Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metaphase I orientation of Robertsonian trivalents in the water-hyacinth grasshopper, Cornops aquaticum (Acrididae, Orthoptera)

Trivalents resulting from polymorphic Robertsonian rearrangements must have a regular orientation in metaphase I if the polymorphisms are to be maintained. It has been argued that redistribution of proximal and interstitial chiasmata to more distal positions is necessary for a convergent orientation, the only one that produces viable gametes. Cornops aquaticum is a South-American grasshopper that lives and feeds on water-hyacinths, and has three polymorphic Robertsonian rearrangements in its southernmost distribution area in Central Argentina and Uruguay. The orientation of trivalents in metaphase I, the formation of abnormal spermatids and the frequency and position of chiasmata in the trivalents, was analysed in a polymorphic population of C. aquaticus. In this study we observed a correlation between the number of trivalents with the frequency of abnormal spermatids; additionally, the number of chiasmata, especially proximal and interstitial ones, was strongly correlated with the frequency of the linear orientation. Therefore we confirmed our previous assumption, based on other evidence, that the chiasmata redistribution in fusion carriers is essential to the maintenance of the polymorphisms.
A Method for Quantification of Epithelium Colonization Capacity by Pathogenic Bacteria

Most bacterial infections initiate at the mucosal epithelium lining the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urogenital tracts. At these sites, bacterial pathogens must adhere and increase in numbers to effectively breach the outer barrier and invade the host. If the bacterium succeeds in reaching the bloodstream, effective dissemination again requires that bacteria in the blood, reestablish contact to distant endothelium sites and form secondary site foci. The infectious potential of bacteria is therefore closely linked to their ability to adhere to, colonize, and invade epithelial and endothelial surfaces. Measurement of bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells is therefore standard procedure in studies of bacterial virulence. Traditionally, such measurements have been conducted with microtiter plate cell cultures to which bacteria are added, followed by washing procedures and final quantification of retained bacteria by agar plating. This approach is fast and straightforward, but yields only a rough estimate of the adhesive properties of the bacteria upon contact, and little information on the ability of the bacterium to colonize these surfaces under relevant physiological conditions. Here, we present a method in which epithelia/endothelia are simulated by flow chamber-grown human cell layers, and infection is induced by seeding of pathogenic bacteria on these surfaces under conditions that simulate the physiological microenvironment. Quantification of bacterial adhesion and colonization of the cell layers is then performed by in situ time-lapse fluorescence microscopy and automatic detection of bacterial surface coverage. The method is demonstrated in three different infection models, simulating Staphylococcus aureus endothelial infection and Escherichia coli intestinal- and uroepithelial infection. The approach yields valuable information on the fitness of the bacterium to successfully adhere to and colonize epithelial surfaces and can be used to evaluate the influence of specific virulence genes, growth conditions, and antimicrobial treatment on this process.
Differentially Private Release and Learning of Threshold Functions

We prove new upper and lower bounds on the sample complexity of (ε, δ) differentially private algorithms for releasing approximate answers to threshold functions. A threshold function c over a totally ordered domain X evaluates to cz(y) = 1 if y ≤ x, and evaluates to 0 otherwise. We give the first nontrivial lower bound for releasing thresholds with (ε, δ) differential privacy, showing that the task is impossible over an infinite domain X, and moreover requires sample complexity n ≥ Ω(log* |X|), which grows with the size of the domain. Inspired by the techniques used to prove this lower bound, we give an algorithm for releasing thresholds with n ≤ 2(1+ο(1)) log* |X| samples. This improves the previous best upper bound of 8(1+ο(1)) log* |X| (Beimel et al., RANDOM '13). Our sample complexity upper and lower bounds also apply to the tasks of learning distributions with respect to Kolmogorov distance and of properly PAC learning thresholds with differential privacy. The lower bound gives the first separation between the sample complexity of properly learning a concept class with (ε, δ) differential privacy and learning without privacy. For properly learning thresholds in ℓ dimensions, this lower bound extends to n ≥ Ω(ℓ · log* |X|). To obtain our results, we give reductions in both directions from releasing and properly learning thresholds and the simpler interior point problem. Given a database D of elements from X, the interior point problem asks for an element between the smallest and largest elements in D. We introduce new recursive constructions for bounding the sample complexity of the interior point problem, as well as further reductions and techniques for proving impossibility results for other basic problems in differential privacy.
Assessment and Reproducibility of Non-Eosinophilic Asthma Using Induced Sputum

Background: The assessment of eosinophilic airway inflammation using induced sputum identifies a corticosteroid-responsive subtype that can be used to guide anti-inflammatory therapy. The stability of airway inflammation in asthma over time is not known, yet this information is crucial to inflammation-based patient management. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility of non-eosinophilic asthma. Methods: Participants with stable asthma (n = 26) underwent a sputum induction each month for 5 months. Sputum was dispersed and differential cell counts were performed. The reproducibility of inflammatory subtype with different eosinophil cut points (starting at 1% eosinophils) was examined and the minimum number of visits required to determine inflammatory subtype was calculated. Results: One hundred and twenty- two sputum samples were obtained (success 94%). All cut points greater than 2% eosinophils were reproducible and a 3% cut point resulted in the highest agreement with a κ statistic of 0.538. Specificity and sensitivity were high for determining inflammatory subtype after 1 or 3 sputum samples. Conclusions: A cut point of 3% eosinophils should be used to distinguish eosinophilic from non-eosinophilic airway inflammation in asthma. This allows a single sputum sample to be used to reliably determine the presence of eosinophilia.
Spontaneous Clearance of Pharyngeal Gonococcal Infections: A Retrospective Study in Patients of the Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 2012 to 2015

Introduction Pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections are mostly asymptomatic, yet sustain ongoing gonococcal transmission. We assessed the proportion of pharyngeal gonorrhea that spontaneously clears and identified determinants of clearance. Methods At the sexually transmitted infections clinic Amsterdam, at-risk women and men who have sex with men were routinely screened for pharyngeal N. gonorrhoeae using an RNA-based nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT; Aptima Combo 2). We retrospectively examined medical records of pharyngeal gonorrhea patients (January 2012–August 2015). We included patients who returned for antibiotic treatment and had a new sample taken for NAAT before treatment. Spontaneous clearance was defined as a negative NAAT result at the follow-up visit. Results During the study period, 1266 cases with a pharyngeal gonorrhea were not treated at the first consultation and returned for a follow-up visit. Median (interquartile range) time between the first consultation and follow-up was 10 (7–14) days. Spontaneous clearance was found in 139 cases (11.0%) and was associated with age at least 45 years (vs. 16–24 years; adjusted odds ratio, 2.02 [95% confidence interval, 1.09–3.75]) and with time from the first consultation to follow-up (adjusted odds ratio, 1.08 [1.06–1.10], per extra day). Conclusions Eleven percent of pharyngeal gonorrhea cases cleared spontaneously. Spontaneous clearance of pharyngeal gonorrhea was more often seen among older patients.
Non‐invasive genetic censusing and monitoring of primate populations

Knowing the density or abundance of primate populations is essential for their conservation management and contextualizing socio‐demographic and behavioral observations. When direct counts of animals are not possible, genetic analysis of non‐invasive samples collected from wildlife populations allows estimates of population size with higher accuracy and precision than is possible using indirect signs. Furthermore, in contrast to traditional indirect survey methods, prolonged or periodic genetic sampling across months or years enables inference of group membership, movement, dynamics, and some kin relationships. Data may also be used to estimate sex ratios, sex differences in dispersal distances, and detect gene flow among locations. Recent advances in capture‐recapture models have further improved the precision of population estimates derived from non‐invasive samples. Simulations using these methods have shown that the confidence interval of point estimates includes the true population size when assumptions of the models are met, and therefore this range of population size minima and maxima should be emphasized in population monitoring studies. Innovations such as the use of sniffer dogs or anti‐poaching patrols for sample collection are important to ensure adequate sampling, and the expected development of efficient and cost‐effective genotyping by sequencing methods for DNAs derived from non‐invasive samples will automate and speed analyses.
In vivo biodistribution and toxicity depends on nanomaterial composition, size, surface functionalisation and route of exposure

Anticipated growth of the nanotechnology industry has motivated the development of rapid, relevant and efficient testing strategies to evaluate the biological activity and toxic potential of the growing number of novel nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles may interact with biological systems in unforeseen ways, it is important that evaluation of nanomaterial–biological interactions cover a broad range of cell types, tissues, organs and systems. Here, we use the embryonic zebrafish as a dynamic whole animal (in vivo) assay to investigate the importance of chemical composition, size, surface functionalisation and route of exposure on nanomaterial–biological interactions and delineate nanomaterials that are biologically active from those that are not. Information gained using model systems, such as the embryonic zebrafish, can be used to direct the rational development of safer, less hazardous nanoparticles. Our results demonstrate the utility of this model as an effective and accurate tool to assess the biological activity and toxic potential of nanomaterials in a short period of time with minimal cost.
Lineage specific transcription factors and epigenetic regulators mediate TGFβ-dependent enhancer activation

Abstract During neurogenesis, dynamic developmental cues, transcription factors and histone modifying enzymes regulate the gene expression programs by modulating the activity of neural-specific enhancers. How transient developmental signals coordinate transcription factor recruitment to enhancers and to which extent chromatin modifiers contribute to enhancer activity is starting to be uncovered. Here, we take advantage of neural stem cells as a model to unravel the mechanisms underlying neural enhancer activation in response to the TGFβ signaling. Genome-wide experiments demonstrate that the proneural factor ASCL1 assists SMAD3 in the binding to a subset of enhancers. Once located at the enhancers, SMAD3 recruits the histone demethylase JMJD3 and the remodeling factor CHD8, creating the appropriate chromatin landscape to allow enhancer transcription and posterior gene activation. Finally, to analyze the phenotypical traits owed to cis-regulatory regions, we use CRISPR–Cas9 technology to demonstrate that the TGFβ-responsive Neurog2 enhancer is essential for proper neuronal polarization.
Buckling characteristics of embedded multi-walled carbon nanotubes

An analytical algorithm is proposed to describe the buckling behaviour of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are embedded in a matrix with consideration of the van der Waals (vdW) interaction. The individual tube is treated as a cylindrical shell, but the tube deflections are coupled with each other due to the vdW interaction. The interaction between the matrix and the outermost tube is modelled as a Pasternak foundation. Based on the proposed model, an accurate expression and a simple approximate expression are derived for the buckling load of double-walled CNTs that are embedded in a matrix. The approximate expression clearly indicates that the vdW force is coupled with the matrix parameters. A numerical simulation is carried out, and the results reveal that the increase in the number of layers leads to a decrease in the critical buckling load for multi-walled CNTs with a fixed innermost radius. In contrast, when the outermost radius is fixed, the critical buckling load increases with the increase in the number of layers for multi-walled CNTs without a matrix. However, for multi-walled CNTs that are embedded in a matrix, the critical buckling load decreases first and then increases with the increase in the number of layers. This implies that there is a given number of layers for a multi-walled CNT at which the critical buckling load is the lowest, and that this number depends on the matrix parameters.
In vivo T‐cell depletion using alemtuzumab in family and unrelated donor transplantation for pediatric non‐malignant disease achieves engraftment with low incidence of graft vs. host disease

In vivo T‐cell depletion, using alemtuzumab therapy prior to SCT, can reduce the incidence of GVHD. This treatment has a potential to delay immune reconstitution resulting in increased morbidity due to viral illnesses. We retrospectively analyzed data on all pediatric patients with non‐malignant disorders who received alemtuzumab‐based conditioning regimens in our center over the last 10 yr (n = 91). Our data show an OS of 91.2%. The incidence of acute (grade 2–4) GVHD was 18.7% and that of chronic GVHD 5.5%. Viremia due to adenovirus, EBV and CMV was seen in 19.8%, 64.8% and 39.6% patients, respectively, with only two deaths attributed to viral infection (adenovirus). Chimerism level at three month was predictive of graft outcome. Nine patients, who had graft failure after first SCT, were salvaged with a second SCT using RIC and same donor (if available). Based on these results, we conclude that the use of in vivo T‐cell depletion is safe, achieves good chimerism and does not lead to increased morbidity and mortality due to viral infections. It is associated with a reduced incidence of chronic GVHD.
Fabrication and characterization of nickel silicide ohmic contacts to n-type 4H silicon carbide

In this paper, we report on fabrication and characterization of nickel silicide ohmic contacts to n-type 4H-SiC. The contacts on Si-faced 4H-SiC were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering of Ni and Si thin films. One set of structures has the Ni/Si/SiC scheme; the second one has the Si/Ni/SiC scheme. The Ni/Si thickness ratios of 66/60 and of 27/101 (nm) were designed to produce the stoichiometric Ni2Si and NiSi2 compound, respectively. The contact structures were annealed at 600°C for 15 min, and subsequently from 800 to 1100°C for 3–5 min in N2 flow. The structure, composition, morphology and electrical properties of the contacts were examined using XRD, RBS, optical microscope and I-V measurements, respectively. The results indicate that the stoichiometric nickel silicides are formed after first step annealing (600°C). Only the Ni2Si/n-SiC contact annealed at 1050°C show Ohmic behaviour with low contact resistivity of ρc ~ 5×10-4 ω cm2 and excellent surface morphology.
Negative predictors of treatment success in outpatient therapy of arterial hypertension in Poland. Results of the CONTROL NT observational registry.

BACKGROUND Identification of factors interfering with adequate control of arterial hypertension (HT) in the course of antihypertensive therapy is necessary to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disorders and optimise clinical practice guidelines. AIM The study objective was to conduct a screening assessment of the rate of uncontrolled hypertension among hypertensive patients coming to a routine follow-up visit, and to characterise patients with inadequate control of HT in the aspect of their cardiovascular risk profile and therapeutic strategies used. METHODS The CONTROL NT registry was a nationwide observational study performed by physicians in the outpatient setting in Poland. Patient data were collected twice: between April and September 2011 and between January and August 2012. Dur-ing screening, the physician completed a questionnaire with patient basic clinical information. The impact of the selected demographic and clinical parameters on treatment success defined as blood pressure (BP) lowering to < 140/90 mmHg when measured in the office at the second visit was investigated with univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS In total 1288 outpatient physicians participated in the CONTROL NT registry. In the screened group of 34,919 patients with a history of HT, 66.9% had abnormal BP readings in the office. In 15,262 patients with inadequate control of hypertension included in further analysis, the mean age was 59.3 ± 11.9 years, 47.9% were women, the disease duration was 8.2 ± 6.5 years and antihypertensive therapy was used for 7.4 ± 6.0 years. At least three cardiovascular risk factors were found in 46% of patients, with the most common dyslipidaemia (77.4%) and abdominal obesity (74.8%). In 56.6% of patients at least one concomitant disease was diagnosed, the most common being diabetes (29.8%). At the time of enrolment 21.5% of patients received no antihypertensive drugs, one, two, three (or more) drug combinations and fixed-dose combina-tions were received by 16.8%, 28.5%, 31.5% and 4.0% of patients, respectively. The most commonly used drug class was angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (50%), followed by beta-blockers (42%) and diuretics (39%). Significant negative predictors of BP control included: body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m², heart rate ≥ 70 bpm, history of hypertension ≥ 7 years, and kidney disease (the odds ratios adjusted by age and gender - 0.61; 0.76; 0.79; and 0.76, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The percentage of Polish outpatients with adequate HT control is unsatisfactory. Patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, dyslipidaemia, overweight or obesity, longer disease and treatment duration and poor treatment compliance require a particularly careful assessment of risk factors and comorbidities, appropriate therapy intensification, and more frequent use of antihypertensive fixed-dose combinations.
Context-Aware Event Recommendation in Event-based Social Networks

The Web has grown into one of the most important channels to communicate social events nowadays. However, the sheer volume of events available in event-based social networks (EBSNs) often undermines the users' ability to choose the events that best fit their interests. Recommender systems appear as a natural solution for this problem, but differently from classic recommendation scenarios (e.g. movies, books), the event recommendation problem is intrinsically cold-start. Indeed, events published in EBSNs are typically short-lived and, by definition, are always in the future, having little or no trace of historical attendance. To overcome this limitation, we propose to exploit several contextual signals available from EBSNs. In particular, besides content-based signals based on the events' description and collaborative signals derived from users' RSVPs, we exploit social signals based on group memberships, location signals based on the users' geographical preferences, and temporal signals derived from the users' time preferences. Moreover, we combine the proposed signals for learning to rank events for personalized recommendation. Thorough experiments using a large crawl of Meetup.com demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed contextual learning approach in contrast to state-of-the-art event recommenders from the literature.
Review of the Functions of Archimedes’ Spiral Metallic Nanostructures

Here, we have reviewed some typical plasmonic structures based on Archimedes’ spiral (AS) architectures, which can produce polarization-sensitive focusing phenomenon and generate plasmonic vortices (PVs) carrying controllable orbital angular momentum (OAM) because of the relation between the incident polarized states and the chiralities of the spiral structures. These features can be used to analyze different circular polarization states, which has been one of the rapidly developing researching topics in nanophotonics in recent years. Many investigations demonstrate that the multifunctional spiral-based plasmonic structures are excellent choices for chiral selection and generating the transmitted field with well-defined OAM. The circular polarization extinction ratio, as an evaluation criterion for the polarization selectivity of a designed structure, could be effectively improved by properly modulating the parameters of spiral structures. Such functional spiral plasmonic nanostructures are promising for applications in analyzing circular polarization light, full Stokes vector polarimetric sensors, near-field imaging, and so on.
You'll Be Surprised - Digital Business Strategy as Driver of Organizational Innovativeness

The presence of digital infrastructures fundamen-tally changes market conditions, business and IT strategy, and consequently organizational structures. This research investigates how the concept of a digital business strategy leads to increased organizational innovativeness and firm performance. We demonstrate how IT capabilities contribute to organizational innovativeness and induce the CIO’s positive role for IT-enabled business innovation. By means of an online survey among 228 IT decision makers in knowledge-intensive industries in the U.S., the results reveal organizational innovativeness being significantly higher influenced by the IT knowledge of business employees in organizations giving the digital business strategy high importance, whereas the top management team IT knowledge plays a greater role when digital business strategy is given low priority. By this research, we deliver first results of consequences for organizations conducting a digital business strategy and contribute to the discussion on IT-enabled innovation, CIO leadership, and the increasing relevance of organization-wide IT capabilities.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Posterior midline and ventral parietal activity is associated with retrieval success and encoding failure

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