Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Dynamin-associating Molecule, Formin-binding Protein 17, Induces Tubular Membrane Invaginations and Participates in Endocytosis*

Dynamin associates with a variety of SH3 domain-containing molecules via a C-terminal proline-rich motif and takes part, with them, in endocytic processes. Here, we have investigated a new dynamin-associating molecule, formin-binding protein 17 (FBP17), involved in deforming the plasma membrane and in endocytosis. FBP17 formed tubular invaginations originating from the plasma membrane. Its N-terminal Fer/CIP4 homology domain, a coiled-coil domain, and a proline-rich motif were required for tubular invagination and self-assembly, by which tubular invagination might be induced. Using anti-FBP17 antibody, we detected positive immunoreactions in the testis that were restricted to the germ cells. We also detected FBP17 in the brain by immunoblotting and in situ hybridization. When COS cells expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged FBP17 were incubated with fluorescently labeled transferrin, epidermal growth factor, and cholera toxin, these molecules co-localized with FBP17-induced tubular invaginations, suggesting that FBP17 is involved in dynamin-mediated endocytosis in both a clathrin-dependent and -independent manner. These observations therefore indicate that FBP17 interacts with dynamin and regulates endocytosis by forming vesicotubular structures.
Pulse shape discrimination characteristics of stilbene crystal, pure and 6Li loaded plastic scintillators for a high resolution coded-aperture neutron imager

Pulse shape discrimination performances of single stilbene crystal, pure plastic and 6Li loaded plastic scintillators have been compared. Three pulse shape discrimination algorithms have been tested for each scintillator sample, assessing their quality of neutron/gamma separation. Additionally, the digital implementation feasibility of each algorithm in a real-time embedded system was evaluated. Considering the pixelated architecture of the coded-aperture imaging system, a reliable method of simultaneous multi-channel neutron/gamma discrimination was sought, accounting for the short data analysis window available for each individual channel. In this study, each scintillator sample was irradiated with a 252Cf neutron source and a bespoke digitiser system was used to collect the data allowing detailed offline examination of the sampled pulses. The figure-of-merit was utilised to compare the discrimination quality of the collected events with respect to various discrimination algorithms. Single stilbene crystal presents superior neutron/gamma separation performance when compared to the plastic scintillator samples.
Optimal equity ratio of BOT highway project under government guarantee and revenue sharing

ABSTRACT Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) is an important financing scheme to deliver value for money in infrastructure procurement. To mitigate its financial risk, the private sector often asks for a minimum traffic guarantee (MTG) from the government. On the other hand, the government usually requires sharing the excessive revenue when the traffic volume is greater than a certain level. This paper develops a quantitative methodology for equity ratio optimization and financial viability analysis. This methodology integrates the return in equity and debt service coverage ratio into a utility function, and evaluates the impact of MTG and revenue sharing on the optimal equity ratio of the project. A case study of a highway project is provided to demonstrate the applicability of this methodology, and the results show that the optimal equity ratio will increase when the government provides a minimum traffic volume guarantee and a revenue sharing scheme.
The Influence of New Product Development Competitive Capabilities on Project Performance

This paper investigates the relationships between new product development (NPD) competitive capabilities and project performance. Using data from a large sample of NPD projects, both direct and synergistic influences of new product development competitive capabilities on project performance are explored. The results support the claim of the synergy school that simultaneous pursuit of multiple competitive capabilities enhances NPD project success. For example, time-to-market and conformance quality were directly and significantly related to all measures of NPD project success. Also, the interactions of conformance quality and cost, conformance quality and time-to-market, and product cost and time-to-market were found to influence different measures of NPD project success. Implications of the results for theory and managerial practice are offered
Characteristics of Enthusiastic and Growing School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers: A Delphi Approach

The most optimal way to prepare teachers is a source of debate and inquiry. The common view held in school-based agricultural education is to use professional development to augment what teachers learned in their teacher preparation program. This has been typically implemented through induction support and generic professional development. Fessler and Christensen (1992) described a teacher career cycle that highlights the need to differentiate professional development for teachers beyond the induction stage. Teachers in the Enthusiastic and Growing stage are described as having a high level of competence, but continue to grow as professionals. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of Enthusiastic and Growing school-based agriculture education teachers in order to inform professional development practice. A panel of 105 Enthusiastic and Growing teachers were selected to serve on a Delphi panel and asked to identify the characteristics of an expert agriculture teacher. Twenty-seven responses were agreed upon by the panel. Some characteristics were congruent with the existing descriptions of Enthusiastic and Growing teachers, while some descriptions were unique to school-based agricultural education. Based on these findings, professional development should be implemented using a systems approach to promote these characteristics in teachers.
Participation and women’s economic empowerment: clarifying their relationship in community based organization

Empowerment and participation are viewed as combined strategy in combating poverty particularly in third world countries. It is considered an effective approach in uplifting the status of economy. As a medium, empowerment and participation is believed to play an important role in determining successful economic activity. Based on this premise, this research is conducted to ascertain the relationship between participation level (decision making, implementation and interest acceptance and how far these three levels effect the empowerment of PWPK members in Johor. Around 366 members from 60 Pergerakan Wanita Pekebun Kecil (Movement of Small Woman Farmer groups) have been selected as respondents using cluster multistage sampling. Research data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) assisted by AMOS 21 software. Research findings shows all three participation levels have average relationship with economic empowerment. On the other hand, participation level in interest acceptance is the most significant predictor when compared to all three levels. Hence, to determine PWPK functions as an empowerment medium, participatory level must be enhanced.
WARNING SIGNALS EVOLVE TO DISENGAGE BATESIAN MIMICS

Prey that are unprofitable to attack are typically conspicuous in appearance. Conventional theory assumes that these warning signals have evolved in response to predator receiver biases. However, such biases might be a symptom rather than a cause of warning signals. We therefore examine an alternative theory: that conspicuousness evolves in unprofitable prey to avoid confusion with profitable prey. One might wonder why unprofitable prey do not find a cryptic means to be distinct from profitable prey, reducing both their risk of confusion with profitable prey and their rate of detection by predators. Here we present the first coevolutionary model to allow for Batesian mimicry and signals with different levels of detectability. We find that unprofitable prey do indeed evolve ways of distinguishing themselves using cryptic signals, particularly when appearance traits can evolve in multiple dimensions. However, conspicuous warning signals readily evolve in unprofitable prey when there are more ways to look different from the background than to match it. Moreover, the more unprofitable the prey species, the higher its evolved conspicuousness. Our results provide strong support for the argument that unprofitable species evolve conspicuous signals to avoid confusion with profitable prey and indicate that peak shift in conspicuousness-linked traits is a major factor in its establishment.
Media Health Literacy

Background and objective: Many people agree that media are the biggest trainer in modern societies. People in the modern societies spend most of their time to seeing the Medias after sleeping. Therefore the content of the media should be the consideration in various fields, especially in public health. Media literacy attributed to the strengthening of media experiences. Some researchers have been defined media literacy as follows: The ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate with media messages in various forms. In other words, media literacy is perspective that we actively use it for media exposure to interpret the meaning of the messages that we encountered. Thus, this study aims to explain the concept of media literacy Paper Type: letter to editor.
Acoustic Reflex Thresholds: Variability and Distribution Effects

Acoustic reflex thresholds (ARTs) at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz from 1833 ears were subjected to multiple linear regression analyses using a stepwise inclusion model to determine the effects of hearing losses in the 500- to 4000-Hz range for each of the activators. Although statistically significant regression equations were developed, these accounted for only 1 to 47% of the variance of ART levels. In light of the wide variance of ARTs unexplainable directly from audiometric data, it was deemed more appropriate to consider the range of ARTs from the standpoint of the sampling distribution of ARTs as a function of hearing level. Deciles were calculated in the 10th through 90th percentile ranges. These data corroborate and expand upon previously reported material on the distributions of ARTs among ears with normal hearing and cochlear impairment.
Tactile situation awareness system: proprioceptive prostheses for sensory deficiencies.

UNLABELLED Pilots and astronauts do not experience spatial disorientation in normal day-to-day terrestrial activities. On the ground, the perception of position and motion is determined by central nervous system integration of concordant and redundant information from multiple sensory channels (somatosensory, vestibular and visual) which collectively yield veridical perceptions. In the acceleration environments experienced by pilots and astronauts, the somatosensory and vestibular senses frequently present false but concordant information concerning the direction of gravity or down. When presented with conflicting sensory stimuli, it is normal for pilots and astronauts to experience episodes of disorientation. Visual instruments and displays developed over the past 70 yr have not solved the problem. A simple solution to maintain spatial orientation is to provide true information using the same sensory channels we use so successfully on Earth. METHODS The Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS) developed by NASA and the U.S. Navy uses a matrix of mechanical tactile stimulators (tactors) applied on the torso and limbs to convey orientation cues (e.g., gravity vector) in an intuitive fashion to the skin. A series of in-flight experiments to validate and test a variety of tactile displays and concepts has been carried out in both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. RESULTS Pilots were able to fly complex maneuvers with no instruments or outside visual references (blindfolded) with less than 20 min of training. Recovery from unusual attitudes solely by tactile cues was trivial. Lab tests have shown the TSAS improves performance under conditions of high workload. CONCLUSIONS When orientation information is presented via intuitive tactile displays spatial orientation is easily maintained in altered sensory conditions including unusual acceleration environments.
Food insecurity and obesity: a comparison of self-reported and measured height and weight.

OBJECTIVES We used self-reported and measured height and weight data to examine the relationship between food insecurity and obesity. METHODS We defined food insecurity according to 3 different models. We used self-reported and measured height and weight from 2 versions of the Canadian Community Health Survey to calculate obesity rates. RESULTS When self-reported height and weight data were used in calculating obesity prevalence rates, rates were significantly higher among food-insecure respondents than among food-secure respondents; by contrast, when measured height and weight data were used, there were no significant differences. Female respondents classified as food insecure and experiencing mild hunger were at greater risk of obesity than were food-secure female respondents when measured height and weight were used. CONCLUSIONS Associations between obesity and food insecurity are more pronounced when self-reported data on height and weight are used than when measured height and weight data are used. Caution should be used when using self-reported data to examine the relationship between food insecurity and obesity.
Can heterogeneity in reporting behavior explain the gender gap in self-assessed health status?

This paper explains the gender differences in self-assessed health status by providing a theoretical identification mechanism through a dynamic structural model which allows for heterogeneity in discount factors of individuals. Theoretical predictions are empirically tested and estimation results support the structural model implications. The authors conclude that accounting for heterogeneity in individual discount factors explains a significant portion of the gender gap in self-assessed health status.
Hallucinations in Parkinson's disease: A follow‐up study

To study prevalence of hallucinations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) during a 1‐year period, and identify factors predictive of the onset of hallucinations in patients who were hallucination‐free at baseline, 141 unselected outpatients with PD were evaluated prospectively for a set of demographic, clinical, and therapeutic variables and the presence of hallucinations during the previous 3 months. Patient groups were compared with nonparametric tests, and logistic regression was applied to significant data. Follow‐up data were available for 127 patients. The hallucination prevalence rates (%) at the first and second evaluation were, respectively, 41.7 and 49.6 for hallucinations of all types (NS), 29.1 and 40.2 for minor hallucinations (i.e., presence or passage hallucinations, and illusions) (P = 0.02), 22.8 and 21.2 for formed visual hallucinations (NS), and 8.7 and 8.7 for auditory hallucinations (NS). Hallucinations rarely started or ceased during the study. The most labile forms were minor hallucinations, which developed in 20% of patients and ceased in 9%. During follow‐up, 15% of patients started to hallucinate. Three factors, all present at the first evaluation, independently predicted the onset of hallucinations in patients previously free of hallucinations at baseline (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval): severe sleep disturbances (14.3; 2.5–80.9), ocular disorders (9.1; 1.6–52.0), and a high axial motor score (5.7; 1.2–27.4). Hallucinations have a chronic course in most parkinsonian patients. Factors predicting the onset of hallucinations point to a role of extranigral brainstem involvement and a nonspecific, facilitating role of ocular disorders. © 2004 Movement Disorder Society
Self-determination, social abilities and the quality of life of people with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND The international literature has documented that self-determination is impacted by environmental factors, including living or work settings; and by intraindividual factors, including intelligence level, age, gender, social skills and adaptive behaviour. In addition, self-determination has been correlated with improved quality of life (QoL). This study sought to contribute to the growing literature base in this area by examining the relationship among and between personal characteristics, self-determination, social abilities and the environmental living situations of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). METHODS The study involved 141 people with ID residing in Italy. Healthcare professionals and social workers who had known participants for at least 1 year completed measures of self-determination, QoL and social skills. Analysis of variance was conducted to verify whether different levels of intellectual impairment were associated with different degrees of the dependent variables. The Pearson product-moment correlation was used to examine any relationships among dependent variables and IQ scores. Finally, discriminant function analysis was used to examine the degree to which IQ score, age, self-determination and social abilities predicted membership in groups that were formed based on living arrangement, and on QoL status (high vs. low). RESULTS The anova determined, as expected, that participants with more severe ID showed the lowest levels of self-determination, QoL and social abilities. Discriminant function analysis showed that (a) individuals attending day centres were distinguished from those living in institutions in that they were younger and showed greater autonomy of choice and self-determination in their daily activities; (b) basic social skills and IQ score predicted membership in the high or low QoL groups; and (c) the IQ score predicted membership in the high or low self-determination groups. A manova conducted to examine gender- and age-level differences on self-determination found gender differences; women had higher self-determination scores than men. CONCLUSIONS These findings contribute to an emerging knowledge base pertaining to the role of intraindividual and environmental factors in self-determination and QoL. In general, the study replicated findings pertaining to the relative contribution of intelligence to self-determination and QoL, added information about the potential contribution of social abilities, and pointed to the potentially important role of opportunities to make choices as a particularly important aspect of becoming more self-determined, at least in the context of residential settings.
Achieving Turkey’s INDC Target: Assessments of NCCAP and INDC Documents and Proposing Conceivable Policies

In 2015, Turkey submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) before the Paris Conference of the Parties (COP 21), expressing its intention to decrease emissions level at a rate of 21% from business as usual. This emissions reduction target is important as it is the first one for Turkey. However, Turkey faces unemployment problems and needs to sustain its growth. In this study, an Environmentally Extended Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), based on 2012 Input–Output data, was created, emissions reduction potentials of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) together with the INDC were calculated, and alternative policies to reduce emissions to the target level and to boost the economy were proposed separately. The study finds that both the preparation and implementation of the previous national documents are problematic, and that Turkey was not meticulous about implementation of the climate mitigation policies in the previous national documents. The study also finds that reaching the emissions target with the INDC policies seems impossible and more conceivable policies are needed, and recommends that the INDC target and document itself should be revised substantially.
Changes in N:P Supply Ratios Affect the Ecological Stoichiometry of a Toxic Cyanobacterium and Its Fungal Parasite

Human activities have dramatically altered nutrient fluxes from the landscape into receiving waters. As a result, not only the concentration of nutrients in surface waters has increased, but also their elemental ratios have changed. Such shifts in resource supply ratios will alter autotroph stoichiometry, which may in turn have consequences for higher trophic levels, including parasites. Here, we hypothesize that parasite elemental composition will follow changes in the stoichiometry of its host, and that its reproductive success will decrease with host nutrient limitation. We tested this hypothesis by following the response of a host–parasite system to changes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply in a controlled laboratory experiment. To this end, we exposed a fungal parasite (the chytrid Rhizophydium megarrhizum) to its host (the freshwater cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens) under control, low N:P and high N:P conditions. Host N:P followed treatment conditions, with a decreased N:P ratio under low N:P supply, and an increased N:P ratio under high N:P supply, as compared to the control. Shifts in host N:P stoichiometry were reflected in the parasite stoichiometry. Furthermore, at low N:P supply, host intracellular microcystin concentration was lowered as compared to high N:P supply. In contrast to our hypothesis, zoospore production decreased at low N:P and increased at high N:P ratio as compared to the control. These findings suggest that fungal parasites have a relatively high N, but low P requirement. Furthermore, zoospore elemental content, and thereby presumably their size, decreased at high N:P ratios. From these results we hypothesize that fungal parasites may exhibit a trade-off between zoospore size and production. Since zooplankton can graze on chytrid zoospores, changes in parasite production, stoichiometry and cell size may have implications for aquatic food web dynamics.
Temperature Shift Coordinately Changes the Activity and the Methylation State of Transposon Tam3 in Antirrhinum majus

The transposition frequency of Tam3 in Antirrhinum majus, unlike that of most other cut-and-paste-type transposons, is tightly controlled by temperature: Tam3 transposes rarely at 25°C, but much more frequently at 15°C. Here, we studied the mechanism of the low-temperature-dependent transposition (LTDT) of Tam3. Our results strongly suggest that LTDT is not likely to be due to either transcriptional regulation or posttranscriptional regulation of the Tam3 TPase gene. We found that temperature shift induced a remarkable change of the methylation state unique to Tam3 sequences in the genome: Higher temperature resulted in hypermethylation, whereas lower temperature resulted in reduced methylation. The methylation state was reversible within a single generation in response to a temperature shift. Although our data demonstrate a close link between LTDT and the methylation of Tam3, they also suggest that secondary factor(s) other than DNA methylation is involved in repression of Tam3 transposition.