Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The circulative pathway of begomoviruses in the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci— insights from studies with Tomato yellow leaf curl virus

Summary Our current knowledge concerning the transmission of begomoviruses by the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci is based mainly on research performed on the Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) complex and on a number of viruses originating from the Old World, such as Tomato leaf curl virus , and from the New World, including Abutilon mosaic virus , Tomato mottle virus , and Squash leaf curl virus . In this review we discuss the characteristics of acquisition, transmission and retention of begomoviruses by the whitefly vector, concentrating on the TYLCV complex, based on both published and recent unpublished data. We describe the cells and organs encountered by begomoviruses in B. tabaci. We show immunolocalisation of TYLCV to the B. tabaci stylet food canal and to the proximal part of the descending midgut, and TYLCV-specific labelling was also associated with food in the lumen. The microvilli and electron-dense material in the epithelial cells of the gut wall were also labelled by the anti TYLCV serum, pointing to a possible virus translocation route through the gut wall and to a putative site of long-term virus storage. We describe the path of begomoviruses in their vector B. tabaci and in the non-vector whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum , and we follow the rate of virus translocation in these insects. We discuss TYLCV transmission between B. tabaci during mating, probably by exchange of haemolymph. We show that following a short acquisition access to infected tomato plants, TYLCV remains associated with the B. tabaci vector for weeks, while the virus is undetectable after a few hours in the non-vector T. vaporariorum . The implications of the long-term association of TYLCV with B. tabaci in the light of interactions of the begomovirus with insect receptors are discussed.
Specific binding, stimulation of rodent urinary bladder epithelial ornithine decarboxylase, and induction of transitional cell hyperplasia by the skin tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

The effects of intraurethral or i.p. administration of a mouse skin tumor promoter phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), on rodent urinary bladder transitional epithelium were studied. TPA, when instilled into the urinary bladder of inbred rats (female Fischer, F344) or mice (C3H, ICR, C57BL X DBA/2 F1) at a dose as low as 0.16 nmol, led to a significant (about 10-fold) increase in bladder ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) (ODC) activity. Peak ODC activity was observed at about 6 hr, and enzyme activity returned to base levels about 14 hr after intravesical TPA. Administration of TPA i.p. in dimethyl sulfoxide also induced vesical ODC at 4 hr after treatment. The magnitude of vesical ODC induction correlated well with the ability of a series of phorbol esters to promote mouse skin tumor formation (TPA greater than phorbol didecanoate greater than phorbol dibenzoate, and phorbol diacetate or phorbol did not induce bladder ODC activity). Mezerein, a second stage mouse skin tumor promoter, induced urinary bladder ODC as much as TPA did. Increased ODC activity by TPA was the result of an increased amount of ODC protein localized mostly (greater than 60%) in urinary bladder mucosa. Intraurethrally administered TPA induced transitional cell hyperplasia starting at Day 2, and it persisted for about 7 days. The urothelium regained normal histology 13 days after TPA treatment. TPA bound specifically and with high affinity to murine bladder mucosa and muscularis particulate preparations. Scatchard analysis of mucosal binding revealed a Kd of 0.82 nM; at saturation, 2.43 pmol were bound per mg protein. Since TPA binds specifically to urinary bladder epithelium, and the induction of ODC activity is one of the properties of tumor promoters, one may conclude that TPA may promote urinary bladder carcinogenesis. Intravesical saccharin also induced urinary bladder ODC activity, but TPA at equimolar quantity was far more potent than saccharin. Thus TPA, being a structurally well-defined molecule, may be a useful compound to study the phenomenon of the tumor promotion stage in urinary bladder carcinogenesis.
Technology-Mediated Learning: A Comprehensive Theoretical Model

Increasing organizational investment in technology for training and learning underscores how important it is for researchers to understand and investigate technology-mediated learning (TML). However, the limited empirical data in this area fails to provide a consistent and comprehensive picture of the TML phenomena. A critical aspect missing from existing research is the focus on the learning process. In this paper, we articulate a theoretical model, based on Adaptive Structuration Theory, for TML that explicitly configures elements of the learning process, including team, technology, and learning technique structures. Existing TML research from the information systems (IS) and education literatures is summarized and research gaps are identified. The paper not only helps to explain inconsistencies in previous research, but also develops specific propositions for future research. The propositions stated in the paper represent the theoretical relationships among the constructs in the TML model. The model provides a vehicle for researchers, both in IS and education, to summarize and integrate existing research and theories and to guide future research in this important area.
Effect of circuit strength training programme on waist-to-hip ratio of college students

The purpose of this study is to examine the amount of fat stored around the hips and thighs (waist-to-hip ratio) of college students in Ikere Ekiti, Nigeria, after a 12-week circuit strength training programme. The study adopted randomised pre-test post-test control group research design. Simple random sampling technique and fish bowl method with replacement were used. Anthropometric tape was the instrument used for the pre-test post-test data collection on the waist, girth and gluteal (hip girth) of participants. The two hypotheses formulated were tested with analysis of covariance statistics at a significant level of 0.05. It was observed that the intervention programme prevented the storage of fat around the hips and thighs of the experimental group from increasing to the level of high disease risk ≥ 1.00 for men and ≥ 0.85 for women. The study identified circuit strength training programme as a recipe to ameliorate hypokinetic conditions. Keywords: Circuit strength training, resistance exercise, waist girth, waits-to-hip ratio.
Towards a description of trilingual competence

Most studies involving trilingualism have been carried out within the theoretical framework of bilingualism research. No attempt has been made to delimit trilingualism as a concept in its own right, and often it has been assumed to be an extension of bilingualism. In young children, trilingual language acquisition largely follows the path of bilingual acquisition. With regard to language behavior there are again similarities, but certain differences can be observed. As an overview of studies of individual trilingualism, the present article aims to provide a framework for the discussion. Models of bilingual language competence serve as a starting point to an investigation of possible defining features of trilingual competence. Of particular interest are the pragmatic component of language competence; the trilingual's ability to make appropriate linguistic choices in monolingual/ bilingual/ trilingual communication modes; and observed codeswitching. The question of how and when a trilingual's languages become activated or deactivated leads to a consideration of language processing and metalinguistic awareness. In the absence of research involving trilinguals, bilingual models are examined with a view to pointing out possible similarities and differences. It is suggested that these are both of a quantitative and qualitative kind, and therefore trilingual competence is distinct from bilingual competence.
Developmental atlas of the RNA editome in Sus scrofa skeletal muscle

Abstract Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing meditated by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) enzymes is a widespread post-transcriptional event in mammals. However, A-to-I editing in skeletal muscle remains poorly understood. By integrating strand-specific RNA-seq, whole genome bisulphite sequencing, and genome sequencing data, we comprehensively profiled the A-to-I editome in developing skeletal muscles across 27 prenatal and postnatal stages in pig, an important farm animal and biomedical model. We detected 198,892 A-to-I editing sites and found that they occurred more frequently at prenatal stages and showed low conservation among pig, human, and mouse. Both the editing level and frequency decreased during development and were positively correlated with ADAR enzymes expression. The hyper-edited genes were functionally related to the cell cycle and cell division. A co-editing module associated with myogenesis was identified. The developmentally differential editing sites were functionally enriched in genes associated with muscle development, their editing levels were highly correlated with expression of their host mRNAs, and they potentially influenced the gain/loss of miRNA binding sites. Finally, we developed a database to visualize the Sus scrofa RNA editome. Our study presents the first profile of the dynamic A-to-I editome in developing animal skeletal muscle and provides evidences that RNA editing is a vital regulator of myogenesis.
Cognitive Chromatic Gain Controls in Visual Cortical Neurons

Although the response of a neuron in the visual cortex generally grows nonlinearly with contrast, the spatial tuning of the cell remains stable. This is thought to reflect the activity of a contrast gain control (“normalization”) that has very broad tuning on the relevant stimulus dimension. Contrast invariant tuning on a particular dimension is probably necessary for reliable representation of stimuli on that dimension. In the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), V1, and V2 of anesthetized macaque, we measured chromatic tuning of neurons at several contrasts to characterize the gain controls and identify cells that might be important for representing color. We estimated separately the chromatic signature of the linear receptive field and that of the gain control. In the LGN, we found normalization in magnocellular cells and cells receiving excitatory S-cone input but not in parvocellular cells or those receiving inhibitory S-cone input. We found normalization in all types of cortical neurons. Among cells that preferred achromatic modulation, or modulation along intermediate directions in color space (making them responsive to both achromatic and chromatic stimuli), normalization was driven by mechanisms tuned to a restricted range of directions in color space, close to achromatic. As a result, chromatic tuning varied with contrast. Among the relatively few cells that strongly preferred chromatic modulation, normalization was driven by mechanisms sensitive to modulation along all directions in color space, especially isoluminant. As a result, chromatic tuning changed little with contrast. To the extent that contrast invariant tuning is important in representing chromaticity, relatively few cortical neurons are involved.
The roll-up of vorticity strips on the surface of a sphere

We derive the conditions for the stability of strips or filaments of vorticity on the surface of a sphere. We find that the spherical results are surprisingly different from the planar ones, owing to the nature of the spherical geometr. Strips of vorticity on the surface of a sphere show a greater tendency to roll-up into vortices than do strips on a planar surface. The results are obtained by performing a linear stability analysis of the simplest, piecewise-constant vorticity configuration, namely a zonal band of uniform vorticity located in equilibrium between two latitudes. The presence of polar vortices is also considered, this having the effect of introducing adverse shear, a known stabilizing mechanism for planar flows. In several representative examples, the fully developed stages of the instabilities are illustrated by direct numerical simulation. The implication for planetary atmospheres is that barotropic flows on the sphere have a more pronounced tendency to produce small, long-lived vortices, especially in equatorial and mid-latitude regions, than was previously anticipated from the theoretical results for planar flows. Essentially, the curvature of the sphere's surface weakens the interaction between different parts of the flow, enabling these parts to behave in relative isolation.
Identification of Novel Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Inflammatory Genes as Risk Factors Associated with Trachomatous Trichiasis

Background Trachoma is the leading preventable cause of global blindness. A balanced Th1/Th2/Th3 immune response is critical for resolving Chlamydia trachomatis infection, the primary cause of trachoma. Despite control programs that include mass antibiotic treatment, reinfection and recurrence of trachoma are common after treatment cessation. Furthermore, a subset of infected individuals develop inflammation and are at greater risk for developing the severe sequela of trachoma known as trachomatous trichiasis (TT). While there are a number of environmental and behavioral risk factors for trachoma, genetic factors that influence inflammation and TT risk remain ill defined. Methodology/Findings We identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in 36 candidate inflammatory genes and interactions among these SNPs that likely play a role in the overall risk for TT. We conducted a case control study of 538 individuals of Tharu ethnicity residing in an endemic region of Nepal. Trachoma was graded according to World Health Organization guidelines. A linear array was used to genotype 51 biallelic SNPs in the 36 genes. Analyses were performed using logic regression modeling, which controls for multiple comparisons. We present, to our knowledge, the first significant association of TNFA (-308GA), LTA (252A), VCAM1 (-1594TC), and IL9 (T113M) polymorphisms, synergistic SNPs and risk of TT. TT risk decreased 5 times [odds ratio = 0.2 (95% confidence interval 0.11.–0.33), p = 0.001] with the combination of TNFA (-308A), LTA (252A), VCAM1 (-1594C), SCYA 11 (23T) minor allele, and the combination of TNFA (-308A), IL9 (113M), IL1B (5′UTR-T), and VCAM1 (-1594C). However, TT risk increased 13.5 times [odds ratio = 13.5 (95% confidence interval 3.3–22), p = 0.001] with the combination of TNFA (-308G), VDR (intron G), IL4R (50V), and ICAM1 (56M) minor allele. Conclusions Evaluating genetic risk factors for trachoma will advance our understanding of disease pathogenesis, and should be considered in the context of designing global control programs.
Preferential Attachment and Mutuality in Electronic Knowledge Networks

The rapid adoption of Internet technology has accelerated the establishment of platforms for virtual interaction that overcome the inherent time and space limitations of face-to-face communication. The objective of this study is to investigate the individual and network level mechanisms that characterize interactions on these electronic knowledge networks (EKNs). Toward that goal, we develop a simulation model of a thread-based asynchronous EKN and provide results based on 330 runs of the model (simulating a total of 3,643,942 messages generated by 38,860 authors). This study contributes to our understanding of electronic knowledge networks by demonstrating the importance of structural characteristics in influencing participant behaviors. We focus specifically on the role of preferential attachment (the tendency to associate with the most popular participants) and mutuality (the tendency to maintain symmetry in relationships with others) in network formation. By using a simulation method and taking into account the nature of interpersonal ties, the study extends previous mathematical models of network formation to the specific setting of online knowledge exchange between individuals.
Temporal series recognition using a new neural network structure T-CombNET

We present a new neural network structure dedicated to the temporal data series recognition, called T-CombNET (Temporal CombNET). The T-CombNET is a modified and improved version of the CombNET-II structure, which was designed to deal with very large vocabulary character recognition. We incorporated a time normalization stage and used recurrent neural networks to enable CombNET-II to do the temporal analysis. Then we applied this new model T-CombNET to the hand gesture recognition task. The preliminary results show that the proposed structure is very efficient, obtaining a recognition rate of 99.41% in visual based kana hand alphabet recognition experiments.
Immunohistological analysis of synovial tissue for differential diagnosis in early arthritis.

OBJECTIVE An early diagnosis in patients presenting with arthritis is important to provide information about prognosis and to initiate treatment. The objective of this study was to determine which markers applied in immunohistological analysis of synovial tissue (ST) specimens could be used to differentiate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from other forms of arthritis. METHODS Synovial biopsies were obtained by blind needle techniques from 95 patients with early arthritis. After follow-up of at least 2 yr to verify the diagnosis, the patients could be classified as follows: RA (n=36), undifferentiated arthritis (UA; n=21), osteoarthritis (OA; n=17), reactive arthritis (ReA; n=10), ankylosing spondylitis (AS; n=3), psoriatic arthritis (PsA; n=2) and crystal-induced arthritis (CA; n=6). ST sections were analysed by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD4, CD8, CD22 (B cells), CD38 (plasma cells), CD68 (macrophages) and CD55 (fibroblast-like synoviocytes). RESULTS Logistic regression analysis revealed that the higher scores for the numbers of CD38+ plasma cells and CD22+ B cells in RA were the best discriminating markers comparing RA to non-RA patients (CD38: P=0.0001; CD22: P<0.05). Polychotomous regression analysis comparing three diagnostic categories (1: RA; 2: UA, ReA, AS and PsA; 3: OA and CA) also identified the score for the number of CD38+ plasma cells (P<0.0001) as well as the numbers of CD68+ macrophages in the synovial sublining (P=0.05) as discriminating markers. CONCLUSION The results suggest that immunohistochemical analysis of ST specimens from early arthritis patients can be used to differentiate RA from non-RA patients. The numbers of plasma cells, B cells and macrophages are especially increased in ST of patients with RA. Future studies in early arthritis patients with clinical features which do not allow an immediate confident diagnosis may clarify the role of this test system in differential diagnosis.
The Disk Around CoKu Tauri/4: Circumbinary, Not Transitional

CoKu Tau/4 has been labeled as one of the very few known transition disk objects—disks around young stars that have their inner disks cleared of dust, arguably as a result of planetary formation. We report aperture-masking interferometry and adaptive optics imaging observations showing that CoKu Tau/4 is in fact a near-equal binary star of projected separation ~53 mas (~8 AU). The spectral energy distribution of the disk is then naturally explained by the inner truncation of the disk through gravitational interactions with the binary star system. We discuss the possibility that such “unseen” binary companions could cause other circumbinary disks to be labeled as transitional.
Large Plasma Membrane Disruptions Are Rapidly Resealed by Ca2+-dependent Vesicle–Vesicle Fusion Events

A microneedle puncture of the fibroblast or sea urchin egg surface rapidly evokes a localized exocytotic reaction that may be required for the rapid resealing that follows this breach in plasma membrane integrity (Steinhardt, R.A,. G. Bi, and J.M. Alderton. 1994. Science (Wash. DC). 263:390–393). How this exocytotic reaction facilitates the resealing process is unknown. We found that starfish oocytes and sea urchin eggs rapidly reseal much larger disruptions than those produced with a microneedle. When an ∼40 by 10 μm surface patch was torn off, entry of fluorescein stachyose (FS; 1,000 mol wt) or fluorescein dextran (FDx; 10,000 mol wt) from extracellular sea water (SW) was not detected by confocal microscopy. Moreover, only a brief (∼5–10 s) rise in cytosolic Ca2+ was detected at the wound site. Several lines of evidence indicate that intracellular membranes are the primary source of the membrane recruited for this massive resealing event. When we injected FS-containing SW deep into the cells, a vesicle formed immediately, entrapping within its confines most of the FS. DiI staining and EM confirmed that the barrier delimiting injected SW was a membrane bilayer. The threshold for vesicle formation was ∼3 mM Ca2+ (SW is ∼10 mM Ca2+). The capacity of intracellular membranes for sealing off SW was further demonstrated by extruding egg cytoplasm from a micropipet into SW. A boundary immediately formed around such cytoplasm, entrapping FDx or FS dissolved in it. This entrapment did not occur in Ca2+-free SW (CFSW). When egg cytoplasm stratified by centrifugation was exposed to SW, only the yolk platelet–rich domain formed a membrane, suggesting that the yolk platelet is a critical element in this response and that the ER is not required. We propose that plasma membrane disruption evokes Ca2+ regulated vesicle–vesicle (including endocytic compartments but possibly excluding ER) fusion reactions. The function in resealing of this cytoplasmic fusion reaction is to form a replacement bilayer patch. This patch is added to the discontinuous surface bilayer by exocytotic fusion events.
Changes in the use of electronic means of payment

This article presents an update of an article first published in the March/April 2000 Business Review, which presented data from the 1995 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances. Loretta Mester, author of the original article, has compiled information from the 1998 survey to keep readers up-to-date. ; Updated by Business Review. Q3, 2009 - p. 29-37