Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Requirement of the N-Terminal Region of Orthobunyavirus Nonstructural Protein NSm for Virus Assembly and Morphogenesis

ABSTRACT The nonstructural protein NSm of Bunyamwera virus (BUNV), the prototype of the Bunyaviridae family, is encoded by the M segment in a polyprotein precursor, along with the virion glycoproteins, in the order Gn-NSm-Gc. As little is known of its function, we examined the intracellular localization, membrane integrality, and topology of NSm and its role in virus replication. We confirmed that NSm is an integral membrane protein and that it localizes in the Golgi complex, together with Gn and Gc. Coimmunoprecipitation assays and yeast two-hybrid analysis demonstrated that NSm was able to interact with other viral proteins. NSm is predicted to contain three hydrophobic (I, III, and V) and two nonhydrophobic (II and IV) domains. The N-terminal nonhydrophobic domain II was found in the lumen of an intracellular compartment. A novel BUNV assembly assay was developed to monitor the formation of infectious virus-like-particles (VLPs). Using this assay, we showed that deletions of either the complete NSm coding region or domains I, II, and V individually seriously compromised VLP production. Consistently, we were unable to rescue viable viruses by reverse genetics from cDNA constructs that contained the same deletions. However, we could generate mutant BUNV with deletions in NSm domains III and IV and also a recombinant virus with the green fluorescent protein open reading frame inserted into NSm domain IV. The mutant viruses displayed differences in their growth properties. Overall, our data showed that the N-terminal region of NSm, which includes domain I and part of domain II, is required for virus assembly and that the C-terminal hydrophobic domain V may function as an internal signal sequence for the Gc glycoprotein.
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF MINKOWSKI FRACTAL ANTENNA USING MICROSTRIP FEED

In this paper, Minkowski fractal antenna for Bluetooth application has been designed. Apart from this, it can be used for various other applications as well because of its multiband feature. The antenna is fed by Microstrip feeding technique. Its advantage is that it can be easily fabricated as it is a just conducting strip connecting to the patch and therefore, can be considered as an extension of the patch. The proposed patch antenna is designed and simulated on IE3D simulation software and it is designed to operate in 2.45GHz band. Dielectric substrate with the permittivity €=2.2 (RT/Duroid 5880) with width of 1.588mm is used to make a resonant patch antenna of linear polarization. In this analysis, we have compared the antenna parameters such as gain, impedance, antenna efficiency, radiation efficiency, radiation pattern, polar plots, VSWR and Q-factor. Reduction in patch antenna size is achieved when performing fractalization of the main patch.
Autopoiesis, agency and accident: criteria for the attribution of life

‘Life’ is manifest in autonomous being in a contingent world and ‘natural life’ is life that has developed autonomously in that its becoming has not depended on prior agency. Autonomous being requires the capacity of autopoiesis and the maintenance of autonomous being in a contingent world requires the capacity of intentional agency. Also, autonomous and diverse becoming requires the capacities of accidental creation and reproductive evolution in an environment of contingent events. These capacities may be explained in theories of functional organization, each of which may be variously realized in the physical domain. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thinking Like a Park: The Effects of Sense of Place, Perspective-Taking, and Empathy on Pro-Environmental Intentions

Over the past few years there have been various calls for reformulating sustainable development in a more local and relational manner. Based on Aldo Leopold’s description of his experience in “Thinking Like a Mountain” as well as concepts in recreation and psychology, a framework was developed that examined potential relationships among sense of place, perspective-taking, empathy, and pro-environmental intentions. In order to determine if these relationships were consistent with study expectations, 258 visitors to a Canadian national park completed an on-site questionnaire. As expected, sense of place did significantly affect both empathy and perspective-taking, and perspective-taking did significantly affect empathy. Furthermore, although neither sense of place nor empathy affected the self-focused depreciative intention (e.g., not littering), sense of place did significantly affect the place-related intention (e.g., not visiting a favorite place for environmental reasons) indirectly through empathy, and both empathy and sense of place significantly affect the other-focused depreciative intention (e.g., picking up other peoples’ litter), the poaching reduction intention (e.g., paying higher entrance fees), and the volunteering intention (e.g., working on park projects). Study findings, management implications, and future research recommendations are discussed.
Phenotypic and genetic characterization of resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana to the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora parasitica

The interaction between Arabidopsis thaliana and the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora parasitica emerges as a model for exploring the molecular basis and evolution of recognition and host defense. Phenotypic variation and genetic analysis is essential to dissect the underlying mechanisms in plant–oomycete interaction. In this study, the reaction phenotypes of 28 A. thaliana accessions to P. parasitica strain Pp016 were examined using detached leaf infection assay. The results showed the presence of four distinct groups based on host response and disease development. Of all the accessions examined, Zurich (Zu-1) is highly resistant to P. parasitica. Microscopic characterization showed that rapid and severe hypersensitive response at the primary infection epidermal cells is associated with disease resistance. Furthermore, Zu-1 is resistant to a set of 20 diverse P. parasitica strains, which were collected from different host plants and exhibited differential specificities on a set of tobacco cultivars. However, Zu-1 is susceptible to P. parasitica when the root is inoculated, suggesting differential expression of associated resistance genes in the root and foliar tissues. Genetic analysis by crossing Zu-1 and the susceptible accession Landsberg (Ler) showed that the resistance in Zu-1 to P. parasitica is semi-dominant, as shown by infection assays of F1 progenies, and is likely conferred by a single locus, defined as RPPA1Zu-1 (for Resistance to P. parasitica 1), as shown by analysis of F2 segregating populations. By employing specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) strategy to identify molecular markers potentially linked to the locus, the strongest associated region was determined to be located between 7.1 and 11.2 Mb in chromosome IV. The future cloning of RPPA1Zu-1 locus will facilitate improved understanding of plant broad-spectrum disease resistance to oomycete pathogens.
Key Success Factors for Ericsson Mobile Platforms using Porter ' s Value Chain model

Title Key Success Factors for Ericsson Mobile Platforms using Porter's Value Chain model Author Mauricio Aracena Kovacevic Supervisor Dr. Klaus Solberg Søilen Institution School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course Master Thesis in Business Administration, 10 credits Purpose The purpose of this study is to extract the Key Success Factors for Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP) by analyzing its value chain and possible areas of improvements. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to test the Value Grid concept as tool for strategic planning using the analysis of EMP’s value chain. Methodology This master thesis is a case study of Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP) from an inside-out perspective. The data is collected from documentation and from semi-structured interviews with people from EMP. The theoretical framework is a combination of traditional theories such as value chain analysis and newer approaches like value networks and added-value chain. Conclusions The value chain analysis and the research model used in this study demonstrated to be useful to identify the KSFs for EMP. Four KSFs were identified for EMP: ability to bring TTM cost-optimized platform with new technology; ability to integrate, test and deliver stable complex technology solutions in short time; excellent competence in radio technology; and finally, to have customers that generate high volumes. The KSFs for EMP resides in the fact that it has managed to define correctly the boundaries of the value chain activities, that is, it only does activities where it has core competences. After a deep analysis of the value chain and value system, the Value Grid concept proved to be an heuristic tool for finding opportunities of improvements for EMP. Finally, Value Grid framework seems to be suitable for firms who have value chains built on modular activities that can be re-used independently for creating other types of products.
Pathway Thermodynamics Highlights Kinetic Obstacles in Central Metabolism

In metabolism research, thermodynamics is usually used to determine the directionality of a reaction or the feasibility of a pathway. However, the relationship between thermodynamic potentials and fluxes is not limited to questions of directionality: thermodynamics also affects the kinetics of reactions through the flux-force relationship, which states that the logarithm of the ratio between the forward and reverse fluxes is directly proportional to the change in Gibbs energy due to a reaction (ΔrG′). Accordingly, if an enzyme catalyzes a reaction with a ΔrG′ of -5.7 kJ/mol then the forward flux will be roughly ten times the reverse flux. As ΔrG′ approaches equilibrium (ΔrG′ = 0 kJ/mol), exponentially more enzyme counterproductively catalyzes the reverse reaction, reducing the net rate at which the reaction proceeds. Thus, the enzyme level required to achieve a given flux increases dramatically near equilibrium. Here, we develop a framework for quantifying the degree to which pathways suffer these thermodynamic limitations on flux. For each pathway, we calculate a single thermodynamically-derived metric (the Max-min Driving Force, MDF), which enables objective ranking of pathways by the degree to which their flux is constrained by low thermodynamic driving force. Our framework accounts for the effect of pH, ionic strength and metabolite concentration ranges and allows us to quantify how alterations to the pathway structure affect the pathway's thermodynamics. Applying this methodology to pathways of central metabolism sheds light on some of their features, including metabolic bypasses (e.g., fermentation pathways bypassing substrate-level phosphorylation), substrate channeling (e.g., of oxaloacetate from malate dehydrogenase to citrate synthase), and use of alternative cofactors (e.g., quinone as an electron acceptor instead of NAD). The methods presented here place another arrow in metabolic engineers' quiver, providing a simple means of evaluating the thermodynamic and kinetic quality of different pathway chemistries that produce the same molecules.
Cognitive Grammar and gesture: Points of convergence, advances and challenges

Abstract Given its usage-oriented character, Cognitive Grammar (CG) can be expected to be consonant with a multimodal, rather than text-only, perspective on language. Whereas several scholars have acknowledged this potential, the question as to how speakers’ gestures can be incorporated in CG-based grammatical analysis has not been conclusively addressed. In this paper, we aim to advance the CG-gesture relationship. We first elaborate on three important points of convergence between CG and gesture research: (1) CG’s conception of grammar as a prototype category, with central and more peripheral structures, aligns with the variable degrees to which speakers’ gestures are conventionalized in human communication. (2) Conceptualization, which lies at the basis of grammatical organization according to CG, is known to be of central importance for gestural expression. In fact, all of the main dimensions of construal postulated in CG (specificity, perspective, profile-base relationship, conceptual archetypes) receive potential gestural expression. (3) CG’s intensive use of diagrammatic notation allows for the incorporation of spatial features of gestures. Subsequently, we demonstrate how CG can be applied to analyze the structure of multimodal, spoken-gestured utterances. These analyses suggest that the constructs and tools developed by CG can be employed to analyze the compositionality that exists within a single gesture (between conventional and more idiosyncratic components) as well as in the grammatical relations that may exist between gesture and speech. Finally, we raise a number of theoretical and empirical challenges.
Biological Pathways and Potential Targets for Prevention and Therapy of Chronic Allograft Nephropathy

Renal transplantation (RT) is the best option for patients with end-stage renal disease, but the half-life is limited to a decade due to progressive deterioration of renal function and transplant failure from chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN), which is the leading cause of transplant loss. Extensive research has been done to understand the pathogenesis, the biological pathways of fibrogenesis, and potential therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of CAN. Despite the advancements in the immunosuppressive agents and patient care, CAN continues to remain an unresolved problem in renal transplantation. The aim of this paper is to undertake a comprehensive review of the literature on the pathogenesis, biological pathways of RT fibrogenesis, and potential therapeutic targets for the prevention and therapy of CAN.
Cavity Optomechanics with Ultra Cold Atoms in Synthetic Abelian and Non-Abelian Gauge Field

In this article we present a pedagogical discussion of some of the optomechanical properties of a high finesse cavity loaded with ultracold atoms in laser induced synthetic gauge fields of different types. Essentially, the subject matter of this article is an amalgam of two sub-fields of atomic molecular and optical (AMO) physics namely, the cavity optomechanics with ultracold atoms and ultracold atoms in synthetic gauge field. After providing a brief introduction to either of these fields we shall show how and what properties of these trapped ultracold atoms can be studied by looking at the cavity (optomechanical or transmission) spectrum. In presence of abelian synthetic gauge field we discuss the cold-atom analogue of Shubnikov de Haas oscillation and its detection through cavity spectrum. Then, in the presence of a non-abelian synthetic gauge field (spin-orbit coupling), we see when the electromagnetic field inside the cavity is quantized, it provides a quantum optical lattice for the atoms, leading to the formation of different quantum magnetic phases. We also discuss how these phases can be explored by studying the cavity transmission spectrum.
Computing the Local-Nonglobal Minimizer of a Large Scale Trust-Region Subproblem

We propose two algorithms for computing the local-nonglobal minimizer of a quadratic function subject to a constraint set that is a Euclidean sphere. We also discuss the case where the constraint set is a Euclidean ball. At each iteration of the algorithms, we compute the two smallest eigenvalues of a parametric matrix using an ARPACK subroutine. Only matrix-vector multiplications are required. Hence, we are able to exploit the possible sparsity of the Hessian matrix of the quadratic objective, making the algorithms suitable for large problems. This improves previous approaches based on matrix factorizations. We also give a geometric relationship, based on extremal ellipsoids, between the global and the local-nonglobal minimizers of the quadratic function under the given sphere constraint.
A gene expression atlas of a bicoid-depleted Drosophila embryo reveals early canalization of cell fate

In developing embryos, gene regulatory networks drive cells towards discrete terminal fates, a process called canalization. We studied the behavior of the anterior-posterior segmentation network in Drosophila melanogaster embryos by depleting a key maternal input, bicoid (bcd), and measuring gene expression patterns of the network at cellular resolution. This method results in a gene expression atlas containing the levels of mRNA or protein expression of 13 core patterning genes over six time points for every cell of the blastoderm embryo. This is the first cellular resolution dataset of a genetically perturbed Drosophila embryo that captures all cells in 3D. We describe the technical developments required to build this atlas and how the method can be employed and extended by others. We also analyze this novel dataset to characterize the degree and timing of cell fate canalization in the segmentation network. We find that in two layers of this gene regulatory network, following depletion of bcd, individual cells rapidly canalize towards normal cell fates. This result supports the hypothesis that the segmentation network directly canalizes cell fate, rather than an alternative hypothesis whereby cells are initially mis-specified and later eliminated by apoptosis. Our gene expression atlas provides a high resolution picture of a classic perturbation and will enable further computational modeling of canalization and gene regulation in this transcriptional network. Summary: Drosophila bicoid mutant embryos show severe patterning phenotypes, but individual cells retain wild-type fates - as judged by expression of key patterning genes at single-cell resolution.
Comparison of the effects of single and daily repeated immobilization stress on resting activity and heterotypic sensitization of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis

Abstract Acute exposure to severe stressors causes marked activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis that is reflected on the day after higher resting levels of HPA hormones and sensitization of the HPA response to novel (heterotypic) stressors. However, whether a single exposure to a severe stressor or daily repeated exposure to the same (homotypic) stressor modifies these responses to the same extent has not been studied. In this experiment, we studied this issue in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats daily exposed for seven days to a severe stressor such as immobilization on boards (IMO). A first exposure to 1 h IMO resulted in a marked activation of the HPA axis as reflected in plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone, and such activation was significantly reduced after the seventh IMO. On the day after the first IMO, higher resting levels of ACTH and corticosterone and sensitization of their responses to a short exposure to an open-field (OF) were observed, together with a marked hypoactivity in this environment. Repeated exposure to IMO partially reduced hypoactivity, the increase in resting levels of HPA hormones and the ACTH responsiveness to the OF on the day after the last exposure to IMO. In contrast, corticosterone response was gradually increased, suggesting partial dissociation from ACTH. These results indicate that daily repeated exposure to the same stressor partially reduced the HPA response to the homotypic stressor as well as the sensitization of HPA axis activity observed the day after chronic stress cessation.
A study of the syndromes of denial.

IN THE neurological literature are recorded experiences with many patients who denied parts of the body or dysfunctions of various parts. The classic, or topographical, approach to the denial syndromes has been summarized by Roth 1 and examined further by Sandifer. 2 Schilder dealt with these phenomena in terms of the patient's body image. 3 More recently, Weinstein and Kahn 4 have presented a study of "anosognosia," broadening its definition to include denial of many defects of function and of events in the patient's recent experience, such as operations. The various phenomena of denial are linked together by these authors as manifestations of a defensive psychological attitude temporarily adopted by the patient with gross structural defects of the central nervous system as a means of immediate protection against the recognition of life-threatening disease processes. According to these authors, the premorbid personality is characterized chiefly by perfectionistic trends. Two patients recently
KINECT KIOSK USER EXPERIENCE EVALUATION

In this paper we present an evaluation of Kinect Kiosk user experience. We have created an example of evaluation system where users can decide which parameter values of the user interface are suitable for them. Our example shows how we can collect user feedback in form of voting system to adapt the user interface for average user. Such setup also allows user profiles that can store the information of user interface preferences for an individual user. The presented evaluation of touchless interfaces is novel and shows how user interface designers as well as user experience designers can create better user interfaces by using presented evaluation.
Pictures and Spoken Descriptions Elicit Similar Eye Movements During Mental Imagery, Both in Light and in Complete Darkness

This study provides evidence that eye movements reflect the positions of objects while participants listen to a spoken description, retell a previously heard spoken description, and describe a previously seen picture. This effect is equally strong in retelling from memory, irrespective of whether the original elicitation was spoken or visual. In addition, this effect occurs both while watching a blank white board and while sitting in complete darkness. This study includes 4 experiments. The first 2 experiments measured eye movements of participants looking at a blank white board. Experiment 1 monitors eye movements of participants on 2 occasions: first, when participants listened to a prerecorded spoken scene description; second, when participants were later retelling it from memory. Experiment 2 first monitored eye movements of participants as they studied a complex picture visually, and then later as they described it from memory. The second pair of experiments (Experiments 3 and 4) replicated Experiments 1 and 2 with the only difference being that they were executed in complete darkness. This method of analysis differentiated between eye movements that are categorically correct relative to the positions of the whole eye gaze pattern (global correspondence) and eye movements that are only locally correct (local correspondence). The discussion relates the findings to the current debate on mental imagery.
A Concept of an Anonymous Direct P2P Distribution Overlay System

The paper introduces a peer-to-peer system called P2PRIV (peer-to-peer direct and anonymous distribution overlay). Basic novel features of P2PRIV are: (i) a peer-to-peer parallel content exchange architecture, and (ii) separation of the anonymization process from the transport function. These features allow a considerable saving of service time while preserving high degree of anonymity. In the paper we evaluate anonymity measures of P2PRIV (using a normalized entropy measurement model) as well as its traffic measures (including service time and network dynamics), and compare anonymity and traffic performance of P2PRIV with a well known system called CROWDS.