Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of the norovirus variants GGII.4 hunter and GGIIb/hilversum in Italian children with gastroenteritis

Noroviruses (NoVs) are important enteric pathogens of humans. Although they exhibit an impressive genetic diversity, few NoV strains appear to predominate worldwide. Limited epidemiological data are available on NoV gastroenteritis in Italy. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of human NoV in Italian children with gastroenteritis by using a reverse‐transcription nested polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay specific for the RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) on faecal samples collected throughout the 2004 surveillance activity in Palermo, Italy. NoVs were detected in 47% of the stool samples obtained from children <5 years age, admitted to hospital with acute non‐bacterial gastroenteritis. A selection of strains was further analyzed by partial sequence analysis of the RdRp gene. The strains were characterized as genogroup (GG) II and clustered into two distinct virus populations that resembled the emerging European GGIIb/Hilversum strains and the Australian Hunter GGII.4 strains. A temporal pattern of distribution of the two NoV strains was observed which was consistent with an independent circulation of two separate strains in the local population. Based on this 1‐year study we concluded that NoVs were a diffuse cause of sporadic cases of acute childhood gastroenteritis and that strains of global epidemiological relevance were circulating in Palermo, Italy in 2004. J. Med. Virol. 78:1656–1662, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Rapid induction and Ca2+ influx‐mediated suppression of vitamin D3 up‐regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) mRNA in cerebellar granule neurons undergoing apoptosis

Cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) grown under depolarizing conditions with high K+ (HK; 30 mm) undergo apoptosis following replacement of HK by physiological K+ (5.4 mm). Differential display analysis identified eight genes up‐regulated in this paradigm of apoptosis. Vitamin D3 up‐regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) mRNA was markedly up‐regulated as early as 2 h following HK withdrawal. VDUP1 mRNA was up‐regulated in other paradigms of neuronal apoptosis as well both in vitro and in vivo. HK effectively suppressed the up‐regulation of VDUP1 mRNA in CGNs undergoing apoptosis via Ca2+ influx through voltage‐dependent L‐type Ca2+ channels, which did not require de novo protein synthesis. The up‐regulation occurred in parallel with that of the c‐jun transcript and c‐jun protein phosphorylation. Moreover, SB203580, p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase inhibitor, suppressed up‐regulation of both c‐jun and VDUP1 mRNAs, and c‐jun phosphorylation in CGNs undergoing apoptosis. IGF‐1, one of the neuroprotective agents for CGNs, also inhibited VDUP1 mRNA up‐regulation through a phosphoinositide 3 kinase‐dependent pathway. These results suggest that the VDUP1 gene is a novel member of early response genes in neuronal apoptosis whose expression is directly regulated by Ca2+ influx and coordinately regulated with the transcription factor c‐jun in CGNs.
Identification of Common Excitatory Motoneurons in Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Abstract In insects, four types of motoneurons have long been known, including fast motoneurons, slow motoneurons, common inhibitory motoneurons, and DUM neurons. They innervate the same muscle and control its contraction together. Recent studies in Drosophila have suggested the existence of another type of motoneuron, the common excitatory motoneuron. Here, we found that shakB-GAL4 produced by Jacob et al. (2000) labels this type of motoneuron in Drosophila larvae. We found that Drosophila larvae have two common excitatory motoneurons in each abdominal segment, RP2 for dorsal muscles and MNSNb/d-Is for ventral muscles. They innervate most of the internal longitudinal or oblique muscles on the dorsal or ventral body wall with type-Is terminals and use glutamate as a transmitter. Electrophysiological recording indicated that stimulation of the RP2 axon evoked excitatory junctional potential in a dorsal muscle.
Constrained switched systems: Stability and performance

This paper analyses discrete-time switched systems in which a control engineer designs each mode so that performance guarantees are met. Given this setting, our objective is then to identify the set of mode transitions so that stability is guaranteed under arbitrary switching. Namely, our specific objective is to identify the stability graph associated with a given switching system. These systems are important for multi-controller architectures in many practical applications. Specifically, we develop convex conditions that ensure asymptotic stability and guaranteed quadratic performance for constrained switched systems. Then, a greedy algorithm based on the graph associated with the switched system is designed in order to determine a set of switching functions for which stability is guaranteed. We then further restrict the graph so that performance metrics are met. Simulations are given to illustrate the efficacy of the procedures.
Childhood Sleep Time and Long-Term Risk for Obesity: A 32-Year Prospective Birth Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE. Associations between short sleep duration and increased BMI have been found in children and adults. However, it is not known whether short sleep time during childhood has long-term consequences. We assessed the association between sleep time in childhood and adult BMI in a birth cohort. METHODS. Study members were a general-population birth cohort of 1037 participants (502 female) who were born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1972 and March 1973. Parental reports of bedtimes and rising times collected at ages 5, 7, 9, and 11 years were used to estimate childhood sleep time. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the association between childhood sleep time and BMI measured at 32 years of age. RESULTS. Shorter childhood sleep times were significantly associated with higher adult BMI values. This association remained after adjustment for adult sleep time and the potential confounding effects of early childhood BMI, childhood socioeconomic status, parental BMIs, child and adult television viewing, adult physical activity, and adult smoking. In logistic regression analyses, more sleep time during childhood was associated with lower odds of obesity at 32 years of age. This association was significant after adjustment for multiple potential confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS. These findings suggest that sleep restriction in childhood increases the long-term risk for obesity. Ensuring that children get adequate sleep may be a useful strategy for stemming the current obesity epidemic.
The MAL proteolipid restricts detergent-mediated membrane pore expansion and percolation

Differential solubilization of membrane components by cold 1% Triton X-100 extraction is common practice in cell biology and membrane research, used to define components of, or localization within membrane domains called lipid rafts. In this study, extraction of biological membranes was continuously monitored in single cells by confocal microscopy. The distributions of fluorescently-tagged proteins that label raft and non-raft membranes, cytosolic and cytoskeletal proteins were continuously monitored upon addition of the detergent. Membranes containing the non-raft membrane protein VSVG-GFP were immediately extracted from the plasma membrane, whereas raft-membrane proteins were predominantly resistant to the detergent. The morphological characteristics of differential membrane solubilization consisted of the formation of pores that expand and percolate as the detergent-mediated solubilization proceeds. Pore expansion and percolation was much slower and more restricted in non-polarized MDCK cells than in COS-7 cells. Heterologous overexpression in COS-7 cells of the fluorescently-tagged human MAL, a tetra-spanning, lipid-raft-associated protein, significantly slowed and limited membrane pore expansion and percolation. Extensive percolation resulting in large holes in the membrane was observed for the raft-associated, GPI-GFP-labeled membranes in COS-7 cells. Quantitative analysis carried out using pixel intensity variance as an indicator of membrane pore expansion demonstrated that the MAL protein is capable of modifying the plasma membrane, thereby increasing its resistance to detergent-induced pore formation.
Kernel Complete Discriminant Analysis Algorithm for Radar Target Recognition Using HRRPs

Currently, kernel-based methods have drawn much attention from the field of pattern recognition as well as radar target recognition. As we all know, kernel discriminant analysis (KDA) is proved that it is a very effective tool used for dimensionality reduction and feature extraction. However, KDA also suffers from the so-called small sample size problem (SSS) which often exists in high-dimensional pattern recognition data. In order to deal with this problem, a complete KDA called kernel complete discriminant analysis (KCDA) is proposed. The new algorithm views the optimal discriminant vectors as a global transform in the feature space, and which carries out feature extraction by making full use of the discriminative information in both null space and non-null space of the within-class scatter matrix. Thus it makes KCDA a more powerful dicriminator. Experiments based on the measured airplanes database are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the results show that it can achieve better classification performance.
Cooperative nest defence in red–winged blackbirds: reciprocal altruism, kinship or by–product mutualism?

Male red–winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) often cooperate with their neighbours in defending nests against predators. Some studies have suggested that this is an example of by–product mutualism, whereas others have suggested the possibility of reciprocal altruism. No study has addressed the possibility of kin–selected cooperation in nest defence in this species. Reciprocal altruism, kin selection and by–product mutualism are not mutually exclusive alternatives, but few studies of territorial neighbours have tested for multiple mechanisms simultaneously. We test for these three possibilities in a population of red–winged blackbirds. We used simulated defections to test for reciprocal altruism. We used analysis of microsatellite loci to test for kin selection between adult male neighbours. We also used microsatellite loci to test for by–product mutualism resulting from nest defence of offspring sired on neighbouring territories. We found that male red–winged blackbirds cooperate in nest defence primarily as a form of reciprocal altruism. Experimental males reduced their level of nest defence relative to controls following simulated defection by a neighbour. In contrast to some earlier studies, we found no evidence for by–product mutualism: males did not defend nests where they had sired extra–pair offspring. We also found no evidence for kin selection: males were no more cooperative with more closely related neighbours. Considered alongside the results from other studies, our study suggests that mechanisms stabilizing cooperation in red–winged blackbirds may vary among populations.
Racing to the Exits: International Transmissions of Funding Shocks During the Federal Reserve's Taper Experiment

In May 2013, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced the beginning of the end of the program of monthly security purchases, the so-called “tapering. ” The announcement was associated with large investor outflows from EM funds and large fund re-allocations across countries and stocks. Unexpected flow-implied fund upward (downward) allocations are associated with positive (negative) individual security returns following the announcement. The effect is pronounced in EM stocks that had positive cumulative abnormal returns around earlier Federal Reserve asset-purchase announcements leading up to the taper. It is concentrated in more liquid, smaller capitalization stocks and is stronger for forced trades among funds with more active country bets.
Differentiated models of care for postpartum women on antiretroviral therapy in Cape Town, South Africa: a cohort study

Background: The numbers of women initiating lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy and postpartum is increasing rapidly, presenting a burden on health systems and an urgent need for scalable models of care for this population. In a pilot project, we referred postpartum women who initiated ART during pregnancy to a community‐based model of differentiated ART services.
Developing a controlling application of wireless sensor networks simulation

Many wireless sensor network applications must resolve the inherent conflict between energy efficient and nodes of coverage in wireless sensor networks to achieve desired quality of service (QoS). The wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been the main focus in the past few years, and it is becoming a special issue. We study the problem of controlling the node locations and energy within ad-hoc sensor networks. Network survivability is a very important measure for deciding the efficiency of network protocols. It includes a measure of the network lifetime as well as the quality of service. In fact, these dynamics are very important in evaluating networks. The wireless network applications can be found in battlefield communication, homeland security, pollution sensing and traffic monitoring. As such, there has been an increasing need for defining and developing simulation frameworks for carrying out high-fidelity WSN simulation. In this cause, we present a simulation by including factors such as energy-consumption, Bandwidth, nodes, and coverage and provides an object-oriented definition of target, sensor and sink nodes, sensor and wireless communication nodes, and physical radio such as relating of nodes, mobility model and power model both energy-producing and energy-consuming components, the simulation was developed using C#.
Radiative evolution of polyploid races of the Iberian carnation Dianthus broteri (Caryophyllaceae).

SUMMARY *The micro-evolutionary mechanisms that drive large-scale radiations are not completely understood, partly because of a shortage of population-level studies aimed at identifying putative causes of rapid evolutionary change. The Dianthus broteri complex, representing the largest polyploid series known to date for any species in the genus (2x, 4x, 6x and 12x cytotypes), belongs to a lineage that was recently found to have diversified at unusually rapid rates. *We used a combination of genome sequencing (internal transcribed spacer (ITS), plus chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) regions trnH-psbA, psbA-trnK and trnK-matK) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting in 25 populations to infer the evolutionary history of extant polyploid races. *The haplotype, ribotype and AFLP reconstructions showed a star-shaped arrangement suggesting a pattern of radiative evolution. The major, widespread haplotype occurred at all ploidy levels, whereas 20 minor haplotypes were restricted to single populations and cytotypes. In addition, AFLP analyses retrieved well-supported cytogeographic groups: six clades were clearly differentiated in terms of ploidy level and geography. Molecular data indicate that gene flow among different cytotypes is rare or nonexistent. *Our study supports a scenario of rapid diversification in carnations in which autopolyploidy and allopolyploidy, in interaction with geography and/or isolation, have played prominent roles.
GLP-1 increases Kiss-1 mRNA expression in kisspeptin-expressing neuronal cells†

Abstract Feeding-related metabolic factors exert regulatory influences on the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an anorexigenic hormone synthesized from the ileum in response to food intake. The purpose of this study was to examine the direct effect of GLP-1 on hypothalamic kisspeptin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) expression using the rat clonal hypothalamic cell line rHypoE-8. GLP-1 significantly increased Kiss-1 mRNA expression in rHypoE-8 cells up to 1.94 ± 0.22-fold. This effect of GLP-1 on Kiss-1 gene expression was also observed in GT1–7 GnRH-producing neurons and in primary cultures of fetal rat brain. GLP-1 increased cAMP-mediated signaling, as determined by cAMP response element activity assays, but failed to activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathways. Another anorexigenic factor, leptin, similarly increased Kiss-1 mRNA levels up to 1.34 ± 0.08-fold in rHypoE-8 cells. However, combined treatment with GLP-1 and leptin failed to potentiate their individual effects on Kiss-1 mRNA expression. Gnrh mRNA expression was not significantly increased by GLP-1 stimulation in rHypoE-8, but kisspeptin significantly stimulated the expression of Gnrh mRNA in these cells. Our current observations suggest that the anorexigenic peptide GLP-1 directly regulates Kiss-1 mRNA expression in these hypothalamic cell lines and in neuronal cells of fetal rat brain and affects the expression of Gnrh mRNA. Summary Sentence Anorexigenic peptide GLP-1 directly regulates Kiss-1 mRNA expression in thypothalamic cell lines and affects the expression of Gnrh mRNA.
Immunochemical differences among Methanosarcina mazei S-6 morphologic forms

Methanosarcinae are the only archaeobacteria known to undergo major morphologic changes during growth involving unicellular and multicellular forms, and Methanosarcina mazei S-6 is the only strain for which three distinct forms, packets, single cells, and lamina, have so far been observed. It is reported that two pairs of these forms, either packets and single cells or single cells and lamina, grew and interconverted in medium with the same composition, Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations, and growth substrate, and that the two forms in each pair displayed distinctive differences revealed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, the same growth medium-substrate notwithstanding.
DNA vaccination against persistent viral infection

This study shows that DNA vaccination can confer protection against a persistent viral infection by priming CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Adult BALB/c (H-2d) mice were injected intramuscularly with a plasmid expressing the nucleoprotein (NP) gene of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter. The LCMV NP contains the immunodominant CTL epitope (amino acids 118 to 126) recognized by mice of the H-2d haplotype. After three injections with 200 micrograms of NP DNA, the vaccinated mice were challenged with LCMV variants (clones 13 and 28b) that establish persistent infection in naive adult mice. Fifty percent of the DNA-vaccinated mice were protected, as evidenced by decreased levels of infectious virus in the blood and tissues, eventual clearance of viral antigen from all organs tested, the presence of an enhanced LCMV-specific CD8+ CTL response, and maintenance of memory CTL after clearance of virus infection. However, it should be noted that protection was seen in only half of the vaccinated mice, and we were unable to directly measure virus-specific immune responses in any of the DNA-vaccinated mice prior to LCMV challenge. Thus, at least in the system that we have used, gene immunization was a suboptimal method of inducing protective immunity and was several orders of magnitude less efficient than vaccination with live virus. In conclusion, our results show that DNA immunization works against a persistent viral infection but that efforts should be directed towards improving this novel method of vaccination.
Sleep-related functioning in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder, patients with insomnia, and subjects without sleep problems.

OBJECTIVE The authors investigated sleep-related functioning in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. METHOD Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (N=20), patients with insomnia (N=20), and subjects with good sleep (N=20) were compared on data from interviews and questionnaires and on findings from eight consecutive days and nights of sleep diary keeping (subjective sleep estimate) and actigraphy (objective sleep estimate). RESULTS Seventy percent of the euthymic patients with bipolar disorder exhibited a clinically significant sleep disturbance. Compared with the other groups, the bipolar disorder group exhibited impaired sleep efficiency, higher levels of anxiety and fear about poor sleep, lower daytime activity levels, and a tendency to misperceive sleep. The bipolar disorder group held a level of dysfunctional beliefs about sleep that was comparable to that in the insomnia group and significantly higher than that in the good sleeper group. CONCLUSIONS Insomnia is a significant problem among euthymic patients with bipolar disorder. Components of cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia, especially stimulus control and cognitive therapy, may be a helpful adjunct to treatment for patients with bipolar disorder.
Is hypertension a tissue perfusion disorder? Implications for renal and myocardial perfusion

Structural alterations in the microcirculation form a major link between hypertension and target organ damage. More than 60% of the overall peripheral resistance of the circulatory system arises at the level of the microcirculation. The primary function of the microcirculation is to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues. In hypertension, remodelling of the microvascular vessels occurs, leading to an early, functional then anatomical reduction in the number of arterioles or capillaries in a given vascular bed. Such changes have been seen in the structure and density of the microvasculature of different target organs such as the myocardium and the kidneys. In hypertension, capillary rarefaction induces an increase in blood pressure, a relative decrease in tissue perfusion and an increased cardiovascular risk. Recent in-vivo non-invasive techniques for exploring the human microcirculation have allowed the detection of myocardial and renal microvascular impairment in hypertensive patients. In comparative therapeutic studies, antihypertensive drugs have been shown to have different capacities for preventing or reversing changes to the microvasculature of affected organs.
Response of established human breast tumors to vaccination with mammaglobin-A cDNA.

BACKGROUND A novel breast cancer-associated antigen, mammaglobin-A, is expressed in 80% of primary breast tumors. The characterization of immune responses against this highly expressed breast cancer-specific antigen would be of value in the development of new therapeutic strategies for breast cancer. METHODS We developed an in vivo model using human leukocyte antigen-A*0201/human CD8+ (HLA-A2+/hCD8+) double-transgenic mice to define the epitopes and to study the level of protection acquired by mammaglobin-A cDNA vaccination toward mammaglobin-A+/HLA-A2+ breast cancer cell lines. Mammaglobin-A epitopes were identified using an HLA class I peptide binding prediction computer program, and their activity was verified using gamma interferon ELISPOT and cytotoxicity assays. RESULTS We identified seven mammaglobin-A-derived candidate epitopes that bind the HLA-A*0201 molecule (Mam-A2.1-7). CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from HLA-A2+/hCD8+ mice reacted to the Mam-A2.1 (amino acids [aa] 83-92, LIYDSSLCDL), Mam-A2.2 (aa 2-10, KLLMVLMLA), Mam-A2.4 (aa 66-74, FLNQTDETL), and Mam-A2.6 (aa 32-40, MQLIYDSSL) epitopes. CD8+ CTLs from breast cancer patients also recognized a similar epitope pattern as did those in the HLA-A2+/hCD8 mice and reacted to the Mam-A2.1, Mam-A2.2, Mam-A2.3, Mam-A2.4, and Mam-A2.7 epitopes. Passive transfer of mammaglobin-A-reactive CTLs into SCID (severe combined immunodeficient) beige mice with actively growing mammaglobin-A+ tumors resulted in statistically significant regression (P<.001) in the growth of the tumors. CONCLUSIONS The HLA-A2+/hCD8+ mouse represents a valuable animal model to characterize the HLA-A*0201-restricted CD8+ CTL immune response to mammaglobin-A in vivo, and the data reported here demonstrate the immunotherapeutic potential of mammaglobin-A for the treatment and/or prevention of breast cancer.