Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of GFA1, which encodes glutamine-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase, in the activation of the chitin synthesis pathway in response to cell-wall defects in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Cell-wall damage caused by mutations of cell-wall-related genes triggers a compensatory mechanism which eventually results in hyperaccumulation of chitin reaching 20% of the cell-wall dry mass. We show that activation of chitin synthesis is accompanied by a rise, from 1.3-fold to 3.5-fold according to the gene mutation, in the expression of most of the genes encoding enzymes of the chitin metabolic pathways. Evidence that GFA1, which encodes glutamine-fructose-6-Phosphate amidotransferase (Gfa1p), the first committed enzyme of this pathway, plays a major role in this process was as follows. Activation of chitin synthesis in the cell-wall mutants correlated with activation of GFA1 and with a proportional increase in Gfa1p activity. Overexpression of GFA1 caused an approximately threefold increase in chitin in the transformed cells, whereas chitin content was barely affected by the joint overexpression of CHS3 and CHS7. Introduction of a gfa1-97 allele mutation in the cell-wall-defective gas1Delta mutant or cultivation of this mutant in a hyperosmotic medium resulted in reduction in chitin synthesis that was proportional to the decrease in Gfa1p activity. Finally, the stimulation of chitin production was also accompanied by an increase in pools of fructose 6-Phosphate, a substrate of Gfa1p. In quantitative terms, we estimated the flux-coefficient control of Gfa1p to be in the range of 0.90, and found that regulation of the chitin metabolic pathway was mainly hierarchical, i.e. dominated by regulation of the amount of newly synthesized GFA1 protein. In the search for the mechanism by which GFA1 is activated in response to cell-wall perturbations, we could only show that neither MCM1 nor RLM1, which encode two transcriptional factors of the MADS box family that are required for expression of cell-cycle and cell-wall-related genes, was involved in this process.
When and why people are comparatively optimistic about future health risks: The role of direct and indirect comparison measures

The goal of the current research was to test whether direct versus indirect measures of comparative optimism yield different results as a function of health risk severity and prevalence. A random-digit sample of community residents (N = 259) responded to interview questions about perceived vulnerability using both direct (i.e. self-to-peer risk) and indirect comparison measures (i.e. separate questions about self and peer risk). Responses to direct comparison measures were more affected by prevalence, whereas indirect comparison measures were more affected by severity. These results may offer guidance to researchers and practitioners about when it may be more appropriate to use direct versus indirect measures of comparative health risk.
Use and gratification in e-consumers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model based on technology acceptance with extended antecedent variables (entertainment and irritation) to examine the impact of use and gratification on e‐consumers' acceptance of B2C Websites.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a total of 238 EMBA and undergraduate students from three different Taiwan universities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate the conceptual model in terms of overall fit, explanatory powers and causal links.Findings – The analytical results showed that entertainment gratification, irritation surfing experience (mass medium), perceived usefulness and ease of Web use (information systems) are important predictors of e‐consumers' use intention. The integrated model was then assessed for variance in explanatory power regarding consumer attitude and intention toward B2C Websites.Practical implications – Intention to use the Web is the predictor of actual use, purchase and information‐s.
Two rectangular loops fed in series for broadband circular polarization and impedance matching

Two rectangular wire loops above an infinite ground plane are investigated for broadband circular polarization and impedance matching. Each rectangular loop is connected to each end of a short dipole fed by a coaxial cable through the ground plane. One gap on each loop is introduced to get circular polarization and the gap position controls the sense of circular polarization. The position of the gap, the length of the short dipole, the height of the loop above the ground plane and the shape of the rectangle are very important to get a good axial ratio (AR) and voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR). The AR bandwidth (/spl les/3 dB) and the VSWR bandwidth (/spl les/2) are 18% and 22%, respectively. The measured and computed results are in good agreement.
A novel behavioral paradigm to assess multisensory processing in mice

Human psychophysical and animal behavioral studies have illustrated the benefits that can be conferred from having information available from multiple senses. Given the central role of multisensory integration for perceptual and cognitive function, it is important to design behavioral paradigms for animal models to provide mechanistic insights into the neural bases of these multisensory processes. Prior studies have focused on large mammals, yet the mouse offers a host of advantages, most importantly the wealth of available genetic manipulations relevant to human disease. To begin to employ this model species for multisensory research it is necessary to first establish and validate a robust behavioral assay for the mouse. Two common mouse strains (C57BL/6J and 129S6/SvEv) were first trained to respond to unisensory (visual and auditory) stimuli separately. Once trained, performance with paired audiovisual stimuli was then examined with a focus on response accuracy and behavioral gain. Stimulus durations varied from 50 ms to 1 s in order to modulate the effectiveness of the stimuli and to determine if the well-established “principle of inverse effectiveness” held in this model. Response accuracy in the multisensory condition was greater than for either unisensory condition for all stimulus durations, with significant gains observed at the 300 ms and 100 ms durations. Main effects of stimulus duration, stimulus modality and a significant interaction between these factors were observed. The greatest behavioral gain was seen for the 100 ms duration condition, with a trend observed that as the stimuli became less effective, larger behavioral gains were observed upon their pairing (i.e., inverse effectiveness). These results are the first to validate the mouse as a species that shows demonstrable behavioral facilitations under multisensory conditions and provides a platform for future mechanistically directed studies to examine the neural bases of multisensory integration.
Game Design and Analysis for Price-Based Demand Response: An Aggregate Game Approach

In this paper, an aggregate game is adopted for the modeling and analysis of energy consumption control in smart grid. Since the electricity users’ cost functions depend on the aggregate energy consumption, which is unknown to the end users, an average consensus protocol is employed to estimate it. By neighboring communication among the users about their estimations on the aggregate energy consumption, Nash seeking strategies are developed. Convergence properties are explored for the proposed Nash seeking strategies. For energy consumption game that may have multiple isolated Nash equilibria, a local convergence result is derived. The convergence is established by utilizing singular perturbation analysis and Lyapunov stability analysis. Energy consumption control for a network of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems is investigated. Based on the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium, it is shown that the players’ actions converge to a neighborhood of the unique Nash equilibrium nonlocally. More specially, if the unique Nash equilibrium is an inner Nash equilibrium, an exponential convergence result is obtained. Energy consumption game with stubborn players is studied. In this case, the actions of the rational players can be driven to a neighborhood of their best response strategies by using the proposed method. Numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
A backlight dimming algorithm for low power and high image quality LCD applications

A new backlight dimming algorithm is proposed to reduce power consumption of backlight and improve image quality in LCD applications. The proposed algorithm is consisted of two new techniques: the brightness modulation of the backlight and pixel compensation. The power saving ratio of four typical benchmarking images is 14-43% by using proposed brightness modulation algorithm. The proposed pixel compensation removes the clipping artifact and unnecessary luminance reduction. The proposed backlight dimming algorithm is demonstrated on 7-inch TFTLCD with LED backlight.
Analysis of myocilin gene mutations in Japanese patients with normal tension glaucoma and primary open‐angle glaucoma

The myocilin gene was identified as a gene (MYOC) that caused primary open‐angle glaucoma (POAG). Although a normal tension glaucoma (NTG) patient with the myocilin gene mutation was previously reported, no study using large numbers of patients with NTG has been reported. Single‐strand conformation polymorphism analysis and subsequent sequence analysis were performed for genotyping the myocilin gene in 114 unrelated Japanese patients with NTG. One hundred and nineteen patients with POAG and 100 control subjects without glaucoma were studied as reference subjects. Five amino acid sequence changes of the myocilin were identified: Arg46Stop (one NTG), Arg76Lys (four NTG, 10 POAG, seven control), Arg158Gln (one NTG, one POAG, one control) found in only Japanese, Asp208Glu (four NTG, three POAG, one control), Pro481Ser (one control). Pro481Ser was novel. Arg76Lys always occurred with 1–83 from G to A in the promoter as it was reported in Chinese. Although some Japanese patients with NTG had sequence changes of the myocilin gene, there were no apparent specific mutations in patients with NTG.
Assessment of Forearm Pronation Strength in C6 and C7 Radiculopathies

Study Design. Consecutive case series of patients with C6 and C7 radiculopathies. Objectives. To explore the clinical utility and reliability of manual muscle testing of forearm pronation strength in C6 and C7 radiculopathies. Summary of Background Data. EMG evidence of denervation of the pronator teres was the most common finding in C6 radiculopathies, and frequently present in C7 radiculopathies. Clinical evaluation of the pronator teres through manual muscle testing of forearm pronation has never been explored; therefore, its clinical utility is unknown as compared with the muscle groups that are traditionally evaluated. Methods. Fifty-five subjects with diagnostic imaging evidence of either C6 (n = 25) or C7 (n = 30) cervical root compression and clinical symptoms consistent with cervical radiculopathy were recruited for this study. These subjects underwent manual muscle testing of forearm pronation, wrist extension, elbow flexion, and elbow extension. The frequency of impaired strength was recorded and compared for C6 and C7 radiculopathies. A second examiner evaluated each subject, with his or her findings compared with the first examiner only for the determination of interrater reliability. Results. In C6 radiculopathy subjects, forearm pronation weakness was present in 72%, was twice as common as wrist extension weakness, was present in all case where elbow flexion or wrist extension weakness was noted, and was found in all but 2 subjects where elbow extension weakness was present. In C7 radiculopathy subjects, forearm pronation weakness accompanies elbow extension weakness in 23% of subjects and was the only weakness in 10% of subjects. Manual muscle testing demonstrated adequate interrater reliability. Conclusions. Forearm pronation weakness is the most frequent motor finding in C6 radiculopathies and may be noted is some cases of C7 nerve root compression.
Effects of an immunomodulatory therapy and chondroitinase after spinal cord hemisection injury.

BACKGROUND Individually, immunomodulatory therapy and chondroitinases have demonstrated neuroprotective and potential neuroregenerative effects following spinal cord injury. OBJECTIVE To investigate the therapeutic potential of combined immunomodulatory and chondroitin sulfate-glycosaminoglycan degradation therapy in spinal cord injury. METHODS A combined immunomodulatory treatment using (1) liposome-encapsulated clodronate (selectively depletes peripheral macrophages), and (2) rolipram (a selective type 4 phosphodiesterase inhibitor), along with the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-glycosaminoglycan-degrading enzyme, chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), was assessed for its potential to promote axonal regrowth and improve locomotor recovery following midthoracic spinal cord hemisection injury in adult rats. RESULTS We demonstrate that combined treatment with liposomal clodronate, rolipram, and ChABC attenuates macrophage accumulation at the site of injury, reduces axonal die-back of injured dorsal column axons, and produces the greatest improvement in locomotor recovery at 6 weeks postinjury compared with controls and noncombined therapy. Anterograde and retrograde tracing revealed that delivery of clodronate, rolipram, and ChABC did not promote substantial axonal regeneration through the site of injury, although the treatment did limit the extent of axonal die-back. Histological assessments revealed that combined treatment with clodronate/rolipram and/or ChABC resulted in a significant reduction in lesion size and cystic cavitation in comparison with injured controls. Combined clodronate, rolipram, and ChABC treatment reduced the accumulation of macrophages within the injured spinal cord 7 weeks after injury. CONCLUSION The present data suggest that delivery of an immunomodulatory therapy consisting of clodronate and rolipram, in combination with ChABC, reduces axonal injury and enhances neuroprotection, plasticity, and hindlimb functional recovery after hemisection spinal cord injury in adult rats.
Anti-microbial effect of Nigella sativa seed extract against staphylococcal skin Infection

Background: The development of microbial resistance to the existing anti-microbial agents has become a real challenge and a serious problem facing patients suffering from skin infections. Seeds of Nigella sativa have been used for a long time in folk medicine for the treatment of skin infections. Production of new potent agents is urgently needed, especially for hospitals and health care centers. This study is designed to explore anti-microbial effect of extract from the Nigella sativa seeds against skin pustules infection. Methods: The in vivo anti-microbial effect of the Nigella sativa seeds extract at a concentration of 33% on pustules staphylococcal Skin Infections was assessed and compared with standard drug mupirocin on 40 neonates . All neonates were divided and examined into two experimental and control groups randomly. Recovery times were compared between two groups. Results: The mean of recovery time in experimental group was 75/1 with SD= ± 12, and the mean of recovery time in control group was 69/4 with SD = ± 8/7.There was no significant difference in recovery time between two groups (p value = 0/131). Conclusion: In clinical practice, the agent of Nigella Sativa recovered as pustular from tissues of all patients. While the extract was as nearly effective as the standard drug, mupirocin, no side effect was observed.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Their potential role in blood pressure prevention and management

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from fish and fish oils appear to protect against coronary heart disease: their dietary intake is in fact inversely associated to cardiovascular disease morbidity/mortality in population studies. Recent evidence suggests that at least part of their heart protective effect is mediated by a relatively small but significant decrease in blood pressure level. In fact, omega-3 PUFAs exhibit wide-ranging biological actions that include regulating both vasomotor tone and renal sodium excretion, partly competing with omega-6 PUFAs for common metabolic enzymes and thereby decreasing the production of vasocostrincting rather than vasodilating and anti-inflammatory eicosanoids. PUFAs also reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity, angiotensin II formation, TGF-beta expression, enhance eNO generation and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The final result is improved vasodilation and arterial compliance of both small and large arteries. Preliminary clinical trials involving dyslipidemic patients, diabetics and elderly subjects, as well as normotensive and hypertensive subjects confirm this working hypothesis. Future research will clarify if PUFA supplementation could improve the antihypertensive action of specific blood pressure lowering drug classes and of statins.
Soil Phosphorus Forms and Profile Distributions in the Tidal River Network Region in the Yellow River Delta Estuary

Modified Hedley fraction method was used to study the forms and profile distribution in the tidal river network region subjected to rapid deposition and hydrologic disturbance in the Yellow River Delta (YRD) estuary, eastern China. The results showed that the total P (Pt) ranged from 612.1 to 657.8 mg kg−1. Dilute HCl extractable inorganic P (Pi) was the predominant form in all profiles, both as absolute values and as a percentage of total extracted Pi. The NaOH extractable organic P (Po) was the predominant form of total extracted Po, while Bicarb-Pi and C.HCl-Po were the lowest fractions of total extracted Pi and Po in all the P forms. The Resin-P concentrations were high in the top soil layer and decreased with depth. The Pearson correlation matrix indicated that Resin-P, Bicarb-Pi, NaOH-Pi, and C.HCl-Pi were strongly positively correlated with salinity, TOC, Ca, Al, and Fe but negatively correlated with pH. The significant correlation of any studied form of organic P (Bicarb-Po, NaOH-Po, and C.HCl-Po) with geochemical properties were not observed in the study. Duncan multiple-range test indicated that the P forms and distribution heterogeneity in the profiles could be attributed to the influences of vegetation cover and hydrologic disturbance.
Abdominal Drainage Following Appendectomy and Cholecystectomy

Consecutive patients undergoing emergency appendectomy (283) or urgent cholecystectomy (51) were prospectively studied for the development of postoperative incisional or peritoneal sepsis. Severity of the original peritoneal infection was carefully recorded, while use of a Penrose dam to drain the peritoneum was randomized according to pre-assigned hospital number. Both aerobic and anaerobic cultures were taken from the abdomen at the time of operation as well as from all postoperative infectious foci. Results demonstrated no essential differences in incidence of wound and peritoneal infection following appendectomy for simple or suppurative appendicitis (187) or following cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis (51). However, with gangrenous or perforative appendicitis (94), incisional and intra-abdominal infection rates were 43% and 45%, respectively, when a drain was used; yet only 29 and 13%, respectively, without a drain. These latter differences were significant (p < 0.001). In addition, intra-abdominal abscesses were three times as likely to drain through the incision than along any tract provided by the rubber conduit. Cultures revealed that hospital pathogens accounted for a greater proportion of wound and peritoneal sepsis after cholecystectomy and appendectomy for simple or suppurative appendicitis if a drain had been inserted than if managed otherwise. By contrast, a mixed bacterial flora was responsible for most infections following appendectomy for gangrenous or perforated appendicitis, irrespective as to use of a drain.
Estuarine Adjustment

Subtidal adjustment of estuarine salinity and circulation to changing river flow or tidal mixing is explored using a simplified numerical model. The model employs tidally averaged, width-averaged physics, following Hansen and Rattray, extended to include 1) time dependence, 2) tidally averaged mixing parameterizations, and 3) arbitrary variation of channel depth and width. By linearizing the volume-integrated salt budget, the time-dependent system may be distilled to a first-order, forced, damped, ordinary differential equation. From this equation, analytical expressions for the adjustment time and sensitivity of the length of the salt intrusion are developed. For estuaries in which the up-estuary salt flux is dominated by vertically segregated gravitational circulation, this adjustment time is predicted to be TADJ (1/6)L/u, where L is the length of the salt intrusion and u is the section-averaged velocity (i.e., that due to the river flow). The importance of the adjustment time becomes apparent when considering forcing time scales. Seasonal river-flow variation is much slower than typical adjustment times in systems such as the Hudson River estuary, and thus the response may be quasi steady. Spring–neap mixing variation, in contrast, has a period comparable to typical adjustment times, and so unsteady effects are more important. In this case, the stratification may change greatly while the salt intrusion is relatively unperturbed.
Synthesis of biological models from mutation experiments

Executable biology presents new challenges to formal methods. This paper addresses two problems that cell biologists face when developing formally analyzable models. First, we show how to automatically synthesize a concurrent in-silico model for cell development given in-vivo experiments of how particular mutations influence the experiment outcome. The problem of synthesis under mutations is unique because mutations may produce non-deterministic outcomes (presumably by introducing races between competing signaling pathways in the cells) and the synthesized model must be able to replay all these outcomes in order to faithfully describe the modeled cellular processes. In contrast, a "regular" concurrent program is correct if it picks any outcome allowed by the non-deterministic specification. We developed synthesis algorithms and synthesized a model of cell fate determination of the earthworm C. elegans. A version of this model previously took systems biologists months to develop. Second, we address the problem of under-constrained specifications that arise due to incomplete sets of mutation experiments. Under-constrained specifications give rise to distinct models, each explaining the same phenomenon differently. Addressing the ambiguity of specifications corresponds to analyzing the space of plausible models. We develop algorithms for detecting ambiguity in specifications, i.e., whether there exist alternative models that would produce different fates on some unperformed experiment, and for removing redundancy from specifications, i.e., computing minimal non-ambiguous specifications. Additionally, we develop a modeling language and embed it into Scala. We describe how this language design and embedding allows us to build an efficient synthesizer. For our C. elegans case study, we infer two observationally equivalent models expressing different biological hypotheses through different protein interactions. One of these hypotheses was previously unknown to biologists.