Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rescue of measles viruses from cloned DNA.

A system has been established allowing the rescue of replicating measles viruses (MVs) from cloned DNA. On one hand, plasmids were constructed from which MV antigenomic RNAs with the correct termini are transcribed by phage T7 RNA polymerase. On the other hand, helper cells derived from the human embryonic kidney 293 cell line were generated constitutively expressing T7 RNA polymerase together with MV nucleocapsid protein and phosphoprotein. Simultaneous transfection of the helper cells with the MV antigenomic plasmid and with a plasmid encoding the MV polymerase under direction of a T7 promoter led to formation of syncytia from which MVs were easily recovered. A genetic tag comprising three nucleotide changes was present in the progeny virus. As a first application of reverse genetics, a segment of 504 nucleotides from the 5′ non‐coding region of the fusion gene was deleted, leading to an MV variant whose replication behaviour in Vero cells was indistinguishable from that of the laboratory Edmonston B strain. Since no helper virus is involved, this system, in principle, should be applicable to the rescue of any member of the large virus order Mononegavirales, i.e. viruses with a nonsegmented negative‐strand RNA genome.
Envelope Control for Four-Wheel Independently Actuated Autonomous Ground Vehicle Through AFS/DYC Integrated Control

This paper proposes an envelope control framework for four-wheel independently actuated autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) to regulate it on desired path and simultaneously control it to the driving limits. The envelope control framework is achieved based on the integrated control of active front-wheel steer and direct yaw-moment control. In a speed controller, the G-G diagram is used to describe the driving limits on each path segment. The desired traction and braking force is calculated according to the G-G diagram and desired path. In a path-following controller, a feedforward–feedback lateral controller is designed to calculate the desired steering angle to follow the desired path. In a yaw-moment controller, the β–r phase portraits are utilized to describe the handling limits. The yaw-moment controller aims at keeping the AGV from losing stability in limit driving, which is calculated through a sliding mode controller and provided by the independent motors actuation. Through an independent driving technique, the tyre cornering stiffness is estimated online based on the predefined Magic Formula model to improve the controller's robustness. An autonomous Formula Student racecar developed by the authors is used as testbed. The autonomous driving experiments on racetrack validate the efficiency of the proposed controller.
Predicting Survival among Patients Listed for Liver Transplantation: An Assessment of Serial MELD Measurements

We examined whether consideration of repeated model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) measurements for patients listed for liver transplantation improves predictive value beyond current MELD alone. Clinical data were extracted for all adult primary liver transplantation candidates from our institution who were listed with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) between 1990 and 1999. Serum creatinine, bilirubin, and international normalized ratio (INR) were obtained from an institutional laboratory database. Cox models were constructed using current MELD, change in MELD (Delta), and number of MELD scores to predict survival on the waiting list. Eight hundred and sixty‐one patients met inclusion criteria, 639 underwent transplantation, and 80 died while waiting. A one‐unit increment in current MELD imparted significant hazard ratios ranging from 1.12 to 1.19 in all models. Delta MELD was predictive of mortality univariately, but less predictive when current MELD was included, and not predictive when considered with both current and number of MELD scores. Overall, current MELD is the single most important determinant of mortality risk on the waiting list. Delta MELD is predictive of death only within 4 d of the event; however, part of this correlates with the dying process itself, thus limiting Delta MELD's utility in survival prediction models.
Bilateral Complete Cleft Lip and Nasal Deformity: An Anthropometric Analysis of Staged to Synchronous Repair

This is a retrospective accounting of a personal evolution from staged to synchronous surgical correction of bilateral complete cleft lip and nasal deformity. Technical development can be separated into three phases: (1) two-stage lip/nasal repair with a banked forked flap and subsequent intranasal transposition of the tines (n = 15), (2) two-stage lip/nasal repair and later transection of the banked tines (n = 5), and (3) one-stage lip/nasal repair without a forked flap (n= 12) and with closure of alveolar clefts (n = 6 of 12). The premaxillary orthopedic program employed a removable jackscrew device in phases 1 and 2; the Georgiade-Latham pin-retained appliance was used in phase 3.
Inter-Municipal Cooperation and Satisfaction with Services: Evidence from the Norwegian Citizen Study

ABSTRACT We investigate the effects of inter-municipal cooperation on citizen satisfaction with fire services and refuse handling. While there is a growing interest in cooperation as a way of providing municipal services, little is known of the effect on citizen satisfaction. Through a multilevel analysis combining individual and municipal data, we find that inter-municipal cooperation has a negative effect on satisfaction with fire services, no effect on refuse collection but a positive effect on satisfaction with source separation. The results, we argue, show how the organizational form may affect satisfaction in different ways depending on service characteristics.
Generation of Signaling Specificity in Arabidopsis by Spatially Restricted Buffering of Ligand–Receptor Interactions[C][W][OA]

Through genetic analysis, this work identifies a growth function for a subset of ligands (CHALf) of the EPFL family. The results indicate that different EPFL members modulate discrete functions of the ER receptor family and that EPFLf signal specificity is achieved through spatial restriction of the TMM receptor, which potentiates stomatal EPFL signals and dampens CHALf growth signals. Core signaling pathways function in multiple programs during multicellular development. The mechanisms that compartmentalize pathway function or confer process specificity, however, remain largely unknown. In Arabidopsis thaliana, ERECTA (ER) family receptors have major roles in many growth and cell fate decisions. The ER family acts with receptor TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM) and several ligands of the EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR LIKE (EPFL) family, which play distinct yet overlapping roles in patterning of epidermal stomata. Here, our examination of EPFL genes EPFL6/CHALLAH (CHAL), EPFL5/CHALLAH-LIKE1, and EPFL4/CHALLAH-LIKE2 (CLL2) reveals that this family may mediate additional ER-dependent processes. chal cll2 mutants display growth phenotypes characteristic of er mutants, and genetic interactions are consistent with CHAL family molecules acting as ER family ligands. We propose that different classes of EPFL genes regulate different aspects of ER family function and introduce a TMM-based discriminatory mechanism that permits simultaneous, yet compartmentalized and distinct, function of the ER family receptors in growth and epidermal patterning.
Cytoplasmic Form of Carlr lncRNA Facilitates Inflammatory Gene Expression upon NF-κB Activation

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of inflammation. To further understand the interaction between inflammatory signaling pathways and lncRNAs, we characterized the function of cardiac and apoptosis-related lncRNA (Carlr), an lncRNA expressed in both mouse and human cells of diverse tissues. Carlr expression is increased following NF-κB signaling in macrophages, with concomitant translocation to, and enrichment of, the transcript in the cytoplasm. Knockdown of Carlr results in impaired expression of NF-κB pathway genes and influences the interaction between macrophages and intestinal cells in an inflammatory environment. In human celiac disease patient samples, increased levels of the Carlr transcript were detected in the cytoplasm, alongside elevated expression of NF-κB pathway genes. These findings suggest that increased Carlr expression and/or cytoplasmic localization is required for efficient NF-κB signaling and is associated with the inflamed tissue state observed in human celiac disease.
Randomized Phase II Study of IL-2 With or Without an Allogeneic Large Multivalent Immunogen Vaccine for the Treatment of Stage IV Melanoma

Objective:To evaluate the activity of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in combination with allogeneic large multivalent immunogen (LMI) vaccine, prepared by immobilizing SK23-CD80+ melanoma cell line plasma membrane on 5-&mgr;m-diameter silica beads, in patients with melanoma. Methods:Twenty-one patients with metastatic melanoma were randomly assigned to an IL-2 alone control group or an IL-2 plus LMI vaccine treatment group. The primary objective was to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) of each group. Secondary clinical objectives included median overall survival (OS) and 1- and 2-year rates of OS. Results:Treatment was very well tolerated. Median PFS was no different between the treatment arm (2.20 mo) and control arm (1.95 mo). Median OS was also similar for the treatment arm (11.89 mo) and control arm (9.97 mo). Conclusions:This study failed to demonstrate that allogeneic LMI vaccine and low-dose IL-2 improved survival in patients with melanoma as compared with low-dose IL-2 alone.
Employee Stock Options with Performance Conditions: Do Commonly Used Valuation Heuristics Work?

Valuation heuristics are widely used in industry practice, policy documents, and several academic studies to value traditional time vesting option plans. This paper analyzes to what extent such heuristics also qualify for valuing performance vesting plans. To this end, we examine performance conditions tied to the underlying stock, the stock’s performance relative to a stock index and an earnings measure and derive optimal option exercises in a simulation framework. We investigate the valuation differences between the optimal exercise model, the commonly used adjusted maturity approximation, and the approach proposed by Hull and White (2004). For optimal exercise behavior, the changes in option costs due to the performance conditions we investigate are generally low. Only when the options represent a large fraction of the employee’s wealth do the performance conditions prevent value-diminishing early exercises and thus increase the option cost to the firm. The differences between the optimal and approximated option values are overall smaller with the performance conditions than without them. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that the performance conditions restrict the possible option exercise states and thus limit the effect of the misspecified true exercise boundary within the approximations.
An agent-based intelligent control platform for industrial holonic manufacturing systems

New revolutionary manufacturing paradigms, which take advantage of the newest emerging mechatronics, information, and communication technologies, and integrate them in a highly dynamic and agile economic, technical, and organizational manufacturing environment, are being researched and developed since the last decade of the 20th century. This new generation of manufacturing systems is referenced as intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), and both the "holonic manufacturing system" (HMS) and the "agent-oriented manufacturing system" paradigms have been presented in recent years as the basis for making such systems a reality. This paper reports on the design and realization of an agent-based intelligent control system for industrial manufacturing systems, which covers both conventional mechatronics equipment and embedded control agents. The agent-based control software components are implemented as Windows NT services and logic control programs and interfaced via distributed component object model (DCOM) and Ethernet. Results of the application in an industrial manufacturing environment are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed "Holonic" approach.
Prepregnancy obesity and pregnancy outcome.

BACKGROUND Maternal obesity has long been correlated with an increased risk of chronic hypertension and diabetes prior to pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, fetal macrosomia, Cesarean deliveries, postpartum endometritis and a prolonged hospital stay OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity on pregnancy outcomes Methods: One hundred and twenty two women were recruited in the study. The patients were allocated into two groups, group 1 obese patients (68) BMI 30 or more and group 2 non obese patients (54) BMI between 19.8-24.9. OUTCOMES About two - third of the study group were having mild obesity, moderate obesity comprised about 28% and about 4% only was morbidly obese. Hypertensive disorders were nine folds more among obese women (R.R 4.74). Obese pregnant women were significantly more prone to have gestational diabetes (R.R 6.35). Even anemia was significantly more amongst Obese women when compared to non obese ones (29/68, R.R 3.84). Ante partum hemorrhage had significantly more in obese women (R.R 3.14). There was no increased risk for PROM (R.R 0.71). Moreover The macrosomic babies were extremely commoner among obese (R.R 9.1). CONCLUSION Pre-pregnancy obesity is a risk factor for gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, labor induction, cesarean section for fetal distress, and wound infection. They should be considered as high risk and counseled accordingly.
Study on underwater navigation system using discrete hartley transform unscented Kalman filter for attitude estimation

To reduce the attitude estimate error and improve the calculation efficiency for navigation system applied to underwater glider, this paper proposes the discrete Hartley transform unscented Kalman filter (DUKF) utilizing inertial measuring units (IMUs). DUKF method uses efficient numerical calculation of the discrete Hartley transform and takes optimal estimate advantage of UKF in the nonlinear system to achieve fast and accurate attitude estimation. A real vehicle experiment has been done and the performance of proposed DUKF is compared with traditional EKF and UKF. The results show that the proposed DUKF outperforms EKF and UKF comprehensively taking account of estimation accuracy and computational burden.
Production of a monoclonal antibody specific for ovine immunoglobulin E and its application to monitor serum IgE responses to Haemonchus contortus infection

Part of the Cε3–Cε4 region of the ovine immunoglobulin E (IgE) gene (nucleotides 1111–1575) was amplified by PCR. The recombinant protein (recIgE1-2) was expressed in E. coli and both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies were produced. These antibodies recognized recIgE1-2 and native IgE on Western blots and in ELISA. The polyclonal serum showed cross-reactivity with other sheep immunoglobulin classes. The monoclonal antibody was specific for ovine IgE and goat IgE. Infection of sheep with the abomasal nematode Haemonchus contortus resulted in elevated IgE levels in serum 2–4 weeks after infection, as measured by sandwich ELISA using the rabbit polyclonal as capture antibody and the monoclonal antibody against ovine IgE as second antibody. A negative correlation between worm counts and total serum IgE levels at the end of the experiment was found in repeatedly infected sheep. Significant increased levels of excretory–secretory antigens specific IgE levels were found after H. contortus infection. In contrast, no significant changes in 3rd-stage larvae (L3) antigen-specific IgE titre in sera could be detected after infection.
The Myosin Motor Domain of Fungal Chitin Synthase V Is Dispensable for Vesicle Motility but Required for Virulence of the Maize Pathogen Ustilago maydis[W]

Invasion of plant cells by Ustilago maydis requires cell wall–forming enzymes, such as Mcs1, which has of a chitin synthase fused to a myosin motor head. Surprisingly, this motor head does not deliver the enzyme to the hyphal tip but is required for exocytosis of the chitin synthase. This underlies fungal wall remodeling during infection, which is necessary to avoid activation of plant defenses. Class V chitin synthases are fungal virulence factors required for plant infection. They consist of a myosin motor domain fused to a membrane-spanning chitin synthase region that participates in fungal cell wall formation. The function of the motor domain is unknown, but it might deliver the myosin chitin synthase-attached vesicles to the growth region. Here, we analyze the importance of both domains in Mcs1, the chitin synthase V of the maize smut fungus Ustilago maydis. By quantitative analysis of disease symptoms, tissue colonization, and single-cell morphogenic parameters, we demonstrate that both domains are required for fungal virulence. Fungi carrying mutations in the chitin synthase domain are rapidly recognized and killed by the plant, whereas fungi carrying a deletion of the motor domain show alterations in cell wall composition but can invade host tissue and cause a moderate plant response. We also show that Mcs1-bound vesicles exhibit long-range movement for up to 20 μm at a velocity of ~1.75 μm/s. Apical Mcs1 localization depends on F-actin and the motor domain, whereas Mcs1 motility requires microtubules and persists when the Mcs1 motor domain is deleted. Our results suggest that the myosin motor domain of ChsV supports exocytosis but not long-range delivery of transport vesicles.
Genetic Analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from the Sputa of Australian Adult Cystic Fibrosis Patients

ABSTRACT Genetic investigations were carried out with 50 phenotypically selected strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from 18 patients attending an Australian cystic fibrosis (CF) center. The isolates were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Phylogenetic analysis of the macrorestriction patterns showed rates of genetic similarity ranging from 76 to 100%; 24 (48%) of the strains from 11 patients had greater than 90% similarity. A dominant strain emerged: 15 isolates from seven patients had identical PFGE patterns, and 4 other isolates were very closely related. The 50 isolates were grouped into 21 pulsotypes on the basis of visual delineation of a three-band difference. Ten of the 18 (56%) patients were infected with clonal or subclonal strains. Sequence analysis of PCR products derived from the mucA gene showed 20 mutations, with the number of mutations in individual isolates ranging from 1 to 4; 19 of these changes are reported here for the first time. Potentially functional changes were found in 22 (44%) isolates. Eight changes (five transversions and three single base deletions) led to premature stop codons, providing support for the presence of mucA mutations as one pathway to mucoidy. There was a trend toward an association between the dominant strain and lack of potentially functional mucA mutations (P = 0.09 by the χ2 test) but no relationship between genotype and phenotype. This is the first study of genetic variation in P. aeruginosa isolates from adult Australian CF patients. The findings highlight the need for further investigations on the transmissibility of P. aeruginosa in CF patients.
Bubble masks for time-encoded imaging of fast neutrons

Time-encoded imaging is an approach to directional radiation detection that is being developed at SNL with a focus on fast neutron directional detection. In this technique, a time modulation of a detected neutron signal is induced-typically, a moving mask that attenuates neutrons with a time structure that depends on the source position. An important challenge in time-encoded imaging is to develop high-resolution two-dimensional imaging capabilities; building a mechanically moving high-resolution mask presents challenges both theoretical and technical. We have investigated an alternative to mechanical masks that replaces the solid mask with a liquid such as mineral oil. Instead of fixed blocks of solid material that move in predefined patterns, the oil is contained in tubing structures, and carefully introduced air gaps-bubbles-propagate through the tubing, generating moving patterns of oil mask elements and air apertures. Compared to current moving-mask techniques, the bubble mask is simple, since mechanical motion is replaced by gravity-driven bubble propagation; it is flexible, since arbitrary bubble patterns can be generated by a software-controlled valve actuator; and it is potentially high performance, since the tubing and bubble size can be tuned for high-resolution imaging requirements. We have built and tested various single-tube mask elements, and will present results on bubble introduction and propagation for different tube sizes and cross-sectional shapes; real-time bubble position tracking; neutron source imaging tests; and reconstruction techniques demonstrated on simple test data as well as a simulated full detector system.
What is the Value of Educational Broadcast?

Over the years several developed and developing countries have used television broadcasting as a tools to enhance the dissemination of specific educational programs, as well as information and values to a large segment of their population. This paper sets out to measure the social value of one of this initiatives in the context of a developing country, namely the Futura TV channel in Brazil. The Futura is a communication project, ran by a non-profit foundation financed exclusively by private sector donations in Brazil. With almost 10 years of existence, Futura broadcast reaches almost 50% of the Brazilian population, and has approximately 33 million regular viewers in the whole country. Contingency valuation (CV) techniques using the referendum design were used to estimate the willingness to pay of a representative sample of the Brazilian adult population. Using both parametric and non-parametric techniques this paper is able to estimate the population willingness to pay for Futura, even in a sample in which a 60% of the population choose not to consume the good. The analysis suggest that the willingness to pay for the channel is positive and at least 16 times greater than the channel operation cost. The average minimum willingness to pay estimated using the Turnbull nonparametric model was R$ 3.7 per month, while the parametric average willingness to pay estimated with the Spike model suggested a value of R$ 5.9. When multiplied by the 5 million households with at least one member willing to pay something for the Futura TV channel, the total annual social value of the channel ranges from 330 to 550 million reais. Moreover, the complementary social mobilization activities promoted by the Futura channel seems to have a positive impact on its social value, suggesting that the method was successful in terms of disentangling embedded effects.
Comparing psychological empowerment levels of field employees in small and large companies of the oilfield service industry

This paper examines the difference in levels of psychological empowerment in Malaysian small and large oilfield service company's field employees in order to understand in which of the settings psychological empowerment strategy is most effective to the point the employees really feel empowered. According to [1], size-related characteristics of small companies usually manifest in challenges such as ability to offer career paths or reward packages equitable with large organizations. A total of 41 oilfield service field employees were investigated from 4 different oilfield service companies. The results indicate that field employees in smaller oilfield service companies experience less psychological empowerment compared to the field employees in the larger companies, suggesting that small oilfield service companies need to do more to empower their employees.