Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temporal Differences in the Dependency on Phosphoinositide-Dependent Kinase 1 Distinguish the Development of Invariant Vα14 NKT Cells and Conventional T Cells

This study uses two independent genetic strategies to explore the requirement for phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) in the development of mature T cell populations from CD4/CD8 double-positive thymocytes. The data show that CD4/CD8 double-positive thymocytes that do not express PDK1 or express a catalytically inactive PDK1 mutant fail to produce mature invariant Vα14 NKT cells but can differentiate to conventional CD4, CD8, or regulatory T cell subsets in the thymus. The PDK1 requirement for Vα14 NKT cell development reflects that these cells require the PDK1 substrate protein kinase B to meet the metabolic demands for proliferative expansion in response to IL-15 or AgR stimulation. There is also constitutive PDK1 signaling in conventional α/β T cells that is not required for lineage commitment of these cells but fine-tunes the expression of coreceptors and adhesion molecules. Also, although PDK1 is dispensable for thymic development of conventional α/β T cells, peripheral cells are reduced substantially. This reflects a PDK1 requirement for lymphopenia-induced proliferation, a process necessary for initial population of the peripheral T cell niche in neonatal mice. PDK1 is thus indispensable for T cell developmental programs, but the timing of the PDK1 requirement is unique to different T cell subpopulations.
Input Output Chaining ( IOC ) AE Mode Revisited

Input Output Chaining (IOC) is an authenticated encryption (AE) mode that can be used with any block cipher. IOC main interest is that each message block is ciphered just once, as when only implementing confidentiality, while the added complexity by the accompanying integrity service is negligible. The core integrity concept in IOC is based on a novel, minimal and appealing chaining mechanism already presented by the first published IOC mode proposal [6], which so far has resisted public scrutiny. This paper upgrades some details of the former IOC specification and its security demonstration concluding that whatever resources could be spent to forge IOC integrity mechanism, assuming an ideal block cipher, the success probability of such attack will not be higher than 2-(n-1.25), where n is the cipher block size.
The C‐terminus of Apc does not influence intestinal adenoma development or progression

Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutations are found in most colorectal tumours. These mutations are almost always protein‐truncating, deleting both central domains that regulate Wnt signalling and C‐terminal domains that interact with the cytoskeleton. The importance of Wnt dysregulation for colorectal tumourigenesis is well characterized. It is, however, unclear whether loss of C‐terminal functions contributes to tumourigenesis, although this protein region has been implicated in cellular processes—including polarity, migration, mitosis, and chromosomal instability (CIN)—that have been postulated as critical for the development and progression of intestinal tumours. Since almost all APC mutations in human patients disrupt both central and C‐terminal regions, we created a mouse model to test the role of the C‐terminus of APC in intestinal tumourigenesis. This mouse (Apc$^{{\Delta}{\rm{SAMP}}}$) carries an internal deletion within Apc that dysregulates Wnt by removing the beta‐catenin‐binding and SAMP repeats, but leaves the C‐terminus intact. We compared Apc$^{{\Delta}{\rm{SAMP}}}$ mice with Apc$^{\rm{1322T}}$ animals. The latter allele represented the most commonly found human APC mutation and was identical to Apc$^{{\Delta}{\rm{SAMP}}}$ except for absence of the entire C‐terminus. Apc$^{{\Delta}{\rm{SAMP}}}$ mice developed numerous intestinal adenomas indistinguishable in number, location, and dysplasia from those seen in Apc$^{\rm{1322T}}$ mice. No carcinomas were found in Apc$^{{\Delta}{\rm{SAMP}}}$ or Apc$^{\rm{1322T}}$ animals. While similar disruption of the Wnt signalling pathway was observed in tumours from both mice, no evidence of differential C‐terminus functions (such as cell migration, CIN, or localization of APC and EB1) was seen. We conclude that the C‐terminus of APC does not influence intestinal adenoma development or progression. Copyright © 2011 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
About an alternative distribution function for fractional exclusion statistics

We show that it is possible to replace the actual implicit distribution function of the fractional exclusion statistics by an explicit one whose form does not change with the parameter $\alpha$. This alternative simpler distribution function given by a generalization of Pauli exclusion principle from the level of the maximal occupation number is not completely equivalent to the distributions obtained from the level of state number counting of the fractional exclusion particles. Our result shows that the two distributions are equivalent for weakly bosonized fermions ($\alpha>>0$) at not very high temperatures.
Using Goi-Taikei as an Upper Ontology to Build a Large-Scale Japanese Ontology from Wikipedia

We present a novel method for building a large-scale Japanese ontology from Wikipedia using one of the largest Japanese thesauri, Nihongo Goi-Taikei (referred to hereafter as iGoi-Taikeii) as an upper ontology. First, The leaf categories in the Goi-Taikei hierarchy are semi-automatically aligned with semantically equivalent Wikipedia categories. Then, their subcategories are created automatically by detecting is-a links in the Wikipedia category network below the junction using the knowledge dene d in Goi-Taikei above the junction. The resulting ontology has a well-dene d taxonomy in the upper level and a ne-gra ined taxonomy in the lower level with a large number of up-to-date instances. A sample evaluation shows that the precisions of the extracted categories and instances are 92.8% and 98.6%, respectively.
Association of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide with cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer disease.

IMPORTANCE There is a deficit of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in patients with neuropathologically confirmed Alzheimer dementia. However, whether this deficit is associated with the earlier stages of Alzheimer disease (AD) is unknown. This study was conducted to clarify the association between PACAP biomarkers and preclinical, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia stages of AD in postmortem brain tissue. OBJECTIVES To examine PACAP and PACAP receptor levels in postmortem brain tissues and cerebrospinal fluid from cognitively and neuropathologically normal control individuals, patients with MCI due to AD (MCI-AD), and individuals with AD; analyze the relationship between PACAP, cognitive, and pathologic features; and propose a model to assess these relationships. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We measured PACAP and its receptor (PAC1) levels using enzyme-linked immunoassay. A total of 35 cases were included. All the brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid samples were selected from Banner Sun Health Research Institute Brain and Body Donation Program. All cognitive test results were in record with the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES A comparison of PACAP and PAC1 levels among the healthy controls, MCI-AD, and AD dementia groups, as well as a systematic correlation analysis between PACAP level, cognitive performance, and pathologic severity. RESULTS The PACAP levels in cerebrospinal fluid, the superior frontal gyrus, and the middle temporal gyrus were inversely related to dementia severity. The PACAP levels in cerebrospinal fluid correlated with the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale score (Pearson r = 0.50; P = .03) and inversely correlated with total amyloid plaques (Pearson r = -0.48; P < .01) and tangles (Pearson r = -0.55; P = .01) in the brain. The PACAP in the superior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus correlated with the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test (Pearson r = 0.58; P < .01) and the Auditory Verbal Learning Test-Total Learning (Pearson r = 0.33; P = .02), respectively. The PACAP in the primary visual cortex did not correlate with the Judgment of Line orientation test (P = .14). Furthermore, the PAC1 level in the superior frontal gyrus showed an upregulation in MCI-AD but not in AD. The pharmacodynamic model of the PACAP-PAC1 interaction best predicted cognitive function in the superior frontal gyrus, but it was less predictive in the middle temporal gyrus and failed to be predictive in the primary visual cortex. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Deficits in PACAP are associated with clinical severity in the MCI and dementia stages of AD. Additional studies are needed to clarify the role of PACAP deficits in the predisposition to, pathogenesis of, and treatment of AD.
Control of Underactuated Biped Robots Using Event Based Fuzzy Partial Feedback Linearization

— Underactuated biped robots control is one of the interesting topics in robotics. The main difficulties are its highly nonlinear dynamics, open-loop instability, and discrete event at the end of the gait. One of the methods to control underactuated systems is the partial feedback linearization, but it is not robust against uncertainties and disturbances that restrict its performance to control biped walking and running. In this paper, fuzzy partial feedback linearization is presented to overcome its drawback. Numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed method to generate stable and robust biped walking and running gaits.
A distributed admission control model for CoS networks using QoS and SLS monitoring

Achieving an admission control strategy for CoS networks covering both intra-domain and end-to-end operation is still an open issue. This paper discusses how AC can be carried out without adding significant complexity to the network control plane and proposes a distributed service-oriented AC model for these networks. The model only involves the network edge nodes leaving the network core unchanged. Ingress nodes perform implicit or explicit service-dependent AC based on both QoS and SLSs utilization metrics, obtained through edge-to-edge online monitoring performed at egress nodes. From an end-to-end perspective, the flow request is used both for AC and available service computation. Relevant aspects of the model interrelated areas and implementation key points are also discussed.
Antiviral Effect of Chlorine Dioxide against Influenza Virus and Its Application for Infection Control

Influenza is a respiratory tract infection, causing pandemic outbreaks. Spanish flu (A/H1N1), a pandemic occurred between 1918 and 1919, tolled patients and fatalities of 500 million and 50 million, respectively. Recently, human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A/H5N1 and swine influenza [Pandemic (H1N1) 2009] was reported. Because of the population explosion and busy global aircraft traffics, Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 is rapidly spreading worldwide. In addition, it is seriously concerned that H5N1 influenza pandemic would emerge in the very near future. The pandemic will cause the freeze of social activity and the crisis of business continuity, having a serious impact on the global economy consequently. It is fervently desired that efficient methods of infection control against influenza pandemic be developed. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has a strong antiviral effect, and can disinfect the surface of object and the air in space. In recent study on interaction between ClO2 and protein, ClO2 oxidatively modified tyrosine and tryptophan residues, and the protein was structurally denatured. Since hemagglutinin and neuraminidase of influenza virus A/H1N1 were inactivated by the reaction with ClO2, it is likely that denaturation of the proteins caused inactivation of the virus. A low concentration (0.03 ppm) of ClO2 gas, where people can stay for a long period of time without any harmful effect, prevented the death of mice caused by infection of influenza virus delivered as aerosol. We review current information based on the efficiency of ClO2 solution and gas, and also discuss the application of ClO2 against influenza pandemics outbreak.
A Heuristic Approach for Web Content Extraction

Today internet has made the life of human dependent on it. Almost everything and anything can be searched on net. Web pages usually contain huge amount of information that may not interest the user, as it may not be the part of the main content of the web page. To extract the main content of the web page, data mining techniques need to be implemented. A lot of research has already been done in this field. Current automatic techniques are unsatisfactory as their outputs are not appropriate for the query of the user. In this paper, we are presenting an automatic approach to extract the main content of the web page using tag tree & heuristics to filter the clutter and display the main content. Experimental results have shown that the technique presented in this paper is able to outperform existing techniques dramatically.
Partial stabilizability of nonholonomic systems

This paper addresses the concept of partial stabilization for driftless control systems called "nonholonomic systems". We introduce a class of feedback transformations that transforms our system in to a multi-chained triangular form. We show that we can bounded the first component; this can be done by using a smooth feedback control depending on the state. In addition the (n - 1) other components will be stabilized asymptotically. In first step this approach is applied to unicycle system and in second step it is generalized to nonholonomic systems with m controls.
The Effect of Topical Application of Royal Jelly on Chemoradiotherapy-Induced Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer: A Preliminary Study

Purpose. One of the common side effects experienced by head and neck cancer patients on chemoradiotherapy is mucositis. Severe mucositis may be controllable by limiting cancer therapy, but it has resulted in decreasing the completion rate of chemoradiotherapy. The efficacy of royal jelly (RJ) as prophylaxis against chemoradiotherapy-induced mucositis was evaluated through clinical scoring of oral and pharyngeal mucositis. Methods. In this randomized, single-blind (physician-blind), clinical trial, 13 patients with head and neck cancer requiring chemoradiation were randomly assigned to two groups. Seven patients assigned to the study group received RJ, and 6 patients were assigned to the control group. RJ group patients took RJ three times per day during treatment. The patients in both groups were evaluated twice a week for the development of mucositis using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. Results. A significant reduction in mucositis was seen among RJ-treated patients compared with controls (P < 0.001). Conclusion. This study demonstrated that prophylactic use of RJ was effective in reducing mucositis induced by chemoradiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients. However, further studies are needed because of the small sample size and the absence of double blinding.
Overexpression of PD-L1 Significantly Associates with Tumor Aggressiveness and Postoperative Recurrence in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose: The aberrant expression of programmed cell death 1 ligands 1 and 2 (PD-Ls) on tumor cells dampens antitumor immunity, resulting in tumor immune evasion. In this study, we investigated the expression of PD-Ls in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to define their prognostic significance after curative surgery. Experimental Design: Immunohistochemistry was used to investigate PD-Ls expression as well as granzyme B+ cytotoxic and FoxP3+ regulatory T cell infiltration on tissue microarrays containing 240 randomly selected HCC patients who underwent surgery. The results were further verified in an independent cohort of 125 HCC patients. PD-Ls expression on HCC cell lines was detected by Western blot assay. Results: Patients with higher expression of PD-L1 had a significantly poorer prognosis than patients with lower expression. Although patients with higher expression of PD-L2 also had a poorer survival, the difference in recurrence was not statistically significant. Multivariate analysis identified tumor expression of PD-L1 as an independent predictor for postoperative recurrence. No correlation was found between PD-Ls expression and granzyme B+ lymphocyte infiltration, whereas a significant positive correlation was detected between PD-Ls expression and FoxP3+ lymphocyte infiltration. In addition, tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic and regulatory T cells were also independent prognosticators for both survival and recurrence. The prognostic value of PD-L1 expression was validated in the independent data set. Conclusion: Our data suggest for the first time that PD-L1 status may be a new predictor of recurrence for HCC patients and provide the rationale for developing a novel therapy of targeting the PD-L1/PD-1 pathway against this fatal malignancy.
Neurodegeneration and Identity

There is a widespread notion, both within the sciences and among the general public, that mental deterioration can rob individuals of their identity. Yet there have been no systematic investigations of what types of cognitive damage lead people to appear to no longer be themselves. We measured perceived identity change in patients with three kinds of neurodegenerative disease: frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Structural equation models revealed that injury to the moral faculty plays the primary role in identity discontinuity. Other cognitive deficits, including amnesia, have no measurable impact on identity persistence. Accordingly, frontotemporal dementia has the greatest effect on perceived identity, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has the least. We further demonstrated that perceived identity change fully mediates the impact of neurodegenerative disease on relationship deterioration between patient and caregiver. Our results mark a departure from theories that ground personal identity in memory, distinctiveness, dispositional emotion, or global mental function.
A novel 7 degrees of freedom model for upper limb kinematic reconstruction based on wearable sensors

Wearable motion tracking systems have gained large popularity in the last decades because of their effectiveness in many fields, from performance assessment to human-robot interaction. Among all the approaches, those based on inertial sensors have been widely explored. Since inertial sensors are affected by measurements drift, they need to be aided by other sensors, thus requiring sensor measurements to be fused. The most used sensor fusion techniques are based on Kalman filter. In particular, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) are used because of the non linearity characterizing most of the models. They often aim at reconstructing human motion by estimating limbs orientation, involving human's kinematics to constrain relative motion of the limbs. These models often neglect part of the degrees of freedom (DoFs) that characterize human upper limbs, especially when modeling humerus motion with respect to the chest. In this paper we present a novel 7 DoFs model which represents a trade-off between modeling accuracy and complexity for the human upper limb. In particular, we model the human shoulder girdle taking into account also the humerus head's elevation and the retraction due to the scapula's and the clavicle's motions. The model exploits inertial sensors measurements by means of an Unscented Kalman filter to reconstruct human movements. The system performance is validated firstly against a reconstruction based on an optical tracking system. Secondly, the 5 DoFs model extracted form the 7 DoFs one was checked to have state of the art performance and used to estimate the improvement of position estimation that are obtained by extending the model to 7 DoFs.
TREM2 variants in Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in TREM2, encoding the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 protein, have previously been associated with an autosomal recessive form of early-onset dementia. METHODS We used genome, exome, and Sanger sequencing to analyze the genetic variability in TREM2 in a series of 1092 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 1107 controls (the discovery set). We then performed a meta-analysis on imputed data for the TREM2 variant rs75932628 (predicted to cause a R47H substitution) from three genomewide association studies of Alzheimer's disease and tested for the association of the variant with disease. We genotyped the R47H variant in an additional 1887 cases and 4061 controls. We then assayed the expression of TREM2 across different regions of the human brain and identified genes that are differentially expressed in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease and in control mice. RESULTS We found significantly more variants in exon 2 of TREM2 in patients with Alzheimer's disease than in controls in the discovery set (P=0.02). There were 22 variant alleles in 1092 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 5 variant alleles in 1107 controls (P<0.001). The most commonly associated variant, rs75932628 (encoding R47H), showed highly significant association with Alzheimer's disease (P<0.001). Meta-analysis of rs75932628 genotypes imputed from genomewide association studies confirmed this association (P=0.002), as did direct genotyping of an additional series of 1887 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 4061 controls (P<0.001). Trem2 expression differed between control mice and a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. CONCLUSIONS Heterozygous rare variants in TREM2 are associated with a significant increase in the risk of Alzheimer's disease. (Funded by Alzheimer's Research UK and others.).