Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence that Rabies Virus Forms Different Kinds of Fusion Machines with Different pH Thresholds for Fusion

ABSTRACT Fusion of rabies virus with membranes is triggered at a low pH and is mediated by a viral glycoprotein (G). Fusion of rabies virus with liposomes was monitored by using a lipid mixing assay based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Fusion was detected below pH 6.4, and its extent increased with H+ concentrations to be maximal around pH 6.15. The origin of the partial fusion activity of rabies virus under suboptimal pH conditions (i.e., between pH 6.15 and 6.4) was investigated. We demonstrate unambiguously that fusion at a suboptimal pH is distinct from the phenomenon of low-pH-induced inactivation and that it is not due to heterogeneity of the virus population. We also show that viruses that do not fuse under suboptimal pH conditions are indeed bound to the target liposomes and that the fusion complexes they have formed are blocked at an early stage of the fusion pathway. Our conclusion is that along the fusion reaction, different kinds of fusion machines with different pH thresholds for fusion can be formed. Possible explanations of this difference of pH sensitivity are discussed.
Institutionalized Corruption and the Kleptocratic State

This paper argues that corruption patterns are endogenous to political structures. Thus, corruption can be systemic and planned rather than decentralized and coincidental. In an economic system without law or property rights, a kleptocratic state may arise as a predatory hierarchy from a state of pure anarchy. A dictator minimizes the probability of a palace revolution by creating a system of patronage and loyalty through corrupt bureaucracy. Competitive corruption patterns are associated with anarchy and weak dictators, while strong dictators implement a system of monopolistic corruption. Efforts at public sector reform may meet resistance in countries featuring such systemic corruption.
Using Bacteriophages To Reduce Formation of Catheter-Associated Biofilms by Staphylococcus epidermidis

ABSTRACT Use of indwelling catheters is often compromised as a result of biofilm formation. This study investigated if hydrogel-coated catheters pretreated with a coagulase-negative bacteriophage would reduce Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation. Biofilms were developed on hydrogel-coated silicone catheters installed in a modified drip flow reactor. Catheter segments were pretreated with the lytic S. epidermidis bacteriophage 456 by exposing the catheter lumen to a 10-log-PFU/ml culture of the bacteriophage for 1 h at 37°C prior to biofilm formation. The untreated mean biofilm cell count was 7.01 ± 0.47 log CFU/cm2 of catheter. Bacteriophage treatment with and without supplemental divalent cations resulted in log-CFU/cm2 reductions of 4.47 (P < 0.0001) and 2.34 (P = 0.001), respectively. Divalent cation supplementation without bacteriophage treatment provided a 0.67-log-CFU/cm2 reduction (P = 0.053). Treatment of hydrogel-coated silicone catheters with an S. epidermidis bacteriophage in an in vitro model system significantly reduced viable biofilm formation by S. epidermidis over a 24-h exposure period, suggesting the potential of bacteriophage for mitigating biofilm formation on indwelling catheters and reducing the incidence of catheter-related infections.
The Impact of Exponential Growth Variables on Regression Models of the Market–Accounting Relation

Exponential growth of market value, book value, and earnings is a basic characteristic of many firms. We propose a simple theory linking market value to a multiplicative relation of accounting variables and a lognormal error term, when model variables exhibit this characteristic. Implications for the interpretation of estimated coefficients in commonly used additive linear models of the market–accounting relation in both levels and returns are discussed. We test the theory using a selected panel of 30 of some of the largest long-lived U.S. firms over a 50-year period. Annual cross-section and firm-specific dynamic models of market regressed on accounting values are estimated in levels. Multiplicative models of levels data produce markedly improved statistical specifications compared with additive forms. Lags are also shown to be necessary to produce well-specified dynamic models. A multiplicative returns model based on error correction principles is derived from the multiplicative levels model providing for a straightforward interpretation of the magnitude of coefficients relating market to accounting values. Estimates from deflated returns models are reinterpreted in the light of these results as approximations to estimates derived from multiplicative levels models.
A Stepwise Detection of Conjunctive Structures in Questions using Maximum Entropy Model

This paper presents a maximum entropy model approach to identifying conjuncts of conjunctive structures in questions of financial domain from on-line discussion groups. To avoid phrasal ambiguity, only features in lexical and shallow syntactic level are used. The conjunct detection problem is converted into a stepwise boundary identification task, reducing the search space of a n-word sentence from O(n2) to O(n), The best performance on the test set achieves 85.88% recall and 96% rejection. This approach itself is domain-independent and can be used for conjunct identification in questions universally.
Epigenetic inactivation of CHFR in human tumors

Cell-cycle checkpoints controlling the orderly progression through mitosis are frequently disrupted in human cancers. One such checkpoint, entry into metaphase, is regulated by the CHFR gene encoding a protein possessing forkhead-associated and RING finger domains as well as ubiquitin–ligase activity. Although defects in this checkpoint have been described, the molecular basis and prevalence of CHFR inactivation in human tumors are still not fully understood. To address this question, we analyzed the pattern of CHFR expression in a number of human cancer cell lines and primary tumors. We found CpG methylation-dependent silencing of CHFR expression in 45% of cancer cell lines, 40% of primary colorectal cancers, 53% of colorectal adenomas, and 30% of primary head and neck cancers. Expression of CHFR was precisely correlated with both CpG methylation and deacetylation of histones H3 and H4 in the CpG-rich regulatory region. Moreover, CpG methylation and thus silencing of CHFR depended on the activities of two DNA methyltransferases, DNMT1 and DNMT3b, as their genetic inactivation restored CHFR expression. Finally, cells with CHFR methylation had an intrinsically high mitotic index when treated with microtubule inhibitor. This means that cells in which CHFR was epigenetically inactivated constitute loss-of-function alleles for mitotic checkpoint control. Taken together, these findings shed light on a pathway by which mitotic checkpoint is bypassed in cancer cells and suggest that inactivation of checkpoint genes is much more widespread than previously suspected.
Ports as elements in value-driven chain systems: the new paradigm

This paper argues that, with the rapid and pervasive restructuring of supply chains and of the logistics pathways in which ports are embedded, existing paradigms no longer offer adequate insights into the functions of ports or port authorities. Rather, ports must now be seen as elements in value-driven chain systems or in value chain constellations. They deliver value to shippers and to third party service providers; customer segmentation and targeting is on the basis of a clearly specified value proposition; and the port captures value for itself and for the chain in which it is embedded. The role of ports and port authorities, and the way in which they position themselves in the new business environments beyond 2001 must be defined within a paradigm of ports as elements in value-driven chain systems, not simply as places with particular, if complex, functions.
Open Questions For Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance In Sensory Neural Models for Motion Detection Using Artificial Insect Vision

Stochastic Resonance (SR) occurs when the presence of noise in a nonlinear system can induce an optimal output from that system, and has been observed in a diverse range of physical and biological systems, including neurons. Despite this widespread observation of SR, to date very few engineering applications inspired by SR have been proposed, and one of the goals of our research is to explore possible new practical applications designed to replicate the benefits of SR. In particular, since about 1991, our group has designed and implemented a number of motion detection VLSI chips based on insect vision. We are currently investigating the possibility of replicating the benefits of SR in artificial insect‐vision based motion detection systems, in particular a newly described form of SR called Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance (SSR). The current paper is intended to review and identify the key open questions and avenues for future research relating to SR and SSR in such systems.
Foreign Direct Investment Patterns in Transition Economies: An Evolutionary Game - Theoretic Perspective of the 1990s

The strategic interdependence between market reforms and foreign direct investment (FDI) in transition economies in the 1990s is presented in an evolutionary game-theoretic framework. The static game has two equilibria: in one, FDI contributes to economic restructuring through acquisitions in host countries with rapid market reforms; in the other, slow reform motivates firms to minimize exposure to operational uncertainties through new plant investments. Here FDI plays only a mediating role in economic reform. In a dynamic setting, these equilibria serve to establish conventions about how to invest in countries at different stages of transition. Empirical evidence drawn from U.S. FDI in transition economies further illustrates the model’s equilibria.
Computer-Assisted Preoperative Planning for Reduction of Proximal Femoral Fracture Using 3-D-CT Data

This paper describes procedures for repositioning calculations of fractured bone fragments using 3-D-computed tomography (CT), aimed at preoperative planning for computer-guided fracture reduction of the proximal femur. Fracture boundaries of the bone fragments, as ldquofracture lines (FLs),rdquo and the mirror-transformed contralateral femur shape extracted from 3-D-CT were used for repositioning of the fragments. We first describe a method for extracting FLs based on 3-D curvature analysis and then formulate repositioning methods based on registration of bone fragments using the following three constraints: 1) contralateral (CL) femur shape; 2) FLs; and 3) both CL femur shape and fracture lines, as ldquoboth constraintsrdquo. We performed experiments using CT datasets from five simulated and four real patients with proximal femoral fracture. We evaluated the rotation error in reposition calculations and the contact ratio between repositioned fragment boundaries, which are crucial for the recovery of proper functional axes and bone adhesion of fragments, respectively. Experimental results showed that good accuracy and stability were attainable when registration using both constraints was performed after registration using the fracture-line constraint. On average, 6.0deg plusmn0.8deg in rotation error and 89% plusmn 3% in contact ratio were obtained without providing precise initial values.
[Sensorial strabismus: a study of 191 cases].

PURPOSE To evaluate the charts of patients with sensorial strabismus regarding range of different aspects, such as etiology, the type and the amount of deviation, relationship between the type of deviation and the patient's age when the disease occurred and the surgical outcome. METHODS A retrospective analysis of data charts of 191 patients seen at the section of Ophthalmology at the University of São Paulo, from September 1990 to July 2002. RESULTS There were 84 male and 107 female patients. The most frequent diagnosis responsible for low vision in the squinted eye was atrophic chorioretinitis in 49 patients. Eighty-seven were exotropes and 97 were esotropes. Fifty patients were operated on, but 8 of them were lost to follow-up. In 90.5% the surgical outcome was successful: less than 15 prismatic diopters of hyper or undercorrection after surgery. CONCLUSIONS The good surgical outcome seen in this and other studies enhances and justifies the need for surgical correction of this type of strabismus.
Increased numbers of CD5+ B lymphocytes with a regulatory phenotype in spondylarthritis.

OBJECTIVE Whether and how B lymphocytes contribute to the pathogenesis of spondylarthritis (SpA), a seronegative arthritis associated with gut inflammation, remains unknown. Because innate-like CD5+ B lymphocytes with regulatory functions have been identified in colitis models, we undertook the present study to analyze the presence and function of CD5+ B cells in human SpA. METHODS Peripheral blood B cells from patients with SpA, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry. Synovial biopsy samples were evaluated by immunohistochemistry analysis. Sorted CD5+ and CD5- B cells were analyzed for somatic hypermutation, expression of costimulatory molecules, and cytokine production. RESULTS The naive, marginal zone-like, and to a lesser extent memory B cell compartments in patients with SpA exhibited a clear and specific increase of CD5+ B cells, which was not found in patients with RA. This increase was not due to either B cell activation or preferential migration of CD5- B cells to the inflamed synovium. Consistent with their phenotype and the low-affinity polyreactive immunoglobulins produced by their murine counterpart cells, CD5+ B cells from patients with SpA showed low levels of somatic hypermutation. With regard to antigen presentation, CD5+ B cells expressed slightly increased HLA-DR levels but low CD80 and CD86 levels. In vitro activation failed to up-regulate these costimulatory molecules but induced significant production of interleukin-10 and interleukin-6 by CD5+ B cells. CONCLUSION CD5+ B cells are specifically increased in SpA. Analysis of somatic hypermutation, expression of antigen-presenting and costimulatory molecules, and cytokine production indicates that this B cell subset has regulatory capacities. Further investigation of the potential role of CD5+ cells in SpA is warranted.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF R&D PROJECTS: AN OPTIONS APPROACH

ABSTRACT An emerging trend in research and development (R&D) project valuation is the use of options approach, which permits a more flexible assessment of the future growth opportunities in the entire process. The traditional DCF method when naively applied fails to capture all the future opportunities that create value, thereby resulting in an under investment in R&D. The options approach is more appropriate in a world of uncertainty because it views an R&D project as an initial investment that creates future follow-on commercial opportunities that are undertaken only if the initial R&D project is successful. Valuation of R&D projects is usually complex due to substantial uncertainties at different project phases, including the R&D phase and commercialization phases. Several recent papers on real options indicate that valuations of R&D projects based upon an options approach have been neglected by the finance community. To help correct this deficiency, we develop a valuation model that incorporates the r.
‘Worth So Appallingly Little’: A Workplace‐Level Analysis of Low Pay

Using Britain’s 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, this paper investigates the characteristics of establishments paying low wages immediately prior to the introduction of the UK’s National Minimum Wage in April 1999. It demonstrates that a range of personal, oragnizational and environmental factors are related to the incidence of low pay. These relationships are more complex than previously suggested. In particular, that between establishment size and low pay is moderated by whether the establishment is part of a larger organization; the incidence of low pay is high in single establishments and low in small establishments that are part of large organizations.
Cosmetic results of cryosurgery versus surgical excision for primary uncomplicated basal cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND The incidence of multiple facial basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) is increasing. OBJECTIVE Comparison of cosmetic results after cryosurgery and excision for primary BCCs. METHODS Cosmetic results after cryosurgery and excision (prospective randomized study) of primary BCCs in the head/neck area were assessed by five independent professional observers and by the patients. RESULTS Ninety-six BCCs were treated either with surgical excision (n = 48) or cryosurgery (n = 48). Clinical professionals evaluated the cosmetic results after surgery as significantly better. The beautician had no preference for either therapy. The patient had a significant preference for excision. Localization and size of the tumor did not modify this general preference for excision. The male dermatologist, however, had a tendency to evaluate results in the cheek, periauricular, and neck area as inferior to those in the rest of the face, regardless of which therapy was given. CONCLUSION In general, cosmetic results after excision are better than after cryosurgery.
Domestic policy choices, political institutional change, and financial globalization-super-1

Active global capital markets existed before the Depression. These markets shrunk to minuscule levels during the Depression and remained that way until 1960. The reawakening of global finance since 1960 constitutes one of the most important transformations in social relations during the twentieth century. Popular explanations of this transformation emphasize systemic pressures external to the state such as technology and economic competition. These “outside‐in” explanations are consistent with “open‐economy” frameworks, but they neglect or discount the causal role of domestic politics and the activities of states. At most, state policy makers, state policies, or domestic political institutions intermediate such pressures to produce different “faces” of globalization across nations. But, external pressures originate somewhere. I marshal systematic empirical evidence to demonstrate that such exogenous pressures originate endogenously in a few key states. The interaction of public policy choices and private choices in such states spill over to produce the exogenous pressures, which then affect the deliberations of all governments. This refinement emphasizes the interaction of public and private, domestic and international, and context and individual choice. Such interactions led to four shifts that fundamentally transform the international financial environment: (1) capital's increasing international mobility, (2) growing securitization and disintermediation, (3) emergence of intangibles as commodities, and (4) participation by Russia, Eastern Europe, and China in global financial markets.
PQBF: I/O-Efficient Approximate Nearest Neighbor Search by Product Quantization

Approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search in high-dimensional space plays an essential role in many multimedia applications. Recently, product quantization (PQ) based methods for ANN search have attracted enormous attention in the community of computer vision, due to its good balance between accuracy and space requirement. PQ based methods embed a high-dimensional vector into a short binary code (called PQ code), and the squared Euclidean distance is estimated by asymmetric quantizer distance (AQD) with pretty high precision. Thus, ANN search in the original space can be converted to similarity search on AQD using the PQ approach. All existing PQ methods are in-memory solutions, which may not handle massive data if they cannot fit entirely in memory. In this paper, we propose an I/O-efficient PQ based solution for ANN search. We design an index called PQB+-forest to support efficient similarity search on AQD. PQB+-forest first creates a number of partitions of the PQ codes by a coarse quantizer and then builds a B+-tree, called PQB+-tree, for each partition. The search process is greatly expedited by focusing on a few selected partitions that are closest to the query, as well as by the pruning power of PQB+-trees. According to the experiments conducted on two large-scale data sets containing up to 1 billion vectors, our method outperforms its competitors, including the state-of-the-art PQ method and the state-of-the-art LSH methods for ANN search.
Interactions between motor units and Golgi tendon organs in the tibialis posterior muscle of the cat.

The responses of Golgi tendon organs to single motor unit contractions were studied to determine whether receptors located in the same muscle region respond to a common set of motor units. In each of five experiments we isolated a large fraction (25‐65%) of the motor units of the cat tibialis posterior muscle and determined to which of the units each of several tendon organs was responsive. Each tendon organ was excited by from two to fifteen of the isolated motor units, including units which produced very small forces. However, there was a much greater probability for large force units to excite a given receptor than for small force units to do so. The number of motor units which produced either an 'unloading' or an 'off response' exceeded, on average, the number of motor units which excited the same tendon organ. The extent to which single motor units excited both of a pair of tendon organs was examined statistically in relation to the mutual proximity of the receptors within the muscle. It was found, on average, that the closer were two receptors, the greater was the number of motor units that excited both of them. These results suggest that despite the extensive territories of individual motor units, the spike trains of tendon organs may still encode information about localized muscle activity.
Audit team defence mechanisms: auditee influence

This study examines the perceived ability of auditees to influence external auditor controls and audit team behaviour (through, for example, delaying the availability of information and selecting samples in advance for auditors). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 18 auditee staff from seven publicly-listed companies who interacted on an ongoing basis with the audit team. The findings provide an external perspective on weaknesses in auditors' control systems and suggest that game playing occurs between auditee and auditor staff in coping with conflicts that arise during audit fieldwork. These constitute a form of inter-organisational defence mechanism (coping mechanisms employed by individuals in organisations to avoid embarrassment and threat). Furthermore, the findings reveal previously unidentified auditee-related variables that can impact on the effectiveness of the auditor's control system. A number of implications of the findings for audit firms and society are identified, such as the level of trust placed by society in inexperienced time-pressured audit trainees, societal expectations of auditors and the need to reduce the predictability of audit testing.