Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase (RT) Polymorphism 172K Suppresses the Effect of Clinically Relevant Drug Resistance Mutations to Both Nucleoside and Non-nucleoside RT Inhibitors*

Background: The effect of HIV polymorphisms in drug resistance is unknown. Results: RT polymorphism 172K suppresses resistance to nucleoside (NRTIs) and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) by decreasing DNA binding and restoring NNRTI binding. Conclusion: 172K is the first HIV polymorphism suppressing resistance to diverse inhibitors. Significance: Results provide new insights into interactions between the polymerase active site and NNRTI-binding sites. Polymorphisms have poorly understood effects on drug susceptibility and may affect the outcome of HIV treatment. We have discovered that an HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) polymorphism (RT172K) is present in clinical samples and in widely used laboratory strains (BH10), and it profoundly affects HIV-1 susceptibility to both nucleoside (NRTIs) and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) when combined with certain mutations. Polymorphism 172K significantly suppressed zidovudine resistance caused by excision (e.g. thymidine-associated mutations) and not by discrimination mechanism mutations (e.g. Q151M complex). Moreover, it attenuated resistance to nevirapine or efavirenz imparted by NNRTI mutations. Although 172K favored RT-DNA binding at an excisable pre-translocation conformation, it decreased excision by thymidine-associated mutation-containing RT. 172K affected DNA handling and decreased RT processivity without significantly affecting the kcat/Km values for dNTP. Surface plasmon resonance experiments revealed that RT172K decreased DNA binding by increasing the dissociation rate. Hence, the increased zidovudine susceptibility of RT172K results from its increased dissociation from the chain-terminated DNA and reduced primer unblocking. We solved a high resolution (2.15 Å) crystal structure of RT mutated at 172 and compared crystal structures of RT172R and RT172K bound to NNRTIs or DNA/dNTP. Our structural analyses highlight differences in the interactions between α-helix E (where 172 resides) and the active site β9-strand that involve the YMDD loop and the NNRTI binding pocket. Such changes may increase dissociation of DNA, thus suppressing excision-based NRTI resistance and also offset the effect of NNRTI resistance mutations thereby restoring NNRTI binding.
Solving Combinatorial Problems with Parallel Cooperative Solvers

To exploit multi-core computing power, this paper presents parallel cooperative solvers for solving constraint satisfaction and optimization problems. Each solver owns the entire problem and exchanges partial solutions with other solvers. We applied Solution-Guided Multi-Point Constructive Search to the quasigroup-with-holes completion problem and Tabu Search to the quadratic assignment problem. Experimental results demonstrate that adding more solvers helps to improve the performance for both problems. We also introduce communication graphs and import policies to change solver cooperation. A combination of communication graph and import policy signi(cid:12)cantly impacts the performance, where the bene(cid:12)t from cooperation di(cid:11)ers on the two problems: cooperation improves performance on the quasigroup-with-holes but not on the quadratic assignment problem.
Genetic Algorithm for Solving a Multi-objective Helicopter Routing Problem

The petroleum industry uses helicopters to transport employees to and from the offshore installations. The helicopter transportation represents a major risk for the employees. The helicopter routing problem is an application of vehicle routing problem with combined pickup and delivery demands, which usually minimizes the total cost of the routes and the fleet size (the number of routes) in a classical form. It is also of interest to minimize the transportation risk. In this paper, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is presented for the helicopter routing problem. The algorithm uses a variation of the cluster-first route-second method for routing helicopters. We apply the proposed algorithm to instances derived from real data and evaluate its effectiveness by comparing withε-constraint approach with a state-of-the-art single-objective tabu search metaheuristic.
Twenty Years of Acanthamoeba Diagnostics in Austria

Acanthamoebae are the causative agents of an often seriously progressing keratitis (AK) occurring predominantly in contact lens wearers and can cause several disseminating infections potentially resulting in granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) in the immunocompromised host. Our institution is the Austrian reference laboratory for Acanthamoeba diagnostics and the aim of this study was to give an overview of proven cases of Acanthamoeba infections in Austria during the past 20 yr. All samples of patients with suspected AK or GAE were screened for Acanthamoeba spp. by culture and/or PCR and the detected amoebae were genotyped. Altogether, 154 cases of AK and three cases of GAE were diagnosed. Age of the AK patients ranged from 8 to 82 yr (mean 37.8) and 58% of the patients were female. Approximately 89% of the AK patients were contact lens wearers, almost all cases were unilateral and 19% of the patients required a keratoplasty. Age of the GAE patients ranged from 2 to 25 yr (mean 14.7), all were HIV‐negative, but two were severely immunosuppressed at the time of diagnosis. The predominant genotype in the AK cases was T4, other genotypes found were T3, T5, T6, T10 and T11. The three GAE cases involved genotypes T2, T4 and T5.
The 11-20 Money Request Game : A Comment on the Upper Bound of k-Level Reasoning

We study experimentally a new two-player game: Each player requests an amount between 11 and 20 shekels. He receives the requested amount and if he requests exactly one shekel less than the other player, he receives additional 20 shekels. Level-k reasoning is appealing and straightforward here, especially due to the natural starting point (requesting 20) and the simple best-response function. We argue that the game, unlike other familiar games, can serve as a tool for evaluating the "upper bound" of the depth of k-level reasoning in a population. We confirm that the subjects’ depth of reasoning is not increased by some modifications of the game.
The Modified Kimura's Technique for the Treatment of Duodenal Atresia

Background/Purpose. Kimura's diamond-shaped-duodenoduodenostomy (DSD) is a known technique for the correction of congenital intrinsic duodenal obstruction. We present a modification of the technique and review the advantages of this new technique. Methods. From 1992 to 2006, 14 newborns were treated for duodenal atresia. We inverted the direction of the duodenal incisions: a longitudinal incision was made in the proximal duodenum while the distal was opened by transverse incision. Results. Our “inverted-diamond-shaped-duodenoduodenostomy” (i-DSD) allowed postoperative oral feeding to start on days 2 to 3, peripheral intravenous fluids discontinuity on days 3 to 8 (median values 3.6); time to achieve full oral feeds on days 8 to 12 (median values 9.4); the length of hospitalisation ranged from 10 and 14 days (median value 11.2). No complications related to the anastomosis, by Viz leakage, dehiscence, biliary stasis, or stenosis were observed. Conclusions. The i-DSD provides a safe procedure to protect the ampulla of Vater from injury and avoids any formation of a blind loop. The results show that patients who have i-DSD achieve full oral feeds in a very short time period and, consequently, the length of hospitalisation is also significantly reduced.
Fast calcium transients in rat peritoneal mast cells are not sufficient to trigger exocytosis.

The calcium concentration, [Ca]i, in single rat peritoneal mast cells was measured by means of the new Ca indicator dye fura‐2. Upon stimulation with antigen or compound 48/80, [Ca]i rose for seconds to values greater than 5 microM. These Ca transients did not depend on the presence of extracellular Ca, and they sometimes occurred spontaneously, especially in the presence of exogenous phosphatidylserine. Calcium transients did not necessarily lead to degranulation. Degranulation usually occurred during periods of somewhat elevated [Ca] (0.5‐1 microM) following transients but was sometimes observed at [Ca]i less than or equal to 250 nM. We found no evidence that an antigen‐induced Ca influx is required for degranulation.
FD, a bZIP Protein Mediating Signals from the Floral Pathway Integrator FT at the Shoot Apex

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is a conserved promoter of flowering that acts downstream of various regulatory pathways, including one that mediates photoperiodic induction through CONSTANS (CO), and is expressed in the vasculature of cotyledons and leaves. A bZIP transcription factor, FD, preferentially expressed in the shoot apex is required for FT to promote flowering. FD and FT are interdependent partners through protein interaction and act at the shoot apex to promote floral transition and to initiate floral development through transcriptional activation of a floral meristem identity gene, APETALA1 (AP1). FT may represent a long-distance signal in flowering.
Intelligent face border generation system from fingerprints

Although biometrics is a deeply studied field, relationships among biometric features have not been studied in the field so far. In this study, we have analysed the existence of any relationship among biometric features. Also we have tried to generate the face border of a person using only fingerprint biometric feature of the same person without any information about his or her face. Consequently, for generating face borders from only fingerprints, we have designed and introduced a novel intelligent system based on artificial neural networks having the absolute percent errors between 1.49 and 9.86. Experimental results have shown that fingerprints and face borders have relations among each other closely. In addition, it is demonstrated that generating face borders from fingerprints without knowing any information about faces is possible. Although this study has been the first step of the research, the results are very encouraging and promising for new challenges.
Impact of Adverse Life Events on Individuals With Low and High Schizotypy in a Nonpatient Sample

Abstract The aims of this study were to gain a better understanding of adverse life events connected with the development of schizotypal personality traits and, also, to examine whether subclinical schizotypy has a relationship with vulnerability to traumatic intrusions and avoidance. In a cross-sectional design, 198 undergraduate students completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), the Impact of Event Scale (IES), and Paykel’s Life Events Scale, together with other relevant scales. The number of adverse life events was significantly related to overall schizotypy measured by O-LIFE scores and positive schizotypy measured by the Unusual Experiences (UnEx) subscale. The subjective severity of life events was significantly related to Cognitive Disorganization (CogDis). Measures of positive schizotypy (UnEx and CogDis) were significantly related to the scores on the IES and on the intrusion and avoidance subscales, too. Adverse life events are associated with schizotypal personality traits, which contribute to a tendency for traumatic intrusions, even in a nonpatient sample.
Living with dying: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of the work of hospice nurses.

AIMS (i) Explore the meaning of comfort care for hospice nurses. (ii) Provide an understanding of how this work is pursued in the hospice setting. (iii) Examine the means by which hospice nurses provide comfort to hospice patients. BACKGROUND The concepts of 'comfort' and 'comfort care' have long been a subject for examination by nurse researchers. The paper provides an overview of selected, relevant literature in this area. The methods used by nurse researchers have almost always been qualitative, and have focused on the meaning of nursing care for dying patients, from both nurses' and patients' perspectives. DESIGN AND METHODS The paper reports a hermeneutic phenomenological study of the work of 15 hospice nurses based in one hospice in the north of England. Sampling was purposive, and data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. A reflective diary was also kept. The interpretation of data was guided by phenomenological and hermeneutic methodology. RESULTS The nurses interviewed spoke openly about their experiences of working with hospice patients. They saw the relief of suffering through 'comfort care' as an important element of their work. The findings are presented under three thematic headings: 'Comfort and relief', 'Peace and ease' and 'Spirituality and meaning'. CONCLUSION Hermeneutic phenomenology is an important method for uncovering the complex realities of nursing work. The nurses' perspectives on 'comfort care' they offer to patients were revealed by the data presented here, which were interpreted to offer a unique perspective on this type of nursing work. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE These findings offer insights to nurses in both hospice and other settings; they give a number of perspectives on the nature of 'comfort care' and the meanings attached to it by experienced hospice nurses'.
Stroop color-word performance of African Americans

Abstract This investigation assessed the ability of subjects to maintain a set in the face of varying demands on perceptual persistence via the Stroop Color-Interference Test. Forty-two African American adults with unremarkable neurological and psychiatric histories served as the research participants. Participants were administered a modified version of the Stroop (Comalli version). In the current study, significant gender differences were noted on the total time to complete the Color Naming and Word Reading cards, with women out-performing men. These preliminary results represent an attempt to address the need for more normative data on this population.
Amnesia for Object Attributes

People intuitively believe that when they become consciously aware of a visual stimulus, they will be able to remember it and immediately report it. The present study provides a series of striking demonstrations of behavior that is inconsistent with such an intuition. Four experiments showed that in certain conditions, participants could not report an attribute (e.g., letter identity) of a stimulus even when that attribute had been attended and had reached a full state of conscious awareness just prior to being questioned about it. We term this effect attribute amnesia, and it occurs when participants repeatedly locate a target using one attribute and are then unexpectedly asked to report that attribute. This discovery suggests that attention to and awareness of a stimulus attribute are insufficient to ensure its immediate reportability. These results imply that when attention is configured by using an attribute for target selection, that attribute will not necessarily be remembered.
Smartphone-Assisted Prehospital Medical Information System for Analyzing Data on Prehospital Stroke Care

Background and Purpose— Optimizing prehospital stroke care is important because effective treatments for acute stroke require a narrow therapeutic time window. We developed a smartphone-assisted prehospital medical information system (SPMIS) to facilitate research on prehospital stroke care. Methods— Prehospital medical information was input into the SPMIS application installed on smartphones by emergency medical staff, sent to a server through the Internet, and connected with in-hospital information. Using SPMIS, we analyzed data on 914 patients transferred to our institution by ambulance between April 2012 and March 2013. Results— The data analyzed were the sensitivity and specificity of the prehospital diagnosis and prehospital stroke scale and the relationship between prehospital vital signs and forms of stroke. These analyses could be performed semiautomatically in a few hours. Conclusions— SPMIS enabled us to analyze the prehospital information of patients with stroke in a short time with little effort. More large-scale studies on prehospital stroke care will become feasible using SPMIS, which may lead to advances in stroke treatment.
Duopoly Competition in Dynamic Spectrum Leasing and Pricing

This paper presents a comprehensive analytical study of two competitive secondary operators' investment (i.e., spectrum leasing) and pricing strategies, taking into account operators' heterogeneity in leasing costs and users' heterogeneity in transmission power and channel conditions. We model the interactions between operators and users as a three-stage dynamic game, where operators simultaneously make spectrum leasing decisions in Stage I, and pricing decisions in Stage II, and then users make purchase decisions in Stage III. Using backward induction, we are able to completely characterize the dynamic game's equilibria. We show that both operators' investment and pricing equilibrium decisions process interesting threshold properties. For example, when the two operators' leasing costs are close, both operators will lease positive spectrum. Otherwise, one operator will choose not to lease and the other operator becomes the monopolist. For pricing, a positive pure strategy equilibrium exists only when the total spectrum investment of both operators is less than a threshold. Moreover, two operators always choose the same equilibrium price despite their heterogeneity in leasing costs. Each user fairly achieves the same service quality in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the equilibrium, and the obtained predictable payoff is linear in its transmission power and channel gain. We also compare the duopoly equilibrium with the coordinated case where two operators cooperate to maximize their total profit. We show that the maximum loss of total profit due to operators' competition is no larger than 25 percent. The users, however, always benefit from operators' competition in terms of their payoffs. We show that most of these insights are robust in the general SNR regime.
Towards near-threshold server processors

The popularity of cloud computing has led to a dramatic increase in the number of data centers in the world. The ever-increasing computational demands along with the slowdown in technology scaling has ushered an era of power-limited servers. Techniques such as near-threshold computing (NTC) can be used to improve energy efficiency in the post-Dennard scaling era. This paper describes an architecture based on the FD-SOI process technology for near-threshold operation in servers. Our work explores the trade-offs in energy and performance when running a wide range of applications found in private and public clouds, ranging from traditional scale-out applications, such as web search or media streaming, to virtualized banking applications. Our study demonstrates the benefits of near-threshold operation and proposes several directions to synergistically increase the energy proportionality of a near-threshold server.
Loss of Financial Capacity in Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Working Memory

Recent research has demonstrated that loss of financial capacity is a common consequence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While progressive cognitive decline is a defining feature of AD, the relationship between such decline and loss of financial capacity in AD remains unclear. Working memory may be strongly associated with financial abilities, as many financial tasks require temporary storage and manipulation of numerical and other data. The present study examined the relationship between financial capacity and working memory in AD patients. Participants included 20 AD patients and 23 cognitively intact older controls. Working memory was conceptualized using Baddeley and colleagues' model, which posits that the three components of the working memory system are the visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and central executive system. The present study examined only the latter two components of working memory. Each participant was administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI), an instrument that directly assesses eight domains of financial activity, and the WAIS-III Working Memory subtests (Digit Span, Arithmetic, Letter–Number Sequencing). AD patients as a group performed significantly below controls on the FCI Total Score and on each of the eight FCI domains and working memory subtests. Within the AD group, measures of the central executive component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Backward, Arithmetic, and Letter-Number Sequencing tests) showed strong correlations with the FCI domains of basic monetary skills, checkbook management, bank statement management, and bill payment and FCI total score, while a measure of the phonological loop component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Forward) was not significantly correlated with any FCI domains or with the FCI total score. The results suggest that the multiple domains of financial capacity are primarily correlated with the central executive component of working memory.
Convergence of self-reports and independent observers : dominance and friendliness

This study examined the validity of self-report measures and measures based on independent observers in the laboratory. It used 2 self-report formats, ratings on adjectives and ratings for specific situations, and 2 formats for responding by independent observers, ratings and behavior counts. The personality characteristics studied were dominance and friendliness. Ss participated in 6 laboratory situations: twice with a same-sex friend, twice with a male stranger, and twice with a female stranger
School Engagement Trajectories and Their Differential Predictive Relations to Dropout

Although most theories draw upon the construct of school engagement in their conceptualization of the dropout process, research addressing its hypothesized prospective relation with dropout remains scarce and does not account for the academic and social heterogeneity of students who leave school prematurely. This study explores the reality of different life-course pathways of school engagement and their predictive relations to dropout. Using an accelerated longitudinal design, we used growth mixture modeling to generate seven distinct trajectories of school engagement with 12- to 16-year-old students (N = 13,300). A vast majority of students were classified into three stable trajectories, distinguishing themselves at moderate to very high levels of school engagement. We refer to these as developmentally normative pathways in light of their frequent occurrence and stability. Although regrouping only one-tenth of participants, four other nonnormative (or unexpected pathways) accounted for the vast majority of dropouts. Dropout risk was closely linked with unstable pathways of school engagement. We conclude by debating the delicate investment balance between universal strategies and more selective and differentiated strategies to prevent dropout. We also discuss the need to better understand why, within normative trajectories, some students with high levels of school engagement drop out of school.