Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fungicidal effect of three new synthetic cationic peptides against Candida albicans.

OBJECTIVE Peptide antibiotics are considered a new class of antifungal agents. Of these, an alpha-helical, cationic peptide termed Dhvar 4, a relative of salivary histatin has been shown to be an antifungal of relatively high potency. Similarly, lactoferricin B (LFB) and a derivative thereof, LFB(17-30), disrupts the fungal cell membrane and acts against Candida albicans. As Dhvar 4 and LFB(17-30), exhibit almost identical amino acid sequences at their C-terminal, we hypothesized that laboratory synthesis of peptides with an alpha-helical structure and having similar amphipathic properties could lead to products with candidacidal activity. Hence, three such peptides - JH8194, JH8195 and JH 8944, were synthesized and their antifungal properties compared with recognized antifungals LFB, LFB(17-30), human lactoferricin (LFH), Histatin-5 and Dhvar 4, against two isolates of C. albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS The antifungal agents were synthesized and their secondary structures evaluated according to a previously described protocol of Situ and Bobek (2000)Antimicrob Agents Chemother44: 1485-1493. The C. albicans strains were oral isolates from a human immunodeficiency virus-infected (isolate A2) and a healthy (A6) individual. A standard concentration of yeasts was exposed to a range of dilutions of the agents for a specific duration and the cell death (viability) in terms of the resultant colony forming units ml(-1) was quantified. RESULTS Dhvar 4, showed the most alpha-helical propensity, and was the least fungicidal while LFB and LFB(17-30) showed the highest antifungal potential, and demonstrated total kill of A6, and A2 at 5 and 10 microM concentrations, respectively whilst LFH killed both isolates at a l0 microM concentration. Of the three new synthetic peptides, JH 8194 was the most potent (total kill of A6/A2 strains at 1.25/2.5 microM), followed by JH 8195 (total kill of A6/A2 strains at 5/10 microM while JH 8944 was the least potent as a 25 microM concentration was required to kill either strain of Candida. On further analyses of the relationship between pI value of the peptides and their anticandicidal activity, a significant positive correlation was noted. In order to rule out a cytotoxic effect of the new synthetic peptides we compared the fungicidal and hemolytic activities under similar incubation conditions using freshly isolated erythrocytes and all three peptides exhibited no detectable hemolysis upto an concentration of 100 microM in contrast to the polyene antifungal amphotericin B that elicited significant initiation of hemolysis at a concentration of 5.0 microM. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that laboratory synthesis of agents with an alpha-helical structure and having amphipathic properties similar to known, natural antifungal agents may be a promising avenue to generate products with improved antifungal activity.
Multi-view through-the-wall radar imaging using compressed sensing

This paper considers the problem of Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging (TWRI) from multiple views using Compressed Sensing (CS). The scene reconstruction problem is reformulated in terms of finding a sparse representation of the target locations, consistent with the observations. In contrast to the common approach of first applying image formation to each view and then fusing the single-view images, observations from the different views are combined together into a composite measurement vector and a new dictionary is constructed accordingly. A sparse image representation of the scene is then obtained from the composite measurement vector and the new dictionary using ί1-norm minimization. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach using various standoff distances and perspectives achieves a better performance in terms of detecting targets compared to the alternative approach of image formation followed by fusion.
Identification of a Biosynthetic Gene Cluster and the Six Associated Lipopeptides Involved in Swarming Motility of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas species are known to be prolific producers of secondary metabolites that are synthesized wholly or in part by nonribosomal peptide synthetases. In an effort to identify additional nonribosomal peptides produced by these bacteria, a bioinformatics approach was used to “mine” the genome of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 for the metabolic potential to biosynthesize previously unknown nonribosomal peptides. Herein we describe the identification of a nonribosomal peptide biosynthetic gene cluster that codes for proteins involved in the production of six structurally related linear lipopeptides. Structures for each of these lipopeptides were proposed based on amino acid analysis and mass spectrometry analyses. Mutations in this cluster resulted in the loss of swarming motility of P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 on medium containing a low percentage of agar. This phenotype is consistent with the loss of the ability to produce a lipopeptide that functions as a biosurfactant. This work gives additional evidence that mining the genomes of microorganisms followed by metabolite and phenotypic analyses leads to the identification of previously unknown secondary metabolites.
Glyceroneogenesis and the Triglyceride/Fatty Acid Cycle*

From the ‡Department of Biochemistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel, the §Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4935, the ¶Schwartz Center for Metabolism and Nutrition, MetroHealth Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44109, and the Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Identifying Monitoring Nodes with Selection of Authorized Nodes in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

2 Abstract: Mobile ad hoc networks have different characteristics from wired networks. There are new challenges related to security issues that need to be addressed. In this paper, a monitoring nodes selection method with high battery power in these networks is presented. We propose a two-phase detection scheme. In the first phase, authorized nodes are detected and in the second phase, nodes with the largest battery power as monitoring nodes are considered. So that the first phase of detection procedure uses non-interactive zero knowledge technique in order to determine the identity of nodes. In this technique, nodes do not need to exchange multiple messages to prove their identities. The proposed scheme is enabled with the main operations of ad hoc networking, which are found at the link and network layer. So, the proposed scheme could improve intrusion detection in the area of security.
Six-year intervention outcomes for adolescent children of parents with the human immunodeficiency virus.

HYPOTHESIS Having a parent with the human immunodeficiency virus has a significant negative impact on an adolescent child's adjustment. OBJECTIVE To assess the adjustment of adolescent children to having a parent with the human immunodeficiency virus over 6 years, following the delivery of a coping skills intervention. DESIGN A randomized controlled trial with repeated evaluations that was analyzed with an intention-to-treat analysis. A skill-based intervention was delivered in 3 modules over 24 sessions, with the third module being delivered only if parents died. SETTING AND PATIENTS A representative sample of parents with the human immunodeficiency virus (n = 307) and their adolescent children (n = 423) was recruited from the Division of AIDS Services in New York City; 51.5% (n = 158) of the parents died. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Employment and school enrollment, receiving public welfare support, early parenthood, mental health symptoms, and the quality of romantic relationships. RESULTS Over 6 years, significantly more adolescents in the intervention condition than the control condition were employed or in school (82.58% vs 68.94%), were less likely to receive public welfare payments (25.66% vs 36.65%), were less likely to have psychosomatic symptoms (mean, 0.24 vs 0.31), were more likely to report better problem-solving and conflict resolution skills in their romantic relationships (mean score, 4.38 vs 4.20), expected to have a partner with a good job (mean, 4.57 vs 4.19), and expected to be married when parenting (mean, 3.05 vs 2.40). With marginal significance, the percentage of parents in the intervention condition (34.6%) was less than in the control condition (44.1%). CONCLUSION Physicians must consider the psychosocial consequences of illness-related challenges on children and provide interventions.
Some Ideas on Improving Compilation Techniques for Reducing Power Consumption

For a portable digital device, power consumption is crucial under the constraint of limited battery life. Switching activity in CMOS circuits contributes to a significant amount of power consumption. Efforts are made in every design level to help hardware reduce the switching activity required to execute the program. In this paper, we study the problem of reducing power consumption arising from sign extension from the instruction level. Some ideas are proposed to reduce power consumption by eliminating unnecessary sign extension operations when a program is in the datapath. Experiments show that there exist many opportunities for improvement.
Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Success of Malay Entrepreneurs: Religiosity as Moderator

This paper presents a conceptual framework of the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on business success of Malay entrepreneurs. As Islam and the Malays are inseparable, the moderating role of religiosity in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business success is incorporated and discussed in the framework. The implications of the framework for entrepreneurship theory and practices are also discussed. Propositions stated and model proposed in the paper can be tested in empirical studies in various economic sectors.
Heteroduplex DNA Position Defines the Roles of the Sgs1, Srs2, and Mph1 Helicases in Promoting Distinct Recombination Outcomes

The contributions of the Sgs1, Mph1, and Srs2 DNA helicases during mitotic double-strand break (DSB) repair in yeast were investigated using a gap-repair assay. A diverged chromosomal substrate was used as a repair template for the gapped plasmid, allowing mismatch-containing heteroduplex DNA (hDNA) formed during recombination to be monitored. Overall DSB repair efficiencies and the proportions of crossovers (COs) versus noncrossovers (NCOs) were determined in wild-type and helicase-defective strains, allowing the efficiency of CO and NCO production in each background to be calculated. In addition, the products of individual NCO events were sequenced to determine the location of hDNA. Because hDNA position is expected to differ depending on whether a NCO is produced by synthesis-dependent-strand-annealing (SDSA) or through a Holliday junction (HJ)–containing intermediate, its position allows the underlying molecular mechanism to be inferred. Results demonstrate that each helicase reduces the proportion of CO recombinants, but that each does so in a fundamentally different way. Mph1 does not affect the overall efficiency of gap repair, and its loss alters the CO-NCO by promoting SDSA at the expense of HJ–containing intermediates. By contrast, Sgs1 and Srs2 are each required for efficient gap repair, strongly promoting NCO formation and having little effect on CO efficiency. hDNA analyses suggest that all three helicases promote SDSA, and that Sgs1 and Srs2 additionally dismantle HJ–containing intermediates. The hDNA data are consistent with the proposed role of Sgs1 in the dissolution of double HJs, and we propose that Srs2 dismantles nicked HJs.
Design and implementation of a cognitive mediated intervention programme with first year metallurgy students

8 CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 9 1.1. Historical Background 9 1.2. Context of Engineering Students 10 CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW 15 2.1. Transition from school to university 15 2.2. Learning Approaches 16 2.3. Constructivism 19 2.4. Intelligence 20 2.5. Feuerstein's theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM) 21 2.6. Instrumental Enrichment 23 2.7. Studies that critique the findings of Cognitive Mediation. 25 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 28 3.1. History of the Research Programme 28 3.2. Rationale for the present study 32 3.3. Aims of the current study 33 3.3.1. General Aim 33 3.3.2. Specific aims 33 3.3. Research Questions 34 3.4. Research Design 34 3.5. Sample 35 3.6. The Measurement Instrument 35
Should we add screening for and treating left ventricular hypertrophy to the management of all patients needing secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease?

Patients with overt vascular disease (TIA, CVA, peripheral vascular disease, etc.) and patients with diabetes are both well known to be at exceptionally high risk of cardiac death, and are generally thought to need more intensive risk factor control, i.e. secondary prevention. Their high risk of cardiac death is generally attributed to coincidental coronary artery disease, leading to cardiac death due to fresh ischaemic events. While coronary disease is undoubtedly important, left ventricular abnormalities could also be a major contributor to cardiac death in these patients, causing ’arrhythmic’ as opposed to ’ischaemic’ deaths. These left ventricular abnormalities consist of both left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and LV systolic dysfunction (LVSD). In this article, we focus only on LVH, as LVSD has often been discussed elsewhere. That LVH is a risk factor is well established. In Framingham, the relative risk of cardiovascular mortality for every 50 g increment in echo LV mass was 1.73 in men and 2.12 in women, even after correction for risk factors such as blood pressure.1 Even in patients with established coronary artery disease, the extra risk for cardiac death due to LVH is 2.8, when adjusted for age, gender and hypertension.2 In patients with coronary disease, this extra risk due to echo LVH appears to be greater than that for multivessel coronary disease or to LV dysfunction: in one head-to-head comparison, the relative risks were 2.4, 1.6 and 2.0, respectively.3 Unfortunately, the simple ECG is a very insensitive way of assessing LVH. LVH is now recognized as a risk factor even in patients who are traditionally regarded as ‘normotensive’. In the Framingham population, LVH was present in 28% of women aged >60 years with systolic blood pressure between 125 and 139 mmHg (i.e. normotensive, and not requiring antihypertensive therapy by present guidelines). 4 This …
Design of SRR-Based Microwave Sensor for Characterization of Magnetodielectric Substrates

A novel split-ring resonator (SRR)-based microwave sensor for accurately determining the real parts of the complex permittivity and the complex permeability of magnetodielectric composites is proposed. The proposed sensor is realized using the microstrip technology, where two SRRs coupled magnetically with the microstrip line are printed on two sides of the line. The sensor is designed using the full-wave electromagnetic solver and its equivalent circuit model is obtained. A numerical model of the proposed sensor is developed for extracting the magnetic and the dielectric properties of the sample under test in terms of change in resonance frequency after loading the device with the test specimen. The proposed methodology is validated by fabricating the sensor on RT/duroid 6006 substrate and testing various standard dielectric and magnetodielectric samples viz. Teflon, Poly vinyl chloride, Plexiglas, Polyethylene, Carbonyl iron, Ni0.6Co0. 4Fe2O4, and Cobalt (30%)/Polystyrene composite in S-band. The measured relative permeability and the relative permittivity of the test specimens are found to be in close agreement with their values available in literature with maximum error of less than 8%.
Manipulability analysis

The ability of computing a quality index for given configurations can be useful for several applications in the context of robotic manipulation. E.g. it can be used for monitoring the current state of the system or it can support decision processes, such as grasp selection in humanoid robotics. Here, a large set of precomputed grasps for a given object have to be quickly filtered in order to select the reachable sub set, for which the inverse kinematics (IK) problem has to be solved. In this work, we present an approach for analyzing the workspace capabilities of a manipulator in order to store a representation for efficient online processing. Compared to existing work, where usually reachability information is used to represent the robot's capabilities, we show how an extended manipulability measure can be used to build a quality distribution in workspace. The proposed approach for manipulability measurement is suitable for redundant manipulators while considering joint limits and self-distance. Further, task specific distributions are introduced and several applications for the humanoid robots ARMAR-III [1] and iCub [2] are presented.
A 2 mW, 55.8-GHz CMOS injection-locked frequency divider with 7.1-GHz locking range

A low-power and wide-locking-range 55.8-GHz (V-band) injection-locked frequency-divider (ILFD) using standard 0.13 μm CMOS technology is reported. To enhance locking range, a shunt inductor was introduced in the source node of the cross-coupled pair to maximize the equivalent load impedance of the tail transistor, i.e. to maximize the internal power, over the frequency band of interest. In addition, the inductors and capacitors of the LC-tank were implemented by low-Q micro-stripline inductors and high-Q varactors, respectively, to further improve the locking range of the ILFD. The result shows that a wide-locking-range of 7.1 GHz (from 48.7 GHz to 55.8 GHz, 13.6%) was achieved. The power consumption of the ILFD is only 2 mW from a 1.1 V power supply. The chip area was only 0.66×0.48 mm2 excluding the test pads.
Design of a New Printed Dipole Antenna Using in High Latitudes for Inmarsat

A novel printed dipole antenna is designed for the L-band satellite communication system: Inmarsat application (downlink: 1525-1559 MHz, uplink: 1626.5-1660.5 MHz). The proposed antenna was carefully investigated and discussed. The measured results show that the impedance bandwidth for return loss below -10 dB is about 170 MHz, and the half-power beamwidth (HPBW) can be up to 110°. The antenna can be used in the high latitudes thanks to its wide HPBW.
Dynamical Correlation for Multivariate Longitudinal Data

Nonparametric methodology for longitudinal data analysis is becoming increasingly popular. The analysis of multivariate longitudinal data, where data on several time courses are recorded for each subject, has received considerably less attention, despite its importance for practical data analysis. In particular, there is a need for measures and estimates to capture dependency between the components of vector-valued longitudinal data. We propose and analyze a simple and effective nonparametric method to quantify the covariation of components of multivariate longitudinal observations, which are viewed as realizations of a random process. This includes the notion of a correlation between derivatives and time-shifted versions. The concept of dynamical correlation is based on a scalar product obtained from pairs of standardized smoothed curves. The proposed method can be used when observation times are irregular and not matching between subjects or between responses within a subject. For higher-dimensional data, one may construct a dynamical correlation matrix that then serves as a starting point for standard multivariate analysis techniques, such as principal components. We iliustrate our methods via simulations as well as with data on five acute-phase blood proteins measured longitudinally from a study of hemodialysis patients.
Perceived Quality through Package Design : an Eye Tracking Study

In this research, quality cues are examined on a simple consumer product: coffee. Previous research suggests that consumers use extrinsic & intrinsic cues to estimate perceived quality when they do not have previous experience with the product. A focus group, eye-tracking data, and a questionnaire were used in an attempt to understand where consumers focus on a package when trying to assess product quality. The eye-tracking results showed that consumers fixated primarily on the brand name and coffee blend, and focused only on the country of origin or special features (i.e. fair trade or organic) when it was located near the center of the package, in close proximity to the brand name. Interestingly, price does not seem to be as directly tied to quality as expected. In fact, the survey results showed that the lowest rated brands, in terms of quality, were not the lowest priced.
Genetic evidence points to an osteocalcin‐independent influence of osteoblasts on energy metabolism

The skeleton has been shown recently to regulate glucose metabolism through an osteoblast‐specific hormone, osteocalcin, which favors β‐cell proliferation, insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and energy expenditure. An implication of this finding is that a decrease in osteoblast numbers would compromise glucose metabolism in an osteocalcin‐dependent manner. To test this hypothesis, osteoblasts were inducibly ablated by cross‐breeding transgenic mice expressing a tamoxifen‐regulated Cre under the control of the osteocalcin promoter with mice in which an inactive form of the diphtheria toxin A chain was introduced into a ubiquitously expressed locus. Ablation of osteoblasts in adult mice profoundly affected glucose metabolism. In a manner similar to what is seen in the case of osteocalcin deficiency, a partial ablation of this cell population resulted in hypoinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, and decreased insulin sensitivity. However, and unlike what is seen in osteocalcin‐deficient mice, osteoblast ablation also decreased gonadal fat and increased energy expenditure and the expression of resistin, an adipokine proposed to mediate insulin resistance. While administration of osteocalcin reversed (fully) the glucose intolerance and reinstated normal blood glucose and insulin levels, it only partially restored insulin sensitivity and did not affect the improved gonadal fat weight and energy expenditure in osteoblast‐depleted mice. These observations not only strengthen the notion that osteoblasts are necessary for glucose homeostasis and energy expenditure but also suggest that in addition to osteocalcin, other osteoblast‐derived hormones may contribute to the emerging function of the skeleton as a regulator of energy metabolism. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Effect of Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-512F Dextransucrase Carboxy-Terminal Deletions on Dextran and Oligosaccharide Synthesis

ABSTRACT Dextransucrase (DSR-S) from Leuconostoc mesenteroidesNRRL B-512F is a glucosyltransferase that catalyzes synthesis of soluble dextran from sucrose. In the presence of efficient acceptor molecules, such as maltose, the reaction pathway is shifted toward glucooligosaccharide synthesis. Like glucosyltransferases from oral streptococci, DSR-S possesses a C-terminal glucan-binding domain composed of a series of tandem repeats. In order to determine the role of the C-terminal region of DSR-S in dextran or oligosaccharide synthesis, four DSR-S genes with deletions at the 3′ end were constructed. The results showed that the C-terminal region modulated the initial velocity of dextran synthesis but that theKm for sucrose, the optimum pH, and the activation energy were all unaffected by the deletions. The C-terminal domain modulated the rate of oligosaccharide synthesis whatever acceptor molecule was used (a good acceptor molecule such as maltose or a poor acceptor molecule such as fructose). The C-terminal domain seemed to play no role in the catalytic process in dextran and oligosaccharide synthesis. In fact, it seems that the role of the C-terminal domain of DSR-S may be to facilitate the translation of dextran and oligosaccharides from the catalytic site.