Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human bocavirus and other respiratory viral infections in a 2‐year cohort of hospitalized children†

Human bocavirus (HBoV) infection is reported worldwide and may cause severe respiratory tract infections. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of HBoV, and other respiratory viral pathogens, in a 2‐year retrospective study of children admitted to hospital, and to investigate whether viral loads of HBoV DNA were associated with severity of infection. Between April 2007 and March 2009, 891 respiratory samples from 760 children admitted to hospital with acute respiratory tract infection were tested for the presence of respiratory viruses by real‐time PCR or direct immunofluorescence testing. HBoV DNA was detected by using internally controlled real‐time quantitative PCR assay and 25 samples selected at random were sequenced. The virus detected most frequently was rhinovirus, followed by respiratory syncytial virus, HBoV, and human metapneumovirus. HBoV DNA was detected in 18.4% of children admitted to hospital. HBoV was the only viral pathogen detected in 66/164 (40.2%) of HBoV DNA‐positive children and in 7.4% of all 891 samples. Ninety‐seven percent (64/66) of children with an HBoV single infection were diagnosed as having lower respiratory tract infection. Median HBoV DNA viral load was significantly higher in children when HBoV was detected as a single pathogen. Higher HBoV DNA viral loads were associated with prematurity and age. HBoV seems to be an important and frequent pathogen in respiratory tract infections in children, and it is likely that the severity of illness is comparable to the severity of RSV illness. J. Med. Virol. 84:99–108, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
How the Brain's Clock Gets Daily Enlightenment

CIRCADIAN CLOCKIn a burst of papers published in the past 2 months, culminating with two in this week's issue of Science (pp. [1065][1] and [1070][2]), researchers report their discovery of a new class of light-detecting retinal cells that send their signals to the brain's circadian clock; the cells also contain a molecule that may be the long-sought circadian photopigment. The papers, from five different labs, mesh seamlessly, clock researchers say. Indeed, the new work describes an entirely independent light-detection system in the mammalian eye. [1]: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/short/295/5557/1065 [2]: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/short/295/5557/1070
Expressing the Diphtheria Toxin A Subunit from the HAP2(GCS1) Promoter Blocks Sperm Maturation and Produces Single Sperm-Like Cells Capable of Fertilization1[W][OA]

After meiosis, the male germline of flowering plants undergoes two mitoses, producing two sperm that are carried within a pollen tube to an ovule. One sperm fuses with the egg to form the zygote and the other fuses with the central cell to form the primary endosperm. The mechanisms that control male germline development and gene expression, and ensure that sperm properly fuse with female gametes are just beginning to be understood. Expression of the potent translation inhibitor, diphtheria toxin A subunit, from the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) HAP2(GCS1) promoter blocked sperm development before the final cell division, resulting in pollen tubes that carried a single sperm-like cell rather than two sperm. These pollen tubes targeted ovules and fertilized either the egg or the central cell, producing seeds with either endosperm or an embryo, but not both. Endosperm-only seeds significantly outnumbered embryo-only seeds, suggesting that single sperm-like cells preferentially fuse with the central cell. These experiments show that de novo translation is required for completion of sperm development, that the HAP2(GCS1) promoter is very tightly controlled, and that disruption of gene expression can result in male germ cells with a bias for gamete fusion.
Mesoporous Hollow Carbon Derived from Soft-Templated Hydrothermal Process for Supercapacitor Electrode

Supercapacitors have been emerged as an important energy storage device, owing to their high power density, excellent cycle ability, fast charge-discharge processes and low self-discharging. In this work, we have developed a facile soft-templated hydrothermal procedure to produce hollow mesoporous carbon spheres, which can deliver a relatively high capacitance (~190 F/g) and an energy density of ~26.38 Wh/kg at the discharging current of 1 A/g. The hollow cavity and micropore volume are shown to be the main factors that contribute to the good capacitive behavior.
Extensive Phenotypic Variation in Early Flowering Mutants of Arabidopsis1

Flowering time, the major regulatory transition of plant sequential development, is modulated by multiple endogenous and environmental factors. By phenotypic profiling of 80 early flowering mutants of Arabidopsis, we examine how mutational reduction of floral repression is associated with changes in phenotypic plasticity and stability. Flowering time measurements in mutants reveal deviations from the linear relationship between the number of leaves and number of days to bolting described for natural accessions and late flowering mutants. The deviations correspond to relative early bolting and relative late bolting phenotypes. Only a minority of mutants presents no detectable phenotypic variation. Mutants are characterized by a broad release of morphological pleiotropy under short days, with leaf characters being most variable. They also exhibit changes in phenotypic plasticity across environments for florigenic-related responses, including the reaction to light and dark, photoperiodic behavior, and Suc sensitivity. Morphological pleiotropy and plasticity modifications are differentially distributed among mutants, resulting in a large diversity of multiple phenotypic changes. The pleiotropic effects observed may indicate that floral repression defects are linked to global developmental perturbations. This first, to our knowledge, extensive characterization of phenotypic variation in early flowering mutants correlates with the reports that most factors recruited in floral repression at the molecular genetic level correspond to ubiquitous regulators. We discuss the importance of functional ubiquity for floral repression with respect to robustness and flexibility of network biological systems.
Multiple pathways facilitate the biogenesis of mammalian tail-anchored proteins

ABSTRACT Tail-anchored (TA) proteins are transmembrane proteins with a single C-terminal transmembrane domain, which functions as both their subcellular targeting signal and membrane anchor. We show that knockout of TRC40 in cultured human cells has a relatively minor effect on endogenous TA proteins, despite their apparent reliance on this pathway in vitro. These findings support recent evidence that the canonical TRC40 pathway is not essential for TA protein biogenesis in vivo. We therefore investigated the possibility that other ER-targeting routes can complement the TRC40 pathway and identified roles for both the SRP pathway and the recently described mammalian SND pathway in TA protein biogenesis. We conclude that, although TRC40 normally plays an important role in TA protein biogenesis, it is not essential, and speculate that alternative pathways for TA protein biogenesis, including those identified in this study, contribute to the redundancy of the TRC40 pathway. Summary: In addition to the canonical TRC40-targeting pathway, mammalian tail-anchored proteins can also utilise the SRP and SND pathways to facilitate their insertion into the ER membrane.
Double-lock strategy applied to optical spectral phase and delay encoding

Physical layer encryption (PLE) is a promising technology for increasing the security of communication networks. An important goal of PLE is to establish a mechanism that allows authorized users to understand cyphered messages. In this work, we show that this objective may be successfully accomplished by applying a double-lock strategy to the recently proposed optical spectral phase and delay encoding (SPDE) technique. The main feature of this strategy is that authorized users do not need to exchange a cryptographic key to achieve a safe communication. Computer simulation results suggest this double-lock approach may be effectively used by metropolitan area network end users deploying SPDE encrypted 100 Gb/s signals.
Effect of antihypertensive medication on endurance exercise capacity in hypertensive sportsmen.

Beta-adrenoceptor blockade can influence exercise capacity negatively, but data on the effect of converting enzyme inhibition and of calcium entry blockade on exercise capacity in hypertensive sportsmen are scarce. This report deals with the effect of the various types of antihypertensive medication on endurance exercise capacity in 14 hypertensive sportsmen, aged 39 +/- 3 years and weighing 73 +/- 2 kg (mean +/- s.e.m.). The patients were treated for 3 weeks with either placebo, atenolol (50 mg/day) enalapril (10 mg/day) or verapamil (240 mg/day) following a double-blind randomized cross-over design. At the end of each treatment period, they performed an endurance exercise test on the bicycle until exhaustion at 70% of their previously determined exercise capacity. Venous blood was sampled before and after exercise. In comparison with placebo, total exercise duration was not affected by enalapril (-3 +/- 7%) or verapamil (-7 +/- 11%). During treatment with atenolol, two patients had to interrupt their intake of the beta-blocker because of side effects. In the 12 remaining subjects, exercise duration was significantly decreased by 38 +/- 12% (P less than 0.01). Atenolol also induced decreases in plasma-free fatty acid concentration before and after exercise and an increase in potassium concentration after exercise, whereas enalapril and verapamil did not induce metabolic changes. During exercise, systolic blood pressure was decreased by atenolol (P less than 0.001) and enalapril (P less than 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure by enalapril (P less than 0.001), verapamil (P less than 0.05) and atenolol(P = 0.06). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Design and Research of the Next Generation of ERP Based on GPS and GIS

Using GPS and GIS technology, the next generation of ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) system, are designed in this paper. The structure and approaches of the system has also been presented. The next generation of ERP system has resolved the issues of traditional ERP system, such as, high cost, unavailable for wide range of application. And, The new system not only more consistent with road pricing principles and objectives of reducing traffic congestion and air pollution, but also more flexible for the integration of ERP system with other Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The paper also elaborated the key technical issues of the system.
Nutritional AMD Treatment Phase I (NAT-1): Feasibility of Oral DHA Supplementation in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose To create a pilot study in order to evaluate the feasibility of a prospective case-control study of oral supplementation with fish oil (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]; eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA]) in a population with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods A homogeneous group of 38 patients with drusenoid pigment epithelial detachment in one eye (PED) without choroidal new vessels (CNV) was selected. A complete ophthalmologic examination, and a complete profile of fatty acids in serum (S) and in red blood cell membranes (RBCM), were recorded at day 0 and month 6. In group 1, 22 patients were orally supplemented with EPA (720 mg/day) and DHA (480 mg/day) during 6 months. In group 2, 16 patients were followed as controls. Nutritional recommendations on fish consumption were given to both groups. Results In group 1, after 6 months supplementation we observed a significant blood enrichment in EPA (EPA-S: 2.20 vs 0.79, p<0.0001 and EPA-RBCM: 2.24 vs 0.85, p<0.0001) and in DHA (DHA-S: 2.47 vs 1.56, p<0.0001 and DHA-RBCM: 6.47 vs 4.67, p<0.0001). No change was observed in group 2 despite nutritional recommendations. In this short follow-up, no evolution to CNV was noted in either of the two groups. Neither side effects nor dropouts were observed in either of the groups. Conclusions This study supports the feasibility of a long-term double-masked prospective case-control study in an AMD population in order to evaluate a potential benefit from oral supplementation with DHA.
Bat predation on nocturnally migrating birds

Bat predation on birds is a very rare phenomenon in nature. Most documented reports of bird-eating bats refer to tropical bats that occasionally capture resting birds. Millions of small birds concentrate and cross over the world's temperate regions during migration, mainly at night, but no nocturnal predators are known to benefit from this enormous food resource. An analysis of 14,000 fecal pellets of the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus) reveals that this species captures and eats large numbers of migrating passerines, making it the only bat species so far known that regularly preys on birds. The echolocation characteristics and wing morphology of this species strongly suggest that it captures birds in flight.
Activation of mGluR5 Attenuates NMDA-Induced Neurotoxicity through Disruption of the NMDAR-PSD-95 Complex and Preservation of Mitochondrial Function in Differentiated PC12 Cells

Glutamate-mediated toxicity is implicated in various neuropathologic conditions, and activation of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors is considered to be the most important mechanism. It has been reported that pharmacological saturation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) can facilitate N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) related signaling cascades, but the mechanism leading to mGluR-NMDAR interactions in excitotoxic neuronal injury has remained unidentified. In the present study, we investigated the role of mGluR5 in the regulation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-induced excitotoxicity in differentiated PC12 cells. We found that activation of mGluR5 with the specific agonist R,S-2-chloro-5-hydroxyphenylglycine (CHPG) increased cell viability and inhibited lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in a dose-dependent manner. CHPG also inhibited an increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, attenuated cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and reduced apoptotic cell death after NMDA treatment. The NMDA-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, as indicated by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and cytochrome c release, was also partly prevented by CHPG treatment. Furthermore, CHPG blocked the NMDA-induced interaction of NMDAR with postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), but had no effects on intracellular calcium concentrations. All these results indicated that activation of mGluR5 protects differentiated PC12 cells from NMDA-induced neuronal excitotoxicity by disrupting NMDAR-PSD-95 interaction, which might be an ideal target for investigating therapeutic strategies in various neurological diseases where excitotoxicity may contribute to their pathology.
Familial clustering of cancer at human papillomavirus‐associated sites according to the Swedish Family‐Cancer Database

Familial aggregation of cervical cancer has been demonstrated previously, however aggregation of other human papillomavirus‐associated anogenital, upper aerodigestive tract and skin cancers has not been fully characterized. The Swedish Family‐Cancer Database, which contains reliable data on cancer incidence and nuclear family linkages for all residents of Sweden between 1958 and 2004, was used to calculate standardized incidence ratios (SIR) and 95% confidence intervals for offspring site‐specific cancer risks according to site‐specific cancer in sibling and parental probands. Offspring cancer risk was significantly increased when either a sibling or parent was affected at the same site for penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, SIR = 7.54), cervical adenocarcinoma (AC, SIR = 2.31), vulvar SCC (SIR = 2.27), skin SCC (SIR = 2.14), rectal AC (SIR = 1.86), in situ cervical SCC (SIR = 1.80), invasive cervical SCC (SIR = 1.77) and upper aerodigestive tract SCC (SIR = 1.57). Significant aggregation on the order of 2‐fold between anogenital cancers at different sites or histologies was also observed. In situ cervical SCC risk in offspring was strongly influenced by siblings affected with oropharyngeal SCC (SIR = 3.17) and tonsillar SCC (SIR = 1.84). Familial skin SCC was largely unassociated with anogenital or upper aerodigestive tract cancer risk in offspring. These data suggest that common host factors exist among individuals affected with anogenital and upper aerodigestive tract cancers. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Automated measurement of bulbar redness.

PURPOSE To examine the relationship between physical image characteristics and the clinical grading of images of conjunctival redness and to develop an accurate and efficient predictor of clinical redness from the measurements of these images. METHODS Seventy-two clinicians graded the appearance of 30 images of redness on a 100-point sliding scale with three referent images (at 25, 50, and 75 points) through a World Wide Web-based survey. Using software developed in a commercial computer program, each image was quantified in two ways: by the presence of blood vessel edges, based on the Canny edge-detection algorithm, and by a measure of overall redness, quantified by the relative magnitude of the redness component of each red-green-blue (RGB) pixel. Linear and nonlinear regressors and a Bayesian estimator were used to optimally combine the image characteristics to predict the clinical grades. RESULTS The clinical judgments of the redness images were highly variable: The average grade range for each image was approximately 55 points, more than half the extent of the entire scale. The median clinical grade was chosen as the most reliable measure of "truth. " The median grade was predicted by a weighted linear combination of the edgeness and redness features of each image. The strength of the predicted association was r = 0.976, exceeding the strength of association of all but one of the 72 individual clinicians. CONCLUSIONS Clinical grading of redness images is highly variable. Despite this human variability, easily implemented image-analysis and statistical procedures were able to reliably predict median clinical grades of conjunctival redness.
Polyaniline/iron nanocomposites prepared by cryomilling

The polyaniline/iron nanocomposites with both conducting and magnetic properties have been prepared by cryomilling (high-energy ball milling under cryogenic temperature), in which the average size of iron grains attains 20 nm. Enhanced coercivity of 206 Oe and decreased conductivity of 0.1 S cm -1 at room temperature have been obtained for the nanocomposites containing 10% volume fraction of iron in polyaniline after cryomilling for 20 h. The high value of the coercivity could be considered due to the presence of a fraction of single-domain particles in the nanocomposites. The low value of the conductivity could be considered due to the dedoping of conducting polyaniline with the cryomilling time.
Nickel, cobalt, chromium, palladium and gold induce a mixed Th1‐ and Th2‐type cytokine response in vitro in subjects with contact allergy to the respective metals

Nickel (Ni), the main cause of contact allergy to metals, induces in vitro production of both Th1‐ and Th2‐type cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from allergic subjects. Because the knowledge of the cellular immune response to other metals involved in contact allergy has been limited, we investigated the cytokine profile induced by Ni, cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), palladium (Pd) and gold (Au) in PBMC from patients with patch test reactivity to the respective metals. PBMC from patients with patch test reactivity to Ni, Co, Cr, Au and/or Pd (n = 31) and non‐allergic controls (n = 5) were stimulated in vitro with corresponding metal salts. Th1‐ [interleukin (IL)‐2 and interferon (IFN)‐γ] and Th2‐ (IL‐4 and IL‐13) type cytokine responses were measured by enzyme‐linked immunospot (ELISpot) and/or enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All metals induced a mixed Th1‐ and Th2‐type cytokine production in PBMC from individual patients with patch test reactivity to the corresponding metal, but not in control PBMC. Significantly higher responses in the patient versus controls were found for Cr (IL‐2 and IL‐13), Pd (IL‐2 and IL‐4), Au (IL‐13 and IFN‐γ) (all P < 0·05) and Ni (all four cytokines; P < 0·01) but not Co. Overall, 71% (37/52) and 89% (81/91) of the positive and negative patch test reactivities to metals, respectively, were matched by the in vitro reactivity. In conclusion, our data suggest that sensitization to Co, Cr, Pd and Au results in a cellular immune response of a character similar to the mixed Th1‐ and Th2‐type cytokine profile shown previously to be induced by Ni.
From Mnemosyne To Terpsichore - The Bilderatlas After The Image

This study concerns Aby Warburg’s last and most ambitious project: the Atlas Mnemosyne (or Bilderatlas), conceived in August 1926 and truncated three years later, unfinished, by Warburg’s sudden death in October 1929. Mnemosyne consists of a series of large black panels, on which are attached a variable number of black-and-white photographs of paintings, sculptures, tarot cards, stamps, coins, and other types of images. The version we use is the one Warburg was working on at the time of his death, also known as the “1-79 version”: it includes around a thousand images pinned on 63 panels (This version of the Atlas is published in various print editions, and available online). The Bilderatlas is a conceptual maze the culmination of a life’s scholarship in images and memory through which perhaps the clearest thread is the concept of Pathosformel, or formula for (the expression of) passion. Much excellent work has been written on the concept but, to the best of our knowledge, nobody has yet tried to “operationalise” it to turn it into a sequence of quantitative operations, or in other words, into an algorithm (Moretti, 2013).
Superelastic Fullerene-like Carbon Nitride Coatings Synthesised By Reactive Unbalanced Sputtering Magnetron

Abstract The present paper presents the results of in depth process characterisation and microstructural investigation of fullerene-like carbon nitride (FL - CNx) coatings combined with deformation analysis, such as indentation testing, in order to assess its performance. Unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering of graphite in a nitrogen containing atmosphere is essential for the growth of FL - CNx structures due to CxNy molecules, which are preformed in the process and may act as precursors or growth templates. The deposition process is best described as a hybrid of plasma vapour deposition and chemical vapour deposition. The fullerene-like (FL) structure leads to extraordinary mechanical properties which are assessed by nanoindentation. It exhibits a low work of indentation (usually a property associated with superhard materials) and also a low to moderate resistance to penetration. Therefore, deformation energy is predominantly stored elastically and released after unload giving it a tough and resilient character. In addition, the relatively low modulus leads to a spreading of the contact stresses over a larger volume and consequently to low stress gradients at the substrate/film interface. This hinders substrate/film delamination under load and therefore results in a high load bearing capability, while the coating asperities behave elastically with no tendency to brittle fracture in tribological contact. This characteristic combined with the low coefficient of friction reveals a coating which may be suitable for many tribological applications.