Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
JC virus infection of hematopoietic progenitor cells, primary B lymphocytes, and tonsillar stromal cells: implications for viral latency

The human polyomavirus JC virus (JCV) infects myelin-producing cells in the central nervous system, resulting in the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). JCV-induced PML occurs most frequently in immunosuppressed individuals, with the highest incidence in human immunodeficiency type 1-infected patients, ranging between 4 and 6% of all AIDS cases. Although JCV targets a highly specialized cell in the central nervous system, infection is widespread, with more than 80% of the human population worldwide demonstrating serum antibodies. A number of clinical and laboratory studies have now linked the pathogenesis of PML with JCV infection in lymphoid cells. For example, JCV-infected lymphocytes have been suggested as possible carriers of virus to the brain following reactivation of a latent infection in lymphoid tissues. To further define the cellular tropism associated with JCV, we have attempted to infect immune system cells, including CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from human fetal liver, primary human B lymphocytes, and human tonsillar stromal cells. Our results demonstrate that these cell types as well as a CD34+ human cell line, KG-1a, are susceptible to JCV infection. JCV cannot, however, infect KG-1, a CD34+ cell line which differentiates into a macrophage-like cell when treated with phorbol esters. In addition, peripheral blood B lymphocytes isolated by flow cytometry from a PML patient demonstrate JCV infection. These results provide direct evidence that JCV is not strictly neurotropic but can infect CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells and those cells which have differentiated into a lymphocytic, but not monocytic, lineage.
Valproic acid induces the expression of the Na+/I- symporter and iodine uptake in poorly differentiated thyroid cancer cells.

In poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, molecular characteristics are reported to be lost such as to cause insensitivity of the tumor to radiometabolic therapy. Considerable work is in progress to identify compounds that redifferentiate thyroid cancer cells. The present study evaluates the action of valproic acid, a potent anticonvulsant recently reported to inhibit histone deaceytlase, on cultured thyroid cancer cells. N-PA (poorly differentiated) and ARO (anaplastic) cells were treated with increasing valproic acid concentrations. ; expression of mRNA and cell localization pattern for the Na+/I- symporter (NIS), as well as 125I uptake, were evaluated before and after treatment. Valproic acid induced NIS gene expression, NIS membrane localization and iodide accumulation in N-PA cells; it was effective at clinically-safe doses in the therapeutic range. In ARO cells, only induction of NIS mRNA was observed, and was not followed by any change in iodide uptake. Valproic acid is thus effective at restoring the ability of N-PA cells to accumulate iodide and its use in clinical trials may be recommended.
Sequences of the vesicular stomatitis virus matrix protein involved in binding to nucleocapsids

The purpose of these experiments was to study the physical structure of the nucleocapsid-M protein complex of vesicular stomatitis virus by analysis of nucleocapsid binding by wild-type and mutant M proteins and by limited proteolysis. We used the temperature-sensitive M protein mutant tsO23 and six temperature-stable revertants of tsO23 to test the effect of sequence changes on M protein binding to the nucleocapsid as a function of NaCl concentration. The results showed that M proteins from wild-type, mutant, and three of the revertant viruses had similar NaCl titration curves, while the curve for M proteins from the other three revertants differed significantly. The altered NaCl dependence of M protein was correlated with a single amino acid substitution from Phe to Leu at position 111 compared with the original temperature-sensitive mutant and was not correlated with a substitution of Gly to Glu at position 21 in tsO23 and the revertants. To determine whether protease cleavage sites in the M protein were protected by interaction with the nucleocapsid, nucleocapsid-M protein complexes were subjected to limited proteolysis with trypsin, chymotrypsin, or Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease. The initial trypsin and chymotrypsin cleavage sites, located after amino acids 19 and 20, respectively, were as accessible to proteases when M protein was bound to the nucleocapsid as when it was purified, indicating that this region of the protein does not interact directly with the nucleocapsid. Furthermore, trypsin or chymotrypsin treatment released the M protein fragments from the nucleocapsid, presumably due to conformational changes following proteolysis. V8 protease cleaved the M protein at position 34 or 50, producing two distinct fragments. The M protein fragment produced by V8 protease cleavage at position 34 remained associated with the nucleocapsid, while the fragment produced by cleavage at position 50 was released from the nucleocapsid. These results suggest that the amino-terminal region of the M protein around amino acid 20 does not interact directly with the nucleocapsid and that conformational changes resulting from single-amino-acid substitutions at other sites in the M protein are important for this interaction.
The Influence of Company Executive's Personal Characteristics on the Firm Performance——The Introduction of Mediating Variables: Investment Efficiency

As always,corporation executives,as an important corporation human resource,is high-profile.Through literature study it is found that executives' personal characteristics are intertwined with business performance. However,we believe that the impact executives' personal characteristics have on business performance may not be a simply direct relation,rather,it is more likely that some intermediate variables are playing a part. Therefore,983 listed companies' panel data in the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share are selected as samples,investment efficiency as mediating variables in the paper,executives' personal characteristics and investment efficiency,the correlation between investment efficiency and corporation performance are discussed respectively. The empirical results show that except for age,executives' personal characteristics; including education and professional background,have positive influence on the investment efficiency. Besides,further studies have found that investment efficiency and corporation performance also have positive influence. The relationship of the three forms conduction:executives' personal characteristic→ investment efficiency → business performance.
Non-invasive direct probing for on-chip voltage measurement

Accurate on-chip voltage measurement using direct probing is proposed. Series resistors and probing pads with floated ground are fabricated on-chip, and high-frequency probes and a digital oscilloscope is utilized off the chip. Compensation procedure of the non-ideal frequency response of the probing system is defined to improve wideband fidelity. The proposed measurement technique is experimentally applied to obtaining switching noise waveform on the power-supply network of an output buffer circuit. The measurement also demonstrated that the probing system has very small impact on the device under measurement.
Survey of Regulatory and Technological Developments Concerning Smart Metering in the European Union Electricity Market

Smart metering is a crucial factor for the efficient functioning of the Internal Electricity Market, as well as for the successful implementation of European Union policies related to energy efficiency, renewable energy and security of supply. The report first outlines the potential benefits of smart meters for consumers, suppliers, metering companies, distribution network operators and public interest. Next the report provides a short overview of the legal framework governing metering activities in Europe, as well as a review of smart metering policies, a summary of regulatory and legislative tools and an analysis of cases in selected countries. Drawing from the experiences to date, the report concludes with a set of recommendations for policy makers to consider when developing a smart metering programme and the regulatory approaches that could be adopted at national and/or EU level to encourage compatibility of smart metering solutions and to accelerate implementation of smart meters and smart grids.
Employment policy in the European Union

Important principles, objectives and activities of the employment policy of the Union include promotion of a high level of employment throughout the Community by developing a coordinated strategy, particularly with regard to the creation of a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce and labour markets responsive to economic change. The Union’s responsibilities with regard to employment are complementary to those of the member states, the main aim being to create a European Employment Strategy (EES). The EES is intended as the main instrument to provide direction and to coordinate the employment policy priorities supported by member states at a European level.
Automatic infant cry detection

cry detection can be defined as a procedure where the voiced crying sounds are selected from the recording. the most difficult part of the cry detection is to recognize the inspiratory sounds and separate them from the voiced sounds. in addition, sound recordings may come from different places and recorded with several devices, in this way the method of the cry detection has to be universal. authors created the Extended Harmonic Product Spectrum method to classify the spectral structure of a given signal. based on this new method authors developed the Automatic Infant Cry Detection (AICD) system to detect voiced cry sounds in any kind of recording.
The Importance of Retail Strategy for Pharmacies

Limited academic research has focused on the retail management of pharmacies since prior studies have primarily addressed the professional service aspect of pharmacy operations. Particularly absent is the investigation of a pharmacist’s retail strategy and its relationship with non-prescription pharmacy performance. Moreover, this paper postulates that a pharmacy’s natural abilities in the form of organisational characteristics, resources and capabilities are important antecedents to the development of a retail strategy. We propose that the retail strategy and pharmacy performance relationship, which is the focus of this paper, does not operate in isolation and critical organisational antecedents are an influencing factor.
Mortality and recruitment in a lowland tropical rain forest of French Guiana: effects of soil type and species guild

A variety of processes have been identified as playing a key role in maintenance of hyper-rich tropical forest, among which ecological sorting caused by niche partitioning challenges stochastic dispersal processes. However, demographic responses to spatio-temporal resource variation that could result in biased species distributions are still little studied. In this paper we investigate from two censuses, c. 15 y apart, of a 12-ha permanent forest sample in French Guiana, how tree recruitment and mortality rates vary among hydrological soil types known to affect species habitat preferences and among ecological guilds related to species light requirement. The results indicate that both recruitment and mortality vary significantly with respect to these factors. While the mean instantaneous mortality and recruitment rates are estimated to 0.98 and 0.81%, respectively, pioneer species, canopy trees and hydromorphic bottomland soils depart significantly from these values. In particular, the pioneers, regenerating either from the soil seed bank or from post-opening seed rain, show faster dynamics than other species. These two guilds harbour probabilities of mortality elevated by a factor of 1.9 and 3.2, respectively, and probabilities of recruitment elevated by a factor of 4.9 and 3.1, respectively. Conversely, canopy trees show slower dynamics, with probabilities of mortality and recruitment lowered by a mean factor of about 0.5 with respect to other species. We also observe that trees growing in hydromorphic bottomlands prove to have significantly higher mortality and recruitment probabilities, by a factor of about 2 with respect to those growing in terra firme.
Labour mobility within the EU - The impact of enlargement and the functioning of the transitional arrangements FINAL REPORT - COUNTRY CASE STUDIES

The migration phenomenon in Spain has attracted a lot of attention over the last ten years. Since the late 1990s the number of migrants in Spain increased dramatically. As a result of the economic crisis, however, employment prospects of immigrants in the Spanish labour market have worsened significantly with decreases in employment particularly amongst the foreign-born population. Migrants from Bulgaria and Romania have suffered the consequences of the economic crisis to a larger extent, which has been widely attributed to the adverse developments in the construction sector. The rise in unemployment rates during 2008 and 2009 amongst migrants, however, was not due only to the employees losing their jobs, but also reflected the increase in the numbers of migrants participating in the workforce. Resident permits statistics show that the number of Romanian and Bulgarian continued to increase during the recession years, although to a lesser extent than it had done previously. However, in the short-run our understanding of the real magnitude of the inflows and outflows of migrants remains limited. A key issue is the distinction between regularisation of existing migrants from the measuring of new waves of migrants. Recent data show that net inflows of foreign-born migrants coming from abroad have decreased substantially since 2007, affecting the Romanian population in particular.
Current control methodology for PV in both standalone & Grid connected mode

Renewable energy are the only solution left to meet the increasing demand of energy among all the renewable energy options, photovoltaic energy sources are the most dependable due to its availability, environment friendly and noise free features. These are generally used in “stand-alone” and “Grid connected mode”. This paper proposes a simple and efficient current control mode of operating PV in both the modes. For operation in standalone mode, Battery Bank supports PV to handle load voltage. The current control methodology proposed in the paper ensures voltage regulation, active and reactive power flow control and quality dependent power.
Customer value‐chain involvement for co‐creating customer delight

Traditional marketing strategies assume that customers involve (e.g. search, assess, purchase, use) with products or services mostly at the end of their value chain as finished market offerings. This article challenges managers to invite target customers to be involved at all stages of the value chain. The specific purpose of our new customer‐value‐chain involvement (CVCI) model is to enhance customer relationship management in conjunction with supply chain management, employee relationship management) and retailer partners’ relationship management. There are definite advantages to CVCI as it can provide continuous customer feedback and enable more objective quality assessment and judgment, but most importantly, it can elevate customer satisfaction to customer delight that spawns lifetime loyalty and positive referrals. The importance and managerial implications of CVCI are discussed.
Prognostic Significance of KIT Mutations in Core-Binding Factor Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The prognostic significance of KIT mutations in core-binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML), including inv(16) and t(8;21) AML, is uncertain. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of KIT mutations on the complete remission (CR) and relapse rates and overall survival (OS) of CBF-AML. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched and relevant studies were included. Negative effect was indicated on relapse risk of CBF-AML (RR [relative risk], 1.43; 95%CI [confidence interval], 1.20–1.70) and t(8;21) AML (RR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.31–2.21), not on OS of CBF-AML (RR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.97–1.23), CR (OR [odds ratio], 0.95; 95% CI, 0.52–1.74), relapse risk (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.90–1.41) or OS (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.90–1.18) of inv(16) AML. Subgroup analysis of t(8,21) AML showed negative effect of KIT mutations on CR (OR, 2.03; 95%CI: 1.02–4.05), relapse risk (RR, 1.89; 95%CI: 1.51–2.37) and OS (RR, 2.26; 95%CI: 1.35–3,78) of non-Caucasians, not on CR (OR, 0.61; 95%CI: 0.19–1.95) or OS (RR, 1.12; 95%CI: 0.90–1.40) of Caucasians. This study indicates KIT mutations in CBF-AML to be included in the initial routine diagnostic workup and stratification system of t(8,21) AML. Prospective large-scale clinical trials are warranted to evaluate these findings.
ASYMMETRIC CONE DISTRIBUTION AND ITS CLINICAL APPEARANCE IN RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA

Purpose: To report the characteristic changes of fundus autofluorescence in the nasal retina of patients with retinitis pigmentosa. Methods: We investigated 113 eyes of 113 patients with retinitis pigmentosa. We obtained wide-field fundus autofluorescence images and evaluated the status of the retina nasal to the optic disk. The patients were divided into the following three groups: those without nasal sparing (advanced), those with nasal sparing, and those with larger intact areas in addition to the nasal retina (early). Visual acuity, visual field area, age, and the duration of the symptom were compared among the groups. Results: Twenty eyes (17.7%), 51 (45.1%), and 42 (37.1%) were classified as early, nasal sparing, and advanced, respectively. The nasal retina was essentially preserved in the early group. The clinical characteristics' analysis suggested that the disease progression appears from that represented by early groups, then nasal sparing groups, and finally advanced groups. The authors found that the nasal sparing pattern bears a close resemblance to the previously reported cone photoreceptor distribution. Conclusion: Wide-field fundus autofluorescence imaging detected nasal sparing in retinitis pigmentosa. The characteristic fundus autofluorescence pattern should reflect cone photoreceptor distribution in the human retina. This finding may be an example of the clinical appearance of asymmetric photoreceptor distribution.
An Evaluation of Cache Invalidation Strategies in Wireless Environments

Caching can reduce the bandwidth requirement in a wireless computing environment as well as minimize the energy consumption of wireless portable computers. To facilitate mobile clients in ascertaining the validity of their cache content, servers periodically broadcast cache invalidation reports that contain information of data that has been updated. However, as mobile clients may operate in a doze or even totally disconnected mode (to conserve energy), it is possible that some reports may be missed and the clients are forced to discard the entire cache content. In this paper, we reexamine the issue of designing cache invalidation strategies. We identify the basic issues in designing cache invalidation strategies. From the solutions to these issues, a large set of cache invalidation schemes can be constructed. We evaluate the performance of four representative algorithms-two of which are known algorithms (i.e., Dual-Report Cache Invalidation and Bit-Sequences) while the other two are their counterparts that exploit selective tuning (namely, Selective Dual-Report Cache Invalidation and Bit-Sequences with Bit Count). Our study shows that the two proposed schemes are not only effective in salvaging the cache content but consume significantly less energy than their counterparts. While the Selective Dual-Report Cache Invalidation scheme performs best in most cases, it is inferior to the Bit-Sequences with the Bit-Count scheme under high update rates.
Leverage as a determinant of return on equity whether firm size moderate Leverage ?return on equity relationship

The aimed of this study is to determine the impact of leverage on return on equity and to analyze whether the firm size affects as moderator in return on equity and leverage relationship. Theories have different views between debt and equity return relationship. Some advocate that the capital structure is irrelevant and some have opposite view as the leverage increase it not only increase the value of firm but also the wealth of equity holders. As when the sizes of firm increase it affect the capital structure of a firm. The regression equations were used to analysis the leverage equity relationship in Pakistan cement industry. The dependent variable was the return on equity and independent variable was leverage. Firm size used as a moderator in this study. The significant negative relationship was found in return on equity and leverage. Significant relationship was also found during the years of 2006, 2007 and 2008. The insignificant relationship was found in the period of 2009-10. Firm size used as a moderator which gives a highly significant result. It also check at three level of mean difference value of increase and decrease and found when the size increase relationship between return on equity and leverage also increase significantly. On the basis of analysis it was concluded as the firm size increase it increase the positive significant relationship between return on equity and leverage. The major contribution of this study is the introduction of the concept of moderation in identifying the relationship between leverage and determinants of capital structure. Therefore, the findings of this study will provide a novelty and useful insights about the structure and favorable composition of capital structure decisions to the finance managers.
Managing Customer Relationships for Profit: The Dynamics of Relationship Quality

Addresses customer‐relationship economic issues, more specifically the link between service quality and profitability from a relationship marketing and management perspective. In this perspective the task of marketing is not only to establish customer relationships, but also to maintain and enhance them in order to improve customer profitability. In the service quality literature higher quality is assumed to lead to customer satisfaction, which leads to customer loyalty and this drives customer profitability. The framework highlights factors that, in addition to service quality and customer satisfaction, influence the links between service quality and profitability. Also discusses aspects of improving the profitability of relationships, such as enhancing relationship revenues through higher degrees of patronage concentration, and reducing relationship cost by changing the episode configuration of customer relationships.