Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Receptor Expression among Syncytium-Resistant Cell Lines Revealed by a Novel Surface Glycoprotein-Immunoadhesin

ABSTRACT The envelope glycoproteins of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) perform functions that are crucial for virus entry into cells. The surface glycoprotein (SU) is responsible for viral recognition of, and binding to, target cells through its interaction with an unknown cell surface receptor. To facilitate molecular analysis of the receptor-binding properties of SU and to characterize the cellular receptor employed by HTLV-1, we have expressed a recombinant SU fused to the Fc domain of human immunoglobulin G. Here, we demonstrate that this novel SU-immunoadhesin retains both the biochemical properties of Fc and the receptor-binding specificity of the HTLV-1 SU. We use this SU-immunoadhesin to demonstrate, by direct cell surface binding assays, that the receptor used by HTLV-1 has been conserved through vertebrate evolution. Moreover, using murine-human somatic cell hybrids we provide data that do not support the previously assigned location for the HTLV-1 receptor on human chromosome 17. Most importantly, we show that many cell lines that are resistant to HTLV-1 envelope-mediated infection and syncytium formation express functional receptors that are recognized by the HTLV-1 SU. Based on our results, we suggest that for some HTLV-1-resistant cell lines the block to viral entry occurs at a late post-receptor-binding step of the entry process. Our findings will be of value in developing new strategies to identify the cellular receptor used by HTLV-1.
Effect of a Baby-Led Approach to Complementary Feeding on Infant Growth and Overweight: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Baby-led approaches to complementary feeding, which promote self-feeding of all nonliquid foods are proposed to improve energy self-regulation and lower obesity risk. However, to date, no randomized clinical trials have studied this proposition. Objective To determine whether a baby-led approach to complementary feeding results in a lower body mass index (BMI) than traditional spoon-feeding. Design, Setting, and Participants The 2-year Baby-Led Introduction to Solids (BLISS) randomized clinical trial recruited 206 women (168 [81.6%] of European ancestry; 85 [41.3%] primiparous) in late pregnancy from December 19, 2012, through March 17, 2014, as part of a community intervention in Dunedin, New Zealand. Women were randomized to a control condition (n = 101) or the BLISS intervention (n = 105) after stratification for parity and education. All outcomes were collected by staff blinded to group randomization, and no participants withdrew because of an adverse event. Data were analyzed based on intention to treat. Interventions Mothers in the BLISS group received lactation consultant support (≥5 contacts) to extend exclusive breastfeeding and delay introduction of complementary foods until 6 months of age and 3 personalized face-to-face contacts (at 5.5, 7.0, and 9.0 months). Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was BMI z score (at 12 and 24 months). Secondary outcomes included energy self-regulation and eating behaviors assessed with questionnaires at 6, 12, and 24 months and energy intake assessed with 3-day weighed diet records at 7, 12, and 24 months. Results Among the 206 participants (mean [SD] age, 31.3 [5.6] years), 166 were available for analysis at 24 months (retention, 80.5%). The mean (SD) BMI z score was not significantly different at 12 months (control group, 0.20 [0.89]; BLISS group, 0.44 [1.13]; adjusted difference, 0.21; 95% CI, −0.07 to 0.48) or at 24 months (control group, 0.24 [1.01]; BLISS group, 0.39 [1.04]; adjusted difference, 0.16; 95% CI, −0.13 to 0.45). At 24 months, 5 of 78 infants (6.4%) were overweight (BMI≥95th percentile) in the control group compared with 9 of 87 (10.3%) in the BLISS group (relative risk, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.6-5.7). Lower satiety responsiveness was observed in BLISS infants at 24 months (adjusted difference, −0.24; 95% CI, −0.41 to −0.07). Parents also reported less food fussiness (adjusted difference, −0.33; 95% CI, −0.51 to −0.14) and greater enjoyment of food (adjusted difference, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.43) at 12 months in BLISS infants. Estimated differences in energy intake were 55 kJ (95% CI, −284 to 395 kJ) at 12 months and 143 kJ (95% CI, −241 to 526 kJ) at 24 months. Conclusions and Relevance A baby-led approach to complementary feeding did not result in more appropriate BMI than traditional spoon-feeding, although children were reported to have less food fussiness. Further research should determine whether these findings apply to individuals using unmodified baby-led weaning. Trial Registration http://anzctr.org. au Identifier: ACTRN12612001133820
Optimization of degree-profile matching interleavers for LDPC-coded modulation

In this paper we introduce the concept of degree-profile matching interleavers (DPM-interleavers) and propose an LDPC-coded modulation scheme with a DPM-interleaver for 2m-PAM. One advantage of our scheme over conventional LDPC-coded modulation schemes is to support various modulation orders in a single coder/decoder by properly choosing DPM-interleavers according to each modulation order. Given the degree distribution for a good binary LDPC code, we present the optimized degree-profiles for DPM-interleavers by density evolution in the cases of 4-PAM and 8-PAM, respectively. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme provides compatible performance with those of conventional LDPC-coded modulation schemes
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Familias Unidas for Hispanic Adolescents With Behavior Problems

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Familias Unidas, a Hispanic-specific, parent-centered intervention, in preventing/reducing adolescent substance use, unsafe sexual behavior, and externalizing disorders. Methods: A total of 213 8th grade Hispanic adolescents with behavior problems and their primary caregivers were assigned randomly to one of two conditions: Familias Unidas or Community Control. Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 18, and 30 months post baseline. Results: Results showed that, relative to a Community Control condition, Familias Unidas was efficacious in preventing or reducing externalizing disorders, preventing and reducing substance use, and in reducing unsafe sexual behavior. The effects of Familias Unidas on these outcomes were partially mediated by improvements in family functioning. Conclusions: These findings suggest that parent-centered intervention is an efficacious strategy for preventing/reducing specific health risk behaviors in Hispanic adolescents with behavior problems.
Theory and experiments on the stability of robot compliance control

The authors present a nonlinear stability analysis for constrained robotic motion, a maneuver where the manipulator contacts the environment. The external disturbances, sensor noises, parameter uncertainties, and the dynamics of the total system composed of the robot and the environment have been modeled. The control of the manipulator is divided into two components: a computed torque trajectory controller that regulates the robot position and a compliance controller that modulates contact forces. Three sufficient conditions for stability have been derived. The first condition guarantees the stability of the system of robot and finite stiff environment when no force sensor and, consequently, no force feedback is considered for the system. The second condition guarantees stability of the robot and environment when a compliance compensator (operating on the contact force) supplements the trajectory controller. The third stability criterion shows that, for a robot contacting a very stiff environment, the gain of the compliance compensator must vary in inverse proportion to the gain of the trajectory compensator. >
ffects of solution properties and electric field on the electrospinning of yaluronic acid

In the present study, pure hyaluronic acid (HA) nanofibers were successfully fabricated at ambient temperature by electrospinning. HA powder was dissolved in a combination solution of deionized water, eceived in revised form 4 August 2010 ccepted 25 August 2010 vailable online xxx
HISTOCHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF BUTYRYLCHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY IN ADULT AND DEVELOPING CEREBELLUM. EFFECTS OF ABNORMAL THYROID STATE AND UNDERNUTRITION

The cellular and subcellular localization of BuchE activity (EC.3.1.1.8) was studied in the developing and adult rat cerebellum at light and electron microscope levels. In the adult cerebellum, BuchE activity was exclusively localized to glial cells, myelin and endothelial cells. In the immature cerebellum, BuchE activity was additionally found transiently localized to the neuroblasts of the external germinative layer and in Purkinje cells of the nodulus. In both the immature and the adult animals, the main part of the activity seemed to be membrane‐bound. The developmental pattern of cerebellar BuchE activity was assayed in developing normal, hypothyroid, thyroxine‐treated and undernourished rats. In normal newborn rats, the specific activity was higher than in adults and it showed one characteristic peak at 6 days (1–8 times the adult value reached at 30 days). At the age of 5 days, the ratio of BuchE‐containing astrocytes (numbered in the ganglionic layer) to Purkinje cells was the same as the ratio of Bergmann astrocytes to Purkinje cells determined at 35 days in Nissl preparations; their nucleus size already represented 80% of the adult value and their processes were well developed. The three experimental conditions modified the timing of BuchE development. During the early post‐natal period, it was accelerated in the thyroxine‐treated and undernourished animals, while in the hypothyroid rats it was delayed. During the same period, the number of labelled astrocytes per Purkinje cell was modified only by hypothyroidism and undernourishment. On the basis of these histochemical and biochemical results, BuchE can be considered as a good marker for the study of Bergmann glia development in the early post‐natal period.
Handling multi-parametric variations in distributed control of cyber-physical energy systems through optimal communication design

Cyber physical systems like smart grid are largely migrating towards distributed control philosophy to achieve high reliability. The design of communication network between various sensors and controllers plays an important role in control of these systems. The design process involves examining a number of topological combinations, which increase exponentially with the number of nodes in the considered system. Moreover, for a practical system, the different characteristics and availability of various physical and communication resources in the network pose multiple constraints on this design. In this work, a generalised constraint-based sensor controller connection design methodology has been developed, which effectively reduces the number of combinations, to design more stable cyber-physical controllers. To handle variations in multiple parameters in physical and communication domain, different controllers have been developed for different operating conditions that are scheduled as per requirement. The methodology has been shown to stabilise bus voltages in a smart grid scenario under variations in load, communication delays and loss of communication links.
Write stress reduction in 50nm AlxOy ReRAM improves endurance 1.4× and write time, energy by 17%

Novel write verification methods are proposed to improve write speed, energy and endurance of resistive random access memory (ReRAM). Flexible write stress is implemented during reset w/ verification and set w/ verification, by which the pulse width or voltage can be decremented as well as incremented. Proposed reset w/ verification and set w/ verification methods are characterized by measuring 50nm AlxOy ReRAM devices and compared against conventional methods. Improvements of 1.9× average endurance increase, or 1.4× average endurance increase with 17% write time, the reset time plus set time decrease and 17% average write energy reduction are demonstrated.
Minimizing the Number of Keypoint Matching Queries for Object Retrieval

To increase the efficiency of interest-point based object retrieval, researchers have put remarkable research efforts into improving the efficiency of kNN-based feature matching, pursuing to match thousands of features against a database within fractions of a second. However, due to the high-dimensional nature of image features that reduces the effectivity of index structures (curse of dimensionality) and due to the vast amount of features stored in image databases (images are often represented by up to several thousand features), this ultimate goal demanded to trade kNN query runtimes for query precision. In this paper we address an approach complementary to indexing in order to improve the efficiency of retrieval by querying only the most promising keypoint descriptors, as this affects kNN matching time linearly. As this reduction of kNN queries reduces the number of tentative correspondences, a loss of query precision is minimized by an additional image-level correspondence generation stage with a computational performance independent of the underlying indexing structure. Our experimental evaluation suggests good performance on a variety of datasets.
Origin of Drosophila mushroom body neuroblasts and generation of divergent embryonic lineages

Key to understanding the mechanisms that underlie the specification of divergent cell types in the brain is knowledge about the neurectodermal origin and lineages of their stem cells. Here, we focus on the origin and embryonic development of the four neuroblasts (NBs) per hemisphere in Drosophila that give rise to the mushroom bodies (MBs), which are central brain structures essential for olfactory learning and memory. We show that these MBNBs originate from a single field of proneural gene expression within a specific mitotic domain of procephalic neuroectoderm, and that Notch signaling is not needed for their formation. Subsequently, each MBNB occupies a distinct position in the developing MB cortex and expresses a specific combination of transcription factors by which they are individually identifiable in the brain NB map. During embryonic development each MBNB generates an individual cell lineage comprising different numbers of neurons, including intrinsic γ-neurons and various types of non-intrinsic neurons that do not contribute to the MB neuropil. This contrasts with the postembryonic phase of MBNB development during which they have been shown to produce identical populations of intrinsic neurons. We show that different neuron types are produced in a lineage-specific temporal order and that neuron numbers are regulated by differential mitotic activity of the MBNBs. Finally, we demonstrate that γ-neuron axonal outgrowth and spatiotemporal innervation of the MB lobes follows a lineage-specific mode. The MBNBs are the first stem cells of the Drosophila CNS for which the origin and complete cell lineages have been determined.
The Naturalist on the River Amazons

1. Para 2. Para 3. Para 4. The Tocantins and Cameta 5. Caripi and the Bay of Marajo 6. The lower Amazons - Para to Obydos 7. The Lower Amazons - Obydos to Manaos, or the Barra of the Rio Negro 8. Santarem 9. Voyage up the Tapajos 10. The upper Amazons - Voyage to Ega 11. Excursions in the neighbourhood of Ega 12. Animals of the neighbourhood of Ega 13. Excursions beyond Ega.
A Multiethnic Study of the Predictors of Macrosomia

PURPOSE this study examined predictors of macrosomia in a multiethnic sample of 213 low-income women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) after week 24 of their pregnancy. METHODS Medical records were reviewed retrospectively. Variables examined were mother's height, weight history, educational level, age at diagnosis, weeks at diagnosis and delivery, type of diabetes, mean fasting blood glucose (FBG), and infant's weight, sex, and Apgar scores. RESULTS Fifty-one percent of babies were macrosomic. Weight gain, nonpregnant weight, weight at delivery, FBG, and Apgar scores at 1 minute were associated with macrosomia, especially in Hispanic women. Logistic regression revealed that nonpregnant weight was the strongest predictor of macrosomia. CONCLUSIONS Nonobese GDM mothers with optimal weight gain but with high FBG levels >90 mg/dL may be at risk for macrosomia. The major concerns with obese GDM mothers are nonpregnant weight and high blood glucose levels, in this order. Education for women with GDM should target these risk factors to decrease macrosomia.
Author ' s personal copy Blood and urine levels of long half-life toxicants by nativity among immigrants to the United States

a Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 600 West 168th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA b United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Research, Office of Research and Development, Ariel Rios Building MC 8723P, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460, USA c University of California, Los Angeles, School of Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, USA
Mining and Analysis of Periodic Patterns in Weighted Directed Dynamic Network

Periodic patterns are mined individually on structural and weight aspects of an interaction in a dynamic network. However, these interactions possess a direction aspect too. Moreover, some applications require patterns on both aspects i) on direction and ii) on weight of directed interactions for a better understanding of their behaviour. To the authors' knowledge, no such work is available that mines both types of periodic patterns in a single run. To overcome this limitation, the authors propose a framework to mine periodic patterns on both the aspects. The framework first mines periodic patterns on direction, and then only the edges present in the patterns obtained are considered further for patterns on weight of directed interactions. Further, the patterns are being analysed to develop a better understanding of the dynamic network. To do so, a set of six parameters explained later in the text is proposed to study the behaviour of interactions at microscopic level. The framework is tested on real world and synthetic datasets. The results highlight its practical scalability and prove its efficiency.
Emulation-Based Analysis of System-on-Chip Performance Under Variations

The scaling of integrated circuits into the nanometer regime has led to variations emerging as a primary design concern. Most efforts in the area of variation-tolerant design have focused on the physical, circuit, and logic levels of abstraction. However, inevitable increases in the magnitude of variations with scaling have elevated them to a design concern that must be addressed starting at the system level. We address the problem of analyzing the performance of system-onchip (SoC) architectures in the presence of variations. A modern SoC is a complex ensemble of components that are organized into multiple voltage and frequency domains or islands. The impact of variations on the clock frequencies of individual SoC components may be analyzed using existing tools, such as circuit-level statistical timing analysis. However, the key challenge that needs to be addressed is how to translate these component-level clock frequency distributions into a system-level performance distribution. This task is particularly complex and challenging due to the interdependences between components' execution, indirect effects of shared resources, and interactions between multiple system-level execution paths. We argue that an accurate variation-aware performance analysis requires Monte Carlo-based repeated system execution. We describe a framework variability emulation for SoC performance analysis (VESPA)-that leverages emulation to significantly speed up the performance analysis without sacrificing the generality and accuracy achieved by Monte Carlo-based simulation. We further improve the efficiency of VESPA by utilizing correlated sampling to reduce the number of samples needed for Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate the utility of VESPA by applying it to design variation-tolerant architectures for three example SoCs. Our experiments show the performance improvements of ~180× compared with the state-of-the-art hardware-software cosimulation tools and also underscore the potential of VESPA to enable variation-aware design and exploration at the system level.
Lymphocyte Cell Kinase Activation Mediates Neuroprotection during Ischemic Preconditioning

The molecular mechanisms underlying preconditioning (PC), a powerful endogenous neuroprotective phenomenon, remain to be fully elucidated. Once identified, these endogenous mechanisms could be manipulated for therapeutic gain. We investigated whether lymphocyte cell kinase (Lck), a member of the Src kinases family, mediates PC. We used both in vitro primary cortical neurons and in vivo mouse cerebral focal ischemia models of preconditioning, cellular injury, and neuroprotection. Genetically engineered mice deficient in Lck, gene silencing using siRNA, and pharmacological approaches were used. Cortical neurons preconditioned with sublethal exposure to NMDA or oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) exhibited enhanced Lck kinase activity, and were resistant to injury on subsequent exposure to lethal levels of NMDA or OGD. Lck gene silencing using siRNA abolished tolerance against both stimuli. Lck−/− mice or neurons isolated from Lck−/− mice did not exhibit PC-induced tolerance. An Lck antagonist administered to wild-type mice significantly attenuated the neuroprotective effect of PC in the mouse focal ischemia model. Using pharmacological and gene silencing strategies, we also showed that PKCε is an upstream regulator of Lck, and Fyn is a downstream target of Lck. We have discovered that Lck plays an essential role in PC in both cellular and animal models of stroke. Our data also show that the PKCε-Lck-Fyn axis is a key mediator of PC. These findings provide new opportunities for stroke therapy development.
INTRACELLULAR FLUORESCENCE OF PHOTOSENSITIZING PORPHYRINS AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF MITOCHONDRIA

Abstract— Photofrin II, which contains the most efficient components of hematoporphyrin derivative with regard to tumor phototherapy, was measured fluorometrically in single cells of three squamous cell lines with different mitochondrial concentrations. Using the method of time‐resolved fluorescence microscopy, two components—probably monomeric and dimeric species—were differentiated according to the lifetimes of their excited states. The intensity ratio between these components was found to depend on the concentration of mitochondria. This may be due to a monomerization of those porphyrin molecules which are retained in mitochondrial sites.