Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunological studies in rodent malaria. I: Protective immunity induced in mice by mild strains of Plasmodium berghei yoelii against a virulent and fatal line of this plasmodium.

Mild and virulent lines of Plasmodium berghei yoelii are readily distinguished both by their course of infection and by the preference of the virulent line for mature red blood cells. Mice given either mild line were fully protected against the virulent P.b. yoelii one week after they had become negative. Mice given the mild line of P.b. yoelii 17X were fully protected against a challenge by the virulent line on the third day of infection (D+3). Mice given the mild and virulent lines of P.b. yoelii 17X concomitantly showed only slight protection, all eventually succumbing. Mice given the virulent P.b. yoelii 17X and challenged with P.b. yoelii 17X mild on D+1 showed 2/6 with virulent-like infections and 4/6 infections which resembled the mild controls. Five out of eleven animals challenged with P.b. berghei after immunization with mild P.b. yoelii had infections which resembled the P.b. berghei control group and were dead by D+23. The other six mice became negative, but all of them relapsed and three of them subsequently died. In mice challenged four weeks after their mild P.b. yoelii 17X infections had become negative, 5/6 succumbed to a P.b. berghei infection. Mice immunized with P.b. yoelii 17X mild and challenged with P.v. vinckei one week after becoming negative had a survival rate of 2/10.
Measurement of muscle architecture concurrently with muscle hardness using ultrasound strain elastography

Background The B-mode ultrasound image that can measure muscle architecture is displayed side by side with the ultrasound strain elastogram that can assess muscle hardness. Consequently, muscle architecture can be measured concurrently with muscle hardness using ultrasound strain elastography. Purpose To demonstrate the measurement of muscle architecture concurrently with muscle hardness using ultrasound strain elastography. Material and Methods Concurrent measurements of muscle architectural parameters (muscle thickness, pennation angle, and fascicle length) and muscle hardness of the medial gastrocnemius were performed with ultrasound strain elastography. Separate measurements of the muscle architectural parameters were also performed for use as reference values for the concurrent measurements. Both types of measurements were performed twice at 20° dorsiflexion, neutral position, and 30° plantar flexion. Results Coefficients of variance of the muscle architectural parameters obtained from the concurrent measurements (≤7.6%) were significantly higher than those obtained from the separate measurements (≤2.4%) (all P < 0.05). Intraclass correlation coefficients of the architectural parameters were lower in the concurrent measurements (≥0.74) than in the separate measurements (≥0.97). However, there were no significant differences in any muscle architectural parameters between the concurrent and separate measurements (all P > 0.05). Conclusion The use of ultrasound strain elastography for the concurrent measurement of muscle architecture and muscle hardness is feasible.
The impact of inflation, credit risk and corruption on local bitcoin prices: A panel data analysis

This thesis analyzes whether inflation rates, government bonds and corruption levels have an impact on the difference between local prices of bitcoin and prices on the most liquid exchanges globally. Bitcoin may act as a preferred alternative to local currencies in countries with high levels of financial uncertainty, hence people who live in these countries might be willing to pay a premium to purchase bitcoin as they reduce the risk related to the future value of their own fiat currency. Daily average prices on bitcoin, in 15 different fiat currencies, are downloaded from LocalBitcoins and converted to USD at official exchange rates. The data covers the period of Jan.2015-Dec.2017. By calculating daily deviations from the BNC Liquid Index and aggregating to monthly observations, we consider three different panel data models: the staticand dynamic fixed effects and a within-between random effects model. The results suggest that countries with higher average inflation rates has a higher premium, while a within increase in monthly inflation has a negative impact. If the premium on 10Y government bonds increases, the premium increases significantly, but when comparing across countries, the average bond rate is not significant, but positive. A within increase in corruption levels has a positive impact on the premium, but surprisingly we get a negative relationship at country level. Countries with poor economic performance and high levels of uncertainty seems to be willing to pay a premium to acquire Bitcoins
Predictive value of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in small-vessel vasculitis.

OBJECTIVE . The predictive value of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) as markers of clinical activity of small vessel vasculitis is controversial. We reviewed the outcome of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis from a single center and evaluated the predictive value of ANCA as markers of relapse. METHODS The medical history of all consecutive patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis followed at our outpatient clinic was retrospectively reviewed. ANCA were monitored by immunofluorescence and by ELISA (antiproteinase 3 and antimyeloperoxidase). RESULTS Twenty-three patients with Wegener's granulomatosis and 13 with microscopic polyangiitis were followed for a median period of 5 years (1 mo-16 yrs). Most patients were treated with combined corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide. In the Wegener's granulomatosis group, remission was obtained in 21 of 23 patients (91%), within 4-48 weeks (median 7.5); relapses occurred in 74%. In the microscopic polyangiitis group, remission was obtained in all patients within 3-38 weeks (median 8); relapses occurred in 33%. In contrast to persistently (> 6 mo) elevated ANCA titers, which were not significantly associated with disease relapse, the predictive value of an acute rise in ANCA titers was strongly associated with the magnitude of the increase. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates the weak predictive value of persistently elevated ANCA titers, in contrast to acute rises in ANCA titers. Although an acute rise in ANCA titers may help in a decision whether to introduce immunosuppressive therapy, the final decision has to be based on both clinical and laboratory markers.
Modified CTAB and TRIzol protocols improve RNA extraction from chemically complex Embryophyta

Premise of the study: Here we present a series of protocols for RNA extraction across a diverse array of plants; we focus on woody, aromatic, aquatic, and other chemically complex taxa. Methods and Results: Ninety-one taxa were subjected to RNA extraction with three methods presented here: (1) TRIzol/TURBO DNA-free kits using the manufacturer's protocol with the addition of sarkosyl; (2) a combination method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and TRIzol/sarkosyl/TURBO DNA-free; and (3) a combination of CTAB and QIAGEN RNeasy Plant Mini Kit. Bench-ready protocols are given. Conclusions: After an iterative process of working with chemically complex taxa, we conclude that the use of TRIzol supplemented with sarkosyl and the TURBO DNA-free kit is an effective, efficient, and robust method for obtaining RNA from 100 mg of leaf tissue of land plant species (Embryophyta) examined. Our protocols can be used to provide RNA of suitable stability, quantity, and quality for transcriptome sequencing.
The Regions of the Fe65 Protein Homologous to the Phosphotyrosine Interaction/Phosphotyrosine Binding Domain of Shc Bind the Intracellular Domain of the Alzheimer's Amyloid Precursor Protein (*)

Fe65 is a protein mainly expressed in several districts of the mammalian nervous system. The search of protein sequence data banks revealed that Fe65 contains two phosphotyrosine interaction (PID) or phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domains, previously identified in the Shc adaptor molecule. The two putative PID/PTB domains of Fe65 were used to construct glutathione S-transferase-Fe65 fusion proteins. Co-precipitation experiments demonstrated that the Fe65 PID/PTB domains interacted with several proteins of apparent molecular mass 135, 115, 105, and 51 kDa. The region of Fe65 containing the PID/PTB domains was used as a bait to screen a human brain cDNA library in yeast by the two-hybrid system. Three different cDNA clones were isolated, two of which contain overlapping segments of the cDNA encoding the COOH terminus of the Alzheimer's β-amyloid-precursor protein (APP), that represents the short intracellular domain of this membrane protein. The third clone contains a cDNA fragment coding for the COOH terminus of the human counterpart of a mouse β-amyloid-like precursor protein. The alignment of the three APP encoding cDNA fragments found in the screening suggests that the region of APP involved in the binding is centered on the NPTY sequence, which is analogous to that present in the intracellular domains of the growth factor receptors interacting with the PID/PTB domain of Shc.
A low-power-consumption boost converter with maximum power tracking algorithm for indoor photovoltaic energy harvesting

In recent years, wireless sensor network technique develops rapidly, but its operation life is still limited by the energy storage element. Thus, if ambient energy can be harvested to supply the sensors, the operation life can be increased and the cost can be reduced. A boost converter for indoor photovoltaic energy harvesting with low power consumption is proposed in this work. For harvesting energy from photovoltaic cells, the proposed converter uses the maximum power point tracking algorithm, which regulates the conduction time of the power transistors. The harvested energy is stored in a super capacitor. The proposed system is integrated into a chip, which was fabricated by using a 0. 18μm 1P6M mixed-signal process, and the total area is 853×1006 μm2.
Activation of P2Y2 Receptors by UTP and ATP Stimulates Mitogen-activated Kinase Activity through a Pathway That Involves Related Adhesion Focal Tyrosine Kinase and Protein Kinase C*

We examined downstream signaling events that followed the exposure of PC12 cells to extracellular ATP and UTP, and we compared the effects of these P2 receptor agonists with those of growth factors and other stimuli. Based on early findings, we focused particular attention on the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway. ATP and/or UTP produced increases in tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple proteins, including p42 MAP (ERK2) kinase, related adhesion focal tyrosine kinase (RAFTK) (PYK2, CAKβ), focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Shc, and protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ). MAP (ERK2) kinase activity (quantified by substrate phosphorylation) was increased by UTP, ATP, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, ionomycin, and growth factors. UTP and ATP were equipotent (EC50 ∼25 μm) in stimulating MAP kinase activity, suggesting that these effects were mediated via the Gi-linked P2Y2 (P2U) receptor. Consistent with this, the UTP- and ATP-promoted activation of MAP kinase was diminished in pertussis toxin-treated cells. Treatment of cells with pertussis toxin also reduced both the UTP-dependent increases in intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+] i ) and the tyrosine phosphorylation of RAFTK. Similarly, when [Ca2+] i elevation was prevented using BAPTA and EGTA, the activation of MAP kinase by UTP and ionomycin was blocked, and the tyrosine phosphorylation of RAFTK was reduced. The UTP-promoted increase in MAP kinase activity was partially reduced in cells in which PKC was down-regulated, suggesting that both PKC-dependent and PKC-independent pathways were involved. PKCδ, which increases MAP kinase activity in some systems, became tyrosine-phosphorylated within 15 s of exposure of cells to ATP or UTP; but epidermal growth factor, nerve growth factor, and insulin had little effect. UTP also promoted the association of Shc with Grb2. These results suggest that the P2Y2 receptor-initiated activation of MAP kinase was dependent on the elevation of [Ca2+] i , involved the recruitment of Shc and Grb2, and was mediated by RAFTK and PKC.
Studies of dynamics of memristor-basec memory cells

Construction of memristive memories requires usage of stable and reliable individual memory devices. So far several technologies were tested to implement the memristive RRAM elements. Many of these use the metal-oxide/metal junctions. In this paper we look into dynamic phenomena encountered in real memristors realised as solid state devices in the Pt/HfO2/Ti/Pt technology. We test the forming behaviour and repeatability of the process. The switching behaviour is studied in detail. Further, we investigate phenomena associated with switching behaviour induced by voltage pulsing techniques. The pulsing technique allows for fast transition between the stable states characterised by different device resistances.
Tumor antigen delivered by Salmonella III secretion protein fused with heat shock protein 70 induces protection and eradication against murine melanoma

Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium possess the ability to stimulate innate immune responses and preferentially allocate within the solid tumor. These two main characteristics make attenuated Salmonella one of the most attractive vehicles for development of vaccine and also targeted cancer therapies. However, location of Salmonella prevents the process of antigen presentation. Salmonella Type III secretion system can be utilized to circumvent this problem because this system secretes the protein it encoded outside the cells. Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is referred to as an “immunochaperone” for its capacity to elicit tumor‐specific adaptive immune responses in the form of Hsp70‐TAA (tumor associated antigen) complex. Hsp70 facilitates the cross‐presentation of exogenous antigens through its receptor on antigen‐presenting cells and therefore activates an antigen‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response, which can directly contribute to potent anti‐tumor immunity. Here, we designed a novel therapeutic vaccine utilizing the type III secretion system and Hsp70 to deliver and present the tumor‐specific antigen. This live recombinant bacteria vaccine, when administrated orally, successfully broke the immune tolerance, induced a specific CTL response against tumor cells, and therefore revealed protective and therapeutic effects against generation and growth of B16F10 melanoma in C57BL/6J mice. (Cancer Sci 2010; 101: 2621–2628)
Towards realizing gesture-to-speech conversion with a HMM-based bilingual speech synthesis system

This paper realizes a gesture-to-speech conversion system to solve the communication problem between healthy people and speech disorders. An improved speeded up robust features (SURF) algorithm is adopted for static gesture recognition by combining Kinect sensor. Meanwhile, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based Mandarin-Tibetan bilingual speech synthesis system is developed by using speaker adaptive training. A set of semantic rules is designed for the static gestures. Chinese or Tibetan context-dependent labels of recognized static gestures are generated according to the semantic rules. The recognized gestures are finally converted to the Mandarin or Tibetan by using the Mandarin-Tibetan bilingual speech synthesis system with the context-dependent labels. Tests show that the static gesture recognition rate of the designed system achieves 97.1%. Subjective evaluation demonstrates that synthesized speech can get 4.0 of the mean opinion score (MOS) on synthesized speech.
Improvement of quasi-Yagi antenna performances by using the monopole driver

This article describes a new modification of printed Yagi antennas. The presented antenna can significantly reduce a size in comparison with the well-known printed dipole Yagi antennas. There are the rules of quasi-Yagi antenna pattern's formation and impedance matching conditions are considered in this article. After calculating characteristics and sizes of the antenna, the quasi-Yagi antenna was optimized using computer simulation. Optimization of the antenna was carried out on the center frequency of 1.85 GHz. As a result, the printed quasi-Yagi antenna has much smaller dimension and weight characteristics compared to its analogs and can be used in wireless telecommunication systems.
Systematic capsule gene disruption reveals the central role of galactose metabolism on Cryptococcus neoformans virulence

The polysaccharidic capsule is the main virulence factor of Cryptococcus neoformans. It primarily comprised of two polysaccharides: glucuronoxylomannan (GXM, 88% of the capsule mass) and galactoxylomannan (GalXM, 7% of the capsule mass). We constructed a large collection of mutant strains in which genes potentially involved in capsule biosynthesis were deleted. We used a new post‐genomic approach to study the virulence of the strains. Primers specific for unique tags associated with the disruption cassette were used in a real‐time PCR virulence assay to measure the fungal burden of each strain in different organs of mice in multi‐infection experiments. With this very sensitive assay, we identified a putative UDP‐glucose epimerase (Uge1p) and a putative UDP‐galactose transporter (Ugt1p) essential for C. neoformans virulence. The uge1Δ and ugt1Δ strains are temperature sensitive and do not produce GalXM but synthesize a larger capsule. These mutant strains (GalXM negative, GXM positive) are not able to colonize the brain even at the first day of infection whereas GXM‐negative strains (GalXM positive) can still colonize the brain, although less efficiently than the wild‐type strain.
The Ecological Impact of Anticonsumption Lifestyles and Environmental Concern

Unsustainable consumption is an important cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment. The authors compare the ecological impact of anticonsumption lifestyles and environmental concern. Findings indicate that high scores on anticonsumption lifestyles (voluntary simplicity, frugality, and tightwadism) and environmental concern are associated with lower ecological impact. More precisely, the findings show that these lifestyles are not associated with a reduction in consumption, as their stereotypes would imply. Voluntary simplicity (β = −.286) and tightwadism (β = −.216) show a stronger association with lower ecological impact (i.e., are less harmful to the environment) than environmental concern (β = −.190), whereas frugality (β = −.089) is not associated with reduced impact after demographic variables were controlled for. The findings pertaining to voluntary simplicity and tightwadism suggest that resisting consumption is an alternative path toward more sustainable consumption. Public policy makers and marketers can build on these findings and include reduced consumption and sufficiency in their sustainability strategies.
Clinical, radiological, and gene expression analyses in smokers and non‐smokers, Part 2: RCT on the late healing phase of osseointegration

BACKGROUND The mechanisms behind the impact of smoking on osseointegration are not fully understood. PURPOSE To investigate the initial clinical and molecular course of osseointegration of different implants in smokers and non-smokers in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Smoking (n = 16) and non-smoking (n = 16) patients received 3 implant types: machined, oxidized, and laser-modified surfaces. Baseline bone biopsies were retrieved from the implant sites. After 60 and 90 days, the pain score, implant stability quotient (ISQ), and peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) gene expression were analyzed. Furthermore, radiological and clinical assessments were made at 90 days. RESULTS At 90 days, no pain was reported, irrespective of smoking habit. A higher ISQ was found in smokers compared with non-smokers. Marginal bone loss (MBL) was greater in smokers than in non-smokers. The comparison of implant surfaces revealed greater MBL exclusively at the machined implants in smokers. At 90 days in smokers, the PICF around machined implants revealed a higher expression of the proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and a lower expression of the osteogenic gene, osteocalcin (OC), compared with the PICF around modified implants. Furthermore, OC expression was lower at machined implants in smokers compared with machined implants in non-smokers. After adjustment for age and implant location (maxilla/mandible), multivariate regression revealed the following predictors of MBL: smoking, bleeding on probing at 90 days, hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) expression at baseline and IL-6 expression in PICF at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS During the early phase of osseointegration, non-smokers and smokers present a similar, high implant survival. In contrast, smokers present a greater MBL, particularly at machined implants. HIF-1α baseline expression in the recipient bone and IL-6 expression in PICF cells are important molecular determinants for MBL after 90 days. It is concluded that smoking has an early effect on osseointegration, which is dependent on the implant surface properties and the local host response.
The servant of two masters: Electoral incentives in the Scottish Parliament

ABSTRACT Scholars have pointed out the potential impact of different electoral systems on the incentives for representatives to cultivate personal versus party reputations. The mixed-member proportional system (MMP) allows us to examine the effects of electoral systems on legislators’ incentives. Scholars have argued that MMP may be the ‘best of both worlds’; however, MMP may lead to competing demands on list representatives if they are also allowed to run as constituency candidates, as happens in the Scottish Parliament. I show that this leads to different levels of committee activity—which I use as a surrogate for party activity—from constituency Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs), pure-list MSPs (who are elected via the party list and do not run in constituencies), and dual-candidate list MSPs (list MSPs who also run in constituencies), and that the proximity of elections also affects committee activity for those who run in constituencies.
Microscale Adaptation of In Vitro Transcription/Translation for High‐Throughput Screening of Natural Product Extract Libraries

Novel antimicrobials that effectively inhibit bacterial growth are essential to fight the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. A promising target is the bacterial ribosome, a 2.5 MDa organelle susceptible to several biorthogonal modes of action used by different classes of antibiotics. To promote the discovery of unique inhibitors, we have miniaturized a coupled transcription/translation assay using E. coli and applied it to screen a natural product library of ~30 000 extracts. We significantly reduced the scale of the assay to 2 μL in a 1536‐well plate format and decreased the effective concentration of costly reagents. The improved assay returned 1327 hits (4.6% hit rate) with %CV and Z′ values of 8.5% and 0.74, respectively. This assay represents a significant advance in molecular screening, both in miniaturization and its application to a natural product extract library, and we intend to apply it to a broad array of pathogenic microbes in the search for novel anti‐infective agents.