Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of CD3+ T-cell Distribution Throughout the Estrous Cycle and Gestation in the Bovine Endometrium

T cells are the dominant lymphocytes in the endometrium and are considered to play a crucial role in implantation and in the maintenance of gestation through cytokine production and immune regulation. The mechanisms underlying immunoregulation at the feto-maternal interface are still obscure for this complex system. Understanding the role of T cells is a key factor in understanding the endometrial immune system. In this study, the distribution of endometrial CD3+ T cells in bovines was examined by immunohistochemical analysis. The estrous cycle and gestation was divided into 4 stages, and the number of CD3+-positive T cells was counted in each stage. CD3+ cells were found in the endometrium in significant numbers throughout the estrous cycle and were mostly located in the subepithelial area. The number of CD3+ cells significantly increased in the early and mid-luteal phases but decreased after implantation with the progression of gestation. No T cells were found in the placentome or specifically in the tissues near the fetus, including the trophoblastic area. In addition, very few T cells were found in stromal regions close to the myometrium of the endometrium. These findings suggest that downregulation of bovine endometrial CD3+ T-cell functions is closely related to the successful maintenance of gestation in a spatiotemporal manner.
MRI urethrovesical junction mobility is associated with global pelvic floor laxity in female stress incontinence

Objective. To assess in a population of stress incontinent patients without genital prolapse whether urethrovesical junction mobility is associated with global pelvic floor laxity. Methods. Dynamic MRI of 40 patients referred prior to surgery for urinary stress incontinence were reviewed retrospectively. The orientation of the urethrovesical junction was evaluated at rest and at straining in reference to the pubococcygeal line, and defined as the bladder neck pubococcygeal angle. The urethrovesical junction mobility was calculated as the difference between the bladder neck pubococcygeal angles at rest and at straining. Urethrovesical junction mobility and bladder neck pubococcygeal angles at rest and at straining were tested for correlations with the resting and straining position of different pelvic organs, urogenital hiatus size, levator plate angle, and anterior rectal bulging when straining. Results. Urethrovesical junction mobility was correlated with the position of the bladder neck (p<0.0001), bladder base (p<0.0001) and uterine cervix (p<0.0001) at straining, as well as the hiatus length (p = 0.0012) and width (p = 0.0002), and levator plate angle (p<0.0001). The bladder neck pubococcygeal angle at rest was correlated with the resting position of the bladder neck (p<0.0001), bladder base (p<0.0001), uterine cervix (p = 0.02), and the hiatus length (p = 0.0004) and width (p = 0.045) at rest, whereas the bladder neck pubococcygeal angle at straining was correlated with the straining position of the bladder neck (p<0.0001), bladder base (p<0.0001), uterine cervix (p<0.0001), and hiatus length (p = 0.0005) and width (p = 0.0004), and levator plate angle (p<0.0001) at straining. Conclusion. In a population of stress incontinent patients, the urethrovesical junction mobility was correlated with global pelvic floor laxity.
Ability Grouping In Education

Issues and Context Does Ability Grouping Raise Attainment? Does Ability Grouping Affect Pupils' Self-Image? Pupils' Perspectives on Ability Grouping Teachers' Attitudes to Ability Grouping Teachers' Classroom Practices Principles, Pressures and Practicalities Alternative Ways of Grouping Pupils in School Conclusion
The structure analysis of the CSCWD conference's collaboration network

Collaboration networks are among some of the social networks and offer us the opportunity to study the structure underlying the networks. In this paper, we utilize the social network analysis (SNA) framework to understand what characterizes the social structure of the CSCWD conference's paper co-authorship network. It can potentially provide us with an understanding of the individuals and the network. We consider two scientists to be connected if they have authored a paper together, system like the co-authorship network of the conference is inherently dynamic, and so we represent it as a time-varying graph. Each graph is a static cumulative network. We then give results for the average distance and the diameter they show that this network forms a “small world”. We then also give the clustering coefficient demonstrating the presence of clustering of the collaboration between the scientists, as well as the increasing proportion of the giant component, it can serve as an additional support that the community would work well if it is densely connected. Through those figures, we also want to find some potential actions that can be taken to further develop the conference and other similar conferences.
Impact of vacancy ordering on thermal transport in crystalline phase-change materials

Controlling thermal transport in solids is of paramount importance for many applications. Often thermal management is crucial for a device's performance, as it affects both reliability and power consumption. A number of intricate concepts have been developed to address this challenge, such as diamond-like coatings to enhance the thermal conductivity or low symmetry complex super-structures to reduce it. Here, a different approach is pursued, where we explore the potential of solids with a high yet controllable degree of disorder. Recently, it has been demonstrated that an unconventionally high degree of structural disorder characterizes a number of crystalline phase-change materials (PCMs). This disorder strongly impacts electronic transport and even leads to disorder induced localization (Anderson localization). This raises the question how thermal transport is affected by such conditions. Here thermal transport in highly disordered crystalline Ge–Sb–Te (GST) based PCMs is investigated. Glass-like thermal properties are observed for several crystalline PCMs, which are attributed to strong scattering by disordered point defects. A systematic study of different compounds along the pseudo-binary line between GeTe and Sb2Te3 reveals that disordered vacancies act as point defects responsible for pronounced phonon scattering. Annealing causes a gradual ordering of the vacancies and leads to a more ‘crystal-like’ thermal conductivity. While both vibrational and electronic degrees of freedom are affected by disorder, the consequences differ for different stoichiometries. This opens up a pathway to tune electrical and thermal transport by controlling the degree of disorder. Materials with tailored transport properties may not only help to improve power efficiency and scaling in upcoming phase-change memories but are also of fundamental interest in the field of thermoelectric materials.
Influence of the Gas-Water Interface on Transport of Microorganisms through Unsaturated Porous Media

In this article, a new mechanism influencing the transport of microorganisms through unsaturated porous media is examined, and a new method for directly visualizing bacterial behavior within a porous medium under controlled chemical and flow conditions is introduced. Resting cells of hydrophilic and relatively hydrophobic bacterial strains isolated from groundwater were used as model microorganisms. The degree of hydrophobicity was determined by contact-angle measurements. Glass micromodels allowed the direct observation of bacterial behavior on a pore scale, and three types of sand columns with different gas saturations provided quantitative measurements of the observed phenomena on a porous medium scale. The reproducibility of each break-through curve was established in three to five repeated experiments. The data collected from the column experiments can be explained by phenomena directly observed in the micromodel experiments. The retention rate of bacteria is proportional to the gas saturation in porous media because of the preferential sorption of bacteria onto the gas-water interface over the solid-water interface. The degree of sorption is controlled mainly by cell surface hydrophobicity under the simulated groundwater conditions because of hydrophobic forces between the organisms and the interfaces. The sorption onto the gas-water interface is essentially irreversible because of capillary forces. This preferential and irreversible sorption at the gas-water interface strongly influences the movement and spatial distribution of microorganisms.
Deep reinforcement learning for high precision assembly tasks

The high precision assembly of mechanical parts requires precision that exceeds that of robots. Conventional part-mating methods used in the current manufacturing require numerous parameters to be tediously tuned before deployment. We show how a robot can successfully perform a peg-in-hole task with a tight clearance through training a recurrent neural network with reinforcement learning. In addition to reducing manual effort, the proposed method also shows a better fitting performance with a tighter clearance and robustness against positional and angular errors for the peg-in-hole task. The neural network learns to take the optimal action by observing the sensors of a robot to estimate the system state. The advantages of our proposed method are validated experimentally on a 7-axis articulated robot arm.
Race‐related differences in breast cancer patients results of the 1982 national survey of breast cancer by the american college of surgeons

Data from the 1982 breast cancer survey of the American College of Surgeons were used to evaluate factors related to clinical, epidemiologic, and survival differences between black and white patients. Breast cancer in blacks was not discovered as early as in whites. Distribution of pathologic types of tumors were similar for both races with the exception of medullary carcinoma, which was more frequent in blacks than in whites. Estrogen receptor‐positive tumors were found significantly less frequently in blacks compared with whites. Survival was better for whites compared with blacks within each axillary nodes group 0, 1 to 3, and 4+. Black women with negative or positive estrogen receptors had lower survival rates than white women of the same receptor status. A regression analysis using Cox's proportional hazards model showed race, clinical stage or axillary nodal status, age at diagnosis, and estrogen receptor status as significant predictors of survival. Significant differences between black and white patients were also observed with respect to the report of family history of breast cancer, age at first pregnancy, number of pregnancies, and age at cessation of menses. Cancer 56: 1704‐1709, 1985.
Impact of the Baseline Anti-A/B Antibody Titer on the Clinical Outcome in ABO-Incompatible Kidney Transplantation

Background/AIMS: We investigated the impact of the baseline anti-A/B antibody titer on the clinical outcome in ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (IKT). Methods: We included 183 patients who had undergone KT (40 ABO IKT and 143 ABO-compatible KT). Eight patients with a baseline titer of ≥1:512 were assigned to the high-titer group and 32 patients with a baseline titer of ≤1:256 were assigned to the low-titer group. Patients who underwent ABO-compatible KT were used as the control group. We compared the clinical outcomes of the three groups. Results: Before transplantation, the high-titer group displayed more frequent antibody rebound, as shown in a lower titer reduction rate, and more difficulty reaching the target titer (1:16) than the low-titer group. During the postoperative period and out-clinic follow-up, antibody rebound was more frequent, and the rate of acute rejection and infection were significantly higher and allograft function was lower in the high-titer group than in the low-titer and control groups. Multivariate analysis showed that high baseline antibody titer was an independent risk factor for acute rejection. Conclusion: ABO IKT in the high-titer group (baseline titer ≥1:512) required greater caution compared to the low-titer group because of the higher tendency of antibody rebound and the risk for acute rejection.
Population Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling for the Human Lactational Transfer of PCB-153 with Consideration of Worldwide Human Biomonitoring Results

Background One of the most serious human health concerns related to environmental contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is the presence of these chemicals in breast milk. Objectives We developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of PCB-153 in women, and predict its transfer via lactation to infants. The model is the first human, population-scale lactational model for PCB-153. Data in the literature provided estimates for model development and for performance assessment. Methods We used physiologic parameters from a cohort in Taiwan and reference values given in the literature to estimate partition coefficients based on chemical structure and the lipid content in various body tissues. Using exposure data from Japan, we predicted acquired body burden of PCB-153 at an average childbearing age of 25 years and compared predictions to measurements from studies in multiple countries. We attempted one example of reverse dosimetry modeling using our PBPK model for possible exposure scenarios in Canadian Inuits, the population with the highest breast milk PCB-153 level in the world. Results Forward-model predictions agree well with human biomonitoring measurements, as represented by summary statistics and uncertainty estimates. Conclusion The model successfully describes the range of possible PCB-153 dispositions in maternal milk, suggesting a promising option for back-estimating doses for various populations.
Determination of the local order in amorphous cobalt films.

Determination de la structure atomique locale des films de cobalt amorphes prepares par condensation de vapeur sur un substrat a basse temperature, par etude de structure fine d'absorption de rayons-x au dela du seuil (EXAFS). La fonction de distribution radiale deduite correspondant a la premiere couche de voisins est elargie par rapport a celle du cobalt cristallin, et est asymetrique. Le profil mesure permet de conclure a l'existence d'un veritable echantillon monometallique amorphe et se compare bien au profil calcule dans l'approximation d'un empilement de spheres dures. Le domaine d'existence de cette structure est esquisse
Across the great divide: genetic forensics reveals misidentification of endangered cutthroat trout populations

Accurate assessment of species identity is fundamental for conservation biology. Using molecular markers from the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, we discovered that many putatively native populations of greenback cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias) comprised another subspecies of cutthroat trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus). The error can be explained by the introduction of Colorado River cutthroat trout throughout the native range of greenback cutthroat trout in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by fish stocking activities. Our results suggest greenback cutthroat trout within its native range is at a higher risk of extinction than ever before despite conservation activities spanning more than two decades.
The distance that kinesin-1 holds its cargo from the microtubule surface measured by fluorescence interference contrast microscopy

Kinesin-1 is a motor protein that carries cellular cargo such as membrane-bounded organelles along microtubules (MTs). The homodimeric motor molecule contains two N-terminal motor domains (the motor “heads”), a long coiled-coil domain (the “rod” or “stalk”), and two small globular “tail” domains. Much has been learned about how kinesin's heads step along a MT and how the tail is involved in cargo binding and autoinhibition. However, little is known about the role of the rod. Here, we investigate the extension of the rod during active transport by measuring the height at which MTs glide over a kinesin-coated surface in the presence of ATP. To perform height measurements with nanometer precision, we used fluorescence interference contrast microscopy, which is based on the self-interference of fluorescent light from objects near a reflecting surface. Using an in situ calibrating method, we determined that kinesin-1 molecules elevate gliding MTs 17 ± 2 nm (mean ± SEM) above the surface. When varying the composition of the surrounding nucleotides or removing the negatively charged -COOH termini of the MTs by subtilisin digestion, we found no significant changes in the measured distance. Even though this distance is significantly shorter than the contour length of the motor molecule (≈60 nm), it may be sufficient to prevent proteins bound to the MTs or prevent the organelles from interfering with transport.
A Reaction-Diffusion Model of ROS-Induced ROS Release in a Mitochondrial Network

Loss of mitochondrial function is a fundamental determinant of cell injury and death. In heart cells under metabolic stress, we have previously described how the abrupt collapse or oscillation of the mitochondrial energy state is synchronized across the mitochondrial network by local interactions dependent upon reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we develop a mathematical model of ROS-induced ROS release (RIRR) based on reaction-diffusion (RD-RIRR) in one- and two-dimensional mitochondrial networks. The nodes of the RD-RIRR network are comprised of models of individual mitochondria that include a mechanism of ROS-dependent oscillation based on the interplay between ROS production, transport, and scavenging; and incorporating the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and Ca2+ handling. Local mitochondrial interaction is mediated by superoxide (O2 .−) diffusion and the O2 . −-dependent activation of an inner membrane anion channel (IMAC). In a 2D network composed of 500 mitochondria, model simulations reveal ΔΨm depolarization waves similar to those observed when isolated guinea pig cardiomyocytes are subjected to a localized laser-flash or antioxidant depletion. The sensitivity of the propagation rate of the depolarization wave to O2. − diffusion, production, and scavenging in the reaction-diffusion model is similar to that observed experimentally. In addition, we present novel experimental evidence, obtained in permeabilized cardiomyocytes, confirming that ΔΨm depolarization is mediated specifically by O2 . −. The present work demonstrates that the observed emergent macroscopic properties of the mitochondrial network can be reproduced in a reaction-diffusion model of RIRR. Moreover, the findings have uncovered a novel aspect of the synchronization mechanism, which is that clusters of mitochondria that are oscillating can entrain mitochondria that would otherwise display stable dynamics. The work identifies the fundamental mechanisms leading from the failure of individual organelles to the whole cell, thus it has important implications for understanding cell death during the progression of heart disease.
Influence of the genetic background on platelet function, microparticle and thrombin generation in the common laboratory mouse

Genetic background has been shown to affect phenotype in transgenic mice with hemostatic defects. We present comparative data on various platelet function tests, as well as on microparticle and thrombin generation capacity in three mouse strains most commonly used in transgenic applications. Normal, inbred 129Sv ( n = 24), C57BL/6 ( n = 14) and BALB/c ( n = 22) mice were used. BALB/c mice showed statistically significantly longer tail-bleeding times (158 - 42 s, P <0.02) than 129Sv (113 - 37) and C57BL/6 (122 - 29) and paradoxically increased velocity of platelet aggregation ( P <0.01) with ADP, collagen, ionophore and thrombin. ATP-release did not differ between strains, it was weakest with ADP and strongest with thrombin. 129Sv platelets were less responsive to thrombin. Generation of platelet microparticles did not differ between strains either and could efficiently be inhibited by EDTA but not by aspirin or alprostadil. Two anti-GPIIIa monoclonal antibodies did not inhibit microparticles either, although they could block aggregation. Thrombin generation was equivalent in C57BL/6 and BALB/c, but slower in 129Sv. Interestingly, the reaction in all strains was immediate and different from the human model in that no lag-phase was seen after triggering. In summary these mouse strains show similar patterns of ex vivo platelet aggregation, bleeding times as well as microparticle and thrombin generation. Subtle differences were found, which should be taken into consideration when interpreting data from wild-type or transgenic models.
Non-coding RNA Contribution to Thoracic and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Disease Development and Progression

Multiple research groups have started to uncover the complex genetic and epigenetic machinery necessary to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis. In particular, the key contribution of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in regulating gene expression has recently received great attention. Aneurysms in varying locations of the aorta are defined as permanent dilations, predisposing to the fatal consequence of rupture. The characteristic pathology of an aneurysm is characterized by progressive vessel wall dilation, promoted by dying vascular smooth muscle cells and limited proliferation, as well as impaired synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix components, which at least partially is the result of transmural inflammation and its disruptive effect on vessel wall homeostasis. Currently no conservative pharmacological approach exists that could slow down aneurysm progression and protect from the risk of acute rupture. In the recent past, several non-coding RNAs (mainly microRNAs) have been discovered as being involved in aneurysm progression throughout varying locations of the aorta. Exploring ncRNAs as key regulators and potential therapeutic targets by using antisense oligonucleotide strategies could open up promising opportunities for patients in the near future. Purpose of this current review is to summarize current findings and novel concepts of perspectivly utilizing ncRNAs for future therapeutic and biomarker applications.
Triple-fault-tolerant binary MDS array codes with asymptotically optimal repair

Binary maximum distance separable (MDS) array codes are a special class of erasure codes for distributed storage that not only provide fault tolerance with minimum storage redundancy, but also achieve low computational complexity. They are constructed by encoding k information columns into r parity columns, in which each element in a column is a bit, such that any k out of the k + r columns suffice to recover all information bits. In addition to providing fault tolerance, it is critical to improve repair performance. Specifically, if a single column fails, our goal is to minimize the repair bandwidth by downloading the least amount of bits from d non-failed columns, where k ≤ d ≤ k + r − 1. However, existing binary MDS codes that achieve high data rates (i.e., k/(k + r) > 1/2) and minimum repair bandwidth only support double fault tolerance (i.e., r = 2), which is insufficient for failure-prone distributed storage environments in practice. This paper fills the void by proposing an explicit construction of triple-fault-tolerant (i.e., r = 3) binary MDS array codes that achieve asymptotically minimum repair bandwidth for d = k + 1.