Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Yeast mitochondria lacking the phosphate carrier/p32 are blocked in phosphate transport but can import preproteins after regeneration of a membrane potential

Two different functions have been proposed for the phosphate carrier protein/p32 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria: transport of phosphate and requirement for import of precursor proteins into mitochondria. We characterized a yeast mutant lacking the gene for the phosphate carrier/p32 and found both a block in the import of phosphate and a strong reduction in the import of preproteins transported to the mitochondrial inner membrane and matrix. Binding of preproteins to the surface of mutant mitochondria and import of outer membrane proteins were not inhibited, indicating that the inhibition of protein import occurred after the recognition step at the outer membrane. The membrane potential across the inner membrane of the mutant mitochondria was strongly reduced. Restoration of the membrane potential restored preprotein import but did not affect the block of phosphate transport of the mutant mitochondria. We conclude that the inhibition of protein import into mitochondria lacking the phosphate carrier/p32 is indirectly caused by a reduction of the mitochondrial membrane potential (delta(gamma)), and we propose a model that the reduction of delta(psi) is due to the defective phosphate import, suggesting that phosphate transport is the primary function of the phosphate carrier/p32.
Measurement Invariance, Response Styles, and Rural–Urban Measurement Comparability

This article investigates the effect of response styles (RSs) on rural–urban measurement comparability in Guyana. It uses the representative indicators response styles means and covariance structure (RIRSMACS) model and finds that traditional measurement invariance (MI) tests provide inadequate assurance of the absence of rural–urban measurement bias when RSs are not controlled. Even when MI is achieved, RSs can still differentially affect measurements and substantive results between rural and urban regions. In addition, a lack of MI may be at least partially due to RSs bias, but MI may also be due to RSs. Therefore, adjustments for RSs are necessary and researchers should be cautious about pooling data across rural and urban areas without controlling RSs.
Enhancement of Old Manuscript Images

In this paper we address the issue of enhancement in the quality of scanned images of old manuscripts. Small portions of the text in these manuscripts have degraded with time and are not readable. We propose a segmentation based histogram matching scheme for enhancing these degraded text regions. To automatically identify the degraded text we use a matched wavelet based text extraction algorithm followed by MRF(Markov Random Field) post processing. Additionally we do background clearing to improve the quality of results. This method does not require any a priori information about the font, font size, background texture or geometric transformation. We have tested our method on a variety of manuscript images. The results show proposed method to be a robust, versatile and effective tool for enhancement of manuscript images.
Toward a Synthetic Physiological Psychology

The word “synthetic” in the title of this paper has three meanings, each of which highlights a fundamental problem with physiological psychology, and. at the same time, offers a solution. (1) Synthetic means artificial—made by man, not by nature. To separate physiological psychology from medicine, and to build a science of pure function in humans (which is what psychology is), apart from a science of the mechanics of living human tissue (which is what medicine is), synthetic physiological psychology adopts a physically achieved analytic approach to the design, not of people, but of robots that behave like people. This avoids the misuse of reductionism. (2) Analysis by itself is not adequate; every analysis must be validated immediately by synthesis. Some forms of physically achieved analysis and resynthesis, particularly appropriate for synthetic physiological psychology, are contrasted with the hypothetico-deductive method, as a complementary scientific method of arriving at simple facts about complex living systems. (3) Synthetic also means integrative—at present, the various subfields of psychology are not united by principles based on the action of common units of function, derived by a physically achieved analysis. A simple procedure is described that can provide them.
Analysis of conducted and radiated noise propagation using comprehensive electromagnetic model of power MHz-switching circuit

In this paper, we describe the simulation results of electromagnetic (EM) noise generated by fast switching circuits with gallium nitride (GaN)-based power devices. The frequency ranges of the EM noise extend to several hundred MHz because the GaN devices possess low parasitic capacitance. Therefore, we analyze both the conducted noise of the switching circuits and the radiated noise from the circuit. In the simulation, a comprehensive model that includes packages of the GaN-based power devices, a board of the switching circuits and parallel cables is used. To analyze the conducted noise, we propose a novel mixed-mode S-parameter, which expresses the transmission properties from the noise source in the power device to the terminal point of the parallel cables. At the terminal point, common-mode (CM) and differential-mode (DM) conducted noise are calculated. The simulation results show that the radiated noise strongly correlates with the CM conducted noise. As far as authors know, this is the first report that shows the relationship between the conducted and radiated noise for a MHz switching circuit.
Crab meat: a novel vehicle for E. coli O157 identified in an outbreak in South West England, August 2011

SUMMARY In August 2011, we investigated an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 in Plymouth, England, utilizing a case-control study and food traceback. Nine cases, eight laboratory-confirmed with E. coli O157 phage type 21/28 verocytotoxin 2 and one epidemiologically linked, had onsets from 30 July 2011 to 15 August 2011. We compared cases (n = 8) with controls (n = 28) of similar age and sex (median age 61 vs. 55 years, females 75% vs. 61%). Cases were 58 times more likely to have eaten crab (88% vs. 11%; odds ratio 58, 95% confidence interval 4-2700). Eight cases consumed crab sourced from the same supplier who was not registered with the local authority. This outbreak pointed to crab as a possible vehicle of E. coli O157 infection. We ensured the withdrawal of crab meat sourced from unregistered suppliers from food venues by 25 August 2011. We also emphasized the importance of only using registered suppliers to the food venues. Since then no further associated cases have been reported.
Structural similarity between legumin and vicilin storage proteins from legumes.

The primary structures for several members of both the vicilin and legumin families of storage proteins were examined using a computer routine based on amino acid physical characteristics. The comparison algorithm revealed that sequences from the two families could be aligned and share a number of predicted secondary structural features. The COOH‐terminal half of the subunits in both families displayed a highly conserved core region that was largely hydrophobic and in which a high proportion of the residues were predicted to be in beta‐sheet conformations. The central region of the molecules which contained mixed areas of predicted helical and sheet conformations showed more variability in residue selection than the COOH‐terminal regions. The NH2‐terminal segments of subunits from the two different families could not be aligned though they characteristically had a high proportion of residues predicted to be in helical conformations. The feature which most clearly distinguished subunits between the two families was an inserted span in the legumin group with a high proportion of acidic amino acids located between the central and COOH‐terminal domains. Residues in this insertion were predicted to exist mainly in helical conformation. Since considerable size variation occurs in this area amongst the legumin subunits, alterations in this region may have a minimal detrimental effect on the structure of the proteins.
Atypical Clinical Manifestations of Graves' Disease: An Analysis in Depth

Over the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of reports about newly recognized (atypical or unusual) manifestations of Graves' disease (GD), that are related to various body systems. One of these manifestations is sometimes the main presenting feature of GD. Some of the atypical manifestations are specifically related to GD, while others are also similarly seen in patients with other forms of hyperthyroidism. Lack of knowledge of the association between these findings and GD may lead to delay in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, or unnecessary investigations. The atypical clinical presentations of GD include anemia, vomiting, jaundice, and right heart failure. There is one type of anemia that is not explained by any of the known etiological factors and responds well to hyperthyroidism treatment. This type of anemia resembles anemia of chronic disease and may be termed GD anemia. Other forms of anemia that are associated with GD include pernicious anemia, iron deficiency anemia of celiac disease, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Vomiting has been reported as a presenting feature of Graves' disease. Some cases had the typical findings of hyperthyroidism initially masked, and the vomiting did not improve until hyperthyroidism has been detected and treated. Hyperthyroidism may present with jaundice, and on the other hand, deep jaundice may develop with the onset of overt hyperthyroidism in previously compensated chronic liver disease patients. Pulmonary hypertension is reported to be associated with GD and to respond to its treatment. GD-related pulmonary hypertension may be so severe to produce isolated right-sided heart failure that is occasionally found as the presenting manifestation of GD.
Matrix Completion under Gaussian Models Using MAP and EM Algorithms

 —Completing a partially-known matrix (matrix completion) is an important problem in the field of data mining and signal processing, and has been successfully applied to sensor localization and recommendation system. Low-rank and factorization models are the two most popular and successful classes of models used for matrix completion. In this paper, we investigate another approach based on statistical estimation which has previously been used for matrix completion. In an initial work involving Gaussian Models (GM), the formulation was inaccurate necessitating an ad-hoc empirical diagonal loading to a covariance matrix, requiring additional tuning, and making the final estimate of model parameters difficult to interpret. An accurate formulation using a correct objective function based on likelihood estimation already exists in statistical literature, which we utilize here to learn the model parameters using an Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. This approach no longer needs tuning and performs better in the numerical experiments. Owing to the difference that stems from the difference in choice of objective function, we note that the original method leads to an underestimated covariance matrix necessitating an artificial diagonal loading, while the method we use provides a Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimate of the model parameters. We also validate our approach using real-world data from MovieLens, EachMovie and Netflix .
The Letter and Shape Drawing (LSD) test: An efficient and systematised approach to testing of visuospatial function

The automation and systemisation of the next generation of cognitive assessment approaches have the potential to change how clinicians assess and interact with patients. This may be especially pertinent in the case of delirium, as current methods often rely on the subjective opinion of clinicians and specialists, with potential for the condition to be overlooked or misdiagnosed. Currently, one of the most commonly used tests, is the clock-drawing test, which has relatively wide appeal as a cognitive screening instrument due to its clinical utility and psychometric properties. However, there are a number of inconsistencies associated with its use and interpretation. In this paper, we describe a new assessment methodology that we have developed, facilitated by the advances in tablet technology. In trials, our “Letter and Shape Drawing (LSD)” tool, involving both an automated scoring capability and a simpler user interaction, has demonstrated correlation with other conventional cognitive test methods although some optimisation requirements remain.
Sentix: An Aspect and Domain Sensitive Sentiment Lexicon

Sentiment lexicons have often been used to aid sentiment analysis. Most of these sentiment lexicons are general-purpose lexicons which assign a fixed polarity to every word. However, it has been noted that the polarity of words depends on both the aspect and domain, thus a general-purpose sentiment lexicon would not be able to accurately classify the sentiment of words. This paper proposes a method to automatically construct an aspect and domain sensitive sentiment lexicon which assigns polarity to a word depending on its aspect and domain, and make available Sentix which is an aspect and domain sensitive sentiment lexicon spanning over 200 product domains. Experimental results have shown that our lexicon produces significantly better results compared to other commonly used lexicons. We also observe the long tail distribution behavior of product aspects, and propose the possibility of aspect ranking by comparing the number of domains and number of sentiment words present for an aspect.
Neuropeptide Y and Peptide YY Inhibit Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in the Rat Dorsal Motor Nucleus of the Vagus

Pancreatic polypeptides (PPs) such as neuropeptide Y (NPY) and peptide YY (PYY) exert profound, vagally mediated effects on gastrointestinal (GI) motility and secretion. Whole‐cell patch clamp recordings were made from brainstem slices containing identified GI‐projecting rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) neurons to determine the mechanism of action of PPs. Electrical stimulation of nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) induced excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) that were reduced in a concentration‐dependent manner by NPY and PYY (both at 0.1–300 nm) in 65 % of the neurons. An increase in the paired‐pulse ratio without changes in the postsynaptic membrane input resistance or EPSC rise and decay time suggested that the effects of PPs on EPSCs were due to actions at presynaptic receptors. The Y1 and Y2 receptor selective agonists [Leu31,Pro34]NPY and NPY(3–36) (both at 100 nm) mimicked the inhibition of NPY and PYY on the EPSC amplitude. The effects of 100 nm NPY, but not PYY, were antagonized partially by the Y1 receptor selective antagonist BIBP3226 (0.1 μm). In addition, the inhibition of the EPSC amplitude induced by NPY, but not PYY, was attenuated partially by pretreatment with the α2 adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine (10 μm), and occluded partially by the α2 adrenoceptor agonist UK14,304 (10 μm) as well as by pretreatment with reserpine. Pretreatment with a combination of BIBP3226 and yohimbine almost completely antagonized the NPY‐mediated effects on EPSCs. Contrary to the inhibition of EPSCs, perfusion with PPs had no effect on the amplitude of inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) and a minimal effect on a minority of DMV neurons. Differences in the receptor subtypes utilized and in the mechanism of action of NPY and PYY may indicate functional differences in their roles within the circuitry of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC).
Assisted Reproduction, the Law and Public Attitudes: A Danish Perspective

Assisted reproduction has been carried out within the Danish health care system since the beginning of the 1980s. The first independent act on artificial reproduction was adopted in Denmark 15 years later, in 1997. The issue of assisted reproduction is still a subject of debate in Denmark. The main driving forces in Danish society when establishing legal regulation in this area are existential, social and cultural/religious. The involvement of both scientific and lay voices and the timing of the ethical debate are important factors in the creation of the Danish legislation on assisted reproduction.
The Australian Labour Market in 2002

The Australian labour market continues to demonstrate resilience in the face of weaknesses in the international economy and domestic economy. The US economy remains in the doldrums and Japan still remains in recession. Locally, a severe drought has wiped at least one per cent off projected GDP growth. Yet, for the 10th successive year, jobs growth remains strong in Australia. Despite this record, employers and the Federal government continue to call for further reforms in order to ‘free’ up the labour market. With the profits share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at historic highs and trade union density at historic lows, the arguments are distinctly hollow. Indeed, there remains a considerable unfinished reform agenda for the Australian labour market. A decade of strong jobs growth has made only modest inroads into labour under-utilisation, it has seen unfettered working time developments, and important issues remain of equality and access to entitlements that confront many women workers.
The Antinociceptive Effect of SNAP5114, a Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Transporter-3 Inhibitor, in Rat Experimental Pain Models

BACKGROUND:Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. GABAergic transmission has an important role in regulating nociception at the spinal dorsal horn. It is terminated by rapid uptake of the neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft into neurons and glial cells, via specific GABA transporters (GATs). Among the 4 GATs, GAT-3 has the greatest expression in central nervous system regions closely associated with nociceptive transmission, including the spinal cord. In this study, we examined the antinociceptive effect of intrathecal administration of a selective GAT-3 inhibitor, SNAP5114, on acute, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain in experimental models. METHODS:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to assess thermal, mechanical, and chemical nociception in the tail flick and hotplate tests, the paw pressure test, and the formalin test. A rotarod test was performed to assess motor function. Chronic constriction injury to the sciatic nerve was induced in the rats. The electronic von Frey test and the plantar test were then performed to assess mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. SNAP5114 (10, 50, 100, or 200 &mgr;g) was administered intrathecally to examine antinociceptive activity. To confirm whether the action of SNAP5114 was mediated by GABAergic transmission, the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (0.3 &mgr;g) or the GABAB receptor antagonist CGP35348 (30 &mgr;g) was administered intrathecally before 200 &mgr;g of SNAP5114 in the tail flick test, the formalin test, and the electronic von Frey test. RESULTS:Spinally applied SNAP5114 in normal rats dose-dependently prolonged withdrawal latencies in the tail flick test and suppressed the late-phase response in the formalin test. SNAP5114 did not affect motor performance. In the chronic constriction injury rats, SNAP5114 inhibited mechanical allodynia dose-dependently. The antinociceptive action of SNAP5114 was partially reversed by bicuculline or CGP35348 at doses at which the antagonist alone did not affect baseline behavioral responses. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggest that SNAP5114 exerts antinociceptive effects by activating GABAA and GABAB receptors in the spinal cord. The GAT-3 inhibitor may prove useful in treatment of various painful conditions.
The Role of Agent-Modeling in Agent Robustness

A key challenge in using intelligent systems in complex, dynamic, multi-agent environments is the attainment of robustness in face of uncertainty. In such environments the combinatorial nature of state-space complexity inhibits any designer’s ability to anticipate all possible states that the agent might find itself in. Therefore, agents will fail in such environments, as the designer ca not supply them with full information about the correct response to take at any state. To overcome these failures, agents must display post-failure robustness, enabling them to autonomously detect, diagnose and recover from failures as they happen. Our hypothesis is that through agent-modeling (the ability of an agent to model the intentions, knowledge, and actions of other agents in the environment) an agent may significantly increase its robustness in a multi-agent environment, by allowing it to use others in the environment to evaluate and improve its own performance. We examine this hypothesis in light of two real-world applications in which we improve robustness: domain-independent teamwork, and target-recognition and identification systems. We discuss the relation between the ability of an agent-modeling algorithm to represent uncertainty and the applications, and highlight key lessons learned for real-world applications.
Recovery of olfactory function following closed head injury or infections of the upper respiratory tract.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the outcome of olfactory function in patients with olfactory loss following infections of the upper respiratory tract (post-URTI) or head trauma. DESIGN Retrospective patient-based study. SETTING Smell and Taste Outpatient Clinic at a university hospital. PATIENTS A total of 361 patients (228 women, 133 men) were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Olfactory function was assessed using the "Sniffin' Sticks" test battery, which result in a threshold, discrimination, and identification score. The mean interval between first and last visit was 14 months. RESULTS In comparing the overall threshold, discrimination, and identification scores between the last and first visit, olfactory function improved in 26% of the patients whereas it decreased in 6%. The cause of olfactory impairment had a significant effect on the recovery rate of olfactory function. Within the post-URTI group (n = 262), 32% of the patients improved, but in the posttraumatic group (n = 99) only 10% improved. In patients with post-URTI olfactory loss, a negative correlation was found between age and recovery of olfactory function. In general, the factor "sex" had no significant effect on recovery of smell function. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the series of patients presented herein is the largest in the literature to date in which standardized testing methods were used to assess the progression of impaired olfaction. It showed that the rate of improvement of olfactory function was significantly higher in patients with post-URTI dysosmia compared with patients with posttraumatic dysosmia. During an observation period of approximately 1 year, more than 30% of patients with post-URTI olfactory loss experienced improvement, whereas only 10% of patients with posttraumatic olfactory loss experienced improvement. Furthermore, age plays a significant role in the recovery of olfactory function.