Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leishmania infection inhibits macrophage motility by altering F‐actin dynamics and the expression of adhesion complex proteins

Leishmania is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from self‐healing skin lesions to fatal visceralizing disease. As the host cells of choice for all species of Leishmania, macrophages are critical for the establishment of infections. How macrophages contribute to parasite homing to specific tissues and how parasites modulate macrophage function are still poorly understood. In this study, we show that Leishmania amazonensis infection inhibits macrophage roaming motility. The reduction in macrophage speed is not dependent on particle load or on factors released by infected macrophages. L. amazonensis‐infected macrophages also show reduced directional migration in response to the chemokine MCP‐1. We found that infected macrophages have lower levels of total paxillin, phosphorylated paxillin, and phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase when compared to noninfected macrophages, indicating abnormalities in the formation of signaling adhesion complexes that regulate motility. Analysis of the dynamics of actin polymerization at peripheral sites also revealed a markedly enhanced F‐actin turnover frequency in L. amazonensis‐infected macrophages. Thus, Leishmania infection inhibits macrophage motility by altering actin dynamics and impairing the expression of proteins that function in plasma membrane–extracellular matrix interactions.
Screening of extravascular findings in pulmonary embolism computer tomography: 397 patients with 1950 non-pulmonary artery findings

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the possible benefits from computed tomography scans of patients with a suspected pulmonary artery embolism with a focus on relevant extravascular findings. Methods A total of 400 consecutive computed tomography pulmonary angiographies were evaluated. Computed tomography scans were analyzed in detail for the presence of pulmonary artery embolisms, as well as any other findings. Extra-artery discoveries were classified into none-relevant (Group A), intermediate (Group B), or relevant (Group C) findings. Results Aggregated computed tomography pulmonary angiographies detected other diagnosis than pulmonary artery embolism in 236 patients (59%). There were 1950 non-pulmonary artery embolism findings (4.9 per patient; n = 397). In the pulmonary artery embolism group, there were 447 extra-pulmonary artery embolism findings (5.2 per patient; n = 86) and in the non-pulmonary artery embolism group, 1503 findings (4.8 per patient; n = 311). Patients with pulmonary artery embolism had a significantly higher rate of pro-coagulate risk factors (p < 0.001). Conclusions Computed tomography pulmonary angiographies may help to identify further diagnoses. This study represents a retrospective review of a single center experience for incidental computed tomography findings during pulmonary artery embolism work-up and emphasizes the importance of analyzing the whole field-of-view.
Current Flow Group Closeness Centrality for Complex Networks?

The problem of selecting a group of vertices under certain constraints that maximize their joint centrality arises in many practical scenarios. In this paper, we extend the notion of current flow closeness centrality (CFCC) to a set of vertices in a graph, and investigate the problem of selecting a subset S to maximizes its CFCC C(S), with the cardinality constraint |S| = k. We show the NP-hardness of the problem, but propose two greedy algorithms to minimize the reciprocal of C(S). We prove the approximation ratios by showing the monotonicity and supermodularity. A proposed deterministic greedy algorithm has an approximation factor and cubic running time. To compare with, a proposed randomized algorithm gives -approximation in nearly-linear time, for any ? > 0. Extensive experiments on model and real networks demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms, with the randomized algorithm being applied to massive networks with more than a million vertices.
Robust channel selection method under home electronics-derived electromagnetic wave interference

In a cognitive radio system, a spectrum sensing and a channel state prediction are used for efficiently detecting a vacant channel. A Markov chain model is very popular channel model for the prediction. Thus, we focus on an impact of electromagnetic wave interference to channel prediction using the Markov chain model. Then we consider a robust channel selection method under home electronics-derived electromagnetic wave interferences. In this paper, we perform experimental measurements under the environment both without the electromagnetic wave interference and with the electromagnetic wave interference to search the impact of the channel state prediction.
Donor variation effect on red blood cell storage lesion: a multivariable, yet consistent, story

Previous studies have shown that baseline hematologic characteristics concerning or influencing red blood cell (RBC) properties might affect storage lesion development in individual donors. This study was conducted to evaluate whether variation in hemolysis, microparticle accumulation, phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, and other storage lesion–associated variables might be a function of the prestorage hematologic and biologic profiles of the donor.
The role of intestinal microflora on the prevention of Salmonella colonization in gnotobiotic chickens.

The possible role of the intestinal microflora in inhibiting the colonization of Salmonella in the ceca of gnotobiotic chickens was investigated. In the cecal contents of newly hatched (2-day-old) and adult normal (7-mo-old) chickens, a larger number of Escherichia coli and a smaller number of Lactobacillus sp. were noticed in 2-day-old chickens than in adult chickens. Gnotobiotic chickens treated with cecal contents from either newly hatched or adult birds were orally exposed to Salmonella typhimurium, and on the following day S. typhimurium in the ceca were counted. The adult microflora prevented S. typhimurium colonization more strongly than did the microflora of newly hatched chicks. Gnotobiotic chickens treated with E. coli, Lactobacillus sp. , or the mixture of both organisms were orally inoculated with S. typhimurium. The mixture of both organisms suppressed S. typhimurium colonization most effectively, followed by E. coli alone and Lactobacillus sp. alone, Escherichia coli may play a role of competitive exclusion only in newly hatched chickens, whereas Lactobacillus sp. may have a partial role in adult chickens.
Evaluation of a PCR Method for Detection of Entamoeba polecki, with an Overview of Its Molecular Epidemiology

ABSTRACT Entamoeba polecki is a parasite of human and nonhuman primates, other mammals, and birds. Due to overlapping morphological features, cysts of E. polecki may be confused with those of other Entamoeba species commonly found in human fecal samples, including immature cysts of Entamoeba histolytica. Although the presence of E. polecki in human Entamoeba-positive stool samples may be rare, its prevalence is likely underestimated due to such confusion. Here, we give examples of diagnostic approaches applied so far and summarize data on the molecular epidemiology of E. polecki, including host specificity and phylogeography. Moreover, we evaluate a novel diagnostic conventional PCR developed for the screening of fecal samples for E. polecki. The assay was highly sensitive and specific when used on genomic DNA extracted directly from stool and Swedish wastewater samples. The PCR enabled the identification of all four subtypes (ST1 to ST4) of E. polecki by PCR product sequencing. Most (23/28) subtyped E. polecki-positive samples detected in patients in Sweden between 2002 and 2015 reflected colonization by ST4 and were seen in travelers/foreigners. Two and three human cases of ST2 and ST3, respectively, were also detected. Subtypes 1, 2, and 3 were detected in 3/21 wastewater samples, suggesting local endemicity of these E. polecki subtypes; interestingly, ST4 was not detected in wastewater. In conclusion, the current PCR assay enables simple and cost-effective screening of fecal and wastewater samples for E. polecki. Human cases of E. polecki appear to involve primarily ST4, while E. polecki detected in wastewater may be primarily of animal origin.
Autotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria Contribute Minimally to Nitrification in a Nitrogen-Impacted Forested Ecosystem

ABSTRACT Deposition rates of atmospheric nitrogenous pollutants to forests in the San Bernardino Mountains range east of Los Angeles, California, are the highest reported in North America. Acidic soils from the west end of the range are N-saturated and have elevated rates of N-mineralization, nitrification, and nitrate leaching. We assessed the impact of this heavy nitrogen load on autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing communities by investigating their composition, abundance, and activity. Analysis of 177 cloned β-Proteobacteria ammonia oxidizer 16S rRNA genes from highly to moderately N-impacted soils revealed similar levels of species composition; all of the soils supported the previously characterized Nitrosospira clusters 2, 3, and 4. Ammonia oxidizer abundance measured by quantitative PCR was also similar among the soils. However, rates of potential nitrification activity were greater for N-saturated soils than for soils collected from a less impacted site, but autotrophic (i.e., acetylene-sensitive) activity was low in all soils examined. N-saturated soils incubated for 30 days with ammonium accumulated additional soluble ammonium, whereas less-N-impacted soils had a net loss of ammonium. Lastly, nitrite production by cultivated Nitrosospira multiformis, an autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacterium adapted to relatively high ammonium concentrations, was significantly inhibited in pH-controlled slurries of sterilized soils amended with ammonium despite the maintenance of optimal ammonia-oxidizing conditions. Together, these results showed that factors other than autotrophic ammonia oxidizers contributed to high nitrification rates in these N-impacted forest soils and, unlike many other environments, differences in nitrogen content and soil pH did not favor particular autotrophic ammonia oxidizer groups.
SCK: A Sparse Coding Based Key-Point Detector

All current popular hand-crafted key-point detectors such as Harris corner, MSER, SIFT, SURF⃛ rely on some specific pre-designed structures for the detection of corners, blobs, junctions … in an image. In this paper, a novel sparse coding based key-point detector which requires no particular predesigned structures is presented. The key-point detector is based on measuring the complexity level of each block in an image to decide where a key-point should be. The complexity level of a block is defined as the total number of non-zero components of a sparse representation of that block. Generally, a block constructed with more components is more complex and has greater potential to be a good key-point. Experimental results on Webcam and EF datasets [1], [2] show that the proposed detector achieves significantly high repeatability compared to hand-crafted features, and even outperforms the matching scores of the state-of-the-art learning based detector.
Corneal Nerve Fractal Dimension: A Novel Corneal Nerve Metric for the Diagnosis of Diabetic Sensorimotor Polyneuropathy

Objective Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM), an in vivo ophthalmic imaging modality, is a noninvasive and objective imaging biomarker for identifying small nerve fiber damage. We have evaluated the diagnostic performance of previously established CCM parameters to a novel automated measure of corneal nerve complexity called the corneal nerve fiber fractal dimension (ACNFrD). Methods A total of 176 subjects (84 controls and 92 patients with type 1 diabetes) with and without diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) underwent CCM. Fractal dimension analysis was performed on CCM images using purpose-built corneal nerve analysis software, and compared with previously established manual and automated corneal nerve fiber measurements. Results Manual and automated subbasal corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD) (P < 0.0001), length (CNFL) (P < 0.0001), branch density (CNBD) (P < 0.05), and ACNFrD (P < 0.0001) were significantly reduced in patients with DSPN compared to patients without DSPN. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for identifying DSPN were comparable: 0.77 for automated CNFD, 0.74 for automated CNFL, 0.69 for automated CNBD, and 0.74 for automated ACNFrD. Conclusions ACNFrD shows comparable diagnostic efficiency to identify diabetic patients with and without DSPN.
Prognostic value of baseline seric Syndecan‐1 in initially unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer patients: a simple biological score

In first‐line metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), baseline prognostic factors allowing death risk and treatment strategy stratification are lacking. Syndecan‐1 (CD138) soluble form was never described as a prognostic biomarker in mCRC. We investigated its additional prognostic value for overall survival (OS). mCRC patients with unresectable disease at diagnosis were treated with bevacizumab‐based chemotherapy in two independent prospective clinical trials (development set: n = 126, validation set: n = 51, study NCT00489697 and study NCT00544011, respectively). Serums were collected at baseline for CD138 measurement. OS determinants were assessed and, based on the final multivariate model, a prognostic score was proposed. Two independent OS prognostic factors were identified: Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) high level (p = 0.0066) and log‐CD138 high level (p = 0.0190). The determination of CD138 binary information (cutoff: 75 ng/mL) allowed the assessment of a biological prognostic score with CD138 and LDH values, identifying three risk groups for death (median OS= 38.9, 30.1 and 19.8 months for the low, intermediate and high risk groups, respectively; p < 0.0001). This score had a good discrimination ability (C‐index = 0.63). These results were externally confirmed in the validation set. Our study provides robust evidence in favor of the additional baseline soluble CD138 prognostic value for OS, in mCRC patients. A simple biological scoring system is proposed including LDH and CD138 binary status values.
The Roles of Auxin Response Factor Domains in Auxin-Responsive Transcription Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.008417.

Auxin response factors (ARFs) are transcription factors that bind to TGTCTC auxin response elements in promoters of early auxin response genes. ARFs have a conserved N-terminal DNA binding domain (DBD) and in most cases a conserved C-terminal dimerization domain (CTD). The ARF CTD is related in amino acid sequence to motifs III and IV found in Aux/IAA proteins. Just C terminal to the DBD, ARFs contain a nonconserved region referred to as the middle region (MR), which has been proposed to function as a transcriptional repression or activation domain. Results with transfected protoplasts reported here show that ARFs with Q-rich MRs function as activators, whereas most, if not all other ARFs, function as repressors. ARF DBDs alone are sufficient to recruit ARFs to their DNA target sites, and auxin does not influence this recruitment. ARF MRs alone function as activation or repression domains when targeted to reporter genes via a yeast Gal4 DBD, and auxin does not influence the potency of activation or repression. ARF CTDs, along with a Q-rich MR, are required for an auxin response whether the MRs plus CTDs are recruited to a promoter by an ARF DBD or by a Gal4 DBD. The auxin response is mediated by the recruitment of Aux/IAA proteins to promoters that contain a DNA binding protein with a Q-rich MR and an attached CTD.
Collaborative mapping of an earthquake‐damaged building via ground and aerial robots

We report recent results from field experiments conducted with a team of ground and aerial robots engaged in the collaborative mapping of an earthquake‐damaged building. The goal of the experimental exercise is the generation of three‐dimensional maps that capture the layout of a multifloor environment. The experiments took place in the top three floors of a structurally compromised building at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan that was damaged during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. We provide details of the approach to the collaborative mapping and report results from the experiments in the form of maps generated by the individual robots and as a team. We conclude by discussing observations from the experiments and future research topics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mobility enhancements to the Scout robot platform

When a distributed robotic system is assigned to perform reconnaissance or surveillance, restrictions inherent to the design of an individual robot limit the system's performance in certain environments. Finding an ideal portable robotic platform capable of deploying and returning information in spatially restrictive areas is not a simple task. The Scout robot, developed at the University of Minnesota, is a viable robotic platform for these types of missions. The small form factor of the Scout allows for deployment, placement, and concealment of a team of robots equipped with a variety of sensory packages. However, the design of the Scout requires a compromise in power, sensor types, locomotion, and size; together these factors prevent an individual Scout from operating ideally in some environments. Several attempts to address these deficiencies have been implemented and are discussed. Among the prototype solutions are actuating wheels, allowing the Scout to increase ground clearance in varying terrains, a grappling hook enabling the Scout to obtain a position of elevated observation, and infrared emitters to facilitate low light operation.
Salient Object Detection by Lossless Feature Reflection

Salient object detection, which aims to identify and locate the most salient pixels or regions in images, has been attracting more and more interest due to its various real-world applications. However, this vision task is quite challenging, especially under complex image scenes. Inspired by the intrinsic reflection of natural images, in this paper we propose a novel feature learning framework for large-scale salient object detection. Specifically, we design a symmetrical fully convolutional network (SFCN) to learn complementary saliency features under the guidance of lossless feature reflection. The location information, together with contextual and semantic information, of salient objects are jointly utilized to supervise the proposed network for more accurate saliency predictions. In addition, to overcome the blurry boundary problem, we propose a new structural loss function to learn clear object boundaries and spatially consistent saliency. The coarse prediction results are effectively refined by these structural information for performance improvements. Extensive experiments on seven saliency detection datasets demonstrate that our approach achieves consistently superior performance and outperforms the very recent state-of-the-art methods.
Selection for mating ability in Japanese quail.

Results are presented for a replicated mass selection experiment for high and low cumulative number of completed matings. Through six generations of selection heritabilities of the selected trait averaged . 07 for the high lines and . 25 for the low lines. No correlated responses were noted for body weight at either 4 or 8 weeks of age, whereas the relationships of the selected trait with size of the cloacal gland and relative aggressiveness were positive.
A novel AP positioning scheme under information-limited indoor environments

GPS is a widely-used locating technology. However, since satellite signal cannot penetrate buildings, different signal resources, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, are necessary for conducting indoor positioning. In this research, we consider the positioning of indoor Wi-Fi APs basing on users' acquired signals. Our scheme “Indoor AP Positioning(IAP)” is composed by three steps: (1) Centrifugal Direction(CD) for outdoor signal. (2) Multidimensional Scaling(MDS) for indoor signal, and (3) final offset adjustment. The experiment results show that the accuracy of IAP is very promising. It can utilize existing data of users' cellphone, and no further measurement process is necessary.
Multi-scale simulation of stitched foam-core sandwich composites subjected to low-velocity impact

Multi-scale approach has been developed for evaluating the damage resistance of sandwich structures composed of stitched foam-core and woven face sheets subjected to low-velocity impact.Simplified model of stitched foam-core was established.The classical theory of homogenization was adapted and used by treating the foam strengthened by the glass fiber resin column as orthotropic equivalent core material which elastic properties depended on each component and their volume participation.And finite element model of sandwich structure was established.Interface elements were added between panels and foam-core to simulate the initiation and propagation of adhesive disbond damage.Impact behaviors of the stitched foam-core sandwich composites were calculated with GENOA progressive failure analysis commercial software and compared with those in experimental.Good agreements between numerical and experimental were found,which demonstrates the validity of the multi-scale progressive failure analysis method.The analysis shows that the damage in upper panel and delamination between panels and foam-core reduce effectively when the sandwich composites stitched.However,stitches brought initial damage to the structure;higher stitch density increased the foam-core stiffness,as a result,reduced energy absorption capability of sandwich structures.
Octopamine Neuromodulatory Effects on a Social Behavior Decision-Making Network in Drosophila Males

Situations requiring rapid decision-making in response to dynamic environmental demands occur repeatedly in natural environments. Neuromodulation can offer important flexibility to the output of neural networks in coping with changing conditions, but the contribution of individual neuromodulatory neurons in social behavior networks remains relatively unknown. Here we manipulate the Drosophila octopaminergic system and assay changes in adult male decision-making in courtship and aggression paradigms. When the functional state of OA neural circuits is enhanced, males exhibit elevated courtship behavior towards other males in both behavioral contexts. Eliminating the expression of the male form of the neural sex determination factor, Fruitless (FruM), in three OA suboesophageal ganglia (SOG) neurons also leads to increased male-male courtship behavior in these same contexts. We analyzed the fine anatomical structure through confocal examination of labeled single neurons to determine the arborization patterns of each of the three FruM-positive OA SOG neurons. These neurons send processes that display mirror symmetric, widely distributed arbors of endings within brain regions including the ventrolateral protocerebra, the SOG and the peri-esophageal complex. The results suggest that a small subset of OA neurons have the potential to provide male selective modulation of behavior at a single neuron level.