Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunogenicity of a fusion protein containing PilQ and disulphide turn region of PilA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mice

Interference with bacterial adhesion is a new means to prevent or treat bacterial infections. In this experimental study we evaluated the immunogenic properties of a chimeric protein composed of PilQ and disulphide turn region of PilA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mice as an anti‐adhesion based vaccine. First of all, a chimeric bivalent protein composed of PilQ and PilA was constructed and following subcutaneous immunization with merely the purified protein or in its admixed form with alum, the immunogenicity of the chimeric antigen was assessed in BALB/c mice. Then, the characteristics of the developed antibodies were studied by ELISA. Furthermore, the immunoreactivity of the purified recombinant protein was confirmed by immunoblotting. Alum as a common adjuvant boosted immunogenicity of the construct, resulting significantly greater anti‐pili IgG titre. Mice antibody response consisted of IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b and IgG3 subtypes with predominance of IgG1 subclass. The developed antibodies were capable to inhibit motility of PAO1 strain. In conclusion, our primary results revealed that the designed recombinant protein is a protective construct and may be used as a potential candidate for prophylactic purposes against P. aeruginosa infection.
A Novel and Intelligent Home Monitoring System for Care Support of Elders with Cognitive Impairment.

BACKGROUND Assistive technology, in the form of a smart home environment, is employed to support people with dementia. OBJECTIVES To propose a system for continuous and objective remote monitoring of problematic daily living activity areas and design personalized interventions based on system feedback and clinical observations for improving cognitive function and health-related quality of life. METHODS The assistive technology of the proposed system, including wearable, sleep, object motion, presence, and utility usage sensors, was methodically deployed at four different home installations of people with cognitive impairment. Detection of sleep patterns, physical activity, and activities of daily living, based on the collected sensor data and analytics, was available at all times through comprehensive data visualization solutions. Combined with clinical observation, targeted psychosocial interventions were introduced to enhance the participants' quality of life and improve their cognitive functions and daily functionality. Meanwhile, participants and their caregivers were able to visualize a reduced set of information tailored to their needs. RESULTS Overall, paired-sample t-test analysis of monitored qualities revealed improvement for all participants in neuropsychological assessment. Moreover, improvement was detected from the beginning to the end of the trial, in physical condition and in the domains of sleep. Detecting abnormalities via the system, for example in sleep quality, such as REM sleep, has proved to be critical to assess current status, drive interventions, and evaluate improvements in a reliable manner. CONCLUSION It has been proved that the proposed system is suitable to support clinicians to reliably drive and evaluate clinical interventions toward quality of life improvement of people with cognitive impairment.
Financial Analysts Impact on Stock Volatility: A Study on the Pharmaceutical Sector

The arrival of new information helps financial markets to value assets, but it may has the side-effect of increasing their volatilities. A better knowledge of the mechanism that links relevant news and stock prices would help both private and institutional agents to improve the calibration of the risks implies in a given asset. Financial analysts play a key role in distinguishing which news are relevant for the valuation of a particular asset, and the changes in their recommendations are signals of new information in the market. This paper studies the impact those buy or sell recommendations have on returns and also on volatility instead of the traditional literature that focuses only on prices. The pharmaceutical companies in the New York Stock Exchange are especially suited for this type of analysis given the frequent discontinuities in their expected profits derived from the success or failure in the development of new drugs. Twenty stocks are daily tracked for five years along with the recommendations given by financial analysts. We have modeled stock returns by a Markov Regime Switching model as in Schaller and van Norden (1997) and found two states of low and high volatilities. We have also found strong evidence that the probability of being in the estate of high volatility increases when a Financial Analyst changes his recommendation.
Parameter design of a five-level inverter for PV systems

This paper discusses the parameter design method for an active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) multilevel inverter. The power losses of the ANPC inverter are calculated by mathematical expressions and the mathematical results are confirmed well agreed with the experimental results. Furthermore, this paper also discusses on the optimization of the switching frequency, in order to improve the efficiency and to downsizing the capacitor volume.
Research paper: distribution channel decisions in import consumer goods markets

Develops an additional theoretical extension on channel decisions to the basic transaction cost model (TCM) by combining insights from production economy and industrial structure analysis methods with the existing TCM approach. The data for this study were obtained from survey questionnaires of 119 importing firms in Korea. The empirical results showed that production economy and industrial structure approach with previous TCM extended explanatory power of research model on channel style decisions.
Clinical relevance of SKP2 alterations in metastatic melanoma

In this study, we investigated the mechanism(s) of altered expression of protooncogene SKP2 in metastatic melanoma and its clinical relevance in patients with metastatic melanoma. The genomic status of SKP2 was assessed in cell lines by sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism array, and genomic PCR. Copy number status was then evaluated for concordance with SKP2 mRNA and protein expression. SKP2 protein was further evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 93 human metastatic tissues. No mutations were identified in SKP2. Increased copy number at the SKP2 locus was observed in 6/14 (43%) metastatic cell lines and in 9/22 (41%) human metastatic tissues which was associated with overexpression of SKP2 protein. Overexpression of SKP2 protein in human tissues was associated with worse survival in a multivariate model controlling for the site of metastasis. Copy number gain is a major contributing mechanism of SKP2 overexpression in metastatic melanoma. Results may have implications for the development of therapeutics that target SKP2.
Isolation and Functional Characterization of a Novel Organic Solute Carrier Protein, hOSCP1*

We succeeded in isolating a novel organic solute carrier from a human placenta cDNA library. The isolated cDNA consisted of 1137 base pairs that encoded a 379-amino acid protein, hOSCP1. Northern blot and reverse transcription PCR analyses revealed that the hOSCP1 mRNA is expressed in the placenta and testis and weakly expressed in the thymus and small intestine. When expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, hOSCP1 mediated the high affinity transport of p-aminohippurate (PAH) (Km = 35.0 ± 7.5 μm) and tetraethylammonium (Km = 62.3 ± 12.2 μm) in a sodium-independent manner. However, the hOSCP1-expressing oocyte did not mediate the transport of l-carnitine. The transport of PAH by hOSCP1 was sensitive to pH, but the tetraethylammonium was not transported at the high pH examined. hOSCP1 transported prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin F2α, estrone sulfate, glutarate, l-leucine, l-ascorbic acid, and tetracycline. Thus, hOSCP1 also showed broad substrate specificity. A wide range of structurally unrelated organic compounds inhibited the hOSCP1-mediated PAH uptake. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the hOSCP1 protein is localized in the basal membrane of the syncytiotrophoblast in the human placenta. Our results suggest that hOSCP1 is a novel polyspecific organic solute carrier protein responsible for drug clearance from the human placenta.
Spatio–temporal dynamics of acoustic cavitation bubble clouds

Bubble clouds forming in an extended volume of liquid in acoustic cavitation show a slowly varying filamentary structure, whose origin is still not completely understood. Experimental observations are reported that provide some characteristics of the phenomenon, such as bubble distributions and sound–field measurements. A discussion of relevant physical interactions in bubbly liquids is comprised of wave dynamics, Bjerknes and drag forces, nucleation and coalescence. For describing the structure formation process, continuum and particle approaches are employed. In the framework of the continuum model it is shown that homogeneous bubble distributions are unstable, and regions with high bubble concentration emerge in the course of a self–concentration process. In the particle model, all bubbles are treated as interacting objects that move in the liquid. This approach is complementary to the continuum model. It allows the inclusion of some particular features, for instance Bjerknes forces based on nonlinear bubble oscillations. Both models are discussed and results are compared with experimentally observed patterns.
An Improved SVM-KM Model for Imbalanced Datasets

Support vector machine is a widely used machine learning technique. SVM-KM model can speed SVM training by eliminating non support vectors, but imbalanced datasets will affect the classification accuracy. In this paper, we proposed an improved SVM-KM model, which assign different error costs to different classes. Based on the simulation results, the improved SVM-KM model performed best for imbalanced datasets.
Mimetic Entry and Bandwagon Effect: The Rise and Decline of International Equity Joint Venture in China

The rise and decline of foreign entry strategies in transition economies is an important yet largely overlooked issue in the literature. This study is a step toward filling this gap by examining how mimetic entry within reference groups and the emergence of a competing strategy affect the bandwagon phenomenon of a dominant strategy in the context of China, where international equity joint ventures (EJVs) used to be a dominant entry strategy among foreign firms in the 1990s. Findings from a sample of 1,123 EJVs formed in China’s non-restricted industries from 1990 to 2003 show that the impact of home and host-country industry effects are not symmetric between the EJV rise and decline periods. Cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) as a competing strategy has an important impact during the EJV decline period but not the rise period. The interactive effects between EJV and M&A strategies occur only in the host-country industries. We discuss such results and offer suggestions for future research.
In vivo mouse myocardial P-31 MRS using three-dimensional image-selected in vivo spectroscopy (3D ISIS): technical considerations and biochemical validations

31 P MRS provides a unique non-invasive window into myocardial energy homeostasis. Mouse models of cardiac disease are widely used in preclinical studies, but the application of 31 P MRS in the in vivo mouse heart has been limited. The small-sized, fast-beating mouse heart imposes challenges regarding localized signal acquisition devoid of contamination with signal originating from surrounding tissues. Here, we report the implementation and validation of three-dimensional image-selected in vivo spectroscopy (3D ISIS) for localized 31 P MRS of the in vivo mouse heart at 9.4T. Cardiac 31 P MR spectra were acquired in vivo in healthy mice ( n = 9) and in transverse aortic constricted (TAC) mice ( n = 8) using respiratory-gated, cardiac-triggered 3D ISIS. Localization and potential signal contamination were assessed with 31 P MRS experiments in the anterior myocardial wall, liver, skeletal muscle and blood. For healthy hearts, results were validated against ex vivo biochemical assays. Effects of isoflurane anesthesia were assessed by measuring in vivo hemodynamics and blood gases. The myocardial energy status, assessed via the phosphocreatine (PCr) to adenosine 5 ′ -triphosphate (ATP) ratio, was approximately 25% lower in TAC mice compared with controls (0.76 ± 0.13 versus 1.00 ± 0.15; P < 0.01). Localization with one-dimensional (1D) ISIS resulted in two-fold higher PCr/ATP ratios than measured with 3D ISIS, because of the high PCr levels of chest skeletal muscle that contaminate the 1D ISIS measurements. Ex vivo determinations of the myocardial PCr/ATP ratio (0.94 ± 0.24; n = 8) confirmed the in vivo observations in control mice. Heart rate (497 ± 76 beats/min), mean arterial pressure (90 ± 3.3mmHg) and blood oxygen saturation (96.2 ± 0.6%) during the experimental conditions of in vivo 31 P MRS were within the normal physiological range. Our results show that respiratory-gated, cardiac-triggered 3D ISIS allows for non-invasive assessments of in vivo mouse myocardial energy homeostasis with 31 P MRS under physiological conditions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Elimination of Protein Kinase MK5/PRAK Activity by Targeted Homologous Recombination

ABSTRACT MK5 (mitogen-activated protein kinase [MAPK]-activated protein kinase 5), also designated PRAK (p38-regulated and -activated kinase), was deleted from mice by homologous recombination. Although no MK5 full-length protein and kinase activity was detected in the MK5 knockout mice, the animals were viable and fertile and did not display abnormalities in tissue morphology or behavior. In addition, these mice did not show increased resistance to endotoxic shock or decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production. Hence, MK5 deletion resulted in a phenotype very different from the complex inflammation-impaired phenotype of mice deficient in MK2, although MK2 and MK5 exhibit evolutional, structural, and apparent extensive functional similarities. To explain this discrepancy, we used wild-type cells and embryonic fibroblasts from both MK2 and MK5 knockout mice as controls to reexamine the mechanism of activation, the interaction with endogenous p38 MAPK, and the substrate specificity of both enzymes. In contrast to MK2, which shows interaction with and chaperoning properties for p38 MAPK and which is activated by extracellular stresses such as arsenite or sorbitol treatment, endogenous MK5 did not show these properties. Furthermore, endogenous MK5 is not able to phosphorylate Hsp27 in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that the differences between the phenotypes of MK5- and MK2-deficient mice result from clearly different functional properties of both enzymes.
XXXVI Rehabilitation of the Airway System by Neck Flaps

Rehabilitation of the hypopharynx, glottis and trachea has been a perplexing problem for a variety of reasons. The etiological factors associated with the abnormalities in these sites embrace congenital maldevelopment and stenosis following trauma, infection, irradiation and neoplasm. These conditions may appear in infancy and affect the natural growth and development of this area. They may appear later in life after the growth pattern has matured, and present a problem of stenosis in an adult architecture. The basic efforts at amelioration in these conditions have been the utilization of the natural growth factor to its maximum degree, and the correction of the stenosis by repeated, graduated dilatations over months and years, excising scar, technically creating a passageway and maintaining it with a stent or tube. These concepts have been in use for a hundred years, but have never been completely satisfactory because of the chronicity of the treatment and the tendency to restenose after the stent has been removed.
Power-efficient partitioning and cluster generation design for application-specific Network-on-Chip

Network-on-Chip (NoC) is a promising solution for System-on-Chip (SoC) challenges. In this work, we present a Decompose and Cluster generation Refinement (DCR) algorithm to find minimum power consumption simultaneously. A two-stage method is proposed for decompose and cluster generation step to generate solutions with lower power. Refinement step explores optimal positions and adjusts clusters for selected solutions to find balanced point between power consumption and CPU time. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the existing work.
TSG 101 Protein Steady-State Level Is Regulated Posttranslationally by an Evolutionarily Conserved COOH-Terminal Sequence 1

Antisense inactivation of thetsg101tumor susceptibility gene in murine NIH3T3 fibroblasts leads to neoplastic transformation and tumorigenesis, which are reversed by restoration oftsg101activity. tsg101 deficiency is associated with a series of mitosis-related abnormalities, whereas overexpression of TSG101 can also result in neoplastic transformation and the perturbation of cell cycling. Together, these observations imply that TSG101 production outside of a narrow range can lead to abnormal cell growth. We report here that the TSG101 protein is maintained at an almost constant steady-state level in cultured murine and human cells and that this occurs through a posttranslational process involving TSG101 protein degradation. Sustained overproduction of TSG101 from chromosomally inserted adventitious constructs resulted in compensatory downregulation of endogenous TSG101 and replacement of the native protein by the adventitious one. Using deletion mutants of TSG101, we mapped the region responsible for autoregulation of the TSG101 steady-state level to an evolutionarily conserved sequence, here termed the “steadiness box,” located near TSG101’s COOH-terminal end. Our results suggest a model in which the biological effects of TSG101 are modulated either by self-promoted proteolysis or participation with other cellular protein(s) in a proteolytic feedback-control loop.
DECORS : A Simple and Efficient Demographic Collaborative Recommender System for Movie Recommendation

With the explosion of internet users on the web, finding the right choice for the user is a tedious task. Collaborative filtering one of the most commonly used Recommender system recommends the movies based on user preferences. However, it requires expensive computations to find the similarity as the number of users and movies increases. Hence, DECORS a Movie Recommender is proposed which provide a solution for the aforementioned problem. DECORS is based on collaborative filtering which initially partitions the users based on demographic attributes, then using kmeans clustering algorithm clusters the partitioned users based on user rating matrix. It reduces the expensive computations to identify similar users in order to predict movies when compared with traditional collaborative filtering approach. The proposed system also sorts the movies in the increasing order of user’s preferences. The proposed framework is assessed by using the performance measurement MAE(Mean Absolute Error). The results proved that proposed system is more efficient when compared against traditional methods.
Esterification of low molecular weight acids in cellulose

The interaction between low molecular weight acids dissolved in mineral oil with cellulose has been studied. The formation of esters as a function of temperature has been demonstrated using attenuated total reflection infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Higher temperatures lead to a shift towards ester formation compared to lower temperatures. This reaction might be reversed by exposing the cellulose to an excess of water at elevated temperatures. However, this hydrolysis of the esters will not be complete, leaving some of the initially free acids trapped in the paper as esters. Regarding degradation of the cellulose, only free acids with a carbonyl group available will enhance the break-up of the glycosidic bonds in the cellulose polymer. Therefore it seems more appropriate to use cold water extraction in order to quantify the amount of free acids in the paper/pressboard.
Price, product information, and purchase intention: An empirical study

Price, nonprice product information, and purchase intention, together with the intervening variables of perceived price, perceived quality, and perceived value, are empirically examined. The results indicate that perceived price is positively influenced by objective price and negatively influenced by reference price. They support the positive price-perceived quality relationship found in previous studies and, further, show that the influence of price on perceived quality is lessened in the presence of substantial direct product information. Finally, the results demonstrate that a trade-off between perceived price and perceived quality leads to perceived value, and perceived value is a primary factor influencing purchase intention.
Institutional Investors and Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance Policies: Evidence from Toxics Release Data

This paper studies whether institutional investors influence corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and the impact of such influence on firm performance. We use facility-level toxic release data to proxy for a firm’s ESG policies. We use geographic distance and the size of equity ownership to proxy for institutions’ interests and preferences. We find robust evidence that local institutional ownership reduces the amount of toxic chemicals released by a nearby facility into the environment. Pollution abatement policies implemented in the presence of high levels of local institutional ownership enhance firm performance. The overall evidence suggests that ESG appeals to a diverse set of institutional investors. There is no evidence that pollution abatement policies are detrimental to firm value. Our results support Jensen (2001)’s theory of enlightened value maximization that firm value is maximized in the long run when the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders are aligned.
An analysis of project risks using the non-parametric bootstrap technique

Standard statistical techniques do not always provide answers to project risks questions because often there are no parametric distributions on which significance can be estimated. Resampling methods provide a battery of tests that can be used in such circumstances. In the past few years these methods have been explored theoretically and are now employed frequently. The aim of the paper is to highlight the motivations for using a model base on bootstrap in typical project risk analysis. Bootstrap method for decreasing the standard deviation of project risks is described. We give a numerical example for better understanding.