Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Memory T-cell competition for bone marrow seeding

The presence in the bone marrow of memory CD8 T cells is well recognized. However, it is still largely unclear how T‐cell migration from the lymphoid periphery to the bone marrow is regulated. In the present report, we show that antigen‐specific CD4 T cells, as well as antigen‐specific CD8 T cells, localize to the bone marrow of immunized mice, and are sustained there over long periods of time. To investigate the rules governing T‐cell migration to the bone marrow, we generated chimeric mice in which the lymphoid periphery contained two genetically or phenotypically distinct groups of T cells, one of which was identical to the host. We then examined whether a distinct type of T cell had an advantage over the others in the colonization of bone marrow. Our results show that whereas ICAM1 and CD18 molecules are both involved in homing to lymph nodes, neither is crucial for T‐cell bone marrow colonization. We also observed that memory‐phenotype CD44high T cells, but not virgin‐type CD44−/low T cells, preferentially home to the bone marrow upon adoptive transfer to normal young mice, but not to thymectomized old recipients where an existing memory T‐cell pool precludes their free access. Thus, T‐cell colonization of the bone marrow uses distinct molecules from those implicated in lymph node homing, and is regulated both by the properties of the T cell and by the competitive efficacy of other T cells inhabiting the same, saturable niche. This implies that the homing potential of an individual lymphocyte is not merely an intrinsic property of the cell, but rather a property of the lymphoid system taken as a whole.
Functional alterations of myeloid cell subsets in hyperlipidaemia: relevance for atherosclerosis

• Introduction • Development of atherosclerotic plaques • Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis • Myeloid cells in atherosclerosis and effects of hyperlipidaemia – Monocytes/Macrophages – Neutrophils – Mast cells – Dendritic cells – Endothelial progenitor cells • Conclusions
A Statistical Theory of Long-Term Potentiation and Depression

The synaptic phenomena of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) have been intensively studied for over twenty-five years. Although many diverse aspects of these forms of plasticity have been observed, no single theory has offered a unifying explanation for them. Here, a statistical bin model is proposed to account for a variety of features observed in LTP and LTD experiments performed with field potentials in mammalian cortical slices. It is hypothesized that long-term synaptic changes will be induced when statistically unlikely conjunctions of pre- and postsynaptic activity occur. This hypothesis implies that finite changes in synaptic strength will be proportional to information transmitted by conjunctions and that excitatory synapses will obey a Hebbian rule (Hebb, 1949). Using only one set of constants, the bin model offers an explanation as to why synaptic strength decreases in a decelerating manner during LTD induction (Mulkey & Malenka, 1992); why the induction protocols for LTP and LTD are asymmetric (Dudek & Bear, 1992; Mulkey & Malenka, 1992); why stimulation over a range of frequencies produces a frequency-response curve similar to that proposed by the BCM theory (Bienenstock, Cooper, & Munro, 1982; Dudek & Bear, 1992); and why this curve would shift as postsynaptic activity is changed (Kirkwood, Rioult, & Bear, 1996). In addition, the bin model offers an alternative to the BCM theory by predicting that changes in postsynaptic activity will produce vertical shifts in the curve rather than merely horizontal shifts.
The Effect of Memory Size on the Evolutionary Stability of Strategies in Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma

The iterated prisoner's dilemma is an ideal model for the evolution of cooperation among payoff-maximizing individuals. It has attracted wide interest in the development of novel strategies since the success of tit-for-tat in Axelrod's iterated prisoner's dilemma competitions. Every strategy for iterated prisoner's dilemma utilizes a certain length of historical interactions with the opponent, which is regarded as the size of the memory, in making its choices. Intuitively, longer memory strategies must have an advantage over shorter memory strategies. In practice, however, most of the well known strategies are short memory strategies that utilize only the recent history of previous interactions. In this paper, the effect of the memory size of strategies on their evolutionary stability in both infinite length and indefinite length n-person iterated prisoner's dilemma is studied. Based on the concept of a counter strategy, we develop a theoretical methodology for evaluating the evolutionary stability of strategies and prove that longer memory strategies outperform shorter memory strategies statistically in the sense of evolutionary stability. We also give an example of a memory-two strategy to show how the theoretical study of evolutionary stability assists in developing novel strategies.
Insertion Loss and Misalignment Tolerance in Multimode Tapered Waveguide Bends

Experimental measurements of laterally tapered multimode waveguide bends fabricated photolithographically on FR4 printed circuit board establish that the product of the mean insertion loss (in linear units) and the mean source misalignment tolerance is a constant which depends only on the taper ratio TR (input width/output width) and not on the radius of curvature R. The minimum loss of 0.78 dB occurs in the special case of TR = 0.8, R = 14 mm. Together, these form waveguide layout design rules for board-to-board and chip-to-chip optical interconnects.
Surface Corrosion of Metals in Geothermal Fluids at Broadlands, New Zealand

Corrosion studies of metallic construction materials for a geothermal power plant at Broadlands, New Zealand, are described. Surface corrosion investigations on 36 materials in seven geothermal media, using the ASTM coupon method, have been initiated, and results for selected materials are presented in a logarithmic graphical form. the observed corrosion characterisics are discussed in terms of corrosion product composition and stability and theoretical film-formation mechanisms. 16 refs.
Immersive visualizations in a VR Cave environment for the training and enhancement of social skills for children with autism

Autism is a complex developmental disorder characterized by severe impairment in social, communicative, cognitive and behavioral functioning. Several studies investigated the use of technology and Virtual Reality for social skills training for people with autism with promising and encouraging results (D. Strickland, 1997; Parsons S. & Cobb S., 2011). In addition, it has been demonstrated that Virtual Reality technologies can be used effectively by some people with autism, and that it had helped or could help them in the real world; (S. Parsons, A. Leonard, P. Mitchell, 2006; S. Parsons, P. Mitchell, 2002). The goal of this research is to design and develop an immersive visualization application in a VR CAVE environment for educating children with autism. The main goal of the project is to help children with autism learn and enhance their social skills and behaviours. Specifically, we will investigate whether a VR CAVE environment can be used in an effective way by children with mild autism, and whether children can benefit from that and apply the knowledge in their real life.
Can non‐renewable resources alleviate the knife‐edge character of endogenous growth?

Can the knife-edge restriction on technology imposed by standard endogenous growth models be relaxed by allowing for nonrenewable resources entering the technology? To answer this question we examine whether stable endogenous growth is compatible with increasing returns to scale with respect to producible inputs when nonrenewable resources are a necessary input into the growth engine. In a one-sector optimal growth model, we find that the existence and stability of a steady state is compatible with a wide range of parameter values, including cases with increasing returns to capital and/or the natural resource. However, in all cases, population growth turns out to be necessary for stable growth in pr. capita consumption. Thus, under these circumstances, (strictly) endogenous stable growth is not possible, not even as a knife-edge case. But semi-endogenous growth is an attractive alternative allowing a rich set of determinants of long-run growth.
Foxc1 is required for early stage telencephalic vascular development

Background: The brain vascular system arises from the perineural vascular plexus (PNVP) which sprouts radially into the neuroepithelium and subsequently branches off laterally to form a secondary plexus in the subventricular zone (SVZ), the subventricular vascular plexus (SVP). The process of SVP formation remains to be fully elucidated. We investigated the role of Foxc1 in early stage vascular formation in the ventral telencephalon. Results: The Foxc1 loss of function mutant mouse, Foxc1ch/ch, showed enlarged telencephalon and hemorrhaging in the ventral telencephalon by embryonic day 11.0. The mutant demonstrated blood vessel dilation and aggregation of endothelial cells in the SVZ after the invasion of endothelial cells through the radial path, which lead to failure of SVP formation. During this early stage of vascular development, Foxc1 was expressed in endothelial cells and pericytes, as well as in cranial mesenchyme surrounding the neural tube. Correspondingly, abnormal deposition pattern of basement membrane proteins around the vessels and increased strong Vegfr2 staining dots were found in the aggregation sites. Conclusions: These observations reveal an essential role for Foxc1 in the early stage of vascular formation in the telencephalon. Developmental Dynamics 244:703–711, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Early-Onset Epileptic Encephalopathy Caused by Gain-of-Function Mutations in the Voltage Sensor of Kv7.2 and Kv7.3 Potassium Channel Subunits

Mutations in Kv7.2 (KCNQ2) and Kv7.3 (KCNQ3) genes, encoding for voltage-gated K+ channel subunits underlying the neuronal M-current, have been associated with a wide spectrum of early-onset epileptic disorders ranging from benign familial neonatal seizures to severe epileptic encephalopathies. The aim of the present work has been to investigate the molecular mechanisms of channel dysfunction caused by voltage-sensing domain mutations in Kv7.2 (R144Q, R201C, and R201H) or Kv7.3 (R230C) recently found in patients with epileptic encephalopathies and/or intellectual disability. Electrophysiological studies in mammalian cells transfected with human Kv7.2 and/or Kv7.3 cDNAs revealed that each of these four mutations stabilized the activated state of the channel, thereby producing gain-of-function effects, which are opposite to the loss-of-function effects produced by previously found mutations. Multistate structural modeling revealed that the R201 residue in Kv7.2, corresponding to R230 in Kv7.3, stabilized the resting and nearby voltage-sensing domain states by forming an intricate network of electrostatic interactions with neighboring negatively charged residues, a result also confirmed by disulfide trapping experiments. Using a realistic model of a feedforward inhibitory microcircuit in the hippocampal CA1 region, an increased excitability of pyramidal neurons was found upon incorporation of the experimentally defined parameters for mutant M-current, suggesting that changes in network interactions rather than in intrinsic cell properties may be responsible for the neuronal hyperexcitability by these gain-of-function mutations. Together, the present results suggest that gain-of-function mutations in Kv7.2/3 currents may cause human epilepsy with a severe clinical course, thus revealing a previously unexplored level of complexity in disease pathogenetic mechanisms.
Performance evaluation of XACML PDP implementations

eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML), an OASIS standard, is the most widely used policy specifica- tion language for access control. Its simplicity in syntax and strength in coverage makes it suitable for diverse en- vironments such as Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and P2P systems. There are different implementations of XACML available. Some of these implementations are open source and some others are proprietary. In this work we intended to shed some lights to the performance issues of XACML engines. We tested 3 open source XACML implementations with different policy/request settings. Our experiments revealed some important points to be taken into consideration when deploying an XACML based access control system. Besides, our results can be used as hints by policy writers and system developers for deploying efficient authorization services.
Liver transplantation after share 35: Impact on pretransplant and posttransplant costs and mortality

Share 35 was implemented in 2013 to direct livers to the most urgent candidates by prioritizing Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) ≥ 35 patients. We aim to evaluate this policy's impact on costs and mortality. Our study includes 834 wait‐listed patients and 338 patients who received deceased donor, solitary liver transplants at Mayo Clinic between January 2010 and December 2014. Of these patients, 101 (30%) underwent transplantation after Share 35. After Share 35, 29 (28.7%) MELD ≥ 35 patients received transplants, as opposed to 46 (19.4%) in the pre–Share 35 era (P = 0.06). No significant difference in 90‐day wait‐list mortality (P = 0.29) nor 365‐day posttransplant mortality (P = 0.68) was found between patients transplanted before or after Share 35. Mean costs were $3,049 (P = 0.30), $5226 (P = 0.18), and $10,826 (P = 0.03) lower post‐Share 35 for the 30‐, 90‐, and 365‐day pretransplant periods, and mean costs were $5010 (P = 0.41) and $5859 (P = 0.57) higher, and $9145 (P = 0.54) lower post‐Share 35 for the 30‐, 90‐, and 365‐day posttransplant periods. In conclusion, the added cost of transplanting more MELD ≥ 35 patients may be offset by pretransplant care cost reduction. Despite shifting organs to critically ill patients, Share 35 has not impacted mortality significantly. Liver Transplantation 23:11–18 2017 AASLD.
Nucleotide polymorphism and copy number variant detection using exome capture and next-generation sequencing in the polyploid grass Panicum virgatum

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a polyploid, outcrossing grass species native to North America and has recently been recognized as a potential biofuel feedstock crop. Significant phenotypic variation including ploidy is present across the two primary ecotypes of switchgrass, referred to as upland and lowland switchgrass. The tetraploid switchgrass genome is approximately 1400 Mbp, split between two subgenomes, with significant repetitive sequence content limiting the efficiency of re-sequencing approaches for determining genome diversity. To characterize genetic diversity in upland and lowland switchgrass as a first step in linking genotype to phenotype, we designed an exome capture probe set based on transcript assemblies that represent approximately 50 Mb of annotated switchgrass exome sequences. We then evaluated and optimized the probe set using solid phase comparative genome hybridization and liquid phase exome capture followed by next-generation sequencing. Using the optimized probe set, we assessed variation in the exomes of eight switchgrass genotypes representing tetraploid lowland and octoploid upland cultivars to benchmark our exome capture probe set design. We identified ample variation in the switchgrass genome including 1 395 501 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 8173 putative copy number variants and 3336 presence/absence variants. While the majority of the SNPs (84%) detected was bi-allelic, a substantial number was tri-allelic with limited occurrence of tetra-allelic polymorphisms consistent with the heterozygous and polyploid nature of the switchgrass genome. Collectively, these data demonstrate the efficacy of exome capture for discovery of genome variation in a polyploid species with a large, repetitive and heterozygous genome.
MAVEN IUVS observation of the hot oxygen corona at Mars

Observation of the hot oxygen corona at Mars has been an elusive measurement in planetary science. Characterizing this component of the planet's exosphere provides insight into the processes driving loss of oxygen at the current time, which informs understanding of the planet's climatic evolution. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument is now regularly collecting altitude profiles of the hot oxygen corona as part of its investigation of atmospheric escape from Mars. Observations obtained thus far have been examined and found to display the expected gross structure and variability with EUV forcing anticipated by theory. The quality and quantity of the data set provides valuable constraints for the coronal modeling community.
Churg-Strauss syndrome

In 1951 the pathologists Churg and Strauss identified 13 patients who presented with a clinical syndrome characterised by asthma, hypereosinophilia, and evidence of vasculitis affecting a number of organs.1 The three main histological features found on pathological examination of these cases were extravascular granulomas, tissue eosinophilia, and necrotising vasculitis (fig 1). Most of these patients had been previously diagnosed with “periarteritis nodosa”. After reviewing a number of cases of periarteritis nodosa without asthma and finding no evidence of an eosinophilic granulomatous process, Churg and Strauss suggested that their 13 cases represented a separate disease process and coined the term “allergic granulomatosis and angiitis”. Later “Churg-Strauss syndrome” (CSS) became the accepted title of this distinctive form of systemic vasculitis. More recent pathological case series involving patients with CSS have highlighted the fact that not all patients have the three main histological features originally described by Churg and Strauss.2 3 Given the absence of a histological definition, it was proposed by Lanham et al that the following clinical criteria were required for the diagnosis of CSS: asthma, peripheral blood eosinophilia >1.5 × 109/l (or >10% of total white cell count), and evidence of a systemic vasculitis involving two or more extrapulmonary organs.2 More recently the American College of Rheumatology has developed diagnostic criteria for CSS when there is biopsy proven vasculitis.4 In this review we provide a clinical overview of CSS, review the evidence on which treatment protocols are based, and discuss the current understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease. In addition, we highlight recent controversies in the classification of systemic vasculitis and possible alternative management strategies. Figure 1 Open lung biopsy specimen from a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome demonstrating the three main histological criteria originally described by Churg and Strauss. (A) Extravascular granulomas (arrowheads) are seen …
Optimality Conditions for Solutions to Hyperbolic Balance Laws

We study a class of optimization problems for solutions to a hyperbolic system of balance laws. The controller can affect the evolution of the system through the source terms, as well as the boundary conditions. Our main goal is to obtain necessary conditions in order that a piecewise regular solution, with finitely many shocks, be optimal. These necessary conditions are derived by constructing a family of “generalized cotangent vectors”, which can be transported backwards along a trajectory.
Propagation equations for deformable test bodies with microstructure in extended theories of gravity (vol 76, 084025, 2007)

We derive the equations of motion in metric-affine gravity by making use of the conservation laws obtained from Noether's theorem. The results are given in the form of propagation equations for the multipole decomposition of the matter sources in metric-affine gravity, i.e., the canonical energy-momentum current and the hypermomentum current. In particular, the propagation equations allow for a derivation of the equations of motion of test particles in this generalized gravity theory, and allow for direct identification of the couplings between the matter currents and the gauge gravitational field strengths of the theory, namely, the curvature, the torsion, and the nonmetricity. We demonstrate that the possible non-Riemannian spacetime geometry can only be detected with the help of the test bodies that are formed of matter with microstructure. Ordinary gravitating matter, i.e., matter without microscopic internal degrees of freedom, can probe only the Riemannian spacetime geometry. Thereby, we generalize previous results of general relativity and Poincare gauge theory.
Prognosis of constipation: clinical factors and colonic transit time

Background: Measurement of colonic transit time (CTT) is sometimes used in the evaluation of patients with chronic constipation. Aim: To investigate the relation between symptoms and CTT, and to assess the importance of symptoms and CTT in predicting outcome. Methods: Between 1995 and 2000, 169 consecutive patients (median age 8.4 years, 65% boys) fulfilling the criteria for constipation were enrolled. During the intervention and follow up period, all kept a diary to record symptoms. CTT was measured at entry to the study. Results: At entry, defecation frequency was lower in girls than in boys, while the frequency of encopresis episodes was higher in boys. CTT values were significantly higher in those with a low defecation frequency (⩽1/week) and a high frequency of encopresis (⩾2/day). However, 50% had CTT values within the normal range. Successful outcome occurred more often in those with a rectal impaction. CTT results <100 hours were not predictive of outcome. However, those with CTT >100 hours were less likely to have had a successful outcome. Conclusion: The presence of a rectal impaction at presentation is associated with a better outcome at one year. A CTT >100 hours is associated with a poor outcome at one year.
Simulation of abrasive water jet cutting process: Part 2. Cellular automata approach

A new two-dimensional cellular automata (CA) model for the simulation of the abrasive water jet (AWJ) cutting process is presented. The CA calculates the shape of the cutting front, which can be used as an estimation of the surface quality. The cutting front is formed based on material removal rules and AWJ propagation rules. The material removal rule calculates when a particular part of the material will be removed with regard to the energy of AWJ. The AWJ propagation rule calculates the distribution of AWJ energy through CA by using a weighted average. The modelling with CA also provides a visual narrative of the moving of the cutting front, which is hard to observe in real process. The algorithm is fast and has been successfully tested in comparison to cutting fronts obtained with cutting experiments of aluminium alloy.