Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human SCAMP5, a Novel Secretory Carrier Membrane Protein, Facilitates Calcium-Triggered Cytokine Secretion by Interaction with SNARE Machinery1

Cytokines produced by immune cells play pivotal roles in the regulation of both innate and adaptive immunity. However, the mechanisms controlling secretion of cytokines have not been fully elucidated. Secretory carrier membrane proteins (SCAMPs) are widely distributed integral membrane molecules implicated in regulating vesicular transport. In this study, we report the functional characterization of human SCAMP5 (hSCAMP5), a novel SCAMP protein that is widely expressed by a variety of neuronal and nonneuronal tissues and cells. By measuring the cytokine secretion (RANTES/CCL5 and IL-1β) as an exocytotic model, we show that hSCAMP5 can promote the calcium-regulated signal peptide-containing cytokine (CCL5 but not IL-1β) secretion in human epithelial cancer cells, human monocytes, and mouse macrophages. By using subcellular fractionation, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, and membrane vesicle immunoisolation methods, we find that hSCAMP5 is mainly localized in the Golgi-associated compartments, and the calcium ionophore ionomycin can trigger a rapid translocation of hSCAMP5 from Golgi apparatus to plasma membrane along the classical exocytosis pathway. During the translocation of hSCAMP5 from Golgi apparatus to plasma membrane, hSCAMP5 can codistribute and complex with local soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) molecules. We further demonstrate that hSCAMP5 can directly interact with the calcium sensor synaptotagmins via the cytosolic C-terminal tail of hSCAMP5, thus providing a potential molecular mechanism linking SCAMPs with the SNARE molecules. Our findings suggest that hSCAMP5, in cooperation with the SNARE machinery, is involved in calcium-regulated exocytosis of signal peptide-containing cytokines.
A permittivity range profile reconstruction technique for multilayered structures by a line process-augmented genetic algorithm

The paper presents a technique to reconstruct the permittivity range profile of a layered medium using noisy backscattering data. Working on an ill-posed problem, inverse scattering normally provides either unstable or over-smoothed results. Our method tries to obtain an accurate reconstruction using a two-step genetic algorithm employing a regularization constraint with an explicit line process and a local deterministic optimization strategy.
Parallel Tracking and Mapping on a camera phone

Camera phones are a promising platform for hand-held augmented reality. As their computational resources grow, they are becoming increasingly suitable for visual tracking tasks. At the same time, they still offer considerable challenges: Their cameras offer a narrow field-of-view not best suitable for robust tracking; images are often received at less than 15Hz; long exposure times result in significant motion blur; and finally, a rolling shutter causes severe smearing effects. This paper describes an attempt to implement a keyframe-based SLAMsystem on a camera phone (specifically, the Apple iPhone 3G). We describe a series of adaptations to the Parallel Tracking and Mapping system to mitigate the impact of the device's imaging deficiencies. Early results demonstrate a system capable of generating and augmenting small maps, albeit with reduced accuracy and robustness compared to SLAM on a PC.
Having faith in the university? Aspects of the relationship between religion and the university

In this paper, five aspects related to the study of religion in the university setting, in its classically liberal mode, are considered. First, the author's commitment to this kind of university is developed further by noting a surprising new development in academic freedom. Then, the author argues against the a-religious impulses of modernity and discusses the place of the study of religion at the university from three perspectives: the paradigmatic philosophy of science, the sociological continuation of faith and the evolutionary importance of religion. Last, the kinds of relevance that have been, ought to be and are likely to be demanded of theology at the university are discussed briefly.
The Gendered Experience of Family Estrangement in Later Life

This qualitative study examined the experiences of 25 parents who were estranged from their adult children in later life. Most participants experienced estrangement as an unanticipated, unchosen, and chronic loss for which they felt ill prepared. Most described a traumatic loss, ambiguous because of its uncertainty and inconclusiveness, and disenfranchised by societal ideologies embedded in constructs of parenting and motherhood as essential, natural, and universal. Many participants said they were subjected to the social stigma associated with tainted or devalued parenthood. In many cases, the gendered stigma accompanying estrangement positioned the female participants precariously for social rejection.
AIS Electronic

Users in content communities are now empowered by the voting mechanism to determine the popularity of content. However, it is criticized that the social network of the author may bias the voting outcome. On the basis of dual-process theory and literature on the influence of social relationship, this study examines how the attributes of the content and the social relationships of the author jointly influence the popularity of the answer in a social Q&A community. Results reveal that the number of pictures in the answer increases its popularity, while the effect of the number of words is non-linear. As the answer gets longer, the number of votes initially decreases and then increases. Followers can increase answer popularity, whereas friends cannot. Moreover, the influence of content decreases for authors with numerous followers, while the influence of content increases for authors with many friends.
Kent Sutherland Evaluation : Annotation and Experimental Design 1 Review : Pivoted Document Length Normalization

In the previous lecture we discussed pivoted document length normalization [Singhal et al. 96], a simple technique that applies a correction for the observation that document relevance correlates with document length. Through careful empirical verification of previous assumptions, they showed that the seemingly simple normalization term could have a big impact on results. However, in our discussion of the analysis that led to pivoted document length normalization, we passed over a basic question: How were the relevance judgments in the TREC dataset made on the approximately 740,000 documents and 50 queries?
Tantalum Sulfide Nanosheets as a Theranostic Nanoplatform for Computed Tomography Imaging‐Guided Combinatorial Chemo‐Photothermal Therapy

Near‐infrared (NIR)‐absorbing metal‐based nanomaterials have shown tremendous potential for cancer therapy, given their facile and controllable synthesis, efficient photothermal conversion, capability of spatiotemporal‐controlled drug delivery, and intrinsic imaging function. Tantalum (Ta) is among the most biocompatible metals and arouses negligible adverse biological responses in either oxidized or reduced forms, and thus Ta‐derived nanomaterials represent promising candidates for biomedical applications. However, Ta‐based nanomaterials by themselves have not been explored for NIR‐mediated photothermal ablation therapy. In this work, an innovative Ta‐based multifunctional nanoplatform composed of biocompatible tantalum sulfide (TaS2) nanosheets (NSs) is reported for simultaneous NIR hyperthermia, drug delivery, and computed tomography (CT) imaging. The TaS2 NSs exhibit multiple unique features including (i) efficient NIR light‐to‐heat conversion with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 39%, (ii) high drug loading (177% by weight), (iii) controlled drug release triggered by NIR light and moderate acidic pH, (iv) high tumor accumulation via heat‐enhanced tumor vascular permeability, (v) complete tumor ablation and negligible side effects, and (vi) comparable CT imaging contrast efficiency to the widely clinically used agent iobitridol. It is expected that this multifunctional NS platform can serve as a promising candidate for imaging‐guided cancer therapy and selection of cancer patients with high tumor accumulation.
Identification and Functional Expression of HCx31.9, a Novel Gap Junction Gene

By combining in silico and bench molecular biology methods we have identified a novel human gap junction gene that encodes a protein designated HCx31.9. We have determined its human chromosomal location and gene structure, and we have identified a putative mouse ortholog, mCx30.2. We have observed the presence of HCx31.9 in human cerebral cortex, liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidney and the presence of mCx30.2 in mouse cerebral cortex, liver and lung. Moreover, preliminary data on the electrophysiological properties of HCx31.9 have been obtained by functional expression in paired Xenopus oocytes and in transfected N2A cells.
The Effect of Bracketing on Spending

This research studies how bracketing one large pot of money into several small pots affects spending patterns. Because individuals usually make decisions in the frame provided to them (Slovic, 1972), bracketing one large pot into several small pots may necessitate breaking open multiple pots to spend. Breaking open a pot, which may be similar to breaking a rule, is aversive to individuals. Thus, they may spend less, and more slowly, from several small pots than from one large pot. We demonstrate the consequences of bracketing for gambles with real monetary implications and explore how bracket artificiality moderates this effect.
Improving matrix factorization recommendations for problems in big data

In the big data environment, recommender systems are facing many problems, such as poor extendibility, data sparseness and low efficiency. In this paper, a new collaborative filtering parallel algorithm named NALS-WR is designed in the Linux clusters by using Spark to solve these problems, especially aiming at the bottleneck of processing speed and resource allocation of traditional matrix factorization algorithm in massive data information. Our experiments were on real MovieLens datasets. Compared with other such recommendation systems based on ALS-WR or sigular value decomposition (SVD), our accuracy rate was improved. The running efficiency was much higher than ALS-WR in Hadoop and SVD. The bigger the scale of data, the more efficient it is. Owing to the distributed computing framework and cloud computing environment, our model is more sufficiently scalable. NALS-WR can improve the execution efficiency of collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm at large data scale. The experiments also indicated that NALS-WR algorithm was better, whether in extendibility, sparseness resistance or efficiency in the implementation.
Simple Divergence-Free Fields for Artistic Simulation

We discuss tools for calculating divergence-free fields for artistic particle simulations. We introduce a simple, fast divergence-free noise function which can be used for turbulence. We also describe how the interpolation technique used by the noise function can be used for calculating artist-controlled divergence-free fields. The artist can create realistic unbounded flow fields without the complexity or memory cost of voxel-grid methods.
Monitoring virtual metrology reliability in a sampling decision system

In semiconductor manufacturing, metrology operations are expensive and time-consuming, for this reason only a certain sample of wafers is measured. With the need of highly reliable processes, the semiconductor industry is interested in developing methodologies covering the gap of missing metrology information. Virtual Metrology (VM) turns out to be a promising method; it aims to predict wafer and/or site fine metrology results in real time and free of costs. Using virtual measurements as the input of a sampling decision system (SDS), an optimal strategy for measuring productive wafers can be suggested. Since sampling decisions strongly depend on the accuracy of the VM system, it is a key requirement to monitor the reliability of the obtained predictions. In this paper, we present approaches for dynamically assessing VM reliability using real metrology data. A Bayesian dynamical linear model (BDLM) handles increasing VM model uncertainty over time. Model parameters are updated whenever new real measurements become available. VM prediction quality is monitored applying a probability integral transform (PIT) and scoring rules for predictive probability distributions. Inferring equipment health factors (EHF), unreliable predictions can be detected before being delivered to the SDS. Based on the likelihood of the predicted measurements, VM trust factors are introduced. A Bayesian model for the prediction precision matrix allows updating the virtual measurements' uncertainty whenever real measurements are available. Taking account of the proposed methods, one is led to an improved accuracy of the SDS.
The Irony of Iron – Biogenic Iron Oxides as an Iron Source to the Ocean

Primary productivity in at least a third of the sunlit open ocean is thought to be iron-limited. Primary sources of dissolved iron (dFe) to the ocean are hydrothermal venting, flux from the sediments along continental margins, and airborne dust. This article provides a general review of sources of hydrothermal and sedimentary iron to the ocean, and speculates upon the role that iron-cycling microbes play in controlling iron dynamics from these sources. Special attention is paid to iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) that live by oxidizing iron and producing biogenic iron oxides as waste products. The presence and ubiquity of FeOB both at hydrothermal systems and in sediments is only beginning to be appreciated. The biogenic oxides they produce have unique properties that could contribute significantly to the dynamics of dFe in the ocean. Changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the ocean due to climate change and ocean acidification will undoubtedly impact the microbial iron cycle. A better understanding of the contemporary role of microbes in the iron cycle will help in predicting how these changes could ultimately influence marine primary productivity.
Description of a Sulfitobacter Strain and Its Extracellular Cyclodipeptides

A marine bacterium M44 was separated from 30 m deep seawater in the East China Sea (26° 28.3′ N 122° 29.0′ E) in 2006. 16S rDNA gene sequence comparison showed that the strain M44 was a member of the genus Sulfitobacter and highly similar to KMM 3554T. A series of experiments demonstrated that this strain M44 had many distinctive characteristics: its cells were gram-negative and mesophilic; its colonies were slightly yellowish, round, convex, and smooth; and it could grow at 10–28°C, pH 6.0–10.0, and in the presence of 0–12.5% (w/v) NaCl; the optimum growth conditions were 25°C and pH 7.0, and the optimum Na+ concentration was 2.5%. In addition, strain M44 contained 18 : 1 ω7c, 11 methyl 18 : 1 ω7c and 16 : 0 fatty acids as major fatty acids, and the genomic DNA G+C content was 58.04 mol%. According to our results of the secondary metabolites, six cyclodipeptides were isolated from the strain M44, which were Cyclo (Val-Leu), Cyclo (Phe-Val), Cyclo (Phe-Leu), Cyclo (Leu-Ile), Cyclo (Phe-Ile), and Cyclo (Trp-Pro). It is the first study of secondary metabolites isolated from this genus.
Analysis and Construction of Galois Fields for Efficient Storage Reliability

Software-based Galois field implementations are used in the reliability and security components of many storage systems. Unfortunately, multiplication and division operations over Galois fields are expensive, compared to the addition. To accelerate multiplication and division, most software Galois field implementations use pre-computed look-up tables, accepting the memory overhead associated with optimizing these operations. However, the amount of available memory constrains the size of a Galois field and leads to inconsistent performance across architectures. This is especially problematic in environments with limited memory, such as sensor networks. In this paper, we first analyze existing table-based implementation and optimization techniques for GF(2l) multiplication and division. Next, we propose the use of techniques that performmultiplication and division in an extension ofGF(2l), where the actual multiplications and divisions are performed in a smaller field and combined. This approach allows different applications to share Galois field multiplication tables, regardless of the field size, while drastically lowering memory consumption. We evaluated multiple such approaches in terms of basic operation performance and memory consumption. We then evaluated different approaches for their suitability in common Galois field applications. Our experiments showed that the relative performance of each approach varies with processor architecture, and that CPU, memory limitations and field size must be considered when selecting an appropriate Galois field implementation. In particular, the use of extension fields is often faster and less memory-intensive than comparable approaches using standard algorithms for GF(2l).
Comparable Autoantibody Serum Levels against Amyloid- and Inflammation-Associated Proteins in Parkinson’s Disease Patients and Controls

Naturally occurring autoantibodies (NAbs) against a number of potentially disease-associated cellular proteins, including Amyloid-beta1–42 (Abeta1–42), Alpha-synuclein (Asyn), myelin basic protein (MBP), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), and S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) have been suggested to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Whereas the (reduced) occurrence of specific NAbs in AD is widely accepted, previous literature examining the relation of these NAb titres between PD patients and controls, as well as comparing these levels with demographic and clinical parameters in PD patients have produced inconsistent findings. We therefore aimed, in a cross-sectional approach, to determine serum titres of the above NAbs in a cohort of 93 PD patients (31 of them demented) and 194 controls. Levels were correlated with demographic and clinical variables, cerebrospinal fluid Abeta1–42, total tau and phospho-tau levels, as well as with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes which either have been reported to influence the immune system, the amyloid cascade or the occurrence of PD (ApoE, GSK3B, HLA-DRA, HSPA5, SNCA, and STK39). The investigated NAb titres were neither significantly associated with the occurrence of PD, nor with demographic and clinical parameters, neurodegenerative markers or genetic variables. These results argue against a major potential of blood-borne parameters of the adaptive immune system to serve as trait or state markers in PD.
Functional trajectories among older persons before and after critical illness.

IMPORTANCE Little is known about functional trajectories of older persons in the year before and after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or how pre-ICU functional trajectories affect post-ICU functional trajectories and death. OBJECTIVES To characterize functional trajectories in the year before and after ICU admission and to evaluate the associations among pre-ICU functional trajectories and post-ICU functional trajectories, short-term mortality, and long-term mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective cohort study of 754 community-dwelling persons 70 years or older, conducted between March 23, 1998, and December 31, 2012, in greater New Haven, Connecticut. The analytic sample included 291 participants who had at least 1 admission to an ICU through December 2011. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Functional trajectories in the year before and after an ICU admission based on 13 basic, instrumental, and mobility activities. Additional outcomes included short-term (30 day) and long-term (1 year) mortality. RESULTS The mean (SD) age of participants was 83.7 (5.5) years. Three distinct pre-ICU functional trajectories identified were minimal disability (29.6%), mild to moderate disability (44.0%), and severe disability (26.5%). Seventy participants (24.1%) experienced early death, defined as death in the hospital (50 participants [17.2%]) or death after hospital discharge but within 30 days of admission (20 participants [6.9%]). Among the remaining 221 participants, 3 distinct post-ICU functional trajectories identified were minimal disability (20.8%), mild to moderate disability (28.1%), and severe disability (51.1%). More than half of the participants (53.4%) experienced functional decline or early death after critical illness. The pre-ICU functional trajectories of mild to moderate disability and severe disability were associated with more than double (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.41; 95% CI, 1.29-4.50) and triple (adjusted HR, 3.84; 95% CI, 1.84-8.03) the risk of death within 1 year of ICU admission, respectively. Other factors associated with 1-year mortality included ICU length of stay (adjusted HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.05), mechanical ventilation (adjusted HR, 2.89; 95% CI, 1.91-4.37), and shock (adjusted HR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.63-4.38). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among older persons with critical illness, more than half died within 1 month or experienced significant functional decline over the following year, with particularly poor outcomes in those who had high levels of premorbid disability. These results may help to inform discussions about prognosis and goals of care before and during critical illness.
Distributed LMMSE estimation in cooperative cellular networks

We consider a cooperative cellular network with multiple users transmitting within a cooperative cluster of multiple antenna base stations. Different from global cooperation where all the signal processing is performed at a central processor, we analyze a distributed processing architecture that performs the estimation of user symbols in two steps, namely, 1) Local LMMSE estimation of the user symbols at each base station, and 2) Central combining of all the estimates from the base stations. For such a network, we derive new expressions for the capacity of a given user with independent Rayleigh fading and arbitrary path loss between the users and all the antennas at the base stations. Our capacity expression is based on accurate approximations we derive for the characteristic function and the probability density function of the users' signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs). Numerical examples demonstrate that our analytical solutions accurately approximate the exact capacity. Furthermore, we highlight that the distributed approach introduces less overhead to the network compared with global cooperation. We note that the performance gap is small when the network is lightly loaded.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae septins: Supramolecular organization of heterooligomers and the mechanism of filament assembly

Mitotic yeast cells express five septins (Cdc3, Cdc10, Cdc11, Cdc12, and Shs1/Sep7). Only Shs1 is nonessential. The four essential septins form a complex containing two copies of each, but their arrangement was not known. Single-particle analysis by EM confirmed that the heterooligomer is octameric and revealed that the subunits are arrayed in a linear rod. Identity of each subunit was determined by examining complexes lacking a given septin, by antibody decoration, and by fusion to marker proteins (GFP or maltose binding protein). The rod has the order Cdc11–Cdc12–Cdc3–Cdc10–Cdc10–Cdc3–Cdc12–Cdc11 and, hence, lacks polarity. At low ionic strength, rods assemble end-to-end to form filaments but not when Cdc11 is absent or its N terminus is altered. Filaments invariably pair into long parallel “railroad tracks. ” Lateral association seems to be mediated by heterotetrameric coiled coils between the paired C-terminal extensions of Cdc3 and Cdc12 projecting orthogonally from each filament. Shs1 may be able to replace Cdc11 at the end of the rod. Our findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the function and regulation of cellular septin structures.