Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antiviral effect of ovotransferrin in mouse peritoneal macrophages by up-regulating type I interferon expression

ABSTRACT Ovotransferrin (OVT) is one of the major proteins in avian albumen that exerts diverse biological activities. This study is aimed to investigate the antiviral effect and mechanism of OVT from the avian egg. Effects of OVT on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-infected mouse peritoneal macrophage were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and western blot. In OVT-pretreated mouse peritoneal macrophages, results showed that replication of VSV was significantly suppressed and production of type I interferon (IFN) was increased. OVT down-regulated ring finger protein 125 (RNF125) production and up-regulated retinoic-acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) expression by the nuclear factor-κB signalling pathway, resulting in the enhancement of the production of type I IFN. It demonstrated that the antiviral effect of OVT on innate immunity is enhanced by promoting type I IFN expression, indicating its potential as a functional food ingredient.
Coronavirus en Ecuador: Una Opinión Desde la Academia.

Esta es la tercera vez que un coronavirus zoonótico ha podido infectar diversas poblaciones humanas. Este nuevo virus, clasificado como SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), es el agente causal de la epidemia denominada COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). La investigación internacional realizada en torno a este nuevo brote fue tan eficaz que en poco tiempo ya se conocía el genoma del virus, su biología y sus principales aspectos epidemiológicos. En Ecuador se han reportado hasta la fecha 1962 casos positivos de SARS-CoV-2, situación que generó una gran preocupación por parte de la sociedad y la Academia ecuatoriana. Por lo tanto, en este artículo de opinión se detallarán las principales investigaciones realizadas sobre el SARS-CoV-2 a nivel internacional, se discutirá sobre la importancia de la Academia en la toma de decisiones sanitarias y se pondrá en perspectiva el papel de la investigación fundamental para la contención de un posible brote en Ecuador.
Methods used to identify pelagic juvenile rockfish (genus sebastes) occurring along the coast of central California

Morphology and pigmentation of juvenile Sebastes flavidus and S . melanops are compared. two to five distinct pigment saddles while S . melanops rarely had saddles. Other differences were observed in the pigmentation of the peritoneum and head spination. All S . flavidus were found to have from ’ Present Address: 21 Vernon St., San Francisco, CA 94132
Cnoidal wave solutions for the optical Benney-Luke equation

At proper scale of the asymptotic analysis, the optical Benney-Luke equation (OBLE) explains the propagation of a continuous wave (cw) laser beam in a nonlocal non-linear defocusing media. By means of an OBLE and appropriate boundary conditions, we have obtained non-linear periodic wave solutions. The corresponding analytical expressions and numerical plots of the cnoidal waves in the phase plane are presented using the Sagdeev pseudo-potential approach. Our results are written in terms of the media nonlocality through the optical surface tension parameter.
The effects of introduced Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitchensis) on plant and soil microbial communities on Haida Gwaii and silvicultural tools to improve western redcedar survival

iii Lay summary . v Preface. vi Table of contents . viii List of tables . xiii List of figures . xv List of abbreviations and symbols . xxi Acknowledgements. xxii
Valuing Real Options in the Volatile Real World

Motivated by the real‐world challenges of real options evaluation faced by many companies when commodity prices exhibit dramatic volatility and project values can become negative, this study presents a framework for solving a multifactor real options problem by approximating the underlying stochastic process of project value with a generalized implied binomial tree. The proposed approach allows a flexible structure for stochastic processes with fat tail distributions, such as jump diffusion, regime switch or mean reversion and provides a more accurate estimate of the extreme downside risk by allowing negative values for the underlying project values. Our illustrative example shows that the value of a real option estimated by the proposed approach is more accurate and stable than the alternative lattice‐based approaches in the literature under a wide variety of underlying commodity process, which makes this a more robust approach for valuing complex real options under multiple sources of uncertainty in the volatile real world.
An evaluation of mark and recapture techniques for estimating tigerfish biomass in Lake Kariba

The effectiveness of 2 mark and recapture techniques was evaluated using tiger fish, Hydrocynus vittatus. The 2 techniques used were: tagging with a plastic tag and fluorescent spray marking. While the tagging method resulted as the logical method to use within the constraints of the tiger fish study, it cannot be considered completely reliable for the estimation of population size in Lake Kariba.
Effects of enhancing multicultural knowledge competence through an international teaching practicum programme for Korean student-teachers

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of an international teaching practicum (ITP) in terms of reinforcing the student-teachers’ multicultural knowledge competence through ITP participation. The data were collected from three surveys at three different points in time: before the ITP, after the ITP domestic pre-orientation programme, and after the completion of the ITP. The participants of this study were 32 students at G university who were finishing their 2nd and 3rd years. The collected data were analysed with SPSS 23.0. This research shows the effectiveness of ITP in terms of enhancing student-teachers’ multicultural knowledge competence. It also shows the importance of domestic pre-orientation before participation in an overseas on-site teaching practicum.
Phantom Limbs and Brain Plasticity in Amputees

Phantom sensations are experienced by almost every person who has lost their hand in adulthood. This mysterious phenomenon spans the full range of bodily sensations, including the sense of touch, temperature, movement, and even the sense of wetness. For a majority of upper-limb amputees, these sensations will also be at times unpleasant, painful, and for some even excruciating to the point of debilitating, causing a serious clinical problem, termed phantom limb pain (PLP). Considering the sensory organs (the receptors in the skin, muscle or tendon) are physically missing, in order to understand the origins of phantom sensations and pain the potential causes must be studied at the level of the nervous system, and the brain in particular. This raises the question of what happens to a fully developed part of the brain that becomes functionally redundant (e.g. the sensorimotor hand area after arm amputation). Relatedly, what happens to the brain representation of a body part that becomes overused (e.g. the intact hand, on which most amputees heavily rely for completing daily tasks)? Classical studies in animals show that the brain territory in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) that was “freed up” due to input loss (hereafter deprivation) becomes activated by other body part representations, those neighboring the deprived cortex. If neural resources in the deprived hand area get redistributed to facilitate the representation of other body parts following amputation, how does this process relate to persistent phantom sensation arising from the amputated hand? Subsequent work in humans, mostly with noninvasive neuroimaging and brain stimulation techniques, have expanded on the initial observations of cortical remapping in two important ways. First, research with humans allows us to study the perceptual consequence of remapping, particularly with regards to phantom sensations and pain. Second, by considering the various compensatory strategies amputees adopt in order to account for their disability, including overuse of their intact hand and learning to use an artificial limb, use-dependent plasticity can also be studied in amputees, as well as its relationship to deprivation-triggered plasticity. Both of these topics are of great clinical value, as these could inform clinicians how to treat PLP, and how to facilitate rehabilitation and prosthesis usage in particular. Moreover, research in humans provides new insight into the role of remapping and persistent representation in facilitating (or hindering) the realization of emerging technologies for artificial limb devices, with special emphasis on the role of embodiment. Together, this research affords a more comprehensive outlook at the functional consequences of cortical remapping in amputees’ primary sensorimotor cortex.
Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) as a tool for genetic characterisation of bacterial isolates in Nigeria

Genetic characterisation as a tool for identification of bacterial isolates in Nigeria has been on the increase in recent years, and the 16s rRNA typing has been a preferred method. Due to cost limitations, there is a need to explore other genetic options. Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis is a PCR- only based system which offers the advantage of reduced cost. This study set out to explore the use of ERIC-PCR in genetic characterisation of some selected bacterial isolates from Nigeria and compare it with genetic characterisation using 16s rRNA sequence typing. ERIC-PCR and 16s rRNA typing were carried out on 15 isolates following previously described protocols. Using 16s rRNA typing, thirteen different bacterial species were identified of which majority (85.7%) were Gram negative, with 57.1% belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. Using ERIC-PCR, only 13 of the 15 isolates (86.7%) could be typed, resulting in the identification of the 13 different types. ERIC-PCR was able to accurately differentiate between two members of the Proteus species, as well as identify the organisms as similar based on the banding pattern. The results show that ERIC-PCR may play a role as a bacterial identification tool but this role might be more suited to differentiating closely related members of a genus or typing within species rather than general bacterial identification. Keywords: Genetic characterisation, 16s rRNA, ERIC-PCR, Nigeria
The biological role of viral tRNA-like molecules in a murine gammaherpesvirus infection

Members of the subfamily Gammaherpesvirinae commonly establish latency within lymphoid cells and are associated with lymphoproliferative disease. Gammaherpesviruses include the human pathogens Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus. Due to the narrow host range of infection exhibited by these viruses and their limited productive growth in vitro, the events occurring during lytic replication and the establishment of latency are not well characterised. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) is able to undergo productive replication in a number of cell types in vitro and infects laboratory mice; consequently it provides an excellent model for study of gammaherpesvirus infection. MHV-68 encodes eight viral tRNA-like molecules (vtRNAl-8), which resemble cellular tRNAs in that they have a predicted cloverleaf-like secondary structure and are transcribed by RNA polymerase III. However unlike cellular tRNAs they are not amino-acylated and therefore do not function directly during protein synthesis. They are known to be expressed to high levels during both latency and lytic replication. However their role within infection is not known. The aim of this project was to characterise the vtRNAs. The presence of the vtRNAs within purified, RNase treated viral stocks indicated their packaging within the MHV-68 virion. Although both viral and cellular mRNAs were also present, it appeared that the major RNA species packaged by MHV-68 were small RNA molecules, such as the vtRNAs. Incorporation of RNA molecules into the virion is not unique to MHV-68 as other herpesviruses have been found to package RNA, although the vtRNAs represent the only packaged small viral non-coding RNA molecules discovered so far. In addition, this is the first study to demonstrate the preferential incorporation of small RNA molecules by a herpesvirus. The mechanism by which the vtRNAs assemble into the virion is not clear. In situ hybridization demonstrated that within infected cells the vtRNAs localized to globular areas within the nucleus and were also found at high levels within the cytoplasm. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays performed using vtRNAl and vtRNA4 indicated binding to protein complexes present within both the nucleus and cytoplasm of infected cells. Inhibition of vtRNA-protein binding by an anti-MHV-68 antibody indicated direct
External Factors of Delay That Affect the Performance of International Construction Contractors in Kuwait

Currently, multiple new projects are starting in Kuwait, which reflects the government’s striving investment strategies. The estimated total value of future projects in Kuwait is $447.3 billion that is distributed between Building Sector for 72.7%, Infrastructure Sector for 15.3%, and Oil & Gas Sector for 12% [18]. Recently, Kuwaiti GPD is about $141.68 billion in 2019, when the construction contribution to GPD is 7%. Moreover, the previous author stated that $24 billion contracts would be available by the next year, which represents double the value of present year’s contracts. The Kuwaiti construction nature is distinguished by the significant financial variations and multicultural workforce, including technical advisors and engineers. Regardless of the fact that projects worldwide suffer from time delays and cost overruns are not added information; typically, the construction industry in Kuwait contributes with average 7-10% in the national income, out of which 70% of these attributed construction projects are being delayed beyond their original completion dates [6]. The previous status of delayed projects has then been updated; currently the percentage of delayed projects has slightly decreased to be 60-70% average percentage [4]. Abstract: As the construction industry in Kuwait develops, the need for international contractors to handle and manage these projects rises as well. Currently, 70% of the projects in Kuwait get delayed, some by internal factors, and other by external ones. Typically, researchers focus on the internal delays and emphasize international contractors to enhance their understanding and implications of the required preventive and corrective actions. However, external factors of delay are a newly generated type of delays that represent all the delays that are beyond the contractor’s control and cannot be anticipated in the project. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide a framework for international construction contractors in Kuwait regarding the external factors of delay that they might face in their projects. In this research, a qualitative research methodology is applied by extracting and discussing the most important and frequently occurring external factors of delay with 15 project management professionals to elaborate their perspectives and construct a survey to evaluate the impact and frequency of these delaying factors in the construction industry in Kuwait. This survey was distributed to 80 project management practitioners; then, the outcomes were analyzed by using the Relative Importance Index methodology to rank the effect of the examined delaying factors. The results if this research has highlighted the significance of lack of project management proficiency, unreliable subcontractors & conflict between contractor and other contracting parties. Hence this research will provide international construction contractors with an illustration of the delaying factors that they should focus on and the ones they can pay less attention to them.
Collective dynamics of Stokesian swimmers with impulsive acceleration

In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of collective motion of Stokesian swimmers with impulsive acceleration (SSIA). We consider two types of intensity function, namely, the displacement-based intensity function and elapsed-time-based intensity function. The stationary velocity distribution function (VDF) of the SSIA obtained by the direct simulation Monte Carlo method is compared with the analytical approximation, which is obtained by the kinetic (mean-field) equation of the SSIA. Finally, the collective motion of the SSIA confined by 2D box is analyzed by considering Vicsek-like effects to consider the effects of binary collision on the VDF of the SSIA.
New generation vaccines against bluetongue virus

Bluetongue (BT) is an economically important, noncontagious disease of domestic and wild ruminants transmitted by Culicoides biting midges (49). It is caused by the bluetongue virus (BTV), which is a member of the genus Orbivirus within the family Reoviridae (25). To date, twenty-seven immunologically distinct serotypes of BTV have been identified worldwide (54). BTV is a small (about 90 nm in diameter) icosahedral virus with a genome of approximately 19200 base pairs composed of ten linear segments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) (26) which encode ten distinct virus proteins (48). Seven of these (VP1 to VP7) are structural components of the icosahedral virus capsid, while three are non-structural proteins (NS1-NS3), which play different key roles during the viral replication cycle (34). BT is endemic in most countries in the tropics and sub-tropics between latitudes 40°S and 53°N of the Americas, Australia, Africa and some regions of Asia (52). In the summer of 2006, BTV crossed latitude 50°N for the first time, and BT outbreaks caused by BTV serotype 8 occurred unexpectedly in north-western Europe, whereas in 2007-2008 BTV-8 spread rapidly throughout much of Europe (38, 43). The occurrence of BTV-8 in northern Europe caused considerable economic losses, comprising not only direct losses from mortality and reduced production, but also indirect losses due to ensuing bans on the trade of ruminants between BTV-infected and non-infected areas. By 2000, the control strategy of BT in the European Union (EU) was consistent with Directive 92/119/EEC of 17 December 1992 and was essentially based on the stamping-out strategy. This situation was modified rapidly in the autumn of 2000 with Directive 2000/75/EC, as it became obvious that the stamping-out was absolutely inadequate in dealing with vector-borne diseases, such as bluetongue, and the slaughter of all susceptible animals in the entire infected and at-risk areas was not considered an alternative. According to this directive, the primary strategy for BT control should be based on the straightforward control of the transfer of susceptible animals from zones considered infected. Under Commission Decision 2008/655/WE, the strategy for BT control also includes vaccinations aimed at reducing the spread of the virus in the environment and measures to ensure safe movement New generation vaccines against bluetongue virus
Evaluation of Polyethylene Mulching and Sugarcane Cultivar on Energy Inputs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Ethanol Production in a Temperate Climate

Fossil energy inputs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the cultivation and transport of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) for bioethanol production in Tanegashima, Japan, were estimated by life cycle assessment (LCA). The aim was to understand the effects of combined systems of polyethylene mulching treatment (mulching at planting and every ratooning, MM; mulching only at planting, MU; and untreated, i.e., no mulching at all, UU) and cultivar (a cold-tolerant genotype, NiTn18, and a conventional variety, NiF8). The mulch treatments and cultivars were combined to create six cultivation systems that were used to conduct a comparative assessment of cradle-to-gate energy inputs and emissions for bioethanol production. The LCA results showed that the energy inputs and GHG emissions resulting from the MM/NiF8 system were 6.29 MJ L−1 and 0.500 kg CO2e L−1, which were 14% and 23% lower, respectively, than the corresponding values in the UU/NiF8 system. In contrast, the MU/NiF8 system increased the environmental loads slightly. The use of NiTn18 improved sugarcane performance and ethanol yields substantially as compared with NiF8, reducing energy inputs to 5.38, 5.24, and 5.55 MJ L−1 and GHG emissions to 0.473, 0.450, and 0.441 kg CO2e L−1 for the UU, MU, and MM treatments, respectively. The energy inputs and GHG emissions were similar among the systems, indicating that more flexible mulching treatments might be acceptable in the NiTn18 systems than in the NiF8 systems. The energy inputs and GHG emissions resulting from the UU/NiTn18 system were 14% and 5% lower, respectively, than those of the MM/NiF8 system, suggesting that it may be possible to overcome the handicap of sugarcane production in cold conditions by breeding cold-tolerant cultivars.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior Tenaga Penjual: Peran Kepuasan Kerja, Dukungan Rekan Kerja, dan Leader-Member Exchange

This study aims to examine the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) and coworker support on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed to coworkers, and the mediating role of job satisfaction on these relationships. The respondents of this study were 156 employees who worked as salespeople in various industries in Surabaya. The results of testing using PLS-SEM show that LMX has a significant effect on OCB directed at coworkers, but coworker support does not significantly influence OCB directed at coworkers. LMX and coworker support have effects on job satisfaction, and job satisfaction affects OCB directed to coworkers. Job satisfaction mediates the influence of LMX and coworker support on OCB directed to coworkers. Based on these results, companies need to improve the quality of the relationship between supervisors and subordinates, and between coworkers, such as by conducting training activities for them.
Osteoblast-like Cell Growth and Differentiation Behaviors on the Phospholipid Vesicle-Interacted Calcium Phosphate Films

The culture behavior of the osteoblast-like cells on the calcium phosphate (CP) films interacted with phospholipid vesicle (PV) were investigated. The different CP crystalline phases were prepared from the biological solutions such as simulated body fluid (SBF) and unique SBF, which were called as CP/PV and U-CP/PV films, respectively, and these were used after the sterilization. The protein adsorption amounts on the CP/PV films were higher than that of the PV film. The osteoblast-like cells cultured on the U-CP/PV film had the longest length along with the extension direction. The density of the osteoblast-like cells adhered on the CP/PV and U-CP/PV films were higher, suggesting the preferential adhesion on the surfaces. The differentiated osteoblasts on the films were visualized by the alkaline phosphatase and Alizarin-red-S staining methods. It was suggested that the osteoblasts cultured on the CP/PV and U-CP/PV films exhibited the possibility of the high osteogenic activities. Therefore, the PV-interacted CP films prepared from the biological solutions are useful for the osteoblast culture plates. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2018. 156]