Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of Urease by Disulfiram, an FDA-Approved Thiol Reagent Used in Humans

Urease is a nickel-dependent amidohydrolase that catalyses the decomposition of urea into carbamate and ammonia, a reaction that constitutes an important source of nitrogen for bacteria, fungi and plants. It is recognized as a potential antimicrobial target with an impact on medicine, agriculture, and the environment. The list of possible urease inhibitors is continuously increasing, with a special interest in those that interact with and block the flexible active site flap. We show that disulfiram inhibits urease in Citrullus vulgaris (CVU), following a non-competitive mechanism, and may be one of this kind of inhibitors. Disulfiram is a well-known thiol reagent that has been approved by the FDA for treatment of chronic alcoholism. We also found that other thiol reactive compounds (l-captopril and Bithionol) and quercetin inhibits CVU. These inhibitors protect the enzyme against its full inactivation by the thiol-specific reagent Aldrithiol (2,2′-dipyridyl disulphide, DPS), suggesting that the three drugs bind to the same subsite. Enzyme kinetics, competing inhibition experiments, auto-fluorescence binding experiments, and docking suggest that the disulfiram reactive site is Cys592, which has been proposed as a “hinge” located in the flexible active site flap. This study presents the basis for the use of disulfiram as one potential inhibitor to control urease activity.
The Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment on Squamous Cell Cancer Growth and Tumor Hypoxia

Anecdotal studies have reported explosive tumor growth in patients with a history of squamous cell carcinoma after hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment. Conflicting experimental results have followed. In this study, squamous cancer cells were subjected to daily HBO treatment. No difference in cellular proliferation was noted in vitro when comparing HBO and control treated cells (P = 0.534). Similarly, immunostaining for in vivo DNA synthesis failed to demonstrate any significant difference in the number of proliferating cells after treatment with HBO (P = 0.388). No significant difference in tumor volume or mass was found after in vivo implantation (P = 0.471). HBO was found to reduce tumor hypoxia, which trended towards significance when compared with controls (P = 0.057); however, there was no difference in serum VEGF levels or vessel ingrowth. Thus, even though HBO may reduce the levels of hypoxia within squamous cell tumors, it does not appear to enhance short-term growth or promote cellular proliferation or angiogenesis.
Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Students’ Cognitive Processes about the Division of Fractions

Bu calismanin amaci ilkogretim matematik ogretmen adaylarinin ilkogretim ogrencilerinin kesirlerde bolmeye iliskin sahip olabilecekleri kavram yanilgilari ve karsilastiklari zorluklar hakkindaki bilgilerini incelemektir. Ayrica, ogretmen adaylarinin bu kavram yanilgilari ve zorluklarin olasi sebepleri hakkindaki bilgileri ve bu zorluklari gidermeye yonelik sunduklari stratejileri incelemektir. Calisma 2004-2005 bahar donemi sonunda bir devlet universitesinde ogretmen yetistirme programina devam eden son sinif ilkogretim matematik ogretmen adaylari ile nitel durum calismasi yapilarak gerceklestirilmistir. Calismanin sonuclari, ogretmen adaylarinin ogrencilerin kesirlerde bolmeyle ilgili kavram yanilgilarinin dort ana baslikta toplanabilecegini gostermistir. Ayrica, sonuclar ogretmen adaylarinin ogrencilerin karsilastiklari zorluklari giderebilmek icin bircok strateji gelistirdiklerini gostermistir. Bulgular, icerik ve pedagoji agirlikli derslerin, ogretmen adaylarinin ogrencilerin matematiksel kavramlari anlamaya iliskin bilgilerinin gelismesindeki onemini ortaya koymustur
The relationship of metabolic syndrome, serum leptin levels and treatment in bipolar disorder

Objective: In this study we aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum leptin levels, metabolic syndrome and treatment in bipolar patients. Method: Sixty bipolar I disorder (BD) patients were enrolled; 29 patients were on mood stabilizer (MS) (lithium, valproic acid, carbamazepin, and lamotrigine) treatment, 31 patients were on atypical antipsychotics (AA) (risperidone, quetiapine, and olanzapine) for at least 3 months . Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was evaluated according to NCEP ATP III (Adult Treatment Protocol of the National Cholesterol Education Programme) criteria. Results: 36.7% of the patients were recognized as MetS. The AA subgroup had significantly more MetS than MS. Abdominal obesity was significantly correlated with leptin levels in BD. No significant association was found between MetS and leptin levels in BD. Discussion: AA taking bipolar patients had higher MetS rates. However, there was no significant difference among AAs for inducing MetS. Leptin levels were significantly correlated with abdominal obesity in bipolar patients but seem not to be associated with MetS.
Climatic suitability ranking of biological control candidates: a biogeographic approach for ragweed management in Europe

Biological control using natural antagonists has been a most successful management tool against alien invasive plants that threaten biodiversity. The selection of candidate agents remains a critical step in a biocontrol program before more elaborate and time-consuming experiments are conducted. Here, we propose a biogeographic approach to identify candidates and combinations of candidates to potentially cover a large range of the invader. We studied Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed), native to North America (NA) and invasive worldwide, and six NA biocontrol candidates for the introduced Europe (EU) range of ragweed, both under current and future bioclimatic conditions. For the first time, we constructed species distribution models based on worldwide occurrences and important bioclimatic variables simultaneously for a plant invader and its biocontrol candidates in view of selecting candidates that potentially cover a large range of the target invader. Ordination techniques were used to explore climatic constraints of each species and to perform niche overlap tests with ragweed. We show a large overlap in climatic space between candidates and ragweed, but a considerable discrepancy in geographic range overlap between EU (31.4%) and NA (83.3%). This might be due to niche unfilling and expansion of ragweed in EU and the fact that habitats with high ragweed occurrences in EU are rare in NA and predicted to be unsuitable for the candidates. Total geographic range of all candidates combined is expected to decrease under climate change in both ranges, but they will respond differently. The relative geographic coverage of a plant invader by biocontrol candidates at home is largely transferable to the introduced range, even when the invader shifts its niche. Our analyses also identified which combination of candidates is expected to cover the most area and for which abiotic conditions to select in order to develop climatically adapted strains for particular regions, where ragweed is currently unlikely to be controlled.
Quantitative MRI measurement of superior cerebellar peduncle in progressive supranuclear palsy

Background: Postmortem studies have shown atrophy of the superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) to distinguish progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) from other neurodegenerative diseases. It is not clear whether MRI-based measurements can differentiate this relative atrophy of the SCP during life. Methods: Volumetric MRI was acquired prospectively in 53 subjects: 19 with PSP, 10 with multiple system atrophy (MSA), 12 with Parkinson disease (PD), and 12 healthy controls. SCP volume was assessed by detailed quantitative volumetric measurement and independently by blinded visual rating of SCP atrophy. Results: The mean SCP volume, corrected for total intracranial volume, was lower in patients with PSP than controls (p < 0.001), patients with MSA (p = 0.001), and patients with PD (p = 0.003). There was an overlap between individual SCP volume measurements in the PSP subjects and the other groups. Neuroradiologic rating correctly identified PSP cases based on the presence of SCP atrophy with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 94%. Conclusions: The authors propose that together with other radiologic features of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) such as midbrain atrophy, a visual assessment of the superior cerebellar peduncle may help increase the clinical diagnostic accuracy in PSP.
Image smoothing in the spatial domain using multigrid conjugate gradient methods based on accelerated iterative shrinkage

Recently, edge preserving image smoothing techniques have been developed based on fast Fourier transformation (FFT) methods. In this paper, we present an alternative implementation for an existing image smoothing algorithm using a spatial iterative method, multigrid conjugate gradient (MGCG). In the case of FFT solvers, so-called wraparound error occurs in the image boundary due to the periodicity implied by the discrete Fourier transformation. Since the proposed method utilizes iterative methods in the spatial domain, wraparound error free image smoothing can be archived. Experimental results shows that the proposed method provides superior results compared to an FFT solver in terms of computational cost and smoothing quality.
Mandarin Speech Perception in Combined Electric and Acoustic Stimulation

For deaf individuals with residual low-frequency acoustic hearing, combined use of a cochlear implant (CI) and hearing aid (HA) typically provides better speech understanding than with either device alone. Because of coarse spectral resolution, CIs do not provide fundamental frequency (F0) information that contributes to understanding of tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese. The HA can provide good representation of F0 and, depending on the range of aided acoustic hearing, first and second formant (F1 and F2) information. In this study, Mandarin tone, vowel, and consonant recognition in quiet and noise was measured in 12 adult Mandarin-speaking bimodal listeners with the CI-only and with the CI+HA. Tone recognition was significantly better with the CI+HA in noise, but not in quiet. Vowel recognition was significantly better with the CI+HA in quiet, but not in noise. There was no significant difference in consonant recognition between the CI-only and the CI+HA in quiet or in noise. There was a wide range in bimodal benefit, with improvements often greater than 20 percentage points in some tests and conditions. The bimodal benefit was compared to CI subjects’ HA-aided pure-tone average (PTA) thresholds between 250 and 2000 Hz; subjects were divided into two groups: “better” PTA (<50 dB HL) or “poorer” PTA (>50 dB HL). The bimodal benefit differed significantly between groups only for consonant recognition. The bimodal benefit for tone recognition in quiet was significantly correlated with CI experience, suggesting that bimodal CI users learn to better combine low-frequency spectro-temporal information from acoustic hearing with temporal envelope information from electric hearing. Given the small number of subjects in this study (n = 12), further research with Chinese bimodal listeners may provide more information regarding the contribution of acoustic and electric hearing to tonal language perception.
Ethanol production by thermophilic bacteria: metabolic control of end product formation in Thermoanaerobium brockii

Specific changes in the chemical and microbial composition of Thermoanaerobium brockii fermentations were compared and related to alterations of process rates, end product yields, and growth parameters. Fermentation of starch as compared with glucose was associated with significant decreases in growth rate and intracellular fructose-1,6-bisphosphate concentration and with a dramatic increase in the ethanol/lactate product ratio. Glucose or pyruvate fermentation in the presence of acetone was correlated with increased substrate consumption, growth (both rate and yield), acetate yield, and quantitative reduction of acetone to isopropanol in lieu of normal reduced fermentation products (i.e., H2, ethanol, lactate). Acetone altered pyruvate phosphoroclastic activity of cell extracts in that H2, lactate, and ethanol levels decreased, whereas the acetate concentration increased. Glucose fermentation in the presence of exogenous hydrogen was associated with inhibition of endogenous H2 production and either increased ethanol/acetate product ratios and decreased growth at less than 0.5 atm (51 kPa) of H2 or total growth inhibition at 1.0 atm (102 kPA). The effects of exogenous hydrogen on glucose fermentation were totally reversed by the addition of acetone. Glucose fermentation in coculture with Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum correlated with increased growth (both rate and yield), acetate yield, and the formation of methane in lieu of monoculture reduced products. In coculture, but not monoculture, T. brockii grew on ethanol as the energy source, and acetate and methane were the end products as a direct consequence of hydrogen consumption by the methanogen.
Teaching Reading: Selected Materials

MEETING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN READING Edited by H. Alan Robinson. Modes of learning, roles of motivation, neurological findings, social and emotional problems, culturally disadvantaged readers, effective use of classroom organization, reading interests and tastes, and the solitude of reading are examined in this volume. Practical applications are given at varying levels in both corrective and remedial situations. Proceedings of the 27th Annual Reading Conference. Clothbound $4.50
An event related potential study of inhibitory and attentional control in Williams syndrome adults

The primary aim of the current study was to employ event-related potentials (ERPs) methodology to disentangle the mechanisms related to inhibitory control in older adults with Williams syndrome (WS). Eleven older adults with WS (mean age 42), 16 typically developing adults (mean age 42) and 13 typically developing children (mean age 12) participated in the study. ERPs were recorded during a three-stimulus visual oddball task, during which participants were required to make a response to a rare target stimulus embedded in a train of frequent non-target stimuli. A task-irrelevant infrequent stimulus was also present at randomised intervals during the session. The P3a latency data response related to task-irrelevant stimulus processing was delayed in WS. In addition, the early perceptual N2 amplitude was attenuated. These data are indicative of compromised early monitoring of perceptual input, accompanied by appropriate orientation of responses to task-irrelevant stimuli. However, the P3a delay suggests inefficient evaluation of the task-irrelevant stimuli. These data are discussed in terms of deficits in the disengagement of attentional processes, and the regulation of monitoring processes required for successful inhibition.
The distribution and numbers of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in southern Africa

Assessing the numbers and distribution of threatened species is a central challenge in conservation, often made difficult because the species of concern are rare and elusive. For some predators, this may be compounded by their being sparsely distributed over large areas. Such is the case with the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus. The IUCN Red List process solicits comments, is democratic, transparent, widely-used, and has recently assessed the species. Here, we present additional methods to that process and provide quantitative approaches that may afford greater detail and a benchmark against which to compare future assessments. The cheetah poses challenges, but also affords unique opportunities. It is photogenic, allowing the compilation of thousands of crowd-sourced data. It is also persecuted for killing livestock, enabling estimation of local population densities from the numbers persecuted. Documented instances of persecution in areas with known human and livestock density mean that these data can provide an estimate of where the species may or may not occur in areas without observational data. Compilations of extensive telemetry data coupled with nearly 20,000 additional observations from 39 sources show that free-ranging cheetahs were present across approximately 789,700 km2 of Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (56%, 22%, 12% and 10% respectively) from 2010 to 2016, with an estimated adult population of 3,577 animals. We identified a further 742,800 km2 of potential cheetah habitat within the study region with low human and livestock densities, where another ∼3,250 cheetahs may occur. Unlike many previous estimates, we make the data available and provide explicit information on exactly where cheetahs occur, or are unlikely to occur. We stress the value of gathering data from public sources though these data were mostly from well-visited protected areas. There is a contiguous, transboundary population of cheetah in southern Africa, known to be the largest in the world. We suggest that this population is more threatened than believed due to the concentration of about 55% of free-ranging individuals in two ecoregions. This area overlaps with commercial farmland with high persecution risk; adult cheetahs were removed at the rate of 0.3 individuals per 100 km2 per year. Our population estimate for confirmed cheetah presence areas is 11% lower than the IUCN’s current assessment for the same region, lending additional support to the recent call for the up-listing of this species from vulnerable to endangered status.
The structure of proteins; two hydrogen-bonded helical configurations of the polypeptide chain.

During the past fifteen years we have been attacking the problem of the structure of proteins in several ways. One of these ways is the complete and accurate determination of the crystal structure of amino acids, peptides, and other simple substances related to proteins, in order that information about interatomic distances, bond angles, and other configurational parameters might be obtained that would permit the reliable prediction of reasonable configurations for the polypeptide chain. We have now used this information to construct two reasonable hydrogen-bonded helical configurations for the polypeptide chain; we think that it is likely that these configurations constitute an important part of the structure of both fibrous and globular proteins, as well as of synthetic polypeptides. A letter announcing their discovery was published last year [1]. The problem that we have set ourselves is that of finding all hydrogen-bonded structures for a single polypeptide chain, in which the residues are equivalent (except for the differences in the side chain R). An amino acid residue (other than glycine) has no symmetry elements. The general operation of conversion of one residue of a single chain into a second residue equivalent to the first is accordingly a rotation about an axis accompanied by translation along the axis. Hence the only configurations for a chain compatible with our postulate of equivalence of the residues are helical configurations. For rotational angle 180° the helical configurations may degenerate to a simple chain with all of the principal atoms, C, C' (the carbonyl carbon), N, and O, in the same plane.
Effect of agro‐forestry and landscape changes on common buzzards (Buteo buteo) in the Alps: implications for conservation

In Italy, pre‐Alpine forests, once managed through coppice silviculture, are being converted to mature woodland, while land abandonment is causing woodland expansion and erosion of open habitats. Based on habitat‐selection analyses, we predicted the impact of such changes on common buzzards (Buteo buteo), which depend on forested and open areas for nesting and foraging. Compared to availability, at a micro‐scale buzzards selected nests higher above ground and on trees frequently covered by ivy. At the landscape‐scale, buzzards avoided roads and conspecifics, while selecting rugged areas with high habitat heterogeneity, probably related to a varied food supply. Productivity was related to the availability of arid habitats, probably because of their richness in main prey species. Finally, population density was negatively related to the abundance of eagle owls (Bubo bubo), a potential predator of adults and nestlings, and positively related to the availability of woodland, a low predation‐risk habitat rich in food and nest‐sites. Therefore, buzzard settlement, density and productivity depended on the complex interplay of food availability, human persecution and predation risk. Thus, the current landscape changes would benefit buzzards by providing more nest‐sites, but would be detrimental because of the lower productivity associated with the disappearance of dry open areas. Proposed conservation guidelines focus on conversion of coppice woodland to mature forests and active management of dry heath, a conservation sensitive habitat, through controlled burning.
Using propensity matching estimators to evaluate the impact of privatization on wages

Whether the transfer of ownership rights to the private sector leads to a decline or increase in wage growth is theoretically ambiguous, given that the outcome depends on the uncertain interaction between firms and workers. Using propensity matching techniques, this article investigates the effects of privatization on wages in the Portuguese banking industry. The empirical results, obtained from Quadros de Pessoal for the period between 1989 and 1997, generally show a negative (positive) short-run (long-run) effect of privatization on relative wage growth for both men and women retained in the privatized firms. Moreover, the results show that the most educated and experienced (oldest) workers, as well as those in the high skill occupational categories, were more likely to experience a negative wage effect.
An Electrocorticographic Brain Interface in an Individual with Tetraplegia

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology aims to help individuals with disability to control assistive devices and reanimate paralyzed limbs. Our study investigated the feasibility of an electrocorticography (ECoG)-based BCI system in an individual with tetraplegia caused by C4 level spinal cord injury. ECoG signals were recorded with a high-density 32-electrode grid over the hand and arm area of the left sensorimotor cortex. The participant was able to voluntarily activate his sensorimotor cortex using attempted movements, with distinct cortical activity patterns for different segments of the upper limb. Using only brain activity, the participant achieved robust control of 3D cursor movement. The ECoG grid was explanted 28 days post-implantation with no adverse effect. This study demonstrates that ECoG signals recorded from the sensorimotor cortex can be used for real-time device control in paralyzed individuals.
Characterizations of a Class of Matrices and Perturbation of the Drazin Inverse

Given a singular square matrix $A$ with index $r$, $\operatorname{ind}(A)=r$, we establish several characterizations in the Drazin inverse framework of the class of matrices $B$, which satisfy the conditions $\mathcal{N}(B^s)\cap\mathcal{R}(A^r)=\{0\}$ and $\mathcal{R}(B^s)\cap\mathcal{N}(A^r)=\{0\}$ with $\operatorname{ind}(B)=s$, where $\mathcal{N}(A)$ and $\mathcal{R}(A)$ denote the null space and the range space of a matrix $A$, respectively. We give explicit representations for $B^{\rm D}$ and $BB^{\rm D}$ and upper bounds for the errors $\|B^{\rm D}-A^{\rm D}\|/\|A^{\rm D}\|$ and $\|BB^{\rm D}-AA^{\rm D}\|$. In a numerical example we show that our bounds are better than others given in the literature.
iCat, the chess player: the influence of embodiment in the enjoyment of a game

This paper presents an experiment that evaluates and compares the user enjoyment when playing a game of chess in two situations: against a physically embodied robotic agent and against a virtually embodied agent, displayed on screen. The results of the study suggest that embodiment has implications on user enjoyment, as the experience against a robotic agent was classified as more enjoyable than against a virtually embodied agent.