Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stat3 signaling regulates embryonic stem cell fate in a dose-dependent manner

ABSTRACT Stat3 is essential for mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) self-renewal mediated by LIF/gp130 receptor signaling. Current understanding of Stat3-mediated ESC self-renewal mechanisms is very limited, and has heretofore been dominated by the view that Stat3 signaling functions in a binary “on/off” manner. Here, in contrast to this binary viewpoint, we demonstrate a contextual, rheostat-like mechanism for Stat3's function in mESCs. Activation and expression levels determine whether Stat3 functions in a self-renewal or a differentiation role in mESCs. We also show that Stat3 induces rapid differentiation of mESCs toward the trophectoderm (TE) lineage when its activation level exceeds certain thresholds. Stat3 induces this differentiation phenotype via induction of Tfap2c and its downstream target Cdx2. Our findings provide a novel concept in the realm of Stat3, self-renewal signaling, and pluripotent stem cell biology. Ultimately, this finding may facilitate the development of conditions for the establishment of authentic non-rodent ESCs.
Interleukin 18 binding protein ameliorates ischemia/reperfusion–induced hepatic injury in mice

Inflammation‐associated oxidative stress contributes to hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Detrimental inflammatory event cascades largely depend on activated Kupffer cells (KCs) and neutrophils, as well as proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) and interleukin (IL) 18. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of IL 18 binding protein (IL 18Bp) in hepatic IRI of mice. Thirty C57BL/6 mice were allocated into 3 groups: sham operation, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), and I/R with intravenous administration of IL 18Bp. Hepatic ischemia was induced for 30 minutes by Pringle's maneuver. After 120 minutes of reperfusion, mice were euthanized, and the liver and blood samples were collected for histological, immunohistochemical, molecular, and biochemical analyses. I/R injury induced the typical liver pathology and upregulated IL‐18 expression in the liver of mice. Binding of IL 18 with IL 18Bp significantly reduced the histopathological indices of I/R liver injury and KC apoptosis. The I/R‐induced increase of TNF‐α, malondialdehyde, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels was prevented in statistically significant levels because of the pretreatment with IL 18Bp. Likewise, blocking of IL 18 ablated the I/R‐associated elevation of nuclear factor kappa B, c‐Jun, myeloperoxidase, and IL 32 and the up‐regulation of neutrophils and T‐helper lymphocytes. Administration of IL 18Bp protects the mice liver from I/R injury by intervening in critical inflammation‐associated pathways and KC apoptosis. Liver Transpl 22:237‐246, 2016. © 2015 AASLD.
Multilingual deep bottle neck features: a study on language selection and training techniques

Previous work has shown that training the neural networks for bottle neck feature extraction in a multilingual way can lead to improvements in word error rate and average term weighted value in a telephone key word search task. In this work we conduct a systematic study on a) which multilingual training strategy to employ, b) the effect of language selection and amount of multilingual training data used and c) how to ﬁnd a suitable combination for languages. We conducted our exper-iment on the key word search task and the languages of the IARPA BABEL program. In a ﬁrst step, we assessed the performance of a single language out of all available languages in combination with the target language. Based on these re-sults, we then combined a multitude of languages. We also examined the inﬂuence of the amount of training data per language, as well as different techniques for combining the languages during network training. Our experiments show that data from arbitrary additional languages does not necessarily increase the performance of a system. But when combining a suitable set of languages, a signiﬁcant gain in performance can be achieved.
Dual-color visualization of trans-Golgi network to plasma membrane traffic along microtubules in living cells.

The mechanisms and carriers responsible for exocytic protein trafficking between the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and the plasma membrane remain unclear. To investigate the dynamics of TGN-to-plasma membrane traffic and role of the cytoskeleton in these processes we transfected cells with a GFP-fusion protein, vesicular stomatitis virus G protein tagged with GFP (VSVG3-GFP). After using temperature shifts to block VSVG3-GFP in the endoplasmic reticulum and subsequently accumulate it in the TGN, dynamics of TGN-to-plasma membrane transport were visualized in real time by confocal and video microscopy. Both small vesicles (<250 nm) and larger vesicular-tubular structures (>1.5 microm long) are used as transport containers (TCs). These TCs rapidly moved out of the Golgi along curvilinear paths with average speeds of approximately 0.7 micrometer/second. Automatic computer tracking objectively determined the dynamics of different carriers. Fission and fusion of TCs were observed, suggesting that these late exocytic processes are highly interactive. To directly determine the role of microtubules in post-Golgi traffic, rhodamine-tubulin was microinjected and both labeled cargo and microtubules were simultaneously visualized in living cells. These studies demonstrated that exocytic cargo moves along microtubule tracks and reveals that carriers are capable of switching between tracks.
A study on wearable behavior navigation system - Development of simple parasitic humanoid system -

Performing general human behavior by experts' navigation is expected to be realized as wearable and ubiquitous technologies and computing develop. For simple, ordinary behavior, a person does not need the assistance of an expert. However, if one is standing next to an injured/ill person, one needs the instruction on performing first aid treatment from an expert. The wearer of the wearable behavior navigation system will be able to conduct first aid treatment as an expert would. We have developed the wearable behavior navigation systems using Augmented Reality technology, mainly for the navigation of the first aid treatment and for escape from dangerous areas, such as a building on fire. The effectiveness of the wearable navigation systems has been evaluated by a number of experiments. In this paper, the basic mechanism to realize general human behavior navigation is presented, along with the concrete configuration of the prototype of the navigation systems, and the experimental evaluation.
Effect of Grit-Blasting on the Surface Energy of Graphite/Epoxy Composites

ABSTRACT Contact-angle measurements were used to determine the surface energies of graphite/epoxy composites before and after grit-blasting with 80- and 220-grit garnet particles. Two different composite systems cured at 350°F were considered but they behaved similarly. Contact angles made by a series of liquids, including water, ethylene glycol, glycerol, formamide, and methylene iodide on as-tooled and grit-blasted composite panels were measured using a contact-angle goniometer. The contact angles were used to determine the dispersive and polar components of the surface energy . However, instead of using the contact angles made by two liquids to determine the two components of the surface energy, we used the contact angles made by several liquids and a graphical technique to determine and to improve the accuracy of the measurements. It was found that the surface energies of as-tooled composites were approximately 35 mJ/m2 and were mostly dispersive; the polar components were small. After grit-blasting with 80- or 220-grit garnet, the dispersive component of the surface energy decreased somewhat whereas the polar component increased significantly; the total surface energy after grit-blasting with 80- or 220-grit garnet was approximately 50 mJ/m2. Etching composites in oxygen plasmas had a similar effect on the dispersive and polar components of the surface energy and on the total surface energy. Grit-blasting with 220-grit alumina resulted in higher dispersive components of surface energy and lower polar components than grit-blasting with 220-grit garnet even though the total surface energy was similar after grit-blasting with 220-grit garnet and alumina. Correcting the measured surface energies for the effects of roughness resulted in small decreases in the total surface energy of the grit-blasted composites. However, even after correcting for roughness, the surface energies of the grit-blasted composites were still significantly greater than those of the as-tooled composites, indicating that grit-blasting resulted in changes in surface chemistry as well as changes in surface morphology of the composites. These changes in surface chemistry certainly included the removal of mold release agents from the as-tooled composites but probably also involved the creation of free radicals and their reaction with atmospheric oxygen to introduce oxygen-containing functional groups on the surfaces of the composites.
Two-Stage Fault-Tolerant k-ary Tree Multiprocessors

In this paper, we present a real-time faulttolerant design for an l-level k-ary tree multiprocessor with two modes of operations and examine its reconfigurability. The k-ary tree is augmented by spare nodes at stages one and two. We consider two modes of operations, one under heavy computation or hard deadline and the other under light computation or soft deadline. By utilizing the capabilities of wave-switching communication modules of the spare nodes, faulty nodes and faulty links can be tolerated. Compared with other proposed schemes, our approach can tolerate significantly more faulty components with a low overhead and no performance degradation.
Survey of low power testing of VLSI circuits

The System-On-Chip (SoC) revolution challenges both design and test engineers, especially in the area of power dissipation. Generally, a circuit or system consumes more power in test mode than in normal mode. This extra power consumption can give rise to severe hazards in circuit reliability or, in some cases, can provoke instant circuit damage. Moreover, it can create problems such as increased product cost, difficulty in performance verification, reduced autonomy of portable systems, and decrease of overall yield. Low power dissipation during test application is becoming increasingly important in today's VLSI systems design and is a major goal in the future development of VLSI design.
Small Activating RNA Restores the Activity of the Tumor Suppressor HIC-1 on Breast Cancer

HIC-1 is a gene that is hypermethylated in cancer, and commonly downregulated in human breast cancer. However, the precise mechanisms and molecular pathways regulated by HIC-1 remain unclear. We assessed HIC-1 expression on a tissue microarray containing 80 cases of breast cancer. We also analyzed its biological function by restoring HIC-1 expression using 5-aza-2′ deoxycytidine (5-CdR) and small-activating RNAs for the reversal of HIC-1 tumor suppressive effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. An Agilent Q44h global expressing microarray was probed after restoring the expression of HIC-1. Data demonstrated that HIC-1 expression was reduced significantly in breast cancer tissues. HIC-1 immunohistochemistry resulted in mean staining scores in cancer tissue and normal ductal epithelia of 3.54 and 8.2, respectively (p<0.01). 5-CdR partially reversed HIC-1 expression, and modulated cell growth and apoptosis. dsHIC1-2998, an saRNA, showed activating efficacy in breast cancer cells. A group of differentially expressed genes were characterized by cDNA microarray. Upon saRNA treatment, genes upregulated included those involved in immune activation, cell cycle interference, the induction of apoptosis, anti-metastasis, and cell differentiation. Downregulated genes included oncogenes and those that play roles in cell invasion, cell growth, and cell division. Our findings may provide valuable resources not only for gene functional studies, but also for potential clinical applications to develop novel drug targets.
Refractory Metal Heat Pipe Life Test - Test Plan and Standard Operating Procedures

Refractory metal heat pipes developed during this project shall be subjected to various operating conditions to evaluate life-limiting corrosion factors. To accomplish this objective, various parameters shall be investigated, including the effect of temperature and mass fluence on long-term corrosion rate. The test series will begin with a performance test of one module to evaluate its performance and to establish the temperature and power settings for the remaining modules. The performance test will be followed by round-the-clock testing of 16 heat pipes. All heat pipes shall be nondestructively inspected at 6-month intervals. At longer intervals, specific modules will be destructively evaluated. Both the nondestructive and destructive evaluations shall be coordinated with Los Alamos National Laboratory. During the processing, setup, and testing of the heat pipes, standard operating procedures shall be developed. Initial procedures are listed here and, as hardware is developed, will be updated, incorporating findings and lessons learned.
Robust inference of gene regulatory networks from multiple microarray datasets

Multiple time-course microarray datasets with the same underlying gene network are collected from different experiments. The inference of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) can be improved by integrating these datasets. Microarray data may be contaminated with large errors or outliers, which may affect the inference results. A novel method, Huber group LASSO, is proposed to reconstruct the GRNs from multiple datasets as well as taking the robustness into account. To solve the optimization problem involved in the proposed method, an efficient algorithm which combines the ideas of auxiliary function minimization and block coordinate descent is developed. Simulations and real data applications demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. Results show that the proposed method outperforms the group LASSO method and is able to reconstruct reasonably good GRNs from multiple datasets even the number of genes exceeds the number of observations.
Run-time power gating of on-chip routers using look-ahead routing

Since on-chip routers in network-on-chips play a key role in on-chip communication between cores, they should be always preparing for packet injections even if a part of cores are in standby mode, resulting in a larger standby power of routers compared with cores. The run-time power gating of individual channels in a router is one of attractive solutions to reduce the standby power of chip without affecting the on-chip communication. However, a state transition between sleep and active mode incurs the performance penalty, and turning a power switch on or off dissipates the overhead energy, which means a short-term sleep adversely increases the power consumption. In this paper, we propose a sleep control method based on look-ahead routing that detects the arrival of packets two hops ahead, so as to hide the wake-up delay and reduce the short-term sleeps of channels. Simulation results using real application traces show that the proposed method conceals the wake-up delay of less than five cycles, and more leakage power can be saved compared with the original naive method.
The influence of γ radiation on the properties of elastomers based on ethylene propylene diene terpolymer and chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber

This work aimed to study the effects of γ radiation on the properties of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer/chlorosulfonated polyethylene rubber blend reinforced with 50 phr of carbon black and cross-linked either with sulfur/tetramethylthiuram disulfide or dicumyl peroxide. Irradiation doses were 100, 200, and 400 kGy. It was observed that doses higher than 200 kGy practically destroy the assessed properties of all obtained elastomeric materials, irrespective of used curing system. However, samples cured with sulfur showed a pronounced decrease in mechanical properties.
Vaccinia Virus Proteome: Identification of Proteins in Vaccinia Virus Intracellular Mature Virion Particles

ABSTRACT Vaccinia virus is a large enveloped poxvirus with more than 200 genes in its genome. Although many poxvirus genomes have been sequenced, knowledge of the host and viral protein components of the virions remains incomplete. In this study, we used gel-free liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectroscopy to identify the viral and host proteins in purified vaccinia intracellular mature virions (IMV). Analysis of the proteins in the IMV showed that it contains 75 viral proteins, including structural proteins, enzymes, transcription factors, and predicted viral proteins not known to be expressed or present in the IMV. We also determined the relative abundances of the individual protein components in the IMV. Finally, 23 IMV-associated host proteins were also identified. This study provides the first comprehensive structural analysis of the infectious vaccinia virus IMV.
Process design for multi-stage stretch forming of aluminium alloy aircraft skin

为多级式的段形成的一条过程设计途径被联合紧张分发方法和有限元素方法建议(女性) 每个阶段总计决定最小的阶段数字和变丑。 紧张分发方法被用来计算每个阶段的变丑数量并且通过一个安全标准评估 formability。 FE 模拟作为一个分析工具被拿揭示变丑行为，以预言紧张轮廓并且在每个阶段决定过程参数。 评估热处理的效果在以后在随后的变丑期间在变丑缺点的出现上预先拉紧，为 2B06 铝合金表的多级式的单轴的紧张测试被执行。 案例研究证明途径有高可靠性和好有实行可能。
A New Record of Volutella ciliata Isolated from Crop Field Soil in Korea

Abstract During a survey of fungal species in South Korea, a species of Volutella ciliata was isolated and described based on the analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of its rDNA and its morphological characteristics. This is the first record of Volutella ciliata isolated from crop field soil in Korea.
A Comparison of Metallic, Composite and Nanocomposite Optimal Transonic Transport Wings

Current and future composite material technologies have the potential to greatly improve the performance of large transport aircraft. However, the coupling between aerodynamics and structures makes it challenging to design optimal flexible wings, and the transonic flight regime requires high fidelity computational models. We address these challenges by solving a series of high-fidelity aerostructural optimization problems that explore the design space for the wing of a large transport aircraft. We consider three different materials: aluminum, carbon-fiber reinforced composites and an hypothetical composite based on carbon nanotubes. The design variables consist of both aerodynamic shape (including span), structural sizing, and ply angle fractions in the case of composites. Pareto fronts with respect to structural weight and fuel burn are generated. The wing performance in each case is optimized subject to stress and buckling constraints. We found that composite wings consistently resulted in lower fuel burn and lower structural weight, and that the carbon nanotube composite did not yield the increase in performance one would expect from a material with such outstanding properties. This indicates that there might be diminishing returns when it comes to the application of advanced materials to wing design, requiring further investigation.
HEPATIC IRON REGULATORY GENE EXPRESSION INFLUENCED DUE TO DISTURBED ESSENTIAL TRACE ELEMENTS LEVEL

Iron and copper, the essential trace elements accomplish their numerous relevant metabolic functions appropriately in the body. Hepcidin, ferroportin-1 and transferrin are associated with iron metabolism and their expression can be affected under different physiological or pathological conditions. The aim of the current study was to investigate the changes in hepatic gene expression of these iron regulatory proteins in response to acute Fe & Cu intoxication. Male Wistar Rats were categorized in three experimental groups (G-I: FeSO4, 60mg/kg; G-II: CuSO4, 10mg/kg; G-III: FeSO4, 30mg/kg & CuSO4, 5mg/kg), against a control group. Animals were sacrificed after 24h of acute intra-peritoneal administration. Liver was excised, cut into small pieces and processed for genetic expression analysis. Hepatic hepcidin gene expression was up-regulated in G-I & G-III, whereas it was down-regulated in the G-II, when compared with the control group and with its more expression in G-I. Hepatic ferroportin-1 gene expression was down-regulated and had shown an inverse relation to the hepcidin gene expression. Hepatic transferrin gene expression was down-regulated in G-II, in comparison with the control group, whereas in G-I & G-III, no detectable level was observed. Taken together these findings it can be concluded that gene expression can significantly be affected due to disturbed levels of the essential trace elements.
Detecting Service Chains and Feature Interactions in Sensor-Driven Home Network Services

Sensor-driven services often cause chain reactions, since one service may generate an environmental impact that automatically triggers another service. We first propose a framework that can formalize and detect such service chains based on ECA (event, condition, action) rules. Although the service chain can be a major source of feature interactions, not all service chains lead to harmful interactions. Therefore, we then propose a method that identifies feature interactions within the service chains. Specifically, we characterize the degree of deviation of every service chain by evaluating the gap between expected and actual service states. An experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed method successfully detects 11 service chains and 6 feature interactions within 7 practical sensor-driven services.
Design and Evaluation of a Low-Cost Smartphone Pulse Oximeter

Infectious diseases such as pneumonia take the lives of millions of children in low- and middle-income countries every year. Many of these deaths could be prevented with the availability of robust and low-cost diagnostic tools using integrated sensor technology. Pulse oximetry in particular, offers a unique non-invasive and specific test for an increase in the severity of many infectious diseases such as pneumonia. If pulse oximetry could be delivered on widely available mobile phones, it could become a compelling solution to global health challenges. Many lives could be saved if this technology was disseminated effectively in the affected regions of the world to rescue patients from the fatal consequences of these infectious diseases. We describe the implementation of such an oximeter that interfaces a conventional clinical oximeter finger sensor with a smartphone through the headset jack audio interface, and present a simulator-based systematic verification system to be used for automated validation of the sensor interface on different smartphones and media players. An excellent agreement was found between the simulator and the audio oximeter for both oxygen saturation and heart rate over a wide range of optical transmission levels on 4th and 5th generations of the iPod Touch™ and iPhone™ devices.