Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Signaling through MyD88 Regulates Leukocyte Recruitment after Brain Injury1

Injury to the CNS provokes an innate inflammatory reaction that engages infiltrating leukocytes with the capacity to repair and/or exacerbate tissue damage. The initial cues that orchestrate leukocyte entry remain poorly defined. We have used flow cytometry to investigate whether MyD88, an adaptor protein that transmits signals from TLRs and receptors for IL-1 and IL-18, regulates leukocyte infiltration into the stab-injured entorhinal cortex (EC) and into sites of axonal degeneration in the denervated hippocampus. We have previously established the kinetics of leukocyte entry into the denervated hippocampus. We now show that significant leukocyte entry into the EC occurs within 3–12 h of stab injury. Whereas T cells showed small, gradual increases over 8 days, macrophage infiltration was pronounced and peaked within 12–24 h. MyD88 deficiency significantly reduced macrophage and T cell recruitment to the stab-injured EC and the denervated hippocampus at 5 days post-injury. Whereas macrophage and T cell entry remained impaired into the denervated hippocampus of MyD88-deficient mice at 8 days, leukocyte infiltration into the stab-injured EC was restored to levels observed in wild-type mice. Transcripts for TNF-α, IL-1β, and CCL2, which increased >50-fold after stab injury in C57BL/6 mice at the time of peak expression, were severely reduced in injured MyD88 knockout mice. Leukocyte recruitment and gene expression were unaffected in TLR2-deficient or TLR4 mutant mice. No significant differences in gene expression were observed in mice lacking IL-1R or IL-18R. These data show that MyD88-dependent signaling mediates proinflammatory gene expression and leukocyte recruitment after CNS injury.
Identification of Molecular Intermediates in the Assembly Pathway of the MUC5AC Mucin*

MUC5AC mucins secreted by HT-29 cells in culture are oligomeric glycoproteins with characteristics similar to the MUC5AC mucins isolated from human airway sputum (Sheehan, J. K., Brazeau, C., Kutay, S., Pigeon, H., Kirkham, S., Howard, M., and Thornton, D. J. (2000) Biochem. J. 347, 37-44). Therefore we have used this cell line as a model system to investigate the biosynthesis of this major airway mucin. Initial experiments showed that the MUC5AC mucins isolated from the cells were liable to depolymerization depending on the conditions used for their solubilization. Prevention against reduction resulted in large oligomers associated with the cells, similar to those secreted into the medium. Using a combination of density gradient centrifugation and agarose gel electrophoresis coupled with probes specific for different forms of the mucin we identified five major intracellular populations of the MUC5AC polypeptide (unglycosylated monomer and dimer, GalNAc-substituted dimer, fully glycosylated dimer, and higher order oligomers). Pulse-chase studies were performed to follow the flow of radioactivity through these various intracellular forms into the mature oligomeric mucin secreted into the medium (a process taking ∼2-4 h). The results show that the mucin polypeptide undergoes dimerization and then becomes substituted with GalNAc residues prior to glycan elaboration to produce a mature mucin dimer, which then undergoes multimerization. These data indicate that this oligomeric mucin follows a similar assembly to the von Willebrand factor glycoprotein to yield long linear disulfide-linked chains.
Measuring outcomes with complex patients: An audit of the effect of Actiform Cool on painful wounds

Background: There is growing awareness surrounding the importance of wound pain, recognised by the publication of recent international studies (White, 2008). Wound pain has been identified as an outcome important to patients, in addition to physiological endpoints. It can be difficult to use randomised controlled trials to measure subjective outcomes such as pain, particularly with complex patients. An audit was therefore used to explore the effect of Actiform Cool on wound-related pain. Methods: Change in wound-related pain was assessed using a modified Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire pre- and post-application of Actiform Cool, and patients were asked to report on any changes in their pain experience, and the effects of this on their activities of daily living. Results: Results indicated that 12 patients reported an overall decrease in pain levels following use of the dressing. Four patients reduced their analgesia requirements with one discontinuing opiate analgesics. Five patients reported improvement in their sleep patterns and three reported improved mobility. Conclusion: The overall outcome reinforces that Actiform Cool has the potential to reduce pain in some patients when used as part of a pain management plan. Conflict of interest: This audit was funded by Activa Healthcare Ltd.
Multi-agent system for managing human activities in space operations

In manned space operations today, the astronauts' activity schedules are preplanned and adjusted daily on Earth. We have developed the distributed collaboration and interaction (DO) multi-agent system to investigate automating aspects of human activity management. The DCI System assists (1) plan generation, (2) human activity tracking, (3) plan revision, and (4) mixed initiative interaction with the plan. We have deployed and evaluated the DCI system at JSC to assist control engineers in managing anomaly handling activities for automated life support systems. DCI operated round the clock for 20 months in the Water Research Facility at JSC. Using this software, we reduced anomaly response time by engineers from up to 10 hours in previous tests to under an hour. Based on this evaluation, we conclude that agent assistance for schedule management has potential to improve astronaut activity awareness and reduce response time in situations where crew are interrupted to handle anomalies
Identification of collagen fibril fusion during vertebrate tendon morphogenesis. The process relies on unipolar fibrils and is regulated by collagen-proteoglycan interaction.

The synthesis of an extracellular matrix containing long (approximately mm in length) collagen fibrils is fundamental to the normal morphogenesis of animal tissues. In this study we have direct evidence that fibroblasts synthesise transient early fibril intermediates (approximately 1 micrometer in length) that interact by tip-to-tip fusion to generate long fibrils seen in older tissues. Examination of early collagen fibrils from tendon showed that two types of early fibrils occur: unipolar fibrils (with carboxyl (C) and amino (N) ends) and bipolar fibrils (with two N-ends). End-to-end fusion requires the C-end of a unipolar fibril. Proteoglycans coated the shafts of the fibrils but not the tips. In the absence of proteoglycans the fibrils aggregated by side-to-side interactions. Therefore, proteoglycans promote tip-to-tip fusion and inhibit side-to-side fusion. This distribution of proteoglycan along the fibril required co-assembly of collagen and proteoglycan prior to fibril assembly. The study showed that collagen fibrillogenesis is a hierarchical process that depends on the unique structure of unipolar fibrils and a novel function of proteoglycans.
Social Networks And Mental Health : Evidence From SHARE

The relationship between social interaction and mental health is an area of continued focus for the social sciences. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this study examines the effect of social support network type on mental health in the context of two competing psychological models. The main effects hypothesis predicts that individuals with strong social support experience higher levels of wellbeing than those with weak social support, while according to the stress-buffering hypothesis, it is only upon exposure to unexpected negative life events that individuals with weaker levels of social support are adversely affected. Cluster analysis of objective criteria such as support-exchange and social interaction identifies four social support network types comparable to those found in previous studies: self-contained; spouse-reliant; family-dependent; and family and community integrated. Network profiles differ in terms of a number of socio demographic indicators, including age, education, and place of residence. Network variation across countries is also evident. Addressing concerns about omitted variables, we find a robust result that being in a social network characterised by low levels of support and social engagement is associated with higher levels of mental distress (the main effects hypothesis), but only for women. The magnitude of this effect is comparable to divorce, and appears to be mediated through feelings of loneliness. We find no evidence that being in such a network exacerbates the distress associated with traumatic life events (the buffer hypothesis). Strong spousal support is also found to have a positive effect, but again only for women. JEL Classification: Z13, I10, J14
Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and Teager-Kaiser energy operator (TKEO) based damage identification of roller bearings using one-class support vector machine.

Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is a newly developed noise assisted method aimed to solve mode mixing problem exists in empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method. Although EEMD has been utilized in various applications successfully, small defects of bearings are not able to be detected, especially in automatic defect detection, when only healthy samples are available for training. Teager-Kaiser energy operator (TKEO) technique is a non-linear operator that can track the energy and identify the instantaneous frequencies and instantaneous amplitudes of signals at any instant. As Teager-Kaiser energy operator (TKEO) technique detects a sudden change of the energy stream without any priori assumption of the data structure, it can be utilized for vibration based condition monitoring (non-stationary signals). In this study it is investigated whether an automatic method is able to diagnose a small defect level of roller bearings through processing of the acquired signals. After applying TKEO on IMFs decomposed by means of EEMD, the extracted informative feature vectors of the healthy bearing are used to construct the separating hyperplane using one-class support vector machine (SVM). Then, success rates of state identification of both samples (healthy and faulty) are examined by labelling the samples. The data were generated by means of a test rig assembled in the labs of the Dynamics & Identification Research Group (DIRG) at mechanical and aerospace engineering department, Politecnico di Torino. Various operating conditions (three shaft speeds, three external loads and one small size damage on a roller) were considered to obtain reliable results.
Wide-band divide-by-4 injection-locked frequency divider using RLC resonator and capacitive cross-coupled oscillator

A wide locking range divide-by-4 injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD) using a standard 0.18 μm CMOS process is presented. The ILFD circuit is realized with a capacitive cross-coupled n-core MOS dual-resonance RLC-tank oscillator to extend the locking range. The core power consumption of the ILFD core is 11.872 mW. The divider's free-running frequency has dual-bands at 2.87 and 2.69 GHz by switching the varactor's control bias, and at the incident power of 0 dBm the locking range is 3.2 GHz (28.82%), from the incident frequency 9.5 to 12.7GHz.
Binding of Transmembrane Mucins to Galectin-3 Limits Herpesvirus 1 Infection of Human Corneal Keratinocytes

ABSTRACT Epithelial cells lining mucosal surfaces impose multiple barriers to viral infection. At the ocular surface, the carbohydrate-binding protein galectin-3 maintains barrier function by cross-linking transmembrane mucins on the apical glycocalyx. Despite these defense mechanisms, many viruses have evolved to exploit fundamental cellular processes on host cells. Here, we use affinity assays to show that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), but not HSV-2, binds human galectin-3. Knockdown of galectin-3 in human corneal keratinocytes by small interfering RNA significantly impaired HSV-1 infection, but not expression of nectin-1, indicating that galectin-3 is a herpesvirus entry mediator. Interestingly, exposure of epithelial cell cultures to transmembrane mucin isolates decreased viral infectivity. Moreover, HSV-1 failed to elute the biological counterreceptor MUC16 from galectin-3 affinity columns, suggesting that association of transmembrane mucins to galectin-3 provides protection against viral infection. Together, these results indicate that HSV-1 exploits galectin-3 to enhance virus attachment to host cells and support a protective role for transmembrane mucins under physiological conditions by masking viral entry mediators on the epithelial glycocalyx.
Diversity of the Sediment Microbial Community in the Aha Watershed (Southwest China) in Response to Acid Mine Drainage Pollution Gradients

ABSTRACT Located in southwest China, the Aha watershed is continually contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD) produced from upstream abandoned coal mines. The watershed is fed by creeks with elevated concentrations of aqueous Fe (total Fe > 1 g/liter) and SO4 2− (>6 g/liter). AMD contamination gradually decreases throughout downstream rivers and reservoirs, creating an AMD pollution gradient which has led to a suite of biogeochemical processes along the watershed. In this study, sediment samples were collected along the AMD pollution sites for geochemical and microbial community analyses. High-throughput sequencing found various bacteria associated with microbial Fe and S cycling within the watershed and AMD-impacted creek. A large proportion of Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria were detected in this watershed. The dominant Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria were identified as microorganisms belonging to the genera Metallibacterium, Aciditerrimonas, Halomonas, Shewanella, Ferrovum, Alicyclobacillus, and Syntrophobacter. Among them, Halomonas, Aciditerrimonas, Metallibacterium, and Shewanella have previously only rarely been detected in AMD-contaminated environments. In addition, the microbial community structures changed along the watershed with different magnitudes of AMD pollution. Moreover, the canonical correspondence analysis suggested that temperature, pH, total Fe, sulfate, and redox potentials (Eh) were significant factors that structured the microbial community compositions along the Aha watershed.
Mov34 Protein from Mouse Brain Interacts with the 3′ Noncoding Region of Japanese Encephalitis Virus

ABSTRACT The plus-sense RNA genome of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) contains noncoding regions (NCRs) of 95 and 585 bases at its 5′ and 3′ ends, respectively. The last 83 nucleotides of the 3′-NCR are predicted to form stable stem-loop (SL) structures. The shape of this 3′-SL structure is highly conserved among divergent flaviviruses even though only small stretches of nucleotide sequence contained within these structures are conserved. These SL structures have been predicted to function as cis-acting signals for RNA replication and as such may bind to viral and cellular proteins that may be involved in viral replication. We have studied the interaction of the JEV 3′-NCR RNA with host proteins using gel retardation assays. We show that the JEV 3′-SL structure RNA forms three complexes with proteins from the S100 cytoplasmic extract prepared from the neonatal mouse brain. These complexes could be obtained in the presence of 200 mM KCl, indicating that the RNA-protein interaction may be physiologically relevant. UV-induced cross-linking and Northwestern blotting analyses detected three proteins with apparent molecular masses of 32, 35, and 50 kDa that bound to the JEV 3′-SL structure RNA. Screening of the neonatal mouse brain cDNA library with the JEV 3′-SL structure RNA identified a 36-kDa Mov34 protein interacting with it. Competition experiments using the RNA extracted from JEV virions established that the 36-kDa Mov34 protein indeed bound to the JEV genome. Murine Mov34 belongs to a family of proteins whose members have been shown to be involved in RNA transcription and translation. It is, therefore, likely that the murine Mov34 interaction with JEV 3′-NCR has a role in RNA replication.
Bacterial Expression of Human Butyrylcholinesterase as a Tool for Nerve Agent Bioscavengers Development

Human butyrylcholinesterase is a performant stoichiometric bioscavenger of organophosphorous nerve agents. It is either isolated from outdated plasma or functionally expressed in eukaryotic systems. Here, we report the production of active human butyrylcholinesterase in a prokaryotic system after optimization of the primary sequence through the Protein Repair One Stop Shop process, a structure- and sequence-based algorithm for soluble bacterial expression of difficult eukaryotic proteins. The mutant enzyme was purified to homogeneity. Its kinetic parameters with substrate are similar to the endogenous human butyrylcholinesterase or recombinants produced in eukaryotic systems. The isolated protein was prone to crystallize and its 2.5-Å X-ray structure revealed an active site gorge region identical to that of previously solved structures. The advantages of this alternate expression system, particularly for the generation of butyrylcholinesterase variants with nerve agent hydrolysis activity, are discussed.
Detection and Dispersion of Thick and Film-Like Oil Spills in a Coastal Bay Using Satellite Optical Images

The spatial distribution of an oil spill and its temporal dispersion within a coastal bay were investigated using high-resolution optical images. A neural network (NN) method was applied to Landsat and DubaiSat-2 images to detect the oil spill. We conducted field observations to measure spectral characteristics of the oil spill and the oil-free sea surface. We were able to detect and eliminate pixels corresponding to ships and ship shadows on the satellite image, resulting in successful oil spill detection. A new recursive NN method using a near-infrared band was developed to classify oil types into thick or film-like oil and to estimate their areal extents. To understand potential causes of the temporal evolution of the oil spill, we performed numerical modeling with atmospheric and oceanic inputs. Overall, trajectories of oil particles controlled by tidal currents showed good agreement with the detection results from satellite data. Slight discrepancies occurred between satellite data and results from the model simulation using only tidal currents, particularly in the southeastward dispersion or in the spreading of film-like oils into the northern inner channels. This was attributed to the effect of wind-driven Ekman drift. This study suggests that tidal currents played an important role in the temporal dispersion of oil in the bay during initial phases, when wind conditions were relatively weak, and that the Ekman drift became the dominant control on oil movement during periods of weak tidal currents and strong winds.
Interregionale Effekte des Wirtschaftswachstums in der Ukraine und Polen

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht erstmalig fur die Ukraine und Polen, wie stark sich das Wirtschaftswachstum der raumlich benachbarten Regionen auf die Wachstumsrate einer Region auswirkt. Die empirische Analyse erfolgt fur den Zeitraum 2004-2012 anhand des Instrumentalvariablenschatzers. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es negative interregionale Wachstumseffekte in der Ukraine gibt, in Polen hingegen positive. Die Ergebnisse bleiben robust in Bezug auf die Spezifikation der raumlichen Gewichtungsmatrix. Zudem wird festgestellt, dass die raumlichen FDI-Spillover-Effekte einen Einfluss auf das regionale Wirtschaftswachstum in beiden untersuchten Landern haben.
DNase Pretreatment of Master Mix Reagents Improves the Validity of Universal 16S rRNA Gene PCR Results

ABSTRACT DNase I pretreatment of 16S rRNA gene PCR reagents was tested. The DNase I requirement for the elimination of false-positive results varied between 0.1 and 70 IU per master mix depending on the applied Taq polymerase. PCR sensitivity was mostly maintained when 0.1 IU of DNase I was used.
Berufliche Weiterbildung und die Stabilität der Beschäftigung: Eine Evaluation auf Basis des Sozioökonomischen Panels

Ziel der Studie ist es, die Effekte betrieblicher Weiterbildung auf die Stabilitat der Beschaftigung der Weiterbildungsteilnehmer zu uberprufen. Die Analyse basiert auf Daten des Sozio- Okonomischen Panels fur die alten Bundeslander im Zeitraum 1984-1997. Bei der ausgewahlten Stichprobe wird die Beschaftigung und deren Stabilitat in den ersten 36 Monaten nach der Teilnahme an der Weiterbildung analysiert, wobei die Dauer der Massnahme berucksichtigt wird. Als Ergebnisse stellen die Verfasser fest, dass sich die Wahrscheinlichkeit der individuellen Beschaftigung und deren Stabilitat durch berufliche Fortbildungsmassnahmen signifikant erhohen. Zudem steigt die Beschaftigungsstabilitat mit der Dauer der absolvierten Massnahmen. (BIBB2)
Natural categories or fundamental dimensions: On carving nature at the joints and the rearticulation of psychopathology

The question of whether to view psychopathology as categorical or dimensional continues to provoke debate. We review the many facets of this argument. These include the pragmatics of measurement; the needs of clinical practice; our ability to distinguish categories from dimensions empirically; methods of analysis appropriate to each and how they relate; and the potential theoretical biases associated with each approach. We conclude that much of the debate is misconceived in that we do not observe pathology directly; rather, we observe its properties. The same pathology can have some properties that are most easily understood using a dimensional conceptualization while at the same time having other properties that are best understood categorically. We suggest replacing Meehl's analogy involving qualitatively distinct species with an alternative analogy with the “duality” of light, a phenomenon with both wave- and particle-like properties.
Lifted Inference and Learning in Statistical Relational Models

Statistical relationalmodels combine aspects of first-order logic andprobabilistic graphical models, enabling them to model complex logical and probabilistic interactions between large numbers of objects. This level of expressivity comes at the cost of increased complexity of inference, motivating a new line of research in lifted probabilistic inference. By exploiting symmetries of the relational structure in themodel, and reasoning about groups of objects as awhole, lifted algorithms dramatically improve the run time of inference and learning. The thesis has five main contributions. First, we propose a new method for logical inference, called first-order knowledge compilation. We show that by compiling relational models into a new circuit language, hard inference problems become tractable to solve. Furthermore, we present an algorithm that compiles relational models into our circuit language. Second, we show how to use first-order knowledge compilation for statistical relational models, leading to a new state-of-the-art lifted probabilistic inference algorithm. Third, we develop a formal framework for exact lifted inference, including a definition in terms of its complexity w.r. t. the number of objects in the world. From this follows a first completeness result, showing that the two-variable class of statistical relational models always supports lifted inference. Fourth, we present an algorithm for