Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suppression of Human T-Cell Activation and Expansion of Regulatory T Cells by Pig Cells Overexpressing PD-Ligands

Background. Genetic modification of pigs (e.g., transgenic expression of human complement regulatory molecules or inactivation of α1,3galactosyltransferase) enabled the development of promising strategies to overcome hyperacute rejection after pig-to-primate xenotransplantation. However, cellular rejection still remains a hurdle for successful xenograft survival. This report tested the hypothesis that overexpression of human negative costimulatory PD-Ligands (PD-L) in pig antigen presenting cells might be an approach to prevent human anti-pig T-cell responses. Methods. The pig B-cell line L23 was transfected with the pIRES-AcGFP vector containing human PD-L1 or PD-L2. Stable transfectants (L23-PD-L1, L23-PD-L2 cells) were established and used for in vitro stimulation of purified human CD4+ T cells. Results. Human CD4+ T cells responded with significantly reduced proliferation to L23-PD-L1 or L23-PD-L2 cells and produced less IL-2, IFN&ggr;, TNFα, IL-4, and IL-5 than cells stimulated with mock-transfected B cells. The concentration of IL-10, however, was increased in CD4+ T cells responding to stimulation with PD-L1 or PD-L2 transfectants. Furthermore, in cultures of CD4+ T cells stimulated for 3 weeks with PD-L1 or PD-L2 transfectants a CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ subset showed up that effectively suppressed the activation of conventional CD4+ T cells. Conclusions. These findings imply that PD-1/PD-Ligand pathways are interesting targets to prevent human anti-pig T-cell responses after xenotransplantation, and also suggests that PD-1/PD-Ligand interactions may play a role in the control of the activity and/or homeostasis of regulatory T cells.
Financial Performance of Select Fmcg Companies Using ‘Z’ Score Model

The Fast Moving ConsumerGoods (FMCG) sector is one of the booming sectors of the Indian economy. This sector has experienced an outstanding growth in the past decade.FMCGs sector is an important contributor to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is also the fourth largest sector in the Indian economy, responsible for providing employment for more than three million people in downstream activities which are generally carried out in smaller towns and also in rural India.Financial performance analysis is a tool to estimate the financial position and also the strength and weakness of the company's management. These analysis are useful to increase the credibility of the company. The objective of this study is to analyse the performance of FMCG companies in India and predict the solvency of selected companies using Altman’s z score model which is based on Discriminant analysis. The study also purports to identify significant variables affecting the solvency of the company. Financial indicators like working capital, retained earnings, EBIT and total assets would be used. The identification of performance and distress indicators of the companies is expected to provide new insight into company analysis. Financial ratios are proposed to be used as variables.
Achievable Rate of Wireless Sensor Networks with Multi-Antenna Sinks

This paper investigates wireless sensor networks where nodes, which are uniformly and randomly distributed in a given area, transmit information to a sink that is equipped with smart antennas. The framework proposed herein, which considers a propagation environment composed by a distance-dependent loss, shadowing and Rayleigh fading permits an analytical evaluation of the achievable rate.
Immunomodulation by gastrointestinal carbon black nanoparticle exposure in ovalbumin T cell receptor transgenic mice

Abstract Humans could become exposed to carbon black nanoparticles (CBNPs) in consumer products or an occupational setting. In rodent models, acute respiratory, subcutaneous, and direct immune cell exposure to CBNPs has been shown to enhance allergic sensitization to co-administered ovalbumin (OVA) protein from chicken egg. However, little is known about the effects of ingested CBNPs on immunological responses and oral tolerance to food antigens. We hypothesized that ingestion of CBNPs would enhance the development of food allergy to OVA. Allergy prone DO11.10 mice were orally exposed to CBNPs every second day for 2 weeks (total dose 10.8 (LOW) or 108 μg (HI)), with and without (±) co-administered OVA. Systemic immune parameters were measured at necropsy. Exposure to OVA resulted in significant increases in serum anti-OVA IgG1, anti-OVA IgM, and anti-OVA IgA antibodies relative to vehicle control. Immunophenotyping revealed a reduction in the number of OVA-specific CD4+ T helper cells upon OVA ± CBNPHI treatment in the spleen. Yet, secretion of the allergy-associated Th2 cytokines IL-4, IL-9, and IL-13 was greater in OVA323-339 peptide-pulsed splenocytes from OVA + CBNPHI-treated mice compared with control. Transcriptome analysis at necropsy of splenocytes from OVA + CBNPHI dose mice compared with OVA mice revealed increases in the allergy associated genes Il4 and Stat6 and decreases in Csf3r and Retnlg. Although oral exposure to high-dose CBNPs did not impact OVA-specific antibody production relative to OVA, we did observe increased expression of genes and cytokines associated with allergy in peripheral splenocytes. This work suggests that CBNP gastrointestinal exposure may potentiate allergy pathways.
A foveation technique applied to face de-identification

This paper presents a new foveation-based method in the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain to preserve the privacy rights of subjects through face de-identification while preserving awareness for gender and facial expression classification tasks. A comparative analysis between the commonly used ad-hoc methods for image obfuscation and the proposed method is performed. The awareness-privacy tradeoff at different obfuscation levels is quantified by using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier and a two-directional two-dimensional Principal Component Analysis method. Experimental results using a subset of the FERET database show that the new technique accomplishes higher gender and facial expression classification rates at lower face recognition rates.
Corporate entrepreneurship and innovation at Royal IHC

Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration.
Diabetic-like retinopathy: early and late intervention therapies in galactose-fed rats.

PURPOSE To determine whether the diabetic-like thickening of retinal capillary basement membrane (RCBM) that develops in the galactose-fed rat model of diabetic ocular complications could be halted or ameliorated after 4 or 8 months of galactosemia by treatment with ARI-509, a potent new aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), or by withdrawal of the galactose diet. METHODS Weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into eight groups and fed laboratory chow plus 50% starch, control group (CON); 50% D-galactose, galactose-fed group (GAL); 50% D-galactose with ARI-509 at 25 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg body wt per day, high-dose prevention group (HDP) and low-dose prevention group (LDP), respectively; 50% D-galactose for 4 or 8 months and then intervention by addition of ARI-509 (25 mg/kg body wt per day), 4-month intervention group (4IN) and 8-month intervention group (8IN), respectively; or 50% D-galactose for 4 or 8 months and then intervention by withdrawing galactose and replacing it with the 50% starch diet, 4-month galactose withdrawal group (4GW) and 8-month galactose withdrawal group (8GW), respectively. After 4, 8, 16, and 24 months of the experimental diets, the levels of carbohydrates in tissues and the extent of RCBM thickening in capillaries of the outer plexiform layer were determined in all groups. RESULTS Retinal polyol was reduced by 95% in all ARI-treated groups and by 100% in the 4GW and 8GW groups after withdrawal of the galactose. The mean RCBM thickness increased rapidly in GAL rats, becoming almost two times greater (189 +/- 9.4 nm) than in CON rats (103 +/- 3.4 nm) by 24 months. Treatment with ARI-509 in high and low doses (HDP, LDP) initiated with the introduction of the galactose diet significantly prevented RCBM thickening at all time points (P < 0.05). In contrast, intervention by withdrawing galactose from the diet or by adding the high dose of ARI-509 had no significant effect (P < 0.05) on RCBM thickening until the 24-month time point (4IN, 166 +/- 10.3 nm; 8IN, 161 +/- 8.2 nm; 4GW, 136 +/- 5.1 nm; 8GW, 163 +/- 9.6 nm). CONCLUSIONS Both early and late interventions decreased RCBM thickening compared with that in untreated GAL rats. The decreased thickening, however, was not evident until 16 to 20 months after the intervention. Because RCBM thickening is one of the earliest changes in diabetic and galactosemic retinopathy, the findings suggest that RCBM thickening and possibly subsequent retinal lesions are caused by early biochemical alterations induced by the galactose diet that are not readily reversed. The delayed response to therapy is consistent with that observed in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial. The cumulative evidence indicates that intervention should begin as early after onset of diabetes as possible, and long follow-up periods should be used to evaluate efficacy.
Highly Divergent Virulent Isolates of Newcastle Disease Virus from the Dominican Republic Are Members of a New Genotype That May Have Evolved Unnoticed for Over 2 Decades

ABSTRACT A Newcastle disease virus (NDV) outbreak in chickens was reported in the Dominican Republic in 2008. The complete genome of this isolate, chicken/DominicanRepublic(JuanLopez)/499-31/2008 (NDV-DR499-31/08), and the fusion proteins of three other related viruses from the Dominican Republic and Mexico were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Genetically, these four isolates were highly distinct from all other currently known isolates of NDV, and together, they fulfill the newly established criteria for inclusion as a novel genotype of NDV (genotype XVI). The lack of any reported isolation of viruses related to this group since 1986 suggests that virulent viruses of this genotype may have evolved unnoticed for 22 years. The NDV-DR499-31/08 isolate had an intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) score of 1.88, and sequencing of the fusion cleavage site identified multiple basic amino acids and a phenylalanine at position 117, indicating this isolate to be virulent. These results were further confirmed by a clinicopathological assessment in vivo. In 4-week-old chickens, NDV-DR499-31/08 behaved as a velogenic viscerotropic strain with systemic virus distribution and severe necrohemorrhagic lesions targeting mainly the intestine and the lymphoid organs. The clear phylogenetic relationship between the 2008, 1986, and 1947 ancestral viruses suggests that virulent NDV strains may have evolved in unknown reservoirs in the Caribbean and surrounding regions and underlines the importance of continued and improved epidemiological surveillance strategies to detect NDV in wild-bird species and commercial poultry.
Assays for Acetylation and Other Acylations of Lysine Residues

Lysine acetylation refers to addition of an acetyl moiety to the epsilon‐amino group of a lysine residue and is important for regulating protein functions in various organisms from bacteria to humans. This is a reversible and precisely controlled covalent modification that either serves as an on/off switch or participates in a codified manner with other post‐translational modifications to regulate different cellular and developmental processes in normal and pathological states. This unit describes methods for in vitro and in vivo determination of lysine acetylation. Such methods can be easily extended for analysis of other acylations (such as propionylation, butyrylation, crotonylation, and succinylation) that are also present in histones and many other proteins. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
LTE MIMO throughput measurement method for characterization of multi-antenna terminal performance

This paper presents experiences and results from LTE MIMO throughput measurements of a USB dongle in a reverberation test system. The measurements are performed with the dongle itself and also when it is connected to external diversity antennas with high and low correlation. Three different maximum bit rates are used, 59, 70 and 81 Mbps. The results illustrate that it is possible to separate a good antenna design from a bad from reverberation chamber measurements. Also, the effect of using a laptop test fixture, or a laptop dummy, instead of having the host computer present in the chamber, is demonstrated. It is shown that the noise induced by the host computer degrades the performance of the dongle.
Lymphocyte Development Requires S-nitrosoglutathione Reductase

NO is critical to immunity, but its role in the development of the immune system is unknown. In this study, we show that S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR), a protein key to the control of protein S-nitrosylation, is important for the development of lymphocytes. Genetic deletion of GSNOR in mice results in significant decrease in both T and B lymphocytes in the periphery. In thymus, GSNOR deficiency causes excessive protein S-nitrosylation, increases apoptosis, and reduces the number of CD4 single-positive thymocytes. Lymphopenia and increase in S-nitrosylation and apoptosis in GSNOR-deficient mice are largely abolished by genetic deletion of inducible NO synthase. Furthermore, the protection of lymphocyte development by GSNOR is apparently intrinsic to hematopoietic cells. Thus, GSNOR, likely through regulation of S-nitrosylation and apoptosis, physiologically plays a protective role in the development of the immune system.
Analyses of gonococcal lipopolysaccharide in whole-cell lysates by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: stable association of lipopolysaccharide with the major outer membrane protein (protein I) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae whole-cell lysates and proteinase K-digested lysates was examined and compared with purified homologous LPS by a method which preferentially stains LPS in polyacrylamide gels. The silver-stained profile of gonococcal LPS in the proteinase K-digested lysate was similar to that of homologous purified LPS; however, the LPS profile in whole-cell lysates was much smaller than that of digested lysates or purified LPS. Conditions of solubilization did not affect these differences. Since it is known that LPS migrates in a unique fashion in second-dimension electrophoresis, the location of LPS in the whole-cell lysates was probed by second-dimension sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a variety of stains and radiolabels. Results from these experiments indicated a stable and reproducible association of LPS with proteins ranging between 23,000 to 36,000 in Mr, in particular major outer membrane protein I. In addition to staining with the silver method, which preferentially stains LPS, the putative LPS was resistant to digestion by proteinase K, did not stain with Coomassie brilliant blue, and was not labeled extrinsically with 125I (Iodogen method) or intrinsically with [35S]methionine. Analysis of two-dimensional gels by immunoblotting with rabbit antisera prepared from protein I bands removed from a polyacrylamide gel revealed the presence of antigens in the same area of the gel (below proteins that were 23,000 to 36,000 in Mr). Antibodies to constituents which migrated below the diagonal were essentially removed by adsorption of antisera with purified LPS, as were antibodies to homologous LPS and LPS in proteinase K-digested whole-cell lysates. Immunoblotting with a monoclonal antibody specific for LPS demonstrated reactivity of the antibody with LPS and with the protein I band. On the basis of these data, we conclude that protein I and perhaps other proteins in the whole-cell lysate are stably associated with LPS; this complex is resistant to dissociation in sodium dodecyl sulfate at high temperature (approximately 100 degrees C) but does, for unknown reasons, dissociate with electrophoresis in the second dimension. The association of LPS with protein antigens in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels adds another dimension of complexity to analysis of these antigens by immunoelectroblotting. Furthermore, the tight association of LPS with the major outer membrane protein I may alter the nature of the immune response generated by "purified" protein I vaccine antigens. The possible role of protein-LPS complexes in the pathogenesis of gonorrhea is discussed.
Reliability and Mission Profiles of Photovoltaic Systems: A FIDES Approach

Current methods for reliability prediction are based on physics-of-failure approaches. Such is the case of the FIDES methodology that takes into account the times sequences of operation of an electronic assembly. In this paper, the reliability of a dc/dc converter aimed at photovoltaic applications is explored, considering the mission profiles for three different installations sites, at latitudes ranging from N 18.65 to N 32.67. Meteorological data collected in a ten-year time span were available for these sites. The mission profiles were obtained by first dividing the output power provided by a photovoltaic panel into ten levels, and then retrieving the temperature and humidity conditions that concur at each level. The components with the highest contribution to the overall failure rate λ were the diodes, followed by the capacitor at the output. The results indicate that the thermal factor has the largest impact on the failure rate λ, highlighting the importance of efficient heat-management techniques. When the effect of the individual operational phases was assessed, it was also found that those linked to power levels above 70% are responsible of the largest contribution to λ. In the case of the dormant condition, the highest humidity produces the highest failure rate.
Node Service Ability Aware Packet Forwarding Mechanism in Intermittently Connected Wireless Networks

Intermittently connected wireless networks (ICWNs) have been studied in recent years to solve the disruption problem in mobile ad hoc networks and improve the utilization of temporary links raised by node movements. In ICWNs, the packet storing-carrying-forwarding principle is adopted through the cooperation between multiple nodes. Therefore, it is critical to include the connection status of nodes in designing efficient packet forwarding mechanism. In this paper, a node service ability aware packet forwarding mechanism is proposed based on the connection status. First, the connection model is established to analyze the transition of connection status; moreover, the service ability can be evaluated according to the connection strength and connection availability. Second, packet forwarding levels are determined based on their transmitting status to exploit the limited buffer resources. Consequently, the efficient packet forwarding mechanism can guarantee the flexibility of packet transmission in both complex and dynamic network scenarios. Numerical results show that about 20% delivery ratio increase can be achieved by the proposed mechanism, while the overheads and latency are reduced.
Different mechanisms of glutamate‐induced neuronal death between dopaminergic and non‐dopaminergic neurons in rat mesencephalic culture

Parkinson's disease is characterized by dopaminergic neuronal degeneration, but its pathogenic mechanism is still unknown. In the dopaminergic neurons, oxygen radicals such as hydrogen peroxide are released through dopamine oxidation. Many factors are involved in radical formation, but glutamate and nitric oxide (NO) are the major effectors of the radical‐induced neurotoxicity mediated primarily through calcium influx. In the cultured embryonic rat mesencephalon, we investigated the dopaminergic and non‐dopaminergic neuronal death induced by glutamate and by NO‐generating agents. Although glutamate had a neurotoxic effect on both dopaminergic and non‐dopaminergic neurons, it showed slightly greater effect in the dopaminergic neurons. In contrast to glutamate, NO‐generating agents (S‐nitrosocysteine and sodium nitroprusside) showed neurotoxic effects restricted exclusively to non‐dopaminergic neurons. Although No‐nitro‐L‐arginine, an NO synthase inhibitor, had no significant effect on the glutamate‐induced cytotoxicity in dopaminergic neurons, it had a significant antagonistic effect on that in non‐dopaminergic neurons. These findings indicate the presence of two different mechanisms of glutamate‐induced neuronal death, one being neurotoxicity not mediated by NO, found in dopaminergic neurons, and the other being that mediated via NO, found in non‐dopaminergic neurons. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cell Cycle-dependent Phosphorylation of the RUNX2 Transcription Factor by cdc2 Regulates Endothelial Cell Proliferation*

RUNX2 is a member of the runt family of DNA-binding transcription factors. RUNX2 mediates endothelial cell migration and invasion during tumor angiogenesis and is expressed in metastatic breast and prostate tumors. Our published studies showed that RUNX2 DNA-binding activity is low during growth arrest, but elevated in proliferating endothelial cells. To investigate its role in cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation, RUNX2 was depleted in human bone marrow endothelial cells using RNA interference. Specific RUNX2 depletion inhibited DNA-binding activity as measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay resulting in inhibition of cell proliferation. Cells were synchronized at the G1/S boundary with excess thymidine or in mitosis (M phase) with nocodazole. Endogenous or ectopic RUNX2 activity was maximal at late G2 and during M phase. Inhibition of RUNX2 expression by RNA interference delayed entry into and exit out of the G2/M phases of the cell cycle. RUNX2 was coimmunoprecipitated with cyclin B1 in mitotic cells, which further supported a role for RUNX2 in cell cycle progression. Moreover, in vitro kinase assays using recombinant cdc2 kinase showed that RUNX2 was phosphorylated at Ser451. The cdc2 inhibitor roscovitine dose dependently inhibited in vivo RUNX2 DNA-binding activity during mitosis and the RUNX2 mutant S451A exhibited lower DNA-binding activity and reduced stimulation of anchorage-independent growth relative to wild type RUNX2. These results suggest for the first time that RUNX2 phosphorylation by cdc2 may facilitate cell cycle progression possibly through regulation of G2 and M phases, thus promoting endothelial cell proliferation required for tumor angiogenesis.