Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overexpression of DJ‐1/PARK7, the Parkinson's disease‐related protein, improves mitochondrial function via Akt phosphorylation on threonine 308 in dopaminergic neuron‐like cells

DJ‐1/PARK7, the Parkinson's disease‐related protein, plays an important role in mitochondrial function. However, the mechanisms by which DJ‐1 affects mitochondrial function are not fully understood. Akt is a promoter of neuron survival and is partly involved in the neurodegenerative process. This research aimed at investigating a possible relationship between DJ‐1 and Akt signalling in regulating mitochondrial function in the dopaminergic neuron‐like cells SH‐SY5Y and PC‐12. Overexpression of DJ‐1 was firstly validated at both the transcriptional and translational levels after transit transfection with plasmid pcDNA3‐Flag‐DJ‐1. Confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that overexpression of DJ‐1 increased the mitochondrial mass, but did not disrupt the mitochondrial morphology. In addition, mitochondrial complex I activity was raised in DJ‐1‐overexpressing cells, and this rise occurred with an increase in cellular adenosine 5′‐triphosphate content. Moreover, immunoblotting demonstrated that the levels of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase and the total Akt were not altered in DJ‐1‐overexpressing cells, and nor was the Akt phosphorylation on serine 473 changed. By contrast, Akt phosphorylation on threonine 308 was significantly augmented by overexpression of DJ‐1, and the expression of glycogen synthase kinase‐3beta, a downstream effector of Akt, was suppressed. In summary, these results suggest that overexpression of DJ‐1 improves the mitochondrial function, at least in part, through a mechanism involving Akt phosphorylation on threonine 308.
Using Testosterone and Cortisol as Biomarker for Training Individualization in Elite Basketball: A 4-Year Follow-up Study

Abstract Schelling, X, Calleja-González, J, Torres-Ronda, L, and Terrados, N. Using testosterone and cortisol as biomarker for training individualization in elite basketball. A 4-year follow-up study. J Strength Cond Res 29(2): 368–378, 2015—The purpose of this study was to determine the responses of testosterone and cortisol, with special reference to playing positions, playing time (PT), and phase of the season. We performed a follow-up study during 4 consecutive seasons to investigate the effects of PT, positional role, and phase of the season on anabolic-catabolic biomarkers (plasma total testosterone -TT- and cortisol -C-) on 20 professional male basketball players (27.0 ± 4.2 years; 24.4 ± 1.2 kg·m−2). First blood samples were collected right after the off-season period and considered as baseline. Samples were taken periodically every 4–6 weeks, always after a 24- to 36-hour break after the last game played. Statistical procedures were nonparametric mainly. Hormonal status was playing position-dependent, power forward (PF) showed the lowest TT values (median ± interquartile range [IQR]; PF: 18.1 ± 4.9; nmol·L−1), and small forwards showed the highest ones of cortisol (0.55 ± 0.118 &mgr;mol·L−1). Players who played between 13 and 25 minutes per game showed the highest values of TT (22.8 ± 6.9 nmol·L−1) and TT/C (47.1 ± 21.2). March and April showed the most catabolic or stressed hormonal state (low TT/C values and high ones of cortisol) and that is necessary to take into account according to PT (>25-minute per game) and specific playing position. Monitoring plasma TT and cortisol is recommended to prevent excessive stress caused by professional basketball season requirements.
Using SVM to Learn the Efficient Set in Multiple Objective Discrete Optimization

It proposed an idea of using support vector machines (SVMs) to learn the efficient set of a multiple objective discrete optimization (MODO) problem. We conjecture that a surface generated by SVM could provide a good approximation of the efficient set. As the efficient set is learned at a single SVM implementation by using a group of seeds that symbolize efficient and dominated solutions. To be able to observe whether learning the efficient set via SVMs might have practical implications, we incorporate the SVM-induced efficient set into a GA as a fitness function. We implement our SVM-guided GA on the multiple objective knapsack and assignment problems. We observe that using SVM improves the performance of the GA compared to a benchmark distance based fitness function and may provide competitive results. Our approach is a general one and can be applied to any MODO problem with any number of objective functions.
Tourism development of Australia as a sustained preferred destination for Chinese tourists

Mainland China has been acknowledged as one of the major emerging markets by the Australian inbound tourism industry. The Chinese tourism market to Australia has developed dramatically. However, little research has been conducted with regard to the nature of the market and its implications for Australian tourism product suppliers and marketers. Developing previous research which was conducted in 1999, this paper provides updated insights into the nature of this market, further discussion of Australia as a preferred destination for Chinese tourists and an updated analysis of the challenges Australia will be likely to face in the near future to maintain and enhance its attractiveness to Chinese visitors.
Magnet hospitals: Part II. Institutions of excellence.

The oft repeated charge today is to "focus on those who are succeeding! " That's what this report does. Using the eight characteristics identified by Peters and Waterman in their book In Search of Excellence, the study analyzes 16 magnet hospitals to ascertain to what extent they possess characteristics similar to the 'best run' companies in the corporate community. The authors suggest that these magnet hospitals may be dealing effectively with the nursing shortage by creating organizational conditions conducive to eliminating internal nurse shortage. Part I of this article appeared the January 1988 issue of JONA.
Implementation of "Split-radix" FFT algorithms for complex, real, and real-symmetric data

A new algorithm is presented for the fast computation of the discrete Fourier transform. This algorithm belongs to that class of recently proposed 2n-FFT's which present the same arithmetic complexity (the lowest among any previously published one). Moreover, this algorithm has the advantage of being performed "in-place," by repetitive use of a "butterfly"-type structure, without any data reordering inside the algorithm. Furthermore, it can easily be applied to real and real-symmetric data with reduced arithmetic complexity by removing all redundancy in the algorithm.
Sendai virus assembly: M protein binds to viral glycoproteins in transit through the secretory pathway

We have examined the relative ability of Sendai virus M (matrix) protein to associate with membranes containing viral glycoproteins at three distinct stages of the exocytic pathway prior to cell surface appearance. By the use of selective low-temperature incubations or the ionophore monensin, the transport of newly synthesized viral glycoproteins was restricted to either the pre-Golgi intermediate compartment (by incubation at 15 degrees C), the medial Golgi (in the presence of monensin), or the trans-Golgi network (by incubation at 20 degrees C). All three of these treatments resulted in a marked accumulation of the M protein on perinuclear Golgi-like membranes which in each case directly reflected the distribution of the viral F protein. Subsequent redistribution of the F protein to the plasma membrane by removal of the low-temperature (20 degrees C) block resulted in a concomitant redistribution of the M protein, thus implying association of the two components during intracellular transit. The extent of M protein-glycoprotein association was further examined by cell fractionation studies performed under each of the three restrictive conditions. Following equilibrium sedimentation of membranes derived from monensin-treated cells, approximately 40% of the recovered M protein was found to cofractionate with membranes containing the viral glycoproteins. Also, by flotation analyses, a comparable subpopulation of M protein was found to be membrane associated whether viral glycoproteins were restricted to the trans-Golgi network, the medial Golgi, or the pre-Golgi intermediate compartment. Additionally, transient expression of M protein alone from cloned cDNA showed that neither membrane association nor Golgi localization occurs in the absence of Sendai virus glycoproteins.
A Social Assessment of Community Response to Forest Policy Change in South Westland, New Zealand

Studies of closures illustrate that the removal of a core industry tends to have detrimental impacts on the local dependent communities. This ex post study examined the effects of the cessation of logging in old-growth forests on two small resource-dependent communities on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Data analysis, incorporating webbing and chaining, revealed shifts in patterns of work and social organization that could not be fully understood by examining changes in the forestry sector alone. Growth in tourism and changes to farming practices have contributed to the ability of these communities to mitigate forest industry loss and community decline. In this study, attempting to separate specific effects from wider social change processes would have been counterproductive to sound social impact assessment practice. This research demonstrates the need for interpreting change processes within their wider social, economic, and historic locales.
A Hybrid Prognostics Technique for Rolling Element Bearings Using Adaptive Predictive Models

Rolling element bearings cause the largest number of failures in induction motors. Predicting an impending failure and estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of a bearing is essential for scheduling maintenance and avoiding abrupt shutdowns of critical systems. This paper presents a hybrid technique for bearing prognostics that utilizes regression-based adaptive predictive models to learn the evolving trend in a bearing's health indicator. These models are then used to project forward in time and estimate the RUL of a bearing. The proposed algorithm addresses some key issues in existing methods for bearing health prognosis that affect their prognostic performance, specifically determining the time to start prediction (TSP), handling random fluctuations in a bearing's health indicator, and setting a dynamic failure threshold. The proposed algorithm is validated on publicly available bearing prognostics data from the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is effective in determining an accurate TSP and failure threshold, as well as handling random fluctuations. Moreover, this approach achieves excellent prognostic performance and estimates the RUL of bearings within the specified error bounds, even at points very close to the TSP, where traditional methods yield relatively poor RUL estimates.
Expression of Haemophilus ducreyi Collagen Binding Outer Membrane Protein NcaA Is Required for Virulence in Swine and Human Challenge Models of Chancroid

ABSTRACT Haemophilus ducreyi, the etiologic agent of the sexually transmitted genital ulcer disease chancroid, has been shown to associate with dermal collagen fibers within infected skin lesions. Here we describe NcaA, a previously uncharacterized outer membrane protein that is important for H. ducreyi collagen binding and host colonization. An H. ducreyi strain lacking the ncaA gene was impaired in adherence to type I collagen but not fibronectin (plasma or cellular form) or heparin. The mutation had no effect on serum resistance or binding to HaCaT keratinocytes or human foreskin fibroblasts in vitro. Escherichia coli expressing H. ducreyi NcaA bound to type I collagen, demonstrating that NcaA is sufficient to confer collagen attachment. The importance of NcaA in H. ducreyi pathogenesis was assessed using both swine and human experimental models of chancroid. In the swine model, 20% of lesions from sites inoculated with the ncaA mutant were culture positive for H. ducreyi 7 days after inoculation, compared to 73% of wild-type-inoculated sites. The average number of CFU recovered from mutant-inoculated lesions was also significantly reduced compared to that recovered from wild-type-inoculated sites at both 2 and 7 days after inoculation. In the human challenge model, 8 of 30 sites inoculated with wild-type H. ducreyi progressed to the pustular stage, compared to 0 of 30 sites inoculated with the ncaA mutant. Together these results demonstrate that the collagen binding protein NcaA is required for H. ducreyi infection.
Evaluating the Tourism-Led Economic Growth Hypothesis in a Developing Country: The Case Of Albania

This paper evaluates the impact of tourism on economic growth for Albania using an error correction mechanism approach. We compare fluctuations in the total economic contribution of the travel and tourism sector in the economy and the real effective exchange rate, with changes in real GDP growth rate. Using a cointegration method for the long run analysis and the error correction mechanism to assess the short run dynamics of the model, we conclude that a 5 percent increase in net earnings from travel and tourism in Albania accounts for more than 1.7 percent increase in real income. We also assess that in the event of a break in the long run equilibrium between tourism and economic growth, it would take 26.3 percent correction effort per quarter to reestablish the equilibrium relation to its determined level. This means that the time period needed to weather an economic shock in the tourism sector and get it back to its long run equilibrium is almost one year (or 11.4 months). Generally speaking, the results found in this study support the hypothesized conviction that tourism development supports higher GDP growth ratios.
Hepatic stellate cell‐targeted delivery of M6P‐HSA‐glycyrrhetinic acid attenuates hepatic fibrogenesis in a bile duct ligation rat model

Background/Aims: Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play a key role in fibrogenesis. Here, we used mannose‐6‐phosphate‐modified human serum albumin (M6P26‐HSA) as a selective carrier to deliver antifibrotic drug 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid (18β‐GA) in experimental fibrosis animals, and tested its effect in injured liver tissues.
Usos e Aplicações da Grounded Theory em Administração

Este artigo analisa os usos e aplicacoes da grounded theory na area de administracao. A grounded theory e uma ferramenta de pesquisa sob o paradigma qualitativo que, desde o inicio em 1967 suscitou varios debates no forum academico. Seus autores originais, Barney Glaser e Anselm Strauss, desenvolveram, ao longo de suas trajetorias, pensamentos distintos a respeito do processo de coleta e analise de dados, da postura do pesquisador e, da forma de obtencao do resultado da pesquisa: teoria fundamentada em dados empiricos. Em funcao disso, a historia de sua evolucao, a clarificacao do processo do trabalho e uma analise dos seus fundamentos na area de administracao sao discutidas neste artigo para suportar reflexoes sobre usos, aplicacoes e potencialidades. A intencao do artigo e contribuir com pesquisadores, trazendo informacoes relevantes que suportem os processos de escolha e de execucao dessa tecnica de pesquisa. A conclusao e que a grounded theory e complexa, rica e poderosa, sendo bastante aplicavel na administracao, no contexto social.
Towards a Global Names Architecture: The future of indexing scientific names

Abstract For more than 250 years, the taxonomic enterprise has remained almost unchanged. Certainly, the tools of the trade have improved: months-long journeys aboard sailing ships have been reduced to hours aboard jet airplanes; advanced technology allows humans to access environments that were once utterly inaccessible; GPS has replaced crude maps; digital hi-resolution imagery provides far more accurate renderings of organisms that even the best commissioned artists of a century ago; and primitive candle-lit microscopes have been replaced by an array of technologies ranging from scanning electron microscopy to DNA sequencing. But the basic paradigm remains the same. Perhaps the most revolutionary change of all – which we are still in the midst of, and which has not yet been fully realized – is the means by which taxonomists manage and communicate the information of their trade. The rapid evolution in recent decades of computer database management software, and of information dissemination via the Internet, have both dramatically improved the potential for streamlining the entire taxonomic process. Unfortunately, the potential still largely exceeds the reality. The vast majority of taxonomic information is either not yet digitized, or digitized in a form that does not allow direct and easy access. Moreover, the information that is easily accessed in digital form is not yet seamlessly interconnected. In an effort to bring reality closer to potential, a loose affiliation of major taxonomic resources, including GBIF, the Encyclopedia of Life, NBII, Catalog of Life, ITIS, IPNI, ICZN, Index Fungorum, and many others have been crafting a “Global Names Architecture” (GNA). The intention of the GNA is not to replace any of the existing taxonomic data initiatives, but rather to serve as a dynamic index to interconnect them in a way that streamlines the entire taxonomic enterprise: from gathering specimens in the field, to publication of new taxa and related data.
Communication Disruption of Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) by using Two Formulations at Four Point Source Densities in Vineyards

ABSTBACT Light brown apple moth [Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) ] is now established as an economic and quarantine pest in California, and new technologies are being investigated to increase options for its management. Two new organic formulations for mating disruption, SPLAT LBAM HD-O and organic Hereon Biotie (biodegradable) were field tested at four point source densities (25, 72, 322, and 500/ha) and compared with the standard Isomate LBAM Plus(500/ha, as a positive control) and an untreated (negative) control. Assessment involved trapping using synthetic lures and virgin females. In total, 175,776 male light brown apple moths were caught to both the caged females and synthetic lures, from 10 February to 19 May 2011. The light brown apple moth catch dramatically decreased from baseline measurements after the treatments were applied, with the highest density treatments reducing catch to below 10% of the catch in the untreated controls within the first week (>90% disruption). In synthetic lure traps, the SPLAT and Biotie treatment performed similarly well over all rates (P = 0.317 for posttreatment percentage communication disruption), but SPLAT performed better at disrupting virgin female traps (P = 0.045). There was a significant increase in disruption with an increasing number of points/ha (P < 0.001). Disruption of communication was similar for all three technologies (SPLAT, Biotie and Isomate) at 500 points/ha for both types of trap (P > 0.74). Disruption of this species in vineyards is thus highly feasible.
Fiscal protest in thirteen welfare states

Why does the ﬁscal burden of the welfare state inspire more protest in some so-cieties than others? Quantitative analysis of ﬁscal protest in 13 European coun-tries from 1980 to 1995, combined with in-depth comparative-historicalanalysis of selected countries, shows that ﬁscal protest was most prevalentwhere there was a poor ﬁt between tax policy and social spending commitments.Policy incoherence produced pressure for ﬁscal reforms, which in turn provokedprotest.The ﬁndings areconsistent with the theory that the choice of appropriatetax instruments may help to explain why welfare states persist. They also implythat scholars should not conﬂate tax protest with welfare backlash, nor assumethat tax protest in welfare states is aligned with neoliberal interests.Keywords:deﬁcit,ﬁscalprotest,ﬁscalburden,socialspending,welfarebacklash,neoliberalismJEL classiﬁcation: H20 taxation, subsidies, and revenue, H60 national budget,deﬁcit, and debt
Comparing the effects of self-myofascial release with static stretching on ankle range-of-motion in adolescent athletes.

BACKGROUND Increased flexibility is often desirable immediately prior to sports performance. Static stretching (SS) has historically been the main method for increasing joint range-of-motion (ROM) acutely. However, SS is associated with acute reductions in performance. Foam rolling (FR) is a form of self-myofascial release (SMR) that also increases joint ROM acutely but does not seem to reduce force production. However, FR has never previously been studied in resistance-trained athletes, in adolescents, or in individuals accustomed to SMR. OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of SS and FR and a combination of both (FR+SS) of the plantarflexors on passive ankle dorsiflexion ROM in resistance-trained, adolescent athletes with at least six months of FR experience. METHODS Eleven resistance-trained, adolescent athletes with at least six months of both resistance-training and FR experience were tested on three separate occasions in a randomized cross-over design. The subjects were assessed for passive ankle dorsiflexion ROM after a period of passive rest pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and after 10, 15, and 20 minutes of passive rest. Following the pre-intervention test, the subjects randomly performed either SS, FR or FR+SS. SS and FR each comprised 3 sets of 30 seconds of the intervention with 10 seconds of inter-set rest. FR+SS comprised the protocol from the FR condition followed by the protocol from the SS condition in sequence. RESULTS A significant effect of time was found for SS, FR and FR+SS. Post hoc testing revealed increases in ROM between baseline and post-intervention by 6.2% for SS (p < 0.05) and 9.1% for FR+SS (p < 0.05) but not for FR alone. Post hoc testing did not reveal any other significant differences between baseline and any other time point for any condition. A significant effect of condition was observed immediately post-intervention. Post hoc testing revealed that FR+SS was superior to FR (p < 0.05) for increasing ROM. CONCLUSIONS FR, SS and FR+SS all lead to acute increases in flexibility and FR+SS appears to have an additive effect in comparison with FR alone. All three interventions (FR, SS and FR+SS) have time courses that lasted less than 10 minutes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2c.
Field programmable switched capacitor voltage converter

In this paper we show two different schemes to implement a field programmable circuit that can connect n capacitors as a charge-pump of, eventually, any topology and switching pattern. Capacitor connectivity is configured by means of registers that control multiplexers that, in turn, select the phase signal that controls each switch. It is also shown that, with any of these schemes, dynamic configuration of the circuit may be achieved by simply adding additional control phases.
The role of political competition in the link between electoral systems and corruption: an extension

This work provides an extension to an international context of the analysis made by Alfano, Baraldi and Cantabene (2013) on the role of political competition as a channel through which electoral systems affect corruption. Our result conflicts with that found by empirical literature on that topic that makes plurality rules the most virtuous in terms of corruption. Political scientists must be cautious in designing the degree of proportionality of electoral rules without take into account the variation in political competition that follows.