Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transfer of tolerance to heart and kidney allografts in the rat model

Long‐term allograft acceptance can be induced in the rat using a variety of maneuvers. One of the cardinal features of some models of tolerance is that once the tolerance state has been established, it can be perpetuated to naive recipients by the adoptive transfer of donor‐specific regulatory cells. Such adoptive transfer studies have also addressed the capacity of T‐cell subpopulations and non‐T cells to transfer tolerance. However, tolerance cannot be transferred in all models. The underlying reasons for this are unclear with some studies pointing towards dose‐dependent aspects and timing of expansion of T regulatory cells following tolerance transfer. Further exploration of this phenomenon will help us to understand better the mechanisms upon which allograft tolerance is based, and will provide new perspectives for further experimental studies.
Activity and barriers in girls (8-16 yr) based on grade and maturity status.

UNLABELLED Minimal research has examined whether the decline in physical activity (PA) among adolescent girls is associated with chronological age (CA) or biological age (BA). PURPOSE To describe the PA levels and perceived barriers to PA of adolescent girls grouped by school grade and maturity status (i.e., early or late maturing) within grades. METHODS Two hundred and twenty-one girls (aged 8-16 yr, grades 4-10) wore an Actical accelerometer for 7 d and then completed a semistructured, open-ended questionnaire on perceived barriers to PA over the 7-d period. Predicted age at peak height velocity and recalled age at menarche were used to assess maturity among the elementary and high school girls, respectively. Maturity and grade group differences in PA were assessed using a MANCOVA and independent sample t-test and barriers to PA using chi-squared statistics. RESULTS Daily minutes spent in moderate to vigorous PA decreased by 40% between grades 4 and 10. Within grade groupings, no differences in PA were found between early and late maturing girls (P > 0.05). Grades 4 to 6 participants cited more interpersonal (i.e., social) barriers. Grades 9 to 10 participants cited more institutional barriers to PA, primarily revolving around the institution of school. No differences were found in types of barriers reported between early and late maturing girls. CONCLUSION Because PA and types of perceived barriers to PA were dependent on grade, future research should work to identify the most salient (i.e., frequent and limiting) barriers to PA by CA in youth. Once reliably was identified, multipronged intervention strategies must be tested for effectiveness to help youth cope with their salient barriers.
The Problem of Activity in Psychology

In recent years Soviet psychology has undergone rapid development in its various branches of applied research, while theoretical problems of general psychology have received much less attention. Nevertheless, Soviet psychological science, based on Marxist-Leninist philosophy, has proposed a fundamentally new approach to the mind and has introduced important Marxist categories that require further elaboration into psychology.
Physical Exercise Ameliorates Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

Copyright: © 2017 Trevor Archer and Danilo Garcia. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source. *Corresponding author: Trevor Archer , Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, , Box 500, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden, Email: trevor. archer@psy.gu. se
Evaluating the impact of requirements analysis tools using simulation

Research Section David Raffo,* Robert Ferguson, Siri-on Setamanit and Bhuricha Sethanandha 1 School of Business Administration, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97201, USA 2 Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97201, USA 3 Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA 4 Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
Role of regulatory T cells during virus infection

The host response to viruses includes multiple cell types that have regulatory function. Most information focuses on CD4+ regulatory T cells that express the transcription factor Foxp3+ (Tregs), which are the topic of this review. We explain how viruses through specific and non‐specific means can trigger the response of thymus‐derived natural Tregs as well as induce Tregs. The latter derive under appropriate stimulation conditions either from uncommitted precursors or from differentiated cells that convert to become Tregs. We describe instances where Tregs appear to limit the efficacy of antiviral protective immunity and other, perhaps more common, immune‐mediated inflammatory conditions, where the Tregs function to limit the extent of tissue damage that occurs during a virus infection. We discuss the controversial roles that Tregs may play in the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency and hepatitis C virus infections. The issue of plasticity is discussed, as this may result in Tregs losing their protective function when present in inflammatory environments. Finally, we mention approaches used to manipulate Treg numbers and function and assess their current value and likely future success to manage the outcome of virus infection, especially those that are responsible for chronic tissue damage.
A Comparison of Internal Conjunctive Cohesion in the English Essay Writing of Cantonese Speakers and Native Speakers of English

A comparative analysis is made of organizational cohesive devices in the English essays of Form 6 writers from a native speaker group and three groups of Cantonese speakers. The analysis is based on the work of Halliday and Hasan (1976) on cohesive conjunction and determines differences in the use of internal conjunctive cohe sion between native and ESL writers. Results show that Cantonese writers use a significantly higher frequency of devices in their English writing than their native speaker counterparts. There are also differ ing patterns in the positioning of devices and the choice of particular devices to express the same conjunctive relation. Some difference is found between ESL groups in these patterns. The findings are dis cussed in terms of the developmental level of the writers, the acquired behaviour of second language learning from teachers and textbooks and the transfer of writing habits and linguistic patterns from the first language.
Characterizing Islandscapes: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges Exemplified in the Mediterranean

Islands across the world have evolved at the interface between land and sea, thus comprising landscapes and seascapes. Many islands have also been influenced by anthropogenic factors, which have given rise to mosaics of anthromes ( sensu Ellis and Ramankutty). These elements of landscapes, seascapes, and cultural impacts in varied proportions, generate unique environments which merit a unique term: islandscapes. The use of the term islandscape is advocated as the only term which encompasses all of the constituent components of an island, in a holistic manner. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the applicability of existing landscape and seascape character assessment methodologies in an island context, and to propose a methodological framework for mapping the space which defines the term ‘islandscape’. The challenges and opportunities stemming from the use of the term are exemplified with reference to the Mediterranean islands.
Positioning using time-difference of arrival measurements

The problem of position estimation from time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements occurs in a range of applications from wireless communication networks to electronic warfare positioning. Correlation analysis of the transmitted signal to two receivers gives rise to one hyperbolic function. With more than two receivers, we can compute more hyperbolic functions, which ideally intersect in one unique point. With TDOA measurement uncertainty, we face a non-linear estimation problem. We suggest and compare a Monte Carlo based method for positioning and a gradient search algorithm using a nonlinear least squares framework. The former has the feature of being easily extended to a dynamic framework where a motion model of the transmitter is included. A small simulation study is presented.
Baroreflex gain in children with obstructive sleep apnea.

RATIONALE We previously demonstrated that children with obstructive sleep apnea have increased blood pressure associated with changes in left ventricular mass index. Others have shown in adults that blood pressure variability is an important predictor of changes in left ventricular mass. The baroreflex system buffers blood pressure changes by varying heart rate. We have thus hypothesized that (1) baroreflex system gain is increased during sleep, improving blood pressure buffering; (2) children with obstructive sleep apnea lack this baroreflex gain increase; and (3) reduced blood pressure buffering results in exaggerated blood pressure variability that is associated with end-organ damage. OBJECTIVES Compare measures of left ventricular mass index and nighttime baroreflex gain of healthy children to those of children with obstructive sleep apnea. METHODS A total of 169 children (50 control subjects, 63 with mild obstructive sleep apnea, and 56 with severe obstructive sleep apnea) with a mean age of 9.9 years (+/-2.2) underwent echocardiography followed by polysomnography with continuous blood pressure measurement. Baroreflex gain was calculated in time and frequency domains. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Healthy children demonstrated a nighttime pattern of increasing baroreflex gain. Children with obstructive sleep apnea had decreased nighttime baroreflex gain compared with control subjects. Nighttime blood pressure and blood pressure variability were significantly correlated with left ventricular mass index. CONCLUSIONS Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with a decrease in nighttime baroreflex gain and an increase in blood pressure variability. This increase is correlated with changes in left ventricular mass index.
NO-sGC Pathway Modulates Ca2+ Release and Muscle Contraction in Zebrafish Skeletal Muscle

Vertebrate skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation is a complex process that depends on Ca2+ ions to promote the interaction of actin and myosin. This process can be modulated by nitric oxide (NO), a gas molecule synthesized endogenously by (nitric oxide synthase) NOS isoforms. At nanomolar concentrations NO activates soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), which in turn activates protein kinase G via conversion of GTP into cyclic GMP. Alternatively, NO post-translationally modifies proteins via S-nitrosylation of the thiol group of cysteine. However, the mechanisms of action of NO on Ca2+ homeostasis during muscle contraction are not fully understood and we hypothesize that NO exerts its effects on Ca2+ homeostasis in skeletal muscles mainly through negative modulation of Ca2+ release and Ca2+ uptake via the NO-sGC-PKG pathway. To address this, we used 5–7 days-post fecundation-larvae of zebrafish, a well-established animal model for physiological and pathophysiological muscle activity. We evaluated the response of muscle contraction and Ca2+ transients in presence of SNAP, a NO-donor, or L-NAME, an unspecific NOS blocker in combination with specific blockers of key proteins of Ca2+ homeostasis. We also evaluate the expression of NOS in combination with dihydropteridine receptor, ryanodine receptor and sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase. We concluded that endogenous NO reduced force production through negative modulation of Ca2+ transients via the NO-sGC pathway. This effect could be reversed using an unspecific NOS blocker or sGC blocker.
Minimum molecular architectures for transcription and replication of the influenza virus

The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of influenza virus is composed of three viral P proteins (PB1, PB2, and PA) and involved in both transcription and replication of the RNA genome. The PB1 subunit plays a key role in both the assembly of three P protein subunits and the catalytic function of RNA polymerization. We have established a simultaneous expression system of three P proteins in various combinations using recombinant baculoviruses, and isolated the PA–PB1–PB2 ternary (3P) complex and two kinds of the binary (2P) complex, PA–PB1 and PB1–PB2. The affinity-purified 3P complex showed all of the catalytic properties characteristic of the transcriptase, including capped RNA-binding, capped RNA cleavage, model viral RNA binding, model viral RNA-directed RNA synthesis, and polyadenylation of newly synthesized RNA. The PB1–PB2 binary complex showed essentially the same catalytic properties as does the 3P complex, whereas the PA–PB1 complex catalyzed de novo initiation of RNA synthesis in the absence of primers. Taken together we propose that the catalytic specificity of PB1 subunit is modulated to the transcriptase by binding PB2 or the replicase by interaction with PA.
[Inappropriate sinus tachycardia].

Inappropriate sinus tachycardia is characterized by an unexplained increase of the resting sinus rate (> 100 bpm) with excess increase in response to moderate activity (mean heart rate > 90 bpm/24 h). Affected patients may suffer from heart race, palpitations, fatigue, weakness and dizziness. The mechanisms underlying inappropriate sinus tachycardia and its long term prognosis are poorly understood. Thus, diagnosis and treatment are empiric and require the initial exclusion of potential causes of secondary sinus tachycardia. Therapeutic approaches include physical training, beta blockers or ivabradine. Radiofrequency catheter ablation should be restricted to patients with refractory and longstanding symptoms.
Streptococcal adhesin SspA/B analogue peptide inhibits adherence and impacts biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans

Streptococcus mutans, the major causative agent of dental caries, adheres to tooth surfaces via the host salivary glycoprotein-340 (gp340). This adherence can be competitively inhibited by peptides derived from the SspA/B adhesins of Streptococcus gordonii, a human commensal microbe that competes for the same binding sites. Ssp(A4K-A11K), a double-lysine substituted SspA/B peptide analogue, has been shown to exhibit superior in vitro binding affinity for a gp340-derived peptide (SRCRP2), suggesting that Ssp(A4K-A11K) may be of clinical interest. In the present work, we tested the inhibitory effects of Ssp(A4K-A11K) on adherence and biofilm formation of S. mutans by reconstructing an artificial oral environment using saliva-coated polystyrene plates and hydroxyapatite disks. Bacterial adherence (adherence period: 1 h) was assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using biotinylated bacterial cells. Biofilm formation (periods: 8, 11, or 14 h) was assessed by staining and imaging of the sessile cells, or by recovering biofilm cells and plating for cell counts. The pH values of the culture media were measured as a biofilm acidogenicity indicator. Bactericidality was measured by loss of optical density during culturing in the presence of the peptide. We observed that 650 μM Ssp(A4K-A11K) significantly inhibited adherence of S. mutans to saliva-coated polystyrene; a similar effect was seen on bacterial affinity for SRCRP2. Ssp(A4K-A11K) had lesser effects on the adherence of commensal streptococci. Pretreatment of polystyrene and hydroxyapatite with 650 μM Ssp(A4K-A11K) significantly attenuated biofilm formation, whether tested with glucose- or sucrose-containing media. The SspA/B peptide’s activity did not reflect bactericidality. Strikingly, pH in Ssp-treated 8-h (6.8 ± 0.06) and 11-h (5.5 ± 0.06) biofilms showed higher values than the critical pH. Thus, Ssp(A4K-A11K) acts by inhibiting bacterial adherence and cariogrnic biofilm formation. We further consider these results in the context of the safety, specificity, and stability properties of the Ssp(A4K-A11K) peptide.
International Organizations, the “Education–Economic Growth” Black Box, and the Development of World Education Culture1

Many approaches have attempted to explain the rapid expansion of education systems after World War II: convergence theories, stressing the modernization process; neo-Marxist approaches, highlighting neocolonialism and a new type of imperialism; and neoinstitutionalism, focusing on world education culture and states’ need for legitimacy. In these approaches, intergovernmental organizations are considered to be tools in the hands of the capitalist class or seen as part of states’ environments. Paraphrasing the title of Peter Evans, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Scokpol’s book, however, I think that it is time to “bring international organizations back in,” which means treating international organizations as agents of the global educational arena and as producers of a global educational culture. As institutions, intergovernmental organizations, which became central actors in the post–World War II globalized world, have their own histories, structures, and resources, along with their own interests and their own culture. I contend that the participation of economists of education and international organizations, mainly UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in the “education expansion– economic growth” network contributed to the consolidation and diffusion of the education–economic growth black box throughout the world. Human capital theory, the “residual factor,” and educational planning were at the base of the education–economic growth black box created by economists of education. This new subdiscipline, which developed after the Second World War, sees education as a key factor in economic development. The econo-
Automated classification and thematic mapping of bacterial mats in the North Sea

With the current availability of high quality optical sensors and the advancements of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), it is becoming increasingly accessible to acquire extremely large sets of benthic habitat images. Manual characterization and classification of such large number of images for relevant geological or benthic features can become very difficult and time consuming. This paper presents a novel method for automated segmentation, classification and thematic mapping of bacterial mat from shell chaff and sand, on mosaics created from an image survey on the North Sea. The proposed method uses completed Gabor filter response, grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and local binary pattern (CLBP) as feature descriptors. After chi-square and Hellinger kernel mapping of feature vector, Probability Density Weighted Mean Distance (PDWMD) is used for classification. Initial segmentation is done using TurboPixels. Our proposed method achieves the highest overall classification accuracy and have moderate execution times compared with the set of methods that are representative of the state-of-the-art in automated classification of seabed images. Our work illustrates that applying automated classification techniques to mosaic composites produces a rapid (in terms of expert annotation time) technique of characterizing benthic areas that can be used to track changes over time.
Circularly Polarized S Band Dual Frequency Square Patch Antenna Using Glass Microfiber Reinforced PTFE Composite

Circularly polarized (CP) dual frequency cross-shaped slotted patch antenna on 1.575 mm thick glass microfiber reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite material substrate is designed and fabricated for satellite applications. Asymmetric cross-shaped slots are embedded in the middle of the square patch for CP radiation and four hexagonal slots are etched on the four sides of the square patch for desired dual frequency. Different substrate materials have been analysed to achieve the desired operating band. The experimental results show that the impedance bandwidth is approximately 30 MHz (2.16 GHz to 2.19 GHz) for lower band and 40 MHz (3.29 GHz to 3.33 GHz) for higher band with an average peak gain of 6.59 dBiC and 5.52 dBiC, respectively. Several optimizations are performed to obtain the values of the antenna physical parameters. Moreover, the proposed antenna possesses compactness, light weight, simplicity, low cost, and circularly polarized. It is an attractive candidate for dual band satellite antennas where lower band can be used for uplink and upper band can be used for downlink.
Promoting Active Learning in Electrical Engineering Basic Studies

Active learning, project-based teaching, and student collaboration are current trends in engineering education. Incorporating these have also been the goal of the basic studies development project EPOP started at the Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering in 2011. In the project, two obligatory basic courses in circuit analysis and electromagnetic field theory have been taught using interactive engagement during the spring of 2012. This paper presents the implementation of the teaching, including methods and evaluation with several concrete examples. As a result of the novel teaching, motivation and the engagement of students were at a high level during the whole course and learning results were better than those of the students participating the traditional lecture course.
Who Belongs?

This article presents a new set of analytical tools for understanding competing conceptions of political membership. Controversies concerning nationality and citizenship are often seen as products of conflict between `civic' and `ethnic' visions. However, the conceptual roots of current discussions and disagreements about political membership are actually more complicated than this might suggest. After examining the dichotomy of civic and ethnic and its limitations, this article identifies five competing ways of understanding the meaning of belonging to, or being a citizen of, a given polity. Political membership may be understood and discussed as a matter of descent from common biological ancestors, cultural attachment, or identification with particular political principles. Alternatively, it may also be imagined either as an exchange of rights for duties or as a benefit granted to those contributing materially to the community. Each of these conceptions figures significantly in current political and intellectual discussions of citizenship and nationality. The typology may also prove applicable to new kinds of debates about global citizenship.
Role of specific cytotoxic lymphocytes in cellular immunity against murine cytomegalovirus

Cytotoxic lymphocytes were generated in vitro against murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-infected cells by incubation with ultraviolet light-irradiated, infected fibroblasts. When passively transferred, they reduced virus titers in spleens of mice 1 day after infection with MCMV. Protection was abrogated by anti-theta serum and complement. Spleen cells from mice infected for 6 to 14 days protected mice better than cells from mice after infection for 1, 3, or 30 days. Protection by in vitro- and in vivo-generated cells was H-2K or H-2D restricted. Specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes are therefore present and operative during acute MCMV infection. However, MCMV infection inhibited the development of primary cytotoxic response against ectromelia virus. It also suppressed the ability of lymphocytes from mice with established memory for ectromelia to develop secondary cytotoxic cells in vitro, and it inhibited the development of memory cells for the cytotoxic response to ectromelia virus. In view of these data and the inability of animals recovering from MCMV infection to eliminate all infected cells, the cytotoxic response to MCMV may be qualitatively or quantitatively deficient.