Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced Expression of the Endothelin Receptor Type B Gene in Piebald Mice Caused by Insertion of a Retroposon-like Element in Intron 1*

Mice carrying the piebald mutation exhibit white coat spotting due to the regional absence of neural crest-derived melanocytes. We reported previously that the piebald locus encodes the Ednrb gene and that piebald mice express low levels of structurally intact Ednrb mRNA and EDNRB protein (Hosoda, K., Hammer, R. E., Richardson, J. A., Baynash, A. G., Cheung, J. C., Giaid, A., and Yanagisawa, M. (1994) Cell 79, 1267–1276). Here, we report that both the life span of the Ednrb mRNA and the promoter activity of the Ednrb gene are indistinguishable between wild-type and piebald mice. Introns 2–6 of the Ednrb gene in piebald mice were correctly excised with an efficiency indistinguishable from those in wild-type mice in exon trapping experiments. We found that the piebald allele of the Ednrb gene has a 5.5-kb retroposon-like element in intron 1 possessing canonical sequences of a polyadenylation signal and a splice acceptor site. Abnormal hybrid transcripts carrying exon 1 of the Ednrb gene and a portion of the 5.5-kb element are expressed in piebald mice. The insertion of the 5.5-kb element into a heterologous intron in a mammalian expression vector markedly reduced the expression of the reporter gene. Premature termination and aberrant splicing of the Ednrb transcript caused by the retroposon-like element in intron 1 lead to a reduced level of the normal Ednrb transcript, which is responsible for the partial loss-of-function phenotype of piebald mice.
Setting Agendas and Shaping Activism: EU Influence on Central and Eastern European Environmental Movements

Accession to the European Union is shaping the development of environmental movements in Central and Eastern Europe by defining much of the agendas of environmental NGOs and by moulding the context in which groups act and, therefore, their means of activism. Individual organisations and the mix of organisations in a movement, in turn, evolve to tackle these agendas and engage in these means of activism. This study outlines several paths of direct and indirect EU influence over the evolution of these movements. While such an evolution strengthens the movements' ability to engage in political processes at the national and EU levels, both these movements' internal decision-making mechanisms and the EU's policy processes must allow for input from grassroots groups. Avenues exist for grassroots input into the policies national movements pursue, but these paths of influence are weak. The EU's decision-making processes are even more remote. Balancing external and internal influence is crucial, however, if these movements are to serve as channels of citizen participation in politics and policy.
Patterns of Vulnerability to Aids Impacts in Zambian Households

Using household data from Northern Zambia, this article looks at HIV/AIDS impacts on different aspects of people's access to food. The findings draw particular attention to the variances in vulnerability among households burdened by illness and orphans that are headed by men, women and the elderly. It is argued that vulnerability levels to HIV/AIDS impact differ substantially among households and implicitly expose the underlying causal conditions that enable or disable people in their responsiveness. Households affected by HIV/AIDS cannot be treated as a homogeneous group and understanding the differences in vulnerability can play an important policy role in designing targeted support.
Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together? The Impact of Ethnic Segregation Preferences on Neighbourhood Choice

Ethnic residential segregation can arise from voluntary or imposed clustering of some ethnicities in specific urban areas. However, up to now it has been difficult to untangle the real causes underlying the segregation phenomena. In particular, voluntary segregation preferences could not be revealed from the observed location choices given the existence of constraints in the real housing market. This study aims at analysing the voluntary segregation drivers through a stated preferences experiment of neighbourhood choice. This method obviates the choice-constraint issue by allowing a hypothetically free choice of alternative urban locations. The results suggest that ethnic preferences exist, positive for co-national neighbours and negative for other foreign groups. However, such preferences do not constitute a major location choice driver given relatively modest willingness-to-pay for ethnic neighbourhood characteristics. Certain heterogeneity in preferences for higher concentration of own co-nationals is captured for households of different origins and educational attainment.
Mono- and dibasic proteolytic cleavage sites in insect neuroendocrine peptide precursors.

Regulatory peptides are synthesized as part of larger precursors that are subsequently processed into the active substances. After cleavage of the signal peptide, further proteolytic processing occurs predominantly at basic amino acid residues. Rules have been proposed in order to predict which putative proteolytic processing sites are actually used, but these rules have been established for vertebrate peptide precursors and it is unclear whether they are also valid for insects. The aim of this paper is to establish the validity of these rules to predict proteolytic cleavage sites at basic amino acids in insect neuropeptide precursors. Rules describing the cleavage of mono- and dibasic potential processing sites in insect neuropeptide precursors are summarized below. Lys-Arg pairs not followed by an aliphatic or basic amino acid residue are virtually always cleaved in insect regulatory peptide precursors, but cleavages of Lys-Arg pairs followed by either an aliphatic or a basic amino acid residue are ambiguous, as is processing at Arg-Arg pairs. Processing at Arg-Lys pairs has so far not been demonstrated in insects and processing at Lys-Lys pairs appears very rare. Processing at single Arg residues occurs only when there is a basic amino acid residue in position -4, -6, or -8, usually an Arg, but Lys or His residues work also. Although the current number of such sites is too limited to draw definitive conclusions, it seems plausible that cleavage at these sites is inhibited by the presence of aliphatic residues in the +1 position. However, cleavage at single Arg residues is ambiguous. When several potential cleavage sites overlap the one most easily cleaved appears to be processed. It cannot be excluded that some of the rules formulated here will prove less than universal, as only a limited number of cleavage sites have so far been identified. It is likely that, as in vertebrates, ambiguous processing sites exist to allow differential cleavage of the same precursor by different convertases and it seems possible that the precursors of allatostatins and PBAN are differentially cleaved in different cell types. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 43:49-63, 2000.
Bi-PROF

The use of next generation sequencing has expanded our view on whole mammalian methylome patterns. In particular, it provides a genome-wide insight of local DNA methylation diversity at single nucleotide level and enables the examination of single chromosome sequence sections at a sufficient statistical power. We describe a bisulfite-based sequence profiling pipeline, Bi-PROF, which is based on the 454 GS-FLX Titanium technology that allows to obtain up to one million sequence stretches at single base pair resolution without laborious subcloning. To illustrate the performance of the experimental workflow connected to a bioinformatics program pipeline (BiQ Analyzer HT) we present a test analysis set of 68 different epigenetic marker regions (amplicons) in five individual patient-derived xenograft tissue samples of colorectal cancer and one healthy colon epithelium sample as a control. After the 454 GS-FLX Titanium run, sequence read processing and sample decoding, the obtained alignments are quality controlled and statistically evaluated. Comprehensive methylation pattern interpretation (profiling) assessed by analyzing 102-104 sequence reads per amplicon allows an unprecedented deep view on pattern formation and methylation marker heterogeneity in tissues concerned by complex diseases like cancer.
Competency-Based Pay: A Concept in Evolution

Competency-based pay has become the focus of much heated debate today. While its advocates assert it achieves precisely measurable benefits, its opponents argue that it tends to lead to unfair, invalid, and discriminatory outcomes. Among companies that have implemented competency-based pay, there is evidence that the failure rate is relatively high. Over the next few years however, with the growing need to emphasize employee development, the authors expect to see a major movement toward formal competency-based pay systems and, along with an increase in experience and learnings, a greater rate of success. "It makes sense to put money behind those things the company values-skills, competencies, behavioral change. And, based on our observations to date, it can be a highly effective way to motivate employees and create change," the authors argue.
Demonstration of Declining Community Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis Infection Using Sentinel Surveillance

Background Chlamydia trachomatis infection rates in Alabama increased dramatically from 1996 to 1998, due in part to expanded screening. Detection of prevalent infection through increased testing could mask timely detection of the impact of screening programs on community prevalence. Goal The goal of the study was to evaluate the temporal trend in C trachomatis prevalence among women aged 15 to 34 years attending reproductive healthcare clinics in Birmingham, Alabama. Study Design Between 1995 and 1998, systematic screening of the first 60 women presenting each month to each of six participating clinics was performed with urine-based testing for chlamydia. Results In contrast to the 218% increase in chlamydia prevalence detected through passive surveillance, during the study period surveillance in sentinel sites revealed that first-visit chlamydia prevalence declined from 12.8% to 8.6%. Conclusions Sentinel site surveillance served as a valuable adjunct to passive surveillance for determining the true trend of chlamydia prevalence during the hyperendemic phase of a local epidemic.
Valuing traits of indigenous cows in Central Ethiopia

"This research aimed at identifying and estimating the relative weight assigned to the preferred traits of indigenous cow population in the most dominant crop-livestock mixed production system in Central Ethiopia. A choice experiment approach was employed to elicit the preferences and a random parameters logit model was used to estimate the relative importance of the preferred attributes of indigenous cows. The results show that fertility, disease resistance and calf vigour traits are at least as important as milk. The location the cows are brought from is also an important attribute for buyers. Results from the simulation on the influence of changes in attribute levels showed that fertility and disease resistance affect preferences more than other traits. The findings suggest that the smallholder community in this part of Ethiopia depends on semi-subsistence agriculture and so livestock development interventions should focus on a multitude of reproductive and adaptive traits that stabilise the herd structure rather than focusing on traits that are only important for commercial purposes. " Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2009 The Agricultural Economics Society.
Dialysis with semipermeable membranes as an efficient lipid removal method in the analysis of bioaccumulative chemicals.

Herein is a procedure described using a semipermeable membrane (SPM) for enrichment of organic chemicals from lipid-containing samples. Dialysis with SPMs in an organic solvent can separate organochlorine contaminants such as non-, mono-, and di-o-PCBs, PCDDs, PCDFs, PCDTs, PCNs, pesticides, and PAHs from lipids. The method is nondestructive and more than 20 g of lipid can be dialyzed in a single membrane with acceptable recoveries of the internal standards, nearly independent of amount and type of lipid dialyzed. The lipid removal process shows good consistency between subsamples, and the lipid content can be reduced by 90-99%, depending on species and amount lipid. Neither triglycerides nor phospholipids were obtained in the dialysate fraction. The utility and reliability of the method is displayed by good precision for 72 PCBs and 27 organochlorine pesticides in the concentration range 0.05-50 micrograms/sample for triplicate subsamples, by the consistency in PCDD/F levels compared to a classic analytical procedure, and by the analysis of the above listed chemicals in approximately 200 biological samples of a wide variety of types. This technique can also be used as an enrichment device for contaminants when huge amounts of lipids are extracted for toxicological studies. Moreover, it is possible to use SPM to cleanup other samples from molecules with relatively high masses, e.g. sediments, soil, compost, and tar materials.
Mitigation and Prevention of Conflicts on Border Aquifers between Colombia and Venezuela: Far from the Rhetoric, Closer to the Reality.

Political and social conflicts about water resources in today’s world should be eliminated. Realistically however, we can only reduce and/or deter such conflicts; it is imperative to do so. The majority of aquifers located in border areas between Colombia and Venezuela are not seriously considered as means towards eliminating or mitigating future conflicts about groundwater supply in both countries. It is necessary to have a better understanding of these aquifers if those governments would like to implement positive public policies protecting this precious natural resource. The absence of adequate knowledge concerning groundwater resources, and the lack of common public policies in those regions from both countries, are two problematic concerns. This situation can generate border conflicts in diverse areas such as science, economy, military, international policy, and social relations for Colombia and Venezuela. The main objective is an evaluation in order to mitigate a conflict. It is based on personal field work on groundwater supply and geological exploration in different regions of Colombia, next to the border, where the groundwater usage has increased; also, academic knowledge and experience on public policy with emphasis in prevention and mitigation of disasters will be used to support the risk assessment. In addition, a literature review from official documentation will be included. According to the levels of industry, agriculture and services in these regions, the use of groundwater supply was not a political priority in the past. Nevertheless, a rise in the coal industry has been steady for the last thirty years. The research paper will demonstrate that both governments have a political stake in studying and protecting their border’s aquifers and compiling hydro-geological data. In addition, it is necessary to elaborate and share public policies for groundwater supply, implementing a special international agreement. For more efficiency, it is necessary to follow and control these policies on a deep emphasis on education through the creation of higher level educational institutions emphasizing groundwater themes. Finally, the paper provides recommendations such as the use of mitigation and prevention tools, strategies of management, and obviously, ways for stopping surface contamination.
Epithelioid Sarcoma of Enzinger

Epithelioid sarcoma was named in 1970 in a classic paper by Enzinger, who expanded the observations in a larger series in 1985. He defined a sarcoma with a peak incidence in young adult males and a predilection for extremities, involving subcutis or deeper tissue and extending along tendon sheaths or aponeuroses. The tumor forms nodules with central necrosis surrounded by bland polygonal cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and peripheral spindling. Fibromalike, angiomatoid, and proximal aggressive variants (with larger cells, prominent nuceloi, and rhabdoid change) have since been described. Epithelioid sarcomas regularly express vimentin, cytokeratins, and epithelial membrane antigen, and about half are positive for CD34, but a wide range of other antigens can be expressed. S100 protein, desmin, and FLI-1 are usually negative. The ultrastructure displays epithelial and mesenchymal features including myofibroblastic differentiation. There are no specific genetic findings but several cases display chromosomal abnormalities in the 22q region. The tumor has no normal cellular counterpart and differs from both synovial sarcoma and carcinoma. There is a wide differential diagnosis from numerous benign and malignant conditions, including granuloma annulare, melanoma, and epithelioid vascular neoplasms. Epithelioid sarcoma has a high recurrence rate, which can be reduced by adequate surgery, and up to 40% metastasize, to regional lymph nodes, to lung, and other locations including scalp. Adverse prognostic factors include large size, male sex, older age, necrosis, vascular invasion, rhabdoid cytomorphology, and inadequate excision. Thirty-six years after Enzinger's original account, epithelioid sarcoma remains a clinically and pathologically distinct, indolent but aggressive sarcoma of indeterminate lineage.
Divided Government, Fiscal Institutions, and Budget Deficits: Evidence from the States

Does partisan control of American state government have systematic effects on state spending and taxing levels? Does divided control affect the government's ability to make hard decisions? Do institutional rules like legal deficit carryover restrictions matter? Using a formal model of fiscal policy to guide empirical analysis of data covering the American states from 1968 to 1987, we conclude that (1) aggregate state budget totals are driven by different factors under Democrats and Republicans, the net result being that Democrats target spending (and taxes) to higher shares of state-level personal income; (2) divided government is less able to react to revenue shocks that lead to budget deficits, particularly where different parties control each chamber of the legislature; and (3) unified party governments with restricted ability to carry deficits into the next fiscal year (outside the South) have sharper reactions to negative revenue shocks than those without restrictions.
Complexity of Optimal Lobbying in Threshold Aggregation (Extended Abstract)

Optimal Lobbying is the problem a lobbyist or a campaign manager faces in a full-information voting scenario of a multiissue referendum when trying to inuence the result. The Lobby is faced with a prole that species for each voter and each issue whether the voter approves or rejects the issue, and seeks to nd the smallest set of voters it must inuence to change their vote, for a desired outcome to be obtained. We study the computational complexity of Optimal Lobbying when the issues are aggregated using an anonymous monotone function and the family of desired outcomes is an upward-closed family. We analyze this problem with regard to two parameters: the minimal number of supporters needed to pass an issue, and the size of the maximal minterm of the desired set. We show that for extreme values of the parameters, the problem is tractable, and provide algorithms. On the other hand, we prove intractability of the problem for the complementary cases, which are most of the values of the parameters.
A JUVENILE‐ADULT DISCRETE‐TIME PRODUCTION MODEL OF EXPLOITED FISHERY SYSTEMS

Abstract. Previous mathematical modeling of the population dynamics of Georges Bank Atlantic cod fishery employed discrete‐time models without age‐structure. To make use of a much wider variety of data on fisheries and fish stocks than was possible with an unstructured model, we introduce a juvenile‐adult age‐structured production exploited fishery model with a very general recruitment function. We use the age‐structured model to study the interaction between fish exploitation levels and recruitment dynamics. As case studies, we use our model results and historical fish population data from Georges Bank to investigate the impact of recent harvesting levels on the sustainability of cod fishery. We show that a constant harvesting policy with the same harvesting rate of 2007 would lead to the recovery and sustainability of Georges Bank cod fishery.
Learning curve, surgical results and operative complications for kidney transplantation in mice

Murine transplant models of vascularized organs are very useful for immunobiological studies. However, the technique of kidney transplant is complex and very demanding. Here, results of the first successive 50 syngeneic transplantations performed by an experienced microsurgeon are reported. Complications and survival rates were recorded and analyzed over the different training phases. While the operative time and warm ischemia time dramatically reduced after 40 transplants (warm ischemia after 40 transplants 33.1 ± 5.0 min vs. 55.2 ± 4.6 min for the first 10 transplants, P < 0.001), the average early vascular anastomosis patency rate markedly increased (80% vs. 10% in the first than transplants, P < 0.01). Intraoperative failures were 56% (n = 28), death during the first 7 days was 18% (n = 9), and death after contralateral nephrectomy (> day 7) was 10% (n = 5). Only 8% (n = 4) of the animals survived long‐term. Despite large experience with microsurgery, there is a relative long learning curve for mouse kidney transplantation. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2006.
Work characteristics, socioeconomic position and health: a systematic review of mediation and moderation effects in prospective studies

Social inequalities in health persist in modern societies. The contribution of adverse work and employment conditions towards their explanation is analysed by two approaches, mediation and moderation. Yet the relative significance of each approach remains unclear in respective research. We set out to study this question by conducting a systematic literature review. We included all original papers based on prospective observational studies of employed cohorts that were published between January 1980 and October 2012 meeting our search criteria, by using major databases and by observing established quality criteria. 26 reports were included after quality assessment. 17 studies examined the mediation hypothesis and nine studies tested the moderation hypothesis. Moderate support was found for the mediation hypothesis where OR or HR of health according to socioeconomic position (SEP) were reduced in a majority of analyses after introducing work characteristics in multivariate models. Evidence in favour of the moderation hypothesis was found in some studies, demonstrating stronger effects of adverse work on health among people with low SEP. Despite some support in favour of the two hypotheses future research should aim at reducing the heterogeneity in defining and measuring core variables and at applying advanced statistical analyses. Policy recommendations would benefit from a higher degree of consistency of respective research evidence.
Credit Risk in Private Debt Portfolios

Default, loss severity, and average loss rates for a large sample of privately placed bonds are presented and compared with loss experience for publicly issued bonds. The chance of very large portfolio losses is estimated and some determinants of such losses are analyzed. Results show ex ante riskier classes of private debt perform better on average than public debt. Both diversification and the riskiness of individual portfolio assets influence the bad tail of the portfolio loss distribution. Private placements are similar to corporate loans in that both are monitored private debt. The results are thus relevant to management and securitization of private debt portfolios generally. Copyright The American Finance Association 1998.