Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Essential Role for the SMN Complex in the Specificity of snRNP Assembly

The Survival of Motor Neurons (SMN) protein, the product of the spinal muscular atrophy–determining gene, is part of a large macromolecular complex (SMN complex) that functions in the assembly of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). Using cell extracts and purified components, we demonstrated that the SMN complex is necessary and sufficient to mediate the ATP-dependent assembly of the core of seven Sm proteins on uridine-rich, small nuclear ribonucleic acids (U snRNAs). In vitro experiments revealed strict requirements for ordered binding of the Sm proteins and the U snRNAs to the SMN complex. Importantly, the SMN complex is necessary to ensure that Sm cores assemble only on correct RNA targets and prevent their otherwise promiscuous association with other RNAs. Thus, the SMN complex functions as a specificity factor essential for the efficient assembly of Sm proteins on U snRNAs and likely protects cells from illicit, and potentially deleterious, nonspecific binding of Sm proteins to RNAs.
Comparison of Lund'07 vehicular channel measurements with the IEEE 802.11p channel model

This paper presents a very preliminary comparison between the IEEE 802.11p channel model parameters with parameters evaluated from new high speed measurements in Lund, Sweden. Following interesting differences as well as similarities are observed: The measured maximum excess delay is about one fifth of the one proposed in the IEEE 802.11p model. The amplitude distribution for each tap can be approximated as Ricean distribution, with a very high Rice factor for the first tap and small Rice factors for later taps. Similar to the IEEE 802.11p model we observe a strong line of sight path near to the Doppler frequency of zero and weaker paths at Doppler frequencies about twice the measurement vehicle’s speed. As a key result we show that the average delay-Doppler spectra, which is one part of the tap delay model, does not reflect the time variant behavior of the radio channel.
Recommendations for the housing and care of domestic cats in laboratories

In recent years, with increasing interest in applied ethology and animal welfare, research has been carried out on the behaviour and welfare of cats kept in different environments. These include laboratories, animal shelters, quarantine and boarding catteries and the home. This article presents a review of this research, makes recommendations for the housing and care of cats in laboratories, and comments on existing Codes of Practice.
Behavioral/systems/cognitive Variations in Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Associated with Individual Differences in Maternal Behavior in the Rat

Lactating rats exhibit stable individual differences in pup licking/grooming. We used in vivo voltammetry to monitor changes in extra-cellular dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens (n. Acc) shell of lactating rats interacting with pups and found that (1) the DA signal increased significantly with pup licking/grooming; (2) the onset of such increases preceded pup licking/grooming; and (3) the magnitude and duration of the increase in the DA signal were significantly correlated with the duration of the licking/grooming bout. In females characterized on the basis of behavioral observations as high-licking/grooming mothers, the magnitude of the increase in the DA signal associated with licking/grooming was significantly greater than in low-licking/grooming dams. Dopamine transporter binding in the n. Acc was increased in low-compared with high-licking/grooming mothers. Injection of the selective DA uptake inhibitor GBR 12909 [1-(2-(Bis-(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy)ethyl)-4-(3 phenypropyl)piperazine dihydrochloride] (5 mg/kg, s.c.) increased the DA signal in the n. Acc and pup licking/grooming in low-licking/grooming mothers to levels comparable with those observed in high-licking/grooming dams. Receptor autoradiographic studies showed elevated levels of D 1 and D 3 receptors in the n. Acc shell region in high-licking/ grooming dams. These results suggest that high-and low-licking/grooming dams differ in mesolimbic dopaminergic activity associated with mother–pup interactions. Such differences may serve as neural substrates for individual differences in the motivational component of maternal behavior.
Inclusão Escolar: o Papel dos Agentes Educacionais Brasileiros

El proceso de inclusion escolar envolvio distintos agentes educativos. La actuacion conjunta entre ellos mostro buenos resultados, con relacion al aprendizaje social y academico. El trabajo tuvo como objetivo identificar los estudios brasilenos, publicados en periodicos brasilenos evaluados con Qualis A1 y A2, en las areas de Psicologia y Educacion, que investigaron la actuacion de los agentes educativos con relacion al proceso de inclusion escolar y discutir las principales contribuciones de los resultados. Fueran anadidos cuatro criterios para la realizacion de la revision sistematizada. De 733 periodicos, fueron elegidos 95 nacionales. De estos periodicos, 102 articulos nacionales fueron buscados con las palabras-clave. Un total de 33 fueron considerados como resultados y clasificados en estudios con objetivos experimentales aplicados que tenian alguna intervencion de algun agente con relacion al proceso de la inclusion escolar (n = 7), y descriptivos que no tenian como objetivo la elaboracion, implementacion y/o evaluacion de intervenciones relacionadas a la inclusion escolar (n = 26). Ocho estudios consideraron, de alguna forma, la participacion de los distintos agentes en conjunto. Son presentadas las limitaciones y sugerencias para trabajos futuros. Los datos reflejan el papel de los diferentes agentes, para asegurar el proceso de la ensenanza y aprendizaje de los alumnos
A New Application to Detect "Emotional Perception and Styles" of Primary School Children, and their Evolution with Age

We present a new application that helps to determine the emotional perceptual proclivities of a learner, possibly segmented into the plurality of multimodal channels of communication: voice, text, facial expressions, gestures, etc. To show the potentiality of the instrument we will illustrate its use - based solely on the voice channel - to determine the emotional perceptual profile of a group of primary school children, aged from 6 to 13 years.
Effect of altered sink: source ratio on photosynthetic metabolism of source leaves.

When seven crop species were grown under identical environmental conditions, decreased sink:source ratio led to a decreased photosynthetic rate within 1 to 3 days in Cucumis sativus L. , Gossypium hirsutum L. , and Raphanus sativus L. , but not in Capsicum annuum L. , Solanum melongena L. , Phaseolus vulgaris L. , or Ricinus communis L. The decrease was not associated with stomatal closure. In cotton and cucumber, sink removal led to an increase in starch and sugar content, in glucose 6-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate pools, and in the proportion of (14)C detected in sugar phosphates and UDPglucose following (14)CO(2) supply. When mannose was supplied to leaf discs to sequester cytoplasmic inorganic phosphate, promotion of starch synthesis, and inhibition of CO(2) fixation, were observed in control discs, but not in discs from treated plants. Phosphate buffer reduced starch synthesis in the latter, but not the former discs. The findings suggest that sink removal led to a decreased ratio inorganic phosphate:phosphorylated compounds. In beans (14)C in sugar phosphates increased following sink removal, but without sucrose accumulation, suggesting tighter feedback control of sugar level. Starch accumulated to higher levels than in the other plants, but CO(2) fixation rate was constant for several days.
Lactobacillus casei 64H Contains a Phosphoenolpyruvate-Dependent Phosphotransferase System for Uptake of Galactose, as Confirmed by Analysis of ptsH and Differentgal Mutants

ABSTRACT Galactose metabolism in Lactobacillus casei 64H was analyzed by genetic and biochemical methods. Mutants with defects inptsH, galK, or the tagatose 6-phosphate pathway were isolated either by positive selection using 2-deoxyglucose or 2-deoxygalactose or by an enrichment procedure with streptozotocin.ptsH mutations abolish growth on lactose, cellobiose,N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, fructose, mannitol, glucitol, and ribitol, while growth on galactose continues at a reduced rate. Growth on galactose is also reduced, but not abolished, ingalK mutants. A mutation in galK in combination with a mutation in the tagatose 6-phosphate pathway results in sensitivity to galactose and lactose, while a galK mutation in combination with a mutation in ptsH completely abolishes galactose metabolism. Transport assays, in vitro phosphorylation assays, and thin-layer chromatography of intermediates of galactose metabolism also indicate the functioning of a permease/Leloir pathway and a phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS)/tagatose 6-phosphate pathway. The galactose-PTS is induced by growth on either galactose or lactose, but the induction kinetics for the two substrates are different.
MicroRNA-449a maintains self-renewal in liver cancer stem-like cells by targeting Tcf3

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be responsible for tumor invasion, metastasis, and recurrence. We previously showed that the pluripotency factor Nanog not only serves as a novel biomarker of CSCs but also potentially plays a crucial role in maintaining the self-renewal ability of liver CSCs. However, how CSCs maintain Nanog gene expression has not been elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that microRNA-449a (miR-449a) is overexpressed in poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, drug-resistant liver cancer cells, cultured liver tumorspheres, and Nanog-positive liver cancer cells. The upregulation of miR-449a in non-CSCs increased stemness, whereas the downregulation of miR-449a in Nanog-positive CSCs reduced stemness. Furthermore, transcription factor 3 (TCF3), a target of miR-449a, could downregulate Nanog expression, and restoring TCF3 expression in miR-449a-expressing Nanog-negative cells abrogated cellular stemness. These data establish that the miR449a-TCF3-Nanog axis maintains stemness in liver CSCs.
Critical Sensor Density for Partial Connectivity in Large Area Wireless Sensor Networks

Assume sensor deployment follows the Poisson distribution. For a given partial connectivity requirement &#961;, 0.5 < &#961; < 1, we prove, for a hexagon model, that there exists a critical sensor density &#955;0, around which the probability that at least 100&#961;% of sensors are connected in the network increases sharply from &#949; to 1-&#949; within a short interval of sensor density &#961;. The location of &#961;0 is at the sensor density where the above probability is about 1/2. We also extend the results to the disk model. Simulations are conducted to confirm the theoretical results.
A weight dissemination look at relevance feedback and query reformulation

This paper takes a second look on the Relevance Feedback technique with query reformulation referred to as the Weight Propagation Technique (WP). The method is developed by the authors and uses documents chosen relevant or not relevant to build positive and negative weights in relation to other documents marked as similar according to some criteria. Documents considered in this work are considered independent vectors instead of having them merged into a single vector as is the case with traditional approaches. A new query reformulation method is proposed to use in conjunction with WP. Tests conducted here to illustrate the effectiveness of the WP method of doing RF reveal that performance improves especially when using large test collections.
On efficiency of link adaptation mechanisms in H/ARQ systems

In this study we analyze the synergy effects among ARQ and Hybrid ARQ with rate-adaptive mechanisms. We present several coding and decoding schemes and link adaptation techniques for rate-adaptive transmission, designed to combat noise, and we discuss their performance. We describe approaches for searching and selecting the best modulation and coding scheme (MCS) based on channel quality information (CQI). Hybrid ARQ using convolutional and punctured convolutional codes is used with variable re-transmission packet size and code rate according to CQI. Attractive simulation results are issued and they may be used as a basis for performance trade-off.
Recent Hepatitis C Virus Infections in HIV-Infected Patients in Taiwan: Incidence and Risk Factors

ABSTRACT Outbreaks of sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections have been recently reported in HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) in Europe, Australia, and North America. Little is known concerning whether this also occurs in other Asia-Pacific countries. Between 1994 and 2010, a prospective observational cohort study was performed to assess the incidence of recent HCV seroconversion in 892 HIV-infected patients (731 MSM and 161 heterosexuals) who were not injecting drug users. A nested case-control study was conducted to identify associated factors with recent HCV seroconversion, and phylogenetic analysis was performed using NS5B sequences amplified from seroconverters. During a total followup duration of 4,270 person-years (PY), 30 patients (3.36%) had HCV seroconversion, with an overall incidence rate of 7.03 per 1,000 PY. The rate increased from 0 in 1994 to 2000 and 2.29 in 2001 to 2005 to 10.13 per 1,000 PY in 2006 to 2010 (P < 0.05). After adjustment for age and HIV transmission route, recent syphilis remained an independent factor associated with HCV seroconversion (odds ratio, 7.731; 95% confidence interval, 3.131 to 19.086; P < 0.01). In a nested case-control study, seroconverters had higher aminotranferase levels and were more likely to have CD4 ≥ 200 cells/μl and recent syphilis than nonseroconverters (P < 0.05). Among the 21 patients with HCV viremia, phylogenetic analysis revealed 7 HCV transmission clusters or pairs (4 within genotype 1b, 2 within genotype 2a, and 1 within genotype 3a). The incidence of HCV seroconversion that is associated with recent syphilis is increasing among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan.
Ion Binding and Permeation at the GABA Transporter GAT1

This study addresses the binding of ions and the permeation of substrates during function of the GABA transporter GAT1. GAT1 was expressed in Xenopus oocytes and studied electrophysiologically as well as with [3H]GABA flux; GAT1 was also expressed in mammalian cells and studied with [3H]GABA and [3H]tiagabine binding. Voltage jumps, Na+ and Cl− concentration jumps, and exposure to high-affinity blockers (NO-05-711 and SKF-100330A) all produce capacitive charge movements. Occlusive interactions among these three types of perturbations show that they all measure the same population of charges. The concentration dependences of the charge movements reveal (1) that two Na+ ions interact with the transporter even in the absence of GABA, and (2) that Cl−facilitates the binding of Na+. Comparison between the charge movements and the transport-associated current shows that this initial Na+-transporter interaction limits the overall transport rate when [GABA] is saturating. However, two classes of manipulation—treatment with high-affinity uptake blockers and the W68L mutation—“lock” Na+ onto the transporter by slowing or preventing the subsequent events that release the substrates to the intracellular medium. The Na+ substitutes Li+and Cs+ do not support charge movements, but they can permeate the transporter in an uncoupled manner. Our results (1) support the hypothesis that efficient removal of synaptic transmitter by the GABA transporter GAT1 depends on the previous binding of Na+ and Cl−, and (2) indicate the important role of the conserved putative transmembrane domain 1 in interactions with the permeant substrates.
Encounter Frequency and Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

The relationship between encounter frequency (average number of provider-patient encounters over a period of time) and blood pressure for hypertensive patients is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that shorter encounter intervals are associated with faster blood pressure normalization. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 5042 hypertensive patients with diabetes mellitus treated at primary care practices affiliated with 2 academic hospitals between 2000 and 2005. Distinct periods of continuously elevated blood pressure (≥130/85 mm Hg) were studied. We evaluated the association of the average encounter interval with time to blood pressure normalization and rate of blood pressure decrease. Blood pressure of the patients with the average interval between encounters ≤1 month normalized after a median of 1.5 months at the rate of 28.7 mm Hg/month compared with 12.2 months at 2.6 mm Hg/month for the encounter interval >1 month (P<0.0001 for all). Median time to blood pressure normalization was 0.7 versus 1.9 months for the average encounter interval ≤2 weeks versus between 2 weeks and 1 month, respectively (P<0.0001). In proportional hazards analysis adjusted for patient demographics, initial blood pressure, and treatment intensification rate, a 1 month increase in the average encounter interval was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.764 for blood pressure normalization (P<0.0001). Shorter encounter intervals are associated with faster decrease in blood pressure and earlier blood pressure normalization. Greatest benefits were observed at encounter intervals (≤2 weeks) shorter than what is currently recommended.
Association Between Apolipoprotein E Alleles and Calcific Valvular Heart Disease

Background—Studies on apolipoprotein E (apoE) alleles have reported an increased risk of coronary heart disease in patients with the apoE4 allele. Given the risk factor and histological similarities between coronary and calcific valvular heart disease (aortic stenosis [AS] and mitral annular calcification [MAC]), we postulated that apoE alleles might be associated with the development of these valvular lesions. Methods and Results—We evaluated the association between apoE alleles and calcific valvular lesions in 802 patients undergoing transthoracic echocardiography using logistic regression analyses. No difference was noted in genotype distribution (P =0.59) or prevalence of apoE4 between those with or without MAC (30% versus 27%, respectively; P =0.57). Compared with patients without AS, the genotype distribution of patients with AS differed significantly (P =0.03), with increasing prevalences of the apoE 4 allele (27% in those without versus 40% in those with AS; P =0.01). In multivariate analyses adjusting for age, gender, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and coronary artery disease, increasing age and the apoE4 allele were significant independent predictors of AS (odds ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 3.71; P =0.046), whereas the apoE4 allele was not predictive of MAC. Conclusions—These findings support extension of the importance of the apoE4 allele beyond atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease to calcific AS.
Joint robust watermarking and image compression

A joint watermarking and compression (JWC) paradigm is considered for the application of JPEG image compression to achieve an efficient tradeoff among the embedding rate, compression rate, embedding distortion, and robustness against a class of “natural” signal processing attacks, including spatial filtering, image resizing and rotation, random row and column deleting, and JPEG2000 recompression. This paper makes two novel contributions: First, a new JWC embedding method called joint odd-even watermarking and JPEG compression scheme is proposed to optimize compression rate and embedding distortion when watermarks are embedded into JPEG compressed images. Second, low-density parity-check codes are employed into the JWC system to obtain an efficient tradeoff between the embedding rate and robustness. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the recently designed DEW (differential energy watermarking), DQW (differential quantization watermarking) and RA-SEC (repeat-accumulate code based selectively embedding in coefficients) schemes, in terms of compression rate, embedding distortion and robustness under the same embedding rate.
Abused women's vulnerability in daily life and in contact with psychiatric care: In the light of a caring science perspective

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of abused women's vulnerability in relation to how the abuse and encounters with health care professionals affect life. A further aim is to highlight abused women's vulnerability with a caring science perspective. BACKGROUND Experience of abuse has consequences for the mental health of women and girls. Abused women may experience health care as unsupportive, and as a result, often chose not to disclose their experiences of abuse. DESIGN AND METHODS The results of two qualitative empirical studies were analysed along with a phenomenological meaning analysis in accordance with the methodological principles of Reflective Lifeworld Research. FINDINGS Living one's life with experiences of abuse implies vulnerability, which can prevent abused women from achieving good health. This vulnerability results from insecurity regarding identity, along with the sense that one could have been a different individual if it were not for the abuse and thereby have a more fair chance in life. Being cared for within general psychiatric care could further increase this vulnerability. The healthcare professional's ability to care for the women who have experienced abuse leads to either an encounter of trust or else further suffering for the women. CONCLUSION A lifeworld-oriented caring science perspective as a foundation for care can contribute to care for abused women which reaches the existential dimensions of their vulnerability and vulnerable life situation. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE It is evident that healthcare professionals should deepen their understanding of how abused women live, within a general psychiatric context. This study enables a deeper understanding of abused women's vulnerability in relation to how the abuse and encounters with healthcare professionals affect life.
Promises, Threats and Fairness

We present experimental evidence that promises and threats mitigate the hold-up problem. While investors rely as much on their own threats as on their trading partner's promises, the latter are more credible. Building on recent work in psychology and behavioural economics, we then present a simple model within which agents are concerned about both fairness and consistency. The model can account for several of our experimental findings. Its most striking implication is that fairmindedness strengthens the credibility of promises to behave fairly, but weakens the credibility of threats to punish unfair behaviour. Copyright 2004 Royal Economic Society.