Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VP2 Exchange and NS3/NS3a Deletion in African Horse Sickness Virus (AHSV) in Development of Disabled Infectious Single Animal Vaccine Candidates for AHSV

ABSTRACT African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a virus species in the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae. There are nine serotypes of AHSV showing different levels of cross neutralization. AHSV is transmitted by species of Culicoides biting midges and causes African horse sickness (AHS) in equids, with a mortality rate of up to 95% in naive horses. AHS has become a serious threat for countries outside Africa, since endemic Culicoides species in moderate climates appear to be competent vectors for the related bluetongue virus (BTV). To control AHS, live-attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are used in Africa. We used reverse genetics to generate “synthetic” reassortants of AHSV for all nine serotypes by exchange of genome segment 2 (Seg-2). This segment encodes VP2, which is the serotype-determining protein and the dominant target for neutralizing antibodies. Single Seg-2 AHSV reassortants showed similar cytopathogenic effects in mammalian cells but displayed different growth kinetics. Reverse genetics for AHSV was also used to study Seg-10 expressing NS3/NS3a proteins. We demonstrated that NS3/NS3a proteins are not essential for AHSV replication in vitro. NS3/NS3a of AHSV is, however, involved in the cytopathogenic effect in mammalian cells and is very important for virus release from cultured insect cells in particular. Similar to the concept of the bluetongue disabled infectious single animal (BT DISA) vaccine platform, an AHS DISA vaccine platform lacking NS3/NS3a expression was developed. Using exchange of genome segment 2 encoding VP2 protein (Seg-2[VP2]), we will be able to develop AHS DISA vaccine candidates for all current AHSV serotypes. IMPORTANCE African horse sickness virus is transmitted by species of Culicoides biting midges and causes African horse sickness in equids, with a mortality rate of up to 95% in naive horses. African horse sickness has become a serious threat for countries outside Africa, since endemic Culicoides species in moderate climates are supposed to be competent vectors. By using reverse genetics, viruses of all nine serotypes were constructed by the exchange of Seg-2 expressing the serotype-determining VP2 protein. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the nonstructural protein NS3/NS3a is not essential for virus replication in vitro. However, the potential spread of the virus by biting midges is supposed to be blocked, since the in vitro release of the virus was strongly reduced due to this deletion. VP2 exchange and NS3/NS3a deletion in African horse sickness virus were combined in the concept of a disabled infectious single animal vaccine for all nine serotypes.
Sound for Multisensory Motion Simulators

Interaction in a virtual reality environment often implies situations of illusory self-motion, like, for example, in flight or driving scenarios. Striving for pictorial realism, currently available motion simulators often exhibit relatively poor sound design. However, a substantial body of research has now conclusively shown that human perception is multisensory in its nature. It is, therefore, logical to assume that acoustic information should contribute to the perception of illusory self-motion (vection). The presented studies used an iterative synthesis-evaluation loop where participants’ vection and presence (the sense of “being there”) responses guided the search for the most salient auditory cues and their multisensory combinations. Paper A provides a first integrative review on the studies related to auditory induced illusory vection, which have been scattered over time and different research disciplines. Paper B explores optimal combinations of perceptual cues between vision (field-of-view) and audition (spatial resolution) when presenting a rotating environment. Paper C examines cognitive factors in purely auditory or auditory-vibrotactile induced circular vection. In Paper D the specific influence of an audio-vibrotactile engine sound metaphor on linear vection responses are evaluated. The idea of using the engine sound representing self-motion or its multisensory counterparts is further addressed in Paper E where participant’s imagery vividness scores are also considered. The results from Papers B-E serve as a basis for the design of a transportable, multimodal motion simulator prototype. In paper F the feasibility of inducing vection by means of binaural bone conducted sound is tested using this prototype. Paper G outlines perceptually optimized, multisensory design which can be used in future motion simulators and discusses its possible implications for entertainment industries. To conclude, sound is an important but often neglected component in multisensory self-motion simulations, providing both perceptual and cognitive cues. Hence, it might be beneficial to think in terms of the amodal categories of unitary space, time, objects and events rather than to optimize vection cues in different modalities separately. The presented results have implications for various research areas including multisensory integration of self-motion cues, posture prosthesis, navigation in unusual gravitoinertial environments and applications for visually impaired.
Highly Accurate Moving Object Detection in Variable Bit Rate Video-Based Traffic Monitoring Systems

Automated motion detection, which segments moving objects from video streams, is the key technology of intelligent transportation systems for traffic management. Traffic surveillance systems use video communication over real-world networks with limited bandwidth, which frequently suffers because of either network congestion or unstable bandwidth. Evidence supporting these problems abounds in publications about wireless video communication. Thus, to effectively perform the arduous task of motion detection over a network with unstable bandwidth, a process by which bit-rate is allocated to match the available network bandwidth is necessitated. This process is accomplished by the rate control scheme. This paper presents a new motion detection approach that is based on the cerebellar-model-articulation-controller (CMAC) through artificial neural networks to completely and accurately detect moving objects in both high and low bit-rate video streams. The proposed approach is consisted of a probabilistic background generation (PBG) module and a moving object detection (MOD) module. To ensure that the properties of variable bit-rate video streams are accommodated, the proposed PBG module effectively produces a probabilistic background model through an unsupervised learning process over variable bit-rate video streams. Next, the MOD module, which is based on the CMAC network, completely and accurately detects moving objects in both low and high bit-rate video streams by implementing two procedures: 1) a block selection procedure and 2) an object detection procedure. The detection results show that our proposed approach is capable of performing with higher efficacy when compared with the results produced by other state-of-the-art approaches in variable bit-rate video streams over real-world limited bandwidth networks. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations support this claim; for instance, the proposed approach achieves Similarity and F1 accuracy rates that are 76.40% and 84.37% higher than those of existing approaches, respectively.
Circuit for Shor's algorithm using 2n+3 qubits

We try to minimize the number of qubits needed to factor an integer of n bits using Shor's algorithm on a quantum computer. We introduce a circuit which uses 2n + 3 qubits and 0(n3lg(n)) elementary quantum gates in a depth of 0(n3) to implement the factorization algorithm. The circuit is computable in polynomial time on a classical computer and is completely general as it does not rely on any property of the number to be factored.
TCP over wireless multi-hop protocols: simulation and experiments

In this study we investigate the interaction between TCP and MAC layer in a wireless multi-hop network. This type of network has traditionally found applications in the military (automated battlefield), law enforcement (search and rescue) and disaster recovery (flood, earthquake), where there is no fixed wired infrastructure. Wireless "ad-hoc" multi-hop networks have previously been proposed for nomadic computing applications. Key requirements in all the above applications are reliable data transfer and congestion control, features that are generally supported by TCP. Unfortunately, TCP performs on wireless in a much less predictable way than on wired protocols. Using simulation, we provide new insight into two critical problems of TCP over wireless multi-hop. The first is the conflict between data packets and ACKs, which causes TCP performance to degrade for window sizes greater than 1 packet. The second is the interaction between MAC and TCP layer backoff timers which causes severe unfairness and capture conditions. In the paper, we identify these problems in several representative simulation runs on various topologies and traffic patterns and indicate possible remedies to improve TCP efficiency over a wireless multi-hop network.
Three-dimensional image reconstruction of insect flight muscle. I. The rigor myac layer

We have obtained detailed three-dimensional images of in situ cross- bridge structure in insect flight muscle by electron microscopy of multiple tilt views of single filament layers in ultrathin sections, supplemented with data from thick sections. In this report, we describe the images obtained of the myac layer, a 25-nm longitudinal section containing a single layer of alternating myosin and actin filaments. The reconstruction reveals averaged rigor cross-bridges that clearly separate into two classes constituting lead and rear chevrons within each 38.7-nm axial repeat. These two classes differ in tilt angle, size and shape, density, and slew. This new reconstruction confirms our earlier interpretation of the lead bridge as a two-headed cross-bridge and the rear bridge as a single-headed cross-bridge. The importance of complementing tilt series with additional projections outside the goniometer tilt range is demonstrated by comparison with our earlier myac layer reconstruction. Incorporation of this additional data reveals new details of rigor cross-bridge structure in situ which include clear delineation of (a) a triangular shape for the lead bridge, (b) a smaller size for the rear bridge, and (c) density continuity across the thin filament in the lead bridge. Within actin's regular 38.7-nm helical repeat, local twist variations in the thin filament that correlate with the two cross-bridge classes persist in this new reconstruction. These observations show that in situ rigor cross-bridges are not uniform, and suggest three different myosin head conformations in rigor.
Genetic Association Analysis of ATP Binding Cassette Protein Family Reveals a Novel Association of ABCB1 Genetic Variants with Epilepsy Risk, but Not with Drug-Resistance

Epilepsy constitutes a heterogeneous group of disorders that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures due to widely different etiologies. Multidrug resistance remains a major issue in clinical epileptology, where one third of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures. Role of efflux transporters in multidrug resistant epilepsy has been attributed to drug-resistant epilepsy although, with discrepant observation in genetic studies. These discrepancies could be attributed to variety of factors such as variable definition of the anti-epileptic drug (AED)-resistance, variable epilepsy phenotypes and ethnicities among the studies. In the present study we inquired the role of multidrug transporters ABCB1 and ABCG2 variants in determining AED-resistance and susceptibility to epilepsy in three well-characterized cohorts comprising of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) (prototype for AED-resistant epilepsy); juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) (prototype for AED-responsive epilepsy); and healthy non-epileptic controls, in 738 subjects of Malayalam speaking south Indian ancestry. ABCB1 and ABCG2 variants were not found to be associated with drug resistance when AED-resistant and AED-responsive cohorts were compared. However, a significant association was observed between ABCB1 (C3435T) rs1045642 and risk of having epilepsy (MTLE-HS and JME pooled cohort; genotypic p-value = 0.0002; allelic p-value = 0.004). This association was seen persistent with MTLE-HS (genotypic p-value = 0.0008; allelic p-value = 0.004) and also with JME (genotypic p-value = 0.01; allelic p-value = 0.05) cohort individually. In-silico functional prediction indicated that ABCB1 rs1045642 has a deleterious impact on protein coding function and in splicing regulation. We conclude that the ABCB1 and ABCG2 variants do not confer to AED-resistance in the study population. However, ABCB1 rs1045642 increases vulnerability to epilepsy with greater tendency for MTLE-HS in south Indian ancestry from Kerala.
Psychological treatment for vaginal pain: does etiology matter? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION Classification of vaginal pain within medical or psychiatric diagnostic systems draws mainly on the presumed presence or absence (respectively) of underlying medical etiology. A focus on the experience of pain, rather than etiology, emphasizes common ground in the aims of treatment to improve pain and sexual, emotional, and cognitive experience. Thus, exploring how vaginal pain conditions with varying etiology respond to psychological treatment could cast light on the extent to which they are the same or distinct. AIM To examine the combined and relative efficacy of psychological treatments for vaginal pain conditions. METHODS A systematic search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL was undertaken. Eleven randomized controlled trials were entered into a meta-analysis, and standardized mean differences and odds ratios were calculated. Effect sizes for individual psychological trial arms were also calculated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Main outcome measures were pain and sexual function. RESULTS Equivalent effects were found for psychological and medical treatments. Effect sizes for psychological treatment arms were comparable across vaginal pain conditions. CONCLUSIONS Effectiveness was equivalent regardless of presumed medical or psychiatric etiology, indicating that presumed etiology may not be helpful in selecting treatment. Research recommendations and clinical implications are discussed.
Intercellular spread of Shigella flexneri through a monolayer mediated by membranous protrusions and associated with reorganization of the cytoskeletal protein vinculin

The spread of Shigella flexneri in a monolayer of infected Henle and HeLa cells was studied by using immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. Infected cells produced numerous bacterium-containing membranous protrusions up to 18 microns in length that penetrated adjacent cells and were subsequently phagocytosed. Fluorescence staining of actin and vinculin in infected cells with phalloidin and monoclonal antibody to vinculin, respectively, demonstrated that the protrusions containing the bacteria consisted of these cytoskeletal proteins. Actin accumulated predominantly at the poles of bacteria distal to the tip of protrusions and appeared as trails extending back towards the host cell cytoplasm. Vinculin, however, was distributed uniformly around the bacteria and throughout the protrusion. A profound rearrangement of vinculin occurred in Henle and HeLa cells following infection with shigellae: whereas in uninfected cells it was distributed mainly around the cell periphery, in infected cells it concentrated mainly around clusters of bacteria in the cytoplasm. This suggests a possible involvement of the vinculin cytoskeletal protein in the intercellular spread of shigellae during an infection.
Biostatistical Assessment of Mutagenicity Studies by Including the Positive Control

Statistical analysis plays a fundamental part in the evaluation of mutagenicity experiments. However, a statistically significant or non‐significant test result without incorporating the biological relevance cannot be a valid scientific criterion for concluding a positive or negative effect of the underlying compound (Hauschke et al., 1997). The classification of an experiment as being negative or positive should be based also on the magnitude of the responses in the positive control. We address the problem of determining the maximum safe dose by incorporating a biologically meaningful threshold value, which is expressed as a fraction of the difference between positive and vehicle control. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Activity and biophysical inhibition resistance of a novel synthetic lung surfactant containing Super-Mini-B DATK peptide

Background/objectives. This study examines the surface activity, resistance to biophysical inhibition, and pulmonary efficacy of a synthetic lung surfactant containing glycerophospholipids combined with Super Mini-B (S-MB) DATK, a novel and stable molecular mimic of lung surfactant protein (SP)-B. The objective of the work is to test whether S-MB DATK synthetic surfactant has favorable biophysical and physiological activity for future use in treating surfactant deficiency or dysfunction in lung disease or injury. Methods. The structure of S-MB DATK peptide was analyzed by homology modeling and by FTIR spectroscopy. The in vitro surface activity and inhibition resistance of synthetic S-MB DATK surfactant was assessed in the presence and absence of albumin, lysophosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC), and free fatty acids (palmitoleic and oleic acid). Adsorption and dynamic surface tension lowering were measured with a stirred subphase dish apparatus and a pulsating bubble surfactometer (20 cycles/min, 50% area compression, 37 °C). In vivo pulmonary activity of S-MB DATK surfactant was measured in ventilated rabbits with surfactant deficiency/dysfunction induced by repeated lung lavages that resulted in arterial PO2 values <100 mmHg. Results. S-MB DATK surfactant had very high surface activity in all assessments. The preparation adsorbed rapidly to surface pressures of 46–48 mN/m at 37 °C (low equilibrium surface tensions of 22–24 mN/m), and reduced surface tension to <1 mN/m under dynamic compression on the pulsating bubble surfactometer. S-MB DATK surfactant showed a significant ability to resist inhibition by serum albumin, C16:0 lyso-PC, and free fatty acids, but surfactant inhibition was mitigated by increasing surfactant concentration. S-MB DATK synthetic surfactant quickly improved arterial oxygenation and lung compliance after intratracheal instillation to ventilated rabbits with severe surfactant deficiency. Conclusions. S-MB DATK is an active mimic of native SP-B. Synthetic surfactants containing S-MB DATK (or related peptides) combined with lipids appear to have significant future potential for treating clinical states of surfactant deficiency or dysfunction, such as neonatal and acute respiratory distress syndromes.
[Increased mortality in metal-on-metal versus non-metal-on-metal primary total hip arthroplasty at 10 years and longer follow-up: a systematic review and meta-analysis].

OBJECTIVE To determine the mortality and the morbidity in patients with metal-on-metal articulations (MOM THA) when compared to patients with non-metal-on-metal articulations (non-MOM THA) after primary total hip arthroplasty. DESIGN Systematic review, meta-analyses and meta-regression (registration: PROSPERO 2014:CRD42014007417). METHOD Search of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane, CINAHL, AcademicSearchPremier, ScienceDirect, Wiley and clinical trial registers. We included randomised controlled trials and observational studies of primary total hip arthroplasty comparing MOM THA with non-MOM THA. We used meta-regression to identify and evaluate potential modifying variables such as follow-up duration. RESULTS Forty-seven studies were included, comprising over 4,000 THA in randomised trials and over 500,000 THA in observational studies. For mortality, random effects analysis revealed a higher pooled risk difference (RD) of 0.7% (95%-CI: 0.0-2.3%; I-square 42%); the heterogeneity was explained by differences in follow-up. When restricted to studies with long term follow-up (i.e. 10 years or more), the RD for mortality was 8,5% (95%-CI: 5,8-11,2). Further subgroup analyses and meta-regression random effects models revealed no evidence for other modifying variables (study level covariates, e.g. resurfacing vs. non-resurfacing MOM) than follow-up duration. CONCLUSION Meta-analysis suggests there may be an increased long-term risk of mortality associated with MOM THA compared to patients with non-MOM THA.
Enhancing the RIM process with pulsation technology : CFD study

Numerical simulations were performed to study the effect of pulsation on the flow dynamics of a 2D laminar T-jets mixer. Different strategies, frequencies and amplitudes of the opposed jets pulsation were tested, aiming to assess its effect on the mixing dynamics of the flow field. The pulsation frequencies were set in relation to the natural oscillation frequencies of the flow field. It is found that out phase pulsation of the opposed jets with frequency close to the jets natural oscillations frequencies, φ, enhance the order of the system resulting in a flow field with a well defined repetitive generation of vortices. Imposing pulsations to the system that have different frequency values from the non-forced flow dynamics enhance its disorder. The study showed that the amplitude of the oscillation has a strong effect on the flow field, and that this effect increases with increasing amplitude up to the extreme case where the imposed pulsation completely drives the dynamics of the system.
Interpopulation variation in allelopathic traits informs restoration of invaded landscapes

Invasive species can show substantial genetic variation in ecologically important traits, across ranges as well within the introduced range. If these traits affect competition with native species, then management may benefit from considering the genetic landscape of the invader. Across their introduced range, Alliaria petiolata populations vary in their investment in allelopathic traits according to invasion history, which could lead to gradients of impact on native species. Red oak (Quercus rubra) seedlings were transplanted into eight A. petiolata‐invaded sites that varied in their invasion history and allelochemical concentrations. At each site, an invader removal treatment was crossed with experimental inoculations of native soil biota, to test whether the benefits of these restoration actions differed across invader populations. Q. rubra seedlings grew faster in invader populations with a longer invasion history and lower allelochemical concentrations. Invader removal and soil inoculation interacted to determine seedling growth, with the benefits of soil inoculation increasing in younger and more highly allelopathic invader populations. A greenhouse experiment using soils collected from experimentally inoculated field plots found similar patterns. These results suggest that the impact of this invader varies across landscapes and that knowledge of this variation could improve the efficacy and efficiency of restoration activities.