Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The intracellular localisation of TAF7L, a paralogue of transcription factor TFIID subunit TAF7, is developmentally regulated during male germ-cell differentiation

Transcription regulation in male germ cells can involve specialised mechanisms and testis-specific paralogues of the general transcription machinery. Here we describe TAF7L, a germ-cell-specific paralogue of the TFIID subunit TAF7. TAF7L is expressed through most of the male germ-cell differentiation programme, but its intracellular localisation is dynamically regulated from cytoplasmic in spermatogonia and early spermatocytes to nuclear in late pachytene spermatocytes and haploid round spermatids. Import of TAF7L into the nucleus coincides with decreased TAF7 expression and a strong increase in nuclear TBP expression, which suggests that TAF7L replaces TAF7 as a TFIID subunit in late pachytene spermatocytes and in haploid cells. In agreement with this, biochemical experiments indicate that a subpopulation of TAF7L is tightly associated with TBP in both pachytene and haploid cells and TAF7L interacts with the TFIID subunit TAF1. We further show that TAF3, TAF4 and TAF10 are all strongly expressed in early spermatocytes, but that in contrast to TBP and TAF7L, they are downregulated in haploid cells. Hence, different subunits of the TFIID complex are regulated in distinct ways during male germ-cell differentiation. These results show for the first time how the composition of a general transcription factor such as TFIID and other TAF-containing complexes are modulated during a differentiation programme highlighting the unique nature of the transcription regulatory machinery in spermatogenesis.
Expertise as an aspect of author contributions

Authors contribute a wide variety of intellectual efforts to a research paper, ranging from initial conceptualization to final analysis and reporting, and many journals today publish the allocated responsibilites and credits with the paper. An overarching yet unreported aspect of these responsibilities is relevant expertise, that is, past experience and knowledge about the phenomenon under study and the context/techniques used to study it. Here, we study author contributions from the perspective of relevant and complementary expertise based on past authorships "conceptual coverage" of the paper at hand. Using concepts from the the MeSH hierarchy assigned to 10.2 million papers in MEDLINE published during 1980-2009, we find that authors collectively cover the great majority of concepts, typically with one dominant author (most often in last postion but frequently 2nd-to-last) and each additional author contributing complementary expertise. For example, 2-author papers fail to cover about 20% of the concepts (i.e, are new to the authors) while 5-author papers fail to cover about 10%, on average. The relative expertise contributions on multi-author papers vary systematically by career stage and author-position, and has changed over time. We also provide an online tool that provides a temporal profile of expertise contributions for any author in the Author-ity 2009 dataset: http://abel.lis. illinois.edu/legolas
Limitations on insertion gains with vented earmoulds imposed by oscillatory feedback.

When an earmould is vented, either to relieve sensations of blockage or to modify the frequency response of a hearing aid system, the gain setting at which feedback occurs is lowered. Although this principle is widely appreciated, the typical gains at which feedback occurs have received little systematic study and vented earmoulds are still prescribed on largely rule-of-thumb, or trial and error basis. In a laboratory study on a KEMAR mannikin the effects for hearing aids with gains up to 64 dB were studied. The acoustical stimuli were varied (using speech-shaped noise, wide-band noise and narrow bands of noise), as were the size of the parallel vent (0.8 and 2.0 mm) and the orientation of the microphone on the aid (forward-facing and downward-facing). The results suggest that: a forward-facing microphone is less susceptible to oscillatory feedback than a downward-facing one; while a 2 mm vent leads to more feedback limitations than a 0.8 mm vent, the smaller vent is more than a 'pressure vent', having some acoustical effects; and the spectrum of the ambient acoustics can markedly reduce the available gain before the onset of oscillation, e.g. from greater than 40 dB to less than 20 dB gain.
Liquid Crystalline Networks Composed of Pentagonal, Square, and Triangular Cylinders

T-shaped molecules are designed in such a way that they self-organize into nanoscale liquid crystalline honeycombs based on polygons with any chosen number of sides. One of the phases reported here is a periodic organization of identical pentagonal cylinders; the other one is a structure composed of square-shaped and triangular cylinders in the ratio 2:1. These two different packing motifs represent duals of the same topological class. The generalization of the concept applied here allows the prediction of a whole range of unusual complex liquid crystalline phases.
Long-term effects of budesonide or nedocromil in children with asthma.

BACKGROUND Antiinflammatory therapies, such as inhaled corticosteroids or nedocromil, are recommended for children with asthma, although there is limited information on their long-term use. METHODS We randomly assigned 1041 children from 5 through 12 years of age with mild-to-moderate asthma to receive 200 microg of budesonide (311 children), 8 mg of nedocromil (312 children), or placebo (418 children) twice daily. We treated the participants for four to six years. All children used albuterol for asthma symptoms. RESULTS There was no significant difference between either treatment and placebo in the primary outcome, the degree of change in the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value) after the administration of a bronchodilator. As compared with the children assigned to placebo, the children assigned to receive budesonide had a significantly smaller decline in the ratio of FEV1 to forced vital capacity (FVC, expressed as a percentage) before the administration of a bronchodilator (decline in FEV1:FVC, 0.2 percent vs. 1.8 percent). The children given budesonide also had lower airway responsiveness to methacholine, fewer hospitalizations (2.5 vs. 4.4 per 100 person-years), fewer urgent visits to a caregiver (12 vs. 22 per 100 person-years), greater reduction in the need for albuterol for symptoms, fewer courses of prednisone, and a smaller percentage of days on which additional asthma medications were needed. As compared with placebo, nedocromil significantly reduced urgent care visits (16 vs. 22 per 100 person-years) and courses of prednisone. The mean increase in height in the budesonide group was 1.1 cm less than in the placebo group (22.7 vs. 23.8 cm, P=0.005); this difference was evident mostly within the first year. The height increase was similar in the nedocromil and placebo groups. CONCLUSIONS In children with mild-to-moderate asthma, neither budesonide nor nedocromil is better than placebo in terms of lung function, but inhaled budesonide improves airway responsiveness and provides better control of asthma than placebo or nedocromil. The side effects of budesonide are limited to a small, transient reduction in growth velocity.
Fault tolerant algorithm for Replication Management in distributed cloud system

Distributed cloud based systems are sending the traditional processing systems at the back-front because of their increasing popularity. Fault tolerance is a rapid growing challenge in the distributed cloud based system. Fault tolerance is the ability of the system to perform its function even in the presence of the failures. A number of models and algorithms has been developed to make the distributed cloud based system fault tolerant. In this paper, to make the distributed cloud environment are fault-less, the fault tolerant algorithm for the replication management is developed. It is consider being very effective. The Fault Detector Replication Manager (FDRM) find the failed server in the particular distributed location and allocate replicated server to accomplish the tasks.
Reinforcing mood effects of alcohol in coping and enhancement motivated drinkers.

BACKGROUND People may be motivated to drink because of differential sensitivities to the rewarding outcomes of alcohol consumption. Previous research has demonstrated that alcohol may produce both potentially positive reinforcing effects (i.e., increased elation; Conrad et al., 2001) and potentially negative reinforcing effects (i.e., anxiolytic effects; Levenson st al., 1980). It was desired to test the effects of alcohol on mood in a sample of two groups of drinkers that report different motivations for alcohol use. It was hypothesized that both potentially positive and negative reinforcing mood effects would be observed and that these effects would be moderated by drinking motive. METHODS Twenty-four drinkers with Coping Motives (CMs) and 24 drinkers with Enhancement Motives (EMs) were randomly assigned to either an alcohol condition (target blood alcohol level of 0.08%) or a placebo condition. Participants used the Profile of Mood States-Bipolar (Lorr, 1983) to report their mood at (1) sober baseline, (2) after beverage consumption, and (3) during anticipation of a self-disclosing speech (a stressor). RESULTS As hypothesized, after drinking, those in the alcohol group reported increased feelings of elation and energy relative to sober baseline. Those receiving alcohol also reported feeling more confused and anxious after beverage consumption. Also as hypothesized, participants receiving alcohol reported feeling increased sedation during anticipation of the stressor, whereas those receiving placebo reported increased energy during this period. Contrary to the hypothesis, none of these effects were moderated by drinking motive. CONCLUSIONS Although potentially positive and negative reinforcing mood effects of alcohol were observed, CM and EM drinkers were not differentially sensitive to these effects. However, it is possible that EM drinkers may highly value the baseline stimulating effects of alcohol, whereas CM drinkers may highly value the anxiolytic effects that were observed during anticipation of the stressor.
Ternary Complexes of Poly(Vinyl Pyrrolidone)-Graft-Poly(2-Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate), DNA and Bovine Serum Albumin for Gene Delivery

Abstract Novel well-defined hydrophilic cationic polymers with different length of polycation chain for gene delivery, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-graft-poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)s (PPDs), were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The chemical structures and compositions of these polymers were characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and GPC. The experimental results of dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that PPD could condense plasmid DNA (pDNA) to form nanocomplexes. Agarose gel retardation assays demonstrated that PPD could encapsulate plasmid DNA completely when the N/P ratio is equal to or above 3. MTT assay and in vitro gene transfection results indicated that PPD/pDNA complexes exhibited high transfection efficiency concomitant with obvious cytotoxicity. Furthermore, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was utilized to assembly with the binary complexes of PPD/pDNA to screen the residual surface positive charges of complexes in order to decrease cytotoxicity of the binary complexes. Physicochemical properties were characterized and the results indicated that the coating of BSA was able to decrease the zeta potential of the nano-sized PPD/pDNA complexes nearly to electroneutrality without interfering with DNA condensation ability. The ternary complexes of BSA/PPD/pDNA demonstrated no cytotoxicity and also maintained high gene transfection efficiency in HepG2 cells in 10% serum compared with that in serum-free condition.
Improved functional recovery of injured spinal cords by efficient siRNA delivery using photomechanical waves

The formation of a glial scar after spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the inhibitory factors for axonal regeneration. The cellular structure of a glial scar is mainly composed of reactive astrocytes that overexpress the intermediate filament (IF) proteins such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin. These proteins work as both physical and biochemical barriers for axonal growth in injured spinal cord. Thus, it would be an attractive strategy for the treatment of SCI to silence the over-expressed IF proteins. In the present study, we attempted to deliver small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for GFAP and vimentin into injured spinal tissues in rats by applying photomechanical waves (PMWs) generated through expansion of intense laser-induced plasma. The treatment resulted in moderate silencing of the proteins at five days after SCI and decrease of the cavity area in the injured spinal tissue at three weeks after SCI. Moreover, we observed the significant functional recovery at five days after SCI when compared with those with SCI alone. These results demonstrate the efficacy of PMW-assisted gene therapy for SCI.
Enhanced Effective Connectivity in Mild Occipital Stroke Patients With Hemianopia

Plasticity-based spontaneous recovery and rehabilitation intervention of stroke-induced hemianopia have drawn great attention in recent years. However, the underlying neural mechanism remains unknown. This study aims to investigate brain network disruption and reorganization in hemianopia patients due to mild occipital stroke. Resting-state networks were constructed from 12 hemianopia patients with right occipital infarct by partial directed coherence analysis of multi-channel electroencephalograms. Compared with control subjects, the patients presented enhanced connectivity owing to newly formed connections. Compensational connections mostly originated from the peri-infarct area and targeted contralesional frontal, central, and parietal cortices. These new ipsilesional-to-contralesional inter-hemispheric connections coordinately presented significant correlation with the extent of vision loss. The enhancement of connectivity might be the neural substrate for brain plasticity in stroke-induced hemianopia and may shed light on plasticity-based recovery or rehabilitation.
Empowering Educators to Integrate HIV and AIDS Education in South African Schools: Issues and Challenges

Abstract This paper explores how educators were empowered in integrating HIV and AIDS topics in their classrooms. This paper adopted the empowerment theory, which emphasizes that for people to have positive self-esteem and self-efficacy they need to be empowered. The paper was guided by the interpretive paradigm and qualitative research approach was adopted to collect data from selected principals and educators using face-to-face unstructured interviews. From the data collected the findings revealed that training and support that the educators received did not empower them enough to incorporate education about HIV and AIDS in their classes. Moreover, the paper also found that no support and monitoring mechanisms are in place to confirm that educators integrate HIV and AIDS in relation to the training received. The paper recommends that empowering educators should be strengthened and be accompanied with structured support and regular monitoring mechanisms.
Detailed magnetic resonance imaging features of a case series of primary gliosarcoma

Objective We aimed to characterise the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of a case series of primary gliosarcoma, with the inclusion of diffusion-weighted imaging and perfusion imaging with dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective study of cases of primary gliosarcoma from the Pathology Department database from January 2006 to December 2014. Clinical and demographic data were obtained. Two neuroradiologists, blinded to diagnosis, assessed tumour location, signal intensity in T1 and T2-weighted images, pattern of enhancement, diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI studies on preoperative MRI. Results Seventeen patients with primary gliosarcomas had preoperative MRI study: seven men and 10 women, with a mean age of 59 years (range 27–74). All lesions were well demarcated, supratentorial and solitary (frontal n = 5, temporal n = 4, parietal n = 3); 13 tumours abutted the dural surface (8/13 with dural enhancement); T1 and T2-weighted imaging patterns were heterogeneous and the majority of lesions (12/17) showed a rim-like enhancement pattern with focal nodularities/irregular thickness. Restricted diffusion (mean apparent diffusion coefficient values 0.64 × 10–3 mm2/s) in the more solid/thick components was present in eight out of 11 patients with diffusion-weighted imaging study. Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI study (n = 8) consistently showed hyperperfusion in non-necrotic/cystic components on relative cerebral volume maps. Conclusions The main distinguishing features of primary gliosarcoma are supratentorial and peripheral location, well-defined boundaries and a rim-like pattern of enhancement with an irregular thick wall. Diffusion-weighted imaging and relative cerebral volume map analysis paralleled primary gliosarcoma with high-grade gliomas, thus proving helpful in differential diagnosis.
ERCC1 and RRM1 gene expressions but not EGFR are predictive of shorter survival in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer treated with cisplatin and gemcitabine.

BACKGROUND Pivotal studies indicate a role of excision repair cross-complementation 1 (ERCC1) gene and ribonucleotide reductase M1 (RRM1) gene in conferring a differential sensitivity to cytotoxic chemotherapy and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene has been recently extensively investigated in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). DESIGN Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded bronchoscopic/fine needle aspiration biopsies obtained from 70 patients with advanced NSCLC were retrospectively collected to investigate the expression level of ERCC1, RRM1 and EGFR by real-time PCR. Sufficient amounts of messenger RNA (mRNA) were successfully extracted from 61 (87%) specimens, reverse transcribed and amplified with intron-spanning primers. Forty-one patients had stage IV disease and 43 received cisplatin/gemcitabine chemotherapy. RESULTS A strong correlation between ERCC1 and RRM1 mRNA levels (r(s) = 0.624, P < 0.0001) was found. Median survival time in patients with low ERCC1 was significantly longer (17.3 versus 10.9, P = 0.0032 log-rank test) as well as in patients with low RRM1 (13.9 versus 10.9, P = 0.0390 log-rank test). Concomitant low expression levels of ERCC1 and RRM1 (n = 33) were predictive of a better outcome (14.9 versus 10.0, P = 0.0345 log-rank test). Among cisplatin-treated patients, a low ERCC1 level was highly predictive of a longer survival (23.0 versus 12.4, P = 0.0001 log-rank test). No correlation between gene expression levels and histology was reported. No significant correlation between EGFR expression level and survival was found. At multivariate analysis, performance status, response to chemotherapy, presence of weight loss and ERCC1 were independent prognostic factors for survival. CONCLUSIONS This retrospective study further validates ERCC1 and RRM1 genes as reliable candidates for customized chemotherapy and shows a higher impact on the survival of NSCLC patients treated with cisplatin/gemcitabine for ERCC1. Prospective pharmacogenomic studies represent a research priority in early and advanced NSCLC.
4-tert-Butylpyridinium chloride–4,4′-(propane-2,2-diyl)bis(2,6-dimethylphenol)–toluene (2/2/1)

In the title solvated salt, C9H14N+·Cl−·C19H24O2·0.5C7H7, two molecules of 4,4′-(propane-2,2-diyl)bis(2,6-dimethylphenol) are linked via O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds to two chloride ions, each of which is also engaged in N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonding to a 4-tert-butylpyridinium cation, giving a cyclic hydrogen-bonded entity centred at 1/2, 1/2, 1/2. The toluene solvent molecule resides in the lattice and resides on an inversion centre; the disorder of the methyl group requires it to have a site-occupancy factor of 0.5. No crystal packing channels are observed.
The Use of Fluorogenic Substrates To Measure Fungal Presence and Activity in Soil

ABSTRACT Our objective was to determine if 4-methylumbelliferyl-labelled enzyme substrates could be used to detect and quantify specific components of chitinase and cellulase activities as specific indicators of the presence and activity of fungal biomass. The fluorogenic substrates 4-methylumbelliferyl (MUF)N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminide and MUF β-d-lactoside were used for the detection and quantification of β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.30 ) (NAGase) and endo 1,4-β-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4 )/cellobiohydrolase (EC3.2.1.91 ) (CELase), respectively. Culture screenings on solid media showed a widespread ability to produce NAGase among a taxonomically diverse selection of fungi on media with and without added chitin. NAGase activity was expressed only in a limited number of bacteria and on media supplemented with chitin. The CELase activity was observed only in a limited number of fungi and bacteria. Bacterial CELase activity was expressed on agar media containing a cellulose-derived substrate. In soil samples, NAGase activity was significantly correlated with estimates of fungal biomass, based on the content of two fungus-specific indicator molecules, 18:2ω6 phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and ergosterol. CELase activity was significantly correlated with the PLFA-based estimate of fungal biomass in the soil, but no correlation was found with ergosterol-based estimates of fungal biomass.
Characterization of cellular protective effects of ATP13A2/PARK9 expression and alterations resulting from pathogenic mutants

Mutations in ATP13A2, which encodes a lysosomal P‐type ATPase of unknown function, cause an autosomal recessive parkinsonian syndrome. With mammalian cells, we show that ATP13A2 expression protects against manganese and nickel toxicity, in addition to proteasomal, mitochondrial, and oxidative stress. Consistent with a recessive mode of inheritance of gene defects, disease‐causing mutations F182L and G504R are prone to misfolding and do not protect against manganese and nickel toxicity because they are unstable as a result of degradation via the endoplasmic reticulum‐associated degradation (ERAD)‐proteasome system. The protective effects of ATP13A2 expression are not due to inhibition of apoptotic pathways or a reduction in typical stress pathways, insofar as these pathways are still activated in challenged ATP13A2‐expressing cells; however, these cells display a dramatic reduction in the accumulation of oxidized and damaged proteins. These data indicate that, contrary to a previous suggestion, ATP13A2 is unlikely to convey cellular resilience simply by acting as a lysosomal manganese transporter. Consistent with the recent identification of an ATP13A2 recessive mutation in Tibetan terriers that develop neurodegeneration with neuronal ceroid lipofucinoses, our data suggest that ATP13A2 may function to import a cofactor required for the function of a lysosome enzyme(s). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cyber-Coolies and Techno-Braceros: Race and Commodification of Indian Information Technology Guest Workers in the United States

Coolie is a word that . has no established etymology: some place it from the Tamil kuli (“hire”), others find it in use in sixteenthcentury Portugal as Koli, after the name of a Gujarati community, still others notice that it sounds like the Chinese ku-li (“bitter labor”) or like the Fijian kuli meaning “dog. ” One way or another, to be called a coolie is to be denigrated, and to be considered at best as a laborer with no other social markers or desires.1