Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Genome and Network Centrality Analysis to Identify Drug Targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv

Potential drug targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv were identified through systematically integrated comparative genome and network centrality analysis. The comparative analysis of the complete genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv against Database of Essential Genes (DEG) yields a list of proteins which are essential for the growth and survival of the pathogen. Those proteins which are nonhomologous with human were selected. The resulting proteins were then prioritized by using the four network centrality measures: degree, closeness, betweenness, and eigenvector. Proteins whose centrality value is close to the centre of gravity of the interactome network were proposed as a final list of potential drug targets for the pathogen. The use of an integrated approach is believed to increase the success of the drug target identification process. For the purpose of validation, selective comparisons have been made among the proposed targets and previously identified drug targets by various other methods. About half of these proteins have been already reported as potential drug targets. We believe that the identified proteins will be an important input to experimental study which in the way could save considerable amount of time and cost of drug target discovery.
Oscillatory Brain State Predicts Variability in Working Memory

Our capacity to remember and manipulate objects in working memory (WM) is severely limited. However, this capacity limitation is unlikely to be fixed because behavioral models indicate variability from trial to trial. We investigated whether fluctuations in neural excitability at stimulus encoding, as indexed by low-frequency oscillations (in the alpha band, 8–14 Hz), contribute to this variability. Specifically, we hypothesized that the spontaneous state of alpha band activity would correlate with trial-by-trial fluctuations in visual WM. Electroencephalography recorded from human observers during a visual WM task revealed that the prestimulus desynchronization of alpha oscillations predicts the accuracy of memory recall on a trial-by-trial basis. A model-based analysis indicated that this effect arises from a modulation in the precision of memorized items, but not the likelihood of remembering them (the recall rate). The phase of posterior alpha oscillations preceding the memorized item also predicted memory accuracy. Based on correlations between prestimulus alpha levels and stimulus-related visual evoked responses, we speculate that the prestimulus state of the visual system prefigures a cascade of state-dependent processes, ultimately affecting WM-guided behavior. Overall, our results indicate that spontaneous changes in cortical excitability can have profound consequences for higher visual cognition.
Video multicast over the Internet

Multicast distribution of video is an important component of many existing and future networked services. The Internet lacks support for quality of service (QoS) assurance, which makes the transmission of real-time traffic challenging. In addition, the heterogeneity of the Internet's transmission resources and end-systems makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to agree on acceptable traffic characteristics among multiple receivers of the same video stream. We survey techniques that have been proposed for transmitting video in this environment. These generally involve adaptation of video traffic carried over the network to match receiver requirements and network conditions. In addition to their applicability to the near-term capabilities of the Internet, they also are of relevance to a future, QoS-aware Internet environment. We first consider source-based techniques in which the source adjusts the video stream traffic to match some consensus among the receivers about its desired characteristics. These techniques can result in an unfair treatment for receivers, especially those whose capability is significantly above or below the group consensus. We then consider techniques that aim to improve the fairness among the receivers by sending the video in multiple (layered or replicated) streams. We also discuss several error control mechanisms, using timely retransmission of missing data to further improve the quality of the received video. Finally, we discuss some of the issues in the development of Internet video multicast protocols.
Creating Mentoring Opportunities to Promote Cultural Competencies and Social Justice

This article focuses on the application of mentorship strategies to develop cultural competencies and promote social justice in future generations of counseling psychologists. Moreover, the emphasis is on building pedagogical structures that provide necessary learning opportunities for mentees, guidance and mentoring, as well as needed social change. Specifically, pedagogical structures paired with mentoring opportunities were created to: (a) inspire and expand students’ cultural learning to promote cultural competencies in both university and community populations, (b) promote understanding of current and historical events affecting the hearts and souls of mentees, (c) provide mentees with strategies to successfully navigate across cultural borders within the United States, (d) promote culturally-infused student services, (e) promote cultural competencies in crossing national borders, and (f) utilize psychological research as a vehicle of social change. Thus, this article expands the traditional definition of mentoring to include a planful and strategic role in creating real-life, real-time educational opportunities to promote social justice at one university across a decade, that are easily transferable to other institutions.
Rituximab or a second anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy for rheumatoid arthritis patients who have failed their first anti–tumor necrosis factor therapy? Comparative analysis from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register

To compare the effectiveness of rituximab (RTX) or a second anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti‐TNF) therapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who had failed their first anti‐TNF and switched to either RTX or a second anti‐TNF, in routine clinical practice.
The Signature Sequence Region of the Human Drug Transporter Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1B1 Is Important for Protein Surface Expression

The organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) encompass a family of membrane transport proteins responsible for the uptake of xenobiotic compounds. Human organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1) mediates the uptake of clinically relevant compounds such as statins and chemotherapeutic agents into hepatocytes, playing an important role in drug delivery and detoxification. The OATPs have a putative 12-transmembrane domain topology and a highly conserved signature sequence (human OATP1B1: DSRWVGAWWLNFL), spanning the extracellular loop 3/TM6 boundary. The presence of three conserved tryptophan residues at the TM interface suggests a structural role for the sequence. This was investigated by site-directed mutagenesis of selected amino acids within the sequence D251E, W254F, W258/259F, and N261A. Transport was measured using the substrate estrone-3-sulfate and surface expression detected by luminometry and confocal microscopy, facilitated by an extracellular FLAG epitope. Uptake of estrone-3-sulfate and the surface expression of D251E, W254F, and W258/259F were both significantly reduced from the wild type OATP1B1-FLAG in transfected HEK293T cells. Confocal microscopy revealed that protein was produced but was retained intracellularly. The uptake and expression of N261A were not significantly different. The reduction in surface expression and intracellular protein retention indicates a structural and/or membrane localization role for these signature sequence residues in the human drug transporter OATP1B1.
Banks’ Asset Securitization and Information Opacity

This study investigates the effect of financial asset securitization on banks’ information opacity. Using bid-ask spreads, share turnover and analyst forecast dispersion as proxies for information opacity, we consistently find that banks that engage in securitization transactions have higher information opacity than banks with no asset securitizations. We also find that the information opacity increases with the magnitude of the securitized assets. These results are robust to controlling for various determinants of information opacity and a potential selfselection bias. Unlike prior literature that focuses on the benefits of asset securitization, our study examines some of the costs of this financing technique. Compared to other financing techniques, asset securitizations are achieved through very complex transaction structures. Our findings suggest that an important consequence of asset securitization is the increased information opacity arising from such complexity.
The s-cone PHNR and pattern ERG in primary open angle glaucoma.

PURPOSE To compare the sensitivity of the photopic negative response (PhNR) from the shortwave (S)-sensitive and the long (L)- and medium (M)-wave-sensitive cone electroretinograms (ERGs), with the pattern electroretinogram (PERG) in the early stages of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS Eighteen patients under treatment for diagnosed POAG and 19 normal control subjects were investigated. S-cone ERGs were elicited using adaptation to 650-nm light to suppress L-cone activity, and substitution between 450 nm and 535 nm to silence M-cone response at luminances higher than rod saturation. PhNRs from the L&M-cone pathways were elicited by a 200-msec pulse of red light (650 nm) on a continuous blue (450 nm) background. PERGs were recorded in accordance with the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) standard. RESULTS Each method showed a statistically significant difference in the two groups. The S-cone PhNR was the most sensitive test and provided the most statistically significant results, with the largest area enclosed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that all three types of ERG may be useful in glaucoma investigation. The L- and M-cone PhNRs may have a role in monitoring established glaucoma. The previously reported high sensitivity of the PERG was confirmed. Extensive diffuse damage to S-cone bipolar and bistratified ganglion cells appears to occur at a very early stage in POAG, owing to a pressure-related mechanism, and the S-cone PhNR was the most sensitive test. It may in future have an important role in diagnosis and monitoring of early glaucoma. Further investigation of this possibility is recommended.
Remembering turbulent times : accounting for Adult ADHD through the reconstruction of childhood

This thesis explores the diagnosis of ADHD among adults in the UK. The condition has only recently been defined as a lifelong disorder and extended from childhood to adulthood. Through ethnographic research in a specialist psychiatric clinic and with a patient organisation, this thesis traces the diagnostic process as it takes place in both sites and also between them. It highlights the role of memory practices in the many versions of ADHD that circulate. I outline clinical and lay practices of identifying ADHD. Individuals in the support groups identified with the diagnosis through recognising themselves in other people, as if in a mirror, which I describe as ‘moments of recognition’. In the clinic, the elicitation of medical histories brought contrasting memory practices to the fore, as patients sought evidence from their childhood necessary to a formal diagnosis. Although these memory practices appear distinct, they are combined in practice. This fieldwork led me to concentrate less on the potentially negative medicalisation of human experiences, the main topic of social science research in the field, than the ways in which memory practices were mobilised. These practices were key to the production of evidence-based diagnosis in the clinic and to collective archives in the support groups. Moreover, both types of memory practices informed wider relations. Thus, I explore unexpected ways of making kin such as the manner in which children, more commonly diagnosed with ADHD than adults, ‘made’ their parents in the light of a shared condition. Furthermore, concepts of neurobiology led some research participants to recognise strangers as ‘family’, linked by a common factor and celebrated as neurodiversity. This thesis attends not only to the emerging and mostly unexamined lived experiences of adults with ADHD, but it also contributes to an anthropological exploration of social and caring practices more broadly.
Vector Control Analysis of Doubly-Fed Induction Generator in Wind Farms

This paper presents vector control of grid-connected wind turbines; also the second goal of this research is to survey the vector control for wind turbines with doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) when a short circuit faults in grid happens. In fact in this paper, vector control of stator-flu x is applied for stator- and rotor-side converters in order to control of active and reactive powers simu ltaneously, and to keep the DC-link voltage constant. Also the method performances are tested in different cases.
Considerações sobre a ética no candomblé

A partir da descricao de eventos desenrolados em terreiros de Salvador o texto visa contribuir para uma reflexao acerca do modo proprio do candomble colocar e resolver questoes eticas, formar e oferecer condicoes para o exercicio de uma sensibilidade etica no dia a dia do terreiro. Ao abordar casos relativos a iniciacao e formacao gradativa de adeptos e ao desenrolar de relacoes entre pessoas humanas e orixas, pretende-se discutir tanto alguns dos elementos que definem o agir etico no candomble, quanto caracterizar a montagem etica que sustenta esse agir.
Circulating anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies with predominance of subclass IgG4 and false-negative immunoassay test results in anti-glomerular basement membrane disease.

Autoantibodies against a constituent of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), the α3-chain of type IV collagen, can cause both rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and alveolar hemorrhage, referred to as anti-GBM disease or Goodpasture disease. Anti-GBM antibodies generally are of immunoglobulin G subclass 1 (IgG1) and can in most cases readily be detected in the circulation using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). We report 4 cases in which anti-GBM ELISA yielded negative or borderline results despite life-threatening disease. All 4 patients had positive results by IgG4 anti-GBM ELISA and all had undetectable antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody. All cases were confirmed with kidney biopsy. Two of the patients showed higher signal in anti-GBM ELISA when using a nondenaturing coating buffer. All 4 were young women with severe alveolar hemorrhage and favorable renal outcome, suggesting that patients with predominance of IgG4 autoantibodies may constitute a distinct subgroup of anti-GBM disease. We conclude that patients with idiopathic alveolar hemorrhage can have anti-GBM disease detected by only IgG subclass-specific tests or kidney biopsy.
Guiding VNS with Tree Decomposition

Tree decomposition introduced by Robertson and Seymour aims to decompose a problem into clusters constituting an a cyclic graph. There are works exploiting tree decomposition for complete search methods. In this paper, we show how tree decomposition can be used to efficiently guide the exploration of local search methods that use large neighborhoods like VNS. We introduce tightness dependent tree decomposition which allows to take advantage of both the structure of the problem and the constraints tightness. Experiments performed on random instances (GRAPH) and real life instances (CELAR and SPOT5) show the appropriateness and the efficiency of our approach.
Nuclear stress perfusion imaging versus computed tomography coronary angiography for identifying patients with obstructive coronary artery disease as defined by conventional angiography: insights from the CorE-64 multicenter study

We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography angiography (CTA) versus myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) for detecting obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) as defined by conventional quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). Sixty-three patients who were enrolled in the CorE-64 multicenter study underwent CTA, MPI, and QCA imaging. All subjects were referred for cardiac catheterization with suspected or known coronary artery disease. The diagnostic accuracy of quantitative CTA and MPI for identifying patients with 50% or greater coronary arterial stenosis by QCA was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Pre-defined subgroups were patients with known CAD and those with a calcium score of 400 or over. Diagnostic accuracy by ROC analysis revealed greater area under the curve (AUC) for CTA than MPI for all 63 patients: 0.95 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89-0.100] vs 0.65 (95%CI: 0.53-0.77), respectively (P<0.01). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 0.93, 0.95, 0.97, 0.88, respectively, for CTA and 0.85, 0.45, 0.74, 0.63, respectively, for MPI. In 48 patients without known CAD, AUC was 0.96 for CTA and to 0.67 for SPECT (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in AUC for CTA in patients with calcium score below 400 versus over 400 (0.93 vs 0.95), but AUC was different for SPECT (0.61 vs 0.95; P<0.01). In a direct comparison, CTA is markedly superior to MPI for detecting obstructive coronary artery disease in patients. Even in subgroups traditionally more challenging for CTA, SPECT does not offer similarly good diagnostic accuracy. CTA may be considered the non-invasive test of choice if diagnosis of obstructive CAD is the purpose of imaging.
Predictive coding in auditory processing : insights from advanced modeling of EEG and MEG mismatch responses

This thesis aims at testing the predictive coding account of auditory perception. This framework rests on precision-weighted prediction errors elicited by unexpected sounds that propagate along a hierarchical organization in order to maintain the brain adapted to a varying acoustic environment. Using the mismatch negativity (MMN), a brain response to unexpected stimuli (deviants) that could reflect such errors, we could address the computational and neurophysiological underpinnings of predictive coding. Precisely, we manipulated the predictability of deviants and applied computational learning models and dynamic causal models (DCM) to electrophysiological responses (EEG, MEG) measured simultaneously. Deviant predictability was found to modulate deviance responses, a result supporting their interpretation as prediction errors. Such effect might involve the (high-level) implicit learning of sound sequence regularities that would in turn influence auditory processing in lower hierarchical levels. Computational modeling revealed the perceptual learning of sounds, resting on temporal integration exhibiting differences induced by our predictability manipulation. In addition, DCM analysis indicated predictability changes in the synaptic connectivity established by deviance processing. These results conform predictive coding predictions regarding both deviance processing and its modulation by deviant predictability and strongly support perceptual learning of auditory regularities achieved within an auditory hierarchy. Our findings also highlight the power of this mechanistic framework to elaborate and test new hypothesis enabling to improve our understanding of auditory processing
Regional integration and specialisation patterns in Spain *

* The authors gratefully acknowledge CICYT financial support through research projects SEC99-0432 and PB98-1187, as well as the comments of an anonymous referee. Daniel Tirado has contributed to this paper while visiting the European University Institute in Florence. A scholarship given by the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Program SM1999-004, has made possible his research stay. Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyse how economic integration in Europe has affected industrial geographical concentration in Spain and explain what the driving forces behind industry location are. Firstly, we construct regional specialisation and geographical concentration indices for Spanish 50 provinces and 30 industrial sectors in 1979, 1986 and 1992. Secondly, we carry out an econometric analysis of the determinants of geographical concentration of industries. Our main conclusion is that there is no evidence of increasing specialisation in Spain between 1979 and 1992 and that the most important determinant of Spain's economic geography is scale economies. Furthermore, traditional trade theory has no effects in explaining the pattern of industrial concentration. Resum L'objectiu d'aquest treball és analitzar com la integració econòmica a Europa ha afectat a la concentració geogràfica de les indústries a Espanya i explicar quines són les forces determinants de la localització industrial. En primer lloc, construïm índexs d'especialització regional i de concentració geogràfica per a les 50 províncies espanyoles i per 30 sectors industrials el 1979, 1986 i 1992. En segon lloc, realitzem una anàlisi economètrica dels determinants de la concentració geogràfica de les indústries. Les nostres conclusions més importants són que no existeix evidència d'un augment en l'especialització a Espanya entre 1979 i 1992 i que el determinant més important de la geografia econòmica espanyola són les economies d'escala. A més a més, la teoria tradicional del comerç no explica el patró de concentració industrial.
Trends in Current Tobacco Use, Smoking Rates and Quit Attempts among Saudi Population during Periods of 17 Years (1996–2012): Narrative Review Article

Background: In this study, we investigated the causes behind increase trends in smoking and extent of tobacco use in Saudi Arabia. We also explored the issues related to and its impact tobacco control research and policy in the Kingdom. Methods: Data were collected from various published articles, public data based such as WHO, Geneva and CDC Atlanta. Data were also obtained from surveys conducted by various institutions under The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) for high school students and Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) for medical student. Tobacco importation data and death rates were estimated by various International Organizations. Results: Tobacco importation in Saudi Arabia increased from 1996 to 2012. The proportion of smokers in the KSA almost doubled especially in males from 21% in 1996 to 37% in 2012. Mortality attributable to tobacco in the KSA was estimated to account for 280, 000 premature deaths over the same period (without accounting for smuggled tobacco). The economic burden of tobacco consumption over the last 10 years (2001–2010) in the KSA was 20.5 billion US dollars (based on 2011 prices). Anti-tobacco measures in KSA have been reinforced by the enactment of anti-tobacco laws and collaboration among different government agencies and ministries. Conclusion: If effective tobacco control strategies are not enacted, serious consequences, increasing premature mortality rates among them, will continue to threaten the KSA.