Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dosage compensation in Drosophila and the ‘complex’ world of transcriptional regulation

The purpose of this review is to draw attention to the mechanism of dosage compensation in Drosophila as a model for the study of the regulation of gene activity through the modulation of transcription. Dosage compensation resembles some mechanisms of transcriptional regulation, found in widely divergent organisms, that do not play a role in the activation of silent genes but determine the level of activity of genes that have been induced through the action of specific activators. It differs from other known regulatory mechanisms in that its effect is to achieve, on average, a twofold change in gene activity levels. This review introduces the notion that, in order to yield such a defined level of regulation, the mechanism of dosage compensation in Drosophila, and perhaps in Caenorhabditis as well, incorporates elements that govern both transcriptional enhancement and repression within the same multi‐protein regulatory complex.
The Dividend Puzzle: A Progress Report

This paper reviews the major theoretical and empirical contributions to the dividend literature since Black reported on the state of knowledge in 1976. In these studies, two major questions emerge that are critical to understanding the dividend puzzle and justifiably receive the majority of the attention. These questions are: 1. What are the tax effects of dividends; and 2. What are the information effects of dividends? Recent developments in dividend signalling models also are discussed.
Lifetime Antecedents of Cognitive Reserve

We used path analysis on data from the British 1946 birth cohort to model lifetime antecedents of cognitive reserve, represented by the NARTat 53 years, and compared this model for verbal memory and psychomotor function at this age, cognitive outcomes that are sensitive to age-associated decline. We showed independent paths from childhood cognition, educational attainment and adult occupation to cognitive reserve, with that from childhood cognition the strongest, and that from adult occupation the weakest. A similar pattern was found for the verbal memory and psychomotor outcomes, although the pathways were weaker than those to the NART. The pattern was also mirrored by the paths from paternal occupation to childhood cognition, educational attainment and adult occupation, with that to childhood cognition the strongest, and that to adult occupation the weakest. The direct influence of paternal occupation on cognitive reserve was negligible, and almost entirely mediated by childhood cognitive ability and educational attainment.
[Molecular characters of Centella asiatica found with RAPD technology].

OBJECTIVE To analyze the DNA molecular characters of Centella asiatica with RAPD technology. METHODS With the genomic DNA as templates extracted from various source of Centella asiatica samples, optimized RAPD PCR reaction systems had been used. The random promers had been screened to amplify the specific molecular fragments of Centella asiatica. RESULTS The specific genetic bands of Centella asiatica species from various habitats were established which were highly stable and repeatable and obviously different from those of other families, genuses of plants such as Gynostemma pentaphylum, Tobacco, Cayratia japonica. CONCLUSION The developed method of RAPD analysis for the genetic character bands of Centella asiatica could be applied to identify real Centella asiatica from its spurious breed plants. The genetic character bands of Centella asiatica amplified with the RAPD method show high homogeneous in several samples from different habitats.
Lane estimation using lateral histogram in radar based ACC system

In Radar based ACC system, road structures makes multi-path in radar beam, so it degrades radar detection performance. To improve ACC performance, we propose a new method for recognizing road environment by radar only sensor based ACC system. The LES (Lane Estimation System) is statistical method that estimates lane characteristic by radar object (position, velocity) and in-vehicle information (vehicle speed, path-radius). The LES convert this simple data to statistical data, such as lateral histogram and lane cluster. Using this statistical data, we can estimate road environment and improve ACC performance. To prove validation of our method, we apply LES to real ACC system. In Yong-Seo highway (Korea), we assessed accuracy of our system and summarized improvement detection performance.
Patterns of Verbal Memory Performance in Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer Disease, and Normal Aging

ObjectiveIndividuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) typically demonstrate memory loss that falls between normal aging (NA) and Alzheimer disease (AD), but little is known about the pattern of memory dysfunction in MCI. MethodTo explore this issue, California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) performance was examined across groups of MCI, AD, and NA. ResultsMCI subjects displayed a pattern of deficits closely resembling that of AD, characterized by reduced learning, rapid forgetting, increased recency recall, elevated intrusion errors, and poor recognition discriminability with increased false-positives. MCI performance was significantly worse than that of controls and better than that of AD patients across memory indices. Although qualitative analysis of CVLT profiles may be useful in individual cases, discriminant function analysis revealed that delayed recall and total learning were the best aspects of learning/memory on the CVLT in differentiating MCI, AD, and NA. ConclusionsThese findings support the position that amnestic MCI represents an early point of decline on the continuum of AD that is different from normal aging.
Simulated Transient Radiation Characteristics of Optimized Ultra Wideband Printed Dipole Antennas

In case of particular ultra wideband applications (i.e. radar, positioning, etc.), it is crucial to know the transient responses of antennas. This paper picks up the threads of the previous work, where the optimization process searches for the dipole shape, which accomplishes two required parameters - good matching and minimal distortion. The particle swarm optimization method was used in the process of dipole shape optimization. As a result, the optimized ultra wideband dipole is perfectly matched and minimally distorts the applied signal. The main part of the paper presents the transient radiation characteristics of optimized dipoles with common dipole element shape, such as the ideal dipole, dipole with balun transformer and monopole with planar ground plane.
Expanding Employment Opportunities for Nigerian Youths: The Self-Employment Imperative

A greater percentage of Nigerian youths are either unemployed, unemployable or underemployed. This is in most cases because they lack requisite skills needed to effectively function in the jobs they desire which is in turn, based on the fact that they have received insufficient, wrong or no training at all. Often, over-dependence on white-collar jobs and government employment add to the growing number of the unemployed youths in the country. This essay presents a ready explanation of the current state of unemployment among Nigerian youths; its causes and effects, provides mechanisms that can aid in reducing youth unemployment to the barest minimum while singling out self-employment as an imperative that is capable of exploding and expanding the employment opportunities for the youths.
Separate sites and mechanisms for placental transport of calcium, iron and glucose in the equine placenta.

The placenta is the only channel for transport of nutrients to the conceptus and the fetal nutrient demands increase exponentially to term. The 9 kDa calcium binding protein (calbindin, 9CBP) and the iron binding protein uteroferrin (UF) are proving to be reliable markers for epithelia that mediate active transcellular calcium and iron transport and the glucose transporter proteins (GT1 and GT3) for glucose transport by facilitated diffusion. Light and electron microscope immunocytochemistry have been used on perfusion fixed resin embedded material to establish the distribution of 9CBP, UF, GT1 and GT3 in the equine placenta from 100 days of pregnancy to term (336 days). The equine placenta has two main structural components, flat areolae and microcotyledons. From 100 days of pregnancy to term immunoreactive 9CBP is found only in the cytoplasm of the maternal glands and the areolar trophoblast cells with none in the microcotyledons; whereas GT1 is present exclusively in the microcotyledons on the basolateral plasmalemma of both trophoblast and uterine epithelia with GT3 on the apical microvilli. The glands show neither GT1 nor GT3 expression. The areas of both areolae and microcotyledons increase enormously during gestation but there is no indication of increasing amounts of 9CBP, GT1 or GT3 protein per cell. Glucose transport through the placental cell cytoplasm is by diffusion of the free molecule, but calcium ions in transit must be sequestered in some way since the high calcium fluxes needed to support fetal bone growth in later pregnancy would be deleterious to calcium based homeostasis and cellular control systems. Electron microscope immunocytochemistry shows that 9CBP is uniformly distributed in the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of the areolar trophoblast cells but excluded from all membrane bounded compartments such as mitochondria, Golgi saccules and pinocytotic transport vesicles. Such apical transport vesicles can be identified immunocytochemically by their content of uteroferrin, a component of the secretion from the uterine glands. It is suggested that transcellular calcium transport is therefore based on facilitated diffusion, not the vesicular method followed by the iron in the UF molecules, with 9CBP providing both transfer and sequestration functions for the transient calcium ions. These results show that the equine placenta has transport systems with restricted regional distribution similar to those recently shown for the ruminant placenta.
Mechanisms of drug resistance in kinases

Introduction: Because of their important roles in disease and excellent ‘druggability’, kinases have become the second largest drug target family. The great success of the BCR-ABL inhibitor imatinib in treating chronic myelogenous leukemia illustrates the high potential of kinase inhibitor (KI) therapeutics, but also unveils a major limitation: the development of drug resistance. This is a significant concern as KIs reach large patient populations for an expanding array of indications. Areas covered: We provide an up-to-date understanding of the mechanisms through which KIs function and through which cells can become KI-resistant. We review current and future approaches to overcome KI resistance, focusing on currently approved KIs and KIs in clinical trials. We then discuss approaches to improve KI efficacy and overcome drug resistance and novel approaches to develop less drug resistance-prone KI therapeutics. Expert opinion: Although drug resistance is a concern for current KI therapeutics, recent progress in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and promising technological advances may overcome this limitation and provide powerful new therapeutics.
Inulin controls inflammation and metabolic endotoxemia in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized-controlled clinical trial

Abstract There is limited evidence on the effects of prebiotics on inflammation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of inulin supplementation on inflammatory indices and metabolic endotoxemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The participants included diabetic females (n = 49). They were divided into an intervention group (n = 24) as well as a control group (n = 25) and received 10 g/d inulin or maltodextrin for 8 weeks, respectively. Fasting blood sugar (FBS), HbA1c, insulin, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were measured pre and post intervention. Inulin-supplemented patients exhibited a significant decrease in FBS (8.5%), HbA1c (10.4%), fasting insulin (34.3%), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (39.5%), hs-CRP (35.6%), TNF-α (23.1%), and LPS (27.9%) compared with the maltodextrin group (p < 0.05). Increase in IL-10 was not significant in inulin compared with the maltodextrin group. It can be concluded that inulin supplementation seems to be able to modulate inflammation and metabolic endotoxemia in women with type 2 diabetes.
Activation of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) LEE2 and LEE3 operons by Ler

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) produces attaching and effacing lesions (AE) on epithelial cells. The genes involved in the formation of the AE lesions are contained within a pathogenicity island named the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). The LEE comprises 41 open reading frames organized in five major operons: LEE1, LEE2, LEE3, LEE4 and tir. The first gene of the LEE1 operon encodes a transcription activator of the other LEE operons that is called the LEE‐encoded regulator (Ler). The LEE2 and LEE3 operons are divergently transcribed with overlapping −10 promoter regions, and gene fusion studies have shown that they are both activated by Ler. Deletion analysis, using lacZ reporter fusions, of the LEE2 and LEE3 promoters demonstrated that deletions extending closer to the LEE2 transcription start site than −247 bp lead to loss of activation by Ler, whereas only 70 bp upstream of the LEE3 transcription start site is required for Ler‐mediated activation. We have purified Ler as a His‐tagged protein and used it to perform DNA‐binding assays with LEE2 and LEE3. We observed that Ler bound to a DNA fragment containing the −300 to +1 region of LEE2; however, it failed to bind to a DNA fragment containing the −300 to +1 region of LEE3, suggesting that Ler activates both operons by only binding to the regulatory region upstream of LEE2. The Ler‐activatable LEE3::lacZ fusions extended to what would be −246 bp of the LEE2 operon. A lacZ fusion from the −300 to +1 region of LEE3 failed to be activated by Ler, consistent with our hypothesis that Ler activates the expression of LEE2 and LEE3 by binding to a region located downstream of the LEE3 transcription start site. DNase I footprinting revealed that Ler protected a region of 121 bp upstream of LEE2. Purified Ler mutated in the coiled‐coil domain was unable to activate transcription and to bind to the LEE2 regulatory region. These data indicate that Ler may bind as a multimer to LEE2 and activate both divergent operons by a novel mechanism potentially involving changes in the DNA structure.
Phase II randomized trial of temozolomide and concurrent radiotherapy in patients with brain metastases.

PURPOSE To determine the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of concurrent temozolomide and radiotherapy in patients with previously untreated brain metastases. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty-two patients with brain metastases from solid tumors were randomized to oral temozolomide (75 mg/m(2)/d) concurrent with 40-Gy fractionated conventional external-beam radiotherapy (2 Gy, 5 d/wk) for 4 weeks versus 40-Gy radiotherapy alone. The group receiving temozolomide and radiotherapy continued temozolomide therapy (200 mg/m(2)/d) for 5 days every 28 days for an additional six cycles. The primary end points were radiologic response and neurologic symptom evaluation. RESULTS The objective response rate was significantly (P =.017) improved in patients receiving temozolomide and radiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone. Among 24 patients assessable for response in the temozolomide group, 23 (96%) of 24 responded, including nine (38%) patients with a complete response and 14 (58%) patients with a partial response. With radiotherapy alone, 14 (67%) of 21 assessable patients responded, including seven (33%) complete responses and seven (33%) partial responses. There was marked neurologic improvement in the group receiving temozolomide, and the proportion of patients requiring corticosteroids 2 months after treatment was lower in the temozolomide group compared with radiotherapy alone (67% v 91%, respectively). Daily temozolomide concurrent with radiotherapy was generally well tolerated; however, grade >or= 2 nausea (48% v 13%, P =.13) and vomiting (32% v 0%, P =.004) were significantly increased in the temozolomide group. Hematologic toxicity was predictable and reversible. CONCLUSION Temozolomide is safe, and a significant improvement in response rate was observed when administered in combination with radiotherapy in patients with previously untreated brain metastases. A larger randomized trial is warranted to verify these results.
Sampling-Based Partitioning in MapReduce for Skewed Data

MapReduce, as a popular tool for distributed and scalable processing of voluminous data, has been used in many areas. However, it is not efficient when handing skewed data, since it only considers the key and adopts a uniform hash method to distribute the workload to each reducer, while ignores the key's distribution. This can lead to load imbalance, increase the processing time, generate the "straggler" and the final result is the performance degradation. The current approach to solve this problem usually adopts the asynchronous Map and Reduce to gather the distribution of keys' frequencies and make a partition scheme in advance, but it will cost too much waiting time. In this paper, we address the problem of how to efficiently and effectively partition the intermediate key to balance the load of each reducer when skewed data exists. We use a sampling MapReduce job to gather the distribution of keys'frequencies, estimate the overall distribution and make a partition scheme in advance. Then, we apply it to the map phase of the expected MapReduce job. This design not only provides a load-balanced partition scheme, but also keeps the high performance of synchronous mode in MapReduce. We also propose two partition schemes based on the sampling results in this paper: cluster combination optimization and cluster partition combination. The experimental results show that the first partition scheme is suitable for the data set that has a lighter skew, while cluster partition combination has a greater time and load balancing advantage when the data skew is heavier.
Bilevel Optimization of Multi-Component Chemical Systems Using Particle Swarm Optimization

In this paper we study a real-world optimization problem in mineralogy which contains a large number of parameters and several objective functions. The problem has been described through a thermodynamic model for which the parameters have to be quantified. Due to non-linear chemical reactions and the characteristics of the problem, we developed a bilevel optimization approach in which the parameters that need to be determined can be split in two levels. The lower level contains three non linear equations and two linear charge and mass balance constraints. We use linear multi-objective particle swarm optimization (LMO PSO) to solve this problem for a general case. We then use the results in the upper level. This bilevel optimization has been used to find the thermodynamic parameters of the Na2O-SiO2 system. The results are analytically analyzed and compared with the reference data. This shows that the thermodynamic model is accurate and that the termination of thermodynamic properties using a bilevel optimization method based on PSO algorithms is reliable and efficient.
Incidence of acute hepatitis C virus infection among men who have sex with men with and without HIV infection: a systematic review

Background A recent increase in reports of acute hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men who have sex with men (MSM), with the sole risk factor being sexual exposure, has led to routine screening and targeted prevention requests for this population; current evidence for this necessity is unclear. Objective A systematic review was conducted to assess the incidence of HCV infection among studies conducted in HIV-positive and/or HIV-negative MSM to explore the implications for routine HCV screening. Data sources The MEDLINE, EMBASE and BIOSYS databases were searched for the period January 2000 to May 2012, yielding 21 studies. Six conferences were hand-searched for the same period yielding four abstracts. Study selection Only studies in English presenting incidence rates of HCV and specifying HIV status were included. Data abstraction Data were abstracted by two authors using predefined data fields. The STROBE checklist was used to assess study quality. Data synthesis Data were divided into HIV-negative MSM and HIV-positive MSM subgroups, and HCV incidence density measurements were pooled. Using a DerSimonian–Laird random effects model, pooled incidence was 1.48/1000 person-years (95% CI 0.75 to 2.21) for the HIV-negative MSM subgroup. The HIV-positive MSM subgroup was at 4.1 times higher risk of acquiring HCV at 6.08/1000 person-years (95% CI 5.18 to 6.99). Studies directly comparing subgroups estimated a pooled risk difference of 3.45/1000 person-years (95% CI 1.63 to 5.27). Conclusion HIV-positive MSM were at higher risk for acute HCV infection than HIV-negative MSM, substantiating the need for routine screening initiatives. Insufficient evidence exists to warrant routine screening of HIV-negative MSM, except on a case-by-case basis, such as high-risk sexual behaviour.
Electromagnetic surface integral equations and fully orthogonal higher order basis functions

Traditionally, in the electromagnetic frequency domain surface integral equations only the (rotated) tangential components of the fields are used as unknowns and are discretized with divergence-conforming basis function such as the RWGpsilas. In the current and charge integral equation (CCIE) formulations the normal components of the fields, were introduced as unknowns, too. The CCIE formulations are better balanced and have better iterative convergence but are also more complicated to implement. In this presentation both the tangential and the normal components of the fields are discretized element-wise with non-conforming fully orthogonal higher order basis funtion.The use of the orthogonal higher order bases not only gives more accurate results in singular cases, allows to use larger elements and gives better iterative convergences, but also simplifies the implementation of the surface integral equations. Three basic surface integral equations, similar to the traditional EFIE, MFIE, and CFIE, are derived from Picard's extended Maxwell system.