Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction of Bacterial Exotoxins with Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: Impact for the Infected Host

Since their discovery in 2004, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been characterized as a fundamental host innate immune defense against various pathogens. Released in response to infectious and pro-inflammatory stimuli, NETs can immobilize invading pathogens within a fibrous matrix consisting of DNA, histones, and antimicrobial peptides. Conversely, excessive or dysregulated NET release may hold a variety of detrimental consequences for the host. A fine balance between NET formation and elimination is necessary to sustain a protective effect during infectious challenge. In recent years, a number of microbial virulence factors have been shown to modulate formation of NETs, thereby facilitating colonization or spread within the host. In this mini-review we summarize the contemporary research on the interaction of bacterial exotoxins with neutrophils that modulate NET production, focusing particular attention on consequences for the host. Understanding host–pathogen dynamics in this extracellular battlefield of innate immunity may provide novel therapeutic approaches for infectious and inflammatory disorders.
Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor-Tropomyosin-related Kinase B Signaling Contributes to Activity-dependent Changes in Synaptic Proteins*

The ability of synapses to undergo changes in structure and function in response to alterations of neuronal activity is an essential property of neural circuits. One way that this is achieved is through global changes in the molecular composition of the synapse; however, it is not clear how these changes are coupled to the dynamics of neuronal activity. Here we found that, in cultured rat cortical neurons, bidirectional changes of neuronal activity led to corresponding alterations in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylation of its receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB), as well as in the level of synaptic proteins. Exogenous BDNF reversed changes in synaptic proteins induced by chronic activity blockade, while inhibiting Trk kinase activity or depleting endogenous BDNF abolished the concentration changes induced by chronic activity elevation. Both tetrodotoxin and bicuculline had significant, but opposite, effects on synaptic protein ubiquitination in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, exogenous BDNF was sufficient to increase ubiquitination of synaptic proteins, whereas scavenging endogenous BDNF or inhibiting Trk kinase activity prevented the ubiquitination of synaptic proteins induced by chronic elevation of neuronal activity. Inhibiting the proteasome or blocking protein polyubiquitination mimicked the effect of tetrodotoxin on the levels of synaptic proteins and canceled the effects of BDNF. Our study indicates that BDNF-TrkB signaling acts upstream of the ubiquitin proteasome system, linking neuronal activity to protein turnover at the synapse.
Effect of spectral content and learning on auditory distance perception

We studied the importance of the stimulus spectrum and of the listener’s experience on the human ability to judge distance of auditory objects. The study was performed in a virtual auditory environment (VAE), created by convolution of the stimuli with non-individual Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) measured in a regular classroom. The listeners’ task was to judge the distance of sounds originating at distances of 0.15 to 2 meters directly ahead or to the right of the listener’s head. Three types of stimuli were presented: lowpass-filtered, highpass-filtered, and broadband stimuli. Each listener performed four blocks of measurements, two on one day and two on a later day, with separation of at least 12 hours. No significant effect of spectrum was found, presumably because the non-individual HRTFs do not provide accurate cues to the listeners, making the task very difficult even with broadband stimuli. However, a systematic learning effect was observed in all listeners: while their performance did not change across the blocks performed on the same day, it improved between the blocks performed on different days. Thus, it can be hypothesized that a process similar to memory consolidation is observed that leads to improved performance and that requires a long break between the measurement sessions.
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR THE ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION OF GROWTH RATE IN THE GARTER SNAKE THAMNOPHIS ELEGANS

Abstract The western terrestrial garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) varies significantly in individual growth rates and life-history traits (maturation, reproduction, and survival) among adjacent populations in nature. This study focuses on assessing the genetic and environmental components of the substantial among-population variation in growth rates. Litters of neonates from nine populations inhabiting either mountain meadow or lakeshore habitat were reared for one year in a common-garden experiment with two temperature treatments. Diet, frequency of feeding, light exposure, and daytime temperatures were identical for all individuals. The two different nighttime temperatures (20°C and 25°C) were chosen to mirror field differences in nighttime thermoregulatory constraints for mountain-meadow and lakeshore snakes, respectively. Temperature and source habitat interacted to affect first-year growth rate. Neonates from meadow dams grew fastest in the cooler treatment, whereas those from lakeshore dams grew fastest in the warmer treatment. The observation that naive neonates, which were gestated and raised under identical conditions, grew fastest in environments characteristic of their natal population is evidence both that there are genetic differences among populations for growth and that these differences reflect adaptation to local habitats at a very small geographic scale. In addition, significant directional selection for large birthweight was measured for neonates from all populations. These results are considered in the context of population colonization history, migration and selection, and competing models for growth rate variation. Corresponding Editor: E. Brodie III
Novel O(H(N)+N/H(N)) Algorithmic Techniques for Several Types of Queries and Updates on Rooted Trees and Lists

In this paper we present novel algorithmic techniques with a O(H(N)+N/H(N)) time complexity for performing several types of queries and updates on general rooted trees, binary search trees and lists of size N. For rooted trees we introduce a new compressed super-node tree representation which can be used for efficiently addressing a wide range of applications. For binary search trees we discuss the idea of globally rebuilding the entire tree in a fully balanced manner whenever the height of the tree exceeds the value of a conveniently chosen function of the number of tree nodes. In the end of the paper we introduce the H-list data structure which supports concatenation, split and several types of queries. Note that when choosing H(N)=sqrt(N) we obtain O(H(N)+N/H(N))=O(sqrt(N)).
Application of wireless technology for a vision based rehabilitation system

Though several assistive technologies are available for home-based rehabilitation of stroke patients, people are not using the same for several reasons. Lack of technical competence, chance of electrocution is some of such issues. The cables/ wires of different instruments, measuring devises, rehabilitation systems are often the source of infection; causes of electrocution, discomfort and immobility. This has led to implement wireless technology/ system for medical applications. Accordingly researches are going on to use wireless technologies for different purposes of rehabilitation. The present work uses a wireless night vision camera for gaze tracking of the patient for 24×7 support eliminating the use of cables/ wires and thus reducing the chances of infections and other hazardous. The camera along with a power supply (battery) serves as a standalone unit for ready deployment. The control computer can be set up at a distance even out of the cabin and helps the physiotherapists and healthcare staffs to monitor and assist several patients remotely at a time. The experiments have been carried out in both day and night with users wearing spectacles or no spectacles. Promising results have been obtained in spite of several issues of data loss, IR glaring etc. Several applications of wireless technologies have been attempted, but use of such approach has never been tried earlier. This system has huge potential for application for day and night support and rehabilitation of stroke patients.
Identifying the success factors in e‐grocery home delivery

Efforts in the electronic grocery shopping, i.e. e‐grocery business, focus especially on the physical distribution of the goods. For example, in the USA there are several e‐grocery service providers with various operating concepts and offering various service levels. The home delivery concept of Streamline is based on a reception box at the customer’s garage or home yard enabling unmanned reception. In contrast, WebVan has launched a home delivery concept where the customer can select a convenient half an hour delivery time window. Various service concepts have been implemented and offered, but has anyone really analysed the differences in cost structures of these two and of other concepts in between the two extremes? Investigates existing home delivery service concepts from different angles and presents concrete simulation results of various parameters representing several home delivery service levels. Eventually, identifying the parameters will give guidelines for the future development of the e‐grocery home delivery services.
An integrated forward collision warning system based on monocular vision

Driving assistance system has a significant influence on driving safety, and we introduce an integrated Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system based on monocular vision. In order to reduce the searching region of original image, lane making is presented to establish the ROI firstly. Secondly, hypotheses are extracted using Haar-like feature and Adaboost classifier. To remove false positive detection in the hypothesis verification process, we utilize SVM-based classifier with HOG feature lastly. Using Time-to-collision (TTC), possible collisions trigger the warning, and such Forward Collision Warning(FCW) system has been evaluated in dynamic environment. Experimental results show that the proposed system is robust and useful in practical applications.
Building bridges between dynamic and temporal doxastic logics Extended Abstract

A process is described by which a chemical species is sorbed into the channels of a host phase which is then heated to affect an irreversible phase transformation of the host phase which seals the chemical species within its crystal structure. The host phase is an insoluble solid, non-toxic and stable both to the chemical species it encases and its environment.
SUCCESS-HPON: A next-generation optical access architecture for smooth migration from TDM-PON to WDM-PON

Optical access networks are considered to be a definite solution to the problem of upgrading current congested access networks to ones capable of delivering future broadband integrated services. However, the high deployment and maintenance cost of traditional point-to-point architectures is a major economic barrier. Current TDM-PON architectures are economically feasible, but bandwidth-limited. In this article we first discuss the possible role of WDM in access networks and investigate the associated issues. We then present the Stanford University Access Hybrid WDM/TDM Passive Optical Network (SUCCESS-HPON), a next-generation hybrid WDM/TDM optical access architecture that focuses on providing a smooth migration path from current TDM-PONs to future WDM-PONs. The first testbed for this architecture is described, along with the experimental results obtained, including feasibility of bidirectional transmission on the same wavelength on the same fiber for access networks and ONU modulation of upstream data on continuous waves provided by the OLT, eliminating the need for tunable components at the ONUs. The development of a second testbed and the issues it will address, including the implementability of the SUCCESS-HPON MAC protocol and scheduling algorithms, are also described.
Optimal Mechanisms

In this chapter we discuss the objectives of social surplus and profit. As we will see, the economics of designing mechanisms to maximize social surplus is relatively simple. The optimal mechanism is a simple generalization of the second-price auction we have already discussed. Furthermore, it is dominant strategy incentive compatible and prior-free, i.e., it is not dependent on distributional assumptions. Social surplus maximization is unique among economic objectives in this regard. The objective of profit maximization, on the other hand, adds significant new challenge: for profit there is no single optimal mechanism. For any mechanism, there is a distribution over agent preferences and another mechanism where this new mechanism has strictly larger profit than the first one. This non-existence of an absolutely optimal mechanism requires a relaxation of what we consider a good mechanism. To address this challenge , this chapter follows the traditional economics approach of Bayesian optimization. We will assume that the distribution of the agents' preferences is common knowledge, even to the mechanism designer. This designer should then search for the mechanism that maximizes her expected profit when preferences are indeed drawn from the distribution. As an example, consider two agents with values drawn independently and identically from U [0, 1]. The second-price auction obtains revenue equal to the expected second-highest value, E v (2) = 1 /3. A natural question is whether more revenue can be had. As a first step, it is similarly easy to calculate that the second-price auction with reserve 1 /2 obtains an expected revenue of 5 /12 (which is higher than 1 /3). 1 There are three cases: (i) 1 /2 > v (1) > v (2) , (ii) v (1) > 1 /2 > v (2) , and (iii), v (1) > v (2) > 1 /2. Case (i) happens with probability 1 /4 and has no revenue; case
Semi-membership algorithms: some recent advances

A semi-membership algorithm for a set A is, informally, a program that when given any two strings determines which is logically more likely to be in A. A flurry of interest in this topic in the late seventies and early eighties was followed by a relatively quiescent half-decade. However, in the 1990s there has been a resurgence of interest in this topic. We survey recent work on the theory of semi-membership algorithms.
Plant-Animal Mutualistic Networks: The Architecture of Biodiversity

The mutually beneficial interactions between plants and their animal pollinators and seed dispersers have been paramount in the generation of Earth's biodiversity. These mutualistic interactions often involve dozens or even hundreds of species that form complex networks of interdependences. Understanding how coevolution proceeds in these highly diversified mutualisms among free-living species presents a conceptual challenge. Recent work has led to the unambiguous conclusion that mutualistic networks are very heterogeneous (the bulk of the species have a few interactions, but a few species are much more connected than expected by chance), nested (specialists interact with subsets of the species with which generalists interact), and built on weak and asymmetric links among species. Both ecological variables (e.g., phenology, local abundance, and geographic range) and past evolutionary history may explain such network patterns. Network structure has important implications for the coexistence and stability of.
ClpXP and ClpAP proteolytic activity on divisome substrates is differentially regulated following the Caulobacter asymmetric cell division

Proteolytic control of Caulobacter cell cycle proteins is primarily executed by ClpXP, a dynamically localized protease implicated in turnover of several factors critical for faithful cell cycle progression. Here, we show that the transient midcell localization of ClpXP that precedes cytokinesis requires the FtsZ component of the divisome. Although ClpAP does not exhibit subcellular localization, FtsZ is a substrate of both ClpXP and ClpAP in vivo and in vitro. A peptide containing the C‐terminal portion of the FtsA divisome protein is a substrate of both ClpXP and ClpAP in vitro but is primarily degraded by ClpAP in vivo. Caulobacter carries out an asymmetric division in which FtsZ and FtsA are stable in stalked cells but degraded in the non‐replicative swarmer cell where ClpAP alone degrades FtsA and both ClpAP and ClpXP degrade FtsZ. While asymmetric division in Caulobacter normally yields larger stalked and smaller swarmer daughters, we observe a loss of asymmetric size distribution among daughter cells when clpA is depleted from a strain in which FtsZ is constitutively produced. Taken together, these results suggest that the activity of both ClpXP and ClpAP on divisome substrates is differentially regulated in daughter cells.
Full-Time Teleworkers Sensemaking Process for Informal Communication

Organizations have traditionally accomplished connectivity among their workers by colocating them in shared organizational workplaces. However, information and communication technologies (ICTs) are offering alternative ways to accomplish this kind of connection. This change raises important questions about what it is possible to accomplish through such mediated communicative connections, and if there are work activities that are best accomplished face-toface. Practitioners and researchers have historically identified informal communication as a process essential to organizational success that is difficult or impossible to accomplish outside of shared physical environments. This study documents the ways full-time teleworkers are accomplishing informal communication without being in shared work environments. In doing this, this work also identifies for what purposes these participants find shared organizational workplaces important and/or essential for successful informal communication. To complete this study required that two additional questions needed to be addressed: 1) defining full-time telework in the context of modern ICT-mediated corporate work environments, and 2) a re-examination of the parameters of telework to define them for modern workplace environments, so as be able to use effectively to examine past and present telework research efforts. In order to document the context of each of the participants as fully as possible, a narrative case study based research protocol was used. Participants were engaged through two active interviews and a journaling exercise so as to identify and document instances of informal communication and their purposes or roles in their workdays.
Availability of Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean foods during the last four decades: comparison of several geographical areas

Abstract Objective The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the changes in the availability of the most important food components of the traditional Mediterranean diet and other food groups in five geographical areas during a 43-year period. Design Ecological study with food availability data obtained from FAO food balance sheets in forty-one countries for the period 1961–1965 and 2000–2004. Setting Mediterranean, Northern and Central Europe, Other Mediterranean countries and Other Countries of the World were the studied areas. Results The main changes since the 1960s, at an availability level, were found in European areas and in Other Mediterranean countries. The greatest changes were found in Mediterranean Europe, recording high availability of non-Mediterranean food groups (animal fats, vegetable oils, sugar and meat), whereas the availability of alcoholic beverages, including wine, and legumes decreased. Despite having lost some of its typical characteristics, Mediterranean Europe has more olive oil, vegetables, fruits and fish available than other areas. Although Northern Europe has a greater availability of non-Mediterranean foods, there has been a tendency towards a decrease in availability of some of these foods and to increase Mediterranean food such as olive oil and fruits. Conclusions The present study suggests that European countries, especially those in the Mediterranean area, have experienced a ‘westernisation’ process of food habits, and have increasingly similar patterns of food availability (mainly non-Mediterranean food groups) among them. Measures must be taken to counteract these tendencies and to avoid their possible negative consequences. It is also crucial to find ways to promote and preserve the Mediterranean diet and its lifestyle in modern societies.
Prospective Association of Morning Salivary Cortisol with Depressive Symptoms in Mid-Life: A Life-Course Study

Objective Associations of cortisol and depression vary at different life-stages, yet population-based, prospective studies are scarce. We aimed to assess associations of morning cortisol with depressive symptoms in mid-life taking account of lifetime psychological health. Methods Participants were 5,403 men and women from the 1958 British Birth Cohort whose salivary cortisol was assessed at 45y (45min after waking (T1) and 3h later (T2)) and who completed the 5-item Mental-Health Index (MHI-5) about depressive symptoms at age 50y. Lifetime psychological health was identified from child and adult measures. Results For women, higher T2 cortisol at 45y predicted depression (MHI-5 scores ≤52) at 50y (odds ratio [OR]=1.17; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.05,1.30 per standard deviation increase in T2 cortisol), attenuating when adjusted for current (45y) and previous (7-42y) psychological health (OR=1.11; 95% CI 0.98, 1.24). Similarly, an association in women of flatter cortisol delta (T2-T1) with depressive symptoms at 50y weakened after adjustment for current (45y) and previous (7-42y) psychological health. For men, lower T2 cortisol at 45y predicted greater depressive symptoms at 50y and the association strengthened when adjusted for lifetime psychological health. Likewise, lower cortisol AUC predicted higher risk of depression for men after adjusting for prior psychological health (OR=0.85; CI 0.72, 1.00). Associations were largely unaltered by control for covariates. Conclusions In women, higher cortisol in late morning at 45y is prospectively associated with depressive symptoms at 50y through a link with lifetime psychological health. In men, lower cortisol predicts subsequent symptoms, independent of depressive history.
Active unfolding of precursor proteins during mitochondrial protein import

Precursor proteins made in the cytoplasm must be in an unfolded conformation during import into mitochondria. Some precursor proteins have tightly folded domains but are imported faster than they unfold spontaneously, implying that mitochondria can unfold proteins. We measured the import rates of artificial precursors containing presequences of varying length fused to either mouse dihydrofolate reductase or bacterial barnase, and found that unfolding of a precursor at the mitochondrial surface is dramatically accelerated when its presequence is long enough to span both membranes and to interact with mhsp70 in the mitochondrial matrix. If the presequence is too short, import is slow but can be strongly accelerated by urea‐induced unfolding, suggesting that import of these ‘short’ precursors is limited by spontaneous unfolding at the mitochondrial surface. With precursors that have sufficiently long presequences, unfolding by the inner membrane import machinery can be orders of magnitude faster than spontaneous unfolding, suggesting that mhsp70 can act as an ATP‐driven force‐generating motor during protein import.