Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The novel NMDA receptor antagonist, 2‐hydroxy‐5‐(2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoro‐4‐trifluoromethyl‐benzylamino)‐benzoic acid, is a gating modifier in cultured mouse cortical neurons

Neu2000 [NEU, 2‐hydroxy‐5‐(2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoro‐4‐trifluoromethyl‐benzylamino)‐benzoic acid], a derivative of sulfasalazine, attenuates NMDA‐induced neuronal toxicity. Here we investigated the effects of NEU on the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) using whole‐cell patch clamp technique to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying its neuroprotective role. NEU reversibly suppressed NMDA responses in an uncompetitive manner with fast binding kinetics. Its inhibition of NMDAR activity depended on both the concentration and the use of agonist but not on the membrane potential. NEU accelerated NMDA desensitization without affecting the binding affinity of NMDAR for its agonists and stabilized the closed state of NMDAR. Therefore, NEU should effectively alleviate disorders that are a result of glutamate excitoxicity with fewer side effects because it is a low‐affinity gating modifier that antagonizes NMDAR in an uncompetitive manner. Moreover, in the presence of ifenprodil (an NR2B antagonist) but not NVP‐AAM077 [(R)‐[(S)‐1‐(4‐bromo‐phenyl)‐ethylamino]‐(2,3‐dioxo‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydro‐quinoxalin‐5‐yl)‐methyl]‐phosphonic acid, an NR2A antagonist], the extent of NEU block was decreased, suggesting that NEU is an NR2B‐specific antagonist.
Capsule Gene Analysis of Invasive Haemophilus influenzae: Accuracy of Serotyping and Prevalence of IS1016 among Nontypeable Isolates

ABSTRACT We evaluated the accuracy of serologic capsule typing by analyzing capsule genes and related markers among invasive Haemophilus influenzae isolates before and after the introduction of H. influenzae serotype b (Hib) conjugate vaccines. Three hundred and sixty invasive H. influenzae isolates were collected as part of Active Bacterial Core surveillance within the Georgia Emerging Infections Program between 1 January 1989 and 31 July 1998. All isolates were biotyped, serotyped by slide agglutination serotyping (SAST), and evaluated using PCR capsule typing. Nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi) isolates were probed with Hib cap-gene-containing plasmid pUO38 and with IS1016; a subset was examined with phosphoglucose isomerase (pgi) genotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Discrepancies between SAST and PCR capsule typing were found for 64/360 (17.5%) of the isolates; 48 encapsulated by SAST were NTHi by PCR, 8 NTHi by SAST were encapsulated by PCR, 6 encapsulated by SAST were a different capsule type by PCR, and 2 encapsulated by SAST were capsule-deficient Hib variants (Hib-minus). None of the PCR-confirmed NTHi isolates demonstrated homology with residual capsule gene sequences; 19/201 (9.5%) had evidence of IS1016, an insertion element associated with division I H. influenzae capsule serotypes. The majority of IS1016-positive NTHi were biotypes I and V and showed some genetic relatedness by PFGE. In conclusion, PCR capsule typing was more accurate than SAST and Hib-minus variants were rare. IS1016 was present in 9.5% of NTHi isolates, suggesting that this subset may be more closely related to encapsulated organisms. A better understanding of NTHi may contribute to vaccine development.
Signaling from G Protein-coupled Receptors to the c-jun Promoter Involves the MEF2 Transcription Factor

The c-Jun amino-terminal kinases (JNKs) are a subfamily of mitogen-activated protein kinases that phosphorylate c-Jun and ATF2, and it has been postulated that phosphorylated c-Jun enhances its own expression through AP-1 sites on the c-junpromoter. In this study, we asked whether signals activating JNK regulate the c-jun promoter. Using NIH 3T3 cells expressing G protein-coupled m1 acetylcholine receptors as an experimental model, we have recently shown that the cholinergic agonist carbachol, but not platelet-derived growth factor, potently elevates JNK activity. Consistent with these findings, carbachol, but not platelet-derived growth factor, increased the activity of a c-jun promoter-driven reporter gene (for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase). However, coexpression of JNK kinase kinase (MEKK) effectively increased JNK activity, but resulted in surprisingly limited induction of the c-junpromoter. This raised the possibility that pathway(s) distinct from JNK control the c-jun promoter, and prompted us to explore which of its regulatory elements participate in transcriptional control. We observed that deletion of the 3′ AP-1 site diminished chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in response to carbachol, but only to a limited extent. In contrast, deletion of a MEF2 site dramatically reduced expression, and deletion of both the MEF2 and 3′ AP-1 sites abolished induction. Furthermore, cotransfection with MEF2C and MEF2D cDNAs potently enhanced the activity of the c-jun promoter in response to carbachol, and stimulation of m1 receptors, but not direct JNK activation, induced expression of a MEF2-responsive plasmid. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that MEF2 mediates c-jun promoter expression by G protein-coupled receptors through a yet to be identified pathway, distinct from that of JNK.
Exploring algorithmic trading in reconfigurable hardware

This paper describes an algorithmic trading engine based on reconfigurable hardware, derived from a software implementation. Our approach exploits parallelism and reconfigurability of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology. FPGAs offer many benefits over software solutions, including a reduction in latency, while increasing overall throughput and computational density. All of which are important attributes to a successful algorithmic trading engine. Experiments show that the peak performance of our hardware architecture for algorithmic trading is 133 times faster than the corresponding software implementation. Six implementations can operate simultaneously on a Xilinx Vertex 5 xc5vlx30 FPGA on average, maximising performance and available resource usage.
Virtual decomposition control of an exoskeleton robot arm

SUMMARY Exoskeleton robots, which can be worn on human limbs to improve or to rehabilitate their function, are currently of great importance. When these robots are used in rehabilitation, one aspect that must be fulfilled is their capacity to adapt to different patients without significantly varying their performance. This paper describes the application of a relatively new control technique called virtual decomposition control (VDC) to a seven degrees-of-freedom (DOF) exoskeleton robot arm, named ETS-MARSE. The VDC approach mainly involves decomposing complex systems into subsystems, and using the resulting simpler dynamics to conduct control computation, while strictly ensuring global stability and having the subsystem dynamics interactions rigorously managed and maintained by means of virtual power flow. This approach is used to deal with different masses, joint stiffness and biomechanical variations of diverse subjects, allowing the control technique to naturally adapt to the variances involved and to maintain a successful control task. The results obtained in real time on a 7DOF exoskeleton robot arm show the effectiveness of the approach.
Effect of calcium propionate administration in first week postpartum of dairy cows on subclinical ketosi.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of calcium propionate administrations on serum s- hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) concentration and subclinical ketosis occurrence in dairy cows. Twenty four multipar- ous Holstein cows were sorted by parity, body condition score and dry matter intake in close-up period, average milk production of previous lactation and season of calving and assigned to one of the three groups. Each group consisted of eight cows. The cows in group 1 (G1) received two drenches at calving and 24h after calving. The cows in group 2 (G2) received three drenches at calving, 24h after calving and 7 days after calving. The cows in group 3 (G3) were the control (no drench). Each drench contained 0.68kg of calcium propionate. There were no statistical differences for serum BHBA concentrations at all times among groups (P>0.05), except for the differ- ence at calving between G1 and G3 (P<0.05). Two drenches of calcium propionate tended to decrease serum BHBA concentration and the incidence of subclinical ketosis during first 4 weeks of lactation.
Ambulatory Gas Exchange Measurements - Current Status and Future Options

This article summarizes the scientific literature on portable devices used for the measurement of gas exchange during exercise. Firstly, the results from validity investigations are reviewed in terms of accuracy, reliability, and influence of additional weight during field testing. On the basis of these findings, at least two of the most often tested portable devices, MetaMax I/II and K2/K4 b (2), can be regarded as valid, with their results not differing substantially from (stationary) metabolic carts. The second part of the article provides an overview of ambulatory gas exchange applications which have been investigated so far. There is a number of descriptive (cross-sectional) studies that characterize the physiological profiles of different sports. In addition, some diagnostic tests of functional capacity have been validated, and a few investigations have assessed nutritional interventions and their effect on metabolism. Some indicate potential future directions including an evaluation of the efficacy of modifying metabolic pathways during exercise, e. g. by specifically designed training. Also, the extension of descriptive/cross-sectional investigations to typical training sessions will be worthwhile.
Regional differentiation and extensive hybridization between mitochondrial clades of the Southern Ocean giant sea spider Colossendeis megalonyx

Assessing the enormous diversity of Southern Ocean benthic species and their evolutionary histories is a central task in the era of global climate change. Based on mitochondrial markers, it was recently suggested that the circumpolar giant sea spider Colossendeis megalonyx comprises a complex of at least six cryptic species with mostly small and non-overlapping distribution ranges. Here, we expand the sampling to include over 500 mitochondrial COI sequences of specimens from around the Antarctic. Using multiple species delimitation approaches, the number of distinct mitochondrial OTUs increased from six to 15–20 with our larger dataset. In contrast to earlier studies, many of these clades show almost circumpolar distributions. Additionally, analysis of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer region for a subset of these specimens showed incongruence between nuclear and mitochondrial results. These mito-nuclear discordances suggest that several of the divergent mitochondrial lineages can hybridize and should not be interpreted as cryptic species. Our results suggest survival of C. megalonyx during Pleistocene glaciations in multiple refugia, some of them probably located on the Antarctic shelf, and emphasize the importance of multi-gene datasets to detect the presence of cryptic species, rather than their inference based on mitochondrial data alone.
A Novel Framework for Signal Detection in Alpha-Stable Interference

The design of detectors for binary signals in interference modeled using the symmetric &#945;-stable distribution is considered. Since the optimal detector is impractically complex, many suboptimal detectors have been proposed such as the linear, soft limiter and Cauchy detectors. However, no adequate explanation for the difference in performance between these detectors has been proposed. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, based on the optimal decision regions, that is used to justify the performance of many suboptimal detectors and compare them to the optimal one. Moreover, the analysis of the framework provides a novel method to significantly improve the performance of the soft limiter detector by employing an adaptive threshold that is a function of the signal level and noise dispersion. As the number of samples per symbol increases, the performance of the proposed adaptive detector approaches the optimal performance at almost no additional complexity over the conventional linear (Gaussian) detector.
Alcohol Intervention Studies in University Students. Randomised Controlled Trials of Responsible Beverage Service and High Risk Drinking.

The aim was to study implementation and efficacy of two intervention techniques for risky alcohol consumption in university students. One technique was the Responsible Beverage Service Programme modified for use in students pubs. The other was a cognitive-based education programme (10 hours) for freshman students with risky alcohol consumption that was compared with a mailed personalised drinking feedback. We used randomised controlled trials to examine the efficacy of the interventions. In order to study the influence of a respo-nsible beverage service, a training programme were given to bartenders at local student pubs (N=12) in a random way. Bartenders at six ? nations? (n=40) were trained under the Responsible Beverage Service Programme. The efficacy was assessed by measuring the breath alcohol concentration of patrons, and the social atmosphere as reported by patrons (N=1,918), in pubs with trained and untrained bartenders respectively, initially and after one and five months. In the high-risk drinking study the highest quarter of the students were randomised to one of the two interventions. The effectiveness of two intervention program-mes was tested on 177 high-risk drinking freshmen, from a sample of 695 freshmen. The efficacy was measured with the AUDIT instrument before, and annually for three years after the intervention. In order to monitor drinking patterns during the years at university, a randomly allocated low-risk group (N=182) from the total sample was added for the trajectory analysis. Both programmes could be successfully implemented in a university setting. In the bar study the implementation phase attracted only positive reactions. Measuring breath alcohol levels had no serious drawbacks. The freshmen study also received positive attention. Almost all students accepted participation (95%), indicating acceptance of the programme, both by the individuals and the organisations they belong to. The bar study showed that alcohol levels among the patrons in the intervention bars were decreased and the ? rowdy? social atmosphere reduced, compared with the patrons in the control bars after one month. These differences disappeared at the five-month assessment. The freshmen study found no significant differences between the cognitive behavioural skills training programme and the post-mailed minimal intervention in reducing alcohol consumption and related problems after one year or during a three-year follow-up period. The drinking pattern study revealed that 16 percent had a stable high-risk drinking pattern, 11 percent decreased their drinking pattern from risky to non-risky and 13 percent increased their drinking pattern from non-risky to risky. Sixty percent maintained a stable low drinking pattern during all four years at university. (Less)
READING HOUSE PRICES IN AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES

House prices in the Australian capital cities have been increasing over the last two decades. An over 10% average annual increase arises in the capital cities. In Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, the house prices increased by more than 15% annually, while the house prices in Darwin increased by even higher at about 21%. It is surprising that, after a decrease in 2008, the house prices in the Australian capital cities show a strong recovery in their last financial year’s increase. How to read the house prices in cities across a country has been an issue of public interest since the late 1980s. Various models were developed to investigate the behaviours of house prices over time or space. A spatio-temporal model, introduced in recent literature, appears advantages in accounting for the spatial effects on house prices. However, the decay of temporal effects and temporal dynamics of the spatial effects cannot be addressed by the spatio-temporal model.
Field test of bistatic forward-looking synthetic aperture radar

Monostatic radar systems reach their limits if a two-dimensional resolution is desired for a forward-looking geometry. Bistatic systems offer an alternative to handle this problem if the transmitter operates as a separated illuminator while the receiver is arranged in a forward-looking mode. A newly arranged field test presented in this paper successfully showed the applicability of the chosen approach. By this test the idea to realize a two-dimensional image in a forward-looking mode with a bistatic geometry could be verified. Furthermore the adjustment of collected pulses by the use of timestamps from the received signals was introduced successfully. In addition, a new calibration method for bistatic measurements with the help of spheres was presented. Further steps are intended in order to determine the correct dimensioning of designed SAR images.
Site heteroplasmy in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of the sterlet sturgeon Acipenser ruthenus

Sturgeons are fish species with a complex biology. They are also characterized by complex aspects including polyploidization and easiness of hybridization. As with most of the Ponto-Caspian sturgeons, the populations of Acipenser ruthenus from the Danube have declined drastically during the last decades. This is the first report on mitochondrial point heteroplasmy in the cytochrome b gene of this species. The 1141 bp sequence of the cytb gene in wild sterlet sturgeon individuals from the Lower Danube was determined, and site heteroplasmy evidenced in three of the 30 specimens collected. Two nucleotide sequences were identified in these heteroplasmic individuals. The majority of the heteroplasmic sites are synonymous and do not modify the sequence of amino acids in cytochrome B protein. To date, several cases of point heteroplasmy have been reported in animals, mostly due to paternal leakage of mtDNA. The presence of specific point heteroplasmic sites might be interesting for a possible correlation with genetically distinct groups in the Danube River.
Starvation for ilvB operon leader amino acids other than leucine or valine does not increase acetohydroxy acid synthase activity in Escherichia coli

Eleven different amino acids are encoded in the ilvB leader mRNA. Starvation for leucine or valine, but not for any of the other nine amino acids, resulted in high levels of acetohydroxy acid synthase I. These results are discussed in terms of a report (C.A. Hauser and G.W. Hatfield, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81:76-79, 1984) which suggests that threonine and alanine, in addition to leucine and valine, are involved in the regulation of the ilvB operon.
hDREF Regulates Cell Proliferation and Expression of Ribosomal Protein Genes

ABSTRACT Although ribosomal proteins (RPs) are essential cellular constituents in all living organisms, mechanisms underlying regulation of their gene expression in mammals remain unclear. We have established that 22 out of 79 human RP genes contain sequences similar to the human DREF (DNA replication-related element-binding factor; hDREF) binding sequence (hDRE) within 200-bp regions upstream of their transcriptional start sites. Electrophoretic gel mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that hDREF binds to hDRE-like sequences in the RP genes both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, transient luciferase assays revealed that hDRE-like sequences act as positive elements for RP gene transcription and cotransfection of an hDREF-expressing plasmid was found to stimulate RP gene promoter activity. Like that of hDREF, expression of RP genes is increased during the late G1 to S phases, and depletion of hDREF using short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown decreased RP gene expression and cell proliferation in normal human fibroblasts. Knockdown of the RPS6 gene also resulted in impairment of cell proliferation. These data suggest that hDREF is an important transcription factor for cell proliferation which plays roles in cell cycle-dependent regulation of a number of RP genes.
A Proposed of Green Practices and Green Innovation Model in Malaysian Automotive Industry

Green practices are increasingly implemented in the automotive industry. Green practices characteristic have direct effects on green innovation. The associations among different of green practices (internal environmental management, technology integration, logistic management, customer focus, supplier focus) and reviewed which green practices can effect on green innovation (green product innovation and green process innovation). Thus, the main purpose of this study is to develop a model that the structural analysis of green practices and green innovation in Malaysian automotive industry. The conceptual model using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) has been proposed. Base on the proposed conceptual model and reviewed, research hypotheses are being developed, the paper culminates with suggested future research work.
Test performance and self‐esteem in relation to experienced stress in Swedish sixth and ninth graders—saliva cortisol levels and psychological reactions to demands

Aims: To study relations between test performance, academic self‐esteem, self‐reported stress and saliva cortisol levels in students exposed to test demands at school. Methods: 46 randomly selected 6th and 9th graders voluntarily participated in an experimental school test concerning reading and mathematics skills. Cortisol saliva samples were collected at awakening, 30 min later, before test and after test. Perceived stress was registered with a visual analogue scale (VAS). A standardized self‐rating questionnaire for measuring self‐esteem was administered together with questions about school stress and psychological reactions when exposed to stress during a test. Results: Experienced stress during the school test was correlated to low test performance and to low self‐rated evaluation of self‐esteem as well as to an increase of saliva cortisol levels during the test. There were also correlations between certain psychological reactions to demands and different cortisol measures. Children who reported that they applied the procedure “I say to myself: I can solve this task” in a school test situation had a lower morning increase of saliva cortisol. Reported use of the procedure “I get worried and will have problems solving other tasks too”—when referring to a school test situation—was correlated to an increase in cortisol levels during the test situation.
Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study

Papers pp 1195, 1199 The strongest evidence that cannabis use may be a risk factor for later psychosis comes from a Swedish cohort study which found that heavy cannabis use at age 18 increased the risk of later schizophrenia sixfold. 1 2 This study could not establish whether adolescent cannabis use was a consequence of pre-existing psychotic symptoms rather than a cause. We present the first prospective longitudinal study of adolescent cannabis use as a risk factor for adult schizophreniform disorder, taking into account childhood psychotic symptoms3 antedating cannabis use. View this table: Association between cannabis use in adolescence and schizophrenia and depressive symptoms and disorders at age 26 (n=759), controlling for childhood psychotic symptoms and use of other drugs in adolescence The Dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study (a study of a general population birth cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-3)4 has a 96% follow up rate at age 26. It obtained information on psychotic symptoms at age 11 and drug use at ages 15 and 18 from self reports and assessed …