Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Xylose phosphorylation functions as a molecular switch to regulate proteoglycan biosynthesis

Significance Proteoglycans are cellular proteins modified with long chains of repeating sugar residues connected to serine residues within the protein core by a short tetrasaccharide linker. Proteoglycans perform critical cellular functions such as formation of the extracellular matrix, binding to a diverse array of molecules, and regulation of cell motility, adhesion, and cell–cell communication. We show here that family with sequence similarity 20, member B (Fam20B) is a xylose kinase that phosphorylates a xylose sugar residue within the proteoglycan tetrasaccharide linkage. Xylose phosphorylation dramatically stimulates the activity of galactosyltransferase II (GalT-II, B3GalT6), an enzyme that adds galactose to the growing linkage. Cells lacking Fam20B cannot extend the tetrasaccharide linkage and thus have immature and nonfunctional proteoglycan, a phenotype remarkably similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome caused by inactivating GalT-II mutations. Most eukaryotic cells elaborate several proteoglycans critical for transmitting biochemical signals into and between cells. However, the regulation of proteoglycan biosynthesis is not completely understood. We show that the atypical secretory kinase family with sequence similarity 20, member B (Fam20B) phosphorylates the initiating xylose residue in the proteoglycan tetrasaccharide linkage region, and that this event functions as a molecular switch to regulate subsequent glycosaminoglycan assembly. Proteoglycans from FAM20B knockout cells contain a truncated tetrasaccharide linkage region consisting of a disaccharide capped with sialic acid (Siaα2–3Galβ1–4Xylβ1) that cannot be further elongated. We also show that the activity of galactosyl transferase II (GalT-II, B3GalT6), a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of the tetrasaccharide linkage region, is dramatically increased by Fam20B-dependent xylose phosphorylation. Inactivating mutations in the GALT-II gene (B3GALT6) associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome cause proteoglycan maturation defects similar to FAM20B deletion. Collectively, our findings suggest that GalT-II function is impaired by loss of Fam20B-dependent xylose phosphorylation and reveal a previously unappreciated mechanism for regulation of proteoglycan biosynthesis.
MECHANISMS OF NUTRITIVE ENDOCYTOSIS

The quantity of surface membrane internalized during phagocytosis by Chlorohydra digestive cells was estimated for a range of particle types. Challenge with 2 of these particles, freshly isolated symbiotic algae (FIS) and latex spheres (LS), resulted in a greater (2-5 x) quantity of surface membrane interiorized than with heat-treated symbiotic algae (HTS) and free living algae (FA), Chlorella vulgaris. This discriminatory process was investigated further by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) comparison of the surface events associated with phagocytosis of each of these 4 particles. Those particles that were avidly phagocytized, FIS and LS, were both enveloped by a tightly fitting extension of digestive-cell surface, and obtained a prominent surface coating after their injection into the gut of Chlorohydra. Phagocytic challenge with FIS resulted, furthermore, in the rapid formation of a dense microvillar cover on digestive-cell surfaces. HTS and FA, on the other hand, were enveloped by a less closely fitting extension of digestive-cell surface, did not obtain a prominent surface coating, and did not induce the formation of microvilli. In addition, SEM revealed that at least 3 morphologically distinct phagocytic modes were utilized by the versatile nutritive phagocyte of Chlorohydra: (1) envelopment by the progressive movement of numerous, overlapping tubular protrusions (microvilli) over the particle (FIS) surface, forming first a network of tubular interlocking members, and finally a continuous but rough enclosing surface; (2) envelopment by a single, smooth-surfaced, funnel-like extension of digestive-cell surface (FIS, LS, HTS, FA); and (3) envelopment by multiple, broad folds, often of unequal size, and with overlapping margins {Artemia particles).
Examining Use of Mobile Phones for Sleep Tracking Among a National Sample in the USA

ABSTRACT Mobile technology has been designed to serve a number of functions relating to health, but we know little about individuals who use these tools to track sleep. This study utilized data from a cross-sectional, geographically diverse survey of adults in the USA (N = 934). Among the sample, 28.2% (n = 263) report current use of a mobile phone for sleep tracking. Income and gender were significant correlates of sleep tracking (p < 0.05). Compared to a poor diet, a reported “excellent” diet was associated with sleep tracking (p < 0.05). Interestingly, compared to individuals who never smoke, report of smoking “everyday” was associated with sleep tracking (p < 0.05). Finally, individuals who reported current use of their mobile device for other health functions (e.g., chat with their doctor or log symptoms) were more likely to report sleep tracking on their mobile device (p < 0.05). Results appear to suggest sleep tracking is common among individuals with good general health.
Critical features of bacterial mutation assays.

This review discusses features of the standard protocols currently used in bacterial mutation assays which can have a critical effect upon the test outcome. Such features if not strictly controlled may affect the results qualitatively as well as quantitatively. These include the dose-intervals of the test compound used; the number of bacterial cells exposed to the test compound; the phase of growth such cells are in during exposure; and the length of time that the cells are exposed prior to the addition of soft agar (in the Salmonella/plate incorporation assay). The following possible modulating effects will also be discussed: the nature of the solvent used; the nature and quantity of the exogenous metabolizing system (usually liver S9-fraction) and the quantity of amino-acid (e.g. histidine) within the test system being that either deliberately added or present unavoidably within the test sample (e.g. biological fluids). If bacterial mutagenicity assays are to realize their full potential for the detection of genotoxic carcinogens, the use of rigid protocols should be discouraged. Where possible, consideration of the compound's structure should lead to the employment of the optimal protocol for the detection of genotoxic carcinogens within that chemical class. The relative speed and low cost of bacterial assays should be exploited in this way to avoid the generation of false negative results during the primary screening of novel compounds.
Comparison of Heat Deposition of Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG Lasers in Hard Dental Tissues

This paper describes a comparative study of residual heat deposition of Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG lasers during ablation of hard dental tissues. Residual heat deposition was obtained from measured irradiated hard tissue temperature decay characteristics immediately following Erbium laser pulses. The measured residual heat was larger in enamel than in dentine for both Er:YAG and Er,Cr:YSGG sources. The amount of the unwanted residual heat that remains deposited in the tooth is for the H mode Er,Cr:YSGG by a factor of more than 2, and for the S mode Er,Cr:YSGG by a factor of more than 3 larger, compared to the deposited heat with the MSP mode Er:YAG laser. These findings, in addition to wavelength, pulse duration and pulse shape considerations made in previous studies, [4] at least partially explain the observed lower ablation efficacy of Er,Cr:YSGG lasers compared to Er:YAG lasers, and may lead to their reduced safety and comfort for patients.
Topics and Sources of Memorable Breast Cancer Messages and Their Impact on Prevention and Detection Behaviors

Often, people are able to recall a message on a particular topic for a long period of time. These memorable messages have the ability to influence behavior when they are recalled from memory long after initial exposure. Knowing the topics and sources of the messages that are remembered about breast cancer can improve the efficacy of future breast cancer outreach. To this end, 359 women completed an online survey about memorable breast cancer messages. Most women (60%) recalled a memorable message, described it, identified its source, and noted whether it had resulted in prevention or detection behaviors. Four categories of message topics emerged: early detection (37.3%), awareness (30.9%), treatment (25.8%), and prevention (6%). Furthermore, five categories of sources of these memorable messages were found: media (35.5%), friends (22.2%), family (21.6%), medical professionals (15.2%), and others (5.5%). The media were a major source of all four topics of messages, although family members, friends, and the medical community were major sources for particular message topics as well. Memorable messages originating from medical professionals were substantially more likely to motivate detection behaviors than prevention behaviors. This research demonstrates that message topic and source both play roles in determining message recall as well as in determining how memorable messages impacted behavior.
Heavy Episodic Drinking in College Students: Associations With Features of Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder

Abstract Objective: This study extends the college heavy episodic drinking literature by examining the associations between features of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), on the one hand, and heavy episodic drinking and associated problem behaviors, on the other. Participants: Participants were 159 (85 male, 74 female) undergraduates from a private university. Methods: Participants completed self-report measures assessing alcohol use, frequency, and consequences of heavy episodic drinking, and personality pathology. Results: It was found that psychopathy, independent of ASPD, was related to the prediction of heavy episodic drinking frequency and problems associated with alcohol use. It was also found that the relation between traits of psychopathy and heavy episodic drinking are limited largely to the impulsive and antisocial aspects of this condition. Conclusion: These findings point to the need for further investigation of the association between psychopathy and ASPD traits and heavy episodic drinking behaviors in college students.
Mechanism and Pathoanatomy of the Intraarticular Calcaneal Fracture

The mechanism and pathoanatomy of the acute intraarticular calcaneal fracture is produced by axial loading. A combination of shear and compression forces produce two characteristic primary fracture lines. Shearing forces produce a fracture dividing the calcaneus into medial and lateral portions. This fracture line typically splits the posterior facet and can extend anteriorly to involve the anterior and cuboid facets. Compression forces divide the calcaneus into anterior and posterior portions. This fracture line can extend medially to involve the middle facet. Loss of calcaneal height and length are readily explained by this mechanism.
Path planning by fractional differentiation

In path planning design, potential fields can introduce force constraints to ensure curvature continuity of trajectories and thus facilitate path-tracking design. The parametric thrift of fractional potentials permits smooth variations of the potential in function of the distance to obstacles without requiring design of geometric charge distribution. In the approach we use, the fractional order of differentiation is the risk coefficient associated to obstacles. A convex danger map towards a target and a convex geodesic distance map are defined. Real-time computation can also lead to the shortest minimum danger trajectory, or to the least dangerous of minimum length trajectories.
Introduction to the special issue on “Design for Aging”

All unhappy users are alike; each happy user is happy in his / her own way.1 Unhappy users often cannot enjoy the blessings of modern technology but must live with their drawbacks. Even though they have access to new technology, they often face difficulty because it was not designed to suit their needs and capabilities. For many older adults, new technology, especially more complex Information and Communication Technology (ICT) cannot keep their promise. For them, ICT design often neglects fundamental usability aspects, while focusing on creating fantastic user experiences. Yet the consequences are hard to quantify: Older users often cannot compensate for the design deficits and the use of potentially useful if not essential ICT becomes a source of frustration, if not unattainable for them. Imagine for yourself – a day without the many blessings of modern technology, imagine a day without a smart phone, without a laptop. How would this day progress? Very different? Faced with abundance, abstinence might even sound tempting (consider a “media fast” or “digital detox”), but how long would you enjoy it before averting starvation? In a time when the aging population and ubiquitous computing have become global trends, we cannot afford to exclude an increasing number of people by design, for ethical and financial reasons. Thus, the goal of Universal Usability [3, 4] that has already become an imperative for ICT in public access systems, now has gained importance in all areas of life. Reaching this goal seems very challenging and calls for the best in research and design. Fortunately there is already a large body of tried and tested
Chloride Conductive Pathways Which Support Electrogenic H+ Pumping by Leishmania major Promastigotes (*)

The proton extrusion mechanisms of Leishmania promastigotes were studied in terms of electrogenic movements of protons and anions (Cl− and HCO3−). Changes in membrane potential (Vm) and intracellular pH (pHi) were monitored fluorimetrically with the potential sensitive dye bis-oxonol and the pH-sensitive dye tetraacethoxymethyl 2′,7′-bis-(carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein, respectively. In nominal bicarbonate-free medium (pH7.4, 28°C), Vm and pHi of Leishmania promastigotes were maintained at −113 ± 4 mV and 6.75 ± 0.02, respectively. In Cl− free (gluconate-based) medium, cells underwent a time-dependent acidification (0.3 pH units) and a long term membrane hyperpolarization (7-10 mV), both of which were greatly enhanced in the presence of the anion blocker, 4,4′-diisothiocyanodihydrostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (H2DIDS). Cells in Cl−-free medium underwent a marked depolarization upon treatment with the H+-ATPase inhibitor dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD), but hyperpolarized after repletion with Cl−. In Cl−-depleted cells, replenishment of Cl− led to a H2DIDS-sensitive cytoplasmic alkalinization and a small initial hyperpolarization. Cells exposed either to DCCD or to the H+ uncoupler carbonylcyanide chlorophenylhydrazone caused a marked cytoplasmic acidification and membrane depolarization. In the presence of 25 mM HCO3−, promastigotes maintained an almost neutral cytosol, irrespective of H+ pump action or ionic composition of the medium. The present observations provide evidence for the operation of a DCCD-sensitive electrogenic H+-ATPase which contributes to the maintenance of a highly hyperpolarized plasma membrane in Leishmania promastigotes. H+ pump activity required a parallel pathway of Cl− ions in order to dissipate the pump generated electrical potential. In nominally CO2-free media, the two electrogenic systems are implicated in the maintenance of cell pH and indirectly in electrochemically driven nutrient uptake. In physiological CO2/HCO3−-containing media, the H+ pump and Cl− channel play a role only secondary to that of HCO3− in pHi homeostasis.
Calculation of Detection Efficiency for the Gamma Detector using MCNPX

Radiation detection has been a main interest for researchers as all kind of produced particles in atomic and subatomic physics based on the measurement systems so-called detector. Detection efficiency is one of the main parameter in detection system besides many other different parameters of the detector. The absolute efficiency of the gamma detector system will be used at Turkish Accelerator and Radiation Laboratory at Ankara (TARLA) is simulated using MCNPX code (version 2.4.0). The MCNP is the general purpose MC code that can be used for neutron, photon, electron or coupled neutron, photon, electron transport. The results have been obtained for NaI(Tl) detector system and compared with the experimental results. A good agreement was found between calculation and experiment.
From destination prediction to route prediction

A prediction of a vehicle's route would be useful for giving the driver advance warnings and alerts about upcoming situations and opportunities. This paper presents a new algorithm for predicting a driver's route based on a probabilistic prediction of the driver's destination. For each candidate destination, our route prediction algorithm plans a route to that destination. Roads on these routes accumulate the probabilities of their respective destinations, giving higher probabilities to roads along the way to higher probability destinations. The algorithm is based on a single parameter that characterises how efficiently a driver drives. Once this parameter is computed, it does not require storing a history of trips, and it works in places a driver has never visited. We test the algorithm on 100 routes recorded with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and show that the route prediction quickly narrows down the future route to a small fraction of the road network. We also compare our algorithm to two other algorithms to show how it performs better.
Binding of the Antimicrobial Peptide Temporin L to Liposomes Assessed by Trp Fluorescence*

The structure and membrane topology of the antimicrobial peptide temporin L (FVQWFSKFLGRIL- NH2) were studied using liposomes as model bilayers. Circular dichroic spectra revealed temporin L to adopt an α-helical conformation when bound to liposomes. Binding of temporin L to liposomes induced significant blue shifts of the emission spectra of the single Trp residue (Trp4) and also changed its quantum yield. The observed changes in the characteristics of the Trp4 fluorescence are in keeping with the insertion of this residue into the hydrophobic region of the liposomal bilayers. Access of the aqueous quencher acrylamide to Trp4 decreased in the sequence 1-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (SOPC)/cholesterol (X chol = 0.1) > SOPC > SOPC/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (POPG, X POPG = 0.1) > SOPC/POPG (X POPG = 0.2) ≈ SOPC/POPG (X POPG = 0.4), where X represents molar fraction of the indicated lipid. Whereas quenching of Trp4 by brominated phospholipids was significant in SOPC liposomes, the quenching efficiency was enhanced when the vesicles contained POPG. The depth of insertion of Trp4 into lipid bilayers was calculated by both the parallax method and distribution analysis and revealed this residue to reside at an average distance ofd ≈ 8.0 ± 0.5 Å from the center of both SOPC and SOPC/POPG bilayers. However, in the presence of cholesterol,d was increased to 9.5 ± 0.5 Å, thus revealing Trp4 to become accommodated more superficially in the bilayer. The above data suggest the presence of two populations of temporin L in SOPC- and POPG-containing membranes with parallel and perpendicular orientation with respect to the plane of the membrane surface.
eview ipase mediated synthesis of sugar fatty acid esters

This review is concerned with lipase catalyzed synthesis of sugar fatty acid esters in water immiscible organic solvents. Sugar esters are widely used nonionic and nontoxic biosurfactants. Certain sugar esters inhibit microbial growth and have other activities. Lipase mediated synthesis has important advantages over conventional chemical synthesis of sugar esters. Lipase catalyzed synthesis is typically carried out in organic solvents having a low water activity to drive the reaction towards synthesis instead of towards ester hydrolysis. The impact of the various reaction conditions on enzymatic synthesis of sugar esters eywords:
Steady state disturbance analysis in PV systems

This work presents the influence of the photovoltaic (PV) systems on steady state power quality events. Voltage variations and possible resonance conditions may appear between PV and the customer plant. Both stand alone and grid connected systems configurations are investigated on theoretical and experimental point of view. An existing PV system is used for the application of the studies performed in the paper confirming the theory considerations.
Junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device fabricated by atomic force microscope lithography and electrically characterized for gas sensing application at room temperature

Fabrication of junctionless sub-micron silicon wire based device using atomic force microscope lithography was presented in this article. The fabricated device consisted of two adjacent probing pads which served as probing pads during electrical characterization. This adjacent probing pads were connected with two parallel sub-micron silicon wires. P-type silicon-on-insulator wafer was used as a raw material in the experiment. The sub-micron silicon wires width between 207 nm and 233 nm was successfully fabricated by means of the aforementioned technique. The fabrication process was conducted in the temperature between 21 °C and 27 °C and relative humidity between 50 % and 70 %. The process was operated in contact mode using standard commercial atomic force microscope without any modification. In addition, 9.0 V of applied voltage and 2 μm/sec of writing speed were used to perform the fabrication process. The fabricated device was realized using wet chemical etching process which involved the usage of tetramethylammonium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid solution. The bare device was electrically characterized using semiconductor parameter analyzer and the signal was recorded in form of current-voltage characteristic. From the current-voltage characteristic, the fabricated junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device behaved as a resistor where there was a current flow from one contact point to another. To prolong the functionality of the fabricated junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device, the device was tested under gaseous environment at room temperature. Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide gas were chosen as target gases in the experiment. These two gases were classified as oxidizing agents and act as holes donor to the sub-micron silicon wire device. The current of the fabricated device was decreased upon exposure to both target gases compared with before target gases exposure. In other words, the device resistivity was increased when the target gases were introduced to the fabricated device. Furthermore, the target gases behaved as a chemical gate to the junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device in this study. In addition, applying the target gases (holes donor) to the p-type junctionless sub-micron silicon wire was comparable to applying positive gate voltage to the p-type semiconductor which caused depletion of mobility carrier and reduced the p-type device current. Therefore, the decrease of current value of junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device was expected and observed for this study. In term of sensitivity, the sensitivity of fabricated junctionless sub-micron silicon wire device was 65 % and 57 % when the device was exposed to 9 sccm of carbon dioxide gas and 8 sccm of nitrous oxide gas, respectively. The response and recovery time was observed to be less than one minute for both target gases study.