Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comprehensive stochastic computational model of HIV infection from DNA integration to viral burst

Multiple mechanisms in the HIV lifecycle play a role in its ability to evade therapy and become a chronic, difficult-to-treat infection. Within its major cellular target, the activated T cell, many steps occur between viral entry and viral burst, including reverse transcription of viral RNA, integration of the viral DNA in the host genome, viral transcription, splicing, translation, host and viral regulation, and viral packaging. These steps exploit complex networks of macromolecular interactions that exhibit various forms of stochastic behavior. While each of the steps of HIV infection have been individually studied extensively, the combinatorial contribution of rare events in each of the steps, and how series of these rare events lead to different infection phenotypes, are not well understood. The complexity of these processes render experimental study challenging. Therefore, we have built a comprehensive computational model of this large system, by collating the community's knowledge of the infection process. It is a stochastic model where rates of different events in the system are represented as probabilities of the event occurring in a timestep of the simulation. This model enables an understanding of the noise and variation in the system. The model also facilitates a dissected understanding of each small part of the large complex system, and its impact on the overall system dynamics.
Ministry to Newlyweds—A Small Window of Great Opportunity

Ministry to newlyweds is a unique window of opportunity for churches small and large because newlywed couples are in transition, open to new relationships, open to letting go of religious conventions and considering more Biblical responses, and open to being groomed for church leadership. This article advocates the importance of a newlywed ministry for your church, suggests some of the needs couples are facing that churches can address, reviews results of a survey of how churches are ministering to newlyweds, and suggests some of the ways churches can minister to newlyweds. A list of resources is also included.
Feature models and condition visualization for rotating machinery fault diagnosis

We discuss appropriate feature models for the automatic diagnosis of faults in two different application scenarios in a comparative study. The first test case is the Case Western Reserve University Bearing Data, the second is a submersible pump used in offshore oil exploration. Additionally we provide a visual comparison of the discriminative capabilities of the employed feature models using Principal Component Analysis and the Sammon plot to show the machine condition patterns.
Trillion virion delay: time from testing positive for HIV to presentation for primary care.

BACKGROUND Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals' initial presentation to medical care frequently occurs at a point of advanced immunosuppression. OBJECTIVES To investigate the time between HIV testing and presentation to primary care. Also to examine factors associated with delayed presentation. METHODS One hundred eighty-nine consecutive outpatients without prior primary care for HIV infection were assessed at 2 urban hospitals: Boston City Hospital, Boston, Mass, and Rhode Island Hospital, Providence. Sociodemographics, alcohol and drug use, social support, sexual beliefs and practices, and HIV testing issues were examined in bivariate and multivariate analyses for association with delay in presentation to primary care after positive test results for HIV. RESULTS Of 189 patients, 74 (39%) delayed seeking primary care for more than 1 year, 61 (32%) delayed for more than 2 years, and 35 (18%) for more than 5 years after an initial positive HIV serologic evaluation. The median CD4+ cell count of subjects was 0.28 x 10(9)/L (range, 0.001-1.71 x 10(9)/L). In multiple linear regression analysis the following characteristics were found to be associated with delayed presentation to primary care after HIV testing: history of injection drug use (P<.001); not having a living mother (P=.01); not having a spouse or partner (P=.08); not being aware of HIV risk before testing (P<.001); and being notified of HIV status by mail or telephone (P=.002). An interaction effect between sex and screening for alcohol abuse was significant (P=.03) and suggested longer delays for men with positive screening test results (CAGE [an alcoholism screening questionnaire containing 4 structured questions], 2+) compared with men without positive screening test results or women. CONCLUSIONS Patients with positive HIV test results often delay for more than a year before establishing primary medical care. Information readily available at the time of HIV testing concerning substance abuse, social support, and awareness of personal HIV risk status is useful in identifying patients who are at high risk of not linking with primary care. Patients who were notified of their HIV status by mail or telephone delayed considerably longer than those notified in person. Efforts to ensure primary care linkage at the time of notification of positive HIV serostatus are necessary to maximize benefits for both individual and public health and should be an explicit task of posttest counseling.
The relationship of attributions to marital distress: a comparison of mainland Chinese and U.S. couples.

Research on attribution theory has focused on a number of different social contexts. Close personal relationships and marriage in particular have been investigated widely. Cross-cultural differences in attribution patterns have also been explored, although mostly in relation to academic achievement or employment. This article focused on cross-cultural variations in marital attributions. Thirty-six couples from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and 32 couples from the United States (U.S.) were included. Marital attributions were correlated with marital distress for both groups. However, the P.R. C. spouses tended to report more relationship-enhancing causal attributions than did U.S. spouses. There were also some differences in attributions of responsibility and blame across cultures. These findings are discussed in relationship to current marital attribution theory.
Budesonide/cyclodextrin complex-loaded lyophilized microparticles for intranasal application

Abstract Objective: Lyophilized microparticles composed of budesonide (BDS), hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) or sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC-Na) were developed for intranasal delivery and their characteristics were evaluated. Materials and methods: The particle size and morphology were assessed by mean diameter measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image, respectively. The solid-state of products was tested by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In vitro drug release and cytotoxicity to the primary human nasal epithelial (HNE) cells were also evaluated. Results and discussion: Lyophilized microparticles exhibited vanishment of crystallinity of drug in XRPD analysis, the enfeeblement of carbonyl (C=O) stretching bands of carboxyl group in BDS in FT-IR spectra and the disappearance of endothermic peak of drug in the results of DSC study. Based on the results of solid-state studies, BDS was existed as an amorphous form in the lyophilized microparticles. CD complexation enhanced drug solubility and release rate, and HPMC or CMC-Na also improved drug dissolution rates. Cytotoxicity of developed microparticles to the HNE cells was measured and their safety to HNE cell was identified. Conclusion: Developed microparticles can efficiently deliver insoluble drug, such as BDS, to the nasal epithelium and thus it may improve therapeutic efficacy in the respiratory tract.
Addressing Behaviors That Lead to Sharing Fake News

Some recent behavioral science research has shown why people lie, and how we can prevent them from lying. Given the alarming amount of fake news in the US public sphere, a group of behavioral science experts has sought to combine the available research in a proposed intervention, the Pro-Truth Pledge, to help address this problem. The pledge asks signees to commit to 12 behaviors that research in behavioral science shows correlate with an orientation toward truthfulness. Early results show both that private citizens and public figures are willing to take the pledge, and self-reported and external observations of present case study exhibit evidence of the effectiveness of the pledge.
Relationship of extreme precipitation, dry-bulb temperature, and dew point temperature across Australia

Precipitation extremes are expected to intensify due to an increased moisture holding capacity in the atmosphere with higher temperatures; according to the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) relation this increase is approximately 7% for every degree increase in temperature. Contrary to expectation, the relationship between precipitation extremes and surface temperature often differs from 7%/°C. Here, we explore this relationship further by estimating the sensitivity of precipitation with both dry-bulb temperature and dew point temperature across Australia. A much better correspondence to the CC relation is obtained when surface dew point temperature is used for the calculation of precipitation-temperature sensitivities instead of surface dry-bulb temperature with most sites exhibiting sensitivities close to, or in excess of, the CC relation. The sensitivity obtained using dew point temperature is more consistent across climatic region, precipitation duration, and precipitation percentile. We conclude that dew point temperature is a better measure of precipitation changes due to increases in atmospheric moisture than dry-bulb temperature.
Pro-caspase-3 Is a Major Physiologic Target of Caspase-8*

The apoptotic signal triggered by ligation of members of the death receptor family is promoted by sequential activation of caspase zymogens. We show here that in a purified system, the initiator caspases-8 and -10 directly process the executioner pro-caspase-3 with activation rates (k cat/K m ) of 8.7 × 105 and 2.8 × 105 m −1 s−1, respectively. These rates are of sufficient magnitude to indicate direct processingin vivo. Differentially processed forms of caspase-3 that accumulate during its activation have similar rates of activation, activities, and specificities. The pattern and rate of caspase-8 induced activation of pro-caspase-3 in cytosolic extracts was the same as in a purified system. Moreover, immunodepletion of a putative intermediary in the pathway to activation, pro-caspase-9, was without consequence. Taken together these data demonstrate that the initiator caspase-8 can directly activate pro-caspase-3 without the requirement for an accelerator. The in vitro data thus help to deconvolute previous in vivo transfection studies which have debated the role of a direct versus indirect transmission of the apoptotic signal generated by ligation of death receptors.
Epidemiological and pathological studies of subgroup J avian leukosis virus infections in Chinese local “yellow” chickens

Epidemiological, pathological and molecular studies indicate that subgroup J avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) infections are widely spread in “yellow chickens” of local breeds in China. ALV-J induced tumour mortality and the serological conversion rates to ALV-J were very high in some breeder flocks. Typical myelocytomatosis was demonstrated not only in livers, spleens, kidneys, and sternums, as in white meat-type chickens, but also in thymuses and the bursa of Fabricius. Especially, severe myeloid cell infiltration was found throughout the whole enlarged thymuses of some birds. ALV-J was isolated at high positive rates from both liver tumour samples and embryos collected from breeder flocks with tumours. At the same time, reticuloendotheliosis virus was also co-isolated with ALV-J in some tumour samples and embryos. Sequence analysis of env genes demonstrated that the gp85 and gp37 among six ALV-J isolates from “yellow chickens” of Chinese local breeds varied as highly as among ALV-J strains isolated from white meat-type chickens worldwide. But strain GD0512 isolated in 2005 from a “yellow chicken” farm in southern China had high identity of 95.1% for gp85 or 99.5% for gp37 to strain HN0001 isolated in 2000 from a white meat-type breeder farm in northern China, a much higher identity than to other yellow chicken and white chicken strains. This is the first report of the isolation and identification of ALV-J from yellow chickens of Chinese local breeds and also the first report of vertical co-infection of ALV-J and reticuloendotheliosis virus. The significance of co-infection of ALV-J and reticuloendotheliosis virus in pathogenesis is discussed.
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Iron Transport and Urease Activity: Effects on Bacterial Virulence and Host Immune Response

ABSTRACT Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, a porcine respiratory tract pathogen, has been shown to express transferrin-binding proteins and urease during infection. Both activities have been associated with virulence; however, their functional role for infection has not yet been elucidated. We used two isogenic A. pleuropneumoniaesingle mutants (ΔexbB and ΔureC) and a newly constructed A. pleuropneumoniae double (ΔureC ΔexbB) mutant in aerosol infection experiments. Neither the A. pleuropneumoniaeΔexbB mutant nor the double ΔureCΔexbB mutant was able to colonize sufficiently long to initiate a detectable humoral immune response. These results imply that the ability to utilize transferrin-bound iron is required for multiplication and persistence of A. pleuropneumoniae in the porcine respiratory tract. TheA. pleuropneumoniae ΔureC mutant and the parent strain both caused infections that were indistinguishable from one another in the acute phase of disease; however, 3 weeks postinfection the A. pleuropneumoniae ΔureCmutant, in contrast to the parent strain, could not be isolated from healthy lung tissue. In addition, the local immune response—as assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot analyses—revealed a significantly higher number ofA. pleuropneumoniae-specific B cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of pigs infected with the A. pleuropneumoniae ΔureC mutant than in the BALF of those infected with the parent strain. These results imply thatA. pleuropneumoniae urease activity may cause sufficient impairment of the local immune response to slightly improve the persistence of the urease-positive A. pleuropneumoniaeparent strain.
Connections of area 2 of somatosensory cortex with the anterior pulvinar and subdivisions of the ventroposterior complex in macaque monkeys

The principal goal of the present study was to determine the thalamic connections of area 2 of postcentral somatosensory cortex of monkeys. The placement of injections of anatomical tracers (horseradish peroxidase, wheat germ agglutinin, or 3H‐proline) was guided by extensive microelectrode maps of cortex in the region of the injection site. These maps identified the body parts represented in the cortex included in the injection site, and provided information about the physiological boundaries of area 2, which was related later to the cortical architecture. Most injections were placed in the representation of the hand in area 2, which was highly responsive to cutaneous stimuli and could be mapped in detail. Injections were also placed in other parts of area 2, area 1, or area 5, and some injections involved more than one area.
African Union and the Promotion of Democratic Values in Africa: An Electoral Perspective

Since its official inauguration on 9 July 2002, the African Union (AU) has made the promotion of democracy and good political governance for the development and stability of Africa one of its main priorities. After a decade of its existence, it is pertinent to assess how the AU has fared in its commitments to the promotion of democratic values in Africa. This is the primary concern of this paper, which seeks to assess the state of democracy and political governance in Africa. Given the centrality of elections to the theory and practice of democracy, the study evaluates the role of the AU in promoting democratic values in Africa from an electoral perspective. Drawing essentially on the AU’s declaration governing democratic elections and the declaration on observing and monitoring elections, the paper submits that while these declarations have positively affected Africa’s electoral landscape, there is still ground to be covered. Despite the AU’s interventions, elections in Africa remain one of the weakest links in the democratisation process, turning out to be democratic liabilities, instead of assets. Moreover, the AU’s election-monitoring activities have also been undermined by two closely related challenges, most notably the contexts of electoral governance in the host countries and certain administrative and implementation challenges. Consequently, the politics of the AU’s election monitoring in Africa has, inevitably, produced mixed results. While it has, together with other monitoring groups, contributed to raising the general level of awareness and generated some pressure for electoral reforms, it has also tended to be less critical, especially of incumbents seeking re-election. Worse still, its reports and recommendations are not binding on the host country because they do not have the force of law. Urgent steps are needed to redress these contradictions, including reconciling international standards of elections monitoring with African realities, broader coverage of the field for each election and the use of mediumand long-term approaches. Finally, there is a need to strengthen the links between the AU and local monitoring groups. This can help improve understanding of the electoral geography of the host state, and facilitate the sharing of information and logistics. A B O U T T H E A U T H O R J Shola Omotola, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, is a University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Africa Residency Fellow (2014–2016). His research interests are in comparative African elections and democratisation studies; African government and politics; and oil and environmental politics in the Niger Delta. He has published in leading journals, including African Affairs, Africa Today, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Journal of African Elections, Journal of African Law and Taiwan Journal of Democracy. He is co-editor of Horror in Paradise: Frameworks for Understanding the Crises of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria, 2014, and of The Legislature and Governance in Nigeria, forthcoming, 2014.
Earnings Persistence of European Football Clubs under UEFA’s FFP

The goal of this study was to examine the predictability and persistence of earnings of the European football clubs and whether the new Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Financial Fair Play (FFP) licensing regulation has forced clubs to produce a more predictable earnings stream. We utilized a sample of 109 European top-tier clubs over the period 2008–2016, summing up to 844 firm-year observations. Empirical evidence indicated that the cash flow component of earnings is more relevant in predicting one-year ahead earnings than accruals. This positive impact of cash flows for predicting earnings is more significant after the FFP regulation since earnings predictability has increased during that period. Moreover, the abovementioned finding is more significant for the smaller league clubs rather than the Big-5 league clubs. This finding is attributed to the fact that smaller league clubs are more in need of UEFA prize money relative to Big-5 league clubs, thus they are more incentivized to produce a more predictable earnings stream.
THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERSONALITY ON STAFFS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD GREENING INSTITUTIONS

This research is about studying the effect of environmental leadership and environmental personality on staffs’ perception toward greening institutions. There were around 6 research problems have been solved, including dependency between environmental leadership and environmental personality with staffs’ perception toward greening institutions. Therefore, an ex-post facto method by using 2 x 2 factorial designs had been applied. Each cell consisted of 16 staffs from provincial government institutions, South Sulawesi which selected randomly. There were three instruments have been developed such as Environmental Leadership (EL), Environmental Personality (EP), and Greening Institutions (GI) which measured in a scaling form. Its reliable was respectively . 991 (EL), . 907(EP), and . 929 (GI). Data have been analyzed by implementing two-way ANOVA and Chi-Square. Research results show that there is highly significant difference of staffss’ perception toward greening institutions between stafss who perceived their superordinate to have transformational environmental leadership rather than transactional. There is highly difference of staffs’ perception toward greening institutions between staffs who has good and bad environmental personality. There is no significant interaction effect found between environmental leadership and environmental personality on greening institutions. Finally, there is dependency between environmental leadership and environmental personality with greening institutions. Based on these findings, it could be interpreted that staffs’ perception toward greening institutions might have been affected by environmental leadership independently without considering environmental personality. Therefore, if the greening institutions would be improved, environmental personality and environmental leadership could be taken in to consideration separately.
Exploring ‘new generation’ employees’ green tactics in environmental protection in China

Abstract As an emerging group, new-generation employees have attracted increasing interest. Based on the ‘sense-making’ process, this study investigated the new generation’s so-called ‘green’ behaviour in Chinese workplace. Using qualitative interviews, we explored how they weigh different forces and make green behavioural decision. Employing grounded theory, we examined a ‘dual-system’, which was the interactive influence of pro-environmental consciousness and green psychological climate on the new generation’s green behavioural decisions. We also discovered that their behavioural tactics may change over time driven by individual traits, institutional forces and issue characteristics. Our findings contribute to the new generation and green behaviour literature by exploring the behavioural tactics chosen and changed under different conditions.