Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iron Stress in Open-Ocean Cyanobacteria (Synechococcus, Trichodesmium, andCrocosphaera spp.): Identification of the IdiA Protein

ABSTRACT Cyanobacteria are prominent constituents of the marine biosphere that account for a significant percentage of oceanic primary productivity. In an effort to resolve how open-ocean cyanobacteria persist in regions where the Fe concentration is thought to be limiting their productivity, we performed a number of Fe stress experiments on axenic cultures of marine Synechococcus spp. , Crocosphaera sp. , andTrichodesmium sp. Through this work, we determined that all of these marine cyanobacteria mount adaptive responses to Fe stress, which resulted in the induction and/or repression of several proteins. We have identified one of the Fe stress-induced proteins as an IdiA homologue. Genomic observations and laboratory data presented herein from open-ocean Synechococcus spp. are consistent with IdiA having a role in cellular Fe scavenging. Our data indicate that IdiA may make an excellent marker for Fe stress in open-ocean cyanobacterial field populations. By determining how these microorganisms respond to Fe stress, we will gain insight into how and when this important trace element can limit their growth in situ. This knowledge will greatly increase our understanding of how marine Fe cycling impacts oceanic processes, such as carbon and nitrogen fixation.
Recollection memory deficits in patients with major depressive disorder predicted by past depressions but not current mood state or treatment status

Background. Neuropsychological studies have suggested that memory systems reliant on medial temporal lobe structures are impaired in patients with depression. There is less data regarding whether this impairment is specific to recollection memory systems, and whether clinical features predict impairment. This study sought to address these issues. Method. A computerized process-dissociation memory task was utilized to dissociate recollection and habit memory in 40 patients with past or current major depression and 40 age, sex and IQ matched non-psychiatric control subjects. The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire was used to assess patients’ perceptions of day-to-day memory failures. Results. Patients had impaired recollection memory (t = 4·7, P<0·001), but no impairment in habit memory when compared to controls. Recollection memory performance was not predicted by indices of current mood state, but was predicted by self-assessments of impairment (β = −0·33; P = 0·008) and past number of depressions (β = −0·41; P = 0·001). There was no evidence that standard therapy with antidepressant medication either improved or worsened memory performance. Conclusions. The results confirm that patients with multiple past depressions have reduced function on recollection memory tasks, but not on habit memory performance. The memory deficits were independent of current mood state but related to past course of illness and significant enough that patients detected impairment in day-to-day memory function.
Three-dimensional solution of low-velocity impact on sandwich panels with hybrid nanocomposite face sheets

ABSTRACT In this article, a three-dimensional solution based on Fourier's series and the generalized differential quadrature method is presented to model the low-velocity impact on sandwich panels with hybrid nanocomposite face sheets. Navier's equations are derived and displacements are substituted by their corresponding Fourier's series. The contact force is considered as a Fourier's series of impactor displacement and deflection of contact point. To verify the theoretical model, experiments are performed on a polyurethane foam-cored sandwich panel with epoxy/woven-fiberglass/nanosilica hybrid nanocomposite face sheets. Contact force and lateral displacement of contact point histories are compared with the theoretical model.
Effect of Plasticizers on Morphology, Mechanical Properties and Water Absorption of Wheat Gluten and Epoxidized Natural Rubber Blend

Wheat gluten (WG) plastics are inherently brittle and sensitive to water. In this research, wheat gluten was blended with epoxidized natural rubber containing 50 mol% epoxide group (ENR-50) to improve flexibility and water resistance of WG plastics. Three plasticizers (i.e. glycerol (Gly), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) were used to enhance polymer chain mobility and process ability of WG phase in the blends. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to evaluate plasticizing efficiency of plasticizers on WG. The DSC result revealed that an excellent plasticizer for WG was glycerol which could remarkably reduce glass transition temperature (Tg) of WG. Furthermore, effect of plasticizer types and contents (0, 10, 20 and 30wt% with respect to protein weight) on morphology, mechanical properties and water absorption of the WG/ENR blends was investigated. It was found that an enhancement in ductility and impact strength of the blends was observed with increasing plasticizer content. Among the plasticized WG/ENR blends, the glycerol-plasticized blend provided better homogenous morphology and superior results in tensile and impact properties. On the other hand, the Gly-plasticized WG/ENR blend showed a low water resistance compared with the blends plasticized with PEG and DOP as well as the unplasticized WG/ENR blend.
Detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in human prostatic tissues by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are strongly linked to the pathogenesis of uterine cervical neoplasms, and have been implicated in other cancers of the female genital tract. In contrast, the association of HPV with the cancers of the male urogenital tract is less evident, except in anal and penile cancers. However, recent studies reporting the prevalence of HPV infections in human prostate cancers (60–100% HPV 16 positive vs. no infection of HPV) have raised controversies regarding the prevalence of HPV in benign and neoplastic human prostate.
Diffusion tensor imaging detects Wallerian degeneration of the corticospinal tract early after cerebral infarction

To investigate the feasibility and time window of early detection of Wallerian degeneration in the corticospinal tract after middle cerebral artery infarction, 23 patients were assessed using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging at 3.0T within 14 days after the infarction. The fractional anisotropy values of the affected corticospinal tract began to decrease at 3 days after onset and decreased in all cases at 7 days. The diffusion coefficient remained unchanged. Experimental findings indicate that diffusion tensor imaging can detect the changes associated with Wallerian degeneration of the corticospinal tract as early as 3 days after cerebral infarction.
Procera: a language for high-level reactive network control

Our previous experience building systems for implementing network policies in home and enterprise networks has revealed that the intuitive notion of network policy in these domains is inherently dynamic and stateful. Current configuration languages, both in traditional network architectures and in OpenFlow systems, are not expressive enough to capture these policies. As a result, most prototype OpenFlow systems lack a configurable interface and instead require operators to program in the system implementation language, often C++. We describe Procera, a control architecture for software-defined networking (SDN) that includes a declarative policy language based on the notion of functional reactive programming; we extend this formalism with both signals relevant for expressing high-level network policies in a variety of network settings, including home and enterprise networks, and a collection of constructs expressing temporal queries over event streams that occur frequently in network policies. Although sophisticated users can take advantage of Procera's full expressiveness by expressing network policies directly in Procera, simpler configuration interfaces (e.g., graphical user interfaces) can also easily be built on top of this formalism.
Paclitaxel and Carboplatin for Recurrent or Persistent Cancer of the Cervix

Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and degree of toxicity of paclitaxel and carboplatin (PC) combination chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or persistent cervical carcinoma. Methods. Fifteen patients who received PC chemotherapy for recurrent or persistent carcinoma of the cervix at the Magee-Womens Hospital from 1994–1998 were studied retrospectively. Demographic data, pathology, radiation treatment response, site of recurrence, chemotherapy response, survival rates, and toxicities were reviewed. Months of survival were calculated by the method of Kaplan–Meier from the date after initiation of chemotherapy to death or the last date of follow-up. Results. Fifteen patients received PC for recurrence or persistence of disease with a median of six courses of PC (range, four to 26). Fourteen patients (93.3%) had received prior radiation, and one patient had received surgery as the primary therapy. Four (26.7%) of 15 patients had complete response and five (33.3%) had partial response for an overall clinical response rate of 60%. The median survival of all 15 patients treated with PC was 17 months (range, four to 39). Four patients demonstrated progression of disease while two patients had stable disease. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in four patients (26.7%) while one patient (6.7%) suffered from sepsis. Three patients (20%) suffered from Grade 2 anemia and four patients (26.7%) patients developed Grade 2 or Grade 3 neuropathy. There was no incidence of nephrotoxicity. Conclusions. Paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy appears to have promising activity in recurrent or persistent carcinoma of the cervix with an acceptable toxicity profile. Due to patient convenience and tolerance, consideration should be given to carboplatin as an alternative regimen to cisplatin in combination with paclitaxel.
SeqWord Gene Island Sniffer: A program to study the lateral genetic exchange among bacteria

SeqWord Gene Island Sniffer, a new program for the identification of mobile genetic elements in sequences of bacterial chromosomes is presented. This program is based on the analysis of oligonucleotide usage variations in DNA sequences. 3,518 mobile genetic elements were identified in 637 bacterial genomes and further analyzed by sequence similarity and the functionality of encoded proteins. The results of this study are stored in an open database (http://anjie.bi.up.ac.za/geidb/geidbhome. php). The developed computer program and the database provide the information valuable for further investigation of the distribution of mobile genetic elements and virulence factors among bacteria. The program is available for download at www.bi. up.ac. za/SeqWord/sniffer/index.html.
Assessment of Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Atrophy with 3T MR Imaging and Correlation with Clinical Stage of Glaucoma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although previous animal studies have shown structural changes in ocular hypertension such as atrophy of the LGN, such changes have not been thoroughly studied in human glaucoma patients nor correlation made with clinical stage. Our aim was to investigate prospectively LGN atrophy in patients with POAG using 3T MR imaging and correlation with the clinical stage of disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six patients with known POAG and 26 age-matched healthy volunteers were included in this institutional review board−approved study. All subjects underwent imaging on a 3T MR imaging system with a PD and GM sequence. LGN height and volume were measured by 2 blinded neuroradiologists. Measurements were compared and correlated with clinical glaucoma severity as assessed by static threshold visual field parameters. RESULTS: Average maximum LGN height in patients with glaucoma on PD images was 4.36 ± 0.61 mm (right) and 4.31 ± 0.61 mm (left), significantly less (P < 10−3) than respective measurements of 5.05 ± 0.41 and 4.99 ± 0.41 mm in volunteers. With the GM sequences, such respective measurements were also less (P < 10−3) in patients with glaucoma (4.20 ± 0.71 mm right, 4.00 ± 0.85 mm left) versus respective measurements in volunteers (4.88 ± 0.51 mm right, 4.77 ± 0.47 mm left). Average LGN volumes in the patient group were 98.0 ± 27.2 mm3 (right) and 93.7 ± 25.8 mm3 (left) with the PD sequence versus respective measurements of 85.2 ± 27.1 and 80.5 ± 23.6 mm3 with the GM sequence. All height and volume measurements were greater in volunteers (P < 10−3). In the patient group, both maximum height and volume of the LGN with both sequences were significantly correlated with cumulative clinical glaucoma stage (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: MR imaging measurements of LGN height and volume are diminished in patients with glaucoma, with the extent of atrophy correlating to clinical stage, suggesting a novel imaging marker of disease severity.
IL-4/IL-13-Dependent and Independent Expression of miR-124 and Its Contribution to M2 Phenotype of Monocytic Cells in Normal Conditions and during Allergic Inflammation

Monocytic cells exhibit a high level of heterogeneity and have two distinct modes of their activation: 1) classical M1 path associated with inflammation and tissue damage, and 2) alternative M2 path. Although it has been demonstrated that M2 macrophages play an important role in the regulation of the allergic immune responses, tissue maintenance and repair, little is known about the mechanisms that determine the M2 phenotype. We have previously shown that miR-124 is expressed in microglia that exhibit the M2 phenotype and overexpression of miR-124 in macrophages resulted in downregulation of a number of M1 markers (MHC class II, CD86) and up-regulation of several M2 markers (Fizz1, Arg1). We further investigated whether the polarization of macrophages towards the M2 phenotype induced miR-124 expression. We found that exposure of cells to IL-4 and IL-13 resulted in the upregulation of miR-124 in macrophages. We also demonstrated that IL-4 induced expression of three miR-124 precursor transcripts with predominant expression of pri-miR-124.3, suggesting regulation of miR-124 expression by IL-4 on a transcriptional level. Expression of miR-124 in microglia did not depend on IL-4 and/or IL-13, whereas expression of miR-124 in lung resident macrophages was IL-4 and IL-13-dependent and was upregulated by systemic administration of IL-4 or during allergic inflammation. Upregulation of several M2 markers (CD206, Ym1) and downregulation of the M1 markers (CD86, iNOS, TNF) in M2-polarized macrophages was abrogated by a miR-124 inhibitor, suggesting that this microRNA contributed to the M2 phenotype development and maintenance. Finally we showed that human CD14+CD16+ intermediate monocytes, which are found in increased numbers in patients with allergies and bronchial asthma, expressed high levels of miR-124 and exhibited other properties of M2-like cells. Thus, our study suggests that miR-124 serves as a regulator of the M2 polarization in various subsets of monocytic cells both in vitro and in vivo.
Free viewpoint video for soccer using histogram-based validity maps in plane sweeping

In this paper, we present a method to accomplish free viewpoint video for soccer scenes. This will allow the rendering of a virtual camera, such as a virtual rail camera, or a camera moving around a frozen scene. We use 7 static cameras in a wide baseline setup (10 meters apart from each other). After debayering and segmentation, a crude depth map is created using a plane sweep approach. Next, this depth map is filtered and used in a second, depth-selective plane sweep by creating validity maps per depth. The complete method employs NVIDIA CUDA and traditional GPU shaders, resulting in a fast and scalable solution. The results, using real images, show the effective removal of artifacts, yielding high quality images for a virtual camera.
Coextraction and PCR Based Analysis of Nucleic Acids From Formalin‐Fixed Paraffin‐Embedded Specimens

Retrospective studies of archived human specimens, with known clinical follow‐up, are used to identify predictive and prognostic molecular markers of disease. Due to biochemical differences, however, formalin‐fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) DNA and RNA have generally been extracted separately from either different tissue sections or from the same section by dividing the digested tissue. Our optimized co‐extraction approach provides the option of collecting DNA, which would otherwise be discarded or degraded, for additional or subsequent studies because of the high importance and less availability of clinical FFPE specimen.
Light and Scanning Electron Microscopic Study of the Structure of the Ostrich (Strutio camelus) Tongue

Abstract The ostrich's tongue is situated in the posterior part of the oropharyngeal cavity and its length is only about a quarter of the beak cavity. The triangular shortened tongue has retained the usual division into the apex, the body and the root. There are no conical papillae between the body and the root of the tongue, and the presence of the flat fold with lateral processes sliding over the tongue root in the posterior part of the lingual body is a unique morphological feature. All lingual mucosa covers non-keratinised stratified epithelium, and the lamina propria of the mucosa is filled with mucous glands whose round or semilunar openings are found on both the dorsal and ventral surface of the tongue. The complex glands found in the lingual body are composed of alveoli and/or tubules. Moreover, simple tubular glands seen in the posterior part of the tongue root are an exception. Numerous observations have shown that the ostrich's tongue is a modified structure, though not a rudimentary one, whose main function is to produce the secretion moisturising the beak cavity surface and the ingested semidry plant food in this savannah species.
Altered Functional Connectivity within and between Brain Modules in Absence Epilepsy: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Functional connectivity has been correlated with a patient's level of consciousness and has been found to be altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. Absence epilepsy patients, who experience a loss of consciousness, are assumed to suffer from alterations in thalamocortical networks; however, previous studies have not explored the changes at a functional module level. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the alteration in functional connectivity that occurs in absence epilepsy patients. By parcellating the brain into 90 brain regions/nodes, we uncovered an altered functional connectivity within and between functional modules. Some brain regions had a greater number of altered connections and therefore behaved as key nodes in the changed network pattern; these regions included the superior frontal gyrus, the amygdala, and the putamen. In particular, the superior frontal gyrus demonstrated both an increased value of connections with other nodes of the frontal default mode network and a decreased value of connections with the limbic system. This divergence is positively correlated with epilepsy duration. These findings provide a new perspective and shed light on how functional connectivity and the balance of within/between module connections may contribute to both the state of consciousness and the development of absence epilepsy.
High-Capacity Conductive Nanocellulose Paper Sheets for Electrochemically Controlled Extraction of DNA Oligomers

Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy)-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg−1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30–50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m2 g−1) of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT)6, (dT)20, and (dT)40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules.
Perceived and Capitalization Support Are Substantially Similar: Implications for Social Support Theory

Social support is typically thought to protect people from bad events, whereas capitalization support augments people’s reactions to good events. Because social support and capitalization support apply to different classes of events, most theory predicts that measures of perceived support and capitalization support should be empirically distinct. We tested a new theory that hypothesizes that the main effects between perceived support and mental health do not reflect stress and coping primarily, but instead reflect ordinary, yet affectively consequential conversations and shared activities, some of which include positive events. According to this view, perceived support and capitalization support should be substantially correlated, should have similar links to other constructs, and their links to favorable affect should overlap, yet not be completely redundant. In three samples, results were consistent with the new theory, when correlations reflected social influences. When correlations reflected trait influences, perceived and capitalization support showed greater overlap.
Relative Performance of Lockstitch and Chainstitch at the Seat Seam of Military Trouser

An experimental investigation of the effect of two different type of stitches viz., lockstitch and chainstitch at the seat seam of trouser for military armed forces has been reported. Performance of chainstitched seam is found to be much better as regards lower value of force at low level of strain, higher value of force at break, strain at break and work of rapture. In general with the change in thread linear density, greater improvement in seam strength, seam strain at break and work up to fracture are obtained in case of chainstitched seam. On laundering, in general force at small strain and force at break increases, the change being more in case of lockstitched fabric. However, strain at break decrease marginally on laundering in case of both the stitches.
Sparse Topical Coding

We present sparse topical coding (STC), a non-probabilistic formulation of topic models for discovering latent representations of large collections of data. Unlike probabilistic topic models, STC relaxes the normalization constraint of admixture proportions and the constraint of defining a normalized likelihood function. Such relaxations make STC amenable to: 1) directly control the sparsity of inferred representations by using sparsity-inducing regularizers; 2) be seamlessly integrated with a convex error function (e.g., SVM hinge loss) for supervised learning; and 3) be efficiently learned with a simply structured coordinate descent algorithm. Our results demonstrate the advantages of STC and supervised MedSTC on identifying topical meanings of words and improving classification accuracy and time efficiency.