Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of ex vivo cytokine treatment on human cord blood engraftment in NOD‐scid mice

Umbilical cord blood transplantation is considered an alternative to traditional bone marrow transplantation for patients who do not have matched sibling donors. In this study, we examined the effects of ex vivo treatment of human cord blood cells with cytokine mixtures and assessed the ability of treated cells to engraft in NOD‐scid mice. We incubated the cord blood with a four‐factor cytokine mixture of interleukin (IL)‐3, IL‐6, IL‐11 and stem cell factor, or with a two‐factor cytokine mixture of thrombopoietin and flt‐3. Incubation of cord blood for 48 h with either cytokine mixture did not affect progenitor cell number or proliferative potential as measured by the high proliferative potential (HPP) assay. Cytokine‐treated cord blood injected into irradiated NOD‐scid mice resulted in multilineage human engraftment. Overall, incubation with cytokines resulted in variable levels of engraftment with different cord blood samples. Incubation of cord blood with the four‐factor cytokine mixture resulted in increased survival of irradiated NOD‐scid recipients. These results demonstrate that short‐term ex vivo treatment of human progenitor cells gives variable results on in vivo multipotential capabilities.
Analysis of N‐acylhomoserine lactones after alkaline hydrolysis and anion‐exchange solid‐phase extraction by capillary zone electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry

A quantitative, specific, and sensitive method for the determination of N‐acylhomoserine lactones (HSLs – a group of bacterial semiochemicals) in the form of their hydrolysis products (N‐acylhomoserines, HSs) is presented. Real samples were analyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry (CZE‐MS) after alkaline lactonolysis and extraction by mixed‐mode anion‐exchange solid‐phase extraction. The presented cleanup significantly speeds up the HSL extraction procedure, strongly reduces sample consumption, and is more selective compared to the commonly used liquid/liquid extraction. Completeness of the hydrolysis reaction was examined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This CZE‐MS method complements recently published capillary separation techniques (nano liquid chromatography‐MS, partial‐filling micellar electrokinetic chromatography‐MS, gas chromatography‐MS) and provides a possibility to differentiate quantitatively between the homoserines (as naturally occurring degradation products) besides the intact homoserine lactones. The method was found to be quantitative down to a concentration of 0.05 µg/mL (limit of quantification), while the limit of detection was determined with 0.01 µg/mL – sufficient for the analysis of culture supernatants.
Network-Destabilizing Attacks

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) sets up routes between the smaller networks that make up the Internet. Despite its crucial role, BGP is notoriously vulnerable to serious problems, including (1) propagation of bogus routing information due to attacks or misconfigurations, and (2) network instabilities in the form of persistent routing oscillations. The conditions required to avoid BGP instabilities are quite delicate. How, then, can we explain the observed stability of today's Internet in the face of common configuration errors and attacks? This work explains this phenomenon by first noticing that almost every observed attack and misconfiguration to date shares a common characteristic: even when a router announces egregiously bogus information, it will continue to announce the same bogus information for the duration of its attack/misconfiguration. We call these the "fixed-route attacks", and show that, while even simple fixed-route attacks can destabilize a network, the commercial routing policies used in today's Internet prevent such attacks from creating instabilities.
An agile and cooperative architecture for distributed manufacturing systems

World-wide competition among enterprises leads to the need for new systems to perform the control of distributed manufacturing systems, through the integration of information systems and self-organisation features, in order to adapt quickly to the environment changes. This paper presents an agile and cooperative architecture for distributed manufacturing systems based in the multiagent technology which implements some holonic and bionic concepts and supports a new control approach, including the re-engineering phase.
PEARL: Performance, Energy, and Reliability Balanced Dynamic Data Redistribution for Next Generation Disk Arrays

Contemporary disk arrays consist purely of hard disk drives, which normally provide huge storage capacities with low-cost and high-throughput for data-intensive applications. Nevertheless, they have some inhenrent disadvantages such as long access latencies, high annual disk replacement rates, fragile physical characteristics, and energy-inefficiency due to their build-in mechanical and electronic mechanisms. Flash-memory based solid state disks, on the other hand, although currently more expensive and inadequate in write cycles, offer much faster aread accesses and are much more robust and energy efficient. To combine the complementary merits of hard disks and flash disks, in this paper we propose a hybrid disk array architecture named HIT (hybrid disk storage) for data-intensive applications. Next, a dynamic data redistribution strategy called PEARL (performance, energy, and reliability balanced), which can periodically redistribute data between flash and hard disks to adapt to the changing data access patterns, is developed on top of the HIT architecture.
Efficient Stochastic Rendering of Static and Animated Volumes Using Visibility Sweeps

Stochastically solving the rendering integral (particularly visibility) is the de-facto standard for physically-based light transport but it is computationally expensive, especially when displaying heterogeneous volumetric data. In this work, we present efficient techniques to speed-up the rendering process via a novel visibility-estimation method in concert with an unbiased importance sampling (involving environmental lighting and visibility inside the volume), filtering, and update techniques for both static and animated scenes. Our major contributions include a progressive estimate of partial occlusions based on a fast sweeping-plane algorithm. These occlusions are stored in an octahedral representation, which can be conveniently transformed into a quadtree-based hierarchy suited for a joint importance sampling. Further, we propose sweep-space filtering, which suppresses the occurrence of fireflies and investigate different update schemes for animated scenes. Our technique is unbiased, requires little precomputation, is highly parallelizable, and is applicable to a various volume data sets, dynamic transfer functions, animated volumes and changing environmental lighting.
Nup116p and Nup100p are interchangeable through a conserved motif which constitutes a docking site for the mRNA transport factor Gle2p

Nup116p and Nup100p are highly related yeast GLFG nucleoporins, but only Nup116p is stoichiometrically bound to Gle2p, a previously identified mRNA export factor. A short Gle2p‐binding sequence within Nup116p (GLEBS; residues 110‐166) is sufficient and necessary to anchor Gle2p at the nuclear pores, whereas the carboxy‐terminal domain of Nup116p mediates its own nuclear pore complex (NPC) association. The GLEBS is evolutionarily conserved and found in rat/Xenopus Nup98 and an uncharacterized Caenorhabditis elegans ORF, but is absent from Nup100p. When the GLEBS is deleted from Nup116p, Gle2p dissociates from the nuclear envelope and clusters of herniated nuclear pores form. When the GLEBS is inserted into Nup100p, Nup100p‐GLEBS complements both the thermosensitive and NPC‐herniated phenotype of nup116− cells, and Gle2p is retargeted concomitantly to the NPCs. Thus, the in vivo function of Gle2p is strictly coupled to the short GLEBS within Nup116p which links this putative mRNA transport factor to the nuclear pores.
Visuo‐motor transformations for arm reaching

Visuomanual co‐ordination requires the merging of ocular and arm information in a common frame of reference. Here we consider behavioural evidence in humans for the use of a viewer‐centred frame in the specification of end point positions of reaching. We then review anatomical and neurophysiological data in the non‐human primate that indicate a prominent role of the parietal cortex in the process of multisensory fusion that leads to egocentric representations of space. Finally, we discuss the functional anatomy of the human parietal cortex in visuomanual co‐ordination as revealed by neuroimaging.
Navigating a 3D avatar using a single switch

Many users with severe motor impairments, such as quadriplegics, interact with computers using an indirect selection technique called switch access scanning. Switch scanning allows for iteratively selecting an input from a set of input options using a single switch input and which replaces the use of a keyboard or a mouse, which they may be unable to use. Navigating an avatar in a 3D virtual world using existing switch access scanning systems is slow and erroneous because these interfaces are non-linear and requires players to provide continuous (holding a key) and mixed inputs (holding two or more keys). Through the analysis of navigation behavior of eight able-bodied users, a new scanning system called hold-and-release was developed. Using simulation hold-and-release scanning was found to be significantly more efficient than existing scanning systems. Multistep selection was found to be most efficient for mixing inputs, but expanding the selection set has no approximation errors.
Cheaper is not always worse: strongly protective isolates of a defensive symbiont are less costly to the aphid host

Defences against parasites are typically associated with costs to the host that contribute to the maintenance of variation in resistance. This also applies to the defence provided by the facultative bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa, which protects its aphid hosts against parasitoid wasps while imposing life-history costs. To investigate the cost–benefit relationship within protected hosts, we introduced multiple isolates of H. defensa to the same genetic backgrounds of black bean aphids, Aphis fabae, and we quantified the protection against their parasitoid Lysiphlebus fabarum as well as the costs to the host (reduced lifespan and reproduction) in the absence of parasitoids. Surprisingly, we observed the opposite of a trade-off. Strongly protective isolates of H. defensa reduced lifespan and lifetime reproduction of unparasitized aphids to a lesser extent than weakly protective isolates. This finding has important implications for the evolution of defensive symbiosis and highlights the need for a better understanding of how strain variation in protective symbionts is maintained.
Phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity of Enterococcus species isolated from food in Southern Brazil

Enterococcus is an important group of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which inhabits the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. These microorganisms can also be found in large groups of foods where they can play a beneficial role during food maturation processes or, conversely, can be used as a food contamination indicator. These microorganisms have an additional importance in various aspects of clinical microbiology. The aim of this study was to investigate and determine the phenotypic and genetic diversity in 55 enterococci isolated from different food sources. Phenotypic characteristics based upon substrate hydrolysis differences were used to identify different Enterococcus species. Analysis of the resultant data divided these species into eight Enterococcus phenotype groups. E. faecalis was the food isolate species with the greatest phenotypic variability. Fifty‐five previously isolated Enterococcus strains were re‐confirmed as belonging to this genus by PCR techniques. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD‐PCR) was used to study the genetic variability using M13 primers and the resultant DNA fragments produced a database of different fingerprints. After statistical analyses of the RAPD‐PCR profiles, 42 patterns were obtained and 6 different Enterococcus RAPD clusters (ERC) were identified. Genetic diversity was highest in ERC I, which grouped together approximately 40% of the E. faecium and E. faecalis isolates obtained from dairy products. Samples isolated from meat and vegetables offered the greatest genotype variability. Results of the present study suggest the presence of both phenotypic and genotypic variability within enterococci strains isolated from diverse sources of food common to Southern Brazil. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Quality-Controlled Compression Method using Wavelet Transform for Electrocardiogram Signals

— This paper presents a new Quality-Controlled, wavelet based, compression method for electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Initially, an ECG signal is decomposed using the wavelet transform. Then, the resulting coefficients are iteratively thresholded to guarantee that a predefined goal percent root mean square difference (GPRD) is matched within tolerable boundaries. The quantization strategy of extracted non-zero wavelet coefficients (NZWC), according to the combination of RLE, HUFFMAN and arithmetic encoding of the NZWC and a resulting lookup table, allow the accomplishment of high compression ratios with good quality reconstructed signals.
Ammonia Contents and Desorption from Dusts Collected in Livestock Buildings

The objective of this study was to determine rates of ammonia desorption from sediment dust and ammonia levels in airborne dust in animal houses in order to explore the nature of ammonia in the dust particles. This is assumed to be important for obtaining better understanding of the role of dust in the perception of odor and the development of respiratory diseases in farmers’ lungs. Sediment dust samples were collected in swine and poultry houses. About 3 g of dust was packed between two glass fiber filters in a 37 mm dust sampler cassette and exposed to clean air at an airflow rate of 0.001m 3 min -1 . The ammonia emitted to the air was determined by using the 0.5% boric acid trap and indo-phenol method. On the basis of the obtained data, desorption models for ammonia desorption from the swine and the poultry dusts were developed. The results indicate that the ammonia molecules are strongly bound inside dust particles. The ammonia contents of airborne dust samples were determined by using distillation in alkaline water solution, the 0.5% boric acid trap and indo-phenol method. The ammonia contents in inhalable dust collected in dairy, poultry and farrowing houses ranged from 1 to 6 µg per mg of dust, i.e. 1,000 and 6,000 ppm on a weight basis, while about 7 µg NH3 per mg of dust, i.e. 7,000 ppm, was found in respirable dust. These results indicate that the dust particles are capable of carrying ammonia molecules. This may cause much higher local ammonia concentration at the points where the particles deposit, e.g. in the olfactory organ and the respiratory system, than it can cause by aerial ammonia concentration.
Combining Outputs of Multiple Japanese Named Entity Chunkers by Stacking

In this paper, we propose a method for learning a classifier which combines outputs of more than one Japanese named entity extractors. The proposed combination method belongs to the family of stacked generalizers, which is in principle a technique of combining outputs of several classifiers at the first stage by learning a second stage classifier to combine those outputs at the first stage. Individual models to be combined are based on maximum entropy models, one of which always considers surrounding contexts of a fixed length, while the other considers those of variable lengths according to the number of constituent morphemes of named entities. As an algorithm for learning the second stage classifier, we employ a decision list learning method. Experimental evaluation shows that the proposed method achieves improvement over the best known results with Japanese named entity extractors based on maximum entropy models.
Two New Diterpenoids from the Buds of Wikstroemia chamaedaphne

Two new diterpenoids, wikstroelide Q (1) and prostratin Q (5), together with three known diterpenoids, pimelea factors P2 (2), P3 (3), and prostratin (4), and five known lignans, (+)-epipioresinol (6), (+)-isolariciresinol (7), (−)-lariciresinol (8), (+)-epi-sesaminone (9), and prestegane B (10), were isolated from the buds of Wikstroemia chamaedaphne Meissn. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1–10 were evaluated for their cytotoxicities against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A549, MCF-7, SW480, and BEAS-2B cell lines in vitro.
A hierarchy of conditions for consensus solvability

In a previous paper we introduced the <i>condition-based</i> approach, consisting of identifying sets of input vectors, called <i>conditions,</i> for which there exists an asynchronous protocol solving consensus despite the occurrence of up to <i>f</i> process crashes, and characterized this set of conditions, @@@@<sup><i>wk</i></sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt>. Here, we investigate @@@@<sup><i>wk</i></sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt> from the complexity perspective, and show that this class consists of a hierarchy of classes of conditions, @@@@<sup>[<i>d</i>]</sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt>, where <i>d</i>, 0 ⪇ <i>d</i> ⪇ <i>f</i>, is the <i>degree</i> of the condition, each one strictly contained in the previous one. The value <i>f</i> - <i>d</i> represents the “<i>difficulty</i>” of the class @@@@<sup>[<i>d</i>]</sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt>: we present a generic condition-based protocol that can be instantiated with any <i>C</i> ∈ @@@@<sup>[<i>d</i>]</sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt>, and solve consensus with (2<i>n</i> + 1) [log<subscrpt>2</subscrpt>([(<i>f</i> - <i>d</i>)/2] + 1)] shared memory read/write operations per process. For each <i>d</i> we present two natural conditions, <i>C</i>1<sup>[<i>d</i>]</sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt> and <i>C</i>2<sup>[<i>d</i>]</sup><subscrpt><i>f</i></subscrpt>, that might be useful in practice, and we use them to show that the class containments stated above are strict. Various properties of the hierarchy are also derived. Mainly, it is shown that a class can be characterized in two equivalent but complementary ways: one is convenient for designing protocols while the other is for analyzing the class properties.
Hollow Waveguides 2.1 General Uniform Cylindrical Waveguides

Much work has been written on hollow waveguides [1–7]. Theory on guided waves dates back even to earlier dates as alluded to in Chapter 1. Hollow metallic waveguides, when filled with air, allow for high power microwave transmission. However, a hollow electromagnetic waveguide, unlike an acoustic waveguide, has a lower cutoff frequency of operation. The way to counter this is to use a two-conductor waveguide such as a coaxial waveguide. The support of the inner conductor in such waveguides requires the filling of the waveguide with dielectric materials. It will be shown that when a waveguide is homogeneously filled with materials, the theory is essentially the same as that for one which is hollow. General uniform cylindrical waveguides include transmission lines, and hollow waveguides, as well as multi-conductor waveguides. If the regions between the conductors are filled with a homogeneous material, the waveguide can support purely transverse electric (TE), transverse magnetic (TM) or transverse electromagnetic (TEM) modes. If the wave is TEM, the waveguide is operating in the transmission line mode. It can be shown that a hollow waveg-uide cannot support a TEM wave. Therefore, a transmission line needs to have at least two conductors. Because the fields of a general uniform cylindrical waveguide can be decomposed into TE and TM types, we can characterize the TE wave with thê z-component of the magnetic field or H z , since H z = 0 for this type of wave. Similarly, we can characterize the TM wave with thê z-component of the magnetic field or E z since E z = 0 for this type of wave. We shall derive the equations governing the E z and H z components of the fields in a general, uniform cylindrical waveguide filled with a homogeneous material. We shall call such waveguides hollow waveguides. We let [6]
The family of the multiple sclerosis patient: A psychosocial perspective

The present review addresses some of the issues pertaining to the family whose member suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), the implications that arise, and the potential therapeutic interventions. The family role can be better conceptualized from a psychosocial view mainly in a systemic perspective. From this point of view, MS can be classified, in the context of chronic illnesses, according to several ‘non-medical’ characteristics of the disease, such as age at onset and course. Furthermore, MS challenges the individual roles, needs and coping styles of all members of the family, and establishes a frail balance in the relationships, which needs to be reset. Future research ought to focus on specific problems, such as the identification of members of MS families at risk of developing depression and anxiety, and application of the optimal psychotherapeutic interventions. Research on psychosocial and psycho-educational interventions that improve social support and decrease burden of illness would certainly ameliorate clinical practice.
Cardiac Responses to Increased Afterload: State‐of‐the‐Art Review

B EFORE the advent of effective antihypcrtensive therapy, heart failure was the most common cause of death from hypertension. Today, hypertension remains the most common cause of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in adults*• and the most common precursor of congestive heart failure. • It has usually been assumed that the link between increased arterial pressure and cardiac dysfunction was straightforward, a mechanical proposition between an increased load and an overworked pump. As happens so often, the relationship proved much more complex. It has been proven that the heart does not respond similarly to all types of overload, that cardiac hypertrophy is not a homogenous entity,*' and that arterial pressure is not linearly related to cardiac dysfunction in all types or at all stages of hypertension. " Pressure overload evokes cardiac responses that are different from volume overload or intense exercise. * n Whether all types of pressure overload evoke the same type of cardiac responses is one of the questions we address, as is the closely related question of whether all types of hypertension are associated with the same pattern of cardiac hypertrophy. The proposition that hypertension is not a single or homogeneous disease is universally accepted in discussions of the genesis and mechanisms of the rise in arterial pressure; it has not usually been advanced in the analysis of its cardiac consequences. This discussion is not only of theoretical value; its clinical implications may lead to a fundamental reevaluation of our therapeutic aims and guidelines. The recent observations of significant cardiac hypertrophy in borderline hypertension* u showed that structural myocardial changes are not limited to advanced stages of the disease, and that cardiac prob-