Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using an Eye-Tracking Approach to Explore Gender Differences in Visual Attention and Shopping Attitudes in an Online Shopping Environment

ABSTRACT Growth in online marketing has been unprecedented, and mainstream shopping is shifting from traditional stores to online shopping channels. However, many aspects of online consumer behavior remain unaddressed. In particular, the effects of gender differences in visual attention on shopping attitudes are a great challenge in online retailers’ attempts to understand consumers’ cognitive processing and strategies. This study was designed to investigate the effects of gender on visual attention to online shopping information and its influence on attitudes about the products displayed. Using an eye-tracking approach, the results identified significant gender differences in visual attention to online shopping information and shopping attitudes about the products presented. Female participants attended visually to most of the online shopping information areas to a greater degree than did males, and their attitudes about products were influenced to some degree by visual attention to the consumer opinion areas. Although males’ visual attention was lower than females’, their shopping attitudes were influenced extensively by visual attention to product information and consumer opinion areas.
Structure and function of the human parvulins Pin1 and Par14/17

Abstract Parvulins belong to the family of peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIases) assisting in protein folding and in regulating the function of a broad variety of proteins in all branches of life. The human representatives Pin1 and Par14/17 are directly involved in processes influencing cellular maintenance and cell fate decisions such as cell-cycle progression, metabolic pathways and ribosome biogenesis. This review on human parvulins summarizes the current knowledge of these enzymes and intends to oppose the well-studied Pin1 to its less well-examined homolog human Par14/17 with respect to structure, catalytic and cellular function.
Mass spectrometry analysis of plasma from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and control subjects

Abstract Mass spectrometry was used to study blood samples from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and healthy controls. Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination-III (ACE-III) was used to test for cognitive impairment (CI). Nano liquid chromatography and time of flight mass spectrometry (MS) were performed on samples from 42 ALS patients and 18 healthy controls. SWATH™ proteomic analysis was utilized to look for differences between groups. Western blot analysis was used to study levels of 4 proteins, selected as being of possible interest in ALS, in the MS discovery cohort and a second validation group of 10 ALS patients and 10 healthy controls. INGENUITY PATHWAY ANALYSIS (IPA) was applied to the final proteomic data. Between ALS patients and controls, there were significant differences in the expression of 30 proteins. Between controls and ALS patients without CI, there were significant differences in 15 proteins. Between controls and ALS patients with CI, there were significant differences in 32 proteins. Changes in levels of gelsolin, clusterin, and CD5L were validated by using western blot analysis in the discovery cohort. Changes in the expression of gelsolin, clusterin, and ficolin 3 were replicated in a validation group. In ALS, the LXR/RXR and coagulation pathways were downregulated whereas the complement pathway was upregulated. The proteomic data were used to produce two new networks, centered on IL1 and on NFkB, which showed altered levels in ALS. This study highlights the usefulness of MS of blood samples as a tool to study ALS.
Characterization of the phenylalanine ammonia lyase gene from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg.) and differential response during Rigidoporus microporus infection

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is a specific branch point enzyme of primary and secondary metabolism. It plays a key role in plant development and defense mechanisms. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase from Hevea brasiliensis (HbPAL) presented a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 2,145 bp with 721 encoded amino acids. The sequence alignment indicated that the amino acid sequence of HbPAL shared a high identity with PAL genes found in other plants. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that HbPAL was more closely related to PALs in Manihot esculenta and Jatropha curcas than to those from other plants. Transcription pattern analysis indicated that HbPAL was constitutively expressed in all tissues examined, most highly in young leaves. The HbPAL gene was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) after infection with Rigidoporus microporus at 0, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours post inoculation. The expression patterns of the PAL gene differed among the three rubber clones used in the study. The transcription level of the white root rot disease tolerant clone, PB5/51 increased sharply during the latter stages of infection, while it was relatively subdued in the white root rot disease susceptible clones, RRIM600 and BPM24. These results suggest that the HbPAL gene may play a role in the molecular defense response of H. brasiliensis to pathogen attack and could be used as a selection criterion for disease tolerance.
Tornado Warning Perception and Response: Integrating the Roles of Visual Design, Demographics, and Hazard Experience

Recent advancements in severe weather detection and warning dissemination technologies have reduced, but not eliminated, large‐casualty tornado hazards in the United States. Research on warning cognition and behavioral response by the public has the potential to further reduce tornado‐related deaths and injuries; however, less research has been conducted in this area compared to tornado research in the physical sciences. Extant research in this vein tends to bifurcate. One branch of studies derives from classic risk perception, which investigates cognitive, affective, and sociocultural factors in relation to concern and preparation for uncertain risks. Another branch focuses on psychological, social, and cultural factors implicated in warning response for rapid onset hazards, with attention paid to previous experience and message design. Few studies link risk perceptions with cognition and response as elicited by specific examples of warnings. The present study unites risk perception, cognition, and response approaches by testing the contributions of hypothesized warning response drivers in one set of path models. Warning response is approximated by perceived fear and intended protective action as reported by survey respondents when exposed to hypothetical tornado warning scenarios. This study considers the roles of hazard knowledge acquisition, information‐seeking behaviors, previous experience, and sociodemographic factors while controlling for the effects of the visual warning graphic. Findings from the study indicate the primacy of a user's visual interpretation of a warning graphic in shaping tornado warning response. Results also suggest that information‐seeking habits, previous tornado experience, and local disaster culture play strong influencing roles in warning response.
Do Blue-Collar Workers Perceive the Worksite Health Climate Differently Than White-Collar Workers?

A mail survey was distributed to a random sample of 497 both blue- and white-collar workers employed at a large manufacturing company to measure dimensions of worksite health climate: organizational and interpersonal support, and health norms. Statistically significant differences were observed for nearly all aspects of the dimensions with white-collar workers having more positive perceptions than blue-collar workers. The study suggests that future research explore how these perceptions may be enhanced and what role they may play in promoting worker health.
Polygyny and Infanticide in Common Marmosets in a Fragment of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) had been regarded as a monogamous species [1, 2], since reproductive activity in subordinate animals was suppressed in the presence of the alpha pair [3]. Studies in the wild, however, have shown that more than one female [4–8] or more than one male [9] could mate, in some cases, conceive and, in some other cases, rear litters. This flexibility has also been shown in captivity [10], and among other species of Callitrichidae, suggesting that polygyny [11], polyandry [12] or polygynandry [13] is widespread. Hrdy [14] shows that infanticide is present in different classes of animals and that the ways in which infanticidal individuals benefit varies widely. Resource competition, which can vary from food resources to physical characteristics of the environment [14] to having potential helpers within the group [15], is discussed.
Further studies on dopamine-induced suppression of pulsatile LH release in ovariectomized rats.

Third ventricular administration of dopamine (DA) in ovariectomized rats suppresses pulsatile LH secretion in a dose-dependent manner (Neuroendocrinology 29: 149, 1979). Since infusion of norepinephrine (NE) also produces a similar response, and DA can be taken up by noradrenergic fibers and converted to NE, an experiment was carried out to determine whether DA acted by directly activating DA receptors. This study also examined which parameters of pulsatile LH secretion were affected during DA-induced suppression of this release process, i.e., the LH interpulse interval and/or the magnitude of increase in blood LH levels produced by LH pulses. Infusion of DA in control rats pretreated with tartaric acid or /-butaclamol decreased mean blood LH levels. This effect is due entirely to a marked increase in the LH interpulse interval, since no change was seen in the magnitude of increase in blood LH levels produced by those LH pulses that did occur during DA infusion. Blockade of DA receptors with pimozide prevented the decrease in blood LH levels in response to DA and significantly reduced the change in the LH interpulse interval. These data indicate that DA suppresses pulsatile LH release solely by affecting the periodicity of this rhythm, and that this effect is mediated primarily through an activation of DA receptors. Pretreatment with d-butaclamol, another DA receptor antagonist, had no effect on the response to DA. As in control rats, DA-induced suppression of pulsatile LH release was again due entirely to a lengthening of the LH interpulse interval. d-Butaclamol does block the inhibition of pulsatile LH release due to peripheral administration of the DA receptor agonist, apomorphine (Endocrinology 100: 796, 1977). However, when concentrations of apomorphine equimolar to DA were infused into the third ventricle in d- or l-butaclamol-treated rats, comparable suppressions of pulsatile LH release occurred. This suggests that the failure of d-butaclamol to prevent the suppression of pulsatile LH release by intraventricular DA administration was apparently due to an ineffective level of DA receptor blockade.
Comparing Samples of Men Who Have Sex with Men Recruited Online and in Venues, Jiangsu Province, China, 2013.

PURPOSE Two common methods to sample men who have sex with men (MSM) for HIV research are venue- and internet-based approaches. However, it is unclear which is best to sample Chinese MSM. METHODS We conducted side-by-side comparisons of time-location sampling (TLS) and an online sample of MSM in Nanjing, China. RESULTS TLS-recruited MSM tended to be older and of lower socio-economic status compared to online-recruited MSM, whereas online-recruited MSM reported higher risk behavior and lower frequency of HIV testing. CONCLUSION Significant differences were observed between the two separate samples. Without a gold standard, the choice of sampling method or recruitment approach should be guided by the segment of the population targeted to be reached.
Physiological and Molecular Properties of AMPA/Kainate Receptors Expressed by Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons

The mechanisms by which glutamate shapes the activity of striatal medium spiny neurons are of fundamental importance to our understanding of normative and pathological striatal physiology. Non-N-Methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) glutamate receptor expression and function were studied in medium spiny neurons with a combination of single cell RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis found that GluR2 mRNA appeared to be the most abundant and widely distributed AMPA receptor mRNA. GluR1 was also commonly detected. However, GluR3 mRNA was preferentially expressed by neurons coexpressing substance P and enkephalin and GluR4 mRNA was not detected in identified medium spiny neurons. All neuronal classes appeared to express GluR5 or GluR6 and/or GluR7 mRNA in addition to kainate (KA) subunit mRNA. Immunocytochemical studies confirmed the mRNA distributions and also revealed that GluR1 protein was largely restricted to dendritic spines. Although the mRNA and protein for both α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-ioxyzole-4-proprionic acid (AMPA) and KA class subunits was detected, the physiological response to glutamatergic ligands and the benzothiadizine cyclothiazide was characteristic of AMPA, not KA receptors. The AMPA receptor antagonist GYKI 52466 blocked the response to AMPA and all but a small transient component of the response to KA. The current-voltage relationship of the AMPA-evoked currents was relatively linear but Ca2+ fluorometry revealed that substantial changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration accompanied exposure to either agonist. These results argue that somatodendritic non-NMDA glutamate receptors in medium spiny neurons are primarily GluR2-containing receptors of the AMPA class but that activation of these receptors as a group nevertheless results in a significant Ca2+ influx.
Emerging Properties and Functional Consequences of Noncoding Transcription

Eukaryotic genomes are rich in transcription units encoding “long noncoding RNAs” (lncRNAs). The purpose of all this transcription is unclear since most lncRNAs are quickly targeted for destruction during synthesis or shortly thereafter. As debates continue over the functional significance of many specific lncRNAs, support grows for the notion that the act of transcription rather than the RNA product itself is functionally important in many cases. Indeed, this alternative mechanism might better explain how low-abundance lncRNAs transcribed from noncoding DNA function in organisms. Here, we highlight some of the recently emerging features that distinguish coding from noncoding transcription and discuss how these differences might have important implications for the functional consequences of noncoding transcription.
Complexity of Energy Efficient Localization With the Aid of a Mobile Beacon

Localization is an essential service in wireless sensor networks. Trilateration is a commonly used solution to range-based localization for providing such services. It might be, however, impossible to localize the entire network at once using trilateration due to low connectivity on sparse deployments. In such scenarios, a mobile beacon with a known position is used to move among and locate the nodes with low connectivity to aid trilateration. Given a network graph, finding a minimum energy route traveled by the mobile beacon is a key problem in many real-world applications. We prove in this letter that this problem called mobile assisted trilateration based energy optimum localization is NP-hard. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such result in an attempt to computationally classify this important problem. We also provide a compact integer linear programming formulation for the problem.
Functional Testing of SLC26A4 Variants—Clinical and Molecular Analysis of a Cohort with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct from Austria

The prevalence and spectrum of sequence alterations in the SLC26A4 gene, which codes for the anion exchanger pendrin, are population-specific and account for at least 50% of cases of non-syndromic hearing loss associated with an enlarged vestibular aqueduct. A cohort of nineteen patients from Austria with hearing loss and a radiological alteration of the vestibular aqueduct underwent Sanger sequencing of SLC26A4 and GJB2, coding for connexin 26. The pathogenicity of sequence alterations detected was assessed by determining ion transport and molecular features of the corresponding SLC26A4 protein variants. In this group, four uncharacterized sequence alterations within the SLC26A4 coding region were found. Three of these lead to protein variants with abnormal functional and molecular features, while one should be considered with no pathogenic potential. Pathogenic SLC26A4 sequence alterations were only found in 12% of patients. SLC26A4 sequence alterations commonly found in other Caucasian populations were not detected. This survey represents the first study on the prevalence and spectrum of SLC26A4 sequence alterations in an Austrian cohort and further suggests that genetic testing should always be integrated with functional characterization and determination of the molecular features of protein variants in order to unequivocally identify or exclude a causal link between genotype and phenotype.
A review of the evidence for endocrine disrupting effects of current-use chemicals on wildlife populations

Abstract This review critically examines the data on claimed endocrine-mediated adverse effects of chemicals on wildlife populations. It focuses on the effects of current-use chemicals, and compares their apparent scale and severity with those of legacy chemicals which have been withdrawn from sale or use, although they may still be present in the environment. The review concludes that the effects on wildlife of many legacy chemicals with endocrine activity are generally greater than those caused by current-use chemicals, with the exception of ethinylestradiol and other estrogens found in sewage effluents, which are causing widespread effects on fish populations. It is considered that current chemical testing regimes and risk assessment procedures, at least those to which pesticides and biocides are subjected, are in part responsible for this improvement. This is noteworthy as most ecotoxicological testing for regulatory purposes is currently focused on characterizing apical adverse effect endpoints rather than identifying the mechanism(s) responsible for any observed effects. Furthermore, a suite of internationally standardized ecotoxicity tests sensitive for potential endocrine-mediated effects is now in place, or under development, which should ensure further characterization of substances with these properties so that they can be adequately regulated.
Vivaldi Antenna With Pattern Diversity for 0.7 to 2.7 GHz Cellular Band Applications

This letter describes a planar ultrawideband Vivaldi antenna for base-station pattern diversity applications. It is designed to cover most of the cellular and LTE bands, a very wide frequency range from 0.7 to 2.7 GHz. It is formed by two adjacent Vivaldi tapered slots with a rotated angle of 29° between them. The antenna is miniaturized by sharing some common structure and cutting the noncritical board area. It is designed step by step from a single Vivaldi element with a microstrip line feeding to a dual-slot pattern diversity radiator with uniform radiation patterns. It is fabricated and tested inside a near-field chamber. The radiation performance, including both in-phase and 180° out-of-phase differential feeding cases, is verified by simulation as well as experiment. The measured results show good agreement with the simulation. It could be useful for base station and other smart array systems.
Impact of time-bandwidth product on cooperative spectrum sensing over AWGN and fading channels

Cognitive radio (CR) plays a key role in upcoming 5-G wireless technology. The main task of CR technology is to detect the presence of licensed user or primary user (PU) for effective utilization of the spectrum. In this paper, fist we study the non-cooperative spectrum sensing with a variation in time-bandwidth product over a non-fading (additive white Gaussian noise, AWGN) channel and fading channels (Rayleigh and Rician). Analytical and simulation frameworks are presented over fading and non-fading channels. Second, we consider voting rule for hard decision combining in cooperative spectrum sensing and the impact of time-bandwidth product over an AWGN and fading channels is investigated. An optimal decision fusion rule is investigated with respect to time-bandwidth product that minimizes the total sensing error in cognitive radio network.
Differential effects of serotonin (5-HT1A and 5-HT2) agonists and antagonists on renin and corticosterone secretion.

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of distinct serotonin (5-HT1A and 5-HT2) agonists and antagonists on renin and corticosterone secretion. Low doses of the selective 5-HT1A agonists 8-hydroxy-2-(di-N-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) (5.0-500.0 micrograms/kg, i.p.) and ipsapirone (TVX Q 7821; 0.5-2.5 mg/kg, i.p.), and of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) agonist MK-212 (2.0 mg/kg, i.p.), did not elevate plasma renin activity (PRA) and concentration (PRC) 30 min postinjection. Administration of a higher dose of MK-212 (10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) and of higher doses of ipsapirone (5.0-10.0 mg/kg, i.p.), as well as the 5-HT releaser, fenfluramine (5.0 mg/kg, i.p.), resulted in large increases in PRA and PRC. The effects of MK-212 and fenfluramine on PRA and PRC were blocked by pretreatment with the selective 5-HT2 antagonist, LY53857, in a dose-dependent (0.3-1.0 mg/kg, i.p.) manner. LY53857 (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.) by itself did not affect PRA or PRC. LY53857, furthermore, unmasked a renin-suppressive effect of MK-212, since injection of MK-212 (10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) following LY53857 administration led to a reduction in PRA and PRC. MK-212 (2.0 and 10.0 mg/kg), the high doses of 8-OH-DPAT (500.0 micrograms/kg), ipsapirone (1.0-10.0 mg/kg), and fenfluramine (5.0 mg/kg) all produced an increase in plasma corticosterone levels. The effects of MK-212 and fenfluramine on corticosterone were not inhibited by pretreatment with LY53857. These data suggest that 5-HT1A receptors do not play a role in the regulation of renin secretion, whereas stimulation of 5-HT2 receptors enhances renin release. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
X-Chromosome inactivation: a repeat hypothesis

Recent work has shown that X-chromosome inactivation is brought about by Xist mRNA, which coats the inactive X-chromosome. This paper presents a hypothesis on the function of this RNA. It is suggested that interspersed repetitive elements of the LINE type, in which the X-chromosome is particularly rich, act as booster elements to promote the spread of Xist mRNA. Contact with this RNA causes the LINE elements to be sensed as repeated elements by the cell’s system for repeat-induced gene silencing. This leads to the silencing of these elements and the intervening unique sequences by their conversion to heterochromatin.