Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of host protein synthesis by Sindbis virus: correlation with viral RNA replication and release of nuclear proteins to the cytoplasm

Infection of mammalian cells by Sindbis virus (SINV) profoundly blocks cellular mRNA translation. Experimental evidence points to viral non‐structural proteins (nsPs), in particular nsP2, as the mediator of this inhibition. However, individual expression of nsP1, nsP2, nsP3 or nsP1‐4 does not block cellular protein synthesis in BHK cells. Trans‐complementation of a defective SINV replicon lacking most of the coding region for nsPs by the co‐expression of nsP1‐4 propitiates viral RNA replication at low levels, and inhibition of cellular translation is not observed. Exit of nuclear proteins including T‐cell intracellular antigen and polypyrimidine tract‐binding protein is clearly detected in SINV‐infected cells, but not upon the expression of nsPs, even when the defective replicon was complemented. Analysis of a SINV variant with a point mutation in nsP2, exhibiting defects in the shut‐off of host protein synthesis, indicates that both viral RNA replication and the release of nuclear proteins to the cytoplasm are greatly inhibited. Furthermore, nucleoside analogues that inhibit cellular and viral RNA synthesis impede the blockade of host mRNA translation, in addition to the release of nuclear proteins. Prevention of the shut‐off of host mRNA translation by nucleoside analogues is not due to the inhibition of eIF2α phosphorylation, as this prevention is also observed in PKR−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts that do not phosphorylate eIF2α after SINV infection. Collectively, our observations are consistent with the concept that for the inhibition of cellular protein synthesis to occur, viral RNA replication must take place at control levels, leading to the release of nuclear proteins to the cytoplasm.
THE NEOLITHIC OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

As the exception on the continent, southern Africa has no Neolithic period. In the 1920s, when the term came to mean Stone Age with food production, Neolithic was dropped in South Africa for lack of evidence for farming or herding in Stone Age sites. But since the late 1960s many sheep bones have surfaced in just such sites. Now, the continued absence of a Neolithic may say more about the politics of South African archaeology than about its prehistory. This paper describes food production in the southern African late Stone Age and argues in favor of (re-)introducing the term Neolithic to the subcontinent.
16S rRNA Next Generation Sequencing Analysis Shows Bacteria in Alzheimer’s Post-Mortem Brain

The neurological deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), involving accumulation of amyloid-beta peptides and neurofibrillary tangles, is associated with evident neuroinflammation. This is now seen to be a significant contributor to pathology. Recently the tenet of the privileged status of the brain, regarding microbial compromise, has been questioned, particularly in terms of neurodegenerative diseases. It is now being considered that microbiological incursion into the central nervous system could be either an initiator or significant contributor to these. This is a novel study using 16S ribosomal gene-specific Next generation sequencing (NGS) of extracted brain tissue. A comparison was made of the bacterial species content of both frozen and formaldehyde fixed sections of a small cohort of Alzheimer-affected cases with those of cognitively unimpaired (normal). Our findings suggest an increase in bacterial populations in Alzheimer brain tissue compared with normal.
Incidence and risk factors of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in northern Ghana

We measured the type‐specific incidence of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in an area of northern Ghana. Over 1 year, diarrhoea 1717 episodes were identified, of which 677 (39%) were positive for rotavirus. Risk factors for rotavirus infection included old age, wasting, high Vesikari score and the episode occurring in the dry season. Rotavirus‐positive episodes tended to be more acute, causing vomiting and greater dehydration, and were more likely to require hospitalization. The incidence was 0.089 episodes per person‐year for all diarrhoea, and 0.035 for rotavirus diarrhoea. The observed incidence decreased markedly with distance from the nearest health centre, suggesting a large unobserved burden. G2P[6], G3P[4] and G9P[8] made up more than half the genotypes detected, but the remainder were diverse. There is a large burden of rotavirus diarrhoea, but the effectiveness of future vaccines could be diluted by the high polymorphism of the virus, and the difficulty of reaching remote populations.
A load management system for running HLA-based distributed simulations over the grid

Running a large-scale distributed simulation may need a large amount of computing resources at geographically different locations. These resources may be from different organizations. The simulation may run for a long period of time and the availability and amount of computing resources available may change during the course of simulation execution. Therefore, coordinating and managing resources for distributed simulation to complete the simulation efficiently and effectively is a critical issue. This paper describes a load management system for HLA-based distributed simulation. The system is constructed on top of a grid computing environment supported by Globus. The overall structure of the system is presented in the paper and how the system saves and restores a federate is also discussed in detail.
Egg-to-embryo transition is driven by differential responses to Ca(2+) oscillation number.

Ca(2+) oscillations and signaling represent a basic mechanism for controlling many cellular events. Activation of mouse eggs entrains a temporal series of Ca(2+)-dependent events that include cortical granule exocytosis, cell cycle resumption with concomitant decreases in MPF and MAP kinase activities, and recruitment of maternal mRNAs. The outcome is a switch in cellular differentiation, i.e., the conversion of the egg into the zygote. By activating mouse eggs with experimentally controlled and precisely defined Ca(2+) transients, we demonstrate that each of these events is initiated by a different number of Ca(2+) transients, while their completion requires a greater number of Ca(2+) transients than for their initiation. This combination of differential responses to the number of Ca(2+) transients provides strong evidence that a single Ca(2+) transient-driven signaling system can initiate and drive a cell into a new developmental pathway, as well as can account for the temporal sequence of cellular changes associated with early development.
The natural history of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in patients with AIDS. Canadian PML Study Group.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is usually a fatal neurological disease. The natural history of PML in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection was analyzed. The correlations between CD4+ lymphocyte count, previous diagnosis of AIDS, treatment with cytarabine, and survival time are reported for 28 individuals for whom the diagnosis of PML was confirmed by histopathologic examination. For 16 patients (57%), PML was the AIDS-defining illness. For these 16 patients, the mean (+/- SD) survival time after presentation was 7.5 +/- 7.6 months (range, 1-31 months), whereas that for the 12 patients (43%) for whom AIDS was previously diagnosed was 3.2 +/- 2.8 months (range, 1-11 months) (P = .01). The overall mean (+/- SD) CD4+ cell count was 85 +/- 82/mm3 (range, 12-349/mm3). The mean (+/- SD) survival time for patients with CD4+ cell counts of > or = 90/mm3 at the time of presentation was 9.4 +/- 8.7 months, while that for patients with CD4+ cell counts of < 90/mm3 at the time of presentation was 3.6 +/- 1.8 months (P = .03). The nine patients did not benefit from treatment with cytarabine.
Quentin Meillassoux: Philosophy in the Making

Introduction Remark on Citations 1. After Finitude 2. The English Articles 3. The Divine Inexistence 4. Reflections on Meillassoux's Non-Euclidean Philosophy 5. Interview with Quentin Meillassoux (August 2010) Appendix: Excerpts from L'Inexistence divine Works Cited.
Direct stimulation of Vav guanine nucleotide exchange activity for Ras by phorbol esters and diglycerides

We recently identified Vav as a Ras-activating guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) stimulated by a T-cell antigen receptor-coupled protein tyrosine kinase (PTK). Here, we describe a novel, protein kinase-independent alternative pathway of Vav activation. Phorbol ester, 1,2-diacylglycerol, or ceramide treatment of intact T cells, Vav immunoprecipitates, or partially purified Vav generated by in vitro translation or COS-1 cell transfection stimulated the Ras exchange activity of Vav in the absence of detectable tyrosine phosphorylation. GEF activity of gel-purified Vav was similarly stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Stimulation was resistant to PTK and protein kinase C inhibitors but was blocked by calphostin, a PMA and diacylglycerol antagonist. In vitro-translated Vav lacking its cysteine-rich domain, or mutated at a single cysteine residue within this domain (C528A), was not stimulated by PMA but was fully activated by p56lck. This correlated with increased binding of radiolabeled phorbol ester to COS-1 cells expressing wild-type, but not C528A-mutated, Vav. Thus, Vav itself is a PMA-binding and -activated Ras GEF. Recombinant interleukin-1 alpha stimulated Vav via this pathway, suggesting that diglyceride-mediated Vav activation may couple PTK-independent receptors which stimulate production of lipid second messengers to Ras in hematopoietic cells.
Retention in Treatment—Indicator or Illusion: An Essay

This article poses questions about the meaning of retention in substance user treatment. Retention has become a “gold standard” for substance user-treatment programs, suggesting it has become more than an indicator of positive outcomes, but a positive treatment outcome in its own right. Retention has been studied in numerous ways and has been associated with positive treatment outcomes, but questions remain about whether it has assumed greater importance than it merits. For example, it may be an artifact of other client personality characteristics that are also associated with more positive outcomes. Conversely, it may be a function of the interaction of treatment environment and client. This article suggests a need to broaden the scope of treatment-retention studies and to compare retention rates across other medical treatment environments to see if failure to complete treatment is a function of substance user treatment or of all treatment processes as well as other types of planned change processes.
Lower Extremity Tissue Defect Caused by Mobile Phone Charger Explosion: A Case Report

SUMMARY As the usage of cell phones is markedly increasing worldwide, accidental injuries and even lethal damages caused by cellular phone explosions have been reported lately. Although, cell phone charger explosion related scalding and tissue loss is extremely rare, they generally cause severe damage to tissues and cause severe complications, ending up in hospitalization. We are presenting a case of 9-year old female patient who was admitted to our emergency service due to a phone charger explosion that resulted in a lower extremity tissue defect.
Anti-68 kDa antibodies in autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss

Objectives: Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL) is a relatively rare disorder which can lead to total deafness. At present, no specific laboratory test with adequate sensitivity and specificity is available to confirm the clinical suspicion of ASNHL. The aim of this study was to identify if evaluation of anti-hsp70 antibodies is an accurate diagnostic tool in patients affected by ASNHL. Study design: Prospective study. Methods: During 4-year (2001–2005), all patients with SNHL who were referred to the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Parma University, Italy, underwent specific tests to determine the autoimmune origin of the disease. Patients with a consistent suspicion of ASNHL underwent the routine serologic tests and a test for determination of anti-hsp70 antibodies. The same patients were divided into three groups: (1) idiopathic ASNHL; (2) ASNHL associated with ocular inflammation, i.e. Cogan's Syndrome; (3) ASNHL associated with a systemic autoimmune disease (SAD). The control group included: (1) healthy subjects; and (2) patients affected by SAD, without any ocular or audiovestibular disease. Results: 88 subjects (67 patients, defined as “study group”, and 21 controls) were evaluated. Anti-hsp70 antibodies were isolated in 52% of the study group patients, and in 4% of the control group (χ2 = 13.009, p < 0.01). In the idiopathic ASNHL patients, 59.5% were found positive for anti-hsp70 antibodies. About 50% of patients affected by CS and 37.5% of patients affected by SAD with SNHL were found positive. In the control group, anti-hsp70 antibodies were found in 8.3% of healthy subjects and in none of the patients with SAD and no hearing loss. Conclusions: The present study confirms the value of the anti-hsp70 test in the serological diagnosis of autoimmune hearing loss. It is still the only available diagnostic marker that identifies an autoimmune origin of hearing loss.
Species identification of Rhododendron (Ericaceae) using the chloroplast deoxyribonucleic acid PsbA-trnH genetic marker

Background: Rhododendron is a group of famous landscape plants with high medicinal value. However, there is no simple or universal manner to discriminate the various species of this group. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) barcoding technique is a new biological tool that can accurately and objectively identify species by using short and standard DNA regions. Objective: To choose a suitable DNA marker to authenticate the Rhododendron species. Materials and Methods: Four candidate DNA barcodes (rbcL, matK, psbAtrnH, and ITS2 intergenic spacer) were tested on 68 samples of 38 species. Results: The psbAtrnH candidate barcode yielded 86.8% sequencing efficiency. The highest interspecific divergence was provided by the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer, based on six parameters, and the Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Although there was not a clear barcoding gap, the Wilcoxon Two sample tests indicated that the interspecific divergence of the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer was significantly higher than the relevant intraspecific variation. The psbA-trnH DNA barcode possessed the highest species identification efficiency at 100% by the BLAST1 method. The present results showed that the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer was the most promising one of the four markers for barcoding the Rhododendron species. To further evaluate the ability of the psbA-trnH marker, to discriminate the closely related species, the samples were expanded to 94 samples of 53 species in the genus, and the rate of successful identification was 93.6%. The psbA-trnH region would be useful even for unidentified samples, as it could significantly narrow their possible taxa to a small area. Conclusion: The psbA-trnH intergenic region is a valuable DNA marker for identifying the Rhododendron species.
Effect of Head Rotation at the Prone Position on the Geometric Features of the Healthy Carotid Bifurcation

The influence of posture change on the geometry and hemodynamics of the carotid bifurcation has not been thoroughly studied [1,2,3]. Such changes may alter the hemodynamic variables that are generally associated with the development of atherosclerosis, such as low oscillating wall shear stress (WSS) and particle residence times. Glor et al. (2004) had reported changes in the right carotid bifurcation geometry with leftward rotation of the head. We have previously reported that geometric differences in the right and left carotid bifurcation occur with a rightward rotation of the head [3]. Copyright © 2010 by ASME
End-products, fermentation balances and molar growth yields of homofermentative lactobacilli.

SUMMARY: Y(glucose) values for Lactobacillus plantarum, L. delbrueckii, L. casei, L. lactis and L. bulgaricus, grown as batch cultures in defined medium, and L. casei, grown in complex medium, were 20.0 to 33.3. Y(galactose) values for L. plantarum were 25.7 to 32.5. Each species produced acetate in addition to lactate, and Y(ATP) values, corrected for the energy produced simultaneously with the formation of acetate, were 10.0 to 10.9, close to 10.5, proposed as a standard value by Bauchop & Elsden (1960). Neither formate nor ethanol was produced in more than trace quantities. Y(glucose) values determined for L. lactis and L. bulgaricus at 40 °C were less than 50% of those determined at 37 °C. Production of lactate and acetate accounted for all of the glucose utilized at both temperatures, indicating that the production of ATP by L. lactis or L. bulgaricus at 40 °C was not coupled closely to the utilization of ATP in the synthesis of bacterial mass.
Extended Analysis of Capacitance–Voltage Curves for the Determination of Bulk Dopant Concentrations of Textured Silicon Solar Cells

Capacitance-Voltage (C- V) measurements are an established method for determining the bulk dopant concentration Nbulk of semiconductor devices. The extraction of Nbulk requires knowledge of the surface area of the space-charge region (SCR). For textured solar cells, this surface area is enlarged, depending on texture and bias voltage. The amount of enlargement is a priori unknown, and there is no simple way of measuring directly it. In this paper, models that were previously proposed in the literature are employed to describe the SCR area. Substantial deficiencies in these models are revealed by comparison with a 3-D numerical simulation of the SCR geometry used as a benchmark. This approach leads to the development of a new analytical model that can properly describe the bias-voltage dependence of the surface area enlargement. C-V measurements over a large bias-voltage range are performed on various solar cells with different textures and resistivities. The new analytical model is employed to correct the measurement data for the influence of surface area enlargement. Thus, Nbulk can be extracted without explicit knowledge of the enlargement. Comparison with four-point probe measurements shows excellent agreement, demonstrating the power of the new method to enable the C-V technique for use in Nbulk determination for textured solar cells.
Comparison of Efficacy of Pitavastatin and Colestimide in Japanese Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Complicated by Hyperlipidemia and Metabolic Syndrome

The present study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of pitavastatin and colestimide in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated by hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome. 48 diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to a pitavastatin group or colestimide group. The clinical parameters, serum lipids, fasting (FPG) and postprandial plasma glucose(PPG), HOMA-IR, hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c), hs-CRP and urinary albumin were measured before/after 24-week administration. Treatment with pitavastatin reduced LDL-C and TG, while that with colestimide significantly reduced waist circumference, BMI, LDL-C, HbA1c, FPG, PPG, HOMA-R , hs-CRP and urinary albumin. Percent improvement in LDL-C was greater in the pitavastatin group than in the colestimide group. Colestimide appeared to be useful in the management of Japanese patients with diabetes mellitus complicated by metabolic syndrome, since it alleviates obesity and insulin resistance in addition to exhibiting lipid profile-improving effects, and can thus improve markers of atherosclerosis.
Positive affect, depressive symptoms, and arthritis pain of elderly people over time

Background: Older adults frequently experience physical symptoms of arthritis pain. We examined the dynamic change of arthritis pain and depressive symptoms over time. We also addressed the influence of time varying arthritis pain on depressive symptoms and positive affect among community dwelling older individuals. Methods: Analyses were based on data from 4 annual follow‐ups in a sample of 299 elderly residents (M=83.78) of Florida retirement communities. We estimated a hierarchical growth curve model that related the effects of time varying pain and characteristics of participants such as age, gender, cognitive functioning, emotional support and health. Growth curve modeling was used to assess changes in emotional well‐being as a function of arthritis pain over time. Results: We found that depressive symptoms increased over 4 years whereas positive affect declined over 4 years with significant between‐person differences in levels and slopes. As predicted, changes in arthritis pain co‐varied with both depressive symptoms and positive affect over time. Gender, cognitive functioning, health conditions and emotional support from others were associated with between person differences in level of emotional well‐being. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that conceptualization of emotional well‐being of older adults as a dynamic, changing construct applies both depressive symptoms and positive affect. Findings also suggest that arthritis pain as well as emotional support contribute to depressive symptoms and to positive affect among older adults with arthritis.
First Genome Sequence of a Burkholderia pseudomallei Isolate in China, Strain BPC006, Obtained from a Melioidosis Patient in Hainan

ABSTRACT Melioidosis, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is considered to be endemic to Northern Australia and Southeast Asia, with high mortality and relapse rates, regardless of powerful antibiotic therapy. Here we report the first genome sequence of Burkholderia pseudomallei strain BPC006, obtained from a melioidosis patient in Hainan, China. The genome sizes of the 2 chromosomes were determined to be 4,001,777 bp and 3,153,284 bp.
The human J kappa recombination signal sequence binding protein (RBP‐J kappa) targets the Epstein‐Barr virus EBNA2 protein to its DNA responsive elements.

The Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) protein EBNA2, which is essential for the immortalization of human primary B cells by EBV, acts as a transcriptional activator of cellular and viral genes. Specific responsive elements have been characterized in several of the promoters activated by EBNA2. They all share the core sequence GTGGGAA. EBNA2 does not, however, bind to these sequences directly, but appears to be targeted to them by a cellular protein. A similar core sequence has recently been identified as a high‐affinity binding site for the human recombination signal sequence binding protein RBP‐J kappa. Here we provide evidence that RBP‐J kappa binds to specific sequences in EBNA2‐responsive elements. Our results also demonstrate that RBP‐J kappa makes direct physical contact with EBNA2 in solution and recruits EBNA2 to its cognate DNA sequences, suggesting that RBP‐J kappa may mediate EBNA2 transactivation of both cellular and viral genes.