Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel Bicine running buffer system for doubled sodium dodecyl sulfate – polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of membrane proteins

A novel, Bicine‐based SDS‐PAGE buffer system was developed for the analysis of membrane proteins. The method involves molecular weight‐based separations of fully denatured and solubilized proteins in two dimensions. This doubled SDS‐PAGE (dSDS‐PAGE) approach produced a diagonal arrangement of protein spots and successfully circumvented problems associated with membrane proteome analysis involving traditional gel‐based methods. Membrane proteins from the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum were used for these investigations. Tricine‐dSDS‐PAGE and the newly developed Bicine‐dSDS‐PAGE were compared with the standard glycine‐dSDS‐PAGE (Laemmli protocol) in their suitability to separate C. thermocellum membrane proteins. Large‐format gel experiments using optimized gel preparation and running buffer conditions revealed a 112% increase in protein spot count for Tricine‐dSDS‐PAGE and a 151% increase for Bicine‐dSDS‐PAGE, compared to glycine‐dSDS‐PAGE. The data clearly indicated that Bicine‐dSDS‐PAGE is a superior method for the analysis of membrane proteins, providing enhanced resolution and protein representation.
Annexin A5 Uptake in Ischemic Myocardium: Demonstration of Reversible Phosphatidylserine Externalization and Feasibility of Radionuclide Imaging

Ischemic insult to the myocardium is associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Because apoptotic cell death is characterized by phosphatidylserine externalization on cell membrane and annexin-A5 (AA5) avidly binds to phosphatidylserine, we hypothesized that radiolabeled AA5 should be able to identify the regions of myocardial ischemia. Methods: Models of brief myocardial ischemia by the occlusion of the coronary artery for 10 min (I-10) and reperfusion for 180 min (R-180) for the detection of phosphatidylserine exteriorization using 99mTc-labeled AA5 and γ-imaging were produced in rabbits. 99mTc-AA5 uptake after brief ischemia was compared with an I-40/R-180 infarct model. Histologic characterization of both myocardial necrosis and apoptosis was performed in ischemia and infarct models. Phosphatidylserine exteriorization was also studied in a mouse model, and the dynamics and kinetics of phosphatidylserine exposure were assessed using unlabeled recombinant AA5 and AA5 labeled with biotin, Oregon Green, or Alexa 568. Appropriate controls were established. Results: Phosphatidylserine exposure after ischemia in the rabbit heart could be detected by radionuclide imaging with 99mTc-AA5. Pathologic characterization of the explanted rabbit hearts did not show apoptosis or necrosis. Homogenization and ultracentrifugation of the ischemic myocardial tissue from rabbit hearts recovered two thirds of the radiolabeled AA5 from the cytoplasmic compartment. Murine experiments demonstrated that the cardiomyocytes expressed phosphatidylserine on their cell surface after an ischemic insult of 5 min. Phosphatidylserine exposure occurred continuously for at least 6 h after solitary ischemic insult. AA5 targeted the exposed phosphatidylserine on cardiomyocytes; AA5 was internalized into cytoplasmic vesicles within 10–30 min. Twenty-four hours after ischemia, cardiomyocytes with internalized AA5 had restored phosphatidylserine asymmetry of the sarcolemma, and no detectable phosphatidylserine remained on the cell surface. The preadministration of a pan-caspase inhibitor, zVAD-fmk, prevented phosphatidylserine exposure after ischemia. Conclusions: After a single episode of ischemia, cardiomyocytes express phosphatidylserine, which is amenable to targeting by AA5, for at least 6 h. Phosphatidylserine exposure is transient and internalized in cytoplasmic vesicles after AA5 binding, indicating the reversibility of the apoptotic process.
Adaptive extended piecewise histogram equalisation for dark image enhancement

Histogram equalisation has been widely used for image enhancement because of its simple implementation and satisfactory performance. However, traditional histogram equalisation uniformly redistributes an entire histogram or multiple piecewise histograms with the same equalisation strategy, which may produce unnatural artefacts, over-enhancement or under-enhancement in wide dynamic range dark image enhancement. This study proposes an adaptive extended piecewise histogram equalisation algorithm (AEPHE) for dark image enhancement. First, an original histogram is divided into a group of extended piecewise histograms. Then, an adaptive histogram equalisation, which balances intensity preservation and contrast boosting, is further developed and respectively applied to these extended piecewise histograms. The final histogram for image enhancement is produced by a weighted fusion of these equalised histograms. The experimental results indicate that AEPHE is superior to multiple state-of-the-art algorithms.
RHD deletion in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract Anomalous expression of the Rh antigen, D, has occasionally been observed in patients with certain myeloproliferative disorders. Indeed, this phenomenon led to the tentative assignment of RH to the short arm of chromosome 1. PCR-based analyses were performed on DNA from an 82-year-old D+ Caucasian patient with chronic myeloid leukemia after her RBCs became D–. For nearly 7 years, the patient’s RBCs typed as strongly D+, but in March 2006, they typed weakly D+ and in August 2006 typed D– by both direct hemagglutination and the IAT. The D– typing persisted until the patient’s death in September 2006. To study the underlying cause of the change in D type, PCR-based assays were performed on DNA extracted from peripheral WBCs from the patient’s sample collected in August 2006. No amplification was obtained using primers designed to amplify RHD exons 5, 8, or 10, and intron 4. Very weak amplification was obtained using primers designed to amplify RHD exons 3, 4, or 7. Two assays that detect the hybrid Rhesus box showed deletion of RHD. Amplification of RHCE in the patient’s DNA was as efficient as that of control samples, and multiplex and PCR-RFLP assays predicted her RBCs would be C–E–c+e+. Based on finding a hybrid Rhesus box and absence of D-specific exons, we conclude that DNA from the patient’s WBCs carries a deleted RHD. This explains the molecular mechanism underlying the change from D+ to D–. Immunohematology 2008;24:160–164.
Rhetoric on the economy: have European parties changed their economic messages?

ABSTRACT This study analyses the determinants of dispersion of economic issue mentions in European party manifestos. We examined three main economic domains (governmental control of the economy, free market capitalism and support for the welfare state) as consequences of globalization forces, economic conditions, partisanship and electoral turnout. Employing aggregate-level Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP) data from legislative elections in 15 European countries from 1970 to 2010, we confirm that parties hold a common view of the salience of economic control of the state as a consequence of globalization pressure and economic growth levels. Partisanship of the cabinets (regardless of the political orientation) counteracted issue salience concentration in the welfare domain. Government size favoured dispersion in the free market realm. Our results do not indicate clear homogenization of parties’ economic messages in elections over the last 40 years.
"We are like the Poles": On the ambiguous labour market position of young Icelanders

Paid work is quite common amongst young people under the age of 18 in the Western world, although most undertake flexible part-time work. Nevertheless, studies on their labour market position are rare. The aim of this article is to examine the labour market position of young people in Iceland, a high-income Nordic country. We ask about: (i) young people’s general labour market rights regarding payslips and formal work contracts; (ii) their special labour market rights, safeguarded by child labour laws, in relation to rest periods, working hours, the prevalence of injuries and the consequent absence from work, and; (iii) the young persons’ own perceptions of their labour market position. The study is based on mixed methods: a survey (N = 952) and group interviews (N = 42) with 13-17-year-olds. The research reveals that the labour market position of young people is characterised by ambiguity. While their general rights to employment and decent pay are recognised to some extent, their work often violates child labour laws and accidents do occur. Young people commonly perceive their labour market position as weak. Their position in society, on the other hand, allows them to quit when confronted with an adverse work environment or if the work interferes with other duties. To conclude, education on occupational health and safety (OHS) and additional research on their labour market position are needed.
Doppler spectrum and second order fading statistics of emerging 3-D radio cellular propagation channels

In implementing fifth generation (5G) networks, the advancements in density of networks, cell size, scale of antenna arrays, communicating nodes mobility, and range of frequencies necessitate to derive a reliable and appropriate channel model. A geometric three dimensional (3-D) tunable channel model is proposed with high degree of flexibility in modelling the orientation, shape, and scale of the scattering region and comprehending the mobility of user terminal. Characterization of second order fading statistics and Doppler spectrum of the radio propagation channel is presented. Mathematical expressions for probability density function (PDF) of Doppler shift and multipath power are derived. The impact of various physical (geometric) channel parameters on statistical characteristics of Doppler spectrum and second order fading statistics is thoroughly analyzed.
Location Prediction based on Variable-order Markov Model with Time Feature and User’s Spatio-temporal Rule

Location-based service has been widely used in modern life. It brings a lot of convenience to our lives. Improving the accuracy of location prediction can provide better location-based service. We propose a location prediction method based on the variable-order Markov model with time feature and user's spatio-temporal rule. First, the user's trajectory data needs to be abstracted, and then the useful stay points in the user’s trajectory are extracted. The location prediction is performed by scoring each candidate area, and the score is composed of scores in time and space dimensions. Finally, for the possible zero frequency problem, it is solved by mining the spatio-temporal rule of the user. Experiments using the actual data set GeoLife show that the proposed method improves the prediction accuracy.
A Doherty power amplifier with extended efficiency and bandwidth

This paper proposes a modified Doherty power amplifier (DPA) configuration for bandwidth and efficiency operations. To mitigate the efficiency degradation resulting from the incomplete load modulation network (LMN) and the knee voltage effect, the carrier transistor’s optimum load impedances based on related constant voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) circle theory are introduced. Meanwhile, a innovative LMN with broadband matching technologies is adopted, which plays a guiding role on the bandwidth expansion from the theoretical point of view. In order to verify the practical feasibility of the design scheme, two 10W GaN HEMT transistors are used to design a broadband DPA. The measurement results show that the working bandwidth of the power amplifier is from 1.6GHz to 2.6GHz. The saturated output power of the whole frequency band is about 41.7–44 dBm and the drain efficiency (DE) is more than 50.8% at the input power of 33 dBm. In addition, the DE is 41.5–45% at 6-dB back-off power. Measurement results verify that the proposed enhancement techniques of bandwidth and efficiency are effective for DPA.
Impact of Political Connections on Operational Performance: The Evidence from Poland

This study analyses the impact of political connections on the operational performance of non-financial firms in a context of a post-transition European economy. Using a new and detailed data set covering the 2001-2011 period, we found that politically connected firms are much more numerous in Poland than previously reported in the literature. We established that political connections usually lower profitability measured on the level of income from sales. However, the relationship between political connections and operational performance was affected by the characteristics of the former. Namely, the negative impact was the strongest when a firm possessed multiple connections, had politically connected members of the supervisory board and employed ex-politicians with central government experience. Therefore, our findings did not support claims based on the resource dependence theory that political connections improve the operational performance of firms.
Mevalonate depletion mediates the suppressive impact of geranylgeraniol on murine B16 melanoma cells

The diterpene geranylgeraniol (all trans-3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2,6,10,14-hexadecatetraen-1-ol) suppresses the growth of human liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, colon, stomach and blood tumors with undefined mechanisms. We evaluated the growth-suppressive activity of geranylgeraniol in murine B16 melanoma cells. Geranylgeraniol induced dose-dependent suppression of B16 cell growth (IC50 = 55 ± 13 µmol/L) following a 48-h incubation in 96-well plates. Cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase, manifested by a geranylgeraniol-induced increase in the G1/S ratio and decreased expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4, apoptosis detected by Guava Nexin™ assay and fluorescence microscopy following acridine orange and ethidium bromide dual staining, and cell differentiation shown by increased alkaline phosphatase activity, contributed to the growth suppression. Murine 3T3-L1 fibroblasts were 10-fold more resistant than B16 cells to geranylgeraniol-mediated growth suppression. Geranylgeraniol at near IC50 concentration (60 µmol/L) suppressed the mRNA level of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG‐CoA) reductase by 50%. The impact of geranylgeraniol on B16 cell growth, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were attenuated by supplemental mevalonate, the product of HMG‐CoA reductase that is essential for cell growth. Geranylgeraniol and d-δ-tocotrienol, a down-regulator of HMG‐CoA reductase, additively suppressed the growth of B16 cells. These results support our hypothesis that mevalonate depletion mediates the tumor-specific growth-suppressive impact of geranylgeraniol. Geranylgeraniol may have potential in cancer chemoprevention and/or therapy.
TRANSFORMING SOCIAL WORK IN ZIMBABWE FROM SOCIAL CONTROL TO SOCIAL CHANGE

The quest for relevance of social work in Third world countries in the context of mounting socio-economic challenges has necessitated the need to consider transforming social work from social control to social change. Prominent social work academics and practitioners have argued in support of the need for such transformation. This article analyses this transition in the context of the new global definition of social work and how its various aspects can be applied in transforming social work education and practice in Zimbabwe. Key conclusions are that, social work curriculum be re-oriented toward the developmental social work thrust, advocacy and indigenous knowledge be integrated into social work practice.
Mammalian Exocyst Complex Is Required for the Docking Step of Insulin Vesicle Exocytosis*

Glucose stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells by inducing the recruitment and fusion of insulin vesicles to the plasma membrane. However, little is currently known about the mechanism of the initial docking or tethering of insulin vesicles prior to fusion. Here, we examined the role of the SEC6-SEC8 (exocyst) complex, implicated in trafficking of secretory vesicles to fusion sites in the plasma membrane in yeast and in regulating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic MIN6 β cells. We show first that SEC6 is concentrated on insulin-positive vesicles, whereas SEC5 and SEC8 are largely confined to the cytoplasm and the plasma membrane, respectively. Overexpression of truncated, dominant-negative SEC8 or SEC10 mutants decreased the number of vesicles at the plasma membrane, whereas expression of truncated SEC6 or SEC8 inhibited overall insulin secretion. When single exocytotic events were imaged by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, the fluorescence of the insulin surrogate, neuropeptide Y-monomeric red fluorescent protein brightened, diffused, and then vanished with kinetics that were unaffected by overexpression of truncated SEC8 or SEC10. Together, these data suggest that the exocyst complex serves to selectively regulate the docking of insulin-containing vesicles at sites of release close to the plasma membrane.
Experimental paradigm for in‐laboratory proxy aquatic studies under conditions of static, non–flow‐through chemical exposures

Endocrine‐disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as 17α‐ethynylestradiol, 17β‐estradiol, estrone, and para‐nonylphenol have been measured in wastewater‐treatment plant effluents, surface waters, sediments, and sludge and have been shown to induce liver‐specific vitellogenin (vtg) messenger RNA in male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). The purpose of the present study was to establish minimal concentrations of select EDCs necessary to induce transcription of vtg in 48‐h static renewal exposures, as measured by quantitative real‐time thermal cycle amplification. Adult males were exposed to 17α‐ethynylestradiol, 17β‐estradiol, estrone, and para‐nonylphenol. Dose‐dependent increases in vtg expression were significant with all chemicals tested. The lowest concentrations of these chemicals to induce measurable vtg expression, with significant difference from respective controls, were 17α‐ethynylestradiol, 2.2 ng L−1; para‐nonylphenol, 13.9 μg L−1; 17β‐estradiol, 42.7 ng L−1; and estrone, 46.7 ng L−1, measured as 48‐h average concentrations. The present experiments were designed to frame a commonly acceptable approach for investigators who conduct static, in‐laboratory proxy environmental aquatic exposures. The present study highlights the need for investigators to report in peer‐reviewed submissions the observed concentration values for minimal induction levels when measuring molecular responses to chemical exposures by means of real‐time polymerase chain reaction, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, or other “omic” technologies. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2796–2802. Published 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Heart rate variability in long‐term risk assessment in middle‐aged women with coronary heart disease: The Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study

Objectives. Low heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with poor prognosis after acute coronary events in men. In women, the prognostic impact is not well documented. The objective of this study was to assess the long‐term predictive power of HRV on mortality amongst middle‐aged women with coronary heart disease (CHD).
High-Breakdown, High- $f_{\mathrm{ max}}$ Multiport Stacked-Transistor Topologies for the ${W}$ -Band Power Amplifiers

Effect of silicon technology limitations, including transistor nonidealities, layout parasitics, and low-quality factor on-chip passive components on millimeter wave stacked switching power amplifiers operating at the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-band frequencies (75–110 GHz), is presented in this paper. To mitigate the performance degradation in output power and PAE arising from such causes, high-breakdown voltage, high-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{\mathrm{ max}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> multiport stacked-transistor topologies are proposed for realizing power amplifiers with high output power and high efficiency at 75–110 GHz. A 90-nm silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process is used to propose active structures comprising of two and three stacked transistors with integrated layout parasitics that achieve <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{\mathrm{ max}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and breakdown voltage of 295 GHz and 8 V and 260 GHz and 11 V, respectively. Functionality of such multiport transistor topologies is demonstrated in proof-of-concept implementations, including a five-stage two-stacked switching power amplifier (PA) that achieves peak output power and PAE of 22 dBm and 19% at 85 GHz, and a six-stage three-stacked PA that achieves peak output power and PAE of 23.3 dBm and 17% at 83 GHz, respectively. For comparison with conventional switching PA designs using native transistor footprints, a five-stage <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-band nonstacked Class-E amplifiers is also fabricated in the same 90-nm SiGe BiCMOS process with output power and PAE of 19.5 dBm and 16% at 88 GHz. The superior performance of output power and PAE in designs using the multiport transistor topologies highlights the benefit of the proposed approach.
Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System for Flash-Based Solid State Drives

Even in modern SSDs, the disparity between random and sequential write bandwidth is more than 10-fold. Moreover, random writes can shorten the limited lifespan of SSDs because they incur more NAND block erases per write. To overcome the problems of random writes, we propose a new file system, SFS, for SSDs. SFS is similar to the traditional log-structured file system (LFS) in that it transforms all random writes at the file system level to sequential ones at the SSD level, as a way to exploit the maximum write bandwidth of the SSD. But, unlike the traditional LFS, which performs hot/cold data separation on segment cleaning, SFS takes a new on writing data grouping strategy. When data blocks are to be written, SFS puts those with similar update likelihood into the same segment for sharper bimodal distribution of segment utilization, and thus aims at minimizing the inevitable segment cleaning overhead that occurs in any log-structured file system. We have implemented a prototype SFS by modifying Linux-based NILFS2 and compared it with three state-of-the-art file systems using several realistic workloads. Our experiments on SSDs show that SFS outperforms LFS by up to 2.5 times in terms of throughput. In comparison to modern file systems, SFS drastically reduces the block erase count inside SSDs by up to 23.3 times. Although SFS was targeted for SSDs, its data grouping on writing would also work well in HDDs. To confirm this, we repeated the same set of experiments over HDDs, and found that SFS is quite promising in HDDs: although the slow random reads in HDDs make SFS slightly less effective, SFS still outperforms LFS by 1.7 times.
Optical analysis of Hg2+ ions by oligonucleotide-gold-nanoparticle hybrids and DNA-based machines.

Zwei verschiedene optische Methoden fur die Analyse von Hg2+-Ionen, die auf der Bildung von Thymin-Hg2+-Komplexen beruhen, werden vorgestellt. Bei diesen Methoden werden die Hg2+-Ionen mithilfe aggregierter Goldnanopartikel und einer auf der DNA-Chemie basierenden Maschine (siehe Schema) analysiert.