Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction of phosphorylated tyrosine hydroxylase with 14‐3‐3 proteins: evidence for a phosphoserine 40‐dependent association

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) has been reported to require binding of 14‐3‐3 proteins for optimal activation by phosphorylation. We examined the effects of phosphorylation at Ser19, Ser31 and Ser40 of bovine TH and human TH isoforms on their binding to the 14‐3‐3 proteins BMH1/BMH2, as well as 14‐3‐3 ζ and a mixture of sheep brain 14‐3‐3 proteins. Phosphorylation of Ser31 did not result in 14‐3‐3 binding, however, phosphorylation of TH on Ser40 increased its affinity towards the yeast 14‐3‐3 isoforms BMH1/BMH2 and sheep brain 14‐3‐3, but not for 14‐3‐3 ζ. On phosphorylation of both Ser19 and Ser40, binding to the 14‐3‐3 ζ isoform also occurred, and the binding affinity to BMH1 and sheep brain 14‐3‐3 increased. Both phosphoserine‐specific antibodies directed against the 10 amino acids surrounding Ser19 or Ser40 of TH, and the phosphorylated peptides themselves, inhibited the association between phosphorylated TH and 14‐3‐3 proteins. This was also found when heparin was added, or after proteolytic removal of the N‐terminal 37 amino acids of Ser40‐phosphorylated TH. Binding of BMH1 to phosphorylated TH decreased the rate of dephosphorylation by protein phosphatase 2A, but no significant change in enzymatic activity was observed in the presence of BMH1. These findings further support a role for 14‐3‐3 proteins in the regulation of catecholamine biosynthesis and demonstrate isoform specificity for both TH and 14‐3‐3 proteins.
European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) 5-2-2012 WHAT IS THE BUSINESS MODEL BEHIND E-HEALTH ? A PATTERN-BASED APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE PROFIT

Inspired by the vast opportunities that today’s technologies provide and driven by the need to both cut the costs and increase the quality of health services delivery, many e-health initiatives and ventures were launched in the last couple of years. However, a large number of these projects failed. They were either not able to articulate a clear value proposition to patients or lacked a sustainable profit generation formula. It seems to be difficult to understand the business logic behind e-health services in today’s complex environment. This study aims to analyze and explain the business logic of e-health service provisions. Based on a design pattern-based approach, three distinct examples are illustrated as archetypical design solutions of successful business models: freemium, two-sided market, and crowd-based e-health. Explanations of the different, isolated business logics help to foster the understanding of the essence of value creation and revenue flows. These findings provide an instrument for e-health marketers to develop more sustainable business models. They facilitate further research in innovation and experimentation with different business model designs.
A new rat model of type 2 diabetes: the fat-fed, streptozotocin-treated rat.

This study was initiated to develop an animal model of type 2 diabetes in a non-obese, outbred rat strain that replicates the natural history and metabolic characteristics of the human syndrome and is suitable for pharmaceutical research. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 31), 7 weeks old, were fed normal chow (12% of calories as fat), or high-fat diet (40% of calories as fat) for 2 weeks and then injected with streptozotocin (STZ, 50 mg/kg intravenously). Before STZ injection, fat-fed rats had similar glucose concentrations to chow-fed rats, but significantly higher insulin, free fatty acid (FFA), and triglyceride (TG) concentrations (P < .01 to .0001). Plasma insulin concentrations in response to oral glucose (2 g/kg) were increased 2-fold by fat feeding (P < .01), and adipocyte glucose clearance under maximal insulin stimulation was significantly reduced (P < .001), suggesting that fat feeding induced insulin resistance. STZ injection increased glucose (P < .05), insulin (P < .05), FFA (P < .05), and TG (P < .0001) concentrations in fat-fed rats (Fat-fed/STZ rats) compared with chow-fed, STZ-injected rats (Chow-fed/STZ rats). Fat-fed/STZ rats were not insulin deficient compared with normal chow-fed rats, but had hyperglycemia and a somewhat higher insulin response to an oral glucose challenge (both P < .05). In addition, insulin-stimulated adipocyte glucose clearance was reduced in Fat-fed/STZ rats compared with both chow-fed and Chow-fed/STZ rats (P < .001). Finally, Fat-fed/STZ rats were sensitive to the glucose lowering effects of metformin and troglitazone. In conclusion, Fat-fed/STZ rats provide a novel animal model for type 2 diabetes, simulates the human syndrome, and is suitable for the testing of antidiabetic compounds.
Motion learning and adaptive impedance for robot control during physical interaction with humans

This article combines programming by demonstration and adaptive control for teaching a robot to physically interact with a human in a collaborative task requiring sharing of a load by the two partners. Learning a task model allows the robot to anticipate the partner's intentions and adapt its motion according to perceived forces. As the human represents a highly complex contact environment, direct reproduction of the learned model may lead to sub-optimal results. To compensate for unmodelled uncertainties, in addition to learning we propose an adaptive control algorithm that tunes the impedance parameters, so as to ensure accurate reproduction. To facilitate the illustration of the concepts introduced in this paper and provide a systematic evaluation, we present experimental results obtained with simulation of a dyad of two planar 2-DOF robots.
Distribution patterns of cultivated watermelon forms in Zimbabwe using DIVA-GIS

Identification of potential areas and regions for collection of watermelon germplasm is pivotal for better utilization of the available diversity. DIVA-GIS were used on all watermelon collections in the National Genebank of Zimbabwe to explore the pattern of distribution of two forms of watermelons; sweet watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus) and cow-melon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides). DIVA-GIS analysis revealed that most watermelon accessions have been collected at altitudes ranging from 160 to 1550 m above sea level, and that sandy loam and sand soils apparently are preferred. Distribution of the two forms of watermelons across soil types, altitudinal ranges and provinces is similar. In order to maintain watermelon diversity, promotion of in-situ or on-farm conservation of watermelon genetic resources using best practices in traditional farming system is recommended. Furthermore, this should be complemented by ex-situ conservation through gap collection missions in order to identify and document additional diversity hotspots. Key words: DIVA-GIS, sweet watermelon, cow-melon, Citrullus lanatus, in-situ, on-farm conservation.
Development of a High-Precision Calorimeter for Measuring Power Loss in Electrical Machines

This paper is concerned with the development of a high-precision 30-kW (40-hp) calorimeter and is specifically focused on how experimental errors resulting from calorimeter design and operating procedures are eliminated or mitigated. A complete calibration for the calorimetric system using a DC heater is conducted, and two induction motors rated at 5.5 and 30 kW (7 and 40 hp, respectively) are carefully tested both within and outside of the calorimeter. Loss segregation is in accordance with the IEEE 112 method B. Experimental results for the comparison of calorimetric and input-output methods clearly confirm the effectiveness of the calorimeter in terms of accurate power loss measurement. The accuracy of the calorimeter is approximately 5.6 W in the measurement of power loss of up to 4.5 kW with a resolution of 0.1 W.
Excited heavy-light systems and hadronic transitions

A detailed study of orbital and radial excited states in ${D,D}_{s},B,$ and ${B}_{s}$ systems is performed. The chiral quark model provides the framework for the calculation of pseudoscalar meson $(\ensuremath{\pi},K,\dots{})$ hadronic transitions among heavy-light excited and ground states. To calculate the excited states masses and wave functions, we must resort to a relativistic quark model. Our model includes the leading order corrections in ${1/m}_{(c,b)}$ (e.g., mixing). Numerical results for masses and light hadronic transition rates are compared to existing experimental data. The effective coupling of the chiral quark model can be determined by comparing with independent results from lattice simulations ${(g}_{A}^{8}=0.53\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.11)$ or fitting to known widths ${(g}_{A}^{8}=0.82\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.09). $
Isprs Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Structured Sparse Method for Hyperspectral Unmixing

Hyperspectral Unmixing (HU) has received increasing attention in the past decades due to its ability of unveiling information latent in hyperspectral data. Unfortunately, most existing methods fail to take advantage of the spatial information in data. To overcome this limitation, we propose a Structured Sparse regularized Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (SS-NMF) method from the following two aspects. First, we incorporate a graph Laplacian to encode the manifold structures embedded in the hyperspectral data space. In this way, the highly similar neighboring pixels can be grouped together. Second, the lasso penalty is employed in SS-NMF for the fact that pixels in the same manifold structure are sparsely mixed by a common set of relevant bases. These two factors act as a new structured sparse constraint. With this constraint, our method can learn a compact space, where highly similar pixels are grouped to share correlated sparse representations. Experiments on real hyperspectral data sets with different noise levels demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods significantly.
Models for Sentence Compression: A Comparison across Domains, Training Requirements and Evaluation Measures

Sentence compression is the task of producing a summary at the sentence level. This paper focuses on three aspects of this task which have not received detailed treatment in the literature: training requirements, scalability, and automatic evaluation. We provide a novel comparison between a supervised constituent-based and an weakly supervised word-based compression algorithm and examine how these models port to different domains (written vs. spoken text). To achieve this, a human-authored compression corpus has been created and our study highlights potential problems with the automatically gathered compression corpora currently used. Finally, we assess whether automatic evaluation measures can be used to determine compression quality.
A model of marine ice formation within Antarctic ice shelf rifts

Large rifts that open in Antarctic ice shelves are known to be filled by snow accumulations, ice shelf fragments, and sea ice. This work demonstrates how these rifts may also be filled from below, through their interaction with ocean water, by marine ice. The model presented here quantifies both the rate of marine ice accumulation at the top of the rift, which results from melt-driven convection at its sides, and the impact of this process on waters occupying the confined environment of the rift. The results show that such a system could fill the rift with tens of meters of marine ice. In the process the temperature and salinity of the ambient water in the rift evolve through two distinct phases. The first is characterized by rapid change that takes the properties of the ambient water to near-equilibrium values, followed by a second phase of much slower change. The melting rate at the lower part of the walls of the rift emerges as the principal factor influencing many aspects of model behavior. Testing the model against field observations from an Antarctic rift showed it to be robust and successful in reproducing the main observed features, including the presence of a thick layer of supercooled ocean water inside the rift.
Loess in the Tian Shan and its implications for the development of the Gurbantunggut Desert and drying of northern Xinjiang

Eolian loess is widely distributed on the various geomorphic surfaces between 700–2400 m a.s. l. on the northern slope of the Tian Shan. It is formed in a synchronous manner with dust transported from the Gurbantunggut Desert in the Junggar Basin. The thickest section of loess was found in the Shawan and Shihezi regions. Paleomagnetic and climatic proxy analyses of over 71 m of a loess-paleosol sequence on the highest terrace of the Qingshui He (River) in the Shawan show that the paleomagnetic Bruhues/Matuyama (B/M) boundary lies at the bottom of paleosol S8, at a depth of 69.5 m, and the bottom of the sequence was estimated to be ∼0.8 Ma. This implies that the extremely dry climatic conditions in the Junggar Basin and the initial Gurbantunggut Desert were present at least by 0.8 Ma. High-resolution grain size series demonstrate that this area and desert expansion experienced two dramatic periods of desert expansions that occurred at ∼0.65 Ma and 0.5 Ma, respectively; and the subsequent continuous enhancement led to the environment presently observed. This tremendous environmental effect, caused by large-scale expansion of the desert and arid region of inner Asia, might be an important driving force for the global temperature drop that occurred in the mid-Pleistocene.
Kinetic analysis of the role of the tyrosine 13, phenylalanine 56 and glutamine 54 network in the U1A/U1 hairpin II interaction

The A protein of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle, interacting with its stem–loop RNA target (U1hpII), is frequently used as a paradigm for RNA binding by recognition motif domains (RRMs). U1A/U1hpII complex formation has been proposed to consist of at least two steps: electrostatically mediated alignment of both molecules followed by locking into place, based on the establishment of close-range interactions. The sequence of events between alignment and locking remains obscure. Here we examine the roles of three critical residues, Tyr13, Phe56 and Gln54, in complex formation and stability using Biacore. Our mutational and kinetic data suggest that Tyr13 plays a more important role than Phe56 in complex formation. Mutational analysis of Gln54, combined with molecular dynamics studies, points to Arg52 as another key residue in association. Based on our data and previous structural and modeling studies, we propose that electrostatic alignment of the molecules is followed by hydrogen bond formation between the RNA and Arg52, and the sequential establishment of interactions with loop bases (including Tyr13). A quadruple stack, sandwiching two bases between Phe56 and Asp92, would occur last and coincide with the rearrangement of a C-terminal helix that partially occludes the RRM surface in the free protein.
GRAIN YIELD OF MAIZE VARIETIES OF DIFFERENT MATURITY GROUPS UNDER MARGINAL RAINFALL CONDITIONS

This study was conducted to evaluate the yield performance of different maturity groups of maize varieties at different planting dates under the marginal rainfall conditions of the rainforest ecology of Nigeria and identify the high yielding ones. The maize varieties were evaluated on five and three different planting dates in 2001 and 2005 late cropping seasons respectively. Seven planting dates were used in 2002 and 2006 early cropping seasons. All plantings were done at a weekly interval. Data were obtained on grain yield and yield components. Grain yield and yield components decreased as planting was delayed in the late seasons while in the early seasons they showed contrasting trend. To obtain optimum yield for the maturity classes evaluated, the varieties must be planted about the end of August or first week of September for the late season and about the middle of April in the early season. At the optimum planting date TZEE- WSRBCs and ACR 90 POOL16-DT with grain yield of 3.8 tons ha-1 and 6.4 tons ha-1 were the highest yielding varieties in 2001 and 2002 respectively. In 2005 late cropping season, TZECOMP3DT (1.7 tons/ha) was the highest yielding while in 2006 early cropping seasons, ACR 95 TZECOMP4C3 (4.37 tons/ha) was the highest yielding variety.
Computer based system for strabismus and amblyopia therapy

Development of the computer based system for strabismus and amblyopia therapy is discussed in the paper. In the case of amblyopia or ‘lazy-eye’ syndrome, the therapy is typically conducted in two ways: by wearing a patch over the non-amblyopic eye for several hours per day or blurring the vision in the good eye with penalizing drops or with extra power in the glasses. The disadvantage of this types of therapy is the lack of binocular vision. The proposed approach retains binocular vision. Parameters corresponded to strabismus can be measured much faster using the described system. Another advantage is that therapy may take place at user's home, without time-consuming visits to the clinic.
Leader-Member Exchange and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: the Mediating Impact of Self-Esteem

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) from the perspectives of superior as well as subordinates on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Self-esteem was also examined as a mediator variable. Data were gathered from a sample of 300 non-supervisory employees and their 118 superiors, that represented banking organizations situated in the Klang Valley of Malaysia. The analysis indicated that superior-LMX had positive impact on OCB, but the impact of subordinate-LMX was not significant. Contrary to what was hypothesized, self-esteem did not influence both superior-LMX and subordinate-LMX relationships with OCB. Key implications of the survey findings both for theory and for practice are discussed, potential limitations are specified, and directions for future research are suggested.
Evaluation and management of patients with propionic acidemia undergoing liver transplantation: A comprehensive review

Abstract: Propionic acidemia is a rare metabolic disorder that often results in episodic hyperammonemia, basal ganglia infarction, mental retardation, and cardiomyopathy. OLT has been used as a treatment for propionic acidemia, but its benefit in patients with this disease is unclear. The current study was undertaken to clarify the role of OLT in the management of this disease. The medical literature, a national registry of US OLT recipients, and a single institution liver transplant experience were reviewed for cases of OLT for propionic acidemia. Accumulated cases demonstrate that OLT has resulted in clear evidence of clinical improvement in several patients, often obviating the need for dietary restriction or other forms of medical management. OLT appears to halt the decline in neurocognitive function often associated with propionic acidemia. In total, 12 patients with propionic acidemia have undergone a total of 14 OLTs. A quantitative analysis of outcomes shows an overall patient survival rate of 72.2% at one year after OLT. In conclusion, OLT should be considered a treatment option for patients with propionic acidemia who continue to experience episodes of hyperammonemia in spite of maximal medical therapy. Early OLT may limit the development of mental retardation and/or cardiomyopathy.
Changes in Microbial Plankton Assemblages Induced by Mesoscale Oceanographic Features in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Mesoscale circulation generated by the Loop Current in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) delivers growth-limiting nutrients to the microbial plankton of the euphotic zone. Consequences of physicochemically driven community shifts on higher order consumers and subsequent impacts on the biological carbon pump remain poorly understood. This study evaluates microbial plankton <10 μm abundance and community structure across both cyclonic and anti-cyclonic circulation features in the NGOM using flow cytometry (SYBR Green I and autofluorescence parameters). Non-parametric multivariate hierarchical cluster analyses indicated that significant spatial variability in community structure exists such that stations that clustered together were defined as having a specific ‘microbial signature’ (i.e. statistically homogeneous community structure profiles based on relative abundance of microbial groups). Salinity and a combination of sea surface height anomaly and sea surface temperature were determined by distance based linear modeling to be abiotic predictor variables significantly correlated to changes in microbial signatures. Correlations between increased microbial abundance and availability of nitrogen suggest nitrogen-limitation of microbial plankton in this open ocean area. Regions of combined coastal water entrainment and mesoscale convergence corresponded to increased heterotrophic prokaryote abundance relative to autotrophic plankton. The results provide an initial assessment of how mesoscale circulation potentially influences microbial plankton abundance and community structure in the NGOM.
Opportunities and implications of using the co- products from biofuel production as feeds for livestock

The Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) has provided funding for this project but has not conducted the research or written this report. While the authors have worked on the best information available to them, neither HGCA nor the authors shall in any event be liable for any loss, damage or injury howsoever suffered directly or indirectly in relation to the report or the research on which it is based.
Activation of distinct cAMP- and cGMP-dependent pathways by relaxant agents in isolated gastric muscle cells.

The mechanism of action of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) was examined in isolated gastric and taenia coli muscle cells and compared with that of nitric oxide (NO), sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and isoproterenol. In gastric muscle cells, VIP stimulated NO production, increased adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) levels, and induced relaxation in a concentration-dependent fashion. The NO synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine abolished NO and cGMP production and partly inhibited relaxation. The soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor LY 83583 abolished cGMP production and partly inhibited relaxation. (R)-p-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphorothioate [(R)-p-cAMPS], a preferential inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAK), and KT5823, a preferential inhibitor of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (cGK), partly inhibited relaxation separately and abolished relaxation in combination. The pattern implied that VIP induced relaxation by activation of cAK and by NO-mediated stimulation of cGMP and activation of cGK. In taenia coli muscle cells, VIP did not increase NO production or cGMP levels: relaxation was accompanied by an increase in cAMP and was partly inhibited by (R)-p-cAMPS and KT5823 and abolished by a combination of both inhibitors. Isoproterenol increased only cAMP levels in both cell types, which induced relaxation by activating cAK at low concentrations of agonist and both cAK and cGK at high concentrations in a pattern identical to that observed with VIP in taenia coli muscle cells. SNP and NO increased only cGMP levels in both cell types, which induced relaxation by activating cGK only. We conclude that cAK and cGK can be activated separately and mediate relaxation independently. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)