Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutation Scan of a Type 1 Diabetes Candidate Gene

Abstract: Type 1 (insulin‐dependent) diabetes, T1DM, is the result of an immune‐mediated destruction of the pancreatic β cells dependent mainly on T helper cells and macrophages. Interleukin‐18 (IL‐18) is a proinflammatory cytokine produced mainly by macrophages. IL‐18 is capable of inducing T lymphocyte synthesis of IFNγ, thereby skewing the T helper response toward a T helper type 1 (Th1) profile. IL‐18 binding protein (IL18BP) neutralizes IL‐18 and leads to a reduced Th1 response. Polymorphisms in IL18BP may affect the activity of IL‐18 and the magnitude of the Th1 response and may play a role in the pathogenesis of T1DM. The aim of the study was therefore to identify polymorphisms in IL18BP and to test these for association with T1DM. We evaluated the human IL18BP gene on chromosome 11q13 as a candidate susceptibility gene for T1DM and scanned the entire IL18BP (promoter, exons 1‐6, and 3′UTR) for polymorphisms using single‐strand conformational polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing. We identified a total of 11 polymorphisms, all having allele frequencies ranging between 0.05 and 0.10. Four were in the 5′UTR: −257G→T, −78C→T, −65G→A, and −59A→G. Three were in intron 3: IVS3+140A→C, IVS4−147G→T, and IVS4−59G→T. The last four, 38*A→T, 48*T→A, 388*C→G, and 440*_441*insG, were in the 3′UTR of IL18BP. However, none of these were frequent enough to permit association studies in T1DM and we conclude that IL18BP does not contribute to the overall genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Contrast and Noncontrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging in 1 Superior Labrum Anterior-Posterior Tears in an Academic Setting 2

46 Background: Superior labral anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions are infrequent injuries, 47 and diagnosis by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is difficult and controversial. 48 Hypothesis: Based on our clinical experience, the accuracy of the MRI to diagnose a 49 SLAP lesion is less than previously reported. 50 Study Design: Diagnostic Retrospective Study 51 Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2008, 444 patients who had both 52 shoulder arthroscopy and an MRI (non-contrast or MR arthrography) at our institution 53 prior to surgery were identified and were included in the study. The radiologic diagnosis 54 and surgical evaluation were compared to determine the accuracy of diagnosing a SLAP 55 lesion by MRI. Using arthroscopy as the standard; sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, 56 positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for 57 all MRIs, the non-intra-articular contrast MRI group, and the MR arthrography group. 58 Results: Of the 444 patients, 121 had a SLAP diagnosis by MRI and 44 had a SLAP 59 diagnosis by arthroscopy. Overall, MRI had an accuracy of 76%, a PPV of 24%, and a 60 NPV of 95%. Sensitivity was 66%, and specificity was 77%. MR arthrography had an 61 accuracy of 69%, sensitivity of 80%, and a PPV of 29%. Noncontrast MRI had an 62 accuracy of 85%, sensitivity of 36%, and a PPV of 13%. 63 Conclusions: In our retrospective study of 444 patients, sensitivity, specificity, and 64 accuracy were all lower than previously reported in the literature for diagnosing SLAP 65 lesions. Our data suggests that while MRI could exclude a SLAP lesion (NPV=95%), 66 MRI alone was not an accurate clinical tool. MR arthrography had a large number of 67 false positive readings in this study. We conclude that even with intra-articular contrast, 68 MRI has limitations in the ability to diagnose surgically proven SLAP lesions. 69
Single image super-resolution using sparse representations with structure constraints

This paper describes a new single-image super-resolution algorithm based on sparse representations with image structure constraints. A structure tensor based regularization is introduced in the sparse approximation in order to improve the sharpness of edges. The new formulation allows reducing the ringing artefacts which can be observed around edges reconstructed by existing methods. The proposed method, named Sharper Edges based Adaptive Sparse Domain Selection (SE-ASDS), achieves much better results than many state-of-the-art algorithms, showing significant improvements in terms of PSNR (average of 29.63, previously 29.19), SSIM (average of 0.8559, previously 0.8471) and visual quality perception.
Inter- and Intra-school Site Student Transiency: Practical and Theoretical Implications for Instructional Continuity at Inner City Schools.

Aux Etats-Unis, divorce, chomage, et immigration ont contribue a la creation d'un grand nombre d'eleves en situation transitoire dans les ecoles primaires. Cette situation est une menace pour les efforts de reforme qui cherchent a ameliorer le niveau de connaissance des eleves. Cette etude examine l'impact de cette situation sur les resultats academiques et sur la continuite dans les programmes d'enseignement. L'A. propose des solutions pedagogiques aux enseignants qui font face a ce phenomene
A molecular analysis of dietary diversity for three archaic Native Americans

DNA was extracted from three fecal samples, more than 2,000 years old, from Hinds Cave, Texas. Amplification of human mtDNA sequences showed their affiliation with contemporary Native Americans, while sequences from pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and cottontail rabbit allowed these animals to be identified as part of the diet of these individuals. Furthermore, amplification of chloroplast DNA sequences identified eight different plants as dietary elements. These archaic humans consumed 2–4 different animal species and 4–8 different plant species during a short time period. The success rate for retrieval of DNA from paleofeces is in strong contrast to that from skeletal remains where the success rate is generally low. Thus, human paleofecal remains represent a source of ancient DNA that significantly complements and may in some cases be superior to that from skeletal tissue.
Increased expression of TGF-beta 2 in osteoblasts results in an osteoporosis-like phenotype

The development of the skeleton requires the coordinated activities of bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. The activities of these two cell types are likely to be regulated by TGF-beta, which is abundant in bone matrix. We have used transgenic mice to evaluate the role of TGF-beta 2 in bone development and turnover. Osteoblast- specific overexpression of TGF-beta 2 from the osteocalcin promoter resulted in progressive bone loss associated with increases in osteoblastic matrix deposition and osteoclastic bone resorption. This phenotype closely resembles the bone abnormalities seen in human hyperparathyroidism and osteoporosis. Furthermore, a high level of TGF- beta 2 overexpression resulted in defective bone mineralization and severe hypoplasia of the clavicles, a hallmark of the developmental disease cleidocranial dysplasia. Our results suggest that TGF-beta 2 functions as a local positive regulator of bone remodeling and that alterations in TGF-beta 2 synthesis by bone cells, or in their responsiveness to TGF-beta 2, may contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic bone disease.
La régulation autonome du myocarde et les performances cognitives sont-elles des outils valides de prévention du surentraînement ?

Purpose The purpose of this study was to characterize the effect of a two-week overload period immediately followed by a one-week taper period on different cognitive processes including executive and non-executive functions, and related heart rate variability. Methods Eleven male endurance athletes increased their usual training volume by 100% for two weeks (overload), and decreased it by 50% for 1 week (taper). A maximal graded test, a constant speed test at 85% of peak treadmill speed, and a Stroop task with the measurement of heart rate variability were performed at baseline and after each period. Results All participants were considered as overreached based on performance, physiological and psychological criteria. We found a moderate increase in the overall reaction time to the three conditions of the Stroop task after the overload period (816±83 vs 892±117 ms, p = 0.03) followed by a return to baseline after the taper period (820±119 ms, p = 0.013). We found no association between cognitive performance and cardiac parasympathetic control at baseline, and no association between changes in these measures. Conclusion Our findings clearly underscore the relevance of cognitive performance in the monitoring of overreaching in endurance athletes. However, contrarily to our hypothesis, we did not found any relationship between executive performance and cardiac parasympathetic control.
Gender bias in network news reporting: Inaccurate risk information about male and female birth control

Pharmaceutical companies spend considerable amounts of revenue on advertising; therefore, media networks must portray an agenda which supports those companies. This thesis attempts to discover if and to what extent women are marginalized by the promotion of hormonal birth control. Particular focus is placed on the link between these drugs and breast cancer risk, as well as the existence of gendered messages. Framework for the study is established through Agendasetting Theory and Marxist and feminist criticism. Media messages about birth control are then interpreted through content analysis. Only 9% of messages about female birth control mention the link with breast cancer, and about 15% of messages which target either gender do not discuss any adverse effects. These results show the prevalence of misleading media messages about these drugs, and confirm earlier theories which criticize the media for containing gender bias. Further research could measure the degree to which media messages about birth control affect the healthcare practices of individuals. GENDER BIAS IN NETWORK NEWS REPORTING 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5 Importance of the Study 5 Statement of the Problem 5 Definition of Terms Used 7 Organization of Remaining Chapters 7 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 9 Philosophical and Ethical Assumptions 9 Theoretical Basis 13 The Literature 16 Rationale 21 Summary and Hypothesis 24 CHAPTER 3: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 26 The Scope of the Study 26 Methodology of the Study 27 CHAPTER 4: THE STUDY 3
Apoptosis-Inducing Activity of Clofazimine in Macrophages

ABSTRACT Clofazimine is a riminophenazine compound which has been used for the treatment of leprosy since the 1960s. Although the drug is effective in the management of leprosy reactions because of its anti-inflammatory activity, the mechanism leading to the cessation of inflammation is not well understood. In the present study, it was shown that clofazimine exhibits apoptosis-inducing activity in macrophages. When human monocyte-derived macrophages were cultured in vitro in the presence of clofazimine, the cells exhibited a marked decrease in metabolic activity and showed shrinkage in cell size, indicating cell death. Nuclear condensation and fragmentation were also observed by Giemsa and Hoechst 33248 stains. The endonuclease inhibitor ZnCl2 inhibited the clofazimine-induced cell death. Significant enhancement of caspase-3 activity was observed in clofazimine-treated macrophages and THP-1 cells. Collectively, these results suggest the apoptosis-inducing activity of clofazimine in macrophages, which may also be responsible for the antibacterial properties of clofazimine.
Smoothing of climate time series revisited

We present an easily implemented method for smoothing climate time series, generalizing upon an approach previously described by Mann (2004). The method adaptively weights the three lowest order time series boundary constraints to optimize the fit with the raw time series. We apply the method to the instrumental global mean temperature series from 1850–2007 and to various surrogate global mean temperature series from 1850–2100 derived from the CMIP3 multimodel intercomparison project. These applications demonstrate that the adaptive method systematically out‐performs certain widely used default smoothing methods, and is more likely to yield accurate assessments of long‐term warming trends.
Decay of Visual Information from a Single Letter

If the trace of a letter can be matched more rapidly with a physically identical letter (as in the pair AA) than it can be with a letter having only the same name (as in the pair Aa), then the trace must preserve the visual aspect of the letter. The visual information from a single letter decays in about 1.5 seconds if the task provides little incentive for preservation.
Discovery of Prognostic Biomarker Candidates of Lacunar Infarction by Quantitative Proteomics of Microvesicles Enriched Plasma

Background Lacunar infarction (LACI) is a subtype of acute ischemic stroke affecting around 25% of all ischemic stroke cases. Despite having an excellent recovery during acute phase, certain LACI patients have poor mid- to long-term prognosis due to the recurrence of vascular events or a decline in cognitive functions. Hence, blood-based biomarkers could be complementary prognostic and research tools. Methods and Finding Plasma was collected from forty five patients following a non-disabling LACI along with seventeen matched control subjects. The LACI patients were monitored prospectively for up to five years for the occurrence of adverse outcomes and grouped accordingly (i.e., LACI-no adverse outcome, LACI-recurrent vascular event, and LACI-cognitive decline without any recurrence of vascular events). Microvesicles-enriched fractions isolated from the pooled plasma of four groups were profiled by an iTRAQ-guided discovery approach to quantify the differential proteome. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000748. Bioinformatics analysis and data mining revealed up-regulation of brain-specific proteins including myelin basic protein, proteins of coagulation cascade (e.g., fibrinogen alpha chain, fibrinogen beta chain) and focal adhesion (e.g., integrin alpha-IIb, talin-1, and filamin-A) while albumin was down-regulated in both groups of patients with adverse outcome. Conclusion This data set may offer important insight into the mechanisms of poor prognosis and provide candidate prognostic biomarkers for validation on larger cohort of individual LACI patients.
Properly colored subgraphs and rainbow subgraphs in edge‐colorings with local constraints

We consider a canonical Ramsey type problem. An edge‐coloring of a graph is called m‐good if each color appears at most m times at each vertex. Fixing a graph G and a positive integer m, let f(m, G) denote the smallest n such that every m‐good edge‐coloring of Kn yields a properly edge‐colored copy of G, and let g(m, G) denote the smallest n such that every m‐good edge‐coloring of Kn yields a rainbow copy of G. We give bounds on f(m, G) and g(m, G). For complete graphs G = Kt, we have c1mt2/ln t ≤ f(m, Kt) ≤ c2mt2, and c ′1mt3/ln t ≤ g(m, Kt) ≤ c ′2mt3/ln t, where c1, c2, c ′1 , c ′2 are absolute constants. We also give bounds on f(m, G) and g(m, G) for general graphs G in terms of degrees in G. In particular, we show that for fixed m and d, and all sufficiently large n compared to m and d, f(m, G) = n for all graphs G with n vertices and maximum degree at most d. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 2003
Modeling the last mile of the smart grid

The energy market is changing as it is undergoing unbundling, accommodating renewable sources in the grid and allowing for micro-production to be part of the smart grid. Such changes will have a major impact on the underlying transport and distribution infrastructures. These have been traditionally hierarchical, unidirectional and capillary, though the new smart grid scenario calls for an infrastructure that has higher connectivity, that is bidirectional and naturally complex. In this paper, we look at ways of modeling the distribution grid as a complex network taking into account all voltage levels, that is, including the last mile of the grid reaching the end user. We provide and argue for design principles for such smart grid models and present results that call for a denser Medium and Low Voltage power grid. The design principles come from an analysis of an existing grid portion and consider its evolution into a smart grid.
Hierarchical Information-Based Clustering for Connectivity-Based Cortex Parcellation

One of the most promising avenues for compiling connectivity data originates from the notion that individual brain regions maintain individual connectivity profiles; the functional repertoire of a cortical area (“the functional fingerprint”) is closely related to its anatomical connections (“the connectional fingerprint”) and, hence, a segregated cortical area may be characterized by a highly coherent connectivity pattern. Diffusion tractography can be used to identify borders between such cortical areas. Each cortical area is defined based upon a unique probabilistic tractogram and such a tractogram is representative of a group of tractograms, thereby forming the cortical area. The underlying methodology is called connectivity-based cortex parcellation and requires clustering or grouping of similar diffusion tractograms. Despite the relative success of this technique in producing anatomically sensible results, existing clustering techniques in the context of connectivity-based parcellation typically depend on several non-trivial assumptions. In this paper, we embody an unsupervised hierarchical information-based framework to clustering probabilistic tractograms that avoids many drawbacks offered by previous methods. Cortex parcellation of the inferior frontal gyrus together with the precentral gyrus demonstrates a proof of concept of the proposed method: The automatic parcellation reveals cortical subunits consistent with cytoarchitectonic maps and previous studies including connectivity-based parcellation. Further insight into the hierarchically modular architecture of cortical subunits is given by revealing coarser cortical structures that differentiate between primary as well as premotoric areas and those associated with pre-frontal areas.
The predictability of branches in libraries

Accurate static branch prediction is the key to many techniques for exposing, enhancing, and exploiting Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP). The initial work on static correlated branch prediction (SCBP) demonstrated improvements in branch prediction accuracy, but did not address overall performance. In particular SCBP expands the size of executable programs, which negatively affects the performance of the instruction memory hierarchy. Using the profile information available under SCBP we can minimize these negative performance effects through the application of code layout and branch alignment techniques. We evaluate the performance effect of SCBP and these profile-driven optimizations on instruction cache misses, branch mispredictions, and branch misfetches for a number of recent processor implementations. We find that SCBP improves performance over (traditional) per-branch static profile prediction. We also find that SCBP improves the performance benefits gained from branch alignment. As expected, SCBP gives larger benefits on machine organizations with high mispredict/misfetch penalties and low cache miss penalties. Finally, we find that the application of profile-driven code layout and branch alignment techniques (without SCBP) can improve the performance of the dynamic correlated branch prediction techniques.
HIV-1 Receptor Binding Site-Directed Antibodies Using a VH1-2 Gene Segment Orthologue Are Activated by Env Trimer Immunization

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) isolated from chronically HIV-1 infected individuals reveal important information regarding how antibodies target conserved determinants of the envelope glycoprotein (Env) spike such as the primary receptor CD4 binding site (CD4bs). Many CD4bs-directed bNAbs use the same heavy (H) chain variable (V) gene segment, VH1-2*02, suggesting that activation of B cells expressing this allele is linked to the generation of this type of Ab. Here, we identify the rhesus macaque VH1.23 gene segment to be the closest macaque orthologue to the human VH1-2 gene segment, with 92% homology to VH1-2*02. Of the three amino acids in the VH1-2*02 gene segment that define a motif for VRC01-like antibodies (W50, N58, flanking the HCDR2 region, and R71), the two identified macaque VH1.23 alleles described here encode two. We demonstrate that immunization with soluble Env trimers induced CD4bs-specific VH1.23-using Abs with restricted neutralization breadth. Through alanine scanning and structural studies of one such monoclonal Ab (MAb), GE356, we demonstrate that all three HCDRs are involved in neutralization. This contrasts to the highly potent CD4bs-directed VRC01 class of bNAb, which bind Env predominantly through the HCDR2. Also unlike VRC01, GE356 was minimally modified by somatic hypermutation, its light (L) chain CDRs were of average lengths and it displayed a binding footprint proximal to the trimer axis. These results illustrate that the Env trimer immunogen used here activates B cells encoding a VH1-2 gene segment orthologue, but that the resulting Abs interact distinctly differently with the HIV-1 Env spike compared to VRC01.
Enzyme-Catalyzed Synthesis of Unsaturated Aliphatic Polyesters Based on Green Monomers from Renewable Resources

Bio-based commercially available succinate, itaconate and 1,4-butanediol are enzymatically co-polymerized in solution via a two-stage method, using Candida antarctica Lipase B (CALB, in immobilized form as Novozyme® 435) as the biocatalyst. The chemical structures of the obtained products, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(butylene succinate-co-itaconate) (PBSI), are confirmed by 1H- and 13C-NMR. The effects of the reaction conditions on the CALB-catalyzed synthesis of PBSI are fully investigated, and the optimal polymerization conditions are obtained. With the established method, PBSI with tunable compositions and satisfying reaction yields is produced. The 1H-NMR results confirm that carbon-carbon double bonds are well preserved in PBSI. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicate that the amount of itaconate in the co-polyesters has no obvious effects on the glass-transition temperature and the thermal stability of PBS and PBSI, but has significant effects on the melting temperature.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY FOR DIELECTRIC STRENGTH OF NEW NANOCOMPOSITE POLYETHYLENE INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS

The base polymer properties have been developed experimentally by adding small amounts of different fillers but they are expensive to the polymer material. Thus, it has been investigated that the incorporation of cost-less nanoparticles like clay and fumed silica nanoparticles into low density polyethylene LDPE and high density polyethylene HDPE which controlled the breakdown strength and voltage endurance significantly of new nanocomposite materials which compared with unfilled industrial materials. This paper simplified the breakdown test model which has been used as a basis for experimental treatment for several new nanocomposite specimens of industrial polymer materials. So that, it has been experiment the dielectric strength of new nano-composite industrial materials for ac applications which have been improved significantly with respect to the basis, unfilled materials. Finally, according to the experiment test model, it has been presented measurements of electric field strength of new nanocomposite materials that exceeds unfilled industrial materials.