Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semikernels and (k, l)-Kernels in Digraphs

Let D be a digraph with minimum indegree at least one. The following results are proved: a digraph D has a semikernel if and only if its line digraph $L(D)$ does; the number of (k,1)-kernels in L(D) is less than or equal to that in D; if the number of (k,l)-kernels in D is less than or equal to the number of (2,l)-kernels in L(D), and if L(D) has a (k,l)-kernel, then D has a (k',l')-kernel for $k'+l\leq k$, $l\leq l'$. As a consequence, it obtains previous results about kernels and quasikernels in the line digraph. It is also proved that any digraph has a (k,l)-kernel with $l\geq 2k-2$, $k\geq 1$, generalizing a previous result on the existence of quasikernels in digraphs.
Critical Roles for the M3–S2 Transduction Linker Domain in Kainate Receptor Assembly and Postassembly Trafficking

Kainate receptors (KARs) are neuronal proteins that exhibit a highly polarized distribution in the mammalian CNS. Assembly, intracellular trafficking, and synaptic targeting of KARs and other ionotropic glutamate receptors are processes controlled, in part, by various determinants within the constituent subunit proteins themselves. Here, we demonstrate that the linker region between the M3 and S2 domains, which in current structural models is thought to transduce ligand-binding energy into channel opening, additionally has an essential role in receptor biogenesis. Our results show that this gating-associated domain is engaged at two distinct critical stages of KAR biogenesis: first, during the transition from dimeric to tetrameric assembly states and, second, at a postassembly trafficking checkpoint within the endoplasmic reticulum. Alteration of a basic residue, arginine 663, altered the desensitization properties of the GluR6 kainate receptor in response to glutamate application, and these changes were weakly correlated with intracellular retention of the mutant receptors. Elimination of the positive charge also significantly attenuated oligomerization and stability of the intracellular subunit protein. Furthermore, charge swapping with an adjacent residue, glutamate 662, normalized the receptor physiological behavior and reversed the deficits in assembly and degradation, but only partially restored plasma membrane expression of the receptors. These results reveal a new role for this linker domain in glutamate receptor biogenesis and contribute to understanding the cellular controls of receptor assembly and trafficking, which will be important for relating receptor stoichiometry to their neuronal targeting and function.
Word Embeddings for User Profiling in Online Social Networks

User profiling in social networks can besignificantly augmented by using available full-text itemssuch as posts or statuses and ratings (in the form oflikes) that users give them. In this work, we applymodern natural language processing techniques basedon word embeddings to several problems related touser profiling in social networks. First, we present anapproach to create user profiles that measure a user’sinterest in various topics mined from the full texts of theitems. As a result, we get a user profile that can be used,e.g., for cold start recommendations for items, targetedadvertisement, and other purposes; our experimentsshow that the interests mining method performs on alevel comparable with collaborative algorithms while atthe same time being a cold start approach, i.e., itdoes not use the likes of an item being recommended.Second, we study the problem of predicting a user’sdemographic attributes such as age and gender basedon his or her full-text items. We evaluate theefficiency of various age prediction algorithms based onword2vec word embeddings and conduct an extensiveexperimental evaluation, comparing these algorithmswith each other and with classical baseline approaches.
Effectiveness of leukocyte immunotherapy in primary recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA).

BACKGROUND Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is defined as three or more sequential abortions before the twentieth week of gestation. There are evidences to support an allo-immunologic mechanism for RSA. One of the methods for treatment of RSA is leukocyte therapy; however there is still controversy about effectiveness of this method. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of leukocyte therapy for treatment of RSA. METHODS Ninety two non-pregnant women with at least three sequential abortions (60 primary & 32 secondary aborters) recognized as RSA were referred to our Laboratory for immunotherapy. All the cases were immunized by isolated lymphocytes from their husbands. Fifty to 100 million washed and resuspended mononuclear cells were injected by I.V. , S.C. , and I.D. route. The result of each injection was checked by WBC cross matching between couples after four weeks of injections. Immunization was repeated in fifth week to a maximum of 3 times if needed. Eighty one age-matched non-pregnant RSA women (52 primary and 29 secondary aborters) with at least three sequential abortions were also included in this study as controls. The control group was not immunized. RESULTS 67 out of 92 (72.8%) immunized cases and 44 out of 81 controls (54.3%) showed a successful outcome of pregnancy (p<0.02). Comparison of primary and secondary aborters indicated a significantly better outcome only in primary (75% vs. 42.3%. p<0.001) but not in secondary aborters (68.8% vs. 75.9%, p = 0.7). CONCLUSION The present investigation showed the effectiveness of leukocyte therapy in primary but not in secondary RSA patients. Despite the current controversy and limitation of leukocyte therapy in RSA, the results of our investigation provide evidence supporting the use of allo-immunization in improving the outcome of pregnancy in primary RSA patients.
Involvement of spinal motor neurons in parkin‐positive autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism

We intensively examined the spinal cord of an autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (ARJP) female patient with a homozygous exon 3 deletion in the parkin gene, anticipating a possible involvement of anterior horn neurons. Although the clinical features of the patient were consistent with parkinsonism as a result of parkin mutation, her tendon reflex was abolished in the lower limbs. This feature was in contrast with hyperreflexia, usually found in previous reports of ARJP. Histologically, on the level of the cervical, thoracic, and sacral spinal cord, anterior horn neurons were well preserved and normal. However, the lumbar spinal cord exhibited many swellings of proximal axons (spheroids) and degenerative changes in the somata of the large anterior horn neurons such as central chromatolysis, cystatin C‐negative small eosinophilic inclusions, and eosinophilic Lewy body‐like inclusions. Ultrastructurally, accumulations of neurofilaments and abnormal structures, such as inclusion bodies similar to skein‐like inclusions and disorganized rough endoplasmic reticulum, were observed in the somata and neuronal processes. Lewy body‐like inclusions in this study were positively immunostained for both α‐synuclein and ubiquitin that closely resemble Lewy bodies, but are different from Lewy body‐like inclusions negatively immunostained for α‐synuclein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These findings suggest that eosinophilic inclusions that closely resemble Lewy bodies may be formed in the spinal motor neurons of ARJP patients with parkin mutations and the motor neurons of these patients may be vulnerable to neurodegeneration.
Computational complexity of controllability/observability problems for combinational circuits

The computational complexity of fault detection problems and various controllability and observability problems for combinational logic circuits are analyzed. It is shown that the fault detection problem is still NP-complete even for monotone circuits limited in fanout, i.e. the number of signal lines which fanouts from a signal line is limited to three. It is also shown that the observability problem for unate circuits is NP-complete, but that the controllability problem for unate circuits can be solved in time complexity O(m), where m is the number of lines in a circuit. Furthermore, two classes of circuits, called k-binate-bounded circuits and k-bounded circuits, are introduced. For k-binate-bounded circuits, the controllability problem is solvable in polynomial time, and for k-bounded circuits, the fault detection problem is solvable in polynomial time, when k<or=log p(m) for some polynomial p(m). The class of k-bounded circuits includes many practical circuits such as decoders, adders, one-dimensional cellular arrays, two-dimensional cellular arrays, etc.<<ETX>>
Review article: infliximab therapy for inflammatory bowel disease – seven years on

Infliximab, the chimeric monoclonal IgG1 antibody to tumour necrosis factor, is indicated for refractory luminal and fistulizing Crohn's disease and extra‐intestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. Recently, the active ulcerative colitis trials (ACT) studies have shown that infliximab is also efficacious to treat ulcerative colitis resistant to standard therapy. Induction with 5 mg/kg infliximab at weeks 0, 2 and 6 is advocated.
IL-33 Activates B1 Cells and Exacerbates Contact Sensitivity

B1 B cells produce natural IgM and play a critical role in the early defense against bacterial and viral infection. The polyreactive IgM also contributes to the clearance of apoptotic products and plays an important role in autoimmune pathogenesis. However, the mechanism of activation and proliferation of B1 cells remains obscure. In this study, we report that IL-33, a new member of IL-1 family, activates B1 cells, which express the IL-33 receptor α, ST2. IL-33 markedly activated B1 cell proliferation and enhanced IgM, IL-5, and IL-13 production in vitro and in vivo in a ST2-dependent manner. The IL-33–activated B1 cell functions could be largely abolished by IL-5 neutralization and partially reduced by T cell or mast cell deficiency in vivo. ST2-deficient mice developed less severe oxazolone-induced contact sensitivity (CS) than did wild-type (WT) mice. Furthermore, IL-33 treatment significantly exacerbated CS in WT mice with enhanced B1 cell proliferation and IgM and IL-5 production. Moreover, IL-33–activated B1 cells from WT mice could adoptively transfer enhanced CS in ST2−/− mice challenged with IL-33. Thus, we demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, a hitherto unrecognized mechanism of B1 cell activation and IL-33 function, and suggest that IL-33 may play an important role in delayed-type hypersensitivity.
Cleavage and 3H‐uridine incorporation in bovine embryos of high in vitro developmental potential

The timing of genome activation in bovine embryos is still not well defined. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate transcription in bovine embryos with a high potential to develop in culture after in vitro fertilization, by examining, autoradiographically, their incorporation of 3H‐uridine. Initial experiments determined that developmental potential in vitro could be related to the time of first division of the zygote. Embryos that completed their first cleavage within 30 hours of exposure to sperm were more likely to develop into blastocysts (65.7%) and to hatch (50.9%). Using such embryos, it was found that 10 of 12 8‐cell and all 11 4‐cell stage embryos were labeled after a 2–4‐hr exposure to 3H‐Uridine. Among 2‐cell stage embryos, 0 of 23, 3 of 17, 8 of 15, and 3 of 4 were labeled after exposure to 3H‐uridine of 2, 4, 7, and 10 hr, respectively. Treatment with α‐amanatin (10–100 m̈g/ml) blocked 3H‐uridine incorporation but did not inhibit cleavage during the first 4 cell cycles. It was concluded that transcription occurs as early as the 2‐cell stage in bovine embryos in vitro but is not critical to the first four cell cycles. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Serial office‐based steroid injections for treatment of idiopathic subglottic stenosis

Current treatment options for idiopathic subglottic stenosis include endoscopic interventions, resection, and tracheotomy. Recently, serial office‐based steroid injections were proposed as an alternative that may stabilize or induce regression of airway stenosis without the need for repeated operations. Procedure completion rate, pain, complications, effect on stenosis, time since the last operation, and limitations have not been described.
Controlled release of antihypertensive drug from the interpenetrating network poly(vinyl alcohol)–guar gum hydrogel microspheres

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-guar gum interpenetrating network microspheres were prepared by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. Nifedipine, an antihypertesive drug, was loaded into these matrices before and after cross-linking to study its release patterns. The extent of cross-linking was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Furthermore, the microspheres were characterized for drug entrapment efficiency, particle size, transport of water into the matrix and drug release kinetics. Scanning electron microscopic photographs confirmed the spherical nature and surface morphology. The mean particle size of the microspheres was found to be around 300 μm. The molecular transport phenomenon, as studied by the dynamic swelling experiments, indicated that an increase in cross-linking affected the transport mechanism from Fickian to non-Fickian. The in vitro release study indicated that the release from these microspheres is not only dependent upon the extent of cross-linking, but also on the amount of the drug loaded as well as the method of drug loading.
Motion Tracking in 2D Ultrasound Using Vessel Models and Robust Optic-Flow

Planned delivery of focused therapy is adversely affected by internal body motion, such as from breathing, which could be mitigated, if tracked accurately in real-time. By extending an algorithm for super�- cial vein tracking, we hereby present a robust real-time motion tracking method for 2D ultrasound image sequences of the liver. The method leverages elliptic and template-based models of vessels in the liver, cou- pled with a robust optic-ow framework. Potential drifts in this iterative tracking are corrected when the breathing phase is close to that of the initial reference frame, detected by comparing the appearance of tracked feature regions. Results are evaluated on the CLUST-2015 dataset, with 1.09 mm mean and 2.42 mm 95th percentile errors in 24 2D test sequences collected from four different centers.
APOE genotype, cholesterol level, lipid-lowering treatment, and dementia

Objective: To examine the association of plasma cholesterol levels, lipid-lowering agent (LLA) intake, and APOE genotype with dementia prevalence. Methods: The Three-City Study is a population-based cohort of 9,294 subjects selected from the electoral rolls of three French cities (Bordeaux, Dijon, Montpellier). Baseline examination included extensive assessment of exposure to vascular risk factors (including cholesterol levels and LLA use [statin or fibrate]) and clinical diagnosis of dementia. Results: Two percent of participants were demented at baseline. Overall 32.4% of participants had hyperlipidemia, and 15.6% were prescribed statins and 13.7% fibrates. After adjusting for age, gender, education level, and study center, the odds ratio (OR) for dementia was observed to be lower among LLA users (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.41 to 0.91) compared with subjects taking no LLAs. There was no differential effect between statin and fibrate users. The odds for dementia were increased in subjects with hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.99). Further adjustment for potential confounders did not modify these associations. In addition, the association between LLA intake and dementia was not modified by APOE genotype, whereas hyperlipidemia was significantly associated with increased dementia prevalence only in non-ε4 carriers and non-Alzheimer disease cases. Finally, in participants taking LLAs, the odds for dementia were decreased only in those having normal lipid levels. Conclusions: This observational study provides further evidence that lipid-lowering agents are associated with decreased risk of dementia, whereas hyperlipidemia is associated with increased odds for non-Alzheimer-disease-type dementia. These effects appear to be independent of all major potential confounders.
The Levels of Soluble versus Insoluble Brain Aβ Distinguish Alzheimer's Disease from Normal and Pathologic Aging

The abundance and solubility of Abeta peptides are critical determinants of amyloidosis in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hence, we compared levels of total soluble, insoluble, and total Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 in AD brains with those in age-matched normal and pathologic aging brains using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Since the measurement of Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 depends critically on the specificity of the monoclonal antibodies used in the sandwich ELISA, we first demonstrated that each assay is specific for Abeta1-40 or Abeta1-42 and the levels of these peptides are not affected by the amyloid precursor protein in the brain extracts. Thus, this sandwich ELISA enabled us to show that the average levels of total cortical soluble and insoluble Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 were highest in AD, lowest in normal aging, and intermediate in pathologic aging. Remarkably, the average levels of insoluble Abeta1-40 were increased 20-fold while the average levels of insoluble Abeta1-42 were increased only 2-fold in the AD brains compared to pathologic aging brains. Further, the soluble pools of Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 were the largest fractions of total Abeta in the normal brain (i.e., 50 and 23%, respectively), but they were the smallest in the AD brain (i.e., 2.7 and 0.7%, respectively) and intermediate (i.e., 8 and 0.8%, respectively) in pathologic aging brains. Thus, our data suggest that pathologic aging is a transition state between normal aging and AD. More importantly, our findings imply that a progressive shift of brain Abeta1-40 and Abeta1-42 from soluble to insoluble pools and a profound increase in the levels of insoluble Abeta1-40 plays mechanistic roles in the onset and/or progression of AD.
Sentiment Analysis of a German Twitter-Corpus

The amount of easily accessible texts in diﬀerent languages on the internet grows daily and so the eﬀort and need to organize these texts grows as well. An automated process is needed to extract useful information, like a sentiment, from this amount of published text. This paper deals with the extraction of a sentiment, divided into three classes, from tweets written in German language. Diﬀerent machine learning algorithms and a variety of preprocessing steps are compared to ﬁnd the optimal combination. While most work in this ﬁeld aims at English-language tweets, this paper adapts and transfers these ideas to German-language tweets. The results are compared to the ﬁndings of other projects designed for English-language tweets. Further it is shown that the impact of the chosen feature encoding on the results is most signiﬁcant.
Electrical Insulation of HTS Coils in Saturated Iron Core Superconducting Fault Current Limiter

HTS coil is a key component for saturated iron core superconducting fault current limiter (SISFCL), which does not quench during all kinds of operation conditions of SISFCL. Voltages of the HTS coils have big differences among different operation conditions of SISFCL. During the normal operation, large dc current loaded on the HTS coils magnetize the iron core to saturated, and voltage on the HTS coils is very low. When a short-circuit fault occurs in the grid, dc current is cut off in milliseconds, resulting in high induced voltage on the HTS coils. After the fault is clear, a dc voltage is applied on the HTS coils for rapid magnetization of iron core. Design of electrical insulation for HTS coils is based on the above working conditions. In this paper, a dc breakdown test results of HTS tapes wrapped with Kapton as turn insulation, and the insulation structure, and the electrical test results of the HTS coils in 220 kV SISFCL are introduced in detail. Now, in-live operation of the 220 kV SISFCL also shows that the electric insulation of HTS coils is satisfied, reliable, and safe.
Does Recollection of Exposure to Poor Maternal Care in Childhood Affect Later Ability to Relate?

The study tested Bowlby's hypothesis that experiencing the poor relating of parents in childhood predisposes the individual to poor relating in adult life. Data were drawn from two community samples: a younger sample of 25–34-year-old married women, and an older one of 40–49-year-old women. Data were also drawn from the husbands of the women in the younger sample. It focused on the single childhood variable of the recollection of poor maternal care. To avoid the effect of this on depression or other psychopathology, groups who were depressed and not depressed, or who were at different levels of psychopathology, were examined separately. Recollection of poor early care was associated with poor relating, lower age at marriage, poor-quality marriage and divorce from first marriage. There was a suggestion that the effects of the recollection of poor early care of marital partners summate.
Coronin 1 Is Essential for IgM-Mediated Ca2+ Mobilization in B Cells but Dispensable for the Generation of Immune Responses In Vivo1

Coronin 1 is a leukocyte specific regulator of Ca2+-dependent signaling and is essential for the survival of peripheral T lymphocytes, but its role in B cells is unknown. In this study, we show that coronin 1 is essential for intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and proliferation upon triggering of the BCR. However, the presence of costimulatory signals rendered coronin 1 dispensable for B cell signaling, consistent with the generation of normal immune responses against a variety of Ags in coronin 1-deficient mice. We conclude that coronin 1, while being essential for T cell function and survival, is dispensable for B cell function in vivo.
The role of older siblings in the sexual and reproductive health of Mexican-origin young women in immigrant families

Abstract In the USA, young people of Mexican-origin are more economically disadvantaged and experience higher birth rates than many other Latino groups. In this paper, we examine the influence of older siblings on the sexual and reproductive health of Mexican-origin immigrant women. Qualitative data were drawn from life history interviews with 21 first- and second-generation Mexican-origin women, aged 27–41 years old, resident in the Metro Denver area. Data suggest that older siblings may protect younger sisters from risky sexual behaviours through older siblings’ responsibility and care for younger siblings, close and supportive sibling relationships, older siblings’ advice about both sexual health and academic success, and sibling modelling. These mechanisms appear particularly protective due to the social and economic hardships immigrant families often face. Implications include fostering healthy sibling relationships and involving older siblings more fully in the sexuality education of younger siblings.
Board independence and operating performance: analysis on (French) company and individual data

ABSTRACT This article studies the relationship between board independence and firm operating performance in French listed companies. We take advantage of an original database, with a time-series dimension that can be used to mitigate heterogeneity and dynamic endogeneity issues. In addition, this database can be disaggregated at the individual (director) level. This design enables us to introduce firm fixed effects and individual fixed effects in firm performance equations, thereby controlling for heterogeneity at the firm and individual levels. Our main result is to document a significant negative relationship between independence and accounting performance. This result suggests that, in the French context, the costs of independence (i.e. the informational gap supported by independent directors compared to insiders and affiliated directors) outweigh the benefits of independence (i.e. the reduction in agency costs).