Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The cryptic ospC gene of Borrelia burgdorferi B31 is located on a circular plasmid

Borrelia burgdorferi B31 cells lacking all linear plasmids or all but the 49-kb linear plasmid expressed the otherwise silent gene for the outer membrane protein OspC. In the first demonstration of a function for a circular plasmid of Borrelia spp. , ospC was located on a 27-kb circular plasmid of B31.
A comparison of live counseling with a web-based lifestyle and medication intervention to reduce coronary heart disease risk: a randomized clinical trial.

IMPORTANCE Most primary care clinicians lack the skills and resources to offer effective lifestyle and medication (L&M) counseling to reduce coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Thus, effective and feasible CHD prevention programs are needed for typical practice settings. OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness, acceptability, and cost-effectiveness of a combined L&M intervention to reduce CHD risk offered in counselor-delivered and web-based formats. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A comparative effectiveness trial in 5 diverse family medicine practices in North Carolina. Participants were established patients, aged 35 to 79 years, with no known cardiovascular disease, and at moderate to high risk for CHD (10-year Framingham Risk Score [FRS], ≥10%). INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized to counselor-delivered or web-based format, each including 4 intensive and 3 maintenance sessions. After randomization, both formats used a web-based decision aid showing potential CHD risk reduction associated with L&M risk-reducing strategies. Participants chose the risk-reducing strategies they wished to follow. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was within-group change in FRS at 4-month follow-up. Other measures included standardized assessments of blood pressure, blood lipid levels, lifestyle behaviors, and medication adherence. Acceptability and cost-effectiveness were also assessed. Outcomes were assessed at 4 and 12 months. RESULTS Of 2274 screened patients, 385 were randomized (192 counselor; 193 web): mean age, 62 years; 24% African American; and mean FRS, 16.9%. Follow-up at 4 and 12 months included 91% and 87% of the randomized participants, respectively. There was a sustained reduction in FRS at both 4 months (primary outcome) and 12 months for both counselor-based (-2.3% [95% CI, -3.0% to -1.6%] and -1.9% [95% CI, -2.8% to -1.1%], respectively) and web-based groups (-1.5% [95% CI, -2.2% to -0.9%] and -1.7% [95% CI, -2.6% to -0.8%] respectively). At 4 months, the adjusted difference in FRS between groups was -1.0% (95% CI, -1.8% to -0.1%) (P = .03), and at 12 months, it was -0.6% (95% CI, -1.7% to 0.5%) (P = .30). The 12-month costs from the payer perspective were $207 and $110 per person for the counselor- and web-based interventions, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Both intervention formats reduced CHD risk through 12-month follow-up. The web format was less expensive. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01245686.
Drain-side discrete-distributed layout influences on reliability issues in the 0.25 μm 60-V power pLDMOS

Repercussions on the reliability capability and electrical performance of power p-channel LDMOS devices by different discrete-distributed architectures in the drainside are investigated in this paper. Here, in order to effectively improve the reliability issues, a drain-side "NPN" and "PNP" styles of pLDMOS-SCR with some discrete-distributed areas arrangement are fabricated by a 0.25 μm 60 V BCD process. From the experimental results, we can find that the layout manner of discrete-distributed types in the drain-side have little impacts on the anti-ESD capability, due to their secondary breakdown current (It2) values are greater than 7 A. On the other hand, the lowest N+/P+ area ratio of discrete-distributed type has a better electrical property and anti-latchup (LU) immunity than that of the reference DUT (type-6). In other words, the layout type of "NPN_discrete 3_2co" has a higher Vt1, Vh, and VBK values; the Vt1 improvement is more than 18.2%, Vh improvement is more than 25.6%, and VBK improvement is more than 24.24% as compared with the reference DUT (type-6), respectively. Finally, it can be summarized that the "PNP" stripe-type (type 7) is the best choice for the anti-ESD/LU immunities and electrical performance considerations.
Frailty‐Based Competing Risks Model for Multivariate Survival Data

Summary In this work, we provide a new class of frailty‐based competing risks models for clustered failure times data. This class is based on expanding the competing risks model of Prentice et al. (1978, Biometrics 34, 541–554) to incorporate frailty variates, with the use of cause‐specific proportional hazards frailty models for all the causes. Parametric and nonparametric maximum likelihood estimators are proposed. The main advantages of the proposed class of models, in contrast to the existing models, are: (1) the inclusion of covariates; (2) the flexible structure of the dependency among the various types of failure times within a cluster; and (3) the unspecified within‐subject dependency structure. The proposed estimation procedures produce the most efficient parametric and semiparametric estimators and are easy to implement. Simulation studies show that the proposed methods perform very well in practical situations.
A Binding Site for Highly Sulfated Heparan Sulfate Is Identified in the N Terminus of the Circumsporozoite Protein

Circumsporozoite protein (CSP) coats the malarial sporozoite and functions to target the liver for infection, which is the first step to developing malaria. An important tissue ligand for CSP is the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate (HS) found on the surface of hepatocytes and in the basement membrane of the space of Disse. To better understand this efficient targeting process, we set out to identify and characterize the HS binding site(s) of CSP. We synthesized a series of peptides corresponding to five regions of Plasmodium falciparum CSP containing basic residues, a common requirement of HS binding sites, and screened them for heparin and HS binding activity. Only one of these peptides (Pf 2), which contains a motif we have named region I-plus, demonstrated both high affinity heparin/HS binding activity and the ability to block the binding of recombinant CSP to heparin-Sepharose 4B. Analysis by isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that region I-plus has a binding constant of Kd = 5.0 μm and a stoichiometry of n = 7.8 binding sites/heparin chain. Heparin binding was dependent on the amino acid sequence of region I-plus, and the binding sites on heparin/HS are contained within a decasaccharide. Furthermore, HS oligosaccharides rich in sulfate and iduronic acid content (heparin-like) are required for efficient binding. Because liver HS is exceptionally high in both these components relative to the HS of other organs, the HS structural requirements for efficient region I-plus/HS binding are consistent with this peptide sequence functioning to target sporozoites to the liver for attachment to hepatocytes. Finally, the region I-plus heparin/HS binding site was also discovered for two other species that infect humans, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax, further supporting the existence of a HS binding domain in the N-terminal portion of CSP.
The Human Transcription Enhancer Factor-1, TEF-1, Can Substitute for Drosophila scalloped during Wingblade Development*

The human transcriptionenhancer factor-1 (TEF-1) belongs to a family of evolutionarily conserved proteins that have a DNA binding TEA domain. TEF-1 shares a 98% homology with Drosophila scalloped (sd) in the DNA binding domain and a 50% similarity in the activation domain. We have expressed human TEF-1 inDrosophila under the hsp-70 promoter and find that it can substitute for Sd function. The transformants rescue the wingblade defects as well as the lethality of loss-of-function alleles. Observation of reporter activity in the imaginal wing discs of the enhancer-trap alleles suggests that TEF-1 is capable of promotingsd gene regulation. The functional capability of the TEF-1 product was assessed by comparing the extent of rescue by heat shock (hs)-TEF-1 with that of hs-sd. The finding that TEF-1 can function in vivo during wingblade development offers a potent genetic system for the analysis of its function and in the identification of the molecular partners of TEF-1.
Ex vivo evaluation of four final irrigation protocols on the removal of hard‐tissue debris from the mesial root canal system of mandibular first molars

AIM To evaluate the efficacy of four final irrigation protocols on the reduction of hard-tissue debris accumulated within the mesial root canal system of mandibular first molars using micro-CT analysis. METHODOLOGY Forty mesial roots of mandibular molars with a single and continuous isthmus connecting the mesiobuccal and mesiolingual canals (Vertucci's Type I configuration) were selected and scanned at a resolution of 8.6 μm. Canals were enlarged sequentially using WaveOne Small and Primary instruments activated in reciprocating motion without intracanal irrigation to allow debris to accumulate within the mesial root canal system. Then, specimens were anatomically matched and distributed into four groups (n = 10), according to the final irrigation protocol: apical positive pressure (APP), passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), Self-adjusting File (SAF) and XP-endo Finisher (XPF). The final irrigation procedures were performed over 2 min using a total of 5.5 mL of 2.5% NaOCl per canal. Reconstructed data sets were coregistered, and the mean percentage reduction of accumulated hard-tissue debris after the final irrigation procedures was compared statistically between groups using the anovapost hoc Tukey test with a significance level set at 5%. RESULTS Reduction of accumulated hard-tissue debris was observed in all groups after the final irrigation protocol. Overall, PUI and XPF groups had higher mean percentage reductions of accumulated hard-tissue debris (94.1% and 89.7%, respectively) than APP and SAF groups (45.7% and 41.3%, respectively) (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found when comparing the results of PUI and XPF groups (P > 0.05) or APP and SAF groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The PUI technique and XP-endo Finisher instrument were associated with significantly lower levels of AHTD compared with conventional irrigation and the modified SAF system protocol in mesial root canals of mandibular molars.
Études fonctionnelles et structurales de l'isoforme ɑ et de l'ADN topoisomérase humaine et ses complexes ciblés par des composés thérapeutiques

Les ADN topoisomerases de type 2 (Top2) sont des proteines universelles et essentielles a la vie cellulaire. Elles ont pour fonction de reguler de maniere fine l’equilibre topologique de l’ADN. Chez l’homme, les Top2 (HsTop2) sont des cibles therapeutiques de premiere importance en oncologie. Des molecules telles que l’etoposide et la doxorubicine font partie des traitements anticancereux les plus utilises en clinique a l’heure actuelle, elles agissent en stabilisant les complexes Top2/ADN/inhibiteurs qui sont transformes en lesions permanentes dont l’accumulation entraine la mort cellulaire. Mon travail de these porte sur la caracterisation fonctionnelle et structurale des isoformes des HsTop2 entieres en complexe avec des composes therapeutiques. Mon projet de these comporte trois axes principaux et complementaires : (i) La production et la caracterisation fonctionnelle in vitro des isoformes recombinantes. Nous avons optimise et simplifie les protocoles de surexpression des deux isoformes dans la levure et avons egalement mis au point leur expression dans les cellules de mammifere. (ii) une etude structurale par cryo-microscopie electronique sur les HsTop2 entieres en complexe avec des composes therapeutiques et des oligonucleotides. Ces premiers travaux ont permis l’obtention d’une carte tridimensionnelle de l’enzyme entiere qui servira de base pour l’etude de l’architecture des HsTop2 au sein de complexes proteiques de plus grande taille. (iii) des experiences de proteomique chimique permettant de mettre a jour les cibles secondaires potentielles de l’etoposide et de la doxorubicine dans des extraits cellulaires de lignees cancereuses.
Prevalence of deciduous tooth erosion in childhood.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of deciduous tooth erosion and to identify possible associations with sex, age and toothbrushing frequency in children aged 4-6 years. METHODS The sample was drawn from attendants (n = 7058) of 57 public preschools in a Brazilian city. Tooth wear index was used to evaluate erosion. Descriptive statistical analysis consisted of the calculation of the prevalence of dental erosion; chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were performed to verify the association between dental erosion and sex, age and toothbrushing frequency. RESULTS Two thousand and seven hundred and fifty-nine preschool students were examined. Deciduous tooth erosion was observed in 0.6% of children and its incidence did not differ between sexes. The highest prevalence was observed in children aged 6 years (58.3%) and the most affected sextants were the fourth (22.86%) and sixth (20.00%), indicating that lingual and occlusal tooth surfaces were most frequently involved. The degree of involvement was classified as incipient in 54.29% of children and moderate in 45.71%. The significance level was set at 5%. No association was found between erosion and sex, age or toothbrushing frequency. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of deciduous tooth erosion was low in Brazilian children, and this disorder is not considered a public health problem in this part of the population.
Interdependence of the position and orientation of SoxS binding sites in the transcriptional activation of the class I subset of Escherichia coli superoxide‐inducible promoters

SoxS is the direct transcriptional activator of the member genes of the Escherichia coli superoxide regulon. At class I SoxS‐dependent promoters, e.g. zwf and fpr, whose SoxS binding sites (‘soxbox’) lie upstream of the −35 region of the promoter, activation requires the C‐terminal domain of the RNA polymerase α‐subunit, while at class II SoxS‐dependent promoters, e.g. fumC and micF, whose binding sites overlap the −35 region, activation is independent of the α‐CTD. To determine whether SoxS activation of its class I promoters shows the same helical phase‐dependent spacing requirement as class I promoters activated by catabolite gene activator protein, we increased the 7 bp distance between the 20 bp zwf soxbox and the zwf−35 promoter hexamer by 5 bp and 11 bp, and we decreased the 15 bp distance between the 20 bp fpr soxbox and the fpr−35 promoter hexamer by the same amounts. In both cases, displacement of the binding site by a half or full turn of the DNA helix prevented transcriptional activation. With constructs containing the binding site of one gene fused to the promoter of the other, we demonstrated that the positional requirements are a function of the specific binding site, not the promoter. Supposing that opposite orientation of the SoxS binding site at the two promoters might account for the positional requirements, we placed the zwf and fpr soxboxes in the reverse orientation at the various positions upstream of the promoters and determined the effect of orientation on transcription activation. We found that reversing the orientation of the zwf binding site converts its positional requirement to that of the fpr binding site in its normal orientation, and vice versa. Analysis by molecular information theory of DNA sequences known to bind SoxS in vitro is consistent with the opposite orientation of the zwf and fpr soxboxes.
Changes in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 180-4, Secure Hash Standard

Abstract This article describes the changes between Federal Information Processing Standards FIPS 180-3 and FIPS 180-4. FIPS 180-4 specifies two new secure cryptographic hash algorithms: secure hashing algorithms SHA-512/224 and SHA-512/256; it also includes a method for determining initial value(s) for any future SHA-512-based hash algorithm(s). FIPS 180-4 also removes a requirement for the execution of the message length encoding operation.
Transformerless high step up dc-dc cascode converter with maximum power point tracking

A MPPT based transformer less high step-up dc-dc cascode converter is proposed in this paper. The cascode converter utilizes two buck-boost converters (lower and upper semi-stage converters); they are integrated with a single active switch. The input voltage of lower semi-stage is from the dc source. The input voltage of upper semi-stage is from the dc source and the output voltage of the lower semi-stage by series. Thus the overall output voltage of the converter is the sum of output voltages of the two semi-stages by cascode. Hence a dc-dc converter with high voltage gain is achieved without extremely high duty ratio. Then the performance of this cascode converter is investigated with the utilization of maximum power point tracking (MPPT). So this paper also deals with mathematical modeling and simulation of a solar photovoltaic module. The PV cell exhibits non-linear voltage-current characteristics or non-linear power curve, so its maximum power point varies with weather conditions such as solar insolation and ambient temperature. It is observed that there is a unique maximum power point for a PV cell at a particular weather condition. This maximum power point can be tracked efficiently based on incremental conductance method. The system includes a dc-dc cascode converter, PV module and a MPPT controller. The complete system is analyzed using MATLAB/Simulink.
El Modelo de Valoración Con Cartera de Mercado: Una Nueva Especificación del Coeficiente Beta

RESUMEN Este es un trabajo empírico que contrasta la validez de un modelo tan sencillo y tradicional como es el CAPM, es decir, un modelo de equilibrio que considera un único factor de riesgo: el mercado. Sin embargo, a diferencia de los tests habituales, en los que el riesgo beta se aproxima con la covarianza entre la rentabilidad de un activo y la de la cartera de mercado, proponemos una nueva forma de estimar este riesgo de mercado, considerando determinadas características de la empresa que influyen en su riesgo debido a la distinta situación en la que ésta se encuentra frente a los sucesos macroeconómicos. Los resultados del contraste de significatividad de la prima por riesgo del modelo son considerablemente mejores a los obtenidos con un CAPM estándar.
Conversion of pBR322-based plasmids into broad-host-range vectors by using the Tn3 transposition mechanism

We constructed a series of transposon vectors which allow efficient in vitro gene manipulation and subsequent introduction of cloned DNA into a variety of gram-negative bacteria. Transfer of the cloned fragment from these multicopy plasmids into self-transmissible broad-host-range vectors is achieved in vivo, using the Tn3 transposition mechanism. Transposition into a variety of broad-host-range plasmids proceeds efficiently, and the resulting recombinant plasmids can be readily transferred and maintained in a variety of gram-negative bacteria. The utility of the transposable vectors was demonstrated by the introduction and expression of the lacIPOZY sequences of Escherichia coli into Pseudomonas putida strains, allowing them to utilize lactose as a sole source of carbon and energy.
The Influence of Tool Flank Wear and Depth of Cut on Temperature Fields Based on Johnson-Cook Model in Dry Hard Machining

Temperature is considered to be one of the most important aspects to take into account in dry hard machining. However, dry hard machining is a complex process, and the temperature is the most difficult to be measured when machining. Up to now, only very few studies have been reported on influence of tool wear and depth of cut on temperature fields produced during dry hard machining AISI D2 steel in its hardened state (60-62HRC). In this paper, ALE formulation with techniques such as adaptive meshing, which effectively avoided difficulty of chip formation when using Eulerian formulations, was utilized to propose finite element model based on the well known Johnson--Cook model and the Brozzo's facture criteria. This finite element mode was properly calibrated by means of an iterative procedure based on the comparison between experimental results from literatures and numerical data. At last, this finite element mode was utilized to predict influence of tool wear and depth of cut on temperature fields and applicability of the adiabatic conditions at dry hard machining hardened D2 steel. From this study, it was also possible to properly analyze the influence of tool wear and depth of cut on the temperature fields for industrial application.
Delineation of the Region in the Glycoprotein VI Tail Required for Association with the Fc Receptor γ-Chain*

The glycoprotein VI (GPVI)·Fc receptor γ-chain (FcRγ-chain) complex is the major activation receptor for collagen on platelets. GPVI cross-linking mediates activation through tyrosine phosphorylation of an ITAM (immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif) in the FcR γ-chain by Src family kinases. It has been previously shown that a transmembrane arginine and the cytoplasmic domain of GPVI are required for association with the FcR γ-chain in immortalized cell lines. In this study, we have delineated the regions in the GPVI tail that promote binding to FcR γ-chain and mediate functional responses to the snake venom convulxin by reconstitution of mutant forms of GPVI in RBL-2H3 cells. Sequential truncation of the cytoplasmic tail of GPVI revealed a major role for the basic region and a minor role for the juxtamembrane six amino acids in the association with FcR γ-chain and functional responses to convulxin. Analysis of selective deletions in the GPVI tail supported this conclusion. In addition, we show that the proline-rich domain is required for optimal Ca2+ release, whereas it is dispensable for FcR γ-chain association.
An adaptive genetic programming approach to QoS-aware web services composition

Web services are software entities that can be deployed, discovered and invoked in the distributed environment of the Internet through a set of standards such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). However, atomic web service can only provide simple functionality. A range of web services are required to be incorporated into one composite service in order to offer value-added and complicated functionality when no existing web service can be found to satisfy users' request. In service-oriented architecture (SOA), web services composition has become an efficient solution to support business-to-business and enterprise application integration (EAI). In addition to functional properties (i.e., inputs and outputs), web services have non-functional properties called quality of service (QoS) that encompasses a number of parameters such as execution cost, response time and availability. Nowadays with the rapid increase in the number of available web services, a great number of services provide overlapping or identical functionality but vary in QoS attribute values. Due to the huge search space of the composition problem, a genetic programming (GP) approach is proposed in this paper, which aims to produce the desired outputs based on available inputs, as well as ensure that the composite service has the optimal QoS value. Furthermore, an adaptive method is applied to the standard form of GP in order to avoid low rate of convergence and premature convergence. A series of experiments have been conducted to evaluate the proposed approach, and the results show that the adaptive genetic programming approach (AGP) has a good performance in finding a valid solution within low search time and is superior to the traditional approaches