Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The nutrient supplying capabilities of Uzinura, an endosymbiont of armoured scale insects.

An emerging common physiological feature of plant sap-feeding insects is the presence of bacterial endosymbionts capable of providing essential nutrients to their host. These microbial partners are inviable outside of specialized host tissues, and therefore a cultivation-independent approach, namely high-throughput next-generation genome sequencing, can be used to characterize their gene content and metabolic potential. To this end, we sequenced the first complete genome of the obligate endosymbiont, Candidatus 'Uzinura diaspidicola', of armoured scale insects. At 263 431 bp, Uzinura has an extremely reduced genome that is composed largely of genes encoding enzymes involved in translation and amino acid biosynthesis. The tiny size of the Uzinura genome parallels that observed in some other insect endosymbionts. Despite this extreme genome reduction, the absence of a known obligate partner bacterial symbiont suggests that Uzinura alone can supply sufficient nutrients to its host.
Modeling and Calculation of the Efficiency for Low-cost Round-wire Planar Windings in Domestic Induction Heating Applications

In this paper an analysis of the efficiency of round-wire planar inductors for domestic induction heating appliances is developed. This efficiency will be determined by the relationship between the losses in the windings and the power dissipated by eddy currents in the vessel. Therefore, it will depend on the geometry and properties of the vessel as well as winding parameters. Considering both dependences simultaneously, an analytical model of the induction efficiency is developed and experimentally verified in this paper. The model includes the dependences of the excitation current frequency, the properties of the load, the ferrite substrate properties and winding parameters. The induction efficiency of different materials is compared with and without the ferrite substrate. The analysis is used to calculate the optimum diameter of the round wire used for a specific application.
A Survey on Challenges and Methods in News Recommendation

Recommender systems are built to provide the most proper item or information within the huge amount of data on the internet without the manual effort of the users. As a specific application domain, news recommender systems aim to give the most relevant news article recommendations to users according to their personal interests and preferences. News recommendation have specific challenges when compared to the other domains. From the technical point of view there are many different methods to build a recommender system. Thus, while general methods are used in news recommendation, researchers also need some new methods to make proper news recommendations. In this paper we present the different approaches to news recommender systems and the challenges of news recommendation.
Modulation of anti-apoptosis by endogenous IAP expression in MKN45 human gastric cancer cells.

BACKGROUND This study was designed to clarify differences in apoptotic signal transduction between gastric cancer cells and leukemia cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS In order to study apoptotic signal transduction of gastric cancer cells, MKN45 gastric cancer cells expressing the wild-type p53 gene and U937 myeloid leukemia cells expressing a mutated p53 gene were prepared. Cisplatin (CDDP) was used to induce apoptosis. We compared apoptotic signal transduction downstream to mitochondria between those two lines. RESULTS In contrast to U937 cells, MKN45 gastric cancer cells revealed delayed response in release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol following caspase 3 activation. In signal pathways downstream of caspase 3 cleavage, of the three substrates detected, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and PKC (protein kinase c) delta were not activated in MKN45 cells compared with U937 cells, resulting in delayed appearance of DNA ladder formation during CDDP-induced apoptosis. MKN45 constitutively expressed cLAP1, regardless of CDDP treatment, compared with no expression in U937 Drug sensitivity testing showed that MKN45 was more resistant to CDDP than U937 cells. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that there is a delayed mitochondrial response and incomplete activation of caspase 3 in MKN45 gastric cancer cells compared with U937 leukemia cells. In addition, there was endogenous cLAP1 expression in MKN45 cells, which may be a factor in the presumed anti-apoptotic system in these human gastric cancer cells.
Converting a Binding Protein into a Biosensing Conformational Switch Using Protein Fragment Exchange

Biosensors can be used in applications ranging from identifying disease biomarkers to detecting spatial and temporal distributions of specific molecules in living cells. A major challenge facing biosensor development is how to functionally couple a biological recognition domain to an output module so that the binding event can be transduced to a visible and quantifiable signal [e.g., Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)]. Most designs achieve coupling by means of a binding protein that changes conformation upon interacting with its target. This approach is limited by the fact that few proteins possess such natural allosteric mechanisms, and for those that do, the conformational change is frequently not extensive enough to produce a large change in distance between FRET donor and acceptor groups. Here, we introduce protein fragment exchange (FREX) to address both problems. FREX employs two components: a folded binding protein and a fragment duplicated from it, the latter of which can be chosen from many possible fragments. The system is rationally tuned so that addition of ligand induces a conformational change in which the fragment exchanges positions with the corresponding segment of the binding protein. Placing fluorescent donor and acceptor groups on the binding protein and fragment reduces the background level of FRET of the unbound sensor, resulting in a ratiometric FRET response that is expected to be strong and reproducible from protein to protein. FREX is demonstrated using fibronectin III, a monobody binding scaffold that has been tailored to recognize multiple targets. Sensors labeled with Alexa FRET pairs exhibit ratiometric FRET changes of up to 8.6-fold and perform equally well in buffer and serum. A genetically encoded variant of this sensor is shown to be functional in cell lysates and in mammalian cell cultures.
Small States, Big Influence: The Overlooked Nordic Influence on the Civilian ESDP

There is almost universal agreement that the European security and defence policy (ESDP) has been driven and determined by the great powers (the UK, France and Germany). I challenge this view by arguing that the Nordic countries have had a significant, and at times even decisive, influence upon the civilian ESDP. They put civilian crisis management on the ESDP agenda and successfully kept it there in the face of strong opposition led by France; they have played central roles with respect to proposing and designing its concepts and institutions; and they have consistently made disproportionate mission contributions in terms of both personnel and treasure. I identify three factors that have blinded researchers to the Nordic role and explain the Nordic influence with four explanatory factors derived from the emerging literature on the European Union (EU) and small states. I thus rely on existing theory to make an empirical contribution to the field.
Native-oxide-based selective area growth of InP nanowires via metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy mediated by surface diffusion

The growth of InP nanowires on an InP(111) B substrate is reported. The substrate native oxide was not removed from the surface prior to growth. Nanowires were grown at 400 °C from gold catalysts in a selective area manner, without bulk growth. Unlike SiO2-based metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy selective area growth, the growth reported here is mediated by surface diffusion with a characteristic diffusion length of 4 μm, about an order of magnitude larger than values for diffusion on bare substrates. A pre-growth heating treatment at 450 °C was found to increase the yield of nanowire nucleation from the gold catalysts.
A hyperstructure approach to mitochondria

Several questions in our understanding of mitochondria are unanswered. These include how the ratio of mitochondrial (mt)DNA to mitochondria is maintained, how the accumulation of defective, rapidly replicating mitochondrial DNA is avoided, how the ratio of mitochondria to cells is adjusted to fit cellular needs, and why any proteins are synthesized in mitochondria rather than simply imported. In bacteria, large hyperstructures or assemblies of proteins, mRNA, lipids and ions have been proposed to constitute a level of organization intermediate between macromolecules and whole cells. Here, we suggest how the concept of hyperstructures together with other concepts developed for bacteria such as transcriptional sensing and spontaneous segregation may provide answers to mitochondrial problems. In doing this, we show how the problem of the very existence of mtDNA brings its own solution.
Parameter estimation of Hammerstein model based on a gradient algorithm inwavelet domain

For the discrete nonlinear Hammerstein model with the noise corrupted output data, a gradient method is proposed to estimate the parameters of the model with the input-output data in wavelet domain directly. With the wavelet theory being developed it plays an important role in signal processing. By means of wavelet transform, the signal has both characteristics of time and frequency and becomes a signal in wavelet domain, and increasing the ratio of signal to noise. The parameters of model are estimated by the wavelet gradient method, compare with the gradient method in time domain, the proposed method is effective by the simulation.
Small molecule obatoclax (GX15-070) antagonizes MCL-1 and overcomes MCL-1-mediated resistance to apoptosis

Elevated expression of members of the BCL-2 pro-survival family of proteins can confer resistance to apoptosis in cancer cells. Small molecule obatoclax (GX15-070), which is predicted to occupy a hydrophobic pocket within the BH3 binding groove of BCL-2, antagonizes these members and induces apoptosis, dependent on BAX and BAK. Reconstitution in yeast confirmed that obatoclax acts on the pathway and overcomes BCL-2-, BCL-XL-, BCL-w-, and MCL-1-mediated resistance to BAX or BAK. The compound potently interfered with the direct interaction between MCL-1 and BAK in intact mitochondrial outer membrane and inhibited the association between MCL-1 and BAK in intact cells. MCL-1 has been shown to confer resistance to the BCL-2/BCL-XL/BCL-w-selective antagonist ABT-737 and to the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. In both cases, this resistance was overcome by obatoclax. These findings support a rational clinical development opportunity for the compound in cancer indications or treatments where MCL-1 contributes to resistance to cell killing.
Influence of dialysis on post‐transplant events

Introduction: We examined the effect of haemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD) on acute rejection, delayed graft function (DGF), graft and patient survival after cadaveric renal transplantation. Materials and methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of 325 patients (cyclosporin [CyA]‐based therapy) who had their first cadaver renal transplant between January 1991 and December 1996 and followed up for a mean of 61 ± 26 months. They were divided into three groups: HD, PD and CD (where both PD and HD was used for at least 3 months). Delayed graft function was diagnosed if the patient needed dialysis in the first week post‐transplant while primary non‐function (PNF) was diagnosed if the kidney never achieved function. Graft rejection was confirmed by biopsy; early acute rejection (EAR) was defined as acute rejection occurring before 90 days and late acute rejection (LAR) as one after 90 d
EPISCOPAL ACTIVITY IN THE HEREFORD AND OXFORD DIOCESES, 1660–1760

AbstractIt has been customary to view the established church in the period 1660-1760 by the standards of the 19th century and to find it wanting. Gwatkin, for instance, referred to the period of Walpole as an ‘age of stagnation’in the church. More recently, the Exeter diocese in the 18th century was described as ‘dull an lazy, if no worse’. The suspension of convocation in 1717 and ‘the spell cast upon historians’ by the secessions of the non-jurors and the methodists appear to indicate a loss of vitality. Consequently there was little recognition of the work of conformist bishops and clergy until Norman Sykes took up their cause half a century ago. He showed that the criticism of political subservience and neglect of their ecclesiastical duties was at least open to question. Professor Sykes' works have done much to revise historians' attitudes. The object of this enquiry is to offer an evaluation of this revision by looking at the work of the bishops in two contrasting dioceses in the hundred years that .
Evaluation of empathy measurement tools in nursing: systematic review.

AIM This paper is a report of a systematic review conducted to analyse, evaluate and synthesize the rigour of measures used in nursing research to assess empathy, in order to identify a 'gold standard' for application in future studies. BACKGROUND Empathy is considered essential to the provision of quality care. We identified 20 different empathy measures used in nursing research. There are inconsistencies between tools, indicating both the inherent complexity of measuring empathy and the need to evaluate the rigour of the measures themselves. DATA SOURCES An extensive search was conducted for the period 1987 and 2007 using the Medline, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases and the keywords 'empathy', 'tool', 'scale', 'measure', 'nurse' and 'nursing'. Twenty-nine studies were identified as relevant, in which 20 different empathy measurement tools were used. Twelve tools met the inclusion criteria for this review. METHOD Twelve measures were critically reviewed and analysed. A 7-criterion framework was developed to appraise the rigour of the empathy measures, with a score range of 0-14 for each measure. RESULTS Quality scores obtained were low (2-8 of 14). Validity and reliability of data were commonly reported, but responsiveness to change was tested in only three measures. None of the measures were psychometrically robust or covered all the domains of empathy. User involvement was limited and only five were developed in nursing settings. CONCLUSION Most measures have undergone rigorous development and psychometric testing, although none is both psychometrically and conceptually satisfactory. Empathy measures need to cover all relevant domains reflecting users' own perspectives and be tested with appropriate populations in relevant care settings.
Scintillation properties and anomalous Ce3+ emission of Cs2NaREBr6:Ce3+ (RE = La,Y,Lu)

We report the optical and scintillation properties of the Ce3+-doped bromoelpasolites Cs2NaREBr6 (RE = La,Y,Lu). The γ-ray scintillation light yield of these materials varies from 6000 to 17 000 photons per MeV absorbed γ-ray energy. At room temperature (RT), the γ-ray scintillation decay curves for all compounds show a fast component of 61 ns, whereas the intrinsic Ce3+ decay time is 30 ns. The scintillation mechanism in elpasolites is addressed. In Cs2NaLuBr6:Ce3+ and Cs2NaYBr6:Ce3+, we observe for the first time the so-called Ce3+ anomalous emission in bromide compounds. This emission previously observed for chloride compounds is an ultrafast Ce3+ emission with a selective excitation mechanism. The decay time of the anomalous emission at 10 K in bromide compounds (∼7.80 ns) is faster than that in chloride compounds (∼9.90 ns). Two bands of the anomalous emission are resolved for the first time. The mechanism behind this emission is discussed.
THE SHUBENACADIE-STEWIACKE RIVER BASIN STUDY

The Shubenacadie-Stewiacke River Basin Study was initiated in 1976 to develop a comprehensive framework for managing the Basin’s water resources during a period of projected rapid economic growth. The responsibility for the Study rested with a Board of officials appointed by the Canada and Nova Scotia Ministers of the Environment. The Board concluded that the existing management framework was not adequate to promote the resolution of water quality problems arising from the cumulative effect of numerous small, disparate economic activities. It, therefore, recommended a number of institutional changes which would remedy this deficiency as well as improve cooperation among a variety of government agencies in different levels of government. A review of the Study program, including the procedural as well as the substantive aspects, suggests that there is a need for a better understanding of the social, economic and institutional aspects of water resource management than that which currently exists. The establi.
Credit spread dynamics : evidence from Latin America

This paper examines the behaviour of credit spreads on key sovereign issuers from the Latin American region, which accounts for more than one third of international bond issues by developing, or emerging, markets. Since the late 1990s, credit spreads on Latin American issues have declined broadly inline with those in other emerging markets. Recent empirical analysis has explained this phenomenon by identifying critical macroeconomic factors, including the reduction in systematic risk in individual markets, although the structural models from the theoretical finance literature also predict the importance of key default and interest rate variables. This contribution adds to the understanding of these issues by investigating the application of structural models to the Latin American setting, one historically characterized by excessive volatility and susceptibility to episodes of default.
Spectrum Auctions: How They Should and How They Should Not Be Shaped

Spectrum auctions are multiple-unit auctions where the objects auctioned are not necessarily identical. It is shown that the requirement of independent bids in such auction can prevent the existence of pure strategy equilibria (which implies inefficiency). Thus, we suggest that spectrum auctions should allow combinatorial bids. Additionally, all the auctions mentioned were multiple-round auctions - those are shown to offer an invitation to collude. A Folk Theorem as in repeated games can be proven. Preferable to a multiple-rounds scheme is a Vickrey auction, or, at least, the multiple-rounds scheme should (with a certain probability) be supplemented with a publicly announced last round. The paper is also (briefly) concerned with some other problems as a simultaneous vs. sequential procedure, the Winners' Curse, entry into the auctions, and the consideration of consumers' interests in the resulting (e.g. mobile phone) market.
Are stem-like cells responsible for resistance to therapy in breast cancer?

There is increasing evidence suggesting that some tumours originate from a stem cell population. Such observations appear to support the hypothesis that tu- mours can be generated and maintained by a small subset of undifferentiated cells able to self renew and differentiate into the bulk tumour population. Recently, cells with cancer stem cell-like properties have been identified within breast cancer tis- sues suggesting that a proportion of breast cancers may originate from such progen- itors. Moreover, the intrinsic resistance of cancer stem cells (CSCs) to a range of chemotherapies suggests that their presence in breast cancer may also play a signif- icant role in the development of an endocrine-resistant state. Future clarification of the role that CSCs play in such tumours, particularly in the context of therapeutic resistance, may lead to new treatment strategies for breast cancer where targeting of the CSCs specifically could lead to better and more sustained responses.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND RESERVATION WAGES IN WORKING-CLASS CAPE TOWN

Are the unemployed in South Africa 'pricing themselves out of the labour market;'? This paper explores this proposition through an analysis of reservation wages in Cape Town's working class district of Khayelitsha/Mitchell's Plain. It argues that reservation wages are not out of line with predicted wages. This, in turn, suggests that unemployment in the area is not attributable to job seekers having unrealistically high reservation wages. Copyright 2005 Economic Society of South Africa.
The changing AIDS epidemic in New York City: a descriptive birth cohort analysis of AIDS incidence and age at diagnosis

ObjectiveTo describe and quantify changing AIDS incidence trends in New York City. MethodsData on 44400 AIDS cases diagnosed and reported between 1981 and 1992 were analyzed among demographic and HIV transmission categories. Data were grouped into 10-year birth cohorts by sex, race/ethnicity, and mode of HIV transmission. AIDS incidence and rates of change, as well as changes in median age at diagnosis, were analyzed for persons born between 1920 and 1969. ResultsDeclining AIDS incidence between 1989 and 1992 was only observed among white men who have sex with men (MSM) born prior to 1960 and among minority MSM born prior to 1940. Between 1989 and 1992 the highest rate of increase in AIDS incidence was observed among female injecting drug users (IDU) and persons born after 1960. Median age at diagnosis increased during the study period by 1 year among white MSM, by 2 years among minority MSM, by 7 and 6 years among male and female IDU, respectively, and by 5 years among women infected through heterosexual contact. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that early HIV infection dynamics of the AIDS epidemic were differentially related to age, sex, and transmission category, which resulted in the diffusion of infection from older to younger cohorts and from men to women. The continuing increase in AIDS incidence among the 1960s cohort suggests that the future growth of the epidemic will be dependent upon infection patterns of younger birth cohorts.
Middle Fossa Vestibular Neurectomy: A Report of 373 Cases

The surgical technique for vestibular neurectomy through the middle fossa approach is described. Surgical details, including the use of a new middle fossa retractor, are discussed. A variety of technical refinements have been made to improve and shorten the operation. The main surgical indication is for Meniere's disease. It has, however, also been used in other peripheral vestibular problems such as traumatic vertigo and vertigo secondary to previous ear surgery. Long-term hearing and vestibular results using this approach for Meniere's disease have been encouraging. These results, in addition to the small incidence of postoperative complications, have made the operation extremely useful.
Mechanical Technique to Customize a Waveguide-Slot Radiating Performance

A mechanical technique to tune the radiating performance of a waveguide-fed slot is presented. Three metallic tuning screws are introduced through the bottom wall of the feeding waveguide. The field radiated by the slot is mechanically controlled with the insertion length of the tuning screws and a good input matching response is also maintained. One of the tuning screws modifies the slot coupling parameter as well as the phase of the transmitted signal, while the other pair of screws compensates the impedance mismatch introduced by the first one. A five-element traveling-wave (TW) linear array antenna has been designed and manufactured as a proof of concept to validate the performance of the tuning screws. Several improvements such as a main beam steering range of 17°, an enhancement of the antenna efficiency, the mitigation of the undesirable grating lobe appearance typical of TW air-waveguide-fed arrays, as well as the compensation of the mutual coupling effects or manufacturing tolerance errors could be experimentally achieved by using the proposed mechanism based on tuning screws.