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Low price or convenience? What is more important for online and offline bookings? For the sustainable development of the hospitality industry, it is necessary to know the opinions of customers about their online/offline hotel booking experiences. This study aimed to predict the customers&rsquo, online/offline booking behavior toward a resort hotel in Taiwan by adapting the marketing mix elements. We first designed and executed a detailed questionnaire involving approximately 300 respondents from a five-star hotel in Taiwan, used hypothesis testing to extract important factors from the data, and finally used logistic regression of these factors to predict the customer choices effectively. The study results show that the majority of the customers believe that booking hotel services online provides for a broader choice, offers more discounts and more privacy than available while booking offline, and is cheaper, faster, and more reliable and convenient. The outcomes of logistic regression confirm that &ldquo, broad choice,&rdquo, but not &ldquo, low price&rdquo, has the most significant impact on the customers booking a resort accommodation online or offline. Furthermore, the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) show that the younger customers (under the age of 45) and those with university degrees are significantly more likely to make the reservations online for a resort. The findings and the recommendations can provide valuable inputs to the resort industry practitioners in Taiwan for improving the online booking services.

The virus-encoded microRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to have important regulatory roles in herpesvirus biology, including virus replication, latency, pathogenesis and/or tumorigenesis. As an emerging efficient tool for gene editing, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system has been successfully applied in manipulating the genomes of large DNA viruses. Herein, utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 system with a double-guide RNAs transfection/virus infection strategy, we have established a new platform for mutagenesis of viral miRNAs encoded by the Marek&rsquo, s disease virus serotype 1 (MDV-1), an oncogenic alphaherpesvirus that can induce rapid-onset T-cell lymphomas in chickens. A series of miRNA-knocked out (miR-KO) mutants with deletions of the Meq- or the mid-clustered miRNAs, namely RB-1B∆Meq-miRs, RB-1B∆M9-M2, RB-1B∆M4, RB-1B∆M9 and RB-1B∆M11, were generated from vvMDV strain RB-1B virus. Interestingly, mutagenesis of the targeted miRNAs showed changes in the in vitro virus growth kinetics, which is consistent with that of the in vivo proliferation curves of our previously reported GX0101 mutants produced by the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone and Rec E/T homologous recombination techniques. Our data demonstrate that the CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing is a simple, efficient and relatively nondisruptive approach for manipulating the small non-coding genes from the genome of herpesvirus and will undoubtedly contribute significantly to the future progress in herpesvirus biology.

It is estimated that at least one million people die by suicide every year, showing the importance of suicide prevention and detection. In this study, an autoencoder and machine learning model was employed to predict people with suicidal ideation based on their structural brain imaging. The subjects in our generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) dataset consisted of three groups: 41 depressive patients with suicidal ideation (SI), 54 depressive patients without suicidal thoughts (NS), and 58 healthy controls (HC). In the GQI dataset, indices of generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA), isotropic values of the orientation distribution function (ISO), and normalized quantitative anisotropy (NQA) were separately trained in different machine learning models. A convolutional neural network (CNN)-based autoencoder model, the supervised machine learning algorithm extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and logistic regression (LR) were used to discriminate SI subjects from NS and HC subjects. After five-fold cross validation, separate data were tested to obtain the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve of each result. Our results showed that the best pattern of structure across multiple brain locations can classify suicidal ideates from NS and HC with a prediction accuracy of 85%, a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 75%. The algorithms developed here might provide an objective tool to help identify suicidal ideation risk among depressed patients alongside clinical assessment.

Haze is a serious pollution problem during the wintertime in North China. In this study, we investigated how the periodic cycle of winter haze events affect the environmental behaviors of two typical persistent organic pollutants, namely, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in the atmosphere of a typical megacity, Beijing. The average atmospheric concentrations of the total di- to octa-CDD/Fs (∑PCDD/Fs: 378.0 pg/m3) and the total mono- to nona-BDEs (∑9hPBDEs: 166.5 pg/m3) during haze episodes increased by 3.6-fold and 1.9-fold compared with those during the nonhaze periods, respectively; and their concentrations both linearly increased with PM2.5 levels and decreased as a power function of the atmospheric boundary layer height. The elevated concentrations could be clearly attributed to the vertically sinking motion of airflow in the midlower troposphere. When a haze event occurred, the partitioning rate of PCDD/Fs and PBDEs into particl...

Gas- and particle-phase concentrations of 18 atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were respectively measured during daytime and nighttime at an urban site of Beijing around the New Year's Day of 2015. The average concentration of total atmospheric PAHs (Σ18PAHs) during three haze episodes (PM2.5 > 75 μg/m3) was 1473.1 ng/m3, which was 2.6 times higher than that (405.1 ng/m3) during normal periods (PM2.5

The importance of peptides in regulatory interactions has caused peptide-protein docking to attract the attention of many researchers. A variety of methods for molecular modeling of peptide-protein docking, such as local search and global search, are currently used.; Results: The interactions of 11 peptides and CSFV E2 protein were evaluated by the GalaxyPepDock and FlexX/ SYBYL programs, respectively. The assessment scores of all the peptides were correlated with their KD values. The final results showed that a moderate correlation coefficient was represented between KD values and CScores of predicted models by FlexX/ SYBYL.; Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that considering the flexibility of the peptide is better than searching for more potential binding sites on the target protein surface while performing peptide-protein molecular docking. These data provide reasonable evidence for the molecular design of peptides and guidance for the functional assignment of target proteins. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Marek’s disease virus type 1 (MDV-1) is a representative oncogenic Alpha herpesvirus that causes an immunosuppressive and neoplastic lymphoproliferative avian disease, namely Marek’s disease (MD). The rapid-onset T-cell lymphoma in chickens induced by MDV-1 has been historically regarded as an ideal natural model for herpesvirus-related cancer research. As a viral analog of cellular miR-155, the MDV-1-encoded miR-M4-5p has been shown to be crucial for the virally-induced MD tumorigenesis. Our previous studies demonstrated that miR-M4-5p induces an over-expression of oncogene c-Myc by targeting LTBP1 and suppressing the TGF-β signaling pathway during MDV-1 infection. We have now further identified the chicken heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein AB (hnRNPAB) as a new cellular biological target for miR-M4-5p. Suppression of hnRNPAB expression mediated by miR-M4-5p promotes the proliferation, but not the apoptosis, of both primary chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) and transformed chicken fibroblast DF-1 cell line. HnRNPAB is a member of the hnRNP family of proteins that play important roles in normal biological processes as well as cancer development. Our data suggests that the recognition and down-regulation of hnRNPAB by miR-M4-5p may be one of the important strategies for MDV-1 to trigger the development of MD lymphomas.

In this study, we describe the use of a M13 phage-displayed random peptide library for screening novel peptide motifs that specifically recognize recombinant PCV2 Cap protein for the first time. The peptide had a sequence of YHDCFSAGFCIG, and the binding affinity was observed in the nanomolar range. In the serum blocking test, the ELISA signal of the peptide was rapidly decreased when the concentration of the PCV2 positive serum was increased.

Four peptides were designed and synthesized according to the main FMDV type O vaccine strains in china. Then the synthesized peptides were conjugated to carrier protein. The antigenicity of the artificial antigen was identified by dot-blot assay. Based on the BSA-Pep antigen, a test strip was developed to evaluate the neutralizing antibody of serum samples from swine vaccinated with FMDV type O vaccine rapidly. The BSA-Pep used as a detector was labeled with colloidal gold. Staphylococcal protein A (SPA) and anti FMDV antibodies were blotted onto the nitrocellulose membrane as the test and control lines, respectively. The strip assay could be performed within 5 min, which did not require any special equipment or skills. Through testing sera against various strains of FMDV type O, the sensitivity of the strip was determined to be 95% (38/40). There were no cross reactions to other virus antibodies, and no cross reactions in different serotypes of FMDV, the test strip can be used to detect FMDV type O antibodies only. The strip results were consistent with those of the existing commercial ELISA kits. In conclusion, the new strip was an acceptable method for surveying FMDV type O antibody titers in pigs.

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is an alphaherpesvirus associated with Marek’s disease (MD), a highly contagious neoplastic disease of chickens. MD serves as an excellent model for studying virus-induced T-cell lymphomas in the natural chicken hosts. Among the limited set of genes associated with MD oncogenicity, MDV-miR-M4, a highly expressed viral ortholog of the oncogenic miR-155, has received extensive attention due to its direct role in the induction of lymphomas. Using a targeted CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing approach in MDV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines, we show that MDV-miR-M4, despite its critical role in the induction of tumors, is not essential for maintaining the transformed phenotype and continuous proliferation. As far as we know, this was the first study in which precise editing of an oncogenic miRNA was carried out in situ in MD lymphoma-derived cell lines to demonstrate that it is not essential in maintaining the transformed phenotype., MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs with profound regulatory roles in many areas of biology, including cancer. MicroRNA 155 (miR-155), one of the extensively studied multifunctional miRNAs, is important in several human malignancies such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Moreover, miR-155 orthologs KSHV-miR-K12-11 and MDV-miR-M4, encoded by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Marek’s disease virus (MDV), respectively, are also involved in oncogenesis. In MDV-induced T-cell lymphomas and in lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from them, MDV-miR-M4 is highly expressed. Using excellent disease models of infection in natural avian hosts, we showed previously that MDV-miR-M4 is critical for the induction of T-cell lymphomas as mutant viruses with precise deletions were significantly compromised in their oncogenicity. However, those studies did not elucidate whether continued expression of MDV-miR-M4 is essential for maintaining the transformed phenotype of tumor cells. Here using an in situ CRISPR/Cas9 editing approach, we deleted MDV-miR-M4 from the MDV-induced lymphoma-derived lymphoblastoid cell line MDCC-HP8. Precise deletion of MDV-miR-M4 was confirmed by PCR, sequencing, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR), and functional analysis. Continued proliferation of the MDV-miR-M4-deleted cell lines demonstrated that MDV-miR-M4 expression is not essential for maintaining the transformed phenotype, despite its initial critical role in the induction of lymphomas. Ability to examine the direct role of oncogenic miRNAs in situ in tumor cell lines is valuable in delineating distinct determinants and pathways associated with the induction or maintenance of transformation in cancer cells and will also contribute significantly to gaining further insights into the biology of oncogenic herpesviruses. IMPORTANCE Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is an alphaherpesvirus associated with Marek’s disease (MD), a highly contagious neoplastic disease of chickens. MD serves as an excellent model for studying virus-induced T-cell lymphomas in the natural chicken hosts. Among the limited set of genes associated with MD oncogenicity, MDV-miR-M4, a highly expressed viral ortholog of the oncogenic miR-155, has received extensive attention due to its direct role in the induction of lymphomas. Using a targeted CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing approach in MDV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines, we show that MDV-miR-M4, despite its critical role in the induction of tumors, is not essential for maintaining the transformed phenotype and continuous proliferation. As far as we know, this was the first study in which precise editing of an oncogenic miRNA was carried out in situ in MD lymphoma-derived cell lines to demonstrate that it is not essential in maintaining the transformed phenotype.

Background Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the pathogen of porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD) and one of the main pathogens in the global pig industry, which has brought huge economic losses to the pig industry. In recent years, there has been limited research on the prevalence of PCV2 in Henan Province. This study investigated the genotype and evolution of PCV2 in this area. Results We collected 117 clinical samples from different regions of Henan Province from 2015 to 2018. Here, we found that the PCV2 infection rate of PCV2 was 62.4%. Thirty-seven positive clinical samples were selected to amplify the complete genome of PCV2 and were sequenced. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of PCV2 ORF2 and complete genome, it was found that the 37 newly detected strains belonged to PCV2a (3 of 37), PCV2b (21 of 37) and PCV2d (13 of 37), indicating the predominant prevalence of PCV2b and PCV2d strains. In addition, we compared the amino acid sequences and found several amino acid mutation sites among different genotypes. Furthermore, the results of selective pressure analysis showed that there were 5 positive selection sites. Conclusions This study indicated the genetic diversity, molecular epidemiology and evolution of PCV2 genotypes in Henan Province during 2015–2018.

Marek's disease virus serotype 1 (MDV-1) is an important oncogenic α-herpesvirus that induces immunosuppressive and rapid-onset T-cell lymphomatous disease in poultry commonly referred to as Marek's disease (MD). As an excellent biomodel for the study of virally-induced cancers in natural hosts, MDV-1 encoded microRNAs (miRNAs) have been previously demonstrated with the potential roles to act as critical regulators in virus replication, latency, pathogenesis and especially in oncogenesis. Similar to the oncogenic γ-herpesvirus Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), miR-M4-5p, the cellular microRNA-155 (miR-155) ortholog encoded by MDV-1, is also involved in MD oncogenesis. In lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from MDV-induced T-cell lymphomas, miR-M4-5p has been shown to be highly expressed and participate in inducing MD lymphomagenesis by regulating multiple signal pathways. Herein we report the new identification of the host WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) as a biological target for miR-M4-5p. Further experiments revealed that as a critical oncomiRNA, miR-M4-5p promotes the proliferations of both chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) and MSB-1 cells via suppressing cell apoptosis by targeting WWOX, a well-known tumor suppressor. Our data presents a novel insight in elucidating the regulatory mechanisms mediated by the viral analog of miR-155 that potentially contribute to MD tumorigenesis.

Fumonisins are a kind of toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin. A rapid immunochromatographic test strip has been developed for simultaneous detection of fumonisin B1 , B2 and B3 (FB1 , FB2 and FB3 ) in maize based on colloidal gold-labelled monoclonal antibody (McAb) against FB1 probe.; Results: The anti-FB1 McAb (2E11-H3) was produced through immunisation and cell fusion, and identified as high affinity, specificity and sensitivity. The cross-reaction ratios with fumonisin B2 and B3 were accordingly 385% and 72.4%, while none with other analogues. The colloid gold-labelled anti-FB1 McAb probe was successfully prepared and used for establishing the immunochromatographic strip. The test strip showed high sensitivity and specificity, the IC50 for FB1 was 58.08 ng mL-1 , LOD was 11.24 ng mL-1 , calculated from standard curve. Moreover, the test strip exhibited high cross-reactivity with FB2 and FB3 , and could be applied to the simultaneous detection of FBs (FB1 :FB2 :FB3 = 12:4:1) in maize sample with high accuracy and precision. The average recoveries of FBs in maize ranged from 90.42% to 95.29%, and CVs were 1.25-3.77%. The results of the test strip for FBs samples showed good correlation with high-performance liquid chromatography analysis.; Conclusion: The immunochromatographic test strip could be employed in the rapid simultaneous detection of FB1 , FB2 and FB3 in maize samples on-site. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Teng, Y.-M.; Wu, K.-S., and Wang, M.-J., 2020. Using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Delphi analysis to evaluate key factors in the development of the Taiwan cruise tourism industry. Journal of Coastal Research, 36(4), 828–833. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.In recent years, the cruise tourism industry in Asia has developed rapidly. Taiwan is surrounded by the sea and has four ports, namely, Keelung, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and Hualien Ports, which is an ideal place for the development of cruise tourism. Analyzing the key factors for the sustainable development of the cruise tourism industry in Taiwan is necessary due to the increasing demand for cruise tourism in Taiwan. Thus, the Delphi and analytic hierarchy process methods are used to evaluate the key factors in the development of the cruise tourism industry in Taiwan. Results reveal the influencing factors and provide reference for the government and cruise operators.

In order to attain broad coverage understanding, a system need not only identify multiword expressions such as verb-particle constructions (VPCs), but must compute their meaning. It is not plausible to hand enumerate all possible combinations, although WordNet is an admirable start. This chapter focuses on the identification of senses of particles in VPCs in order to compute the meanings of VPCs – using information obtained from existing lexical resources such as WordNet, and aug- menting it with additional knowledge based on linguistic investigation of VPCs identified in terms of generalizations encoded in the TRIPS ontology. The approach consists of first determining compositionality of a VPC based on the information present in WordNet, and then assigning a relevant sense to the particle in a compositional VPC based on the sense classes we have identified and encoded in the TRIPS’ computational lexicon. Contributions of the described work are twofold: (1) A discussion of senses of particles in VPCs and corresponding generalizations makes a linguistic contribution. (2) We show how linguistic knowledge can be used to automatically parse sentences containing VPCs and obtain a semantic representation of them. An advantage of the described approach is that VPCs not explicitly found in lexica can be identified and semantically interpreted. &nbsp

Current semantic parsers either compute shallow representations over a wide range of input, or deeper representations in very limited domains. We describe a system that provides broad-coverage, deep semantic parsing designed to work in any domain using a core domain-general lexicon, ontology and grammar. This paper discusses how this core system can be customized for a particularly challenging domain, namely reading research papers in biology. We evaluate these customizations with some ablation experiments

A colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic strip with a competitive format has been developed for the rapid, simultaneous, semi-quantitative and quantitative detection of several aminoglycoside residues in milk, including gentamicin sulfate (GM), neomycin sulfate (NEO) and kanamycin sulfate (KN). Three monoclonal antibodies against the three corresponding aminoglycosides were conjugated to colloidal gold particles and applied to the conjugate pads of the strip. The competitors [GM-bovine serum albumin (GM-BSA), NEO-BSA and KN-BSA conjugates] of GM, NEO and KN were immobilized onto a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane at three detection zones, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The minimal cut-off values of the strip were 10 ng mL−1 for GM, and 100 ng mL−1 for NEO and KN, which are lower than the maximum residue levels (MRLs) established for aminoglycosides. The IC50 values of the strip were 0.737 ng mL−1, 8.971 ng mL−1 and 11.110 ng mL−1 for GM, NEO and KN respectively. In conclusion, the immunochromatographic lateral flow strip could be used for rapid, simultaneous, semi-quantitative and quantitative detection of GM, NEO and KN residues in milk.

We demonstrate a system for understanding natural language utterances for structure description and placement in a situated blocks world context. By relying on a rich, domain-specific adaptation of a generic ontology and a logical form structure produced by a semantic parser, we obviate the need for an intermediate, domain-specific representation and can produce a reasoner that grounds and reasons over concepts and constraints with real-valued data. This linguistic base enables more flexibility in interpreting natural language expressions invoking intrinsic concepts and features of structures and space. We demonstrate some of the capabilities of a system grounded in deep language understanding and present initial results in a structure learning task.

The bulk of current research in dialogue systems is focused on fairly simple task models, primarily state-based. Progress on developing dialogue systems for more complex tasks has been limited by the lack generic toolkits to build from. In this paper we report on our development from the ground up of a new dialogue model based on collaborative problem solving. We implemented the model in a dialogue system shell (Cogent) that al-lows developers to plug in problem-solving agents to create dialogue systems in new domains. The Cogent shell has now been used by several independent teams of researchers to develop dialogue systems in different domains, with varied lexicons and interaction style, each with their own problem-solving back-end. We believe this to be the first practical demonstration of the feasibility of a CPS-based dialogue system shell.

We argue that current discussions of criteria for actual causation are ill-posed in several respects. (1) The methodology of current discussions is by induction from intuitions about an infinitesimal fraction of the possible examples and counterexamples; (2) cases with larger numbers of causes generate novel puzzles; (3) “neuron” and causal Bayes net diagrams are, as deployed in discussions of actual causation, almost always ambiguous; (4) actual causation is (intuitively) relative to an initial system state since state changes are relevant, but most current accounts ignore state changes through time; (5) more generally, there is no reason to think that philosophical judgements about these sorts of cases are normative; but (6) there is a dearth of relevant psychological research that bears on whether various philosophical accounts are descriptive. Our skepticism is not directed towards the possibility of a correct account of actual causation; rather, we argue that standard methods will not lead to such an account. A different approach is required.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) levels in environmental media have increased over the last 20-25 years in the world. In aquatic environments PBDEs were found to be accumulated along food chain and Endocrine disruptors toxicity. In this study PBDEs were investigated in sediment and fish tissues from Lake Chaohu in central eastern China. There were 10 PBDEs congeners detected out of all 41 PBDEs. BDE-47 was of the highest with 5.17 ng/g in sediment and 58.47 ng/g in fish. PBDEs were evenly distributed across the surface sediment in the whole lake. It implied that the main source of PBDEs may not be an inflow river like Nanfei. Tissue distribution patterns of PBDEs in four fish species were in the order of BDE-47 > BDE-99 > BDE-100 > BDE-66 > BDE-138 > BDE-183 > BDE-154 > BDE-153. Octa- and deca-BDEs were below the detection limit. The concentrations of all PBDE congeners were higher in gills, livers, and kidneys than those in muscles and adipose tissue. Furthermore, PBDEs in different tissues had some different distribution patterns with fish size. Those discrepancies appeared to be correlated with the PBDEs pollution fluxes varying with the change of the year and their metabolism divergences in fish tissues.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is an important oncogenic alphaherpesvirus that induces rapid-onset T-cell lymphomas in its natural hosts. The Meq-clustered miRNAs encoded by MDV have been suggested to play potentially critical roles in the induction of lymphomas. Using the technique of bacterial artificial chromosome mutagenesis, we have presently constructed a series of specific miRNA-deleted mutants and demonstrate that these miRNAs are not essential for replication of MDV and have no effects on the early cytolytic or latent phases of the developing disease. However, compared to the parental GX0101, mortality of birds infected with the mutants GXΔmiR-M2, GXΔmiR-M3, GXΔmiR-M5, GXΔmiR-M9 and GXΔmiR-M12 was reduced from 100 % to 18 %, 30 %, 48 %, 24 % and 14 %, coupled with gross tumour incidence reduction from 28 % to 8 %, 4 %, 12 %, 8 % and 0 %, respectively. Our data confirm that except for mdv1-miR-M4, the other Meq-clustered miRNAs also play critical roles in MDV oncogenesis. Further work will be needed to elucidate the miRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms that trigger the development of MD lymphomas.

In the past decade, a large number of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified in the viral genome of Gallid herpesvirus 2 (GaHV-2), which is historically known as Marek's disease virus type 1. The biological role of most GaHV-2 miRNAs remains unclear. In the present study, we have performed an overall gene expression profile of GaHV-2 miRNAs during the virus life cycle at each phase of the developing disease, a highly contagious, lymphoproliferative disorder, and neoplastic immunosuppressive disease of poultry known as the Marek's disease. According to their distinct in vivo expression patterns, the GaHV-2 miRNAs can be divided into three groups: 12 miRNAs in group I, including miR-M4-5p, displayed a typical expression pattern potentially correlated to the latent, late cytolytic, and/or the proliferative phases in the cycle of GaHV-2 pathogenesis; group II consisting of another 12 miRNAs with expression correlated to the early cytolytic and/or latent phases in GaHV-2's life cycle; while the other two miRNAs in group III showed no identical expression features. Our findings may provide meaningful clues in the search for further potential functions of viral miRNAs in GaHV-2 biology.

Marek׳s disease virus (MDV) is a representative alpha herpes virus able to induce rapid-onset T-cell lymphoma in its natural host and regarded as an ideal model for the study of virus-induced tumorigenesis. Recent studies have shown that the mdv1-miR-M4-5p, a viral analog of cellular miR-155, is critical for MDV׳s oncogenicity. However, the precise mechanism whereby it was involved in MD lymphomagenesis remained unknown. We have presently identified the host mRNA targets of mdv1-miR-M4-5 and identified the latent TGF-β binding protein 1 (LTBP1) as a critical target for it. We found that during MDV infection, down-regulation of LTBP1 expression by mdv1-miR-M4-5p led to a significant decrease of the secretion and activation of TGF-β1, with suppression of TGF-β signaling and a significant activation of expression of c-Myc, a well-known oncogene which is critical for virus-induced tumorigenesis. Our findings reveal a novel and important mechanism of how mdv1-miR-M4-5p potentially contributes to MDV-induced tumorigenesis.

The study investigates consumers’ intent to patron green restaurants by application of the Value-Attitude-Behavior model. The present study examines the interrelationships among consumers’ values, attitudes, and environmental concerns, and explores how they relate to their intentions to visit green restaurants in Taiwan. Data were gathered by face-to-face surveys, conducted by trained interviewers in a variety of locations, including at train stations, supermarkets, department stores, shopping malls, and adult education classes to obtain data from a representative demographic profile. The findings of this study suggest that the personal values and general attitudes positively affect consumers’ intentions to visit a green restaurant. Additionally, the results found personal values and environmental concern have significant influence on the attitude toward green restaurants. Managerial implications and future directions of these findings were also discussed.

Objectives: Firstly, to test whether the regime of medical accident regulated by the Regulation on the Handling of Medical Accident loses its practical use since the effectiveness of the Tort Law of the People's Republic of China, which provides for a regime of liability for damages caused by medical treatments; Secondly, evaluate whether the characterization of medical accident is still part of medical civil liability regulated in the Chinese Tort Law ; Thirdly, discuss if both regimes - which now originate from different legal documents - contain the same requirements and the same scope. Methodology: were mainly based on bibliography and the investigation of norms related to both regimes.. Result and Conclusion: even though the regime that regulates medical accidents loses its practical use regarding the medical civil liability, it still maintains its utility as a practical guide for administration . The existence of medical accident is not a direct need to characterize medical civil liability regulated in the new law. The illicit fact, medical negligence or fault, damage, causality and medical institution and medical staff members as subjects are the requisites of both regimes. Notwithstanding some of them have different understanding, such as the contents relating to the illegality, to medical negligence or fault and damage. Objetivos: En primer, observar si el régimen del accidente médico pierde o no su utilidad práctica a partir de la entrada en vigor de la Ley de Responsabilidad Civil de la República Popular de China. La Ley prevé específicamente un régimen de la responsabilidad por los daños causados por tratamientos médicos; en según , evaluar si la constitución de accidente médico sigue siendo un suposición de la responsabilidad civil médica prevista en la ley citada; En tercer , analizar si los dos regímenes, que pertenecen a diferentes diplomas legales, exhiben los mismos requisitos y si cada uno de ellos tiene el mismo alcance . Metodología: se realizaron estudios bibliográficos y normativos que se relacionan con los dos regímenes. Resultado y conclusión: el régimen de accidentes médicos sólo pierde su utilidad práctica relativa a la responsabilidad civil médica, pero sigue siendo de utilidad práctica de carácter administrativo. La caracterización del accidente médico no es un supuesto de la responsabilidad civil médica prevista en la nueva ley. Los requisitos para ambos regímenes son el hecho ilícito, negligencia médica o culpa, daño, nexo de causalidad e institución médica y profesionales sanitarios como sujetos, pero algunos de estos requisitos tienen un ámbito diferente, como en las partes relativas a la ilicitud, la negligencia médica o la culpa y el daño. Objetivos: observar se o regime do erro médico previsto no Regulamento para o Tratamento de Acidentes Médicos perde ou não a sua utilidade prática a partir da entrada em vigor da Lei de Responsabilidade Civil da República Popular da China que prevê especificamente um regime da responsabilidade pelos danos causados por tratamentos médicos; segundo, ver se a constituição de acidente médico ainda é um pressuposto da responsabilidade civil médica prevista na lei citada; terceiro, ver se ambos os regimes, agora de diferentes diplomas legais, requerem os mesmos requisitos e se cada um destes tem o mesmo âmbito. Metodologia: executaram-se estudos bibliográficos e normativos que se relacionam com os dois regimes. Resultado e conclusão: o regime de acidente médico apenas perde a sua utilidade prática relativa à responsabilidade civil médica, mas ainda se mantém a sua utilidade prática de natureza administrativa. A constituição de acidente médico não é um pressuposto da responsabilidade civil médica prevista na nova lei. Os requisitos para ambos os regimes são o facto ilícito, negligência médica ou culpa, dano, nexo de causalidade e instituição médica e profissionais de saúde como sujeitos, mas alguns destes requisitos têm âmbito diferente, como nas partes relativas à ilicitue, à negligência médica ou culpa e ao dano.

Gallid alphaherpesvirus 2 (GaHV2) is an oncogenic avian herpesvirus inducing Marek’s disease (MD) and rapid-onset T-cell lymphomas. To reveal molecular events in MD pathogenesis and tumorigenesis, the dynamic splenic transcriptome of GaHV2-infected chickens during early infection and pathogenic phases has been determined utilizing RNA-seq. Based on the significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs), analysis of gene ontology, KEGG pathway and protein-protein interaction network has demonstrated that the molecular events happening during GaHV2 infection are highly relevant to the disease course. In the ‘Cornell Model’ description of MD, innate immune responses and inflammatory responses were established at early cytolytic phase but persisted until lymphoma formation. Humoral immunity in contrast began to play a role firstly in the intestinal system and started at late cytolytic phase. Neurological damage caused by GaHV2 is first seen in early cytolytic phase and is then sustained throughout the following phases over a long time period. During the proliferative phase many pathways associated with transcription and/or translation were significantly enriched, reflecting the cell transformation and lymphoma formation. Our work provides an overall view of host responses to GaHV2 infection and offers a meaningful basis for further studies of MD biology.

The authors describe an ultrasensitive method for simultaneous detection of neomycin (NEO) and quinolones antibiotics (QNS). It is based on the use of (a) two immuno-nanoprobes (a probe for NEO and a probe for QNS), (b) surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection, and (c), a portable lateral flow assay (LFA). The two probes consist of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) conjugated to the Raman active molecule 4-aminothiophenol (PATP), and to monoclonal antibody against NEO (NEO mAb) or against NOR (NOR mAb). Quantitative detection of NEO and QNS was realized via SERS of the PATP-coated AuNPs captured in the test line of a LFA. Under optimized condition, the visual limits of LFA are 10 ng·mL−1 for NEO and 200 ng·mL−1 for NOR, and with LODs down to 0.37 pg·mL−1 and 0.55 pg·mL−1 by using SERS. The NEO test line is not interfered by the NEO analogues gentamycin, streptomycin and tobramycin, but the NOR test line suffers from different degrees of cross-reactivity (CR) to 12 common other QNS, the CRs ranging from 1.5% to 136%. The recoveries of NEO and NOR from spiked milk samples ranged between 86% and 121%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) from 3% to 6%. The method is highly sensitive, accurate and effective. It may be applied to simultaneous detection of NEO and 8 QNS, including NOR, enoxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, fleroxacin, marbofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and pefloxacin.

Peiyang Ding,1,2 Teng Zhang,2,3 Yafei Li,1,2 Man Teng,2 Yaning Sun,2 Xiao Liu,2,4 Shujun Chai,2 Enmin Zhou,1 Qianyue Jin,2,5 Gaiping Zhang1,2,4,5 1College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 2Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Immunology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 3College of Life Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, 4College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 5Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Recent advancements in biotechnology have enabled the rapid identification and subsequent expression of pathogenic microbial major antigens that induce protective immune responses. However, subunit vaccines have not been successfully commercialized mainly due to the lack of sufficient levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAs). High levels of NA rely on the efficient recognition and cross-linking of multiple neutralizing epitopes with B-cell receptors (BCRs). Nanoparticles are able to display coupled antigenic arrays at high density and provide multiple binding molecular scenarios with BCRs. The high-resolution antigenic structure makes it possible to accurately display stable neutralizing epitopes. Therefore, the development of a nanovaccine that orientationally displays neutralizing epitopes is a feasible strategy. To address this hypothesis, the capsid (Cap) protein of porcine circovirus type 2 as model antigen was conjugated to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through direct reaction of the mercapto group of the unique cysteines with AuNPs, rendering Cap-AuNPs to have neutralizing epitopes on outer surface and an immunodominant epitope buried within the inner surface. In vitro studies showed that AuNPs promoted the phagocytosis of Cap protein and NA levels were significantly improved, meanwhile antibody levels against the immunodominant epitope was significantly reduced. In mouse studies, Cap-AuNP-immunized mice displayed a high production of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, and interferon-γ, suggesting that Cap-AuNPs can effectively activate CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and balance Th1 and Th2 cellular responses. This study presents a new vaccine design strategy based on antigen structure, where nanoparticles are coupled to antigens in well-ordered arrays and orientationally display neutralizing epitopes to enhance NA levels. Keywords: gold nanoparticles, porcine circovirus type 2, neutralizing antibody, epitopes, structure, orientationally display

The importance of peptides in regulatory interactions has caused peptide-protein docking to attract the attention of many researchers. A variety of methods for molecular modeling of peptide-protein docking, such as local search and global search, are currently used.The interactions of 11 peptides and CSFV E2 protein were evaluated by the GalaxyPepDock and FlexX/ SYBYL programs, respectively. The assessment scores of all the peptides were correlated with their KOur results demonstrate that considering the flexibility of the peptide is better than searching for more potential binding sites on the target protein surface while performing peptide-protein molecular docking. These data provide reasonable evidence for the molecular design of peptides and guidance for the functional assignment of target proteins. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

In the last decade, numerous microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified in diverse virus families, particularly in herpesviruses. Gallid alphaherpesvirus 2 (GaHV2) is a representative oncogenic alphaherpesvirus that induces rapid-onset T-cell lymphomas in its natural hosts, namely Marek’s disease (MD). In the GaHV2 genome there are 26 mature miRNAs derived from 14 precursors assembled into three clusters, namely the Meq-cluster, Mid-cluster and LAT-cluster. Several GaHV2 miRNAs, especially those in the Meq-cluster (e.g. miR-M4-5p), have been demonstrated to be critical in MD pathogenesis and/or tumorigenesis. Interestingly the downstream Mid-cluster is regulated and transcribed by the same promoter as the Meq-cluster in the latent phase of the infection, but the role of these Mid-clustered miRNAs in GaHV2 biology remains unclear. We have generated the deletion mutants of the Mid-cluster and of its associated individual miRNAs in GX0101 virus, a very virulent GaHV2 strain, and demonstrated that the Mid-clustered miRNAs are not essential for virus replication. Using GaHV2-infected chickens as an animal model, we found that, compared with parental GX0101 virus, the individual deletion of miR-M31 decreased the mortality and gross tumour incidence of infected chickens while the deletion individually of miR-M1 or miR-M11 unexpectedly increased viral pathogenicity or oncogenicity, similarly to the deletion of the entire Mid-cluster region. More importantly, our data further confirm that miR-M11-5p, the miR-M11-derived mature miRNA, targets the viral oncogene meq and suppresses its expression in GaHV2 infection. We report here that members of the Mid-clustered miRNAs, miR-M31-3p and miR-M11-5p, potentially act either as oncogene or tumour suppressor in MD lymphomagenesis.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is an important immunosuppressive virus in chickens. Surface immunoglobulin M (sIgM)-bearing B lymphocytes act as the major targets of IBDV in the bursa of Fabricius, and sIgM may function as one of the membrane binding sites responsible for IBDV infection. Recently, using the virus overlay protein binding assay, the chicken λ light chain of sIgM was identified to specifically interact with IBDV in a virulence-independent manner in vitro. To further investigate sIgM λ light chain-mediated IBDV binding and infection in pre-B cells, the cell line DT40, which is susceptible to both pathogenic and attenuated IBDV, was used. Based on the RNA interference strategy, the DT40 cell line whose λ light chain of sIgM was stably knocked down, herein termed DT40LKD, was generated by the genomic integration of a specific small hairpin RNA and a green fluorescence protein co-expression construct. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that the binding of IBDV to DT40LKD cells was significantly reduced due to the loss of sIgM λ light chain. In particular, reduced viral replication was observed in IBDV-incubated DT40LKD cells, and no viral release into cell culture medium was detected by the IBDV rapid diagnostic strips. In addition, the rescue of sIgM λ light chain expression restored viral binding and replication in DT40LKD cells. These results show that sIgM λ light chain appears to be beneficial for IBDV attachment and infection, suggesting that sIgM acts as a binding site involved in IBDV infection.

We are developing a broad-coverage deep semantic lexicon for a system that parses sentences into a logical form expressed in a rich ontology that supports reasoning. In this paper we look at verb-particle constructions (VPCs), and the extent to which they can be treated compositionally vs idiomatically. First we distinguish between the different types of VPCs based on their compositionality and then present a set of heuristics for classifying specific instances as compositional or not. We then identify a small set of general sense classes for particles when used compositionally and discuss the resulting lexical representations that are being added to the lexicon. By treating VPCs as compositional whenever possible, we attain broad coverage in a compact way, and also enable interpretations of novel VPC usages not explicitly present in the lexicon.

The microRNA (miRNA) mdv1-miR-M4, a functional miR-155 ortholog encoded by oncogenic Marek's disease virus (MDV), has previously been suggested to be involved in MDV pathogenesis. Using the technique of bacterial artificial chromosome mutagenesis, we have presently evaluated the potential role of mdv1-miR-M4 in the oncogenesis of the very virulent (vv) MDV strain GX0101. Unexpectedly, deletions of the Meq-cluster or mdv1-miR-M4 alone from the viral genome strongly decreased rather than abolished its oncogenicity. Compared to GX0101, mortalities of mutants GXΔmiR-M4 and GXΔMeq-miRs were reduced from 100% to 18% and 4%, coupled with the gross tumor incidence reduction from 28% to 22% and 8%, respectively. Our data suggests that the mdv1-miR-M4 is possibly an important regulator in the development of Marek's disease (MD) lymphomas but is not essential for the oncogenicity of vvMDV. In addition, some of the other Meq-clustered miRNAs may also play potentially critical roles in vvMDV induction of lymphomas.

Marek&rsquo, s disease virus (MDV), a lymphotropic &alpha, herpesvirus associated with T-cell lymphomas in chickens, is an excellent model for herpesvirus biology and virus-induced oncogenesis. Marek&rsquo, s disease (MD) is also one of the cancers against which a vaccine was first used. In the lymphomas and lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from them, MDV establishes latent infection with limited gene expression. Although LCLs are valuable for interrogating viral and host gene functions, molecular determinants associated with the maintenance of MDV latency and lytic switch remain largely unknown, mainly due to the lack of tools for in situ manipulation of the genomes in these cell lines. Here we describe the first application of CRISPR/Cas9 editing approach for precise editing of the viral gene phosphoprotein 38 (pp38), a biomarker for latent/lytic switch in MDV-transformed LCLs MDCC-MSB-1 (Marek&rsquo, s disease cell line MSB-1) and MDCC-HP8. Contradictory to the previous reports suggesting that pp38 is involved in the maintenance of transformation of LCL MSB-1 cells, we show that pp38-deleted cells proliferated at a significant higher rate, suggesting that pp38 is dispensable for the transformed state of these cell lines. Application of CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing of MDV-transformed cell lines in situ opens up further opportunities towards a better understanding of MDV pathogenesis and virus-host interactions.

Recently, sustainability management has developed in the hospitality industry. Green restaurants have been progressively joining the hospitality industry. Consumer patronage determines the sustainable development of the green restaurant. This paper aims to explore the structural relationships among perceived values (hedonic and utilitarian values), consumer preference and behavior intentions of the green restaurant. A total of 278 valid questionnaires were collected, and the partial least squares (PLS) method was utilized to measure and test the research hypotheses. The study presents empirical evidence showing that hedonic and utilitarian values have significantly and positively affected consumer preferences for green restaurants and that utilitarian value and customer preferences have significantly and positively influenced behavior intentions of green restaurant. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate that consumer preferences partially mediate the relationships between utilitarian value and behavior intentions of the green restaurant. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

Marek's disease is a highly contagious, oncogenic, and immunosuppressive avian viral disease. Surveillance of newly registered Marek's disease virus (MDV) isolates is meaningful for revealing the potential factors involved in increased virulence. Presently, we have focused on the molecular characteristics of all available MDVs from China, including 17 new Henan isolates. Based on Meq, gE, and gI genes, we found that most Chinese isolates contain conserved amino acid point mutations in Meq, such as E(77), A(115), A(139), R(176), and A(217), compared to USA virulent MDVs. However, the 59-aa or 60-aa insertions are only found in a few mild MDVs rather than virulent MDVs in China. Further phylogenetic analysis has demonstrated that a different genotype of MDV has been prevalent in China, and for virulent MDVs, their recent evolution has possibly been geographically restricted. Our study has provided more detailed information regarding the field MDVs circulating in China.

In this study, we want to seek for the results from a study on a reservoir with a single sand body and vertical segmentation to simulate each sand layer individually by using FCM and Petrel software. The results indicated that the black oil simulator E100, the Cartesian coordinate system, the angular point grid and the full implicit solution were used in historical fitting. And plane by 50 for step, the plane was divided into six grids and was vertically divided into six simulation layers. After grid coarsening, the total is 181170. For the oil reservoir block, the fitting error of the cumulative oil production history is 8.65% and the fitting error of the moisture content is 3.42%. For single-well oil production, the mean error is 7.36%, and the mean fitting error of the moisture content is 4.37%. The residual oil remained on top of the thick oil reservoir channel sand after water flooding and is 50.63% of the total surplus geological reserves. Thus, water flooding can improve oil recovery in highly permeable zones. After polymer flooding in a thick reservoir with a top layer of channel sand, the residual oil was 39.26%, which is 11.37% lower than that after water flooding.

A method for the selective separation of polychlorinated naphthalene (PCNs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in complex matrices was developed. In the present study, the type of sorbents and the volume and composition of eluting solvents were investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the recoveries of PCNs, HBCDs and TBBPA in different fractions were determined with liquid/gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC or GC-MS/MS), which was nearly close to 100%. To investigate the feasibility of the developed method, it was applied to isolate target compounds from spiked soil extracts. PCNs, HBCDs and TBBPA could be subsequently eluted with hexane, hexane/dichloromethane (1:1), and hexane/dichloromethane (1:3), and the recoveries of the analysts from three fractions were satisfactory (70.9%–107%) with the exception of γ-HBCD at low levels. The results indicated that the method exhibited good performance for the selective separation of PCNs, HBCDs and TBBPA and showed great potential in sample pretreatment in terms of alleviating influence from different class of impurities to some extent.

This study describes the use of the new model of environmental behavior, which links altruism with the theory of planned behavior (TPB), to predict the relatively difficult behavioral intention of visiting a green hotel in Taiwan. The objectives of the study are threefold. First, the authors empirically examine how individual characteristics of the TPB model affect traveler intention to visit green hotels; second, they apply a TPB model to construct an amended model that focuses on altruism, imported from psychology-based research. Third, by capturing the affective component that motivates behavioral intention, the altruism construct will help bolster the TPB model to the domain of visiting a green hotel. The findings show that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and altruism all positively affect customer intention to visit a green hotel. This study also derives wider implications for managers in the hospitality industry, both from a theoretical and practical viewpoint.

Due to deep economic and social changes in China health care delivery faces severe difficulties in order to satisfy the patient’s needs, thus leading to frequent conflict between patients and health care facilities and/or doctors. Since regular courts seem unable to solve medical litigation cases in a way considered satisfactory for both parties Chinese government created the so called “medical accident tribunals”. These courts are characterised by two main notes: on the one hand, their composition, since, unlike regular courts, they are composed by deciders with medical expertise; on the other hand, the fact that the activity developed by these courts is restricted to the field of medical liability, thus, this specialization allows them to decide faster and supposable in a more just way. However, and despite the main development that medical accident courts represent, they are just a small piece of the main reform required by medical conflicts around China. Debido a los profundos cambios económicos y sociales en China la prestación de atención de salud está enfrentando serias dificultades para satisfacer las necesidades de los pacientes, lo que lleva a frecuentes conflictos entre pacientes y médicos y/o centros de salud.Desde los tribunales ordinarios parecen incapaces de dar solución a las controversias médicas de manera satisfactoria, el gobierno chino ha creado los tribunales del accidente médico. Estos tribunales se caracterizan por dos notas claves: por un lado, su composición, que están compuestas por los encargados de la adopción de decisiones con conocimientos médicos; por otro lado, el hecho de que las actividades de los tribunales del accidente médico si restringir el ámbito de la responsabilidad médica, y que esta especialización les permite decidir los casos de manera más rapida y e más justo. Sin embargo, y a pesar del gran desarrollo representada por los tribunales del accidente médico, sólo representan una pequeña parte de la gran reforma médica requerida por los conflictos que tienen l en China. Devido às profundas mudanças económicas e sociais na China a prestação de cuidados de saúde enfrenta sérias dificuldades para satisfazer as necessidades dos pacientes, conduzindo pois a frequentes conflitos entre pacientes e médicos e/ou estabelecimentos de cuidados de saúde. Uma vez que os tribunais comuns parecem incapazes de resolver os litígios médicos de uma forma considerada satisfatória para ambas as partes, o Governo Chinês criou os tribunais do acidente médico. Estes tribunais são caracterizados por duas notas principais: por um lado a sua composição, dado que, e ao contrário dos tribunais judiciais, são compostos por decisores com conhecimentos médicos; por outro lado, o facto de a actividade dos tribunais do acidente médico se restringir ao campo da responsabilidade médica, sendo que esta especialização lhes permite decidir os casos de uma forma mais expedita e supostamente mais justa. Contudo, e apesar do grande desenvolvimento representado pelos tribunais do acidente médico, eles representam apenas uma pequena peça da grande reforma exigida pelos conflitos médicos que têm lugar por toda a China.