Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leporipoxvirus Cu,Zn-Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) Homologs Are Catalytically Inert Decoy Proteins That Bind Copper Chaperone for SOD*

Many Chordopoxviruses encode catalytically inactive homologs of cellular Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD). The biological function of these proteins is unknown, although the proteins encoded by Leporipoxviruses have been shown to promote a slow decline in the level of superoxide dismutase activity in virus-infected cells. To gain more insights into their function, we have further characterized the enzymatic and biochemical properties of a SOD homolog encoded by Shope fibroma virus. Shope fibroma virus SOD has retained the zinc binding properties of its cellular homolog, but cannot bind copper. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that it requires at least four amino acid substitutions to partially restore copper binding activity, but even these changes still did not restore catalytic activity. Reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that recombinant Shope fibroma virus SOD forms very stable complexes with cellular copper chaperones for SOD and these observations were confirmed using glutathione-S-transferase tagged proteins. Similar viral SOD/chaperone complexes were formed in cells infected with a closely related myxoma virus, where we also noted that some of the SOD antigen co-localizes with mitochondrial markers using confocal fluorescence microscopy. About 2% of the viral SOD was subsequently detected in gradient-purified mitochondria extracted from virus-infected cells. These poxviral SOD homologs do not form stable complexes with cellular Cu,Zn-SOD or affect its concentration. We suggest that Leporipoxvirus SOD homologs are catalytically inert decoy proteins that are designed to interfere in the proper metallation and activation of cellular Cu,Zn-SOD. This reaction might be advantageous for tumorigenic poxviruses, since higher levels of superoxide have been proposed to have anti-apoptotic and tumorigenic activity.
Profiling metabolite changes in the neuronal differentiation of human striatal neural stem cells using 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy

ObjectiveNeural stem cells (NSCs) have been found to play an increasing clinical role in stroke. However, at present, it is not yet possible to noninvasively monitor their differentiation once implanted into the brain. MethodsHere, we describe the use of high-resolution 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to define a metabolite profile of undifferentiated human striatal NSCs from the STROC05 cell line and their differentiation after 3-weeks of treatment with purmorphamine. ResultsThe undifferentiated conditions were characterized by ∼95% of cells expressing nestin and ∼77% being Ki67(+)ve, indicating that these were still proliferating. Phosphophocholine+glycerophosphocholine (PC+GPC) as well as myo-Inositol (mI) were increased in these cells. PC+GPC and mI were markedly reduced upon differentiation, potentially serving as markers of the NSC state. Upon differentiation (∼45% neurons, ∼30% astrocytes, ∼13% oligodendrocytes), the concentration of many metabolites decreased in absolute value. The decreasing trend of the N-acetyl-aspartate level was observed in differentiated cells when compared with NSCs. An increase in plasmalogen (enriched in myelin sheets) could potentially serve as a marker of oligodendrocytes. ConclusionThese metabolite characteristics of undifferentiated and differentiated NSCs provide a basis for exploration of their possible use as markers of differentiation after cell transplantation.
Longitudinal evaluation of serum leptin and bone mineral density in early postmenopausal women

Objective:To evaluate total and site-specific bone mineral density (BMD) and serum leptin levels in postmenopausal women treated with a calcium supplement and in postmenopausal women receiving estrogen plus progestin therapy. Design:Forty-four women were randomized to receive either calcium supplementation (group A, n = 22) or transdermal 17&bgr;-estradiol at a dose of 50 &mgr;g/day in a continuous regimen and nomegestrol at a dose of 5 mg/day for 12 days per month in a sequential regimen (group B, n = 22). All women underwent dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry determination of BMD and blood sampling in the morning at the beginning of the study and after 12 months. Leptin was determined by radioimmunoassay in all samples. Results:After 12 months, serum leptin levels were significantly higher in group A (control) in comparison with group B and baseline values, whereas both total and pelvic BMDs were significantly lower in group A in comparison with group B and baseline values. At baseline, a significant correlation was found between leptin levels, body mass index, and total-body BMD. After 12 months, leptin was still correlated to body mass index in both groups, but the association with BMD was lost. Conclusions:This study confirms previous evidence of a significant correlation between serum leptin and BMD in early postmenopausal women. Furthermore, this correlation is lost over time during the progression of the postmenopausal period, independently from the administration of estrogen-progestin therapy. Further studies and longer follow-up periods are needed to better understand theses issues.
Methods for forecasting the market penetration of electric drivetrains in the passenger car market

ABSTRACT Current car technologies will not solve upcoming challenges of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in road transport. Projections of the market penetration by alternative drive train technologies are controversial regarding both forecast market shares and applied scientific methods. Accepting this latter challenge, we provide a (so far missing) overview of methods applied in this field and give some recommendations for further work. Our focus is to classify the applied methods into a convenient pattern and to analyse models from the recent scientific literature which consider the electrification of light-duty vehicles. We differentiate the following bottom-up approaches: Econometric models with disaggregated data (such as discrete choice), and agent-based simulation models. The group of top-down models are subdivided into econometric models with aggregated data (e.g. vehicle stock data), system dynamics, as well as integrated assessment models with general equilibrium models. It becomes obvious that some methods have a stronger methodological background whereas others require comprehensive data sets or can be combined more flexibly with other methods. Even though there is no dominant method, we can identify a trend in the literature towards data-driven hybrid approaches, which considers micro and macro aspects influencing the market penetration of electric vehicles.
Affordable higher education in Mexico : implications for career advancement and social mobility

Laureate universities offer higher education degrees in the Mexican context, an environment where there is a significant, unmet demand for college degrees and yet, private universities face a highly competitive market to expand their services. This study is an ex-post impact evaluation. Namely, it was planned and implemented, years after the individuals participating in this study enrolled and graduated from college, cancelling the possibility of having baseline information available. Thus, the study relies on data collected directly from the field, including a college graduate’s survey, an employer’s survey, and in-depth interviews to Laureate former students. The analysis is based on a quasi-experimental approach for an impact evaluation, complemented with descriptive statistics and qualitative information. The outcome results assessed in this report can be grouped into three categories: a) economic capital and employment, which refers to various aspects of the alumni’s professional career and income generation after graduation; b) career advancement, which measures ability to be promoted and access to managerial positions, and c) social progress, which captures the change in an individual’s position within a power hierarchy via occupational prestige and the change in socioeconomic levels during shorter periods of time (as opposed to an intergenerational change).
The Investigation of Relationships between MNEs and their Supply Chain Participants: An Examination of Steel and Pharmaceutical Industry

In this article, the authors have sought to discover an insight into the relationships between multi-national enterprises (MNEs) and their supply chain (SC) participants in the steel and pharmaceutical industries. The authors wanted to gain an insight into how the SC participants viewed their working relationships with MNEs and how this relationship was affected by the growth in size of the MNE and the recent economic downturn. The results obtained confirmed some but not all of the research questions of the authors. The results confirmed that MNEs within the steel and pharmaceutical industry had increased in size and the balance of power in the relationship was firmly with the MNE. The authors presented conclusions based upon the results obtained and factors that limited the authors’ research. In addition the authors also present recommendations and discuss potential areas of further research.
Contemporary and evolving risk scoring algorithms for percutaneous coronary intervention

Risk stratification is an essential part of appropriately informing patients electing to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This process is also an integral part of the SYNTAX (Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery)-pioneered heart team approach in determining the most appropriate revascularisation modality for patients with complex coronary artery disease. The SYNTAX score was pioneered as an anatomical-based risk score to aid in this decision-making process; the lack of clinical variables in this score has, however, been its main limitation. This review examines the important established and evolving contemporary risk models used to aid this risk-stratification process. Risk scores based on clinical and anatomical variables alone and in combination—the latter of which is the subject of continuing research—are all explored. Other areas of discussion include risk scores based on the completeness of revascularisation and emerging concepts such as functional anatomical risk scores and the patient-empowered risk-benefit trade-off between PCI and coronary artery bypass grafting, to help personalise the choice of revascularisation modality.
Alternative splicing in the murine and human FXR1 genes.

Fragile X syndrome results from mutations in the X-linked FMR1 gene. The most common mutation is expansion and hypermethylation of a CGG repeat in the 5'UTR of FMR1, which blocks transcription and results in the loss of FMR1 protein (FMRP). Efforts to understand the function of FMRP have led to the identification of two autosomal homologs, FXR1P and FXR2P, that may interact with FMRP in some tissues. Reported cDNAs for human, murine, and Xenopus FXR1 suggested the potential for alternatively spliced isoforms, a feature also found in the FMR1 gene. Using RT-PCR to characterize FXR1 alternative splicing in different mouse tissues and human cell lines, we identified seven isoforms that differ by the presence or absence of four DNA regions. These isoforms are found at varying levels in different tissues. The structure of the murine Fxr1h gene underlying these splicing events has also been determined. Interestingly, the longest FXR1P isoform has much greater similarity to FXR2P in the C-terminal region than has been previously recognized, and the gene structure of Fxr1h is quite similar to those of FMR1 and Fxr2h. However, unlike FMR1 and Fxr2h, there is no (CGG)(n) repeat in the 5'UTR region of Fxr1h. Continuing efforts to characterize the expression patterns of FMRP family members should aid in our understanding of their functions in various cells and tissues.
Visualization of the actin cytoskeleton: Different F‐actin‐binding probes tell different stories

The actin cytoskeleton is necessary for cell viability and plays crucial roles in cell motility, endocytosis, growth, and cytokinesis. Hence visualization of dynamic changes in F‐actin distribution in vivo is of central importance in cell biology. This has been accomplished by the development of fluorescent protein fusions to actin itself or to various actin‐binding proteins, actin cross‐linking proteins, and their respective actin‐binding domains (ABDs). Although these protein fusions have been shown to bind to F‐actin in vivo, we show that the fluorescent protein used for visualization changes the subset of F‐actin labeled by an F‐actin ABD probe. Further, different amino acid linkers between the fluorescent protein and ABD induced a similar change in localization. Although different linkers and fluorescent proteins can alter the subset of actin bound by a particular ABD, in most cases, the fusion protein did not label all of a cell's F‐actin all of the time. Even LimEΔcoil and GFP‐actin, which have been used extensively for cytoskeletal visualization, were highly variable in the subsets of actin that they labeled. Lifeact, conversely, clearly labeled cortical F‐actin as well as F‐actin in the anterior pseudopods of motile cells and in macropinocytotic cups. We conclude that Lifeact most accurately labels F‐actin and is the best currently available probe for visualization of dynamic changes in F‐actin networks. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparative analysis of the microRNA transcriptome between yak and cattle provides insight into high-altitude adaptation

Extensive and in-depth investigations of high-altitude adaptation have been carried out at the level of morphology, anatomy, physiology and genomics, but few investigations focused on the roles of microRNA (miRNA) in high-altitude adaptation. We examined the differences in the miRNA transcriptomes of two representative hypoxia-sensitive tissues (heart and lung) between yak and cattle, two closely related species that live in high and low altitudes, respectively. In this study, we identified a total of 808 mature miRNAs, which corresponded to 715 pre-miRNAs in the two species. The further analysis revealed that both tissues showed relatively high correlation coefficient between yak and cattle, but a greater differentiation was present in lung than heart between the two species. In addition, miRNAs with significantly differentiated patterns of expression in two tissues exhibited co-operation effect in high altitude adaptation based on miRNA family and cluster. Functional analysis revealed that differentially expressed miRNAs were enriched in hypoxia-related pathways, such as the HIF-1α signaling pathway, the insulin signaling pathway, the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, nucleotide excision repair, cell cycle, apoptosis and fatty acid metabolism, which indicated the important roles of miRNAs in high altitude adaptation. These results suggested the diverse degrees of miRNA transcriptome variation in different tissues between yak and cattle, and suggested extensive roles of miRNAs in high altitude adaptation.
User Adoption of Mobile Social Service

Mobile social service (MSS) is the one most widely used mobile applications by users recently. MSS can be generally classified into communication-oriented MSS (Co-MSS) and social/dating-oriented MSS (So-MSS). Since the number of MSS users has been constantly increasing, it would be important to understand what are the key factors and functions that the users expect while adopting the MSS. This study used Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to analyze and make comparisons to find the most concerned key factors and functions while users adopt the Co-MSS and the So-MSS. The results indicated the Co-MSS users would pay more attention to the availability of basic mobile communication tools, such as the "group chat", "text messaging" and "voice call". On the other hand, the So-MSS users would pay more attention to the searching people functions of "searching for unacquainted members nearby" and "searching for other members based on different conditions". The findings of this study are helpful to MSS providers in developing their software functions/services, and also helpful to users in deciding which MSS is more suitable for them to adopt.
Numerical Simulation of Plasma Near the Cathode Spot of Vacuum Arc

Kinetic numerical simulation of plasma near the cathode spot (CS) was performed. Two types of possible solutions for the self-sustained CS on copper cathode were found. The firs type of solutions is valid for quasi-stationary spot with radius of about <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$100~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Stationary solution in this case is possible with cathode temperature 4.2–4.5 kK, current density <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim 10^{6}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> A/cm<sup>2</sup>, and applied voltage 20–25 V. The second type of solution is obtained for the spot with radius of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and spherical geometry of plasma expansion. Possible solutions were obtained for the cathode temperature of above 6.2 kK, current density of about <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{8}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> A/cm<sup>2</sup> and applied voltage of 15–25 V. Transient simulations of the near-cathode plasma expansion have shown that if current density remains less than <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{9}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> A/cm<sup>2</sup> then the plasma expansion has a “quiet” self-similar character. At higher current density the plasma expansion has an essentially nonstationary character. The high-density current leads first to the development of Buneman instability and second to the plasma rupture with the creation of conditions for collective acceleration of ions toward the cathode and toward the anode. The accelerated ions create an additional powerful heat flux to the cathode, which should facilitate the reproduction of the CSs in the spark stage of vacuum discharge.
Lack of response of laying hens to relative humidity at high ambient temperature

1. The effects of relative humidity (rh=40% to 70%) at high ambient temperature (T a ) on the performance of laying hens at different ages (8 to 10 months, Trial 1; and 16 to 18 months, Trial 2) was evaluated. Laying hens were exposed to 25°C (control) for 3 weeks and thereafter acclimated for 1 week to 35°C and 4 different rh. 2. Body weight declined significantly in young and older hens exposed to 60% or 70% and 70% rh, respectively. Food intake declined with increasing T a , except in the case of older hens exposed to 60% rh, for which it remained relatively constant. Water consumption, however, increased with increasing T a but the increase was significant in young hens exposed to 70% rh only. 3. Egg production was not affected by the changes in T a . However, a decrease in egg production was observed in older hens exposed to 60% rh. 4. Egg weight (EW), shell weight (SW) and shell thickness (ST) were significantly reduced by exposure to elevated T a , whereas % breakage significantly increased. In young hens, a response to rh was exhibited in ST which was significantly higher in hens exposed to the low rh (40% to 45%) than in those exposed to the highest rh (70% to 75%). 5. It can be concluded that T a is the main environmental factor affecting young and older laying hens while the effect of rh is minor.
Interactions between 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine and Ethanol in Humans and Rodents

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is a widely used recreational drug, often associated with dance parties. Users self-report euphoria, a sense of well-being and increased feelings of affiliation. In experimental animals, MDMA produces an acute, rapid release of serotonin and, to a lesser extent, dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. It can also produce a dose-dependent, life-threatening hyperthermia in rodents, primates and humans. Moreover, there is evidence of long-term neurological and psychological effects in heavy users. In rats, MDMA increases the locomotor activity. When used recreationally, MDMA is often taken with other drugs including amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine or ethanol (EtOH). Epidemiological data suggest that MDMA-EtOH is one of the most common combinations. In rats, EtOH potentiates MDMA-induced hyperactivity but may attenuate its hyperthermic effect, depending on the ambient temperature. The possibility that EtOH may modify the pharmacokinetics and pharmadynamics of MDMA is of concern in terms of liability for misuse abuse. In this short review, we focus on the known interactions between MDMA and EtOH in humans and rodents.
Behavioral Inhibition and Its Relation to Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease: A Preliminary Study

Several investigations have found support for the role of behavioral inhibition in the etiology of childhood anxiety and depression disorders. However, nothing is known about how this relation extends to children with a chronic, life-threatening illness. The purpose of the current study was to examine behavioral inhibition and its relation to anxiety and depression symptoms among 30 adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD). Adolescents with SCD and their primary caregivers completed instruments assessing demographic information, behavioral inhibition, and anxiety and depression symptoms. A majority of adolescents with SCD classified themselves as middle or low on behavioral inhibition. Adolescents with SCD who classified themselves as high on behavioral inhibition displayed higher levels of anxiety and depression than adolescents with SCD who classified themselves as low on behavioral inhibition; adolescents with SCD endorsing the middle behavioral inhibition category generally scored in between. These data extend previous work with healthy children and adolescents and suggest that early and continued assessment of behavioral inhibition may be important in preventing adverse psychological outcomes among a group that is already at risk for internalizing disorders.
Model-Based Diagnostic decision-support system for satellites

We propose a novel framework for Model-Based Diagnosis (MBD) that uses active testing to decrease the diagnostic uncertainty. This framework is called LYDIA-NG and combines several diagnostic, simulation, and active-testing algorithms. We have illustrated the workings of LYDIA-NG by building a LYDIA-NG-based decision support system for the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. This paper discusses a model of the GOCE Electrical Power System (EPS), the algorithms for diagnosis and disambiguation, and the experiments performed with a number of diagnostic scenarios. Our experiments produced no false positive scenarios, no false negative scenarios, the average number of classification errors per scenario is 1.25, and the fault detection time is equal to the computation time. We have further computed an average fault uncertainty of 2.06 × 10−3 which can be automatically reduced to 9.5×10−4 by sending a single, automatically computed, telecommand, thus dramatically reducing the fault isolation time.