Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fatty Acid Activation in Cyanobacteria Mediated by Acyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Synthetase Enables Fatty Acid Recycling1[W]

In cyanobacteria fatty acids destined for lipid synthesis can be synthesized de novo, but also exogenous free fatty acids from the culture medium can be directly incorporated into lipids. Activation of exogenous fatty acids is likely required prior to their utilization. To identify the enzymatic activity responsible for activation we cloned candidate genes from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 and identified the encoded proteins as acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetases (Aas). The enzymes catalyze the ATP-dependent esterification of fatty acids to the thiol of acyl carrier protein. The two protein sequences are only distantly related to known prokaryotic Aas proteins but they display strong similarity to sequences that can be found in almost all organisms that perform oxygenic photosynthesis. To investigate the biological role of Aas activity in cyanobacteria, aas knockout mutants were generated in the background of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and S. elongatus PCC 7942. The mutant strains showed two phenotypes characterized by the inability to utilize exogenous fatty acids and by the secretion of endogenous fatty acids into the culture medium. The analyses of extracellular and intracellular fatty acid profiles of aas mutant strains as well as labeling experiments indicated that the detected free fatty acids are released from membrane lipids. The data suggest a considerable turnover of lipid molecules and a role for Aas activity in recycling the released fatty acids. In this model, lipid degradation represents a third supply of fatty acids for lipid synthesis in cyanobacteria.
Self-Efficacy among Hospitalized Mentally Ill Patients

General self-efficacy and social self-efficacy were measured in a psychiatric inpatient population of 105 and compared with Sherer's 477 college students. Patients have lower self-efficacy than college students. A small but significant correlation of . 38 was noted between general self-efficacy and social self-efficacy. Age was related to general self-efficacy but not social self-efficacy in this population.
Diversity, abundance and activity of microbes involved in nitrogen turnover in the rhizosphere of different plants grown on sites contaminated with the antibiotic sulfadiazine or heavy metals

Sulfadiazine can reach the soil ecosystem by application of manure from antibiotic-treated animals, and HM contamination can result in severe pollution in the local environment and negatively impact important ecosystem services. In this study, we surveyed the potential impact of such contaminations on the nitrogen-transforming microbial communities in the rhizosphere of agricultural plants.
Analysis and Detection of Tornadoes Associated with Hurricane Emily

Hurricane Emily was the second major Hurricane to form during the record breaking 2005 Atlantic tropical cyclone season. Emily’s life cycle spanned nearly 10 days (11-21 July). Hurricanes often experience rapid changes in intensity as they pass over land masses in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Emily was a small hurricane that strengthened to a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale (Simpson, 1974) before making landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Emily weakened as she moved over the higher terrain in the Yucatan, emerging in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane. Emily continued to intensify moving slowly west northwest with a forward speed averaging 10 mph. Emily regained Category 3 status prior to landfall with sustained winds of 125 mph (110 kts). Emily’s final landfall was near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico or 80 statute miles south of Brownsville, TX (Figure 1). Past studies have shown that tropical cyclones that originate in the Atlantic tend to produce more tornadoes that tropical cyclones that originate within the Gulf of Mexico (Verbout et al. 2005). Since Emily originated in the Atlantic, increased tornadic activity at landfall might have been anticipated.
The concentration of oxazepam and oxazepam glucuronide in oral fluid, blood and serum after controlled administration of 15 and 30 mg oxazepam.

AIMS To measure and compare the concentration-time profiles of oxazepam and oxazepam glucuronide in blood, serum and oral fluid within the scope of roadside testing. METHODS Biological samples were collected from eight male subjects after ingestion of 15 or 30 mg oxazepam on separate dosing occasions with an interval of 7 days. The concentration-time profiles of oxazepam and oxazepam glucuronide were fitted by using a one-compartment model. RESULTS For oxazepam and oxazepam glucuronide, the mean oral fluid/blood ratios were 0.05 (range 0.04-0.07) and 0.004 (range 0.002-0.006), respectively. The concentration-time profiles in oral fluid paralleled those in blood. CONCLUSION After oral administration of therapeutic doses of oxazepam, concentrations in oral fluid are very much lower than those in blood, and those of oxazepam glucuronide are much lower than those of the parent compound. Nevertheless, assay of oral fluid for oxazepam can be used to detect recent ingestion of the drug in drivers suspected of impaired driving performance.
The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals

ABSTRACT The parthenogenetic all-female marbled crayfish is a novel research model and potent invader of freshwater ecosystems. It is a triploid descendant of the sexually reproducing slough crayfish, Procambarus fallax, but its taxonomic status has remained unsettled. By cross-breeding experiments and parentage analysis we show here that marbled crayfish and P. fallax are reproductively separated. Both crayfish copulate readily, suggesting that the reproductive barrier is set at the cytogenetic rather than the behavioural level. Analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes of marbled crayfish from laboratory lineages and wild populations demonstrates genetic identity and indicates a single origin. Flow cytometric comparison of DNA contents of haemocytes and analysis of nuclear microsatellite loci confirm triploidy and suggest autopolyploidisation as its cause. Global DNA methylation is significantly reduced in marbled crayfish implying the involvement of molecular epigenetic mechanisms in its origination. Morphologically, both crayfish are very similar but growth and fecundity are considerably larger in marbled crayfish, making it a different animal with superior fitness. These data and the high probability of a divergent future evolution of the marbled crayfish and P. fallax clusters suggest that marbled crayfish should be considered as an independent asexual species. Our findings also establish the P. fallax–marbled crayfish pair as a novel paradigm for rare chromosomal speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals and for saltational evolution in general. Summary: The triploid marbled crayfish is a rare animal example of speciation by autopolyploidisation and parthenogenesis. It seems to be a particularly suitable model to study how much genetic and epigenetic change is necessary to create a new species.
The Inverse Gaussian Distribution in Wireless Channels: Second-Order Statistics and Channel Capacity

In this paper, we introduce the Inverse Gaussian (IG) fading distribution to model the envelope and the power of the received signal in radio propagation fading channels and free-space optical (FSO) channels. The joint distribution of the IG process and its derivative and the marginal distribution of the derivative are developed. The obtained formulas are then used to derive the second-order statistics of the received signal envelope and the channel capacity under IG and Nakagami-IG (NIG) fading distributions. Numerical results sustaining our analysis are provided, and the impacts of various parameters on the system performance are investigated.
An Introduction to Variable and Feature Selection

Variable and feature selection have become the focus of much research in areas of application for which datasets with tens or hundreds of thousands of variables are available. These areas include text processing of internet documents, gene expression array analysis, and combinatorial chemistry. The objective of variable selection is three-fold: improving the prediction performance of the predictors, providing faster and more cost-effective predictors, and providing a better understanding of the underlying process that generated the data. The contributions of this special issue cover a wide range of aspects of such problems: providing a better deﬁnition of the objective function, feature construction, feature ranking, multivariate feature selection, efﬁcient search methods, and feature validity assessment methods.
Mining object behavior with ADABU

To learn what constitutes correct program behavior, one can start with normal behavior. We observe actual program executions to construct state machines that summarize object behavior. These state machines, called object behavior models, capture the relationships between two kinds of methods: mutators that change the state (such as add()) and inspectors that keep the state unchanged (such as isEmpty()): "A Vector object initially is in isEmpty() state; after add(), it goes into ¬isEmpty() state". Our ADABU prototype for JAVA has successfully mined models of undocumented behavior from the AspectJ compiler and the Columba email client; the models tend to be small and easily understandable.
Abciximab-Supported Infarct Artery Stent Implantation for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Long-Term Survival: A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized Trial Comparing Infarct Artery Stenting Plus Abciximab With Stenting Alone

Background—The impact on survival of routine use of abciximab as adjunctive treatment to routine infarct artery stenting for acute myocardial infarction is not defined. We sought to determine the effect of abciximab on 1-year survival and other major adverse cardiac events of patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing routine infarct artery stenting. Methods and Results—The Abciximab and Carbostent Evaluation (ACE) Trial is an unblinded, randomized, controlled trial that compared abciximab with placebo in patients undergoing routine infarct artery stent implantation for acute myocardial infarction. At 1 year, the survival rate was 95±2% in the abciximab group and 88±2% in the stent-alone group (P =0.017). The reinfarction rate was 1% in the abciximab group and 6.0% in the stent-alone group, whereas there were no differences between groups in target vessel revascularization rate (16.5% in the abciximab group, 17.5% in the stent-alone group). Conclusions—Abciximab as adjunctive treatment to routine infarct artery stenting for acute myocardial infarction resulted in improved 1-year survival and lower reinfarction rates.
La grotte de Montfat: un jalon dans l’évolution de la vallée de la Meuse

Les grottes perchees aux flancs des vallees jouent un role important dans la quantification de l’enfoncement des rivieres. Les depots detritiques et stalagmitiques qu’elles renferment permettent de nous renseigner sur les mecanismes de sedimentation en relation avec les rivieres epigees tributaires. Les speleothemes posterieurs a l’assechement de ces galeries fournissent un âge limite au paleotalweg situe a telle ou telle altitude. De plus, les depots detritiques associes sont aussi de precieux indicateurs des processus lies a cet enfoncement. La grotte de Montfat, a Dinant, le long de la Meuse belge, constitue un fragment de reseau sous-fluvial perche et renferme des temoins sedimentaires permettant de donner un âge limite au paleotalweg de la Meuse. L’etude de ses depots indique que la Meuse a abandonne l’altitude de 142 m avant 400.000 ans, soit quelque 45 metres au-dessus de son altitude actuelle.
Bidirectional current conveyer with chopper stabilization and dynamic element matching

A compact and accurate current conveyer for interfacing with a three-electrode electrochemical sensor is presented. It employs chopper stabilization to reduce transistor sizes for a given flicker noise. A current-copying circuit generates a mirror image of the sensor current for bidirectional conveying. It employs dynamic element matching to remove the mismatch in the current mirrors. The current conveyer prototyped in 0. 13µm CMOS consumes 4µW from a 1.2V supply. It achieves an input-referred noise of 0.13pArms over a 1kHz bandwidth with a dynamic range of 8.6pA to 350nA. The prototype has been validated in DNA catalytic reporter detection.
Safety and Efficacy of a Potential Treatment Algorithm by Using Manual Compression Repair and Ultrasound-Guided Thrombin Injection for the Management of Iatrogenic Femoral Artery Pseudoaneurysm in a Large Patient Cohort

Background—Because of the risk of associated complications, femoral pseudoaneurysm (PSA) formation implies further treatment. Ultrasound-guided thrombin injection (UGTI) is becoming the accepted gold standard, but manual compression (MC) represents an established treatment option including PSAs not feasible for UGTI. This study aims to assess our experience in PSA treatment using MC or UGTI according to a potential algorithm based on morphological properties in a large patient cohort. Methods and Results—Between January 2007 and January 2011, a total of 432 PSAs were diagnosed in 29091 consecutive patients (1.49%) undergoing femoral artery catheterization. When compressible, small PSAs (<20 mm), PSAs without clearly definable neck, PSAs directly adjacent to vessels, and PSAs with concomitant arteriovenous fistula were referred to MC (n=145, 34%). All other PSAs were treated by UGTI (n=287, 66%). Follow-up duplex scans were performed within 12 to 14 hours after manual compression therapy and within 4 to 6 hours after UGTI or by the next morning and were available for 428 patients (99.1%). The overall success rate of our institutional therapeutic approach was 97.2%, which was achieved by 178 MC- and 357 UGTI-procedures, respectively. Procedural complications occurred in 5 cases (1.4%) after UGTI and in 3 cases (1.7%) after MC, respectively. The treatment algorithm was not successful in 12 patients, whereas 2 PSAs (0.5%) were successfully excluded by implantation of a covered stent-graft, and 10 patients necessitated surgical intervention (2.3%), which was associated with a high complication rate (30%). Conclusions—The presented treatment algorithm facilitates effective and safe PSA elimination.
Characterization of Ca2+ Channels Involved in Endothelin-1-Induced Contraction of Rabbit Basilar Artery

This study attempted to characterize Ca2+ channels involved in endothelin-1-induced contraction of rabbit basilar artery using whole-cell patch-clamp and measurement of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration. Endothelin-1 activates two types of Ca2+-permeable nonselective cation channels (NSCC-1 and NSCC-2) and a store-operated Ca2+ channel (SOCC) in addition to the voltage-operated Ca2+ channel (VOCC). These channels can be discriminated using Ca2+ channel blockers, SK&F 96365 and LOE 908. Tension study was conducted to clarify the Ca2+ channels involved in endothelin-1-induced contraction of basilar artery. Endothelin-1-induced basilar artery contraction is fully dependent on extracellular Ca2+ influx. Based on sensitivity to nifedipine, an L-type VOCC blocker, VOCCs have a minor role in endothelin-1-induced contraction. Both LOE 908 and SK&F 96365 inhibit endothelin-1-induced contraction in a concentration-dependent manner, and their combination abolished it. The median inhibitory concentrations of these blockers for endothelin-1-induced contraction correlated well with those of the endothelin-1-induced [Ca2+]i responses. Thus, the inhibitory action of these blockers on endothelin-1-induced contraction may be mediated by blockade of NSCC-1, NSCC-2, and the SOCC. Extracellular Ca2+ influx through NSCC-1, NSCC-2, and SOCC may be essential for endothelin-1-induced basilar artery contraction.
Website Design and Culture: An Empirical Investigation

Understanding website preferences across cultures is imperative to the development of customer loyalty in online environments. Based on an exploratory four nation study, this paper addresses differences in preference and perception of website design across cultures. Consideration is given to levels of trust and satisfaction that result from web design elements. In many instances the results are counterintuitive. The findings are evaluated concerning design and culture, as well the evolving role of “culture” in Web based environments.
Convergence analysis of the ε NSRLMMN algorithm

In this work, the ε-normalized sign regressor least mean mixed-norm (NSRLMMN) adaptive algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm exhibits increased convergence rate as compared to the least mean mixed-norm (LMMN) and the sign regressor least mean mixed-norm (SRLMMN) algorithms. Also, the steady-state analysis and convergence analysis are presented. Moreover, the proposed ε-NSRLMMN algorithm substantially reduces the computational load, a major drawback of the ε-normalized least mean mixed-norm (NLMMN) algorithm. Finally, simulation results are presented to support the theoretical findings.
Are electronic nicotine delivery systems an effective smoking cessation tool?

Despite the known adverse effects of smoking, including lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, a significant proportion of the Canadian population continue to smoke. The global epidemic of smoking is compounded by the known effects of secondhand smoke, which exposes non-smoking individuals to a similar mix of toxic fumes and potentially adverse effects. Electronic nicotine delivery systems have emerged in the wake of governmental efforts to limit tobacco exposure and have been proposed as a possible solution. However, electronic nicotine delivery systems have not been tightly regulated or comprehensively studied. This systematic review investigated one of the central questions surrounding the increasing popularity of these devices.
Housekeeping Mutualisms: Do More Symbionts Facilitate Host Performance?

Mutualisms often involve one host supporting multiple symbionts, whose identity, density and intraguild interactions can influence the nature of the mutualism and performance of the host. However, the implications of multiple co-occurring symbionts on services to a host have rarely been quantified. In this study, we quantified effects of decapod symbionts on removal of sediment from their coral host. Our field survey showed that all common symbionts typically occur as pairs and never at greater abundances. Two species, the crab Trapezia serenei and the shrimp Alpheus lottini, were most common and co-occurred more often than expected by chance. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to test for effects of decapod identity and density on sediment removal. Alone, corals removed 10% of sediment, but removal increased to 30% and 48% with the presence of two and four symbionts, respectively. Per-capita effects of symbionts were independent of density and identity. Our results suggest that symbiont density is restricted by intraspecific competition. Thus, increased sediment removal from a coral host can only be achieved by increasing the number of species of symbionts on that coral, even though these species are functionally equivalent. Symbiont diversity plays a key role, not through added functionality but by overcoming density limitation likely imposed by intraspecific mating systems.
Customer Service Competition in Capacitated Systems

We investigate a simple dynamic model of firm behavior in which firms compete by investing in capacity that is used to provide a good or service to their customers. There is a fixed total market of customers whose demands for the good or service are random and who divide their patronage between the firms in each period. Periodically, the market shares of the two firms can change based on the realized level of customer service provided in the prior period. We assume that the expected level of customer service can be expressed as a function of the (per customer) capacity of the firms' service delivery systems, and that service declines as the capacity decreases. The firms differ in their customers' willingness to defect when confronted by service failure. The primary issue we address is the firms' capacity decisions in response to customer service concerns and competitive pressure. We provide conditions under which the firms' optimal (i.e., equilibrium) capacity levels in a period are proportional to the size of their respective customer bases in that period. Further, we develop expressions for the value of a firm's customers and the implicit cost of service failure. Results for both single-period and finite-horizon problems are investigated and applied to two examples: (1) competition between Internet service providers who operate systems that we approximate by simple loss-type queueing models, and (2) competition between make-to-stock producers who operate systems that we approximate by newsvendor inventory models. For both examples, solutions are derived and interpreted.
Friction characteristics of 20 x 4.4, type 7, aircraft tires constructed with different tread rubber compounds

A test program was conducted at the Langley aircraft landing loads and traction facility to evaluate the friction characteristics of 20 x 4.4, type, aircraft tires constructed with experimental cut-resistant, tread rubber compounds. These compounds consisted of different blends of natural rubber (NR) and an alfin catalyzed styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber (SBR). One tire having a blend of 30 SBR and 70 NR and another having a blend of 60 SBR and 40 NR in the tread were tested together with a standard production tire with no SBR content in the tread rubber. The results of this investigation indicated that the test tires constructed with the special cut-resistant tread rubber compositions did not suffer any significant degradation in tire friction capability when compared with the standard tire. In general, tire friction capability decreased with increasing speed and surface wetness condition. As yaw angle increased, tire braking capability decreased while tire cornering capability increased. Tread-wear data based on number of brake cycles, however, suggested that the tires with alfin SBR blends experienced significantly greater wear than the standard production tire.
Individual reactions to viewing preferred video representations of the natural environment: A comparison of mental and physical reactions

AIM Globally, awareness of the vital link between health and the natural environment is growing. This pilot study, based on the idea of "forest bathing," or shinrin-yoku, the mindful use of all five senses to engage with nature in a natural environment, was initiated in order to determine whether stimulation by viewing an individual's preferred video of sea or forest had an effect on relaxation. METHODS The participants were 12 healthy men in their twenties and they were divided into two groups based on their preference for sea or forest scenery by using the Visual Analogue Scale. The participants watched 90 min DVDs of sea with natural sounds and forest with natural sounds while their heart rate variability and Bispectral Index System value were measured by using MemCalc/Tawara and a Bispectral Index System monitor. RESULTS The participants were divided into two groups of six based on their preference for sea or forest scenery and each indicator was compared between them. Significant differences in a decrease in heart rate, increase in high frequency, and sustained arousal level were observed while viewing the preferred video. These results indicated that the viewing individual's preferred video of sea or forest had a relaxation effect. CONCLUSION This study suggests that individual preferences should be taken into consideration for video relaxation therapy.