Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Protein Glycosylation on Campylobacter fetus Physiology

Campylobacter fetus is commonly associated with venereal disease and abortions in cattle and sheep, and can also cause intestinal or systemic infections in humans that are immunocompromised, elderly, or exposed to infected livestock. It is also believed that C. fetus infection can result from the consumption or handling of contaminated food products, but C. fetus is rarely detected in food since isolation methods are not suited for its detection and the physiology of the organism makes culturing difficult. In the related species, Campylobacter jejuni, the ability to colonize the host has been linked to N-linked protein glycosylation with quantitative proteomics demonstrating that glycosylation is interconnected with cell physiology. Using label-free quantitative (LFQ) proteomics, we found more than 100 proteins significantly altered in expression in two C. fetus subsp. fetus protein glycosylation (pgl) mutants (pglX and pglJ) compared to the wild-type. Significant increases in the expression of the (NiFe)-hydrogenase HynABC, catalyzing H2-oxidation for energy harvesting, correlated with significantly increased levels of cellular nickel, improved growth in H2 and increased hydrogenase activity, suggesting that N-glycosylation in C. fetus is involved in regulating the HynABC hydrogenase and nickel homeostasis. To further elucidate the function of the C. fetus pgl pathway and its enzymes, heterologous expression in Escherichia coli followed by mutational and functional analyses revealed that PglX and PglY are novel glycosyltransferases involved in extending the C. fetus hexasaccharide beyond the conserved core, while PglJ and PglA have similar activities to their homologs in C. jejuni. In addition, the pgl mutants displayed decreased motility and ethidium bromide efflux and showed an increased sensitivity to antibiotics. This work not only provides insight into the unique protein N-glycosylation pathway of C. fetus, but also expands our knowledge on the influence of protein N-glycosylation on Campylobacter cell physiology.
Uncovering the Distribution of Motorists' Preferences for Travel Time and Reliability

We apply recent econometric advances to study the distribution of commuters' preferences for speedy and reliable highway travel. Our analysis applies mixed logit to combined revealed and stated preference data on commuter choices of whether to pay a toll for congestion free express travel. We find that motorists exhibit high values of travel time and reliability and substantial heterogeneity in those values. We suggest that road pricing policies designed to cater to such varying preferences can improve efficiency and reduce the disparity of welfare impacts compared with recent pricing experiments.
Green Synthesis of AuNPs by Acinetobacter sp. GWRVA25: Optimization, Characterization, and Its Antioxidant Activity

Bacteriogenic synthesis of metal nanoparticles is ecofriendly and greatly influenced by physico-chemical reaction parameters with respect to shape and size. Thus, present work aimed to synthesize and optimization of bacteriogenic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and study their antioxidant activity. Acinetobacter sp. cells were able to synthesize AuNPs, when challenged with tetra-chloroauric acid (HAuCl4). By physicochemical optimization, maximum synthesis was obtained with 72 h old culture using 2.1 × 109 CFU/ml cell density. Whereas, pH-7 is suitable for AuNPs synthesis. HAuCl4 concentration (0.5 mM) enhanced the formation of monodispersed and spherical nanoparticles (15 ± 10 nm). At 37°C temperature, Acinetobacter sp. released nanoparticles in supernatant. From characterization, AuNPs were found to be crystalline in nature with negative surface charge. AuNPs showed up to 86% different radical scavenging ability, exhibiting antioxidant activity. In conclusion, spherical AuNPs can be synthesized using Acinetobacter sp. through physicochemical optimization. This is the first report of antioxidant activity exhibited by monodispersed bacteriogenic AuNPs synthesized using Acinetobacter sp.
Editorial: The Embodied Brain: Computational Mechanisms of Integrated Sensorimotor Interactions With a Dynamic Environment

Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, Maastricht Brain Imaging Center (M-BIC), Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, Department of Vision and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 4 Institut für Informatik VI, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, 6 Institució Catalana de la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Serum Ferritin Correlates With Liver Fat in Male Adolescents With Obesity

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) contributes essentially to the burden of obesity and can start in childhood. NAFLD can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The early phase of NAFLD is crucial because during this time the disease is fully reversible. Pediatric NAFLD shows unique features of histology and pathophysiology compared to adults. Changes in serum iron parameters are common in adult NAFLD and have been termed dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome characterized by increased serum ferritin levels and normal transferrin saturation; however, the associations of serum ferritin, inflammation, and liver fat content have been incompletely investigated in children. As magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an excellent measure for the degree of liver steatosis, we applied this method herein to clarify the interaction between ferritin and fatty liver in male adolescents. For this study, one hundred fifty male pediatric patients with obesity and who are overweight were included. We studied a subgroup of male patients with (n = 44) and without (n = 18) NAFLD in whom we determined liver fat content, visceral adipose tissue, and subcutaneous adipose tissue extent with a 1.5T MRI (Philips NL). All patients underwent a standardized oral glucose tolerance test. We measured uric acid, triglycerides, HDL-, LDL-, total cholesterol, liver transaminases, high sensitive CRP (hsCRP), interleukin-6, HbA1c, and insulin. In univariate analysis, ferritin was associated with MRI liver fat, visceral adipose tissue content, hsCRP, AST, ALT, and GGT, while transferrin and soluble transferrin receptor were not associated with ferritin. Multivariate analysis identified hsCRP and liver fat content as independent predictors of serum ferritin in the pediatric male patients. Our data indicate that serum ferritin in male adolescents with obesity is mainly determined by liver fat content and inflammation but not by body iron status.
A Study on Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is prolonged neurologically degraded disease which gets exaggerated with the course of time. While in its progression, Alzheimer’s disease gives rise to memory shortfall and cognitive fall off. It is a constituent of two pathological conditions i.e. Neurofibrillary tangles, which the clusters formed by hyperphosphorylation of microtubule related protein are called Tau, and Senile plaque which contains β-Amyloid, a neurotoxin, which causes impairment of synaptic plasticity and may also change the functionality of many ionic channels. These two deadly proteins are the sure signs of Alzheimer’s disease and attack the Hippocampus region thereby starts damaging the hippocampal pyramidal neurons in its early stage. According to the survey on Alzheimer’s disease, it is the 6 main cause of deaths in US and in upcoming years, this will become the 3 main cause of deaths. But, despite researches, therapies and awareness, the actual cause of Alzheimer’s disease is still a big question mark. “What is the actual cause of it”? “When and how it gets accumulated on a neuron”? “How a person can know if he is infected with this disease”? These are some of the questions that are yet to be answered. In this paper, a detailed overview of the work done till now for the identification and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is presented.
Wasteful Sanctions, Underperformance, and Endogenous Supervision

We study optimal contracting in team settings where agents have many opportunities to shirk, task-level monitoring is needed to provide useful incentives, and it is difficult to write individual performance into formal contracts. Incentives are provided informally, using wasteful sanctions like guilt and shame, or slowed promotion. These features give rise to optimal contracts with under performance, forgiving sanctioning schemes, and endogenous supervision structures. Agents optimally take on more assigned tasks than they intend to complete, leading to the concentration of supervisory responsibility in the hands of one or two agents.
*On the Influence of Oil Prices on Economic Activity and Other Macroeconomic and Financial Variables

The aim of this paper is to investigate the links between oil prices and various macroeconomic and financial variables for a large set of countries, including both oil-importing and oil-exporting countries. Both short-run and long-run interactions are analysed through the implementation of Granger-causality tests, evaluation of cross correlations between the cyclical components of the series in order to identify lead/lag relationships and cointegration analysis. Our results highlight the existence of various relationships between oil prices and macroeconomic variables and, especially, an important link between oil and share prices on the short run. Turning to the long run, numerous long-term relationships are detected, the Granger-causality generally running from oil prices to the other variables. An important conclusion is relating to the key role played by the oil market on stock markets.
Genotype and environmental adaptation as regulators of competitiveness.

Plants growing together in pasture swards must be able to adapt to changes in their environment and to capture growth resources in the presence of competitors, in order to contribute usefully to pasture botanical composition and yield. This depends not only on their morphological and physiological characteristics but also on their ability to make morphological and physiological adjustments, i.e. on their phenotypic plasticity (Schlichting, 1986). Competitiveness, at least for agronomic purposes, is often defined by relative yield, i.e. the ratio of yield in mixture to that in monoculture. In mixed swards, the genotype with the higher relative yield is regarded as the more competitive. By this definition, competitiveness is the ability of plants of one genotype to capture growth resources in the presence of another genotype, relative to their ability to capture such resources in pure stand. Preempting of growth resources by one plant to the disadvantage of another may result in dominance of the stronger competitor. In pastures comprising mixtures of genotypes, management is often directed to preventing or correcting such dominance, which may occur at particular times of the year or in particular circumstances of production. Plant competitiveness in swards is thus likely to be affected by genotype and by environmental and management factors (van den Berg, 1968; Grime, 1979; Berendse and Elberse, 1990). The response to these factors is mediated through physiological and morphological characteristics or traits and their adjustment. First, in this chapter, those traits that characterize individual pasture genotypes and affect competitiveness through the capture and utilization of light, water and nutrients will be reviewed. This will be followed by the broader question: ‘How far does genotype regulate or influence competitiveness and competitive interrelationships in pasture mixtures? ’ Environmental factors, such as temperature, moisture and day length, affect growth of different genotypes in different ways and thus may affect their relative competitiveness. Similarly, soil physical properties (porosity, texture, moisture-holding capacity) and chemical properties (pH, nutrient status and ion-exchange capacity) may affect the relative competitiveness of species in mixture (Harper, 1977). Understanding genotypic adaptation to a set of environmental conditions can assist pasture management decisions (the choice of cultivars, fertilization, irrigation, defoliation regimes, grazing, utilization and pest control). Therefore it will also be important to know if the relative competitiveness of associated genotypes depends on how well they are adapted to the environment. This question will be considered finally in this chapter.
Itskhoki Asymmetric Price Rigidity and the Optimal Rate of Inflation Working

This paper is based on the Master Thesis prepared at NES in 2004 in the framework of the research project “Monetary Policy in Transition Economies” under the supervision of prof. O.A. Zamulin (Ph.D., NES, CEFIR) and prof. K.A. Sosunov (Ph.D., NES, Institute for Open Economy). The research was supported by Ford Foundation, World Bank, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The author is grateful to leaders (O. Zamulin and K. Sosunov) and all participant of NES research project on Monetary Policy, as well as to S. Anatolyev, V. Polterovich, N. Shagas, and A. Sotskov for useful comments and discussion.
Influence of Dlffuslon on Photoinduced Electron Transfer

Electron transfer from an optically excited donor (rubrene) to randomly distributed acceptors (duroquinone) has been investigated experimentally. The forward electron-transfer process under the influence of diffusion in liquid solution (diethyl sebacate) is compared with that in solid solution (sucrose octaacetate). Steady-state fluorescence yield and time-resolved fluorescence measurements were used to measure the excited-state population of the donor (rubrene). The parameters were used to analyze the electron-transfer dynamics under a variety of acceptor concentrations. The agreement between theoretical predictions and experiments is very good. The forward transfer parameters (af and R,) in liquid solution are almost identical with those obtained in solid solution.
The Commodification of the Danish Defence Forces and the Troubled Identities of its Officers

The accounting literature has given much attention to the New Public Management and attempts at making the government's performances auditable while influencing the core working of the public sector. This paper contributes to this debate by demonstrating how particular accounting devices participate in the definition of the identities of the officers in the Danish Defence. It shows how the definition of the officers' identities is complex and dynamic and does not necessarily have outcomes of stability and closure. Applying Actor-Network Theory we demonstrate how their identities are caught up in processes of continual or never ending reconfigurations. The major implication is that the occupational identity of the Danish officers is subject to attempts of being defined as a manager in the period 1989-2006. The paper demonstrates how accounting devices participated in defining a hybrid identity of the officers as warrior and manager and that officers in different spaces and times experienced problems with the hybrid identity.
An empirical model of Saturn's bow shock: Cassini observations of shock location and shape

We present a new empirical model of Saturn's bow shock that utilizes observations from the Cassini spacecraft. Shock crossings are identified in magnetic field and plasma observations made by Cassini between June 2004 and August 2005. The Cassini crossings are then combined with the crossings made during the Saturn flybys of Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2. Solar wind dynamic pressures for the Cassini crossings are estimated using upstream electron densities determined from Langmuir wave observations made by the Radio and Plasma Wave System. The crossing positions are rotated into aberrated coordinates to correct for the effect of the planet's orbital motion. In the case of Saturn this rotation is by similar to 1 degrees. To correct for solar wind dynamic pressure variations, the crossing positions are normalized to the average pressure = 0.048 nPa. The model is then obtained by fitting a conic section to the crossings using a nonlinear least squares technique. To validate the assumptions made in constructing the model, we treat the parameters previously assumed to be constants as variables and fit their values using an optimization routine; this leads to a conic section that is within the positional uncertainty of the model. The spacecraft trajectories are considered, and we conclude that they do not significantly bias the model. The new model is compared to the existing models, and the similarities and differences are discussed. We suggest that the new model gives the most accurate empirical representation of the shape and location of Saturn's bow shock.
Small Firm Networks – The Case of Industrial Districts in Japan

The present research examines small-firm networks in Japanese industrial districts. We propose and discuss the typology of these networks. Special attention is paid to horizontal networks, characterised by enhanced co-operation and competition between small firms. We analyse these networks from the perspective of the social embeddedness approach and the resource-based view. We argue that the horizontal form is the most appropriate network form for small-sized firms. In the concluding section some of the limits of the paper and future research directions are outlined.
Getting Gig Workers to Do More by Doing Good: Field Experimental Evidence From Online Platform Labor Marketplaces

This article describes randomized field experiments implemented on two online labor market platforms examining the effect of employer charitable giving on a source of human capital that is becoming increasingly important to firms: the “gig” worker. It provides support that a message about charitable giving increases gig workers’ willingness to complete extra work, and that prosocially oriented gig workers are most responsive. A process experiment reveals that sharing information about charitable giving increases how close workers feel to their gig employer, and that the effect is greater if workers previously felt distant from (as opposed to already felt close to) their employer. This article provides insight into gig workers’ nonpecuniary motivation, explores heterogeneity in this type of workers’ responsiveness to charitable giving and illustrates how online platform labor markets can be used as a setting to implement field experiments examining effects of employer-level characteristics on gig worker behavior.
Chemonucleolysis denied to our patients ? Sciatica caused by disc herniation : Why is Chymopapain

Background This study was undertaken to assess the long term outcome on the quality of life of patients with sciatica following treatment with chemonucleolysis, and to assess the complications. Methods This is a retrospective review carried out in a consecutive group of patients suffering from sciatica treated by chemonucleolysis. Patients were followed up by questionnaires to obtain Macnab score; satisfaction, SF 36, and case note review for complications and repeat spinal surgery. Results Six hundred and five patients (56% males, 44% females) treated over a ten year period from 1991 to 2000 were followed up. Average age was 47 years (range 17 88 years). The duration of symptoms prior to treatment averaged 10 months (range 1 20 months) and the herniation was confirmed by Myelogram (7%), CT Scan (34%), or MRI (59%). There were 578 single level and 27 double levels treated. Eighty five percent of herniations were typical single level , and 15% were atypical that is: patients with dominant back pain with sciatica, recurrent herniations following surgery at the same level, recurrent herniations at another level following chemonucleolysis, double levels treated patients with mainly neurological deficits and one cauda equina syndrome. Average follow up was 62 months (range 12 123) with a 78% satisfaction rate, with a 14% surgical intervention rate made up of 9% decompression, 1% repeat chemonucleolysis at another level and 4% fusion rate. SF-36 scores generally correlated with age and sex on scores for the normal local population. Conclusions This is a retrospective study and showed that chemonucleolysis was effective with a high satisfaction rate. It restores quality of life close to that expected in the population, and is safe with no complications related to the procedure. It is a cost effective daycase procedure with a lasting result. keywords: chymopapain, chemonucleolysis, sciatica, disc herniaion, lumbar spine, back pain, complications, long term follow up, outcome volume 10 article 44 doi: 10.14444/3044 pages -
Private Benefits of Control , Capital Structure and Company Growth

This paper studies the influence of the private benefits of control on the capital structure and the growth of private companies. It is argued that companies in which existing owners would lose more control if they expanded, issue less new equity, use more debt and grow more slowly. The dataset covers 6834 private UK companies with limited liability for up to 5 years. Loss of control is measured as the difference in the probability of winning a vote for the largest owner before and after a hypothetical equity increase. Consistent with the private benefits of control, the results show that companies with a high potential loss of control do indeed issue less new equity, use more debt and grow more slowly. JEL classification: G32, G34
Machiavellian Privatization

We analyze politically-motivated privatization design in a bipartisan environment where politicians lack commitment power. When the median class favors redistributive policies, a strategic privatization program allocating them enough shares can induce a voting shift away from left wing parties whose policy would reduce the values of shareholdings. To induce median class voters to buy enough shares to shift political preferences, strategic rationing and underpricing is often necessary. In the extreme, this may lead to free share distribution and voucher privatization. Shifting voting preferences becomes impossible when strong ex-ante political constraints require large upfront transfers to insiders, reducing the value which may be distributed through the privatization program, or when social inequality is extreme.
PARTNER CHOICE MULTI-CRITERIA MODEL AT THE STRATEGIC BUSINESS ALLIANCES FORMING

The article contains the authors’ understanding of the concept of strategic alliance. The main areas and directions of potential cooperation between partner enterprises are identified. Sources of synergy in such cooperation are generalized. By means of multi-criteria optimization tools (the analytic hierarchy process and TOPSIS), using the concept of potential synergies based on the model of strategic interaction, the model of choosing partners to create strategic business alliances is developed.
LHCb results on penta(tetra)-quark search

The LHCb experiment is designed to study the properties and decays of heavy flavored hadrons produced in pp collisions at the LHC. The data collected in the LHC Run I enables precision spectroscopy studies of beauty and charm hadrons. The latest results on spectroscopy of conventional and exotic hadrons are reviewed, such as the discovery of the first charmonium pentaquark states in the J/ψp system or the confirmation of resonant nature of the Z(4430)− mesonic state. LHCb has also made significant contributions to determination of the quantum numbers for the X(3872) state and to exclude the existence of the X(5568) tetraquark candidate. The LHCb results described in the present document have dramatically increased the interest on spectroscopy of heavy hadrons.