Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Class I major histocompatibility proteins are an essential component of the simian virus 40 receptor

The class I molecules encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) present endogenously synthesized antigenic peptide fragments to cytotoxic T lymphocytes. We show here that these proteins are an essential component of the cell surface receptor for simian virus 40 (SV40). First, SV40 binding to cells can be blocked by two monoclonal antibodies against class I human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) proteins but not by monoclonal antibodies specific for other cell surface proteins. Second, SV40 does not bind to cells of two different human lymphoblastoid cell lines which do not express surface class I MHC proteins because of genetic defects in the beta 2-microglobulin gene in one line and in the HLA complex in the other. Transfection of these cell lines with cloned genes for beta 2-microglobulin and HLA-B8, respectively, restored expression of their surface class I MHC proteins and resulted in concomitant SV40 binding. Finally, SV40 binds to purified HLA proteins in vitro and selectively binds to class I MHC proteins in a cell surface extract.
Mir-21 Promotes Cardiac Fibrosis After Myocardial Infarction Via Targeting Smad7

Background/Aims: Cardiac fibrosis after myocardial infarction (MI) has been identified as an important factor in the deterioration of heart function. Previous studies have demonstrated that miR-21 plays an important role in various pathophysiological processes in the heart. However, the role of miR-21 in fibrosis regulation after MI remains unclear. Methods: To induce cardiac infarction, the left anterior descending coronary artery was permanently ligated of mice. First, we explored the expression of miR-21 in the infarcted zone in mice model of MI via RT-qPCR. Next, we examined the effects of TGF-β1 on miR-21 expression in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). Then, CFs were infected with miR-21 mimics or miR-21 inhibitors to investigate the effects of miR-21 on the process of CFs activation in vitro. Further, bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay were performed to identify and validate the target gene of miR-21. At last, in-vivo study was done to confirm MiR-21 regulated myocardial fibrosis after MI in mice. Results: MiR-21 was up-regulated in the infarcted zone after MI in vivo. TGF-β1 treatment increased miR-21 expression in CFs. Overexpression of miR-21 promoted the effects of TGF-β1-induced activation of CFs, evidenced by increased expression of Col-1, α-SMA and F-actin, whereas inhibition of miR-21 attenuated the process of fibrosis. Bioinformatics, Western blot analysis and luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that Smad7 is a direct target of miR-21. In addition, in-vivo study revealed that MiR-21 regulated myocardial fibrosis after MI in mice. Conclusion: These findings suggested that miR-21 has a critical role in CF activation and cardiac fibrosis after MI through via TGF-β/Smad7 signaling pathway. Thus, miR-21 promises to be a potential therapy in treatment of cardiac fibrosis after MI.
Primate Training at Disney's Animal Kingdom

A training program has been in place at Disney's Animal Kingdom since the nonhuman animals first arrived at the park. The Primate Team and the Behavioral Husbandry Team have worked together closely to establish a philosophy and framework for this program. This framework emphasizes setting goals, planning, implementing, documenting, and evaluating. The philosophy focuses on safety, staff training, and an integrated approach to training as an animal management tool. Behaviors to be trained include husbandry and veterinary as well as behaviors identified for specific species, individuals, or situations. Input from all the teams was used to prioritize these behaviors. Despite the challenges to maintaining such a program, the benefits to animal care and welfare have been enormous.
Facial aesthetics and childhood.

AIM The aim of the study is to evaluate attention and perception of parents about children's facial aesthetics, the paediatrician's role in early diagnosis of these problems and the areas of the face considered as the most important from an aesthetic point of view. METHODS The study was carried out collecting 1214 questionnaires at paediatricians waiting room in the North of Italy. RESULTS Most parents showed attention toward craniofacial deformities of their children and considered the paediatrician's role as very important in early diagnosis. Profile was considered more important than the front view and face's areas felt as the most important were denture, eyes and nose. CONCLUSION Despite public opinion, adults are concerned not only about the general health and growth of their children, but also about their facial aesthetics. They, in fact, not only judge aesthetics of the whole face, but also discriminate different views and specific areas of the face. They require, for early diagnosis of dentofacial problems, skilled attention from the paediatrician.
A Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Assisting Avalanche Search and Rescue Operations with UAV Imagery

Following an avalanche, one of the factors that affect victims’ chance of survival is the speed with which they are located and dug out. Rescue teams use techniques like trained rescue dogs and electronic transceivers to locate victims. However, the resources and time required to deploy rescue teams are major bottlenecks that decrease a victim’s chance of survival. Advances in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have enabled the use of flying robots equipped with sensors like optical cameras to assess the damage caused by natural or manmade disasters and locate victims in the debris. In this paper, we propose assisting avalanche search and rescue (SAR) operations with UAVs fitted with vision cameras. The sequence of images of the avalanche debris captured by the UAV is processed with a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract discriminative features. A trained linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) is integrated at the top of the CNN to detect objects of interest. Moreover, we introduce a pre-processing method to increase the detection rate and a post-processing method based on a Hidden Markov Model to improve the prediction performance of the classifier. Experimental results conducted on two different datasets at different levels of resolution show that the detection performance increases with an increase in resolution, while the computation time increases. Additionally, they also suggest that a significant decrease in processing time can be achieved thanks to the pre-processing step.
Genetic Diversity of the Japanese Marten (Martes melampus) and Its Implications for the Conservation Unit

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of combined mitochondrial DNA sequences (2814 bp; cytochrome b gene, displacement loop region, and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene) identified nine groups among 49 individual Japanese martens, Martes melampus, collected from several areas in Japan. The grouping was not correlated with winter coat color, but was consistent with geography. In particular, the monophyly of 29 Tsushima martens, M. m. tsuensis, was supported by strong clade support and topological tests. Haplotype and nucleotide diversities were much lower for the Tsushima population than for any population on the Japanese main islands. In addition, analyses of heterozygosity in nuclear growth hormone receptor gene sequences (654 bp) showed genetic homogeneity for the Tsushima population. This evidence supports the view that the Tsushima marten's long history of isolation on small islands is responsible for its genetic distinctiveness and uniformity, validating the Tsushima population as an evolutionarily significant unit.
Long-term litter decomposition controlled by manganese redox cycling

Significance The rate-controlling mechanisms of litter decomposition are of fundamental importance for ecosystem nutrient cycling, productivity, and net carbon (C) balance. Current C cycling models rely primarily on climatic factors and lignin content as the main predictors of litter decomposition rates. Here, we show how the ability of the integrated plant–soil system to promote active redox cycling of manganese (Mn) regulates litter decomposition. Our work suggests that incorporating the coupling of litter decomposition and other elemental cycles, such as the Mn cycle, into conceptual and numerical models may significantly improve our mechanistic understanding and predictions of C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Litter decomposition is a keystone ecosystem process impacting nutrient cycling and productivity, soil properties, and the terrestrial carbon (C) balance, but the factors regulating decomposition rate are still poorly understood. Traditional models assume that the rate is controlled by litter quality, relying on parameters such as lignin content as predictors. However, a strong correlation has been observed between the manganese (Mn) content of litter and decomposition rates across a variety of forest ecosystems. Here, we show that long-term litter decomposition in forest ecosystems is tightly coupled to Mn redox cycling. Over 7 years of litter decomposition, microbial transformation of litter was paralleled by variations in Mn oxidation state and concentration. A detailed chemical imaging analysis of the litter revealed that fungi recruit and redistribute unreactive Mn2+ provided by fresh plant litter to produce oxidative Mn3+ species at sites of active decay, with Mn eventually accumulating as insoluble Mn3+/4+ oxides. Formation of reactive Mn3+ species coincided with the generation of aromatic oxidation products, providing direct proof of the previously posited role of Mn3+-based oxidizers in the breakdown of litter. Our results suggest that the litter-decomposing machinery at our coniferous forest site depends on the ability of plants and microbes to supply, accumulate, and regenerate short-lived Mn3+ species in the litter layer. This observation indicates that biogeochemical constraints on bioavailability, mobility, and reactivity of Mn in the plant–soil system may have a profound impact on litter decomposition rates.
Biological Activities of Polyphenols from Grapes

The dietary consumption of grape and its products is associated with a lower incidence of degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Most recent interest has focused on the bioactive phenolic compounds in grape. Anthocyanins, flavanols, flavonols and resveratrol are the most important grape polyphenols because they possess many biological activities, such as antioxidant, cardioprotective, anticancer, anti-inflammation, antiaging and antimicrobial properties. This review summarizes current knowledge on the bioactivities of grape phenolics. The extraction, isolation and identification methods of polyphenols from grape as well as their bioavailability and potential toxicity also are included.
Ieee Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, Tpds-0228-0806 Collaborative Detection of Ddos Attacks over Multiple Network Domains

— This paper presents a new distributed approach to detecting DDoS (distributed denial of services) flooding attacks at the traffic flow level. The new defense system is suitable for efficient implementation over the core networks operated by Internet service providers (ISP). At the early stage of a DDoS attack, some traffic fluctuations are detectable at Internet routers or at gateways of edge networks. We develop a distributed change-point detection (DCD) architecture using change aggregation trees (CAT). The idea is to detect abrupt traffic changes across multiple network domains at the earliest time. Early detection of DDoS attacks minimizes the flooding damages to the victim systems serviced by the provider. The system is built over attack-transit routers, which work together cooperatively. Each ISP domain has a CAT server to aggregate the flooding alerts reported by the routers. CAT domain servers collaborate among themselves to make the final decision. To resolve policy conflicts at different ISP domains, a new secure infrastructure protocol (SIP) is developed to establish the mutual trust or consensus. We simulated the DCD system up to 16 network domains on the DETER testbed, a 220-node PC cluster for Internet emulation experiments at USC Information Science Institute. Experimental results show that 4 network domains are sufficient to yield a 98% detection accuracy with only 1% false-postive alarms. Based on a 2006 Internet report on AS (autonomous system) domain distribution, we prove that this DDoS defense systrem can scale well to cover 84 AS domains. This security coverage is wide enough to safeguard most ISP core networks from real-life DDoS flooding attacks.
ROBUST COVARIANCE MATRIX ESTIMATION: HAC ESTIMATES WITH LONG MEMORY/ANTIPERSISTENCE CORRECTION

Smoothed nonparametric estimates of the spectral density matrix at zero frequency have been widely used in econometric inference, because they can consistently estimate the covariance matrix of a partial sum of a possibly dependent vector process. When elements of the vector process exhibit long memory or antipersistence such estimates are inconsistent. We propose estimates which are still consistent in such circumstances, adapting automatically to memory parameters that can vary across the vector and be unknown.
Maternal and genetic factors determine early life telomere length

In a broad range of species—including humans—it has been demonstrated that telomere length declines throughout life and that it may be involved in cell and organismal senescence. This potential link to ageing and thus to fitness has triggered recent interest in understanding how variation in telomere length is inherited and maintained. However, previous studies suffer from two main drawbacks that limit the possibility of understanding the relative importance of genetic, parental and environmental influences on telomere length variation. These studies have been based on (i) telomere lengths measured at different time points in different individuals, despite the fact that telomere length changes over life, and (ii) parent–offspring regression techniques, which do not enable differentiation between genetic and parental components of inheritance. To overcome these drawbacks, in our study of a songbird, the great reed warbler, we have analysed telomere length measured early in life in both parents and offspring and applied statistical models (so-called ‘animal models') that are based on long-term pedigree data. Our results showed a significant heritability of telomere length on the maternal but not on the paternal side, and that the mother's age was positively correlated with their offspring's telomere length. Furthermore, the pedigree-based analyses revealed a significant heritability and an equally large maternal effect. Our study demonstrates strong maternal influence on telomere length and future studies now need to elucidate possible underlying factors, including which types of maternal effects are involved.
Aberrant sodium channel activity in the complex seizure disorder of Celf4 mutant mice

• Inappropriate electrochemical signalling between neurons is a central problem in epilepsy. Only a fraction of all heritable epilepsies are solved, and many are due to ion channel mutations. • Ion channels are cell surface molecules that initiate and coordinate electrochemical signalling, by allowing the right combination of ions to flow in and out of a neuron. • Ion channels may be regulated by other genes. We recently determined that the RNA‐binding protein, ‘CELF4’, affects expression of many molecules, including ion channels, to coordinate electrochemical signalling. • Here we conclude that a sodium channel called Nav1.6 is the primary instigator of abnormal excitation when CELF4 is impaired. • Nav1.6 expression is increased in the axon initial segment – a part of the neuron that initiates electrical activity – altering intrinsic excitability. We surmise that in a brain that already has difficulty regulating other molecules due to CELF4 deficiency, this leads to uncontrolled network excitation and seizures.
Effect of High Filler Content on Physical Properties for Cellulose-Plastic Composites

For a study of wood (cellulose) polypropylene composite with high filler content, the effects of resin content and cellulose fiber length on the fluidity of compound and physical properties of mold products were evaluated and discussed. Results are summarized as follows : 1. In the compounding process, void induced by cellulose fiber had influence on the discharge rate, 2. Results of viscoelasiticity and wet strength indicated the effect of tangle of fiber is dependent on resin content and cellulose fiber length. 3. The compound of 300μm fiber length and 20% resin content showed thixotoropic flow and improved the molding characteristics. This paper would contribute for manufacture of high performance composites with high content of cellulose fiber.
An STDMA-based framework for QoS provisioning in wireless mesh networks

Providing strong QoS guarantees for wireless multi-hop networks is very challenging, due to many factors such as use of a shared communication medium, variability in wireless link quality, and so on. However, wireless mesh technology gives the opportunity to alleviate some of these problems, due to lack of mobility in the wireless infrastructure, and presence of natural centralization points in the network. The main contribution of this paper is the definition of a simple framework that exploits these features to provide provable, strong QoS guarantees to network clients. In particular, admitted clients are guaranteed a certain minimum bandwidth and maximum delay on their connections. The framework is based on STDMA scheduling at the MAC layer, which is periodically executed at the network manager to adapt to changes in traffic demand. While scheduling computation is centralized, admission control is performed locally at the wireless backbone nodes, thus reducing signaling. We propose two bandwidth distribution and related admission control policies, which are at opposite ends of the network utilization/spatial fairness trade-off. Through extensive simulations, we show that the proposed framework achieves its design goals of providing strong QoS guarantees to VoIP clients while not sacrificing throughput in a realistic mesh network scenario, also in presence of highly unbalanced load at the backbone nodes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proposal with similar features for wireless mesh networks.
The Molecular Phylogeny of the Genus Rhizopus Based on rDNA Sequences

In order to establish the molecular phylogeny of the genus Rhizopus, three molecules of the ribosomal RNA-encoding DNA (rDNA), complete 18S, internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1-5.8S-ITS2, and 28S D1/D2 regions of all the species of the genus were sequenced. Phylogenetic trees showed three major clusters corresponding to the three groups in the current morphological taxonomy, microsporus-group, stolonifer-group, and R. oryzae. R. stolonifer var. lyococcos was clustered independently from the major clusters. R. schipperae clustered differently in all trees. Strains of R. sexualis had multiple ITS sequences. A. rouxii clustered with R. oryzae. These results indicate the possibility of molecular identification of species groups using rDNA sequencing. Reclassification of the genus might be appropriate.
A comparison of genetic algorithms and genetic programming in solving the school timetabling problem

In this paper we compare the performance of genetic algorithms and genetic programming in solving a set of hard school timetabling problems. Genetic algorithms search a solution space whereas genetic programming explores a program space. While previous work has examined the use of genetic algorithms in solving the school timetabling problem, there has not been any research on the use of genetic programming for this domain. The GA explores a space of timetables to find an optimal timetable. GP on the other hand searches for an optimal program which when executed will produce a solution. Each program is comprised of operators for timetable construction. The GA and GP were tested on the Abramson set of school timetabling problems. Genetic programming proved to be more effective than genetic algorithms in solving this set of problems. Furthermore, the results produced by both the GA and GP were found to be comparative to methods applied to the same set of problems.
Fully compressed suffix trees

Suffix trees are by far the most important data structure in stringology, with a myriad of applications in fields like bioinformatics and information retrieval. Classical representations of suffix trees require Θ(n log n) bits of space, for a string of size n. This is considerably more than the n log2 σ bits needed for the string itself, where σ is the alphabet size. The size of suffix trees has been a barrier to their wider adoption in practice. Recent compressed suffix tree representations require just the space of the compressed string plus Θ(n) extra bits. This is already spectacular, but the linear extra bits are still unsatisfactory when σ is small as in DNA sequences. In this article, we introduce the first compressed suffix tree representation that breaks this Θ(n)-bit space barrier. The Fully Compressed Suffix Tree (FCST) representation requires only sublinear space on top of the compressed text size, and supports a wide set of navigational operations in almost logarithmic time. This includes extracting arbitrary text substrings, so the FCST replaces the text using almost the same space as the compressed text. An essential ingredient of FCSTs is the lowest common ancestor (LCA) operation. We reveal important connections between LCAs and suffix tree navigation. We also describe how to make FCSTs dynamic, that is, support updates to the text. The dynamic FCST also supports several operations. In particular, it can build the static FCST within optimal space and polylogarithmic time per symbol. Our theoretical results are also validated experimentally, showing that FCSTs are very effective in practice as well.
Diversity in the fertilization envelopes of echinoderms

Cell surface changes in an egg at fertilization are essential to begin development and for protecting the zygote. Most fertilized eggs construct a barrier around themselves by modifying their original extracellular matrix. This construction usually results from calcium‐induced exocytosis of cortical granules, the contents of which in sea urchins function to form the fertilization envelope (FE), an extracellular matrix of cortical granule contents built upon a vitelline layer scaffold. Here, we examined the molecular mechanism of this process in sea stars, a close relative of the sea urchins, and analyze the evolutionary changes that likely occurred in the functionality of this structure between these two organisms. We find that the FE of sea stars is more permeable than in sea urchins, allowing diffusion of molecules in excess of 2 megadaltons. Through a proteomic and transcriptomic approach, we find that most, but not all, of the proteins present in the sea urchin envelope are present in sea stars, including SFE9, proteoliaisin, and rendezvin. The mRNAs encoding these FE proteins accumulated most densely in early oocytes, and then beginning with vitellogenesis, these mRNAs decreased in abundance to levels nearly undetectable in eggs. Antibodies to the SFE9 protein of sea stars showed that the cortical granules in sea star also accumulated most significantly in early oocytes, but different from sea urchins, they translocated to the cortex of the oocytes well before meiotic initiation. These results suggest that the preparation for cell surface changes in sea urchins has been shifted to later in oogenesis, and perhaps reflects the meiotic differences among the species—sea star oocytes are stored in prophase of meiosis and fertilized during the meiotic divisions, as in most animals, whereas sea urchins are one of the few taxons in which eggs have completed meiosis prior to fertilization.