Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electroporation Enables Plasmid Vaccines to Elicit CD8+ T Cell Responses in the Absence of CD4+ T Cells1

In vivo electroporation dramatically enhances plasmid vaccine efficacy. This enhancement can be attributed to increased plasmid delivery and, possibly, to some undefined adjuvant properties. Previous reports have demonstrated CD8+ T cell priming by plasmid vaccines is strongly dependent upon CD4+ T cell help. Indeed, the efficacy of a plasmid vaccine expressing Escherichia coli β-galactosidase was severely attenuated in MHC class II-deficient (C2D) mice. To determine whether electroporation could compensate for the absence of CD4+ T cell help, C2D mice were immunized by a single administration of plasmid in combination with electroporation using two conditions which differed only by the duration of the pulse (20 or 50 msec). Both conditions elicited robust cellular and humoral responses in wild-type mice, as measured by IFN-γ ELISPOT, anti-β-galactosidase ELISA, and protection from virus challenge. In C2D mice, the cellular response produced by the vaccine combined with the 50-msec pulse, as measured by ELISPOT, was identical to the response in wild-type mice. The 20-msec pulse elicited a milder response that was approximately one-fifth that of the response elicited by the 50-msec pulse. By contrast, the 20-msec conditions provided comparable protection in both wild-type and C2D recipients whereas the protection elicited by the 50-msec conditions in C2D mice was weaker than in wild-type mice. Further investigation is required to understand the discordance between the ELISPOT results and outcome of virus challenge in the C2D mice. Nonetheless, using this technique to prime CD8+ T cells using plasmid vaccines may prove extremely useful when immunizing hosts with limiting CD4+ T cell function, such as AIDS patients.
Recent Developments in the Suzuki-Miyaura Reaction: 2010–2014

The Suzuki-Miyaura reaction (SMR), involving the coupling of an organoboron reagent and an organic halide or pseudo-halide in the presence of a palladium or nickel catalyst and a base, has arguably become one of most utilized tools for the construction of a C-C bond. This review intends to be general account of all types of catalytic systems, new coupling partners and applications, including the literature between September 2010 and December 2014.
Antimicrobial Factors Effects on Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus aureus

Purkrtova S. , Babulikova J., Karpiskova R. , Demnerova K. , Pazlarova J. (2011): Antimicrobial factors effects on biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus. Czech J. Food Sci., 29 (Special Issue): S1–S10. We determined the disinfectant effects of benzalkonium chloride (BC) and Savo (SV), a chlorine compound, on the biofilm and planktonic cells in 23 strains S. aureus mainly food isolates. The biofilm formation was performed in a model system using microtiter polystyrene plates COSTAR 3797 in trypton-soy broth with 1% glucose at 30°C. Benzalkonium chloride (BC) at 125 mg/l, applied directly on 24 h old biofilm, was able to remove the biofilm matrix in 21 strains, and to stop the reproduction of the biofilm cells in 23 strains. BC at the concentration of 125 mg/l was lethal to planktonic cells, coincubated for 24 h or treated for 10 minutes. None of the strains studied was able to grow in SV at 1X recommended concentration, while the safety lethal concentration for planktonic cells treated for 10 min was 4X. The application of 4X concentration SV into the 24 h old suspension removed the biofilm matrix in all strains and devitalised the biofilm cells in 10 strains and inhibited the viability in 13 strains by 70%.
Unsupervised band selection method based on improved N-FINDR algorithm for spectral unmixing

Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) has high spectral dimensionality which presents a serious challenge to HSI processing, and so reduction of dimensionality is necessary. Band selection (BS) is one of the categories of dimensionality reduction methods. Existing BS methods have expensive cost, need prior information or only cater for classification. In order to get an efficient and unsupervised BS method for spectral unmixing, two aspects work are done. First, original N-FINDR algorithm is greatly improved by substituting volume calculation for distance test. Second, the improved N-FINDR algorithm is used to construct an unsupervised BS method for spectral unmixing. Both theory and experiments prove that the new unsupervised BS method is very effective
Correlation analysis and validation on model predictive control method and SVPWM control method of asynchronous motor

Conventional model-predictive control (MPC) achieves good steady-state performance and quick dynamic response. However, a lot of calculations are needed when deciding the best voltage and objective function selected process needs time-consuming tuning work. To solve these problems. In this paper, the objective function of predictive control is analyzed for asynchronous AC motor. By means of mathematical derivation, the predictive control is consistent with SVPWM is proved. Under certain conditions, the SVPWM method obtains the next moment of action vector is the optimal vector of predictive control. Redundant rolling model for optimization is omitted and three-vector synthesis is investigated. It is theoretically proved that predictive control does not require repeated rolling optimization.
Mining Cuboid Outliers in Information Networks

The study of complex networks or graphs has been extensively pursued by researchers from multiple disciplines. In history, the well-known “Seven Bridges of Koenigsberg” problem is the first real-world problem that was solved by the study of networks. Since then, there has been significant theoretical advancement in this area. Network science has been explored in diverse fields such as sociology, biology, physics and computer science and has spanned a plethora of applications like link analysis, community detection, influence analysis. Only recently, detecting outliers in such information networks has caught the attention of researchers in the data mining community. Outlier detection in information networks is the focus of this thesis. Outliers are structures in networks which have unusual patterns, which deviate significantly from the rest of the data. Outliers in graphs can appear in different forms like nodes, edges, subgraphs, communities and so on. In this thesis, we propose a novel outlier structure in networks, graph cuboid outliers. We put forward the novel problem of graph cuboid outlier detection in both static and timeevolving networks and design efficient algorithms for the same. Recently, there has been an interest in finding outliers with respect to a given query. Query-based outlier detection is more favorable over the general outliers as it allows the user a flexibility to find outliers following a particular schema and predicates encoded in the form of a query. Given a heterogeneous network and a query we detect Graph Cuboid Outliers (GCOutliers). Graph cuboids are semantically related regions in a network which helps us view the network along multiple dimensions and at multiple levels. GCOutliers are those cuboids which exhibit anomalous behavior with respect to the given subgraph query. An example of a GCOutlier would be those research areas which have unusual collaborations in a DBLP network. Further, we can obtain such regions with respect to specific requirements, such as finding those research areas where a large numbers of papers are published with at least five authors. The requirement is modeled as a subgraph query to obtain query sensitive graph cuboid outliers. In order to detect GCOutliers, there are several challenges; (i) the number of cuboids can be high, (ii) the number of matches can be large and (iii) subgraph isomorphism is an NP-hard problem. In our solution we address the issue of the large number of matches. This is done by designing a na ̈ıve random sampling method followed by a more principled sampling method using regression models for nodes and edges. We next move our attention to time-evolving or temporal networks. For a series of snapshots of a heterogeneous temporal network we propose to detect Evolutionary Graph Cuboid Outliers (EGCOutliers) in temporal networks. EGCOutliers are those cuboids which have an
Platelet‐derived growth factor mediates tight junction redistribution and increases permeability in MDCK cells

Increased tissue permeability is a common characteristic of a number of diseases such as pulmonary edema, inflammatory bowel disease, several kidney diseases, diabetic retinopathy, and tumors. We hypothesized that growth factors increase permeability by redistribution of tight junction proteins away from the cell border. To investigate mechanisms of growth factor‐mediated permeability, we examined the effect of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) on Madin‐Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell tight junction protein distribution and on permeability. PDGF altered the cellular distribution of occludin and ZO‐1 from the cell border to the cytoplasm and increased permeability to 70 kDa dextran in a concentration‐dependent manner. Treatment of MDCK cells with PDGF prior to fixation allowed binding of the lectin concanavalin A to the basement membrane of fixed cells, while binding was prevented in untreated control monolayers, implying that PDGF induced the formation of a paracellular transport pathway. Cell fractionation experiments with PDGF‐treated cells revealed a novel occludin‐containing low‐density, detergent resistant subcellular structure, which increased in the buoyant fractions relative to occludin in the pellet in a time‐ and concentration‐dependent manner. Immunocytochemistry revealed that a pool of internalized occludin co‐labels with the early endosome marker, EEA1, suggesting that PDGF may stimulate occludin to enter an endosomal pathway. PDGF may act as a permeabilizing agent by moving tight junction proteins away from the cell border in discrete microdomains, and the effects of PDGF on permeability and tight junction protein distribution may model the regulation of epithelial and endothelial barrier properties by other peptide growth factors. J. Cell. Physiol. 193: 349–364, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reading Comprehension with SQuAD

The SQuAD dataset provides a reading comprehension task, with (question, answer, context) pairs. This paper attempts to develop a model to predict the answer for a given question, context pair. In a model inspired by ”Multi-Perspective Context Matching for Machine Comprehension” by Wang et al, this paper achieves 0.47 F1 score on a validation set.
Ultra-High-Speed Deeply Etched Electrooptic Polymer Modulator

In this paper, we present a novel ultra-high-speed polymer-based electrooptic modulator that incorporates high permittivity material cladding on the side walls of the device. We show that by packing the side walls of the modulator with this material and varying the width of the dielectric stack and electrodes that broadband operation can be achieved while maintaining a very low drive voltage in a compact device. Initially, a quasi-TEM analysis is undertaken in order to determine the modulators response to topographical variation followed by a full-wave analysis on the optimized device. The full-wave analysis is employed in order to determine any frequency dispersion effects with respect to the modulators characteristic impedance Zc, microwave effective index Nm, microwave and dielectric losses αc and αd and the half-wave voltage-length product VπL.
Critical success factors for different stages of business process management adoption – a case study

Many organisations fail in their attempt to adopt business process management (BPM). Although general critical success factors (CSFs) are well understood, we argue that CSFs are not the same for all stages of BPM adoption. The purpose of this article is to identify the CSFs in different stages of BPM adoption. A case study approach was used to analyse a successful BPM adoption in a public company. The article provides empirical insights about CSFs in individual stages of BPM adoption. We find that the guidance of external consultants was very important, although this factor is not commonly recognised in the literature. The article shows that the identification of well-known CSFs of BPM adoption gives only a limited view since the factors change between stages. Organisations need to carefully identify the stage and prepare a roadmap for their BPM adoption.
Alternative Pathways for the Repair of RAG-Induced DNA Breaks

ABSTRACT RAG1 and RAG2 cleave DNA to generate blunt signal ends and hairpin coding ends at antigen receptor loci in lymphoid cells. During V(D)J recombination, repair of these RAG-generated double-strand breaks (DSBs) by the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway contributes substantially to the antigen receptor diversity necessary for immune system function, although recent evidence also supports the ability of RAG-generated breaks to undergo homology-directed repair (HDR). We have determined that RAG-generated chromosomal breaks can be repaired by pathways other than NHEJ in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, although repair by these pathways occurs at a significantly lower frequency than NHEJ. HDR frequency was estimated to be ≥40-fold lower than NHEJ frequency for both coding end and signal end reporters. Repair by single-strand annealing was estimated to occur at a comparable or lower frequency than HDR. As expected, V(D)J recombination was substantially impaired in cells deficient for the NHEJ components Ku70, XRCC4, and DNA-PKcs. Concomitant with decreased NHEJ, RAG-induced HDR was increased in each of the mutants, including cells lacking DNA-PKcs, which has been implicated in hairpin opening. HDR was increased to the largest extent in Ku70 − / − cells, implicating the Ku70/80 DNA end-binding protein in regulating pathway choice. Thus, RAG-generated DSBs are typically repaired by the NHEJ pathway in ES cells, but in the absence of NHEJ components, a substantial fraction of breaks can be efficiently channeled into alternative pathways in these cells.
Adsorption of cellulase from Trichoderma viride on cellulose

The adsorption of cellulase from Trichoderma viride (Meicelase CEP) on the surface of pure cellulose was studied. The adsorption was found to obey apparently the Langmuir isotherm. From the data concering the effects of temperature and the crystallinity of cellulose on the Langmuir adsorption parameters, the characteristics of the adsorption of the individual cellulase components, namely CMCase (endoglucanase) and Avicelase (exoglucanase), were discussed. While β‐glucosidase also adsorbed on the surface of cellulose at 5°C, it did not at 50°C.
EMG ONSET DETECTION USING THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD METHOD

INTRODUCTION Electromyography (EMG) is used extensively to determine the muscle activation patterns of neuromuscular functions such as motor control, posture, and movement [1,2]. The onset of the EMG activity is a marker for the onset of active control and therefore is one of the most common parameters evaluated from EMG records [3], but there is no standard method to determine this parameter [4]. The accurate detection of the onset of muscle activity is extremely important since differences in the time from stimulus to EMG onset can be as low as 20 ms [5,6]. Computerized techniques for the determination of the onset of muscle activity exist but their performance varies considerably. Also the accuracy of these methods degrades as the signal to noise ratio is decreased. In this study we have developed an algorithm to detect the onset of muscle activity from EMG records using the Maximum Likelihood Method. The performance of this method was compared against DiFabio’s threshold method [7], and against two experienced human observers in a wide range of standard deviation ratios (SDR) of the samples. The SDR is a measure of the intensity of the signal.
Modeling of Dynamical Systems with Complex Valued Recurrent Neural Networks

This thesis aims in collecting and generalizing facts about complex valued neural networks, extends feedforward neural networks to the complex valued case and applies complex valued neural networks to a set of real-world systems models. A brief review on real valued neural networks is presented to introduce notations and terminology, followed by a then a brief review of complex analysis. Complex valued system identification is extensively addressed in this thesis and novel. The difficulties of the complex valued minimization problem are explained and ways to overcome these problems are addressed. The generalization of real-valued feedforward neural networks to complex valued neural networks is introduced and this theory is then generalized to recurrent complex valued neural network in general. New interpretations of the error function are highlighted which lead to a novel recurrent architecture, which allows for continuous time modeling. The developed methods are applied to two artificial chaotic time series datasets (i.e., the logistics map and the Lorenz system) to benchmark the novel approach introduced in this thesis. Complex recurrent neural networks are applied to several real-world applications including (i) nonlinear transformer modeling, (ii) financial time series forecasting, (iii) the simulation of neuron synchronization in a real brain model, and (iv) a novel approach to solve the Binding problem. These applications clearly demonstrate the advantages of complex valued neural networks compared to the traditional real-valued approach. Practical aspects for the implementation of complex-valued neural networks and some fine points to consider in benchmarking studies for regression problems are discussed.
Analysis and Implementation of a ZVS/ZCS DC–DC Switching Converter With Voltage Step-Up

A high step-up conversion-ratio converter with soft switching is presented in this paper. By using both coupled inductors and isolated transformer, high voltage gain can be easily achieved without extremely high duty ratio. To deal with switching losses, the active clamping circuit is adopted to achieve the zero-voltage-switching turn-on feature for power switches and to absorb the energy stored in the leakage inductor. Moreover, the series-resonant tanks composed by leakage inductors of the transformer and resonant capacitors are used to achieve the zero-current-switching turn-off feature for rectifier diodes at the output side. Therefore, the turn-on switching loss of power switches and the reverse-recovery problem of rectifier diodes can be eliminated. The operational principles and design consideration are discussed in detail. Finally, experimental results taken from a 400-W prototype are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed converter.
Effects of Mirror Therapy on the Lower Limb Functionality Hemiparesis after Stroke

Introduction: Mental exercise using the mirror therapy (MT) improves the retention of newly acquired skills and the performance of sequential motor skills in subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis. Objectives: The study aimed to analyze the mirror therapy effect on the range of motion and the lower limb functionality in post-stroke hemiparesis subjects. Materials and Methods: Eleven participants with hemiparesis in the lower limb were subjected to the 10 sessions of a MT protocol. The interventions were three times per week per 30 minutes each day. Evaluation of active and passive ankle goniometry (dorsiflexion and eversion movements); Ascent and Descent Ladder Rate (ADLR); Time Up and Go test (TUG test); EFEI scale; and FAAM scale were performed. The data were collected before and after the intervention using MT, and then statistically compared. Results: The MT improved significantly (p < 0.01) the range of motion of the paretic lower limb both evaluated by active and passive ankle goniometry. An increase in the speed of gait and other functional tasks related to the paretic lower limbs were found through the TUG and ADLR tests. It also demonstrated a positive influence on the functionality of the paretic lower limb motor control through the analysis of the scores in the FAAM and EFEI scales. Conclusion: It is concluded that the MT therapy can help the patients with post-stroke hemiparesis in the improvement of several functions. Probably, the mirror therapy would aid in the repair of the injuries in the cortical areas.
Cytological status and lesion size: a further dimension in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Summary. Quantitative histological study of 84 laser cone biopsies showed a highly significant correlation between the grade of a cervical smear and the size of the lesion for all grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (CIN 1 P= 0·004; CIN II P= 0·0001; C1N 111 P= 0·003; total CIN P< 0·0001); 10 of 34 (29%) of women with CIN III and mild dyskaryosis or less had significantly smaller lesions than 23 of 36 (63%) of women with CIN III and moderate or severe dyskaryosis. Repeat cytology identified as severe dyskaryosis all those with large CIN III lesions. Lesion size has been neglected in studies of the natural history of CIN and in the assessment of cytological screening, but offers an explanation for the apparent discrepancies between cytological, colposcopic and histological assessment of progression of CIN.
A genetic method for defining DNA-binding domains: application to the nuclear receptor NGFI-B.

A method is described that allows for rapid and efficient generation of functional mutations in DNA-binding domains of proteins. The target DNA-binding domain is attached to the Gal4p transcriptional-activating domain and expressed in yeast. The binding site recognized by the target domain is placed upstream of a gene that produces a protein toxic to yeast cells, so that the chimeric protein activates its expression, providing a selection against DNA-binding domain function. The chimeric protein also activates expression of a gene necessary for histidine prototrophy, using a second DNA-binding domain included in the chimera (lexA), providing a selection against general activator mutations. Therefore, requiring growth in the absence of histidine focuses mutations to the target DNA-binding domain. This method was applied to the DNA-binding domain of the nuclear receptor NGFI-B. Nearly all mutations obtained concurred with previous studies of NGFI-B and other nuclear receptors, verifying the functional validity of the mutational profile obtained. In addition, by coupling this selection scheme with the two-hybrid system [Chien, C. -t. , Bartel, P. L. , Sternglanz, R. & Fields, S. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 9578-9582], mutations that alter protein interaction domains could also be obtained.
The protective effects of religiousness and forgiveness for the link between peer victimization and mental health in adolescence

Previous research has shown peer victimization during adolescence to have strong lasting effects on mental health. Religiousness and forgiveness are two factors that are positively related to mental health and the current study proposes that they may have a protective influence against the negative effects of peer victimization. Additionally, religiousness and forgiveness may be related in that forgiveness may be a link in the religiousness/health relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among religiousness, forgiveness and mental health in the context of peer victimization during adolescence. Mental health was measured by internalizing symptomatology and emotion regulation. Analyses were conducted using Structural Equation Modeling. Results indicate that forgiveness may indeed be a link in the religiousness/health relationship but only when examining private religious practices. Results further show that religiousness may not be a strong protective factor in the context of peer victimization and that certain dimensions of forgiveness (specifically benevolence motivations) may actually exacerbate the effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology rather than act as a protective factor.