Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formation mechanism of porous structure in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) porous membrane through mechanical operations

Polymeric porous membranes were prepared from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fine powder by a series of mechanical operations, such as extrusion, rolling, and stretching. The structure of the prepared porous membrane was well characterized by a spatial periodicity of nodes (domain of agglomerated PTFE particles) and fibril domains. The fibrils were highly oriented in the direction of the stretching operation, providing pores in the polymeric membrane as slit-like voids between adjoining fibrils. The unit size of the periodic structure varied depending on the number averaged molecular weight of PTFE and the stretching conditions, the temperature of stretching, and the stretching rate and stretching ratio. A fibril consisted of several thread-like structures that were easily formed between PTFE particles due to the rolling operation in parallel with their direction. The dependence of the steady tensile stress in the stretching operation on the PTFE molecular weight was much weaker than that presumed for noncrystalline polymeric systems. The activation energy of 11.3 kJ/mol for the growth of fibrils was only several times as large as the thermal energy at the ambient temperature. These results imply that the thread-like structures can easily be pulled out of PTFE particles. This view is in accordance with the previously proposed microstructure in PTFE particles.
Web-based framework for spatiotemporal screen real estate management of interactive public displays

In this paper we present a web-based framework for spatiotemporal screen real estate management of interactive public displays. The framework facilitates dynamic partitioning of the screen real estate into virtual screens assigned for multiple concurrent web applications. The framework is utilized in the implementation of so-called UBI-hotspot, which provides various information services via different interaction modalities including mobile. The framework facilitates seamless integration of third party web applications residing anywhere in the public Internet into the UBI-hotspot, thus catering for a scalable and open architecture. We report the deployment of a network of indoor and outdoor UBI-hotspots at downtown Oulu, Finland. The quantitative data on the usage of the UBI-hotspots implicitly speaks in favor of the practical applicability of the framework.
Folding Pathway Mediated by an Intramolecular Chaperone

The subtilisin propeptide functions as an intramolecular chaperone (IMC) that facilitates correct folding of the catalytic domain while acting like a competitive inhibitor of proteolytic activity. Upon completion of folding, subtilisin initiates IMC degradation to complete precursor maturation. Existing data suggest that the chaperone and inhibitory functions of the subtilisin IMC domain are interdependent during folding. Based on x-ray structure of the IMC-subtilisin complex, we introduce a point mutation (E112A) to disrupt three hydrogen bonds that stabilize the interface between the protease and its IMC domain. This mutation within subtilisin does not alter the folding kinetics but dramatically slows down autoprocessing of the IMC domain. Inhibition of E112A-subtilisin activity by the IMC added in trans is 35-fold weaker than wild-type subtilisin. Although the IMC domain displays substantial loss of inhibitory function, its ability to chaperone E112A-subtilisin folding remains intact. Our results show that (i) the chaperone activity of the IMC domain is not obligatorily linked with its ability to bind with and inhibit active subtilisin; (ii) degradation and not autoprocessing of the IMC domain is the rate-limiting step in precursor maturation; and (iii) the Glu112 residue within the IMC-subtilisin interface is not crucial for initiating folding but is important in maintaining the IMC structure capable of binding subtilisin.
Simplifying the Jacobian Criterion for Precluding Multistationarity in Chemical Reaction Networks

Chemical reaction networks taken with mass-action kinetics are dynamical systems that arise in chemical engineering and systems biology. In general, determining whether a chemical reaction network admits multiple steady states is difficult, as this requires determining existence of multiple positive solutions to a large system of polynomials with unknown coefficients. However, in certain cases, various easy criteria can be applied. One such test is the Jacobian criterion, due to Craciun and Feinberg, which gives sufficient conditions for ruling out the possibility of multiple steady states. A chemical reaction network is said to pass the Jacobian criterion if all terms in the determinant expansion of its parametrized Jacobian matrix have the same sign. In this article, we present a procedure which simplifies the application of the Jacobian criterion, and as a result, we identify a new class of networks for which multiple steady states is precluded: those in which all chemical species have total moleculari.
Angiotensin II Type 2 Receptor Signaling Attenuates Aortic Aneurysm in Mice Through ERK Antagonism

Transforming growth factor–β promotes aortic aneurysm formation through activation of its “noncanonical” signaling pathway. Angiotensin II (AngII) mediates progression of aortic aneurysm, but the relative contribution of its type 1 (AT1) and type 2 (AT2) receptors remains unknown. We show that loss of AT2 expression accelerates the aberrant growth and rupture of the aorta in a mouse model of Marfan syndrome (MFS). The selective AT1 receptor blocker (ARB) losartan abrogated aneurysm progression in the mice; full protection required intact AT2 signaling. The angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) enalapril, which limits signaling through both receptors, was less effective. Both drugs attenuated canonical transforming growth factor–β (TGFβ) signaling in the aorta, but losartan uniquely inhibited TGFβ-mediated activation of extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK), by allowing continued signaling through AT2. These data highlight the protective nature of AT2 signaling and potentially inform the choice of therapies in MFS and related disorders.
Cutting Edge: Bradykinin Induces IL-12 Production by Dendritic Cells: A Danger Signal That Drives Th1 Polarization1

Dendritic cells play a major role in the induction of both innate and acquired immune responses against pathogenic invaders. These cells are also able to sense endogenous activation signals liberated by injured tissues even in the absence of infection. In the present work, we demonstrate that kinins mobilize dendritic cells to produce IL-12 through activation of the B2 bradykinin receptor subtype and that bradykinin-induced IL-12 responses are tightly regulated both by angiotensin-converting enzyme, a kinin-degrading peptidase, and by endogenous IL-10. Using a mouse model of allergic inflammation, we further show that addition of bradykinin to OVA during immunization results in decreased eosinophil infiltration on Ag challenge. The latter effect was demonstrated to be due to IL-12-driven skewing of Ag-specific T cell responses to a type 1 cytokine profile. Our data thus indicate that kinin peptides can serve as danger signals that trigger dendritic cells to produce IL-12 through activation of B2 bradykinin receptors.
Muscle Coordination Is Habitual Rather than Optimal

When sharing load among multiple muscles, humans appear to select an optimal pattern of activation that minimizes costs such as the effort or variability of movement. How the nervous system achieves this behavior, however, is unknown. Here we show that contrary to predictions from optimal control theory, habitual muscle activation patterns are surprisingly robust to changes in limb biomechanics. We first developed a method to simulate joint forces in real time from electromyographic recordings of the wrist muscles. When the model was altered to simulate the effects of paralyzing a muscle, the subjects simply increased the recruitment of all muscles to accomplish the task, rather than recruiting only the useful muscles. When the model was altered to make the force output of one muscle unusually noisy, the subjects again persisted in recruiting all muscles rather than eliminating the noisy one. Such habitual coordination patterns were also unaffected by real modifications of biomechanics produced by selectively damaging a muscle without affecting sensory feedback. Subjects naturally use different patterns of muscle contraction to produce the same forces in different pronation–supination postures, but when the simulation was based on a posture different from the actual posture, the recruitment patterns tended to agree with the actual rather than the simulated posture. The results appear inconsistent with computation of motor programs by an optimal controller in the brain. Rather, the brain may learn and recall command programs that result in muscle coordination patterns generated by lower sensorimotor circuitry that are functionally “good-enough. ”
Impact of Entropy Monitoring on Volatile Anesthetic Uptake

Background:Electroencephalogram-derived monitoring to assess anesthetic depth may allow more accurate hypnotic drug administration, resulting in decreased anesthetic drug consumption. The authors hypothesized that the use of M-Entropy monitoring (Datex-Ohmeda, Helsinki, Finland) is associated with reduced sevoflurane uptake (primary outcome) in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Methods:A total of 50 patients with an American Society of Anesthesiology score of II–III, scheduled for elective laparoscopic rectosigmoidectomy were randomized into two groups in this randomized controlled trial. In the control group, the target expiratory fraction of sevoflurane was adapted according to standard clinical practice. In the study group, the target expiratory fraction of sevoflurane was adapted to maintain state entropy values between 40 and 60. State entropy values were continuously recorded in both groups but were not available to the anesthesiologist in the control group. In both groups, patients were ventilated using the auto-control mode of the Zeus® (Dräger, Lübeck, Germany) respirator, which allows precise measurements of sevoflurane uptake. Sufentanil was administered using a target-controlled infusion system. Results:Demographics did not differ between groups. During the anesthesia maintenance phase, state entropy values were lower in the control group than the study group (P < 0.0001). Sevoflurane uptake was higher in the control group than the study group (5.2 ± 1.4 ml/h vs. 3.8 ± 1.5 ml/h; P = 0.0012). Three patients in the control group developed intraoperative hypotension compared with none in the study group (P = 0.03). Conclusions:Monitoring the depth of anesthesia using M-Entropy was associated with a significant reduction in sevoflurane uptake.
Predicting Matchability

The initial steps of many computer vision algorithms are interest point extraction and matching. In larger image sets the pairwise matching of interest point descriptors between images is an important bottleneck. For each descriptor in one image the (approximate) nearest neighbor in the other one has to be found and checked against the second-nearest neighbor to ensure the correspondence is unambiguous. Here, we asked the question how to best decimate the list of interest points without losing matches, i.e. we aim to speed up matching by filtering out, in advance, those points which would not survive the matching stage. It turns out that the best filtering criterion is not the response of the interest point detector, which in fact is not surprising: the goal of detection are repeatable and well-localized points, whereas the objective of the selection are points whose descriptors can be matched successfully. We show that one can in fact learn to predict which descriptors are matchable, and thus reduce the number of interest points significantly without losing too many matches. We show that this strategy, as simple as it is, greatly improves the matching success with the same number of points per image. Moreover, we embed the prediction in a state-of-the-art Structure-from-Motion pipeline and demonstrate that it also outperforms other selection methods at system level.
Infectious tolerance via the consumption of essential amino acids and mTOR signaling

Infectious tolerance describes the process of CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) converting naïve T cells to become additional Tregs. We show that antigen-specific Tregs induce, within skin grafts and dendritic cells, the expression of enzymes that consume at least 5 different essential amino acids (EAAs). T cells fail to proliferate in response to antigen when any 1, or more, of these EAAs are limiting, which is associated with a reduced mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. Inhibition of the mTOR pathway by limiting EAAs, or by specific inhibitors, induces the Treg-specific transcription factor forkhead box P3, which depends on both T cell receptor activation and synergy with TGF-β.
Better Population Health Through Behavior Change in Adults: A Call to Action

The American Heart Association (AHA) has adopted a bold new strategy in framing its 2020 goals: “By 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20%. ”1 By medically treating cardiovascular risk biomarkers and the disease itself, clinicians played a major role in achieving the AHA’s 2010 goal to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke, and risk by 25%. 1 Now, however, with direct annual cardiovascular disease–related costs projected to triple, from $272 billion in 2010 to $818 billion in 2030,2 economic realities necessitate a new approach. To avoid bankrupting the healthcare system, we must improve the distribution of cardiovascular health levels across the population by preserving cardiovascular health from childhood and by treating health risk behaviors to help more individuals improve their cardiovascular health into older ages. This heightened emphasis on preventing disease by addressing health behaviors leads to 3 novel emphases in the 2020 goals: (1) Preserving positive “cardiovascular health” by promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors; (2) treating unhealthful behaviors (poor-quality diet, excess energy intake, physical inactivity, smoking), in addition to risk biomarkers (adverse blood lipids, high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, obesity); and (3) a combination of individual-level and population-based health promotion strategies that aim to shift the majority of the public toward the next level of improved cardiovascular health. The 7 metrics that define cardiovascular health (smoking, diet quality, physical activity level, body mass index, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose) are each classified into 3 clinical strata (ideal, intermediate, and poor). Individuals with all 7 metrics at ideal levels are considered to have “ideal cardiovascular health. ” However, the prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health is very low in the US population, and the prevalence of poor-quality diet, physical inactivity, and overweight/obesity is alarmingly high, presaging …
Fast multi-scale detail decomposition via accelerated iterative shrinkage

We present a fast solution for performing multi-scale detail decomposition. The proposed method is based on an accelerated iterative shrinkage algorithm, able to process high definition color images in real-time on modern GPUs. Our strategy to accelerate the smoothing process is based on the use of first order proximal operators. We use the approximation to both designing suitable shrinkage operators as well as deriving a proper warm-start solution. The method supports full color filtering and can be implemented efficiently and easily on both the CPU and the GPU. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach on fast multi-scale detail manipulation of low and high dynamic range images and show that we get good quality results with reduced processing time.
Evolution of behavioural and cellular defences against parasitoid wasps in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup

It may be intuitive to predict that host immune systems will evolve to counter a broad range of potential challenges through simultaneous investment in multiple defences. However, this would require diversion of resources from other traits, such as growth, survival and fecundity. Therefore, ecological immunology theory predicts that hosts will specialize in only a subset of possible defences. We tested this hypothesis through a comparative study of a cellular immune response and a putative behavioural defence used by eight fruit fly species against two parasitoid wasp species (one generalist and one specialist). Fly larvae can survive infection by melanotically encapsulating wasp eggs, and female flies can potentially reduce infection rates in their offspring by laying fewer eggs when wasps are present. The strengths of both defences varied significantly but were not negatively correlated across our chosen host species; thus, we found no evidence for a trade‐off between behavioural and cellular immunity. Instead, cellular defences were significantly weaker against the generalist wasp, whereas behavioural defences were similar in strength against both wasps and positively correlated between wasps. We investigated the adaptive significance of wasp‐induced oviposition reduction behaviour by testing whether wasp‐exposed parents produce offspring with stronger cellular defences, but we found no support for this hypothesis. We further investigated the sensory basis of this behaviour by testing mutants deficient in either vision or olfaction, both of which failed to reduce their oviposition rates in the presence of wasps, suggesting that both senses are necessary for detecting and responding to wasps.
Contribution of the TP53 R337H mutation to the cancer burden in southern Brazil: Insights from the study of 55 families of children with adrenocortical tumors

The tumor protein p53 (TP53) arginine‐to‐histidine mutation at codon 337 (R337H) predisposes children to adrenocortical tumors (ACTs) and, rarely, to other childhood tumors, but its impact on adult cancer remains undetermined. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency and types of cancer in relatives of children with ACT who carry the TP53 R337H mutation.
Hop-Distance Estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks with Applications to Resources Allocation

We address a fundamental problem in wireless sensor networks, how many hops does it take a packet to be relayed for a given distance? For a deterministic topology, this hop-distance estimation reduces to a simple geometry problem. However, a statistical study is needed for randomly deployed WSNs. We propose a maximum-likelihood decision based on the conditional pdf of. Due to the computational complexity of, we also propose an attenuated Gaussian approximation for the conditional pdf. We show that the approximation visibly simplifies the decision process and the error analysis. The latency and energy consumption estimation are also included as application examples. Simulations show that our approximation model can predict the latency and energy consumption with less than half RMSE, compared to the linear models.
High Incidence of ACE/PAI-1 in Association to a Spectrum of Other Polymorphic Cardiovascular Genes Involving PBMCs Proinflammatory Cytokines in Hypertensive Hypercholesterolemic Patients: Reversibility with a Combination of ACE Inhibitor and Statin

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are significantly high in the Lebanese population with the two most predominant forms being atherosclerosis and venous thrombosis. The purpose of our study was to assess the association of a spectrum of CVD related genes and combined state of hypertension hypercholesterolemia (HH) in unrelated Lebanese. Twelve polymorphisms were studied by multiplex PCR and reverse hybridization of DNA from 171 healthy individuals and 144 HH subjects. Two genes were significantly associated with HH: ACE (OR: 9.20, P<0.0001) and PAI-1 (OR: 2.29, P = 0.007), respectively with the occurrence of the risky alleles “Del” and “4G”. The frequencies of the Del and 4G alleles were found to be 0.98 and 0.90 in the HH group versus 0.84 and 0.79 in the healthy group, respectively. Serum ACE activity and PAI-I increased significantly with Del/Del and 4G/5G genotypes. The co-expression of Del/4G(+/+) was detected in 113 out of 171 (66.0%) controls and 125 out of 144 (86.8%) HH subjects. Del/4G(-/-) was detected in only 6 (3.5%) controls and undetected in the HH group. Three venous thrombosis related genes [FV(Leiden), MTHFR(A1298C) and FXIII(V34L)] were significantly related to the prominence of the co-expression of Del/4G(+/+). A range of 2 to 8 combined polymorphisms co-expressed per subject where 5 mutations were the most detected. In Del/4G(+/+) subjects, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) produced significant elevated levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α contrary to IL-10, and no variations occurred for IL-4. ACE inhibitor (ramipril) in combination with statin (atorvastatin) and not alone reversed significantly the situation. This first report from Lebanon sheds light on an additional genetic predisposition of a complex spectrum of genes involved in CVD and suggests that the most requested gene FVL by physicians may not be sufficient to diagnose eventual future problems that can occur in the cardiovascular system. Subjects expressing the double mutations (Del/4G) are at high risk for the onset of CVDs.
Effect of Bile Pigments on the Compromised Gut Barrier Function in a Rat Model of Bile Duct Ligation

Background Studies have shown that the absence of bile in the gut lumen, either by bile duct ligation or bile diversion, induces mucosal injury. However, the mechanism remains elusive. In this study, the role of bile pigments in gut barrier function was investigated in a rat model of bile duct ligation. Methods Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were used in this study. After ligation of bile duct, the animals were administrated with free bilirubin, bilirubin ditaurate, or biliverdin by intragastric gavage. 1, 2, or 3 days later, the animals were sacrificed and the damage of mucosa was assessed by histological staining as well as biochemical parameters such as changes of diamine oxidase (DAO) and D-lactate (D-Lac) in the blood. Trypsin and chymotrypsin of the gut were also measured to determine how these digestive proteases may relate to the observed effects of bile pigments. Results Bile duct ligation (BDL) caused significant increases in gut trypsin and chymotrypsin along with damage of the mucosa as demonstrated by the histological findings under microscope, the reduced expression of tight junction molecules like occludin, and significant changes in DAO and D-lac in the blood. Free bilirubin but not bilirubin ditaurate or biliverdin showed significant inhibitions on trypsin and chymotrypsin as well as alleviated changes of histological and biochemical parameters related to gut barrier disruption. Conclusion Bile may protect the gut from damage through inhibiting digestive proteases like trypsin and chymotrypsin by free bilirubin.