Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Vaccinia Virus Late Transcription Factor Copurifies with a Factor That Binds to a Viral Late Promoter and Is Complemented by Extracts from Uninfected HeLa Cells

ABSTRACT We have previously described a vaccinia virus late transcription factor, VLTF-X, which we found to be present in cells at early and late times in infection. In this study, transcription complementation assays were used to demonstrate that VLTF-X activity is also present in virion extracts and in the cytoplasm of uninfected HeLa cells. Mobility shift assays performed on various VLTF-X preparations revealed that a late promoter DNA-binding activity cochromatographed and cosedimented with VLTF-X activity. Competition experiments demonstrated that this binding was specific for the late promoter region of the probe and that late transcription was dramatically reduced by an oligonucleotide that blocked factor-DNA complex formation but was only minimally affected by an oligonucleotide that did not inhibit complex formation. These results suggest that a cellular factor may participate in vaccinia virus late transcription. These findings also confirm the requirement for VLTF-X and distinguish it from any of the previously described vaccinia virus late transcription factors, which have all been mapped to the viral genome. Finally, these studies also suggest that the biochemical role for VLTF-X may be in late promoter recognition.
Popular Culture and Workplace Gendering Among Varieties of Capitalism: Working Women and Their Representation in Japanese Manga

Female empowerment is a prerequisite for a just and sustainable developed society. Being the most developed non-western country, Japan offers an instructive window onto concerns about gender worldwide. Although overall gender equality is advancing in Japan, difficulties remain, especially in achieving equality in the workplace. We draw on theories of ontological commitment and the psychology of fiction to critically analyse the role of popular culture — in this case manga — in the reproduction of gender inequality in the Japanese workplace. We present examples of four of the most popular mainstream manga aimed at working men and women in Japan and show how women are depicted. We argue that the hyper-mediated fictional realism of representative tropes generates an ontological commitment to characters and narratives among consumers that reinforces the reproduction of a culturally exceptionalist national political economic space, one of whose essential defining characteristics is a gendered workplace. Our research suggests important implications for researching the relationship between culture, in all its forms, and spatial variation in persistent institutional biases among varieties of capitalism.
Research use in clinical practice - extent and patterns among nurses one and three years postgraduation.

AIM This paper is a report of a study of nurses' research use in clinical practice one and three years postgraduation in Sweden. BACKGROUND Internationally, learning to critically appraise and use research is an educational objective within nursing training, with the aim of promoting research use in nursing practice. The extent to which these skills is acquired and used among relatively newly graduated nurses is largely unexplored, however. METHOD . A descriptive study was conducted in 2006 using a national longitudinal survey of two nursing cohorts one (n = 1,365) and three (n = 933) years postgraduation. The self-reported extent of instrumental, conceptual and persuasive research use was measured. Data were analysed using both variable- and pattern-oriented approaches based on cluster analysis. RESULTS Research use was reported to occur in about half or fewer of the working shifts. In both samples, seven clusters of nurses with different research use profiles were identified. Clusters representing overall low and very low users in all three types of research use were predominant both at one (45.6%) and three (51.6%) years postgraduation, whereas clusters of nurses reporting overall high research use were uncommon. The proportion of very low users was larger 3 years after graduation than 1 year after graduation. CONCLUSIONS The low extent of reported research use, raises the question of whether scientific perspectives included in nursing education are translated into clinical application. The pattern-oriented approach illustrates the complexity of research use and identification of typical research use profiles in specific contexts may have potential to guide interventions aimed at supporting evidence-based practice.
Sequence Variants and Haplotype Analysis of Cat ERBB2 Gene: A Survey on Spontaneous Cat Mammary Neoplastic and Non-Neoplastic Lesions

The human ERBB2 proto-oncogene is widely considered a key gene involved in human breast cancer onset and progression. Among spontaneous tumors, mammary tumors are the most frequent cause of cancer death in cats and second most frequent in humans. In fact, naturally occurring tumors in domestic animals, more particularly cat mammary tumors, have been proposed as a good model for human breast cancer, but critical genetic and molecular information is still scarce. The aims of this study include the analysis of the cat ERBB2 gene partial sequences (between exon 17 and 20) in order to characterize a normal and a mammary lesion heterogeneous populations. Cat genomic DNA was extracted from normal frozen samples (n = 16) and from frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded mammary lesion samples (n = 41). We amplified and sequenced two cat ERBB2 DNA fragments comprising exons 17 to 20. It was possible to identify five sequence variants and six haplotypes in the total population. Two sequence variants and two haplotypes show to be specific for cat mammary tumor samples. Bioinformatics analysis predicts that four of the sequence variants can produce alternative transcripts or activate cryptic splicing sites. Also, a possible association was identified between clinicopathological traits and the variant haplotypes. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to examine ERBB2 genetic variations in cat mammary genome and its possible association with the onset and progression of cat mammary tumors. The demonstration of a possible association between primary tumor size (one of the two most important prognostic factors) and the number of masses with the cat ERBB2 variant haplotypes reveal the importance of the analysis of this gene in veterinary medicine.
Determinants for Membrane Association of the Hepatitis C Virus RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase*

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), represented by nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B), is believed to form a membrane-associated RNA replication complex together with other nonstructural proteins and as yet unidentified host components. However, the determinants for membrane association of this essential viral enzyme have not been defined. By double label immunofluorescence analyses, NS5B was found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or an ER-like modified compartment both when expressed alone or in the context of the entire HCV polyprotein. The carboxyl-terminal 21 amino acid residues were necessary and sufficient to target NS5B or a heterologous protein to the cytosolic side of the ER membrane. This hydrophobic domain is highly conserved among 269 HCV isolates analyzed and predicted to form a transmembrane α-helix. Association of NS5B with the ER membrane occurred by a posttranslational mechanism that was ATP-independent. These features define the HCV RdRp as a new member of the tail-anchored protein family, a class of integral membrane proteins that are membrane-targeted posttranslationally via a carboxyl-terminal insertion sequence. Formation of the HCV replication complex, therefore, involves specific determinants for membrane association that represent potential targets for antiviral intervention.
Emprego de estratégias de reparo para os fonemas fricativos no desvio fonológico

PURPOSE: To verify and compare the occurrence of repair strategies used in the fricative consonants of Brazilian Portuguese, and to analyze the strategies applied for each fricative according to the severity of phonological disorders. METHODS: Participants were 87 subjects of both genders, with ages between 4 years and 8 years and 11 months. All children used repair strategies involving at least one of the fricative consonants (/f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, , ), with minimal occurrence of 40%. Data are from the phonological assessments conducted before phonological therapy, and the severity of phonological disorders was determined by the Percentage of Consonants Correct - Revised. Data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: There was progression in the use of repair strategies according to the production complexity of the phoneme. Repair strategies were found in all severities of phonological disorders, and the strategies that most affect speech intelligibility were found in more severe degrees. CONCLUSION: The more complex the fricative, the more repair strategies are used, and the more severe the phonological disorder, the more occurrences these strategies have.
Accurate discretization of gradients on non-uniform curvilinear staggered grids

It is shown how to discretize the pressure gradient in the Navier{ Stokes equations on an arbitrary non-uniform curvilinear staggered grid, such that the error is zero for constant pressure gradient. A theoretical foundation is given for a discretization proposed in 2] on empirical grounds. A quite similar approach is used to discretize a diffusion equation with strongly discontinuous diiusion coeecient, such that the error is zero on a general grid for constant ux.
Optimized Joint-Torques Trajectory Planning for Bipedal Walking Robots

This paper proposes a new method of trajectory planning for biped robots walking on flat terrain. In this approach, the hip and foot trajectories are designed in Cartesian space using polynomial interpolation. The key parameters which define the hip and foot trajectories are searched by genetic algorithm. The objective is to obtain stable walking trajectory with minimized joint-torques requirement. ZMP stability criterion is used to ensure physically realizable walking motion. The effectiveness of our method is verified by simulation of a humanoid robot named NUSBIP-II.
PRIORIZACIÓN EJIDAL DE CRITERIOS SOBRE BIENES PÚBLICOS: EL CASO DE CAMINOS RURALES

La participación de la sociedad en el diseño de políticas públicas, es un tema recurrente en el ejercicio de la autoridad. En este artículo se presenta un modelo de participación de la sociedad rural, donde se integra la opinión de los beneficiarios en el mantenimiento de los caminos rurales, mediante un proceso de análisis de jerarquías analíticas, que valora la importancia de criterios económicos, sociales y ambientales. Los resultados señalan que las preferencias de los pobladores para mantener un camino, se centraron en los beneficios prácticos de contar con un camino: mayor aprendizaje de jóvenes e infantes y mayor acceso a servicios sociales, principalmente. La participación social es un ejercicio práctico de ciudadanía como derecho de domicilio.
Indexing for interactive exploration of big data series

Numerous applications continuously produce big amounts of data series, and in several time critical scenarios analysts need to be able to query these data as soon as they become available, which is not currently possible with the state-of-the-art indexing methods and for very large data series collections. In this paper, we present the first adaptive indexing mechanism, specifically tailored to solve the problem of indexing and querying very large data series collections. The main idea is that instead of building the complete index over the complete data set up-front and querying only later, we interactively and adaptively build parts of the index, only for the parts of the data on which the users pose queries. The net effect is that instead of waiting for extended periods of time for the index creation, users can immediately start exploring the data series. We present a detailed design and evaluation of adaptive data series indexing over both synthetic data and real-world workloads. The results show that our approach can gracefully handle large data series collections, while drastically reducing the data to query delay: by the time state-of-the-art indexing techniques finish indexing 1 billion data series (and before answering even a single query), adaptive data series indexing has already answered $3*10^5$ queries.
Using the confidence interval of the mean to detect systematic errors in one analytical run

Abstract Background. The commonly used Westgard control rules to detect systematic errors in one analytical run are far from perfect. Mean rules are more effective, but are in little use. We propose using a variant of mean rules, where we compare the confidence interval of the mean directly with the allowable systematic error. Methods. Probabilities of false rejection and error detection were calculated using standard Normal distribution functions. Results and conclusion. Confidence interval of the mean rules are more flexible and are more easy to practise than the traditional mean rules. They outperform the commonly used Westgard rules if more than one control specimen is analysed in each run.
Le difficile encadrement juridique des travailleurs autonomes en situation précaire : Le cas des chauffeurs locataires de taxi

On leur prete l’independance, la capacite a se proteger seuls et a etablir un equilibre dans leurs rapports avec les donneurs d’ouvrages, mais ces attributs sont loin de refleter la realite de certains travailleurs autonomes. En approchant l’industrie du taxi et plus precisement la situation des chauffeurs locataires de taxi, le present article examine l’etat du droit sur cette question au Quebec et en France, en discute et propose l’elaboration d’un regime-cadre de representation collective pour le Quebec.
Acute mountain sickness: influence of susceptibility, preexposure, and ascent rate.

PURPOSE We examined the interaction of various established risk factors for acute mountain sickness (AMS) in a setting relevant for mountaineering and trekking. METHODS Questionnaires were obtained from 827 mountaineers on the day of arrival at the Capanna Margherita (4559 m) and on the next morning. Susceptibility to AMS was assessed by type and frequency of symptoms during previous exposures. AMS was defined as an AMS-C score >/= 0.7 (environmental symptom questionnaire) on the morning after arrival at 4559 m. Preexposure was defined as having spent more than 4 d above 3000 m during the 2 months preceding the climb to the Capanna Margherita. Slow ascent was defined as ascending in more than 3 d. A risk model was developed by multiple logistic regression and prospectively validated on independent data. RESULTS In susceptible individuals, the prevalence of AMS was 58% with rapid ascent and no preexposure, 29% with preexposure only, 33% with slow ascent only, and 7% with both preexposure and slow ascent. The corresponding values for nonsusceptible individuals were 31%, 16%, 11%, and 4%. The overall odds ratio for developing AMS in susceptible versus nonsusceptible individuals was 2.9 (95% confidence interval, 2.1-4.1). Age, gender, training, body mass index, alcohol intake, and cigarette smoking had no significant effect in bivariate analyses or in multivariate logistic regressions. CONCLUSION Individual susceptibility, rate of ascent, and preexposure are the major, independent determinants for prevalence of AMS.
A chemical with proven clinical safety rescues Down-syndrome-related phenotypes in through DYRK1A inhibition

ABSTRACT DYRK1A is important in neuronal development and function, and its excessive activity is considered a significant pathogenic factor in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, inhibition of DYRK1A has been suggested to be a new strategy to modify the disease. Very few compounds, however, have been reported to act as inhibitors, and their potential clinical uses require further evaluation. Here, we newly identify CX-4945, the safety of which has been already proven in the clinical setting, as a potent inhibitor of DYRK1A that acts in an ATP-competitive manner. The inhibitory potency of CX-4945 on DYRK1A (IC50=6.8 nM) in vitro was higher than that of harmine, INDY or proINDY, which are well-known potent inhibitors of DYRK1A. CX-4945 effectively reverses the aberrant phosphorylation of Tau, amyloid precursor protein (APP) and presenilin 1 (PS1) in mammalian cells. To our surprise, feeding with CX-4945 significantly restored the neurological and phenotypic defects induced by the overexpression of minibrain, an ortholog of human DYRK1A, in the Drosophila model. Moreover, oral administration of CX-4945 acutely suppressed Tau hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus of DYRK1A-overexpressing mice. Our research results demonstrate that CX-4945 is a potent DYRK1A inhibitor and also suggest that it has therapeutic potential for DYRK1A-associated diseases. Editors' choice: In vivo validation of a potent DYRK1A inhibitor, with proven clinical safety, using Down-syndrome- and Alzheimer's-disease-like models.
Comparison of the Efficacy of Empiric Thoracic Vein Isolation for the Treatment of Paroxysmal and Persistent Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Without Structural Heart Disease

The guidelines suggest that an adjuvant substrate modification in addition to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) may be needed for persistent atrial fibrillation (PerAF) assuming that catheter ablation is less successful for PerAF than paroxysmal AF (PAF). To revisit the above assumption, we compared the outcome of the same catheter ablation strategy between PAF and PerAF.
Widespread Elimination of Naturally Occurring Neuronal Death inBax-Deficient Mice

The proapoptotic molecule BAX is required for death of sympathetic and motor neurons in the setting of trophic factor deprivation. Furthermore, adult Bax−/− mice have more motor neurons than do their wild-type counterparts. These findings raise the possibility that BAX regulates naturally occurring cell death during development in many neuronal populations. To test this idea, we assessed apoptosis using TUNEL labeling in several well-studied neural systems during embryonic and early postnatal development inBax−/− mice. Remarkably, naturally occurring cell death is virtually eliminated between embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) and postnatal day 1 (PN1) in most peripheral ganglia, in motor pools in the spinal cord, and in the trigeminal brainstem nuclear complex. Additionally, reduction, although not elimination, of cell death was noted throughout the developing cerebellum, in some layers of the retina, and in the hippocampus. Saving of cells was verified by axon counts of dorsal and ventral roots, as well as facial and optic nerves that revealed 24–35% increases in axon number. Interestingly, many of the supernumerary axons had very small cross-sectional areas, suggesting that the associated neurons are not normal. We conclude that BAX is a critical mediator of naturally occurring death of peripheral and CNS neurons during embryonic life. However, rescue from naturally occurring cell death does not imply that the neurons will develop normal functional capabilities.
Leishmania promastigotes evade interleukin 12 (IL-12) induction by macrophages and stimulate a broad range of cytokines from CD4+ T cells during initiation of infection

Leishmania major are intramacrophage parasites whose eradication requires the induction of T helper 1 (Th1) effector cells capable of activating macrophages to a microbicidal state. Interleukin 12 (IL-12) has been recently identified as a macrophage-derived cytokine capable of mediating Th1 effector cell development, and of markedly enhancing interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production by T cells and natural killer cells. Infection of macrophages in vitro by promastigotes of L. major caused no induction of IL-12 p40 transcripts, whereas stimulation using heat-killed Listeria or bacterial lipopolysaccharide induced readily detectable IL-12 mRNA. Using a competitor construct to quantitate a number of transcripts, a kinetic analysis of cytokine induction during the first few days of infection by L. major was performed. All strains of mice examined, including susceptible BALB/c and resistant C57BL/6, B10.D2, and C3H/HeN, had the appearance of a CD4+ population in the draining lymph nodes that contained transcripts for IL-2, IL-4, and IFN- gamma (and in some cases, IL-10) that peaked 4 d after infection. In resistant mice, the transcripts for IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 were subsequently downregulated, whereas in susceptible BALB/c mice, these transcripts were only slightly decreased, and IL-4 continued to be reexpressed at high levels. IL-12 transcripts were first detected in vivo by 7 d after infection, consistent with induction by intracellular amastigotes. Challenge of macrophages in vitro confirmed that amastigotes, in contrast to promastigotes, induced IL-12 p40 mRNA. Reexamination of the cytokine mRNA at 4 d revealed expression of IL-13 in all strains analyzed, suggesting that IL-2 and IL-13 may mediate the IL-12-independent production of IFN-gamma during the first days after infection. Leishmania have evolved to avoid inducing IL-12 from host macrophages during transmission from the insect vector, and cause a striking induction of mRNAs for IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 in CD4+ T cells. Each of these activities may favor survival of the organism.
Geometric accuracy of the NewTom 9000 Cone Beam CT.

OBJECTIVES To determine the geometric accuracy of digital volume tomograms to assess their usability for implant planning. METHODS A measuring object with 216 measuring points, whose geometry is exactly known, is X-rayed with a NewTom 9000 cone beam scanner; thereafter the geometry of the volume tomogram of the object is compared with the original body. RESULTS Considering all three coordinate axes, geometric mean deviations of 0.13 +/- 0.09 mm with a maximum deviation of 0.3 mm were determined. These geometric deviations are below the resolution power of the volume tomograph. CONCLUSION The digital volume tomographies of NewTom 9000 present images which are geometrically correct and, from a geometrical point of view, suitable for three-dimensional implant planning.