Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human osteoclast formation and bone resorption by monocytes and synovial macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether synovial macrophages and monocytes isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis patients are capable of differentiating into osteoclastic bone resorbing cells; and the cellular and humoral conditions required for this to occur. METHODS: Macrophages isolated from the synovium and monocytes from the peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients were cultured on bone slices and coverslips, in the presence and absence of UMR 106 rat osteoblast-like cells, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), and assessed for cytochemical and functional evidence of osteoclast differentiation. RESULTS: Isolated calcitonin receptor (CTR), tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), and vitronectin receptor (VNR) negative, CD11b and CD14 positive monocytes and macrophages differentiated into CTR, TRAP, and VNR positive multinucleated cells capable of extensive lacunar bone resorption when co-cultured for 14 d with UMR 106 cells in the presence 1,25(OH)2D3 and M-CSF. CONCLUSIONS: Mononuclear phagocytes (monocytes and macrophages) from rheumatoid arthritis patients are capable of differentiating into multinucleated cells showing all the cytochemical and functional criteria of mature osteoclasts. Synovial macrophage-osteoclast differentiation may represent an important cellular mechanism in the bone destruction associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
Heterozygous carriers of a Parkin or PINK1 mutation share a common functional endophenotype

Objective: To use a combined neurogenetic-neuroimaging approach to examine the functional consequences of preclinical dopaminergic nigrostriatal dysfunction in the human motor system. Specifically, we examined how a single heterozygous mutation in different genes associated with recessively inherited Parkinson disease alters the cortical control of sequential finger movements. Methods: Nonmanifesting individuals carrying a single heterozygous Parkin (n = 13) or PINK1 (n = 9) mutation and 23 healthy controls without these mutations were studied with functional MRI (fMRI). During fMRI, participants performed simple sequences of three thumb-to-finger opposition movements with their right dominant hand. Since heterozygous Parkin and PINK1 mutations cause a latent dopaminergic nigrostriatal dysfunction, we predicted a compensatory recruitment of those rostral premotor areas that are normally implicated in the control of complex motor sequences. We expected this overactivity to be independent of the underlying genotype. Results: Task performance was comparable for all groups. The performance of a simple motor sequence task consistently activated the rostral supplementary motor area and right rostral dorsal premotor cortex in mutation carriers but not in controls. Task-related activation of these premotor areas was similar in carriers of a Parkin or PINK1 mutation. Conclusion: Mutations in different genes linked to recessively inherited Parkinson disease are associated with an additional recruitment of rostral supplementary motor area and rostral dorsal premotor cortex during a simple motor sequence task. These premotor areas were recruited independently of the underlying genotype. The observed activation most likely reflects a “generic” compensatory mechanism to maintain motor function in the context of a mild dopaminergic deficit.
PatchMatch Stereo - Stereo Matching with Slanted Support Windows

Common local stereo methods match support windows at integer-valued disparities. The implicit assumption that pixels within the support region have constant disparity does not hold for slanted surfaces and leads to a bias towards reconstructing fronto-parallel surfaces. This work overcomes this bias by estimating an individual 3D plane at each pixel onto which the support region is projected. The major challenge of this approach is to ﬁnd a pixel’s optimal 3D plane among all possible planes whose number is inﬁnite. We show that an ideal algorithm to solve this problem is PatchMatch [1] that we extend to ﬁnd an approximate nearest neighbor according to a plane. In addition to Patch-Match’s spatial propagation scheme, we propose (1) view propagation where planes are propagated among left and right views of the stereo pair and (2) temporal propagation where planes are propagated from preceding and consecutive frames of a video when doing temporal stereo. Adaptive support weights are used in matching cost aggregation to improve results at disparity borders. We also show that our slanted support windows can be used to compute a cost volume for global stereo methods, which allows for explicit treatment of occlusions and can handle large untextured regions. In the results we demonstrate that our method reconstructs highly slanted surfaces and achieves impressive disparity details with sub-pixel precision. In the Middlebury table, our method is currently top-performer among local methods and takes rank 2 among approximately 110 competitors if sub-pixel precision is considered.
Atorvastatin Alleviates Experimental Diabetic Cardiomyopathy by Regulating the GSK-3β-PP2Ac-NF-κB Signaling Axis

Recent studies reported that atorvastatin (ATOR) alleviated progression of experimental diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), possibly by protecting against apoptosis. However, the underlying mechanisms of this protective effect remain unclear. Therefore, our study investigated the role of the glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β-protein phosphatase 2A(PP2A)-NF-κB signaling pathway in the anti-apoptotic and cardioprotective effects of ATOR on cardiomyocytes cultured in high glucose (HG) and in DCM. Our results showed that, in HG-cultured cardiomyocytes, phosphorylation of GSK-3β was decreased, while that of the PP2A catalytic subunit C (PP2Ac) and IKK/IкBα was increased, followed by NF-кB nuclear translocation and apoptosis. IKK/IкBα phosphorylation and NF-кB nuclear translocation were also increased by treatment of cells with okadaic acid (OA), a selective PP2A inhibitor, or by silencing PP2Ac expression. The opposite results were obtained by silencing GSK-3β expression, which resulted in PP2Ac activation. Furthermore, IKK/IкBα phosphorylation and NF-кB nuclear translocation were markedly inhibited and apoptosis attenuated in cells treated with ATOR. These effects occurred through inactivation of GSK-3β and subsequent activation of PP2Ac. They were abolished by treatment of cells with OA or PP2Ac siRNA. In mice with type 1 diabetes mellitus, treatment with ATOR, at 10 mg-kg−1-d−1, significantly suppressed GSK-3β activation, IKK/IкBα phosphorylation, NF-кB nuclear translocation and caspase-3 activation, while also activating PP2Ac. Finally, improvements in histological abnormalities, fibrosis, apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction were observed in diabetic mice treated with ATOR. These findings demonstrated that ATOR protected against HG-induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes and alleviated experimental DCM by regulating the GSK-3β-PP2A-NF-κB signaling pathway.
Shifts of the psychometric function: Distinguishing bias from perceptual effects

Morgan, Dillenburger, Raphael, and Solomon have shown that observers can use different response strategies when unsure of their answer, and, thus, they can voluntarily shift the location of the psychometric function estimated with the method of single stimuli (MSS; sometimes also referred to as the single-interval, two-alternative method). They wondered whether MSS could distinguish response bias from a true perceptual effect that would also shift the location of the psychometric function. We demonstrate theoretically that the inability to distinguish response bias from perceptual effects is an inherent shortcoming of MSS, although a three-response format including also an “undecided” response option may solve the problem under restrictive assumptions whose validity cannot be tested with MSS data. We also show that a proper two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task with the three-response format is free of all these problems so that bias and perceptual effects can easily be separated out. The use of a three-response 2AFC format is essential to eliminate a confound (response bias) in studies of perceptual effects and, hence, to eliminate a threat to the internal validity of research in this area.
Geographic variation in thermal sensitivity of jumping performance in the frog Limnodynastes peronii.

I compared the thermal sensitivity of jumping performance of five populations of the striped marsh frog (Limnodynastes peronii) over a wide geographic range extending from the cool-temperate south to the tropical north of Australia. Maximum jumping performance of adult L. peronii was assessed for each population at eight temperatures between 5 degrees C and 32 degrees C using a custom-designed force platform. From force recordings for each individual jump, maximum jumping force (F(max)) and acceleration (A(max)) and maximum power output (P(max)), take-off velocity (U(max)), jump distance (D(J)) and contact time on the platform (T(C)) were calculated. The body mass of adult L. peronii varied over their geographic range, from approximately 5 g for the lowland tropical population to more than 22 g for the cool-temperate populations. The thermal sensitivity of jumping performance varied over their geographic range, with the populations from the cooler climates generally performing better than those from the warmer climate populations at the cooler temperatures, and vice versa at the higher temperatures. However, not all parameters of jumping performance underwent parallel changes in thermal sensitivity amongst the populations of L. peronii. Only minor differences in the shape of the thermal sensitivity curves for F(max) and A(max) were detected amongst the populations, while the thermal sensitivities of U(max), D(J) and P(max) all displayed considerable variation amongst the populations. The optimal temperatures for U(max), D(J) and P(max) were generally lower in the cool-temperate populations than in the tropical populations of L. peronii. To determine whether this geographic variation was due to genetic variation, or merely reflected phenotypic plasticity, I also compared the thermal sensitivity of jumping performance between metamorph L. peronii from two different populations raised under identical conditions in the laboratory. The maximum jumping distance of the metamorph L. peronii was assessed at seven temperatures between 8 degress C and 35 degrees C for the two latitudinally extreme populations (i.e. lowland tropical Proserpine and cool-temperate Gippsland populations). Like adult L. peronii, the metamorphs from the cool-temperate population jumped further than those from the lowland tropical population at the lower temperatures, although no differences were detected at the higher temperatures. Thus, geographic variation in thermal sensitivity of jumping performance in L. peronii probably has a genetic component, and the different populations appear to have undergone genetic adaptation of their thermal sensitivity to the varied thermal environments.
The Immunological and Virological Consequences of Planned Treatment Interruptions in Children with HIV Infection

Objectives To evaluate the immunological and viral consequences of planned treatment interruptions (PTI) in children with HIV. Design This was an immunological and virological sub-study of the Paediatric European Network for Treatment of AIDS (PENTA) 11 trial, which compared CD4-guided PTI of antiretroviral therapy (ART) with continuous therapy (CT) in children. Methods HIV-1 RNA and lymphocyte subsets, including CD4 and CD8 cells, were quantified on fresh samples collected during the study; CD45RA, CD45RO and CD31 subpopulations were evaluated in some centres. For 36 (18 PTI, 18 CT) children, immunophenotyping was performed and cell-associated HIV-1 DNA analysed on stored samples to 48 weeks. Results In the PTI group, CD4 cell count fell rapidly in the first 12 weeks off ART, with decreases in both naïve and memory cells. However, the proportion of CD4 cells expressing CD45RA and CD45RO remained constant in both groups. The increase in CD8 cells in the first 12 weeks off ART in the PTI group was predominantly due to increases in RO-expressing cells. PTI was associated with a rapid and sustained increase in CD4 cells expressing Ki67 and HLA-DR, and increased levels of HIV-1 DNA. Conclusions PTI in children is associated with rapid changes in CD4 and CD8 cells, likely due to increased cell turnover and immune activation. However, children off treatment may be able to maintain stable levels of naïve CD4 cells, at least in proportion to the memory cell pool, which may in part explain the observed excellent CD4 cell recovery with re-introduction of ART.
Human Cardiac Inwardly-Rectifying K+ Channel Kir2.1b Is Inhibited by Direct Protein Kinase C-Dependent Regulation in Human Isolated Cardiomyocytes and in an Expression System

Background—Protein kinases A (PKA) and C (PKC) are activated in ischemic preconditioning and heart failure, conditions in which patients develop arrhythmias. The native inward rectifier potassium current (IK1) plays a central role in the stabilization of the resting membrane potential and the process of arrhythmogenesis. This study investigates the functional relationship between PKC and IK1. Methods and Results—In whole-cell patch-clamp experiments with isolated human atrial cardiomyocytes, the IK1 was reduced by 41% when the nonspecific activator of PKC phorbol 12 myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 100 nmol/L) was applied. To investigate the effects of PKC on cloned channel underlying parts of the native IK1, we expressed Kir2.1b heterologously in Xenopus oocytes and measured currents with the double-electrode voltage-clamp technique. PMA decreased the current by an average of 68%, with an IC50 of 0.68 nmol/L. The inactive compound 4-&agr;-PMA was ineffective. Thymeleatoxin and 1-oleolyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol, 2 specific activators of PKC, produced effects similar to those of PMA. Inhibitors of PKC, ie, staurosporine and chelerytrine, could inhibit the PMA effect (1 nmol/L) significantly. After mutation of the PKC phosphorylation sites (especially S64A and T353A), PMA became ineffective. Conclusions—The human IK1 in atrial cardiomyocytes and one of its underlying ion channels, the Kir2.1b channel, is inhibited by PKC-dependent signal transduction pathways, possibly contributing to arrhythmogenesis in patients with structural heart disease in which PKC is activated.
Shifting goals: effects of active and observational experience on infants’ understanding of higher order goals

Action perception links have been argued to support the emergence of action understanding, but their role in infants’ perception of distal goals has not been fully investigated. The current experiments address this issue. During the development of means-end actions, infants shift their focus from the means of the action to the distal goal. In Experiment One, we evaluated whether this same shift in attention (from the means to the distal goal) when learning to produce multi-step actions is reflected in infants’ perception of others’ means-end actions. Eight-months-old infants underwent active training in means-end action production and their subsequent analysis of an observed means-end action was assessed in a visual habituation paradigm. Infants’ degree of success in the training paradigm was related to their subsequent interpretation of the observed action as directed at the means versus the distal goal. In Experiment Two, observational and control manipulations provided evidence that these effects depended on the infants’ active engagement in the means-end actions. These results suggest that the processes that give rise to means-end structure in infants’ motor behavior also support the emergence of means-end structure in their analysis of others’ goals.
Identity Recognition Using an Artificial Intelligence Based on Artificial Immune System

This work aims to realize identity recognition using images from one Database [1]. This facial database is composed of 3D dynamical images or 4D considering the time component as the fourth dimension, where the head movements are removed and only the facial dynamism is considered. The identity recognition is done by an Artificial Intelligence method based on Artificial Immune System of Negative Selection. The performance of the Immune system is satisfactory and encouraging. The obtained results are efficient, robust, precise and reliable to recognize the facial identity.
Adaptive 100% stator ground fault protection based on subharmonic injection method

The paper presents a novel adaptive 100% stator ground protection scheme for high-impedance grounded synchronous generators. The scheme is based on the subharmonic injection method and Kalman adaptive filtering. Using data from a 618 MVA generator, simulation studies show that the new adaptive scheme is capable of real-time monitoring of stator windings insulation condition and can detect high-resistance ground faults independent of the total capacitance to ground of the generator stator windings, iso-phase bus work and delta-connected windings of the step-up transformer.
THE HUMAN ELECTRORETINOGRAM: DC RECORDINGS AT LOW AND CONVENTIONAL STIMULUS INTENSITIES

The present paper describes in detail a new method developed for d.c. registration of the human ERG. In this way it was possible to investigate retinal functions that have not earlier been studied clinically, e.g. the retinal responses below the b‐wave threshold, the c‐wave and other slow potentials after cessation of the light stimulus. It is suggested that the method might lead to an earlier diagnosis than before of certain retinal and pigment epithelial disorders induced by drugs or based on other pathological conditions.
EZCab: A Cab Booking Application Using Short-Range Wireless Communication

EZCab is a proof-of-concept ubiquitous computing application that allows people to book nearby cabs using their cell phones or PDAs equipped with short-range wireless network interfaces. EZCab discovers and books free cabs using mobile ad hoc networks of vehicles. We have implemented an EZCab prototype on top of smart messages, a middleware architecture based on execution migration, which we had developed to provide a common execution environment for outdoor ubiquitous computing applications. The experimental and simulation results have demonstrated the feasibility of EZCab
A Novel Energy Recovery System for Parallel Hybrid Hydraulic Excavator

Hydraulic excavator energy saving is important to relieve source shortage and protect environment. This paper mainly discusses the energy saving for the hybrid hydraulic excavator. By analyzing the excess energy of three hydraulic cylinders in the conventional hydraulic excavator, a new boom potential energy recovery system is proposed. The mathematical models of the main components including boom cylinder, hydraulic motor, and hydraulic accumulator are built. The natural frequency of the proposed energy recovery system is calculated based on the mathematical models. Meanwhile, the simulation models of the proposed system and a conventional energy recovery system are built by AMESim software. The results show that the proposed system is more effective than the conventional energy saving system. At last, the main components of the proposed energy recovery system including accumulator and hydraulic motor are analyzed for improving the energy recovery efficiency. The measures to improve the energy recovery efficiency of the proposed system are presented.
A Low-Power Digital IC Design Inside the Wireless Endoscopic Capsule

This paper proposes an architecture of the wireless endoscopy system for the diagnoses of whole human digestive tract and real-time endoscopic image monitoring. The low-power digital IC design inside the wireless endoscopic capsule is discussed in detail. A very large scale integration (VLSI) architecture of three-stage clock management is applied, which can save 46% power inside the capsule compared with the design without such a low-power design. A stoppable ring crystal oscillator with minimal overhead is used in the sleep mode, which results in about 60-muW system power dissipation in sleep mode. A new image compression algorithm based on Bayer image format and its corresponding VLSI architecture are both proposed for low-power, high-data volume. Thus, 8 frames per second with 320*288 pixels can be transmitted with 2 Mb/s. The digital IC design also assures that the capsule has many flexible and useful functions for clinical application. The digital circuits were verified on field-programmable gate arrays and have been implemented in 0.18-mum CMOS process with 6.2 mW
Lutzomyia longipalpis and the eco-epidemiology of American visceral leishmaniasis, with particular reference to Brazil: a review.

An historical review is given of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL), with particular reference to the eco-epidemiology of the disease in Brazil. Following the first records of AVL in this country, in 1934, the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva, 1912) was incriminated as the principal vector. It is now generally accepted, however, that there exist a number of cryptic species under the name of Lu. longipalpis s.l. and that variations in the quantity of the vasodilatory peptide maxadilan in the saliva of flies from different populations of Lu. longipalpis s.l. , may account for the variable clinical manifestations of AVL seen in different geographic regions. Distribution of AVL has been shown to extend throughout most of South and Central America, with the domestic dog serving as the principal reservoir of infection for man. However, while one hypothesis suggests that the causative parasite is Leishmania infantum, imported from Europe with the Portuguese and Spanish colonists, the demonstration of a high rate of benign, inapparent infection in foxes in Amazonian Brazil raised an opposing suggestion that the parasite is indigenous to the Americas. Recent reports of similar infections in native marsupials, and possibly rodents, tend to support this view, particularly as Lu. longipalpis is primordially a silvatic sandfly. Although effective control measures in foci of the disease will diminish the number of canine and human infections, the presence of such an enzootic in a variety of native animals will render the total eradication of AVL unlikely.