Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Carboxylic Acids on the Stereospecific Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide-Dependent and Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide-Independent Lactate Dehydrogenases of Leuconostoc mesenteroides

Leuconostoc mesenteroides increased its lactic acid production from glucose threefold when malic acid was added to the culture. This increase resulted also in a reduction of the ratio of d-lactic acid to l-lactic acid (31.5 to 1.23). Addition of malic acid increased 6.5-fold the specific activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-linked l-lactate dehydrogenase and increased 3.2-fold that of NAD-linked d-lactate dehydrogenase. The Michaelis constant (Km) for NAD of the NAD-linked l-lactate dehydrogenase increased with the addition of malate, but no change was observed in the Km values for the respective d-enzyme. The effect of carboxylic acids on the NAD-linked l-lactate dehydrogenase activities was tested by using partially purified enzyme preparations from cells grown with glucose alone and from cells grown with glucose plus malate. Malate stimulated the l-enzyme and inhibited the d-lactate dehydrogenase. The NAD-linked l-lactate dehydrogenase exhibited the same activity bands on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis whether the cell-free preparation originated from cells grown on glucose plus malate or on glucose as the sole carbon source. The NAD-linked d-lactate dehydrogenase, however, exhibited a different pattern of electrophoretic mobility, depending upon the source of origin of the cell-free preparation. The results suggest that malate has a stimulatory effect on the synthesis of both enzymes and may result in rearrangement of the protein structure of the d-lactate dehydrogenase. This rearrangement apparently makes the d-enzyme more susceptible to inhibition of catalytic activity. The l-lactate dehydrogenase, however, is stimulated not only in its synthesis but also in its activity. It is proposed that these effects are responsible for the regulation of lactic acid production.
Isolation of mutations that disrupt cooperative DNA binding by the Drosophila bicoid protein.

Cooperative DNA binding is thought to contribute to the ability of the Drosophila melanogaster protein, Bicoid, to stimulate transcription of target genes in precise sub-domains within the embryo. As a first step toward testing this idea, we devised a genetic screen to isolate mutations in Bicoid that specifically disrupt cooperative interactions, but do not disrupt DNA recognition or transcription activation. The screen was carried out in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 12 cooperativity mutants were identified. The mutations map across most of the Bicoid protein, with some located within the DNA-binding domain (homeodomain). Four homeodomain mutants were characterized in yeast and shown to activate a single-site reporter gene to levels comparable to that of wild-type, indicating that DNA binding per se is not affected. However, these mutants failed to show cooperative coupling between high and low-affinity sites, and showed reduced activation of a reporter gene carrying a natural Drosophila enhancer. Homology modeling indicated that none of the four mutations is in residues that contact DNA. Instead, these residues are likely to interact with other DNA-bound Bicoid monomers or other parts of the Bicoid protein. In vitro, the isolated homeodomains did not show strong cooperativity defects, supporting the idea that other regions of Bicoid are also important for cooperativity. This study describes the first systematic screen to identify cooperativity mutations in a eukaryotic DNA-binding protein.
Quick k-Median, k-Center, and Facility Location for Sparse Graphs

Solving an open problem of Jain and Vazirani [FOCS'99], we present O (n+m) time constant factor approximation algorithms for the k-median, k-center, and facility location problems with assignment costs being shortest path distances in a weighted undirected graph with n nodes and m edges. For all of these location problems, O(n2) algorithms were already known, but here we are addressing large sparse graphs. An application could be placement of content distributing servers on the Internet. The Internet is large and changes so frequently that an O(n2) time solution would likely be outdated long before completion.
Sensing elasticity from the phase difference of the stepper motor

We have developed a made-to-order surgical support manipulator with a function that senses the mechanical characteristics of internal organs, and which can be customized based on the maximum grasping force of the patient. The purpose of this study is to establish an elasticity-sensing model that uses the phase difference of the stepper motor based on material strength and to apply it to in vitro organs. In this study, we propose a measurement model and develop a prototype that is used in experiments on silicon rubber and in vitro organs in a dog. Young's modulus E and spring constant K are measured by the prototype and a material testing machine. The results of the prototype showed good agreement with those of the material testing machine, and that the proposed model will be a great help in the development of surgical support manipulators.
Making the diagnosis of labour: midwives' diagnostic judgement and management decisions.

AIM This paper reports a study examining midwives' perceptions of the way in which they diagnose labour. BACKGROUND Diagnosis of active labour is often problematic. A midwifery workforce planning tool identified that up to 30% of women admitted to United Kingdom labour wards subsequently turned out not to have been in labour. There is evidence that if a woman is admitted to a labour ward in early labour, she is more likely to have some form of medical intervention. However, despite the impact of misdiagnosis, there is little research on the process of decision-making by midwives in relation to diagnosis of labour. METHODS This was a qualitative study, employing focus group methods. Participants were a convenience sample of midwives working in a maternity unit in the North of England during 2002. They were asked to discuss their experience of admission of women in labour. Data were analysed using latent content analysis. FINDINGS Thirteen midwives participated in one of two groups. They described using information cues, which could be separated into two categories: those arising from the woman (Physical signs, Distress and coping, Woman's expectations and Social factors) and those from the institution (Midwifery care, Organizational factors and Justifying actions). Midwives' decision-making process could be divided into two stages. The diagnostic judgement was based on the physical signs of labour: the management decision would then be made by considering the diagnostic judgement as well as cues such as how the woman was coping, her expectations and those of her family and the requirements of the institution. CONCLUSIONS Midwives may experience more difficulty with the management decision than with the initial diagnosis. It may be that the number of inappropriate admissions to labour wards could be reduced by supporting midwives to negotiate the complex management hurdles, which accompany diagnosis of labour.
Water‐soluble β‐Cyclodextrins in Paediatric Oral Solutions of Spironolactone: Preclinical Evaluation of Spironolactone Bioavailability from Solutions of β‐Cyclodextrin Derivatives in Rats

Water‐soluble derivatives of β‐cyclodextrin have been considered for solubilization of spironolactone in the formulation of a safe liquid preparation for premature infants. The oral absorption of spironolactone was studied in rats to evaluate the need to adjust spironolactone dosage in prospective clinical studies. Spironolactone was administered in solutions of sulphobutyl ether β‐cyclodextrin (SBE7) or dimethyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (DM‐β‐CyD) and also as spironolactone‐containing powder papers (reference preparation). Spironolactone in SBE7 solution was administered intravenously to assess the extent of intestinal absorption from the different formulations.
Laparoscopic Lavage and Drainage in the Management of Complicated Diverticulitis: Review of the Literature

Introduction: Diverticular disease affects more than 60% of adults aged older than 70. The lifetime prevalence of diverticulitis is 4%-25%, 20% of which will experience severe complications, and 1% will require emergent surgery. We review the most relevant literature regarding the management of complicated acute diverticulitis with laparoscopic lavage and drainage (LLD). Discussion: Hartmann Procedure (HP) is considered the current gold standard for treating complicated diverticulitis; it is associated with a high mortality and morbidity. LLD is reported to improve outcomes. In addition, it may act either as a definitive procedure or as a bridge and allow for a latter elective sigmoidectomy. There is only one preliminary report of a prospective randomized trial regarding this matter (DILALA trial) which fails to demonstrate decreased morbidity and mortality between LLD vs. HP.
Attempt to Evaluate the Building Factor of a Stator Core in Inverter-Fed Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

This paper presents an attempt to evaluate the building factor of a stator core made of nonoriented silicon steel laminations. The stator core is used in a synchronous motor with buried permanent magnets driven by a voltage source three-phase inverter with classical pulse-width modulation (PWM) control. The building factor is the ratio between the iron loss density in the stator core and the specific iron loss density of the material. It then gives an evaluation of the impact of the core manufacture and the motor geometrical configuration on the stator iron losses. A first experiment is conducted to measure the iron losses of the inverter-fed motor in no-load condition. The material-specific iron losses are then evaluated by trying to apply similar magnetic flux density conditions in a wound laminated ring. The results show a decrease of the building factor with the PWM carrier frequency.
TrackingandFormationControlofMultipleAutonomous Agents:ATwo-LevelConsensusApproach

Simultaneous tracking and formation control is addressed for a team of autonomous agents that evolve dynamically in a space containing a measurable vector fleld. Each agent measures the local value of the fleld along its trajectory and occasionally shares relevant information with other agents, in order to estimate the spatial average obtained from averaging measurements across all agents. Using shared information, agents control their trajectories in a cooperative manner, with the dual goals of driving the average fleld measurement to a specifled value and maintaining a desired formation about the average. Two approaches to virtual leader estimation are considered. The flrst involves the synthesis of a common virtual leader state, whereas the second involves decentralized estimation of the virtual leader by individual agents. Under the second approach, control is posed as a two-level consensus problem, where agents reach agreement on the virtual leader state at one level and reach formation about the virtual leader at the other level. The decentralized approach is efiective even when communication among agents is limited, in the sense that the associated network graph can be disconnected in frozen time.
Lipid-modifying therapy in the elderly

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity increases with increasing age, largely as a result of increased lifetime exposure as well as increased prevalence of CVD risk factors. Hospitalization for CVD increases by a factor of over 18× for those aged 85+ years versus those aged <30 years. In spite of this, life expectancy continues to increase, and in Australia for people reaching the age of 65 years, it is now 84 years in men and 87 years in women. The number of people for whom lipid management is potentially indicated therefore increases with aging. This is especially the case for secondary prevention and for people aged 65–75 years for whom there is also evidence of benefit from primary prevention. Many people in this age group are not treated with lipid-lowering drugs, however. Even those with CVD may be suboptimally treated, with one study showing treatment rates to fall from ~60% in those aged <50 years to <15% for those aged 85+ years. Treatment of the most elderly patient groups remains controversial partly from the lack of randomized trial intervention data and partly from the potential for adverse effects of lipid therapy. There are many complex issues involved in the decision to introduce effective lipid-lowering therapy and, unfortunately, in many instances there is not adequate data to make evidence-based decisions regarding management. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of the management of lipid disorders in the elderly and proposes guidelines for management.
Catalytic Relationships between Type I and Type II Iterative Polyketide Synthases: The Aspergillus parasiticus Norsolorinic Acid Synthase

Norsolorinic acid synthase (NSAS) is a type I iterative polyketide synthase that occurs in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus parasiticus. PCR was used to clone fragments of NSAS corresponding to the acyl carrier protein (ACP), acyl transferase (AT) and β‐ketoacyl‐ACP synthase (KS) catalytic domains. Expression of these gene fragments in Escherichia coli led to the production of soluble ACP and AT proteins. Coexpression of ACP with E. coli holo‐ACP synthase (ACPS) let to production of NSAS holo‐ACP, which could also be formed in vitro by using Streptomyces coelicolor ACPS. Analysis by mass spectrometry showed that, as with other type I carrier proteins, self‐malonylation is not observed in the presence of malonyl CoA alone. However, the NSAS holo‐ACP serves as substrate for S. coelicolor MCAT, S. coelicolor actinorhodin holo‐ACP and NSAS AT domain‐catalysed malonate transfer from malonyl CoA. The AT domain could transfer malonate from malonyl CoA to NSAS holo‐ACP, but not hexanoate or acetate from either the cognate CoA or FAS ACP species to NSAS holo‐ACP. The NSAS holo‐ACP was also active in actinorhodin minimal PKS assays, but only in the presence of exogenous malonyl transferases.
Phosphorylation by CK2 Enhances the Rapid Light-induced Degradation of Phytochrome Interacting Factor 1 in Arabidopsis*

The phytochrome family of sensory photoreceptors interacts with phytochrome interacting factors (PIFs), repressors of photomorphogenesis, in response to environmental light signals and induces rapid phosphorylation and degradation of PIFs to promote photomorphogenesis. However, the kinase that phosphorylates PIFs is still unknown. Here we show that CK2 directly phosphorylates PIF1 at multiple sites. α1 and α2 subunits individually phosphorylated PIF1 weakly in vitro. However, each of four β subunits strongly stimulated phosphorylation of PIF1 by α1 or α2. Mapping of the phosphorylation sites identified seven Ser/Thr residues scattered throughout PIF1. Ser/Thr to Ala scanning mutations at all seven sites eliminated CK2-mediated phosphorylation of PIF1 in vitro. Moreover, the rate of degradation of the Ser/Thr to Ala mutant PIF1 was significantly reduced compared with wild-type PIF1 in transgenic plants. In addition, hypocotyl lengths of the mutant PIF1 transgenic plants were much longer than the wild-type PIF1 transgenic plants under light, suggesting that the mutant PIF1 is suppressing photomorphogenesis. Taken together, these data suggest that CK2-mediated phosphorylation enhances the light-induced degradation of PIF1 to promote photomorphogenesis.
Applicability of Principle Components Analysis (PCA) to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of cavitation from captured images

Cavitation in the flapper-nozzle pilot valve has been found as the mechanism of performance deterioration of the electro-hydraulic servo-valve. In this paper the transient cavitation patterns of the flapper-nozzle structure have been studied experimentally based on the Principle Components Analysis (PCA) method. Firstly the basic principle of PCA is introduced. Then a set of test images is used to invalidate the PCA method showing that PCA is able to predict the periodic variations among a series of images by investigating the coefficients of the principle components. Finally the cavitating flow field at different inlet pressures is captured using a high speed video camera. And the derived images have been analyzed to calculate the frequency of the coefficient variation of the first principle component. The results are also compared with the conclusions of the existing literature.
Left Temporal Neuronal Hyperexitability as a Predictor of Mild Cognitive Impairment: Clinical and Neurophysiological Study

Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) usually is the early stage of dementia which is defined as decreasing in mental abilities such cognition, memory, and speech not too severe to interfere daily activities. MCI diagnosis is rather hard and usually assumed as normal consequences of aging. Diagnosis is usually performed through a combination of extensive testing and eliminations of other possible causes. “Seizures” or neuronal hyperexitability in the temporal lobe, transiently impair cognition and steadily damage hippocampal circuitry, leading to progressive memory loss. Objective: The objective of this study was demonstrated that EEG pattern abnormalities in the left temporal in healthy subjects, are an early sign of progressive cognitive impairment. Material and methods: This was an clinical and neurophysiology observational study in healthy adults patients with EEG pattern characterized by slow activity in left temporal region. This study lasted three years in total, being divided into two phases: recruitment (for an entire year) and follow-up after 1 year. Admission criteria were checked. The follow-up consisted of neuropsychological assessment with Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and MRI scan. Our analysis was based on pooled of patients from neurophysiology department in Italy from February 2010 to July 2013. The EEG activity was recorded continuously from 19 electrodes positioned according to the 10–20 International system. Results: One hundred forty patients were recruited and one hundred thirty completed the 24-month study. Of the ten patients who did not complete the study. In case group we had 60 subjects, 15 males and 45 females with sharp slow-wave in left temporal region on EEG. In control group we had 70 subjects, 30 males and 40 females with normal EEG. 57 patients (Case) and 33 patients (Controls) showed a mild cognitive impairment (MMSE ≥ 23 adjusted for age and education). 49 patients (Case) and 21 patients (Controls) with deep lacunar infarcts or subcortical white matter alterations on MRI scan. Analysis performed according to methods proposed by Koch showed that pattern EEG of slow waves significantly correlated with both variables MCI (P<0.0001) and vascular alterations (P<0.0001). Discussion: In our sample, pattern EEG was predictive for vascular abnormalities and MCI more than 50% after a few years. Conclusion: In summary, typical geographic alterations in left temporal region are “indicators” or “markers” of early cognitive impairment and may be used as prevention strategies. EEG may be considered a useful tool for early diagnosis of MCI. Further translational exploration of these issues in animals and/or humans studies over the coming years will determine new therapeutic approaches directed at selectively suppressing aberrant network excitability in the temporal lobe.
Adaptive Latency for Part-of-Speech Tagging in Incremental Text-to-Speech Synthesis

Incremental text-to-speech systems aim at synthesizing a text 'on-the-fly', while the user is typing a sentence. In this context, this article addresses the problem of the part-of-speech tagging (POS, i.e. lexical category) which is a critical step for accurate grapheme-to-phoneme conversion and prosody estimation. Here, the main challenge is to estimate the POS of a given word without knowing its 'right context' (i.e. the following words which are not available yet). To address this issue, we propose a method based on a set of decision trees estimating online whether a given POS tag is likely to be modified when more right-contextual information becomes available. In such a case, the synthesis is delayed until POS stability is guaranteed. This results in delivering the synthetic voice in word chunks of variable length. Objective evaluation on French shows that the proposed method is able to estimate POS tags with more than a 92% accuracy (compared to a non-incremental system) while minimizing the synthesis latency (between 1 and 4 words). Perceptual evaluation (ranking test) is then carried in the context of HMM-based speech synthesis. Experimental results show that the word grouping resulting from the proposed method is rated more acceptable than word-byword incremental synthesis.
Nominal performance recovery by PID+Q controller and its application to antisway control of crane lifter with visual feedback

We have recently suggested the PID+Q controller that consists of a PID controller, a stable free-parameter, and an internal model of plants. In this brief paper, we point out that the free parameter can be designed to improve the robust stability and the robust performance of the control system, and present a nominal-performance recovery problem to design the free parameter with better robust performance. Moreover, we apply the PID+Q controller to the robust antisway control of crane lifter in order to compensate the time delay caused by the vision-based measurement. After modeling the lifter system with the visual sensor as a pendulum control system with a time delay, we design a robust PD+Q controller and a PID+Q controller using the MATLAB LMI Toolbox. Finally, we implement the designed controller on a table-size lifter kit with the visual sensor to demonstrate the proposed PD PD+Q controller.
Pretreatment with transmyocardial revascularization might improve ischemic myocardial function performed with cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND Cells transplanted into the myocardial infarct areas might be lost because of the lack of blood supply to these myocardium areas. The hypothesis that pretreatment with angiogenic therapy induced by transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) might improve ischemic myocardial function, followed by cell transplantation was tested. METHODS AND RESULTS After the ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery, rats were treated with TMR. Two weeks, embryonic stem cells were transplanted into an injured heart. Four weeks after cell transplantation, cardiac function was assessed by homodynamic measurements. Capillary density and infarct size in the infarct myocardium were measured by using a previous experimental method. Graft histology and morphology was also evaluated. Four weeks after the operation, myocardial infarct (MI) rats treated with TMR and cell transplantation showed significantly higher cardiac function in hemodynamic measurements (p < 0.01) than that of MI rats receiving cell transplantation or TMR alone. A significant increase in capillary density and reduction in infarct size was observed in the MI rats that received a combined therapy (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Pretreatment of an infarct region of the heart with angiogenesis induced by TMR can enhance the efficacy of a cell graft and attenuate the progression of cardiac dysfunction in the rat model.