Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling of Electric Fields Inside Spacecraft Dielectrics Using In-Orbit Charging Current Data

Internal charging caused by energetic electrons is a threat to critical space infrastructure such as Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites, however, the mechanism involved and its relationship to space weather is still poorly understood. While the electric field developed inside on-board dielectrics is accepted to be of prime importance, it has never been measured in orbit. On the other hand, internal charging currents have now been measured in a GPS-like medium Earth orbit (MEO) over a ten-year period, so we have used these data to model the electric fields of concern. The measured charging currents provide both charge deposition and dose rate inputs to the electric field model, the latter allowing the introduction of radiation-induced conductivity (RIC) to improve realism. As expected we find that RIC is a mitigating factor for the electric fields but they can still become very large, e.g., a 1.0-mm thickness of PEEK under 0.5 mm of Al shielding would be at risk of breakdown almost throughout the mission. We find that RIC tends to reduce sensitivity to space weather perturbations of the environment such as the April 2010 storm event, and hence longer term average fluxes seem to be more important. This seems physically reasonable for the examples studied but we also know that some satellite anomalies do show a correlation with space weather storms and short term (daily) electron fluences and so further work is needed to understand such cases: for example model parameters could be adjusted to see under what circumstances short term variations are more influential. To enable the progressive improvement of such modeling in future we recommend wider deployment of charging current sensors, especially in MEO and geostationary orbits.
Indoor Localization of Mobile Robots Through QR Code Detection and Dead Reckoning Data Fusion

Many techniques for robot localization rely on the assumption that both process and measurement noises are uncorrelated, white, and normally distributed. However, if this assumption does not hold, these techniques are no longer optimal and, in addition, the maximum estimation errors can be hardly kept under control. In this paper, this problem is addressed by means of a tailored extended H $_\infty$ filter (EHF) fusing odometry and gyroscope data with position and heading measurements based on quick response (QR) code landmark recognition. In particular, it is shown that, by properly tuning EHF parameters and by using an adaptive mechanism to avoid finite escape time phenomena, it is possible to achieve a higher localization accuracy than using other dynamic estimators, even if QR codes are detected sporadically. Also, the proposed approach ensures a good tradeoff in terms of computational burden, convergence time, and deployment complexity.
Heterologous Plasmid DNA Prime-Recombinant Human Adenovirus 5 Boost Vaccination Generates a Stable Pool of Protective Long-Lived CD8+ T Effector Memory Cells Specific for a Human Parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi

ABSTRACT Recently, we described a heterologous prime-boost strategy using plasmid DNA followed by replication-defective human recombinant adenovirus type 5 as a powerful strategy to elicit long-lived CD8+ T-cell-mediated protective immunity against experimental systemic infection of mice with a human intracellular protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. In the present study, we further characterized the protective long-lived CD8+ T cells. We compared several functional and phenotypic aspects of specific CD8+ T cells present 14 or 98 days after the last immunizing dose and found the following: (i) the numbers of specific cells were similar, as determined by multimer staining or by determining the number of gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-secreting cells by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay; (ii) these cells were equally cytotoxic in vivo; (iii) following in vitro stimulation, a slight decline in the frequency of multifunctional cells (CD107a+ IFN-γ+ or CD107a+ IFN-γ+ tumor necrosis factor alpha positive [TNF-α+]) was paralleled by a significant increase of CD107a singly positive cells after 98 days; (iv) the expression of several surface markers was identical, except for the reexpression of CD127 after 98 days; (v) the use of genetically deficient mice revealed a role for interleukin-12 (IL-12)/IL-23, but not IFN-γ, in the maintenance of these memory cells; and (vi) subsequent immunizations with an unrelated virus or a plasmid vaccine or the depletion of CD4+ T cells did not significantly erode the number or function of these CD8+ T cells during the 15-week period. From these results, we concluded that heterologous plasmid DNA prime-adenovirus boost vaccination generated a stable pool of functional protective long-lived CD8+ T cells with an effector memory phenotype.
Redundant Role of Tissue-Selective TAFII105 in B Lymphocytes

ABSTRACT Regulated gene expression is a complex process achieved through the function of multiple protein factors acting in concert at a given promoter. The transcription factor TFIID is a central component of the machinery regulating mRNA synthesis by RNA polymerase II. This large multiprotein complex is composed of the TATA box binding protein (TBP) and several TBP-associated factors (TAFIIs). The recent discovery of multiple TBP-related factors and tissue-specific TAFIIs suggests the existence of specialized TFIID complexes that likely play a critical role in regulating transcription in a gene- and tissue-specific manner. The tissue-selective factor TAFII105 was originally identified as a component of TFIID derived from a human B-cell line. In this report we demonstrate the specific induction of TAFII105 in cultured B cells in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To examine the in vivo role of TAFII105, we have generated TAFII105-null mice by homologous recombination. Here we show that B-lymphocyte development is largely unaffected by the absence of TAFII105. TAFII105-null B cells can proliferate in response to LPS, produce relatively normal levels of resting antibodies, and can mount an immune response by producing antigen-specific antibodies in response to immunization. Taken together, we conclude that the function of TAFII105 in B cells is likely redundant with the function of other TAFII105-related cellular proteins.
Complete Genome Sequences of 17 Rapidly Growing Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Strains

ABSTRACT We report the complete genome sequences of 17 rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) strains, including 16 Mycobacterium abscessus complex strains and one M. immunogenum strain. These sequences add value to studies of the genetic diversity of rapidly growing NTM strains recovered from human specimens.
Categorical Stigma and Firm Disengagement: Nuclear Power Generation in the United States, 1970-2000

How do organizations react to stakeholder disapproval of a category to which they belong? In this paper, we draw on the categorization, stigma, and identity literatures in building a theory to predict whether firms that are involved in stigmatized activities will choose to reduce or terminate their involvement in them, as opposed to resorting to less drastic measures such as defensive practice adoption or impression management techniques. Conceptualizing groups of organizations involved in such contentious practices as stigmatized categories in the eyes of an audience, we argue that organizational responses rest on three elements: (1) the intensity of stigma targeting the category, (2) the media exposure of the category, and (3) the extent to which an organization is a member of the category. A quantitative study of proposed new nuclear reactor units in the United States between 1970 and 2000, in the face of mounting opposition to atomic power, provides empirical support for our claims.
Cooperative estimation of geometrical placement by decentralized autonomous robots as an inter-robot service

“Universal Unipods” — it is a decentralized robots system for universal object transportation, which has been proposed by the authors. In this paper, the authors extends its ability by giving a new feature of estimating relative geometrical placement of each robot aiming at smooth and efficient object handling. The way of estimations are very simple by “shaking” the object to observe its motion. However, because robots of proposed system are mechanically connected each other and system dynamics is changed by each agent, which makes it difficult to perform estimation. Then, the authors propose two types of cooperative estimation methods. In both methods, all agents except an estimator act no to distrub the estimation cooperatively. Their validities are discussed through computer simulations.
Description of in vivo bovine myogenesis using proteomic approach gives new insights for muscle development

myogenesis can be characterized by five key stages during the foetal life. Thus, stages 60 and 110 days post conception (dpc) are witnesses of primary myoblasts and secondary myoblasts proliferation respectively. Stage 180 dpc shows the end of the proliferation step and is the point when the total number of muscle fibres is defined. The last third of bovine foetal life, encompassing 210 dpc and 260 dpc, is mainly characterised by a large metabolic and contractile differentiation step. If histological and biochemical experiments allowed the analysis of bovine myogenesis and allowed to display those stages, many questions remain about the proteomic mechanisms involved in the regulation of the: i) proliferation of the two myoblasts generations, ii) cellular transition proliferation/cellular alignment/fusion of the myoblasts in myotubes/ differentiation, iii) control of the total number of fibre. A proteomic approach, based on the analysis of the semitendinosus muscle from Charolais cattle at key stages, was leaded using a classical two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry strategy. We investigate the in vivo proteome of bovine muscle during semitendinosus muscle ontogenesis. Gene Ontology is a modern in silico tool that allows the attribution of a biological function to a single gene or a single protein but it can be used to characterize the main biological function of a particular cluster (composed of several proteins). Analysis of common expression profile of proteins and the use of gene ontology enables us to show some already confirm results and, above all, enables us to find other tracks to investigate the muscular development of large mammals in order to answer our issues.
The functional relevance of affect recognition errors in schizophrenia

To evaluate the clinical and ecological validity of affect recognition (AR) measures in a sample of community-dwelling schizophrenic outpatients (N = 40), we analyzed the relation of facial and vocal AR to intellectual, symptomatic, and quality-of-life criteria. Facial and vocal AR showed virtually identical patterns of association with these criteria, suggesting that both modalities of AR draw on the same underlying heteromodal capacity. Specifically, AR was correlated with a subset of intellectual abilities (verbal–semantic, executive–attentional), but was unrelated to age, education, or neuroleptic dose. In terms of clinical and ecological criteria, AR errors correlated with more severe psychotic symptoms (positive and disorganized) and with lower quality of life (relationships, community participation, and richness of intrapsychic experience). Even after controlling for subjects' intellectual abilities and illness severity, inaccurate AR was associated with bizarre behaviors (involving sociosexual interactions, clothing, appearance) and with impoverished interpersonal relations. Thus, while difficulty identifying basic affective cues is related to general cognitive and illness-severity factors, it appears to have specific functional implications that do not depend on generalized impairment. Assessment of AR may identify a subgroup of schizophrenic patients who have a central defect in the heteromodal monitoring of emotional-social displays, associated with dysregulation of social behaviors and disruption of interpersonal relations. (JINS, 2000, 6, 649–658.)
Coping and Depressive Symptoms in Adults Living With Heart Failure

Background and Research Objective: This study used process coping theory as the basis for investigating how coping strategies are associated with depressive symptoms in individuals living with heart failure (HF). Demographic factors also were examined as correlates of depressive symptoms. Subjects and Methods: The convenience sample of adults living with HF (n = 75) who participated in this study ranged in age from 27 to 82 years (M = 55). Sixty-nine percent of the participants were men, 59% were married or partnered, with the majority being Caucasian and from the middle class. Subjects were recruited from a comprehensive HF program located within an academic health science center in the southeastern United States. A single wave of data collection occurred. All study questionnaires were verbally administered in a clinic room selected for privacy during a routine HF clinic visit. Results and Conclusion: Individuals who used more planful problem-solving and social support seeking coping strategies had fewer depressive symptoms, whereas individuals who used more escape-avoidance coping (eg, wishful thinking) had more depressive symptoms. When demographic factors also were included in a regression analysis assessing depressive symptoms, marital status, functional impairment, and the coping strategies of planful problem-solving and escape-avoidance were all statistically significant predictors of depression. Single individuals, those who used more escape-avoidance, less planful problem-solving coping, and more functional impairment had more depressive symptoms. These results suggest that psychosocial factors, in addition to physical parameters, and the ways individuals cope with the stressors of living with heart failure may be important predictors of depressive symptoms.
Pathological alterations in liver injury following congestive heart failure induced by volume overload in rats

Heart failure has emerged as a disease with significant public health implications. Following progression of heart failure, heart and liver dysfunction are frequently combined in hospitalized patients leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Here, we investigated the underlying pathological alterations in liver injury following heart failure. Heart failure was induced using a modified infrarenal aortocaval fistula (ACF) in male Wistar rats. Sham operated and ACF rats were compared for their morphometric and hemodynamic data, for histopathological and ultrastructural changes in the liver as well as differences in the expression of apoptotic factors. ACF-induced heart failure is associated with light microscopic signs of apparent congestion of blood vessels, increased apoptosis and breakdown of hepatocytes and inflammatory cell inifltration were observed. The glycogen content depletion associated with the increased hepatic fibrosis, lipid globule formation was observed in ACF rats. Moreover, cytoplasmic organelles are no longer distinguishable in many ACF hepatocytes with degenerated fragmented rough endoplasmic reticulum, shrunken mitochondria and heavy cytoplasm vacuolization. ACF is associated with the upregulation of the hepatic TUNEL-positive cells and proapoptotic factor Bax protein concomitant with the mitochondrial leakage of cytochrome C into the cell cytoplasm and the transfer of activated caspase 3 from the cytoplasm into the nucleus indicating intrinsic apoptotic events. Taken together, the results demonstrate that ACF-induced congestive heart failure causes liver injury which results in hepatocellular apoptotic cell death mediated by the intrinsic pathway of mitochondrial cytochrome C leakage and subsequent transfer of activated caspase 3 into to the nucleus to initiate overt DNA fragmentation and cell death.
Nosocomial Outbreak of VIM-1-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates of Multilocus Sequence Type 15: Molecular Basis, Clinical Risk Factors, and Outcome

ABSTRACT We study the epidemiology, molecular basis, clinical risk factors, and outcome involved in the clonal dissemination of VIM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in the hospital setting. All patients infected/colonized by carbapenem-nonsusceptible K. pneumoniae (CNSKP) in 2009 were included. Molecular epidemiology was studied by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Antibiotic resistance genes were analyzed by PCR and sequencing. Plasmids were studied by PFGE with S1 nuclease digestion and for incompatibility group by a PCR-based replicon typing scheme. Risk factors associated with CNSKP colonization/infection were assessed by an observational case-control study. All 55 patients studied were infected (n = 28) or colonized (n = 27) by VIM-1-producing K. pneumoniae. All but one acquired isolates of a single clone (PFGE cluster 1 [C1], sequence type 15 [ST15]), while another clone (PFGE C2, ST340) was detected in four patients. C1 isolates also produced the new extended-spectrum β-lactamase SHV-134. blaVIM-1 was carried in a class 1 integron and an untypeable plasmid of ∼50 bp. The number of days that the patient received mechanical ventilation, the use of parenteral nutrition, previous treatment with linezolid, and treatment with extended-spectrum cephalosporins for more than 7 days were detected to be independent risk factors for CNSKP acquisition. The VIM-1-producing K. pneumoniae ST15 clone has a high capacity to spread among intensive care unit patients with severe underlying conditions. A high rate of associated mortality and great difficulty in controlling the spread of this clone, without permanent behavioral changes in the personnel, were observed.
Hunter-gatherers transformed: the transition to agriculture in northern and western Euope

The quantity and quality of material from the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic in southern Scandinavia has dominated the study of this important period in northwest Europe. Recent evidence from the west of Scotland suggests that, despite a rich and varied resource base similar in many ways to that in southern Scandinavia, a very different process of change occurs. The evidence suggests a very gradual transformation, with selected parts of the farming socio-economy being being adopted at varying rates. This situation is compared with that in various parts of Europe and is considered to fit in well with a pattern of great regional diversity in the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic.
Visualizing World-Wide Web search engine results

Most of the popular WWW search engines show the documents that match the users' queries as pages of scrolled lists. If lots of information is retrieved, this is not very user friendly. Moreover, there is no mechanism to easily determine documents linked to the retrieved documents or keywords related to the query terms. The paper presents a system that allows the user to visualize various related information for the search results. We also introduce a focus+context visualization technique for the search space of WWW queries.
The Phosphoglucose Isomerase from the Hyperthermophilic ArchaeonPyrococcus furiosus Is a Unique Glycolytic Enzyme That Belongs to the Cupin Superfamily*

Pyrococcus furiosus uses a variant of the Embden-Meyerhof pathway during growth on sugars. All but one of the genes that encode the glycolytic enzymes of P. furiosushave previously been identified, either by homology searching of its genome or by reversed genetics. We here report the isolation of the missing link of the pyrococcal glycolysis, the phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), which was purified to homogeneity from P. furiosusand biochemically characterized. The P. furiosus PGI, a dimer of identical 23.5-kDa subunits, catalyzes the reversible isomerization of glucose 6-phosphate to fructose 6-phosphate, withK m values of 1.99 and 0.63 mm, respectively. An optimum pH of 7.0 has been determined in both directions, and at its optimum temperature of 90 °C the enzyme has a half-life of 2.4 h. The N-terminal sequence was used for the identification of the pgiA gene in the P. furiosus genome. The pgiA transcription start site has been determined, and a monocistronic messenger was detected inP. furiosus during growth on maltose and pyruvate. ThepgiA gene was functionally expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The deduced amino acid sequence of this first archaeal PGI revealed that it is not related to its bacterial and eukaryal counterparts. In contrast, this archaeal PGI shares similarity with the cupin superfamily that consists of a variety of proteins that are generally involved in sugar metabolism in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. As for the P. furiosus PGI, distinct phylogenetic origins have previously been reported for other enzymes from the pyrococcal glycolytic pathway. Apparently, convergent evolution by recruitment of several unique enzymes has resulted in the unique Pyrococcus glycolysis.
solation , characterization and expression analysis f the ornithine decarboxylase gene ( ODC 1 ) of the ntomopathogenic fungus , Metarhizium nisopliae aime Madrigal Pulidoa

The gene ODC1, which codes for the ornithine decarboxylase enzyme, was isolated from the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. The deduced amino acid sequence predicted a protein of 447 amino acids with a molecular weight of 49.3 kDa that contained the canonical motifs of ornithine decarboxylases. The ODC1 cDNA sequence was expressed in Escherichia coli cells; radiometric enzyme assays showed that the purified recombinant protein had ornithine decarboxylase activity. The optimum pH of the purified Odc1 protein was 8.0—8.5, and the optimum reaction temperature was 37 ◦C. The apparent Km for ornithine at a pyridoxal phosphate concentration of 20 mM was 22 M. The competitive inhibitor of ODC activity, 1,4-
Further constructive results on interconnection and damping assignment control of mechanical systems: the acrobot example

Interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control is a controller design methodology that achieves (asymptotic) stabilization of mechanical systems endowing the closed-loop system with a Hamiltonian structure with a desired energy function - that qualifies as Lyapunov function for the desired equilibrium. The assignable energy functions are characterized by a set of partial differential equations that must be solved to determine the control law. A class of underactuation degree one systems for which the partial differential equations can be explicitly solved - making the procedure truly constructive - was recently reported by the authors. In this brief note, largely motivated by the interesting acrobot example, we pursue this investigation for two degrees-of-freedom systems where a constant inertia matrix can be assigned. We concentrate then our attention on potential energy shaping and give conditions under which an explicit solution of the associated partial differential equation can be obtained. Using these results we show that it is possible to swing-up the acrobot from some configuration positions in the lower half plane, provided some conditions on the robot parameters are satisfied
SceBoost Learning Algorithm for Feature Selection

This paper proposes an improved boost learning algorithm, the SceBoost algorithm, and its application in developing fast and robust features for citrus canker detection by machine vision. The algorithm use symmetric cross entropy to eliminate redundancy among selected features using AdaBoost algorithm. Selected features are subjected to recognize citrus canker symptoms on given pictures of citrus foliage. Compared with related feature selection algorithm our method can get improvements in classification accuracy and significantly reduce computation time when reach the same requirements.