Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IL-1 Blockade Attenuates Islet Amyloid Polypeptide-Induced Proinflammatory Cytokine Release and Pancreatic Islet Graft Dysfunction

Islets from patients with type 2 diabetes exhibit β cell dysfunction, amyloid deposition, macrophage infiltration, and increased expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We sought to determine whether human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), the main component of islet amyloid, might contribute to islet inflammation by recruiting and activating macrophages. Early aggregates of hIAPP, but not nonamyloidogenic rodent islet amyloid polypeptide, caused release of CCL2 and CXCL1 by islets and induced secretion of TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β, CCL2, CCL3, CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL10 by C57BL/6 bone marrow-derived macrophages. hIAPP-induced TNF-α secretion was markedly diminished in MyD88-, but not TLR2- or TLR4-deficient macrophages, and in cells treated with the IL-1R antagonist (IL-1Ra) anakinra. To determine the significance of IL-1 signaling in hIAPP-induced pancreatic islet dysfunction, islets from wild-type or hIAPP-expressing transgenic mice were transplanted into diabetic NOD/SCID recipients implanted with mini-osmotic pumps containing IL-1Ra (50 mg/kg/d) or saline. IL-1Ra significantly improved the impairment in glucose tolerance observed in recipients of transgenic grafts 8 wk following transplantation. Islet grafts expressing hIAPP contained amyloid deposits in close association with F4/80-expressing macrophages. Transgenic grafts contained 50% more macrophages than wild-type grafts, an effect that was inhibited by IL-1Ra. Our results suggest that hIAPP-induced islet chemokine secretion promotes macrophage recruitment and that IL-1R/MyD88, but not TLR2 or TLR4 signaling is required for maximal macrophage responsiveness to prefibrillar hIAPP. These data raise the possibility that islet amyloid-induced inflammation contributes to β cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes and islet transplantation.
On Triangular Norm Based Fuzzy Description Logics

Description Logics (DLs) are knowledge representa- tion languages useful to represent concepts and roles. Fuzzy De- scription Logics (FDLs) incorporate both vague concepts and vague roles modeling them as fuzzy sets and fuzzy relations respectively. In the present paper, following ideas from Hajek, we propose the use of t-norm based (fuzzy) logics with truth constants in the language as logics underlying the fuzzy description language. We introduce the languages ALCL∗(S) and ALCL∗(S) as an adequate syntactical counterpart of some semantic calculi given in different works dealing with FDLs.
Alveolar Oxygen Tension and Angio-architecture of the Distal Adult Lung

Abstract The present study demonstrates the fine structure of pulmonary capillaries first injured and then undergoing growth in response to a change in the ambient alveolar oxygen tension. Breathing a high fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2 0.75) triggers restriction by endothelial cell injury and effacement leading to segment narrowing and shortening and segment loss as demonstrated by a fall in density. Subsequently, breathing a relatively low fraction (FiO2 0.21) triggers capillary assembly (angiogenesis), which reverses the changes. The data underscore the structural reprogramming (reduction and restoration) of pulmonary capillaries in response to significant shifts in oxygen tension.
The role of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in integrin-mediated gene induction in monocytes

Integrin-mediated cell adhesion, or cross-linking of integrins using antibodies, often results in the enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of certain intracellular proteins, suggesting that integrins may play a role in signal transduction processes. In fibroblasts, platelets, and carcinoma cells, a novel tyrosine kinase termed pp125FAK has been implicated in integrin-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation. In some cell types, integrin ligation or cell adhesion has also been shown to result in the increased expression of certain genes. Although it seems reasonable to hypothesize that integrin-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation and integrin-mediated gene induction are related, until now, there has been no direct evidence supporting this hypothesis. In the current report, we explore the relationship between integrin- mediated tyrosine phosphorylation and gene induction in human monocytes. We demonstrate that monocyte adherence to tissue culture dishes or to extracellular matrix proteins is followed by a rapid and profound increase in tyrosine phosphorylation, with the predominant phosphorylated component being a protein of 76 kD (pp76). Tyrosine phosphorylation of pp76 and other monocyte proteins can also be triggered by incubation of monocytes with antibodies to the integrin beta 1 subunit, or by F(ab')2 fragments of such antibodies, but not by F(ab) fragments. The ligation of beta 1 integrins with antibodies or F(ab')2 fragments also induces the expression of immediate-early (IE) genes such as IL-1 beta. When adhering monocytes are treated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein or herbimycin, both phosphorylation of pp76 and induction of IL-1 beta message are blocked in a dose-dependent fashion. Similarly, treatment with genistein or herbimycin can block tyrosine phosphorylation of pp76 and IL-1 beta message induction mediated by ligation of beta 1 integrin with antibodies. These observations suggest that protein tyrosine phosphorylation is an important aspect of integrin-mediated IE gene induction in monocytes. The cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase pp125FAK, although important in integrin signaling in other cell types, seems not to play a role in monocytes because this protein could not be detected in these cells.
Energy and Area Spectral Efficiency of Cell Zooming in Random Cellular Networks

In this paper, we study the Energy Efficiency (EE) and Area Spectral Efficiency (ASE) of green random cellular networks which utilize the Cell Zooming (CZ) techniques. To this aim, using stochastic geometry, we derive a tractable expression for the Ergodic Capacity in a Poisson Voronoi Tessellation (PVT) random cellular network in which both Base Station (BS) and Mobile User (MU) locations are drawn randomly from two independent Poisson Point Processes (PPPs). The performance of this network is examined under different MU densities and two CZ algorithms. Numerical evaluations show that there is an optimum transmission power, which maximizes EE in PVT random cellular networks. On the other hand, increasing the transmission power and the cell size does not improve ASE much more after passing a threshold. The tradeoff between EE and ASE is also presented.
Influence of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on the Tropical Climate Response to CO2 Forcing

The increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases is expected to affect the hydrological cycle and large‐scale precipitation patterns. In parallel, unforced natural variability on decadal‐to‐multidecadal timescales can also modulate forced changes at the regional scales. Based on multimember ensembles from a coupled General Circulation Model, we investigate the sensitivity of CO2‐forced changes in tropical precipitation and atmospheric circulation to fluctuations of the Atlantic Multidecadal Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We show that contrasted AMOC states yield considerable differences in equatorial Pacific precipitation forced changes, by impacting the direct (within a year) CO2‐induced weakening of the Walker circulation. We use global atmospheric energetics, as a theoretical backdrop, to explain the relationship between the tropical atmospheric circulation and the AMOC state. A physical mechanism is then proposed, relating the direct CO2‐forced weakening of the atmospheric tropical circulation to its climatological strength in unperturbed climate and indirectly to the AMOC state.
Hypertension in early-stage kidney disease: an update from the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP).

BACKGROUND Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health problem. Systolic blood pressure as an associated feature of CKD has not been fully explored in community volunteer and nationally representative samples of the US population. METHODS This cross-sectional analysis evaluated hypertension and early-stage CKD in participants in the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP), a voluntary community-based health screening program administered by the National Kidney Foundation, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to assess similarities and differences between these populations. Participants in both databases were 18 years or older. RESULTS The KEEP database included 88,559 participants and the NHANES included 20,095. Hypertension prevalence was greater in KEEP (69.6%) than NHANES (38.1%; P < 0.001). Compared with NHANES participants, KEEP participants had greater rates of obesity (79.5% versus 51.5%; P < 0.001) and diabetes (28.0% versus 8.9%; P < 0.001). In participants with diabetes, KEEP had slightly greater rates of prevalent hypertension (88.5% versus 85.7%; P = 0.03). In participants with hypertension, CKD stages 3 and 4 were more prevalent in KEEP than NHANES (79.1% versus 69.3%; P < 0.001). Rates of CKD stages 3 and 4 were greater in KEEP than NHANES for the following subgroups: African Americans (72.4% versus 57.4%; P < 0.001), smokers (69.1% versus 55.6%; P = 0.002), and participants with hypercholesterolemia (80.2% versus 71.9%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In the volunteer KEEP population, rates of hypertension and CKD were greater than in NHANES, most prominently in African Americans and participants with increased cardiovascular risk.
PCR-Based National Bacterial Meningitis Surveillance in Turkey: Years 2006 to 2009

Polymerase chain reaction-based surveillance for bacterial meningitis including 841 children revealed 246 with bacterial DNA in cerebrospinal fluid samples of which 53% were Streptococcus pneumoniae, 19% Neisseria meningitidis, and 16% Haemophilus influenzae type b. The most common S. pneumoniae serotypes/serogroups were 1, 19F, 6A/6B, 23F, 5, 14, 18 and 19A. Among 47 meningococci, 86% were serogroup B, 6% serogroup C, 3% serogroup A, 3% serogroup X and 3% serogroup W.
View-based and modular eigenspaces for face recognition

We describe experiments with eigenfaces for recognition and interactive search in a large-scale face database. Accurate visual recognition is demonstrated using a database of O(10/sup 3/) faces. The problem of recognition under general viewing orientation is also examined. A view-based multiple-observer eigenspace technique is proposed for use in face recognition under variable pose. In addition, a modular eigenspace description technique is used which incorporates salient features such as the eyes, nose and mouth, in an eigenfeature layer. This modular representation yields higher recognition rates as well as a more robust framework for face recognition. An automatic feature extraction technique using feature eigentemplates is also demonstrated. <<ETX>>
A longitudinal assessment of early pubertal timing as a predictor of psychosocial changes in adolescent girls with and without spina bifida.

OBJECTIVE A longitudinal comparison of adolescent girls with and without spina bifida (SB), regarding the effects of early pubertal timing on girls' depressive symptoms, mother-daughter conflict, and emotional distancing. METHODS 62 mother-daughter dyads (31 with SB and 31 without) reported on psychosocial outcomes at 5 time points (ages 8/9 to 16/17 years). RESULTS A pubertal timing × SB status interaction predicted emotional distancing (T2), conflict (T2, T5), and depressive symptoms (T4), such that early maturing girls without SB reported the greatest increase in each outcome. Main effects of pubertal timing predicted emotional distancing (T4), conflict (T4), and depressive symptoms (T2, T3, T5). Findings were not always consistent across reporters, assessments of pubertal timing, and time-points. CONCLUSIONS Although early maturing girls in both groups may experience greater psychosocial difficulties, early maturing girls without SB may be most at-risk. The somewhat reduced impact of early pubertal timing in girls with SB is discussed.
Modifications of the Burrows and Wheeler data compression algorithm

We improve upon previous results on the Burrows and Wheeler (BW)-algorithm. Based on the context tree model, we consider the specific statistical properties of the data at the output of the BWT. We describe six important properties, three of which have not been described elsewhere. These considerations lead to modifications of the coding method, which in turn improve the coding efficiency. We briefly describe how to compute the BWT with low complexity in time and space, using suffix trees in two different representations. Finally, we present experimental results about the compression rate and running time of our method, and compare these results to previous achievements.
Clinical and Corneal Biomechanical Changes After Collagen Cross-Linking With Riboflavin and UV Irradiation in Patients With Progressive Keratoconus: Results After 2 Years of Follow-up

Purpose: To assess the biomechanical and keratometric effects and the safety of treatment of progressive keratoconus with UV–riboflavin collagen cross-linking (CXL). Methods: This is a prospective clinical controlled study. Fourteen eyes of 14 patients with progressive keratoconus were treated with CXL after corneal deepithelization. Patients were assessed preoperatively, at week 1 and at months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 after treatment. We measured uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best spectacle–corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution), refraction, biomicroscopy and fundus examination, intraocular pressure, axial length, endothelial cell density, corneal topography, minimal corneal thickness, macular optical coherence tomography, and corneal biomechanics with the ocular response analyzer. Results: Comparing the preoperative results with 24-month postoperative results, we observed significant improvement in BCVA (0.21 ± 0.1 to 0.14 ± 0.1, P = 0.002) and stability in UCVA (0.62 ± 0.5 and 0.81 ± 0.49, P = 0.475). We observed a significant decrease in steepest-meridian keratometry (diopters) (53.9 ± 5.9 to 51.5 ± 5.4, P = 0.001) and in mean cylinder (diopters) (10.2 ± 4.1 to 8.1 ± 3.4, P = 0.001). Significant elongation of the eyes was observed, from 24.39 ± 1.7 mm to 24.71 ± 1.9 mm (P = 0.007). No significant change was observed in mean simulated keratometry, minimal corneal thickness, endothelial cell density, corneal hysteresis, and corneal resistance factor or foveal thickness. Conclusions: Two years after CXL, the observation of stable UCVA, improved BCVA, and reduced keratometry suggests stabilization in progression of keratoconus. Unchanged corneal thickness, endothelial cell density, and foveal thickness suggest the long-term safety of this procedure. The observed increase in axial length and stability in corneal biomechanical parameters measured with the ocular response analyzer require further study for verification and explanation.
Location of optical mouse sensors on mobile robots for odometry

Optical mouse sensors have been utilized recently to measure position of mobile robots. This work provides a systematic solution to the problem of locating N optical mouse sensors on a mobile robot with the aim of increasing the quality of the measurement. The developed analysis gives insights on how the selection of a particular configuration reflects on the quality of the measurement signal, and it allows to compare the effectiveness of different configurations. The set of all the optimal configurations is parameterized into two constraints. The results are derived from the analysis of the singular values of a particular matrix obtained by solving the sensor kinematics problem. Moreover, given any mobile robot platform, an end-user procedure is provided to select the best location for N optical mouse sensors on such a platform. The procedure consists of solving a feasible constrained optimization problem.
Bacteria-Induced Uroplakin Signaling Mediates Bladder Response to Infection

Urinary tract infections are the second most common infectious disease in humans and are predominantly caused by uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC). A majority of UPEC isolates express the type 1 pilus adhesin, FimH, and cell culture and murine studies demonstrate that FimH is involved in invasion and apoptosis of urothelial cells. FimH initiates bladder pathology by binding to the uroplakin receptor complex, but the subsequent events mediating pathogenesis have not been fully characterized. We report a hitherto undiscovered signaling role for the UPIIIa protein, the only major uroplakin with a potential cytoplasmic signaling domain, in bacterial invasion and apoptosis. In response to FimH adhesin binding, the UPIIIa cytoplasmic tail undergoes phosphorylation on a specific threonine residue by casein kinase II, followed by an elevation of intracellular calcium. Pharmacological inhibition of these signaling events abrogates bacterial invasion and urothelial apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Our studies suggest that bacteria-induced UPIIIa signaling is a critical mediator of bladder responses to insult by uropathogenic E. coli.
Genetic Diversity and Population Genetics of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae: Culex spp.) from the Sonoran Desert of North America

The population genetics and phylogenetic relationships of Culex mosquitoes inhabiting the Sonoran Desert region of North America were studied using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite molecular markers. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from mosquitoes collected over a wide geographic area, including the Baja California peninsula, and mainland localities in southern Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico, showed several well-supported partitions corresponding to Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. tarsalis, and two unidentified species, Culex sp. 1 and sp. 2. Culex quinquefasciatus was found at all localities and was the most abundant species collected. Culex tarsalis was collected only at Tucson, Arizona and Guaymas, Sonora. The two unidentified species of Culex were most abundant at Navojoa in southern Sonora. Haplotype and nucleotide diversities in the COI gene segment were substantially lower in Cx. quinquefasciatus compared with the other three species. Analysis of molecular variance revealed little structure among seven populations of Cx. quinquefasciatus, whereas significant structure was found between the two populations of Cx. tarsalis. Evidence for an historical population expansion beginning in the Pleistocene was found for Cx. tarsalis. Possible explanations for the large differences in genetic diversity between Cx. quinquefasciatus and the other species of Culex are presented.
Fingerprinting Smartphones Remotely via ICMP Timestamps

Fingerprinting mobile devices over a WiFi channel has both positive and negative security implications: on one hand it allows the establishment of physically secure identifications by exploiting physically unclonable characteristics, on the other it jeopardizes privacy by mediating remote identification without user awareness. We are able to distinguish between smartphones within minutes, whenever their clock drifts apart with around one part-per-million, by using innocuous ICMP timestamps. To achieve this, we compute the clock skew of the device with linear programming techniques, a previously known methodology. Our experiments are done on some of the top Android devices on the market and the results show that remote identification is feasible even in the presence of: discontinued connections, clock synchronization, multiple hops or poor network conditions. Since blocking ICMP timestamps is not available by default on Android platforms, as well as editing the drivers is not within reach for average users, it seems that this may be indeed a privacy hole for smartphone users (and may be even worse for the closed-source platforms).
The Temporal Dynamics of Visual Processing in Multiple Sclerosis

Although the integrity of the visual system is often affected in multiple sclerosis (MS), the potential relationship between the temporal dynamics of visual processing and performance on neuropsychological tests assessing processing speed (PS) remains relatively unexplored. Here, we test if a PS deficit is related to abnormalities within the visual system, rather than impaired higher-level cognitive function. Two groups of participants with MS (1 group with PS deficits and another without) and a healthy control group, matched for age and education, were included. To explore the temporal dynamics of visual processing, we used 2 psychophysical paradigms: attention enhancement/prioritization and rapid serial visual presentation. Visual PS deficits were associated with a decreased capability to detect visual stimuli and a higher limitation in visual temporal-processing capacity. These results suggest that a latent sensorial temporal limitation of the visual system is significantly associated to PS deficits in MS.
Rapid and Reliable Identification of Food-Borne Yeasts by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT Computer-based Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to identify food-borne, predominantly fermentative yeasts. Dried yeast suspensions provided the films suitable for FT-IR measurement. Informative windows in the spectrum were selected and combined to achieve optimal results. A reference spectrum library was assembled, based on 332 defined yeast strains from international yeast collections and our own isolates. All strains were identified with conventional methods using physiological and morphological characteristics. In order to assess identification quality, another 722 unknown yeast isolates not included in the reference spectrum library were identified both by classical methods and by comparison of their FT-IR spectra with those of the reference spectrum library. Ninety-seven and one-half percent of these isolates were identified correctly by FT-IR. Easy handling, rapid identification within 24 h when starting from a single colony, and a high differentiation capacity thus render FT-IR technology clearly superior to other routine methods for the identification of yeasts.
Hybrid spectral/iterative partitioning

We develop a new multi-way, hybrid spectral/iterative hypergraph partitioning algorithm that combines the strengths of spectral partitioners and iterative improvement algorithms to create a new class of partitioners. We use spectral information (the eigenvectors of a graph) to generate initial partitions, influence the selection of iterative improvement moves, and break out of local minima. Our 3-way and 4-way partitioning results exhibit significant improvement over current published results, demonstrating the effectiveness of our new method. Our hybrid algorithm produces an improvement of 25% over GFM for 3-way partitions, 41% improvement over GFM for 4-way partitions, and 58% improvement over ML/sub F/ for 4-way partitions.