MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs that play significant roles in most cellular processes. In the seemingly endless arms race between hosts and pathogens, viruses also encode miRNAs that ...facilitate successful infection. In search of functional miRNAs or viral small RNAs (vsRNAs) encoded by Dengue virus (DENV), deep sequencing data of virus-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were used. From six vsRNAs, with candidate stem-loop structures in the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of the viral genomic RNA, inhibition of DENV–vsRNA-5 led to significant increases in viral replication. Silencing of RNA interference (RNAi)/miRNA pathways’ associated proteins showed that Argonaute 2 is mainly involved in DENV–vsRNA-5 biogenesis. Cloning of the precursor stem loop, immunoprecipitations, ectopic expression and detection in RNAi-deficient C6/36, and the mammalian Vero cell lines further confirmed DENV–vsRNA-5 production. Furthermore, significant impact of synthetic mimic and inhibitor of DENV–vsRNA-5 on DENV RNA levels revealed DENV–vsRNA-5’s role in virus autoregulation by targeting the virus nonstructural protein 1 gene. Notably, DENV–vsRNA-5 homologous mimics from DENV serotypes 1 and 4, but not 3, inhibited DENV-2 replication. The results revealed that DENV is able to encode functional vsRNAs, and one of those, which resembles miRNAs, specifically targets a viral gene, opening an avenue for possible utilization of the small RNA to limit DENV replication.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Display omitted
•MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression.•Following infection, miRNA profile of the host is altered either due to defence or manipulation by the ...pathogen.•Virus-encoded miRNAs regulate host or viral genes facilitating establishment of infection.
Insects are the most successful group of animals on earth, owing this partly to their very effective immune responses to microbial invasion. These responses mainly include cellular and humoral responses as well as RNA interference (RNAi). Small non-coding RNAs (snRNAs) produced through RNAi are important molecules in the regulation of gene expression in almost all living organisms; contributing to important processes such as development, differentiation, immunity as well as host–microorganism interactions. The main snRNAs produced by the RNAi response include short interfering RNAs, microRNAs and piwi-interacting RNAs. In addition to the host snRNAs, some microorganisms encode snRNAs that affect the dynamics of host–pathogen interactions. In this review, we will discuss the latest developments in regards to the role of microRNA in insect host–pathogen interactions and provide some insights into this rapidly developing area of research.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In this paper, we propose a novel and efficient framework for 3D action recognition using a deep learning architecture. First, we develop a 3D normalized pose space that consists of only 3D ...normalized poses, which are generated by discarding translation and orientation information. From these poses, we extract joint features and employ them further in a Deep Neural Network (DNN) in order to learn the action model. The architecture of our DNN consists of two hidden layers with the sigmoid activation function and an output layer with the softmax function. Furthermore, we propose a keyframe extraction methodology through which, from a motion sequence of 3D frames, we efficiently extract the keyframes that contribute substantially to the performance of the action. In this way, we eliminate redundant frames and reduce the length of the motion. More precisely, we ultimately summarize the motion sequence, while preserving the original motion semantics. We only consider the remaining essential informative frames in the process of action recognition, and the proposed pipeline is sufficiently fast and robust as a result. Finally, we evaluate our proposed framework intensively on publicly available benchmark Motion Capture (MoCap) datasets, namely HDM05 and CMU. From our experiments, we reveal that our proposed scheme significantly outperforms other state-of-the-art approaches.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
A large number of researchers are engaged in studying the determinants and consequences of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Although optimism abounds, in particular, few empirical evidence is ...available for Pakistani businessmen and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) operators on how to benefit from this tremendous opportunity. Our study examined how top managers/owners of Pakistani energy sector SMEs can innovate their businesses to reap the benefits of CPEC. We have examined the influence of demographic factors (age, education, experience, and financial literacy) of top managers/owners on different forms of innovation (product, process, marketing, and organization) and their consequent chances of success through participation in CPEC.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper, we study the effect of Barrow entropy on the thermodynamic properties and geometry of specific black holes along with the nonlinear source. We investigate the mass, temperature, ...thermodynamic variable, and electric potential of the black hole as well. Furthermore, we examine the behavior of heat capacity to check the stability of a black hole. Geometrothermodynamics allows us to describe interactions between thermodynamics, critical points, and phase transitions by considering the geometric characteristics of the thermodynamic equilibrium space. Our analysis demonstrates that these findings are consistent with the results derived from the classical thermodynamics of black holes.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The endosymbiont Wolbachia is common among insects and known for the reproductive manipulations it exerts on hosts as well as inhibition of virus replication in their hosts. Recently, we showed that ...Wolbachia uses host microRNAs to manipulate host gene expression for its efficient maintenance in the dengue mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. Cytosine methylation is mediated by a group of proteins called DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferases, which are structurally and functionally conserved from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The biological functions of cytosine methylation include host defense, genome stability, gene regulation, developmental promotion of organs, and lifespan regulation. Ae. aegypti has only one DNA methyltransferase gene (AaDnmt2) belonging to the cytosine methyltransferase family 2, which is the most deeply conserved and widely distributed gene among metazoans. Here, we show that in mosquitoes the introduced endosymbiont, Wolbachia. significantly suppresses expression of AaDnmt2, but dengue virus induces expression of AaDnmt2. Interestingly, we found that aae-miR-2940 microRNA, which is exclusively expressed in Wolbachia-' inf ected mosquitoes, down-regulates the expression of AaDnmt2. Reversely, overexpression of AaDnmt2 in mosquito cells led to inhibition of Wolbachia replication, but significantly promoted replication of dengue virus, suggesting a causal link between this Wolbachia manipulation and the blocking of dengue replication in Wolbachia infected mosquitoes. In addition, our findings provide an explanation for hypomethylation of the genome in Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
RNA interference (RNAi) is considered an ancient antiviral defense in diverse organisms, including insects. Virus infections generate double-strand RNAs (dsRNAs) that trigger the RNAi machinery to ...process dsRNAs into virus-derived short interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs), which target virus genomes, mRNAs, or replication intermediates. Viruses, in turn, have evolved viral suppressors of RNAi (VSRs) to counter host antiviral RNAi. Following recent discoveries that insects mount an RNAi response against DNA viruses, in this study, we found that Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) infection similarly induces an RNAi response in Spodoptera frugiperda cells by generating a large number of vsiRNAs postinfection. Interestingly, we found that AcMNPV expresses a potent VSR to counter RNAi. The viral p35 gene, which is well known as an inhibitor of apoptosis, was found to be responsible for the suppression of RNAi in diverse insect and mammalian cells. The VSR activity of p35 was further confirmed by a p35-null AcMNPV that did not suppress the response. In addition, our results showed that the VSR activity is not due to inhibition of dsRNA cleavage by Dicer-2 but acts downstream in the RNAi pathway. Furthermore, we found that the VSR activity is not linked to the antiapoptotic activity of the protein. Overall, our results provide evidence for the existence of VSR activity in a double-stranded DNA virus and identify the responsible gene, which is involved in the inhibition of RNAi as well as apoptosis.
Our findings demonstrate the occurrence of an insect RNAi response against a baculovirus (AcMNPV) that is highly utilized in microbial control, biological and biomedical research, and protein expression. Moreover, our investigations led to the identification of a viral suppressor of RNAi activity and the gene responsible for the activity. Notably, this gene is also a potent inhibitor of apoptosis. The outcomes signify the dual role of a virus-encoded protein in nullifying two key antiviral responses, apoptosis and RNAi.
In this research, we address the national identity in the ideas of Abdel-Kareem Qassem, which he emphasized and emphasized through his speeches and speeches on various occasions. National identity ...means public order in society according to a moral principle within a cohesive community fabric, as well as awareness of " In the love of the homeland and loyalty to him and sacrifice in his way, "as emphasized by Abdul KarimQassem, Abdul KarimQassim printed the policy of the Government of the revolution in its own character, values and principles that he believed in and seeks to achieve, his political principles were clear fundamental embraced and derived from the need of people and their suffering, It has been t The principles are on the tongues of political blocs, parties, individuals and conscious figures, echoing them in their councils and speaking to them on every occasion to express their opinions. These principles were not necessarily based on political philosophy or ideas absorbed by political bulletins and
In the present era, women are recognized as successful entrepreneurs through their strong desire, qualities, and capabilities for robust economic development. Due to such an important contribution of ...women in economic development, we propose to investigate the factors which affect women entrepreneur's success in Pakistan. Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 181 registered SMEs operating in Pakistan. A conceptual model is developed, while SPSS and AMOS software's are used for analysis. The results indicate that the internal factors including the need for achievements, risk-taking, and self-confidence and external factors including economic factors and socio-cultural factors have a positive and significant influence on the success of women-owned enterprises. This research recommends Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), policymakers, and practitioners to encourage women entrepreneurs to run their businesses for the long term by providing a variety of incentives and supports related to those internal and external factors. Numerous studies have been conducted to test the different factors' effects on women's entrepreneurial success, but our study investigated some psychological, cultural, and religious factors that are still almost untouched especially in Pakistan. The current study also contributes to the existing literature through empirical shreds of evidence.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK