Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thymine‐rich single‐stranded DNA activates Mcm4/6/7 helicase on Y‐fork and bubble‐like substrates

The presence of multiple clusters of runs of asymmetric adenine or thymine is a feature commonly found in eukaryotic replication origins. Here we report that the helicase and ATPase activities of the mammalian Mcm4/6/7 complex are activated specifically by thymine stretches. The Mcm helicase is specifically activated by a synthetic bubble structure which mimics an activated replication origin, as well as by a Y‐fork structure, provided that a single‐stranded DNA region of sufficient length is present in the unwound segment or 3′ tail, respectively, and that it carries clusters of thymines. Sequences derived from the human lamin B2 origin can serve as a potent activator for the Mcm helicase, and substitution of its thymine clusters with guanine leads to loss of this activation. At the fork, Mcm displays marked processivity, expected for a replicative helicase. These findings lead us to propose that selective activation by stretches of thymine sequences of a fraction of Mcm helicases loaded onto chromatin may be the determinant for selection of initiation sites on mammalian genomes.
Prospective study of intentional weight loss and mortality in never-smoking overweight US white women aged 40-64 years.

Although 40% of US women indicate they are currently trying to lose weight, the association between intentional weight loss and longevity is unknown. The authors analyzed prospective data from 43,457 overweight, never-smoking US white women aged 40-64 years who in 1959-1960 completed a questionnaire that included questions on weight change direction, amount, time interval, and intentionality. Vital status was determined in 1972. Proportional hazards regression was used to estimate mortality rate ratios for women who intentionally lost weight compared with women who had no change in weight. Women who died within the first 3 years of follow-up were excluded. Analyses were stratified by preexisting illness and adjusted for age, beginning body mass index, alcohol intake, education, physical activity, and health conditions. In women with obesity-related health conditions (n = 15,069), intentional weight loss of any amount was associated with a 20% reduction in all-cause mortality, primarily due to a 40-50% reduction in mortality from obesity-related cancers; diabetes-associated mortality was also reduced by 30-40% in those who intentionally lost weight. In women with no preexisting illness (n = 28,388), intentional weight loss of > or = 20 lb (> or = 9.1 kg) that occurred within the previous year was associated with about a 25% reduction in all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality; however, loss of < 20 lb (< 9.1 kg) or loss that occurred over an interval of > or = 1 year was generally associated with small to modest increases in mortality. The association between intentional weight loss and longevity in middle-aged overweight women appears to depend on their health status. Intentional weight loss among women with obesity-related conditions is generally associated with decreased premature mortality, whereas among women with no preexisting illness, the association is equivocal.
Share Ownership and Employee Attitudes: Some Evidence from China's Postprivatization Rural Industry

Abstract In this paper, we report the impacts of share ownership on employee attitudes in China's privatized rural industries based on a survey administered in the Provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong. Our results indicate that, in general, employee shareholders have higher levels of job satisfaction, perceive greater degrees of participation in enterprise decision-making, display stronger organizational commitment, and have more positive attitudes towards the privatization process than nonshareholders in privatized firms. J. Comp. Econ., June 2002 30(4), pp. 812–835. Department of Economics, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Economics Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada; and Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. © 2002 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: P3, P2, J5.
Bacillus licheniformis SA03 Confers Increased Saline–Alkaline Tolerance in Chrysanthemum Plants by Induction of Abscisic Acid Accumulation

Soil saline-alkalization is a major abiotic stress that leads to low iron (Fe) availability and high toxicity of sodium ions (Na+) for plants. It has recently been shown that plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) can enhance the ability of plants to tolerate multiple abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and nutrient deficiency. However, the possible involvement of PGPR in improving saline–alkaline tolerance of plants and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of Bacillus licheniformis (strain SA03) on the growth of Chrysanthemum plants under saline–alkaline conditions. Our results revealed that inoculation with SA03 alleviated saline–alkaline stress in plants with increased survival rates, photosynthesis and biomass. The inoculated plants accumulated more Fe and lower Na+ concentrations under saline–alkaline stress compared with the non-inoculated plants. RNA-Sequencing analyses further revealed that SA03 significantly activated abiotic stress- and Fe acquisition-related pathways in the stress-treated plants. However, SA03 failed to increase saline–alkaline tolerance in plants when cellular abscisic acid (ABA) and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis were inhibited by treatment with fluridone (FLU) and 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (c-PTIO), respectively. Importantly, we also found that NO acted downstream of SA03-induced ABA to activate a series of adaptive responses in host plants under saline–alkaline stress. These findings demonstrated the potential roles of B. licheniformis SA03 in enhancing saline–alkaline tolerance of plants and highlighted the intricate integration of microbial signaling in regulating cellular Fe and Na+ accumulation.
Prescribed Range Burning in Texas

to be realized. Prescribed range burning follows guidelines that establish the conditions and manner under which fire will be applied on a specific area to accomplish specific management and ecological objectives. This contrasts with wildfires that can occur any time fuels will burn, often under extremely hazardous conditions. The conditions selected for a prescribed burn (season, vegetational growth stage and weather factors) must be conducive to safe and effective burning. Management objectives determine the fire characteristics needed to maximize benefits, minimize damage and conduct a safe burn. The most commonly recognized management objectives that can be accomplished by using prescribed fire include: Improved grazing distribution of livestock and wildlife Increased available forage and browse Improved forage quality and /or palatability Increased animal production Removal of excessive mulch and debris Control of certain parasites and pests Improved nutrient cycling Each management objective requires a particular set of conditions for burning and a specific type of fire to achieve the desired response. Therefore, carefully evaluate objectives before a fire plan is developed.
Fabrication and Electrical Characteristics of AgTCNQ Crossbar Switches for Organic Molecular Memories and Logics

The 8x8 crossbar switches with sandwiching AgTCNQ (TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyano-p-quinodimethane) organic molecular materials were successfully fabricated, and electrical characteristics of the cross points were studied in this paper. In the OFF state, the resistance of switches was 5.60x103ohms that stands for "0"; while in the ON state, the resistance of switches was 1.96x103ohms that stands for "1". This phenomenon was simply interpreted based on phase transition caused by charge transfer. The switches could be used for memories as well as electrical configurable logic gates, such as an AND, an OR and even an NOT gate.
Identification of educational needs in the management of overweight and obesity: results of an international survey of attitudes and practice

Despite the availability of a growing range of interventions to assist control of body weight for people with excess weight or obesity, only a small proportion of people achieve their weight loss goals and are able to maintain body weight reductions in the long term. Negative attitudes and beliefs are often found among physicians and others involved in treating obesity and may adversely impact the effectiveness of management. In this international study, healthcare professionals were invited to complete an online survey of their attitudes and practice in the management of excess body weight. A total of 335 clinicians completed the survey of whom approximately half were based in Europe. A key finding from the survey is that, while participants are generally confident in their ability to manage overweight and obesity effectively, they also report that most of their patients are not successful in achieving their weight loss goals. At the same time, participants tended to overestimate the effectiveness of current medical management in maintaining reductions in body weight. Educational initiatives addressing the real‐life effectiveness of different weight control interventions may help to close the gap between clinicians' perceptions and reality in the management of excess body weight.
On the effects of the IEEE 802.3x flow control in full-duplex Ethernet LANs

This paper presents ongoing work in the field of the IEEE 802.3x flow control scheme within a full-duplex Ethernet LAN. Our simulation-based investigations compare the throughput of TCP streams in selected network topologies when either the Ethernet flow control is disabled or enabled. In general, Ethernet's hop-by-hop flow control leads to good performance of TCP in homogenous networks where all clients are connected to a congested switch with the same link speed. However, as soon as a network consists of clients connected with slow (e.g. 10 Mb/s) and fast (e.g. 100 Mb/s) links to the switch, the effect known as 'head of line blocking' shows up as congestion occurs and flow control is triggered. As a result of this, the throughput of data streams destined to slow clients increases because packets are no longer discarded but the throughput of streams destined to fast clients is reduced considerably.
An Ontology-Based Approach to Inter-organizational Knowledge Transfer

Abstract The explication of value systems of the subsidiaries involved in the knowledge transfer process is the necessary condition for its success. The term cultural ontology is introduced to refer to such explication. Using a framework that is based on a modified version of Gupta and Govindarjan's model of the knowledge transfer between subsidiaries in Multi-National Corporation, and De Long and Fahey's framework for studying the cultural influences on knowledge transfer process, the elements of cultural ontology are specified. The cultural ontology specification document includes its domain, purpose, level of formality, scope, possible sources of knowledge, competency questions and the possible reusable ontologies.
Cloning and Characterization of a Glutathione S-Transferase That Can Be Photolabeled with 5-Azido-indole-3-acetic Acid

Previously, we identified a soluble protein from Hyoscyamus muticus that was photolabeled by 5-azido-indole-3-acetic acid. This protein was determined to be a glutathione S-transferase (GST; J. Bilang, H. Macdonald, P.J. King, and A. Sturm [1993] Plant Physiol 102: 29–34). We have examined the effect of auxin on the activity of this H. muticus GST. Auxins reduced enzyme activity only at high concentrations, with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid being more effective than indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and naphthylacetic acid. IAA was a noncompetitive inhibitor, whereas inhibition by 2,4-D was competitive with respect to 1-chloro-2,4-dinitro-benzene. We also present the sequence of a full-length cDNA clone that codes for a GST and contains all partial amino acid sequences of the purified protein. The auxin-binding GST was found in high amounts in roots and stems and low amounts in leaves and flower buds. The steady-state mRNA level was not regulated by IAA or naphthylacetic acid, whereas 2,4-D and 2,3-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid increased mRNA levels. We propose a model in which 2,4-D is a substrate for GST, whereas IAA binds at a second site, known as a ligandinbinding site for the purpose of intracellular transport.
In vitro effect of chlorhexidine gel on torque and detorque values of implant abutment screw

Purpose: Use of chlorhexidine (CHX) gel to eliminate the malodor of implant cavity may decrease the friction coefficient and effective preload and result in abutment screw loosening. This study aimed to assess the effect of CHX gel on the preload, torque, and detorque values. Materials and Methods: This in vitro experimental study was conducted on three groups of five implants. Group A (G1) was the control group and no material was applied to the implant cavity. In Group B (G2), implant cavity was filled with saliva before abutment screw tightening. In Group C (G3), implant cavity was first filled with saliva and then with CHX gel. The abutments were torqued to 24 N/cm2 according to the manufacturer's instructions and were then loosened. These processes were repeated five times. The ratio of the mean percentage of detorque to torque values was measured in all groups. The collected data were analyzed using ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test. Results: No significant difference was noted between G1 and G2. Group G2 had significantly higher detorque value (p < 0.05). ANOVA detected a significant difference in the mean torque (p < 0.05) and detorque (p < 0.001) values among the three groups. G3 showed maximum difference between torque and detorque values; the minimum difference was noted in G2. Conclusion: Application of CHX gel (to decrease the malodor of the implant cavity) decreases the detorque and preload values and increases the risk of screw loosening.
The Key Behaviors Change Inventory and Executive Functioning in an Elderly Clinic Sample

The Key Behaviors Change Inventory (KBCI) was developed to assess executive, behavioral, and emotional functioning following brain insults and to track the course of recovery. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in an elderly memory disorder clinic sample, the convergent and discriminant validity of the KBCI by examining the relationships between various measures of executive functioning and the KBCI scales that theoretically relate to executive functions. The KBCI was administered to the caregivers of 97 consecutive patients who came to a memory disorders clinic seeking services. The KBCI scales of Inattention, Apathy, Unawareness of Problems, and Communication Problems were significantly correlated with cognitive measures of executive functioning but not with measures of memory, visuospatial abilities or global cognitive functioning. In contrast, KBCI scales of Interpersonal Difficulties, Somatic Difficulties, and Emotional Adjustment were not related to any cognitive measures, either executive or nonexecutive. Contrary to predicted findings, the Impulsivity Scale was not associated with cognitive measures of executive functioning. This lack of relationship most likely reflects the failure to include executive measures of orbitofrontal functioning in this study. Results provide convergent and discriminant validity support for the KBCI. The KBCI may be a useful tool for assessing and tracking the executive, behavioral, and emotional sequelae of neurologic disorders.
A Sales Forecast Model for Short-Life-Cycle Products: New Releases at Blockbuster

We develop, in this article, a sales model for movie and game products at Blockbuster. The model assumes that there are three sales components: the first is from consumers who have already committed to purchasing (or renting) a product (e.g., based on promotion of, or exposure to, the product prior to its launch); the second comes from consumers who are potential buyers of the product; and the third comes from either a networking effect on closely tied (as in a social group) potential buyers from previous buyers (in the case of movie rental and all retail products) or re-rents (in the case of game rental). In addition, we explicitly formulate into our model dynamic interactions between these sales components, both within and across sales periods. This important feature is motivated by realism, and it significantly contributes to the accuracy of our model. The model is thoroughly tested against sales data for rental and retail products from Blockbuster. Our empirical results show that the model offers excellent fit to actual sales activity. We also demonstrate that the model is capable of delivering reasonable sales forecasts based solely on environmental data (e.g., theatrical sales, studio, genre, MPAA ratings, etc.) and actual first-period sales. Accurate sales forecasts can lead to significant cost savings. In particular, it can improve the retail operations at Blockbuster by determining appropriate order quantities of products, which is critical in effective inventory management (i.e., it can reduce the extent of over-stocking and under-stocking). While our model is developed specifically for product sales at Blockbuster, we believe that with context-dependent modifications, our modeling approach could also provide a reasonable basis for the study of sales for other short-Life-Cycle products.
Elicitation Effects in Contingent Valuation: Comparisons to a Multiple Bounded Discrete Choice Approach

Abstract This paper develops a multiple bounded discrete choice elicitation technique that allows respondents to express their level of voting certainty for a wide range of referendum thresholds. The paper concludes with the results of an empirical study comparing values obtained from a multiple bounded model with values derived from three standard contingent valuation elicitation formats: dichotomous choice, payment card, and open-ended. The multiple bounded discrete choice format covers the range of values associated with the other three predominantly used elicitation methods. Moreover, alternative parameterizations of the multiple bounded discrete choice model correspond to these standard elicitation techniques.
Robust Cooperative Nonlinear Transceiver Design in Multi-Party MIMO Cognitive Radio Networks with Stochastic Channel Uncertainty

The problem of robust joint nonlinear transceiver design in a multiuser MIMO interfering Cognitive Radio Network (CR-Net) is studied in this paper. Because of the nonlinear nature of the precoding and equalizing schemes, the transmit or receive parties need to be fed back with some information from the other peers, which gives rise to the concept of the cooperation between the transmission peers. This network is a general multi-party network having all the links interfering with each others. It is also assumed that the Channel State Information (CSI) in this network for all the relevant channels is imperfectly known. The CSI is subject to a Stochastic Error (SE) model- based uncertainty. The design procedure is aiming to satisfy the average performance measures. The chosen performance measure is to minimize the sum Mean Square Error (MSE) of the symbol detection for all the cognitive links of the system while satisfying both Secondary Users' (SU) transmit power and Primary Users' (PU) interfering power constraints. This problem is not jointly convex in the design variables and also has infinitely many constraints, so to overcome these, a suboptimal iterative method is proposed. It is shown that for this SE model, the aforementioned problem is a Second Order Cone Program (SOCP). Finally numerical simulations are provided to show the performance of the proposed methods.
[Preliminary study on preparation and pharmaceutic features of adrimycin-loaded human serum albumin microspheres].

OBJECTIVE To prepare adrimycin-loaded human serum albumin microspheres(ADR-HSA-MS) and to study its pharmaceutic properties and in vitro cytotoxicity. METHODS ADR-HSA-MS, consisting of ADR and HSA, were prepared by emulsion heating solidification method and its morphology was observed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Pepsin digestion method was used for determining drug loading of ADR-HSA-MS and membrane diffusion technique for detection of in vitro release of ADR from the microspheres. MTT colorimetric assay was used to determine cytotoxicity of ADR-HSA-MS for human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cell line. RESULTS ADR-HSA-MS looked like smooth red spheres with an average diameter of 1.2 microns and had an apparent drug-loading of 2.73% or an effective drug-loading of 1.69%. Its peak of the accumulated drug-releasing fraction was 65%, and 50% of ADR releasing from the MS would take five days, which suggested a slow release of ADR from the albumin microspheres. ADR-HSA-MS exerted remarkable cytotoxicity to human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells with dose-dependence at a range of ADR concentration from 0.3 microgram/ml to 2.5 micrograms/ml when incubated with the target cells for four days. Its killing curve was similar to that of free ADR. CONCLUSION Emulsion heating solidification method could be used for preparation of adrimycin-loaded human serum albumin microspheres with sustained release property.
Similar survival in patients following heart transplantation receiving induction therapy using daclizumab vs. basiliximab.

BACKGROUND Induction therapy with interleukin-2 receptor antagonists has been established as an effective immunosuppressive strategy in the management of heart transplant (HTx) recipients. We compared outcomes following HTx in patients receiving basiliximab, daclizumab, or no induction therapy. METHODS AND RESULTS We investigated post-transplant prognosis of patients receiving basiliximab (n=67), daclizumab (n=98) or no induction therapy (n=70). Patients treated with daclizumab (50.3 ± 14.7 years) were younger than those receiving basiliximab (55.8 ± 11.2 years) or no induction therapy (54.9 ± 14.1 years; both P<0.05). Patients receiving either induction therapy showed better survival 1 year after HTx (95%) than those without induction therapy (82%; P<0.001). Survival was similar between patients receiving basiliximab and daclizumab. The incidence of acute cellular or antibody-mediated rejections did not differ among the groups. The main reason that patients did not receive induction therapy was ongoing infection (65.7%), which was more common in patients on ventricular assist device (VAD) support than those without VAD (76.1% vs. 45.8%; P=0.004). The VAD-related infection rate in the entire study cohort was 29.7% (35/118 VAD recipients). CONCLUSIONS Survival following HTx was worse in patients not receiving induction therapy. No differences were noted in survival or the incidence of rejection between the daclizumab- and basiliximab-treated groups. Induction therapy was less used in patients with infection, which was related to prior VAD support.