Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Resistance of Peptides to Serum Proteases by Modification of their Amino Groups

Abstract The ability of synthetic protein fragments to survive the degradative action of aminopeptidases and serum proteolytic enzymes can be remarkably enhanced by slight modifications at their N-terminal alpha-amino group. This can be achieved by addition of beta-alanine or amino acids of the d-configuration, amino acids which are seldom found in a living organism. These modifications do scarcely modify the chemical and physical properties of the peptides, and should be preferrred, especially for in vivo tests, to drastic alterations of peptides as produced by dinitrophenylation or dansylation of the amino groups.
Cynical or Deliberative? An Analysis of the European Commission’s Public Communication on Its Use of Expertise in Policy-Making

The European Commission has faced increasing criticism that its use of expertise in policy-making is undemocratic and politicized. In response to critics, the Commission has produced a number of publicly available documents where its expert policies and practices are outlined and discussed. Cynics view public communications of this nature with skepticism, as organizations tend to adopt “smooth talk” and cosmetic rhetoric designed to placate critics and create a facade of compliance aimed at decreasing external pressure. An alternative deliberative approach, would expect the Commission to engage in a relatively open, reflective and reason-based interchange. The article’s main aim is to assess the relative merits of these two approaches in capturing the Commission’s framing of its public communication. Cynical expectations, prevalent among Commission critics, are confirmed by the Commission’s silence on unpleasant topics including the undemocratic nature of existing expertise arrangements and the strategic uses of knowledge in EU policy-making. However, firm regulatory initiatives and the Commission’s critical engagement with democratization demands and possible goal conflicts within their critics’ agenda give significant leverage to a deliberative approach.
Enabling industry inflection and corporate innovation : utilising complexity thinking for innovative strategic management

In the new economy, many industries more specifically those that can be replaced electronically are generally believed to be in peril of strategic inflection points. Scrutiny of available researches on the drivers of discontinuity indicates that some strategic inflection points can be foreseen, but many cannot be anticipated, because initially inflection points emerge very small, and can often be missed, but then they suddenly strike hard without warning. A strategic point of inflection occurs when existing ways of doing business and industry structure subtly but profoundly change. This study proposed to review the application of the complexity theory to strategic management for enabling industry inflection and corporate innovation. The study describes a couple-phased complexity approach for enabling industry inflection. The first phase starts by building organisational fitness through designing complex adaptive systems, internal to the organisation, and nurturing healthy co-evolution with external key players. The application of "communities of practice" into complex adaptive systems of organisational design is demonstrated as an essential means to drive the organization to the edge of chaos through which new businesses may evolve that can potentially trigger an inflection point. The co-evolutionary approach is explained as a process to develop patterns of co-adaptation with key players, whereby co-adapters collaborate to adapt effectively, although they still remain free to compete for a prime-movers hip position. This is hypothetically postulated to be space transition at the edge of chaos at the socio-cultural business system level, where active members, driven by the moving self-organization, engage in exploratory dialogue to explore space possibilities for systemic innovations. The second phase is described in four strategic stages for enabling industry inflection and corporate innovation. The strategic inflection point begins with a definition of a customer value proposition. This leads to the co-experimentation stage where co-creators jointly experiment with diverse new business models comprising a variety of customer value propositions that appeal to different segments. The success of new business model may cause industry inflection, subsequently leading to the third stage where the inflection point creates uncertainty to both the co-creators and their competitors, because the final success of a proactive strategic inflection point depends on the market dynamics. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Brand tribalism and self-expressive brands: social influences and brand outcomes

Purpose – This study aims to examine the relationship between social influence and consumers’ self-expression through brands. It considers susceptibility to interpersonal influence and social network influence on self-expressive brands and brand tribalism. The study examines whether self-expressive brands and brand tribalism influence brand loyalty and word of mouth (WOM). Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional online survey was carried out with members of Generation Y in Ireland. Data from 675 complete responses were analysed using SPSS 20 and AMOS 20. A structural model tested nine hypothesised relationships. Findings – Findings indicate that both online social network influence and susceptibility to interpersonal influence are antecedents of tribalism and self-expressive brands. Consumers of self-expressive brands are loyal and offer positive WOM. By contrast, those who seek tribal membership have less brand loyalty and offer less WOM than other consumers. Findings suggest that consumers may b.
Geographic Concentration of Institutional Investors and the Market for Corporate Control

The ease of coordination among a firm's institutional shareholders has an important impact on the market for corporate control. I construct two measures to capture the ease of shareholder coordination, one based on the geographic proximity among institutional shareholders and the other based on the correlation in their portfolio allocation decisions. I find that target firms with greater ease of shareholder coordination experience significantly higher abnormal returns around the takeover announcement. In a similar vein, acquirer firms with greater ease of shareholder coordination are associated with higher acquisition announcement returns. Using the SEC's 1992 proxy reform as an exogenous shock that reduces barriers to shareholder coordination, I find that these effects become significantly stronger after the reform. These findings suggest that the ease of coordination among institutional shareholders plays an important role in the market for corporate control by enhancing the monitoring role of both target and acquirer shareholders and raising the bargaining power of target shareholders.
Mood and sleep in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether severity of depression and severity of anxiety were associated with particular types of sleep disturbance in patients with Parkinson's disease. METHOD 120 patients with a diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease were consecutively recruited from a movement disorders clinic from July 2004 to May 2005. Idiopathic Parkinson's disease was diagnosed by a board-certified neurologist (J.H.F) and defined by the presence of 3 of the 4 cardinal signs of Parkinson's disease: resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Patients were administered the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, Covi Anxiety Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Patients were assessed for nightmares and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) using a structured questionnaire and dream log. Multivariate analyses evaluated whether severity of depression and severity of anxiety correlated with the sleep outcome measures (PSQI, ESS, nightmares, and RBD). RESULTS The mean +/- SD age of the patients was 71 +/- 10.8 years with a mean Parkinson's disease duration of 7.3 +/- 4.7 years. Thirty-eight percent were female, 41.7% had a psychiatric history, 53.3% had nightmares, and 30% had clinically defined RBD. Severity of depression and severity of anxiety significantly correlated with poor sleep quality, daytime somnolence, and nightmares. Severity of depression contributed significantly to the overall variance in poor sleep quality and nightmares. Severity of anxiety contributed significantly to the overall variance in daytime somnolence. CONCLUSIONS Depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with sleep disturbances in patients with Parkinson's disease. It is important to examine for the presence of depression and anxiety in patients presenting with sleep disorders, as depression and anxiety impair quality of life and are treatable conditions.
Androgen Regulates ADAMTS15 Gene Expression in Prostate Cancer Cells

ABSTRACT Prostate cancer is a major cause of mortality, largely as a consequence of metastases and transformation to androgen-independent growth. Metalloproteinases are implicated in cancer progression. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS) are expressed in prostate cancer cells, with ADAMTS-1 and ADAMTS-15 being the most abundant. ADAMTS-15 but not ADAMTS-1 expression was downregulated by androgen in LNCaP prostate cancer cells, possibly through androgen response elements associated with the gene. ADAMTS-15 expression is predictive for survival in breast cancer, and the situation may be similar in prostate cancer, as androgen independence is usually due to aberrant signaling through its receptor.
Xenotransplantation literature update May–August, 2008

A total of six reviews on different aspects of xenotransplantation were recently published in Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation [1–6]. Lynch and Platt discussed the mechanisms and prevalence of accommodation in xenotransplantation and proposed that accommodation may be a common, and sometimes predictable, outcome of organ xenotransplantation [1]. Further understanding of accommodation induction and the mechanisms maintaining it may have a profound impact on transplantation. The role of dysregulated coagulation in xenograft rejection was reviewed by Cowan and d’Apice [2]. They discussed the molecular incompatibilities affecting coagulation and platelet activation as well as physiological differences which may contribute to thrombosis. Moreover, potential genetic and physical manipulations to overcome thrombosis in xenografts were presented. Schneider MKJ, Seebach JD. Xenotransplantation literature update May–August, 2008. Xenotransplantation 2008; 15: 344–351. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. M rten K. J. Schneider and Jçrg D. Seebach Laboratory for Transplantation Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Service of Immunology and Allergology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital and Medical Faculty, Geneva, Switzerland
PTEN mosaicism with features of Cowden syndrome

We present the first known case of somatic PTEN mosaicism causing features of Cowden syndrome (CS) and inheritance in the subsequent generation. A 20‐year‐old woman presented for genetics evaluation with multiple ganglioneuromas of the colon. On examination, she was found to have a thyroid goiter, macrocephaly, and tongue papules, all suggestive of CS. However, her reported family history was not suspicious for CS. A deleterious PTEN mutation was identified in blood lymphocytes, 966A>G, 967delA. Genetic testing was recommended for her parents. Her 48‐year‐old father was referred for evaluation and was found to have macrocephaly and a history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, but no other features of CS. Site‐specific genetic testing carried out on blood lymphocytes showed mosaicism for the same PTEN mutation identified in his daughter. Identifying PTEN mosaicism in the proband's father had significant implications for the risk assessment/genetic testing plan for the rest of his family. His result also provides impetus for somatic mosaicism in a parent to be considered when a de novo PTEN mutation is suspected.
Small business credit availability: how important is size of lender?

The recent relaxation of restrictions on interstate banking and branching, as well as the likely relaxation of Glass-Steagall restrictions, should encourage significant consolidation in the banking industry. Larger lenders, diversified across regions and products, will undoubtedly be less susceptible to adverse economic shocks that have buffeted the banking industry over the past decade. However, as small banks with a small business loan emphasis are absorbed into larger, more diversified lenders, which tend to focus much less on small business lending, credit availability to bank-dependent small business borrowers should be a major public policy concern. In New England, the evidence indicates that many large acquirers have chosen not to maintain the small business loan portfolios of their smaller target banks. This reduction in small business lending as a result of acquisitions indicates that many banks have little interest in maintaining the historical lending relationships fostered by the small target banks. As consolidation reduces the number of small banks that focus on small business loans, some niches will be created that can be served by de novo entry, although the evidence suggests that de novo entry is unlikely to quickly fill any major voids in small business lending.
New Approach to Predict Hugoniot Properties of Explosives Materials

Abstract : To better design energetic materials and predict their energy output and response it is necessary to characterise these materials in terms of their energetics. Indeed, this characterisation demands a series of experiments ranging from slow cook off of the material to high velocity flyer plate impact tests are necessary to obtain parameters such as the detonation velocity, densities, shock and particle velocities and critical pressures. These experimental parameters are required to obtain the Chapman-Jouguet parameters that define the point at which the detonation occurs. The mean objective of this work is to conduct numerical experiments to examine the parameters that define detonation process and establish a completely numerical approach by using quantum mechanics and analytical methods.
"Smart Procedures": Using dynamic PRA to develop dynamic context-specific severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs).

Developing a big picture understanding of a severe accident is extremely challenging. Operating crews and emergency response teams are faced with rapidly evolving circumstances, uncertain information, distributed expertise, and a large number of conflicting goals and priorities. Severe accident management guidance (SAMGs) provides support for collecting information and assessing the state of a nuclear power plant during severe accidents. However, SAMGs developers cannot anticipate every possible accident scenario. Advanced Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) methods can be used to explore an extensive space of possible accident sequences and consequences. Using this advanced PRA to develop a decision support system can provide expanded support for diagnosis and response. In this paper, we present an approach that uses dynamic PRA to develop riskinformed “Smart SAMGs”. Bayesian Networks form the basis of the faster-than-real-time decision support system. The approach leverages best-available information from plant physics simulation codes (e.g., MELCOR). Discrete Dynamic Event Trees (DDETs) are used to provide comprehensive coverage of the potential accident scenario space. This paper presents a methodology to develop Smart procedures and provides an example model created for diagnosing the status of the ECCS valves in a generic iPWR design.
City-level geolocation algorithm of network entities based on landmark clustering

For the existing network entity geolocation algorithms based on the delay measurement are usually suffer from the inflation and jitter of the network delay, a new algorithm of city-level geolocation based on landmark clustering is proposed in this paper. According to the feature of the delays tend to be similar among the neighboring network entities generally, city-level network entities geolocation algorithm based on landmark clustering is given. In the proposed algorithm, the city-level landmarks are divided into several clusters based on the "delay similarity" principle to filters out the high-reliability landmarks for improving the precision of city-level geolocation algorithm, the minimal relative delay between cluster and target is calculated based on the minimal relative delay, and the region of this cluster is taken as the estimation of target's location. The rationality of the delay clustering, feasibility of the proposed algorithm, and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm reduces effectively the delay influence on the IP geolocation algorithms, and the geolocation accuracy is higher than the classic GeoPing algorithm.
Molecular plasticity of β‐catenin: New insights from single‐molecule measurements and MD simulation

The multifunctional protein, β‐catenin, has essential roles in cell adhesion and, through the Wnt signaling pathway, in controlling cell differentiation, development, and generation of cancer. Could distinct molecular forms of β‐catenin underlie these two functions? Our single‐molecule force spectroscopy of armadillo β‐catenin, with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, suggests a model in which the cell generates various forms of β‐catenin, in equilibrium. We find β‐catenin and the transcriptional factor Tcf4 form two complexes with different affinities. Specific cellular response is achieved by the ligand binding to a particular matching preexisting conformer. Our MD simulation indicates that complexes derive from two conformers of the core region of the protein, whose preexisting molecular forms could arise from small variations in flexible regions of the β‐catenin main binding site. This mechanism for the generation of the various forms offers a route to tailoring future therapeutic strategies.
A Case Study of On-Screen Prototypes and Usability Evaluation of Electronic Timers and Food Menu Systems

Ubiquitous computing in domestic products, although allowing smarter products, can increase the complexity of interfaces that the end user has to face. This case study is an evaluation of an on-screen prototype of a cooker timer and food menu system. The techniques used to evaluate the prototype included questionnaire, user trial, System Usability Scale questionnaire (Brooke, 1996), observation, interview, repertory grid, Hierarchical Task Analysis (Kirwan & Ainsworth, 1992), and Task Analysis for Error Identification (Baber & Stanton, 1991, 1996; Stanton & Baber, 1998). From the usability evaluation a simplified interface was designed that will be taken forward and reevaluated in the future. Issues raised in the case study were first that of increased complexity allowed by increased levels of processing power, and second that of on-screen prototypes and the difference between interacting with traditional desktop computing applications as opposed to a physical product. We highlight in the conclusion that there is a need for those involved in development of on-screen and physical prototypes to work with those involved in human factors and usability to ensure a usable end product.
The Effect of Cumulus Cloud Field Anisotropy on Domain-Averaged Solar Fluxes and Atmospheric Heating Rates

Cumulus clouds can become tilted or elongated in the presence of wind shear. Nevertheless, most studies of the interaction of cumulus clouds and radiation have assumed these clouds to be isotropic. This paper describes an investigation of the effect of fair-weather cumulus cloud field anisotropy on domain-averaged solar fluxes and atmospheric heating rate profiles. A stochastic field generation algorithm was used to produce 20 three-dimensional liquid water content fields based on the statistical properties of cloud scenes from a large eddy simulation. Progressively greater degrees of x–z plane tilting and horizontal stretching were imposed on each of these scenes, so that an ensemble of scenes was produced for each level of distortion. The resulting scenes were used as input to a three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer model. Domain-averaged transmission, reflection, and absorption of broadband solar radiation were computed for each scene along with the average heating rate profile. Both tilt and horizontal stretching were found to significantly affect calculated fluxes, with the amount and sign of flux differences depending strongly on sun position relative to cloud distortion geometry. The mechanisms by which anisotropy interacts with solar fluxes were investigated by comparisons to independent pixel approximation and tilted independent pixel approximation computations for the same scenes. Cumulus anisotropy was found to most strongly impact solar radiative transfer by changing the effective cloud fraction (i.e., the cloud fraction with respect to the solar beam direction).
Content-Based cropping using visual saliency and blur detection

This research presents an automatic image/frame cropping scheme to preserve the regions of interest in imagery data. First, a blur detection based on Structural Similarity (SSIM) is proposed to identify whether an image contains a blurred background and the sharp foreground objects can then be extracted. The visual saliency is further calculated to help remove insignificant boundaries. Some pre-defined rules are employed to determine more appropriate cropping limits. If further reduction of resolution is necessary, the resulting image after cropping will be scaled directly to the target size. The experimental results show that the proposed method is computationally efficient and the promising results can be achieved in still images and video frames.
HYPOSENSITIZATION OF PATIENTS WITH ALLERGIC RHINITIS BY INTRANASAL ADMINISTRATION OF CHEMICALLY MODIFIED GRASS POLLEN ALLERGEN

In a pilot study, five adult patients with allergic rhinitis due to grass pollen underwent local intranasal hyposensitization with a chemically modified grass pollen extract--a so-called allergoid. Local hyposensitization during a pre-seasonal period resulted in an increased serum level of timothy-specific IgE antibodies in all patients, indicating that the allergoid had immunogenic properties. In four of the patients the clinical effect during the grass pollen season was judged satisfactory. Pre- and post-seasonal provocation test in these four patients also showed a reduction of the nasal sensitivity during this period. All patients tolerated the treatment well without any marked side effects. These promising preliminary results motivate further investigation into this form of therapy.