Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual binding capacity of mucosal immunoblasts to mucosal and synovial endothelium in humans: dissection of the molecular mechanisms

Lymphocytes continuously migrate throughout the body in search of antigens. Virgin lymphocytes recirculate freely between the blood and different lymphatic organs, whereas immunoblasts extravasate preferentially into sites similar to those where they initially responded to antigen. Tissue-specific extravasation of lymphocytes is largely controlled by distinct lymphocyte surface receptors that mediate lymphocyte binding to high endothelial venules (HEV). In the present study, the molecular mechanisms determining the specificity of human mucosal (lamina propria) lymphocyte binding to different endothelial recognition systems were analyzed. Mucosal immunoblasts adhered five times better than small mucosal lymphocytes to mucosal HEV. Importantly, mucosal immunoblasts also bound to synovial HEV almost as efficiently as to mucosal HEV, but they did not adhere to peripheral lymph node HEV. To study the impact of different homing- associated molecules in this dual endothelial binding, we used a gut- derived T cell line and freshly isolated mucosal immunoblasts. Both cell types expressed integrins alpha 4, beta 1, beta 7, and lymphocyte function associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), and were CD44 positive, but practically L-selectin negative. Binding of mucosal immunoblasts to mucosal HEV was almost completely abolished by pretreatment with anti- beta 7 monoclonal antibodies, but it was independent of alpha 4/beta 1 function. In contrast, alpha 4/beta 1 partially mediated immunoblast adherence to synovial HEV, whereas alpha 4/beta 7 had only a minor role in adherence of blasts at this site. CD44 and LFA-1 contributed to HEV- binding both in mucosa and synovium. Taken together, this is the first report that demonstrates a critical role for alpha 4/beta 7 in the binding of gut lymphocytes to mucosal venules in humans. Moreover, a hitherto unknown interaction between mucosal effector cells and synovial endothelial cells was shown to be only partially mediated by the currently known homing receptors. The dual endothelial binding capacity of mucosal blasts may help to explain the pathogenesis of reactive arthritis not uncommonly associated with inflammatory and infectious bowel disease.
A Social Cognitive Learning Theory of Homophobic Aggression Among Adolescents

Abstract. The current study used social cognitive theory as a framework to investigate self-reported homophobic aggressive behavior at school. Participants included 863 students of 49 classes, enrolled in Grades 9–13 in 10 Italian public high schools. The results from the multilevel mediation model (1–2–1) showed that class-level homophobic attitudes toward gay males mediated the relationship between student observations of peer homophobic aggression and self-reported engagement in homophobic aggression toward schoolmates perceived as gay. However, although student observations of peer aggression toward perceived lesbians predicted self-reported engagement in homophobic aggression toward perceived lesbians, this relationship appeared not to be mediated by class-level homophobic attitudes. Student observations of peer aggression toward perceived lesbians predicted the self-reported engagement in homophobic aggression toward perceived lesbians. It was found that the social cognitive perspective provided considerable insights into homophobic aggression at school. Consistent with this perspective, social and cognitive factors accounted for students' homophobic aggression.
Cavernous sinus anatomy as a basis for interpretation of the clinical picture and radiological investigations in a case of Entomophthorales infection

Several cranial nerves traverse the cavernous sinus producing the typical symptom complex seen during cavernous venous sinus thrombosis in Mucorales infection. Fungi of the order Entomophthorales display different pathological and histological characteristics although belonging to the same class of fungi. A case is presented, wherein the anatomy of the cavernous sinus forms the basis in explaining the presenting symptoms of a patient with Entomophthorales infection. The anatomical explanation for the presenting neurological symptoms is confirmed by radiological investigations and further supports the diagnosis of Entomophthorales infection. Clin. Anat. 19:535–539, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluación en programas de prevención de recaída: adaptación española del Inventario de Habilidades de Afrontamiento (CBI) de Litman en dependientes del alcohol

La evaluacion de las habilidades de afrontamiento se enmarca en las intervenciones de prevencion de recaidas desarrolladas desde la psicologia cognitivo conductual. Se presentan los resultados de fiabilidad y validez de la version espanola del Inventario de Habilidades de Afrontamiento, CBI, en una muestra de 151 pacientes dependientes de alcohol. Mediante este instrumento, que consta de 36 items, se identifican aquellas habilidades de afrontamiento que el dependiente del alcohol emplea para no consumir cuando experimenta deseos de bebida. La consistencia interna del instrumento es adecuada en esta muestra (alpha = 0,90). El analisis factorial presenta 4 factores (pensamiento positivo, pensamiento negativo, distraccion y evitacion) que explican el 44,39% de la varianza y que coinciden en gran medida con los de estudios previos en muestras no espanolas. La alta fiabilidad y validez de constructo de la version espanola del CBI hace recomendable su utilizacion con fines de evaluacion y clinicos.
Prompt Iron Enrichment, Two r-Process Components, and Abundances in Very Metal-Poor Stars

We present a model to explain the wide range of abundances for heavy r-process elements (mass number A > 130) at low [Fe/H]. This model requires rapid star formation and/or an initial population of supermassive stars in the earliest condensed clots of matter in order to provide a prompt or initial Fe inventory. Subsequent Fe and r-process enrichment was provided by two types of supernovae: one producing heavy r-elements with no Fe on a rather short timescale and the other producing light r-elements (A ≤ 130) with Fe on a much longer timescale.
Reflectance Intensity Assisted Automatic and Accurate Extrinsic Calibration of 3D LiDAR and Panoramic Camera Using a Printed Chessboard

This paper presents a novel method for fully automatic and convenient extrinsic calibration of a 3D LiDAR and a panoramic camera with a normally printed chessboard. The proposed method is based on the 3D corner estimation of the chessboard from the sparse point cloud generated by one frame scan of the LiDAR. To estimate the corners, we formulate a full-scale model of the chessboard and fit it to the segmented 3D points of the chessboard. The model is fitted by optimizing the cost function under constraints of correlation between the reflectance intensity of laser and the color of the chessboard’s patterns. Powell’s method is introduced for resolving the discontinuity problem in optimization. The corners of the fitted model are considered as the 3D corners of the chessboard. Once the corners of the chessboard in the 3D point cloud are estimated, the extrinsic calibration of the two sensors is converted to a 3D-2D matching problem. The corresponding 3D-2D points are used to calculate the absolute pose of the two sensors with Unified Perspective-n-Point (UPnP). Further, the calculated parameters are regarded as initial values and are refined using the Levenberg-Marquardt method. The performance of the proposed corner detection method from the 3D point cloud is evaluated using simulations. The results of experiments, conducted on a Velodyne HDL-32e LiDAR and a Ladybug3 camera under the proposed re-projection error metric, qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the final extrinsic calibration parameters.
A modal logic amalgam of classical and intuitionistic propositional logic

A famous result, conjectured by Godel in 1932 and proved by McKinsey and Tarski in 1948, says that $\varphi$ is a theorem of intuitionistic propositional logic IPC iff its Godel-translation $\varphi'$ is a theorem of modal logic S4. In this paper, we extend an intuitionistic version of modal logic S1+SP, introduced in our previous paper (S. Lewitzka, Algebraic semantics for a modal logic close to S1, J. Logic and Comp., doi:10.1093/logcom/exu067) to a classical modal logic L and prove the following: a propositional formula $\varphi$ is a theorem of IPC iff $\square\varphi$ is a theorem of L (actually, we show: $\Phi\vdash_{IPC}\varphi$ iff $\square\Phi\vdash_L\square\varphi$, for propositional $\Phi,\varphi$). Thus, the map $\varphi\mapsto\square\varphi$ is an embedding of IPC into L, i.e. L contains a copy of IPC. Moreover, L is a conservative extension of classical propositional logic CPC. In this sense, L is an amalgam of CPC and IPC. We show that L is sound and complete w.r. t. a class of special Heyting algebras with a (non-normal) modal operator.
Bacteria in a water‐damaged building: associations of actinomycetes and non‐tuberculous mycobacteria with respiratory health in occupants

We examined microbial correlates of health outcomes in building occupants with a sarcoidosis cluster and excess asthma. We offered employees a questionnaire and pulmonary function testing and collected floor dust and liquid/sludge from drain tubing traps of heat pumps that were analyzed for various microbial agents. Forty-nine percent of participants reported any symptom reflecting possible granulomatous disease (shortness of breath on exertion, flu-like achiness, or fever and chills) weekly in the last 4 weeks. In multivariate regressions, thermophilic actinomycetes (median = 529 CFU/m2 ) in dust were associated with FEV1 /FVC [coefficient = -2.8 per interquartile range change, P = 0.02], percent predicted FEF25-75% (coefficient = -12.9, P = 0.01), and any granulomatous disease-like symptom [odds ratio (OR) = 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.45-6.73]. Mycobacteria (median = 658 CFU/m2 ) were positively associated with asthma symptoms (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 0.97-2.43). Composite score (median = 11.5) of total bacteria from heat pumps was negatively associated with asthma (0.8, 0.71-1.00) and positively associated with FEV1 /FVC (coefficient = 0.44, P = 0.095). Endotoxin (median score = 12.0) was negatively associated with two or more granulomatous disease-like symptoms (OR = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.67-0.98) and asthma (0.8, 0.67-0.96). Fungi or (1→3)-β-D-glucan in dust or heat pump traps was not associated with any health outcomes. Thermophilic actinomycetes and non-tuberculous mycobacteria may have played a role in the occupants' respiratory outcomes in this water-damaged building.
CpG Oligodeoxynucleotides and Interleukin-12 Improve the Efficacy of Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination in Mice Challenged with M. tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine approved for prevention of tuberculosis. It has been postulated that serial passage of BCG over the years may have resulted in attenuation of its effectiveness. Because interleukin-12 (IL-12) and oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing cytidine phosphate guanosine (CpG) motifs have been shown to enhance Th1 responses in vivo, they were chosen as adjuvants to increase the effectiveness of BCG vaccination. In this report, mice were vaccinated with BCG with or without IL-12 or CpG ODN and then challenged 6 weeks later via the aerosol route with the Erdman strain of M. tuberculosis. Mice vaccinated with BCG alone showed a 1- to 2-log reduction in bacterial load compared with control mice that did not receive any vaccination prior to M. tuberculosis challenge. Moreover, the bacterial loads of mice vaccinated with BCG plus IL-12 or CpG ODN were a further two- to fivefold lower than those of mice vaccinated with BCG alone. As an immune correlate, the antigen-specific production IFN-γ and mRNA expression in spleen cells prior to challenge were evaluated. Mice vaccinated with BCG plus IL-12 or CpG ODN showed enhanced production of IFN-γ compared with mice vaccinated with BCG alone. Finally, granulomas in BCG-vaccinated mice were smaller and more lymphocyte rich than those in unvaccinated mice; however, the addition of IL-12 or CpG ODN to BCG vaccination did not alter granuloma formation or result in added pulmonary damage. These observations support a role for immune adjuvants given with BCG vaccination to enhance its biologic efficacy.
The Impact of Online Word-of-Mouse - Sales of New Products at Amazon.Com

Online word-of-mouth (WOM) has become a major information source for consumers planning to purchase new products. This study examines the effect of online consumer reviews on the sales of new products. Using the data collected from Amazon.com over a period of nine months, we find that while the effect of valence of online reviews is greater than that of volume, negative consumer reviews affect new product sales more than positive reviews, but not in a negative way. Volume and valence of online reviews have greater impact on experience products than on search products. Moreover, the volume of consumer reviews has a greater effect on new product sales in the later stage of product life cycle (PLC). Thus, online WOM gains momentum over time and significantly affects the sales of new products beyond the initial period. Marketers need to pay greater attention to online WOM and promote consumer reviews when launching
Overexpression of Arabidopsis ACBP 3 Enhances NPR 1-Dependent Plant Resistance to Pseudomonas syringe pv tomato DC 30001 [ W ] [ OA ]

ACBP3 is one of six Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genes, designated ACBP1 to ACBP6, that encode acyl-coenzyme A (CoA)binding proteins (ACBPs). These ACBPs bind long-chain acyl-CoA esters and phospholipids and are involved in diverse cellular functions, including acyl-CoA homeostasis, development, and stress tolerance. Recombinant ACBP3 binds polyunsaturated acyl-CoA esters and phospholipids in vitro. Here, we show that ACBP3 plays a role in the plant defense response to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000. ACBP3 mRNA was up-regulated upon pathogen infection and treatments using pathogen elicitors and defense-related phytohormones. Transgenic Arabidopsis ACBP3 overexpressors (ACBP3-OEs) showed constitutive expression of pathogenesis-related genes (PR1, PR2, and PR5), cell death, and hydrogen peroxide accumulation in leaves. Consequently, ACBP3-OEs displayed enhanced resistance to the bacterial pathogen P. syringae DC3000. In contrast, the acbp3 T-DNA insertional mutant was more susceptible and exhibited lower PR gene transcript levels upon infection. Using the ACBP3 OE-1 line in combination with nonexpressor of PR genes1 (npr1-5) or coronatine-insensitive1 (coi1-2), we concluded that the enhanced PR gene expression and P. syringae DC3000 resistance in the ACBP3-OEs are dependent on the NPR1-mediated, but not the COI1-mediated, signaling pathway. Given that ACBP3-OEs showed greater susceptibility to infection by the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea while the acbp3 mutant was less susceptible, we suggest that ACBP3 plays a role in the plant defense response against biotrophic pathogens that is distinct from necrotrophic pathogens. ACBP3 function in plant defense was supported further by bioinformatics data showing up-regulation of many biotic and abiotic stress-related genes in ACBP3 OE-1 in comparison with the wild type.
Identification of nonlinear systems by the new representation ARX-Laguerre decoupled multimodel

This paper proposes a new alternative in the multimodel approach by expanding each ARX sub-model on independent orthonormal Laguerre bases by filtering the process input and output using Laguerre orthonormal functions. The resulting multimodel, entitled ARX-Laguerre decoupled multimodel, ensures the parameter number reduction with a recursive and easy representation. However, such reduction is still constrained by an optimal choice of Laguerre pole characterizing each basis. To do so, we develop a pole optimization algorithm which constitutes an extension of that proposed by Tanguy et al. [17]. The ARX-Laguerre decoupled multimodel as well as the proposed pole optimization algorithm are illustrated and validated on a numerical simulation.
CFT Duals for Extreme Black Holes

It is argued that the general four-dimensional extremal Kerr-Newman-AdS-dS black hole is holographically dual to a (chiral half of a) two-dimensional CFT, generalizing an argument given recently for the special case of extremal Kerr. Specifically, the asymptotic symmetries of the near-horizon region of the general extremal black hole are shown to be generated by a Virasoro algebra. Semiclassical formulae are derived for the central charge and temperature of the dual CFT as functions of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant and the black hole charges and spin. We then show, assuming the Cardy formula, that the microscopic entropy of the dual CFT precisely reproduces the macroscopic Bekenstein-Hawking area law. This CFT description becomes singular in the extreme Reissner-Nordstrom limit where the black hole has no spin. At this point a second dual CFT description is proposed in which the global part of the U(1) gauge symmetry is promoted to a Virasoro algebra. This second description is also found to reproduce the area law. Various further generalizations including higher dimensions are discussed.
FLOSS Firms, Users and Communities: A Viable Match?

The participation of firms in Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities is growing and is increasingly debated amongst scholars. As [41] explained, FLOSS needs profit and we do not know successfull floss products without firms in their ecosystem, either being via the financial support of foundations (Eclipse, Linux) or the commercial offering of products or services based on specific FLOSS products (SQL, RedHat). Various points of view have been proposed, but most of the time, scholars studied either the implication of firms within a community or the integration of floss into their market strategy, but not both. In this article, we plead for a more structured and global analysis, based on industrial economics tools, and thus starting from the basic conditions of the computer market and of the buyers' competence in software development (the 'dominant user's skill). This conceptual framework helps to distinguish the different roles (understood as 'social roles') firms may play in the FLOSS ecosystem and, specifically the variation in their involvement.
Proteolytic cleavage at the Gag-Pol junction in avian leukosis virus: differences in vitro and in vivo.

In avian leukosis virus, processing by the viral protease (PR) appears to activate reverse transcriptase (RT), since PR-defective virions have extremely feeble reverse transcriptase activity. We showed previously that when such detergent-treated virions are digested in vitro with PR, the Gag precursor is completely and properly matured, but the Gag-Pol precursor is not. In particular, the junction between Gag and Pol, i.e., between the PR and RT domains in Gag-Pol, remains refractory to cleavage, and reverse transcriptase is hardly activated. We have now investigated processing between Gag and Pol in greater detail, both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo, three mutations designed to destroy or alter the cleavage site at the N-terminus of RT failed to abrogate processing, suggesting that nearby cryptic cleavage sites can be used by PR, and thus that in virions this portion of Gag-Pol is in an extended conformation. By contrast, resistance to cleavage was observed in vitro in a series of N- and C-terminally truncated Gag-Pol substrates, produced by in vitro translation or in the baculovirus-insect cell system. This resistance was maintained even in short polypeptides, implying that the inability to be processed in vitro is a consequence of local conformation. In the previously described Gag mutant cs22, which is unable to undergo full activation of PR, we found that in vivo in quail cells the only cleavages made in the Gag-Pol polypeptide are at the NC-PR and the PR-RT junctions, suggesting that in wild-type avian leukosis virus, processing of Gag-Pol begins by cleavage immediately upstream and downstream of the PR domain. Taken together, these results suggest a model in which in immature virions the segment of polypeptide between PR and RT is held in an extended but inherently unstable conformation, and that in vivo the first cleavage in Gag-Pol must occur in this region. In the absence of virion structure this segment of polypeptide collapses into its most stable conformation, preventing cleavage. Based on amino acid sequence, we predict that this portion of Gag-Pol adopts a coiled coil conformation reminiscent of a leucine zipper.
Fully Convolutional Multi-Class Multiple Instance Learning

Multiple instance learning (MIL) can reduce the need for costly annotation in tasks such as semantic segmentation by weakening the required degree of supervision. We propose a novel MIL formulation of multi-class semantic segmentation learning by a fully convolutional network. In this setting, we seek to learn a semantic segmentation model from just weak image-level labels. The model is trained end-to-end to jointly optimize the representation while disambiguating the pixel-image label assignment. Fully convolutional training accepts inputs of any size, does not need object proposal pre-processing, and offers a pixelwise loss map for selecting latent instances. Our multi-class MIL loss exploits the further supervision given by images with multiple labels. We evaluate this approach through preliminary experiments on the PASCAL VOC segmentation challenge.
An OspC-Specific Monoclonal Antibody Passively Protects Mice from Tick-Transmitted Infection by Borrelia burgdorferi B31

ABSTRACT A murine monoclonal antibody directed against Borrelia burgdorferi B31 outer surface protein C (OspC) antigen was generated by a method whereby borreliae were inoculated into the mouse via the natural transmission mode of tick feeding. Passive immunization with this antibody resulted in protection of C3H/HeJ and outbred mice from a tick-transmitted challenge infection. Immunofluorescence staining of borrelia cells indicated surface exposure of the OspC epitope reactive with the monoclonal antibody.
Productivity and salinity structuring of the microplankton revealed by comparative freshwater metagenomics

Little is known about the diversity and structuring of freshwater microbial communities beyond the patterns revealed by tracing their distribution in the landscape with common taxonomic markers such as the ribosomal RNA. To address this gap in knowledge, metagenomes from temperate lakes were compared to selected marine metagenomes. Taxonomic analyses of rRNA genes in these freshwater metagenomes confirm the previously reported dominance of a limited subset of uncultured lineages of freshwater bacteria, whereas Archaea were rare. Diversification into marine and freshwater microbial lineages was also reflected in phylogenies of functional genes, and there were also significant differences in functional beta-diversity. The pathways and functions that accounted for these differences are involved in osmoregulation, active transport, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism. Moreover, predicted genes orthologous to active transporters and recalcitrant organic matter degradation were more common in microbial genomes from oligotrophic versus eutrophic lakes. This comparative metagenomic analysis allowed us to formulate a general hypothesis that oceanic- compared with freshwater-dwelling microorganisms, invest more in metabolism of amino acids and that strategies of carbohydrate metabolism differ significantly between marine and freshwater microbial communities.