Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Odor coding by a mammalian receptor repertoire

Identification of mammalian olfactory receptor agonists enables development of a predictive model of receptor activation. To Shape a Smell? Our ability to detect and discriminate among the numerous odorous compounds to which we are exposed depends on odorant recognition by members of a large family of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding protein (G protein)–coupled odorant receptors (ORs). However, the specific physicochemical properties that enable a particular odorant to act as a ligand for a particular receptor—and thus the initial stage in determining how that odorant is perceived—remain unclear. Saito et al. used a heterologous expression system to test the responses of a large library of human and mouse ORs with a panel of 93 odorants. Analysis of ligand properties and OR sequences enabled the authors to develop a model for predicting interactions between ORs and their ligands. Deciphering olfactory encoding requires a thorough description of the ligands that activate each odorant receptor (OR). In mammalian systems, however, ligands are known for fewer than 50 of more than 1400 human and mouse ORs, greatly limiting our understanding of olfactory coding. We performed high-throughput screening of 93 odorants against 464 ORs expressed in heterologous cells and identified agonists for 52 mouse and 10 human ORs. We used the resulting interaction profiles to develop a predictive model relating physicochemical odorant properties, OR sequences, and their interactions. Our results provide a basis for translating odorants into receptor neuron responses and for unraveling mammalian odor coding.
Luteal phase support for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer--present and future methods to improve successful implantation.

PURPOSE To present reasons for luteal phase deficiency when taking controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for purposes of inducing multiple oocytes for in vitro fertilization (IVF), and to suggest strategies to overcome the defect. METHODS Treatment options presented include luteal phase support with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injection, progesterone, estradiol, gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists, cytokines, e.g., granulocyte colony stimulating factor, and lymphocyte immunotherapy. RESULTS hCG and progesterone produce the best results and are comparable or at best a slight edge to hCG but the latter is associated with too high a risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Vaginal progesterone is the most efficacious with the least side-effects. CONCLUSIONS Better methods are needed to adequately assess full correction of the luteal phase defect. In some cases the luteal phase defect associated with COH is not correctable and FSH stimulation should be reduced or all embryos frozen and defer transfer to an artificial estrogen progesterone or natural cycle.
Effects of Vaccine Strain Mutations in Domain V of the Internal Ribosome Entry Segment Compared in the Wild Type Poliovirus Type 1 Context*

Initiation of poliovirus (PV) protein synthesis is governed by an internal ribosome entry segment structured into several domains including domain V, which is accepted to be important in PV neurovirulence because it harbors an attenuating mutation in each of the vaccine strains developed by A. Sabin. To better understand how these single point mutations exert their effects, we placed each of them into the same genomic context, that of PV type 1. Only the mutation equivalent to the Sabin type 3 strain mutation resulted in significantly reduced viral growth both in HeLa and neuroblastoma cells. This correlated with poor translation efficiency in vitro and could be explained by a structural perturbation of the domain V of the internal ribosome entry segment, as evidenced by RNA melting experiments. We demonstrated that reduced cell death observed during infection by this mutant is due to the absence of inhibition of host cell translation. We confirmed that this shut-off is correlated principally with cleavage of eIF4GII and not eIF4GI and that this cleavage is significantly impaired in the case of the defective mutant. These data support the previously reported conclusion that the 2A protease has markedly different affinities for the two eIF4G isoforms.
Teaching medical communication skills: a call for greater uniformity.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Evidence suggests that strategies used in teaching communication skills vary widely among, and within, medical education programs. Such variance also exists in the amount of emphasis placed on specific communication skills. This study examines the degree of variability among medical faculty in identifying opportunities for teaching communication skills. METHODS Sixty-seven medical faculty (physicians and behavioral scientists) reviewed a videotaped interview of a clinician with a standardized patient. Using a transcript of the interview, participants identified moments in the tape they believed warranted an instructional intervention to reinforce or modify the clinician's communication skills. Items identified by the participants were compared to items identified by a panel of experts. Frequencies and ANOVAs were used to report on consistency and on consistency as a function of faculty experience and educational background. RESULTS Faculty demonstrated marked differences in identifying teachable moments across all six communication categories: (1) rapport building, (2) agenda setting, (3) information management, (4) active listening for the patient's perspective, (5) responding to emotion, and(6) skills in reaching common ground. Of 67 respondents, 29.6% identified none of the opportunities to teach rapport building, while only 31% identified all opportunities; 32.8% identified none of the information management opportunities, 26.9% identified all; 77.6% failed to identify the agenda-setting opportunity, 22% did identify the opportunity; 25.4% identified none of the active listening opportunities, 9% identified all; 57.6% identified none of the responding to emotion opportunities, 18% identified all; 35.8% did not identify the opportunity for reaching common ground, 64% did identify the opportunity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that faculty who teach communications vary widely in the issues that they identify and about which they chose to teach. Recommendations are made for further research in this area.
Ordering of the flagellar genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by insertions of mercury transposon Tn501

The flagellar genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO cluster on the chromosome at two distinct regions, region I and region II. The order of the flagellar cistrons in this organism was established by using transducing phage G101 and plasmids FP5 and R68.45. A method to insert transposon Tn501 near the fla genes was devised. We obtained two strains in which Tn501 was inserted at sites close to the flagellar cistrons in region II. We isolated Fla mutants in which the chromosomal segment between the two Tn501 insertion sites was deleted. Using Tn501-encoded mercury resistance as an outside marker, we determined the order of 9 of the 11 flagellar cistrons in region II as follows: puuF-region I-flaG-flaC-flaI-flaH-flaD-flaB-flaA-flaF-flaE-pur-67. By using phage G101-mediated transduction, the mutation converting monoflagellated bacteria into the multiflagellated (mfl) form was closely linked to the five fla cistrons in region I. Using mfl as an outside marker, we determined the order of the five cistrons as follows: puuF-flaV-flaZ-flaW-flaX-flaY-region II. The mfl mutation was shown to be either located within the flaV cistron or linked very closely to this cistron. No linkage was observed in transductions between any of the fla cistrons in region I and any of the fla cistrons in region II.
Pinochet's economists : the Chicago school in Chile

Preface and acknowledgements Introduction 1. Authoritarians Without a Project 2. Ideological Transfer 3. The Chicago School of Economics 4. The Actors of ideological Transfer 5. The Contracts between ICA, Chicago and the Universidad Catolica 6. The Chile Project and the Birth of the Chicago Boys 7. The Implantation of the Chicago School in Chile 8. The Export of the Chicago Tradition 9. In Search of Politics 10 The Elusive Hegemony 11. Under the Unidad Popular Conclusions.
Crystal Structure of the Cytomegalovirus DNA Polymerase Subunit UL44 in Complex with the C Terminus from the Catalytic Subunit

The human cytomegalovirus DNA polymerase is composed of a catalytic subunit, UL54, and an accessory protein, UL44, which has a structural fold similar to that of other processivity factors, including herpes simplex virus UL42 and homotrimeric sliding clamps such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Several specific residues in the C-terminal region of UL54 and in the “connector loop” of UL44 are required for the association of these proteins. Here, we describe the crystal structure of residues 1-290 of UL44 in complex with a peptide from the extreme C terminus of UL54, which explains this interaction at a molecular level. The UL54 peptide binds to structural elements similar to those used by UL42 and the sliding clamps to associate with their respective binding partners. However, the details of the interaction differ from those of other processivity factor-peptide complexes. Crucial residues include a three-residue hydrophobic “plug” from the UL54 peptide and Ile135 of UL44, which forms a critical intramolecular hydrophobic anchor for interactions between the connector loop and the peptide. As was the case for the unliganded UL44 structure, the UL44-peptide complex forms a head-to-head dimer that could potentially form a C-shaped clamp on DNA. However, the peptide-bound structure displays subtle differences in the relative orientation of the two subdomains of the protein, resulting in a more open clamp, which we predicted would affect its association with DNA. Indeed, filter binding assays revealed that peptide-bound UL44 binds DNA with higher affinity. Thus, interaction with the catalytic subunit appears to affect both the structure and function of UL44.
Two-dimensional structure of PDP micro-discharge plasmas obtained using laser Thomson scattering

Laser Thomson scattering (LTS) has been applied for measurements of the electron density and electron temperature in micro-discharge plasmas for plasma-display panel research. A brief description of the method for overcoming the sparsity of scattered photons by the data accumulation technique is presented. Then, the technique of applying LTS to micro-discharge plasmas is described where the use of a specially designed triple-grating spectrometer has turned out to be essential. Improvements in the experimental setup to allow, for the first time, to collect laser LTS spectra at heights as close as to 60 /spl mu/m from the electrode surface are discussed. Spatial distributions of the electron density and electron temperature in the vertical direction above the electrode surface are presented. Finally, an extension of the measurements into two-dimensions, namely along the electrode surface and at different heights above the electrodes enabling to cover the discharge front to be made, are presented and compared with the results of optical emission measurements.
Velocity feedback controller for piezoelectric tube scanner: A “mixed” negative-imaginary and small-gain approach

This paper presents the design and implementation of a velocity feedback controller for the piezoelectric tube scanner (PTS) of an atomic force microscope (AFM) to damp its first resonant mode. The dynamics of the PTS is identified by using the measured data and the “mixed” negative-imaginary and small-gain approach is used to establish the internal stability of the interconnected systems. The experimental results demonstrate the performance improvement achieved by the proposed controller.
A novel technique of recognizing multi-stage attack behaviour

Since security audit data increased so dramatically, management and analysis of these security data become a critical and challenge issue. SATA (security alerts and threat analysis project) aims at analyzing the security events and detecting the security threat. In this paper, we proposed a novel method of constructing attack scenarios model in order to recognize multi-stage attack behaviour and predict potential attack steps of the attacker. Our method based on statistical method using the feature of time consecution association of contextual attack steps. Besides, we proposed a new method of computing the correlativity between two contextual attacks which enhances the correlationship of the attack scenarios model and ensures the accuracy of the final correlation result. The idea is easy to implement and it can be used to detect novel multi-stage attacks. Experiment shows that our method is effective and feasible
Toward a Pragmatic Theory for Managing Nescience

Aristotle’s dictum scio nescio (I know that I don’t know) may serve as a source of enhanced performance for organizations. Awareness of nescience sets the direction for further inquiry, as managers tend to move in the direction that they believe will reduce nescience most. However, nescience is difficult to quantify, so, to date, managers have primarily relied on intuition. This paper introduces a theoretical framework for managing nescience that is based on information theory. This framework is tested in three exploratory empirical studies that take place in highly contrasting settings: semiconductor manufacturing, medical diagnostics and social media analytics. All three studies demonstrate that metrics related to information entropy can be used to quantify nescience. However, practitioners value the framework and its metrics more highly in the settings where the quality of or access to information drives successful product development. The problems encountered in these settings tended to be well-structured, or they were converted from being ill-structured to being well-structured. Further study of more highly contrasting practical settings will be required to determine whether frameworks based on information theory can serve as foundations for a broadly based, pragmatic theory for managing nescience.
The adaptive and maladaptive faces of dependency in later life: Links to physical and psychological health outcomes

Objectives: Negotiating the balance between reliance on others and desires for autonomy is a fundamental task of successful aging. The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend a three-factor model of interpersonal dependency in a sample of older adults, and to examine the physical and psychological health correlates of this multifaceted construct. Methods: Data come from the third wave of a population-based study of older Americans (n = 166; mean age 80 years). We conducted an exploratory factor analysis of selected dependency items from two scales, and then conducted logistic and hierarchical linear regressions to analyze the association of dependency factors with self-reported health, use of hypertension medication, depressed affect and positive affect. Results: We found three factors closely paralleling those of Bornstein and Languirand's (Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 3–23, 2004) measure: destructive overdependence, healthy dependency and dysfunctional detachment, as well as a fourth factor we labeled ‘healthy independence’. Healthy dependency was associated with better self-reported health. Dysfunctional detachment was related to a greater likelihood and healthy independence a lesser likelihood of taking hypertension medication. Whereas both healthy independence and healthy dependency were positively related to positive affect and negatively related to depressed affect, destructive overdependence was positively related to depressed affect. Conclusion: Understanding the complex nature of interpersonal dependency and autonomy in old age, as well as their implications for health and wellbeing, may enable practitioners to assist older adults in negotiating the task of balancing these needs.
Type I Interferon Receptor is a Primary Regulator of Target-Mediated Drug Disposition of Interferon-β in Mice

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the primary mechanism through which interferon (IFN)-β exhibits target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) and whether the theoretical assumptions of TMDD models are consistent with experimental pharmacokinetic (PK) data. Recombinant murine IFN-β was administered as an intravenous injection at two dose levels (0.5 and 1 million IU/kg) to male wild-type (WT) and type-I IFN-α/β receptor subunit (IFNAR-1) knockout (KO) mice (A129S7/SvEvBrd strain). Sampling was conducted at various times (n = 3/time point), and plasma was analyzed for IFN-β concentrations using a validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker was IP-10 mRNA that was isolated from the distal femur bone and quantified using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. An integrated model that includes rapid-binding TMDD and an indirect mechanism of drug action was used to characterize the PK/PD profiles. For an experimental control, PK profiles of recombinant murine erythropoietin (muEPO), another drug that exhibits TMDD, were determined after a single intravenous dose (0.5 μg/kg) in WT and KO animals. The concentration-time profiles for IFN-β differed substantially at initial times for the WT and KO mice at the same dose levels. These differences are characteristic of ligands exhibiting receptor-mediated disposition and were well described by a rapid-binding TMDD model. No differences in muEPO PK were observed in the control study. In summary, the intact IFNAR receptor is a primary regulator of in vivo IFN-β exposure. An integrated PK/PD model was successfully used to assess the receptor-mediated disposition and dynamics of IFN-β.
Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Create Shareholder Value? Evidence from the Indian Companies Act 2013

In 2013, a new law required Indian firms, which satisfy certain profitability, net worth, and size thresholds, to spend at least 2% of their net income on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We exploit this regulatory change to isolate the shareholder value implications of CSR activities. Using an event study approach coupled with a regression discontinuity design, we find that the law, on average, caused a 4.1% drop in the stock price of firms forced to spend money on CSR. However, firms that spend more on advertising are not negatively affected by the mandatory CSR rule. These results suggest that firms voluntarily choose CSR to maximize shareholder value. Therefore, forcing a firm to spend on CSR is likely to be sub‐optimal for the firm with a consequent negative impact on shareholder value.
Relationship between services trade, economic growth and external stabilisation in India: An empirical investigation

The economic reforms initiated in India after the emergence of the balance of payments crisis in 1990-91 resulted in the Government of India reversing its policy stand of import substitution, followed since independence. A policy of export-oriented growth was adopted, following the footsteps of East Asian countries. India’s international trade in services benefited immensely from this change in policy stance, and received a further boost when India became a signatory to the WTO in 1995. In spite of this, India’s external sector has come under growing pressure from a burgeoning Current Account Deficit, in the aftermath of the global economic recession of 2008-09. In such a scenario, this paper attempts to study the inter-relationships between services trade, economic growth and external stabilisation for the Indian economy, during the post-reform period. The contribution of international trade in non-factor services and other invisibles towards India’s economic growth and current account stabilisation is examined descriptively. The relationship between the three macroeconomic variables is estimated using the ARDL approach to co-integration, for the time-span from 1996-97:Q1 to 2011-12:Q4. The study finds the existence of co-integrated relationship between Current Account Balance, GDP and services trade, for the Indian economy. The study also finds empirical evidence indicating that workers’ remittances are more crisis prone compared to net services exports, in case of Indian economy.
TE-Shave: Reducing Data Center Capital and Operating Expenses with Thermal Energy Storage

Power shaving has recently been proposed to dynamically shave the power peaks of a data center with energy storage devices (ESD), such that more servers can be safely hosted. In addition to the reduction of capital investment (cap-ex), power shaving also helps cut the electricity bills (op-ex) of a data center by reducing the high utility tariffs related to peak power. However, existing work on power shaving focuses exclusively on electrical ESDs (e.g., UPS batteries) to shave the server-side power demand. In this paper, we propose TE-Shave, a generalized power shaving framework that exploits both UPS batteries and a new knob, thermal energy storage (TES) tanks equipped in many data centers. Specifically, TE-Shave utilizes stored cold water or ice to manipulate the cooling power, which accounts for 30-40 percent of the total power cost of a data center. Our extensive evaluation with real-world workload traces shows that TE-Shave saves cap-ex and op-ex up to $2,668/day and $825/day, respectively, for a data center with 17,920 servers. Even for future data centers that are projected to have more efficient cooling and thus a smaller portion of cooling power, e.g., a quarter of today's level, TE-Shave still leads to 28 percent more savings than existing work that focuses only on the server-side power. TE-Shave is also coordinated with traditional TES solutions for further reduced op-ex, and integrated with processor throttling to cap the power draw (i.e., power capping). Our hardware testbed results show that TE-Shave can improve the system performance up to 23 percent.
Cerebral oximetry levels during CPR are associated with return of spontaneous circulation following cardiac arrest: an observational study

Objectives Cerebral oximetry using near-infrared spectroscopy measures regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) non-invasively and may provide information regarding the quality of cerebral oxygen perfusion. We determined whether the level of rSO2 obtained during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is associated with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival in Emergency Department (ED) patients presenting with cardiac arrest. Methods We conducted a retrospective, observational study of adult ED patients presenting at an academic medical centre with cardiac arrest in whom continuous cerebral oximetry was performed. Demographic and clinical data including age, gender, presenting rhythm and mean rSO2 readings were abstracted. Cerebral oxygenation was measured with a commercially available oximeter. Results A convenience study sample included 59 patients ages 18–102 years (mean age 68.7 ± 14.9 years); 50 (84.7%) were men. Presenting rhythms included pulseless electrical activity (21), asystole (20) and ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia (17). 24 patients (40.6%) had ROSC and only 1 (1.7%) survived to hospital discharge. Patients with and without ROSC were similar in age and presenting cardiac rhythms. The mean of mean rSO2 levels was higher in patients with ROSC, 43.8 (95% CI 40.1 to 47.6) compared with those without ROSC, 34.2 (95% CI 30.6 to 37.8); p=0.001. 91.7% of patients with ROSC had a rSO2 of 30% or greater compared with 62.9% in those without ROSC (p=0.01). The area under the curve for mean rSO2 as a predictor of ROSC was 0.76 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.89). Conclusions In ED patients with cardiac arrest higher cerebral oxygen saturations are associated with higher rates of ROSC.