Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Actin-Binding Protein Abp1 Controls Dendritic Spine Morphology and Is Important for Spine Head and Synapse Formation

Polymerization and organization of actin into complex superstructures, including those found in dendritic spines, is indispensable for structure and function of neuronal networks. Here we show that the filamentous actin (F-actin)-binding protein 1 (Abp1), which controls Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin nucleation and binds to postsynaptic scaffold proteins of the ProSAP (proline-rich synapse-associated protein 1)/Shank family, has a profound impact on synaptic organization. Overexpression of the two Abp1 F-actin-binding domains increases the length of thin, filopodia-like and mushroom-type spines but dramatically reduces mushroom spine density, attributable to lack of the Abp1 Src homology 3 (SH3) domain. In contrast, overexpression of full-length Abp1 increases mushroom spine and synapse density. The SH3 domain alone has a dominant-negative effect on mushroom spines, whereas the density of filopodia and thin, immature spines remains unchanged. This suggests that both actin-binding and SH3 domain interactions are crucial for the role of Abp1 in spine maturation. Indeed, Abp1 knockdown significantly reduces mushroom spine and synapse density. Abp1 hereby works in close conjunction with ProSAP1/Shank2 and ProSAP2/Shank3, because Abp1 effects were suppressed by ProSAP2 RNA interference and the ProSAP/Shank-induced increase of spine head width is further promoted by Abp1 cooverexpression and reduced on Abp1 knockdown. Also, interfering with the formation of functional Abp1–ProSAP protein complexes prevents ProSAP-mediated spine head extension. Spine head extension furthermore depends on local Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization, which is controlled by Abp1 via the Arp2/3 complex activator N-WASP (neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein). Abp1 thus plays an important role in the formation and morphology control of synapses by making a required functional connection between postsynaptic density components and postsynaptic actin dynamics.
A Dual Band Wireless Power and Data Telemetry for Retinal Prosthesis

Inductive coupling is commonly used for wireless power and data transfer in biomedical telemetry systems. The increasing demand on the performance of medical devices requires high data rate and high power efficiency at the same time. If only one radio frequency carrier is used, it is difficult to achieve both high data rate and high power efficiency due to the competing requirements on carrier frequency and system-Q of the power and data transmission. We propose a dual band telemetry system to implement power and data transmission using different frequencies by allocating lower frequency for power transmission and higher frequency for data transmission. However, the magnetic coupling between the power carrier and data carrier will affect the operation of both links. In this paper, this interference is analyzed and design equations are derived, which are used to design coils to maximize the data signal level received at the implant side. A prototype of dual band telemetry for a retinal prosthetic device has been built and experimental results show that both power and data can be transmitted and high data rate can be achieved without compromising the power transmission efficiency
The Cacti Microbiome: Interplay between Habitat-Filtering and Host-Specificity

Cactaceae represents one of the most species-rich families of succulent plants native to arid and semi-arid ecosystems, yet the associations Cacti establish with microorganisms and the rules governing microbial community assembly remain poorly understood. We analyzed the composition, diversity, and factors influencing above- and below-ground bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities associated with two native and sympatric Cacti species: Myrtillocactus geometrizans and Opuntia robusta. Phylogenetic profiling showed that the composition and assembly of microbial communities associated with Cacti were primarily influenced by the plant compartment; plant species, site, and season played only a minor role. Remarkably, bacterial, and archaeal diversity was higher in the phyllosphere than in the rhizosphere of Cacti, while the opposite was true for fungi. Semi-arid soils exhibited the highest levels of microbial diversity whereas the stem endosphere the lowest. Despite their taxonomic distance, M. geometrizans and O. robusta shared most microbial taxa in all analyzed compartments. Influence of the plant host did only play a larger role in the fungal communities of the stem endosphere. These results suggest that fungi establish specific interactions with their host plant inside the stem, whereas microbial communities in the other plant compartments may play similar functional roles in these two species. Biochemical and molecular characterization of seed-borne bacteria of Cacti supports the idea that these microbial symbionts may be vertically inherited and could promote plant growth and drought tolerance for the fitness of the Cacti holobiont. We envision this knowledge will help improve and sustain agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.
Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial Killer

Illustrations Introduction The Quiet Killers Black Widows Angels of Death Sexual Predators Revenge For Profit or Crime Team Killers The Question of Sanity The Unexplained The Unsolved Appendix 1: Statistical Information About the American Female Serial Killer Appendix 2: Alphabetical Listing of Female Serial Killers Appendix 3: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Selected Bibliography Index
Quantitative dissection of the simple repression input–output function

We present a quantitative case study of transcriptional regulation in which we carry out a systematic dialogue between theory and measurement for an important and ubiquitous regulatory motif in bacteria, namely, that of simple repression. This architecture is realized by a single repressor binding site overlapping the promoter. From the theory point of view, this motif is described by a single gene regulation function based upon only a few parameters that are convenient theoretically and accessible experimentally. The usual approach is turned on its side by using the mathematical description of these regulatory motifs as a predictive tool to determine the number of repressors in a collection of strains with a large variation in repressor copy number. The predictions and corresponding measurements are carried out over a large dynamic range in both expression fold change (spanning nearly four orders of magnitude) and repressor copy number (spanning about two orders of magnitude). The predictions are tested by measuring the resulting level of gene expression and are then validated by using quantitative immunoblots. The key outcomes of this study include a systematic quantitative analysis of the limits and validity of the input–output relation for simple repression, a precise determination of the in vivo binding energies for DNA–repressor interactions for several distinct repressor binding sites, and a repressor census for Lac repressor in Escherichia coli.
SLDNFA: An Abductive Procedure for Normal Abductive Programs

The abductive procedure SLDNFA is presented for normal abductive programs. The procedure is a natural extension of SLDNF-resolution and incorporates both abduction and negation as failure. The main diierence between our approach and existing procedures is the treatment of non-ground abductive goals. The soundness of SLD-NFA wrt 3-valued completion semantics is proven. Also a completeness theorem is provided (where completeness here refers to a speciic notion of generating all minimal abductive solutions). Several variants of SLDNFA are given, which generate even more solutions. For these procedures, more powerful completeness theorems can be formulated. The research presented here, provides a simple framework of abductive procedures, in which a number of parameters can be set, in order to t the abduction procedure to the application under consideration.
Which compartments are involved in Philadelphia‐chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukaemia? An answer at the single cell level by combining May‐Grünwald‐Giemsa staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization techniques

Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is believed to represent a stem cell disorder involving all three cell lineages. The typical chromosomal aberration, the Philadelphia chromosome, is the translocation (9;22)(q34;q11). Several studies with cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), or polymerase chain reaction have investigated the presence of the t(9;22) in different cell compartments. However, questions still remain. In six cases of CML we combined the standard May‐Grünwald‐Giemsa staining with FISH at the single‐cell level and were able to demonstrate that not only all maturation stages of granulopoiesis, erythropoiesis, and megakaryocytes, but also plasma cells, eosinophils, basophils and monocytes carried the Philadelphia chromosome in 53–98% of samples. Using immunological identification of single cells we were able to demonstrate that the t(9;22) is detectable in 34% of CD3‐positive T lymphocytes, in 32% of CD19‐positive B lymphocytes, and in 82% of CD34‐positive precursor cells. The results give new insight into the biology of CML and may have implications for future therapeutic strategies.
Enumeration of Downsampling Lattices in Two-Dimensional Multirate Systems

Lattices are essential for resampling in two-dimensional multirate systems. However, the resampling matrix for a given lattice is not unique. For a given resampling ratio, how many different lattices exist and how to parameterize them have not been addressed before. In this correspondence, such enumeration and parametrization are presented for the cases where the resampling ratio is prime or a composite number. The set of nonseparable resamplers is also studied. Examples and an application of the proposed enumeration and parametrization are included for demonstration.
Spatial Patterns of Residential Segregation: A generative Model

Residential segregation emerges from the interaction of many individuals and displays makedly different global patterns depending on specific socioeconomic contexts. This paper presents a generative model of socioeconomic segregation that reproduces regular macro-patterns of the phenomenon through the specification of a minimal amount of parameters driving the agent’s behaviour. The purpose of these experiments is to provide insights about the emergence of certain types of segregation patterns that have been identified in many modern cities and measure the relation between these distinct outputs and the degree of segregation they produce.
VTAMN - A Smart Clothe for Ambulatory Remote Monitoring of Physiological Parameters and Activity

The prototype of a communicating underclothe for medical remote monitoring was realized. It delivers physiological information on the subject (Cardiac Frequency, Breathing Frequency, surface and mid-temperature) as well as the environment and activity parameters (ambient temperature, fall detection). It also enables the automatic data transfer on event, with the localization of the subject.
Automatic annotation of peaks in seismocardiogram for systolic time intervals

Siemocardiography is a non-invasive technique for cardiomechanical assessment by analyzing the local vibrations on chest surface which can be readily acquired from cost-effective accelerometers. The peaks in siesmocardiogram (SCG) signal correspond to underlying mechanical events in heart cycle and have numerious potential clinical and health-awareness applications. However, utilization of SCG signal requires annotation of these peaks that is challenging due to variations in inter-subject morphology and noise prone characteristics of SCG signal. In this paper, we propose an approach to automatically annotate the desired peaks in SCG signal that are required for systolic time intervals (STI). The approach is based on formulating sliding template for the oncoming beat which is less noisier and hence desired peak detection is easier. The information of peak detected in the sliding template is then used to narrow-down the search of desired peak in actual signal.
Species-Specific Differences in the Expression and Regulation of α4β7 Integrin in Various Nonhuman Primates

Among nonhuman primates, SIV-infected Asian pigtailed macaques (PM) are relatively more susceptible to infection and disease progression than SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RM). In addition, SIV-infected African natural hosts such as the sooty mangabeys (SM) are resistant to disease. The mechanisms associated with such species-related variable clinical outcomes remain ill-defined but hold the potential to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms surrounding HIV pathogenesis. Recent findings indicate that the expression of the heterodimeric gut homing integrin α4β7 can influence both susceptibility and disease progression in RM. It was reasoned that differences in the frequencies/surface densities of α4β7-expressing lymphocytes might contribute to the differences in the clinical outcome of SIV infection among NHPs. In this article, we report that CD4+ T cells from PM constitutively express significantly higher levels of α4β7 than RM or SM. Retinoic acid, a key regulator of α4β7 expression, was paradoxically found at higher levels in the plasma of SM versus RM or PM. We also observed pairing of β7 with αE (αEβ7) on CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood of SM, but not PM or RM. Finally, the differential mean density of expression of α4β7 in RM versus SM versus PM was predominantly dictated by species-specific sequence differences at the level of the β7 promoters, as determined by in vitro reporter/promoter construct transfection studies. We propose that differences in the regulation and expression of α4β7 may explain, in part, the differences in susceptibility and SIV disease progression in these NHP models.
An Evaluation of Productivity Measurements of Outsourced Software Development Projects: An Empirical Study

Productivity of software development projects that were outsourced to a third party is an important issue within the information systems research. Organizations are more and more attracted to outsourcing their IT projects but whether this governance arrangement is more productive than the in-house one is still unanswered. This is the motivation of this paper. A comparison of productivity indices of both in-house developed software projects with the ones outsourced to a third party is performed. A sample of 1085 projects developed worldwide was used. The results show that there is no significant difference between developing software projects in-house and outsourcing them to an external vendor. Implications of these findings to both researchers and practitioners are discussed.
Views on learning in different cultures.Comparing patterns in China and Uruguay

El trabajo presenta los hallazgos de un estudio comparativo acerca de las concepciones de aprendizaje entre estudiantes universitarios chinos y uruguayos. Los resultados fueron obtenidos a traves del re-analisis de datos de entrevistas efectuadas en dos estudios independientes. El re-analisis comparativo fue llevado a cabo segun el esquema general propuesto por Marton, Watkins y Tang (1995), en el cual las diferentes concepciones de aprendizaje fueron estructuradas a lo largo de dos dimensiones, es decir una dimension temporal (adquisicion / conocimiento / aplicacion) y otra referida a la profundidad del aprendizaje (superficial y profundo). Los resultados demuestran que tanto los estudiantes chinos como uruguayos enfatizan la fase de adquisicion del aprendizaje y tambien comparten la vision de que el aprendizaje comienza siempre cuando se adquiere algo desde el exterior del individuo. En efecto, ninguno de los sujetos entrevistados explica como se desarrolla esa fase inicial del aprendizaje. Las perspectivas expresadas por los dos grupos aparecen como contradictorias en muchos casos, pero se vuelven complementarias una vez que son analizadas a la luz del esquema propuesto. Los estudiantes chinos tienden a enfatizar los aspectos ligados al trabajo que deben realizar para aprender, en tanto que los uruguayos enfatizan la nocion de incorporar el conocimiento dentro de ellos mismos. Los estudiantes chinos plantean el acto de llevar lo que han leido o escuchado a su memoria como un paso necesario hacia el aprendizaje, en tanto que sus colegas uruguayos no piensan que eso sea necesario, ya que el hecho de llevar las cosas a la memoria es considerado como un producto natural del aprendizaje. Los estudiantes chinos enfatizan aspectos externos del comportamiento tales como la practica repetida, en tanto que los uruguayos lo hacen en relacion a actividades internas tales como la asimilacion, incorporacion o experiencias personales. Finalmente, los estudiantes chinos conciben dos tipos de memorizacion: mecanica y razonada. La ultima esta relacionada con la comprension, mientras que los uruguayos simplemente igualan la memorizacion con el aprendizaje memoristico y lo conciben como opuesto a la comprension.
Community Service Providers' Conceptualizations of the Needs and Services of Depressed Rural Women

Abstract Representatives from community and volunteer organizations (N = 37) in a rural region of Nova Scotia were interviewed on their views of the causes, prevention and treatment of depression in rural women. Utilizing a qualitative analysis, five themes were identified in their responses: the needs and stresses of women with depression; the problems of women in rural areas; obstacles and barriers to accessing services; the inadequacy of treatment services; and recommendations for improving prevention and treatment. The findings suggested that community service providers were consistent in their views of the needs and stresses of depressed women in rural areas and the kinds of services that would remedy them. Making community service providers aware of the consistencies in their views may promote more interagency cooperation and the development of community-centered approaches to the treatment of depression in rural women.
Efficient Mining of Event-Oriented Negative Sequential Rules

Traditional sequential pattern mining deals with positive sequential patterns only, that is, only frequent sequential patterns with the appearance of items are discovered. However, it is often interesting in many applications to find frequent sequential patterns with the nonoccurrence of some items, which are referred to as negative sequential patterns. This paper analyzes three types of negative sequential rules and presents a new technique to find event-oriented negative sequential rules. Its effectiveness and efficiency are shown in our experiments.
High-Throughput Opportunistic Cooperative Device-to-Device Communications With Caching

To achieve the potential in providing high throughput for cellular networks by device-to-device (D2D) communications, the interference among D2D links should be carefully managed. In this paper, we propose an opportunistic cooperation strategy for D2D transmission by exploiting the caching capability at the users to control the interference among D2D links. We consider overlay inband D2D, divide the D2D users into clusters, and assign different frequency bands to cooperative and nonco operative D2D links. To provide high opportunity for cooperative transmission, we introduce a caching policy. To maximize the network throughput, we jointly optimize the cluster size and bandwidth allocation, where the closed-form expression of the bandwidth allocation factor is obtained. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can provide 400%–500% throughput gain over traditional D2D communications when the content popularity distribution is skewed and can provide 60%–80% gain even when the content popularity distribution is uniform.
Deciphering Novel Host–Herpesvirus Interactions by Virion Proteomics

Over the years, a vast array of information concerning the interactions of viruses with their hosts has been collected. However, recent advances in proteomics and other system biology techniques suggest these interactions are far more complex than anticipated. One particularly interesting and novel aspect is the analysis of cellular proteins incorporated into mature virions. Though sometimes considered purification contaminants in the past, their repeated detection by different laboratories suggests that a number of these proteins are bona fide viral components, some of which likely contribute to the viral life cycles. The present mini review focuses on cellular proteins detected in herpesviruses. It highlights the common cellular functions of these proteins, their potential implications for host–pathogen interactions, discusses technical limitations, the need for complementing methods and probes potential future research avenues.
A Web-Enabled and Speech-Enhanced Parallel Corpus of Greek-Bulgarian Cultural Texts

This paper reports on completed work carried out in the framework of an EU-funded project aimed at (a) developing a bilingual collection of cultural texts in Greek and Bulgarian, (b) creating a number of accompanying resources that will facilitate study of the primary texts across languages, and (c) integrating a system which aims to provide web-enabled and speech-enhanced access to digitized bilingual Cultural Heritage resources. This simple user interface, which incorporates advanced search mechanisms, also offers innovative accessibility for visually impaired Greek and Bulgarian users. The rationale behind the work (and the relative resource) was to promote the comparative study of the cultural heritage of the two countries.
Peripheral Tissue Homing Receptors Enable T Cell Entry into Lymph Nodes and Affect the Anatomical Distribution of Memory Cells

Peripheral tissue homing receptors enable T cells to access inflamed nonlymphoid tissues. In this study, we show that two such molecules, E-selectin ligand and α4β1 integrin, enable activated and memory T cells to enter lymph nodes (LN) as well. This affects the quantitative and qualitative distribution of these cells among regional LN beds. CD8 memory T cells in LN that express these molecules were mostly CD62Llo and would normally be classified as effector memory cells. However, similar to central memory cells, they expanded upon Ag re-encounter. This led to differences in the magnitude of the recall response that depended on the route of immunization. These novel cells share properties of both central and effector memory cells and reside in LN based on previously undescribed mechanisms of entry.