Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unilateral sacroiliitis associated with systemic isotretinoin treatment

Background Acne fulminans is the most severe form of inflammatory acne characterized by the acute onset of inflammatory nodules and plaques, most commonly on the chest and the back. The lesions undergo rapid suppuration, leaving ragged hemorrhagic ulcers. Typically, it affects adolescent males with a history of mild to moderate acne. The affected patients often have constitutional symptoms such as fever, malaise, arthralgias, and myalgias. Leukocytosis is commonly associated. Sacroiliitis is reported in 21% of acne fulminans patients in association with arthritis and in a few cases it is reported during isotretinoin treatment, suggesting the drug triggering.
Low-dose intramuscular polymyxin B improves survival of septic rats.

UNLABELLED Polymyxin B (PLB) is a cationic antibiotic that also stoichiometrically neutralizes the lipid A moiety of endotoxin. We examined effects of a small dose of PLB on the mortality of rats with cecal ligation and puncture, on LPS-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production, and on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) production by isolated rat Kupffer cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS In vivo studies: Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was performed under anesthesia in 28 rats. One hour after CLP, either 600 U/kg of PLB or saline was administered intramuscularly every 6 h (PLB group: n = 12; control group: n = 16). Plasma endotoxin was measured at 3 and 24 h after the CLP by the Endospecy test. This was compared with survival. IN VITRO STUDIES Kupffer cells were isolated from the normal rat liver. The cells were incubated with LPS or LPS + PLB. After 24 h, NO and TNF alpha content were measured using the Griess and ELISA methods, respectively. RESULTS Low dose PLB significantly decreased the endotoxin levels at both 3 and 24 h (5.5 +/- 2.1 pg/mL vs. 32.8 +/- 3.6 at 3 h; 26.1 +/- 6.1 vs. 49.1 +/- 5.6 at 24 h (p < .05) after CLP. PLB significantly improved survival of CLP rats (68.8% in the control group vs. 100% in the PLB treated group on 3 days after CLP, p < .001). PLB also attenuated NO and TNF alpha production from the Kupffer cells. CONCLUSION Intramuscular PLB administered in low doses may improve the mortality of sepsis.
Integrating background knowledge from internet databases into predictive toxicology models

While data integration for data analysis has been investigated extensively in biological applications, it has not yet been so much the focus in computational chemistry and quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) research. With the availability and growing number of chemical databases on the web, such data integration efforts become an intriguing possibility (and, in fact, a necessity). In this paper, we take a first step towards the following vision and scenario for predictive toxicology applications. Given a new structure to be predicted, the first step would be to gather (integrate) all relevant information from internet databases for the structure itself, and all structures with available information for the endpoint of interest. In a second step, the collected information is combined statistically into a prediction of the new structure. We simulate this scenario with three endpoints (data sets) from the DSSTox database and collect information from three public chemical databases: PubChem, ChemBank and Sigma-Aldrich. In the experiments, we investigate whether the addition of background knowledge from the three databases can improve predictive performance (over using chemical structure alone) in a statistically significant way. For this purpose, we define groups of features (belonging together from an application point of view) from the three databases, and perform a variant of forward selection to include these feature groups in a prediction model. Our experiments show that the integration of background knowledge from internet databases can significantly improve prediction performance, especially for regression tasks.
High-Mobility Solution-Processed Amorphous Indium Zinc  $\hbox{Oxide/In}_{2}\hbox{O}_{3}$ Nanocrystal Hybrid Thin-Film Transistor

High-performance thin-film transistors with amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) films was deposited by embedding indium oxide nanocrystals (In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> NCs) into IZO films based on a sol-gel process. Excellent electrical properties have been demonstrated, including a field-effect mobility value of 32.6 cm<sup>2</sup>·V<sup>-1</sup>·s<sup>-1</sup> and an on-off ratio of 10<sup>7</sup> , which were obtained at 1 mol% In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> NCs in amorphous IZO films. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of low-temperature sol-gel-based oxide semiconductor transistors, which is more cost-effective compared with conventional fabrication techniques but with comparable performance.
Dispersion Management With Microwave Chirped Pulses in Metamaterials in the Negative Refraction Regime

This letter introduces an efficient technique for pulse compression and dispersion compensation using microwave chirped pulses propagating through metamaterials in the negative refraction regime. To accomplish this, we investigated infinitely wide and 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-cells-thick metamaterial slabs using a finite difference in the time-domain method and parameter extraction technique. We demonstrate that by controlling the chirp of the initial pulse, in association with the metamaterial cell density/geometry and frequency response, it is possible not only to compress the pulse (by a factor of 2), but also to compensate pulse broadening due to chromatic dispersion.
Substrate inhibition kinetics for toluene and benzene degrading pure cultures and a method for collection and analysis of respirometric data for strongly inhibited cultures

We present an evaluation of the qualitative and quantitative effects that high concentrations of benzene and toluene have on the growth rate of several pure cultures that use these compounds as their sole carbon and energy source. The cultures employed were five widely studied environmental isolates: Pseudomonas putida F1, P. putida mt2, P. mendocina KR, Ralstonia pickettii PKO1, and Burkholderia cepacia G4. Three cultures degraded toluene following a pattern consistent with the kinetic model of Wayman and Tseng (1976) while the other two followed a modification of this model introduced by Alagappan and Cowan (2001). The pattern followed for benzene degradation was different than that for toluene degradation for all four capable pure cultures and consistent with that described by the model of Luong (1987). Mechanisms of substrate inhibition and solvent toxicity are discussed, used to conceptually evaluate the reasons for the differences in inhibition behavior, and used to support a call for more widespread use of the empirical, terminal substrate concentration inhibition models employed here. We also present the methodology developed to overcome a limitation commonly encountered when attempting to collect oxygen uptake data for use in quantifying substrate inhibition kinetics. The experimental method was effective for use in the collection of high quality data and the substrate inhibition models most useful in representing the growth of bacteria on these solvents are those that show a complete loss of activity at high concentration rather than the more popular asymptotic inhibition models. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 83: 798–809, 2003.
Improvement of smart grid reliability considering various cyber network topologies and direct interdependency

The modern smart grid consists of two noticeable and intricate networks, cyber and power. Cyber networks have been employed for controlling, monitoring and protecting different types of physical systems. Nowadays, it is absolutely impossible to have an efficient and reliable operation of power networks without cyber networks. In the conventional methods, it is assumed that the cyber components are failure free. This simplification makes some errors for reliability assessment; specifically in smart grids with advanced cyber network topologies. This paper introduces a novel analytical reliability assessment method which can effectively consider the impact of direct cyber network failures on power networks. The proposed method evaluates the smart grid reliability taking into account both power and cyber (monitoring/control/protection devices) elements failures. In this paper, a new procedure based on the change of structure of cyber topology is proposed. An optimized cyber network structure is obtained to improve the reliability of smart grid. The test results indicate that there is a vital need to consider cyber negative effects as well as power effects on power grid for reliability assessment of smart grid.
An approximated 3-d model of the Langevin transducer and its experimental validation.

In this work, an approximated 3-D analytical model of the Langevin transducer is proposed. The model, improving the classical 1-D approach describing the thickness extensional mode, allows us to predict also the radial modes of both the piezoelectric ceramic disk and the loading masses; furthermore, it is able to describe the coupling between radial and thickness extensional modes. In order to validate the model, the computed frequency spectrum is compared with that obtained by measurements carried out on 13 manufactured samples of different thicknesses to diameter ratios. The comparison shows that the model predicts with quite good accuracy the resonance frequencies of the two lowest frequency modes, i.e., those of practical interest, all over the explored range. Finally, the coupling effect between thickness and radial modes on the frontal displacement is measured and discussed.
Reflective display using electrowetting with self-dosing and large viewable area ratio

Electrowetting reflective display has been widely studied since EWOD [1] was introduced. The electrowetting display has been suggested using two immiscible liquids such as colored oil and conductive liquid, normally the mixture of deionized water and some electrolytes [2]. In this case hydrophilic grid walls prevent the colored oil from spreading over the neighboring cell, and render the conducting liquid easy to separate from the corner of the cell. This method, however, has some disadvantages such challenges in oil dosing process and relatively small viewable area ratio (VAR). Previous research has addressed these issues by introducing a self dosing method, and enhanced the VAR through the use of capillary forces[3].
Content-Based Image Retrieval Using SOM and DWT

Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) from a large database is becoming a necessity for many applications such as medical imaging, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), space search and many others. However, the process of retrieving relevant images is usually preceded by extracting some discriminating features that can best describe the database images. Therefore, the retrieval process is mainly dependent on comparing the captured features which depict the most important characteristics of images instead of comparing the whole images. In this paper, we propose a CBIR method by extracting both color and texture feature vectors using the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and the Self Organizing Map (SOM) artificial neural networks. At query time texture vectors are compared using a similarity measure which is the Euclidean distance and the most similar image is retrieved. In addition, other relevant images are also retrieved using the neighborhood of the most similar image from the clustered data set via SOM. The proposed method demonstrated promising retrieval results on the Wang Database compared to the existing methods in literature.
A Dominant Jurkat T Cell Mutation That Inhibits LFA-1-Mediated Cell Adhesion Is Associated with Increased Cell Growth1

LFA-1 exists in a low avidity state on resting leukocytes and is believed to adopt a high avidity state when the cells are exposed to a stimulus. Current evidence supports both aggregation of LFA-1 on the cell surface and conformational changes in the reversible acquisition of a high avidity state. We studied this regulation by selecting a Jurkat T cell clone, J-lo1.3, that expresses LFA-1 yet fails to bind to purified ICAM-1 despite treatment of the cells with PMA or Mn2+. Several lines of evidence demonstrated the absence of any changes within LFA-1 itself. LFA-1 protein purified from the J-lo1.3 clone and the wild-type Jurkat clone, Jn.9, were found to be functionally equivalent. The cDNA sequences encoding the LFA-1 α- and β-chains from J-lo1.3 were identical with the published sequences except for nine base pairs. However, these differences were also found in a Jurkat mutant with a constitutively avid phenotype, J+hi1.19 or the wild-type Jn.9 genomic or cDNA. Fusion of J-lo1.3 with Jn.9 yielded hybrids that exhibited the J-lo1.3 adhesion phenotype, which indicated a dominant mutation in J-lo1.3. This phenotype was relatively specific for LFA-1 among all integrins expressed by Jurkat. Interestingly, the J-lo1.3 cells had a 1.2-fold faster doubling time than did the Jn.9 cells. Reversion of J-lo1.3 to the wild-type adhesion phenotype by mutagenesis and selection also decreased the growth rate. These data support a connection between cellular growth and cellular adhesion in lymphocytes.
Shape Detection with Nearest Neighbour Contour Fragments

Shape is probably the single most important feature for object detection and much research has gone into developing deformable shape models. However, contours extracted by bottom-up edge detectors are notoriously unreliable, especially in natural images. In this paper, we present a very simple, yet powerful method for model creation, hypothesis generation, and hypothesis verification, which is competitive with much more complex methods. Let s be a descriptor in some high-dimensional space of an edge fragment representing part of an object contour. In Bayesian terms, this fragment was likely to be generated by some class c∈C if the conditional likelihood P(s|c) is greater for c than that for any other class, P(s|c′ 6= c), including the background class. P(s|c) can be estimated non-parametrically, for example by using Gaussian kernels associated with some nearby samples in the feature space. In [2] it was shown that a good approximation can be obtained by using only the nearest sample. A fragment is discriminative if it is much more likely to belong to a class c than any other class c′ 6= c. We thus define the discriminative power of a fragment by:
Cytoskeletal polymer networks: The molecular structure of cross-linkers determines macroscopic properties

In living cells the mechanical properties of the actin cytoskeleton are defined by the local activation of different actin cross-linking proteins. These proteins consist of actin-binding domains that are separated and geometrically organized by different numbers of rod domains. The detailed molecular structure of the cross-linking molecules determines the structural and mechanical properties of actin networks in vivo. In this study, we systematically investigate the impact of the length of the spacing unit between two actin-binding domains on in vitro actin networks. Such synthetic cross-linkers reveal that the shorter the constructs are, the greater the elastic modulus changes in the linear response regime. Because the same binding domains are used in all constructs, only the differences in the number of rod domains determine their mechanical effectiveness. Structural rearrangements of the networks show that bundling propensity is highest for the shortest construct. The nonlinear mechanical response is affected by the molecular structure of the cross-linker molecules, and the observed critical strains and fracture stress increase proportional to the length of the spacing unit.
Jedem realen Topf seinen virtuellen Deckel? Virtuelles Re-Enactment als Erklärungsmöglichkeit für ungewöhnliche Spieler-Spiel-Passungen bei Computerspielabhängigen

Zusammenfassung Warum sollte ein Mann, der eine Diktatur erlebt und bekampft hat, virtuell den alles bestimmenden Herrscher spielen, warum ein Mann, dessen Leben von schwierigen Neuanfangen gepragt ist, im Computerspiel stundlich wieder ganz „bei null anfangen“, warum eine junge Frau, die als Au-pair Uberstunden macht, zusatzlich acht Stunden taglich virtuell Hausarbeit, Hauseinrichtung und Familiengrundung „spielen“? In medizinisch-psychologischen Erklarungsansatzen fur Computerspielabhangigkeit wird das hohe Abhangigkeitsrisiko bei bestimmten Spielgenres durch uberindividuelle neurophysiologische Vorgange im Gehirn erklart. Wir haben dagegen aus insgesamt 22 biographischen, teilnarrativen Interviews mit ehemaligen Computerspielabhangigen bewusst drei individuelle, ungewohnliche Passungen zwischen Computerspiel und Spielerbiographie ausgewahlt (s.o.), fur die wir zunachst ausfuhrliche Analyseergebnisse darstellen. Dabei konnten wir eine Einordnung in drei Hauptmotive des Spielverhaltens rekonstruieren: erstens die versuchte Kompensation realweltlicher Mangel durch ein Computerspiel („Vitamin“), zweitens die Ablenkung und Verdrangung von realweltlichen Problemen durch als aufregend und fesselnd erlebte Computerspiele („Betaubungsmittel“) und drittens, zunachst uberraschender, eine hier im Fokus stehende, schwerer zu erklarende und erstmals beschriebene Funktion: das wiederholte Nachspielen biographischer Problemkonstellationen („virtuelles Re-Enactment“), wie es sich in den eingangs angesprochenen Fallen zeigt. Gerade die biographische Perspektive ermoglicht dabei die Abgrenzung zwischen langfristigem sowie realweltlichem „Gelingen“, was auch von den Interviewten selbst ruckblickend verneint wird, und dem in der Tradition der „Game Studies“ beschriebenen positiven In-Game-Erleben, also dem kurzfristigen und virtuellen „Funktionieren“.
Validation of a pXO2-A PCR Assay To Explore Diversity among Italian Isolates of Bacillus anthracis Strains Closely Related to the Live, Attenuated Carbosap Vaccine

ABSTRACT Several circulating Bacillus anthracis strains isolated in Italy and belonging to the A1.a cluster, genotype 3 (A1.a-3) are genotypically indistinguishable from Carbosap, a live attenuated vaccine strain, containing both pXO1 and pXO2 plasmids. The genotype was assessed by using eight-locus multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis. We describe here the use of a ninth locus able to explore variability among strains that have the same genotype. It is important to be able to genotype the wild isolate of B. anthracis strains from outbreaks of anthrax in areas where Carbosap vaccination of cattle and sheep is common practice. A total of 27 representative field strains isolated in Italy and four vaccinal strains, namely, Carbosap, Sterne, Pasteur I, and Pasteur II, were characterized by a ninth marker, called pXO2-A. Twenty-three field strains were genotype 3 and therefore identical to Carbosap. The marker was in the pXO2 plasmid and is based on the polymorphism of the already-known VX2-3 locus. Detection was obtained by PCR with fluorescence-labeled forward primers in order to produce appropriate fragments for capillary electrophoresis with an ABI 310 genetic analyzer. Genetic relationships showed heterogeneity in all of the examined samples. Interestingly, with respect to genotype 3, samples grouped into eight different subtypes, A to H, and the subtype G, had only two samples indistinguishable from Carbosap. The results of the present study confirm the validity of a hierarchical progressive protocol for discrimination among closely related isolates.
Chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of different basil essential oils chemotypes from Togo

The aerial parts essential oils of Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae) from Togo were steam-distilled and investigated for their percentage composition (GC and GC/MS) and in vitro antimicrobial activities. Five oil chemotypes were identified and classified as follows in line with their principal components: estragole type; linalool/estragole type; methyleugenol type; methyleugenol/t-anethole type; t-anethole type. The in vitro microbiological experiments revealed that only the methyleugenol and methyleugenol/t-anethole chemotypes were active against tested fungi and bacteria. Their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranged from 80 to 150 µL/L and from 200 to 500 µL/L respectively. Likewise, o n tested bacteria the MIC varied from 200 µL/L to 400 µL/L and from 250 to 500 µL/L respectively. These findings are supportive of the potential of both basil oil chemotypes for use as active ingredients in natural antibiotic drugs.
Tromp1, a putative rare outer membrane protein, is anchored by an uncleaved signal sequence to the Treponema pallidum cytoplasmic membrane

Treponema pallidum rare outer membrane protein 1 (Tromp1) has extensive sequence homology with substrate-binding proteins of ATP-binding cassette transporters. Because such proteins typically are periplasmic or cytoplasmic membrane associated, experiments were conducted to clarify Tromp1's physicochemical properties and cellular location in T. pallidum. Comparison of the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis mobilities of (i) native Tromp1 and Tromp1 synthesized by coupled in vitro transcription-translation and (ii) native Tromp1 and recombinant Tromp1 lacking the N-terminal signal sequence revealed that the native protein is not processed. Other studies demonstrated that recombinant Tromp1 lacks three basic porin-like properties: (i) the ability to form aqueous channels in liposomes which permit the influx of small hydrophilic solutes, (ii) an extensive beta-sheet secondary structure, and (iii) amphiphilicity. Subsurface localization of native Tromp1 was demonstrated by immunofluorescence analysis of treponemes encapsulated in gel microdroplets, while opsonization assays failed to detect surface-exposed Tromp1. Incubation of motile treponemes with 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125I]iodophenyl)-diazarine, a photoactivatable, lipophilic probe, also did not result in the detection of Tromp1 within the outer membranes of intact treponemes but, instead, resulted in the labeling of a basic 30.5-kDa presumptive outer membrane protein. Finally, analysis of fractionated treponemes revealed that native Tromp1 is associated predominantly with cell cylinders. These findings comprise a body of evidence that Tromp1 actually is anchored by an uncleaved signal sequence to the periplasmic face of the T. pallidum cytoplasmic membrane, where it likely subserves a transport-related function.
Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL): Clarifications, Corrections, and Updates

The IETF Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol provides least-cost pair-wise data forwarding without configuration in multi-hop networks with arbitrary topology and link technology, safe forwarding even during periods of temporary loops, and support for multipathing of both unicast and multicast traffic. TRILL accomplishes this by using Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) link- state routing and by encapsulating traffic using a header that includes a hop count. Since publication of the TRILL base protocol in July 2011, active development of TRILL has revealed errata in RFC 6325 and some cases that could use clarifications or updates. RFCs 6327 and 6439 provide clarifications and updates with respect to adjacency and Appointed Forwarders. This document provides other known clarifications, corrections, and updates to RFCs 6325, 6327, and 6439.