Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Method for Identification of Receptors for YopE in the Type III Secretion (T3S) System of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Numerous Gram-negative bacterial pathogens have virulence mechanisms that modulate host targets. One such mechanism is the type III secretion (T3S) system. YopE is one of the six virulence proteins delivered by the T3S system of the bacterial pathogen Yersinia into host cells. The targeting signals that direct virulence factors into the host have been mapped, but the receptors for these signals are unknown. The Y. pseudotuberculosis effector YopE requires both an N-terminal region, which is termed the signal sequence (SS) and consists of amino acids 1-15, and a region just downstream, which is termed the chaperone- binding (Cb) region, for translocation into host cells. The focus of this project is to set up a system to identify the receptor, or receptors, that recognize the YopE SS. Prior work has shown that interactions in the T3S system tend to be transient. Thus, I have taken an approach that utilizes formaldehyde as a crosslinking reagent. Formaldehyde is highly reactive, cell permeable, and forms short crosslinks (2.3-2.7 A). Furthermore, its crosslinks may be reversed at boiling temperatures. Two additional crosslinking reagents, glutaraldehyde and disuccinimidyl tartrate (DST), are presented as alternatives for optimization of crosslinking efficiency. Glutaraldehyde forms a 5 A irreversible crosslink and DST forms a 6.4 A reversible crosslink. Reversibility is not strictly necessary, but allows for ease in isolation and identification of potential receptors through mass spectrometry. Recommendations are made for future experiments using the crosslinking parameters proposed for identification of receptors for YopE's signal sequence region
Robotic assisted deep brain stimulation neurosurgery: first steps on system development

The advantages of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) lead to an increasing number of stereotactic DBS surgeries, which are extensive procedures that require extreme precision and steadiness of tool handling. Robotic manipulators known for their consistency, movement precision and steadiness have the potential to be remarkable tools to assist the neurosurgeons and can refine the quality/working conditions, while improving surgery outcome. Currently, robotic systems for stereotactic neurosurgeries with simple/pragmatic low budget solutions that fulfil the surgeons’ needs are not yet available. Thus, we have been asked to develop such robotic system. In this paper we present our first steps toward such endeavour. Specifically, we implemented a simulation environment for robotic assisted DBS neurosurgery that allows emulating several hardware setups within the operating room, and to test and assess their performance. The simulator is useful not only as tool for developing specialized control applications, but also for training clinicians. First results support the viability of the sought solution and open way to future developments.
Parental physical activity and risk of obesity in their adult offspring: The HUNT study, Norway

Background: The occurrence of adiposity has increased in recent decades, and the detrimental consequences of obesity on health and disease constitutes a major challenge for public health. Parental obesity is a strong determinant of offspring obesity. This is in part due to genetic influences, but also environmental factors are of importance. Physical activity is a consistent and robust indicator associated with good health and reduced mortality, and a significant familial influence has been found linked to exercise participation. An association between parents’ health behaviors and body mass index (BMI) in offspring has also been reported. The aim of this study was to examine parental physical activity habits in relation to BMI and risk of obesity in their adult offspring.Methods: The study was based on data from 18493 father-offspring pairs and 17885 mother-offspring pairs who attended at least one of the two latest waves of the Nord-Trondelag Health Study (HUNT 2 and HUNT 3). Height and weight were measured, and participants completed a detailed questionnaire including questions on physical activity. Mean differences in offspring BMI were estimated between categories of parental physical activity using a general linear model, and logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) for offspring obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) associated with parental physical activity.Results: Offspring with physically active parents showed lower mean BMI and lower risk of obesity in adulthood than offspring with less active or inactive parents. A statistically significant dose-response -relation between parental level of physical activity and risk of obesity in offspring showed that the association strengthened with increasing parental physical activity level. Mothers had a slightly stronger association with offspring than fathers. In relation to fathers and mothers high level of physical activity, the adjusted OR (95 % confidence interval) for offspring obesity was 0.76 (0.66 to 0.89) and 0.64 (0.54 to 0.76) compared to physically inactive parents.Conclusion: In this population-based family linkage study, we found an inverse association between parental physical activity and offspring BMI for all measures of physical activity. Offspring of parents who were physically active had a lower risk of obesity than offspring of parents who were less active or inactive, and this was shown by a significant dose-response relation. The mother-offspring association was slightly stronger than the father-offspring association.
Case Series: Deep Brain Stimulation in Patients with FXTAS

Objective: We describe 3 carriers of the FMR1 premutation with the Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS) whose tremor was significantly improved by bilateral Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) to Ventral Intermediate nucleus (Vim) of the thalamus. Background: FXTAS is a recently described neurodegenerative disorder caused by CGG expansions of the FMR1 gene within the premutation range (55 to 200 CGG repeats). Individuals with FXTAS typically develop an intention tremor followed by gait ataxia within two years. Vim DBS has been shown to effectively treat tremor in a variety of disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. Design/Methods/Results: Three men ages 62, 59 and 70 with FXTAS were treated surgically with bilateral Vim DBS. All patients experienced a significantly beneficial effect on tremor. Ataxia improved in case 1 and temporarily in case 2, but worsened in case 3. All patients experienced mild worsening of dysarthria, although the patients and their families unanimously felt there was a worthwhile benefit overall. Conclusions: These cases provided first hand evidence that bilateral Vim DBS effectively manages tremor in selected patients with FXTAS. DBS may prove to be a viable therapeutic option for treating tremor and/or ataxia with or without other medical therapeutics in patients with FXTAS.
A comprehensive model for IS development: information processing perspective

In order to develop IS (information systems) effectively, this study proposed a comprehensive model that delineates the relationships among contingency configurations of design variables, risk management, and software development success. Specifically, this paper examined the fit between coordination strategy and task interdependence, and their impact on risk resolution (such as reorienting initiative and modifying strategy) and IS success (such as productivity and process satisfaction). Drawing on information processing theory, we developed a research model. Experimental design was conducted to test the model. Projects with low task interdependence exhibited greater risk resolution achievement, productivity, and process satisfaction than projects with high task interdependence. Also, organic coordination strategy demonstrated better risk resolution achievement, productivity, and process satisfaction than those with mechanic coordination strategy. Finally, surprisingly, our findings regarding the interaction effect between task interdependence and coordination strategy only partially supported our hypotheses.
ARCRAIDER II: Arc search in a sample of non-Abell clusters ?

Aims. We present a search for gravitational arcs in a unique sample of X-ray luminous, medium redshift clusters of galaxies. Methods. The sample of clusters is called ARCRAIDER, is based on the ROSAT Bright Survey (RBS) and fulfils the following criteria: (a) X-ray luminosity ≥0.5 × 10 45 erg/s (0.5–2 keV band), (b) redshift range 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.52, (c) classified as clusters in the RBS, (d) not a member of the Abell catalogue and, finally, (e) visible from the ESO sites La Silla/Paranal (declination δ ≤ 20 ◦ ). Results. In total we found more than 35 (giant) arc/arclet candidates, including a possible radial arc, one galaxy-galaxy lensing event and a possible quasar triple image in 14 of the 21 clusters of galaxies. Hence 66% of the sample members are possible lenses.
Les précurseurs pragmatiques de la communication chez les bébés

Le but ultime du developpement du langage est sans contredit de pouvoir communiquer. Produire des sons, des syllabes, des mots n'a aucune valeur si l'enfant ne peut les utiliser dans un but reel de communication. Au cours de la premiere annee de vie, plusieurs precurseurs ont avantage a etre reconnus et stimules pour prevenir un eventuel retard de langage. Parmi les precurseurs semantiques, formels et pragmatiques, ces derniers semblent etre determinants sur le developpement de la communication des jeunes enfants. A Quebec, une gamme de services et d'outils concrets axes sur la promotion et la prevention permet d'intervenir precocement de facon efficiente aupres des tout-petits.
Modified grape composition under climate change conditions requires adaptations in the vineyard

Aim: Major effects of climate change are an increase in temperature, a modification in rainfall patterns and an increase in incoming radiations, in particular UV-Bs. Grapevines are highly sensitive to climatic conditions. Hence, plant development, grape ripening and grape composition at ripeness are modified by climate change. Some of these changes are already visible and will be amplified over the coming decades; other effects, although not yet measurable, can be predicted by modeling. The objective of this paper is to assess which modifications in wine quality and typicity can be expected and what levers growers can implement to adapt to this changing situation. Methods and results: This paper focusses on the effect of temperature, vine water status and UV-B radiation in viticulture. Vine phenology is driven by temperacture. A significant advance in phenology (i.e. budburst, flowering and veraison dates) has been observed since the early 1980’s in most winegrowing regions. The combined effect of advanced phenology and increased temperatures results in warmer conditions during grape ripening. In these conditions, grapes contain more sugar and less organic acids. Composition in secondary metabolites, and in particular aromas and aroma precursors, is dramatically changed. Increased drought, because of lower summer rain and/or because of higher reference evapotranspiration (ET0), induces earlier shoot growth cessation, reduced berry size, increased content in skin phenolic compounds, lower malic acid concentrations and modified aroma and aroma precursor profiles. Increased UV-B radiation enhances the accumulation of skin phenolics and modifies aroma and aroma precursor profiles. Over the next decades, an amplification of these trends is highly likely. Major adaptations can be reached though modifications in plant material (grapevine varieties, clones and root stocks), vineyard management techniques (grapevine architecture, canopy management, harvest dates, vineyard floor management, timing of harvest, irrigation) or site selection (altitude, aspect, soil water holding capacity). Conclusion: Climate change will induce changes in grape composition which will modify wine quality and typicity. However, these modifications can be limited through adaptations in the vineyard.Significance and impact of the study: This study assesses the impact of major climatic parameters (temperature, water and radiation) on vine physiology and grape ripening. It addresses the issue of how the expected changes under climate change will impact viticulture. It is shown that appropriate levers do exist to allow growers to adapt to this new situation. Among these, modifications in plant material and viticultural techniques are the most promising tools.
Systemic risk: Time-lags and persistence

Common systemic risk measures focus on the instantaneous occurrence of triggering and systemic events. However, systemic events may also occur with a time-lag to the triggering event. To study this contagion period and the resulting persistence of institutions' systemic risk we develop and employ the Conditional Shortfall Probability (CoSP), which is the likelihood that a systemic market event occurs with a specific time-lag to the triggering event. Based on CoSP we propose two aggregate systemic risk measures, namely the Aggregate Excess CoSP and the CoSP-weighted time-lag, that reflect the systemic risk aggregated over time and average time-lag of an institution's triggering event, respectively. Our empirical results show that 15% of the financial companies in our sample are significantly systemically important with respect to the financial sector, while 27% of the financial companies are significantly systemically important with respect to the American non-financial sector. Still, the aggregate systemic risk of systemically important institutions is larger with respect to the financial market than with respect to non-financial markets. Moreover, the aggregate systemic risk of insurance companies is similar to the systemic risk of banks, while insurers are also exposed to the largest aggregate systemic risk among the financial sector.
Evaluation of Optimization Strategies for Incremental Graph Queries

The last decade brought considerable improvements in dis - tributed storage and query technologies, known as NoSQL systems. These systems provide quick evaluation of simple retrieval operations and are able to answer certain complex queries in a scalable way, albeit not instantly. Providing scal - ability and quick response times at the same time for querying large data sets is still a challenging task. Evaluating com - plex graph queries is particularly difficult, as it requires lots of join, antijoin and filtering operations. This paper presents optimization techniques used in relational database systems and applies them on graph queries. We evaluate various query plans on multiple datasets and discuss the effect of different optimization techniques.
Building Clusters and Partnership on the Example of Italy and Slovakia

SMEs realize that the lack of financial, material and human resources is inhibiting their further development. One of the options how to face the increasing competitive pressure is networking of SMEs. In Slovakia there are various types of SMEs (370 193 SMEs in 2003 in the form of physical and legal persons). They exist as alone economic persons. To achieve long-term economically effective existence of these subjects, it is necessary to create new suitable forms of networking of SMEs. The way is to create innovative clusters as a form of common existence of SMEs, research institutions, universities and municipalities. This way SMEs can gain the character of innovative subjects and increase the product quality at low costs. To create a meaningful net it is necessary to overcome the fear from failure in the first place. SMEs should be convinced, that creating clusters can be the way, how to increase their competitiveness. The paper is oriented on the most suitable form of networking SMEs - clusters on the example of Italy and Slovakia.
The Therapeutic Effects of Conservative Treatments on Burn Scars

Hypertrophic scar, which can be seen even after minor burn injuries, is a common compli- cation and generally develops within 6–8 weeks following reepithelization. Hypertrophic scar/keloid is often seen when the injury affects the reticular dermis and, in particular, after a deep dermal or full thickness burn. There are various options used in the treatment of burn scar. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader a brief information on the conservative treatment methods used in burn scar treatment.
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), an Important Fatty Acid in Aging and the Protection of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a fatty acid essential for the proper development and functioning of the nervous and visual system. DHA is found in significant concentrations in the phospholipids of neuronal membranes. DHA is provided y the mother during the fetal and early infancy life, during pregnancy and through breastfeeding. Given the importance of an adequate supply of the fatty acid to the newborn, it has been suggested DHA supplementation to the mother before and during the pregnancy and also during the breastfeeding period. In the recent years, research from different scientist have established that DHA has an important role in the development of the nervous system, as well as having an important key role in the preservation of this tissue, especially during aging and senescence and in some neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. DHA may preserve the integrity and the neuronal viability against different metabolic insults and/or cytotoxic events, among which inflammation and oxidative stress are the most relevant. The neuroprotective effects of DHA in neural tissue are mediated by a metabolic derivative, known as neuroprotectin D-1. This molecule may respond to aggression having anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic and even neuroregenerative effects, which may contribute to preserve the proper neuronal viability as well as the health and function of the nervous system. This review discusses different evidences about the neuroprotective effect of DHA, during aging and against some neurodegenerative diseases, highlighting the important role of the proper nutrition in this protection.
Relationship of Marital Satisfaction, Family Support and Family-Work Conflict Factors Among Malaysian Fathers with Adolescents

The study on contextual factors in Malaysian family is more concentrated among mothers compared to the fathers. Malaysian fathers are often influenced by these factors embedded in the family. This study examines the level of contextual factors among fathers of adolescent children. The survey was conducted using a simple sampling method, on a group of 413 fathers with adolescent children from all districts in the state of Selangor, West Peninsular of Malaysia. A set of questionnaires was used to derive data from the fathers ̕ contextual factors which are marriage satisfaction, family support and work-family conflict among fathers of adolescents. Analysis on frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Pearson correlations were used to investigate the level and correlation of contextual factors among fathers of adolescent children. The Pearson correlation shows that there is a significant correlation between work-family conflict and marriage satisfaction and between family support and marriage satisfaction. However, there is no significant correlation between family support and work-family conflict. The study proficiently contributes towards the exploration of influencing factors for the involvement of fathers in parenting.
Fine-Dining Restaurant Selection: Direct and Moderating Effects of Customer Attributes

This study examined the relationship among six restaurant attribute factors and three consumer characteristics/behaviors in fine-dining restaurant choice selections. The six factors are described as promotion, price/value, quality expectation, setting, dietary, and variety/innovative characteristics. Gender, age, and dining frequency were shown to impact the strength of the relationship with these six factors. The results of this study provide valuable information for practitioners and future research. Practitioners should consider key target market characteristics to ensure a fit between restaurant attributes and expectations of targeted customers. The findings provide support for the need for researchers to evaluate and control for key customer variables in service encounter research. Age, gender, and dining frequency proved to be important variables in this regard. It should be noted that communications need to identify the attributes (benefits) that are important to diners, but it is the classification variables that allow companies to better identify and reach these consumers.
How Can Pre-reading Strategies Benefit Students with Disabilities?

This research study sought to determine if students with disabilities benefit from pre-reading strategies in reading comprehension. Reading is a fundamental skill that supports academic achievement. Using prereading strategies will motivate and increase student comprehension. In an effort to influence students with disabilities, the concept of pre-reading strategies was introduced to a group of middle school students. Some pre-reading strategies included selecting interesting texts, graphic organizers, vocabulary instruction, visual representations, and the activation of prior knowledge. Findings have shown that pre-reading strategies influence student motivation, increase the activation of prior knowledge and they can be used as a tool for increased comprehension. Implications determined that pre-reading strategies are essential for students with disabilities to comprehend instructional level texts. Document Type Thesis Degree Name MS in Literacy Education Department Education Subject Categories Education This thesis is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_ETD_masters/235 How Can Pre-reading Strategies Benefit Students with Disabilities?
A methodology to select the price criterion in public procurement

The construction sector is a key driver for economic growth in any nation and public procurement is one of its pillars – hence the importance of the study and investigation of its mechanisms, especially tendering criteria. Price is the main deciding factor for most tenders and projects must have an appropriate base price relative to market price to avoid problems during the execution of the project. Most research on price criteria has been developed from the point of view of bidders and has discussed the development of tools and methodologies for determining the optimal bid price. In this paper we propose a methodology for public procurement procedures from the point of view of the administration. The methodology enables setting all aspects of the price criterion based on the size of the project budget, the nature of the work, and the number of bidders.
Investigation of a Horn Type Cylindrical Waveguide Array

1. Abstract A high gain horn type cylindrical array of rectangular waveguides is proposed. It is shown that this type of antennas can be used as a high gain, broadband antenna with an easy control on azimuthal direction, beamwidth and sidelobes. A sectoral part of the antenna (containing 5 rectangular waveguides) was simulated and measured. The waveguides were fed by a 1:5 microstrip divider for an equal phase outgoing/incoming wave and approximately Chebyshev amplitude distribution. Very good agreement between simulation and measurement was achieved, showing about 50% bandwidth, 18 dBi gain and -16 dB sidelobe level.