Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Modulates Microtubule Dynamics via RhoA-GTP-Diaphanous 2 Signaling and Utilizes the Dynein Motors To Deliver Its DNA to the Nucleus

ABSTRACT Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8; also called Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus), which is implicated in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and lymphoproliferative disorders, infects a variety of target cells both in vivo and in vitro. HHV-8 binds to several in vitro target cells via cell surface heparan sulfate and utilizes the α3β1 integrin as one of its entry receptors. Interactions with cell surface molecules induce the activation of host cell signaling cascades and cytoskeletal changes (P. P. Naranatt, S. M. Akula, C. A. Zien, H. H. Krishnan, and B. Chandran, J. Virol. 77:1524-1539, 2003). However, the mechanism by which the HHV-8-induced signaling pathway facilitates the complex events associated with the internalization and nuclear trafficking of internalized viral DNA is as yet undefined. Here we examined the role of HHV-8-induced cytoskeletal dynamics in the infectious process and their interlinkage with signaling pathways. The depolymerization of microtubules did not affect HHV-8 binding and internalization, but it inhibited the nuclear delivery of viral DNA and infection. In contrast, the depolymerization of actin microfilaments did not have any effect on virus binding, entry, nuclear delivery, or infection. Early during infection, HHV-8 induced the acetylation of microtubules and the activation of the RhoA and Rac1 GTPases. The inactivation of Rho GTPases by Clostridium difficile toxin B significantly reduced microtubular acetylation and the delivery of viral DNA to the nucleus. In contrast, the activation of Rho GTPases by Escherichia coli cytotoxic necrotizing factor significantly augmented the nuclear delivery of viral DNA. Among the Rho GTPase-induced downstream effector molecules known to stabilize the microtubules, the activation of RhoA-GTP-dependent diaphanous 2 was observed, with no significant activation in the Rac- and Cdc42-dependent PAK1/2 and stathmin molecules. The nuclear delivery of viral DNA increased in cells expressing a constitutively active RhoA mutant and decreased in cells expressing a dominant-negative mutant of RhoA. HHV-8 capsids colocalized with the microtubules, as observed by confocal microscopic examination, and the colocalization was abolished by the destabilization of microtubules with nocodazole and by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor affecting the Rho GTPases. These results suggest that HHV-8 induces Rho GTPases, and in doing so, modulates microtubules and promotes the trafficking of viral capsids and the establishment of infection. This is the first demonstration of virus-induced host cell signaling pathways in the modulation of microtubule dynamics and in the trafficking of viral DNA to the infected cell nucleus. These results further support our hypothesis that HHV-8 manipulates the host cell signaling pathway to create an appropriate intracellular environment that is conducive to the establishment of a successful infection.
Prevalence and Screening of Traumatic Brain Injury Among Veterans Seeking Mental Health Services

Objectives:To assess the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among Veterans seeking mental health services using a 4-item tool, the Traumatic Brain Injury–4 (TBI-4), and to establish the classification accuracy of the TBI-4 using the Ohio State University TBI-Identification Method as the criterion standard. Study Design:Archival and observational data collected from individuals seeking care at a Mountain State VA Medical Center. Participants:The sample for the archival study was 1810. Three hundred sixteen Veterans completed observational study measures. Main Measures:For the archival study, TBI-4 and demographic data extracted from electronic medical records. For the observational study, the Ohio State University TBI-Identification Method and a demographic questionnaire were used. TBI-4 data were also obtained from electronic medical records. Results:The prevalence of probable TBI among those seeking VA MH treatment was 45%. Sensitivity and specificity of the TBI-4 were 0.74 and 0.56, respectively. Veterans with all levels of TBI severity sought care within this VA mental health setting. Conclusions:The prevalence of TBI in this VA mental health treatment population was higher than expected. Additional research is required to assess the clinical utility of screening for TBI among this population of Veterans.
Money talks in attention bias modification: Reward in a dot-probe task affects attentional biases

Attention bias modification (ABM) aimed at correcting dysfunctional biases in anxiety patients has met with only mild success. Inspired by recent studies showing large effects of financial reward upon attention shifts, we contrasted effects of traditional dot-probe ABM and reward upon attention biases in a between-subject 2 × 2 design. Twenty-seven participants in group cognitive behavioural therapy (GCBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) were randomly assigned to undergo six sessions of a dot-probe task consisting of ABM or placebo ABM along with random or high reward following neutral stimuli. There was no influence of ABM on participants' attention bias over and above the influence of GCBT. Reward, however, had a strong influence on attention bias. Neither ABM nor reward reduced SAD symptoms over and above the effects of GCBT. The results add to the growing evidence that benefits of ABM through dot-probe training are unreliable but suggest on the other hand that rewarding attention may strongly influence dysfunctional attention biases.
Human localization and tracking using distributed motion sensors and an inertial measurement unit

The purpose of this research is to localize a resident in indoor environments by using distributed binary sensors and body activity information obtained from an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The hardware setup consists of two types of sensor nodes. The passive infrared (PIR) sensor node provides binary information about motion in its field of view, while the IMU sensor node collects motion data for body activity recognition, walking velocity and heading estimation. Basic human activities such as sitting, sleeping, standing and walking are recognized. We proposed a particle filter-based sensor fusion algorithm that considers a behavior-based map to increase the localization accuracy. Experiments were conducted in a mock apartment testbed. We used the ground truth data obtained from a motion capture system to evaluate the results.
The pilE gene product of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, required for pilus biogenesis, shares amino acid sequence identity with the N‐termini of type 4 prepilin proteins

A new locus required for type 4 pilus biogenesis by Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been identified. A pilE mutant, designated MJ‐6, was broadly resistant to pili‐specific phages and unable to translocate across solid surfaces by the pilus‐dependent mechanism of twitching motility (Twt−). Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that MJ‐6 was devoid of pili (Pil−) but was unaffected in the production of unassembled pilin pools. Genetic studies aimed at localizing the pilE mutation on the P. aeruginosa PAO chromosome demonstrated a strong co‐linkage between MJ‐6 phage resistance and the proB marker located at 71 min. Cloning of the pilE gene was facilitated by the isolation and identification of a proB+‐containing plasmid from a PAO1 cosmid library. Upon introduction of the PA01 proB+ cosmid clone into MJ‐6, sensitivity to pili‐specific phage, twitching motility and pilus production were restored. The nucleotide sequence of a 1 kb Eco RV‐Clal fragment containing the pilE region revealed a single complete open reading frame with characteristic P. aeruginosa codon bias. PilE, a protein with a molecular weight of 15278, showed significant sequence identity to the pilin precursors of P. aeruginosa and to other type 4 prepilin proteins. The region of highest homology was localized to the N‐terminal 40 amino acid residues. The putative PilE N‐terminus contained a seven‐residue basic leader sequence followed by a consensus cleavage site for prepilin pep‐tidase and a largely hydrophobic region which contained tyrosine residues (Tyr‐24 and Tyr‐27) previously implicated in maintaining pilin subunit‐subunit interactions. The requirement of PilE in pilus biogenesis was confirmed by demonstrating that chromosomal pilE insertion mutants were pilus‐ and twitching‐motility deficient.
Foot contact angle variability during a prolonged run with relation to injury history and habitual foot strike pattern

Foot strike pattern and movement variability have each been associated with running injuries. Foot contact angle (FCA) is a common measure of strike pattern. Thus, variability in FCA could be an important running injury risk factor. The purposes of this study were to compare (a) foot contact angle (FCA) and its variability between runners with and without injury history and, (b) FCA variability between habitual rearfoot strike (RFS) and non‐RFS runners during a prolonged run. Twenty‐three runners with and 21 without injury history participated. Motion capture was used to collect kinematic data during a 40 min treadmill run. Average FCA and its variability were compared between injury groups and among four time points. FCA and its variability were not different between runners with and without injury history or among time points during the run. FCA variability was lower in non‐RFS compared to RFS runners (P < 0.001). Lower FCA variability in non‐RFS runners may have implications for higher injury risks due to repeated localized tissue loading. Prospective analyses on the effects of lower FCA variability on injury risk are needed.
Vision based guide-dog robot system for visually impaired in urban system

This paper presents a research about a vision of guide-dog robot system for visually impaired people via the camera in smart phone. In this system, camera can replace blind people or visually impaired people's eyes to analyze the traffic situation. The recognition of traffic lights is proposed through the adaptive boosting (Adaboost) algorithm and template matching algorithm combined approach. Firstly, Adaboost method is applied for training the Pedestrian light signal detector and secondly by applying template matching algorithm to distinguish the traffic lights between green and red. And vanishing point is applied for zebra-crossing detection, and histogram is applied to defend the misrecognition and separate real zebra-crossing from staircase.
Heterogeneous Vancomycin Resistance in Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated in a Large Italian Hospital

ABSTRACT Of 179 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureusstrains isolated from 1997 to 1998, two strains (1.1%) gave subclones for which the vancomycin MICs were 8 mg/liter. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed identical restriction patterns for both isolates, suggesting transfer of a single clone between two different patients.
Psychology Students and Online Graduate Programs: A Need to Reexamine Undergraduate Advisement

Few online psychology graduate programs are accredited and thus may not provide students with the same career opportunities as programs from traditional universities. We investigated whether psychology majors are more likely than other majors to consider applying to online graduate programs and whether students considering these programs have identifiable demographic characteristics. Forty-five percent of the surveyed psychology majors considered applying to online graduate programs. The students most interested in these programs were working and had lower GPAs. Results highlight the importance of identifying and then providing appropriate advisement to psychology undergraduates who might consider applying to online graduate programs.
Downlink and Uplink Energy Minimization Through User Association and Beamforming in C-RAN

The cloud radio access network (C-RAN) concept, in which densely deployed access points (APs) are empowered by cloud computing to cooperatively support mobile users (MUs), to improve mobile data rates, has been recently proposed. However, the high density of active APs results in severe interference and also inefficient energy consumption. Moreover, the growing popularity of highly interactive applications with stringent uplink (UL) requirements, e.g., network gaming and real-time broadcasting by wireless users, means that the UL transmission is becoming more crucial and requires special attention. Therefore in this paper, we propose a joint downlink (DL) and UL MU-AP association and beamforming design to coordinate interference in the C-RAN for energy minimization, a problem which is shown to be NP hard. Due to the new consideration of UL transmission, it is shown that the two state-of-the-art approaches for finding computationally efficient solutions of joint MU-AP association and beamforming considering only the DL, i.e., group-sparse optimization and relaxed-integer programming, cannot be modified in a straightforward way to solve our problem. Leveraging on the celebrated UL-DL duality result, we show that by establishing a virtual DL transmission for the original UL transmission, the joint DL and UL optimization problem can be converted to an equivalent DL problem in C-RAN with two inter-related subproblems for the original and virtual DL transmissions, respectively. Based on this transformation, two efficient algorithms for joint DL and UL MU-AP association and beamforming design are proposed, whose performances are evaluated and compared with other benchmarking schemes through extensive simulations.
Analytical Model for Predicting Maximum Reduction Levels of Vibration and Noise in Switched Reluctance Machine by Active Vibration Cancellation

High acoustic noise and vibration is one of the main drawbacks, which has limited the wide application of switched reluctance machine (SRM), especially when it is noise and vibration sensitive. Therefore, many studies have been carried out to reduce the acoustic noise and vibration of SRM. One attractive and effective method is the active vibration cancellation (AVC) proposed by Wu and Pollock, which is easy to realize without increasing any hardware. This paper presents a simple analytical method for predicting the maximum reduction levels of vibration and noise by AVC, compared with the conventional excitation. Its predicted results are then verified by experiments on a prototype 6/4 SRM.
Comparing midwife-led and doctor-led maternity care: a systematic review of reviews.

AIMS A report of a systematic review of reviews which examines the impact of having midwives-led maternity care for low-risk women, rather than physicians. BACKGROUND A rising birth rate, increasing complexity of births, and economic constraints pose difficulties for maternity services in the UK. Evidence about the most effective, cost-effective, and efficient ways to give maternity services is needed. DATA SOURCES Searches were carried out in August-September 2009 of ten electronic databases, 16 key nursing and research websites, and reference lists of 56 relevant reviews. We also contacted 38 experts for information. No date restrictions were employed. REVIEW METHODS A narrative review of systematic reviews or 'meta review' was conducted using transparent and systematic procedures to limit bias at all stages. Systematic reviews that compared midwife-led care during pregnancy and birth with physician-led care were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS Three meta-analytic reviews were included. Midwife-led care for low-risk women was found to be better for a range of maternal outcomes, reduced the number of procedures in labour, and increased satisfaction with care. For some maternal, foetal, and neonatal outcomes reviews found no evidence that care led by midwives is different to that led by physicians. No adverse outcomes associated with midwife-led care were identified. CONCLUSIONS For low-risk women, health and other benefits can result from having their maternity care led by midwives rather than physicians. Moreover, there appear to be no negative impacts on mothers and infants receiving midwife-led care.
Endocannabinoid signalling selectively targets perisomatic inhibitory inputs to pyramidal neurones in juvenile mouse neocortex

Retrograde synaptic signalling has long been recognized as a fundamental feature of neural systems. However, the cellular specificity and functional consequences of fast retrograde communication are not well understood. We have focused our efforts on understanding the role that endocannabinoids play in regulating synaptic inhibition in sensory neocortex. Recent studies have implicated endocannabinoids as the retrograde signalling molecules that underlie depolarization‐induced suppression of inhibition, or DSI. This short‐term form of presynaptic depression is triggered by postsynaptic depolarization and is likely to play an important role in information processing. In the present study we investigated the cellular and synaptic specificity of endocannabinoid signalling in sensory cortex using whole‐cell recordings from layer 2/3 pyramidal neurones (PNs) in acute brain slices. We report that GABAergic interneurones that are depolarized by muscarinic receptor stimulation provided the majority of DSI‐susceptible inputs to neocortical PNs. This subclass of interneurones generated large, fast postsynaptic currents in PNs which were transiently suppressed by either postsynaptic depolarization or a brief train of action potentials. Neocortical DSI required activation of the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R) but not metabotropic glutamate or GABA receptors. Using focal drug application, we found that the DSI‐susceptible afferents preferentially synapse on the perisomatic membrane of PNs, and not on the apical dendrites. Together, these results suggest that endocannabinoid‐mediated DSI in the cortex can transiently and selectively depress a subclass of PN inputs. Although the physiological implications remain to be explored, this suppression of somatic inhibition may alter the excitability of principal neurones and thereby modulate cortical output.
The lived experience of having a rare medical disorder: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome

Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome is a rare form of albinism, affecting approximately one in 500,000 to one in 1,000,000 non-Hispanic individuals. The syndrome is more commonly found in Hispanics, where one in 18,00 individuals in Northwestern Puerto Rico are impacted. Because of the rarity of this chronic condition, patients often face challenges in their ability to cope with the diagnosis. A phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experience of individuals with this rare genetic disease. A purposive sample of adults between the ages of 20 and 49 diagnosed with Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome was interviewed (N = 23). The majority (83%) were female. Data analysis resulted in the emergence of themes related to long road to diagnosis, learning to move forward, burden of being the expert, and survival through belonging to the HPS community.
Tissue-engineered mandibular bone reconstruction for continuity defects: a systematic approach to the literature.

BACKGROUND Despite significant surgical advances over the last decades, segmental mandibular bone repair remains a challenge. In light of this, tissue engineering might offer a next step in the evolution of mandibular reconstruction. PURPOSE The purpose of the present report was to (1) systematically review preclinical in vivo as well as clinical literature regarding bone tissue engineering for mandibular continuity defects, and (2) to analyze their effectiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS An electronic search in the databases of the National Library of Medicine and ISI Web of Knowledge was carried out. Only publications in English were considered, and the search was broadened to animals and humans. Furthermore, the reference lists of related review articles and publications selected for inclusion in this review were systematically screened. Results of histology data and amount of bone bridging were chosen as primary outcome variables. However, for human reports, clinical radiographic evidence was accepted for defined primary outcome variable. The biomechanical properties, scaffold degradation, and clinical wound healing were selected as co-outcome variables. RESULTS The electronic search in the databases of the National Library of Medicine and ISI Web of Knowledge resulted in the identification of 6727 and 5017 titles, respectively. Thereafter, title assessment and hand search resulted in 128 abstracts, 101 full-text articles, and 29 scientific papers reporting on animal experiments as well as 11 papers presenting human data on the subject of tissue-engineered reconstruction of mandibular continuity defects that could be included in the present review. CONCLUSIONS It was concluded that (1) published preclinical in vivo as well as clinical data are limited, and (2) tissue-engineered approaches demonstrate some clinical potential as an alternative to autogenous bone grafting.
The Effectiveness of Distance Education across Virginia's Community Colleges: Evidence from Introductory College-Level Math and English Courses

Although online learning is rapidly expanding in the community college setting, there is little evidence regarding its effectiveness among community college students. In the current study, the authors used a statewide administrative data set to estimate the effects of taking one's first college-level math or English course online rather than face to face, in terms of both course retention and course performance. Several empirical strategies were used to minimize the effects of student self-selection, including multilevel propensity score. The findings indicate a robust negative impact of online course taking for both subjects. Furthermore, by comparing the results of two matching methods, the authors conclude that within-school matching on the basis of a multilevel model addresses concerns regarding selection issues more effectively than does traditional propensity score matching across schools.
Detection of Indigenous HalobacillusPopulations in Damaged Ancient Wall Paintings and Building Materials: Molecular Monitoring and Cultivation

ABSTRACT Several moderately halophilic gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria have been isolated by conventional enrichment cultures from damaged medieval wall paintings and building materials. Enrichment and isolation were monitored by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and fluorescent in situ hybridization. 16S ribosomal DNA analysis showed that the bacteria are most closely related to Halobacillus litoralis. DNA-DNA reassociation experiments identified the isolates as a population of hitherto unknownHalobacillus species.