Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implications of stochastic ion channel gating and dendritic spine plasticity for neural information processing and storage

On short timescales, the brain represents, transmits, and processes information through the electrical activity of its neurons. On long timescales, the brain stores information in the strength of the synaptic connections between its neurons. This thesis examines the surprising implications of two separate, well documented microscopic processes — the stochastic gating of ion channels and the plasticity of dendritic spines — for neural information processing and storage. Electrical activity in neurons is mediated by many small membrane proteins called ion channels. Although single ion channels are known to open and close stochastically, the macroscopic behaviour of populations of ion channels are often approximated as deterministic. This is based on the assumption that the intrinsic noise introduced by stochastic ion channel gating is so weak as to be negligible. In this study we take advantage of newly developed efficient computer simulation methods to examine cases where this assumption breaks down. We find that ion channel noise can mediate spontaneous action potential firing in small nerve fibres, and explore its possible implications for neuropathic pain disorders of peripheral nerves. We then characterise the magnitude of ion channel noise for single neurons in the central nervous system, and demonstrate through simulation that channel noise is sufficient to corrupt synaptic integration, spike timing and spike reliability in dendritic neurons. The second topic concerns neural information storage. Learning and memory in the brain has long been believed to be mediated by changes in the strengths of synaptic connections between neurons — a phenomenon termed synaptic plasticity. Most excitatory synapses in the brain are hosted on small membrane structures called dendritic spines, and plasticity of these synapses is dependent on calcium concentration changes within the dendritic spine. In the last decade, it has become clear that spines are highly dynamic structures that appear and disappear, and can shrink and enlarge on rapid timescales. It is also clear that this spine structural plasticity is intimately linked to synaptic plasticity. Small spines host weak synapses, and large spines host strong synapses. Because spine size is one factor which determines synaptic calcium concentration, it is likely that spine structural plasticity influences the rules of synaptic plasticity. We theoretically study the consequences of this observation, and find that different spine-size to synaptic-strength relationships can lead to qualitative differences in long-term synaptic strength dynamics and information storage. This novel theory unifies much existing disparate data, including the unimodal distribution of synaptic strength, the saturation of synaptic plasticity, and the stability of strong synapses.
Cutting Edge: IFN-γ Signaling to Macrophages Is Required for Optimal Vα14i NK T/NK Cell Cross-Talk1

Activated NK T cells are known to rapidly stimulate NK cells and, subsequently, CD8+ T cells and B cells. In this report, we first demonstrate that the downstream effects induced by α-galactosylceramide activated NK T cells on NK cells are mainly dependent on IFN-γ. We found that NK T cell activation of NK cells requires a functional IFN-γ signaling in macrophages and dendritic cells but not in B cells, NK cells, or NK T cells. NK T cell activation is dendritic cell-dependent whereas NK T cell activation of NK cells is indirect and in part mediated by macrophages. Interestingly, in this context, macrophage participation in the CD1d Ag presentation of α-galactosylceramide to NK T cells is not necessary. These data indicate that NK T cell-dependent activation of macrophages is required for optimal NK T cell-induced stimulation of NK cells.
Inhibition of hepatitis B virus expression and replication by RNA interference

AIM: To s tudy the RNA inter ference on hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication by a reverse transcription virus vector which can express short hairpin RNA inside cells. METHODS: pSIREN vectors with inserted oligonucleotides targeting on reverse transcriptase (RT) regions of HBV genome were constructed. These plasmids were co-transfected with pHBV3.8 into Huh-7 cells. Viral antigens were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HBV core particle DNA was measured and quantified by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RFQPCR) and Southern blot. Viral RNA was analyzed by Northern blot. RESULTS: Three RNA interfering targets were identified, and three corresponding retrovirus vectors, named 154i, 312i and 734i, were obtained. It was found that 312i markedly inhibited the expression of pHBV3.8, and the levels of HBsAg and HBeAg were 39% and 41% of those in the negative control group (P = 0.001, P = 0.000). RFQ-PCR showed that the level of HBV core particle DNA was significantly lower in 312i group than that in the negative control group (21.3% ± 1.1% vs 100.0% ± 10.6%, P = 0.0046). Southern and Northern blot demonstrated a lowest replication and transcription level of HBV in 312i group (10.5%, 12.0%). CONCLUSION: A new RNAi system is identified in the RT regions of HBV genome, and the corresponding retrovirus vectors, which can remarkably inhibit the replication and expression of HBV, are also constructed.
Factors Affecting Continuance Intention of Mobile Government Services

There are potentially substantial benefits of mobile government (m-government). From a government perspective, mgovernment can help in increasing efficiency and effectiveness as well as reducing government spending; from the citizens’ perspective, m-government can help in providing real-time information access and personalized services. However, the low level of usage prevented both governments and citizens from realizing the potential benefits of m-government. As a result, researchers have studied the factors affecting the acceptance of m-government. However, to date, none have considered the factors that affect the continued use of m-government. We argue that investigating these factors will provide a greater insight on why the potential benefits have not been realized. The theoretical foundation of the proposed model builds on the Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM) and Information System (IS) Success Model. This research-in-progress paper reports on research methodology and expected contributions.
Analysis of Suppressiveness in Yeast--Analytical Method and Some Properties of Ethidium Bromide-Induced Petite Mutants

A new method to determine degree of suppressiveness in yeast has been developed and its availability was discussed. In principle, suppressiveness was measured by inspecting the colonies derived from zygote progeny at loth generation after zygote formation. The results showed that the inherent suppressivity continued to operate in the zygotes until the somatic segregation of the mitochondrial genomes was completed, and that erythromycin and antimycin A did not effect the degree of suppressiveness during the somatic growth of zygotes. With increasing doses of ethidium bromide, highly suppressive petites and subsequently neutral petites were increased.
Performance Assessment of Asphalt Mixes Containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement and Tire Rubber

Author(s): Hung, Shawn S. | Abstract: The pavement community, including both agencies and industries, is moving toward more sustainable pavement designs and pavement network management. Increasing amounts of recycled materials, both reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled tire rubber, are expected to be used in new pavement construction projects in the future to reduce the use of virgin binder and aggregates. The main concern of using recycled materials in new asphalt pavement is the potential negative effect on the performance. Thus, the primary objective of this dissertation is to improve the current laboratory testing technologies and performance assessment approaches for characterizing the performance-related properties of asphalt mixes containing recycled materials and to improve understanding of how these properties affect the performance of asphalt pavements so that they can be designed and constructed better.
Effect of Fungal Laccase and New Mediators, Acetovanillone and Acetosyringone, on Decolourization of Dyes

Several wood rotting fungi decolourized Remazol brilliant blue R (RBBR) and carminic acid (CA). Parallel activity of laccase in these fungi was studied. The addition of acetovanillone (AV) or ace- tosyringone (AS) intensified these processes: decolourization was more extensive than in the experiment omitting these compounds. At the presence of AS the decourization was more extensive than AV. However the level of destaining was relatively low in comparison to laccase activity on syringaldazine. The highly purified constitutive form of Cerrena unicolor and inducible form of Trametes versicolor laccases also decolourized both dyes. The fungus, Lentinus lepideus, which has no laccase activity did not decolourize at all. Nitrogen starvation induced the laccase and decolourization activity in both organisms, irrespective of nitrogen availability. This fact indicates laccase not solely responsible for decolourization, and probably decolourization of dyes involves more than one mechanism.
An optimal controller for voltage balance and power losses reduction in MPC AC/DC/AC converters

DC-link capacitor voltages in multi-point-clamped (MPC) power converters must be actively controlled in order to achieve a correct voltage sharing. This work presents, in detail, a control strategy, which has been developed according to an energy criterion, that balances the capacitor voltages using only the redundant switching configurations in the synthesis of the line-to-line voltages, while minimizing the additional switching losses.
A Brief History of Bycatch Management Measures for Eastern Bering Sea Groundfish Fisheries

Bycatch management measures instituted for groundfish fisheries of the eastern Bering Sea have focused on reducing the incidental capture and injury of species traditionally harvested by other fisheries. These species include king crab, Paralithodes and Lithodes spp. ; Tanner crab, Chionoecetes spp. ; Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi; Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis; and Pacific salmon and steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus spp. Collectively, these species are called "prohibited species," as they cannot be retained as bycatch in groundfish fisheries and must be discarded with a minimum of injury.
Articles : Soil Oribatid Mite ( Acari ) Settling in the Forest Litter in the Different Microenvironments in Mt. Jumbong , Korea

Changes of the oribatid mite species composition during the litter decomposition was investigated in the north-facing and south-facing slopes with different lower vegetation (annual herbaceous plants in north and perennial Sasa in south) in the altitude 1,000 m of Mt. Jumbong, a nature reserve area in Korea, from August 1994 to September 1995. Total 58 species of oribatid mites were collected. The values of O1son's negative exponential index (k) were -0.56 in the south-facing slope and -0.49 in the north-facing slope, but there was no significant difference between them. The decomposition rate of litter increased rapidly until Oct. 1994, and decreased thereafter. Intensive settlement of the forest litter by oribatid mites was recorded in the autumn periods and it decreased in the next spring and summer. Species diversity index (H'), and species evenness (J') ranged from 1.74 to 2.69, and from 0.57 to 0.93, respectively, and the values were lowest in spring. In the successive periods of growing season, there followed great changes in the structure of species dominance. Heminothrus minor was one of the most dominant species in autumn in the first year when litter were placed, but was never recovered next seasons. In contrast, Platynothrus yamasakii was also dominant in the first autumn, then decreased very low in numbers in next spring and summer, but regained its number in autumn. On the other hand, an increase of the number during these periods was observed by Epidamaeus sp.2. Ceratopia bipilis and Epidamaeus sp.1 were abundant both in the north-and south-facing slopes. Trichogalumna nipponica was only found in the south-facing slope, and Nanhermannia elegantula was only found in the north-facing slope.
The paradoxical frog Pseudis paradoxa: larval habitat, growth and metamorphosis

The genus Pseudis is unique amongst anuran amphibians in that body growth occurs mostly or entirely in the larval phase, with huge tadpoles metamorphosing into adult-sized frogs. Tadpole growth rate, metamorphic duration and tadpole habitat were studied in the paradoxical frog Pseudis paradoxa in Trinidad, West Indies, in order to assess the factors which may have led to the evolution of this unique life history. Growth rate was shown to be similar to other tropical tadpoles: Pseudis simply continued to grow, rather than progress to metamorphosis. Metamorphic duration fitted well with a model based on tadpole size. Sexual dimorphism in tadpole size was apparent, with females larger than males at metamorphosis. Pseudis tadpoles initially possess highly cryptic patterning, which is lost as they grow larger. The costs and benefits of continued growth in the larval phase in a permanent tropical swamp habitat are discussed in terms of potential predators and food availability to both Pseudis larvae and adults.
Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide and Rheumatoid Factor (Prevalence and Association) in Saudi Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

To assess the prevalence and association of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides and rheumatoid factor in Saudi rheumatoid arthritis patients.Over three years (February 2011 - February 2014). Demographic and clinical features, drugs, rheumatoid factor-positivity, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides-positivity were recorded for 205 Saudi rheumatoid arthritis patients (185 females; mean age was 45 years and mean disease duration was 5 years). Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides and rheumatoid factor were assessed in serum. Disease activity scores for 28 joints was used. There were 36% rheumatoid factor+ve and 45% anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides+ve. 21.5% of the rheumatoid factor-ve subjects were anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides+ve. 13.3% of the rheumatoid factor positive patients were anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides-ve and 86.7% were anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides+ve. Significant association (P < 0.05) of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides-positivity and rheumatoid factor-positivity with each other, and with gender, use of disease–modifying antirheumatic drugs, hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate. No direct impact of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides status on the disease activity scores for 28 joints or its constituents (P > 0.5); nevertheless, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides positive patients appear to represent a greater need for combination disease modifying drugs.
Phylogeny of the family Ophioglossaceae with special emphasis on genus Mankyua

Phylogeny of the family Ophioglossaceae and a phylogenetic position of Mankyua were estimated through analyses of chloroplast rbcL gene sequences and spore morphology. Sequence analysis of the rbcL gene clearly indicated that there are two major lineages in the family Ophioglossaceae: Botrychioid lineage and Ophioglossoid lineage. The Botrichioid lineage is composed of three distinct clades: Botrychium, Helminthostachys and Mankyua, where Helminthostachys and Mankyua were placed as sister groups to the Botrychium. Within the genus Botrychium, subgenera Septridium and Botrychium were monophyletic, while taxa of subgen. Botrypus branched as sister of the two, successively, thus making a non-monophyletic group. Ophioglossum formed the Ophioglossoied lineage, where the subgen. Ophioglossum is monophyletic, while subgen. Cheiroglossa and Ophoderma formed a sister relationship with subgen. Ophioglossum. In terms of external morphology and spores, Mankyua is most similar to Helminthostachys, however, patristic distance in the cladogram and trophophore characteristics of the two genera are distinct. Therefore, Mankyua is a well defined genus within the family in terms of morphology as well as molecular phylogeny which places it in basal position of the Botrychioid lineage on the gene tree.
Competition Between Red Blood Cell Aggregation and Breakup: Depletion Force due to Filamentous Viruses vs. Shear Flow

Human blood is a shear-thinning fluid with a complex response that strongly depends on the red blood cell’s (RBC’s) ability to form aggregates, called rouleaux. Despite numerous investigations, microscopic understanding of the break up of RBC aggregates has not been fully elucidated. Here, we present a study of breaking up aggregates consisting of two RBCs (a doublet) during shear flow. We introduce the filamentous fd bacteriophage as a rod-like depletant agent with a very long-range interaction force, which can be tuned by the rod’s concentration. We visualize the structures while shearing by combining a home-build counter-rotating cone-plate shear cell with microscopy imaging. A diagram of dynamic states for shear rates versus depletant concentration shows regions of different flow responses and separation stages for the RBCs doublets. With increasing interaction forces, the full-contact flow states dominate, such as rolling and tumbling. We argue that the RBC doublets can only undergo separation during tumbling motion when the angle between the normal of the doublets with the flow direction is within a critical range. However, at sufficiently high shear rates, the time spent in the critical range becomes too short, such that the cells continue to tumble without separating.
Solid quantum sensor based on nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

Solid-state electronic spin system of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is attractive as a nanoscale quantum sensor under room-temperature dueto its unique characteristics such as stable fluorescence, long coherent time, and near-atomic size under ambient conditions. Nowadays, the NV center plays a significant role in super-resolution microscopies. Different super-resolution microscopies have been used on NV center to archievenanoscale spatial resolution. Moreover, the spin state in NV center can be regraded as a solid-state qubit, which can be optically polarized and read out. The spin state can couple with electromagnetic fields and strain, which enables the NV center to be an excellent quantum sensor with high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. Such an NV-center based quantum sensing technique is being developed for applications in newmateriales, single protein nuclear spin dynamic field, life science, etc. This review will introduce the basic principle of such a nanoscale quantum sensor, the experimental realization, methods of enhancing the sensitivity, and some applications in high-spatial-resolution and high-sensitivity sensing.
Concurrency, references and linear logic

Le sujet de cette these est l’etude de l’encodage des references et de la concurrence dans la Logique Lineaire. Notre motivation est de montrer que la Logique Lineaire est capable d’encoder des effets de bords, et pourrait ainsi servir comme une cible de compilation pour des langages fonctionnels qui soit a la fois viable, formalisee et largement etudiee. La notion cle developpee dans cette these est celle de zone de routage. C’est une famille de reseaux de preuve qui correspond a un fragment de la logique lineaire differentielle, et permet d’implementer differentes primitives de communication. Nous les definissons et etudions leur theorie. Nous illustrons ensuite leur expressivite en traduisant un λ-calcul avec concurrence, references et replication dans un fragment des reseaux differentiels. Pour ce faire, nous introduisons un langage semblable au λ-calcul concurrent d’Amadio, mais avec des substitutions explicites a la fois pour les variables et pour les references. Nous munissons ce langage d’un systeme de types et d’effets, et prouvons la normalisation forte des termes bien types avec une technique qui combine la reductibilite et une nouvelle technique interactive. Ce langage nous permet de prouver un theoreme de simulation, et un theoreme d’adequation pour la traduction proposee.
Nanomedicines: Future Against Infections

Copyright: © 2014 Narayanasamy P. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The World Health Organization estimates that around 1.5 billion people are currently infected with latent Mycobacterial tuberculosis (MTB). However, each year, 8 million people develop active disease and 3 million die. Approximately 20% of these cases are multiple drug resistant (MDR-TB), resistant to the main first-line drugs isoniazid and rifampin, and 2% are extensively drug resistant (XDR-TB), resistant to isoniazid, rifampin, fluoroquinolones and at least one of three secondline drugs (amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin). Despite, no new classes of anti-TB drugs or drug formulations have been introduced clinically since the 1980’s [1].
Phenol Composition and Susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum Dianthi in Carnation

Phenol composition of two carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) cvs "Gloriana" and "Roland", partially and highly resistant to F. oxysporum f. sp. dianthi, respectively, has been investigated with the aim of assessing the possible role of phenolic constituents both as biochemical markers of resistance and antifungal molecules. Analyses were performed through chromatography, NMR and MS methods. The results indicate that protocatechuic and vanillic acids are present in healthy and infected tissues of both cvs; the flavonol glycoside peltatoside. 2,6-Dimethoxybenzoic acid was detected in small amounts only in infected "Gloriana" cv while the highly resistant "Roland" cv contained the flavone datiscetin. This latter compound, due to its noticeable antifungal activity evidenced in in vitro trials, could be conceived both as a biochemical marker of resistance towa rds this pathogen and as a phytoanticipin.
Target‐specific acoustic predator deterrence in the marine environment

Acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) have often been considered a benign solution to managing pinniped predation. However, ADDs have also been highlighted as a conservation concern since they can inflict large‐scale habitat exclusion in toothed whales (odontocetes). We tested a new method that selectively inflicted startle responses in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) at close ranges to the loudspeaker but not in a non‐target species, the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), by using a frequency range where porpoise hearing was less sensitive than that of phocid seals. The sound exposure consisted of isolated 200 ms long, 2–3 octave‐band noise pulses with a peak frequency of 1 kHz, which were presented at a source level of ∼180 dB re 1 μPa. Field tests were carried out within a 2‐month period on a fish farm on the west coast of Scotland where marine mammal behaviour was observed within three distance categories. Seal numbers dropped sharply during sound exposure compared with control observation periods within 250 m of the sound source but were unaffected at distances further away from the farm. A Poisson regression model revealed that the number of seal tracks within 250 m of the device decreased by ∼91% during sound exposure and was primarily influenced by sound exposure with no evidence for a change in the effect of treatment such as habituation, throughout the experiment. In contrast to seals, there was no shift in the number of porpoise groups in each distance category as a result of sound exposure and porpoises were regularly seen close to the device. We also sighted six common minke whales during sound exposure while only one was seen during control periods. Our data demonstrate that the startle method can be used to selectively deter seals without affecting porpoises.