Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The E3 ligase HOIL-1 catalyses ester bond formation between ubiquitin and components of the Myddosome in mammalian cells

Significance The formation of isopeptide bonds between the C-terminal carboxylate of ubiquitin and ε-amino groups of lysine residues on another protein is a major mechanism for regulating protein function. Ubiquitin can also form peptide bonds with the N-terminal α-amino group of another ubiquitin, a reaction catalysed by the HOIP component of the linear ubiquitin assembly complex (LUBAC). Here, we identify the HOIL-1 component of LUBAC as an unusual ligase that catalyses the formation of oxyester bonds between the C-terminal carboxylate of ubiquitin and serine and threonine residues in other proteins. We identify components of the Myddosome as physiological substrates of HOIL-1, indicating a role for HOIL-1 in regulating innate immunity. The linear ubiquitin assembly complex (LUBAC) comprises 3 components: HOIP, HOIL-1, and Sharpin, of which HOIP and HOIL-1 are both members of the RBR subfamily of E3 ubiquitin ligases. HOIP catalyses the formation of Met1-linked ubiquitin oligomers (also called linear ubiquitin), but the function of the E3 ligase activity of HOIL-1 is unknown. Here, we report that HOIL-1 is an atypical E3 ligase that forms oxyester bonds between the C terminus of ubiquitin and serine and threonine residues in its substrates. Exploiting the sensitivity of HOIL-1–generated oxyester bonds to cleavage by hydroxylamine, and macrophages from knock-in mice expressing the E3 ligase-inactive HOIL-1[C458S] mutant, we identify IRAK1, IRAK2, and MyD88 as physiological substrates of the HOIL-1 E3 ligase during Toll-like receptor signaling. HOIL-1 is a monoubiquitylating E3 ubiquitin ligase that initiates the de novo synthesis of polyubiquitin chains that are attached to these proteins in macrophages. HOIL-1 also catalyses its own monoubiquitylation in cells and most probably the monoubiquitylation of Sharpin, in which ubiquitin is also attached by an oxyester bond. Our study establishes that oxyester-linked ubiquitylation is used as an intracellular signaling mechanism.
Marijuana Use, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Intercourse among Truant Adolescents

Background Adolescence is a time in development when many initiate problem behaviors, including alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual intercourse. Although research has shown that these behaviors tend to co-occur, little is known about their daily co-occurrences, particularly among high-risk groups such as truant adolescents. This study investigated the influence of marijuana and alcohol use on the odds of engaging in sexual intercourse on a daily level among a sample of truant adolescents. Methods Daily-level data from 76 at-risk, truant adolescents (46 male, 30 female) between the ages of 13 and 19 years who reported alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual intercourse over a 90-day retrospective recall period were analyzed. Results General estimating equations analyzing 6840 days and controlling for age, gender, and school days demonstrated that the use of marijuana and/or alcohol on a given day were associated with significantly increased odds of engaging in sexual intercourse on the same day. A significant interaction suggested that marijuana use on a given day increased the odds of engaging in sexual intercourse on that day among occasional marijuana users, yet not among frequent users. Additionally, a significant interaction suggested that frequent alcohol users had higher odds of engaging in sexual intercourse than those who used alcohol less frequently. Conclusions This study suggests that experimenting with marijuana and alcohol increases truant adolescents’ odds of also engaging in sexual intercourse. These results bridge the gap in the literature by investigating the daily-level associations and frequency of substance use and sexual intercourse among truant adolescents. This study demonstrates that among truant adolescents, substance use and sexual intercourse do not function independently; therefore, it is important to address the intersection between substance use and sexual behaviors during intervention development if sustained behavioral change is expected.
Issues in the Analysis of Focus Groups: Generalisability, Quantifiability, Treatment of Context and Quotations

In this paper I discuss some concerns related to the analysis of focus groups: (a) the issue of generalisation; (b) the problems of using numbers and quantifying in the analysis; (c) how the concrete situation of the focus groups could be included in the analysis, and (d) what formats can be used when quoting from focus groups. Problems with respect to generalisation are discussed; types of generalisation are presented which can be used in focus group research. Arguments are made against using a primarily quantitative perspective in the evaluation of focus group data. It is argued that the situation of the particular group discussion should be taken into account in the analysis. A scheme for analysis that has been developed by the author is presented. Suggestions are made for the characteristics of the quotations in the analyses.
The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Economic Growth in MENA Countries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the accumulation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has contributed to economic growth in MENA countries and how this compares with the role played in different groups of developed and developing countries. Using the neoclassical framework of economic growth, we investigate if the augmented Solow growth model that includes accumulation of ICT as well as physical and human capital could explain cross-country variations in per capita income. We estimate a set of regression equations for four groups of countries, namely MENA countries; OECD countries; a set of developing countries; and a set of developed and developing countries pooled together. Empirical results do not support the predictions of the standard Solow model but imply, however, that ICT plays a significant role in explaining cross-country variations in per capita income. In contrast to the argument that the fast accumulation and diffusion of ICT could have negative consequences on growth convergence, we find that convergence is achieved in all of our samples only when a proxy for information and communication technology enters the regression model as an additional explanatory variable.
Design aspects of an optical correlator based CNN implementation

Optical correlators provide efficient optical implementation of the CNN computers with high parallelism. A semi incoherent optical correlator with design considerations is presented. Theoretical and experimental study of an optical feed-forward processor using bacteriorhodopsin (bR) as a dynamic holographic material and a 2D acousto-optical deflector (AOD) for the implementation of the reconstructing template is given. Special attention is paid for the choice of the optical architecture, what can serve our goals the best. General definition of the requirements against dynamic holographic materials applied in optical processors is given in a previous paper of us [14] and a detailed specification and functional model of the bacteriorhodopsin based dynamic memory is worked out. Some preliminary correlation results are shown to corroborate the feasibility of this approach.
Peculiarities of hydration of Portland cement with synthetic nano-silica

Abstract Application of nano-materials in cement products significantly, improves their properties. Of course, the effectiveness of the materials depends on their quantity and the way they are introduced into the system. So far, amongst nano-materials used in construction, the most preferred was nano-silica. This research investigated the effect of synthetic precipitated nano-silica on the cement hydration as well as, on the physical and mechanical properties of pastes and mortars. Obtained results showed that admixture of nano-silica enhanced flexural and compressive strength of cement after 2 and 28 days, however, only when admixture made up 0.5% and 1.0%. On the other hand, the use of nano-silica in the amount 2% had some limitations, due to its ability to agglomerate, which resulted in deterioration of the rheological and mechanical properties.
Cloudy Atmosphere of the Extrasolar Planet HD 189733b: A Possible Explanation of the Detected B-Band Polarization

The peak amplitude of linear polarization detected recently from an extrasolar hot giant planet, HD 189733b, is a few × 10−4, more than an order of magnitude higher than all theoretical predictions. Although Rayleigh scattering off H2 and He may give rise to a planet-star flux ratio of the order of 10−4 in the blue band, it cannot account for the high polarization unless the planet has an unusually extended atmosphere. Therefore, it is suggested that the high polarization should be attributed to the presence of a thin cloud of submicron size dust grains in the upper visible atmosphere which supports the observational finding of an almost featureless transmission spectrum in the optical with no indication of the expected alkaline absorption features. It is found that the polarimetry observation allows for a small eccentricity of the orbit that is predicted from the time delay of the secondary eclipse of the planet. The estimated longitude of the ascending node is 16° ± 6° which interestingly coincides with the observationally inferred location of the peak hemisphere-integrated brightness.
Stable and Critical Gesture Recognition in Children and Pregnant Women by SVM Classification with FFT Features of Signals from Wearable Attires

The aim is to identify stable and critical recognition in children and pregnant women by wearable interface based monitoring system. The objective of this research proposal is to identify safe and danger zone prediction in toddler and normal and contra pain in pregnant women. The technology supporting this analysis of gesture has advanced dramatically. Past decades of remote health care monitoring have provided us with significant knowledge about the accuracy of tests performed. Mainly motivated by increasing healthcare costs and propelled by recent technological advances in miniature bio sensing devices, smart textiles, microelectronics and wireless communications, the continuous advance of wearable sensor-based systems will potentially transform the future of healthcare by enabling proactive personal health management and ubiquitous monitoring of a toddler and pregnant women health condition.The remote healthcare monitoring on a care taking base involves many implicit observations between the subjects and the care takers. Any ignorance and negligence leads to unpleasant situations thereafter. A simple wearable attire system can precisely interpret the implicit communication of the state of the subject and pass it to the care takers or to an automated aid device. Casual and conventional movements of subjects during play and living condition can be used for the above purpose. The methodology suggests a novel way of identifying safe and unsafe conditions of playing for the children as well as normal and critical situations of pregnant women where a medical assistance is desperately required. The experimental results show a well- distinguished realization of different body movement activities using a wearable attire array medium and the interpretation results always show significant and identifiable thresholds.
Geoinformation perspectives on innovation and economic growth

Innovation does not come from organisations, but fr om individuals. Innovation will happen whatever the circumstances because people need to s urvive and many will try to improve their lot as much as they can. Governments can stifle in novation ‐ or they encourage and facilitate innovation. Geoinformation and geographical information systems (GIS) are essential for innovation and economic growth, for effective polic y formulation and for planning, implementing and monitoring development projects. Geoinformation has many applications ‐ those in resource management and urban planning are well known, but the innovative applications are in the commercial sector, such as precision farming, deploying and exploiting communications systems, analysing customer data bases against outlet catchment areas, location-based services, customer relationship mana gement, real estate, and insurance. There are also exciting, innovative applications of virtu al globes (eg: Google Earth) and usergenerated content that exploit micro-payment systems on the Internet. Unfortunately, access to information is often prevented by legislation or government control of the information source, such as mapping being controlled by the mil itary. This is a particular problem with spatial data ‐ yet there are virtual globes providi ng masses of high resolution data for free (though perhaps of unknown quality and without metadata). This paper also considers the issues of intellectual property rights, standards a nd digital curation for innovation and economic growth.
Blind Signal Separation Using an Extended Infomax Algorithm

The Infomax algorithm is a popular method in blind source separation problem. In this article an extension of the Infomax algorithm is proposed that is able to separate mixed signals with any sub- or super-Gaussian distributions. This ability is the results of using two different nonlinear functions and new coefficients in the learning rule. In this paper we show how we can use the distribution of observation vectors for selecting suitable coefficients for our algorithm. Hence, the proposed algorithm is suitable for real applications in which the distribution of source signals might be unknown. It is also shown in this paper that the extended Infomax algorithm is able to separate 23 sources with a variety of distributions. Incidentally, we use a performance criterion for the evaluation of our results, based on the comparison of Kurtosis of the original signals and estimated signals.
Antioxidant Activity of Rubus crataegifolius Bge. Fruit Extracts

We investigated the fruits of Rubus crataegifolius Bge, a plant which has been traditionally used in Korea in phytotherapy, to describe antioxidant materials from plant sources. R. crataegifolius fruits were extracted with methanol and further fractionated into n-hexane, diethyl ether, and ethyl acetate. The antioxidant activity of each fraction and the residue was assessed using a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), H 2 O 2 radical scavenging method, and their cytotoxicity on human primary kerationcyte (HK) was determined by an MTS assay. The R. crataegifolius fruit methanol extract showed strong antioxidant activity (75.04%, 50%) compared with vitamin C (79.9%, 54.1%) by the DPPH, and H2O2 method, respectively. The measured activity from the subsequent extracts of the methanol extract were 20.3% for n-hexane fraction (HF), 68.8% for diethyl ether fraction (DF), 67.1% for ethyl acetate fraction (EF), and 67.1% for the residue fraction (RE) by DPPH and 2.2% for HF, 1.6% for DF, 10% for EF, and 50% for the RE by H 2 O 2 assay. An oxidative stress model of HK was established under a suitable concentration (1 mM). The cell viability of the RE treated group increased and the percentage of apoptotic cells decreased at concentrations of 0.005-0.02% RE compared with the H 2 O 2 treated group. Fruit extracts of the medicinal plant R. crataegifolius showed potent antioxidant activity and the ability to relieve cell damage from H 2 O 2 induced injury to HK.
Coating of LiBH4 and Its Effect on the Decomposition of RDX and AP

The novel fuel additive LiBH4 was introduced as an energetic component for its outstanding hydrogen content, perfect burning performance and high reactivity. In order to limit the hygroscopicity and to improve the stability in the air, LiBH4 was coated on the surface with wax and polyester carbonate. The final product was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron energy spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, while the stability in air was investigated by regular checking of variations in weight. The results show that a uniform coating layer was formed on the surface of the LiBH4, and the coverage was estimated from the boron content as approximately 82%. A healing effect was confirmed on defective surfaces exposed to air; the coating layer improves the relative stability by 50.7%. Furthermore, LiBH4 as an additive to promote the thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-trazinane (RDX) and ammonium perchlorate (AP) was explored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), in which the catalytic effects of pure LiBH4 and coated LiBH4 were compared, and indicated that the coating does not decrease the reactivity of LiBH4. It is suggested that surface coating with some inert materials is a simple and effective method for improving the storage and performance of LiBH4, while ensuring its reactivity.
Maternal influence on the development of nut‐cracking skills in the chimpanzees of the Taï forest, Côte d'Ivoire (Pan troglodytes verus)

Chimpanzees’ (Pan troglodytes) nut‐cracking behavior represents one of the most complex forms of tool‐use known among nonhuman animals. Given the close phylogenetic relationship between these apes and humans, investigating how such complex behavior develops in immatures can reveal the evolutionary roots of the cognitive processes that enabled the evolution of outstanding technological skills in our lineage. In this study, we investigated whether maternal behavior directly enhanced nut‐cracking skills in immature individuals. We analyzed the behavior of 11 immatures and their mothers (N = 8) during nut‐cracking activity, spanning over three consecutive nut‐cracking seasons in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. We used generalized linear mixed models to (a) obtain values of maternal scaffolding (defined as provision of learning opportunities) and active nut‐sharing behavior of each mother according to the age of their offspring, and their average nut‐cracking efficiency; (b) to test whether these variables enhanced immatures’ nut‐cracking skills; and (c) to test whether immatures’ features (age, sex, and begging behavior) influenced maternal behavior as observed in our videos. Although the predicted values of maternal scaffolding and active nut‐sharing did not obviously affect immatures’ skills, they were positively influenced by the average maternal efficiency and by sharing hammers with their mothers. In addition, our observations showed that mothers were more likely to share nuts with their sons than with their daughters, and the more their offspring begged. Concurrently, male immatures were also found to beg more often than females. Our results add evidence on the ontogenetic pathway leading to the full acquisition of nut‐cracking in wild chimpanzees and on the effect that maternal behavior can have in promoting the acquisition of this complex tool‐use behavior. Moreover, our study strengthens the importance of naturalistic observations to understand complex skill acquisition. Finally, we suggest future avenues for investigating the maternal influence on learning.
Improving sybil detection in online social networks

Due to open and anonymous nature, online social networks are particularly vulnerable to Sybil attack, where a malicious user can fabricate many dummy identities to target systems. Recently, there are a flurry of interests to leverage social network structure for Sybil defense. The rationale behind these approaches is to partition the whole social graph into honest and Sybil regions based on two core assumptions: (1) strong trust relationship among nodes, which makes it difficult for Sybil nodes to establish substantial social connections with non-Sybil nodes, even if they can easily recruit a large number of Sybil nodes and build an arbitrary topology network among them. As a result, Sybil region connects to the main network via a small number of attack edges. (2) honest region is fast mixing, where random walks from an benign node can quickly reach a stationary distribution after O(log(n)) steps, compared to random walks from Sybil nodes. However, these anti-Sybil mechanisms are less effective than expected since real-world social networks do not conform to the above assumptions. In the thesis, the main theme is to explore additional topological features underlying social networks in designing secure and robust Sybil defense systems. In particular, this thesis is comprised of two studies. Firstly, graph pruning and regularization techniques are proposed to enhance existing network-based Sybil defense mechanisms. In particular, a novel perspective is provided to interpret Sybil defense as the problem of partially labelled classification. Then, based on this framework, graph pruning is introduced to enhance the robustness of current anti-Sybil schemes against target attacks, by utilizing the local structural similarity between neighboring nodes in a social network. Besides, a domain-specific graph regularization method is designed to further improve the performance of those mechanisms by exploiting the relational property of social networks. Experimental results on four popular online social network datasets demonstrate that the proposed techniques can significantly improve the detection accuracy over the original Sybil defense mechanisms.
The Effects of Stocking Density and Feeding Frequency on Aggressive and Cannibalistic Behaviors in Larval Hatchery-Reared Spotted Seatrout, Cynosion nebulosus

Cannibalism is a major source of mortality in the intensive culture of the Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. Increased feeding frequency, particularly in the live feed stage, may promote fewer attacks on conspecifics and increased growth due to less energy spent on aggression, or more efficient digestion of smaller ration parcels. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of feeding frequency on cannibalism and aggressive behaviors in larval hatchery-reared Spotted Seatrout. Ten-day-old Spotted Seatrout larvae reared using the standard protocol of enriched s-type rotifers and enriched Artemia were stocked at 30 fish L -1 into three replicates of each of four feeding frequency treatments (every 8 h, 4 h, 2 h, and 1 h) in which the same total ration was divided accordingly. Larvae were fed enriched Artemia for eight days. Four video cameras monitored blocks of three tanks each from 2 h before feeding until 1 h after feeding. Two, pre-selected 30 min segments (30 min before and 30 min after feeding) relative to each feeding event per tank per day were scored separately for the number of nips, chases, and captures (Type 1 cannibalism). The 2 h frequency treatment elicited the fewest aggressive and cannibalistic acts. Lower aggression and cannibalism associated with the 2 h feeding frequency treatment could be attributed to a balance between the amount of live food per feeding event (degree of satiation) and the gut evacuation time of larval Spotted Seatrout.