Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamics of maltose binding protein unfolding

The maltose binding protein (MBP or MalE) of Escherichia coli is the periplasmic component of the transport system for malto‐oligosaccharides. It is used widely as a carrier protein for the production of recombinant fusion proteins. The melting of recombinant MBP was studied by differential scanning and titration calorimetry and fluorescence spectroscopy under different solvent conditions. MBP exhibits a single peak of heat absorption with a ΔHcal/ΔHvH ratio in the range of 1.3–1.5, suggesting that the protein comprises two strongly interacting thermodynamic domains. Binding of maltose resulted in elevation of the TM by 8–15 °C, depending on pH. The presence of ligand at neutral pH, in addition to shifting the melting process to higher temperature, caused it to become more cooperative. The ΔHcal/ΔHvH ratio decreased to unity, indicating that the two domains melt together in a single two‐state transition. This ligand‐induced merging of the two domains appears to occur only at neutral pH, because at low pH maltose simply stabilized MBP and did not cause a decrease of the ΔHcal/ΔH vH ratio. Binding of maltose to MBP is characterized by very low enthalpy changes,∼‐1 kcal/mol. The melting of MBP is accompanied by an exceptionally large change in heat capacity, 0.16 cal/K‐g, which is consistent with the high amount of nonpolar surface—0.72 Å2/g—that becomes accessible to solvent in the unfolded state. The high value of ΔCP determines a very steep ΔG versus T profile for this protein and predicts that cold denaturation should occur above freezing temperatures. Evidence for this was provided by changes in fluorescence intensity upon cooling the protein. A sigmoidal cooperative transition with a midpoint near 5°C was observed when MBP was cooled at low pH. Analysis of the melting of several fusion proteins containing MBP illustrated the feasibility of assessing the folding integrity of recombinant products prior to separating them from the MBP carrier protein.
Evaluation of Microleakage of Nanoionomer and Nanocomposite Restorations, immersed in Fruit Drink, Fresh Fruit Juice and Soft Drink--An in vitro Study.

AIM To evaluate microleakage of Nanoionomer (3M ESPE Ketac(™) N100 Light cured Nanoionomer Restorative) and Nanocomposite (3M ESPE Filtek(™) Z350 XT Universal Restorative) restorations, immersed in fruit drink, fresh fruit juice and soft drink. STUDY DESIGN Eighty caries free maxillary premolars extracted for orthodontic purpose were used for the study. Class V cavities were prepared and restored with Nanocomposite on buccal surface and Nanoionomer on the palatal surface. The teeth were thermocycled following the restoration. The experimental groups comprised of 72 teeth (3 groups comprising 24 teeth each for fruit drink, fresh fruit juice and soft drink), while remaining 8 formed the control group. Each of experimental group was further divided into three subgroups (low, medium and high immersion). The teeth were finally immersed in Rhodamine B dye, sectioned and evaluated under stereomicroscope. Statistical analyses used were Mann-Whitney test and ANOVA test. RESULTS The teeth showed statistically significant microleakage as the immersion regime increased. Soft drink group showed highest microleakage followed by fresh fruit juice and fruit drink. Nanocomposite exhibited more microleakage but the comparison was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The three beverages used in the study affected the microleakage of both restorative materials significantly. The microleakage scores increased as the frequency of the immersions increased. Soft drink caused highest microleakage followed by fresh fruit juice and fruit drink.
Nanowire electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices.

Liqiang Mai,*,† Xiaocong Tian,† Xu Xu,† Liang Chang,‡ and Lin Xu†,§ †State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, WUT-Harvard Joint Nano Key Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China ‡Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295, United States Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
Serum Levels of Bone Turnover Markers following Total Joint Arthroplasty

Purpose. To evaluate changes in serum levels of bone turnover markers during the first year following a total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA or TKA, respectively). Methods. 34 women and 13 men (mean age, 68 years) with idiopathic hip or knee osteoarthritis underwent elective THA or TKA. The serum levels of (1) osteoprotegerin, (2) nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL), (3) osteocalcin, and (4) bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (b-ALP) were determined in each patient on preoperative day 1 and postoperative day 3 and 7, and month 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Results. All 4 markers changed significantly over the 12-month period. At month 12, values of all markers did not return to their preoperative levels uniformly. At month 8, the serum levels of osteoprotegerin, osteocalcin, and b-ALP remained higher than their respective preoperative values. The serum levels of RANKL gradually decreased after month 2, rendering this marker a potential index for fixation. Conclusions. Bone turnover markers change following arthroplasties. Postoperative month 8 seems to be a milestone in the normal course of these markers.
Growth of Tahyna virus at low temperatures.

Replication of two Tahyna virus strains in the Aedes albopictus mosquito cell line was studied in the temperature range from 6 to 28 degrees C. The virus grew in this temperature range; its replication rate was related to the temperature of incubation. At lower temperatures the virus titres increased more slowly and did not reach as high maximum values as at higher temperatures. Short increase in incubation temperature resulted in a short increase in the titre of virus previously incubated at 10 degrees C, but not of virus previously incubated at 15 degrees C. At 10 and 15 degrees C, the released virus was demonstrated for more than 300 days past infection (p.i.).
Protein formulation and lyophilization cycle design: prevention of damage due to freeze-concentration induced phase separation.

Hemoglobin has been previously shown to unfold during freeze drying when lyophilized from formulations that undergo freeze-concentration induced phase separation (Heller et al. 1997. Biotechnol Prog 13:590-596). In this report, we show that such damage may be avoided using kinetic strategies to arrest the phase separation. By rapidly cooling samples during liquid nitrogen spray-freeze drying, the time that the formulation spends in temperature regimes (ca. -3 to -23 degrees C) in which phase separation is both thermodynamically favorable and kinetically realizable is minimized. Increased protein damage with decreasing cooling rates and/or longer annealing periods at -7 degrees C is observed by FTIR spectroscopy. Phase separation and concomitant protein damage may also be avoided by addition of mannitol at concentrations sufficient to cause crystallization. Mannitol crystals segregate the freeze concentrated solution into microscopic domains that block propagation and nucleation of phase separating events. Addition of noncrystallizing sugars, such as sucrose and trehalose, or nonionic surfactants, such as Tween 80 and Triton X-100, has little protective effect against phase separation induced damage during freezing drying.
Analysis of YouTube videos about urinary catheterization technique of male delay.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the execution of urinary catheterization technique of male delay in YouTube videos. METHODS This is an exploratory research with a quantitative approach, performed using the YouTube sharing site. The search of the videos was conducted in September 2014, using the controlled descriptor "urinary catheterization". RESULTS 32 videos were analyzed, none were in accordance with the standards established in the literature; among the main errors highlight the absence of hand washing (78.1%), the absence of the medical recording (71.8%), the absence of cleaning and drying of the patient at the end of the procedure (71.8%), the incorrect technique during antisepsis (62.5%) and the absence of gloves changes (59.3%). CONCLUSION Although the YouTube sharing video site is currently a widespread tool, there is an absence of videos that reproduce the technique according to what is recommended in the literature.
The Influence of Tourist Satisfaction on Tourism Expenditure in Emerging Urban Cultural Destinations

ABSTRACT Satisfaction is an excellent predictor of tourist behavior, often used in marketing and destination management. This paper analyzes the extent to which tourist satisfaction influences tourism expenditure at the destination using a gamma regression model, based on the information obtained from 2967 surveys conducted in 14 emerging urban cultural destinations in Andalusia, Spain. The results obtained show that there is indeed a correlation between tourist satisfaction and tourism expenditure at the destination, and guide the implementation of specific policies by stakeholders in these destinations, in order to increase the economic impact generated by this activity.
Bare-Metal Switches and Their Customization and Usability in a Carrier-Grade Environment

The current ecosystem of network elements, such as switches and appliances, is largely dominated by devices supplied and sold with a bundled operating system, and software dedicated to manage the device's forwarding hardware, however, these platforms are not open-source and cannot be arbitrarily customized, and there is no cost transparency or flexibility in choosing software different to the bundled components. ,,,,In this paper, we explore the capabilities of bare-metal switches, which are equipped with commodity switching hardware components, but shipped without an operating system. We evaluate the feasibility of these commonly lower-cost devices to meet the requirements of a customized, carrier-grade network function. Therefore, we have implemented a prototype on generic hardware, re-using as much open-source software as possible. Our Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS) prototype can lower the cost compared to proprietary network appliances, and, known to have a hardware backplane capacity of 720 Gbps, the merchant-silicon / ASIC approach can highly outperform the state of the art of current x86-based virtualized network functions, while implementing the most important BRAS features.
How False Beliefs About Exchange Rate Systems Threaten Global Growth and the Existence of the Eurozone

The current belief system that says “all will be well” if domestic price stability can be maintained is fundamentally flawed. If this can be achieved only through monetary, credit and debt expansion, the end result will be an increased risk of systemic crisis. Moreover, false beliefs about how exchange rate systems function, at both the global level and within the Eurozone, imply international “spillover” effects that increase both the likelihood and the seriousness of such crises. Gross international capital flows pose as many (perhaps more) dangers than do net flows (ie current account imbalances). And false beliefs about exchange rate regimes not only compromise crisis prevention, but they also hinder crisis management and resolution. At the global level, we still lack the instruments to do either effectively should current problems worsen. In the Eurozone, the crisis which began in 2010 has not been well managed and remains fundamentally unresolved.
The Moderating Effect of Perceived Alternative Job Opportunities between Organizational Justice and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Developing Countries

Purpose – This study examines the relationship between organizational justice and employee job satisfaction and the extent of its moderation by perceived alternative job opportunities. Research design, data, and methodology – This is a cross-sectional study utilizing survey questionnaire data from 220 bank employees, which included scales measuring organizational justice, job satisfaction, and perceived alternative job opportunities. Results – The data is analyzed using correlation and hierarchical regression. Results demonstrated that organizational justice has a direct positive impact on employee job satisfaction further, distributive justice explains more variance in job satisfaction, followed by procedural justice and interactive justice. Perceived alternative job opportunities moderate the relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction. Conclusions – Generally, organizational justice increases bank employees’ job satisfaction; however, when they perceived more job opportunities, their job dissatisfaction increased notwithstanding fairness. Therefore, perceived job opportunities moderate the relationship between organizational justice and job satisfaction. Retaining skilled employees has become difficult, especially when there is market demand for skilled workers. Human resource (HR) managers should consider market situations before formulating policies; otherwise, they may lose the competitive advantage of skilled employees and workers.
Screening in Frail Older People: An Ounce of Prevention or a Pound of Trouble?

Screening for subclinical disease has provided benefit to many asymptomatic patients, especially those who are relatively young and otherwise healthy. However, frail older people do not always profit from such maneuvers, for several reasons. First, older individuals usually have less physiological reserve and greater comorbidity and resultant polypharmacy than their younger counterparts. As such, they may tolerate the invasive interventions called for after a positive screening test less easily. In addition, shorter natural life expectancy shifts the focus to quality of life improvement after screening tests rather than simply offering a promise of “more years. ” Lack of education and cognitive decline may also interfere with the older person's ability to give truly informed consent to these maneuvers. Thus, on the whole, in this rapidly growing subpopulation, screening programs may tilt the balance toward the likelihood of causing more harm than good. For many frail older patients, an individualized approach to screening is recommended, adjusted to comorbidity, life expectancy, and patient preference. One size does not fit all.
Catecholamine content and in vitro catecholamine synthesis in peripheral human lymphocytes.

We studied the catecholamine (CA) content in peripheral human lymphocytes and the ability of these cells to synthesize CA in vitro. CA were separated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and determined in the supernatant by electrochemical detection as well as being determined after ultrasonic cell disruption in mononuclear leukocytes, adherent cells (monocytes/macrophages), total lymphocytes, and B- and T-cell enriched fractions. T lymphocytes contained L-Dopa and norepinephrine (NE), whereas B lymphocytes contained only L-Dopa. Lymphocytes seem to be able to synthesize NE from both L-tyrosine and L-Dopa added to the incubation medium in concentrations similar to the peripheral venous plasma (i.e. 5 x 10(-5) m and 10(-8) m, respectively). The addition of D-Dopa did not increase intracellular NE. alpha-methyl-p-L-tyrosine, benserazide, disulfiram, and fusaric acid (which are inhibitors of the enzymatic pathway) all decreased the synthesis of NE. After the addition of [3H]-L-Dopa (10(-8) m and 10(-7) m) to the incubation medium, [3H]-NE and [3H]-dopamine appeared. By increasing the concentration of L-Dopa in the medium (< 10(-6) m), CA were detected in the supernatant as well. These data show that peripheral human T lymphocytes contain and are able to synthesize CA from normal precursors in physiologic concentrations, i.e. a CA synthetic pathway is shown in nonneural cells. These data seem to support the hypothesis of autocrine and paracrine loops in the regulation of lymphocyte activity in lymphocytes taken from human cerebrospinal fluid (as suggested by other authors).
c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Mediates Hepatic Injury after Rat Liver Transplantation

Background. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) requires cold ischemic storage followed by warm reperfusion. Although c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) is rapidly activated after OLT, the functional consequences of JNK activation are unknown. The aim of this study was to address the role of JNK after OLT using the selective JNK inhibitor CC-401. Methods. Donors, recipients, or stored liver explants were treated with vehicle or JNK inhibitor before OLT by an arterialized two-cuff method with 40 hours of cold storage. Recipients were assessed for 30-day survival, and graft injury was assessed over time by hepatic histology, serum transaminases, caspase 3 activation, cytosolic cytochrome c, and lipid peroxidation. Results. Survival after OLT increased after donor plus storage and storage only treatment with JNK inhibitor (P<0.05). Treatment of recipient only did not improve survival. Increased survival correlated with improved hepatic histology and serum aspartate aminotransferase levels. JNK inhibition significantly decreased nonparenchymal cell killing at 60 minutes after reperfusion (P<0.05) and pericentral necrosis at 8 hours after reperfusion (P<0.01). JNK inhibition decreased cytochrome c release, caspase 3 activation (P<0.05), and lipid peroxidation (P<0.05). JNK inhibition also transiently blocked phosphorylation of c-Jun at 60 minutes after reperfusion (P<0.05) without affecting other MAPK signaling, including p-38 and Erk activation. Conclusions. JNK inhibition decreases hepatic necrosis and apoptosis after OLT, suggesting that JNK activation promotes cell death by both pathways. Inhibition of JNK may be a new therapeutic strategy to prevent liver injury after transplantation.
Felix, an object-oriented operating system

Our aim is to make an execution environment where objects providing services to other programs (objects) can be installed on-the-fly. The objects must be able to communicate safely with each other through a typed interface. There must be a means to perform object-specific cleanup when objects are deleted, and one object must be guaranteed protection against unintentional addressing from other objects.
Surrogate-Based Multiobjective Optimization : ParEGO Update and Test

We consider ParEGO, a well-known algorithm in the Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization (EMO) community, and make improvements to the implementation itself and to some of the underlying algorithm components. ParEGO is a surrogate-based multiobjective optimization algorithm based on the Kriging/DACE model, designed specifically for problems with expensive evaluation functions. First described in 2006, it has been successful in empirical comparison studies and realworld applications (e.g., in water network design and iterative experimentation) since its release, but its code relies on now outdated matrix routines, which we here replace by more modern libraries. The code is also ported to GPU for further acceleration. We also add options to the ParEGO algorithm itself: Originally limited to runs of up to about 250 function evaluations (due to the heavy computational cost of some matrix operations on the full search trace), we now include methods for discarding (or ‘forgetting’) selected previous search points. We find that the pure implementation updates reproduce the performance of the original ParEGO release across a suite of benchmark problems; further, the algorithmic changes enable scaling up of ParEGO runs (i.e., no. generations) without significant loss of accuracy of the model in tests of up to 500 evaluations. The project’s code is now available for use by the EMO community and its uptake in applications with expensive functions is encouraged.
Central nervous system endothelium in neuroinflammatory, neuroinfectious, and neurodegenerative disease

Accumulating evidence points toward a significant role for the microvascular endothelium in the pathogenesis of several neurologic conditions. This review highlights those biochemical, anatomical, and physiological features of the endothelium thought to be dysfunctional in these disease states, and elaborates on novel treatment modalities that target the endothelium. J. Neurosci. Res. 51:423–430, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protein interactions limit the rate of evolution of photosynthetic genes in cyanobacteria.

Using a bioinformatic approach, we analyzed the correspondence in genetic distance matrices between all possible pairwise combinations of 82 photosynthetic genes in 10 species of cyanobacteria. Our analysis reveals significant correlations between proteins linked in a conserved gene order and between structurally identified interacting protein scaffolds that coordinate the binding of cofactors involved in photosynthetic electron transport. Analyses of amino acid substitution rates suggest that the tempo of evolution of genes encoding core metabolic processes in the photosynthetic apparatus is highly constrained by protein-protein, protein-lipid, and protein-cofactor interactions (collectively called "protein interactions"). These interactions are critical for energy transduction, primary charge separation, and electron transport and effectively act as an internal selection pressure governing the conservation of clusters of photosynthetic genes in oxygenic prokaryotic photoautotrophs. Consequently, although several proteins within the photosynthetic apparatus are biophysically and physiologically inefficient, selection has not significantly altered the genes encoding these essential proteins over billions of years of evolution. In effect, these core proteins have become "frozen metabolic accidents. "
Evaluation of Safety Orientation and Training Programs for Reducing Injuries in the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry

Construction workers are at increased risk for fatal and non-fatal injuries. This study examined the effectiveness of employee orientation and training in reducing injuries among plumbers and pipefitters. We searched the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s “recordable” injury data and “documentable” safety and training records for six plumbing and pipefitting employers in northwestern Ohio. During the period 1996 to 1998, 133 injuries were recorded with the duration of 2,541,432 working hours. The most common types of injuries were cuts, lacerations, and abrasions. The majority of injuries resulted from workers being struck by objects. The injury rate was significantly higher for small companies and longer working hours. No difference was found between traveling and local workers. Seventy-five percent of workers received safety orientations on injury prevention. Among workers who received safety orientations, only 3.4% experienced injuries, compared with 11.1% of workers without orientations. Safety orientations were associated with a significant reduction in injuries (odds ratio, 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.15 to 0.35). Proper safety orientation and training could reduce the risks for occupational injuries in construction workers.