Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soluble Form of the (Pro)Renin Receptor Is Augmented in the Collecting Duct and Urine of Chronic Angiotensin II–Dependent Hypertensive Rats

Renin synthesis and secretion by principal cells of the collecting duct are enhanced in angiotensin (Ang) II–dependent hypertension. The presence of renin/(pro)renin and its receptor, the (pro)renin receptor ([P]RR), in the collecting duct may provide a pathway for Ang I generation with further conversion to Ang II. To assess whether (P)RR activation occurs during Ang II–dependent hypertension, we examined renal (P)RR levels and soluble (P)RR excretion in the urine of chronic Ang II–infused rats (80 ng/min; for 2 weeks; n=10) and sham-operated rats (n=10). Systolic blood pressure and Ang II levels in the plasma and kidney were increased whereas plasma renin activity was suppressed in Ang II–infused rats. Renal (P)RR transcripts were upregulated in the cortex and medulla of Ang II–infused rats. (P)RR immunoreactivity in collecting duct cells and the protein levels of the full-length form (37-kDa band) were significantly decreased in the medulla of Ang II–infused rats. The soluble (P)RR (28-kDa band) was detected in the renal medulla and urine samples of Ang II–infused rats, which also showed increases in urinary renin content. To determine whether the soluble (P)RR could stimulate Ang I formation, urine samples were incubated with recombinant human (pro)renin. Urine samples of Ang II–infused rats exhibited increased Ang I formation compared with sham-operated rats. Thus, in chronic Ang II–infused rats, the catalytic activity of the augmented renin produced in the collecting duct may be enhanced by the intraluminal soluble (P)RR and cell-surface located (P)RR, thus contributing to enhanced intratubular Ang II formation.
Monocular Vs Binocular 3D Real-time Ball Tracking from 2D Ellipses

Abstract: Real-Time tracking of elliptical objects, e.g. a ball, is a well studied field. However, the question between a monocular and binocular approach for 3D objects localization is still an open issue. In this work we implemented a real-time algorithm for 3D ball localization and tracking from 2D image ellipse fitting with calibrated cameras. We will exploit both approaches, together with their own characteristics. Our algorithm features the following key features: (1) a real-time video segmentation by means of a Gaussian mixture descriptor; (2) a closed-form ellipse fitting algorithm; and (3) a novel 3D reconstruction algorithm for spheres from the 2D ellipse parameters. We test the algorithm’s performance in several conditions, by performing experiments in virtual scenarios with ground truth. Finally, we show the results of monocular and binocular reconstructions and evaluate the influence of having prior knowledge of the ball’s dimension and the sensitivity of binocular reconstruction to mechanical calibration errors.
Impact of Directional Properties on the Radiometric Temperature Measurement in Rapid Thermal Processing | NIST

A quasi-Monte Carlo model has been developed to predict the effective emissivity for accurate radiometric temperature measurements in rapid thermal processing (RTP) furnaces. The hemispherical effective emissivities calculated from this Monte Carlo method agree with those calculated from the net-radiation method. The Monte Carlo method, however, can also be used to determine the directional effective emissivity and the true effective emissivity, which is needed to obtain the wafer temperature from the measured spectral radiance temperature by the lightpipe radiation thermometer (LPRT). If the wafer is not diffuse, the true effective emissivity may be quite different from the hemispherical emissivity, especially for specular wafers with emissivities less than 0.6. For the RTP system studied here, the largest effective emissivity is obtained with a numerical aperture of about 0.5.
Plasticity of the asialoglycoprotein receptor deciphered by ensemble FRET imaging and single-molecule counting PALM imaging

The stoichiometry and composition of membrane protein receptors are critical to their function. However, the inability to assess receptor subunit stoichiometry in situ has hampered efforts to relate receptor structures to functional states. Here, we address this problem for the asialoglycoprotein receptor using ensemble FRET imaging, analytical modeling, and single-molecule counting with photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM). We show that the two subunits of asialoglycoprotein receptor [rat hepatic lectin 1 (RHL1) and RHL2] can assemble into both homo- and hetero-oligomeric complexes, displaying three forms with distinct ligand specificities that coexist on the plasma membrane: higher-order homo-oligomers of RHL1, higher-order hetero-oligomers of RHL1 and RHL2 with two-to-one stoichiometry, and the homo-dimer RHL2 with little tendency to further homo-oligomerize. Levels of these complexes can be modulated in the plasma membrane by exogenous ligands. Thus, even a simple two-subunit receptor can exhibit remarkable plasticity in structure, and consequently function, underscoring the importance of deciphering oligomerization in single cells at the single-molecule level.
Morphology and mechanical properties of UV-curable castor oil-based waterborne polyurethane/organic montmorillonite nanocomposites

Water resistance is a unique advantage of castor oil-based polyurethane, permitting the application of coatings in humid environments. However, its low thermal decomposition temperature remains a limitation. Here, to demonstrate a simple method to improve the thermal stability of cured films, we prepared an organic montmorillonite dispersion utilising 3-(methacryloyloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane and protonated 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane for modifying the clay. The method was put into practice by directly mixing the dispersion with a UV-curable castor oil-based waterborne polyurethane dispersion. The inclusion of organic molecule chains from the silane coupling agents noticeably improves the compatibility of polyurethane with organic montmorillonite, which imparts the composite latex with better thermal stability and mechanical properties when the organic montmorillonite additive is 5.0 wt-%.
Practical inductance calculation for planar magnetics with track-width-ratio

This paper presents a method of calculating the inductance of a generalized racetrack planar spiral winding when the track widths for each turn are varied with a constant Track-Width-Ratio (TWR). TWR is an effective method to control parasitics in planar windings, minimizing resistance and controlling leakage inductance. It simply defines how the trace width of each turn should change as we approach the center of the core. After an octagonal simplification is performed to simplify the geometry, the self and mutual inductances are calculated using equations derived from Greenhouse and Grover. The calculation is compared to experimental winding measurements with high accuracy.
Amino acid repeat patterns in protein sequences: Their diversity and structural‐functional implications

All the protein sequences from SWISS‐PROT database were analyzed for occurrence of single amino acid repeats, tandem oligo‐peptide repeats, and periodically conserved amino acids. Single amino acid repeats of glutamine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, and alanine seem to be tolerated to a considerable extent in many proteins. Tandem oligo‐peptide repeats of different types with varying levels of conservation were detected in several proteins and found to be conspicuous, particularly in structural and cell surface proteins. It appears that repeated sequence patterns may be a mechanism that provides regular arrays of spatial and functional groups, useful for structural packing or for one to one interactions with target molecules. To facilitate further explorations, a database of Tandem Repeats in Protein Sequences (TRIPS) has been developed and is available at URL: http://www.ncl‐india.org/trips.
Interferometry within a resonant cavity with standing wave detection

We present a measuring technique for displacement and position sensing over a limited range with detection of standingwave pattern inside of a passive Fabry-Perot cavity. The concept considers locking of the laser optical frequency and the length of the Fabry-Perot cavity in resonance. Sensing of the interference maxima and minima within the cavity along the beam axis has been tested and proven with a low loss photoresistive photodetector based on a thin polycrystalline silicon layer.
snoSeeker: an advanced computational package for screening of guide and orphan snoRNA genes in the human genome

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) represent an abundant group of non-coding RNAs in eukaryotes. They can be divided into guide and orphan snoRNAs according to the presence or absence of antisense sequence to rRNAs or snRNAs. Current snoRNA-searching programs, which are essentially based on sequence complementarity to rRNAs or snRNAs, exist only for the screening of guide snoRNAs. In this study, we have developed an advanced computational package, snoSeeker, which includes CDseeker and ACAseeker programs, for the highly efficient and specific screening of both guide and orphan snoRNA genes in mammalian genomes. By using these programs, we have systematically scanned four human–mammal whole-genome alignment (WGA) sequences and identified 54 novel candidates including 26 orphan candidates as well as 266 known snoRNA genes. Eighteen novel snoRNAs were further experimentally confirmed with four snoRNAs exhibiting a tissue-specific or restricted expression pattern. The results of this study provide the most comprehensive listing of two families of snoRNA genes in the human genome till date.
Palette-Based Image Steganography for High-Capacity Embedding

We propose an efficient steganographic scheme for palette-based images that improves the maximum length of the embedded message and does not seriously degrade the image quality in this paper. The proposed scheme embeds a multiple-bit message within the units of a 2 × 2 pixel matrix by assigning a parity to each pixel matrix according to the Euclidean distance. The stego- images created by using our scheme offer a better quality than those by the conventional scheme. Furthermore, the maximum length of the embedded message in our new approach is increased more than twofold compared to that in our previous work. A performance analysis validated our scheme.
Concentrations of Pathogens and Indicators in Animal Feces in the Sydney Watershed

ABSTRACT A fecal analysis survey was undertaken to quantify animal inputs of pathogenic and indicator microorganisms in the temperate watersheds of Sydney, Australia. The feces from a range of domestic animals and wildlife were analyzed for the indicator bacteria fecal coliforms and Clostridium perfringens spores, the pathogenic protozoa Cryptosporidium and Giardia, and the enteric viruses adenovirus, enterovirus, and reovirus. Pathogen and fecal indicator concentrations were generally higher in domestic animal feces than in wildlife feces. Future studies to quantify potential pathogen risks in drinking-water watersheds should thus focus on quantifying pathogen loads from domestic animals and livestock rather than wildlife.
Myocardial Infarct Extension: Incidence and Relationship to Survival

Myocardial infarct extension, defined as reelevation or reappearance of creatine phosphokinase- MB (CK-MB) 48 hours after the onset of symptoms, was evaluated prospectively in 56 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarct extension occurred in eight patients (14%). The sensitivity, specificity and predictive accuracy in the diagnosis of myocardial infarct extension were 63%, 85% and 42%, respectively, for recurrent chest pain requiring morphine; 50%, 65% and 19% for recurrent ST-segment elevation on routine 12-lead ECGs; and 88%, 63% and 28% for reelevation of total CK. Three of the eight episodes of extension were clinically silent. Four of eight patients (50%) with extension died, compared with one of 46 patients (2%) without extension (p = 0.0009). CK-MB persisted for 72 hours or longer in 16 patients and identified seven of eight patients who subsequently had infarct extension. We conclude that myocardial infarct extension is an infrequent complication of acute myocardial infarction and is associated with a very high mortality rate. Persistence of CK-MB for 72 hours or more identifies a subgroup of patients at high risk for subsequent infarct extension and death.
Genomic Mining Reveals Deep Evolutionary Relationships between Bornaviruses and Bats

Bats globally harbor viruses in order Mononegavirales, such as lyssaviruses and henipaviruses; however, little is known about their relationships with bornaviruses. Previous studies showed that viral fossils of bornaviral origin are embedded in the genomes of several mammalian species such as primates, indicative of an ancient origin of exogenous bornaviruses. In this study, we mined the available 10 bat genomes and recreated a clear evolutionary relationship of endogenous bornaviral elements and bats. Comparative genomics showed that endogenization of bornaviral elements frequently occurred in vesper bats, harboring EBLLs (endogenous bornavirus-like L elements) in their genomes. Molecular dating uncovered a continuous bornavirus-bat interaction spanning 70 million years. We conclude that better understanding of modern exogenous bornaviral circulation in bat populations is warranted.
Effect of ski geometry on aggressive ski behaviour and visual aesthetics: equipment designed to reduce risk of severe traumatic knee injuries in alpine giant slalom ski racing

Background/Aim Aggressive ski-snow interaction is characterised by direct force transmission and difficulty of getting the ski off its edge once the ski is carving. This behaviour has been suggested to be a main contributor to severe knee injuries in giant slalom (GS). The aim of the current study was to provide a foundation for new equipment specifications in GS by considering two perspectives: Reducing the ski's aggressiveness for injury prevention and maintaining the external attractiveness of a ski racer's technique for spectators. Methods Three GS ski prototypes were defined based on theoretical considerations and were compared to a reference ski (Pref). Compared to Pref, all prototypes were constructed with reduced profile width and increased ski length. The construction radius (sidecut radius) of Pref was ≥27 m and was increased for the prototypes: 30 m (P30), 35 m (P35), and 40 m (P40). Seven World Cup level athletes performed GS runs on each of the three prototypes and Pref. Kinetic variables related to the ski-snow interaction were assessed to quantify the ski's aggressiveness. Additionally, 13 athletes evaluated their subjective perception of aggressiveness. 15 sports students rated several videotaped runs to assess external attractiveness. Results Kinetic variables quantifying the ski's aggressiveness showed decreased values for P35 and P40 compared to Pref and P30. Greater sidecut radius reduced subjectively perceived aggressiveness. External attractiveness was reduced for P40 only. Conclusions This investigation revealed the following evaluation of the prototypes concerning injury prevention and external attractiveness: P30: no preventative gain, no loss in attractiveness; P35: substantial preventative gain, no significant loss in attractiveness; P40: highest preventative gain, significant loss in attractiveness.
Transverse-mode coupling and diffraction loss in tunable Fabry–Pérot microcavities

We report on measurements and modeling of the mode structure of tunable Fabry–Pérot optical microcavities with imperfect mirrors. We find that non-spherical mirror shape and finite mirror size leave the fundamental mode mostly unaffected, but lead to loss, mode deformation, and shifted resonance frequencies at particular mirror separations. For small mirror diameters, the useful cavity length is limited to values significantly below the expected stability range. We explain the observations by resonant coupling between different transverse modes of the cavity and mode-dependent diffraction loss. A model based on resonant state expansion that takes into account the measured mirror profile can reproduce the measurements and identify the parameter regime where detrimental effects of mode mixing are avoided.
Brain Contains HNK-1 Immunoreactive O-Glycans of the Sulfoglucuronyl Lactosamine Series that Terminate in 2-Linked or 2,6-Linked Hexose (Mannose)*

The monoclonal antibody HNK-1 originally raised to an antigenic marker of natural killer cells also binds to selected regions in nervous tissue. The antigen is a carbohydrate that has attracted much interest as its expression is developmentally regulated in nervous tissue, and it is found, and proposed to be a ligand, on several of the adhesive glycoproteins of the nervous system. It is also expressed on glycolipids and proteoglycans, and is the target of monoclonal auto-antibodies that give rise to a demyelinating disease. The epitope, as characterized on glycolipids isolated from the nervous system, is expressed on 3-sulfated glucuronic acid joined by β1-3-linkage to a neolacto backbone. Here we exploit the neoglycolipid technology, in conjunction with immunodetection and in situ liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry, to characterize HNK-1-positive oligosaccharide chains derived by reductive alkaline release from total brain glycopeptides. The immunoreactive oligosaccharides detected are tetra- to octasaccharides that are very minor components among a heterogeneous population, each representing less than 0.1% of the starting material. Their peripheral and backbone sequences resemble those of the HNK-1-positive glycolipids. An unexpected finding is that they terminate not with N-acetylgalactosaminitol but with hexitol (2-substituted and 2,6-disubstituted). In a tetrasaccharide investigated in the greatest detail, the hexitol is identified as 2-substituted mannitol.
Information Structure Influences Depth of Syntactic Processing: Event-Related Potential Evidence for the Chomsky Illusion

Information structure facilitates communication between interlocutors by highlighting relevant information. It has previously been shown that information structure modulates the depth of semantic processing. Here we used event-related potentials to investigate whether information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing. In question-answer pairs, subtle (number agreement) or salient (phrase structure) syntactic violations were placed either in focus or out of focus through information structure marking. P600 effects to these violations reflect the depth of syntactic processing. For subtle violations, a P600 effect was observed in the focus condition, but not in the non-focus condition. For salient violations, comparable P600 effects were found in both conditions. These results indicate that information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing, but that this effect depends on the salience of the information. When subtle violations are not in focus, they are processed less elaborately. We label this phenomenon the Chomsky illusion.
Design and evaluation of a conversational agent for the touristic domain

This paper focuses on the design and evaluation of SARA, a conversational agent for the touristic domain featuring a high number of different, unique characteristics: spoken dialogue interaction, dialogue orchestration, context dependent information, an animated avatar and support for different kind of dialogue types, i.e. chat, specific and general question-answering, task oriented dialogues. The agent has currently two implementations: as web client and as mobile phone application. The paper describes the modules and resources required for running the agent on both interfaces, as well as the evaluation results obtained from two assessment studies concerning the interaction design of these two agent interfaces. The feedback gathered from the studies will enable us to improve the applications in terms of service, performance and usability.
Model transformations for hypertext modeling on web information systems

In response to the lack of suitable methods to build the navigation model of Web Information Systems (WIS), we presented in past works HM3, the Hypertext Modeling Method of MIDAS, a methodological framework for the agile development of WIS. We proposed a method to obtain the navigation model of a WIS, starting from the conceptual data model and the user requirements, collected in the use case model. In this work, continuing with the MDA approach for WIS development that we are following with HM3, we define the model to model transformations needed at the PIM level to get the hypertext model from the behavioral and content models. Firstly we specify the transformation rules with natural language to later map them to graph transformation rules.
Dysfunctional glucocorticoid receptor with a single point mutation ablates the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein‐dependent growth suppression response in a steroid‐resistant rat hepatoma cell variant

We used glucocorticoid‐resistant and ‐sensitive hepatoma cell variants to characterize the mechanism of hepatoma cell resistance to the growth inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids. BDS1 hepatoma cells express transcriptionally active glucocorticoid receptors and undergo a stringent G1 cell cycle arrest in response to glucocorticoids that is dependent on the induced expression of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) transcription factor. In contrast, EDR1 hepatoma cells, which express normal levels of glucocorticoid receptors, fail to growth arrest or express C/EBPα when treated with glucocorticoids. Ectopic expression of wild‐type rat glucocorticoid receptors into EDR1 cells restored the growth suppression response, suggesting a defect in the EDR1 receptor. DNA sequence analysis revealed a single point mutation causing a cysteine‐to‐tyrosine substitution at amino acid position 457 (C457Y‐GR) in the zinc finger region of the glucocorticoid receptor that mediates both receptor–DNA and receptor–protein interactions. Glucocorticoid activation of the α1‐acid glycoprotein (AGP) promoter, a liver acute‐phase response gene, requires receptor–DNA binding as well as an interaction with C/EBPα. In contrast to the wild‐type glucocorticoid receptor, ectopic expression of C/EBPα in EDR1 cells, or coexpression of C/EBPα along with the C457Y‐GR into receptor‐deficient EDR3 cells was required to partially restore glucocorticoid responsiveness of the AGP promoter by the EDR1 glucocorticoid receptor. Constitutive expression of the wild‐type glucocorticoid receptor, but not the C457Y‐GR mutant, was sufficient to restore the glucocorticoid growth suppression response to receptor‐deficient EDR3 cells. Thus, we have identified a glucocorticoid‐resistant hepatoma cell variant with a single point mutation in the zinc finger region of the glucocorticoid receptor gene that ablates the glucocorticoid growth suppression response and attenuates transcriptional activation of the AGP promoter. —Ramos, R. A. , Meilandt, W. J., Wang, E. C. , Firestone, G. L. Dysfunctional glucocorticoid receptor with a single point mutation ablates the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein‐dependent growth suppression response in a steroid‐resistant rat hepatoma cell variant. FASEB J. 13, 169–180 (1999)
Systematic generation of glass-box test cases for functional logic programs

We employ the narrowing-based execution mechanism of the functional logic programming language Curry in order to automatically generate a system of test cases for glass-box testing of Curry programs. The test cases for a given function are computed by narrowing a call to that function with initially uninstantiated arguments. The generated test cases are produced w.r. t. a selected code-coverage criterion such as control-flow coverage. Besides an adaption of the notion of control-flow coverage to functional (logic) programming, we present a novel coverage criterion for this programming paradigm. A particular difficulty of the adaption is the handling of laziness.