Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nucleosomal Histone Proteins of L. donovani: A Combination of Recombinant H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 Proteins Were Highly Immunogenic and Offered Optimum Prophylactic Efficacy against Leishmania Challenge in Hamsters

The present study includes cloning and expression of recombinant Leishmania donovani histone proteins (rLdH2B, rLdH3, rLdH2A and rLdH4), assessment of their immunogenicity in Leishmania infected cured patients/endemic contacts as well as in cured hamsters and finally evaluation of their prophylactic efficacy in hamsters against L. donovani challenge. All recombinant proteins were expressed and purified from the heterologous bacterial host system. Leishmania infected cured patients/endemic contacts as well as cured hamsters exhibited significantly higher proliferative responses to individual recombinant histones and their pooled combination (rLdH2B+rLdH3+rLdH2A+rLdH4) than those of L.donovani infected hosts. The L.donovani soluble antigens (SLD) stimulated PBMCs of cured/exposed and Leishmania patients to produce a mixed Thl/Th2-type cytokine profile, whereas rLdH2B, rLdH3, rLdH2A, rLdH4 and pooled combination (rLdH2-4) stimulated the production of Th1 cytokines IFN-γ, IL-12 and TNF-α but not Th2 cytokines IL-4 or IL-10. The immunogenicity of these histone proteins along with their combination was also checked in cured hamsters where they stimulated higher lymphoproliferation and Nitric oxide production in lymphocytes of cured hamsters than that of infected controls. Moreover, significantly increased IgG2 response, an indicative of cell mediated immunity, was observed in cured hamsters against these individual proteins and their combination as compared to infected hamsters. Further, it was demonstrated that rLdH2B, rLdH3, rLdH2A and rLdH4 and pooled combination were able to provide considerable protection for hamsters against L. donovani challenge. The efficacy was supported by the increased inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS) mRNA transcripts and Th1-type cytokines - IFN-γ, IL-12 and TNF-α and down-regulation of IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β. Hence, it is inferred that pooled rLdH2-4 elicits Thl-type of immune responses exclusively and confer considerable protection against experimental Visceral Leishmaniasis.
Interocular suppression prevents interference in a flanker task

Executive control of attention refers to processes that detect and resolve conflict among competing thoughts and actions. Despite the high-level nature of this faculty, the role of awareness in executive control of attention is not well understood. In this study, we used interocular suppression to mask the flankers in an arrow flanker task, in which the flankers and the target arrow were presented simultaneously in order to elicit executive control of attention. Participants were unable to detect the flanker arrows or to reliably identify their direction when masked. There was a typical conflict effect (prolonged reaction time and increased error rate under flanker-target incongruent condition compared to congruent condition) when the flanker arrows were unmasked, while the conflict effect was absent when the flanker arrows were masked with interocular suppression. These results suggest that blocking awareness of competing stimuli with interocular suppression prevents the involvement of executive control of attention.
The Effects of Video and Nonnegative Social Feedback on Distorted Appraisals of Bodily Sensations and Social Anxiety

The effects of video feedback and nonnegative feedback from other people were examined as possibly ameliorating distorted appraisals of bodily sensations, as well as subjective and physiological anxiety in socially anxious individuals. Nonnegative feedback from a confederate emphasized the absence of negative outcomes (e.g., did not seem to tremble) rather than the presence of positive outcomes (e.g., looked calm). Socially anxious students were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which received video and social feedback (n = 12), or the control group (n = 13). Participants were asked to give a videotaped speech twice. After the first speech, the experimental group watched the videotape of their speech and received feedback from a confederate, whereas the control group watched the video of another person's speech. The intervention improved distorted appraisal of bodily sensations and anticipatory anxiety for the experimental group. However, there were no differential effects on anxiety between the groups during speeches.
Trimethylamine N‐Oxide Promotes Vascular Inflammation Through Signaling of Mitogen‐Activated Protein Kinase and Nuclear Factor‐κB

Background The choline‐derived metabolite trimethylamine N‐oxide (TMAO) has been demonstrated to contribute to atherosclerosis and is associated with coronary artery disease risk. Methods and Results We explored the impact of TMAO on endothelial and smooth muscle cell function in vivo, focusing on disease‐relevant outcomes for atherogenesis. Initially, we observed that aortas of LDLR −/− mice fed a choline diet showed elevated inflammatory gene expression compared with controls. Acute TMAO injection at physiological levels was sufficient to induce the same inflammatory markers and activate the well‐known mitogen‐activated protein kinase, extracellular signal–related kinase, and nuclear factor‐κB signaling cascade. These observations were recapitulated in primary human aortic endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. We also found that TMAO promotes recruitment of activated leukocytes to endothelial cells. Through pharmacological inhibition, we further showed that activation of nuclear factor‐κB signaling was necessary for TMAO to induce inflammatory gene expression in both of these relevant cell types as well as endothelial cell adhesion of leukocytes. Conclusions Our results suggest a likely contributory mechanism for TMAO‐dependent enhancement in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risks.
Quantum-Adaptive Scheduling for Multi-Core Network Processors

Efficiency and effectiveness are always the emphases of a scheduler, for both link and processor scheduling. Well-known scheduling algorithms such as surplus round robin (SRR) and elastic round robin (ERR) suffer from two fold shortcomings: 1) additional pre-processing queuing delay and post-processing resequencing delay are incurred due to the lack of short-term load-balancing; 2) bursty scheduling is caused due to blind preservation of scheduling history under non-backlogged traffic. In this paper, we propose a quantum-adaptive scheduling (QAS) algorithm, which: 1) synchronizes all the quanta in a fine-grained manner and, 2) adjusts the quanta intelligently based on processor utilization. We theoretically prove that the queuing fairness bound (QFB) for QAS is one third tighter than SRR and ERR. This result approaches the optimal value as obtained in shortest queue first (SQF) algorithm, while still maintaining O(1) complexity. Trace-driven simulations show that QAS reduces average packet delay by 18%~24% while cutting down the resequencing buffer size by more than 40% compared to SRR and ERR.
Matching Forensic Sketches to Mug Shot Photos using Speeded Up Robust Features

The problem that is dealt in the project is to match a forensic sketch against a gallery of mug shot photos. Research in past decade offered solutions for matching sketches that were drawn while looking at the subject (viewed sketches). In this thesis, emphasis is made on matching the forensic sketches, which are the sketches drawn by specially trained artists in police department based on the description of subject by an eyewitness. Recently, a method for forensic sketch matching using LFDA (Local Feature based Discriminant Analysis) was published. Here, the same problem is addressed using a novel preprocessing technique combined with a local feature descriptor called SURF (Speeded Up Robust Features). In our method, first, the images are preprocessed using a novel preprocessing technique suitable for forensic sketch matching that is based on the cognitive research on human memory. After the preprocessing, SURF is used for matching. SURF extracts features in the form of 64-variable vectors for each image. Then all these vectors of one image are combined to form the SURF descriptor vector for that image. These descriptor vectors are then used for matching. This method of forensic sketch matching was applied to match a dataset of 64 Forensic Sketches against a gallery of 1058 photos. From our experiments, it was observed that our approach of image preprocessing combined with SURF had shown promising results with a good accuracy.
Opt

Many graphics and vision problems can be expressed as non-linear least squares optimizations of objective functions over visual data, such as images and meshes. The mathematical descriptions of these functions are extremely concise, but their implementation in real code is tedious, especially when optimized for real-time performance on modern GPUs in interactive applications. In this work, we propose a new language, Opt,1 for writing these objective functions over image- or graph-structured unknowns concisely and at a high level. Our compiler automatically transforms these specifications into state-of-the-art GPU solvers based on Gauss-Newton or Levenberg-Marquardt methods. Opt can generate different variations of the solver, so users can easily explore tradeoffs in numerical precision, matrix-free methods, and solver approaches. In our results, we implement a variety of real-world graphics and vision applications. Their energy functions are expressible in tens of lines of code and produce highly optimized GPU solver implementations. These solvers are competitive in performance with the best published hand-tuned, application-specific GPU solvers, and orders of magnitude beyond a general-purpose auto-generated solver.
Neural Network Ensembles, Cross Validation, and Active Learning

Learning of continuous valued functions using neural network ensembles (committees) can give improved accuracy, reliable estimation of the generalization error, and active learning. The ambiguity is defined as the variation of the output of ensemble members averaged over unlabeled data, so it quantifies the disagreement among the networks. It is discussed how to use the ambiguity in combination with cross-validation to give a reliable estimate of the ensemble generalization error, and how this type of ensemble cross-validation can sometimes improve performance. It is shown how to estimate the optimal weights of the ensemble members using unlabeled data. By a generalization of query by committee, it is finally shown how the ambiguity can be used to select new training data to be labeled in an active learning scheme.
Mycobacterial Phosphatidylinositol Mannoside 6 (PIM6) Up-Regulates TCR-Triggered HIV-1 Replication in CD4+ T Cells

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of mortality among those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) worldwide. HIV-1 load and heterogeneity are increased both locally and systemically in active TB. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection supports HIV-1 replication through dysregulation of host cytokines, chemokines, and their receptors. However the possibility that mycobacterial molecules released from MTB infected macrophages directly interact with CD4+ T cells triggering HIV-1 replication has not been fully explored. We studied the direct effect of different MTB molecules on HIV-1 replication (R5-tropic strain Bal) in anti-CD3- stimulated CD4+ T cells from healthy donors in an antigen presenting cell (APC)-free system. PIM6, a major glycolipid of the mycobacterial cell wall, induced significant increases in the percent of HIV-1 infected T cells and the viral production in culture supernatants. In spite of structural relatedness, none of the other three major MTB cell wall glycolipids had significant impact on HIV-1 replication in T cells. Increased levels of IFN-γ in culture supernatants from cells treated with PIM6 indicate that HIV-1 replication is likely dependent on enhanced T cell activation. In HEK293 cells transfected with TLR2, PIM6 was the strongest TLR2 agonist among the cell wall associated glycolipids tested. PIM6 increased the percentage of HIV infected cells and viral particles in the supernatant in a T-cell-based reporter cell line (JLTRg-R5) transfected with TLR1 and TLR2 but not in the cells transfected with the empty vector (which lack TLR2 expression) confirming that PIM6-induced HIV-1 replication depends at least partially on TLR2 signaling.
An evaluation of dark field microscopy, culture and commercial serological kits in the diagnosis of leptospirosis

Context: This study was conducted to analyze the clinical utility of various leptospira diagnostic modalities. Aims: To evaluate the role of dark field microscopy (DFM), culture, immunochromatography (IgM Leptocheck), IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IgM ELISA), macroscopic slide agglutination test (MSAT) and microscopic agglutination test (MAT) in diagnosing leptospirosis in febrile patients. Settings and Design: Descriptive study conducted in a tertiary care hospital from January 2011 to April 2012. Subjects and Methods: Blood, urine and paired sera from 100 patients with clinical suspicion of leptospirosis (study group) were collected and subjected to DFM, culture, IgM Leptocheck, IgM ELISA and MSAT. Fifty randomly selected sera from febrile patients tested positive for infections other than leptospirosis (control sera) were also subjected to the aforementioned serological assays. All the leptospira seropositive samples were subjected to MAT. Statistical Analysis Used: Positive predictive values (PPV) and coefficient of agreement (kappa). Results: None of the clinical samples showed positivity by DFM. Leptospira inadai was isolated from a urine sample. The seropositivity of IgM Leptocheck, IgM ELISA and MSAT was 16%, 46% and 47%, respectively. The PPV of these assays was 14.3%, 8.7% and 6.5%, respectively. Poor agreement was obtained among these assays. Only four study group leptospira seropositive samples were confirmed by MAT with Australis being the predominant serovar. None of the leptospira-positive control sera were confirmed by MAT. Conclusions: DFM and culture have limited utility in diagnosing leptospirosis with serology being the mainstay. The present study shows discordant results with the commercially available serological kits. Further studies should be done to evaluate the various diagnostic modalities.
LSD: a Line Segment Detector

LSD is a linear-time Line Segment Detector giving subpixel accurate results. It is designed to work on any digital image without parameter tuning. It controls its own number of false detections: on average, one false alarm is allowed per image [1]. The method is based on Burns, Hanson, and Riseman’s method [2], and uses an a contrario validation approach according to Desolneux, Moisan, and Morel’s theory [3, 4]. The version described here includes some further
Cloud based secured framework for implementation of online voting system

Accessing and Utilization of data and information from remote location is one of the major requirements of present world. Due to the increase in the requirement of the data access from remote locations, challenges in the enhancement of technology based systems also have increased proportionately. Technology based solution for accessibility of remote data with available infrastructure is the need of the hour. Implementation of technology based solutions for the challenges may be expensive due to the current technical limitations. In this paper, we have attempted to design a secured cloud based framework for Online Voting System and analyzed its performance based on the three cryptographic algorithms namely Blowfish, AES and RSA.
Genetic analysis of a cluster of genes required for synthesis of the calcofluor-binding exopolysaccharide of Rhizobium meliloti

Rhizobium meliloti produces an acidic, Calcofluor-binding exopolysaccharide which plays a role in nodulation of alfalfa plants by this bacterium. We constructed and mapped 102 transposon insertions in a 48-kilobase (kb) region previously shown to contain several exo genes. Mutations affecting production of the Calcofluor-binding exopolysaccharide were clustered in a 22-kb region and fell into 12 complementation groups. Strains carrying mutations in seven of the complementation groups (exoA, exoB, exoF, exoL, exoM, exoP, and exoQ) produced no Calcofluor-binding exopolysaccharide and induced non-nitrogen-fixing nodules on alfalfa. Mutants in an eighth complementation group, exoH (Leigh et al., Cell 51:579-587, 1987), produce an altered exopolysaccharide and also induce the formation of non-nitrogen-fixing nodules. Mutants in the remaining four complementation groups produced less Calcofluor-binding material than the wild type. Mutants carrying mutations in two of these complementation groups (exoK and exoN) formed apparently normal, nitrogen-fixing nodules, while mutants in the other two groups (exoG and exoJ) formed normal nodules less efficiently than the wild type.
Advancing the Study of Human Values in Software Engineering

This paper makes the case for the study of human values in Software Engineering (SE) as a highly important emerging area of research with significant societal implications. We offer two key principles in order to advance this research agenda: firstly, the significance of values as distinguished from, though connected to, ethics; and secondly, the need for clear theoretical frameworks for values study. We provide the emerging findings from an initial study (N=12 participants) using a Values Q-Sort tool that was designed in accordance with these two principles. We conclude with discussion around lessons learnt, ongoing challenges, and future directions.
α-Mangostin from Cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) Blume Demonstrates Anti-Ulcerogenic Property: A Mechanistic Study

Cratoxylum arborescens (Vahl) Blume is an Asian herbal medicine with versatile ethnobiological properties including treatment of gastric ulcer. This study evaluated the antiulcerogenic mechanism(s) of α-mangostin (AM) in a rat model of ulcer. AM is a prenylated xanthone derived through biologically guided fractionation of C. arborescens. Rats were orally pretreated with AM and subsequently exposed to acute gastric lesions induced by ethanol. Following treatment, ulcer index, gastric juice acidity, mucus content, histological and immunohistochemical analyses, glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and nonprotein sulfhydryl groups (NP-SH) were evaluated. The anti-Helicobacter pylori, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitory effect, and antioxidant activity of AM were also investigated in vitro. AM (10 and 30 mg/kg) inhibited significantly (P < 0.05) ethanol-induced gastric lesions by 66.04% and 74.39 %, respectively. The compound induces the expression of Hsp70, restores GSH levels, decreases lipid peroxidation, and inhibits COX-2 activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AM showed an effective in vitro anti-H. pylori activity. The efficacy of the AM was accomplished safely without presenting any toxicological parameters. The results of the present study indicate that the antioxidant properties and the potent anti-H. pylori, in addition to activation of Hsp70 protein, may contribute to the gastroprotective activity of α-mangostin.
On Base Station Cooperation Schemes for Downlink Network MIMO under a Constrained Backhaul

Next generation mobile communications systems will most likely employ multi-cell cooperative signal processing schemes, often referred to as network MIMO, as these are known to effectively combat inter-cell interference and improve system fairness and spectral efficiency. A major downside of such schemes is, however, the large extent of backhaul infrastructure required for the information exchange between cooperating base stations. In this paper, we observe a cooperative downlink transmission from two base stations to two terminals under different extents of available backhaul capacity. We adapt some well-known concepts from the Gaussian interference channel and observe a variety of possible cooperation schemes. We observe that it is beneficial to use an adaptive cooperation concept, where the base stations exchange either the data to be jointly transmitted itself or partially preceded and compressed signals, depending on the instantaneous channel realization.
Microarray Analyses of Newborn Mouse Ovaries Lacking Nobox1

Abstract Nobox is a homeobox gene expressed in oocytes and critical in oogenesis. Nobox deficiency leads to rapid loss of postnatal oocytes. Early oocyte differentiation is poorly understood. We hypothesized that lack of Nobox perturbs global expression of genes preferentially expressed in oocytes as well as microRNAs. We compared Nobox knockout and wild-type ovaries using Affymetrix 430 2.0 microarray platform. We discovered that 28 (74%) of 38 of the genes downregulated more than 5-fold in the absence of Nobox were preferentially expressed in oocytes, whereas only 5 (15%) of 33 genes upregulated more than 5-fold in the absence of Nobox were preferentially expressed in oocytes. Protein-binding microarray helped identify nucleotide motifs that NOBOX binds and that several downregulated genes contain within putative promoter regions. MicroRNA population in newborn ovaries deficient of Nobox was largely unaffected. Genes whose proteins are predicted to be secreted but were previously unknown to be significantly expressed in early oogenesis were downregulated in Nobox knockouts and included astacin-like metalloendopeptidase (Astl), Jagged 1 (Jag1), oocyte-secreted protein 1 (Oosp1), fetuin beta (Fetub), and R-spondin 2 (Rspo2). In addition, pluripotency-associated genes Pou5f1 and Sall4 are drastically downregulated in Nobox-deficient ovaries, whereas testes-determining gene Dmrt1 is overexpressed. Our findings indicate that Nobox is likely an activator of oocyte-specific gene expression and suggest that the oocyte plays an important role in suppressing expression of male-determining genes, such as Dmrt1.
Automated Content Analysis: A Sentiment Analysis on Malaysian Government Social Media

Social media has become the current trend in information technology industry that acts as the collective of online communication channels for community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration, used all around the world. Microblogging platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are fast communication channels for information sharing among worldwide users. An automated content analysis tool is proposed in this paper to help Malaysian legal firms and the Malaysian official leaders understand public sentiment via their comments on official Malaysian government leaders' social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. In this paper, we explore and apply Semantic Role Labeling (SRL) techniques that generate new methods to filter and classify the content data set, advancing the state of the art in sentiment detection approaches, which currently suffer from lack of accuracy. In particular, semantic role labeling techniques have been little studied for use on degraded social media text, which causes numerous problems for traditional Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. This work provides a platform for society, especially Malaysian government Legal Firms, IT Agencies and the public as a whole, to measure the impact of public sentiment over Malaysian government officials for policy making and the future development in Malaysia. The work is novel in its application of SRL techniques to social media, and in the use of SRL for improving the quality of sentiment analysis.