Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The kininogenase activity of human mast cell tryptase.

Tryptase is a tetrameric serine protease [l] which is present almost exclusively in the secretory granules of mast cells [2]. There has been some controversy over the extent to which tryptase may contribute to the generation of kinins which has been reported following mast cell activation [3,4]. Earlier studies suggested that tryptase does not generate bradykinin from either low molecular weight kininogen (LMWK) [5] or high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK) [6]. In contrast Proud [7] in seeking to purify the kallikrein-like enzyme from mast cells found that tryptase and kininogenase activities co-chromatographed, and concluded that tryptase may be the enzyme in mast cells responsible for kinin generation. However, tryptase-induced release of bradykinin from LMWK was optimal at pH 5.5, and the activity was relatively low at neutral pH casting doubt on its biological significance. We have re-examined this issue and have investigated the potential of tryptase to cleave the synthetic chromogenic substrates for kallikreins S2266, S-2302 (both Kabi-Vitrum) and CH-848 (Ferring), and the natural substrates LMWK and HMWK. Tryptase was purified from human lung tissue using high salt extraction, octyl agarose and heparin agarose column chromatography as described previously [8]. Antisera specific for urinary kallikrein did not cross-react with the tryptase on Ouchterolony immunodiffusion. Peptide CH-848 was prepared by solution peptide synthesis [9] using a (7+2) fragment coupling strategy. Heptapeptide Ac-Arg-Pro-ProGly-Phe-Ser-Pro-OH previously synthesised by S.P.P.S. [ 101 and dipeptide H-Phe-Arg. PNA.2HCl were coupled by the BOP activation method, and CH-848 purified by reversed phase MPLC. HMWK was purified from plasma by sequential application of DEAE-Sephadex and CMSephadex, and LMWK using DEAE-Sephadex, CMSephadex and Q-Sepharose Fast Flow chromatography (all Pharmacia). There was no cross-contamination between HMWK and LMWK as confirmed by immunoblotting of the preparations after SDS-PAGE. Assays were performed with
On yield gaps and better management practices in Indonesian smallholder oil palm plantations

Palm oil is currently the most important vegetable oil in the world, and Indonesia is the world’s largest producer. Oil palm plantations are an important source of revenue, but rapid expansion has led to deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Forty per cent of the plantation area in Indonesia is owned by smallholders, whose yields are relatively poor. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the yield gaps and agronomic practices in Indonesian smallholder oil palm plantations, with a focus on fertiliser application, and to propose and test better management practices that can contribute to sustainable intensification. The research consisted of an in-depth literature review, several surveys, the collection of samples in smallholder plantations, and a three-year experiment with 14 smallholder farmers. In yield gap analysis, three yield levels are recognised: potential, limited, and actual yield. The potential yield in a plantation is determined by radiation, CO2 concentration, temperature, planting material, culling, planting density, pruning, pollination, and crop recovery (harvesting). The yield-limiting factors are rainfall, irrigation, soil, waterlogging, topography, slope, and nutrition. The yield-reducing factors are weeds, pests, and diseases. In smallholder plantations, the yield gap is mostly explained by poor planting material, poor drainage, sub-optimal planting density, poor culling (leading to large variability and the presence of unproductive palms), infrequent harvesting, soil erosion, poor nutrient management, and rat damage, but the effects of these factors on yield vary depending on local conditions. The survey data showed clear evidence of insufficient and unbalanced fertiliser applications, and visual nutrient deficiency symptoms were observed in many plantations. Leaf sample results showed that 57, 61 and 80% of the plantations in Jambi and Sintang were deficient in N, P and K, respectively. In Riau, 95, 67 and 75% of the plantations were deficient in N, P and K. The implementation of better management practices (including harvesting, weeding, pruning, and nutrient application) in 14 smallholder fields for three years resulted in palms with significantly larger leaves and heavier bunches compared with palms under farmer management, but improvements in yield were small and not statistically significant, and financial returns on better practices were negative. Possible causes of the small yield response were good starting yields, increased inter-palm competition for sunlight, and environmental constraints (particularly the 2015 El Nino event and waterlogging in Jambi). On the basis of our findings on yield gaps, nutrient limitations and better practices, we discuss how Indonesian smallholders may be supported to achieve sustainable intensification at a larger scale, and we reflect on the broader implications of our findings for a future supply of truly sustainable palm oil.
Stimuli which entrain the circadian clock of the neonatal Syrian hamster in vivo regulate the phosphorylation of the transcription factor CREB in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in vitro

Photic resetting of the adult mammalian circadian clock in vivo is associated with phosphorylation of the Ser133 residue of the calcium/cyclic AMP response‐element binding‐protein (CREB) in the retinorecipient region of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Western blotting and immunocytochemistry were used to investigate whether agonists known to reset the clock of neonatal hamsters in vivo are also able to influence the phosphorylation of CREB in the suprachiasmatic hypothalamus in vitro. Antisera raised against synthetic CREB peptide sequences were used to differentiate between total CREB and the Ser133 phosphorylated form of CREB (pCREB). Western blot analysis of proteins isolated from suprachiasmatic tissue of 1‐day‐old Syrian hamsters revealed bands at ≈ 45 kDa corresponding to total CREB and pCREB. Treatment of the tissue with a mixture of glutamatergic agonists [N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA), amino‐methyl proprionic acid (AMPA) and kainate, all at 1 μm], or native glutamate (1 μm) had no effect on the total CREB signal, but increased the pCREB signal, indicative of agonist‐stimulated phosphorylation of CREB on Ser133. A similar effect was seen following treatment of the suprachiasmatic blocks with either dopamine (1 μm) or forskolin (1 μm). Simultaneous treatment with melatonin (1 μm) significantly attenuated stimulation by forskolin. The effect of the agonists on nuclear pCREB‐immunoreactivity (‐ir) was investigated in primary cultures which contained a mixture of cell types characteristic of the suprachiasmatic nuclei in vivo. Basal expression of nuclear total CREB‐ir was high, whereas expression of pCREB‐ir was low. Treatment with glutamate (1 μm) or dopamine (1 μm) had no effect on total CREB‐ir, but increased pCREB‐ir in ≈ 50 and 30% of cells, respectively, whereas forskolin (1 μm) increased pCREB‐ir in almost all cells (> 90%). The effects of all three agonists were rapid (< 15 min), and dose and time dependent. Melatonin reversed the effects of forskolin in mixed cultures, but not in pure astrocyte cultures. Dual‐immunocytochemistry (ICC) revealed that glutamate (1 μm) increased nuclear pCREB‐ir in cells immunoreactive for microtubule‐associated protein II (MAP II‐ir), but not other cells, indicating an effect predominantly on neurons. This occurred equally in γ‐amino butyric acid (GABA)‐ir and non‐GABA‐ir neurons. Dopamine (1 μm) was more selective, increasing pCREB‐ir only in GABA‐ir neurons, whereas forskolin increased pCREB‐ir in all cells. The specific stimulation of pCREB‐ir in GABA‐ir neurons by dopamine was reversed by melatonin, but melatonin had no effect on the increase in pCREB‐ir induced in GABA‐ir neurons by glutamate. These results demonstrate that agonists known to entrain the circadian clock in vivo modulate phosphorylation of CREB in GABA‐ir neurons derived from the neonatal suprachiasmatic nuclei.
A compare-and-select error tolerant scheme for nonvolatile processors

This paper presents a compare-and-select (CaS) error tolerant scheme for nonvolatile processors (NVPs). Nonvolatile flip-flops (NVFFs), used in NVPs suffer from the faults caused by nonvolatile devices. Conventional error tolerant methods are designed for centralized memory macros and are inefficient for distributed NVFFs. In our CaS scheme, we use the read-write-read-compare strategy to get the error map of NVFFs and find out the NVFF bits with faults. Then the fully functional NVFF bits are selected to store data and the bits with faults are discarded. The advantage of our method is that it provides more redundancy with equal protecting bits, which is more efficient for distributed NVFFs. Experiment results show that with a bit fault rate of higher than 1% in NVFFs, in which case conventional ECCs nearly fail, the CaS scheme can provide the NVP with more than 99% fully function rate.
Diagnosis of supra‐esophageal gastric reflux: correlation of oropharyngeal pH with esophageal impedance monitoring for gastro‐esophageal reflux

Background Oropharyngeal (OP) pH monitoring has been developed as a new way to diagnose supra‐esophageal gastric reflux (SEGR), but has not been well validated. Our aim was to determine the correlation between OP pH and gastro‐esophageal reflux (GER) events detected by multichannel intraluminal impedance‐pH (MII‐pH).
Planification et exécution de mouvements référencés sur des amers

Planifier un chemin geometrique pour un robot d'une configuration initiale a une configuration initiale est aujourd'hui un probleme quasiment resolu moyennant une representation geometrique de l'environnement statique du robot, une modelisation de la chaine cinematique du robot et de ses contraintes cinematiques. L'execution de tels chemins en environnement reel est en revanche un probleme qui est loin d'etre resolu malgre une litterature fournie sur le sujet. De nombreuses raisons expliquent cette difficulte parmi lesquelles l'inexactitude des modeles d'environnement utilises et des moyens de localisation. L'objectif de notre travail est de proposer une approche generique de planification de mouvements references sur des amers. Le principe de notre approche consiste a associer a une trajectoire geometrique sans collision des couples amers-capteurs qui pendant l'execution sont utilises pour asservir localement le mouvement du robot. Cette approche nous permet de produire des mouvements surs en donnant plus d'importance aux amers qui ont de bonnes proprietes de localisation ou bien a ceux qui representent un danger de collision. Des resultats experimentaux realises sur un robot mobile non holonome de type Hilare avec remorque valident notre approche.
Semantic Information Retrieval With RNNs

We discuss the application of recursive neural networks to domains with recursive structure and describe our attempts to build a model capable of matching sentence pairs and, by extension, of finding the answer that most corresponds to some given question. Our early results are poor, but they indicate that our model is correct and can be competitive given enough time and data.
A CMOS broadband tuner IC

A single-chip dual-conversion tuner in 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS incorporates both a 50-860 MHz LNA and a digital CMOS synthesizer with a -173 dBc/Hz phase-noise floor. The synthesizer generates 100 mA switching currents at a 12.5 MHz rate and all associated in-band spurs are suppressed <0.5 /spl mu/Vrms input referred. The 5 mm/sup 2/ die consumes 1.5 W from a 5 V supply.
Work function tuning of fully silicided NiSi metal gates using a TiN capping layer

This paper investigates a new way of tuning the work function of fully silicided (FUSI) NiSi metal gates for dual-gate CMOS using a TiN capping layer on Ni to control the poly-Si dopant distribution during FUSI formation. In addition, by comparing the work function change of NiSi FUSI with and without TiN capping, we provide clear evidence that dopants at the gate electrode and dielectric interface are responsible for the work function change. The TiN capping layer causes no degradation to the underlying gate dielectric in terms of fixed-oxide charge, gate leakage current, and time-dependent dielectric breakdown characteristics.
Mef 2 gene expression marks the cardiac and skeletal muscle lineages during mouse embryogenesis

The activation of tissue-specific transcription during embryogenesis is controlled by networks of regulatory factors that modulate activity of their target genes. Activation of skeletal muscle gene expression is controlled by a small family of muscle-specific transcription factors that share homology within a basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) motif. Four members of this muscle regulatory gene family, MyoD, myogenin, myf5 and MRF4, have been identified in vertebrate species; each can activate the program for skeletal muscle differentiation when introduced into a variety of nonmuscle cell types (reviewed in Emerson, 1990; Olson, 1990; Weintraub et al., 1991). During embryogenesis, these myogenic regulators are expressed in myogenic cells within the somites and limb buds, consistent with their roles as regulators of skeletal muscle cell fate (reviewed in Lyons and Buckingham, 1992). Myogenic bHLH proteins are expressed exclusively in skeletal muscle and have not been detected in the heart, despite the fact that many of the genes that they regulate are expressed in both skeletal and cardiac muscle (Olson, 1993). It is unclear whether the regulatory programs governing cardiac and skeletal muscle transcription are entirely divergent or whether these two striated muscle cell types may express common myogenic regulatory factors. Insight into this question will require the identification of transcriptional regulators that are expressed in cardiac muscle precursors during early embryogenesis. Myogenic bHLH proteins activate muscle transcription by binding to the E-box DNA consensus sequence (CANNTG) in the control regions of muscle-specific genes (Emerson, 1990; Olson, 1990; Weintraub et al., 1991). Although most skeletal muscle genes contain E-boxes in their control regions, several that are activated by the MyoD family do not. This has led to the proposal that myogenic bHLH proteins act through intermediate myogenic regulators to activate some muscle-specific genes. One such regulator is myocyte enhancer factor (MEF)2, which was originally defined as a muscle-specific DNAbinding activity that recognizes a conserved A/T-rich element associated with numerous muscle-specific genes (Gossett et al., 1251 Development 120, 1251-1263 (1994) Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 1994
Gastrointestinal “sterilization” in the treatment of patients with acute leukemia

In preliminary studies, a combination of gentamicin, vancomycin, and nystatin in conjunction with either sterile or reduced‐bacterial diets consistently resulted in bacterially “sterile” stools and an apparent reduction of infection in granulocytopenic patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy. the ease and economy of the approach recommends it to chemotherapy centers which lack elaborate isolation facilities. Studies are in progress to more precisely compare the relative effectiveness of physical isolation, air filtration, diet, and prophylactic antibiotics in reducing the infectious complication of cancer chemotherapy.
Polarized exocytosis and transcytosis of Notch during its apical localization in Drosophila epithelial cells

Notch (N) and its ligands, Delta (Dl) and Serrate (Ser), are transmembrane proteins that mediate the cell–cell interactions necessary for many cell‐fate decisions. In Drosophila, N is predominantly localized to the apical portion of epithelial cells, but the mechanisms and functions of this localization are unknown. Here, we found N, Dl, and Ser were mostly located in the region from the subapical complex (SAC) to the apical portion of the adherens junctions (AJs) in wing disc epithelium. N was delivered to the SAC/AJs in two phases. First, polarized exocytosis specifically delivered nascent N to the apical plasma membrane and AJs in an O‐fut1‐independent manner. Second, N at the plasma membrane was relocated to the SAC/AJs by Dynamin‐ and Rab5‐dependent transcytosis; this step required the O‐fut1 function. Disruption of the apical polarity by Drosophila E‐cadherin (DEcad) knock down caused N and Dl localization to the SAC/AJs to fail. N, but not Dl, formed a specific complex with DEcad in vivo. Finally, our results suggest that juxtacrine signaling in epithelia generally depends on the apicobasally polarized structure of epithelial cells.
Broad Spectrum Identification of Cellular Small Ubiquitin-related Modifier (SUMO) Substrate Proteins*

Reversible covalent modification of proteins with a small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) is emerging as an important system contributing to dynamic regulation of protein function. To enhance our understanding of the cell regulatory systems impacted by sumoylation, we used affinity chromatography-coupled high pressure liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for unbiased identification of candidate cellular SUMO substrate proteins. Here we describe the identification of 21 candidate sumoylated proteins from whole-cell lysates of HEK-293 cells. The nature of the proteins identified is consistent with a role for sumoylation in diverse cell regulatory systems but highlights regulation of chromatin organization and gene expression as major systems targeted by the sumoylation machinery.
The Effect of Brand Awareness on Brand Loyalty: Mediating Role of Brand Commitment

Academic literature in customer behavior and branding is still debatable, with respect to brand loyalty in particular. This study empirically attempts to discuss this particular issue by examining the relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty. Also, it seeks to investigate the mediation role of brand commitment in initial relationship to tackle the mixed results in the prior attempts. The data were collected from customers of Islamic bank brand in Mafraq Governorate in Jordan. PLS-SEM techniques were applied to a sample of 90 customers to test hypothesized relationships. The results revealed that brand awareness and brand commitment have a significant and positive relationship with brand loyalty. In addition, brand commitment was found to be a mediator in the relationship between brand awareness and brand loyalty. This paper has discussed the results and an implication compared with prior versions as well as introducing some of recommendations for future research. Keywords: Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Brand commitment.
Social media: A new tool for managing innovation in SMEs: Analysis in the service sector in the southern region of Ecuador

Today, organizations are called to respond to the growing needs of its customers in a society of constant changes and challenges. This work develops in the southern region of Ecuador, where binationaal commercial trade takes place due to its geographical location and focuses on assessing the innovation management in Pymes (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: EMEs) in the service sector and also analyze the use of social media as an innovative strategy for SMEs to be more competitive in the entrepreneur world. Main results show that innovative SMEs display a 52.83% level of compliance, in which dimensions like “strategic planning”, “human resources” and “social responsibility” are the ones that require further improvement in terms of innovation. Furthermore, social media used by SMEs to advertise their services are primarily web pages and social networks like Facebook® and Youtube®. On the other hand, Instagram®, Twitter® and LinkedIn® show a lesser extent. Finally, this research determines that despite the existence of web 2.0 tools managers are still using traditional means of publicity for safety and fidelity reasons.
Issues in the Path to the Singularity: A Critical View

This paper examines the 2005 book The Singularity is Near: When humans Transcend Biology written by Raymond Kurzweil. The focus lies on the author´s views of exponential growth information technology (IT), which would result in the so called technological singularity. This work attempts to reduce the book´s essence to the main factors necessary for the achievement of artificial intelligence (AI), the main tool for the paradigm shift represented by the singularity. In line with the book, we consider that computational power is the major requirement for the development of AI. We explore three selected preconditions for the continuity of exponential trends: the continuity of economic growth, limited energy usage and the availability of enabling knowledge. The investigation on the demand side points that the trend in energy consumption on computer CPU´s has been decreasing in the last 14 years, even with increasingly more powerful processors. On the supply side, Kurzweil´s reliance on photovoltaics as a major future source of energy seems questionable due to the slow rate of improvement this technology has had during recent years. The final part of the work observes the characteristics of different types of statistical growth, and draw parallels between Kurzweil´s ideas and similar concepts used in the past.
Do Female Managers Help to Lower Within-Firm Gender Pay Gaps? Public Institutions vs. Private Enterprises

We analyse the link between the presence of female managers and the size of the firm-level gender pay gap. We look separately at the private and public sector, basing on a large linked employer-employee dataset for Poland. Using a non-parametric and parametric decompositions, we find that higher presence of female managers is associated with more pay advantage towards women in selected types of public sector units: the ones in which remunerations of women and men are already equal, and a large share of the workforce is tertiary-educated. The effects are, however, relatively small in size. In private establishments, lower gender wage inequality is associated with higher shares of female workers, but not female managers.