Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel 95-kD Protein Is Located in a Linker between Cytoplasmic Microtubules and Basal Bodies in a Green Flagellate and Forms Striated Filaments In Vitro

The flagellar basal apparatus comprises the basal bodies and the attached fibrous structures, which together form the organizing center for the cytoskeleton in many flagellated cells. Basal apparatus were isolated from the naked green flagellate Spermatozopsis similis and shown to be composed of several dozens of different polypeptides including a protein band of 95 kD. Screening of a cDNA library of S. similis with a polyclonal antibody raised against the 95-kD band resulted in a full-length clone coding for a novel protein of 834 amino acids (90.3 kD). Sequence analysis identified nonhelical NH2- and COOH-terminal domains flanking a central domain of ∼650 residues, which was predicted to form a series of coiled-coils interrupted by short spacer segments. Immunogold labeling using a polyclonal antibody raised against the bacterially expressed 95-kD protein exclusively decorated the striated, wedge-shaped fibers, termed sinister fibers (sf-fibers), attached to the basal bodies of S. similis. Striated fibers with a periodicity of 98 nm were assembled in vitro from the purified protein expressed from the cloned cDNA indicating that the 95-kD protein could be a major component of the sf-fibers. This structure interconnects specific triplets of the basal bodies with the microtubular bundles that emerge from the basal apparatus. The sf-fibers and similar structures, e.g., basal feet or satellites, described in various eukaryotes including vertebrates, may be representative for cytoskeletal elements involved in positioning of basal bodies/centrioles with respect to cytoskeletal microtubules and vice versa.
Okapi in TIPS : The Changing Context of Information Retr ieval

In this paper the changing context of information retrieval is discussed by examining the role of the Okapi text retrieval system in the “Tools for Innovative Publishing in Science” (TIPS) project. TIPS project poses a number of new challenges for end-user probabilistic retrieval, including fieldbased searching, Web access, and integration with other software. These and some other problems involved in designing a sophisticated Web-based best match retrieval system are highlighted. The architecture of the implemented Okapi Web system, its integration with the other systems that comprise the TIPS portal and design and evaluation of the user interface are discussed.
Comparative transfection studies of human ovarian carcinoma cells in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo with poly(2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)‐based polyplexes

Poly(2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (p(DMAEMA)) can be used successfully for in vitro transfection of different cell lines, including the OVCAR‐3 human ovarian carcinoma cell line. The aim of this study was to investigate whether it is possible to transfect OVCAR‐3 cells in vivo with polyplexes containing p(DMAEMA).
An Asymmetric Proximal Decomposition Method for Convex Programming with Linearly Coupling Constraints

The problems studied are the separable variational inequalities with linearly coupling constraints. Some existing decomposition methods are very problem specific, and the computation load is quite costly. Combining the ideas of proximal point algorithm (PPA) and augmented Lagrangian method (ALM), we propose an asymmetric proximal decomposition method (AsPDM) to solve a wide variety separable problems. By adding an auxiliary quadratic term to the general Lagrangian function, our method can take advantage of the separable feature. We also present an inexact version of AsPDM to reduce the computation load of each iteration. In the computation process, the inexact version only uses the function values. Moreover, the inexact criterion and the step size can be implemented in parallel. The convergence of the proposed method is proved, and numerical experiments are employed to show the advantage of AsPDM.
MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION AND NDE USING FOCUSED SLANTED TRANSMISSION MODE OF AIR-COUPLED ULTRASOUND

Results are reported of an experimental study and NDE applications for the focused slanted transmission mode (FSTM) of air-coupled ultrasound. The FSTM is based on the “resonance” transmission of an acoustic wave through the sample due to Lamb mode excitation and re-radiation. For oblique incidence, the azimuth rotation of the sample changes the direction and phase velocity of the plate wave propagating in anisotropic material. It was shown that to discern the in-plain elastic anisotropy of the plate-like sample one could use the measurements of amplitude and phase of the FSTM-output signal as functions of the azimuth angle. Such an interference technique is shown to be extremely sensitive in discerning the directions of reinforcement in composites and orientation of crystalline Si-wafers. The mechanisms of substantial contrast enhancement demonstrated for the FSTM C-scan imaging of the cracked defects and delaminations in polymers and composites also are discussed.
Mobile robot map making using sonar

This article describes a method of producing high-resolution maps of an indoor environment with an autonomous mobile robot equipped with sonar range-finding sensors. This method is based on investigating obstacles in the near vicinity of a mobile robot. The mobile robot examines the straight line segments extracted from the sonar range data describing obstacles near the robot. The mobile robot then moves parallel to the straight line sonar segments, in close proximity to the obstacles, continually applying sonar barrier test. The sonar barrier test exploits the physical constraints of sonar data, and eliminates noisy data. This test determines whether or not a sonar line segment is a true obstacle edge or a false reflection. Low resolution sonar sensors can be used with the method described. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated using a Denning Corp. Mobile Robot, equipped with a ring of Polaroid Corp. Ultrasonic Rangefinders.
Biochemical and genetic characterization of enterocin P, a novel sec-dependent bacteriocin from Enterococcus faecium P13 with a broad antimicrobial spectrum

Enterocin P is a new bacteriocin produced by Enterococcus faecium P13 isolated from a Spanish dry-fermented sausage. Enterocin P inhibited most of tested spoilage and food-borne gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, and Clostridium botulinum. Enterocin P is produced during growth in MRS broth from 16 to 45 degrees C; it is heat resistant (60 min at 100 degrees C; 15 min at 121 degrees C) and can withstand exposure to pH between 2.0 and 11.0, freeze-thawing, lyophilization, and long-term storage at 4 and -20 degrees C. The bacteriocin was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, cation-exchange, hydrophobic-interaction, and reverse-phase liquid chromatography. The sequence of 43 amino acids of the N terminus was obtained by Edman degradation. DNA sequencing analysis of a 755-bp region revealed the presence of two consecutive open reading frames (ORFs). The first ORF encodes a 71-amino-acid protein containing a hydrophobic N-terminal sec-dependent leader sequence of 27 amino acids followed by the amino acid sequence corresponding to the purified and sequenced enterocin P. The bacteriocin is apparently synthesized as a prepeptide that is cleaved immediately after the Val-Asp-Ala residues (positions -3 to -1), resulting in the mature bacteriocin consisting of 44 amino acids, and with a theoretical molecular weight of 4,493. A second ORF, encoding a putative immunity protein composed of 88 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 9,886, was found immediately downstream of the enterocin P structural gene. Enterocin P shows a strong antilisterial activity and has the consensus sequence found in the pediocin-like bacteriocins; however, enterocin P is processed and secreted by the sec-dependent pathway.
Housing status among formerly homeless dually diagnosed adults.

OBJECTIVE Residential outcomes of homeless adults with severe mental illness and a substance use disorder were studied over 18 months during which participants received integrated dual diagnosis services and housing supports based on a continuum model. METHODS Interviews with 158 participants at baseline and at six-, 12-, and 18-month follow-ups assessed housing status, residential history, substance abuse and progress toward recovery, psychiatric symptoms, and quality of life. Complete data were available for 122 participants. If participants lived continuously in high-quality housing with no housing loss or nights of homelessness during the final six months of the study, they were classified as having stable housing. RESULTS Of the 122 participants for whom complete data were available, 64 (52 percent) achieved stable housing. Most participants who achieved stable housing first entered staffed and supervised housing and then moved to independent arrangements by the end of the study. Stable housing during the final evaluation period was associated with lower substance use, greater progress toward substance abuse recovery, and higher quality of life. Final housing status was not predicted by baseline variables but was predicted by progress toward recovery during months 0 to 6 and 6 to 12 and by less severe drug use during months 6 to 12. Participants who abused no illicit drugs during months 6 to 12 were almost three times as likely to achieve stable housing as those who abused illicit drugs. CONCLUSIONS Housing stability is strongly mediated by substance abuse and progress toward recovery. Nevertheless, when formerly homeless persons with dual diagnoses are provided integrated dual diagnosis treatment, they can gradually achieve stable housing.
Blocking vs. Non-Blocking Coordinated Checkpointing for Large-Scale Fault Tolerant MPI

A long-term trend in high-performance computing is the increasing number of nodes in parallel computing platforms, which entails a higher failure probability. Fault programming environments should be used to guarantee the safe execution of critical applications. Research in fault tolerant MPI has led to the development of several fault tolerant MPI environments. Different approaches are being proposed using a variety of fault tolerant message passing protocols based on coordinated checkpointing or message logging. The most popular approach is with coordinated checkpointing. In the literature, two different concepts of coordinated checkpointing have been proposed: blocking and non-blocking. However they have never been compared quantitatively and their respective scalability remains unknown. The contribution of this paper is to provide the first comparison between these two approaches and a study of their scalability. We have implemented the two approaches within the MPICH environments and evaluate their performance using the NAS parallel benchmarks
Advanced glazing and associated materials for solar and building applications: International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Program Task 18

Following a program definition phase of 2 years, Task 18 of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating & Cooling program commenced a 5 year research phase in April 1992. Task 18 investigates a wide range of advanced glazing materials and glazing systems which include monolithic and granular aerogels, transparent insulation materials, chromogenic materials, evacuated glazings, low-emittance coatings, solar collector covers, angular selective transmittance thin films, holographic and light guide materials, and frame and edge seal technology. In addition to materials-centered research, Task 18 concentrates on measurement of key glazing properties such as total energy transmittance, U-value, and spectral directional optical properties, and through the use of building energy analysis software tools the identification of appropriate applications, control strategies, and energy and environmental benefits to be derived from advanced glazing products. Fifteen OECD countries are participating in Task 18 which is led by the United Kingdom.
Agent metaphor for machine translation mediated communication

Machine translation is increasingly used to support multilingual communication. Because of unavoidable translation errors, multilingual communication cannot accurately transfer information. We propose to shift from the transparent channel metaphor to the human-interpreter (agent) metaphor. Instead of viewing machine translation mediated communication as a transparent channel, the interpreter (agent) encourages the dialog participants to collaborate, as their interactivity will be helpful in reducing the number of translation errors, the noise of the channel. We examine the translation issues raised by multilingual communication, and analyze the impact of interactivity on the elimination of translation errors. We propose an implementation of the agent metaphor, which promotes interactivity between dialog participants and the machine translator. We design the architecture of our agent, analyze the interaction process, describe decision support and autonomous behavior, and provide an example of repair strategy preparation. We conduct an English-Chinese communication task experiment on tangram arrangement. The experiment shows that, compared to the transparent-channel metaphor, our agent metaphor reduced human communication effort by 21.6%.
Sex Differences in the Gut Microbiome Drive Hormone-Dependent Regulation of Autoimmunity

Mighty Male Microbes Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to an individual's susceptibility to autoimmune disease, but the specific environmental influences are not well characterized. Markle et al. (p. 1084, published online 17 January; see the Perspective by Flak et al.) explored how microbial factors, in particular the gut microbiota, influence susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in mice. In the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of type 1 diabetes, female mice are significantly more susceptible to disease than males; however, this difference was not apparent under germ-free conditions. Transfer of cecal contents from male NOD mice to female NOD mice prior to disease onset protected against pancreatic islet inflammation, autoantibody production, and the development of diabetes and was associated with increased testosterone in female mice. Blocking androgen receptor activity abrogated protection. Thus, the microbiota may be able to regulate sex hormones and influence an individual's susceptibility to autoimmunity. In mice, the gut microbiota influences levels of sex hormones and the development of autoimmune disease. [Also see Perspective by Flak et al.] Microbial exposures and sex hormones exert potent effects on autoimmune diseases, many of which are more prevalent in women. We demonstrate that early-life microbial exposures determine sex hormone levels and modify progression to autoimmunity in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Colonization by commensal microbes elevated serum testosterone and protected NOD males from T1D. Transfer of gut microbiota from adult males to immature females altered the recipient's microbiota, resulting in elevated testosterone and metabolomic changes, reduced islet inflammation and autoantibody production, and robust T1D protection. These effects were dependent on androgen receptor activity. Thus, the commensal microbial community alters sex hormone levels and regulates autoimmune disease fate in individuals with high genetic risk.
Brain Plasticity and Intellectual Ability Are Influenced by Shared Genes

Although the adult brain is considered to be fully developed and stable until senescence when its size steadily decreases, such stability seems at odds with continued human (intellectual) development throughout life. Moreover, although variation in human brain size is highly heritable, we do not know the extent to which genes contribute to individual differences in brain plasticity. In this longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study in twins, we report considerable thinning of the frontal cortex and thickening of the medial temporal cortex with increasing age and find this change to be heritable and partly related to cognitive ability. Specifically, adults with higher intelligence show attenuated cortical thinning and more pronounced cortical thickening over time than do subjects with average or below average IQ. Genes influencing variability in both intelligence and brain plasticity partly drive these associations. Thus, not only does the brain continue to change well into adulthood, these changes are functionally relevant because they are related to intelligence.
Improving Antitumor Immune Responses by Circumventing Immunoregulatory Cells and Mechanisms

Although numerous immunotherapeutic strategies have been studied in patients with cancer, consistent induction of clinical responses remains a formidable challenge. Cancer vaccines are often successful at generating elevated numbers of tumor-specific T lymphocytes in peripheral blood, however, despite this, tumors usually continue to grow unabated. Recent evidence suggests that endogenous regulatory cells, known to play a major role in the induction of immune tolerance to self and prevention of autoimmunity, as well as suppressive myeloid cells invoked in the tumor-bearing state, may be largely responsible for preventing effective antitumor immune responses. This review will focus on the major regulatory cell subtypes, including CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells, type 1 regulatory T cells, natural killer T cells, and immature myeloid cells. Studies in humans and in animal models have shown a role for all of these cells in tumor progression, although the mechanisms by which they act to suppress immunity remain largely undefined. Elucidation of the dominant molecular mechanisms mediating immune suppression in vivo will allow more precise targeting of the relevant regulatory cell populations, as well as the development of novel strategies and clinical reagents that will directly block molecules that induce the suppression of antitumor immunity.
Liver Transplantation: Impaired Biliary Excretion of Gadoxate Is Associated With an Inferior 1-Year Retransplantation-Free Survival

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate gadoxate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in liver transplant recipients with regard to graft function and mortality at 1 year from imaging. Material and MethodsThis was a retrospective, proof-of-concept study of gadoxate-enhanced 3-T MRI in 51 patients with orthotopic liver transplantation. Relative liver enhancement was calculated as the ratio between the signal intensities in unenhanced and gadoxate-enhanced T1-weighted gradient echo sequences with fat saturation. Impaired excretion was defined as the absence of gadoxate visualization in the common bile duct 20 minutes after intravenous injection. ResultsOf the 51 liver transplant recipients, 31 patients showed a normal hepatobiliary excretion of gadoxate after 20 minutes (group A), whereas 20 patients showed an impaired excretion (group B). Group B had significantly higher serum levels of bilirubin (P < 0.001), aspartate-aminotransferase (P = 0.003), and alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.007), and a higher median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (P < 0.001). Within one-year of MRI, 55% of group B died (n = 7) or had to undergo retransplantation (n = 4), whereas all patients in group A survived without retransplantation (P < 0.001). The relative liver enhancement 20 minutes after gadoxate injection was directly related to serum levels of cholinesterase (P < 0.001) and inversely related to the serum levels of bilirubin (P = 0.0098), aspartate-aminotransferase (P = 0.007), and the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (P < 0.001). The relative liver enhancement 20 minutes after contrast injection was directly related to the probability of 1-year retransplantation-free survival in proportional hazard regression analysis (P = 0.005). ConclusionGadoxate-enhanced MRI may be a helpful noninvasive prognostic biomarker for chronic rejection and increased risk for 1-year mortality or retransplantation.
Strategic research challenges in the Internet of Things

Summary is only given; The number of endpoints in the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to be more than 50 billion by 2020 (feeding a market of nearly $11 billion). The sheer complexity of scale will have an effect not only within well-established areas like security and reliability, but also in the interaction between those areas. Humans in the loop will bring in elements of physiology and psychology, introducing safety relevant considerations within a context of uncertainty and unpredictability, and creating certification nightmares. Best practices for IoT development are still emerging, and suitable test and validation environments are in their infancy. Heterogeneity will be the norm rather than the exception. New connections and capabilities will challenge current laws and definitions of privacy. New configurations will challenge current industry structures and alter the competitive landscape. We will need to address the many research challenges of the Internet of Things in order to exploit the information that will be all around us.
Past, Present, Future: A Computational Investigation of the Typology of Tense in 1000 Languages

We present SuperPivot, an analysis method for low-resource languages that occur in a superparallel corpus, i.e., in a corpus that contains an order of magnitude more languages than parallel corpora currently in use. We show that SuperPivot performs well for the crosslingual analysis of the linguistic phenomenon of tense. We produce analysis results for more than 1000 languages, conducting – to the best of our knowledge – the largest crosslingual computational study performed to date. We extend existing methodology for leveraging parallel corpora for typological analysis by overcoming a limiting assumption of earlier work: We only require that a linguistic feature is overtly marked in a few of thousands of languages as opposed to requiring that it be marked in all languages under investigation.
Delay analysis for max weight opportunistic scheduling in wireless systems

We consider the delay properties of max-weight opportunistic scheduling in a multi-user on/off wireless system, such as a multi-user downlink or uplink. It is well known that max-weight scheduling stabilizes the network (and hence yields maximum throughput) whenever input rates are inside the network capacity region. We show that when arrival and channel processes are independent, average delay of the max-weight policy is order-optimal, in the sense that it does not grow with the number of network links. While recent queue-grouping algorithms are known to also yield order-optimal delay, this is the first such result for the simpler class of max-weight policies.