Effects of HA and NA glycosylation pattern changes on the transmission of avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in guinea pigs

AbstractAvian influenza H7N9 virus has posed a concern of potential human-to-human transmission by resulting in seasonal virus-like human infection cases. To address the issue of sustained human infection with the H7N9 virus, here we investigated the effects of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) N-linked glycosylation (NLG) patterns on influenza virus transmission in a guinea pig model. Based on the NLG signatures identified in the HA and NA genetic sequences of H7N9 viruses, we generated NLG mutant viruses using either HA or NA gene of a H7N9 virus, A/Anhui/01/2013, by reverse genetics on the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus backbone. For the H7 HA NLG mutant viruses, NLG pattern changes appeared to reduce viral transmissibility in guinea pigs. Intriguingly, however, the NLG changes in the N9 NA protein, such as a removal from residue 42 or 66 or an addition at residue 266, increased transmissibility of the mutant viruses by more than 33%, 50%, and 16%, respectively, compared with a parental N9 virus. Given the effects of HA-NA NLG changes with regard to viral transmission, we then generated the HA-NA NLG mutant viruses harboring the H7 HA of double NLG addition and the N9 NA of various NLG patterns. As seen in the HA NLG mutants above, the double NLG-added H7 HA decreased viral transmissibility. However, when the NA NLG changes occurred by a removal of residue 66 and an addition at 266 were additionally accompanied, the HA-NA NLG mutant virus recovered the transmissibility of its parental virus. These demonstrate the effects of specific HA-NA NLG changes on the H7N9 virus transmission by highlighting the importance of a HA-NA functional balance

L-Asparaginase delivered by Salmonella typhimurium suppresses solid tumors

Bacteria can be engineered to deliver anticancer proteins to tumors via a controlled expression system that maximizes the concentration of the therapeutic agent in the tumor. L-asparaginase (L-ASNase), which primarily converts asparagine to aspartate, is an anticancer protein used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In this study, Salmonellae were engineered to express L-ASNase selectively within tumor tissues using the inducible araBAD promoter system of Escherichia coli. Antitumor efficacy of the engineered bacteria was demonstrated in vivo in solid malignancies. This result demonstrates the merit of bacteria as cancer drug delivery vehicles to administer cancer-starving proteins such as L-ASNase to be effective selectively within the microenvironment of cancer tissue

What James Saw: The Bethnal Green Museum and Charles Eliot Norton

This paper draws upon unpublished letters from Charles Eliot Norton to Henry James regarding James’s visit to the Bethnal Green Museum in London; and considers the similarities and divergences between James’s review, “The Bethnal Green Museum,” published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1873, and a comparable review of Norton’s “The Manchester Art Exhibition,” published in the same magazine some two decades earlier.</span

인문 “스몰 데이터” 연구 방법론과 사례 연구 --- 주간지 『런던』

"영미문학연구", No.44, 2023 http://doi.org/10.46562/jesk.44.4 이 논문은 영국의 비평주간지 『런던』 (London: The Conservative Weekly Journal of Politics, Finance, Society, and the Arts, 1877 - 1879)을 대상으로 하는 “스몰 데이터” 연구이다. 스몰 데이터는 양적으로 많지 않더라도 대상 분야 전문가에 의해서 적합한 의미가 부여돼 통계적 연구방법의 적용이 유의미한, 공개된 기계가독형 데이터(machine-readable data)를 뜻한다. 『런던』은 19세기 말 영국 문학장의 주요한 비평가인 W. E. 헨리 (W. E. Henley, 1849-1903)와 그의 써클이 1870년대에 출간했던 비평지이다. 본 논문의 가설은 『런던』의 문예면인 「보헤미아」 지면에 있는 세 개의 비평란, 즉 소설에 대한 기획 비평 등을 포함하는 문학 비평란, 주간 서평란, 대중서 서평란이 각기 다른 논리로 구성되었으며 이를 통해 해당 코너에서 다루어지는 작품들, 특히 소설의 위계가 생산된다는 것이다. 이를 탐구하기 위해 본 논문은 디지털 도구를 활용해 통계 분석과 텍스트 마이닝을 수행한다. 먼저, 「보헤미아」에 대한 기초 통계 분석을 통해 『런던』이 소설 비평에 특별한 노력을 기울였음을 밝힌다. 둘째, 형태소 분석을 통해 각 비평란들에서 높은 빈도로 출현하는 명사와 형용사를 추출하고 상호 비교한다. 그 결과 창작의 남성적 성격을 지칭하는 말에 다름 아닌 “진정한”(genuine)이 가장 유의미한 비평어로 드러난다. 셋째, LDA알고리즘을 활용해 「보헤미아」 전체 기사를 유형별로 군집 분석한다. 이 결과와 함께 이루어지는 토픽 모델링은 알고리즘의 기사 유형 분류 및 주제 분류와 『런던』 자체의 분류 실천 결과가 상응하지 않는 것을 보여준다. 하지만 본 논문은 이를 LDA의 유효성 논의로 연결 짓지 않는다. 이 어긋남을 통해 디지털 분석이 제공하는 “낯설게 읽기”의 가능성을 논할 수 있기 때문이다. 즉, 디지털 분석은 헨리 써클의 위계적 비평 기획을 드러내지만 동시에 이에 갇히지 않는 담론 경험의 존재를 상상할 수 있도록 돕는다. This paper is a "small data" study of the British critical weekly London (London: The Conservative Weekly Journal of Politics, Finance, Society, and the Arts, 1877 - 1879). Small data is publicly available machine-readable data that has been assigned meaning by subject matter experts. London was a critical journal published in the 1870s by W. E. Henley (1849-1903), a leading critic of British literature at the end of the 19th century, and his circle. The hypothesis of this paper is that the three critical sub-sections in the London's literary section entitled "Bohemia"--namely the full-fledged literary criticism section, the weekly book review section, and the popular book review section--were organized with different logics, which produced the hierarchy of the works covered in the section. To explore this, this paper utilizes digital tools to perform statistical analysis and text mining. First, a basic statistical analysis of "Bohemia" reveals that London paid special attention to novel criticism; second, a morphological analysis extracts and compares nouns and adjectives that occur with high frequency in each sub-section. The findings highlight the significance of the term "genuine," which relates to masculine attributes of authorship. Third, I perform cluster analysis and topic modeling based on LDA on all articles in "Bohemia." The results show that mechanical article type classification and topic classification do not correspond to the results of London's own classification practice. However, the paper does not link this to a discussion of the validity of LDA. This discrepancy allows us to discuss the possibility of an "alien reading" that digital analysis offers: it helps us to imagine the existence of a discursive experience that is not confined to the critical projects of the Henley Circle. 핵심어(Key Words): 주간지 『런던』( The Conservative Weekly Journal of Politics, Finance, Society, and the Art, 1877-1879), W. E. 헨리(W. E. Henley), 스몰 데이터 연구(small data), 낯설게 읽기(alien reading), 텍스트 마이닝(text mining), 형태소 분석, 군집 분석, 토픽 모델링, LD

Feeling empowered and doing good? A psychological mechanism of empowerment, self-esteem, perceived trust, and OCBs

Building on agency theory and signaling theory, this study investigated the psychological mechanism of how empowerment impacts hotel frontline employees' self-esteem, perceived trust, and OCBs performed toward both internal and external customers. Using a longitudinal research design with data collected via three waves, the results supported that three out of four dimensions of empowerment had significant and positive influence on employees' self-esteem and perceived trust, both of which are significant predictors for three types of OCBs. The study makes important contributions to literature and suggests that hotel employees feeling empowered can enhance their overall wellness while contributing to their OCB performances. Thus, empowerment should be properly used as a strategy to facilitate employees’ contextual performance

A basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor regulates cell elongation and seed germination

Plants are sessile and rely on a wide variety of growth hormones to adjust growth and development in response to internal and external stimuli. We have identified a gene, designated NAN, encoding a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that regulates cell elongation and seed germination in plants. NAN has an HLH motif in its C-terminal region but does not have any other discernible homologies to bHLH proteins. A bipartite nuclear localization signal is located close to the HLH motif. An Arabidopsis mutant, nan-1D, in which NAN is activated by the insertion of the 35S enhancer, exhibits growth retardation with short hypocotyls and curled leaves. It is also characterized by reduced seed germination and apical hook formation, symptomatic of GA deficiency or disrupted GA signaling. The phenotypic effects of nan-1D were increased by treatment with paclobutrazol (PAC), an inhibitor of gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthesis. NAN is constitutively expressed throughout the life cycle. Our observations indicate that NAN has a housekeeping role in plant growth and development, particularly in seed germination and cell elongation, and that it may modulate GA signaling

Conservative Management of Patent Ductus Arteriosus Is Feasible in the Peri-Viable Infants at 22–25 Gestational Weeks

The purpose of this study was to determine the natural course of hemodynamically significant (HS) patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with conservative management and whether the presence or prolonged duration of HS PDA affected mortality/morbidities in infants at 22–25 weeks estimated gestational age (EGA). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 77 infants born at 22–25 weeks EGA, stratified into 22–23 weeks (n = 21) and 24–25 weeks EGA (n = 56). HS PDA was present in 77%, 76%, and 77%, and open ductus at discharge was 12%, 13%, and 12% in the total and at 22–23 and 24–25 weeks EGA infants, respectively. For backup rescue treatment, 7% and 5% of the infants received oral ibuprofen and device closure, respectively. A mortality rate of 9% was found in the HS PDA (+) infants, significantly lower than the 28% in HS PDA (−) infants. There are no significant differences in morbidities. In multivariate analyses, the presence and/or prolonged duration of HS PDA was not associated with increased mortality or morbidity. Spontaneous closure of HS PDA was achieved through conservative management in the peri-viable infants at 22–25 weeks EGA

Impact of Cold Stress on Physiological Responses and Fruit Quality of Shiranuhi Mandarin in Response to Cold Conditions

We identified the minimum temperature limits to ensure Shiranuhi mandarin growth and fruit quality and provided overwintering temperature management guidelines. Expanded polystyrene panels with air conditioners were exposed to −1, −3, and −5 °C in the greenhouse for 15 h to determine the overwintering temperature. Leaves and fruits were analyzed at intervals for physiological response, fruit quality, and aromatic components. The low temperature treatment groups showed 1.3 to 1.4 times increased malondialdehyde content in leaves and 1.1 to 1.3-fold higher electrolyte linkage rates in the −5 °C treatment group alone. The sugar/acidity ratio was 1.1 to 1.3 times higher in the −5 °C treatment than in the control due to rapid acid reduction. The fruit firmness and citrus color index decreased notably after 21–28 days of treatment. Ascorbic acid content significantly decreased 17.3%–41.1% at −5 °C. Among the aromatic compounds, decanal levels notably increased with −5 °C treatment; −5 °C cold treatment notably affected oxidative stress in leaves and the sugar/acid ratio, ascorbic acid content, and aromatic compounds in fruits. If prolonged exposure to temperatures 0 °C during fruit growth and >−3 °C after harvest as the minimum temperature to preserve fruit set and quality

The Anatomical Differences and Physiological Responses of Sunburned Satsuma Mandarin (<i>Citrus unshiu</i> Marc.) Fruits

Sunburn causes fruit browning and other physiological symptoms, reducing fruit production and quality. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the anatomical differences and abiotic stress responses in ‘Nichinan 1 gou’ satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.) according to the severity of sunburn damage (five grades: control, no sunburn; I to IV, increasing severity of sunburn). Additionally, the quality of sunburned and non-sunburned fruits was compared, and the sunburn-inducing temperature was estimated. Anatomical observations confirmed that with increased severity of symptoms, the damage to fruit rind surface and oil glands was increased. In the analysis of peel pigments, chlorophyll content in the rind gradually decreased compared with IV, whereas the carotenoid content gradually increased up to III. The flavonoid content in the peel and pulp was the highest in III. In the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical analyses, the IC50 (the concentration of compound at which the percentage of inhibition is 50%) value was the lowest in grade III in peel or IV in pulp, indicating a high free radical scavenging ability. The fruit quality analysis between sunburned and non-sunburned fruits showed differences in total soluble solid content, total acidity, firmness, coloration, and free sugar and organic acid contents, indicating a significant effect on fruit quality. In the heat tolerance tests on fruit rind in the laboratory and field, the damage was confirmed at temperatures above 47 °C