Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recognizing very distant sequence relationships among proteins by family profile analysis

Family profile analysis (FPA), described in this paper, compares all available homologous amino acid sequences of a target family with the profile of a probe family while conventional sequence profile analysis (Gribskov M, Lüthy R, Eisenberg D. Meth Enzymol 1990;183:146–159) considers only a single target sequence in comparison with the probe family. The increased input of sequence information in FPA expands the range for sequence‐based recognition of structural relationships. In the FPA algorithm, Zscores of each of the target sequences, obtained from a probe profile search over all known amino acid sequences, are averaged and then compared with the scores for sequences of 100 reference families in the same probe family search. The resulting F‐Zscore of the target family, expressed in “effective standard deviations” of the mean Zscores of the reference families, with value above a threshold of 3.5 indicates a statistically significant evolutionary relationship between the target and probe families. The sensitivity of FPA to sequence information was tested with several protein families where distant relationships have been verified from known tertiary protein architectures, which included vitamin B6‐dependent enzymes, (β/α)8‐barrel proteins, β‐trefoil proteins, and globins. In comparison to other methods, FPA proved to be significantly more sensitive, finding numerous new homologies. The FPA technique is not only useful to test a suspected relationship between probe and target families but also identifies possible target families in profile searches over all known primary structures. Proteins 1999;35:387–400. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prolonged survival of liver transplants in the pig.

Our preliminary experience with orthotopic liver transplantation in the pig has been reported (Calne et al., 1967). Out of 19 animals operated on 13 survived the procedure and six lived for a week or more. Focal necrosis of liver cells and round-cell infiltration in the portal triads of these six transplants was thought to represent evidence of a weak rejection process. One pig died after seven months from intestinal obstruction with minimal evidence of liver damage. Three pigs developed
The Transiting to Universal Health Care Coverage: An Analysis of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme

The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons why the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has not been able to enrol all citizens of Ghana after seven years of its initiation despite the set target of five years. Data from the national development planning commission (NDPC) on citizens' assessment of the NHIS was examined using the modified version of the Anderson behavioural model as a theoretical framework. The results at the time of the survey indicate that insurance coverage was above half of the total population. With a generous benefit package, insured people still incur out of pocket expenditure for care for uncovered services. Nevertheless, the insured pay significantly less than the uninsured. The study concludes that achieving universal health insurance coverage with equitable, sustainable and effective health system is a great challenge. However, the challenge can be overcome when government and health authorities assume a clear-cut stewardship role of the health sector.
Automated voxel classification used with atlas-guided diffuse optical tomography for assessment of functional brain networks in young and older adults

Abstract. Atlas-guided diffuse optical tomography (atlas-DOT) is a computational means to image changes in cortical hemodynamic signals during human brain activities. Graph theory analysis (GTA) is a network analysis tool commonly used in functional neuroimaging to study brain networks. Atlas-DOT has not been analyzed with GTA to derive large-scale brain connectivity/networks based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements. We introduced an automated voxel classification (AVC) method that facilitated the use of GTA with atlas-DOT images by grouping unequal-sized finite element voxels into anatomically meaningful regions of interest within the human brain. The overall approach included volume segmentation, AVC, and cross-correlation. To demonstrate the usefulness of AVC, we applied reproducibility analysis to resting-state functional connectivity measurements conducted from 15 young adults in a two-week period. We also quantified and compared changes in several brain network metrics between young and older adults, which were in agreement with those reported by a previous positron emission tomography study. Overall, this study demonstrated that AVC is a useful means for facilitating integration or combination of atlas-DOT with GTA and thus for quantifying NIRS-based, voxel-wise resting-state functional brain networks.
Bullying, Burnout, and Mental Health Amongst Portuguese Nurses

Bullying is a concept commonly used to describe situations in which an individual is persistently treated in an abusive manner over a period of time, with a feeling of not being able to counterattack or defend him-or herself against the abuse. In this study we investigated both the prevalence of bullying in Portuguese nurses and the relationship between the symptoms of burnout and mental health in nurses who report being bullied. Participants were 107 nurses of the Portuguese Public Health System. We concluded that one out of six (13%) nurses had experienced bullying in the past six months. The three most common types of bullying behaviour experienced by the nurses were doing tasks below their level of competence, having areas of responsibility removed or replaced with more trivial or unpleasant tasks, and being exposed to unmanageable levels of workload. Bullied nurses had significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion and lowered levels of mental health compared with non-bullied colleagues.
Monetary Policy Transmission in the Euro Area: The role of trade credit and bank lending relationships in the transmission mechanism in Austria

Introduction This chapter attempts to analyse the strength of the credit channel using a data set of Austrian firms. In Austria the issuance of equities and bonds has played a minor role in the external financing of firms, while relationships with other firms and the house bank principle have been the dominant financing strategy. Owing to their importance in the financial structure of Austrian firms, trade credit and the house bank principle merit a detailed analysis of their role in the transmission mechanism. While evidence is still mixed the majority of studies have found that the use of trade credit weakens the credit channel. The hypothesis is that if firms face lower loan supply, they may be able to circumvent such a credit squeeze through trade credit. Studies that analyse the role of bank-lending relationships have found that if banks do not reduce their supply of loans even when the monetary stance changes, because of a long-term relationship, then the credit channel will also be weaker but the interest rate channel does not necessarily become weaker. Following the methodology of the accompanying studies in this volume, the approach used here is to include the firm's specific user cost of capital and the liquidity ratio in a neo-classical investment demand equation. The distributional effects on investment are first studied by splitting the sample according to size and age. In a second step the sensitivity of investment to its components is made dependent on the firm's access to funds.
Ecotourism and conservation : a review of key issues

This review of some of the key issues of ecotourism and nature-based tourism highlights the complexity of using tourism as a tool for conservation. Five key benefits for conservation which can be appropriately targeted in the context of most ecotourism and nature-based initiatives are: 1) a source of financing for parks and conservation; 2) economic justification for park protection; 3) economic alternatives for local people to reduce exploitation of conservation areas and resources; 4) constituency building which promotes conservation; and 5) an impetus for private conservation efforts. This paper reviews experiences with ecotourism across the globe, with selected case studies taken from Australia, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda. Despite tremendous differences in size and management of protected areas, cultures, types of ecotourism enterprises, and government involvement, in most cases, ecotourism and nature-based tourism have not lived up to expectations. Nevertheless, they remain a potential avenue for conservation. To generate benefits for biodiversity conservation, a number of conditions have to be met, among them, competitive sites; ability of authorities to design, implement, and mandate sustainable ecotourism consistent with protected area objectives; tourist fees collected must reflect management costs; and revenues collected must first be directed to the parks where collected, with the rest applied to national conservation.
Epidemiology of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Epidemiology is the study of the frequency and distribution of diseases and factors related to the development of diseases. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare, chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects many tissues and organs, whose female-to-male incidence ratio is 6:10 for childbearing age. Its chronic intractable nature has a significant impact on medical care utilization, activities of daily living, and quality of life. However, the etiology of SLE has not yet been elucidated in detail, although genetic factors as well as environmental factors are thought to play a role in its development. In this chapter, we introduce the incidence and the prevalence of SLE as well as factors related to the development of SLE and discuss how to prevent the development of SLE.
Dual Functions of Dab1 during Brain Development

ABSTRACT Reelin coordinates the movements of neurons during brain development by signaling through the Dab1 adaptor and Src family tyrosine kinases. Experiments with cultured neurons have shown that when Dab1 is phosphorylated on tyrosine, it activates Akt and provides a scaffold for assembling signaling complexes, including the paralogous Crk and CrkL adaptors. The roles of Akt and Dab1 complexes during development have been unclear. We have generated two Dab1 alleles, each lacking two out of the four putative tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Neither allele supports normal brain development, but each allele complements the other. Two tyrosines are required for Reelin to stimulate Dab1 phosphorylation at the other sites, to activate Akt, and to downregulate Dab1 levels. The other two tyrosines are required to stimulate a Crk/CrkL-C3G pathway. The absence of Crk/CrkL binding sites and C3G activation causes an unusual layering phenotype. These results show that Reelin-induced Akt stimulation and Dab1 turnover are not sufficient for normal development and suggest that Dab1 acts both as a kinase switch and as a scaffold for assembling signaling complexes in vivo.
Changing Roles and Practices of Bus Field Supervisors

This synthesis will be of interest to transit agency general managers, personnel, human resources and training staffs, bus operations staffs, as well as to other transportation, human resources, and training professionals. The roles and responsibilities of bus field supervisors are addressed, including emerging concerns about how to improve the relationship between supervisors and bus operators, while placing supervisors in a more positive role; how to obtain a greater return from employee productivity with tightening budgets and declining ridership; and how to improve customer service. This report of the Transportation Research Board provides information about current and innovative supervisory practices at selected transit agencies. It covers information about the expectations that organizations have for their supervisors; recruitment and selection; training; new or revised regulations; and the perceived impacts of new technologies at some transit agencies.
Um Sistema para Inspeções de Garantia da Qualidade Baseado em Ontologias e Agentes

A implementacao de praticas de garantia da qualidade possui uma relacao custo/beneficio dificil de balancear. Isso ocorre porque o custo de execucao das praticas e direto, enquanto que, o beneficio obtido com estas e indireto. No intuito de melhorar essa relacao, este trabalho apresenta um sistema de suporte para as inspecoes de garantia da qualidade capaz de automatizar a definicao de escopo e o enderecamento de nao conformidades, alem de gerenciar cadastros e calcular indicadores. O sistema e formado por uma ontologia, a qual mapeia a semântica envolvida nas inspecoes de garantia da qualidade; e por agentes de software, os quais implementam as regras necessarias para automacao das atividades mencionadas. Os experimentos realizados em uma Fabrica de Software mostraram melhora na produtividade nas inspecoes, maximizando a cobertura, sem impactar no esforco demandado.
Machine Learning Based Student Grade Prediction: A Case Study

In higher educational institutes, many students have to struggle hard to complete different courses since there is no dedicated support offered to students who need special attention in the registered courses. Machine learning techniques can be utilized for students' grades prediction in different courses. Such techniques would help students to improve their performance based on predicted grades and would enable instructors to identify such individuals who might need assistance in the courses. In this paper, we use Collaborative Filtering (CF), Matrix Factorization (MF), and Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBM) techniques to systematically analyze a real-world data collected from Information Technology University (ITU), Lahore, Pakistan. We evaluate the academic performance of ITU students who got admission in the bachelor's degree program in ITU's Electrical Engineering department. The RBM technique is found to be better than the other techniques used in predicting the students' performance in the particular course.
[JAK2 V617F mutation burden and its clinical implications in 415 patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm].

OBJECTIVE To detect JAK2 V617F mutation burden and its clinical implications in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). METHODS JAK2 V617F mutation burden were detected by using MGB Taqman probes and its clinical significance were retrospectively studied in 415 MPN patients. RESULTS JAK2 V617F was found in 56.9% of all patients [83.5% in polycythemia vera (PV), 55.9% in essential thrombocythemia (ET), 41.9% in primary myelofibrosis (PMF) and 64.7% in MPN-unclassifiable)]. The majority of patients carried heterozygous JAK2 V617F mutation and homozygote was found only in 12 cases (4 in PV, 4 in MPN-U, 2 in PMF, 1 in ET, and 1 in chronic neutrophilic leukemia). Most patients (68.8%) were lower mutation burden (mutation burden<50%), but PV had the highest burden, the moderate burden in PMF and the least in ET. The patient's age and WBC count were significantly correlated with higher mutation burden in PV. WBC count was significantly related to higher mutation burden in ET. WBC count, Hb level and the platelet count were significantly related to higher mutation burden in PMF. CONCLUSION The mutation burden of JAK2 V617F from high to low was PV, ET and PMF. The majority of JAK2 V617F mutation was heterozygous. JAK2 V617F mutation burden was positively correlated with age, WBC, Hb and platelet counts.
Multifunctional conjugation of proteins on/into bio-nanoparticles prepared by amphiphilic poly(γ-glutamic acid)

The present study focuses on nanoparticles composed of amphiphilic poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) as potential protein carriers. Amphiphilic graft co-polymers composed of γ-PGA as the hydrophilic backbone and L-phenylalanine ethylester (L-PAE) as the hydrophobic segment were synthesized by grafting L-PAE to γ-PGA using water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC). Due to their amphiphilic properties, the γ-PGA-graft-L-PAE co-polymer formed monodispersed nanoparticles in water. The particle size of the nanoparticles composed of γ-PGA-graft-L-PAE (γ-PGA nanoparticles) was about 200 nm and showed a highly negative zeta potential. To evaluate their potential applications as multifunctional protein carrier, we prepared protein-entrapped γ-PGA nanoparticles by encapsulation, covalent immobilization or physical adsorption methods. For this purpose, 11 different proteins with various molecular weights and isoelectric points (pI values) were used as model proteins. The encapsulation of the protein into the nanoparticles was observed for all tested proteins. The amount of protein covalently immobilized or adsorbed onto the nanoparticles showed different tends based on the molecular weight and pI of each protein. Positively charged proteins could be adsorbed onto the negatively charged nanoparticles by electrostatic interaction. Moreover, it was found that enzyme-encapsulated nanoparticles showed higher enzymatic activity than surface-immobilized nanoparticles. These results indicated that the enzymatic activity of the enzyme-entrapped nanoparticles was significantly affected by the conjugation method, and that encapsulation was the optimal method for the conjugation of proteins and nanoparticles. It is expected that the γ-PGA nanoparticle will have great potential as multifunctional carriers in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, such as drug and vaccine delivery systems.
The Implications of User-Generated Content Websites for Tourism Marketing

User-generated content (UGC) is the basis for information sharing and collaboration over the Internet and these Web 2.0 tools have changed the ways that travelers search for, view and evaluate travel information. In marketing terms, UGC sites are effectively a form of "consumer to consumer marketing". Consumer trust is a critical factor in marketing and for this reason, leveraging the thoughts, words, and images of real human being, with their permission, through user- generated content websites, can make brand, even tourism brand and destination, trustworthy. In this context, our paper focuses on the implications of travelers' use of these websites for the marketing of tourism services and destinations. First of all, a literature review was performed to illustrate the impact of UGC travel-related websites for tourism marketing. Then, a quantitative study was conducted for exploring consumers' views on UGC in relation to travel planning. The aim of this web-based survey was to investigate how UGC websites are being used by Romanian young people and the impact that these websites are having on the information search and travel behavior of the Romanian tourists. In the end, our paper explains the impact of user-generated content on the travel decision-making behavior of the Romanian travelers, provides recommendations on how the travel and tourism industry from Romania may respond to the UGC phenomena to effectively meet the needs of the tourists and proposes ways in which UGC features can be integrated into Romanian travel websites for promoting our country as a tourism destination.
Glatiramer acetate increases IL-1 receptor antagonist but decreases T cell-induced IL-1β in human monocytes and multiple sclerosis

Mechanisms of action as well as cellular targets of glatiramer acetate (GA) in multiple sclerosis (MS) are still not entirely understood. IL-1β is present in CNS-infiltrating macrophages and microglial cells and is an important mediator of inflammation in experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), the MS animal model. A natural inhibitor of IL-1β, the secreted form of IL-1 receptor antagonist (sIL-1Ra) improves EAE disease course. In this study we examined the effects of GA on the IL-1 system. In vivo, GA treatment enhanced sIL-1Ra blood levels in both EAE mice and patients with MS, whereas IL-1β levels remained undetectable. In vitro, GA per se induced the transcription and production of sIL-1Ra in isolated human monocytes. Furthermore, in T cell contact-activated monocytes, a mechanism relevant to chronic inflammation, GA strongly diminished the expression of IL-1β and enhanced that of sIL-1Ra. This contrasts with the effect of GA in monocytes activated upon acute inflammatory conditions. Indeed, in LPS-activated monocytes, IL-1β and sIL-1Ra production were increased in the presence of GA. These results demonstrate that, in chronic inflammatory conditions, GA enhances circulating sIL-1Ra levels and directly affects monocytes by triggering a bias toward a less inflammatory profile, increasing sIL-1Ra while diminishing IL-1β production. This study sheds light on a mechanism that is likely to participate in the therapeutic effects of GA in MS.
A rigorous study of package and PCB effects on W-CDMA RFICs

This paper presents a practical evaluation method for package and PCB effects on RFICs in W-CDMA applications. The package and PCB interconnects are characterized rigorously by establishing their equivalent parasitic circuits with the help of the 3-D EM-simulation tool. For demonstration, two 1.9 GHz RFICs were fabricated by a GaAs HBT foundry process, and then housed in the leadless wirebond packages, and finally surface-mounted onto PCBs for testing. With the established equivalent parasite circuits, the package and PCB effects can be included in the RFIC simulation in the design stage. The simulated results agree quite well with the final measured results.
On Nomological Validity and Auxiliary Assumptions: The Importance of Simultaneously Testing Effects in Social Cognitive Theories Applied to Health Behavior and Some Guidelines

Tests of social cognitive theories provide informative data on the factors that relate to health behavior, and the processes and mechanisms involved. In the present article, we contend that tests of social cognitive theories should adhere to the principles of nomological validity, defined as the degree to which predictions in a formal theoretical network are confirmed. We highlight the importance of nomological validity tests to ensure theory predictions can be disconfirmed through observation. We argue that researchers should be explicit on the conditions that lead to theory disconfirmation, and identify any auxiliary assumptions on which theory effects may be conditional. We contend that few researchers formally test the nomological validity of theories, or outline conditions that lead to model rejection and the auxiliary assumptions that may explain findings that run counter to hypotheses, raising potential for ‘falsification evasion. ’ We present a brief analysis of studies (k = 122) testing four key social cognitive theories in health behavior to illustrate deficiencies in reporting theory tests and evaluations of nomological validity. Our analysis revealed that few articles report explicit statements suggesting that their findings support or reject the hypotheses of the theories tested, even when findings point to rejection. We illustrate the importance of explicit a priori specification of fundamental theory hypotheses and associated auxiliary assumptions, and identification of the conditions which would lead to rejection of theory predictions. We also demonstrate the value of confirmatory analytic techniques, meta-analytic structural equation modeling, and Bayesian analyses in providing robust converging evidence for nomological validity. We provide a set of guidelines for researchers on how to adopt and apply the nomological validity approach to testing health behavior models.