Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of human CD68 transcriptional regulatory sequences to direct high‐level expression of class A scavenger receptor in macrophages in vitro and in vivo

Macrophages (Mφ) play a key role in innate and acquired immunity. The study of Mφ biology has been hampered by the absence of suitable gene regulatory sequences for the overexpression of heterologous genes in Mφ. The human CD68 gene encodes a glycoprotein that is expressed in monocytes and Mφ, and therefore represents an attractive candidate gene for the generation of a Mφ‐specific gene‐targeting vector. A transgene expression cassette that combines 2·9 kb of CD68 5′ flanking sequence with the 83‐bp first intron (IVS‐1) of the CD68 gene, directed high‐level, long‐lasting expression of class A human scavenger receptor (hSR‐A) isoforms in the murine Mφ cell line, RAW‐264. By using this CD68 expression cassette to generate Mφ cell lines that overexpress a soluble secreted form of the extracellular portion of type I human SR‐A, we were able to purify significant quantities of this protein and show its ability to inhibit SR‐A‐mediated endocytosis. Analysis of two independent lines of transgenic mice that expressed type III human SR‐A under the control of the CD68 gene sequences revealed transgene mRNA expression in elicited Mφ populations and in mouse tissues in a pattern that was consistent with Mφ‐specific gene targeting. These data show that CD68 transcriptional regulatory sequences can be used to direct high‐level transgene expression in Mφin vitro and in vivo.
Interleukin 5 (IL-5) provides a signal that is required in addition to IL-4 for isotype switching to immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 and IgE

We have examined the contributions of Interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-5, and other stimuli to the expression of Immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgE in murine B lymphoblasts activated with anti-Ig. The combination of IL-4 and -5 induced B lymphoblasts to proliferate and to secrete IgM and IgG1. However, an additional stimulus was required along with IL-4 and - 5 for induction of IgE secretion. This stimulus was provided by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or cytokines produced by TC-1 or EL4 cells. In the absence of IL-5, exceptionally high concentrations of IL-4 (greater than 1,000 U/ml) were required to elicit IgG1 and IgE secretion from B lymphoblasts cultured with either LPS or TC-1- conditioned media (CM). To investigate regulation of expression of gamma 1 and epsilon genes by IL-4, -5, and LPS, the requirements for induction of gamma 1 and epsilon germline and productive transcripts were examined. Germline gamma 1, but not epsilon, transcripts were detected in RNA from B lymphoblasts treated with IL-4 and -5 for 48 h. In contrast, both germline gamma 1 and epsilon transcripts could be detected in B lymphoblasts cultured with IL-4 and LPS, and steady state levels of germline gamma 1 transcripts were four- to sevenfold higher in blasts cultured with LPS and IL-4, compared with blasts cultured with IL-4 and -5. LPS enhanced steady state levels of germline transcripts induced by IL-4, but LPS did not promote substantial accumulation of productive gamma 1 and epsilon transcripts. In contrast, IL-5 did not affect steady state levels of germline transcripts stimulated by IL-4, but did markedly increase levels of productive gamma 1 and epsilon transcripts. Thus, lymphokines regulate two distinct events in isotype switching: induction of germline transcripts (IL-4), and production of VDJ-C gamma 1 and VDJ-C epsilon mRNA (IL-5), which leads to secretion of IgG1 and IgE.
Warehouse contextual factors affecting the impact of RFID

Purpose – Empowered by the possibility to automatically identify unique instances, radio frequency identification (RFID) is expected to revolutionize warehouse processes. However, every warehouse differs from each other in several ways. Given such dimensionality, a credible assessment of the true value of RFID requires that the contextual factors that differentiate one warehouse from another are taken into account. The same RFID implementation may generate high productivity in one warehouse but not in another, because the former warehouse may have characteristics that may influence the impact of RFID. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for identifying key contextual factors that appear to be contingent on the link between RFID and warehouse performance.Design/methodology/approach – The framework derived from a two‐phase research design. The first phase incorporated two case studies. This was an exploratory study and, therefore, there was a great deal of iteration between the .
Rotation-invariant histograms of oriented gradients for local patch robust representation

Our research focuses on the question of feature descriptors for robust effective computing, presenting a novel feature representation method-rotation-invariant histograms of oriented gradients (Ri-HOG). Most of the existing HOG techniques are computed on a dense grid of uniformly-spaced cells and use overlapping local contrast of rectangular blocks for normalization. However, we adopt annular spatial bins type cells and apply radial gradient transform (RGT) to attain gradient binning invariance for feature descriptors. In such way, it significantly enhances HOG with respect to rotation-invariant ability and feature descripting accuracy. In experiments, the proposed method adopts object recognition as a test case and it is evaluated on PASCAL VOC 2007 dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is much more efficient than the existing methods.
A radio halo surrounding the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in RXCJ0232.2–4420: a mini-halo in transition?

Diffuse radio sources associated with the intra-cluster medium are direct probes of the cosmic ray electrons and magnetic fields. We report the discovery of a diffuse radio source in the galaxy cluster RXCJ0232.2–4420 (SPT-CL J0232–4421, z = 0.2836) using 606 MHz observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The diffuse radio source surrounds the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in the cluster-like typical radio mini-haloes. However the total extent of it is 550 × 800 kpc2, which is larger than mini-haloes and similar to that of radio haloes. The BCG itself is also a radio source with a marginally resolved core at 7 arcsec (30 kpc) resolution. We measure the 606 MHz flux density of the RH to be 52 ± 5 mJy. Assuming a spectral index of 1.3, the 1.4 GHz radio power is 4.5 × 1024 W Hz−1. The dynamical state of the cluster has been inferred to be 'relaxed’ and also as 'complex’, depending on the classification methods based on the morphology of the X-ray surface brightness. This system thus seems to be in the transition phase from a mini-halo to a radio halo.
The Abundancy Index of Divisors of Spoof Odd Perfect Numbers

Abstaract − We call n a spoof odd perfect number if n is odd and n = km for two integers k,m > 1 such that σ(k)(m + 1) = 2n, where σ is the sum-of-divisors function. In this paper, we show how results analogous to those of odd perfect numbers could be established for spoof odd perfect numbers (otherwise known in the literature as Descartes numbers). In particular, we predict that an analogue of the Descartes-Frenicle-Sorli conjecture for odd perfect numbers holds for spoof odd perfect numbers. Furthermore, we conjecture that the quasi-Euler prime of a spoof odd perfect number is also its largest quasi-prime factor.
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Fairness, Risk Preferences and Independence: Impossibility Theorems

The most widely used economic models of social preferences are specified only for certain outcomes. There are two obvious methods of extending them to lotteries. If we do so by expected utility theory, so that the independence axiom is satisfied, our results imply that the resulting preferences do not exhibit ex ante fairness. If we do so by replacing certain outcomes with their expected utilities for each individual, so that individual risk preferences are preserved, then ex ante fairness may be preserved, but neither the independence axiom nor ex post fairness is satisfied. Both ex ante and ex post fairness can be satisfied but then the individual does not have well defined preferences over own lotteries.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE SERVICE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING: THE CASE OF THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY

Foreign language learning lends itself naturally to the use of media. Linguists stress the primacy of speech over writing in language: children can listen and speak before they learn to read and write and all languages of the world are spoken, but not all have a writing system. Accordingly, foreign-language educators have been heavily involved in the use of audio equipment. They welcomed the first audio device, the phonograph, and have immediately adopted other advances in audio technology such as magnetic tape and digital media. (Delcoque, Annan, & Bramoullé, 2000). Unfortunately, the history of the use of technology to teach languages has not been duly noted by historians of educational technology. Paul Saettler, in his definitive The Evolution of American Educational Technology, only makes passing references to foreign-language teaching, and language laboratories are granted merely one paragraph (p. 187). It will be demonstrated that this disregard is startling in view of the extensive use and massive investment in instructional equipment by foreign-language educators. Moreover, it will be shown that the research that accompanied these commitments has not been appreciated by the larger educational technology community. This chapter belongs in this handbook because the language laboratory represents a unique use of educational technology. It will be shown that language laboratories are disciplinespecific equipment configurations. The focus is on specialized audio installations. The use of equipment in foreign language classroom teaching and the use of computers in language teaching are touched upon briefly. The discussion is largely confined to the language laboratory in the United States.
Lossless Bit-plane Compression of Microarray Images Using 3 D Context Models ∗

With the recent growth of interest in microarray technology and the improvement of the technology responsible for producing these images, massive amounts of microarray images are currently being produced. In this paper, we present a new lossless method for efficiently compress microarray images based on arithmetic coding using a 3D context model. Our method produces an embedded bitstream that allows progressive decoding. We present the compression results using 49 publicly available images and we compare these results with three image coding standards: lossless JPEG2000, JBIG and JPEG-LS. The proposed method gives better results for all images of the test set.
Zinc transporter SLC39A10/ZIP10 controls humoral immunity by modulating B-cell receptor signal strength

Significance The essential micronutrient zinc is known to modulate adaptive immune responses and dysregulated zinc homeostasis leads to immunodeficiency. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this zinc-mediated modulation are unknown. We show that the zinc transporter ZIP10 plays an important role in B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling. Zip10-deficiency in mature B cells attenuated both T-cell–dependent and –independent immune responses. Zip10-deficient mature B cells proliferated poorly in response to BCR cross-linking, as a result of dysregulated BCR signaling. Our data establish that ZIP10 functions as a cellular regulator to modulate BCR signaling in humoral immune responses. The humoral immune response, also called the antibody-mediated immune response, is one of the main adaptive immune systems. The essential micronutrient zinc (Zn) is known to modulate adaptive immune responses, and dysregulated Zn homeostasis leads to immunodeficiency. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this Zn-mediated modulation are largely unknown. Here, we show that the Zn transporter SLC39A10/ZIP10 plays an important role in B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) signal transduction. Zip10-deficiency in mature B cells attenuated both T-cell–dependent and –independent immune responses in vivo. The Zip10-deficient mature B cells proliferated poorly in response to BCR cross-linking, as a result of dysregulated BCR signaling. The perturbed signaling was found to be triggered by a reduction in CD45R phosphatase activity and consequent hyperactivation of LYN, an essential protein kinase in BCR signaling. Our data suggest that ZIP10 functions as a positive regulator of CD45R to modulate the BCR signal strength, thereby setting a threshold for BCR signaling in humoral immune responses.
The Early Marine Biology of the Hatchery/Wild Juvenile Salmonid(Oncorhynchus sp.) Community in Barkley Sound, Canada

We conducted 11 purse seine/beachseine surveys over the summers of 2000 and 2001 to learn about the migra- tion timing, distribution, and diet of hatchery chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho (O. kisutch), and wild chi- nook, coho, sockeye (O. nerka) and chum (O. keta) juvenile salmon, in Barkley Sound, West Coast Vancouver Island. Ju- venile salmon partitioned Barkley Sound by time and space, and by diet except for hatchery and wild coho. The analysis of migration timing included historic data for 1987-89, and results showed that timing differed between species and was consistent over years. Sockeye and chum dominated the juvenile salmon community until mid-June and hatchery and wild chinook dominated subsequently. Fish tended to be dispersed contagiously. Results of correlation analyses of catch sug- gested that fish of different origins and species did not co-occur. The euphausiid Thysanoessa spinifera was an important prey item but different fish species selected different sizes of T. spinifera at different times. The diet overlap between hatchery and wild coho did not affect return. Migration timing for sockeye and wild coho seems to reflect a strategy to en- ter the ocean when the biomass of the size fraction of T. spinifera that each species selects is likely to be maximal. De- scriptions of migration timing, fish interactions, and diet provide information which appears to be useful for learning about the biological basis of salmon return variability.
A randomized controlled trial of the therapeutic effect of vitamin C in the common cold.

METHOD A large number of women living in two towns in South Wales, and their husbands, were asked to cooperate in the trial. These women had been identified several years previously in a study of child growth and nutrition and had already cooperated in a prophylactic trial of vitamin C (Elwood et al., 1975). The subjects were visited in September and October and those who agreed were given ten effervescent tablets of either vitamin C (1 G) or an inert; placebo. Allocation of households to vitamin C or placebo was random, but each husband received the same tablets as his wife. This was done to avoid confusion if tablets were shared. The smoking habit of each subject was recorded. Instructions were given that, when symptoms suggestive of a cold commenced, the tablets were to be started, three tablets per day until the 10 tablets had been taken. Symptoms were to be recorded each day for the duration of the cold. Sufficient detail was requested to enable colds to be classed as ‘simple’, that is nasal symptoms with or without general symptoms such as fever or malaise but without any symptom referable to the chest such as cough. ‘Chest’ colds were recorded as any symptom-complex which included cough, wheezing, or other chest symptoms. A stamped addressed envelope was given to each subject for the return of the record card. An arbitrary date was chosen approximately six months after the trial commenced, and any subject who had not returned a card
Extent of Antigenic Diversity in the V3 Region of the Surface Glycoprotein, gp120, of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Group M and Consequences for Serotyping

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) may be studied by molecular or immunological approaches. Most analyses have been performed by genetic comparison of isolates and have led to the definition of clades or subtypes within the major (M) group of HIV-1. Five subtypes (A to E) were initially identified by comparison of genomic sequences. Four new subtypes (F to I) were identified more recently. Amino acid differences in the immunogenic V3 loop between isolates have also been studied, leading to a phenetic classification of at least 14 clusters (1 to 14) of sequences (B. T. M. Korber, K. McInnes, R. F. Smith, and G. Myers, J. Virol. 68:6730–6744, 1994). In this study, we compared the antigenicity of the V3 consensus sequences defined by phylogenetic analysis to the antigenicity of those defined by phenetic analysis. We used a recently developed subtype-specific enzyme immunoassay (SSEIA) that uses the principle of blocking with an excess of peptide in the liquid phase. Two SSEIAs were performed, the first with five V3 sequences defined by phylogenetic analysis and the second with 14 V3 sequences defined by phenetic analysis. A total of 168 HIV-1 sera taken from seropositive individuals from seven different countries or regions were studied. Experimental and statistical data, including correlation matrix and cluster analyses, demonstrated associations between the genetic subtypes and phenetically associated groups. Most of these were predicted by Korber et al. (J. Virol. 68:6730–6744, 1994) by theoretical analysis. We also found that V3 sequences can be grouped into between three and five antigenically unrelated categories. Residues that may be responsible for major antigenic differences were identified at the apex of the V3 loop, within the octapeptide xIGPGxxx, where x represents the critical positions. Our study provides evidence that there is a limited number of V3 serotypes which could be easily monitored by serological assays to study the diversity and dynamics of HIV-1 strains.
Analysing the importance of different visual feature coefficients

A study is presented to determine the relative importance of different visual features for speech recognition which includes pixel-based, model-based, contour-based and physical features. Analysis to determine the discriminability of features is per- formed through F-ratio and J-measures for both static and tem- poral derivatives, the results of which were found to correlate highly with speech recognition accuracy (r = 0.97). Princi- pal component analysis is then used to combine all visual fea- tures into a single feature vector, of which further analysis is performed on the resulting basis functions. An optimal feature vector is obtained which outperforms the best individual feature (AAM) with 93.5 % word accuracy.
Cementless Spotorno tapered titanium stems

We evaluated the clinical and radiographic results of the first consecutive 154 implantations of a cementless, double-tapered straight femoral stem (cementless Spotorno (CLS), Sulzer Orthopedics) in 141 patients under the age of 55 (mean 47 (13–55)) years. After a mean follow-up of 12 (10–15) years, 11 patients (11 hips) had died and 7 (7 hips) could not be located. 5 patients (5 hips) underwent femoral revision—1 for infection, 1 for periprosthetic fracture and 3 for aseptic loosening of the stem. The overall survival rate of the stem was 97% at 12 years (95% confidence limits, 93%–100%), and survival with femoral revision for aseptic loosening as an end point 98 (95–100)%. The survival rate of the acetabular components was 78 (71–85) % after 12 years. The median Harris hip score at follow-up was 84 points. None of the patients had thigh pain. Radiolucent lines in Gruen regions 1 and 7 were present in 21 hips (17%). 2 hips had radiolucent lines in regions 2–6 on anteroposterior (AP) radiographs. No femoral osteolysis was detected. The mid- to long-term survival with this type of femoral component is excellent and compares favorably with cemented stems in this age group. However, the high rate of cup loosening and the low Harris hip scores are a concern in this subgroup of young patients.
Traffic engineering with Equal-Cost-Multipath: An algorithmic perspective

To efficiently exploit network resources operators do traffic engineering (TE), i.e., adapt the routing of traffic to the prevailing demands. TE in large IP networks typically relies on configuring static link weights and splitting traffic between the resulting shortest-paths via the Equal-Cost-MultiPath (ECMP) mechanism. Yet, despite its vast popularity, crucial operational aspects of TE via ECMP are still little-understood from an algorithmic viewpoint. We embark upon a systematic algorithmic study of TE with ECMP. We consider the standard model of TE with ECMP and prove that, in general, even approximating the optimal link-weight configuration for ECMP within any constant ratio is an intractable feat, settling a long-standing open question. We establish, in contrast, that ECMP can provably achieve optimal traffic flow for the important category of Clos datacenter networks. We last consider a well-documented shortcoming of ECMP: suboptimal routing of large (“elephant”) flows. We present algorithms for scheduling “elephant” flows on top of ECMP (as in, e.g., Hedera [1]) with provable approximation guarantees. Our results complement and shed new light on past experimental and empirical studies of the performance of TE with ECMP.
User grouping behavior in online forums

Online forums represent one type of social media that is particularly rich for studying human behavior in information seeking and diffusing. The way users join communities is a reflection of the changing and expanding of their interests toward information. In this paper, we study the patterns of user participation behavior, and the feature factors that influence such behavior on different forum datasets. We find that, despite the relative randomness and lesser commitment of structural relationships in online forums, users' community joining behaviors display some strong regularities. One particularly interesting observation is that the very weak relationships between users defined by online replies have similar diffusion curves as those of real friendships or co-authorships. We build social selection models, Bipartite Markov Random Field (BiMRF), to quantitatively evaluate the prediction performance of those feature factors and their relationships. Using these models, we show that some features carry supplementary information, and the effectiveness of different features vary in different types of forums. Moreover, the results of BiMRF with two-star configurations suggest that the feature of user similarity defined by frequency of communication or number of common friends is inadequate to predict grouping behavior, but adding node-level features can improve the fit of the model.