Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural analysis of the envelope gp120 V3 loop for some HIV-1 variants circulating in the countries of Eastern Europe

The V3 loop on gp120 from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a focus of many research groups involved in anti-AIDS drug development because this region of the protein is a principal target for neutralizing antibodies and a major determinant for cell tropism and syncytium formation. In this study, the nucleotide sequences of the env gene region coding the V3 loop were determined by DNA sequencing methods for four novel HIV-1 strains that circulate in the countries of Eastern Europe, such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. Based on the empirical data obtained, the 3D structures of the V3 loops associated with these viral modifications were generated by computer modeling and then compared to discover similarities in the spatial arrangement of this functionally important site of gp120. Despite the HIV-1 genetic variety, several regions of the V3 loop that contain residues critical for cell tropism were shown to be structurally invariant, which may explain its exceptional role in a co-receptor usage. These data together with those on the biological activity of the V3 individual residues clearly show that these conserved structural motifs of gp120 represent potential HIV-1 weak points most suitable for therapeutic intervention.
Managing the Concurrent Execution of Dependent Product Development Stages

Concurrent product development, the practice of executing dependent product development stages simultaneously, has become the common mode of new product development because of the increasing importance of time-to-market. However, such simultaneous execution of dependent stages may substantially increase the total amount of rework. This research addresses the trade-offs involved in concurrent process, presents analytical models to determine the optimal priority ordering of initial development and rework, and the optimal overlapping duration. We first show that initial development is prior to rework when learning effect is taken into account. Then, based on the general assumption of nonnegative upstream evolution and the clear definition of maximum concurrency, we prove that the total development cost (including rework cost and opportunity cost of time) is convex with respect to the overlapping duration, and so the optimal overlapping duration can be identified by a simple binary search. After that we investigate the Pareto-optimal overlapping strategies for the cases where budget is given or the time to market is predetermined. Finally, the methodology is illustrated with a case study at a handset design company.
Energy-Optimal Configurations for Single-Node HPC Applications

Energy efficiency is a growing concern for modern computing, especially for HPC due to operational costs and the environmental impact, considering that processors have an important role in this energy consumption. In this work, we propose a methodology to find energy-optimal frequency and number of active cores to run single-node HPC applications using an application-agnostic power model of the architecture and an architecture-aware performance model of the application. We characterize the application performance using machine learning, specifically the “Support Vector Regression” algorithm. Besides that, the power consumption is estimated by modeling CMOS dynamic and static power without knowledge of the application. So, The energy-optimal configuration is estimated by minimizing the product these two models outcomes, the power model and the performance model. Then, the final model can be used to find better frequency and number of cores to aim energy efficiency application execution. Results were obtained for four PARSEC applications and, with five different inputs shows that the proposed approach used substantially less energy when compared to the DVFS governor, in best cases and worst cases.
Glucocorticoids, antenatal corticosteroid therapy and fetal heart maturation

Glucocorticoids are essential in mammals to mature fetal organs and tissues in order to survive after birth. Hence, antenatal glucocorticoid treatment (termed antenatal corticosteroid therapy) can be life-saving in preterm babies and is commonly used in women at risk of preterm birth. While the effects of glucocorticoids on lung maturation have been well described, the effects on the fetal heart remain less clear. Experiments in mice have shown that endogenous glucocorticoid action is required to mature the fetal heart. However, whether the potent synthetic glucocorticoids used in antenatal corticosteroid therapy have similar maturational effects on the fetal heart is less clear. Moreover, antenatal corticosteroid therapy may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Here, we present a narrative review of the evidence relating to the effects of antenatal glucocorticoid action on the fetal heart and discuss the implications for antenatal corticosteroid therapy.
Equal Splits or Product Prices: An Experiment

This paper compares the choice of focal points in a Nash Demand Game embedded in an abstract frame with the corresponding choices in a game with a real product frame where parties bargain for a well-known consumer product. We find that the frame has a substantial impact on the fraction of subjects choosing the equal split outcome casting doubt on the robustness of this solution in bargaining over real goods. The paper shows that there is notable heterogeneity among subjects with regard to their choices of focal points and reports individual characteristics predicting these choices.
Detecting Emerging Activity-Based Working Traits through Wearable Technology

A recent trend in corporate real-estate is Activity-Based Working (ABW). The ABW concept removes designated desks but offers different work settings designed to support typical work activities. In this context there is still a need for objective data to understand the implications of these design decisions. We aim to contribute by using automated data collection to study how ABW’s principles impact office usage and dynamics. To this aim we analyse team dynamics and employees’ tie strength in relation to space usage and organisational hierarchy using data collected with wearable devices in a company adopting ABW principles. Our findings show that the office fosters interactions across team boundaries and among the lower levels of the hierarchy suggesting a strong lateral communication. Employees also tend to have low space exploration on a daily basis which is instead more prevalent during an average week and strong social clusters seem to be resisting the ABW principles of space dynamics. With the availability of two additional data sets about social encounters in traditional offices we highlight traits emerging from the application of ABW’s principles. In particular, we observe how the absence of designated desks might be responsible for more rapid dynamics inside the office. In more general terms, this work opens the door to new and scalable technology-based methodologies to study dynamic office usage and social interactions.
Comparison of the Properties of γ‐Aminobutyric Acid and L‐Glutamate Uptake into Synaptic Vesicles Isolated from Rat Brain

Abstract: Rat brain synaptic vesicles exhibit ATP‐dependent uptake of γ‐[3H]amino‐n‐butyric acid ([3H]GABA) and l‐[3H]glutamate. After hypotonic shock, the highest specific activities of uptake of both l‐glutamate and GABA were recovered in the 0.4 M fraction of a sucrose gradient. The uptakes of l‐glutamate and GABA were inhibited by similar, but not identical, concentrations of the mitochondrial uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m‐chlorophenylhydrazone and the ionophores nigericin and gramicidin, but they were not inhibited by the K+ carrier valinomycin. N, N′‐Dicyclohexyl‐carbodiimide and N‐ethylmaleimide, Mg2+‐ATPase inhibitors, inhibited the GABA and L‐glutamate uptakes similarly. Low concentrations of CI− stimulated the vesicular uptake of l‐glutamate but not that of GABA. The uptakes of both l‐glutamate and GABA were inhibited by high concentrations of CI−. These results indicate that the vesicular GABA and l‐glutamate uptakes are driven by an electrochemical proton gradient generated by a similar Mg2+‐ATPase. The vesicular uptake mechanisms are discussed in relation to other vesicle uptake systems.
High Fat Diets Composed of Palm Stearin and Olive Oil Equally Exacerbate Liver Inflammatory Damage and Metabolic Stress in Mice

SCOPE People with fatty liver could be subject to acute infections such as sepsis. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of high fat diets (HFD) of olive oil and palm stearin on liver inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS). METHODS AND RESULTS C57BL/6J male mice were treated with high fat diets with different sources of oils: palm stearin and olive oil for 8 weeks followed by LPS injection. The proinflammatory effect of olive oil was also studied using gavage treatment and IP injection of LPS. Animals fed with HFDs showed an increase in body weight, elevated blood glucose levels, and fatty liver phenotype. HFDs aggravated the effect of LPS treatment to induce inflammatory response compared to low fat diet (LFD) effect. Following HFD supplementation, LPS induced hyperinsulinemia, more liver damage than in animals that consumed LFD. In addition, both gavage and long-term feeding with high lipids in the presence of LPS resulted in inhibition of gluconeogenic genes expression. CONCLUSION HFDs of both monounsaturated and saturated fat potentiated liver inflammation induced by LPS treatment indicate that the total amount of fat consumed is the main proinflammatory factor rather than the type of fat.
"Did I Say Something Wrong?": Towards a Safe Collaborative Chatbot

Chatbots have been a core measure of AI since Turing has presented his test for intelligence, and are also widely used for entertainment purposes. In this paper we present a platform that enables users to collaboratively teach a chatbot responses, using natural language. We present a method of collectively detecting malicious users and using the commands taught by these users to further mitigate activity of future malicious users.
In Search of CurveSwap: Measuring Elliptic Curve Implementations in the Wild

We survey elliptic curve implementations from several vantage points. We perform internet-wide scans for TLS on a large number of ports, as well as SSH and IPsec to measure elliptic curve support and implementation behaviors, and collect passive measurements of client curve support for TLS. We also perform active measurements to estimate server vulnerability to known attacks against elliptic curve implementations, including support for weak curves, invalid curve attacks, and curve twist attacks. We estimate that 1.53% of HTTPS hosts, 0.04% of SSH hosts, and 4.04% of IKEv2 hosts that support elliptic curves do not perform curve validity checks as specified in elliptic curve standards. We describe how such vulnerabilities could be used to construct an elliptic curve parameter downgrade attack called CurveSwap for TLS, and observe that there do not appear to be combinations of weak behaviors we examined enabling a feasible CurveSwap attack in the wild. We also analyze source code for elliptic curve implementations, and find that a number of libraries fail to perform point validation for JSON Web Encryption, and find a flaw in the Java and NSS multiplication algorithms.
Purification and characterization of acharan sulfate lyases, two novel heparinases, from Bacteroides stercoris HJ-15.

Two novel acharan sulfate lyases (ASL1 and ASL2: no EC number) have been purified from Bacteroides stercoris HJ-15 which was isolated from human intestinal bacteria with glycosaminoglycan (GAG) degrading enzymes. These enzymes were purified to apparent homogeneity by a combination of QAE-cellulose, DEAE-cellulose, carboxymethyl-Sephadex C-50, hydroxyapatite and HiTrap SP Sephadex C-25 column chromatography with the final specific activity of 50.5 and 76.7 micromol.min-1.mg-1, respectively. Both acharan sulfate lyases are single subunits of 83 kDa by SDS/PAGE and gel filtration. ASL1 showed optimal activity at pH 7.2 and 45 degrees C. ASL1 activity was inhibited by Cu2+, Ni2+ and Co2+, but ASL2 activity was inhibited by Cu2+, Ni2+and Pb2. Both enzymes were slightly inhibited by some agents that modify histidine and cysteine residues, but activated by reducing agents such as DL-dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol. Both purified bacteroidal acharan sulfate lyases acted to the greatest extent on acharan sulfate, and to a lesser extents on heparan sulfate and heparin. They did not act on de-O-sulfated acharan sulfate. These findings suggest that the biochemical properties of these purified acharan sulfate lyases are different from those of the previously purified heparin lyases, but these enzymes belong to heparinase II.
Attention Bias Modification (ABM): Review of Effects of Multisession ABM Training on Anxiety and Threat-Related Attention in High-Anxious Individuals

Attention bias modification (ABM) aims to reduce anxiety by reducing attention bias (AB) to threat; however, effects on anxiety and AB are variable. This review examines 34 studies assessing effects of multisession-ABM on both anxiety and AB in high-anxious individuals. Methods include ABM-threat-avoidance (promoting attention-orienting away from threat), ABM-positive-search (promoting explicit, goal-directed attention-search for positive/nonthreat targets among negative/threat distractors), and comparison conditions (e.g., control-attention training combining threat-cue exposure and attention-task practice without AB-modification). Findings indicate anxiety reduction often occurs during both ABM-threat-avoidance and control-attention training; anxiety reduction is not consistently accompanied by AB reduction; anxious individuals often show no pretraining AB in orienting toward threat; and ABM-positive-search training appears promising in reducing anxiety. Methodological and theoretical issues are discussed concerning ABM paradigms, comparison conditions, and AB assessment. ABM methods combining explicit goal-directed attention-search for nonthreat/positive information and effortful threat-distractor inhibition (promoting top-down cognitive control during threat-cue exposure) warrant further evaluation.
Iliopsoas Release for Internal Snapping Hip using a Minimally Open Medial Hip Approach-Case Report

Internal snapping hip is a recognized cause of hip pain caused by recurrent subluxation of the iliopsoas tendon. When conservative treatment fails, surgical release of the iliopsoas tendon may be indicated using an arthroscopic or open hip approach. Results have been better with arthroscopic release. We report a case of a 32-year-old active female with a painful internal snapping hip. The right hip extension from a flexed position produced a strong and audible snap. A tenotomy of the iliopsoas in combination with a resection of the lesser trochanter was performed, using a limited medial hip approach different than the one described by Ludloff or Ferguson. The pain and snapping phenomenon were solved; however, a slight heterotopic ossification, as well as a weakness in the flexion of the hip was noted after the procedure, with no functional limitation. The minimally invasive medial hip approach appears to be a simple, reproducible and successful operation for the treatment of an internal snapping hip caused by the iliopsoas tendon, namely in orthopaedics departments with limited experience in hip arthroscopic approach, but it is not superior to arthroscopic release.
I Sought It, I Reddit: Examining Health Information Engagement Behaviors among Reddit Users

Given the wide use of social media, these platforms have become important channels for understanding health-related information engagement processes. Reddit is a social media platform dedicated to user-generated content and discourse around the world. However, little research exists regarding use of the platform. Guided by the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this study was to analyze Reddit users’ behaviors on the platform related to perceptions of information credibility, health information seeking, and behavioral enactment of information found. Data were collected via survey from Reddit users around the world (n = 389). Data suggest that although Reddit use and perceived information credibility are unrelated to acting on the information found on Reddit, users who are specifically seeking health-related information are more likely to enact the information in their lives. Implications from the findings suggest important considerations for communication scholars, media advocates, and health promotion practitioners.
Role of Blood Cell–Associated AT1 Receptors in the Microvascular Responses to Hypercholesterolemia

Objective—Hypercholesterolemia elicits a proinflammatory and prothrombogenic phenotype in the microvasculature that is characterized by activation and adhesion of blood cells. The angiotensin II receptor-1 antagonist Losartan prevents the induction of these responses. The objective of this study was to determine the relative contributions of blood cell-associated versus endothelium-associated AT1a-R to these hypercholesterolemia-induced microvascular alterations. Methods and Results—Leukocyte adhesion and emigration and platelet adhesion were quantified by intravital microscopy in postcapillary venules. C57Bl/6 mice were placed on a normal (ND) or high-cholesterol (HCD) diet for 2 weeks. AT1a-R bone marrow chimeras that express AT1a-R on the vessel wall but not blood cells and AT1a-R knockouts were placed on HCD. Venular shear rate was comparable in all groups. Platelet and leukocyte adhesion and leukocyte emigration were significantly increased in HCD mice versus ND. Leukocyte recruitment was significantly reduced in the HCD-AT1a-R bone marrow chimera group, whereas platelet adhesion remained at HCD levels. However, in HCD-AT1a-R knockout mice, platelet and leukocyte adhesion were reduced to ND levels. Conclusions—These data indicate that the platelet-vessel wall adhesion elicited by hypercholesterolemia is mediated by AT1a-R engagement on the endothelial cell rather than the platelet, whereas leukocyte recruitment is mediated by blood cell-associated AT1a-R.
Recreational Use of a Marine Protected Area: Point Lonsdale, Victoria

This article reports findings from observational and questionnaire surveys of visitors to a Marine Protected Area (MPA) at Point Lonsdale, Victoria. The MPA was established primarily to protect the biodiversity of intertidal rock platforms, with only limited restrictions being placed on fishing. Visitor surveys were undertaken to identify and quantify recreational uses, assess level of compliance with regulations, identify the uses most likely to have damaging impacts on biota, and to assess awareness of, and support for, this MPA and for MPAs in general. A questionnaire survey of visitors supported observational survey findings concerning recreational use patterns and provided information on awareness about and attitudes towards conservation measures for this location and for Victoria's marine environment. The finding that about half the visitors were not aware that they were visiting a marine protected area has implications for future management of this area and MPAs in general. Most visitors indicated support for the concept of marine conservation areas and marine protected areas.
When Justice Takes Time: The Social Cost of Legal Delay

Waiting in uncertainty is a natural consequence of a legal procedure, but is a nuisance for individuals and may have monetary costs for companies. Several papers study the causes and remedies of legal delays. The consequences of legal delays is much less studied. Quantifying these social costs is difficult but important to make a good trade-off between the costs of improving the pace of the legal system and the social benefit of reducing delay. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the social costs of legal delay, to identify the main type of effects and where possible quantify and weight these. We do this for disputes concerning transactions between companies and cases in the field of the Disablement Benefit Act. The presentation of the effects is inspired by the so-called social cost-benefit analytical framework.
Electronic Prescribing - Safer, Faster, Better?

The study, first published in 2006, looks at how we should evaluate electronic prescribing systems in hospitals, particularly to improve patient safety. It provides an evaluation framework, compares methodologies to detect prescribing errors and describes the advantages of approaching evaluation of these systems from a sociotechnical perspective. Two electronic prescribing systems are studied using simultaneous quantitative and qualitative approaches. Electronic prescribing systems can reduce the incidence of prescribing error, however their implementation is not straight forward and they should be considered a constant ‘work in progress’.
Business risk and return: a test of simultaneous relationships

Bowman (1980) found an unexpected and paradoxical negative relationship between risk and return in many firms, and, for about a decade, various researchers have attempted to explain the paradox. This article summarizes some of those explanations, and shows that industry conditions and business strategies are likely to influence both risk and return. The relationships are depicted in a simultaneous model where business return, risk, and debt are endogenously determined. The model is tested with 132 nondiversified firms in 8 disparate industries. OLS estimates of the parameters of the model show the risk-return relationship to be significantly negative, as many past researchers have found. However, 3SLS estimates of the parameters of the simultaneous model reveal no significant relationship between risk and return. The tentative conclusion is that many of the studies in the line of research concerned with Bowman's (1980) paradox may have used an improperly specified model, and that when a more realistic simultaneous model is used, return and risk are shown to be influenced by various industry conditions and business strategies, but not by each other.
Auctioning Monopoly Franchises: Award Criteria and Rollout Obligations

We study the competition to acquire the exclusive right to operate an utility service, by comparing two specifications for the financial proposals—the fee that the concessionaire will pay to the government and the price that the concessionaire will charge to its customers—and two alternative contractual arrangements, a concession which incorporates the obligation for the franchisee to operate the service immediately after winning the auction, and a contract which simply assigns the right to supply the market. We show that relieving the concessionaire from rollout obligations may either increase or reduce the government’s expected payoff depending on the bidding rule used to allocate the contract. As long as the government is indifferent between maximizing the fiscal revenue and maximizing the consumer surplus, concessioning without imposing rollout time limits and awarding the contract to the bidder offering the highest fee appears to be the best policy option.
Persistent Underdevelopment: Change and Economic Modernization in the West Indies

1. The Content of Economic Development 2. The Plantation Economy and Economic Development 3. The Erosion of Plantation Dominance 4. "Industrialization by Invitation" 5. Persistent Underdevelopment 6. The Left Regimes 7. Natural Endowments and Economic Development 8. Exports and Education 9. A People Without Borders