Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective Inhibition of K, Na, Cl, and PO(4) Uptake in Zea mays L. by Bipolaris (Helminthosporium) maydis Race T Pathotoxin: Evidence for a Plasmalemma Target Site?

Pathotoxin preparations were obtained from either axenic culture filtrate of race T of Bipolaris maydis (Nisikado) Shoemaker (new culture media and toxin purification procedures are described) or extracts of maize leaves infected with the fungus. The toxins (10(-6) to 10(-8)m) caused inhibition of [(86)Rb]K(+) uptake in leaf discs and apical root segments of Zea mays L. cv W64A Texas (Tcms) and normal (N) cytoplasms. Significant inhibition was measurable as early as 5 min after adding toxin. In Tcms per cent inhibition was increased by increasing toxin concentration and time in toxin, by using solution at pH 5 rather than pH 7, by decreasing external KCl concentration over the range 50 to 0.1 mm (in the presence of 0.5 mm CaSO(4)), or by exposing leaf discs to light rather than dark during the uptake period in toxin. Root uptake of (22)Na(+) and (36)Cl(-) was inhibited to a lesser extent than K(+). Inhibition of (32)PO(4) (3-) uptake occurred after 40 min when cyclosis had ceased.When combined with data in the literature, our data indicate that the plasmalemma is the probable primary site of toxin action in N and Tcms maize. Comparison of the effects of toxin on K(+) uptake in N and Tcms maize suggests the existence of more than one mode of toxin action: a weak disruptive effect in N and Tcms, and in addition, specific membrane sites in Tcms involved in monovalent ion uptake.Six genotypes in N or Tcms cytoplasm which exhibited different degrees of disease susceptibility in the field showed a corresponding gradation of susceptibility to the toxin when a K(+) uptake bioassay was used. This correlation is strong evidence that the sites of toxin action affecting K(+) transport have characteristics closely related to cellular factors regulating susceptibility to fungal attack.
Measurement of R&D Investment by Firm and Multiple q: Analysis of Investment Behaviors by Capital Good at Listed Japanese Firms

In this paper, we measure R&D investment and stock data for listed enterprises in Japan and examine R&D investment behavior as well as tangible ones under the framework of Tobin fs q theory. We estimate Multiple q investment functions, modified Tobin fs q investment functions considering the heterogeneity of capital goods, and verify whether adding R&D as a new capital good improves the performance of the investment function estimation. Our measurement shows that the share of R&D stock to total stocks is more than 25% and that adding R&D as a new capital stock reduces the upward bias of average q as predicted from our theoretical analysis. In addition, we show that the performance of the Multiple q investment function improves: the coefficient of determination increases with the number of capital goods whose adjustment cost parameters are positive and estimated to be significant. On the other hand, even after considering R&D investment, redundant variables under the standard Tobin fs q theory (cash flow ratio and interest - bearing debt ratio) continue to have strong explanatory power. Comparing the estimated values of adjustment cost parameter ƒA among capital goods, we find that R&D investment has, in particular, a strong correlation with the accumulation of other intangible assets. An international comparison of growth accounting suggests that for Japan fs economic growth, it is desirable to implement policies that emphasize the accumulation of intangible assets rather than tangible fixed assets. At the very least, R&D can be captured on financial statements, making it possible to devise stimulus policies, such as investment tax cuts. This suggests that economic policies focused explicitly on stimulating R&D investment may, nevertheless, lead to policies that emphasize intangible asset accumulation more generally.
Backside wear of polyethylene tibial inserts: mechanism and magnitude of material loss.

BACKGROUND Wear of the underside of modular tibial inserts (backside wear) in total knee replacements has been reported by several authors. Although, for some implant designs, this phenomenon seems to contribute to osteolysis, the actual volume of material lost through wear of the backside surface has not been quantified. This study describes the results of computerized measurements of tibial inserts of one design known to be associated with a high prevalence of backside wear in situ. METHODS A series of retrieved total knee components of one design were examined. The duration of implantation of the retrieved components ranged from thirty-six to 146 months. Laser surface profilometry and computer-aided design software were used to develop individual three-dimensional models of each worn, retrieved tibial insert to compare with scanned unused inserts. Volumetric subtraction of both models revealed the material lost because of backside wear. RESULTS Worn and unworn areas on the backside surface were easily identified by stereomicroscopy and laser profilometry. The computer reconstructions showed that, in all retrievals, all unworn surfaces on the nonarticulating surface lay in one plane. The average volume (and standard deviation) of the material lost because of backside wear was 925 +/- 637 mm(3) (range, 197 to 2720 mm(3)). On the basis of the time in situ for each implant, the average volumetric wear rate was 138 +/- 95 mm(3)/yr. CONCLUSIONS The predicted volume of material removed because of backside wear is substantial and may be sufficient to induce osteolysis. Our results suggest that peg-like protrusions are not generated by the extrusion of polyethylene into screw-holes within the base-plate but by abrasion of the underside of the bearing insert, leaving the protruding pegs as the only remnants of the original surface.
Connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension in the modern treatment era.

RATIONALE Pulmonary arterial hypertension in association with connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH) has historically had a poor prognosis, with a 1-year survival rate among patients with systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) of 45%. However, more therapies have become available. OBJECTIVES To investigate the survival and characteristics of all patients diagnosed with CTD-PAH in the U.K. pulmonary hypertension service. METHODS National registry of all incident cases of CTD-PAH diagnosed consecutively between January 2001 and June 2006. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Patients with CTD-PAH (429; 73% SSc-PAH) were diagnosed by a catheter-based approach. One- and 3-year survival rates were 78 and 47% for patients with isolated SSc-PAH. Survival was worse for those with respiratory disease-associated SSc-PAH (3-yr survival, 28%; P = 0.005) whereas survival among patients with exercise-induced SSc-PAH was superior (3-yr survival, 86%; P = < 0.001). Age, sex, mixed venous oxygen saturation, and World Health Organization functional class were independent predictors of survival in isolated SSc-PAH. Nineteen percent of patients with exercise-induced SSc-PAH and 39% of patients with isolated SSc-PAH who were in functional classes I and II had evidence of disease progression. The prevalence of diagnosed SSc-PAH is 2.93 per 1 million. The 3-year survival rate of 75% for those with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE-PAH) was significantly better than that for patients with SSc-PAH (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Survival of patients with SSc-PAH in the modern treatment era is better than in historical series. A significant proportion of patients with mild functional impairment or exercise-induced SSc-PAH have evidence of disease progression. Survival of patients with respiratory disease-associated pulmonary hypertension is inferior. SLE-PAH has a better prognosis than SSc-PAH.
How the Quantity of Agricultural Mechanics Training Received at the Secondary Level Impact Teacher Perceived Importance of Agricultural Mechanics Skills

Preservice teacher candidates in agricultural education have expressed concerns with teaching agricultural mechanics content yet the number of required courses in agricultural mechanics has dwindled. To determine the root of current teachers’ perceptions, it is important to look at the developmental experiences that have led to those perceptions. The theory of social development and knowing that knowledge influences beliefs provided a foundation to describe the relationship between the Iowa agricultural education teachers’ perceived level of importance to teach selected agricultural mechanics skills and the quantity of agricultural mechanics training received as a secondary student. Data was collected during the Iowa agricultural education teachers’ conference. Thirty-two of the 54 selected agricultural mechanics skills exhibited a significant, positive correlation between the teachers’ viewed importance of teaching those skills and the amount of secondary training they received in those skill areas. Experience at the secondary level has an impact on content teachers view as important and post-secondary teacher educators and industry should continue to help beginning teachers receive additional training and support in agricultural mechanics. Additional research should be conducted to determine the factors, in addition to the quantity of secondary training received, which influence teachers’ perceived importance to teach agricultural mechanics skills.
Effectiveness of HIV prevention for youth in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized trials

Objective:Systematically assess the effectiveness of HIV-prevention interventions in changing sexual behaviour of young people (10–25 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods:Three online databases were searched using prespecified terms. Additional articles were identified on websites of international organizations and by searching bibliographies. Randomized and nonrandomized trials of interventions aiming to reduce risk behaviour were included as well as single-arm studies reporting effects of differential exposure to an intervention. Data were extracted independently in duplicate using predefined data fields. Results:Thirty-one studies on 28 interventions met the inclusion criteria, including 11 randomized trials. Difficulties with implementing planned activities were reportedly common and differential exposure to intervention was high. Two hundred and seventeen outcome measures were extracted: 88 early (within 1 year of intervention) and 129 late outcomes (more than 1 year after the end of the intervention). Sex education and condom promotion among youth did not increase sexual behaviour as well as risky sexual behaviour. No positive effects on sexual behaviour were detected either and condom use at last sex only increased among males [relative risk = 1.46; 95% confidence interval = 1.31–1.64]. One study reported a reduction of herpes simplex virus-2, but not HIV incidence. Conclusion:There remains a stark mismatch between the HIV burden in youth and the number of attempts to design and test prevention interventions – only two trials report biological outcomes. More effective interventions targeting youth are needed. Attention should go to studying implementation difficulties, sex differences in responses to interventions, determinants of exposure to interventions and perhaps inclusion of other factors apart from HIV/AIDS which influence sexual behaviour.
Genetically Manipulated Bacterial Toxin as a New Generation Mucosal Adjuvant

Cholera toxin (CT) and heat‐labile toxin (LT) of Escherichia coli act as adjuvants for the enhancement of mucosal and serum antibody (Ab) responses to mucosally co‐administered protein antigen (Ag). Both LT and CT induce B7‐2 expression on antigen‐presenting cells (APCs) for subsequent co‐stimulatory signalling to CD4+ T cells. CT directly affects CD4+ T cells activated via the TCR–CD3 complex with selective inhibition of Th1 responses whereas LT maintains Th1 cytokine responses with inhibition of interleukin (IL)‐4 production. Interestingly, while CT failed to induce mucosal adjuvant activity in the absence of IL‐4, LT did so. Nontoxic mutant (m)CTs (S61F and E112K) retain adjuvant properties by inducing CD4+ Th2 cells, which provided effective help for the Ag‐specific mucosal immunoglobulin (Ig)A, as well as serum IgG1, IgE and IgA Ab responses. The mCT E112K has been shown to exhibit two distinct mechanisms for its adjuvanticity. Firstly, mCT enhanced the B7‐2 expression of APCs. Secondly, this nontoxic CT derivative directly affected CD4+ T cells and selectively inhibited Th1 cytokine responses. Thus, several lines of evidence indicate that enzyme activity can be separated from adjuvant properties of CT and this offers promise for the development of safe delivery of vaccines for mucosal IgA responses.
Pricing Behavior of Cartel Outsiders in Incomplete Cartels

We analyze the pricing behavior of firms when explicit partial cartels have formed in experimental markets through communication. Using a repeated, asymmetric capacity constraint price game, we show that, in line with theory, a partial cartel is sufficient to increase market prices for all firms. Moreover, we find that prices of cartel insiders and outsiders are not necessarily on the same level what contradicts common theoretical predictions. This is because communication allows cartel members to overcome a potential coordination problem and enables an equilibrium in (joint) mixed strategies to emerge. The results therefore underline the importance of communication in explicit cartels and the resulting market outcomes. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
The Political Economy of Hydrocarbon Wealth and Fuel Prices

Author(s): Mahdavi, Paasha; Ross, Michael | Abstract: All governments either tax or subsidize the consumption of fossil fuels. These pricing policies have far-reaching consequences not only for the environment, but also for governance and economic development. In this state-of-knowledge paper, we examine previous research on fossil fuel subsidies, noting areas that are understudied in the context of determinants of price policies and causes for policy reform. We then describe new data on implicit gasoline taxes and subsidies, report global trends, and explore the relationship between oil wealth and government policies. We conclude with actionable ideas for future research projects.
Intervention in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: the role of parents and teachers.

BACKGROUND Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are a heterogeneous group who have a marked impairment in the performance of functional skills. Provision for these children is usually made via a paediatrician through occupational or physiotherapy though, with a prevalence rate of 5%, regular provision is not possible due to limited professional resources. AIMS The study aimed to determine the extent to which parents and teachers, with guidance, can assist in the management of children with DCD; whether children with DCD are helped in this way and how this may contribute to our understanding of the condition. SAMPLE Thirty-one children with DCD aged 7 to 9 years participated in the study. METHODS Following assessment, individual profiles were developed and each week teachers and parents were given guidelines for working with the children and each child had three to four sessions a week lasting approximately for 20 minutes. In Phase 1, one group of children worked with teachers and the other group worked with parents. In Phase 2, the two groups of children swapped over. The children were assessed regularly throughout the project using the Movement ABC, together with diaries and comments from teachers and parents. RESULTS At the end of the 40-week study, 27 children showed significant improvement in their motor skills. CONCLUSIONS Both teachers and parents were able to provide effective intervention for the majority of the children. It is possible that the children who did not improve have difficulties that are of a more complex type which require more specialist therapy to meet their need.
New concepts in systemic autoimmunity testing

Diagnosis of systemic autoimmune diseases is highly complex, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make assumptions about the functional roles and diagnostic significance of autoantibodies. The latter is mainly due to the fact that results from different assay systems are not interchangeable. A laboratory "gold standard" which helps the clinician to differentiate irrelevant autoimmune phenomena from significant autoimmune diseases at an early stage, is clearly missed. To meet this challenge, a rheuma entrance screening (RES) assay toolbox is proposed based on fully-automated enzyme immunoassay (EIA) technology on one system for the clinical and routine laboratory. The RES concept is intended to cover the most important syndromes of systemic rheumatic diseases, i.e. collagenosis, early rheumatoid arthritis, early osteoarthritis, anti-phospholipid syndrome and inflammation. The serological part of diagnosis of these diseases comprises testing for anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), rheumatoid factor (RF), low levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), and disease-specific anti-phospholipid antibodies, e.g. anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I (anti- g 2 GPI). To eliminate the known problems of varying assay systems in this field, a novel, objective, rapid and reproducible approach to screen for such analytes in patient serum or plasma more efficiently is the application of EIAs on the fully-automated immunoassay analyser COBAS ® CORE (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). The combined use of the RES (COBAS ® CORE HEp2 ANA EIA, COBAS ® CORE RF EIA Quant, COBAS ® CORE CRP EIA Quant and COBAS ® CORE Anti- g 2 GPI EIA) is intended for patients sent to the laboratory with the primary suspicion of harbouring a systemic rheumatic disease.
Treatment of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis with a Neurotropic Alphavirus Vector Expressing Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase‐2

Prompted by our recent observations of increased MMP‐8 and MMP‐9 with simultaneous downregulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2 (TIMP‐2) and TIMP‐3 mRNA levels in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice with severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), we used Semliki Forest virus (SFV) to transfer and express recombinant murine TIMP‐1–3 genes in the CNS. TIMP‐1, TIMP‐2 and TIMP‐3 expression was confirmed in cultured cells and in the CNS of infected mice. Following intraperitoneal infection with 106 plaque‐forming units (PFU) of SFV‐TIMP, focal TIMP protein expression was achieved throughout the brain. Although already treatment with empty vector inhibited development of EAE to some extent, the expression of TIMP‐2 by the virus significantly enhanced the inhibition. TIMP‐3‐administered mice also had lower disease grade, but the inhibition was not statistically significant. In contrast, SFV‐TIMP‐1 had no effect, similar to co‐infection with TIMP‐2 and TIMP‐3. We found TIMP‐2 expression also by non‐infected CNS‐resident cells surrounding the virus‐positive areas, suggesting a bystander TIMP‐2 induction. These data strengthen the view that matrix metalloproteinases are involved in the pathogenesis of EAE and provide clear evidence that virus‐mediated delivery of their protein inhibitors can be effective in preventing the clinical disease. TIMPs might be candidates for novel treatment regimens in CNS autoimmune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis.
Nonlinear multivariate image filtering techniques

In this paper, nonlinear multivariate image filtering techniques are proposed to handle color images corrupted by noise. First, we briefly review the principle of reduced ordering (R-ordering) and then define three R-orderings by selecting different central locations. Considering noise attenuation, edge preservation, and detail retention, R-ordering based multivariate filters are designed by combining the R-ordering schemes. To implement color image filtering more effectively, we develop them into a locally adaptive version. The output of the adaptive filter is the closest sample to a central location that is a weighted linear combination of the mean, the marginal median, and the center sample. As a result, we study an adaptive hybrid multivariate (AHM) filter consisting of the mean filter, the marginal median filter, and the identity filter. The performance of the two adaptive filtering techniques is compared with that of some nonadaptive ones. The examples of color image filtering show that the adaptive multivariate image filtering gives a rather good performance improvement.
Assessing DNA Barcodes for Species Identification in North American Reptiles and Amphibians in Natural History Collections

Background High rates of species discovery and loss have led to the urgent need for more rapid assessment of species diversity in the herpetofauna. DNA barcoding allows for the preliminary identification of species based on sequence divergence. Prior DNA barcoding work on reptiles and amphibians has revealed higher biodiversity counts than previously estimated due to cases of cryptic and undiscovered species. Past studies have provided DNA barcodes for just 14% of the North American herpetofauna, revealing the need for expanded coverage. Methodology/Principal Findings This study extends the DNA barcode reference library for North American herpetofauna, assesses the utility of this approach in aiding species delimitation, and examines the correspondence between current species boundaries and sequence clusters designated by the BIN system. Sequences were obtained from 730 specimens, representing 274 species (43%) from the North American herpetofauna. Mean intraspecific divergences were 1% and 3%, while average congeneric sequence divergences were 16% and 14% in amphibians and reptiles, respectively. BIN assignments corresponded with current species boundaries in 79% of amphibians, 100% of turtles, and 60% of squamates. Deep divergences (>2%) were noted in 35% of squamate and 16% of amphibian species, and low divergences (<2%) occurred in 12% of reptiles and 23% of amphibians, patterns reflected in BIN assignments. Sequence recovery declined with specimen age, and variation in recovery success was noted among collections. Within collections, barcodes effectively flagged seven mislabeled tissues, and barcode fragments were recovered from five formalin-fixed specimens. Conclusions/Significance This study demonstrates that DNA barcodes can effectively flag errors in museum collections, while BIN splits and merges reveal taxa belonging to deeply diverged or hybridizing lineages. This study is the first effort to compile a reference library of DNA barcodes for herpetofauna on a continental scale.