Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization and Expression of the Laminin γ3 Chain: A Novel, Non-Basement Membrane–associated, Laminin Chain

Laminins are heterotrimeric molecules composed of an α, a β, and a γ chain; they have broad functional roles in development and in stabilizing epithelial structures. Here, we identified a novel laminin, composed of known α and β chains but containing a novel γ chain, γ3. We have cloned gene encoding this chain, LAMC3, which maps to chromosome 9 at q31-34. Protein and cDNA analyses demonstrate that γ3 contains all the expected domains of a γ chain, including two consensus glycosylation sites and a putative nidogen-binding site. This suggests that γ3-containing laminins are likely to exist in a stable matrix. Studies of the tissue distribution of γ3 chain show that it is broadly expressed in: skin, heart, lung, and the reproductive tracts. In skin, γ3 protein is seen within the basement membrane of the dermal-epidermal junction at points of nerve penetration. The γ3 chain is also a prominent element of the apical surface of ciliated epithelial cells of: lung, oviduct, epididymis, ductus deferens, and seminiferous tubules. The distribution of γ3-containing laminins on the apical surfaces of a variety of epithelial tissues is novel and suggests that they are not found within ultrastructurally defined basement membranes. It seems likely that these apical laminins are important in the morphogenesis and structural stability of the ciliated processes of these cells.
Diversity and Coevolutionary Dynamics in High-Dimensional Phenotype Spaces*

We study macroevolutionary dynamics by extending microevolutionary competition models to long timescales. It has been shown that for a general class of competition models, gradual evolutionary change in continuous phenotypes (evolutionary dynamics) can be nonstationary and even chaotic when the dimension of the phenotype space in which the evolutionary dynamics unfold is high. It has also been shown that evolutionary diversification can occur along nonequilibrium trajectories in phenotype space. We combine these lines of thinking by studying long-term coevolutionary dynamics of emerging lineages in multidimensional phenotype spaces. We use a statistical approach to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of many different systems. We find (1) that, for a given dimension of phenotype space, the coevolutionary dynamics tend to be fast and nonstationary for an intermediate number of coexisting lineages but tend to stabilize as the evolving communities reach a saturation level of diversity and (2) that the amount of diversity at the saturation level increases rapidly (exponentially) with the dimension of phenotype space. These results have implications for theoretical perspectives on major macroevolutionary patterns such as adaptive radiation, long-term temporal patterns of phenotypic changes, and the evolution of diversity.
How Much Will a RE-Based Preprocessor Help a Statistical Parser?

The present paper describes experiments on combining a statistical parser with a preprocessor built of regular expressions. While the syntactic structure of a sentence may be very complex and will never be fully covered by a finite-state machine, there are phenomena such as noun phrases and simple coordinations that do quite well. Even these “chunks” may theoretically be unlimitedly complex but we show that in reality they rarely do. So a shallow finite state parser can be built to preprocess the input text and solve the simple chunks without introducing too many errors. We discuss one implementation of such preprocessor that is very easy to write and covers roughly 20% of input words with an accuracy of over 90%. Then we describe two ways of combining the preprocessor with a parser and show that the performance of the parser improves both in speed and accuracy.
Knowledge, attitude and practices related to prevention of parasitic infestations among school children in an urban area of Kancheepuram district

Background: Poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitary conditions play an important role in the increased burden of communicable diseases in developing countries. The aim and objectives of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices related to prevention of parasitic infestations among school children in an urban area of Kancheepuram district. Formulation of suitable preventive measures based on the inferences derived from the study.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on school children belonging to standard sixth to eighth of Sree Lakshmi Ammal school, Chrompet. The study period was from August 1st to 4th 2018. The sample size obtained was 210. Convenient sampling method was used to collect the sample. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding knowledge, attitude and practices related to prevention of parasitic infestations among school children. Assessment of personal hygiene was done by scoring system. Data entry was done in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and data was analysed by SPSS version 22.Results: Total number of children participated in the present study were 210. Among the children participated in the present study, 92.4% of children had a good knowledge of personal hygiene, 96.7% of children had a positive attitude towards personal hygiene and 81.4% of children had a good practice of personal hygiene.Conclusions: Nearly half of the children involved in the study practised open defecation, so they should be given proper health education regarding usage of sanitary latrines.
Handoff Rate Analysis in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks with Poisson and Poisson Cluster Patterns

In multi-tier heterogeneous wireless networks (HWNs), both horizontal and vertical handoffs impact the signaling overhead and quality of service in the system. However, they are difficult to analyze due to the diverse and irregularly shaped cells in HWNs. The causes of this irregularity are three-fold: (1) small-cell base stations (BSs) tend to be deployed with a high level of spatial randomness; (2) BSs are likely to aggregate around highly populated geographical regions; (3) various transmission power levels in different tiers further create diverse cell sizes and shapes. In this work we present a new stochastic geometric analysis framework on user mobility in HWNs. Each tier of BSs is modeled as either a Poisson point process (PPP) or a Poisson cluster process (PCP), to capture their spatial randomness and their non-uniform and dependent aggregation in space. Flexible user association is also taken into consideration, such that various scales of cell sizes are accommodated. We derive analytical expressions for the rates of all handoff types experienced by an active user with arbitrary movement trajectory. We also demonstrate an example application of the proposed analysis, in optimizing the multi-tier BS selection by users, to balance the tradeoff between data rate and handoff overhead. Finally, extensive simulation is conducted to validate the correctness and usefulness of our analysis.
Functional Transitions in Macrophages During In Vivo Infection with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin1

Macrophage activation during the immune response to intracellular bacteria is critical for resolution of the infection. We have investigated the pathway of macrophage activation during murine Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection. Three distinct phenotypes of macrophages were identified and compared: resident peritoneal macrophages, day 2 postinfection macrophages, and 12-day postinfection macrophages. Compared with resident peritoneal macrophages, day 2 BCG macrophages expressed intermediate levels of the cell surface receptors Mac1 and F4/80 and low levels of MHC class II molecules. These cells were highly phagocytic and produced large amounts of mRNA encoding the chemokine IP-10. In addition, day 2 BCG macrophages did not generate reactive nitrogen intermediates, though they were primed to do so, and did not have increased levels of TNF-α mRNA. Blockade of monocyte influx into the peritoneal cavity using Abs to platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 had no effect on the appearance of day 2 BCG macrophages, suggesting this cell can differentiate from resident peritoneal macrophages. In contrast to day 2 BCG macrophages, day 12 BCG macrophages were poorly phagocytic, but produced high levels of reactive nitrogen intermediates, IP-10 and TNF-α mRNA, and class II MHC molecules. We propose that day 2 BCG macrophages are specialized for phagocytic uptake of pathogens from the extracellular space, whereas day 12 BCG macrophages are specialized for killing of the internalized pathogens. This functional transition during activation is reminiscent of that seen during maturation/activation of the related dendritic cell lineage induced by bacterial or inflammatory stimuli.
The Wang-Landau algorithm in general state spaces: Applications and convergence analysis

The Wang-Landau algorithm (Wang and Landau (2001)) is a recent Monte Carlo method that has generated much interest in the Physics literature due to some spectacular simulation performances. The objective of this paper is two-fold. First, we show that the algorithm can be naturally extended to more general state spaces and used to improve on Markov Chain Monte Carlo schemes of more interest in Statistics. In a second part, we study asymptotic behaviors of the algorithm. We show that with an appropriate choice of the step-size, the algorithm is consistent and a strong law of large numbers holds under some fairly mild conditions. We have also shown by simulations the potential advantage of the WL algorithm for problems in Bayesian inference.
Towards Cost-Efficient Video Transcoding in Media Cloud: Insights Learned From User Viewing Patterns

Video transcoding in an adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR) system is demanded to support video streaming over heterogenous devices and varying networks. However, it could incur a tremendous cost. Meanwhile, most viewers terminate viewing sessions within 20% of their durations; only a small fraction of each video is consumed. Built upon this user viewing pattern, we propose a Partial Transcoding Scheme for content management in media clouds. Particularly, each content is encoded into different bitrates and split into segments. Some of the segments are stored in cache, resulting in storage cost; others are transcoded online in the case of cache miss, resulting in computing cost. We aim to minimize the long-term overall cost by determining whether a segment should be cached or transcoded online. We formulate it as a constrained stochastic optimization problem. Leveraging Lyapunov optimization framework and Lagrangian relaxation, we design an online algorithm which can achieve the optimal solution within provable upper bounds. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed method can reduce 30% of operational cost, compared with the scheme of caching all the segments.
Stress exposure during the preimplantation period affects blastocyst lineages and offspring development

We found retardation of preimplantation embryo growth after exposure to maternal restraint stress during the preimplantation period in our previous study. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of preimplantation maternal restraint stress on the distribution of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells in mouse blastocysts, and its possible effect on physiological development of offspring. We exposed spontaneously ovulating female mice to restraint stress for 30 min three times a day during the preimplantation period, and this treatment caused a significant increase in blood serum corticosterone concentration. Microscopic evaluation of embryos showed that restraint stress significantly decreased cell counts per blastocyst. Comparing the effect of restraint stress on the two blastocyst cell lineages, we found that the reduction in TE cells was more substantial than the reduction in ICM cells, which resulted in an increased ICM/TE ratio in blastocysts isolated from stressed dams compared with controls. Restraint stress reduced the number of implantation sites in uteri, significantly delayed eye opening in delivered mice, and altered their behavior in terms of two parameters (scratching on the base of an open field test apparatus, time spent in central zone) as well. Moreover, prenatally stressed offspring had significantly lower body weights and in 5-week old females delivered from stressed dams, fat deposits were significantly lower. Our results indicate that exposure to stress during very early pregnancy can have a negative impact on embryonic development with consequences reaching into postnatal life.
The shear power spectrum from the COMBO-17 survey

We perform a statistical weak lensing or `cosmic shear' analysis of the {COMBO-17} survey - a unique data set with shear quality R-band imaging and accurate photometric redshift estimates (? z= 0.05) for {\textasciitilde}90 per cent of galaxies to {mR{\textless}=} 24.0. We undertake a full maximum likelihood analysis to measure directly from the data the weak lensing power spectra, C? l, C? l and C? l in five band powers from l= 400 to l= 104, where ? is the usual lens convergence and ? is an odd-parity `curl' component of the shear signal. We find a strong measurement of the convergence power over five fields. The non-gravitational ? -field has a much lower significance, indicating our data are free of major systematics, while the cross-correlation of ? and ? is consistent with zero. We have also calculated the shear correlation functions and variance over a range of scales between 0.5 and 20 arcmin. Our measurements of minimal star-galaxy correlations and cross-correlations between galaxy components provide further evidence that any systematics are negligible. In addition, we have used our results to measure cosmological parameters, constraining the normalization of the matter power spectrum to be ? 8= (0.72 +/- 0.09)(? m/0.3)-0.49, where the errors quoted are 1? due to the intrinsic dispersion in galaxy ellipticities, cosmic and sampling variance. We have significantly reduced the usual additional uncertainty in the median redshift (zm) of the source galaxies by estimating zm directly from our data using accurate photometric redshift information from the {COMBO-17} multi-band wide-field survey. To demonstrate the power of accurate redshift information, we have also measured parameters from a shear analysis of only those galaxies for which accurate redshift estimates are available. In this case, we have eliminated the uncertainty in the redshift distribution of sources and we show that the uncertainties in the resulting parameter constraints are reduced by more than a factor of 2 compared with the typical uncertainties found in cosmic shear surveys to date. Finally, we combine our parameter measurements with constraints from the {2dF} Galaxy Redshift Survey and with those from the cosmic microwave background. With these additional constraints, we measure the normalization of the matter power spectrum to be ? 8= 0.73+0.06-0.03 and the matter density of the Universe to be ? m= 0.27+0.02-0.01.
Diffusion of interstitials in metallic systems, illustration of a complex study case: aluminum

While diffusion mechanisms of interstitial elements in fcc systems are generally well-known, especially in the case of H atoms, we show in this work that even in the case of a simple metallic system (aluminum), the diffusion of interstitials exhibits a wide variety of paths and mechanisms that depend on the specie. We used an approach based on first-principles calculations associated with kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations and a multi-state diffusion formalism to compute the diffusion coefficients of five interstitial elements: hydrogen, boron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. For instance, at the atomic scale, whilst we find that C atoms prefer to be located in octahedral sites (labeled o) rather than in tetrahedral positions (labeled t), we find one additional stable position in the lattice (M). The diffusion through these three stable positions are thus studied in detail. In the case of B atoms, for which the tetrahedral site is found unstable, the diffusion path is between o-o sites. Similarly, in the case of oxygen, t positions are found to be the only stable positions (o are unstable) and the path of migration, along t-t direction, is found through a twice degenerated asymmetric transition state. In the case of H and N atoms for which t and o sites are stable, we explain why the only path is along the t-o direction. Finally, we discuss explicit formulas to compute coefficients of diffusion of interstitials in fcc structures.
Semi-Automatic Tool for Aligning a Parameterized CAD Model to Stereo Image Pairs

SUMMARY Fully automatic reconstruction of 3D models from images is well-known to be a difficult problem. For many applications, a limited amount of human assistance is allowed and can greatly reduce the complexity of the 3D reconstruction problem. In this paper, we present an easy-to-use method for aligning a parameterized 3D CAD model to images taken from different views. The shape parameters of the 3D CAD model can be recovered accurately. Our work is composed of two parts. In the first part, we developed an interactive tool which allows the user to associate the features in the CAD model to the features in the 2D images. This interactive tool is designed to achieve efficiency and accuracy. In the second part, 3D information extracted from different stereo views are integrated together by using an optimization technique to obtain accurate shape parameters. Some experimental results have been shown to demonstrate the accuracy and usefulness of the recovered CAD model.
Aliskiren Reduces Blood Pressure and Suppresses Plasma Renin Activity in Combination With a Thiazide Diuretic, an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor, or an Angiotensin Receptor Blocker

Thiazide diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers all cause reactive rises in plasma renin activity. We hypothesized that renin inhibition with aliskiren would prevent this reactive rise and also enhance blood pressure lowering. In 3 open-label studies in which blood pressure was assessed with ambulatory measurement, aliskiren was administered to patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension in combination with hydrochlorothiazide (n=23), ramipril (n=21), or irbesartan (n=23). In the diuretic combination study, the addition of 25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide to 150 mg of aliskiren daily for 3 weeks significantly lowered daytime pressure, compared with aliskiren monotherapy (systolic/diastolic mean change from baseline [SEM]: daytime: −18.4 [2.1]/ −10.6 [1.7] versus −10.4 [1.8]/−5.8 [1.4]; nighttime: −15.6 [2.7]/−8.1 [1.8] versus −8.8 [2.9]/−5.0 [2.2]). In the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor combination study, the addition of 75 or 150 mg of aliskiren to 5 mg of ramipril alone for 3 weeks further lowered both daytime and nighttime pressures compared with ramipril monotherapy (daytime: −10.5 [2.9]/−8.1 [2.1] and −14 [3.7]/−8.7 [2.3] versus −6.1 [2.4]/−5.9 [1.5]; nighttime: −8.1 [2.6]/−5.3 [2.4] and −9.6 [3.4]/−5.3 [2.4] versus −2 [2.3]/−0.7 [2.2]). In the angiotensin receptor blocker combination study, the addition of 75 or 150 mg of aliskiren to 150 mg of irbesartan alone, for 3 weeks, resulted in significantly lower nighttime pressures compared with irbesartan monotherapy (daytime: −14.8 [2]/−8.2 [1.3] and −13.3 [1.6]/−6.8 [0.9] versus −11.4 [1.6]/−6.5 [1.1]; nighttime: −16.1 [2.4]/−8.6 [1.7] and −13.2 [2.7]/−7.2 [1.9] versus −9.0 [2.5]/−4.7 [1.9]). Aliskiren (150 mg) alone significantly inhibited plasma renin activity by 65% (P<0.0001). Ramipril and irbesartan monotherapy caused 90% and 175% increases in plasma renin activity, respectively. By contrast, when aliskiren was coadministered with hydrochlorothiazide, ramipril, or irbesartan, plasma renin activity did not increase but remained similar to baseline levels or was decreased (combination therapy versus untreated; median [interquartile range]; aliskiren and hydrochlorothiazide: 0.4 [0.2 to 1.1] versus 0.7 [0.5 to 1.3]; ramipril and aliskiren: 0.5 [0.3 to 0.9] versus 0.6 [0.5 to 0.8]; irbesartan and aliskiren: 0.4 [0.2 to 0.9] versus 0.6 [0.4 to 0.9]). These results suggest that renin inhibition with aliskiren in these combinations increases renin-angiotensin system suppression, improves 24-hour blood pressure control, and may ultimately provide better end-organ protection in patients with hypertension.
Setting and Reaching Targets with Computer-Assisted Cochlear Implant Fitting

Objective. The paper aims to demonstrate the feasibility of defining a substantial set of psychoacoustic outcome measures with preset targets and to adopt a systematic methodology for reaching these targets in a large group of subjects, by more than one clinical centre. Design. Retrospective data analysis. Setting. Multicentre with 14 participating centres. Patients. 255 adults and children using the Advanced Bionics HiRes90k cochlear implant. Intervention. Target driven fitting with the fitting to outcomes expert (FOX) system. Main Outcome Measures. For each patient, 66 measurable psychoacoustical outcomes were recorded several times after cochlear implantation: free field audiometry (6 measures) and speech audiometry (4), spectral discrimination (20), and loudness growth (36), defined from the A§E test battery. These outcomes were reduced to 22 summary variables. The initial results were compared with the latest results. Results. The state of the fitting process could be well monitored by means of the measured variables. The use of the FOX computer assisted CI-programming significantly improved the proportion of the 22 variables on target. When recipients used the automated MAPs provided at switch-on, more than half (57%) of the 22 targets were already achieved before any further optimisation took place. Once the FOX system was applied there was a significant 24% (P < 0.001) increase in the number of targets achieved. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to set targets and to report on the effectiveness of a fitting strategy in terms of these targets. FOX provides an effective tool for achieving a systematic approach to programming, allowing for better optimisation of recipients' MAPs. The setting of well-defined outcome targets allowed a range of different centres to successfully apply a systematic methodology to monitoring the quality of the programming provided.
Natural Pathogens of Laboratory Mice, Rats, and Rabbits and Their Effects on Research

SUMMARY Laboratory mice, rats, and rabbits may harbor a variety of viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal agents. Frequently, these organisms cause no overt signs of disease. However, many of the natural pathogens of these laboratory animals may alter host physiology, rendering the host unsuitable for many experimental uses. While the number and prevalence of these pathogens have declined considerably, many still turn up in laboratory animals and represent unwanted variables in research. Investigators using mice, rats, and rabbits in biomedical experimentation should be aware of the profound effects that many of these agents can have on research.
A theory of inverse light transport

In this paper we consider the problem of computing and removing interreflections in photographs of real scenes. Towards this end, we introduce the problem of inverse light transport - given a photograph of an unknown scene, decompose it into a sum of n-bounce images, where each image records the contribution of light that bounces exactly n times before reaching the camera. We prove the existence of a set of interreflection cancelation operators that enable computing each n-bounce image by multiplying the photograph by a matrix. This matrix is derived from a set of "impulse images" obtained by probing the scene with a narrow beam of light. The operators work under unknown and arbitrary illumination, and exist for scenes that have arbitrary spatially-varying BRDFs. We derive a closed-form expression for these operators in the Lambertian case and present experiments with textured and untextured Lambertian scenes that confirm our theory's predictions