Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of MHC class I expression and CD8+ T cells in the evolution of iodine‐induced thyroiditis in NOD‐H2h4 and NOD mice

Dietary iodine has long been known to influence the development of human autoimmune thyroid disease. In nonobese diabetic (NOD) and NOD‐H2h4 mice elevated dietary iodine has been shown to induce autoimmune thyroid disease. Immune responses to thyroid antigens can be detected in these mouse strains, including T cell responses in the NOD‐H2h4 mouse to thyroid peroxidase. Cell transfer studies and antibody depletion experiments reveal a requirement for both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in the development of thyroid autoimmunity. Histological analyses of the thyroids show that following 1 week of iodine administration MHC class I expression is elevated on thyroid follicular cells and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells have begun to infiltrate the gland. Although MHC class II expression on thyroid epithelial cells was also elevated, the tempo of expression was slower and the extent of expression was far less than that for MHC class I. Depletion of CD8+ T cells at early stages of disease induction inhibited not only thyroid infiltration and autoantibody production but also reduced the levels of MHC expression in the thyroid, suggesting that cytokine production by infiltrating lymphocytes was responsible for the increased MHC expression.
Combined organic matter and nitrogen removal from a chemical industry wastewater in a two-stage MBBR system

Pesticide-producing factories generate highly polluting wastewaters containing toxic and hazardous compounds which should be reduced to acceptable levels before discharge. In this study, a chemical industry wastewater was treated in a pre-denitrification moving-bed biofilm reactor system subjected to an increasing internal mixed liquor recycle ratio from 2 to 4. Although the influent wastewater characteristics substantially varied over time, the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved organic carbon was quite stable and mostly higher than 90%. The highest fraction of the incoming organic matter was removed anoxically, favouring a low COD/N environment in the subsequent aerobic nitrifying tank and thus ensuring stable ammonium removal (90–95%). However, during pH and salt shock periods, nitrifiers were severely inhibited but gradually restored their full nitrifying capability as non-stressing conditions were reestablished. Besides promoting an increase in the maximum nitrification potential of the aerobic attached biomass from 0.34 to 0.63 mg , the increase in the internal recycle ratio was accompanied by an increase in nitrogen removal (60–78%) and maximum specific denitrification rate (2.7–3.3 mg ). Total polysaccharides (PS) and protein (PT) concentrations of attached biomass were observed to be directly influenced by the influent organic loading rate, while the PS/PT ratio mainly ranged from 0.3 to 0.5. Results of Microtox tests showed that no toxicity was found in the effluent of both the anoxic and aerobic reactors, indicating that the biological process was effective in removing residual substances which might adversely affect the receiving waters' ecosystem.
Australia-Thailand Free Trade Agreement: Challenges and Opportunities for Bilateral Trade Policy and Closer Economic Relations

The signing of the long-awaited Australia-Thailand free trade agreement (ATFTA) on 19 October 2003 at the APEC Meeting in Bangkok, the emergence of new Asian regionalisms such as ASEAN+1 (China) and ASEAN+3 (China, Korea and Japan), and other bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral FTAs world-wide in recent years pose challenges and, at the same time, offer opportunities for member countries. These FTAs require not only ministerial or senior official dialogues or casual heuristic causation on their acceptability and viability but also serious analytical and historical data-based research into these important developments including their underlying fundamental trade-growth and growth-of-trade causation and impact on trade and closer economic relations. Existing methodologies (eg, CGE/GTAP and gravity theory) for this kind of study have their serious coverage and data restrictions. The paper focuses on the empirics of the ATFTA above by using a novel empirical approach that avoids the CGE/GTAP pitfalls and to provide (if any) supporting evidence, emerging challenges and promising opportunities for Australia and Thailand. Implications of the findings for economic integration, trade policy and prospects for trade and welfare improvement for Australia and Thailand in the medium and long terms will also be discussed.
Impacts of the Drug Trade on Latin American Food Production.

This article compiles several sources of drug data to provide an analysis of supply and demand factor influencing the drug trade, including potential effects to agricultural production. All effects were found to be contemporaneously independent with the exception of coca production causing arrests in the U.S. Significant lagged effects were found linking agricultural production and coca production. Seizures and arrests were found to have a lagged deterrent effect on coca production. Seizures and arrests had lagged effects in explaining the variance of each other. It is likely that arrests increase intelligence information, resulting in more seizures and eventually more arrests.
High-speed electro-thermal simulation model of inverter power modules for hybrid vehicles

Temperature and temperature variation cycles of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are important variables for reliability assessment of inverter power module (IPM) applied in hybrid vehicles. Conventional electro-thermal (ET) simulation based on physics device model has been considered as an accurate method, but it is difficult to conduct a long real-time (over 10 min) thermal simulation as required in hybrid vehicles. In this study, a fast ET simulation model for long real-time thermal simulation of three-phase IGBT IPMs is presented in which the consideration of inverter/motor power train modelling, determination of simulation time step, calculation of temperature-dependent power losses as well as thermal network are discussed in detail. The advantage of the proposed simulation model is the IGBT temperature and variation cycle with power cycles of vehicles can be simulated at a fast speed without significant loss of accuracy. Device temperature over 10 min of real-time operation for a three-phase IGBT IPM has been simulated and validated by an experimental test.
Analytical Performance Evaluation of VDSL2

In this letter, we model the downstream bit rate per user for VDSL2-based access systems as normal random variable. Its statistics are expressed in closed analytic forms explicitly accounting for FEXT fluctuation and for the access network geometry. The considered approximation is obtained assuming log-normal statistics for the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio per sub-carrier. The validity of this model has been assessed by computer calculation showing a very good agreement between the exact and the approximated bit rates.
The Tax Benefits of Hedging for Small and Medium-Sized Firms

Abstract Tax laws create challenges for the role of hedging income volatility in the context of tax planning that are of interest from both theoretical and practical perspectives for the purpose of maximizing after-tax income. In this regard, the study concentrates on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). It brings into focus the simultaneous interplay of the empirically observed range of coefficients of variation and autocorrelation of taxable incomes for SMEs, in connection with the progressive tax rates structure and the cazryover horizon of non-capital losses. It examines the relationship of potential tax savings with hedging using a Monte Carlo simulation methodology after controlling for the taxable income and payout policy of the SMEs. The reseazch is normative and should be useful to decision-makers whose firms have taxable incomes azound the kinks of the tax liability function.
A New Method of Bone Tissue Measurement Based upon Light Scattering

In recent years, time‐resolved spectroscopy systems using near infrared pulsed laser have been applied to develop optical computed tomography. We applied this technique to measure the optical properties of osseous tissue. First, we gradually demineralized 10 mm blocks of bovine trabecular bone with EDTA, maintaining the absorption characteristics and structure but varying the hydroxyapatite content, thus creating specimens differing only in light scattering properties. We used computer densitograms to assess light penetration, and analyzed the correlation with bone mineral density (BMD) as with dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry scans. The light penetration increased with decreasing BMD. Second, using the above‐mentioned pulsed laser time‐resolved spectroscopy system, we investigated the correlation between the BMD and the time response waveforms of 10‐mm blocks of bovine cortical bone, trabecular bone, and surrounding tissue as well as human trabecular bone. The human lumbar vertebral bone also displayed an inverse correlation between BMD and maximum light penetration and a positive correlation between BMD and peak time delay. This is the first demonstration of a correlation between BMD and light scattering properties showing that BMD can indeed be measured with light. Our results show the possibility of obtaining information on internal bone structure and composition in vivo through assessment of the waveforms obtained by a time‐resolution system in the near infrared region.
Current Treatments for Breast Cancer-Related Lymphoedema: A Systematic Review

Background and objective: Breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL) is a disabling complication with long term impact on quality on life after breast cancer treatment. Its management remains a major challenge for patients and health care professionals; the goal of this overview was to summarize effects of different treatment strategies for patients with BCRL. Methods: A thorough search was undertaken to allow a systematic review or meta-analysis of treatments for BCRL. Two investigators independently selected studies and abstracted the data. Results: Combined physical therapy (CPT) with different combinations of surgery, oral pharmaceuticals, low-level laser therapy, weight reduction, mesenchymal stem cell therapy, kinesio tex taping, and acupuncture might be effective in reducing lymphoedema, but exercise demonstrated no obvious benefit. The results of direct comparisons showed CPT might be more effective than standard physiotherapy (ST). Manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) may not offer additional benefits to ST for swelling reduction, but could facilitate compression bandaging. MLD seemed to have similar effects with self-administered simple lymphatic drainage (SLD) or using an intermittent pneumatic compression pump (IPC). IPC might also not be associated with additional effectiveness for CPT. Efficacy of stem cell therapy vs. compression sleeve or CPT, as well as the effects of daflon and coumarin could not be established. Conclusion: Although many treatments for BCRL might reduce lymphoedema volume, their effects were not well established. The quality of many of the original studies in the included reviews was not optimal, so that in future randomized control trials are a high priority.
Combined diffusion and strain MRI reveals structure and function of human myocardial laminar sheets in vivo

The mechanism of ventricular thickening in normal humans was investigated using in vivo MRI. The hypothesis that myocardial laminar sheets contribute to ventricular thickening predominantly via sheet shear and sheet extension, as previously found invasively in canine studies at particular ventricular sites, was tested. In normal human subjects, registered images of myocardial sheet architecture and strain at the mid‐left ventricle (mid‐LV) at mid‐systole were acquired with diffusion and strain MRI. Sheet function was analyzed by computing myocardial strain in the local fiber‐sheet coordinates. In general, myocardial sheets contribute to ventricular thickening through all three cross‐fiber strain components: sheet shear, sheet extension, and sheet‐normal thickening (previously undocumented). Each of these components demonstrated substantial spatial heterogeneity, with sheet shear and sheet extension usually predominant in the anterior free wall, and sheet‐normal thickening predominant near the right ventricular (RV) insertions. However, considerable intersubject variability was also found. In all cases, the contributions to thickening of fiber strains were small. Sheet function in normal humans was found to be heterogeneous and variable, contrasting with the uniform and symmetric ventricular patterns of fiber shortening and wall thickening. The study demonstrates that noninvasive NMR imaging is a promising tool for investigations of myocardial sheet architecture and function, and is particularly suited to the evident complexity of this field of study. Magn Reson Med 50:107–113, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Polymorphic microsatellite markers of freshwater prawn Palaemon paucidens (De Haan, 1844) (Crustacea: Palaemonidae)

We report 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci developed from the freshwater prawn Palaemon paucidens. Their genetic characteristics were assessed in 48 individuals selected from six Korean populations. The number of alleles ranged from two to 21, and the observed and expected heterozygosities were between 0.13 and 0.83, and 0.46 and 0.95, respectively. We examined the cross‐specific amplification of each locus in three species of palaemonid prawn and one species of atyid prawn.
Growth from two transient apical initials in the meristem of Selaginella kraussiana

A major transition in land plant evolution was from growth in water to growth on land. This transition necessitated major morphological innovations that were accompanied by the development of three-dimensional apical growth. In extant land plants, shoot growth occurs from groups of cells at the apex known as meristems. In different land plant lineages, meristems function in different ways to produce distinct plant morphologies, yet our understanding of the developmental basis of meristem function is limited to the most recently diverged angiosperms. To redress this balance, we have examined meristem function in the lycophyte Selaginella kraussiana. Using a clonal analysis, we show that S. kraussiana shoots are derived from the activity of two short-lived apical initials that facilitate the formation of four axes of symmetry in the shoot. Leaves are initiated from just two epidermal cells, and the mediolateral leaf axis is the first to be established. This pattern of development differs from that seen in flowering plants. These differences are discussed in the context of the development and evolution of diverse land plant forms.
Data acquisition and image processing system for surface inspection

This paper presents the hardware and software structures of a proposed data acquisition and processing system, which is designated to perform an automated inspection of roads pavement condition. The system was designed to gather information from multiple sources - laser-based imaging systems for road profiling, cameras for environmental images, proximity sensors, all information being spatially correlated by means of odometry and geolocation. The system was tested while performing real road inspection, and some results are presented.
A new robust semi-blind digital image watermarking approach based on LWT-SVD and fractal images

The paper presents a novel semi-blind watermarking scheme for image copyright protection, which is developed in the Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT) and is based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). We have been used fractal decoding to make a very compact representation of watermark image. In the embedding phase of watermarking scheme, at first; we perform decomposing of the host image with 2D-LWT transform, then SVD is applied to sub-bands of transformed image, and embed the watermark by modifying the singular values. In the watermark extraction phase, the embedded codes are extracted from the watermarked image. Then the watermark image is rendered by running the extracted code. The experiments indicate that the watermark is robust against the different attacks, such as average filter, Jpeg compression, rotation and etc.
Calibration of tracking systems in a surgical environment

The purpose of this paper was to assess to what extent an optical tracking system (OTS) used for position determination in computer-aided surgery (CAS) can be enhanced by combining it with a direct current (DC) driven electromagnetic tracking system (EMTS). The main advantage of the EMTS is the fact that it is not dependent on a free line-of-sight. Unfortunately, the accuracy of the EMTS is highly affected by nearby ferromagnetic materials. The authors have explored to what extent the influence of the metallic equipment in the operating room (OR) can be compensated by collecting precise information on the nonlinear local error in the EMTS by using the OTS for setting up a calibration look-up table. After calibration of the EMTS and registration of the sensor systems in the OR the authors have found the average euclidean deviation in position readings between the DC tracker and the OTS reduced from 2.9/spl plusmn/1.0 mm to 2.1/spl plusmn/0.8 mm within a half-sphere of 530-mm radius around the magnetic field emitter. Furthermore the authors have found the calibration to be stable after re-registration of the sensors under varying conditions such as different heights of the OR table and varying positions of the OR equipment over a longer time interval. These results encourage the further development of a hybrid magnetooptical tracker for computer-aided surgery where the electromagnetic tracker acts as an auxiliary source of position information for the optical system. Strategies for enhancing the reliability of the proposed hybrid magnetooptic tracker by detecting artifacts induced by mobile ferromagnetic objects such as surgical tools are discussed.
TLR4 and IL-18 gene variants in aggressive periodontitis.

AIM We aimed to assess the association of different genotypes with increased aggressive periodontitis susceptibility by studying functional relevant variants in the pathogen-recognition receptor Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and variants in the promoter region of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18). MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred and eleven patients with aggressive periodontitis and 80 periodontally healthy controls were genotyped for four functional variants in the TLR4 gene (c.896A>G and c.1196C>T) and in the IL-18 promoter (c.-368G>C and c.-838C>A). The genotype and allele frequencies, as well as the frequency of combined genotypes were compared between study groups. RESULTS There were no statistical differences in genotype and allele frequencies within the four variants between the groups. All study subjects were further classified into carriers and non-carriers of at least one variant of both genes. The logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender and smoking showed no association between carrier status of at least one variant of both genes and periodontal status (OR=1.41, 95% CI: 0.43-4.70). CONCLUSIONS Our results reject the hypothesis that functionally relevant IL-18 and TLR4 gene mutations have a major effect on aggressive periodontitis susceptibility alone or in combination.
Early stress and chronic methylphenidate cross‐sensitize dopaminergic responses in the adolescent medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens

Methylphenidate (MP) is widely used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. However, basic research has been mainly focused on MP treatment in adult, behaviorally normal rodents. Here we analyzed MP‐evoked changes of dopamine (DA) release in the limbic system of juvenile rodents with hyperactive and attention deficit‐like symptoms. Using dual probe in vivo microdialysis, DA levels were quantified in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of juvenile and adolescent degus (Octodon degus). Acute stress‐ and acute MP‐evoked dopaminergic responses in normal juvenile and adolescent animals were compared with (i) animals showing symptoms of hyperactivity and attention deficits induced by early life stress, i.e. repeated parental separation during the first 3 weeks of life, and (ii) animals chronically treated with MP during pre‐adolescence. Our main results revealed that (i) early life stress and (ii) chronic MP treatment during pre‐adolescence cross‐sensitize limbic dopaminergic functions in adolescent animals. Furthermore, we demonstrated a unique pattern of acute MP‐evoked DA release in the juvenile compared with the adolescent medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens. Our findings that the functional maturation of dopaminergic limbic function is significantly altered by early life experience, i.e. repeated parental separation and chronic MP treatment, allow novel insights into the etiology of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and into the long‐term consequences of MP treatment on brain development.
Interaction of Institutional Investment Activity and Stock Market Volatility: Evidence from India

This study examines the dynamic interaction of institutional fund flows and stock returns volatility using daily data. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and mutual funds’ net equity investment have been considered simultaneously using the vector auto-regression (VAR) model. The findings show that both mutual funds’ as well as FIIs’ net investment on equity jointly influences the stock market. While the mutual funds’ net investments positively influence stock market volatility, the FIIs’ net investments negatively impact volatility. However, in the presence of market fundamentals, it is found that FII’s net flow does not show significant influence on market volatility, but mutual funds net flow has a significant impact on market volatility at least at the second lags. It has also been observed that the investment activities of FIIs and mutual funds are interrelated. Causality test indicates that there exists a bidirectional causation between FII’s net flow and market volatility, whereas mutual funds flows do not cause volatility.
Genetic mapping using 1.4M SNP array refined loci for fatty acid composition traits in Chinese Erhualian and Bamaxiang pigs

Chinese indigenous pigs display marked genetic and phenotypic differences compared with western commercial pigs. In this study, we tested the association between 660K SNPs and longissimus muscle fatty acid composition traits in Chinese Erhualian (n = 331) and Bamaxiang (n = 315) pigs based on a customized 1.4 million SNP array. We identified a total of 64 significant associations for 20 fatty acid composition traits at the p-value threshold of 1 × 10-6 among which 42 associations in low linkage disequilibrium (r2 < .2) with previously reported loci were considered novel. We substantially improved the strength and precision of the associations at four previously detected loci near FADS2, ELOVL7, ELOVL6 and FASN genes, facilitating follow-up candidate gene studies. Moreover, we also identified loci near ABCD2, ACSBG1, ELOVL5, HPGDS, DAGT2, ACAD10 and ACSL1 genes with function relevant to metabolism of fatty acids. In this study, valuable genetic variants and candidate genes associated with fatty acid composition traits were identified in Erhualian and Bamaxiang pigs. Some identified loci could be used to improve pork nutrition in pig breeding practice. Using the SNP array with higher marker density and less ascertainment bias improved QTL detection power and precision in Chinese indigenous pigs.