Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity and clonal selection in the human T-cell repertoire

Significance A decline in the diversity of the T-cell receptor repertoire owing to thymic involution has been implicated as causing defective immune responses in the elderly. By applying next-generation sequencing of replicate TCRB libraries from highly purified T-cell subsets, and using nonparametric statistical analysis, we obtain estimates of repertoire richness in the young adult that are higher than previously reported. Although contracting with age, the repertoire remains highly diverse. These data challenge the paradigm that thymic rejuvenation is needed to maintain diversity and prevent immune incompetence in the elderly. However, we observe an increasing inequality of clonal sizes with age even among naïve T cells. This clonal selection could result in biased and possibly autoreactive immune responses. T-cell receptor (TCR) diversity, a prerequisite for immune system recognition of the universe of foreign antigens, is generated in the first two decades of life in the thymus and then persists to an unknown extent through life via homeostatic proliferation of naïve T cells. We have used next-generation sequencing and nonparametric statistical analysis to estimate a lower bound for the total number of different TCR beta (TCRB) sequences in human repertoires. We arrived at surprisingly high minimal estimates of 100 million unique TCRB sequences in naïve CD4 and CD8 T-cell repertoires of young adults. Naïve repertoire richness modestly declined two- to fivefold in healthy elderly. Repertoire richness contraction with age was even less pronounced for memory CD4 and CD8 T cells. In contrast, age had a major impact on the inequality of clonal sizes, as estimated by a modified Gini–Simpson index clonality score. In particular, large naïve T-cell clones that were distinct from memory clones were found in the repertoires of elderly individuals, indicating uneven homeostatic proliferation without development of a memory cell phenotype. Our results suggest that a highly diverse repertoire is maintained despite thymic involution; however, peripheral fitness selection of T cells leads to repertoire perturbations that can influence the immune response in the elderly.
A 3D Photonic-Electronic Integrated Transponder Aggregator With $48\times 16$ Heater Control Cells

An electronic integrated circuit (EIC) and a silicon photonic integrated circuit (PIC) are 3D-integrated. The EIC using the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) part of STMicroelectronics’ BCD8sp <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.16~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> technology controls all 768 switches in the PIC individually and monitors them with 84 transimpedance amplifiers. A scalable analog–digital approach with a cell size of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$100\times 100\,\,\mu \text {m}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for thermal control of optical ring resonator switch matrices is introduced. An electrical power consumption of 220 mW for all electronic control circuits of the optical switch matrix is resulting in 5.5% of the power needed by a constant-voltage control approach.
Quantized stochastic gradient descent: communication versus convergence

Parallel implementations of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) have received significant research attention, thanks to excellent scalability properties of this algorithm, and to its efficiency in the context of training deep neural networks. A fundamental barrier for parallelizing large-scale SGD is the fact that the cost of communicating the gradient updates between nodes can be very large. Consequently, lossy compression heuristics have been proposed, by which nodes only communicate quantized gradients. Although effective in practice, these heuristics do not always provably converge, and it is not clear whether they are optimal. In this paper, we propose Quantized SGD (QSGD), a family of compression schemes which allow the compression of gradient updates at each node, while guaranteeing convergence under standard assumptions. QSGD allows the user to trade off compression and convergence time: it can communicate a sublinear number of bits per iteration in the model dimension, and can achieve asymptotically optimal communication cost. We complement our theoretical results with empirical data, showing that QSGD can significantly reduce communication cost, while being competitive with standard uncompressed techniques on a variety of real tasks.
Structural changes of modified polypropylene with thermoplastic elastomers for medical devices applications

Abstract Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most used materials with applications in the medical field. One approach to replace the phthalate plasticizers from PVC is to use other thermoplastic polymers having the same characteristics and performances as plasticized PVC. Modification of random polypropylene (PPR) by melt mixing technique with different thermoplastic elastomers: (poly[styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene] (SEBS) and poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) at various content ratios was investigation. The obtained blends were characterized by the determination of the elastomer content influence on density, crystallinity index, melting temperature, degree of crystallinity, crystallite size, and phase morphology. The results showed that the melting temperature of PPR/SBS blends was significantly lower than that of PPR/SEBS blends. Addition of SEBS or SBS to PPR had different effect on crystallite sizes and morphology of blends, and the same effect on decrease the degree of crystallinity of blends. The spectra of the blends by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated the presence of specific bands both for propylene, styrene, and ethylene-butadiene. Optical images revealed the appearance of regular and smaller SEBS domains than those of SBS in PPR matrix, making a high compatibility of SEBS with PPR matrix.
Use of Waste Plastic and Waste Rubber Tyres in Flexible Highway Pavements

Plastics are user friendly but not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable. Generally it is disposed by way of land filling or incineration of materials which are hazardous. The better binding property of plastics in its molten state has helped in finding out a method of safe disposal of waste plastics, by using them in road laying. Modified Bitumen is one of the important construction materials for flexible pavements. Use of plastic waste (LDPE) and Crumb Rubber i.e. the rubber obtained from the waste tyres of vehicles, in the construction of flexible pavement is gaining importance. It is also worth mentioning that, the modifier raw-material has been sourced from disposed waste plastic and crumb rubber. This not only allows us to collect modifier raw- material at low cost, but also provides a solution towards ecological menace posed by increased use of plastics (non-biodegradable). In the present study, an attempt has been made to use waste plastic, Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Crumb Rubber, blended using dry process for LDPE and wet process for CRMB. Marshal method of bituminous mix design was carried out for varying percentages of LDPE and Crumb Rubber to determine the different mix design characteristics.
Induced Tissue-Specific Stem Cells and Epigenetic Memory in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have significant implications for overcoming most of the ethical issues associated with embryonic stem (ES) cells. The pattern of expressed genes, DNA methylation, and covalent histone modifications in iPS cells are very similar to those in ES cells. However, it has recently been shown that, following the reprogramming of mouse/human iPS cells, epigenetic memory is inherited from the parental cells. These findings suggest that the phenotype of iPS cells may be influenced by their cells of origin and that their skewed differentiation potential may prove useful in the generation of differentiated cell types that are currently difficult to produce from ES/iPS cells for the treatment of human diseases. Our recent study demonstrated the generation of induced tissue-specific stem (iTS) cells by transient overexpression of the reprogramming factors combined with tissue-specific selection. iTS cells are cells that inherit numerous components of epigenetic memory from donor tissue and acquire self-renewal potential. This review describes the “epigenetic memory” phenomenon in iPS and iTS cells and the possible clinical applications of these stem cells.
Heat transfer measurement of turbulent spots in a hypersonic blunt-body boundary layer

This paper presents data on turbulent-spot propagation in the hypersonic boundary-layer flow over a blunted cylindrical body. Data are based on the measurement of time-dependent surface heat transfer rates using gauges positioned as arrays in either the axial or transverse directions. These are used to provide data on individual spots, including sectional profiles, characteristic spot planform geometries, propagation speeds, growth rates and some information on the development of an internal thermal cell structure and corresponding thermal streaks in the base or calm region of the spot.
Polymer incremental sheet forming process: Temperature analysis using response surface methodology

ABSTRACT To reduce costs associated with the manufacturing of customized products, several innovative forming processes have been developed. Incremental sheet forming (ISF) is one of these new technologies, becoming, in the past decade, more interesting for the academic and industrial community. The influence of main process parameters, namely, tool diameter, spindle speed, feed rate, and step down, is studied in depth in this paper. The maximum temperature achieved during the forming process of a truncated pyramid frustum with a circular generatrix using three nonbiocompatible and two biocompatible polymer materials is measured. Box–Behnken design of experiments and the response surface methodology have been utilized to statistically analyze the results and to provide models able to predict the maximum temperatures.
AON: Towards Arbitrarily-Oriented Text Recognition

Recognizing text from natural images is a hot research topic in computer vision due to its various applications. Despite the enduring research of several decades on optical character recognition (OCR), recognizing texts from natural images is still a challenging task. This is because scene texts are often in irregular (e.g. curved, arbitrarily-oriented or seriously distorted) arrangements, which have not yet been well addressed in the literature. Existing methods on text recognition mainly work with regular (horizontal and frontal) texts and cannot be trivially generalized to handle irregular texts. In this paper, we develop the arbitrary orientation network (AON) to directly capture the deep features of irregular texts, which are combined into an attention-based decoder to generate character sequence. The whole network can be trained end-to-end by using only images and word-level annotations. Extensive experiments on various benchmarks, including the CUTE80, SVT-Perspective, IIIT5k, SVT and ICDAR datasets, show that the proposed AON-based method achieves the-state-of-the-art performance in irregular datasets, and is comparable to major existing methods in regular datasets.
A Wavelet-Based Transformer Differential Protection With Differential Current Transformer Saturation and Cross-Country Fault Detection

The current transformer (CT) saturation phenomenon has been one of the main problems for the power transformer differential protection, leading to incorrect current measurements and relay misoperation. This paper proposes a fast and efficient transformer differential protection scheme with additional differential CT saturation and cross-country fault detection modules after the external fault detection, all of them based on the differential wavelet coefficient energy with border distortions in order to stabilize the relay during external faults and distinguish accurately CT saturation from cross-country internal faults. The proposed method was assessed by using representative simulations of internal faults, transformer energizations, and external faults with CT saturation followed by cross-country internal faults, and good results were achieved.
THERMAL TRANSPORT IN NOVEL THREE DIMENSIONAL CARBON NANOSTRUCTURES

by JUNGKYU PARK Three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures comprised of one-dimensional (1D) and/or two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have several advantages over their base nanomaterials. Due to their dimensionally confined structures, for example, 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D graphene exhibit strong direction-dependent thermal transport properties with extremely inefficient cross-plane properties. However, 3D carbon nanostructures such as pillared graphene structures (PGS) are expected to be efficient in both in-plane and cross-plane thermal transport. The aim of this thesis is providing the detailed understanding of thermal transport in 3D carbon nanostructures comprised of CNTs and graphene. Reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations were used to show that PGS and CNT networks can have both high in-plane and high cross-plane thermal conductivities comparable to their base nanomaterials, i.e. CNTs and graphene, and also to show that their thermal properties are tunable through altering their architectures. The results indicate that thermal resistances at CNT-graphene junctions result from the
Prognosis of patients with ascites after PleurX insertion: an observational study

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the safety of PleurX in cirrhotic patients with refractory ascites. Methods: We prospectively registered patients who received a PleurX catheter cirrhosis-associated refractory ascites at our department from July 2015 to November 2016. Our control group consisted of matched cirrhotic patients with refractory ascites treated with large volume paracentesis (LVP) and patients with malignant ascites treated with PleurX during the same period. Results: We included 25 patients with cirrhosis-related ascites (7 in PleurX group) and 17 with malignant ascites (14 in PleurX group). Of these, six patients had hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis (5 in PleurX group). None were eligible for insertion of a TIPS or liver transplantation. The maximum duration of follow-up was (480 days) in the PleurX group and 366 days in the LVP group (median 84 and 173 days, respectively). There was no difference in mortality when comparing PleurX with LVP treatment (hazard ratios: 3.0 and 1.0, p = .23 and .96, respectively). Mortality was higher in patients with malignant ascites (p= .01). We found no significant differences in adverse events (incl. spontaneous bacterial peritonitis) or in P-albumin, P-creatinine and P-sodium between the groups. Conclusion: PleurX insertion for the treatment of refractory ascites in cirrhotic patients appears to be safe. Prospective randomized trials are necessary in order to confirm these findings.
Beaked Whales Respond to Simulated and Actual Navy Sonar

Beaked whales have mass stranded during some naval sonar exercises, but the cause is unknown. They are difficult to sight but can reliably be detected by listening for echolocation clicks produced during deep foraging dives. Listening for these clicks, we documented Blainville's beaked whales, Mesoplodon densirostris, in a naval underwater range where sonars are in regular use near Andros Island, Bahamas. An array of bottom-mounted hydrophones can detect beaked whales when they click anywhere within the range. We used two complementary methods to investigate behavioral responses of beaked whales to sonar: an opportunistic approach that monitored whale responses to multi-day naval exercises involving tactical mid-frequency sonars, and an experimental approach using playbacks of simulated sonar and control sounds to whales tagged with a device that records sound, movement, and orientation. Here we show that in both exposure conditions beaked whales stopped echolocating during deep foraging dives and moved away. During actual sonar exercises, beaked whales were primarily detected near the periphery of the range, on average 16 km away from the sonar transmissions. Once the exercise stopped, beaked whales gradually filled in the center of the range over 2–3 days. A satellite tagged whale moved outside the range during an exercise, returning over 2–3 days post-exercise. The experimental approach used tags to measure acoustic exposure and behavioral reactions of beaked whales to one controlled exposure each of simulated military sonar, killer whale calls, and band-limited noise. The beaked whales reacted to these three sound playbacks at sound pressure levels below 142 dB re 1 µPa by stopping echolocation followed by unusually long and slow ascents from their foraging dives. The combined results indicate similar disruption of foraging behavior and avoidance by beaked whales in the two different contexts, at exposures well below those used by regulators to define disturbance.
Biological Motion Coding in the Brain: Analysis of Visually Driven EEG Functional Networks

Herein, we address the time evolution of brain functional networks computed from electroencephalographic activity driven by visual stimuli. We describe how these functional network signatures change in fast scale when confronted with point-light display stimuli depicting biological motion (BM) as opposed to scrambled motion (SM). Whereas global network measures (average path length, average clustering coefficient, and average betweenness) computed as a function of time did not discriminate between BM and SM, local node properties did. Comparing the network local measures of the BM condition with those of the SM condition, we found higher degree and betweenness values in the left frontal (F7) electrode, as well as a higher clustering coefficient in the right occipital (O2) electrode, for the SM condition. Conversely, for the BM condition, we found higher degree values in central parietal (Pz) electrode and a higher clustering coefficient in the left parietal (P3) electrode. These results are discussed in the context of the brain networks involved in encoding BM versus SM.
Harmonious and Obsessive Passion for the Internet: Their Associations With the Couple's Relationship1

Based on a motivational perspective of passion, we investigated the associations between passion for the Internet and level of self-determined motivation toward the couple’s relationship. Our results show that an obsessive passion toward the Internet was associated with lower self-determination in the couple, greater conflict in the relationship, and low levels of dyadic adjustment. In contrast, harmonious passion toward the Internet was associated with greater self-determination in the couple, less conflict, and greater dyadic adjustment. Results suggest that use of the Internet is not necessarily associated with ncgative interpersonal outcomes. Rather, it appears that the way the activity has been internalized is associated with how individuals internalize their reasons for behaving in other domains.
Time-Dependent Transport in Low-Dimensional Systems—A Numerical Solution Using the Nonequilibrium Green's Functions

In this paper, we present a novel numerical solution to analyze time-dependent transport in low-dimensional systems, such as one-dimensional (1-D) quantum dot and quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) carbon nanotube systems, by using the nonequilibrium Green's functions (NEGF). The novelty of proposed approach is to jointly handle the NEGF in both the time-domain and the real-space-domain in a recursive fashion. The time-domain recursive approach is a straightforward approach to solve time-dependent transport problems, while the real-space recursive approach makes the calculations feasible for arbitrary-length 1-D and Q1D systems. To verify our proposed algorithm, we apply this method to explore the transient and ac transport properties of a sample 1-D quantum-dot array system. We will present in this paper the simulated electrical current curves, J (t), in response to various pulses and sinusoid waveforms. From these simulation results, we can obtain the delay and distortion information. We will then discuss how the length of a quantum-dot array and the hopping energy affect the transport behavior. The knowledge we gain from this project will help researchers to evaluate the electrical properties of 1-D and Q1D materials. The knowledge can also benefit the making of time-dependent 1-D and Q1D nanoelectronic devices
ABA Suppresses Root Hair Growth via the OBP4 Transcriptional Regulator1[OPEN]

The DOF transcription factor OBP4 suppresses root hair growth by down-regulating RSL2 expression in Arabidopsis. Plants modify organ growth and tune morphogenesis in response to various endogenous and environmental cues. At the cellular level, organ growth is often adjusted by alterations in cell growth, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this control remain poorly understood. In this study, we identify the DNA BINDING WITH ONE FINGER (DOF)-type transcription regulator OBF BINDING PROTEIN4 (OBP4) as a repressor of cell growth. Ectopic expression of OBP4 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) inhibits cell growth, resulting in severe dwarfism and the repression of genes involved in the regulation of water transport, root hair development, and stress responses. Among the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors known to control root hair growth, OBP4 binds the ROOT HAIR DEFECTIVE6-LIKE2 (RSL2) promoter to repress its expression. The accumulation of OBP4 proteins is detected in expanding root epidermal cells, and its expression level is increased by the application of abscisic acid (ABA) at concentrations sufficient to inhibit root hair growth. ABA-dependent induction of OBP4 is associated with the reduced expression of RSL2. Furthermore, ectopic expression of OBP4 or loss of RSL2 function results in ABA-insensitive root hair growth. Taken together, our results suggest that OBP4-mediated transcriptional repression of RSL2 contributes to the ABA-dependent inhibition of root hair growth in Arabidopsis.
Stabilization of a Class of Linear Systems With Input Delay and the Zero Distribution of Their Characteristic Equations

This paper is concerned with stabilization of linear systems with arbitrarily large but bounded time-varying delay in the input. A pole assignment based low gain feedback design is adopted to solve the problem. Both delay-dependent and delay-independent results are presented and a series of sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the stability of the closed-loop system are established. By using properties of this class of low gain feedback laws and the properties of certain transcendental equations, distribution of the zeros of the closed-loop characteristic equation is described. As a result, a necessary and sufficient condition is identified that guarantees the stability of the closed-loop system. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.