Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generation of catalytic human Ago4 identifies structural elements important for RNA cleavage

Argonaute proteins bind small RNAs and mediate cleavage of complementary target RNAs. The human Argonaute protein Ago4 is catalytically inactive, although it is highly similar to catalytic Ago2. Here, we have generated Ago2-Ago4 chimeras and analyzed their cleavage activity in vitro. We identify several specific features that inactivate Ago4: the catalytic center, short sequence elements in the N-terminal domain, and an Ago4-specific insertion in the catalytic domain. In addition, we show that Ago2-mediated cleavage of the noncanonical miR-451 precursor can be carried out by any catalytic human Ago protein. Finally, phylogenetic analyses establish evolutionary distances between the Ago proteins. Interestingly, these distances do not fully correlate with the structural changes inactivating them, suggesting functional adaptations of individual human Ago proteins.
Structured LSTM for human-object interaction detection and anticipation

Understanding human activities is one of the important tasks in computer vision. Although a lot of efforts have been made, recognizing complex human activities such as human-object interactions remains challenging. In general, human-object interactions can be considered as a temporal sequence with the transition in relationships of humans and objects over the time. Recently, many studies have shown sequential learning power of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) for long-term temporal dependency problems. In this work, we focus on the problem of modeling spatio-temporal relationships between objects and humans with LSTM for detecting and anticipating human-object interactions in daily life. Instead of considering only how human pose and human-object relations change during human activity, we also take the impact of human activity on the state of objects and the relationships between objects into account for labeling human-object interaction. We evaluated our method on a challenging human-object interaction dataset consisting of 120 videos with different high-level activities, sub-activities and object affordances. The experimental results showed the significant improvements in both detecting and anticipating interaction activities.
Effect of TiO2 on Optical Properties of PMMA: An Optical Characterization

The transmittance, absorbance, and reflectance of PMMA/TiO2 composites, in different weight percentage of TiO2, prepared by a solution cast technique are investigated. The Optical transmission and UV-VIS absorption spectra have been recorded in the wavelength range 200nm-800nm for different compositions of TiO2 doped PMMA polyfilms. The absorption coefficient, optical (Direct/Indirect) energy gap, Refractive index, Optical Dielectric constant, Constant B, ratio of carrier concentration to the effective mass have been evaluated. The effects of doping percentage of TiO2 on these parameters have been discussed and behaviors of all parameters are investigated.
Composite cement systems for encapsulation of barium sulphate scale from oil industry and application as high density support matrix

Radioactive barium sulphate scales raise a serious concern in the oil and gas industries. They are often classified as low level radioactive waste, but there are no clear methodologies established world widely to deal with this well know issue. The present study investigates a potential use of composite cement systems based on Portland cement to encapsulate the barium sulphate scales, aiming to provide a feasible option for safe handling, storage and disposal. The investigation was conducted on three different aspects: basic formulation, wasteform development and potential use as a high density support matrix. The first part studied the basic formulation to clarify the impact of BaSO4 loading and water contents on the physical properties of the composite cementing system. Fine BaSO4 powders and excess water were found to influence the product phases whereas coarse BaSO4 particles showed larger impact on strength of the products. The second part investigated the effect of mineral admixtures to develop practical wasteform formulations. Fine BaSO4 powder, metakaolin and quartz were found to improve the workability of the pastes as well as the microstructure by eliminating highly porous interfacial transition zone, resulting in the higher compressive strength and reasonable leaching rates of elements. Addition of quartz was found to be most effective to minimise the degradation caused by the high temperature environment, by initiating the formation of stable tobermorite phase.
Following the Francis report: investigating patient experience of mental health in-patient care

Background The Francis report highlights perceptions of care that are affected by different factors including ward structures. Aims To assess patient and staff perceptions of psychiatric in-patient wards over time. Method Patient and staff perceptions of in-patient psychiatric wards were assessed over 18 months. We also investigated whether the type of ward or service structure affected these perceptions. We included triage and routine care. The goal was to include at least 50% of eligible patients and staff. Results The most dramatic change was a significant deterioration in all experiences over the courseof the study. Systems of care or specific wards did not affect patient experience but staff were more dissatisfied in the triage system. Conclusions This is the first report of deterioration in perceptions of the therapeutic in-patient environment that has been captured in a rigorous way. It may reflect contemporaneous experiences across the National Health Service of budget reductions and increased throughput. The ward systems we investigated did not improve patient experience and triage may have been detrimental to staff.
Engineering 3D Hydrogels for Personalized In Vitro Human Tissue Models

There is a growing interest in engineering hydrogels for 3D tissue and disease models. The major motivation is to better mimic the physiological microenvironment of the disease and human condition. 3D tissue models derived from patients' own cells can potentially revolutionize the way treatment and diagnostic alternatives are developed. This requires development of tissue mimetic hydrogels with user defined and tunable properties. In this review article, a recent summary of 3D hydrogel platforms for in vitro tissue and disease modeling is given. Hydrogel design considerations and available hydrogel systems are summarized, followed by the types of currently available hydrogel models, such as bulk hydrogels, porous scaffolds, fibrous scaffolds, hydrogel microspheres, hydrogel sandwich systems, microwells, and 3D bioprinted constructs. Although hydrogels are utilized for a wide range of tissue models, this article focuses on liver and cancer models. This article also provides a detailed section on current challenges and future perspectives of hydrogel‐based tissue models.
A computational framework for disease grading using protein signatures

In this paper, we propose a novel framework for computational disease stratification based on protein expression tissue images. We extract cellular staining response using color information and create a graph based on morphological features and their spatial distance. This graph is collapsed using a learned dictionary. We then compute the commute time matrix and use it as unique signature per protein and disease grade. We combine protein-based signatures using SVM with an Multiple Kernel Learning approach. We test the proposed framework on a prostate cancer tissue dataset and demonstrate the efficacy of the derived protein signatures for both disease stratification and quantification of the relative importance of each protein.
NAT hole punching revisited

Setting up connections to hosts behind Network Address Translation (NAT) equipment has last been the subject of research debates half a decade ago when NAT technology was still immature. This paper fills this gap and provides a solid comparison of two essential TCP hole punching approaches: sequential and parallel TCP hole punching. The comparison features current conditions and thoroughly compares setup delay, implementation complexity, resource usage, and effectuality of the two approaches. The result is a list of recommendations and a portable, effectual, and open-source Java implementation.
CD73 expression identifies a subset of IgM+ antigen‐experienced cells with memory attributes that is T cell and CD40 signalling dependent

B‐cell memory was long characterized as isotype‐switched, somatically mutated and germinal centre (GC)‐derived. However, it is now clear that the memory pool is a complex mixture that includes unswitched and unmutated cells. Further, expression of CD73, CD80 and CD273 has allowed the categorization of B‐cell memory into multiple subsets, with combinatorial expression of the markers increasing with GC progression, isotype‐switching and acquisition of somatic mutations. We have extended these findings to determine whether these markers can be used to identify IgM memory phenotypically as arising from T‐dependent versus T‐independent responses. We report that CD73 expression identifies a subset of antigen‐experienced IgM+ cells that share attributes of functional B‐cell memory. This subset is reduced in the spleens of T‐cell‐deficient and CD40‐deficient mice and in mixed marrow chimeras made with mutant and wild‐type marrow, the proportion of CD73+ IgM memory is restored in the T‐cell‐deficient donor compartment but not in the CD40‐deficient donor compartment, indicating that CD40 ligation is involved in its generation. We also report that CD40 signalling supports optimal expression of CD73 on splenic T cells and age‐associated B cells (ABCs), but not on other immune cells such as neutrophils, marginal zone B cells, peritoneal cavity B‐1 B cells and regulatory T and B cells. Our data indicate that in addition to promoting GC‐associated memory generation during B‐cell differentiation, CD40‐signalling can influence the composition of the unswitched memory B‐cell pool. They also raise the possibility that a fraction of ABCs may represent T‐cell‐dependent IgM memory.
Evaluation of Electric Fracture Properties of Piezoelectric Ceramics Using the Finite Element and Single‐Edge Precracked‐Beam Methods

Single-edge precracked-beam (SEPB) tests were performed on a commercial lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic. Mechanical loading was applied by the crosshead displacement control of a screw-driven electromechanical test machine. The fracture toughness parameter K C was determined for various electric fields. A finite element analysis was also done to calculate the total potential energy release rate, mechanical strain energy release rate, and stress intensity factor for three-point flexure piezoceramic specimens with permeable and impermeable cracks under displacement and load control conditions. Numerical investigation and comparison with test data indicate that the energy release rate, upon application of the permeable model, is useful for predicting crack growth in PZT ceramic under electromechanical loading. Based on current findings, we suggest that the energy release rate criteria for the permeable crack are superior to fracture criteria for the impermeable crack.
Clinical characteristics and long-term prognosis of elderly-onset Crohn’s disease

Abstract Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and clinical course of Asian elderly-onset Crohn’s disease (EOCD) patients in a large well-defined cohort of South Korean IBD patients. Materials and methods: From the Asan inflammatory bowel disease registry, we identified 29 EOCD patients (diagnosed with CD in age of 60 years or over) out of 2989 CD patients (1.0%). After excluding two patients with unclear data, 27 EOCD were matched with 108 young-onset CD (YOCD) and 108 middle age-onset CD (MOCD) for the interval from symptom onset to diagnosis (±3 years) and follow-up duration (±3 years). Results: Females were predominant in the EOCD group (59.3%) compared to MOCD (31.5%) and YOCD (29.6%) groups (p = .012). In EOCD group, terminal ileal location was the most common (63.0%) at diagnosis, whereas ileocolonic location in other groups (57.4% in MOCD and 78.7% in YOCD, respectively) (p < .001). Patients with perianal fistula at CD diagnosis were less common (14.8% in EOCD vs. 28.7% in MOCD vs. 49.1% in YOCD, p < .001). During follow-up, thiopurines were used less frequently in the EOCD group (48.1% in EOCD vs. 87.0% in MOCD vs. 89.8% in YOCD, p < .001), but the risk for intestinal resection was comparable among three groups (p = .583). Conclusions: EOCD may have a better clinical course than MOCD and YOCD, as demonstrated by the similar risk for intestinal resection despite the less frequent use of thiopurines.
Role of Interfacial Debonding and Matrix Cracking in the Effective Thermal Diffusivity of Alumina‐Fiber‐Reinforced Chemical‐Vapor‐Infiltrated Silicon Carbide Matrix Composites

The thermal diffusivity of a biaxial weave alumina-fiberreinforced chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) SiC composite heated to 1500°C, which is above the manufacturing temperature, was found to exhibit an increase for heat flow parallel to the fiber plane, whereas a decrease was observed perpendicular to the fiber plane. The increase parallel to the fiber plane was thought to be due to the annealing of the fibers and matrix. The decrease perpendicular to the fiber plane was found to be the result of interfacial debonding and matrix cracking within the plane of the fibers.
A dynamic evaluation of the precision of static heap abstractions

The quality of a static analysis of heap-manipulating programs is largely determined by its heap abstraction. Object allocation sites are a commonly-used abstraction, but are too coarse for some clients. The goal of this paper is to investigate how various refinements of allocation sites can improve precision. In particular, we consider abstractions that use call stack, object recency, and heap connectivity information. We measure the precision of these abstractions dynamically for four different clients motivated by concurrency and on nine Java programs chosen from the DaCapo benchmark suite. Our dynamic results shed new light on aspects of heap abstractions that matter for precision, which allows us to more effectively navigate the large space of possible heap abstractions
Photoakustische Online-Spektroskopie von Schichten im Nanometer-Bereich

Metallic coatings in the nanometer range are widely used in industrial applications like optical, semiconductor or metal industry. The amount and thickness of the coating need to be determined for a stable process and sufficient quality control. On opaque and rough substrates like steel or aluminium plates, optical principles cannot be used. In the thesis a new method is presented, that allows to measure thin metal film in a non-destructive and non-contact mode. The method is based on laser stimulated photoacoustic which is sensitive and fast. The obtained results for chrom-free conversion coating are compared with other techniques.
Yeast Cell Adhesion Molecules Have Functional Amyloid-Forming Sequences

ABSTRACT The occurrence of highly conserved amyloid-forming sequences in Candida albicans Als proteins (H. N. Otoo et al., Eukaryot. Cell 7:776–782, 2008) led us to search for similar sequences in other adhesins from C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The β-aggregation predictor TANGO found highly β-aggregation-prone sequences in almost all yeast adhesins. These sequences had an unusual amino acid composition: 77% of their residues were β-branched aliphatic amino acids Ile, Thr, and Val, which is more than 4-fold greater than their prevalence in the S. cerevisiae proteome. High β-aggregation potential peptides from S. cerevisiae Flo1p and C. albicans Eap1p rapidly formed insoluble amyloids, as determined by Congo red absorbance, thioflavin T fluorescence, and fiber morphology. As examples of the amyloid-forming ability of the native proteins, soluble glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-less fragments of C. albicans Als5p and S. cerevisiae Muc1p also formed amyloids within a few days under native conditions at nM concentrations. There was also evidence of amyloid formation in vivo: the surfaces of cells expressing wall-bound Als1p, Als5p, Muc1p, or Flo1p were birefringent and bound the fluorescent amyloid-reporting dye thioflavin T. Both of these properties increased upon aggregation of the cells. In addition, amyloid binding dyes strongly inhibited aggregation and flocculation. The results imply that amyloid formation is an intrinsic property of yeast cell adhesion proteins from many gene families and that amyloid formation is an important component of cellular aggregation mediated by these proteins.
Critical role for mesoscale eddy diffusion in supplying oxygen to hypoxic ocean waters

Estimates of the oceanic lateral eddy diffusion coefficient Aredi vary by more than an order of magnitude, ranging from less than a few hundred m2/s to thousands of m2/s. This uncertainty has first‐order implications for the intensity of oceanic hypoxia, which is poorly simulated by the current generation of Earth System Models. Using satellite‐based estimate of oxygen consumption in hypoxic waters to estimate the required diffusion coefficient for these waters gives a value of order 1000 m2/s. Varying Aredi across a suite of Earth System Models yields a broadly consistent result given a thermocline diapycnal diffusion coefficient of 1 × 10−5 m2/s.
Control of the position and attitude of a tethered quadrotor considering the influence of a tether

An unmanned small aircraft is expected to be applied to various applications, such as aerial photography, information gathering of disaster, transport of luggage, and inspection of infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels. It needs to control the position of the Quadrotor, if it is used for the inspection of infrastructures, such as bridges etc. Therefore, we propose a method for controlling a Quadrotor using a tether. We have suggested in previous research a control method of the relative position of a Quadrotor to the operator using the tether, and conducted an experiment. However, influences of the tether were not considered in the model of the extended Kalman filter to estimate the state of the Quadrotor. In this paper, the dynamical model of a Quadrotor is derived so as to consider the influence of a tether, and the position and attitude control simulation is conducted.
A Critical Charge Model for Estimating the SET and SEU Sensitivity: A Muller C-Element Case Study

This paper presents a critical charge model for estimating the SET and SEU robustness. The proposed model has been derived by analytic fitting of SPICE results, using a Muller C-element designed in 65 and 130 nm bulk CMOS technologies as the target device. The critical charge is expressed in terms of the size of C-element, size of load inverter, supply voltage and temperature, for constant timing parameters of the SET/SEU current pulse. The proposed model could be utilized to calculate the critical charge causing a SET, for both analyzed technologies, with the accuracy comparable to SPICE simulations. The critical charge for SEU was higher than for SET, but the dependencies obtained for SET response were qualitatively similar to those for SEU. This implies that the proposed critical charge model may be applicable for optimizing the SET/SEU robustness evaluation of the circuits involving the Muller C-element. Moreover, the model may also serve as a basis for evaluating the SET/SEU robustness of other standard cells and other technologies, and thus also for analysis of the SET/SEU robustness of complex circuits.
Narcissism and Romantic Relationships: The Differential Impact of Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry

Narcissism is known to be related to romantic success in short-term contexts (dating, early stage relationships) but also to problems in long-term committed relationships. We propose that these diverging romantic outcomes of narcissism can be explained by differential associations with agentic versus antagonistic dimensions of grandiose narcissism: Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry. Both dimensions serve the central narcissistic goal of gaining and maintaining a grandiose self-view, but do so by different processes: Admiration is characterized by the tendency to promote the positivity of one’s self-view by seeking social admiration (assertive self-enhancement). Rivalry is characterized by the tendency to protect oneself from a negative self-view by derogating others (antagonistic self-protection). Across 7 studies (total N = 3,560) using diverse measures and methodological approaches (self-, peer, and partner reports, as well as interpersonal perception measures in video-based studies, face-to-face laboratory encounters, and online surveys), we show that the short-term romantic appeal associated with narcissism is primarily attributable to the dimension of Admiration, whereas the long-term romantic problems associated with narcissism are primarily attributable to the dimension of Rivalry. These results highlight the utility of a 2-dimensional reconceptualization of grandiose narcissism for explaining its heterogeneous romantic outcomes. The findings further underscore the idea that different facets of personality traits might impact different aspects of romantic relationship quality, depending on the stage of the relationship. Such a more nuanced view increases the predictive validity of personality traits in social relationship research.
Online LI-rTMS during a Visual Learning Task: Differential Impacts on Visual Circuit and Behavioral Plasticity in Adult Ephrin-A2A5–/– Mice

Abstract Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) induces plasticity in normal and abnormal neural circuitries, an effect that may be influenced by intrinsic brain activity during treatment. Here, we study potential synergistic effects between low-intensity rTMS (LI-rTMS) and concurrent neural activity in promoting circuit reorganization and enhancing visual behavior. We used ephrin-A2A5–/– mice, which are known to possess visuotopic mapping errors that are ameliorated by LI-rTMS, and assessed the impact of stimulation when mice were engaged in a visual learning task. A detachable coil was affixed to each mouse, and animals underwent 2 wk of 10-min daily training in a two-choice visual discrimination task with concurrent LI-rTMS or sham stimulation. No-task controls (+LI-rTMS/sham) were placed in the task arena without visual task training. At the end of the experiment, visuomotor tracking behavior was assessed, and corticotectal and geniculocortical pathway organization was mapped by injections of fluorescent tracers into the primary visual cortex. Consistent with previous results, LI-rTMS alone improved geniculocortical and corticotectal topography, but combining LI-rTMS with the visual learning task prevented beneficial corticotectal reorganization and had no additional effect on geniculocortical topography or visuomotor tracking performance. Unexpectedly, there was a significant increase in the total number of trials completed by task + LI-rTMS mice in the visual learning task. Comparison with wild-type mice revealed that ephrin-A2A5–/– mice had reduced accuracy and response rates, suggesting a goal-directed behavioral deficit, which was improved by LI-rTMS. Our results suggest that concurrent brain activity during behavior interacts with LI-rTMS, altering behavior and different visual circuits in an abnormal system.