Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intracellular Colocalization of Influenza Viral RNA and Rab11A Is Dependent upon Microtubule Filaments

ABSTRACT Influenza A virus (IAV) consists of eight viral RNA (vRNA) segments that are replicated in the host cell nucleus and transported to the plasma membrane for packaging into progeny virions. We have previously proposed a model where subcomplexes of vRNA are exported from the nucleus and assembled en route to the plasma membrane. However, the role of host cytoskeletal proteins in the cytoplasmic assembly of IAV vRNA segments remains unknown. Previous studies have suggested that IAV vRNA segments are transported via Rab11A-containing recycling endosomes (RE) and use both microtubules (MT) and actin. Rab11A RE transport primarily along MT; therefore, investigation of the role of MT in vRNA assembly is warranted. We explored the role of MT in vRNA assembly and replication by using multiple IAV strains in various cell types, including primary human airway epithelial cells. We observed that Rab11A localization was altered in the presence of MT-depolymerizing drugs, but growth of IAV in all of the cell types tested was unchanged. Fluorescent in situ hybridization was performed to determine the role of MT in the assembly of multiple vRNA segments. Unexpectedly, we found that vRNA-vRNA association in cytoplasmic foci was independent of MT. Given the disparity of localization between Rab11A and vRNA segments in the absence of intact MT filaments, we analyzed the three-dimensional spatial relationship between Rab11A and vRNA in the cytoplasm of infected cells. We found that Rab11A and vRNA colocalization is dependent upon dynamic MT filaments. Taken together, our data suggest that cytoplasmic transport of influenza vRNA may include a Rab11A RE-independent mechanism. IMPORTANCE IAV infections cause a large public health burden through seasonal epidemics and sporadic pandemics. Pandemic IAVs emerge through reassortment of vRNA in animal or human hosts. Elucidation of the mechanism of intracellular dynamics of IAV assembly is necessary to understand reassortment. Our results describing the role of MT in vRNA transport and assembly expand upon previous studies characterizing vRNA assembly. This study is the first to assess the role of MT in influenza virus replication in human bronchial airway epithelial cells. In addition, we present novel data on the role of MT in facilitating the association between distinct vRNA segments. Interestingly, our results suggest that progressive assembly of vRNA segments may be cell type dependent and that vRNA may be transported through the cytoplasm without Rab11A RE in the absence of intact MT. These results enhance our understanding of vRNA assembly and the role of cytoskeletal proteins in that process.
Mining Opinion Leaders in Big Social Network

Recently, due to the popularity of Web 2.0, considerable attention has been paid to the opinion leader discovery in social network. By identifying the opinion leaders, companies or governments can manipulate the selling or guiding public opinion, respectively. Additionally, detecting the influential comments is able to understand the source and trend of public opinion formation. However, mining opinion leaders in a huge social network is a challenge task because of the complexity of graph processing and leadership analysis. In this study, a novel algorithm, OLMiner, is proposed to efficiently find the opinion leaders from a huge social network. We propose a clustering method to solve the influence overlapping issue and significantly reduce the computation time by shrinking the size of candidate generation. The experimental results show that the proposed OLMiner can effectively discover the influential opinion leaders in different real social networks with efficiency.
Genetic diversity and population structure of Cirrhinus mrigala revealed by mitochondrial ATPase 6 gene

Abstract The genetic diversity and population structure of Cirrhinus mrigala were studied using partial mitochondrial ATPase 6 gene. 155 individuals were collected from six distant rivers of peninsular India. A total of 11 haplotypes were found with haplotype diversity value of 0.46711 and nucleotide diversity 0.00154 indicating a low degree of genetic divergence among populations. The result of AMOVA analysis also revealed that 97.53% of the genetic variation contained within populations and 2.47% occurred among populations. An overall fixation index was found to be 0.02466 (p < .05). Pairwise Fst analysis showed significant genetic differentiation between the Kaveri and rest of the populations. The minimum spanning tree of the haplotype data demonstrated a common ancestral origin of the mrigal populations in peninsular rivers. From the overall results of the present study it may be inferred that mrigal population in peninsular India have low genetic differentiation. This information would be very essential for setting up of genetic improvement programmes, effective management, and conservation of natural genetic resources of mrigal.
Non spherical polyvinyl alcohol versus gelatin sponge particles for uterine artery embolization for symptomatic fibroids

Abstract Purpose: To compare clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes after uterine artery embolization (UAE) with non spherical polyvinyl alcohol (nPVA) versus gelatin sponge particles. Material and methods: During ten months, from Jan 2011 to Oct 2011, 60 patients underwent UAE in a standardized manner. nPVA (n = 30) or gelatin sponge particles (n = 30) were used in all patients. Pelvic MRI and clinical symptoms were reviewed before and after the procedure. Changes in tumor, uterine volume and infarction rate of dominant tumor were assessed using MRI. Result: At three months after embolization, the outcome data were collected. The improvement of the mean bleeding score was more pronounced with gelatin sponge particles than with nPVA particles (p = 0.035). The mean volume reduction rate and infarction rate of dominant fibroid were 47.9 ± 20.8%, 97.7 ± 5.2% and 60.2 ± 18.1, 96 ± 7.0% after UAE with nPVA compared to gelatin sponge particles, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed the superiority of gelatin sponge particles over nPVA in terms of improvement of mean bleeding score and volume reduction rate of dominant fibroid at three months follow-up after UAE, although the infarction rate of dominant fibroid was similar across groups at three months.
Neuroticism Associates with Cerebral in Vivo Serotonin Transporter Binding Differently in Males and Females

Abstract Background Neuroticism is a major risk factor for affective disorders. This personality trait has been hypothesized to associate with synaptic availability of the serotonin transporter, which critically controls serotonergic tone in the brain. However, earlier studies linking neuroticism and serotonin transporter have failed to produce converging findings. Because sex affects both the serotonergic system and the risk that neuroticism poses to the individual, sex may modify the association between neuroticism and serotonin transporter, but this question has not been investigated by previous studies. Methods Here, we combined data from 4 different positron emission tomography imaging centers to address whether neuroticism is related to serotonin transporter binding in vivo. The data set included serotonin transporter binding potential values from the thalamus and striatum and personality scores from 91 healthy males and 56 healthy females. We specifically tested if the association between neuroticism and serotonin transporter is different in females and males. Results We found that neuroticism and thalamic serotonin transporter binding potentials were associated in both males and females, but with opposite directionality. Higher neuroticism associated with higher serotonin transporter binding potential in males (standardized beta 0.292, P=.008), whereas in females, higher neuroticism associated with lower serotonin transporter binding potential (standardized beta -0.288, P=.014). Conclusions The finding is in agreement with recent studies showing that the serotonergic system is involved in affective disorders differently in males and females and suggests that contribution of thalamic serotonin transporter to the risk of affective disorders depends on sex.
Mutations in the Fusion Protein of Measles Virus That Confer Resistance to the Membrane Fusion Inhibitors Carbobenzoxy-d-Phe-l-Phe-Gly and 4-Nitro-2-Phenylacetyl Amino-Benzamide

ABSTRACT The inhibitors carbobenzoxy (Z)-d-Phe-l-Phe-Gly (fusion inhibitor peptide [FIP]) and 4-nitro-2-phenylacetyl amino-benzamide (AS-48) have similar efficacies in blocking membrane fusion and syncytium formation mediated by measles virus (MeV). Other homologues, such as Z-d-Phe, are less effective but may act through the same mechanism. In an attempt to map the site of action of these inhibitors, we generated mutant viruses that were resistant to the inhibitory effects of Z-d-Phe-l-Phe-Gly. These 10 mutations were localized to the heptad repeat B (HRB) region of the fusion protein, and no changes were observed in the viral hemagglutinin, which is the receptor attachment protein. Mutations were validated in a luciferase-based membrane fusion assay, using transfected fusion and hemagglutinin expression plasmids or with syncytium-based assays in Vero, Vero-SLAM, and Vero-Nectin 4 cell lines. The changes I452T, D458N, D458G/V459A, N462K, N462H, G464E, and I483R conferred resistance to both FIP and AS-48 without compromising membrane fusion. The inhibitors did not block hemagglutinin protein-mediated binding to the target cell. Edmonston vaccine/laboratory and IC323 wild-type strains were equally affected by the inhibitors. Escape mutations were mapped upon a three-dimensional (3D) structure modeled from the published crystal structure of parainfluenzavirus 5 fusion protein. The most effective mutations were situated in a region located near the base of the globular head and its junction with the alpha-helical stalk of the prefusion protein. We hypothesize that the fusion inhibitors could interfere with the structural changes that occur between the prefusion and postfusion conformations of the fusion protein. IMPORTANCE Due to lapses in vaccination worldwide that have caused localized outbreaks, measles virus (MeV) has regained importance as a pathogen. Antiviral agents against measles virus are not commercially available but could be useful in conjunction with MeV eradication vaccine programs and as a safeguard in oncolytic viral therapy. Three decades ago, the small hydrophobic peptide Z-d-Phe-l-Phe-Gly (FIP) was shown to block MeV infections and syncytium formation in monkey kidney cell lines. The exact mechanism of its action has yet to be determined, but it does appear to have properties similar to those of another chemical inhibitor, AS-48, which appears to interfere with the conformational change in the viral F protein that is required to elicit membrane fusion. Escape mutations were used to map the site of action for FIP. Knowledge gained from these studies could help in the design of new inhibitors against morbilliviruses and provide additional knowledge concerning the mechanism of virus-mediated membrane fusion.
Safety profile of the direct oral anticoagulants: an analysis of the WHO database of adverse drug reactions

AIM Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have shown noninferiority to warfarin for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) and a more promising safety profile. Unanswered safety aspects remain to be addressed and available evidence on the risk associated with these drugs are conflicting. In order to contribute to the debate on their safety profile, we conducted a comparative analysis of the reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with DOACs in VigiBase. METHODS Study based on reports of suspected ADRs held in VigiBase as at December 2014, in which a DOAC or warfarin were administered in patients with nonvalvular AF and listed as suspected/interacting drugs. Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities was used to classify ADRs. Reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence interval were calculated. Results with P ≤ 0.05 were statistically significant. RESULTS We retrieved 32 972 reports. We identified 204 ADRs with a ROR >1 (P ≤ 0.05) and we focused on 105 reactions. Positive ROR emerged for DOACs and gastrointestinal haemorrhage compared with warfarin [(1.6 (1.47-1.75)], but no disproportionality with cerebral haemorrhage was found [0.31 (0.28-0.34)]. We identified other potential signals that have not been associated with DOACs previously. CONCLUSIONS As well as premarketing authorization clinical trial studies, we found a reduced risk of intracranial haemorrhage, but an increased risk of gastrointestinal haemorrhage in patients treated with DOACs compared to warfarin. We provide new data and we highlight several differences between the three novel oral anticoagulants, in the rate and type of ADRs occurred.
A neglected infection in literature: Childhood musculoskeletal tuberculosis – A bibliometric analysis of the most influential papers

Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) is known to have a wide range of presentations, and if left untreated, primary TB may lead to bone and joint involvement. The literature on this topic is very scarce, and no comprehensive systematic review or meta-analysis of the current knowledge is available to date. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the literature with highest impact based on citation rate analysis. All databases of the Thomson and Reuters “Web of Knowledge” were used to conduct our search of the 100 most cited articles on this topic published between 1950 and 2014. The included articles were analyzed in terms of citation rate, age, study type, area of research, level of evidence (LOE), and more. All 100 articles were published between 1967 and 2011 in 51 different journals. The average citation rate was 74.26, all articles were on average 23.1 years, and most studies were originated from India (n = 22), followed by the USA (n = 21). The majority of publications were review articles (42%), described clinical course (n = 48), and assigned an LOE IV (44%). TB infection is a high burden disease in low-income countries but widely studied in a fi rst world setup. This research gap between the geographic distribution of disease burden and origin of publications could initiate possibilities for high-burden countries to share their opinion. Their experience is of a high level of importance and relevance which furthermore is necessary to create a more accurate picture of pediatric musculoskeletal TB burden in literature.
Understanding the Impact of Preservation Methods on the Integrity and Functionality of Placental Allografts

Introduction Human placental membranes (hPMs) have a long history in treating burns and wounds. The composition of hPMs includes structural matrix, growth factors, and neonatal cells, all of which contribute to their regenerative potential. However, most hPM products are devitalized after dehydration and irradiation. We compared the functionality of single-layer viable cryopreserved human amniotic membrane (vCHAM) with multilayer devitalized dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (dHACM) in wound-relevant models to determine the effect of different processing methods on hPMs. Methods Viable cryopreserved human amniotic membrane and dHACM were compared with fresh hPM for structural integrity and viability. Viable cell persistence in vCHAM over time was evaluated in vitro and in vivo in a diabetic chronic wound mouse model. Proliferation of cells within fresh hPM and vCHAM was evaluated with bromodeoxyuridine and Ki-67 staining, and proliferation of isolated cells in culture was evaluated. Growth factor release over time and in vitro response to chronic wound stimuli (tumor necrosis factor &agr;, lipopolysaccharide, and hypoxia) were used to compare the functionality of vCHAM and dHACM. Results The structure and thickness of fresh hPM were retained in vCHAM but were compromised in dHACM. Similar to fresh hPM, vCHAM contained viable cells, whereas dHACM did not. Cells in vCHAM remained viable after 4 and 7 days in culture and in an in vitro chronic wound environment and after 4 and 8 days in vivo after application to a mouse chronic wound. Staining for bromodeoxyuridine and Ki-67 did not reveal proliferative cells within fresh hPM and vCHAM. However, isolated cells proliferated in culture. Viable cryopreserved human amniotic membrane increased platelet-derived growth factor BB, hepatocyte growth factor, and epidermal growth factor levels over time and responded to chronic wound stimuli in vitro by significantly increasing levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and prostaglandin E2. Dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane showed no significant accumulation of growth factors and did not respond to chronic wound stimuli. Conclusions These results indicate that vCHAM retains intact, native matrix, and viable, active cells and responds to chronic wound stimuli in vitro. The inclusion of multiple layers of hPM does not compensate for structural degradation and loss of viability caused by dehydration as evidenced by a lack of functional response by dHACM. The clinical significance of these results remains to be answered.
Comparative Analysis of Wear Rates of Microcrystalline Diamond and Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings Deposited on WС-Co Substrates

The study investigates the wear of microcrystalline diamond (MCD) and diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. The MCD and DLC coatings were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method on WC-Co substrates. The sliding wear tests were performed on the ball-on-plate type of tribometer in reciprocating mode. The ball-cratering wear tests were carried out using Calo tester. The mechanical profilometer, optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) were used for investigation of the surface morphology of the wear scars. The wear of DLC coating is more intense in comparison to the MCD coating. In contrast to the MCD coating, no evidence of the DLC coating deflection was found.
Understanding trophic relationships among Caribbean sea urchins.

The species Echinometra lucunter, Echinometra viridis, Lytechinus variegatus, Tripneustes ventricosus, and Diadema antillarum are the most common sea urchins of littoral habitats in the Caribbean. T. ventricosus and L. variegatus are associated with seagrass beds, while the other three species usually inhabit hardground substrates. Food preferences of these species are well documented and they are commonly accepted as being primarily herbivorous-omnivorous; nevertheless, few of them have previously been characterized isotopically. We used this approach for assessing the isotopic characterization of five echinoids. We established the trophic position of two groups of co-occurring species and quantified the contribution of food resources in the diet of Echinometra lucunter, considered the most common sea urchin in the Caribbean region. The species T. ventricosus and D. antillarum showed the highest values of δ15N. Sea urchins exhibited similar values of δ13C varying from -11.6 ± 0.63 to -10.4 ± 0.99%. The echinoid E. lucunter displayed the lowest values of carbon, from -15.40 ± 0.76%. Significant differences among species were found for δ15N and δ13C. Seaweed communities exhibited no differences among sites for overall δ15N (F= 1.300, df= 3, p= 0.301), but we found spatial differences for δ13C (F= 7.410, df= 3, p= 0.001). The ellipse-based metrics of niche width analysis found that the hardground biotope species (D. antillarum, E. lucunter, and E. viridis) did not overlap each other. Similar results were obtained for the co-occurring species of the seagrass biotope; however, the distance between these species was closer than that of the hardground biotope species. The Bayesian mixing models run for E. lucunter at all four localities found differences in food resources contribution. The algae D. menstrualis, C. crassa and B. triquetrum dominated in CGD; whereas C. nitens, Gracilaria spp. , and D. caribaea represented the main contributor algae to the diet of E. lucunter at LQY. In Culebra Island, no dominance of any particular algae was detected in TMD, where six of the eight species exhibited a similar contribution. Similarities in δ15N between D. antillarum and T. ventricosus may hint towards a similar trophic level for these species, although T. ventricosus is widely accepted as an omnivore, while D. antillarum is considered a generalist herbivore. The lack of overlap among species in the two biotopes seems to indicate a resource partitioning strategy to avoid niche competition among co-occurring species.
DrugScorePPI Knowledge-Based Potentials Used as Scoring and Objective Function in Protein-Protein Docking

The distance-dependent knowledge-based DrugScorePPI potentials, previously developed for in silico alanine scanning and hot spot prediction on given structures of protein-protein complexes, are evaluated as a scoring and objective function for the structure prediction of protein-protein complexes. When applied for ranking “unbound perturbation” (“unbound docking”) decoys generated by Baker and coworkers a 4-fold (1.5-fold) enrichment of acceptable docking solutions in the top ranks compared to a random selection is found. When applied as an objective function in FRODOCK for bound protein-protein docking on 97 complexes of the ZDOCK benchmark 3.0, DrugScorePPI/FRODOCK finds up to 10% (15%) more high accuracy solutions in the top 1 (top 10) predictions than the original FRODOCK implementation. When used as an objective function for global unbound protein-protein docking, fair docking success rates are obtained, which improve by ∼2-fold to 18% (58%) for an at least acceptable solution in the top 10 (top 100) predictions when performing knowledge-driven unbound docking. This suggests that DrugScorePPI balances well several different types of interactions important for protein-protein recognition. The results are discussed in view of the influence of crystal packing and the type of protein-protein complex docked. Finally, a simple criterion is provided with which to estimate a priori if unbound docking with DrugScorePPI/FRODOCK will be successful.
Observations on Structural Changes under Thermal Ageing of Cross-linked Polyethylene Used As Power Cables Insulation

ABSTRACT Key Words: Observations on Structural Changes under ThermalAgeing of Cross-linked Polyethylene Used AsPower Cables Insulation Larbi Boukezzi 1 , Ahmed Boubakeur 2 , Christian Laurent 3 and Mouhamed Lallouani 4 (1) Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Djelfa,17000, Algeria(2) L.R. E. /High Voltage Laboratory, Polytechnic National School, B.P182EL-Harrach, Algiers, Algeria(3) Electrical Engineering Laboratory, Paul Sabatier University, 31062 ToulouseCedex 4, France(4) ENICAB, Industrial Zone, Biskra, AlgeriaReceived 2 April 2008; accepted 9 August 2008 T he widespread use of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) as insulation in the man-ufacturing of medium and high voltage cables may be attributed to its outstand-ing physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties. However, it is wellknown that degradation under service conditions is the major problem in the use ofXLPE as cables insulation. Especially, thermal oxidative degradation produces lowmolecular weight and oxygenated products. Several diagnostic measurements havebeen used in this study in order to characterize XLPE behaviour under thermal ageing.Firstly FTIR has been conducted on fresh and aged samples in order to reveal theeffect of thermal ageing on the chemical changes which take place in the XLPE struc-ture. The main changes are the formation of carbonyl groups (aldehyde, ketone, etc.). Use of DSC analysis shows the effect of ageing on the melting peak temperature T