Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Solution structure of nickel-peptide deformylase.

In the accompanying paper, we report that zinc is unlikely to be the co-factor supporting peptide deformylase activity in vivo. In contrast, nickel binding promotes full enzyme activity. The three-dimensional structure of the resulting nickel-containing peptide deformylase (catalytic domain, residues 1 to 147) was solved by NMR using a 13C-15N-doubly labelled protein sample. A set of 2261 restraints could be collected, with an average of 15.4 per amino acid. The resolution, which shows a good definition for the position of most side-chains, is greatly improved compared to that previously reported for the zinc-containing, inactive form. A comparison of the two stuctures indicates however that both share the same 3D organization. This shows that the nature of the bound metal is the primary determinant of the hydrolytic activity of this enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis enabled us to determine the conserved residues of PDF involved in the structure of the active site. In particular, a buried arginine appears to be critical for the positioning of Cys90, one of the metal ligands. Furthermore, the 3D structure of peptide deformylase was compared to thermolysin and metzincins. Although the structural folds are very different, they all display a common structural motif involving an alpha-helix and a three-stranded beta-sheet. These conserved structural elements build a common scaffold which includes the active site, suggesting a common hydrolytic mechanism for these proteases. Finally, an invariant glycine shared by both PDF and metzincins enables us to extend the conserved motif from HEXXH to HEXXHXXG.
Cointegration Rank Test and Long Run Specification: A Note on the Robustness of Structural Demand Systems

Private demand systems provide a practical application for analyzing identification issues in cointegration analysis. The paper conducts Montecarlo simulation experiments of cointegrated demand systems by assuming non-separability of government consumption. This framework enables further to test the robustness of models under alternative empirical specifications in which the homogeneity restriction is assumed to hold. The results highlight that separability of utility function with respect to government spending and the over-inclusion of lagged dependent variables introduce important bias in identifying the long run demand system, while the model specification with homogeneity restriction perform better when the theoretical hypothesis is contained in the data.Length: 34 pages
The Hard Quiescent Spectrum of the Neutron Star X-Ray Transient EXO 1745–248 in the Globular Cluster Terzan 5

We present a Chandra observation of the globular cluster Terzan 5 during times when the neutron star X-ray transient EXO 1745-248 located in this cluster was in its quiescent state. We detected the quiescent system with a (0.5-10 keV) luminosity of ~2 × 1033 ergs s-1. This is similar to several other neutron-star transients observed in their quiescent states. However, the quiescent X-ray spectrum of EXO 1745-248 was dominated by a hard power-law component instead of the soft component that usually dominates the quiescent emission of other neutron star X-ray transients. This soft component could not conclusively be detected in EXO 1745-248, and we conclude that it contributed at most 10% of the quiescent flux in the energy range 0.5-10 keV. EXO 1745-248 is only the second known neutron-star transient whose quiescent spectrum is dominated by the hard component (SAX J1808.4-3658 is the other one). We discuss possible explanations for this unusual behavior of EXO 1745-248, its relationship to other quiescent neutron-star systems, and the impact of our results on understanding quiescent X-ray binaries. We also discuss the implications of our results on the way that the low-luminosity X-ray sources in globular clusters are classified.
Psychological capital and authentic leadership: Measurement, gender, and cultural extension

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the measurement properties of the psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ) and the authentic leadership questionnaire (ALQ). Both scales' properties are tested in a diverse sample of working adults, compared across genders, and assessed for their performance in a new national culture.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses survey data from a random, nationally representative sample of working New Zealand adults. Structural equation modeling is used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis and to test for measurement invariance in both scales.Findings – The results confirm the hypothesized second‐order factor structure of both scales, with psychometric properties comparable to those in samples from other cultures. The results further suggest that the PCQ and ALQ exhibit measure equivalence for men and women.Originality/value – This paper provides the first test of both scales in a diverse representative sample. It demonstrates that the PCQ and ALQ are us.
Probabilistic supervised learning

Predictive modelling and supervised learning are central to modern data science. With predictions from an ever-expanding number of supervised black-box strategies - e.g., kernel methods, random forests, deep learning aka neural networks - being employed as a basis for decision making processes, it is crucial to understand the statistical uncertainty associated with these predictions. As a general means to approach the issue, we present an overarching framework for black-box prediction strategies that not only predict the target but also their own predictions' uncertainty. Moreover, the framework allows for fair assessment and comparison of disparate prediction strategies. For this, we formally consider strategies capable of predicting full distributions from feature variables, so-called probabilistic supervised learning strategies. Our work draws from prior work including Bayesian statistics, information theory, and modern supervised machine learning, and in a novel synthesis leads to (a) new theoretical insights such as a probabilistic bias-variance decomposition and an entropic formulation of prediction, as well as to (b) new algorithms and meta-algorithms, such as composite prediction strategies, probabilistic boosting and bagging, and a probabilistic predictive independence test. Our black-box formulation also leads (c) to a new modular interface view on probabilistic supervised learning and a modelling workflow API design, which we have implemented in the newly released skpro machine learning toolbox, extending the familiar modelling interface and meta-modelling functionality of sklearn. The skpro package provides interfaces for construction, composition, and tuning of probabilistic supervised learning strategies, together with orchestration features for validation and comparison of any such strategy - be it frequentist, Bayesian, or other.
Reducing Costs of Spot Instances via Checkpointing in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

Recently introduced spot instances in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) offer lower resource costs in exchange for reduced reliability; these instances can be revoked abruptly due to price and demand fluctuations. Mechanisms and tools that deal with the cost-reliability trade-offs under this schema are of great value for users seeking to lessen their costs while maintaining high reliability. We study how one such a mechanism, namely check pointing, can be used to minimize the cost and volatility of resource provisioning. Based on the real price history of EC2 spot instances, we compare several adaptive check pointing schemes in terms of monetary costs and improvement of job completion times. Trace-based simulations show that our approach can reduce significantly both price and the task completion times.
Effects of Antihypertensive and Hypolipidemic Drugs on Plasma and High-Density Lipoprotein-Associated Platelet Activating Factor-Acetylhydrolase Activity

Background: Human plasma platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is a phospholipase A2 primarily associated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL). PAF-AH activity has also been found on high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Most of the clinical studies that have investigated the plasma levels of PAF-AH activity in cardiovascular disease have involved patients who were under treatment with various drugs, such as antihypertensive or hypolipidemic agents. However, the influence of these drugs on the enzyme activity has not been adequately studied. Material and Methods: We evaluated the effects of representative antihypertensive and hypolipidemic drugs on the total plasma, as well as on the HDL-associated PAF-AH activity, in 121 patients with essential hypertension and in 90 patients with dyslipidemias of type IIA or type IIB. Serum lipids and enzymatic activities were determined at baseline and after 3 months of treatment. Results: The administration of lacidipine (4 mg, n = 21), valsartan (80 mg, n = 26), indapamide (2.5 mg, n = 20), benazepril (20 mg, n = 20), or atenolol (50 mg, n = 34) did not affect either the total plasma- or the HDL-associated PAF-AH activity. In contrast, treatment with fluvastatin (40 mg, n = 50) or ciprofibrate (100 mg, n = 40) reduced by 25% plasma PAF-AH activity (P < .001) associated with a decrease in serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol (P < .001). Furthermore, ciprofibrate induced an increase by 26% in HDL-associated PAF-AH activity (P = .004) along with an increase in serum HDL-cholesterol levels (P = .02). Conclusions: Among all types of drugs studied, only those that significantly affect lipid metabolism, such as statins and fibrates, significantly influence PAF-AH activity in human plasma.
Money talks: neural substrate of modulation of fairness by monetary incentives

A unique feature of the human species is compliance with social norms, e.g., fairness, even though this normative decision means curbing self-interest. However, sometimes people prefer to pursue wealth at the expense of moral goodness. Specifically, deviations from a fairness-related normative choice have been observed in the presence of a high monetary incentive. The neural mechanism underlying this deviation from the fairness-related normative choice has yet to be determined. In order to address this issue, using functional magnetic resonance imaging we employed an ultimatum game (UG) paradigm in which fairness and a proposed monetary amount were orthogonally varied. We found evidence for a significant modulation by the proposed amount on fairness in the right lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the bilateral insular cortices. Additionally, the insular subregions showed dissociable modulation patterns. Inter-individual differences in the modulation effects in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) accounted for inter-individual differences in the behavioral modulation effect as measured by the rejection rate, supporting the concept that the PFC plays a critical role in making fairness-related normative decisions in a social interaction condition. Our findings provide neural evidence for the modulation of fairness by monetary incentives as well as accounting for inter-individual differences.
Intensity-dependent thermoregulatory responses at the onset of dynamic exercise in mildly heated humans.

To investigate quantitatively how sweating and cutaneous blood flow responses at the onset of dynamic exercise are affected by increasing exercise intensity in mildly heated humans, 18 healthy male subjects performed cycle exercise at 30, 50, and 70% of maximal O2 uptake (VO2 max) for 60 s in a warm environment. The study was conducted in a climatic chamber with a regulated ambient temperature of 35 degrees C and relative humidity of 50%. The subjects rested in the semisupine position in the chamber for 60 min, and then sweating rate (SR) and skin blood flow were measured during cycle exercise at three different intensities. Changes in the heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and mean arterial blood pressure were proportional to increasing exercise intensity, whereas esophageal and mean skin temperatures were essentially constant throughout the experiment. The SR on the chest, forearm, and thigh, but not on the palm, increased significantly with increasing exercise intensity (P < 0.05). The mean SR of the chest, forearm, and thigh increased 0.05 mg.cm-2.min-1 with an increase in exercise intensity equivalent to 10% VO2 max. On the other hand, the cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) on the chest, forearm, and palm decreased significantly with increasing exercise intensity (P < 0.05). The mean CVC of the chest and forearm decreased 5.5% and the CVC on the palm decreased 8.0% with an increase in exercise intensity equivalent to 10% VO2 max. In addition, the reduction in CVC was greater on the palm than on the chest and forearm at all exercise intensities (P < 0.01). We conclude that nonthermal sweating and cutaneous blood flow responses are exercise intensity dependent but directionally opposite at the onset of dynamic exercise in mildly heated humans. Furthermore, cutaneous blood flow responses to increased exercise intensity are greater in glabrous (palm) than in nonglabrous (chest and forearm) skin.
Airway inflammation in cement production workers

Objective Cement aerosol exposure is associated with increased morbidity of airway disease among exposed workers. Our aim was to compare levels of inflammatory cells and soluble inflammatory markers in induced sputum samples from cement production workers between exposed and unexposed periods, and to compare these variables between cement workers and references. Methods 35 healthy, non-smoking aerosol-exposed cement production workers from Norway provided a blood sample and performed induced sputum and spirometry after 5 days without exposure and during a period of exposure. These values were compared with those from an internal low-exposed reference group of 15 office workers and an external reference group of 39 non-exposed workers. Differential cell counts and inflammatory markers were assessed. Results Median thoracic aerosol concentration over one work shift (8 h) was 0.6 mg/m3 (range 0.2–8.1) in maintenance workers and 1.75 mg/m3 (0.2–15.5) in furnace department workers. The median percentage of airway neutrophils in both groups combined was 51% (32–66) in the exposed period, which was significantly higher than in both the unexposed period (38%; 23–55) (p=0.04) and the external reference group (30%; 19–44) (p=0.001). Median interleukin-1β concentration was elevated compared with both office workers (p=0.05) and the external reference group (p=0.006). Conclusions A significantly higher percentage of neutrophils was observed in cement production workers during the exposed period compared with both the non-exposed period and the external reference group, and corresponded with elevated IL-1β concentration. These data indicate that cement aerosol exposure in concentrations below the Norwegian occupational limits (respirable dust 5 mg/m3; total dust 10 mg/m3) may cause airway inflammation.
Rhabdomyolysis after bariatric surgery : a potentially fatal complication

when our data were consistent with other work. Overall, there was a significant difference between epistaxis in upper and lower pathway cannulation, but as we indicated in the paper, the number of preformed and thermosoftened preformed tubes passing though the lower pathway was too small (16.7% and 20%, respectively) for meaningful statistical analysis on their own. However, when reinforced tubes were considered, there was a significant difference between epistaxis in upper and lower pathway cannulation. In a randomized controlled trial, sample size is based on the primary focus of the investigation and not on secondary factors, particularly when the investigators are not aware of the existence of a particular secondary factor. Hence, the possibility of a beta error with regard to the epistaxis data is irrelevant here. The size of tubes used (7 mm and 6 mm tubes, for males and females, respectively) are perfectly satisfactory for routine nasal intubation. There is seldom any need to resort to 7.5 mm tubes, which are more likely to cause nasal damage. It is well recognized that stiffening of the tube recurs rapidly as the tube cools, and intubation was performed promptly and without delay.
Top-down guided eye movements

Eye movements (EMs) are an important aspect of human visual behavior. The temporal and space-variant nature of sampling a visual scene requires frequent attentional gaze shifts (saccades) to fixate onto different parts of an image. Fixations are often directed toward the most informative regions in the visual scene. We introduce a model and its simulation that can select such regions based on prior knowledge of similar scenes. Having representations of scenes as a probabilistic combination of regions with certain properties, it is possible to assess the likely contribution of each region in the successive recognition process. Using Bayesian conditional probabilities for each region given the scene category, the model can then predict the informative value of that region and initiate a spatial information-gathering algorithm analogous to an EM saccade to a new fixation.
Comparison of the functional and radiological outcomes of unstable intertrochanteric fractures treated with dynamic hip screw and proximal femoral nail- A prospective randomized controlled study

The intertrochanteric fractures constitute 34% of all hip fractures1. 50% are unstable patterns. DHS and PFN are the two main options for treatment. A prospective randomized control study including 40 patients was carried out. The average blood loss, operating time and complications were significantly higher in the DHS group. PFN provides better fixation for unstable intertrochanteric fractures, if proper preoperative planning, good reduction and surgical technique are followed.
Molecular Reconstruction of Nodes of Ranvier after Remyelination by Transplanted Olfactory Ensheathing Cells in the Demyelinated Spinal Cord

Myelin-forming glial cells transplanted into the demyelinated spinal cord can form compact myelin and improve conduction properties. However, little is known of the expression and organization of voltage-gated ion channels in the remyelinated central axons or whether the exogenous cells provide appropriate signaling for the maturation of nodes of Ranvier. Here, we transplanted olfactory ensheathing cells from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing donor rats [GFP-olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs)] into a region of spinal cord demyelination and found extensive remyelination, which included the development of mature nodal, paranodal, and juxtaparanodal domains, as assessed by ultrastructural, immunocytochemical, and electrophysiological analyses. In remyelinated axons, Nav1.6 was clustered at nodes, whereas Kv1.2 was aggregated in juxtaparanodal regions, recapitulating the distribution of these channels within mature nodes of uninjured axons. Moreover, the recruitment of Nav and Kv channels to specific membrane domains at remyelinated nodes persisted for at least 8 weeks after GFP-OEC transplantation. In vivo electrophysiological recordings demonstrated enhanced conduction along the GFP-OEC-remyelinated axons. These findings indicate that, in addition to forming myelin, engrafted GFP-OECs provide an environment that supports the development and maturation of nodes of Ranvier and the restoration of impulse conduction in central demyelinated axons.
Vibrio cholerae hemagglutinin/protease, colonial variation, virulence, and detachment

The structural gene, hap, for the secreted hemagglutinin/protease (HA/protease), a putative virulence factor of Vibrio cholerae, has recently been cloned and sequenced (C. C. Häse and R. A. Finkelstein, J. Bacteriol. 173:3311-3317, 1991). The availability of the null mutant, HAP-1, and HAP-1 complemented with pCH2 (which expresses HA/protease), enabled an examination of the role of HA/protease in the virulence of V. cholerae in an animal model. However, the mutants exhibited reversible colonial variation similar but not identical to that which was previously associated with dramatic changes in virulence of parental strain 3083. Regardless of colonial morphology, the mutants were found to be fully virulent in infant rabbits. Thus, the HA/protease is not a primary virulence factor (for infant rabbits). Observations using cultured human intestinal cells indicated, instead, that the HA/protease is responsible for detachment of the vibrios from the cultured cells by digestion of several putative receptors for V. cholerae adhesins.
Expression of autoimmune disease‐related antigens by cells of the immune system

The process of thymic selection is critical for the generation of the mature T‐cell repertoire, yet the nature of the self‐peptides that serve this function is not known. Several studies suggest that tissue‐specific auto‐antigens are expressed in the thymus. We initiated this study to examine the expression of a panel of auto‐antigens related to several autoimmune diseases in the thymus, peripheral lymphoid organs, and various cell lines. We looked for the expression of these antigens by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction, fluorescence‐activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis, immunoblotting, and immunoprecipitation. We found that in the thymus there is evidence for the expression of a wide variety of disease‐related self‐antigens including myelin antigens, insulin, cardiac myosin, and retinal S antigen. By FACS analysis, several monoclonal anti‐myelin basic protein antibodies were found to bind to immune cells. In Western blotting, we could find in the thymus and other lymphoid organs the expression of myelin basic protein, proteolipid protein, and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase; in contrast, the staining for myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, microtubule‐associated Tau protein, and insulin were negative in these organs. The results of these studies confirm that there is evidence for the expression of a variety of auto‐antigens in the immune system, both at the mRNA and protein levels, potentially enabling them to participate in the process of thymic education. J. Neurosci. Res. 54:254–262, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Space–Time Network Coding With Antenna Selection

In this paper, we investigate the space-time network coding (STNC) with antenna selection (AS) in the cooperative multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) network, where U users communicate with a common destination D with the aid of R decode-and-forward (DF) relays. In this network, the best transmit/receive antenna pair with the highest signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio is selected to perform the signal transmission and reception over the user-destination and relay-destination links. To quantify the performance degradation of STNC with AS due to time delay between instants of channel state information (CSI) estimation and data transmission, we derive the symbol error rate (SER) and capacity expressions over flat Rayleigh fading channels. The asymptotic SER expression reveals that STNC with AS guarantees full diversity order of (Nu+ΣRr=1 Nr)ND, where Nu, Nr, and ND are the antenna numbers of user u, relay r, and the destination D, respectively, when the AS is performed based on perfect CSI, and outdated CSI degrades the full diversity order to R + 1. We also examine the effect of spatial correlation on the performance of STNC with AS by obtaining new closed-form expression for the asymptotic SER, which indicates that STNC with AS achieves the full diversity order over flat correlated Rayleigh channels, regardless of the value of spatial correlation coefficient. Numerical and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the accuracy of our theoretical analysis and evaluate the performance of STNC with AS.