Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Defective RNA Replication and Late Gene Expression in Temperature-Sensitive Influenza Viruses Expressing Deleted Forms of the NS1 Protein

ABSTRACT Influenza A virus mutants expressing C-terminally deleted forms of the NS1 protein (NS1-81 and NS1-110) were generated by plasmid rescue. These viruses were temperature sensitive and showed a small plaque size at the permissive temperature. The accumulation of virion RNA in mutant virus-infected cells was reduced at the restrictive temperature, while the accumulation of cRNA or mRNA was not affected, indicating that the NS1 protein is involved in the control of transcription versus replication processes in the infection. The synthesis and accumulation of late virus proteins were reduced in NS1-81 mutant-infected cells at the permissive temperature and were essentially abolished for both viruses at the restrictive temperature, while synthesis and accumulation of nucleoprotein (NP) were unaffected. Probably as a consequence, the nucleocytoplasmic export of virus NP was strongly inhibited at the restrictive temperature. These results indicate that the NS1 protein is essential for nuclear and cytoplasmic steps during the virus cycle.
Vstm3 is a member of the CD28 family and an important modulator of T‐cell function

Members of the CD28 family play important roles in regulating T‐cell functions and share a common gene structure profile. We have identified VSTM3 as a protein whose gene structure matches that of the other CD28 family members. This protein (also known as TIGIT and WUCAM) has been previously shown to affect immune responses and is expressed on NK cells, activated and memory T cells, and Tregs. The nectin‐family proteins CD155 and CD112 serve as counter‐structures for VSTM3, and CD155 and CD112 also bind to the activating receptor CD226 on T cells and NK cells. Hence, this group of interacting proteins forms a network of molecules similar to the well‐characterized CD28–CTLA‐4–CD80–CD86 network. In the same way that soluble CTLA‐4 can be used to block T‐cell responses, we show that soluble Vstm3 attenuates T‐cell responses in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, animals deficient in Vstm3 are more sensitive to autoimmune challenges indicating that this new member of the CD28 family is an important regulator of T‐cell responses.
Pneumococcal antigenic polysaccharide substances from animal tissues.

Polysaccharide-containing fractions have been prepared from 12 organs and tissues of mice 2 to 3 weeks after injection of 0.5 mg of specific pneumococcus polysaccharide type I, II, or III, an amount known to produce immunological paralysis. The materials stimulated a high degree of immunity in mice against the homologous pneumococcus infection. Similar fractions prepared from tissues of normal mice were devoid of immunizing ability. Those from most tissues of immunized mice (after a 0.002-mg dose of specific polysaccharide) were found to stimulate a low degree of immunity. Tests of similar polysaccharide-containing fractions from tissues of albino and C3H mice 8 to 9 months after a “paralyzing” injection of specific polysaccharide showed that but little type I antigenicity remained, and no type III, but that high titer immunity against type II could still be induced by the homologous polysaccharides isolated from both albino and C3H strains of mice. In one experiment similar fractions prepared from organs and tissues of guinea pigs and rabbits injected with pneumococcal polysaccharides, especially type II, stimulated some immunity in mice against homologous pneumococcus infection.
A family of Drosophila serotonin receptors with distinct intracellular signalling properties and expression patterns.

Biogenic amines such as serotonin elicit or modulate a wide range of behaviours by interacting with multiple receptor subtypes. We have isolated cDNA clones encoding three distinct Drosophila serotonin receptors which belong to the G protein‐coupled receptor family. When expressed in mammalian cells, these receptors activate different intracellular effector systems. The 5HT‐dro1 receptor stimulates adenylate cyclase while the 5HT‐dro2A and the 5HT‐dro2B receptors inhibit adenylate cyclase and activate phospholipase C. Expression of all three receptors starts in late embryos and is restricted to distinct populations of cells in the central nervous system. The 5HT‐dro2A receptor is predominantly expressed in midline motor neurons (VUM neurons) that innervate larval muscles thus suggesting a role for this receptor in motor control.
Loading effects on jump performance in green anole lizards, Anolis carolinensis

SUMMARY Locomotor performance is a crucial determinant of organismal fitness but is often impaired in certain circumstances, such as increased mass (loading) resulting from feeding or gravidity. Although the effects of loading have been studied extensively for striding locomotion, its effects on jumping are poorly understood. Jumping is a mode of locomotion that is widely used across animal taxa. It demands large amounts of power over a short time interval and, consequently, may be affected by loading to a greater extent than other modes of locomotion. We placed artificial loads equal to 30% body mass on individuals of the species Anolis carolinensis to simulate the mass gain following the consumption of a large meal. We investigated the effects of loading on jump performance (maximum jump distance and accuracy), kinematics and power output. Loading caused a significant 18% decline in maximum jump distance and a significant 10% decline in takeoff speed. In other words, the presence of the load caused the lizards to take shorter and slower jumps, whereas takeoff angle and takeoff duration were not affected. By contrast, jump accuracy was unaffected by loading, although accuracy declined when lizards jumped to farther perches. Finally, mass-specific power output did not increase significantly when lizards jumped with loads, suggesting that the ability to produce mechanical power may be a key limiting factor for maximum jump performance. Our results suggest that mass gain after a large meal can pose a significant locomotor challenge and also imply a tradeoff between fulfilling energy requirement and moving efficiently in the environment.
Distributed state estimation for uncertain Markov‐type sensor networks with mode‐dependent distributed delays

In this paper, the distributed state estimation problem is investigated for a class of sensor networks described by uncertain discrete‐time dynamical systems with Markovian jumping parameters and distributed time‐delays. The sensor network consists of sensor nodes characterized by a directed graph with a nonnegative adjacency matrix that specifies the interconnection topology (or the distribution in the space) of the network. Both the parameters of the target plant and the sensor measurements are subject to the switches from one mode to another at different times according to a Markov chain. The parameter uncertainties are norm‐bounded that enter into both the plant system as well as the network outputs. Furthermore, the distributed time‐delays are considered, which are also dependent on the Markovian jumping mode. Through the measurements from a small fraction of the sensors, this paper aims to design state estimators that allow the nodes of the sensor network to track the states of the plant in a distributed way. It is verified that such state estimators do exist if a set of matrix inequalities is solvable. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed distributed state estimators. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correlation between Optic Disc Damages and Functional Glaucoma Changes

Glaucoma leads to morphologic changes of the optic nerve head and to functional defects. Morphologic changes in the three-dimensional surface structure of the optic nerve head at its entrance site into the globe can be examined by OCT. The aim of this study is to examine aspects of the correlation between structural and functional changes of the optic nerve head (ONH). This was a prospective study. One hundred six eyes of 53 patients with glaucoma who were followed up during the period from 2013 to 2014 were included at “Ungjillezimi” Clinic in Tirana, Albania. We analysed the data of 106 eyes (53 patients; mean age 65.7 ± 12.4 years; mean baseline MD)7.1 ± 5.1). The most common progression parameters were neuroretinal rim change (73%), followed by ßPPA enlargement (42%), DH detection (27%) and enlargement of a RNFL defect. Structural changes may be more prominent at earlier stages of glaucoma, while functional changes may be more prominent at more advanced disease stages.
Determinants of ICT Adoption for Improved SME's Performance in Anambra State, Nigeria

Transaction over the internet has helped in linking-up SMEs to global competitiveness. In the literature of ICT, its adoption as proxied by transaction over the internet has significantly improved the performance and productivity of SMEs. However, ICT adoption by SMEs in Nigeria has been reported to be comparatively low. This study therefore examines the Determinants of ICT Adoption for Improved SME's Performance in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study provides empirical evidence on levels of awareness and adoption patterns of ICT facilities among SMEs; it evaluates factors influencing ICT adoption in the SME sector; and also assesses the impact of ICT adoption on SMEs performance. The simple percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test statistics, and regression analysis were used to conduct the various analysis of this study. Findings reveled that there is significant difference in the levels of awareness and adoption patterns of ICT facilities among SMEs. Capital Base, Turn over, and asset value of the businesses investigated have significant influence on ICT adoption. With respect to SMEs output performance, SMEs owners capital input, Marital status and business experience of the owners of the SMEs have a positive and significant relationship with their output performance. The study recommends that agencies that regulate SMEs should formulate policies that will facilitate the adoption of ICT facilities by SMEs because of its potential in improving firms growth performance; SMEs owners should endeavour to gain registration status as that will facilitate their adoption of ICT as proxied by transaction over the internet. Thus improving their productivity and competitiveness; to raise productivity and global competiveness, SMEs owners should invest in ICT and its components because they have been proven to significantly influence organizational performance.
Suppression of the abnormal phenotype of Salmonella typhimurium rfaH mutants by mutations in the gene for transcription termination factor Rho

Mutations in the rfaH gene have previously been shown to cause premature termination of transcription of the traYZ operon of the F factor and also to prevent expression of the rfaGBIJ gene cluster of Salmonella typhimurium. In the present study, mutants were selected for their ability to restore the normal pattern of rfaGBIJ function. On the basis of this initial section, several classes of extragenic suppressor mutants were isolated that completely or partially corrected the Tra- and Rfa- phenotypes of the prototype rfaH mutant. The suppressor mutations included mutations in rho and mutations that mapped in or close to rpoBC. Other suppressor mutations were located elsewhere on the chromosome, presumably identifying other genes that play a role in the RfaH-mediated transcriptional regulation.
On line multi-location power system harmonics measurement via the internet

Traditional methods to measure power system harmonics employ either the power harmonic analyser or the software package such as Matlab. They, however, usually have limited capability in the Internet connection and/or human graphical interface even for multi-point measurement. In this paper, a PC-based virtual instrument (VI) to implement a remote multi-point power system harmonics analysis and monitoring using LabVIEW is proposed. The nearby PC (Server) can collect real-time waveform data from multi-locations and transmit it to remote PCs (Clients) for on line harmonic analysis and monitoring via the Internet. The history of Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) in the waveform signals can be also recorded and tracked in the database. Experimental results have testified its good performance and remote Web-based capability.
Multiobjective optimization for transistor sizing of CMOS logic standard cells using set-oriented numerical techniques

The design of resource efficient integrated circuits (IC) requires solving a minimization problem of more than one objective given as measures of available resources. This multiobjective optimization problem (MOP) can be solved on the smallest unit, the standard cells, to improve the performance of the entire IC. The traditional way of sizing the transistors of a standard logic cell does not focus on the resources directly. In this work transistor sizing is approached via an MOP and solved by set-oriented numerical techniques. A comparison of the Pareto optimal designs to elements of a commercial standard cell library indicates that for some gates the performance can even be significantly improved.
Writing the Web

Ted Nelson's Xanadu remains an influential example of the way a world wide hypertext system should have been, allowing free access to hypertext pages for content customization and editing. This is still impossible or unacceptably difficult on the World Wide Web. Yet, the Web cannot be replaced, given the amount of data and tools that rely on its basic protocols and languages. The vision presented here is of an evolution of the Web where, within the current framework of technologies and tools, every Web page can be edited and customized, links can be created, and collaboration can be set up. In a way, this is a vision of Xanadu coming to life again, but within the framework of Web technologies, styles and tools. It is a vision of the best possible approach to a fully writable, distributed hypertext system within the limitations of real-life protocols. This writable web, already partially available with blogs and wikis, is enhanced through the implementation of xanalogical storage to take care of individual changes to documents, and mechanisms for transclusions. IsaWiki, a client-server system being developed at the University of Bologna, is presented and shown to adhere to this vision of the writable web, and as being a first step in that direction.
In vivo imaging of alphaherpesvirus infection reveals synchronized activity dependent on axonal sorting of viral proteins

Significance Pseudorabies virus (PRV), an alphaherpesvirus related to human herpes simplex and varicella-zoster viruses, causes the characteristic “mad itch” in which infected animals scratch an afflicted area until self-mutilation. The mechanism by which PRV induces these symptoms is still poorly understood, and most work has been done in limited systems in vitro. Here we report studies performed in living mice. We observed that infection with a virulent PRV strain induces synchronous and cyclical neural activity, but this activity disappears during infection with a vaccine strain that does not cause mad itch. We demonstrate the aberrant activity depends on a viral fusion protein, and its trafficking specifically into axons. These findings correlate the disrupted physiology to the known neuropathy in vivo. A clinical hallmark of human alphaherpesvirus infections is peripheral pain or itching. Pseudorabies virus (PRV), a broad host range alphaherpesvirus, causes violent pruritus in many different animals, but the mechanism is unknown. Previous in vitro studies have shown that infected, cultured peripheral nervous system (PNS) neurons exhibited aberrant electrical activity after PRV infection due to the action of viral membrane fusion proteins, yet it is unclear if such activity occurs in infected PNS ganglia in living animals and if it correlates with disease symptoms. Using two-photon microscopy, we imaged autonomic ganglia in living mice infected with PRV strains expressing GCaMP3, a genetically encoded calcium indicator, and used the changes in calcium flux to monitor the activity of many neurons simultaneously with single-cell resolution. Infection with virulent PRV caused these PNS neurons to fire synchronously and cyclically in highly correlated patterns among infected neurons. This activity persisted even when we severed the presynaptic axons, showing that infection-induced firing is independent of input from presynaptic brainstem neurons. This activity was not observed after infections with an attenuated PRV recombinant used for circuit tracing or with PRV mutants lacking either viral glycoprotein B, required for membrane fusion, or viral membrane protein Us9, required for sorting virions and viral glycoproteins into axons. We propose that the viral fusion proteins produced by virulent PRV infection induce electrical coupling in unmyelinated axons in vivo. This action would then give rise to the synchronous and cyclical activity in the ganglia and contribute to the characteristic peripheral neuropathy.
The Incidence of Oscillatory Behavior in the Continuous Fermentation of Zymomonasmobilis

The incidence of oscillatory behavior in the continuous culture of Zymomonas mobilis has been examined using a combination of experimental investigations and a predictive model. The tendency to oscillatory behavior was assessed by perturbing the feed substrate concentration and dilution rate in a continuous fermentation starting from a number of distinct initial conditions. The entire range of qualitative dynamic behavior was observed: overdamped, underdamped, and sustained oscillatory responses. The predictive capabilities of a model previously proposed by our research group were confirmed over this range of operation. A key component of this model is the inclusion of a dynamic specific growth rate term which accounts for the inhibition associated with historical ethanol concentration change rate. Parameters and relationships estimated for the model were used to identify key characteristics leading to oscillatory behavior. In particular, differences in the sensitivities of ethanol production rate versus specific growth rate to ethanol concentration and its rate of change dictate whether sustained oscillations will occur. Experimental evidence indicates that a change in morphology is associated with oscillatory behavior. The change in morphology to a more filamentous form may explain the change in specific growth and product formation characteristics.
Determinants of environmental accounting and reporting practices in Portuguese local entities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop environmental accounting and reporting practices (EARPs) by Portuguese local entities and their determining factors. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained through a postal survey. In order to measure the degree of development of environmental accounting and reporting practices index was developed, which reflects the extent to which a set of eight EARPs have been implemented by the 69 Portuguese local entities included in the sample. Three variables are considered in this study as possible factors that drive the development of environmental management practices (EMPs) by local entities, namely, size of entity, accounting framework, degree of development of EMPs. Findings – Results indicate the degree of development of EARPs in Portuguese local entities is low. Additionally, accounting regulation and the degree of development of EMPs are explaining factors of the degree of development of environmental accounting practices in Portuguese local entit.
A New Evaluation Method for AGC Units&#8217; Performance

In this paper, a new method for evaluating AGC generators performance was developed. At first, the control performance assignment of the control area was given, which makes use of the correlation coefficient about the frequency error and the generation difference between total generation and the scheduling generation in control area as the control performance index, and the standard deviation of system frequency as judging standard. The control performance assignment is consistent with current control performance standards, such as CPS. And then according every generator's distribution coefficient in automatic generation control, the control performance assignment was allotted to each generator, and it means the AGC generator's performance standard. At last, when the generating command exceeded the AGC unit declaring scope, a compensatory correcting method was discussed. The theory analysis and simulation results are presented in this paper. The results validate the presented method's correctness
Analysis of two distinct retinoic acid response elements in the homeobox gene Hoxb1 in transgenic mice

Expression of vertebrate Hox genes is regulated by retinoids such as retinoic acid (RA) in cell culture and in early embryonic development. Retinoic acid response elements (RAREs) have been identified in Hox gene regulatory regions, suggesting that endogenous retinoids may be involved in the direct control of Hox gene patterning functions. Previously, two RAREs located 3′ of the murine Hoxb1 gene, a DR2 RARE and a DR5 RARE, have been shown to regulate Hoxb1 mRNA expression in the neural epithelium and the foregut region, respectively; the foregut develops into the esophagus, liver, pancreas, lungs, and stomach. We have now examined the functional roles of these two types of 3′ RAREs in regulating Hoxb1 expression at different stages of gestation, from embryonic day 7.5 to 13.5, in transgenic mice carrying specific RARE mutations. We demonstrate that the DR5 RARE is required for the regulation of Hoxb‐1 transgene region‐specific expression in the gut and extraembryonic tissues, as well as for the RA‐induced anteriorization of Hoxb‐1 transgene expression in the gut. In contrast, expression of the Hoxb1 transgene in the neural epithelium requires only the DR2 RARE. By in situ hybridization, we have identified a new site of Hoxb1 expression in the developing forelimbs at approximately day 12.5, and we show that, in transgenic embryos, expression in the forelimb buds requires that either the DR2 or the DR5 RARE is functional. Attainment of a high level of Hoxb1 transgene expression in other regions, such as in rhombomere 4 (r4) and in the somites, requires that both the DR2 and DR5 RAREs are functional. In addition, our transgenic data indicate that the Hoxb1 gene is expressed in other tissues such as the hernia gut, genital eminence, and lung. Our analysis shows that endogenous retinoids act through individual DR2 and DR5 RAREs to regulate Hoxb1 expression in different regions of the embryo and that functional redundancy between these DR2 and DR5 RAREs does not exist with respect to neural epithelium and the gut Hoxb1 expression. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.