Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacillus subtilis YhaM, a Member of a New Family of 3′-to-5′ Exonucleases in Gram-Positive Bacteria

ABSTRACT A strain of Bacillus subtilis lacking two 3′-to-5′ exoribonucleases, polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) and RNase R, was used to purify another 3′-to-5′ exoribonuclease, which is encoded by the yhaM gene. YhaM was active in the presence of Mn2+ (or Co2+), was inactive in the presence of Mg2+, and could also degrade single-stranded DNA. The half-life of bulk mRNA in a mutant lacking PNPase, RNase R, and YhaM was not significantly different from that of the wild type, suggesting the existence of additional activities that can participate in mRNA turnover. Sequence homologues of YhaM were found only in gram-positive organisms. The Staphylococcus aureus homologue, CBF1, which had been characterized as a double-stranded DNA binding protein involved in plasmid replication, was also shown to be an Mn2+-dependent exoribonuclease. YhaM protein has a C-terminal “HD domain,” found in metal-dependent phosphohydrolases. By structure modeling, it was shown that YhaM also contains an N-terminal “OB-fold,” present in many oligosaccharide- and oligonucleotide-binding proteins. The combination of these two domains is unique. Thus, YhaM and 10 related proteins from gram-positive organisms constitute a new exonuclease family.
PLANT MITOSIS PROMOTING FACTOR DISASSEMBLES THE MICROTUBULE PREPROPHASE BAND AND ACCELERATES PROPHASE PROGRESSION IN TRADESCANTIA

The regulation of mitosis in higher plant cells has been investigated by microinjecting protein kinase from the metaphase‐arresting (met1) mutant ofChlamydomonas. Biochemical characterization of this enzyme complex confirms the presence of a p34cdc2/cyclin B‐like kinase. The enzyme was injected into living stamen hair cells ofTradescantia virginianain which microtubules (MTs) were visualized using fluorescent analogue cytochemistry and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Microinjection of this p34cdc2/cyclin B‐like kinase caused rapid disassembly of the preprophase band of MTs but not of interphase‐cortical, spindle or phragmoplast MTs. Effects of the enzyme on the cytomorphology of live prophase cells were also monitored using video microscopy. We found that injection of this enzyme accelerated chromatin condensation and nuclear envelope breakdown. This indicates the presence and function in plants of an enzyme that can initiate nuclear division similar to the maturation or mitosis promoting factor (MPF) of animal cells. These studies provide the first direct evidence that the mitotically‐active form of plant MPF can drive disassembly of preprophase band MTs, chromosome condensation and initiation of mitosis in plant cells.
System for calibration of non-intrusive load meters with load identification ability

Non-intrusive load meters (NILM) with load identification ability are developed in several institutes and companies. A system for calibration of such meters is presented in this paper. The system can simulate an arbitrary current waveform of a home appliance. A tested NILM measured the waveforms and a load identification probability was stated.
Sobre la interpretación de la cuenta corriente

The interpretation of the current account of the balance of payments often causes discussion. This is not surprising since data must be seen in the context of the expectations that the agents and the analyst entertain. This paper presents a simple intertemporal model as a reference which may help to evaluate the equilibrium response of the current account and related variables to different impulses. It is then argued that “unprecedented” shocks may induce agents to form inconsistent beliefs, and particularly to hold biased wealth perceptions, with repercussions on the current account. The paper discusses some scenarios of this type.
A modeling and optimizing method based on the topology information of wireless sensor network

For the problem of the confliction and interference between the signals transferred by the sensors can't be solved very well by the distributed scheduling transfer protocols, a new center scheduling and optimizing method based on the whole topology information of the WSN is proposed here. First get the line graph from the node graph of the network, and then find all the link sets that contain the largest number of links that could transfer data on the same time without confliction or interference. The best transmission slots could be gotten by arranging these sets. If all the nodes in WSN transmission on these slots, the balance of transmission rate and success ratio of data transferring could be fitted well and the state of the whole WSN could satisfy the application through trade off the capability parameters.
Quantification of Activity During Wheelchair Basketball and Rugby at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games: A Pilot Study

To date, no published data exists on distances and speeds traveled by rugby or basketball players during game play. The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative information of selected characteristics of wheelchair basketball and rugby game play. A miniaturized data logger was used to collect the distance traveled, average velocity, activity time, and number of starts and stops during basketball and rugby games. Participants were recruited prior to wheelchair basketball and rugby tournaments during the 2007 and 2008 National Veterans Wheelchair Games. Inclusion criteria were age 18 years or older and been participating in wheelchair basketball or rugby. The wheelchair rugby athletes on average traveled 2364.78 ± 956.35 meters at 1.33 ± 0.25 m/sec with 242.61 ± 80.31 stops and starts in 29.98 ± 11.79 min of play per game. The wheelchair basketball athletes on average traveled 2679.52 ± 1103.66 m at 1.48 ± 0.13 m/sec with 239.78 ± 60.61 stops and starts in 30.28 ± 9.59 min of play per game. Previous research has not reported basketball or rugby game play variables such as these, making this data set unique. The information could be used by players and coaches to create training protocols to better prepare for game conditions.
The Humanitarian Costs of Climate Change

Using existing international databases that track disaster occurrence and humanitarian costs, this research attempts to improve understanding of how climate change may affect international humanitarian spending. Employing four distinct methodological approaches, a range of potential impact scenarios is developed. The findings indicate that climate change will have a significant impact on humanitarian costs and the increase could range from a 32% increase, taking into account only changes in frequency of disasters, to upwards of a 1600% increase when other criteria, such as intensity, are also taken into account. Further, the report highlights that extreme weather events do not occur in isolation and the increasing interconnectedness of world economic and political systems has made disasters more complex and destructive. The report makes a number of recommendations, including the need for more rigorous and systematic collection of disaster-related data and more constructive interaction between the humanitarian and climate change communities on future research, planning, and action. (AU)
Decoding of multichannel EEG activity from the visual cortex in response to pseudorandom binary sequences of visual stimuli

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals have been an attractive choice to build noninvasive brain computer interfaces (BCIs) for nearly three decades. Depending on the stimuli, there are different responses which one could get from EEG signals. One of them is the P300 response which is a visually evoked response that has been widely studied. Steady state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) is the response to an oscillating stimulus with fixed frequency, which is detectable from the visual cortex. However, there exists some work on using an m‐sequence with different lags as the control sequence of the flickering stimuli. In this study, we used several m‐sequences instead of one with the intent of increasing the number of possible command options in a BCI setting. We also tested two different classifiers to decide between the m‐sequences and study the performance of multi channel classifiers versus single channel classifiers. The study is done over two different flickering frequencies, 15 and 30 Hz to investigate the effect of flickering frequency on the accuracy of the classification methods. Our study shows that the EEG channels are correlated, and although all the channels contain some useful information, but combining them with a multi channel classifier based on the assumption of having conditional independence will not improve the classification accuracy. In addition, we were able to get reasonably good results using the 30 Hz flickering frequency comparing with 15 Hz flickering frequency that will give us the ability of having a shorter training and decision making time. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 139–147, 2011
Artificial Neural Network using Zernike Moments with Speeded Up Robust Features based Classification For Iris Recognition

Objectives: The biometric models are being widely used for the purpose of authentication and human recognition. The biometric models are proposed to exploit the identity we have in the form of fingerprint, palmprint, IRIS, face matching, retina matching and other biometric features for the recognition of the humans. The biometric models necessitate the collection of the dataset of the persons, whose data must be obtained from the people being recognized under the complete biometric application. The IRIS recognition has emerged as the popular biometric model, and being used in the various types of the applications for online authentication, attendance systems, etc. The major problem associated with the IRIS features is that the IRIS region localization must be attained with the angular features along with the low level features in order to read the IRIS samples with higher accuracy.This paper aims at providing a hybrid model to provide precise iris recognition using Zernike moments, SURF feature detector and artificial neural networks.In this paper, a hybrid model has been proposed based upon the angular rotational shift with low level features for the insight of the robust IRIS recognition model. The incorporation of the Zernike moments has been completed in this model for the purpose of angular feature description, and to read the movement between the different samples of IRIS. The speeded up robust features (SURF) algorithm has been used to compute the low level features based upon the difference of hessian. The neural network classification has been proposed for the real-time IRIS recognition. The estimation of the proposed model has been done on the basis of various performance parameters such as recognition IRACST – Engineering Science and Technology: An International Journal (ESTIJ), ISSN: 2250-3498 Vol.7, No.4, July-August 2017 52 rate and overall accuracy. The hybrid proposed model has been found efficient and has been recorded with the higher order results in comparison with the existing model, when tested over the rotated sample database.
[Smoking cessation and bupropion: anxiety and depression as predictors of therapeutic efficacy].

UNLABELLED Smoking and depression are related. Bupropion, the first non-nicotinic drug that is an effective treatment in smoking cessation, is a tricyclic antidepressant that inhibits neuronal uptake of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine in the thalamic nuclei. OBJECTIVE To assess if certain personality factors (anxiety or depression) might predict the efficacy of bupropion for smoking cessation. METHOD The study was carried out in two smoking cessation clinics in Madrid and Barcelona. Fifty patients (21 men) declaring the desire to quit smoking were enrolled. Their mean age was 43.6 years (SD 8.75). The patients were treated with 300 mg of bupropion per day for one month and expired CO was monitored for 6 months. Personality factors were assessed on a hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). We evaluated whether there was a significant difference in HADS scores for patients who were still not smoking after 6 months and those who had not managed to quit. RESULTS The 50 patients were smokers of a mean 39 packs per year (SD 17.82) and had mean scores of 7.4 (SD 4.15) for anxiety and 5.8 (SD 3.93) for depression. Four patients (8%) were unable to complete the study. After one month, 28% of the patients smoked, after 3 months 56% smoked and after 6 months 58% still smoked. The patients who smoked during the first month had higher depression scores than did the non-smokers (p = 0.03). After 3 and 6 months the patients who had managed to continue not smoking were those who had higher anxiety scores than did those who still smoked (p = 0.0052 at 3 months and p = 0.017 at 6 months). CONCLUSION Patients who responded better to treatment with bupropion after 6 months of follow-up were those with higher anxiety scores on the HADS. Depression levels influenced outcome only during the first month.
[NF-kappaB-induced gp96 up-regulation promotes hepatocyte growth, cell cycle progression and transition].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the mechanism of gp96 raised during hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the pathological mechanism. METHODS The mechanism of NF-KB activating gp96 expression was determined by bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, real-time PCR and Western blot. The effect of over-expression and knockdown gp96 expression by transfection or RNA interference on hepatocyte proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle was examined by CCK-8 and flow cytometry. The role of gp96 for HCC development was determined by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and colony formation assay. RESULTS NF-kB significantly increased the gp96 expression by binding to the NF-kappaB binding site. Over-expression and knockdown studies both show that gp96 promoted hepatocyte proliferation, inhibited apoptosis, and induced G0/G1 to S phase cell cycle progression. Moreover, gp96 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and increased colony formation ability of hepatocytes. CONCLUSION Our results therefore provide insights in chronic HBV infection-induced gp96 expression, and indicate that elevated gp96 may contribute to HCC development during chronic inflammation.
Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings. Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HIPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force.

The Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings provides health-care workers (HCWs) with a review of data regarding handwashing and hand antisepsis in health-care settings. In addition, it provides specific recommendations to promote improved hand-hygiene practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and personnel in health-care settings. This report reviews studies published since the 1985 CDC guideline (Garner JS, Favero MS. CDC guideline for handwashing and hospital environmental control, 1985. Infect Control 1986;7:231-43) and the 1995 APIC guideline (Larson EL, APIC Guidelines Committee. APIC guideline for handwashing and hand antisepsis in health care settings. Am J Infect Control 1995;23:251-69) were issued and provides an in-depth review of hand-hygiene practices of HCWs, levels of adherence of personnel to recommended handwashing practices, and factors adversely affecting adherence. New studies of the in vivo efficacy of alcohol-based hand rubs and the low incidence of dermatitis associated with their use are reviewed. Recent studies demonstrating the value of multidisciplinary hand-hygiene promotion programs and the potential role of alcohol-based hand rubs in improving hand-hygiene practices are summarized. Recommendations concerning related issues (e.g., the use of surgical hand antiseptics, hand lotions or creams, and wearing of artificial fingernails) are also included.
Modulation of myoglobin-H2O2-mediated peroxidation reactions by sulfhydryl compounds.

The ability of specific low molecular weight sulfhydryl compounds to inhibit the myoglobin-H2O2 peroxidation of uric acid and arachidonic acid was investigated. alpha-Mercaptopropionyl glycine, N-acetylcysteine, and reduced glutathione inhibited both the oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin H2O2-mediated peroxidation of uric acid in a dose-dependent manner. The IC50 for each drug ranged between 20 to 100 microM and was dependent on the presence of a reduced sulfhydryl group since neither oxidized glutathione nor methionine effectively blocked uric acid peroxidation. Similar inhibition of oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin H2O2-mediated peroxidation of arachidonic acid was also observed with alpha-mercaptopropionyl glycine, reduced glutathione, and cysteine. Under conditions of this assay, the ferrous form of myoglobin and H2O2 produced approximately three times the amount of formaldehyde from dimethylsulfoxide than ferric myoglobin (metmyoglobin) and H2O2. However, metmyoglobin and H2O2 were more effective than either oxymyoglobin and deoxymyoglobin in mediating arachidonic acid peroxidation. Further, neither mannitol nor benzoic acid (known scavengers of .OH) effectively blocked myoglobin H2O2-induced peroxidation of either uric acid or arachidonic acid. Visible absorption spectra of oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin after incubation with H2O2 indicates the formation of a relatively stable ferriperoxide derivative of myoglobin. The formation of the ferriperoxide myoglobin derivative was partially inhibited by the addition of reduced sulfhydryl compounds. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that during reperfusion injury of the ischemic myocardium, the phagocytic cell or intracellular-derived H2O2 may react with myoglobin and initiate peroxidation reactions independent of . OH formation leading to cell injury. The cardioprotective effects of alpha-mercaptopropionyl glycine and other sulfhydryl-containing compounds during reperfusion injury may be attributed, at least in part, to their ability to inhibit myoglobin-H2O2-mediated peroxidation reactions.
Secondary Metabolites and Biological Activities of Talaromyces sp. LGT-2, an Endophytic Fungus from Tripterygium Wilfordii

In the present study, eleven compounds (1-11) including nine alkaloids (1-9), one triterpenoid saponin (10) and one formamide (11) were isolated from Talaromyces sp. LGT-2, an endophytic fungus from Tripterygium wilfordi. Their structures were determined based on NMR and ESI-MS spectral data, as well as comparing previous literature data. This is the first report of the isolation of alkaloids (1-9) from Talaromyces genus. In the next step, all compounds were screened for their anti-monoamine oxidase, anti-acetylcholinesterase, antibacterial and antitumor activities. Compound 11 showed moderate anti-monoamine oxidase activity with IC50 value of 61 μM; compounds 3, 4, 8 showed weaker anti-acetylcholinesterase activity; compounds 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 showed moderate antibacterial activities; compounds 7, 8, 9 showed cytotoxicity against B16 cancer cell line with inhibitory rate of 86%, 82%, 78%, respectively, at the concentration of 500 μg/mL.
Dual tasking and balance in those with central and peripheral vision loss.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of a secondary task on standing balance in patients with glaucoma or AMD compared with age-similar control subjects. METHODS Twelve AMD, 12 glaucoma, and 12 control participants underwent posturography under two standing conditions (eyes open on a firm or foam-rubber surface) and two tasks: quiet standing and undertaking a mental arithmetic task. Center of foot-pressure average displacement (root mean square [RMS]; in millimeters) was calculated. RESULTS The mean (SD) age of the participants in each group was as follows: controls 66.2 (6.4) years, glaucoma 69.2 (4.3) years, and AMD 72.2 (5.3) years. There were significant differences in RMS between controls and AMD patients when undertaking the mental arithmetic task standing on the firm surface (mean difference [SE]: 2.8 [0.8] mm, P = 0.005). There were significant differences between controls and AMD patients when undertaking the mental arithmetic task on the foam surface, with the difference between controls and glaucoma patients approaching significance (mean difference [SE]: control versus AMD = 3.1 [0.9] mm, P = 0.005; control versus glaucoma = 2.2 [0.9] mm, P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS Postural instability increases with the addition of a secondary task in older persons, which may put them at greater risk of falls. Patients with central losses exhibit greater instability with the addition of a secondary task, particularly during somatosensory perturbations. The negative effects of secondary tasks on balance control in those with peripheral visual losses become more apparent under somatosensory perturbations.
Proteinuria: value as predictor of cardiovascular mortality in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

The relation between diabetic microangiopathy and macroangiopathy was studied by analysing the relative mortality from cardiovascular disease in patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus with and without persistent proteinuria. The study group comprised 2890 diabetics diagnosed between 1933 and 1972 before the age of 31, and the study was conducted by using the linear logistic discrete failure time model. In patients with proteinuria the relative mortality from cardiovascular disease was 37 times that in the general population; in patients without proteinuria it was 4.2 times that in the general population. In both groups women had a relative mortality twice to 2.6 times that of men. In neither group was relative mortality correlated with duration of diabetes, suggesting that the association between diabetes and cardiovascular disease may be conferred by factors other than hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia. The high relative mortality from cardiovascular disease in diabetics with proteinuria indicates a strong association between diabetic microangiopathy and macroangiopathy, suggesting a common (pathogenetic? ) mechanism for these two late diabetic complications.
Deficiencies in lung surfactant proteins A and D are associated with lung infection in very premature neonatal baboons.

Surfactant proteins A (SP-A) and D (SP-D) are important in the innate host defense against pathogenic microorganisms. A deficit in these proteins in premature infants, either because of immaturity or as a consequence of superimposed chronic lung disease (CLD), could increase their susceptibility to infection. The study reported here examined infection in CLD in the premature newborn baboon, and correlated it with the amounts of SP-A and SP-D in lung tissue and lavage fluid. Two groups of baboons were delivered prematurely, at 125 d gestational age (g.a.), and differed principally in whether they developed naturally acquired pulmonary infections and sepsis. Group I animals were ventilated with clinically appropriate oxygen for 6 d and 14 d without clinical incident. Group II animals were ventilated for 5 to 71 d, but differed from those in Group I in that most developed pulmonary infection and/or sepsis. In Group I animals, tissue pools of both SP-A and SP-D were equal to or exceeded those in adults, and lavage pools of SP-A increased progressively with the time of ventilation to about 35% of adult levels after 14 d. In contrast, most Group II animals had concentrations of lavage SP-A that were less than 20% of that in adult animals. A low concentration of lavage SP-A correlated with the release of interleukin-8, and with a high "infection index" based on histopathology, microbiologic cultures, and clinical indications of sepsis. Our data suggest that the amounts of SP-A and SP-D in lavage fluid are indicators of the risk of infection in the evolution of neonatal CLD. Deficits in the amount of lavage SP-A, even after 60 d of ventilation, may have inhibited the resolution of infection and thereby contributed to the developing injury among our Group II animals.