Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laboratory investigation of fire radiative energy and smoke aerosol emissions

[1] Fuel biomass samples from southern Africa and the United States were burned in a laboratory combustion chamber while measuring the biomass consumption rate, the fire radiative energy (FRE) release rate (Rfre), and the smoke concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and particulate matter (PM). The PM mass emission rate (RPM) was quantified from aerosol optical thickness (AOT) derived from smoke extinction measurements using a custom-made laser transmissometer. The RPM and Rfre time series for each fire were integrated to total PM mass and FRE, respectively, the ratio of which represents its FRE-based PM emission coefficient (Ce ). A strong correlation (r 2 = 0.82) was found between the total FRE and total PM mass, from which an average Ce value of 0.03 kg MJ �1 was calculated. This value agrees with those derived similarly from satellite-borne measurements of Rfre and AOT acquired over large-scale wildfires.
Current and Future Immunosuppressive Strategies in Renal Transplantation

The past decade has witnessed the introduction of several new immunosuppressive agents. The availability of these new pharmacologic offerings has not diminished the challenge of achieving a balance of adequate graft protection while minimizing the consequences of excessive immunosuppression. For renal transplant recipients, maintenance immunosuppression generally consists of a calcineurin inhibitor in combination with an antiproliferative agent and a corticosteroid; more recently, mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors have been used. Excellent results have been achieved at many transplant centers with combinations of these agents in a variety of protocols. Regimens designed to limit or eliminate calcineurin inhibitor and/or corticosteroid therapy are actively being pursued in the transplant community. Allograft tolerance and xenotransplantation are being studied, and the knowledge gained from the effort may help in the development of innovative strategies and new immunosuppressive agents.
Rotational coding achieves multicast capacity of deterministic wireless networks

In this paper we study the maximum throughput of network coding schemes for a single multicast session in wireless networks. We adapt ¿deterministic channel model¿ proposed in for modeling wireless interference. We introduce a novel rotational coding scheme that can achieve the well-known minimum cutset bound. This coding scheme has lower encoding complexity in comparison with the existing random linear coding schemes which makes it a good candidate for practical systems. Moreover, we present a fundamental result on the rate of information that can be sent through any cutset. This can be used as criteria for analyzing the maximum throughput of linear network codes.
A General Linear Relaxometry Model of R1 Using Imaging Data

The longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) measured in vivo depends on the local microstructural properties of the tissue, such as macromolecular, iron, and water content. Here, we use whole brain multiparametric in vivo data and a general linear relaxometry model to describe the dependence of R1 on these components. We explore a) the validity of having a single fixed set of model coefficients for the whole brain and b) the stability of the model coefficients in a large cohort.
Nuclear Export of Human Papillomavirus Type 31 E1 Is Regulated by Cdk2 Phosphorylation and Required for Viral Genome Maintenance

ABSTRACT The initiator protein E1 from human papillomavirus (HPV) is a helicase essential for replication of the viral genome. E1 contains three functional domains: a C-terminal enzymatic domain that has ATPase/helicase activity, a central DNA-binding domain that recognizes specific sequences in the origin of replication, and a N-terminal region necessary for viral DNA replication in vivo but dispensable in vitro. This N-terminal portion of E1 contains a conserved nuclear export signal (NES) whose function in the viral life cycle remains unclear. In this study, we provide evidence that nuclear export of HPV31 E1 is inhibited by cyclin E/A-Cdk2 phosphorylation of two serines residues, S92 and S106, located near and within the E1 NES, respectively. Using E1 mutant proteins that are confined to the nucleus, we determined that nuclear export of E1 is not essential for transient viral DNA replication but is important for the long-term maintenance of the HPV episome in undifferentiated keratinocytes. The findings that E1 nuclear export is not required for viral DNA replication but needed for genome maintenance over multiple cell divisions raised the possibility that continuous nuclear accumulation of E1 is detrimental to cellular growth. In support of this possibility, we observed that nuclear accumulation of E1 dramatically reduces cellular proliferation by delaying cell cycle progression in S phase. On the basis of these results, we propose that nuclear export of E1 is required, at least in part, to limit accumulation of this viral helicase in the nucleus in order to prevent its detrimental effect on cellular proliferation.
Comparison of the adhesion properties of Deleya marina and the exopolysaccharide-defective mutant strain DMR

Deleya marina 219 (ATCC 25374) produces large quantities of an acidic exopolysaccharide and characteristically forms mucoid colonies and large aggregates of cells. The exopolysaccharide of wild-type D. marina cells appears to occur as both film and fibrils in electron micrographs. The organization of exopolymeric material was indicative of structural heterogeneity. A spontaneous rough-colony mutant defective in exopolysaccharide, D. marina DMR, has been isolated. The absence of exopolymer corresponds to a nonmucoid, nonaggregating, adhesion-altered phenotype. In microplate adhesion assays, wild-type cells grown at 19 or 25 degrees C attached to hydrophilic surfaces but not to a hydrophobic surface. In contrast, mutant cells exhibited a significantly reduced level of attachment to hydrophilic surfaces and increased adhesion to a hydrophobic surface.
Designing and learning of adjustable quasi-triangular norms with applications to neuro-fuzzy systems

We introduce a new class of operators called quasi-triangular norms. They are denoted by H and parameterized by a parameter /spl nu/:H(a/sub 1/,a/sub 2/,.,a/sub n/;/spl nu/). From the construction of function H, it follows that it becomes a t-norm for /spl nu/=0 and a dual t-conorm for /spl nu/=1. For /spl nu/ close to 0, function H resembles a t-norm and for /spl nu/ close to 1, it resembles a t-conorm. In the paper, we also propose adjustable quasi-implications and a new class of neuro-fuzzy systems. Most neuro-fuzzy systems proposed in the past decade employ "engineering implications" defined by a t-norm as the minimum or product. In our proposition, a quasi-implication I(a,b;/spl nu/) varies from an "engineering implication" T{a,b} to corresponding S-implication as /spl nu/ goes from 0 to 1. Consequently, the structure of neuro-fuzzy systems presented in This work is determined in the process of learning. Learning procedures are derived and simulation examples are presented.
Usefulness of the Measurement of Plasma / 3-Thromboglobulin ( / 3-TG ) in Cerebrovascular Disease

The plasma concentration of the platelet-specific protein /3-thromboglobulin (/8-TG) was measured in 39 normal subjects and 568 patients of neurological diseases. The /3-TG RIA commercially available KIT was also evaluated. Abnormally high plasma levels of /3-TG were demonstrated in groups of ischemic or obstructive cerebrovascular diseases as compared with that of normal subjects. The highest concentrations were found in 8 patients with Moya-Moya disease, (mean concentration of/8TG was 204.4 ng/ml), completed stroke at an acute stage was next (mean /8-TG level was 194.8 ± 70.8 ng/ ml). On the other hand, many hemorrhagic cerebro-vascular diseases or other neurological diseases such as brain tumors, hydrocephalus, etc. do not show elevated /8-TG levels. In many patients with ischemic or obstructive cerebro-vascular diseases treated with anti-platelet drugs such as Aspirin, Dipyridamole, Bencyclane or Ticlopidine, a significant fall in plasma concentration of /3TG was chronologically demonstrated. The measurement of plasma /3-TG concentration may be useful not only in the diagnosis of ischemic or obstructive cerebro-vascular disorders but also in judging the efficacy of anti-platelet therapies and prognosis. Stroke Vol 14, No 4, 1983
Structure-Function of the Tumor Suppressor BRCA1

BRCA1, a multi-domain protein, is mutated in a large percentage of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. BRCA1 is most often mutated in three domains or regions: the N-terminal RING domain, exons 11-13, and the BRCT domain. The BRCA1 RING domain is responsible for the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of BRCA1 and mediates interactions between BRCA1 and other proteins. BRCA1 ubiquitinates several proteins with various functions. The BRCA1 BRCT domain binds to phosphoproteins with specific sequences recognized by both BRCA1 and ATM/ATR kinases. Structural studies of the RING and BRCT domains have revealed the molecular basis by which cancer causing mutations impact the functions of BRCA1. While no structural data is available for the amino acids encoded by exons 11-13, multiple binding sites and functional domains exist in this region. Many mutations in exons 11-13 have deleterious effects on the function of these domains. In this mini-review, we examine the structure-function relationships of the BRCA1 protein and the relevance to cancer progression.
Dynamics of human DNA topoisomerases IIα and IIβ in living cells

DNA topoisomerase (topo) II catalyses topological genomic changes essential for many DNA metabolic processes. It is also regarded as a structural component of the nuclear matrix in interphase and the mitotic chromosome scaffold. Mammals have two isoforms (α and β) with similar properties in vitro. Here, we investigated their properties in living and proliferating cells, stably expressing biofluorescent chimera of the human isozymes. Topo IIα and IIβ behaved similarly in interphase but differently in mitosis, where only topo IIα was chromosome associated to a major part. During interphase, both isozymes joined in nucleolar reassembly and accumulated in nucleoli, which seemed not to involve catalytic DNA turnover because treatment with teniposide (stabilizing covalent catalytic DNA intermediates of topo II) relocated the bulk of the enzymes from the nucleoli to nucleoplasmic granules. Photobleaching revealed that the entire complement of both isozymes was completely mobile and free to exchange between nuclear subcompartments in interphase. In chromosomes, topo IIα was also completely mobile and had a uniform distribution. However, hypotonic cell lysis triggered an axial pattern. These observations suggest that topo II is not an immobile, structural component of the chromosomal scaffold or the interphase karyoskeleton, but rather a dynamic interaction partner of such structures.
ASAP-UCT: Abstraction of State-Action Pairs in UCT

Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) algorithms such as UCT are an attractive online framework for solving planning under uncertainty problems modeled as a Markov Decision Process. However, MCTS search trees are constructed in flat state and action spaces, which can lead to poor policies for large problems. In a separate research thread, domain abstraction techniques compute symmetries to reduce the original MDP. This can lead to significant savings in computation, but these have been predominantly implemented for offline planning. This paper makes two contributions. First, we define the ASAP (Abstraction of State-Action Pairs) framework, which extends and unifies past work on domain abstractions by holistically aggregating both states and state-action pairs - ASAP uncovers a much larger number of symmetries in a given domain. Second, we propose ASAP-UCT, which implements ASAP-style abstractions within a UCT framework combining strengths of online planning with domain abstractions. Experimental evaluation on several benchmark domains shows up to 26% improvement in the quality of policies obtained over existing algorithms.
Elevation of hepatic glutathione S-transferase activities and protection against mutagenic metabolites of benzo(a)pyrene by dietary antioxidants.

Abstract Addition of either 2(3)-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA) or 1,2-dihydro-6-ethoxy-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (ethoxyquin) to the diet greatly decreases the levels of mutagenic metabolites of benzo(a)pyrene in CD-1 mice. (R. P. Batzinger, S-Y. L. Ou, and E. Bueding, Cancer Res., 38:000, 1978). The mutagenic activity of the urinary metabolites of benzo(a)pyrene is markedly reduced in the presence of glutathione together with the liver cytosols of rats or mice fed on a diet containing BHA. The liver cytosols of mice and rats maintained on control diets are much less effective in this respect. Dietary BHA causes increases in mouse and rat hepatic glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) specific activities with 1,2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene, 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, p-nitrobenzylchloride, and Δ5-androstene-3,17-dione. In the mouse the increases are larger (5- to 10-fold) and are dependent on the dose and duration of administration of BHA. Increases in these glutathione S-transferase specific activities were also observed in mouse hepatic cytosols after feeding of ethoxyquin. Direct addition of reduced glutathione and purified glutathione S-transferases A and B obtained from rat liver to the mutagenicity assay system mimicked the effect of the rodent cytosols. Since BHA and ethoxyquin are known to reduce the neoplastic effects of a variety of potent carcinogens, we suggest that the protective effects of these antioxidants may be accounted for, at least in part, by their ability to elevate the glutathione S-transferases. These enzymes inactivate arene oxides and other hydrophobic electrophiles by catalyzing their conjugation with glutathione.
Homology modeling of Mycoplasma pneumoniae enolase and its molecular interaction with human plasminogen

Alpha (α)-enolase (e), a glycolytic enzyme, has an alternative role as a surface receptor of several bacteria mediating plasminogen (pg) binding. It is also recognized as a virulence factor of some pathogenic bacteria facilitating plasminogen activation and host cell invasion. A mycoplasmal α-enolase is also a plasminogen binding protein. Molecular interactions of enolase from Mycoplasma pneumoniae with host plasminogen would be useful for exploring the pathogen-host interaction. In an attempt to identify plasminogen binding sites of M. pneumoniae enolase, homology modeling and docking studies were conducted to obtain modeled structures of the M. pneumoniae enolase-plasminogen complex. The refined model was validated further by standard methods. Molecular docking revealed hydrogen bonding of eLys70-pgTyr50, eAsn165-pgThr66, eAla168-pgGlu21, eAsp17-pgLys70, and eAsn213-pgPro68/pgAsn69. Substantial decreases in accessible surface area (ASA) were observed and in concurrence with hydrogen bond pattern. These findings provide a detailed prediction of key residues that interact at the protein-protein interface. Our theoretical prediction is consistent with known biochemical data. The predicted interaction complex can be of great assistance in understanding structural insights, which is necessary to pathogen and host-component interaction. The ability of M. pneumoniae enolase to bind plasminogen may be indicative of an important role in invasion of this pathogen to host.
Functional network disruption in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Recently, many researchers have used graph theory to study the aberrant brain functions in mental disorders. However, the characteristics of the brain functional network in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are still largely unexplored. In this study, blood oxygen level-dependence (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were employed to construct brain functional networks in 57 children with ADHD and 59 healthy controls (HC). The results showed that both groups had similar global efficiency and the ADHD group had significantly decreased local efficiency compared with the HC. The between-group differences of degree values were found in the frontal cortex, temporal cortex and the default mode network (DMN). The ADHD group retained most of the hub regions found in the HC, but showed altered hub regions in the left posterior cingulate gyrus and the right lingual gyrus. This altered topological organization of the functional network might be associated with the underlying pathophysiology in ADHD.
SYNAPSE: A Network Reprogramming Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks Using Fountain Codes

Wireless reprogramming is a key functionality in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In fact, the requirements for the network may change in time, or new parameters might have to be loaded to change the behavior of a given protocol. In large scale WSNs it makes economical as well as practical sense to upload the code with the needed functionalities without human intervention, i.e., by means of efficient over the air reprogramming. This poses several challenges as wireless links are affected by errors, data dissemination has to be 100% reliable, and data transmission and recovery schemes are often called to work with a large number of receivers. State-of-the-art protocols, such as Deluge, implement error recovery through the adaptation of standard automatic repeat request (ARQ) techniques. These, however, do not scale well in the presence of channel errors and multiple receivers. In this paper, we present an original reprogramming system for WSNs called SYNAPSE, which we designed to improve the efficiency of the error recovery phase. SYNAPSE features a hybrid ARQ (HARQ) solution where data are encoded prior to transmission and incremental redundancy is used to recover from losses, thus considerably reducing the transmission overhead. For the coding, digital fountain codes were selected as they are rateless and allow for lightweight implementations. In this paper, we design special fountain codes and use them at the heart of SYNAPSE to provide high performance while meeting the requirements of WSNs. Moreover, we present our implementation of SYNAPSE for the Tmote Sky sensor platform and show experimental results, where we compare the performance of SYNAPSE with that of state of the art protocols.
Transport of circulating IGF-I and LR3IGF-I from blood to extracellular wound fluid sites in rats.

Significant levels of IGF-I are found in wound fluid. The contribution that systemic IGF-I makes to the total IGF-I pool in wounds and the influence of IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) on the delivery of systemic IGF-I to these wound sites has not been established. In the present series of experiments, we have shown that IGF-I flux across a model endothelial cell barrier is decreased in the presence of IGFBPs, whereas flux of Long R(3)IGF-I (LR(3)IGF-I, an IGF-I analogue with low affinity for IGFBPs) is unaffected. On the basis of these findings, the transport of IGF-I and LR(3)IGF-I from blood to extracellular wound fluid was assessed. Wound chambers were implanted subcutaneously in the backs of adult male rats and left in place for 14 days. A single i.v. bolus of either (125)I-IGF-I or (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I (10x10(6) c.p.m. ) was administered via a jugular catheter and wound fluid and plasma samples taken at sequential time points between 5 and 240 min. (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I was removed from the circulation more rapidly than (125)I-IGF-I in both sham control and chamber implanted rats. Although implantation of the chambers did not alter the pharmacokinetic parameters of (125)I-IGF-I, significant increases in the steady state volume of distribution, clearance rate and half-life were recorded for (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I. In addition, significantly more intact (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I was recovered in wound fluid than (125)I-IGF-I at each time point, although only 0.08% of administered (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I was recovered per ml of wound fluid at 240 min. Compared with plasma, a greater proportion of wound fluid IGF-I radioactivity had distributed to the lower molecular weight IGFBPs or existed as free peptide. However, a small amount of wound fluid (125)I-IGF-I was detected in the 150 kDa region 30 min after injection. A greater proportion of (125)I-LR(3)IGF-I was associated with the lower molecular weight IGFBPs or existed as free peptide in both wound fluid and plasma. These data point to the importance of IGFBPs in determining the pharmacokinetic parameters of IGF-I in an extracellular fluid-expanded state. They also suggest only a minor role for endocrine IGF-I in surface wound repair.
The Conditioning of Dyspneic Suffocation Fear

Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that a single exposure to 100% carbon dioxide (CO2) can serve as an effective unconditioned stimulus (US) in a Pavlovian aversive-context conditioning paradigm in rats. Although the US exposure parameters employed in the initial studies were sufficient for producing a context-specific enhancement of behavioral freezing and analgesia, it had yet to be determined whether variations of these CO2 conditioning procedures would produce other conditioning effects. Thus, the purpose of the following experiment was to investigate the intensity of the US on the conditioned response (CR). The findings confirm that variations in CO2 concentrations produce changes in the CR that are consistent with principles of Pavlovian conditioning. The findings lend additional support to the tenability of a dyspneic suffocation fear theory of panic disorder, a theory that postulates that at least one type of panic attack could be a consequence of Pavlovian conditioning.
Environmental Roots of the Late Bronze Age Crisis

The Late Bronze Age world of the Eastern Mediterranean, a rich linkage of Aegean, Egyptian, Syro-Palestinian, and Hittite civilizations, collapsed famously 3200 years ago and has remained one of the mysteries of the ancient world since the event’s retrieval began in the late 19th century AD/CE. Iconic Egyptian bas-reliefs and graphic hieroglyphic and cuneiform texts portray the proximate cause of the collapse as the invasions of the “Peoples-of-the-Sea” at the Nile Delta, the Turkish coast, and down into the heartlands of Syria and Palestine where armies clashed, famine-ravaged cities abandoned, and countrysides depopulated. Here we report palaeoclimate data from Cyprus for the Late Bronze Age crisis, alongside a radiocarbon-based chronology integrating both archaeological and palaeoclimate proxies, which reveal the effects of abrupt climate change-driven famine and causal linkage with the Sea People invasions in Cyprus and Syria. The statistical analysis of proximate and ultimate features of the sequential collapse reveals the relationships of climate-driven famine, sea-borne-invasion, region-wide warfare, and politico-economic collapse, in whose wake new societies and new ideologies were created.