Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Blood Pressure of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats and Alterations in Membrane Properties of Mesenteric Arteries

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and two strains of normotensive rats were compared with respect to enzymatic activities and calcium accumulation of plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum enriched fractions from their mesenteric arteries. Increased specific activities of alkaline phosphatase, 5-nucleotidase and Mg2+-ATPase, and increased ATP-dependent calcium accumulation were found in 5- to 6-month-old SHR as compared to both strains of age-matched normotensive rats. Alkaline phosphatase was increased in 33-day-old "early hypertensive" and 3- to 4-month-old SHR, but 5'-nucleotidase, Mg2+-ATPase, and calcium accumulation were not. Hydralazine treatment of young SHR partially prevented the increase of both alkaline phosphatase activity and blood pressure that develops with age. The relationship between alkaline phosphatase activity and the alterations in vascular reactivity associated with hypertension remains to be determined.
The impact of galaxy formation on X-ray groups

Using hydrodynamical simulations of the Λ-cold dark matter cosmology that include both radiative cooling and a phenomenological model for star formation and supernovae feedback, we investigate the impact of galaxy formation on the X-ray properties of groups at zero redshift. Motivated by the observed ‘break’ in the Lx–Tx relation at kTx∼ 1–2 keV, our feedback model is based on the assumption that supernovae imprint a temperature scale on the hot gas, with the star formation rate and corresponding reheated gas mass then depending only on the available energy budget. We demonstrate that a strong feedback model with a heating temperature comparable to this break (kTSN= 2 keV), and an energy budget twice that available from supernovae (e= 2), raises the core entropy of groups sufficiently to produce an adequate match to their observed X-ray properties. A lower value of e increases the star formation rate without significantly affecting the X-ray properties of groups, and a model with e∼ 0.1 reproduces the observed fraction of baryons in stars. However, a heating temperature that is lower than the virial temperatures of the groups leads to an excess of cooling gas that boosts their X-ray luminosities, due to the failure of the reheated material to escape from the gravitational potential. A limited study of numerical resolution effects reveals that the temperature of poorly resolved objects is underestimated, therefore (in our case) a fully resolved group population would lead to a steeper Lx–Tx relation, bringing our results into even better agreement with the observations.
An anonymous communication technique using dummies for location-based services

Recently, highly accurate positioning devices enable us to provide various types of location-based services. On the other hand, because such position data include deeply personal information, the protection of location privacy is one of the most significant problems in location-based services. In this paper, we propose an anonymous communication technique to protect the location privacy of the users of location-based services. In our proposed technique, such users generate several false position data (dummies) to send to service providers with the true position data of users. Because service providers cannot distinguish the true position data, user location privacy is protected. We also describe a cost reduction technique for communication between a client and a server. Moreover, we conducted performance study experiments on our proposed technique using practical position data. As a result of the experiments, we observed that our proposed technique protects the location privacy of people and can sufficiently reduce communication costs so that our communication techniques can be applied in practical location-based services.
Impression management and formation on Facebook: A lens model approach

To extend research on online impression formation and warranting theory, the present investigation reports a Brunswick lens model analysis of Facebook profiles. Facebook users’ (n = 100) personality (i.e. extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness) was self-reported. Facebook users’ profiles were then content analyzed for the presence and rate of 53 cues. Observers (n = 35), who were strangers to profile owners, estimated profile owner personality. Results indicate that observers could accurately estimate profile owners’ extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. For all personality traits except neuroticism, unique profile cues were diagnostic warrants of personality (i.e. indicative of profile owner personality and used to estimate personality by strangers). The results are discussed in relation to warranting theory, impression formation, and lens model research.
Landing a VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicle on a Moving Platform Using Optical Flow

This paper presents a nonlinear controller for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that exploits a measurement optical flow to enable hover and landing control on a moving platform, such as, for example, the deck of a sea-going vessel. The VTOL vehicle is assumed to be equipped with a minimum sensor suite [i.e., a camera and an inertial measurement unit (IMU)], manoeuvring over a textured flat target plane. Two different tasks are considered in this paper. The first concerns the stabilization of the vehicle relative to the moving platform that maintains a constant offset from a moving reference. The second concerns regulation of automatic vertical landing onto a moving platform. Rigorous analysis of system stability is provided, and simulations are presented. Experimental results are provided for a quadrotor UAV to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control strategy.
Functional and Radiographic Results of Patients with Syndesmotic Screw Fixation: Implications for Screw Removal

Objective: Screw fixation of the injured syndesmosis restores stability but may reduce motion. The purpose of this study is to determine whether functional outcomes and radiographic results after ankle fracture are affected by the status of the syndesmosis screw. Design: Retrospective review of a consecutive clinical series. Setting: Level 1 academic trauma center. Patients: One hundred six adults were reviewed radiographically; mean follow up was 15 months (range, 4-30 months). Seventy-six of the 106 patients completed formal functional testing; mean follow up was 23 ± 13 months (range, 12-32 months). Intervention: Open reduction and internal fixation, including fixation of the tibiofibular syndesmosis. Main Outcome Measurements: Patients with intact, broken or loose, or removed syndesmosis screws were compared. Functional outcomes were measured using the Lower Extremity Measure and the Olerud Molander ankle score. Radiologic review included tibiofibular clear space, tibiofibular overlap, and medial clear space. Results: Functional outcomes were improved in patients with fractured, loosened, or removed screws compared with those with intact screws. The Lower Extremity Measure score for patients with intact screws was 70 ± 6 compared with 85 ± 3 for fractured, loosened, or removed screws (P = 0.01). The Olerud Molander ankle score for patients with intact screws was 47 ± 8.0 compared with 64 ± 4 for fractured, loosened, or removed screws (P = 0.04). There was no difference in outcome comparing fractured, loosened, and removed screws. The tibiofibular clear space was narrowed in patients with intact screws compared with removed, fractured, or loose screws. The tibiofibular clear space for intact screws was 3.1 ± 0.2 compared with 4.1 ± 0.2 for removed, fractured, or loosened screws (P = 0.005). There was no difference in outcome comparing large and small fragment screws. Conclusions: An intact syndesmosis screw was associated with a worse functional outcome compared with loose, fractured, or removed screws. However, there were no differences in functional outcomes comparing loose or fractured screws with removed screws. Screw removal is unlikely to benefit patients with loose or fractured screws but may be indicated in patients with intact syndesmosis screws.
A Fully Integrated Reconfigurable Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converter With Four Stacked Output Channels for Voltage Stacking Applications

This work presents a fully integrated 4-to-1 DC-DC symmetric ladder switched-capacitor converter (SLSCC) for voltage stacking applications. The SLSCC absorbs inter-layer load power mismatch to provide minimum voltage guarantees for the internal rails of a multicore system that implements four-way voltage stacking. A new hybrid feedback control scheme reduces the voltage ripple across stacked voltage layers for high levels of current mismatch, a condition that exacerbates voltage noise in conventional SC converters. Furthermore, the proposed SLSCC dynamically allocates valuable flying capacitor resources according to different load conditions, which improves conversion efficiency and supports more power mismatch between the layers. Implemented in TSMC's 40G process, the SLSCC converts a 3.6 V input voltage down to four stacked output voltage layers, each nominally at 900 mV.
Field persistence of Bacillus thuringiensis on maize leaves (Zea mays L.)

The persistence slope of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) based products in the field is an important parameter to evaluate their efficacy. The half-life, estimated based on persistence slope parameters, is one of the most effective tools to select microbial pesticides. The aim of this research was to study the relationship between viability loss of Bt spores on maize leaves and their concentration, comparing it with field persistence. The experimental design was split-plot on time, composed by maize plants, in which three concentrations (half, normal and double doses) of a Dipel commercial formulation were applied. In each plot three leaves in the upper part of three plants where randomly selected. Samples of these leaves were collected 3 to 72 hours after treatment, to count the number of viable spores in two foliar dishes with 1 cm in diameter. The field persistence was determined using an exponential model, linearized by a logarithmic transformation of viable spores number in time. Using the log linear method of confidence intervals, there were no significantly differences (P = 0.05) in half-lifes: 18.2 hours for half-dose, 16.5 hours for normal dose and 13.6 hours for double dose. Assuming a fictitious index of insect consumption equal to one, the effective doses according to concentrations were calculated. It was verified that 77%, 78% and 80.5% of the effective doses (viable spores) remained on the leaf surface after the first day of treatment, respectively.
Strength Analysis of Steel–Concrete Composite Beams in Combined Bending and Shear

Despite experimental evidences, the contributions of the concrete slab and composite action to the vertical shear strength of simply supported steel-concrete composite beams are not considered in current design codes, which lead to conservative designs. In this paper, the finite element method is used to investigate the flexural and shear strengths of simply supported composite beams under combined bending and shear. A three-dimensional finite element model has been developed to account for geometric and material nonlinear behavior of composite beams, and verified by experimental results. The verified finite element model is than employed to quantify the contributions of the concrete slab and composite action to the moment and shear capacities of composite beams. The effect of the degree of shear connection on the vertical shear strength of deep composite beams loaded in shear is studied. Design models for vertical shear strength including contributions from the concrete slab and composite action and for the ultimate moment-shear interaction ate proposed for the design of simply supported composite beams in combined bending and shear. The proposed design models provide a consistent and economical design procedure for simply supported composite beams.
Living unrelated donors in kidney transplants: better long-term results than with non-HLA-identical living related donors?

BACKGROUND Given the severe organ shortage and the documented superior results obtained with living (vs. cadaver) donor kidney transplants, we have adopted a very aggressive policy for the use of living donors. Currently, we make thorough attempts to locate a living related donor (LRD) or a living unrelated donor (LURD) before proceeding with a cadaver transplant. METHODS We compared the results of our LURD versus LRD transplants to determine any significant difference in outcome. RESULTS Between 1/1/84 and 6/30/98, we performed 711 adult kidney transplants with non-HLA-identical living donors. Of these, 595 procedures used LRDs and 116 used LURDs. Immunosuppression for both groups was cyclosporine-based, although LURD recipients received 5-7 days of induction therapy (antilymphocyte globulin or antithymocyte globulin), whereas LRD recipients did not. LURD recipients tended to be older, to have inferior HLA matching, and to have older donors than did the LRD recipients (all factors potentially associated with decreased graft survival). Short-term results, including initial graft function and incidence of acute rejection, were similar in the two groups. LURD recipients had a slightly higher incidence of cytomegalovirus disease (P=NS). We found no difference in patient and graft survival rates. However, the incidence of biopsy-proven chronic rejection was significantly lower among LURD recipients (16.7% for LRD recipients and 10.0% for LURD recipients at 5 years posttransplant; P=0.05). LRD recipients also had a greater incidence of late (>6 months posttransplant) acute rejection episodes than did the LURD recipients (8.6% vs. 2.6%, P=0.04). The exact reason for these findings is unknown. CONCLUSION Although LURD recipients have poorer HLA matching and older donors, their patient and graft survival rates are equivalent to those of non-HLA-identical LRD recipients. The incidence of biopsy-proven chronic rejection is lower in LURD transplants. Given this finding and the superior results of living donor (vs. cadaver) transplants, a thorough search should be made for a living donor-LRD or LURD-before proceeding with a cadaver transplant.
Convergence of a High-Order Compact Finite Difference Scheme for a Nonlinear Black-Scholes Equation

A high-order compact finite difference scheme for a fully nonlinear parabolic differential equation is analyzed. The equation arises in the modeling of option prices in financial markets with transaction costs. It is shown that the finite difference solution converges locally uniformly to the unique viscosity solution of the continuous equation. The proof is based on a careful study of the discretization matrices and on an abstract convergence result due to Barles and Souganides.
Ptk7-Deficient Mice Have Decreased Hematopoietic Stem Cell Pools as a Result of Deregulated Proliferation and Migration

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) located in adult bone marrow or fetal liver in mammals produce all cells from the blood system. At the top of the hierarchy are long-term HSCs endowed with lifelong self-renewal and differentiation properties. These features are controlled through key microenvironmental cues and regulatory pathways, such as Wnt signaling. We showed previously that PTK7, a tyrosine kinase receptor involved in planar cell polarity, plays a role in epithelial Wnt signaling; however, its function in hematopoiesis has remained unexplored. In this article, we show that PTK7 is expressed by hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, with the highest level of protein expression found on HSCs. Taking advantage of a Ptk7-deficient mouse strain, we demonstrate that loss of Ptk7 leads to a diminished pool of HSCs but does not affect in vitro or in vivo hematopoietic cell differentiation. This is correlated with increased quiescence and reduced homing abilities of Ptk7-deficient hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, unraveling novel and unexpected functions for planar cell polarity pathways in HSC fate.
Necrotic Death of Rhodococcus equi-Infected Macrophages Is Regulated by Virulence-Associated Plasmids

ABSTRACT Rhodococcus equi is a gram-positive intracellular pathogen that can cause severe bronchopneumonia in foals and AIDS patients. It has been reported that advanced infection of foals is characterized by tissue necrosis, coinciding with the presence of degenerate bacteria-laden macrophages. Here, we report that the possession of the VapA-expressing plasmid, which has been previously correlated with a high level of virulence for foals and mice, strongly increases cytotoxicity of R. equi for murine macrophage-like (J774E) cells. Isolates containing different, VapB-expressing plasmids are less virulent and also have a lower cytotoxic potential. Isogenic strains lacking either plasmid are avirulent and have a very low cytotoxic potential. We show, using fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis (annexin V/7-amino-actinomycin D and sub-G1-analysis), Western blotting [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase processing analysis], and electron microscopy (macrophage and nucleus morphologies) that the deaths of murine macrophages are the result of necrotic rather than apoptotic events. We demonstrate that the bacteria must be alive in order to act cytotoxic. Therefore, one effect of the virulence-associated plasmids during infection with R. equi is the promotion of necrotic damage to the host.
An integrated security scheme for ID/locator split architecture of future network

For the sake of better scalability and flexibility in the mobile and multihoming environments, future networks are expected to be based on the concept of ID/locator split. The ID/locator split architectures require storing, updating and retrieving of ID/locator mappings frequently, for which they need built-in security. To address this issue, this paper presents an integrated security scheme for securely storing, updating and retrieving hostnames to IDs and locators mapping records in two layers of name registries: domain name registries and host name registries. It then utilizes the mapping records retrieved from the registries for securing the network access, communication sessions, and mobility management functions. The scheme provides comprehensive protection of the ID/locator split architecture through an effective combination of asymmetric and symmetric cryptographic functions.
Corollary Discharge Provides the Sensory Content of Inner Speech

Inner speech is one of the most common, but least investigated, mental activities humans perform. It is an internal copy of one’s external voice and so is similar to a well-established component of motor control: corollary discharge. Corollary discharge is a prediction of the sound of one’s voice generated by the motor system. This prediction is normally used to filter self-caused sounds from perception, which segregates them from externally caused sounds and prevents the sensory confusion that would otherwise result. The similarity between inner speech and corollary discharge motivates the theory, tested here, that corollary discharge provides the sensory content of inner speech. The results reported here show that inner speech attenuates the impact of external sounds. This attenuation was measured using a context effect (an influence of contextual speech sounds on the perception of subsequent speech sounds), which weakens in the presence of speech imagery that matches the context sound. Results from a control experiment demonstrated this weakening in external speech as well. Such sensory attenuation is a hallmark of corollary discharge.
Shear thickening of cornstarch suspensions

We study the rheology of cornstarch suspensions, a non-Brownian particle system that exhibits discontinuous shear thickening. Using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), the local properties of the flow are obtained by the determination of local velocity profiles and concentrations in a Couette cell. For low rotational rates, we observe shear localization characteristic of yield stress fluids. When the overall shear rate is increased, the width of the sheared region increases. The discontinuous shear thickening is found to set in at the end of this shear localization regime when all of the fluid is sheared: the existence of a nonflowing region, thus, seems to prevent or delay shear thickening. Macroscopic observations using different measurement geometries show that the smaller the gap of the shear cell, the lower the shear rate at which shear thickening sets in. We, thus, propose that the discontinuous shear thickening of cornstarch suspensions is a consequence of dilatancy: the system under flow attempts to dilate but instead undergoes a jamming transition, because it is confined. This proposition is confirmed by an independent measurement of the dilation of the suspension as a function of the shear rate. It is also explains the MRI observations: when flow is localized, the nonflowing region plays the role of a “dilatancy reservoir” which allows the material to be sheared without jamming.
Specific identification and quantification of circular RNAs from sequencing data

MOTIVATION Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a poorly characterized class of molecules that have been identified decades ago. Emerging high-throughput sequencing methods as well as first reports on confirmed functions have sparked new interest in this RNA species. However, the computational detection and quantification tools are still limited. RESULTS We developed the software tandem, DCC and CircTest DCC uses output from the STAR read mapper to systematically detect back-splice junctions in next-generation sequencing data. DCC applies a series of filters and integrates data across replicate sets to arrive at a precise list of circRNA candidates. We assessed the detection performance of DCC on a newly generated mouse brain data set and publicly available sequencing data. Our software achieves a much higher precision than state-of-the-art competitors at similar sensitivity levels. Moreover, DCC estimates circRNA versus host gene expression from counting junction and non-junction reads. These read counts are finally used to test for host gene-independence of circRNA expression across different experimental conditions by our R package CircTest We demonstrate the benefits of this approach on previously reported age-dependent circRNAs in the fruit fly. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The source code of DCC and CircTest is licensed under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) version 3 and available from https://github.com/dieterich-lab/[DCC or CircTest]. CONTACT christoph.dieterich@age.mpg. de SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.