Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proctolin activates an inward current whose voltage dependence is modified by extracellular Ca2+

The pentapeptide proctolin modulates the activity of the rhythmic pattern generators in the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system. Proctolin strongly excites the lateral pyloric and the inferior cardiac neurons of the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), causing them to fire extended high-frequency bursts of action potentials (Hooper and Marder, 1987; Nusbaum and Marder, 1989a,b). We now report that proctolin depolarizes these cells maximally at membrane potentials close to the threshold for action potential generation. In voltage clamp, proctolin evokes an inward current, carried at least partially by Na+, that shows strong outward rectification. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ markedly increases the amplitude of the proctolin-evoked current and linearizes its current-voltage curve. The properties of the proctolin current make it ideally suited to contribute to the activity-dependent modulation of the pyloric network of the STG.
Intelligent multicast congestion control based on expert-control for wireless networks

In order to improve the performance of existing multicast congestion control mechanisms applied to wireless networks, in this paper, we propose an expert-control-based intelligent multicast congestion control mechanism for wireless networks, termed ECMCC. ECMCC detects the network congestion state according to network relative queuing delay and packet loss, feedbacks information to multicast source based on representatives set mechanism, distinguishes between wireless link errors and network congestion, and judges the current network state, then takes different control strategies to adjust the sending rate of multicast source. The simulation results show that, ECMCC mechanism has good convergence and sensitivity, smooth sending rate, and good TCP-friendliness in wired network. And ECMCC enhances the capability to distinguish between network congestion and random error, and improves the network throughput. ECMCC can adapt itself to wireless network environment well, achieve some extent on TCP-friendliness over low bit error rate wireless link and keep stable receiving rate over high bit error wireless link.
Interactions between Papillomavirus L1 and L2 Capsid Proteins

ABSTRACT The human papillomavirus (HPV) capsid consists of 360 copies of the major capsid protein, L1, arranged as 72 pentamers on a T=7 icosahedral lattice, with substoichiometric amounts of the minor capsid protein, L2. In order to understand the arrangement of L2 within the HPV virion, we have defined and biochemically characterized a domain of L2 that interacts with L1 pentamers. We utilized an in vivo binding assay involving the coexpression of recombinant HPV type 11 (HPV11) L1 and HPV11 glutathione S-transferase (GST) L2 fusion proteins in Escherichia coli. In this system, L1 forms pentamers, GST=L2 associates with these pentamers, and L1+L2 complexes are subsequently isolated by using the GST tag on L2. The stoichiometry of L1:L2 in purified L1+L2 complexes was 5:1, indicating that a single molecule of L2 interacts with an L1 pentamer. Coexpression of HPV11 L1 with deletion mutants of HPV11 L2 defined an L1-binding domain contained within amino acids 396 to 439 near the carboxy terminus of L2. L2 proteins from eight different human and animal papillomavirus serotypes were tested for their ability to interact with HPV11 L1. This analysis targeted a hydrophobic region within the L1-binding domain of L2 as critical for L1 binding. Introduction of negative charges into this hydrophobic region by site-directed mutagenesis disrupted L1 binding. L1-L2 interactions were not significantly disrupted by treatment with high salt concentrations (2 M NaCl), weak detergents, and urea concentrations of up to 2 M, further indicating that L1 binding by this domain is mediated by strong hydrophobic interactions. L1+L2 protein complexes were able to form virus-like particles in vitro at pH 5.2 and also at pH 6.8, a pH that is nonpermissive for assembly of L1 protein alone. Thus, L1/L2 interactions are primarily hydrophobic, encompass a relatively short stretch of amino acids, and have significant effects upon in vitro assembly.
Rules of Connectivity between Geniculate Cells and Simple Cells in Cat Primary Visual Cortex

Hundreds of thalamic axons ramify within a column of cat visual cortex; yet each layer 4 neuron receives input from only a fraction of them. We have examined the specificity of these connections by recording simultaneously from layer 4 simple cells and cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus with spatially overlapping receptive fields (n = 221 cell pairs). Because of the precise retinotopic organization of visual cortex, the geniculate axons and simple-cell dendrites of these cell pairs should have overlapped within layer 4. Nevertheless, monosynaptic connections were identified in only 33% of all cases, as estimated by cross-correlation analysis. The visual responses of monosynaptically connected geniculate cells and simple cells were closely related. The probability of connection was greatest when a geniculate center overlapped a strong simple-cell subregion of the same sign (ON or OFF) near the center of the subregion. This probability was further increased when the time courses of the visual responses were similar. In addition, the connections were strongest when the simple-cell subregion and the geniculate center were matched in position, sign, and size. The rules of connectivity between geniculate afferents and simple cells resemble those found for retinal afferents to geniculate cells. The connections along the retinogeniculocortical pathway, therefore, show a precision that goes beyond simple retinotopy to include many other response properties, such as receptive-field sign, timing, subregion strength, and size. This specificity in wiring emphasizes the need for developmental mechanisms (presumably correlation-based) that can select among afferents that differ only slightly in their response properties.
Explicating Web Site Interactivity

This study identifies two distinct conceptualizations of interactivity in the communication literature—the functional view and the contingency view. Although the functional view has predominated academic research on interactivity, this study operationalizes the contingency view in the context of an experiment designed to investigate the impression formation effects of interactivity in Web-based mass communication. A third of the participants in a between-participants experiment (N=60) were exposed to the lowinteractivity version (no hyperlinks) of a political candidate’s Web site, another third to the medium-interactivity version (a single layer of related links), and the remaining third to the high-interactivity version (two hierarchical layers of related links). The results indicate that the level of Web site interactivity influenced participants’ perceptions of the candidate as well as their levels of agreement with his policy positions. Implications for conceptual development of interactivity are discussed.
WSMO-PA: Formal Specification of Public Administration Service Model on Semantic Web Service Ontology

In this paper we define a formal model for a public administration service on the basis of the Web service modeling ontology (WSMO). For this purpose we employ the generic public service object model of the governance enterprise architecture (GEA) providing a PA domain specific semantics. We investigate conceptual mappings between PA entities and WSMO elements, and on the real-world use case present the detailed formal PA service model based on the WSMO service model
A Comparison of Online Trust Building Factors between Potential Customers and Repeat Customers

There is disclosed a pharmaceutical composition of stabilized [Leu13]-motilin-Hse. The composition comprises at least one of organic acids and salts thereof, as a first stabilizer, and pH thereof is adjusted in a range of 5.5-8.0. The composition may contain at least one of substances selected from saccharides, amino acids, proteins and salts thereof, as a second stabilizer. Conversion of [Leu13]-motilin-Hse into [Leu13]-motilin-Hse-lactone is suppressed by increasing pH value and deamidization in asparagine residue at 19-position is suppressed by the presence of the organic acid or salt thereof.
An Inexpensive Dual-Chamber Particle Monitor: Laboratory Characterization

Abstract In developing countries, high levels of particle pollution from the use of coal and biomass fuels for household cooking and heating are a major cause of ill health and premature mortality. The cost and complexity of existing monitoring equipment, combined with the need to sample many locations, make routine quantification of household particle pollution levels difficult. Recent advances in technology, however, have enabled the development of a small, portable, data-logging particle monitor modified from commercial smoke alarm technology that can meet the needs of surveys in the developing world at reasonable cost. Laboratory comparisons of a prototype particle monitor developed at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) with gravi-metric filters, a tapered element oscillating microbalance, and a TSI DustTrak to quantify the UCB particle monitor response as a function of both concentration and particle size and to examine sensor response in relation to changes in temperature, relative humidity, and elevation are presented here. UCB particle monitors showed good linearity in response to different concentrations of laboratory-generated oleic acid aerosols with a coarse (mass median diameter, 2.1 µm) and fine (mass median diameter, 0.27–0.42 µm) size distributions (average r2 = 0.997 ± 0.005). The photoelectric and ionization chamber showed a wide range of responses based on particle size and, thus, require calibration with the aerosol of interest. The ionization chamber was five times more sensitive to fine rather than coarse particles, whereas the photoelectric chamber was five times more sensitive to coarse than fine. The ratio of the response between the two sensors has the potential for mass calibration of individual data points based on estimated parameters of the size distribution. The results demonstrate the significant potential of this monitor, which will facilitate the evaluation of interventions (improved fuels, stoves, and ventilation) on indoor air pollution levels and research on the impacts of indoor particle levels on health in developing countries.
Adaptive style in children with cancer: implications for a positive psychology approach.

OBJECTIVE To describe the adaptive style paradigm as a heuristic model for understanding the very positive psychosocial adjustment that has been observed in children with cancer, and to integrate findings regarding repressive adaptive style into a broader positive psychology framework. METHOD A selective review of the literature on adaptive style, and its' relevance to outcomes of depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, somatic distress, and health-related quality of life in children with cancer. RESULTS Studies have found children with cancer report low levels of psychological distress. Adaptive style is a much stronger predictor of psychosocial outcomes than is health history. CONCLUSION Children with cancer represent a flourishing population. A repressive adaptive style is one pathway to resilience in this population. Additional constructs from the domain of positive psychology are reviewed, and a positive psychology model is suggested as a framework for guiding future research in this area.
Protective factors in the attainment of resilience in persons with disability

People who live with a physical disability requires further attention. Living as a disabled person is not easy, especially if the individual was born as a normal person. This study aims to identify the protective factors that play an inﬂuential role in the attainment of resilience in individuals who experience physical changes as a disabled person. This research applied the instrumental case study approach. The participants consisted of eight individuals with physical disabilities. The data was gathered using an in-depth interview, while the thematic analysis technique was used in the data analysis. The results show that there were eight protective factors involved in achieving resilience in individuals who experience physical change as a disabled person. The eight factors consist of four external protective factors; social support, psychological intervention, the presence of a source of inspiration and the availability of public facilities for persons with disabilities. There are also four internal protective factors, namely religiosity, the willingness to learn, an awareness of social support, and an awareness of self-identity. The results of this study can be implemented in order to assist in the attainment of resilience among other groups of individuals who also undergo a change of physical condition through the strengthening of the eight protective factors.
An application of different artificial intelligences techniques for water quality prediction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a new technique with a flexible mathematical structure that is capable of identifying complex non-linear relationships between input and output data when compared with other classical modelling techniques. In this study, different techniques of AI have been investigated in prediction of water quality parameters including: multi-layer perceptron neural networks (MLP-ANN), ensemble neural networks (E-ANN) and support vector machine (SVM). The parameters were investigated in terms of the following: the dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). To assess the effect of input parameters on the model, the sensitivity analysis was adopted. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, three statistical indexes were used, namely; correlation coefficient (CC), mean square error (MSE) and correlation of efficiency (CE). The principle aim of this study is to develop a computationally efficient and robust approach for predicting water quality parameters which could reduce the cost and labour for measuring these parameters. This research concentrates on the Johor river in Johor State, Malaysia where the dynamics of river water quality are significantly altered. Key words: Artificial intelligence, water quality prediction model.
The dynamics of a fully radiative rapidly rotating star

Recent results from interferometry and asteroseismology require models of rapidly rotating stars that are more and more precise. We describe the basic structure and the hydrodynamics of a fully radiative star as a preliminary step towards more realistic models of rotating stars. We consider a solar mass of perfect gas enclosed in a spherical container. The gas is self-gravitating and rotating, and is the seat of nuclear heating, and heat diffusion is due to radiative diffusion with Kramers type opacities. Equations are solved numerically with spectral methods in two dimensions with a radial Gauss-Lobatto grid and spherical harmonics. We computed the centrifugally flattened structure of such a star: the von Zeipel model, which says that the energy flux is proportional to the local effective gravity is tested. We show that it overestimates the ratio of the polar to the equatorial energy flux by almost a factor 2. We also determine the Brunt-Vaisala frequency distribution and show that outer equatorial regions in a radiative zone are convectively unstable when the rotation is fast enough. We compute the differential rotation and meridional circulation stemming from the baroclinicity of the star and show that, in such radiative zones, equatorial regions rotate faster than polar ones. The surface differential rotation is also shown to reach a universal profile when rotation is slow enough (less than 36% of the breakup one), as long as viscosity and Prandlt number remain small.
Alteration of benthic communities associated with copper contamination linked to boat moorings

Although copper (Cu) is an essential element for life, leaching from boat paint can cause excess environmental loading in enclosed marinas. The effects of copper contamination on benthic macrofaunal communities were examined in three San Diego Bay marinas (America’s Cup, Harbor Island West and East) in Southern California, USA. The distribution of Cu concentration in sediments exhibited a clear spatial gradient, with hotspots created by the presence of boats, which in two marinas exceeded the effect range medium (ERM). Elevated sediment Cu was associated with differences in benthic assemblages, reduced species richness and enhanced dominance in America’s Cup and Harbor Island West, whereas Harbor Island East did not appear to be affected. At sites without boats there were greater abundances of some amphipods such as the species Desdimelita sp. , Harpinia sp. , Aoroides sp. , Corophium sp. , Podocerus sp. , bivalves such as Lyonsia californica, Musculista senhousia, Macoma sp. , and polychaetes such as Diplocirrus sp. In contrast, at sites with boats, densities of Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata, Polydora nuchalis, Euchone limnicola, Exogone lourei, Tubificoides spp. were enhanced. The limited impact on Harbor Island East suggests not only lower Cu input rates and increased water flushing and mixing, but also the presence of adequate defense mechanisms that regulate availability and mitigate toxic impacts. At all three marinas, Cu in tissues of several macrobenthic species exhibited Cu bioaccumulation above levels found in the surrounding environment. The annelids Lumbrineris sp. and Tubificoides spp. , and the amphipod Desdimelita sp. contained high levels of Cu, suggesting they function as Cu bioaccumulators. The spionid polychaetes Polydora nuchalis and Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata had much lower Cu concentrations than surrounding sediments, suggesting they function as Cu bioregulators. The macrobenthic invertebrates in San Diego Bay marinas that tolerate Cu pollution (e.g. P. nuchalis, P. paucibranchiata, Euchone limnicola, Typosyllis sp., Tubificoides sp.) may function as indicators of high-Cu conditions, whereas the presence of Cu-sensitive species (e.g. Podocerus sp., Aoroides sp., Harpinia sp., Macoma sp., Lyonsia californica) may indicate healthier conditions (less Cu-stressed). Parallel responses by faunas of Shelter Island Yacht Basin, also in San Diego Bay, suggest potential for development of regional Cu contamination assessment criteria, and call for functional comparisons with other marinas and coastal water bodies.
An Implementation of a FIR Filter on a GPU

In this paper we describe an implementation of the Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter on a modern graphics processing unit (GPU). The FIR filter has a number of applications in audio processing. Modern GPUs are known to have higher GFLOPs rates compared to the CPUs. The new PCI-X Express bus enables fast data transfers between the video card and the main memory. We compare the GPU implementation of the FIR filter with the SSE-optimized CPU implementation. We used Geforce 6600 video card and the Pentium 4-HT 3.2 GHz processor-based PC in our experiments. We varied several parameters of the GPU implementation to achieve highest performance. The results indicate that the GPU implementation is faster than the SSE-optimized implementation when the FIR filter has a large number of taps and therefore requires a large number of data. We also evaluated the performance of radio receiving application. The results indicated that using GPU-optimized building blocks improves the performance of the application.
Dermal fibroblasts from long-lived Ames dwarf mice maintain their in vivo resistance to mitochondrial generated reactive oxygen species (ROS)

Activation of p38 MAPK by ROS involves dissociation of an inactive, reduced thioredoxin-ASK1 complex [(SH)2Trx-ASK1]. Release of ASK1 activates its kinase activity thus stimulating the p38 MAPK pathway. The level of p38 MAPK activity is, therefore, regulated by the balance of free vs. bound ASK1. Longevity of Ames dwarf mice is attributed to their resistance to oxidative stress. The levels of (SH)2 Trx-ASK1 are more abundant in young and old dwarf mice compared to their age-matched controls suggesting that the levels of this complex may play a role in their resistance to oxidative stress. In these studies we demonstrate that dermal fibroblasts from these long-lived mice exhibit (a) higher levels of (SH)2Trx-ASK1 that correlate with their resistance to ROS generated by inhibitors of electron transport chain complexes CI (rotenone), CII (3-nitropropionic acid), CIII, (antimycin A), and H2O2-mediated activation of p38 MAPK, and (b) maintain their in vivo resistance to ROS generated by 3NPA. We propose that elevated levels of (SH)2Trx-ASK1 play a role in conferring resistance to mitochondrial generated oxidative stress and decreased endogenous ROS which are characteristics of longevity determination.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of group screening methods as compared to no group screening

The focus of the paper is on the comparison of results obtained using group screening versus not using group screening in an experimental design methodology applied to a semiconductor manufacturing simulation model. The experiments were performed on the cycle time for the main product in the fabrication, which takes about 250 steps before completion. High utilization and large queue sizes were the basis for determining the five most critical workstations in the fabrication. Three parameters for each workstation were set as factors for investigation plus another more general important factor making a total of 16 input factors. A 2-stage group-screening experiment and a 2/sup k-p/ factional factorial were performed to identify the significant factors affecting the cycle time for the product. The results showed that the two methods could be very similar or very different depending on the choice of significance level for group screening, particularly at the early stages of eliminating group factors.
GSTP1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genetic polymorphisms and total serum GST concentration in stable male COPD

Abstract The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that glutathione- S-transferase (GST) genotypes were associated with COPD. GSTP1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by DNA methods and GST activity spectrophotometrically in older male Caucasian Croats (non- -smokers, ex-smokers, and smokers) with stable COPD (n = 30) and sex/age matched controls (n = 60). The distribution of GSTP1 genotypes and alleles in controls vs. COPD showed a statistical difference (p < 0.05). The odds ratio of CC/CT+TT (wild type GSTP1 exon 6 vs. joint heterozygous and mutant homozygous GSTP1 exon 6) was 10.000 and statistically different (p = 0.002). In this study, the GSTP1 mutant genotype of exon 5 (GG), as well as GSTP1 mutant and heterozygous genotypes of exon 6 (TT and CT), were suggested to be genetic contributors to COPD susceptibility. Null GSTM1, null GSTT1 and joint GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes were not disease associated. Serum GST was not associated with GST genotypes and COPD or smoking history in our study subjects. Conclusions drawn from the study should be further supported and clarified by studies with larger sample sizes.