Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Airway Epithelium in Atopic and Nonatopic Asthma: Similarities and Differences

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways, and the airway epithelium has the central role in its pathogenesis. In general, the airway inflammation is characterised by the infiltration of the epithelium and submucosa by a range of inflammatory cells driven largely by Th-2 lymphocytes, eosinophils, and mast cells. The pathogenic mechanisms of nonatopic asthma in comparison to its atopic counterpart have always been a subject of debate. Although clinically are two distinct entities, more similarities than differences have been observed between the two in terms of immunopathogenesis, underlying IgE mechanisms, and so on. in a number of previous studies. More information has become available in recent years comparing the ultrastructure of the epithelium in these two types of asthma. A comparison of airway epithelium in atopic and nonatopic asthma is presented here from the available information in the literature. Similarities outnumber the differences, until we unravel the mystery surrounding these two important phenotypes of asthma in more detail.
Effect of Spark Plasma Sintering on the Structure and Properties of Ti1−xZrxNiSn Half-Heusler Alloys

XNiSn (X = Ti, Zr and Hf) half-Heusler alloys have promising thermoelectric properties and are attracting enormous interest for use in waste heat recovery. In particular, multiphase behaviour has been linked to reduced lattice thermal conductivities, which enables improved energy conversion efficiencies. This manuscript describes the impact of spark plasma sintering (SPS) on the phase distributions and thermoelectric properties of Ti0.5Zr0. 5NiSn based half-Heuslers. Rietveld analysis reveals small changes in composition, while measurement of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivities reveals that all SPS treated samples are electron doped compared to the as-prepared samples. The lattice thermal conductivities fall between 4 W·m−1·K−1 at 350 K and 3 W·m−1·K−1 at 740 K. A maximum ZT = 0.7 at 740 K is observed in a sample with nominal Ti0.5Zr0. 5NiSn composition.
Adaptive Significance of Quorum Sensing-Dependent Regulation of Rhamnolipids by Integration of Growth Rate in Burkholderia glumae: A Trade-Off between Survival and Efficiency

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell density-dependent mechanism which enables a population of bacteria to coordinate cooperative behaviors in response to the accumulation of self-produced autoinducer signals in their local environment. An emerging framework is that the adaptive significance of QS in the regulation of production of costly extracellular metabolites (“public goods”) is to maintain the homeostasis of cooperation. We investigated this model using the phytopathogenic bacterium Burkholderia glumae, which we have previously demonstrated uses QS to regulate the production of rhamnolipids, extracellular surface-active glycolipids promoting the social behavior called “swarming motility. ” Using mass spectrometric quantification and chromosomal lux-based gene expression, we made the unexpected finding that when unrestricted nutrient resources are provided, production of rhamnolipids is carried out completely independently of QS regulation. This is a unique observation among known QS-controlled factors in bacteria. On the other hand, under nutrient-limited conditions, QS then becomes the main regulating mechanism, significantly enhancing the specific rhamnolipids yield. Accordingly, decreasing nutrient concentrations amplifies rhamnolipid biosynthesis gene expression, revealing a system where QS-dependent regulation is specifically triggered by the growth rate of the population, rather than by its cell density. Furthermore, a gradual increase in QS signal specific concentration upon decrease of specific growth rate suggests a reduction in quorum threshold, which reflects an increase in cellular demand for production of QS-dependent target gene product at low density populations. Integration of growth rate with QS as a decision-making mechanism for biosynthesis of costly metabolites, such as rhamnolipids, could serve to assess the demand and timing for expanding the carrying capacity of a population through spatial expansion mechanisms, such as swarming motility, thus promoting the chances of survival, even if the cell density might not be high enough for an otherwise efficient production of rhamnolipids. In conclusion, we propose that the adaptive significance of growth rate-dependent functionality of QS in biosynthesis of costly public goods lies within providing a regulatory mechanism for selecting the optimal trade-off between survival and efficiency.
Developmental and Individual Differences in the Neural Processing of Dynamic Expressions of Pain and Anger

We examined the processing of facial expressions of pain and anger in 8-month-old infants and adults by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and frontal EEG alpha asymmetry. The ERP results revealed that while adults showed a late positive potential (LPP) to emotional expressions that was enhanced to pain expressions, reflecting increased evaluation and emotional arousal to pain expressions, infants showed a negative component (Nc) to emotional expressions that was enhanced to angry expressions, reflecting increased allocation of attention to angry faces. Moreover, infants and adults showed opposite patterns in their frontal asymmetry responses to pain and anger, suggesting developmental differences in the motivational processes engendered by these facial expressions. These findings are discussed in the light of associated individual differences in infant temperament and adult dispositional empathy.
Extranodal follicular dendritic cell sarcoma: A clinicopathological report of four cases and a literature review

The aim of the present study was to characterize the clinicopathological features of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS), and to report the experience of the Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China) with this entity. The clinicopathological findings of four cases that had recently been encountered and 142 previously reported cases in the English literature were evaluated. The current tumors were found in two male and two female patients, aged 49–76 years old, who exhibited a mean tumor size of 8.7 cm. Three of the four cases were misdiagnosed during the initial diagnosis and one experienced intra-abdominal recurrence six months after the first diagnosis. Assessment of all 142 cases in the literature revealed a mild female predominance. The tumors exhibited a mean tumor size of ~7.0 cm. Histologically, the tumors were composed of plump spindle- or oval-shaped cells that exhibited eosinophilic cytoplasm and were arranged in sheets, storiform patterns or whorls. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells expressed at least one of the FDC markers. Among the 130 cases with follow-up data, the overall recurrence, metastasis and mortality rates were 49.2% (64 cases), 21.5% (28 cases), and 13.8% (18 cases), respectively. FDCS can appear deceptively similar to other soft-tissue tumors, even poorly-differentiated carcinomas. A correct diagnosis requires a high degree of suspicion and immunohistochemical evaluation.
Effect of external stress on propagation properties of hexagonal and octagonal PCF

External stress and design parameters of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) play significant role in controlling the propagation properties during drawing process. In this paper, we have analyzed and simulated the effect of external stress and design parameters on PCF's propagation properties for two kinds of air-hole arrangement using finite element method. The effective indices for both arrangements are observed in FEMLAB environment by varying the number of air hole rings and then birefringence, effective area and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) are calculated. It is found that under same values of external stress and various design parameter, the effect on effective area, birefringence and PMD is higher in hexagonal air-hole arranged PCF than octagonal.
Cardiovascular state changes in simulated work environments

The usefulness of cardiovascular measures as indicators of changes in cognitive workload has been addressed in several studies. In this paper the question is explored whether cardiovascular patterns in heart rate, blood pressure, baroreflex sensitivity and HRV that are found are consistent within and between two simulated working environments. Two studies, were performed, both with 21 participants: one in an ambulance dispatch simulation and one in a driving simulator. In the ambulance dispatcher task an initial strong increase in blood pressure is followed by a moderate on-going increase in blood pressure during the next hour of task performance. This pattern is accompanied by a strong increase in baroreflex sensitivity while heart rate decreases. In the driving simulator study, blood pressure initially increases but decreases almost to baseline level in the next hour. This pattern is accompanied by a decrease in baroreflex sensitivity, while heart rate decreases. Results of both studies are interpreted in terms of autonomic control (related to both sympathetic and para-sympathetic effects), using a simplified simulation of a baroreflex regulation model. Interpretation of the results leads to the conclusion that the cardiovascular response patterns in both tasks are a combination of an initial defensive reaction, in combination with compensatory blood pressure control. The level of compensatory blood pressure control, however, is quite different for the two tasks. This helps to understand the differences in response patterns between the two studies in this paper and may be helpful as well for understanding differences in cardiovascular response patterns in general. A substantial part of the effects observed during task performance are regulatory effects and are not always directly related to workload manipulations. Making this distinction may also contribute to the understanding of differences in cardiovascular response patterns during cognitive workload.
Randomness Efficient Fast-Johnson-Lindenstrauss Transform with Applications in Differential Privacy and Compressed Sensing

The Johnson-Lindenstrauss property ({\sf JLP}) of random matrices has immense application in computer science ranging from compressed sensing, learning theory, numerical linear algebra, to privacy. This paper explores the properties and applications of a distribution of random matrices. Our distribution satisfies {\sf JLP} with desirable properties like fast matrix-vector multiplication, sparsity, and optimal subspace embedding. We can sample a random matrix from this distribution using exactly $2n+n \log n$ random bits. We show that a random matrix picked from this distribution preserves differential privacy under the condition that the input private matrix satisfies certain spectral property. This improves the run-time of various differentially private mechanisms like Blocki {\it et al.} (FOCS 2012) and Upadhyay (ASIACRYPT 13). Our final construction has a bounded column sparsity. Therefore, this answers an open problem stated in Blocki {\it et al.} (FOCS 2012). Using the results of Baranuik {\it et al.} (Constructive Approximation: 28(3)), our result implies a randomness efficient matrices that satisfies the Restricted-Isometry Property of optimal order for small sparsity with exactly linear random bits. We also show that other known distributions of sparse random matrices with the {\sf JLP} does not preserves differential privacy; thereby, answering one of the open problem posed by Blocki {\it et al.} (FOCS 2012). Extending on the works of Kane and Nelson (JACM: 61(1)), we also give unified analysis of some of the known Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform. We also present a self-contained simplified proof of an inequality on quadratic form of Gaussian variables that we use in all our proofs.
A New Integrated Software Development Environment Based on SDL, MSC, and CHILL for Large‐scale Switching Systems

This paper presents a new software development environment that supports an integrated methodology for covering all phases of software development and gives integrated methods with tools for ITUT (Telecommunication Standardization Section of the International Telecommunication Union) languages. The design of the environment to improve software productivity and quality is based on five main concepts: 1) formal specifications based on SDL (Specification and Description Language) and MSC (Message Sequence Charts) in the design phase, 2) verification and validation of those designs by tools, 3) automatic code generation and a safe separate compilation scheme based on CHILL (CCITT High‐Level Language) to facilitate programming‐in‐the‐many and programming‐in‐the‐large. 4) debugging of distributed real‐time concurrent CHILL programs, and 5) simulation of application software for integrated testing on the host machine based on CHILL. The application results of the environment compared with other approaches show that the productivity is increased by 19 % because of decreasing implementation and testing cost, and the quality is increased by 83 % because of the formal specifications with its static and dynamic checking facilities.
Surface fuel loads following a coastal–transitional fire of unprecedented severity: Boulder Creek fire case study

British Columbia experienced three years with notably large and severe wildfires since 2015. Multiple stand-replacing wildfires occurred in coastal–transitional forests, where large fires are typically rare, and thus, information on post-fire carbon is lacking. Because of their carbon storage potential, coastal–transitional forests are important in the global carbon cycle. We examined differences in surface fuel carbon among fire severity classes in 2016, one year after the Boulder Creek fire, which burned 6 735 ha of coastal–transitional forests in 2015. Using remotely sensed indices (dNBR), we partitioned the fire area into unburned (control), low-, moderate-, and high-severity classes. Field plots were randomly located in each class. At each plot, surface fuel carbon was quantified by type, namely coarse, small, and fine woody material, duff, and litter, and carbon mass by fuel type was compared among severity classes. Total surface fuel carbon did not differ significantly between burned and unburned plots; however, there was significantly less duff and litter carbon in burned plots. Remotely sensed severity classes did not properly capture wildfire impacts on surface fuels, especially at lower severities. Pre-fire stand characteristics are also important drivers of surface fuel loads. This case study provides baseline data for examining post-fire fuel carbon dynamics in coastal–transitional British Columbia.
Student intention to engage in leisure-time physical activity: The interplay of task-involving climate, competence need satisfaction and psychobiosocial states in physical education

Grounded in achievement goal theory and basic psychological needs theory, the aim of this study was to examine the impact of the interaction of perceived motivational climate in physical education with psychological needs satisfaction (relatedness, competence and autonomy) and psychobiosocial states on student intention to engage in leisure-time physical activity. Participants (N = 470 Italian students, 287 boys and 183 girls, aged 16–19 years) completed the Teacher-Initiated Motivational Climate in Physical Education Questionnaire, the Psychological Needs Satisfaction Scale in Physical Education, the Psychobiosocial States Questionnaire, and a measure of intention to engage in leisure-time physical activity. Structural equation modelling analysis indicated that a perceived task-involving climate was related to intention to engage in physical activity through the serial mediation of competence need satisfaction and pleasant/functional psychobiosocial states. The findings highlight the importance of task-involving climate and competence need satisfaction in determining pleasant emotional states and, consequently, in promoting leisure-time physical activity. Teachers should apply curricular and pedagogical strategies that aim to create a task-involving motivational climate, make movement experiences personally meaningful and pleasant and therefore stimulate students to adopt an active lifestyle.
Synchronization transitions in a disordered Josephson series array.

We show that a current-biased series array of nonidentical Josephson junctions undergoes two transitions as a function of the spread of natural frequencies. One transition corresponds to the onset of partial synchronization, and the other corresponds to complete phase locking. In the limit of weak coupling and disorder, the system can be mapped onto an exactly solvable model introduced by Kuramoto and the transition points can be accurately predicted.
Towards Thwarting Unauthorized Network Accesses with a Feather-Weight Hypervisor

In the cloud computing environment, most of applications rely on the network access to achieve their functionalities. Untrusted or vulnerable cloud applications will incur unauthorized network accesses which may bring on the user information leakage or other threats. In this paper, we propose a novel feather-weight hardware-assisted hypervisor, namely NFVisor (Network Filter Hypervisor), to thwart such unauthorized network accesses. Compared to previous host-based approaches, NFVisor offers two distinct advantages: preinstalled commodity OS compatibility and non-by passable manipulation of network accesses. Unlike typical hypervisors, deploying NFVisor does not require OS reinstallation. By intercepting the low-level interactions between the OS and the hardware, NFVisor can manipulate the network accesses at the hypervisor layer instead of the OS layer, which is subvertable for the privileged malware. Our functionality evaluation shows NFVisor can impede unauthorized network connections effectively while the performance evaluation shows desktop-oriented workloads achieve 94.12% of native speed on average.
Evidence for noisy contextual search: Examining the dynamics of list-before-last recall

The dynamics of free recall in the list-before-last task were examined in the current study. List-length was manipulated and probability of recall was influenced by target list-length but not by intervening list-length. Participants also performed free recall on control lists matched on target list-length. Critically, list-before-last recall was worse than recall on the control list, suggesting that the mere presence of an intervening list reduced recall. An examination of intrusion errors suggested that participants recalled both prior and intervening list intrusions and retrieval was influenced by the length of the intervening list-length. Finally, an examination of recall latency suggested that target list-length, but not intervening list-length, influenced recall dynamics. However, recall latency in list-before-last recall was longer than in the control lists, suggesting that the mere presence of intervening list influenced recall latency. Taken together, the results are consistent with the notion that in list-before-last recall participants rely on noisy contextual cues that activate both target and non-target items, leading to an increase in their search sets.
Compliance of a Generic Type 3 WT Model with the Spanish Grid Code

The expansion of wind power around the world poses a new challenge that network operators must overcome, namely the integration of this renewable energy source into the grid. Comprehensive analyses involving time-domain simulations must be carried out to plan network operation and ensure power supply. In light of the above, and with the aim of extending the use of the wind turbine models developed by Standard IEC 61400-27-1 and assessing their performance according to national grid code requirements, an IEC Type 3 wind turbine model has been submitted for the first time to Spanish grid code PO 12.3. Indeed, there is a lack of studies submitting generic wind turbine models to national grid code requirements. The model’s behavior is compared with field measurements of an actual Gamesa G52 machine and with its detailed simulation model. The outcomes obtained have been comprehensively analyzed and the results of the validation criteria highlight that several modeling modifications, in the cases of non-compliance, must be implemented in the IEC-developed Type 3 model in order to comply with PO 12.3. Nevertheless, the results also show that when the transformer inrush current is not considered, the reactive power response of the generic Type 3 WT model meets the validation criteria, thus complying with Spanish PO 12.3.
Heavy traffic approximation for the stationary distribution of a generalized Jackson network: The BAR approach

In the seminal paper of Gamarnik and Zeevi [17], the authors justify the steady-state diffusion approximation of a generalized Jackson network (GJN) in heavy traffic. Their approach involves the so-called limit interchange argument, which has since become a popular tool employed by many others who study diffusion approximations. In this paper we illustrate a novel approach by using it to justify the steady-state approximation of a GJN in heavy traffic. Our approach involves working directly with the basic adjoint relationship (BAR), an integral equation that characterizes the stationary distribution of a Markov process. As we will show, the BAR approach is a more natural choice than the limit interchange approach for justifying steady-state approximations, and can potentially be applied to the study of other stochastic processing networks such as multiclass queueing networks.
Hopf bifurcation for a spatially and age structured population dynamics model

This paper is devoted to the study of a spatially and age structured population dynamics model. We study the stability and Hopf bifurcation of the positive equilibrium of the model by using a bifurcation theory in the context of integrated semigroups. This problem is a first example for Hopf bifurcation for a spatially and age/size structured population dynamics model. Bifurcation analysis indicates that Hopf bifurcation occurs at a positive age/size dependent steady state of the model. The results are confirmed by some numerical simulations.