Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Involvement of CD44 and Its Novel Ligand Galectin-8 in Apoptotic Regulation of Autoimmune Inflammation1

The synovial fluid (SF) cells of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients express a specific CD44 variant designated CD44vRA. Using a cellular model of this autoimmune disease, we show in this study that the mammalian lectin, galectin-8 (gal-8), is a novel high-affinity ligand of CD44vRA. By affinity chromatography, flow cytometry, and surface plasmon resonance, we demonstrate that gal-8 interacts with a high affinity (Kd, 6 × 10−9 M) with CD44vRA. We further demonstrate that SF cells from RA patients express and secrete gal-8, to a concentration of 25–65 nM, well within the concentration of gal-8 required to induce apoptosis of SF cells. We further show that not all gal-8 remains freely soluble in the SF and at least part forms triple complexes with CD44 and fibrinogen that can be detected, after fibrinogen immunoprecipitation, with Abs against fibrinogen, gal-8 and CD44. These triple complexes may therefore increase the inflammatory reaction by sequestering the soluble gal-8, thereby reducing its ability to induce apoptosis in the inflammatory cells. Our findings not only shed light on the receptor-ligand relationships between CD44 and gal-8, but also underline the biological significance of these interactions, which may affect the extent of the autoimmune inflammatory response in the SF of RA patients.
Validation of a Measure of Service Climate in Organizations

Service climate is critical for organizations pertaining to the service sector. It reflects the importance organizations attribute to service quality and efforts to please customers. Using previous work of Schneider, White, and Paul (1998) as starting point, this research validates a measure of service climate in the Spanish language. Data from two survey study projects were brought together. A total of 120 hotels, located in Spain, participated in the research. The sample consisted of 508 frontline hotel employees distributed in 152 work-units. Our results confirmed that construct and predictive validity are satisfactory, with four factors describing the facets of service climate: Global Service Climate, Customer Feedback, Customer Orientation, and Managerial Practices. Findings support the idea that frontline employees pertaining to the same work-unit are able to develop shared perceptions of service climate beyond individual differences. The scale is confirmed as a good measure of service climate in the Spanish context.
Socioemotional processing of morally‐laden behavior and their consequences on others in forensic psychopaths

A large body of evidence supports the view that psychopathy is associated with anomalous emotional processing, reduced guilt and empathy, which are important risk factors for criminal behaviors. However, the precise nature and specificity of this atypical emotional processing is not well understood, including its relation to moral judgment. To further our understanding of the pattern of neural response to perceiving and evaluating morally‐laden behavior, this study included 155 criminal male offenders with various level of psychopathy, as assessed with the Psychopathy Check List‐Revised. Participants were scanned while viewing short clips depicting interactions between two individuals resulting in either interpersonal harm or interpersonal assistance. After viewing each clip, they were asked to identify the emotions of the protagonists. Inmates with high levels of psychopathy were more accurate than controls in successfully identifying the emotion of the recipient of both helpful and harmful actions. Significant hemodynamic differences were detected in the posterior superior temporal sulcus, amygdala, insula, ventral striatum, and prefrontal cortex when individuals with high psychopathy viewed negative versus positive scenarios moral scenarios and when they evaluated the emotional responses of the protagonists. These findings suggest that socioemotional processing abnormalities in psychopathy may be somewhat more complicated than merely a general or specific emotional deficit. Rather, situation‐specific evaluations of the mental states of others, in conjunction with sensitivity to the nature of the other (victim vs. perpetrator), modulate attention to emotion‐related cues. Such atypical processing likely impacts moral decision‐making and behavior in psychopaths. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2015–2026, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Localized olfactory representation in mushroom bodies of Drosophila larvae

Odor discrimination in higher brain centers is essential for behavioral responses to odors. One such center is the mushroom body (MB) of insects, which is required for odor discrimination learning. The calyx of the MB receives olfactory input from projection neurons (PNs) that are targets of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) in the antennal lobe (AL). In the calyx, olfactory information is transformed from broadly-tuned representations in PNs to sparse representations in MB neurons (Kenyon cells). However, the extent of stereotypy in olfactory representations in the calyx is unknown. Using the anatomically-simple larval olfactory system of Drosophila in which odor ligands for the entire set of 21 OSNs are known, we asked how odor identity is represented in the MB calyx. We first mapped the projections of all larval OSNs in the glomeruli of the AL, and then followed the connections of individual PNs from the AL to different calyx glomeruli. We thus established a comprehensive olfactory map from OSNs to a higher olfactory association center, at a single-cell level. Stimulation of single OSNs evoked strong neuronal activity in 1 to 3 calyx glomeruli, showing that broadening of the strongest PN responses is limited to a few calyx glomeruli. Stereotypic representation of single OSN input in calyx glomeruli provides a mechanism for MB neurons to detect and discriminate olfactory cues.
A small area and low power true random number generator using write speed variation of oxidebased RRAM for IoT security application

A true random number generator using write speed variation of oxide-based RRAM is proposed for the first time. The signal of this physical unclonable function (PUF) is strong with long duration to be easily and accurately captured by simple circuit, of which the advantage is attributed to the mechanism that the speed variation amplifies the fluctuation of oxygen vacancy trap and de-trap. Some function parts of normal RRAM IP can be reused as entropy source cells and implementation circuit. The variation of write end point is monitored by a self-adaptive write drive circuit to trig a counter, and then serialized into a bit stream. The test chips, which are AlOx/WOx bilayer back-end RRAM fabricated in 0.18 Um logic process, passed all NIST tests with advantages of small area, low power, and not using post-processor corrector. Enough bits can be generated within the endurance limitation to ensure usual Internet of Things (IoT) security application.
Outpatient clinic scheduling - a simulation approach

The process by which outpatients are scheduled for a doctor's visit is a crucial determinant of the overall efficiency of the patient flow. The problem at hand consists of determining prioritization (triage) rules so that adequate patient care is guaranteed, resources (provider schedules) are utilized efficiently and a service guarantee can be ensured. We present a simulation framework for the evaluation and optimization of scheduling rules. We outline the basic ingredients of our model, illustrate the kinds of analyses it has enabled us to perform and summarize our experience with a preliminary implementation for the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Challenges for adaptations to other settings are also outlined.
Material, psychosocial and sociodemographic determinants are associated with positive mental health in Europe: a cross-sectional study

Objectives To investigate the association between psychosocial, sociodemographic and material determinants of positive mental health in Europe. Design Cross-sectional analysis of survey data. Setting 34 European countries. Participants Representative Europe-wide sample consisting of 21 066 men and 22 569 women aged 18 years and over, from 34 European countries participating in the third wave of the European Quality of Life Survey (2011–2012). Outcome Positive mental health as measured by the WHO-5—Mental Well-being Index, while the lowest 25% centile indicated poor positive mental health. Results The prevalence of poor positive mental health was 30% in women and 24% in men. Material, as well as psychosocial, and sociodemographic factors were independently associated with poor positive mental health in a Europe-wide sample from 34 European countries. When studying all factors together, the highest OR for poor positive mental health was reported for social exclusion (men: OR=1.73, 95% CI 1.59 to 1.90; women: OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.57 to 1.81) among the psychosocial factors. Among the material factors, material deprivation had the highest impact (men: OR=1.96, 95% CI 1.78 to 2.15; women: OR=1.93, 95% CI 1.79 to 2.08). Conclusions This study gives the first overview on determinants of positive mental health at a European level and could be used as the basis for preventive policies in the field of positive mental health in Europe.
Bad News, Good News: Conversational Order in Everyday Talk and Clinical Settings

When we share or receive good or bad news, from ordinary events such as the birth of a child to public catastrophes such as 9/11, our "old" lives come to an end, and suddenly we see the world with new eyes. In "Bad News, Good News", Douglas W. Maynard explores how we tell and hear such news, and what's similar and different about the ways we experience good and bad news itself. Uncovering the verbal and nonverbal patterns in the bearing of news on everyday conversations as well as in hospitals and other settings, Maynard shows how people give and receive good or bad news, how they come to "realize" the news and their new world, and how they construct social relationships through the sharing of news. He also reveals the implications of his study for understanding public affairs in which the conveyance of news may influence society at large, and he provides recommendations for professionals and others on how to convey bad or good news more effectively. For anyone who wants to understand how news gets communicated, "Bad News, Good News" offers a wealth of scholarly insights and practical advice.
Early events elicited by bombesin and structurally related peptides in quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells. II. Changes in Na+ and Ca2+ fluxes, Na+/K+ pump activity, and intracellular pH

The amphibian tetradecapeptide, bombesin, and structurally related peptides caused a marked increase in ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake (a measure of Na+/K+ pump activity) in quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells. This effect occurred within seconds after the addition of the peptide and appeared to be mediated by an increase in Na+ entry into the cells. The effect of bombesin on Na+ entry and Na+/K+ pump activity was concentration dependent with half-maximal stimulation occurring at 0.3- 0.4 nM. The structurally related peptides litorin, gastrin-releasing peptide, and neuromedin B also stimulated ouabain-sensitive 86Rb+ uptake; the relative potencies of these peptides in stimulating the Na+/K+ pump were comparable to their potencies in increasing DNA synthesis (Zachary, I., and E. Rozengurt, 1985, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 82:7616-7620). Bombesin increased Na+ influx, at least in part, through an Na+/H+ antiport. The peptide augmented intracellular pH and this effect was abolished in the absence of extracellular Na+. In addition to monovalent ion transport, bombesin and the structurally related peptides rapidly increased the efflux of 45Ca2+ from quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells. This Ca2+ came from an intracellular pool and the efflux was associated with a 50% decrease in total intracellular Ca2+. The peptides also caused a rapid increase in cytosolic free calcium concentration. Prolonged pretreatment of Swiss 3T3 cells with phorbol dibutyrate, which causes a loss of protein kinase C activity (Rodriguez- Pena, A., and E. Rozengurt, 1984, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 120:1053-1059), greatly decreased the stimulation of 86Rb+ uptake and Na+ entry by bombesin implicating this phosphotransferase system in the mediation of part of these responses to bombesin. Since some activation of monovalent ion transport by bombesin was seen in phorbol dibutyrate- pretreated cells, it is likely that the peptide also stimulates monovalent ion transport by a second mechanism.
Identification of SAP97 as an intracellular binding partner of TACE

Tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme (TACE) is the metalloprotease-disintegrin responsible for the ectodomain shedding of several proteins, including tumor necrosis factor α. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we identified the scaffolding protein synapse associated protein 97 (SAP97) as a binding partner of the cytoplasmic domain of TACE. By deletions and site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrated that this interaction involved the PDZ3 domain of SAP97 and the extreme C-terminal amino-acid sequence of TACE. This interaction as well as the identification of the specific domains involved was confirmed in vitro by affinity purification and in mammalian cells by co-immunoprecipitation and alteration of localization analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy. In addition, confocal microscopy showed that endogenous TACE and SAP97 colocalized in some intracellular areas of COS-7 cells and CACO-2 cells. Furthermore, overexpression of SAP97, unlike that of a mutant form of SAP97 deleted for its PDZ3 domain, altered the ability of TACE to release its substrates. Altogether, these results demonstrate an interaction between TACE and SAP97, which may have a functional implication for the regulation of TACE shedding activity.
Evolutionary Search of Approximated N-dimensional Landscapes

Finding the global optimum on a large, multimodal, complex, and discontinuous (or nondif-ferentiable) landscape is usually very hard, even using the evolutionary approach. However, some of these complex landscapes can be approximated and smoothened without changing the nature of the problem, i.e., without modifying the global optimum and its location. The approximated and smoothened landscape is often much easier to search than the original one. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm using landscape approximation and hybrid evolutionary and local search. We also list several algorithm design principles. Following the basic algorithm, an example algorithm is given from our previous work of the combination of landscape approximation and local search (LALS). Furthermore, we develop a novel evolutionary algorithm with n-dimensional approximation (EANA), which shares the same rules as the basic algorithm, but remedies some of the drawbacks found in the LALS. Comparisons with evolution strategies and improved fast evolutionary programming are also given in this paper to show the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed algorithms.
Anti-α-enolase Antibodies in Serum from Pediatric Patients Affected by Inflammatory Diseases: Diagnostic and Pathogenetic Insights

Human glycolytic enzyme α-enolase was associated with human diseases and with inflammation. An ELISA test was developed to measure anti-α-enolase AAE IgG and AAE IgA in the serum from patients affected by inflammatory diseases with the purpose to evaluate it as a novel diagnostic marker. 80 healthy blood donors and 194 paediatric patients affected by Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), celiac disease (CD), Crohn's Disease (CrD), hereditary periodic fever (HPF), and PFAPA syndrome were included in the study. HPF patients showed high levels of AAE antibodies, whereas JIA, CD, and CrD presented only partial results. Benign fevers such as PFAPA were almost negative for AAE Abs. These findings suggested that the genetic dysfunction of inflammasome associated with HPF could lead to the formation of AAE Abs that could be used for an early and easy diagnosis.
IL-2 Suppression of IL-12p70 by a Recombinant HSV-1 Expressing IL-2 Induces T-Cell Auto-Reactivity and CNS Demyelination

To evaluate the role of cellular infiltrates in CNS demyelination in immunocompetent mice, we have used a model of multiple sclerosis (MS) in which different strains of mice are infected with a recombinant HSV-1 expressing IL-2. Histologic examination of the mice infected with HSV-IL-2 demonstrates that natural killer cells, dendritic cells, B cells, and CD25 (IL-2rα) do not play any role in the HSV-IL-2-induced demyelination. T cell depletion, T cell knockout and T cell adoptive transfer experiments suggest that both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells contribute to HSV-IL-2-induced CNS demyelination with CD8+ T cells being the primary inducers. In the adoptive transfer studies, all of the transferred T cells irrespective of their CD25 status at the time of transfer were positive for expression of FoxP3 and depletion of FoxP3 blocked CNS demyelination by HSV-IL-2. The expression levels of IL-12p35 relative to IL-12p40 differed in BM-derived macrophages infected with HSV-IL-2 from those infected with wild-type HSV-1. HSV-IL-2-induced demyelination was blocked by injecting HSV-IL-2-infected mice with IL-12p70 DNA. This study demonstrates that suppression of the IL-12p70 function of macrophages by IL-2 causes T cells to become auto-aggressive. Interruption of this immunoregulatory axis results in demyelination of the optic nerve, the spinal cord and the brain by autoreactive T cells in the HSV-IL-2 mouse model of MS.
Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells in Cancer Patients: A Clinical Perspective

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) represent a heterogenous collection of immature myeloid cells endowed with suppressive function on the immune response. Their presence has been extensively investigated in preclinical models, especially in the context of cancer. One of the major obstacles in their accurate identification has been the definition of an unambiguous phenotype, shared between mice and humans, and clearly correlating with their suppressive function. In this paper, we review the literature concerning the phenotype in mouse and in humans, showing that at least 2 subsets of MDSCs are present under different situations. We also address the role of MDSCs in tumor progression, evaluate the prognostic significance of MDSC in cancer patients, and their possible role as marker of clinical outcome and response to therapy. Finally, we examine the strategies designed to modulate MDSCs in cancer patients, which might represent an innovative approach to enhance the effectiveness of immune-based therapies.
Enhancement of Salient Image Regions for Visual Object Detection

Salient object/region detection aims at finding interesting regions in images and videos, since such regions contain important information and easily attract human attention. The detected regions can be further used for more complicated computer vision applications such as object detection and recognition, image compression, content-based image editing, and image retrieval. One of the fundamental challenge in salient object detection is to uniformly emphasize desired objects and meanwhile suppress irrelevant background. Existing heuristic color contrast-based methods tend to obtain false detection in complex scenarios and attenuate the inner part of large salient objects. In order to achieve uniform object enhancement and background suppression, several new techniques including color feature integration, graph-based geodesic saliency propagation, hierarchical segmentation based on graph spectrum decomposition are developed in this thesis to assist saliency computation. Paper 1 proposes a superpixel-based salient object detection method which takes advantages of color contrast and distribution. It develops complementary abilities among hypotheses and generates high quality saliency maps. Paper 2 proposes a novel geodesic propagation method for salient region enhancement. It leverages an initial coarse saliency map that highlight potential salient regions, and then conducts geodesic propagation. Local connectivity of objects is retained after the proposed propagation. Papers 3 and 4 use graph-based spectral decomposition for hierarchical segmentation, which enhances saliency detection. As most previous work on salient region detection is done for still images, paper 5 extends graph-based saliency detection methods to video processing. It combines static appearance and motion cues to construct graph. A spatial-temporal smoothing operation is proposed on a structured graph derived from consecutive frames to maintain visual coherence in both inter- and intra- frames. All these proposed methods are validated on benchmark datasets and achieve comparable/better performance to the state-of-the-art methods.
Reboxetine add on therapy to haloperidol in the treatment of schizophrenia: a preliminary double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia remain a major clinical challenge. Reboxetine is an antidepressant whose major mechanism of action is as a noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor. This study was a 6-week randomized placebo-controlled trial of reboxetine or placebo add on to haloperidol 5 mg in the treatment of 30 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia. The trial failed to demonstrate any significant difference between the placebo and reboxetine groups on any of the outcome measures. This trial does not suggest that increased noradreneregic drive mediated by reuptake inhibition in patients taking dopamine antagonists is of therapeutic value in schizophrenia.
CONSTRAINING DUST AND MOLECULAR GAS PROPERTIES IN Lyα BLOBS AT z ∼ 3

In order to constrain the bolometric luminosities, dust properties, and molecular gas content of giant Lyα nebulae, the so-called Lyα blobs, we have carried out a study of dust continuum and CO line emission in two well-studied representatives of this population at z ∼ 3: an Lyα blob discovered by its strong Spitzer Multiband Infrared Photometer 24 μm detection (LABd05) and the Steidel blob 1 (SSA22-LAB01). We find that the spectral energy distribution of LABd05 is well described by an active-galactic-nucleus–starburst composite template with LFIR = (4.0 ± 0.5) × 1012 L☉, comparable to high-z submillimeter galaxies and ultraluminous infrared galaxies. New Large APEX Bolometer Camera 870 μm measurements rule out the reported Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array detection of the SSA22-LAB01 (S850 μm = 16.8 mJy) at the >4σ level. Consistent with this, ultradeep Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations with ∼2″ spatial resolution also fail to detect any 1.2 mm continuum source down to ≈0.45 mJy beam−1 (3σ). Combined with the existing (sub)millimeter observations in the literature, we conclude that the FIR luminosity of SSA22-LAB01 remains uncertain. No CO line is detected in either case down to integrated flux limits of SνΔV ≲ 0.25–1.0 Jy km s−1, indicating a modest molecular gas reservoir, M(H2) < (1–3) × 1010 M☉. The non-detections exclude, with high significance (12σ), the previous tentative detection of a CO J = 4–3 line in the SSA22-LAB01. The increased sensitivity afforded by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array will be critical in studying molecular gas and dust in these interesting systems.