Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis, cloning, and high-level expression of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate monooxygenase gene tfdA of Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134

Plasmid pJP4 of Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 contains all genes for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Five of these genes, tfdB, tfdC, tfdD, tfdE, and tfdF, have recently been localized and cloned (R. H. Don, A. J. Weightman, H.-J. Knackmuss, and K. N. Timmis, J. Bacteriol. 161:85-90, 1985). Gene tfdA, which codes for the 2,4-D monooxygenase, has now been found by mutagenesis with transposon Tn5. A 3-kilobase fragment of pJP4 cloned in a broad-host-range vector could complement the 2,4-D-negative phenotype of two mutants which lacked 2,4-D monooxygenase activity. The cloned tfdA gene was also transferred to A. eutrophus JMP222, which is a cured derivative of JMP134. The recombinant strain could utilize phenoxyacetic acid as a sole source of carbon and energy. Pseudomonas sp. strain B13, containing the cloned tfdA, was able to degrade phenoxyacetic acid and 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid. Gene tfdA was subcloned and analyzed by deletions. Expression of 2,4-D monooxygenase in Escherichia coli containing a 1.4-kilobase subfragment was demonstrated by radioisotopic enzyme assay, and a protein of 32,000-dalton molecular mass was detected by labeling experiments. A 2-kilobase subfragment containing tfdA has been sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 861 bases which was identified as the coding region of tfdA by insertion mutagenesis.
Learning practices, perceived ability and learning outcomes in selected statistical concepts

Statistical education researchers have attempted to investigate the affective factors that relates to students' learning outcomes in statistics. One pressing issue is how to continuously improve the teaching and learning of statistics at the tertiary level. Despite great emphasis on the importance of statistics, students are still facing difficulty in learning statistics. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the causal relationship between the latent variables namely, students' learning practices, perceived ability in selected statistical concepts and learning outcomes using a structural or path model. The results showed that learning practices does not necessarily affect students' perceived ability in understanding certain statistical concepts. It does not also necessarily lead to increase in students' learning as demonstrated in their test performance. However, students' perceived ability tend to be strongly related to students' test performance regardless of the learning practices. At this juncture, the outcome of the study is not extremely surprising as there are other pertinent variables which could be considered in future investigations.
Building 3D facial models and detecting face pose in 3D space

A segment-based stereo vision system has been modified to reconstruct 3D facial models. Because usually it is difficult to get enough edges to reconstruct a 3D facial model with edge-based stereo algorithms, most research on 3D face model is based on correlation stereo algorithms, even though these algorithms are often time-consuming. We present a fast 3D face reconstruction algorithm using isoluminance lines from stereo images, which is effective even when only a few edges can be detected. We also introduced very efficient algorithm do search for irises in 3D space, which can then be used to identify the face position and direction. Our experiments show that our 3D facial model is suitable for 3D face recognition.
Normothermic recirculation reduces primary graft dysfunction of kidneys obtained from non-heart-beating donors

Abstract Our aim was to analyze the short- and long-term function of kidneys procured from non- heart-beating donors (NHBD) by means of three techniques: in situ perfusion (ISP), total body cooling (TBC) and normothermic recirculation (NR). Fifty-seven potential NHBD were included. Mean warm ischemia time was 68.9 ± 35.6 min. Forty-four kidneys were obtained from donors perfused with ISP, 8 with TBC, and 8 with NR. Eighteen kidneys (32 %) started functioning immediately, 29 (52 %) showed delayed graft function (DGF) and 9 (16 %) showed primary non function (PNF). The actuarial graft survival rate was 76.4 % at 1 year and 56 % at 5 years. The patient survival rate was 89.3 % at 5 years. Incidence of DGF and PNF was significantly lower in kidneys perfused with NR than those with ISP or TBC (P < 0.01). Duration of DGF was shorter in kidneys obtained through TBC than in kidneys obtained with ISP (P < 0.05). In conclusion, NR reduces the incidence of DGF and may be considered the method of choice for kidney procurement from NHBD.
Seminal plasma albumin: origin and relation to the male reproductive parameters

We wanted to investigate the origin of seminal plasma albumin and its relation to the male reproductive parameters. Semen samples from 916 men, under infertility assessment, were analysed according to guidelines of the World Health Organization. Seminal plasma constituents, i.e. albumin, markers of the epididymal (neutral α‐glucosidase, NAG), prostatic (prostate‐specific antigen, PSA, and zinc) and seminal vesicle function (fructose), as well as levels of reproductive hormones in plasma were measured. The sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) was applied on 267 of the 916 samples. A negative correlation was seen for seminal albumin and plasma follicle‐stimulating hormone (r = −0.1, P = 0.02) and a positive correlation for seminal albumin and serum inhibin B (r = 0.2, P = 0.004). Albumin exhibited positive correlations with the epididymal marker, NAG (r = 0.5, P < 0.001) and with the prostatic markers, PSA and zinc (r = 0.1, P = 0.001; r = 0.2, P < 0.001 respectively) as well as with age (r = 0.2, P < 0.001). A negative significant association was seen for seminal albumin and semen volume (β = −0.60; 95% CI −0.80 to −0.30). The opposite trend was found regarding sperm concentration (β = 0.34; 95% CI 0.30–0.40), total sperm count (β = 0.30; 95% CI 0.20–0.40), and percentage morphologically normal spermatozoa (β = 0.70; 95% CI 0.10–1.0). No association was found between albumin and sperm motility, SCSA parameters, or fructose, the marker of seminal vesicles. Our results suggest testicular, epididymal and prostatic origin of seminal plasma albumin, in addition to the contribution from blood. This is the first study to demonstrate an association between seminal plasma albumin and sperm morphology. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of seminal albumin in sperm morphology.
INHALATION INJURY INCREASES THE ANASTOMOTIC BRONCHIAL BLOOD FLOW IN THE POUCH MODEL OF THE LEFT OVINE LUNG

Pulmonary parenchymal damage often occurs after airway injury. Bronchial venous drainage empties into the pulmonary microvasculature. We developed an in vivo model to study the bronchopulmonary portal system after smoke inhalation injury. Eight ewes were instrumented with hydraulic occluders on the left pulmonary artery (LPA), the left pulmonary vein, and the bronchoesophageal artery (BEA); a catheter in the LPA; and Swan-Ganz and femoral artery catheters. The vasculature between the occluders was defined as pouch. At stable mean arterial and right pulmonary arterial pressures, LPA occlusion reduced the left pulmonary artery pressure (LPAP) from 17 ± 1 mmHg to 8 ± 1 mmHg (p < .05). After left pulmonary vein occlusion, LPAP rose to 28 ± 4 mmHg (p < .05 vs. baseline), indicating that systemic blood had entered the pouch. Opening the pouch to atmospheric pressure revealed an anastomotic bronchial blood flow (anastomotic Qbr) of . 76 ± . 11% of cardiac output (CO). BEA occlusion reduced the anastomotic Qbr to . 32 ± . 06% of CO (p < .05). Smoke inhalation injury resulted in a further increase in the maximal LPAP to 38 ± 5 mmHg (p < .05 vs. right pulmonary artery pressure). The anastomotic Qbr rose to 1.29 ± . 13% of CO (p < .05) and was reduced to . 40 ± . 09% of CO (p < .05) by BEA occlusion. Inhalation injury increased the anastomotic Qbr mainly due to BEA vasodilatation. Because the BEA supplies the injured airway, it may deliver deleterious material to the lung parenchyma.
Towards a Methodology for Formalizing Legal Texts in LegalRuleML

It is well recognised that it is difficult to make the semantic content of legal texts machine readable. We propose a systematic methodology to begin to render a sample legal text into LegalRuleML, which is a proposed markup for legal rules. We propose three levels - coarse, medium, and fine-grained analyses - each of which is compatible with LegalRuleML and which facilitate development from text to formal LegalRuleML. This paper provides guidelines for a coarse-grained analysis, highlighting some of the challenges to address even at this level.
Cross-Sectional Analysis of Stock Returns in Athens Stock Exchange for the Period 2004-2011

This study is an investigation of the factors affecting the average returns of stocks that were traded on the Athens Stock Exchange for the period July 2004 - June 2011. The methodological approach is similar to that applied by Fama and French (1992), in the first stage, stocks are grouped into portfolios with predefined criteria, and subsequently monthly cross sectional regressions are carried out, according to the Fama-MacBeth approach (1973). The main result of this study is that average stock returns in the ASE are not associated with the market beta (market risk) and there is not a strong relationship with any other risk factor for the stocks market value or book to market ratio.
A pool-based active learning method for improving Farsi-English Machine Translation system

In this paper we try to alleviate the problem of scares resources for developing Farsi-English Statistical Machine Translation system (SMT). It is done by applying Active Learning (AL) idea to choose more informative sentences to be translated by a human and then be added to the base-line corpus. While using the human translations is worthless in compare to the other approaches of corpus gathering (like automatic approaches), it is more costly too. So, in this way we can improve the translation system with less cost. This is done in intricate to human translator. Applying Active learning idea to a SMT system, changes it to a system which can improve its based-line corpus by asking for the essential data which directly leads to the system improvement. On the other hand, combination of AL idea with SMT is a way of using source side monolingual resources for improving SMT systems which is ignored in the original theory of SMT. Our results for Farsi-English system shows improvement in compare to random sentence selection.
Determinants of Short‐term Forgetting: Decay, Retroactive Interference, or Proactive Interference?

[Abstract]: In two experiments short-term forgetting was investigated in a short-term cued recall task designed to examine proactive interference effects. Mixed modality study lists were tested at varying retention intervals using verbal and non-verbal distractor activities. When an interfering foil was read aloud and a target item read silently, strong PI effects were observed for both types of distractor activity. When the target was read aloud and followed by a verbal distractor activity, weak PI effects emerged. However, when a target item was read aloud and non-verbal distractor activity filled the retention interval, performance was immune to the effects of PI for at least eight seconds. The results indicate that phonological representations of items read aloud still influence performance after 15 seconds of distractor activity.
Wages in a factor proportions time series model of the US

The theoretical effects of changes in prices and factor endowments on wages in general equilibrium models have been examined under various assumptions. The present paper is the first to estimate wage effects in the context of this theory. The data cover the US real wage, labor force, fixed capital assets, energy input, and prices of manufactures and services from 1949 to 2006. Estimated input elasticities of the wage are consistent with labor in the middle of the factor intensity ranking, and energy as very intensive in manufacturing. The estimation technique quantifies fundamental influences on the labor market.
Watching a Movie Alone yet Together: Understanding Reasons for Watching Danmaku Videos

ABSTRACT By overlaying timeline-synchronized user comments on videos, Danmaku commenting creates a unique co-viewing experience of online videos. This study aims to understand the reasons for watching or not watching Danmaku videos. From a review of the literature and a pilot study, an initial pool of motivations and hindrances to Danmaku video viewing was gathered. Then, a survey involving 248 participants to identify the underlying factor structures of motivations and hindrances was conducted. Their influences on users’ attitude and behaviors with Danmaku videos were also examined. The results showed that people viewed Danmaku videos to obtain information, entertainment, and social connectedness. Introverted young men with high openness to new experience are more likely to view Danmaku videos. Infrequent viewers refused to watch Danmaku videos mainly because of the visual clutter that resulted from Danmaku comments.
Cogging Torque Minimisation of PM Disc Motor by Inserting Stator Slot Closure and Magnet Skewing

A variety of techniques exist for reducing the cogging torque of conventional radial flux PM machines. This paper presents an application of two cogging torque minimization techniques in which the permanent magnets are skewed in a conventional manner and the stator slots are closed with soft magnetic composite material. The comparative analysis of the different motor designs regarding the cogging torque is performed by using data from a quasi 3DFEM calculation of the adequately FEM modelled motor solutions. Streszczenie. Istnieją roznorodne sposoby redukcji momentu uzebienia w konwencjonalnych maszynach z magnesem trwalym ze strumieniem promieniowym. Artykul przedstawia zastosowanie dwoch sposobow minimalizacji momentu uzebienia, w ktorych magnesy trwale są skoszone w sposob konwencjonalny a zlobki stojana są zamkniete miekkim kompozytowym materialem magnetycznym. Analiza porownawcza roznych projektow silnika co do momentu uzebienia przedstawiono za pomocą danych z obliczen quasi-3D metodą elementow skonczonych. (Minimalizacja momentu uzebienia silnikow dyskowych z magnesami trwalymi poprzez zamkniecie zlobkow stojana i skoszenie magnesow trwalych)
Unique transcription pattern of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in EBV-carrying gastric adenocarcinomas: expression of the transforming BARF1 gene.

Approximately 10% of gastric adenocarcinomas worldwide are associated with human EBV. These carcinomas generally do not express the latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1), the major known EBV oncogene. Recently, another EBV gene [ie. , BARF1 (BamHI A rightward open reading frame)] was shown to have transforming and immortalizing capacities. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the expression of BARF1 in EBV-carrying gastric adenocarcinomas in relation to the expression of other latent EBV transcripts. In the present study, 10 of 132 gastric adenocarcinomas tested positive for EBV using EBER1/2-RNA in situ hybridization. We demonstrate BARF1 gene transcription in nine EBV-carrying gastric adenocarcinomas (with sufficient RNA quality) using the BARF1-specific nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay. In addition, we also detected other latent EBV transcripts (ie., BARF0-, LMP2A-, and Q/K-driven EBNA1 transcripts in these carcinomas using reverse transcription-PCR analysis. No expression of LMP1, EBNA2, and ZEBRA (either at transcription or protein level) was found. In addition, two cases were positive for BHRF1 transcripts, the viral bcl-2 homologue. Thus, together with BARF1 transcription, a unique and distinct EBV latency type has been found in EBV-associated gastric adenocarcinomas. Because BARF1 exerts immortalizing effects on human epithelial cells in vitro and EBV-carrying gastric adenocarcinomas lack the expression of LMP1, the BARF1 gene might act as the viral oncogene in EBV-carrying gastric carcinomas. The BARF1 gene offers an alternative way for EBV-mediated oncogenesis other than LMP1.
Expression of &bgr;-adrenergic-like Octopamine Receptors during Drosophila Development

An invertebrate biogenic amine, octopamine, plays diverse roles in multiple physiological processes (e.g. neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, and circulating neurohormone). Octopamine is thought to function by binding to G-protein-coupled receptors. In Drosophila, three &bgr;-adrenergic-like octopamine receptors (Oct&bgr;1R, Oct&bgr;2R, and Oct&bgr;3R) have been identified. We investigated the expression of three Oct&bgr;R genes in embryos, larvae, and adults. These Oct&bgr;Rs showed distinct expression patterns in the central nervous system (CNS) throughout development, and Oct&bgr;3R expression was evident in an endocrine organ, the ring gland, in larvae. In larvae, Oct&bgr;1R, Oct&bgr;2R, and Oct&bgr;3R were expressed in salivary glands and imaginal discs, Oct&bgr;2R and Oct&bgr;3R in midgut, and Oct&bgr;3R in gonads. In adult, besides in the CNS, each Oct&bgr;R was strongly expressed in ovary and testis. Our findings provide a basis for understanding the mechanisms by which Oct&bgr;Rs mediate multiple diverse octopaminergic functions during development.
Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Insulin Sensitivity Measures and Fasting Lipids

There is evidence to suggest that insulin sensitivity may vary in response to changes in sex hormone levels. However, the results of human studies designed to investigate changes in insulin sensitivity through the menstrual cycle have proved inconclusive. The aims of this study were to 1) evaluate the impact of menstrual cycle phase on insulin sensitivity measures and 2) determine the variability of insulin sensitivity measures within the same menstrual cycle phase. A controlled observational study of 13 healthy premenopausal women, not taking any hormone preparation and having regular menstrual cycles, was conducted. Insulin sensitivity (Si) and glucose effectiveness (Sg) were measured using an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) with minimal model analysis. Additional surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity were calculated (homoeostasis model for insulin resistance [HOMA IR], quantitative insulin-to-glucose check index [QUICKI] and revised QUICKI [rQUICKI]), as well as plasma lipids. Each woman was tested in the luteal and follicular phases of her menstrual cycle, and duplicate measures were taken in one phase of the cycle. No significant differences in insulin sensitivity (measured by the IVGTT or surrogate markers) or plasma lipids were reported between the two phases of the menstrual cycle or between duplicate measures within the same phase. It was concluded that variability in measures of insulin sensitivity were similar within and between menstrual phases.
Impedance control with new inner torque loop for compliant joints and its performance analysis

For the purpose of enhancing compliance of robot joint, an impedance control strategy with new inner torque controller is proposed. Apparent inertia of the motor can be scaled down thanks to this new type of torque controller. Effects of different position (motor-side position θ and link-side position q) feedback strategies are explored through theoretical deviation, simulation and static stiffness comparison. Explicit expressions of static stiffness under both position feedback strategies are obtained with validity verified by Simulink tool. Compared with θ feedback strategy, static stiffness can exceed spring stiffness under q feedback strategy with high desired stiffness, which means wider variation range of static stiffness and this benefits robot applications that require wider variation range of impedance, such as rehabilitation robots and collaborative robots. Finally, several experiments with the compliant joint prototype verify the developed controllers and show the efficiency of the proposed control approach in terms of compliant behavior.
Substitutions of Phe 61 Located in the Vicinity of Template 5 (cid:1) -Overhang Influence Polymerase Fidelity and Nucleoside Analog Sensitivity of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase*

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (RT) is an error-prone DNA polymerase. Structural determinants of its fidelity are incompletely un-derstood. RT/template primer contacts have been shown to influence its fidelity and sensitivity to nucleoside analog inhibitors. The Phe 61 residue, located within the (cid:1) 3 sheet of the finger subdomain, is highly conserved among retroviral RTs. The crystal structure of a ternary complex revealed that Phe 61 contacts the first and second bases of the 5 (cid:1) -template overhang. To determine whether such contacts influence the dNTP-binding pocket, we performed a limited vertical scanning mutagenesis (Phe 3 Ala, Leu, Trp, or Tyr) at Phe 61 . The F61A mutant displayed the highest increase in fidelity, followed by the F61L and F61W variants, which had intermediate phenotypes. F61Y RT had a minimal effect. The increase in fidelity of the F61A mutant was corrob-orated by a 12-fold decrease in its forward mutation rate. The Phe 61 mutant RTs also displayed large re-ductions in sensitivity to 2 (cid:1) ,3 (cid:1) -dideoxythymidine triphosphate and 2 (cid:1) ,3 (cid:1) -dideoxy,2 (cid:1) 3 (cid:1) -didehydrothymidine triphosphate. Mutants displaying the largest increase in fidelity (F61A and F61L)
Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Stroke Patients

The overall aims of this thesis were to investigate the prevalence, severity and bother of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) in a clinical sample of stroke patients and to evaluate the effect of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) in women with urinary incontinence after ischemic stroke. The thesis consisted of 6 articles based on 4 studies and a review. In the first study (Paper I), the Danish Prostatic Symptom Score (DAN-PSS -1) questionnaire was tested in 71 stroke patients by a prospective questionnaire-based survey and demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability and that this system was useful in stroke patients of both genders. Secondly the prevalence, severity and bother of LUTS were investigated in a cross-sectional, clinical survey of 482 stroke patients (Paper II). The response rate was 84 %. The period prevalence of at least one symptom of LUTS was 94 % and the most frequent symptom was nocturia (76 %). The most severe symptom was urgency and among respondents who had at least one symptom the prevalence of bother was 78 %. The extent of self-reported activity limitations were also assessed in this clinical sample of 482 stroke patients in order to identify whether activity limitations related to prevalence, severity and impact on daily life of LUTS (Paper III). The extent of self-reported activity limitations varied from 17 % to 34 % depending on the measurements and the mobility velocity was highly significantly correlated to severity of LUTS. In the next study the effect of 12 weeks Pelvic Floor Muscle Training (PFMT) in 26 women with urinary incontinence after ischemic stroke was evaluated in a prospective, randomized and single-blinded study design (Paper IV-V). Twenty-four subjects completed the study and a significant improvement in frequency of voiding in daytime (p=0.018), 24-hours pad test (p=0.013) and dynamic endurance of pelvic floor muscle (p=0.028) was demonstrated in the Treatment Group compared to the Control Group. The long-lasting effect of PFMT was evaluated by a 6-month follow-up study and measured by quality of life parameters (Paper VI). The sample consisted of 24 women, who had completed the initial study. In the Treatment Group a trend to long-lasting effect compared to the Control Group was found. In conclusion, the prevalence of LUTS and its bother was very high in stroke patients and the most severe symptom was urgency. PFMT had a significant effect in women with urinary incontinence after stroke and increased focus on LUTS and the possibilities of training can highly be recommended. (Less)