Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bax in Murine Thymus Is a Soluble Monomeric Protein That Displays Differential Detergent-induced Conformations*

Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and Bax are members of the Bcl-2 family that play important roles in apoptosis regulation. These proteins are believed to be membrane-bound and to regulate apoptosis through formation of homo- and heterodimers. However, we recently found by subcellular fractionation that whereas Bcl-2 is predominantly a membrane protein as previously reported, Bax and a significant fraction of Bcl-XL are soluble in thymocyte and splenocyte extracts. In addition, we have demonstrated that the ability of Bax to form dimers appears to be a detergent-induced phenomenon that coincides with a detergent-induced conformational change. We have further investigated the tertiary and quaternary states of Bax in the presence of various detergents. Detergents such as Triton X-100 and Triton X-114 readily enable Bax hetero- and homodimerization. However, other detergents such as polydocanol, W-1, octyl glucoside, dodecyl maltoside, Tween 20, and sodium cholate allow varying degrees of Bax hetero- and homodimerization. Detergents such as 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid (Chaps) and Brij 35 allow neither hetero- nor homodimer formation. Immunoprecipitation analysis with the conformation-sensitive antibody uBax 6A7 revealed that whereas Triton X-100 readily exposes the N-terminal Bax epitope (amino acid 13–19), only limited exposure of the epitope occurs in Triton X-114, polydocanol, dodecyl maltoside, and sodium cholate, and no exposure of this epitope was observed in W-1, Chaps, octyl glucoside, Tween 20, and Brij 35. Moreover, we could not detect any proteins associated with the cytosolic form of Bax based on immunopurification of this protein. Sephacryl S-100 gel filtration chromatography analysis of the cytosolic Bax indicated that this protein is monomeric and displays an apparent molecular mass of 25 kDa. Induction of apo-ptosis which causes the insertion of the soluble form of Bax into membranes did not result in appreciable Bax/Bcl-XL, Bax/Bcl-2 or Bax/Bax dimer formation as determined by cross-linking studies. Further analysis of Bax after apoptosis induction by immunoprecipitation in the presence of Chaps also revealed no significant heterodimer formation. In conclusion, Bax displays several distinct states in different detergents that expose defined regions of the protein. In addition, these results suggest that mechanisms other than the simple dimerization among members of the Bcl-2 family may be required for the regulation of apoptosis.
Evaluation of the performance appraisal systems in KNUST and GIMPA libraries

Academic libraries have a performance appraisal system comprising setting of goals, feedback, participation and incentives for performance. This study aimed at evaluating the performance appraisal system in the KNUST and GIMPA libraries in Ghana and give recommendations on improving the system. Questionnaires were randomly administered to 46 staff members of these libraries. Twenty three (50%) of respondents knew that the libraries operated a formal performance appraisal system. Sixteen (34.8%) had access to documentation on the current objectives and procedures of the system. Thirty one (67.4 %) respondents on employment were given formal job descriptions of which 25 (80.6 %) were supervised daily. For 34 (73.9%) respondents, their performances were assessed and evaluated within the academic year. Thirty one (67%) had formal meetings with their supervisors on their performance. Interestingly only four individuals had ever resisted appraisal results once or sometimes during the appraisal period. Overall, 42 (91.3 %) do not find being evaluated by another person threatening. The preferred motivations were; promotion, study leave with pay, or commendation. Only 19 (41.3 %) thought the current system was trustworthy. The existing performance appraisal systems in the libraries had inadequacies which created perception of inefficiency in the appraisal process.
A Reconsideration of the Modigliani-Miller Propositions

This paper shows that Modigliani-Miller's first proposition can hold in an economy where there is no capital market for lending and borrowing, and there is no need to assume that individuals and corporations can borrow at the same rate. Modigliani-Miller's second proposition has nothing to do with the financial risk of firm or equityholders' attitudes toward risk.
Measuring the Quality of E-Business Services

With the advent of the e-business era, more and more organizations rely on the Internet to support communication and transactions with constituents. Examples range from electronic retailers such as Amazon to health care providers to government agencies. For many organizations, a Web site is a primary way in which the organization’s customers or constituents interact with the organization. Given the important role of such websites, it is critical for organizations to provide high quality electronic services and delivery via a website. High quality electronic services can promote customer satisfaction and loyalty, while poor services may result in dissatisfied and lost customers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005). In recent years, researchers have begun to actively explore the factors associated with electronic service quality and the assessment of electronic service quality. This research has been conducted to provide guidance to website system developers ABSTRACT
Android Based Currency Recognition System for Blind

: There are around 285 Million people who are visually impaired worldwide[1]. One of the greatest difficulty faced by a blind person is to know the value of the currency that he or she has. It becomes a great difficulty for them to exchange money during purchases and they may get cheated in many instances. This paper is mainly built to support them and make them easier to get used to the currencies. Here, we propose an android based application for recognizing currencies of different countries and also their denominations mainly for visually impaired people. Image processing techniques like feature extraction and matching are used to identify currencies. This application runs on a low end smartphone. We give an audio message as the input to start the app and to capture the image. Then the image is captured and is compared with the test image. If the features of both the images are spatially consistent, then an audio output is given to the user about the denomination of the currency and to which country it belongs to. Otherwise, an error message is given as output.
An investigation of the factors that impact on the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee : a study of the convenience stores within the petroleum industry.

Although franchising is growing in importance as a form of business with considerable benefits to all participants, little research has been done to evaluate the factors that contribute to a successful franchise relationship from the viewpoint of the franchisee. This study is intended to provide valuable information for establishing an effective management strategy, with a view to improving the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. The study will include an analysis of the predictors of a quality relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee; and attempts to increase the understanding of the relationships between the predictors of a quality relationship, which may contribute to the franchisee's performance and satisfaction. Using the survey responses of the franchisees of the Convenience stores within the Petroleum Industry, this study identifies key factors that affect the franchisee's motivation to become a franchisee, the franchisee's perception of the franchisor's support, the quality of the relationship, loyalty/commitment to the franchisor and the franchisee's performance. The results of this study provide strong support for the idea that the quality of the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee plays a key role in ensuring that the contractual relationship will lead to financial success for both parties. Recommendations provided will assist the franchisor in establishing an effective management strategy to improve the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee and thus improve the rate of succe~s for both the franchisor and the franchisee.
Cultural Influences in Television Commercials

Abstract Advertising is said to be a “distorted mirror” that reflects certain cultural values of the host country in which it exists (Pollay, 1986, 1987). In this study, 22 dominant cultural values are identified from an analysis of a sample of 80 television advertisements taken from Singapore and Malaysia in 1998. A comparison of cultural values identified in the two countries yields several interesting observations. Television commercials shown in Malaysia do not carry the value “sex” and “work”, whereas those shown in Singapore do not portray the value “leisure”. Both countries show a significant tendency to use more symbolic values than product attribute values in retail advertising. Moreover, the value “individualism” is used more often in television commercials shown in Singapore than in Malaysia. This is likely due to the fact that Malaysia is still hesitant to promote values that are perceived to run counter to established conventions. As for Singapore, the government has been relatively neutral in advertising content as long as religion, language and race are not exploited. Most commercials therefore tend to portray materialistic pursuits.
Cox proportional hazards models with left truncation and time‐varying coefficient: Application of age at event as outcome in cohort studies

When analyzing time‐to‐event cohort data, two different ways of choosing a time scale have been discussed in the literature: time‐on‐study or age at onset of disease. One advantage of choosing the latter is interpretability of the hazard ratio as a function of age. To handle the analysis of age at onset in a principled manner, we present an analysis of the Cox Proportional Hazards model with time‐varying coefficient for left‐truncated and right‐censored data. In the analysis of Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) with age at onset of stroke as outcome, we demonstrate that well‐established risk factors may be important only around a certain age span and less established risk factors can have a strong effect in a certain age span.
The auxins, IAA and PAA, are synthesized by similar steps catalyzed by different enzymes

ABSTRACT One of the fundamental plant growth substances, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), belongs to a class of phytohormones known as auxins. The main IAA biosynthesis pathway involves the conversion of tryptophan to indole-3-pyruvic acid, which is in turn converted to IAA. The two enzymes responsible for these conversions, members of the TAA1 and YUCCA gene families, respectively, have recently been implicated in the synthesis of another auxin, phenylacetic acid (PAA). While there is some evidence to support this theory, there are also some concerns. Here we address the question: to what extent does the TAA1/YUCCA system contribute to the biosynthesis of PAA? In addition, we highlight the importance of measuring auxin metabolites and conjugates in addressing such questions.
Data exchange via multiplexed color QR codes on mobile devices

This paper presents a new way of exchanging data such as images and text files via mobile devices in the absence of existing wireless technologies, namely WiFi and Cellular Data Network in a personal area network. It does not incur the overhead of Bluetooth pairing and discovery. This application, ColorQR, sends data through the manipulation of colors into multiplexed QR codes. Data is encoded into Red-, Blue- and Green-color QR codes and are multiplexed to form multiple multi-color QR codes that will be flashed on the screen of the sender's device. The receiver, in the form of a camera of a mobile device, will record the flashing images and convert the images into RGB channels using grayscale conversion. Thus one image will be split into 3 sets of black and white QR codes. Results show that ColorQR is highly feasible and it can transmit data of varying sizes without limitation.
P-selectin gene haplotypes modulate soluble P-selectin concentrations and contribute to the risk of venous thromboembolism

Summary The cell adhesion molecule P-selectin mediates the interaction of activated platelets or endothelial cells with leukocytes. In arterial and venous thromboembolism (VTE) increased soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) concentrations have been found, and associations of P-selectin genotypes with thrombotic disease have been proposed. We assessed the effect of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) [one in the promoter region (c.–2123C>G) and three (S290N, c.1087G>A; D562N, c.1902G>A; T715P, c.2363A>C) in the coding region] and the calculated haplotypes in the P-selectin gene (SELP) on sP-selectin concentrations and VTE risk. The analysis was carried out in 116 high-risk patients with a history of objectively confirmed recurrent VTE and 129 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. Haplotypes were generated using computer-assisted haplotype reconstruction with Phase 2.1. sP-selectin (μg/l) was measured by ELISA. Frequencies of all four individual SNPs were not statistically significantly different between patients and controls. Tenhaplotypes were obtained for the control population, and nine for the patient group. The most frequent haplotype among controls was CGGA (major allele at all positions) (27.8%; frequency in patients 19.0%), which was used as reference for statistical analyses. Among patients GGAA was most frequent (23.3%; frequency in controls 17.5%). Haplotypes were significantly associated with sP-selectin concentrations in patients and in controls (p<0.001 and p=0.011). Compared to CGGA some but not all haplotypes conferred an increased risk for VTE with odds ratios (ORs) between 5.4 (95% CI: 2.5–12.2) for CAGA, 3.3 (1.2–9.2) for CGAC, and 2.4 (1.3–4.7) for GGAA. All ORs remained statistically significant after adjustment for the factor V Leiden mutation, located in close proximity to SELP on chromosome 1, as well as all other established risk factors for VTE. In conclusion, SELP haplotypes modulate plasma concentrations of sP-selectin and affect the risk of recurrent VTE.
Evaluation of density one-class classifiers for item-based filtering

In this paper we explore the use of density one-class classifiers for the movie recommendation problem. Our motivation lies in the fact that users of recommender systems usually provide ratings only for items that they are interested in and belong to their preferences without giving information on items that they dislike. One-class classification seems to be the proper learning paradigm for the recommendation problem, as it tries to induce a general function that can discriminate between two classes of interest, given the constraint that training patterns are available only from one class. The experimental results show that one-class classifiers not only cope with the problem of lack of negative examples, but also succeed in performing efficiently in the recommendation process.
Changes in the Size and Structure of the European Union Banking Sector – The Role of Competition between Banks

The aim of this paper is to present the changes in the banking sectors of European Union (EU) countries both before the last global financial crisis and during the crisis, with particular emphasis on the change in concentration and competition, in an attempt to determine the relationship between competition, concentration, and risk-taking by banks. This paper also addresses the current problems in the banking sector of the EU (i.e., banks are too-big-to-fail (TBTF)), and attempts to solving these problems within the framework of regulatory initiatives. The empirical results based on panel data analysis find that increasing the concentration and size of the banking sectors within EU-27 from the period 2006-2010 had a negative impact on financial stability. The results for competition are unambiguous, as competition had a positive impact on financial stability, mainly within the EU-12 banking sectors.
Design of biped robot inspired by cats for fast running

A novel design of a biped robot inspired by domestic cats for fast running is introduced. The skeletomuscular system of a cat is analysed and applied to determine the link parameters and the linkage structure of the proposed mechanism. The linkage design of the leg mechanism is explained and a kinematic analysis based on vector loop equations is performed. The effectiveness of the proposed mechanism is verified experimentally. The biped robot runs at an average speed of 2 m/s at a step frequency of 4 Hz. This leg mechanism can facilitate the development of fast running robot systems.
Nanowire-Aware Routing Considering High Cut Mask Complexity

1-D nanowires are one of the most promising next-generation lithography technologies for 7 nm process node and beyond. The 1-D nanowire process first constructs a 1-D nanoarray through template synthesis followed by line-end cutting with additional cut masks. To achieve better yield and manufacturability, the cut patterns shall satisfy specified restricted design rules, and thus it is desirable to develop a novel routing methodology to better address the challenges arising from cut patterns. In this paper, we propose the first nanowire-aware routing system, considering high cut-mask complexity based on a two-pass, bottom-up multilevel routing framework. Experimental results show that our nanowire-aware router can effectively and efficiently reduce cut numbers, cut spacing violations, and line-end extension length.
The theory of constraints and its implications for management accounting

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Two novel mutations and evidence for haploinsufficiency of the ADAR gene in dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria

Background Dyschromatosis symmetrica hereditaria (DSH, MIM 127400) is a dominantly inherited skin disease associated with mutations in ADAR, the gene that encodes a double‐stranded RNA‐specific adenosine deaminase. We previously reported two novel ADAR mutations (p.Q513X and p.R916W) and confirmed the role of ADAR in Chinese patients with DSH. Both haploinsufficiency and a dominant‐negative effect have been suggested as the potential mechanism by which ADAR mutations cause DSH.
SELF-CONTAINED OXYGEN SUPPLY FOR SELF-REGULATING MINIATURE FUEL CELL

We report a microstructure, which if electrified in a hydrogen peroxide solution covers its top with a thin layer of oxygen gas in a self-regulating manner. In pursuit of realizing a full fuel cell with no moving part, we have successfully developed such an oxygen-generating surface and integrated it as a direct oxygen supply to the cathode of our previously developed miniature fuel cells. The resulting fuel cell showed a significant increase in current density, compared with the previous air-breathing counterpart. This unique oxygen supply takes up a much smaller volume than the existing designs, which require ancillary components, such as a pressurized oxygen tank with a regulator. In designing a fully functional (i.e., self-sustainable) miniature fuel cell, elimination of the need to access the ambient air allows a stackable configuration for higher power demands.
A Role for the Distal Carboxyl Tails in Generating the Novel Pharmacology and G Protein Activation Profile of μ and δ Opioid Receptor Hetero-oligomers*

Opioid receptor pharmacology in vivo has predicted a greater number of receptor subtypes than explained by the profiles of the three cloned opioid receptors, and the functional dependence of the receptors on each other shown in gene-deleted animal models remains unexplained. One mechanism for such findings is the generation of novel signaling complexes by receptor hetero-oligomerization, which we previously showed results in significantly different pharmacology for μ and δ receptor hetero-oligomers compared with the individual receptors. In the present study, we show that deltorphin-II is a fully functional agonist of the μ-δ heteromer, which induced desensitization and inhibited adenylyl cyclase through a pertussis toxin-insensitive G protein. Activation of the μ-δ receptor heteromer resulted in preferential activation of Gαz, illustrated by incorporation of GTPγ35S, whereas activation of the individually expressed μ and δ receptors preferentially activated Gαi. The unique pharmacology of the μ-δ heteromer was dependent on the reciprocal involvement of the distal carboxyl tails of both receptors, so that truncation of the distal μ receptor carboxyl tail modified the δ-selective ligand-binding pocket, and truncation of the δ receptor distal carboxyl tail modified the μ-selective binding pocket. The distal carboxyl tails of both receptors also had a significant role in receptor interaction, as evidenced by the reduced ability to co-immunoprecipitate when the carboxyl tails were truncated. The interaction between μ and δ receptors occurred constitutively when the receptors were co-expressed, but did not occur when receptor expression was temporally separated, indicating that the hetero-oligomers were generated by a co-translational mechanism.
CMOS current-mode outstar neural networks with long-period analog ratio memory

An on-chip learnable neural network called the outstar is implemented in CMOS current-mode circuits. The on-chip memory called the ratio memory can retain the stored ratio values. The outstar chip is fabricated and tested. It has shown that the storage time of the ratio memory can be as long as 5 minutes without refreshment. Moreover, the outstar can normalize the input pattern and enhance the contrast of the stored pattern within a long period. The application of the outstar in pattern classification has been demonstrated.