Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inventory, assembly and analysis of Bacillus subtilis ABC transport systems.

We have undertaken the inventory and assembly of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter systems in the complete genome of Bacillus subtilis. We combined the identification of the three protein partners that compose an ABC transporter (nucleotide-binding domain, NBD; membrane spanning domain, MSD; and solute-binding protein, SBP) with constraints on the genetic organization. This strategy allowed the identification of 86 NBDs in 78 proteins, 103 MSD proteins and 37 SBPs. The analysis of transcriptional units allows the reconstruction of 59 ABC transporters, which include at least one NBD and one MSD. A particular class of five dimeric ATPases was not associated to MSD partners and is assumed to be involved either in macrolide resistance or regulation of translation elongation. In addition, we have detected five genes encoding ATPases without any gene coding for MSD protein in their neighborhood and 11 operons that encode only the membrane and solute-binding proteins. On the bases of similarities, three ATP-binding proteins are proposed to energize ten incomplete systems, suggesting that one ATPase may be recruited by more than one transporter. Finally, we estimate that the B. subtilis genome encodes for at least 78 ABC transporters that have been split in 38 importers and 40 extruders. The ABC systems have been further classified into 11 sub-families according to the tree obtained from the NBDs and the clustering of the MSDs and the SBPs. Comparisons with Escherichia coli show that the extruders are over-represented in B. subtilis, corresponding to an expansion of the sub-families of antibiotic and drug resistance systems.
Exploring variables underlying non-response in a survey of nurses and nurses' aides in practice.

This paper demonstrates that distinguishing between the different sources of unit response failure (i.e. refusals and non-contact) in survey research is methodologically important since minimizing non-contact and refusals requires different approaches. The findings of an interview survey show that unit response failure can be contained successfully through careful study design and management. The potential value of using resampling (i.e. obtaining some information from non-respondents) for identifying: (i) which direction, if any, the data from respondents are biased and; (ii) influencing variables on the incidence of non-response is also demonstrated.
Wingate anaerobic test reference values for male power athletes.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to develop reference values for the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) for peak power (PP), mean power (MP), and fatigue index (FI) in NCAA Division IA male athletes. METHODS Seventy-seven athletes (age 20.8±1.8 y, mass 84.4±9.4 kg, height 183.9±6.2 cm) participating in American football (n=52) and track and field (n=25) performed a 30-s WAnT resisted at 0.085 kp/kg body mass (BM). RESULTS Absolute mean (±SD) values for PP and MP were 1084.2±137.0 and 777.1±80.9 W, respectively, whereas values normalized to BM were 12.9±1.5 and 9.3±0.9 W/kg BM, respectively. Mean FI values were 49.1%±8.4%. PP outputs>13.6, 12.4-13.6, and <12.4 W/kg BM were classified as high, medium, and low, respectively. MP outputs>9.8, 9.0-9.8, and <9.0 W/kg BM were classified as high, medium, and low, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The reference values developed in this study can be used in various athletic training and research programs to more accurately assess athletes' anaerobic fitness and to monitor changes resulting from anaerobic training.
Internal audit involvement in Enterprise Risk Management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of internal auditors' involvement in enterprise risk management (ERM) on perceptions of their willingness to report a breakdown in risk procedures and whether a strong relationship with the audit committee affects such willingness to report. The study also investigates the use of ERM and the role of internal audit in ERM in Australian private and public sector entities. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses an experimental design, manipulating the internal auditor's involvement in ERM and the strength of the relationship between internal audit and the audit committee. Participants are 117 certified internal auditors. The study also gathers descriptive data on the use of ERM. Findings - The study indicates that a high involvement in ERM impacts the perceptions of internal auditors' willingness to report a breakdown in risk procedures to the audit committee. However, a strong relationship with the audit committee does not appear to affect their perceived willingness to report. The study also finds that the majority of organisations have recently adopted ERM. Internal auditors are involved in ERM assurance activities but some also engage in activities that could compromise objectivity. Research limitations/implications - There are internal and external validity threats associated with the experimental design. Practical implications - The findings reinforce the need for organisations to adhere to the recommendations of the Institute of Internal Auditors and to ensure that internal auditors do not play an inappropriate role in ERM. Originality/value - The paper contributes to our understanding of the impact of involvement in ERM on internal audit objectivity and of the current role of internal audit in ERM in Australia.
Ceramide and sphingosine in pulmonary infections

Abstract Acid sphingomyelinase and ceramide have previously been shown to play a central role in infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium avium. Recent studies have extended the role of sphingolipids in bacterial infections and have demonstrated that ceramide and sphingosine are central to the defense of lungs against bacterial pathogens. Ceramide accumulates in the airway epithelium of cystic fibrosis and ceramide synthase 2 (CerS2)-deficient mice, which respond to the lack of very long chain (C22-C24-) ceramides with a profound compensatory increase of long chain (mainly C16-) ceramides. In contrast, sphingosine is present in healthy airways and is almost completely absent from diseased or deficient epithelial cells. Both sphingolipids are crucially involved in the high susceptibility to infection of cystic fibrosis and CerS2-deficient mice, as indicated by findings showing that the normalization of ceramide and sphingosine levels rescue these mice from acute infection with P. aeruginosa.
Skill Differences in Corporate Acquisitions

Are there skill differences in mergers and acquisitions? To investigate this question, we focus on persistence in the performance of corporate acquirers. We find persistence only when successive deals occur under the same CEO and conclude that skill differences in acquisitions reside with the CEO, not with the firm as a whole. These differences are economically meaningful. An acquirer that was successful in its last deal and kept its CEO earns 1.02% more on its next deal than does a previously-unsuccessful firm that kept its CEO. This percentage difference is equivalent to a $175 million difference in value creation.
Oncothermia Treatment of Cancer: From the Laboratory to Clinic

Oncothermia is a long-time applied method (since 1989) in oncology. Its clinical results excellently show its advantages, however the details of its mechanism are under investigation even today. The method is based on a self-selective process of energy concentration and targets the membrane of the malignant cell, using the temperature gradient and the beta-dispersion of the membrane proteins. To prove the theory we show the experimental evidences in vitro experiments where we showed the definite difference between the conventional heating and the oncothermia at the same temperature. In the next step, we studied some xenograft nude-mice models, verifying the temperature-dependent and non temperature dependent factors. In addition, the synergic effect with some chemotherapies were studied, having more efficacy of the oncothermia with drugs than the conventional heating. These experiments show the definite advantages of the oncothermia compared to its classical counterpart, acting on the same temperature. We have also proved the beneficial effect of oncothermia treatment in the veterinary practice Oncothermia is applied in numerous clinics and hospitals, and we would like to show some characteristic case-reports and also the clinical benefit on the survival time elongation of liver-, pancreas-, brain-, and lung-tumor-lesions.
Managerial Incentives and Product Market Competition

are imperfectly competitive, Leibenstein (1966) claims that there may be a substantial amount of "X-inefficiency", where X-inefficiency measures the degree to which actual profits depart from the maximum of profits that could be obtained if all operations in the firm were carried out at minimal costs. He offers empirical evidence from case studies showing that the welfare loss due to organizational slack is of an order of magnitude bigger than the welfare loss due to monopolistic price distortions on imperfectly competitive markets. ' These results support the common presumption that increasing competition reduces organizational and in particular managerial slack. However, this early literature does not offer a theoretical explanation for the link between competition and managerial incentives. In particular, it ignores the fact that managerial incentives can be affected by the design of an incentive scheme. In this paper I derive the optimal incentive scheme for a manager as a function of the competitiveness of the environment in which his firm operates. The basic impact of increased competition is that it reduces the profits of a firm. This has two effects in the model. First, if a firm has high costs, then the reduction of profits may be sufficient to render the firm unprofitable, so the probability that it has to be liquidated goes up. This unambiguously induces the manager of the firm to work harder for a cost reduction in order to avoid liquidation and to keep his job. Second, the reduction in profits may affect
Institutions and economic development: theory, policy and history

Abstract: The article tries to advance our understanding of institutional economics by critically examining the currently dominant discourse on institutions and economic development. First, I argue that the discourse suffers from a number of theoretical problems – its neglect of the causality running from development to institutions, its inability to see the impossibility of a free market, and its belief that the freest market and the strongest protection of private property rights are best for economic development. Second, I point out that the supposed evidence showing the superiority of ‘liberalized’ institutions relies too much on cross-section econometric studies, which suffer from defective concepts, flawed measurements and heterogeneous samples. Finally, I argue that the currently dominant discourse on institutions and development has a poor understanding of changes in institutions themselves, which often makes it take unduly optimistic or pessimistic positions about the feasibility of institutional reform.
INFORMATION CONTENT OF CASH FLOW FIGURES

Abstract This paper investigates the link between earnings and share prices for a sample of UK companies for the years 1961 to 1977. Three measures of earnings were used: the traditional historical cost accounting return and two which were closer to cash flow measures. The strength of the link between earnings and cumulative abnormal returns was investigated relative to the level of inflation. The results indicate that, while there is substantial information content in the traditional historical cost rate of return, there is very little information conveyed by the measure closest to pure cash flow. No support was therefore found for the use of cash flow based reports. Evidence was found showing substantial changes in the nature of the relationship between accounting and stock returns, but this could not be explained by the effects of inflation.
School Performance and Staying on: A Micro Analysis for Northern Ireland

Microeconomic survey data are used to investigate the impact of a number of measures of school performance on the chances of young people staying on in full-time education. Multinomial logit models are estimated for the main destinations of young people in Northern Ireland at age 16, namely school, Further Education, employment, vocational training and unemployment. The analysis is based on a sample which was stratified according to the choices made by young people. Since this stratification is endogenous, 'choice-based' models are estimated to account for this. Some evidence is found of a statistically significant ceteris paribus relationship between school performance and staying on. This is interpreted in terms of aspects of school culture which are captured in the school performance indicators. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Characteristics and transformations of dissolved organic nitrogen in municipal biological nitrogen removal wastewater treatment plants

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) represents most of the dissolved nitrogen in the effluent of biological nitrogen removal (BNR) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The characteristics of wastewater-derived DON in two different WWTPs were investigated by several different methods. The major removals of DON and biodegradable dissolved organic nitrogen (BDON) along the treatment train were observed in the anaerobic process. Dissolved combined amino acids (DCAA) and dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) in the effluent accounted approximately for less than 4% and 1% of the effluent DON, respectively. Approximately half of wastewater-derived DON was capable of passing through a 1 kDa ultrafilter, and low MW DON cannot effectively be removed by BNR processes. More than 80% of effluent DON was composed of hydrophilic compounds, which stimulate algal growth. The study provided important information for future upgrading of WWTPs or the selection of DON removal systems to meet more demanding nitrogen discharge limits.
Experience of trauma and conversion to psychosis in an ultra‐high‐risk (prodromal) group

Bechdolf A, Thompson A, Nelson B, Cotton S, Simmons MB, Amminger GP, Leicester S, Francey SM, McNab C, Krstev H, Sidis A, McGorry PD, Yung AR. Experience of trauma and conversion to psychosis in an ultra‐high‐risk (prodromal) group.
Close-up of the Immunogenic α1,3-Galactose Epitope as Defined by a Monoclonal Chimeric Immunoglobulin E and Human Serum Using Saturation Transfer Difference (STD) NMR

Background: Antibody binding to xenobiotic α-Gal structures mediates anaphylaxis. Results: Humanized IgE antibodies exhibit recognition footprints similar to serum immunoglobulins but have no capability of effector cell activation. Conclusion: Recognition of the α-Gal epitope is based on the terminal disaccharide, but interaction does not imply cellular activation. Significance: These data provide the first insights into the recognition of carbohydrate IgE epitopes. Anaphylaxis mediated by carbohydrate structures is a controversially discussed phenomenon. Nevertheless, IgE with specificity for the xenotransplantation antigen α1,3-Gal (α-Gal) are associated with a delayed type of anaphylaxis, providing evidence for the clinical relevance of carbohydrate epitopes in allergy. The aim of this study was to dissect immunoreactivity, interaction, and fine epitope of α-Gal-specific antibodies to obtain insights into the recognition of carbohydrate epitopes by IgE antibodies and their consequences on a molecular and cellular level. The antigen binding moiety of an α-Gal-specific murine IgM antibody was employed to construct chimeric IgE and IgG antibodies. Reactivity and specificity of the resulting antibodies were assessed by means of ELISA and receptor binding studies. Using defined carbohydrates, interaction of the IgE and human serum was assessed by mediator release assays, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and saturation transfer difference NMR analyses. The α-Gal-specific chimeric IgE and IgG antibodies were proven functional regarding interaction with antigen and Fc receptors. SPR measurements demonstrated affinities in the micromolar range. In contrast to a reference antibody, anti-Gal IgE did not induce mediator release, potentially reflecting the delayed type of anaphylaxis. The α1,3-Gal epitope fine structures of both the recombinant IgE and affinity-purified serum were defined by saturation transfer difference NMR, revealing similar contributions of carbohydrate residues and participation of both galactose residues in interaction. The antibodies generated here constitute the principle underlying α1,3-Gal-mediated anaphylaxis. The complementary data of affinity and fine specificity may help to elucidate the recognition of carbohydrates by the adaptive immune response and the molecular requirements of carbohydrate-based anaphylaxis.
Identifying Knowledge-Attitude-Practice Gaps to Enhance HPV Vaccine Diffusion

To examine differences in knowledge, attitudes, and related practices among adopters and nonadopters of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, the researchers conducted 83 in-depth interviews with 18- to 26-year-old women. The study identified knowledge-attitude-practice gaps in the context of the HPV vaccine to explain why diffusion of a preventive innovation (such as the HPV vaccine) requires targeted risk communication strategies in order to increase demand. Salient findings included similarities between vaccinated and unvaccinated women's lack of knowledge and uncertainties about HPV and cervical cancer. Vaccinated women who had no knowledge of HPV or no-risk/low-risk perceptions of HPV reported receiving vaccination, indicating HPV risk protection behavior could precede knowledge acquisition for vaccinated women. These vaccinated women identified an interpersonal network supportive of vaccination and reported supportive social influences. Among unvaccinated women, unsupportive vaccination attitudes included low perceived personal risk of HPV. In contrast, unvaccinated women often cited erroneous beliefs that HPV could be avoided by abstinence, monogamy, and knowledge of their partners' sexual history as reasons that the vaccine was not personally relevant. Unvaccinated women cited interpersonal influences that activated short- and long-term vaccination safety and efficacy concerns. Different levels of fear regarding the HPV vaccine may underlie (a) attitudinal differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated women in perceived vaccination value and (b) attitude-practice gaps.
Two distinct scene processing networks connecting vision and memory.

Research on visual scene understanding has identified a number of regions involved in processing natural scenes, but has lacked a unifying framework for understanding how these different regions are organized and interact. We propose a new organizational principle, in which scene processing relies on two distinct networks at the edge of visual cortex. The first network consists of the Transverse Occipital Sulcus (TOS, or the Occipital Place Area) and the posterior portion of the Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA). These regions have a well-defined retinotopic organization and do not show strong memory or context effects, suggesting that this network primarily processes visual features from the current view of a scene. The second network consists of the caudal Inferior Parietal Lobule (cIPL), Retrosplenial Cortex (RSC), and the anterior portion of the PPA. These regions are involved in a wide range of both visual and non-visual tasks involving episodic memory, navigation, imagination, and default mode processing, and connect information about a current scene view with a much broader temporal and spatial context. We provide evidence for this division from a diverse set of sources. Using a data-driven approach to parcellate resting-state fMRI data, we identify coherent functional regions corresponding to scene-processing areas. We then show that a network clustering analysis separates these scene-related regions into two adjacent networks, which exhibit sharp changes in connectivity properties across their narrow border. Additionally, we argue that the cIPL has been previously overlooked as a critical region for full scene understanding, based on a meta-analysis of previous functional studies as well as diffusion tractography results showing that cIPL is well-positioned to connect visual cortex with many other cortical systems. This new framework for understanding the neural substrates of scene processing bridges results from many lines of research, and makes specific predictions about functional properties of these regions. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.
Beyond philanthropy: corporate social responsibility in the Nigerian insurance industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show that given the dearth of literature on how firms in the African continent have embraced and practiced corporate social responsibility (CSR), this study contributes to the CSR literature by examining managers' perceptions about CSR, structural changes to enhance, its implementation, and the pattern of current CSR actions in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - The study used quantitative approach and collected primary data through a three-part structured questionnaire, from insurance firms operating in Nigeria. The 67 responses received were analysed descriptively and the results presented. Findings - The overall results indicate a strong support for social responsibility and the translation of this support into action through involvement in some community based projects. Evidence from the study also suggests that social responsibility is still largely perceived as a philanthropic gesture. Research limitations/implications - The study only covers insurance firms operating in Lagos state. Furthermore, only one response represents the view of a firm, hence the need to exercise caution in generalizing the results. Practical implications - Since the results suggest the readiness of the Nigerian insurance firms to go beyond the traditional view of profit and shareholders' wealth maximization, there must be a consistency between this posture and their actions. Originality/value - The study provides an insight into perceptions about corporate social responsibility in the insurance industry, in a developing country and in Africa, which to the best knowledge of the author, have not been done before.