Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Antiviral Peptide Targets a Coiled-Coil Domain of the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Envelope Glycoprotein

ABSTRACT Retrovirus entry into cells is mediated by the viral envelope glycoproteins which, through a cascade of conformational changes, orchestrate fusion of the viral and cellular membranes. In the absence of membrane fusion, viral entry into the host cell cannot occur. For human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), synthetic peptides that mimic a carboxy-terminal region of the transmembrane glycoprotein (TM) ectodomain are potent inhibitors of membrane fusion and virus entry. Here, we demonstrate that this class of inhibitor targets a fusion-active structure of HTLV-1 envelope. In particular, the peptides bind specifically to a core coiled-coil domain of envelope, and peptide variants that fail to bind the coiled-coil lack inhibitory activity. Our data indicate that the inhibitory peptides likely function by disrupting the formation of a trimer-of-hairpins structure that is required for membrane fusion. Importantly, we also show that peptides exhibiting dramatically increased potency can be readily obtained. We suggest that peptides or peptide mimetics targeting the fusion-active structures of envelope may be of therapeutic value in the treatment of HTLV-1 infections.
Analysis of Ochratoxin a Blood Levels in Bladder Cancer Cases and Healthy Persons from Pakistan

The mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA), a well-known human nephrotoxic and carcinogenic agent, is a public health concern in many countries. Exposure is assessed by means of mycotoxin analysis in food commodities and by human biomonitoring of OTA in blood samples. Data available from several European countries and some studies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas indicate frequent detection of OTA. Thus far, data from developing countries that compare blood levels in healthy and diseased individuals are scarce. Thus, the aim of this investigation was to determine OTA levels in blood samples of bladder cancer patients (n = 96) and healthy controls (n = 31) from Pakistan. OTA in blood plasma was analyzed after extraction by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Among samples of 87 cancer patients and 30 controls, 92% in total contained quantifiable amounts of OTA. In bladder cancer cases the median OTA concentration was 0.19 ng/ml (mean 0.296; range: 0.03 to 3.41 ng/ml), and in healthy controls the median OTA was 0.19 ng/ml (mean 0.3; range: 0.04 to 1.24 ng/ml). The OTA levels found in the Pakistanian cohorts were comparable to those reported previously for the general population in the European Union. In conclusion, OTA is not likely to play a major role in the etiology of bladder cancer in the Karachi cohort, at least as the sole risk factor.
Stimulation of Prolactin Synthesis by β-Glucan via Dectin-1 Receptors in GH 3 / B 6 Cells

Prolactin (PRL) is a polypeptide hormone of the anterior pituitary gland that was originally named for its ability to promote lactation. In the present study, the mechanism of beta-glucan effect on GH3/B6 cells in the synthesis of prolactin has been investigated. In order to study the synthesis and secretion of prolactin, GH3 cell lines which is derived from pituitary tumors was used. Furthermore, the expressions of β-glucan dectin-1 receptors on these cells were studied. The intracellular prolactin levels were assayed by ELISA in the presence of 5, 150 and 250 μgr/ml of β-glucan for a period of 48 hours. TRH (50 nM) was used as positive control and the specific effect of beta-glucan was assessed by using dextran (150 μgr/ml). We also measured the expression of dectin-1 receptor in GH3/B6 cells. Our result showed that the higher concentrations of beta-glucan (150-250 ug/ml) significantly stimulate PRL synthesis. Most notably, for the first time we showed GH3/B6 cells express low levels of Dectin-1 receptor which greatly induced by beta glucan high concentrations. Therefore, β-glucan may induce PRL secretion throughout enhanced expression of Dectin-1 receptor.
A simulation framework for rapid prototyping and evaluation of thermal mitigation techniques in many-core architectures

Modern SoCs are characterized by increasing power density and consequently increasing temperature, that directly impacts performances, reliability and cost of a device through its packaging. Thermal issues need to be predicted and mitigated as early as possible in the design flow, when the optimization opportunities are the highest. In this paper, we present an efficient framework for the design of dynamic thermal mitigation schemes based on a high-level SystemC virtual prototype tightly coupled with efficient power and thermal simulation tools. We demonstrate the benefit of our approach through silicon comparison with the SThorm 64-core architecture and provide simulation speed results making it a sound solution for the design of thermal mitigation early in the flow.
Costs of workups for the diagnosis of early arthritis: results of a nationwide survey.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the costs of workups to diagnose early arthritis. METHODS In 2000, the French Society for Rheumatology conducted a survey of a representative sample of French and Belgian rheumatologists (n = 239). The respondents were asked to consider 2 hypothetical scenarios, 1 describing undifferentiated arthritis and the other more suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis. They were then asked what diagnostic workup they would order. Costs for each study were determined in 2001 euros, according to the French public health system fee schedules. RESULTS In total, 151 rheumatologists participated in the study (63%). The mean +/- SD diagnostic costs were 406.5 +/- 194.3 euro for the case with no diagnostic clues, and 280.7 +/- 154.3 euro for the case suggestive of early RA. Responses were very heterogeneous. The 2 main sources of expenditure were immunology tests and imaging. Hospital staff physicians tended to order more expensive workups, and costs tended to vary inversely with physician experience. The most important predictor of cost was diagnostic doubt, as estimated by the number of diagnoses proposed by respondents in each case; each additional diagnosis cost an additional 19.1-26.1 euro. CONCLUSION Diagnostic workups after a first medical visit for early polyarthritis result in substantial direct costs. This observation and the great variability observed in physicians' practices point out the need for consensus on the appropriate workups for these patients.
Do the Fiduciary Duties of Pension Funds Hinder Socially Responsible Investment?

In recent years, pension funds and other institutional investors have begun to give more attention to the environmental and social behaviour of the companies in which they invest. A recent movement for socially responsible investment (SRI) seeks to exclude companies that pollute or ignore human rights, for example, and to champion those that behave ethically and responsibly. However, some confusion among investment decision makers persists about the extent to which their fiduciary duties to beneficiaries allow policies that may sacrifice financial returns for environmental or other philanthropic causes. This is compounded by the belief that they cannot secure the best returns in respect of their fiduciary obligations with current socially responsible companies. With reference to the main common law jurisdictions, this article critically examines whether the fiduciary duties of pension fund investors hinder SRI. Contrary to some commonly held beliefs, SRI can often sit comfortably with fiduciary duties to invest prudently. However, legal reforms to improve the climate for SRI would help, as evident by some recent initiatives in several jurisdictions.
A method to reduce risks in building distributed enterprise systems

A number of risks are associated with building distributed enterprise systems, ranging from functionality to quality attributes. It is critical to identify and reduce these risks early in the development cycle. Current component-based development methods target at improving the precision in the modeling of system functionality based on UML and enhancing reusability through components and frameworks. However, major risks like performance, scalability, and maintainability of distributed systems have not been adequately addressed. In this paper, we propose a method to reduce these risks early in the development cycle. This method consists of three interrelated elements: work model and workload model, architecture-driven component-based development, and architecture analysis and simulation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method using the prototype of a factory floor information system.
Mixed Species Flocking for Heterogeneous Robotic Swarms

Flocking models have numerous applications. Some include the simulation of traffic patterns such as the flow of cars on a freeway which has a flock-like motion, animating troop movement in real-time strategy games and in simulating mobile robot movement. Such numerous applications in different areas make the study of flocking efficiency a necessity. The originality of this paper lies in the extension of single species flocking models into the more complex mixed species flocking arrangement. The objective of this paper is threefold: (i) to provide a definition for flocking efficiency, (ii) to develop and analyze a first model for mixed species flocking, and finally (iii) to model and implement "heterospecific-attraction" between different agent types to improve the flocking efficiency in a mixed species flocking environment. The proposed model for mixed species flocking is highly efficient, accurate and consistent with the biological equivalents. The model offers benefit to heterogeneous and multi-robot systems.
FM RDS for smart charging of PEVs

Radio and automobiles have been a standard pairing for some 50 years. With electric vehicles (EVs) connected to the power grid now available, FM Radio Data System (RDS) technology can provide value as a low-cost global solution for EV smart-grid connectivity with various digital real-time data transmissions, such as command-control, information, and advisories. This paper reviews the cooperative work between General Motors and e-Radio Inc. to investigate various concepts with respect to the capability of FM RDS to support such industry standards as SAE J2847/1 and SEP 1.0. This development work has resulted in a fully functional prototype.
Food and Drug Administration Regulation of Diabetes-Related mHealth Technologies

mHealth smartphone applications (apps) offer great promise for managing people with diabetes, as well as those with prediabetes. But to realize that potential, industry needs to get clarity from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the scope of its regulatory oversight. Certain smartphone apps, when properly understood, simply help people live healthier lives, assisting with dietary choices, monitoring exercise, and recording other factors important to overall health. The manufacturers of such apps, in an effort to promote their products but also to educate customers, might wish to explain how using the app can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Right now, though, the mere mention of the disease “diabetes” would cause the app to be regulated by the FDA. Such regulation, we submit, discourages the kind of education and motivational messages that our country needs to stem the tide of this disease. Further, should the app simply receive data from a blood glucose meter and graph that data for easier comprehension by the patient, the app would become a class II medical device that requires FDA clearance. Again, we submit that such simple software functionality should not be so discouraged. In this article, we identify the issues that we believe need to be clarified by the FDA in order to unleash the potential of mHealth technology in the diabetes space.
Value Relevance of Legally Mandated Provisions

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value relevance of the legally mandated provisions. This paper examines the effects of changes in provisions on the value relevance of earnings. The results show that the calculation of provisions will deteriorate the relevance of earnings when the changes in provisions may artificially and mechanically smooth earnings. However, the provision for railroad maintenance functions as a allocation method of operating revenues and the provision for insurance payment functions as a allocation method of operating expenses. These provisions seem to improve the value relevance of earnings. Therefore, we cannot discriminate against the legally mandated provisions for the very reason that their calculation is formally restricted. Whether provision is legally mandated or not, we still have many unresolved problems about provisions on the disclosure in the balance sheet and on the calculation in the income statement.
Diversity of black Aspergilli and mycotoxin risks in grape, wine and dried vine fruits

Mycotoxin risk in the grape product chain is primarily due to ochratoxin A (OTA) occurrence in wine and dried vine fruits. Aspergillus carbonarius and the A. niger group are the main agents of Aspergillus bunch rot of grape, and they, especially A. carbonarius, are responsible for OTA contamination worldwide. Fumonisin B 2 (FB 2 ) represents an additional potential mycotoxin risk in the grape-wine product chain and A. niger / A. awamori were recently reported as the FB 2 producers in grapes. A deeper understanding of the species diversity of black Aspergilli, together with specific knowledge of their ecology and epidemiology, can help to predict their occurrence. From this perspective several studies have been done regarding prevention and control of black Aspergilli and reduction of mycotoxin risk at all stages, from vineyard management to wine-making procedures. In this review a comprehensive overview of all these aspects is presented.
Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma

The incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTmC) has been increasing everywhere due to the improvement of imaging and morphological diagnoses and probably also due to environmental alterations. Despite this, the mortality caused by thyroid cancer has not increased, reflecting the low clinical aggressiveness of most papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) and the quality of the available treatment. The criteria used to classify PTmC remain questionable, making the clinical risk evaluation of these lesions very difficult. There is no solid basis for establishing the most appropriate tumor size (currently <10 mm) to distinguish PTmC from PTC. Moreover, PTmCs encompass all sorts of PTC histotypes, thus turning the whole group of PTmC genetically and biologically heterogeneous. In this review, we address the 2 most interesting issues from a practical standpoint: Are there any specific morphological or molecular features distinguishing PTmC from PTC? Is it possible to predict the clinical behavior of PTmC in fine needle aspiration biopsy and in surgical specimens, using morphological and/or molecular markers?
A 5‐hydroxymethyl furfural reducing enzyme encoded by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ADH6 gene conveys HMF tolerance

The fermentation of lignocellulose hydrolysates by Saccharomyces cerevisiae for fuel ethanol production is inhibited by 5‐hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), a furan derivative which is formed during the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials. The inhibition can be avoided if the yeast strain used in the fermentation has the ability to reduce HMF to 5‐hydroxymethylfurfuryl alcohol. To enable the identification of enzyme(s) responsible for HMF conversion in S. cerevisiae, microarray analyses of two strains with different abilities to convert HMF were performed. Based on the expression data, a subset of 15 reductase genes was chosen to be further examined using an overexpression strain collection. Three candidate genes were cloned from two different strains, TMB3000 and the laboratory strain CEN.PK 113‐5D, and overexpressed using a strong promoter in the strain CEN.PK 113‐5D. Strains overexpressing ADH6 had increased HMF conversion activity in cell‐free crude extracts with both NADPH and NADH as co‐factors. In vitro activities were recorded of 8 mU/mg with NADH as co‐factor and as high as 1200 mU/mg for the NADPH‐coupled reduction. Yeast strains overexpressing ADH6 also had a substantially higher in vivo conversion rate of HMF in both aerobic and anaerobic cultures, showing that the overexpression indeed conveyed the desired increased reduction capacity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Biofilms, the customized microniche

At its 1993 annual meeting, the American Society for Microbiology deemed the biofilm mode of growth to be a concept worthy of an extraordinary 4-day colloquium consisting of 52 lectures from invited speakers. Perhaps, immediately following this herculean exercise, it is germane to consider the available evidence for the importance and uniqueness of this mode of growth and to assess the consequences of this concept in modern microbiology. It is, clearly, timely to ask the question "What are the essential differences between a planktonic cell growing in the conventional batch culture and a cell of the same species growing in a natural multispecies biofilm? " This question can be asked with some urgency, because whether we intended it or not, microbiologists have actually extrapolated between laboratory cultures and real ecosystems for hundreds of years and, lately, these extrapolations appear to have become increasingly strained and inaccurate.
Mechanical imaging in medical applications

Mechanical Imaging (MI), a.k. a. tactile imaging or stress imaging, is a branch of Elasticity Imaging, a medical diagnostic technique based on the visualization of tissue internal structures in terms of their elasticity modulus. During the last decade, numerous methods and devices have been developed implementing MI technology in various medical applications, such as the visualization and evaluation of prostate conditions, breast cancer screening, the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions, and the characterization of vaginal wall elasticity. This paper presents an overview of MI technology and its applications, strengths and limitations. Results of laboratory and clinical studies clearly indicate that Mechanical Imaging devices have the potential to be used as a cost effective means for cancer screening as well as diagnostics of various diseases accompanied by changes of mechanical properties of soft tissues.
Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of a putative trpDC(F)BA operon in Buchnera aphidicola (endosymbiont of the aphid Schizaphis graminum)

A 8,392-nucleotide-long DNA fragment from Buchnera aphidicola (endosymbiont of the aphid Schizaphis graminum) contained five genes of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway [trpDC(F)BA] which code for enzymes converting anthranilate to tryptophan. These genes are probably arranged as a single transcription unit. Downstream of the trp genes were ORF-V, ORF-VI, and P14, three open reading frames which in Escherichia coli are also found downstream of the trp operon. Upstream of the B. aphidicola trp genes were two unidentified open reading frames, one of which potentially codes for a membrane-spanning protein with a leader sequence. Evidence for the presence of trpB in the endosymbionts of eight additional species of aphids and two species of whiteflies was obtained. These results as well as those of A. E. Douglas and W. A. Prosser (J. Insect Physiol. 38:565-568, 1992) suggest that aphid endosymbionts are capable of synthesizing tryptophan, which is required by the aphid host.
Costs of Mediterranean and western dietary patterns in a Spanish cohort and their relationship with prospective weight change

Background: There is a scarcity of studies evaluating the relationship between food costs and adherence to different food patterns and obesity. Methods: This was a dynamic cohort of Spanish university graduates (n = 17 197 for the cross-sectional baseline assessment and n = 11 195 for the prospective follow-up analyses). Mean age was 38.6 (SD 12.2) years, and 60% of participants were women. A 136-item food frequency questionnaire previously validated in Spain was used. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to derive dietary patterns. Average cost of food was calculated from official Spanish government data. Self-reported weight was previously validated in the cohort. Body weight was assessed both at baseline and during follow-up. Results: PCA identified two dietary patterns, designated as western and Mediterranean. Participants with the highest scores on the western dietary pattern (fifth quintile vs first quintile) spent less money (–€0.64 (−$0.80) per 1000 kcal (95% CI −€0.68 to −€0.61, p for trend <0.001)) on their daily food costs, whereas the opposite was true for the Mediterranean dietary pattern (+€0.71 (+$0.90) (95% CI +€0.67 to +€0.74, p for trend <0.001). After adjusting for dietary pattern scores and other potential confounders, higher daily food costs were significantly associated with greater weight gain. Conclusions: These data suggest that a Mediterranean dietary pattern is more expensive to follow than a western dietary pattern. This economic barrier should be considered when counselling patients about following a healthy diet because cost may be a prohibitive factor.
What motivates consumers to buy organic food in the UK?: Results from a qualitative study

The aim of the overall project is to understand in depth the behavioural process of parents with respect to organic food. Its main objectives are to identify: beliefs, with respect to organic food, of parents who buy and do not buy organic food; the positive as well as negative attitudes towards organic food of those who buy and do not buy organic food; the impact of those attitudes on food choice for parents who buy and do not buy organic food; and to model the food choice behaviour of parents with respect to organic food. Employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. Reports the results of the second qualitative phase of the project which involved 40 laddering interviews, which were conducted in Reading, UK. The means‐end chain approach was used. The key idea is that product attributes are a means for consumers to obtain desired ends. Participants were parents with children aged 4‐12 years old, who were responsible for food purchases in their families and belonged to ABC1 class. The life values which were revealed mainly fall into three main broad categories. Consumers’ human, animal and environment centred values form the key motivating factors for organic food purchase. Both laddering and focus group interviews have generated certain hypotheses that are tested through the quantitative phase of the project, which uses a sample survey.
Life-Cycle Portfolio Choice with Liquid and Illiquid Assets

Traditionally, quantitative models that have studied households' portfolio choices have focused exclusively on the different risk properties of alternative financial assets. We introduce differences in liquidity across assets in the standard life-cycle model of portfolio choice. More precisely, in our model, stocks are subject to transaction costs, as considered in recent macro literature. We show that, when these costs are calibrated to match the observed infrequency of households' trading, the model is able to generate patterns of portfolio stock allocation over age and wealth that are constant or moderately increasing, thus more in line with the existing empirical evidence.