Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CXCR 1 / CXCR 2 antagonist CXCL 8 ( 3-74 ) K 11 R / G 31 P blocks lung inflammation in swine barn dust-instilled mice

Inhalation of agricultural occupational dusts from swine confinement facilities can result in lung inflammation. The innate immune response to organic barn dusts results in production of a number of pro-inflammatory factors in the lungs of barn workers such as cytokines, chemokines, and an influx of neutrophils. Many of these inflammatory factors are influenced by the chemokine CXCL8/IL-8 (KC or MIP-2 in mice). Previously, we have demonstrated that an endotoxinindependent component of swine barn dust extract (SBE) elevates lung chemokines in a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent manner resulting in the significant formation of lung inflammatory cell infiltrates in a mouse model of SBE injury. In this study we test the ability of a CXCR1/CXCR2 antagonist, CXCL8(3-74)K11R/G31P (G31P) to block many of the features of lung-inflammation in response to challenge with SBE in an established mouse exposure system. Injection of G31P concurrent with SBE nasal instillation over a course of 3 weeks significantly reduced neutrophil accumulation in the lungs of barn dust exposed animals compared to those given SBE alone. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Corresponding Author: Todd Wyatt, PhD, 985910 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198, twyatt@unmc.edu, 402-552-7238 (phone), 402-559-8210 (fax). Contributing Authors’ contact information: David Schneberger: 985910 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198 d.schneberger@unmc.edu John Gordon: Rm 2D30.8 HSc Building, 107 Wiggins Rd, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5. john.gordon@usask.ca Art J. Heires: 988090 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198 aheires@unmc.edu Jane DeVasure: 985300 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198 japoole@unmc.edu Jessica Boten: 985300 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198 jaboten@unmc.edu Debra Romberger: 988090 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha NE 68198 dromberg@unmc.edu Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. HHS Public Access Author manuscript Pulm Pharmacol Ther. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 April 01. Published in final edited form as: Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2015 April ; 31: 55–62. doi:10.1016/j.pupt. 2015.02. 002. A uhor M anscript
Phase sensitive distributed vibration sensing using double-pulse for ultra-weak FBG array

A distributed vibration sensing technique using double optical pulse based on phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) and ultra-weak FBG (UWFBG) array is proposed for the first time. The single mode sensing fiber is integrated with UWFBG array which has uniform spatial interval and ultra-weak reflectivity. The relatively high reflectivity of the UWFBG, compared with the Rayleigh backscattering(RBS), gains a high SNR for the signal, which can make the system achieve the maximum detectable frequency limited by the round trip time of the probe pulse in fiber. A corresponding experimental Φ-OTDR system with a 4.5 km sensing fiber integrated with UWFBG array was setup for the evaluation of the system performance. Distributed vibration sensing is successfully realized with spatial resolution of 50 m. The sensing range of the vibration frequency can cover from 3 Hz to 9 kHz.
Risk factors for contact allergy to nickel – results of a multifactorial analysis

To quantify the independent impact of potential risk factors for nickel contact allergy (NCA), a multifactorial Poisson regression analysis of standardized anamnestic and patch test data (with nickel sulfate, 5% in petrolatum) was performed, comprising 74 940 patients assessed in the 33 German and Austrian contact dermatitis units of the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) between 1992 and 2000. NCA was observed in 15.5% patients. Female sex was the strongest risk factor (prevalence ratio 3.74, 95% CI: 3.51–3.98). Risk increased monotonically and significantly with decreasing age. Atopic dermatitis was not a risk factor. The year of patch test had no influence on NCA risk. Significant variation of risk between occupations was observed. In conclusion, our multifactorial analysis was able to quantify the impact of established risk factors and additionally address other, e.g. occupational, factors yet unidentified.
Strategy‐proof tie‐breaking in matching with priorities

A set of indivisible objects is allocated among agents with strict preferences. Each object has a weak priority ranking of the agents. A collection of priority rankings, a priority structure, is solvable if there is a strategy-proof mechanism that is constrained efficient, i.e. that always produces a stable matching that is not Pareto-dominated by another stable matching. We characterize all solvable priority structures satisfying the following two restrictions: (A) Either there are no ties, or there is at least one four-way tie. (B) For any two agents i and j, if there is an object that assigns higher priority to i than j, there is also an object that assigns higher priority to j than i. We show that there are at most three types of solvable priority structures: The strict type, the house allocation with existing tenants (HET) type, where, for each object, there is at most one agent who has strictly higher priority than another agent, and the task allocation with unqualified agents (TAU) type, where, for each object, there is at most one agent who has strictly lower priority than another agent. Out of these three, only HET priority structures are shown to admit a strongly group strategy-proof and constrained efficient mechanism.
Antimicrobial activity of Rubus imperialis ( Rosaceae )

In this work the possible antimicrobial activity of crude methanol extract (CE), hexane, ethyl acetate and butanol fractions, as well as four pure compounds obtained from Rubus imperialis roots was evaluated. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined using the agar dilution method. The experiments showed that the extract and some fractions exhibited antimicrobial action, particularly against the Gram-positive bacteria tested, with MIC values between 0.5 and 2.0 mg/mL. RESUMEN. “Actividad antimicrobiana de Rubus imperialis (Rosaceae)”. En este trabajo se evaluó la posible actividad antimicrobiana del extracto metanólico crudo (CE), de algunas fracciones, tales como hexano, acetato de etilo y butanol, así como de cuatro compuestos puros obtenidos de raíces de Rubus imperialis. Las concentraciones inhibitorias mínimas (MIC) fueron determinadas usando el método de la dilución en agar. Los experimentos demostraron que el extracto y algunas fracciones exhibieron acción antimicrobiana, particularmente contra las bacterias Gram-positivas probadas, con valores de MIC entre 0,5 y 2,0 mg/mL.
Efficient Emotion Recognition from Speech Using Deep Learning on Spectrograms

We present a new implementation of emotion recognition from the para-lingual information in the speech, based on a deep neural network, applied directly to spectrograms. This new method achieves higher recognition accuracy compared to previously published results, while also limiting the latency. It processes the speech input in smaller segments – up to 3 seconds, and splits a longer input into non-overlapping parts to reduce the prediction latency. The deep network comprises common neural network tools – convolutional and recurrent networks – which are shown to effectively learn the information that represents emotions directly from spectrograms. Convolution-only lower-complexity deep network achieves a prediction accuracy of 66% over four emotions (tested on IEMOCAP – a common evaluation corpus), while a combined convolution-LSTM higher-complexity model achieves 68%. The use of spectrograms in the role of speech-representing features enables effective handling of background non-speech signals such as music (excl. singing) and crowd noise, even at noise levels comparable with the speech signal levels. Using harmonic modeling to remove non-speech components from the spectrogram, we demonstrate significant improvement of the emotion recognition accuracy in the presence of unknown background non-speech signals.
Exploiting domain knowledge for cross-domain text classification in heterogeneous data sources

With the growing amount of data generated in large heterogeneous repositories (such as the Word Wide Web, corporate repositories, citation databases), there is an increased need for the end users to locate relevant information efficiently. Text Classification (TC) techniques provide automated means for classifying fragments of text (phrases, paragraphs or documents) into predefined semantic types, allowing an efficient way for organising and analysing such large document collections. Current approaches to TC rely on supervised learning, which perform well on the domains on which the TC system is built, but tend to adapt poorly to different domains. This thesis presents a body of work for exploring adaptive TC techniques across hetero- geneous corpora in large repositories with the goal of finding novel ways of bridging the gap across domains. The proposed approaches rely on the exploitation of domain knowledge for the derivation of stable cross-domain features. This thesis also investigates novel ways of estimating the performance of a TC classifier, by means of domain similarity measures. For this purpose, two novel knowledge-based similarity measures are proposed that capture the usefulness of the selected cross-domain features for cross-domain TC. The evaluation of these approaches and measures is presented on real world datasets against various strong baseline methods and content-based measures used in transfer learning. This thesis explores how domain knowledge can be used to enhance the representation of documents to address the lexical gap across the domains. Given that the effectiveness of a text classifier largely depends on the availability of annotated data, this thesis explores techniques which can leverage data from social knowledge sources (such as DBpedia and Freebase). Techniques are further presented, which explore the feasibility of exploiting different semantic graph structures from knowledge sources in order to create novel cross- domain features and domain similarity metrics. The methodologies presented provide a novel representation of documents, and exploit four wide coverage knowledge sources: DBpedia, Freebase, SNOMED-CT and MeSH. The contribution of this thesis demonstrates the feasibility of exploiting domain knowl- edge for adaptive TC and domain similarity, providing an enhanced representation of docu- ments with semantic information about entities, that can indeed reduce the lexical differences between domains.
Quality Triangulations with Locally Optimal Steiner Points

We propose two novel ideas to improve the performance of Delaunay refinement algorithms which are used for computing quality triangulations. The first idea is an effective use of the Voronoi diagram and unifies previously suggested Steiner point insertion schemes (circumcenter, sink, off-center) together with a new strategy. The second idea is the integration of a new local smoothing strategy into the refinement process. These lead to two new versions of Delaunay refinement, where the second is simply an extension of the first. For a given input domain and a constraint angle $\alpha$, Delaunay refinement algorithms aim to compute triangulations that have all angles at least $\alpha$. The original Delaunay refinement algorithm of Ruppert is proven to terminate with size-optimal quality triangulations for $\alpha\le20.7^\circ$. In practice, the original and the consequent Delaunay refinement algorithms generally work for $\alpha\le34^\circ$ and fail to terminate for larger constraint angles. Our algorithms provide the same theoretical guarantees as the previous Delaunay refinement algorithms. The second of the proposed algorithms generally terminates for constraint angles up to $42^\circ$. Experiments also indicate that our algorithm computes significantly (about by a factor of two) smaller triangulations than the output of the previous Delaunay refinement algorithms. Moreover, the new algorithms are experimentally shown to outperform the previous algorithms even in the existence of additional constraints, such as the maximum area triangle constraint which is commonly used for computing uniform triangulations.
The crystal structure of erdite , NaFeSr ' 2 HrO

The crystal structure of the new mineral erdite, NaFeS2.2H2O, has been determined from 263 counter-measured intensity data. The mineral is monoclinic, space group A/c, with a : 10.693(l), D : 9.1l5(l), c : s.507(4)4, B : 92.t7(2), Z : 4, D (X-ray) :2.217 g/cm3. Because of the poor quality of the crystals, the reliability index after anisotropic refinement was not better than 0.170, but the structure is clearly defined. FeSo tetrahedra form chains along the c direction by sharing edges. Each Na atom is coordinated to one edge of an FeSo tetrahedron, and to four HrO molecules. The Fe-S bond length is 2.25(l)A. The (FeSr), chain is very regular and consistent with the dimensions of similar chains previously described in KFeSr, RbFeSr, CsFeSr, and TlFeSr.
Changes in ocular accommodation when shifting between global and local attention

Background: The link between cognitive changes in attentional focus and the physiological parameters of the eye is not well understood. The aim of the current work was to examine the role of ocular accommodation, that is, the process of changing the shape of the crystalline lens in order to focus an image onto the retina, in active shifts of visual attention between global and local information.
Frequent Trinexapac‐ethyl Applications Reduce Nitrogen Requirements of Creeping Bentgrass Golf Putting Greens

The plant growth regulator trinexapac-ethyl (TE) [4-(cyclopropyl-a-hydroxymethylene)-3,5dioxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid ethylester] reduces turfgrass clipping yield and enhances turfgrass color and density. Typically, such responses are achieved through alteration of N application rate, yet few have comprehensively investigated the effect of TE on turfgrass N requirements. We hypothesized that TE reduces putting green N requirements without sacrifi cing turfgrass quality. A three year study was conducted on a creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) putting green with treatments consisting of three N application rates (5, 10, and 20 kg N ha–1 14 d–1) with or without TE application. To sustain season-long growth suppression, TE was applied at 0.10 kg a.i. ha–1 every 200 growing degree days (GDD; base 0°C). Turfgrass yield and color were quantifi ed every other week, and clipping tissue N content was analyzed monthly. Clipping yield, tissue N content, N removal, and color index increased with N rate. All attributes responded linearly to N application rate. Trinexapac-ethyl enhanced color while suppressing clipping yield and nutrient removal from mowing. As a result, TE reduced creeping bentgrass putting green N requirements by 25% conservatively and on several occasions by greater than 50%. W.C. Kreuser, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; D.J. Soldat, Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706. Received 18 July 2011. *Corresponding author (wck38@cornell.edu). Abbreviations: GDD, growing degree days; TE, trinexapac-ethyl. Published in Crop Sci. 52:1348–1357 (2012). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2011.07. 0364 © Crop Science Society of America | 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher.
The vaccinia virus 4c and A-type inclusion proteins are specific markers for the intracellular mature virus particle

Gel analysis of vaccinia virus particles purified by buoyant [correction of bouyant] density demonstrates a protein with an estimated molecular mass of 59 kDa, which is apparently restricted to the intracellular mature virion (IMV) form. Western blotting (immunoblotting) and immunoprecipitation procedures identify the protein as the vaccinia virus 4c protein, which facilitates occlusion of poxvirus particles within cowpox cytoplasmic inclusions. Western blotting procedures also identify the truncated A-type inclusion protein of vaccinia virus as a specific marker for IMV particles. Kinetic analyses of virion maturation and 4c production suggest that peak enveloped virion production occurs before peak IMV production in the virus replication cycle and that 4c production is concomitant with maturation of IMV. The implications for a distinct and evolutionarily conserved function of IMV in viral pathogenesis are discussed.
IL-23: changing the verdict on IL-12 function in inflammation and autoimmunity

IL-12 and IL-23 are molecules mainly produced by activated accessory and antigen-presenting cells. The tools for studying the biology of IL-12 in man and laboratory rodents have greatly advanced our appreciation of the central role of this molecule in cell-mediated immunity and inflammation. In particular, IL-12 is thought to be the prime-regulator of TH1 development. Targeting what was thought to be IL-12 function in vivo, resulted in drastic amelioration of inflammation and autoimmunity firmly linking TH1 polarisation to autoimmune development. Upon discovery of IL-23 and the fact that the large subunit of IL-23 is shared by IL-12, the research community only begins to grasp that the features attributed to IL-12 and TH1 development in inflammation are, in fact, dependent on IL-23 and not on IL-12. Hence, the perception of IL-12 biology is, to a large extent, based on a mistaken identity. In this review, the authors provide an overview of their current understanding of IL-12 and IL-23 biology in inflammation and autoimmunity, and how this viewpoint has been readjusted over the past 15 years.
Mapping of Candida albicans oligomannosidic epitopes by using monoclonal antibodies

Six monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) from various laboratory sources (EB-CA1, EB-CA2, H5, AF1, C6, and 5B2), reacting with the polysaccharidic moieties of Candida albicans mannoproteins, were used for epitope mapping by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with neoglycolipids and by Western blotting (immunoblotting) of a C. albicans germ tube extract. The ELISA involved neoglycolipids constructed from three families of oligomannosides released by sequential depolymerization of C. albicans phosphopeptidomannan by acid hydrolysis (NGLH), beta-elimination (NGLO), and acetolysis (NGLA). All of the MAbs exhibited low reactivities against NGLO. MAbs EB-CA1, EB-CA2, and H5 reacted mainly against NGLA, and MAbs C6 and AF1 recognized mainly NGLH, whereas MAb 5B2 reacted with both families of neoantigens. When this method was compared with Western blotting, strong reactivity to NGLA was associated with the presence of epitopes shared by high-molecular-weight mannoproteins, whereas strong reactivity to NGLH was associated with a reactivity to a family of 14- to 18-kDa antigens. The reactivity of MAb 5B2 was associated with both high-molecular-weight mannoproteins and the 14- to 18-kDa antigens. In relation to the present knowledge about the structure of the C. albicans phosphopeptidomannan oligomannosidic repertoire, these results provide preliminary data concerning the molecular basis of the recognition of mannopyranosyl sequences by MAbs and their distribution among C. albicans mannoproteins.
Phorbol ester-induced stress and myosin light chain phosphorylation in swine carotid medial smooth muscle.

The mechanisms by which activators of protein kinase C (PKC) stimulate contractile responses in arterial smooth muscle is not known. In this study, we assessed the relative contribution of CA(++)-dependent and independent pathways in mediating phorbol ester-induced 20 kdalton myosin light chain (MLC)-phosphorylation and force in medial smooth muscle strips from swine carotid artery. Phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDB; 10(-7)M)-stimulated stress development was associated with a significant increase in the fraction of phosphorylated MLC, from 0.08 +/- 0.02 to 0.24 +/- 0.02 after 30 min of stimulation. Under conditions of Ca++ depletion, which normally do not support Ca++/calmodulin-dependent activation of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) by physiological stimuli, PDB-induced contractile responses were reduced significantly. However, after Ca2++ depletion, PDB (10(-6) M; 30 min) still caused an increase in MLC-phosphorylation from 0.10 +/- 0.02 at rest to 0.19 +/- 0.03. Preincubation with nifedipine (10(-7) M) had no significant effect on contractile responses to PDB, indicating that Ca++ influx through nifedipine-sensitive voltage channels did not contribute significantly to the observed Ca++ dependency of the PDB responses. Staurosporine (0.1-0.3 microM), a putative PKC inhibitor, significantly inhibited PDB-induced contractile and MLC phosphorylation responses. Tonic histamine (3 microM)- and KCl-induced contractile and MLC-phosphorylation responses were inhibited by the same concentrations of staurosporine. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Handedness as a major determinant of functional cradling bias

Cradling is an interactive activity, involving a manual component that is very often an integral part of cradling. Cradling, while doing something else with the free hand, is referred to here as functional cradling. This study examined the relationship between a person's handedness and what arm he or she prefers to use when functionally cradling a baby doll that resembles a newborn infant. A total of 765 participants took part in the experiment, 403 women and 362 men, between the ages of 4 and 86 years. Left- and mixed-handers were actively recruited. The sample consisted of 64.3% right-handed, 24.7% mixed-handed, and 11.0% left-handed participants. The results showed a clear tendency for participants to cradle in their non-dominant arm (p < .001). Furthermore, this tendency increased with age and it was present in both sexes, although significantly stronger in women than in men. On the other hand, experience with young children through younger siblings and/or being a parent did not increase the likelihood to cradle in the non-dominant arm. It is concluded that humans have a clear functional cradling preference for the non-dominant arm because this enables the dominant arm to engage in other tasks. This might also explain why previous studies have reported a universal left cradling bias because a right-handed majority (intuitively) keeps the dominant hand free when cradling.