Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periostin as a Novel Factor Responsible for Ventricular Dilation

Background—Periostin is highly expressed in the myocardium in patients with heart failure. However, no report has documented the function of periostin. To identify the function of periostin in the pathophysiology of heart failure, overexpression or loss of function of the periostin gene was examined by direct transfection into the rat heart. Methods and Results—Rats transfected with the periostin gene by the HVJ-liposome method showed left ventricular (LV) dilation as assessed by echocardiography, accompanied by an increase in periostin expression. Consistently significant differences were observed in LV pressure, LV end-diastolic pressure, LV dP/dtmax, and LV dP/dtmin at 6 and 12 weeks after transfection in rats transfected with the periostin gene, accompanied by a decrease in cardiac myocytes and an increase in collagen deposition. Importantly, periostin has the ability to inhibit the spreading of myocytes and the adhesion of cardiac fibroblasts with or without fibronectin. Markers of cardiac dysfunction such as brain natriuretic peptide and endothelin-1 gene expression were significantly increased after transfection in the LV of rats transfected with the periostin gene. These data demonstrate that overexpression of the periostin gene led to cardiac dysfunction. Thus, we examined the inhibition of periostin in Dahl salt-sensitive rats by an antisense strategy because periostin is highly expressed in heart failure. Importantly, inhibition of periostin gene expression resulted in a significant increase in survival rate, accompanied by an improvement of LV function. Conclusion—The present study demonstrates the contribution of the periostin gene to cardiac dilation in animal models. Inhibition of periostin might become a new therapeutic target for the treatment of heart failure.
University of Birmingham Importance of Toxin A, Toxin B, and CDT in virulence of an epidemic Clostridium difficile strain

Clostridium dif ﬁ cile infection is the main cause of healthcare-acquired diarrhea in the developed world. In addition to the main virulence factors toxin A and B, epidemic, PCR Ribo-type 027 strains, such as R20291, produce a third toxin, CDT. To develop effective medical countermeasures, it is important to understand the importance of each toxin. Accordingly, we created all possible combinations of isogenic toxin mutants of R20291 and assessed their virulence. We demonstrated that either toxin A or toxin B alone can cause fulminant disease in the hamster infection model and present tantalizing data that C. dif ﬁ cile toxin may also contribute to virulence.
Modelling Pasture-based Automatic Milking System Herds: System Fitness of Grazeable Home-grown Forages, Land Areas and Walking Distances

To maintain a predominantly pasture-based system, the large herd milked by automatic milking rotary would be required to walk significant distances. Walking distances of greater than 1-km are associated with an increased incidence of undesirably long milking intervals and reduced milk yield. Complementary forages can be incorporated into pasture-based systems to lift total home grown feed in a given area, thus potentially ‘concentrating’ feed closer to the dairy. The aim of this modelling study was to investigate the total land area required and associated walking distance for large automatic milking system (AMS) herds when incorporating complementary forage rotations (CFR) into the system. Thirty-six scenarios consisting of 3 AMS herds (400, 600, 800 cows), 2 levels of pasture utilisation (current AMS utilisation of 15.0 t dry matter [DM]/ha, termed as moderate; optimum pasture utilisation of 19.7 t DM/ha, termed as high) and 6 rates of replacement of each of these pastures by grazeable CFR (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%) were investigated. Results showed that AMS cows were required to walk greater than 1-km when the farm area was greater than 86 ha. Insufficient pasture could be produced within a 1 km distance (i.e. 86 ha land) with home-grown feed (HGF) providing 43%, 29%, and 22% of the metabolisable energy (ME) required by 400, 600, and 800 cows, respectively from pastures. Introduction of pasture (moderate): CFR in AMS at a ratio of 80:20 can feed a 400 cow AMS herd, and can supply 42% and 31% of the ME requirements for 600 and 800 cows, respectively with pasture (moderate): CFR at 50:50 levels. In contrast to moderate pasture, 400 cows can be managed on high pasture utilisation (provided 57% of the total ME requirements). However, similar to the scenarios conducted with moderate pasture, there was insufficient feed produced within 1-km distance of the dairy for 600 or 800 cows. An 800 cow herd required 140 and 130 ha on moderate and high pasture-based AMS system, respectively with the introduction of pasture: CFR at a ratio of 50:50. Given the impact of increasing land area past 86 ha on walking distance, cow numbers could be increased by purchasing feed from off the milking platform and/or using the land outside 1-km distance for conserved feed. However, this warrants further investigations into risk analyses of different management options including development of an innovative system to manage large herds in an AMS farming system.
Effect of royal jelly on experimental colitis induced by acetic acid and alteration of mast cell distribution in the colon of rats

This study investigated the effects of royal jelly (RJ) on acetic acid-induced colitis in rats. Twenty adult female Wistar albino rats were divided into four treatment groups of 5 animals each, including a control group (Group I); Group II was treated orally with RJ (150 mg kg−1 body weight); Group III had acetic acid-induced colitis; and Group IV had acetic acid-induced colitis treated orally with RJ (150 mg kg−1 body weight) for 4 weeks. Colitis was induced by intracolonic instillation of 4% acetic acid; the control group received physiological saline (10 mL kg−1). Colon samples were obtained under deep anaesthesia from animals in all groups. Tissues were fixed in 10% formalin neutral buffer solution for 24 h and embedded in paraffin. Six-micrometre-thick sections were stained with Mallory’s triple stain and toluidine blue in 1% aqueous solution at pH 1.0 for 5 min (for Mast Cells). RJ was shown to protect the colonic mucosa against the injurious effect of acetic acid. Colitis (colonic damage) was confirmed histomorphometrically as significant increases in the number of mast cells (MC) and colonic erosions in rats with acetic acid-induced colitis. The RJ treatment significantly decreased the number of MC and reduced the area of colonic erosion in the colon of RJ-treated rats compared with rats with untreated colitis. The results suggest that oral treatment with RJ could be used to treat colitis.
Interactive-Predictive Machine Translation based on Syntactic Constraints of Prefix

Interactive-predictive machine translation (IPMT) is a translation mode which combines machine translation technology and human behaviours. In the IPMT system, the utilization of the prefix greatly affects the interaction efficiency. However, state-of-the-art methods filter translation hypotheses mainly according to their matching results with the prefix on character level, and the advantage of the prefix is not fully developed. Focusing on this problem, this paper mines the deep constraints of prefix on syntactic level to improve the performance of IPMT systems. Two syntactic subtree matching rules based on phrase structure grammar are proposed to filter the translation hypotheses more strictly. Experimental results on LDC Chinese-English corpora show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art phrase-based IPMT system while keeping comparable decoding speed.
Remote Gaze Tracking System on a Large Display

We propose a new remote gaze tracking system as an intelligent TV interface. Our research is novel in the following three ways: first, because a user can sit at various positions in front of a large display, the capture volume of the gaze tracking system should be greater, so the proposed system includes two cameras which can be moved simultaneously by panning and tilting mechanisms, a wide view camera (WVC) for detecting eye position and an auto-focusing narrow view camera (NVC) for capturing enlarged eye images. Second, in order to remove the complicated calibration between the WVC and NVC and to enhance the capture speed of the NVC, these two cameras are combined in a parallel structure. Third, the auto-focusing of the NVC is achieved on the basis of both the user's facial width in the WVC image and a focus score calculated on the eye image of the NVC. Experimental results showed that the proposed system can be operated with a gaze tracking accuracy of ±0.737°∼±0.775° and a speed of 5∼10 frames/s.
Active tectonics in the Upper Rhine Graben Integration of paleoseismology, geomorphology and geomechanical modeling

In the focus of this thesis is the northern part of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG). The aim of the thesis is to study the active tectonics of the area during the Quaternary and Present. The URG is characterized by intense human modifications, relatively slow tectonic deformation and low intra-plate seismic activity. In addition, during the Quaternary surface processes have been at a high rate. Therefore, the records of the slow tectonic deformation are relatively poorly preserved and thus difficult to detect. Given this setting, several techniques need to be applied in order to study the active tectonics. This thesis demonstrates that the integration of four techniques, paleoseismological trenching, fluvial terrace mapping, quantitative tectonic geomorphology and tectonic modeling, can lead to positive results. Chapter 1 of this thesis presents a review of the geodynamic evolution, the structural setting and the seismicity of the URG. The results of paleoseismological trenching, including shallow geophysical measurements, are presented and discussed in Chapter 2. This investigation focuses on the Western Border Fault (WBF) in the northern URG. The trenches exposed near-surface deformation of the border fault in Middle to Late Pleistocene deposits (fluvial sands, alluvial loess). Since unambiguous proof for co-seismic deformation is not possible for this site two scenarios are proposed: a single M w 6.5 earthquake or aseismic creep at a rate of > 0.04 mm/yr. Using 14C and thermoluminescence dating the last faulting episode of the WBF at this site was dated between 8 and 19 ka. Based on a reconstruction of the sequence of events, the interplay between tectonic activity of the WBF and fluvial and erosional processes at the trench site could be demonstrated. At a regional scale, the effects of fault activity on fluvial terraces are investigated (Chapter 3). The work includes morphological terrace mapping along the WBF segment investigated by trenching. Correlation of these newly mapped terraces with previous terrace mapping along the western side of the northern URG permits XV
Translational Research in Acute Lung Injury and Pulmonary Fibrosis Mesenchymal stem cells protect from hypoxia-induced alveolar epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Yurdagül Uzunhan, Olivier Bernard, Dominique Marchant, Nicolas Dard, Valérie Vanneaux, Jérôme Larghero, Thomas Gille, Christine Clerici, Dominique Valeyre, Hilario Nunes, Emilie Boncoeur,* and Carole Planès* Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Laboratoire Hypoxie & Poumon, Bobigny, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Avicenne, Bobigny, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Saint Louis, Unité de Thérapie Cellulaire et CIC de Biothérapies, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Inserm U1152, Paris, France; and AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France
Optimal utilization of transmission capacity to reduce congestion with distributed FACTS

The Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) device has been applied to enhance the controllability of power systems. A new generation of FACTS device called Distributed FACTS such as distributed series impedance or distributed static series compensator has recently received increasing interests for power system control and are expected to be broadly deployed. When technology of D-FACTS is being further advanced, there is an increasing interest to find the optimal locations of these devices. This paper presents a detailed formulation and algorithm to find the best location and size of D-FACTS to achieve the optimal utilization of transmission capacity to mitigate congestion. Simulation results are presented with the PJM 5-bus system.
Investigation of CNT modification of epoxy resin in CFRP strengthening systems

The use of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) to reinforce old structures has become popular in recent years. In this study, the chemical structure of the epoxy resin used as the bonding agent in the CFRP strengthening system was modified by dispersing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in order to improve the performance of the strengthening system. Composites were fabricated with different mixing orders employing the solvent-assisted dispersion method and ultrasonic mixing. Thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, and tensile tests were conducted to investigate the effect of CNT dispersion and fabrication method on the thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy composite. In addition, the temperature-dependent tensile behavior of fabricated composites was studied by performing tensile tests at elevated temperatures. The morphology of CNT/epoxy composites was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was also used to show the influence of solvent on the molecular structure of composites. Based on the experimental results, the decomposition temperature of the epoxy resin was heightened by 15°C as a result of solvent-assisted dispersion of nanotubes. However, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was slightly reduced due to the solvent effect. FTIR analysis revealed that the solvent negatively affects the curing process of epoxy composite. A considerable enhancement was recorded in the tensile properties as a result of CNT infusion. This was attributed to the homogeneous dispersion of nanotubes which was shown by SEM images. Using solvent to disperse nanotubes led to the reduction of tensile strength of the epoxy composite at elevated temperature due to the lower Tg. POLYM. COMPOS. , 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers
Low Risk of Ipsilateral Stroke in Patients With Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis on Best Medical Treatment: A Prospective, Population-Based Study

Background and Purpose— The annual risk of ischemic stroke distal to ≥50% asymptomatic carotid stenoses was ≈2% to 3% in early cohort studies and subsequent randomized trials of endarterectomy. This risk might have fallen in recent years owing to improvements in medical treatment, but there are no published prognostic data from studies initiated within the last 10 years. Methods— In a population-based study of all patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke in the Oxford Vascular Study, we studied the risk of TIA and stroke in patients with ≥50% contralateral asymptomatic carotid stenoses recruited consecutively from 2002 to 2009 and given intensive contemporary medical treatment. Results— Of 1153 consecutively imaged patients presenting with stroke or TIA, 101 (8.8%) had ≥50% asymptomatic carotid stenoses (mean age, 75 years; 39% women; 40% age ≥80 years). During 301 patient-years of follow-up (mean, 3 years), there were 6 ischemic events in the territory of an asymptomatic stenosis, 1 minor stroke (initially 50% to 69% stenosis), and 5 TIAs (2 initially 50% to 69% stenosis; 3 to 70% to 99% stenosis), 3 of which led to subsequent endarterectomy. The average annual event rates on medical treatment were 0.34% (95% CI, 0.01 to 1.87) for any ipsilateral ischemic stroke, 0% (95% CI, 0.00 to 0.99) for disabling ipsilateral stroke, and 1.78% (95% CI, 0.58 to 4.16) for ipsilateral TIA. Conclusions— In the first study of the prognosis of ≥50% asymptomatic carotid stenosis to be initiated in the last 10 years, the risk of stroke on intensive contemporary medical treatment was low. Larger studies are required to determine whether this apparent improvement in prognosis is generalizable.
Functional analyses of heterotrimeric G protein Gα and Gβ subunits in Gibberella zeae

The homothallic ascomycete fungus Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum) is a major toxigenic plant pathogen that causes head blight disease on small-grain cereals. The fungus produces the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) in infected hosts, posing a threat to human and animal health. Despite its agricultural and toxicological importance, the molecular mechanisms underlying its growth, development and virulence remain largely unknown. To better understand such mechanisms, we studied the heterotrimeric G proteins of G. zeae, which are known to control crucial signalling pathways that regulate various cellular and developmental responses in fungi. Three putative Gα subunits, GzGPA1, GzGPA2 and GzGPA3, and one Gβ subunit, GzGPB1, were identified in the F. graminearum genome. Deletion of GzGPA1, a homologue of the Aspergillus nidulans Gα gene fadA, resulted in female sterility and enhanced DON and ZEA production, suggesting that GzGPA1 is required for normal sexual reproduction and repression of toxin biosynthesis. The production of DON and ZEA was also enhanced in the GzGPB1 mutant, suggesting that both Gα GzGPA1 and Gβ GzGPB1 negatively control mycotoxin production. Deletion of GzGPA2, which encodes a Gα protein similar to A. nidulans GanB, caused reduced pathogenicity and increased chitin accumulation in the cell wall, implying that GzGPA2 has multiple functions. Our study shows that G. zeae heterotrimeric G protein subunits can regulate vegetative growth, sexual development, toxin production and pathogenicity.
Metabolomic analysis reveals that carnitines are key regulatory metabolites in phase transition of the locusts

Phenotypic plasticity occurs prevalently and plays a vital role in adaptive evolution. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the expression of alternate phenotypes remain unknown. Here, a density-dependent phase polyphenism of Locusta migratoria was used as the study model to identify key signaling molecules regulating the expression of phenotypic plasticity. Metabolomic analysis, using high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, showed that solitarious and gregarious locusts have distinct metabolic profiles in hemolymph. A total of 319 metabolites, many of which are involved in lipid metabolism, differed significantly in concentration between the phases. In addition, the time course of changes in the metabolic profiles of locust hemolymph that accompany phase transition was analyzed. Carnitine and its acyl derivatives, which are involved in the lipid β-oxidation process, were identified as key differential metabolites that display robust correlation with the time courses of phase transition. RNAi silencing of two key enzymes from the carnitine system, carnitine acetyltransferase and palmitoyltransferase, resulted in a behavioral transition from the gregarious to solitarious phase and the corresponding changes of metabolic profiles. In contrast, the injection of exogenous acetylcarnitine promoted the acquisition of gregarious behavior in solitarious locusts. These results suggest that carnitines mediate locust phase transition possibly through modulating lipid metabolism and influencing the nervous system of the locusts.
Spatial mixing and nonlocal Markov chains

We consider spin systems with nearest‐neighbor interactions on an n‐vertex d‐dimensional cube of the integer lattice graph Zd . We study the effects that the strong spatial mixing condition (SSM) has on the rate of convergence to equilibrium of nonlocal Markov chains. We prove that when SSM holds, the relaxation time (i.e., the inverse spectral gap) of general block dynamics is O(r), where r is the number of blocks. As a second application of our technology, it is established that SSM implies an O(1) bound for the relaxation time of the Swendsen‐Wang dynamics for the ferromagnetic Ising and Potts models. We also prove that for monotone spin systems SSM implies that the mixing time of systematic scan dynamics is O(logn(loglogn)2) . Our proofs use a variety of techniques for the analysis of Markov chains including coupling, functional analysis and linear algebra.
Human 14-3-3 Paralogs Differences Uncovered by Cross-Talk of Phosphorylation and Lysine Acetylation

The 14-3-3 protein family interacts with more than 700 different proteins in mammals, in part as a result of its specific phospho-serine/phospho-threonine binding activity. Upon binding to 14-3-3, the stability, subcellular localization and/or catalytic activity of the ligands are modified. Seven paralogs are strictly conserved in mammalian species. Although initially thought as redundant, the number of studies showing specialization is growing. We created a protein-protein interaction network for 14-3-3, kinases and their substrates signaling in human cells. We included information of phosphorylation, acetylation and other PTM sites, obtaining a complete representation of the 14-3-3 binding partners and their modifications. Using a computational system approach we found that networks of each 14-3-3 isoform are statistically different. It was remarkable to find that Tyr was the most phosphorylatable amino acid in domains of 14-3-3 epsilon partners. This, together with the over-representation of SH3 and Tyr_Kinase domains, suggest that epsilon could be involved in growth factors receptors signaling pathways particularly. We also found that within zeta’s network, the number of acetylated partners (and the number of modify lysines) is significantly higher compared with each of the other isoforms. Our results imply previously unreported hidden differences of the 14-3-3 isoforms interaction networks. The phosphoproteome and lysine acetylome within each network revealed post-transcriptional regulation intertwining phosphorylation and lysine acetylation. A global understanding of these networks will contribute to predict what could occur when regulatory circuits become dysfunctional or are modified in response to external stimuli.
Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practice

Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practice, Fourth Edition, has been updated and extended to include the many developments that have taken place since the third edition was published. The new edition includes an overview of the component subjects in food science and technology, processing stages, important aspects of food industry management not otherwise considered (e.g. financial management, marketing, food laws and food industry regulation), value chains, the global food industry, and over-arching considerations (e.g. environmental issues and sustainability). In addition, there are new chapters on industrial cooking, heat removal, storage, and distribution, along with updates on all the remaining chapters. This updated edition consolidates the position of this foundational book as the best single-volume introduction to food manufacturing technologies available, remaining as the most adopted standard text for many food science and technology courses. Updated edition completely revised with new developments on all the processing stages and aspects of food industry management not otherwise considered (e.g. financial management, marketing, food laws, and food industry regulation), and moreIntroduces a range of processing techniques that are used in food manufacturingExplains the key principles of each process, including the equipment used and the effects of processing on micro-organisms that contaminate foodsDescribes post-processing operations, including packaging and distribution logisticsIncludes extra textbook elements, such as videos and calculations slides, in addition to summaries of key points in each chapter