A Study of Pragmatic Functions of Fuzziness in News Reports from the Perspective of Adaptation Theory

Accuracy is one of the biggest features of news reports, but in fact, we often note that news reports will use a lot of fuzziness, which plays an important role in these news reports. Grounded on Verschueren’s adaptation theory, mainly choosing the representative news reports of China Daily and USATODAY as an example, this paper analyzes the pragmatic functions of fuzziness in news reports and illustrates the rationality of fuzziness in theses news reports and reveals that appropriate use of fuzziness in news reports is conductive to the rigor and accuracy of news reports

Geographic variation and effect of area-level poverty rate on colorectal cancer screening

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With a secular trend of increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, concerns about disparities in CRC screening also have been rising. It is unclear if CRC screening varies geographically, if area-level poverty rate affects CRC screening, and if individual-level characteristics mediate the area-level effects on CRC screening.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using 2006 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, a multilevel study was conducted to examine geographic variation and the effect of area-level poverty rate on CRC screening use among persons age 50 or older. Individuals were nested within ZIP codes (ZIP5 areas), which in turn, were nested within aggregations of ZIP codes (ZIP3 areas). Six groups of individual-level covariates were considered as potential mediators.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An estimated 51.8% of Missourians aged 50 or older adhered to CRC screening recommendations. Nearly 15% of the total variation in CRC screening lay between ZIP5 areas. Persons residing in ZIP5 areas with ≥ 10% of poverty rate had lower odds of CRC screening use than those residing in ZIP5 areas with <10% poverty rate (unadjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.58–0.81; adjusted OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67–0.98). Persons who resided in ZIP3 areas with ≥ 20% poverty rate also had lower odds of following CRC screening guidelines than those residing in ZIP3 areas with <20% poverty rate (unadjusted OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52–0.83; adjusted OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50–0.83). Obesity, history of depression/anxiety and access to care were associated with CRC screening, but did not mediate the effect of area-level poverty on CRC screening.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Large geographic variation of CRC screening exists in Missouri. Area-level poverty rate, independent of individual-level characteristics, is a significant predictor of CRC screening, but it only explains a small portion of the geographic heterogeneity of CRC screening. Individual-level factors we examined do not mediate the effect of the area-level poverty rate on CRC screening. Future studies should identify other area- and individual-level characteristics associated with CRC screening in Missouri.</p

Effect of User Involvement in Supply Chain Cloud Innovation: A Game Theoretical Model and Analysis

Cloud innovation has become increasingly important to supply chain innovation and performance. User involvement is a crucial part of cloud innovation. However, the effect of user involvement in supply chain cloud innovation has not been thoroughly studied, particularly its effect on product cost and optimal price. In this paper, the authors attempted to bridge this major gap in the literature. The authors reviewed the relevant literature to define cloud innovation and user involvement in supply chain cloud innovation. Then the authors developed a game model based on the Bertrand model. Analysis of the model showed that user involvement affects product cost and optimal pricing in an interesting way. The authors also presented a real-life example of how user innovation takes place at Tailg electric vehicle company

Toxin–antitoxin regulation: bimodal interaction of YefM–YoeB with paired DNA palindromes exerts transcriptional autorepression

Toxin–antitoxin (TA) complexes function in programmed cell death or stress response mechanisms in bacteria. The YefM–YoeB TA complex of Escherichia coli consists of YoeB toxin that is counteracted by YefM antitoxin. When liberated from the complex, YoeB acts as an endoribonuclease, preferentially cleaving 3′ of purine nucleotides. Here we demonstrate that yefM-yoeB is transcriptionally autoregulated. YefM, a dimeric protein with extensive secondary structure revealed by circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, is the primary repressor, whereas YoeB is a repression enhancer. The operator site 5′ of yefM-yoeB comprises adjacent long and short palindromes with core 5′-TGTACA-3′ motifs. YefM binds the long palindrome, followed sequentially by short palindrome recognition. In contrast, the repressor–corepressor complex recognizes both motifs more avidly, impyling that YefM within the complex has an enhanced DNA-binding affinity compared to free YefM. Operator interaction by YefM and YefM–YoeB is accompanied by structural transitions in the proteins. Paired 5′-TGTACA-3′ motifs are common in yefM-yoeB regulatory regions in diverse genomes suggesting that interaction of YefM–YoeB with these motifs is a conserved mechanism of operon autoregulation. Artificial perturbation of transcriptional autorepression could elicit inappropriate YoeB toxin production and induction of bacterial cell suicide, a potentially novel antibacterial strategy

Pengaruh Faktor Demografis (Usia, Jenis Kelamin, dan Penghasilan) Terhadap Kepatuhan Wajib Pajak di Kota Bengkulu

This study aims to examine the influence of demographic factors, namely age, gender, and income, on taxpayer compliance in Bengkulu City. The analysis method used is regression analysis with a survey approach and purposive sampling technique to select respondent samples. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results show that age, gender, and income significantly influence taxpayer compliance. Age has a significant positive effect on taxpayer compliance. Gender also has a significant effect on taxpayer compliance, where female respondents are more compliant in paying taxes compared to male respondents. Income also has a significant effect on taxpayer compliance, where respondents with higher income tend to be more compliant in paying taxes. The results of this study can provide input for relevant parties in improving taxpayer compliance in Bengkulu City

Heisenberg Spin Bus as a Robust Transmission Line for Perfect State Transfer

We study the protocol known as quantum state transfer for a strongly coupled antiferromagnetic spin chain or ring (acting as a spin bus), with weakly coupled external qubits. By treating the weak coupling as a perturbation, we find that perfect state transfer (PST) is possible when second order terms are included in the expansion. We also show that PST is robust against variations in the couplings along the spin bus and between the bus and the qubits. As evidence of the quantum interference which mediates PST, we show that the optimal time for PST can be smaller with larger qubit separations, for an even-size chain or ring.Comment: 6 figures,submitte

Effects of L-carnitine against oxidative stress in human hepatocytes: involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Excessive oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation have been demonstrated to play important roles in the production of liver damage. L-carnitine is a natural substance and acts as a carrier for fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for subsequent beta-oxidation. It is also an antioxidant that reduces metabolic stress in the cells. Recent years L-carnitine has been proposed for treatment of various kinds of disease, including liver injury. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of L-carnitine against hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced cytotoxicity in a normal human hepatocyte cell line, HL7702.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed cytotoxicity using MTT assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Antioxidant activity and lipid peroxidation were estimated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, activities and protein expressions of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) formation. Expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha and its target genes were evaluated by RT-PCR or western blotting. The role of PPAR-alpha in L-carnitine-enhanced expression of SOD and CAT was also explored. Statistical analysis was performed by a one-way analysis of variance, and its significance was assessed by Dennett's post-hoc test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that L-carnitine protected HL7702 cells against cytotoxity induced by H₂O₂. This protection was related to the scavenging of ROS, the promotion of SOD and CAT activity and expression, and the prevention of lipid peroxidation in cultured HL7702 cells. The decreased expressions of PPAR-alpha, carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT1) and acyl-CoA oxidase (ACOX) induced by H₂O₂can be attenuated by L-carnitine. Besides, we also found that the promotion of SOD and CAT protein expression induced by L-carnitine was blocked by PPAR-alpha inhibitor MK886.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, our findings suggest that L-carnitine could protect HL7702 cells against oxidative stress through the antioxidative effect and the regulation of PPAR-alpha also play an important part in the protective effect.</p

cis-Dichloridobis(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II) dimethyl­formamide solvate

In the title complex, [CoCl2(C12H8N2)2]·C3H7NO, which has twofold rotation symmetry, the CoII cation is coordinated by two 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) mol­ecules and two chloride ligands in a distorted octa­hedral geometry. In the crystal structure, a cavity is created by six complex mol­ecules connected by C—H⋯π inter­actions and non-classical C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. The cavities are occupied by the disordered dimethyl­formamide solvent mol­ecule. The C and N atoms of the C—N bond in the solvent mol­ecule also lie on a crystallographic twofold rotation axis; the remaining atoms of the solvent are statistically disordered (ratio 0.5:0.5) about this axis

High resolution 13C and 1H NMR studies of proteins and peptides

At the magnetic field used in this research (9.4T) many individual ¹³C resonances of protonated carbon atoms are resolved. To test the applicability of the high-resolution natural abundance ¹³C NMR method, lysozyme and ribonuclease A are used. The research includes the assignment of many methyl resonances and attempts to answer questions on the behaviour of these side-chains when the proteins are subjected to varying conditions of pD and temperature, and also in the presence of ligands, inhibitors and urea. Ribonuclease A is observed to undergo conformational changes on variation of pD. The region(s) of this protein which are involved consist of many hydrophobic residues such as ile, val and met. Many denaturation processes are effectively in slow exchange at the high magnetic field used. The individual resonances of ribonuclease A which are involved in the predenaturation transitions are identified. They are found to be of distinct types for the two denaturants. In contrast, lysozyme does not show such distinct conformational behaviour below its denaturation temperature. At higher temperatures the main transition from the 'native' to the denatured state of both proteins is two-state. None of the unfolded states of ribonuclease A and lysozyme are random coil. Rather, the unfolded states have definable structures which have hydrophobic bondings and significant, but still restrained, internal flexibility. The high-resolution spectra of ribonuclease A-inhibitor complexes have revealed unprecedented details of the structures of these complexes. Extensive structural changes, including the closure of the active site cleft, together with movements in the hydrophobic regions bordering the cleft, are deduced from the inhibitor-induced shift perturbations of the ¹³C and ¹H NMR resonances of the protein residues. In the assignment work, and the urea denaturation and ligand binding studies, high-resolution ¹H NMR is used to complement the ¹³C NMR technique. A theory relating ¹³C NMR relaxation parameters to molecular motion at three levels (3—τ) is tested with gramicidin-S and glutathione dimer. The results obtained give information about the conformations and rates of internal librational motions of the two peptides. The '3-τ' model is also applied to some more-limited data on proteins. The low nuclear Overhauser effects are partially explained by this theory

Combination Therapies of Hypomethylating Agents for Elderly Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are encumbered with poor long-term outcomes due to patient and disease characteristics. Hypomethylating agents (HMAs), acting as DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors, have been established as a new treatment option, but they have been associated with relatively low response rates (15%–20% complete remission) when administered separately for treating elderly with AML. However, appropriate combination therapies with decitabine or azacitidine have flourished. The results of randomized trials of various combinations of HMAs with chemotherapy, histone deacetylase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, immunomodulatory agents, kinase inhibitors, or bexarotene are summarized