Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and molecular characterization of a novel d‐hydantoinase from Jannaschia sp. CCS1

Hydantoinases (HYDs) are important enzymes for industrial production of optically pure amino acids, which are widely used as precursors for various semi‐synthetic antibiotics. By a process coupling genomic data mining with activity screening, a new hydantoinase, tentatively designated HYDJs, was identified from Jannaschia sp. CCS1 and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The specific activity of HYDJs on d,l‐p‐hydroxyphenylhydantoin as the substrate was three times higher than that of the hydantoinase originating from Burkholderia pickettii (HYDBp) that is currently used in industry. The enzyme obtained was a homotetramer with a molecular mass of 253 kDa. The pH and temperature optima for HYDJs were 7.6 and 50 °C respectively, similar to those of HYDBp. Kinetic analysis showed that HYDJs has a higher kcat value on d,l‐p‐hydroxyphenylhydantoin than HYDBp does. Homology modeling and substrate docking analyses of HYDJs and HYDBp were performed, and the results revealed an enlarged substrate binding pocket in HYDJs, which may allow better access of substrates to the catalytic centre and could account for the increased specific activity of HYDJs. Three amino acid residues critical for HYDJs activity, Phe63, Leu92 and Phe150 were also identified by substrate docking and site‐directed mutagenesis. Application of this high‐specific activity HYDJs could improve the industrial production of optically pure amino acids, such as d‐p‐hydroxyphenylglycine. Moreover, the structural analysis also provides new insights on enzyme–substrate interaction, which shed light on engineering of hydantoinases for high catalytic activity.
Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Cystic Macular Lesions in Children With X-Linked Juvenile Retinoschisis.

Purpose Little is known regarding the therapeutic effect of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) in the management of cystic macular lesions in children with X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS) despite the fact that this disease often manifests during childhood. Therefore, our goal was to determine the efficacy of CAIs in the treatment of cystic macular lesions in children with XLRS. Methods We used CAIs to treat cystic macular lesions in 18 eyes of nine children with XLRS. We evaluated the therapeutic effect of CAI treatment with the best-corrected visual acuity and foveal zone thickness (FZT) with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. A reduction of at least 22.4% in FZT was defined as objective evidence of response. Results Five of nine (55.6%) XLRS patients showed a significant reduction of FZT in both eyes over a median treatment interval of 6.8 months (range, 1-23). In four of five (80.0%) patients, this reduction was already apparent after 1 month of treatment. An improvement of visual acuity was observed in five eyes (27.8%) of three patients (33.3%). Six patients (66.6%) reported minor side effects. Conclusions Treatment with CAIs decreased FZT in more than half of the children with XLRS. This effect was observed within 1 month in the majority of patients. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor treatment restores retinal anatomy and may contribute to creating optimal circumstances for gene therapy.
GPflow: A Gaussian Process Library using TensorFlow

GPflow is a Gaussian process library that uses TensorFlow for its core computations and Python for its front end. The distinguishing features of GPflow are that it uses variational inference as the primary approximation method, provides concise code through the use of automatic differentiation, has been engineered with a particular emphasis on software testing and is able to exploit GPU hardware.
Zirconia-based column high-performance liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure photoionization tandem mass spectrometric analyses of drug molecules in rat plasma.

A method using zirconia-based column high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) interfaced with an atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) source and a tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS) was developed for the quantitative determination of new chemical entities in rat plasma in support of pharmacokinetics studies. The ionization suppression resulting from endogenous components of the biological matrices on the quantitative zirconia-based column HPLC/APPI-MS/MS method was investigated using the post-column infusion technique. The analytical results for 'rapid rat pharmacokinetics' for 12 drug discovery compounds, obtained by both silica-based phase (S-phase) and zirconia-based phase (Z-phase) chromatographic separation, are in good agreement in terms of accuracy. The application of a Z-phase column for high-temperature fast HPLC/MS/MS methods was explored to reduce the analysis time from 3 min to 30 s for column temperatures of 25-110 degrees C, respectively. The chromatographic retention times and peak responses of all analytes were found to be reproducible under high-temperature conditions following 100 continuous injections, with %CV less than 0.4 and 5, respectively.
Value proposition development and communication: A case study from measurement instrument industry

Author: Johannes Lehtonen Title: Value proposition development and communication: A case study from measurement instrument industry Year: 2018 Place: Vantaa Master’s thesis, Lappeenranta University of Technology, LUT School of Business and Management, Industrial Engineer and Management 104 pages, 9 figures, 15 tables and 2 appendices Examiners: Professor Asta Salmi and Associate Professor Joona Keränen
Signaling through CD14 Attenuates the Inflammatory Response to Borrelia burgdorferi, the Agent of Lyme Disease1

Lyme disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder caused by the spirochetal bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi. In vitro evidence suggests that binding of spirochetal lipoproteins to CD14, a pattern recognition receptor expressed on monocytes/macrophages and polymorphonuclear cells, is a critical requirement for cellular activation and the subsequent release of proinflammatory cytokines that most likely contribute to symptomatology and clinical manifestations. To test the validity of this notion, we assessed the impact of CD14 deficiency on Lyme disease in C3H/HeN mice. Contrary to an anticipated diminution in pathology, CD14−/− mice exhibited more severe and persistent inflammation than did CD14+/+ mice. This disparity reflects altered gene regulation within immune cells that may engender the higher bacterial burden and serum cytokine levels observed in CD14−/− mice. Comparing their in vitro stimulatory activity, live spirochetes, but not lysed organisms, were a potent CD14-independent stimulus of cytokine production, triggering an exaggerated response by CD14−/− macrophages. Collectively, our in vivo and in vitro findings support the provocative notion that: 1) pattern recognition by CD14 is entirely dispensable for elaboration of an inflammatory response to B. burgdorferi, and 2) CD14-independent signaling pathways are inherently more destructive than CD14-dependent pathways. Continued study of CD14-independent signaling pathways may provide mechanistic insight into the inflammatory processes that underlie development of chronic inflammation.
Lifelong Learning in Christian Business Education: A Framework and Case Study

Christ-centered business education aims to build Christ-honoring character in Christians engaging the marketplace. Effective faith-work integration requires a proper understanding of biblical precepts (orthodoxy) and their proper applications (orthopraxy). When professionals progress through their careers, the contextual emphasis and significance of orthopraxy inevitably evolves. A framework of a pedagogy that will properly address the lifelong learning needs of Christian professionals should incorporate the mission goals of competence, discernment, stewardship, and community as borne out in Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples in Matthew 10. A survey of existing institution-based faith-learning initiatives reveals an overall scarcity of programs addressing the dynamic, multidimensional nature of lifelong learning needs of marketplace professionals. The Center for Christianity in Business at Houston Baptist University is one program that aims to address the diverse, changing needs in the life cycle of Christian business professionals. A review of the program’s progresses and challenges shows the promises of such initiatives and helps raise the awareness of the need for more participation by and collaboration among faith-based business programs. Christian business professionals can be effective agents in the redemptive work for the Kingdom only if they are properly equipped as they grow and mature as emissaries of Christ in the marketplace. As these equipping opportunities remain largely outside the scope of traditional business pedagogy, a lifelong learning pedagogy is required to answer the needs of Christians in the marketplace.
A Comparative Study for the Weighted Nuclear Norm Minimization and Nuclear Norm Minimization

The nuclear norm minimization (NNM) is commonly used to approximate the matrix rank by shrinking all singular values equally. However, the singular values have clear physical meanings in many practical problems, and NNM may not be able to faithfully approximate the matrix rank. To alleviate the above-mentioned limitation of NNM, recent studies have suggested that the weighted nuclear norm minimization (WNNM) can achieve a better rank estimation than NNM, which heuristically set the weight being inverse to the singular values. However, it still lacks a rigorous explanation why WNNM is more effective than NMM in various applications. In this paper, we analyze NNM and WNNM from the perspective of group sparse representation (GSR). Concretely, an adaptive dictionary learning method is devised to connect the rank minimization and GSR models. Based on the proposed dictionary, we prove that NNM and WNNM are equivalent to L1-norm minimization and the weighted L1-norm minimization in GSR, respectively. Inspired by enhancing sparsity of the weighted L1-norm minimization in comparison with L1-norm minimization in sparse representation, we thus explain that WNNM is more effective than NMM. By integrating the image nonlocal self-similarity (NSS) prior with the WNNM model, we then apply it to solve the image denoising problem. Experimental results demonstrate that WNNM is more effective than NNM and outperforms several state-of-the-art methods in both objective and perceptual quality.
Endogenous and Exogenous Control of Visual Selection

Among the most fundamental issues of visual attention research is the extent to which visual selection is controlled by properties of the stimulus or by the intentions, goals, and beliefs of the observer. Before selective attention operates, preattentive processes perform some basic analyses segmenting the visual field into functional perceptual units. The crucial question is whether the allocation of attention to these perceptual units is under the endogenous control of the observer (intentions, goals, beliefs) or under the exogenous control of stimulation. In this article evidence is discussed regarding the endogenous and exogenous control of attention in tasks in which subjects search for a particular ‘basic’ feature (eg search for a unique colour, shape, or brightness). In the present review it is suggested that selectivity in these types of search tasks is dependent on the relative saliency of the stimulus attributes. It is concluded that the visual system automatically calculates differences in basic features (eg difference in shape, colour, or brightness) and that visual information occupying the position of the highest saliency across stimulus dimensions is exogenously passed on to the ‘central representation’ that is responsible for further stimulus analysis. Alternative explanations of the present findings and tentative speculations resulting from the present approach are discussed.
Radiographic Changes in the Hands and Fingers of Young, High-Level Climbers

Background In the past few years, competition climbing has grown in popularity, and younger people are being drawn to the sport. Hypothesis Although the radiographic changes in long-term climbers are known, there are little data available on young climbers. The question arises as to whether climbing at high levels at a young age leads to radiographic changes and possibly an early onset of osteoarthrosis in the finger joints. Study Design Cross-sectional study. Methods Nineteen members of the German Junior National Team and 18 recreational climbers were examined clinically and through radiographs. For comparison, radiographs of 12 young nonclimbers (control group) were collected. Radiographs were evaluated using a standard protocol. For evaluation of the physiologic adaptation, the cortical thickness of the middle phalanx and the Barnett Nordin index were analyzed. The results were compared between the 3 groups and against radiographs of 140 long-term, experienced climbers. Results Six climbers (32%) of the German Junior National Team presented a decreased range of motion for the small finger joints; none of the recreational climbers showed this decrease. In 47% of the German Junior National Team and 28% of the recreational climbers, stress reactions could be found: cortical hypertrophy (26% German Junior National Team, 11% recreational climbers), subchondral sclerosis (47% German Junior National Team, 6% recreational climbers), broadened base of the proximal interphalangeal joint (42% German Junior National Team, 28% recreational climbers), and broadened base of the distal interphalangeal joint (16% German Junior National Team, 0 recreational climbers). Signs of an early stage of osteoarthrosis were seen in 1 climber in each group. The control group showed no radiologic abnormalities. The Barnett Nordin index was 0.49 ± 0.05 in German Junior National Team, 0.49 ± 0.07 in recreational climbers, and 0.48 ± 0.08 in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference on the Barnett Nordin index between the groups (German Junior National Team/recreational climbers: P = .89; German Junior National Team/control group: P = .58; recreational climbers/control group: P = .55). Conclusions Intensive training and climbing lead to adaptive reactions; nevertheless, osteoarthrotic changes are rare.
A unified variational segmentation framework with a level-set based sparse composite shape prior

Image segmentation plays an essential role in many medical applications. Low SNR conditions and various artifacts makes its automation challenging. To achieve robust and accurate segmentation results, a good approach is to introduce proper shape priors. In this study, we present a unified variational segmentation framework that regularizes the target shape with a level-set based sparse composite prior. When the variational problem is solved with a block minimization/decent scheme, the regularizing impact of the sparse composite prior can be observed to adjust to the most recent shape estimate, and may be interpreted as a ‘dynamic’ shape prior, yet without compromising convergence thanks to the unified energy framework. The proposed method was applied to segment corpus callosum from 2D MR images and liver from 3D CT volumes. Its performance was evaluated using Dice Similarity Coefficient and Hausdorff distance, and compared with two benchmark level-set based segmentation methods. The proposed method has achieved statistically significant higher accuracy in both experiments and avoided faulty inclusion/exclusion of surrounding structures with similar intensities, as opposed to the benchmark methods.
catena-Poly[[[diaquabis(2-methyl-6-oxo-1,6-dihydro-3,4′-bipyridine-5-carbonitrile)copper(II)]-μ-sulfato] tetrahydrate]

In the title polymer, {[Cu(SO4)(C12H9N3O)2(H2O)2]·4H2O}n, both the metal center and the sulfate anion are located on a twofold axis. The CuII ion is coordinated by two pyridyl N atoms from two symmetry-related organic ligands, two O atoms from two symmetry-related water molecules, and two O atoms from two symmetry-related sulfate anions, resulting in a distorted octahedral geometry. The sulfate anions act as μ2-bridges and connect metal ions, forming a one-dimensional chain along the b axis. The three-dimensional crystal structure is established through intermolecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving the organic ligands, sulfate anions, coordinated and uncoordinated water molecules, and through π–π interacting 2-pyridone rings, with centroid–centroid separations of ca 3.96 Å and tilt angles of ca 2.62°.
Pentoxifylline modulation of plasma membrane functions in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Pentoxifylline is known to have major effects on cell membrane function in mammalian cells, including human leukocytes. The protective effects of this agent in animal models of infection and inflammation may be due to alterations in phagocyte (neutrophil and macrophage) function. However, the exact mechanism of action of pentoxifylline is unknown. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the drug on several membrane-associated activities in human polymorphonuclear neutrophils and investigated possible mechanisms for the observed changes in neutrophil function. Pentoxifylline inhibited ingestion of microbial particles (Staphylococcus aureus and zymosan); decreased superoxide generation activated by zymosan, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, and concanavalin A (but not phorbol myristate acetate); and decreased uptake (transport) of adenosine stimulated by formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and zymosan. In contrast, pentoxifylline actually increased clindamycin uptake in zymosan-stimulated polymorphonuclear neutrophils. However, pentoxifylline had no effect on uptake of adenosine or clindamycin in unstimulated neutrophils. In comparison with known inhibitors of nucleoside transport (nitrobenzylthioinosine and dipyridamole), the results suggested that pentoxifylline does not bind to membrane nucleoside transport receptors. At concentrations which inhibit neutrophil function, pentoxifylline activity is not mediated through external membrane nucleoside regulatory sites. Thus, pentoxifylline affects the activation signal chain at a point beyond the membrane receptors. Whatever its precise mechanism of action, pentoxifylline has a striking modulatory effect on cell membrane-associated responses in stimulated leukocytes and may prove useful for control of injurious inflammatory states.
A New Approach for Fabricating Collagen/ECM‐Based Bioinks Using Preosteoblasts and Human Adipose Stem Cells

Cell‐printing methods have been used widely in tissue regeneration because they enable fabricating biomimetic 3D structures laden with various cells. To achieve a cell‐matrix block, various natural hydrogels that are nontoxic, biocompatible, and printable have been combined to obtain “bioinks. ” Unfortunately, most bioinks, including those with alginates, show low cell‐activating properties. Here, a strategy for obtaining highly bioactive ink, which consisted of collagen/extracellular matrix (ECM) and alginate, for printing 3D porous cell blocks is developed. An in vitro assessment of the 3D porous structures laden with preosteoblasts and human adipose stem cells (hASCs) demonstrates that the cells in the bioinks are viable. Osteogenic activities with the designed bioinks show much higher levels than with the “conventional” alginate‐based bioink. Furthermore, the hepatogenic differentiation ability of hASCs with the bioink is evaluated using the liver‐specific genes, albumin, and TDO2, under hepatogenic differentiation conditions. The genes are activated within the 3D cell block fabricated using the new bioink. These results demonstrate that the 3D cell‐laden structure fabricated using collagen/ECM‐based bioinks can provide a novel platform for various tissue engineering applications.
Indications and Outcomes for Surgical Treatment of Patients with Chronic Migraine Headaches Caused by Occipital Neuralgia

Background: Occipital neuralgia is a headache syndrome characterized by paroxysmal headaches localizing to the posterior scalp. The critical diagnostic feature is symptomatic response to local anesthetic blockade of the greater or lesser occipital nerve. Further characterization is debated in the literature regarding the diagnosis and optimal management of this condition. The authors present the largest reported series of surgical neurolysis of the greater occipital nerve in the management of occipital neuralgia. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to identify 206 consecutive patients undergoing neurolysis of the greater or, less commonly, excision of the greater and/or lesser occipital nerves. A detailed description of the procedure is presented, as is the algorithm for patient selection and timing of surgery. Preoperative and postoperative visual analogue pain scores and migraine headache indices were measured. Success was defined as a reduction in pain of 50 percent or greater. Results: Of 206 patients, 190 underwent greater occipital nerve neurolysis (171 bilateral). Twelve patients underwent greater and lesser occipital nerve excision, whereas four underwent lesser occipital nerve excision alone. The authors found that 80.5 percent of patients experienced at least 50 percent pain relief and 43.4 percent of patients experienced complete relief of headache. Mean preoperative pain score was 7.9 ± 1.4. Mean postoperative pain was 1.9 ± 1.8. Minimum duration of follow-up was 12 months. There were two minor complications. Conclusion: Neurolysis of the greater occipital nerve appears to provide safe, durable pain relief in the majority of selected patients with chronic headaches caused by occipital neuralgia.
The Effect of the Environment on Export Performance among Telecommunications New Ventures

The importance of exports for achieving business growth and superior financial performance is widely recognized in the literature. Consequently, researchers have sought to identify the variables that influence a company's export performance. Accumulated research findings highlight a need to document the effect of the domestic competitive environment on a firm's export performance. Adopting a multidimensional view of export performance, this study of 121 U.S. telecommunication new ventures concludes that dynamism, hostility, and heterogeneity in a firm's domestic environment are significantly associated with higher export performance. Further, while a venture's age, formal export planning, and technological sophistication are conducive to high export performance, the impact of the venture's size and past financial performance on export performance are insignificant.