Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring Transduction Mechanisms of Protein Transduction Domains (PTDs) in Living Cells Utilizing Single-Quantum Dot Tracking (SQT) Technology

Specific protein domains known as protein transduction domains (PTDs) can permeate cell membranes and deliver proteins or bioactive materials into living cells. Various approaches have been applied for improving their transduction efficacy. It is, therefore, crucial to clarify the entry mechanisms and to identify the rate-limiting steps. Because of technical limitations for imaging PTD behavior on cells with conventional fluorescent-dyes, how PTDs enter the cells has been a topic of much debate. Utilizing quantum dots (QDs), we recently tracked the behavior of PTD that was derived from HIV-1 Tat (TatP) in living cells at the single-molecule level with 7-nm special precision. In this review article, we initially summarize the controversy on TatP entry mechanisms; thereafter, we will focus on our recent findings on single-TatP-QD tracking (SQT), to identify the major sequential steps of intracellular delivery in living cells and to discuss how SQT can easily provide direct information on TatP entry mechanisms. As a primer for SQT study, we also discuss the latest findings on single particle tracking of various molecules on the plasma membrane. Finally, we discuss the problems of QDs and the challenges for the future in utilizing currently available QD probes for SQT. In conclusion, direct identification of the rate-limiting steps of PTD entry with SQT should dramatically improve the methods for enhancing transduction efficiency.
Pain in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis, Knee Prosthesis, and Post-herpetic Neuralgia: Learning From Focus Group Patients’ Experience

Introduction:Pain is a common symptom in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and it is thought to be the result of a mixture of neuropathic and nociceptive pain. Different elements of pain need to be recognized and treated differently, but a clinical tool to classify these components still remains to be defined. Aim:The aim of our study was to evaluate subjective feeling of pain in people with MS, including pain quality description and pain impact in daily functioning. We also investigated which descriptors are related to nociceptive pain and which to neuropathic pain. Finally, we explored if there are differences between the descriptors spontaneously used by individuals with MS and the ones included in the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MGPQ). Methods:We used focus group (FG) of discussion to collect participants’ opinion about their pain. We organized 2 FGs for persons with MS. We also gathered 2 FGs of individuals who had a recent knee arthroplasty, suffering a pure nociceptive pain, and 2 FGs of individuals with post-herpetic neuralgia, suffering a pure neuropathic pain, to compare their experience with the one of the people with MS. Results:Original spontaneous descriptors emerged in all the groups. People with MS in particular used various symbolic descriptors to express their pain’s quality and underlined the high impact of pain on their lives. The use of specific descriptors for neuropathic and nociceptive pain in the different groups did not appear easily definable. Finally, pain descriptors used during FG appeared to be different than the ones included in the MGPQ. Conclusions:Original spontaneous descriptors, possibly pathology-specific, emerged in all groups not included in the MGPQ and pointed out the need to use assessment tools based on people experience.
Eurographics/ Ieee-vgtc Symposium on Visualization 2008 from Web Data to Visualization via Ontology Mapping

In this paper, we propose a novel approach for automatic generation of visualizations from domain-specific data available on the web. We describe a general system pipeline that combines ontology mapping and probabilistic reasoning techniques. With this approach, a web page is first mapped to a Domain Ontology, which stores the semantics of a specific subject domain (e.g., music charts). The Domain Ontology is then mapped to one or more Visual Representation Ontologies, each of which captures the semantics of a visualization style (e.g., tree maps). To enable the mapping between these two ontologies, we establish a Semantic Bridging Ontology, which specifies the appropriateness of each semantic bridge. Finally each Visual Representation Ontology is mapped to a visualization using an external visualization toolkit. Using this approach, we have developed a prototype software tool, SemViz, as a realisation of this approach. By interfacing its Visual Representation Ontologies with public domain software such as ILOG Discovery and Prefuse, SemViz is able to generate appropriate visualizations automatically from a large collection of popular web pages for music charts without prior knowledge of these web pages.
Monitoring the Impact of Influenza by Age: Emergency Department Fever and Respiratory Complaint Surveillance in New York City

Background The importance of understanding age when estimating the impact of influenza on hospitalizations and deaths has been well described, yet existing surveillance systems have not made adequate use of age-specific data. Monitoring influenza-related morbidity using electronic health data may provide timely and detailed insight into the age-specific course, impact and epidemiology of seasonal drift and reassortment epidemic viruses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of emergency department (ED) chief complaint data for measuring influenza-attributable morbidity by age and by predominant circulating virus. Methods and Findings We analyzed electronically reported ED fever and respiratory chief complaint and viral surveillance data in New York City (NYC) during the 2001–2002 through 2005–2006 influenza seasons, and inferred dominant circulating viruses from national surveillance reports. We estimated influenza-attributable impact as observed visits in excess of a model-predicted baseline during influenza periods, and epidemic timing by threshold and cross correlation. We found excess fever and respiratory ED visits occurred predominantly among school-aged children (8.5 excess ED visits per 1,000 children aged 5–17 y) with little or no impact on adults during the early-2002 B/Victoria-lineage epidemic; increased fever and respiratory ED visits among children younger than 5 y during respiratory syncytial virus-predominant periods preceding epidemic influenza; and excess ED visits across all ages during the 2003–2004 (9.2 excess visits per 1,000 population) and 2004–2005 (5.2 excess visits per 1,000 population) A/H3N2 Fujian-lineage epidemics, with the relative impact shifted within and between seasons from younger to older ages. During each influenza epidemic period in the study, ED visits were increased among school-aged children, and each epidemic peaked among school-aged children before other impacted age groups. Conclusions Influenza-related morbidity in NYC was highly age- and strain-specific. The impact of reemerging B/Victoria-lineage influenza was focused primarily on school-aged children born since the virus was last widespread in the US, while epidemic A/Fujian-lineage influenza affected all age groups, consistent with a novel antigenic variant. The correspondence between predominant circulating viruses and excess ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths shows that excess fever and respiratory ED visits provide a reliable surrogate measure of incident influenza-attributable morbidity. The highly age-specific impact of influenza by subtype and strain suggests that greater age detail be incorporated into ongoing surveillance. Influenza morbidity surveillance using electronic data currently available in many jurisdictions can provide timely and representative information about the age-specific epidemiology of circulating influenza viruses.
Sachet Water Quality in Obuasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana

The advent of sachet water has increasingly filled the gap in household water security. This study investigated the quality (microbial and physicochemical) of sachet water in Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. A simple random sampling technique was employed in this study. A total of 30 samples from 10 brands were collected from vendors and hawkers for microbial analysis using the multiple tube method and results recorded as Most Probable Number (MPN) of coliform per 100ml of water. Mean MPN values ranged from 8.5-45 cfu/100mL for total coliforms. Based on the WHO and GSB standards for drinking water, all samples had elevated total coliform bacteria level. Only one sample (G) recorded faecal coliforms. Heterotrophic bacteria was also elevated in all samples ranging from 1.1 × 10 4 – 6.5 × 10 4 cfu/100ml . Using the ion chromatograph method, bromide and phosphate were not detectable in any brands. Fluoride values ranged from 0.154 – 0.427mg/L, chloride ranged from 3.995 – 10.243mg/L, nitrite values ranged from 0 – 2.278mg/L, sulphate values ranged from 0.1229 – 1.214 mg/L and nitrate values ranged from 1.031 – 21.827 mg/L. Fluoride, chloride, sulphate and nitrite concentrations were within the permissible range in all samples except for nitrate which recorded an elevation in only one sample (H). Total dissolved solids and conductivity values were within the WHO permissible range. However, pH values ranged from 5.4 – 7.6 with four brands were below the WHO range of 6.5 – 8.5. It is, therefore, recommended that periodic tests are conducted on sachet water products and caution given to consumers about brands which are unwholesome. Key Words: Multiple tube method, Quality, Sachet drinking water
Normal frontal perfusion in patients with frozen gait

We have studied the frontal perfusion in the resting condition of two groups of patients with frozen gait: 10 patients with the syndrome of “isolated gait ignition failure” (IGIF) and 8 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and severe “off” freezing. These patients were compared with two other groups: one including 20 age‐matched volunteers as normal control subjects and the other one including 12 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) as a positive control with expected frontal hypoperfusion. Frontal perfusion was assed using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) regional cerebral blood flow measurement with intravenous 133Xenon. A significant frontal hypoperfusion was only present in the PSP group but not in the three othrs. These results do not support the hypothesis that start hesitations and freezing when walking are related to a frontal lobe dysfunction. However, it is possible that frontal neuronla dysfunction occurs without measurable cerebral blood flow changes in the resting condition.
A fast efficient computation of cubic-spline interpolation in image codec

It is shown that cubic-spline interpolation (CSI) can be performed by a fast and efficient computation for the encoding and decoding processes of image coding. It requires substantially fewer additions and multiplications than the original CSI algorithm. Furthermore, a new type of overlap-save scheme is utilized to solve the boundary-condition problems that occur between two neighboring subimages in the actual image. It is also shown that a very efficient nine-point Winograd discrete Fourier transform (WDFT) can be used to replace the fast Fourier transform (FFT) needed to implement the CSI scheme in the modified JPEG encoder. Finally, the proposed fast new CSI algorithm with a compression ratio of 9:1 is used along with the JPEG standard to speed up the modified JPEG encoder-decoder and still obtain a better quality of reconstructed image for higher compression ratios.
The origin and diversification of eukaryotes: problems with molecular phylogenetics and molecular clock estimation

Determining the relationships among and divergence times for the major eukaryotic lineages remains one of the most important and controversial outstanding problems in evolutionary biology. The sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes led to the first nearly comprehensive phylogenies of eukaryotes in the late 1980s, and supported a view where cellular complexity was acquired during the divergence of extant unicellular eukaryote lineages. More recently, however, refinements in analytical methods coupled with the availability of many additional genes for phylogenetic analysis showed that much of the deep structure of early rRNA trees was artefactual. Recent phylogenetic analyses of a multiple genes and the discovery of important molecular and ultrastructural phylogenetic characters have resolved eukaryotic diversity into six major hypothetical groups. Yet relationships among these groups remain poorly understood because of saturation of sequence changes on the billion-year time-scale, possible rapid radiations of major lineages, phylogenetic artefacts and endosymbiotic or lateral gene transfer among eukaryotes. Estimating the divergence dates between the major eukaryote lineages using molecular analyses is even more difficult than phylogenetic estimation. Error in such analyses comes from a myriad of sources including: (i) calibration fossil dates, (ii) the assumed phylogenetic tree, (iii) the nucleotide or amino acid substitution model, (iv) substitution number (branch length) estimates, (v) the model of how rates of evolution change over the tree, (vi) error inherent in the time estimates for a given model and (vii) how multiple gene data are treated. By reanalysing datasets from recently published molecular clock studies, we show that when errors from these various sources are properly accounted for, the confidence intervals on inferred dates can be very large. Furthermore, estimated dates of divergence vary hugely depending on the methods used and their assumptions. Accurate dating of divergence times among the major eukaryote lineages will require a robust tree of eukaryotes, a much richer Proterozoic fossil record of microbial eukaryotes assignable to extant groups for calibration, more sophisticated relaxed molecular clock methods and many more genes sampled from the full diversity of microbial eukaryotes.
Influence of angiotensin I‐converting enzyme polymorphism on development of post‐transplant erythrocytosis in renal graft recipients

Abstract: Background: Post‐transplant erythrocytosis (PTE) is estimated at 5–20%. Angiotensin II generated by angiotensin I‐converting enzyme (ACE) stimulates erythropoiesis. The highest activity of ACE is observed in DD genotype. The question arises if ACE gene polymorphism influences PTE.
Risk factors for the acquisition of genital warts: are condoms protective?

OBJECTIVES: To characterise risk factors for the acquisition of genital warts and specifically to determine whether condoms confer protection from infection. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study comparing demographic, behavioural, and sexual factors in men and women with and without newly diagnosed genital warts, who attended Sydney Sexual Health Centre (SSHC), an inner city public sexual health centre, in 1996. Data were extracted from the SSHC database. Crude odds ratios (OR) were calculated to compare cases and controls and significant factors were then controlled for using multivariate logistic regression to obtain adjusted odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS: 977 patients with warts and 977 controls matched by sex and date of attendance were included. In both sexes, univariate analysis revealed that younger age, more lifetime sexual partners, failure to use condoms, greater cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption were associated with warts, and there was a negative association with previous infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, hepatitis B, and genital herpes. In males, on multivariate analysis, factors which remained significant were younger age, more lifetime sexual partners; failure to use condoms, greater cigarette smoking, and previous chlamydia. In women, factors which remained significant were younger age, more lifetime sexual partners, condom use, marital status, and previous infections with Chlamydia trachomatis and herpes. CONCLUSIONS: Independent risk factors for genital warts include younger age, greater number of lifetime sexual partners, and smoking. Consistent condom use significantly reduces the risk of acquiring genital warts.
Staged Tuning: A Hybrid (Compile/Install-time) Technique for Improving Utilization of Performance-asymmetric Multicores

Emerging trends towards performance-asymmetric multicore processors (AMPs) are posing new challenges, because for effective utilization of AMPs, code sections of a program must be assigned to cores such that the resource needs of the code sections closely match the resources available at the assigned core. Computing this assignment can be difficult especially in the presence of unknown or many target AMPs. We observe that finding a mapping between the code segment characteristics and the core characteristics is inexpensive enough, compared to finding a mapping between the code segments and the cores, that it can be deferred until installation-time for more precise decision. We present staged tuning which combines extensive compile time analysis with intelligent binary customization at install-time. Staged tuning is like staged compilation, just for core assignment. Our evaluation shows that staged tuning is effective in improving the utilization of AMPs. We see a 23% speedup over untuned workloads.
The Highly Conserved Basic Domain I of Baculovirus IE1 Is Required for hr Enhancer DNA Binding and hr-Dependent Transactivation

ABSTRACT The immediate-early protein IE1 is the principal transcriptional regulator of the baculovirus Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). Transactivation by IE1 is dramatically stimulated by cis linkage of the affected promoter to AcMNPV homologous region (hr) elements that contain palindromic 28-bp repeats (28-mers) with enhancer activity. This hr-dependent transcriptional enhancement requires binding of the 28-mer by dimeric IE1. Here, we have defined IE1 domains required for this DNA binding in order to investigate the mechanism of IE1 function. Analysis of a panel of IE1 insertion mutations indicated that disruption of a highly conserved domain (residues 152 to 161) consisting of mostly positive-charged residues (basic domain I) abolished hr-dependent transactivation. Targeted mutagenesis of basic residues within basic domain I caused loss of hr-dependent transactivation but had no effect on IE1 oligomerization, nuclear localization, or hr-independent transactivation of viral promoters. Alanine substitutions of K152 and K154 or K160 and K161 impaired IE1 binding to 28-mer DNA as a homodimer, indicating that these basic residues are required for enhancer binding. Consistent with a DNA-binding defect, 28-mer interaction was improved by heterodimerization with wild-type IE1 or by increasing mutated IE1 concentrations. DNA binding mediated by basic domain I was also required for IE1 transactivation that occurred through physically separated, unlinked hr elements. We concluded that basic domain I is the enhancer-binding domain for IE1. Our data also suggest that DNA binding activates IE1 for transcriptional enhancement, possibly through a conformational change involving basic domain I.
The Minor Wall-Networks between Monolignols and Interlinked-Phenolics Predominantly Affect Biomass Enzymatic Digestibility in Miscanthus

Plant lignin is one of the major wall components that greatly contribute to biomass recalcitrance for biofuel production. In this study, total 79 representative Miscanthus germplasms were determined with wide biomass digestibility and diverse monolignol composition. Integrative analyses indicated that three major monolignols (S, G, H) and S/G ratio could account for lignin negative influence on biomass digestibility upon NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments. Notably, the biomass enzymatic digestions were predominately affected by the non-KOH-extractable lignin and interlinked-phenolics, other than the KOH-extractable ones that cover 80% of total lignin. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the monolignols and phenolics at p<0.05 level in the non-KOH-extractable only, suggesting their tight association to form the minor wall-networks against cellulases accessibility. The results indicated that the non-KOH-extractable lignin-complex should be the target either for cost-effective biomass pretreatments or for relatively simply genetic modification of plant cell walls in Miscanthus.
Measuring the quality of smartphones: development of a customer satisfaction index for smart services

The goal of this study was to propose a customer satisfaction index CSI model for smartphones and to measure the CSI to derive practical implications for providers and offer suggestions related to the improvement of service. Using user experience data, the CSI model and its hypotheses were tested through structural equation model analysis and index calculation. The findings indicate that perceived value and customer satisfaction are two significant variables that mediate the relationship between quality and customer loyalty. The proposed model has strong explanatory power with satisfactory reliability and validity. The results of the study provide heuristic information for the smart industry and policy-makers in forging effective policies and competitive strategies for smartphone services. The smartphone CSI model also establishes the foundation of a powerful tool for quality assessment of future smart service categories.
Fault Tolerant and Adaptive GPS Attitude Determination System

In this paper a fault tolerant platform for the GPS attitude determination is proposed. The algorithm encompasses speed, adaptability and performance as its key objectives and also deals with Single Hard Errors (SHE) from the fault tolerance perspective. The technique is based on the Ambiguity Function Method (AFM) but overcomes restrictions and computational overheads incurred by existing techniques such as AFM. The adaptation of the GPS architecture is done by using fine-grained or cellular Parallel Genetic Algorithm to compute more efficiently the attitude parameters in terms of speed and performance. The algorithm also has the ability to efficiently search the complex search space imposed by the problem in addition to being immune to cycle slips compared to other conventional methods.