Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Membrane insertion and assembly of ductin: a polytopic channel with dual orientations.

Ductin is a highly conserved and polytopic transmembrane protein which is the subunit c component of the vacuolar H(+)‐ATPase (V‐ATPase) and a component of a connexon channel of gap junctions. Previous studies have suggested that ductin in the V‐ATPase has the opposite orientation of ductin in a connexon. Using an in vitro translation system coupled to microsomes derived from the endoplasmic reticulum, we show that ductin is co‐translationally inserted into the membrane bilayer, suggesting a dependency on the signal recognition particle for synthesis. By attaching a C‐terminal polypeptide derived from beta‐lactamase and by using cysteine replacement coupled to chemical labelling, we show that ductin is inserted into the microsomal membrane in both orientations in similar proportions. In contrast, squid rhodopsin appears to be inserted in a single orientation. Changing conserved charged residues at the N‐terminus of ductin does not affect the ratio of the two orientations. Once in the microsomal membrane, ductin assembles into an oligomeric complex which contains a pore accessible to a water‐soluble probe, reminiscent of the ductin complex found in the V‐ATPase and a connexon.
Does early-life diet affect longevity? A meta-analysis across experimental studies

Life-history theory predicts that nutrition influences lifespan owing to trade-offs between allocating resources to reproduction, growth and repair. Despite occasional reports that early diet has strong effects on lifespan, it is unclear whether this prediction is generally supported by empirical studies. We conducted a meta-analysis across experimental studies manipulating pre- or post-natal diet and measuring longevity. We found no overall effect of early diet on lifespan. We used meta-regression, considering moderator variables based on experimental and life-history traits, to test predictions regarding the strength and direction of effects that could lead to positive or negative effects. Pre-natal diet manipulations reduced lifespan, but there were no effects of later diet, manipulation type, development mode, or sex. The results are consistent with the prediction that early diet restriction disrupts growth and results in increased somatic damage, which incurs lifespan costs. Our findings raise a cautionary note, however, for placing too strong an emphasis on early diet effects on lifespan and highlight limitations of measuring these effects under laboratory conditions.
Food Value Chains: Social Networks and Knowledge Transfer in a Brazilian Halal Poultry Network

This paper describes a food value chain driven by Muslim precepts, exploring the influence of religion on social networks aspects and on knowledge transfer. Religions have a growing importance for international business, shaping the value chain. Assimilating religious precepts can contribute to better business network management for actual and intended food producers. A qualitative case study based on interviews, non-participant observation, and document analysis was conducted. The main results are that trust and commitment give a competitive edge to the Brazilian Halal poultry network when serving Muslim markets worldwide. Knowledge transfer is influenced by the religious context, with a small group of companies (Islamic Centers) governing interpretations of the Muslim precepts.
Heat Shock Proteins 70 and 90 Inhibit Early Stages of Amyloid β-(1–42) Aggregation in Vitro*

Alzheimer disease is a neurological disorder that is characterized by the presence of fibrils and oligomers composed of the amyloid β (Aβ) peptide. In models of Alzheimer disease, overexpression of molecular chaperones, specifically heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), suppresses phenotypes related to Aβ aggregation. These observations led to the hypothesis that chaperones might interact with Aβ and block self-association. However, although biochemical evidence to support this model has been collected in other neurodegenerative systems, the interaction between chaperones and Aβ has not been similarly explored. Here, we examine the effects of Hsp70/40 and Hsp90 on Aβ aggregation in vitro. We found that recombinant Hsp70/40 and Hsp90 block Aβ self-assembly and that these chaperones are effective at substoichiometric concentrations (∼1:50). The anti-aggregation activity of Hsp70 can be inhibited by a nonhydrolyzable nucleotide analog and encouraged by pharmacological stimulation of its ATPase activity. Finally, we were interested in discerning what type of amyloid structures can be acted upon by these chaperones. To address this question, we added Hsp70/40 and Hsp90 to pre-formed oligomers and fibrils. Based on thioflavin T reactivity, the combination of Hsp70/40 and Hsp90 caused structural changes in oligomers but had little effect on fibrils. These results suggest that if these chaperones are present in the same cellular compartment in which Aβ is produced, Hsp70/40 and Hsp90 may suppress the early stages of self-assembly. Thus, these results are consistent with a model in which pharmacological activation of chaperones might have a favorable therapeutic effect on Alzheimer disease.
Prostaglandin E2 inhibition of keloid fibroblast migration, contraction, and transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1–induced collagen synthesis

Keloid formation has been linked to aberrant fibroblast activity, exacerbated by growth factors and inflammatory mediators. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), synthesized from arachidonic acid by cyclooxygenases (COX) and synthases (PGES), acts as both an inflammatory mediator and fibroblast modulator. Although PGE2 has known antifibrotic effects in the lower airway, its role in dermal fibrosis in general, and keloid formation in particular, remains unclear. This study focused on: (1) the effects of PGE2 on keloid fibroblast migration, contraction, and collagen synthesis and (2) endogenous PGE2 synthesis in response interleukin‐1β. PGE2 decreased keloid fibroblast migration and contraction via an EP2/EP4–cAMP mechanism that disrupted actin cytoskeletal dynamics and reversed transforming growth factor‐β1–induced collagen I and III synthesis. Impaired fibroblast PGE2 production has been linked to lower airway fibrosis and recently to keloid formation. Here, we showed that interleukin‐1β stimulation leads to nuclear factor‐κB translocation to the nucleus, resulting in up‐regulation of COX‐2 and microsomal PGE2 synthase 1. Up‐regulation of COX‐2 in, and secretion of PGE2 by keloid fibroblasts are diminished compared with their normal fibroblast counterparts. We suggest that the antifibrotic effects of PGE2 during keloid formation are potentially diminished due to aberrant paracrine fibroblast signaling. Exogenous PGE2 may supplement decreased endogenous levels and inhibit keloid formation or progression.
Eco-environmental problems caused by water resources development in Xiliao river watershed, China

Water is main constraint factor for eco-environmental security in arid and semi-arid area and plays an important role on ecosystem stability. Water development in arid and semi-arid regions affected ecosystem directly. The eco-environmental problems were summarized including river runoff declining by surface water development, groundwater declining and groundwater exhaustion cone caused by groundwater development, vegetation degradation caused by over development of water resources, soil salinizaiton caused by irrational irrigation methods and landscape pattern transformation caused by water and soil development. analysis are basic supply for study on relationship between water and eco-environment and restoration measure for eco-environmental protection. The article also suggested that different groundwater development measure should be taken for farmland, range and dune grass.
Effects of energy harvesting on quality-of-service in transient wireless sensor networks

The quality-of-service (QoS) metrics in a wireless sensor network (WSN) of multiple sensor types depend on the performance of the network protocol layers, motivating a comprehensive cross-layer design approach to optimize QoS. Advances in energy-harvesting techniques enable increases in WSN lifetime by prolonging operation of the wireless nodes. While the primary objective of energy harvesting is to prolong network lifetime, it may cause lower values of other QoS metrics during that lifetime. From the author's previous work, cross-layer protocol interactions are represented through a set of concatenated parameters and resource levels for a real-time WSN under energy harvesting (EH-WSN). The cross-layer parameters that determine QoS values in the EH-WSN are established in terms of solutions to stochastic dynamic programming conditions derived from multivariate point-process (MVPP) models of transient information flows. Simulation results evaluate the extent to which QoS values are degraded in an EH-WSN compared to a WSN of the same structure without energy harvesting.
Communication Efficiency and Inclusiveness in the Corporate Visual Identity

Much of the literature devoted to Design sees Man as the centre of all design activities. From this perspective, Design starts to meet a human need, contributing to the improvement of life quality in an ecological and sustainable way, while conciliating with commercial or market issues. However, the history of communication Design and other visual arts is marked by stylistic variations from which images and Brands representing corporations cannot be dissociated.
Variation in lipid A structure in the pathogenic yersiniae

Important pathogens in the genus Yersinia include the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis and two enteropathogenic species, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica. A shift in growth temperature induced changes in the number and type of acyl groups on the lipid A of all three species. After growth at 37°C, Y. pestis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contained the tetra‐acylated lipid IVA and smaller amounts of lipid IVA modified with C10 or C12 acyl groups, Y. pseudotuberculosis contained the same forms as part of a more heterogeneous population in which lipid IVA modified with C16:0 predominated, and Y. enterocolitica produced a unique tetra‐acylated lipid A. When grown at 21°C, however, the three yersiniae synthesized LPS containing predominantly hexa‐acylated lipid A. This more complex lipid A stimulated human monocytes to secrete tumour necrosis factor‐α, whereas the lipid A synthesized by the three species at 37°C did not. The Y. pestis phoP gene was required for aminoarabinose modification of lipid A, but not for the temperature‐dependent acylation changes. The results suggest that the production of a less immunostimulatory form of LPS upon entry into the mammalian host is a conserved pathogenesis mechanism in the genus Yersinia, and that species‐specific lipid A forms may be important for life cycle and pathogenicity differences.
Financial Management as a System of Relations of the Enterprise for Highly Efficient Management of its Finances

At the current stage of development of Russia's financial system, with quite high risks and interest rates, with only just gaining strength the stock market and the upcoming large-scale entering the domestic companies interest in the theory and practice of functioning of developed markets for financial instruments is obvious. Today, Finance of a business entity is an indicator of its competitiveness, indicator of its viability in a market economy. The complexity and diversity of internal and external financial relations of the enterprise determines the need for the effective management of its finances. Financial management of individual businesses was allocated in the countries with developed market economies in the early twentieth century in a special field of knowledge which is called “Financial management”. The effectiveness of each control system largely depends on its information systems. In conditions of transition to market economy the known formula “time - money” is supplemented with the similar formula: “the information - money”. With reference to financial management it acquires a direct sense. Keywords : financial management, management system, management finances, enterprise JEL Classifications : G02, G03, G32
In vitro identification of human cytochrome P450 isoforms involved in the metabolism of Geissoschizine methyl ether, an active component of the traditional Japanese medicine Yokukansan

Abstract 1. Yokukansan (YKS) is a traditional Japanese medicine also called kampo, which has been used to treat neurosis, insomnia, and night crying and peevishness in children. Geissoschizine methyl ether (GM), a major indole alkaloid found in Uncaria hook, has been identified as a major active component of YKS with psychotropic effects. Recently, GM was reported to have a partial agonistic effect on serotonin 5-HT1A receptors. However, there is little published information on GM metabolism in humans, although several studies reported the blood kinetics of GM in rats and humans. In this study, we investigated the GM metabolic pathways and metabolizing enzymes in humans. 2. Using recombinant human cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms and polyclonal antibodies to CYP isoforms, we found that GM was metabolized into hydroxylated, dehydrogenated, hydroxylated+dehydrogenated, demethylated and water adduct forms by some CYP isoforms. 3. The relative activity factors in human liver microsomes were calculated to determine the relative contributions of individual CYP isoforms to GM metabolism in human liver microsomes (HLMs). We identified CYP3A4 as the CYP isoform primarily responsible for GM metabolism in human liver microsomes. 4. These findings provide an important basis for understanding the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of GM and YKS.
Integrating Evidences of Independently Developed Face and Speaker Recognition Systems by Using Discrete Probability Density Function

User recognition is one of the most fundamental functionalities for intelligent service robots. However, in robot applications, the conditions are far severer compared to the traditional biometric security systems. The robots should be able to recognize users non-intrusively, which confines the available biometric features to face and voice. Also, the robots are expected to recognize users from relatively afar, which inevitably deteriorates the accuracy of each recognition module. In this paper, we tried to improve the overall accuracy by integrating the evidences issued by independently developed face and speaker recognition modules. Each recognition module exhibits different statistical characteristics in representing its confidence of the recognition. Therefore, it is essential to transform the evidences to a normalized form to integrate the results. This paper introduces a novel approach to integrate mutually independent multiple evidences to achieve an improved performance. Typical approach to this problem is to model the statistical characteristics of the evidences by well-known parametric form such as Gaussian. Using Mahalanobis distance is a good example. However, the characteristics of the evidences often do not fit into the parametric models, which results in performance degradation. To overcome this problem, we adopted a discrete PDF that can model the statistical characteristics as it is. To confirm the validity of the proposed method, we used a multi-modal database that consists of 10 registered users and 550 probe data. Each probe data contains face image and voice signal. Face and speaker recognition modules are applied to generate respective evidences. The experiment showed an improvement of 11.27% in accuracy compared to the individual recognizers, which is 2.72% better than the traditional Mahalanobis distance approach.
HBV genes induce cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte response upon adeno‐associated virus (AAV) vector delivery into dendritic cells

Summary. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been an increasing problem throughout the world and remains difficult to treat. But immunotherapeutic approaches offer new, effective treatments. Three recombinant adeno‐associated virus (AAV) type 2 vectors, carrying one of the HBV S, C or X gene, were used to load (transduce) professional antigen‐presenting dendritic cells (DC) for the purpose of stimulating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in vitro. It was found that all three recombinant AAV/HBV antigen virus loaded DC at approximately 90% transduction efficiency. Most importantly, all three AAV‐loaded DC stimulated rapid, antigen‐specific and major histocompatibility complex (MHC)‐restricted CTL. In vitro, these CTL killed (30–50%) synthetic antigen‐positive autologous targets as well as HepG2 liver cell targets. In comparing the three antigens, it was found that AAV/HBV‐C‐derived CTL consistently had the highest killing efficiency. CTL derived from AAV/HBV‐C‐loaded DC also showed significantly higher killing of targets than that from bacterially generated C‐protein‐loaded DC. Further studies showed that AAV/HBV‐C‐derived CTL had higher interferon (IFN)‐gamma. These data suggest that AAV/HBV antigen gene‐loading of DC may be useful for immunotherapeutic protocols against HBV infection and that the HBV C antigen may be the most useful for this purpose.
Transposon Tn554 encodes three products required for transposition.

Tn554 is a high‐frequency, site‐specific, transposable element having integrative properties resembling those of lysogenic bacteriophages. Nucleotide sequence analysis indicates that Tn554 has three transposition genes, designated tnpA, tnpB and tnpC. Mutations in each of these were complemented efficiently in trans by clones containing internal fragments of Tn554; thus the products of these genes function in trans. Elements carrying deletions of the Tn554 termini could not be complemented. The product of tnpC is not absolutely required for transposition, since deletion mutations encompassing 80% of tnpC, as well as frameshift mutations located near the amino terminus of tnpC, transposed at frequencies as high as 2% of that observed with wild‐type Tn554. However, such mutations affected the orientation of insertion. With wild‐type Tn554 insertion occurs in a single orientation regardless of the orientation of the donor. In tnpC mutants insertion orientation was dictated by the orientation of Tn554 in the donor molecule. A mutant lacking the carboxy‐terminal 59 residues of tnpB also exhibited altered insertion orientation. Thus it appears that the tnpC gene product is required for correct orientation of the element upon insertion and that this protein may interact with the carboxy‐terminal portion of the tnpB gene product.
Migration Cues Induce Chromatin Alterations

Directed cell migration is a property central to multiple basic biological processes. Here, we show that directed cell migration is associated with global changes in the chromatin fiber. Polarized posttranslational changes in histone H1 along with a transient decrease in H1 mobility were detected in cells facing the scratch in a wound healing assay. In parallel to the changes in H1, the levels of the heterochromatin marker histone H3 lysine 9 tri‐methylation were elevated. Interestingly, reduction of the chromatin‐binding affinity of H1 altered the cell migration rates. Moreover, migration‐associated changes in histone H1 were observed during nuclear motility in the simple multicellular organism Neurospora crassa. Our studies suggest that dynamic reorganization of the chromatin fiber is an early event in the cellular response to migration cues.
Evaluation of the Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Artemether-Lumefantrine, Artesunate-Amodiaquine and Artesunate-Amodiaquine-Chlorpheniramine (Artemoclo™) for the Treatment of Acute Uncomplicated Malaria in Nigerian Children

Objective: To evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of artemether-lumefantrine (AL), artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) and artesunate-amodiaquine-chlorpheniramine (AQC) for the treatment of acute uncomplicated malaria among Southwest Nigerian children. Subjects and Methods: One hundred and sixty children aged 6 months to 14 years with acute uncomplicated malaria were randomized to AL (n = 53), ASAQ (n = 53), or AQC (n = 54). Enrollees were seen daily on days 0-3 and then on days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 42 for clinical and parasitological evaluations. Paired samples of genomic DNA at enrolment and at the time of recurrent parasitaemia were genotyped using nested PCR to distinguish between reinfection and recrudescence. Detailed haematological and biochemical evaluations were carried out in a subset of enrollees on days 0, 7 and 28 as part of a safety evaluation. Results: Of the 160 children, 144 (90%) completed the study. The mean fever clearance times and parasite clearance times for AL, ASAQ and AQC were comparable (p = 0.94 and p = 0.122, respectively). On day 14, the adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) for AL and AQC was 100% and for ASAQ it was 90% (p = 0.39). The PCR-uncorrected results on days 28 and 42 and the ACPR-corrected results on day 42 were similar for all drugs (p = 0.62 and p = 0.56, respectively). AQC resulted in the best parasite clearance and haematological recovery on day 2 (p = 0.022 and p = 0.018, respectively). Biochemical parameters were not adversely affected by the three artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and these were well tolerated. Conclusion: The three ACTs were efficacious and safe, but AQC resulted in a better haematological recovery on day 2 and higher cure rates throughout the study period.
Effect of graded levels of aflatoxin, ochratoxin and their combinations on the performance and immune response of broilers

1. The effects of dietary aflatoxin (AF, 0·5, 1·0 and 2·0 mg/kg), ochratoxin (OA, 1·0, 2·0 and 4·0 mg/kg) or combinations of these on body weight gain, feed efficiency, organ weights and immune response were studied in broilers. 2. Significant growth depression, reduced food consumption and poor food conversion efficiency were recorded in broilers fed a diet containing the greater concentrations of AF (1 and 2 mg/kg) and OA (2 and 4 mg/kg). 3. The combination of 2 mg/kg AF and 4 mg/kg OA exerted the maximum adverse effect on growth, feed intake and feed efficiency, indicating a synergistic effect on performance. 4. AF at 2 mg/kg in the diet caused a significant increase in the relative weight of liver, whereas the relative weight of kidney was significantly increased at 4 mg/kg of OA. A significant decrease in the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius was noted at the highest concentration of AF (2 mg/kg) and combinations of 1 and 2 mg/kg AF and 2 and 4 mg/kg OA. 5. Cell mediated immunity (CMI), in terms of mean skin thickness (MST) sensitive to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), was significantly reduced in chicks given the combination of 2 mg/kg AF and 4 mg/kg OA. Haemagglutination (HA) titre against sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) peaked at 42 d of age. At 42 and 47 d of age, a significant decrease in HA titres was recorded in chicks given 4 mg/kg OA or a combination of AF (1 or 2 mg/kg) and OA (2 or 4 mg/kg). 6. AF at a dietary concentration of 1 mg/kg or more and OA at 2 mg/kg or more, either alone or in combination, caused severe reductions in growth and immune response.
Stability of the Jackson-Rogers model

Network formation models explain the dynamics of the structure of connections using mechanisms that operate under different principles for establishing and removing edges. The Jackson-Rogers model is a generic framework that applies the principle of triadic closure to growing networks. Past work describes the asymptotic behavior of the degree distribution based on a continuous-time approximation. Here, we introduce a discrete-time approach that provides a more accurate fit of the dynamics of the in-degree distribution of the Jackson-Rogers model. Furthermore, we characterize the limit distribution and the expected value of the average degree as equilibria, and prove that both equilibria are asymptotically stable.