Isolation and characterization of a novel alphanodavirus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Nodaviridae </it>is a family of non-enveloped isometric viruses with bipartite positive-sense RNA genomes. The <it>Nodaviridae </it>family consists of two genera: alpha- and beta-nodavirus. Alphanodaviruses usually infect insect cells. Some commercially available insect cell lines have been latently infected by Alphanodaviruses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A non-enveloped small virus of approximately 30 nm in diameter was discovered co-existing with a recombinant <it>Helicoverpa armigera </it>single nucleopolyhedrovirus (<it>Hear</it>NPV) in Hz-AM1 cells. Genome sequencing and phylogenetic assays indicate that this novel virus belongs to the genus of alphanodavirus in the family <it>Nodaviridae </it>and was designated HzNV. HzNV possesses a RNA genome that contains two segments. RNA1 is 3038 nt long and encodes a 110 kDa viral protein termed protein A. The 1404 nt long RNA2 encodes a 44 kDa protein, which exhibits a high homology with coat protein precursors of other alphanodaviruses. HzNV virions were located in the cytoplasm, in association with cytoplasmic membrane structures. The host susceptibility test demonstrated that HzNV was able to infect various cell lines ranging from insect cells to mammalian cells. However, only Hz-AM1 appeared to be fully permissive for HzNV, as the mature viral coat protein essential for HzNV particle formation was limited to Hz-AM1 cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A novel alphanodavirus, which is 30 nm in diameter and with a limited host range, was discovered in Hz-AM1 cells.</p

Logistic Bayesian LASSO for detecting association combining family and case-control data

Abstract Because of the limited information from the GAW20 samples when only case-control or trio data are considered, we propose eLBL, an extension of the Logistic Bayesian LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) methodology so that both types of data can be analyzed jointly in the hope of obtaining an increased statistical power, especially for detecting association between rare haplotypes and complex diseases. The methodology is further extended to account for familial correlation among the case-control individuals and the trios. A 2-step analysis strategy was taken to first perform a genome-wise single single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) search using the Monte Carlo pedigree disequilibrium test (MCPDT) to determine interesting regions for the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) binary trait. Then eLBL was applied to haplotype blocks covering the flagged SNPs in Step 1. Several significantly associated haplotypes were identified; most are in blocks contained in protein coding genes that appear to be relevant for metabolic syndrome. The results are further substantiated with a Type I error study and by an additional analysis using the triglyceride measurements directly as a quantitative trait

Mullite-based ceramic tiles produced solely from high-alumina fly ash: Preparation and sintering mechanism

Mullite-based ceramic tiles were successfully prepared using only high-alumina fly ash (HAFA) at relatively low sintering temperatures (1100-1400 degrees C). The effects of alkali activation on the chemical composition, mineral phase, and morphology of the HAFA were respectively characterised by ICP-OES, XRD, and SEM methods. The alkali-activation pretreatment not only modifies the chemical composition of HAFA to match that of mullite, but also can introduce Na-rich compounds to promote sintering. The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of the fully ash-based ceramic tiles formed at different sintering temperatures were examined. The ceramic samples sintered at 1300 degrees C exhibited optimal post-sintering properties (relative density: 90.85%, water absorption: 0.10%, rupture modulus: 109.67 MPa, linear shrinkage: 15.70%, and apparent porosity: 0.68%) and a well-developed cubic puncheon-shaped mullite morphology. Finally, through the isothermal sintering method, the melt viscosities and the sintering kinetics were calculated theoretically, and the results show that the alkali activation could dramatically reduce the melt viscosity and the apparent activation energy. This research may provide a new method in utilising the vast amounts of HAFA waste to produce mullite-based ceramic tiles at low costs. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Planning for automated vehicles with human trust

Recent work has considered personalized route planning based on user profiles, but none of it accounts for human trust. We argue that human trust is an important factor to consider when planning routes for automated vehicles. This paper presents a trust-based route planning approach for automated vehicles. We formalize the human-vehicle interaction as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) and model trust as a partially observable state variable of the POMDP, representing the human’s hidden mental state. We build data-driven models of human trust dynamics and takeover decisions, which are incorporated in the POMDP framework, using data collected from an online user study with 100 participants on the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. We compute optimal routes for automated vehicles by solving optimal policies in the POMDP planning, and evaluate the resulting routes via human subject experiments with 22 participants on a driving simulator. The experimental results show that participants taking the trust-based route generally reported more positive responses in the after-driving survey than those taking the baseline (trust-free) route. In addition, we analyze the trade-offs between multiple planning objectives (e.g., trust, distance, energy consumption) via multi-objective optimization of the POMDP. We also identify a set of open issues and implications for real-world deployment of the proposed approach in automated vehicles

Underestimated angle of submarine slope at failure: A short discussion

Submarine landslides always occur along gently inclined continental slopes, but the reasons for such failure of low-angle submarine slopes are unclear and contentious. A short discussion is presented here to some recent published papers including some inspirations about the low-angle failure of submarine slopes. Because fluid overpressure could lead to steepening slopes before landslide, the inclination of the slopes at failure may be underestimated. We offer a new perspective on low-angle failure of low-permeability slopes

Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Evaluations of 1,3,5-Triazine Derivatives of Metformin Cyclization with Berberine and Magnolol in the Presence of Sodium Methylate

The novel target products were synthesized in the formation of a triazine ring from berberine, magnolol, and metformin catalyzed by sodium methylate. The structures of products 1–3 were firstly confirmed by extensive spectroscopic analyses and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures of the target product 2 and the intermediate product 7b were reported for the first time. All target products were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities against INS-1 and RAW264.1 cells in vitro and all products showed excellent anti-inflammatory effects and anti-insulin resistance effects. Our studies indicated that new compounds 1–3 were found to be active against inflammation and insulin resistance

<p>A green desilication method from highly concentrated chromate solutions by Mg-Al-CO3 LDH</p>

The Mg-Al-CO3 LDH was synthesized as a desilication agent to effectively and environmentally remove Si(IV) from Na2CrO4-NaAlO2-NaVO3-Na2SiO3-H2O solutions. It was observed that the changes of reaction parameters including temperature, NaOH concentration, time, the dosage of Mg-Al-CO3 LDH and NaAlO2 concentration significantly affected the desilication efficiency, while the effect of Cr(VI) and V(V) concentration on the desilication was negligible. The results showed that 91.5% Si(IV) could be removed after desilication at 90 ? for 6 h with the additive of 4 g/L Mg-Al-CO3 LDH, without the formation of hazardous Cr(VI)-containing compounds. It could be concluded that the desilication mechanism was dominated by the synergistic effect between the ion exchange of Si(IV) and the formation of zeolite compounds. The method proposed in this study provides a new insight for Si(IV) removal from the highly concentrated Cr(VI) solutions in the chromate clean production