Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human Cytomegalovirus pUS24 Is a Virion Protein That Functions Very Early in the Replication Cycle

ABSTRACT We have characterized the function of the human cytomegalovirus US24 gene, a US22 gene family member. Two US24-deficient mutants (BADinUS24 and BADsubUS24) exhibited a 20- to 30-fold growth defect, compared to their wild-type parent (BADwt), after infection at a relatively low (0.01 PFU/cell) or high (1 PFU/cell) input multiplicity. Representative virus-encoded proteins and viral DNA accumulated with normal kinetics to wild-type levels after infection with mutant virus when cells received equal numbers of mutant and wild-type infectious units. Further, the proteins were properly localized and no ultrastructural differences were found by electron microscopy in mutant-virus-infected cells compared to wild-type-virus-infected cells. However, virions produced by US24-deficient mutants had a 10-fold-higher genome-to-PFU ratio than wild-type virus. When infections were performed using equal numbers of input virus particles, the expression of immediate-early, early, and late viral proteins was substantially delayed and decreased in the absence of US24 protein. This delay is not due to inefficient virus entry, since two tegument proteins and viral DNA moved to the nucleus equally well in mutant- and wild-type-virus-infected cells. In summary, US24 is a virion protein and virions produced by US24-deficient viruses exhibit a block to the human cytomegalovirus replication cycle after viral DNA reaches the nucleus and before immediate-early mRNAs are transcribed.
Camera Calibration for a Manufacturing Inspection Workstation | NIST

A CCD camera mounted on a manufacturing part inspection workstation is calibrated for measuring 3D part geometry. It is calibrated by using computer algorithms to analyze data collected from a specially designed calibration image pattern. The calibration image used is a black and white checkerboard pattern. A commonly used camera calibration procedure is used to analyze the image data of the checkerboard calibration image. A camera model is obtained which contains intrinsic parameters representing the characteristic properties of the camera. The calibration is proven to result in a sub-pixel accuracy. A machine part test specimen is chosen to demonstrate the accuracy of application of the camera model to predict geometrical feature locations of usual manufacturing parts. As a first trial, the experimental test shows that an accuracy on the order of 1 mm is easily attainable in predicting the feature locations, with the part being placed at a distance about 45 cm from the camera. Depending on the applications, special optical lens assembly may be designed to attach on the CCD camera and higher measurement accuracy of the feature locations may be obtained.
Structure/function studies with interferon tau: evidence for multiple active sites.

A novel interferon (IFN), called IFN-tau (IFN-tau), has recently been discovered and has been shown to be a pregnancy recognition hormone. Unlike known IFNs, however, IFN-tau exhibits high antiviral and antiproliferative activity without cytotoxicity. The structural basis for IFN-tau function has been examined using six overlapping synthetic peptides corresponding to the entire ovine (Ov) IFN-tau sequence. Four peptides representing amino acids 1-37, 62-92, 119-150, and 139-172 inhibited OvIFN-tau antiviral activity in a dose-dependent manner. Polyclonal antipeptide antisera directed against the same four peptides blocked OvIFN-tau binding and antiviral activity, confirming the specificity of the peptide competitions. Because IFN-tau and IFN-alpha both interact with the type I IFN receptor, peptide inhibition of bovine and human IFN alpha activity was also determined. Of importance, only three peptides, OvIFN-tau (62-92), (119-150), and (139-172) inhibited IFN-alpha antiviral activity. The amino-terminal IFN-tau peptide, OvIFN-tau(1-37), was not inhibitory. These data suggest that the internal and carboxy-terminal reactive domains of IFN-tau may interact with a common type I IFN site on the receptor, while the amino terminus interacts with a site that elicits activity unique to OvIFN-tau. Finally, the antiproliferative activity of OvIFN-tau was localized primarily to the broad carboxy-terminal region, with OvIFN-tau(119-150) being the most effective inhibitor of OvIFN-tau-induced reduction of cell proliferation. Thus, multiple domains of IFN-tau have functional significance. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Oxygen Transport and Peripheral Microcirculation in Long-Term Diabetes

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of long-term diabetes on muscle blood flow (MBF) and oxygen transport (vO2) during exercise. Twelve male patients (58 ± 8 years, mean ± SD), with at least a 10-year history of diabetes controlled by insulin, and seven age-matched controls (56 ± 5 years, mean ± SD) participated in this study. No patient had been clinically diagnosed as having peripheral vascular disease, and on the average resting ankle/arm systolic blood pressure ratios were normal. Following a baseline period, 5 min of cycle ergometer exercises at 75 W were performed in the upright position and, after 1-hr recovery, in the supine position. Continuous vO2 was determined via breath-by-breath analysis. MBF was measured in the vastus lateralis (VL) and tibialis anterior (TA) by 133Xe clearance. In the erect position, the diabetic group (compared with the control group, respectively) exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) lower exercise MBF [ml·(100 g·min)-1] in both VL (19 ± 2.5 vs 30.9 ± 2) and TA (13.7 ± 2 vs 22.0 ± 4), a lower steady-state vO2 (1.3 ± 0.3 vs 1.7 ± 0.2 liters·min-1) during exercise including the values in the last 15 sec of exercise, and greater accumulation of blood lactate (35 ± 2 vs 22.0 ± 2 mg/100 ml). The same trends in the data were observed during supine exercise; however, the blood pressure of the diabetics was significantly elevated during exercise when compared with that of controls. The reduced exercise MBF in the TA and VL demonstrated that impaired microvascular flow, without clinically overt peripheral vascular disease, in long-term diabetics leads to reduced oxygen delivery and exercise tolerance.
Coordinated braking strategies supporting mixed autonomous and conventional vehicles

Autonomous driving vehicles are becoming popular as a solution to reach safe, efficient and comfortable mobility. However, at early market penetration, autonomous vehicles based on Cooperative ACC (C-ACC) policies will have to co-exist in mixed traffic conditions with less autonomous vehicles, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) or conventional vehicles. In this paper, we introduce a simple concept by which vehicles with such advanced technology would help avoid not only possible collisions onto other vehicles in front (front end collisions) but also collisions of conventionally driven following vehicles onto itself (rear end collision), and this under non ideal circumstances, where vehicle gets informed about an obstacle later than usual due to communication or sensing limitations. We show a superior performance of our approach against a baseline ACC strategy, and our results encourage the possibility of keeping low inter vehicular spacing between conventional and autonomous vehicles without fearing collisions.
The Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale: An evaluation of its clinical utility

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity of the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale, a new measure of emotional functioning in diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A battery of questionnaires, including the PAID, was completed by 256 volunteer diabetic outpatients. In our analyses, we examined the PAID's internal structure and compared mean IDDM and NIDDM treatment group scores in regression analyses to explore its discriminant validity. We also evaluated concurrent validity from the correlations between the PAID and diabetes-specific measures of coping and health attitudes and HbA1c. RESULTS Principal component analyses identified a large emotional adjustment factor, supporting the use of the total score. Significant sizable correlations were found between the PAID and a range of selected health attitudinal measures. There were significant differences (with small-to-moderate effect sizes) in PAID scores between IDDM and NIDDM patients and between IDDM and NIDDM insulin- and tablet-treated subgroups; no differences were found between NIDDM insulin- and tablet-treated subgroups. CONCLUSIONS The study findings provided support for the construct validity of the PAID, including evidence for discriminant validity from its ability to detect differences between IDDM and NIDDM treatment groups expected to differ in the emotional impact of life with diabetes. Future studies should explore the PAID's performance in nonspecialist treatment settings as well as its responsiveness to clinical change.
Early postnatal androgenization imprints selective changes in the action of estrogens in the rat uterus.

Exposure of animals perinatally to some hormonally active agents may imprint permanent changes on the action of related hormones. The present study investigated the effects of early postnatal androgenization on various genomic responses to estrogen in the uterus of prepubertal rats. Female rats were androgenized at postnatal ages of 1, 5, or 13 days with a single s.c. injection of testosterone propionate. At the age of 21 days, the animals were stimulated with estrogens. The uteri of androgenized and control rats were analyzed morphometrically to measure genomic parameters of estrogen stimulation in the uterus. The results demonstrate that early postnatal androgenization does not equally affect all uterine cell types and that the effects of androgenization change according to the age at androgenization. The dissociation between the various responses according to the time of androgenization suggests that there are critical ages at which the uterine cell types that respond to estrogens can be altered permanently by imprinting. The finding of changes in the action of estrogen induced by androgenization at older than neonatal ages in the rat suggests that similar changes may occur in humans exposed to androgens during their extrauterine life. This result also points to the need for further studies using the rhesus monkey because of its close resemblance to the human with respect to female reproductive physiology.
A multiobjective approach for bidding recommendations in combinatorial auctions

In this paper a multi-objective (MO) approach was developed to support bidders in making their bidding decisions in combinatorial auctions. To this end, the fast elitist multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) was implemented and tested. The system was developed for a specific combinatorial auction: the clock proxy auction. In the simulated scenario, a government decides to allocate spectrum licenses among telecommunication industry companies using this auction. The MO decision system reports a Pareto frontier to each bidder with the best strategy for a given average profit or probability to win. Hence, bidders can select their final bids according to their risk attitude (risk seeking, risk neutral or risk averse).
Lead and Antimony in Basal Ice From Col du Dome (French Alps) Dated With Radiocarbon: A Record of Pollution During Antiquity

Lead and antimony measurements in basal ice from the Col du Dome glacier document heavy metal pollution in western Europe associated with emissions from mining and smelting operations during European antiquity. Radiocarbon dating of the particulate organic carbon fraction in the ice suggests that the basal ice dates to ~5,000 ± 600 cal years BP. In agreement with a precisely dated Greenland lead record, the Col du Dome record indicates two periods of significant lead pollution during the Roman period, that is, the last centuries before the Common Era to the second century of the Common Era. Atmospheric modeling and the Col du Dome record consistently show an overall magnitude of the lead perturbation 100 times larger than in the Greenland record. Antimony closely tracked lead, with antimony pollution about 2 orders of magnitude lower, consistent with European peat records.
Myotonic Dystrophy Type 2 Caused by a CCTG Expansion in Intron 1 of ZNF9

Myotonic dystrophy (DM), the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults, can be caused by a mutation on either chromosome 19q13 (DM1) or 3q21 (DM2/PROMM). DM1 is caused by a CTG expansion in the 3′ untranslated region of the dystrophia myotonica–protein kinase gene (DMPK). Several mechanisms have been invoked to explain how this mutation, which does not alter the protein-coding portion of a gene, causes the specific constellation of clinical features characteristic of DM. We now report that DM2 is caused by a CCTG expansion (mean ∼5000 repeats) located in intron 1 of the zinc finger protein 9 (ZNF9) gene. Parallels between these mutations indicate that microsatellite expansions in RNA can be pathogenic and cause the multisystemic features of DM1 and DM2.
The NFKB Inducing Kinase Modulates Hematopoiesis During Stress

The genetic programs that maintain hematopoiesis during steady state in physiologic conditions are different from those activated during stress. Here, we show that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with deficiencies in components of the alternative NFκB pathway (the NFκB inducing kinase, NIK, and the downstream molecule NFκB2) had a defect in response to stressors such as supraphysiological doses of cytokines, chemotherapy, and hematopoietic transplantation. NIK‐deficient mice had peripheral blood and bone marrow leukocyte numbers within normal ranges (except for the already reported defects in B‐cell maturation); however, HSCs showed significantly slower expansion capacity in in vitro cultures compared to wild‐type HSCs. This was due to a delayed cell cycle and increased apoptosis. In vivo experiments showed that NIK‐deficient HSCs did not recover at the same pace as controls when challenged with myeloablative chemotherapy. Finally, NIK‐deficient HSCs showed a significantly decreased competitive repopulation capacity in vivo. Using HSCs from mice deficient in one of two downstream targets of NIK, that is, either NFκB2 or c‐Rel, only NFκB2 deficiency recapitulated the defects detected with NIK‐deficient HSCs. Our results underscore the role of NIK and the alternative NFκB pathway for the recovery of normal levels of hematopoiesis after stress. Stem Cells 2015;33:2825–2837
Drug-induced acute angle closure glaucoma

Purpose of review Acute angle closure glaucoma is a potentially blinding side effect of a number of local and systemic drugs, including adrenergic, both anticholinergic and cholinergic, antidepressant and antianxiety, sulfa-based, and anticoagulant agents. The purpose of this article is to bring this condition to the attention of clinicians using these compounds as well as ophthalmologists called to see the patient. Recent findings Acute angle closure glaucoma due to pupillary block, treatable by peripheral iridotomy, can be caused by adrenergic agents, either locally (phenylephrine drops, nasal ephedrine, or nebulized salbutamol) or systemically (epinephrine for anaphylactic shock), drugs with anticholinergic effects including tropicamide and atropine drops, tri and tetracyclic antidepressants, and cholinergic agents like pilocarpine. A novel anticholinergic form is the use of periocular botulinum toxin diffusing back to the ciliary ganglion inhibiting the pupillary sphincter. Sulfa-based drugs (acetazolamide, hydrochlorothiazide, cotrimoxazole, and topiramate) can cause acute angle closure glaucoma by ciliary body edema with anterior rotation of the iris-lens diaphragm. Iridotomy is not effective. Summary Most attacks of acute angle closure glaucoma involving pupillary block occur in individuals that are unaware that they have narrow iridocorneal angles. Practitioners using any of the above drugs should be aware of their potential to cause acute angle closure.
Risk of disordered eating attitudes among male adolescents in five Emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to highlight the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes among male adolescents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). METHOD A multistage stratified sampling method was used to select 731 male students aged 15-18 years from five Emirates of the UAE. The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to determine the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes in students. RESULTS The findings revealed that the proportion of disordered eating attitudes in the UAE was relatively high compared with many developing and developed countries and ranged from 33.1% to 49.1%. Moreover, students living in the Emirates of Dubai and Al-Fujairah have double the risk of having disordered eating attitudes compared with students living in the other Emirates. DISCUSSION The results suggest the need for screening adolescents for eating disorders, as well as for increased awareness and understanding of eating disorders and their associated risk factors in all male adolescents in the UAE.
Deep semantics in an NLP knowledge base

In most natural language processing systems there is no representation of the semantic knowledge of lexical units, but just subcategorization frames, selection restrictions and links to other paradigmatically-related lexical units. Some NLP systems, e.g. machine translation or dialogue-based systems, attempt to "understand" the input text by translating it into some kind of formal language-independent representation; this approach requires a knowledge base with conceptual representations which reflect the structure of human beings' cognitive system. Even those systems in which surface semantics could be sufficient (e.g. automatic indexing or information extraction), the construction of a robust knowledge base guarantees its use in most natural language processing tasks, consolidating thus the concept of resource reuse. The objective of this paper is to highlight the advantages of storing conceptual meaning representations, and more particularly those in FunGramKB, instead of describing lexical meaning via semantic relations between lexical units.
A CASE OF HEREDOPATHIA ATACTICA POLYNEURITIFORMIS (MORBUS REFSUM)

Under the mime of heredoataxia hemeralopica polyneuritiformis a hereditary neurological syndrome was described in 1945 by Sigvald Refsum ( 1 ), this appellation indicating the most prominent clinical features of the disease. Later (1946) the name was changed to heredopathia atactica polyneuritiformis (h.a.p.) in Refsum’s monograph of the same name ( 2 ) . Two similar cases were reported by Reese and Rareta ( 3 ) and by Clark and Critchley ( 4 ) . In 1949 Refsum, Salomonsen, and Skatvedt published four cases of h.a. p. in children ( 5 ) . Kjellson reported two cases in 1953 ( 6 ) . The syndromic symptoms are : atypical retinitis pigmentosa with night-hlindness and a concentric constriction of the visual field; a chronic polyneuritis-like picture with progressive pareses of the distal parts of the extremities and decreased or absent deep reflexes; ataxia and other cerebellar signs; changes in the cerebrospinal fluid in the form of increased protein content with normal cell count; electrocardiographic changes in most cases; less constant symptoms are diminished hearing of a neurogenic type, pupillary abnormalities, ichthyosis-like skin changes, and epiphyseal dysplasia. The syndronie is hereditary. Refsum’s patients were members of two different Norwegian families, A and B. In A, the patients were brother and sister. In B there were two sisters and their two cousins, brother and sister. Recessive heredity would seem to be involved, an opinion that is supported by the fact that in all cases hut one the parents of the patients were blood relations. Three of Refsum’s patients and one of Kjellson’s died suddenly. Refsum reports on the autopsy of three adult patients and a child. The pathoanatomical studies have not yet been completed, but the primary findings suggest an association with the lipoidoses, even though the
Longitudinal changes in methamphetamine and cocaine use in untreated rural stimulant users: racial differences and the impact of methamphetamine legislation.

AIMS To examine how race and methamphetamine legislation are associated with changes in cocaine and methamphetamine use among untreated rural stimulant users. DESIGN A longitudinal study of stimulant users identified through respondent-driven sampling. SETTING Rural areas of three US states. PARTICIPANTS Participants at baseline were current users of methamphetamine and/or cocaine. MEASURES Self-reports of methamphetamine, crack cocaine and powder cocaine use were assessed at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Generalized estimating equations were performed to account for correlations between the repeated measurements. FINDINGS Compared to whites, African Americans were much more likely to use crack cocaine, equally likely to use powder cocaine and much less likely to use methamphetamine. Both whites and African Americans reduced their consumption of methamphetamine and both forms of cocaine over 2 years. Exposure to laws restricting the purchase of over-the-counter cold medications containing methamphetamine precursors was not associated with methamphetamine use, but associated with a slight rise in powder and crack cocaine use. CONCLUSIONS The study yielded disconcerting as well as promising findings regarding the natural history of stimulant use in rural areas. Of some concern is that methamphetamine precursor laws were correlated with increased cocaine consumption, diminishing their net public health benefits. However, despite its insurgence in rural areas of the United States, very few African Americans have initiated methamphetamine use. Regardless of race, many stimulant users stopped using cocaine and methamphetamine without formal substance abuse treatment over 24 months.
Activation of B‐Raf kinase requires phosphorylation of the conserved residues Thr598 and Ser601

The Raf kinase family serves as a central intermediate to relay signals from Ras to ERK. The precise molecular mechanism for Raf activation is still not fully understood. Here we report that phosphorylation of Thr598 and Ser601, which lie between kinase subdomains VII and VIII, is essential for B‐Raf activation by Ras. Substitution of these residues by alanine (B‐RafAA) abolished Ras‐induced B‐Raf activation without altering the association of B‐Raf with other signaling proteins. Phosphopeptide mapping and immunoblotting with phospho‐specific antibodies confirmed that Thr598 and Ser601 are in vivo phosphorylation sites induced by Ras. Furthermore, replacement of these two sites by acidic residues (B‐RafED) renders B‐Raf constitutively active. Con sistent with these data, B‐RafAA and B‐RafED exhibited diminished and enhanced ability, respectively, to stimulate ERK activation and Elk‐dependent transcription. Moreover, functional studies revealed that B‐RafED was able to promote NIH 3T3 cell transformation and PC12 cell differentiation. Since Thr598 and Ser601 are conserved in all Raf family members from Caenorhabditis elegans to mammals, we propose that phosphorylation of these two residues may be a general mechanism for Raf activation.
Mononuclear cell infiltration in clear‐cell renal cell carcinoma independently predicts patient survival

The impact of mononuclear cell infiltration on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) biology has been controversial, previously reported to be associated with either a favorable or unfavorable prognosis. The objective of the current study was to evaluate associations between mononuclear cell infiltration in routinely prepared paraffin‐embedded specimens with survival in patients with clear‐cell RCC.