PURPOSE The function of the appendix is largely unknown, but its microbiota likely contributes to function. Alterations in microbiota may contribute to appendicitis, but conventional culture studies have not yielded conclusive information. We conducted a pilot, culture-independent 16S rRNA-based microbiota study of paired appendix and rectal samples. METHODS We collected appendix and rectal s...

Virions of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) contain six membrane proteins: the major proteins GP5 and M and the minor proteins GP2a, E, GP3, and GP4. Here, we studied the envelope protein requirements for PRRSV particle formation and infectivity using full-length cDNA clones in which the genes encoding the membrane proteins were disrupted by site-directed mutagenesis....

Introduction Severe epidemic of sow abortion and sow mortality firstly appeared in the USA in the last quarter of 1996 (1). Clinical episodes (first referred to as sow abortion and mortality syndrome [SAMS]) typically lasted 1 to 5 weeks and were characterized by an high rate of abortion and a sow mortality. The severity of acute PRRS episodes raised the suspicion that a new disease had emerged...

The technology of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) has provided a new option for mitigating global anthropogenic emissions with unique advantages. However, the potential risk of gas leakage from CO2 sequestration and utilization processes has attracted considerable attention. Moreover, leakage might threaten soil ecosystems and thus cannot be ignored. In this study, a simulation e...

The elevational pattern of soil microbial diversity along mountain slopes has received considerable interest over the last decade. An increasing amount of taxonomic data on soil microbial community composition along elevation gradients have been collected, however the trophic patterns and environmental drivers of elevational changes remain largely unclear. Here, we examined the distribution pat...

In order to gain insight into the role of the transcription regulatory sequences (TRSs) in the regulation of gene expression and replication of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene, under the control of the different structural gene TRSs, was inserted between the N gene and 3′-UTR of the PRRSV genome and EGFP expression ...

Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to assess the different surface treatments effect of yttrium oxide partially stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) dental ceramic on its surface roughness and shear bond strength to dentin. Surface topography of zirconia was studied with atomic force microscopy AFM. Materials and Methods: A Total of 35 discs of zirconia dental ceramic of ...

We present the MU-CSeq tool for the verification of multi-threaded C programs with dynamic thread creation, dynamic memory allocation, and pointer arithmetic. It is based on sequentializing the programs over the new notion of individual memory location unwinding (IMU). IMU is derived from the notion of memory unwinding that has been implemented in the previous versions of MUCSeq. The main conce...