Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phosphatidylcholine-enriched diet prevents gallstone formation in mice susceptible to cholelithiasis Published, JLR Papers in Press, July 1, 2003. DOI 10.1194/jlr.M300180-JLR200

Cholesterol gallstones affect approximately 10–15% of the adult population in North America. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is considered to be the main cholesterol solubilizer in bile. This study examined the effect of a PC-enriched diet on gallstone incidence in mice susceptible to cholelithiasis. The result obtained showed that the feeding of a lithogenic (LG) diet for 4 weeks or 8 weeks resulted in cholesterol gallstone incidences of 47% and 89%, respectively. These gallstone incidences were either reduced or prevented when the LG diet was enriched with 2% or 6% PC, respectively. The cholesterol saturation index (CSI) was reduced only in mice fed with LG + 6% PC diet as compared with mice fed the LG diet alone. However, in all groups, the CSI was significantly higher than in mice fed Purina chow diet. The biliary anionic polypeptide fraction (APF) was significantly increased in mice fed the LG + 2% PC diet and was reduced in those fed with LG + 6% PC diet. In conclusion, prevention or delay of gallstone formation was not due to a consistent effect on biliary lipid composition, suggesting a direct effect of PC on cholesterol solubilization and/or the effect of an additional nonlipid biliary component such as APF.
Analysis of P300 Related Target Choice in Oddball Paradigm

P300 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) reflects fundamental cognitive processes. The P300 components have been employed in a wide variety of theoretical, empirical, and clinical applications. In oddball paradigm for eliciting P300, we need standard stimuli and target stimuli. Firstly, designated stimuli are presented to subjects. Nextly, a chosen target stimulus is presented. In this paper, we elicited the P300 components with experiment that the subjects select a chosen target stimulus. Therefore, we measured the P300 components to be related choice of the target stimuli. The experimental results and the P300 components to be analyzed were presented.
Attending to space within and between objects: Implications from a patient with Balint's syndrome

Neuropsychological conditions such as Balint's syndrome have shown that perceptual organization of parts into a perceptual unit can be dissociated from the ability to localize objects relative to each other. Neural mechanisms that code the spatial structure within individual objects or words may seem to be intact, while between-object structure is compromised. Here we investigate the nature of within-object spatial processing in a patient with Balint's syndrome (RM). We suggest that within-object spatial structure can be determined (a) directly by explicit spatial processing of between-part relations, mediated by the same dorsal pathway as between-object spatial relations; or (b) indirectly by the discrimination of object identities, which may involve implicit processing of between-part relations and which is probably mediated by the ventral system. When this route is ruled out, by testing discrimination of differences in part location that do not change the identity of the object, we find no evidence of explicit within-object spatial coding in a patient without functioning parietal lobes.
Dose Response Between Physical Activity and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Background No reviews have quantified the specific amounts of physical activity required for lower risks of coronary heart disease when assessing the dose-response relation. Instead, previous reviews have used qualitative estimates such as low, moderate, and high physical activity. Methods and Results We performed an aggregate data meta-analysis of epidemiological studies investigating physical activity and primary prevention of CHD. We included prospective cohort studies published in English since 1995. After reviewing 3194 abstracts, we included 33 studies. We used random-effects generalized least squares spline models for trend estimation to derive pooled dose-response estimates. Among the 33 studies, 9 allowed quantitative estimates of leisure-time physical activity. Individuals who engaged in the equivalent of 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity leisure-time physical activity (minimum amount, 2008 US federal guidelines) had a 14% lower coronary heart disease risk (relative risk, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.77 to 0.96) compared with those reporting no leisure-time physical activity. Those engaging in the equivalent of 300 min/wk of moderate-intensity leisure-time physical activity (2008 US federal guidelines for additional benefits) had a 20% (relative risk, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.88) lower risk. At higher levels of physical activity, relative risks were modestly lower. People who were physically active at levels lower than the minimum recommended amount also had significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease. There was a significant interaction by sex (P=0.03); the association was stronger among women than men. Conclusions These findings provide quantitative data supporting US physical activity guidelines that stipulate that “some physical activity is better than none” and “additional benefits occur with more physical activity. ”
Reconfigurable virtual electrowetting channels.

Lab-on-a-chip systems rely on several microfluidic paradigms. The first uses a fixed layout of continuous microfluidic channels. Such lab-on-a-chip systems are almost always application specific and far from a true "laboratory. " The second involves electrowetting droplet movement (digital microfluidics), and allows two-dimensional computer control of fluidic transport and mixing. The merging of the two paradigms in the form of programmable electrowetting channels takes advantage of both the "continuous" functionality of rigid channels based on which a large number of applications have been developed to date and the "programmable" functionality of digital microfluidics that permits electrical control of on-chip functions. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time programmable formation of virtual microfluidic channels and their continuous operation with pressure driven flows using an electrowetting platform. Experimental, theoretical, and numerical analyses of virtual channel formation with biologically relevant electrolyte solutions and electrically-programmable reconfiguration are presented. We demonstrate that the "wall-less" virtual channels can be formed reliably and rapidly, with propagation rates of 3.5-3.8 mm s(-1). Pressure driven transport in these virtual channels at flow rates up to 100 μL min(-1) is achievable without distortion of the channel shape. We further demonstrate that these virtual channels can be switched on-demand between multiple inputs and outputs. Ultimately, we envision a platform that would provide rapid prototyping of microfluidic concepts and would be capable of a vast library of functions and benefitting applications from clinical diagnostics in resource-limited environments to rapid system prototyping to high throughput pharmaceutical applications.
Trust-Based Customer Information Management ( CIM ) in the Network Economy : A Strategic Approach Working Paper

In the network economy, successful information management practices rely on rich, relevant and accurate information from and about firm stakeholders (Alavi and Leidner 2001; Deighton, Peppers, and Rogers 1994). Marketing scholars and practitioners have explored the development of successful stakeholder information management practices (Blattberg, Glazer, and Little 1994) and customer information management (CIM) practices have attracted particular attention. Recent research suggests that successful CIM practices are founded on the development of trust (Campbell 1997; Gengler and Popkowski 1997). Previous research on trust-based CIM practice has approached the development of trust on different levels of abstraction. In particular, Milne and Boza (1999) adopt a strategic approach to trust-based CIM practice, while Culnan and Armstrong (1999) develop an approach of greater specificity. This research employs a network perspective in an effort to extend Milne and Boza’s (1999) strategic approach to trust-based CIM practice, while integrating the work of Culnan and Armstrong (1999). Network perspectives emphasise the influence of network members on marketing strategy. First, this study explores research on the ability of consumers to influence the shape and structure of CIM practice. Second, research on trust-based CIM practice is explored in light of the significant influence consumers may have over the depth, relevance and accuracy of information. This analysis suggests that Milne and Boza’s (1999) strategic approach to trustbased CIM practice founded on the provision of knowledge and control may be extended to include protection and value. Third, a rich qualitative enquiry then explores the veracity of this extended approach to trust-based CIM practice, traversing a range of dyadic and networkbased customer-firm relationships.
Distribution Statement " a " (approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited) a Scalable Dynamic Spectrum Allocation System with Interference Mitigation for Teams of Spectrally Agile Software Defined Radios

—In future applications, next generation spectrally agile software defined radios (SASDR) will be equipped with advanced radio frequency (RF) sensors that will enable them to sense their environment and adaptively select the best and most stable portions of the spectrum to establish communications. This paper presents a robust method for estimating locally the unused or underutilized regions of RF spectrum to optimize dynamic spectrum usage. These adaptive algorithms are described and results of " Open Spectrum " estimation performed on real RF spectrum measurements illustrate the robust performance of the approach. Simulation results are shown along with results from real measurements that describe the RF resources in rural, suburban and urban areas in and around Philadelphia in the VHF and UHF bands. The measurements represent a good dynamic data set including motion and spatio-temporal diversity. The effect on reducing the risk of interference by collaborating across multiple nodes that provides increased robustness of sensing of open spectrum through spatial diversity is also discussed and quantitative values for the interference mitigation under collaborative behaviors are also presented.
Reconstructing Protein Structures by Neural Network Pairwise Interaction Fields and Iterative Decoy Set Construction

Predicting the fold of a protein from its amino acid sequence is one of the grand problems in computational biology. While there has been progress towards a solution, especially when a protein can be modelled based on one or more known structures (templates), in the absence of templates, even the best predictions are generally much less reliable. In this paper, we present an approach for predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein from the sequence alone, when templates of known structure are not available. This approach relies on a simple reconstruction procedure guided by a novel knowledge-based evaluation function implemented as a class of artificial neural networks that we have designed: Neural Network Pairwise Interaction Fields (NNPIF). This evaluation function takes into account the contextual information for each residue and is trained to identify native-like conformations from non-native-like ones by using large sets of decoys as a training set. The training set is generated and then iteratively expanded during successive folding simulations. As NNPIF are fast at evaluating conformations, thousands of models can be processed in a short amount of time, and clustering techniques can be adopted for model selection. Although the results we present here are very preliminary, we consider them to be promising, with predictions being generated at state-of-the-art levels in some of the cases.
Safety, Protective Immunity, and DIVA Capability of a Rough Mutant Salmonella Pullorum Vaccine Candidate in Broilers

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum (Salmonella Pullorum) is highly adapted to chickens causing an acute systemic disease that results in high mortality. Vaccination represents one approach for promoting animal health, food safety and reducing environmental persistence in Salmonella control. An important consideration is that Salmonella vaccination in poultry should not interfere with the salmonellosis monitoring program. This is the basis of the DIVA (Differentiation of Infected and Vaccinated Animals) program. In order to achieve this goal, waaL mutant was developed on a spiC mutant that was developed previously. The safety, efficacy, and DIVA features of this vaccine candidate (Salmonella Pullorum ΔspiCΔwaaL) were evaluated in broilers. Our results show that the truncated LPS in the vaccine strain has a differentiating use as both a bacteriological marker (rough phenotype) and also as a serological marker facilitating the differentiation between infected and vaccinated chickens. The rough mutant showed adequate safety being avirulent in the host chicks and showed increased sensitivity to environmental stresses. Single intramuscular immunization of day-old broiler chicks with the mutant confers ideal protection against lethal wild type challenge by significantly stimulating both humoral and cellular immune responses as well as reducing the colonization of the challenge strain. Significantly lower mean pathology scores were observed in the vaccination group compared to the control group. Additionally, the mutant strain generated cross-protection against challenge with the wild type Salmonella Gallinarum thereby improving survival and with the wild type Salmonella Enteritidis thereby reducing colonization. These results suggest that the double-mutant strain may be a safe, effective, and cross-protective vaccine against Salmonella infection in chicks while conforming to the requirements of the DIVA program.
Survey of Leafhopper Species in Almond Orchards Infected with Almond Witches'-Broom Phytoplasma in Lebanon

Abstract Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) account for more than 80% of all “Auchenorrhynchous” vectors that transmit phytoplasmas. The leafhopper populations in two almond witches'-broom phytoplasma (AlmWB) infected sites: Tanboureet (south of Lebanon) and Bourj El Yahoudieh (north of Lebanon) were surveyed using yellow sticky traps. The survey revealed that the most abundant species was Asymmetrasca decedens, which represented 82.4% of all the leafhoppers sampled. Potential phytoplasma vectors in members of the subfamilies Aphrodinae, Deltocephalinae, and Megophthalminae were present in very low numbers including: Aphrodes makarovi, Cicadulina bipunctella, Euscelidius mundus, Fieberiella macchiae, Allygus theryi, Circulifer haematoceps, Neoaliturus transversalis, and Megophthalmus scabripennis. Allygus theryi (Horváth) (Deltocephalinae) was reported for the first time in Lebanon. Nested PCR analysis and sequencing showed that Asymmetrasca decedens, Empoasca decipiens, Fieberiella macchiae, Euscelidius mundus, Thamnottetix seclusis, Balclutha sp. , Lylatina inexpectata, Allygus sp. , and Annoplotettix danutae were nine potential carriers of AlmWB phytoplasma. Although the detection of phytoplasmas in an insect does not prove a definite vector relationship, the technique is useful in narrowing the search for potential vectors. The importance of this information for management of AlmWB is discussed.
Cognitive Agents Integrating Rules and Reinforcement Learning for Context-Aware Decision Support

While context-awareness has been found to be effective for decision support in complex domains, most of such decision support systems are hard-coded, incurring significant development efforts. To ease the knowledge acquisition bottleneck, this paper presents a class of cognitive agents based on self-organizing neural model known as TD-FALCON that integrates rules and learning for supporting context-aware decision making. Besides the ability to incorporate a priori knowledge in the form of symbolic propositional rules, TD-FALCON performs reinforcement learning (RL), enabling knowledge refinement and expansion through the interaction with its environment. The efficacy of the developed Context-Aware Decision Support (CaDS) system is demonstrated through a case study of command and control in a virtual environment.
A Novel Parallel Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm with Dynamic Transition Probability

Parallel implementation of Ant Colony Optimization(ACO) can reduce the computational time obviously for the large scale Combinatorial Optimization problem. A novel parallel ACO algorithm is proposed in this paper, which use dynamic transition probability to enlarge the search space by stimulating more ants choosing new path at early stage of the algorithm; use new parallel strategies to improve the parallel efficiency. We implement the algorithm on the Dawn 400L parallel computer using MPI and C language. The Numerical result indicates that: (1) the algorithm proposed in this paper can improve convergence speed effectively with the better solution quality; (2) more computational nodes can reduce the computational time obviously and obtain significant speedup; (3) the algorithm is more efficient for the large scale traveling salesman problem with fine quality of solution.
HLA-G UTR Haplotype Conservation in the Malian Population: Association with Soluble HLA-G

The HLA-G molecule plays an important role in immunomodulation. In a previous study carried out on a southern French population our team showed that HLA-G haplotypes, defined by SNPs in the coding region and specific SNPs located in 5′URR and 3′UTR regulatory regions, are associated with differential soluble HLA-G expression (sHLA-G). Furthermore, the structure of these HLA-G haplotypes appears to be conserved in geographically distant populations. The aim of our study is to confirm these expectations in a sub-Saharan African population and to explore additional factors, such as HLA-A alleles, that might influence sHLA-G expression. DNA and plasma samples were collected from 229 Malians; HLA-G and HLA-A genotyping were respectively performed by the Snap Shot® method and by Luminex™ technology. sHLA-G dosage was performed using an ELISA kit. HLA-G and HLA-A allelic and haplotypic frequencies were estimated using an EM algorithm from the Gene[Rate] program. Associations between genetic and non genetic parameters with sHLA-G were performed using a non-parametric test with GRAPH PAD Prism 5. Our results reveal a good conservation of the HLA-G UTR haplotype structure in populations with different origins and demographic histories. These UTR haplotypes appear to be involved in different sHLA-G expression patterns. Specifically, the UTR-2 haplotype was associated with low sHLA-G levels, displaying a dominant negative effect. Furthermore, an allelic effect of both HLA-G and HLA-A, as well as non genetic parameters, such as age and gender possibly linked to osteogenesis and sexual hormones, also seem to be involved in the modulation of sHLA-G. These data suggest that further investigation in larger cohorts and in populations from various ethnical backgrounds is necessary not only to detect new functional polymorphism in HLA-G regulatory regions, but also to reveal the extent of biological phenomena that influence sHLA-G secretion and this might therefore have an impact on transplantation practice.
Priority-based QoS MAC protocol for wireless sensor networks

The media access control (MAC) protocol in wireless sensor networks provides a periodic listen/sleep state for protection from overhearing and idle listening. However, many scenarios and applications exist in which sensor nodes must send data quickly to destination nodes. This paper proposes the priority-based quality-of-service MAC (PQMAC) protocol for wireless sensor networks. We use data priority levels to differentiate among data transmissions, and propose a MAC protocol based on these levels. This protocol manages scheduling by adaptively controlling network traffic and the priority level. We focused on reducing the latency of the message transmission from the source to the destination. Simulation results showed that PQMAC reduces latency problems in wireless sensor networks while maintaining energy efficiency.
An architecture for integrating plan-based behavior generation with interactive game environments

R. Michael Young Department of Computer Science, Box 7535, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, young@csc.ncsu. edu Mark O. Riedl Department of Computer Science, Box 7535, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, young@csc.ncsu. edu Mark Branly Department of Computer Science, Box 7535, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, young@csc.ncsu. edu Arnav Jhala Department of Computer Science, Box 7535, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, young@csc.ncsu. edu R. J. Martin Knowwonder Digital Mediaworks, 12421 Willows Road NE #200 Kirkland, WA 98034, rockdeity@mindspring.com C. J. Saretto Microsoft Corporation, Box 1 Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052, cjsar@microsoft.com
A Modified Glycosaminoglycan, GM-0111, Inhibits Molecular Signaling Involved in Periodontitis

Background Periodontitis is characterized by microbial infection, inflammation, tissue breakdown, and accelerated loss of alveolar bone matrix. Treatment targeting these multiple stages of the disease provides ways to treat or prevent periodontitis. Certain glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) block multiple inflammatory mediators as well as suppress bacterial growth, suggesting that these GAGs may be exploited as a therapeutic for periodontitis. Methods We investigated the effects of a synthetic GAG, GM-0111, on various molecular events associated with periodontitis: growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans) pathogenic bacteria associated with periodontitis; activation of pro-inflammatory signaling through TLR2 and TLR4 in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and heterologously expressed HEK 293 cells; osteoclast formation and bone matrix resorption in cultured mouse pre-osteoclasts. Results (1) GM-0111 suppressed the growth of P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans even at 1% (w/v) solution. The antibacterial effects of GM-0111 were stronger than hyaluronic acid (HA) or xylitol in P. gingivalis at all concentrations and comparable to xylitol in A. actinomycetemcomitans at ≥2% (w/v) solution. We also observed that GM-0111 suppressed biofilm formation of P. gingivalis and these effects were much stronger than HA. (2) GM-0111 inhibited TLR-mediated pro-inflammatory cellular signaling both in macrophage and HEK 293 cells with higher selectivity for TLR2 than TLR4 (IC50 of 1–10 ng/mL vs. > 100 μg/mL, respectively). (3) GM-0111 blocked RANKL-induced osteoclast formation (as low as 300 ng/mL) and bone matrix resorption. While GM-0111 showed high affinity binding to RANKL, it did not interfere with RANKL/RANK/NF-κB signaling, suggesting that GM-0111 inhibits osteoclast formation by a RANKL-RANK-independent mechanism. Conclusions We report that GM-0111 inhibits multiple molecular events involved in periodontitis, spanning from the early pro-inflammatory TLR signaling, to pathways activated at the later stage component of bone loss.