julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Vocational interests assessed at the end of high school predict life outcomes assessed 10 years later over and above IQ and Big Five personality traits.
2016-08-25

Vocational interests are important aspects of personality that reflect individual differences in motives, goals, and personal strivings. It is therefore plausible that these characteristics have an impact on individuals' lives not only in terms of vocational outcomes, but also beyond the vocational domain. Yet the effects of vocational interests on various life outcomes have rarely been investigated. Using Holland's RIASEC taxonomy (Holland, 1997), which groups vocational interests into 6 broad domains, the present study examined whether vocational interests are significant predictors of life outcomes that show incremental validity over and above the Big Five personality traits. For this purpose, a cohort of German high school students (N = 3,023) was tracked over a period of 10 years after graduating from school. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the predictive validity of RIASEC interests and Big Five personality traits. Nine outcomes from the domains of work, relationships, and health were investigated. The results indicate that vocational interests are important predictors of life outcomes that show incremental validity over the Big Five personality traits. Vocational interests were significant predictors of 7 of the 9 investigated outcomes: full-time employment, gross income, unemployment, being married, having children, never having had a relationship, and perceived health status. For work and relationship outcomes, vocational interests were even stronger predictors than the Big Five personality traits. For health-related outcomes, the results favored the personality traits. Effects were similar across gender for all outcomes-except 2 relationship outcomes. Possible explanations for these effects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
Sexual Function is Correlated with Body Image and Partnership Quality in Female University Students
2016-08-25

ABSTRACT Introduction According to the World Health Organization definition, sexual health is more than mere physical sexual function; it also encompasses emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality and is not merely the absence of dysfunction or disease. In line with this definition, various studies have reported that female sexual function is associated with partnership quality, body image, and body self-acceptance. Aim To investigate whether female sexual function is influenced by (i) body self-acceptance and (ii) partnership quality, as important factors in psychosocial well-being, and (iii) whether the effects of body self-acceptance are moderated by partnership quality. Methods In total, 2,685 female medical students no older than 35 years from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland completed an anonymous online questionnaire comprising the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the Self-Acceptance of the Body Scale. Respondents were asked to state whether they had been in a steady partnership in the preceding 6 months. When present, the quality of the partnership status was rated (enamoredness, love, friendship, or conflicted). To determine correlations, group differences, and moderating effects among body self-acceptance, partnership quality, and sexual function, the data were analyzed using Spearman correlations, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and analyses of variance. Main Outcome Measures Female sexual function (FSFI total score). Results (i) In sexually active women, higher FSFI scores were significantly associated with greater body self-acceptance and a steady partnership during the preceding 6 months. (ii) Total FSFI scores were highest in women who described their partnership as enamored (29.45) or loving (28.55). Lower scores were observed in single women (26.71) and in women who described their partnerships as friendship (25.76) or as emotionally conflicted (23.41). (iii) Total FSFI score was affected by an interaction between body self-acceptance and partnership quality. Body self- acceptance was positively associated with FSFI total scores, particularly in single women and women in emotionally conflicted partnerships. Conclusion Our findings suggest that in young women, body self-acceptance and partnership quality are positively associated with better sexual function, and that high body self-acceptance might buffer the negative impact on sexual function of partnership quality. The present data suggest that psychological interventions to improve the body image of younger women can positively affect sexual function and thereby improve sexual health.
Constraining Modified Theories of Gravity with Gravitational-Wave Stochastic Backgrounds
2016-08-25

The direct discovery of gravitational waves has finally opened a new observational window on our Universe, suggesting that the population of coalescing binary black holes is larger than previously expected. These sources produce an unresolved background of gravitational waves, potentially observable by ground-based interferometers. In this Letter we investigate how modified theories of gravity, modeled using the parametrized post-Einsteinian formalism, affect the expected signal, and analyze the detectability of the resulting stochastic background by current and future ground-based interferometers. We find the constraints that Advanced LIGO would be able to set on modified theories, showing that they may significantly improve the current bounds obtained from astrophysical observations of binary pulsars.
Responses of Microbial Communities to Hydrocarbon Exposures
2016-08-26

The responses of microbial communities to hydrocarbon exposures are complex and variable, driven to a large extent by the nature of hydrocarbon infusion, local environmental conditions, and factors that regulate microbial physiology (e.g., substrate and nutrient availability). Although present at low abundance in the ocean, hydrocarbon-degrading seed populations are widely distributed, and they respond rapidly to hydrocarbon inputs at natural and anthropogenic sources. Microbiomes from environments impacted by hydrocarbon discharge may appear similar at a higher taxonomic rank (e.g., genus level) but diverge at increasing phylogenetic resolution (e.g., sub-OTU [operational taxonomic unit] levels). Such subtle changes are detectable by computational methods such as oligotyping or by genome reconstruction from metagenomic sequence data. The ability to reconstruct these genomes, and to characterize their transcriptional activities in different environmental contexts through metatranscriptomic mapping, is revolutionizing our ability to understand the diverse and adaptable microbial communities in marine ecosystems. Our knowledge of the environmental factors that regulate microbial hydrocarbon degradation and the efficiency with which marine hydrocarbon-degrading microbial communities bioremediate hydrocarbon contamination is incomplete. Moreover, detailed baseline descriptions of naturally occurring hydrocarbon-degrading microbial communities and a more robust understanding of the factors that regulate their activity are needed.
Aquaporin-4 in Astroglial Cells in the CNS and Supporting Cells of Sensory Organs—A Comparative Perspective
2016-08-26

The main water channel of the brain, aquaporin-4 (AQP4), is one of the classical water-specific aquaporins. It is expressed in many epithelial tissues in the basolateral membrane domain. It is present in the membranes of supporting cells in most sensory organs in a specifically adapted pattern: in the supporting cells of the olfactory mucosa, AQP4 occurs along the basolateral aspects, in mammalian retinal Müller cells it is highly polarized. In the cochlear epithelium of the inner ear, it is expressed basolaterally in some cells but strictly basally in others. Within the central nervous system, aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is expressed by cells of the astroglial family, more specifically, by astrocytes and ependymal cells. In the mammalian brain, AQP4 is located in high density in the membranes of astrocytic endfeet facing the pial surface and surrounding blood vessels. At these locations, AQP4 plays a role in the maintenance of ionic homeostasis and volume regulation. This highly polarized expression has not been observed in the brain of fish where astroglial cells have long processes and occur mostly as radial glial cells. In the brain of the zebrafish, AQP4 immunoreactivity is found along the radial extent of astroglial cells. This suggests that the polarized expression of AQP4 was not present at all stages of evolution. Thus, a polarized expression of AQP4 as part of a control mechanism for a stable ionic environment and water balanced occurred at several locations in supporting and glial cells during evolution. This initially basolateral membrane localization of AQP4 is shifted to highly polarized expression in astrocytic endfeet in the mammalian brain and serves as a part of the neurovascular unit to efficiently maintain homeostasis.
First insight into the Neolithic subsistence economy in the north‐east Iberian Peninsula: paleodietary reconstruction through stable isotopes
2016-08-26

Abstract Objectives The study of subsistence strategies among Neolithic communities in north‐east Iberia, late‐fifth to early‐fourth millennia cal BC, enables a more in‐depth study of the activities and behavior of the inhabitants of this region, where paleodiets have been little studied. The objectives of this study are, therefore, to determine the diet and subsistence patterns of those communities and to consider whether any relation existed between their subsistence strategies and environmental, geographic, and/or social factors. Materials and Methods Bone samples from 25 middle Neolithic human individuals at seven archeological sites and comparative faunal samples were analyzed, and compared with contemporary series in Mediterranean Europe. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) of bone collagen were studied to determine the dietary patterns. Results Dietary habits proved to be similar between communities, apart from some interpopulational variations in subsistence strategies. Their diet was based on C 3 terrestrial resources with a major vegetal protein component. Discussion The reported variations in interpopulational subsistence strategies among the compared Mediterranean societies do not seem to be directly related to the settlement region. Together with archeological data, this indicates the influence of socioeconomic factors in the Neolithic human diet. A general tendency toward a lesser use of aquatic resources is seen in this period in Iberia and the rest of the Mediterranean, as also documented for contemporary communities in the west and north of Europe. The data obtained will be important for further studies of socioeconomic patterns in European Neolithic societies.
Detection of burning ashes from thermonuclear X-ray bursts
2016-08-26

Abstract When neutron stars (NS) accrete gas from low-mass binary companions, explosive nuclear burning reactions in the NS envelope fuse hydrogen and helium into heavier elements. The resulting thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts produce energy spectra that are fit well with black bodies, but a significant number of burst observations show deviations from Planck spectra. Here we present our analysis of RXTE/PCA observations of X-ray bursts from the NS low-mass X-ray binary HETE J1900.1-2455. We have discovered that the non-Planckian spectra are caused by photoionization edges. The anticorrelation between the strength of the edges and the colour temperature suggests that the edges are produced by the nuclear burning ashes that have been transported upwards by convection and become exposed at the photosphere. The atmosphere model fits show that occasionally the photosphere can consist entirely of metals, and that the peculiar changes in blackbody temperature and radius can be attributed to the emergence and disappearance of metals in the photosphere. As the metals are detected already in the Eddington-limited phase, it is possible that a radiatively driven wind ejects some of the burning ashes into the interstellar space.
Hamiltonian finite-temperature quantum field theory from its vacuum on partially compactified space
2016-08-26

The partition function of a relativistic invariant quantum field theory is expressed by its vacuum energy calculated on a spatial manifold with one dimension compactified to a 1-sphere , whose circumference represents the inverse temperature. Explicit expressions for the usual energy density and pressure in terms of the energy density on the partially compactified spatial manifold are derived. To make the resulting expressions mathematically well-defined a Poisson resummation of the Matsubara sums as well as an analytic continuation in the chemical potential are required. The new approach to finite-temperature quantum field theories is advantageous in a Hamilton formulation since it does not require the usual thermal averages with the density operator. Instead, the whole finite-temperature behaviour is encoded in the vacuum wave functional on the spatial manifold . We illustrate this approach by calculating the pressure of a relativistic Bose and Fermi gas and reproduce the known results obtained from the usual grand canonical ensemble. As a first non-trivial application we calculate the pressure of Yang-Mills theory as function of the temperature in a quasi-particle approximation motivated by variational calculations in Coulomb gauge.
Human Transbodies to HCV NS3/4A Protease Inhibit Viral Replication and Restore Host Innate Immunity
2016-08-26

A safe and effective direct acting anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) agent is still needed. In this study, human single chain variable fragments of antibody (scFvs) that bound to HCV NS3/4A protein were produced by phage display technology. The engineered scFvs were linked to nonaarginines (R9) for making them cell penetrable. HCV-RNA-transfected Huh7 cells treated with the transbodies produced from four different transformed E. coli clones had reduced HCV-RNA inside the cells and in the cell spent media, as well as fewer HCV foci in the cell monolayer compared to the transfected cells in culture medium alone. The transbodies-treated transfected cells also had up-expression of the genes coding for the host innate immune response, including TRIF, TRAF3, IRF3, IL-28B, and IFN-β. Computerized homology modeling and intermolecular docking predicted that the effective transbodies interacted with several critical residues of the NS3/4A protease, including those that form catalytic triads, oxyanion loop, and S1 and S6 pockets, as well as a zinc-binding site. Although insight into molecular mechanisms of the transbodies need further laboratory investigation, it can be deduced from the current data that the transbodies blocked the HCV NS3/4A protease activities, leading to the HCV replication inhibition and restoration of the virally suppressed host innate immunity. The engineered antibodies should be tested further for treatment of HCV infection either alone, in combination with current therapeutics, or in a mixture with their cognates specific to other HCV proteins.
Combined B, T and NK Cell Deficiency Accelerates Atherosclerosis in BALB/c Mice
2016-08-26

This study focused on the unique properties of both the Ldlr knockout defect (closely mimicking the human situation) and the BALB/c (C) inbred mouse strain (Th-2 slanted immune response). We generated two immunodeficient strains with severe combined B- and T-cell immunodeficiency with or without a complete lack of natural killer cells to revisit the role of adaptive immune responses on atherogenesis. C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- mice, which show severe combined B- and T-cell immunodeficiency and C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- Il2rg-/- mice, which combine the T- and B-cell defect with a complete lack of natural killer cells and inactivation of multiple cytokine signalling pathways were fed an atherogenic Western type diet (WTD). Both B6-Ldlr-/- and C-Ldlr-/- immunocompetent mice were used as controls. Body weights and serum cholesterol levels of both immunodeficient strains were significantly increased compared to C-Ldlr-/- controls, except for cholesterol levels of C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- double mutants after 12 weeks on the WTD. Quantification of the aortic sinus plaque area revealed that both strains of immunodeficient mice developed significantly more atherosclerosis compared to C-Ldlr-/- controls after 24 weeks on the WTD. Increased atherosclerotic lesion development in C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- Il2rg-/- triple mutants was associated with significantly increased numbers of macrophages and significantly decreased numbers of smooth muscle cells compared to both C-Ldlr-/- wild type and C-Ldlr-/- Rag1-/- double mutants pointing to a plaque destabilizing effect of NK cell loss. Collectively, the present study reveals a previously unappreciated complexity with regard to the impact of lymphocytes on lipoprotein metabolism and the role of lymphocyte subsets in plaque composition.
Isospin invariance and the vacuum polarization energy of cosmic strings
2016-08-26

We corroborate the previously applied spectral approach to compute the vacuum\\npolarization energy of string configurations in models similar to the standard\\nmodel of particle physics. The central observation underlying this\\ncorroboration is the existence of a particular global isospin transformation of\\nthe string configuration. Under this transformation the single particle\\nenergies of the quantum fluctuations are invariant, while the inevitable\\nimplementation of regularization and renormalization requires operations that\\nare not invariant. We verify numerically that all such variances eventually\\ncancel, and that the vacuum polarization energy obtained in the spectral\\napproach is indeed gauge invariant.\\n
Context! Or how to read thoughts in a foreign language
2016-08-26

Abstract Based on personal experience during long term fieldwork in Ladakh, this article will discuss a special technique for field research. It will emphasise the need to access the speakers’ creative unconsciousness by applying the time-consuming ‘ping-pong game’, that is, by confronting every speaker with real language data, by rechecking each speaker’s statement with at least one other speaker, and by feeding back evaluations from a second or third speaker to an original speaker and back in an almost endless repetition. A special focus here will be on the collection of compounds showing the phenomenon of consonant migration and on data gathering with respect to verb semantics and verb valency.
A Survival Strategy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa That Uses Exopolysaccharides To Sequester and Store Iron To Stimulate Psl-Dependent Biofilm Formation
2016-08-27

ABSTRACT Exopolysaccharide Psl is a critical biofilm matrix component in Pseudomonas aeruginosa , which forms a fiber-like matrix to enmesh bacterial communities. Iron is important for P. aeruginosa biofilm development, yet it is not clearly understood how iron contributes to biofilm development. Here, we showed that iron promoted biofilm formation via elevating Psl production in P. aeruginosa . The high level of iron stimulated the synthesis of Psl by reducing rhamnolipid biosynthesis and inhibiting the expression of AmrZ, a repressor of psl genes. Iron-stimulated Psl biosynthesis and biofilm formation held true in mucoid P. aeruginosa strains. Subsequent experiments indicated that iron bound with Psl in vitro and in biofilms, which suggested that Psl fibers functioned as an iron storage channel in P. aeruginosa biofilms. Moreover, among three matrix exopolysaccharides of P. aeruginosa , Psl is the only exopolysaccharide that can bind with both ferrous and ferric ion, yet with higher affinity for ferrous iron. Our data suggest a survival strategy of P. aeruginosa that uses exopolysaccharide to sequester and store iron to stimulate Psl-dependent biofilm formation. IMPORTANCE Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an environmental microorganism which is also an opportunistic pathogen that can cause severe infections in immunocompromised individuals. It is the predominant airway pathogen causing morbidity and mortality in individuals affected by the genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF). Increased airway iron and biofilm formation have been proposed to be the potential factors involved in the persistence of P. aeruginosa in CF patients. Here, we showed that a high level of iron enhanced the production of the key biofilm matrix exopolysaccharide Psl to stimulate Psl-dependent biofilm formation. Our results not only make the link between biofilm formation and iron concentration in CF, but also could guide the administration or use of iron chelators to interfere with biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa in CF patients. Furthermore, our data also imply a survival strategy of P. aeruginosa under high-iron environmental conditions.
Emotional stimuli facilitate time perception in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder
2016-08-27

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of different emotional stimuli (neutral, positive, and negative) on time perception in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) and normal children in dual‐task form. Five hundred and ninety‐nine students from primary schools were randomly selected. The Conner's Teacher Rating Scale ( CTRS ) questionnaire was completed by teachers. A total of 100 children with a score above the cut‐off point for the CTRS were further assessed using the Child Symptom Inventory‐4 ( CSI ‐4). A total of 34 children with ADHD and 31 controls completed an emotional time discrimination task in two blocks of 1000 and 2000 ms duration. Children were asked to compare three image groups: neutral with neutral, neutral with positive, and neutral with negative images. Children with ADHD had significantly better performance in the emotional time discrimination task across all conditions when compared with controls: On average, discrimination thresholds were approximately 35 ms shorter for the children with ADHD . Our results indicate that children with ADHD have higher sensitivity to time relative to controls in a situation in which they must distribute resources between temporal and emotional processing. On the basis of the interference effect and the working memory capacity hypothesis, this dividing of attention causes a decrease of time accuracy in normal children.
MARCARviz: Interactive web-platform for exploratory analysis of toxicogenomics data for nongenotoxic hepatocarcinogenesis
2016-08-27

The late detection of non-genotoxic carcinogens in the drug development process can delay drug candidates for unmet medical needs from reaching the market despite considerable investments in their development. To enable faster, safer, and less expensive development of medications for patients, the MARCAR project generated a large set of transcriptomic data to investigate the underlying mechanisms of non-genotoxic hepatocarcinogenesis and to identify potential biomarkers for early detection of tumor formation in the rodent liver. The effective mining of these high-dimensional datasets is a non-trivial task that usually requires bioinformatics support to extract relevant mechanistic patterns and confirm toxicological hypotheses. Here, we present MARCARviz, a web-platform that enables biologists to (a) quickly address the most common questions associated with the MARCAR microarray data, to (b) identify relevant patterns in the data, and to (c) generate or confirm mechanistic hypotheses about non-genotoxic effects leading to cancer formation. The major advantage of MARCARviz is that there is no software or advanced technical knowledge required to perform powerful analyses and generate visualizations of the MARCAR data. MARCARviz greatly facilitates the confirmation of published MARCAR results and generation of new insights from the collected data by the greater public without the requirement for tedious pre-processing steps. MARCARviz is publicly available from https://tea.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/.