Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monocytes: protagonists of infarct inflammation and repair after myocardial infarction.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the most frequent cause of heart failure, which is an incapacitating disease with high prevalence and broad socioeconomic impact. In 2008 in the United States, 5.7 million people suffered from heart failure, and more than 287 000 people died.1 Timely revascularization of ischemic myocardium reduces acute infarct mortality, and current standard therapy with β blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors curbs development of post-MI heart failure. For example, ACE inhibitor treatment reduced mortality from 25% to 20% in the Survival and Ventricular Enlargement (SAVE) trial.2 Although this is a major advance, long-term mortality remains high. The combination of reduced acute infarct mortality due to efficient acute care and insufficient options to treat infarct survivors chronically has contributed to an increased heart failure prevalence (Figure 1). 3 Figure 1. Disease statistics. A, Deaths per 100 000 population for coronary heart disease in men, ages 35 to 74 years, United States, 1970 to 2005. B, Deaths due to heart failure, United States, 1970 to 2005. C, Hospitalizations per 100 000 population for heart failure, age ≥65 years, United States, 1971 to 2006. Adapted from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Fact Book 2008.3 The need to understand and treat heart failure better has motivated clinicians and basic scientists to explore new therapeutic strategies to repair the failing heart, for instance, with stem cells.4,5 Augmentation of intrinsic wound healing that occurs during the first 1 to 2 weeks after MI is a prospective approach with the potential to prevent heart failure. During this period, the infarct is highly active biologically.6–8 Delicate granulation tissue undergoes rapid turnover of cells and of structural components such as the extracellular matrix. Preexisting collagen is digested and new matrix is laid down. During these extensive changes of tissue …
Induction of alloantigen-specific hyporesponsiveness in human T lymphocytes by blocking interaction of CD28 with its natural ligand B7/BB1

The specificity of T lymphocyte activation is determined by engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR) by peptide/major histocompatibility complexes expressed on the antigen-presenting cell (APC). Lacking costimulation by accessory molecules on the APC, T cell proliferation does not occur and unresponsiveness to subsequent antigenic stimulus is induced. The B7/BB1 receptor on APCs binds CD28 and CTLA-4 on T cells, and provides a costimulus for T cell proliferation. Here, we show that prolonged, specific T cell hyporesponsiveness to antigenic restimulation is achieved by blocking the interaction between CD28 and B7/BB1 in human mixed leukocyte culture (MLC). Secondary T cell proliferative responses to specific alloantigen were inhibited by addition to the primary culture of monovalent Fab fragments of anti- CD28 monoclonal antibody (mAb) 9.3, which block interaction of CD28 with B7/BB1 without activating T cells. Hypo-responsiveness was also induced in MLC by CTLA4Ig, a chimeric immunoglobulin fusion protein incorporating the extracellular domain of CTLA-4 with high binding avidity for B7/BB1. Cells previously primed could also be made hyporesponsive, if exposed to alloantigen in the presence of CTLA4Ig. Maximal hyporesponsiveness was achieved in MLC after 2 d of incubation with CTLA4Ig, and was maintained for at least 27 d after removal of CTLA4Ig. Accumulation of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interferon gamma but not IL-4 mRNA was blocked by CTLA4Ig in T cells stimulated by alloantigen. Antigen-specific responses could be restored by addition of exogenous IL-2 at the time of the secondary stimulation. Addition to primary cultures of the intact bivalent anti-CD28 mAb 9.3, or B7/BB1+ transfected CHO cells or exogenous IL-2, abrogated induction of hyporesponsiveness by CTLA4Ig. These data indicate that interaction of CD28 with B7/BB1 during TCR engagement with antigen is required to maintain T cell competence and that blocking such interaction can result in a state of T cell hyporesponsiveness.
Redefining Strategies to Introduce Tolerance-Inducing Cellular Therapy in Human beings to Combat Autoimmunity and Transplantation Reactions

Clinical translation of tolerance-inducing cell therapies requires a novel approach focused on innovative networks, patient involvement, and, foremost, a fundamental paradigm shift in thinking from both Academia, and Industry and Regulatory Agencies. Tolerance-inducing cell products differ essentially from conventional drugs. They are personalized and target interactive immunological networks to shift the balance toward tolerance. The human cell products are often absent or fundamentally different in animals. This creates important limitations of pre-clinical animal testing for safety and efficacy of these products and calls for novel translational approaches, which require the combined efforts of the different parties involved. Dedicated international and multidisciplinary consortia that focus on clinical translation are of utmost importance. They can help in informing and educating regulatory policy makers on the unique requirements for these cell products, ranging from pre-clinical studies in animals to in vitro human studies. In addition, they can promote reliable immunomonitoring tools. The development of tolerance-inducing cell products requires not only bench-to-bedside but also reverse translation, from bedside back to the bench.
Fine Granularity Access Rights for Information Flow Control in Object Oriented Systems

One of the main features of information flow control is to ensure the enforcement of privacy and regulated accessibility. However, most information flow control models that have been proposed do not provide substantial assurance to enforce end-to-end confidentiality policies or they are too restrictive, overprotected, and inflexible. We present a model for discretionary access controls that is in harmony with the object oriented paradigm. The model uses access rights applied to object attributes and methods, thus allowing considerable flexibility without compromising system security by leaking sensitive information. Models based on message filtering intercept every message exchanged among objects to control the flow of information. We present an algorithm which enforces message filtering based on the defined access rights.
Localization and Inhibition of Malicious Behaviors through a Model Checking based Methodology

Mobile malware is increasing more and more in complexity; current signature based antimalware mechanisms are not able to detect attacks, since trivial code transformations may evade detection. Furthermore, antimalware, when correctly label an application as malicious, are able to quarantine or delete the application, but not to allow the user to install and safely use it. Here we present a model checking based approach to locate and inhibit malicious behaviors: we suppose the specification of programs in terms of process algebra language LOTOS, malicious behaviors specified by temporal logic formulae, and define a method to retrieve, from the specifications, the description of the infected part of the program. We refer as example to some Android malware and derive LOTOS specification automatically from the Java Bytecode corresponding to Android’s app. The method consists of a set of rules building the LOTOS processes mirroring the behavior of the malware possibly contained in the app; besides the description of the infected part of the code, we give also a way to block the malware attack, putting the basis to disinfect the application. The method can be applied at any level of complexity, so allowing the precise location of malicious behaviors.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE RED CELL AGGLUTININS IN ACQUIRED HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA

The sera of 8 patients with acquired hemolytic anemia associated with elevated levels of cold agglutinins were studied by various procedures of zone electrophoresis. The agglutinating activity was found associated with proteins of variable mobility in the different cases. The majority represented "fast" γ-globulins. The 4 sera with the highest titers of cold agglutinins showed distinguishable abnormal electrophoretic components. The titers correlated with the height of the abnormal components. Ultracentrifugal analysis of the electrophoretic fractions indicated that the cold agglutinins were associated with proteins having a sedimentation coefficient of approximately 19 S. The abnormal component from the serum with the highest biological activity showed almost no contamination with lower molecular weight proteins. The amount of 19 S material found correlated with the titer of agglutinating activity. The high molecular weight character of the cold agglutinins was confirmed by procedures of density gradient zone centrifugation. The biological activity sedimented with proteins of the 19 S class in all the sera including those of relatively low titer with which no abnormal electrophoretic components were observed. Dissociation of the abnormal high molecular weight components was possible by means of certain sulfhydryl compounds. This resulted in disappearance of cold agglutinin activity. Some of the cases could be classified as macroglobulinemias because of the very large content of high molecular weight components. However, the same disease picture occurred without recognizable elevation of these components. The sera of 3 patients with severe acquired hemolytic anemia of the warm type associated with warm incomplete antibodies failed to show similar abnormal electrophoretic components and the antibody activity sedimented with proteins of the 7 S class.
Teenage pregnancy: risk factors for adverse perinatal outcome

Objectives: To assess the perinatal outcome of teenage pregnancy in a large cohort and to determine risk factors for low birth weight (LBW) in teenage pregnancy. Study design: All singleton first deliveries to mothers of age 16-24 years between 1990 and 1997 were included. The deliveries were subdivided into three maternal age groups (16-17 and 18-19 compared to 20-24 years) and parameters of perinatal outcomes were compared. To adjust for potential confounding effects on the association between young maternal age and birth weight, logistic regression analysis was performed for LBW with maternal ethnicity, pregnancy-induced hypertension, lack of prenatal care and malformations of the newborn. Results: Among a total of 11 496 patients, 600 (5.2%) were 16-17 years old, 2097 (18.2%) were 18-19 years old and the remaining 8799 (76.6%) were 20-24 years old. Bedouin ethnicity and lack of prenatal care were common in the youngest mothers. Rates of preterm delivery were 14.2%, 9.8% and 8.8% in the three age groups, respectively ( p < 0.05). Rates of malformations, small for gestational age, LBW and very LBW were also significantly higher in the youngest mothers. Rates of pregnancy-induced hypertension, operative delivery and Cesarean delivery were not significantly different among the three age groups. A multivariate analysis on LBW was performed to assess the unique contribution of young maternal age, adjusted for potential confounders. Adjusted ORs for LBW were 1.25 (95% CI 1.00-1.56) for maternal age < 18 years, 1.80 (95% CI 1.54-2.03) for Bedouin ethnicity, 2.57 (95% CI 2.14-3.07) for pregnancy-induced hypertension, 1.55 (95% CI 1.30-1.84) for lack of prenatal care and 4.09 (95% CI 3.2-5.2) for malformations. Conclusions: Teenage pregnancy was found to be associated with adverse outcome such as LBW, preterm delivery, small for gestational age and malformations. The risk for LBW was affected mainly by demographic factors (maternal ethnicity, lack of prenatal care) and medical factors (pregnancy-induced hypertension, malformations).
Cumulative effects of climate and landscape change drive spatial distribution of Rocky Mountain wolverine (Gulo gulo L.)

Abstract Contemporary landscapes are subject to a multitude of human‐derived stressors. Effects of such stressors are increasingly realized by population declines and large‐scale extirpation of taxa worldwide. Most notably, cumulative effects of climate and landscape change can limit species’ local adaptation and dispersal capabilities, thereby reducing realized niche space and range extent. Resolving the cumulative effects of multiple stressors on species persistence is a pressing challenge in ecology, especially for declining species. For example, wolverines (Gulo gulo L.) persist on only 40% of their historic North American range. While climate change has been shown to be a mechanism of range retractions, anthropogenic landscape disturbance has been recently implicated. We hypothesized these two interact to effect declines. We surveyed wolverine occurrence using camera trapping and genetic tagging at 104 sites at the wolverine range edge, spanning a 15,000 km2 gradient of climate, topographic, anthropogenic, and biotic variables. We used occupancy and generalized linear models to disentangle the factors explaining wolverine distribution. Persistent spring snow pack—expected to decrease with climate change—was a significant predictor, but so was anthropogenic landscape change. Canid mesocarnivores, which we hypothesize are competitors supported by anthropogenic landscape change, had comparatively weaker effect. Wolverine population declines and range shifts likely result from climate change and landscape change operating in tandem. We contend that similar results are likely for many species and that research that simultaneously examines climate change, landscape change, and the biotic landscape is warranted. Ecology research and species conservation plans that address these interactions are more likely to meet their objectives.
A study of performances of multipath height estimation algorithm for marine target imaging

In this paper, a new method is proposed to retrieve target reflectors heights for maritime surveillance applications. Multipath propagation over sea surface is used to retrieve the height information for each target reflectors. Firstly, radar raw data with multipath propagation are simulated. The back-scattered electric field from a marine scene is predicted with physical models for the environment and the target. The scene is made of given wind conditions, a linear sea surface and a boat, as a set of point reflectors. Multipath propagation is included with the so-called Four-Path Model. Secondly, height estimation of target reflectors is realized by estimating temporal delays between neighbouring paths of the multipath propagation pattern. Performances of the height estimation algorithm for only one reflector are studied with regards to noise levels.
The Role of Typhoid Toxin in Salmonella Typhi Virulence 

Unlike many of the nontyphoidal Salmonella serovars such as S. Typhimurium that cause restricted gastroenteritis, Salmonella Typhi is unique in that it causes life-threatening typhoid fever in humans. Despite the vast difference in disease outcomes that S. Typhi and S. Typhimurium cause in humans, there are few genomic regions that are unique to S. Typhi. Of these regions, the most notable is the small locus encoding typhoid toxin, an AB toxin that has several distinct characteristics that contribute to S. Typhi’s pathogenicity. As a result, typhoid toxin and its role in S. Typhi virulence have been studied in an effort to gain insight into potential treatment and prevention strategies. Given the rise of multidrug-resistant strains, research in this area has become increasingly important. This article discusses the current understanding of typhoid toxin and potential directions for future research endeavors in order to better understand the contribution of typhoid toxin to S. Typhi virulence.
Low-energy electronic properties of pairs of identical carbon nanotubes

The tight-binding model is employed to study the low-energy electronic properties of aligned pairs of identical single-wall carbon nanotubes with the intertube interactions. The rotational symmetry about the tube axes is totally broken, and the intertube interactions hybridize the atomic states on each tube to create new sub-bands. Sub-band spacing, sub-band curvature, band-edge states, and energy gaps are sensitive to stacking types and are also dependent on the radius and the chirality of the tubes. The systems could be metal, semimetal, or semiconductor depending on their stacking types. In particular, an armchair pair keeps the band structures linear like a single tube if the pair has a glide symmetry with respect to the plane between its constituent tubes. Breaking this symmetry makes the pair semimetallic or semiconducting. However, there are no such properties for chiral and zigzag pairs. The variations in electronic structures of these pairs are more complicated and more sensitive to the tube radii. Instead of being like a rope or a large bundle, the stacking-type dependent behavior is more similar to commensurate double-wall carbon nanotubes.
Dynamic imaging of surface acoustic waves in phononic crystals

Using ultrashort pulsed optical excitation and interferometric detection, we image ultrahigh- frequency surface acoustic waves on two-dimensional (2D) phononic crystals in the time domain. The samples consist of a square lattice of airfilled holes etched in a silicon substrate. Good agreement with time-domain finite element numerical simulations is obtained. The dispersion relation is derived and stop bands are revealed by means of Fourier transforms. The wave fields corresponding to acoustic eigenmodes at specific frequencies are also presented.
Classification of the SHA-3 Candidates

In this note we give an overview on the current state of the SHA-3 candidates. First, we classify all publicly known candidates and, second, we outline and summarize the performance data as given in the candidates documentation for $64$-bit and $32$-bit implementations. We define performance classes and classify the hash algorithms. Note, that this article will be updated as soon as new candidates arrive or new cryptanalytic results get published. Comments to the authors of this article are welcome.
Martensitic transformation from β to α′ and α″ phases in Ti–V alloys: A first-principles study

The ground state properties of the α′ and α″ martensitic phases and energetic pathways of the β → α′/α″ martensitic transformations in Ti–(0–30 at.%)V alloys were investigated by first-principles method in combination with virtual crystal approximation. The results show that lattice parameters with c / a of the α′ phase and lattice parameters with b / a , c / a of the α″ phase are significantly sensitive to composition, and the atomic shuffle y of the α″ phase decreases from that of the α′ phase toward that of the β phase with increasing V content in Ti–V alloys. The compositional α′/α″ phase boundary is about 10 at. % V, from the viewpoints of energetics and mechanical stability of these phases. The principal lattice strains of the β → α′ transformation are insensitive to the V content, while those of the β → α″ transformation change significantly with increasing V content. The volume variation for β → α′ increases, whereas that for β → α″ decreases with increasing V content in Ti–V alloys. The energetic pathway results show that the relative stability of the α′ and α″ phases decrease with increasing V content and temperature and that there is no energy barriers during the β → α′/α″ martensitic transformations at temperatures from 0 to 400 K.
Adaptation and Mal-Adaptation to Ambient Hypoxia; Andean, Ethiopian and Himalayan Patterns

The study of the biology of evolution has been confined to laboratories and model organisms. However, controlled laboratory conditions are unlikely to model variations in environments that influence selection in wild populations. Thus, the study of “fitness” for survival and the genetics that influence this are best carried out in the field and in matching environments. Therefore, we studied highland populations in their native environments, to learn how they cope with ambient hypoxia. The Andeans, African highlanders and Himalayans have adapted differently to their hostile environment. Chronic mountain sickness (CMS), a loss of adaptation to altitude, is common in the Andes, occasionally found in the Himalayas; and absent from the East African altitude plateau. We compared molecular signatures (distinct patterns of gene expression) of hypoxia-related genes, in white blood cells (WBC) from Andeans with (n = 10), without CMS (n = 10) and sea-level controls from Lima (n = 20) with those obtained from CMS (n = 8) and controls (n = 5) Ladakhi subjects from the Tibetan altitude plateau. We further analyzed the expression of a subset of these genes in Ethiopian highlanders (n = 8). In all subjects, we performed the studies at their native altitude and after they were rendered normoxic. We identified a gene that predicted CMS in Andeans and Himalayans (PDP2). After achieving normoxia, WBC gene expression still distinguished Andean and Himalayan CMS subjects. Remarkably, analysis of the small subset of genes (n = 8) studied in all 3 highland populations showed normoxia induced gene expression changes in Andeans, but not in Ethiopians nor Himalayan controls. This is consistent with physiologic studies in which Ethiopians and Himalayans show a lack of responsiveness to hypoxia of the cerebral circulation and of the hypoxic ventilatory drive, and with the absence of CMS on the East African altitude plateau.
Laser direct written silicon nanowires for electronic and sensing applications

Nam, Woongsik Ph.D., Purdue University, August 2016. Laser Direct Written Silicon Nanowires for Electronic and Sensing Applications. Major Professor: Xianfan Xu, School of Mechanical Engineering. Silicon nanowires are promising building blocks for high-performance electronics and chemical/biological sensing devices due to their ultra-small body and high surfaceto-volume ratios. However, the lack of the ability to assemble and position nanowires in a highly controlled manner still remains an obstacle to fully exploiting the substantial potential of nanowires. Here we demonstrate a one-step method to synthesize intrinsic and doped silicon nanowires for device applications. Sub-diffraction limited nanowires as thin as 60 nm are synthesized using laser direct writing in combination with chemical vapor deposition, which has the advantages of in-situ doping, catalyst-free growth, and precise control of position, orientation, and length. The synthesized nanowires have been fabricated into field effect transistors (FETs) and FET sensors. The FET sensors are employed to detect the proton concentration (pH) of an aqueous solution and highly sensitive pH sensing is demonstrated. Both topand back-gated silicon nanowire FETs are demonstrated and electrically characterized. In addition, modulation-doped nanowires are synthesized by changing dopant gases during the nanowire growth. The axial p-n junction nanowires are electrically characterized to demonstrate the diode behavior and the transition between dopant levels are measured using Kelvin probe force microscopy.