Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular organization of protein-DNA complexes for cell-targeted DNA delivery.

Multifunctional proteins are interesting candidates for nonviral gene transfer to and expression in their target cells. Since at difference of viral vectors, the performance of these vehicles depends on their functional optimisation, a better comprehension of the molecular organisation within protein-DNA complexes would be of great help in reaching their full delivery potential. In this work, we have characterised an RGD-tagged, cell-targeted multifunctional beta-galactosidase carrying a poly-lysine-based DNA-binding domain. In solution, the engineered enzyme spontaneously forms proteinaceous particles of between 20 and 40 nm in diameter that might contain around 10 molecules of enzymatically active protein. Plasmid DNA is efficiently condensed into these particles without modification of the shape, morphology or enzymatic activity, indicative of a comfortable molecular accommodation to the DNA-binding domains. Although the RGD peptide remains equally solvent-exposed and immunoreactive at different DNA-protein ratios, an optimal expression level of cell-delivered genes and integrin-binding specificity are both achieved at 0.02 microg of DNA per microg of protein, indicative of influences of the packaged nucleic acid on the interaction between filled vehicles and the receptors of target cells.
Current and Alternate Approaches to Personalization in Online Learning

In the context of distance (online) learning programs, the current paper focuses on two specific goals. First, we outline how personalization based on learning analytics has been implemented in online programs offered by traditional universities, but also providers of MOOCs and virtual institutions. However, this established approach is not without its limitations. Second, we introduce two alternate concepts that may support personalization based on work around readability indices and job crafting. These approaches may also help to address some of the limitations of learning analytics. The emphasis is on how personalization may support the development of individual learning paths that would provide means for both self-pacing and co-construction of the experience. The paper concludes with a review of facilitating and challenging factors for program leaders, online technical staff and designers working in open educational contexts.
Fos is an essential component of the mammalian UV response.

Mouse 3T3 fibroblasts lacking c‐fos were employed to demonstrate an essential function of the UV‐inducible transcription factor AP‐1 (Fos/Jun) in the response to the cytotoxic effects of short‐wavelength ultraviolet (UVC) radiation. Clonogenic survival and proliferation of cells lacking c‐fos were drastically reduced following UV irradiation. This UV hypersensitivity manifests itself primarily in increased cell death, partly by apoptosis, and prolonged recovery time from UV‐induced cell cycle arrest. Co‐culture with wild‐type cells did not ameliorate the hypersensitivity of mutant cells. Transcriptional induction of the c‐Fos target genes collagenase I, stromelysin‐1 and stromelysin‐2 by UV is almost absent in cells lacking c‐fos which correlates with a reduced UV induction of AP‐1 DNA‐binding and transactivation activity. The repair of UV‐induced DNA lesions was not affected, as shown by unscheduled DNA synthesis and host cell reactivation assays. These data demonstrate that c‐Fos is involved in a novel protective function other than DNA repair against the harmful consequences of UVC.
Notice of Retraction A method for computing global delays of Time Petri Nets

State class methods are a fundamental and most widely applied technique for timing analysis of Time Petri Nets (TPNs). However, the existing state class methods are not suitable for the computation of global time delay, which is an important issue for real-time systems. This paper presents a state class method for the analysis and verification of global time properties in TPNs that addresses the problem. Our method adopts a global time mode, which can efficiently evaluate global time stamps of state classes. This benefits from the introduction of a special reference transition, called zero transition, whose global firing time is always set to zero. We also decompose firing rules into several basic operations. The separation facilitates the introduction of new operations and brings us more flexibility.
PROCESSING RELATIVE CLAUSES IN CONTEXT: WHAT KIND OF PRIMING FROM THE PRECEDING CONTEXT IS MOST EFFECTIVE?

This study examines the influence of different kinds of preceding contexts on the processing of relative clauses. Through both a Chinese and an English version of an experiment, with native speakers recruited for each version, this study systematically compared the processing of relative clauses in a canonical, non-canonical, and “null” context in both Chinese and English and was the first to systematically examine three accounts of priming (the thematic pattern priming account proposed by Lin (2014), in addition to both the verb phrase constituent priming account and the syntactic position sequence priming account proposed by Fedorenko, Piantadosi, and Gibson (2012)) in relative clause processing in both Chinese and English. Results showed discrepancies between predictions from each priming account and the actual results. None of the three priming accounts could sufficiently explain the results in Chinese and English. Alternative possible explanations were suggested, including: (1) having a context makes relative clause reading more natural and frequency effects less obvious; (2) the NPs inside the RCs are primed by the original thematic roles or grammatical functions of same NPs in the critical context sentence; (3) an interplay of all three different kinds of priming in the processing of relative clauses in context may occur.
Headdress Detection Based on Saliency Map for Thangka Portrait Image

This paper applies the saliency map of attention model on Thangka image detection for the first time. Making contrast with some detection methods, an automatic detection algorithm is proposed to segment the headdress area of buddha in Thangka portrait image. Firstly, attention model is applied to calculate salient value of each pixel. Then, through using the detection method for back-light area of buddha, a new algorithm which fits for Thangka headdress is proposed. Meanwhile, this research also gives new thought to automatic image segmentation, not only for Thangkaka image, but also for other kinds of research objects. And, experiments show that the detection result is effectively approached to our purpose.
Micro-RNAs: viral genome and robustness of gene expression in the host

For comparing RNA rings or hairpins with reference or random ring sequences, circular versions of distances and distributions like those of Hamming and Gumbel are needed. We define these circular versions and we apply these new tools to the comparison of RNA relics (such as micro-RNAs and tRNAs) with viral genomes that have coevolved with them. Then we show how robust are the regulation networks incorporating in their boundary micro-RNAs as sources or new feedback loops involving ubiquitous proteins like p53 (which is a micro-RNA transcription factor) or oligopeptides regulating protein translation. Eventually, we propose a new coevolution game between viral and host genomes.
GEWEX water vapor assessment (G-VAP): final report

The 183-GHz water vapor absorption band measurements from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit B (AMSU-B) and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) on board polar-orbiting satellites were processed to produce a bias-corrected, intersatellite calibrated microwave brightness temperature data set suitable for longterm climate monitoring. The data set generation involves radiative transfer simulations to adjust for biases arising from satellite orbital drift and difference in local observation time between satellites. − Grid resolution: 1.5°×1.5°. − Contained fields: inter-satellite calibrated 183.31±1 GHz channel monthly mean brightness temperatures [K]. − Time span: January 1999 December 2014.
Grid cell contour mapping of point densities: bark beetle attacks, fallen pine shoots, and infested trees

A method for calculating and displaying patterns of local density of plants and animals is presented for use with personal computers. The algorithm, coded in the BASIC programming language, uses x,y spatial point coordinates of organisms to calculate and display a coloured or shaded map of local densities within grid cells. The radius of the local areas about the grid points within which densities are calculated, the density-class interval boundaries when colouring the cells, and the grid resolution can all be varied to facilitate exploratory investigations. Contour density maps resulting from the method are shown for an attack distribution of the bark beetle Pityogenes chalcographus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) on Norway spruce bark, Picea abies, and for a random distribution. Minimum allowed distance analysis of the attack distribution indicated a distance of behavioural avoidance of attack sites of about 1.6 cm for the bark beetle. Density maps of different local radii are also shown for Norway spruce trees killed by the bark beetle Ips typographus near Trebon, Czechoslovakia. Density maps using different local radii and density increments are presented for aggregated patterns of fallen Scots pine shoots, Pinus sylvestris, infested by Tomicus minor bark beetles in southern Sweden. A method is presented for statistical comparison of randomly-generated spatial point data with natural data by using Chi-square analysis of the histograms of differently coloured grid cells.
Inhibitory Effects of Curcumin and Tetrahydrocurcuminoids on the Tumor Promoter‐induced Reactive Oxygen Species Generation in Leukocytes in vitro and in vivo

The inhibitory effects of curcumin and two tetrahydrocurcuminoids on tumor promoter‐induced oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo were investigated. Curcumin, tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) and dihydroxytetrahydrocurcumin (DHTHC) exhibited significant inhibitory effects on 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA)‐induced O2‐generation in differentiated HL‐60 cells. The inhibitory activity of THC was weaker than that of curcumin. This tendency was the inverse of the results of previous studies on in vitro antioxidative activity against lipid peroxidation. The curcuminoids inhibited TPA‐induced intracellular peroxide formation in differentiated HL‐60 cells. THC exhibited much weaker inhibition of intracellular peroxide formation than curcumin, suggesting that this inhibition might be attributable to the inhibition of O2‐generation. The inhibitory effects of curcuminoids on TPA‐induced H2O2 formation in female ICR mouse skin were further examined using the double‐TPA‐application model. Each TPA application induces two distinct biochemical events, 1) recruitment of inflammatory cells to the inflammatory regions and 2) activation of oxidant‐producing cells. Double pretreatment of mice with curcuminoids before each TPA treatment significantly suppressed double TPA application‐induced H2O2 formation in the mouse skin. Coadministrations of curcumin with either first or second TPA treatment significantly inhibited H2O2 formation. In addition, THC tends to show weaker inhibitory activities than curcumin in bioassays related to tumor promotion, i.e., inhibition of tumor promoter‐induced inflammation in mouse skin and Epstein‐Barr virus activation. These tendencies were parallel to those in the tumor‐suppressive potential of curcumin and THC in mouse skin, as previously reported. Thus, we concluded that curcuminoids significantly suppress TPA‐induced oxidative stress via both interference with infiltration of leukocytes into the inflammatory regions and inhibition of their activation.
Resting-State Quantitative Electroencephalography Reveals Increased Neurophysiologic Connectivity in Depression

Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are hypothesized to arise from dysfunction in brain networks linking the limbic system and cortical regions. Alterations in brain functional cortical connectivity in resting-state networks have been detected with functional imaging techniques, but neurophysiologic connectivity measures have not been systematically examined. We used weighted network analysis to examine resting state functional connectivity as measured by quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) coherence in 121 unmedicated subjects with MDD and 37 healthy controls. Subjects with MDD had significantly higher overall coherence as compared to controls in the delta (0.5–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), and beta (12–20 Hz) frequency bands. The frontopolar region contained the greatest number of “hub nodes” (surface recording locations) with high connectivity. MDD subjects expressed higher theta and alpha coherence primarily in longer distance connections between frontopolar and temporal or parietooccipital regions, and higher beta coherence primarily in connections within and between electrodes overlying the dorsolateral prefrontal cortical (DLPFC) or temporal regions. Nearest centroid analysis indicated that MDD subjects were best characterized by six alpha band connections primarily involving the prefrontal region. The present findings indicate a loss of selectivity in resting functional connectivity in MDD. The overall greater coherence observed in depressed subjects establishes a new context for the interpretation of previous studies showing differences in frontal alpha power and synchrony between subjects with MDD and normal controls. These results can inform the development of qEEG state and trait biomarkers for MDD.
Geometric and algebraic constraints of projected concentric circles and their applications to camera calibration

We investigate the projective properties of the feature consisting of two concentric circles. We demonstrate there exist geometric and algebraic constraints on its projection. We show how these constraints greatly simplify the recoveries of the affine and Euclidean structures of a 3D plane. As an application, we assess the performances of two camera calibration algorithms.
Spatial, temporal and interindividual epigenetic variation of functionally important DNA methylation patterns

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays an important role in gene regulation. It can be influenced by stochastic events, environmental factors and developmental programs. However, little is known about the natural variation of gene-specific methylation patterns. In this study, we performed quantitative methylation analyses of six differentially methylated imprinted genes (H19, MEG3, LIT1, NESP55, PEG3 and SNRPN), one hypermethylated pluripotency gene (OCT4) and one hypomethylated tumor suppressor gene (APC) in chorionic villus, fetal and adult cortex, and adult blood samples. Both average methylation level and range of methylation variation depended on the gene locus, tissue type and/or developmental stage. We found considerable variability of functionally important methylation patterns among unrelated healthy individuals and a trend toward more similar methylation levels in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins. Imprinted genes showed relatively little methylation changes associated with aging in individuals who are >25 years. The relative differences in methylation among neighboring CpGs in the generally hypomethylated APC promoter may not only reflect stochastic fluctuations but also depend on the tissue type. Our results are consistent with the view that most methylation variation may arise after fertilization, leading to epigenetic mosaicism.
Olfactory input increases visual sensitivity in zebrafish: a possible function for the terminal nerve and dopaminergic interplexiform cells

SUMMARY Centrifugal innervation of the neural retina has been documented in many species. In zebrafish Danio rerio, the only so-far described centrifugal pathway originates from terminal nerve (TN) cell bodies that are located in the olfactory bulb. Most of the TN axons terminate in the forebrain and midbrain, but some project via the optic nerve to the neural retina, where they synapse onto dopaminergic interplexiform cells (DA-IPCs). While the anatomical pathway between the olfactory and visual organs has been described, it is unknown if and how olfactory signals influence visual system functions. We demonstrate here that olfactory input is involved in the modulation of visual sensitivity in zebrafish. As determined by a behavioral assay and by electroretinographic (ERG) recording, zebrafish visual sensitivity was increased upon presentation of amino acids as olfactory stimuli. This effect, however, was observed only in the early morning hours when zebrafish are least sensitive to light. The effect of olfactory input on vision was eliminated after lesion of the olfactory bulbs or after the destruction of DA-IPCs. Intraocular injections of a dopamine D2 but not a D1 receptor antagonist blocked the effect of olfactory input on visual sensitivity. Although we cannot exclude the involvement of other anatomical pathways, our data suggest that the TN and DA-IPCs are the prime candidates for olfactory modulation of visual sensitivity.
Methods for Multi-Category Cancer Diagnosis from Gene Expression Data: A Comprehensive Evaluation to Inform Decision Support System Development

Cancer diagnosis is a major clinical applications area of gene expression microarray technology. We are seeking to develop a system for cancer diagnostic model creation based on microarray data. In order to equip the system with the optimal combination of data modeling methods, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of several major classification algorithms, gene selection methods, and cross-validation designs using 11 datasets spanning 74 diagnostic categories (41 cancer types and 12 normal tissue types). The Multi-Category Support Vector Machine techniques by Crammer and Singer, Weston and Watkins, and one-versus-rest were found to be the best methods and they outperform other learning algorithms such as K-Nearest Neighbors and Neural Networks often to a remarkable degree. Gene selection techniques are shown to significantly improve classification performance. These results guided the development of a software system that fully automates cancer diagnostic model construction with quality on par with or better than previously published results derived by expert human analysts.
Leave Them Microseconds Alone: Scalable Architecture for Maintaining Packet Latency Measurements

Latency has become an important metric for network monitoring since the emergence of new latency-sensitive applications ( e.g. , algorithmic trading and high-performance computing). To satisfy the need, researchers have proposed new architectures such as LDA and RLI that can provide ﬁne-grained latency measurements. However, these architectures are fundamentally ossiﬁed in their design as they are designed to provide only a speciﬁc pre-conﬁgured aggregate measurement—either average latency across all packets (LDA) or per-ﬂow latency measurements (RLI). Network operators, however, need latency measurements at both ﬁner ( e.g. , packet) as well as ﬂexible ( e.g. , ﬂow subsets) levels of granularity. To bridge this gap, we propose an architecture called MAPLE that essentially stores packet-level latencies in routers and allows network operators to query the latency of arbitrary trafﬁc sub-populations. MAPLE is built using scalable data structures with small storage needs (uses only 12.8 bits/pkt), and uses optimizations such as range queries to reduce the query bandwidth signiﬁcantly (by a factor of 10 compared to the naive).
Factores culturales organizacionales y psicosociales para una implantación exitosa

Este trabajo es el resultado del analisis de diferentes estudios de investigacion que relacionan los factores culturales con las diferentes caracteristicas organizacionales y del comportamiento psicologico social. Dado el enfoque de este estudio se revisaron diferentes investigaciones acerca de la definicion y efectos del choque cultural, (Spampinato, 2002), (Oberg,1998), La comunicacion Intercultural (McEntee, 1998), Administracion Intercultural (Robinson, 1997), asi como el efecto que ejerce el estres en el desempeno y/o eficiencia de un trabajador (Shultz, 1993), (Chiavenato, Administracion de Recursos Humanos, 8a Edicion, 2007), La ansiedad en el trabajo (Baeza, 1994), fatiga mental (Marek, Noworol, & karwowsky, 1988) y (Leplat, 1977), La Inteligencia Cultural (Earley & Ang, 2003), y los procesos administrativos utilizados en Mexico 8 (Kras, 2001). De igual manera se analizaron estudios y estadisticas de empresas transnacionales en Mexico (Carrillo & Gomis, 2009) entre otros temas.
In Vitro Inhibitory Effects of Hinokitiol on Proliferation of Chlamydia trachomatis

ABSTRACT The inhibitory effects of hinokitiol (β-thujaplicin) on Chlamydia trachomatis D/UW-3/Cx were shown by MIC, minimum lethal concentration (MLC), and preinoculation minimal microbicidal concentration assays using HeLa 229 cells. The MIC and the MLC were both 32 μg/ml. Further evaluation of hinokitiol as a topical agent against C. trachomatis is warranted.
Progress and Prospects in Human Genetic Research into Age-Related Hearing Impairment

Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI) is a complex, multifactorial disorder that is attributable to confounding intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The degree of impairment shows substantial variation between individuals, as is also observed in the senescence of other functions. This individual variation would seem to refute the stereotypical view that hearing deterioration with age is inevitable and may indicate that there is ample scope for preventive intervention. Genetic predisposition could account for a sizable proportion of interindividual variation. Over the past decade or so, tremendous progress has been made through research into the genetics of various forms of hearing impairment, including ARHI and our knowledge of the complex mechanisms of auditory function has increased substantially. Here, we give an overview of recent investigations aimed at identifying the genetic risk factors involved in ARHI and of what we currently know about its pathophysiology. This review is divided into the following sections: (i) genes causing monogenic hearing impairment with phenotypic similarities to ARHI; (ii) genes involved in oxidative stress, biologic stress responses, and mitochondrial dysfunction; and (iii) candidate genes for senescence, other geriatric diseases, and neurodegeneration. Progress and prospects in genetic research are discussed.
Weighted Sum Rate Maximization for the Two-User Vector Gaussian Broadcast Channel

In this letter, the problem of determining the maximum weighted sum rate (WSR) for given arbitrary weights is investigated for the vector Gaussian broadcast channel (GBC). Although the solution to the problem in general involves an iterative algorithm, we focus on the important special case of the two-user channel to provide a closed-form expression for the maximum WSR. The achievable rate region is known to be identical for both the vector GBC and its dual uplink Gaussian multiple access channel (GMAC) due to the uplink-downlink duality. We first derive the optimal power allocation in the dual uplink channel, which is then applied to the capacity formula to obtain the desired result. The presented result is a generalization of the (unweighted) sum rate maximization of the two-user GBC provided by Caire and Shamai .