Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Molecular Biology of Frog Virus 3 and other Iridoviruses Infecting Cold-Blooded Vertebrates

Frog virus 3 (FV3) is the best characterized member of the family Iridoviridae. FV3 study has provided insights into the replication of other family members, and has served as a model of viral transcription, genome replication, and virus-mediated host-shutoff. Although the broad outlines of FV3 replication have been elucidated, the precise roles of most viral proteins remain unknown. Current studies using knock down (KD) mediated by antisense morpholino oligonucleotides (asMO) and small, interfering RNAs (siRNA), knock out (KO) following replacement of the targeted gene with a selectable marker by homologous recombination, ectopic viral gene expression, and recombinant viral proteins have enabled researchers to systematically ascertain replicative- and virulence-related gene functions. In addition, the application of molecular tools to ecological studies is providing novel ways for field biologists to identify potential pathogens, quantify infections, and trace the evolution of ecologically important viral species. In this review, we summarize current studies using not only FV3, but also other iridoviruses infecting ectotherms. As described below, general principles ascertained using FV3 served as a model for the family, and studies utilizing other ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses have confirmed and extended our understanding of iridovirus replication. Collectively, these and future efforts will elucidate molecular events in viral replication, intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contribute to disease outbreaks, and the role of the host immune system in protection from disease.
Dynamic data-bit memory built-in self-repair

In modern SoCs, embedded memories occupy the largest part of the chip area and include an even larger amount of active devices. As memories are designed very tightly to the limits of the technology they are more prone to failures than logic. Thus, they concentrate the large majority of defects and affect circuit yield dramatically. Thus, Built-In Self-Repair is gaining significant importance. This work presents a dynamic memory built-in self-repair schemer acting on the data-bit level. It allows reducing the size of the repairable units, or in other words, it allows using a single spare unit for repairing faults affecting several regular units. As a consequence, it repairs multiple faults by means of low hardware cost.
On the Irrelevance of Risk Attitudes in Repeated Two-Outcome Games

We analyze the equilibria of two-person supergames consisting of the sequential play of a finite collection of stage games, where each stage game is strictly competitive and has two outcomes for each player. We show that in any Nash equilibrium of the supergame, play at each stage is a Nash equilibrium of the stage game provided players' preferences over certain outcomes in the supergame satisfy a weak monotonicity condition. Thus, equilibrium play in such supergames is invariant for a large class of preferences and, in particular, it does not depend on the players' attitudes toward risk. This enables us to conclude, for example, that O'Neill's (1985) experimental test of Nash equilibrium adequately controls for risk attitudes, despite the fact that the supergame obtained by repeating his two-outcome stage game has more than two outcomes. We also establish an invariance result for games with more than two players when the solution concept is subgame perfection.
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 inhibition decreases proliferation through G2/M arrest in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) plays a vital role in DNA repair and is expected to be an effective target in various malignancies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical and biological significance of PARP1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to examine the association between PARP1 expression and the clinicopathological features of 86 patients with ESCC. The antitumor effect of small interfering RNA against PARP1 (siPARP1) was examined in a proliferation assay, and the mechanisms of this effect were investigated using western blot analysis and cell cycle assays. Cox multivariate analysis revealed that high expression of PARP1 in IHC staining was a statistically significant independent prognostic factor of poor overall survival (OS). The adjusted hazard ratio for OS in the group with high expression of PARP1 was 2.39 (95% confidence interval, 1.29–4.44; P=0.0051). In vitro assays showed that siPARP1 significantly decreased proliferation through G2/M arrest. Furthermore, western blot analysis showed that PARP1 was associated with the ataxia telangiectasia mutated-checkpoint kinase 2-cell division control 25c pathway. The present study suggests that PARP1 expression has a critical role in ESCC progression, and may be a clinical therapeutic target.
Antagonistic expression of hepatitis C virus and alpha interferon in lymphoid cells during persistent occult infection

Summary. Detection of residual HCV in individuals with SVR after treatment of CHC can be significantly heightened by analyzing ex vivo mitogen‐activated T and B lymphocytes and applying sensitive nucleic acid amplification assays. However, it remained unknown if synergistic activation of lymphocytes and monocytes would further augment HCV detection, if viral replication becomes universally upregulated in treated cells, and if examining sequential sera and lymphoid cells would improve detection of occult infection. Using paired sera and lymphoid cells collected 1 year apart from 17 individuals with normal liver enzymes for up to 72 months after SVR, it was found that simultaneous activation of lymphocytes and monocytes enhanced identification of silent HCV infection and revealed that in some cases monocytes were the principal immune cell type where HCV persisted. Testing of serial samples further increased detection of occult infection. Ultimately, by combining the above two approaches, all individuals with SVR were found to be silent carriers of HCV. Clonal sequencing revealed HCV variations in sera and lymphoid cells and evolution of viral genomes confirming ongoing virus replication. Surprisingly, similar to those with CHC, naive lymphoid cells from some individuals carried ∼103 HCV copies/μg total RNA. HCV loads in naive lymphoid cells predetermined the outcome of ex vivo stimulation with respect to upregulation or inhibition of HCV replication. HCV RNA levels in occult infection were inversely proportional to the expression of IFNα and IFN‐inducible MxA, but not to IFNγ or tumour necrosis factor α in naive and mitogen‐treated lymphoid cells.
Global Gene-expression Analysis of the Response of Salmonella Enteritidis to Egg White Exposure Reveals Multiple Egg White-imposed Stress Responses

Chicken egg white protects the embryo from bacterial invaders by presenting an assortment of antagonistic activities that combine together to both kill and inhibit growth. The key features of the egg white anti-bacterial system are iron restriction, high pH, antibacterial peptides and proteins, and viscosity. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is the major pathogen responsible for egg-borne infection in humans, which is partly explained by its exceptional capacity for survival under the harsh conditions encountered within egg white. However, at temperatures up to 42°C, egg white exerts a much stronger bactericidal effect on S. Enteritidis than at lower temperatures, although the mechanism of egg white-induced killing is only partly understood. Here, for the first time, the impact of exposure of S. Enteritidis to egg white under bactericidal conditions (45°C) is explored by global-expression analysis. A large-scale (18.7% of genome) shift in transcription is revealed suggesting major changes in specific aspects of S. Enteritidis physiology: induction of egg white related stress-responses (envelope damage, exposure to heat and alkalinity, and translation shutdown); shift in energy metabolism from respiration to fermentation; and enhanced micronutrient provision (due to iron and biotin restriction). Little evidence of DNA damage or redox stress was obtained. Instead, data are consistent with envelope damage resulting in cell death by lysis. A surprise was the high degree of induction of hexonate/hexuronate utilization genes, despite no evidence indicating the presence of these substrates in egg white.
Analysing the determinants of bank efficiency: the case of Italian banks

This study investigates the main determinants of Italian banks’ cost efficiency over the period 1993–1996, by employing a Fourier-flexible stochastic cost frontier in order to measure X-efficiencies and economies of scale. Quality and riskiness of bank outputs are explicitly accounted for in the cost function and their impact on cost efficiency levels is evaluated. The results show that mean X-inefficiencies range between 13 and 15 per cent of total costs and they tend to decrease over time for all bank sizes. Economies of scale appear present and significant, being especially high for popular and credit co-operative banks. Moreover, the inclusion of risk and output quality variables in the cost function seems to reduce the significance of the scale economy estimates. Following Spong et al. (1995) a profitability test is undertaken that allows for the identification of banks that are both cost and profit efficient. The results suggest that the most efficient and profitable institutions are more able to control all aspects of costs, especially labour costs. Finally, the data are pooled to carry out a logistic regression model in order to examine bank- and market-specific factors that influence Italian banks’ inefficiency. Confirming Mester (1993, 1996), inefficiencies appear to be inversely correlated with capital strength and positively related to the level of non-performing loans in the balance sheet. The analysis also shows that there is no clear relationship between asset size and bank efficiency. Finally, it is possible to infer that quoted banks seem to be on average more efficient than their non-quoted counterparts.
Overview of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in regards to the Brazilian epidemic

Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, belongs to the Flaviviridae family, genus Flavivirus. ZIKV was initially isolated in 1947 from a sentinel monkey in the Zika forest, Uganda. Little clinical importance was attributed to ZIKV, once only few symptomatic cases were reported in some African and Southeast Asiatic countries. This situation changed in 2007, when a large outbreak was registered on the Yap Island, Micronesia, caused by the Asian ZIKV lineage. Between 2013 and 2014, ZIKV spread explosively and caused many outbreaks in different islands of the Southern Pacific Ocean and in 2015 autochthonous transmission was reported in Brazil. Currently, Brazil is the country with the highest number of ZIKV-positive cases in Latin America. Moreover, for the first time after the discovery of ZIKV, the Brazilian scientists are studying the possibility for the virus to cause severe congenital infection related to microcephaly and serious birth defects due to the time-spatial coincidence of the alarming increase of newborns with microcephaly and the Brazilian ZIKV epidemic. The present review summarizes recent information for ZIKV epidemiology, clinical picture, transmission, diagnosis and the consequences of this emerging virus in Brazil.
A Ca2+-activated NADPH Oxidase in Testis, Spleen, and Lymph Nodes*

Superoxide and its derivatives are increasingly implicated in the regulation of physiological functions from oxygen sensing and blood pressure regulation to lymphocyte activation and sperm-oocyte fusion. Here we describe a novel superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase referred to as NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5). NOX5 is distantly related to the gp91 phox subunit of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase with conserved regions crucial for the electron transport (NADPH, FAD and heme binding sites). However, NOX5 has a unique N-terminal extension that contains three EF hand motifs. The mRNA of NOX5 is expressed in pachytene spermatocytes of testis and in B- and T-lymphocyte-rich areas of spleen and lymph nodes. When heterologously expressed, NOX5 was quiescent in unstimulated cells. However, in response to elevations of the cytosolic Ca2+concentration it generated large amounts of superoxide. Upon Ca2+ activation, NOX5 also displayed a second function: it became a proton channel, presumably to compensate charge and pH alterations due to electron export. In summary, we have identified a novel NADPH oxidase that generates superoxide and functions as a H+ channel in a Ca2+-dependent manner. NOX5 is likely to be involved in Ca2+-activated, redox-dependent processes of spermatozoa and lymphocytes such as sperm-oocyte fusion, cell proliferation, and cytokine secretion.
Multiplicative Aspects of the Halperin–Carlsson Conjecture

Abstract We use the multiplicative structure of the Koszul resolution to give short and simple proofs of some known estimates for the total dimension of the cohomology of spaces which admit free torus actions and some analogous results for filtered differential modules over polynomial rings. We also point out the possibility of improving these results in the presence of a multiplicative structure on the so-called minimal Hirsch–Brown model for the equivariant cohomology of the space.
Development of 6.1 A Materials for IR Applications

Abstract : The development of mercury cadmium selenide (HgCdSe) material for infrared (IR) applications was initiated in fiscal year 2010 (FY10) at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) under a Director s Research Initiative (DRI) program. Material growth conditions using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were identified to achieve reasonably good material quality in terms of surface morphology, defect density, and crystallinity as measured by x-ray diffraction. Additionally, it was determined that the bandgap of HgCdSe could be tuned by controlling the selenium (Se) to cadmium (Cd) flux ratio during growth. This research has continued in fiscal year 2011 (FY11) with an emphasis placed on developing composite substrate technology (zinc telluride [ZnTe]/silicon [Si] and Zn(Se)Te/gallium antimonide [GaSb]) for HgCdSe as well as understanding the electrical properties of HgCdSe material. An etching process was developed to identify dislocations in HgCdSe. Finally, the continued study of MBE growth parameters and their impact on material properties was conducted.
Long nucleotide insertions between the HN and L protein coding regions of human parainfluenza virus type 3 yield viruses with temperature-sensitive and attenuation phenotypes.

Recombinant parainfluenza virus 3 (rPIV3) is being developed as a vector to express foreign genes as a bivalent or multivalent live attenuated virus vaccine. In the present study, we examined the effect of inserted foreign sequence on virus replication in vitro and in vivo, focusing on the parameter of insert length. In one type of construct, foreign sequence of increasing length was flanked by PIV3 transcription signals and inserted as an additional gene unit (GU insert) between the HN and L genes, so that one additional mRNA would be made. In a second type of construct, foreign sequence was inserted into the downstream NCR (NCR insert) of the HN gene, so that the number of encoded mRNAs remained unchanged. In each case, the foreign sequence was designed to lack any significant open reading frame, which permitted an evaluation of the effect of insert length on replication independent of an effect of an expressed protein. The GU or NCR insert sizes ranged from 168 nucleotides (nt) to 3918 nt. rPIV3s containing GU insertions of up to 3918 nt in length, the largest size tested, were viable and replicated efficiently at permissive temperatures in vitro, but a reduction in plaque size was seen at 39 degrees C and 40 degrees C. The rPIV3 with a 3918-nt GU insertion was restricted in replication in the upper (fivefold) and lower (25-fold) respiratory tracts of hamsters. Although a 1908-nt GU insertion did not significantly modify replication of wild-type PIV3 in vitro or in vivo, its introduction significantly augmented the level of temperature sensitivity (ts) and attenuation (att) specified by three mutations in the L protein of a cold-passaged attenuated PIV3 vaccine virus. rPIV3s bearing a 3126- or 3894-nt NCR insertion exhibited in vitro and in vivo phenotypes like those of the rPIV3s bearing similar-sized GU insertions. These findings indicate that rPIV3s whose genome length has been increased by more than 3000 nt by either a GU or an NCR insertion exhibit an unexpected host-range phenotype, that is, efficient replication in vitro but restricted replication in hamsters, especially in the lower respiratory tract. Furthermore, these effects were greatly enhanced when the rPIV3 backbone contained other ts or att mutations. The implications of these findings for the use of single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses as vectors for vaccines are discussed.
Colour Me In – an empirical study on consumer responses to the traffic light signposting system in nutrition labelling

Abstract Objective As a means of empowering consumers, nutrition labelling has become a widely discussed topic. Simplicity and uniformity of labelling systems are regarded as the prevailing demands from the consumer side. In the present study, we analyse the effects of the traffic light signposting scheme on consumers’ food choices. Design In an online survey, respondents first rated the understandability of the traffic light signposting scheme. In a following conjoint experiment, they indicated which products they would select as the healthiest of the presented products, based on the nutritive information provided by the traffic light signposting scheme. Setting A major German university. Subjects In total 2002 undergraduate students participated in the survey. Two-thirds (69 %) of the respondents were female and the majority of the respondents (70 %) were between 18 and 24 years old. Seventy-seven per cent of the participants indicated that they had a higher level of education. Results Overall, the participants rated the understandability of the traffic light nutrition signposting scheme fairly high (5·9 out of 7). Sugar and fat were found to be the most important attributes of the scheme. Participants placed greater emphases on a change in a product's nutrient characteristic from ‘amber to ‘red’ compared with a change from ‘green’ to ‘amber’. Conclusions Our results confirm the signalling effect of colour coding as it helps reduce the complexity of decision making. Our findings shed new light on the ongoing discussion concerning appropriate and efficient nutrition labelling and provide interesting insights for further research as well as implications for public policy making.
The Maize PIN Gene Family of Auxin Transporters

Auxin is a key regulator of plant development and its differential distribution in plant tissues, established by a polar cell to cell transport, can trigger a wide range of developmental processes. A few members of the two families of auxin efflux transport proteins, PIN-formed (PIN) and P-glycoprotein (ABCB/PGP), have so far been characterized in maize. Nine new Zea mays auxin efflux carriers PIN family members and two maize PIN-like genes have now been identified. Four members of PIN1 (named ZmPIN1a–d) cluster, one gene homologous to AtPIN2 (ZmPIN2), three orthologs of PIN5 (ZmPIN5a–c), one gene paired with AtPIN8 (ZmPIN8), and three monocot-specific PINs (ZmPIN9, ZmPIN10a, and ZmPIN10b) were cloned and the phylogenetic relationships between early-land plants, monocots, and eudicots PIN proteins investigated, including the new maize PIN proteins. Tissue-specific expression patterns of the 12 maize PIN genes, 2 PIN-like genes and ZmABCB1, an ABCB auxin efflux carrier, were analyzed together with protein localization and auxin accumulation patterns in normal conditions and in response to drug applications. ZmPIN gene transcripts have overlapping expression domains in the root apex, during male and female inflorescence differentiation and kernel development. However, some PIN family members have specific tissue localization: ZmPIN1d transcript marks the L1 layer of the shoot apical meristem and inflorescence meristem during the flowering transition and the monocot-specific ZmPIN9 is expressed in the root endodermis and pericycle. The phylogenetic and gene structure analyses together with the expression pattern of the ZmPIN gene family indicate that subfunctionalization of some maize PINs can be associated to the differentiation and development of monocot-specific organs and tissues and might have occurred after the divergence between dicots and monocots.
Neoteric Hybrid Multilevel Cascade Inverter Based on Low Switch Numbers Along with Low Voltage Stress: Design, Analysis, Verification

With the purpose of rein in the high voltage of flexible power systems, renovation and amendment of multi-level structures aimed at acquisition of high quality voltage is certainly required. In this regard, robust topology must be occupied that encompass the maximum output voltage levels along with minimum of switch number, of course, with taking into account of Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV). In this paper, a neoteric high-performance multilevel cascaded inverter is suggested up to the problem of repetitive output levels to be unraveled and also number of output voltage levels to be maximized. It has been constructed by series-connected multilevel inverters blocks and three-level inverter. The simulation results along with experimental results extracted by manufactured prototype have transparently approved high efficiency of proposed inverter as well as its feasibility. Apart from above, new mathematical approach has been presented to calculate and define the DC voltage sources magnitudes in asymmetric converter.
Learning Differences between Feral Pigeons and Zenaida Doves: The Role of Neophobia and Human Proximity

Learning diAerences predicted from ecological variables can be confounded with diAerences in wariness of novel stimuli (neophobia). Previous work on feral pigeons (Columba livia), as well as on group-feeding and territorial zenaida doves (Zenaida aurita), reported individual and social learning diAerences predicted from socialforagingmode.Inthepresentstudy,weshowthatspeedoflearningaforaging task covaries with neophobia and latency to feed from a familiar dish in the three types of columbids. Pigeons were much faster than either territorial or groupfeeding zenaida doves on all tests conducted in captivity, but showed unexpectedly strongneophobiainsomeurbanflocksduringfieldtests.Humanproximitystrongly aAected performance in group-feeding doves both in thefield and in captivity. They were slightly faster at learning than their territorial conspecifics in cage tests. In multiple regressions, species identity, but not social foraging mode, significantly predicted individual variation in learning, as did individual variation in neophobia. Wariness of novel stimuli and species diAerences associated with artificial selection appear to be more important than foraging mode and wariness of humans in accounting for learning diAerences between these columbids.