Leading indicator properties of US high-yield credit spread

In this paper we examine the out-of-sample forecast performance of high-yield credit spreads regarding employment and industrial production in the US, using both a point forecast and a probability forecast exercise. Our main findings suggest the use of few factors obtained by pooling information from a number of sector-specific high-yield credit spreads. This can be justified by observing that there is a gain from using a principal components model fitted to high-yield credit spreads compared to the prediction produced by benchmarks, such as an AR, and ARDL models that use either the term spread or the aggregate high-yield spread as exogenous regressor

Data Analytics for the Cryptocurrencies Behavior

The cryptocurrencies are a new paradigm of transferring money be-tween users. Their anonymous and non-centralized is a subject of debate around the globe that paired with the massive spikes and declines in value that are in-herit to an unregistered asset. These facts make difficult for the common daily use of the cryptocurrencies as an exchange currency as instead they are being used as a new way to invest. What we propose in this article is a system for the better understanding of the cryptocurrencies economical behavior against the global market. For that we are using Data Analytics techniques to build a pre-dictor that uses as inputs said external financial variable. These forecasts would help determine if a coin is safe to trade with, if those forecasts can be precise by only using this external data. The results obtained indicates us that there is a certain degree of influence of the global market to the cryptocurrencies, but that is it not enough to correctly predict the fluctuations in price of the coins and that they care more about others factors and that they have their own bubbles, like the crypto collapse in late 2017.Instituto de Investigación en Informátic

Expression of proteins in Escherichia coli as fusions with maltose-binding protein to rescue non-expressed targets in a high-throughput protein-expression and purification pipeline

The rescue of protein-expression levels by cloning genes into MBP-fusion vector is described

Observational study on variability between biobanks in the estimation of DNA concentration.

BACKGROUND: There is little confidence in the consistency of estimation of DNA concentrations when samples move between laboratories. Evidence on this consistency is largely anecdotal. Therefore there is a need first to measure this consistency among different laboratories and then identify and implement remedies. A pilot experiment to test logistics and provide initial data on consistency was therefore conceived. METHODS: DNA aliquots at nominal concentrations between 10 and 300 ng/mul were dispensed into the wells of 96-well plates by one participant - the coordinating centre. Participants estimated the concentration in each well and returned estimates to the coordinating centre. RESULTS: Considerable overall variability was observed among estimates. There were statistically significant differences between participants' measurements and between fluorescence emission and absorption spectroscopy. CONCLUSION: Anecdotal evidence of variability in DNA concentration estimation has been substantiated. Reduction in variability between participants will require the identification of major sources of variation, specification of effective remedies and their implementation

An ensemble of structures of Burkholderia pseudomallei 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase

An ensemble of crystal structures are reported for 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase from B. pseudomallei. The structures include two vanadate complexes, revealing the structure of a close analogue of the transition state for phosphate transfer

Probing conformational states of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase by fragment screening

The first crystal structure is reported of a glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase in the apo state without flavin adenine dinucleotide cofactor bound. Additional structures with small molecules complexed in the catalytic active site were obtained by fragment-based screening

Populist communication in the new media environment: a cross-regional comparative perspective

The changing terms of mediation place new demands, opportunities and risks on the performance of the political persona. Visibility has become a double-edged sword, leaving representatives vulnerable to exposure while new tools provide opportunities for emerging entrepreneurial actors. This double risk to elites’ mediated personas—exposure and challenge from entrepreneurs—renders their armour of authenticity dangerously fragile, which nourishes a public sense of being inefficaciously represented. It is this climate in which populism currently flourishes around the globe. Three primary criteria of mediated self-representation by politicians—visibility, authenticity and efficacy—form the focus of this paper: how do populists negotiate such demands in different democratic contexts, and wherein lies the symbiosis between populism and the new media environment suggested by the literature? To answer this, the paper compares two populist cases responding to different democratic contexts: UKIP, a right-wing party from an established democracy (UK), and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party from a transitional democracy (South Africa). The objects of study are disruptive performances by these parties, which are considered emblematic manifestations of populist ideology as they establish a Manichaean relationship between the elite and populist actors who embody the people. The paper introduces disruption as a multi-faceted and significant analytical concept to explain the populist behaviour and strategies that underlie populist parties’ responses to the demands for visibility, authenticity and efficacy that the new media environment places upon political representatives. Using mixed methods with an interpretive focus, the paper paints a rich picture of the contexts, meanings and means of construction of populist performances

Seamless Insert-Plasmid Assembly at High Efficiency and Low Cost

Seamless cloning methods, such as sequence- and ligation-independent cloning (SLIC) or the Gibson assembly, are essential tools for the construction of protein expression plasmids. We here show that single-stranded gaps in double-stranded plasmids, which for example occur in typical SLIC protocols, can drastically decrease the efficiency at which the DNA transforms competent E. coli bacteria. Conversely, filling-in of single-stranded gaps using DNA polymerase resulted in increased transformation efficiency. Ligation of the remaining nicks did not lead to a further increase in transformation efficiency. These data point out a critical factor for robust seamless cloning. Highly efficient insert-plasmid assembly can be achieved by using only T5 exonuclease and Phusion DNA polymerase, without Taq DNA ligase from the original Gibson protocol, which significantly reduces the cost of the reactions. We successfully used this method with two short insert-plasmid overlap regions, each counting only 15 nucleotides

To automate or not to automate: this is the question

New protocols and instrumentation significantly boost the outcome of structural biology, which has resulted in significant growth in the number of deposited Protein Data Bank structures. However, even an enormous increase of the productivity of a single step of the structure determination process may not significantly shorten the time between clone and deposition or publication. For example, in a medium size laboratory equipped with the LabDB and HKL-3000 systems, we show that automation of some (and integration of all) steps of the X-ray structure determination pathway is critical for laboratory productivity. Moreover, we show that the lag period after which the impact of a technology change is observed is longer than expected

A Novel Tetrameric PilZ Domain Structure from Xanthomonads

PilZ domain is one of the key receptors for the newly discovered secondary messenger molecule cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP). To date, several monomeric PilZ domain proteins have been identified. Some exhibit strong c-di-GMP binding activity, while others have barely detectable c-di-GMP binding activity and require an accessory protein such as FimX to indirectly respond to the c-di-GMP signal. We now report a novel tetrameric PilZ domain structure of XCC6012 from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc). It is one of the four PilZ domain proteins essential for Xcc pathogenicity. Although the monomer adopts a structure similar to those of the PilZ domains with very weak c-di-GMP binding activity, it is nevertheless interrupted in the middle by two extra long helices. Four XCC6012 proteins are thus self-assembled into a tetramer via the extra heptad repeat α3 helices to form a parallel four-stranded coiled-coil, which is further enclosed by two sets of inclined α2 and α4 helices. We further generated a series of XCC6012 variants and measured the unfolding temperatures and oligomeric states in order to investigate the nature of this novel tetramer. Discovery of this new PilZ domain architecture increases the complexity of c-di-GMP-mediated regulation