Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gap1 functions as a molecular chaperone to stabilize its interactive partner Gap3 during biogenesis of serine‐rich repeat bacterial adhesin

Serine‐rich repeat glycoproteins (SRRPs) are important bacterial adhesins that are conserved in streptococci and staphylococci. Fimbriae‐associated protein (Fap1) from Streptococcus parasanguinis, was the first SRRP identified; it plays an important role in bacterial biofilm formation. A gene cluster encoding glycosyltransferases and accessory secretion components is required for Fap1 biogenesis. Two glycosylation‐associated proteins, Gap1 and Gap3 within the cluster, interact with each other and function in concert in Fap1 biogenesis. Here we report the new molecular events underlying contribution of the interaction to Fap1 biogenesis. The Gap1‐deficient mutant rendered Gap3 unstable and degraded in vitro and in vivo. Inactivation of a gene encoding protease ClpP reversed the phenotype of the gap1 mutant, suggesting that ClpP is responsible for degradation of Gap3. Molecular chaperone GroEL was co‐purified with Gap3 only when Gap1 was absent and also reacted with Gap1 monoclonal antibody, suggesting that Gap1 functions as a specific chaperone for Gap3. The N‐terminal interacting domains of Gap1 mediated the Gap3 stability and Fap1 biogenesis. Gap1 homologues from Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus also interacted with and stabilized corresponding Gap3 homologues, suggesting that the chaperone activity of the Gap1 homologues is common in biogenesis of SRRPs.
Project-Team aces Ambient Computing and Embedded Systems

of the system. In such a situation the proposed service cannot be properly delivered because it is impossible to have access to new remote information. In order to hide disconnections to a user, prefetching techniques can be used: documents are pre-loaded in a local cache of the mobile terminal during high connectivity periods. So the application remains operational even when a temporal disconnection occurs (because all needed documents have been stored locally in the cache of the terminal). Data to be loaded in the cache are selected according to a combination of information provided by the user, and information automatically tracked (for example a log of all previously accessed documents). (1) Maximize efﬁciency so as to support efﬁcient execution of applications, possibly run concurrently. (2) Minimize power consumption so as to provide users with highly autonomous, small-sized appliances. (3) Maximize availability so that users can beneﬁt from their appliances despite the occurrence of failures. (4) Support multimedia applications, which have soft real-time constraints. (5) Support dynamic downloading of applications (e.g. through Internet).
Wake up and smell the conflict: odour signals in female competition

Odour signals used in competitive and aggressive interactions between males are well studied in the context of sexual selection. By contrast, relatively little is known about comparable signals used by females, despite current interest in the evolution of female ornaments and weaponry. Available evidence suggests that odour signals are important in competitive interactions between female mammals, with reductions or reversals of male-biased sexual dimorphism in signalling where female competition is intense. Scent marking is often associated with conflict between females over access to resources or reproductive opportunities. Female scent marks may therefore provide reliable signals of competitive ability that could be used both by competitors and potential mates. Consistent with this hypothesis, we report that aggressive behaviour of female house mice is correlated with the amount of major urinary protein (MUP) excreted in their urine, a polymorphic set of proteins that are used in scent mark signalling. Under semi-natural conditions, females with high MUP output are more likely to produce offspring sired by males that have high reproductive success, and less likely to produce offspring by multiple different sires, suggesting that females with strong MUP signals are monopolized by males of particularly high quality. We conclude that odour signals are worthy of more detailed investigation as mediators of female competition.
Fostering Resilience and Well-Being in Children and Families in Poverty: Why Hope Still Matters

Preface Foreword by Elijah Cummings Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1: Hope: The Motivation to Overcome Adversity Chapter 2: Thriving in Adversity: Toward a Framework of Hope, Optimism, and Resilience Chapter 3: Wired for Hope? : Examining our Capacity for Recovery, Renewal, and Resilience Chapter 4: Parenting and Family Matters: Contrasting Parenting and Family Processes - Examining Family Strengths and Assets Chapter 5: Do You Believe in Me? : Promoting Hope through Quality Education and Opportunities to Learn Chapter 6: Friends and Mentors: The Protective Power of Relationships Chapter 7: Empowering Neighborhoods and Communities to Foster Resilience Chapter 8: Hope, Optimism, and Resilience: Cultural Frames of Reference Chapter 9: Hope in Action: Stories of Overcoming, Motivation, and Striving toward Well-Being Chapter 10: Why Hope (Still) Matters References Index
A Semi-Automated Image Analysis Procedure for In Situ Plankton Imaging Systems

Plankton imaging systems are capable of providing fine-scale observations that enhance our understanding of key physical and biological processes. However, processing the large volumes of data collected by imaging systems remains a major obstacle for their employment, and existing approaches are designed either for images acquired under laboratory controlled conditions or within clear waters. In the present study, we developed a semi-automated approach to analyze plankton taxa from images acquired by the ZOOplankton VISualization (ZOOVIS) system within turbid estuarine waters, in Chesapeake Bay. When compared to images under laboratory controlled conditions or clear waters, images from highly turbid waters are often of relatively low quality and more variable, due to the large amount of objects and nonlinear illumination within each image. We first customized a segmentation procedure to locate objects within each image and extracted them for classification. A maximally stable extremal regions algorithm was applied to segment large gelatinous zooplankton and an adaptive threshold approach was developed to segment small organisms, such as copepods. Unlike the existing approaches for images acquired from laboratory, controlled conditions or clear waters, the target objects are often the majority class, and the classification can be treated as a multi-class classification problem. We customized a two-level hierarchical classification procedure using support vector machines to classify the target objects (< 5%), and remove the non-target objects (> 95%). First, histograms of oriented gradients feature descriptors were constructed for the segmented objects. In the first step all non-target and target objects were classified into different groups: arrow-like, copepod-like, and gelatinous zooplankton. Each object was passed to a group-specific classifier to remove most non-target objects. After the object was classified, an expert or non-expert then manually removed the non-target objects that could not be removed by the procedure. The procedure was tested on 89,419 images collected in Chesapeake Bay, and results were consistent with visual counts with >80% accuracy for all three groups.
Snapshot Filtering Based on Resource-Usage Profiles

Live forensic tools provide investigators with new sources of information. Unfortunately, the amount of data gathered by such tools can be overwhelming, with a low signal-to-noise ratio. The authors use an innovative method of monitoring the resource use of running processes to build a profile of the application’s normal resource use, which they then exploit to filter out extraneous, forensically uninteresting data from a list of open file handles and dynamically loaded libraries attached to a process. Preliminary results show a dramatic reduction in the number of file and registry handles and DLLs, greatly reducing the forensic haystack, allowing the investigator to more easily spot the needles.
Stroking or Buzzing? A Comparison of Somatosensory Touch Stimuli Using 7 Tesla fMRI

Studying body representations in the brain helps us to understand how we humans relate to our own bodies. The in vivo mapping of the somatosensory cortex, where these representations are found, is greatly facilitated by the high spatial resolution and high sensitivity to brain activation available at ultra-high field. In this study, the use of different stimulus types for somatotopic mapping of the digits at ultra-high field, specifically manual stroking and mechanical stimulation, was compared in terms of sensitivity and specificity of the brain responses. Larger positive responses in digit regions of interest were found for manual stroking than for mechanical stimulation, both in terms of average and maximum t-value and in terms of number of voxels with significant responses to the tactile stimulation. Responses to manual stroking were higher throughout the entire post-central sulcus, but the difference was especially large on its posterior wall, i.e. in Brodmann area 2. During mechanical stimulation, cross-digit responses were more negative than during manual stroking, possibly caused by a faster habituation to the stimulus. These differences indicate that manual stroking is a highly suitable stimulus for fast somatotopic mapping procedures, especially if Brodmann area 2 is of interest.
Investigation of Microbubble Detection Methods for Super-Resolution Imaging of Microvasculature

Ultrasound super-resolution techniques use the response of microbubble (MB) contrast agents to visualize the microvasculature. Techniques that localize isolated bubble signals first require detection algorithms to separate the MB and tissue responses. This work explores the three main MB detection techniques for super-resolution of microvasculature. Pulse inversion (PI), differential imaging (DI), and singular value decomposition (SVD) filtering were compared in terms of the localization accuracy, precision, and contrast-to-tissue ratio. MB responses were simulated based on the properties of Sonovue and using the Marmottant model. Nonlinear propagation through tissue was modeled using the k-Wave software package. For the parameters studied, the results show that PI is most appropriate for low frequency applications, but also most dependent on transducer bandwidth. SVD is preferable for high frequency acquisition where localization precision on the order of a few microns is possible. PI is largely independent of flow direction and speed compared to SVD and DI, so is appropriate for visualizing the slowest flows and tortuous vasculature. SVD is unsuitable for stationary MBs and can introduce a localization error on the order of hundreds of microns over the speed range 0–2 mm/s and flow directions from lateral (parallel to probe) to axial (perpendicular to probe). DI is only suitable for flow rates >0.5 mm/s or as flow becomes more axial. Overall, this study develops an MB and tissue nonlinear simulation platform to improve understanding of how different MB detection techniques can impact the super-resolution process and explores some of the factors influencing the suitability of each.
A temperature data prediction method using graph filter and Lp-norm minimization

In this paper, a temperature data prediction method using graph filter and Lp-norm minimization is presented. First, the graph filter based on graph Laplacian matrix is briefly reviewed. Then, the filter coefficients of the prediction graph filter are estimated from the temperature measurement data by using the Lp-norm minimization approach. Finally, the real measurement temperature data in the cities of the south Taiwan are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed graph filter prediction method.
Active Learning from Relative Comparisons

This work focuses on active learning from relative comparison information. A relative comparison specifies, for a data triplet (xi, xj, xk), that instance xi is more similar to xj than to xk. Such constraints, when available, have been shown to be useful toward learning tasks such as defining appropriate distance metrics or finding good clustering solutions. In real-world applications, acquiring constraints often involves considerable human effort, as it requires the user to manually inspect the instances. This motivates us to study how to select and query the most useful relative comparisons to achieve effective learning with minimum user effort. Given an underlying class concept that is employed by the user to provide such constraints, we present an information-theoretic criterion that selects the triplet whose answer leads to the highest expected information gain about the classes of a set of examples. Directly applying the proposed criterion requires examining O(n3) triplets with n instances, which is prohibitive even for datasets of moderate size. We show that a randomized selection strategy can be used to reduce the selection pool from O(n3) to O(n) with minimal loss in efficiency, allowing us to scale up to considerably larger problems. Experiments show that the proposed method consistently outperforms baseline policies.
A Variable CD3+ T-Cell Frequency in Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Associated with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Development in the LEW.1AR1-iddm Rat

Purpose The LEW.1AR1-iddm rat is an animal model of human type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), which arose through a spontaneous mutation within the MHC-congenic inbred strain LEW.1AR1 (RT1r2). In contrast to the diabetes-resistant LEW.1AR1 background strain in LEW.1AR1-iddm rats a highly variable T-cell frequency could be observed in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Methods In this study we therefore characterised the T-cell repertoire within the PBLs of the two strains by flow cytometry analysis and identified the CD3+ T-cell phenotype and its possible linkage to diabetes susceptibility. To map loci conferring susceptibility to variable CD3+ T-cell frequency, backcross strains (N2) were generated with the genetically divergent BN and PAR rats for microsatellite analysis. Results The LEW.1AR1-iddm rat strain was characterised by a higher variability of CD3+ T-cells in PBLs along with a slightly decreased mean value compared to the LEW.1AR1 background strain. The reason for this reduction was a decrease in the CD4+ T-cell count while the CD8+ T-cell proportion remained unchanged. However, both T-cell subpopulations showed a high variability. This resulted in a lower CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio than in LEW.1AR1 rats. Like LEW.1AR1-iddm rats all animals of the backcross populations, N2 BN and N2 PAR rats, also showed large variations of the CD3+ T-cell frequency. The phenotype of variable CD3+ T-cell frequency mapped to the telomeric region of chromosome 1 (RNO1), which is identical with the already known Iddm8 diabetes susceptibility region. The data indicate that a variable CD3+ T-cell frequency in PBLs is genetically linked to diabetes susceptibility in the LEW.1AR1-iddm rat. Conclusion The T-cell variability in PBLs could be related to the previously reported imbalance between regulatory and effector T-cell populations which results in beta-cell autoimmunity. Since similar T-cell phenotypes have also been described in human T1DM the identification of the functional role of the observed variable CD3+ T-cell frequency may help to understand the mechanisms of autoimmunity in T1DM.
Empirical Investigation of Word Callers Who Are English Learners

Abstract. Oral reading fluency is frequently used in school settings to assess student reading skills, but it is somewhat commonly believed that some students can read words fluently while not comprehending (i.e., word callers). Previous studies examining the prevalence of word callers typically included native English speakers rather than English learners (ELs). Third- and fifth-grade ELs were screened with a measure of oral reading fluency and given a large-scale measure of reading comprehension. In addition, teacher judgments of participants' reading skills were explored with a focus on the accuracy of teachers' word caller nominations in their classrooms. The results showed that word callers who are ELs emerged at a similar level in the third (6%) and fifth (8%) grades. The third-grade proportion was higher than in previous studies with native English speakers. Analysis of teacher ratings indicated that there were inaccuracies associated with teachers' judgments of reading skills.
Exploring Multi-Scale Spatiotemporal Twitter User Mobility Patterns with a Visual-Analytics Approach

Understanding human mobility patterns is of great importance for urban planning, traffic management, and even marketing campaign. However, the capability of capturing detailed human movements with fine-grained spatial and temporal granularity is still limited. In this study, we extracted high-resolution mobility data from a collection of over 1.3 billion geo-located Twitter messages. Regarding the concerns of infringement on individual privacy, such as the mobile phone call records with restricted access, the dataset is collected from publicly accessible Twitter data streams. In this paper, we employed a visual-analytics approach to studying multi-scale spatiotemporal Twitter user mobility patterns in the contiguous United States during the year 2014. Our approach included a scalable visual-analytics framework to deliver efficiency and scalability in filtering large volume of geo-located tweets, modeling and extracting Twitter user movements, generating space-time user trajectories, and summarizing multi-scale spatiotemporal user mobility patterns. We performed a set of statistical analysis to understand Twitter user mobility patterns across multi-level spatial scales and temporal ranges. In particular, Twitter user mobility patterns measured by the displacements and radius of gyrations of individuals revealed multi-scale or multi-modal Twitter user mobility patterns. By further studying such mobility patterns in different temporal ranges, we identified both consistency and seasonal fluctuations regarding the distance decay effects in the corresponding mobility patterns. At the same time, our approach provides a geo-visualization unit with an interactive 3D virtual globe web mapping interface for exploratory geo-visual analytics of the multi-level spatiotemporal Twitter user movements.
On the Determinants and Consequences of Informal Contracting

As documented by Macauley (1963) and others, informal contracts are pervasive in modern economies. Yet, systematic empirical evidence on them is still limited. In this paper, we provide a framework to investigate the determinants and consequences of informal contracts. First, we present a model that organizes key predictions from the theoretical literature. Next, we discuss selected empirical works that shed light on the model’s empirical relevance. Finally, we discuss strategies for testing theoretical predictions for which conclusive evidence is still missing, as well as unexplored research opportunities offered by available studies and data.
Characterization and biological effects of di-hydroxylated compounds deriving from the lipoxygenation of ALA

We have recently described a di-hydroxylated compound called protectin DX (PDX) which derives from docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by double lipoxygenation. PDX exhibits anti-aggregatory and anti-inflammatory properties, that are also exhibited by similar molecules, called poxytrins, which possess the same E,Z,E conjugated triene geometry, and are synthesized from other polyunsaturated fatty acids with 22 or 20 carbons. Here we present new biological activities of di-hydroxylated metabolites deriving from α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3) treated by soybean 15-lipoxygenase (sLOX). We show that 18:3n-3 is converted by sLOX into mainly 13(S)-OH-18:3 after reduction of the hydroperoxide product. But surprisingly, and in contrast to DHA which is metabolized into only one di-hydroxylated compound, 18:3n-3 leads to four di-hydroxylated fatty acid isomers. We report here the complete characterization of these compounds using high field NMR and GC-MS techniques, and some of their biological activities. These compounds are: 9(R),16(S)-dihydroxy-10E,12E,14E-octadecatrienoic acid, 9(S),16(S)-dihydroxy-10E,12E,14E-octadecatrienoic acid, 9(S),16(S)-dihydroxy-10E,12Z,14E-octadecatrienoic acid, and 9(R),16(S)-dihydroxy-10E,12Z,14E-octadecatrienoic acid. They can also be synthesized by the human recombinant 15-lipoxygenase (type 2). Their inhibitory effect on blood platelet and anti-inflammatory properties were compared with those already reported for PDX.
Abnormal origin of internal thoracic and vertebral arteries

The aim of this study was to evaluate the variability of the origin of the internal thoracic and vertebral arteries after a cadaver demonstrated abnormal origins for both vessels. The arteries were studied in 60 adult cadavers and measurements taken to adjacent structures. In one cadaver the right internal thoracic artery originated from the third part of the subclavian artery (one of 120 arteries; 0.83%). The same cadaver presented with the left vertebral artery originating directly from the aortic arch between the left common carotid and left subclavian arteries. Two other cadavers also presented with abnormal vertebral arteries, making it three of 60 left vertebral arteries (5%). These results are comparable to the established range in the literature. The internal thoracic artery is used for revascularization in coronary artery diseases and as this area is also used for subclavian vein catheterization, it is important to be aware of this rare variation concerning the internal thoracic artery. This study reports an important variation in the origins of the internal thoracic and vertebral artery in a singular cadaver. Clin. Anat. 11:33–37, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.