Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kinetic Evidence for Channeling of Dopamine between Monoamine Transporter and Membranous Dopamine-β-monooxygenase in Chromaffin Granule Ghosts*

The nature of coupling between the uptake and dopamine-β-monooxygenase (DβM) catalyzed hydroxylation of dopamine (DA) was studied in bovine chromaffin granule ghosts. Initial rate and transient kinetics of DA uptake and conversion were determined under a variety of conditions. The uptake kinetics of DA, norepinephrine (NE), and epinephrine demonstrate that DA is a better substrate than NE and epinephrine under optimal uptake conditions. The transient kinetics of DA accumulation and NE production under both optimal uptake and uptake and conversion conditions were zero-order with no detectable lag or burst periods. The mathematical analyses of the data show that a normal sequential uptake followed by the conversion process could not explain the observed kinetics, under any condition. On the other hand, all experimental data are in agreement with a mechanism in which DA is efficiently channeled from the vesicular monoamine transporter to membranous DβM for hydroxylation, prior to the release into the bulk medium of the ghost interior. The slow accumulation of DA under optimal conversion conditions appears to be caused by the slow leakage of DA from the channeling pathway to the ghost interior. Because DβM activity in intact granules is equally distributed between soluble and membranous forms of DβM, if an efficient channeling mechanism is operative in vivo, soluble DβM may not have access to the substrate, making the catalytic activity of soluble DβM physiologically insignificant, which is consistent with the increasing experimental evidence that membranous DβM may be the physiologically functional form.
Modes of Failure of Total Knee Arthroplasty: Registries and Realities

Abstract Revision knee arthroplasty places a major strain on the health care system and is associated with high rates of complications, readmissions, and reoperations. Determining the modes of failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) preoperatively is essential for a successful revision procedure. Nationwide arthroplasty registries have served as reliable quality control instruments and as data sources of clinical studies that can potentially help guide the investigation of a failed TKA. Modes of failure vary according to the setting of the procedure (primary vs revision arthroplasty) and the prosthesis level of constraint. This article reviews the most prevalent modes of failure of primary and revision TKA, and further quantifies rates and specific modes of failure of bicruciate retaining, posterior cruciate retaining, posterior stabilizing, varus–valgus constrained, and hinged implants.
Fear and fearfulness potentiate automatic orienting to eye gaze

This study examines whether fearful and happy expressions enhance orienting to eye gaze, and the contribution of individual differences in trait fearfulness. Participants carried out a spatial orienting task in which they were presented with neutral, happy, and fearful expressions with eyes gazing either toward or away from a target letter (T or L). The expressions appeared either 300 ms or 700 ms before the onset of the target letter. After both time intervals there was a gaze congruency effect: Response times were faster when the eyes gazed toward (congruent condition) rather than away (incongruent condition) from the location of the target. The congruency effect was larger for fearful faces compared to neutral faces, but not happy faces compared to neutral faces. Furthermore, at a short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between cue and target, the magnitude of the effect of fear on orienting increased with trait fearfulness. The results are discussed in relationship to findings of attentional bias for threat-related stimuli.
Launching a Sinkhole Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks; The Intruder Side

One of the reasons that the research of intrusion detection in wireless sensor networks has not advanced significantly is that the concept of "intrusion" is not clear in these networks. In this paper we investigate in depth one of the most severe attacks against sensor networks, namely the sinkhole attack, and we emphasize on strategies that an attacker can follow to successfully launch such an attack. Then we propose specific detection rules that can make legitimate nodes become aware of the threat, while the attack is still taking place. Finally, we demonstrate the attack and present some implementation details that emphasize the little effort that an attacker would need to put in order to break into a realistic sensor network.
Mouse Polyomavirus: Propagation, Purification, Quantification, and Storage

Mouse polyomavirus (MPyV) is a member of the Polyomaviridae family, which comprises non‐enveloped tumorigenic viruses infecting various vertebrates including humans and causing different pathogenic responses in the infected organisms. Despite the variations in host tropism and pathogenicity, the structure of the virions of these viruses is similar. The capsid, with icosahedral symmetry (ø, 45 nm, T = 7d), is composed of a shell of 72 capsomeres of structural proteins, arranged around the nucleocore containing approximately 5‐kbp‐long circular dsDNA in complex with cellular histones. MPyV has been one of the most studied polyomaviruses and serves as a model virus for studies of the mechanisms of cell transformation and virus trafficking, and for use in nanotechnology. It can be propagated in primary mouse cells (e.g., in whole mouse embryo cells) or in mouse epithelial or fibroblast cell lines. In this unit, propagation, purification, quantification, and storage of MPyV virions are presented. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In Silico Prediction of Tyrosinase and Adenylyl Cyclase Inhibitors from Natural Compounds

Although many herbal medicines are effective in the treatment of hyperpigmentation, the potency of different constituents remains unknown. In this work, more than 20,000 herbal ingredients from 453 herbs were docked into the crystal structures of adenylyl cyclase and a human homology tyrosinase model using Surflex-Dock. These two enzymes are responsible for melanin production and inhibition of them may attain a skin-whitening effect superior to currently available agents. The essential drug properties for topical formulation of the herbal ingredients, including skin permeability, sensitization, irritation, corrosive and carcinogenic properties were predicted by Dermwin, Skin Sensitization Alerts (SSA), Skin Irritation Corrosion Rules Estimation Tool (SICRET) and Benigni/Bossa rulebase module of Toxtree. Moreover, similarity ensemble and pharmacophore mapping approaches were used to forecast other potential targets for these herbal compounds by the software, SEArch and PharmMapper. Overall, this study predicted seven compounds to have advanced drug-like properties over the well-known effective tyrosinase inhibitors, arbutin and kojic acid. These seven compounds have the highest potential for further in vitro and in vivo investigation with the aim of developing safe and high-efficacy skin-whitening agents.
Knowledge Dissemination of Word-of-Mouth Research: Citation Analysis and Social Network Analysis

In the past 40 years, there have been many studies related to word of mouth; however, no reviews of the word-of-mouth literatures have been found. This study integrates the methods of citation analysis and social network analysis to explore the citation of word-of-mouth papers and further validates the knowledge dissemination of word-of-mouth studies. The results of the research reveal that the three papers – Richins (1983), Brown and Reingen (1987) and Herr, Kardes and Kim (1991) – were in more centralized positions in the citation network. As core papers in the word-of-mouth field, they play critical roles in knowledge. These research findings allow researchers to access studies related to the word-of-mouth field from the past 40 years, and dissemination of word-of-mouth knowledge helps researchers' control over future research directions and the overall knowledge contribution of the word-of-mouth field.
Toward a measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes.

The multidimensionality of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes and their relationship to nuclear policy opinions were investigated. One hundred and ninety-four college students, 24 high school students, and 21 building contractors were administered the 120-item Patriotism/Nationalism Questionnaire. One hundred and sixty-six of the college students were concurrently administered the 18-item Nuclear Policy Questionnaire. An iterated principal factor analysis was performed on the Patriotism/Nationalism Questionnaire and six factors were extracted for Varimax rotation. The results indicated that the factors were interpretable and distinct. Further analyses indicated the predictive validity of the subscales derived from the six factors for the Nuclear Policy Questionnaire, and exploratory analyses of variance examined the effects of selected demographic variables. The findings support the contention that patriotic/nationalistic attitudes entail multiple dimensions, and that they are differentially related to nuclear policy opinions. We conclude that researchers need to be more attentive to this multidimensionality, especially the distinction between patriotism and nationalism.
A 0.0016 mm2 0.64 nJ Leakage-Based CMOS Temperature Sensor

This paper presents a CMOS temperature sensor based on the thermal dependencies of the leakage currents targeting the 65 nm node. To compensate for the effect of process fluctuations, the proposed sensor realizes the ratio of two measures of the time it takes a capacitor to discharge through a transistor in the subthreshold regime. Furthermore, a novel charging mechanism for the capacitor is proposed to further increase the robustness against fabrication variability. The sensor, including digitization and interfacing, occupies 0.0016 mm2 and has an energy consumption of 47.7–633 pJ per sample. The resolution of the sensor is 0.28 °C, and the 3σ inaccuracy over the range 40–110 °C is 1.17 °C.
Characterization of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O26 Strains and Establishment of Selective Isolation Media for These Strains

ABSTRACT We characterized the carbohydrate-fermenting ability of 31 strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O26 isolated from diarrhea patients in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, in order to establish selective isolation media for these strains. None of the 31 STEC O26 strains (24 O26:H11, 7 O26:H−) fermented rhamnose, whereas all of the other 108 STEC strains (100 O157, 8 O111) and all of the non-STEC strains except one (i.e., 58 of 59) fermented rhamnose. The great majority of the STEC O26 strains (96.8% [30 of 31]) showed very high resistance to potassium tellurite (MIC ≥ 50 μg/ml), whereas the majority of the non-STEC strains (72.9% [43 of 59]) showed very high sensitivity (MIC ≤ 1.56 μg/ml) to this compound. Accordingly, we developed a rhamnose-MacConkey (RMAC) medium in which the lactose in MacConkey medium was replaced by rhamnose, and cefixime-tellurite-RMAC (CT-RMAC) medium in which potassium tellurite (2.5 mg/liter) and cefixime (0.05 mg/liter) were added to RMAC. All of the STEC O26 strains generated colorless (rhamnose-nonfermented) colonies on both media; the vast majority of selected E. coli strains (95.7% [89 of 93; including 26 STEC O157, 8 STEC O111]), other than STEC O26, generated red colonies on RMAC, and most of the non-STEC strains (84.7% [50 of 59]) did not grow on CT-RMAC. We demonstrate that both the RMAC and the CT-RMAC media can be used for the isolation of STEC O26 and that CT-RMAC has better specificity for the routine isolation for STEC O26 in a laboratory.
Proteomic profiling of cardiomyopathic tissue from the aged mdx model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy reveals a drastic decrease in laminin, nidogen and annexin

The majority of patients afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy develop cardiomyopathic complications, warranting large‐scale proteomic studies of global cardiac changes for the identification of new protein markers of dystrophinopathy. The aged heart from the X‐linked dystrophic mdx mouse has been shown to exhibit distinct pathological aspects of cardiomyopathy. In order to establish age‐related alterations in the proteome of dystrophin‐deficient hearts, cardiomyopathic tissue from young versus aged mdx mice was examined by label‐free LC‐MS/MS. Significant age‐dependent alterations were established for 67 proteins, of which 28 proteins were shown to exhibit a lower abundance and 39 proteins were found to be increased in their expression levels. Drastic changes were demonstrated for 17 proteins, including increases in Ig chains and transferrin, and drastic decreases in laminin, nidogen and annexin. An immunblotting survey of young and old wild‐type versus mdx hearts confirmed these proteomic findings and illustrated the effects of natural aging versus dystrophin deficiency. These proteome‐wide alterations suggest a disintegration of the basal lamina structure and cytoskeletal network in dystrophin‐deficient cardiac fibres, increased levels of antibodies in a potential autoimmune reaction of the degenerating heart, compensatory binding of excess iron and a general perturbation of metabolic pathways in dystrophy‐associated cardiomyopathy.
Clinically Significant Virtual Environments for the Treatment of Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

The aim of this work is the description of virtual environments designed to apply exposure therapy in the treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia. The program allows the simultaneous exposure to two different kinds of stimuli usually avoided by panic disorder and agoraphobia sufferers (external and interoceptive). The characteristics of the virtual environments are described, as well as the target behaviors that can be simulated with these virtual environments.
Prevalence of hepatitis E virus and porcine caliciviruses in pig farms of Guizhou province, China

Backgroud Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and caliciviruses are enteric pathogens of humans and animals, and pigs have been considered an important reservoir of these viruses. Objectives The aim of this study is to determine the infection rates of HEV and caliciviruses (sapovirus [SaV] and norovirus [NoV]) in different age groups of pigs in Guizhou province, China, and characterize the strains that are prevalent in this mountainous area. Materials and Methods A total of 209 stool samples from healthy pigs of different ages were collected from 6 pig farms in Guizhou province from May to June 2009 and tested for HEV, SaV, and NoV by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results The overall prevalence of porcine HEV and porcine SaV was 6.7% (15/209) and 1.0% (2/209), respectively. No NoV was detected. The prevalence rates of porcine HEV infection were 15.4% in piglets aged < 1 mon (4/26), 6.8% in piglets aged between 1 and 4 mon (3/44), 12.5% in piglets aged ≈ 4 mon (6/48), and 1.1% in sows aged between 6 and 14 mon (2/91). Porcine SaV was detected only in piglets (7.7%, 2/26). All 10 HEV isolates belonged to genotype 4, clustering with a human HEV strain (AF103940) from an adjacent province. Conclusions This is the first report on the existence of porcine SaV in swine in Guizhou province, China. The clustering of the porcine HEV isolates with a human strain suggests cross-species transmission between swine and humans in this area.
Characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome and evidence that phagosomal maturation is inhibited

We have used the cryosection immunogold technique to study the composition of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome. We have used quantitative immunogold staining to determine the distribution of several known markers of the endosomal-lysosomal pathway in human monocytes after ingestion of either M. tuberculosis, Legionella pneumophila, or polystyrene beads. Compared with the other phagocytic particles studied, the M. tuberculosis phagosome exhibits delayed clearance of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, relatively intense staining for MHC class II molecules and the endosomal marker transferrin receptor, and relatively weak staining for the lysosomal membrane glycoproteins, CD63, LAMP-1, and LAMP-2 and the lysosomal acid protease, cathepsin D. In contrast to M. tuberculosis, the L. pneumophila phagosome rapidly clears MHC class I molecules and excludes all endosomal-lysosomal markers studied. In contrast to both live M. tuberculosis and L. pneumophila phagosomes, phagosomes containing either polystyrene beads or heat-killed M. tuberculosis stain intensely for lysosomal membrane glycoproteins and cathepsin D. These findings suggest that (a) M. tuberculosis retards the maturation of its phagosome along the endosomal-lysosomal pathway and resides in a compartment with endosomal, as opposed to lysosomal, characteristics; and (b) the intraphagosomal pathway, i.e., the pathway followed by several intracellular parasites that inhibit phagosome-lysosome fusion, is heterogeneous.
Factors Contributing to Large-Scale Instructional Development

Stepwise multiple regression analysis data from a previous study of organizational variables contributing to large-scale development of instructional procedures indicates that, with innovation as the dependent variable, communication and job satisfaction contribute significantly. Innovation appears to be a function of an open organizational structure and high staff morale. University and military sites were compared with respect to these attributes.
Short-term effects of ambient particles on mortality in the elderly: results from 28 cities in the APHEA2 project

Within the framework of the APHEA2 (Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach) project, the effects of ambient particles on mortality among persons ≥65 yrs were investigated. Daily measurements for particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm (PM10) and black smoke (BS), as well as the daily number of deaths among persons ≥65 yrs of age, from 29 European cities, have been collected. Data on other pollutants and meteorological variables, to adjust for confounding effects and data on city characteristics, to investigate potential effect modification, were also recorded. For individual city analysis, generalised additive models extending Poisson regression, using a locally weighted regression (LOESS) smoother to control for seasonal effects, were applied. To combine individual city results and explore effect modification, second stage regression models were applied. The per cent increase (95% confidence intervals), associated with a 10 µg·m−3 increase in PM10, in the elderly daily number of deaths was 0.8% (0.7–0.9%) and the corresponding number for BS was 0.6% (0.5–0.8%). The effect size was modified by the long-term average levels of nitrogen dioxide (higher levels were associated with larger effects), temperature (larger effects were observed in warmer countries), and by the proportion of the elderly in each city (a larger proportion was associated with higher effects). These results indicate that ambient particles have effects on mortality among the elderly, with relative risks comparable or slightly higher than those observed for total mortality and similar effect modification patterns. The effects among the older persons are of particular importance, since the attributable number of events will be much larger, compared to the number of deaths among the younger population.
Unsupervised Text Classification and Search using Word Embeddings on a Self-Organizing Map

This paper presents the results of an experimental implementation of a document classifier leveraging contextual word embeddings clustered on a self-organizing map. The problem of document categorization is further compounded when there are no predefined categories, or conversely there are too many categories, that documents may be bucketed into. This paper proposes to address these problems by modelling the major themes contained in the document corpus into a cluster-map using a self-organizing neural network. The cluster-map provides a visual representation to explore the corpus, and a near-semantic search interface of the many concepts outlined across the corpus.
The Work of Culture

The formulations of cultural sociology have a tendency to merge culture and the social so closely that they become indistinguishable from one another. Drawing on Foucauldian governmentality theory and actor network theory, this article argues that it is preferable to examine the processes through which culture is separated off from the social via the production of distinctive cultural assemblages.The kinds of issues that need to be taken into consideration to account for the work that goes into making culture as a publicly differentiated realm are identified. Attention then focuses on the kinds of work that culture does in being brought to act on the ‘working surfaces on the social’ that are organized in the relations between social and cultural knowledges. The argument is exemplified by considering how the assemblages of Aboriginal culture produced by Baldwin Spencer enabled the production of a new surface of social management through which the relations between white and Aboriginal Australia were organized in the context of the Aboriginal domain.
Distributed fixed-time cooperative tracking control for multi-robot systems

In this paper, we study the fixed-time cooperative tracking control problem for multi-robot systems with doubleintegrator dynamics. First, a novel distributed observer is proposed for each follower to estimate the leader state in a fixed time, then a local tracking controller based on sliding mode technique is proposed such that the estimated leader state is tracked in a fixed time. Both cases of a stationary leader and a dynamic leader are investigated. Since nonholonomic dynamics can better describe the mobile robots in reality, we further extend the results to achieve fixed-time cooperative tracking for multi-robot systems with nonholonomic dynamics. Different from the conventional finite-time cooperative tracking strategies, the fixed-time approach in this work guarantees that an upper bound of settling time can be prescribed without dependence on initial states of robots, which provides additional system information in advance. Finally, numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
Query-Aware Partitioning for Monitoring Massive Network Data Streams

Data stream management systems (DSMS) are gaining acceptance for applications that need to process very large volumes of data in real time. The load generated by such applications frequently exceeds by far the computation capabilities of a single centralized server. In particular, a single-server instance of our DSMS, Gigascope, cannot keep up with the processing demands of the new OC-786 networks, which can generate more than 100 million packets per second. In this paper, we explore a mechanism for the distributed processing of very high speed data streams. Existing distributed DSMSs employ two mechanisms for distributing the load across the participating machines: partitioning of the query execution plans and partitioning of the input data stream in a query-independent fashion. However, for a large class of queries, both approaches fail to reduce the load as compared to centralized system, and can even lead to an increase in the load. In this paper we present an alternative approach - query-aware data stream partitioning that allows for more efficient scaling. We have developed methods for analyzing any given query node to determine a partition strategy, reconcile potentially conflicting requirements that different queries in a query set place on partitioning, and to choose an optimal partitioning which minimizes overall communication costs.