Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transfer of immunity against lethal murine Francisella infection by specific antibody depends on host gamma interferon and T cells

Both serum and spleen cells from mice immune to Francisella tularensis transfer protection to naive recipients. Here we characterize the mechanism of protection induced by transfer of immune mouse serum (IMS). IMS obtained 4 weeks after intradermal infection with 10(3) bacteria of the live vaccine strain (LVS) contained high levels of immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2a) and IgM (end point titers, 1:16,600 and 1:7,200, respectively) and little IgG1, IgG2b, or IgG3. LVS-specific antibodies were detected 5 days after intradermal infection, and reached peak levels by 2 weeks postinfection. Only sera obtained 10 days or more after sublethal infection, when IgG titers peaked, transferred protection against a challenge of 100 50% lethal doses (LD50s). Purified high-titer IgG anti-LVS antibody but not IgM anti-LVS antibody was responsible for transfer of protection against an intraperitoneal challenge of up to 3,000 LD50s. IMS had no direct toxic effects on LVS and did not affect uptake or growth of bacteria in association with peritoneal cells. One day after LVS infection, liver, spleen, and lung tissue from mice treated with IMS contained 1 to 2 log units fewer bacteria than did tissue from mice treated with normal mouse serum or phosphate-buffered saline. Between 2 and 4 days after infection, however, bacterial growth rates in tissues were similar in both serum-protected mice and unprotected mice. Bacterial burdens in IMS-treated, LVS-infected mice declined in infected tissues after day 5, whereas control animals died. This lag phase suggested that development of a host response was involved in complete bacterial clearance. In fact, transfer of IMS into normal recipients that were simultaneously treated with anti-gamma interferon and challenged with LVS did not protect mice from death. Further, transfer of IMS into athymic nu/nu mice did not protect against LVS challenge; protection was, however, reconstituted by transfer of normal T cells into nu/nu mice. Thus, "passive" transfer of protection against LVS with specific antibody is not passive but depends on a host T-cell response to promote clearance of systemic infection and protection against lethal disease.
Opportunities and challenges for ultra low power signal processing in wearable healthcare

Wearable devices are starting to revolutionise healthcare by allowing the unobtrusive and long term monitoring of a range of body parameters. Embedding more advanced signal processing algorithms into the wearable itself can: reduce system power consumption; increase device functionality; and enable closed-loop recording-stimulation with minimal latency; amongst other benefits. The design challenge is in realising algorithms within the very limited power budgets available. Wearable algorithms are now emerging to answer this challenge. Using a new review, and examples from a case study on EEG analysis, this article overviews the state-of-the-art in wearable algorithms. It demonstrates the opportunities and challenges, highlighting the open challenge of performance assessment and measuring variability.
Differential involvement of protein synthesis and actin rearrangement in the reacquisition of contextual fear conditioning

Extinction learning is associated with a decline of the conditioned fear response (CR). However, re‐exposure to the unconditioned stimulus (US, shock) is associated with the return of the fear response. This study aimed to study the role of protein synthesis and actin rearrangement in the CA1 hippocampal subregion and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in acquisition and reacquisition of contextual fear conditioning. To that end, we trained rats on contextual fear conditioning and extinction, and on the last extinction training session we reconditioned the animals by re‐exposure to the US. Immediately after, rats were microinfused with the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin or the actin rearrangement inhibitor cytochalasin D into either the BLA or the CA1. The results of this study show differential involvement of anisomycin and cytochalasin D in the acquisition and reacquisition of contextual fear conditioning. Specifically, while the microinfusion of anisomycin into the BLA or the CA1 immediately after reconditioning of fear did not inhibit the return of fear, the microinfusion of cytochalsin D into either the BLA or the CA1 attenuated fear responses. Interestingly, the initial acquisition of contextual fear memory is dependent on intra‐BLA and CA1 protein synthesis and cytoskeletal rearrangement, since the microinfusion of these drugs blocked the formation of long‐term fear memory. The results suggest that the two processes of acquisition and reacquisition of fear are not identical and they engage different mechanisms. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Contribution of solar radiation to decadal temperature variability over land

Significance Global air temperature has become the primary metric for judging global climate change. The variability of global temperature on a decadal timescale is still poorly understood. This paper shows that surface incident solar radiation (Rs) over land globally peaked in the 1930s, substantially decreased from the 1940s to the 1970s, and changed little after that. The cooling effect of this reduction of Rs accounts in part for the near-constant temperature from the 1930s into the 1970s. Since then, neither the rapid increase in temperature from the 1970s through the 1990s nor the slowdown of warming in the early twenty-first century appear to be significantly related to changes of Rs. Global air temperature has become the primary metric for judging global climate change. The variability of global temperature on a decadal timescale is still poorly understood. This paper examines further one suggested hypothesis, that variations in solar radiation reaching the surface (Rs) have caused much of the observed decadal temperature variability. Because Rs only heats air during the day, its variability is plausibly related to the variability of diurnal temperature range (daily maximum temperature minus its minimum). We show that the variability of diurnal temperature range is consistent with the variability of Rs at timescales from monthly to decadal. This paper uses long comprehensive datasets for diurnal temperature range to establish what has been the contribution of Rs to decadal temperature variability. It shows that Rs over land globally peaked in the 1930s, substantially decreased from the 1940s to the 1970s, and changed little after that. Reduction of Rs caused a reduction of more than 0.2 °C in mean temperature during May to October from the 1940s through the 1970s, and a reduction of nearly 0.2 °C in mean air temperature during November to April from the 1960s through the 1970s. This cooling accounts in part for the near-constant temperature from the 1930s into the 1970s. Since then, neither the rapid increase in temperature from the 1970s through the 1990s nor the slowdown of warming in the early twenty-first century appear to be significantly related to changes of Rs.
Effect of Environmental Contaminants on Beta Cell Function

There is an increasing concern that chemicals in the environment are contributing to the global rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, there is limited evidence for direct effects of these chemicals on beta cell function. Therefore, the goals of this study were (1) to test the hypothesis that environmental contaminants can directly affect beta cell function and (2) examine mechanistic pathways by which these contaminants could affect beta cell function. Using mouse beta TC-6 cells, we examined the acute effects of 6 substances (benzo[a]pyrene, bisphenol A [BPA], propylparaben, methylparaben, perfluorooctanoic acid, and perfluorooctyl sulfone) on insulin secretion. Only BPA treatment directly affected insulin secretion. Furthermore, chronic exposure to BPA altered the expression of key proteins in the cellular and endoplasmic reticulum stress response. These data suggest that long-term BPA exposure may be detrimental to beta cell function and ultimately be an important contributor to the etiology of T2D.
Analysis of Resistive Bridge Defect Delay Behavior in the Presence of Process Variation

Recent research has shown that tests generated without taking process variation into account may lead to loss of test quality. Using transition delay test, this paper analyzes the behavior of resistive bridge defect under the influence of process variation. The effect of process variation is incorporated by using three transistor parameters: gate length (L), threshold voltage (Vth) and effective mobility (µeff), where each follows Gaussian distribution. Through HSPICE simulations using a 65-nm gate library, this paper brings the following two contributions: firstly, it analyzes the delay behavior of bridge defect using all three transition delay classes to determine the most effective class of transition test that achieves maximum coverage in the presence of process variation. Secondly, recent research has shown that low voltage testing improves detectability of bridge fault, this work compares bridge resistance coverage using logic test and delay test at multiple voltage settings to identify the best voltage setting and test type for detecting resistive bridge defects.
Channel Covariance Estimation in Massive MIMO Frequency Division Duplex Systems

Channel covariance is emerging as a critical ingredient of the acquisition of instantaneous channel state information (CSI) in multi-user Massive MIMO systems operating in frequency division duplex (FDD) mode. In this context, channel reciprocity does not hold, and it is generally expected that covariance information about the downlink channel must be estimated and fed back by the user equipment (UE). As an alternative CSI acquisition technique, we propose to infer the downlink covariance based on the observed uplink covariance. This inference process relies on a dictionary of uplink/downlink covariance matrices, and on interpolation in the corresponding Riemannian space; once the dictionary is known, the estimation does not rely on any form of feedback from the UE. In this article, we present several variants of the interpolation method, and benchmark them through simulations.
ICT System Description for the 2006 TC-STAR Run #2 SLT Evaluation

This paper describes systems participated in 2006 TC-STAR Run #2 SLT Evaluation of Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We developed three systems based on different techniques: system Confucius based on phrase, system Lynx based on tree-to-string alignment template and system Bruin based on BTG (Bracketing Transduction Grammar). These three systems share the same phrase-based translation model and language model. We also focused on improving phrase extraction and training large data. We participated in both the ASR and Verbatim tasks of Chinese Mandarin to English translation. The results and the conclusion are given.
Early stopping for non-parametric regression: An optimal data-dependent stopping rule

The goal of non-parametric regression is to estimate an unknown function f<sup>∗</sup> based on n i.i. d. observations of the form y<inf>i</inf> = f<sup>∗</sup>(x<inf>i</inf>) + w<inf>i</inf>, where {w<inf>i</inf>}<sup>n</sup><inf>i=1</inf> are additive noise variables. Simply choosing a function to minimize the least-squares loss 1/2n ∑<sup>n</sup><inf>i=1</inf> (y<inf>i</inf> − f(x<inf>i</inf>))<sup>2</sup> will lead to “overfitting”, so that various estimators are based on different types of regularization. The early stopping strategy is to run an iterative algorithm such as gradient descent for a fixed but finite number of iterations. Early stopping is known to yield estimates with better prediction accuracy than those obtained by running the algorithm for an infinite number of iterations. Although bounds on this prediction error are known for certain function classes and step size choices, the bias-variance tradeoffs for arbitrary reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSs) and arbitrary choices of step-sizes have not been well-understood to date. In this paper, we derive upper bounds on both the L<sup>2</sup>(P<inf>n</inf>) and L<sup>2</sup>(P) error for arbitrary RKHSs, and provide an explicit and easily computable data-dependent stopping rule. In particular, it depends only on the sum of step-sizes and the eigenvalues of the empirical kernel matrix for the RKHS. For Sobolev spaces and finite-rank kernel classes, we show that our stopping rule yields estimates that achieve the statistically optimal rates in a minimax sense.
FIREMAN: a toolkit for firewall modeling and analysis

Security concerns are becoming increasingly critical in networked systems. Firewalls provide important defense for network security. However, misconfigurations in firewalls are very common and significantly weaken the desired security. This paper introduces FIREMAN, a static analysis toolkit for firewall modeling and analysis. By treating firewall configurations as specialized programs, FIREMAN applies static analysis techniques to check misconfigurations, such as policy violations, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies, in individual firewalls as well as among distributed firewalls. FIREMAN performs symbolic model checking of the firewall configurations for all possible IP packets and along all possible data paths. It is both sound and complete because of the finite state nature of firewall configurations. FIREMAN is implemented by modeling firewall rules using binary decision diagrams (BDDs), which have been used successfully in hardware verification and model checking. We have experimented with FIREMAN and used it to uncover several real misconfigurations in enterprise networks, some of which have been subsequently confirmed and corrected by the administrators of these networks
DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE SAPRC-99 CHEMICAL MECHANISM

Airshed models are essential for the development of effective control strategies for reducing photochemical air pollution because they provide the only available scientific basis for making quantitative estimates of changes in air quality resulting from changes in emissions. The chemical mechanism is the portion of the model that represents the processes by which emitted primary pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), interact in the gas phase to form secondary pollutants such as ozone (O3) and other oxidants. This is an important component of airshed models because if the mechanism is incorrect or incomplete in significant respects, then the model’s predictions of secondary pollutant formation may also be incorrect, and its use might result in implementation of inappropriate or even counter-productive air pollution control strategies.
Antiproliferation of keratinocytes and alleviation of psoriasis by the ethanol extract of Artemisia capillaris

The therapeutic potentials of the ethanol extract of Artemisia capillaris (ACE) for psoriasis were verified in HaCaT cells (as an immortalized human keratinocyte cell line) and imiquimod (IMQ)‐induced psoriasis‐like mouse models. In HaCaT cells, IC50 value of ACE was 37.5 μg/ml after incubating for 72 hr. The antiproliferation activity of ACE in HaCaT cells was further verified by apoptosis assays. The percentage of apoptotic population in ACE‐treated group was significantly higher than that of control group (p < .05). The result of cell cycle arrest assay also supported the observed antiproliferation efficacy of ACE in HaCaT cells. In IMQ‐induced psoriasis‐like mouse models, the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score of ACE (50 mg/ml; ACE50)‐treated group was significantly lower than that of IMQ group on Day 4 (p < .05). After topical application of ACE on psoriasis‐like lesion for 4 days, the epidermal thickness of (IMQ + ACE50) group was significantly lower than that of IMQ group (p < .05). The expression levels of Ki‐67 and intracellular adhesion molecule‐1 in excised skin tissues of (IMQ + ACE50) group were also lower than those of IMQ group. All these findings suggest that ACE can be used as a promising antipsoriatic agent.
Stable spike clusters for the one-dimensional Gierer–Meinhardt system

We consider the Gierer–Meinhardt system with precursor inhomogeneity and two small diffusivities in an interval $$\begin{equation*} \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} A_t=\epsilon^2 A''- \mu(x) A+\frac{A^2}{H}, &x\in(-1, 1),\,t>0,\\[3mm] \tau H_t=D H'' -H+ A^2, & x\in (-1, 1),\,t>0,\\[3mm] A' (-1)= A' (1)= H' (-1) = H' (1) =0, \end{array} \right. \end{equation*}$$ $$\begin{equation*}\mbox{where } \quad 0<\epsilon \ll\sqrt{D}\ll 1, \quad \end{equation*}$$ $$\begin{equation*} \tau\geq 0 \mbox{ and $\tau$ is independent of $\epsilon$. } \end{equation*}$$ A spike cluster is the combination of several spikes which all approach the same point in the singular limit. We rigorously prove the existence of a steady-state spike cluster consisting of N spikes near a non-degenerate local minimum point t 0 of the smooth positive inhomogeneity μ(x), i.e. we assume that μ′(t 0) = 0, μ″(t 0) > 0 and we have μ(t 0) > 0. Here, N is an arbitrary positive integer. Further, we show that this solution is linearly stable. We explicitly compute all eigenvalues, both large (of order O(1)) and small (of order o(1)). The main features of studying the Gierer–Meinhardt system in this setting are as follows: (i) it is biologically relevant since it models a hierarchical process (pattern formation of small-scale structures induced by a pre-existing large-scale inhomogeneity); (ii) it contains three different spatial scales two of which are small: the O(1) scale of the precursor inhomogeneity μ(x), the $O(\sqrt{D})$ scale of the inhibitor diffusivity and the O(ε) scale of the activator diffusivity; (iii) the expressions can be made explicit and often have a particularly simple form.
Embryonic Stem Cells, Derived Either after In Vitro Fertilization or Nuclear Transfer, Prolong Survival of Semiallogeneic Heart Transplants

Tolerance induction toward allogeneic organ grafts represents one of the major aims of transplantation medicine. Stem cells are promising candidates for promoting donor-specific tolerance. In this study, we investigated the immunomodulatory properties of murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs), obtained either by in vitro fertilization (IVF-ESCs) or by nuclear transfer (NT-ESCs), in heart transplant mouse models. IVF-ESCs did not prolong the survival of fully allogeneic cardiac transplants but significantly prolonged the survival of semiallogeneic hearts from the same ESC donor strain for >100 d in 44% of the animals. However, 28% of transplanted animals infused with IVF-ESCs experienced development of a teratoma. NT-ESCs similarly prolonged semiallogeneic heart graft survival (>100 d in 40% of the animals) but were less teratogenic. By in vitro studies, IVF-ESC and NT-ESC immunoregulation was mediated both by cell contact-dependent mechanisms and by the release of soluble factors. By adding specific inhibitors, we identified PGE2 as a soluble mediator of ESC immunoregulation. Expansion of regulatory T cells was found in lymphoid organs and in the grafts of IVF-ESC– and NT-ESC–tolerized mice. Our study demonstrates that both IVF-ESCs and NT-ESCs modulate recipient immune response toward tolerance to solid organ transplantation, and that NT-ESCs exhibit a lower tendency for teratoma formation. Because NT-ESCs are obtained by NT of a somatic cell from living individuals into an enucleated oocyte, they could represent a source of donor-derived stem cells to induce tolerance to solid organ allograft.
Partial Identification of Willingness-to-Pay Using Shape Restrictions with an Application to the Value of a Statistical Life

Economists often analyze cross-sectional data to estimate the value people implicit place on attributes of goods using hedonic methods. Usually strong enough assumptions are made on the functional form of utility to point identify individuals' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for changes in attribute levels. Instead, this paper develops a new way to partially identify WTP under a weak set of conditions on the shape of individual indifference curves. In particular, indifference curves are assumed to be increasing and convex in an attribute-cost space that is finitely bounded above. These shape restrictions provide informative partial identification without relying on functional form restrictions for utility. Identification given general, potentially discrete, as well as smooth price functions is analyzed. To illustrate this method, we contribute to the literature on the value of a statistical life (VSL) by analyzing labor market data to study people's willingness to pay (WTP) for reductions in levels of fatal risk. The paper contrasts VSL estimates from conventional analysis with the bounds obtained under this new approach using a common data set. The data are shown to be consistent with a wide range of WTP values even given equilibrium and credible shape restrictions. This suggests that conventional estimates may be driven by functional form restrictions imposed on utility rather than by the data or properties of equilibrium.
Calmodulin-Binding Domain of AS160 Regulates Contraction- but Not Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake in Skeletal Muscle

OBJECTIVE—Insulin and contraction increase skeletal muscle glucose uptake through distinct and additive mechanisms. However, recent reports have demonstrated that both signals converge on the Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160), a protein that regulates GLUT4 translocation. Although AS160 phosphorylation is believed to be the primary factor affecting its activity, AS160 also possesses a calmodulin-binding domain (CBD). This raises the possibility that contraction-stimulated increases in Ca2+/calmodulin could also modulate AS160 function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—To evaluate the AS160 CBD in skeletal muscle, empty-vector, wild-type, or CBD-mutant AS160 cDNAs were injected into mouse muscles followed by in vivo electroporation. One week later, AS160 was overexpressed by ∼14-fold over endogenous protein. RESULTS—Immunoprecipitates of wild-type and CBD-mutant AS160 were incubated with biotinylated calmodulin in the presence of Ca2+. Wild-type AS160, but not the CBD-mutant AS160, associated with calmodulin. Next, we measured insulin- and contraction-stimulated glucose uptake in vivo. Compared with empty-vector and wild-type AS160, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was not altered in muscles expressing CBD-mutant AS160. In contrast, contraction-stimulated glucose uptake was significantly decreased in CBD-mutant–expressing muscles. This inhibitory effect on glucose uptake was not associated with aberrant contraction-stimulated AS160 phosphorylation. Interestingly, AS160 expressing both calmodulin-binding and Rab-GAP (GTPase-activating protein) domain point mutations (CBD + R/K) fully restored contraction-stimulated glucose uptake. CONCLUSIONS—Our results suggest that the AS160 CBD directly regulates contraction-induced glucose uptake in mouse muscle and that calmodulin provides an additional means of modulating AS160 Rab-GAP function independent of phosphorylation. These findings define a novel AS160 signaling component, unique to contraction and not insulin, leading to glucose uptake in skeletal muscle.
Induction of L1 and L2 β-Lactamase Production in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Is Dependent on an AmpR-Type Regulator

ABSTRACT A divergently oriented ampR has been located upstream of blaL2 in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. AmpR is necessary for L1 and L2 β-lactamase induction in response to β-lactam challenge, and activation of AmpR is sufficient to induce L1 and L2 production. L1 induction requires more activation of AmpR than does L2 induction.