Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Duplicate isochorismate synthase genes of Bacillus subtilis: regulation and involvement in the biosyntheses of menaquinone and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate

Bacillus subtilis has duplicate isochorismate synthase genes, menF and dhbC. Isochorismate synthase is involved in the biosynthesis of both the respiratory chain component menaquinone (MK) and the siderophore 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate (DHB). Several menF and dhbC deletion mutants were constructed to identify the contribution made by each gene product to MK and DHB biosynthesis. menF deletion mutants were able to produce wild-type levels of MK and DHB, suggesting that the dhbC gene product is able to compensate for the lack of MenF. However, a dhbC deletion mutant produced wild-type levels of MK but was DHB deficient, indicating that MenF is unable to compensate for the lack of DhbC. A menF dhbC double-deletion mutant was both MK and DHB deficient. Transcription analysis showed that expression of dhbC, but not of menF, is regulated by iron concentration. A dhbA'::lacZ fusion strain was constructed to examine the effects of mutations to the iron box sequence within the dhb promoter region. These mutations abolished the iron-regulated transcription of the dhb genes, suggesting that a Fur-like repressor protein exists in B. subtilis.
The BTB domains of the potassium channel tetramerization domain proteins prevalently assume pentameric states

Potassium channel tetramerization domain‐containing (KCTD) proteins are involved in fundamental physio‐pathological processes. Here, we report an analysis of the oligomeric state of the Bric‐à‐brack, Tram‐track, Broad complex (BTB) domains of seven distinct KCTDs belonging to five major clades of the family evolution tree. Despite their functional and sequence variability, present electron microscopy data highlight the occurrence of well‐defined pentameric states for all domains. Our data also show that these states coexist with alternative forms which include open pentamers. Thermal denaturation analyses conducted using KCTD1 as a model suggest that, in these proteins, different domains cooperate to their overall stability. Finally, negative‐stain electron micrographs of KCTD6BTB in complex with Cullin3 show the presence of assemblies with a five‐pointed pinwheel shape.
High Frequency of Spontaneous Helicaseprimase Inhibitor (BAY 57–1293) Drug-Resistant Variants in Certain Laboratory Isolates of HSV-1

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase is the target for a new group of potent antivirals that show great promise in vivo. A claimed advantage of this class of compounds is the low rate of drug resistance, which is reported to occur at a lesser rate than acyclovir (ACV)-resistance in cell culture. We confirmed that BAY 57–1293 is highly active against HSV-1 and superior to ACV when tested in Vero cells. Notably, drug resistance was detected in laboratory working stocks in two different strains of HSV at 10−4to 10−5and there was evidence that the resistant variants were present in the virus population before the selection was applied. Plaque-purified clones obtained from the parental viruses showed a lower level of resistance selection in the presence of drug (10−6) and this value is similar to published reports. In the case of HSV-1 SC16, no difference was observed between a working stock and a plaque-pure clone in the rate of resistance to the nucleoside analogue ACV. The working stocks were found to contain variants with resistance to BAY 57–1293 ranging from ∼15-fold to 4,000-fold suggesting that these viruses have the potential to subvert effective therapy. Sequence analysis of HSV-1 helicase protein showed that most of the amino acid substitutions in the variants described in this study tallied with published results, with some interesting exceptions in the case of HSV-1 strain PDK. Resistant variants did not readily revert to a sensitive phenotype in the absence of the inhibitor and representative BAY 57–1293-resistant variants were cross-resistant to an alternative helicase-primase inhibitor, BILS 22 BS. Variants resistant to BAY 57–1293 retained sensitivity to the nucleoside analogue, ACV.
Multidimensional B-spline parameterization of the detection probability of the PET scanner Biograph 16 using GATE

GATE (Geant4 Application for Emission Tomography) is a widespread, well validated and very versatile application for Monte Carlo simulations in emission tomography. It allows very detailed simulations of positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanners using the general purpose Monte Carlo code Geant4. We present a method to accelerate GATE simulations when on the one hand the detection probability in the different crystals needs to be computed accurately taking into account the complex geometry of the detection system and on the other hand information on photon statistics is not required. The simulation is split into two parts. Inside the scanner (phantom or voxelized patient) the particles are tracked conventionally. When a particle leaves the phantom, the particle is transported to a virtual boundary that replaces the detection system in the simulation and the detection probability is calculated analytically by evaluating a multi-dimensional B-spline function taking into account the state of the photon on this virual border (position, incident angles, energy). The B-spline function itself is calculated by performing a conventional Monte Carlo simulation. This ¿pre¿-simulation needs to be performed only once for each scanner type. The presented method was tested by simulating the PET scanner Biograph HiREZ and using a realistic voxelized attenuation phantom. The results show good agreement between conventional GATE simulations and simulations using the B-spline. The simulations could be accelerated by a factor of around 23 yielding the same statistical accuracy.
Anthropomorphic robotic hands: a review

This paper presents a review on main topic regarding to anthropomorphic robotic hands developed in the last years, taking into account the more important mechatronics designs submit on the literature, and making a comparison between them. The next chapters deepen on level of anthropomorphism and dexterity in advanced actuated hands and upper limbs prostheses, as well as a brief overview on issues such as grasping, transmission mechanisms, sensory and actuator system, and also a short introduction on under-actuated robotic hands is reported.
Impaired Hippo signaling promotes Rho1–JNK-dependent growth

Significance Both Hippo and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling have well-established roles in promoting tissue growth, while it remains elusive whether and how the two pathways interact or coordinate in growth control. We report in the present study that the Hpo–Yki pathway modulates Rho1–JNK signaling-mediated growth in Drosophila wing development. We show that the impaired Hpo pathway activates JNK through transcriptional up-regulation of Rho1. These findings expands our understanding about the cross-talk between two important signaling pathways, namely Hippo–Yki and Rho1–JNK, in regulating growth. The Hippo and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway both regulate growth and contribute to tumorigenesis when dysregulated. Whereas the Hippo pathway acts via the transcription coactivator Yki/YAP to regulate target gene expression, JNK signaling, triggered by various modulators including Rho GTPases, activates the transcription factors Jun and Fos. Here, we show that impaired Hippo signaling induces JNK activation through Rho1. Blocking Rho1–JNK signaling suppresses Yki-induced overgrowth in the wing disk, whereas ectopic Rho1 expression promotes tissue growth when apoptosis is prohibited. Furthermore, Yki directly regulates Rho1 transcription via the transcription factor Sd. Thus, our results have identified a novel molecular link between the Hippo and JNK pathways and implicated the essential role of the JNK pathway in Hippo signaling-related tumorigenesis.
Visual Navigation for Rendezvous and Docking using PMD Camera

There is one common problem of satellites which quite widely discussed: the lifespan. An idea to extend operational lifespan of a satellite in orbit, instead of replacing it by a new one, is concluded in On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) projects. The typical scenario of OOS is safe and reliable Rendezvous and Docking (RvD) of the approaching chaser to the target and taking over attitude control. In this paper relative navigation using new product Photonic Mixer Device (PMD), as new sort of the 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor, is suggested and of great interest, because the PMD sensor has never been used in space environment before. For optical navigation based on using a PMD camera, the following tasks and challenges have to be considered: initial pose estimation with a subsequent real-time object tracking, extension of the measurement range of the PMD sensor, camera calibration, performance measurements with a RvD simulation facility like EPOS 2.0 (European Proximity Operations Simulator). This paper mainly focuses on the first objective, namely pose estimation with a PMD sensor. Before calculating the pose estimate, the problem of actually finding target must be solved. The model based matching algorithm is proposed in this paper for 3D target acquisition and estimation of 6 degrees of freedom (3D position and 3D orientation) using data measurements from PMD camera.
Two program comprehension tools for automatic parallelization

The authors compare two program-comprehension systems targeted to support automatic parallelization: PARAMAT (PARAllelization by pattern MATching) and the PAP (Parallelizable Algorithmic Patterns) Recognizer. The authors illuminate the main differences of each method, discussing the tradeoff between the speed of the first and the generality of the second.
BoALMT1, an Al-Induced Malate Transporter in Cabbage, Enhances Aluminum Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Aluminum (Al) is present in approximately 50% of the arable land worldwide and is regarded as the main limiting factor of crop yield on acidic soil. Al-induced root malate efflux plays an important role in the Al tolerance of plants. Here, the aluminum induced malate transporter BoALMT1 (KF322104) was cloned from cabbage (Brassica oleracea). BoALMT1 showed higher expression in roots than in shoots. The expression of BoALMT1 was specifically induced by Al treatment, but not the trivalent cations lanthanum (La), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), or copper (Cu). Subcellular localization studies were performed in onion epidermal cells and revealed that BoALMT1 was localized at the plasma membrane. Scanning Ion-selective Electrode Technique was used to analyze H+ flux. Xenopus oocytes and Arabidopsis thaliana expressing BoALMT1 excreted more H+ under Al treatment. Overexpressing BoALMT1 in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in enhanced Al tolerance and increased malate secretion. The results suggested that BoALMT1 functions as an Al-resistant gene and encodes a malate transporter. Expressing BoALMT1 in Xenopus oocytes or A. thaliana indicated that BoALMT1 could increase malate secretion and H+ efflux to resist Al tolerance.
Validation of convolution based forced detection SIMIND with analytical collimator response modeling using GATE

Monte Carlo is an important and well established research tool in emission tomography. While used extensively in research applications, Monte Carlo techniques are not typically implemented clinically due to is its low detection efficiency and resultant long acquisition times. In order to make this notoriously slow computational tool faster, variance reduction techniques known as convolution based forced detection (CFD) have previously been implemented into SIMIND MC code (CFD-SIMIND) by our group. In this method, at each interaction site within the object, photons are forced to travel in a direction perpendicular to the detector and are convolved with a Gaussian blurring kernel based on the collimator response. This study focuses on the feasibility of using CFD-SIMIND in the absence of septal penetration and collimator scatter modeling for low and medium energy isotopes. In this study, the results of CFD-SIMIND have been compared with GATE Monte Carlo in order to validate the CFD-SIMIND results. For this purpose a number of point source simulations were performed using CFD-SIMIND and GATE with low and medium energy isotopes (i.e. 99mTc and 111In respectively). 99mTc point source data (with low and medium energy collimator) and 111In (with medium energy collimator) at different source to collimator distances in air and water was acquired. The point source data was then used for the validation of CFD-SIMIND in terms of spatial resolution, sensitivity, image profiles and energy spectra. In order to validate the results for extended source distribution and non-uniform attenuation media, XCAT phantom simulations are being performed. The 99mTc data with low energy collimator, available so far, has also been presented in the study. A comparison similar to point source data obtained in water was also performed in this case. It has been observed that CFD-SIMIND correlates well with GATE for simple point source simulation data in the case of 99mTc and 111In even in the absence of collimator scatter and septal penetration modeling. Point source as well as XCAT phantom data for 99mTc with low energy collimator showed that the use of CFD-SIMIND is valid for the isotope/collimator combination. In order to generalize the results, further simulation studies for other isotope/collimator pairs, used in point source simulations, are being performed for XCAT phantom.
Using the keystroke-level model for designing user interface on middle-sized touch screens

The Keystroke-Level Model was developed to predict accurately task execution time for mouse-and-keyboard systems. Middle-sized touch screens are becoming much more popular so it is important to determine whether KLM can provide useful predictions for these interfaces as well. The KLMs were created using special software CogTool for three touch screen interfaces for integrated control systems and were compared to experimental data. The results showed that the KLM prediction error for middle-sized touch screens reached less than 5%. This conclusion is that KLM has acceptable accuracy level in this environment for making predictions for the task execution times.
Roles of the Alternative Complement Pathway and C1q during Innate Immunity to Streptococcus pyogenes

Complement is important for innate immunity to the common bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes, but the relative importance of the alternative and classical pathways has not been investigated. Using mice and human serum deficient in either C1q, the first component of the classical pathway, or factor B, an important component of the alternative pathway, we have investigated the role of both pathways for innate immunity to S. pyogenes. C3b deposition on four different strains of S. pyogenes was mainly dependent on factor B. As a consequence opsonophagocytosis of S. pyogenes was reduced in serum from factor B-deficient mice, and these mice were very susceptible to S. pyogenes infection. In contrast, C3b deposition was not dependent on C1q for two of the strains investigated, H372 and H305, yet opsonophagocytosis of all four S. pyogenes strains was impaired in serum deficient in C1q. Furthermore, infection in C1q-deficient mice with strain H372 resulted in a rapidly progressive disease associated with large numbers of bacteria in target organs. These results demonstrate the important role of the alternative pathway and C1q for innate immunity to S. pyogenes and suggest that C1q-mediated innate immunity to at least some strains of S. pyogenes may involve mechanisms that are independent of C3b on the bacteria.
Fractal interpolation for natural images

This paper proposes a fractal interpolation for natural images. Generally, linear interpolation and spline interpolation are used for image interpolation. However, an image interpolated by the above conventional methods loses some high-frequency components of an original image. The loss of components lowers fidelity of the interpolated images. Since the proposed method reduces the loss, an interpolated image generated by the proposed method has higher fidelity than the one generated by the conventional method. The reduction of the loss is realized by using the fractional Brownian motion (FBM) in a process of the interpolation. The proposed method uses a characteristic that the fractal dimension is strongly correlated with a sense of roughness.
Design of waveguide fed broadband circular polarization truncated horn antenna for high power applications

This paper presents the design of a waveguide fed broadband circular polarization truncated horn antenna for high power applications. It consists of a circular polarization truncated horn antenna and a truncated-square to rectangular waveguide transition. The structure does not have any internal sharp corners and has large inner dimensions in order not to pose much limit on the maximum power-handling capacity. By truncating the corners of a horn, circular polarization modes are generated. The length of the waveguide transition is critical as it affects the axial ratio and return loss of the horn antenna. The antenna has a simulated 3dB axial ratio bandwidth of 23.6% with return loss better than 20dB.
Frequency Control of Island VSC-HVDC Links Operating in Parallel With AC Interconnectors and Onsite Generation

The main scope of this paper is to propose a suitable frequency control scheme for high-voltage dc-links (HVDC) based on voltage source converters (VSCs), operating in island systems with on-site conventional generation and external ac interconnectors. The proposed droop-type and inertia emulator is built upon the power synchronization control (PSC) concept, where grid synchronization is achieved without the need of a dedicated synchronization unit. The dynamics of the proposed PSC-based scheme are assessed both in frequency and time domain, utilizing a realistic study-case system, which corresponds to the current planning for the interconnection of Crete to the Greek mainland system, involving ac and dc interconnectors operating in parallel with conventional local thermal units. To demonstrate the benefits offered by the proposed controller in the context of frequency response, a detailed average value model is developed for the VSC-HVDC link in MATLAB/Simulink, where severe contingencies are simulated, such as the sudden loss of the external ac interconnector or local generation, leading from mainland grid-connected to islanded operation.
Failure to Detect the Extracellular Calcium‐Sensing Receptor (CasR) in Human Osteoblast Cell Lines

Whether the known calcium‐sensing receptor (CasR) is present in osteoblasts is a source of considerable controversy. Prior studies failed to detect CasR in osteoblasts, but more recent investigations purport the detection of CasR in several osteoblast cell lines by immunoblot analysis with polyclonal anti‐CasR antisera (4637) and low stringency reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). To explain these disparate findings, we performed immunoblot analysis with the 4637 anti‐CasR antisera and a highly specific monoclonal antibody to CasR (ADD), and we compared the ability of low and high stringency RT‐PCR to amplify CasR transcripts. We found that the ADD antibody detected the anticipated CasR immunoreactive bands, including a ∼165 kDa and ∼140 kDa glycosylated doublet and a >250 kDa dimerized receptor, in positive control mouse kidney, human parathyroid, and human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells transfected with rat CasR, but we did not detect these bands in either wild‐type HEK 293 cells or Saos2, MG‐63, or U‐2 OS osteoblast‐like cell lines. Standard two‐step RT‐PCR using CasR‐specific primers confirmed these results by detecting CasR transcripts in positive controls but not in negative control HEK 293 cells or osteoblast cell lines. In contrast, the 4637 antisera did not recognize CasR by immunoblot analysis under the conditions studied and our low stringency RT‐PCR procedure amplified nonspecific products in wild‐type HEK 293 cells and osteoblasts. Since we failed to detect CasR in human osteoblast cell lines using either the highly specific ADD antibody or RT‐PCR under standard conditions, it is possible that the cation response in osteoblasts is mediated by a functionally similar but molecularly distinct calcium sensing receptor.
Novel Ca2+-binding Protein (CAPS) Related to UNC-31 Required for Ca2+-activated Exocytosis*

Exocytotic secretion in neuroendocrine cells is activated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ increases. Late post-docking events in dense core vesicle exocytosis in permeable PC12 cells require cytosolic factors for sequential ATP-dependent priming and Ca2+-dependent triggering steps. The cytosolic proteins phosphatidylinositol transfer protein and phosphatidylinositol (4)-phosphate 5-kinase, as well as membrane-boundN-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor, are required for the ATP-dependent priming step. Following priming, the Ca2+-dependent triggering of vesicle fusion requires an additional cytosolic factor, CAPS, which was purified as a 145-kDa protein. To clarify late Ca2+-dependent events in vesicle fusion, the sequence of rat CAPS cDNA was determined and found to encode a novel protein that is the vertebrate homologue of the Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-31 protein shown genetically to be required for neurosecretion. Recombinant CAPS substituted for cytosol in the Ca2+ triggering step in permeable PC12 cells and exhibited moderate affinity (K d = 270 μm) Ca2+binding (2 mol Ca2+/mol CAPS dimer), consistent with a role at a Ca2+-regulated step in exocytosis.
A Review on Face Recognition Attendance System

In this paper, we advise a method that takes the presence of students for classroom lecture. Our method takes the presence automatically using face recognition. However, it is complicated to calculate approximately the attendance exactly using each result of face detection independently because the face recognition rate is not sufficiently high. In this paper, we propose a process for estimate the presence precisely using all the results of face recognition obtained by Continuous inspection. Continuous inspection improves the performance for the estimation of the presence we Constructed the lecture presence system based on face recognition, and applied the system to classroom lecture. Face recognition technology has widely concerned concentration due to its huge application value and market potential, such as face recognition and video observation system. Real-time face detection not only is one part of the automatic face recognition system but also is increasing an independent research subject. So, there are lots of approaches to solve face detection. This paper describes the expansion of a student attendance system based on face recognition and authentication technology. MATLAB outline is used for implementation. The existing conventional presence system requires students to manually sign the sheet every time
An adaptive pre-distortion method based on orthogonal polynomials

Wideband signals without pre-distortion are distorted by memory and nonlinear effect of high power amplifier. To compensate these distortions, we propose an adaptive pre-distorter based on orthogonal polynomials. Based on orthogonal criterion, we derive a series of orthogonal polynomials under circular symmetric complex Gaussian distribution. Indirect learning architecture is used for pre-distorter identification and recursive least square algorithm is introduced for parameters estimation. At last using two power amplifier models, we simulate the performance of the proposed pre-distorter in an OFDM system. Simulation results show that the proposed pre-distorter can effectively compensate the distortions produced by high power amplifier.