Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD39 Expression Identifies Terminally Exhausted CD8+ T Cells

Exhausted T cells express multiple co-inhibitory molecules that impair their function and limit immunity to chronic viral infection. Defining novel markers of exhaustion is important both for identifying and potentially reversing T cell exhaustion. Herein, we show that the ectonucleotidse CD39 is a marker of exhausted CD8+ T cells. CD8+ T cells specific for HCV or HIV express high levels of CD39, but those specific for EBV and CMV do not. CD39 expressed by CD8+ T cells in chronic infection is enzymatically active, co-expressed with PD-1, marks cells with a transcriptional signature of T cell exhaustion and correlates with viral load in HIV and HCV. In the mouse model of chronic Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus infection, virus-specific CD8+ T cells contain a population of CD39high CD8+ T cells that is absent in functional memory cells elicited by acute infection. This CD39high CD8+ T cell population is enriched for cells with the phenotypic and functional profile of terminal exhaustion. These findings provide a new marker of T cell exhaustion, and implicate the purinergic pathway in the regulation of T cell exhaustion.
Tough and Reinforced Polypropylene/Kaolin Composites using Modified Kaolin

Polypropylene (PP)/kaolin composites have been prepared by filling modified kaolin with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) into the PP matrix. The surface modification of kaolin particles effectively improves the compatibility between kaolin and PP matrix. It is conducive for uniform dispersion of inorganic particles in the matrix, and enhances the mechanical performance of the composites. Compared with plain kaolin, the mechanical properties of the modified composites exhibit higher tensile strength, bending strength, impact strength and melt index simultaneously. The DTPA modification of kaolin overall enhances the mechanical properties of PP composites. It meets the requirements in various applications, and makes the modified experiment interesting in modern teaching.
Minimal Window Duration for Accurate HRV Recording in Athletes

Heart rate variability (HRV) is non-invasive and commonly used for monitoring responses to training loads, fitness, or overreaching in athletes. Yet, the recording duration for a series of RR-intervals varies from 1 to 15 min in the literature. The aim of the present work was to assess the minimum record duration to obtain reliable HRV results. RR-intervals from 159 orthostatic tests (7 min supine, SU, followed by 6 min standing, ST) were analyzed. Reference windows were 4 min in SU (min 3–7) and 4 min in ST (min 9–13). Those windows were subsequently divided and the analyses were repeated on eight different fractioned windows: the first min (0–1), the second min (1–2), the third min (2–3), the fourth min (3–4), the first 2 min (0–2), the last 2 min (2–4), the first 3 min (0–3), and the last 3 min (1–4). Correlation and Bland & Altman statistical analyses were systematically performed. The analysis window could be shortened to 0–2 instead of 0–4 for RMSSD only, whereas the 4-min window was necessary for LF and total power. Since there is a need for 1 min of baseline to obtain a steady signal prior the analysis window, we conclude that studies relying on RMSSD may shorten the windows to 3 min (= 1+2) in SU or seated position only and to 6 min (= 1+2 min SU plus 1+2 min ST) if there is an orthostatic test. Studies relying on time- and frequency-domain parameters need a minimum of 5 min (= 1+4) min SU or seated position only but require 10 min (= 1+4 min SU plus 1+4 min ST) for the orthostatic test.
High-efficiency thermophotovoltaic energy conversion enabled by a metamaterial selective emitter

Thermophotovoltaics (TPV) is the process by which photons radiated from a thermal emitter are converted into electrical power via a photovoltaic cell. Selective thermal emitters that can survive at temperatures at or above ∼1000°C have the potential to greatly improve the efficiency of TPV energy conversion by restricting the emission of photons with energies below the photovoltaic (PV) cell bandgap energy. In this work, we demonstrated TPV energy conversion using a high-temperature selective emitter, dielectric filter, and 0.6 eV In0.68Ga0. 32As photovoltaic cell. We fabricated a passivated platinum and alumina frequency-selective surface by conventional stepper lithography. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of TPV energy conversion using a metamaterial emitter. The emitter was heated to >1000°C, and converted electrical power was measured. After accounting for geometry, we demonstrated a thermal-to-electrical power conversion efficiency of 24.1±0.9% at 1055°C. We separately modeled our system consisting of a selective emitter, dielectric filter, and PV cell and found agreement with our measured efficiency and power to within 1%. Our results indicate that high-efficiency TPV generators are possible and are candidates for remote power generation, combined heat and power, and heat-scavenging applications.
Aluminium alloy channels subjected to web crippling

This article reports experimental and numerical investigations of aluminium alloy plain and lipped channels subjected to web crippling. A total of 240 data are presented that include 24 test results and 216 numerical results. A series of tests was conducted first on channels fabricated by extrusion using 6063-T5 and 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminium alloys under end-two-flange and interior-two-flange loading conditions. The concentrate transverse loads were applied by means of bearing plates. The flanges of the specimens were not fastened (unrestrained) to the bearing plates. A non-linear finite element model is then developed and verified against experimental results. Geometric and material non-linearities were included in the finite element model. It was shown that the finite element model closely predicted the web crippling strengths and failure modes of the tested specimens. Hence, the model was used for an extensive parametric study of cross-section geometries, and the web slenderness value ranged from 24.0 to 207.3. The test results and the web crippling strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths obtained using the American, Australian/New Zealand and European specifications for aluminium structures. An empirical unified web crippling equation with new coefficients for aluminium alloy channels under end-two-flange and interior-two-flange loading conditions is proposed. Since two failure modes of web buckling and web yielding were observed in the tests, the web crippling strength is also predicted using the proposed theoretical design rules for channels. The web crippling strength is the lesser of the web buckling strength and web yield strength.
A Climate Change Impact Assessment Study on Mountain Soil Moisture with Emphasis on Epistemic Uncertainties Dissertation

Parts of the study are partly or entirely previously published as follows: Rößler O, Löffler J (2010) Analyzing spatio-temporal hydrological processes and related gradients to improve hydrological modeling in high mountains. In Landform-structure, evolution, process control. Potentials and limitations of modelling spatio-temporal patterns of soil moisture in a high mountain catchment using WaSiM-ETH. By the time of submission of this dissertation, other parts of the study were submitted for publication as follows: Unsteady uncertainties: Simulating spatio-temporal patterns of mountain water resources requires output variable specific choices of models and downscaling procedures. International Journal of Climatology, submitted Rößler O, Diekkrüger B, Löffler J Minor difference, major effect – analyzing drought potential under climate change in the Swiss Alps using ensemble forecasting reveals drought stress corridors. Water Resource Research, submitted.
Genetic susceptibility to chronic otitis media with effusion: Candidate gene single nucleotide polymorphisms

The genetic factors leading to a predisposition to otitis media are not well understood. The objective of the current study was to develop a tag‐single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel to determine if there is an association between candidate gene polymorphisms and the development of chronic otitis media with effusion.
Stem Cells and Cloning: Advances and Applications Dovepress Current Perspectives in Stem Cell Research for Knee Cartilage Repair

Protocols based on the delivery of stem cells are currently applied in patients, showing encouraging results for the treatment of articular cartilage lesions (focal defects, osteoarthritis). Yet, restoration of a fully functional cartilage surface (native structural organization and mechanical functions) especially in the knee joint has not been reported to date, showing the need for improved designs of clinical trials. Various sources of progenitor cells are now available, originating from adult tissues but also from embryonic or reprogrammed tissues, most of which have already been evaluated for their chondrogenic potential in culture and for their reparative properties in vivo upon implantation in relevant animal models of cartilage lesions. Nevertheless, particular attention will be needed regarding their safe clinical use and their potential to form a cartilaginous repair tissue of proper quality and functionality in the patient. Possible improvements may reside in the use of biological supplements in accordance with regulations, while some challenges remain in establishing standardized, effective procedures in the clinics.
Kinematic jump processes for monocular 3D human tracking

A major difficulty for 3D (three-dimensional) human body tracking from monocular image sequences is the near nonobservability of kinematic degrees of freedom that generate motion in depth. For known link (body segment) lengths, the strict nonobservabilities reduce to twofold 'forwards/backwards flipping' ambiguities for each link. These imply 2/sup # links/ formal inverse kinematics solutions for the full model, and hence linked groups of O(2/sup # links/) local minima in the model-image matching cost function. Choosing the wrong minimum leads to rapid mistracking, so for reliable tracking, rapid methods of investigating alternative minima within a group are needed. Previous approaches to this have used generic search methods that do not exploit the specific problem structure. Here, we complement these by using simple kinematic reasoning to enumerate the tree of possible forwards/backwards flips, thus greatly speeding the search within each linked group of minima. Our methods can be used either deterministically, or within stochastic 'jump-diffusion' style search processes. We give experimental results on some challenging monocular human tracking sequences, showing how the new kinematic-flipping based sampling method improves and complements existing ones.
Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change

Significance The food system is responsible for more than a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions while unhealthy diets and high body weight are among the greatest contributors to premature mortality. Our study provides a comparative analysis of the health and climate change benefits of global dietary changes for all major world regions. We project that health and climate change benefits will both be greater the lower the fraction of animal-sourced foods in our diets. Three quarters of all benefits occur in developing countries although the per capita impacts of dietary change would be greatest in developed countries. The monetized value of health improvements could be comparable with, and possibly larger than, the environmental benefits of the avoided damages from climate change. What we eat greatly influences our personal health and the environment we all share. Recent analyses have highlighted the likely dual health and environmental benefits of reducing the fraction of animal-sourced foods in our diets. Here, we couple for the first time, to our knowledge, a region-specific global health model based on dietary and weight-related risk factors with emissions accounting and economic valuation modules to quantify the linked health and environmental consequences of dietary changes. We find that the impacts of dietary changes toward less meat and more plant-based diets vary greatly among regions. The largest absolute environmental and health benefits result from diet shifts in developing countries whereas Western high-income and middle-income countries gain most in per capita terms. Transitioning toward more plant-based diets that are in line with standard dietary guidelines could reduce global mortality by 6–10% and food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 29–70% compared with a reference scenario in 2050. We find that the monetized value of the improvements in health would be comparable with, or exceed, the value of the environmental benefits although the exact valuation method used considerably affects the estimated amounts. Overall, we estimate the economic benefits of improving diets to be 1–31 trillion US dollars, which is equivalent to 0.4–13% of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050. However, significant changes in the global food system would be necessary for regional diets to match the dietary patterns studied here.
PA5470 Counteracts Antimicrobial Effect of Azithromycin by Releasing Stalled Ribosome in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes various acute and chronic infections in humans. Treatment with azithromycin (AZM) has been shown to benefit patients with chronic P. aeruginosa infections. By binding to the exit tunnel of the 50S ribosome, AZM causes ribosome stalling and depletion of the intracellular tRNA pool. It has been shown that AZM is able to kill stationary-phase P. aeruginosa cells and repress quorum sensing-regulated virulence factors as well as swarming motility. In P. aeruginosa, the PA5470 gene encodes a putative peptide chain release factor whose expression is highly induced by macrolide antibiotics. However, its function remains unknown. Here, we found that overexpression of PA5470 increased bacterial tolerance against AZM and alleviated the repression of swarming motility. Ribosome pulldown assays revealed that PA5470 contributes to the release of ribosome stalled by AZM. We further demonstrate that overexpression of PA5470 counteracts AZM-mediated repression of the translation of the quorum sensing regulator RhlR. Overall, our results revealed a novel role of PA5470 in the bacterial response to AZM.
Alarming levels of drug-resistant tuberculosis in Belarus: results of a survey in Minsk

Resistance to anti-tuberculosis (TB) medicines is a major public health threat in most countries of the former Soviet Union. As no representative and quality-assured information on the magnitude of this problem existed in Belarus, a survey was conducted in the capital city of Minsk. Between November 2009 and December 2010, 156 consecutively diagnosed new and 68 previously treated culture-positive TB patients residing in Minsk were enrolled in the survey. Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were obtained from each patient and tested for susceptibility to first- and second-line anti-TB drugs. Multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB was found in 35.3% (95% CI 27.7–42.8) of new patients and 76.5% (95% CI 66.1–86.8) of those previously treated. Overall, nearly one in two patients enrolled had MDR-TB. Extensively drug-resistant TB was reported in 15 of the 107 MDR-TB patients (14.0%, 95% CI 7.3–20.7). Patients <35 yrs of age have shown a two times higher odds ratio of multidrug-resistant TB than those aged >35 yrs. The findings of this survey in Minsk city are alarming and represent the highest proportions of MDR-TB ever recorded in the world. This study greatly contributes to the understanding of the burden of drug-resistant TB in urban areas of Belarus.
Multicomponent mixture of charged hard-sphere chain molecules in the polymer mean-spherical approximation

The analytical solution of the recently proposed ideal chain polymer mean-spherical approximation [Kalyuzhnyi, Mol. Phys. 94, 735 (1998)] is presented for the multicomponent mixture of charged hard-sphere linear chain flexible molecules. The solution applies to any mixture of chain molecules with arbitrary distribution of the charge and size of the beads along the molecular backbone. Closed form analytical expressions for the internal energy, Helmholtz free energy, chemical potentials, and pressure are derived. By way of illustration thermodynamical properties of several versions of the fluid of charged chain molecules of different length, including the molecules with uniform, diblock, and alternating distribution of the charge, are studied. Theoretical predictions are in reasonable agreement with available computer simulation predictions. We also present the liquid–gas phase diagrams for systems with diblock and alternating distribution of the charge.
InGaP/GaAs/ITO/Si Hybrid Triple-Junction Cells with GaAs/ITO Bonding Interfaces

Using surface-activated bonding technologies we fabricate InGaP/GaAs/ITO/Si hybrid triple-junction (3J) cells with p+-GaAs/ITO and those with n+-GaAs/ITO bonding interfaces. ITO films deposited on the emitter of Si bottom cells work as intermediate layers between III-V and Si sub cells. The samples are not heated during the bonding process. The photovoltaic characteristics of the fabricated 3J cells are compared with characteristics of conventional 3J cells without intermediate layers. The InGaP/GaAs/ITO/Si 3J cells with $n$ + -GaAs/ITO bonding interfaces reveal the highest conversion efficiency and the lowest differential resistance among the investigated 3J cells, which implies the potential of ITO-based intermediate layers for achieving more excellent performances of hybrid multi-junction cells.
Ontologies Come of Age

Ontologies have moved beyond the domains of library science, philosophy, and knowledge representation. They are now the concerns of marketing departments, CEOs, and mainstream business. Research analyst companies such as Forrester Research report on the critical roles of ontologies in support of browsing and search for e-commerce and in support of interoperability for facilitation of knowledge management and configuration. One now sees ontologies used as central controlled vocabularies that are integrated into catalogues, databases, web publications, knowledge management applications, etc. Large ontologies are essential components in many online applications including search (such as Yahoo and Lycos), ecommerce (such as Amazon and eBay), configuration (such as Dell and PC-Order), etc. One also sees ontologies that have long life spans, sometimes in multiple projects (such as UMLS, SIC codes, etc.). Such diverse usage generates many implications for ontology environments. In this paper, we will discuss ontologies and requirements in their current instantiations on the web today. We will describe some desirable properties of ontologies. We will also discuss how both simple and complex ontologies are being and may be used to support varied applications. We will conclude with a discussion of emerging trends in ontologies and their environments and briefly mention our evolving ontology evolution environment.
Defining New Pancreatic Tumour Entities by Molecular Analysis

Recent advances in molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics have broadened our understanding of tumourigenesis and of the maintenance and spread of pancreatic cancer far beyond traditional microscopic histopathological analysis. While the main focus of pancreatic cancer research has been on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, molecular research has also led to a better understanding of rare tumours of the pancreas, as well as to the definition of previously unknown tumour entities that can only be identified through the application of molecular tools. Furthermore, molecular analysis increasingly reveals the genetic and cell biological heterogeneity of established tumour entities, making subclassification of tumours possible. Genetic and molecular approaches may, therefore, not only lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of pancreatic tumours, but also culminate in more precise diagnosis as well as individually tailored treatment strategies for affected patients.
Is Zinc a Neuromodulator?

The vesicles of certain glutamatergic terminals in the mammalian forebrain are replete with ionic zinc. It is believed that during synaptic transmission zinc is released, binds to receptors on the pre- or postsynaptic membranes, and hence acts as a neuromodulator. Although exogenous zinc modulates a wide variety of channels, whether synaptic zinc transits across the synaptic cleft and alters the response of channels has been difficult to establish. We will review the evidence for zinc as a neuromodulator and propose diagnostic criteria for establishing whether it is indeed one. Moreover, we will delineate alternative ways in which zinc might act at synapses. This review, with 3 figures and 57 references, describes the evidence that the cation Zn2+ acts as a modulator of synaptic activity. Beginning with a discussion of the criteria that zinc would have to meet in order to be classified as a neuromodulator and the use of chelators for intercepting zinc in the synaptic cleft, the authors then consider different models for zinc’s action at synapses, ranging from free diffusion of zinc to bound zinc in the extracellular space and a possible action within synaptic vesicles. The article wraps up with suggested experimental approaches that may help resolve the questions surrounding the role of zinc in the central nervous system.
FEM of Cracking during Nanoindentation and Scratch Testing in the Hard W-C Coating/Steel Substrate System

Finite element modelling (FEM) and eXtended FEM (XFEM) combined with the experimental nanoindentation and scratch tests have been used to simulate the process of cohesive cracking in W-C coating on softer and more ductile steel substrate during nanoindentation and scratch testing. The formation of single and multiple circular “frame” cohesive cracks in the sink-in zone during nanoindentation were explained by the development of high local tensile stresses in the coatings controlled by the plastic deformation of the substrate. Analogous mechanisms were successfully applied to the simulation of multiple Chevron type cracking during scratch testing. Thus, the ability of XFEM to predict the formation of different types of cohesive cracks was confirmed. It was also demonstrated that both nanoindentation and scratch tests in combination with XFEM can be used as the methods to determine the strength and fracture toughness of thin coatings.