Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Gammaherpesvirus 68 Gene 50 Null Mutant Establishes Long-Term Latency in the Lung but Fails To Vaccinate against a Wild-Type Virus Challenge

ABSTRACT The gammaherpesvirus immediate-early genes are critical regulators of virus replication and reactivation from latency. Rta, encoded by gene 50, serves as the major transactivator of the lytic program and is highly conserved among all the gammaherpesviruses, including Epstein-Barr virus, Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, and murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68). Introduction of a translation stop codon in γHV68 gene 50 (gene 50.stop γHV68) demonstrated that Rta is essential for virus replication in vitro. To investigate the role that virus replication plays in the establishment and maintenance of latency, we infected mice with gene 50.stop γHV68. Notably, the gene 50.stop virus established a long-term infection in lung B cells following intranasal infection of mice but was unable to establish latency in the spleen. This complete block in the establishment of latency in the spleen was also seen when lytic virus production was inhibited by treating mice infected with wild-type virus with the antiviral drug cidofovir, implicating virus replication and not an independent function of Rta in the establishment of splenic latency. Furthermore, we showed that gene 50.stop γHV68 was unable to prime the immune system and was unable to protect against a challenge with wild-type γHV68, despite its ability to chronically infect lung B cells. These data indicate gammaherpesviruses that are unable to undergo lytic replication in vivo may not be viable vaccine candidates despite the detection of cells harboring viral genome at late times postinfection.
The Transcription Factor AlsR Binds and Regulates the Promoter of the alsSD Operon Responsible for Acetoin Formation in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis forms acetoin under anaerobic fermentative growth conditions and as a product of the aerobic carbon overflow metabolism. Acetoin formation from pyruvate requires α-acetolactate synthase and acetolactate decarboxylase, both encoded by the alsSD operon. The alsR gene, encoding the LysR-type transcriptional regulator AlsR, was found to be essential for the in vivo expression of alsSD in response to anaerobic acetate accumulation, the addition of acetate, low pH, and the aerobic stationary phase. The expressions of the alsSD operon and the alsR regulatory gene were independent of other regulators of the anaerobic regulatory network, including ResDE, Fnr, and ArfM. A negative autoregulation of alsR was observed. In vitro transcription from the alsSD promoter using purified B. subtilis RNA polymerase required AlsR. DNA binding studies with purified recombinant AlsR in combination with promoter mutagenesis experiments identified a 19-bp high-affinity palindromic binding site (TAAT-N11-ATTA) at positions −76 to −58 (regulatory binding site [RBS]) and a low-affinity site (AT-N11-AT) at positions −41 to −27 (activator binding site [ABS]) upstream of the transcriptional start site of alsSD. The RBS and ABS were found to be essential for in vivo alsSD transcription. AlsR binding to both sites induced the formation of higher-order, transcription-competent complexes. The AlsR protein carrying the S100A substitution at the potential coinducer binding site still bound to the RBS and ABS. However, AlsR(S100A) failed to form the higher-order complex and to initiate in vivo and in vitro transcription. A model for AlsR promoter binding and transcriptional activation was deduced.
Liver failure and death after exposure to microcystins at a hemodialysis center in Brazil.

BACKGROUND Hemodialysis is a common but potentially hazardous procedure. From February 17 to 20, 1996, 116 of 130 patients (89 percent) at a dialysis center (dialysis center A) in Caruaru, Brazil, had visual disturbances, nausea, and vomiting associated with hemodialysis. By March 24, 26 of the patients had died of acute liver failure. METHODS A case patient was defined as any patient undergoing dialysis at dialysis center A or Caruaru's other dialysis center (dialysis center B) during February 1996 who had acute liver failure. To determine the risk factors for and the source of the outbreak, we conducted a cohort study of the 130 patients at dialysis center A and the 47 patients at dialysis center B, reviewed the centers' water supplies, and collected water, patients' serum, and postmortem liver tissue for microcystin assays. RESULTS One hundred one patients (all at dialysis center A) met the case definition, and 50 died. Affected patients who died were older than those who survived (median age, 47 vs. 35 years, P<0.001). Furthermore, all 17 patients undergoing dialysis on the Tuesday-, Thursday-, and Saturday-night schedule became ill, and 13 of them (76 percent) died. Both centers received water from a nearby reservoir. However, the water supplied to dialysis center B was treated, filtered, and chlorinated, whereas the water supplied to dialysis center A was not. Microcystins produced by cyanobacteria were detected in water from the reservoir and from dialysis center A and in serum and liver tissue of case patients. CONCLUSIONS Water used for hemodialysis can contain toxic materials, and its quality should therefore be carefully monitored.
A case of the missing link- An analysis of the potential contribution of the transport and communication sector in the economic growth and development process: A case study of Zimbabwe (1980-2013)

The research focused on analysing the Transport and communications sector potential contribution to economic development and how this can translate into addressing adverse socio-economic issues like unemployment, access to better health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation, spread of HIV/AIDS and other social amenities. The target population was the Transport and Communications sector. Multiple regression analysis was used to come up with a model that best fits the time series data. The model results indicate that the sector is operating at about 35% and the partial elasticity of GDP to Transport sector output is 0.42, meaning that a 1% increase in agriculture output results in a 0.42 % increase in GDP. This implies that at full capacity, the sector can increase GDP by US $2.703 billion dollars. We expect this to translate into public expenditure on capital and social welfare projects. It will also increase the households? disposable incomes which will induce demand for key services like health care, education and others. We also expect investment expenditure to increase leading to job creation and improved domestic production which means less dependence on imports and hence more savings at home.
The Effect of the Judiciary-Induced Policy Development: Collective Order Versus Individual Rights in EU Social and Employment Policy

As in other policy areas, one of the significant characteristics of EU social policy is the critical role played by the ECJ in its policy development. This paper analyses the effect of the leading role of the judiciary in the EU. The ECJ intervention is usually discussed using the dichotomy as “neo-liberalism” against “Social Europe,” or Community responsibility versus Member-states autonomy (F. Scharpf). Building on the argument proposed by Menedez (2010), which contrasts individualistic rights put forward by the ECJ with solidarity, this paper offers a new perspective to understand the political tension inherent in the EU social policy. The paper illuminates two elements of EU social policy. One is the “collective order” element. This element characterizes the “form” of EU social policy, most prominent in the Articles 153 - 155 of the TFEU. The other is the “individual rights” or citizenship element, which is prominent in the “content” of EU social and employment policy. This element is further enhanced by the ECJ-induced policy development. These two elements are potentially in conflict. This inherent contradiction is manifest in recent labour cases, namely Laval, Viking, Ruffert and Luxemburg cases. Through the examination of the cases and responses of various political and social actors, this paper contends that it is not the question of whether liberal or social Europe. Rather, the conflict is between the individual and the collective element of the social and employment policy.
The Optimal Transmission Strategy for MIMO Wireless Systems with Covariance Feedback

The optimal transmission strategy in terms of outage probability for spatially correlated multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system is studied in this paper. With covariance feedback the receiver is assumed to have perfect channel state information (CSI) while the transmitter knows only the transmit correlation matrix and receive correlation matrix. The optimal transmit directions turn out to be orthogonal directions along the eigenvectors of the transmit correlation matrix and independent of the receive correlation matrix. While the optimal power allocation scheme is related to both transmit and receive correlation matrices. Numerical results show the advantage of optimal power allocation strategy over equal power allocation and beamforming schemes
Factors Affecting Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer in Shiraz, Iran.

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world, and the fourth in Iran in both genders. The aim of this study was to find predictive factors for CRC survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS Medical records of 570 patients referred to the radiotherapy oncology department of Shiraz Namazi hospital from 2005 to 2010 were retrospectively analysed. Data were collected by reviewing medical records, and by telephone interviews with patients. Survival analysis was performed using the Cox's regression model with survival probability estimated with Kaplan-Meier curve. The log-rank test was used to compare survival between strata. Data was analyzed with Stata 12. RESULTS The five-year survival rate and the mean survival time after cancer diagnosis were 58.5% and 67±1.4 months. On multivariate analysis, age of diagnosis, disease stage and primary tumor site, lymphovascular invasion and type of treatment (in colon cancer) were significant factors for survival. CONCLUSIONS Age of diagnosis and type of treatment (adjuvant therapy in patients with colon cancer) were two modifiable factors related to survival of CRC patients. Therefore earlier diagnosis might help increase survival.
Inter-Party Competition, Economic Variables, and Welfare Policies in the American States

T HE OBJECT OF THIS PAPER is to discover the relationship among the extent of inter-party competition, the presence of certain economic factors, and the extent of nine public welfare policies, using the American states as the units for investigation. The fifty states share a common institutional framework and general cultural background, but they differ in certain aspects of economic and social structure, political activity, and public policy. Therefore, they provide a large number of political and social units in which some important variables can be held constant while others are varied. Our general concern is to investigate the relation between political processes and the policies adopted by political systems. In this study public policies, or more particularly, social welfare policies of the various state political systems, are the dependent variables. Public policy, its formulation, implementation and effects, is one of the major interests of students of politics. Political science is concerned with how various formal and informal institutions, economic, social, philosophical and geographic conditions influence the adoption and implementation of policy. ' For theoretical purposes it seems useful to place the problem of the relationship be-
O USO DA OPINIÃO DOS EGRESSOS COMO FERRAMENTA DE AVALIAÇÃO DE CURSOS: O CASO DE UMA INSTITUIÇÃO DE ENSINO SUPERIOR CATARINENSE

Many studies have used students’ opinions to evaluate institutions, teaching staff, courses and teaching methods. However, few evaluate the opinions of former students, who have a wider vision of the teaching process and are in a better position to see its contribution to their Lelis Balestrin Espartel Revista Alcance – Eletronica, v. 16, no 01 – ISSN 1983-716X, UNIVALI, p. 102 – 114, jan/abr. 2009 104 personal and professional training. This article presents the opinions of this public as a tool for teaching management, using a quantitative study carried out among former students of a Higher Education Institution. The results indicate a lack of competitive advantages between institutions, and the need for qualification of teachers, as the most important attribute. The opinion of former students is important for following-up the student’s professional career, and should be seen as a tool for strategic and operational control.
Group A Hemolytic Streptococci. I. A Chemically Defined Medium for Growth from Small Inocula

Summary 1) Defined media which allow heavy growth of 3 strains of group A streptococci have been developed. The medium consists of either a) 21 amino acids, glutamine, 6 vitamins, salts, purines, pyrimidines and glucose or b) 13 amino acids and 4 vitamins. 2) Cysteine is important both as an essential amino acid and as a reducing agent. As an amino acid only a small amount (10 μg ml) is needed and this can be substituted by an equivalent amount of cystine. As a reducing agent it can be replaced by ascorbic acid and less effectively by thiomalic or thioglycollic acids. Concentration of cysteine was critical for initiation of growth from small inocula. With less than 5 × 106 ml cells at least 350 μg ml cysteine HCl are needed for obtaining visible growth. 3) Pyridoxal was necessary in a medium of 13 amino acids and 3 vitamins (nicotinic acid, pantothenate, riboflavin) whereas in a complete medium (22 amino acids) no need for pyridoxal was found. Pyridoxal could be replaced by L- or DL-alanine.
Caudillos and the crisis of the Colombian state: fragmented sovereignty, the war system and the privatisation of counterinsurgency in Colombia

Abstract This article examines the rise of private militias within the historical context of the crisis of the Colombian nation-state. Taking a political economy approach, the paper attempts to assess the consequences of the emergence of the United Auto Defenses of Colombia (auc) for the country's political trajectory. It argues that the auc and the narco-bourgeoisie have created a new ‘reactionary class configuration’ that has regenerated a ‘labour-repressive’ mode of capital accumulation best characterised as a rentier-based political economy. Hence the counterinsurgency in Colombia is not the typical military instrument of the state, but rather an instrument for class articulation and socioeconomic and political transformation beyond the state. Although these transformations were consistent with the neoliberal economic path that the Colombian government had adopted in earnest by the late 1980s, they also deepened the political crisis of the state and accentuated ‘fragmented sovereignty’ and the ‘war system’. Finally, this article sheds light on the social class composition of the auc and on the insurgency led by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (farc), revealing the social class differences between the two main warring actors.
Assessment of induction machine efficiency with comments on new standard IEC 60034-2-1

The paper assesses the efficiency of induction machines and measurement uncertainties arising from various input-output testing methods used in industry. Existing testing standards vary in methodology, procedure and required instrumentation accuracy, thus leading to significant differences in the experimentally determined efficiency for the same induction machine tested to the different standards as well as by different testing personnel. This paper focuses on the recently published IEC standard 60034-2-1, with comparisons of its previous version (IEC 34-2), and IEEE 112-B. Five induction machines with ratings between 7.5 and 150 kW are carefully tested using these methods and power loss results are validated by a separate calorimeter. Through theoretical analysis of measurement uncertainty using realistic perturbation-based estimation (RPBE) on these results, IEC 60034-2-1 is assessed in terms of its effectiveness and improvements over its previous version. Attention is paid particularly to these factors significantly impacting the machine efficiency such as determinations of stray load losses (SLL), stator winding resistance, stator winding temperature, and detailed specifications of testing procedures.
Early Life Affects the Risk of Developing Breast Cancer

It has been suggested that early life, and maternal estrogen levels in particular, may play a critical role in breast cancer risk.l” This hypothesis is supported by the observations that gonadal hormones and estrogen-regulated growth factors regulate the differentiation of the mammary g la r~d . ~ ,~ There is also some evidence that high fetal estrogen levels increase the number of mammary epithelial cells: accelerate differentiation of the nipple, and cause extensive proliferation of the surrounding mesenchyma.6 An increased number of epithelial and/or stromal cells offers more targets for carcinogens and a greater probability for genetidepigenetic events that affect the susceptibility of the gland to subsequent neoplastic transformation? Many factors influence maternal estrogen levels; however, diet may have a major influence during normal pregnancy. Epidemiological studies provide indirect evidence that a maternal high-fat diet and excessive weight gain that are associated with high serum estrogen level^^^^ may increase breast cancer risk and shorten survival among daughters. ”” Furthermore, food manufacturing and dietary habits underwent radical changes at the time when the mothers of those women suffering from breast cancer today were pregnant. Thus, it is critical to determine whether maternal diet is associated with breast cancer risk among daughters.
ASEAN labour migration: Implications for regional stability

Abstract In the post‐cold war era, transnational migratory forces and trends have greatly re‐configured the globe, making any systematic understanding difficult. This article attempts to induce some clarity in understanding the phenomena by way of relating migration forces and flows with security and stability, especially as these concepts pertain to Southeast Asia in particular and the Asia‐Pacific region in general. It argues that instabilities are likely to persist as long as states and societies in the region continue to view security and migration from a narrow (albeit, compartmentalized) perspective. Changing notions of security now compel nations to re‐think the defence threats and issues that confront them. Security is now increasingly seen from a multi‐dimensional (i.e. developmental) standpoint where labour flows and markets play an important role. At the same time, transnational labour migration causes a number of socio‐cultural, economic and political tensions that highlight the security sensi.
Debt Management Objectives for a Small Open Economy

In this paper the authors examine the consequences of using cost minimization as the goal of public debt management in a small open economy (SOE). Authorities are assumed to minimize interest costs subject to constraints on their ability to refinance at different maturities, and the information conditioning expectations of future interest rates. A numerical simulation model and a highly disaggregated Canadian data set for the period 1967-87, are used in the analysis. The results presented indicate that, conditional on the SOE assumption, savings do result from following a cost-minimizing strategy. Savings decline as authorities are increasingly constrained in their refinancing choices. However, even the gains in moderately-constrained cases suggest that cost minimization is worthy of serious consideration by authorities. Copyright 1992 by Ohio State University Press.
The effect of pegaptanib (Macugen®) injection on retinal and retrobulbar blood flow in retinal Ischaemic diseases

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On the Retrieval of Soil Moisture in Wheat Fields From L-Band SAR Based on Water Cloud Modeling, the IEM, and Effective Roughness Parameters

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-based soil moisture retrieval of agricultural fields is often hampered by vegetation effects on the backscattered signal. The semiempirical water cloud model (WCM) allows for estimating the backscatter of a vegetated surface, accounting for both the contributions of the vegetation and the underlying soil. The latter is often described through the integral equation model (IEM). Unfortunately, the IEM requires an accurate parameterization of the surface roughness which is very difficult to achieve. Therefore, this letter extends the WCM with a bare soil contribution that is based on the IEM, which, however, relies on calibrated or effective roughness parameters. Furthermore, this letter compares a number of vegetation indicators for their use in the WCM. Based on a series of L-band SAR observations, it is shown that effective roughness parameters are a promising tool for soil moisture retrieval under a wheat canopy and that the use of a leaf area index may be recommended above other vegetation indicators, as it leads to the lowest root-mean-square errors of about 5.5 vol%. These results prove the operational potential of L-band SAR data for soil moisture inferred under a wheat canopy throughout the entire crop growth cycle.