Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Recombinant Lactococci as an Approach to Dissect the Immunomodulating Capacity of Surface Piliation in Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG

Primarily arising from their well understood beneficial health effects, many lactobacilli strains are considered good candidates for use as probiotics in humans and animals. Lactobacillar probiosis can itself be best typified by the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG strain, which, with its well-documented clinical benefits, has emerged as one of the most widely used probiotics in the food and health-supplement industries. Even so, many facets of its molecular mechanisms and limitations as a beneficial commensal bacterium still remain to be thoroughly explored and dissected. Because L. rhamnosus GG is one of only a few such strains exhibiting surface piliation (called SpaCBA), we sought to examine whether this particular type of cell-surface appendage has a discernible immunomodulating capacity and is able to trigger targeted responses in human immune-related cells. Thus, presented herein for this study, we recombinantly engineered Lactococcus lactis to produce native (and pilin-deleted) SpaCBA pili that were assembled in a structurally authentic form and anchored to the cell surface, and which had retained mucus-binding functionality. By using these recombinant lactococcal constructs, we were able to demonstrate that the SpaCBA pilus can be a contributory factor in the activation of Toll-like receptor 2-dependent signaling in HEK cells as well as in the modulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12) production in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells. From these data, we suggest that the recombinant-expressed and surface-anchored SpaCBA pilus, given its projected functioning in the gut environment, might be viewed as a new microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-like modulator of innate immunity. Accordingly, our study has brought some new insight to the molecular immunogenicity of the SpaCBA pilus, thus opening the way to a better understanding of its possible role in the multifaceted nature of L. rhamnosus GG probiosis within the human gut.
Reputation Aware Collaborative Spectrum Sensing for Mobile Cognitive Radio Networks

The task of spectrum sensing for Dynamic Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) is very challenging in the presence of malicious secondary users that may launch Spectrum Sensing Data Falsification (SSDF) attacks. Existing solutions to detect such malicious behaviors cannot be utilized in scenarios where the transmission range of primary users is limited within a small sub-region of the CRN, such as low-power primary user devices like wireless microphones or emergency warning systems for vehicles. In this paper, we present a reputation system that works in the scenarios described above in conjunction with a semi-supervised spatio-spectral anomaly/outlier detection system. This system guarantees protection of incumbent primary users' communication rights while at the same time making optimal use of the spectrum when it is not used by primary users. Simulation of our proposed scheme under typical network conditions and SSDF attack shows that spectrum decision error rate is reduced to be less than 2% and detection rate of malicious secondary users is up to 95%.
Feasibility and Constraint Analysis of Sets of Linear Matrix Inequalities

We present a constraint analysis methodology for linear matrix inequality constraints. If the constraint set is found to be feasible, we search for a minimal representation; otherwise, we search for an irreducible infeasible system. The work is based on the solution of a set-covering problem where each row corresponds to a sample point and is determined by constraint satisfaction at the sampled point. Thus, an implementation requires a method to collect points in the ambient space and a constraint oracle. Much of this paper will be devoted to the development of a hit-and-run sampling methodology. Test results confirm that our approach not only provides information required for constraint analysis but will also, if the feasible region has a nonvoid interior, with probability one, find a feasible point.
Harmonic suppression in microstrip patch antenna using spur-line filter

This paper proposes a method for suppression of higher order harmonics in microstrip antenna using spur-line filter. The microstrip antenna is designed to operate at frequency 2.45 GHz. For the antenna input impedance design, it was used a combination of quarter-wavelength transformer and inset feed impedance matching technique. To suppress the second and third harmonics a spur-line filter was inserted in the antenna microstrip feed line. The measured and simulated results are presented for the proposed antenna. The analysis of the antenna radiation properties shows that beyond the accuracy of high order mode suppression, the insertion of spur-line filter does not any degradation into the radiation pattern.
Integrating two evolutionary models for the study of social cognition

In the hopes of understanding more about the origins of human social cognitive abilities such as teaching and deception, much attention has been centered on the question of whether chimpanzees, our closest extant relatives, understand others as psychological agents (Tomasello and Call 1997; Tomasello 1999). Currently results from work with chimpanzees can potentially be viewed as contradictory (see Heyes 1998; Hare in press, for reviews). One approach, which represents the majority of studies, has produced little compelling evidence that chimpanzees attribute psychological states of any kind (i.e. perceptions, attention, intentions, or beliefs) to others (see Heyes 1998; Tomasello and Call 1997, for reviews). Another, by contrast, finds evidence that chimpanzees can at least take another individual’s visual perspective (Hare et al. 2000; Hare et al. in press; Hirata and Matsuzawa in press). There are two possible resolutions to these findings. The first is empirical: further experimental work may show that one or both approaches is flawed. The second is conceptual: theoretical differences which lead to different experimental paradigms may account for the different findings. Given that we do not know the outcome of future studies, we focus here on the second potential resolution. We ask whether seemingly contradictory experimental outcomes can be attributed to the types of problems that the two different approaches suggest should be posed to test species. Attempts to understand the evolution of cognitive abilities are typically framed by one of two kinds of hypothesis, here called the "general purpose intelligence hypothesis" and the "adapted cognition hypothesis". We argue that in order to improve our ability to design and interpret experiments on social cognition, it is most constructive to consider the predictions and approaches of both these hypotheses. We illustrate our argument with investigations into chimpanzee and dog social cognition. The results of these studies are puzzling and potentially contradictory in relation to the general purpose intelligence hypothesis alone, but they make sense in light of the adapted cognition hypothesis.
Comparison of Chlorhexidine-Alcohol and Povidone-Iodine for Skin Antisepsis and the Effect of Increased Blood Volume in Blood Culture

Background: Reducing skin contamination rate and improving the positive rate in blood culture is essential for the correct diagnosis and management of sepsis. Chlorhexidine-alcohol was compared with povidone-iodine for the efficiency of disinfection. Positive rates were compared between the collection of 10 mL and 20 mL of blood per sample. Methods: The study population included adult patients ≥ 18 years old requested for blood culture in the Emergency Department. Povidone-iodine (10%) was used for antiseptic skin preparation from March to June 2011, and 0.5% chlorhexidine-alcohol from July to October 2011. The standard for blood collection was 10 mL in the first period and 20 mL in the second period. The dedicated phlebotomists had been educated on the optimal skin preparation and sample collection. Results: After 10% povidone-iodine application, 31 of 2,755 samples (1.1%) were considered to be contaminated; whereas, a total of 60 of 3,064 samples (2.0%) were contaminated (P=0.011) after application of 0.5% chlorhexidine-alcohol. The positive rate of blood culture was 12.5% (345/2,755) in the first period versus 17.1% (524/3,064) in the second period (P <0.001). Conclusion: Both disinfectants appeared acceptable for skin preparation for blood culture collection, although chlorhexidine-alcohol had a higher contamination rate than povidone-iodine. The positive rate of blood culture was in accordance with the amount of sample collected. Continuous education and monitoring are needed for the proper collection and management of blood culture. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2012;15:37-42)
Packetization interval of haptic media in networked virtual environments

This paper deals with the packetization interval of haptic media in networked virtual environments. We here handle work in which a user moves an object by manipulating a haptic interface device. In previous studies, we packetize haptic media on capturing them. In this paper, we propose a scheme which lengthens the packetization interval and evaluate the efficiency of the work by experiment. Experimental results show that the packetization interval of several milliseconds produces higher efficiency of the work. We also examine the influences of the packetization interval and network latency on the efficiency of the work in the proposed scheme.
Empirical comparison of fast clustering algorithms for large data sets

Several fast algorithms for clustering very large data sets have been proposed in the literature. CLARA is a combination of a sampling procedure and the classical PAM algorithm, while CLARANS adopts a serial randomized search strategy to find the optimal set of medoids. GAC-R/sup 3/ and GAC-RAR/sub w/ exploit genetic search heuristics for solving clustering problems. In this research, we conducted an empirical comparison of these four clustering algorithms over a wide range of data characteristics. According to the experimental results, CLARANS outperforms its counterparts both in clustering quality and execution time when the number of clusters increases, clusters are more closely related, more asymmetric clusters are present, or more random objects exist in the data set. With a specific number of clusters, CLARA can efficiently achieve satisfactory clustering quality when the data size is larger, whereas GAC-R/sup 3/ and GAC-RAR/sub w/ can achieve satisfactory clustering quality and efficiency when the data size is small, the number of clusters is small, and clusters are more distinct or symmetric.
Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 2 associates with and is a substrate for mitogen-activated protein kinase

The latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2) of Epstein-Barr virus interferes with B-lymphocyte signal transduction through the immunoglobulin (Ig) receptor. Two isoforms of LMP2 exist and differ only in that one isoform (LMP2a) contains an N-terminal cytoplasmic domain that the other isoform does not. LMP2a is a phosphoprotein that is phosphorylated on tyrosines and serines in the cytoplasmic domain. GST1-119, a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein containing the 119 amino acids of the cytoplasmic domain, affinity precipitated serine kinase activity from BJAB cell extracts. The affinity-precipitated kinase phosphorylated LMP2a sequences, and kinase activity was increased following induction. Probing of Western immunoblots of affinity-precipitated proteins showed that the Erk1 form of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was present. Purified MAPK phosphorylated GST fusion proteins containing the cytoplasmic domain of LMP2a and mutational analyses were used to identify S15 and S102 as the sites of in vitro phosphorylation. A polyclonal rabbit antiserum was prepared against a maltose binding protein-LMP2a cytoplasmic domain fusion protein (MBP1-119) and used to immunoprecipitate LMP2a from the in vitro-immortalized lymphoblastoid B-cell line B95-8CR. LMP2a immunoprecipitates from B95-8CR contained MAPK as a coprecipitated protein. Cross-linking surface Ig on B95-8CR cells failed to induce MAPK activity within the cells. Treatment of B95-8CR with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) was able to bypass the Ig receptor block and activate MAPK activity. Phosphorylation of LMP2a on serine residues increased after PMA induction. The possible role for LMP2a serine phosphorylation by MAPK in the control of latency is discussed.
Age, gender, kinship and caregiver burden in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons and causes progressive physical impairment. Also, other functions, such as breathing, swallowing and speech are compromised, and the loss of independence makes caregiver burden extremely high. The present study aimed at evaluating the differences in the caregiver burden due to age, gender and kinship. Women reported a higher physical and social burden than men, and partners scored higher in several dimensions of the caregiver burden when compared to sons and daughters. With respect to adult child caregivers, daughters reported higher levels of developmental burden than sons. Age has a significant impact on the caregiver burden, especially for the time dedicated to assistance and physical burden; disease severity is significantly related to the physical burden as well, and also with the developmental burden.
High speed string edit methods using hierarchical files and hashing technique

Two dictionary-based methods for correction of strings with errors are proposed. The first method uses a hierarchical file based on two kinds of class name expression. The second method applies a hashing technique to methods already proposed. The correction rates of the two methods are the same. An experiment using 3782 words of length 6 characters shows that the computing time of the second method is 0.8% of that of the weighted Levenshtein distance method in the case of a substitution recovery. <<ETX>>
Loading With 600 mg Clopidogrel in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease With and Without Chronic Clopidogrel Therapy

Background—It is not known whether further suppression of platelet function can be achieved with clopidogrel beyond that provided by currently recommended loading and maintenance doses. We performed a comparative assessment of the antiplatelet effects of a 600-mg loading dose of clopidogrel given to patients with and without chronic clopidogrel therapy. Methods and Results—Those eligible for this prospective study were aspirin-treated patients with suspected or documented coronary artery disease admitted to hospital for coronary angiography. Two series of 20 consecutive patients each were assessed in this study. The first series included patients who had never received clopidogrel (first-use group); the second series included patients on chronic therapy with a daily dose of 75 mg clopidogrel for ≥1 month (chronic therapy group). Blood samples were drawn before and 6 hours after oral administration of 600 mg clopidogrel for aggregometry and flow cytometry studies. In the first-use group, loading with 600 mg clopidogrel inhibited ADP 5 &mgr;mol/L–induced platelet aggregation from 90±9% to 51±19% (P<0.001). In the chronic therapy group, loading with 600 mg clopidogrel yielded further inhibition of ADP 5 &mgr;mol/L–induced platelet aggregation in addition to that achieved by the maintenance dose of 75 mg/d, from 52±14% to 33±12% (P<0.001). In both groups, 600 mg clopidogrel loading significantly inhibited ADP-induced expression of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa and P-selectin receptors. Conclusions—Further platelet inhibition can be achieved with clopidogrel in addition to that provided by currently recommended loading and maintenance doses. Higher doses may be warranted after assessment of their clinical efficacy and safety.
Prediction of Functionally Selective Allosteric Interactions at an M3 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Mutant Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a tractable yeast species for expression and coupling of heterologous G protein-coupled receptors with the endogenous pheromone response pathway. Although this platform has been used for ligand screening, no studies have probed its ability to predict novel pharmacology and functional selectivity of allosteric ligands. As a proof of concept, we expressed a rat M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) bearing a mutation (K7.32E) recently identified to confer positive cooperativity between acetylcholine and the allosteric modulator brucine in various strains of S. cerevisiae, each expressing a different human Gα/yeast Gpa1 protein chimera, and probed for G protein-biased allosteric modulation. Subsequent assays performed in this system revealed that brucine was a partial allosteric agonist and positive modulator of carbachol when coupled to Gpa1/Gq proteins, a positive modulator (no agonism) when coupled to Gpa1/G12 proteins, and a neutral modulator when coupled to Gpa1/Gi proteins. It is noteworthy that these results were validated at the human M3K7.32E mAChR expressed in a mammalian (Chinese hamster ovary) cell background by determination of calcium mobilization and membrane ruffling as surrogate measures of Gq and G12 protein activation, respectively. Furthermore, the combination of this functionally selective allosteric modulator with G protein-biased yeast screens allowed us to ascribe a potential G protein candidate (G12) as a key mediator for allosteric modulation of M3K7.32E mAChR-mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation, which was confirmed by small interfering RNA knockdown experiments. These results highlight how the yeast platform can be used to identify functional selectivity of allosteric ligands and to facilitate dissection of convergent signaling pathways.
Sequence Tolerance of a Highly Stable Single Domain Antibody: Comparison of Computational and Experimental Profiles

Abstract : The sequence fitness of a single-domain antibody with unusually high thermal stability is explored by a combined computational and experimental study. Starting with the crystallographic structure, RosettaBackrub simulations were applied to model sequence-structure tolerance profiles and identify key substitution sites. Experimental site-directed mutagenesis was used to produce a panel of mutants and their melting temperatures were determined by thermal denaturation. The results reveal an excess stability margin of approximately 12 deg.C, a value taken from a decrease in the melting temperature of an electrostatic charge reversal substitution in the CRD3 without a deleterious effect on the binding affinity to the antigen target. Tolerance for disruption of antigen recognition without loss in thermal stability was demonstrated by the introduction of a proline in place of a tyrosine in the CDR2, producing a mutant that eliminated binding. To reconcile the differences between the modeled energies and their relationship to the observed experimental changes in melting temperatures, an approximation was developed by combining a statistical potential with a linearly scaled implicit solvent model to calculate the net contribution from a two-state model of folded and unfolded conformations. The derived computational model improves prediction accuracy and should prove applicable to other designs of antibodies.
Patterns in datatype-generic programming (extended abstract)

Generic programming [14, 10] is a matter of making programs more adaptable by making them more general. In particular, it consists of allowing a wider variety of entities as parameters than is available in more traditional programming languages. The most popular instantiation of generic programming today is through the C++ Standard Template Library (stl) of container classes and generic algorithms. Datatype-generic programming (dgp) is another instantiation of the idea of generic programming. dgp allows programs to be parameterized by a datatype or type functor. dgp stands and builds on the formal foundations of category theory and the Algebra of Programming movement [3, 2, 5], and the language technology of Generic Haskell [11, 6]. We argue that dgp is sufficient to express essentially all the genericity found in the stl. In particular, we claim that various programming idioms that can at present only be expressed informally as design patterns [8] could be captured formally as datatype-generic programs. Moreover, because dgp is a precisely-defined notion with a rigorous mathematical foundation, in contrast to generic programming in general and the C++ template mechanism in particular, this observation offers the prospect of better static checking of and a greater ability to reason about generic programs than is possible with other approaches. This paper describes the work to be undertaken in the UK EPSRC-funded project Datatype Generic Programming, starting October 2003. The work described in this paper will constitute about a third of that project; a second strand, coordinated by Roland Backhouse at Nottingham, is looking at more of the underlying theory, including logical relations for modular specifications, higher-order naturality properties, and termination through well-foundedness; the remainder of the project consists of an integrative case study. This is an extended abstract of a longer paper [9].
Opinions, Attitudes and Perceptions of Parents of Children in Special Classes for the Socially Maladjusted and Emotionally Disturbed in New York City Public Schools.

DOCUMENT RESUME CG 005 102 Williams, Thelma M. Opinions/ Attitudes and Perceptions of Parents of Children in Special Classes for the Socially Maladjusted and Emotionally Disturbed in New York City Public Schools. Center for Urban Education, New York, N.Y. Office of Education (DHEW) , Washington, D.C. Oct 69 113p. EDRS Price MF-$0.50 HC -$5 . 75 *Emotionally Disturbed Children, *Parent Attitudes, *Parent School Relationship, Perception, *Pupil Personnel Services, *Special Classes, Students A study was conducted of a group of New York. City parents whose children were having problems in normal adjustment to school to implement improved parent school interaction. The study consists of three chapters: (1) Description of Project, (2) Findings, and (3) Recommendations. The objectives of the study are: (1) determine parents' awareness of their children's enrollment and knowledge of the program, (2) determine how parents receive program information, (3) learn parents' observation of change of child's behavior at school and home, (4) learn if programs establish closer relationship between parents and schools, and (5) learn what changes parents would suggest. The report also contains three appendices: (1) instruments, (2) new structure for parent-school relationships (an outline for a parent's handbook which might be used to improve parent-school relationships) and (3) participants involved. (Author/MC) OPINIONS, ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN SPECIAL CLASSES FOR THE SOCIALLY MALADJUSTED AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED IN NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11 by Thelma M. Williams