Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temperature Dependence of the Folding and Unfolding Kinetics of the GCN4 Leucine Zipper via C-NMR

Studies by one-dimensional NMR are reported on the interconversion of folded and unfolded forms of the GCN4 leucine zipper in neutral saline buffer. The peptide bears 99% C labels at three sites: V9, L12, and G31. Time-domain C-NMR spectra are interpreted by global Bayesian lineshape analysis to extract the rate constants for both unfolding and folding as functions of temperature in the range 47–71°C. The data are well fit by the assumption that the same rate constants apply at each labeled site, confirming that only two conformational states need be considered. Results show that 1) both processes require a free energy of activation; 2) unfolding is kinetically enthalpy-opposed and entropy-driven, while folding is the opposite; and 3) the transition state dimer ensemble averages ;40% helical. The activation parameters for unfolding, derived from NMR data at the elevated temperatures where both conformations are populated, lead to estimates of the rate constant at low temperatures (5–15°C) that agree with extant values determined by stopped-flow CD via dilution from denaturing media. However, the corresponding estimated values for the folding rate constant are larger by two to three orders of magnitude than those obtained by stopped flow. We propose that this apparent disagreement is caused by the necessity, in the stopped-flow experiment, for initiation of new helices as the highly denaturant-unfolded molecule adjusts to the newly created benign solvent conditions. This must reduce the success rate of collisions in producing the folded molecule. In the NMR determinations, however, the unfolded chains always have a small, but essential, helix content that makes such initiation unnecessary. Support for this hypothesis is adduced from recent extant experiments on the helix-coil transition in singlechain helical peptides and from demonstration that the folding rate constants for coiled coils, as obtained by stopped flow, are influenced by the nature of the denaturant used.
THE PRODUCTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ANTIBODIES TO INSULIN AND THEIR USE IN ASSAYING INSULIN1

A specific method for the detection of small quantities of insulin in body tissues and fluids might help to resolve some of the problems connected with the mechanism of action and hormonal interrelationships of insulin. The biological assay methods for small quantities of insulin (2-4) are based upon the effect of insulin on glucose metabolism. Although very sensitive, these methods have several disadvantages. They are technically difficult, are dependent upon the physiological effect of insulin, therefore, subject to considerable biological variation, and consequently may not be specific for insulin per se. A method specific for insulin and independent of biological variation would, therefore, be highly desirable. Since serological methods are highly specific and independent of biological variation, an immunological approach to the measurement of insulin in tissues and body fluids appeared promising. Moreover, it has been noted here and in other laboratories (5-8) that the hemagglutination technique employing tannic acid and protein treated red cells is highly specific and also very sensitive. It was suggested (8), however, that greater precision in the measurement of antigen could be attained by converting the hemagglutination to a hemolytic reaction with the addition of complement. In this way the reaction could be measured colorimetrically. This conversion was impossible with tannic acid-treated cells since they often are lyzed in the presence of complement alone (7, 9). Consequently other methods of coupling protein to red cells were sought. The method using bis-diazotized benzidine, as described by Pressman, Campbell, and Pauling (10), has been modified and was used in the present study. The antigenicity of insulin has been indicated by several investigators (11-15). Barral and
Mycobacterial PGL virulence factor biosynthesis: mechanism and small-molecule inhibition of polyketide chain initiation

Phenolic glycolipids (PGLs) are polyketide-derived virulence factors produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium leprae, and other mycobacterial pathogens. We have combined bioinformatic, genetic, biochemical, and chemical biology approaches to illuminate the mechanism of chain initiation required for assembly of the p-hydroxyphenyl-polyketide moiety of PGLs. Our studies have led to the identification of a stand-alone, didomain initiation module, FadD22, comprised of a p-hydroxybenzoic acid adenylation domain and an aroyl carrier protein domain. FadD22 forms the first acyl-S-enzyme covalent intermediate in the p-hydroxyphenyl-polyketide chain assembly line. We also used this information to develop the first small-molecule inhibitor of PGL biosynthesis. Overall, these studies provide new insights into the biosynthesis of an important group of smallmolecule mycobacterial virulence factors and support the feasibility of targeting PGL biosynthesis to develop new drugs to treat mycobacterial infections.
Repeat Expansion Coexists with SCA 1 — Not Only with SCA 6

I-1 Affected 57/32 77/18 50/30 I-2 Unaffected 30/30 18/18 18/. I-3 Unaffected 32/30 80/18 47/. II-1 Affected 51/33 29/18 44/40 II-2 Unaffected 33/30 87/18 22/. II-3 Affected 64/33 29/18 26/19 II-4 Affected 53/30 23/23 39/37 III-1 Unaffected 31/30 69/24 33/. III-2 Unaffected 31/29 27/18 19/. III-3 Affected 50/39/31 27/24 57/35 IV-1 Affected 65/30 113/24 23/20 IV-2 Unaffected 32/30 116/24 20/. IV-3 Unaffected 32/30 28/24 45/. V-1 Affected 54/32 53/18 35/30
Segregation of four Agrobacterium tumefaciens replicons during polar growth: PopZ and PodJ control segregation of essential replicons

Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 contains four replicons, circular chromosome (CC), linear chromosome (LC), cryptic plasmid (pAt), and tumor-inducing plasmid (pTi), and grows by polar growth from a single growth pole (GP), while the old cell compartment and its old pole (OP) do not elongate. We monitored the replication and segregation of these four genetic elements during polar growth. The three largest replicons (CC, LC, pAt) reside in the OP compartment prior to replication; post replication one copy migrates to the GP prior to division. CC resides at a fixed location at the OP and replicates first. LC does not stay fixed at the OP once the cell cycle begins and replicates from varied locations 20 min later than CC. pAt localizes similarly to LC prior to replication, but replicates before the LC and after the CC. pTi does not have a fixed location, and post replication it segregates randomly throughout old and new cell compartments, while undergoing one to three rounds of replication during a single cell cycle. Segregation of the CC and LC is dependent on the GP and OP identity factors PopZ and PodJ, respectively. Without PopZ, replicated CC and LC do not efficiently partition, resulting in sibling cells without CC or LC. Without PodJ, the CC and LC exhibit abnormal localization to the GP at the beginning of the cell cycle and replicate from this position. These data reveal PodJ plays an essential role in CC and LC tethering to the OP during early stages of polar growth.
Greater strength of selection and higher proportion of beneficial amino acid changing mutations in humans compared with mice and Drosophila melanogaster

Quantifying and comparing the amount of adaptive evolution among different species is key to understanding how evolution works. Previous studies have shown differences in adaptive evolution across species; however, their specific causes remain elusive. Here, we use improved modeling of weakly deleterious mutations and the demographic history of the outgroup species and ancestral population and estimate that at least 20% of nonsynonymous substitutions between humans and an outgroup species were fixed by positive selection. This estimate is much higher than previous estimates, which did not correct for the sizes of the outgroup species and ancestral population. Next, we jointly estimate the proportion and selection coefficient (p+ and s+, respectively) of newly arising beneficial nonsynonymous mutations in humans, mice, and Drosophila melanogaster by examining patterns of polymorphism and divergence. We develop a novel composite likelihood framework to test whether these parameters differ across species. Overall, we reject a model with the same p+ and s+ of beneficial mutations across species and estimate that humans have a higher p+s+ compared with that of D. melanogaster and mice. We show that this result cannot be caused by biased gene conversion or hypermutable CpG sites. We discuss possible biological explanations that could generate the observed differences in the amount of adaptive evolution across species.
Hypertonic Solution in Severe COVID-19 Patient: A Potential Adjuvant Therapy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) features hyper-inflammation, cytokine storm, neutrophil function changes, and sodium chloride (NaCl) homeostasis disruption, while the treatment with NaCl hypertonic solutions (HS) controls electrolytic body homeostasis and cell functions. HS treatment is a simple, popular, economic, and feasible therapy to regulate leukocyte function with a robust anti-inflammatory effect in many inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this narrative review is to highlight the knowledge on the use of HS approaches against viral infection over the past years and to describe the mechanisms involved in the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and production of cytokine in severe lung diseases, such as COVID-19. We reported the consequences of hyponatremia in COVID-19 patients, and the immunomodulatory effects of HS, either in vitro or in vivo. We also described the relationship between electrolyte disturbances and COVID-19 infection. Although there is still a lack of clinical trials, hypertonic NaCl solutions have marked effects on neutrophil function and NETs formation, emerging as a promising adjuvant therapy in COVID-19.
How Leaders Drive Followers’ Unethical Behavior

Numerous organizational scandals have implicated leaders in encouraging employees to advance organizational objectives through unethical means. However, leadership research has not examined leaders’ encouragement of unethical behaviors. We define leader immorality encouragement (LIE) as an employee's perception that their leader encourages unethical behaviors on behalf of the organization. Across four studies, we found, as hypothesized, that (1) LIE promotes employees’ unethical behavior carried out with the intention to aid the organization (unethical pro-organizational behavior); (2) this relationship is mediated by employees’ moral disengagement and the expectation of rewards; (3) LIE, via moral disengagement, enhances employees’ self-serving unethical behavior; and (4) the relationship between LIE and unethical behavior is stronger when the leader has a higher quality exchange relationship with the employee and is perceived by the employee as having higher organizational status. Our set of findings contributes to an understanding of leaders’ attempts to further organization objectives by encouraging the unethical behavior of subordinates.
The Effects of Physical Exercise on the Quality of Life of Healthy Older Adults in China: A Systematic Review

Objective To systematically evaluate the effects of physical exercise on the quality of life (QOL) of healthy older adults in China. Methods Relevant articles published until December 2021 were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, China Science and Technology Journal Database, PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, and the Library of Congress. Inclusion criteria were studies in which the subjects were healthy Chinese older adults (aged ≥ 60 years), the reported sample size was clear, and the study design was a randomized controlled trial or a research study. In addition, studies were included if they reported the use of at least one QOL questionnaire and investigated at least one form of physical exercise. Results In total, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, which included six studies that used comprehensive physical exercise type as an intervention and 13 studies that used regular physical exercise as an intervention. All 19 studies compared intervention and control groups, of which 12 (63%) were investigative studies and seven (37%) were experimental studies. Of the experimental studies, five used a positive control group and two used a negative control group. All 19 studies reported that physical exercise had varying degrees of positive effects on the QOL in older adults. Body–mind exercise was effective in improving the physical and mental health (MH) of older adults, whereas Xiyangcao only had a positive effect on physical health. Compared with no exercise or other exercise (exercise not used in the intervention group), the exercise group in the survey had a positive effect on the QOL of older adults. Regardless of the type of control group used, the exercise group in the experimental studies showed a positive effect of exercise on the QOL of older adults. Conclusion Physical exercise has a positive impact on the QOL of healthy older adults. However, due to the wide and varied scope of the included studies, more randomized controlled trials are needed to examine the effects of different types, intensities, durations, and the frequency of exercise on QOL. Systematic Review Registration [https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? RecordID=220115], identifier: [CRD42020220115].
Impact of Job Satisfaction and Social Support on Job Performance Among Primary Care Providers in Northeast China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Primary health care institutions face major challenges in maintaining the accessibility and affordability of health services. This requires primary care providers to change and improve their performance. Therefore, Study on the job performance is conducive to improve the quality of primary health care services and the sense of access of primary care providers.To understand the current status of job performance among primary care providers in Heilongjiang Province, China, and explore the impact of job satisfaction and social support on job performance, further to improve the job performance of primary care providers and ensure the stable development of primary health services. Methods A stratified sampling method was adopted to select 1,500 primary care providers from seven cities in Heilongjiang Province, China, using the gross domestic product development level of each city as a basis. A questionnaire survey was conducted (effective response rate was 85.8%) by using sociodemographic factors, job satisfaction scale, social support scale and job performance scale. One-way ANOVA or independent sample t-test was used to analyze the differences of demographic factors on job performance. Pearson correlation analysis was used to measure relationship between job satisfaction, social support and job performance. Hierarchical linear regression was used to analyze the relevant influencing factors associated with job performance among primary care providers. Results Among the primary care providers who participated in this survey, the mean job performance score was 22.189 (SD = 7.695). The job performance of primary care providers was positively correlated with job satisfaction (r=0.574, p < 0.001), and was also positively correlated with social support (r = 0.534, p < 0.001). Model 3 showed that job satisfaction (β = 0.299, p < 0.001) and social support (β = 0.149, p <0.001) are positive predictors of job performance, respectively. Moreover, the regression relationship explained that 37.6% for the variation of the dependent variable. Conclusions The job performance of primary care providers in Heilongjiang province is relatively low. Job satisfaction and social support are the relevant factors affecting the job performance of primary care providers. It is necessary to provide assistance to primary care providers in terms of family, organization, society, policy, etc., to improve their job performance, and to better provide high-quality health services to the grassroots.
Seismic Fragility Analysis of Freestanding Hospital Cabinets Based on Shaking Table Tests

ABSTRACT The severe damage and functionality loss of hospitals resulting from damage to hospital nonstructural components and medical equipment are frequently reported following earthquakes. Thus, there is an increasing need to understand the performance of medical equipment during an earthquake. In the current study, we conducted a series of shaking table tests to evaluate the seismic performance of three different types of freestanding hospital cabinets. Several earthquake inputs and floor finishing materials were considered to investigate seismic responses, including the acceleration, displacement, and rotation of the cabinets. The seismic damage limit states of the hospital cabinets and inside contents were identified based on test results. Moreover, the corresponding seismic fragility curves of the hospital cabinets under different damage states were developed based on experimental data. The developed seismic fragility models of hospital cabinets can be used in the seismic performance assessments and seismic resilience evaluations of hospital buildings.
Challenges and opportunities for the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Somalia: A case for Puntland

The purpose of this paper is to examine the context and circumstances surrounding technical and vocational education training (TVET) in Somalia in general, and Puntland State in particular, in order to have a positive impact on reducing chronic youth unemployment, which currently stands at 67% across the country. The existing condition, difficulties, and prospects of the TVET education industry in Puntland were surveyed in the first section using secondary sources. Second, a quantitative survey was undertaken using the questionnaire approach to explain Puntland's TVET difficulties and potential to diverse stakeholders. The study's findings suggest that insufficient competent teachers, gender imbalance ratios among teachers in some districts, lack of necessary instructional materials, an imbalance in the distribution of TVET facilities, and a lack of public awareness of its value plague TVET facilities across Puntland. The participating governmental ministries have a lot of administrative overlap because they all want to get their hands on the sector's international donor fund. Another important finding of the poll is that university graduates are frequently unemployed due to a lack of automation for available occupations. Puntland's TVET education also lacks clarity on the roles of the private and governmental sectors, as well as a uniform and unified curriculum. To fulfill enterprise and industry standards, fair access to TVET, increasing its quality and relevance, the government's involvement in controlling the sector's delivery, and financing mechanisms are all vital. standardized curriculum, gender disparity.
Turnover of IPS employment specialists: Rates and predictors

BACKGROUND: There are anecdotal reports of high job turnover of Individual Placement and Support employment specialists. However, no studies have addressed this issue. OBJECTIVE: To explore whether turnover rates among employment specialists are higher compared to public sector employees along with the correlates of turnover intentions. METHODS: A repeated cross-sectional study collected data from 40 employment specialists in Norway using validated scales to measure job perceptions. Turnover intentions were the main outcome. RESULTS: Turnover rate of employment specialists (45.0%) was significantly higher than the average turnover rate of other occupations in the public sector (27.1%) in the same geographical regions (x2 = 6.5, df = 1, p = 0.01). After adjusting for potential confounders, five factors remained significantly and associated with turnover intentions in directions as expected: general job satisfaction (β= –0.33, p < 0.05), satisfaction with current work (β= –0.35, p < 0.05), satisfaction with supervision (β= –0.28, p < 0.05), work meaningfulness (β= –0.42, p < 0.05) and Negative emotionality personality trait (β= 0.58, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Addressing turnover will positively impact on productivity and job satisfaction of employment specialists along with continuity of employment support for people with mental health conditions.
PLANCK, the Satellite: a New Experimental Test of General Relativity

A catalyst for cleaning exhaust gas comprises a carrier and a coated layer applied onto the surface of the carrier which comprises an aluminum oxide, a cerium oxide, a zirconium oxide, a nickel oxide, an alkaline earth metal oxide and a noble metal catalytic component. The catalyst can be prepared according to a method which comprises the steps of coating the surface of a carrier with a slurry which comprises active alumina, a cerium compound, a zirconium compound and a nickel compound, drying the coated carrier and then calcining it to complete the carrier, then impregnating the carrier with a solution comprising a catalyst component of a noble metal, drying, then immersing it in a solution of an alkaline earth metal compound, drying the immersed carrier and then calcining the carrier. The catalyst for exhaust gas-cleanup is highly sensitive to HC and CO around the theoretical mixing ratio and within the rich-region and is excellent in durability.
Foregut bypass vs. restrictive bariatric procedures for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a meta-analysis of 3,355 individuals

Background Bariatric surgery represents an important treatment option for severely obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, there remains inadequate data regarding the effects of different bariatric procedures on various NAFLD parameters, especially for histological outcomes. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to compare the effects of restrictive bariatric procedures and foregut bypass on the metabolic, biochemical, and histological parameters for patients with NAFLD. Methods Medline and Embase were searched for articles relating to bariatric procedures and NAFLD. Pairwise meta-analysis was conducted to compare efficacy of bariatric procedures pre- vs. post-procedure with subgroup analysis to further compare restrictive against foregut bypass procedures. Results Thirty-one articles involving 3,355 patients who underwent restrictive bariatric procedures (n=1,460) and foregut bypass (n=1,895) were included. Both foregut bypass (P<0.01) and restrictive procedures (P=0.03) significantly increased odds of fibrosis resolution. Compared to restrictive procedures, foregut bypass resulted in a borderline non-significant decrease in fibrosis score (P=0.06) and significantly lower steatosis score (P<0.001). For metabolic parameters, foregut bypass significantly lowered body mass index (P=0.003) and low-density lipoprotein (P=0.008) compared to restrictive procedures. No significant differences were observed between both procedures for aspartate aminotransferase (P=0.17) and alkaline phosphatase (P=0.61). However, foregut bypass resulted in significantly lower gamma-glutamyl transferase than restrictive procedures (P=0.01) while restrictive procedures resulted in significantly lower alanine transaminase than foregut bypass (P=0.02). Conclusions The significant histological and metabolic advantages and comparable improvements in biochemical outcomes support the choice of foregut bypass over restrictive bariatric procedures in NAFLD management.