Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Burkholderia mallei tssM Encodes a Putative Deubiquitinase That Is Secreted and Expressed inside Infected RAW 264.7 Murine Macrophages

ABSTRACT Burkholderia mallei, a category B biothreat agent, is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes the zoonotic disease glanders. The B. mallei VirAG two-component regulatory system activates the transcription of ∼60 genes, including a large virulence gene cluster encoding a type VI secretion system (T6SS). The B. mallei tssM gene encodes a putative ubiquitin-specific protease that is physically linked to, and transcriptionally coregulated with, the T6SS gene cluster. Mass spectrometry and immunoblot analysis demonstrated that TssM was secreted in a virAG-dependent manner in vitro. Surprisingly, the T6SS was found to be dispensable for the secretion of TssM. The C-terminal half of TssM, which contains Cys and His box motifs conserved in eukaryotic deubiquitinases, was purified and biochemically characterized. Recombinant TssM hydrolyzed multiple ubiquitinated substrates and the cysteine at position 102 was critical for enzymatic activity. The tssM gene was expressed within 1 h after uptake of B. mallei into RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, suggesting that the TssM deubiquitinase is produced in this intracellular niche. Although the physiological substrate(s) is currently unknown, the TssM deubiquitinase may provide B. mallei a selective advantage in the intracellular environment during infection.
The capital structure of firms in Central and Eastern Europe

According to more recent theories on the optimal capital structure, the availability of external financing is not always guaranteed, or it may come at different costs, depending on the methods of financing used (debt vs. equity, long-term debt vs. short-term debt, etc.). Under such circumstances, firms’ investment and financing decisions are interdependent. This paper studies the optimal capital structure for enterprises in transition economies and investigates the actual capital structure and its determinance in Hungary and Poland.
Broadly reactive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of SRSV‐associated gastroenteritis

A limitation to date of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions (RT‐PCRs) for the detection of small, round structured viruses (SRSVs) has been that they have detected only a narrow range of SRSVs due to the marked genomic diversity among strains. A total of 331 faecal samples collected from 136 separate incidents of gastroenteritis occurring in the UK between 1992 and 1994 were examined by RT‐PCR employing a single primer pair (NI/E3). SRSV RNA was detected in samples from 93 of 101 (91%) incidents shown to be SRSV‐associated by electron microscopy (EM) and in 5 of 35 (14%) SRSV‐negative incidents. Amplification products were tested by Southern blot hybridisation with a pool of four digoxigenin (DIG)‐labelled oligonucle‐otides derived from genomic sequence data of SRSV SPIEM types UK 1 to 4. Products from −5% of amplified strains did not hybridise. The NI/E3 primer pair were shown to be SRSV‐specific by their failure to amplify other faecal viruses including other human caliciviruses with typical calicivirus morphology.
Non-Vanishing Space Time Block Code for Three Time Slots and Two Transmit Antennas

Recently, space time block codes (STBCs) are proposed for multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) antenna systems. Designing an STBC with both low decoding complexity and non-vanishing property for the Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) remains an open issue. In this paper, first our previously proposed STBC’s non-vanishing property will be completely described. The proposed STBC scheme has some interesting properties: 1) the scheme can achieve full rate and full diversity; 2) its maximum likelihood (ML) decoding requires a joint detection of three real symbols; 3) the minimum determinant values (MDVs) do not vanish by increasing signal constellation sizes; 4) compatible with the single antenna transmission mode. The sentence has been dropped. Second, in order to improve BER performance, we propose a variant of proposed STBC. This scheme further decreases the detection complexity with a rate reduction of 33%; moreover, non-vanishing MDVs property is preserved. The simulation results show the second proposed STBC has better BER performance compared with other schemes.
Unravelling the subcortical and retinal circuitry of the primate inferior pulvinar

The primate visual brain possesses a myriad of pathways, whereby visual information originating at the retina is transmitted to multiple subcortical areas in parallel, before being relayed onto the visual cortex. The dominant retinogeniculostriate pathway has been an area of extensive study, and Vivien Casagrande's work in examining the once overlooked koniocellular pathway of the lateral geniculate nucleus has generated interest in how alternate subcortical pathways can contribute to visual perception. Another subcortical visual relay center is the inferior pulvinar (PI), which has four subdivisions and numerous connections with other subcortical and cortical areas and is directly recipient of retinal afferents. The complexity of subcortical connections associated with the PI subdivisions has led to differing results from various groups. A particular challenge in determining the exact connectivity pattern has been in accurately targeting the subdivisions of the PI with neural tracers. Therefore, in the present study, we used a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐guided stereotaxic injection system to inject bidirectional tracers in the separate subdivisions of the PI, the superior layers of the superior colliculus, the retina, and the lateral geniculate nucleus. Our results have determined for the first time that the medial inferior pulvinar (PIm) is innervated by widefield retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and this pathway is not a collateral branch of the geniculate and collicular projecting RGCs. Furthermore, our tracing data shows no evidence of collicular terminations in the PIm, which are confined to the centromedial and posterior PI.
On-board stochastic control of Electric Vehicle recharging

This paper deals with the design of an on-board control strategy for Electric Vehicle recharging under the hypothesis of missing knowledge of the future energy price and the presence of vehicle to grid capability. For this purpose the charging session is modeled as a finite horizon Markov Decision Process and the optimal charging policy is computed according to Reinforcement Learning techniques, the learning phase makes use of the revenues received when taking actions in states represented by the current level of charge, the leftover charging time and the last realization of energy price. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach with respect to the fulfillment of driver preferences in charging and the diversification of the control action during charging for the exploitation of the vehicle to grid concept.
Binding of Fluorescent-Labeled Low Molecular Mass Heparin to Latex Microspheres and to Rat and Human Leukocytes

Fluorescent-labeled LMMH may be used to investigate the pharmacokinetics of heparins. FITC has been specifically bound by endpoint attachment to LMMH-tyramine. In the present article two in vitro methods are described with the intention of developing new ex vivo test systems. To determine the concentration of heparin, protamine has been bound to the surface of magnetic latex particles. LMMH-tyramine-FITC bound dose dependently in a linear range from 0.1 to 30 micrograms/mL to the protamine-coated latex particles. The fluorescence intensity of the latex particles was analyzed using flow cytometry. No differences in the dilution curves were observed between buffer system, rat and human plasma. This indicated that no interference of heparin binding took place with plasma proteins with respect to the binding to protamine. In the second method the binding of LMMH-tyramine-FITC on rat and human leukocytes was analyzed using flow cytometry. LMMH-tryamine-FITC bound dose dependently to rat and human granulocyes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. A linear relationship of binding was obtained for all three cell lines; the sensitivity was 0.1 microgram/mL for monocytes and lymphocytes and 0.03 microgram/mL for granulocytes without differences between rat and human cells. The data demonstrate a dose-dependent binding of LMMH-tyramine-FITC to protamine coated latex beads and to rat and human leukocytes.
Unconventional Employer Branding: a strategy to win the talents attraction and retention war

Present research aims at analysing unconventional employer branding strategies in order to retain talented human capital towards sustainable competitive advantage. In the current job market, talents represent a fundamental asset in the competitive advantage gaining. So, the research starts creating a theoretical bridging between Brand Management, Organisational Behaviour and Iternal Marketing, using employer branding as theoretical pivot. Practical implications of this perspective consist of attracting, integrating and maintaining talents (Kotler, 1994; Ewing and Caruana 1999; Berthon, Ewing and Li Lian Hah, 2005), so that they become business partners in the shared goal of sustainable competitive advantage. In order to analyse the role of employer branding in talent management in the sustainable competitive advantage perspective, starting from Service Dominant Logic (Lush, Vargo, 2004) and Resource-based approach (Barney, 1991), the present research starts from the following research questions: Q1: what is the relation between employer branding, affective engagement and use of web 2.0 tools? Q2: What is the role of co-creation in the employer branding strategy? Q3: What are the co-creation parameters and actors with specific reference to virtual service organization? Q4: What is the impact of employer branding strategy applied to existing employees on talents attraction? Answering these research questions can contribute theoretically and practically to employer brand strategies. In fact, this higher-order conceptualization of employers/existing employees/potential employees’ relationship provides a foundation for co-creation in employer branding building, especially through new interactive media. In order to answer to these questions, a literature review about talent management, organizational studies and employer branding in RBT and SDL perspective is developed. This represents the theoretical background for developing a theoretical framework that taks into account the most relevant strategic factors of employer branding and considers talented employees as possible resources. The framework is tested in the empirical part, aimed at verifying the importance of employer branding strategies in a multiple cases cross analysis.
Removal torques for polished and rough titanium implants.

Early bone response to cylindrical smooth titanium implants (Sa=0.1 μm) inserted into the rabbit tibia was compared in a stable and nonstable regime. Surface roughness parameters were calculated from measurements obtained with optical interferometry and atomic force microscopy. Contrary to our hypothesis, the nonstable implant showed higher bone to metal contact and increased bone area in the endosteal region compared with the stable implant after 4 weeks of healing. Bone area measurements in the cortical region revealed similar values. Primitive woven bone was found in close contact with both implants, but significantly more with the nonstable implant. Finding more bone-to-implant contact (BIC) need not necessarily indicate that unstable implants were more strongly integrated. Primitive bone stage development observed indicates less strong implant anchorage than could be expected from BIC percentage alone. Stable implant design used in this study is a reliable model to evaluate submicron and nanostructures in vivo, as implant stability was achieved in the absence of microirregularaties. Clin. Oral Impl. Res. 18, 2007; 326–
Instruction usage and the memory gap problem

The gap between memory and processor speeds is responsible for the substantial amount of idle time of current processors. To reduce the impact provoked by the so-called "memory gap problem," many, software techniques (e.g., the code layout reorganization) together with hardware mechanisms (cache memory, translation look-aside buffer branch prediction, speculative execution, trace cache, instruction reuse, and so on) have been successfully implemented. In this paper we present some experiments that explain why these mechanisms and techniques are so efficient. We found that only a small fraction of the object code is actually executed: our experiments disclosed that more than 50% of the instructions remain untouched during the whole execution, and the percentages of basic blocks which remain unused are slightly greater. In addition to the usage of instructions and blocks, the paper provides further insights regarding the behavior of application programs, and gives some suggestions for extra performance gains.
LAND USE CONSOLIDATION IN RWANDA: A CASE STUDY OF NYANZA DISTRICT, SOUTHERN PROVINCE

The study assessed the adoption of land use consolidation and its determinants in Nyanza District of Southern Province, Rwanda. Land use consolidation is part of the on-going crop intensification program led by the Ministry of Agriculture in Rwanda. The extent to which this policy has been adopted is less spatially known. In addition, there is scarce knowledge about the factors affecting the adoption of this policy at household level. A sample of 132 households was randomly selected for the interviews conducted in August 2010. The analysis focused on farm, household, and institutional factors to investigate how these determine household’s decision to adopt land use consolidation. The findings show that gender, family size, trust, distance, cropping/farming practices are important determinants of a farmer’s decision to adopt land use consolidation in Nyanza District, Southern Rwanda.
Resolvase OsGEN1 Mediates DNA Repair by Homologous Recombination1[OPEN]

The canonical Holliday junction resolvase OsGEN1 plays an important role in rice pollen development via influence interference-insensitive crossover formation and DNA repair during pollen mitosis processes. Yen1/GEN1 are canonical Holliday junction resolvases that belong to the RAD2/XPG family. In eukaryotes, such as budding yeast, mice, worms, and humans, Yen1/GEN1 work together with Mus81-Mms4/MUS81-EME1 and Slx1-Slx4/SLX1-SLX4 in DNA repair by homologous recombination to maintain genome stability. In plants, the biological function of Yen1/GEN1 remains largely unclear. In this study, we characterized the loss of function mutants of OsGEN1 and OsSEND1, a pair of paralogs of Yen1/GEN1 in rice (Oryza sativa). We first investigated the role of OsGEN1 during meiosis and found a reduction in chiasma frequency by ∼6% in osgen1 mutants, compared to the wild type, suggesting a possible involvement of OsGEN1 in the formation of crossovers. Postmeiosis, OsGEN1 foci were detected in wild-type microspore nuclei, but not in the osgen1 mutant concomitant with an increase in double-strand breaks. Persistent double-strand breaks led to programmed cell death of the male gametes and complete male sterility. In contrast, depletion of OsSEND1 had no effects on plant development and did not enhance osgen1 defects. Our results indicate that OsGEN1 is essential for homologous recombinational DNA repair at two stages of microsporogenesis in rice.
Platelet release of transforming growth factor-beta and beta-thromboglobulin after in vitro contact with acrylic bone cements.

Three methacrylate-based bone cements used for the fixation of joint prostheses were evaluated: Sulfix-60 (Sulzer Orthopedic Inc., Baar, Switzerland). CMW1 (DePuy International Ltd., England). and CMW2 (DePuy International Ltd., England). The cements after polymerization were put in contact in vitro with platelet-rich plasma. Plasma, in contact only with siliconized glass, was used as a negative control. After contact, platelet number. beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG), and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) were determined. The Student's paired t test showed that the ccments induced no significant modifications of platelet number. CMWI and Sulfix-60 determined a significant increase in beta-TG compared with the negative control. All cements determined a significant increase in TGF-beta1. Significant differences were also seen in the levels of beta-TG and TGF-beta1 between cements with a content of benzoyl peroxide < 1 (Sulfix-60) and those with a content > 1 (CMW1 and CMW2). The cement with zirconium dioxide (Sulfix-60) produced higher levels of beta-TG and TGF-beta1, compared to those with barium sulphate (CMW1 and CMW2). In conclusion, all the cements induced the secretion of TGF-beta1 CMW1 and Sulfix-60 determined also a significant release of beta-TG. Platelet activation induced by the cements from one side could contribute to the pathogenesis of deep venous thrombosis, that often occurs after prosthetic implant and is caused also by other factors, including surgical trauma and venous stasis. From the other side, activated platelets can release growth factors favoring bone formation.
Effect of sleep deprivation on hemorheological properties in alloxan induced diabetic rats

Diabetes mellitus with abnormal glucose concentration is associated with changes in hemorheological properties, endothelial function, and platelets hyperactivity. Disturbances may significantly be responsible for diabetes-related vascular complications. People with diabetes are also more likely to have sleep problem/poor sleep. This study therefore investigated the hemorheologic effect of sleep deprivation on alloxan induced diabetic rats. Sixteen healthy male Wistar rats were used for the study randomly divided into non diabetic non sleep deprived, diabetic non sleep deprived, non diabetic sleep deprived and diabetic sleep deprived groups with four animals each. The animals were paradoxically sleep deprived for fourteen days with a sleep deprivation chamber. The result revealed an increase in whole blood viscosity, hematocrit, fibrinogen concentration and relative plasma viscosity in diabetic rats. However, these blood rheological properties decline in sleep deprived diabetic rats. This suggests that diabetes increase hemorheological indices which could lead to vascular complications; while sleep deprivation in normal and diabetic state reduces the hemorheological indices. It is therefore possible that paradoxical sleep deprivation did not synergistically with diabetic condition to alter blood rheological properties but otherwise.
Robust Estimation of Sparse Narrowband Spectra from Binary Neuronal Spiking Data

Objective: Characterizing the spectral properties of neuronal responses is an important problem in computational neuroscience, as it provides insight into the spectral organization of the underlying functional neural processes. Although spectral analysis techniques are widely used in the analysis of noninvasive neural recordings such as EEG, their application to spiking data is limited due to the binary and non-linear nature of neuronal spiking. In this paper, we address the problem of estimating the power spectral density of the neural covariate driving the spiking statistics of a neuronal population from binary observations. Methods: We consider a neuronal ensemble spiking according to Bernoulli statistics, for which the conditional intensity function is given by the logistic map of a harmonic second-order stationary process with sparse narrowband spectra. By employing sparsity-promoting priors, we compute the maximum a posteriori estimate of the power spectral density of the process from the binary spiking observations. Furthermore, we construct confidence intervals for these estimates by an efficient posterior sampling procedure. Results: We provide simulation studies which reveal that our method outperforms the existing methods for extracting the frequency content of spiking data. Application of our method to clinically recorded spiking data from a patient under general anesthesia reveals a striking resemblance between our estimated power spectral density and that of the local field potential signal. This result corroborates existing findings regarding the salient role of the local field potential as a major neural covariate of rhythmic cortical spiking activity under anesthesia. Conclusion: Our technique allows to analyze the harmonic structure of spiking activity in a robust fashion, independently of the local field potentials, and without any prior assumption of the spectral spread and content of the underlying neural processes. Significance: Other than its usage in the spectral analysis of neuronal spiking data, our algorithm can be applied to a wide variety of binary data, such as heart beat data, in order to obtain a robust spectral representation.
Comparison of provocative tests for unexplained syncope: isoprenaline and glyceryl trinitrate for diagnosing vasovagal syncope.

AIMS To compare the sensitivity, specificity and adverse event profile of glyceryl trinitrate head-up tilt with isoprenaline head-up tilt in the diagnosis of vasovagal syncope in patients with unexplained syncope and healthy controls. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-eight patients with unexplained syncope and negative passive head-up tilt at 70 degrees for 40 min, and 14 healthy controls underwent glyceryl trinitrate head-up tilt and isoprenaline head-up tilt (maximum dose 5 microg x min(-1)) one week apart in random order. Outcome measures were production of symptoms (syncope, pre-syncope) with development of hypotension. In those with negative passive head-up tilt, the sensitivity of glyceryl trinitrate for diagnosing vasovagal syncope was 48% and the specificity was 71%. Glyceryl trinitrate was well tolerated. Isoprenaline sensitivity was 21% with specificity 64%. Side-effects prevented completion of the test in 68%. Commonest adverse events were the development of hypertension or tachycardia and intolerable flushing or nausea. CONCLUSIONS Glyceryl trinitrate head-up tilt is as effective as isoprenaline head-up tilt as a provocative agent for vasovagal syncope and has a lower incidence of adverse events.
Genetics and regulation of peptidase N in Escherichia coli K-12

Escherichia coli K-12 strains contain a cytoplasmic activity, peptidase N, capable of hydrolyzing alanine-p-nitroanilide. Mutations in the structural gene for the enzyme, pepN, were mapped, and the properties of mutant strains were examined. The pepN locus lay between ompF and asnS at approximately 20.8 min on the E. coli chromosome. Loss of peptidase N activity through mutation had no apparent effect on the growth rate or nutritional needs of the cell. Enzyme levels in wild-type strains were constant throughout the growth cycle and were constitutive in all of the growth media tested. Starvation for carbon, nitrogen, or phosphate also did not alter enzyme levels. Constitutive expression of peptidase N is consistent with the idea that the enzyme plays a significant role in the degradation of intracellularly generated peptides.