Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protocatechuate 3,4-Dioxygenase: A Wide Substrate Specificity Enzyme Isolated from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2 as a Useful Tool in Aromatic Acid Biodegradation

Protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenases (P34Os) catalyze the reaction of the ring cleavage of aromatic acid derivatives. It is a key reaction in many xenobiotic metabolic pathways. P34Os characterize narrow substrate specificity. This property is an unfavorable feature in the biodegradation process because one type of pollution is rarely present in the environment. Thus, the following study aimed at the characterization of a P34O from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2, being able to utilize a wide spectrum of aromatic carboxylic acids. A total of 3 mM vanillic acid and 4-hydroxybenzoate were completely degraded during 8 and 4.5 h, respectively. When cells of strain KB2 were grown on 9 mM 4-hydroxybenzoate, P34O was induced. Biochemical analysis revealed that the examined enzyme was similar to other known P34Os, but showed untypical wide substrate specificity. A high activity of P34O against 2,4- and 3,5-dihydroxybenzoate was observed. As these substrates do not possess ortho configuration hydroxyl groups, it is postulated that their cleavage could be connected with their monodentate binding of substrate to the active site. Since this enzyme characterizes untypical wide substrate specificity it makes it a useful tool in applications for environmental clean-up purposes.
Combining Orientation Tensors for Human Action Recognition

This paper presents a new tensor motion descriptor based on histogram of oriented gradients. We model the temporal evolution of gradient distribution with orientation tensors in equally sized blocks throughout the video sequence. Subsequently, these blocks are concatenated to create the final descriptor. Using a SVM classifier, even without any bag-of-feature based approach, our method achieves recognition rates greater than those found by other HOG techniques on KTH dataset and a competitive recognition rate for UCF11 and Hollywood2 datasets.
Susceptibility Loci for Clinical Coronary Artery Disease and Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis Throughout the Life-Course

Background—Recent genome-wide association studies have identified 49 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with clinical coronary artery disease. The mechanism by which these loci influence risk remains largely unclear. Methods and Results—We examined the association between a genetic risk score composed of high-risk alleles at the 49 single nucleotide polymorphisms and the degree of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in 7798 participants from 6 studies stratified into 4 age groups at the time of assessment (15–34, 35–54, 55–74, and >75 years). Atherosclerosis was quantified by staining and direct visual inspection of the right coronary artery in the youngest group and by scanning for coronary artery calcification in the remaining groups. We defined cases as subjects within the top quartile of degree of atherosclerosis in 3 groups and as subjects with a coronary artery calcium score >0 in the fourth (35–54 years) where less than one quarter had any coronary artery calcium. In our meta-analysis of all strata, we found 1-SD increase in the genetic risk score increased the risk of advanced subclinical coronary atherosclerosis by 36% (P=8.3×10−25). This increase in risk was significant in all 4 age groups including the youngest group where atherosclerosis consisted primarily of raised lesions without macroscopic evidence of plaque rupture or thrombosis. Results were similar when we restricted the genetic risk score to 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms not associated with traditional risk factors or when we adjusted for traditional risk factors. Conclusions—A genetic risk score for clinical coronary artery disease is associated with advanced subclinical coronary atherosclerosis throughout the life-course. This association is apparent even at the earliest, uncomplicated stages of atherosclerosis.
Validation study of a quantitative multigene reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for assessment of recurrence risk in patients with stage II colon cancer.

PURPOSE We developed quantitative gene expression assays to assess recurrence risk and benefits from chemotherapy in patients with stage II colon cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We sought validation by using RNA extracted from fixed paraffin-embedded primary colon tumor blocks from 1,436 patients with stage II colon cancer in the QUASAR (Quick and Simple and Reliable) study of adjuvant fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy versus surgery alone. A recurrence score (RS) and a treatment score (TS) were calculated from gene expression levels of 13 cancer-related genes (n = 7 recurrence genes and n = 6 treatment benefit genes) and from five reference genes with prespecified algorithms. Cox proportional hazards regression models and log-rank methods were used to analyze the relationship between the RS and risk of recurrence in patients treated with surgery alone and between TS and benefits of chemotherapy. RESULTS Risk of recurrence was significantly associated with RS (hazard ratio [HR] per interquartile range, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.74; P = .004). Recurrence risks at 3 years were 12%, 18%, and 22% for predefined low, intermediate, and high recurrence risk groups, respectively. T stage (HR, 1.94; P < .001) and mismatch repair (MMR) status (HR, 0.31; P < .001) were the strongest histopathologic prognostic factors. The continuous RS was associated with risk of recurrence (P = .006) beyond these and other covariates. There was no trend for increased benefit from chemotherapy at higher TS (P = .95). CONCLUSION The continuous 12-gene RS has been validated in a prospective study for assessment of recurrence risk in patients with stage II colon cancer after surgery and provides prognostic value that complements T stage and MMR. The TS was not predictive of chemotherapy benefit.
Cell dynamics of the ovarian cycle.

Summary. During the ovarian cycle the mouse ovary undergoes changes which involve considerable movements of cells. Autoradiographs prepared at different time intervals after flash labelling with 3H\x=req-\ thymidine show that it is possible to mark cells in distinct cell groups in the ovary and to follow their growth, movement and disappearance from cycle to cycle for a considerable period of time. This method has been used to follow follicle development, the movements of corpora lutea and the development of the peripheral stroma through five cycles.
Lateral and rotational displacement measurement using dual mode reflector and multizeros optical beam

We developed a novel method for displacement measurement of distant target. Both lateral and rotational displacements can be measured with high accuracy using dual mode reflector and a multizeros optical beam. Proposed structure enables us to dissolve the requirement of electrical power supply on a target. Experimental results show that the precision of lateral displacement is approximately 20μm and that of rotational displacement is higher than 0.001 deg at 4.1m distance.
IN VITRO MATURATION, FERTILIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PREPUBERTAL AND MATURE BUFFALO OOCYTES

SUMMARY The competence of pre-pubertal buffalo heifers’ oocytes for in vitro maturation, fertilization and development were studied and compared with that of the adult buffalo oocytes. Ovaries were collected from local abattoir. The oocytes were recovered from antral follicles (3-8 mm) in diameter by aspiration technique and cultured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum(FCS), 10 IU/ml PMSG , 20 IU/ml LH , 1 μg/ml Estradiol 17 β and 50 μg/ml Gentamycin sulfate and incubated in 5% CO2 and high humidity for 24 h at 38.5°C. Number of antral follicles per ovary were insignificantly higher on heifer's ovary (7.00 ± 0.74) comparing with adult buffalo cow's (6.45 ± 0.34). The recovered immature oocytes per ovary were higher, (P<0.001) in buffalo heifers than that in the adult ones (4.35 ± 0.28 and 2.99 ± 0.14, respectively). The competence of immature recovered oocytes to resume meiosis and reach metaphase II were lower (P<0.01) in heifer's ovaries (28.3%) compared to that of the adult cows (59.6%). The fertilized and developed oocytes reached the transferable stages were nearly the same rate in both adult buffalo cow and heifers (26.3 and 27.4%, respectively). Cleaved oocytes were insignificantly low in the heifer group (55.3%) from the initial cultured oocytes number compared with that of the adult group (64.5%). It can be concluded that the pre-pubertal heifers could be a good source for oocytes needed for IVF techniques.
Tissue Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States. Most men have localized disease diagnosed following an elevated serum prostate specific antigen test for cancer screening purposes. Standard treatment options consist of surgery or definitive radiation therapy directed by clinical factors that are organized into risk stratification groups. Current clinical risk stratification systems are still insufficient to differentiate lethal from indolent disease. Similarly, a subset of men in poor risk groups need to be identified for more aggressive treatment and enrollment into clinical trials. Furthermore, these clinical tools are very limited in revealing information about the biologic pathways driving these different disease phenotypes and do not offer insights for novel treatments which are needed in men with poor-risk disease. We believe molecular biomarkers may serve to bridge these inadequacies of traditional clinical factors opening the door for personalized treatment approaches that would allow tailoring of treatment options to maximize therapeutic outcome. We review the current state of prognostic and predictive tissue-based molecular biomarkers which can be used to direct localized prostate cancer treatment decisions, specifically those implicated with definitive and salvage radiation therapy.
Distinct Roles for Arp2/3 Regulators in Actin Assembly and Endocytosis

The Arp2/3 complex is essential for actin assembly and motility in many cell processes, and a large number of proteins have been found to bind and regulate it in vitro. A critical challenge is to understand the actions of these proteins in cells, especially in settings where multiple regulators are present. In a systematic study of the sequential multicomponent actin assembly processes that accompany endocytosis in yeast, we examined and compared the roles of WASp, two type-I myosins, and two other Arp2/3 activators, along with that of coronin, which is a proposed inhibitor of Arp2/3. Quantitative analysis of high-speed fluorescence imaging revealed individual functions for the regulators, manifested in part by novel phenotypes. We conclude that Arp2/3 regulators have distinct and overlapping roles in the processes of actin assembly that drive endocytosis in yeast. The formation of the endocytic actin patch, the creation of the endocytic vesicle, and the movement of the vesicle into the cytoplasm display distinct dependencies on different Arp2/3 regulators. Knowledge of these roles provides insight into the in vivo relevance of the dendritic nucleation model for actin assembly.
A high-selectivity active bandpass filter using gyrator based resonators in 0.13-μm CMOS

An active bandpass filter with high selectivity is presented. The design employs proposed active resonators. By properly cascading multiple resonators, a bandpass response is achieved with good selectivity and passband flatness. To prove the concept, a 7-stage bandpass filter in standard 0.13 μm CMOS is realized. The measured 1 dB bandwidth is 1.35-2.53 GHz. The out-of-band rejection is better than 40 dB below 1.06 GHz and above 2.89 GHz. The input referred 1 dB compression point is -16 dBm. With proper sizing of the tail transistor in the transconductor, the measured common mode suppression is better than 45 dB. The core part of the filter occupies 1.4×0.12 mm2 and consumes 24 mA at a 1.2 V supply voltage.
DisplayObjects: prototyping functional physical interfaces on 3d styrofoam, paper or cardboard models

This paper introduces DisplayObjects, a rapid prototyping workbench that allows functional interfaces to be projected onto real 3D physical prototypes. DisplayObjects uses a Vicon motion capture system to track the location of physical models. 3D software renditions of the 3D physical model are then texture-mapped with interactive behavior and projected back onto the physical model to allow real- time interactions with the object. We discuss the implementation of the system, as well as a selection of one and two-handed interaction techniques for DisplayObjects. We conclude with a design case that comments on some of the early design experiences with the system.
Object classification Techniques using Machine Learning Model

-Detecting people in images is key for several important application domains in computer vision. This paper presents an in-depth experimental study on pedestrian classification; multiple feature-classifier combinations are examined with respect to their performance and efficiency. In investigate global versus local, as exemplified by PCA coefficients. In terms of classifiers, consider the popular Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Adaptive boost with SVM. Experiments are performed on a large data set consisting of 4,000 pedestrian and more than statistically meaningful results are obtained by analysing performance variances caused by varying training and test sets. Furthermore, to investigate how classification performance and training sample size are correlated. Our experiments show that the novel combination of SVMs with Adaptive Boost.
Complexity analysis of sleep and alterations with insomnia based on non-invasive techniques

For the first time, fractal analysis techniques are implemented to study the correlations present in sleep actigraphy for individuals suffering from acute insomnia with comparisons made against healthy subjects. Analysis was carried out for 21 healthy individuals with no diagnosed sleep disorders and 26 subjects diagnosed with acute insomnia during night-time hours. Detrended fluctuation analysis was applied in order to look for 1/f-fluctuations indicative of high complexity. The aim is to investigate whether complexity analysis can differentiate between people who sleep normally and people who suffer from acute insomnia. We hypothesize that the complexity will be higher in subjects who suffer from acute insomnia owing to increased night-time arousals. This hypothesis, although contrary to much of the literature surrounding complexity in physiology, was found to be correct—for our study. The complexity results for nearly all of the subjects fell within a 1/f-range, indicating the presence of underlying control mechanisms. The subjects with acute insomnia displayed significantly higher correlations, confirmed by significance testing—possibly a result of too much activity in the underlying regulatory systems. Moreover, we found a linear relationship between complexity and variability, both of which increased with the onset of insomnia. Complexity analysis is very promising and could prove to be a useful non-invasive identifier for people who suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia.
Interactions between the West Nile virus capsid protein and the host cell‐encoded phosphatase inhibitor, I2PP2A

The West Nile virus (WNV) capsid protein functions in virus assembly to package genomic RNA into nucleocapsid structures. It is becoming clear, that in addition to their structural roles, capsid proteins of RNA viruses have non‐structural functions. For example, the WNV capsid protein has been implicated as a pathogenic determinant. Presumably, many, if not all, of the non‐structural functions of this protein involve interactions with host cell‐encoded proteins. In the present study, we used affinity purification to isolate human proteins that bind to the WNV capsid protein. One of the capsid binding proteins is I2PP2A, a previously characterized inhibitor of the serine/threonine phosphatase PP2A. Mapping studies revealed that capsid binding site overlaps with the region of I2PP2A that is required for inhibition of PP2A activity. Moreover, expression of the WNV capsid protein resulted in significantly increased PP2A activity and expected downstream events, such as inhibition of AP1‐dependent transcription. Infected cells treated with I2PP2A‐specific siRNAs produced less infectious virus than control siRNA‐transfected cells, but this difference was minimal. Together, our data indicate that interactions between WNV capsid and I2PP2A result in increased PP2A activity. Given the central role of this phosphatase in cellular physiology, capsid/I2PP2A interactions may yet prove to be important for viral pathogenesis.
Verification in a Synthesis Environment

A new methodology for formal logic verification of combinational circuits is presented. Specifically, a structural approach is used, based on indirect implications derived by recursive learning. It is shown that implications can be used to capture similarity between designs. This is extended to formulate a hybrid approach, this structural information is used to reduce the complexity of a subsequent functional method based on OBDDs. We demonstrate that OBDD-based verification can take great advantage of structural preprocessing in a synthesis environment where many small operations are performed that modify the circuit. The experimental results show that an effective combination can be achieved between memory efficient structural methods and powerful functional methods. 1 Research reported supported in part by NSF grant MIP 94-06946 and ONR grant #N00014-92-J-1366 2 A preliminary version of this paper was presented in DAC'95 and ICCAD'93 3 Portions of this research were conducted while this author was with Institut für Theoretische Elektrotechnik, University of Hannover, Germany 4 Portions of this research were conducted while this author visited with Max-Planck-Society, Fault-Tolerant Computing Group, University of Potsdam, Germany and are based on the thesis work of S. M. Reddy at Texas A&M University.
Effect of a 36-month pharmaceutical care program on the coronary heart disease risk in elderly diabetic and hypertensive patients.

PURPOSE To examine the effect of a pharmaceutical care program on the coronary heart disease risk in elderly diabetic and hypertensive patients. METHODS A total of 200 elderly (> 60 years) diabetic and/or hypertensive patients were recruited into a randomized, controlled, prospective clinical trial with a 36-month follow-up, developed in a public primary health care unit in a municipality in the Brazilian State of Sao Paulo. A range of clinical measurements were evaluated at the baseline and up to 36 months afterwards. The intervention group patients received pharmaceutical care from a clinical pharmacist, whereas the control group patients received their usual care from the medical and nursing staff. The Framingham scoring method was used to estimate changes in the 10-year coronary heart disease risk scores of all the patients. RESULTS A total of 194 patients completed the study. Significant reductions (p < 0.05) in the mean values (baseline vs. 36 months) for the systolic blood pressure [156.7 mmHg vs 133.7 mmHg; P < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (106.6 mmHg vs. 91.6 mmHg; P < 0.001),fasting glucose (135.1 mg/dL vs. 107.9 mg/dL; P < 0.001), hemoglobin A1C (7.7% vs. 7.0%; P <0.001), triglycerides (206.0 mg/dL vs. 152.5 mg/dL; P < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)cholesterol (112.4 mg/dL vs. 102.0 mg/dL; P < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (55.5 mg/dL vs. 65.5 mg/dL; P < 0.001), total cholesterol (202.5 mg/dL vs. 185.9 mg/dL; P < 0.001), body mass index (26.2 kg/m2 vs. 26.1 kg/m2; P < 0.001), and abdominal circumference (103.2 cm vs. 102.5 cm; P= 0.001) were observed in the intervention group, whereas no significant changes were verified in the control group. The mean Framingham risk prediction score in the intervention group was 6.8% at baseline and decreased to 4.5%; P < 0.001) after 36 months, but remained unchanged in the control group. CONCLUSION The pharmaceutical care program resulted in better clinical measurements and reduced the cardiovascular risk scores in elderly diabetic and hypertensive patients over a 36-month period.
Effect of Verbenone on Attraction of Predatory and Woodboring Beetles (Coleoptera) to Kairomones in Lodgepole Pine Forests

Abstract The response of bark beetle predators and woodboring beetles to the bark beetle anti-aggregation pheromone, verbenone, was tested in the field with multiple-funnel traps baited with attractant kairomones. Catches of the predators Thanasimus undatulus (Say), Enoclerus sphegeus (F.), Enoclerus lecontei (Wolcott) (Coleoptera: Cleridae), and Lasconotus complex LeConte (Coleoptera: Colydiidae) declined significantly with increasing release rates of verbenone. Lasconotus subcostulatus Kraus, and Corticeus praetermissus (Fall) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (in two of three experiments), showed no significant response to verbenone. In a third experiment, catches of C. praetermissus increased with verbenone dose. Likewise, catches of the striped ambrosia beetle, Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), increased with verbenone dose in one experiment, but there was no effect in two other experiments. Verbenone had no effect on the response of Spondylis upiformis Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). We hypothesize that predators specializing on early successional bark beetles are repelled by verbenone since this compound indicates a late stage attack. Generalist predators and woodborers either do not respond to verbenone at all, or they may be attracted by it.
ALAP: Accessible LaTeX Based Mathematical Document Authoring and Presentation

Assistive technologies such as screen readers and text editors have been used in past to improve the accessibility and authoring of scientific and mathematical documents. However, most screens readers fail to narrate complex mathematical notations and expressions as they skip symbols and necessary information required for the accurate narration of mathematical content. This study aims at evaluating a new Accessible LaTeX Based Mathematical Document Authoring and Presentation (ALAP) tool, which assist people with visual impairments in reading and writing mathematical documents. ALAP includes features like, assistive debugging, Math Mode for reading and writing mathematical notations, and automatic generation of an accessible PDF document. These features aim to improve the LaTeX debugging experience and make it simple for blind users to author mathematical content by narrating it in natural language through the use of integrated text to speech (TTS) engine. We evaluated ALAP by conducting a study with 18 visually impaired LaTeX users. The results showed that users preferred ALAP over another comparable LaTeX based authoring tool and were relatively more comfortable in completing the tasks while using ALAP.
Bis{(E)-3-[(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino]propyl}ammonium chloride

The title salt, C20H26N3O2 +·Cl−, lies across a twofold crystallographic axis with the central N atom of the cation and the chloride anion sitting on this axis, Z′ = 0.5. There is an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the hydroxy H atom and the imino N atom. The chloride anion and the cation are connected into chains along the a axis by an N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bond. In the crystal, the chains are linked via C—H⋯Cl interactions forming two-dimensional networks lying parallel to (101).