these conformational changes are coordinate with the dissociation of gp120/sCD4 complexes from gp41, and the increased exposure of gp41 epitopes. At 4 degrees C, gp120 dissociation from the cell surface does not occur, but increased exposure of both gp120/V3 and gp41 epitopes is detected. We propose that these events occurring after CD4 binding are integral components of the membrane fusion reaction between HIV or HIV-infected cells and CD4+ cells.
Towards a Process Maturity Model for Open Source Software

For traditional software development, process maturity models (CMMI, SPICE) have long been used to assess product quality and project predictability. For OSS, on the other hand, these models are generally perceived as inadequate. In practice, though, many OSS communities are well-organized, and there is evidence of process maturity in OSS projects. This position paper presents work in progress on developing a process maturity model specifically for OSS projects. 1.
Futility and the Meaning of Life Debate

Some pessimists claim that all of our efforts are futile. Our lives, they claim, are no different from the mythical Sisyphus. Sisyphus would push a large stone to the top of a mountain, only to have the stone roll down the mountain. Despite his repeated efforts, Sisyphus accomplished nothing. As individuals, we may expend great effort in our lives, but each of us will die and humanity will eventually go extinct. Does this make our efforts futile? An effort is futile when there is a repeated failure to bring about one’s envisioned goal. Therefore, whether an effort is futile will depend on the nature of one’s goals. If one adopts unrealizable goals, such as the goal to leave an everlasting trace of one’s existence, then one’s efforts will be futile. However, if one adopts goals that are challenging, but physically possible, then one may experience accomplishment and fulfillment, instead of futility. Even if some of our efforts are futile, one’s life can still be worth living. There is more to life than just having and achieving goals.
Moving to the Media Cloud for Data and Content Integration Management

The amount of information available to a person is growing day by day; hence retrieving the correct information in a timely manner plays a very important role. This paper talks about indexing document collections and fetching the right information with the help of Cloud computing platforms. This paper is an attempt at creating personal media cloud application for internet connected devices which talks about indexing and searching document collections and fetching the right information with the help of Media Cloud. This private Media Cloud enables users to store files and access the files from their internet connected devices at anywhere. KeywordsCloud Computing, Media Cloud, Content Classification,
Voice processing technique for human cerebral activity measurement

Variations in the chaotic characteristics of the human uttered voice are strongly related to the speaker's fatigue condition. When we define a time-local exponent to evaluate the time-local characteristics of the uttered voice time domain signal and calculate it periodically or continually, it is possible to observe changes in human cerebral activity. The time-local exponent, called the Cerebral Exponent, can be defined like the first Lyapunov exponent. If it is possible to calculate the Cerebral Exponent of uttered voice signals in real-time, the proposed chaotic voice analysis technology can be considered as a technology to install a tachometer on the brain of a speaker.
Bilingualism: An Asset or a Burden?

The article shows literary scholar opinion whether bilingualism is an asset or burden. The literary scholars see it from many aspects such as neuropsychological, cognitive, social, and psychology. From their research it found that generally bilingualism is an asset and not a burden. The analysis is also supported by argument and some examples from bilingual peoples.
The Evolution of Human Sexuality

Abstract Humans are sexual creatures. Human preoccupation with sex and sexuality makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. In particular, Evolutionary Psychology (EP) has proven to be a valuable heuristic approach for generating and testing hypotheses about human sexuality. The main theme of this volume is the evolution of human sexuality, or evolved human sexual psychologies. A second theme is the identification of implicit conceptual assumptions about sexual attraction and the operational definition of key terms in order to promote greater integrity of conceptual models.
Variation in the E2-binding domain of HPV 16 is associated with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions of the cervix

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are strongly associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and invasive cancer mainly through the action of the E6 and E7 viral proteins, transcription of which is down-regulated by the E2 protein. To test the hypothesis that HPV 16 E2 variation is important in the development of high-grade squamous neoplasia of the cervix, we carried out a cross-sectional analysis of low-grade and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) for specific mutations in the HPV 16 E2 gene and for E2 gene disruption in these regions. Isolates were also analysed for the HPV 16 350T-G variant. 22 of 178 low-grade SILs and 43 of 61 high-grade SILs examined, contained HPV 16. No relationship was found between the E6 350T-G variant, or the E2 hinge region 3410C-T variant, and lesion grade. However, disruption of the regions of E2 analysed was significantly more frequent in high-grade lesions, and there was a significant association between the 3684C-A variant in the E2 DNA binding domain and high-grade histology suggesting that this variant may be important in progression to high-grade intraepithelial disease. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign
RAPID DEPLOYABLE ANTENNA CONCEPT SELECTION FOR CUBESATS

In this paper, we present a new graphical tool for the preliminary design of deployable CubeSat antennas aimed at coupling electromagnetic and structural antenna design. The proposed methodology predicts antenna performance characteristics using analytical expressions and compares them graphically against antenna geometric parameters. Such a technique allows the comparison and analysis of several concepts simultaneously. A case study of preliminary antenna design in the Ka-band is included. The case study demonstrates the selection of constraint satisfying designs, the reduction of the design space by several orders of magnitude, and the identification of novel antenna concepts. A graphical user interface is created to implement the design methodology.
Overview of the NTCIR-11 Recognizing Inference in TExt and Validation (RITE-VAL) Task

System Valida5on Subtask Language Task Description Acronym Test Data Size Submissions Top Macro-F1 Top Accuracy Top Team (Run Num.) Fact Validation Simplified Chinese Multi-Classification CS-FV 613 12 38.93 44.05 III&CYUT (05) Traditional Chinese Multi-Classification CT-FV 613 15 39.51 44.70 III&CYUT (02) Japanese Binary Classification JA-FV 514 30 61.93 63.23 NUL (03) Passage Search -514 3 ---English Binary Classification EN-FV 188 9 53.17 55.85 BnO (01) System Validation Simplified Chinese Binary Classification CS-SVBC 1,200 23 61.51 62.33 BUPTTeam (05) Multi-Classification CS-SVMC 1,200 18 44.39 51.83 WUST (01) Traditional Chinese Binary Classification CT-SVBC 1,200 17 56.24 56.25 III&CYUT (04) Multi-Classification CT-SVMC 1,200 17 40.54 43.33 III&CYUT (05) Japanese Binary Classification JA-SV 1,379 26 69.59 77.81 NUL (04) Total 170 Active participating team: 23 teams • 11 from Japan • 7 from Taiwan • 4 from China • 1 from Norway • 1 from Vietnam (One team consists of people from Japan and Vietnam.)
The contemporary use of beta‐agonists

Sir, I read with interest R. Lamont’s commentary (October 1993) on P-agonists. He makes several very good points, primarily that the perinatal morbidity and mortality are too great a problem to justify the therapeutic nihilism some authors adopt. The nature of preterm birth is such that many patients are not candidates for tocolysis, but this should not blind us to the benefits which he mentions in his article. In addition, there are real benefits in identifying those patients most likely to benefit from tocolysis, as continuing a pregnancy in many instances is in the interest of neither the fetus nor the mother, particularly when preterm labour is the cause of intrauterine infection. I would suggest that clinical criteria are neither sensitive nor specific, and increased use be made of diagnostic amniocentesis. I agree with his assertion that P-agonists be used with caution, but the fact remains that major maternal morbidity, and even mortality, is still occurring with the use of P-agonists, even after 20 years of clinical practice, which suggests that the drug has a low therapeutic index. Although we do not have the perfect tocolytic, and never will, there is another more potent and safer tocolytic which also has been available for nearly 20 years, namely indomethacin. Therapy seldom needs to be discontinued due to maternal side effects, as is the case with 6-agonists (Kierse 1992). The main concern relates to ductal constriction, and resultant pulmonary hypertension with persistent fetal circulation. This effect is, however, reversible on cessation of therapy and gestationally dependent, even when doses significantly in excess of those usually employed for tocolysis are used (Eronen 1991). Even if there was occasional serious fetal morbidity associated with indomethacin use, this could easily be offset by the high maternal tolerance and increased efficacy over currently available drugs. Although there are few trials which directly compare P-agonists and indomethacin, meta-analysis of those trials available for comparison shows a decrease in low birthweight infants and a strong tendency towards a decrease in perinatal mortality with relatively few numbers and considerably less than those required by P-agonists (Kierse 1992).
Biochemical properties and subcellular distribution of the neuronal class E calcium channel alpha 1 subunit

Anti-peptide antibodies specific for the neuronal calcium channel alpha 1E subunit (anti-CNE1 and anti-CNE2) were produced to study the biochemical properties and subcellular distribution of the alpha 1E polypeptide from rat brain. Immunoblotting identified a single size form of 245-255 kDa which was a substrate for phosphorylation by cAMP- dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C, cGMP-dependent protein kinase, and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Ligand- binding studies of alpha 1E indicate that it is not a high affinity receptor for the dihydropyridine isradipine or the peptide toxins omega- conotoxin GVIA or omega-conotoxin MVIIC at concentrations which elicit high affinity binding to other channel types in the same membrane preparation. The alpha 1E subunit is widely distributed in the brain with the most prominent immunocytochemical staining in deep midline structures such as caudate-putamen, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, cerebellum, and a variety of nuclei in the ventral midbrain and brainstem. Staining is primarily in the cell soma but is also prominent in the dendritic field of a discrete subset of neurons including the mitral cells of the olfactory bulb and the distal dendritic branches of the cerebellar Purkinje cells. Our observations indicate that the 245- 255 kDa alpha 1E subunit is localized in cell bodies, and in some cases in dendrites, of a broad range of central neurons and is potentially modulated by multiple second messenger-activated protein kinase.
Interação entre Infraestruturas e Regiões: O Caso do Porto de Aveiro

Através do recurso a um caso de estudo analisa-se neste artigo a atuação da Administração do Porto de Aveiro (APA) com o objetivo de contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da articulação das infraestruturas públicas com a comunidade envolvente. Numa perspetiva relacional, a APA tem vindo a conferir uma importância crescente ao marketing e à integração da estrutura por si gerida em diversas redes organizacionais. Este diálogo e esta interação com o meio envolvente têm permitido ultrapassar uma gestão circunscrita a uma infraestrutura portuária, conferindo a este recurso uma dimensão mais alargada de onde resultam benefícios quer para a competitividade do porto de Aveiro quer para a região e comunidade envolvente.
HAL: A High-Level Actor Language and Its Distributed Implementation

We describe Hal, a high-level, actor-based language which has served as a test-bed for experimenting with powerful linguistic constructs for parallel and distributed programming. Hal is an architecture independent, concurrent object-oriented language which supports inheritance, synchronization constraints, continuation capture, synchronous and asynchronous message passing, and re ection. The Hal compiler has been used to execute actor programs on a number of shared and distributed memory machines. Hal allows powerful abstractions to be dened and reused. Furthermore, Hal supports the use of synchronization constraints at a ne-grained level and the use of software pipelining. In this paper, we describe the design of Hal, using speci c examples to illustrate its features. We then discuss some of the implementation issues in the run-time system.