Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional Analyses of the Activation Loop of Phototropin2 in Arabidopsis1[W][OA]

Phototropins (phot1 and phot2) are autophosphorylating blue-light receptor kinases that mediate blue-light responses such as phototropism, chloroplast accumulation, and stomatal opening in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Only phot2 induces the chloroplast avoidance response under strong blue light. The serine (Ser) residues of the kinase activation loop in phot1 are autophosphorylated by blue light, and autophosphorylation is essential for the phot1-mediated responses. However, the role of autophosphorylation in phot2 remains to be determined. In this study, we substituted the conserved residues of Ser-761 and Ser-763 with alanine (S761A S763A) in the phot2 activation loop and analyzed their function by investigating the phot2-mediated responses after the transformation of phot1 phot2 double mutant with this mutant phot2 gene. Transgenic plants expressing the mutant phot2 protein exhibited impaired responses in chloroplast movement, stomatal opening, phototropic bending, leaf flattening, and plant growth; and those expressing phot2 with S761D S763D mutations showed the normal responses. Substitution of both Ser-761 and Ser-763 with alanine in phot2 did not significantly affect the kinase activity in planta. From these results, we conclude that phosphorylation of Ser-761 and Ser-763 in the activation loop may be a common primary step for phot2-mediated responses.
EXTENDED ENDOSCOPIC ENDONASAL TRANSSPHENOIDAL APPROACH TO THE SUPRASELLAR AREA: ANATOMIC CONSIDERATIONS—PART 1

INTRODUCTION Interest in using the extended endonasal transsphenoidal approach for management of suprasellar lesions, with either a microscopic or endoscopic technique, has increased in recent years. The most relevant benefit is that this median approach permits the exposure and removal of suprasellar lesions without the need for brain retraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen human cadaver heads were dissected to evaluate the surgical key steps and the advantages and limitations of the extended endoscopic endonasal transplanum sphenoidale approach. We compared this with the transcranial microsurgical view of the suprasellar area as explored using the bilateral subfrontal microsurgical approach, and with the anatomy of the same region as obtained through the endoscopic endonasal route. RESULTS Some anatomic conditions can prevent or hinder use of the extended endonasal approach. These include a low level of sphenoid sinus pneumatization, a small sella size with small distance between the internal carotid arteries, a wide intercavernous sinus, and a thick tuberculum sellae. Compared with the subfrontal transcranial approach, the endoscopic endonasal approach offers advantages to visualizing the subchiasmatic, retrosellar, and third ventricle areas. CONCLUSION The endoscopic endonasal transplanum sphenoidale technique is a straight, median approach to the midline areas around the sella that provides a multiangled, close-up view of all relevant neurovascular structures. Although a lack of adequate instrumentation makes it impossible to manage all structures that are visible with the endoscope, in selected cases, the extended endoscopic endonasal approach can be considered part of the armamentarium for surgical treatment of the suprasellar area.
Status updates over unreliable multiaccess channels

Applications like environmental sensing, and health and activity sensing, are supported by networks of devices (nodes) that send periodic packet transmissions over the wireless channel to a sink node. We look at simple abstractions that capture the following commonalities of such networks (a) the nodes send periodically sensed information that is temporal and must be delivered in a timely manner, (b) they share a multiple access channel and (c) channels between the nodes and the sink are unreliable (packets may be received in error) and differ in quality. We consider scheduled access and slotted ALOHA-like random access. Under scheduled access, nodes take turns and get feedback on whether a transmitted packet was received successfully by the sink. During its turn, a node may transmit more than once to counter channel uncertainty. For slotted ALOHA-like access, each node attempts transmission in every slot with a certain probability. For these access mechanisms we derive the age of information (AoI), which is a timeliness metric, and arrive at conditions that optimize AoI at the sink. We also analyze the case of symmetric updating, in which updates from different nodes must have the same AoI. We show that ALOHA-like access, while simple, leads to AoI that is worse by a factor of about 2e, in comparison to scheduled access.
Bayesian semiparametric regression for longitudinal binary processes with missing data

Longitudinal studies with binary repeated measures are widespread in biomedical research. Marginal regression approaches for balanced binary data are well developed, whereas for binary process data, where measurement times are irregular and may differ by individuals, likelihood‐based methods for marginal regression analysis are less well developed. In this article, we develop a Bayesian regression model for analyzing longitudinal binary process data, with emphasis on dealing with missingness. We focus on the settings where data are missing at random (MAR), which require a correctly specified joint distribution for the repeated measures in order to draw valid likelihood‐based inference about the marginal mean. To provide maximum flexibility, the proposed model specifies both the marginal mean and serial dependence structures using nonparametric smooth functions. Serial dependence is allowed to depend on the time lag between adjacent outcomes as well as other relevant covariates. Inference is fully Bayesian. Using simulations, we show that adequate modeling of the serial dependence structure is necessary for valid inference of the marginal mean when the binary process data are MAR. Longitudinal viral load data from the HIV Epidemiology Research Study are analyzed for illustration. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preferences of Kuwait’s Residents for E-Government Services and Portal Factors

E-government involves the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by government agencies to provide information and services to residents, businesses, and various arms of government. It can provide speedy, inexpensive, trustworthy, and reliable delivery of government services to households and businesses. The State of Kuwait is in an intermediate stage of implementing e-government services (e-services). An understanding of its residents’ perspectives can help the government better plan the future rollout of e-services and e-government portal factors, as well as provide useful insights to governments of other countries. The authors conducted identified 37 e-services (classified into seven broad factors) and 26 features important to user acceptance of online sites. Factors were identified in prior research as characterizing the categories of services typically offered by e-government portals. The authors hypothesized that the importance of the seven e-services factors to Kuwaiti residents would positively relate to the importance of the portal success factors. The goal of this research was to identify which portal success factors would likely encourage use of the e-services factors that are important to Kuwaiti residents. This study provides several useful implications for Kuwaiti government officials, other countries, and e-government researchers. Each of the four portal factors -- Quality, Appeal, Control and Savings, and Personalization -- was positively associated with the importance of at least one or more of the e-services factors, indicating their individual relevance to the design of the portal. Two categories -- government resources and resident feedback services -- were unrelated to any of the portal factors. The findings demonstrate that the State of Kuwait may need to improve involvement of its residents in the development of national policies. Including the voice of the residents through the portal, and acting on that feedback, may improve support for government initiatives as well as build trust in the government. This study sought to improve e-participation in Kuwait and other developing countries. The findings suggest to governments that by selectively improving the quality, appeal, efficiency, and personalization of the e-government portal, it may be possible to achieve public buy-in and increased usage of specific e-services.
Evaluation of dietetic advice for modification of cardiovascular disease risk factors in renal transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of dietitian involvement in a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention comparing risk factor modification for cardiovascular disease with standard posttransplant care in renal transplant recipients (RTR) with abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT). DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SETTING Hospital outpatient department. PATIENTS Adult RTR with AGT. INTERVENTION RTR with AGT were randomized to a lifestyle intervention that consisted of either regular consultations with the dietitian and multidisciplinary team or standard care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Dietary intake, physical activity (PA) levels, cardiorespiratory fitness (CF), and anthropometry. RESULTS Total fat and percent saturated fat intake rates were significantly lower in the intervention group as compared with the control group at 2-year follow-up, 54 g (16 to 105 g) versus 65 g (34 to 118 g), P = . 01 and 10% (5% to 17%) versus 13% (4% to 20%), P = . 05. , respectively. There was a trend for an overweight (but not obese) individual to lose more weight in the intervention group (4% loss vs. a gain of 0.25% at the 2-year follow-up). Overall, RTR were significantly less fit than age- and gender-matched controls, mean peak oxygen uptake was 19.42 ± 7.09 mL/kg per minute versus 28.35 ± 8.80 mL/kg per minute, P = . 000. Simple exercise advice was not associated with any improvement in total PA or CF in either group at the 2-year follow-up. CONCLUSION Dietary advice can contribute to healthier eating habits and a trend for weight loss in RTR with AGT. These improvements in conjunction with multidisciplinary care and pharmacological treatment can lead to improvements in cardiovascular risk factors such as lipid profile. Simple advice to increase PA was not effective in improving CF and other measures are needed.
A single amino acid substitution in the enzymatic domain of cytotoxic necrotizing factor type 1 of Escherichia coli alters the tissue culture phenotype to that of the dermonecrotic toxin of Bordetella spp.

Cytotoxic necrotizing factor type 1 (CNF1) and dermonecrotic toxin (DNT) share homology within their catalytic domains and possess deamidase and transglutaminase activities. Although each toxin has a preferred enzymatic activity (i.e. deamidation for CNF1 and transglutamination for DNT) as well as target substrates, both modify a specific glutamine residue in RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42, which renders these GTPases constitutively active. Here we show that despite their similar mechanisms of action CNF1 and DNT induced unique phenotypes on HEp‐2 and Swiss 3T3 cells. CNF1 induced multinucleation of HEp‐2 cells and was cytotoxic for Swiss 3T3 cells (with binucleation of the few surviving cells) while DNT showed no morphological effects on HEp‐2 cells but did induce binucleation of Swiss 3T3 cells. To determine if the enzymatic domain of each toxin dictated the induced phenotype, we constructed enzymatically active chimeric toxins and mutant toxins that contained single amino acid substitutions within the catalytic site and tested these molecules in tissue culture and enzymatic assays. Moreover, both site‐directed mutant toxins showed reduced time to maximum transglutamination of RhoA compared with the parent toxins. Nevertheless, the substitution of threonine for Lys1310 in the DNT‐based mutant, while affecting transglutamination efficiency of the toxin, did not abrogate that enzymatic activity.
Fostering the resilience of heritage buildings in New Zealand: Potentialities of decision support systems

The 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES) in New Zealand, and further recent earthquake events worldwide, has shown the invaluable loss that earthquakes can cause to architectural heritage. This paper explores the potentiality and the extent to which Decision Support Systems (DSSs) might have on informing the decisionmaking processes towards thriving the resilience of heritage buildings to natural hazards, with special focus on earthquakes. In particular, in the paper, reference is made to RiskScape, the New Zealand DSS platform for assessing the risks from natural hazards, where the possibility to assess the seismic vulnerability of heritage buildings and to prove the effectiveness of different mitigation options, at territorial scale, has been already embedded, as far as churches are concerned. The idea would be to include further add-ins to RiskScape to contribute towards an ambitious initiative aiming to enhance the seismic resilience of heritage buildings in New Zealand. In this paper, the idea to include in RiskScape, as a first step, a database to foster the awareness of stakeholders and communities on their Cultural Heritage at risk, is firstly discuss. The already embedded RiskScape add-in that allows performing scenario analysis at territorial scale to assess direct and indirect impacts is then illustrated. Finally, a further add-in that enables the analysis at single building level to identify the most likely collapse mechanisms is illustrated. This could support the identification of effective mitigation strategies pre-event and of emergency management and repair/reconstruction strategies, post-event.
Dogs Have the Most Neurons, Though Not the Largest Brain: Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species

Carnivorans are a diverse group of mammals that includes carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous, domesticated and wild species, with a large range of brain sizes. Carnivory is one of several factors expected to be cognitively demanding for carnivorans due to a requirement to outsmart larger prey. On the other hand, large carnivoran species have high hunting costs and unreliable feeding patterns, which, given the high metabolic cost of brain neurons, might put them at risk of metabolic constraints regarding how many brain neurons they can afford, especially in the cerebral cortex. For a given cortical size, do carnivoran species have more cortical neurons than the herbivorous species they prey upon? We find they do not; carnivorans (cat, mongoose, dog, hyena, lion) share with non-primates, including artiodactyls (the typical prey of large carnivorans), roughly the same relationship between cortical mass and number of neurons, which suggests that carnivorans are subject to the same evolutionary scaling rules as other non-primate clades. However, there are a few important exceptions. Carnivorans stand out in that the usual relationship between larger body, larger cortical mass and larger number of cortical neurons only applies to small and medium-sized species, and not beyond dogs: we find that the golden retriever dog has more cortical neurons than the striped hyena, African lion and even brown bear, even though the latter species have up to three times larger cortices than dogs. Remarkably, the brown bear cerebral cortex, the largest examined, only has as many neurons as the ten times smaller cat cerebral cortex, although it does have the expected ten times as many non-neuronal cells in the cerebral cortex compared to the cat. We also find that raccoons have dog-like numbers of neurons in their cat-sized brain, which makes them comparable to primates in neuronal density. Comparison of domestic and wild species suggests that the neuronal composition of carnivoran brains is not affected by domestication. Instead, large carnivorans appear to be particularly vulnerable to metabolic constraints that impose a trade-off between body size and number of cortical neurons.
Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) ‐ validation of a Swedish version

The Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) is a self‐administered instrument measuring outcome after knee injury at impairment, disability, and handicap level in five subscales. Reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a Swedish version was assessed in 142 patients who underwent arthroscopy because of injury to the menisci, anterior cruciate ligament, or cartilage of the knee. The clinimetric properties were found to be good and comparable to the American version of the KOOS. Comparison to the Short Form‐36 and the Lysholm knee scoring scale revealed expected correlations and construct validity. Item by item, symptoms and functional limitations were compared between diagnostic groups. High responsiveness was found three months after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for all subscales but Activities of Daily Living.
Glycopeptide Antibiotics Potently Inhibit Cathepsin L in the Late Endosome/Lysosome and Block the Entry of Ebola Virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)*

Ebola virus infection can cause severe hemorrhagic fever with a high mortality in humans. The outbreaks of Ebola viruses in 2014 represented the most serious Ebola epidemics in history and greatly threatened public health worldwide. The development of additional effective anti-Ebola therapeutic agents is therefore quite urgent. In this study, via high throughput screening of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, we identified that teicoplanin, a glycopeptide antibiotic, potently prevents the entry of Ebola envelope pseudotyped viruses into the cytoplasm. Furthermore, teicoplanin also has an inhibitory effect on transcription- and replication-competent virus-like particles, with an IC50 as low as 330 nm. Comparative analysis further demonstrated that teicoplanin is able to block the entry of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) envelope pseudotyped viruses as well. Teicoplanin derivatives such as dalbavancin, oritavancin, and telavancin can also inhibit the entry of Ebola, MERS, and SARS viruses. Mechanistic studies showed that teicoplanin blocks Ebola virus entry by specifically inhibiting the activity of cathepsin L, opening a novel avenue for the development of additional glycopeptides as potential inhibitors of cathepsin L-dependent viruses. Notably, given that teicoplanin has routinely been used in the clinic with low toxicity, our work provides a promising prospect for the prophylaxis and treatment of Ebola, MERS, and SARS virus infection.
Asset Growth and Stock Returns

This study examines the effect of corporate asset growth on stock returns using data on nine equity markets in the Pacific-Basin region (PACAP). There is a pervasive negative relation between asset growth and subsequent stock returns, suggesting potential inefficiencies of the region’s financial systems in allocating capitals and valuing investment opportunities. Yet the relation is weaker relative to the U.S. market. We further examine factors affecting the difference in the magnitude of the asset growth effect across the PACAP markets and the difference between the PACAP region and the U.S., such as homogeneity of asset growth, persistence in growth and profitability, overinvestment tendency, and corporate financing choices. JEL Classification: G12
Efficacy of TeachTown: Basics computer-assisted intervention for the Intensive Comprehensive Autism Program in Los Angeles Unified School District

Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) has shown increased popularity recently and there are many studies showing promise for this approach for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, there are no between-subject studies to date assessing the efficacy of CAI with this population. In this study, 47 preschool and K-1 students in ASD classrooms participated from Los Angeles Unified School District. TeachTown: Basics, a CAI program which also includes supplementary off-computer activities, was implemented over 3 months for approximately 20 minutes per day on the computer and 20 minutes per day in supplementary TeachTown: Basics activities. Compared to the students in the control group, the TeachTown: Basics students showed more improvement overall on language and cognitive outcome measures. In addition, students who used TeachTown: Basics demonstrated significant progress overall in the software and those students who used the program for more time demonstrated larger gains within the software and in outcome measures. Although not conclusive, these findings offer possibilities for the use of CAI for remediating many deficits for children with ASD and other special needs. In addition, CAI may offer solutions to schools and parents with insufficient funds for more expensive treatments.
A new hybrid system architecture with local feedback control of a wheeled mobile manipulator

In this paper, a novel hybrid system with a local feedback control architecture for a wheeled mobile manipulator (WMM) is proposed to seek a target and grasp it within an unknown indoor environment. The active behaviors of a WMM are able to explore environment, lock target, self-localization and avoid obstacles. Initially, an ingenious hybrid model which captures the continuous dynamics of the WMM and the event-driven collision-avoiding goal seeking process is established. Next, a two-level control architecture is devised for the WMM system, where the first level mainly handles sensor feedback subject to sensor fusion, whereas the second level is responsible for providing a well performed supervisory control that can manipulate all available surrounding resources to successfully accomplish the aforementioned mission. In the Advanced Control Lab of Dept. of Electrical Engineering at the National Taiwan University, an actual WMM is developed, named The Treasure Hunter (TTH), which is able to hunt treasures in an unknown environment whereby the effectiveness of the proposed approach is satisfactorily demonstrated.
Clustering-based Locally Linear Embedding

Locally linear embedding approach (LLE) is one of most efficient nonlinear dimensionality reduction approaches with good representational capacity for a broader range of manifolds and high computational efficiency. However, LLE and its variants fail to nicely deal with sparsely sampled or noise contaminated datasets,where the local neighborhood structure is critically distorted. To solve this problem, this paper utilizes the clustering approaches to partition the input data into clusters and then rescale the distance between any points based on the clustering structure so as to make data points from different clusters separated more easily. This rescaled distance matrix is then provided to improve LLE so as to achieve the better performance. Unlike the supervised approaches, this approach does not take the labelled dataset as prerequisite, so that it is unsupervised. This makes it applicable to broader range of domains. The conducted experiments by classification on benchmark datasets have validated the proposed approach.