Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Substrate Cleavage Profiling Suggests a Distinct Function of Bacteroides fragilis Metalloproteinases (Fragilysin and Metalloproteinase II) at the Microbiome-Inflammation-Cancer Interface*

Background: Two distinct metalloproteinase types (fragilysin and metalloproteinase II/MPII) are encoded by the Bacteroides fragilis pathogenicity island. Results: Our assays determined substrate cleavage characteristics of fragilysin and MPII. Conclusion: MPII is the first zinc metalloproteinase with the dibasic cleavage preferences. Significance: Our results are important for understanding B. fragilis virulence and fundamental roles of the microbiome in human health and disease. Enterotoxigenic anaerobic Bacteroides fragilis is a significant source of inflammatory diarrheal disease and a risk factor for colorectal cancer. Two distinct metalloproteinase types (the homologous 1, 2, and 3 isoforms of fragilysin (FRA1, FRA2, and FRA3, respectively) and metalloproteinase II (MPII)) are encoded by the B. fragilis pathogenicity island. FRA was demonstrated to be important to pathogenesis, whereas MPII, also a potential virulence protein, remained completely uncharacterized. Here, we, for the first time, extensively characterized MPII in comparison with FRA3, a representative of the FRA isoforms. We employed a series of multiplexed peptide cleavage assays to determine substrate specificity and proteolytic characteristics of MPII and FRA. These results enabled implementation of an efficient assay of MPII activity using a fluorescence-quenched peptide and contributed to structural evidence for the distinct substrate cleavage preferences of MPII and FRA. Our data imply that MPII specificity mimics the dibasic Arg↓Arg cleavage motif of furin-like proprotein convertases, whereas the cleavage motif of FRA (Pro-X-X-Leu-(Arg/Ala/Leu)↓) resembles that of human matrix metalloproteinases. To the best of our knowledge, MPII is the first zinc metalloproteinase with the dibasic cleavage preferences, suggesting a high level of versatility of metalloproteinase proteolysis. Based on these data, we now suggest that the combined (rather than individual) activity of MPII and FRA is required for the overall B. fragilis virulence in vivo.
A STUDY ON THE MECHANISM OF SENIOR HOUSING CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION ON CUSTOMER PURCHASE INTENTION IN CHINA

The aging of population, changes in family structure and other factors have resulted in the great demand for the Senior Housing market in China. The elderly-oriented industry is increasingly industrialized and socialized and the development of Senior Housing has become an inevitable trend. This study is based on the logic of “behavior-perception-purchase intention” and intends to address the influence and mechanism of Senior Housing customer value proposition (CVP) on the customer perceived value (CPV), customer perceived risks (CPR) and customer purchase intention (CPI) in the Chinese conditions, and has proposed theoretical hypotheses and established hypothetical models accordingly. Then we conducted surveys through questionnaires and collected 386 valid questionnaires. We used statistics software spss22.0 and carried out empirical study with relevant mathematical statistics methods. The result shows that CVP has a significant positive impact on CPI. CVP helps promote CPV, which in turn helps enhance CPI. CPV has a significant mediating effect between CVP and CPI. At the same time, the Senior Housing has certain risks in China. CVP cannot reduce CPR, which has an insignificant mediating effect between CVP and CPI.
Mature women re-entering employment : The role of the manpower services commission in meeting their needs.

This thesis reviews the re-entry experiences of women who left employment temporarily to raise a family. It investigates in particular the role of the M.S.C. with regard to these re-entrants.The background to the research is given in three chapters which provide an outline of the current situation of women in employment, a review of the literature on women and work, and an account of the methodology to be used in the research.The following four chapters present the results of a series of surveys conducted in the Sheffield area.A pilot probe provided the local grounding. A standardised survey was conducted involving 480 Job Centre users. Thirty-two potential Job Centre clients gave depth interviews; and an attitudinal survey investigated over 50 M.S.C. staff.As well as confirming well documented re-entrant preferences for part-time work, close to home, in the traditional female job sector, the surveys also established that women are returning to work at a younger age, with youngerchildren, and after a shorter domestic break than had been previously supposed. The role of the M.S.C. in the re-entry process was seen as very peripheral by women at the two extremes of the socio-economic scale. Most effective service was given to registered clients and least to non-registered clients. Both groups were prevented from making full use of the M.S.C. by lack of knowledge of what services were available. Staff perceptions of client needs were generally closely in line with those of the re-entrants themselves though it was commonly felt that the current economic situation was particularly disadvantageous to this group.In the final chapter of the thesis these empirical findings are summarised and assessed against the background of previous knowledge, and a commentary is given on the research process itself.
Creation of Algoritms for Recommendation System Based on Users Data on Internet Advertisement Marketing

Nowadays, products are offered to buyers in different varieties and qualities on the Internet environment. Recommedation systems are needed to make the right choices and make effective decisions. The article offers a new method and algorithm based on data obtaned through different ways and by creating hybrid recommendation systems. Estimation method is given based on information about objects and users for proper development of the algorithm. The proposed method can identify the proximity between the users group and the objects the users are interested in.
RoBo-1, a Novel Member of the Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor/CD59/Ly-6/Snake Toxin Family Selectively Expressed in Rat Bone and Growth Plate Cartilage*

Using differential display polymerase chain reaction, we cloned a novel cDNA named RoBo-1 from rat tibia. RoBo-1 is abundantly expressed in bone, including the hypertrophic chondrocytes of the growth plate where cartilage is remodeled into bone. RoBo-1 mRNA expression increased in response to two modulators of bone metabolism, estradiol and intermittent mechanical loading, suggesting a role in bone homeostasis. The 1.6-kilobase cDNA encodes a 240-amino acid protein with a cysteine spacing pattern, suggesting that RoBo-1 is a novel member of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor/CD59/Ly-6/snake toxin family. Furthermore, the C-terminal contains a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol attachment site, suggesting that it is a cell surface protein similar to other mammalian members of this family. The strongest homology of RoBo-1 is to the snake serum-derived phospholipase A2 inhibitors, which uniquely contain two of the cysteine domains but are secreted proteins. Interestingly, RoBo-1 is likely the first membrane-anchored member of this family containing two cysteine domains. Thus, the tissue specificity, responsiveness to bone protective mediators, along with its relationship to the multifunctional urokinase plasminogen activator receptor/CD59/Ly-6/snake toxin family suggests that RoBo-1 may play a novel role in the growth or remodeling of bone.
Expanding glycosaminoglycan chemical space: towards the creation of sulfated analogs, novel polymers and chimeric constructs

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have therapeutic potential in areas ranging from angiogenesis, inflammation, hemostasis and cancer. GAG bioactivity is conferred by intrinsic structural features, such as disaccharide composition, glycosidic linkages and sulfation pattern. Unfortunately, the in vitro enzymatic synthesis of defined GAGs is quite restricted by a limited understanding of current GAG synthases and modifying enzymes. Our work provides insights into GAG-active enzymes through the creation of sulfated oligosaccharides, a new polysaccharide and chimeric polymers. We show that a C6-sulfonated uridine diphospho (UDP)-glucose (Glc) derivative, sulfoquinovose, can be used as an uronic acid donor, but not as a hexosamine donor, to cap hyaluronan (HA) chains by the HA synthase from the microbe Pasteurella multocida. However, the two heparosan (HEP) synthases from the same species, PmHS1 and PmHS2, could not employ the UDP-sulfoquinovose under similar conditions. Serendipitously, we found that PmHS2 co-polymerized Glc with glucuronic acid (GlcA), creating a novel HEP-like polymer we named hepbiuronic acid [-4-GlcAβ1-4-Glcα1-]n. In addition, we created chimeric block polymers composed of both HA and HEP segments; in these reactions GlcA-, but not N-acetylglucosamine-(GlcNAc), terminated GAG acceptors were recognized by their noncognate synthase for further extension, likely due to the common β-linkage connecting GlcA to GlcNAc in both of these GAGs. Overall, these GAG constructs provide new tools for studying biology and offer potential for future sugar-based therapeutics.
Comparison between latency insertion method (LIM) and relaxation method in thermal integrity analysis

This paper describes comparisons between the latency insertion method (LIM) and the successive over-relaxation (SOR) method in a thermal integrity analysis. A recent research indicates that LIM is adequate for the thermal simulation based on a resistive equivalent circuit model, which basically requires a DC analysis, though the method is one of the transient analysis methods. On the other hand, as is well known, the resistive network can be solved efficiently by using an iterative method such as the SOR method. We discuss the efficiencies of the methods by comparing the numerical results of example thermal simulations for a microchannel structure in a three-dimensional integrated circuit.
Social contacts of school children and the transmission of respiratory-spread pathogens

SUMMARY Empirical data about contact frequencies of children is needed for estimating parameters in mathematical modelling studies that investigate the effect of targeting influenza intervention to children. A survey about the social contacts of school children was conducted in a primary school in Germany. The distribution of the daily numbers of contacts was stratified by age of the contacted person and by weekday. A negative binomial regression analysis was performed to investigate factors that influence contact behaviour. Using logistic regression analysis we examined the relationship between the numbers of private contacts and having been ill in the last 6 months. We computed effective contact numbers to take the heterogeneity in contact behaviour into account in assessing the contribution of children's contacts to the overall transmission of an infection. The possible effects of intervention measures such as school closure and vaccination on the transmission of respiratory-spread agents to other age groups are discussed.
Gradient-free Policy Architecture Search and Adaptation

We develop a method for policy architecture search and adaptation via gradient-free optimization which can learn to perform autonomous driving tasks. By learning from both demonstration and environmental reward we develop a model that can learn with relatively few early catastrophic failures. We first learn an architecture of appropriate complexity to perceive aspects of world state relevant to the expert demonstration, and then mitigate the effect of domain-shift during deployment by adapting a policy demonstrated in a source domain to rewards obtained in a target environment. We show that our approach allows safer learning than baseline methods, offering a reduced cumulative crash metric over the agent's lifetime as it learns to drive in a realistic simulated environment.
COST ANALYSIS OF TRICKLING-FILTRATION AND ACTIVATED-SLUDGE PLANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER

Cost estimation is an important consideration for the development and evaluation of wastewater treatment alternatives. This paper evaluates the most cost-effective treatment scheme among different plants employing two biological processes most commonly used for the treatment of municipal wastewater in Saudi Arabia, activated sludge and trickling filtration, by using a computer-based treatment cost estimating model. Project, and annual operation and maintenance (O & M) costs of trickling filtration (TF) are compared to those of two activated sludge (AS) systems: complete-mix and oxidation-ditch systems. Each system is a part of a complete treatment scheme for wastewater and sludge. The schemes are designed first on the basis of process variables and the reclaimed-water quality criteria for unrestricted irrigation specified by the Ministry of Water and Electricity, and then costed. In addition, cost effectiveness analysis is performed. For a flow of 200,000 m 3 /day with BOD and SS of 300 mg/L and 400 mg/L, respectively, costs of treatment alternatives are evaluated in 2006 Saudi Riyals. Results reveal that project costs of the AS plants are more than that of the TF plant by about 12%-13%. The present worth costs of the former plants are also higher than that of the latter by about 18%-19%. Results also show that the annual O & M of the completely mixed and oxidation-ditch AS plants cost more than the TF plant by about 53% and 46%, respectively. The per unit cost of the TF plant is estimated at SR 1.06/m 3 , while the costs for the complete-mix and oxidation ditch AS plants are respectively, SR 1.25/m 3 and SR 1.23/m 3 . Accordingly, the TF is obviously the most-cost effective
Vers un modèle dynamique du méristème apical caulinaire d'Arabidopsis thaliana

L'affluence des resultats de la biologie "a grande echelle" permet d'envisager une nouvelle approche de la biologie du developpement fondee sur une modelisation a l'echelle cellulaire. Aujourd'hui, l'organisation genetique et les mecanismes d'action de ces genes sur les processus de morphogenese commencent a etre analysables. Dans ce contexte, il devient envisageable de comprendre comment l'architecture des plantes peut etre modulee par ces mecanismes aux echelles moleculaire et cellulaire. Dans une premiere partie de ce travail, des outils de digitalisation et d'analyse de tissus cellulaires et de leur evolution dans le temps ont ete developpes. Dans ce cadre, nous avons mis en place une chaine de traitement, partant d'images issues d'un protocole d'observation base sur la microscopie confocale et allant jusqu'a l'analyse quantitative de caracteres morphologiques et leur evolution au cours du temps. Ensuite, nous avons cree un premier modele de la croissance du meristeme apical caulinaire (une population de cellules souches chez les plantes) dans le but de comprendre le determinisme du positionnement des organes lateraux de la plante. Pour rendre compte des connaissances biologiques existante, notre modele a ete developpe a l'echelle de l'organe et inclus la simulation pour chaque cellule de son etat genetique, de son etat physiologique et de sa croissance, et la simulation des flux d'hormones entre les cellules. Ce modele nous a permis de predire et d'analyser les accumulations d'hormones dans des meristemes digitalises. Ces etudes nous ont conduits a developper un modele dynamique de fonctionnement du meristeme capable de faire emerger des motifs phyllotaxiques sur la base d'une croissance cellulaire et d'une interaction cellule a cellule. Tous les outils informatiques developpes au cours de cette these ont ete integres dans une plate-forme logicielle multi-langages. Cette plate-forme a notamment permis de tester des techniques de developpement lies a l'integration de langages compiles et de langages interpretes dans le cadre de l'etude de la morphogenese. (Resume d'auteur)
EVA: Critical financial success factor for Indian Industry: A Case study of selected sectors

Financial Performance of any Organization can be measured through various traditional measures like Return on Capital Employed, Return on Equity, Earning Per Share, Net Profit Margin etc., but for maximization of Shareholder’s wealth the modern tool like Economic Value Added (EVA) can also be used. EVA, that triggers Shareholder Value, is currently adopted by the major companies as strategic measure of value addtion. The capital providers of the firm i.e., Shareholders invest their money for their individual profit objective. This paper analyses the EVA and its relation with ROCE and Net Profit. With the help of case study of 15 Indian companies. The paper concluded as variables ROCE and NOPAT both explains the variance in the level of EVACE and ANOVA analysis revealed that differences in level of ROCE, NOPAT and EVACE during the 6 years period of the study, have not shown significant difference
Computational Mid-Level Vision: From Border Ownership to Categorical Object Recognition

Title of dissertation: COMPUTATIONAL MID-LEVEL VISION: FROM BORDER OWNERSHIP TO CATEGORICAL OBJECT RECOGNITION Ching Lik Teo, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Yiannis Aloimonos Department of Computer Science Since it was proposed in 1890 by Christian von Ehrenfels, Gestalt psychology has remained a key school of thought that explains how one perceives the world (“the whole”) from the sum of its individual components (“the parts”) or processes. These processes are aptly summarized in the well known “Rules of Gestalt”. In spite of its influence in other fields, the empirical nature of Gestalt rules impedes their widespread adoption in Computer Science. This thesis serves to bridge this apparent divide by making Mid-level Vision, or Computer Vision based on Gestalt rules, not only computationally feasible but also practical for real applications. We address the general problem of figure-ground organization, where the goal is to separate the foreground (or object) from the background. To do this, we first formulate a fast approach that pairs Structured Random Forests (SRFs) with Gestalt-like features, for both boundary detection and border ownership assignment. We then show how border ownership information is useful for shape-based recognition of object categories. This is done by embedding ownership information into the image torque, a grouping operator that detects closure patterns in the image edge, so that we modulate the operator in an efficient manner for detecting class-specific contours in clutter and occlusion. Next, we show how symmetry, an important shape-based regularity in Gestalt psychology, can be detected in clutter and be used for guiding segmentation of symmetric foreground regions. Besides shape and symmetry, functionality is another important mid-level cue that supports categorical object recognition. Based on Gibson’s principle of affordance, we introduce a fast technique based on a SRF trained with geometric features that provides pixel-accurate affordances of tool parts. Finally, we describe as future work how language can be exploited to “activate” such mid-level processes so that a joint semantic space can be obtained for linking visual concepts to language to solve even more challenging problems in Computer Vision, effectively reducing the so-called “semantic gap” between these two related domains. COMPUTATIONAL MID-LEVEL VISION: FROM BORDER OWNERSHIP TO CATEGORICAL OBJECT RECOGNITION
Characterization of the promoter, signal sequence, and amino terminus of a secreted beta-galactosidase from "Streptomyces lividans"

The gene for a secreted 130-kilodalton beta-galactosidase from "Streptomyces lividans" has been cloned, its promoter, signal sequence, and amino terminal region have been localized, and their nucleotide sequence has been determined. The signal sequence extends over 56 amino acids and shows the characteristic-features of signal sequences, including a hydrophilic amino terminus followed by a hydrophobic core near the signal cleavage site. The secretion of beta-galactosidase depends on the presence of the signal sequence. beta-Galactosidase is the major protein in culture supernatants and extracts of strains expressing the cloned beta-galactosidase gene and represents a valuable tool in the study of protein secretion in Streptomyces spp.
Collective Self-Determination: How the Agent of Help Promotes Pride, Well-Being, and Support for Intergroup Helping

This research integrates self-determination theory and the social identity approach to investigate the notion of collective (group level) self-determination, and to test how the agent of intergroup help (helping initiated by a group representative versus group members) shapes group members’ motives and support for intergroup helping. Study 1 (N = 432) demonstrates that collective self-determination predicts support for intergroup helping, group pride, and well-being, over and above individual-level self-determined motivation. Study 2 (N = 216) confirmed that helping by group members was seen as more collectively self-determined than helping by a group representative, producing effects on pride, well-being, and support. Study 3 (N = 124) explores a qualifier of these effects: People who identify more strongly with the leader who is providing the help also experience representative helping as more collectively self-determined, thereby promoting well-being, group pride, and support. Findings highlight the value of integrating self-determination theory with intergroup theories to consider collective aspects of self-determination.
An Easy Approach to Calculating Estimated Energy Requirements

The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) define the daily requirement for energy as the Estimated Energy Requirement (EER). The EER is based on calculations that account for an individual's energy intake, energy expenditure, age, sex, weight, height, and physical activity level. Including physical activity level in the calculations makes determining energy expenditure possible and achieving energy balance a more realistic goal. However, physical activity level is often difficult to measure and accurate assessment of energy expenditure not always possible. We provide an easy way to calculate daily EERs for adults based on physical activity level. We use the EER equations of the DRI Committee and provide a spreadsheet template for the calculation of physical activity level. This technique accounts for all factors and measurements to determine physical activity level and energy expended from daily physical activity. It should prove a useful approach in research, clinical, and public health settings.
P4D-9 Numerical Model for the Dynamics of a Contrast Agent Bubble in an Ultrasound Field

The proposed model involves several different scenarios for the calculation of oscillations for both free and contrast agent bubbles. For example, the gas-dynamic calculation can be made only for the inside of a gas bubble, while the dynamics of the encapsulating shell and the ambient fluid is simulated by Rayleigh-Plesset-type equations. A through gas-dynamic calculation over the entire area, taking account of the compressibility of all the media, can also be carried out. In this case, the bubble shell can consist of several layers following different rheological constitutive equations. Moreover, the model allows the calculation of the translational motion of the contrast agent bubble, which makes it possible to enhance the accuracy of calculating the radial oscillation.