Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact des glycoprotéines d'enveloppe E1 et E2 du virus de l'hépatite C sur la réponse au traitement antiviral interféron-a pégylé/ribavirine chez des patients atteints d'hépatite chronique C

Le traitement de reference compose d’interferon-alpha pegyle/ribavirine n’est efficace que chez 50% des patients chroniquement infectes par un virus de l’hepatite C (VHC)-genotype 1. La haute variabilite des glycoproteines d’enveloppe E1/E2 du VHC pourrait indirectement contribuer a la resistance virale au traitement par la selection de souches avec un potentiel infectieux (p. I) eleve et/ou une capacite accrue a echapper a l’immunite. Cette hypothese a ete evaluee in silico puis par analyses fonctionnelles in vitro (pseudoparticules HCVpp). Des signatures moleculaires (SM) et des reseaux minimaux d’acides amines (aa) covariants, definis sur E1/E2, etaient correles a la reponse au traitement. Trois des quatre SM definies et fonctionnellement evaluees montraient des resultats en accord avec l’hypothese. Les residus 431A et 642V lies a la non-reponse (NR) entrainaient une diminution de la neutralisation des HCVpp par les anticorps (Ac) circulant dans le serum de patients, une augmentation 431A- ou 642V-dependante du p. I. Des HCVpp a l’etape d’entree dans les cellules, et une interaction augmentee avec CD81 et SR-BI via 431A. Le residu 219T lie a la reponse (R) diminuait le p. I des HCVpp. Des reseaux d’aa covariants separaient les souches NR des souches R et comportaient 3 des 4 SM citees plus haut. Conclusion : Nos resultats sont en faveur d’une contribution indirecte de E1/E2 du VHC a l’efficacite du traitement. Les residus 431A et 642V (NR) favorisent le p. I des HCVpp et un echappement aux Ac neutralisants alors que le residu 219T (R) diminue le p. I, suggerant que les interactions virus-hote durant l’entree virale peuvent intervenir dans l’echec du traitement anti-VHC.
Pfadplanung von landwirtschaftlichen Fahrmanövern

Satellite-based navigation systems offer the possibility to steer agricultural machinery on the field automatically within a range of centimeters. A reference line is recorded and – based on the position – shifted, so that the entire field can be covered with parallel tracks. However, automatic turn manoeuvres from path to path are not yet part of the standard scope of steering systems.This article presents a method to generate feasible headland turn manoeuvres. Speed, minimum turning radius and the systemic steering speed are used as vehicle-specific parameters to plan feasible trajectories. An adaptation of the continuous-curvature path planning – known from mobile robotics – is applied. It was verified that the generated turn routines could be driven by real machines with steering systems. A precise connection between turn manoeuvre and track was ensured.
Benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT Despite potentially curative resection of stomach cancer, 50% to 90% of patients die of disease relapse. Numerous randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have compared surgery alone with adjuvant chemotherapy, but definitive evidence is lacking. OBJECTIVES To perform an individual patient-level meta-analysis of all RCTs to quantify the potential benefit of chemotherapy after complete resection over surgery alone in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival, and to further study the role of regimens, including monochemotherapy; combined chemotherapy with fluorouracil derivatives, mitomycin C, and other therapies but no anthracyclines; combined chemotherapy with fluorouracil derivatives, mitomycin C, and anthracyclines; and other treatments. DATA SOURCES Data from all RCTs comparing adjuvant chemotherapy with surgery alone in patients with resectable gastric cancer. We searched MEDLINE (up to 2009), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the National Institutes of Health trial registry, and published proceedings from major oncologic and gastrointestinal cancer meetings. STUDY SELECTION All RCTs closed to patient recruitment before 2004 were eligible. Trials testing radiotherapy; neoadjuvant, perioperative, or intraperitoneal chemotherapy; or immunotherapy were excluded. Thirty-one eligible trials (6390 patients) were identified. DATA EXTRACTION As of 2010, individual patient data were available from 17 trials (3838 patients representing 60% of the targeted data) with a median follow-up exceeding 7 years. RESULTS There were 1000 deaths among 1924 patients assigned to chemotherapy groups and 1067 deaths among 1857 patients assigned to surgery-only groups. Adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a statistically significant benefit in terms of overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.90; P < .001) and disease-free survival (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.75-0.90; P < .001). There was no significant heterogeneity for overall survival across RCTs (P = .52) or the 4 regimen groups (P = .13). Five-year overall survival increased from 49.6% to 55.3% with chemotherapy. CONCLUSION Among the RCTs included, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy based on fluorouracil regimens was associated with reduced risk of death in gastric cancer compared with surgery alone.
New testing apparatus for assessing interactive effects of suspended solids and chemical stressors on plankton invertebrates

To better predict and interpret the responses of aquatic organisms to environmentally relevant chemical exposures, it is necessary to investigate the combined effects of physical (e.g., suspended solids) and chemical stressors. One of the limitations in investigating suspended solids‐chemical interactions has been the lack of an appropriate testing system. The specific objective of the current study was to develop and assess a suspended solids testing apparatus (SSTA) for studies on the combined effects of suspended solids and chemicals on aquatic invertebrates. The SSTA was designed to permit the assessment of varying suspended solids concentrations on Daphnia magna at a constant freely dissolved concentration of a compound. The system was also designed to facilitate the control of exposure variables without the need for large numbers of replicates and chemical analyses. The experiments reported here demonstrate that the SSTA is effective for assessing the combined or interactive effects of suspended solids and a chemical stressor on aquatic organisms.
A novel astrovirus species in the gut of yaks with diarrhoea in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, 2013.

The yak (Bos grunniens) is an iconic symbol in the high-altitude region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Diarrhoea is a common disease in yaks, resulting in major economic losses. To investigate the diversity of viral species, we reported the metagenomics-derived virome in a pooled faecal sample of 20 diarrhoeic yaks. The nine viruses found in the pooled diarrhoeic samples, in order of abundance of nucleic acid sequence, were influenza A virus, bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), rotavirus, ungulate tetraparvovirus 1 (bovine hokovirus), astrovirus (AstV), bovine enterovirus, hepatitis E virus, kobuvirus and woodchuck hepatitis virus. Compared with healthy yaks, only AstV had a significantly higher prevalence rate in diarrhoeal samples, indicating a correlation with the clinical symptoms of diarrhoea in yaks. To further investigate the molecular characterization of yak AstV, a near-full genome was obtained from a diarrhoeic sample. It was 6243 bp in length and shared 46.4–66.2 % similarity with other related bovine AstVs from faeces. Phylogenetic analysis of the genome demonstrated that the yak AstV fell within the bovine AstVs cluster, but was located in a unique lineage, suggesting a novel AstV species was identified in yaks. Interestingly, the ORF2 region of yak AstV had closer similarity and genetically relationship with deer AstV strain CcAstV-2 than that of the bovine AstVs. Further analysis showed that one possible interspecies recombination event occurred in ORF2. In summary, this study expanded our understanding of the viral communities of diarrhoeal yaks and identified a novel AstV that was associated with diarrhoea in yaks.
AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY ON DATA SECURITY IN AD-HOC NETWORKING USING MULTIPATH ROUTING

These days ad-hoc network research has focused on supplying routing services without considering security. In this report, we are providing the information on security threats against ad hoc routing protocols. In light of these threats, we identify three different environments with distinct security requirements. We advise a solution to one; the managed-open scenario where no network substructure is pre-deployed, but prior security coordination is required. Development of hand-held features and mobile telephony makes Ad hoc networks widely adopted, but security remains a complicated issue. Recently, there are several proposed solutions treating authentication, availability, secure routing and intrusion detection etc, in Ad hoc networks. In this report we will analyze some securing data protocol in Ad hoc network. These solutions increase the robustness of transmitted data confidentiality by exploiting the existence of multiple paths between nodes in an Ad hoc network. This report also includes an overview of http://www.ijccr. com International Manuscript ID : ISSN2249054X-V3I3M9-052013 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 May 2013 current solutions and vulnerabilities and attacks in Ad hoc networks. Ad hoc wireless networks accept no pre-deployed infrastructure is available for routing packets end-to-end in a network, and instead rely on intermediary peers. Securing ad hoc routing presents challenges because each user brings to the network their own mobile unit, without the centralized policy or control of a traditional network. Many ad hoc routing protocols have been proposed
Early retinoic acid-induced F9 teratocarcinoma stem cell gene ERA-1: alternate splicing creates transcripts for a homeobox-containing protein and one lacking the homeobox

Retinoic acid (RA), the natural acidic derivative of vitamin A, can modulate the expression of specific genes and can induce some cell types, such as the murine F9 teratocarcinoma stem cell line, to differentiate in culture. As an initial step toward understanding the molecular mechanism(s) by which RA exerts these effects, we previously isolated cDNA clones for a gene, ERA-1, which has the characteristics of an early, direct target for RA. We demonstrated that RA causes a rapid, dose-dependent, and protein synthesis-independent expression of the ERA-1 gene (G. J. LaRosa and L. J. Gudas, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:329-333, 1988). We now report the full-length cDNA sequence and the further characterization of this gene. The data indicate that the RA-induced 2.2- to 2.4-kilobase ERA-1 RNA species that we previously detected consists of two alternately spliced messages. One mRNA encodes a protein with a predicted mass of about 36 kilodaltons (kDa) that possesses the Hox 1.6 homeobox domain. The other mRNA encodes a truncated protein of about 15 kDa which is identical to the 36-kDa protein for 114 amino acids at the amino-terminal end but which lacks the homeobox amino acid sequence. The RA-associated increase in the ERA-1 mRNA level does not appear to be due to message stabilization, suggesting that the response is at the level of transcription. By Northern (RNA) blot analysis, the usual 2.2- to 2.4-kilobase mRNA species was also rapidly expressed in P19 teratocarcinoma cells during their differentiation to fibroblastic cells in response to RA and was detected in day 10.5 and day 13.5 mouse embryos. This result indicates that the expression of this gene is not limited to the endodermal differentiation of F9 cells.
Crafting Coherence: How Schools Strategically Manage Multiple, External Demands

“Policy coherence” is an often cited but seldom achieved education policy goal. We argue that addressing this policy-practice gap requires a reconceptualization of coherence not as the objective alignment of external requirements but as a dynamic process. This article elaborates this re-conceptualization using theories of institutional and organizational change and empirical illustrations from literature on school reform and education policy implementation. We define coherence as a process, which involves schools and school district central offices working together to craft or continually negotiate the fit between external demands and schools’ own goals and strategies. Crafting coherence includes: schools setting school-wide goals and strategies that have particular features; schools using those goals and strategies to decide whether to bridge themselves to or buffer themselves from external demands; and school district central offices supporting these school-level processes. This definition suggests new directions for policy research and practice.
Simultaneous determination of multi-mycotoxins in palm kernel cake (PKC) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

Palm kernel cake (PKC) is a useful source of protein and energy for livestock. Recently, it has been used as an ingredient in poultry feed. Mycotoxin contamination of PKC due to inappropriate handling during production and storage has increased public concern about economic losses and health risks for poultry and humans. This concern has accentuated the need for the evaluation of mycotoxins in PKC. Furthermore, a method for quantifying mycotoxins in PKC has so far not been established. The aims of this study were therefore (1) to develop a method for the simultaneous determination of mycotoxins in PKC and (2) to validate and verify the method. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method using an electrospray ionisation interface (ESI) in both positive- and negative-ion modes was developed for the simultaneous determination of aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisins (FB1 and FB2), T-2 and HT-2 toxin in PKC. An optimum method using a 0.2 ml min–1 flow rate, 0.2% formic acid in aqueous phase, 10% organic phase at the beginning and 90% organic phase at the end of the gradient was achieved. The extraction of mycotoxins was performed using a solvent mixture of acetonitrile–water–formic acid (79:20:1, v/v) without further clean-up. The mean recoveries of mycotoxins in spiked PKC samples ranged from 81% to 112%. Limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) for mycotoxin standards and PKC samples ranged from 0.02 to 17.5 μg kg−1 and from 0.06 to 58.0 μg kg−1, respectively. Finally, the newly developed method was successfully applied to PKC samples. The results illustrated the fact that the method is efficient and accurate for the simultaneous multi-mycotoxin determination in PKC, which can be ideal for routine analysis.
Um mecanismo de consulta temporal por palavras-chave em páginas web

Este artigo apresenta um mecanismo que permite a realizacao de consultas em textos utilizando palavras-chave e restricoes de tempo. Ao longo deste documento e apresentada a arquitetura do sistema e um prototipo desenvolvido que atua sobre paginas Web: o motor de busca Chronos. Com ele, sao valorizadas paginas que possuem a informacao temporal dentro do mesmo contexto dos termos pesquisados – sendo este o principal diferencial da ferramenta em relacao aos mecanismos de busca atuais.
The lysine requirement of growing chicks fed sesame meal-gelatin diets at three protein levels.

Abstract Diets providing three levels of protein (14, 18.5 and 23%) and six levels of lysine (3.43, 3.93, 4.43,4.93, 5.43 and 5.93% of C.P.) were fed to triplicate groups of eight male crossbred chicks for the period 14 to 28 days posthatching. The basal 23% protein ration contained protein from sesame meal and gelatin and was supplemented with quantities of essential amino acids equal to the difference between the level supplied by the dietary protein and that recommended by N.R. C. (1971). Amino acid pattern of the 14 and 18.5% protein diets was similar to that of the 23% protein diet since proteinaceous ingredients and crystalline amino acids were reduced in direct proportion to the reduction in protein level. The lysine requirement for maximal weight gain was estimated to be 4.73, 4.72 and 4.60% of the protein at 14, 18.5 and 23% dietary protein, respectively. Expressed as a percent of the diet the requirement values were estimated at 0.66, 0.88 and 1.05% at 14, 18.5 and 23% dietary protein, respectively. The results confirm earlier observations that the requirement for an essential amino acid remains essentially constant as dietary protein level is varied between deficiency and adequacy.
Specialized osmotic stress response systems involve multiple SigB‐like sigma factors in Streptomyces coelicolor

Whereas in Bacillus subtilis, a general stress response stimulon under the control of a single sigma factor (SigB) is induced by different physiological and environmental stresses (heat, salt or ethanol shock), in Streptomyces coelicolor, these environmental stresses induce independent sets of proteins, and its genome encodes nine SigB paralogues. To investigate possible functions of multiple sigB‐like genes in S. coelicolor, Pctc, a promoter routinely used to assay SigB activity in vivo, was analysed as a heterologous reporter. The fact that Pctc was activated by osmotic shock, but not by heat or ethanol, confirmed that stress response system(s) could operate independently in S. coelicolor. Pctc was also induced transiently during growth of liquid cultures, presumably by nutritional signals. We purified an RNA polymerase holoenzyme from crude extracts that catalysed specific transcription of Pctc in vitro. Its sigma subunit was identified as a product of the sigH gene, which is co‐transcribed downstream of a putative antisigma factor gene (prsH). Although the sigH function was not needed for normal colony morphology, prsH was conditionally required for both aerial hyphae formation and regulation of antibiotic biosynthesis. Levels of two different sigH‐encoded proteins were growth phase dependent but not significantly changed by osmotic stress, implying the important roles of post‐translational regulatory elements such as PrsH. In addition, synthesis of three other SigH‐like proteins was induced by osmotic stress, but not by ethanol or heat. Two of them were genetically assigned to sigH homologous loci sigI and sigJ and shown to be independently regulated. This family of SigH‐like proteins displayed different osmotic response kinetics. Thus, in contrast to many other bacteria, S. coelicolor uses an osmotic sensory system that can co‐ordinate the activity of multiple paralogues to control the relative activity of promoters within the same stress stimulon. Such specialized stress response systems may reflect adaptive functions needed for colonial differentiation.
Underwater image visibility improving algorithm based on HWD and DehazeNet

It is meaningful to find an effective method to solve the problem of underwater image detail loss and contrast decrease caused by turbulence. In this work, we present a novel method to enhance edge and the contrast of the image. First, we separate the high frequency and low frequency parts of underwater image by using the HWD, and then we remove the image noise and enhance the edge of images. We also employ a trainable convolutional neural network named DehazeNet to estimate transmission map of underwater image. In order to obtain a more accurate transmission map, we apply a multiscale iterative framework and adaptive bilateral filter to filter the transmission map. Experimental results on blurred images show that the proposed algorithm can visually enhance the edge and remove the turbulence blur to achieve the effect of clarifying the image. Compared with the existing three methods, our algorithm can enhance the image naturally. And our method's color deviation is smallest, the objective quality score is highest.
Sum-Power Minimization in Multiuser Single-DF-Relay Networks with Direct Links

Forming cooperation through relay's assistance is a promising method to realize green communication by reducing transmission power. In this paper, for multiuser single-DF-relay wireless networks with direct links, the optimal power allocation strategy that minimizes system-sum-power consumption is investigated. Based on the principle that minimizing system-sum-power consumption is equivalent to maximizing system energy efficiency, users are classified into two parts after comparing the channel gains between source-destination link and relay-destination link. The optimal power allocation strategy of one part is determined directly, and minimizing the system-sum-power consumption of the other part is converted into minimizing source-sum-power consumption, which can be solved easily through Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) condition. Through numerical simulations, we further justified the effectiveness of our scheme compared to existing works.
Ebs1p, a Negative Regulator of Gene Expression Controlled by the Upf Proteins in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT Mutations in EBS1 were identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that cosuppress missense, frameshift, and nonsense mutations. Evidence from studies of loss of function and overexpression of EBS1 suggests that Ebs1p affects gene expression by inhibiting translation and that a loss of EBS1 function causes suppression by increasing the rate of translation. Changes in EBS1 expression levels alter the expression of wild-type genes, but, in general, no changes in mRNA abundance were associated with a loss of function or overexpression of EBS1. Translation of a lacZ reporter was increased in strains carrying an ebs1-Δ mutant gene, whereas translation was decreased when EBS1 was overexpressed. The cap binding protein eIF-4E copurifies with Ebs1p in the absence of RNA, suggesting that the two proteins interact in vivo. Although physical and genetic interactions were detected between Ebs1p and Dcp1p, copurification was RNase sensitive, and changes in the expression of Ebs1p had little to no effect on decapping of the MFA2 transcript. The combined results suggest that Ebs1p inhibits translation, most likely through effects on eIF-4E rather than on decapping. Finally, EBS1 transcript levels are under the control of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), providing the first example of an NMD-sensitive transcript whose protein product influences a step in gene expression required for NMD.
Suivi de Surfaces par Déformations Itératives

Dans cet article, nous nous interessons au suivi dans le temps d'une surface observee par plusieurs cameras. Nous proposons une nouvelle methode qui ne repose sur aucune hypothese a priori quant a la nature de la surface ou de ces deformations. La methode considere des donnees purement geometriques : les positions et les orientations sur la surface, et ne necessite donc pas d'informations photometriques qui s'averent parfois ambigues. Elle s'inspire de l'algorithme ICP qu'elle adapte au cas des deformations non rigides. Le principe est de deformer la surface de maniere iterative, d'un instant au suivant, tout en preservant la rigidite locale. Dans cet objectif, la surface est divisee en regions dont l'agencement sur la surface est contraint par la pose a l'instant precedent ainsi que par une pose de reference. Les resultats experimentaux sur plusieurs sequences reelles standard du domaine demontrent l'efficacite de cette approche a suivre des surfaces complexes.
A note on k‐shortest paths problem

It is well‐known that in a directed graph, if deleting any edge will not affect the shortest distance between two specific vertices s and t, then there are two edge‐disjoint paths from s to t and both of them are shortest paths. In this article, we generalize this to shortest k edge‐disjoint s‐t paths for any positive integer k. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 67: 34‐37, 2011