Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for a novel domain of bacterial outer membrane ushers

Many pathogenic bacteria possess adhesive surface organelles (called pili), anchored to their outer membrane, which mediate the first step of infection by binding to host tissue. Pilus biogenesis occurs via the “chaperone–usher” pathway: the usher, a large outer membrane protein, binds complexes of a periplasmic chaperone with pilus subunits, unloads the subunits from the chaperone, and assembles them into the pilus, which is extruded into the extracellular space. Ushers comprise an N‐terminal periplasmic domain, a large transmembrane β‐barrel central domain, and a C‐terminal periplasmic domain. Since structural data are available only for the N‐terminal domain, we performed an in‐depth bioinformatic analysis of bacterial ushers. Our analysis led us to the conclusion that the transmembrane β‐barrel region of ushers contains a so far unrecognized soluble domain, the “middle domain”, which possesses a β‐sandwich fold. Two other bacterial β‐sandwich domains, the TT0351 protein from Thermus thermophilus and the carbohydrate binding module CBM36 from Paenibacillus polymyxa, are possible distant relatives of the usher “middle domain”. Several mutations reported to abolish in vivo pilus formation cluster in this region, underlining its functional importance. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Rank‐width is less than or equal to branch‐width

We prove that the rank‐width of the incidence graph of a graph G is either equal to or exactly one less than the branch‐width of G, unless the maximum degree of G is 0 or 1. This implies that rank‐width of a graph is less than or equal to branch‐width of the graph unless the branch‐width is 0. Moreover, this inequality is tight. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 57: 239–244, 2008
Photonic bound states in periodic dielectric materials.

It is demonstrated that lattice imperfections in a periodic array of dielectric material can give rise to fully localized electromagnetic states. Calculations are performed by using a plane-wave expansion to solve Maxwell's equations. The frequency of these localized states is tunable by varying the size of the defect. Potential device applications in the microwave and millimeter wave regime are proposed.
Contrastive Collostructional Analysis: Causative Constructions in English and French

Abstract This paper offers a contrastive collostructional analysis of English and French periphrastic causative constructions with make/faire in academic writing. Using data from the British National Corpus (for English) and from Scientext (for French), it investigates the interaction between the constructions and their non-finite verb slot. The (simple and distinctive) collexemes strongly attracted to the make and/or faire causative constructions are grouped into semantic classes, which are compared and help identify the typical meaning(s) of each construction. It appears that the English construction particularly attracts non-volitional verbs describing mental processes and (stimulus subject) perception, while the French construction preferentially attracts verbs of (dis)appearance and verbs expressing a change of state or location. These results contribute to situating the two constructions differently on the conceptual map of causation.
On the performance of LDPC coded MC-CDMA in Rayleigh fading channels

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of LDPC coded MC-CDMA in Rayleigh fading channels. We derive an exact expression of the variance of multiuser interference and obtain the optimal maximum number of iterations in LDPC decoding. Compared to turbo coded MC-CDMA, the LDPC coded MC-CDMA has advantages in BER performance and complexity. The simulation results also show that the system using MMSEC outperforms the system using MRC in BER performance and complexity.
Conceptualizing and Assessing Nutrition Needs

Abstract This study aimed to understand how local Older American Acts Nutrition Program (OAANP) providers perceive and assess client need for the OAANP. Qualitative in depth interviews were done with a sample of 36 local OAANP providers in upstate New York. Providers' perceptions of needs for the OAANP were determined by comprehensive understanding of the extent to which an elderly person has problems eating properly to maintain good nutritional and health status. Need was determined by various aging and environmental factors including food insecurity of the elderly, rather than by a single characteristic of problems of elders. Efforts to better understand and meet the needs of elders will enable nutrition programs to respond to heterogeneous needs in ever increasing older population.
Effect of processing conditions on the content of cis/trans carotene isomers as provitamin A carotenoids in Korean sweet potato varieties

Abstract The present investigation intends to evaluate the changes in the content of cis/trans carotene isomers as provitamin A carotenoids by steaming and roasting processes in the roots of four Korean sweet potato varieties viz. Shinzami, Younwhangmi, Chuwhangmi and Jinhongmi using a liquid chromatography with diode array detection and the negative ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometric (LC-DAD-APCI/MS) method and UV spectral pattern library created from several reference data. Except Shinzami, the content of all trans β-carotenes was found to slightly decreased or remained constant when steamed or roasted. The content of cis α-/β-carotenes was potentially increased about 2-fold or greater when raw or steamed and the content was slightly decreased while roasted. In Chuwhangmi, the content of 13-cis α-carotene and all trans α-carotenes were rapidly increased when steamed and slightly decreased when roasted. Chuwhangmi exhibited 27.2 mg/100 g DW content of all trans β-carotenes when roasted and thus, it was considered as a relatively superior cultivar.
The role of immigration and in‐situ radiation in explaining blood parasite assemblages in an island bird clade

Parasite communities on islands are assembled through multiple immigrations and/or in‐situ diversification. In this study, we used a phylogenetic approach to investigate the role of such processes in shaping current patterns of diversity in Leucocytozoon, a group of haemosporidian blood parasites infecting whites eyes (Zosterops) endemic to the Mascarene archipelago (south‐western Indian Ocean). We found that this parasite community arose through a combination of multiple immigrations and in‐situ diversification, highlighting the importance of both processes in explaining island diversity. Specifically, two highly diverse parasite clades appear to have been present in the Mascarenes for most of their evolutionary history and have diversified within the archipelago, while another lineage apparently immigrated more recently, probably with human‐introduced birds. Interestingly, the evolutionary histories of one clade of parasites and Indian Ocean Zosterops seem tightly associated with a significant signal for phylogenetic congruence, suggesting that host–parasite co‐divergence may have occurred in this system.
An E-Business Audit Service Model in the B2B Context

This research studies E-business audit as a specialized service rendered in an information technology intensive environment. A service model is used to research the E-business audit context. Here auditing is viewed as a specialized technical service conducted in the context of E-business technologies, business processes, and people involved in E-business transactions. The specialized audit service is provided to the E-Business transacting firms that in most cases involve transactions between customers and suppliers. A field study of information technology auditors showed that both knowledge of the business processes and of the technologies were critical for them to render reliable and accurate E-business audit findings. The results showed the need for higher training levels in advanced IT methods and tools for technology auditors in rendering IT audit judgments for the business-to-business (B2B) context. Thus, these results provided support for the service model that calls for the appropriate knowledge and use of technologies, business processes, and people in providing service.
Spectral Characteristics of Plasmonic Metal–Insulator–Metal Waveguides With a Tilted Groove

Spectral characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguides with a rectangular or V-groove are analyzed. Theoretical and simulation results indicate that both schemes can achieve wavelength filtering functionality with the center wavelength possessing a linear relationship with the length of the groove. The plasmonic MIM waveguide with a tilted groove could be regarded as the composition of a hypotenuse, rectangular, and V-shaped structures based on theoretical analyses. Characteristics of such waveguides are further investigated numerically by the finite-different time-domain (FDTD) method. The center wavelength of such structure has a nonlinear relationship with the height of the groove. The unique feature may help researchers design grooves with specified angles in nanophotonic integrated circuits.
Twenty Years of Shock Wave Research at the Institute for Surgical Research

Shock waves are acoustic pressure wave pulses which last only a microsecond and reach a pressure of several hundred up to over 1,000 atmospheres (fig. 1). They are produced outside the body and are coupled on a relatively large area through the skin into the body, propagated in tissue and focused on a stone by means of ultrasound. The history of the Institute for Surgical Research of the University of Munich is tightly linked with the development of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, the fragmentation of stones in the ureteric tract and other locations. Its former director Walter Brendel set up the Institute in the sixties and directed it till his death in 1989. He started research on the clinical application of shock waves in the mid seventies. The following brief review starts with a remark on the historical roots of stone removal and describes the evolution of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Like any other treatment, shock waves generated side effects which stimulated researchers to take a closer look at. The idea of a causative role of cavitation emerged, a process involving the generation and movement of bubbles in a fluid. This mechanism was supported by a number of experiments. It Fig. 1. Pressure registration of a shock wave of a lithotripter. The peak pressure is shown as positive upstroke on the y-axis and exceeds 90 MPa. The positive pressure wave is followed by a tensile wave which is below the baseline and is in the range of 10 MPa. The time scale on the x-axis is in Is. The reading was made with a fibre-optic probe hydrophone which is today the only way to provide an undistorted detection of strong tensile pressures. The principle was invented by Eisenmenger and Staudenraus [32].
Finding business partners and building reciprocal relationships - A machine learning approach

Business development is vital for any firms. However, globalization and the rapid development of technologies have made it difficult to find appropriate business partners such as suppliers, customers and outsources and build reciprocal relationships among them, while it simultaneously offers many opportunities. In this contribution, we propose a new computational approach to find business partner candidates based on firm profiles and transactional relationships among them. We employ machine learning techniques to build prediction models of customer-supplier relationships. We applied our approach to Japanese firms and compared our prediction results with the actual business data. The results showed that our approach successfully found plausible candidates and reciprocity among them whose accuracy is about 80%. Using machine learning approach, we have the accuracy of predicting a customer-supplier relation of 84%, and the accuracy of predicting a reciprocal customer-supplier relation is about 75–79%. These results show that our approach can be a new powerful tool to develop one's own business in the complicated, specialized and rapidly changing business environments of recent years.
Analysis of open innovation communities from the perspective of social network analysis

Open innovation is an emergent paradigm by which organisations make use of their internal and external resources to perform their innovation processes. The growth of information and communication technologies has facilitated the spread of online open innovation communities, where users can share ideas as well as comment on and evaluate ideas posted by other community members. In this work, the behaviour of community members is analysed from the perspective of social network analysis. The final aim is twofold: first, to measure to what extent the different forms of participation are correlated to each other; and, second, how the collective intelligence evaluation schemes can be useful to identify those users posting ideas which are potentially applicable for the organisation. Obtained results can help community managers and organisations to improve the efficiency of the evaluation process when hundreds or thousands of ideas are shared through the online community.
Genome Sequence of a Multidrug-Resistant Strain of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia with Carbapenem Resistance, Isolated from King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria have been regarded as major challenges among health care-associated infections worldwide. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of an MDR Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain isolated in 2014 from King Abdulla Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Mechanisms of Gastric Mucosal Cell Loss In Autoimmune Gastritis

The causes of target cell death in organ-specific autoimmune diseases are not precisely known. In the case of EAG, parietal cell death depends on Th1 CD4 T cells and Fas/Fas-ligand, either through interaction between infiltrating CD4 T cells with gastric parietal cells that have upregulated Fas expression or through homotypic interactions between the parietal cells. TNF-α does not appear to have a role in this process. The accompanying loss of zymogenic cells is likely a consequence of the interruption of the normal developmental pathway in the gastric mucosa that follows the destruction of parietal cells in the gastric mucosa.
Estimating Alzheimer's Disease Progression Rates from Normal Cognition Through Mild Cognitive Impairment and Stages of Dementia.

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's Disease (AD) can be conceptualized as a continuum: patients progress from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, followed by increasing severity of AD dementia. Prior research has measured transition probabilities among later stages of AD, but not for the complete spectrum. OBJECTIVE To estimate annual progression rates across the AD continuum and evaluate the impact of a delay in MCI due to AD on the trajectory of AD dementia and clinical outcomes. METHODS Patient-level longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center for n=18,103 patients with multiple visits over the age of 65 were used to estimate annual, age-specific transitional probabilities between normal cognition, MCI due to AD, and AD severity states (defined by Clinical Dementia Rating score). Multivariate models predicted the likelihood of death and institutionalization for each health state, conditional on age and time from the previous evaluation. These probabilities were used to populate a transition matrix describing the likelihood of progressing to a particular disease state or death for any given current state and age. Finally, a health state model was developed to estimate the expected effect of a reduction in the risk of transitioning from normal cognition to MCI due to AD on disease progression rates for a cohort of 65-year-old patients over a 35-year time horizon. RESULTS Annual transition probabilities to more severe states were 8%, 22%, 25%, 36%, and 16% for normal cognition, MCI due to AD, and mild/moderate/severe AD, respectively, at age 65, and increased as a function of age. Progression rates from normal cognition to MCI due to AD ranged from 4% to 10% annually. Severity of cognitive impairment and age both increased the likelihood of institutionalization and death. For a cohort of 100 patients with normal cognition at age 65, a 20% reduction in the annual progression rate to MCI due to AD avoided 5.7 and 5.6 cases of MCI due to AD and AD, respectively. This reduction led to less time spent in severe AD dementia health states and institutionalized, and increased life expectancy. CONCLUSION Transition probabilities from normal cognition through AD severity states are important for understanding patient progression across the AD spectrum. These estimates can be used to evaluate the clinical benefits of reducing progression from normal cognition to MCI due to AD on lifetime health outcomes.
Challenges in Haptic Communications Over the Tactile Internet

The Tactile Internet presently constitutes a vision of an Internet over which, in addition to current communications modalities, a sense of touch can be transported. In that case, people would no longer need to be physically near the systems they operate, but could control them remotely. The main problem that needs to be solved to realize the Tactile Internet is summarized by the “1 ms challenge. ” If the response time of a system is below 1 ms, the end-user will not be able to tell the difference between controlling a system locally or from another location. This paper offers a summary of the requirements for haptic communications, followed by an overview of challenges in realizing the Tactile Internet. In addition, possible solutions to these challenges are proposed and discussed. For example, the development of the fifth generation mobile communication networks will provide a good foundation upon which a Tactile Internet could be built. This paper also describes the design of a modular testbed needed for testing of a wide variety of haptic system applications.
What Is the Role of Epidural Steroid Injections in Lumbar Spinal Disease with Moderate Disability?

UNLABELLED Epidural steroid injections have been gaining popularity as an alternative to surgical treatment of radicular pain with associated spinal derangement. To determine the effectiveness and indications of lumbar epidural steroid injections in patients with or without surgery, we performed a prospective observational study. We gathered data from 262 degenerative short-segment spinal disease patients (affected at one or 2 levels) with greater than 12 weeks of medication-resistant radicular pain without neurological deficits but with moderate disability (visual analog scale < 6.5; Oswestry Disability Index < 35). All patients received initial fluoroscopically guided transforaminal epidural steroid injections of the affected vertebral level(s) corresponding to their symptoms. Those with inadequate responses or who wanted subsequently surgery underwent decompression surgery. Clinical and demographic characteristics were assessed to compare the differences between the groups. RESULTS Of the 262 patients who received epidural steroid injections, 204 did not have operations for up to one year. However, 58 patients experienced inadequate relief of pain or wanted operations and therefore underwent surgery. At baseline, the 2 groups had similar mean disability indices and pain scores, as well as gender ratios, ages, and durations of symptoms (P > 0.05). In the patients who underwent surgery, the mean disability and pain scores were not significantly decreased after injection compared to those in the injection-alone group, although the scores for the injection plus surgery patients decreased significantly after surgery (P < 0.05). In contrast, patients who underwent epidural steroid injection alone experienced a significant decrease in disability and pain after injection, and that persisted up to one year of follow-up (P < 0.05). Epidural steroid injection can decrease the pain and disability in the majority of a moderate disability group for up to one year, although a significant number of patients underwent surgery regardless of injection. We recommend epidural steroid injection as a first-line treatment in patients with moderate disability that can be converted to surgery without significant delay. KEY WORDS Epidural steroid injection, spinal surgery, lumbar spinal disease, lumbar radiculopathy, lumbar radicular pain.
Six month results of randomized clinical trial: Multivessel stenting versus staged revascularization for ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients with second generation drug eluting stents

Background: There are no randomized trials described outcomes of multivessel percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) (in primary and staged revascularization) with second generation drug eluting stents (DES) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We are presenting preliminary results of randomized trial (NCT01781715). Methods: Six-month outcomes of 89 consecutive patients with STEMI and multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) (SYNTAX 18.6±7.9 points) undergoing primary PCI with zotarolimus-eluting stents (Resolute Integrity; Medtronic) were studied. We used two strategies of multivessel stenting: in primary PCI (MS primary, n=46) (the IRA was opened followed by dilatation of other significantly narrowed arteries during the same procedure) and multivessel stenting in staged revascularisation (MS staged, n=43) (the IRA only was treated during the primary intervention while the complete revascularization was planned in a second procedure (8.5±4.2 days)) in our prospective randomized study. Results: During follow-up of 6 months there was no cardiac death in overall group. We observed 1 (2.3%) non-cardiac death in MS staged group vs 0 in MS primary (p=0.9), 0 non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) in MS staged group vs 3 (6.5%) in MS primary (p=0.3) due to definite stent thromboses (ST) (2.5% on the number of stents). There was no target vessel revascularization (TVR) in MS staged group, but it was performed in 2 cases (4.3%) in MS primary group (p=0.5). Major adverse cardiac event (MACE) (cardiac death, MI, TVR) was diagnosed in 2.3% and 6.5% in MS staged and MS primary group (p=0.7). Conclusions: second generation DES in STEMI patients with multivessel CAD are satisfactory safely and effectively as part of the strategy of multivessel stenting in primary PCI and multivessel staged PCI (8.5±4.2 days). Multivessel stenting in primary PCI was associated with higher risk of stent thrombosis (ST) compared with multivessel staged PCI in six month follow-up period.