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Recently published near full-length KSHV genomes from a Cameroon Kaposi sarcoma case-control study showed strong evidence of viral recombination and mixed infections, but no sequence variations associated with disease. Using the same methodology, an additional 102 KSHV genomes from 76 individuals with KSHV-associated diseases have been sequenced. Diagnoses comprise all KSHV-associated diseases (KAD): Kaposi sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), KSHV-associated large cell lymphoma (KSHV-LCL), a type of multicentric Castleman disease (KSHV-MCD), and KSHV inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS). Participants originated from 22 different countries, providing the opportunity to obtain new near full-length sequences of a wide diversity of KSHV genomes. These include near full-length sequence of genomes with KSHV K1 subtypes A, B, C, and F as well as subtype E, for which no full sequence was previously available. High levels of recombination were observed. Fourteen individuals (18%) showed evidence of infection with multiple KSHV variants (from two to four unique genomes). Twenty-six comparisons of sequences, obtained from various sampling sites including PBMC, tissue biopsies, oral fluids, and effusions in the same participants, identified near complete genome conservation between different biological compartments. Polymorphisms were identified in coding and non-coding regions, including indels in the K3 and K15 genes and sequence inversions here reported for the first time. One such polymorphism in KSHV ORF46, specific to the KSHV K1 subtype E2, encoded a mutation in the leucine loop extension of the uracil DNA glycosylase that results in alteration of biochemical functions of this protein. This confirms that KSHV sequence variations can have functional consequences warranting further investigation. This study represents the largest and most diverse analysis of KSHV genome sequences to date among individuals with KAD and provides important new information on global KSHV genomics. Author summary: The prevalence of KSHV infection, one of eight viruses associated with human cancer, differs geographically as does the incidence of Kaposi sarcoma and other KSHV-associated diseases. Distribution of KSHV subtypes, defined solely by the sequence of the K1 gene, also differs by region. One hundred and two near full-length KSHV genomes from people with associated diseases from a wide variety of countries were sequenced, substantially increasing the number and diversity of KSHV genomes publicly available, thereby allowing the analysis of variance across geographical regions, potential contributions of viral genetics to the risk of disease, and viral evolution. Our data demonstrate that viral recombination is common, as previously published, and that infections with multiple KSHV genomes may also be frequent, which has not been widely reported. We did not find evidence of an association between viral subtypes and disease nor indications that different sampling sites from the same individual, including tumor specimens, harbored substantially different KSHV genomes. Our data significantly inform the current efforts to study epidemiology and the prevention of KSHV infection, including vaccine development, as well as the pathogenesis of associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the fast-acting nature of ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin (ETX), it is necessary that therapeutic interventions following a bioterrorism incident by one of these toxins occur as soon as possible after intoxication. Moreover, because the clinical manifestations of intoxication by these agents are likely to be indistinguishable from each other, especially following aerosol exposure, we have developed a cocktail of chimeric monoclonal antibodies that is capable of neutralizing all three toxins. The efficacy of this cocktail was demonstrated in mouse models of lethal dose toxin challenge.

Without an approved vaccine or treatments, Ebola outbreak management has been limited to palliative care and barrier methods to prevent transmission. These approaches, however, have yet to end the 2014 outbreak of Ebola after its prolonged presence in West Africa. Here we show that a combination of monoclonal antibodies (ZMapp), optimized from two previous antibody cocktails, is able to rescue 100% of rhesus macaques when treatment is initiated up to 5 days post-challenge. High fever, viraemia and abnormalities in blood count and blood chemistry were evident in many animals before ZMapp intervention. Advanced disease, as indicated by elevated liver enzymes, mucosal haemorrhages and generalized petechia could be reversed, leading to full recovery. ELISA and neutralizing antibody assays indicate that ZMapp is cross-reactive with the Guinean variant of Ebola. ZMapp exceeds the efficacy of any other therapeutics described so far, and results warrant further development of this cocktail for clinical use., Ebola virus (EBOV) infections cause severe illness in humans, and after an incubation period of 3 to 21 days, patients initially present with general flu-like symptoms before a rapid progression [...]

he present study systematically reviews the existing research on immersive decentralized 3D digital worlds and the industrial metaverse. Throughout August 2022, a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases was performed, with search terms including “the immersive in- dustrial metaverse” + “virtual modeling and image-based visual computing tech- nologies,” “Internet of Things-based decision support and remote sensing systems,” and “context awareness and spatio-temporal fusion algorithms.” As research published in 2022 was inspected, only 151 articles satisfied the eligibility criteria. By taking out controversial or ambiguous findings (insufficient/irrelevant data), outcomes unsubstantiated by replication, too general material, or studies with nearly identical titles, we selected 17 mainly empirical sources. Data visualization tools: Dimensions (bibliometric mapping) and VOSviewer (layout algorithms). Reporting quality assessment tool: PRISMA. Methodological quality assessment tools include: AMSTAR, Dedoose, Distiller SR, and SRDR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most algae, NO3− assimilation is tightly controlled and is often inhibited by the presence of NH4+. In the marine, non-colonial, non-diazotrophic cyanobacterium Synechococcus UTEX 2380, NO3− assimilation is sensitive to NH4+ only when N does not limit growth. We sequenced the genome of Synechococcus UTEX 2380, studied the genetic organization of the nitrate assimilation related (NAR) genes, and investigated expression and kinetics of the main NAR enzymes, under N or light limitation. We found that Synechococcus UTEX 2380 is a β-cyanobacterium with a full complement of N uptake and assimilation genes and NAR regulatory elements. The nitrate reductase of our strain showed biphasic kinetics, previously observed only in freshwater or soil diazotrophic Synechococcus strains. Nitrite reductase and glutamine synthetase showed little response to our growth treatments, and their activity was usually much higher than that of nitrate reductase. NH4+ insensitivity of NAR genes may be associated with the stimulation of the binding of the regulator NtcA to NAR gene promoters by the high 2-oxoglutarate concentrations produced under N limitation. NH4+ sensitivity in energy-limited cells fits with the fact that, under these conditions, the use of NH4+ rather than NO3− decreases N-assimilation cost, whereas it would exacerbate N shortage under N limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alternative to the p-k method for obtaining accurate subcritical damping for a flexible aircraft is proposed.

A critical discussion on Indian philosopher Vasubandhu's work Treasury of Metaphysics is presented. Article discusses Vasubandhu's theories related to natural philosophy and their adaptability to modern scientific views.

Theories of free will and moral responsibility as perceived by the Buddhists are analyzed. It is observed that some Western philosophers view philosophical literature on free will as a threat to the religion and morality.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. xii + 203 pp. Cloth, $35.00--People, and perhaps certain other living things, really exist; but chairs, rocks, and all other inanimate, composite material substances [...]

The article presents abstracts pertaining to the cost of marketing. They include "Marketing Charges for Apples Sold in Pittsburgh," by H. W. Bitting and Henry T. Badger, "Women's Accessory and Specialty Stores," and "Sales and Margins by Commodities."

The Lotus Sūtra repeatedly asserts the moral permissibility, in certain circumstances, of deceiving others for their own benefit. The examples it uses to illustrate this view have the features of weak paternalism, but the real-world applications it endorses would today be considered strong paternalism. We can explain this puzzling feature of the text by noting that according to Mahāyāna Buddhists, normal, ordinary people are so irrational that they are relevantly similar to the insane. Kant's determined anti-paternalism, by contrast, relies on an obligation to see others as rational, which can be read in several ways. Recent work in psychology provides support for the Lotus Sūtra's philosophical anthropology while undermining the plausibility of Kant's version. But this result does not necessarily lead to an endorsement of political paternalism, since politicians are not qualified to wield such power. Some spiritual teachers, however, may be morally permitted to benefit their students by deceiving them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses proposals of several scholars on different interpretations of the doctrine of no-self found in the Buddhist Abhidharma literature. Comparison of the textual evidence between Constitutive Reductionism and Eliminativism; Information on the Eliminative Reductionism of Siderits; Role of metaphor in Vaibhasika accounts of the no-self doctrine.

Most attempts to measure the effects of propaganda involve highly artificial techniques. In some cases subjects are asked to forget the experimental situations and to respond naively. In other instances they are given scales to check before and after doses of propaganda. Such attempts, it seemed to the authors, vitiate the very telling point of propaganda or innuendo, its subtlety and indirectness. Inspection of a badly constructed questionnaire suggested to the authors the possibility of creating an unobtrusive instrument of propaganda by deliberately perverting a questionnaire to prejudiced ends, that is, a questionnaire appears as a fact-finding device rather than as a tool for affecting the reader's attitudes. A careful study of several questionnaires thus filled with innuendo indicated that the lay reader usually misses such bias. It seemed possible, therefore, to load a questionnaire in such a way that it might serve as a medium of indoctrination of individuals without their being aware of it.

A number of abstracts are presented for articles pertaining to the field of marketing. They include "The Psychological Approach to the Social Sciences," "Watch Competitors, but Let Needs and Problems Decide Sales Methods" and "Strategy of the Seller--or What Businessmen Won't Tell."