Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of RasC Specificity during Dictyostelium Aggregation*

RasC is required for optimum activation of adenylyl cyclase A and for aggregate stream formation during the early differentiation of Dictyostelium discoideum. RasG is unable to substitute for this requirement despite its sequence similarity to RasC. A critical question is which amino acids in RasC are required for its specific function. Each of the amino acids within the switch 1 and 2 domains in the N-terminal portion of RasG was changed to the corresponding amino acid from RasC, and the ability of the mutated RasG protein to reverse the phenotype of rasC− cells was determined. Only the change from aspartate at position 30 of RasG to alanine (the equivalent position 31 in RasC) resulted in a significant increase in adenylyl cyclase A activation and a partial reversal of the aggregation-deficient phenotype of rasC− cells. All other single amino acid changes were without effect. Expression of a chimeric protein, RasG1–77-RasC79–189, also resulted in a partial reversal of the rasC− cell phenotype, indicating the importance of the C-terminal portion of RasC. Furthermore, expression of the chimeric protein, with alanine changed to aspartate (RasG1–77(D30A)-RasC79–189), resulted in a full rescue the rasC− aggregation-deficient phenotype. Finally, the expression of either a mutated RasC, with the aspartate 31 replaced by alanine, or the chimeric protein, RasC1–78-RasG78–189, only generated a partial rescue. These results emphasize the importance of both the single amino acid at position 31 and the C-terminal sequence for the specific function of RasC during Dictyostelium aggregation.
Evolutionarily Distinct Classes of S27 Ribosomal Proteins with Differential mRNA Expression in Rat Hypothalamus

Abstract: Using an in situ hybridization screen for cDNA clones of brain region‐specific mRNAs, we isolated a rat transcript that encodes a ribosomal protein S27. Searching GenBank DNA databases, we found two S27 protein isoforms. One isoform, encoded by multiple genes, is extant in archaea and eukarya, but not bacteria. The second isoform appears to be recently evolved because it has been identified only in mammals. Multiple transcripts encode each isoform and exhibit different tissue expression patterns throughout rat brain and periphery, with abundant expression in the hypothalamus. In situ hybridization studies revealed predominant expression of S271 in distinct hypothalamic nuclei, such as the paraventricular, supraoptic, suprachiasmatic, arcuate, and circularis nuclei, whereas expression of S272 mRNA was discretely expressed in select neurons of the periventricular and supraoptic nuclei. Combined with the genetic evidence that S27 has extraribosomal functions in plants, the complexity of S27 biology observed here may suggest auxiliary functions for S27 proteins in the mammalian nervous system.
Simulating from Exchangeable Archimedean Copulas

Multivariate exchangeable Archimedean copulas are one of the most popular classes of copulas that are used in actuarial science and finance for modeling risk dependencies and for using them to quantify the magnitude of tail dependence. Owing to the increase in popularity of copulas to measure dependent risks, generating from multivariate copulas has become a very crucial exercise. Current methods for generating from multivariate Archimedean copulas could become a very difficult task as the number of dimension increases. The resulting analytical procedures suggested in the existing literature do not offer much guidance for practical implementation. This article presents an algorithm for generating values from the multivariate exchangeable Archimedean copulas based on a multivariate extension of a bivariate result. A procedure for generating values from bivariate Archimedean copulas has been originally proposed in Genest and Rivest (1993) and again later described in Nelsen (1999) and Embrechts et al. (2001a b). Using a proof that is simply based on fundamental Jacobian techniques for deriving distributions of transformed random variables, we are able to extend the bivariate result into the multivariate case allowing us to develop an interesting algorithm to generate values from exchangeable Archimedean copulas. As auxiliary results, we are able to derive the distribution function of an n-dimensional Archimedean copula, a result already known in Genest and Rivest (2001), but our approach of proving this result is based on a different perspective. This article focuses on this class of copulas that has one generating function and one parameter that characterizes the dependence structure of the joint distribution function.
Stem cell factor in combination with filgrastim after chemotherapy improves peripheral blood progenitor cell yield and reduces apheresis requirements in multiple myeloma patients: a randomized, controlled trial.

Stem cell factor (SCF) has been shown to synergize with filgrastim to mobilize CD34(+) cells into the peripheral blood. To determine if addition of SCF to chemotherapy and filgrastim reduces the number of leukaphereses required to achieve a target yield of 5 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg, 102 patients with multiple myeloma were randomized to receive mobilization chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (4 g/m(2)) and either SCF (20 micrograms/kg/d) combined with filgrastim (5 micrograms/kg/d) or filgrastim alone (5 micrograms/kg/d), administered daily until leukaphereses were completed. After collection, patients were treated with myeloablative therapy supported by autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) infusion and filgrastim (5 micrograms/kg/d). There was a significant difference between the treatment groups in the number of leukaphereses required to collect 5 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg (median of 1 v 2 for SCF + filgrastim and filgrastim alone, respectively, P =.008). Patients receiving the combination of SCF plus filgrastim had a 3-fold greater chance of reaching 5 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg in a single leukapheresis compared with patients mobilized with filgrastim alone. The median CD34(+) cell yield was significantly increased for the SCF group in the first leukapheresis (11.3 v 4.0 x 10(6)/kg, P =. 003) and all leukaphereses (12.4 v 8.2 x 10(6)/kg, P =. 007). Total colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) and mononuclear cell counts were also significantly higher in the SCF group in the first leukapheresis and in all leukaphereses. As expected for patients mobilized to an optimal CD34(+) cell yield, the time to engraftment was similar between the 2 treatment groups. Cells mobilized with the combination of SCF plus filgrastim were thus considered effective and safe for achieving rapid engraftment. Treatment with SCF plus filgrastim was well tolerated, with mild to moderate injection site reactions being the most frequently reported adverse events. There were no serious allergic-like reactions to SCF. The addition of SCF to filgrastim after cyclophosphamide for PBPC mobilization resulted in a significant increase in CD34(+) cell yield and a concomitant reduction in the number of leukaphereses required to collect an optimal harvest of 5 x 10(6) CD34(+) cells/kg.
FAMILY INTERACTION AND DECISION-MAKING.

With increasing conviction, the clinical impressions derived from family therapy and the results of a handful of experiments have fostered the view that the family of an individual patient is an "abnormal" one, different in some ways from "normal" families. The investigation of family interaction assumes that this difference is demonstrable and seeks to identify the parameters involved. Of course, this effort is still in its beginning stages, but it already seems to contain the promise of a new set of research observations for the behavior scientist, and an expanded therapeutic horizon for the psychotherapist. Part of a larger research project, the study reported in this paper enlarges upon Ferreira's 3 previous investigation of family decision-making in normal and abnormal families. It inquires into the conjoint behavior of the family triad (father, mother, and child) while making a family decision, that is, a decision
Regional Heterogeneity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Phenotypes: Pulmonary 3He Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computed Tomography

Abstract Pulmonary ventilation may be visualized and measured using hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while emphysema and its distribution can be quantified using thoracic computed tomography (CT). Our objective was to phenotype ex-smokers with COPD based on the apical-to-basal distribution of ventilation abnormalities and emphysema to better understand how these phenotypes change regionally as COPD progresses. We evaluated 100 COPD ex-smokers who provided written informed consent and underwent spirometry, CT and 3He MRI. 3He MRI ventilation imaging was used to quantify the ventilation defect percent (VDP) for whole-lung and individual lung lobes. Regional VDP was used to generate the apical-lung (AL)-to-basal-lung (BL) difference (ΔVDP); a positive ΔVDP indicated AL-predominant and negative ΔVDP indicated BL-predominant ventilation defects. Emphysema was quantified using the relative-area-of-the-lung ≤−950HU (RA950) of the CT density histogram for whole-lung and individual lung lobes. The AL-to-BL RA950 difference (ΔRA950) was generated with a positive ΔRA950 indicating AL-predominant emphysema and a negative ΔRA950 indicating BL-predominant emphysema. Seventy-two ex-smokers reported BL-predominant MRI ventilation defects and 71 reported AL-predominant CT emphysema. BL-predominant ventilation defects (AL/BL: GOLD I = 18%/82%, GOLD II = 24%/76%) and AL-predominant emphysema (AL/BL: GOLD I = 84%/16%, GOLD II = 72%/28%) were the major phenotypes in mild-moderate COPD. In severe COPD there was a more uniform distribution for ventilation defects (AL/BL: GOLD III = 40%/60%, GOLD IV = 43%/57%) and emphysema (AL/BL: GOLD III = 64%/36%, GOLD IV = 43%/57%). Basal-lung ventilation defects predominated in mild-moderate GOLD grades, and a more homogeneous distribution of ventilation defects was observed in more advanced grade COPD; these differences suggest that over time, regional ventilation abnormalities become more homogenously distributed during disease progression.
Classification Error of the Thresholded Independence Rule

We consider classification in the situation of two groups with normally distributed data in the ‘large p small n’ framework. To counterbalance the high number of variables, we consider the thresholded independence rule. An upper bound on the classification error is established that is taylored to a mean value of interest in biological applications.
Survey on Fragmentation for Deduplication in Backup Storage

: In backup environments field deduplication yields major advantages. Deduplication is process of automatic elimination of duplicate data in a storage system and it is most effective technique to reduce storage costs. Deduplication effects predictably in data fragmentation, because logically continuous data is spread across many disk locations. Fragmentation mainly caused by duplicates from previous backups of the same backup set, since such duplicates are frequent due to repeated full backups containing a lot of data which is not changed. Systems with in-line deduplicate intends to detects duplicates during writing and avoids storing them, such fragmentation causes data from the latest backup being scattered across older backups. This survey focused on various techniques to detect inline deduplication. As per literature, need to develop a focused on deduplication reduce the time and storage space. Proposed novel method to avoid the reduction in restores performance without reducing write performance and without affecting deduplication effectiveness.
A Power-Efficient Noise Suppression Technique Using Signal-Nulled Feedback for Low-Noise Wideband Amplifiers

The design of wideband amplifiers suffers from an essential tradeoff between noise and power consumption. This brief presents a power-efficient noise-suppression technique that excludes the signal from a noise-suppression loop by nulling the signal swing in transconductance cells. Once the loop is with less concern on signal linearity, the power constraint on the loop gain stage can be greatly relaxed. Two test circuits have successfully verified this technique. One is an radio-frequency low-noise amplifier (LNA) with the noise figure improved from 5 to 4 dB. The other is a baseband variable-gain amplifier (VGA) with an 11-dB noise reduction. The power overheads for applying the technique in the LNA and the VGA are 0.56 and 0.19 mW, respectively.
Concordance of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements between circulating tumor cells and tumor in non-small cell lung cancer

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is routinely evaluated by fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) testing on biopsy tissues. Testing can be challenging however, when suitable tissue samples are unavailable. We examined the relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTC) as a surrogate for biopsy-based FISH testing. We assessed paired tumor and CTC samples from patients with ALK rearranged lung cancer (n = 14), ALK-negative lung cancer (n = 12), and healthy controls (n = 5) to derive discriminant CTC counts, and to compare ALK rearrangement patterns. Blood samples were enriched for CTCs to be used for ALK FISH testing. ALK-positive CTCs counts were higher in ALK-positive NSCLC patients (3–15 cells/1.88 mL of blood) compared with ALK-negative NSCLC patients and healthy donors (0–2 cells/1.88 mL of blood). The latter range was validated as the ‘false positive’ cutoff for ALK FISH testing of CTCs. ALK FISH signal patterns observed on tumor biopsies were recapitulated in CTCs in all cases. Sequential CTC counts in an index case of lung cancer with no evaluable tumor tissue treated with crizotinib showed six, three and eleven ALK-positive CTCs per 1.88 mL blood at baseline, partial response and post-progression time points, respectively. Furthermore, ALK FISH rearrangement suggestive of gene copy number increase was observed in CTCs following progression. Recapitulation of ALK rearrangement patterns in the tumor on CTCs, suggested that CTCs might be used to complement tissue-based ALK testing in NSCLC to guide ALK-targeted therapy when suitable tissue biopsy samples are unavailable for testing.
Synthesis and unique photoluminescence properties of nitrogen-rich quantum dots and their applications.

Nitrogen-rich quantum dots (N-dots) were serendipitously synthesized in methanol or aqueous solution at a reaction temperature as low as 50 °C. These N-dots have a small size (less than 10 nm) and contain a high percentage of the element nitrogen, and are thus a new member of quantum-dot family. These N-dots show unique and distinct photoluminescence properties with an increasing percentage of nitrogen compared to the neighboring carbon dots. The photoluminescence behavior was adjusted from blue to green simply through variation of the reaction temperature. Furthermore, the detailed mechanism of N-dot formation was also proposed with the trapped intermediate. These N-dots have also shown promising applications as fluorescent ink and biocompatible staining in C. elegans.
Variable Nucleotide Tandem-Repeat Analysis Revealing a Unique Group of Leptospira interrogans Serovar Pomona Isolates Associated with California Sea Lions

ABSTRACT Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona isolates were compared by variable nucleotide tandem-repeat typing. Most cattle isolates grouped together, while isolates from pigs and wildlife were distributed across several groups. Significantly, California sea lion isolates formed a unique group, providing evidence that these animals are maintenance hosts of serovar Pomona.
ESTIMATION OF ROAD ROUGHNESS CONDITION BY USING SENSORS IN SMARTPHONES

Today’s every smartphone is integrated with many useful sensors. The sensors are originally designed to make the smartphones user interface and applications more convenient and appealing. These sensors are potentially useful for many other applications in different fields. The smartphone sensors like accelerometer and orientation are used to estimate road roughness condition. These sensors are used to collect vibration data. Using these sensors data about road is collected. The smartphones are placed at more realistic locations and under realistic manner inside a moving vehicle to collect the data which is useful to evaluate its relationship with the actual road roughness. In this paper, road roughness (Quality) and Ghats complexity analysis using smartphone proposes to utilize the GPS system of phone and different sensors like accelerometer, magnetometer, etc. of phone, so we can analyze the road and can upload this information of that road on central server so every application user can use this information during traveling.
PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs from Physcomitrella patens are active in Arabidopsis and complement the pif quadruple mutant

ABSTRACT Phytochromes are red/far-red light receptors in plants involved in the regulation of growth and development in response to changes in the ambient environment. An important mode of action of plant phytochromes depends on their light-regulated relocation from the cytosol into the nucleus and control of gene expression; in addition, there is also evidence for a cytosolic or plasma membrane associated function of phytochromes in different species. The PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs) form a subgroup of the bHLH transcription factors and it is well established that PIFs are key components of phytochrome downstream signalling in the nucleus of seed plants. Recent studies identified members of the PIF family also in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and the moss Physcomitrella patens. Here, we show that all four potential PIF homologs from Physcomitrella have PIF function when expressed in the Arabidopsis pifQ mutant, which is deficient in multiple PIFs. We propose that PIFs are ancient components of nuclear phytochrome signalling that have emerged in the last common ancestor of today's land plants.
External form and internal anatomy of Holsteins and Jerseys.

Body weights, external dimensions, and postmortem measures of internal body dimensions or weights of organs and glands of Holsteins and Jerseys were used to establish norms, interrelationships of traits, and effects of sire and inbreeding on changes in external form. Sires differed in nearly all measures of external body form. Sire effects increased with advancing age whereas effects of inbreeding (greater than 12.5, 3.0 to 12.4, or less than 3.0% of inbreeding) declined. Skeletal dimensions were smallest in the greater than 12.5% inbred group. Differences due to inbreeding were largest at 3 and 6 mo of age and in first lactation. Body heights and head dimensions were nearer to mature size at 3 and 6 mo than other measures. In both breeds, most rapid development was between 3 and 6 mo, but Jersey matured 1 to 2% faster. Age (2 to 3, 4 to 5, 6 to 10, greater than 10 yr) was significant for most postmortem measurements. Correlations among measures of external form were . 30 to . 93. Correlations between external form and internal features or between internal dimensions and organs were lower. External and internal features were positively correlated, but few external features showed strong enough association with internal features for use as predictors of size of organs, glands, or digestive capacity.
Photoscreening for amblyogenic factors by public health personnel: the Eyecor Camera System

OBJECTIVES. This pilot study was designed to assess the ability of a photoscreening camera to detect amblyogenic factors such as high refractive error, anisometropia, media opacities and strabismus in children, compared to the standard vision screening techniques employed by the local state public health screening personnel. METHODS. Public health personnel in Illinois used the Eyecor prototype to the current commercially available MTI PS-100 photoscreening camera (manufactured by Medical Technology Inc.) to screen 127 non-dilated subjects, ages 7 months to 20 years (mean age, 6 years), for amblyogenic factors. All participants were concurrently subjected to the "standard" vision screening employed routinely by state public health personnel. The study participants included a group of normal inner-city children and one group of special-needs children. The normal children came from both a public school and a private school. The special-needs children included a group of children from a state-run school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing and a separate group of children attending a multi-disciplinary Easter Seals clinic. RESULTS. In the population of normal children, the mean sensitivity and specificity for the observers using the Eyecor Camera system was 81% and 83% with a mean positive predictive value of 83%, and a mean negative predictive value of 55%. Standard vision screening techniques employed by public health service certified vision screeners had a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 91%, a positive predictive value of 67% and a negative predictive value of 97% in the same subjects. In the population of special-needs children with hearing impairment and developmental delay, the mean sensitivity and specificity for the observers using the Eyecor Camera system was 74% and 82% with a mean positive predictive value of 69% and a mean negative predictive value of 85%. Standard vision screening techniques employed by public health service certified vision screeners had a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 55%, a positive predictive value of 62% and a negative predictive value of 100% in the same subjects. (See Table 1) CONCLUSIONS. This study shows that the Eyecor Photoscreening Camera is useful in screening normal children for amblyogenic factors. Photoscreening was at least as effective as standard screening methodologies performed by certified vision screeners as required by state public health policy. In addition, photoscreening is particularly useful in testing those children "unscreenable" by conventional vision screening procedures.
Structural Insight into Activation Mechanism of Toxoplasma gondii Nucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolases by Disulfide Reduction*

Background: Disulfide-regulated NTPDases from T. gondii are related to the virulence of the parasite. Results: Crystal structures of the active and inactive state were determined. Conclusion: The 258–268 disulfide bridge acts like a clamp, which upon reduction allows concerted motions of the subunits and domains of the tetrameric enzyme. Significance: First molecular model of the disulfide-regulated activation mode. The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii produces two nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (NTPDase1 and -3). These tetrameric, cysteine-rich enzymes require activation by reductive cleavage of a hitherto unknown disulfide bond. Despite a 97% sequence identity, both isozymes differ largely in their ability to hydrolyze ATP and ADP. Here, we present crystal structures of inactive NTPDase3 as an apo form and in complex with the product AMP to resolutions of 2.0 and 2.2 Å, respectively. We find that the enzyme is present in an open conformation that precludes productive substrate binding and catalysis. The cysteine bridge 258–268 is identified to be responsible for locking of activity. Crystal structures of constitutively active variants of NTPDase1 and -3 generated by mutation of Cys258–Cys268 show that opening of the regulatory cysteine bridge induces a pronounced contraction of the whole tetramer. This is accompanied by a 12° domain closure motion resulting in the correct arrangement of all active site residues. A complex structure of activated NTPDase3 with a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog and the cofactor Mg2+ to a resolution of 2.85 Å indicates that catalytic differences between the NTPDases are primarily dictated by differences in positioning of the adenine base caused by substitution of Arg492 and Glu493 in NTPDase1 by glycines in NTPDase3.