Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The novel receptors that mediate the entry of herpes simplex viruses and animal alphaherpesviruses into cells

An extended array of cell surface molecules serve as receptors for HSV entry into cells. In addition to the heparan sulphate glycosaminoglycans, which mediate the attachment of virion to cells, HSV requires an entry receptor. The repertoire of entry receptors into human cells includes molecules from three structurally unrelated molecular families. They are (i) HveA (herpesvirus entry mediator A), (ii) members of the nectin family, (iii) 3‐O‐sulphated heparan sulphate. The molecules have different attributes and play potentially different roles in HSV infection and spread to human tissues. All the human entry receptors interact physically with the virion envelope glycoprotein D (gD). (i) HveA is a member of the TNF‐receptor family. It mediates entry of a restricted range of HSV strains. Its expression is restricted to few lineages (e.g. T‐lymphocytes). (ii) The human nectin1α (HIgR), nectin1δ (PRR1‐HveC), and the nectin2α (PRR2α‐HveB) and nectin2δ (PRR2δ) belong to the immunoglobulin superfamily. They are homologues of the poliovirus receptor (CD155), with which they share the overall structure of the ectodomain. The human nectin1α‐δ are broadly expressed in cell lines of different lineages, are expressed in human tissue targets of HSV infection, serve as receptors for all HSV‐1 and HSV‐2 strains tested and mediate entry not only of free virions, but also cell‐to‐cell spread of virus. (iii) The 3‐O‐sulphated heparan sulphate is expressed in some selected human cell lines (e.g. endothelial and mast cells) and human tissues, and mediates entry of HSV‐1, but not HSV‐2. The human nectin2α and nectin2δ serve as receptors for a narrow range of viruses. A characteristic of the human nectin1α‐δ is the promiscuous species non‐specific receptor activity towards the animal alphaherpesviruses, pseudorabies virus (PrV) and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV‐1). By contrast with the human nectin1δ, its murine homologue (mNectin1δ) does not bind gD at detectable level, yet it mediates entry of HSV, as well as of PrV and BHV‐1. This provides the first example of a mediator of HSV entry independent of a detectable interaction with gD. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
New method for determination of surface pK, using second harmonic generation

A new method to determine the pK, of chemical species at aqueous insulating interfaces is based on the discovery that the interface potential is linearly proportional to the measured second harmonic electric field. The proportionality constant is the effective third-order susceptibility and is the same for all aqueous interfaces studied, which has its origin in the polarization of bulk water induced by the charged form of the acid or base at the interface. We have determined that CH3(CH2)2LNH1+ at the air/water interface has a pK, of 9.9? 0.2 versus 10.6 in bulk water.
Decreased Production of Interleukin-12 and Type 2 Immune Responses Are Marked in Cachectic Patients with Colorectal and Gastric Cancer

Balance of the two types of T helper cells is one of the most important factors for regulation of the immune system. This study examines the production of interleukin (IL)-4, -6, -10, -12, and interferon-&ggr; by peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with phytohemagglutinin or Staphylococcus aureus. Sixty-one patients, including 25 with gastric and 39 with colorectal cancer, and 39 normal volunteers were entered. The production of IL-12 decreased significantly with advancing disease and was lowest in the patients with distant metastases and cachexia. Compared with normal donors, the production of interferon-&ggr; decreased in all categories of patients, with no difference among patient groups. Levels of Th2 cytokines, such as IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10, also showed no difference among patient groups. However, production of all these cytokines had increased by 2.5 months after sequential testing in the same cachectic patients. The authors' findings indicate that the induction of Th1 cells seems to be suppressed at a relatively early stage of disease, whereas that of Th2 cells seems to increase in the terminal stage.
2 Virus Entry and Translation of Viral RNA

Coat proteins (CPs) of all plant viruses have an early function in disassembly of parental virus and a late function in assembly of progeny virus. Depending on the virus, however, CPs may play a role in many steps of the infection cycle in between these early and late functions. It has been shown that CPs can play a role in translation of viral RNA, targeting of the viral genome to its site of replication, cell-to-cell and/or systemic movement of the virus, symptomatology and virulence of the infection, activation of R gene-mediated host defenses, suppression of RNA silencing, interference with suppression of RNA silencing, and determination of the specificity of virus transmission by vectors. These functions are reviewed in this chapter.
Doppler optimized iterative reweighed lest square mismatch pulse compression algorithm realization on the FPGA

This paper presents an approach for the mismatch pulse compression implementation in spread spectrum radars with binary phase intra-pulse modulated pulses. Design and verification of the matched and mismatched filter for signals coded by Barker and M sequences are accomplished on a digital radar signal synthesis and processing platform based on direct digital synthesis (DDS) and field programmable gates array (FPGA) technology. Coefficients of mismatched filters are obtained by DIRLS algorithm with 16-bit resolution. The compressors are verified with sequences lengths of 13 and 31, and bandwidth of 3.3 MHz.
Online optimal control of a parallel hybrid with after-treatment constraint integration

The present paper deals with the activities and the results achieved under a cooperative research project between IFP, D2T, LMS, G2Elab and Renault focused on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) applications to hybrid power-trains conception and assessment. The main goal of this study is the evaluation of hybrid propulsion concepts and the benefits of different degrees of hybridization in a flexible architecture, by using a chain of simulation platforms: from the co-simulation to the high-dynamic engine-in-the-loop test bed, through a virtual version of the last one. This paper focuses on the implementation issues of an energy management strategy (EMS) for a parallel hybrid architecture. The EMS is developed from the optimal control theory, using Pontryagin's Minimum Principle (PMP). The resulting Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) is implemented in real time and tested in an experimental environment (HyHiL test bench). In particular, a possible integration of the three way catalytic converter constraint in the optimization is presented.
Colorectal cancer patients: what do they die of?

The 5-year relative survival rate after colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis has increased from around 40% in the 1960s to approximately 60% in Sweden.1,–,4 Some probable reasons for the increased survival may be earlier diagnosis, improved treatment and better health status.2 Survival is worse among men1 2 4 and older patients.1 5 In the western countries, around 80% of the patients are diagnosed at ages over 60 years.4 Because the older population frequently suffers from comorbidities, a majority of CRC patients are affected by one or several comorbidities at diagnosis.6 7 Further improvements in the outcome of CRC patients motivate increased knowledge of these comorbidities. The influence of specific comorbidities on CRC mortality has been well covered in previous studies, and results have suggested that several chronic disorders (eg, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic pulmonary obstructive disease) and the number of comorbidities may affect survival and life expectancy negatively.6,–,12 However, little is known whether CRC patients are at an increased risk to die from specific causes; higher death rates have been described among CRC patients from cardiovascular causes, gastrointestinal causes, injuries13 and suicide.13 14 Furthermore, knowledge of the actual death causes mentioned in death certificates of CRC patients is incomplete. A recent study has shown though, that among deceased CRC patients, 75% had died from CRC itself.15 However, estimates of the actual proportion of cancer patients dying from their primary cancer may vary greatly. For example, in breast cancer, these estimations have varied between 50% and …
DNA as genetic material: Revisiting classic experiments through a simple, practical class

In 1928, Frederick Griffith demonstrated a transmission process of genetic information by transforming Pneumococcus. In 1944, Avery et al. demonstrated that Griffith's transforming principle was DNA. We revisited these classic experiments in a practical class for undergraduate students. Both experiments were reproduced in simple, adapted forms. Griffith's experiment was reproduced by mixing heat‐killed, ampicillin‐resistant E. coli with live ampicillin‐susceptible E. coli, followed by plating samples in the presence or absence of the antibiotic. Cells were also plated separately as controls. Avery's work was reproduced by treating a purified plasmid harboring the ampicillin resistance gene with DNase I. Treated and untreated plasmids were then used to transform E. coli cells, which were plated in culture media containing ampicillin. The students received a class guide for understanding and performing the experiments. The original articles by Griffith and Avery et al. were also provided, along with a list of questions to encourage a discussion on the experimental approach and results. The expected results were obtained and the students successfully revisited the classic experiments, which revealed that DNA is genetic material. The class was very well accepted, as indicated by students' evaluations. Thus, we presented a quick, inexpensive class involving important concepts, which can be easily reproduced in any laboratory with minor resources.
Marked inhibition of retinal neovascularization in rats following soluble‐flt‐1 gene transfer

In mouse models of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) functions administered systemically completely block retinal neovascularization. In contrast, selective ocular VEGF depletion has achieved an approx. 50% inhibition of retinal neovascular growth. It is unclear whether a more complete inhibition of new blood vessel development can be obtained with an anti‐VEGF therapy localized to the eye. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the effect of local anti‐VEGF therapy in a different animal model which closely mimics human ROP.
Maturity models in the context of integrating agile development processes and user centred design

Integrating Agile development processes and User Centred Design (UCD) gained increased interest arguably due to three reasons: first, the reported advantages of UCD in enabling developers to understand the users needs, and how the software can support their goals. Second, the deficiency of Agile methods in: providing guidance for developing usable software; and discussing usability, user requirements elicitation and usability evaluation methods. Third, differences between Agile methods and UCD that can make their integration challenging. Agile and User Centred Design Integration (AUCDI) research did not exploit Usability Maturity Models (UMMs) potential. Organizations aspiring to achieve AUCDI can utilize UMMs in assessing its UCD capability, identifying organization's UCD weaknesses and strengths, and planning for improvement. This thesis aims to investigate the suitability of utilizing UMMs in the context of Agile processes. In order to achieve this aim, this thesis conducted: first, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) that identified and classified AUCDI challenges and explored the proposed practices to deal with them. Second, an interview study of industrial AUCDI attempts that identified the AUCDI difficulties and integration methods. Third, an interview study that evaluated the suitability of two UMMs; Nielsen model and Usability Maturity Model-Human Centrdness Scale (UMM-HCS) for utilization in assessing usability maturity levels in the context of Agile projects. The results of these studies revealed that both models are deficient in their theoretical maturation foundations and scoring scheme and in addressing the activities and challenges associated with AUCDI. As a result of these deficiencies we utilized the results of the SLR and the empirical studies in developing a set of dimensions that represent fundamental elements that affect the AUCDI process. These dimensions were utilized in the development of a descriptive AUCDI Maturity Model that addresses the activities, success factors, and challenges identified within the AUCDI domain.
Impacts of Soybean Imports on Indian Processors, Farmers, and Consumers

i»? India is one of the worldâ€™s largest importers of vegetable oils in part because of low domestic oilseed production, and tariff and nontariff barriers preventing oilseed imports. Simulation results indicate that India could lower its barriers to soybean imports without adversely affecting farmers, since imports are economically attractive to crushers even when subject to modest tariffs which sustain pre-liberalization farm and wholesale prices. Soybean processors in India achieve higher rates of capacity utilization and lower unit costs using imported oilseeds. Moreover, it is possible to partially redistribute to consumers the sizable gains processors experience by lowering the soybean oil tariff.
Drawing the Line: The Development of a Comprehensive Assessment of Infidelity Judgments

Infidelity is a leading cause of relationship discord and dissolution, and couples generally report expectations to maintain monogamy. However, a majority of men and women report engaging in some form of infidelity at least once in their lives. Research assessing judgments of the behaviors that constitute infidelity is lacking. The three studies reported here advanced the literature by developing and validating the Definitions of Infidelity Questionnaire (DIQ), a comprehensive measure examining infidelity judgments. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated four factors to the scale: sexual/explicit behaviors, technology/online behaviors, emotional/affectionate behaviors, and solitary behaviors. Investigation of the psychometric properties demonstrated the DIQ to be reliable and valid. Participants agreed that sexual/explicit behaviors comprised infidelity to the largest extent, whereas other types of behaviors (technology/online behaviors, emotional/affectionate behaviors, and solitary behaviors) were judged as comprising infidelity to a lesser extent. Men reported more permissive judgments than did women. This study provides insights regarding operationalizing infidelity and identifying areas of ambiguity and consensus. Implications of the findings for educators and practitioners working with individuals in intimate relationships are discussed.
Evidence using a shared oocyte pool that the sperm rather than the oocyte in some cases may be responsible for the production of embryos with a high percentage of fragmented blastomeres--case report.

PURPOSE Hypothesis--a sperm defect rather than an oocyte problem may occasionally be responsible for blastomere fragmentation. METHODS The morphology of embryos in pairs of women producing embryos from a common pool of oocytes but fertilized by two different sperm sources was performed to see if a pair could be detected where one woman produced embryos with very little blastomere fragmentation vs the other woman having embryos with extensive fragmentation. RESULTS An oocyte donor was identified who produced 49 oocytes resulting in 17 embryos for the infertile donor to evaluate and 13 for the recipient. Almost all of the donor embryos showed extensive fragmentation vs very little for the recipient embryos. CONCLUSION The sperm, in some cases at least, may be the etiologic factor for blastomere fragmentation.
Research Statement Associate Professor

Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases are four major life threatening and health damaging diseases that affect a large portion of the world population at present. Although these diseases differ significantly in terms of symptoms and pathogeneses, they have one thing in common–a defect in the process of cell death, mainly apoptosis. For example, resisting to apoptosis results in the survival and overgrowth of cancerous cells leading to tumor formation, metastasis and drug resistance. While, over-activation of apoptosis in endothelial cells causes dysfunction of vascular system that can contribute to cardiovascular diseases and complications of diabetes including blindness, kidney failure, heart diseases, and foot ulcers. Furthermore, premature death of neuronal cells can cause neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Therefore, understanding what causes the defects of apoptosis in those disease-related cells will provide new insights in designing target-specific therapies to treat those diseases. Below I will describe the platform built up by my research team and its applications in drug discovery, cancer metastasis and diabetic research.
Utility of MIB‐1 and estrogen and progesterone receptor in distinguishing between endometrial stromal sarcomas and endometrial stromal nodules, highly cellular leiomyomas

It is difficult to differentiate between an endometrial stromal nodule (ESN) and endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) in curettage specimen, and the recommended therapy of endometrial stromal neoplasm is hysterectomy. If we could discriminate ESS from ESN in curettage specimens, there would be an opportunity to treat ESN by local excision rather than by hysterectomy. We analyzed MIB-1 and estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PR) expression in a retrospective series of 8 ESSs, 7 ESNs, and 17 highly cellular leiomyomas obtained from hysterectomy specimens. ESSs expressed MIB-1 more frequently than ESNs (P < 0.05), and ESSs had a tendency to express ER less frequently than ESNs (P = 0.08). We observed that in spite of showing MIB-1 expression to some extent, highly cellular leiomyomas usually could not reach ESSs' level and frequency of MIB-1 expression in the current study. Although MIB-1 and ER appear to be promising markers in the differential diagnosis of ESSs, a larger study would be necesary to confirm their validity.
Overlapping Double-Hole Nanostructure in a Metal Film for Localized Field Enhancement

We propose a nanostructure consisting of an array of overlapping circular holes in a metal film that allows for eight orders of magnitude increased energy density with respect to the conventional diffraction limit. The field enhancement is achieved by combining two effects: focusing in the double-hole structure and the resonance of the array configuration. We study the dependence of the field enhancement on the nanostructure design by using a finite-difference time-domain method and finite-difference mode analysis. The proposed nanostructure design is amenable to focused ion beam milling fabrication, and preliminary structures are shown
Singularity-conquering ZG controller for output tracking of a class of nonlinear systems

Both Zhang dynamics (ZD) and gradient dynamics (GD) are effective methods for problems solving, but they are investigated individually in previous researches. This paper combines such two methods to propose a simple effective controller-design method, i.e., the so-called ZG method, for the output-tracking control of a class of nonlinear systems. Differing from classic controllers, through the ZG method, an innovative controller is designed. This innovative controller is able to conquer the singularity which is a hard problem for classic controllers. Simulation results further substantiate the feasibility and superiority of the innovative controller designed by the ZG method for solving the class of tracking control problems.
25(OH)D Serum levels decline with age earlier in women than in men and less efficiently prevent compensatory hyperparathyroidism in older adults.

BACKGROUND Although a host of factors are known to influence 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] serum levels, few studies addressed the distinctive sex-specific influence of aging, and the age-specific relationship of parathyroid hormone (PTH) with 25(OH)D. The aims of this research were to evaluate changes of 25(OH)D and PTH levels with age in a large population-based sample of men and women and to test the hypothesis that 25(OH)D serum concentrations needed to offset age-associated hyperparathyroidism are significantly higher in older than in younger persons. METHODS In 1107 participants of the InCHIANTI (Invecchiare in Chianti, i.e., Aging in the Chianti area) study, we collected information on dietary intake, daylight exposure, and disability, and measured renal function and serum 25(OH)D and PTH. RESULTS In women, the age-related decline of 25(OH)D was already evident shortly after age 50, whereas in men it started only after age 70 and was substantially less steep. Age, daylight exposure, winter season, and disability were independent predictors of low 25(OH)D levels. For any given level of 25(OH)D, PTH levels were progressively and consistently higher in older than in younger participants. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the age-associated fall of serum 25(OH)D starts earlier in women than in men and that higher levels of 25(OH)D are required in older compared to younger persons to avoid the age-associated compensatory hyperparathyroidism.
Supporting Low-Performing Students by Manipulating Self-efficacy in Digital Tutees

Educational software based on teachable agents has repeatedly proven to have positive effects on students’ learning outcomes. The strongest effects have been shown for low-performers. A number of mechanisms have been proposed to explore this outcome, in particular mechanisms that involve attributions of social agency to teachable agents. Our study examined whether an expression of high versus low self-efficacy in a teachable agent would affect low-performing students with respect to their learning outcomes and with respect to a potential change in their own self-efficacy. The learning domain was mathematics, specifically the base-ten system. Results were that the learning outcomes of low-performers who taught a low self-efficacy agent were significantly better than the learning outcomes of low-performers who taught a high self-efficacy agent. There were no effects from the manipulation of self-efficacy expressed by the teachable agent on changes of the low-performing students’ own self-efficacy. (Less)
Automatic 3D Segmentation of Lung Airway Tree: A Novel Adaptive Region Growing Approach

In diagnosing pulmonary diseases aided by computer, accurate segmentation of the airway tree from the CT images is the basis for subsequent processing and analyzing. It is still a challenging task due to the image noise, partial volume effect and texture similarity of the airway and parenchyma. In order to solve these problems, various algorithms have been proposed, among which the region growing is the most commonly used one. However, previous region growing algorithms, either those using constant parameters or those using adaptive parameters, suffered from leakage and/or disconnection. This paper presents a novel adaptive region growing approach using two-step processing. The first step is rough segmentation, for dividing the sub- volumes surrounding the airway into three types according to their topology; and the second step is fine segmentation, using specific methods for each type. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can effectively suppress leakage and remedy disconnection.