Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutational Analysis of the Carboxy-Terminal (YGX)4 Repeat Domain of CpsD, an Autophosphorylating Tyrosine Kinase Required for Capsule Biosynthesis in Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACT In Streptococcus pneumoniae, CpsB, CpsC, and CpsD are essential for encapsulation, and mutants containing deletions of cpsB, cpsC, or cpsD exhibit rough colony morphologies. CpsD is an autophosphorylating protein-tyrosine kinase, CpsC is required for CpsD tyrosine phosphorylation, and CpsB is a phosphotyrosine-protein phosphatase. We have previously shown that autophosphorylation of CpsD at tyrosine attenuates its activity and consequently reduces the level of encapsulation and negatively regulates CPS production. In this study, we further investigated the role of the carboxy-terminal (YGX)4 repeat domain of CpsD in encapsulation. A CpsD truncation mutant in which the entire (YGX)4 repeat domain was removed was indistinguishable from a strain in which the entire cpsD gene had been deleted, indicating that the carboxy-terminal (YGX)4 tail is required for CpsD activity in capsular polysaccharide production. Double mutants having a single tyrosine residue at position 2, 3, or 4 in the (YGX)4 repeat domain and lacking CpsB exhibited a rough colony morphology, indicating that in the absence of an active protein-tyrosine phosphatase, phosphorylation of just one of the tyrosine residues in the (YGX)4 repeat was sufficient to inactivate CpsD. When various mutants in which CpsD had either one or combinations of two or three tyrosine residues in the (YGX)4 repeat domain were examined, only those with three tyrosine residues in the (YGX)4 repeat domain were indistinguishable from the wild-type strain. The mutants with either one or two tyrosine residues exhibited mucoid colony morphologies. Further analysis of the mucoid strains indicated that the mucoid phenotype was not due to overproduction of capsular polysaccharide, as these strains actually produced less capsular polysaccharide than the wild-type strain. Thus, the tyrosine residues in the (YGX)4 repeat domain are essential for normal functioning of CpsD.
Language Detection combining discriminating approach and temporal decision with neural network modeling

In this paper, we present a new method of language detection. This method is based on language pair discrimination using neural networks as classifier of acoustic features. The neural networks outputs are analyzed with two points of view, first the observed time series is uncorrelated and we sum it, secondly we consider it as correlated and we focus on the maximum continuous duration of each output. No acoustic decomposition of the speech signal is needed. We present an application of our method for the language detection task used for the NIST 2005 language recognition evaluation
Blood-marrow mixtures in irradiated mice. Effect of blood injection on bone marrow transplantation in lethally irradiated mice.

Evidence has been presented that a radiosensitive, immunologically competent cell is present in the blood of normal mice. When injected into an irradiated homologous bone marrow-treated mouse, this cell causes or contributes to the death of the recipient. If isologous blcod cells are used, death results from rejection of the grafted homologous marrow. When homologous blood is given, the marrow graft persists until death of the animal from an exaggerated secondary disease syndrome. Results of parent-F/sub 1/ experiments also are consistent with the existence of an immunologically competent cell in the blood, but some do not agree with the usual parent-F/sub 1/ transplantation theories. The effective cell in the peripheral blood is presumed to be the monocyte or large lymphocyte. It may originate in the germinal centers of organized lymphatic tissues, although other sources cannot be completely ruled out. The presence of immunologically active cells from blood contaminating the bone marrow preparations in experiments with large animals may explain some of the difficulties encountered in getting recovery from lethal irradiation in these species, including man. (auth)
The effect of regional social capital and external knowledge acquisition on process and product innovation

To introduce new products and processes, firms often need to acquire knowledge developed in other firms and organizations. Drawing on social capital and transaction cost theory, we argue that not only is the success of such acquisitions for the development of product and product innovations dependent on strategic and economic variables, it may also be contingent on the social capital available in the geographical area in which the firm is located. Combining data on social capital at the level of 21 regions with a large scale data set on innovative activities by a representative sample of 2464 Italian manufacturing firms, we find that — after controlling for a large set of firm characteristics and regional variables — being located in regions characterized by high level of social interaction leads to a higher propensity to innovate. Moreover, being located in an area characterized by a high degree of social interaction positively moderates the effectiveness of externally acquired RD external acquisition; process innovation; product innovation.
Polychaete burrows harbour distinct microbial communities in oil-contaminated coastal sediments.

Previous studies have shown that the bioturbating polychaete Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor can affect the composition of bacterial communities in oil-contaminated sediments, but have not considered diversity specifically within bioturbator burrows or the impact on microbial eukaryotes. We tested the hypothesis that H. diversicolor burrows harbour different eukaryotic and bacterial communities compared with un-bioturbated sediment, and that bioturbation stimulates oil degradation. Oil-contaminated sediment was incubated with or without H. diversicolor for 30 days, after which sediment un-affected by H. diversicolor and burrow DNA/RNA samples were analysed using quantitative reverse transcription PCR (Q-RT-PCR) and high-throughput sequencing. Fungi dominated both burrow and un-bioturbated sediment sequence libraries; however, there was significant enrichment of bacterivorous protists and nematodes in the burrows. There were also significant differences between the bacterial communities in burrows compared with un-bioturbated sediment. Increased activity and relative abundance of aerobic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the burrows coincided with the significant reduction in hydrocarbon concentration in the bioturbated sediment. This study represents the first detailed assessment of the effect of bioturbation on total microbial communities in oil-contaminated sediments. In addition, it further shows that bioturbation is a significant factor in determining microbial diversity within polluted sediments and plays an important role in stimulating bioremediation.
Women ’ s Education , Empowerment , and Contraceptive Use in s ub-Saharan Africa : Findings from Recent Demographic and Health Surveys Résumé

Résumé Abstract Fertility remains higher and contraceptive levels are substantially lower in Sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the developing world. In this paper we use information on individuals and couples provided in recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, fifth wave) undertaken in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, and Zambia. We use bivariate and multivariate techniques to examine the determinants of contraceptive use among married women (aged 15-49), focusing on the impacts of women’s education and empowerment. Our results show that education was an important determinant of contraceptive use, but mattered less in choice of method effectiveness. The impact of education was similar in all the countries studied with the exception of Kenya, where it was non-existent. Empowerment was less important in determining contraceptive use. Efforts to increase contraceptive use in general and the use of modern methods more specifically need to focus on providing basic education for all women and on changing gender roles.
Binding interactions of human interleukin 5 with its receptor alpha subunit. Large scale production, structural, and functional studies of Drosophila-expressed recombinant proteins.

Human interleukin 5 (hIL5) and soluble forms of its receptor alpha subunit were expressed in Drosophila cells and purified to homogeneity, allowing a detailed structural and functional analysis. B cell proliferation confirmed that the hIL5 was biologically active. Deglycosylated hIL5 remained active, while similarly deglycosylated receptor alpha subunit lost activity. The crystal structure of the deglycosylated hIL5 was determined to 2.6-A resolution and found to be similar to that of the protein produced in Escherichia coli. Human IL5 was shown by analytical ultracentrifugation to form a 1:1 complex with the soluble domain of the hIL5 receptor alpha subunit (shIL5R alpha). Additionally, the relative abundance of ligand and receptor in the hIL5.shIL5R alpha complex was determined to be 1:1 by both titration calorimetry and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of dissolved cocrystals of the complex. Titration microcalorimetry yielded equilibrium dissociation constants of 3.1 and 2.0 nM, respectively, for the binding of hIL5 to shIL5R alpha and to a chimeric form of the receptor containing shIL5R alpha fused to the immunoglobulin Fc domain (shIL5R alpha-Fc). Analysis of the binding thermodynamics of IL5 and its soluble receptor indicates that conformational changes are coupled to the binding reaction. Kinetic analysis using surface plasmon resonance yielded data consistent with the Kd values from calorimetry and also with the possibility of conformational isomerization in the interaction of hIL5 with the receptor alpha subunit. Using a radioligand binding assay, the affinity of hIL5 with full-length hIL5R alpha in Drosophila membranes was found to be 6 nM, in accord with the affinities measured for the soluble receptor forms. Hence, most of the binding energy of the alpha receptor is supplied by the soluble domain. Taken with other aspects of hIL5 structure and biological activity, the data obtained allow a prediction for how 1:1 stoichiometry and conformational change can lead to the formation of hIL5.receptor alpha beta complex and signal transduction.
Multi Class Cross Domain Sentiment Classification Using Fuzzy Mapped Cluster

Nowadays, e-commerce is growing fast and customers make sure of quality based on product reviews. But the large no of product reviews makes it difficult to automatically classify them into different polarity classes (positive and negative). Most of the existing methods have come out for binary classification of customer reviews. The proposed work uses a fuzzy logic model for crossdomain sentiment classification to improve the granularity of the polarity classes. The proposed work is a new approach of creation of a clustered Dl and DS features which is done on the basis of sentiment score for DI unigram and bigram features with the consideration of linguistic hedges from the SENTIWORDNET lexicon. We are expanding the feature vectors of reviews using PRECISE thesaurus during training and testing time. We choose LI regularised Logistic regression algorithm for classification. We do so because it is very useful in selecting subset of features which is useful for classification in target domain. Experimental results show significant improvement over various baselines.
New device for continuous-wave THz emission: Large area emitter

We discuss two different approaches to overcome the power limitations of CW THz generation imposed to conventional photomixers. The increase in power achievable by using arrays of AEs is studied. Then “large area emitters” are proposed as an alternate approach to overcome the power limitations. In this antenna-free new scheme of photomixing, the THz radiation originates directly from the acceleration of photo-induced charge carriers generated within a large semiconductor area. The quasi-continuous distribution of emitting elements corresponds to a high-density array and results in particularly favorable radiation profiles.
Determinacy of Equilibrium Under Various Phillips Curves

Determinacy of equilibrium under the original, the backward-looking, the forward-looking and the hybrid Phillips curves is examined. If the monetary authority keeps the nominal money stock to be constant, the equilibrium path is always determinate under the original Phillips curve and the forward-looking one. Under the backward-looking one and the hybrid one, however, the path can be non-existent. The case of a Taylor rule is also examined. Under any of the four curves the path is always determinate if the monetary policy is active but is never determinate if it is passive.
Pattern Matching in Go Game Records

Many professional Go games, Go life-and-death problems and others are saved as digital game records by SGF (smart game format). Valuable information hides in these records. This article presents a novel Go game record information retrieval system. In this system, the most difficult part is Go pattern matching in Go game records. In this article, a Go pattern matching algorithm is given to find game records that contain a desired query pattern. Then, a proposed index structure for a Go record database integrates methods of information retrieval and domain knowledge of Go. This index can increase the speed of pattern matching in the game database.
The Gap Between Early Adopters and Early Majority in the Diffusion of Environmentally Friendly Farming

As an increasing number of people have become interested in healthy and environmentally friendly farm products, the diffusion process of sustainable farming has been widely discussed. However, few studies have empirically investigated the differences between early adopters and early majority in diffusion of environmentally friendly farming. The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of the gap between early adopters and the early majority in the diffusion of environmentally friendly certified farm production by focusing on the case in which a frequent buyers program (FBP) was introduced for locally certified crops in the farmers markets of Japan. Though there were no differences in the characteristics of the two groups, early adopters initiated such production through governmental information provision and expected more profit than the adopters that followed. It was also found that non‐economic reasons and information on stable markets for the certified products were crucial for both adopter groups.
Assessment of aggressiveness of rectal cancer using 3-T MRI: correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient as a potential imaging biomarker and histologic prognostic factors

Background Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) permits non-invasive assessment of tumor characteristics. Purpose To assess the value of DW-MRI as a potential non-invasive marker of tumor aggressiveness in rectal cancer by analyzing the relationship between tumoral apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of MRI and histopathologic prognostic parameters that are not affected by preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Material and Methods Forty patients with rectal cancer were assessed with primary staging 3-T MRI, including DWI, before undergoing surgical therapy. In all patients, surgery was performed without neoadjuvant therapy. Mean tumor ADC was measured and compared between subgroups based on pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels, MRI parameters (e.g. postoperative local recurrence), and histopathologic parameters, including A (invasive distance: A1, T-stage; A2, mesorectal fascia [MRF] status), B (differentiation grade: B1, poorly differentiated; B2, moderately differentiated; B3, well differentiated), C (others: C1, N-stage; C2, lymphangiovascular invasion). Results Mean tumor ADCs were different when comparing groups stratified by histologic differentiation grades (P = 0.0192). There was no significant difference in mean ADCs when stratifying patients according to CEA levels, T-stage, N-stage, MRF status, presence of lymphangiovascular invasion, or the presence of local recurrence. Conclusion Significant correlations were found between mean ADC values and differentiation grade. ADC may be useful as an imaging biomarker of tumor aggressiveness, but it cannot serve as an independent biomarker of advanced rectal cancer.
Identification of multiprotein complexes containing DNA replication factors by native immunoblotting of HeLa cell protein preparations with T‐antigen‐dependent SV40 DNA replication activity

Increasing evidence has supported the concept that many of the enzymes and factors involved in the replication of mammalian DNA function together as a multiprotein complex. We have previously reported on the partial purification of a multiprotein form of DNA polymerase from human HeLa cells shown to be fully competent to support origin‐specific large T‐antigen‐dependent simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA replication in vitro. In an attempt to more definitively identify the complex or complexes responsible for DNA replication in vitro, partially purified human HeLa cell protein preparations competent to replicate DNA in vitro were subjected to native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electrophoretically transferred to nitrocellulose. The Native Western blots were probed with a panel of antibodies directed against proteins believed to be required for DNA replication in vitro. Apparent complexes of 620 kDa and 500 kDa were identified by monoclonal antibodies directed against DNA polymerase α and DNA polymerase δ, respectively.
Segmentation based representation for tweet hashtag

The effectiveness of segmenting the tweet hashtag for recognizing the Named entities is explored. Segmenting the hashtag, can offer huge help in recognizing named entities in the hashtags of tweets. The hashtag is segmented using sliding window of varying length, which provides the possible segmentations. Then the best segments are derived by Viterbiwordseg algorithm which is a dynamic programming algorithm. This algorithm derives the best segment using the unigram probabilities. The unigram language model is based on the Microsoft web N-Gram corpus, by which the probability of a segment is calculated. Named entities are recognized from the segmented hashtag using the method called EntityRegweb. This method recognizes the named entity by the global context, which is derived from the Web Page like Wikipedia. For recognizing the named entities from the segmented hashtag, Wikipedia is referred. Named entities such as person, location and organization is recognized by the method EntityRegweb. These are made in the Hadoop environment such that the larger data set is given as input.
Incorporation of groundwater pumping in a global Land Surface Model with the representation of human impacts

Observations indicate that groundwater levels are declining in many regions around the world. Simulating such depletion of groundwater at the global scale still remains a challenge because most global Land Surface Models (LSMs) lack the physical representation of groundwater dynamics in general and well pumping in particular. Here we present an integrated hydrologic model, which explicitly simulates groundwater dynamics and pumping within a global LSM that also accounts for human activities such as irrigation and reservoir operation. The model is used to simulate global water fluxes and storages with a particular focus on groundwater withdrawal and depletion in the High Plains Aquifer (HPA) and Central Valley Aquifer (CVA). Simulated global groundwater withdrawal and depletion for the year 2000 are 570 and 330 km3 yr−1, respectively; the depletion agrees better with observations than our previous model result without groundwater representation, but may still contain certain uncertainties and is on the higher side of other estimates. Groundwater withdrawals from the HPA and CVA are ∼22 and ∼9 km3 yr−1, respectively, which are also consistent with the observations of ∼24 and ∼13 km3 yr−1. The model simulates a significant decline in total terrestrial water storage in both regions as caused mainly by groundwater storage depletion. Groundwater table declined by ∼14 cm yr−1 in the HPA during 2003–2010; the rate is even higher (∼71 cm yr−1) in the CVA. These results demonstrate the potential of the developed model to study the dynamic relationship between human water use, groundwater storage, and the entire hydrologic cycle.
Associations of Perceived Risk and Worry with Cancer Health-protective Actions

This study examined the associations of susceptibility, conceptualized as both a cognition (risk) and as affect (worry) and their possible interaction, with cancer screening behaviors. Data for this study were obtained from the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Hierarchical regression models assessed the ability of risk, worry and their interaction (after controlling for other important variables) to predict cancer-screening behaviors. Results found that risk and worry (but not their interaction) were associated with regular mammography screening and having had a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy but with neither FOBT nor PSA screening. The findings suggest that risk and worry are both important in predicting some types of screening behavior and that these variables operate independently.
Separating the Effects of Asymmetric Incentives and Inefficient Use of Information on Financial Analysts' Consensus Earnings Forecast Errors

Prior research on financial analysts' consensus earnings forecast errors has tended to explore either incentives-based or inefficient information use-based explanations for the properties of the analysts' forecast errors. This has limited our understanding of financial analysts' expectation formation process as incentives and cognitive biases are likely to simultaneously affect the properties of the analysts' consensus forecast errors. Our main contribution is in separating these two effects. In particular, using consensus quarterly earnings forecast data, we document that analysts have asymmetric loss function, and that they do not fully use past earnings and forecast errors information in minimizing their expected loss.
Information Technology in Supply Chain Management

This paper focuses the role of Information technology (IT) in supply chain management. It also highlights the contribution of IT in helping to restructure the entire distribution set up to achieve higher service levels and lower inventory and lower supply chain costs. The broad strategic directions which need to be supported by the IT strategy are increasing of frequency of receipts/dispatch, holding materials further up the supply chain and crashing the various lead times. Critical IT contributions and implementations are discussed. Fundamental changes have occurred in today's economy. These changes alter the relationship we have with our customers, our suppliers, our business partners and our colleagues. It also describes how IT developments have presented companies with unprecedented opportunities to gain competitive advantage. So IT investment is the pre-requisite thing for each firm in order to sustain in the market.