Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of PCR products from bacilli using electrospray ionization FTICR mass spectrometry.

A procedure for rapid purification of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products allowing precise molecular weight determination using electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry is described. PCR amplification utilized the DNA polymerase from Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) which, unlike Taq, does not incorporate a nontemplated terminal deoxyadenosine phosphate. An 89-base pair nucleotide portion of the spacer region between the 16S and 23S ribosomal rRNA genes was amplified from the genome of three members of Bacillus cereus group and a 114 nucleotide region from the Bacillus subtilis. PCR involves polymerization of nucleotide precursors using two oligonucleotide primers and an amplification enzyme, as well as the presence of metal ions. Mass spectrometric analysis greatly benefits from removal of the oligonucleotide primers (15- and 17-mers in this instance) and nucleotide precursors since they adversely affect sensitivity and metal ion adduction results in an inaccurate molecular weight determination. In the presence of guanidinium hydrochloride the PCR products bind preferentially to a silica resin, allowing removal of other components (i.e., dNTP's primers, and salts). Further removal of metal ions was accomplished using a microdialysis device, allowing samples to be pumped through a hollow cellulose fiber with external countercurrent flow of 2.5 mM ammonium acetate. Prior to injection into the mass spectrometer, the sample buffer was adjusted to 50 vol % acetronitrile, 25 mM piperidine, and 25 mM imidazole, which enhanced signal intensity. The molecular weights of the PCR products determined by nucleotide sequence and MS analysis were in excellent agreement, and several PCR products were analyzed where mass differences corresponding to single base substitutions could be accurately assigned. These assignments were possible due to the high mass precision, accuracy, and resolution FTICR inherently affords. This constitutes the first report demonstrating the ionization and detection of PCR products by mass spectrometry with mass precision and accuracy for assignment of such modifications or substitutions.
Local impact of the English arm of the UK Bowel Cancer Screening Pilot study

The English arm of the UK Bowel Cancer Screening Pilot study recently concluded its third round. The primary aim was to assess the impact of faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening on the detection of symptomatic (non‐screen‐detected) cancers within the target age group (50–69 years). The secondary aim was to assess differences between screened and non‐screened cohorts in Dukes' classification at diagnosis.
Cognitive and Affective Reactions of U.S. Consumers to Global Brands

The authors find that U.S. consumers hold contradictory notions of what characterizes a global brand beyond its wide recognition, availability, and standardization across markets. In particular, they find that the association of brand globality with higher quality is not as strong as the literature has proposed and that affect directly influences how people perceive global brands. The initial results imply that previous research on globality effects may have confounded brand globality and brand strength and that the latter is responsible for the quality effect. A follow-up study shows that for most consumers, brand globality is associated with positive affect and that this affect is also reflected among consumers who are explicitly against global brands. The authors conclude that response to global brands is driven more by affect and less by cognition.
Représentations et régularisations pour la classification de sentiments

Les forums, les blogs et les recommandations sur les sites de vente en ligne constituent une source de donnees d’un nouveau genre presentant de forts enjeux economiques et scientifiques. L’exploitation de ces donnees permet de predire efficacement les ventes de jeux videos et les entrees de cinema. Le but de la fouille d’opinion est egalement d’affiner les profils d’utilisateurs et d’utiliser les sources ouvertes du web pour effectuer des sondages. Les algorithmes classiques de classification de documents ne fonctionnent pas de maniere optimale sur ces donnees, ce qui explique la dynamique de recherche actuelle sur le sujet. Nous comparons dans cet article differents descripteurs textuels sur la tâche de classification supervisee de polarite et nous montrons l’interet des descripteurs complexes (N-grammes, sous-sequences) par rapport aux unigrammes. Ces representations riches aboutissent a une tres grande dimensionnalite qui pose probleme lors de l’apprentissage: nous proposons une nouvelle methode de regularisation basee sur la penalisation des termes frequents qui permet d’exploiter efficacement de tels espaces. Nous montrons l’interet de cette approche sur les donnees Amazon et Movie Reviews.
Duration of Rent Extraction and the Entry Mode Decision of Multinational Enterprises

The prior literature is ambiguous about the effects of stronger intellectual property rights (IPR) on the choice of a multinational firm's mode of entry into foreign markets. However, available indexes of IPR protection exist only at the country level and do not identify interindustry variation in the ability to extract rents through exclusive rights and other factors. The authors introduce this dimension and compute a parameter that reflects the relative length of time that positive profits may be earned in various industries. Estimation results find that strengthening IPR would reduce exporting in all industries in the sample. However, it would raise (reduce) foreign direct investment, relative to licensing, in industries with shorter (longer) rent-extraction times.
Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Data: The Issue of Stability

Feature selection has become a necessary step to the analysis of high-dimensional datasets coming from several application domains (e.g., web data, document and image analysis, biological data). Though well-established methods exist to select highly discriminative features, discarding the ones that may be either redundant or irrelevant to the problem at hand, little attention has been so far given to the stability of these methods, in cases where the composition of the original dataset is perturbed to some extent (e.g., by adding new records or by random sampling). In this work, we highlight the importance of jointly considering both stability and predictive performance when the selection results are used for knowledge discovery and domain understanding. As a case study, we consider five popular feature selection algorithms, representatives of different selection approaches, and experimentally investigate their behaviour across three different domains: Internet advertisements, text categorization and biomedical data classification. Useful insight on the "intrinsic" stability of each algorithm seems to emerge, despite the peculiar characteristics of each dataset.
Auswirkungen demografischer Veränderungen auf Niveau und Struktur des Privaten Verbrauchs – eine Prognose für Deutschland bis 2050 –

This thesis analyzes the impact of different demografic scenarios on level and composition of private consumption in Germany. The analysis is based on the current household budget survey (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 1998) whose datas are adapted to the concepts of national accounting. Therefore households have to be defined by demografic aspects to investigate their consumption behavior. In the next step this will be used to forecast the effects of an aging population on private consumption by utilize a shift share analysis. The results lay open that the demografic impact is minor compared to economic factors influencing the composition of private consumption. This holds also in regard to the development of the absolute level of private consumption.
A Dynamic Model of the Effect of Campaign Spending on Congressional Vote Choice

The relationship between campaign spending and congressional vote choice is clearly dynamic, yet the typical formulation of this process involves aggregate models estimated with cross-sectional data. In this paper, we estimate an explicitly dynamic model of the relationship between spending and votes in a single House district in 1984. By attaching only contributions raised at the point of survey interviews, we eliminate the measurement error present in the only other study of this sort. By defining spending as the lag of contributions, we are able to investigate which expenditure schemes seem to benefit candidates most. We find statistically significant effects for challenger spending but not for that of the incumbent. The sharpest effects occur when contributions are lagged only one day. We also find that money has the greatest effect on the preferences of those individuals who did not vote, suggesting that the people most susceptible to the candidate's message are also the ones least likely to follow through on the commitment.
Broad-Spectrum Antivirals against 3C or 3C-Like Proteases of Picornaviruses, Noroviruses, and Coronaviruses

ABSTRACT Phylogenetic analysis has demonstrated that some positive-sense RNA viruses can be classified into the picornavirus-like supercluster, which includes picornaviruses, caliciviruses, and coronaviruses. These viruses possess 3C or 3C-like proteases (3Cpro or 3CLpro, respectively), which contain a typical chymotrypsin-like fold and a catalytic triad (or dyad) with a Cys residue as a nucleophile. The conserved key sites of 3Cpro or 3CLpro may serve as attractive targets for the design of broad-spectrum antivirals for multiple viruses in the supercluster. We previously reported the structure-based design and synthesis of potent protease inhibitors of Norwalk virus (NV), a member of the Caliciviridae family. We report herein the broad-spectrum antiviral activities of three compounds possessing a common dipeptidyl residue with different warheads, i.e., an aldehyde (GC373), a bisulfite adduct (GC376), and an α-ketoamide (GC375), against viruses that belong to the supercluster. All compounds were highly effective against the majority of tested viruses, with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations in the high nanomolar or low micromolar range in enzyme- and/or cell-based assays and with high therapeutic indices. We also report the high-resolution X-ray cocrystal structures of NV 3CLpro-, poliovirus 3Cpro-, and transmissible gastroenteritis virus 3CLpro- GC376 inhibitor complexes, which show the compound covalently bound to a nucleophilic Cys residue in the catalytic site of the corresponding protease. We conclude that these compounds have the potential to be developed as antiviral therapeutics aimed at a single virus or multiple viruses in the picornavirus-like supercluster by targeting 3Cpro or 3CLpro.
EVALUATION OF THE 2006/7 AGRICULTURAL INPUT SUBSIDY PROGRAMME, MALAWI. FINAL REPORT

This report evaluates the 2006/7 Malawi Government Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme (AISP). The main objective of the evaluation is to assess the impact and implementation of the AISP in order to provide lessons for future interventions in growth and social protection. The evaluation combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. Quantitative data were collected through a national survey in 2007 of 2,491 households who were previously interviewed in the 2004/05 Integrated Household Survey, a survey of retail shops selling inputs in six districts and data on stocks and sales from manufacturers, large-scale importers and dealers of fertilizers and seeds. The quantitative data was triangulated by qualitative data from focus group discussions with smallholder farmers in 12 districts, and key informant interviews with government staff, input distributors and beneficiary and non-beneficiary households. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics, econometric modelling and livelihood and rural economy modelling. An Interim Report in March 2007 provides fuller details of the implementation of the programme.
Combat stress or hemorrhage? Evidence for a decision-assist algorithm for remote triage.

INTRODUCTION In the setting of remote military triage, when physical access to the patient is not possible, traditional physiological measurements available to a combat medic may not differentiate between a wounded soldier and an active soldier. We tested the hypothesis that changes in high-frequency R-R interval spectral power (RRI HF) and pulse pressure (PP) would differ between progressive central hypovolemia (simulated hemorrhage) and exercise to evaluate their potential for remotely distinguishing active from bleeding soldiers. The RRI HF and PP were used because of their ability to track central hypovolemia. METHODS There were 12 (8 female/4 male) healthy, normotensive, nonsmoking subjects (age 27 +/- 2 yr; height 169 +/- 3 cm; weight 68 +/- 5 kg) who were exposed to progressive lower body negative pressure (LBNP) and a supine cycle ergometer protocol. ECG and blood pressure were measured continuously. Exercise workloads were determined by matching the heart rate (HR) responses to each LBNP level. Data were analyzed in time and frequency domains. RESULTS HR increased from 67 +/- 3 bpm at rest to 101 +/- 4 bpm by -60 mmHg LBNP and was matched within 5% during exercise. By the final stage, RRI HF decreased by a similar magnitude during both LBNP (-78 +/- 7%) and exercise (-85 +/- 6%). PP decreased by 30 +/- 4% with LBNP compared with an increase of 20 +/- 6% during exercise. CONCLUSION Monitoring PP in combination with RRI HF would distinguish a bleeding from an active soldier. Technologies that incorporate telemetry to track these derived vital signs would provide a combat medic with remote decision support to assess soldier status on the battlefield.
Nitric Oxide Increases p21Waf1/Cip1 Expression by a cGMP-dependent Pathway That Includes Activation of Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase and p70 S6k *

Nitric oxide (NO) regulates the expression of p21Waf1/Cip1 in several cell types. The present study examined the role of both the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p70 S6 kinase (p70S6k) in the NO-induced increase in p21 expression that occurred in adventitial fibroblasts during the cell cycle. Both ERK and p70S6k were phosphorylated in response to the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and the activation was rapid, transient, and preceded increased p21 expresion under defined conditions where serum was present. Addition of a selective inhibitor of ERK phosphorylation (PD98059) prevented the subsequent phosphorylation of p70S6k and the increase in p21 protein. Both cGMP and cAMP activated both ERK and p70S6k, whereas only selective inhibitors of protein kinase G prevented the activation of the kinases by SNAP. A complex between ERK and p70S6k was documented by immunoprecipitation procedures. Rapamycin blocked p70S6k phosphorylation induced by NO and also inhibited p53 phosphorylation and p21 expression whereas PD98059 only prevented the NO-induced increase in p21 protein without influencing either p53 activation or p21 mRNA expression. The studies show a unique relationship between NO, ERK, and p70S6k and also provide evidence for a novel role of p70S6k in the activation of p53.
New institutions for governing the agri-food industry

This paper argues that developing, signalling and monitoring quality in the agri-food industry has become a central issue that requires hybrid organisations and institutions. We examine the forces pushing the industry towards hybrid arrangements, and then extend our analysis to alternative institutional solutions designed for guaranteeing food safety. Our core thesis is that increasingly centralised modes of organisation are gaining ground in the coordination of transactions and that they are substituting private institutions for public policies. We argue that these solutions should be assessed in a transaction cost perspective.
A genome-wide association study identifies an osteoarthritis susceptibility locus on chromosome 7q22.

OBJECTIVE To identify novel genes involved in osteoarthritis (OA), by means of a genome-wide association study. METHODS We tested 500,510 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1,341 Dutch Caucasian OA cases and 3,496 Dutch Caucasian controls. SNPs associated with at least 2 OA phenotypes were analyzed in 14,938 OA cases and approximately 39,000 controls. Meta-analyses were performed using the program Comprehensive Meta-analysis, with P values <1 x 10(-7) considered genome-wide significant. RESULTS The C allele of rs3815148 on chromosome 7q22 (minor allele frequency 23%; intron 12 of the COG5 gene) was associated with a 1.14-fold increased risk (95% confidence interval 1.09-1.19) of knee and/or hand OA (P = 8 x 10(-8)) and also with a 30% increased risk of knee OA progression (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.64) (P = 0.03). This SNP is in almost complete linkage disequilibrium with rs3757713 (68 kb upstream of GPR22), which is associated with GPR22 expression levels in lymphoblast cell lines (P = 4 x 10(-12)). Immunohistochemistry experiments revealed that G protein-coupled receptor protein 22 (GPR22) was absent in normal mouse articular cartilage or synovium. However, GPR22-positive chondrocytes were found in the upper layers of the articular cartilage of mouse knee joints that were challenged with in vivo papain treatment or methylated bovine serum albumin treatment. GPR22-positive chondrocyte-like cells were also found in osteophytes in instability-induced OA. CONCLUSION Our findings identify a novel common variant on chromosome 7q22 that influences susceptibility to prevalence and progression of OA. Since the GPR22 gene encodes a G protein-coupled receptor, this is potentially an interesting therapeutic target.
Advances in the Identification of Clinical Yeast Isolates Using Matrix-Assisted Laser 1 Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry

Advances in the Identification of Clinical Yeast Isolates Using Matrix-Assisted Laser 1 Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry 2 3 Blake W. Buchan and Nathan A. Ledeboer 4 Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Dynacare Laboratories, 9200 W. 5 Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53226. 6 7 Running Title: Identification of Yeast Using MALDI-TOF 8 9 Correspondence: Nathan A. Ledeboer 10 Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin 11 9200 West Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53226 12 Phone: 414-805-7556 13 Email: nledeboe@mcw.edu 14 15 Copyright © 2013, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.03105-12 JCM Accepts, published online ahead of print on 20 February 2013
Localization and Properties of Enzymes Involved with Electron Transport Activity in Mycobacteria

A study of the subcellular localization of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-3-(4, 3-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) oxido-reductase systems in Mycobacterium was presented. Evidence based on starch gel electrophoresis and different responses of the subcellular fractions to heat inactivation suggested the existence of more than one enzyme responsible for the NADH-MTT oxido-reductase activity. One type of activity was found in the membrane-mesosome fraction which contained labile and electrophoretically non-migrating enzymes. Another type of activity was also detected in the soluble fraction which on starch gel electrophoresis exhibited 4 bands of activity, two of which showed heat resistance.
Economics and demography

Part 1: The Demographic Outlook Introduction The Current Scene 1. Dilemmas and Objectives 2. Population Determinants: Mortality 3. Population Determinants: Fertility 4. Population Determinants: Migration Part 2: The Economic Factors 5. Adam Smith's Growth and Population Theory 6. Malthus on the Poor Laws, and Modern Malthusians 7. Growth Economics and Population 8. Population and the Environment 9. A Summing Up Maps World Fertility Pattern, 1972 World Mortality Pattern, 1972 World Population Growth Pattern, 1972 Table of World Population Estimates, 1974
Melatonin and Mammary Pathological Growth

In this article we review the state of the art on the role of the pineal gland and melatonin in mammary cancer tumorigenesis in vivo as well as in vitro. The former hypothesis of a possible role of the pineal gland in mammary cancer development was based on the evidence that the pineal, via its main secretory product, melatonin, downregulates some of the pituitary and gonadal hormones which control mammary gland development and are also responsible for the growth of hormone-dependent mammary tumors. Furthermore, melatonin could act directly on tumoral cells, thereby influencing their proliferative rate. Other possible origins of melatonin's antitumoral actions could be found in its antioxidant or immunoenhancing properties. The working hypotheses of most experiments were that the activation of the pineal gland, or the administration of melatonin, should give rise to antitumoral behavior; conversely, suppression of the pineal gland or melatonin deficits should stimulate mammary tumorigenesis. From in vivo studies on animal models of tumorigenesis, the general conclusion is that experimental manipulations activating the pineal gland, or the administration of melatonin, enlarge the latency and reduce the incidence and growth rate of chemically induced mammary tumors, while pinealectomy usually has the opposite effects. The direct actions of melatonin on mammary tumors have been suggested because of its ability to inhibit, at physiological doses (1 nM), the in vitro proliferation and invasiveness of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. The fact that most studies have been performed on two models, chemically induced mammary adenocarcinoma in rats (in vivo studies) and the cell tumor line MCF-7 (in vitro studies), makes the generalization of the results somewhat difficult. However, the characteristics of these actions, comprising different aspects of tumor biology such as initiation, proliferation, and metastasis, as well as the doses (physiological range) at which the effect is accomplished, give special value to these findings. On the strength of these data, the small number of clinical studies focusing on the possible therapeutic value of melatonin on breast cancer is surprising.
The Contradictions of Welfare to Work: Social Security Reform in Britain

Upon coming to power in 1997, New Labour made the restructuring of social security one of its top priorities. Reform of the welfare system was portrayed as the means by which growing inequality and social division, the legacy of more than two decades of Conservative government, would be overcome. For Tony Blair, the government's welfare reform programme was about national renewal and the reduction of social division and inequality
Pathogenicity of Pratylenchus vulnus on plum rootstocks

Les effets de Pratylenchus vulnus ont ete evalues, en serre et en microparcelles, sur cinq porte-greffe de prunier dont PSM 101, Montizo et Citation, recemment introduits sur le marche espagnol. En serre, Montizo, PSM 101, Citation et Saint Julien 655-2 se sont montres hotes de P. vulnus. Le poids des racines de Montizo et de Saint Julien est plus eleve (P ≤ 0.05) chez les pieds inocules avec le nematode que chez les pieds temoins, non inocules; il en est de meme pour le poids frais des parties aeriennes de Citation et de Montizo. La longueur de la tige n'est superieure chez les plants temoins que pour Montizo