Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficiency of acetylcholine receptor subunit assembly and its regulation by cAMP

Assembly of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunits was investigated using mouse fibroblast cell lines stably expressing either Torpedo (All-11) or mouse (AM-4) alpha, beta, gamma, and delta AChR subunits. Both cell lines produce fully functional cell surface AChRs. We find that two independent treatments, lower temperature and increased intracellular cAMP can increase AChR expression by increasing the efficiency of subunit assembly. Previously, we showed that the rate of degradation of individual subunits was decreased as the temperature was lowered and that Torpedo AChR expression was acutely temperature sensitive, requiring temperatures lower than 37 degrees C. We find that Torpedo AChR assembly efficiency increases 56-fold as the temperature is decreased from 37 to 20 degrees C. To determine how much of this is a temperature effect on degradation, mouse AChR assembly efficiencies were determined and found to be only approximately fourfold more efficient at 20 than at 37 degrees C. With reduced temperatures, we can achieve assembly efficiencies of Torpedo AChR in fibroblasts of 20-35%. Mouse AChR in muscle cells is also approximately 30% and we obtain approximately 30% assembly efficiency of mouse AChR in fibroblasts (with reduced temperatures, this value approaches 100%). Forskolin, an agent which increases intracellular cAMP levels, increased subunit assembly efficiencies twofold with a corresponding increase in cell surface AChR. Pulse-chase experiments and immunofluorescence microscopy indicate that oligomer assembly occurs in the ER and that AChR oligomers remain in the ER until released to the cell surface. Once released, AChRs move rapidly through the Golgi membrane to the plasma membrane. Forskolin does not alter the intracellular distribution of AChR. Our results indicate that cell surface expression of AChR can be regulated at the level of subunit assembly and suggest a mechanism for the cAMP-induced increase in AChR expression.
Can the fin ancialised atmosphere be effec tively regulated and accounted for

Dr Patty McNicholas Department of Accounting & Finance Monash University, Clayton 3800 Melbourne, Australia Email:patty.mcnicholas@monash.edu Ph: 613 99052392 and Professor Carolyn Windsor School of Accounting Bond University, Gold Coast Queensland, Australia Email: cwindsor@bond.edu. au Ph: 617 55951560
Regulation of the kinase activity of heme protein FixL from the two-component system FixL/FixJ of Rhizobium meliloti.

The Rhizobium meliloti two-component system FixL/FixJ regulates nitrogen fixation in response to oxygen during symbiosis. FixJ is a transcriptional activator of critical nif and fix promoters; its in vivo activity is enhanced by FixL in diminished oxygen (David, M., Daveran, M.-L., Batut, J., Dedieu, A., Domergue, O., Ghai, J., Hertig, C., Boistard, P., and Kahn, D. (1988) Cell 54, 671-683; Virts, E. L. , Stanfield, S. W. , Helinski, D. R. , and Ditta, G. S. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85, 3062-3065). FixL* is a soluble truncated version of FixL that contains heme; it catalyzes its autophosphorylation and the phosphorylation of FixJ (Gilles-Gonzalez, M.A., Ditta, G. S., and Helinski, D. R. (1991) Nature 350, 170-172). We examine the kinetics of phosphoryl transfer in this system. First, there is a slow autophosphorylation of FixL* in ATP that is accelerated in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of Mn2+. This reaction is reversible, i.e. phospho-FixL* reacts with ADP to generate ATP. Since the reverse reaction is faster, most FixL* is not phosphorylated at equilibrium. Next, there is a rapid phosphoryl transfer directly from phospho-FixL* to FixJ that is unaffected by oxygen. Finally, phospho-FixJ is hydrolyzed; this reaction is very fast and not controlled by oxygen. We propose that in addition to the oxygen signal previously noted in vivo, energy charge and manganese concentration are also indicators of symbiosis that impact on the induction of nitrogen fixation genes.
Genome-wide association study of 8 carcass traits in Jinghai Yellow chickens using specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing technology

Carcass traits are important to the commercial chicken industry, and understanding the genetics of these traits will be useful in the development of commercially viable varieties of chickens. We conducted a genome-wide association study based on 8 carcass trait phenotypes in a population of 400 43-week-old Jinghai Yellow chickens. Specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing technology was used to identify 90,961 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) distributed among 29 chromosomes and the mitochondrial genome. SNP that were significantly associated with phenotypic traits were identified by a simple general linear model. Fifteen SNP attained genome-wide significance (P < 1.87E−6) and were associated with 5 of the 8 carcass traits; only one SNP was significantly associated with 2 traits (foot weight and wing weight). Twelve genes were associated with these 15 SNP. A region of chromosome 4 between 75.5 and 76.1 Mb was associated with carcass weight, foot weight, and wing weight. An 84-kb region on chromosome 3 (51.2 Mb) was associated with eviscerated weight and semi-eviscerated weight.
Feature-specific vector quantization of images

A new interband vector quantization of a human vision-based image representation is presented. The feature specific vector quantizer (FVQ) is suited for data compression beyond second-order decorrelation. The scheme is derived from statistical investigations of natural images and the processing principles of biological vision systems, the initial stage of the coding algorithm is a hierarchical, and orientation-selective, analytic bandpass decomposition, realized by even- and odd-symmetric filter pairs that are modeled after the simple cells of the visual cortex. The outputs of each even- and odd-symmetric filter pair are interpreted as real and imaginary parts of an analytic bandpass signal, which is transformed into a local amplitude and a local phase component according to the operation of cortical complex cells. Feature-specific multidimensional vector quantization is realized by combining the amplitude/phase samples of all orientation filters of one resolution layer. The resulting vectors are suited for a classification of the local image features with respect to their intrinsic dimensionality, and enable the exploitation of higher order statistical dependencies between the subbands. This final step is closely related to the operation of cortical hypercomplex or end-stopped cells. The codebook design is based on statistical as well as psychophysical and neurophysiological considerations, and avoids the common shortcomings of perceptually implausible mathematical error criteria. The resulting perceptual quality of compressed images is superior to that obtained with standard vector quantizers of comparable complexity.
Nutritional assessment of cirrhotic patients: a new approach based on electrical bioimpedance

The functional integrity of the liver is essen tial for the utilization of nutrients. The liver influences the nutritional status by its production of bile acids and its role in the intermediate metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins.1 Both acute and chronic liver injuries frequently have nutritional consequences directly proportional to their severity which may progress to hepatic cirrhosis.1 Hepatic cirrhosis is characterized by chronic and irreversible alteration of the liver parenchyma due to modifications of both hepatic structure and of the functional capacity of the hepatocytes and of the portal circulation.1 Together, these alterations result in a progressive loss of liver shape and function, compromising to a varying extent the nutritional status and body homeostasis of patients affected by the disease.1 Hepatic cirrhosis is multifactorial and, according to its etiology, can be classified as metabolic, viral, alcoholic, drug-induced, autoimmune, biliary, and cryptogenic.1 One of the methods used to assess the prognosis of hepatic disease is the Child-Pugh (CP) classification, table 1, which considers five factors that may affect prognosis and survival, i.e., ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, bilirubin and albumin levels, and prothrombin time.2 Unfortunately, this classification does not consider the nutritional status. Although albumin is considered to be a marker of nutritional status, in this case Nutritional assessment of cirrhotic patients: A new approach based on electrical bioimpedance
Analysis of fast initialization for vectored wireline systems

Cooperation of transceivers on signal level at the remote terminal-often referred to as vectoring-is an effective approach to mitigate crosstalk in wireline transmission systems. While the gain in bitrate compared to crosstalk-limited transmission is substantial, the initialization of a vectoring system requires time and care to ensure system stability. In this contribution, a fast initialization scheme for vectored wireline systems based on spectral protection is analyzed. Two scenarios are considered, where in the first one no prior channel information is available, and in the second one erroneous prior knowledge of channel coefficients is utilized. Measurements on a commercial VDSL2 vectoring platform and throughput simulations demonstrate the potential of the fast initialization scheme.
Low-Density Lithic Scatter Sites and the Distribution of Toolstone on Santa Rosa Island, Alta California

Abstract Recent surveys on California’s northern Channel Islands have highlighted the ubiquity of small, low-density lithic scatters across coastal terraces and interior ridgelines. These sites typically lack organic materials or diagnostic artifacts and are therefore rarely the subject of archaeological investigation. Here we quantify raw material and flake type for nine representative sites from three distinct parts of Santa Rosa Island. The three regions are located on the western, eastern, and northern portions of the island, where Dry Canyon chalcedony, metavolcanics, and a mix of metavolcanics and Wima chert are most common, respectively. Assemblages from these sites reflect a consistent pattern in which inhabitants opportunistically used locally available, low-quality toolstone for expedient tools rather than trading for high-quality exotic materials. An investigation of two permanent settlement sites on the north coast, CA-SRI-19 and -821, show that the pattern of using local materials was consistent for at least the last 7,500 years. Investigating sparse lithic scatters with limited data in aggregate provides a useful approach to more fully understand patterns of mobility and resource acquisition and use.
Adaptive goodness-of-fit testing from indirect observations

In a convolution model, we observe random variables whose distribution is the convolution of some unknown density $f$ and some known noise density $g$. We assume that $g$ is polynomially smooth. We provide goodness-of-fit testing procedures for the test $H_0:f=f_0$, where the alternative $H_1$ is expressed with respect to $\mathbb{L}_2$-norm (\emph{i.e.} has the form $\psi_{n}^{-2}\|f-f_0\|_2^2 \ge \mathcal{C}$). Our procedure is adaptive with respect to the unknown smoothness parameter $\tau$ of $f$. Different testing rates ($\psi_n$) are obtained according to whether $f_0$ is polynomially or exponentially smooth. A price for adaptation is noted and for computing this, we provide a non-uniform Berry-Esseen type theorem for degenerate $U$-statistics. In the case of polynomially smooth $f_0$, we prove that the price for adaptation is optimal. We emphasise the fact that the alternative may contain functions smoother than the null density to be tested, which is new in the context of goodness-of-fit tests.
How vulnerable are prosodic features to professional imitators?

Voice imitation is one of the potential threats to security systems that use automatic speaker recognition. Since prosodic features have been considered for state-of-the-art recognition systems in recent years, the question arises as to how vulnerable these features are to voice mimicking. In this study, two experiments are conducted for twelve individual features in order to determine how a prosodic speaker identification system would perform against professionally imitated voices. By analysing prosodic parameters, the results show that the identification error rate increases for most of the features, except for the range of the fundamental frequency, which seems to be relatively robust against voice mimicking. When all twelve features are fused, the identification error rate increases from 5% between the target voices and the imitators’ natural voices to 22% between the target voices and the imitators’ impersonations.
Use of indicators in River Basin Management Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment processes

Abstract River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) processes often rely on the use of indicators to assess the sustainability of planning options, to communicate with stakeholders and to support decision-making. The aim of this research was to investigate the adoption of indicators to support these processes and to analyse indicators integration between them. A conceptual framework was adopted to support a qualitative content analysis of the Portuguese RBMP and corresponding SEA reports. The main findings showed that indicators are generally used in SEA and planning reports. The analysed documents used a large number of indicators, mostly quantitative, and adopted very different approaches for their organization, selection and validation. Usually no participatory process was used in this context. The research supported the identification of areas for improvement, such as the need to promote a stronger stakeholder engagement in the indicator development process, the relevance of using standardized cross-cutting indicators and the call for the identification of a set of critical indicators to be used in both processes.
Production of monoclonal antibodies against botulinum neurotoxin in Nicotiana benthamiana

ABSTRACT Botulism is a fatal neurologic disease caused by the botulinum toxin (BoNT) produced by Clostridium botulinum. It is a rare but highly toxic disease with symptoms, such as cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dysphagia, respiratory failure, muscle weakness, and even death. Currently, two types of antitoxin are used: equine-derived heptavalent antitoxin and human-derived immunoglobulin (BabyBIG®). However, heptavalent treatment may result in hypersensitivity, whereas BabyBIG®, has a low yield. The present study focused on the development of three anti-BoNT monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 1B18, C25, and M2, in Nicotiana benthamiana. The plant-expressed mAbs were purified and examined for size, purity and integrity by SDS-PAGE, western blotting and size-exclusion chromatography. Analysis showed that plant-produced anti-BoNT mAbs can fully assemble in plants, can be purified in a single purification step, and mostly remain as monomeric proteins. The efficiency of anti-BoNT mAbs binding to BoNT/A and B was then tested. Plant-produced 1B18 retained its ability to recognize both mBoNT/A1 and ciBoNT/B1. At the same time, the binding specificities of two other mAbs were determined: C25 for mBoNT/A1 and M2 for ciBoNT/B1. In conclusion, our results confirm the use of plants as an alternative platform for the production of anti-BoNT mAbs. This plant-based technology will serve as a versatile system for the development botulism immunotherapeutics.
Identifying Technology Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry

Support for many R&D and technology policies relies on empirical evidence that R&D 'spills over' between firms. But there are two countervailing R&D spillovers: positive effects from technology spillovers and negative effects from business stealing by product market rivals. We develop a general framework showing that technology and product market spillovers have testable implications for a range of performance indicators, and exploit these using distinct measures of a firm's position in technology space and product market space. We show using panel data on US firms between 1981 and 2001 that both technology and product market spillovers operate, but that net social returns are several times larger than private returns. The spillover effects are also revealed when we analyze three high-tech sectors in detail - pharmaceuticals, computer hardware and telecommunication equipment. Using the model, we evaluate three R&D subsidy policies and show that the typical focus of support for small and medium firms may be misplaced.
P . Rushton ’ s contributions to the study of altruism

Please cite this article in press as: Hur, Y. -M. J dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.paid. 2012.05. 016 This essay describes Rushton’s work on altruism over the past 40 years. During his academic career, he changed his theoretical approach from social learning theory to trait theory to sociobiology. My essay includes five sections. The first gives an overview of Rushton’s work on altruism. The second reviews his early work based on social learning theory. His laboratory and naturalistic experiments led him to conclude that altruism could be increased by exposure to models exemplifying the behavior, and that, once engaged in, the behavior could be durable over months and generalizable across situations. The third section discusses his work on the genetic foundation of altruism with social biology including his twin studies of prosocial behaviors using different age groups of both western and Asian samples. He concluded that about 50% of the variance in prosocial behaviors is heritable. The fourth section will describe altruism as part of the general factor of personality, the apex of the personality hierarchy. The last section summarizes my review of Rushton’s work on altruism. 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Design of Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) Codes for Deep-Space Applications

This article summarizes a comparison of numerous low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes using a set of metrics relevant to deep-space communications. These metrics are the error-correcting capability of the code, the computational complexity of the decoder, the architectural complexities of the encoder and decoder, and the ease of generating a family of structurally related codes at different code rates and block lengths. Based on these metrics, we select a family of LDPC codes that is a good candidate for inclusion in a new Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) telemetry channel coding standard for deep-space applications.
Automatic Synthesis of Anthropomorphic Pulmonary CT Phantoms

The great density and structural complexity of pulmonary vessels and airways impose limitations on the generation of accurate reference standards, which are critical in training and in the validation of image processing methods for features such as pulmonary vessel segmentation or artery–vein (AV) separations. The design of synthetic computed tomography (CT) images of the lung could overcome these difficulties by providing a database of pseudorealistic cases in a constrained and controlled scenario where each part of the image is differentiated unequivocally. This work demonstrates a complete framework to generate computational anthropomorphic CT phantoms of the human lung automatically. Starting from biological and image-based knowledge about the topology and relationships between structures, the system is able to generate synthetic pulmonary arteries, veins, and airways using iterative growth methods that can be merged into a final simulated lung with realistic features. Visual examination and quantitative measurements of intensity distributions, dispersion of structures and relationships between pulmonary air and blood flow systems show good correspondence between real and synthetic lungs.
A role for the polysialic acid – neural cell adhesion molecule in PDGF-induced chemotaxis of oligodendrocyte precursor cells

Directed migration of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) is important for myelin formation and repair but the mechanisms of directional control are poorly understood. Here we have tested the role of polysialic acid-neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) in the directional migration of OPCs towards platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Using a Boyden microchemotaxis chamber and the Dunn direct viewing chamber, we show that in concentration gradients of PDGF, PSA-positive OPCs polarize and efficiently migrate towards the source of PDGF (chemotaxis). The loss or inactivation of the polysialic tail of NCAM leads to an altered pattern of OPC migration in response to PDGF gradients. Cells under these conditions, while being polarized and migrating, show no bias of displacement towards the source of PDGF and make random turns. By contrast, directed migration of OPCs towards basic fibroblast growth factor was not affected by the removal of PSA. Moreover, inactivation of PSA does not interfere with the random migration pattern of cells in uniform concentrations of PDGF (chemokinesis). These results suggest that PSA-NCAM is specifically involved in establishing the directionality of OPC migration in response to the concentration gradient of PDGF, but it is not essential for cell motility per se.
Initial Total Bilirubin and Clinical Outcome in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Drug-Eluting Stents.

BACKGROUND Total bilirubin (TB) concentration is inversely associated with stable coronary artery disease, but there have been few studies on initial TB in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODSANDRESULTS A total of 1,111 consecutive patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) were divided into a high TB group (n=295) and a low TB group (n=816) according to the optimal cut-off 0.79 mg/dl. The high TB group had a higher rate of in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE), a composite of cardiac death, non-fatal MI, and definite/probable stent thrombosis (14.2% vs. 4.2%, P<0.001) and cardiac death (13.9% vs. 3.9%, P<0.001) compared with the low TB group. The 30-day MACE-free survival rate was also significantly different between the groups (P<0.001, log-rank test). On multivariate Cox regression, initial high TB was a significant predictor of in-hospital MACE (HR, 2.69; 95% CI: 1.67-4.34, P=0.010) and of cardiac death (HR 2.72, 95% CI: 1.67-4.44, P=0.012). Adding initial TB to TIMI risk score significantly improved prediction for in-hospital MACE according to net reclassification improvement (NRI=5.2%, P=0.040) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI=0.027, P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS Initial TB is a powerful prognostic marker, and inclusion of this can improve prediction of in-hospital MACE in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI with DES. (Circ J 2016; 80: 1437-1444).