Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
System Software Support for Reducing Memory Latency on Distributed Shared-Memory Multiprocessors: Proceedings of the 7th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics (HCI)

Thispaperoverviewsresultsfrom ourrecentwork onbuilding customizedsystemsoftwaresupportfor DistributedSharedMemoryMultiprocessors.Themechanismsandpoliciesoutlinedin this paperareconnectedwith a singleconceptualthread:they all attempt to reducethememorylatency of parallelprogramsby optimizingcritical systemservices, while hiding the complex architecturaldetailsof Distributed SharedMemory from the programmer . We presentfour techniquesthat exhibit solid performanceimprovements: Efficientmemorymanagement for lightweightmultithreading,highly scalablehybridsynchronizationprimitives, a virtual memory management schemefor DSM systemsand transparent operatingsystemservicesfor adaptingparallelprogramsto multiprogrammed environments.
Measurement properties of the usual and fast gait speed tests in community-dwelling older adults: a COSMIN-based systematic review

Abstract Objective The gait speed test is one of the most widely used mobility assessments for older adults. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate and compare the measurement properties of the usual and fast gait speed tests in community-dwelling older adults. Methods Three databases were searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL. Peer-reviewed articles evaluating the gait speed test’s measurement properties or interpretability in community-dwelling older adults were included. The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments guidelines were followed for data synthesis and quality assessment. Results Ninety-five articles met our inclusion criteria, with 79 evaluating a measurement property and 16 reporting on interpretability. There was sufficient reliability for both tests, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) generally ranging from 0.72 to 0.98, but overall quality of evidence was low. For convergent/discriminant validity, an overall sufficient rating with moderate quality of evidence was found for both tests. Concurrent validity of the usual gait speed test was sufficient (ICCs = 0.79–0.93 with longer distances) with moderate quality of evidence; however, there were insufficient results for the fast gait speed test (e.g. low agreement with longer distances) supported by high-quality studies. Responsiveness was only evaluated in three articles, with low quality of evidence. Conclusion Findings from this review demonstrated evidence in support of the reliability and validity of the usual and fast gait speed tests in community-dwelling older adults. However, future validation studies should employ rigorous methodology and evaluate the tests’ responsiveness.
Planning for the great unknown: the challenge of promoting spectator-driven sports event tourism.

Sports event tourism has rapidly evolved into one of the most fashionable facets of the 21st Century. As a result, staging high-profile fixtures are increasingly being seen as a prominent method of strengthening a destination's domestic and international image. Despite the plethora of academic interest in special event management, there remains an apparent lack of knowledge surrounding the role played by public sector tourism planners. This paper examines narratives from representatives of New Zealand-based regional tourism organisations responsible for maximising the local benefits associated with hosting the 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour. While the ‘once in a lifetime’ nature of the six-week nationwide series was undoubtedly its biggest selling point, it was equally to blame for a multitude of hurdles encountered by regional operators. The findings identify a host of logistical and resource-based challenges, along with the manner in which such threats were overcome. Several recommendations are introduced, highlighting the need for consistent, yet flexible, approaches to regional sport event planning. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Activation of STING signaling aggravates chronic alcohol exposure‐induced cognitive impairment by increasing neuroinflammation and mitochondrial apoptosis

Abstract Aims Chronic alcohol exposure leads to persistent neurological disorders, which are mainly attributed to neuroinflammation and apoptosis. Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) is essential in the cytosolic DNA sensing pathway and is involved in inflammation and cellular death processes. This study was to examine the expression pattern and biological functions of STING signaling in alcohol use disorder (AUD). Methods Cell‐free DNA was extracted from human and mouse plasma. C57BL/6J mice were given alcohol by gavage for 28 days, and behavior tests were used to determine their mood and cognition. Cultured cells were treated with ethanol for 24 hours. The STING agonist DMXAA, STING inhibitor C‐176, and STING‐siRNA were used to intervene the STING. qPCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining were used to assess STING signaling, inflammation, and apoptosis. Results Circulating cell‐free mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was increased in individuals with AUD and mice chronically exposed to alcohol. Upregulation of STING signaling under alcohol exposure led to inflammatory responses in BV2 cells and mitochondrial apoptosis in PC12 cells. DMXAA exacerbated alcohol‐induced cognitive impairment and increased the activation of microglia, neuroinflammation, and apoptosis in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), while C‐176 exerted neuroprotection. Conclusion Activation of STING signaling played an essential role in alcohol‐induced inflammation and mitochondrial apoptosis in the mPFC. This study identifies STING as a promising therapeutic target for AUD.
Flight reconstruction of two European enantiornithines (Aves, Pygostylia) and the achievement of bounding flight in Early Cretaceous birds

Intermittent flight through flap‐gliding (alternating flapping phases and gliding phases with spread wings) or bounding (flapping and ballistic phases with wings folded against the body) are strategies to optimize aerial efficiency which are commonly used among small birds today. The broad morphological disparity of Mesozoic birds suggests that a range of aerial strategies could have evolved early in avian evolution. Based on biomechanics and aerodynamic theory, this study reconstructs the flight modes of two small enantiornithines from the Lower Cretaceous fossil site of Las Hoyas (Spain): Concornis lacustris and Eoalulavis hoyasi. Our results show that the short length of their wings in relation to their body masses were suitable for flying through strict flapping and intermittent bounds, but not through facultative glides. Aerodynamic models indicate that the power margins of these birds were sufficient to sustain bounding flight. Our results thus suggest that C. lacustris and E. hoyasi would have increased aerial efficiency through bounding flight, just as many small passerines and woodpeckers do today. Intermittent bounding appears to have evolved early in the evolutionary history of birds, at least 126 million years ago.
Loss of lysosomal membrane protein NCU-G1 in mice results in spontaneous liver fibrosis with accumulation of lipofuscin and iron in Kupffer cells

Human kidney predominant protein, NCU-G1, is a highly conserved protein with an unknown biological function. Initially described as a nuclear protein, it was later shown to be a bona fide lysosomal integral membrane protein. To gain insight into the physiological function of NCU-G1, mice with no detectable expression of this gene were created using a gene-trap strategy, and Ncu-g1gt/gt mice were successfully characterized. Lysosomal disorders are mainly caused by lack of or malfunctioning of proteins in the endosomal-lysosomal pathway. The clinical symptoms vary, but often include liver dysfunction. Persistent liver damage activates fibrogenesis and, if unremedied, eventually leads to liver fibrosis/cirrhosis and death. We demonstrate that the disruption of Ncu-g1 results in spontaneous liver fibrosis in mice as the predominant phenotype. Evidence for an increased rate of hepatic cell death, oxidative stress and active fibrogenesis were detected in Ncu-g1gt/gt liver. In addition to collagen deposition, microscopic examination of liver sections revealed accumulation of autofluorescent lipofuscin and iron in Ncu-g1gt/gt Kupffer cells. Because only a few transgenic mouse models have been identified with chronic liver injury and spontaneous liver fibrosis development, we propose that the Ncu-g1gt/gt mouse could be a valuable new tool in the development of novel treatments for the attenuation of fibrosis due to chronic liver damage.
Depression: an inflammatory illness?

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Findings from preclinical and clinical studies suggest that psychiatric illnesses, particularly MDD, are associated with inflammatory processes. While it is unlikely that MDD is a primary ‘inflammatory’ disorder, there is now evidence to suggest that inflammation may play a subtle role in the pathophysiology of MDD. Most of the evidence that links inflammation to MDD comes from three observations: (a) one-third of those with major depression show elevated peripheral inflammatory biomarkers, even in the absence of a medical illness; (b) inflammatory illnesses are associated with greater rates of MDD; and (c) patients treated with cytokines are at greater risk of developing major depressive illness. We now know that the brain is not an immune privileged organ. Inflammatory mediators have been found to affect various substrates thought to be important in the aetiopathogenesis of MDD, including altered monoamine and glutamate neurotransmission, glucocorticoid receptor resistance and adult hippocampal neurogenesis. At a higher level, inflammation is thought to affect brain signalling patterns, cognition and the production of a constellation of symptoms, termed ‘sickness behaviour’. Inflammation may therefore play a role in the aetiology of depression, at least in a ‘cohort’ of vulnerable individuals. Inflammation may not only act as a precipitating factor that pushes a person into depression but also a perpetuating factor that may pose an obstacle to recovery. More importantly, inflammatory markers may aid in the diagnosis and prediction of treatment response, leading to the possibility of tailored treatments, thereby allowing stratification of what remains a heterogenous disorder.
Engineering Human IgG1 Affinity to Human Neonatal Fc Receptor: Impact of Affinity Improvement on Pharmacokinetics in Primates

The pH-dependent binding of Igs to the neonatal FcR (FcRn) plays a critical role in the in vivo homeostasis of IgGs. Modulating the interaction between Fc and FcRn through protein engineering is one method for improving the pharmacokinetics of therapeutic Abs. Recent studies disputed the direct relationship between increasing FcRn affinity and improved pharmacokinetic properties. In this work, we studied the pharmacokinetics of two human IgG1 Fc variants in cynomolgus monkey to further clarify the affinity-pharmacokinetic relationship. First, we report a number of novel Fc point mutations and combination variants, including some with primate-specific FcRn-binding improvements. By studying these variants along with some previously described variants across a wide range of affinities, we discovered a direct correlation of pH 6 affinity improvements with neutral pH improvements, suggesting that all of the tested variants exhibit similar pH dependency in FcRn binding. We then evaluated the pharmacokinetics of variants N434A and N434W, which, respectively, gave ∼4- and 80-fold improvements in pH 6-binding affinity to both human and nonhuman primate FcRn. Surprisingly, clearance of N434W was similar to that of wild type. N434W is the first variant studied in primates that exhibits significant binding to FcRn at pH 7.4, and its clearance substantiates the principle that too much affinity improvement, i.e., beyond that of N434W, does not yield improved pharmacokinetics. In contrast, N434A exhibited a ∼2-fold decrease in clearance in cynomolgus monkey, supporting the notion that modest increases in pH 6 FcRn affinity can result in improved pharmacokinetics in primates.
Systematic Analysis of Mycobacterial Acylation Reveals First Example of Acylation-mediated Regulation of Enzyme Activity of a Bacterial Phosphatase*

Background: Post-translational modifications regulate Mycobacterium tuberculosis physiology and pathogenesis. Results: Several novel signal transduction proteins are regulated by lysine acylation, including the virulence-associated protein-tyrosine phosphatase PtpB. Conclusion: M. tuberculosis lysine acylation-regulated pathways affect other signal transduction modules. Significance: This is the first report of acylation-dependent regulation of enzyme activity of a bacterial phosphatase. Protein lysine acetylation is known to regulate multiple aspects of bacterial metabolism. However, its presence in mycobacterial signal transduction and virulence-associated proteins has not been studied. In this study, analysis of mycobacterial proteins from different cellular fractions indicated dynamic and widespread occurrence of lysine acetylation. Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins regulating diverse physiological processes were then selected and expressed in the surrogate host Mycobacterium smegmatis. The purified proteins were analyzed for the presence of lysine acetylation, leading to the identification of 24 acetylated proteins. In addition, novel lysine succinylation and propionylation events were found to co-occur with acetylation on several proteins. Protein-tyrosine phosphatase B (PtpB), a secretory phosphatase that regulates phosphorylation of host proteins and plays a critical role in Mycobacterium infection, is modified by acetylation and succinylation at Lys-224. This residue is situated in a lid region that covers the enzyme's active site. Consequently, acetylation and succinylation negatively regulate the activity of PtpB.
Abrasion-corrosion mechanisms of implant materials

Abstract: The tribological performance of implant materials within the body where the pH can vary between 7.4 and 4.0, depending on whether the joint is infected or not, is extremely harsh and varies significantly from that experienced in other engineering environments. Three wear mechanisms that affect biomedical and, in particular, orthopaedic implants are regularly reported. These are adhesion, abrasion and fatigue. The wear mechanisms in biomedical implants, particularly hip joints, are reported to be a function of the following variables: type of materials used, contact stresses, lubricants and clearance, surface hardness and roughness, type of articulation due to motion, number of cycles, solution particle count and distribution, and tribocorrosion.
Ieee Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 1 Efficient Polyhedral Modeling from Silhouettes

— Modeling from silhouettes is a popular and useful topic in computer vision. Many methods exist to compute the surface of the visual hull from silhouettes, but few address the problem of ensuring good topological properties of the surface, such as manifoldness. This article provides an efficient algorithm to compute such a surface in the form of a polyhedral mesh. It relies on a small number of geometric operations to compute a visual hull polyhedron in a single pass. Such simplicity enables the algorithm to combine the advantages of being fast, producing pixel-exact surfaces, and repeatably yield manifold and watertight polyhedra in general experimental conditions with real data, as verified with all datasets tested. The algorithm is fully described, its complexity analyzed and modeling results given.
A GMM-based probabilistic sequence kernel for speaker verification

This paper describes the derivation of a sequence kernel that transforms speech utterances into probabilistic vectors for classification in an expanded feature space. The sequence kernel is built upon a set of Gaussian basis functions, where half of the basis functions contain speaker specific information while the other half implicates the common characteristics of the competing background speakers. The idea is similar to that in the Gaussian mixture model – universal background model (GMM-UBM) system, except that the Gaussian densities are treated individually in our proposed sequence kernel, as opposed to two mixtures of Gaussian densities in the GMM-UBM system. The motivation is to exploit the individual Gaussian components for better speaker discrimination. Experiments on NIST 2001 SRE corpus show convincing results for the probabilistic sequence kernel approach.
Protective effect of melatonin against chlorophyll degradation during the senescence of barley leaves

Abstract: Melatonin (N‐acetyl‐5‐methoxytryptamine) is a highly conserved molecule whose presence is not exclusive to the animal kingdom. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated its presence in plants, where the possible role(s) of this indoleamine is (are) under active investigation. The present work aims to further our knowledge in this respect and presents the results of a study of the effect that melatonin has on foliar senescence. Barley leaves treated with melatonin solutions clearly slowed down the senescence process, as estimated from the chlorophyll lost in leaves. This effect of melatonin was concentration dependent, with an optimal response being obtained at 1 mm melatonin, after 48 hr of incubation in darkness. The already known effects of the phytohormones, kinetin, and abscisic acid, were also assayed. Of the phytohormone and melatonin combinations assayed, 1 mm melatonin presented the best protection against senescence. The levels of endogenous melatonin in control leaves were measured by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and in leaves treated with different exogenous melatonin concentrations (to demonstrate the absorption capacity of leaves). The possible physiological implications of this newly revealed action of melatonin in foliar senescence are discussed.
EncephalomyelitisExperimental Autoimmune System Inflammation During Active Immune Responses and Central Nervous Cells Suppress Antigen-Specific Autoreactive Regulatory T + CD25+ Cutting Edge: CD4

Autoreactive CD4 (cid:1) T cells exist in normal individuals and re-tain the capacity to initiate autoimmune disease. The current study investigates the role of CD4 (cid:1) CD25 (cid:1) T-regulatory (T R ) cells during autoimmune disease using the CD4 (cid:1) T cell-depen-dent myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-speciﬁc experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model of multiple sclerosis. In vitro, T R cells effectively inhibited both the proliferation of and cytokine production by MOG 35–55 -speciﬁc Th1 cells. In vivo, adoptive transfer of T R cells conferred signiﬁcant protection from clinical experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis which was associated with normal activation of autoreactive Th1 cells, but an increased frequency of MOG 35–55 -speciﬁc Th2 cells and decreased CNS inﬁltration. Lastly, transferred T R cells displayed an enhanced ability to trafﬁc to the peripheral lymph nodes and expressed increased levels of the adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and P-selectin that may promote functional interactions with target T cells. Col-lectively, these ﬁndings suggest that T R cells contribute notably to the endogenous mechanisms that regulate actively induced autoimmune disease. The Journal of Immunology, 2002, 169: 4712–4716.
Intranasal delivery of Salmonella OMVs decorated with Chlamydia trachomatis antigens induces specific local and systemic immune responses

ABSTRACT Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen responsible for the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted disease globally. The high prevalence of chlamydial infections underscores the urgent need for licensed and effective vaccines to prevent transmission in populations. Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) have emerged as promising mucosal vaccine carriers due to their inherent adjuvant properties and the ability to display heterologous antigens. In this proof-of-concept study, we evaluated the immunogenicity of Salmonella OMVs decorated with C. trachomatis MOMP-derived CTH522 or HtrA antigens in mice. Following a prime-boost intranasal vaccination approach, two OMV-based C. trachomatis vaccines elicited significant humoral responses specific to the antigens in both systemic and vaginal compartments. Furthermore, we demonstrated strong antigen-specific IFN-γ and IL17a responses in splenocytes and cervical lymph node cells of vaccinated mice, indicating CD4+ Th1 and Th17 biased immune responses. Notably, the OMV-CTH522 vaccine also induced the production of spleen-derived CD8+ T cells expressing IFN-γ. In conclusion, these results highlight the potential of OMV-based C. trachomatis vaccines for successful use in future challenge studies and demonstrate the suitability of our modular OMV platform for intranasal vaccine applications.
Characteristics of Wave Breaking and Blocking by Spatially Varying Opposing Currents

A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) ﬂow solver with a Volume of Fluid (VOF) surface capturing scheme is used to investigate wave breaking and blocking due to strong opposing currents. The Shear Stress Transport (SST) k 2 x model is modiﬁed in order to capture the turbulence properly. The unique capability of the RANS-VOF model allows us to reveal the distinct features of current-induced wave breaking and blocking. The limiting wave steepness at breaking onset is reduced considerably by the opposing current from the Stokes’ limit for stationary waves. Although the wave height grows faster before breaking under a more rapidly varying current, the maximum height at the breaking onset remains almost the same. The locations of incipient breaking are slightly shifted downstream/upwave by the increased current gradient. It was found that the wave radiation stress alters the mean water level by competing with the pressure gradient arising from the current-induced surface tilting. The wave set-down and set-up is more pronounced for more intensive breakers occurring under a larger incident wave and current gradient. Our model results indicate an undertow-like change to the current proﬁle due to wave breaking. The turbulence and vorticity generated by the current-induced breaking wave persist and are advected downstream and interact with those generated by the following wave and current. and wave set-up appears a short distance shoreward of the breaking onset location. A new feature for these current-induced breakers is that the spatially varying opposing current causes a surface tilting of the mean water level even in the absence of waves. It is through this current-induced surface tilting that the wave radiation stress gradient exerts its inﬂuence on the mean water level. The larger the initial wave height and the larger the magnitude of the current horizontal gradient, the larger set-down and set-up are generated by the wave radiation stress gradient. Longer waves with larger wave periods lead to smaller wave set-up, since it is less likely for these waves to experience breaking and energy loss while propagating through the same current ﬁeld.
On optimal multipath rate-adaptive routing

A centralized rate-adaptive routing algorithm is presented that, in contrast to the distributed ones available in the literature, achieves provable stability, optimalilty with respect to optional linear or quadratic objective functions, and feasibility in that it can accommodate any admissible traffic matrix in the network without violating link capacities. We recast the routing problem in the framework of constrained optimal control theory to obtain optimal state feedback routing controllers, and we present simulations confirming that our routing controllers are viable in small- and middle-sized networks.