Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Correlative Analysis of Actin Filament Assembly, Structure, and Dynamics

The effect of the type of metal ion (i.e., Ca2+, Mg2+, or none) bound to the high-affinity divalent cation binding site (HAS) of actin on filament assembly, structure, and dynamics was investigated in the absence and presence of the mushroom toxin phalloidin. In agreement with earlier reports, we found the polymerization reaction of G-actin into F-actin filaments to be tightly controlled by the type of divalent cation residing in its HAS. Moreover, novel polymerization data are presented indicating that LD, a dimer unproductive by itself, does incorporate into growing F-actin filaments. This observation suggests that during actin filament formation, in addition to the obligatory nucleation– condensation pathway involving UD, a productive filament dimer, a facultative, LD-based pathway is implicated whose abundance strongly depends on the exact polymerization conditions chosen. The “ragged” and “branched” filaments observed during the early stages of assembly represent a hallmark of LD incorporation and might be key to producing an actin meshwork capable of rapidly assembling and disassembling in highly motile cells. Hence, LD incorporation into growing actin filaments might provide an additional level of regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics. Regarding the structure and mechanical properties of the F-actin filament at steady state, no significant correlation with the divalent cation residing in its HAS was found. However, compared to native filaments, phalloidin-stabilized filaments were stiffer and yielded subtle but significant structural changes. Together, our data indicate that whereas the G-actin conformation is tightly controlled by the divalent cation in its HAS, the F-actin conformation appears more robust than this variation. Hence, we conclude that the structure and dynamics of the Mg–F-actin moiety within the thin filament are not significantly modulated by the cyclic Ca2+ release as it occurs in muscle contraction to regulate the actomyosin interaction via troponin.
Using Cellular Automata for Parking Recommendations in Smart Environments

In this work, we propose an innovative adaptive recommendation mechanism for smart parking. The cognitive RF module will transmit the vehicle location information and the parking space requirements to the parking congestion computing center (PCCC) when the driver must find a parking space. Moreover, for the parking spaces, we use a cellular automata (CA) model mechanism that can adjust to full and not full parking lot situations. Here, the PCCC can compute the nearest parking lot, the parking lot status and the current or opposite driving direction with the vehicle location information. By considering the driving direction, we can determine when the vehicles must turn around and thus reduce road congestion and speed up finding a parking space. The recommendation will be sent to the drivers through a wireless communication cognitive radio (CR) model after the computation and analysis by the PCCC. The current study evaluates the performance of this approach by conducting computer simulations. The simulation results show the strengths of the proposed smart parking mechanism in terms of avoiding increased congestion and decreasing the time to find a parking space.
Comparative study on vocal cepstral emissions of clinical depressed and normal speakers

The Mel-scale Cepstral Coefficients of the female speakers' speech sample clinically categorized into depressed and remitted speech groups are computationally estimated using the 16-triangular filter bank, and consequently taken to represent for input vector to selected classifier. The statistical measures such as the Fisher's discrimination and the separation power ranking calculation are employed on the extracted feature set for observing on their descriptive statistics, probabilities, and discriminant scores. The higher-order cepstral coefficients reveal the significant difference in term of class separation between depressed and remitted speech samples. The results of classification are supportive of the prior statistical measures evaluated on the cepstral acoustic parameters which imply the MFCCs capable of being potential indicator of depression symptom in female speakers compared to normal females.
Peer Effects and Textbooks in Primary Education: Evidence from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa

As opposed to many other school inputs, textbooks have frequently been demonstrated to significantly foster student achievement. Using the rich data set provided by the 'Program on the Analysis of Education Systems' (PASEC) for five francophone, sub-Saharan African countries, this paper goes beyond the estimation of direct effects of textbooks on students' learning and focuses on peer effects resulting from textbooks owned by students' classmates. Applying and extending nonparametric estimation methods from the treatment evaluation literature we separate the direct effect of textbooks from their peer effect. The latter clearly dominates but depends upon the initial level of textbook availability.
The Development of Theme Parks in China

Introduction Tourism plays an important role in the world economy today. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC, 2009) estimates that, from direct and indirect activities combined, the Travel and Tourism industry now accounts for 9.9 percent of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), 10.9 percent of the total quantity of the world exports, and 9.4 percent of the total quantity of the world investment. The economic importance of the Travel and Tourism industry should not be underestimated. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2008), international tourist arrivals reached 924 million in 2008, representing a growth of 2 percent compared with 2007 (tourism demand slowed in the second half of 2008, however, attributable to the deteriorating international International tourism in China has seen a rapid growth since China opened its door to western countries in 1978. The number of international tourists increased significantly seen the largest rank improvement of all countries, moving up by a remarkable 15 places from 62 nd in 2008 to 47 th in 2009. China has been building on a number of clear strengths: it is ranked 7th for its natural resources by the World Tourism Rankings, with many World Heritage natural sites and fauna that is among the richest in the world. It is ranked 15th for its cultural resources, with many World Heritage cultural sites, many international fairs and exhibitions held in the country, and creative industries that are 2 unsurpassed (Blanke, Chiesa, & Herrera, 2009). In 2010, from the international tourist arrivals by country of destinations, China was in the 3 rd place, only behind United States as the 2 nd and France as the 1 st (World Tourism Rankings, 2010). There were increasingly more theme parks built around the world and theme parks has become a major trend of world tourism development. Many countries and areas have paid close attention to develop the profitable theme park. The starting date of the theme park industry is usually put at 1955, the year in which Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. This consideration, generally accepted in spite of being arbitrary (for example, Efteling, the Dutch theme park based on popular children's tales, opened its doors in 1952), is based on the fact that Disney was configured from the beginning as a recreational model and was enthusiastically emulated, imitated and envied by a great number of agents and corporations. No doubt, Disney has achieved great …
Identification and visualization of multidimensional antigen‐specific T‐cell populations in polychromatic cytometry data

An important aspect of immune monitoring for vaccine development, clinical trials, and research is the detection, measurement, and comparison of antigen‐specific T‐cells from subject samples under different conditions. Antigen‐specific T‐cells compose a very small fraction of total T‐cells. Developments in cytometry technology over the past five years have enabled the measurement of single‐cells in a multivariate and high‐throughput manner. This growth in both dimensionality and quantity of data continues to pose a challenge for effective identification and visualization of rare cell subsets, such as antigen‐specific T‐cells. Dimension reduction and feature extraction play pivotal role in both identifying and visualizing cell populations of interest in large, multi‐dimensional cytometry datasets. However, the automated identification and visualization of rare, high‐dimensional cell subsets remains challenging. Here we demonstrate how a systematic and integrated approach combining targeted feature extraction with dimension reduction can be used to identify and visualize biological differences in rare, antigen‐specific cell populations. By using OpenCyto to perform semi‐automated gating and features extraction of flow cytometry data, followed by dimensionality reduction with t‐SNE we are able to identify polyfunctional subpopulations of antigen‐specific T‐cells and visualize treatment‐specific differences between them. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Selected‐fit versus induced‐fit protein binding: Kinetic differences and mutational analysis

The binding of a ligand molecule to a protein is often accompanied by conformational changes of the protein. A central question is whether the ligand induces the conformational change (induced‐fit), or rather selects and stabilizes a complementary conformation from a pre‐existing equilibrium of ground and excited states of the protein (selected‐fit). We consider here the binding kinetics in a simple four‐state model of ligand–protein binding. In this model, the protein has two conformations, which can both bind the ligand. The first conformation is the ground state of the protein when the ligand is off, and the second conformation is the ground state when the ligand is bound. The induced‐fit mechanism corresponds to ligand binding in the unbound ground state, and the selected‐fit mechanism to ligand binding in the excited state. We find a simple, characteristic difference between the on‐ and off‐rates in the two mechanisms if the conformational relaxation into the ground states is fast. In the case of selected‐fit binding, the on‐rate depends on the conformational equilibrium constant, whereas the off‐rate is independent. In the case of induced‐fit binding, in contrast, the off‐rate depends on the conformational equilibrium, while the on‐rate is independent. Whether a protein binds a ligand via selected‐fit or induced‐fit thus may be revealed by mutations far from the protein's binding pocket, or other “perturbations” that only affect the conformational equilibrium. In the case of selected‐fit, such mutations will only change the on‐rate, and in the case of induced‐fit, only the off‐rate. Proteins 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Grain growth in the inner regions of Herbig Ae/Be star disks

We present new mid-infrared spectroscopy of the emission from warm circumstellar dust grains in Herbig Ae/Be stars. Our survey significantly extends the sample that was studied by Bouwman et al. (2001). We find a correla- tion between the strength of the silicate feature and its shape. We interpret this as evidence for the removal of small (0.1m) grains from the disk surface while large (1-2m) grains persist. If the evolution of the grain size distribution is dominated by gravitational settling, large grains are expected to disappear first, on a timescale which is much shorter than the typical age of our programme stars. Our observations thus suggest a continuous replenishment of micron sized grains at the disk surface. If the grain replenishment is due to the dredge-up of dust from the disk interior, the mineralogy we observe is representative of the bulk composition of dust in these stars.
Dichotomies for Queries with Negation in Probabilistic Databases

This article charts the tractability frontier of two classes of relational algebra queries in tuple-independent probabilistic databases. The first class consists of queries with join, projection, selection, and negation but without repeating relation symbols and union. The second class consists of quantified queries that express the following binary relationships among sets of entities: set division, set inclusion, set equivalence, and set incomparability. Quantified queries are expressible in relational algebra using join, projection, nested negation, and repeating relation symbols. Each query in the two classes has either polynomial-time or #P-hard data complexity and the tractable queries can be recognised efficiently. Our result for the first query class extends a known dichotomy for conjunctive queries without self-joins to such queries with negation. For quantified queries, their tractability is sensitive to their outermost projection operator: They are tractable if no attribute representing set identifiers is projected away and #P-hard otherwise.
A Heuristic Bitrate Control for Non-embedded Wavelet Image Encoders

Most recently developed wavelet image emcoders support as native feature an embedded bitrate control that could be useful for applications where obtaining an accurate bitrate is critical. Well-known encoders like JPEG2000 and SPIHT employ embedded coding. However, this feature makes them highly complex, being a serious restriction for certain applications and devices (such as mobile multimedia communications involving PDAs, mobile phones, etc.). As a consequence, in the last years, authors proposed non-embedded encoders with vetyfast and low-memory-demanding encoding/decoding processes. In this paper, we propose rate control tools that are able to supply the required rate control accuracy with as low as possible complexity increase. Experimental tests show that good results are obtained by employing trivial models of the encoder engine, being able to modulate the accuracy degree with lightweight iterative versions
Designing Interactive Manual Wheelchair Skills Training for Children

Access to wheelchair skills training is important for the mobility and independence of wheelchair users, but training rates are low - particularly among young people. In this paper, we present Geometry Wheels, a movement-based experience prototype to explore the potential of interactive technology to support basic wheelchair skills training for manual wheelchair users, designed with the support of occupational therapists. Results of an evaluation with 15 participants (10 young wheelchair users and 5 parents) show that interactive systems can deliver engaging and challenging activities that encourage wheelchair navigation and activity. However, the project also revealed challenges in designing for individual differences in physical abilities, in conflicts between children's and parents' perceptions of ability, and barriers to home use. We outline strategies for the design of rehabilitative technology to help young people with disabilities build physical abilities.
The use of structure information to increase alignment accuracy does not aid homologue detection with profile HMMs

MOTIVATION The best quality multiple sequence alignments are generally considered to derive from structural superposition. However, no previous work has studied the relative performance of profile hidden Markov models (HMMs) derived from such alignments. Therefore several alignment methods have been used to generate multiple sequence alignments from 348 structurally aligned families in the HOMSTRAD database. The performance of profile HMMs derived from the structural and sequence-based alignments has been assessed for homologue detection. RESULTS The best alignment methods studied here correctly align nearly 80% of residues with respect to structure alignments. Alignment quality and model sensitivity are found to be dependent on average number, length, and identity of sequences in the alignment. The striking conclusion is that, although structural data may improve the quality of multiple sequence alignments, this does not add to the ability of the derived profile HMMs to find sequence homologues. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION A list of HOMSTRAD families used in this study and the corresponding Pfam families is available at http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Users/sgj/alignments/map.html CONTACT sgj@sanger.ac.uk
Qualitative case study analysis of the development of end of life care in Macao

vii Lay summary . ix Table of contents . xi List of tables . xvi List of figures . xvi Preface . xvii 1. Chapter One: Introduction . 19 Introduction . 19 Background to this research . 19 1.2. 1. Health care provision in Macao . 21 Research aim and questions . 24 The structure of the thesis . 24 2. Chapter Two: Literature review . 27 Introduction . 27 Literature search methods . 27 Clarifying terminologythe definition of end of life care . 28 The emergence of the modern hospice movement . 29 2.4. 1. The international context. 29 2.4. 2. The Chinese context . 33 The Chinese perspective on death and dying . 43 2.5. 1. Death as a taboo . 43 2.5. 2. The preservation of life . 45
High levels of genetic variability and differentiation in hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Clupeidae, Clupeiformes) populations revealed by PCR-RFLP analysis of the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region

The hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Clupeidae, Clupeiformes) is an important anadromous clupeid species from the Western division of the Indo-Pacific region. It constitutes the largest single fishable species in Bangladesh. Information on genetic variability and population structure is very important for both management and conservation purposes. Past reports on the population structure of T. ilisha involving morphometric, allozyme and RAPD analyses are contradictory. We examined genetic variability and divergence in two riverine (the Jamuna and the Meghna), two estuarine (Kuakata and Sundarbans) and one marine (Cox's Bazar) populations of T. ilisha by applying PCR-RFLP analysis of the mtDNA D-loop region. The amplified PCR products were restricted with four restriction enzymes namely, XbaI, EcoRI, EcoRV, and HaeIII. High levels of haplotype and gene diversity within and significant differentiations among, populations of T. ilisha were observed in this study. Significant FST values indicated differentiation among the river, estuary and marine populations. The UPGMA dendrogram based on genetic distance resulted in two major clusters, although, these were subsequently divided into three, corresponding to the riverine, estuarine and marine populations. The study underlines the usefulness of RFLP of mtDNA D-loop region as molecular markers, and detected at least two differentiated populations of T. ilisha in Bangladesh waters.
Exploiting Locality in Lt-ram Computation

As processor speeds continue to increase the primary assumption of the RAM model: that all memory locations may be accessed in unit time, becomes unrealistic. In the following we consider an alternate model, called the Limiting Technology or LT-RAM, where the cost of accessing a given memory location is dependent on the size of the memory module. In general, computations which are performed on an LT-RAM with a memory of size n n will result in execution times which are n times slower than a comparable RAM, if no special precautions are taken. Here we provide a general technique by which, for a class of algorithms, this slowdown can be reduced to O(n 6= log 1=2 n) for sequential memory access, or to just O(1) if the memory access can be pipelined.
Fast, Accurate, and Space-efficient Tracking of Time-weighted Frequent Items from Data Streams

How can we discover interesting patterns from time-evolving high speed data streams? How to analyze the data streams quickly and accurately, with little space overhead? High speed data stream has been receiving increasing attentions due to its wide applications such as sensors, network traffic, social networks, etc. One of the most fundamental tasks in the data stream is to find frequent items; especially, finding recently frequent items has become important in real world applications. In this paper, we propose TwMinSwap, a fast, accurate, and space-efficient method for tracking recent frequent items. TwMinSwap is a deterministic version of our motivating algorithm TwSample which is a sampling based randomized algorithm with nice theoretical guarantees. TwMinSwap improves TwSample in terms of speed, accuracy, and memory usage. Both require only O(k) memory spaces, and do not require any prior knowledge on the stream such as its length and the number of distinct items in the stream. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate that TwMinSwap outperforms all competitors in terms of accuracy and memory usage, with fast running time. Thanks to TwMinSwap, we report interesting discoveries in real world data streams, including the difference of trends between the winner and the loser of U.S. presidential candidates, and doubly-active patterns of movies.
Cofilin is an essential component of the yeast cortical cytoskeleton

We have biochemically identified the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue of the mammalian actin binding protein cofilin. Cofilin and related proteins isolated from diverse organisms are low molecular weight proteins (15-20 kD) that possess several activities in vitro. All bind to monomeric actin and sever filaments, and some can stably associate with filaments. In this study, we demonstrate using viscosity, sedimentation, and actin assembly rate assays that yeast cofilin (16 kD) possesses all of these properties. Cloning and sequencing of the S. cerevisiae cofilin gene (COF1) revealed that yeast cofilin is 41% identical in amino acid sequence to mammalian cofilin and, surprisingly, has homology to a protein outside the family of cofilin- like proteins. The NH2-terminal 16kD of Abp1p, a 65-kD yeast protein identified by its ability to bind to actin filaments, is 23% identical to yeast cofilin. Immunofluorescence experiments showed that, like Abp1p, cofilin is associated with the membrane actin cytoskeleton. A complete disruption of the COF1 gene was created in diploid cells. Sporulation and tetrad analysis revealed that yeast cofilin has an essential function in vivo. Although Abp1p shares sequence similarity with cofilin and has the same distribution as cofilin in the cell, multiple copies of the ABP1 gene cannot compensate for the loss of cofilin. Thus, cofilin and Abp1p are structurally related but functionally distinct components of the yeast membrane cytoskeleton.
Resource Allocation for Energy Saving in Downlink Wireless Communication with Direction-Variable Antennas

The directional antenna provides energy focusing in a specific direction, therefore becoming an effective energy-saving solution. In this paper, we consider energy saving problem in a further way by resource allocation in base station equipped with direction-variable antennas. Besides the total power limitation and the total time slot limitation, the concurrent transmissions are also limited by the amount of directional antennas. Within these limitations, we jointly perform the power allocation, the time allocation and the user selection, which is different from the other energy-saving works. We explore the influence of user selection on the resource utilization and propose the concept of selectivity advantage. A state decomposition model is then proposed to exploit the combination gain, and also simplify the inherent complexity of the joint design problem. But its parameters are coupled, therefore the explicit solution cannot be obtained through the convex optimization algorithm. A suboptimal solution, named Time Refund based Resource Allocation algorithm (TRRA), is proposed and simulations show that the proposed method outperforms the non-joint allocation algorithm in energy saving, especially in the case of large amount of users.