Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral bacteria induce a differential activation of human immunodeficiency virus-1 promoter in T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells.

INTRODUCTION The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can integrate into T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells resulting in a latent infection. Reports have also demonstrated that various microbial and host cell factors can trigger HIV reactivation leading to HIV recrudescence, potentially undermining highly active antiretroviral therapies. METHODS This study evaluated the capacity of oral bacteria associated with chronic periodontal infections to stimulate HIV promoter activation in various cell models of HIV latency. RESULTS T cells (1G5) challenged with oral bacteria demonstrated a dose-response of HIV promoter activation with a subset of the bacteria, as well as kinetics that were generally similar irrespective of the stimuli. Direct bacterial challenge of the T cells resulted in increased activation of approximately 1.5- to 7-fold over controls. Challenge of macrophages (BF24) indicated different kinetics for individual bacteria and resulted in consistent increases in promoter activation of five fold to six fold over basal levels for all bacteria except Streptococcus mutans. Dendritic cells showed increases in HIV reactivation of 7- to 34-fold specific for individual species of bacteria. CONCLUSION These results suggested that oral bacteria have the capability to reactivate HIV from latently infected cells, showing a relationship of mature dendritic cells > immature dendritic cells > macrophages > or = T cells. Expression of various pattern recognition receptors on these various cell types may provide insight into the primary receptors/signaling pathways used for reactivation by the bacteria.
Pathogenic diversity of avocado and mango isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing anthracnose and pepper spot in Australia

Abstract.Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a major fungal pathogen of avocado and mango fruit in Australia and overseas. It causes anthracnose and stem-end rot in these crops but has also been identified as the causal pathogen of pepper spot of avocado and tear stain of mango. Research was initiated to determine the pathogenic diversity of pepper spot, with emphasis on avocado. Eighty C. gloeosporioides isolates obtained from avocado and mango fruit showing anthracnose and pepper spot symptoms were screened for pathogenicity, comparative aggressiveness and cross-infection potential by inoculating onto detached avocado and mango fruit, avocado leaf petioles and branches of young, grafted nursery trees, as well as avocado fruit and pedicels still attached to the tree. On detached, ripening avocado and mango fruit in the laboratory, it was found that pepper spot isolates were as capable as anthracnose isolates of causing anthracnose lesions. However, avocado isolates were significantly (P < .05) more aggressive than mango isolates on avocado fruit and mango isolates were significantly (P < 0.05) more aggressive than avocado isolates on mango fruit. In field inoculations, pepper spots were formed on developing avocado fruit and pedicels on the tree. Likewise, pepper spots developed on petioles and branches of nursery avocado trees, but not on their leaves. When all isolates were grouped according to symptom or host of origin, significant differences in lesion severity were demonstrated between isolates on avocado petioles in the glasshouse, with avocado pepper spot isolates being the most aggressive, followed by avocado anthracnose isolates then mango isolates from both anthracnose and pepper spot, respectively. On unripe avocado fruit in the field, the pattern was generally similar with the mango isolates being the least aggressive. There were more and less pathogenic strains present in the pathogen populations from both mango fruit and avocado fruit but neither were restricted to anthracnose or pepper spot groupings. Generally, a higher percentage of the most aggressive isolates was from avocado pepper spot. When isolates were grouped according to the orchard of origin, there were significant differences in aggressiveness to avocado both in the glasshouse and the field.
An Interface and Framework Design for Interactive Aesthetic Sonification

This paper describes the interface design of our AeSon (Aesthetic Sonification) Toolkit motivated by user-centred customisation of the aesthetic representation and scope of the data. The interface design is developed from 3 premises that distinguish our approach from more ubiquitous sonification methodologies. Firstly, we prioritise interaction both from the perspective of changing scale, scope and presentation of the data and the user's ability to reconfigure spatial panning, modality, pitch distribution, critical thresholds and granularity of data examined. The user, for the majority of parameters, determines their own listening experience for real-time data sonification, even to the extent that the interface can be used for live data-driven performance, as well as traditional information analysis and examination. Secondly, we have explored the theories of Tufte, Fry and other visualization and information design experts to find ways in which principles that are successful in the field of information visualization may be translated to the domain of sonification. Thirdly, we prioritise aesthetic variables and controls in the interface, derived from musical practice, aesthetics in information design and responses to experimental user evaluations to inform the design of the sounds and display. In addition to using notions of meter, beat, key or modality and emphasis drawn from music, we draw on our experiments that evaluated the effects of spatial separation in multivariate data presentations.
Characterization of the neuropilin‐1 promoter; gene expression is mediated by the transcription factor Sp1

Neuropilin‐1 (NRP1) is a receptor for the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family of angiogenesis factors and for the semaphorin family of secreted neuronal guidance polypeptides. Very little is known, however, about how NRP1 gene expression is regulated. In this study, it was demonstrated that the tumor promoter, TPA (12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate) significantly up‐regulated NRP1 mRNA levels by increasing its gene transcription rate in a manner dependent on de novo protein synthesis. To determine which elements regulate functional NRP1 expression, the promoter regions of human and mouse NRP1 genes were cloned and characterized. Promoter‐reporter gene transfection experiments using deletion and point mutations demonstrated that two Sp1 elements are major contributors to both the constitutive and TPA‐induced activity of the NRP1 promoter. Gel shift analysis showed a specific binding of the Sp1 transcription factor to those elements. Further mutational analysis revealed that an AP‐1, and a CCAAT box also contributed to NRP1 constitutive and TPA‐induced promoter activity. It was concluded that NRP1 expression is regulated by the cooperation of several regulatory elements including AP‐1, Sp1, and a CCAAT box. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Privacy of Hidden Profiles: Utility-Preserving Profile Removal in Online Forums

Users who wish to leave an online forum often do not have the freedom to erase their data completely from the service providers' (SP) system. The primary reason behind this is that analytics on such user data form a core component of many online providers' business models. On the other hand, if the profiles reside in the SP's system in an unchanged form, major privacy violations may occur if the infrastructure is compromised, or the SP is acquired by another organization. In this work, we investigate an alternative solution to standard profile removal, where posts of different users are split and merged into synthetic mediator profiles. The goal of our framework is to preserve the SP's data mining utility as far as possible, while minimizing users' privacy risks. We present several mechanisms of assigning user posts to such mediator accounts and show the effectiveness of our framework using data from StackExchange and various health forums.
Congestion control in vehicular networks using network coding

Beacon messages are periodic 1-hop broadcast messages which are sent by each vehicle to let neighboring vehicles/infrastructures be aware of its position, speed, and change of direction. Beacon information plays a crucial role for many applications including active safety applications through which vehicles can predict the position of neighboring vehicles and be able to take instant decisions to avoid any emergency situation. However, such influx of broadcast messages may lead to beacon overhead and congestion. These result in low message reception as well as excessive delay. Beacon overhead and congestion may affect emergency messages, channel arbitration messages and other control messages which share a common channel as specified by DRSC/WAVE. This paper proposes a mechanism for controlling beacon overhead by adopting packet level network coding. The simulations prove that our scheme has higher packet delivery ratio and higher successful channel utilization compared to CSMA/CA protocol.
Effects of the flavonol quercetin and α-linolenic acid on n-3 PUFA status in metabolically healthy men and women: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial

Abstract Increased dietary intake and tissue status of the long-chain n-3 PUFA, EPA and DHA, is associated with cardiovascular benefits. Epidemiological and animal studies suggest that concomitant nutritive intake of flavonoids may increase the conversion of α-linolenic acid (ALA) to longer-chain n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. We investigated the effects of increased ALA intake on fatty acid composition of serum phospholipids and erythrocytes in metabolically healthy men and women and whether fatty acid profiles and ALA conversion were affected by regular quercetin intake or sex. Subjects (n 74) were randomised to receive at least 3·3 g/d ALA with either 190 mg/d quercetin (ALA+quercetin) or placebo (ALA+placebo) in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with 8-week intervention periods separated by an 8-week washout period. A total of seven subjects dropped out for personal reasons. Data from the remaining sixty-seven subjects (thirty-four males and thirty-three females) were included in the analysis. Both interventions significantly increased serum phospholipid ALA (ALA+placebo: +69·3 %; ALA+quercetin: +55·8 %) and EPA (ALA+placebo: +37·3 %; ALA+quercetin: +25·5 %). ALA + quercetin slightly decreased DHA concentration by 9·3 %. Erythrocyte ALA and EPA significantly increased with both interventions, whereas DHA decreased. Fatty acid composition did not differ between sexes. We found no effect of quercetin. Intake of 3·6 g/d ALA over an 8-week period resulted in increased ALA and EPA, but not DHA, in serum phospholipids and erythrocytes. Neither quercetin supplementation nor sex affected the increment of ALA and relative proportions of n-3 PUFA in serum phospholipids and erythrocytes.
Analysis of Assembly and Trafficking of Native P2X4 and P2X7 Receptor Complexes in Rodent Immune Cells*

P2X4 and P2X7 are the predominant P2X receptor subtypes expressed in immune cells. Having previously shown a structural and functional interaction between the two recombinant receptors, our aims here were to identify the preferred assembly pathway of the endogenous receptors in macrophage-like cells and to investigate the trafficking of these receptors between the plasma membrane and intracellular sites. We exploited the difference in size between the two subunits, and we used a combination of cross-linkers and blue native-PAGE analysis to investigate the subunit composition of complexes present in primary cultures of rat microglia and macrophages from wild type and P2X7–/– mice. Our results indicate that the preferred assembly pathway for both receptors is the formation of homotrimers. Homotrimers of P2X7 were able to co-immunoprecipitate with P2X4, suggesting that an interaction occurs between rather than within receptor complexes. In both macrophages and microglia, P2X7 receptors were predominantly at the cell surface, whereas P2X4 receptors were predominantly intracellular. There were clear cell type-dependent differences in the extent to which P2X4 receptors trafficked to and from the surface; trafficking was much more dynamic in microglia than in the macrophages, and further activation of cultured microglia with relatively short (3-h) incubations with lipopolysaccharide caused an ∼4-fold increase in the fraction of receptors at the surface with only a 1.2-fold increase in total expression. The redistribution of intracellular receptors is thus an efficient means of enhancing the functional expression of P2X4 at the plasma membrane of microglia.
Linearity Test Time Reduction for Analog-to-Digital Converters Using the Kalman Filter with Experimental Parameter Estimation

This work develops appropriate system and noise models, and a corresponding form of the Kalman filter to improve linearity test accuracy for high-resolution ADCs, while all necessary parameters are obtained from experimental measurements. The proposed algorithm can achieve comparable accuracy as that of the conventional histogram algorithm, by using a much smaller number of samples. This method can significantly shorten the test time and lower the cost of ADC production.
A New Crucial Protein Interaction Element That Targets the Adenovirus E4-ORF1 Oncoprotein to Membrane Vesicles

ABSTRACT Human adenovirus type 9 exclusively elicits mammary tumors in experimental animals, and the primary oncogenic determinant of this virus is the E4-ORF1 oncogene, as opposed to the well-known E1A and E1B oncogenes. The tumorigenic potential of E4-ORF1, as well as its ability to oncogenically stimulate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), depends on a carboxyl-terminal PDZ domain-binding motif (PBM) that mediates interactions with several different membrane-associated cellular PDZ proteins, including MUPP1, PATJ, MAGI-1, ZO-2, and Dlg1. Nevertheless, because certain E4-ORF1 mutations that alter neither the sequence nor the function of the PBM abolish E4-ORF1-induced PI3K activation and cellular transformation, we reasoned that E4-ORF1 must possess an additional crucial protein element. In the present study, we identified seven E4-ORF1 amino acid residues that define this new element, designated domain 2, and showed that it mediates binding to a 70-kDa cellular phosphoprotein. We also discovered that domain 2 or the PBM independently promotes E4-ORF1 localization to cytoplasmic membrane vesicles and that this activity of domain 2 depends on E4-ORF1 trimerization. Consistent with the latter observation, molecular-modeling analyses predicted that E4-ORF1 trimerization brings together six out of seven domain 2 residues at each of the three subunit interfaces. These findings importantly demonstrate that PI3K activation and cellular transformation induced by E4-ORF1 require two separate protein interaction elements, domain 2 and the PBM, each of which targets E4-ORF1 to vesicle membranes in cells.
Erythroid-specific nuclease-hypersensitive sites flanking the human beta-globin domain

Recent evidence suggests that DNA sequences from the region lying 5' of the human epsilon-globin gene are important for erythroid-specific expression of human beta-like globin genes. This region, as well as a region 20 kilobases (kb) downstream from the beta-globin gene, contains a set of developmentally stable, DNase I-superhypersensitive sites that are thought to reflect a chromatin structure supporting active globin gene expression. We have analyzed the chromatin structure in these two regions in a wide variety of nonerythroid and erythroid cells. The study included analysis of chromatin structure changes occurring during globin gene activation in mouse erythroleukemia-human nonerythroid cell hybrids. The results identified a hypersensitive site (III) 14.8 kb upstream of the epsilon-globin gene that was strictly correlated with active globin gene transcription. Interestingly, a multipotent human embryonal carcinoma cell line exhibited a hypersensitive site (IV) 18.4 kb upstream of epsilon-globin that was absent in all other nonerythroid cells examined, suggesting that chromatin structure changes at specific hypersensitive sites during embryonic development may also be important in globin gene repression.
Hormone Modulation: A Novel Therapeutic Approach for Women with Severe Mental Illness

Objectives: Accumulating evidence describes the effects of oestrogen and other gonadal hormones on the central nervous system and, in particular, on the mental state of women. Evidence supporting the psychotherapeutic effects of exogenous oestrogen has started to emerge only over the past two decades. The purpose of the present paper was to provide an overview of different applications of adjunctive hormones, as treatments for symptoms of severe mental illness in women. Methods: Three case reports are presented: in each case the woman selected had participated in large, double-blind, randomized controlled trials exploring hormone modulation. Case study 1 presents a premenopausal woman with schizophrenia, who received an 8 week trial of daily adjunctive 200 µg transdermal oestradiol. Case study 2 presents a postmenopausal woman with schizophrenia on a 12 week trial of adjunctive raloxifene hydrochloride 120 mg per day−1. Case study 3 presents a woman with schizoaffective disorder, in the manic phase, who received tamoxifen 40 mg per day−1 for 28 days. Results: Adjunctive oestradiol was associated with an improvement in symptoms of psychosis in a premenopausal woman with schizophrenia; adjunctive raloxifene was associated with an improvement in cognitive functioning in a postmenopausal woman with schizophrenia; and adjunctive tamoxifen was associated with an improvement in symptoms of mania in a woman with schizoaffective disorder. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with preliminary research trials suggesting that adjunctive hormone modulation is a promising area of gender-specific treatment for serious mental illness.
Consensus-based P-f and Q-V droop control for multiple parallel-connected inverters in lossy networks

Micro-grid is a system with various distributed energy sources integrated. Due to its inherent distributed and heterogeneous nature, the micro-grid becomes ideal platform for consensus-based multi-agent control. Conventionally, power sharing in a micro-grid is achieved by autonomous P-f and Q-V droop control on individual inverters, which suffers from lack of frequency restoration mechanism and dependence on output line impedance. While the previously developed Q-V droop control still ends up with inaccurate reactive power sharing under strongly non-uniform line impedance. In this paper, a consensus-based P-f and Q-V droop control with sparse communication network is proposed. With the networks considered to be lossy, its operation principle and control method are explained, and stability of the closed-loop system is investigated by the energy function approach. Simulation results of a 4-node 3-inverter system are then presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.
Distrustful, Conventional, Entitled, and Dysregulated: PID-5 Personality Facets Predict Hostile Masculinity and Sexual Violence in Community Men

Psychopathy and narcissism are known predictors of sexual violence, but they are broad personality constructs with limited utility in intervention and prevention efforts. The Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) assesses 25 specific personality facets residing in five higher order domains. The goal of this research was to test the PID-5 in a sexual aggression model, which also included hostile masculinity, juvenile delinquency, and five sexual assault indices. A nationwide sample of adult men (N = 512) completed the online survey. Hostile masculinity and juvenile delinquency were expected to have direct paths to sexual violence in a structural equation model. Hostile masculinity was also hypothesized as a mediator between sexual violence and PID-5 facets related to narcissism and psychopathy. These hypotheses were largely supported. Overall, 29.5% of men reported perpetrating sexual violence at least once, and 24.2% reported multiple assaults. In the sexually violent sample, 45.7% endorsed completed rape as their most severe act. PID-5 Suspiciousness, Cognitive and Perceptual Dysregulation, Grandiosity, and a lack of Eccentricity emerged as indirect predictors of sexual violence. These PID-5 facets were mediated by hostile masculinity, which had a reliable path to sexual violence. Juvenile delinquency had a direct and indirect path to sexual assault. The model accounted for 48% of the variance in latent sexual violence, and the five sexual violence index R2s ranged from . 53 to . 82. This research adds specificity to sexual violence models by demonstrating the underlying maladaptive personality trait structures associated with sexual assault. It also provides a more precise personality profile for clinical use and prevention programs.
Remember the Saphenous: Ultrasound Evaluation and Intravenous Site Selection of Peripheral Veins in Young Children

Objectives The primary objective of this study was to measure the width and depth of peripheral veins using bedside ultrasound in children younger than 3 years. Secondary objectives included the evaluation of other vein and patient characteristics that may affect intravenous (IV) site selection. Assessment of nursing preferences for peripheral IV site selection was performed. Methods Sixty children aged 0 to 3 years who presented to an urban pediatric emergency department were enrolled. Ultrasound measurements of the transverse diameter (width) and distance from the top of the vein to the skin (depth) were recorded. Upon examination, veins were categorized as visible, palpable, detectable only by ultrasound, or not detectable. Sixteen staff nurses rated the likelihood of successful IV placement among different peripheral veins. Results The mean width of saphenous veins was significantly larger than that of hand veins (2.8 vs 1.8 mm, P < 0.0001). When comparing saphenous veins to antecubital veins, no significant difference was measured between the mean width (2.8 vs 2.8 mm). The mean depth of saphenous veins was significantly greater than those of hand veins (1.9 vs 1.4 mm, P < 0.0001) and antecubital veins (1.9 vs 1.6 mm, P = 0.019). Differences in visibility and palpability were observed between different vein types. Hand veins and antecubital veins were rated by the nursing staff as the most likely sites for successful IV placement, whereas saphenous veins were among the least likely (P < 0.0001). Conclusions In children younger than 3 years, the saphenous vein is larger than hand veins and is similar in size to antecubital veins, although marginal differences in depth exist. The sonographic findings of the saphenous vein and antecubital vein suggest that either should be considered a superior first choice for IV cannulation in this age group. Knowledge of these differences is important when choosing a site for peripheral IV placement. Future studies should evaluate peripheral IV success rates by vein type with or without ultrasound guidance.