Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calmodulin dissociation regulates brush border myosin I (110-kD- calmodulin) mechanochemical activity in vitro

110-kD-calmodulin, when immobilized on nitrocellulose-coated coverslips, translocates actin filaments at a maximal rate of 0.07-0.1 micron/s at 37 degrees C. Actin activates MgATPase activity greater than 40-fold, with a Km of 40 microM and Vmax of 0.86 s-1 (323 nmol/min/mg). The rate of motility mediated by 110-kD-calmodulin is dependent on temperature and concentration of ATP, but independent of time, actin filament length, amount of enzyme, or ionic strength. Tropomyosin inhibits actin binding by 110-kD-calmodulin in MgATP and inhibits motility. Micromolar calcium slightly increases the rate of motility and increases the actin-activated MgATP hydrolysis of the intact complex. In 0.1 mM or higher calcium, motility ceases and actin- dependent MgATPase activity remains at a low rate not activated by increasing actin concentration. Correlated with these inhibitions of activity, a subset of calmodulin is dissociated from the complex. To determine if calmodulin loss is the cause of calcium inhibition, we assayed the ability of calmodulin to rescue the calcium-inactivated enzyme. Readdition of calmodulin to the nitrocellulose-bound, calcium- inactivated enzyme completely restores motility. Addition of calmodulin also restores actin activation to MgATPase activity in high calcium, but does not affect the activity of the enzyme in EGTA. These results demonstrate that in vitro 110-kD-calmodulin functions as a calcium- sensitive mechanoenzyme, a vertebrate myosin I. The properties of this enzyme suggest that despite unique structure and regulation, myosins I and II share a molecular mechanism of motility.
Fibre Composition of Human Intrinsic Tongue Muscles

The muscle fibre composition of three human intrinsic tongue muscles, the longitudinalis, verticalis and transversus, was investigated in four anterior to posterior regions of the tongue using morphological and enzyme- and immunohistochemical techniques. All three muscles typically contained type I, IIA and IM/IIC fibres. Type I fibres expressed slow myosin heavy chain (MyHC), type II fibres fast MyHC, mainly fast A MyHC, whereas type IM/IIC coexpressed slow and fast MyHCs. Type II fibres were in the majority (60%), but regional differences in proportion and diameter of fibre types were obvious. The anterior region of the tongue contained a predominance of relatively small type II fibres (71%), in contrast to the posterior region which instead showed a majority of larger type I and type IM/IIC fibres (66%). In general, the fibre diameter was larger in the posterior region. This muscle fibre composition of the tongue differs from those of limb, orofacial and masticatory muscles, probably reflecting genotypic as well as phenotypic functional specialization in oral function. The predominance of type II fibres and the regional differences in fibre composition, together with intricate muscle structure, suggest generally fast and flexible actions in positioning and shaping the tongue, during vital tasks such as mastication, swallowing, respiration and speech.
Comparison of hydroalcoholic rubbing and conventional chlorhexidine scrubbing for aseptic skin preparation in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To compare preparation time, ease of application, and elimination of skin contamination of 3 skin preparation methods for asepsis. STUDY DESIGN Experimental study. ANIMALS Healthy dogs (n = 6) with no clinical signs of skin disease. METHODS Three sites on each dog were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 preparation protocols for asepsis: (1) 5 scrubbings with chlorhexidine gluconate and rinsing (CHXG), (2) washing with mild soap prior to 3 rubbings with hydroalcoholic solution (soap-HAR), or (3) 3 rubbings with hydroalcoholic solution (HAR). The duration of each method of skin preparation was recorded. A Count-Tact agar plate was placed in the center of each site before, immediately after, 1 hour after, and 3 hours after antiseptic application. Plates were cultured, and colony forming units (CFU) were counted. RESULTS Skin preparation lasted an average of 375 seconds for CHXG, 240 seconds for soap-HAR, and 190 seconds for HAR (P = .00049). Nine CFU (median) were cultured from the skin prior to preparation, with no difference between sites on any animal or for any method. Colony forming units were not detected at any time on any site in any dog after antiseptic application. CONCLUSION Rubbing with hydroalcoholic (HA) solution was as effective as CHXG and prevented bacterial growth for at least 3 hours under these experimental conditions. Rubbing with hydroalcoholic solution was also faster and easier to perform. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Because there is currently no known resistance to HA solution, preparation of the surgical site with HAR should be considered to prevent the emergence of bacterial resistance to chlorhexidine as well as potential cross-resistances to antibiotics. Transfer to clinical animals requires additional investigation.
Design, Synthesis and Antiviral Potential of 14-Aryl/Heteroaryl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes Using an Efficient Polymer-Supported Catalyst

Polyethyleneglycol bound sulfonic acid (PEG-OSO3H), a chlorosulphonic acid-modified polyethylene glycol was successfully used as an efficient and eco-friendly polymeric catalyst in the synthesis of 14-aryl/heteroaryl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes obtained from the reaction of 2-naphthol and carbonyl compounds under solvent-free conditions with short reaction times and excellent yields. The biological properties of these synthesized title compounds revealed that compounds 3b, 3c, 3f and 3i showed highly significant anti-viral activity against tobacco mosaic virus.
MiR-103 Controls Milk Fat Accumulation in Goat (Capra hircus) Mammary Gland during Lactation

Milk is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals including humans. The nutritional value of milk is mainly attributable to fats and proteins fractions. In comparison to cow milk, goat milk contains greater amounts of total fat, including much higher levels of the beneficial unsaturated fatty acids. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of small RNAs containing about 22 nucleotides (nt), participate in various metabolic processes across species. However, little is known regarding the role of miRNAs in regulating goat milk composition. In the present study, we performed high-throughput sequencing to identify mammary gland-enriched miRNAs in lactating goats. We identified 30 highly expressed miRNAs in the mammary gland, including miR-103. Further studies revealed that miR-103 expression correlates with the lactation. Further functional analysis showed that over-expression of miR-103 in mammary gland epithelial cells increases transcription of genes associated with milk fat synthesis, resulting in an up-regulation of fat droplet formation, triglyceride accumulation, and the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. This study provides new insight into the functions of miR-103, as well as the molecular mechanisms that regulate milk fat synthesis.
High Idiosyncratic Volatility and Low Returns: International and Further U.S. Evidence

Stocks with recent past high idiosyncratic volatility have low future average returns around the world. Across 23 developed markets, the difference in average returns between the extreme quintile portfolios sorted on idiosyncratic volatility is -1.31% per month, after controlling for world market, size, and value factors. The effect is individually significant in each G7 country. In the U.S., we rule out explanations based on trading frictions, information dissemination, and higher moments. There is strong comovement in the low returns to high idiosyncratic volatility stocks across countries, suggesting that broad, not easily diversifiable, factors may lie behind this phenomenon.
SLOB: a switch with large optical buffers for packet switching

Recently, optical packet switch architectures, composed of devices such as optical switches, fiber delay lines, and passive couplers, have been proposed to overcome the electromagnetic interference (EMI), pinout and interconnection problems that would be encountered in future large electronic switch cores. However, attaining the buffer size (buffer depth) in optical packet switches required in practice is a major problem; in this paper, a new solution is presented. An architectural concept is discussed and justified mathematically that relies on cascading many small switches to form a bigger switch with a larger buffer depth. The number of cascaded switches is proportional to the logarithm of the buffer depth, providing an economical and feasible hardware solution. Packet loss performance, control and buffer dimensioning are considered. The optical performance is also modeled, demonstrating the feasibility of buffer depths of several thousand, as required for bursty traffic.
CAPTCHA Design Color, Usability, and Security

C olor plays a major role in increasing usability in systems ranging from TV remote controls (whose buttons are highlighted in different colors to make them easy to spot) to complicated GUIs (where users’ navigation from one area to another is effectively guided by different colors). When used properly, color can greatly enhance user interface designs.1 Color in interfaces is thus typically a usability issue and has rarely led to any security failures. Here, however, we examine the use of color in CAPTCHAs (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart),2 now a standard security mechanism that many commercial websites deploy to address spam and other online abuses. We focus on text-based CAPTCHAs, which are the most common and which rely on sophisticated distortion of text images, rendering them unrecognizable to current pattern-recognition algorithms but recognizable to human eyes. Some of our discussion is also relevant to other types of CAPTCHAs (such as image-based schemes that typically require users to perform an imagerecognition task), which we discussed in detail in our previous technical report.3 A good CAPTCHA must be humanfriendly and robust enough to resist computer programs that attackers write to automatically pass CAPTCHA tests. To strike the right balance between usability and security, designers must address many issues other than color, but these are discussed elsewhere.4 Solving the accessibility issues that CAPTCHAs cause — for instance, by exploring alternatives5 — is also important and of practical relevance, but is beyond this article’s scope (although our discussion can help improve accessibility by identifying inappropriate use of color in deployed CAPTCHAs). CAPTCHAs have commonly used color for the following reasons:
Delay of Social Search on Small-world Random Geometric Graphs

This paper studies the delay of social search by considering messages traveling between source and target individuals in small-world random geometric graphs. In particular, by considering such graphs constructed on different network domains such as, rectangular, circular and spherical network domains, an exact characterization of the average social search delay is obtained as a function of source-target separation, distribution of the number of long-range connections and geometrical properties of network domains. Derived analytical formulas for the average social search delay are first verified by agent-based simulations, and then compared and contrasted with empirical observations in small-world experiments. It is shown that individuals tend to communicate with one another only through their short-range contacts, and the average social search delay rises linearly, when the separation between the source and target is small. On the other hand, as this separation increases, long-range connections are more commonly used, and the average social search delay rapidly saturates to a constant value and stays almost the same for all large values of the separation. These results are consistent with experimental observations made by Travers and Milgram in 1969, as well as by others. Other somewhat surprising conclusions of the paper are that hubs have limited effect in reducing the delay of social search and the degree of social inequality existing in a society adversely affects this delay.
Parallelizing Itinerary-Based KNN Query Processing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks have been proposed for facilitating various monitoring applications (e.g., environmental monitoring and military surveillance) over a wide geographical region. In these applications, spatial queries that collect data from wireless sensor networks play an important role. One such query is the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) query that facilitates collection of sensor data samples based on a given query location and the number of samples specified (i.e., K). Recently, itinerary-based KNN query processing techniques, which propagate queries and collect data along a predetermined itinerary, have been developed. Prior studies demonstrate that itinerary-based KNN query processing algorithms are able to achieve better energy efficiency than other existing algorithms developed upon tree-based network infrastructures. However, how to derive itineraries for KNN query based on different performance requirements remains a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a Parallel Concentric-circle Itinerary-based KNN (PCIKNN) query processing technique that derives different itineraries by optimizing either query latency or energy consumption. The performance of PCIKNN is analyzed mathematically and evaluated through extensive experiments. Experimental results show that PCIKNN outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques.
The Nanoscale Silicon Accumulation-Mode MOSFET—A Comprehensive Numerical Study

Recently, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a very simply structured unipolar accumulation-type field- effect transistor (FET) using silicon nanowires (NWs). In this paper, we present an extensive numerical study of this accumulation metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (AMOSFET). This single-doping-type ohmically contacted structure relies on having a nanoscale dimension normal to the gate, thereby forcing the current path through an accumulated (ON-state) or depleted (OFF-state) region. It also relies on having contact-barrier and doping-dependent minimum source and drain lengths as well as minimum gate lengths to insure unipolar transistor action. The comprehensive report presented extends our previous examination of the device's operation by using extensive numerical simulations to offer a greater understanding of the origins of transistor operation. We explore a wide range of structural and material parameters to study their effects on the linear, saturation, and OFF-state currents. We also delve deeper into the uniquely weak dependence on gate capacitance. This paper establishes that this extremely simple accumulation-mode transistor structure offers its best performance for the more highly doped thinnest devices, giving, for example, for a 1017-cm-3 (doping) and 20-nm device a leakage current of ~40-17 A/mum, a subthreshold swing of 65 mV/dec, and an on-off ratio approximately 1010. This paper also shows that such results should be attainable for AMOSFETs fabricated using NWs and nanoribbons, as well as nanoscale thin-film materials.
Associations among the NEO Personality Inventory, Revised and the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region in elders: effects of depression and gender

Objective The short variant of the serotonin transporter gene-linked functional polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with personality traits related to anxiety, hostility, and depression. We attempted to replicate findings suggesting a positive relation between the short allele variant of 5-HTTLPR and Neuroticism, and a negative association between the short allele variant and Agreeableness. Methods Participants in the present study were 103 geriatric depressed patients and 99 non-depressed age matched controls. Depression status and gender were examined as potential modifiers of the association between 5-HTTLPR and personality. Results Neuroticism was associated with allele frequency such that individuals with the short variant of the allele (ss or sl, group S) were significantly lower on Neuroticism (P<0.04) compared with individuals with the long allele variant (group L), a pattern opposite to that of previous reports. The association did not vary by clinical group (depressed or controls) but was conditional on gender (P<0.01): the mean Neuroticism for males in group S was 48.2, whereas the mean Neuroticism for males in group L was 55.9; and the mean Neuroticism for females did not differ by allele group. In the total sample, Agreeableness was not associated with allele frequency; however, there was a significant allele group×clinical group×gender interaction (P<0.01). Conclusions The present findings failed to replicate prior work suggesting that the short variant of the 5-HTTLPR allele is associated with higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness.
The Effect of Maternal Migration on Early Childhood Development in Rural China

Nearly a quarter of all children under the age of two in China are left behind in the countryside as parents migrate to urban areas for work. We use a longitudinal survey following young children and their caregivers from 6 to 30 months of age to estimate the effects of maternal migration on development, health, and nutritional outcomes in the critical first stages of life. We find significant negative effects on cognitive development and indicators of dietary quality. Taken together with research showing long-term consequences of early life insults, our results imply that, although the reallocation of labor from rural to urban areas has been a key driver of China’s prosperity in recent decades, it may entail a significant human capital cost for the next generation.
Enhanced Staphylolytic Activity of the Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriophage vB_SauS-phiIPLA88 HydH5 Virion-Associated Peptidoglycan Hydrolase: Fusions, Deletions, and Synergy with LysH5

ABSTRACT Virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases have potential as antimicrobial agents due to their ability to lyse Gram-positive bacteria on contact. In this work, our aim was to improve the lytic activity of HydH5, a virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolase from the Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage vB_SauS-phiIPLA88. Full-length HydH5 and two truncated derivatives containing only the CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase) domain exhibited high lytic activity against live S. aureus cells. In addition, three different fusion proteins were created between lysostaphin and HydH5, each of which showed higher staphylolytic activity than the parental enzyme or its deletion construct. Both parental and fusion proteins lysed S. aureus cells in zymograms and plate lysis and turbidity reduction assays. In plate lysis assays, HydH5 and its derivative fusions lysed bovine and human S. aureus strains, the methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain N315, and human Staphylococcus epidermidis strains. Several nonstaphylococcal bacteria were not affected. HydH5 and its derivative fusion proteins displayed antimicrobial synergy with the endolysin LysH5 in vitro, suggesting that the two enzymes have distinct cut sites and, thus, may be more efficient in combination for the elimination of staphylococcal infections.
Pharyngoesophageal Suturing Technique May Decrease the Incidence of Pharyngocutaneous Fistula following Total Laryngectomy

Objectives. A pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) following total laryngectomy is associated with increased morbidity and severe life threatening complications. We aimed to review our experience with the PCF following total laryngectomy and determine the impact of previously reported risk factors on the development of PCF in our patients. Methods. The medical records of 20 patients who had a total laryngectomy operation were retrospectively analyzed. The association between the proposed risk factors and the incidence of the PCF was investigated. Results. Comparison of the suture techniques used for the closure of the pharynx (either continuous Cushing type or interrupted) yielded that primary interrupted sutures had a significantly higher incidence of PCF formation (p < 0.05). Although it was not statistically significant, diabetes mellitus was also associated with increased PCF formation (p > 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the PCF and non-PCF groups in terms of other proposed risk factors (p > 0.05). Conclusions. The main risk factor associated with PCF was found to be the type of pharyngeal closure technique. A vertical closure with a Cushing type continuous suture may be more successful than interrupted sutures in preventing a PCF.
INTEGRATION OF SEASONAL AUTOREGRESSIVE INTEGRATED MOVING AVERAGE AND BAYESIAN METHODS TO PREDICT PRODUCTION THROUGHPUT UNDER RANDOM VARIABLES

Analysing and modelling efforts on production throughput are getting more complex due to random variables in today’s dynamic production systems. The objective of this study is to take multiple random variables of production into account when aiming for production throughput with higher accuracy of prediction. In the dynamic manufacturing environment, production lines have to cope with changes in set-up time, machinery breakdown, lead time of manufacturing, demand, and scrap. This study applied a Bayesian method to tackle the problem. Later, the prediction of production throughput under random variables is improved by the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) method. The integrated Bayesian-SARIMA model consists of multiple random parameters with multiple random variables. A statistical index, R-squared, is used to measure the performance of the integrated model. A real case study on tile and ceramic production is considered. The Bayesian model is validated with respect to the convergence and efficiency of its outputs. The results of the analyses indicate that the Bayesian-SARIMA method produces a higher R-squared value, at 98.8%, compared with previous studies on Bayesian methods where the value was 90.68% and the ARIMA method where it was 97.38%. Consequently a robust approach in terms of the degree of prediction accuracy is proposed. This integrated method may be applied for the estimation of other production performance factors like lead time and cycle time in different types of dynamic manufacturing environment.