Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NADPH Oxidase 4 Is Expressed in Pulmonary Artery Adventitia and Contributes to Hypertensive Vascular Remodeling

Objective— Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive disease arising from remodeling and narrowing of pulmonary arteries (PAs) resulting in high pulmonary blood pressure and ultimately right ventricular failure. Elevated production of reactive oxygen species by NADPH oxidase 4 (Nox4) is associated with increased pressure in PH. However, the cellular location of Nox4 and its contribution to aberrant vascular remodeling in PH remains poorly understood. Therefore, we sought to identify the vascular cells expressing Nox4 in PAs and determine the functional relevance of Nox4 in PH. Approach and Results— Elevated expression of Nox4 was detected in hypertensive PAs from 3 rat PH models and human PH using qualititative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunofluorescence. In the vascular wall, Nox4 was detected in both endothelium and adventitia, and perivascular staining was prominently increased in hypertensive lung sections, colocalizing with cells expressing fibroblast and monocyte markers and matching the adventitial location of reactive oxygen species production. Small-molecule inhibitors of Nox4 reduced adventitial reactive oxygen species generation and vascular remodeling as well as ameliorating right ventricular hypertrophy and noninvasive indices of PA stiffness in monocrotaline-treated rats as determined by morphometric analysis and high-resolution digital ultrasound. Nox4 inhibitors improved PH in both prevention and reversal protocols and reduced the expression of fibroblast markers in isolated PAs. In fibroblasts, Nox4 overexpression stimulated migration and proliferation and was necessary for matrix gene expression. Conclusion— These findings indicate that Nox4 is prominently expressed in the adventitia and contributes to altered fibroblast behavior, hypertensive vascular remodeling, and development of PH.
Conservation , Variability and the Modeling of Active Protein Kinases

1 Molecular Medicine Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2 The University of Ottawa Centre for Neuromuscular Disease, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 3 Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 4 Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America, 5 Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
On Cooperative and Malicious Behaviors in Multirelay Fading Channels

Multirelay networks exploit spatial diversity by transmitting user's messages through multiple relay paths. Most works in the literature on cooperative or relay networks assume that all terminals are fully cooperative and neglect the effect of possibly existing malicious relay behaviors. In this work, we consider a multirelay network that consists of both cooperative and malicious relays, and aims to obtain an improved understanding on the optimal behaviors of these two groups of relays via information-theoretic mutual information games. By modeling the set of cooperative relays and the set of malicious relays as two players in a zero-sum game with the maximum achievable rate as the utility, the optimal transmission strategies of both types of relays are derived by identifying the Nash equilibrium of the proposed game. Our main contributions are twofold. First, a generalization to previous works is obtained by allowing malicious relays to either listen or attack in Phase 1 (source-relay transmission phase). This is in contrast to previous works that only allow the malicious relays to listen in Phase 1 and to attack in Phase 2 (relay-destination transmission phase). The latter is shown to be suboptimal in our problem. Second, the impact of CSI knowledge at the destination on the optimal attack strategy that can be adopted by the malicious relays is identified. In particular, for the more practical scenario where the interrelay CSI is unknown at the destination, the constant attack is shown to be optimal as opposed to the commonly considered Gaussian attack.
Distributed Kalman filtering in the presence of packet delays and losses

Distributed Kalman filtering aims at optimizing an estimate at a fusion center based on information that is gathered in a sensor network. Recently, an exact solution based on local estimation tracks has been proposed and an extension to cope with packet losses has been derived. In this contribution, we generalize both algorithms to packet delays. The key idea is to introduce augmented measurement vectors in the sensors that permit the optimization of local filter gains according to time-dependent measurement capabilities at the fusion center. In the most general form, the algorithm provides optimized estimates in sensor networks with packets delays and losses. The precision depends on the actual arrival patterns, and the results correspond to those of the centralized Kalman filter when specific assumptions about the measurement capability are satisfied.
Drying brick masonry by electro-osmosis

When a fine grained, porous medium is subjected to an electric DC field, transport of matter occurs, and the transport mechanism in focus of the present study is that of electro-osmosis, which is transport of water. In the laboratory it was shown to be possible to transport water inside a brick and brick/mortar system in an applied electric field. Electrodes have been constructed and placed inside an old house with moisture problems due to the capillary rise of water. The water content of the experimental wall was about 14%(weight). The electro-osmotic effect was even more pronounced here than in the in the laboratory, and a clear movement of water towards the cathode was seen. Thus the basis for utilizing the electroosmotic effect for drying brick masonry is presented, but proper electrodes still needs to be developed.
Fault-Tolerant Master–Slave Synchronization for Lur'e Systems Using Time-Delay Feedback Control

This paper deals with fault-tolerant master-slave synchronization for Lur'e systems using time-delay feedback control. Taking a general nature of fault in the master system into account, a new synchronization scheme, namely, fault-tolerant master-slave synchronization, is proposed, by which the master-slave synchronization can be achieved no matter if the fault occurs or not. By making use of an observer-based fault estimator and a modified time-delay feedback controller, the fault-tolerant master-slave synchronization is formulated so as to discuss the global asymptotic stability of the error system and the bound of energy gain from fault to state and fault estimation error vectors. Some new delay-dependent criteria are derived to analyze the synchronization error system, and based on the analysis results, a sufficient condition on the existence of such a master-slave synchronization scheme and a solution to the controller and fault-estimator gain matrices are obtained in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, a Chua's circuit is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Sinomenine Hydrochloride Protects against Polymicrobial Sepsis via Autophagy

Sepsis, a systemic inflammatory response to infection, is the major cause of death in intensive care units (ICUs). The mortality rate of sepsis remains high even though the treatment and understanding of sepsis both continue to improve. Sinomenine (SIN) is a natural alkaloid extracted from Chinese medicinal plant Sinomenium acutum, and its hydrochloride salt (Sinomenine hydrochloride, SIN-HCl) is widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, its role in sepsis remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of SIN-HCl in sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in BALB/c mice and the corresponding mechanism. SIN-HCl treatment improved the survival of BALB/c mice that were subjected to CLP and reduced multiple organ dysfunction and the release of systemic inflammatory mediators. Autophagy activities were examined using Western blotting. The results showed that CLP-induced autophagy was elevated, and SIN-HCl treatment further strengthened the autophagy activity. Autophagy blocker 3-methyladenine (3-MA) was used to investigate the mechanism of SIN-HCl in vitro. Autophagy activities were determined by examining the autophagosome formation, which was shown as microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) puncta with green immunofluorescence. SIN-HCl reduced lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory cytokine release and increased autophagy in peritoneal macrophages (PM). 3-MA significantly decreased autophagosome formation induced by LPS and SIN-HCl. The decrease of inflammatory cytokines caused by SIN-HCl was partially aggravated by 3-MA treatment. Taken together, our results indicated that SIN-HCl could improve survival, reduce organ damage, and attenuate the release of inflammatory cytokines induced by CLP, at least in part through regulating autophagy activities.
Carbon Nanotubes Properties and Applications

The Element Carbon Frank Hennrich, Valerie Moore, Marco Rolandi, and Mike O'Connell Allotropes of Carbon History Structure Progress of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Research toward Application References Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes David Mann Introduction CNT Synthesis Methods Overview Specifics of CVD Growth Method Recent Advances in SWCNT Growth Control Conclusion References Carbon Nanotube Peapod Materials Satishkumar B. Chikkannanavar, Brian W. Smith, and David E. Luzzi Introduction and Historical Perspective C60@SWNT Beyond C60: Other Hierarchical Nanotube Materials Ordered Phases of Fullerenes in Larger Nanotubes Double-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Conclusions and Future Prospects Acknowledgments References Carbon Nanotube Electronics and Devices Marcus Freitag Metallic Carbon Nanotubes Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes Outlook and Challenges References Magnetic Properties Junichiro Kono and Stephan Roche Introduction Theoretical Perspectives Experimental Results Acknowledgments References Raman Spectroscopy of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Probing Electronic and Chemical Behavior Stephen K. Doorn, Daniel Heller, Monica Usrey, Paul Barone, and Michael S. Strano Introduction Resonance Raman Studies of Carbon Nanotubes Raman Characterization of Nanotube Samples and Nanotube Reactivity Conclusions References Electromechanical Properties and Applications of Carbon Nanotubes Randal J. Grow Introduction Piezoresistance Theory of Strain-Induced Band-Gap Changes in Carbon Nanotubes Electrical Measurements of Strain-Induced Band-Gap Changes in Suspended Tubes Electrical Measurements of Strain-Induced Band-Gap Changes in Tubes on a Surface Conclusion of Piezoresistance of Nanotubes Electrostatic actuation Nanoelectromechanical systems Conclusion References Carbon Nanotube-Enabled Materials Han Gi Chae, Jing Liu, and Satish Kumar Introduction Dispersion and Processing Issues Characterization of Polymer/CNT Composites CNT Films and Fibers Polymer/CNT Composite Films and Fibers Crystallization, Wrapping, Interaction, and Intercalation Concluding Remarks Acknowledgment References Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes in Composites Christopher A. Dyke and James M. Tour Introduction SWNT Preparation and Characterization Functionalized SWNTs Carbon Nanotube-Modified Composites Conclusions Acknowledgments References Carbon Nanotube Tips for Scanning Probe Microscopy C. Patrick Collier Carbon nanotubes as AFM probes Fabrication of nanotube probe tips AFM imaging with nanotube probes Applications of carbon nanotube probes Future directions Acknowledgments References Index
In Vitro Epileptic Seizure Prediction Microsystem

The architecture and VLSI implementation of an epileptic seizure prediction microsystem are presented. The microsystem comprises a neural recording interface and a seizure prediction processor. The two functional blocks have been prototyped in a 0.35 mum CMOS technology and experimentally characterized. The integrated microsystem is validated in predicting the onsets of seizures off line in an in vitro epilepsy model of recurrent spontaneous seizures in the hippocampus of mice.
Parameterized Looped Schedules for Compact Representationof Execution Sequences

This paper is concerned with the compact representation of execution sequences in terms of efficient looping constructs. Here, by a looping construct, we mean a compact way of specifying a finite repetition of a set of execution primitives. Such compaction, which can be viewed as a form of hierarchical run-length encoding (RLE), has application in many DSP system synthesis contexts, including efficient control generation for Kahn processes on FPGAs, and software synthesis for static dataflow models of computation. In this paper, we significantly generalize previous models for loop-based code compaction of DSP programs to yield a configurable code compression methodology that exhibits a broad range of achievable trade-offs. Specifically, we formally develop and apply to DSP hardware and software implementation a parameterizable loop scheduling approach with compact format, dynamic reconfigurability, and low-overhead decompression. In our experiments, this new approach demonstrates up to 99% storage saving (versus RLE) and up to 46% frequency enhancement (versus another parameterized approach) in FPGA synthesis, and an average of 11% code size reduction in software synthesis compared to existing methods for code size reduction.
Colony Stimulating Factor-1 Receptor Expressing Cells Infiltrating the Cornea Control Corneal Nerve Degeneration in Response to HSV-1 Infection

Purpose Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) is a leading cause of neurotrophic keratitis, characterized by decreased or absent corneal sensation due to damage to the sensory corneal innervation. We previously reported the elicited immune response to infection contributes to the mechanism of corneal nerve regression/damage during acute HSV-1 infection. Our aim is to further establish the involvement of infiltrated macrophages in the mechanism of nerve loss upon infection. Methods Macrophage Fas-Induced Apoptosis (MAFIA) transgenic C57BL/6 mice were systemically treated with AP20187 dimerizer or vehicle (VEH), and their corneas, lymph nodes, and blood were assessed for CD45+CD11b+GFP+ cell depletion by flow cytometry (FC). Mice were ocularly infected with HSV-1 or left uninfected. At 2, 4, and/or 6 days post infection (PI), corneas were assessed for sensitivity and harvested for FC, nerve structure by immunohistochemistry, viral content by plaque assay, soluble factor content by suspension array, and activation of signaling pathways by Western blot analysis. C57BL6 mice were used to compare to the MAFIA mouse model. Results MAFIA mice treated with AP20187 had efficient depletion of CD45+CD11b+GFP+ cells in the tissues analyzed. The reduction of CD45+CD11b+GFP+ cells recruited to the infected corneas of AP20187-treated mice correlated with preservation of corneal nerve structure and function, decreased protein concentration of inflammatory cytokines, and decreased STAT3 activation despite no changes in viral content in the cornea compared to VEH-treated animals. Conclusions Our results suggest infiltrated macrophages are early effectors in the nerve regression following HSV-1 infection. We propose the neurodegeneration mechanism involves macrophages, local up-regulation of IL-6, and activation of STAT3.
Improving Statistical Multimedia Information Retrieval (MIR) Model by using Ontology

A typical IR system that delivers and stores information is affected by problem of matching between user query and available content on web. Use of Ontology represents the extracted terms in form of network graph consisting of nodes, edges, index terms etc. The above mentioned IR approaches provide relevance thus satisfying users query. The paper also emphasis on analyzing multimedia documents and performs calculation for extracted terms using different statistical formulas. The proposed model developed reduces semantic gap and satisfies user needs efficiently.
Learning Ontologies from the Web for Microtext Processing

We build a mechanism to form an ontology of entities which improves a relevance of matching and searching microtext. Ontology construction starts from the seed entities and mines the web for new entities associated with them. To form these new entities, machine learning of syntactic parse trees (syntactic generalization) is applied to form commonalities between various search results for existing entities on the web. Ontology and syntactic generalization are applied to relevance improvement in search and text similarity assessment in commercial setting; evaluation results show substantial contribution of both sources to microtext processing.
First-principles study of magnetoelectric effects and ferroelectricity in complex oxides

OF THE DISSERTATION First-principles study of magnetoelectric effects and ferroelectricity in complex oxides by Meng Ye Dissertation Director: Professor David Vanderbilt This thesis contains several investigations of magnetoelectric effects and ferroelectricity in complex oxides studied via first-principles calculations. We start by reviewing the mechanisms of ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric effects, and then we give a brief introduction to the first-principles computational methods that are involved. Next, our investigations are divided into two parts. The first half focuses on the magnetoelectric effects, while the second half is mainly on ferroelectricity. The first half aims to examine the lattice contribution to the magnetoelectricity by investigating the dynamical magnetic charge tensors induced by different mechanisms. Through the study of Cr2O3 and a fictitious material KITPite, we find that the dynamical magnetic charges driven by exchange striction are more significant than the ones induced by spin-orbit coupling. Since the lattice contribution to the magnetoelectric effect is proportional to the dynamical magnetic charges, we also study the magnetic charges and the magnetoelectric coupling in hexagonal manganite RMnO3 and ferrite RFeO3. Our results further confirm the importance of the exchange-striction mechanism in inducing large magnetic
TFExplorer: integrated analysis database for predicted transcription regulatory elements

UNLABELLED TFExplorer is a web-based integrated database for predicted regulatory elements in human, mouse and rat. It shows predicted binding sites of transcription factors in the promoter regions, along with their phylogenetic footprinting information. In addition, TFExplorer can search for genes that have a given sequence pattern in their promoter regions using the motif-searching method. AVAILABILITY TFExplorer is freely available at http://mars.kribb.re.kr:8080/tfExplorer/ CONTACT sskimb@kribb.re.kr.
MOBILITY, HOUSING MARKETS, AND SCHOOLS: ESTIMATING GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM EFFECTS OF INTERDISTRICT CHOICE

In theoretical models of residential sorting, a household’s location decision is closely tied to its demand for consuming local public services. School choice programs typically weaken the link between residential location and schooling options. Computable general equilibrium models suggest large general equilibrium effects from expanded school choice, but there is limited empirical evidence concerning whether these effects occur. This paper develops and empirically tests predictions concerning the general equilibrium effects of inter-district choice programs. Consistent with theory, districts with popular nearby, out-of-district schooling options experience relatively large increases in housing values and in the number of households with children. ______________ * Brunner: Department of Economics, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave, Hamden, CT 06518, eric.brunner@quinnipiac.edu; Cho: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th Street, Box 66, New York, NY 10027, sc2536@columbia.edu; Reback (corresponding author): Department of Economics, Barnard College, Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027-6598. 212854-5005, rr2165@columbia.edu. We thank Spencer Banzhaf, Bob Bifulco, Julie Cullen, Mark Long, Jonah Rockoff, Jon Sonstelie, Miguel Urquiola, and seminar participants at Columbia University and the University of Connecticut for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Which Distributed Averaging Algorithm Should I Choose for my Sensor Network?

Average consensus and gossip algorithms have recently received significant attention, mainly because they constitute simple and robust algorithms for distributed information processing over networks. Inspired by heat diffusion, they compute the average of sensor networks measurements by iterating local averages until a desired level of convergence. Confronted with the diversity of these algorithms, the engineer may be puzzled in his choice for one of them. As an answer to his/her need, we develop precise mathematical metrics, easy to use in practice, to characterize the convergence speed and the cost (time, message passing, energy.) of each of the algorithms. In contrast to other works focusing on time-invariant scenarios, we evaluate these metrics for ergodic time-varying networks. Our study is based on Oseledec's theorem, which gives an almost- sure description of the convergence speed of the algorithms of interest. We further provide upper bounds on the convergence speed. Finally, we use these tools to make some experimental observations illustrating the behavior of the convergence speed with respect to network topology and reliability in both average consensus and gossip algorithms.
Inhibition of Hypoxia-Induced Apoptosis by Modulation of Retinoblastoma Protein–Dependent Signaling in Cardiomyocytes

Abstract— Apoptotic cell death is an important mode of cell loss contributing to heart dysfunction. To analyze the importance of the E2F-dependent regulation of gene transcription in cardiomyocyte apoptosis, the function of cell cycle factors impinging on the retinoblastoma protein (pRb)/E2F pathway was investigated. In isolated neonatal ventricular myocytes, apoptotic cell death induced by hypoxia (deferoxamine, 100 &mgr;mol/L) specifically activated cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) 2 and 3. Apoptotic cell death was inhibited by ectopic expression of cdk inhibitors p21CIP and p27KIP1 but not p16INK4. In addition, apoptosis was also abrogated by forced expression of kinase dead mutant proteins of cdk2/3 but not of cdk4/6. Introduction of cdk inhibitors or dominant-negative cdk2/3 blocked pRb hyperphosphorylation and abrogated E2F-dependent gene transcription, including that of the E2F-responsive genes of proapoptotic caspase 3 and caspase 7. Moreover, introduction of constitutively active pRb and transcriptionally inert mutant E2F1/DP1 efficiently protected cardiomyocytes from apoptosis. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that cdk-specific inactivation of pRb and the subsequent activation of E2F-dependent gene transcription are required for cardiomyocyte apoptosis.
The problem of popular primes: Logjam

This paper will discuss the Logjam attack on TLS. The Logjam attack allows, under certain conditions, to defeat the security provided by TLS. This is done by manipulating server and client into using weak and deprecated export grade crypto, and subsequently breaking the Diffie-Hellman key exchange. We explore how the attack works conceptually and how exactly TLS is vulnerable to this attack. Also, the conditions under which the attack can be mounted are discussed, and an estimate of the impact of the attack is presented. Lastly, several mitigations are presented.
Curing behaviors and thermal degradation kinetics of polybenzoxazine-polycaprolactone blends

In this study, the blends of polybenzoxazine (PBA-a)/polycaprolactone (PCL) was prepared at the weight ratio of 100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 40/60, 20/80, and 0/100. The curing behaviors of the blends were studied. The results reveal that the curing temperature of the blends was increased with the increase of PCL content. The decomposition temperature at maximum decomposition rate were increased and the char yield were decreased with the PCL content. In addition, the kinetics of thermal degradation were determined using Kissinger Model.