Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of Many Immunologically Important Genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Infected Macrophages Is Independent of Both TLR2 and TLR4 but Dependent on IFN-αβ Receptor and STAT11

Macrophages respond to several subcellular products of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) through TLR2 or TLR4. However, primary mouse macrophages respond to viable, virulent Mtb by pathways largely independent of MyD88, the common adaptor molecule for TLRs. Using microarrays, quantitative PCR, and ELISA with gene-disrupted macrophages and mice, we now show that viable Mtb elicits the expression of inducible NO synthase, RANTES, IFN-inducible protein 10, immune-responsive gene 1, and many other key genes in macrophages substantially independently of TLR2, TLR4, their combination, or the TLR adaptors Toll-IL-1R domain-containing adapter protein and Toll-IL-1R domain-containing adapter inducing IFN-β. Mice deficient in both TLR2 and TLR4 handle aerosol infection with viable Mtb as well as congenic controls. Viable Mtb also up-regulates inducible NO synthase, RANTES, IFN-inducible protein 10, and IRG1 in macrophages that lack mannose receptor, complement receptors 3 and 4, type A scavenger receptor, or CD40. These MyD88, TLR2/4-independent transcriptional responses require IFN-αβR and STAT1, but not IFN-γ. Conversely, those genes whose expression is MyD88 dependent do not depend on IFN-αβR or STAT1. Transcriptional induction of TNF is TLR2/4, MyD88, STAT1, and IFN-αβR independent, but TNF protein release requires the TLR2/4-MyD88 pathway. Thus, macrophages respond transcriptionally to viable Mtb through at least three pathways. TLR2 mediates the responses of a numerically minor set of genes that collectively do not appear to affect the course of infection in mice; regulation of TNF requires TLR2/4 for post-transcriptional control, but not for transcriptional induction; and many responding genes are regulated through an unknown, TLR2/4-independent pathway that may involve IFN-αβR and STAT1.
Vowel Production and Perception: Hyperarticulation without a Hyperspace Effect

The ability of speakers to exaggerate speech sounds (“hyperarticulation”) has led to the theory that the targets themselves must be hyperarticulated. Johnson, Flemming, and Wright (1993) found that perceptual “best exemplar” choices for vowels were more extreme than listeners' own productions. Our first experiment, using their procedure, only partially replicated their results. Low vowels showed a higher F1, consistent with hyperspace. Front vowels also showed more frontness in F2, but back vowels were less extreme (“hypoarticulated”) on F2. Our second experiment used an identification and rating of each stimulus, yielding similar results of a smaller magnitude. Our results indicate that the perceptual space is calibrated to a particular (synthetic) vowel space, which is not related straightforwardly to the speakers' spaces. The original hyperspace hypothesis can be attributed to the methodology which led to extreme judgments and of the fronting of back vowels in California English. The present results indicate that no such hypothesis is needed. Vowel targets are measurable from an individual's productions, and the individual's perception of other speakers (even synthetic ones) is based on information about the vocal tract and dialect of the speaker.
To what extent is there a regional logic in the management of labour in multinational companies? Evidence from Europe and North America

This paper questions the extent to which a regional logic is adopted by multinationals in how they organise their operations overseas, and seeks to examine the variation within and across regions in this regard. Data are drawn from two of the parallel surveys of employment practice undertaken by the INTREPID (is a research network of academics across 10 countries engaged in comparative research on multinationals) network, namely Canada and the UK. The analysis tests four hypotheses regarding the similarity and differences in the adoption of a regional logic using the data as illustrative of firms in the regions of North American and European. Our analysis demonstrates how divergent structures and dynamics of regional integration in different continents have led to different strategies and processes in multinational companies. In doing so the paper provides insights into the nature of variation within the multinational community and across regional contexts.
Expression of the early lymphocyte activation antigen CD69, a C‐type lectin, is regulated by mRNA degradation associated with AU‐rich sequence motifs

CD69 is the earliest inducible cell surface glycoprotein acquired during lymphoid activation both in vitro and in vivo under physiological conditions and inflammation. This molecule is involved in lymphocyte proliferation, and functions as a signal‐transmitting receptor in T and B lymphocytes, NK cells and platelets. Molecular cloning of CD69 cDNA revealed that this antigen is a type‐II integral membrane protein with a C‐type lectin domain in the extracellular region. The expression time course of CD69 mRNA has previously been reported to be transient, peaking around 3 h after induction in T lymphocytes, and declining to nearly resting levels by 8 h. We describe herein studies on the stability of the CD69 mRNA in phorbol ester‐activated T lymphocytes. The level of CD69 mRNA in these cells declined rapidly with a half‐life of less than 60 min. This finding is consistent with the presence of several AU‐rich sequence motifs in the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR), which have been implicated in the selective destabilization of short‐lived mRNA of mammalian cytokines, and proto‐oncogenes. We have therefore introduced a fragment of the 3′UTR of the human CD69 cDNA, which contains the AU‐rich sequence motifs, into the 3′UTR of the rabbit β‐globin gene. This inserted sequence causes the otherwise stable β‐globin mRNA to become unstable in vivo. A similar destabilizing effect is observed when the 51‐nucleotide AU sequence from the mRNA of the human cytokine granulocyte/macrophage colony‐stimulating factor is used as a positive control. Furthermore, the introduction of 194‐bp fragment from the CD69 3′UTR containing most of the AU‐rich motifs was sufficient to induce the destabilizing effect. We propose that the selective degradation pathway involved in the regulation of the expression of cytokines and proto‐oncogenes is implicated in the rapid degradation of CD69 mRNA in activated T lymphocytes. This pathway may constitute a general mechanism to regulate the expression of inducible molecules involved in inflammatory processes.
Child Sexual Abuse: Associations with the Sexual Functioning of Adolescents and Adults

Abstract As we move into the 21st century, information about sex is widespread and more accessible to the general public than ever before. This interest in sex also increases the focus on symptoms and patterns associated with sexual problems. However, the etiology of sexual dysfunction is multifaceted and poorly understood. One factor that has received growing attention is the role that early sexual abuse plays in sexual development and later sexual functioning, and how these associations differ between males and females. Despite high prevalence rates of child sexual abuse (CSA), which occurs to approximately 1 in 3 females and 1 in 10 males under the age of 18, we do not completely understand the complexities of how and to what extent CSA affects sexual functioning. Nonetheless, the research highlights the need to recognize the potentially powerful influence that abusive childhood experiences contribute to sexual health, performance, and satisfaction. We review research on the relationship between CSA and adolescent and adult sexual functioning. We use a developmental framework to guide our understanding of the effects of CSA, as well as gender and ethnic differences, on the sexual functioning of male and female survivors.
Australian Industrial Relations in 2005 - The WorkChoices Revolution

Industrial relations in Australia in 2005 were dominated by the introduction of the WorkChoices reforms, the most fundamental recasting of the industrial relations system in over 100 years. This analysis examines the rhetoric and reality of the reforms and identifies and summarizes the main features of the changes. It is argued that the implications of the reforms will include an expanded low wage sector, a contraction in collective bargaining and the greater use by employers of individual contracts. The reforms represent a ‘corporatisation’ of industrial relations (McCallum, 2006), commit Australia to a low road labour market development path and signal a new level of politicization of industrial relations. The rhetorical strategies employed by the principal author of the reforms, Prime Minister John Howard, reveal a distinctive construction of the emergent Australian worker - the ‘enterprise worker’ - that is central to Howard’s vision of the future.
Identifying Brand Image Dimensionality and Measuring the Degree of Brand Globalization: A Cross-National Study

The author aims to answer two questions related to brand globalization: (1) whether the pattern of brand image dimensionality is similar across international markets and (2) how cohesive a brand image perception is in a global market. Results from a 20-country, 70-region study provide concrete evidence that supports the applicability of the proposed benefit-based multidimensional image structure that corresponds to consumers’ sensory, utilitarian, and symbolic and economic need at both the global and the national level. On the basis of the identified image dimensions, the author proposes an alternative approach to measuring the degree of global brand image cohesiveness as an indicator of brand globalization. Global brand image cohesiveness is calculated on the basis of the summation of Euclidean distances between the column score of image dimensions of the home country (i.e., initial market) and that of foreign countries. Furthermore, nations are clustered on the basis of these column scores, and the resultant clusters correspond approximately to groups of countries that share similar levels of economic development, cultural dimension, or geographic distance, which suggests that national characteristics affect brand image perceptions. The findings provide implications for the practice of global brand image management.
Britain's Training Statistics: A Cautionary Tale

In the last two decades or so education and training have become central in the discussion of Britain's economic performance. There have been substantial changes in education and training policy (OECD 1995) and, at the same time, an expansion of participation in post-compulsory education. Both current and recent governments have aimed to raise work-based training through a mixture of persuasion and limited, selective, measures. Yet, there is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which the education and training system is enhancing skills in Britain or, for that matter, in many other countries. This paper concentrates on one dimension of the issue, namely work-based training statistics. There is uncertainty both over the amount of inputs into training and over its impact on skills. It argues that the uncertainty is, in part, the consequence of poor training statistics and that policy debate would benefit from improvements in the ways in which these statistics are compiled and interpreted.
A compendium of human mitochondrial gene expression machinery with links to disease

Mammalian mitochondrial DNA encodes 37 essential genes required for ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation, instability or misregulation of which is associated with human diseases and aging. Other than the mtDNA‐encoded RNA species (13 mRNAs, 12S and 16S rRNAs, and 22 tRNAs), the remaining factors needed for mitochondrial gene expression (i.e., transcription, RNA processing/modification, and translation), including a dedicated set of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, are products of nuclear genes that are imported into the mitochondrial matrix. Herein, we inventory the human mitochondrial gene expression machinery, and, while doing so, we highlight specific associations of these regulatory factors with human disease. Major new breakthroughs have been made recently in this burgeoning area that set the stage for exciting future studies on the key outstanding issue of how mitochondrial gene expression is regulated differentially in vivo. This should promote a greater understanding of why mtDNA mutations and dysfunction cause the complex and tissue‐specific pathology characteristic of mitochondrial disease states and how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to more common human pathology and aging. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. , 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES: DIFFERENT VALUES SO DIFFERENT PROCESS OF CREATION, NO?

Entrepreneurship scholars have identified factors that frame the entrepreneurial process, such as the gender, race, ethnicity and wealth of entrepreneurs, the technological nature of the products or services offered, or the geographic location of ventures. Ventures bridging profit and service goals in new and creative ways are mushrooming. Building on a review of current research, the author speculates that "bridging profit and service" should be added to the list of factors that define the entrepreneurial process. In doing so, she calls for caution when extending to social entrepreneurial ventures' findings on research regarding business ventures, and for more research exploring the impact of this factor on the entrepreneurial process.
Asia's Leap into E-commerce: Analysis of Developments in Some Countries

The Internet is creating a global digital economy with new opportunities. Developing countries have to catch up with the developed world by establishing the required information infrastructure to overcome the dangers of isolation and polarisation. The growth path is through the development of IT industries and greater application of IT in society. These IT industries must be compatible with local conditions and conducive to industrialisation.
Comparison of Partitioned Stator Switched Flux Permanent Magnet Machines Having Single- or Double-Layer Windings

A novel type of partitioned stator switched flux permanent magnet (PS-SFPM) machine with either single-layer or double-layer windings is developed in this paper. The proposed PS-SFPM machines have two stators, which separately accommodate the armature windings and the PMs, and between which is the rotor made of iron pieces, while the number of stator poles with PMs may be equal or half of that with armature windings. All the machines are optimized under fixed copper loss for maximum average torque by genetic algorithm. Their electromagnetic performances are compared, such as open-circuit flux-linkages and back-electromotive forces (EMFs), cogging torque, static torque waveforms, average torque against current, PM utilization ratio, and flux-weakening performances. The results show that due to more PM usage and higher open-circuit back-EMF, the PS-SFPM machines having the number of stator poles with PMs the same as that with armature windings exhibit higher average torque, irrespective of the winding topologies, either single-layer or double-layer windings. However, the single-layer winding PS-SFPM machines having the number of stator poles with PMs half of that with armature windings have the best PM usage and the highest ratio of average torque to PM volume, as well as good flux-weakening capability. A prototype machine is manufactured and tested to validate the analyses.
The (Un)Productivity of American Colleges: From "Cost Disease" to Cost-Effectiveness

We show that the productivity of American colleges and universities in terms of degree production is plummeting. This is partly due to rising costs that economists typically attribute to Baumol's well known "cost disease," but we demonstrate two other basic problems contributing to productivity declines. First, using cost-effectiveness analysis, we find that several popular programs and strategies in higher education are not cost-effective. Second, there is little rigorous evidence with which to judge the cost-effectiveness of most postsecondary programs, perhaps reflecting a larger absence of incentives to improve productivity. Rather than simply a "cost disease," we argue that the problem is more a "system disease"—one that is partly curable.
Motion saliency detection based on temporal difference

Abstract. We focus on motion saliency detection, which has attracted much attention in recent years. Distinct from conventional algorithms, without considering the spatial information of the input frames, our method is solely based on the temporal difference of corresponding pixels. To be specific, the difference is modeled as two parts, i.e., symmetric frame difference and background sample difference. The first term calculates the differences of adjacent frames, including not only the previous n frames but also the backward n frames. To obtain the background sample difference, N samples taken from the previous frames are stored, and the differences between the coming pixel and all its corresponding samples are accumulated. The initialization and updating policies of the samples follow the off-the-shelf visual background extractor method. Finally, the motion saliency map is generated by fusing the aforementioned two features. We describe our method in full detail and compare it with three other state-of-the-art motion detection techniques. Experiments on a variety of visual surveillance databases verify that the proposed algorithm consistently outperformed the compared methods. We also demonstrate how the generated saliency maps can be used to create high-quality segmentation masks for moving object detection.
Compressive sensing applied to ultra-wideband radio channel measurements

This paper presents results of applying several compressive sensing approaches to measured radio channel frequency response data. We evaluate the relative error of the reconstructed signal using compressive sensing with respect to reference data derived from the measured data. In particular, we consider an ultra-wideband measurement setup in an EMC chamber that basically corresponds to a dominant two ray (line of sight and ground reflection) plus minor multipath scenario. The measured data (acquired without compressive sensing) are decimated according to the compressive sensing schemes under consideration. Moreover, some examples of recovered impulse responses are displayed to illustrate the main effects graphically.
The South African dream and the three stumbling blocks

Most South Africans nurture a strong hope for a better future. The South African economy, however, has considerable problems with respect to both growth and employment, which in turn reduce the scope for redistribution of the national income. This article deals with a number of stumbling blocks that the political and economic decision makers may be tripped by and which may make the South African dream nothing but a dream. These are: obstacles to growth, increasing economic and social differences, and unfavourable political development.
SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER EFFICACY

There are no studies of efficacy that examine the political context affecting teachers hence this article asks: how can the study of efficacy be expanded to include the contingencies new teachers face and how can education foundation courses include the context new teachers need to reach high levels of efficacy? By focusing on teacher roles, expectations, and social relations, efficacy can become the new framework for education foundations. Teacher preparation will then refocus on social foundations and address the current needs of teachers, schools and society.
INHIBITION OF EARLY DNA‐DAMAGE AND CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS BY TRIANTHEMA PORTULACASTRUM L. IN CARBON TETRACHLORIDE‐INDUCED MOUSE LIVER DAMAGE

The underlying molecular mechanisms of the antihepatotoxic activity of Trianthema portulacastrum by monitoring its effect on mouse liver DNA‐chain break, sugar‐base damage and chromosomal aberrations, during chronic or acute treatment with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) have been studied. Daily oral feeding with the ethanolic extract (150mg/kg basal diet, per os) was given 2 weeks before CCl4treatment and continued until the end of the experiment (13 weeks). T. portulacastrum extract offer unique protection (P< 0.05–0.001) against the induction of liver‐specific structural‐type chromosomal anomalies 15, 30 or 45 days after the last CCl4insult, compared to control mice. This was further evidenced by extract‐mediated protection (15 days prior feeding following a single necrogenic dose of CCl4) of the generation of DNA chain‐break and Fe‐sugar‐base damage assays. The observed hepatoprotective mechanism could be due to its ability to counteract oxidative injury to DNA in the liver of mouse.
Endothelin‐converting enzyme 1 promotes re‐sensitization of neurokinin 1 receptor‐dependent neurogenic inflammation

Background and purpose: The metalloendopeptidase endothelin‐converting enzyme 1 (ECE‐1) is prominently expressed in the endothelium where it converts big endothelin to endothelin‐1, a vasoconstrictor peptide. Although ECE‐1 is found in endosomes in endothelial cells, the role of endosomal ECE‐1 is unclear. ECE‐1 degrades the pro‐inflammatory neuropeptide substance P (SP) in endosomes to promote recycling and re‐sensitization of its neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptor. We investigated whether ECE‐1 regulates NK1 receptor re‐sensitization and the pro‐inflammatory effects of SP in the endothelium.
Delivering BPR via task groups

Task groups are semi‐autonomous working groups with specific responsibilities, delivering to specific aims and targets. If created effectively, they can form the basis of a flexible, organic, delayered organisation. However, bringing about the change from traditional hierarchical structures to task group structures is not straightforward. The changes are threatening to many of the established individuals and groups. Explains the key principles underlying a task group structure and highlights the issues to be addressed when making the change.
A model of tissue contraction during thermal ablation

A model of a globular protein is used to describe the contraction of tissue exposed to elevated temperatures. This will be useful in predicting the contraction of tissue that is observed during thermal ablation of tumours, which is a problem when trying to determine the ablation zone in post-operative images. The transitions between the states of the protein can be related to a change in the length of the molecule, which can be directly observed as a change in the length of the tissue. A three state model of a globular protein is used to describe the contraction of tissue exposed to elevated temperatures. A nonlinear fitting algorithm is considered here to fit available experimental data and thus to obtain the values of the model parameters. A sensitivity analysis of the proposed mathematical model is performed to determine the most important parameters in the model. The model parameters were obtained from experimental data of isothermal free shrinkage experiments. The predictions of the complete model show similar agreement with the data, well within the experimental error of 10%. The overall activation energy and frequency factor were found to be 201 kJ mol−1 and 7.32×1028 s−1 respectively. The results show that the experimental data were well described by the three state model considered here. Furthermore, it was possible to determine the most sensitive parameters in the model. The model presented here will allow predictions of thermal ablation to be corrected for tissue shrinkage, thus improving mathematical simulations for treatment planning, although clinical translation will require adapting the model from experimentally obtained tendon data to soft tissue data.