Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Inflammatory Cascade Leading to Hyperresistinemia in Humans

Background Obesity, the most common cause of insulin resistance, is increasingly recognized as a low-grade inflammatory state. Adipocyte-derived resistin is a circulating protein implicated in insulin resistance in rodents, but the role of human resistin is uncertain because it is produced largely by macrophages. Methods and Findings The effect of endotoxin and cytokines on resistin gene and protein expression was studied in human primary blood monocytes differentiated into macrophages and in healthy human participants. Inflammatory endotoxin induced resistin in primary human macrophages via a cascade involving the secretion of inflammatory cytokines that circulate at increased levels in individuals with obesity. Induction of resistin was attenuated by drugs with dual insulin-sensitizing and anti-inflammatory properties that converge on NF-κB. In human study participants, experimental endotoxemia, which produces an insulin-resistant state, causes a dramatic rise in circulating resistin levels. Moreover, in patients with type 2 diabetes, serum resistin levels are correlated with levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor α receptor, an inflammatory marker linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis. Conclusions Inflammation is a hyperresistinemic state in humans, and cytokine induction of resistin may contribute to insulin resistance in endotoxemia, obesity, and other inflammatory states.
Systemic Up-Regulation of TLR4 Causes Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Augmentation of Nasal Cytokine Release in Allergic Rhinitis

Background: Allergic rhinitis is a systemic disorder, and it is clinically well recognized that it can be aggravated by infection. Activation of the innate immune system constitutes a critical element in the process. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) comprise a part of the innate immune system, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of TLR4 represents bacterial-induced interactions in various model systems. The present study examines how TLR2 and TLR4 expression is affected by symptomatic allergic rhinitis, and if LPS added upon allergen affects nasal cytokine release. Methods: In patients with pollen-induced allergic rhinitis and healthy non-allergic volunteers, nasal lavage (NAL), peripheral blood and bone marrow were sampled before and during the pollen season. TLR2 and TLR4 expression was determined flow cytometrically. Changes in the TLR receptor expression pattern were evaluated by a nasal challenge with allergen followed by LPS, or vice versa. Symptoms along with cells and cytokines in NAL were analyzed. Results: TLR4 expression increased in leukocytes in NAL, peripheral blood and bone marrow during symptomatic allergic rhinitis. A similar increase was seen for TLR2 in neutrophils in blood. Nasal challenge with allergen followed by LPS augmented the release of IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, IFN-γ and TNF-α. Conclusion: A systemic up-regulation of TLR4 in symptomatic allergic rhinitis may explain why LPS preceded by allergen increases nasal cytokine release.
High-Performance Reconfigurable Hardware Architecture for Restricted Boltzmann Machines

Despite the popularity and success of neural networks in research, the number of resulting commercial or industrial applications has been limited. A primary cause for this lack of adoption is that neural networks are usually implemented as software running on general-purpose processors. Hence, a hardware implementation that can exploit the inherent parallelism in neural networks is desired. This paper investigates how the restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), which is a popular type of neural network, can be mapped to a high-performance hardware architecture on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) platforms. The proposed modular framework is designed to reduce the time complexity of the computations through heavily customized hardware engines. A method to partition large RBMs into smaller congruent components is also presented, allowing the distribution of one RBM across multiple FPGA resources. The framework is tested on a platform of four Xilinx Virtex II-Pro XC2VP70 FPGAs running at 100 MHz through a variety of different configurations. The maximum performance was obtained by instantiating an RBM of 256 256 nodes distributed across four FPGAs, which resulted in a computational speed of 3.13 billion connection-updates-per-second and a speedup of 145-fold over an optimized C program running on a 2.8-GHz Intel processor.
Supporting dynamic interdependencies among collaborative activities

Real-life work requirements seldom result in tasks being truly independent. Instead, webs of interdependencies evolve among tasks in a fashion which is sometimes predictable, but often completely ad hoc. In this paper we are concerned with both uncovering a family of basic concepts and mechanisms that can be used to support the mixture of anticipated and ad hoc dependencies that can arise among tasks and describing the reification of these concepts through our Obligation System implemented within the prototype collaboration support environment ConversationBuilder.
Identification and characterization of lef-1, a baculovirus gene involved in late and very late gene expression

An Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) gene required in transient expression assays for late and very late viral gene expression was identified, sequenced, and transcriptionally mapped. This gene, designated late expression factor 1 (lef-1), was located between 7.4 and 8.7 map units of the AcMNPV physical map. It was identified by cotransfecting Spodoptera frugiperda cultured cells with a collection of overlapping cloned DNA fragments covering the entire AcMNPV genome and a reporter gene controlled by an early, late, or very late AcMNPV promoter. Omission of the DNA fragment containing lef-1 curtailed most late and very late gene expression but not early gene expression. lef-1 was found to be an early gene transcribed as a 1.8-kb RNA in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. The C terminus of the predicted polypeptide product, LEF-1, contained a sequence motif characteristic of nucleoside triphosphate-binding sites.
Robot Navigation based on the Mapping of Coarse Qualitative Route Descriptions to Route Graphs

This paper describes the use of natural language route descriptions in the mobile robot navigation domain. Guided by corpus analysis and earlier work on coarse qualitative route descriptions, we decompose instructions given by humans into sequences of imprecise route segment descriptions. By applying fuzzy rules for the involved spatial relations and actions, we construct a search tree that can be searched in a depth-first branch-and-bound manner for the most probable goal configuration w.r. t. the global workspace knowledge of the robot. The applicability of our approach is shown by a real-world experiment where an operator instructs his automated wheelchair to navigate in an office-like environment
Research Note: Factors Affecting Eye Movements During the Reading of Short Melodies

Eighteen subjects silently read six melodies while their eye movements were measured to determine whether factors such as subject expertise, pitch pattern size, or pitch pattern complexity affected the size of their perceptual unit, measured as saccade length. Subjects were divided into three expertise groups based on a pretest. Stimuli were six melodies in equal quarter note rhythms consisting of two pattern sizes (three note/four note) and three complexity levels for each pattern size. Dependent measures were saccade length and fixation duration. Three-note pattern melodies consisted of 19 notes, while four-note pattern melodies consisted of 25 notes. Subjects in all groups were generally found to read note by note. However, factors such as pattern complexity and pattern size did affect the size of their perceptual units. They also tended to read triadic material in larger units than stepwise material especially when that material was composed of root position triads.
Effective thermal conductivity of composite : Numerical and experimental study

In this paper, thermal properties of composites are investigated numerically and experimentally. In the numerical study, finiteelements method is used to modelize heat transfer and to calculate the Effective Thermal Conductivity (ETC) of the composite for three elementary cells, such as simple cubic ( SC), body centered cubic ( BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC). The effect of the filler concentrations, the ratio of thermal conductivities of filler to matrix material and the Kapitza resistance of the contact inclusion/matrix on the effective conductivity was investigated. A periodical method was used to measure simultaneously thermal conductivity, specific heat and diffusivity of the composite consisting of epoxy resin matrix filled with brass spheres. A comparison between the numerically calculated thermal conductivities, measured and analytical ones for various samples is made and the significance of the findings will be discussed in the paper.
Real-Time PCR

The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) uses fluorescent reporter molecules to monitor the production of amplification products during each cycle of the PCR reaction. This combines the DNA amplification and detection steps into one homogeneous assay and obviates the need for gel electrophoresis to detect amplification products. Appropriate data analysis and/or use of apposite chemistries also eliminates the need for Southern blotting or DNA sequencing for amplicon identification. Its simplicity, specificity, and sensitivity, together with its potential for high throughput and the ongoing introduction of new chemistries, more reliable instrumentation, and improved protocols, has made realtime PCR the benchmark technology for the detection of DNA.
Moving methods: constructing emotionally poignant geographies of HIV in Auckland, New Zealand

As we strive to fully understand the meanings different people create and attach to places, we need methods that allow multiple and subjective experiences of place to be critically uncovered and understood. This paper reflects on the employment of photography and caption-writing in research with HIV-positive men-who-have-sex-with-men in Auckland, New Zealand. These methods contributed in constructing an argument that the acquisition of HIV affected experiences of both literal place as well as place-in-the-world for the research participants. With the ability to move with participants (both physically and emotionally), the methods helped to illustrate a range of (re)negotiations of self and place beyond diagnosis. Moreover, engagement with these methods resulted in personal gain for many of the participants in the research. It is concluded that the continued (re)development of creative (ethically sound) qualitative methods can add rigour to our attempts at representing the complexities inherent in the relationships between people and the places they occupy.
Epileptic seizures in neurodegenerative dementia syndromes

Epileptic seizures may be a feature of some neurodegenerative dementia syndromes. There is an increased incidence of seizures inAlzheimerâ€™s disease compared to age-matched controls. Seizures also occur in prion disorders and some frontotemporal lobar degenerationsyndromes, whereas parkinsonian dementia disorders seem relatively seizure free. Seizure pathogenesis in these conditions is uncertain,but may relate to neocortical and hippocampal hyperexcitability and synchronised activity, possibly as a consequence of dysfunctionalprotein metabolism, neuronal structural changes, and concurrent cerebrovascular disease. Alzheimerâ€™s disease may be a neuronalnetwork disorder, characterised by both cognitive decline and epileptic activity, in which seizures are an integral part of disease phenotyperather than epiphenomena. Treatment of seizures in dementia syndromes currently remains empirical. Greater understanding of dementiapathogenesis may shed light on mechanisms of epileptogenesis and facilitate more rational approaches to seizure treatment.
Pediatric rumination subtypes: A study using high‐resolution esophageal manometry with impedance

The differential diagnosis of intractable reflux in children includes rumination syndrome, but confirming the diagnosis using antroduodenal manometry is invasive, is costly, and requires anesthesia. High‐resolution esophageal manometry with impedance (HRM‐MII) overcomes these limitations, and the goal of this study is to validate the use of HRM‐MII as a diagnostic tool for rumination and to describe the subtypes of pediatric rumination.
Ovalbumin Modified with Pyrraline, a Maillard Reaction Product, shows Enhanced T-cell Immunogenicity*

Background: Maillard reaction (MR) modifies food allergens with various glycation structures during thermal processing of foods. Results: We show that pyrraline, a glycation structure, enhances potential allergenicity of ovalbumin, a model allergen, by promoting scavenger receptor class A-mediated allergen uptake by dendritic cells. Conclusion: Pyrraline could act as a pathogenesis-related component in food allergies. Significance: We reveal how MR links to food allergies. The Maillard reaction (also referred to as “glycation”) takes place between reducing sugars and compounds with free amino groups during thermal processing of foods. In the final stage of the complex reaction cascade, the so-called advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed, including proteins with various glycation structures. It has been suggested that some AGEs could have immunostimulatory effects. Here, we aimed to identify specific glycation structure(s) that could influence the T-cell immunogenicity and potential allergenicity of food allergens, using ovalbumin (OVA, an egg white allergen) as a model allergen. OVA was specifically modified with representative glycation structures: Nϵ-carboxymethyl lysine (CM-OVA), Nϵ-carboxyethyl lysine (CE-OVA), pyrraline (Pyr-OVA), or methylglyoxal-derived arginine derivatives (MGO-OVA). As well as AGE-OVA, a crude glycation product in thermal incubation of OVA with glucose, only Pyr-OVA, and not other modified OVAs, was efficiently taken up by bone marrow-derived murine dendritic cells (BMDCs). The uptake of Pyr-OVA was reduced in scavenger receptor class A (SR-A)-deficient BMDCs, but not in cells treated with inhibitors of scavenger receptor class B, galectin-3, or blocking antibodies against CD36, suggesting that pyrraline binds to SR-A. Compared with other modified OVAs, Pyr-OVA induced higher activation of OVA-specific CD4+ T-cells in co-culture with BMDCs. Furthermore, compared with native OVA, AGE-OVA and Pyr-OVA induced higher IgE production in mice. Pyrraline could induce better allergen uptake by DCs via association with SR-A and subsequently enhance CD4+ T-cell activation and IgE production. Our findings help us to understand how Maillard reaction enhances the potential allergenicity of food allergens.
A Data Driven Approach to the Discovery of Better Cognitive Models

Cognitive models composed of knowledge components are an integral part of intelligent tutors and drive many of the instructional decisions that these systems make. Most of these models are designed by educators and subject experts. Today vast amounts of data, collected from many intelligent tutors, allow us to analyze and improve the current cognitive models through educational data mining. In this research, we show how we identified, in the tutor data, potential improvements to existing cognitive models and then evaluated those improvements using statistical analysis and cross validation.
A new algorithm for fast search of the k nearest patterns

The computational cost associated to the k-nearest neighbor classifier depends on the amount of available patterns, which makes this method impractical in many real-time applications. This fact makes interesting the study of fast algorithms for finding the k-nearest patterns, like, for example, the kLAESA algorithm. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm for finding the k-nearest patterns, denominated k-tuned approximating and eliminating search algorithm (kTAESA). The algorithm is used to implement kNN classifiers, which are applied to three databases from the UCI machine learning benchmark repository. Results are compared with those achieved by the exhaustive search, the kAESA and the kLAESA algorithms, in terms of number of distances to evaluate, number of simple operations (sums, comparisons and products) needed to classify each pattern, and amount of required memory. Results demonstrate the best performance of the proposal, mainly when the number of operations is considered.
Un análisis del desajuste educativo en el primer empleo de los jóvenes

espanolLa existencia de desajustes entre el nivel de estudios de los trabajadores y la ocupacion que desempenan ha sido refrendada empiricamente en diversas investigaciones. Los resultados de estos trabajos apuntan a que el colectivo juvenil es uno de los mas afectados por este desequilibrio, pudiendo ser considerado como una de las claves en la valoracion de su insercion profesional. En este articulo se analizan los factores que determinan el desajuste educativo de los individuos en el inicio de su carrera laboral, con especial atencion al problema de la sobreeducacion, ya que la incidencia de este fenomeno resulta importante en el colectivo juvenil. EnglishThe existence of a mismatch between the level of education of workers and their employment has been detected in several empirical studies. Their results show that young people are one of the main collectives affected by the educational mismatch. This paper shall analyse the determinant factors of the educational mismatch, paying special attention to the problem of the over-education.
Pulmonary microvascular injury induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytotoxin in isolated rabbit lungs

The effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytotoxin on the pulmonary microvasculature were studied in blood-free, perfused, isolated rabbit lungs. Cytotoxin was administered to the recirculating Krebs Henseleit albumin (1%) buffer during two consecutive 30-min-perfusion phases (phases 1 and 2) at a concentration of 13 micrograms/ml, followed by a third perfusion phase (phase 3) without toxin. After perfusion phases 2 and 3, the capillary filtration coefficient (Kf,c) and vascular compliance were determined gravimetrically from two-step microvascular pressure increments under zero-flow conditions. Cytotoxin caused a continuous release of K+ and lactate dehydrogenase, which started within the first 5 min and amounted to about 50% of the total lung cellular K+ and 5 to 7% of the total lactate dehydrogenase by the end of the experiment. The toxin caused the continuous generation of prostaglandin I2, which was detectable in the perfusates of all perfusion phases at maximum values five times above the control values and which was measured in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid at the end of the experiment. Thromboxane generation in toxin-treated lungs did not significantly exceed that of control lungs or of lungs with mechanically induced edema. Cytotoxin caused a gradual increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, to maximum values 2.5 times above the control, starting within 1 min; the increase was partially reversible after washout of the toxin. After a lag period of 20 to 30 min, the lungs gained weight, amounting to a mean gain of 9.1 g at the end of the experiments. After perfusion phases 2 and 3, an almost fourfold increase in Kf,c, which was not reversible after washout of the toxin, was measured, whereas the values of vascular compliance were not altered. We conclude that pseudomonal cytotoxin may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of prolonged microvascular injury, encountered in states of P. aeruginosa sepsis or acute lung failure with secondarily acquired P. aeruginosa pneumonia.
How is the approach to teaching at secondary school related to first-year university achievement?

The study presented here is an elaboration on recent educational effectiveness research focusing on long-term school effects. Central in this study is the approach to teaching at secondary schools and its relation to student perception of the fit between school and university and 1st-year academic achievement. Based on previous research, a coding scheme is developed to classify pre-university schools based on the approach to teaching in the upper 3 years. Schools are scored according to this coding scheme and grouped with hierarchical cluster analysis, resulting in 3 groups: 1 characterized by a strong teacher-regulation approach, 1 with a shared regulation approach to learning, and 1 intermediate group. Multiple analysis of covariance shows differences between school clusters regarding student 1st-year achievement in soft science programmes.
Interaction of p38 and Sp1 in a Mechanical Force-induced, β1 Integrin-mediated Transcriptional Circuit That Regulates the Actin-binding Protein Filamin-A*

Connective tissue cells in mechanically active environments survive applied physical forces by modifying actin cytoskeletal structures that stabilize cell membranes. In fibroblasts, tensile forces induce the expression of filamin-A, a mechanoprotective actin-binding protein, but the mechanisms and protein interactions by which force activates filamin-A transcription are not defined. We found that in fibroblasts, application of tensile forces through collagen-coated magnetite beads to cell surface β1integrins induced filamin-A expression. This induction required actin filaments and selective activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. Force promoted the redistribution of p38 to the integrin/bead locus and the nucleus as well as enhanced binding of the transcription factor Sp1 to proximal, regulatory domains of the filamin-A promoter. Force application increased association of Sp1 with p38 and phosphorylation of Sp1. Transcriptional activation of filamin-A in force-treated fibroblasts was subsequently mediated by Sp1-binding sites on the filamin-A promoter. These results provide evidence for a mechanically coupled transcriptional circuit that originates at the magnetite bead/integrin locus, activates p38, tethers p38 to actin filaments, promotes binding of p38 to Sp1 in the nucleus, and induces filamin-A expression.
Are mobile offenders less likely to be caught? The influence of the geographical dispersion of serial offenders’ crime locations on their probability of arrest

Why is it that some offenders get arrested quickly, while others manage to evade arrest much longer or are never arrested at all? What characterizes serial offenders who continue to escape arrest? To be able to answer these questions, arrested (identified) offenders must be compared with never arrested (unidentified) offenders. DNA data offer a unique opportunity to compare crime series of identified offenders with crime series of unidentified offenders. In this paper, data from the Dutch DNA database are used to study whether the geographical dispersion of the crime locations of serial offenders influences the probability of arrest. Results show that the probability of arrest decreases with increasing geographical dispersion, measured as the number of police regions in which the offender’s crimes have been committed.