Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conserved base-pairings between C266-A268 and U307-G309 in the P7 of the Tetrahymena ribozyme is nonessential for the in vitro self-splicing reaction.

P7 is highly conserved in Group I self-splicing intron ribozymes. This region is known to coordinate metal ions and bind a cofactor guanosine required for the self-splicing. To further investigate the fundamental role of the corresponding region in the Tetrahymena ribozyme, we attempted to identify minimal requirements for the base-paired region excluding the guanosine binding site. We discovered that a variety of sequences are eligible and its derivatives possessing extra nucleotide(s) can still conduct the first step of splicing, indicating that no particular base-pairing is essential in this region for conducting the reaction in vitro. The results provide two hypotheses for the fundamental role of this region: (i) if the region contains element(s) that are strictly required in the catalysis, they are not necessarily tightly fixed in the ribozyme and (ii) if not, its fundamental role may simply be to coordinate neighboring regions that are directly involved in the catalysis.
Aligned Interference Neutralization and the Degrees of Freedom of the Two-User Wireless Networks with an Instantaneous Relay

A conventional relay causes a processing delay of at least one symbol duration relative to the direct paths between a source and a destination. This delay caused by using the conventional relay limits the degrees of freedom (DoF) gain in a wireless interference network. In this paper, it is shown that the exploitation of an instantaneous relay (relay-without-delay) improves DoF gain significantly for a two-user wireless network. Specifically, for two different message settings: the interference channel and the X channel, it is shown that a total of 3/2 and 5/3 DoF are achievable almost surely, respectively. The achievable schemes are inspired by the notion of aligned interference neutralization recently proposed for the layered two-user two-hop interference channel.
Short-term Dynamics in the Cyprus Stock Exchange

Abstract This paper investigates the short-term dynamics of stock returns in an emerging stock market namely, the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CYSE). Stock returns are modelled as conditionally heteroscedastic processes with time-dependent serial correlation. The conditional variance follows an EGARCH process, while for the conditional mean three nonlinear specifications are tested, namely: (a) the LeBaron exponential autoregressive model; (b) the Sentana and Wadhwani positive feedback trading model; and finally (c) a model that nests both (a) and (b). There is an inverse relationship between volatility and autocorrelation consistent with the findings from several other stock markets, including the US. This pattern could be the manifestation of a certain form of noise trading namely positive feedback trading or, momentum trading strategies. There is little evidence that market declines are followed with higher volatility than market advances, the so-called ‘leverage effect’, that has been observed in almost all developed stock markets. In out of sample forecasts, the nonlinear specifications provide better results in terms of forecasting both first and second moments of the distribution of returns.
Restropectiva dos regimes cambiais brasileiros com ênfase em bandas de câmbio

This paper describes the main exchange rate regimes giving emphasis to the exchange rate bands. It presents the evolution of the International monetary system, analysing also the different Brazilian exchange rate regimes. It specially deals with the band period from the Real Plan, which had preveiled until the flexible exchange rate system started in the beginning of 1999.
Public‐private wage gaps and skill levels: evidence from French, British and Italian micro data

Purpose - The authors aim to investigate public-private pay determination using French, British and Italian micro data from the 2001 ECHP (European Community Household Panel) and estimate public/private wage differentials by country. By focussing on different countries, they exploit institutional differences to gain insights on the process of pay formation. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use regression techniques to compute the pay premium both at the average and at different education/skill levels. They then decompose the observed differences into a part due to characteristics and another part due to different returns between sectors, also at different quantiles of the wage distributions within skills. Findings - Even after controlling for observable characteristics, the authors find an overall positive wage differential for public sector workers in each of the three countries. As expected, the differential varies by skill. In general, the present findings do not fully support the view that the public (private) sector pays more (less) among the low skilled than the private (public) sector, and that the opposite is true for the highly skilled. The authors also document that the public pay premium varies as one moves up or down in the skill distribution. Practical implications - On the one hand, the authors’ results confirm that the public sector acts in general as a “fair employer”, compressing pay dispersion with respect to the private sector. On the other hand, the interactions of public and private labour market institutional arrangements play a crucial role in shaping the structure of relative wages across sectors. For example, when the monopsony power in wage bargaining is relevant in both sectors as, for example, in Britain, the private sector pays in absolute value proportionally less, and also the public wage premium is smaller. Originality/value - This is the first attempt to use comparable data for three countries to analyse public/private wage differences by skill levels and to link the evidence with differences in public/private wage setting regimes.
Multi-objective tree search approaches for general video game playing

The design of algorithms for Game AI agents usually focuses on the single objective of winning, or maximizing a given score. Even if the heuristic that guides the search (for reinforcement learning or evolutionary approaches) is composed of several factors, these typically provide a single numeric value (reward or fitness, respectively) to be optimized. Multi-Objective approaches are an alternative concept to face these problems, as they try to optimize several objectives, often contradictory, at the same time. This paper proposes for the first time a study of Multi-Objective approaches for General Video Game playing, where the game to be played is not known a priori by the agent. The experimental study described here compares several algorithms in this setting, and the results suggest that Multi-Objective approaches can perform even better than their single-objective counterparts.
MicroRNAs are dynamically regulated in hypertrophic hearts, and miR‐199a is essential for the maintenance of cell size in cardiomyocytes

Cardiac hypertrophy, which is characterized by an increase in cell size and reactivation of fetal genes, occurs as an adaptive response to diverse forms of stress and often results in heart failure and sudden death. Growing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in cardiac hypertrophy, but the function of these miRNAs remains elusive. Here, using real time PCR analysis, we showed that several miRNAs were dynamically regulated in the rat hypertrophic hearts and miR‐199a was up‐regulated by 10‐fold in hypertrophic hearts after abdominal aorta constriction for 12 weeks. With tissue profiling analysis, we showed that miR‐199a was predominantly expressed in cardiomyocytes, but was also faintly detected in cardiac fibroblasts. To investigate whether miR‐199a was involved in cardiac hypertrophy, both over‐expression and knockdown of miR‐199a were performed in cultured cardiomyocytes. Over‐expression of miR‐199a in cardiomyocytes increased the cell size as measured by cell surface area, and also reduced the mRNA expression level of α‐myosin heavy chain. In accordance, knockdown of endogenous miR‐199a in cardiomyocytes reduced the cell size. Down‐regulation of miR‐199a also attenuated the phenylephrine‐induced increase of cell size. Furthermore, bioinformatic algorithms were used to predict the potential targets of miR‐199a in cardiac hypertrophy, and hypoxia‐inducible factor 1 alpha was confirmed by the luciferase reporter assay to be a potential target of miR‐199a. Taken together, our results demonstrated that miR‐199a, which was predominantly expressed in cardiomyocytes, was essential for the maintenance of cell size of cardiomyocytes and might play a role in the regulation of cardiac hypertrophy. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 437–443, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stronger communities? Changing prospects for community-led strategic planning in New Zealand

New Zealand’s Local Government Act 2002 ushered in a new phase in local government, a phase that is best characterised by the term ‘empowerment’. Not only were councils empowered to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being, in contrast with previous more prescriptive legislation, but citizens were empowered to engage in community-led strategic planning. In many respects the new statute reflected contemporary international public management trends in which governance is increasingly being conducted via networks of public and private actors. However, with the change of government from a centre-left Labour-led coalition to a centre-right National-led government following the November 2008 general election, it is less certain that local government and communities will continue to experience a strengthening of the pluralisation of governance that has been a feature of the past decade. This article argues that the potential disempowerment of local government, and possible attenuation of community-led strategic planning in New Zealand, comes at a time when the momentum for devolution to local government and other communities is increasing elsewhere.
On the cyclical sensitivity of real wages

The Portuguese labour market has, for many decades, been conspicuous on account of its low, strongly counter-cyclical, unemployment rates. Based on widespread evidence of the very low mobility level of labour, researchers have naturally pointed to real wage fl exibility as being the main reason for this result. Over the course of this period, there has been an accumulation of convincing research, suggesting a strong cyclical sensitivity of aggregate wages to the unemployment rate.1 Reference should be made to the following cautionary note, set out in the box “Real wage fl exibility in Portugal”, in the 1998 report of the Banco de Portugal.
NIP1;1, an Aquaporin Homolog, Determines the Arsenite Sensitivity of Arabidopsis thaliana*

Arsenite [As(III)] is highly toxic to organisms, including plants. Very recently, transporters in rice responsible for As(III) transport have been described (Ma, J. F., Yamaji, N., Mitani, N., Xu, X. Y., Su, Y. H., McGrath, S. P., and Zhao, F. J. (2008) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 105, 9931–9935), but little is known about As(III) tolerance. In this study, three independent As(III)-tolerant mutants were isolated from ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized M2 seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana. All three mutants carried independent mutations in Nodulin 26-like intrinsic protein 1;1 (NIP1;1), a homolog of an aquaporin. Two independent transgenic lines carrying T-DNA in NIP1;1 were highly tolerant to As(III), establishing that NIP1;1 is the causal gene of As(III) tolerance. Because an aquaglyceroporin is able to transport As(III), we measured As(III) transport activity. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, NIP1;1 was capable of transporting As(III). As content in the mutant plants was 30% lower than in wild-type plants. Promoter β-glucuronidase and real-time PCR analysis showed that NIP1;1 is highly expressed in roots, and GFP-NIP1;1 is localized to the plasma membrane. These data show that NIP1;1 is involved in As(III) uptake into roots and that disruption of NIP1;1 function confers As(III) tolerance to plants. NIP1;2 and NIP5;1, closely related homologs of NIP1;1, were also permeable to As(III). Although the disruption of these genes reduced the As content in plants, As(III) tolerance was not observed in nip1;2 and nip5;1 mutants. This indicates that As(III) tolerance cannot be simply explained by decreased As contents in plants.
Efficient and Robust Pupil Size and Blink Estimation From Near-Field Video Sequences for Human–Machine Interaction

Monitoring pupil and blink dynamics has applications in cognitive load measurement during human-machine interaction. However, accurate, efficient, and robust pupil size and blink estimation pose significant challenges to the efficacy of real-time applications due to the variability of eye images, hence to date, require manual intervention for fine tuning of parameters. In this paper, a novel self-tuning threshold method, which is applicable to any infrared-illuminated eye images without a tuning parameter, is proposed for segmenting the pupil from the background images recorded by a low cost webcam placed near the eye. A convex hull and a dual-ellipse fitting method are also proposed to select pupil boundary points and to detect the eyelid occlusion state. Experimental results on a realistic video dataset show that the measurement accuracy using the proposed methods is higher than that of widely used manually tuned parameter methods or fixed parameter methods. Importantly, it demonstrates convenience and robustness for an accurate and fast estimate of eye activity in the presence of variations due to different users, task types, load, and environments. Cognitive load measurement in human-machine interaction can benefit from this computationally efficient implementation without requiring a threshold calibration beforehand. Thus, one can envisage a mini IR camera embedded in a lightweight glasses frame, like Google Glass, for convenient applications of real-time adaptive aiding and task management in the future.
Integrin signalling in directed cell migration

Migrating cells tend to continue moving in the same direction, a property called persistence. During migration, cells, by definition, form new adhesions at their front and break old adhesions at the rear. We hypothesize that the distinction between new adhesions at the front and older adhesions at the rear plays a major role in directional persistence. We propose specific mechanisms of persistence on the basis of known properties of integrin signals, in hope of stimulating investigation of these ideas.
[Effects of downregulation of HDAC6 expression on cell cycle, proliferation and migration of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE To detect the expression of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and to analyze the effects of downregulation of HDAC6 expression on cell cycle, proliferation and migration of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line Hep-2 cells, and to explore their possible molecular mechanisms. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of HDAC6 protein in 55 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and 20 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa. HDAC6 siRNA and control siRNA were transfected into Hep-2 cells via lipofectamine 2000, and the interfering effect was analyzed using Western blotting. The effects of downregulation of HDAC6 expression on cell cycle, proliferation and migration were determined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry and Boyden chamber, respectively. Finally, Western blotting was used to detect the expressions of cell cycle, proliferation and migration related proteins. RESULTS There was a high level expression of HDAC6 protein in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and its expression was not related to age and sex of the patients (P > 0.05), but closely associated with the degree of histological differentiation, TNM staging and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). HDAC6 siRNA effectively down-regulated the expression of HDAC6 protein in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line Hep-2 cells, and downregulation of its expression obviously inhibited cell proliferation, arrested cell cycle at G(0)/G(1) phase and decreased cell migration ability in Hep-2 cells. Additionally, the downregulation of HDAC6 protein expression markedly decreased the expressions of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cdk2 and MMP-9 proteins, but increased the expressions of p21 and E-cadherin proteins. CONCLUSIONS HDAC6 may play a pivotal role in the carcinogenesis and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The downregulation of HDAC6 expression-mediated cell proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest and decreased cell migration ability may be closely associated with the decrease of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cdk2 and MMP-9 proteins and increase of p21 and E-cadherin proteins.
Performance limits for colloidal quantum dot and emerging thin-film solar cells

Emerging thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies can be made lightweight and flexible with simple manufacturing methods, allowing rapid scale-up and ubiquitous deployment of solar power. However, for most emerging PV technologies—including colloidal quantum dots (QDs), perovskites, and organics—power conversion efficiency and stability remain major obstacles to commercial development. In this thesis, we evaluate the long-term potential of emerging thin-film PV technologies, focusing on performance limits for QD solar cells in the face of inefficient charge extraction and energetic disorder. First, we introduce material complexity as a framework for analyzing PV technologies and assess the performance and scalability of all leading technologies on equal footing. This analysis points to a unique advantage of emerging thin films—high power-to-weight ratios. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate a process for producing thin, lightweight, transparent, laminable, and flexible PV substrates based on in situ vapor-phase growth of parylene-C films. This approach enables ultra-thin molecular organic solar cells with efficiencies and yields comparable to glass-based cells and weight-specific power exceeding 6 W/g. Next, we address inefficient charge extraction in QD solar cells by demonstrating an ordered bulk heterojunction device architecture based on solution-grown ZnO nanowire arrays and PbS QDs. The nanowires decouple light absorption from charge extraction, improving the short-circuit current density by 50% and the power conversion efficiency by 35%. Finally, we attempt to answer the question “Are QD solar cells worth pursuing further? ” We use photothermal deflection spectroscopy to characterize disorder-induced band tailing in PbS QD films across different QD sizes, ligands, and processing conditions. Based on these measurements, we calculate radiative efficiency limits ranging from 26% to 32%, which suggests that disorder does not severely constrain the long-term potential of PbS QD solar cells. Thesis Supervisor: Vladimir Bulović Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Financial Liberalization and Financial Repression in Formerly Socialist Economies

The financial systems of developing countries tend to be restricted or repressed by burdensome reserve requirements, interest-rate ceilings, foreign-exchange regulations, constraints on banks? balance sheets, and the heavy financial-sector taxation. This article explores preliminary evidence from the post-communist economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Using data from 25 countries between 1991 and 1996, we find that the standard public-finance framework has limited applicability to the transition economies. It is more fruitful to examine how political institutions affect financial policy. Our findings suggest that post-communist governments may adopt repressive financial controls to ensure the survival of those in power. In countries where the pre-reform elite are abundant in legislative bodies and where interparty competition is low, such elite have perpetuated a system of implicit subsidies. The main beneficiaries of these policies are large, formerly state-owned industries with close financial links to the largest commercial banks. These results lend support to the claim that the commercial banks have taken over the role of the old planning ministries.
Autoradiography, MALDI-MS, and SIMS-MS Imaging in Pharmaceutical Discovery and Development

Whole-body autoradiography ((WBA) or quantitative WBA (QWBA)), microautoradiography (MARG), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI-MSI), and secondary ion mass spectrometric imaging (SIMS-MSI) are high-resolution, molecular imaging techniques used to study the tissue distribution of radiolabeled and nonlabeled compounds in ex vivo, in situ biological samples. WBA, which is the imaging of the whole-body of lab animals, and/or their organ systems; and MARG, which provides information on the localization of radioactivity in histological preparations and at the cellular level, are used to support drug discovery and development efforts. These studies enable the conduct of human radiolabeled metabolite studies and have provided pharmaceutical scientists with a high resolution and quantitative method of accessing tissue distribution. MALDI-MSI is a mass spectrometric imaging technique capable of label-free and simultaneous determination of the identity and distribution of xenobiotics and their metabolites as well as endogenous substances in biological samples. This makes it an interesting extension to WBA and MARG, eliminating the need for radiochemistry and providing molecular specific information. SIMS-MSI offers a complementary method to MALDI-MSI for the acquisition of images with higher spatial resolution directly from biological specimens. Although traditionally used for the analysis of surface films and polymers, SIMS has been used successfully for the study of biological tissues and cell types, thus enabling the acquisition of images at submicrometer resolution with a minimum of samples preparation.
Physiological regulation of extracellular matrix collagen and elastin in the arterial wall of rats by noradrenergic tone and angiotensin II

The interactions between the effects of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and angiotensin II (ANG II) on vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis were determined in rats. The mRNA and protein content of collagen I, collagen III and elastin in the abdominal aorta (AA) and femoral artery (FA) was investigated in Wistar–Kyoto rats treated for 5 weeks with guanethidine, a sympathoplegic, losartan, an ANG II AT1 receptor (AT1R) blocker, or both. The effects of noradrenaline (NE) and ANG II on collagen III and elastin mRNA, and the receptor involved, were tested in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vitro. Guanethidine increased collagen types I and III and decreased elastin, while losartan had an opposite effect, although without effect on collagen III. The combination of treatments abrogated changes induced by simple treatment with collagen I and elastin, but increased collagen III mRNA in AA and not in FA. NE stimulated collagen III mRNA via β receptors and elastin via α1 and α2 receptors. ANG II stimulated collagen III but inhibited elastin mRNA via AT1R. Overall, SNS and ANG II exert opposite and antagonistic effects on major components of ECM in the vascular wall. This may be of relevance for the choice of a therapeutic strategy in vascular diseases.