cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Effect of α2-adrenergic agonists and antagonists on cytokine release from human lung macrophages cultured in vitro
Creators: name: Piazza, Ornella
name: Staiano, Rosaria I.
name: De Robertis, Edoardo
name: Conti, Guido
name: Di Crescenzo, Vincenzo
name: Loffredo, Stefania
name: Marone, Giancarlo
name: Zito Marinosci, Geremia
name: Cataldi, Mauro
Publisher: name: Universita' degli Studi di Salerno
Year: 2016
Subjects: Clonidine
Dexmedetomidine
Medetomidine
Yohimbine
Cytokines
Macrophages

description: The most trusted hypothesis to explain how α2-adrenergic agonists may preserve pulmonary functions in critically ill patients is that they directly act on macrophages by interfering with an autocrine/paracrine adrenergic system that controls cytokine release through locally synthetized noradrenaline and α1- and α2-adrenoreceptors. We tested this hypothesis in primary cultures of resident macrophages from human lung (HLMs). HLMs were isolated by centrifugation on percoll gradients from macroscopically healthy human lung tissue obtained from four different patients at the time of lung resection for cancer. HLMs from these patients showed a significant expression of α2A, α2B and α2C adrenoreceptors both at the mRNA and at the protein level. To evaluate whether α2 adrenoreceptors controlled cytokine release from HMLs, we measured IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α concentrations in the culture medium in basal conditions and after preincubation with several α2- adrenergic agonists or antagonists. Neither the pretreatment with the α2-adrenergic agonists clonidine, medetomidine or dexdemetomidine or with the α2-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine caused significant changes in the response of any of these cytokines to LPS. These results show that, different from what reported in rodents, clonidine and dexdemetomidine do not directly suppress cytokine release from human pulmonary macrophages. This suggests that alternative mechanisms such as effects on immune cells activation or the modulation of autonomic neurotransmission could be responsible for the beneficial effects of these drugs on lung function in critical patients.
The Migrant’s Gaze. A Survey on Mobility Factors Carried out in the Reception Centres of Taranto
Creators: name: Panico, Antonio
name: Sibilla, Marinella
name: Zizza, Alfonso
Publisher: name: Fisciano: ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge
Year: 2017
Subjects: Immigration
Integration
Mobility
Social services
Welcoming immigrants

description: The migration phenomenon has significantly grown over the last years. Migrants no longer consider Italy as a country of transit, but also as a final destination. Therefore, institutions and civil society organizations have explored new and un-precedented forms of collaboration. This paper presents the results of a survey aim-ing to analyse in depth the reasons underlying the migration project as well as to identify any forms of integration in the host country, starting from immigrant re-ception centres. The journey to Italy, as well as the related costs and risks have been considered from the migrant’s point of view. Most of the people interviewed come from Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly from the Gambia, Mali, Nigeria and Sene-gal. To have a more complete and comprehensive survey, it was deemed useful to analyse the standpoints of the operators who are professionally called to respond to this emergency.
The Epstein-Barr Virus Immediate-Early Protein BZLF1 Regulates p53 Function through Multiple Mechanisms
Creators: name: Seaman, W. T.
name: Anderson, C. W.
name: Kenney, S.
name: Mauser, A.
name: Saito, S.'i.
name: Appella, E.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) immediate-early protein BZLF1 is a transcriptional activator that mediates the switch between the latent and the lytic forms of EBV infection. It was previously reported that BZLF1 inhibits p53 transcriptional function in reporter gene assays. Here we further examined the effects of BZLF1 on p53 function by using a BZLF1-expressing adenovirus vector (AdBZLF1). Infection of cells with the AdBZLF1 vector increased the level of cellular p53 but prevented the induction of p53-dependent cellular target genes, such as p21 and MDM2. BZLF1-expressing cells had increased p53-specific DNA binding activity in electrophoretic mobility shift assays, increased p53 phosphorylation at multiple residues (including serines 6, 9, 15, 33, 46, 315, and 392), and increased acetylation at lysine 320 and lysine 382. Thus, the inhibitory effects of BZLF1 on p53 transcriptional function cannot be explained by its effects on p53 phosphorylation, acetylation, or DNA binding activity. BZLF1 substantially reduced the level of cellular TATA binding protein (TBP) in both normal human fibroblasts and A549 cells, and the inhibitory effects of BZLF1 on p53 transcriptional function could be partially rescued by the overexpression of TBP. Thus, BZLF1 has numerous effects on p53 posttranslational modification but may inhibit p53 transcriptional function in part through an indirect mechanism involving the suppression of TBP expression.
Two-Dimensional TaSe2 Metallic Crystals: Spin-Orbit Scattering Length and Breakdown Current Density
Creators: name: Neal, Adam T.
name: Du, Yuchen
name: Liu, Han
name: Ye, Peide D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We have determined the spin-orbit scattering length of two-dimensional layered 2H-TaSe2 metallic crystals by detailed characterization of the weak anti-localization phenomena in this strong spin-orbit interaction material. By fitting the observed magneto-conductivity, the spin-orbit scattering length for 2H-TaSe2 is determined to be 17 nm in the few-layer films. This small spin-orbit scattering length is comparable to that of Pt, which is widely used to study the spin Hall effect, and indicates the potential of TaSe2 for use in spin Hall effect devices. In addition to strong spin-orbit coupling, a material must also support large charge currents to achieve spin-transfer-torque via the spin Hall effect. Therefore, we have characterized the room temperature breakdown current density of TaSe2 in air, where the best breakdown current density reaches 3.7$\times$10$^7$ A/cm$^2$. This large breakdown current further indicates the potential of TaSe2 for use in spin-torque devices and two-dimensional device interconnect applications.
description: to be published in ACS Nano
Use of Adenovirus Vectors Expressing Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Immediate-Early Protein BZLF1 or BRLF1 To Treat EBV-Positive Tumors
Creators: name: Kenney, S. C.
name: Westphal, E.
name: Raab-Traub, N.
name: Feng, W.-h.
name: Gulley, M. L.
name: Mauser, A.
name: Busson, P.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome is present in a variety of tumor types, including virtually all undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) and a portion of gastric carcinomas. The uniform presence of the EBV genome in certain tumors (versus only a very small number of normal B cells) suggests that novel therapies which specifically target EBV-positive cells for destruction might be effective for treating such tumors. Although the great majority of EBV-positive tumor cells are infected with one of the latent forms of EBV infection, expression of either viral immediate-early protein (BZLF1 or BRLF1) is sufficient to convert the virus to the lytic form of infection. Induction of the lytic form of EBV infection could potentially result in death of the tumor cell. Here we have examined the efficacy of adenovirus vectors expressing the BZLF1 or BRLF1 proteins for treatment of EBV-positive epithelial tumors. The BZLF1 and BRLF1 vectors induced preferential killing of EBV-positive, versus EBV-negative, gastric carcinoma cells in vitro. Infection of C18 NPC tumors (grown in nude mice) with either the BZLF1 or BRLF1 vector, but not a control adenovirus vector, induced expression of early lytic EBV genes in tumor cells. Injection of C18 tumors with the BZLF1 or BRLF1 adenovirus vector, but not the control vector, also significantly inhibited growth of the tumors in nude mice. The addition of ganciclovir did not significantly affect the antitumor effect of the BZLF1 and BRLF1 adenovirus vectors. These results suggest a potential cancer therapy against EBV-related tumors.
Surface Majorana fermions and bulk collective modes in superfluid 3He-B
Creators: name: Park, YeJe
name: Chung, Suk Bum
name: Maciejko, Joseph
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The theoretical study of topological superfluids and superconductors has so far been carried out largely as a translation of the theory of noninteracting topological insulators into the superfluid language, whereby one replaces electrons by Bogoliubov quasiparticles and single-particle band Hamiltonians by Bogoliubov-de Gennes Hamiltonians. Band insulators and superfluids are, however, fundamentally different: while the former exist in the absence of inter-particle interactions, the latter are broken symmetry states that owe their very existence to such interactions. In particular, unlike the static energy gap of a band insulator, the gap in a superfluid is due to a dynamical order parameter that is subject to both thermal and quantum fluctuations. In this work, we explore the consequences of bulk quantum fluctuations of the order parameter in the $B$ phase of superfluid $^3$He on the topologically protected Majorana surface states. Neglecting the high-energy amplitude modes, we find that one of the three spin-orbit Goldstone modes in $^3$He-$B$ couples to the surface Majorana fermions. This coupling in turn induces an effective short-range two-body interaction between the Majorana fermions, with coupling constant inversely proportional to the strength of the nuclear dipole-dipole interaction in bulk $^3$He. A mean-field theory estimate of the value of this coupling suggests that the surface Majorana fermions in $^3$He-$B$ are in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition to a gapped time-reversal symmetry breaking phase.
Variability in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 gp120 Env Protein Linked to Phenotype-Associated Changes in the V3 Loop
Creators: name: Hoffman, N. G.
name: Ahn, J.
name: Seillier-Moiseiwitsch, F.
name: Swanstrom, R.
name: Walker, J. M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: Isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are classified according to the chemokine receptor (coreceptor) used in conjunction with CD4 to target and enter cells: viruses using CCR5 and CXCR4 are classified as R5 and X4, respectively. The major determinant of entry-related HIV-1 phenotypes is known to reside in the third variable region of gp120 (V3). It is clear, however, that positions outside of V3 play some role in influencing phenotype, although marked context dependence and extensive variability among HIV-1 isolates have made the identification of these positions difficult. We used the presence of previously described substitutions in V3 to classify a large set of HIV-1 subtype B gp120 sequences available in public databases as X4-like or R5-like. Using these classifications, we searched for positions outside of V3 where either amino acid composition or variability differed significantly among sequences of different inferred phenotypes. Our approach took the epidemiological relationships among sequences into account. A cluster of positions linked to changes in V3 was identified between amino acids 190 and 204 of gp120, immediately C-terminal of V2; changes at position 440 in C4 were also linked to inferred phenotype. Structural data place these positions at the coreceptor-binding face of gp120 in a surface-exposed location. We also noted a significant increase in net positive charge in a highly variable region of V2. This study both confirms previous observations and predicts specific positions that contribute to a functional relationship between V3, V2, and C4.
An Attenuating Mutation in nsP1 of the Sindbis-Group Virus S.A.AR86 Accelerates Nonstructural Protein Processing and Up-Regulates Viral 26S RNA Synthesis
Creators: name: Leonard, C.
name: Johnston, R. E.
name: Bernard, K. A.
name: Meeker, R. B.
name: Simpson, D. A.
name: Heise, M. T.
name: White, L. J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: The Sindbis-group alphavirus S.A.AR86 encodes a threonine at nonstructural protein 1 (nsP1) 538 that is associated with neurovirulence in adult mice. Mutation of the nsP1 538 Thr to the consensus Ile found in nonneurovirulent Sindbis-group alphaviruses attenuates S.A.AR86 for adult mouse neurovirulence, while introduction of Thr at position 538 in a nonneurovirulent Sindbis virus background confers increased neurovirulence (M. T. Heise et al., J. Virol. 74:4207-4213, 2000). Since changes in the viral nonstructural region are likely to affect viral replication, studies were performed to evaluate the effect of Thr or Ile at nsP1 538 on viral growth, nonstructural protein processing, and RNA synthesis. Multistep growth curves in Neuro2A and BHK-21 cells revealed that the attenuated s51 (nsP1 538 Ile) virus had a slight, but reproducible growth advantage over the wild-type s55 (nsP1 538 Thr) virus. nsP1 538 lies within the cleavage recognition domain between nsP1 and nsP2, and the presence of the attenuating Ile at nsP1 538 accelerated the processing of S.A.AR86 nonstructural proteins both in vitro and in infected cells. Since nonstructural protein processing is known to regulate alphavirus RNA synthesis, experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of Ile or Thr at nsP1 538 on viral RNA synthesis. A combination of S.A.AR86-derived reporter assays and RNase protection assays determined that the presence of Ile at nsP1 538 led to earlier expression from the viral 26S promoter without affecting viral minus- or plus-strand synthesis. These results suggest that slower nonstructural protein processing and delayed 26S RNA synthesis in wild-type S.A.AR86 infections may contribute to the adult mouse neurovirulence phenotype of S.A.AR86.
Compartmentalization and Transmission of Multiple Epstein-Barr Virus Strains in Asymptomatic Carriers
Creators: name: Covington, M.
name: Raab-Traub, N.
name: Sitki-Green, D.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is often subclinical in the presence of a healthy immune response; thus, asymptomatic infection is largely uncharacterized. This study analyzed the nature of EBV infection in 20 asymptomatic immunocompetent hosts over time through the identification of EBV strain variants in the peripheral blood and oral cavity. A heteroduplex tracking assay specific for the EBV gene LMP1 precisely identified the presence of multiple EBV strains in each subject. The strains present in the peripheral blood and oral cavity were often completely discordant, indicating the existence of distinct infections, and the strains present and their relative abundance changed considerably between time points. The possible transmission of strains between the oral cavity and peripheral blood compartments could be tracked within subjects, suggesting that reactivation in the oral cavity and subsequent reinfection of B lymphocytes that reenter the periphery contribute to the maintenance of persistence. In addition, distinct virus strains persisted in the oral cavity over many time points, suggesting an important role for epithelial cells in the maintenance of persistence. Asymptomatic individuals without tonsillar tissue, which is believed to be an important source of virus for the oral cavity, also exhibited multiple strains and a cyclic pattern of transmission between compartments. This study revealed that the majority of patients with infectious mononucleosis were infected with multiple strains of EBV that were also compartmentalized, suggesting that primary infection involves the transmission of multiple strains. Both the primary and carrier states of infection with EBV are more complex than previously thought.
The curious case of HD41248. A pair of static signals buried behind red-noise
Creators: name: Jenkins, James S.
name: Tuomi, Mikko
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Gaining a better understanding of the effects of stellar induced radial velocity noise is critical for the future of exoplanet studies, since the discovery of the lowest-mass planets using this method will require us to go below the intrinsic stellar noise limit. An interesting test case in this respect is that of the southern solar analogue HD41248. The radial velocity time series of this star has been proposed to contain either a pair of signals with periods of around 18 and 25 days, that could be due to a pair of resonant super-Earths, or a single and varying 25 day signal that could arise due to a complex interplay between differential rotation and modulated activity. In this letter we build-up more evidence for the former scenario, showing that the signals are still clearly significant even after more than 10 years of observations and they likely do not change in period, amplitude, or phase as a function of time, the hallmarks of static Doppler signals. We show that over the last two observing seasons this star was more intrinsically active and the noise reddened, highlighting why better noise models are needed to find the lowest amplitude signals, in particular models that consider noise correlations. This analysis shows that there is still sufficient evidence for the existence of two super-Earths on the edge of, or locked into, a 7:5 mean motion resonance orbiting HD41248.
description: 18 pages, 2 figues, and 3 tables, to appear in ApJ
Deposition of electrically-conductive polyaniline/ferrite nanoparticles onto the polypropylene nonwoven for the development of an electromagnetic interference shield material
Creators: name: Yörük, Ali Erdem
name: Erdoğan, Meryem Kalkan
name: Karakışla, Meral
name: Saçak, Mehmet
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Physiology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Cancer
subject: Inorganic Chemistry

description: The widespread use of electronic devices leads to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), which reduces equipment's performance and even threatens human health. Consequently, attempts have been made to develop shields against EMI using magnetic and conductive components. In this study, one of the most industrially prominent polypropylene (PP) nonwoven was converted to an EMI shield through the deposition of conductive polyaniline (PAn) and various magnetic (nano)particles (MPs), such as Fe3O4, CoFe2O4, and MnFe2O4. The preparation of PP composite was ensured by polymerization of the aniline in the presence of different MPs impregnated-PP fabrics. The MPs' crystal structures and magnetic properties, and morphological changes of the PP were revealed by XRD, Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), and SEM techniques. The EMI shielding property of the fabrics was examined within 30 MHz-3 GHz. Accordingly, the double-coated PP/MnFe2O4/PAn composite showed the highest absorption-dominant attenuation (94.2% at 2.11 GHz) with a 12.4 dB EMSE value.
High-resolution optical spectroscopy of the R Coronae Borealis star V532 Ophiuchi at maximum light
Creators: name: Rao, N. Kameswara
name: Lambert, David L.
name: Woolf, Vincent M.
name: Hema, B. P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: High-resolution optical spectra of the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) star V532 Oph at light maximum are discussed. The absolute visual magnitude M_V of the star is found to be -4.9 \pm 0.5. The elemental abundances suggest the star belongs to the majority class of RCB stars but is among the most O-poor of this class with mild enhancements of heavy elements Y, Zr, Ba and La. The C_2 Swan bands are weak in V532 Oph relative to R CrB. Other aspects of the high-resolution spectrum confirm that V532 Oph is representative of majority RCBs, i.e., the radial velocity is variable, circumstellar material is present and the photosphere feeds a high-velocity stellar wind.
description: 12 pages, 10 figures
Development and Characterization of Novel Empty Adenovirus Capsids and Their Impact on Cellular Gene Expression
Creators: name: Stilwell, J. L.
name: Samulski, R. J.
name: Superfine, R.
name: Negishi, A.
name: McCarty, D. M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Adenovirus (Ad) has been extensively studied as a eukaryotic viral vector. As these vectors have evolved from first-generation vectors to vectors that contain either very few or no viral genes (“gutless” Ad), significant reductions in the host innate immune response upon infection have been observed. Regardless of these vector improvements an unknown amount of toxicity has been associated with the virion structural proteins. Here we demonstrate the ability to generate high particle numbers (1011 to 1012) of Ad empty virions based on a modification of Cre/lox gutless Ad vectors. Using a battery of analyses (electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, confocal images, and competition assays) we characterized this reagent and determined that it (i) makes intact virion particles, (ii) competes for receptor binding with wild-type Ad, and (iii) enters the cell proficiently, demonstrating an ability to carry out essential steps of viral entry. To further study the biological impact of these Ad empty virions on infected cells, we carried out DNA microarray analysis. Compared to that for recombinant Ad, the number of mRNAs modulated upon infection was significantly reduced but the expression signatures were similar. This reagent provides a valuable tool for studies of Ad in that researchers can examine the effect of infection in the presence of the virion capsid alone.
On the origin and composition of Theia: Constraints from new models of the Giant Impact
Creators: name: Meier, Matthias M. M.
name: Reufer, Andreas
name: Wieler, Rainer
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Knowing the isotopic composition of Theia, the proto-planet which collided with the Earth in the Giant Impact that formed the Moon, could provide interesting insights on the state of homogenization of the inner solar system at the late stages of terrestrial planet formation. We use the known isotopic and modeled chemical compositions of the bulk silicate mantles of Earth and Moon and combine them with different Giant Impact models, to calculate the possible ranges of isotopic composition of Theia in O, Si, Ti, Cr, Zr and W in each model. We compare these ranges to the isotopic composition of carbonaceous chondrites, Mars, and other solar system materials. In the absence of post-impact isotopic re-equilibration, the recently proposed high angular momentum models of the Giant Impact ("impact-fission", Cuk & Stewart, 2012; and "merger", Canup, 2012) allow - by a narrow margin - for a Theia similar to CI-chondrites, and Mars. The "hit-and-run" model (Reufer et al., 2012) allows for a Theia similar to enstatite-chondrites and other Earth-like materials. If the Earth and Moon inherited their different mantle FeO contents from the bulk mantles of the proto-Earth and Theia, the high angular momentum models cannot explain the observed difference. However, both the hit-and-run as well as the classical or "canonical" Giant Impact model naturally explain this difference as the consequence of a simple mixture of two mantles with different FeO. Therefore, the simplest way to reconcile the isotopic similarity, and FeO dissimilarity, of Earth and Moon is a Theia with an Earth-like isotopic composition and a higher (~20%) mantle FeO content.
description: 53 Pages, 10 Figures, 1 Table, 3 Supplementary Tables
I Verdi tedeschi fra Germania ed Europa: evoluzione e nuove sfide
Creators: name: Toniolatti, Edoardo
Publisher: name: Universita' degli Studi di Salerno
Year: 2022
Subjects: German politics
Green party
German foreign policy

description: This paper aims at highlighting the main steps in the growing process of the German Green party. Originally a heterogeneous mixture of different social and political movements, bound by core values such as environmentalism, a strong antinuclear ideology and pacifism, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen emerged as the most successful novelty in the German political landscape of the last 40 years. The first part briefly reconstructs how the leadership of Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck managed in recent years to pacify the tensions between the two main factions within the party, the moderate Realos and the more left-leaning Fundis, and how the two co-leaders successfully changed the perception of the Greens in the German public debate, turning what was a constantly tension-ridden movement into a cohesive political formation ready to take on national government responsibilities. The second part explores the main problems posed by this new stage in the life of the Greens, focusing on three main levels: the resurgence of tensions within the party, potential struggles with the coalition partners on the government agenda, and finally the difficult challenges awaiting on the European and international level.
Identification and Characterization of an Adeno-Associated Virus Integration Site in CV-1 Cells from the African Green Monkey
Creators: name: Skulimowski, A.
name: McCarty, D. M.
name: Amiss, T. J.
name: Samulski, R. J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a classification given to a group of nonpathogenic, single-stranded DNA viruses known to reside latently in primates. During latency in humans, AAV type 2 (AAV2) preferentially integrates at a site on chromosome 19q13.3ter by targeting a sequence composed of an AAV Rep binding element (RBE), a spacer, and a nicking site. Here, we report the DNA sequence of an African green monkey AAV integration site isolated from CV-1 cells. Overall, it has 98% homology to the analogous human site, including identical spacer and nicking sequences. However, the simian RBE is expanded, having five perfect directly repeated GAGC tetramers. We carried out a number of in vitro and in vivo assays to determine the effect of this expanded RBE sequence on the Rep-RBE interaction and AAV targeted integration. Using electromobility shift assays it was demonstrated that AAV4 Rep68 bound the expanded RBE with a sixfold-greater affinity than the human RBE. To determine the basis for the affinity increase, DNase I protection and methylation interference (MI) assays were performed. Comparison of footprints on both the human and simian RBEs revealed nearly identical protection; however, MI analysis suggested greater interaction with the guanine nucleotides of the expanded RBE, thus providing a biochemical basis for the increased binding activity. In vivo, integration targeted to the simian RBE was demonstrated by PCR analysis of latently infected Cos-7 cells. Interestingly, the frequency of site-specific integration was twofold greater in Cos-7 cells than in HeLa cells. Overall, these experiments establish that the simian RBE, identified in CV-1 cells, functions analogously to the human RBE and provide further evidence for a developing model that proposes individual roles for the RBE and the spacer and nicking site elements.
Under the sword of Damocles: plausible regeneration of dark matter cusps at the smallest galactic scales
Creators: name: Laporte, Chervin F. P.
name: Peñarrubia, Jorge
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We run controlled N-body experiments to study the evolution of the dark matter (DM) halo profiles of dwarf galaxies driven by the accretion of DM substructures. Our initial conditions assume that supernova feedback erases the primordial DM cusps of haloes with $10^{9}-10^{10} \rm{M_{\odot}}$ at $z=0$. The orbits and masses of the infalling substructures are borrowed from the {\it Aquarius} simulations. Our experiments show that a fraction of haloes that undergo 1:3 down to 1:30 mergers are susceptible to reform a DM cusp by $z\approx 0$. Cusp regrowth is driven the accretion of DM substructures that are dense enough reach the central regions of the main halo before being tidally disrupted. The infall of substructures with a mass ratio above 1:6 on the mean of the reported mass-concentration relation systematically lead to cusp regrowth. Between 1:6 to 1:8, and 1:8 to 1:30 substructures need to be located one and two-sigma above the mean, respectively. The merging timescales of these dense, low-mass substructures is relatively long $(5-11 \rm{Gyrs})$, which may pose a timescale problem for the longevity of DM cores in dwarf galaxies. These results suggest that a certain level of scatter in the central density slopes of galactic haloes acted-on by feedback is to be expected given the stochastic mass accretion histories of low-mass haloes and the diverse star formation histories observed in the Local Group dwarves.
description: Comments welcome; submitted, 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table
Topological zero modes and Dirac points protected by spatial symmetry and chiral symmetry
Creators: name: Koshino, Mikito
name: Morimoto, Takahiro
name: Sato, Masatoshi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We explore a new class of topologically stable zero energy modes which are protected by coexisting chiral and spatial symmetries. If a chiral symmetric Hamiltonian has an additional spatial symmetry such as reflection, inversion and rotation, the Hamiltonian can be separated into independent chiral-symmetric subsystems by the eigenvalue of the space symmetry operator. Each subsystem supports chiral zero energy modes when a topological index assigned to the block is nonzero. By applying the argument to Bloch electron systems, we detect band touching at symmetric points in the Brillouin zone. In particular, we show that Dirac nodes appearing in honeycomb lattice (e.g. graphene) and in half-flux square lattice are protected by three-fold and two-fold rotation symmetry, respectively. We also present several examples of Dirac semimetal with isolated band-touching points in three-dimensional $k$-space, which are protected by combined symmetry of rotation and reflection. The zero mode protection by spatial symmetry is distinct from that by the conventional winding number. We demonstrate that symmetry-protected band touching points emerge even though the winding number is zero. Finally, we identify relevant topological charges assigned to the gapless points.
description: 12 pages, 6 figures
Particle motion and collisions around rotating regular black hole
Creators: name: Toshmatov, Bobir
name: Abdujabbarov, Ahmadjon
name: Ahmedov, Bobomurat
name: Stuchlík, Zdenek
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The neutral particle motion around rotating regular black hole that was derived from the Ayón-Beato-García black hole solution by the Newman-Janis algorithm in the preceding paper [Phys. Rev. D 89, 104017, (2014)] has been studied. The dependencies of the ISCO (innermost stable circular orbits along geodesics) and unstable orbits on the value of the electric charge of the rotating regular black hole have been shown. Energy extraction from the rotating regular black hole through various processes has been examined. We have found expression of the center of mass energy for the colliding neutral particles coming from infinity, based on the BSW (Baňados-Silk-West) mechanism. The electric charge $Q$ of rotating regular black hole decreases the potential of the gravitational field and the particle needs less bound energy at the circular geodesics. This causes the increase of efficiency of the energy extraction through BSW process in the presence of the electric charge $Q$ from rotating regular black hole. It has been shown that the efficiency of the energy extraction from the rotating regular black hole via the Penrose process decreases with the increase of the electric charge $Q$ and is smaller with compare to 20.7% which is the value for the extreme Kerr black hole with the specific angular momentum $a=1$.
description: 10 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables
Digital services landscape in primary care setting in city of Zagreb; an EIP-AHA reference site case study
Creators: name: Lazic, Vuk
name: Pjevac, Neda
name: Masic, Admir
name: Milutinovic, Lea
name: Sijak, Dorotea
name: Balenovic, Aleksandra
Publisher: name: Universita' degli Studi di Salerno
Year: 2019
Subjects: EIP on AHA
Digital services
Case study
eHealth
Health
Telemedicine

description: European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) brings together partners to create innovative solutions to the challenges of aging. Reference Sites (RS) of the Partnership act as hubs of innovation and assist the scale-up of identified solutions. “Blueprint on Digital Transformation of Health and Care for the Ageing Society” (The Blueprint) is guiding the shift towards ICT enabled patient-centered care. To further inform its development, a tool has been created and piloted across RS, to explore the digital services landscape and find services that address the needs of the personas developed for this tool, that represent the needs of the populations. The aim of this case study was to explore the digital services ecosystem in primary care in Zagreb from the services availability and accessibility perspective, using the personas needs tool. The total of 23 digital services was identified out of which 21 matched at least one persona need. Each service-need match was scored against usefulness and accessibility criteria and the resulting matrix was evaluated using original methods. The results point to several underperforming services and provide insight into possible improvement strategies. Several “workhorse” services were identified that are heavily dependent on the health workforce. The services adopted through EIP on AHA twinning schemes performed well against set criteria. The persona based tool, along with the original service assessment methodology based on the tool’s framework provides a new perspective to the digital services landscape, useful for planning the areas for improvement and detecting underperforming services on a system level.
Tightly bound excitons in monolayer WSe2
Creators: name: He, Keliang
name: Kumar, Nardeep
name: Zhao, Liang
name: Wang, Zefang
name: Mak, Kin Fai
name: Zhao, Hui
name: Shan, Jie
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Exciton binding energy and excited states in monolayers of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) are investigated using the combined linear absorption and two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. The exciton binding energy is determined to be 0.37eV, which is about an order of magnitude larger than that in III-V semiconductor quantum wells and renders the exciton excited states observable even at room temperature. The exciton excitation spectrum with both experimentally determined one- and two-photon active states is distinct from the simple two-dimensional (2D) hydrogenic model. This result reveals significantly reduced and nonlocal dielectric screening of Coulomb interactions in 2D semiconductors. The observed large exciton binding energy will also have a significant impact on next-generation photonics and optoelectronics applications based on 2D atomic crystals.
description: 19 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PRL
Interactions between Human Cytomegalovirus IE1-72 and Cellular p107: Functional Domains and Mechanisms of Up-Regulation of Cyclin E/cdk2 Kinase Activity
Creators: name: Huong, S.-M.
name: Zhang, Z.
name: Huang, E.-S.
name: Huang, D. Y.
name: Wang, X.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Previous work has demonstrated that the human cytomegalovirus IE1-72 protein is able to bind to the N terminus of p107, and IE1-72 alone is sufficient for alleviation of p107-mediated cell growth suppression. However, the mechanism of this alleviation is unclear. Here, we show that IE1-72 can alleviate p107 inhibition of cyclin E/cdk2 kinase activity. We cotransfected various IE1-72 and p107 constructs into C33A cells and demonstrated that IE1-72 could activate the kinase activity of cyclin E/cdk2. Conversely, IE2-86 did not activate this activity, suggesting that the interaction between p107 and IE1-72 and the subsequent kinase activation are specific. By the use of a series of deletion and point mutants of IE1-72 and p107, we observed that a mutation of the loop region of helix-loop-helix-turn-helix in exon 3 of IE1-72 as well as a mutation of the leucine zipper-2 region in exon 4 of IE1-72 abolished binding to p107. In addition, these two IE1-72 mutants did not alleviate p107 inhibition of cyclin E/cdk2 kinase activity and also failed to alleviate p107 inhibition of the E2F-responsive promoter. Meanwhile, deletion of the N-terminal aa 1 to 175 of p107 abolished both p107 binding with IE1-72 and p107 inhibition of cyclin E/cdk2 kinase activity. This result confirms that the N-terminus aa 1 to 175 region of p107 is a common region where both IE1-72 protein and cyclin E/cdk2 bind. We propose a mechanism in which binding of IE1-72 to p107 displaces cyclin E/cdk2 from p107. Once released from p107, cyclin E/cdk2 is able to function as an active kinase.
Diffusion Adaptation Strategies for Distributed Estimation over Gaussian Markov Random Fields
Creators: name: Di Lorenzo, Paolo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: The aim of this paper is to propose diffusion strategies for distributed estimation over adaptive networks, assuming the presence of spatially correlated measurements distributed according to a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) model. The proposed methods incorporate prior information about the statistical dependency among observations, while at the same time processing data in real-time and in a fully decentralized manner. A detailed mean-square analysis is carried out in order to prove stability and evaluate the steady-state performance of the proposed strategies. Finally, we also illustrate how the proposed techniques can be easily extended in order to incorporate thresholding operators for sparsity recovery applications. Numerical results show the potential advantages of using such techniques for distributed learning in adaptive networks deployed over GMRF.
description: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1206.3099
Interferon Regulatory Factor 7 Regulates Expression of Epstein-Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein 1: a Regulatory Circuit
Creators: name: Hahn, A. M.
name: Ning, S.
name: Pagano, J. S.
name: Huye, L. E.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: We have shown previously that interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), a multifunctional protein intimately involved in latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, is induced as well as activated by EBV latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1), the principal EBV oncoprotein. Since the LMP1 promoter (LMP1p) contains an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE), we hypothesized that IRF7 might be able to regulate LMP1 expression and thus participate in a regulatory circuit between these two genes. In this study, IRF7 was shown first to activate LMP1p in transient transfection assays. Compared with EBV nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2), the most potent viral transactivator of LMP1p, IRF7 has a lesser effect (approximately 10% that of EBNA2) on induction of LMP1p. Study with IRF7 deletion mutants showed that IRF7 functional domains have similar effects on both the beta interferon (IFN-β) and LMP1 promoters in BJAB and 293 cells, and study with IRF7 phosphomimetic mutants showed that IRF7 phosphorylation may be involved in the activation of these two promoters. Further, the ISRE in LMP1p responds to IRF7 induction and IRF7 binds to this element. In the EBV-positive cell line P3HR1, which lacks the complete EBNA2 and EBV-encoded leader protein genes and hence expresses low-level LMP1, IRF7 alone can notably increase the endogenous LMP1 mRNA and protein levels. These results indicate that LMP1 is regulated by this host cell gene in addition to the viral factor, EBNA2, and may help to explain how LMP1 is expressed in type II latency in the absence of EBNA2. Moreover, IRF7 can regulate a viral gene in addition to a host cellular gene such as the IFN-β gene. Together with the previous data that LMP1 can induce IRF7 expression and facilitate IRF7 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, these results suggest a positive regulatory circuit between IRF7 and LMP1.
Marker Rescue of Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Capsid Mutants: a Novel Approach for Chimeric AAV Production
Creators: name: Rabinowitz, J. E.
name: Bowles, D. E.
name: Samulski, R. J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Marker rescue, the restoration of gene function by replacement of a defective gene with a normal one by recombination, has been utilized to produce novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. AAV serotype 2 (AAV2) clones containing wild-type terminal repeats, an intact rep gene, and a mutated cap gene, served as the template for marker rescue. When transfected alone in 293 cells, these AAV2 mutant plasmids produced noninfectious AAV virions that could not bind heparin sulfate after infection with adenovirus dl309 helper virus. However, the mutation in the cap gene was corrected after cotransfection with AAV serotype 3 (AAV3) capsid DNA fragments, resulting in the production of AAV2/AAV3 chimeric viruses. The cap genes from several independent marker rescue experiments were PCR amplified, cloned, and then sequenced. Sequencing results confirmed not only that homologous recombination occurred but, more importantly, that a mixed population of AAV chimeras carrying 16 to 2,200 bp throughout different regions of the type 3 cap gene were generated in a single marker rescue experiment. A 100% correlation was observed between infectivity and the ability of the chimeric virus to bind heparin sulfate. In addition, many of the AAV2/AAV3 chimeras examined exhibited differences at both the nucleotide and amino acid levels, suggesting that these chimeras may also exhibit unique infectious properties. Furthermore, AAV helper plasmids containing these chimeric cap genes were able to function in the triple transfection method to generate recombinant AAV. Together, the results suggest that DNA from other AAV serotypes can rescue AAV capsid mutants and that marker rescue may be a powerful, yet simple, technique to map, as well as develop, chimeric AAV capsids that display different serotype-specific properties.
Screening and Purification of Methionase Enzyme from Soil Fung
Creators: name: Fergany, Marim
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 60107 Enzymes
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biotechnology

description: Fungi are valuable to humans, whether directly or indirectly. Fungi have different applications in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications. Many different fungal species are utilized in the industrial synthesis of enzymes. In addition, one of the important enzymes that fungi produce is methionase. Methylation of DNA, polyamine synthesis, and protein production are all dependent on methionine. Methionine restriction is a common strategy for controlling cancer metabolism, since malignancies rely on it for survival and proliferation. In fruit flies, such restriction results in significant lifetime extension and also there are other applications for Methionase enzyme in real life. The aim of this research is to screen the ability of soil fungi to produce methionase and to purify methionase from it. To achieve this purpose, the following summarized steps will be carried out; qualitative screening of 20 soil fungi to produce methionase by using Methionine-glucose medium and phenol red as an indecator, fermentation of the selected isolate to produce methionase in a large scale, followed with purification of methionase using different chromatographic techniques. The research found that after screening the best one of the 20 fungi was Trichoderma viride. After that the production of methionase enzyme done in two types of media the first type is sold state media and the second type is submerged fermentation, the activity on sold state was 1077.23± 906.106 and the activity on submerged fermentation was 70.14 ± 0.003. The purification of the methionase enzyme was done and the estimated molecular weight is around 48kDa.
Progress in Price Analysis and an Appraisal of Success in Price Forecasting by United States
Creators: name: Stine, O. C.
name: Stine, O. C.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 1928
Subjects: subject: Crop Production/Industries
subject: Demand and Price Analysis
subject: Marketing
subject: FOS: Economics and business
subject: Research Methods/ Statistical Methods

description: Excerpts: "The time is here when price research can begin to put the farmers of the land approximately on a level with the trade in understanding the market, and when in consequence the fluctuations in prices and production can begin to be reduced.” This is the statement with which last year I closed a discussion of Dr. J. D. Black's paper on Research in Prices of Farm Products, and it is my text for today. In the past few years great progress has been made in price analysis. Much of the work is still in the experimental stage but many of the results already obtained are obviously capable of practical use in planning the production and marketing of farm products. Planning for the most profitable product to be marketed so as to secure the greatest possible returns requires forecasting prices and price changes for at least one season ahead. I shall confine my discussion of price analysis today to a consideration of price analysis as a basis for forecasting prices.
description: Address before the Annual Meeting of the American Farm Economic Association, Chicago, December 28, 1928. By O. C. Stine, Principal Agricultural Economist, Division of Statistical and Historical Research, Bureau of Agricultural Economics.