Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Salmonella typhimurium attachment to human intestinal epithelial monolayers: transcellular signalling to subepithelial neutrophils

In human intestinal disease induced by Salmonella typhimurium, transepithelial migration of neutrophils (PMN) rapidly follows attachment of the bacteria to the epithelial apical membrane. In this report, we model those interactions in vitro, using polarized monolayers of the human intestinal epithelial cell, T84, isolated human PMN, and S. typhimurium. We show that Salmonella attachment to T84 cell apical membranes did not alter monolayer integrity as assessed by transepithelial resistance and measurements of ion transport. However, when human neutrophils were subsequently placed on the basolateral surface of monolayers apically colonized by Salmonella, physiologically directed transepithelial PMN migration ensued. In contrast, attachment of a non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain to the apical membrane of epithelial cells at comparable densities failed to stimulate a directed PMN transepithelial migration. Use of the n-formyl-peptide receptor antagonist N-t-BOC-1-methionyl-1-leucyl-1- phenylalanine (tBOC-MLP) indicated that the Salmonella-induced PMN transepithelial migration response was not attributable to the classical pathway by which bacteria induce directed migration of PMN. Moreover, the PMN transmigration response required Salmonella adhesion to the epithelial apical membrane and subsequent reciprocal protein synthesis in both bacteria and epithelial cells. Among the events stimulated by this interaction was the epithelial synthesis and polarized release of the potent PMN chemotactic peptide interleukin-8 (IL-8). However, IL-8 neutralization, transfer, and induction experiments indicated that this cytokine was not responsible for the elicited PMN transmigration. These data indicate that a novel transcellular pathway exists in which subepithelial PMN respond to lumenal pathogens across a functionally intact epithelium. Based on the known unique characteristics of the intestinal mucosa, we speculate that IL-8 may act in concert with an as yet unidentified transcellular chemotactic factor(s) (TCF) which directs PMN migration across the intestinal epithelium.
Cuttlefish responses to visual orientation of substrates, water flow and a model of motion camouflage

SUMMARY Low-level mechanisms in vertebrate vision are sensitive to line orientation. Here we investigate orientation sensitivity in the cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis, by allowing animals to settle on stripe patterns. When camouflaging themselves cuttlefish are known to be sensitive to image parameters such as contrast and spatial scale, but we find no effect of background orientation on the patterns displayed. It is nonetheless clear that the animals see orientation, because they prefer to rest with the body-axis perpendicular to the stripes. We consider three possible mechanisms to account for this behaviour. Firstly, that the body patterns are themselves oriented, and that the cuttlefish align themselves to aid static camouflage. This is unlikely, as the patterns displayed have no dominant orientation at any spatial scale. A second possibility is that motion camouflage favours alignment of the body orthogonal to background stripes, and we suggest how this alignment can minimise motion signals produced by occlusion. Thirdly we show that cuttlefish prefer to rest with their body-axis parallel to the water flow, and it is possible that they use visual patterns such as sand ripples to determine water flow.
Dynamic Capacity Planning with Comprehensive Formation of SLAs in Clouds

The provision of service enabled connectivity is the significant art of clouds. The long-held dream of computing as a utility has become reality in the era of cloud computing. Cloud users are now able to run and access their applications from anywhere in the world on demand. The proposed research considers dynamic capacity planning for cloud systems. The aim is to dynamically adapt computing capacity such that Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are continuously met while minimizing the total costs incurred in running the cloud services. However, research in this regard is still at its infancy. Scalability, resource heterogeneity, workload dynamicity, resource sharing and virtualization are the main challenges that need to be overcome to have effective and trustworthy schemes for capacity management, that play a vital role in cloud computing. The work in this approach is based on developing a capacity planning scheme to ensure that high-level performance targets (SLAs) are continuously met. The scheme applies threshold-based techniques to ensure meeting the SLAs while minimizing the total incurred costs. The approach is designed to work on cloud environments and hence must address these environments specific challenges.
Anonysense: privacy-aware people-centric sensing

Personal mobile devices are increasingly equipped with the capability to sense the physical world (through cameras, microphones, and accelerometers, for example) and the, network world (with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces). Such devices offer many new opportunities for cooperative sensing applications. For example, users' mobile phones may contribute data to community-oriented information services, from city-wide pollution monitoring to enterprise-wide detection of unauthorized Wi-Fi access points. This people-centric mobile-sensing model introduces a new security challenge in the design of mobile systems: protecting the privacy of participants while allowing their devices to reliably contribute high-quality data to these large-scale applications. We describe AnonySense, a privacy-aware architecture for realizing pervasive applications based on collaborative, opportunistic sensing by personal mobile devices. AnonySense allows applications to submit sensing tasks that will be distributed across anonymous participating mobile devices, later receiving verified, yet anonymized, sensor data reports back from the field, thus providing the first secure implementation of this participatory sensing model. We describe our trust model, and the security properties that drove the design of the AnonySense system. We evaluate our prototype implementation through experiments that indicate the feasibility of this approach, and through two applications: a Wi-Fi rogue access point detector and a lost-object finder.
Adaptation by normal listeners to upward spectral shifts of speech: implications for cochlear implants.

Multi-channel cochlear implants typically present spectral information to the wrong "place" in the auditory nerve array, because electrodes can only be inserted partway into the cochlea. Although such spectral shifts are known to cause large immediate decrements in performance in simulations, the extent to which listeners can adapt to such shifts has yet to be investigated. Here, the effects of a four-channel implant in normal listeners have been simulated, and performance tested with unshifted spectral information and with the equivalent of a 6.5-mm basalward shift on the basilar membrane (1.3-2.9 octaves, depending on frequency). As expected, the unshifted simulation led to relatively high levels of mean performance (e.g., 64% of words in sentences correctly identified) whereas the shifted simulation led to very poor results (e.g., 1% of words). However, after just nine 20-min sessions of connected discourse tracking with the shifted simulation, performance improved significantly for the identification of intervocalic consonants, medial vowels in monosyllables, and words in sentences (30% of words). Also, listeners were able to track connected discourse of shifted signals without lipreading at rates up to 40 words per minute. Although we do not know if complete adaptation to the shifted signals is possible, it is clear that short-term experiments seriously exaggerate the long-term consequences of such spectral shifts.
Hyposecretion of Atrial Natriuretic Factor by Prehypertensive Dahl Salt‐Sensitive Rat

Studies were carried out to determine if the release of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) is altered in the inbred Dahl salt-sensitive (SS/Jr) rat. Isolated heart-lung preparations of prehypertensive young SS/Jr rats (6–8 weeks of age) and age-matched inbred Dahl salt-resistant (SR/Jr) rats were used. At this relatively young age the blood pressure difference between strains (SS/Jr, 108±3 mm Hg; SR/Jr, 103±2 mm Hg) was minor. ANF release was stimulated with preload-induced or afterload-induced atrial stretch. Increased preload produced increases in right and left atrial pressures that were equivalent between young SS/Jr and SR/Jr rats; increased afterload produced increases only in left atrial pressures, which again were equivalent for young rats of the two strains. At any preload-induced change in atrial pressure SS/Jr rat hearts released less ANF than those of SR/Jr rats. Similarly, at any afterioad-induced increase in left atrial pressure, SS/Jr rat hearts released less ANF than those of SR/Jr rats. In contrast to the above results in young rats, the strain differences were dramatically reversed when older rats (5–6 months of age) were used; at this age SS/Jr rats were markedly hypertensive (SS/Jr, 211±8 mm Hg; SR/Jr 130±4 mm Hg). Hearts from adult hypertensive SS/Jr rats released more ANF than hearts from adult normotensive SR/Jr rats at any left atrial pressure as afterload was increased. This reversal of SS/Jr rats from hyposecreters to hypersecreters of ANF is probably a consequence of hypertension-induced changes such as cardiac hypertrophy and recruitment of the ventricles to produce ANF. It is concluded that the hyposecretion of ANF by prehypertensive SS/Jr rats may represent a genetic trait relevant to the pathogenesis of genetic hypertension and that this is obscured by adaptive changes in the heart as hypertension progresses.
The Galaxy Populations of X-Ray-detected, Poor Groups

We determine the quantitative morphology and star formation properties of galaxies in six nearby X-ray-detected, poor groups using multiobject spectroscopy and wide-field R imaging. The mean recessional velocities of the galaxy groups range from 2843 to 7558 km s-1. Each group has 15-38 confirmed members ranging in luminosity from dwarfs to giants (-13.7 ≥ MR - 5 log h ≥ -21.9). We measure structural parameters for each galaxy by fitting a PSF-convolved, two-component model to their surface brightness profiles. To compare the samples directly, we fade, smooth, and rebin each galaxy image so that we effectively observe each galaxy at the same redshift (9000 km s-1) and physical resolution (0.87 h-1 kpc). The structural parameters are combined with [O II] measurements to test for correlations between morphological characteristics and current star formation in these galaxies. We compare results for the groups to a sample of field galaxies. We find that: (1) Galaxies spanning a wide range in morphological type and luminosity are fit well by a de Vaucouleurs bulge with exponential disk profile. (2) Morphologically classifying these nearby group galaxies by their bulge fraction (B/T) is fairly robust on average, even when their redshift has increased by up to a factor of 4 and the effective resolution of the images is degraded by up to a factor of 5. (3) The fraction of bulge-dominated systems in these groups is higher than in the field (~50% versus ~20%). (4) The fraction of bulge-dominated systems in groups decreases with increasing radius, similar to the morphology-radius (~density) relation observed in galaxy clusters. (5) Current star formation in group galaxies is correlated with significant morphological asymmetry for disk-dominated systems (B/T < 0.4). (6) The group galaxies that are most disk dominated (B/T < 0.2) are less star forming and asymmetric on average than their counterparts in the field.
Validation of the EuroQol questionnaire in cardiac rehabilitation

Objective: To analyse the psychometric properties of the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D) applied to patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Setting: Rehabilitation hospital. Patients and design: 106 consecutive patients with ACS (51% myocardial infarction, 42% coronary artery bypass grafting, 7% angina) completed the EQ-5D, the 36 item short form health survey (SF-36), and the MacNew questionnaire at admission, at discharge, and three months after inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Acceptance, validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the EQ-5D were tested. Results: The EQ-5D was highly accepted. The EQ-5D index showed substantial ceiling effects after rehabilitation. As expected the EQ-5D visual analogue scale (VAS) score (70.3 v 57.1) and EQ-5D index (77.8 v 64.5) were significantly better for patients with myocardial infarction than for patients who underwent surgery (both p ⩽ 0.001). Significant correlations were found between the EQ-5D VAS score, EQ-5D index, and domains of the SF-36 (r = 0.21 to r = 0.74). The correlation with the MacNew subscores and with the global score ranged between 0.55 and 0.78. With repeated measurement the EQ-5D showed reasonable reliability in stable patients with intraclass correlation ranging between 0.91 and 0.54. EQ-5D was responsive in patients who indicated improvement in health states between admission and discharge (effect size 0.74–0.82). Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the EQ-5D were satisfying. It is a reasonably valid, reliable, and responsive instrument for patients with ACS. It may be useful in clinical research and epidemiological studies to generate preference based valuations of health related quality life.
Integer-Forcing Linear Receiver Design with Slowest Descent Method

Compute-and-forward (CPF) strategy is one category of network coding in which a relay will compute and forward a linear combination of source messages according to the observed channel coefficients, based on the algebraic structure of lattice codes. Recently, based on the idea of CPF, integer forcing (IF) linear receiver architecture for MIMO system has been proposed to recover different integer combinations of lattice codewords for further original message detection. In this paper, we consider the problem of IF linear receiver design with respect to the channel conditions. Instead of exhaustive search, we present practical and efficient suboptimal algorithms to design the IF coefficient matrix with full rank such that the total achievable rate is maximized, based on the slowest descent method. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.
Influence from process parameters on void formation in resin transfer molding

The influence of different process variables on the void content in resin transfer molding (RTM) has been investigated experimentally. The moldings were made in a flat mold filled by a parallel flow from one edge of the laminate to the other. The voids were found concentrated in a narrow region close to the ventilation side of the laminate. The void volume fraction in this region was almost constant and dropped over a short distance to basically no voids in the rest of the laminate. Micrographs from cross sections in different directions revealed that the voids were of two different types, long cylindrical bubbles inside the fiber bundles and larger spheroidal bubbles in the space between the fiber bundles. An efficient way of reducing the void content was to use vacuum assistance during mold filling. This technique was beneficial both for the magnitude of the void content and for the extent of the void region. The void content with the highest level of vacuum assistance (= 1 kPa absolute pressure), was practically negligible. Strong indications for void generation by mechanical entrapment at the flow front was found. The lowering of the void content with vacuum assistance can be interpreted as a result of compression of voids when the vacuum is released and a higher mobility of voids created at a lower pressure.
Effect of Compression Ratio on Perception of Time Compressed Phonemically Balanced Words in Kannada and Monosyllables

The present study attempted to study perception of time-compressed speech and the effect of compression ratio for phonemically balanced (PB) word lists in Kannada and monosyllables. The test was administered on 30 normal hearing individuals at compression ratios of 40%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% for PB words in Kannada and monosyllables. The results of the study showed that the speech identification scores for time-compressed speech reduced with increase in compression ratio. The scores were better for monosyllables compared to PB words especially at higher compression ratios. The study provides speech identification scores at different compression ratio for PB words and monosyllables in individuals with normal hearing. The results of the study also showed that the scores did not vary across gender for all the compression ratios for both the stimuli. The same test material needs to be compared the clinical population with central auditory processing disorder for clinical validation of the present results.
Runtime guarantees for regression problems

We study theoretical runtime guarantees for a class of optimization problems that occur in a wide variety of inference problems. These problems are motivated by the LASSO framework and have applications in machine learning and computer vision. Our work shows a close connection between these problems and core questions in algorithmic graph theory. While this connection demonstrates the difficulties of obtaining runtime guarantees, it also suggests an approach of using techniques originally developed for graph algorithms. We then show that most of these problems can be formulated as a grouped least squares problem, and give efficient algorithms for this formulation. Our algorithms rely on routines for solving quadratic minimization problems, which in turn are equivalent to solving linear systems. Some preliminary experimental work on image processing tasks are also presented.
Novel roles of the multi-functional CCR4-NOT complex in post-transcriptional regulation

The CCR4-NOT complex is a highly conserved specific gene silencer that also serves more general post-transcriptional functions. Specific regulatory proteins including the miRNA-induced silencing complex and its associated proteins, bind to 3’-UTR elements of mRNA and recruit the CCR4-NOT complex thereby promoting poly(A) shortening and repressing translation and/or mRNA degradation. Recent studies have shown that the CCR4-NOT complex that is tethered to mRNA by such regulator(s) represses translation and facilitates mRNA decay independent of a poly(A) tail and its shortening. In addition to deadenylase activity, the CCR4-NOT complex also has an E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and is involved in a novel protein quality control system, i.e., co-translational proteasomal-degradation of aberrant proteins. In this review, we describe recent progress in elucidation of novel roles of the multi-functional complex CCR4-NOT in post-transcriptional regulation.
CONTROLLED PROTEOLYSIS OF NASCENT POLYPEPTIDES IN RAT LIVER CELL FRACTIONS

Rough microsomes were incubated in an in vitro amino acid-incorporating system for labeling the nascent polypeptide chains on the membrane-bound ribosomes. Sucrose density gradient analysis showed that ribosomes did not detach from the membranes during incorporation in vitro. Trypsin and chymotrypsin treatment of microsomes at 0° led to the detachment of ribosomes from the membranes; furthermore, trypsin produced the dissociation of released, messenger RNA-free ribosomes into subunits. Electron microscopic observations indicated that the membranes remained as closed vesicles. In contrast to the situation with free polysomes, nascent chains contained in rough microsomes were extensively protected from proteolytic attach. By separating the microsomal membranes from the released subunits after proteolysis, it was found that nascent chains are split into two size classes of fragments when the ribosomes are detached. These were shown by column chromatography on Sephadex G-50 to be: (a) small (39 amino acid residues) ribosome-associated fragments and (b) a mixture of larger membrane-associated fragments excluded from the column. The small fragments correspond to the carboxy-terminal segments which are protected by the large subunits of free polysomes. The larger fragments associated with the microsomal membranes depend for their protection on membrane integrity. These fragments are completely digested if the microsomes are subjected to proteolysis in the presence of detergents. These results indicate that when the nascent polypeptides growing in the large subunits of membrane-bound ribosomes emerge from the ribosomes they enter directly into a close association with the microsomal membrane.
A Case-Based Reasoning Approach for Unknown Class Invoice Processing

This paper introduces an invoice analysis approach using case-based reasoning (CBR). CBR is used to analyze and interpret new invoices thanks to the previous processing experiences. Each new document is segmented into structures and interpreted thanks to a structure database. Interpreting a new document's structures relies on graph edit distance as well as on string edit distance. This paper focuses on document structure extraction as well as on document interpretation via its structures interpretation. The proposed system reaches an extraction and interpretation rate of 76.33%.
Soil-Applied Imidacloprid Translocates to Ornamental Flowers and Reduces Survival of Adult Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, and Hippodamia convergens Lady Beetles, and Larval Danaus plexippus and Vanessa cardui Butterflies

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision making process used to manage pests that relies on many tactics, including cultural and biological control, which are practices that conserve beneficial insects and mites, and when needed, the use of conventional insecticides. However, systemic, soil-applied neonicotinoid insecticides are translocated to pollen and nectar of flowers, often for months, and may reduce survival of flower-feeding beneficial insects. Imidacloprid seed-treated crops (0.05 mg AI (active ingredient) /canola seed and 1.2 mg AI/corn seed) translocate less than 10 ppb to pollen and nectar. However, higher rates of soil-applied imidacloprid are used in nurseries and urban landscapes, such as 300 mg AI/10 L (3 gallon) pot and 69 g AI applied to the soil under a 61 (24 in) cm diam. tree. Translocation of imidacloprid from soil (300 mg AI) to flowers of Asclepias curassavica resulted in 6,030 ppb in 1X and 10,400 ppb in 2X treatments, which are similar to imidacloprid residues found in another plant species we studied. A second imidacloprid soil application 7 months later resulted in 21,000 ppb in 1X and 45,000 ppb in 2X treatments. Consequently, greenhouse/nursery use of imidacloprid applied to flowering plants can result in 793 to 1,368 times higher concentration compared to an imidacloprid seed treatment (7.6 ppb pollen in seed- treated canola), where most research has focused. These higher imidacloprid levels caused significant mortality in both 1X and 2X treatments in 3 lady beetle species, Coleomegilla maculata, Harmonia axyridis, and Hippodamia convergens, but not a fourth species, Coccinella septempunctata. Adult survival were not reduced for monarch, Danaus plexippus and painted lady, Vanessa cardui, butterflies, but larval survival was significantly reduced. The use of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid at greenhouse/nursery rates reduced survival of beneficial insects feeding on pollen and nectar and is incompatible with the principles of IPM.