Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chemokine Receptor 7 Knockout Attenuates Atherosclerotic Plaque Development

Background— Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Both innate immunity and adaptive immunity contribute to atherogenesis, but the mode of interaction is poorly understood. Chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is critically involved in the transition from innate to adaptive immune activation by coordinating the migration to and positioning of antigen-presenting dendritic cells and T cells in secondary lymphoid organs. More recently, it was shown that CCR7 is also responsible for T-cell migration into inflamed tissues and T-cell egress from these tissues via the afferent lymph. Thus, we investigated the influence of a systemic CCR7 deficiency on atherogenesis in atherosclerosis-prone low-density lipoprotein receptor (ldlr) knockout mice. Methods and Results— CCR7 deficiency resulted in reduced atherosclerotic plaque development. CCR7−/− T cells showed impaired entry and exit behavior from atherosclerotic lesions. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein, a key molecule for atherogenesis with antigenic features, was used to pulse dendritic cells and to expand T cells ex vivo. Adoptive transfer of C57BL/6 wild-type T cells but not ccr7−/−-derived T cells primed with oxidized low-density lipoprotein-pulsed dendritic cells resulted in a reconstitution of atherogenesis in ccr7−/−/ldlr−/− mice. Conclusion— These results demonstrate that both CCR7-dependent T-cell priming in secondary lymphoid organs and CCR7-dependent recirculation of T cells between secondary lymphoid organs and inflamed tissue are crucially involved in atherosclerotic plaque development.
A bifrequent passive sensor system for measurement of the pulse wave velocity in a stent

In-stent restenosis (ISR) is a frequent complication after stent implantation. Recently, a passive sensor system for integration into a stent has been presented, which is designed to detect an ISR early by measuring the local pulse wave velocity (PWV). This system is based on two pressure sensitive transponders, the resonance frequency of which hits the frequency of a magnetic field generated by an externally applied transceiver coil during a pulse cycle. This method is limited in applicability by the largest PWV it can measure. In this contribution a modified sensor system is investigated, which operates at two separate frequencies for each transponder. It has been shown that this modification solves the problem of limited PWV measurement range. Additionally, the previously developed model was shown to be valid for bifrequent operation. Furthermore, the influence of the system parameters on measurement precision have been investigated and verified in simulations.
Nonlinear resonance behaviour and shell property estimates from individual microbubbles in the 4-13 MHz range assessed with low amplitude acoustic spectroscopy

There is an increasing interest in contrast applications in the 5-15 MHz range. In order to improve image quality and agent design, a greater understanding of microbubble behaviour in this frequency range is required. In this study, individual lipid encapsulated microbubbles (Definity and Target-Ready MicroMarker) were insonified at low pressures (<; 25 kPa) using an “acoustic spectroscopy” approach; namely insonicated with a sequence of tone bursts from 4 to 13.5 MHz in order to investigate frequency dependent scattering. The fundamental radial excursion amplitude was calculated from the frequency dependent scattering in order to produce a resonance curve for a given bubble. Over the size range of 2.5 to 4 μm, 69% of Target-Ready MicroMarker exhibited an asymmetric resonance, characterized by a skewing of the resonance curve and indicative of nonlinear behaviour. For Definity, these responses were observed for 8% over the size range 1.7 to 3.1 μm. For the subset of bubbles exhibiting linear, symmetric resonance curves, shell elasticity and viscosity values were estimated. Target-Ready MicroMarker is characterized by a stiffer shell (3<;χ0<;5) N/m than Definity (0.5<;χ0<;2.5) N/m, and distinct strain-softening and shear-thinning rheological behaviour. For Definity, no clear strain or shear rate dependence of the shell properties is evident.
How Does Changing Ice-Out Affect Arctic versus Boreal Lakes? A Comparison Using Two Years with Ice-Out that Differed by More Than Three Weeks

The timing of lake ice-out has advanced substantially in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere, however the effects of ice-out timing on lake properties and how they vary regionally remain unclear. Using data from two inter-annual monitoring datasets for a set of three Arctic lakes and one boreal lake, we compared physical, chemical and phytoplankton metrics from two years in which ice-out timing differed by at least three weeks. Our results revealed regional differences in lake responses during early compared to late ice-out years. With earlier ice-out, Arctic lakes had deeper mixing depths and the boreal lake had a shallower mixing depth, suggesting differing patterns in the influence of the timing of ice-out on the length of spring turnover. Differences in nutrient concentrations and dissolved organic carbon between regions and ice-out years were likely driven by changes in precipitation and permafrost thaw. Algal biomass was similar across ice-out years, while cell densities of key Cyclotella sensu lato taxa were strongly linked to thermal structure changes in the Arctic lakes. Our research provides evidence that Arctic and boreal regions differ in lake response in early and late ice-out years, however ultimately a combination of important climate factors such as solar insolation, air temperature, precipitation, and, in the Arctic, permafrost thaw, are key drivers of the observed responses.
Proximity Detection with RFID: A Step Toward the Internet of Things

In the Internet of Things (IoT), things will be able to sense, communicate, and interact. They will also exchange data and information and locate themselves and other things that surround them. To interact, the things must recognize that they're in proximity of other things. It's anticipated that a widespread component of the IoT will be passive RFID tags, because they're inexpensive and provide automatic identification. However, passive RFID tags can't perform complex operations, such as proximity detection and localization. In this article, the authors describe existing problems with current RFID systems and survey potential solutions for proximity detection. They then present a new RFID device, called "Sense-a-Tag" (ST), that can passively detect and decode backscatter signals from tags in its proximity. The authors show that when STs are added to a standard RFID system, the problems of proximity detection in the IoT with RFID tags can readily be resolved. They demonstrate the feasibility of an ST-based RFID system through proximity detection experiments.
Simultaneous Detection of CDC Category “A” DNA and RNA Bioterrorism Agents by Use of Multiplex PCR & RT-PCR Enzyme Hybridization Assays

Assays to simultaneously detect multiple potential agents of bioterrorism are limited. Two multiplex PCR and RT-PCR enzyme hybridization assays (mPCR-EHA, mRT-PCR-EHA) were developed to simultaneously detect many of the CDC category “A” bioterrorism agents. The “Bio T” DNA assay was developed to detect: Variola major (VM), Bacillus anthracis (BA), Yersinia pestis (YP), Francisella tularensis (FT) and Varicella zoster virus (VZV). The “Bio T” RNA assay (mRT-PCR-EHA) was developed to detect: Ebola virus (Ebola), Lassa fever virus (Lassa), Rift Valley fever (RVF), Hantavirus Sin Nombre species (HSN) and dengue virus (serotypes 1–4). Sensitivity and specificity of the 2 assays were tested by using genomic DNA, recombinant plasmid positive controls, RNA transcripts controls, surrogate (spiked) clinical samples and common respiratory pathogens. The analytical sensitivity (limit of detection (LOD)) of the DNA asssay for genomic DNA was 1×100∼1×102 copies/mL for BA, FT and YP. The LOD for VZV whole organism was 1×10−2 TCID50/mL. The LOD for recombinant controls ranged from 1×102∼1×103copies/mL for BA, FT, YP and VM. The RNA assay demonstrated LOD for RNA transcript controls of 1×104∼1×106 copies/mL without extraction and 1×105∼1×106 copies/mL with extraction for Ebola, RVF, Lassa and HSN. The LOD for dengue whole organisms was ∼1×10−4 dilution for dengue 1 and 2, 1×104 LD50/mL and 1×102 LD50/mL for dengue 3 and 4. The LOD without extraction for recombinant plasmid DNA controls was ∼1×103 copies/mL (1.5 input copies/reaction) for Ebola, RVF, Lassa and HSN. No cross-reactivity of primers and probes used in both assays was detected with common respiratory pathogens or between targeted analytes. Clinical sensitivity was estimated using 264 surrogate clinical samples tested with the BioT DNA assay and 549 samples tested with the BioT RNA assay. The clinical specificity is 99.6% and 99.8% for BioT DNA assay and BioT RNA assay, respectively. The surrogate sensitivities of these two assays were 100% (95%CI 83–100) for FT, BA (pX02), YP, VM, VZV, dengue 2,3,4 and 95% (95%CI 75–100) for BA (pX01) and dengue 1 using spiked clinical specimens. The specificity of both BioT multiplex assays on spiked specimens was 100% (95% CI 99–100). Compared to other available assays (culture, serology, PCR, etc.) both the BioT DNA mPCR-EHA and BioT RNA mRT-PCR-EHA are rapid, sensitive and specific assays for detecting many category “A” Bioterrorism agents using a standard thermocycler.
HP1 Recruitment in the Absence of Argonaute Proteins in Drosophila

Highly repetitive and transposable element rich regions of the genome must be stabilized by the presence of heterochromatin. A direct role for RNA interference in the establishment of heterochromatin has been demonstrated in fission yeast. In metazoans, which possess multiple RNA–silencing pathways that are both functionally distinct and spatially restricted, whether RNA silencing contributes directly to heterochromatin formation is not clear. Previous studies in Drosophila melanogaster have suggested the involvement of both the AGO2-dependent endogenous small interfering RNA (endo-siRNA) as well as Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) silencing pathways. In order to determine if these Argonaute genes are required for heterochromatin formation, we utilized transcriptional reporters and chromatin immunoprecipitation of the critical factor Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) to monitor the heterochromatic state of piRNA clusters, which generate both endo-siRNAs and the bulk of piRNAs. Surprisingly, we find that mutation of AGO2 or piwi increases silencing at piRNA clusters corresponding to an increase of HP1 association. Furthermore, loss of piRNA production from a single piRNA cluster results in genome-wide redistribution of HP1 and reduction of silencing at a distant heterochromatic site, suggesting indirect effects on HP1 recruitment. Taken together, these results indicate that heterochromatin forms independently of endo-siRNA and piRNA pathways.
Pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of tachycardiomyopathy

### Learning objectives Tachycardiomyopathies (TCMP) are an important cause of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction that should be recognised by physicians as they are potentially reversible and have a significant impact on morbidity and prognosis. They are classically defined as the reversible impairment of ventricular function induced by persistent arrhythmia. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that they can be induced by atrial and ventricular ectopy promoting dyssynchrony and indeed the term ‘arrhythmia-induced cardiomyopathy’ is emerging to describe the phenomenon.1 2 A more current proposed definition highlights aetiology: ‘Atrial and/or ventricular dysfunction—secondary to rapid and/or asynchronous/irregular myocardial contraction, partially or completely reversed after treatment of the causative arrhythmia’ 3 (figure 1). Two categories of the condition exist: the arrhythmia is the only reason for ventricular dysfunction ( arrhythmia-induced ), and another where the arrhythmia exacerbates ventricular dysfunction and/or worsens heart failure (HF) in a patient with concomitant heart disease ( arrhythmia-mediated ). 4 The exclusion of underlying structural heart disease can be challenging as current imaging techniques, for example, MRI cannot easily identify diffuse fibrosis which may itself be primary or secondary to the effects of arrhythmia promoting ventricular wall dyskinesis and stretch or valvular regurgitation. Figure 1 Arrhythmias leading to left ventricular dysfunction. AF, atrial fibrillation; LBBB, left bundle branch block; PVCs, premature ventricular complexes; RBBB, right bundle branch block; RV, right ventricular; SVT, supraventricular tachycardia. The mechanisms of TCMP are not fully defined but include subclinical ischaemia, abnormalities in energy metabolism, redox stress and calcium overload.5 6 In animal models of persistent high rate atrial or ventricular pacing, ventricular impairment is also associated with changes in myocardial electrophysiology including prolongation of the action potential and spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias. Indeed, persistent left bundle branch block leads …
Level of nitrated proteins in the plasma, platelets and liver of patients with liver cirrhosis

Abstract Over-expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and nitric oxide (NO) formation are associated with the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis. NO-related stress alters the functions of biomolecules, especially proteins, probably as a result of nitration. The aim of this study was to assess the level of protein nitration and its correlation with the severity of the disease. Liver cirrhosis patients with different grades of severity (grades A, B, and C according to the Child–Pugh classification) were enrolled in this study. Nitroprotein content, arginine, citrulline, NO in terms of total nitrite, nitrosothiol (RSNO) and protein carbonyls were measured in blood. Immunohistochemical detection of nitroprotein was carried out in liver sections of cirrhosis patients. A significant elevation in the levels of serum and platelet arginine, arginase, citrulline, plasma, and platelet nitroproteins, RSNO, total nitrite, protein carbonyls and also a significant amount of nitrated proteins by immunohistochemical detection in tissue were observed in cirrhosis patients. The alterations were highly significant in grade C patients with bleeding complications when compared to those of grade B and A patients. In platelets, both cytosolic and cytoskeletal proteins were found to be nitrated significantly. The level of nitrite seems to have positive correlation with the level of nitroproteins in different grades of cirrhosis. The level of nitroproteins in plasma, platelets and liver tissue can be correlated with the severity of liver cirrhosis.
Fast and Robust Object Detection Using Asymmetric Totally Corrective Boosting

Boosting-based object detection has received significant attention recently. In this paper, we propose totally corrective asymmetric boosting algorithms for real-time object detection. Our algorithms differ from Viola and Jones' detection framework in two ways. Firstly, our boosting algorithms explicitly optimize asymmetric loss of objectives, while AdaBoost used by Viola and Jones optimizes a symmetric loss. Secondly, by carefully deriving the Lagrange duals of the optimization problems, we design more efficient boosting in that the coefficients of the selected weak classifiers are updated in a totally corrective fashion, in contrast to the stagewise optimization commonly used by most boosting algorithms. Column generation is employed to solve the proposed optimization problems. Unlike conventional boosting, the proposed boosting algorithms are able to de-select those irrelevant weak classifiers in the ensemble while training a classification cascade. This results in improved detection performance as well as fewer weak classifiers in the learned strong classifier. Compared with AsymBoost of Viola and Jones, our proposed asymmetric boosting is nonheuristic and the training procedure is much simpler. Experiments on face and pedestrian detection demonstrate that our methods have superior detection performance than some of the state-of-the-art object detectors.
Compositional Engineering for Efficient Wide Band Gap Perovskites with Improved Stability to Photoinduced Phase Segregation

Metal halide perovskites are attractive candidates for the wide band gap absorber in tandem solar cells. While their band gap can be tuned by partial halide substitution, mixed halide perovskites often have lower open-circuit voltage than would be expected and experience photoinduced trap formation caused by halide segregation. We investigate solar cell performance and photostability across a compositional space of formamidinium (FA) and cesium (Cs) at the A-site at various halide compositions and show that using more Cs at the A-site rather than more Br at the X-site to raise band gap is more ideal as it improves both VOC and photostability. We develop band gap maps and design criteria for the selection of perovskite compositions within the CsxFA1–xPb(BryI1–y)3, space. With this, we identify perovskites with tandem-relevant band gaps of 1.68 and 1.75 eV that demonstrate high device efficiencies of 17.4 and 16.3%, respectively, and significantly improved photostability compared to that of the higher Br-co.
Measurements of CO 2 , its stable isotopes, O 2 /N 2 , and 222 Rn at Bern, Switzerland

A one-year time series of atmospheric CO 2 measurements from Bern, Switzerland, is presented. O 2 /N 2 and Ar/N 2 ratios as well as stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of CO 2 and δ 29 N 2 , δ 34 O 2 and δ 36 Ar were measured periodically during a one year period. Additionally, the 222 Rn activity was measured during three months in the winter 2004. Using the correlation from short-term fluctuations of CO 2 and 222 Rn we estimated a mean CO 2 flux density between February 2004 and April 2004 in the region of Bern of 95±39 tC km –2 month –1 . The continuous observations of carbon dioxide and associated tracers shed light on diurnal and seasonal patterns of the carbon cycle in an urban atmosphere. There is considerable variance in nighttime δ 13 C and δ 18 O of source CO 2 throughout the year, however, with generally lower values in winter compared to summertime. The O 2 :CO 2 oxidation ratio during the nighttime build-up of CO 2 varies between –0.96 and –1.69 mol O 2 /mol CO 2 . Furthermore, Ar/N 2 measurements showed that artifacts like thermal fractionation at the air intake are relevant for high precision measurements of atmospheric O 2 .
Performance Optimization of Priority Assisted CSMA/CA Mechanism of 802.15.6 under Saturation Regime

Due to the recent development in the field of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), the Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have become a major area of interest for the developers and researchers. Human body exhibits postural mobility due to which distance variation occurs and the status of connections amongst sensors change time to time. One of the major requirements of WBAN is to prolong the network lifetime without compromising on other performance measures, i.e., delay, throughput and bandwidth efficiency. Node prioritization is one of the possible solutions to obtain optimum performance in WBAN. IEEE 802.15. 6 CSMA/CA standard splits the nodes with different user priorities based on Contention Window (CW) size. Smaller CW size is assigned to higher priority nodes. This standard helps to reduce delay, however, it is not energy efficient. In this paper, we propose a hybrid node prioritization scheme based on IEEE 802.15. 6 CSMA/CA to reduce energy consumption and maximize network lifetime. In this scheme, optimum performance is achieved by node prioritization based on CW size as well as power in respective user priority. Our proposed scheme reduces the average back off time for channel access due to CW based prioritization. Additionally, power based prioritization for a respective user priority helps to minimize required number of retransmissions. Furthermore, we also compare our scheme with IEEE 802.15. 6 CSMA/CA standard (CW assisted node prioritization) and power assisted node prioritization under postural mobility in WBAN. Mathematical expressions are derived to determine the accurate analytical model for throughput, delay, bandwidth efficiency, energy consumption and life time for each node prioritization scheme. With the intention of analytical model validation, we have performed the simulations in OMNET++/MIXIM framework. Analytical and simulation results show that our proposed hybrid node prioritization scheme outperforms other node prioritization schemes in terms of average network delay, average throughput, average bandwidth efficiency and network lifetime.
On computing rational Gauss-Chebyshev quadrature formulas

We provide an algorithm to compute the nodes and weights for Gauss-Chebyshev quadrature formulas integrating exactly in spaces of rational functions with arbitrary real poles outside [-1,1]. Contrary to existing rational quadrature formulas, the computational effort is very low, even for extremely high degrees, and under certain conditions on the poles it can be shown that the complexity is of order O(n). This method is based on the derivation of explicit expressions for Chebyshev orthogonal rational functions, which are (thus far) the only examples of explicitly known orthogonal rational functions on [-1,1] with arbitrary real poles outside this interval.