Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design, expression, and purification of a Flaviviridae polymerase using a high‐throughput approach to facilitate crystal structure determination

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) nonstructural protein 5B is an RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase, essential for viral replication. Initial attempts to crystallize a soluble form of the 695‐residue BVDV polymerase did not produce any crystals. Limited proteolysis, homology modeling, and mutagenesis data were used to aid the design of polymerase constructs that might crystallize more readily. Limited proteolysis of the polymerase with trypsin identified a domain boundary within the protein. Homology modeling of the polymerase, based on the structure of hepatitis C virus polymerase, indicated that the two polymerases share a 23% identical “core,” although overall sequence identity is low. Eighty‐four expression clones of the BVDV polymerase were designed by fine‐sampling of chain termini at the boundaries of domain and of active truncated forms of the polymerase. The resulting constructs were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using high‐throughput methods. Soluble truncated proteins were subjected to crystallization trials in a 96‐well format, and two of these proteins were successfully crystallized.
Randomised trial of dopamine compared with hydrocortisone for the treatment of hypotensive very low birthweight infants

AIM To compare the efficacy of hydrocortisone with dopamine for the treatment of hypotensive, very low birthweight (VLBW) infants. METHODS Forty infants were randomly allocated to receive either hydrocortisone (n=21) or dopamine (n=19). RESULTS All 19 infants randomised to dopamine responded; 17 of 21 (81%) did so in the hydrocortisone group. Three of the four non-responders in the hydrocortisone group had clinically significant left to right ductal shunting. The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy of prematurity, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus, hyperglycaemia, sepsis (bacterial or fungal) or survival did not differ between groups. The adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) stimulated plasma cortisol activity, either before or after treatment, did not differ between the two groups of infants. Although a significant difference in efficacy between dopamine and hydrocortisone was not noted (P = 0.108), there were four treatment failures in the hydrocortisone group, compared with none in the dopamine group. CONCLUSION Both hydrocortisone and dopamine are effective treatments for hypotension in very low birthweight infants.
Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Positive Staphylococcus aureus in Ireland from 2002 to 2011: 21 Clones, Frequent Importation of Clones, Temporal Shifts of Predominant Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Clones, and Increasing Multiresistance

ABSTRACT There has been a worldwide increase in community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. CA-MRSA isolates commonly produce the Panton-Valentine leukocidin toxin encoded by the pvl genes lukF-PV and lukS-PV. This study investigated the clinical and molecular epidemiologies of pvl-positive MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates identified by the Irish National MRSA Reference Laboratory (NMRSARL) between 2002 and 2011. All pvl-positive MRSA (n = 190) and MSSA (n = 39) isolates underwent antibiogram-resistogram typing, spa typing, and DNA microarray profiling for multilocus sequence type, clonal complex (CC) and/or sequence type (ST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type assignment, and virulence and resistance gene detection. Where available, patient demographics and clinical data were analyzed. The prevalence of pvl-positive MRSA increased from 0.2% to 8.8%, and that of pvl-positive MSSA decreased from 20% to 2.5% during the study period. The pvl-positive MRSA and MSSA isolates belonged to 16 and 5 genotypes, respectively, with CC/ST8-MRSA-IV, CC/ST30-MRSA-IV, CC/ST80-MRSA-IV, CC1/ST772-MRSA-V, CC30-MSSA, CC22-MSSA, and CC121-MSSA predominating. Temporal shifts in the predominant pvl-positive MRSA genotypes and a 6-fold increase in multiresistant pvl-positive MRSA genotypes occurred during the study period. An analysis of patient data indicated that pvl-positive S. aureus strains, especially MRSA strains, had been imported into Ireland several times. Two hospital and six family clusters of pvl-positive MRSA were identified, and 70% of the patient isolates for which information was available were from patients in the community. This study highlights the increased burden and changing molecular epidemiology of pvl-positive S. aureus in Ireland over the last decade and the contribution of international travel to the influx of genetically diverse pvl-positive S. aureus isolates into Ireland.
Adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for early breast cancer: A review of the most recent data

Tamoxifen is the established adjuvant treatment for postmenopausal women with hormone‐sensitive early breast cancer. However, the side‐effects associated with tamoxifen therapy have prompted a search for safer and potentially more effective endocrine agents. Results from randomized trials of the third‐generation aromatase inhibitors, anastrozole, letrozole and exemestane, demonstrating improved efficacy compared with tamoxifen and favorable tolerability profiles, are discussed in this review. J. Surg. Oncol. 2006;93:585–592. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Australian attitudes towards wealth, inequality and the minimum wage

This report explores the perceptions of wealth inequality in Australian society and the the actual divide in wealth between richest and poorest. A collaboration between Empirca Research and Harvard Business School, the research shows that Australians dramatically underestimate the degree of wealth inequality in our society. Furthermore, when asked what they believed the minimum was, Australians overstated it by an average of $1.80 per hour, or $68.40 per week. The wealthiest 20% of Australians own 61% of the country's wealth. The poorest 20% own 1%. The wealth gap is large and growing, but how well are these economic trends known by the Australian public at large? Does the "illusion of equlaity" impact support for policies that would bring greater equality to Australian society?
No creative person is an island: Organisational culture, academic project-based creativity, and the mediating role of intra-organisational social ties

This paper examines the relationship between perceptions of organizational culture, academics’ social embeddedness, and their creative paper project output. It argues that the extent to which researchers working on paper projects are socially embedded by having social ties with colleagues inside and outside their academic department (but within the same university) is a causal step linking organizational values and norms to creative outputs. This study, however, does not find support for the proposed mediating effects. Instead, results indicate that three organizational culture dimensions – i.e. performance orientation, environmental orientation, and innovation support – affect employees’ creative project output through their social embeddedness outside the department (but within their own university). As the organizational culture and social embeddedness of employees outside the department are both contextual factors that (either indirectly or directly) matter for the generation of creative project outputs by researchers, this study concludes that “no creative person and no project is an island”.
The effect of different surface treatment techniques on the surface roughness of feldspathic porcelain

Purpose: This in vitro study compared the effect of five different techniques on the surface roughness of feldspathic porcelain. Materials and Methods: 100 feldspathic porcelain disk samples mounted in acrylic resin blocks were divided into five groups (n=20) according to type of surface treatment: I, hydrofluoric acid (HFA); II, Deglazed surface porcelain treated with Neodymium:yttrium- aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser; III, Deglazed porcelain surface treated with Erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser; IV, Glazed porcelain surface treated with Neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser, V; Glazed porcelain surface treated with Erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser. The surface roughness of porcelain was measured with a noncontact optical profilometer. For each porcelain sample, two readings were taken across the sample, before porcelain surface treatment (T1) and after porcelain surface treatment (T2). The roughness parameter analyzed was the average roughness (Ra). Statistical analysis was performed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Mean Ra values for each group were as follows: I, 12.64±073; II, 11.91±0.74; III, 11.76±0.59; IV, 3.82±0.65; V, 2.77±0.57. For all porcelain groups, the lowest Ra values were observed in Group V. The highest Ra values were observed for Group I, with a significant difference with the other groups. Kolmogorov–Smirnov showed significant differences among groups (p<0.001). Conclusion: Surface treatment of porcelain with HFA resulted in significantly higher Ra than laser groups. Both Er:YAG laser or Nd:YAG laser on the deglaze porcelain surface can be recommended as viable treatment alternatives to acid etching.
Wage – labour activities by agricultural households in Nicaragua

This article considers wage – labour activities by agricultural households in Nicaragua. It analyses the role of: (1) comparative advantage as determined by individual and household characteristics; and (2) agricultural conditions and market imperfections, in shaping wage – labour supply. An econometric specification is developed which allows for random household-specific effects. Results reveal that non-agricultural wage work is largely determined by comparative advantages, whereas agricultural wage work is used to deal with a number of agricultural conditions and market imperfections.
Investigation of 3D printed dielectric structure for microwave lens prototyping

In this work, we designed and fabricated dielectric materials with predetermined dielectric permittivity. These materials are 3-D printed using fused deposition modeling technique with high impact polystyrene filament. The dielectric structure is composed of discrete layers that are separated into cells. Each unit cell is essentially a plastic cube with square air void in the center. Desired variable relative permittivity was realized by changing the filling ratio. The dependences of relative permittivity on filling ratio are measured and presented. Obtained approximated dependence of relative permittivity can be utilized for microwave lens synthesis for low-cost communication systems.
Assessment of outcome in depression

Valid and reliable methods of assessing outcome in depression are crucial to antidepressant efficacy studies but are also important for all studies that relate response to other variables. In this paper we review basic issues of reliability and validity associated with outcome measurement. We distinguish between scales or inventories designed for screening or diagnosis and those intended for outcome assessment. We note historical changes in patient selection (e.g. outpatients instead of inpatients, differentiating psychotic and non-psychotic) and how these changes affect commonly used scales such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. We examine whether antidepressants with different mechanisms of action are best assessed with similar or different symptoms. And we review studies that have identified 'core' symptoms of depression and compare these findings to the magnitude of individual symptom change we found in five studies of selective serotonergic or nonadrenergic antidepressants.
The Measurer’s Dilemma

Over the past decades, (mostly) private actors have been providing the public good of cross-national political data in a decentralized, uncoordinated, and unregulated fashion. They have been successful in generating an incessant supply of data. However, the success of current practices of data production has been masking severe structural limitations: the systematic undersupply of data and the systematic inefficiency of data generation. Both problems derive from disciplinary coordination failures (“measurer’s dilemmas”). On one hand, private data producers have been unable to coordinate the cross-national collection of two broad categories of data: political data produced by national governments (e.g., election results) and factual data that are not observable from the outside of national political systems but require access to domestic sources of information (e.g., protest events). On the other hand, private data producers have been unable to construct regulatory frameworks that would reduce persistent inefficiencies in data collection: data privatization, data opacity, and data incompatibility. To resolve these structural problems, the scholarly community will need to mobilize established collective actors, above all, their professional associations.
Dynamic Pricing Policies of Hotel Establishments in an Online Travel Agency

This article analyses price setting by hotel establishments in the Spanish islands via an online travel agency. To this end, the author collected information on 572 hotels and tourist apartments and estimated the effects of their characteristics and market conditions on the probability that each establishment would increase or decrease prices and on price variations. The results obtained enabled an examination of the effect of competition and product differentiation on pricing policy. According to the results, the higher the quality of the service provided, the greater the probability of a price rise, and the greater its magnitude. Moreover, a greater difference between the set price and the average price of competitors does not affect the probability of lowering prices. The results therefore suggest that product differentiation is an important issue in the hotel industry.
The measurement of colonic mucosal‐submucosal blood flow in man.

1. A method is described for the measurement of colonic mucosal‐submucosal blood flow in man, by studying surgically created colostomies. 2. A local radioisotopic clearance technique utilizing a stable preparation of [125I]4‐iodoantipyrine is employed. The indicator is injected directly into the colostomy under study and its gamma emission is recorded by a scintillation detector. 3. A radioautographic study was carried out at laparotomy in humans to facilitate the interpretation of the recorded washout curves. This demonstrated that the tracer was cleared from both the mucosa and submucosa throughout the period of study. 4. Mucosal‐submucosal blood flow was calculated according to Kety (1949) from the monoexponential clearance curves obtained, and amounted to 31.7 +/‐ 11 ml. /min. 100 g (S.D. of an observation, n = 30). 5. The results from two consecutive measurements in seventeen patients showed that the mean change between first and second readings was not significant (t test). In addition the between‐patient variation (12.2) was significantly greater than the within‐patient variation (2.6) for consecutive recordings (F test; P less than 0.01). 6. The within‐patient between‐days variation (12.9; n = 10) was found to be similar to the between‐patient variation. 7. It is concluded that the technique permits measurement of local colonic blood flow in man and by consecutive measurements, it may be used to evaluate local changes in blood flow following reflex or pharmacological stimulation.
Does Discourse Matter in the Politics of Welfare State Adjustment?

In the reform of the welfare state, countries' experiences depend not only on their economics, institutions, and policy responses but also on politics, that is, on governments' ability to gain agreement for reform through discourse, understood as both a set of ideas and an interactive process. This article seeks to show not only how discourse matters but also when it matters, that is, when it acts as a causal influence on welfare reform, altering perceptions of interests and overcoming institutional obstacles to change. It demonstrates this through the examination of three matched sets of cases in which the presence of a coherent discourse contributed to the success of welfare state reform and its absence contributed to its failure. The matched pairs are Britain and New Zealand, the Netherlands and Germany, and Italy and France.
Testing the Barro-Gordon Model in Breaking and Dependent Panels: Evidence from the OECD Countries ⁄

The Barro-Gordon model of monetary policy implies that in∞ation will inherit the persistency of the natural rate of unemployment when the central bank cannot commit to a monetary policy rule. The present paper tests the validity of this model in the OECD area by inferring whether unemployment and in∞ation rates are cointegrated. Evidence from this and other studies suggests that the baseline version of the Barro-Gordon model does not hold, and that this might be due to structural instability induced by changing economic conditions. To be able to test whether this is in fact the case, new panel data cointegration tests are proposed that allow for an arbitrary number of structural breaks in the cointegration relation. Cross-section dependence is also permitted to account for the fact that both unemployment and in∞ation appear to be afiected by shocks that are common across countries. The results based on these new tests suggest that the Barro-Gordon model cannot be rejected.
Pregnancy after intracytoplasmic sperm injection following extended sperm preparation and hormone therapy in an azoospermic man with maturation arrest and microlithiasis: a case report and literature review

In the management of azoospermia, a combination of testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is usually the most successful option for fatherhood. However, an outstanding question remains: How can at least a few spermatozoa be obtained from the ejaculate, thus avoiding the need for a surgical procedure? A 36‐year‐old man presented to Assisted Reproduction Unit with his 26‐year‐old wife. The ultrasound assessment revealed bilateral microlithiasis. Two spermograms revealed absolute azoospermia. Levels of follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone were normal–low. The patient underwent 10 months of treatment with clomiphene citrate. A bilateral testicular sperm extraction failed to retrieve spermatozoa and revealed a maturation arrest at spermatocyte/spermatid stages depending on the tubules. Clomiphene citrate was replaced with recombinant FSH (rFSH). After 9‐month treatment with rFSH, motile spermatozoa from droplets of ejaculate pellet were cryopreserved as a single straw. Ovarian stimulation was provided using classic antagonist protocol, and five mature oocytes were collected. Two consecutive fresh semen samples on the day of ICSI yielded seven motile spermatozoa, and fertilisation was achieved in all five oocytes. On day 3, two embryos were transferred, yielding positive beta‐human chorionic gonadotropin and a healthy delivery of a boy and a girl.
Profiling Japanese Tourists Visiting Night Markets in Taiwan

Abstract Night markets have become the most popular tourism attraction for international tourists in Taiwan since 2003. They offer tourists a chance to experience new things and visit different environments when visiting the island. Japan has long been the leading generator of international tourism for Taiwan in terms of numbers and expenditures. Thus, the objective of this research is to profile Japanese tourists based on their novelty-seeking motives in visiting night markets. The 320 Japanese tourists are segmented into three groups: conservative tourists, moderate novelty-seekers and well-planned explorers. Based on the results, implications and recommendations are provided to the tourism authorities, and future research possibilities are also noted.
The faces of liberal capitalism: Anglo-Saxon banking systems in crisis?

The recent financial crisis has severely shaken confidence in the conventional wisdom of economic liberalism, giving rise to debate about the appropriate direction of theory and policy. In this context, the sharply divergent experiences of the four main Anglo-Saxon banking systems suggest that the crisis may not so much be one of liberal capitalism per se as it is of the neoclassical variety that characterises the British and American systems. Whereas these banking systems were very badly affected by the crisis, the Canadian and Australian systems were not. Our analysis suggests that this can be explained by differences in the way that economic liberalism was interpreted and translated into policy in the four countries during the period preceding the crisis. It also suggests that broad classifications of national business systems into 'liberal market' and other varieties of capitalism do not capture their inherent diversity, and that financial market liberalisation does not necessarily lead to instability, particularly when it is accompanied by appropriate supervision and prudential regulation. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved. , Oxford University Press.
Scorecard Sustainability: Discovering the Inflection Point for Business Scorecard Termination or Major Alteration

Why do many balanced scorecard implementations ultimately fail, and how can managers recognize when a scorecard program is in jeopardy? This article points out several warning signs-inflection points-to help managers manage balanced scorecard programs from their design through to imple-mentation and use over time. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
MULTI‐LEVEL SEXUAL SELECTION: INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY‐LEVEL SELECTION FOR MATING SUCCESS IN A HISTORICAL HUMAN POPULATION

Precopulatory sexual selection is the association between fitness and traits associated with mate acquisition. Although sexual selection is generally recognized to be a powerful evolutionary force, most investigations are limited to characters belonging to individuals. A broader multilevel perspective acknowledges that individual fitness can be affected by aspects of mating success that are characters of groups, such as families. Parental mating success in polygynous or polyandrous human societies may exemplify traits under group‐level sexual selection. Using fitness measures that account for age‐structure, I measure multilevel selection for mate number over 55 years in a human population with declining rates of polygyny. Sexual selection had three components: individual‐level selection for ever‐mating (whether an individual mated) and individual‐ and family‐level selection for polyandry and polygyny. Family‐ and individual‐level selection for polygyny was equally strong, three times stronger than family‐level selection for polyandry and more than an order of magnitude stronger than individual‐level selection for polyandry. However, individual‐level selection for polyandry and polygyny was more effective at explaining relative fitness variance than family‐level selection. Selection for ever‐mating was the most important source of sexual selection for fitness; variation for ever‐mating explained 23% of relative fitness variance.