Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of a Protein That Inhibits the Phosphorylated Form of Nitrate Reductase from Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) Leaves

The low-activity, phosphorylated form of nitrate reductase (NR) became activated during purification from spinach (Spinacia oleracea) leaves harvested in the dark. This activation resulted from its separation from an approximately 110-kd nitrate reductase inhibitor protein (NIP). Readdition of NIP inactivated the purified phosphorylated NR, but not the active dephosphorylated form of NR, indicating that the inactivation of NR requires its interaction with NIP as well as phosphorylation. Consistent with this hypothesis, NR that had been inactivated in vitro in the presence of NR kinase, ATP-Mg, and NIP could be reactivated either by dephosphorylation with protein phosphatase 2A or by dissociation of NIP from NR.
The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur nayaur (Cetartiodactyla: Caprinae)

Abstract The blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur nayaur) belongs to the subfamily Caprinae, and is distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and peripheral mountains of China. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of P. n. nayaur was sequenced. It was determined to be of 16,700 bases. The nucleotide sequence data of 12 heavy-strand protein-coding genes of P. n. nayaur and other 29 caprine species were used for phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods, and it suggested that P. n. nayaur was the sister group of P. schaeferi and P. nayaur, and also indicated a close relationship of genus Pseudois with genus Capra.
Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma insulin levels in Alzheimer's disease

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have elevations of fasting plasma insulin that are hypothesized to be associated with disrupted brain insulin metabolism. We examined paired fasted plasma and CSF insulin levels in 25 patients with AD and 14 healthy age-matched adults and determined whether insulin levels were related to severity of dementia and apolipoprotein E-ϵ4 homozygosity, a known genetic risk factor for AD. The AD patients had lower CSF insulin, higher plasma insulin, and a reduced CSF-to-plasma insulin ratio when compared with healthy adults. The differences were greater for patients with more advanced AD. Patients who were not apolipoprotein E-ϵ4 homozygotes had higher plasma insulin levels and reduced CSF-to-plasma ratios, whereas ϵ4 homozygotes with AD had normal values. Both plasma and CSF insulin levels are abnormal in AD, and there are metabolic differences among apolipoprotein E genotypes.
Skin removal techniques for breast cancer radar detection based on artificial neural networks

The paper presents new real skin artifact removal techniques when applied to a novel ANN based radar data processing approach for breast cancer detection. Realistic 2D breast geometries derived by the UWCEM database. When the ANN approach was trained and tested using an ideal cleaning technique the accuracy on the tumor detection was 91%. Using the best real cleaning technique proposed in this paper the ANN based approach is able to achieve a sensitivity of 90%, a specificity of 84% and an accuracy of 87%.
Median to radial latency difference test in mild carpal tunnel syndrome

Electrodiagnostic assessment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is hampered by the normal variability of conduction velocity, amplitude and duration of evoked responses, and hand temperature. Comparative testing of other nerves in the same hand may control for these variables and improve sensitivity for detection of mild focal entrapment. In consecutive cases referred for evaluation, antidromic sensory latencies were recorded from the thumb over 10 cm segments of the median and radial nerves, and the difference between these latencies was calculated. Median sensory antidromic conduction to digit III, ulnar sensory conduction, and median motor latency measurements were also made. Three hundred and thirty‐three upper limbs were studied in 262 patients. All tests were normal in 73 arms. Mild conduction slowing was identified in 86 median nerves. The median–radial latency difference was increased in 87% of these mild cases. The median–ulnar latency difference was diagnostic in 88%. Either median–radial or median–ulnar latency differences were abnormal in all confirmed cases. The routine median motor and sensory distal latency tests had sensitivities of 29% and 52%, respectively. Radial responses were elicited in 99% of the hands studied. The median–radial latency difference in digit I is a sensitive indicator of mild CTS that can be measured quickly with a minimum of discomfort.
CT : Extending the application of the consolidation methodology even further

The consolidation process, originally applied to the C4.5 tree induction algorithm, improved its discriminating capacity and stability. Consolidation creates multiple samples and builds a simple (nonmultiple) classifier by applying the ensemble process during the model construction phase. The work presented in this paper aims to show the consolidation process can improve algorithms other than C4.5 by applying the consolidation process to three tree induction algorithms: a variant of the chi‐squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID*), C4.4, and CHAIC (also a contribution of this paper). The consolidation of CHAID* and CHAIC, required solving the handicap of consolidating the value groupings proposed by each CHAID* or CHAIC tree for discrete attributes. The experimentation is divided in 3 classification contexts for 96 datasets. Results show that consolidated algorithms perform robustly, ranking competitively in all contexts, never falling into lower positions unlike most of the other rule‐induction algorithms considered in the study. When performing a global comparison consolidated algorithms rank in top positions.
Cytotoxic Hydroazulene Diterpenes from the Brown Alga Dictyota dichotoma

Two new hydroazulenoid (prenyl guaiane) diterpenes, dictyone acetate (2) and 3,4-epoxy 13-hydroxy pachydictyol A (4) were isolated from the petroleum ether fraction of the alcoholic extract of the brown alga, Dictyota dichotoma (Hudson) Lamouroux, which was collected from the Red Sea coasts at Hurgada, Egypt, together with three known ones, pachydictyol A (1), dictyone (3) and 11-hydroxypachydictyol A (dictyol E) (5). In addition, the steroidal compound, stigmasta-5,(E)-24(28)-dien-3-β-ol (fucosterol) (6) was also isolated. The structures of the isolated compounds have been determined on the basis of spectroscopic evidences as well as physical and chemical correlation with known compounds. Compounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 showed moderate cytotoxic activity
Impact of Caregiver-Receiver Relationship Quality on Burden and Satisfaction

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate, through an interview process, both the burden and satisfaction of the caregiving relationship between female primary caregivers and female care-receivers living in the same home. The ten cases were families involved in a caregiver/care-receiver shared-residence situation of at least one year's duration. The primary method of data collection was semi-structured interviews. The results of the qualitative approach called for a reversal of perspective. The intent was to examine how burden and satisfaction impacted the caregiver-receiver relationship quality. However, it was the quality of the relationship between the caregiver and care-receiver which distinguished low burden and high satisfaction.
Early gastric cancer: Prognostic factors in 223 patients

A retrospective study of 223 patients treated for early gastric cancer (EGC) is reported, representing 21.2 per cent of the 1051 patients with gastric cancer treated over the same period. Two main types of surgical procedure were used: subtotal resection of the stomach for EGC of the two lower thirds and total gastrectomy for lesions of the upper third. A lymphadenectomy of groups 1 and 2, according to the procedure of the Japanese Research Society for Gastric Cancer (R2 resection), was performed in all patients. The mean duration of follow‐up was 7.5 years. Univariate analysis showed a significant difference in survival rates only between patients with and without involved nodes (log rank = 6.05, P = 0.0139). Other prognostic factors were not identified. A bivariate analysis was performed to evaluate the joint effect of node status and the Kodama classification: survival rates for patients with EGC of the penetrating (Pen) A type and node positive falls to around 57 per cent within 6 years. This group of patients has a tumour that should probably be considered as a ‘non‐early’ lesion. To improve the survival of patients with a Pen A, node positive lesion, adjuvant chemotherapy may be appropriate.
Personality, temperament and clinical scales in an Italian Plastic Surgery setting: what about body dysmorphic disorder?

Objective. Applications for aesthetic surgery may provide a good vantage point for assessing the psychiatric and personological aspects of subjects seeking cosmetic enhancement. Body dysmorphic disorder is relatively frequent (6–15%) among plastic surgery and dermatology patients. The aim of our study was to analyse the psychopathological profile, personality and temperament of 27 patients requesting aesthetic surgery procedures and compare them with 21 normal controls. Methods. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus 5.0 (MINIPLUS 5.0), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Y form (STAI), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), Neo Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) were used. Results. The dysmorphophobics in our sample (n=10) presented higher BDI, STAI and STAXI-state scores than the non-BDD patients (n=17) and controls (n=21); high rates of comorbidity, particularly with major depressive disorder, social phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder; higher NEO-FFI scores for neuroticism and lower ones for extraversion, consciousness and openness to experience, compared with the control group. Significant differences in temperament were observed on the HA (Harm Avoidance) scale, with higher scores in the BDD than in the other two groups, particularly on the HA1 (anticipatory worry/uninhibited optimism) and HA4 (fatigability and asthenia/vigour) subscales. Conclusion. Our BDD patients were more depressed, more anxious and angrier with their present situation than controls. Although preliminary, our data are in keeping with the personality characteristics traditionally described in dysmorphophobic patients, considered to be sensitive, asthenic, shy, introverted, reserved and socially avoidant.
Integrating Large-Scale Co-Generation of Hydrogen and Electricity from Wind and Nuclear Sources (Nuwind ©)

This paper provides the global, strategic and market analyses that show, by actual example, the potential synergism between wind and nuclear energy systems. By adopting a balanced portfolio of electricity and hydrogen production that is market driven, a generation mix of advanced nuclear designs with supplementary wind power provides a route towards a secure, sustainable and safe energy future Primary energy supply is on the threshold of a revolution as profound as utilization of carbon-based fuels by the Industrial Revolution. Improved energy efficiency is insufficient to bring CO2 emissions under control since the new revolution must cope with rapid expansion of energy demand in the economies of the Developing World as they climb toward Developed World levels of wealth. Three broad options exist for acceptable, primary energy supply: nuclear, renewables, and carbon with sequestration. From all of these, energy will emerge increasingly as electricity and require some form of storage. Hydrogen is ideal both for storage of electricity and as a transportation fuel producing minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The required scale of new primary energy deployment is so large that choosing between the three supply technologies is pointless: one should identify ways in which they can most effectively be blended. NuWindcopy is one such blend. It addresses the problem of wind's short-term and seasonal intermittency and unpredictability. The extent to which wind's variability can be absorbed as electricity depends on the mix of other generation capacity on a power grid but wind power can usually contribute only a fairly small percentage before the need for back-up capacity becomes burdensome. This has led to the suggestion of converting wind-generated electricity into hydrogen by electrolysis. However, simple analysis shows that wind's low average output inflates the cost of electrolysis equipment beyond economic competitiveness. With NuWind, judicious application of time-of-day variability in the value of electricity subsidizes the cost of electrolytic equipment. When the value of electricity is high, electricity is sold to the grid. When the value of electricity to the grid is low, electricity from both nuclear and wind sources are converted into hydrogen using cells designed to handle varying current density. If the wind is blowing, the current to the electrolysis cells is turned up. Low-cost cavern storage for hydrogen accommodates seasonal swings in the wind component. Using hourly electricity price data from Ontario and Alberta and typical hourly wind data, the economics of large-scale hydrogen production by NuWind are shown to be comparable with those of steam-methane reforming with sequestration. Over a wide range of electricity to hydrogen ratios, the estimated cost of bulk, undistributed hydrogen production by Nu Wind is below the US DOE's target of 2000 $/tonne (all dollars quoted are U.S.). All nuclear and aeolian generation is always available to the grid at times of high demand.
Role of CAS, a human homologue to the yeast chromosome segregation gene CSE1, in toxin and tumor necrosis factor mediated apoptosis.

We have previously isolated by expression/selection cloning plasmids containing human cDNAs that rendered MCF-7 breast cancer cells resistant to immunotoxins, Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE), and diphtheria toxin (DT) [Brinkmann et al. (1995) Mol. Med. 1, 206-216]. Here we describe that one of these resistant plasmids, which contains an antisense cDNA fragment homologous to the yeast chromosome segregation gene CSE1 [CAS; Brinkmann et al. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92, 10427-10431], reduces the intracellular content of the human CSE1 homologue CAS protein. CAS reduction confers resistance not only to the ADP-ribosylating toxins PE and DT, but also to tumor necrosis factor alpha and beta. The resistance was observed as reduced apoptosis. CAS antisense did not affect the cell death induced by staurosporine, cycloheximide, or etoposide. The observation that CAS antisense can interfere with apoptosis mediated by TNF and ADP-ribosylating toxins suggests that CAS may play a role in selected pathways of apoptosis.
The Evolution of Cooperation in Infinitely Repeated Games: Experimental Evidence

A usual criticism of the theory of infinitely repeated games is that it does not provide sharp predictions since there may be a multiplicity of equilibria. To address this issue, we present experimental evidence on the evolution of cooperation in infinitely repeated prisoner's dilemma games as subjects gain experience. We show that cooperation may prevail in infinitely repeated games, but the conditions under which this occurs are more stringent than the subgame perfect conditions usually considered or even a condition based on risk dominance. (JEL C71, C73)
PSO and GA-based maximum power point tracking for partially shaded photovoltaic systems

Under partial shading (PS) conditions, photovoltaic (PV) systems are popularly known to suffer from low-energy efficiency. Therefore, an effective MPPT algorithm should be used to detect the unique global peak as the maximum power point (MPP), and avoid any local maxima in order to mitigate the effect of PS. To date, various MPPT techniques have been developed to reliably track the MPP under all circumstances and reduce the energy losses due to PS. Usually, conventional methods such as Perturb and Observe (P&O) and the Incremental Conductance (IncCond), fail to extract the global MPP of the PV panel if the PV generator is partially shaded. To overcome this problem, Evolutionary Algorithms (AEs), namely the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) are studied, simulated and compared under the same software.
Quantitation, with a new assay, of Theiler's virus capsid protein in the central nervous system of mice

We developed a quantitative assay for antigens at the single-cell level. Tissue sections were reacted with a primary antibody, a biotinylated secondary antibody, or 35S-streptavidin. Binding of streptavidin to cells was quantitated by microscopic autoradiography. We showed that the number of autoradiographic grains was proportional to the amount of antigen per cell. With this assay, we studied the synthesis of Theiler's virus capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and VP3 in permissive BHK cells grown in vitro and in mouse central nervous system (CNS) cells during a persistent infection. We found that synthesis of the three capsid proteins was restricted in mouse CNS cells. Restricted virus replication could play a major role in the persistence of Theiler's virus in mouse CNS cells.
Generation and Characterization of Environmentally Sensitive Variants of the β-Galactosidase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus

A method is described for generating and screening variants of the β-galactosidase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus sensitive to several environmental stresses, with potential application in the food industry. Chemical mutagenesis with hydroxylamine or methoxylamine was performed on the β-galactosidase gene carried on an Escherichia coli expression vector. Mutants sensitive to cold, heat, low pH, low magnesium concentration, and the presence of urea were isolated by screening for reduced color development on β-galactosidase indicator plates. The mutations responsible for three variant β-galactosidases were localized, and the base substitutions were determined by DNA sequencing. The amino acid alterations associated with one low-pH-sensitive (pHs) and two urea-sensitive (Us) variants correspond to P584L (pHs1), G400S/R479Q (Us26), and G167E/E168K/E363K/V492M (Us17), respectively. Mutant pHs1 is also heat, cold, low magnesium, and urea sensitive; Us26 is also cold sensitive; and Us17 is also low-pH sensitive.
Impaired Assembly of E1 Decarboxylase of the Branched-chain α-Ketoacid Dehydrogenase Complex in Type IA Maple Syrup Urine Disease*

The E1 decarboxylase component of the human branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase complex comprises two E1α (45.5 kDa) and two E1β (37.5 kDa) subunits forming an α2β2 tetramer. In patients with type IA maple syrup urine disease, the E1α subunit is affected, resulting in the loss of E1 and branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase catalytic activities. To study the effect of human E1α missense mutations on E1 subunit assembly, we have developed a pulse-chase labeling protocol based on efficient expression and assembly of human (His)6-E1α and untagged E1β subunits inEscherichia coli in the presence of overexpressed chaperonins GroEL and GroES. Assembly of the two35S-labeled E1 subunits was indicated by their co-extraction with Ni2+-nitrilotriacetic acid resin. The nine E1α maple syrup urine disease mutants studied showed aberrant kinetics of assembly with normal E1β in the 2-h chase compared with the wild type and can be classified into four categories of normal (N222S-α and R220W-α), moderately slow (G245R-α), slow (G204S-α, A240P-α, F364C-α, Y368C-α, and Y393N-α), and no (T265R-α) assembly. Prolonged induction in E. coli grown in the YTGK medium or lowering of induction temperature from 37 to 28 °C (in the case of T265R-α), however, resulted in the production of mutant E1 proteins. Separation of purified E1 proteins by sucrose density gradient centrifugation showed that the wild-type E1 existed entirely as α2β2 tetramers. In contrast, a subset of E1α missense mutations caused the occurrence of exclusive αβ dimers (Y393N-α and F364C-α) or of both α2β2 tetramers and lower molecular weight species (Y368C-α and T265R-α). Thermal denaturation at 50 °C indicated that mutant E1 proteins aggregated more rapidly than wild type (rate constant, 0.19 min−1), with the T265R-α mutant E1 most severely affected (rate constant, 4.45 min−1). The results establish that the human E1α mutations in the putative thiamine pyrophosphate-binding pocket that are studied, with the exception of G204S-α, have no effect on E1 subunit assembly. The T265R-α mutation adversely impacts both E1α folding and subunit interactions. The mutations involving the C-terminal aromatic residues impede both the kinetics of subunit assembly and the formation of the native α2β2 structure.
Ontology Mapping and Rule-Based Inference for Learning Resource Integration

With the increasing demand for interoperability among existing learning resource systems in order to enable the sharing of learning resources, such resources need to be annotated with ontologies that use different metadata standards. These different ontologies must be reconciled through ontology mediation, so as to cope with information heterogeneity problems, such as semantic and structural conflicts. In this paper, we propose an ontology-mapping technique using Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) to generate semantic mapping rules that integrate learning resources from different systems and that cope with semantic and structural conflicts. Reasoning rules are defined to support a semantic search for heterogeneous learning resources, which are deduced by rule-based inference. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach enables the integration of learning resources originating from multiple sources and helps users to search across heterogeneous learning resource systems.
Effect of environmental change on parasites of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) as bioindicators of populations in the north-western Atlantic Ocean

Abstract Studies conducted in the 1980s suggested that parasites were useful in distinguishing adjacent populations of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in the north-western Atlantic. During the mid-1980s, cod populations began to decline, culminating in closure of the fishery in 1992. A marked decrease of cod off the coast of Labrador was coincident with climatic shifts, including a decline of bottom sea temperature, and virtual absence of capelin Mallotus villosus, its main food prey. These changes in some components of the ecosystem were independent of anthropogenic influences. An initial survey of cod parasites in 2000 from coastal Labrador revealed a dramatic decline in abundance of metazoans and also a change in dominance of species of digenetic trematodes compared to 1980–1981. Comparison of metazoan parasites in three other populations of cod inhabiting the Grand (northern and southern) and St. Pierre Banks, where there was no apparent evidence of environmental changes but only commercial over-exploitation, revealed no major alterations in abundance or dominance between 1980–1981 and 2003. The results of this current study suggest that environmental changes in the food web affected the abundance of metazoan parasites only off coastal Labrador but did not influence the use of the parasites to distinguish between cod populations inhabiting the Grand or St. Pierre Banks.