Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiviral Immunity in Amphibians

Although a variety of virus species can infect amphibians, diseases caused by ranaviruses ([RVs]; Iridoviridae) have become prominent, and are a major concern for biodiversity, agriculture and international trade. The relatively recent and rapid increase in prevalence of RV infections, the wide range of host species infected by RVs, the variability in host resistance among population of the same species and among different developmental stages, all suggest an important involvement of the amphibian immune system. Nevertheless, the roles of the immune system in the etiology of viral diseases in amphibians are still poorly investigated. We review here the current knowledge of antiviral immunity in amphibians, focusing on model species such as the frog Xenopus and the salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), and on recent progress in generating tools to better understand how host immune defenses control RV infections, pathogenicity, and transmission.
Assessment of Groundwater Potential and Aquifer Characteristics in the Vicinity of Igun, Eku and Oria in Delta State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to investigate the groundwater potential and aquifer characteristics of locations in Igun, Eku and Oria in Delta State, Nigeria. Nine vertical electrical soundings using the Schlumberger configuration were conducted to assess the geoelectric properties of the subsurface, while down-hole loggings and pumping test were employed to evaluate the aquifer characteristics of the area. The geoelectric data were interpreted by partial curve matching and computer iteration techniques to determine the resistivity, thickness and depth of the subsurface formations. The result revealed the presence of four geoelectric layers comprising of lateritic/loamy topsoil, clay, fine-medium grain sand, and coarse sand. Analysis of the geoelectric interpretation indicates that the third and fourth layers are water bearing horizons. Result further indicates that the fourth layer with a resistivity range of 2212 to 7148 Ωm and depth range of 24.7 to 31.9 m is more prolific than the third layer aquifer. The result of hydrogeological investigation showed that the electrical conductivity of the groundwater aquifer in Igun, Eku and Oria are 0.028, 0.032 and 0.024 mS/m respectively, while their corresponding total dissolved solid are 91.08, 95.92 and 79.53 mg/m3. The result also showed that the transmissivity of the groundwater in Igun, Eku and Oria are 0.0728, 0.0873 and 0.0679 m2/min respectively while their corresponding storativity were obtained as 3.21 × 10-4, 4.71 × 10-4, and 2.87 × 10-4. These results obtained from the three locations have shown that the groundwater aquifer is reliable in terms of quality and yield as they conform to international standards.
Is there a Martian atmospheric electric circuit

Laboratory, analytical, and simulation studies suggest that Martian dust clouds can become significantly charged via dust/dust contact electrification. If moderate-size dust clouds on Mars are like their terrestrial counterparts, they are expected to have the capacity to create electric fields in excess of 1 kV/m. As on Earth, there is an expectation that these storm-generated electric fields terminate into both the ground and the ionosphere, coupling directly to the capacitor created by these bounding surfaces. Such charged dust storms are expected to drive ionospheric and ground currents, which complete their current path through the “fairweather” atmosphere remote from the storm. This system forms a Martian atmospheric electric circuit analogous (but not identical) to that created in the terrestrial atmosphere via thunderstorms. Here we define the requirements on Martian dust storms and the surrounding environment to create such a global electric circuit and then model the system. We find that the variation in global electric field is a strong function of Martian season, with possible values ranging in excess of hundreds of volts per meter in the active storm season (southern summer) to less than a volt per meter during the nonstorm season.
RPC Chains: Efficient Client-Server Communication in Geodistributed Systems

We propose the RPC chain, a simple but powerful communication primitive that allows an application to reduce the performance effects of wide-area links on enterprise and data center applications that span multiple sites. This primitive chains together multiple RPC invocations so that the computation can flow from one server to the next without involving the client every time. We demonstrate that RPC chains can significantly reduce end-to-end latency and network bandwidth in a storage application and a web application.
"It takes two": the interaction between parenting and child temperament on parents' stress physiology.

The biological basis of parenting has received recent attention given the profound effects of parenting on both child and parent health outcomes. This study examined the moderating role of child temperamental effortful control on the association between observed parental hostility and parents' cortisol awakening response (CAR), a critical index of stress system functioning. Participants included 149 parents and their preschool-aged children. Parents obtained salivary cortisol samples at waking, and 30 and 45 min post-waking across two consecutive days. Parental hostility was assessed during an observational parent-child interaction task, and child effortful control was assessed using parent report. Parental hostility was associated with parents' lower cortisol levels at 30 and 45 min post-waking and lower CAR. Moreover, results demonstrated an interaction between parenting and child temperament on parent CAR. The findings highlight the need to examine the interplay between parenting and child temperament on parents' stress physiology.
A Model of Exchange where Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

I explore the search-constrained exchange paradigm where traders difier stochastically in their consumption-valuations of any given good, and all goods are ‘durable’. Individuals expect to engage in repeat trade before leaving the market. Thus, any good is valued not only for its own ∞ow consumption value but also for its option value for future retrade. The set of mutually agreeable trades is neatly analogous to the set of even-odds gambles preferred by a risk-loving individual. They are risk-increasing and possibly valuation-decreasing: Trades may result in a lower sum of own-valuations provided the ‘spread’ increases. Such risky trade stems from the twin properties of a falling demand curve and strict convexity of the value function | where convexity arises because individuals tend to hold onto their more prized possessions longer. Furthermore, (i) the efiect worsens as the search frictions diminish, and (ii) is less than a social planner would prefer. This environment produces a new ex post ine‐ciency of trade beyond the ex ante ine‐ciency due to Mortensen (1982). Finally, I show that the risk-increasing efiect is muted but still present with positively correlated valuations.
Information Propagation and Network Evolution on the Web

Using data gathered from blogs, this work seeks to understand the structure and formation of social networks, and the patterns of information propagation through these networks. Blogs have become an important medium of communication and information on the World Wide Web. Due to their accessible and timely nature, they are also an intuitive source for data involving the formation of social networks and the spread of information and ideas. By studying link patterns of existing entities and new arrivals to a blog network, we can infer the way in which social networks are formed. And, by examining linking patterns from one blog post to another, we can infer the way information spreads through a social network over the Web. We seek to discover how information propagates through an existing network. Do trees representing the flow of information maintain certain structural properties? Does traffic in the blog network exhibit bursty and/or periodic behavior? After a topic becomes popular, how does interest die off – linearly, or exponentially? What models best exhibit such behavior? We would also like to gain an understanding of how different entities in the social network function with regard to the propagation of information. Do some blogs act as hubs of information, often starting cascades of information to flow? Do certain subnetworks have different patterns of information propagation?
Frequency scaling of rain attenuation: results from Olympus satellite

Due to the increasing demand in capacity of satellite communication and the present congestion of both C and Ku bands, the use of the Ka band will become a fully operational reality in a very near future. To design an effective and reliable satellite system at such frequencies, it is essential to consider the statistics of different propagation aspects on both a long term and short term basis. This is particularly true for high frequency systems where water absorption is predominant and can not be counteracted permanently using a fixed power margin. The results of frequency scaling were deduced at Coventry University. These are based on Olympus data measured by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) at their site at Chilton (UK). These results are compared with the CCIR models and show a good agreement.
STRATIGRAPHY AND PROVENANCE OF THE AURIFEROUS-URANIFEROUS, FLUVIAL TO SHALLOW-MARINE SINQENI FORMATION, MOZAAN GROUP, NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

The Sinqeni Formation of the ~2.98 to 2.87 Ga Pongola Supergroup within the White Umfolozi Inlier in northern KwaZulu-Natal is a fluvial to shallow-marine sequence that has been affected by sea-level changes. Braided alluvial plain conglomerates of the basal Denny Dalton Member are overlain by shallow marine, trough cross-bedded, quartz arenites. A major marine transgression in the Pongola Basin is marked by a conglomerate lag representing a transgressive ravinement surface, which is overlain by banded iron formation, signifying sub-storm wave base deposition on a clastic sediment-starved shelf. Conglomerates of the Sinqeni Formation are locally gold- and uranium-bearing with the ~1 m thick, laterally discontinuous “Mozaan Contact Reef” (MCR) hosting erratic mineralization. Where mineralized, the MCR contains rounded, detrital pyrite grains, derived primarily from erosion of sedimentary pyrites. Three generations of pyrite are recognised, with primary gold hosted as inclusions within compact, rounded detrital pyrite and gersdorffite grains. No uraninite grains are observed in the MCR, with allogenic uraniferous leucoxene and authigenic brannerite forming the major uraniferous component. The uppermost conglomerate of the Sinqeni Formation (CG 4) crops out ~30 m above the Denny Dalton Member conglomerates and hosts uranium precipitated as secondary uraninite and coffinite encrustations around detrital pyrite grains. The conglomerates form a placer deposit which has been subjected to post-depositional alteration. Heavy mineral assemblages as well as bulk geochemical data for conglomerates and quartz arenites suggest a granitoid-greenstone source. Palaeocurrent and mineralogical data suggest a proximal granitoid-greenstone provenance to the west of the White Umfolozi Inlier, whereas equivalent units in the main Pongola Basin have been derived from granitoid-greenstone successions to the north. The reef mineralogy and pyrite geochemistry however, suggest that detritus in the MCR was derived from a variety of sources including granitic basement, Palaeoarchaean greenstones and sulphidic sedimentary rocks of unknown affinity.
Nesprins: Tissue-Specific Expression of Epsilon and Other Short Isoforms

Nesprin-1-giant and nesprin-2-giant regulate nuclear positioning by the interaction of their C-terminal KASH domains with nuclear membrane SUN proteins and their N-terminal calponin-homology domains with cytoskeletal actin. A number of short isoforms lacking the actin-binding domains are produced by internal promotion. We have evaluated the significance of these shorter isoforms using quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting with site-specific monoclonal antibodies. Within a complete map of nesprin isoforms, we describe two novel nesprin-2 epsilon isoforms for the first time. Epsilon isoforms are similar in size and structure to nesprin-1-alpha. Expression of nesprin isoforms was highly tissue-dependent. Nesprin-2-epsilon-1 was found in early embryonic cells, while nesprin-2-epsilon-2 was present in heart and other adult tissues, but not skeletal muscle. Some cell lines lack shorter isoforms and express only one of the two nesprin genes, suggesting that either of the giant nesprins is sufficient for basic cell functions. For the first time, localisation of endogenous nesprin away from the nuclear membrane was shown in cells where removal of the KASH domain by alternative splicing occurs. By distinguishing between degradation products and true isoforms on western blots, it was found that previously-described beta and gamma isoforms are expressed either at only low levels or with a limited tissue distribution. Two of the shortest alpha isoforms, nesprin-1-alpha-2 and nesprin-2-alpha-1, were found almost exclusively in cardiac and skeletal muscle and a highly conserved and alternatively-spliced exon, available in both nesprin genes, was always included in these tissues. These “muscle-specific” isoforms are thought to form a complex with emerin and lamin A/C at the inner nuclear membrane and mutations in all three proteins cause Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and/or inherited dilated cardiomyopathy, disorders in which only skeletal muscle and/or heart are affected.
Robust Full Waveform Inversion with Normalized Plane-wave Data

In order to reduce the computational burden of Full waveform inversion (FWI), we have developed FWI algorithm using plane-wave encoding. Generally, the number of plane-wave gathers is much fewer than that of common shot gathers. Therefore, we can minimize the computational cost to handle massive 3D data sets. In addition, by adopting normalized wavefield excluding source effect, the source wavelet estimation does not need in our inversion process. We validated our algorithm through numerical tests.
Inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm flagellar proteins, outer dense fiber protein‐2 and tektin‐2, is associated with impaired motility during capacitation of hamster spermatozoa

In mammals, acquisition of fertilization competence of spermatozoa is dependent on the phenomenon of sperm capacitation. One of the critical molecular events of sperm capacitation is protein tyrosine phosphorylation. In a previous study, we demonstrated that a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tyrphostin‐A47, inhibited hamster sperm capacitation, accompanied by a reduced sperm protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Interestingly, a high percentage of tyrphostin‐A47‐treated spermatozoa exhibited circular motility, which was associated with a distinct hypo‐tyrosine phosphorylation of flagellar proteins, predominantly of Mr 45,000–60,000. In this study, we provide evidence on the localization of capacitation‐associated tyrosine‐phosphorylated proteins to the nonmembranous, structural components of the sperm flagellum. Consistent with this, we show their ultrastructural localization in the outer dense fiber, axoneme, and fibrous sheath of spermatozoa. Among hypo‐tyrosine phosphorylated major proteins of tyrphostin‐A47‐treated spermatozoa, we identified the 45 kDa protein as outer dense fiber protein‐2 and the 51 kDa protein as tektin‐2, components of the sperm outer dense fiber and axoneme, respectively. This study shows functional association of hypo‐tyrosine‐phosphorylation status of outer dense fiber protein‐2 and tektin‐2 with impaired flagellar bending of spermatozoa, following inhibition of EGFR‐tyrosine kinase, thereby showing the critical importance of flagellar protein tyrosine phosphorylation during capacitation and hyperactivation of hamster spermatozoa. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 77: 182–193, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Genetic-based prediction of disease traits: prediction is very difficult, especially about the future†

Translation of results from genetic findings to inform medical practice is a highly anticipated goal of human genetics. The aim of this paper is to review and discuss the role of genetics in medically-relevant prediction. Germline genetics presages disease onset and therefore can contribute prognostic signals that augment laboratory tests and clinical features. As such, the impact of genetic-based predictive models on clinical decisions and therapy choice could be profound. However, given that (i) medical traits result from a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors, (ii) the underlying genetic architectures for susceptibility to common diseases are not well-understood, and (iii) replicable susceptibility alleles, in combination, account for only a moderate amount of disease heritability, there are substantial challenges to constructing and implementing genetic risk prediction models with high utility. In spite of these challenges, concerted progress has continued in this area with an ongoing accumulation of studies that identify disease predisposing genotypes. Several statistical approaches with the aim of predicting disease have been published. Here we summarize the current state of disease susceptibility mapping and pharmacogenetics efforts for risk prediction, describe methods used to construct and evaluate genetic-based predictive models, and discuss applications.
Along‐arc variation in water distribution in the uppermost mantle beneath Kyushu, Japan, as derived from receiver function analyses

We investigated the seismic velocity discontinuities in the uppermost mantle of Kyushu, a subduction zone in Japan, using receiver function analyses developed especially for discontinuities with high dipping angles. We elucidated the regional variation of discontinuities, as being the continental Moho, oceanic Moho, and upper boundary of the Philippine Sea slab. From the geometry of these discontinuities and contrast in S wave velocities, we discovered that the oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea slab has a low velocity and is possibly hydrated down to 70 km beneath south Kyushu, 80–90 km beneath central Kyushu, and less than 50 km beneath north Kyushu. The fore‐arc mantle wedge beneath central Kyushu has a low‐velocity zone and possibly contains hydrated materials and free fluid but such a low‐velocity zone does not exist in the fore‐arc mantle wedge beneath north Kyushu and south Kyushu. Beneath south Kyushu, water dehydrated from the slab could move to the back‐arc side and cause arc volcanism. Beneath central Kyushu, water dehydrated from the slab could move to the fore‐arc side and cause a gap in volcanism and hydration of fore‐arc mantle materials. Beneath north Kyushu, the oceanic crust does not appear to convey water abundantly in the mantle wedge. The low‐velocity hydrated fore‐arc mantle extends landward beneath the northern part of central Kyushu and could produce volcanic rocks partially contaminated by slab‐derived fluid.
The Essential Functions of NEDD8 Are Mediated via Distinct Surface Regions, and Not by Polyneddylation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 is highly conserved in eukaryotes, from man to Schizosaccharomyces pombe. NEDD8 conjugation to cullin proteins is a prerequisite for cullin based E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, and essential for S. pombe viability. Here, we have performed alanine scanning mutagenesis of all conserved surface residues and show that the majority of essential residues were located around the hydrophobic patch and the C-terminus. However, we further identified essential residues not previously reported to be involved in ubiquitin ligase regulation that importantly do not prevent Ned8p conjugation. We also find that mutation of all conserved lysine residues in Ned8p, did not affect yeast viability, suggesting that mono-neddylation is sufficient for yeast viability under most conditions.
Discovery and Characterization of Substituted Diphenyl Heterocyclic Compounds as Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Hepatitis C Virus Replication

ABSTRACT A novel small-molecule inhibitor, referred to here as R706, was discovered in a high-throughput screen of chemical libraries against Huh-7-derived replicon cells carrying autonomously replicating subgenomic RNA of hepatitis C virus (HCV). R706 was highly potent in blocking HCV RNA replication as measured by real-time reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting of R706-treated replicon cells. Structure-activity iterations of the R706 series yielded a lead compound, R803, that was more potent and highly specific for HCV replication, with no significant inhibitory activity against a panel of HCV-related positive-stranded RNA viruses. Furthermore, HCV genotype 1 replicons displayed markedly higher sensitivity to R803 treatment than a genotype 2a-derived replicon. In addition, R803 was tested by a panel of biochemical and cell-based assays for on-target and off-target activities, and the data suggested that the compound had a therapeutic window close to 100-fold, while its exact mechanism of action remained elusive. We found that R803 was more effective than alpha interferon (IFN-α) at blocking HCV RNA replication in the replicon model. In combination studies, R803 showed a weak synergistic effect with IFN-α/ribavirin but only additive effects with a protease inhibitor and an allosteric inhibitor of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (20). We conclude that R803 and related heterocyclic compounds constitute a new class of HCV-specific inhibitors that could potentially be developed as a treatment for HCV infection.
Exploring the potential of layered BRDF models

The key advantage of using layered BRDFs over traditional, more general shading-language constructs is that the automatic result is highly plausible. This course is a survey of the considerable potential of layered surface models. On a simple layered surface model that combines several traditional BRDF components, it demonstrates how a surprisingly large number of interesting and important surface types can be efficiently represented by using the same, not particularly complex, BRDF code. It also shows how handy such an approach is for the eventual end user, whose main concern is the ease of describing object appearance based only on a few intuitive parameters. The course begins with a discussion of layered surface models in computer graphics and the constraints of modelling object appearance in a physically plausible fashion, then demonstrates the techniques that can be used to efficiently evaluate layered BRDF models and presents examples of the surface types that can be described in this way. The course goes beyond plain-surface models to showcase how a texture-based combination of layered surface components can be used to describe highly complex object-appearance attributes, while implicitly remaining physically plausible. In particular, we demonstrate on a simple layered surface model that combines several traditional BRDF components how a surprisingly large number of interesting and important surface types can be efficiently represented by using the same, not particularly complex, BRDF code. We also show how handy such an approach is for the eventual end user, whose main concern is the ease with which one can describe object appearance based only on a few intuitive parameters. We first discuss layered surface models in computer graphics and the constraints of modelling object appearance in a physically plausible fashion. We then demonstrate the techniques that can be used to efficiently evaluate layered BRDF models, give examples of the surface types that can be described in this way. We also go beyond plain surface models, and showcase how a texture-based combination of layered surface components can be used to describe highly complex object appearance attributes, while implicitly remaining physically plausible.