Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assay and properties of acetone carboxylase, a novel enzyme involved in acetone-dependent growth and CO2 fixation in Rhodobacter capsulatus and other photosynthetic and denitrifying bacteria.

The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus is able to grow, in the presence of carbon dioxide, under anaerobic (photosynthetic) conditions with the solvents acetone or butanone as carbon source. The carboxylation of acetone to form acetoacetate is the most likely initial step in acetone metabolism. This paper describes an assay for acetone carboxylation, in which fixation of radiolabeled carbon dioxide from NaH14CO3 is measured in the presence of acetone, ATP, magnesium ions and acetyl-CoA. Acetone carboxylase activity was specifically induced by growth of R. capsulatus on acetone or butanone and was associated with a high-molecular-mass protein complex containing two major polypeptides, of 70 and 85 kDa. Partial purification of the activity was achieved by FPLC ion-exchange chromatography, which confirmed that the 70 and 85 kDa proteins were subunits of the enzyme and suggested that at least one additional protein (60 kDa) may be associated with carboxylase activity. N-terminal sequences of the two major subunits were not significantly similar to any other carboxylases in the databases and neither contained covalently bound biotin, indicating that the enzyme represents a novel type of carboxylase. Acetone carboxylase activity was also demonstrated in cell-free extracts of acetone-grown Rhodomicrobium vannielii and the denitrifying bacterium Thiosphaera pantotropha.
The Leaky Pipeline for Postdocs: A study of the time between receiving a PhD and securing a faculty job for male and female astronomers

The transition between receiving a PhD and securing a tenure track faculty position is challenging for nearly every astronomer interested in working in academia. Here we use a publicly available database of recently hired faculty (the Astrophysics Job Rumor Mill) to examine the amount of time astronomers typically spend in this transitory state. Using these data as a starting point to examine the experiences of astronomy postdocs, we find that the average time spent between receiving a PhD and being hired into a faculty position is 4.9$\pm$0.3 years, with female astronomers hired on average 4.2$\pm$0.4 years after receiving a PhD while male astronomers are typically hired after 5.3$\pm$0.4 years. Using a simple model of the labor market, we attempt to recreate this gendered difference in time spent as a postdoc. We can rule out the role of the increasing representation of women among astronomy PhDs, as well as any bias in favor of hiring female astronomers in response to efforts to diversify the faculty ranks. Instead the most likely explanation is that female astronomers are leaving the academic labor market, at a rate that is 3-4 times higher than male astronomers. This scenario explains the distinct hiring time distributions between male and female astronomers, as well as the measured percentage of female assistant professors, and the fraction of female applicants within a typical faculty search. These results provide evidence that more work needs to be done to support and retain female astronomers during the postdoctoral phase of their careers.
Determination of genotype and viral load of HCV among Iranian thalassemic patients suffering from hepatitis

Hepatitis C is one of the most common causes of liver failure and cancer. Recent studies have focused on whether different hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes are associated with different profiles of pathogenicity, infectivity, and response to antiviral therapy. Genotype 1 is difficult to treat, while genotypes 2 and 3 are easy to treat. We used a genotyping system based on nested RT-PCR of the core region with genotype-specific PCR primers for the determination of HCV genotypes followed by sequencing. Serum samples of 350 thalassemic patients (163 female and 187 male) suffering from hepatitis were used to extract the HCV genome. The Amplicon HCV Monitor test version 2.0 was used for viral load determination. T he frequencies of different genotypes were: 1a (20.5%), 1b (14.5%), 2a (12.5%), 2b (12.5%), 3a (24%), and 3b (16 %). Genotypes 1a and 3b were associated with a significantly (p<0.001) higher viral load as compared to genotypes 1b and 2b. No statistical significance was observed for viral load among other HCV RNA genotypes.
Corporate Risk in Family Businesses Under Economic Crisis

Este articulo analiza el riesgo corporativo en empresas familiares en yuxtaposicion con la adversidad economica generalizada. Usando informacion de empresas familiares de Portugal para el periodo entre 1999 y 2010, nos enfocamos en la posibilidad de efectos asimetricos de riesgo corporativo entre periodos de estabilidad y de adversidad economica. En general, los resultados sugieren que la evidencia concerniente al riesgo de las empresas familiares es sensible a los diferentes tipos de riesgos que se consideren. Al comparar las empresas familiares con sus contrapartes, encontramos evidencia de que las primeras tienen niveles menores de riesgo operativo y tienen mayores deudas. Los resultados indican que el riesgo sistematico esta negativamente relacionado con la edad y positivamente relacionado con el tamano; la primera relacion es mas fuerte para las empresas familiares y la segunda para las no familiares que para sus contrapartes. La evidencia apoya la hipotesis de que el riesgo empresarial de las empresas controladas por una familia esta menos relacionado positivamente con la proporcion de directores independientes en la junta que las empresas no familiares, lo que sugiere que a los fundadores les preocupa la supervivencia de su empresa. Finalmente, los resultados muestran que la crisis afecta el riesgo operativo en empresas familiares, lo que sugiere que los gerentes de las empresas familiares son mas reacios a tomar riesgos en periodos de crisis. Este articulo ofrece algunas nociones presentes en la literatura sobre empresas familiares. Hasta donde sabemos, este es el primer estudio en analizar el riesgo corporativo en el contexto de empresas familiares. Adicionalmente, examina el riesgo corporativo en combinacion con la adversidad economica generalizada.
Police-public relations: Perceptions of the police among university students in a western Canadian city

Using data collected from a survey of 501 university students in a western Canadian city, this article examines the perceptions of the police among young adults and factors that contributed to the variation in their evaluations of the police. Results demonstrated that respondents held moderately positive attitudes toward the police. Multiple ordinary least-squares regression analysis demonstrated that religious affiliation, personal safety, property crime victimization, violent crime victimization, contact with the police, and police harassment or mistreatment experience were found to be significantly associated with perceptions of police performance, whereas age, religious affiliation, violent crime victimization, contact with the police, and police harassment or mistreatment experience were found to be significantly related to perceptions of police treatment of minorities. (Word count: 118).
Networks, Clusters, and Small Worlds: Are they related?

In recent years, many industries have seen the rise of new inter-organizational forms. Among those new forms, organizational networks, clusters, and small worlds are attracting increasing interest, both in academic research and management practice. While economic theory considers such forms to be market failures, organization theory highlights their potential positive effects on the participating organizations. The organizational literature often uses the terms “networks”, “clusters”, and “small worlds” as synonymous even though there are differences between them. Moreover, given the sometimes-spontaneous emergence of these organizational forms, the extent to which they can be designed is not always clear. This article discusses the characteristics of networks, clusters, and small worlds; their operational parameters; and how these organizational forms are related. Further, we identify the role of design in these types of organizations.
Towards a Worldsheet Description of N=8 Supergravity

In this note we address the worldsheet description of 4-dimensional N=8 supergravity using ambitwistors. After gauging an appropriate current algebra, we argue that the only physical vertex operators correspond to the N=8 supermultiplet. It has previously been shown that worldsheet correlators give rise to supergravity tree level scattering amplitudes. We extend this work by proposing a definition for genus-one amplitudes that passes several consistency checks such as exhibiting modular invariance and reproducing the expected infrared behavior of 1-loop supergravity amplitudes.
Sea-level Change during the Last Thousand Years In Chesapeake Bay

New basal peat dates and older published sea-level indicators for the middle Chesapeake Bay document a very slow overall rate of sea-level rise in this area during the last thousand years, around 0.56 mm/yr. This figure is significantly lower than known rates of subsidence for the mid-Bay region (~1.6-2.0 mm/yr) and implies that most of the last millennium was characterized by a relatively flat sea-level trend punctuated by a major regression. The paleoclimatic record of the late Holocene suggests that the timing of the regression probably coincided with the Little Ice Age. Refining this picture of the recent sea-level history of the middle U.S. Atlantic Coast will require new sea-level information drawn from sources other than marsh sediments, which document regressions poorly due to slowing or cessation of vertical and lateral accretion processes when sea level falls.
Functional outcome of distal femoral fractures treated with DF-LCP [Distal femur locking compression plate]

Introduction: Management of distal femoral fractures is a therapeutic challenge to the orthopaedic and due to its extensive soft tissue injuries, bone loss, comminution, articular extension, instability and usually treated surgically. There is no single implant that can be used for all distal femoral fractures. The introduction of DF-LCP is a welcome change that has brought a drastic change in management of these fractures. Aim: To evaluate the functional outcome of Distal femoral fractures treated with DF-LCP Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out at orthopaedics department of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Southern Rajasthan from June 2013 to December 2015. A total 34 patients of AO Type A and Type C distal femur fractures were included in the study. The method used for fixation was closed or open reduction and internal fixation with DF-LCP. All the patients were followed up for a period of one year and functional outcome was assessed according to Neer’s score system. Results: On evaluation according to Neer’s criteria mean score were 87 with a range of 62-97. Out of 34 patients 21(62%) had excellent, 11(32%) satisfactory and 2(6%) unsatisfactory result. Conclusion: We conclude that DF-LCP is a safe and reliable implant for distal femoral fractures AO Type A and Type C. However careful understanding of basic principles and identification of appropriate fracture pattern for use of DF-LCP are essential to avoid complications and to produce excellent result.
Managers ’ Characteristics and Employee Productivity Hunik Sri

Received 8 Oktober 2016 Received in Revised Form Accepted 28 Oktober 2016 Available online 12 November 2016 We investigate the effect of top management characteristics on employee productivity. Arguably, the presence of encouraging managers will motivate employee to perform better in term of productivity. We use archival data of Indonesian firms to test our hypothesis. Some demographic factors are employed to measure managers’ characteristics. Surprisingly, our results reveal that firms with more educated managers have lower employee productivity. However, we do not find evidence on the effect of managers’ age and tenure on employee productivity.
Thermoresponsive copolymer-grafted SBA-15 porous silica particles for temperature-triggered topical delivery systems

A series of poly( N- isopropylacrylamide -co- acrylamide) thermoresponsive random copolymers with different molecular weights and composition were synthesized and characterized by attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) of the copolymers were tuned by changing the mole ratios of monomers. Copolymer with highest molecular weight and LCST (41.2°C) was grafted on SBA-15 type mesoporous silica particles by a two-step polymer grafting procedure. Bare SBA-15 and the thermoresponsive copolymer-grafted (hybrid) SBA-15 particles were fully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), ATR-FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyses. The hybrid particles were tested for their efficiency as temperature-sensitive systems for dermal delivery of the antioxidant rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside). Improved control over rutin release by hybrid particles was obtained which makes them attractive hybrid materials for drug delivery.
Radiocarbon Dating Evidence for Mammoths on Wrangel Island, Arctic Ocean, Until 2000 BC

Radiocarbon dating results of mammoth tusks, teeth and bones collected on Wrangel Island between 1989 and 1991 reveal a unique mammoth refugium during the Holocene. We used an improved chemical procedure to obtain and purify collagen from bone. Benzene synthesized from the samples was measured using a liquid scintillation counter. The validity of our data has been confirmed by the results of our measurements on two international control sample series (IAEA and TIRI) and by parallel measurements of Wrangel Island mammoth remains at other laboratories.
On the Bondi mass with a cosmological constant

The mass loss of an isolated gravitating system due to energy carried away by gravitational waves with a cosmological constant $\Lambda\in\R$ was recently worked out, using the Newman-Penrose-Unti approach. In that same article, an expression for the Bondi mass of the isolated system, $M_\Lambda$, for the $\Lambda>0$ case was proposed. The stipulated mass $M_\Lambda$ would ensure that in the absence of any incoming gravitational radiation from elsewhere, the emitted gravitational waves must carry away a positive-definite energy. That suggested quantity however, introduced a $\Lambda$-correction term to the Bondi mass $M_B$ (where $M_B$ is the usual Bondi mass for asymptotically flat spacetimes) which would involve not just information on the state of the system at that moment, but ostensibly also its past history. In this paper, we derive the identical mass-loss equation using an integral formula on a hypersurface formulated by Frauendiener based on the Nester-Witten identity, and argue that one may adopt a generalisation of the Bondi mass with $\Lambda\in\R$ \emph{without any correction}, viz. $M_\Lambda=M_B$ for any $\Lambda\in\R$. Furthermore with $M_\Lambda=M_B$, we show that for \emph{purely quadrupole gravitational waves} given off by the isolated system (i.e. when the "Bondi news" $\sigma^o$ comprises only the $l=2$ components of the "spherical harmonics with spin-weight 2"), the energy carried away is \emph{manifestly positive-definite} for the $\Lambda>0$ case. For a general $\sigma^o$ having higher multipole moments, this perspicuous property in the $\Lambda>0$ case still holds if those $l>2$ contributions are weak --- more precisely, if they satisfy any of the inequalities given in this paper.
GeneralizedDisappointment Aversion , Long-run Volatility Risk , and Asset Prices

We propose an asset pricing model with generalized disappointment aversion preferences and long-run volatility risk. With Markov switching fundamentals, we derive closed-form solutions for all returns moments and predictability regressions. The model produces first and second moments of price-dividend ratios and asset returns as well as return predictability patterns in line with the data. Compared to Bansal and Yaron(2004), we generate (i) more predictability of excess returns by price-dividend ratios; (ii) less predictability of consumption growth rates by price-dividend ratios. Our results do not depend on a value of the elasticity of intertemporal substitution greater than one. ( JELG10, G12, G11, C10, C50)
Magnetization‒transfer 31P NMR of biochemical exchange in vivo: Application to creatine kinase kinetics

Phosphorus‒31 saturation‒transfer NMR spectroscopy provides an elegant means to study fluxes through the creatine kinase reaction in human skeletal muscle. To obtain reliable quantitative kinetic information, experimental imperfections, such as incomplete saturation and radiofrequency bleed over need to be addressed appropriately. In resting muscle, creatine kinase was near equilibrium both in normal controls and in a patient with impaired oxidative phosphorylation. Oral intake of high doses of creatine monohydrate for several days resulted in significantly increased concentrations of phosphocreatine but had no measurable effect on the phosphocreatine resynthesis rate in resting muscle.
Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election

Finding facts about fake news There was a proliferation of fake news during the 2016 election cycle. Grinberg et al. analyzed Twitter data by matching Twitter accounts to specific voters to determine who was exposed to fake news, who spread fake news, and how fake news interacted with factual news (see the Perspective by Ruths). Fake news accounted for nearly 6% of all news consumption, but it was heavily concentrated—only 1% of users were exposed to 80% of fake news, and 0.1% of users were responsible for sharing 80% of fake news. Interestingly, fake news was most concentrated among conservative voters. Science, this issue p. 374; see also p. 348 A small proportion of voters share and are exposed to the majority of online fake news. The spread of fake news on social media became a public concern in the United States after the 2016 presidential election. We examined exposure to and sharing of fake news by registered voters on Twitter and found that engagement with fake news sources was extremely concentrated. Only 1% of individuals accounted for 80% of fake news source exposures, and 0.1% accounted for nearly 80% of fake news sources shared. Individuals most likely to engage with fake news sources were conservative leaning, older, and highly engaged with political news. A cluster of fake news sources shared overlapping audiences on the extreme right, but for people across the political spectrum, most political news exposure still came from mainstream media outlets.
Spatial Structure Can Decrease Symbiotic Cooperation

Mutualisms occur when at least two species provide a net fitness benefit to each other. These types of interactions are ubiquitous in nature, with more being discovered regularly. Mutualisms are vital to humankind: pollinators and soil microbes are critical in agriculture, bacterial microbiomes regulate our health, and domesticated animals provide us with food and companionship. Many hypotheses exist on how mutualisms evolve, however they are difficult to evaluate without bias due to the fragile and idiosyncratic systems most often investigated. Instead, we have created an artificial life simulation, Symbulation, that we use to examine mutualism evolution based on: 1) the probability of vertical transmission (symbiont being passed to offspring) and 2) the spatial structure of the environment. We found that spatial structure can lead to less mutualism at intermediate vertical transmission rates. We provide evidence that this effect is due to the ability of quasi-species to purge parasites, reducing the diversity of available symbionts. Our simulation is easily extended to test many additional hypotheses about the evolution of mutualism and serves as a general model to quantitatively compare how different environments affect the evolution of mutualism.
Urodynamic Changes after Valve Fulguration Alone and Valve Fulguration with Bladder Neck Incision

Aims: The aim of this study is to compare urodynamic changes after valve fulguration alone and valve fulguration with bladder neck incision (BNI). Settings and Design: A total of 81 patients with posterior urethral valve were treated at our center from July 2010 to July 2016. Patients were randomized into two groups using simple randomization. Forty patients underwent BNI in addition to valve fulguration (Group I), and the remaining 41 patients underwent conventional transurethral valve fulguration (Group II). Subjects and Methods: The exclusion criteria for both the groups were the presence of simultaneous urogenital anomalies, any neurological condition, history of any urethral manipulation, and urinary diversion. Urodynamic changes were compared in both groups postoperatively. All patients were evaluated throughout their follow-up, according to the following protocol: (a) Voiding cystourethrography at 6 weeks after surgery; (b) Renal function test and urine culture at 6 weeks and then 3 monthly; (c) Ultrasound kidney, ureter, and bladder region and urodynamics at 3 and 6 months after surgery and then yearly. Median follow-up period for Group I was 27.5 months (13–72 months) and 14 months (14.5–72 months) for Group II. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was done using the Student's t-test for parametric data and Chi-square test for categorical variable. P ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The mean age was 7.26 years in Group I and 7.66 years in Group II at the end of follow-up. There was no statistically significant difference found regarding detrusor overactivity (P = 0.68), compliance (P = 0.052), end-filling pressure (P = 0.08), and max Pdet at Qmax (P = 0.08) in the both groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference regarding improvement of peak flow (P = 0.038) and postvoid residue (PVR) (P = 0.045) in Group I in comparison to Group II. Conclusions: Valve ablation with BNI gives statistically significant better urodynamics in voiding phase regarding flow and lesser PVR in comparison to valve ablation.