Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neutralizing antibodies against the V3 loop of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 block the CD4-dependent and -independent binding of virus to cells

The CD4 molecule is an essential receptor for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) through high-affinity interactions with the viral external envelope glycoprotein gp120. Previously, neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to the third hypervariable domain of gp120 (the V3 loop) have been thought to block HIV infection without affecting the binding of HIV particles to CD4-expressing human cells. However, here we demonstrate that this conclusion was not correct and was due to the use of soluble gp120 instead of HIV particles. Indeed, neutralizing anti-V3 loop MAbs inhibited completely the binding and entry of HIV particles into CD4+ human cells. In contrast, the binding of virus was only partially inhibited by neutralizing anti-CD4 MAbs against the gp120 binding site in CD4, which, like the anti-V3 loop MAbs, completely inhibited HIV entry and infection. Nonneutralizing control MAbs against either the V3 loop or the N or C terminus of gp120 had no significant effect on HIV binding and entry. HIV-1 particles were also found to bind human and murine cells expressing or not expressing the human CD4 molecule. Interestingly, the binding of HIV to CD4+ murine cells was inhibited by both anti-V3 and anti-CD4 MAbs, whereas the binding to human and murine CD4- cells was affected only by anti-V3 loop MAbs. The effect of anti-V3 loop neutralizing MAbs on the HIV binding to cells appears not to be the direct consequence of gp120 shedding from HIV particles or of a decreased affinity of CD4 or gp120 for binding to its surface counterpart. Taken together, our results suggest the existence of CD4-dependent and -independent binding events involved in the attachment of HIV particles to cells; in both of these events, the V3 loop plays a critical role. As murine cells lack the specific cofactor CXCR4 for HIV-1 entry, other cell surface molecules besides CD4 might be implicated in stable binding of HIV particles to cells.
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae surface polysaccharides: their role in diagnosis and immunogenicity

Abstract Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is an important pig pathogen that is responsible for swine pleuropneumonia, a highly contagious respiratory infection. Knowledge of the importance, composition and structural determination of the major antigens involved in virulence provides crucial information that could lead to the development of a rationale for the production of specific serodiagnostic tools as well as vaccine development. Thus, efforts have been devoted to study mainly A. pleuropneumoniaevirulence determinants with special emphasis on the Apx toxins (for A. pleuropneumoniaeRTX toxins). In comparison, little attention has been given to the surface polysaccharides, which include capsular polysaccharides (CPS) and cell-wall lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Here, we review current knowledge on CPS and LPS of A. pleuropneumoniae used as diagnostic tools to monitor the infection and as immunogens for inclusion in vaccine preparations for animal protection.
TSH‐R expression and cytokine profile in orbital tissue of active vs. inactive Graves’ ophthalmopathy patients

objective From in vitro studies using cultures of orbital fibroblasts, it has become clear that cytokines play an important role in the orbital inflammation in Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO). Orbital fibroblasts seem to be the key target cells of the autoimmune attack, and they are able to express the TSH receptor (TSH‐R). In vivo data on the presence of cytokines in orbital tissues are sparse, and mostly limited to samples obtained from patients with endstage, inactive GO; the same holds true for the presence of the TSH‐R. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the cytokine profile and TSH‐R expression differ in the active vs. the inactive stage of GO.
Time average approach for the calculation of quasi-subharmonics of PWM technique in ultra high speed AC motor supply

The paper is concerned with a novel method for the calculation of the so called quasi-subharmonics generated by PWM controlled VSC supplying ultrahigh speed induction machine. It is generally believed that the impact of subharmonics is negligible in most modern drives. Our finding is that on the contrary, it can cause serious malfunction and breakdown in special cases like ultrahigh speed induction machines (USIM) applied in systems developed for renewable and waste energy recovery. The time average method is described and used for the determination of quasi-subharmonics. The results are verified by simulations and laboratory tests.
The implementation of multi-path delivery for data flows using Raspberry Pi boards in software-defined networks

In the Internet, Software-Defined Network (SDN) is an attractive issue because it allows network managers to use software program to control and manage the networks instead of the setup of hardware equipment. Therefore, in this study, we established an experiment platform by Raspberry Pi boards and proposed a method, Weight-Based Flow Dividing (WFD) method, to implement the OpenFlow switching in the SDN. The proposed method uses the multipath to transmit the packets by weighted configurations because the single-path transmission causes the routing security at high risk and is difficult to effectively use the path bandwidth. In addition, we use network simulation software Mininet on this study for comparison purposes. The simulations show the results can achieve the multipath transmissions through the hardware OpenFlow switch platform with WFD in different weighted configurations, as Mininet.
Bloggare: personliga, populära och användbara

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersoka hur de populara unga bloggskrivarna Kenza, Kissie och Blondinbella ramats in i Aftonbladet och DN (under 2012) och vilka tolkningar av fenomenet lasaren darme .
Optimization of quality of service requirements for real-time applications using Cross Layer Design

The evolution of the Next Generation heterogeneous Networks relies on the improved services that these networks can provide to real-time applications. Applications running on wired networks work seamlessly with the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) protocol stack implementation. Its modularity eases functionality and improves performance of these applications. However, the channel conditions for wireless networks are constantly varying. This affects the performance of real-time wireless applications running on wireless networks. Therefore, the operation of the OSI protocol stack is not as effective as it is when used with its wired counterpart. This research paper proposes a Cross Layer Design architecture that can be used to extend the functionality of the OSI protocol stack allowing cross layer communication between non-adjacent layers of a wireless application. It proposes a means of improving end-user delay and per-user throughput of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The proposed method entails execution of cross-talk between the transport and MAC layers of the protocol stack through cross layer clients appended to each layer and controlled by a local host called a cross layer manager.
TÜRKİYE'DE İÇ BORÇLANMANIN YAPISI: 1980-2010 DÖNEMİ

Kamu kesimi aciklari gunumuzde dunya devletleri acisindan onemli bir problemdir. Kamu gelirleriyle kamu giderleri arasindakijark kamu acigi olarak adlandirilmaktadir. Bu acik ic borclanma, dis borclanma, para basma ve vergilendirme ile karsilanabilir. Ancak ic borclar zararli iktisadi etkilere yol acabilir. Gelir ve kaynaklarin dagiliminda adaletsizlik, yatirimlarin ve ekonomik buyumenin azalmasi gibi bircok olumsuz etkisi vardir. Turkiye'de bu borclara 1930lu yillardan gunumuze kadar basvurulmustur. Ic borclanma alinan borclarin faizini odemek icin yapilmistir. Bu calismada Turkiye'de ic borclanmanin yapisi incelenmistir. Ic borclanma kavrami, limiti, kaynaklari, araclari, yontemleri, ic borclanma sureci ve ic borclanmanin ekonomik etkileri uzerinde durulmustur.
Compact Sext-Band Bandpass Filter With Sharp Rejection Response

Compact sext-band bandpass filter based on stepped-impedance resonators is presented. Two types of rejection responses beside passbands can be designed by I/O gap capacitance. Considering design freedom and circuit complexity, each pair of resonators determine respective channel characteristics. The proposed sext-band filters occupy an extremely small area of 0. 26λg × 0. 15λg as well as keep good selectivity among channels.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and theory of the valence band and semicore Ga 3d states in GaN.

The effects of the Ga 3[ital d] semicore levels on the electronic structure of GaN are discussed. While band-structure theory using the local-density approximation predicts these states to overlap with the N 2[ital s] band and to have important effects on the total energy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that they occur [similar to]3 eV below the N 2[ital s] band. This apparent discrepancy is resolved by means of a so-called [Delta] SCF or difference of self-consistent-fields calculation, in which the binding energy is calculated as a total-energy difference including solid state screening effects by means of the excited-atom model. The calculated valence-band densities of states are found to be in good agreement with the XPS spectrum. The differences between zinc blende and wurtzite GaN are discussed.
ree mortality in drought-stressed mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests , rizona , USA

We monitored tree mortality in northern Arizona (USA) mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws) forests from 1997 to 2007, a period of severe drought in this area. Mortality was pervasive, occurring on 100 and 98% of 53 mixed-conifer and 60 ponderosa pine plots (1-ha each), respectively. Most mortality was attributable to a suite of forest insects, mediated by drought stress. The number of trees dying from 2002 to 2007 was more than 200% greater than the number dying from 1997 to 2002 in mixed-conifer forest and 74% greater in ponderosa pine forest. Extent of mortality was spatially variable in both forest types. Median cumulative mortality (the ratio of dead to live trees) increased by approximately 53 and 65% in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests, respectively, from 2002 to 2007. Median mortality rates from 2002 to 2007 were approximately 2.0% year−1 in mixed-conifer forest (range = 0–28.5%) and 0.4% year−1 in ponderosa pine forest (range = 0–13.6%). Mortality rates generally were not strongly related to either elevation or stand density. Mortality was nonrandom with respect to tree size classes and species. Proportions of trees dying were greatest in the largest size classes, particularly in mixed-conifer forest, where mortality in the largest size class exceeded 22% from 2002 to 2007. Mortality in mixed-conifer forest was particularly pronounced for quaking aspen (85%) and white fir (28%), the least drought tolerant species present. These results provide an early glimpse of how these forest types are likely to respond to predicted climate changes in the southwestern USA. They suggest that these forests are not resilient to climate change, and that treatments to increase resilience to climate change may be appropriate. Research on causes of spatial heterogeneity in extent of mortality might hes t suggest valuable approac
The Glycosylated Gag Protein of a Murine Leukemia Virus Inhibits the Antiretroviral Function of APOBEC3

ABSTRACT APOBEC proteins have evolved as innate defenses against retroviral infections. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) encodes the Vif protein to evade human APOBEC3G; however, mouse retroviruses do not encode a Vif homologue, and it has not been understood how they evade mouse APOBEC3. We report here a murine leukemia virus (MuLV) that utilizes its glycosylated Gag protein (gGag) to evade APOBEC3. gGag is critical for infection of in vitro cell lines in the presence of APOBEC3. Furthermore, a gGag-deficient virus restricted for replication in wild-type mice replicates efficiently in APOBEC3 knockout mice, implying a novel role of gGag in circumventing the action of APOBEC3 in vivo.
How useful are strategic plans for information systems?

Although much research has been done in the area of strategic planning for information systems (IS), relatively less research has focused on the output of the IS planning process, namely, the IS plan. This paper examines the usefulness of IS plans through a field survey of 136 IS executives. Results indicate that IS plans are generally perceived to be useful for supporting business objectives, improving systems integration, exploiting information technology (IT) for competitive advantage, and prioritising IS development projects. Conversely, IS plans are perceived to be less useful for clarifying the role of IS, evaluating IS performance, anticipating surprises and crisis, and adapting to unanticipated situations. Implications of these results are discussed.
Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Neural network forecasting for seasonal and trend time series

Neural networks have been widely used as a promising method for time series forecasting. However, limited empirical studies on seasonal time series forecasting with neural networks yield mixed results. While some find that neural networks are able to model seasonality directly and prior deseasonalization is not necessary, others conclude just the opposite. In this paper, we investigate the issue of how to effectively model time series with both seasonal and trend patterns. In particular, we study the effectiveness of data preprocessing, including deseasonalization and detrending, on neural network modeling and forecasting performance. Both simulation and real data are examined and results are compared to those obtained from the Box–Jenkins seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models. We find that neural networks are not able to capture seasonal or trend variations effectively with the unpreprocessed raw data and either detrending or deseasonalization can dramatically reduce forecasting errors. Moreover, a combined detrending and deseasonalization is found to be the most effective data preprocessing approach. � 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
E-business, recent threats and security countermeasures

Today, computers play a prominent role in human life and e-business makes the lives of people easier. Online shopping and electronic trade benefit both customers and companies. Although the concept of e-business has many advantages, it also furnishes cybercriminals opportunities to access, steal and manipulate data. Thus, security requirements ought to be considered by managers who run their businesses via computers and the internet. One of the first steps to defining security requirements is threat and risk assessment, which may be done by cyberattack profiling. This paper aims to profile recent cyberattacks, investigate trends and relationships between distinct factors and based on those, give security policies as security countermeasures. The work described was presented at the 9th ICGSSS Conference in December 2013.
Collaborative construction of metadata and full-text dataset

One of the difficulties when testing algorithms for information retrieval, is having benchmark datasets to determine their effectiveness, since for several indicators used in this discipline, it is necessary to know in advance results for a query given and that the same results are evaluated by experts on the subject under investigation. This paper describes the collaborative implementation of a dataset created from the metadata and full-text of articles from nine areas of knowledge, with the participation of fourteen researchers at master or doctoral level, supported with the bibliographical reference manager Mendeley. Final dataset with metadata and full text, consists of 1678 papers and the result of 38 queries of two, three and four words.
Analysing risk in ship finance

In earlier eras much of ship finance was provided through individual owners funding their own companies. However, more recently ship owners have sought finance from the capital markets. Starting from the 1990s, shipping companies began to turn to the global capital markets to raise finance, through either equity or debt. During the period 2004 – 2007, it can be observed that there was an increased number of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), secondary offerings, and issuance of high-yield bonds related to the shipping industry. However, since the financial crisis of 2008, bankruptcy amongst firms operating in the shipping industry has been a familiar theme. Corporate finance is therefore an important consideration within the shipping industry which remains in a precarious situation. This has brought additional pressures in terms of shipping companies establishing sound and rigorous, as well as transparent, financial practices. While previously there would have been limited access to financial data about shipping companies, now it has become available through public databases and market information. While the financial data is still to some extent limited, valuable insights can be obtained from analysing that, which is available, e.g. the Bloomberg Database.
Numb Proteins Specify Asymmetric Cell Fates via an Endocytosis- and Proteasome-Independent Pathway

ABSTRACT Numb proteins are evolutionarily conserved signaling molecules that make the daughter cells different after asymmetric divisions by segregating to only one daughter. They contain distinct binding motifs for α-adaptin (α-Ada) and proteins with Eps15 homology (EH) domains, which regulate endocytosis, and for E3 ubiquitin ligases, which target proteins for proteasome-mediated degradation. In Drosophila melanogaster, Numb acts by inhibiting Notch activity to cause a bias in Notch-mediated cell-cell communication. These findings have led to the hypothesis that Numb modulates Notch signaling by using endocytosis and proteasomes to directly reduce Notch protein levels at the cell surface. Here we show that two Drosophila EH proteins, Eps15 homologue 1 (EH1) and the dynamin-associated 160-kDa protein (Dap160), negatively regulate Notch signaling. However, neither elimination of the binding motifs for endocytic proteins nor simultaneous reduction of proteasome activity affects the activity of Numb proteins. Our findings indicate that an endocytosis- and proteasome-independent pathway may mediate Numb signaling in asymmetric cell fate specification.
Proton MRI as a noninvasive tool to assess elastase‐induced lung damage in spontaneously breathing rats

Elastase‐induced changes in lung morphology and function were detected in spontaneously breathing rats using conventional proton MRI at 4.7 T. A single dose of porcine pancreatic elastase (75 U/100 g body weight) or vehicle (saline) was administered intratracheally (i.t.) to male Brown Norway (BN) rats. MRI fluid signals were detected in the lungs 24 hr after administration of elastase and resolved within 2 weeks. These results correlated with perivascular edema and cellular infiltration observed histologically. Reductions in MRI signal intensity of the lung parenchyma, and increases in lung volume were detected as early as 2 weeks following elastase administration and remained uniform throughout the study, which lasted 8 weeks. Observations were consistent with air trapping resulting from emphysema detected histologically. In a separate experiment, animals were treated daily intraperitoneally (i.p.) with all‐trans‐retinoic acid (ATRA; 500 μg/kg body weight) or its vehicle (triglyceride oil) starting on day 21 after elastase administration and continuing for 12 days. Under these conditions, ATRA did not elicit a reversal of elastase‐induced lung damage as measured by MRI and histology. The present approach complements other validated applications of proton MRI in experimental lung research as a method for assessing drugs in rat models of respiratory diseases. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Persistent auditory hallucinations: coping mechanisms and implications for management

Synopsis The strategies used by 40 chronic schizophrenic out-patients with persistent auditory hallucinations to cope with the intrusive phenomena were explored. Frequent coping mechanisms included changes in activity, interpersonal contact, manipulations of physiological arousal, and attentional control. A high risk of suicide was noted. Coping behaviour appeared somewhat independent of clinical and sociodemographic variables. Successful coping appeared to result from systematic application of widely used coping strategies. The implications for the clinical management of patients with persistent auditory hallucinations are discussed.
Growth Pattern And Nutritional Status Of Under Five Children In Owo Local Government Area Of Ondo State, Nigeria

The growth pattern and nutritional status of under five children in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State was assessed between May and November, 2009 to know if their growth were normal or constitute public health problem. A total of 600 randomly selected male and female under-five children were surveyed using anthropometry. 120 infants (0.5-12 months old) were randomly selected from 15 primary hath centres while 480 children (aged 13-60 months) were randomly selected from crèche and nursery schools. Anthropometric measurements of subjects such as weight, height and MVAC were obtained. Data were analyzed using EPI-Info 2000 nutritional software. Findings show that majority of the children’s growth in height and weight slightly fall below CDC/NCHS growth curve at 50 percentile of reference population when compared. Overall mean weight, height and MUAC of the children were 10.6kg, 78.5cm and 16.3cm respectively. 17% and 43% of all the children were stunted and underweight, while 9% and 6% were severely stunted and underweight (z-score <-3 S.D). Chronic and severe or acute form of malnutrition affects child’s mental capability; it erodes attention span and learning process. It is one of the highest causes of morbidity and mortality. Even stunting among the potential female mothers can bring about maternal morbidity and obstructed child labour, which becomes a recycle generational problem particularly through the female life course.