Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Different biosynthetic transport routes to the plasma membrane in BHK and CHO cells

The question of how membrane proteins are delivered from the TGN to the cell surface in fibroblasts has received little attention. In this paper we have studied how their post-Golgi delivery routes compare with those in epithelia] cells. We have analyzed the transport of the vesicular stomatitis virus G protein, the Semliki Forest virus spike glycoprotein, both basolateral in MDCK cells, and the influenza virus hemagglutinin, apical in MDCK cells. In addition, we also have studied the transport of a hemagglutinin mutant (Cys543Tyr) which is basolateral in MDCK cells. Aluminum fluoride, a general activator of heterotrimeric G proteins, inhibited the transport of the basolateral cognate proteins, as well as of the hemagglutinin mutant, from the TGN to the cell surface in BHK and CHO cells, while having no effect on the surface delivery of the wild-type hemagglutinin. Only wild-type hemagglutinin became insoluble in the detergent CHAPS during transport through the BHK and CHO Golgi complexes, whereas the basolateral marker proteins remained CHAPS-soluble. We also have developed an in vitro assay using streptolysin O-permeabilized BHK cells, similar to the one we have previously used for analyzing polarized transport in MDCK cells (Pimplikar, S.W., E. Ikonen, and K. Simons. 1994. J. Cell Biol. 125:1025-1035). In this assay anti-NSF and rab-GDI inhibited transport of Semliki Forest virus spike glycoproteins from the TGN to the cell surface while having little effect on transport of the hemagglutinin. Altogether these data suggest that fibroblasts have apical and basolateral cognate routes from the TGN to the plasma membrane.
Observer-Based Decentralized Fault Detection and Isolation Strategy for Networked Multirobot Systems

In this paper, we present a distributed fault detection and isolation (FDI) strategy for a team of networked robots that builds on a distributed controller-observer schema. Remarkably different from other works in literature, the proposed FDI approach makes each robot of the team able to detect and isolate faults occurring on other robots, even if they are not direct neighbors. By means of a local observer, each robot can estimate the overall state of the team and it can use such an estimate to compute its local control input to achieve global tasks. The same information used by the local observers is also used to compute residual vectors, whose aim is to allow the detection and the isolation of actuator faults occurring on any robot of the team. Adaptive thresholds are derived based on the dynamics of the residual vectors by considering the presence of nonzero initial observer estimation errors, and noise terms affecting state measurement and model dynamics. The approach is validated via both numerical simulations and experiments involving four Khepera III mobile robots.
Thermodynamics of the helix‐coil transition: Binding of S15 and a hybrid sequence, disulfide stabilized peptide to the S‐protein

Pancreatic ribonuclease A may be cleaved to produce two fragments: the S‐peptide (residues 1–20) and the S‐protein (residues 21–124). The S‐peptide, or a truncated version designated as the S15 peptide (residues 1–15), combines with the S‐protein to produce catalytically active complexes. The conformation of these peptides and many of their analogues is predominantly random coil at room temperature; however, they populate a significant fraction of helical form at low temperature under certain solution conditions. Moreover, they adopt a helical conformation when bound to the S‐protein. A hybrid sequence, disulfide‐stabilized peptide (ApaS‐25), designed to stabilize the helical structure of the S‐peptide in solution, also combines with the S‐protein to yield a catalytically active complex. We have performed high‐precision titration microcalorimetric measurements to determine the free energy, enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity changes for the binding of ApaS‐25 to S‐protein within the temperature range 5–25°C. The thermodynamic parameters for both the complex formation reactions and the helix‐to‐coil transition also were calculated, using a structure‐based approach, by calculating changes in accessible surface area and using published empirical parameters. A simple thermodynamic model is presented in an attempt to account for the differences between the binding of ApaS‐25 and the S‐peptide. From this model, the thermodynamic parameters of the helix‐to‐coil transition of S15 can be calculated. Proteins 2001;42:523–530. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Contact Lie algebras of vector fields on the plane

The paper is devoted to the complete classication of all real Lie algebras of contact vector elds on the rst jet space of one-dimensional submanifolds in the plane. This completes Sophus Lie's classication of all possible Lie algebras of contact symmetries for ordinary dierential equations. As a main tool we use the abstract theory of ltered and graded Lie algebras. We also describe all dierential and integral invariants of new Lie algebras found in the paper and discuss the innite-dimensional case.
An accelerated analog neuromorphic hardware system emulating NMDA- and calcium-based non-linear dendrites

This paper presents an extension of the BrainScaleS accelerated analog neuromorphic hardware model. The scalable neuromorphic architecture is extended by the support for multi-compartment models and non-linear dendrites. These features are part of a 65 nm prototype Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). It allows to emulate different spike types observed in cortical pyramidal neurons: NMDA plateau potentials, calcium and sodium spikes. By replicating some of the structures of these cells, they can be configured to perform coincidence detection within a single neuron. Built-in plasticity mechanisms can modify not only the synaptic weights, but also the dendritic synaptic composition to efficiently train large multi-compartment neurons. Transistor-level simulations demonstrate the functionality of the analog implementation and illustrate analogies to biological measurements.
Dynamic parameter identification and analysis of a PHANToM haptic device

In this paper, the dynamics of a SensAble Technologies PHANToM Premium 1.5 haptic device is experimentally identified and analyzed. Towards this purpose, the dynamic model derived in the work of M. C. Cavusoglu and D. Feygin (2001) is augmented with a friction model and is linearly parameterized. The identified model predicts joint torques with over 95% accuracy and produces an inertia matrix that is confirmed to be positive-definite within the device workspace. In addition, user hand force estimates with and without including the identified dynamics are compared with the measured values. The experiments are also conducted for other typical installation conditions of the device, such as with force sensor mounted at the end-effector, using gimbal and counterbalance weight, and upside-down installation of the device. The identified dynamic model can be used for hand force estimation, accurate gravity counterbalancing for different installation conditions, and model-based control systems design for haptic simulation and tele-operation applications
Consonant enhancement for articulation disorders based on non-negative matrix factorization

We present consonant enhancement on a voice for a person with articulation disorders resulting from athetoid cerebral palsy. The movement of such speakers is limited by their athetoid symptoms, and their consonants are often unstable or unclear, which makes it difficult for them to communicate. Speech recognition for articulation disorders has been studied; however, its recognition rate is still lower than that of physically unimpaired persons. In this paper, an exemplar-based spectral conversion using Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is applied to consonant enhancement of a voice with articulation disorders. The source speaker's spectrum is easily converted into a well-ordered speaker's spectrum. Its effectiveness is examined for voice quality and clarity of consonants for a person with articulation disorders.
Effects of videogame distraction and a virtual reality type head-mounted display helmet on cold pressor pain in young elementary school-aged children.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the effects of videogame distraction and a virtual reality (VR) type head-mounted display helmet for children undergoing cold pressor pain. METHODS Fifty children between the ages of 6 and 10 years underwent a baseline cold pressor trial followed by two cold pressor trials in which interactive videogame distraction was delivered via a VR helmet or without a VR helmet in counterbalanced order. RESULTS As expected, children demonstrated significant improvements in pain threshold and pain tolerance during both distraction conditions. However, the two distraction conditions did not differ in effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS Using the VR helmet did not result in improved pain tolerance over and above the effects of interactive videogame distraction without VR technology. Clinical implications and possible developmental differences in elementary school-aged children's ability to use VR technology are discussed.
Muscle power and metabolism in maximal intermittent exercise.

Muscle power and the associated metabolic changes in muscle were investigated in eight male human subjects who performed four 30-s bouts of maximal isokinetic cycling at 100 rpm, with 4-min recovery intervals. In the first bout peak power and total work were (mean +/- SE) 1,626 +/- 102 W and 20.83 +/- 1.18 kJ, respectively; muscle glycogen decreased by 18.2 mmol/kg wet wt, lactate increased to 28.9 +/- 2.7 mmol/kg, and there were up to 10-fold increases in glycolytic intermediates. External power and work decreased by 20% in both the second and third exercise periods, but no further change occurred in the fourth bout. Muscle glycogen decreased by an additional 14.8 mmol/kg after the second exercise and thereafter remained constant. Muscle adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was reduced by 40% from resting after each exercise period; creatine phosphate (CP) decreased successively to less than 5% of resting; in the recovery periods ATP and CP increased to 76 and 95% of initial resting levels, respectively. Venous plasma glycerol increased linearly to 485% of resting; free fatty acids did not change. Changes in muscle glycogen, lactate, and glycolytic intermediates suggested rate limitation at phosphofructokinase during the first and second exercise periods, and phosphorylase in the third and fourth exercise periods. Despite minimal glycolytic flux in the third and fourth exercise periods, subjects generated 1,000 W peak power and sustained 400 W for 30 s, 60% of the values recorded in the first exercise period. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Handheld device for the enrichment of rare cells utilising dielectrophoresis in stepping electric fields

The ability to enrich rare cells, for example, circulating tumour cells, circulating foetal cells and stem cells, has been an important issue in medical diagnostics and characterisation. The main purpose of this investigation was to develop a handheld microdevice capable of the effective preconcentration of rare cells. Circular microelectrodes were designed to generate the stepping electric field by switching the electric field to an adjacent electrode pair by relays. The cancerous cells with positive dielectrophoretic response were not only conveyed but also concentrated towards the centre of the circular microelectrodes because the high-electric-field region between the adjacent electrodes was gradually decreased in the direction of the stepping electric field. Numerical simulations of the electric fields were performed to demonstrate the concept of the proposed design. Moreover, enrichment of cervical cancer cells was successfully achieved and took about 160 s in the experiment with an approximate efficiency of 75 , when the peak-to-peak voltage of 16 V, a frequency of 600 kHz and the time interval of relay switching with 20 s were applied.
Plasma Endothelin in Chronic Heart Failure

Background Endothelins are recently characterized vasoconstrictor peptides. As chronic heart failure (CHF) is characterized by peripheral arteriolar and renal vasoconstriction, we have measured venous plasma endothelin-like immunoreactivity (“endothelin”) in patients with this syndrome. Methods and Results Compared with age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (mean±SEM plasma endothelin concentration 6.4±0.3 pmol/l, n = 16), patients with severe CHF had elevated peripheral venous endothelin concentrations (12.4±0.6 pmol/l, n = 47, p < 0.01). Plasma endothelin did not increase with exercise in normal subjects or in patients. Plasma endothelin concentration (mean, 13.4±0.9 pmol/l) did not correlate with plasma atrial natriuretic factor concentration (mean, 88.9±11.9 pg/ml) in patients with CHF (n = 21). There was also no correlation between plasma endothelin and serum urea or between endothelin and serum creatinine in patients with CHF (n = 34). There was, however, significant renal extraction of endothelin (aorta, 11.1±0.8 pmol/l; renal vein, 8.8±0.6 pmol/l;p = 0.02) in patients with CHF (n = 13). Conclusions Evidence suggests that circulatory endothelin concentrations in the range 5–40 pmol/l are vasoactive. Consequently, the endothelin concentrations found in patients with CHF may be of pathophysiological significance.
Efficient System Integration using Semantic Requirements and Capability Models - An Approach for Integrating Heterogeneous Business Services

Business system designers want to integrate heterogeneous legacy systems to provide flexible business ser-vices cheaper and faster. Unfortunately, modern integration technologies represent important integration knowledge only implicitly making solutions harder to understand, verify, and maintain. In this paper we propose a data-driven approach, “Semantically-Enabled Externalization of Knowledge” (SEEK), that explicitly models the semantics of integration requirements & capabilities, and data transformations between he-terogeneous legacy systems. Goal of SEEK is to make the systems integration process more efficient by providing tool support for quality assurance (QA) steps and generation of system configurations. Based on use cases from industry partners, we compare the SEEK approach with UML-based modeling. In the evalua-tion context SEEK was found to be more effective to make expert knowledge on system requirements and capabilities available for more efficient tool support and reuse.
High-Contrast Observations in Optical and Infrared Astronomy

High-contrast observations in optical and infrared astronomy are defined as any observation requiring a technique to reveal a celestial object of interest that is in such close angular proximity to another source brighter by a factor of at least 10 5 that optical effects hinder or prevent the collection of photons directly from the target of observation. This is a relatively new type of observation that enables research on previously obscured parts of the Universe. In particular, it is most applicable to comparative planetary science, a field that directly attacks such questions as “how common are planetary systems? What types of planets exist, and are there planets other than Earth that are capable of supporting life as we know it? ” We survey the scientific motivations for high-contrast observations, provide an overview of the techniques currently being used or developed, and discuss some ideas and studies for future prospects.
Can Melatonin Help Us in Radiation Oncology Treatments?

Nowadays, radiotherapy has become an integral part of the treatment regimen in various malignancies for curative or palliative purposes. Ionizing radiation interacts with biological systems to produce free radicals, which attack various cellular components. Radioprotectors act as prophylactic agents that are administered to shield normal cells and tissues from the harmful effects of radiation. Melatonin has been shown to be both a direct free radical scavenger and an indirect antioxidant by stimulating antioxidant enzymes and suppressing prooxidative enzymes activity. In addition to its antioxidant property, there have also been reports implicating antiapoptotic function for melatonin in normal cells. Furthermore, through its antitumor and radiosensitizing properties, treatment with melatonin may prevent tumor progression. Therefore, addition of melatonin to radiation therapy could lower the damage inflicted to the normal tissue, leading to a more efficient tumor control by use of higher doses of irradiation during radiotherapy. Thus, it seems that, in the future, melatonin may improve the therapeutic gain in radiation oncology treatments.
Reduced Complexity Interpolation for List Decoding Hermitian Codes

List decoding Hermitian codes using the Guruswami-Sudan (GS) algorithm can correct errors beyond half the designed minimum distance. It consists of two processes: interpolation and factorisation. By first defining a Hermitian curve, these processes can be implemented with an iterative polynomial construction algorithm and a recursive coefficient search algorithm respectively. To improve the efficiency of list decoding Hermitian codes, this paper presents two contributions to reduce the interpolation complexity. First, in order to simplify the calculation of a polynomialiquests zero condition during the iterative interpolation, we propose an algorithm to determine the corresponding coefficients between the pole basis monomials and zero basis functions of a Hermitian curve. Second, we propose a modified complexity reducing interpolation algorithm. This scheme identifies any unnecessary polynomials during iterations and eliminates them to improve the interpolation efficiency. Due to the above complexity reducing modifications, list decoding long Hermitian codes with higher interpolation multiplicity becomes feasible. This paper shows list decoding algorithm can achieve significant coding gain over the conventional unique decoding algorithm.
Synthetic Lipoteichoic Acid from Staphylococcus aureus Is a Potent Stimulus of Cytokine Release

We recently purified lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Staphylococcus aureus to more than 99% purity by a novel preparation method and deduced its structure with the first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of a complete LTA. In contrast to Gram-negative lipopolysaccharides, this LTA requires the toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and not TLR-4 for cytokine induction in monocytes and macrophages. To elucidate the structure–function relationships for LTA from S. aureus, the lipid anchor was prepared by either acidic hydrolysis of native LTA or chemical synthesis (gentiobiosyl-sn-dimyristoylglycerol). Next, a complete LTA molecule with six glycerophosphate units carrying four alanine plus one N-acetyl-glucosamine substituent was synthesized, which displayed the same potency to activate monocytes as native LTA. However, 100–1,000 times higher concentrations of the lipid anchor were required for cytokine induction. It is worthy to note that replacing d-alanine with l-alanine blunted the effect indicating stereoselective recognition. The structure identification of this synthesized and biologically active LTA was proven by NMR and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization mass spectrometry. We concluded that the lipid anchor, with its fatty acids, represents an integral part of the immunostimulatory activity of LTA, but requires additional structural components on the polyglycerophosphate backbone.
Effect of hypoxia on fatigue development in rat muscle composed of different fibre types

This study investigated the relationship between hypoxia and the rate of fatigue development in contracting rat hindlimb muscles composed primarily of different fibre types. Hindlimb muscles of 11 rats were exposed, and the soleus (SOL) and gastrocnemius/plantaris (GP) were each isolated with circulation intact and attached to individual force transducers. Rats were then equilibrated with either normoxic (N; arterial partial pressure of O2 87.7 ± 1.5 mmHg) or hypoxic conditions (H; arterial partial pressure of O2 30.0 ± 2.4 mmHg) using an inspired O2 fraction of 0.21 and 0.10, respectively. The stimulation protocol consisted of 2 min each at 0.125, 0.25, 0.33 and 0.5 tetanic contractions s−1 sequentially for both conditions. Following the 8 min stimulation period, relative developed muscle tension (% of maximal) was nearly identical for both H and N in SOL (54.2 ± 3.5 versus 54.3 ± 4.2%), but was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in H than N (10.8 ± 0.9 versus 43.0 ± 8.9%) in GP, indicating a greater amount of fatigue during hypoxia only in the GP. Soleus phosphocreatine (PCr) content fell to similar levels (24.1 ± 1.6 versus 21.1 ± 4.9 mmol (kg dry weight (dw))−1) during both H and N, but in the white portion of the gastrocnemius (WG), PCr was significantly lower following H than N (14.3 ± 1.5 versus 34.0 ± 6.0 mmol (kg dw)−1). Similarly, muscle lactate increased in both fibre types at fatigue, but only in WG was the increase significantly greater with H (SOL 7.1 ± 2.0 versus 5.3 ± 1.1 mmol (kg dw)−1; WG 13.7 ± 4.5 versus 5.3 ± 2.2 mmol (kg dw)−1). Increases in calculated muscle [H+], free ADP and free AMP were similar between N and H in SOL but were significantly greater during H compared with N in WG. These data demonstrate that hypoxia induces greater fatigue and disruption of cellular homeostasis in rat hindlimb muscle composed primarily of fibres with low oxidative capacity compared with those of a more oxidative type.
Systematic Analysis and Detection of Misconfiguration Vulnerabilities in Android Smartphones

Android is a modern and popular software platform for smart phones. To manage information and features on smart phones, Android employs intent-based mechanism for inter-application or intra-application communication and provides a permission-based security model that requires each application to explicitly request permissions in its manifest file. However, misconfiguration defined in manifest files and that embedded in application code may result in vulnerabilities due to developer confusion and general misuse of the features provided by Android. In this paper, we propose a logic-programming-based approach to analyze smart phones and discover misconfiguration vulnerabilities in Android manifest file and application code. To enable misconfiguration vulnerability analysis and detection, we develop a static technique to extract security related information from application code, and employ logic predicates to describe various vulnerabilities. Based on this approach, we developed a tool called SADroid to systematically analyze and detect misconfiguration vulnerabilities in Android smart phones. Our results with two representative phones show that the inherent weakness of Android permission model and developers' programming errors make Android vulnerable to some attacks.
A simulation of the mission crew workload in a multi mission aircraft

The increased tasking and reduced manning of a multi-mission aircraft put pressures on the mission crew in terms of their workload, skills mixture and the training required. This paper describes the simulation undertake by CORDA for the UK Air Warfare Centre. Within the model, written in EXTEND/sup TM/ (from Imagine That Inc.), the mission is defined in a modular form, which allows the mission tasks to be developed and modified as the study progresses. Workloads are associated with each task which are then distributed amongst the mission crew. Within the model's supervisory roles, relief crews and rest periods are modelled. The design has provided a generic simulation approach to mission crew loading which allows the analyst to study variations and sensitivities in a controlled manner. This allows the optimum capability to be assessed and the minimum training/manning burden to be associated with the introduction of new aircraft technologies and skills.