Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Molecular cloning of squalene synthase gene form Paris polyphylla and its expression in Escherichia coli].

OBJECTIVE To clone the cDNA sequence of squalene synthase gene from Paris polyphylla, and characterize the biological features of the obtained SQS. METHOD Using homology cloning and RACE technique, a full-length cDNA sequence of PpSQS gene was isolated from P. polyphylla. The obtained sequence was analyzed by bioinformatics softwares. A plasmid [named pET-30b (+)-PpSQS] was constructed for prokaryotic expression the recombinant PpSQS. RESULT The full-length cDNA of PpSQS gene is 1 498 bp, which contains a 1 212 bp ORF. Sequence analysis indicated that PpSQS encoded 403 amino acids residues with a calculated molecular weight (MW) of 46.36 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 6.83. SDS-PAGE results showed that the recombinant PpSQS was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) by inducing with 1 mmol x L(-1) IPTG. CONCLUSION The full-length cDNA sequence of PpSQS gene was obtained from P. polyphylla, and its molecular features were consisted with classic SQS in plant. The recombinant PpSQS was successfully expressed in E. coli.
CT-based study of internal structure of the anterior pillar in extinct hominins and its implications for the phylogeny of robust Australopithecus

The phylogeny of the early African hominins has long been confounded by contrasting interpretations of midfacial structure. In particular, the anterior pillar, an externally prominent bony column running vertically alongside the nasal aperture, has been identified as a homology of South African species Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus. If the anterior pillar is a true synapomorphy of these two species, the evidence for a southern African clade of Australopithecus would be strengthened, and support would be given to the phylogenetic hypothesis of an independent origin for eastern and southern African “robust” australopith clades. Analyses of CT data, however, show that the internal structure of the circumnasal region is strikingly different in the two South African australopith species. In A. africanus the anterior pillar is a hollow column of cortical bone, whereas in A. robustus it is a column of dense trabecular bone. Although Australopithecus boisei usually lacks an external pillar, it has internal morphology identical to that seen in A. robustus. This result supports the monophyly of the “robust” australopiths and suggests that the external similarities seen in the South African species are the result of parallel evolution.
TSST-1 , enterotoxin and bacteriocin-like substance production by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from foods

The production of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 (TSST-1), enterotoxins and bacteriocin-like substances was evaluated in 95 strains of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from raw bovine milk (n=31) and from food samples involved in staphylococcal food poisoning (n=64). Enterotoxigenicity tests with the membrane over agar associated to optimal sensibility plate assays were performed and showed that 96.77% of strains recovered from milk and 95.31% from food samples produced enterotoxins A, B, C, D or TSST-1. Reference strains S. epidermidis, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Lactobacillus casei, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, S. aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Bacteroides fragilis were used as indicator bacteria in the antagonistic assays, the first five being sensitive to antagonistic substances. Brain heart infusion agar, in pH values ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 in aerobic atmosphere showed to be the optimum condition for antagonistic activity as evaluated with the best producer strains against the most sensitive indicator bacterium, L. monocytogenes. Sensitivity to enzymes confirmed the proteinaceous nature of these substances. Neither bacteriophage activity nor fatty acids were detected and the antagonistic activity was not due to residual chloroform. Results did not establish a positive correlation between the bacteriocinogenic profile and toxigenicity in the tested S. aureus strains.
A corpus-based taxonomy of question responses

In this paper we consider the issue of answering a query with a query. Although these are common , with the exception of Clarification Requests, they have not been studied empirically. After briefly reviewing different theoretical approaches on this subject, we present a corpus study of query responses in the British National Corpus and develop a taxonomy for query responses. We sketch a formal analysis of the response categories in the framework of KoS.
Title The postcard intervention against depression among community-dwelling older adults : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Depression in older adults deteriorates quality of life and increases morbidity, mortality, and medical expenses. Medicine and social policy should work together to decrease this burden. Existing prevention studies are often based on time-consuming psychotherapies, which therefore are not feasible for a wide application at the community level. Postcard interventions have been shown to be effective for patients after hospitalization for major depression, drug overdose, or self-harm. This paper describes the protocol of a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial designed to examine the efficacy of a postcard intervention for depression among community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years or older. Methods/Design: This is a pragmatic, non-blinded, parallel comparison, randomized controlled trial using Zelen’s design in a community setting. Participants will include community-dwelling older adults (aged 65 years or older) with limited social support (indicated by eating meals alone) and with symptoms of depression (scoring 4 or higher on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)). The intervention will consist of sending postcards with handwritten messages and seasonal reports from a historical city to participants once a month for eight consecutive months. Self-addressed, stamped envelopes will be enclosed to facilitate non-obligatory replies. Primary outcomes will be changes in the GDS scores that are administered to all elderly inhabitants of the community every year as part of annual health checks. Secondary outcomes include quality of life as measured by a visual analogue scale, and self-rated basic and advanced activities of daily living. We will also examine the subjective sense of effectiveness of the intervention, recollection of the number of intervention mailings received, and the number of mailed replies as the index of the acceptability of the postcard intervention. The time × group interaction for two consecutive years will be analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. To detect an effect size of 0.5 at alpha error of 0.05 and statistical power of 0.80, 63 participants per group are required. Based on an estimated consent and dropout rate of 70%, a total of 180 subjects will be recruited. Trial registration: UMIN000010529
A Fuzzy Classification Model with SVM

A fuzzy classification model with support vector machine (FCMWSVM) is proposed. For the basic idea of constructing this model, firstly the kernel function is constructed by selecting suitable membership function. Then a fuzzy partition is built around each training pattern and a fuzzy IF-THEN classification rule is defined for each fuzzy partition. Finally, the support vectors and the parameters for rule are got by SVM learning method. The basic idea and the structure of this model are introduced. The effects of the membership function parameters and the penalty parameters for the classification rule and the classifier performance are analyzed. Experiments with two-spiral line data and typical data sets evaluate the performances of this model.
Candida albicans orf19.3727 encodes phytase activity and is essential for human tissue damage

Candida albicans is a clinically important human fungal pathogen. We previously identified the presence of cell-associated phytase activity in C. albicans. Here, we reveal for the first time, that orf19.3727 contributes to phytase activity in C. albicans and ultimately to its virulence potency. Compared with its wild type counterpart, disruption of C. albicans orf19.3727 led to decreased phytase activity, reduced ability to form hyphae, attenuated in vitro adhesion, and reduced ability to penetrate human epithelium, which are the major virulence attributes of this yeast. Thus, orf19.3727 of C. albicans plays a key role in fungal pathogenesis. Further, our data uncover a putative novel strategy for anti-Candidal drug design through inhibition of phytase activity of this common pathogen.
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase is essential for the HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitor cerivastatin to promote collateral growth in response to ischemia

HMG‐CoA (3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors, or statins, are prescribed widely to lower cholesterol. Accumulating evidence indicates that statins have various effects on vascular cells, which are independent of their lipid‐lowering effect. Here, we tested the hypothesis that statins may augment collateral flow to ischemic tissues. We induced hind‐limb ischemia in wild‐type mice and treated them with either saline or cerivastatin. Cerivastatin enhanced the blood flow recovery dramatically as determined by Laser Doppler imaging. The mice treated with saline displayed frequent autoamputation of the ischemic toe, which was prevented completely by cerivastatin. Anti‐CD31 immunostaining revealed that cerivastatin significantly increased the capillary density. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity was enhanced markedly in the mice treated with cerivastatin. The angiogenic effect of cerivastatin was abrogated in eNOS deficient (eNOS‐/‐) mice. These results indicate that eNOS is essential for cerivastatin to promote collateral growth in response to ischemia.
Realistic calculation of wind generation capacity credits

The concept of capacity credit measures the ability of generation to support demand in power systems. This is of particular importance for wind generation, whose available capacity depends primarily on physical resource availability as opposed to mechanical availability; as a result, and differently from conventional generation, it is possible for the total available output of a system's wind generation to be very close to zero. This paper reviews different methods for calculating capacity credits, and discusses the important considerations for a realistic calculation with reference to a new Great Britain study. The key conclusion is that the correct methodology for a capacity credit calculation is closely tied to the intended application; as a consequence, there can no one universal preferred approach for all applications.
MyD88 Signaling Regulates Both Host Defense and Immunopathogenesis during Pneumocystis Infection

The immune response protects against Pneumocystis infection but is also a key component of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP)–related immunopathogenesis. Signaling through myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) is critical for activation of immune pathways downstream of TLRs and IL-1R. To determine whether MyD88 regulates normal host defense against Pneumocystis, nonimmunosuppressed wild-type (WT) and MyD88-deficient mice were infected. MyD88−/− mice had higher early Pneumocystis burdens than did WT mice but mounted an effective adaptive immune response and cleared Pneumocystis similarly to WT. However, MyD88−/− mice displayed a more intense and prolonged pulmonary immune response than did WT mice. To determine the role of MyD88 in the development of PcP-related immunopathogenesis, WT and MyD88−/− mice were rendered susceptible to PcP by depletion of CD4+ T cells. At 4 wk postinfection, CD4-depleted WT and MyD88−/− mice harbored similar organism burdens, but MyD88−/− mice were protected from the PcP-related respiratory impairment observed in WT mice. Improved pulmonary physiology in MyD88−/− mice correlated with lower lung CCL2 levels and reduced cell recruitment. However, by 5 wk postinfection, the overall health of MyD88−/− mice began to deteriorate rapidly relative to WT, with accelerated weight loss, impaired lung function, and exacerbated alveolar inflammation. This physiological decline of MyD88−/− mice was associated with increased TNF-α and IFN-γ in the lung, and by the inability to control Pneumocystis burden. Thus, MyD88 is not required for resistance to Pneumocystis infection, but limits the adaptive immune response in immunocompetent mice. In the setting of active PcP, MyD88 signaling contributes to both immunopathogenesis and control of fungal burden.
The structural and molecular biology of type III galactosemia

Type III galactosemia is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding UDP‐galactose 4‐epimerase. A variety of different point mutations located throughout the gene can be responsible. The main, disease‐causing effects of these mutations appear to be a reduction in the catalytic rate constant (kcat) and an increase in the proteolytic sensitivity of the protein. Many of the mutations are distant from the active site of the enzyme and therefore must be assumed to affect the overall fold of the protein. Although the disease was previously classified into a severe, or generalized, form and an essentially benign, or peripheral, form this distinction has been blurred by recent work. Instead of two separate conditions it now appears that type III galactosemia is a continuum and that the symptoms will vary depending on the mutation(s) carried by the individual sufferer. This new way of looking at the disease has implications for the treatment and long term monitoring of patients. iubmb Life, 58: 83 ‐ 89, 2006
Analysis on Existing Basic Slas and Green Slas to Define New Sustainable Green SLA

Nowadays, most of the IT (Information Technology) and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industries are practicing sustainability under green computing hoods. Users/Customers are also moving towards a new sustainable society. Therefore, while getting or providing different services from different ICT vendors, Service Level Agreement (SLA) becomes very important for both the service providers/vendors and users/customers. There are many ways to inform users/customers about various services with its inherent execution functionalities and even non-functional/Quality of Service (QoS) aspects through SLAs. However, these basic SLAs actually do not cover eco-efficient green issues or ethical issues for actual sustainable development. That is why green SLA (GSLA) should come into play. GSLA is a formal agreement incorporating all the traditional/basic commitments as well as respecting the ecological, economical and ethical aspects of sustainability. This research would survey on different basic SLA parameters for various services in ICT industries. At the same time, this survey would focus on finding the gaps and incorporating basic SLA parameters with existing green computing issues and ethical issues for different services in various computing domains. This research defines future GSLA in relationship with ICT product life and three pillars of sustainability. The proposed definition and overall survey could help different service providers/vendors to define their future GSLA as well as business strategies for this new transitional sustainable society.
Separation of the Salivary and Motor Responses in Instrumental Conditioning

If an instrumental conditioning schedule is arranged so that a dog must repeatedly perform a movement in response to one stimulus in order to secure the presentation of another stimulus, which is then followed by food, a virtually total separation of motor and salivary responses is observed. The first stimulus elicits the trained movement without salivation, and the second stimulus elicits salivation without instrumental responding. These experiments show a relative independence between classical and �nstrumental conditioned responses and clarify the rather complex relations between the two in the usual experimental procedure.
Proteomic Analysis and Identification of Streptococcus pyogenes Surface-Associated Proteins

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pyogenes is a gram-positive human pathogen that causes a wide spectrum of disease, placing a significant burden on public health. Bacterial surface-associated proteins play crucial roles in host-pathogen interactions and pathogenesis and are important targets for the immune system. The identification of these proteins for vaccine development is an important goal of bacterial proteomics. Here we describe a method of proteolytic digestion of surface-exposed proteins to identify surface antigens of S. pyogenes. Peptides generated by trypsin digestion were analyzed by multidimensional tandem mass spectrometry. This approach allowed the identification of 79 proteins on the bacterial surface, including 14 proteins containing cell wall-anchoring motifs, 12 lipoproteins, 9 secreted proteins, 22 membrane-associated proteins, 1 bacteriophage-associated protein, and 21 proteins commonly identified as cytoplasmic. Thirty-three of these proteins have not been previously identified as cell surface associated in S. pyogenes. Several proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the purified proteins were used to generate specific mouse antisera for use in a whole-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The immunoreactivity of specific antisera to some of these antigens confirmed their surface localization. The data reported here will provide guidance in the development of a novel vaccine to prevent infections caused by S. pyogenes.
Modeling of shape memory alloy actuator and tracking control system with the model

There has been great demand for shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators within the field of micro-machines. However, the thermomechanical behavior of SMA actuators is too complicated to accurately predict their response. Moreover the tracking control accuracy of SMA actuators is limited due to the inherent hysteresis nonlinearity. The paper presents a model of an SMA actuator for use in mechanical design and a control system for compensating the hysteresis. First, the model based on constitutive laws developed by Brinson et al. (1996) and our proposed hysteresis model is demonstrated. Next, we propose a control system composed of a proportional integral derivative (PID) feedback loop and a feedforward loop. In the feedforward loop, the desired control input corresponding to the desired displacement is obtained from a static SMA model derived by modifying the classic Preisach hysteresis model. We also propose a method for identifying parameters of the hysteresis model. This methods demands only measurement of the major loop. Application of the control system to our developed SMA actuator shows that the tracking control performance is improved.
Spectral Analysis of Male and Female Vowels in Yongding Chinese

This paper presents the formant data on the three Yongding Hakka vowels [i a ]. Results of a spectral analysis show (i) F2 for the vowel [a] is larger for Yongding Hakka than other Chinese dialects, due probably to the ‘nudging effect’ of the mid centralization of the historical */u/; (ii) the Yongding Hakka // has the F-pattern of a schwa; and (iii) the F-pattern of the Yongding Hakka // is similar to that of the plain apical vowel [ ] in Beijing Mandarin, except for a larger F1 for //. Between the male and female F-values, (i) the scaling relation is non-uniform across vowels and formants; (ii) the female vowels exhibit larger between-category dispersion; (iii) the size of vowel space area in the F1F2 plane is larger for female than male vowels, suggesting larger betweenvowel category dispersion for female vowels; and (iv) the gender differences are reduced to a minimum after normalization.
EVALUATION OF PROTEIN IN FOODS: 1. A METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF PROTEIN EFFICIENCY RATIOS

A bioassay procedure for the evaluation of the nutritional quality of the protein in foods is described. This method involves measurement of the protein efficiency ratio (grams gain per gram protein consumed) under standardized conditions. Male rats of the Wistar strain 20–23 days of age are fed ad libitum an otherwise adequate reference diet containing 10% protein supplied by a standard sample of casein. Foods to be assayed are added to the diet as the sole source of protein at the expense of the casein and corn starch to maintain a protein level of 10%. Protein efficiency ratios (P.E.R.'s) are calculated after 4 weeks and are adjusted to a constant value of 2.5 for casein. Although influenced by the age of rat and subject to certain inherent criticisms, determination of P.E. R. values was found to be a simpler method for evaluating protein quality than determination of net protein retention or net protein utilization and equally sensitive.
Percutaneous renal biopsy under direct radiologic direction.

A new method of percutaneous renal biopsy, utilizing direct visualization under the image amplifier, is found to provide a high yield of diagnostic tissue and a maximum of safety to the patient. Thirty-seven biopsies were performed. Diagnostic tissue was obtained 30 times. Virtually no morbidity was encountered. This procedure is recommended for routine use by those who are concerned about the safety of currently used techniques.
Effect of Epidural Epinephrine on the Minimum Local Analgesic Concentration of Epidural Bupivacaine in Labor

Background The minimum local analgesic concentration (MLAC) has been defined as the median effective local analgesic concentration in a 20-ml volume for epidural analgesia in the first stage of labor. The aim of this study was to determine the local anesthetic–sparing efficacy of epidural epinephrine by its effect on the MLAC of bupivacaine. Methods In this double-blind, randomized, prospective study, 70 parturients who were at 7 cm or less cervical dilation and who requested epidural analgesia were allocated to one of two groups. After lumbar epidural catheter placement, 20 ml bupivacaine (n = 35) or bupivacaine with epinephrine 1:300,000 (n = 35) was administered. The concentration of bupivacaine was determined by the response of the previous patient in that group to a higher or lower concentration using up–down sequential allocation. Analgesic efficacy was assessed using 100-mm visual analog pain scores, with 10 mm or less within 30 min defined as effective. Results The MLAC of bupivacaine alone was 0.091% wt/vol (95% confidence interval, 0.081–0.102). The addition of epinephrine 1:300,000 (66.7 &mgr;g) resulted in a significant reduction (P < 0.01) in the MLAC of bupivacaine to 0.065% wt/vol (95% confidence interval, 0.047–0.083). The lowest maternal blood pressure was significantly lower in the bupivacaine–epinephrine group (P = 0.03). There were statistically significant reductions in fetal heart rate (P = 0.011) in the bupivacaine–epinephrine group that were not clinically significant. Conclusions The addition of epidural epinephrine 1:300,000 (66 &mgr;g) resulted in a significant 29% reduction in the MLAC of bupivacaine. Coincident reductions in fetal heart rate and maternal blood pressure were also observed that were not clinically significant.