Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biochemically Defined HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein Variant Immunogens Display Differential Binding and Neutralizing Specificities to the CD4-binding Site*

Background: Broadly neutralizing antibodies to the gp120 CD4-binding site (CD4bs) validate this region as a target for immunogen design. Results: HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) variant immunogens display differential biochemical and biophysical properties and elicit differential neutralizing specificities to the CD4bs. Conclusion: Engineered Env proteins may more efficiently direct responses toward the conserved CD4bs. Significance: This study provides parameters to consider associated with the elicitation of broader neutralizing responses. HIV-1 gp120 binds the primary receptor CD4. Recently, a plethora of broadly neutralizing antibodies to the gp120 CD4-binding site (CD4bs) validated this region as a target for immunogen design. Here, we asked if modified HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Env) designed to increase CD4 recognition might improve recognition by CD4bs neutralizing antibodies and more efficiently elicit such reactivities. We also asked if CD4bs stabilization, coupled with altering the Env format (monomer to trimer or cross-clade), might better elicit neutralizing antibodies by focusing the immune response on the functionally conserved CD4bs. We produced monomeric and trimeric Envs stabilized by mutations within the gp120 CD4bs cavity (pocket-filling; PF2) or by appending heterologous trimerization motifs to soluble Env ectodomains (gp120/gp140). Recombinant glycoproteins were purified to relative homogeneity, and ligand binding properties were analyzed by ELISA, surface plasmon resonance, and isothermal titration microcalorimetry. In some formats, the PF2 substitutions increased CD4 affinity, and importantly, PF2-containing proteins were better recognized by the broadly neutralizing CD4bs mAbs, VRC01 and VRC-PG04. Based on this analysis, we immunized selected Env variants into rabbits using heterologous or homologous regimens. Analysis of the sera revealed that homologous inoculation of the PF2-containing, variable region-deleted YU2 gp120 trimers (ΔV123/PF2-GCN4) more rapidly elicited CD4bs-directed neutralizing antibodies compared with other regimens, whereas homologous trimers elicited increased neutralization potency, mapping predominantly to the gp120 third major variable region (V3). These results suggest that some engineered Env proteins may more efficiently direct responses toward the conserved CD4bs and be valuable to elicit antibodies of greater neutralizing capacity.
The rise of Firefox in the web browser industry: The role of open source in setting standards

Recent years have witnessed a continuous erosion of the Microsoft Internet Explorer share in the web browser market, mainly induced by the continuous gains of Mozilla Firefox, an open source software product. This tendency would seem to contradict the well-established belief that in a standards battle ‘the strong grow stronger while the weak grow weaker’. The objective of this study is to explain the evolution of web browsers through the analysis of the competitive relationship between the main players in this ongoing battle. We examine two standards battles: first, Netscape versus Microsoft, followed by the more recent battle between Microsoft and Mozilla. The analysis contributes to the understanding of standard battles in the context of open source software. It will be argued that some characteristics of Open Source Firefox, such as the semi-open development approach and the involvement of commercial companies, partially explain the rise of this web browser. Lock-in mechanisms, which historically have been reported to be dominant factors in standards battles, seem to have little impact in the context of open source software.
Preliminary Experiments on a Microbial Fuel Cell

Experiments were initiated to determine whether microbes using a hydrocarbon as food could generate electrical energy. Experiments with ethane were unsuccessful, but when microbes or glucose oxidase were added to a solution of glucose, electrical output was observed, confirming in part previous observations. As far as we know, no one had previously tested hydrocarbons in this manner, although the several effects of microbial activity on redox potential are well known. Failure of the microbes employed to dehydrogenate ethane in the absence of molecular oxygen is discussed in the light of recently published experimental evidence.
The Effects of Regulation and Regulatory Risk in the UK Electricity Distribution Industry

is paper examines the impact of regulation of the UK electricity industry on expectations of investors in the shares of regional electricity companies (RECs). This is done using event-study methodology where the movements of RECs’ returns are compared to movements in the stock market as a whole. We then test for the presence of regulatory risk by modelling the conditional volatility of equity returns before and after 30 significant regulatory events using an ARCH process. Our results show no evidence of regulatory capture in this sector but suggest that regulatory risk does exist.
Alternative instruments for institutional quality and the effect of european settlements on economic development

The study of the effect of institutional quality on economic performance has a long tradition in economic development. Considering the problems of reverse causality in the link between economic development and institutions, most recent research employs instrumental variables for the measurement of this effect. The present paper explores the impact of European settlements on economic development. These settlements are explained as a function of climate, disease environment, and availability of land. Here these variables are found to determine to a great extent European settlements in Africa and the Americas. Consequently, these variables are used as instruments for institutional quality and the large effect of institutions on income per capita documented by previous studies is through them confirmed. This study finds evidence that limitations of other instruments are overcome using these variables as instruments.
Evaluation of security mechanisms in wireless sensor networks

Ad hoc and wireless sensor networks have recently emerged as successful technologies in a number of application domains. The need to build security services into them remains however a considerable challenge as the hardware used often shows serious processing and energy limitations. This work evaluates the impact of a number of security mechanism on sensor nodes and the network as a whole. Hence a number of actual measurements were undertaken in a real sensor platform in order to accurately establish energy consumption for various encryption algorithms; as well the baseline scenario obtained when none of these is used. Measurements have shown that integrity code length added to application messages using some cryptography algorithms and MAC (message authentication code) is acceptable for a sensor node with 128 kB of ROM memory and 4 kB of RAM (MICA2). We also were able to check that power consumption of the encryption process does not in itself cause representative impact, since it is in the micro-joules range.
The Value Relevance of Earnings and Cash Flows: Empirical Evidence for Japan

The Japanese equity market is one of the largest in the world. In recent years, fund managers worldwide have substantially increased their exposure to the Japanese capital markets. In spite of the Japanese capital market's rapid growth and its increasing importance in the international financial world, there has been limited empirical evidence linking security returns to earnings and cash flows. This study extends the growing empirical literature on the association of earnings and cash flows with security returns by using a Japanese dataset consisting of 6,662 firm-year observations for the period 1984-93. We hypothesize that (i) earnings and cash flows are jointly associated with stock returns, and (ii) the association between cash flows (earnings) and security returns increases (decreases) when earnings are transitory. This study provides empirical evidence (i) that cash flows (earnings) have information content beyond earnings (cash flows) in explaining security returns, and (ii) that cash flows (earnings) play a more (less) important role in the marketplace when earnings are transitory. Moreover, results show that the explanatory power of our Japanese models is similar to the evidence provided in prior US studies, indicating that Japanese investors utilize earnings and cash flows in their pricing of equities as their US counterparts.
Accuracy of HPV testing of vaginal smear obtained with a novel self‐sampling device

Background. Most of women diagnosed as having cervical cancer have not participated in organized cytological screening. Aim. A study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of human papilloma virus testing by self‐collected vaginal samples in comparison to regular cytological screening. The agreement of hybrid capture 2 assay and polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of human papilloma virus DNA in self‐collected vaginal samples and clinician‐obtained cervical smears was investigated. Method. Forty‐three women aged 23–58 years admitted for further examination due to previous positive cytology in the organized screening participated in self‐collecting of vaginal samples with a novel self‐sampling device. During the visit a clinician also collected a cervical smear using a cytobrush. The vaginal samples collected with the self‐sampling device were analyzed for high‐risk human papilloma virus with the hybrid capture 2 assay technique and the cervical smears were Pap‐stained, examined cytologically and after that reanalyzed for human papilloma virus DNA using a polymerase chain reaction assay. Result. The vaginal samples were positive for high‐risk human papilloma virus in 37% of the cases using hybrid capture 2 assay. Twelve of the 43 Pap smears showed positive cytology (ASCUS‐CIN 3), of which 4 showed CIN 2–3. When polymerase chain reaction assay was performed, human papilloma virus DNA was detected in 40% of the glass slides. The agreement between cytology and the two human papilloma virus testing techniques was 67–74% (kappa 0.27–0.45) and the agreement between the two human papilloma virus tests was 70% (kappa 0.36). Conclusion. Testing for high‐risk human papilloma virus can identify more women at risk of developing cervical cancer than cytology irrespective of the sampling method. Furthermore, offering a self‐sampling device for collection of vaginal smear seems to be a useful screening tool for cervical cancer among women not responding to an invitation for smear sampling.
The impact of chronic hepatitis B on quality of life: a multinational study of utilities from infected and uninfected persons.

OBJECTIVES Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a condition that results in substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide because of progressive liver damage. Investigators undertaking economic evaluations of new therapeutic agents require estimates of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Recently, evidence has begun to accumulate that differences in cultural backgrounds have a quantifiable impact on perceptions of health. The objective was to elicit utilities for six health states that occur after infection with the hepatitis B virus from infected and uninfected respondents living in jurisdictions with low and with high CHB endemicity. METHODS Standard gamble utilities were elicited from hepatitis patients and uninfected respondents using an interviewer-administered survey in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Generalized linear models were used to the effect on utilities of current health, age and sex, jurisdiction and, for infected respondents, current disease state. RESULTS The sample included 534 CHB-infected patients and 600 uninfected respondents. CHB and compensated cirrhosis had a moderate impact on HRQOL with utilities ranging from 0.68 to 0.80. Decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma had a stronger impact with utilities ranging from 0.35 to 0.41. Significant variation was observed between countries, with both types of respondents in mainland China and Hong Kong reporting systematically lower utilities. CONCLUSIONS Health states related to CHB infection have substantial reductions in HRQOL and the utilities reported in this study provide valuable information for comparing new treatment options. The observed intercountry differences suggest that economic evaluations may benefit from country-specific utility estimates. The extent that systematic intercountry differences in utilities hold true for other infectious and chronic diseases remains an open question and has considerable implications for the proper conduct and interpretation of economic evaluations.
Mixed Routing Strategies for Hazardous Materials: Decision-Making Under Complete Uncertainty

ABSTRACT Previous work on the risk-averse routing of hazardous materials has focused on ways of finding a single safest route between a pair of points. For repeated shipments where there is complete uncertainty about link incident probabilities, it is shown that the safest strategy is in general to use a mix of routes. Starting with a simple two-route example, it is shown that maximum exposure can be significantly reduced by sharing shipments between routes. In order to determine the safest set of routes and the safest share of traffic between these routes, a minmax problem is formulated which considers both the loss in the event of an incident and shipment (travel) cost. Connections to game theory provide useful insights into the nature of the solution. The properties of the optimality conditions are explored leading to the formulation of an equivalent linear programming problem.
Laboratory heating studies with Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli in organic matter, with a view to decontamination of poultry houses.

AIMS To determine a temperature-humidity-time treatment that eliminates Salmonella and Escherichia coli in substrates representing organic matter in poorly cleaned poultry houses, i.e. worst case scenario laboratory tests. METHODS AND RESULTS Organic matter (poultry faeces and feed) in a 2.5-cm layer was inoculated with 2 x 10(5)-3 x 10(6) Salmonella g(-1), left undried or dried at ca. 30% relative humidity (RH) during a 10-day period, and temperature increased at 1 degrees C h(-)1 to the final heating temperature of 50, 55, 60, 65 or 70 degrees C and held at 16-30 or 100% RH. All samples were tested for Salmonella according to predetermined sampling time schedules and faecal samples were also tested for naturally occurring E. coli. Overall, humidity was an important factor in the elimination of Salmonella and E. coli. Results for recovery of Salmonella and E. coli were highly associated. CONCLUSIONS The application of >/=60 degrees C and 100% RH during a 24-h period eliminated Salmonella and E. coli in all samples. Escherichia coli could be used as an indicator bacterium for the elimination of Salmonella. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY The results from worst case scenario laboratory tests could be applied in steam heating of persistently Salmonella-infected poultry houses. The use of E. coli as an indicator bacterium for the validation of Salmonella results should be considered.
The Drosophila retinoblastoma protein induces apoptosis in proliferating but not in post-mitotic cells

The retinoblastoma protein, pRb, plays important roles in many processes implicated in cell fate decisions, including cell cycle, differentiation and apoptosis. In cell cycle regulation, pRb interacts principally with the E2F transcription factor family members to inhibit the transcription of many genes controlling cell cycle progression. In this study, we focused on the role of pRb in apoptosis, which is much less clear than its role in cell cycle regulation. Indeed, pRb has been found to be either pro- or anti-apoptotic. To clarify how the proliferative status of the cells impacts the role of pRb in apoptosis, we used Drosophila to induce RBF (the pRb fly homologue) expression in different cellular and developmental contexts. We found that RBF expression induces apoptosis in different proliferative tissues in a caspase-dependent manner, whereas this effect was not observed in differentiated post-mitotic cells. Furthermore, RBF-induced apoptosis in proliferating cells was inhibited by co-expression of dE2F1, an antagonistic partner of RBF in cell cycle regulation. These results are in agreement with the view that the apoptotic properties of pRb are tightly linked to, and are probably a consequence of, an effect on cell cycle progression. Moreover, we show for the first time that RBF has a direct anti-apoptotic effect on Dmp53-induced cell death in post-mitotic cells only. Taken together, these data clearly show that RBF can exert a dual role in the control of apoptotic processes, and that its properties depend on the proliferative status of the cells.
Resource allocation for OFDM multiple-access relay channels with network coding

Joint scheduling and resource allocation in uplink orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is complicated, and even gets intractable with large subcarrier and user number. This paper investigates the resource allocation for OFDM-based multi-user multiple-access relay channels (MARC) with network coding. We formulate a joint optimization problem considering source pairing, subcarrier assignment, subcarrier pairing and power allocation to maximize the sum-rate under per-user power constraint. The problem is addressed in polynomial time by optimizing three separate subproblems, and afterwards three low-complexity suboptimal algorithms are further proposed. The simulation results demonstrate performance gain of the proposed algorithms versus per-node transmit power and source nodes number, respectively.
Role of the γ‐phosphate of ATP in triggering protein folding by GroEL–GroES: function, structure and energetics

Productive cis folding by the chaperonin GroEL is triggered by the binding of ATP but not ADP, along with cochaperonin GroES, to the same ring as non‐native polypeptide, ejecting polypeptide into an encapsulated hydrophilic chamber. We examined the specific contribution of the γ‐phosphate of ATP to this activation process using complexes of ADP and aluminium or beryllium fluoride. These ATP analogues supported productive cis folding of the substrate protein, rhodanese, even when added to already‐formed, folding‐inactive cis ADP ternary complexes, essentially introducing the γ‐phosphate of ATP in an independent step. Aluminium fluoride was observed to stabilize the association of GroES with GroEL, with a substantial release of free energy (−46 kcal/mol). To understand the basis of such activation and stabilization, a crystal structure of GroEL–GroES–ADP·AlF3 was determined at 2.8 Å. A trigonal AlF3 metal complex was observed in the γ‐phosphate position of the nucleotide pocket of the cis ring. Surprisingly, when this structure was compared with that of the previously determined GroEL–GroES–ADP complex, no other differences were observed. We discuss the likely basis of the ability of γ‐phosphate binding to convert preformed GroEL–GroES–ADP–polypeptide complexes into the folding‐active state.
Is New Zealand's Reserve Bank Act of 1989 an Optimal Central Bank Contract?

This paper evaluates the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act of 1989 from a principal-agent perspective, arguing that the act represents a dismissal rule. The optimal dismissal rule requires that the central banker be dismissed whenever inflation exceeds a critical level that depends on aggregate supply disturbances and measurement error in the inflation index. This is essentially the structure established by the act. The scope for renegotiating the target rate, however, creates an incentive for the government to set the critical rate too high. Consequently, the inflation bias of discretion is reduced but not completely eliminated. Copyright 1995 by Ohio State University Press.
Effects of a 24-week course of interferon-alpha therapy after curative treatment of hepatitis C virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM To assess whether a 24-wk course of interferon (IFN) could prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence and worsening of liver function in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients after receiving curative treatment for primary HCC. METHODS Outcomes in 42 patients with HCV infection treated with IFN-alpha, after curative treatment for primary HCC (IFN group), were compared with 42 matched curatively treated historical controls not given IFN (non-IFN group). RESULTS Although the rate of initial recurrence did not differ significantly between IFN group and non-IFN group (0%, 44%, 61%, and 67% vs 4.8%, 53%, 81%, and 87% at 1, 3, 5, and 7 years, P = 0.153, respectively), IFN group showed a lower rate than the non-IFN group for second recurrence (0%, 10.4%, 28%, and 35% vs 0%, 30%, 59%, and 66% at 1, 3, 5 and 7 years, P = 0.022, respectively). Among the IFN group, patients with sustained virologic response (SVR) were less likely to have a second HCC recurrence than IFN patients without an SVR, or non-IFN patients. Multivariate analysis identified the lack of SVR as the only independent risk factor for a second recurrence, while SVR and Child-Pugh class A independently favored overall survival. CONCLUSION Most intrahepatic recurrences of HCV-related HCC occurred during persistent viral infection. Eradication of HCV is essential for the prevention of HCC recurrence and improvement of survival.
To Pay or To Delay: an Economic Analysis of the Decision To Delay and the Incidence of Delaying the Payment of Corporate Income Tax

This article examines firms' incentives to borrow from the government through delaying the payment of federal income tax. A contingent claims framework is then used to examine the economic incidence of delayed tax payment on the value of debt, equity, and government claims. Because tax laws and rules governing the priority of claims vary across countries, incentives to delay and incidence are examined for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Cluster based human action recognition using latent dirichlet allocation

Recognizing human actions in video streams is a challenging task in the field of image processing and surveillance. This is due to variabilities in shapes, articulations of human body, cluttered background scene and occlusions. Conventional human action recognition algorithms generate coarse clusters of input videos, with lesser information regarding the cluster generation. In this paper, a mapping technique has been proposed which transforms the gait sequences into document-word template required for topic models such as Latent Dirichlet Algorithm (LDA). LDA is used to group the input videos into finer clusters. Experiments on KTH dataset [10] suggest that the proposed algorithm is effective method for recognizing human actions from the video streams.
The Possibility of Estimating Risk Premia in Asset Pricing Models

The authors show that estimates of risk premia on the market based on capital asset pricing models or arbitrage pricing theories can only be estimates of the ex post or sample risk premium on the market and cannot be interpreted as better estimates of the ex ante premium than those provided by sample averages of data. The ex ante premium drops out of the generating function for the returns used in the second-pass regressions. Although previous estimates of nonmarket premia have failed to take appropriate account of the population mean, that mean can in fact be estimated and appropriate adjustments made. Various approaches to estimating the ex ante risk premium and the population mean are discussed.