Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fetal and infant growth and impaired glucose tolerance at age 64.

OBJECTIVE--To discover whether reduced fetal and infant growth is associated with non-insulin dependent diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in adult life. DESIGN--Follow up study of men born during 1920-30 whose birth weights and weights at 1 year were known. SETTING--Hertfordshire, England. SUBJECTS--468 men born in east Hertfordshire and still living there. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Fasting plasma glucose, insulin, proinsulin, and 32-33 split pro-insulin concentrations and plasma glucose and insulin concentrations 30 and 120 minutes after a 75 g glucose drink. RESULTS--93 men had impaired glucose tolerance or hitherto undiagnosed diabetes. They had had a lower mean birth weight and a lower weight at 1 year. The proportion of men with impaired glucose tolerance fell progressively from 26% (6/23) among those who had weighted 18 lb (8.16 kg) or less at 1 year to 13% (3/24) among those who had weighed 27 lb (12.25 kg) or more. Corresponding figures for diabetes were 17% (4/23) and nil (0/24). Plasma glucose concentrations at 30 and 120 minutes fell with increasing birth weight and weight at 1 year. Plasma 32-33 split proinsulin concentration fell with increasing weight at 1 year. All these trends were significant and independent of current body mass. Blood pressure was inversely related to birth weight and strongly related to plasma glucose and 32-33 split proinsulin concentrations. CONCLUSIONS--Reduced growth in early life is strongly linked with impaired glucose tolerance and non-insulin dependent diabetes. Reduced early growth is also related to a raised plasma concentration of 32-33 split proinsulin, which is interpreted as a sign of beta cell dysfunction. Reduced intrauterine growth is linked with high blood pressure, which may explain the association between hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance.
A neutralizing antibody-inducing peptide of the V3 domain of feline immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein does not induce protective immunity

Specific-pathogen-free cats, immunized with a 22-amino-acid synthetic peptide designated V3.3 and derived from the third variable region of the envelope glycoprotein of the Petaluma isolate of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), developed high antibody titers to the V3.3 peptide and to purified virus, as assayed by enzyme-linked immunoassays, as well as neutralizing antibodies, as assayed by the inhibition of syncytium formation in Crandell feline kidney cells. V3.3-immunized animals and control cats were challenged with FIV and then monitored for 12 months; V3.3 immunization failed to prevent FIV infection, as shown by virus isolation, anti-whole virus and anti-p24 immunoglobulin G antibody responses, and positive PCRs for gag and env gene fragments. Sequence analysis of the V3 region showed no evidence for the emergence of escape mutants that might have contributed to the lack of protection. The sera of the V3.3-hyperimmunized cats and two anti-V3.3 monoclonal antibodies neutralized FIV infectivity for Crandell feline kidney cells at high antibody dilutions but paradoxically failed to completely neutralize FIV infectivity at low dilutions. Moreover, following FIV challenge, V3.3-immunized animals developed a faster and higher antiviral antibody response than control cats. This was probably due to enhanced virus replication, as also suggested by quantitative PCR data.
Selection for a CEACAM Receptor-Specific Binding Phenotype during Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infection of the Human Genital Tract

ABSTRACT Infections by Neisseria gonorrhoeae are increasingly common, are often caused by antibiotic-resistant strains, and can result in serious and lasting sequelae, prompting the reemergence of gonococcal disease as a leading global health concern. N. gonorrhoeae is a human-restricted pathogen that primarily colonizes urogenital mucosal surfaces. Disease progression varies greatly between the sexes: men usually present with symptomatic infection characterized by a painful purulent urethral discharge, while in women, the infection is often asymptomatic, with the most severe pathology occurring when the bacteria ascend from the lower genital tract into the uterus and fallopian tubes. Classical clinical studies demonstrated that clinically infectious strains uniformly express Opa adhesins; however, their specificities were unknown at the time. While in vitro studies have since identified CEACAM proteins as the primary target of Opa proteins, the gonococcal specificity for this human family of receptors has not been addressed in the context of natural infection. In this study, we characterize a collection of low-passage-number clinical-specimen-derived N. gonorrhoeae isolates for Opa expression and assess their CEACAM-binding profiles. We report marked in vivo selection for expression of phase-variable Opa proteins that bind CEACAM1 and CEACAM5 but selection against expression of Opa variants that bind to the neutrophil-restricted decoy receptor CEACAM3. This is the first study showing phenotypic selection for distinct CEACAM-binding phenotypes in vivo, and it supports the opposing functions of CEACAMs that facilitate infection versus driving inflammation within the genital tract.
Plant litter chemistry and mycorrhizal roots promote a nitrogen feedback in a temperate forest

1 Relationships between mycorrhizal plants and soil nitrogen (N) have led to the speculation that the chemistry of plant litter and the saprotrophy of mycorrhizal symbionts can function together to closely couple the N cycle between plants and soils. We hypothesized that a tannin‐rich, ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) plant promotes the retention of protein–tannin N in soil, and that this N source is accessible to saprotrophic ERM symbionts and their hosts, but remains less available to co‐occurring ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbionts and their hosts. 2 We tested this feedback hypothesis in a southern Appalachian forest community composed of two microsites: a hardwood microsite with ECM and AM trees in the overstorey and understorey, and an AM herb layer; and a rhododendron microsite where the understorey and herb layer are replaced by ERM rhododendron. We synthesized 15N‐enriched protein–tannin complexes from leaf litter extracts representing each forest microsite and examined the fate of 15N in soil volumes 3 months and 1 year after the complexes were placed in the field. 3 Protein–tannin complexes derived from the rhododendron microsite led to a higher retention of 15N in soil organic matter and a lower recovery in dissolved N pools than those from the hardwood microsite, supporting the hypothesis that rhododendron tannins create stable complexes that increase organic N retention in soils. 4 Rhododendron complexes led to greater 15N‐enrichment in ERM roots than in AM and ECM roots, supporting the hypothesis that rhododendron can better access the N complexed by its own litter tannins than can co‐occurring forest trees and plants. Our results suggest that both fungal saprotrophy and a high specific root length contribute to the ability of ERM roots to acquire N from complex organic sources. 5 Synthesis. This study provides evidence of an intricate N feedback where plant litter chemistry influences the cycle of N to maximize N acquisition by the host's mycorrhizal roots, while hindering N acquisition by mycorrhizal roots of co‐occurring plants. Feedback processes such as these have the potential to drive patterns in nitrogen cycling and productivity in many terrestrial ecosystems.
A Trust Evaluation Method for Node Cooperation in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In ad hoc networks, node misbehaviors due to selfish or malicious reasons can significantly degrade the performance of ad hoc networks. Previously, we proposed a trust-based incentive model on a self-policing mechanism to make nodes evaluate the trust of their neighbor locally (Kun and Meng, 2007). That approach can mitigate contamination by direct observation and the use of second-hand information available. However, one situation hasn't been considered that the secondhand information can be spurious, which raises the questions of how to incorporate it in a safe way and whether to propagate it. In this study, we adopt a trust evaluation method with a trust scaling factor on that trust-based incentive model to relieve the influence of fake second-hand information on the accuracy of trust value. Performance by simulation reveals that in the case of existing malicious nodes, the enhanced trusted dynamic source routing (ET-DSR) with proposed trust evaluation method performs better than T-DSR in terms of packet successful delivery ratio and mean number of packets dropped. Meanwhile, ET-DSR is more suitable for large scale networks than T-DSR due to the introduction of trust scaling factor.
The IL-6/sIL-6R complex as a novel target for therapeutic approaches

IL-6 plays a pivotal role in immune responses and certain oncologic conditions. The intense investigation of its biological activity and function led to the discovery of two different IL-6-driven signalling pathways. Binding to the membrane-bound IL-6 receptor (mIL-6R, CD126) causes the recruitment of two gp130 co-receptor molecules (CD130) and the activation of intracellular signalling cascades via gp130. Although this classical pathway is mainly limited to hepatocytes, neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages and certain other leukocyte populations, which express IL-6R on their surface, an alternative mechanism has also been described. Proteolytic cleavage of the mIL-6R protein or translation from alternatively spliced mRNA leads to the generation of a soluble form of the IL-6R (sIL-6R), which is likewise able to bind to IL-6. The resulting IL-6/sIL-6R complex is also capable of binding to gp130 and inducing intracellular signalling. Through this so-called ‘trans-signalling’ mechanism, IL-6 is able to stimulate cells that lack an endogenous mIL-6R. High levels of IL-6 and sIL-6R have been reported in several chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as in cancer. Preclinical animal disease models have provided strong evidence that specific blockade of IL-6-regulated signalling pathways represents a promising approach for the therapy of these diseases. An optimised variant of the recently described fusion protein sgp30Fc is now heading towards its clinical evaluation.
Dietary plasma proteins, the intestinal immune system, and the barrier functions of the intestinal mucosa1

ABSTRACT The intestinal mucosa contributes to homeostasis by preventing the entrance of biological and chemical agents across the epithelium that could alter the stability of the system. This protective function is especially important at the time of weaning, when animals are exposed to infectious agents and to numerous stresses such as the change of environment and diet. Diets supplemented with spray-dried plasma or plasma protein fractions have been shown to improve growth performance of farm animals and have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics. In this review, we summarize our findings on the mechanism of action of dietary plasma proteins using a rat model of intestinal inflammation, based on the administration of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB). Staphylococcal enterotoxin B activates the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), increasing T-lymphocytes in Peyer's patches and the number of activated T lymphocytes in mesenteric lymph nodes (organized GALT). In the lamina propria SEB increased cytotoxic T δγ and natural killer cell populations of the diffuse GALT. Staphyloccocal enterotoxin B significantly increased proinflammatory cytokines in Peyer's patches and mucosa. Plasma protein supplements modulated the mucosal immune response in organized and diffuse GALT, protecting GALT from possible excessive activation by the SEB challenge. These effects are accompanied by a reduction of proinflammatory cytokine production, supporting the view that changes in cytokine production mediate the effects of dietary plasma proteins during intestinal inflammation. The increase in mucosal permeability and intestinal secretion induced by SEB was associated with decreased expression of mucosal tight-junction and adherent-junction proteins. Both plasma and plasma protein fractions prevented the effects of SEB on intestinal permeability, thus reducing the exposure of the host to microbial and food antigens across the interstitial space. These findings indicate that dietary plasma proteins modulate functional and structural properties of the intestinal mucosa.
Increases in lung expansion alter pulmonary hemodynamics in fetal sheep.

Prolonged increases in fetal lung expansion stimulate fetal lung growth and development, but the effects on pulmonary hemodynamics are unknown. Our aim was to determine the effect of increased fetal lung expansion, induced by tracheal obstruction (TO), on pulmonary blood flow (PBF) and vascular resistance (PVR). Chronically catheterized fetal sheep (n = 6) underwent TO from 120 to 127 days of gestational age (term approximately 147 days); tracheas were not obstructed in control fetuses (n = 6). PBF, PVR, and changes to the PBF waveform were determined. TO significantly increased lung wet weight compared with control (166.3 +/- 20.2 vs. 102.0 +/- 18.8 g; P < 0.05). Despite the increase in intraluminal pressure caused by TO (5.0 +/- 0.9 vs. 2.4 +/- 1.0 mmHg; P < 0.001), PBF and PVR were similar between groups after 7 days (TO 28.1 +/- 3.2 vs. control 34.1 +/- 10.0 ml.min(-1). 100 g lung wt(-1)). However, TO markedly altered pulmonary hemodynamics associated with accentuated fetal breathing movements, causing a reduction rather than an increase in PBF at 7 days of TO. To account for the increase in intraluminal pressure, the pressure was equalized by draining the lungs of liquid on day 7 of TO. Pressure equalization increased PBF from 36.8 +/- 5.2 to 112.4 +/- 22.8 ml/min (P = 0.01) and markedly altered the PBF waveform. These studies provide further evidence to indicate that intraluminal pressure is an important determinant of PBF and PVR in the fetus. We suggest that the increase in PBF associated with pressure equalization following TO reflects an increase in growth of the pulmonary vascular bed, leading to an increase in its cross-sectional area.
Specificity of Reflex Adaptation for Task-Relevant Variability

The motor system responds to perturbations with reflexes, such as the vestibulo-ocular reflex or stretch reflex, whose gains adapt in response to novel and fixed changes in the environment, such as magnifying spectacles or standing on a tilting platform. Here we demonstrate a reflex response to shifts in the hand's visual location during reaching, which occurs before the onset of voluntary reaction time, and investigate how its magnitude depends on statistical properties of the environment. We examine the change in reflex response to two different distributions of visuomotor discrepancies, both of which have zero mean and equal variance across trials. Critically one distribution is task relevant and the other task irrelevant. The task-relevant discrepancies are maintained to the end of the movement, whereas the task-irrelevant discrepancies are transient such that no discrepancy exists at the end of the movement. The reflex magnitude was assessed using identical probe trials under both distributions. We find opposite directions of adaptation of the reflex response under these two distributions, with increased reflex magnitudes for task-relevant variability and decreased reflex magnitudes for task-irrelevant variability. This demonstrates modulation of reflex magnitudes in the absence of a fixed change in the environment, and shows that reflexes are sensitive to the statistics of tasks with modulation depending on whether the variability is task relevant or task irrelevant.
From Intent to Effect: Tool-Based Generation of Time-Triggered Real-Time Systems on Multi-core Processors

Although the manual creation of time-triggered schedules for multi-core real-time systems can be a daunting task, state-of-the-art scheduling algorithms are far from being widely used. This suggests that the availability of sound algorithms is only one side of the story: real-time systems have to be groomed substantially before they can serve as input to available algorithms. Moreover, systems engineers struggle with the temporal effects of their design decisions, in addition to the intended timing properties. Therefore, we believe that appropriate tools are the other side of the story. In this paper, we present the multicore extension of the Real-Time Systems Compiler, a compiler-based tool that analyses given event-triggered real-time systems and transforms them into time-triggered equivalents. We focus on the challenges and pitfalls in the transition from theory to practical implementation and present concrete solutions to resolve them. Existing algorithms need to be adapted for performance and, at model level, bound together appropriately to be applicable, for example. Our experiments substantiate the effectiveness and scalability of our approach, even for large tasks sets. Finally, lessons learned give an insight into implementation and hardware details and their impact on schedulability.
Combinatorial Landscapes

Fitness landscapes have proven to be a valuable concept in evolutionary biology, combinatorial optimization, and the physics of disordered systems. A fitness landscape is a mapping from a configuration space into the real numbers. The configuration space is equipped with some notion of adjacency, nearness, distance, or accessibility. Landscape theory has emerged as an attempt to devise suitable mathematical structures for describing the ``static'' properties of landscapes as well as their influence on the dynamics of adaptation. In this review we focus on the connections of landscape theory with algebraic combinatorics and random graph theory, where exact results are available.
Routing Protocol Based Shared and Session Key Exchange Protocol for Wireless Mobile Ad-hoc Network

Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is a transitory and infrastructureless network supported by no fixed trusted infrastructure. To achieve security goals like: authentication, integrity, non-repudiation, privacy, a secret key (or session key) is necessary to be shared between the sender and receiver. Because of the nature of MANET, it is unrealistic in many circumstances to implement Certification Authority (CA) concept. Some popular key exchange protocols also have some demerits in case of MANET which are due to mainly the requirement of high computational capability. In this key exchange protocol we propose an algorithm to exchange shared and session key between the sender and destination even during the route creation in various
Glycoxidative modification of AA amyloid deposits in renal tissue.

BACKGROUND N(epsilon)-carboxymethyllysine (CML) is a product of the oxidative modification of glycated proteins, which damages proteins with ageing, diabetes, uraemia and Alzheimer's disease. In contrast, pyrraline is one of the advanced glycation end products, which is independent of oxidative processes. CML has been identified in beta-amyloid of Alzheimer's disease and beta(2)-microglobulin-associated amyloid. We investigated whether CML and pyrraline are formed in AA and AL amyloid of the kidney. METHOD Renal specimens from 19 cases of AA amyloidosis and 14 cases of AL amyloidosis were investigated for immunolocalization of CML, pyrraline, collagen type IV and laminin in amyloid deposits. Renal biopsies of 10 age-matched cases with thin basement membrane disease and normal renal function were used as controls. The fractional areas of amyloid, CML, laminin and collagen IV in glomeruli and interstitium (%amyloid, %CML, %laminin and %collagen, respectively) were calculated using the point counting method. The correlation between these parameters was evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation test. RESULTS CML colocalized with AA amyloid, but not AL amyloid, except in two cases of the latter with a long history of nephropathy exceeding 14 years. In contrast, pyrraline was not observed in either type of amyloid. Mean %CML in AA amyloid was significantly higher than %collagen and %laminin in glomeruli and interstitium, indicating that AA amyloid is modified by CML independent of colocalized extracellular matrix. %CML significantly correlated with %amyloid both in glomeruli and interstitium in AA amyloidosis. AL amyloid cases with a long history of nephropathy showed positive staining for CML in glomeruli and interstitium but no staining for collagen IV and laminin in amyloid deposits. CONCLUSION CML modification may occur in amyloid deposits of AA amyloidosis, independent of extracellular matrix components. Glycoxidative modification may have a functional link to AA amyloid deposition in renal tissues.
Why do bigger countries have more problems with the Stability and Growth Pact

The European Fiscal Framework and the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) have had great significance since the completion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. The current enforcement and credibility problems, and discussion about reforming the SGP, as well as the failure to impose sanctions and early warnings against states in breach of the Pact, have introduced a new subject for economic research. One of the most surprising observations in recent years is that the larger countries in the EMU have more problems with the budget thresholds in the SGP than the smaller countries. To explain this 'stylized fact' we solve a model of 'rational' delay in consolidation and relate it to several economic and political variables. The model shows that larger governments tend to prefer slower consolidation because they are not concerned about the risk of breaching the SGP and face less output volatility. Moreover we solve in the theoretical model one unexplored phenomenon in empirical macroeconomics: why does larger government size imply less macroeconomic volatility? We demonstrate this approach and its results with current empirical data on the performance of the EMU and the SGP.
Neural network data clustering on the basis of scale invariant entropy

A new method for data clustering is proposed. The method uses generalized scale invariant concept of distance measure and data entropy. The analysis of analogy between known Euclidean metric and the proposed measure allows constructing an effective clustering algorithm. The developed technique enables grouping of heterogeneous data regardless of the measuring scale chosen and can be used in different applications. The demonstration examples of clustering Iris flower data and Wine recognition data are considered. New algorithm shows low error rate for the examined data sets surpassing traditional algorithms derived from Euclidean metrics, whereas simultaneously preserving the scale invariant property.
Haptic phonemes: basic building blocks of haptic communication

A haptic phoneme represents the smallest unit of a constructed haptic signal to which a meaning can be assigned. These haptic phonemes can be combined serially or in parallel to form haptic words, or haptic icons, which can hold more elaborate meanings for their users. Here, we use phonemes which consist of brief (<2 seconds) haptic stimuli composed of a simple waveform at a constant frequency and amplitude. Building on previous results showing that a set of 12 such haptic stimuli can be perceptually distinguished, here we test learnability and recall of associations for arbitrarily chosen stimulus-meaning pairs. We found that users could consistently recall an arbitrary association between a haptic stimulus and its assigned arbitrary meaning in a 9-phoneme set, during a 45 minute test period following a reinforced learning stage.