Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Purification and Characterization of meta-Cleavage Compound Hydrolase from a Carbazole Degrader Pseudomonas resinovorans Strain CA10

2-Hydroxy-6-oxo-6-(2′-aminophenyl)-hexa-2,4- dienoic acid [6-(2′-aminophenyl)-HODA] hydrolase, involved in carbazole degradation by Pseudomonas resinovorans strain CA10, was purified to near homogeneity from an overexpressing Escherichia coli strain. The enzyme was dimeric, and its optimum pH was 7.0-7.5. Phylogenetic analysis showed the close relationship of this enzyme to other hydrolases involved in the degradation of monocyclic aromatic compounds, and this enzyme was specific for 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid (6-phenyl-HODA), having little activity toward 2-hydroxy-6-oxohepta-2,4-dienoic acid and 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde. The enzyme had a Km of 2.51 μM and kcat of 2.14 (s−1) for 6-phenyl-HODA (50 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.5, 25°C). The effect of the presence of an amino group or hydroxyl group at the 2′-position of phenyl moiety of 6-phenyl-HODA on the enzyme activity was found to be small; the activity decreased only in the order of 6-(2′-aminophenyl)-HODA (2.44 U/mg)>6-phenyl-HODA (1.99 U/mg)>2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-hexa-2,4-dienoic acid (1.05 U/mg). The effects of 2′-substitution on the activity were in accordance with the predicted reactivity based on the calculated lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy for these substrates.
Learning and work satisfaction in Asia: a comparative study of Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian managers

We compared predictors of job satisfaction across three countries, China, Japan, and Malaysia, by surveying 600 managers from these countries who worked for the leading Japanese retail firm AEON Co. Ltd., as it strategically expanded across Asia. Learning is a particularly critical area for human resource management (HRM) in developing countries because of the need to adapt and learn. Therefore, we viewed employee adaptation to the host company culture of AEON through the lens of experiential learning theory and learning style. Results showed that Japanese managers preferred learning through feeling and reflecting; Chinese managers preferred learning through thinking and reflecting; and Malaysian managers preferred learning through thinking and acting. Furthermore, Chinese managers showed more balance as learners, whereas Malaysian managers were comparatively in the middle and Japanese managers exhibited the most specialization in their learning orientation. The study also suggested that learning style is a stronger predictor of job satisfaction than culture and ethnicity, but not as strong as some control variables such as language skills. Work satisfaction has been widely used as an indicator of successful HRM practices in multinational companies in advanced, Western and individualistic cultures. Taken together, the measures of learning style and work satisfaction provide the basis of further study into relationship between Confucianism, capitalism and HRM practices.
Reducing Efficiency through Communication in Competitive Coordination Games

Costless pre-play communication has been found to effectively facilitate coordination and enhance efficiency by increasing individual payoffs in games with Pareto-ranked equilibria. We report an experiment in which two groups compete in a weakest-link contest by expending costly efforts. Allowing group members to communicate before choosing efforts leads to more aggressive competition and greater coordination, but also results in substantially lower payoffs than a control treatment without communication. Our experiment thus provides evidence that communication can reduce efficiency in competitive coordination games. This contrasts sharply with experimental findings from public goods and other coordination games, where communication enhances efficiency and often leads to socially optimal outcomes.
An Antimicrobial Peptide Is Produced by Extracellular Processing of a Protein from Propionibacterium jensenii

ABSTRACT A protease-activated antimicrobial peptide (PAMP) and its inactive precursor were purified from the culture supernatant of Propionibacterium jensenii LMG 3032 and characterized at the molecular level. PAMP is a 64-amino-acid cationic peptide of 6,383 Da with physicochemical features similar to those of bacteriocins from gram-positive bacteria. This peptide displayed bactericidal activity against several propionibacteria and lactobacilli. DNA sequencing indicated that the PAMP-encoding gene (pamA) is translated as a proprotein of 198 amino acids with an N-terminal signal peptide of 27 amino acids and that PAMP constitutes the C-terminal part of this precursor. The amino acid sequence of pro-PAMP showed no similarity to those of other known proteins. By using activity tests and mass spectrometry, we showed that PAMP was formed upon protease treatment of the precursor protein. The propionibacteria produced the PAMP precursor constitutively during growth up to a level of ∼4 mg/liter, but the producing bacteria were unable to activate the precursor. The requirement for an external protease represents a novel strategy for generating antimicrobial peptides.
COMPUTERISATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS IN ZIMBABWE:CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (THE CASE OF CHIPINGE DISTRICT)

In this paper we seek to explain the relevance of introducing Computer Studies in Zimbabwean rural schools as a means to reduce the access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) gap between rural and urban schools. We first acknowledge the efforts of various stakeholders in education in introducing the Information Communication Technology curriculum in rural schools in the last ten or so years as a commitment to bringing Science and Technology to the rural pupil. In addition, we further explore the progress that has been made by rural schools that received computers from the Head of State and Government over the years. In the process, however, we observe that most rural schools have not fully embraced the ICT curriculum owing to a number of challenges. Thus, we contend in this paper that most rural schools that received donated computers in Zimbabwe had not been capacitated to fully utilise the new technology for the benefit of pupils, teachers and the community. As a result, most of the gadgets have been lying idle in classrooms due to lack of either proper infrastructural facilities such as computer laboratories and electricity as well as lack of trained ICT teachers. In the final submission, we implore stakeholders in education to facilitate ICT development in rural schools in Zimbabwe so as to increase access, quality and equity in education for sustainable rural development in Southern Africa.
FORMAL AND INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME DIFFERENTIALS IN URBAN CHINA

This study estimates the formal–informal as well as the formal and informal male–female employment hourly income differentials in urban China. The results indicate that differences between the characteristics of formal and informal employment account for a much higher percentage of the hourly income differential than does discrimination in the labour market. In addition, we found that ignoring the sample selection bias results in the overestimation of the formal and informal male–female hourly income differential and the degree of discrimination against informal employment of women and conversely, the underestimation of the degree of discrimination against formal employment of women. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effectiveness of three‐dimensional digital animation in teaching human anatomy in an authentic classroom context

Three‐dimensional (3D) digital animations were used to teach the human musculoskeletal system to first year kinesiology students. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of this method by comparing two groups from two different academic years during two of their official required anatomy examinations (trunk and upper limb assessments). During the upper limb section, the teacher used two‐dimensional (2D) drawings embedded into PowerPoint® slides and 3D digital animations for the first group (2D group) and the second (3D group), respectively. The same 3D digital animations were used for both groups during the trunk section. The only difference between the two was the multimedia used to present the information during the upper limb section. The 2D group surprisingly outperformed the 3D group on the trunk assessment. On the upper limb assessment no difference in the scores on the overall anatomy examination was found. However, the 3D group outperformed the 2D group in questions requiring spatial ability. Data supported that 3D digital animations were effective instructional multimedia material tools in teaching human anatomy especially in recalling anatomical knowledge requiring spatial ability. The importance of evaluating the effectiveness of a new instructional material outside laboratory environment (e.g., after a complete semester and on official examinations) was discussed. Anat Sci Educ 7: 430–437. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.
How Top‐Down and Bottom‐Up Budgeting Affect Budget Slack and Performance Through Social and Economic Exchange

This paper investigates the effects of a top-down (TD) versus bottom-up (BU) orientation in different stages of the budgetary target-setting process on slack and managerial performance. We use social exchange theory to explain the outcomes of these alternative budgetary arrangements, and complement the traditional focus on budgetary participation in target setting with a process-oriented perspective. We develop hypotheses predicting that TD and BU orientations in the subsequent stages of the budgeting process have different effects on managers’ exchange relationships with the firm, and their behavioural responses. Using survey evidence from German managers across 127 firms we find that a TD orientation in the issuance of guidelines enhances economic exchange and that a BU orientation in the development of the initial budget proposal enhances social exchange, which in turn are associated with reduced slack and higher performance, respectively.
An approach to develop a hybrid algorithm based on support vector machine and Naive Bayes for anomaly detection

Anomaly detection involves way towards finding the example in the information that violates ordinary conduct. The choice of anomaly detection algorithm can to a great extent affect the undertaking of anomaly identification. The decision of abnormality revelation calculation can influence complexity and correctness of the process. The choice of anomaly recognition calculations may increase the occurrence of false alert rate, high resource usage, and may even lead to security vulnerabilities. In addition, one anomaly detection procedure can beat the other in same dataset. In this way, many anomaly detection systems can be used to merge the prediction from multiple system in order to improve the generalizability over a single estimator. In this research work, we show a weighted hybrid model utilizing Support Vector Machine and Naive Bayes for anomaly discovery, k-fold cross validation to figure the error related with corresponding model and accuracy based weight values to be used with the candidate model. The hybrid algorithm has been executed to join the result of expectation of SVM and Naive Bayes classifiers utilizing weight elements. The weights elements have been computed utilizing root mean square error of forecast as error metric. The classifier with high accuracy has been given higher weight and classifier with the lower precision has been given lower weight. The objective is to improve the performance of hybrid model than that of Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes.
Factors determining the balance between the wish to die and the wish to live in older adults

The “Internal Struggle Hypothesis” (Kovacs and Beck, ) suggests that suicidal persons may have both a wish to live (WTL) and a wish to die (WTD). The current study investigates whether the three‐group typology – “WTL”, “ambivalent (AMB)”, and “WTD” – is determined by common correlates of suicidality and whether these groups can be ordinally ranked.
First Do No Harm?: Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes

We examine the impact of tort reforms using U.S. birth records for 1989-2001. We make four contributions: First, we develop a model that analyzes the incentives created by specific tort reforms. Second, we assemble new data on tort reform. Third, we examine a range of outcomes. Finally, we allow for differential effects by demographic/risk group. We find that reforms of the "deep pockets rule" reduce complications of labor and C-sections, while caps on noneconomic damages increase them. Our results demonstrate there are important interactions between incentives created by tort law and other incentives facing physicians.
Depositors' Perception of 'Too-Big-To-Fail'

We exploit the exogenous shock to the Brazilian banking system caused by the international turmoil of 2008 and find evidence that the run to systemically important banks is better explained by the perception of a too-big-to-fail policy than by bank fundamentals. We infer that the extra inflow of deposits received by systemically important banks during crises gives them an important competitive advantage. Our analysis also indicates that a bank’s share of funding from institutional investors affects the nonfinancial firms’ and institutional investors’ decision to run.
Ready for engagement: using key informant interviews to measure community social capacity

This article presents findings from 45 structured key informant interviews conducted in nine rural Minnesota communities to examine the readiness of rural communities to sustain long-term development initiatives requiring large commitments of time, staff, and volunteer resources. A model of community readiness is proposed based on the common themes that emerged from the interview data as well as the literature. The proposed model combines four components that contribute to a thorough assessment of readiness: bonding networks, bridging networks, linking networks and leadership energy. The study provides a new approach to help community development organizations make more strategic decisions about when and how to engage communities in long-term development activity.
The Diffusion of Market-Based Instruments

This article examines adoption of a market instrument for reducing air pollution across the U.S. states. Because market instruments are viewed as reducing compliance costs, we hypothesize that market instruments should be more likely adopted in states whose electricity prices are higher than the average price in other states, especially their economic peers. Using a hazard model for a panel of 35 states from 1991 to 2003, we find that the adoption and the timing of market instruments are positively associated with the relative price of electricity even after controlling for a slate of variables, including the political context, the severity of air pollution, and neighborhood effects.
An analysis of dynamic risk in the Greater China equity markets

This study looks at the time-varying nature of systematic risk in the Greater China equity markets. The Shanghai and Shenzhen markets both have a low average systematic risk when measured against the world market. The short outbursts in systematic risk for these two markets seem to be directly related to policy shifts. The Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are more integrated with world markets and they show signs of large variations in systematic risk over time. Furthermore, conditional betas in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets are stationary, while the Hong Kong and Taiwan betas are integrated of order one. In addition, long memory tests show that all four markets exhibit a long-run dependence in their conditional betas. While the two mainland China market betas are covariance stationary, the Hong Kong and Taiwan betas are not.
HOW MUCH REDISTRIBUTION DO WELFARE STATES ACHIEVE? THE ROLE OF CASH TRANSFERS AND HOUSEHOLD TAXES

Government policies in all OECD countries affectthe distribution of household income. They do sothrough a range of programmes but most directlythrough the cash transfers paid to households and thedirect taxes and social security contributions collect-ed from them. However, different welfare states maypursue a variety of social objectives, with the balanceand priority given to each of them varying acrossboth countries and between programmes. A criticalissue that all OECD governments confront – particu-larly when considering policy reforms – is whetherthe redistributive and other policy objectives of soci-ety could be more effectively or efficiently achievedthrough a different mix or design of policies.A recently published OECD study on trends and dri-ving forces of household income distribution duringthe past 20 years reports a moderate but significant andwidespread increase of income inequality and relativepoverty in the OECD region (OECD 2008).
Isolation of Corynebacterium tuscaniae sp. nov. from Blood Cultures of a Patient with Endocarditis

ABSTRACT A strain of an unknown coryneform bacterium was repeatedly isolated in pure culture from the blood of a patient affected by endocarditis. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that this isolate represented a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium. This new taxon can be identified by the presence of corynomycolic acids and its enzymatic activities and fermentation of sugars. Acid production from glucose and maltose, pyrazinamidase and alkaline phoshatase activities, and hippurate hydrolysis were the most characteristic phenotypic features of the bacterium. On the basis of both phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence, it is proposed that this isolate be classified as a novel species, Corynebacterium tuscaniae sp. nov. The type strain, ISS-5309, has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC BAA-1141) and in the Culture Collection of the University of Göteborg (CCUG 51321).
Deportation and mental health among migrants who inject drugs along the US–Mexico border

ABSTRACT This study describes the prevalence and factors of depressive symptoms among a sample of persons who inject drugs (PWID) with a history of deportation from the US in Tijuana, Mexico. In 2014, 132 deported PWID completed a structured questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CESD-10) screening instrument. Eligible participants were ≥18 years old, injected drugs in the past month, spoke English or Spanish, and resided in Tijuana. Multivariate analyses identified factors associated with depressive symptoms. Among deported PWID, 45% reported current symptoms of depression. Deported PWID who were initially detained in the US for a crime-related reason before being deported (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 5.27; 95% CI: 1.79–15.52) and who perceived needing help with their drug use (AOR: 2.15; 95% 1.01–4.61) had higher odds of reporting depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight the need for effective strategies targeting deported migrants who inject drugs to treat mental health and drug abuse in Tijuana. Investing in the mental health of deported PWID may also be a viable HIV prevention strategy.
Mitochondrial Ca2+ flux is a critical determinant of the Ca2+ dependence of mast cell degranulation

An increase in intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) is necessary for mast cell exocytosis, but there is controversy over the requirement for Ca2+ in the extracellular medium. Here, we demonstrate that mitochondrial function is a critical determinant of Ca2+ dependence. In the presence of extracellular Ca2+, mitochondrial metabolic inhibitors, including rotenone, antimycin A, and the protonophore carbonyl cyanide p‐trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), significantly reduced degranulation induced by immunoglobulin E (IgE) antigen or by thapsigargin, as measured by β‐hexosaminidase release. In the absence of extracellular Ca2+; however, antimycin A and FCCP, but not rotenone, enhanced, rather than reduced, degranulation to a maximum of 76% of that observed in the presence of extracellular Ca2+. This enhancement of extracellular, Ca2+‐independent degranulation was concomitant with a rapid collapse of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Mitochondrial depolarization did not enhance degranulation induced by thapsigargin, irrespective of the presence or absence of extracellular Ca2+. IgE antigen was more effective than thapsigargin as an inducer of [Ca2+]i release, and mitochondrial depolarization augmented IgE‐mediated but not thapsigargin‐induced Ca2+ store release and mitochondrial Ca2+ ([Ca2+]m) release. Finally, atractyloside and bongkrekic acid [an agonist and an antagonist, respectively, of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP)], respectively, augmented and reduced IgE‐mediated Ca2+ store release, [Ca2+]m release, and/or degranulation, whereas they had no effects on thapsigargin‐induced Ca2+ store release. These data suggest that the mPTP is involved in the regulation of Ca2+ signaling, thereby affecting the mode of mast cell degranulation. This finding may shed light on a new role for mitochondria in the regulation of mast cell activation.
IMF - World Bank and Labor's Burdens in Africa: Ghana's Experience

Globalization and Ghana's Industrial Relations at the End of the Twentieth Century Political Changes and Industrial Relations in Ghana: 1986-2000 Major Industrial Relations Institutions in Ghana: Some Trends and Recent Developments Globalization and Structural Adjustment: An Assessment of Ghana's Economic Competitiveness Labor and the Triple Challenges of Globalization, Structural Adjustment and the Transition to Multi-party Democracy in Ghana Ghana's Global Competitiveness: Industrial Relations and Structural Adjustment Policy Challenges in the Twenty-First Century Ghana's SAP and Global Competitiveness: A Final Assessment Appendices Selected Bibliography Index
ASSIST: Automatic Summarization of Significant Structural Changes in Large Temporal Graphs

Detecting outliers and anomalies in data is vital in numerous applications in areas such as security, finance, health care, and online social media. Such dynamic systems can be modeled as graphs that change over time. Even though considerable work has been performed on finding points in time at which a network notably differs from its past, little work has been done on characterizing or explaining such changes. However, in the era of big data where networked data are getting bigger and bigger, being able to summarize such changes is key for sensemaking and root cause analysis. To address this gap, we present a novel approach to summarize significant structural changes in large temporal graphs. Specifically, we propose an efficient approach to help the user understand sharp changes in the structure of the network by presenting to her only a summary of key subgraphs that contribute most to the change. Extensive evaluation on real-world datasets with ground truth demonstrates both quantitatively and qualitatively the ability of our approach to accurately detect changes and discover "important" structures to succinctly describe the change.