Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Activation of Human Dendritic Cells Induce Maturation and tuberculosis Mycobacterium PE_PGRS Antigens of

Mycobacterium tuberculosis , the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis, infects one-third of the world’s population. Activation of host immune responses for containment of mycobacterial infections involves participation of innate immune cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are sentinels of the immune system and are important for eliciting both primary and secondary immune responses to pathogens. In this context, to understand the molecular pathogenesis of tuberculosis and host response to mycobacteria and to conceive prospective vaccine candidates, it is important to understand how cell wall Ags of M. tuberculosis and, in particular, the proline-glutamic acid_polymorphic guanine-cytosine–rich sequence (PE_PGRS) family of proteins modulate DC maturation and function. In this study, we demonstrate that two cell wall-associated/secretory PE_PGRS proteins, PE_PGRS 17 (Rv0978c) and PE_PGRS 11 (Rv0754), recognize TLR2, induce maturation and activation of human DCs, and enhance the ability of DCs to stimulate CD4 + T cells. We further found that PE_PGRS protein-mediated activation of DCs involves participation of ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and NF- k B signaling pathways. Priming of human DCs with IFN- g further augmented PE_PGRS 17 or PE_PGRS 11 Ag-induced DC maturation and secretion of key proinﬂammatory cytokines. Our results suggest that by activating DCs, PE_PGRS proteins, important mycobacterial cell wall Ags, could potentially contribute in the initiation of innate immune responses during tuberculosis infection and hence regulate the
User involvement in the systems design process-a practical guide for users

Increasingly users ® nd themselvesinvolved' in IT design projects. This occurs because the organizational culture of the parent organization purports to promote participation, or because structured design methods are being used which require users to play a part. In either case users who ® nd themselves required to participate in IT projects are frequently unclear about what this requires. In most organizations surprisingly little brie® ng on the users' role in design projects is provided. Users are therefore confused about their brief and concerned about their lack of expertise in computing. Although research reports on participatory design (PD) projects abound, little coherent guidance for the key stakeholders representing users' interests is available. The contents of this paper go some way towards ® lling the gap. Clear differentiation is made in the paper between the roles of the different players involved. Detailed guidance is provided for meeting the varied requirements of the different roles. For example, the roles oftop' management andmiddle' management in supporting user involvement are explored, their special responsibilities speci® ed and required actions listed. The need for an infrastructure to support user involvement and how to create one is discussed. Guidance is provided on, for example, the representation process and the factors to consider in selecting user representatives. The role of user representatives is particularly problematical and therefore receives particularly close attention. Finally guidance is given regarding the common pitfalls in Quality Assurance procedures and especially how to avoid the procedures becoming a meaninglessrubber-stamping' exercise. The guidance presented is grounded in the extensive experience of the author in participative design processes in a wide variety of contexts including the footwear industry, a major UK government department and a telecommunications and broadcasting company.
Predictive Biomarkers for the Assessment of Developing HIV-associated Neurocognitive Decline in HIV-positive Men

The advent of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has greatly improved the control of HIV replication in infected individuals. Viral replication has become increasingly well managed and HAART has extended the time to the development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) for many patients. These now chronically HIV-infected individuals, while enjoying longer more healthy lives, have begun to encounter diseases that are not related to AIDS. These non-AIDS defining illnesses (NADIs) are becoming a prominent area of research and this project sought to study one such NADI, HIV-associated Neurocognitive Decline (HAND). This dementia, associated with HIV-infection, has become the focus of research seeking to understand the mechanism for the disease and also to identify risk factors for identifying patients at risk for HAND development. A pilot study was designed which sought to examine four biomarkers and assess their predictive ability for the development of HAND: single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the RYR3 gene region and associated with Atherosclerosis, the Alzheimer’s disease risk allele APOE*4, telomere length shortening over time, and DNA methylation change were each examined in a case-control study across three sample groups: HAND+/HIV+ (cases), HAND-/HIV+ (seropositive control), HAND-/HIV- (seronegative control). The genotypes for RYR3 and APOE were assessed through Taqman and Sanger Sequencing, respectively. Absolute telomere length was assessed through quantitative PCR (qPCR) and normalized against the ribosomal single copy housekeeping gene 36B4. The methylation analysis was conducted by identifying 8 cases and matching 8 individuals to form the two control groups. Archival PBMC pellets collected at ten-year intervals were extracted from this group of 24 individuals, and their genomewide DNA methylation profile was determined via bisulfite conversion on the Methyl450 array from Illumina. It was observed that dementia status, rather than HIV serostatus, was the unifying trait that generated unexpected methylation patterns and requires further investigation. The relevance of this work in the public health field is to enable scientists to more accurately identify those at risk for developing HAND through the assessment of the four predictive biomarkers examined in this study.
Effect of Kinesiology Taping on Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Randomized Single-Blind Controlled Pilot Study

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of Kinesiology Taping (KT) for treating breast cancer-related lymphedema. Sixty-five women with unilateral stage II and III lymphedema were randomly grouped into the KT group (K-tapes, n = 20), the Quasi KT group (quasi K-tapes, n = 22), or the MCT group (multilayered compression therapy group, n = 23). Skin care, 45 min pneumatic compression therapy, 1 h manual lymphatic drainage, and application of K-tape/Quasi K-tapes/multilayered short-stretch bandages were given every treatment session, 3 times per week for 1 month. Patient evaluation items included limb size and percentage edema. Comparing the changes in K-tapes with quasi K-tapes changes, there were no significant differences (P > 0.05). The edema reduction of multilayered bandages was much better than in results observed in taping groups. The KT appeared to be ineffective at secondary lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. The single-blind, controlled pilot study results suggest that K-tape could not replace the bandage, and at this moment it must not be an alternative choice for the breast cancer-related lymphedema patient. The trial is registered with ACTRN12613001173785.
Psychological perspectives on ethical behavior and decision making

PART I: INTRODUCTION. Psychology and Ethics: What It Takes to Feel Ethical When Being Unethical, David De Cremer. PART II: REFLECTIONS ON (UN)ETHICAL BEHAVIOR. On the Causes and Conditions of Moral Behavior: Why is This All We Know? Scott J. Reynolds and Tara L. Ceranic. Psychological Processes in Organizational Corruption, Celia Moore. PART III: PROCESSES WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR. Moral Self-Regulation: Licensing and Compensation, Chen-Bo Zhong, Katie Liljenquist, and Daylian M. Cain. Ethical Standards in Gain versus Loss Frames, Jessica S. Cameron and Dale T. Miller. Why Leaders Feel Entitled to Take More: Feelings of Entitlement As a Moral Rationalization Strategy, David De Cremer, Eric van Dijk, and Chris P. Reinders Folmer. Actual and Potential Exclusion as Determinants of Individuals' Unethical Behavior in Groups, Madan M. Pillutla and Stefan Thau. When The Need to Trust Results in Unethical Behavior: The Sensitivity to Mean Intentions (SeMI) Model, Mario Gollwitzer and Tobias Rothmund. The Neural Basis of Morality, Maarten A. S. Boksem and David De Cremer. PART IV: THE SOCIAL CONTEXT AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR. The Two-Fold Influence of Sanctions on Moral Concerns, Laetitia B. Mulder. Making Ethical Climate a Mainstream Management Topic: A Review, Critique, and Prescription for the Empirical Research on Ethical Climate, David M. Mayer, Maribeth Kuenzi, and Rebecca L. Greenbaum. Ethics and Rule Adherence in Groups, Tom Tyler and David De Cremer. Biographical Sketches.
Towards an immunity-based approach for preserving energy of data-gathering processes in wireless sensor network nvironments

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) consists of large number of sensor nodes with limited energy and computing resources. These facts have highlighted open problem to prolong the lifetime of sensor nodes while still maintaining the functional roles of WSN in reporting important events to a base station. These papers propose an approach for WSN inspired by the concept of immunity-based system where a set of reactions is performed in the appearance of nonself substances called syndromes. The notion of reactive cluster is introduced where only sensor nodes affected by the syndrome appearances need to perform reactions by establishing clusters among them. Since communication costs significant energy, each sensor nodes as an immune cell need to reduce impacts of the syndromes for itself and other sensor nodes in the routing paths to the sink node. It is done establishing adaptive data aggregation strategies. Depend on the critical level of the corresponding syndrome and error of wireless communications that may occur, the length of the aggregation window is adjusted. We show that the proposed approach shows promising results in minimizing dead sensor nodes, avoiding network congestion while still maintaining the functional roles of WSN in reporting important events to the sink node.
A spatially explicit model of muscle contraction explains a relationship between activation phase, power and ATP utilization in insect flight

SUMMARY Using spatially explicit, stochastically kinetic, molecular models of muscle force generation, we examined the relationship between mechanical power output and energy utilization under differing patterns of length change and activation. A simulated work loop method was used to understand prior observations of sub-maximal power output in the dominant flight musculature of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta L. Here we show that mechanical work output and energy consumption (via ATP) vary with the phase of activation, although they do so with different phase sensitivities. The phase relationship for contraction efficiency (the ratio of power output to power input) differs from the phase relationships of energy consumption and power output. To our knowledge, this is the first report to suggest that ATP utilization by myosin cross-bridges varies strongly with the phase of activation in muscle undergoing cyclic length changes.
Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) of Physical Interaction with Dynamically Moving Objects

The non-invasive recording and analysis of human brain activity during active movements in natural working conditions is a central challenge in Neuroergonomics research. Existing brain imaging approaches do not allow for an investigation of brain dynamics during active behavior because their sensors cannot follow the movement of the signal source. However, movements that require the operator to react fast and to adapt to a dynamically changing environment occur frequently in working environments like assembly-line work, construction trade, health care, but also outside the working environment like in team sports. Overcoming the restrictions of existing imaging methods would allow for deeper insights into neurocognitive processes at workplaces that require physical interactions and thus could help to adapt work settings to the user. To investigate the brain dynamics accompanying rapid volatile movements we used a visual oddball paradigm where participants had to react to color changes either with a simple button press or by physically pointing towards a moving target. Using a mobile brain/body imaging approach (MoBI) including independent component analysis (ICA) with subsequent backprojection of cluster activity allowed for systematically describing the contribution of brain and non-brain sources to the sensor signal. The results demonstrate that visual event-related potentials (ERPs) can be analyzed for simple button presses and physical pointing responses and that it is possible to quantify the contribution of brain processes, muscle activity and eye movements to the signal recorded at the sensor level even for fast volatile arm movements with strong jerks. Using MoBI in naturalistic working environments can thus help to analyze brain dynamics in natural working conditions and help improving unhealthy or inefficient work settings.
Solving the Ising Spin Glass Problem using a Bivariate EDA based on Markov Random Fields

Markov random field (MRF) modelling techniques have been recently proposed as a novel approach to probabilistic modelling for estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs). An EDA using this technique was called distribution estimation using Markov random fields (DEUM). DEUM was later extended to DEUMd. DEUM and DEUMd use a univariate model of probability distribution, and have been shown to perform better than other univariate EDAs for a range of optimization problems. This paper extends DEUM to use a bivariate model and applies it to the Ising spin glass problems. We propose two variants of DEUM that use different sampling techniques. Our experimental result show a noticeable gain in performance.
Enhanced algorithms for consistent network updates

The basic algorithm that consistently updates the switches of a Software Defined Network while preserving the update property of per-packet consistency is the two-phase update. The two-phase update is underspecified on two matters: 1) how to detect when the last packet of the old rule set has left the network and therefore exactly when to delete the old rules 2) recoverability of the update. Recoverability ensures that those updates for which the two-phase algorithm is not completely executed do not change the semantics of those updates for which the algorithm is completely executed. This paper examines the failures that can occur during an update and how to handle a subset of those failures. It proposes an algorithm, enhancing the two-phase update to handle deletion of old rules and recoverability. It also specifies how to effectively use a software cache to supplement the TCAM, during an update. The paper extends the same algorithm for per-flow consistent updates, using a restricted number of exact-match rules for existing flows and specifying when to delete the exact-match rules. The two algorithms are also specified for switches that do not support a software cache. The paper also analyzes the algorithms quantitatively, identifying the parameters of interest and what they depend upon.
An empirical examination of benefits from implementing integrated management systems (IMS)

In order to create competitive advantages and achieve sustainable development, many organisations have implemented quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems. There is a trend for enterprises to implement an integrated management system for overcoming the problems resulting from multiple management systems. Using structural equation modelling, this paper examines empirically the benefits obtained from implementing an integrated management system for enterprises. It is revealed that related experience in managing these systems is important for enterprises in implementing an integrated management system. There are significant positive correlations between ‘related experience’ and ‘integrated management system benefits’, and between ‘integrated management system implementation’ and ‘integrated management system benefits’. Based on these analyses, the benefits in implementing integrated management systems include: (1) decreased paperwork; (2) decreased management cost; (3) decreased complexity of internal management; (4) simplified certification process; and (5) facilitates continuous improvement. The aim of this paper is to understand the critical issues involved in effectively and efficiently implementing an integrated management system.
Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Predicts the Clinical Outcome in Patients with mCRPC Treated with Abiraterone

Background: A systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) based on neutrophil (N), lymphocyte (L), and platelet (P) counts has shown a prognostic impact in several solid tumors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic role of SII in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with abiraterone post docetaxel. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive mCRPC patients treated with abiraterone after docetaxel in our Institutions. X-tile 3.6. 1 software, cut-off values of SII, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) defined as N/L and platelets-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as P/L. Overall survival (OS) and their 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. The impact of SII, PLR, and NLR on overall survival (OS) was evaluated by Cox regression analyses and on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rates were evaluated by binary logistic regression. Results: A total of 230 mCRPC patients treated abiraterone were included. SII ≥ 535, NLR ≥ 3 and PLR ≥ 210 were considered as elevated levels (high risk groups. The median OS was 17.3 months, 21.8 months in SII < 535 group and 14.7 months in SII ≥ 535 (p < 0.0001). At univariate analysis Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, previous enzalutamide, visceral metastases, SII, NLR, and PLR predicted OS. In multivariate analysis, ECOG performance status, previous enzalutamide, visceral metastases, SII, and NLR remained significant predictors of OS [hazard ratio (HR) = 5.08, p < 0.0001; HR = 2.12, p = 0.009, HR = 1.77, 95% p = 0.012; HR = 1.80, p = 0.002; and HR = 1.90, p = 0.001, respectively], whereas, PLR showed a borderline ability only (HR = 1.41, p = 0.068). Conclusion: SII and NLR might represent an early and easy prognostic marker in mCRPC patients treated with abiraterone. Further studies are needed to better define their impact and role in these patients.
Insider Rates vs Outsider Rates in Bank Lending

When an inside lender has private information about a firm, there is an information asymmetry among lenders. The effect of this asymmetry on the relative rates for firms borrowing from an insider or outsider is not well established. In the Sharpe (1990) model, an inside lender with private information competes against an outside lender with public information. In a correction to the model, von Thadden (2004) shows that there is no pure-strategy equilibrium due to the “winner’s curse. ” Because the outsider must compensate for the winner’s curse to break even, one might expect outsider rates to be higher than insider rates. However, due to the winner’s curse, the expected interest rates for each firm type are higher at the inside lender. In this paper, I show analytically that the inside rate can be either higher or lower depending on the parameter space. This result is limited because it depends somewhat on an assumption about which lender wins in the event of a tie bid. Under the assumption that the lenders split the firms in a tie bid, an analytical solution shows that the inside (outside) rate is higher for low (high) quality borrower pools. A numerical analysis further investigates the parameter space where the outside rate is higher than the inside rate. The results show that the magnitude of the difference between the outside and inside rate is greatest for borrower pools in which the probability of success for a good firm is significantly higher than the probability of success for the average firm. * Ph.D. Candidate, Finance Department, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 1309 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405. Tel: (812) 320-4714, fax: (812) 855-5875, email: lkblack@indiana.edu. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Board or its staff. I would like to thank Allen Berger, Ken Brevoort, Robert Marquez, Richard Rosen, and Greg Udell for helpful comments and discussions. All remaining errors are my own.
Architectural design for evolution by analyzing requirements on quality attributes

It is important to design architecture to be steady throughout the evolution, or make the architecture to be the platform for a product family. In order to design software architecture to have such characteristics we have to analyze the commonality and differences among requirements on potential software that are supposed to be developed on the architecture, and then design software architecture so as to accommodate the commonality and differences. In this paper, we propose an approach for architectural design in which we analyze the requirements of potential software in terms of the impact on the architecture, considering multiple quality attributes. We perform a case study on an actual project that designed architecture for an on-board system for ITS systems to examine the usefulness of the technique. We also apply the technique to the same architectural design problem to demonstrate that it is applicable to the real problem.
Neurofunctional Systems: 3D Reconstructions with Correlated Neuroimaging

1 Introduction 2 Three-Dimensional Aspects of Brain Structures from the Neuroanatomical and Clinical Point of View 3 Cerebral Sulci and Gyri 4 Ventricular System 5 Neurofunctional Systems 6 Cerebral Arteries 7 Methods for Visualization of Neuroanatomical Structures 8 Matching of Sections Derived from 3D Reconstructions of Neurofunctional Systems with MR and CT Images 9 Outlook
Large-scale changes in thermal sensitivity of flight performance during adult maturation in a dragonfly

Newly emerged adult dragonflies are physiologically immature in a number of ways, including the mass, ultrastructure and biochemistry of their flight muscles. In Libellula pulchella dragonflies, adult maturation of flight muscle is accompanied by striking changes in thermal physiology. Vertical force production during fixed flight attempts in newly emerged adults (tenerals) shows a broad plateau of near-peak performance, first attained at cool thoracic temperatures (typically 28­34 °C) and maintained up to thoracic temperatures of 40­45 °C [mean optimal thoracic temperature (OTT)=34.6 °C; mean upper lethal temperature (ULT)=45.3 °C]. In contrast, fully mature adults show narrow thermal sensitivity curves, wherein peak performance is approached only within a few degrees of the thermal optimum, which invariably occurs at hot thoracic temperatures (38­50 °C; mean OTT=43.5 °C; mean ULT=48.6 °C). These changes in the shape and position of thermal performance curves are compared with predictions from hypotheses for the evolution of thermal sensitivity.