Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pleiotropic Actions of Forskolin Result in Phosphatidylserine Exposure in Primary Trophoblasts

Forskolin is an extract of the Coleus forskholii plant that is widely used in cell physiology to raise intracellular cAMP levels. In the field of trophoblast biology, forskolin is one of the primary treatments used to induce trophoblastic cellular fusion. The syncytiotrophoblast (ST) is a continuous multinucleated cell in the human placenta that separates maternal from fetal circulations and can only expand by fusion with its stem cell, the cytotrophoblast (CT). Functional investigation of any aspect of ST physiology requires in vitro differentiation of CT and de novo ST formation, thus selecting the most appropriate differentiation agent for the hypothesis being investigated is necessary as well as addressing potential off-target effects. Previous studies, using forskolin to induce fusion in trophoblastic cell lines, identified phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization to be essential for trophoblast fusion and showed that widespread PS externalization is present even after fusion has been achieved. PS is a membrane phospholipid that is primarily localized to the inner-membrane leaflet. Externalization of PS is a hallmark of early apoptosis and is involved in cellular fusion of myocytes and macrophages. We were interested to examine whether PS externalization was also involved in primary trophoblast fusion. We show widespread PS externalization occurs after 72 hours when fusion was stimulated with forskolin, but not when stimulated with the cell permeant cAMP analog Br-cAMP. Using a forskolin analog, 1,9-dideoxyforskolin, which stimulates membrane transporters but not adenylate cyclase, we found that widespread PS externalization required both increased intracellular cAMP levels and stimulation of membrane transporters. Treatment of primary trophoblasts with Br-cAMP alone did not result in widespread PS externalization despite high levels of cellular fusion. Thus, we concluded that widespread PS externalization is independent of trophoblast fusion and, importantly, provide evidence that the common differentiation agent forskolin has previously unappreciated pleiotropic effects on trophoblastic cells.
Sea Bottom EM Field of M2 Tidal to Probe Upper Mantle Conductivity

Recent laboratory experiments demonstrate that electrical conductivity of upper mantle (UM) minerals is greatly increased by small amounts of water or by partial melt. Determination of deep conductivity using electromagnetic (EM) methods can thus provide constraints on the presence of volatiles and melting processes in UM. Probing conductivity at UM depths requires EM data with periods of a few to one cycle per day. This is a challenging period range for EM studies due to the spatially complex ionospheric source that dominates at these periods. The idea of exploiting tidal signals for EM studies of the Earth is not new, but so far it was used only for interpretation of inland and transoceanic electric field data due to M2. Emphasis in this work is made on a discussion of sea bottom magnetic field of the same origin.
O efeito do tamanho de grão austenítico no número de orientações das variantes de martensita em ligas inoxidáveis com efeito de memória de forma

The shape memory effect of stainless shape memory alloy is associated to non-thermolastic g (CFC) « e (HCP) martensitic transformation. Recent results generated by our group have demonstrated that the parent austenite grain size is an important parameter for the degree of shape recovery and also in some others properties such as yield stress, hardness and volume fraction of thermal martensite. Using EBSD, this work shows that besides the above-mentioned parameters, the number of martensite orientation variants decreases when the grain size decreases.
WWP2 ubiquitin ligase and its isoforms: New biological insight and promising disease targets

A number of recent papers on the WWP2 E3 ubiquitin ligase and two novel WWP2 isoforms have revealed important biological insight and disease-specific functions, and also impacted on our understanding of ubiquitin ligases in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and differentiation. Gene knockout studies suggest a developmental role for WWP2 in chondrogenesis via mechanisms involving cartilage-specific transcription factors. Furthermore, WWP2 isoforms have been shown to selectively target oncogenic signaling pathways linked to both the pTEN tumour suppressor and the TGFβ/Smad signaling pathway. Here, it is suggested that WWP2 isoforms have now emerged as central physiological regulators as well as promising new disease targets, and that the challenge ahead is to now develop highly selective WWP2 inhibitors with utility in cartilage disease such as osteoarthritis and as new anticancer strategies.
Ethanol induces apoptotic death of beta-endorphin neurons in the rat hypothalamus by a TGF-beta 1-dependent mechanism.

BACKGROUND We have previously shown that developing beta-endorphin neurons, in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus become increasingly apoptotic when exposed to ethanol. As in the previous study we have observed an involvement in transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) in mediation of the apoptotic process, the present study was conducted to determine the ethanol-induced changes in this apoptotic regulatory peptide signaling in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus of neonatal rats. METHODS Pups were exposed to 11.34% ethanol in a milk-based diet or control diet on postnatal day (PND) 3 to PND7. Two hours after the last daily feeding, brains were collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen for analysis of various apoptosis regulatory proteins in the arcuate tissue by Western blots. Some animals were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and analyzed immunohistochemically. RESULTS Ethanol exposure increased apoptotic death of beta-endorphin neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. The cell death was associated with an increase in the tissue levels of TGF-beta1 in the mediobasal hypothalamus. This was correlated with a reduction in the arcuate level of retinoblastoma protein (Rb) phosphorylation. The reduced level of Rb phosphorylation was associated with an increased protein level of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p27/kip but with a decreased protein level of cyclin dependent kinase 4 and cyclin D3. In addition, the apoptotic cell death was positively correlated with the level of Bclxs but negatively correlated with the level of the Bcl2. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that ethanol exposure increases TGF-beta1 signaling involving Bcl2 and Rb repression that may lead to apoptotic death of cells including beta-endorphin neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.
Influence of Annealing Heating Rate on Nb Ferritic Stainless Steel Microstructure and Texture

The cold rolled band of the niobium stabilized type ASTM 430 ferritic stainless steel with 85 % thickness reduction was annealed with heating rates of 0.10, 6.8, 23.5 and 41.5 °C/s and a soaking time of 24 s. The changes in microstructure and texture were followed by interruptions in the annealing cycle at temperatures of 780, 830 and 880 °C. Annealing at the lower heating rate was more effective for the development of γ-fiber than the annealing performed with high heating rate. The increased rate of heating provided an increase in the onset recrystallization temperature, a reduction in average grain diameter and a more homogeneous distribution throughout the thickness. The specimens with higher volume fraction of the γ-fiber annealed with low heating rate showed a high average coefficient of anisotropy R =1.99.
Fluid Spatial Dynamics of West Nile Virus in the United States: Rapid Spread in a Permissive Host Environment

ABSTRACT The introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America in 1999 is a classic example of viral emergence in a new environment, with its subsequent dispersion across the continent having a major impact on local bird populations. Despite the importance of this epizootic, the pattern, dynamics, and determinants of WNV spread in its natural hosts remain uncertain. In particular, it is unclear whether the virus encountered major barriers to transmission, or spread in an unconstrained manner, and if specific viral lineages were favored over others indicative of intrinsic differences in fitness. To address these key questions in WNV evolution and ecology, we sequenced the complete genomes of approximately 300 avian isolates sampled across the United States between 2001 and 2012. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a relatively star-like tree structure, indicative of explosive viral spread in the United States, although with some replacement of viral genotypes through time. These data are striking in that viral sequences exhibit relatively limited clustering according to geographic region, particularly for those viruses sampled from birds, and no strong phylogenetic association with well-sampled avian species. The genome sequence data analyzed here also contain relatively little evidence for adaptive evolution, particularly of structural proteins, suggesting that most viral lineages are of similar fitness and that WNV is well adapted to the ecology of mosquito vectors and diverse avian hosts in the United States. In sum, the molecular evolution of WNV in North America depicts a largely unfettered expansion within a permissive host and geographic population with little evidence of major adaptive barriers. IMPORTANCE How viruses spread in new host and geographic environments is central to understanding the emergence and evolution of novel infectious diseases and for predicting their likely impact. The emergence of the vector-borne West Nile virus (WNV) in North America in 1999 represents a classic example of this process. Using approximately 300 new viral genomes sampled from wild birds, we show that WNV experienced an explosive spread with little geographical or host constraints within birds and relatively low levels of adaptive evolution. From its introduction into the state of New York, WNV spread across the United States, reaching California and Florida within 4 years, a migration that is clearly reflected in our genomic sequence data, and with a general absence of distinct geographical clusters of bird viruses. However, some geographically distinct viral lineages were found to circulate in mosquitoes, likely reflecting their limited long-distance movement compared to avian species.
Do Large Banks have Lower Costs? New Estimates of Returns to Scale for U.S. Banks

The number of commercial banks in the United States has fallen by more than 50 percent since 1984. This consolidation of the U.S. banking industry and the accompanying large increase in average (and median) bank size have prompted concerns about the effects of consolidation and increasing bank size on market competition and on the number of banks that regulators deem “too–big–to–fail. ” Agency problems and perverse incentives created by government policies are often cited as reasons why many banks have pursued acquisitions and growth, though bankers often point to economies of scale. This paper presents new estimates of ray-scale and expansion-path scale economies for U.S. banks based on non-parametric local-linear estimation of a model of bank costs. Unlike prior studies that use models with restrictive parametric assumptions or limited samples, our methodology is fully non-parametric and we estimate returns to scale for all U.S. banks over the period 1984–2006. Our estimates indicate that as recently as 2006, most U.S. banks faced increasing returns to scale, suggesting that scale economies are a plausible (but not necessarily only) reason for the growth in average bank size and that the tendency toward increasing scale is likely to continue unless checked by government intervention.
Scheduling dynamic dataflow graphs with bounded memory using the token flow model

The authors build upon research by E. A. Lee (1991) concerning the token flow model, an analytical model for the behavior of dataflow graphs with data-dependent control flow, by analyzing the properties of cycles of the schedule: sequences of actor executions that return the graph to its initial state. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of a bounded cyclic schedule as well as sufficient conditions for execution of the graph in bounded memory. The techniques presented apply to a more general class of dataflow graphs than previous methods. <<ETX>>
Poetry generation for Bahasa Indonesia using a constraint satisfaction approach

This paper describes work on a poetry generator that is capable of generating poems in Indonesian based on certain contexts by employing a constraint satisfaction approach. The system retrieves language resources such as templates and slot fillers and combines them to instantiate poetry lines, which in turn are composed into poems based on a set of given constraints. The output of this system was evaluated through an online questionnaire involving 180 respondents. The results showed that poems generated using the full set of constraints were consistently measured better on all aspects than those generated using loose or no constraints.
A Robust Method for Vehicle License Plate Recognition based on Harries Corner Algorithm and Artificial Neural Network

Automatic vehicle license plate recognition system plays an important role in Intelligent Transportation System. Even though many license plate recognition methods have been proposed in the past, further scope for improvement still exists. This paper has proposed a new approach to license plate recognition system based Harris corner detection algorithm. In this paper connected component analysis is used for character segmentation and artificial neural networks for character recognition. It is observed from the experiments that the developed system successfully identifies and recognizes the vehicle number plate under different illumination conditions and independent of orientation and scale of the
Bioenergy and Wildlife: Threats and Opportunities for Grassland Conservation

Demand for land to grow corn for ethanol increased in the United States by 4.9 million hectares between 2005 and 2008, with wide-ranging effects on wildlife, including habitat loss. Depending on how biofuels are made, additional production could have similar impacts. We present a framework for assessing the impacts of biofuels on wildlife, and we use this framework to evaluate the impacts of existing and emerging biofuels feedstocks on grassland wildlife. Meeting the growing demand for biofuels while avoiding negative impacts on wildlife will require either biomass sources that do not require additional land (e.g., wastes, residues, cover crops, algae) or crop production practices that are compatible with wildlife. Diverse native prairie offers a potential approach to bioenergy production (including fuel, electricity, and heat) that is compatible with wildlife. Additional research is required to assess the compatibility of wildlife with different composition, inputs, and harvest management approaches, and to address concerns over prairie yields versus the yields of other biofuel crops.
Infectious Episodes Lead to the Oxidative Stress Response after Lung Transplantation

Case series Patient: Male, 30 • Female, 44 Final Diagnosis: Post-transplant respiratory infection Symptoms: Oxidative stress Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Transplantology Objective: Challenging differential diagnosis Background: Reactive oxygen species function as key metabolites that can impair biological processes. In lung transplantation, severe oxidative stress is expected when ischemia/reperfusion injury, acute allograft rejection, and various infections occur. Case Report: Two clinical cases in which serial measurements of the oxidative stress response (levels of diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites) were taken during hospitalization using a Free Radical Elective Evaluator are reported. In the first case, a 30-year-old man underwent right single lung transplantation for juvenile pulmonary emphysema. Immunosuppression was maintained using tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroid. The oxidative stress response fluctuated significantly (p<0.01) during the infections caused by bronchial stenosis compared to the stable condition. No acute rejection was seen during hospitalization. In the second case, a 44-year-old woman underwent right single lung transplantation for lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Immunosuppression was maintained by the same regimen as in case 1. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful, and there was no allograft rejection or infection. The oxidative stress response remained at the non-stress level. Conclusions: The oxidative stress response was measured by the levels of diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites in lung transplantation. High oxidative stress responses were seen during exposure to infections. This might become a noninvasive marker of complications after transplantation.
Design of high-order short-time approximations as a problem of matching the covariance of a Brownian motion

One of the outstanding problems in the numerical discretization of the Feynman-Kac formula calls for the design of arbitrary-order short-time approximations that are constructed in a stable way, yet only require knowledge of the potential function. In essence, the problem asks for the development of a functional analogue to the Gauss quadrature technique for one-dimensional functions. In PRE 69, 056701 (2004), it has been argued that the problem of designing an approximation of order \nu is equivalent to the problem of constructing discrete-time Gaussian processes that are supported on finite-dimensional probability spaces and match certain generalized moments of the Brownian motion. Since Gaussian processes are uniquely determined by their covariance matrix, it is tempting to reformulate the moment-matching problem in terms of the covariance matrix alone. Here, we show how this can be accomplished.
Improvisation of Security aspect of Steganographic System by applying RSA Algorithm

The applications accessing multimedia systems and content over the internet have grown extremely in the earlier few years. Moreover, several end users or intruders can simply use tools to synthesize and modify valuable information. The safety of information over unsafe communication channel has constantly been a primary concern in the consideration of researchers. It became one of the most important problems for information technology and essential to safeguard this valuable information during transmission. It is also important to determine where and how such a multimedia file is confidential. Thus, a need exists for emerging technology that helps to defend the integrity of information and protected the intellectual property privileges of owners. Various approaches are coming up to safeguard the data from unauthorized person. Steganography and Cryptography are two different techniques for security data over communication network. The primary purpose of Cryptography is to create message concept unintelligible or ciphertext might produce suspicious in the mind of opponents. On the other hand, Steganography implant secrete message in to a cover media and hides its existence. As a normal practice, data embedding is employed in communication, image, text or multimedia contents for the purpose of copyright, authentication and digital signature etc. Both techniques provides the sufficient degree of security but are vulnerable to intruder’s attacks when used over unsecure communication channel. Attempt to combines the two techniques i.e. Cryptography and Steganography, did results in security improvement. The existing steganographic algorithms primarily focus on embedding approach with less attention to pre-processing of data which offer flexibility, robustness and high security level. Our proposed model is based on Public key cryptosystem or RSA algorithms in which RSA algorithm is used for message encryption in encoding function and the resultant encrypted image is hidden into cover image employing Least Significant Bit (LSB) embedding method.
The Right Way to Search Evolving Graphs

Evolving graphs arise in problems where interrelations between data change over time. We present a breadth first search (BFS) algorithm for evolving graphs that computes the most direct influences between nodes at two different times. Using simple examples, we show that naive unfoldings of adjacency matrices miscount the number of temporal paths. By mapping an evolving graph to an adjacency matrix of an equivalent static graph, we prove that our generalization of the BFS algorithm correctly accounts for paths that traverse both space and time. Finally, we demonstrate how the BFS over evolving graphs can be applied to mine citation networks.
Symbiont infection affects aphid defensive behaviours

Aphids harbour both an obligate bacterial symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, and a wide range of facultative ones. Facultative symbionts can modify morphological, developmental and physiological host traits that favour their spread within aphid populations. We experimentally investigated the idea that symbionts may also modify aphid behavioural traits to enhance their transmission. Aphids exhibit many behavioural defences against enemies. Despite their benefits, these behaviours have some associated costs leading to reduction in aphid reproduction. Some aphid individuals harbour a facultative symbiont Hamiltonella defensa that provides protection against parasitoids. By analysing aphid behaviours in the presence of parasitoids, we showed that aphids infected with H. defensa exhibited reduced aggressiveness and escape reactions compared with uninfected aphids. The aphid and the symbiont have both benefited from these behavioural changes: both partners reduced the fitness decrements associated with the behavioural defences. Such symbiont-induced changes of behavioural defences may have consequences for coevolutionary processes between host organisms and their enemies.
GRAPH-BASED GENERATION OF META-LEARNING SEARCH SPACE

Meta-learning becomes more and more important in current and future research concentrated around widely understood data mining or computational intelligence. It can solve problems that can not be solved by any single, narrowly specialized algorithm. Theoverall characteristic of each meta-learning algorithm mainly depends on two elements: learning machine space and supervisory procedure. The ﬁrst element restricts the space of all possible learning machines to a subspace to be browsed by meta-learning algorithm. The supervisory procedure determines the order of selected learning machines with a module responsible for machine complexity evaluation , organizes tests and performs results analysis. In this article I present a framework for meta-learning search, that can be seen as a method of sophisticated description and evaluation of functional search spaces of learning machine conﬁgurations used in meta-learning. Machine spaces will be deﬁned by specially deﬁned graphs where vertices are specialized machine conﬁguration generators. By using such graphs the learning machine space may be modeled in much more ﬂexible way, depending on the characteristics of considered problem and a-priori knowledge. Presented method of search space description is used together with advanced algorithm which orders test tasks according to their complexities.