Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural Dynamics of α-Actinin-Vinculin Interactions

ABSTRACT α-Actinin and vinculin orchestrate reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton following the formation of adhesion junctions. α-Actinin interacts with vinculin through the binding of an α-helix (αVBS) present within the R4 spectrin repeat of its central rod domain to vinculin's N-terminal seven-helical bundle domain (Vh1). The Vh1:αVBS structure suggests that αVBS first unravels from its buried location in the triple-helical R4 repeat to allow it to bind to vinculin. αVBS binding then induces novel conformational changes in the N-terminal helical bundle of Vh1, which disrupt its intramolecular association with vinculin's tail domain and which differ from the alterations in Vh1 provoked by the binding of talin. Surprisingly, αVBS binds to Vh1 in an inverted orientation compared to the binding of talin's VBSs to vinculin. Importantly, the binding of αVBS and talin's VBSs to vinculin's Vh1 domain appear to also trigger distinct conformational changes in full-length vinculin, opening up distant regions that are buried in the inactive molecule. The data suggest a model where vinculin's Vh1 domain acts as a molecular switch that undergoes distinct structural changes provoked by talin and α-actinin binding in focal adhesions versus adherens junctions, respectively.
Can HR practices retain flexworkers with their agency

Purpose – Workers have different motives to be employed at specialist contract work agencies, such as career development aspirations, or a desire for freedom and independence. The purpose of this paper is to study how these different motives relate to the appreciation of HR practices applied by agencies and consequently to employee retention at the agency. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in a contract work agency for financial professionals. Management was interviewed about the HR practices used for employee retention. In addition, 291 agency employees filled out a questionnaire about their motives to be employed at the agency, their appreciation of the HR practices of the contract agency and their turnover intentions. Findings – Regression analysis showed that career development motivation was related to retention at the agency, but that this relation became weaker when tenure with the agency increased. HR practices (like training, supervisory support, career development support, information sharing and employee participation) proved to be related to lower turnover intentions of flex workers with a career development motivation. For flex workers with a freedom motivation the HR practices had no relationship with retention. Research limitations/implications – Data collection in one agency may limit generalization. Additional research needs to zoom in on alternative HR retention practices that align with freedom motivation. Originality/value – Specialist contract work agencies typically experience difficulties with employee retention. Agencies may retain their workers if they apply HR practices that are aligned with the motivation of people engaging in contract work.
Transformational Leadership and Transfer of Teacher Professional Development to the Classroom in the Kuwait Public High School Context.

1 Chapter 1: Introduction . 3 Kuwait Context . 5 Problem Statement . 7 Purpose of the Study . 9 Significance of the Study . 9 Research Question . 10 Hypotheses . 11 Definition of Terms . 12 Summary . 15 Chapter 2: Review of Literature . 16 Overview of Leadership Behavior in Organizations . 18 Transformational LeadershipBehavioral Characteristics . 19 Role of Leadership in Schools . 21 Overview of Training Transfer . 25 The Need for Ongoing Professional Development in Schools . 29 viii Factors that Contribute to Training Transfer . 32 Transformational Leadership and Training Transfer Factors . 45 Head of Department and Professional Development . 53 Summary . 57 Chapter 3: Research Methodology . 58 Research Design . 59 Instruments . 59 Research Site . 62 Permission to Conduct Research . 63 Data Collection . 64 Participants . 64 Data Analysis . 65 Summary . 66 Chapter 4: Results . 67 Sample Demographics . 67 Reliability Analysis. 78 Summary . 78 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusions . 80 Results . 81 Conclusions . 84 Limitations . 89 Recommendations for Further Research . 90 Summary . 92 ix REFERENCES . 94 APPENDIX A: LTSI SCALE DEFINITIONS, RELIABILITY ESTIMATES AND MEAN SCORES . 109 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS . 110 APPENDIX C: BALDWIN and FORD (1988) TRAINING MODEL . 112 APPENDIX D: MULTIFACTOR LEADERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE (SAMPLE) . 113 APPENDIX E: PERMISSION TO USE LEARNING TRANSFER SYSTEM INVENTORY. 115 APPENDIX F: PERMISSION TO USE MULTIFACTOR LEADERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE . 119 APPENDIX G: IRB APPROVAL . 120 APPENDIX H: KUWAIT MINISTRY OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND CURRICULA OFFICE . 124 APPENDIX I: KUWAIT MINISTRY OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND CURRICULA OFFICE. 125 APPENDIX J : ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF KMOE RESEARCH DEPARTMENT LETTER OF APPROVAL. 126 APPENDIX K: FULL TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEWS . 127 VITA . 150
ICT Capital and MFP Growth: Evidence from Canadian and U.S. Industries

Abstract Labour productivity growth in the Canadian business sector has averaged less than 1.0 percent since 2000, more than 40 percent below the average growth rate during 1981–2000. On the other hand, labour productivity growth accelerated in the U.S. in the post-2000 period compared to the average growth prior to 2000. Available research shows that the divergence in labour productivity growth was entirely due to the gap in multifactor productivity (MFP) growth. This paper looks at the possible role of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in the recent productivity growth divergence between the two countries. Using data on 33 industries over the period 1987–2000, it examines empirically the impact of ICTs on MFP growth in Canada and the U.S., taking into account ICT-related investments in intangibles and the issue of endogeneity of the explanatory variables. The regression results suggest that ICT capital is not a significant determinant of MFP growth in Canada and the U.S., implying that it was not responsible for the post-2000 productivity growth divergence between Canada and the U.S. via the MFP channel. However, ICT capital could have contributed somewhat to the labour productivity growth gap via the capital deepening channel, because the ICT capital-labour ratio has increased at a faster pace in the U.S. than in Canada since 1995.
African-American women faculty teaching at institutions of higher-learning in the Pacific Northwest : challenges, dilemmas, and sustainability

approved: Farah A. Ibrahim Institutions of higher learning in the Pacific Northwest have successfully recruited African-American faculty, yet these institutions have difficulty retaining AfricanAmerican faculty for at least five years. African-American women faculty experience problems obtaining promotions and tenure at predominantly White institutions. Highlevel administrators are aware of this attrition, but little or no action is being taken to reverse this trend. There is a lack of research and data available on African-American women faculty prior to the 1990s. However, current literature exists regarding the challenges and benefits of recruiting, hiring, and retaining African-American women faculty. The results of this study support the existing findings on African-American women teaching in institutions of higher learning. The researcher used an African-American feminist perspective with many facets of Grounded Theory to conduct this study. This critical philosophical view is believed to be the most appropriate way to share the lived experiences of the research participants. The sample consisted of ten African-American women faculty participants, which included the researcher’s experiences. The data was analyzed for thematic connections, coded sentence by sentence, and categorized based on the common themes. The researcher captured the lived experiences of the participants by sharing statements that displayed their thoughts, emotions, areas of growth and struggle, suggestions for sustainability, and other issues that they felt were important. The current work status of the participants was noted. The participants offered many strategies for sustainability for new African-American female faculty. Based on this study’s findings, the researcher theorizes that there are three essential elements needed for new African-American women faculty to achieve success at the IHE. The new African-American woman faculty should: establish a strong support network on and off campus, obtain a mentor at her institution to guide her through the tenure process, and use her spirituality as a sustainer. © Copyright by Linda Townsend-Johnson April 25, 2006
“Eigenlob”: self‐citation in biomedical journals

The number of citations to previous work of an individual scientist has been considered, in part, to be an important indicator of academic performance in research. Some of these citations, of course, are to the author’s own work; the Germans call this “Eigenlob,” or self-praise. We analyzed data obtained from 340 papers (294 original articles and 46 review papers) in a sample of leading biomedical science journals published during the first two months of 2005. Seventeen and 20% of references of papers published in clinical and basic science journals, respectively, referred to previous work of the authors (self-citations). Nineteen and 11% of references of original articles and review papers, respectively, were self-citations. The proportion of references of the examined papers that were self-citations was higher for original articles than review papers (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.39, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.21–1.61, P 0.001) and for papers published in nonclinical journals than in clinical journals (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.23–1.51, P 0.001). In addition, the number of authors was also associated with the proportion of references that were self-citations (OR 1.03 per author, 95% CI 1.02–1.04, P 0.001). Self-citation was approximately equally divided between the first and the last author in papers of clinical journals while it mainly referred to the last author in papers of nonclinical journals.
The kinetic temperature of Barnard 68

We have observed the nearby isolated globule Barnard 68 (B68) in the (J,K) = (1,1) and (2,2) inversion lines of ammonia. The gas kinetic temperature derived from these is T = 10 ± 1.2 K. The observed line-widths are almost thermal: ∆V = 0.181 ± 0.003 kms −1 (∆Vtherm = 0.164 ± 0.010 kms −1 ), supporting the earlier hypothesis that B68 is in hydrostatic equi- librium. The kinetic temperature is an input parameter to the physical cloud model put forward recently, and we discuss the impact of the new value in this context.
Characterization and Biological Role of the O-Polysaccharide Gene Cluster of Yersinia enterocolitica Serotype O:9

ABSTRACT Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:9 is a gram-negative enteropathogen that infects animals and humans. The role of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in Y. enterocolitica O:9 pathogenesis, however, remains unclear. The O:9 LPS consists of lipid A to which is linked the inner core oligosaccharide, serving as an attachment site for both the outer core (OC) hexasaccharide and the O-polysaccharide (OPS; a homopolymer of N-formylperosamine). In this work, we cloned the OPS gene cluster of O:9 and identified 12 genes organized into four operons upstream of the gnd gene. Ten genes were predicted to encode glycosyltransferases, the ATP-binding cassette polysaccharide translocators, or enzymes required for the biosynthesis of GDP-N-formylperosamine. The two remaining genes within the OPS gene cluster, galF and galU, were not ascribed a clear function in OPS biosynthesis; however, the latter gene appeared to be essential for O:9. The biological functions of O:9 OPS and OC were studied using isogenic mutants lacking one or both of these LPS parts. We showed that OPS and OC confer resistance to human complement and polymyxin B; the OPS effect on polymyxin B resistance could be observed only in the absence of OC.
Rapid Onset of Renal Sympathetic Nerve Activation in Rabbits Fed a High-Fat Diet

Hypertension and elevated sympathetic drive result from consumption of a high-calorie diet and deposition of abdominal fat, but the etiology and temporal characteristics are unknown. Rabbits instrumented for telemetric recording of arterial pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) were fed a high-fat diet for 3 weeks then control diet for 1 week or control diet for 4 weeks. Baroreflexes and responses to air-jet stress and hypoxia were determined weekly. After 1 week of high-fat diet, caloric intake increased by 62%, accompanied by elevated body weight, blood glucose, plasma insulin, and leptin (8%, 14%, 134%, and 252%, respectively). Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and RSNA also increased after 1 week (6%, 11%, and 57%, respectively). Whereas mean arterial pressure and body weight continued to rise over 3 weeks of high-fat diet, heart rate and RSNA did not change further. The RSNA baroreflex was attenuated from the first week of the diet. Excitatory responses to air-jet stress diminished over 3 weeks of high-fat diet, but responses to hypoxia were invariant. Resumption of a normal diet returned glucose, insulin, leptin, and heart rate to control levels, but body weight, mean arterial pressure, and RSNA remained elevated. In conclusion, elevated sympathetic drive and impaired baroreflex function, which occur within 1 week of consumption of a high-fat, high-calorie diet, appear integral to the rapid development of obesity-related hypertension. Increased plasma leptin and insulin may contribute to the initiation of hypertension but are not required for maintenance of mean arterial pressure, which likely lies in alterations in the response of neurons in the hypothalamus.
Cognitive Processes in the Reflective-Impulsive Cognitive Style

In this study, the authors improved the understanding of the cognitive processes underlying the reflective-impulsive cognitive style (RI), which was initially measured by J. Kagan, B. L. Rosman, D. Day, J. Albert, and W. Phillips (1964) on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The authors determined the relationships between the RI style and the cognitive factors, which would be likely to explain different MFFT solving modes-field dependence or independence as a cognitive style, the g factor, the spatial factor, and a metacognitive control index, which the authors developed for this study. The hypotheses were largely based on various studies (J. P. Ancillotti, 1984, 1985; J. Kagan, B. L. Rosman, D. Day, J. Albert, & W. Phillips, 1964; T. Zelniker & W. E. Jeffrey, 1976; T. Zelniker, A. Renan, I. Sorer, & Y. Shavit, 1977). The results are presented separately for each of four groups: (a) reflective individuals, who implement an analytic process and are cognitively mature; (b) impulsive individuals, who use a holistic process and are cognitively immature; (c) fast-accurate individuals, who are capable of implementing both analytic and holistic processes and exhibit cognitive maturity; and (d) slow-inaccurate individuals, who exhibit good metacognitive control but have trouble implementing both types of processing.
Perceptual Decisions between Multiple Directions of Visual Motion

Previous studies and models of perceptual decision making have largely focused on binary choices. However, we often have to choose from multiple alternatives. To study the neural mechanisms underlying multialternative decision making, we have asked human subjects to make perceptual decisions between multiple possible directions of visual motion. Using a multicomponent version of the random-dot stimulus, we were able to control experimentally how much sensory evidence we wanted to provide for each of the possible alternatives. We demonstrate that this task provides a rich quantitative dataset for multialternative decision making, spanning a wide range of accuracy levels and mean response times. We further present a computational model that can explain the structure of our behavioral dataset. It is based on the idea of a race between multiple integrators to a decision threshold. Each of these integrators accumulates net sensory evidence for a particular choice, provided by linear combinations of the activities of decision-relevant pools of sensory neurons.
Financial Imbalances and Financial Fragility

This paper develops a general equilibrium model to analyse the link between financial imbalances and financial crises. The model features an interbank market subject to frictions and where two equilibria may (co-)exist. The normal times equilibrium is characterized by a deep market with highly leveraged banks. The crisis times equilibrium is characterized by bank deleveraging, a market run, and a liquidity trap. Crises occur when there is too much liquidity (savings) in the economy with respect to the number of (safe) investment opportunities. In effect, the economy is shown to have a limited liquidity absorption capacity, which depends JEL Classification: E21, F36, G01, G21
Stationary states of irrotational binary neutron star systems and their evolution as a result of gravitational wave emission

We have succeeded in obtaining exact configurations of irrotational binary systems for compressible (polytropic) equations of state. Our models correspond to binary systems of equal-mass neutron stars in the viscosity free limit. By using the obtained sequences of stationary states, the evolution of binary systems of irrotational neutron stars resulting from gravitational wave emission has been examined. For inviscid binary systems, the spin angular velocity of each component in a detached phase is smaller than the orbital angular velocity at a contact phase. The irrotational approximation during the evolution of binary neutron stars resulting from gravitational wave emission can therefore be justified. Our computational results show that the binary will never reach a dynamically unstable state before a contact phase, even for rather stiff polytropes with index N≳0.7, as the separation of two components decreases as a result of gravitational wave emission. This conclusion is quantitatively different from that of Lai, Rasio & Shapiro, who employed approximate solutions for polytropic binary systems.
HOW SCIENTISTS REALLY REASON: SCIENTIFIC REASONING IN REAL-WORLD LABORATORIES

In 1965 Jacques Monod and François Jacob were awarded the Nobel prize for discovering that there are regulator genes that control the activity of other genes. They discovered this by investigating the utilization of energy sources, such as glucose, in E. coli. E. coli need glucose to live and their most common source of glucose is lactose. When lactose is present, E. coli secrete betagalactosidase enzymes that break down lactose into glucose. Betagalactosidase is secreted only when lactose is present. Jacob and Monod discovered that a set of regulator genes inhibit the genes that produce betagalactosidase until betagalactosidase is needed. They proposed that there are two genes I and O that regulate the activity of the betagalactosidase producing genes and that the production of beta-gal is controlled by an inhibitory regulation mechanism. As can be seen from Figure 1, when no lactose is present the I gene produces an inhibitor that binds to the O gene, and this prevents the betagalactosidase genes from producing betagalactosidase. When Lactose is present, the inhibitor secreted by the I gene binds to the lactose, rather than the O gene. When this happens, the betagalactosidase genes are no longer inhibited and, consequently, they produce betagalactosidase. When all the lactose is used, the inhibitor again binds to the O gene and production of betagalactosidase stops. Monod and Jacob made this discovery using various mutations where the I, O, and betagalactosidase genes were mutated. Crucially, they initially thought that genetic control was due to genes switching on, or activating, other genes. It was only after a large amount of research that they discovered that the mechanism of control was inhibition. Not only was this discovery relevant to production of betagalactosidase, but it was a general model of genetic control that transformed biological research.
Interleukin-18 Is an Essential Element in Host Resistance to Experimental Group B Streptococcal Disease in Neonates

ABSTRACT Previous studies demonstrated that interleukin-12 (IL-12)-dependent gamma interferon (IFN-γ) responses have a major role in restricting in vivo bacterial growth during infection of mice with group B streptococci (GBS), important human pathogens. Like IL-12, IL-18 is a potent IFN-γ inducer. The role of IL-18 in experimental GBS infection was investigated here. Significant elevations of IL-18 levels over baseline values were detected in plasma samples from neonatal mice rendered septic with GBS. Neutralization of IL-18 significantly increased mortality and bacterial burden (P < 0.05). In contrast, administration of recombinant IL-18 (rIL-18) before or after GBS challenge remarkably improved survival and decreased blood colony counts, in association with increased IFN-γ production by spleen cells. The beneficial effects of rIL-18 were counteracted by administration of neutralizing anti-IFN-γ monoclonal antibodies, indicating that the effects of IL-18 were mediated by IFN-γ. Finally, low rIL-18 doses that had no effect of their own on bacterial burden could act in synergy with rIL-12 to protect neonatal mice during GBS infection. Collectively, our data indicate that IL-18 responses have an important role in host defenses against GBS and that rIL-18 may be useful in alternative strategies to treat neonatal GBS disease.
Production, Purification, and Characterization of a Major Penicillium glabrum Xylanase Using Brewer's Spent Grain as Substrate

In recent decades, xylanases have been used in many processing industries. This study describes the xylanase production by Penicillium glabrum using brewer's spent grain as substrate. Additionally, this is the first work that reports the purification and characterization of a xylanase using this agroindustrial waste. Optimal production was obtained when P. glabrum was grown in liquid medium in pH 5.5, at 25 °C, under stationary condition for six days. The xylanase from P. glabrum was purified to homogeneity by a rapid and inexpensive procedure, using ammonium sulfate fractionation and molecular exclusion chromatography. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed one band with estimated molecular mass of 18.36 kDa. The optimum activity was observed at 60 °C, in pH 3.0. The enzyme was very stable at 50 °C, and high pH stability was verified from pH 2.5 to 5.0. The ion Mn2+ and the reducing agents β-mercaptoethanol and DTT enhanced xylanase activity, while the ions Hg2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ as well as the detergent SDS were strong inhibitors of the enzyme. The use of brewer's spent grain as substrate for xylanase production cannot only add value and decrease the amount of this waste but also reduce the xylanase production cost.