Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Single Amino Acid Substitution in the Envelope Protein of Chimeric Yellow Fever-Dengue 1 Vaccine Virus Reduces Neurovirulence for Suckling Mice and Viremia/Viscerotropism for Monkeys

ABSTRACT A chimeric yellow fever-dengue 1 (ChimeriVax-DEN1) virus was produced by the transfection of Vero cells with chimeric in vitro RNA transcripts. The cell culture supernatant was subjected to plaque purification for the identification of a vaccine candidate without mutations. Of 10 plaque-purified clones, 1 containing no mutation (clone J) was selected for production of the vaccine virus. During subsequent cell culture passaging of this clone for vaccine production, a single amino acid substitution (K to R) occurred in the envelope (E) protein at residue 204 (E204) (F. Guirakhoo, K. Pugachev, Z. Zhang, G. Myers, I. Levenbook, K. Draper, J. Lang, S. Ocran, F. Mitchell, M. Parsons, N. Brown, S. Brandler, C. Fournier, B. Barrere, F. Rizvi, A. Travassos, R. Nichols, D. Trent, and T. Monath, J. Virol. 78:4761-4775, 2004). The same mutation was observed in another clone (clone E). This mutation attenuated the virus in 4-day-old suckling mice inoculated by the intracerebral (i.c.) route and led to reduced viremia in monkeys inoculated by the subcutaneous or i.c. route. The histopathology scores of lesions in the brain tissue of monkeys inoculated with either the E204K or E204R virus were reduced compared to those for monkeys inoculated with the reference virus, a commercial yellow fever 17D vaccine (YF-VAX). Both viruses grew to significantly lower titers than YF-VAX in HepG2, a human hepatoma cell line. After intrathoracic inoculation into mosquitoes, both viruses grew to a similar level as YF-VAX, which was significantly lower than that of their wild-type DEN1 parent virus. A comparison of the E-protein structures of nonmutant and mutant viruses suggested the appearance of new intramolecular bonds between residues 204R, 261H, and 257E in the mutant virus. These changes may be responsible for virus attenuation through a change in the pH threshold for virus envelope fusion with the host cell membrane.
Use of Mouse Models To Evaluate the Persistence, Safety, and Immune Modulation Capacities of Lactic Acid Bacteria

ABSTRACT Recent clinical and experimental observations showed that specific probiotic microorganisms may provide therapeutic benefits in inflammatory bowel disease. However, a rigorous screening for new candidate probiotic strains with optimized therapeutic properties necessitates also determining possible adverse interactions with the host, particularly in individuals who are not healthy. We have evaluated the persistence of strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the digestive tracts of mice, their immunomodulation capacity, and their safety in healthy animals and in a colitis model. Following daily administration of 109 CFU of viable LAB orally, intragastrically, or intrarectally, the animals' feces were examined for bacterial excretion and cytokines were quantified in intestinal samples by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. The level of bacterial translocation was assessed in healthy mice and in mice suffering from colitis induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). Irrespective of the route of administration, the potential probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB8826 was found to persist for up to 10 days in the digestive tracts of mice. This strain did not induce detrimental effects in healthy or in TNBS-treated animals, as was reflected by the absence of weight loss, intestinal inflammation, modification of cytokine levels in the ileum and colon (healthy mice), and bacterial dissemination (healthy and colitic animals). Moreover, the translocation of endogenous microflora to the mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen was greatly reduced in the TNBS-treated mice after administration of LAB. This property, together with the strain's persistence capacity and innocuousness renders L. plantarum NCIMB8826 an attractive candidate as a probiotic to be used in the prevention or treatment of chronic inflammation.
Determinantes de la divulgación de información contable a través de Internet por parte de los gobiernos locales

RESUMEN El presente estudio tiene como objetivo identificar los factores que explican el mayor o menor grado con que las entidades públicas locales recurren a la divulgación de información financiera a través de Internet. Para ello se enuncian cinco hipótesis, mediante las cuales se establece una relación estadísticamente significativa entre la difusión on-line de datos financieros y el tamaño, el nivel de endeudamiento, las inversiones, la competencia política y la notoriedad de la entidad local. El análisis de los datos muestra una relación positiva y significativa entre el grado de divulgación financiera y las variables tamaño, nivel de inversiones y competencia política, así como la existencia de una influencia negativa y significativa de la notoriedad del municipio sobre dicho nivel de divulgación.
Early Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation After External Cardioversion

Early recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been reported to occur in a significant number of patients after internal cardioversion. However, information about early recurrence of AF after external cardioversion has never been reported. The present study was conducted to investigate the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of early recurrence of AF and its role in failure of cardioversion in patients with chronic AF. Methods and Results: The study included 50 consecutive patients, age 69 ± 9, with a history of chronic AF for more than 3 months duration and electrical cardioversion. They were divided into two groups according to the presence (group 1) or absence (group 2) of early recurrence of AF. There were 13 (26%) patients in group 1 and 37 (74%) patients in group 2. The age, gender, duration of AF, left ventricular function, left atrial dimension, and underlying heart disease were similar between group 1 and 2. Forty‐five patients were successfully converted to sinus rhythm with a mean energy of 158 ± 57 J. Among those who failed to be converted to sinus rhythm, 4 (80%) belonged to group 1 and 1 (20%) belonged to group 2. The early recurrences of AF were initiated with consecutive APDs; but the numbers of APD in the first 30 seconds after cardioversion were similar between group 1 and 2. However, the coupling interval of the second APD was shorter in group 1 than group 2 (188 ± 22 vs 324 ± 59 ms, P = 0.003). Nine of the 13 early recurrences were prevented by an increase of shock energy (n = 3) or intravenous amiodarone infusion (n = 6). There were no differences in duration of follow‐up, recurrence rate, and time interval to recurrence between group 1 and group 2. Early recurrence of AF occurred in 26% of chronic AF patients who underwent external electrical cardioversion and was a major cause of failure in cardioversion. Early recurrence of AF was initiated by APDs with decreasing coupling intervals and could be prevented with an increase of shock energy or amiodarone.
Dimeric galectin‐1 induces IL‐10 production in T‐lymphocytes: an important tool in the regulation of the immune response

Galectin‐1, a β‐galactoside binding protein that can occur as both a monomer and a homodimer, binds to leucocyte membrane antigens such as CD7, CD43, and CD45, and has immune‐regulatory functions in several animal models of autoimmune disease. However, its mechanism of action is only partially understood. In this study, a marked increase in IL‐10 mRNA and protein levels was demonstrated in non‐activated and activated CD4+ and CD8+ T‐cells, following treatment with a high concentration (dimeric form), but not a low concentration (monomeric form), of recombinant galectin‐1 protein. IL‐10 is known to suppress TH1 type immune responses and upregulation of IL‐10 may thus contribute to the immune‐regulatory function of galectin‐1. Galectin‐1 was strongly expressed on the endothelial cells of human kidney allografts, suggesting a role in the regulation of immune responses in transplantation. Administration of high concentrations of galectin‐1 may be a useful tool in the treatment of T‐cell‐mediated diseases. Copyright © 2004 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Non-Cholinergic Signaling Pathways at Vertebrate Neuromuscular Junctions

Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the functional contact (synapse) between an axon of motor neuron and muscle fiber. It is generally accepted to consider this contact only as a specialized morpho-functional structure, where chemical transmission (via release of the acetylcholine (ACh)) of electrical signal from motor neuron to muscle fiber occurs, ultimately causing the muscle to contract. This synaptic contact is probably one of the most studied synapses since it has relatively large size and easy accessibility for various experimental manipulations. A great body of data is received on the development, molecular organization, morphology, and physiology of both preand postsynaptic regions of the NMJ. It's not so long ago that it seemed that practically all was known about the NMJ. However, due to the significant progress in the improvement and application of electrophysiological, genetic, pharmacological, biochemical and immunohistochemical methods a number of previously unknown aspects of neuron and muscle interaction were revealed. So, according to numerous studies, not only ACh (which by the way does not always lead to a contraction of the muscle fiber) is released in the vertebrate neuromuscular synapse, but also a number of other synaptically active molecules. And these molecules can be released from both nerve terminal (anterograde signal), and from muscle fiber (retrograde signal).
The Differential Diagnosis of Posterior Plagiocephaly: True Lambdoid Synostosis versus Positional Molding

&NA; The diagnosis and treatment of posterior plagiocephaly is one of the most controversial aspects of craniofacial surgery. The features of true lamibdoid synostosis versus those of deformational plagiocephaly secondary to positional molding are inadequately described in the literature and poorly understood. This has resulted in many infants in several craniofacial centers across the United States undergoing major intracranial procedures for nonsynostotic plagiocephaly. The purpose of this study was to describe the detailed clinical, imaging, and operative features of true lamhdoid svnostosis and contrast them with the features of positional plagiocephaly. During a 4‐year period from 1991 to 1994, 102 patients with posterior plagiocephaly were assessed in a large multidisciplinary craniofacial program. During the same period, 130 patients with craniosynostosis received surgical treatment. All patients were examined by a pediatric dysmorphologist, craniofacial surgeon, and pediatric neurosurgeon. Diagnostic imaging was performed where indicated. Patients diagnosed with lambdoid synostosis and severe and progressive positional molding underwent surgical correction using standard craniofacial techniques. Only 4 patients manifested the clinical, imaging, and operative features of unilambdoid synostosis, giving an incidence among all cases of craniosynostosis of 3.1 percent. Only 3 among the 98 patients with positional molding required surgical intervention. All the patients with unilambdoid synostosis had a thick ridge over the fused suture, identical to that found in other forms of craniosynostosis, with compensatory contralateral parietal and frontal bossing and an ipsilateral occipitomastoid bulge. The skull base had an ipsilateral inferior tilt, with a corresponding inferior and posterior displacement of the ipsilateral ear. These characteristics were completely opposite to the findings in the 98 patients who had positional molding with open lambdoid sutures and prove conclusively that true unilambdoid synostosis exists as a specific but rare entity. Awareness of the features of unilambdoid synostosis will allow more accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of posterior plagiocephaly in general and in particular will avoid unnecessary surgical intervention in patients with positional molding. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 98: 765, 1996.)
How children with normal hearing and children with a cochlear implant use mentalizing vocabulary and other evaluative expressions in their narratives

This study explored the use of mental state and emotion terms and other evaluative expressions in the story generation of 65 children (aged 2–8 years) with normal hearing (NH) and 11 children (aged 3–7 years) using a cochlear implant (CI). Children generated stories on the basis of sets of sequential pictures. The stories of the children with CI were obtained over the 5-year follow-up period. The children with NH continued to show an increased story length (number of words) with age. In the children with a CI, the increase was similar initially, but plateaued after 3 years of using a CI. In children with NH, the spontaneous use of mental state vocabulary in narratives increased significantly between the ages of three and six. The delayed use of mental state terms in the children with a CI was related to a reduced amount of linguistic production overall. The theoretical and clinical implications were discussed.
Unfair treatment is associated with poor sleep in African American and Caucasian adults: Pittsburgh SleepSCORE project.

OBJECTIVE To test the association between self-reported unfair treatment and objective and self-reported sleep characteristics in African American and Caucasian adults. DESIGN Cross-sectional study of 97 African American and 113 Caucasian middle-aged adults. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Participants completed: (a) two-night in-home, polysomnography (PSG) sleep study, (b) sleep diaries and actigraph assessments across 9 days and nights, and (c) self-report measures of sleep quality in the past month, and daytime sleepiness in the past 2 weeks. RESULTS Greater unfair treatment was associated with reports of poorer self-reported sleep quality and greater daytime sleepiness, shorter sleep duration, and lower sleep efficiency as measured by actigraphy and PSG, and a smaller proportion of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Racial/ethnic differences were few. Exploratory analyses showed that nightly worry partially mediated the associations of unfair treatment with sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, sleep efficiency (actigraphy), and proportion of REM sleep. CONCLUSION Perceptions of unfair treatment are associated with sleep disturbances in both African American and Caucasian adults. Future studies are needed to identify the pathways that account for the association between unfair treatment and sleep.
On the Asymptotic Properties of Amplify-and-Forward MIMO Relay Channels

This paper studies the asymptotic properties of amplify-and-forward (AF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) two-hop relay channels, where the source terminal (ST), relay terminal (RT) and destination terminal (DT) are equipped with a number of correlated antennas and there is a direct link between the ST and DT. The analysis is based on the Kronecker correlated fading model where the correlation properties of the MIMO channel are modeled at the transmitter and receiver ends separately. Our first main contribution is the derivation of the asymptotic mutual information expressions for the MIMO-AF relay channel for any given signaling input distributions (not necessarily Gaussian) in the large-system regime, which is particularly relevant if practical modulation schemes are used. In addition to the formula that uses joint optimal decoding (JOD) at the DT, we also obtain the asymptotic result for a more practical system which performs separate detection and decoding (SDD) (i.e., spatial detection followed by a temporal error-correction decoder). Another major contribution of this paper is an efficient algorithm that can compute the optimal source covariance matrix and the relay precoding matrix to maximize the asymptotic mutual information of the MIMO-AF relay system if channel covariance information (CCI) is known at the ST and RT.
The Sleep and Performance of Shift Workers

The sleep and performance of 12 male shift workers, operating a discontinuous, weekly alternating, three-shift system, were monitored over the course of one complete shift cycle. Compared with nocturnal sleep, day sleep was shorter in duration and was degraded in quality, and its sleep stages were temporally disrupted. Simple unprepared reaction time and four-choice reaction time were impaired at night, and simple reaction time deteriorated as a function of the number of days into the shift and the time on task. Sleep and performance changes can be primarily attributed to circadian factors; however, the deterioration in performance from night to night and with time on task is probably due to an accumulative sleep deficit. As far as sleep and performance are concerned, the best shift system is probably one having a short rotation cycle, with afternoon shifts or rest days preceding and following the night shift.
Deciding What's News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek and Time 25th Anniversary Edition by Herbert J. Gans Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2004. 393 pp

Reviewed by Michael D. Murray University ofMissouri-Sf. Louis a sociological rendering of news judgment. This revision begins by analyzing changes that have taken place since the book was first published. This is valuable because as much as anything, the book's value lies in analysis. Too often attempts to explain the past have engaged in generalities and failed to recognize rare elements of news including changes in news culture, or as Gans puts it what was once "a class" rather than "mass" audience. He acknowledges growth in cable, use of new technology and overall fragmentation of the news audience. As colleagues pointed out years ago, Gans does not employ flashy language. His initial study was valued as devoid of academic jargon. The study dissects the process of decision-making, demolishing many myths about the popular press. Gans points out that while the traditional television news organizations have lost audience, circulation of national news magazines that were under study have remained much the same, although the country has grown by 30 percent since 1975. These distinctions make the difference when one is trying to determine how the news business has changed dramatically in a quarter century with changes in the division of labor between old and new media within the context of purely profit driven conglomerates. Another benefit of the revised material is that Gans has gone back to many of the decision-makers seeking Deciding What's News: A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek and Time 25th Anniversary Edition
An algorithm for evolving protocol constraints

We present an investigation into the design of an evolutionary mechanism for multiagent protocol constraint optimisation. Starting with a review of common population based mechanisms we discuss the properties of the mechanisms used by these search methods. We derive a novel algorithm for optimisation of vectors of real numbers and empirically validate the efficacy of the design by comparing against well known results from the literature. We discuss the application of an optimiser to a novel problem and remark upon the relevance of the no free lunch theorem. We show the relative performance of the optimiser is strong and publish details of a new best result for the Keane optimisation problem. We apply the final algorithm to the multi-agent protocol optimisation problem and show the design process was successful.
Fertility patterns and child survival: a comparative analysis.

The data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for 18 countries spanning the 1970s and the 1980s were utilized for straightforward tabular analysis. Results were also contrasted with those from World Fertility Surveys (WFS) covering the 1960s and part of the 1970s. Further analysis in 10 categories of family formation was carried out. Life-tables were calculated covering the mortality experience over 15 complete years plus the year of the DHS survey concerning the survival chances of about 193,000 children and some 23,000 deaths. The overall chances of survival to age 5 for children born to women aged 20-34 was used as the reference category. The average excess mortality risks for children born to mothers aged under 18 was 51% across all 18 DHS countries, and a 14% average excess was associated with the mother being an older teenager. For teenage mothers under 18 only 4 countries fell outside the range of 125-167 excess risk. The average relative risk of child death, compared with an interval of 24-47 months, was about double for very short intervals of 1-17 months, where prematurity was a possible factor of the excess risk. There was around a 30% excess risk for intervals of 18-23 months. Early fertility (especially under age 18) and short birth intervals were strongly associated with the chances of child survival 10 years on using DHS data as they were shown in earlier WFS studies. Poor timing of birth impacted child survival substantially in many countries but has been improving over time, probably because of increased use of family planning, as in Colombia and Morocco. On the other hand, child mortality in Senegal might have improved by 50% over the 8-year observation period, if child-spacing had not deteriorated during that period. It is possible that mortality gains in several sub-Saharan African countries are slowed down by worsening family-formation patterns.