Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Velocity of the $L$-branching Brownian motion

We consider a branching-selection system of particles on the real line that evolves according to the following rules: each particle moves according to a Brownian motion during an exponential lifetime and then splits into two new particles and, when a particle is at a distance $L$ of the highest particle, it dies without splitting. This model has been introduced by Brunet, Derrida, Mueller and Munier in the physics literature and is called the $L$-branching Brownian motion. We show that the position of the system grows linearly at a velocity $v_L$ almost surely and we compute the asymptotic behavior of $v_L$ as $L$ tends to infinity: $v_L = \sqrt{2} - \pi^2 / 2 \sqrt{2} L^2 + o(1/L^2)$, as conjectured by Brunet, Derrida, Mueller and Munier. The proof makes use of results by Berestycki, Berestycki and Schweinsberg concerning branching Brownian motion in a strip.
Both mannose and β‐glucan receptors are involved in phagocytosis of unopsonized, heat‐killed Saccharomyces cerevisiae by murine macrophages

We studied the involvement of lectin‐like receptors in phagocytosis of unopsonized heat‐killed yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) by murine macrophagelike cell lines and murine peritoneal resident macrophages. For this purpose we used a technique that allowed us to discriminate ingested and adsorbed heat‐killed yeast. The internalization can be partly inhibited by soluble polyosides such as laminarin (β‐glucan) or a‐ mannan. However, when they were used together (0.4 mg/ml α‐mannan and 0.4 mg/ml laminarin), almost complete inhibition of phagocytosis was obtained. These observations suggest that phagocytosis of unopsonized heat‐ killed yeast by murine macrophage‐like cell lines as well as murine peritoneal resident macrophages is mediated by both mannose and β‐glucan receptors. The respective activity of these two types of receptors is a function of in vitro cell differentiation. To achieve maximal phagocytosis of unopsonized heat‐killed yeast, coexpression of both mannose and β‐glucan receptors is required.
High-Mobility Group Box 1 Inhibits Gastric Ulcer Healing through Toll-Like Receptor 4 and Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was initially discovered as a nuclear protein that interacts with DNA as a chromatin-associated non-histone protein to stabilize nucleosomes and to regulate the transcription of many genes in the nucleus. Once leaked or actively secreted into the extracellular environment, HMGB1 activates inflammatory pathways by stimulating multiple receptors, including Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR4, and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), leading to tissue injury. Although HMGB1’s ability to induce inflammation has been well documented, no studies have examined the role of HMGB1 in wound healing in the gastrointestinal field. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of HMGB1 and its receptors in the healing of gastric ulcers. We also investigated which receptor among TLR2, TLR4, or RAGE mediates HMGB1’s effects on ulcer healing. Gastric ulcers were induced by serosal application of acetic acid in mice, and gastric tissues were processed for further evaluation. The induction of ulcer increased the immunohistochemical staining of cytoplasmic HMGB1 and elevated serum HMGB1 levels. Ulcer size, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and the expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) mRNA peaked on day 4. Intraperitoneal administration of HMGB1 delayed ulcer healing and elevated MPO activity and TNFα expression. In contrast, administration of anti-HMGB1 antibody promoted ulcer healing and reduced MPO activity and TNFα expression. TLR4 and RAGE deficiency enhanced ulcer healing and reduced the level of TNFα, whereas ulcer healing in TLR2 knockout (KO) mice was similar to that in wild-type mice. In TLR4 KO and RAGE KO mice, exogenous HMGB1 did not affect ulcer healing and TNFα expression. Thus, we showed that HMGB1 is a complicating factor in the gastric ulcer healing process, which acts through TLR4 and RAGE to induce excessive inflammatory responses.
Predictive Skill of Statistical and Dynamical Climate Models in SST Forecasts during the 1997-98 El Niño Episode and the 1998 La Niña Onset.

Abstract Critical reviews of forecasts of ENSO conditions, based on a set of 15 dynamical and statistical models, are given for the 1997—98 El Nino event and the initial stages of the 1998—99 La Nina. While many of the models forecasted some degree of warming one to two seasons prior to the onset of the El Nino in boreal spring of 1997, none predicted its strength until the event was already becoming very strong in late spring. Neither the dynamical nor the statistical models, as groups, performed significantly better than the other during this episode. The best performing statistical models and dynamical models forecast SST anomalies of about +1°C (vs 2.5°—3° observed) in the Nino 3.4 region prior to any observed positive anomalies. The most comprehensive dynamical models performed better than the simple dynamical models. Once the El Nino had developed in mid-1997, a larger set of models was able to forecast its peak in late 1997 and dissipation and reversal to cold conditions in late spring/early summer.
Alternatives to the Use of Antibiotics in Egg Production

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com of the use of antibiotics, however, its use promotes direct and indirect effects. Among the direct effects, the elimination of pathogens from the gastrointestinal tract, and indirectly effects, improvement in nutrient absorption, lower energy and protein expenditure, lower ammonia production, and a lower rate of food passage, and others. Among the harmful effects on production, besides eliminating pathogenic bacteria, they also eliminate all intestinal floras. Further, their use may mask certain problems from the poultry farm, such as biosecurity. In addition, and perhaps the most recently addressed, prophylactic use may promote bacterial resistance [1].
Direct benefits and costs for hybridizing Ficedula flycatchers

It is well understood that females may gain direct benefits from breeding with attractive males. However, the direct fitness effects of mate‐choice are rarely considered with respect to mating between different species (hybridization), a field dominated by discussion of indirect costs of producing unfit hybrid offspring. Hybridizing females may also gain by the types of direct benefits that are important for intraspecific mate choice, and in addition may have access to certain benefits that are restricted to mating with males of an ecologically diverged sister‐taxon. We investigate possible direct benefits and costs female Ficedula flycatchers gain from breeding with a heterospecific male, and demonstrate that hybridizing female collared flycatchers (F. albicollis) breed in territories that do not suffer the seasonal decline in habitat quality experienced by females breeding with conspecifics. We exclude the hypotheses that heterospecific males provide alternative food‐types or assume a greater amount of the parental workload. In fact, the diets of the two species (F. albicollis and F. hypoleuca) were highly similar, suggesting possible interspecific competition over food resources in sympatry. We discuss the implications of direct fitness effects of hybridization, and why there has been such a disparity in the attention paid to such benefits and costs with regard to intraspecific and interspecific mate‐choice.
Current Status and Opportunities of Organic Thin-Film Transistor Technologies

Attributed to its advantages of super mechanical flexibility, very low-temperature processing, and compatibility with low cost and high throughput manufacturing, organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) technology is able to bring electrical, mechanical, and industrial benefits to a wide range of new applications by activating nonflat surfaces with flexible displays, sensors, and other electronic functions. Despite both strong application demand and these significant technological advances, there is still a gap to be filled for OTFT technology to be widely commercially adopted. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current status of OTFT technologies ranging from material, device, process, and integration, to design and system applications, and clarifies the real challenges behind to be addressed.
Mycobacterium Diversity and Pyrene Mineralization in Petroleum-Contaminated Soils

ABSTRACT Degradative strains of fast-growing Mycobacteriumspp. are commonly isolated from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soils. Little is known, however, about the ecology and diversity of indigenous populations of these fast-growing mycobacteria in contaminated environments. In the present study 16S rRNA genes were PCR amplified usingMycobacterium-specific primers and separated by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE), and prominent bands were sequenced to compare the indigenous Mycobacteriumcommunity structures in four pairs of soil samples taken from heavily contaminated and less contaminated areas at four different sites. Overall, TGGE profiles obtained from heavily contaminated soils were less diverse than those from less contaminated soils. This decrease in diversity may be due to toxicity, since significantly fewerMycobacterium phylotypes were detected in soils determined to be toxic by the Microtox assay than in nontoxic soils. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of prominent TGGE bands indicated that novel strains dominated the soil Mycobacteriumcommunity. Mineralization studies using [14C]pyrene added to four petroleum-contaminated soils, with and without the addition of the known pyrene degrader Mycobacterium sp. strain RJGII-135, indicated that inoculation increased the level of degradation in three of the four soils. Mineralization results obtained from a sterilized soil inoculated with strain RJGII-135 suggested that competition with indigenous microorganisms may be a significant factor affecting biodegradation of PAHs. Pyrene-amended soils, with and without inoculation with strain RJGII-135, experienced both increases and decreases in the population sizes of the inoculated strain and indigenous Mycobacterium populations during incubation.
Using AHP for Determining Priority in Seamless Strategy: A Case Study of the Click-and-mortar Bookstore

The click-and-mortar issue has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Many diverse arguments and viewpoints have been proposed to reinforce comprehension of seamless integration, but there has been little empirical research on how to develop an effective seamless strategy for consolidating the click-and-mortar environment. It is known that business capital is often scarce and different types of industries have different seamless strategy considerations; however, how to posit their expenditures in the right place on the basis of a priority method is seldom discussed. In order to provide a deeper view of the click-and-mortar decision making, this research divides the conceptual discussion into a proposed framework using the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) to gain an integrated perspective to assist managers in placing business capital problems. It is argued that three types of support (logistics, technical and service) should be further extended and considered from seven seamless criteria for click-and-mortar evaluation. Two popular click-and-mortar bookstores in Taiwan were selected as the object. This framework generated several values for the enterprise to decide whether these seamless strategies should be adopted on the basis of its industrial characteristics. The research results can have practical implications for managers as they direct limited resources toward integrating and converging existing brick-and-mortar operations with a coherent and complementary Internet strategy.
The geometry of domain combination in proteins.

Most proteins in genomes are the result of the recombination of two or more domains. It has been found that if proteins are formed by a combination of domains from superfamilies A and B, then the domains may occur in the sequential order AB or BA but only in about 2% of cases do they occur in both sequential orders. The classical Rossmann domains of known structure are combined with catalytic domains from seven different superfamilies. In addition, there are eight cases where structures with both AB and BA domain combinations are known. For these two sets of structures, we analysed: (i) the relative orientation of the domains; (ii) the type of domain connection; (iii) the structure of the interdomain links; and (iv) domain function. The results of this analysis indicate that in most cases domain order is conserved because recombination of the domains has only occurred once during the course of evolution. Functional reasons become important when the domain connections are short. In seven out of the eight known cases where domains are combined in the AB and BA sequential orders they have different geometrical relationships that give them different functional properties.
Rejuvenation treatment of stored red blood cells reverses storage‐induced adhesion to vascular endothelial cells

BACKGROUND: Blood banking procedures are associated with elevated adherence of red blood cells (RBCs) to blood vessel wall endothelial cells (ECs), which can introduce a circulatory risk to recipients. This study was undertaken to examine the possibility of repairing this damage by a poststorage “rejuvenation” procedure before transfusion.
A V3 Loop-Dependent gp120 Element Disrupted by CD4 Binding Stabilizes the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Envelope Glycoprotein Trimer

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) entry into cells is mediated by a trimeric complex consisting of noncovalently associated gp120 (exterior) and gp41 (transmembrane) envelope glycoproteins. The binding of gp120 to receptors on the target cell alters the gp120-gp41 relationship and activates the membrane-fusing capacity of gp41. Interaction of gp120 with the primary receptor, CD4, results in the exposure of the gp120 third variable (V3) loop, which contributes to binding the CCR5 or CXCR4 chemokine receptors. We show here that insertions in the V3 stem or polar substitutions in a conserved hydrophobic patch near the V3 tip result in decreased gp120-gp41 association (in the unliganded state) and decreased chemokine receptor binding (in the CD4-bound state). Subunit association and syncytium-forming ability of the envelope glycoproteins from primary HIV-1 isolates were disrupted more by V3 changes than those of laboratory-adapted HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins. Changes in the gp120 β2, β19, β20, and β21 strands, which evidence suggests are proximal to the V3 loop in unliganded gp120, also resulted in decreased gp120-gp41 association. Thus, a gp120 element composed of the V3 loop and adjacent beta strands contributes to quaternary interactions that stabilize the unliganded trimer. CD4 binding dismantles this element, altering the gp120-gp41 relationship and rendering the hydrophobic patch in the V3 tip available for chemokine receptor binding.
Initial management of suspected transient cerebral ischaemia and stroke in primary care: implications of recent research

Strategies are required to reduce the personal, societal and healthcare burden caused by cerebrovascular disease. Urgent medical intervention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) can prevent recurrent stroke, and modern healthcare has to respond rapidly to the patient with TIA. The primary care practitioner contributes to stroke prevention by rapidly and accurately diagnosing TIA and arranging urgent specialist assessment. Diagnosis of TIA in primary care is difficult, as transient symptoms are common. Stroke-screening tools are available, but there is no evidence base for diagnostic support tools for TIA in primary care. The ABCD2 scoring system identifies patients after TIA at high early risk, and secondary care assessment within 24 h is reserved for patients with a high predicted risk. General practitioners are advised to give aspirin at the time of diagnosis, although prescribing a full range of vascular risk-reducing therapies may be appropriate. Specialist assessment confirms the diagnosis, usually with cerebral imaging (preferably MRI to detect cerebral injury), and carotid ultrasound will detect patients suitable for endarterectomy. Patients with suspected stroke should be urgently transferred to the nearest stroke centre, for assessment and investigation before potential thrombolysis, which may be effective within a longer timeframe than current practice. Primary care follow-up is essential to ensure adherence to evidence-based therapies. Dual combinations of antiplatelet agents (aspirin and dipyridamole) and antihypertensive agents (ACE inhibitors and thiazides) as well as high-dose statins have proven benefit. For patients in atrial fibrillation, even if very elderly, anticoagulation has a net benefit in preventing stroke.
Maxillofacial radiographic changes in renal osteodystrophy

The incidence of renal diseases continues to rise worldwide and as a consequence, increasing number of renal patients will probably require oral healthcare. Renal osteodystrophy refers to the wide spectrum of bone diseases in context to chronic renal diseases (CRD). Radiographic alterations affecting the jaws and facial skeleton are common and among the earliest signs of renal bone diseases. The aim of the present study is to review and highlight the various radiographic alterations affecting the maxillofacial region in renal osteodystrophy and enabling the general and specialty oral physicians to identify and diagnose them effectively.
Parasympathetic Neural Activity Accounts for the Lowering of Exercise Heart Rate at High Altitude

Background—In chronic hypoxia, both heart rate (HR) and cardiac output (Q) are reduced during exercise. The role of parasympathetic neural activity in lowering HR is unresolved, and its influence on Q and oxygen transport at high altitude has never been studied. Methods and Results—HR, Q, oxygen uptake, mean arterial pressure, and leg blood flow were determined at rest and during cycle exercise with and without vagal blockade with glycopyrrolate in 7 healthy lowlanders after 9 weeks’ residence at ≥5260 m (ALT). At ALT, glycopyrrolate increased resting HR by 80 bpm (73±4 to 153±4 bpm) compared with 53 bpm (61±3 to 114±6 bpm) at sea level (SL). During exercise at ALT, glycopyrrolate increased HR by ≈40 bpm both at submaximal (127±4 to 170±3 bpm; 118 W) and maximal (141±6 to 180±2 bpm) exercise, whereas at SL, the increase was only by 16 bpm (137±6 to 153±4 bpm) at 118 W, with no effect at maximal exercise (181±2 bpm). Despite restoration of maximal HR to SL values, glycopyrrolate had no influence on Q, which was reduced at ALT. Breathing Fio2=0.55 at peak exercise restored Q and power output to SL values. Conclusions—Enhanced parasympathetic neural activity accounts for the lowering of HR during exercise at ALT without influencing Q. The abrupt restoration of peak exercise Q in chronic hypoxia to maximal SL values when arterial Po2 and So2 are similarly increased suggests hypoxia-mediated attenuation of Q.
The role of rural health clinics in hospitalization due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions: a study in Nebraska.

CONTEXT Hospitalization due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) is often used as an indicator for measuring access to primary care. Rural health clinics (RHCs) provide basic primary care services for rural residents in health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). The relationship between RHCs and ACSCs is unclear. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the presence of RHCs in rural HPSAs and the likelihood of having an acute or chronic ACSC as the reason for hospitalization. METHODS Nebraska hospital discharge data (1999-2001) and the 2003 Area Resource File were used in this analysis. A multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the presence of RHCs in rural HPSAs and the likelihood of having an ACSC as the reason for hospitalization, after controlling for individual characteristics and county-level contextual factors stratified by 3 age groups. The eligibility for logistic regression was limited to patients from 28 rural Nebraska counties designated as HPSAs in 2001. Patients with commercial payers were excluded from the study. FINDINGS Elderly patients residing in rural Nebraska HPSAs with at least one RHC were significantly less likely to have a hospitalization due to chronic ACSCs. CONCLUSIONS The presence of RHC is a significant factor associated with fewer hospitalizations for chronic ACSCs among the rural elderly residing in HPSAs.
A context sensitive document indexing approach for Information Retrieval

Information retrieval is used to retrieve the information according to the user query. In the existing model the information retrieval is done by analyzing the whole document to answer a query and the terms related to the query are extracted. The indexing weight is applied to all the terms and finally it provides the response to the user. In the existing model they did not take the context into consideration so the information cannot be retrieved efficiently. In this paper, we propose a context-sensitive document indexing approach for information retrieval. The content carrying terms and background terms are separated by using lexical association. Indexing weight is calculated for content carrying terms. The term having the highest indexing weight is considered as the most salient sentence and these sentences are extracted and the document summarization is done. Then according to the user query the information is retrieved, the query is considered as the keyword. Then this keyword is matched with the summarized document. Once the keyword is matched, the particular sentences were extracted by using indexing algorithm. Finally these sentences are provided as the responses for the user. By using this approach, the information retrieval can be done effectively.
A Metrics Suite for Measuring Software Components

Software metrics can provide an automated way for software practitioners to assess the quality of their software. The earlier in the software development lifecycle this information is available, the more valuable it is, since changes are much more expensive to make later in the lifecycle. As far as the ComponentBased Software Engineering is concerned, the metrics can help estimate, plan and identify areas to improve quality, reduce costs, enhance project management and facilitate risk management. Ultimately the success of the CBSE projects can be ensured from the metrics. In this paper we define seventeen metrics for seven component characters. It includes three functional characters namely the suitability, accuracy and complexity and four non-functional characters namely the usability, maintainability, reusability and performance. The metrics are arrived at, based on a metric model. The metrics are then validated with a case study.
A Gaussian framework for modeling effects of frequency-dependent attenuation, frequency-dependent scattering, and gating

For a wide range of applications in medical ultrasound, power spectra of received signals are approximately Gaussian. It has been established previously that an ultrasound beam with a Gaussian spectrum propagating through a medium with linear attenuation remains Gaussian. In this paper, Gaussian transformations are derived to model the effects of scattering (according to a power law, as is commonly applicable in soft tissues, especially over limited frequency ranges) and gating (with a Hamming window, a commonly used gate function). These approximations are shown to be quite accurate even for relatively broad band systems with fractional bandwidths approaching 100%. The theory is validated by experiments in phantoms consisting of glass particles suspended in agar.