Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamic Signatures of Macromolecular Complexes ‒ Insights on the Stability and Interactions of Nucleoplasmin, a Nuclear Chaperone

Nucleoplasmin (NP) is a nuclear chaperone that mediates chromatin remodeling processes, such as sperm decondensation at fertilization [1]. In Xenopus laevis eggs, where it was first isolated, this highly acidic protein is thought to be in charge of nucleosomal core histones H2A/H2B storage. Upon fertilization, NP decondenses the densely packed sperm chromatin by means of extracting its specific basic proteins and replacing them with H2A/H2B, therefore enabling the assembly of somatic-type nucleosomes. NP is additionally involved in chromatin remodeling during early development, in particular it is required in the replication licensing mechanism, probably to extract linker-type histones from somatic chromatin, and can facilitate pluripotent cell reprogramming. NP (also designated NPM2) belongs to the nucleophosmin/nucleoplasmin family of histone chaperones [2]. Whereas NP roles have been particularly related to fertilization and embryogenesis, nucleophosmin (or NPM1) is ubiquitously and abundantly expressed in adult cells. It is enriched in the nucleolus, and serves multiple functions that affect cell growth and apoptosis, therefore disregulation of NPM1 is linked to several human cancers. Particular mutations of NPM1, that destabilize its structure, and cause its mislocalization to the cytoplasm, trigger acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Apart from nucleophosmin and NP, the family includes the less known NPM3 and an invertebrate NPM-like.
Novel Cupriavidus Strains Isolated from Root Nodules of Native Uruguayan Mimosa Species

ABSTRACT The large legume genus Mimosa is known to be associated with both alphaproteobacterial and betaproteobacterial symbionts, depending on environment and plant taxonomy, e.g., Brazilian species are preferentially nodulated by Burkholderia, whereas those in Mexico are associated with alphaproteobacterial symbionts. Little is known, however, about the symbiotic preferences of Mimosa spp. at the southern subtropical limits of the genus. In the present study, rhizobia were isolated from field-collected nodules from Mimosa species that are native to a region in southern Uruguay. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences of the 16S rRNA, recA, and gyrB core genome and the nifH and nodA symbiosis-essential loci confirmed that all the isolates belonged to the genus Cupriavidus. However, none were in the well-described symbiotic species C. taiwanensis, but instead they were closely related to other species, such as C. necator, and to species not previously known to be symbiotic (or diazotrophic), such as C. basilensis and C. pinatubonensis. Selection of these novel Cupriavidus symbionts by Uruguayan Mimosa spp. is most likely due to their geographical separation from their Brazilian cousins and to the characteristics of the soils in which they were found. IMPORTANCE With the aim of exploring the diversity of rhizobia associated with native Mimosa species, symbionts were isolated from root nodules on five Mimosa species that are native to a region in southern Uruguay, Sierra del Abra de Zabaleta. In contrast to data obtained in the major centers of diversification of the genus Mimosa, Brazil and Mexico, where it is mainly associated with Burkholderia and Rhizobium/Ensifer, respectively, the present study has shown that all the isolated symbiotic bacteria belonged to the genus Cupriavidus. Interestingly, none of nodules contained bacteria belonging to the well-described symbiotic species C. taiwanensis, but instead they were related to other Cupriavidus species such as C. necator and C. pinatubonensis. These data suggest the existence of a higher diversity within beta-rhizobial Cupriavidus than was previously suspected, and that Mimosa spp. from Sierra del Abra de Zabaleta, may be natural reservoirs for novel rhizobia.
Embedding technology into inter-professional best practices in home safety evaluation

Abstract Purpose: To explore inter-professional home evaluators’ perspectives and needs for building useful and acceptable decision-support tools for the field of home modifications. Method: Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of home modification professionals from different regions of the United States. The interview transcripts were analyzed with a qualitative, descriptive, perspective approach. Results: Technology supports current best practice and has potential to inform decision making through features that could enhance home evaluation processes, quality, efficiency and inter-professional communication. Conclusions: Technological advances with app design have created numerous opportunities for the field of home modifications. Integrating technology and inter-professional best practices will improve home safety evaluation and intervention development to meet client-centred and societal needs. Implications for rehabilitation Understanding home evaluators technology needs for home safety evaluations contributes to the development of app-based assessments. Integrating inter-professional perspectives of best practice and technological needs in an app for home assessments improves processes. Novice and expert home evaluators would benefit from decision support systems embedded in app-based assessments. Adoption of app-based assessment would improve efficiency while remaining client-centred.
Historical Trends in PM2.5-Related Premature Mortality during 1990–2010 across the Northern Hemisphere

Background: Air quality across the northern hemisphere over the past two decades has witnessed dramatic changes, with continuous improvement in developed countries in North America and Europe, but a contrasting sharp deterioration in developing regions of Asia. Objective: This study investigates the historical trend in the long-term exposure to PM2.5 and PM2.5-related premature mortality (PM2.5-mortality) and its response to changes in emission that occurred during 1990–2010 across the northern hemisphere. Implications for future trends in human exposure to air pollution in both developed and developing regions of the world are discussed. Methods: We employed the integrated exposure–response model developed by Health Effects Institute to estimate the PM2.5-mortality. The 1990–2010 annual average PM2.5 concentrations were obtained from the simulations using the WRF-CMAQ model. Emission mitigation efficiencies of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), and primary PM are estimated from the PM2.5-mortality responses to the emission variations. Results: Estimated PM2.5-mortalities in East Asia and South Asia increased by 21% and 85% respectively, from 866,000 and 578,000 in 1990, to 1,048,000 and 1,068,000 in 2010. PM2.5-mortalities in developed regions (i.e., Europe and high-income North America) decreased substantially by 67% and 58% respectively. Conclusions: Over the past two decades, correlations between population and PM2.5 have become weaker in Europe and North America due to air pollution controls but stronger in East Asia due to deteriorating air quality. Mitigation of primary PM appears to be the most efficient way for increasing health benefits (i.e., providing the largest mortality reduction per unit emissions). However, reductions in emissions of NH3 are needed to maximize the effectiveness of NOx emission controls. Citation: Wang J, Xing J, Mathur R, Pleim JE, Wang S, Hogrefe C, Gan CM, Wong DC, Hao J. 2017. Historical trends in PM2.5-related premature mortality during 1990–2010 across the northern hemisphere. Environ Health Perspect 125:400–408; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/EHP298
A Novel Collaborative Cognitive Dynamic Network Architecture

Increasing mobile data demands in current cellular networks and the proliferation of advanced handheld devices have given rise to a new generation of dynamic network architectures (DNAs). In a DNA, users share their connectivities and act as access points providing Internet connections for others without additional network infrastructure cost. A large number of users and their dynamic connections make DNAs highly adaptive to variations in the network and suitable for low-cost ubiquitous Internet connectivity. In this article, we propose a novel collaborative cognitive DNA (CDNA) that incorporates cognitive capabilities to exploit underutilized spectrum in a more flexible and intelligent way. The design principles of CDNA are perfectly aligned to the functionality requirements of future 5G wireless networks such as energy and spectrum efficiency, scalability, dynamic reconfigurability, support for multihop communications, infrastructure sharing, and multi-operator cooperation. A case study with a new resource allocation problem enabled by CDNA is conducted using matching theory with pricing to illustrate the potential benefits of CDNA for users and operators, tackle user associations for data and spectrum trading with low complexity, and enable self-organizing capabilities. Finally, possible challenges and future research directions are given.
Darapladib for preventing ischemic events in stable coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND Elevated lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 activity promotes the development of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques, and elevated plasma levels of this enzyme are associated with an increased risk of coronary events. Darapladib is a selective oral inhibitor of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2. METHODS In a double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 15,828 patients with stable coronary heart disease to receive either once-daily darapladib (at a dose of 160 mg) or placebo. The primary end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Secondary end points included the components of the primary end point as well as major coronary events (death from coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, or urgent coronary revascularization for myocardial ischemia) and total coronary events (death from coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for unstable angina, or any coronary revascularization). RESULTS During a median follow-up period of 3.7 years, the primary end point occurred in 769 of 7924 patients (9.7%) in the darapladib group and 819 of 7904 patients (10.4%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio in the darapladib group, 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85 to 1.03; P=0.20). There were also no significant between-group differences in the rates of the individual components of the primary end point or in all-cause mortality. Darapladib, as compared with placebo, reduced the rate of major coronary events (9.3% vs. 10.3%; hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.00; P=0.045) and total coronary events (14.6% vs. 16.1%; hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84 to 0.98; P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS In patients with stable coronary heart disease, darapladib did not significantly reduce the risk of the primary composite end point of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline; STABILITY ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00799903.).
Development of high-damage threshold dispersive coatings

Whether it is to form an optical cavity, to control dispersion, or merely to transport the laser beam, multilayer mirrors are fundamental components of every ultrafast laser system. The performance of current state of the art ultrafast high-power lasers in terms of pulse energy is often restrained by optical breakdown of multilayer coatings. One way to overcome this problem is to increase the size of the laser beam, but this is usually undesirable, as it rises the costs and the footprint of the laser system. Therefore, increasing the optical resistance of multilayer mirrors is essential to the development of cost- and space-efficient lasers. In turn, this requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms behind optical damage. In this work, we have studied the ultrafast optical breakdown of dispersive mirrors, as well as that of other multilayer thin-films, in three different regimes: (i) at 500 Hz repetition rate with 30 fs pulses, at a central wavelength of 800nm; (ii) at 11:5MHz repetition rate with 1 ps pulses, at 1030 nm; (iii) at 5 kHz repetition rate with 1:4 ps pulses at 1030 nm. The results from (ii) and (iii) have been compared side by side. In addition, a novel technique for dispersion measurements has been developed. In the femstosecond regime, the samples have been: single layer coatings made of Au; Ag; Nb2O5; SiO2;Ta2O5 and mixtures of Ta2O5 with silica in different concentrations; and different dispersive coatings, consisting of SiO2 as the low-index material and different high-index materials (Nb2O5; Ta2O5; HfO2). We have also given a suggestion as to what is the best approach to increase the damage threshold of thin-film dielectric coatings. The ultrafast optical breakdown of multilayer thin-films has been investigated at MHz repetition rate and high average power. The optical breakdown threshold of three different types of coatings has been measured. All samples have been coated with either TiO2, Ta2O5, HfO2, or Al2O3 as high-index material and with SiO2 as low-index material. The same samples have been measured also at kHz repetition rate. The results obtained in both regimes have been compared. The band gap dependencies of damage threshold in both cases were linear. However, the one retrieved at kHz rate was steeper than its MHz counterpart. This is an interesting finding, which must be investigated further. The developed method for dispersion measurements has been based on the location of resonance peaks in a Fabry-Perot-type of interferometer. By simultaneously processing data obtained at different spacer thicknesses, we were able to obtain superior resolution compared to the conventional method.
Primary Intestinal Epstein–Barr Virus-associated Natural Killer/T-cell Lymphoproliferative Disorder: A Disease Mimicking Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background and Aims Primary intestinal Epstein-Barr virus [EBV]-associated natural killer/T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder [PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD] is a rare clinical entity, which is difficult to differentiate from inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. We present a series of Chinese patients with PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD to increase awareness among clinicians of this condition. Methods Patients diagnosed with PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD at West China hospital between 2014 and 2016 were included. Clinical and histopathological characteristics were reviewed, and key aspects of differential diagnosis were presented. Results Twelve patients diagnosed with PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD were identified. Initial symptoms included intermittent fever [11/12 patients], abdominal pain [9/12], haematochezia [8/12], and diarrhoea [3/12]. Main endoscopic findings included multisegmental irregular, variable-sized ulcers, isolated giant ulcers, and diffuse inflammation. Colon and ileocaecum were mainly affected in 11 patients. The main PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD immunophenotypic profile of the infiltrating cells was CD3ε-positive NK/T cells characterised by positive T-cell intracellular antigen-1 and granzyme B, with CD5 deletion. In situ hybridisation was positive for EBV-encoded small RNAs 1/2 in all patients. Eleven patients were misdiagnosed with ulcerative colitis [4/11], Crohn's disease [4/11], or tuberculosis [TB, 3/11], owing to the similar endoscopic and histopathological features. The mean number of endoscopic procedures performed before reaching the diagnosis of PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD was 3.58; in four patients, the diagnosis was confirmed only after surgical resection following complications. Conclusions PIEBV+ NK/T-LPD may be difficult to differentiate from IBD or TB owing to overlapping endoscopic and pathological findings. Early identification of EBV reactivation in tissue samples is essential for the accurate diagnosis.
Long-Term Multi-Resource Fairness for Pay-as-you Use Computing Systems

Many current computing systems such as clouds and supercomputers charge users for their resource usages. A user’s demand is often changing over time, indicating that it is difficult to keep the high resource utilization all the time for cost efficiency. Resource sharing is a classical and effective approach for high resource utilization. In view of the heterogeneous resource demands of users’ workloads, multi-resource allocation fairness is a must for resource sharing in such <italic>pay-as-you-use computing systems</italic>. However, we find that, existing multi-resource fair policies such as Dominant Resource Fairness (DRF), implemented in currently popular resource management systems such as Apache YARN <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref4">[4]</xref> and Mesos <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref23">[23]</xref> , are <italic>not</italic> suitable for the pay-as-you-use computing systems. We show that this is because of their <italic>memoryless</italic> characteristic that can cause the following problems in the pay-as-you-use computing systems: 1). users can get resource benefits by cheating; 2). users might not be able to get the total amount of resources that they are entitled to in terms of their resource contributions. In this paper, we propose a new policy called H-MRF, which generalizes DRF and Asset Fairness with the long-term notion. We show that it can address these problems and is suitable for pay-as-you-use computing systems. We have implemented it into YARN by developing a prototype called <italic>MRYARN</italic>. Finally, we evaluate H-MRF using both testbed and simulated experiments. The experimental results show that there are about <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.1\sim 1.5$</tex-math> <alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="tang-ieq1-2788880.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> sharing benefit degrees and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.2\times \sim 1.8\times$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="tang-ieq2-2788880.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> performance improvement for users with H-MRF, better than existing fair schedulers.
An Open-Source IoT Power Outlet System for Scheduling Appliance Operation Intervals Based on Real-Time Electricity Cost

This paper presents an open-source Internet of Things (IoT) power outlet system able to process the information about pricing and the user preferences to optimize energy consumption. The system proposed collects the data on pricing published by the Spanish Electrical Grid and analyzes them to determine the operation time intervals with the lowest prices. To this end, it was developed an auto-configurable easy-to-deploy system based on intelligent power outlets that connect to each other through a shared Wi-Fi network. Such a system is able to measure the current of the appliances connected to them by means of current intensity sensors. The collected data are sent to a central control device that generates statistics and performs actions depending on such data. Thanks to the system, electricity consumption can be collected easily and monitored through a user-friendly interface to enhance price-aware decision-making for the demand side under the Internet of Energy (IoE) paradigm.
Trial of Contralateral Seventh Cervical Nerve Transfer for Spastic Arm Paralysis

BACKGROUND Spastic limb paralysis due to injury to a cerebral hemisphere can cause long‐term disability. We investigated the effect of grafting the contralateral C7 nerve from the nonparalyzed side to the paralyzed side in patients with spastic arm paralysis due to chronic cerebral injury. METHODS We randomly assigned 36 patients who had had unilateral arm paralysis for more than 5 years to undergo C7 nerve transfer plus rehabilitation (18 patients) or to undergo rehabilitation alone (18 patients). The primary outcome was the change from baseline to month 12 in the total score on the Fugl–Meyer upper‐extremity scale (scores range from 0 to 66, with higher scores indicating better function). RESULTS The mean increase in Fugl–Meyer score in the paralyzed arm was 17.7 in the surgery group and 2.6 in the control group (difference, 15.1; 95% confidence interval, 12.2 to 17.9; P<0.001). With regard to improvements in spasticity as measured on the Modified Ashworth Scale (an assessment of five joints, each scored from 0 to 5, with higher scores indicating more spasticity), the smallest between‐group difference was in the thumb, with 6, 9, and 3 patients in the surgery group having a 2‐unit improvement, a 1‐unit improvement, or no change, respectively, as compared with 1, 6, and 7 patients in the control group (P=0.02). Transcranial magnetic stimulation and functional imaging showed connectivity between the ipsilateral hemisphere and the paralyzed arm. There were no significant differences from baseline to month 12 in power, tactile threshold, or two‐point discrimination in the hand on the side of the donor graft. CONCLUSIONS In this single‐center trial involving patients who had had unilateral arm paralysis due to chronic cerebral injury for more than 5 years, transfer of the C7 nerve from the nonparalyzed side to the side of the arm that was paralyzed was associated with a greater improvement in function and reduction of spasticity than rehabilitation alone over a period of 12 months. Physiological connectivity developed between the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere and the paralyzed hand. (Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and others; Chinese Clinical Trial Registry number, 13004466.)
Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Utilizes Nanotubes for Intercellular Spread

ABSTRACT Intercellular nanotube connections have been identified as an alternative pathway for cellular spreading of certain viruses. In cells infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), nanotubes were observed connecting two distant cells with contiguous membranes, with the core infectious viral machinery (viral RNA, certain replicases, and certain structural proteins) present in/on the intercellular nanotubes. Live-cell movies tracked the intercellular transport of a recombinant PRRSV that expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged nsp2. In MARC-145 cells expressing PRRSV receptors, GFP-nsp2 moved from one cell to another through nanotubes in the presence of virus-neutralizing antibodies. Intercellular transport of viral proteins did not require the PRRSV receptor as it was observed in receptor-negative HEK-293T cells after transfection with an infectious clone of GFP-PRRSV. In addition, GFP-nsp2 was detected in HEK-293T cells cocultured with recombinant PRRSV-infected MARC-145 cells. The intercellular nanotubes contained filamentous actin (F-actin) with myosin-associated motor proteins. The F-actin and myosin IIA were identified as coprecipitates with PRRSV nsp1β, nsp2, nsp2TF, nsp4, nsp7-nsp8, GP5, and N proteins. Drugs inhibiting actin polymerization or myosin IIA activation prevented nanotube formation and viral clusters in virus-infected cells. These data lead us to propose that PRRSV utilizes the host cell cytoskeletal machinery inside nanotubes for efficient cell-to-cell spread. This form of virus transport represents an alternative pathway for virus spread, which is resistant to the host humoral immune response. IMPORTANCE Extracellular virus particles transmit infection between organisms, but within infected hosts intercellular infection can be spread by additional mechanisms. In this study, we describe an alternative pathway for intercellular transmission of PRRSV in which the virus uses nanotube connections to transport infectious viral RNA, certain replicases, and certain structural proteins to neighboring cells. This process involves interaction of viral proteins with cytoskeletal proteins that form the nanotube connections. Intercellular viral spread through nanotubes allows the virus to escape the neutralizing antibody response and may contribute to the pathogenesis of viral infections. The development of strategies that interfere with this process could be critical in preventing the spread of viral infection.