Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and Molecular Cloning of a Novel Glycoside Hydrolase Family of Core 1 Type O-Glycan-specific Endo-α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from Bifidobacterium longum*

We found endo-α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase in most bifidobacterial strains, which are predominant bacteria in the human colon. This enzyme catalyzes the liberation of galactosyl β1,3-N-acetyl-d-galactosamine (Galβ1,3GalNAc) α-linked to serine or threonine residues from mucin-type glycoproteins. The gene (engBF) encoding the enzyme has been cloned from Bifidobacterium longum JCM 1217. The protein consisted of 1,966 amino acid residues, and the central domain (590–1381 amino acid residues) exhibited 31–53% identity to hypothetical proteins of several bacteria including Clostridium perfringens and Streptococcus pneumoniae. The recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli liberated Galβ1,3GalNAc disaccharide from Galβ1,3GalNAcα1pNP and asialofetuin, but did not release GalNAc, Galβ1,3(GlcNAcβ1,6)GalNAc, GlcNAcβ1,3GalNAc, and Galβ1,3GlcNAc from each p-nitrophenyl (pNP) substrate, and also did not release sialo-oligosaccharides from fetuin, indicating its strict substrate specificity for the Core 1-type structure. The stereochemical course of hydrolysis was determined by 1H NMR and was found to be retention. Site-directed mutagenesis of a total of 22 conserved Asp and Glu residues suggested that Asp-682 and Asp-789 are critical residues for the catalytic activity of the enzyme. The enzyme also exhibited transglycosylation activity toward various mono- and disaccharides and 1-alkanols, demonstrating its potential to synthesize neoglycoconjugates. This is the first report for the isolation of a gene encoding endo-α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from any organisms and for the establishment of a new glycoside hydrolase family (GH family 101).
Cyclophilin A catalyzes proline isomerization by an electrostatic handle mechanism

Significance One of the most widespread molecular switches in biochemical pathways is based on the isomerization of the amino acid proline, a process that normally is facilitated by enzymes known as “proline isomerases. ” We show that cyclophilin A, one of the most common proline isomerases, acts by a simple mechanism, which we describe as an “electrostatic handle. ” In this mechanism, the enzyme creates an electrostatic environment in its catalytic site that rotates a peptide bond in the substrate by pulling the electric dipole associated with the carbonyl group preceding the peptide bond itself. Our results thus identify a specific mechanism by which electrostatics is exploited in enzyme catalysis. Proline isomerization is a ubiquitous process that plays a key role in the folding of proteins and in the regulation of their functions. Different families of enzymes, known as “peptidyl-prolyl isomerases” (PPIases), catalyze this reaction, which involves the interconversion between the cis and trans isomers of the N-terminal amide bond of the amino acid proline. However, complete descriptions of the mechanisms by which these enzymes function have remained elusive. We show here that cyclophilin A, one of the most common PPIases, provides a catalytic environment that acts on the substrate through an electrostatic handle mechanism. In this mechanism, the electrostatic field in the catalytic site turns the electric dipole associated with the carbonyl group of the amino acid preceding the proline in the substrate, thus causing the rotation of the peptide bond between the two residues. We identified this mechanism using a combination of NMR measurements, molecular dynamics simulations, and density functional theory calculations to simultaneously determine the cis-bound and trans-bound conformations of cyclophilin A and its substrate as the enzymatic reaction takes place. We anticipate that this approach will be helpful in elucidating whether the electrostatic handle mechanism that we describe here is common to other PPIases and, more generally, in characterizing other enzymatic processes.
Differentiating Burnout from Depression: Personality Matters!

Stress-related affective disorders have been identified as a core health problem of the twenty-first century. In the endeavor to identify vulnerability factors, personality has been discussed as a major factor explaining and predicting disorders like depression or burnout. An unsolved question is whether there are specific personality factors allowing differentiation of burnout from depression. The present study tested the relation between one of the most prominent, biological personality theories, Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory, and common measures of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory General) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory 2) in a sample of German employees (N = 944) and a sample of inpatients (N = 425). Although the same personality traits (harm avoidance and self-directedness) were predominantly associated with burnout and depression, there was a much stronger association to depression than to burnout in both samples. Besides, we observed specific associations between personality traits and subcomponents of burnout. Our results underline differences in the association of burnout vs. depression to personality, which may mirror differences in scope. While symptoms of depression affect all aspects of life, burnout is supposed to be specifically related to the workplace and its requirements. The much stronger association of personality to depression can be important to select appropriate therapy methods and to develop a more specified treatment for burnout in comparison to depression.
Designing for- and with- vulnerable people

Ubiquitous technology, coupled with a surge in empirical research on people that engages people with multiple challenges in their lives, is increasingly revealing the potential for HCI to enrich the lives of vulnerable people. Designing for people with vulnerabilities requires an approach to participation that is sensitive to the risks of possible stigmatization and an awareness of the challenges for participant involvement. This workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners to explore the critical issues surrounding designing with and for vulnerable individuals. We aim to provoke discussion about how 'vulnerability' is defined in HCI, what methodological and ethical concerns are raised when working with specific cases, and ways of designing for future technologies that support vulnerable people in novel and sensitive ways.
Clinical evaluation of cobas core anti‐dsDNA EIA quant

The measurement of antibodies to double‐stranded DNA (anti‐dsDNA) is a useful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with connective tissue diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of the present study was to compare a new enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of anti‐dsDNA antibodies, which uses purified double‐stranded plasmid DNA as the antigen (anti‐dsDNA EIA Quant; Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany), with an established ELISA. The clinical usefulness of this new ELISA was also assessed. We measured anti‐dsDNA antibodies in 398 serum samples that were divided into four groups: 1) routine samples sent to our laboratory for an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test (n=229), 2) samples from blood donors (n=74), 3) samples from patients with SLE (n=48), and 4) samples from patients with other autoimmune diseases (n=47). The methods used were the Cobas Core Anti‐dsDNA EIA Quant (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) and the Anti‐dsDNA test (Gull Diagnostics, Bois d'Arcy, France). We obtained a kappa index and Spearman correlation coefficient in the comparative study, and sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios in the clinical study. The results obtained show a good agreement between the two methods in both the qualitative results (κ=0.91) and the quantitative data (r=0.854). The best accuracy, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and correlation with active disease were obtained with the Roche anti‐dsDNA assay. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 18:200–205, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Physical activity predicts microstructural integrity in memory-related networks in very old adults.

BACKGROUND Although the beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on memory and executive function are well established in older adults, little is known about the relationship between PA and brain microstructure and the contributions of physical functional limitations and chronic diseases. This study examined whether higher PA would be longitudinally associated with greater microstructural integrity in memory- and executive function-related networks and whether these associations would be independent of physical function and chronic diseases. METHODS Diffusion tensor imaging was obtained in 2006-2008 in 276 participants (mean age = 83.0 years, 58.7% female, 41.3% black) with PA (sedentary, lifestyle active, and exercise active) measured in 1997-1998. Gait speed, cognition, depressive symptoms, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, hypertension, stroke, and diabetes were measured at both time points. Mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy were computed from normal-appearing gray and white matter in frontoparietal and subcortical networks. Moderating effects of physical function and chronic diseases were tested using hierarchical regression models. RESULTS Compared with the sedentary, the exercise active group had lower mean diffusivity in the medial temporal lobe and the cingulate cortex (β, p values: -.405, .023 and -.497, .006, respectively), independent of age, sex, and race. Associations remained independent of other variables, although they were attenuated after adjustment for diabetes. Associations between PA and other neuroimaging markers were not significant. CONCLUSIONS Being exercise active predicts greater memory-related microstructural integrity in older adults. Future studies in older adults with diabetes are warranted to examine the neuroprotective effect of PA in these networks.
Opportunistic Spectrum Access approach in heterogeneous wireless scenario

Opportunistic Spectrum Access has recently emerged as a set of approaches that seek to minimize the problems of scarcity and inefficient use of radio spectrum caused by its current policies of administration and allocation. This paper presents some modifications and adjustments made to the Opportunistic Spectrum Access model developed by Urgaonkar, R. and Neely, M. (2008). We evaluate the applicability of this model in realistic primary wireless network scenarios deployed in the present (particularly, GSM in coexistence with DVB-T). We also introduce two additional optimization objectives that define new criteria of resource allocation: Proportional Fairness, which considers the particular requirements of each secondary user and maximizes the total system occupancy, and Max-Min Fairness, which sets a fair policy to distribute the spectrum availability in order to maximize the minimum value of throughput guaranteed to all secondary users.
A sneak into the Devil's Colony - Fake Profiles in Online Social Networks

Online Social Networks (OSNs) play an important role for internet users to carry out their daily activities like content sharing, news reading, posting messages, product reviews and discussing events etc. At the same time, various kinds of spammers are also equally attracted towards these OSNs. These cyber criminals including sexual predators, online fraudsters, advertising campaigners, catfishes, and social bots etc. exploit the network of trust by various means especially by creating fake profiles to spread their content and carry out scams. All these malicious identities are very harmful for both the users as well as the service providers. From the OSN service provider point of view, fake profiles affect the overall reputation of the network in addition to the loss of bandwidth. To spot out these malicious users, huge manpower effort and more sophisticated automated methods are needed. In this paper, various types of OSN threat generators like compromised profiles, cloned profiles and online bots (spam bots, social bots, like bots and influential bots) have been classified. An attempt is made to present several categories of features that have been used to train classifiers in order to identify a fake profile. Different data crawling approaches along with some existing data sources for fake profile detection have been identified. A refresher on existing cyber laws to curb social media based cyber crimes with their limitations is also presented.
0 80 4 . 12 48 v 1 [ he pth ] 8 A pr 2 00 8 WEAKLY-coupled IIA Flux Compactifications

We study compactifications of type IIA string theory on Calabi-Yau manifolds that are mirror to a subset of the type IIB LARGE-volume models. A combination of flux, α corrections and non-perturbative effects stabilises the moduli in a non-supersymmetric AdS vacuum. This vacuum has the feature that the (ten-dimensional) string coupling is exponentially small which can naturally lead to a TeV supersymmetry breaking scale with an intermediate string scale. The AdS vacuum can be uplifted to a dS one through the introduction of D6 branes, and complex-structure modular inflation can be realised. email: palti@thphys.ox. ac.uk email: gianmassimo.tasinato@uam.es email: jwa@uvic.ca
Post-ordering by Parsing for Japanese-English Statistical Machine Translation

Reordering is a difficult task in translating between widely different languages such as Japanese and English. We employ the post-ordering framework proposed by (Sudoh et al., 2011b) for Japanese to English translation and improve upon the reordering method. The existing post-ordering method reorders a sequence of target language words in a source language word order via SMT, while our method reorders the sequence by: 1) parsing the sequence to obtain syntax structures similar to a source language structure, and 2) transferring the obtained syntax structures into the syntax structures of the target language.
Physician associates and GPs in primary care: a comparison

Background Physician associates [PAs] (also known as physician assistants) are new to the NHS and there is little evidence concerning their contribution in general practice. Aim This study aimed to compare outcomes and costs of same-day requested consultations by PAs with those of GPs. Design and setting An observational study of 2086 patient records presenting at same-day appointments in 12 general practices in England. Method PA consultations were compared with those of GPs. Primary outcome was re-consultation within 14 days for the same or linked problem. Secondary outcomes were processes of care. Results There were no significant differences in the rates of re-consultation (rate ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.86 to 1.79, P = 0.25). There were no differences in rates of diagnostic tests ordered (1.08, 95% CI = 0.89 to 1.30, P = 0.44), referrals (0.95, 95% CI = 0.63 to 1.43, P = 0.80), prescriptions issued (1.16, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.53, P = 0.31), or patient satisfaction (1.00, 95% CI = 0.42 to 2.36, P = 0.99). Records of initial consultations of 79.2% (n = 145) of PAs and 48.3% (n = 99) of GPs were judged appropriate by independent GPs (P<0.001). The adjusted average PA consultation was 5.8 minutes longer than the GP consultation (95% CI = 2.46 to 7.1; P<0.001); cost per consultation was GBP £6.22, (US$ 10.15) lower (95% CI = −7.61 to −2.46, P<0.001). Conclusion The processes and outcomes of PA and GP consultations for same-day appointment patients are similar at a lower consultation cost. PAs offer a potentially acceptable and efficient addition to the general practice workforce.
BeppoSAX observations of 2‐Jy lobe‐dominated broad‐line sources ‐‐ I. The discovery of a hard X‐ray component

We present new BeppoSAX LEGS, MECS and PDS observations of five lobe-dominated, broad-line active galactic nuclei selected from the 2-Jy sample of southern radio sources. These include three radio quasars and two broad-line radio galaxies. ROSAT PSPC data, available for all the objects, are also used to constrain the spectral shape better in the soft X-ray band. The collected data cover the energy range 0.1-10 keV, reaching similar to 50 keV for one source (Pictor A), The main result from the spectral fits is that all sources have a hard X-ray spectrum with energy index alpha(x) similar to 0.75 in the 2-10 keV range. This is at variance with the situation at lower energies where these sources exhibit steeper spectra. Spectral breaks Delta alpha(x) similar to 0.5 at 1-2 keV characterize in fact the overall X-ray spectra of our objects. The flat, high-energy slope is very similar to that displayed by flat-spectrum/core-dominated quasars, which suggests that the same emission mechanism (most likely inverse Compton) produces the hard X-ray spectra in both classes. Finally, a tweak) thermal component is also present at low energies in the two broad-line radio galaxies included in our study.
Anisotropy tuning in Co/Pd multilayers : for application in exchange-springs

Exchange? spring systems have been proposed as one method of addressing the media trilemma, where a balance must be maintained between thermal stability, writeability and signal to noise ratio. High anisotropy films coupled to low anisotropy films, in bit patterned media (BPM), via the exchange interaction allow the reversal mechanism to be tailored such that thermal stability is maintained whilst the switching field remains realisable in terms of available write elements. Understanding how the exchange interaction is mediated by through exchange break layers (EBL) is key in successfully creating an optimal exchange spring structure based on Co/Pd thin films for applications such as BPM.The work presented in this thesis shows that the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) ofCo/Pd magnetic multilayers can be tuned by varying the Ar ion energy during deposition, usingremote plasma sputtering. This provides a novel method of tailoring the PMA without affecting the film composition and reduces the need for post fabrication processing. It is demonstrated that the reduction in PMA is due to chemical intermixing at the multilayer interface as the Ar ion energy is increased. This provides a method of creating two phase or graded exchange? spring materials for data storage or spin torque applications.In? situ anisotropy tuning was used to create hard and soft magnetic phases using Co/Pd multilayers to explore the effect of an exchange break layer (EBL) on exchange coupling. The relative coupling was investigated using Pd and Ta as the exchange break layer in two? phase anisotropy systems. The exchange? spring effect was found to extend 4 nm in the case of a Pd, whereas in the case of a Ta EBL only a 0.5 nm layer exhibited the same effect. These results highlight the importance of the choice of material for the EBL on the effective performance of the exchange? spring.
New York Heart Association class versus amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide for acute heart failure prognosis

Background: The prognostic value of the New York Heart Association classification (NYHAC) in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is unknown. Objectives: We sought to determine the relative value of NYHAC among patients with concomitantly measured amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) at presentation with ADHF. Materials and methods: NYHAC was determined for 720 patients with ADHF and 1-year mortality status was examined. Cox-proportional hazards analysis compared the prognostic accuracy of NYHAC with other ADHF risk measures. Results: NYHAC had a significant univariate association with 1-year mortality status (HR 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–1.94; p = 0.03) but was not a significant predictor of death in a multivariable model that included NT-proBNP (HR 2.14; 95% CI 1.65–2.81, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In contrast to objective measures such as NT-proBNP, the NYHAC appears to provide limited prognostic information among individuals with ADHF.
Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide Mediated the Antidiabetic and Antinephritic Effects in Diet-Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Sprague Dawley Rats via Regulation of NF-κB

Lycium barbarum, extensively utilized as a medicinal plant in China for years, exhibits antitumor, immunoregulative, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective properties. The present study aims to investigate the hyperglycemic and antidiabetic nephritic effects of polysaccharide which is separated from Lycium barbarum (LBPS) in high-fat diet-streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced rat models. The reduced bodyweight and enhanced blood glucose concentration in serum were observed in diabetic rats, and they were significantly normalized to the healthy level by 100 mg/kg of metformin (Met) and LBPS at doses of 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg. LBPS inhibited albuminuria and blood urea nitrogen concentration and serum levels of inflammatory factors including IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-α, MCP-1, and ICAM-1 compared with diabetic rats, and it indicates the protection on renal damage. Furthermore, the activities of SOD and GSH-Px in serum were enhanced strikingly by LBPS which suggests its antioxidation effects. LBPS, compared with nontreated diabetic rats, inhibited the expression of phosphor-nuclear factors kappa B (NF-κB) and inhibitor kappa B alpha in kidney tissues. Collectively, LBPS possesses antidiabetic and antinephritic effects related to NF-κB-mediated antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities.
Psychosocial rehabilitation and quality of life for older adults with serious mental illness: recent findings and future research directions

Purpose of review The projected increase of Americans aged 65 years and older will have an unprecedented impact on the healthcare delivery system. As a result, new models to support individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) will become increasingly more important. This selective overview highlights recent reports addressing psychosocial functioning and interventions for older adults with SMI. Recent findings Recently published descriptive studies suggest that poor functional outcomes and lower quality of life among older people with SMI are strongly associated with social isolation, depression, cognitive impairment, and chronic medical illness. Recent research on psychosocial interventions includes evaluations of three different models of skills training, a supported employment intervention, and cognitive remediation. This research establishes psychosocial rehabilitation as feasible and potentially effective in improving functioning and quality of life in older adults with SMI. Summary Several important directions for future research focused on older adults with SMI are suggested by this overview. They include individually tailored rehabilitation, interventions that optimize social integration and decrease depressive symptoms, techniques that blend cognitive remediation with vocational rehabilitation, and integration of health promotion with psychosocial rehabilitation.