Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Novel Regulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2)-mediated Cell Growth by Polysialic Acid*

Background: Polysialic acid (polySia) binds neurological factors, BDNF and dopamine. Results: PolySia specifically binds FGF2 and inhibits the cell growth facilitated by signaling through a ternary complex of FGF2, FGFR, and heparan sulfate (HS). Conclusion: PolySia regulates the FGF2-mediated cell growth differently from HS. Significance: A new function of polySia to regulate the action of neurological factors is established. Polysialic acid (polySia) is a unique polysaccharide that modifies neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) spatiotemporally. Recently, we demonstrated that polySia functions as a reservoir for several neurotrophic factors and neurotransmitters. Here, we showed the direct interaction between polySia and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) by native-PAGE, gel filtration, and surface plasmon resonance. The minimum chain length of polySia required for the interaction with FGF2 was 17. Compared with heparan sulfate, a well known glycosaminoglycan capable of forming a complex with FGF2, polySia formed a larger complex with distinct properties in facilitating oligomerization of FGF2, as well as in binding to FGF receptors. In polySia-NCAM-expressing NIH-3T3 cells, which were established by transfecting cells with either of the plasmids for the expression of the polysialyltransferases ST8SiaII/STX and ST8SiaIV/PST that can polysialylate NCAM, FGF2-stimulated cell growth, but not cell survival, was inhibited. Taken together, these results suggest that polySia-NCAM might be involved in the regulation of FGF2-FGF receptor signaling through the direct binding of FGF2 in a manner distinct from heparan sulfate.
Online system modeling of chemical process plant using U-model

One of the major challenges in industrial process control is to deal with nonlinearities in the plants. There have been a significant amount of research efforts towards design and development of appropriate, reliable and promising control techniques to deployed on real-time industrial applications. Some of the widely used and acknowledged control methods lack in terms of tuning unknown system parameters. The reason is their unadaptive or fixed nature. This paves the field well for adaptive controllers. Their biggest advantage is their automatic updation of unknown system paramters, that saves quite some resources and manpower and ensures an overall stable control strategy. In this regard, system modeling happens to be the prime and pertinent task so that it can set the basis for a stable control law synthesis. This reserach work proposes a polynomial adaptive model recently introduced called U-Model to be used for online system identification of Chemical Process Plant. U-Model is a simple, stable and reliable which has previously yielded encouraging results when applied to various application in different scenario. The aforementioned plant shall be used for investigation on its Flow process. The modeling results shall be compared and validated by other commonly known and utilized modeling structures.
Speaker Change Detection Based on a Weighted Distance Measure over the Centroid Model

Speaker change detection involves the identification of the time indices of an audio stream, where the identity of the speaker changes. This paper proposes novel measures for speaker change detection over the centroid model, which divides the feature space into non-overlapping clusters for effective speaker-change comparison. The centroid model is a computationally-efficient variant of the widely-used mixture-distribution based background models for speaker recognition. Experiments on both synthetic and real-world data were performed; the results show that the proposed approach yields promising results compared with the conventional statistical measures. key words: speaker change, audio segmentation, centroid model, background model, chi-square distribution
Effect of the synergists piperonyl butoxide and DEF in deltamethrin resistance on strains of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae)

Synergists are an important research tool in the laboratory to help to determine the mechanisms of resistance involved in a particular population. This kind of investigation has produced valuable results in understanding resistance to pesticides. The ability of these compounds in suppressing deltamethrin resistance on four strains of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Two susceptible strains, obtained from the eighth generation in laboratory without any selection were tested; other two resistant strains consisted in the fifth deltamethrin selected generation. Each strain was bioassayed on filter paper impregnated with deltamethrin associated with a synergist in different proportions, following the methods recommended by FAO for assessing resistance. The synergists tested were piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (DEF), at the following proportions 1:0, 1:5, 1:10 and 1:15 of deltamethrin and the synergist, respectively. Both synergists showed a role in blocking enzymes involved in detoxifying deltamethrin. PBO conferred up to 27 times higher toxicity ratios in the resistant strains than in the susceptible ones. DEF was less effective in reducing the lethal dose of deltamethrin with ratios up to five times.
Causality-constrained interpolation of tabulated frequency responses

We apply a recently developed formulation of the generalized Hilbert transform to the processing of tabulated and finite-bandwidth frequency responses. A causality-constrained interpolation procedure is introduced, with the aim of reconstructing missing samples in the data, like e.g. the DC point, via a sound numerical procedure that does not compromise the self-consistency and the causality of the entire dataset
Bovine Tuberculosis in a Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Poland

Abstract Poland is officially tuberculosis free and bovine tuberculosis (BTB) cases are rarely found except in bovids. We found BTB in a wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the Bieszczady Mountains, southeastern Poland. Studies suggest possible transmission of infection between free-living European bison (Bison bonasus caucasicus) and wild boar in this area.
Early biological and immune response to semi‐identical liver or kidney allograft in miniature swine

In inbred miniature swine, semi‐identical liver allograft recipients survive up to 3 months without immunosuppression, whereas similarly mismatched kidney allografts are uniformly rejected within 2 weeks. The early biological and immunological events were assessed in this unique model. SLAd/d pigs (MGH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA) received liver or kidney allograft from heterozygous SLAc/d miniature swine. Survival, graft function, histology, intragraft cytokines, peripheral lymphocyte and platelet count, plasma cortisol level and cellular/humoral anti‐donor immune response were assessed. Kidney allografts were uniformly rejected within 2 weeks, whereas liver allografts survived for up to 87 days. After both liver and kidney transplantation, the peripheral lymphocyte count decreased during the first week concomitantly to a significant elevation of plasma cortisol level. Early decrease of peripheral platelet count was observed after liver but not renal transplantation. Up‐regulation of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1) and interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) was observed during the first postoperative week in semi‐identical liver allografts and IFN‐γ as well as IL‐10 in kidney allografts. In liver recipients, labelled autologous lymphocytes accumulated in the liver graft and native spleen, whereas after renal allograft, lymphocytes accumulated in the native spleen and liver but never in the kidney allograft. Specific cellular anti‐donor unresponsiveness was observed from the first post‐transplant day in both liver and kidney recipients, while the humoral anti‐donor response remained intact. In semi‐identical liver allograft, recipient rejection is milder and slower than in similarly matched kidney allograft. The intragraft up‐regulation of TGF‐β1 in semi‐identical liver allograft might be one mediator to explain the modulation of rejection after liver transplant. The rapid, nonspecific accumulation of recipient lymphocytes in the liver allograft but not in kidney allograft might also play a role in the different survival time in this model.
Hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin stimulates angiogenesis through TGF‐β receptor activation

Embryo implantation requires extensive angiogenesis at the maternal‐fetal interface. Hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG‐H), a trophoblast invasive signal produced by extravillous cytotrophoblasts and by choriocarcinoma, was evaluated for its angiogenic role. hCG‐H was purified by HPLC from choriocarcinoma supernatant, and the glycosylation pattern was determined by 2D gel analysis. Angiogenesis models used were aortic ring assay with wild‐type and LHCGR‐knockout mice, endothelial and mural cell proliferation, and migration assays. The TGF‐β signaling pathway was studied by coimmunoprecipitation, competitive binding, TGF‐β reporter gene assays, and Smad immunoblotting. hCG‐H displayed a potent angiogenic effect [3.2‐fold increase of number of vessel intersections in wild‐type aortic rings (11.406 to 36.964)]. hCG‐H‐induced angiostimulation was independent of the classic hCG signaling pathway since it persisted in LHCGR‐knockout mice [4.73‐fold increase of number of vessel intersections (10.826 to 51.288)]. Using TGF‐β signaling inhibitors, Tβ‐RII was identified as the hCG‐H receptor responsible for its angiogenic switch. hCG‐H exposure enhanced phosphorylation of Smad 2 in endothelial and mural cells and genomic activation of Smad‐responsive elements. Interaction between hCG‐H and Tβ‐RII was demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation and binding competition with 125I‐TGF‐β. This new paracrine interaction between trophoblast and endothelial cells through the hCG‐H and the TGF‐β receptor complex plays a key role in angiogenesis associated with placental development and tumorigenesis. —Berndt, S. , Blacher, S. , Munaut, C. , Detilleux, J., Perrier d'Hauterive, S. , Huhtaniemi, I. , Evain‐Brion, D. , Noël, A. , Fournier, T. , Foidart, J.‐M. Hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin stimulates angiogenesis through TGF‐β receptor activation. FASEB J. 27, 1309–1321 (2013). www.fasebj. org
You solve, I learn: A novel approach to e-learning in collaborative crowdsourcing

In collaborative crowdsourcing, the problem of maintaining solvers' motivation and participation plays a crucial role. It has been noticed that one of the major issues is related to the scarce capacity of novices to face expert users in finding good solutions, which leads to an high rate of community abandonment. In order to overcome such a problem the best solvers should be asked to illustrate the rationale of their solutions and to share the adopted heuristics before receiving the award. This procedure allows the less expert to learn by doing and see how best solvers innovate products. The paper presents the “You solve, I learn” approach and how it has been implemented in an original platform able to promote innovation, creativity and effective knowledge sharing. The software use and achieved results are demonstrated through a case study.
Combining Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Functional MRI during Continuous Performance Test in Healthy Subjects

The study of cognitive functions is a major challenge of the modern functional imaging. Activation of specific cerebral area is obtained from the observation of physic characteristic affected by changes occurring in the blood flow resulting from an increased metabolic consumption. In this work two imaging techniques are used, the functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) and the near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), in order to assess cerebral performance during the execution of a well known sustained attention task, the Conners' continuous performance test (CPT). With fMRI analysis were found activations in the frontal, parietal and supplementary motor areas, whereas NIRS system showed a region-wise difference in the variations of parameters and different activation trend localized in the middle-right frontal area. The combined analysis of the two techniques allows to obtain more detailed information and places itself as a first step toward a result of multimodal image integration
Gain compensation in redirected walking

Redirected Walking Techniques (RWTs) enable a user to immersively explore a virtual environment larger than the available physical space by real walking. RWTs are based on the use of gains (translational, rotational and curvature), which introduce a mismatch between the virtual and physical trajectories. When these gains are applied within certain thresholds, the "manipulation" is unnoticeable and immersion is maintained. Numerous research has been carried out to identify these thresholds and factors that affect them such as walking speed, environment structure or tasks involved. However, it has not been known whether users change their walking behavior when RWTs are applied and if this in turn influences ftheir perception thresholds. In this paper, we investigate the change in users' walking behavior, particularly their walking speed, when translational gains are applied. We call this behavior gain compensation. 17 subjects were invited to play a shopping game where they had to walk 50 straight segments to fetch the ingredients. During each segment, one of the five different translational gains (0.7, 0.9, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4) was randomly applied and users' walking speeds were measured. Results show that there is a negative correlation between walking speed and translational gain.
Improving Locality in Binary Representation via Redundancy

Binary representation suffers from the problem of positional dependence, where the amplitude of phenotype variation is dependent on the position of the altered genotype bits. However, this is contrary to conventional variation operations that treat each genotype bit equally. Positional dependence can be attributed to the poor locality, which results in neighboring genotypes having low correlation in the phenotype space, reducing the effectiveness of systematic local search and evolutionary search based on small mutation steps. For this purpose, this paper will propose an alternative genotype-phenotype mapping for binary representation that introduces redundancy into the mapping and removes the exponential orderings between the alleles, hence improving the locality between the genotype and phenotype search space. Empirical study conducted based on distribution, locality, and mutation innovation revealed key algorithmic characteristics of the proposed code, and its practicality is validated by comparative studies based on different benchmark optimization problems. Possible approaches to resolve the overrepresentation problem due to redundancy will be suggested, exhibiting its flexibility and variability in implementation.
High‐throughput analysis of intraclonal variability of glycoprotein sialylation

Development of recombinant Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells producing therapeutic proteins requires analyzing the quality, such as sialic acid content, of proteins produced by many cell clones. In order to perform these analyses, high‐throughput methods are required. Conventional methods for quantifying sialic acid, however, require protein purification, which is time consuming and cannot be used for high‐throughput analysis. Here we used a high‐throughput method (HTM) that we recently developed to analyze the intraclonal variability of 24 CHO cell subclones. The sialic acid content varied significantly from 1 to 70 mg sialic acid/g protein, and the concentration of total proteins secreted by the cells varied from 41 to 214 mg/L. In addition, the sialic acid content was negatively correlated with total protein concentration. This trend agrees with previous theoretical and experimental studies. Overall, the HTM can finish these analyses in 15 minutes, while conventional methods used in previous studies will require at least 24 days. Thus, the HTM can significantly accelerate the analyses of clonal and intraclonal variability in cell line development © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 2012
Metagenomic Approaches to Identify Novel Organisms from the Soil Environment in a Classroom Setting

Molecular Microbial Metagenomics is a research-based undergraduate course developed at Georgia State University. This semester-long course provides hands-on research experience in the area of microbial diversity and introduces molecular approaches to study diversity. Students are part of an ongoing research project that uses metagenomic approaches to isolate clones containing 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes from a soil metagenomic library. These approaches not only provide a measure of microbial diversity in the sample but may also allow discovery of novel organisms. Metagenomic approaches differ from the traditional culturing methods in that they use molecular analysis of community deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) instead of culturing individual organisms. Groups of students select a batch of 100 clones from a metagenomic library. Using universal primers to amplify 16S rRNA genes from the pool of DNA isolated from 100 clones, and a stepwise process of elimination, each group isolates individual clones containing 16S rRNA genes within their batch of 100 clones. The amplified 16S rRNA genes are sequenced and analyzed using bioinformatics tools to determine whether the rRNA gene belongs to a novel organism. This course provides avenues for active learning and enhances students’ conceptual understanding of microbial diversity. Average scores on six assessment methods used during field testing indicated that success in achieving different learning objectives varied between 84% and 95%, with 65% of the students demonstrating complete grasp of the project based on the end-of-project lab report. The authentic research experience obtained in this course is also expected to result in more undergraduates choosing research-based graduate programs or careers.
Recognition of Military Vehicles by Using Acoustic and Seismic Signals

Acoustic and seismic wave data play an important role in the recognition of military vehicles.We utilized the Short Time Fourier Transform(STFT) approach to extract the spectral feature vectors from the acoustic and seismic wave data of military vehicles.The power spectral density(PSD)-based feature selection method was proposed to reconstruct the feature subspace of the acoustic and seismic spectral vectors for decreasing the dimension of the feature vectors.Two type military vehicles were respectively classified by using the acoustic and seismic wave data.The classification results by Support Vector Machine(SVM) and K-Nearest Neighbor(KNN) revealed that the PSD-based method of feature selection could represent the seismic and acoustic signals more efficiently in feature subspace and the accuracy is better than the traditional feature selection method which is obtained via directly feature-range cutting off.It also could be concluded that the effect of SVM to recognize the military vehicles is superior to that of KNN.
Famous faces but not remembered spaces influence vertical line bisections

Whereas the ventral visual processing stream mediates facial and object recognition, the dorsal stream mediates recognition of spatial relationships. In addition, ventral lesions have been reported to induce visual inattention to the upper visual field and dorsal lesions inattention to the lower field. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that activation of the ventral stream will induce an upward attentional bias and activation of the dorsal stream, a downward bias, as assessed by vertical line bisection tests. Twelve healthy right-handed individuals performed vertical line bisections. During these trials, either pictures of famous faces or dots in different spatial locations were presented above and below the line. The participants were asked to recognize and remember the faces or locations of dots while they performed the bisections. In control trials, they were no faces or dots. An upward bias was observed in all conditions. This upward bias was significantly increased in the face recognition and recall condition, but not altered in the dot location condition. Although the face task appeared to activate the ventral stream and increase the upward vertical bias, the failure of the dot localization task to alter the bias may be related task selection. Dorsolateral lesions cause optic ataxia, a disorder of the egocentric “where” system, and the dot location task in this study was allocentric. Thus, further research will be needed to learn whether an egocentric spatial localization task, with a memory component, will alter the vertical attentional bias.
Human Resource Diversity Management Practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Conceptual Model

The purpose of this concept study is to unravel the relationship between Human Resource Diversity Management (HRDM) practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCBI and OCBO). This study also attempts to identify and classify available HRDM factors found to have significant relationship with OCB and identify HRDM factors that have not been explored in the OCB research, but have potentials in predicting employees OCB. This new classification is important in presenting a better insight into how HRDM practices relate to employees OCB as well as identifying research gaps regarding HRDM practices and OCB relationships.
Generalized water-filling for multiple transmit antenna systems

It is well known that the optimal coding strategy, maximizing the mutual information under an average transmit power constraint and additive Gaussian noise, for single-input/single-output (SISO) transmission over a time-invariant, dispersive channel is water-filling. The extension to a multiple-input/single-output (MISO) channel can also be derived in a straightforward manner using a numerical approach. The aim of this work is to provide a closed form expression for the optimal coding and power/bit allocation for MISO channel, which has a direct interesting physical interpretation and it establishes a direct link between water-filling, beamforming and maximal ratio combining. We test then our theoretical findings with numerical results.