Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Membrane topology of the Mep/Amt family of ammonium transporters

The Mep/Amt proteins constitute a new family of transport proteins that are ubiquitous in nature. Members from bacteria, yeast and plants have been identified experimentally as high‐affinity ammonium transporters. We have determined the topology of AmtB, a Mep/Amt protein from Escherichia coli, as a representative protein for the complete family. This was established using a minimal set of AmtB–PhoA fusion proteins with a complementary set of AmtB–LacZ fusions. These data, accompanied by an in silico analysis, indicate that the majority of the Mep/Amt proteins contain 11 membrane‐spanning helices, with the N‐terminus on the exterior face of the membrane and the C‐terminus on the interior. A small subset, including E. coli AmtB, probably have an additional twelfth membrane‐spanning region at the N‐terminus. Addition of PhoA or LacZ α‐peptide to the C‐terminus of E. coli AmtB resulted in complete loss of transport activity, as judged by measurements of [14C]‐methylammonium uptake. This C‐terminal region, along with four membrane‐spanning helices, contains multiple residues that are conserved within the Mep/Amt protein family. Structural modelling of the E. coli AmtB protein suggests a number of secondary structural features that might contribute to function, including a putative ammonium binding site on the periplasmic face of the membrane at residue Asp‐182. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the structure and function of the related human Rhesus proteins.
Cross-Lingual Answer Validation

We describe three language-independent methods for the task of answer validation. All methods are based on a scoring mechanism that reflects the degree of similarity between the question-answer pairs and the supporting text. We evaluate the proposed methods when using various string similarity metrics, such as exact matching, Levenshtein, Jaro and Jaro-Winkler. In addition to this baseline approach, we take advantage of the multilingual QA4MRE dataset, and devise an ensemble method, which chooses the answer indicated as correct by the largest number of analyses of the individual translations. Finally, we present a language-augmented method that enriches the questions and answers with paraphrases obtained by means of machine translation. Our methods depend on parameters which we estimate using the dataset from CLEF2011. We show that all of the described approaches achieve a significant improvement over the random baseline, and that both majority voting and language augmentation lead to superior accuracy as compared with the original method.
Clinical Features of Re-Emerging Hepatitis A: An Analysis of Patients Hospitalized during an Urban Epidemic in Korea

From April 2008 to November 2008, many cases of hepatitis A were reported in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in Korea. Furthermore, the rate of severe or fulminant hepatitis have significantly increased during the latest epidemic (13.4% vs. 5.2%, p=0.044). Therefore, widespread use of vaccine is warranted to reduce the burden of hepatitis A in Korea.
Spousal Interviews of Applicants for Employment: A Legal and Ethical Dilemma

This article analyzes the legal and ethical issues of an employer asking a job applicant to provide his/her spouse for an interview, presumably to inquire whether the spouse is aware of the applicant’s job duties/requirements. These interviews are permitted under many state laws, while forbidden for most federal employment interviews. Aside from the legality of the interview, the associated ethical philosophies that may impact the decision to interview an applicant’s spouse are discussed. The practical implications of interviewing the applicant’s spouse are the most important consideration in determining the wisdom of the spousal interview.
On the potential of network coding for cooperative awareness in vehicular networks

Vehicular active safety applications require the continuous exchange of positioning and basic status information between neighboring vehicles. This exchange is based on the periodic transmission/reception of 1-hop broadcast messages on the control channel. The critical nature of this channel requires mechanisms to control the channel load while guaranteeing each vehicle's capacity to communicate with its relevant neighboring nodes (awareness). Different studies have analyzed the capacity of network coding to improve the bandwidth efficiency in many different types of networks, but few studies have investigated its implementation in vehicular networks. This paper explores the potential of the combined use of network coding and multi-hop beaconing in vehicular networks in order to improve the vehicles' communications reliability and awareness.
Examining Dual Meanings of Items in 2 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaires Through MTMM Modeling and MDS Approach

In 2001, Elliot and McGregor proposed a 2 × 2 (mastery—performance × approach— avoidance) achievement goal frameworks and developed a questionnaire to measure four goals (mastery—approach, mastery—avoidance, performance—approach, and performance—avoidance goals). This study examines the dual meanings of items in 2 × 2 achievement goal questionnaires by confirmatory factor analysis with an uncorrelated-trait and uncorrelated-method model and multidimensional scaling technique. A total of 2,111 freshmen completed the Achievement Goal Questionnaire for General Academics, and a total of 1,014 university students in Taiwan provided their ratings on the Chinese Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Physical Education. Confirmatory factor analysis results show that the uncorrelated-trait and uncorrelated-method model is better than the 2 × 2 four-factor model, supporting the dual meanings of items. In addition, multidimensional scaling results show that items can be plotted on a two-dimensional (mastery—performance and approach—avoidance) map, in which four quadrants represent one type of goal. The evidence indicates that the items in the Chinese Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Physical Education have adequate construct validity in their dual meanings derived from the combinations of mastery— performance and approach—avoidance dimensions.
Acute hyperglycemia attenuates endothelium-dependent vasodilation in humans in vivo.

BACKGROUND Endothelial function is impaired in patients with diabetes mellitus. However, the factors contributing to this defect are currently unknown. Hyperglycemia attenuates endothelium-dependent relaxation in normal rabbit arteries in vitro and rat arterioles in vivo. Accordingly, this study examined the effect of acute hyperglycemia on endothelium-dependent vasodilation in nondiabetic humans in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was assessed through brachial artery infusion of methacholine chloride both before and during 6 hours of local hyperglycemia (300 mg/dL) achieved by intra-arterial infusion of 50% dextrose. Forearm blood flow was determined by plethysmography. In a group of 10 subjects, there was a trend toward attenuated methacholine-mediated vasodilation during hyperglycemia compared with euglycemia (P=.07 by ANOVA; maximal response, 13.3+/-2.8 versus 14.7+/-1.5 mL x min(-1) x 100 mL(-1), respectively). In these subjects, the systemic serum insulin levels increased significantly during the dextrose infusion (P<.001). To eliminate the confounding vasoactive effects of insulin, the protocol was repeated during systemic infusion of octreotide (30 ng x kg(-1) x min(-1)) to inhibit pancreatic secretion of insulin. In these subjects (n=10), hyperglycemia significantly attenuated the forearm blood flow response to methacholine (P<.01 by ANOVA; maximal response, 16.9+/-2.5 before versus 12.7+/-1.8 mL x min(-1) x 100 mL(-1) during hyperglycemia). Methacholine-mediated vasodilation was not attenuated by an equimolar infusion of mannitol (P>.40), nor did hyperglycemia reduce endothelium-independent vasodilation to verapamil (P>.50). CONCLUSIONS Acute hyperglycemia impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilation in healthy humans in vivo. This finding suggests that elevated glucose may contribute to the endothelial dysfunction observed in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Reusing of information constructed in HTML documents: A conversion of HTML into OWL

There have been efforts of making a knowledge based web, represented by Semantic Web. However, in this trend, HTML is not appropriate as a language for ontology and a structure of information. Due to numerous amounts of information in it, it seems rational to reuse those data in HTML. Previous studies are not enough to broadly convert HTML into OWL because they mainly focus on conversions of structured data (table tags), and they just give simple executions. In addition, GRDDL, a recommendation of W3C, needs an additional script for a conversion, and the output format of it is RDF which has some restrictions. This paper will offer three steps of conversions; (1) Extraction of information, (2) Acquiring triples, (3) Constructing ontology. There are two types of information; text-formed and non-text-formed information. In addition, there are two kinds of tags which include only text-formed information or which include both of text-formed and non-text-formed one. Depending on the type of tags, we classify tag categories and set rules for each of them. Using those rules, we can make triples, and finally we can construct ontology.
Oxytocin receptor antagonists for inhibiting preterm labour.

To the Editor: The Cochrane Collaboration is a respected organization with a justifiable reputation for publishing evidencebased systematic reviews that influence clinical practice. Maintaining impartiality and independence, something for which Cochrane is famous, requires balanced opinions from authors of systematic reviews. Many opinion leaders feel this is not the case with the Cochrane review of oxytocin antagonists recently reviewed.1 Concerns have been expressed that an unintentional bias exists in favor of calcium channel blockers due to poor choice of outcomes reported in the abstract better qualified in the text, there was a different choice of reported outcomes compared with a previous calcium channel blocker review by the same authors, there was poor objective and subjective judgment of trial quality, and there was poor choice of language showing a favorable opinion of calcium channel blockers.2 Other concerns were that the review’s methodology did not enable the outcomes to be evaluated,3 undue importance was attached to the rate of infant deaths in one study that was unbalanced at baseline,3 and the claim that calcium channel blockers were associated with better neonatal outcome was not qualified.3 Akerlund4 criticized the review for lacking rationale behind which trials were selected to evaluate safety and efficacy, making conclusions about calcium channel blockers and -agonists when calcium channel blockers were not the subject of the review, and exemplifying the drawbacks of meta-analysis with respect to the risk of selection bias and absence of quality weighting. Goodwin,5 much of whose published research occupied the review, was concerned that acknowledgment of his assistance implied concurrence with their conclusions. He felt the analysis was “flawed” and “not up to the high standards of Cochrane reviews. ” Others recorded that the review contained a worrying degree of subjectivism involving study inclusions and interpretation focusing on data out of context and lacking reference to subject profiles.6,7 The authors of the review were self-appointed and the principal author has published widely on and is a strong advocate of nifedipine. None of the coauthors appear to have publication experience on using oxytocin antagonists. In a review by the same authors8 on calcium channel blockers versus -agonists, no mention is made of atosiban, yet somewhat unaccountably in the review of atosiban compared with -agonists,1 nifedipine is mentioned as having benefits over -agonists. This probably reflects the authors’ clinical preference but raises further questions of partiality and bias. A more detailed critique of the Cochrane review1 can be found elsewhere.9
Making Good Business Better: A Second Look at Staged Tourist Attractions

The article calls into question traditional intellectual critique of tourism, especially staged tourist attractions. Observations are drawn from research currently underway on the impact of tourism on folk culture in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The writer sees more, not less, in the way of staged attraction development in the future. He recommends that tourist attraction enterprises make some new friends on college and university campuses and that they join in developing a positive and responsible tourist attraction scene as a desirable strategy for protecting scarce natural and cultural resources.
Preparedness of Principals to Be Faith Leaders of Their Schools

Principals in religiously affiliated schools are called to lead their schools in ways that are grounded in a set of core beliefs and values. This study examines the challenges of leading toward a community of faith grounded in the spirit of major constituencies when one is under-prepared for such leadership. A national sample of lay Catholic high-school principals was queried in order to investigate their reflections on preparedness to be faith leaders of their schools. The strategies they reveal are applicable to private-school principals and to the formal educational programs that prepare them to be faith leaders.
Survival of Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli in estuarine waters and sediments

In in vitro estuarine water and sediment chambers, the survival of Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli was determined by plate counting and direct counting techniques. V. cholerae strains included environmental, clinical, and serotype O1 and non-O1 isolates, whereas E. coli strains included ATCC 25922 and a freshly cultured human isolate. Recovery of V. cholerae varied significantly with incubation temperature. Growth and extended periods of survival occurred in sterile sediments, sterile waters, and nonsterile waters, but not in nonsterile sediments. In contrast to V. cholerae, viable cells of E. coli decreased rapidly in both sterile and nonsterile estuarine waters. Direct counts revealed that E. coli cells were intact in the estuarine water, but attempts to resuscitate them were unsuccessful. The data suggest that V. cholerae survives better in estuarine waters than E. coli. The results may explain the recent observations that V. cholerae levels do not correlate well with fecal coliform concentrations in estuarine waters. Furthermore, the results add increasing evidence to support the theory that V. cholerae is an autochthonous bacterium in estuaries.
Towards ubiquitous computing with call prediction

With the long-awaited era of the pervasive computing approaches, the handheld devices such as personal mobile phones begin to evolve into ubiquitous computing devices. At this early stage of the evolution, we propose a model of a call predictor based on the naÂ¨? ve Bayesian classifier. As an incoming call predictor, our model makes use of the userâ s call history to generate a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be the callers within the next hour. On the other hand, when the user wants to make an outgoing call (e.g., user flips open the phone or unlocks the phone, etc.), the outgoing call predictor generates a list of number/contacts to be called. Our model has been evaluated with the real-life call logs and it shows a promising result in accuracy.
Effects of reading speed on second-language sentence processing

ABSTRACT To test the effects of reading speed on second-language (L2) sentence processing and the potential influence of conflicting native language word order, we compared advanced L2 learners of English with native English speakers on a self-paced reading task. L2 learners read faster overall than native English speakers. When differences in reading speed were controlled for, L2 learners were as sensitive to grammaticality manipulations as native English speakers. On-line reading times did not reflect any effect of cross-language conflict in the learners. Results from an end-of-sentence verification task showed a stronger bias toward a subject–object order in the cross-language conflict conditions in speed-matched L2 learners but not in L2 learners reading faster than native speakers. Results are compatible with hypothesized differences in resource allocation between L2 and native language processing.
Collision-induced fragmentations of the (M-H)- parent anions of underivatized peptides: an aid to structure determination and some unusual negative ion cleavages.

This article describes the fundamental cleavage reactions of (M-H)(-) anions of underivatized peptides that contain up to 25 amino acid residues. The experimental observations of these cleavages have been backed up by molecular modeling, generally at the AM1 level of theory. The basic cleavages are the ubiquitous alpha- and beta-backbone cleavage reactions, which provide information similar to that of the B and Y + 2 cleavages of MH(+) ions of peptides. The residues Asp and Asn also effect cleavages of the backbone (called delta- and gamma-cleavages), by reactions initiated from side chain enolate anions, causing elimination reactions that cleave the backbone between the Asp (Asn) N bond;C backbone bond. Glu and Gln also direct analogous delta- and gamma-cleavages of the backbone, but in this case the processes are initiated by attack of the side chain CO(2) (-) (CONH(-)) to form a lactone (lactam). Ser and Thr residues undergo characteristic fragmentations of the side chain. These processes, losses of CH(2)O (Ser) and MeCHO (Thr), convert these residues into Gly. In larger peptides, Ser and Thr can effect two backbone cleavage reactions, called gamma- and epsilon -processes. The C-terminal CO(2) (-) (or CONH(-)) forms a hydrogen bond with the side chain OH (of Ser or Thr), placing the C-terminal residue in a position where it may affect S(N) (2) attack at the electrophilic backbone CH of Ser, with concomitant cleavage of the backbone. All of the above negative ion cleavages require the peptide backbone to be conformationally flexible. However, there is a backbone cleavage that requires the peptide to have an alpha-helical conformation in order for the two reacting centers to approach. This cleavage is illustrated for the Glu 23-initiated backbone cleavage at Ile 21 for the (M-H)(-) anion of the antimicrobial peptide caerin 1.1.
The Contribution of Campus Recreational Sports Participation to Perceived Sense of Campus Community

Out-of-class involvement provides students with opportunities for rich social lives which, according to Cheng (2004), are closely associated with sense of campus community. Based on Astin's (1984) Theory of Involvement, and Boyer's (1990) principles of community, the purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which involvement in campus recreational sports programs is associated with students' perceived sense of campus community. Three hundred and thirty respondents completed an on-line questionnaire which consisted of demographics and questions related to their out-of-class involvement in 14 areas as identified by the institutions' Dean of Students Office, and a 25-item sense of community scale developed by Cheng (2004). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to examine the underlying factor structure of the sense of community scale. The six factors extracted from the EFA served as independent variables in a multiple regression analysis used to predict student perceived sense of campus community using a sample of 125 participants in campus recreational sports. In addition, participation levels in campus recreational sports were used to measure differences in perceived sense of campus community based on involvement using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results suggest participation in campus recreational sports significantly predicted a sense of community within the diversity and acceptance factor. In addition, students who participated in campus recreational sports perceived a greater sense of campus community based on the residential experience factor when compared with those students who did not participate.
- 93-Stability Assessment Model for Epimetamorphic Rock Slopes based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System

Neuro-fuzzy inference systems have been used in many areas in civil engineering applications. A stability assessment model for epimetamorphic rock slopes has been developed by using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) for its capacity of dynamic nonlinear analyses. In the present study the inference system is employed to predict the stability of the slope by choosing bulk density γ, the height H, the inclination β, the shear strength parameters c and φ, of the slope as inputs, while the stability state as output. 53 slope cases in the author’s research projects, i.e. 53 input-output data pairs were extracted, of which 41 pairs (training data set) were used for training the ANFIS while the remaining 12 pairs (checking data set) were used for validating the identified model. It is observed that the checking results of ANFIS model coincide with the actual stability state of epimetamorphic rock slopes, which outperforms the BP neural network model by contrast. Lastly, the ANFIS model was employed to predict the stability of Wangjiazhai slope, the fine prediction capability for the stability of epimetamorphic rock slopes was verified again.
Chronicle of Large Currency Devaluations: Re-Examining the Effects on Output

The impact of large currency devaluations on output, as measured by the real gross domestic product, continues to be an elusive question in the empirical macroeconomic literature. This paper aims at reexamining and providing new empirical evidence on this relationship, by using a sample covering 109 emerging market and developing economies for the period 1960-2006. In contrast with the existing empirical literature, we examine not just the impact of large nominal currency devaluations on output growth, as has been customary in the literature, but also provide estimates of how devaluationary episodes affect output trend. By doing so, we find that the devaluation-output relationship is not robust across regions and time, and that the persistence of devaluations matters. In particular, one-time devaluations induce output trend gains at ten year horizons, while successive devaluationary episodes have no impact whatsoever. A policy implication is that poorly executed devaluations induce no long-run output gains. Finally, the role of the external sector in explaining the heterogeneity of the results is examined. We find that real imports rather than exports do most of the adjustment, thus suggesting a strong expenditureswitching effect and, possibly, the emergence of export financing constraints at the time of devaluations. This last aspect highlights the need to avoid a credit crunch at the time of large currency devaluations as it might wipe out all the beneficial gains that devaluations may have on exports and, ultimately, on output.