Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nucleocytoplasmic transport of fluorescent mRNA in living mammalian cells: nuclear mRNA export is coupled to ongoing gene transcription

In eukaryotic cells, export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is one of the essential steps in gene expression. To examine mechanisms involved in the nucleocytoplasmic transport of mRNA, we microinjected fluorescently labeled fushi tarazu (ftz) pre‐mRNA into the nuclei of HeLa cells. The injected intron‐containing ftz pre‐mRNA was distributed to the SC35 speckles and exported to the cytoplasm after splicing by an energy‐requiring active process. In contrast, the injected intron‐less ftz mRNA was diffusely distributed in the nucleus and then presumably degraded. Interestingly, export of the ftz pre‐mRNA was inhibited by treatment with transcriptional inhibitors (actinomycin D, α‐amanitin or DRB). Cells treated with transcriptional inhibitor showed foci enriched with the injected mRNA, which localize side by side with SC35 speckles. Those nuclear foci, referred to as TIDRs (transcriptional‐inactivation dependent RNA domain), do not overlap with paraspeckles. In addition, in situ hybridization analysis revealed that the export of endogenous poly(A)+ mRNA is also affected by transcriptional inactivation. These results suggest that nuclear mRNA export is coupled to ongoing gene transcription in mammalian cells.
Variable long-term outcomes from cochlear implantation in children with hypoplastic auditory nerves

Abstract This paper describes the outcomes in six children with hypoplastic cochlear nerves, demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging who were selected for implantation because they had clear responses to sound, with hearing aids. In four of the six children the internal auditory canals were abnormally narrow; however in the remaining two the internal auditory canals were of normal width. After activation of their devices, all six children had auditory thresholds within the normal range for implanted congenitally deaf children. However the progress of all these children after 2 to 6 years of implant use turned out to be disappointing. Five of the children developed only the ability to detect the presence of sound, and were unable to discriminate accurately between speech sounds. They remain at Category of Auditory Performance (CAP) level 2: sign is their primary mode of communication. All five children also remain at Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) level 2, with unintelligible connected speech. The sixth child was able to develop some understanding of common phrases through listening alone, however he remains at CAP level 4 and his SIR level also remains at 2. The benefit of cochlear implantation in this group of children is likely to be considerably restricted. In specific cases it may be appropriate to offer a cochlear implant to a child with hypoplastic auditory nerves but careful counselling of the family about likely outcomes is essential. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Genetic differences between populations of Drosophila melanogaster for a quantitative trait. II. Wild and laboratory populations.

Crosses were made between four populations of Drosophila melanogaster – three of which were laboratory populations (Kaduna, Pacific and Canberra) and one recently captured (Stellenbosch) – and a line previously selected for low sternopleural bristle number for many generations from a Kaduna/Pacific source. In each of six replicate lines from each cross selection was practised for low sternopleural bristle number, and subsequently these replicates were intercrossed and reselected. Initially, similar responses were made in each set of lines, but subsequently more variation between replicates was found in Stellenbosch, which was the primary source of lines which responded to a level below that of the original selected line. It is concluded that this newly captured population contains genetic variability absent from the laboratory populations. Presumably variability has been lost from the latter populations, leaving essentially the same genes segregating in each.
Neuroretinal Apoptosis as a Vascular Dysfunction in Diabetic Patients

Background Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is an important complication of diabetes and is considered one of the main causes of blindness in moderate-income and highly-developed countries. As it is a major socioeconomic problem, defining all mechanisms that may lead to DR development is of great importance. In the 21st century diabetic lesions occurring in the retina are well known. However what kind of retinal neuronal damage occurs in the course of diabetes remains unclear. Results In this manuscript we present the most recent knowledge about suggested mechanisms of diabetic retinopathy, including neuroretinal apoptosis. Getting a deep insight into the role of apoptosis and degeneration of retinal neurons leading to DR will have vital consequences. Conclusion The findings of this review confirm that it is very likely that in the nearest future diabetic retinopathy treatment will be based on administration of neuroprotective agents. The implementation of neuroprotective drugs may slow down retinopathy progression, making it possible to avoid the currently used therapeutic procedures, such as laser photocoagulation, intravitreous injections or posterior vitrectomy, which are not only risky for the healthy part of the retina but also relatively expensive.
A pilot study of psychopathology in Developmental Coordination Disorder.

BACKGROUND This paper explores the prevalence of emotional and behavioural disorders in children referred to a Community Paediatric Occupational Therapy service for assessment and treatment of problems with development of motor skills. METHODS Parents of 47 children from a clinical sample of children who had been identified with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) returned the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)--a brief measure of the pro-social behaviour and psychopathology that can be completed by parents, teachers or youths. RESULTS Significant emotional and behavioural problems were reported by 29 parents (62%) with a further six (13%) reporting problems in the borderline range. Seven children (15%) were without significant problems in one or more area although only four of these (9%) were outside the borderline range for all of the sub-domains of the SDQ. DISCUSSION A significant proportion of children with DCD were reported by their parents to be at risk of psychopathology. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between motor difficulties and emotional and behavioural symptoms; however, it is recommended that interventions for children with DCD should support mental health and behavioural problems as well as motor development.
Contributing Factors in Emergence and Growth of Chinese Grocery Own Brands

The purpose of this study is to examine the possible contributing factors associated with the emergence and growth of Chinese own brands in the grocery sector. This sector represents one of the most rapidly growing market segments in the country. The main method adopted in this qualitative study was in-depth interviews with a panel of sixteen Chinese retail experts using Shanghai, China as the geographic focus. Shanghai is appropriate because it leads China as a trend-setting location due to its economic activity with the West. A technique of thematic analysis was employed in the analysis. Four factors associated with the emergence and growth of Chinese grocery own brands have been identified. The results from the study are intended to offer guidance for future studies in the area of grocery own brand research in China and to build a basis for developing own brand strategy in the non-Western markets. The implications, limitations and directions of the study are also discussed. The study contributes to the literature for the own brand research portfolio in the emerging markets.
Business intelligence: assimilation and outcome measures for the health sector

Increased adoption of health information systems in clinical practice has set a foundation for use of this data for Business Intelligence (BI). BI is the use of specialized tools to collect, analyze, and present organizational data to operational leaders in user-friendly formats to support organizational objectives. This is a routine component of management practice in sectors such as finance and manufacturing but has not yet reached its full potential in the health sector where limited availability of BI systems and factors such as data quality, complexity, and access to data have been identified as barriers. Correspondingly, there are no established conceptual models for measuring successful adoption of BI in the health sector. This dissertation study proposes a Business Intelligence Benefits Model for Health derived from frameworks used in other sectors and establishes health sector measures for two foundational constructs, BI Assimilation and Health System Organizational Performance. Through an online Delphi consensus process involving 25 Canadian health leadership panelists from four provinces, the study establishes a total of 30 concept measures for these constructs. Only seven (23.3%) of the concepts identified by the panelists in the study are reflected in an established non-health sector framework, the Business Value of BI Model, validating the need for sector specific measures. The study also compares priorities between leadership groups: top management team versus operational managers; and, leaders with a nursing related portfolio versus those without. The comparisons demonstrate variations among these groups but consistency in requirements overall. Establishing these BI constructs for healthcare is a precursor to measuring BI success and informs priorities and approaches for BI implementation as well as further instrument development.
Estimation of Walking Exercise Intensity Using 3-D Acceleration Sensor

This paper describes a method to estimate the measure of human energy expenditure referred to as metabolic equivalents (METs). The measure is defined by an index of the amount of energy a person expends through normal daily activities. The average MET values are defined by the type of activity; for example, brisk walking corresponds to 4 METs. The index lists 107 activities and the corresponding MET values. However, to determine the energy consumed in a day, each type of activity and its duration must be noted, which is inconvenient and time consuming. Here, we consider a quantitative method to estimate the METs from the acceleration of waist motion in our activities. We consider a simple physical model of a moving human body, define the power output for an activity, and then relate the maximum oxygen intake rate per minute, which is proportional to the energy expenditure per minute with the power output. Based on these factors, we developed an automatic MET estimator using a 3-D accelerometer. The system was examined during various selected activities, and the validity of the MET estimation method was tested in activities, excluding very intense activities. The exercise intensity for walking at various speeds was estimated with an average error of -0.6 METs.
Improving information security in SMEs to protect customer’s personal identifiable information

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly making use of e-commerce to increase profitability. SMEs often do not have the necessary internal controls in place to secure the personal identifiable information (PII) that is collected from customers during e-commerce transactions because the size and nature of an SME prevent it from addressing these risks. This article explores the critical success factors (CSFs) that must be considered by an SME to protect the PII of customers collected on their e-commerce site. A literature review was performed to identify possible barriers for the implementation of information security in SMEs. Furthermore, the Confidentiality-Integrity-Availability triad and ISO/IEC 27002 standards were used to group the identified barriers, and from this process CSFs were formulated for consideration. There are six CSFs that were identified to improve the information security in SMEs, which include management commitment, information security training, access control, infrastructure security, security policies and periodic audits. The recommendation of this paper is that these six CSFs must be considered to improve the information security of SMEs in South Africa.
Phonetic similarity predicts ultimate attainment quite well: The case of Danish /i, y, u/ and /d, t/ for native speakers of English and Spanish

This study examined how well phonetic similarity predicted ultimate attainment in the production of Danish /i, y, u/ and /d, t/ by highly experienced native speakers of English and of Spanish. Experiment 1 compared the VOT of /d, t/ and the F2 of /i, y, u/ as produced by native speakers of the three languages. Experiment 2 examined the perceptual assimilation of Danish [i, y, u] to native /i, u/ by native English and native Spanish listeners. Experiment 3 indicated that native English speakers used their native (non-Danish) /t/ and /u/ in Danish, and did not produce Danish /y/ correctly. Native Spanish speakers produced Danish /y/ correctly, and they produced /t/ and many /d/ tokens differently in Spanish and in Danish. These results are interpreted in terms of current speech learning models which claim that phonetic similarity predicts speech learning success at ultimate attainment.
Impact of maternal nutrition on breast-milk composition: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND It is widely reported that maternal diet influences the nutritional composition of breast milk. The amount of variability in human milk attributable to diet remains mostly unknown. Most original studies that reported a dietary influence on breast-milk composition did not assess diet directly, did not quantify its association with milk composition, or both. OBJECTIVE To gather the quantitative evidence on this issue, we carried out a systematic PubMed and Medline search of articles published up to January 2015 and filtered the retrieved articles according to predefined criteria. DESIGN Only studies that provided quantitative information on both maternal diet and milk data, measured in individual healthy mothers of healthy term infants and based on an original observational or experimental design, were included. Exclusion criteria were a focus on supplements, transfer of toxic metals or other contaminants from diet to milk, or on marginally nourished women. RESULTS Thirty-six publications-including data on 1977 lactating women-that matched our criteria were identified. Seventeen studies investigated dietary effects on fatty acids in breast milk. The rest included studies that focused on a diverse spectrum of other nutritional properties of breast milk. The largest evidence, in terms of number of articles, for any link between maternal diet and a nutritive property of breast milk came from 3 studies that supported the link between fish consumption and high docosahexaenoic acid in breast milk and 2 studies that reported a positive correlation between dietary vitamin C and milk concentrations of this vitamin. CONCLUSIONS The available information on this topic is scarce and diversified. Most of the evidence currently used in clinical practice to make recommendations is limited to studies that only reported indirect associations.
The ABC of Alzheimer's Disease: ADL and Improving Day-to-Day Functioning of Patients

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by deterioration in the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) in addition to loss of cognitive function and behavioral changes. This decline in day-to-day functioning is increasingly recognized as a source of considerable social, health, and economic costs. Inability to perform ADL results in growing caregiver burden and may lead to the eventual need for alternative care or nursing home placement. The measurement of ADL, which enables monitoring of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, can be performed using a number of inventories including the Progressive Deterioration Scale (PDS), the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), and the Alzheimer Disease Cooperative Study ADL (ADCS/ADL) assessment scale. Clinical studies using these and other scales have indicated that cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors offer an effective approach to treating the functional decline of AD. Donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine have been shown in some studies to prevent or slow decline in ADL over treatment periods of one to two years. For instance, in a 24-week study in subjects with moderate to severe AD, donepezil-treated patients remained stable compared with the placebo-treated patients. Rivastigmine has shown improvement or stabilization of PDS scores in patients with mild to moderate disease following 26 weeks of treatment and slowed deterioration in patients with more severe disease. Evidence to date suggests that these agents may not be equally effective at slowing or stabilizing loss in ADL over time and that these differences may reflect differences in pharmacology. In addition to inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), these compounds have other putative differences in mechanisms of action. Galantamine allosterically modulates the nicotinic receptor and may prevent the loss of ADL. Rivastigmine robustly inhibits butyrylcholinesterase in addition to AChE and therefore acts as a dual ChE inhibitor. Comparative studies evaluating the differential effects of these ChE inhibitors on ADL are awaited.
“Chula Niwas Model” Social Marketing for a Strong and Healthy Community

This research was both participatory action research and community-based action research. The purposes of this research were to apply a social marketing approach and appropriate communications process to strengthen and improve the health of the “Chula Niwas Community”. The research results revealed that the social marketing approach can be applied and integrated with the social mobilization approach in regards to health promotion interventions consisting of 8 steps; Step 1: Analyzing the community. Step 2: Establishing the community association. Step 3: Conducting problem analysis and finding solution methods. Step 4: Designing and developing social products by using a social marketing approach that conforms to community conditions. Step 5: Sale of social products. Step 6: Improving community management systems and facilities including the physical aspects and environment to facilitate healthy activities. Step 7: Monitoring, evaluating and improving products. Step 8: Maintaining, consolidating and sustaining desirable behaviors. Implementation of these steps resulted in residents becoming empowered to improve the strength and health of their community.
Flexible ITO-free touch panel based on the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields

To overcome the high cost and limited availability of indium tin oxide (ITO) used in manufacturing touch panels, in this work a novel polymer-based touch panel is proposed. The proposed touch panel interface is mainly made from a composition of acrylic resin and Polyethylene glycol which are abundant and low-cost materials. The touch-sensing technology adopted for this touch panel is based on detecting the induced voltage on the human body resulting from the surrounding 50/60Hz electromagnetic waves of power lines. In addition to its low cost and good performance, the implemented touch panel is flexible, transparent and above all, its interface is made from high-resistivity materials offering promising alternatives to ITO in touch panels manufacturing.
An examination of CAPM based on data from Shenzhen Stock Exchange

With the development of academic exchange activities, the CAPM have been imported to China's capital market and academic circles, which been popularly accepted in academic and practitioner circles all over the world. As you know, the CAPM model was developed on basis of the financial environments of developed nations. It is pending whether it applies to China capital market. So we test the three following assumptions based on the SEC industry classification portfolios data on Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which should support the assumptions if the model CAPM is effective. Finally we cannot come to a conclusion that the model is effective, and the conclusion is the same as that based on GICS industry classification portfolios data on Shanghai Stock Exchange.
How Do Households Make Mortgage Choices?

This paper reviews recent literature on how households make decisions regarding residential mortgages. We focus on recent publications in Real Estate Economics that are related to households’ mortgage choices. The paper covers four areas: (1) the role of intermediaries such as mortgage brokers; (2) how households choose between a fixed and an adjustable rate mortgage; (3) how homeowners choose between other features of mortgage contracts; and (4) reverse mortgages.
Secretory Differentiation of Serially Passaged Normal Human Nasal Epithelial Cells by Retinoic Acid: Expression of Mucin and Lysozyme

The purpose of this study was to subculture normal human nasal epithelial (NHNE) cells without compromising their ability to differentiate into secretory and ciliated cells and to study the effect of retinoic acid on mucous and serous secretions in passaged cells and to compare the expression of mucin and lysozyme in cultured cells with those in in vivo nasal epithelium. The subcultured cells were tested after every passage for secretory differentiation in air-liquid interface cultures. The cultured NHNE cells secreted mucin and lysozyme. The cells became squamous and mucin secretion decreased when retinoic acid was deleted from the culture media. Cells from passage 1 through passage 2 remained able to differentiate into mucous or squamous cells. Mucin gene 4 (MUC4), MUC5AC, MUC7, MUC8, and lysozyme messenger RNAs were expressed in passage 2 NHNE cells. In conclusion, passage 2 NHNE cell cultures retain features of normal epithelium and are suitable for many studies of upper airway cell biology.
Broker Firms' Organisational Structure Changes and the Impact on Analyst Recommendations

We use a broker firm’s initial public offering (IPO) as a special event of organisational structure change and test its effects on the broker firm’s analyst recommendations. We find that analysts increase recommendations and the increases are significant in the few years after their broker firms’ IPO. The increases in recommendation of affiliated brokers are significantly larger than those of unaffiliated brokers. Newly listed broker firms experience significant increases in revenue and trade commissions and the increases are positively related to the recommendation changes. More importantly, recommendation bias declines as the newly listed broker firm seasons and as the firm’s revenue increases. The results support the economic incentive hypothesis but reject both the scrutiny and status-change hypotheses.