Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The apocytochrome b gene in maize mitochondria does not contain introns and is preceded by a potential ribosome binding site

The apocytochrome b (COB) gene has been isolated from maize (Zea mays L.) mitochondrial DNA. Sequence analysis reveals that the coding region of the gene is 1164 bp long and, in contrast with the homologous gene from yeast, does not contain introns or TGA (Trp) codons. The predicted polypeptide encoded by the gene has a mol. wt. of 42 868 daltons, and shows ˜48% amino acid sequence homology with the corresponding yeast and mammalian polypeptides. Hydropathic profiles of the polypeptide indicate the presence of nine, membrane spanning hydrophobic domains suggesting that it is organised in the inner mitochondrial membrane in a similar fashion to that proposed for apocytochrome b in other organisms. The COB gene is preceded by a sequence 5′ ‐AGTTGTCA‐3′ which may act as a ribosome binding site in the mRNA since: (i) it shows 67.5% complementarity with an octanucleotide at the 3′ end of the maize mitochondrial 18S rRNA, located in a position homologous to that of the Escherichia coli Shine and Dalgarno sequence, and (ii) a similar sequence precedes several other plant mitochondrial genes at a distance of 15–20 nucleotides from the ATG initiation codon. RNA transcript analysis shows that the gene is transcribed in a complex manner with the presumed mature mRNA (˜2.25 kb) probably being derived by sequential processing from a larger primary transcript.
Prognostic value of immunophenotypic detection of minimal residual disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

PURPOSE The identification of immunophenotypic aberrancies through multiparametric flow cytometry makes the differentiation between normal and leukemic cells relatively simple and quick, and is therefore an attractive method for the investigation of minimal residual disease (MRD). In this report, we have analyzed the impact on relapse and relapse-free survival (RFS) of detecting immunophenotypical aberrant cells in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients in cytomorphologic complete remission (CR). MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred eleven bone marrow (BM) samples from 53 consecutive ALL (37 precursor B-ALL and 16 T-ALL) patients were analyzed. The only selection criteria were to have at least one aberrant immunophenotypic feature at diagosis and to have achieved cytomorphologic CR after induction therapy. For MRD detection, all follow-up samples were analyzed with triple labelings using a two-step acquisition procedure, in which 106 cells were screened for the possible persistence of residual leukemic cells with the same phenotypic aberrancy as that identified diagnosis. RESULTS Patients who displayed a gradual increase in MRD levels showed a higher relapse rate (90% v22%; P < .00001) and shorter median RFS (12 months v not reached; P < .0001) than those with stable or decreasing MRD levels. This adverse prognostic influence also was observed when children and adults, as well as B-ALL and T-ALL patients, were analyzed separately. An MRD level > or = or greater than 10(-3) discriminated two risk groups of ALL patients with significantly different relapse rates and RFS at all treatment phases (end of induction, consolidation, maintenance, and out of treatment). CONCLUSION Multiparametric flow cytometry of MRD in ALL patients is a valuable tool for relapse prediction and for the identification of a cohort of patients with very poor prognosis.
Scanning electron microscopical studies on the tegument of adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni originating from ultraviolet-irradiated and non-irradiated cercariae

The surface topography and ultrastructural changes of Schistosoma mansoni worms developed from ultraviolet-irradiated cercariae were compared with those from non-irradiated cercariae. The tegument of worms developed from irradiated cercariae showed a variety of changes including the occurrence of oedemata and most of the tubercles being torn at the tip and having lost their spines on the dorsal surface of some male worms. In females, parts of the tegument were devoid of spines and surface lesions were present. The range and extent of these changes differed not only among individual worms but also between different regions of individual worms resulting in generalized deformities in those worms originating from irradiated cercariae.
Current status and problems of breast cancer screening.

In cancer screening, it is essential to undertake effective screening with appropriate methodology. Effective screening should be supported by evidence of a reduced mortality rate. At present, mammography is the only method for breast cancer screening that has such evidence. However, mammography does not achieve sufficient screening accuracy in breasts with high mammary gland density. Dense breasts are common at ages below 50 and are more common in Japanese populations than in Western populations. As ultrasonography achieves better accuracy in breast cancer detection even in dense breasts, attempts to use it in screening have started. However, the specifications for ultrasound equipment and the procedures for examination and image reading have not been standardized, and the effectiveness has not been verified. The government therefore started the Japan Strategic Anti-cancer Randomized Trial (J-START) (http://www. j-start.org/), which is a controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound breast cancer screening conducted as a project in the Third-term Comprehensive Strategy for Cancer Control under the Basic Act for Anticancer Measures. This study makes a randomized comparison between 2 groups of women aged 40–49, 50,000 persons in each arm, who are screened using either combined screening with mammography and ultrasonography (intervention group) or mammography alone (control group), and evaluates the sensitivity and specificity as the primary endpoint and the accumulated incidence rate of advanced breast cancer as the secondary endpoint. J-START has been registered on the University Hospital Medical Information Network, ID: UMIN000000757. Although the outcome of cancer screening is reduction of the mortality rate, the planned study period (April 2006 to March 2011) is too short to confirm the results in this aspect, and we are investigating how to make evaluation possible in the future. This study is particularly important because breast cancer screening at ages 40–49 is challenging not only in Asia but also in Western countries.
Thumbs Up, Sales Up? The Contingent Effect of Facebook Likes on Sales Performance in Social Commerce

Abstract In this study we investigate whether social reference systems, such as Facebook “likes” (FBLs), promote sales in social commerce, wherein adverse selection and quality uncertainty often severely damage consumer trust and impede efforts to achieve sustainable growth. We also examine the extent to which product characteristics (product uncertainty and product franchising) and deal characteristics (tipping points, discount rates, and deal durations) moderate the social selling stimulated by FBLs. On the basis of 1,327 samples collected from a major social commerce platform provider, we identify several interesting empirical regularities regarding the relationship between FBLs and social commerce sales. The findings suggest that FBLs drive traffic and increase sales. Information technology artifacts and social technologies, such as FBLs, can endow a consumer’s shopping experience with a socialization component and induce social selling in collective buying platforms. Nevertheless, significant variations occur across products and deals. For example, consumers who purchase experience goods more frequently depend on FBLs than do those who buy search goods. FBLs exert a far greater influence on the sales of goods from independent stores than those from franchise chains. Social commerce consumers are unaffected by heavy discount rates as they make purchase decisions, but they extensively rely on FBLs, particularly when purchasing products that have low tipping points. Our results suggest that social commerce can be a powerful marketplace when the economic utility that is driven by price incentives is further strengthened and protected by the social utility that originates from trust and sharing.
3-D FEM analysis of the effects of SPT head dimensions on recording in discrete and continuous media

Due to the considerable increase of magnetic recording density, the deviation of the head from the centerline of the track becomes a serious problem for the cross-track interference. In this paper, a three-dimensional read/write simulation system was used to investigate the effect of the width of the write head on the behavior of the flux and magnetization for continuous track medium and discrete track medium. It is shown that the magnetization in a neighboring track of the discrete track medium is smaller than that of the continuous track medium. The output of the read head using the discrete track medium is larger than that of the continuous track medium when a suitable read head width is chosen so that the cross talk is negligible.
High Peak Power, Single-polarized, Sub-nanoseconds Pulses Generation of a Yb-doped Rod-type Photonic Crystal Fiber Amplifier

We report a high-peak-power, single-polarized master oscillator power amplification system employing polarization- maintaining Yb-doped rod-type photonic crystal fiber. The MOPA system comprises of a Q-switched microchip laser generating ~630ps pulses at 8.6 kHz repetition-rate and two amplification stages employing double cladding fiber and rod-type PCF respectively. The MOPA system obtains narrow spectral bandwidth, single-polarized pulses of 9W maximum output average power, corresponding to peak power of 1.7MW.
Migraine and structural changes in the brain

Objective: To evaluate the association between migraine without aura (MO) and migraine with aura (MA) and 3 types of structural brain abnormalities detected by MRI: white matter abnormalities (WMAs), infarct-like lesions (ILLs), and volumetric changes in gray and white matter (GM, WM) regions. Methods: PubMed as well as the reference lists of identified studies and reviews were used to identify potentially eligible studies through January 2013. Candidate studies were reviewed and eligible studies were abstracted. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for WMAs and ILLs. Results: Six population-based and 13 clinic-based studies were identified. The studies suggested that structural brain changes, including WMAs, silent ILLs, and volumetric changes in GM and WM regions, were more common in migraineurs than in control groups. The results were strongest for MA. The meta-analysis of WMAs showed an association for MA (OR 1.68; 95% CI 1.07–2.65; p = 0.03) but not for MO (OR 1.34; 95% CI 0.96–1.87; p = 0.08). The association of ILLs was greater for MA (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.02–2.03; p = 0.04) than for MO, but no association was found for MA (p = 0.52) and MO (p = 0.08) compared to controls. Conclusion: These data suggest that migraine may be a risk factor for structural changes in the brain. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to determine the differential influence of migraine without and with aura, to better characterize the effects of attack frequency, and to assess longitudinal changes in brain structure and function.
Disorganisierter Wohlfahrtskapitalismus : die Reorganisation des Sozialsektors in Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien

Wohlfahrtskapitalismus und Sozialsektor im Wandel: eine Bestandsaufnahme - Von der Organisation zum Regime oder: Vorklarungen fur eine Analyse der gesellschaftlichen Einbettung des Sozialsektors - Die Reorganisation des Sozialsektors im internationalen Vergleich - Auf dem Weg in den disorganisierten Wohlfahrtskapitalismus
A classification method of fog image for USV visual system

Video image defogging algorithms cannot intelligently identify whether current scene has fog or not. In order to improve the intelligent defogging ability of unmanned surface vessel (USV), a classification method based on multi-feature extraction is proposed to distinguish whether a surface image is a fog image or not. A surface image sample library is first established and 8 features that are significantly different in fog and clear images are extracted. Second, the features are normalized separately, and the Back Propagation (BP) neural network and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method with different combinations of features are used to classify the surface fog and clear image. Experimental results show that BP neural network is better than SVM for surface fog image classification with limited samples. And, when using BP neural network for classification, we only need 3 features of improved mean, visibility and image intensity. With these features, the average recognition rate can reach 98.75%. Furthermore an experiment shows that the extracted features used in our paper can also be as classification features of fog image concentration.
Potentiation of antitumor activity of vincristine by the biscoclaurine alkaloid cepharanthine.

A membrane stabilizer, the biscoclaurine alkaloid cepharanthine markedly enhanced the cytotoxicity of vincristine (VCR) and adriamycin in cultured L1210 cells at a noncytotoxic dose. When 0.1-0.5 micrograms cepharanthine/ml was added along with VCR to L1210 cells in vitro, the cytotoxicity of VCR was potentiated 1.5-fold to 7-fold, whereas such potentiation was not found in mitomycin C, bleomycin, and 5-fluorouracil. The potentiating action of cepharanthine was stronger when the cells were preincubated with cepharanthine prior to the treatment of cells with VCR and cepharanthine, suggesting that a long-term contact with cells is required for the enhancement. Cepharanthine was found to induce the increase of the cellular level of VCR in L1210 cultured cells. It was suggested that the accumulation of VCR is due to the inhibition of a VCR efflux function of the cells. The administration of cepharanthine at the dose of 5 mg/kg/day for 10 days with VCR significantly enhanced the antitumor activity of VCR in L1210 leukemia and P388 leukemia (P less than .025). However, the combined effect of cepharanthine and VCR in this regimen was marginal synergism. When the same dose of cepharanthine was administered in split administration, three times daily for 10 days, the therapeutic effect of VCR was further enhanced compared to its effect under the former regimen. Furthermore, cepharanthine was found to partially overcome the resistance of VCR in P388/VCR.
Influence of luteinizing hormone on corpus luteum metabolism and progesterone biosynthesis throughout the bovine estrous cycle.

Progesterone biosynthesis in vitro by slices of bovine corpora lutea obtained surgically throughout the estrous cycle has been measured. Synthetic activity per gram of tissue was greatest in youngest corpora lutea, gradually decreasing until about 18 days post estrum, after which time it fell to undetectable levels. LH added to the incubation medium always increased progesterone synthesis in “active” corpora lutea (obtained prior to 19 days post estrum), whereas it failed to do so in “inactive” corpora lutea (obtained at 19 days or later). NADP +glucose-6-phosphate added to the incubation medium caused minimal stimulation of progesterone synthesis in the youngest corpora, becoming progressively more effective as the cycle progressed. Progesterone synthesis in “inactive” corpora lutea could be restored by the addition of NADP+glucose-6- phosphate. Glucose uptake and lactic acid production in “active” corpora, but not in “inactive” corpora, were increased by the in vitro addition of LH to the incubation med.
Kinetic Determination of Lanthanum(III) by the Catalytic Effect on the Oxidation of Fluorescent Safranine Dyes with Potassium Bromate

Two simple and sensitive kinetic-fluorometric methods have been developed for the determination of lanthanum(III): fluorescence quenching generated by the oxidation of safranine T or phenosafranine with potassium bromate in an acetate buffer solution. The rate of the oxidation reaction is significantly accelerated after adding lanthanum(III). A good linearity between the relative fluorescence intensity and lanthanum(III) is observed in the range of both 0.04–2.0 and 4.0–16 μg/mL. The detection limits have been 3.6 × 10^−3 and 0.334 μg/mL respectively. The accuracy and reliability of the methods are further validated by recovery studies via a standard-addition method, with percentage recoveries ranging from 98 to 102%. Comparing the results of two measured reaction systems, we find that the safranine T reaction system provides high sensitivity and a wider linear range. In consequence, we have chosen the safranine T system to detect sample water, and explored the reaction mechanism.
Distributed Coverage-Preserving Routing Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

In most of the applications of wireless sensor networks(WSN), covering the area of interest and delivering the sensed information to the sink are two fundamental functions. Extensive research associated with these two issues, such as energy efficient coverage and delay-constraint routing, can be found in the literature. However, few works combine these two issues together. Considering the fact that wireless sensors can take the responsibility of both sensing and routing, it is expected that a solution jointly considering these two issues will provide more benefit. In this paper, we consider the problem: how to find a routing path in a WSN with the maximum sensing coverage provided by the nodes on the path subject to the delay constraint. We first proved that this problem is NP-hard and then proposed a distributed algorithm based on Monte-Carlo integration method and label setting(LS) algorithm. Analysis and simulation results show that under the same time delay constraint, the proposed algorithm can find a routing path with significantly larger sensing coverage (more than $87\%$ in our simulation) than that was obtained considering only hop constraint.
Design and performance analysis of fuzzy logic-based speed controller for DTC of VSI fed IPMSM drives

Fuzzy set theory has gained great attention for many researchers due to its several advantages in the area of power electronic systems control. This paper describes the direct torque control of voltage source inverter fed interior permanent magnet Brushless AC motor drives, considering a fuzzy logic-based speed controller which offers robustness against reference speed and/or load torque disturbance effects. In this research study, according to speed error and its first time derivative, the proportional and integral gains of the speed controller are online adjusted. A simulation-based comparative study between the performance of the proposed speed controller and the conventional one, has highlighted the superiority of the developed controller which exhibits fast dynamic response, more robustness and less steady-state error especially when there exist motor parameter uncertainties and unexpected load changes occur.
Purification and molecular cloning of catalase from Rhizobium radiobacter strain 2-1

Hydrogen peroxide is widely used for chemical treatment in various industries particularly in the textile, paper, pulp, food and dairy industries as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to chlorine that forms toxic and carcinogenic chemicals called dioxins as by-products7,9,33). However, the rapid formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from hydrogen peroxide, including hydroxyl radicals is also a threat6,10,25). In light of the growing concern over environmental problems, hydrogen peroxide should be decomposed before disposal. Currently, hydrogen peroxide is either diluted with large quantities of water, which is expensive and wasteful, or treated with agents such as sodium bisulphite or hydrosulphite, which leaves salt in the water5). Alternatively, the application of catalases has been suggested. These enzymes play an important role in reducing the formation of the highly reactive hydroxyl radical that arises from H2O2 degradation via the Fenton reaction13). Catalases are assigned to three phylogenetically distinct groups: two groups comprise heme catalases and one group comprises nonheme catalases8,22). Generally, a few thermostable versions of a monofunctional catalase32), catalase peroxidases4,12,32,34) and Mn catalases2,17) have been described. True catalases are usually homo tetramers, with a subunit size of approximately 60 kDa. Each subunit contains one heme group20,21). Since the hydrogen peroxide bleaching step occurs at elevated temperatures and pH (>60°C and pH 9), commercially available catalases that are optimally active at 20–50°C and at neutral pH. The pretreatment was recurred the temperature and pH prior to their use23,27). From this, thermostable catalases hold a great potential for application in the various diff erent industries due to the increasing trend to develop environmentally friendly technologies. The availability of catalase that can function at high temperature and pH would be attractive for the above mentioned applications. However, many of the reported catalases exhibit low thermal stability, several are rapidly inactivated in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, and most show low activity and stability at elevated temperature and pH, making them unsuitable for industrial applications30). Nakayama et al. isolated strain 2-1 that can produce high-activity catalase from industrial waste. From phylogenetic analysis, strain 2-1 was identified as Rhizobium radiobacter, formally Agrobacterium tumefaciens35,36) (Nakayama et al., unpublished data). In this study, we describe the purifi cation of catalase from Rhizobium radiobacter strain 2-1. The catalase showed extremely high activity and exceptional stability at elevated temperatures and pHs compared with many other reported catalases. Furthermore, we have determined its N-terminal amino acid sequence and cloned the catalase encoding gene. The alignment result of cloned gene showed no homology with those of other Purifi cation and Molecular Cloning of Catalase from Rhizobium radiobacter Strain 2-1
Demokratiseret forskning og spilbaseret undervisning

Vi vil ved hjælp af et online socialt computerspil forsøge at løse en aktuel og meget resourcekrævende teknologisk udfordring – at designe verdens kraftigste kvantecomputer. I the Quantum Computer Game skal spillerne på en sjov og nem måde udforske og udvikle kvantecomputerens fulde potentiale. Vi har en forventning om, at denne form for onlineforskning, faciliteret af internettet, kan blive et vigtigt redskab for både grundvidenskabelig og anvendt forskning samt undervisning i det 21. århundrede.
Ruggedness analysis of 600V 4H-SiC JBS diodes under repetitive avalanche conditions

The repetitive avalanche reliability of power rectifiers is crucial to the safe operation of the hard switching power converters under extreme conditions as well as transient voltage suppression (TVS) applications. In this paper, the ruggedness of two state-of-art 4H-SiC Junction Barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes under repetitive avalanche stresses has been studied. Two different post-stress behaviors have been observed: VF degradation and BV drifting for the two different JBS diodes. The VF degradation could happen to the device that avalanches in the active area. However, for the device that avalanches in the edge termination, the repetitive avalanche stress greatly increases the breakdown voltage for about 100V. These results bring new concerns for SiC devices that are expected to be operated in avalanche conditions.