389 research outputs found
Correction to : 1H, 13C, 15N backbone and IVL methyl group resonance assignment of the fungal β-glucosidase from Trichoderma reesei (Biomolecular NMR Assignments, (2020), 10.1007/s12104-020-09959-2)
In the original publication of the article, the name of one of the authors is incorrect. The author's name is Eiso AB, but was modified to A. B. Eiso. The correct name is given in this Correction
The effect of parental wealth on children’s outcomes in early adulthood
Using data from the British Household Panel Survey we show that parental wealth has a positive association with a range of outcomes in early adulthood. The outcome that exhibits the strongest association with parental wealth is higher educational attainment. This association is mainly concentrated at the lower half of the distribution and remains strong after controlling for a wide range confounding family characteristics. Parental wealth also has a positive relationship with children’s employment probability and earnings, although the gradient for both outcomes is rather weak and largely mediated by children’s education. A potential driver of the small size of the latter effects is the young age of the sample
A canonical correlation analysis of the association between carcass and ham traits in pigs used to produce dry-cured ham
The association between carcass and ham traits in a pig population used to produce dry-cured ham was studied using canonical correlation analysis. The carcass traits examined were hot carcass weight (HCW), backfat thickness (BT) and loin depth (LD), and the ham traits studied were gross ham weight (GHW), trimmed ham weight (THW), ham inner layer fat thickness (HIFT), ham outer layer fat thickness (HOFT), pH (pH) and the Göfo value. Carcass and ham traits are not independent. The canonical correlations (r) between the carcass and ham traits at 130 kg were 0.77, 0.24 and 0.20 for the first, second and third canonical pair, respectively, and were all significant (p < 0.01) by the Wilks test. The corresponding canonical correlations between the three canonical variate pairs for the carcass and ham traits at 160 kg were 0.88, 0.42 and 0.14, respectively (p < 0.05 for all, except the third). The correlations between the traits and their canonical variate showed an association among HCW, GHW and THW, and between BT and HOFT. These results indicate that carcass traits should be used to cull pigs that are not suitable for dry-cured ham production
Fragment-derived modulators of an industrial β-glucosidase
A fragment screen of a library of 560 commercially available fragments using a kinetic assay identified a small molecule that increased the activity of the fungal glycoside hydrolase TrBgl2. An analogue by catalogue approach and detailed kinetic analysis identified improved compounds that behaved as nonessential activators with up to a 2-fold increase in maximum activation. The compounds did not activate the related bacterial glycoside hydrolase CcBglA demonstrating specificity. Interestingly, an analogue of the initial fragment inhibits both TrBgl2 and CcBglA, apparently through a mixed-model mechanism. Although it was not possible to determine crystal structures of activator binding to 55 kDa TrBgl2, solution NMR experiments demonstrated a specific binding site for the activator. A partial assignment of the NMR spectrum gave the identity of the amino acids at this site, allowing a model for TrBgl2 activation to be built. The activator binds at the entrance of the substrate binding site, generating a productive conformation for the enzyme-substrate complex
Influence of Clinical Status and Parasite Load on Erythropoiesis and Leucopoiesis in Dogs Naturally Infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi
Background: The bone marrow is considered to be an important storage of parasites in Leishmania-infected dogs, although little is known about cellular genesis in this organ during canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL).
Methodology/Principal Findings: The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in erythropoiesis and leucopoiesis in bone marrow aspirates from dogs naturally infected with Leishmania chagasi and presenting different clinical statuses and bone marrow parasite densities. The evolution of CVL from asymptomatic to symptomatic status was accompanied by increasing parasite density in the bone marrow. The impact of bone marrow parasite density on cellularity was similar in dogs at different clinical stages, with animals in the high parasite density group. Erythroid and eosinophilic hypoplasia, proliferation of neutrophilic precursor cells and significant increases in lymphocytes and plasma cell numbers were the major alterations observed. Differential bone marrow cell counts revealed increases in the myeloid:erythroid ratio associated to increased numbers of granulopoietic cells in the different clinical groups compared with non-infected dogs.
Conclusions: Analysis of the data obtained indicated that the assessment of bone marrow constitutes an additional and useful tool by which to elaborate a prognosis for CVL
Intelligent negotiation model for ubiquitous group decision scenarios
Supporting group decision-making in ubiquitous contexts is a complex task that must deal with a large amount of
factors to succeed. Here we propose an approach for an intelligent negotiation model to support the group decision-making process
specially designed for ubiquitous contexts. Our approach can be used by researchers that intend to include arguments, complex
algorithms and agents' modelling in a negotiation model. It uses a social networking logic due to the type of communication
employed by the agents and it intends to support the ubiquitous group decision-making process in a similar way to the real process,
which simultaneously preserves the amount and quality of intelligence generated in face-to-face meetings. We propose a new look
into this problematic by considering and defining strategies to deal with important points such as the type of attributes in the multicriteria
problems, agents' reasoning and intelligent dialogues.This work has been
supported by COMPETE Programme (operational
programme for competitiveness) within project
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds
through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a
Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and
Technology) within the Projects
UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, and
the João Carneiro PhD grant with the reference
SFRH/BD/89697/2012 and by Project MANTIS -
Cyber Physical System Based Proactive Collaborative
Maintenance (ECSEL JU Grant nr. 662189).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Family coordination in families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder
Little is known about the interactions of families where there is a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study applies the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) to explore both its applicability to this population as well as to assess resources and areas of deficit in these families. The sample consisted of 68 families with a child with ASD, and 43 families with a typically developing (TD) child. With respect to the global score for family coordination there were several negative correlations: the more severe the symptoms (based on the child’s ADOS score), the more family coordination was dysfunctional. This correlation was particularly high when parents had to play together with the child. In the parts in which only one of the parents played actively with the child, while the other was simply present, some families did achieve scores in the functional range, despite the child’s symptom severity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of their clinical implications both for assessment and for interventio
Genotype by environment interaction in Nelore cattle from five Brazilian states
Records from 75,941 Nelore cattle were used to determine the importance of genotype by environment interaction (GEI) in five Brazilian states. (Co)variance components were estimated by single-trait analysis (with yearling weight, W450, considered to be the same trait in all states) and multiple-trait analysis (with the record from each state considered to be a different trait). The direct heritability estimates for yearling weight were 0.51, 0.39, 0.44, 0.37 and 0.41 in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais, respectively. The across-state genetic correlation estimates between Goiás and Mato Grosso, Goiás and Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais ranged from 0.67 to 0.75. These estimates indicate that GEIs are biologically important. No interactions were observed between Goiás and São Paulo, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais, or São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul (0.82 to 0.97). Comparison of single and multiple-trait analyses showed that selection based on the former was less efficient in the presence of GEI, with substantial losses (up to 10%) during selection
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