Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mannose Receptor Targeting of Tumor Antigen pmel17 to Human Dendritic Cells Directs Anti-Melanoma T Cell Responses via Multiple HLA Molecules

Targeting recycling endocytic receptors with specific Abs provides a means for introducing a variety of tumor-associated Ags into human dendritic cells (DCs), culminating in their efficient presentation to T cells. We have generated a human mAb (B11) against the mannose receptor that is rapidly internalized by DCs through receptor-mediated endocytosis. By genetically linking the melanoma Ag, pmel17, to Ab B11, we obtained the fully human fusion protein, B11-pmel17. Treatment of DCs with B11-pmel17 resulted in the presentation of pmel17 in the context of HLA class I and class II molecules. Thus, potent pmel17-specific T cells were cytotoxic toward gp100+ HLA-matched melanoma targets, but not HLA-mismatched melanoma or gp100− nonmelanoma tumor lines. Importantly, competitive inhibition of lysis of an otherwise susceptible melanoma cell line by cold targets pulsed with known gp100 CD8 T cell epitopes as well as a dose-dependent proliferative response to Th epitopes demonstrates that DCs can process targeted Ag for activation of cytotoxic as well as helper arms of the immune response. Thus, the specific targeting of soluble exogenous tumor Ag to the DC mannose receptor directly contributes to the generation of multiple HLA-restricted Ag-specific T cell responses.
Mathematics of Operations Research Approximation Algorithms for the Job Interval Selection Problem and Related Scheduling Problems

In this paper we consider the job interval selection problem (JISP), a simple scheduling model with a rich history and numerous applications. Special cases of this problem include the so-called real-time scheduling problem (also known as the throughput maximization problem) in single and multiple machine environments. In these special cases we have to maximize the number of jobs scheduled between their release date and deadline (preemption is not allowed). Even the single machine case is NP-hard. The unrelated machines case, as well as other special cases of JISP, are MAX SNP-hard. A simple greedy algorithm gives a 2-approximation for JISP. Despite many efforts, this was the best approximation guarantee known, even for throughput maximization on a single machine. In this paper, we break this barrier and show an approximation guarantee of less than 1.582 for arbitrary instances of JISP. For some special cases, we show better results.
Inhibition of adipose tissue PPARγ prevents increased adipocyte expansion after lipectomy and exacerbates a glucose‐intolerant phenotype

Adipose tissue plays a fundamental role in glucose homeostasis. For example, fat removal (lipectomy, LipX) in lean mice, resulting in a compensatory 50% increase in total fat mass, is associated with significant improvement in glucose tolerance. This study was designed to further examine the link between fat removal, adipose tissue compensation and glucose homeostasis using a peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ (PPAR γ; activator of adipogenesis) knockout mouse.
The effect of dietary nitrate supplementation on the spatial heterogeneity of quadriceps deoxygenation during heavy‐intensity cycling

This study investigated the influence of dietary inorganic nitrate (NO3−) supplementation on pulmonary O2 uptake ( V˙ O2) and muscle deoxyhemoglobin/myoglobin (i.e. deoxy [Hb + Mb]) kinetics during submaximal cycling exercise. In a randomized, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over study, eight healthy and physically active male subjects completed two step cycle tests at a work rate equivalent to 50% of the difference between the gas exchange threshold and peak V˙ O2 over separate 4‐day supplementation periods with NO3−‐rich (BR; providing 8.4 mmol NO3−∙day−1) and NO3−‐depleted (placebo; PLA) beetroot juice. Pulmonary V˙ O2 was measured breath‐by‐breath and time‐resolved near‐infrared spectroscopy was utilized to quantify absolute deoxy [Hb + Mb] and total [Hb + Mb] within the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the primary deoxy [Hb + Mb] mean response time or amplitude between the PLA and BR trials at each muscle site. BR significantly increased the mean (three‐site) end‐exercise deoxy [Hb + Mb] (PLA: 91 ± 9 vs. BR: 95 ± 12 μmol/L, P < 0.05), with a tendency to increase the mean (three‐site) area under the curve for total [Hb + Mb] responses (PLA: 3650 ± 1188 vs. BR: 4467 ± 1315 μmol/L sec−1, P = 0.08). The V˙ O2 slow component reduction after BR supplementation (PLA: 0.27 ± 0.07 vs. BR: 0.23 ± 0.08 L min−1, P = 0.07) correlated inversely with the mean increases in deoxy [Hb + Mb] and total [Hb + Mb] across the three muscle regions (r2 = 0.62 and 0.66, P < 0.05). Dietary NO3− supplementation increased O2 diffusive conductance across locomotor muscles in association with improved V˙ O2 dynamics during heavy‐intensity cycling transitions.
The audio cocktail as a sound browsing tool - a crowdsourcing based validation

We conduct two crowdsourcing experiments designed to examine the usefulness of audio cocktails to quickly find out information on the contents of large audio data. Several thousand crowd workers were engaged to listen to audio cocktails with systematically varied composition. They were then asked to state either which sound out of four categories (Children, Women, Men, Orchestra) they heard the most of, or if they heard anything of a specific category at all. The results show that their responses have high reliability and provide information as to whether a specific task can be performed using audio cocktails. We also propose that the combination of crowd workers and audio cocktails can be used directly as a tool to investigate the contents of large audio data.
Immunohistochemical localization of calcium‐binding proteins, parvalbumin and calbindin‐D 28K, in the adult and developing visual cortex of cats: A light and electron microscopic study

In the cat primary visual cortex, we investigated with immunohistochemical techniques the developmental changes in the cellular and subcellular localization of the Ca2+‐binding proteins parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin‐D 28K (CBP), in order to determine whether there is a correlation between the expression of Ca2+‐dependent processes and the time course of the critical period for use‐dependent plasticity.
Commons@Becker Digital Commons@Becker

More than 300 years ago, Antony van Leewenhoeck first described observing single-celled microorganisms, which he termed “ animalcules ,” examining his saliva under a microscope. Although the idea of the coexistence of microorganisms in our body is not new, we have only recently been able to investigate their ecological relationship to our body, with the development of high-throughput molecular techniques. The diverse microorganism communities residing in our guts are established and maintained by complex interactions among microorganisms and their host. Notably, their alteration has been implicated in influencing various diseases including neurological diseases. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia characterized by a progressive decline in memory and thinking severe enough to interfere with daily life. Despite the great progress in linking genetic risk factors with AD pathogenesis, treatments targeted at AD pathology and its modifiers have not yet resulted in a disease-modifying therapy. There is mounting evidence that the gut microbiota interacts with AD pathogenesis by disrupting neuroinflammation and metabolic homeostasis—the gut microbiota has gone from being the forgotten organ to a potential key player in the AD pathology.
Family planning KAP survey in the Southern Region of Saudi Arabia

The Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD, 1994) acknowledged the importance of family planning in promoting the overall health and reproductive life of women. Ahmed, Qingfeng et al found in Global Analysis of 172 countries using the WHO data that family planning can help in reducing maternal mortality by 44%. This decrease ranged from 7% to 60% across countries. Non contraception health benefits of family planning was recognized in several previous studies as improving the child survival through lengthening the birth interval, child spacing and minimizing the siblings completion especially in limited family resources and limited national maternal resources. Studies found that oral contraceptives could help to reduce serious diseases and some gynaecological diseases among which ovarian and endometrial cancer, benign breast diseases, ectopic pregnancy and pelvic inflammatory diseases.
Trust in Religious Others A Three-Way Interaction Model of Religious Bias, Informational Use of Digital Media, and Education

This study investigates the relationship between individuals’ religious bias and trust in religious others and how this relationship is conditioned by education and the use of digital media in the context of Pakistan. Although recent studies conducted in Western democracies suggest that social media have potentially contributed to the growth of religious and racial cleavages, the impact of these platforms remains understudied in non-Western, predominantly Muslim societies such as Pakistan. Our analyses of the World Value Survey (WVS) data from Pakistan show that, not surprisingly, religious bias negatively predicts trust in religious others. However, the informational use of digital media platforms (i.e., the Internet and social media) moderates this relationship, indicating that this negative association becomes insignificant among heavy digital media users. This relationship is further contingent on education, suggesting that less educated people benefit more from the informational use of digital media. The findings are discussed in relation to the extant literature on the role of digital media and education in facilitating religious trust.
Framing U-Net via Deep Convolutional Framelets: Application to Sparse-View CT

X-ray computed tomography (CT) using sparse projection views is a recent approach to reduce the radiation dose. However, due to the insufficient projection views, an analytic reconstruction approach using the filtered back projection (FBP) produces severe streaking artifacts. Recently, deep learning approaches using large receptive field neural networks such as U-Net have demonstrated impressive performance for sparse-view CT reconstruction. However, theoretical justification is still lacking. Inspired by the recent theory of deep convolutional framelets, the main goal of this paper is, therefore, to reveal the limitation of U-Net and propose new multi-resolution deep learning schemes. In particular, we show that the alternative U-Net variants such as dual frame and tight frame U-Nets satisfy the so-called frame condition which makes them better for effective recovery of high frequency edges in sparse-view CT. Using extensive experiments with real patient data set, we demonstrate that the new network architectures provide better reconstruction performance.
The relationship between neuroticism and religiosity among English 15- and 16-year-olds.

Summary The Junior version of the Eysenck scale of neuroticism and the Francis scale of attitude towards religion Form ASC4B were administered to 1088 15- and 16-year-old English school boys and girls in order to examine two conflicting psychological accounts of the relationship between religiosity and stability. The positive significant correlation found between religiosity and neuroticism is shown to be an artifact caused by the fact that women are both more neurotic and more religious than men. The data support neither the hypothesis that religiosity is an expression of instability nor the hypothesis that religiosity fosters stability.
Becker Digital

(26.8%) patients in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. The final model included 12 variables: age, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, urea, C-reactive protein, sodium, lymphocyte count, neutrophil count, and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio. In the validation cohort, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC) was 0.907 (95% CI, 0.892–0.922), and the Brier Score was 0.098. The decision curve analysis showed good clinical utility in hypothetical scenarios where the admission of patients was decided according to the prognostic index. When the prognostic index was used to predict mortality in the validation cohort, the AUROCC was 0.947 (95% CI, 0.925–0.97) and the Brier score was 0.0188. Conclusions . The RCOS prognostic index could help improve the decision making in the current COVID-19 pandemic, especially in resource-limited settings with poor healthcare infrastructure such as India. However, implementation in other settings is needed to cross-validate and verify our findings.
Microglial regulation of cholinergic differentiation in the basal forebrain

Because inflammation during pregnancy can lead to neurodevelopmental anomalies, we investigated the role of inflamed microglia on cholinergic precursors in the rat embryonic basal forebrain (BF) cultured on embryonic day 15. Conditioned medium (CM) taken from microglia stimulated variously (microglial CM; MCM) increased activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), the enzyme responsible for acetylcholine biosynthesis and a phenotypic hallmark of the cholinergic neuron. There was a concomitant decline in glutamic acid decarboxylase expression. Of stimulators tested, only β‐amyloid failed to produce effective MCM. Infection with a Lac‐Z‐containing retrovirus revealed that MCM promoted cholinergic differentiation from undifferentiated precursors in the population. Several candidates were tested for their ability to mimic MCM. Mature nerve growth factor (NGF) did not mimic MCM, but acted synergistically with it to promote enormous increases in ChAT activity. However, a microglial cell line produced high‐molecular weight forms of NGF (pro‐NGF) that were lethal to mature cholinergic neurons. Although bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) 2, 4, and 9 increased ChAT activity dose‐dependently, noggin did not inhibit the effects of the MCM, suggesting that BMPs were not the only active factor(s) in the MCM. Embryonic microglia isolated following maternal inflammation produced a variety of immune system cytokines and chemokines. One of these, interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), was tested for its ability to promote cholinergic differentiation. Although IL‐6 alone did not mimic the action of MCM, neutralization of it inhibited MCM effectiveness. Thus, following maternal inflammation, a complex microglial‐derived cocktail of factors can promote excess cholinergic differentiation in the embryonic BF. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 72: 857–864, 2012
Extractability and fractionation of heavy metals in chemically treated sewage sludges.

Four chemically treated sludges, lime-treated (LS), lime/sodium silicate-treated (LSS), cement-treated (CS), and cement/sodium silicate-treated (CSS) were produced form the chemical treatment of aerobic digested sewage sludge cake, using lime, cement, and sodium silicate as additives. Ex tractability and fractionation of the heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cr, and Zn) in these products and untreated sludge (S) were investigated using sequential extraction, single extraction, and 13C cross-polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance analysis (13C-NMR). These approaches revealed that chemical treatment of sewage sludge makes sludge Cu, Pb, and Cr more extractable. It was attributed to the irreversible dissolution of a portion of organics at very high pH during chemical treatment of sludge. The enhanced extraction of some metals having higher affinity to organics, e.g. Cu and Pb, from the chemically treated sludges was due to their complexion with the above soluble organics.
Average Rate Analysis for the Full-Duplex MISO Interference Channel

The achievable average rate of a full-duplex (FD) multiple-input-single-output interference channel with linear transceiver structures is analyzed. The impact of transmit front-end noise is included in the analysis. Both cooperative and non-cooperative strategies for the FD interference channel are considered and the closed-form expressions are derived for the achievable average rate of each strategy.
New TEM-Derived Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase and Its Genomic Context in Plasmids from Salmonella enterica Serovar Derby Isolates from Uruguay

ABSTRACT A small (8.2-kb) ColE1 plasmid encoding TEM-144 (a new β-lactamase with a ceftazidimase profile) was sequenced by a gene-walking strategy. The blaTEM allele was carried on a Tn2 element, disrupting a Rom protein gene. TEM-144 differs from TEM-1 by two mutations (R164C and E240K) and from the ceftazidime-hydrolyzing TEM-91 by one mutation (T182M).
Approaching recovery from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome: Challenges to consider in research and practice

There are unique methodological challenges to studying and assessing recovery in myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome. This study explored these challenges through interviewing 13 physicians who treat myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Our deductive thematic analysis produced four themes to consider when approaching recovery: lifespan differences in the illness experience; the heterogeneity of myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome—case definitions, etiological stance, and misdiagnosis; patient follow-up and selection bias; and assessment logistics. We discuss how researchers and clinicians can use these considerations when working with patients, drafting recovery criteria, and interpreting treatment outcomes.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Emerging patterns of genetic diversity in the Critically Endangered Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)

Southeast Asia experiences some of the highest deforestation in the world. Loss of tropical forest typically leads to widespread habitat fragmentation, with detrimental effects on dispersal ability and gene flow—particularly for large carnivores. We conducted mtDNA and microsatellite analysis to assess—for the first time—contemporary patterns of genetic diversity in the Malayan tiger. We collected 295 suspected carnivore samples in Peninsular Malaysia, from which we identified 26 as originating from tiger using 16 polymorphic microsatellite loci, comprising 22 individual tigers. Despite limitations of the study, our findings suggest tiger subpopulations in the north of the peninsula maintain some genetic connectivity and migration between two putative geographic subpopulations in the Main Range and Greater Taman Negara, with negligible population segregation due to dispersal barriers such as road infrastructure. We identified consistently lower levels of genetic diversity in tigers in the Greater Taman Negara region compared to tigers in the Main Range and small but emerging differences in nuclear and mitochondrial genetic diversity. Our mtDNA haplotype and nuclear DNA analyses suggest the levels of genetic diversity in Malayan tigers may be amongst some of the lowest of the surviving tiger subspecies, though the study is limited both in scale and genomic loci. Our findings are consistent with an expected lag between the rapid decline of tigers in Peninsular Malaysia by over 95% in the last 70 years and observed differences in their levels of genetic diversity.
Query optimization in compressed database systems

Over the last decades, improvements in CPU speed have outpaced improvements in main memory and disk access rates by orders of magnitude, enabling the use of data compression techniques to improve the performance of database systems. Previous work describes the benefits of compression for numerical attributes, where data is stored in compressed format on disk. Despite the abundance of string-valued attributes in relational schemas there is little work on compression for string attributes in a database context. Moreover, none of the previous work suitably addresses the role of the query optimizer: During query execution, data is either eagerly decompressed when it is read into main memory, or data lazily stays compressed in main memory and is decompressed on demand only In this paper, we present an effective approach for database compression based on lightweight, attribute-level compression techniques. We propose a IIierarchical Dictionary Encoding strategy that intelligently selects the most effective compression method for string-valued attributes. We show that eager and lazy decompression strategies produce sub-optimal plans for queries involving compressed string attributes. We then formalize the problem of compression-aware query optimization and propose one provably optimal and two fast heuristic algorithms for selecting a query plan for relational schemas with compressed attributes; our algorithms can easily be integrated into existing cost-based query optimizers. Experiments using TPC-H data demonstrate the impact of our string compression methods and show the importance of compression-aware query optimization. Our approach results in up to an order speed up over existing approaches.
Lake extent changes in Basotu, Tanzania: a mixed-methods approach to understanding the impacts of anthropogenic influence and climate variability

Abstract Incompatible land use is a major contributor to ecosystem degradation, and is often exacerbated by climate change impacts. We investigate Lake Basotu, Tanzania as a case study where natural lake variability has been affected by agricultural land use. Comparisons between a satellite-derived history of lake surface area, local precipitation records, and corresponding anthropogenic activity show the impacts of agricultural and historical practices. We argue that insufficient consideration to the wider ecological impacts of large agricultural projects has lasting implications. This is particularly true in semi-arid environments where food production demands need to be continuously met. In the future, major conservation strategies should be investigated to maintain the environmental integrity and sustainability of freshwater resources.
Functionalized self-assembling peptide improves INS-1 β-cell function and proliferation via the integrin/FAK/ERK/cyclin pathway

Islet transplantation is considered to be a curative treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, disruption of the extracellular matrix (ECM) leads to β-cell destruction and graft dysfunction. In this study, we developed a functionalized self-assembling peptide, KLD-F, with ECM mimic motifs derived from fibronectin and collagen IV, and evaluated its effect on β-cell function and proliferation. Atomic force microscopy and rheological results showed that KLD-F could self-assemble into a nanofibrous scaffold and change into a hydrogel in physiological saline condition. In a three-dimensional cell culture model, KLD-F improved ECM remodeling and cell-cell adhesion of INS-1 β-cells by upregulation of E-cadherin, fibronectin, and collagen IV. KLD-F also enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and expression of β-cell function genes, including Glut2, Ins1, MafA, and Pdx-1 in INS-1 cells. Moreover, KLD-F promoted proliferation of INS-1 β-cells and upregulated Ki67 expression by mediating cell cycle progression. In addition, KLD-F improved β-cell function and proliferation via an integrin/focal adhesion kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cyclin D pathway. This study highlights the fact that the β-cell-ECM interaction reestablished with this functionalized self-assembling peptide is a promising method to improve the therapeutic efficacy of islet transplantation.