Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sinomicrobium pectinilyticum sp. nov., a pectinase-producing bacterium isolated from alkaline and saline soil, and emended description of the genus Sinomicrobium.

A Gram-reaction-negative, non-spore-forming strain, designated 5DNS001(T), was isolated from soil of an ancient salt-extracting facility in China. Analysis of the almost-complete 16S rRNA gene sequence of the bacterium suggested that it belongs to the genus Sinomicrobium in the family Flavobacteriaceae. It exhibited highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Sinomicrobium oceani SCSIO 03483(T) (96.3 %), but less than 93 % sequence similarity with members of the genera Imtechella, Zhouia and Joostella and other recognized members of the family Flavobacteriaceae. The strain was able to hydrolyse pectin and starch by producing pectinase and α-amylase. The DNA G+C content of the strain was 42.6 mol%. The major respiratory quinone was MK-6. The major polar lipid detected in the strain was phosphatidylethanolamine. The dominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c/C16 : 1ω7c). Based on phenotypic, genotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, a novel species, Sinomicrobium pectinilyticum, is proposed. The type strain is 5DNS001(T) ( = CGMCC1.11000(T) = KCTC23776(T)).
Co‐localization of L‐type Ca2+ channels and insulin‐containing secretory granules and its significance for the initiation of exocytosis in mouse pancreatic B‐cells.

We have monitored L‐type Ca2+ channel activity, local cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients, the distribution of insulin‐containing secretory granules and exocytosis in individual mouse pancreatic B‐cells. Subsequent to the opening of the Ca2+ channels, exocytosis is initiated with a latency < 100 ms. The entry of Ca2+ that precedes exocytosis is unevenly distributed over the cell and is concentrated to the region with the highest density of secretory granules. In this region, the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration is 5‐ to 10‐fold higher than in the remainder of the cell reaching concentrations of several micromolar. Single‐channel recordings confirm that the L‐type Ca2+ channels are clustered in the part of the cell containing the secretory granules. This arrangement, which is obviously reminiscent of the ‘active zones’ in nerve terminals, can be envisaged as being favourable to the B‐cell as it ensures that the Ca2+ transient is maximal and restricted to the part of the cell where it is required to rapidly initiate exocytosis whilst at the same time minimizing the expenditure of metabolic energy to subsequently restore the resting Ca2+ concentration.
350V/150A AlGaN/GaN power HFET on silicon substrate with source-via grounding (SVG) structure

We present a high power AlGaN/GaN HFET fabricated on a conductive Si substrate with a source-via grounding (SVG) structure. The device has a very low specific on-state resistance of 1.9 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ and a high off-state breakdown voltage of 350 V, and a current handling capability of 150 A. In addition, a sub-nano second switching t/sub r/ of 98 psec and t/sub f/ of 96 psec, with a current density as high as 2.0 kA/cm/sup 2/ is demonstrated for the first time.
Functional and genomic analyses of blocked protein O‐mannosylation in baker's yeast

O‐mannosylation is a crucial protein modification in eukaryotes that is initiated by the essential family of protein O‐mannosyltransferases (PMTs). Here we demonstrate that in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae rhodanine‐3‐acetic acid derivatives affect members of all PMT subfamilies. Specifically, we used OGT2468 to analyse genome‐wide transcriptional changes in response to general inhibition of O‐mannosylation in baker's yeast. PMT inhibition results in the activation of the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. Coinciding, the mitogen‐activated kinase Slt2p is activated in vivo and CWI pathway mutants are hypersensitive towards OGT2468. Further, induction of many target genes of the unfolded protein response (UPR) and ER‐associated protein degradation (ERAD) is observed. The interdependence of O‐mannosylation and UPR/ERAD is confirmed by genetic interactions between HAC1 and PMTs, and increased degradation of the ERAD substrate Pdr5p* in pmtΔ mutants. Transcriptome analyses further suggested that mating and filamentous growth are repressed upon PMT inhibition. Accordingly, in vivo mating efficiency and invasive growth are considerably decreased upon OGT2468 treatment. Quantitative PCR and ChIP analyses suggest that downregulation of mating genes is dependent on the transcription factor Ste12p. Finally, inhibitor studies identified a role of the Ste12p‐dependent vegetative signalling cascade in the adaptive response to inhibition of O‐mannosylation.
An advanced teleoperator control system: design and evaluation

The design goal of an advanced teleoperator control system is twofold: (1) to allow the operator's manual control to be robust to system nonlinearities such as time delays and operator's control errors, and (2) to support the high performance of teleoperation while reducing the operator's control burden by providing the master and slave arms with desirable dynamic properties and by allowing the slave arm to automatically perform such control tasks as compliance and force control in the form of task sharing. The authors present a novel teleoperator control system achieving the above design goal by taking the following into consideration: the human dynamics involved in generating control command based on visual and force feedback is modeled and incorporated into the controller design and evaluation: the dynamic characteristics of slave and master arms are actively modified in such a way as to implement the desirable dynamic characteristics; and the force feedback is redefined in terms of the combination of opposition and force discrepancies in order to establish the required man/machine dynamic coordination under shared control. The proposed control system with human dynamics in the control loop is simulated and compared with a number of conventional methods in the presence of human control errors and time delays. <<ETX>>
Maternal mortality and access to obstetric services in West Africa

Summary Objectives Process evaluation has become the mainstay of safe motherhood evaluation in developing countries, yet the extent to which indicators measuring access to obstetric services at the population level reflect levels of maternal mortality is uncertain. In this study we examine the association between population indicators of access to obstetric care and levels of maternal mortality in urban and rural West Africa.
Chronic systemic inflammation originating from epithelial tissues

Chronic systemic inflammation (CSI) has recently been identified as a major contributor to common diseases ranging from cancer to metabolic disorders and neurologic alterations. In the last decade, we and others have generated genetically engineered mouse models for inflammatory diseases, which enable studying the molecular mechanisms of CSI. Recently, organ cross‐talk induced by CSI under homeostatic and pathological conditions has begun to be appreciated. In this review, we will revisit whole organism physiology in relation to CSI originating from epithelial tissues, such as the skin and gut. Furthermore, we will discuss the current knowledge regarding the mechanisms, the specific immune cells and molecules responsible for inducing the most common comorbidities, such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological complications, as well as bone loss, in heterogeneous diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. As it would be impossible to discuss all comorbidities of these diseases as well as all epithelial tissues, we present an overview with a special emphasis on our recent findings linking skin inflammation to bone loss.
Turning the tide? Why development will not stop migration.

Restrictive immigration policies and the militarization of external border controls by the US and the EU have failed to significantly curb immigration from Latin America and Africa. Rather, they have led to greater reliance on increasingly risky and costly irregular migration and have paradoxically encouraged permanent settlement. A commonly presented ‘smart solution’ to curb immigration is to address the perceived root causes of migration through increasing aid or liberalizing trade with origin countries. Recently, policies to stimulate remittances and to promote temporary and circular migration have also been advocated as enhancing home country development, so that these forms of migration become a medicine against illegal and permanent migration. However, besides the limited scope and credibility of such policies, empirical and theoretical evidence strongly suggests that economic and human development increases people's capabilities and aspirations and therefore tends to coincide with an increase rather than a decrease in emigration, at least in the short to medium term. Under unfavourable conditions, trade, aid and remittances can be complements to, rather than substitutes for, migration also in the longer term. At the same time, demand for both skilled and unskilled migrant labour is likely to persist. Trade, aid, return migration and remittances are no short-cut ‘solutions’ to migration, and sustained immigration therefore seems likely.
Taking a Structured Approach to Understanding Proteins

Knowing the structures of all the proteins encoded by the flood of gene sequences pouring into the public databases would give a big boost to biomedical researchers seeking to understand those genes' functions, but even if it were possible to determine all of them, it would take a tremendous amount of time and resources. Meeting 24 and 25 January at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, a group of researchers agreed that the goal should be to determine the structures of a set of molecules representing all types of protein structure. They say this would yield almost as good a picture of the universe of proteins as attempting to get the three-dimensional structure of every one that turns up through gene sequencing, which in the case of the human genome could be 100,000.
Four Steps to Optic Nerve Regeneration

The failure of the optic nerve to regenerate after injury or in neurodegenerative disease remains a major clinical and scientific problem. Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons course through the optic nerve and carry all the visual information to the brain, but after injury, they fail to regrow through the optic nerve and RGC cell bodies typically die, leading to permanent loss of vision. There are at least 4 hurdles to overcome in preserving RGCs and regenerating their axons: 1) increase RGC survival, 2) overcome the inhibitory environment of the optic nerve, 3) enhance RGC intrinsic axon growth potential, and 4) optimize the mapping of RGC connections back into their targets in the brain.
The Multitaper Method for Accurate Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Environments

In this paper, we begin by describing an essential requirement in cognitive radio: accurate spectrum sensing of the electromagnetic radio environment surrounding the receiver. Then, we describe the multitaper method that is well suited for fulfilling such a requirement. The paper also describes a recently developed interpretation of the multitaper method as a filter bank algorithm.
The Ultimate Guide to Forgetting in Answer Set Programming

Many approaches for forgetting in Answer Set Programming (ASP) have been proposed in recent years, in the form of specific operators, or classes of operators, following different principles and obeying different properties. Whereas each approach was developed to somehow address some particular view on forgetting, thus aimed at obeying a specific set of properties deemed adequate for such view, we are lacking a comprehensive and uniform overview of existing operators and properties. We aim at overcoming this by thoroughly examining existing properties and (classes of) operators for forgetting in ASP, drawing a complete picture, which includes many novel (even surprising) results on relations between properties and operators. Our goal is to provide a guide to help users in choosing the most adequate operator for their application requirements.
Association between Helicobacter pylori and recurrent aphthous stomatitis in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND The recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common disease with unknown etiology. Helicobacter pylori has been shown to be the causative factor in peptic ulcers. Considering the similarities of histologic features between gastric and oral ulceration, we studied the possible involvement of H. pylori in the development of RAS. METHODS A total of 105 children and adolescents were investigated--53 patients with RAS (case group) and 52 patients without lesions (control group). Specimens obtained by swabbing RAS lesions, intact oral mucosa, and dental plaque were submitted to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay. RESULTS Helicobacter pylori was present in six patients of the case group (11.3%) and in three of the control group (5.8%). When the site of infection was studied, 9.4% of the RAS lesions were PCR positives. In the case group and control group, 5.7 and 1.9% of the specimens from dental plaque, respectively, and 5.7 and 3.8% of the specimens from the intact oral mucosa, respectively, were PCR positives. CONCLUSION There was no association between RAS lesions and infection of the oral cavity by H. pylori in children and adolescents (P = 0.254).
Bayesian age estimation on face images

This paper proposes to formulate the age estimation on face images as a Bayesian estimation problem. The proposed framework incorporates a probabilistic model on face aging distribution into the formulation. Individual-specific prior information as well as individual-specific aging models, if available, could then be easily included into the unified age estimation framework. We conduct experiments on the publicly available FG-NET database and compare the estimation results with existing methods. The experimental results demonstrate that, by combining the probabilistic modeling of facial feature distribution, the proposed method indeed outperforms the existing methods.
Inhibition of the renin–angiotensin system improves physiological outcomes in mice with mild or severe cancer cachexia

Cancer cachexia describes the progressive skeletal muscle wasting and weakness associated with many cancers. Cachexia reduces mobility and quality of life and accounts for 20–30% of all cancer‐related deaths. Activation of the renin–angiotensin system causes skeletal muscle wasting and weakness. We tested the hypothesis that treatment with the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, perindopril, would enhance whole body and skeletal muscle function in cachectic mice bearing Colon‐26 (C‐26) tumors. CD2F1 mice received a subcutaneous injection of phosphate buffered saline or C‐26 tumor cells inducing either a mild or severe cachexia. The following day, one cohort of C‐26 mice began receiving perindopril in their drinking water (4 mg kg−1 day−1) for 21 days. In mild and severe cachexia, perindopril increased measures of whole body function (grip strength and rotarod) and reduced fatigue in isolated contracting diaphragm muscle strips (p < 0.05). In severely cachectic mice, perindopril reduced tumor growth, improved locomotor activity and reduced fatigue of tibialis anterior muscles in situ (p < 0.05), which was associated with increased oxidative enzyme capacity (succinate deyhydrogenase, p < 0.05). Perindopril attenuated the increase in MuRF‐1 and IL‐6 mRNA expression and enhanced Akt phosphorylation in severely cachectic mice but neither body nor muscle mass was increased. These findings support the therapeutic potential of ACE inhibition for enhancing whole body function and reducing fatigue of respiratory muscles in early and late stage cancer cachexia and should be confirmed in future clinical trials. Since ACE inhibition alone did not enhance body or muscle mass, co‐treatment with an anabolic agent may be required to address these aspects of cancer cachexia.
Strategic Human Resource Management and Social Capital: Evidence from People's Republic of China

With the social capital theory be introduced into business domain, the concept of organizational social capital (OSC) occurred. OSC can be the mediator between the HRM and organizational competitive advantage. The existent literatures reveal that social intercourse and connection among the internal actors attach great importance to the key success factors of the organization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the OSC effect on the SHRM improving the performance. This study analyzed the data from 640 investigation questionnaires of 42 corporations, employing the multiple regression analysis, investigate the relationship among HRM, internal/external SC, employee social capital, executive SC and OSC, and organizational performance. The results show that, organizational HRM is associated with the accumulation of social capital, and positively affects organizational performance
Learning to cope with digital technology

Technology surrounds people; it functions as their best friend and the worst enemy. From a trip to the local supermarket, to almost every aspect of people's professional and social lives technology is present; mediating their interactions, demanding their attention and engaging them. The main objective of this research is to understand how people learn to cope with the everyday use with the digital technology.
Pulmonary Delivery: Innovative Approaches and Perspectives

The respiratory system, as well as the skin, are organs in direct contact with the environment and it they represent possible doors for the entrance of therapeutic agents into the body. Because of the increasing incidence of pulmonary diseases with high mortality and morbidity, pulmonary drug delivery is emerging as a non-invasive and attractive approach for the treatment of several pathologies. It must be pointed out that the development of drug delivery systems for pulmonary application requires a detailed knowledge of the lung, both in its healthy and disease state. Among the various drug delivery systems considered for pulmonary application, nanocarriers show several advantages over other conventional approaches for the treatment of respiratory diseases, for example prolonged drug release and cell-specific targeted drug delivery. Nano-size drug carriers can incorporate various therapeutics (e.g., poorly water soluble drugs, macromolecules) and show interesting features as drug delivery systems to the lung, such as: controlled release, protection from metabolism and degradation, decreased drug toxicity and targeting capabilities. Since gene therapy (e.g. small interfering RNA, siRNA) is currently being developed for a wide range of acute and chronic lung diseases, including CF, cancer and asthma, the use of nanocarriers for lung release/targeting represents a promising application of such nano-sized structures. Despite the many promising proof of concepts of various delivery technologies reported in this review, further efforts are needed to ensure the safety of long-term in vivo applications and the development of scale up from laboratory to industry in order to reach, together with safety, large - scale production at affordable costs of innovative lung delivery technologies.
UWB receiver based on filter bank architecture for suppression of narrowband interference noise

Ultra wideband (UWB) links are inherently subject to narrowband interference from other communication links which results in frequent disruptive outage conditions. This paper proposes a solution for suppressing the narrowband interference noise based on analog filter bank pre-processing in conjunction with maximum ratio combining (MRC) and generalized matched filter (GMF) processing. This receiver architecture requires significantly less processing than the optimum GMF processing while providing excellent suppression of the narrowband interference that rivals the comparative performance of the GMF. It is also shown that analog filter bank (AFB) forms a signal space of dimension equal to the number of bandpass filters and that the processing can effectively cancel multiple tones up to this dimensionality.
Platelet activation in hypertension associated with hypercholesterolemia: effects of irbesartan

Summary. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of simultaneous hypertension and hypercholesterolemia on platelet activation, nitric oxide (NO) production and oxidative stress, and to evaluate the role of irbesartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist. Methods: Golden Syrian hamsters were divided into three groups: controls, C (fed a standard diet); hypertensive‐hypercholesterolemic, HH (fed a diet enriched in 3% cholesterol, 15% butter and 8% NaCl, for 4 months); and hypertensive‐hypercholesterolemic treated with irbesartan, HHI (fed as HH group, plus irbesartan 10 mg kg−1 per day, for 4 months). Results: Compared with the C group, platelets isolated from the HH group showed: morphological modifications; increased integrin β3 exposure and protein expression of P‐selectin, FAK, PI3K, Akt and Src; reduced eNOS protein expression and NO production; higher generation of ROS, mostly produced by NADPH‐oxidase, cyclooxygenase‐1 (COX‐1) and 12‐lipoxygenase; and enhanced NAD(P)H oxidase activity and protein expression of gp91phox and p22phox subunits, 12‐lipoxygenase, COX‐1, cPLA2 and PKC. Compared with the HH group, the treatment with irbesartan (HHI group) significantly attenuates the changes in all the molecules tested, reduces platelet aggregation, and improves intraplatelet redox balance. Conclusions: Experimental hypertension associated with hypercholesterolemia produces major changes in morphology, signaling mechanisms and oxidative stress in blood platelets. These changes were significantly diminished by irbesartan administration, which functions as an antioxidant on platelets.
Antioxidant therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease characterized by fibrosis and remodeling of the lung parenchyma. The median survival of patients with the disease is about three years after diagnosis or five years after the onset of symptoms. The pathological findings are those of usual interstitial pneumonia.1 In many instances, the diagnosis can be made when typical clinical and radiologic features are present.2–5 The classic radiologic features are a patchy pattern of peripheral “honeycombing” that is more prominent in the bases of the lungs, traction bronchiectasis, and the absence of prominent ground-glass opacity. When these findings are not .
Extraction de sous-parties ciblées d'une ontologie généraliste pour enrichir une ontologie particulière

Differentes ressources ontologiques generalistes de tres grande taille ont ete developpees de facon collective et sont aujourd'hui disponibles sur le Web. Yago est une enorme base de connaissances decrivant plus de 2 millions d'entites. Afin de tirer parti de ce gigantesque travail collectif, nous montrons comment en extraire des sous-parties thematiquement focalisees pour enrichir une autre ontologie, dite cible, de taille plus limitee mais de domaine centre sur une application particuliere.