Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure of a Novel O-Linked N-Acetyl-d-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) Transferase, GtfA, Reveals Insights into the Glycosylation of Pneumococcal Serine-rich Repeat Adhesins*

Background: O-GlcNAcylation of surface adhesin PsrP catalyzed by GtfA-GtfB complex is involved in the pathogenicity of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Results: The crystal structure of GtfA reveals a novel O-GlcNAc transferase with a β-meander “add-on” domain. Conclusion: The add-on domain is crucial for complex formation and acceptor recognition. Significance: The structure provides insights into the catalytic mechanism of a novel bacterial O-GlcNAc transferase. Protein glycosylation catalyzed by the O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) plays a critical role in various biological processes. In Streptococcus pneumoniae, the core enzyme GtfA and co-activator GtfB form an OGT complex to glycosylate the serine-rich repeat (SRR) of adhesin PsrP (pneumococcal serine-rich repeat protein), which is involved in the infection and pathogenesis. Here we report the 2.0 Å crystal structure of GtfA, revealing a β-meander add-on domain beyond the catalytic domain. It represents a novel add-on domain, which is distinct from the all-α-tetratricopeptide repeats in the only two structure-known OGTs. Structural analyses combined with binding assays indicate that this add-on domain contributes to forming an active GtfA-GtfB complex and recognizing the acceptor protein. In addition, the in vitro glycosylation system enables us to map the O-linkages to the serine residues within the first SRR of PsrP. These findings suggest that fusion with an add-on domain might be a universal mechanism for diverse OGTs that recognize varying acceptor proteins/peptides.
Racial disparities across provider specialties in opioid prescriptions dispensed to medicaid beneficiaries with chronic noncancer pain.

OBJECTIVE Chronic pain affects both psychological and physical functioning, and is responsible for more than $60 billion in lost productivity annually in the United States. Although previous studies have demonstrated racial disparities in opioid treatment, there is little evidence regarding disparities in treatment of chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) and the role played by physician specialty in these disparities. DESIGN A retrospective cohort study. SETTING We analyzed North Carolina Medicaid claims data, from July 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010, to examine disparities by different provider specialties in beneficiaries' dispensed prescriptions for opioids. SUBJECTS The population included white and black North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries with CNCP (N = 75,458). METHODS We used bivariate statistics and logistic regression analysis to examine race-based discrepancies in opioid prescribing by physician specialty. RESULTS Compared with white beneficiaries with CNCP (N = 49,197), black beneficiaries (N = 26,261) were less likely (odds ratio [OR] 0.91 [confidence interval {CI}: 0.88-0.94]) to fill an opioid prescription. Our hypothesis was partially supported: we found that race-based differences in beneficiaries' dispensed opioid prescriptions were more prominent in certain specialties. In particular, these differences were most salient among patients of specialists in obstetrics and gynecology (OR 0.78 [CI: 0.67-0.89]) and internal medicine (OR 0.86 [CI: 0.79-0.92]), as well as general practitioners/family medicine physicians (OR 0.91 [CI: 0.85-0.97]). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that, in our study population, black beneficiaries with CNCP are less likely than whites to fill prescriptions for opioid analgesics as a function of their provider's specialty. Although race-based differences in patients filling opioid prescriptions have been noted in previous studies, this is the first study that clearly demonstrates these disparities by provider specialty.
Methyl chloride poisoning in four members of a family.

Accidental methyl chloride poisoning caused by gas leakage from a refrigerator through a ruptured rubber connecting tube occurred in four members of a family. All the patients had symptoms of central nervous system and kidney damage, while in three of them jaundice was observed. The outcome of the intoxication was good in all cases. Methyl chloride poisoning was first described by Gerbis in 1914 in two workers who were cleaning a methyl chloride container (Browning, 1965). Later cases were caused by gas leakage from refrigerators (Kegel, McNally, and Pope, 1929; Weinstein, 1937) some of which were fatal (Schwartz, 1926; Verri? re and Vachez, 1949). One occurred in a man who was installing a refrigerator (Roche, Nicholas, and Marier, 1956) and others in industrial exposures (Hansen, Weaver, and Venable, 1953; Morgan, 1942).
Acetazolamide as a vasodilatory stimulus in cerebrovascular diseases and in conditions affecting the cerebral vasculature

Pathologic processes affecting the brain vessels may damage cerebral vasodilatory capacity. Early detection of cerebral dysfunction plays an important role in the prevention of cerebrovascular diseases. In recent decades acetazolamide (AZ) has frequently been used for this purpose. In the present work the mechanism of action and the previous studies are reviewed. The authors conclude that AZ tests are useful in cerebrovascular research. Further investigations are recommended to prove how impaired reserve capacity and reactivity influence the stroke risk in patients and whether these tests may indicate therapeutic interventions.
A fractile optimisation approach for possibilistic programming problem in fuzzy random environment

Real-life applications face simultaneously hybrid uncertainty namely fuzziness and randomness, or ambiguous and vague information that makes the existing decision-making model incapable of handling such uncertainties. This paper presents the possibilistic programming for decision-making using a fractile approach. Some real world problems are formulated as a necessity measure model to deal with the uncertainties, which come from vague aspiration and ambiguous coefficients. Thus, the proposed methodology is important in building the model and finding the solution. The vagueness and ambiguity are properly treated in the paper and the fractile approach is used to solve fuzzy linear programming problem. An illustrative example explains the proposed model. The analytical results of the proposed method reveal the improvement of conventional decision-making approaches to appropriately handle inherent uncertainties contained in the real world situation.
Por uma multiestratificação estrutural dos sintomas de linguagem

Objetivo: buscar uma explicacao dos diferentes tipos/grades de funcionamento dos sintomas de linguagem alcando dimensoes do sujeito/falante, do Outro/fonoaudiologo nas instâncias clinica e teorica da clinica fonoaudiologica, a partir do conceito de multiestratificacao estrutural da linguagem. Justificativa: o reconhecimento do hiato entre a instância clinica e teorica da clinica fonoaudiologica que, de um lado e confrontada no momento clinico pela demanda do sujeito ao fonoaudiologo e, por outro, pela ausencia da linguagem nas descricoes fonoaudiologicas acerca do sintoma, quer sejam elas clinicas ou teoricas, em um movimento de supressao do sujeito, do fonoaudiologo e da linguagem que, consequentemente, nao permite o alcamento de uma estrutura que legitime a relacao entre os sintomas de linguagem e a clinica fonoaudiologica. Hipotese: a explicacao do funcionamento dos sintomas de linguagem como submetido as leis de cada estrutura multiestratificada da escrita, da lingua e da fala, atravessadas simultaneamente pelos estratos do sujeito, do Outro e da metafora e da metonimia, nos quais emergem os tracos dos arranjos e rearranjos do percurso pelas redes dos sintomas na linguagem do sujeito. Estes arranjos e rearranjos pluriestratificados seriam determinantes para a descricao e explicacao dos diferentes sintomas de linguagem, bem como para a possibilidade de estabelecer um diagnostico que direcionaria a posicao subjetiva e terapeutica do fonoaudiologo/Outro. Aspectos teorico-metodologicos: aprofundamento da nocao de sintoma nas clinicas: fonoaudiologica, medica e psicanalitica com base na estrutura de linguagem; visita as concepcoes de sancao nas areas juridica, semiotica, fonoaudiologica e psicanalitica; circunscricao de conceitos e implicacoes da estratificacao nos mecanismos psiquicos, linguisticos e antropologicos, para destacar as aproximacoes e distanciamentos dos termos, empregos e definicoes que estariam envolvidos no sintoma, na sancao e na estratificacao. Conclusoes: a elaboracao de uma proposta de funcionamento estrutural multiestratificado dos sintomas de linguagem que se organiza a partir de conceitos advindos da psicanalise, da aquisicao de linguagem e da descricao e explicacao dos sintomas de linguagem presentes em pesquisas fonoaudiologicas e em dados oriundos do Banco de Fala e Escrita, com fundamento nas estruturas da escrita, da lingua e da fala
Contributions au calcul dans les algèbres de Lie libres et à la déformation des groupes triangulaires en géométrie hyperbolique complexe

Ce memoire aborde plusieurs domaines : - le calcul de Lie et en particulier les series de Lie et leurs applications en theorie du controle (avec F. JEAN), en mecanique hamiltonienne et dans l'etude de relations dans des groupes ; - l'etude des deformations de groupes triangulaires discrets dans l'espace PU(2,1) des automorphismes de la boule unite complexe de dimension 2 (avec E. FALBEL). - ainsi qu'un travail en collaboration avec Serge GALAM sur l'etude d'un modele particulier du probleme d'Ising triangulaire antiferromagnetique.
Comparison of trajectory parametrization methods with statistical analysis for dynamic parameter identification of serial robot

This paper introduces an approach for designing exciting trajectories for parameter identification of serial robots based on a combination of Fourier Series (FS) and Schroeder Phased Harmonic Sequence (SPHS). An initial estimation of the trajectory is designed for each link using SPHS. Afterwards, the initial trajectory enable to find the initial parameters of the FS which are fed to an optimization process that finds the optimal parameters of the FS used for identification purpose. Like this, we can take the advantages of both FS and SPHS and eliminate the disadvantages of each of them. Moreover, a comparison of results between; the proposed method, original FS, and SPHS is taking place to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approach. In this vein, a one-way analysis of variance is conducted to compare whether there are significant improvement or not. An PA10 7DoF arm robot serves as test bed for conducting experiments. Findings shows that the optimal trajectory found through the proposed approach requires less computation time compared to original FS which can be an advantage for fast and robust identification.
A Review of Tuberculosis in Ndola District of Zambia

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most frequent and important infectious disease causing morbidity and mortality globally. The World Health Organization estimates the incidence of all forms of TB in Zambia at 444/100,000. Tuberculosis case notification rates have increased eightfold over the past two decades and this is largely due to the concurrent Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemic. The cornerstone of Tuberculosis control is early case detection and treatment which is promoted by Direct Observed Treatment-Short course strategy. This paper reviews the available information in English on TB situation in Ndola district of Zambia with the purpose of assessing successes recorded over the reviewed period. Results: This review has noted a reduction in the number of new cases of TB recorded, improved diagnosis and treatment success of TB in Ndola district over the reviewed period. Conclusion: This review has observed a reduction in the number of new cases of TB recorded in Ndola district over a period of ten years due to the strategies put up by the National TB Program as well as the effective implementation of the strategies by the District Medical team. These strategies included the Directly Observed Therapy Short course (DOTS).
Solvent structure in crystals of trypsin determined by X‐ray and neutron diffraction

The solvent structure in orthorhombic crystals of bovine trypsin has been independently determined by X‐ray diffraction to 1.35 Å resolution and by neutron diffraction to 2.1 Å resolution. A consensus model of the water molecule positions was obtained using oxygen positions identified in the electron density map determined by X‐ray diffraction, which were verified by comparison to D2OH2O difference neutron scattering density. Six of 184 water molecules in the X‐ray structure, all with B‐factors greater than 50 Å2, were found to be spurious after comparison with neutron results. Roughly two‐thirds of the water of hydration expected from thermodynamic data for proteins was localized by neutron diffraction; approximately one‐half of the water of hydration was located by X‐ray diffraction. Polar regions of the protein are well hydrated, and significant D2OH2O difference density is seen for a small number of water molecules in a second shell of hydration. Hydrogen bond lengths and angles calculated from unconstrained refinement of water positions are distributed about values typically seen in small molecule structures.
Fast sweeping methods for checking passivity of descriptor systems

Passivity is a crucial property that VLSI macromodels, such as interconnects, vias and packages, should preserve in order to guarantee stable global simulation and signal integrity. In this paper, we focus on the fast passivity checking for general descriptor systems derived from macromodels. We proposed two sweeping methods for descriptor systems, which are also applicable to regular systems as special cases. Compared with existing methods, the proposed ones are not only computationally more efficient, but also capable of locating the non-passive frequency regions if they exist. Numerical examples then verify the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Longterm Safety and Efficacy of Subcutaneous Tocilizumab Monotherapy: Results from the 2-year Open-label Extension of the MUSASHI Study

Objective. To evaluate the longterm safety and efficacy of subcutaneous tocilizumab (TCZ-SC) as monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Of 346 patients who received 24 weeks of double-blind treatment with either TCZ-SC monotherapy, 162 mg every 2 weeks (q2w); or intravenous TCZ (TCZ-IV) monotherapy, 8 mg/kg every 4 weeks; 319 patients continued to receive TCZ-SC q2w in the 84-week open-label extension (OLE) of the MUSASHI study (JAPICCTI-101117). Efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity were evaluated for all patients treated with TCZ during 108 weeks. Results. The proportions of patients who achieved American College of Rheumatology 20/50/70 responses, low disease activity [28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) ≤ 3.2], or remission (DAS28 < 2.6) at Week 24 were maintained until Week 108. The incidences of adverse events and serious adverse events were 498.3 and 16.9 per 100 patient-years (PY), respectively. The overall safety of TCZ-SC monotherapy was similar to that of TCZ-IV monotherapy. Rates of injection site reactions (ISR) through 108 weeks remained similar to rates through 24 weeks. ISR were mild and did not cause any patient withdrawals. No serious hypersensitivity events (including anaphylactic reactions) occurred. Anti-TCZ antibodies were present in 2.1% of patients treated with TCZ-SC monotherapy. Conclusion. TCZ-SC monotherapy maintained a favorable safety profile and consistent efficacy throughout the 108-week study. Like TCZ-IV, TCZ-SC could provide an additional treatment option for patients with RA.
Early relief of erectile dysfunction after laser decompression of herniated lumbar disc.

OBJECTIVE The use of percutaneous laser disc decompression (PLDD) for the treatment of erectile dysfunction caused by herniated disc disease is described. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Disc herniation is often overlooked as a cause of erectile dysfunction, with few cases reported in the literature. METHODS Two patients with erectile dysfunction were treated with PLDD as outpatients. RESULTS In addition to the early return of erectile function in both cases, immediate pain relief was achieved in the second case. Follow-up visits confirmed continued normal sexual function and lack of pain. CONCLUSIONS The literature now includes 23 cases well-documented cases of erectile dysfunction caused by spinal cord disc herniation. PLDD is a minimally invasive procedure that that can be used to treat herniation of intervertebral discs, which has been found to cause erectile dysfunction.
Effects of Air Annealing on Luminescent Properties of Cerium-Doped Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate Scintillation Ceramics

Cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate ( Lu2SiO5: 0.5 mol%Ce, LSO:Ce) scintillation ceramics was fabricated by pre-sintering at 1650° C for 4 h in air followed by a post hot isostatic pressing (HIP) at 1600° C under 150 MPa for 1 h in Ar atmosphere. Luminescent and scintillation properties of the as-HIPed LSO:Ce ceramics was seriously affected by these oxygen vacancies. They were effectively filled through a post-annealing at 1300° C for 4 h in air. Ce LIII edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra of LSO:Ce ceramics manifest that most of Ce ions in LSO ceramics still remain Ce(III) valence state after annealing in air. Photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation (PLE) spectra show that emission intensity of the as-HIPed LSO:Ce ceramics was about 3 times lower than that of post-annealed sample. Light yield of the post-annealed LSO:Ce ceramics reaches 2.7 times of that of the as-HIPed sample, which exceeds 3 times of the light yield of BGO crystal.
A framework to model dependable real-time systems based on real-time object model

Proposes a framework to model fault-tolerant real-time systems consisting of RobustRTOs (Robust Real-Time Objects) and RMOs (Region Monitor real-time Objects). A RobustRTO is an object which is capable of tolerating faults in itself. Many existing fault-tolerant mechanisms, such as RB (recovery blocks) and NVP (N-version programming), are modeled as RobustRTOs. An RMO is an object which is capable of monitoring a set of objects, named regions. The RMO detects any abnormal behavior of the objects within a region, diagnoses the symptoms and performs appropriate recovery and/or reconfiguration. Although the concepts of RobustRTOs and RMOs are introduced based on a real-time object model, we believe they are applicable to the modeling and design of any dependable embedded real-time system.
Scale‐up Production of a Recombinant Mycobacterium leprae Antigen

The New Zealand Institute for Industrial Research and Development (previously a part of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) is one of the major public-funded research and development organizations in New Zealand. Operations in Palmerston North are centered on a facility for contained large-scale growth of recombinant microorganisms that has been approved to Level 1 standards. ' This is the only such facility in New Zealand. The overall aim is the development of facilities and expertise for fermentation scale-up to a 1000-liter size. This particularly includes the establishment of process control systems for the monitoring and the batch and continuous feeding of fermentations. Approval for the use of large-scale fermentation facilities in New Zealand is presently on an ad hoc case-by-case basis, with no regulations as such.2 Guidelines for requirements are based on the those of Australia and the United Kingdom, with essentially the same categories being defined. Although our present approval is to Level 1, it is acknowledged that we meet nearly all Level 3 requirements. Probably the most difficult problem in ensuring containment has been sampling and inoculation of vessels without the generation of aerosol^. ^ Current fermentors include 2-liter and 1000-liter stirred-vessel bioreactors of local construction, a 40-liter vessel (New Brunswick Fermacell, 1969), and a 5-liter vessel (New Brunswick Bioflo 111, not yet in service). Process control for both the 2and 1000-liter vessels is by a PC-based control system developed in-house, and with a number of features adapted to our specific needs. The system is able to step through a programmed sequence of events, for example, initiating a cooling cycle or a heat-inactivation step at a specific time, or on a nominated trigger, such as dissolved oxygen (DO*) or respiratory quotient (RQ) reaching a given value. The program is menu-driven and written in Microsoft QuickBASIC and is presently installed on a 386 system. It is able to make derived calculations and is of modular construction so that it is easy to add additional modules if required. The control system hardware is based on a Keithley System 570 data interface. Although the program originally used the proprietary Keithley software calls and functions, these operations are now handled by BASIC directly. These systems are being developed with a model recombinant organism; we are concentrating on the development of feeding strategies, with computer control of the glucose concentration in the growth medium. The strain used is an Eschen'chia coli bearing the information for an antigen from Mycobacterium leprae, the causative organism of leprosy. A 61 1 base-pair fragment of M. leprue DNA containing the 18-kDa gene and a mycobacterial promoter sequence was inserted into the pUC18 plasmid. This was used to transform E. coli DH5q with constitutive expression of the 18-kDa antigen being r e p ~ r t e d . ~ The protein is
Activation of stress‐activated protein kinase‐3 (SAPK3) by cytokines and cellular stresses is mediated via SAPKK3 (MKK6); comparison of the specificities of SAPK3 and SAPK2 (RK/p38)

Stress‐activated protein kinase‐3 (SAPK3), a recently described MAP kinase family member with a widespread tissue distribution, was transfected into several mammalian cell lines and shown to be activated in response to cellular stresses, interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in a similar manner to SAPK1 (also termed JNK) and SAPK2 (also termed p38, RK, CSBP and Mxi2). SAPK3 and SAPK2 were activated at similar rates in vitro by SAPKK3 (also termed MKK6), and SAPKK3 was the only activator of SAPK3 that was induced when KB or 293 cells were exposed to cellular stresses or stimulated with IL‐1 or TNF. Co‐transfection with SAPKK3 induced SAPK3 activity and greatly enhanced activation in response to osmotic shock. These experiments indicate that SAPKK3 mediates the activation of SAPK3 in several mammalian cells. SAPK3 and SAPK2 phosphorylated a number of proteins at similar rates, including the transcription factors ATF2, Elk‐1 and SAP1, but SAPK3 was far less effective than SAPK2 in activating MAPKAP kinase‐2 and MAPKAP kinase‐3. Unlike SAPK2, SAPK3 was not inhibited by the drug SB 203580. SAPK3 phosphorylated ATF2 at Thr69, Thr71 and Ser90, the same residues phosphorylated by SAPK1, whereas SAPK2 only phosphorylated Thr69 and Thr71. Our results suggest that cellular functions previously attributed to SAPK1 and/or SAPK2 may be mediated by SAPK3.