Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aldehyde–alcohol dehydrogenase and/or thiolase overexpression coupled with CoA transferase downregulation lead to higher alcohol titers and selectivity in Clostridium acetobutylicum fermentations

Metabolic engineering (ME) of Clostridium acetobutylicum has led to increased solvent (butanol, acetone, and ethanol) production and solvent tolerance, thus demonstrating that further efforts have the potential to create strains of industrial importance. With recently developed ME tools, it is now possible to combine genetic modifications and thus implement more advanced ME strategies. We have previously shown that antisense RNA (asRNA)‐based downregulation of CoA transferase (CoAT, the first enzyme in the acetone‐formation pathway) results in increased butanol to acetone selectivity, but overall reduced butanol yields and titers. In this study the alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase (aad) gene (encoding the bifunctional protein AAD responsible for butanol and ethanol production from butyryl‐CoA and acetyl‐CoA, respectively) was expressed from the phosphotransbutyrylase (ptb) promoter to enhance butanol formation and selectivity, while CoAT downregulation was used to minimize acetone production. This led to early production of high alcohol (butanol plus ethanol) titers, overall solvent titers of 30 g/L, and a higher alcohol/acetone ratio. Metabolic flux analysis revealed the likely depletion of butyryl‐CoA. In order to increase then the flux towards butyryl‐CoA, we examined the impact of thiolase (THL, thl) overexpression. THL converts acetyl‐CoA to acetoacetyl‐CoA, the first step of the pathway from acetyl‐CoA to butyryl‐CoA, and thus, combining thl overexpression with aad overexpression decreased, as expected, acetate and ethanol production while increasing acetone and butyrate formation. thl overexpression in strains with asRNA CoAT downregulation did not significantly alter product formation thus suggesting that a more complex metabolic engineering strategy is necessary to enhance the intracellular butyryl‐CoA pool and reduce the acetyl‐CoA pool in order to achieve improved butanol titers and selectivity. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 38–49. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Organizational Foundings in Community Context: Instruments Manufacturers and Their Interrelationship with Other Organizations

Combining insights from organizational ecology and social network theory, we examine how the structure of relations among organizational populations affects differences in rates of foundings across geographic locales. We hypothesize that symbiotic and commensalistic interpopulation relations function as channels of information about entrepreneurial opportunities and that differing access to such information influences the founding rate. Empirical analyses of U.S. instruments manufacturers support this argument. The founding rate of instruments manufacturers rises with the densities of organizational populations that have symbiotic and commensalistic relationships with instruments manufacturers. These factors encourage the initial foundings of instruments manufacturers in areas where such organizations were not previously found. The dominance of organizational populations tied to instruments manufacturing by symbiotic or commensalistic relations increases the rate of foundings of instruments manufacturers, whereas the dominance of organizational populations that lack these relations decreases it. Finally, we find that interpopulation relationships that hinge on direct contact have less impact on initial foundings as geographic distance increases. These results have implications for research on organizational ecology, entrepreneurship, urban sociology, and economic geography.
In Vitro Molybdenum Ligation to Molybdopterin Using Purified Components*

We have previously shown that Escherichia coli MoeA and MogA are required in vivo for the final step of molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis, the addition of the molybdenum atom to the dithiolene of molybdopterin. MoeA was also shown to facilitate the addition of molybdenum in an assay using crude extracts from E. coli moeA– cells. The experiments detailed in this report utilized an in vitro assay for MoeA-mediated molybdenum ligation to de novo synthesized molybdopterin using only purified components and monitoring the reconstitution of human aposulfite oxidase. In this assay, maximum activation was achieved by delaying the addition of aposulfite oxidase to allow for adequate molybdenum coordination to occur. Tungsten, which substitutes for molybdenum in hyperthermophilic organisms, could also be ligated to molybdopterin using this system, though not as efficiently as molybdenum. Addition of thiol compounds to the assay inhibited activity. Addition of MogA also inhibited the reaction. However, in the presence of ATP and magnesium, addition of MogA to the assay increased the level of aposulfite oxidase reconstitution beyond that observed with MoeA alone. This effect was not observed in the absence of MoeA. The results presented here demonstrate that MoeA is responsible for mediating molybdenum ligation to molybdopterin, whereas MogA stimulates this activity in an ATP-dependent manner.
Influence of physical galaxy properties on Lyα escape in star-forming galaxies

Context. Among the different observational techniques used to select high-redshift galaxies, the hydrogen recombination line Lyman-alpha (Ly alpha) is of particular interest because it gives access to the measurement of cosmological quantities such as the star formation rate (SFR) of distant galaxy populations. However, interpreting this line and calibrating such observables are still subject to serious uncertainties. Aims. In this context, it important to understand the mechanisms responsible for the attenuation of Ly alpha emission, and under what conditions the Ly alpha emission line can be used as a reliable star formation diagnostic tool. Methods. We used a sample of 24 Ly alpha emitters at z similar to 0.3 with an optical spectroscopic follow-up to calculate the Ly alpha escape fraction and its dependence upon different physical properties. We also examined the reliability of Ly alpha as a SFR indicator. We combined these observations with a compilation of Ly alpha emitters selected at z = 0-0.3 from the literature to assemble a larger sample. Results. We confirm that the Ly alpha escape fraction clearly depends on the dust extinction following the relation f(esc)(Ly alpha) = C-Ly alpha x 10(-0.4 E(B-V) kLy alpha) where k(Ly alpha) similar to 6.67 and C-Ly alpha = 0.22. However, the correlation does not follow the expected curve for a simple dust attenuation. A higher attenuation can be attributed to a scattering process, while f(esc)(Ly alpha) values that are clearly above the continuum extinction curve can be the result of various mechanisms that can lead to an enhancement of the Ly alpha output. We also observe that the strength of Ly alpha and the escape fraction appear unrelated to the galaxy metallicity. Regarding the reliability of Ly alpha as a SFR indicator, we show that the deviation of SFR(Ly alpha) from the true SFR (as traced by the UV continuum) is a function of the observed SFR(UV), which can be seen as the decrease in f(esc)(Ly alpha) with increasing UV luminosity. Moreover, we observe redshift dependence of this relationship, revealing the underlying evolution of f(esc)(Ly alpha) with redshift.
User-Generated Content : Using Sentiment Analysis Technique to Study Hotel Service Quality

This study aims to look beyond the quantitative summary to provide a more comprehensive view of online user-generated content. We obtain a unique and extensive dataset of online user reviews for hotels across various review sites and over a long time periods. We use the sentiment analysis technique to decompose user reviews into five dimensions to measure hotel service quality. Those dimensions are then incorporated into econometrics models to examine their effect in shaping users’ overall evaluation and content generating behavior. The results suggest that different dimensions of user reviews have significantly differential impact in forming user evaluation and driving content generation.
Conserved core structure and active site residues in alkaline phosphatase superfamily enzymes

Cofactor‐independent phosphoglycerate mutase (iPGM) has been previously identified as a member of the alkaline phosphatase (AlkP) superfamily of enzymes, based on the conservation of the predicted metal‐binding residues. Structural alignment of iPGM with AlkP and cerebroside sulfatase confirmed that all these enzymes have a common core structure and revealed similarly located conserved Ser (in iPGM and AlkP) or Cys (in sulfatases) residues in their active sites. In AlkP, this Ser residue is phosphorylated during catalysis, whereas in sulfatases the active site Cys residues are modified to formylglycine and sulfatated. Similarly located Thr residue forms a phosphoenzyme intermediate in one more enzyme of the AlkP superfamily, alkaline phosphodiesterase/nucleotide pyrophosphatase PC‐1 (autotaxin). Using structure‐based sequence alignment, we identified homologous Ser, Thr, or Cys residues in other enzymes of the AlkP superfamily, such as phosphopentomutase, phosphoglycerol transferase, phosphonoacetate hydrolase, and GPI‐anchoring enzymes (glycosylphosphatidylinositol phosphoethanolamine transferases) MCD4, GPI7, and GPI13. We predict that catalytical cycles of all the enzymes of AlkP superfamily include phosphoenzyme (or sulfoenzyme) intermediates. Proteins 2001;45:318–324. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Better Women: The Cultural Politics of Gendered Expertise in Indonesia

Through analysis of an increasingly popular phenomenon of courses training feminine comportment in Indonesia, I argue in this article that the appeal and work of femininity can be analyzed as a form of what Timothy Mitchell has called the "rule of experts. " Building on Mitchell, I suggest that expertise is central to authoritarian projects and postauthoritarian aftermath and is especially evident in zones that masquerade as least public and yet most self-evident. As a result, expertise gains its value from the conditions it claims to alleviate. Placing gender at the center of the analytical frame reveals these effects more clearly and can potentially expose the ideological contradictions that ground their allure.
Edge currents and eigenvalue estimates for magnetic barrier Schrödinger operators

We study two-dimensional magnetic Schrodinger operators with a magnetic field that is equal to b>0 for x > 0 and (-b) for x < 0. This magnetic Schrodinger operator exhibits a magnetic barrier at x=0. The unperturbed system is invariant with respect to translations in the y-direction. As a result, the Schrodinger operator admits a direct integral decomposition. We analyze the band functions of the fiber operators as functions of the wave number and establish their asymptotic behavior. Because the fiber operators are reflection symmetric, the band functions may be classified as odd or even. The odd band functions have a unique absolute minimum. We calculate the effective mass at the minimum and prove that it is positive. The even band functions are monotone decreasing. We prove that the eigenvalues of an Airy operator, respectively, harmonic oscillator operator, describe the asymptotic behavior of the band functions for large negative, respectively positive, wave numbers. We prove a Mourre estimate for perturbations of the magnetic Schrodinger operator and establish the existence of absolutely continuous spectrum in certain energy intervals. We prove lower bounds on magnetic edge currents for states with energies in the same intervals. We also prove that these lower bounds imply stable lower bounds for the asymptotic currents. We study the perturbation by slowly decaying negative potentials and establish the asymptotic behavior of the eigenvalue counting function for the infinitely-many eigenvalues below the bottom of the essential spectrum.
Air Pollution and Type 2 Diabetes

According to the International Diabetes Federation in the year 2011, diabetes mellitus (DM) affects at least 366 million people worldwide, and that number is expected to reach 566 million by the year 2030. Over 99% of all diabetes cases represent type 2 DM with most of these projected to occur in low- to middle-income countries. Technology innovations, globalization with its free movement of food and services, seismic shifts in agrarian practices, and nutritional transition to freely available high-caloric diets have irrevocably altered energy expenditures during work and leisure. These and other factors are helping to foster the continued epidemiological transition occurring across the globe. Scientific effort over the last few decades has focused primarily on components of urbanization such as inactivity and dietary factors. More recent observations have provided additional links between exposure to environmental factors in air/water and propensity to chronic diseases (1). This issue is of importance given the extraordinary confluence of high levels of airborne and water pollutants in urbanized environments. Multiple studies in China, India, and other rapidly urbanizing economies demonstrate a steep gradient in urban–rural prevalence. This review will summarize recent evidence on how outdoor air pollution may represent an underappreciated yet critical linkage between urbanization and the emergence of cardiometabolic diseases, with a focus on type 2 DM. We define cardiometabolic disease as the confluence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 DM in recognition of the fact that the milieu of diabetes fundamentally alters the pathophysiology of coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial disease. Thus, alteration in susceptibility to DM automatically increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease. Indoor air pollution is not discussed owing to the paucity of data. It should be noted that our current understanding of air pollution–mediated cardiometabolic disease is derived from outdoor air pollution studies, with there being no good reasons …
Musical feedback during exercise machine workout enhances mood

Music making has a number of beneficial effects for motor tasks compared to passive music listening. Given that recent research suggests that high energy musical activities elevate positive affect more strongly than low energy musical activities, we here investigated a recent method that combined music making with systematically increasing physiological arousal by exercise machine workout. We compared mood and anxiety after two exercise conditions on non-cyclical exercise machines, one with passive music listening and the other with musical feedback (where participants could make music with the exercise machines). The results showed that agency during exercise machine workout (an activity we previously labeled jymmin – a cross between jammin and gym) had an enhancing effect on mood compared to workout with passive music listening. Furthermore, the order in which the conditions were presented mediated the effect of musical agency for this subscale when participants first listened passively, the difference in mood between the two conditions was greater, suggesting that a stronger increase in hormone levels (e.g., endorphins) during the active condition may have caused the observed effect. Given an enhanced mood after training with musical feedback compared to passively listening to the same type of music during workout, the results suggest that exercise machine workout with musical feedback (jymmin) makes the act of exercise machine training more desirable.
A Dynamic Approach to the FDI-Environment Nexus: The Case of China and India

An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is applied to examine the short- and long-run relationships among foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and the environment in China and India. We find that, for China, FDI tends to deteriorate environmental quality in both the short- and long-run. For India, on the other hand, FDI is found to have a detrimental effect on the environment in the short-run, but has little effect in the long-run. Finally, it is found that income growth in both countries tends to worsen the environment in both short- and long-run.
Moving beyond the reflectivity of post-lesson mentoring conferences in teacher education and creating learning/development opportunities for pre-service teachers

This longitudinal case study suggests ways to move beyond the reflective process usually associated with post-lesson mentoring conferences by describing the modalities likely to generate real learning/development opportunities. Based on cultural-historical activity theories (CHAT) and using methodologies from sociodiscursive interactionism, this study shows the joint construction of the meaning of teaching experience and proposes aids for developing the pre-service teacher’s power to act more effectively in the classroom. It provides a source for transforming the traditional mentoring methods, mediations and arrangements in teacher education. Proposals are made to further professionalise co-operating teachers at the new Graduate Schools of Teacher Education in France.
Characterization of a Highly Conserved Island in the Otherwise Divergent Bordetella holmesii and Bordetella pertussis Genomes

ABSTRACT The recently discovered pathogen Bordetella holmesii has been isolated from the airways and blood of diseased humans. Genetic events contributing to the emergence of B. holmesii are not understood, and its phylogenetic position among the bordetellae remains unclear. To address these questions, B. holmesii strains were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to a Bordetella pertussis microarray and by multilocus sequence typing. Both methods indicated substantial sequence divergence between B. pertussis and B. holmesii. However, CGH identified a putative pathogenicity island of 66 kb that is highly conserved between these species and contains several IS481 elements that may have been laterally transferred from B. pertussis to B. holmesii. This island contains, among other genes, a functional, iron-regulated locus encoding the biosynthesis, export, and uptake of the siderophore alcaligin. The acquisition of this genomic island by B. holmesii may have significantly contributed to its emergence as a human pathogen. Horizontal gene transfer between B. pertussis and B. holmesii may also explain the unusually high sequence identity of their 16S rRNA genes.
Child-Centred Motion-Based Age and Gender Estimation with Neural Network Learning

The focus of this work is to investigate how children's perception of the robot changes with age and gender, and to enable the robot to adapt to these differences for improving human-robot interaction (HRI). We propose a neural network-based learning architecture to estimate children's age and gender based on the body motion performing a set of actions. To evaluate our system, we collected a fully annotated depth dataset of 28 children (aged between 7 and 16 years old) and applied it to a learning-based method for age and gender estimation by modeling children's 3D skeleton motion data. We discuss our results that show an average accuracy of 95.2% and 90.3% for age and gender respectively in the context of a real-world scenario.
A Model of Homogeneous Input Demand under Price Uncertainty

This paper examines the empirical validity of a model of homogeneous input demand under price uncertainty in which firms trade off expected input cost against its variability (risk) in selecting the optimal input supplier mix. Using recent work in time-series econometrics, this model is applied to the Japanese steam-coal import market, where five suppliers compete: China, the Soviet Union, South Africa, the United States, and Australia. Copyright 1991 by American Economic Association.
Negotiating Membership in Employment Interviews at a Chinese Media Institution

This article builds on Sacks’ Membership Inference-rich Representative (MIR) device in exploring how interviewers and interviewees negotiate professional membership. The data for the research include the transcripts of authentic interviews between 6 interviewers working for a Chinese English-medium media institution and 11 interviewees, the interviewers’ notes, and the recruitment results (9 successful ones and 2 unsuccessful ones). The analysis indicates that the Chinese media institution as a community of practice has its membership categories and inference-rich information relevant to the categories. The MIR device was used by the interviewers and the interviewees in their interactions with the successful interviewees orientating to or negotiating the target membership category of Chinese journalists by brokering boundary objects such as the inference-rich information relevant to the target membership category. The notion of membership contextualization cues is proposed by drawing on Gumperz’s contextualization cues and Sacks’ membership categorization device and applied in the interpretation of the findings.
Modelling and control of a water jet cutting probe for flexible surgical robot

Surgical removal of cancerous tissue from the spine is limited by the inability of hand held drills and cutting tools to reach small crevices present in complex bones such as the spinal column, especially on the anterior side. In addition, the high speed rotating mechanisms used presently are subject to stability issues when manoeuvring around tortuous bone forms. We report on the design and experimental testing of a novel flexible robotic surgical system which addresses these issues. The robot consists of a flexible probe, a water jet cutting system, and a haptic feedback controller. The water jet cutting system consists of a flexible end effector capable of bending around the anterior of the spinal column for tissue removal. A new experimental method of controlling the depth of water jet cut is described. The haptic feedback controller is based on a constraint set approach to define 3D boundaries, based on five key types of constraints. Experimental outcomes of measuring the depth of water jet cut were combined with haptic regional constraints with the aim of improving the safety of surgical procedures. The reliability, accuracy and performance of the prototype robot were tested in a mock surgical procedure on the lower lumbar vertebrae. Results show promise for the implementation of water jet cutting for robotic surgical spinal procedures.
Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Rabies in and Around Debretabor, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

This study was conducted in and around Debre Tabor Town, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia from November, 2014 to April, 2015 to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the community on rabies and associated risk factors. A cross-sectional study design and multistage sampling procedures were employed to select households for this study. Administrative areas were randomly selected from the town. Kebeles were selected using lottery method from list of kebeles in each administrative area, followed by selection of households from each kebeles using systematic random sampling method. The data were collected from 384 households through face to face interview using pretested and structured questionnaires. Out of the 384 respondents interviewed, 53.9% of them were males and 46.1% females. The majority of the respondents 75.5% were Orthodox followed by Muslim 15.6%. All of the respondents indicated that they had previously heard about rabies. Almost half of the study participants 49.5% had good level of KAP. There was strong association between KAP scores and age (x =8.001, p<0.05); educational level (x =11.409, p<0.05) and 22 occupation (x =14.307, p<0.05). Generally these findings indicate that the Debre Tabor community has good 2