Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intrathymic differentiation of V gamma 3 T cells

Whereas there is considerable information on the phenotypic and functional maturation of T cell receptor (TCR) alpha/beta thymocytes, comparatively little is known of the maturational processes that affect development of TCR-gamma/delta thymocytes. One class of gamma/delta T cells, those bearing the V gamma 3 gene product, are generated only during the early fetal stages of thymic development, and then migrate to the skin. Here we examine the intrathymic differentiation of these V gamma 3+ cells. The earliest V gamma 3 cells to appear in the thymus expressed low levels of TCR (V gamma 3low) and high levels of heat stable antigen (HSA). Over the next few days, V gamma 3+ thymocytes appeared which expressed high levels of TCR (V gamma 3high) and very low levels of HSA. The antigens CD5, CD45RB, and MEL14 were also differentially expressed on V gamma 3low versus V gamma 3high thymocytes, but the shift in expression was the opposite as compared with immature and mature TCR-alpha/beta thymocytes. Transfer experiments of sorted V gamma 3low/HSAhigh thymocytes to SCID thymic lobes showed that these cells were indeed the precursors of V gamma 3high/HSAlow thymocytes. The phenotype of the V gamma 3high thymocytes was similar to that of the postthymic V gamma 3+ cells found in the skin of adult mice. The differentiation of V gamma 3low in V gamma 3high thymocytes was also observed in fetal thymic organ culture. Addition of cyclosporin A (CsA) to these cultures had little effect on the appearance of V gamma 3low/HSAhigh cells, but blocked the appearance of V gamma 3high/HSAlow cells. These results show that, like alpha/beta T cells, V gamma 3+ thymocytes differentiate from TCRlow precursors to cells with a mature phenotype and that CsA inhibits this transition.
The geometry of entanglement: metrics, connections and the geometric phase

Using the natural connection equivalent to the SU(2) Yang? Mills instanton on the quaternionic Hopf fibration of S7over the quaternionic projective space HP1 S4 with an SU(2) S3 fibre, the geometry of entanglement for two qubits is investigated. The relationship between base and fibre i.e. the twisting of the bundle corresponds to the entanglement of the qubits. The measure of entanglement can be related to the length of the shortest geodesic with respect to the Mannoury? Fubini? Study metric on HP1 between an arbitrary entangled state, and the separable state nearest to it. Using this result, an interpretation of the standard Schmidt decomposition in geometric terms is given. Schmidt states are the nearest and furthest separable ones obtained by parallel transport along the geodesic passing through the entangled state. Some examples showing the correspondence between the anholonomy of the connection and entanglement via the geometric phase are shown. Connections with important notions such as the Bures metric and Uhlmann's connection, the hyperbolic structure for density matrices and anholonomic quantum computation are also pointed out.
Dynamic programming: a method for taking advantage of technical terminology in Japanese documents

We introduce a new similarity measure based on dynamic programming, intended for technical terms such as machine translation system, which are quite common in technical writing. We compare our proposal with systems which use standard IDF cosine similarity, but on different vocabularies. The dynamic programming method is relatively strong when the query contains a single long technical term, and none of the words in the term are particularly good keywords.
Single-Molecule Experiments in Vitro and in Silico

Single-molecule force experiments in vitro enable the characterization of the mechanical response of biological matter at the nanometer scale. However, they do not reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying mechanical function. These can only be readily studied through molecular dynamics simulations of atomic structural models: “in silico” (by computer analysis) single-molecule experiments. Steered molecular dynamics simulations, in which external forces are used to explore the response and function of macromolecules, have become a powerful tool complementing and guiding in vitro single-molecule experiments. The insights provided by in silico experiments are illustrated here through a review of recent research in three areas of protein mechanics: elasticity of the muscle protein titin and the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin; linker-mediated elasticity of the cytoskeleton protein spectrin; and elasticity of ankyrin repeats, a protein module found ubiquitously in cells but with an as-yet unclear function.
Polysaccharide surface antigens expressed by nonmucoid isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from cystic fibrosis patients

We tested nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients for the expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) serotype antigens, serum sensitivity, and production of mucoid exopolysaccharide (MEP). When all nonmucoid isolates were compared with a set of random mucoid isolates, 20 of 52 (38%) nonmucoid isolates were typable and serum resistant, compared with 13 of 51 (24%) mucoid isolates (P = 0.16 by chi-square analysis). However, nonmucoid strains from CF patients colonized only with nonmucoid strains were more frequently typable and serum resistant (67%) than were nonmucoid isolates from patients cocolonized with mucoid strains (31%) (P = 0.012, Fisher exact test). An inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay done with bacterial extracts, a direct-whole-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay done with affinity-purified antibody to MEP, and immune electron microscopy all demonstrated production of MEP by all nonmucoid P. aeruginosa isolates tested, including nonmucoid revertants of mucoid strains. No other bacterial species tested positive in these assays. These findings suggest that MEP is produced by all P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from CF patients, that the initial colonizing nonmucoid strains produce a smooth LPS, and that once LPS-rough, mucoid strains appear in the sputum, the predominant LPS phenotype is rough regardless of colony morphology.
More than a mentor: The role of social connectedness in early career and experienced teachers’ intention to leave

Purpose – The number of early career teachers leaving the profession continues to be an ongoing issue across the globe. This pressing concern has resulted in increased attention to the instructional and psychological conditions necessary to retain early career educators. However, less formal attention has been paid to the social infrastructure in which early career teachers find themselves. The purpose of this paper is to foreground the role of social capital and its effect on job attitudes and educators’ intention to leave the profession. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 736 teachers within ten secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). Using social network and multilevel moderated mediation analysis techniques, the relationships between teachers’ social connectedness, job attitudes, and the intention to leave the profession for both novice and experienced teachers were analyzed. Findings – Findings indicate that being socially connected to other educators within the school is associa.
Roads to dysfunction: argininase II contributes to oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced attenuation of endothelial NO production.

See related article, pages 951–960 Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is considered to be the strongest proatherogenic lipoprotein. OxLDL is rapidly taken up by endothelial cells and macrophages and via the steps of foam cell formation and cell death, oxLDL eventually accumulates in the lipid core of atherosclerotic plaques.1 The interaction of oxLDL with cells is mediated by several receptors.2 Members of the scavenger receptor family predominate in macrophages,3 whereas endothelial cells mainly take up oxLDL by the lectin-like ox-LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1). 4 On binding to LOX-1, oxLDL activates a multitude of signaling cascades involving MAP kinases,5,6 protein kinase C (PKC),7,8 and protein kinase B9 in endothelial cells. The consequence of this cellular activation, is apoptosis and superoxide anion production, the latter originating from the NADPH oxidase and uncoupling of the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). OxLDL therefore is a strong inducer of endothelial dysfunction, a state in which the endothelium, instead of generating NO, produces superoxide anions. OxLDL also modulates the specific activity of NOS. It increases caveolin I expression and the interaction of NOS with this protein impairs NO production.10 Furthermore, oxLDL modulates PKC activity and expression and this family of kinases has been shown to acutely attenuate eNOS-dependent NO production and to promote eNOS uncoupling during prolonged exposure times.11 Several observations suggest that the supply of eNOS with the substrate l-arginine is impaired in the presence of oxLDL: In hypercholesterolemia, supplementation of l-arginine improves endothelium-dependent relaxation and NO production;12,13 l-arginine also attenuates the development of atherosclerosis,14 and normalizes leukocyte adhesion …
Flyback inverter controlled by sensorless current MPPT for photovoltaic power system

This paper presents a flyback inverter controlled by sensorless current maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a small photovoltaic (PV) power system. Although the proposed system has small output power such as 300 W, a few sets of small PV power systems can be easily connected in parallel to yield higher output power. When a PV power system is constructed with a number of small power systems, the total system cost will increase and will be a matter of concern. To overcome this difficulty, this paper proposes a PV system that uses no expensive dc current sensor but utilizes the method of estimating the PV current from the PV voltage. The paper shows that the application of this novel sensorless current flyback inverter to an MPPT-operated PV system exhibits satisfactory MPPT performance similar to the one exhibited by the system with a dc current sensor as well. This paper also deals with the design method and the operation of the unique flyback inverter with center-tapped secondary winding.
Root Traits and Phenotyping Strategies for Plant Improvement

Roots are crucial for nutrient and water acquisition and can be targeted to enhance plant productivity under a broad range of growing conditions. A current challenge for plant breeding is the limited ability to phenotype and select for desirable root characteristics due to their underground location. Plant breeding efforts aimed at modifying root traits can result in novel, more stress-tolerant crops and increased yield by enhancing the capacity of the plant for soil exploration and, thus, water and nutrient acquisition. Available approaches for root phenotyping in laboratory, greenhouse and field encompass simple agar plates to labor-intensive root digging (i.e., shovelomics) and soil boring methods, the construction of underground root observation stations and sophisticated computer-assisted root imaging. Here, we summarize root architectural traits relevant to crop productivity, survey root phenotyping strategies and describe their advantages, limitations and practical value for crop and forage breeding programs.
HIV Envelope Protein Inhibits MHC Class I Presentation of a Cytomegalovirus Protective Epitope1

CTL recognize peptides that derive from viral protein Ags by proteolytic processing and are presented by MHC class I molecules. In this study we tested whether coexpression of viral Ags in the same cell leads to competition between them. To this end, two Ld-restricted epitopes derived from HIV-1 envelope gp160 (ENV) and from CMV pp89 phosphoprotein were coexpressed. HIV ENV strain IIIB, but not MN variant, impaired recognition by specific CTL of CMV pp89 epitope 9pp89. Susceptibility to inhibition after ENV coexpression was inversely related to the amount of antigenic 9pp89 peptide processed from different antigenic constructs. In line with it, competition decreased the yield of naturally processed antigenic 9pp89 peptide bound to MHC class I molecules in coinfected cells. Also, point mutants of the presenting MHC class I molecule differed in their competition pattern. Collectively, the data imply that competition operates at the step of MHC-peptide complex assembly or stabilization. We conclude that, although not the rule, in certain combinations there is interference between different Ags expressed in the same cell and presented by the same MHC class I allele. These studies have implications for vaccine development and for understanding immunodominance.
A Dynamic Solution for Association Rules Mining

We consider the problem of discovering association rules between items in a large database of sales transactions. We present a new algorithm for solving the problem that is fundamentally different from the known algorithms. This algorithm solves most of the major problems of well known association rules mining algorithms like Apriori and FP-tree. In this algorithm we generated mutually independent candidates as per our requirement in a single scan. It is very flexible to use in interactive mining system. During the interactive mining process, users may change the threshold of support according to the rules. In our algorithm once candidates are generated we can change the support without repeating the whole process. It is suitable for incremental mining. Since as time goes on databases keep changing, new datasets may be inserted into the database. In our algorithm insertion of these datasets is possible without repeating of the whole process. We can generate the candidates for required items and required itemsets in a single scan. This makes effective memory utilization and improves the performance.
Advances in ischemic stroke treatment: neuroprotective and combination therapies

Thrombolysis with intravenous alteplase (recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator) continues to be the sole recourse for acute ischemic stroke therapy, provided that patients seek treatment preferably within 3 h of stroke onset. The narrow window of efficacy, coupled with the significant risk of hemorrhage and the high mortality rate, preclude the use of alteplase beyond this time frame. Moreover, in part because of safety concerns, only a small percentage (6 – 15%) of eligible patients is treated with alteplase. Clearly, safer and more effective treatments that focus on improving the shortcomings of the present thrombolysis for stroke need to be identified. Therefore, newer thrombolytics are being developed with the goal of minimizing side effects, while also shortening the time of cerebral reperfusion and extending the therapeutic window of efficacy. Besides thrombolytics, new and potentially useful drugs and devices are also being studied either as monotherapeutic agents or for use in conjunction with alteplase. In animal models of stroke, neuroprotective agents that affect various components of the ischemic injury cascade that results in neurodegeneration have shown promise for the latter. Examples of such agents include spin traps that block oxidative stress, metalloprotease inhibitors that prevent vascular damage, anti-inflammatory drugs that suppress inflammation and transcranial infrared laser irradiation, which promotes recovery of function. Ideally, a successful combination of neuroprotectant (drug or device) and thrombolytic therapy for stroke would minimize the side effects of thrombolysis followed by supplementary neuroprotection thereafter.
Vitamin C and oral health.

Maintaining natural dentition is a realistic goal given today's improved caries control and attention to good oral hygiene. Expanding knowledge in the area of periodontal diseases provides further insight into health promotion practices which can be effective in preventing tooth loss. Vitamin C's role in maintaining the health of teeth and gingivae remains unchallenged. Now clinical evidence indicates that vitamin C functions in improving host defence mechanisms and is thereby implicated in preserving periodontal health. Common sense tells us that the monitoring of the vitamin C status of individuals, especially those at high risk (e.g., diabetics, smokers, elderly, etc.) for inadequate intakes, will yield positive results for periodontal health. Patient education programs that stress the importance of good nutrition, while at the same time providing practical information for the selection of a well balanced diet, are simple measures that will benefit many.
Effects of selection index coefficients that ignore reliability on economic weights and selection responses during practical selection

Objective In practical breeding, selection is often performed by ignoring the accuracy of evaluations and applying economic weights directly to the selection index coefficients of genetically standardized traits. The denominator of the standardized component trait of estimated genetic evaluations in practical selection varies with its reliability. Whereas theoretical methods for calculating the selection index coefficients of genetically standardized traits account for this variation, practical selection ignores reliability and assumes that it is equal to unity for each trait. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of ignoring the accuracy of the standardized component trait in selection criteria on selection responses and economic weights in retrospect. Methods Theoretical methods were presented accounting for reliability of estimated genetic evaluations for the selection index composed of genetically standardized traits. Results Selection responses and economic weights in retrospect resulting from practical selection were greater than those resulting from theoretical selection accounting for reliability when the accuracy of the estimated breeding value (EBV) or genomically enhanced breeding value (GEBV) was lower than those of the other traits in the index, but the opposite occurred when the accuracy of the EBV or GEBV was greater than those of the other traits. This trend was more conspicuous for traits with low economic weights than for those with high weights. Conclusion Failure of the practical index to account for reliability yielded economic weights in retrospect that differed from those obtained with the theoretical index. Our results indicated that practical indices that ignore reliability delay genetic improvement. Therefore, selection practices need to account for reliability, especially when the reliabilities of the traits included in the index vary widely.
Evolutionary perspectives on human diet and nutrition

O n October 13 and 14, 2009, 16 scholars from a variety of different disciplines took part in a workshop in Berlin to discuss evolutionary dimensions of human nutrition. The workshop was one of five related to the overall theme of ‘‘Evolution and Diseases of Civilization’’ organized by Randolph Nesse (Michigan) and sponsored by the Volkswagen Stiftung and the Brandenberg Academy of Arts and Sciences. The goal of the workshop was to draw together different perspectives on the evolution of the human diet and to discuss areas of consensus and disagreement, issues warranting further research, and strategies for establishing more collaborative research that will integrate theory and methods from different disciplines. The participants included researchers from North America and Europe; they represented such diverse fields as paleoanthropology, human biology and ecology, human genetics, nutritional science, and biomedical and clinical research. The group consisted of Loren Cordain (Colorado State), Ann Gibbons (Science magazine), Kristen Hawkes (Utah), William Leonard (Northwestern), Robert Perlman (Chicago), Andreas Pfeiffer (Charité Berlin), Barbara Piperata (Ohio State), Michael Power (Smithsonian National Zoological Park), Michael Richards (British Columbia), Josh Snodgrass (Oregon), Matt Sponheimer (Colorado), Jay Stock (Cambridge), Mark Thomas (University College London), Peter Ungar (Arkansas), Claudia Valeggia (Pennsylvania), and Jonathan Wells (University College London). Discussions were based on three key themes: diet and nutrition in earlier human evolution, recent human evolution and dietary adaptations, and the origins of ‘‘diseases of the modern world. ’’ DIET AND NUTRITION IN EARLY HUMAN EVOLUTION
Stromal and immune cells in gut fibrosis: the myofibroblast and the scarface

Post-inflammatory scarring is the end-result of excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation and tissue architectural destruction. It represents a failure to effectively remodel ECM and achieve proper reinstitution and healing during chronic relapsing inflammatory processes. Scarring may affect the functionality of any organ, and in the case of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated fibrosis leads to stricture formation and often surgery to remove the affected bowel. The activated myofibroblast is the final effector cell that overproduces ECM under the influence of various mediators generated by an intense interplay of classic and non-classic immune cells. This review focuses on how proinflammatory mediators from various sources produced in different stages of intestinal inflammation can form profibrotic pathways that eventually lead to tissue scarring through sustained activation of myofibroblasts.
A Replication Study for the Association of rs726252 in PAPPA2 with Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip in Chinese Han Population

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a common developmental hip disorder, which ranges from mild acetabulum malformation to irreducible hip dislocation. A previous study suggested a significant association of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPPA2) with DDH susceptibility in Chinese Han population. But with the consideration of the sample size, the association was still debatable. To confirm the association of the reported single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in PAPPA2, rs726252 with DDH, we conducted a case-control study in a larger number of subjects. We genotyped rs726252 in 697 DDH subjects and 707 control subjects by TaqMan assay. The association between this SNP and DDH was evaluated statistically. No significant difference was found in any comparison of genotype distribution nor allele frequency between cases and controls. Our replication study indicated that the association between rs726252 and DDH in Chinese Han population was debatable. The association between PAPPA2 and DDH should be evaluated by additional studies.
Does Founder CEO Status Affect Firm Risk Taking?

Grounded in the strategic leadership literature and upper echelons theory, this study proposes that founder CEOs tend to take more risks than agent CEOs because of the former’s overconfidence. We further suggest that the relationship between founder CEO status and firm risk taking can be moderated by certain internal or external factors that influence just how overconfident a CEO might be. Our theoretical predictions are well supported by a large survey data set on Chinese CEOs. Specifically, the positive relationship between founder CEO status and firm risk taking weakens when the CEO is younger, when the CEO also chairs the board of directors, and when the CEO’s task environment is less uncertain, less complex, and more munificent.
Contact printing of compositionally graded CdSxSe1−x nanowire parallel arrays for tunable photodetectors

Spatially composition-graded CdSxSe1−x (x = 0–1) nanowires are grown and transferred as parallel arrays onto Si/SiO2 substrates by a one-step, directional contact printing process. Upon subsequent device fabrication, an array of tunable-wavelength photodetectors is demonstrated. From the spectral photoconductivity measurements, the cutoff wavelength for the device array, as determined by the bandgap, is shown to cover a significant portion of the visible spectrum. The ability to transfer a collection of crystalline semiconductor nanowires while preserving the spatially graded composition may enable a wide range of applications, such as tunable lasers and photodetectors, efficient photovoltaics, and multiplexed chemical sensors.