Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structural analysis of the active site of porcine pancreatic elastase based on the X-ray crystal structures of complexes with trifluoroacetyl-dipeptide-anilide inhibitors.

The X-ray crystal structures of two new (trifluoroacetyl)dipeptide p-(trifluoromethyl)anilide (TFA-dipeptide-TFM) inhibitors complexed to porcine pancreatic elastase are presented. TFA-Val-Ala-TFM and TFA-Phe-Ala-TFM both bind to elastase with the TFA group in the S1 subsite, Val or Phe in the S2 subsite, Ala in the S3 subsite, and the TFM group in the S4 subsite. Five other TFA-dipeptide-anilide/elastase crystal structures are available (two TFA-X-Ala-p-(trifluoromethyl)anilide, X = Lys, Leu, and three TFA-Lys-X-p-isopropylanilide, X = Pro, Leu, Phe). The four inhibitors with the trifluoromethyl substituent on the anilide ring bind in a single mode to elastase, whereas superposition of the three inhibitors with the isopropyl substituent on the anilide ring show three different modes of binding to the protein [Mattos, C. , et al. (1994) Nature Struct. Biol. 1, 55-58]. The seven structures are taken together in a detailed analysis of the active site of porcine pancreatic elastase. The inhibition constants for the inhibitors are used in combination with the crystal structures to understand the specificity of the different elastase subsites.
Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquisition?

ABSTRACT In an earlier study, Service (1992) found that phonological short-term memory, reflected in the ability to repeat English-sounding pseudowords, was a good predictor of learning English as a foreign language over a period of three school years. This study attempts to find out to what extent foreign vocabulary learning is the critical learning process related to pseudoword repetition accuracy. Regression analyses on repetition data and learning measures revealed significant correlations between pseudoword repetition and foreign language learning, even after a measure of general academic achievement had been partialed out. In a fixed-order multiple regression analysis – with predictors entered in the order of general academic achievement, foreign language vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition – no additional variance in any foreign language measure studied could be accounted for by pseudoword repetition in the third step. When vocabulary in the second step was replaced by performance in foreign language essay writing or the correct reproduction of dictated discourse – both highly related to overall foreign language performance – repetition significantly increased the proportion of accounted variance, especially for two foreign language vocabulary tasks and a listening comprehension task. Phonological memory may, therefore, be specifically related to foreign vocabulary learning.
Absolute Configuration of Falcarinol (9Z-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6-diyn-3-ol) from Pastinaca Sativa

Falcarinol (9Z-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6-diyn-3-ol; (1) is a polyacetylene commonly found in several plant families. The absolute configuration of naturally occurring 1 is not clear and contradictory results have been reported in the literature. Determination of the absolute configuration of 1 from Pastinaca sativa L. was carried out. Isolation of 95% pure 1 was performed via successive fractionation and preparative-HPLC. A racemic mixture comprised of 3R-1 and 3S-1 was synthesized in order to confirm the absolute configuration of the isolated natural product using chiral HPLC. Based on a combination of chiral HPLC and specific rotation, 1 present in P. sativa was found to have a 3R absolute configuration (i.e. (3R, 9Z)-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6-diyn-3-ol).
Imaging lid-parallel conjunctival folds with OCT and comparing its grading with the slit lamp classification in dry eye patients and normal subjects.

PURPOSE To visualize and describe the morphologic appearance of lid-parallel conjunctival folds (LIPCOFs) by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to relate it to dry eye signs and symptoms. METHODS The LIPCOF grade, noninvasive tear film breakup time (NIBUT), lipid layer interference pattern, and dry eye symptoms were recorded in 17 normal subjects and 33 patients with dry eye. LIPCOFs were evaluated with a slit lamp and visualized by OCT. Three different algorithms for OCT were developed to grade LIPCOFs according to tear meniscus height or the covering tear film on the folds. RESULTS The three OCT methods showed significant correlation with the slit lamp method (r = 0.470-0.473, P < 0.01). The OCT LIPCOF imaging methods were independent of NIBUT. The Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ) scores correlated with the height of the folds and the absence of tear film coverage of the folds (r = 0.574, P < 0.001 and r = -0.527, P < 0.001, respectively). The OCT LIPCOF grades correlated with the DEQ scores (r = 0.494, P < 0.001 and r = 0.310, P = 0.029, respectively). The slit lamp grade did not correlate with the DEQ scores in the whole population, but did in the normal group (r = 0.458, P = 0.024). The OCT LIPCOF grades showed inverse correlation with lipid pattern in the normal group (r = -0.422-0.481, P = 0.05); however, this association disappeared in the dry eye group. CONCLUSIONS OCT enabled a noninvasive, high-resolution method of imaging, evaluating, and classifying LIPCOFs. These new classifications correlated well with the slit lamp grade and the DEQ scores, promising a new, more objective evaluation of dry eye.
Effects of Resistance Exercise on Selected Physiological Parameters During Subsequent Aerobic Exercise

The effects of weight training (WT) on the responses to aerobic exercise (AE) were studied in 11 subjects in a counterbalanced, repeated measures design. In the control sessions, subjects engaged in 20 min of AE on a cycle ergometer at 60% of their V&OV0312;O2, max. Heart rate, blood pressure, RPE, and core temperature were assessed 10 min into the exercise and again during the final 30 sec. Mean blood pressure (MBP) and rate-pressure product (RPP) were calculated later. In the experimental sessions, subjects undertook a standard 50-min WT program working all major muscle groups; after 15 min of recovery, data were obtained from an AE bout identical to that used in the control session. At 10 min, HR, MBP, and RPP were significantly higher when AE was preceded by WT. When measured during the last 30 set of exercise, HR, RPE, and RPP differed significantly. The inclusion of WT shortly before AE apparently affected subject responses to AE, possibly causing a shift in the slope of the HR-&OV0312;O2 relationship.
A Hybrid Brain–Computer Interface Based on the Fusion of P300 and SSVEP Scores

The present study proposes a hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) with 64 selectable items based on the fusion of P300 and steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) brain signals. With this approach, row/column (RC) P300 and two-step SSVEP paradigms were integrated to create two hybrid paradigms, which we denote as the double RC (DRC) and 4-D spellers. In each hybrid paradigm, the target is simultaneously detected based on both P300 and SSVEP potentials as measured by the electroencephalogram. We further proposed a maximum-probability estimation (MPE) fusion approach to combine the P300 and SSVEP on a score level and compared this approach to other approaches based on linear discriminant analysis, a naïve Bayes classifier, and support vector machines. The experimental results obtained from thirteen participants indicated that the 4-D hybrid paradigm outperformed the DRC paradigm and that the MPE fusion achieved higher accuracy compared with the other approaches. Importantly, 12 of the 13 participants, using the 4-D paradigm achieved an accuracy of over 90% and the average accuracy was 95.18%. These promising results suggest that the proposed hybrid BCI system could be used in the design of a high-performance BCI-based keyboard.
Energy Evaluation of Software Implementations of Block Ciphers under Memory Constraints

Software implementations of modern block ciphers often require large lookup tables along with code size increasing optimizations like loop unrolling to reach peak performance on general-purpose processors. Therefore, block ciphers are difficult to implement efficiently on embedded devices like cell phones or sensor nodes where run-time memory and program ROM are scarce resources. In this paper, the performance, energy consumption, runtime memory requirements, and code size of the five block ciphers RC6, Rijndael, Serpent, Twofish, and XTEA on the StrongARM SA-1100 processor was analyzed and compared. Most previous evaluations of block ciphers considered performance as the sole metric of interest and did not care about memory requirements or code size. In contrast to previous work, this study of the performance and energy characteristics of block ciphers has been conducted with "lightweight" implementations which restrict the size of lookup tables to 1 kB and also impose constraints on the code size. The author found that Rijndael and RC6 can be well optimized for high performance and energy efficiency, while at the same time meeting the demand for low memory (RAM and ROM) footprint. In addition, the impact of key expansion and modes of operation on the overall performance and energy consumption of each block cipher was discussed. Simulation results show that RC6 is the most energy-efficient block cipher under memory constraints and thus the best choice for resource-restricted devices
Validation and Automatic Repair of Planar Partitions using a Constrained Triangulation

Planar partitions (subdivisions of the plane into polygonal areas) constitute one of the most important data representations in GIS. They are used to model concepts as varied as land use, administrative units, natural features and cadastral parcels, among many others. However, since polygons are often stored separately, different errors and inconsistencies are introduced during their creation, manipulation (both manual and automatic) and exchange. These come in the form of invalid polygons, gaps, overlaps and disconnected polygons, which severely hampers their use in other software. Existing approaches to solve this problem usually involve polygon repair using a list of constraints, and complex planar partition repair operations performed on a planar graph. However, these have many shortcomings in terms of complexity, numerical robustness and difficulty of implementation. Moreover, they leave many invalid cases untouched. To solve this problem, a novel method to validate and automatically repair planar partitions has been developed. It uses a constrained triangulation of the polygons as a base, which being by definition a planar partition, means that only relatively simple operations are needed to ensure that the output becomes valid. Point locations are maintained throughout the process, while fully automatic repair is possible using customisable criteria. This approach is also extensible to individual polygons, is capable of handling a larger variety of cases and has good performance compared to existing alternatives; all of this with numerical robustness and maintaining topological consistency throughout. In order to analyse, test and improve the developed algorithms, and encourage further development, a fast and efficient implementation has been written in C++, which has been tested with several large data sets and compared with other available software, regarding both performance and functionality. This prototype is able to successfully repair planar partitions of more than 100,000 polygons. It is also open source and freely available on the GDMC website (http://www.gdmc.nl/).
ASBOs: more questions than answers

ASBOs are one of the most controversial and talked about examples of the wide range of measures introduced by New Labour to regulate conduct and promote active citizenship. Although they have been vigorously promoted as “the weapon that is needed to fight the blight of antisocial behaviour in our communities” (then Home Secretary Jack Straw 1999 – see further Burney 2005: 32), very little is actually known about either their effectiveness or impact. While there is a diverse and growing literature on ASBOs the absence of robust empirical research means that much of what is written is dominated by anecdote, conjecture and rhetoric.
Climate-Smart ” Agriculture Policies , Practices and Financing for Food Security , Adaptation and Mitigation

The contents and conclusions of this report are considered appropriate for the time of its preparation. They may be modified in the light of further knowledge gained at subsequent stages. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Agriculture in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation in order to meet the related challenges of achieving food security and responding to climate change. Projections based on population growth and food consumption patterns indicate that agricultural production will need to increase by at least 70 percent to meet demands by 2050. Most estimates also indicate that climate change is likely to reduce agricultural productivity, production stability and incomes in some areas that already have high levels of food insecurity. Developing climate-smart agriculture 1 is thus crucial to achieving future food security and climate change goals. This paper examines some of the key technical, institutional, policy and financial responses required to achieve this transformation. Building on case studies from the field, the paper outlines a range of practices, approaches and tools aimed at increasing the resilience and productivity of agricultural production systems, while also reducing and removing emissions. The second part of the paper surveys institutional and policy options available to promote the transition to climate-smart agriculture at the smallholder level. Finally, the paper considers current financing gaps and makes innovative suggestions regarding the combined use of different sources, financing mechanisms and delivery systems. 1) Agriculture in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation in order to meet the related challenges of …
Image storage for automated crystallization imaging systems

To use crystallography for the determination of the three-dimensional structures of proteins, protein crystals need to be grown. Automated imaging systems are increasingly being used to monitor these crystallization experiments. These present problems of accessibility to the data, repeatability of any image analysis performed and the amount of storage required. Various image formats and techniques can be combined to provide effective solutions to high volume processing problems such as these, however lack of widespread support for the most effective algorithms, such as JPeg2000 which yielded a 64% improvement in file size over the bitmap, currently inhibits the immediate take up of this approach.
Metal Homeostasis Regulators Suppress FRDA Phenotypes in a Drosophila Model of the Disease

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), the most commonly inherited ataxia in populations of European origin, is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a decrease in frataxin levels. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the accumulation of iron in several tissues including the brain, and frataxin has been proposed to play a key role in iron homeostasis. We found that the levels of zinc, copper, manganese and aluminum were also increased in a Drosophila model of FRDA, and that copper and zinc chelation improve their impaired motor performance. By means of a candidate genetic screen, we identified that genes implicated in iron, zinc and copper transport and metal detoxification can restore frataxin deficiency-induced phenotypes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the metal dysregulation in FRDA includes other metals besides iron, therefore providing a new set of potential therapeutic targets.
Connections between climate, food limitation, and carbon cycling in abyssal sediment communities

Diverse faunal groups inhabit deep-sea sediments over much of Earth's surface, but our understanding of how interannual-scale climate variation alters sediment community components and biogeochemical processes remains limited. The vast majority of deep-sea communities depend on a particulate organic carbon food supply that sinks from photosynthetically active surface waters. Variations in food supply depend, in part, on surface climate conditions. Proposed ocean iron fertilization efforts are also intended to alter surface production and carbon export from surface waters. Understanding the ecology of the abyssal sediment community and constituent metazoan macrofauna is important because they influence carbon and nutrient cycle processes at the seafloor through remineralization, bioturbation, and burial of the sunken material. Results from a 10-year study in the abyssal NE Pacific found that climate-driven variations in food availability were linked to total metazoan macrofauna abundance, phyla composition, rank-abundance distributions, and remineralization over seasonal and interannual scales. The long-term analysis suggests that broad biogeographic patterns in deep-sea macrofauna community structure can change over contemporary timescales with changes in surface ocean conditions and provides significant evidence that sediment community parameters can be estimated from atmospheric and upper-ocean conditions. These apparent links between climate, the upper ocean, and deep-sea biogeochemistry need to be considered in determining the long-term carbon storage capacity of the ocean.
非小细胞肺癌中PRL-3与RhoC的表达及相关性意义

背景与目的 PRL-3是新近发现的酪氨酸蛋白磷酸酶，尚属于肝再生磷酸酶家族，具有促进肿瘤转移作用；RhoC属于小分子G蛋白超家族中的Rho亚家族，二者作用机制不清楚。 本研究通过检测非小细胞肺癌（nonsmall cell lung cancer, NSCLC）中PRL-3和RhoC的表达，分析二者表达的相关性及在不同分组之间的差异，为进一步研究PRL-3在肿瘤发生发展中的作用机理提供实验依据。 方法 采用免疫组化SP法检测PRL-3和RhoC在92例NSCLC中的表达，用统计学方法检验分析二者在不同分组间的表达差异性及二者的相关性。 结果 在NSCLC中PRL-3和RhoC的表达阳性率分别为69. 6%（64/92）、73.9%（68/92），二者的表达在不同的TNM分期、淋巴结及胸膜是否转移的分组之间差异有统计学意义（P < 0.01），同时二者的表达具有相关性（r=0.754, P < 0.001）。 结论 在NSCLC中PRL-3和RhoC在TNM分期较高以及合并淋巴结、胸膜转移的分组中表达较高，同时二者的表达具有相关性，提示PRL-3可能通过RhoC及其下游因子促进癌细胞的远处转移。
Filtration, diffusion and molecular sieving through peripheral capillary membranes; a contribution to the pore theory of capillary permeability.

T HE PENETRATION of capillary walls by water and dissolved substances appears to take place solely by processes which require no energy transformations on the part of the capillary endothelial cells. The rate of net fluid movement across the capillary wall has been shown to be simply proportional to the difference between hydrostatic and osmotic forces acting across the capillary membranes (I, 2). The chemical composition of ascitic fluid (3), edema fluid (4) or glomerular fluid (5) closely resembles that obtainable by filtration of plasma through inert artificial membranes of suitable porosities. Filtration through peripheral capillaries, like that through artificial membranes, varies inversely with the viscosity of the filtrate as this is altered by temperature (6). These striking similarities between the permeability characteristics of living capillaries, on the one hand, and artificial porous membranes on the other, have given rise to the ‘Pore Theory’ of capillary exchange. In its simplest form, the pore theory supposes that the capillary walls are pierced with numerous ultramicroscopic openings which are in general too small to allow the passage of plasma protein molecules, but are of sufficient size and number to account for the observed rates of passage of water and nonprotein constituents of the plasma. Many important questions arise when the pore theory of capillary exchange is examined in detail. The glomerular membranes allow molecules as large as inulin (effective diffusion diameter, d, = 30 A) to pass with no detectable hindrance. Egg albumin (d, = 56 A) passes rapidly through the glomerular membranes (7-9) and even hemoglobin (d, = 62 A) is believed to pass into the glomerular filtrate in appreciable concentration (7, IO). Theoretical and experimental studies on the sieving of molecules by ultrafiltration through porous membranes (I I, 12) indicate that an effective pore diameter of at least IOO A would be required to explain permeability of this magnitude. If this is the case, how are we to imagine the physical structure of the openings in the capillary membranes? Do pores of diameter IOO A penetrate through the endothelial cells and their plasma membranes on both surfaces? Or are the openings confined to the narrow intercellular regions as postulated by Chambers and Zweifach (13)? In the latter case, is the small area available between cells sufficient to explain the observed filtration rates in such rapidly filtering systems as the kidney? If there is a distribution of pore sizes, or if water is free to
Le corps et la pensée chez le bébé : apport des systèmes dynamiques

Durant ces trente dernieres annees, le corps a largement ete considere comme un instrument au service de la pensee. Recemment, cependant, l'apparition d'un nouveau cadre theorique — la perspective des systemes dynamiques - et l'accroissement de decouvertes importantes en neurosciences ont amene les chercheurs a reevaluer le role du corps dans la formation des conduites. Le corps n 'est plus un outil subordonne au cerveau qui le commande, mais un element essentiel, dont les proprietes multiples (biologiques, biomecaniques et developpementales) participent de facon integrante au processus meme de formation de la pensee. Dans cet article, nous presentons cette nouvelle conceptualisation du corps. Nous commencons par exposer les concepts theoriques fondamentaux de la theorie des systemes dynamiques. Ensuite, nous utilisons trois exemples issus de travaux empiriques effectues chez le bebe qui s'inscrivent dans la perspective des systemes dynamiques afin d'illustrer comment certaines proprietes de l'organisme peuvent interferer ou affecter les connaissances et processus de decision de l'enfant. En conclusion, nous esquissons l'idee que la formation du comportement et de la pensee evolue en etroit lien avec une maitrise des proprietes de l'organisme et son mouvement.
SEVEN PORTS POWER DIVIDER WITH VARIOUS POWER DIVISION RATIOS

A seven ports network is proposed to act as a six-way power divider/combiner. The proposed network structure consists of a set of ‚=4 planar transmission lines at the design frequency and does not require any isolating resistor. The power divider is capable of providing various power ratios by judicious choice of the transmission lines characteristic impedances. Design equations are derived for arbitrary power ratios. Simulation results obtained from the ADS software proved the possibility of achieving preset power ratios with fairly linear phase response over a certain bandwidth. The latter depends on the chosen power ratios. Measured results of manufactured power dividers agree well with simulations and theory.