Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Preservation of CXCR5+ PD-1+ Helper T Cells and B Cell Activation Predict the Breadth of Neutralizing Antibody Responses in Chronic HIV-1 Infection

ABSTRACT Much is known about the characteristics of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) generated during HIV-1 infection, but little is known about immunological mechanisms responsible for their development in only a minority of those infected by HIV-1. By monitoring longitudinally a cohort of HIV-1-infected subjects, we observed that the preservation of CXCR5+ CD4+ T helper cell frequencies and activation status of B cells during the first year of infection correlates with the maximum breadth of plasma neutralizing antibody responses during chronic infection independently of viral load. Although, during the first year of infection, no differences were observed in the abilities of peripheral CXCR5+ CD4+ T helper cells to induce antibody secretion by autologous naive B cells, higher frequencies of class-switched antibodies were detected in cocultures of CXCR5+ CD4+ T and B cells from the subjects who later developed broadly neutralizing antibody responses than those who did not. Furthermore, B cells from the former subjects had higher expression of AICDA than B cells from the latter subjects, and transcript levels correlated with the frequency of CXCR5+ CD4+ T cells. Thus, the early preservation of CXCR5+ CD4+ T cells and B cell function are central to the development of bNAbs. Our study provides a possible explanation for their infrequent generation during HIV-1 infection. IMPORTANCE Broadly neutralizing antibodies are developed by HIV-1-infected subjects, but so far (and despite intensive efforts over the past 3 decades) they have not been elicited by immunization. Understanding how bNAbs are generated during natural HIV-1 infection and why only some HIV-1-infected subjects generate such antibodies will assist our efforts to elicit bNAbs by immunization. CXCR5+ PD-1+ CD4+ T cells are critical for the development of high-affinity antigen-specific antibody responses. In our study, we found that the HIV-1-infected subjects who develop bNAbs have a higher frequency of peripheral CXCR5+ PD-1+ CD4+ T cells in early infection and also that this frequency mirrored what was observed in uninfected subjects and correlated with the level of B cell activation across subjects. Our study highlights the critical role helper T cell function has in the elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibody responses in the context of HIV infection.
Dealing with shadows: Capturing intrinsic scene appearance for image-based outdoor localisation

In outdoor environments shadows are common. These typically strong visual features cause considerable change in the appearance of a place, and therefore confound vision-based localisation approaches. In this paper we describe how to convert a colour image of the scene to a greyscale invariant image where pixel values are a function of underlying material property not lighting. We summarise the theory of shadow invariant images and discuss the modelling and calibration issues which are important for non-ideal off-the-shelf colour cameras. We evaluate the technique with a commonly used robotic camera and an autonomous car operating in an outdoor environment, and show that it can outperform the use of ordinary greyscale images for the task of visual localisation.
The isolation and characterization of globule leucocytes: their derivation from mucosal mast cells in parasitized sheep

Summary Ovine mucosal mast cells and globule leucocytes have been isolated from the abomasum of normal sheep, and from animals challenged with Ostertagia circumcincta. The ultrastructural, morphological and histochemical properties of these cells have been investigated. The granules of ovine mucosal immunoglobulin and a serine esterase. These cells also possess surface immunoglobulin. Cells morphologically intermediate between mucosal mast cells and bulin. Cells morphologically intermediate between mucosal mast cells and globule leucocytes have similar granule and surface properties. These observations, together with quantitative data, indicate that alterations in the granule structure of mucosal mast cells as a consequence of prolonged antigenic challenge give rise to mast cells in the epithelium which, in the past, have been commonly recognized as globule leucocytes.
MULTI-TEMPORAL INSAR ANALYSIS OF WENJIAGOU LANDSLIDE USING DISTRIBUTED SCATTERERS

This paper presents a multi-temporal InSAR method to monitor landslide movement at wenjiagou using Distributed Scatterers (DS). In this study, TDX and TSX bistatic SAR data are processed to obtain high precision DEM of the pose-landslide. DSs are efficiently identified using classified information and statistical characteristics. A series of Radarsat-2 HH polarization images collected in Wenjiagou from 2014.6 to 2014.9 are used to generate the deformation of the giant landslide. The experimental results show that there are obvious ground movement detected in the depositing area of the landslide during the observation.
Towards a clinical use of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors: a translational experience.

AIM There is now compelling evidence that cells committed to a cardiac lineage are most effective for improving the function of infarcted hearts. This has been confirmed by our pre-clinical studies entailing transplantation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived cardiac progenitors in rat and non-human primate models of myocardial infarction. These data have paved the way for a translational programme aimed at a phase I clinical trial. METHODS AND RESULTS The main steps of this programme have included (i) the expansion of a clone of pluripotent hESC to generate a master cell bank under good manufacturing practice conditions (GMP); (ii) a growth factor-induced cardiac specification; (iii) the purification of committed cells by immunomagnetic sorting to yield a stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-1-positive cell population strongly expressing the early cardiac transcription factor Isl-1; (iv) the incorporation of these cells into a fibrin scaffold; (v) a safety assessment focused on the loss of teratoma-forming cells by in vitro (transcriptomics) and in vivo (cell injections in immunodeficient mice) measurements; (vi) an extensive cytogenetic and viral testing; and (vii) the characterization of the final cell product and its release criteria. The data collected throughout this process have led to approval by the French regulatory authorities for a first-in-man clinical trial of transplantation of these SSEA-1(+) progenitors in patients with severely impaired cardiac function. CONCLUSION Although several facets of this manufacturing process still need to be improved, these data may yet provide a useful platform for the production of hESC-derived cardiac progenitor cells under safe and cost-effective GMP conditions.
Hepatocyte growth factor stimulates motility, chemotaxis and mitogenesis in ovarian carcinoma cells expressing high levels of c‐MET

A proportion of ovarian carcinomas markedly overexpress the proto‐oncogene c‐met, which encodes the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). HGF may either stimulate or inhibit the multiplication of its target cells, and may also promote motogenesis and morphogenesis. In this study, we established that the ovarian carcinoma‐derived cell‐line SK‐OV‐3 expressed about 20‐fold higher levels of c‐met protein than are expressed by a second line, CH1. This enabled us to test functional consequences of high‐level expression of c‐met in ovarian carcinoma cells. The addition of HGF to attached cultures of SK‐OV‐3 cells caused a change to a motile phenotype, that was evident after 4–6 hr and affected essentially all of the cells by 24 hr. When HGF was placed in the lower compartment of a migration chamber, it induced a 17‐fold increase in the migration of SK‐OV‐3 cells to the lower surface of the filter. Finally, HGF stimulated the incorporation of [3H]‐thymidine by cultures of SK‐OV‐3 cells incubated in medium containing either low (0.2%) or full (10%) FCS. None of these responses were obtained when HGF was added to CH1 cells. We conclude that high levels of c‐met expression in ovarian cancer cells may lead to a range of responses to HGF that would promote tumour growth and dissemination. Int. J. Cancer 73:151–155, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
CMOS power amplifier with temperature compensation for 79 GHz radar system

We have developed a 79 GHz CMOS power amplifier (PA) with temperature compensation implemented using 40 nm CMOS technology that suppresses the variation of small-signal gain and the degradation of linearity within 0.8 dB in the temperature range from 0 to 100°C. The PA consists of an on-chip temperature sensor and four-stage common-source NMOS amplifiers. The temperature-compensated PA operating at 100°C achieved a small-signal gain of 15.7 dB, a 12 GHz bandwidth and a saturated output power (Psat) of 6.8 dBm with 96.2 mW power consumption at a supply voltage of 1.1 V.
Medication management at home: medication risk factor prevalence and inter‐relationships

Background and objective: Patients can have medication‐related risk factors associated with poor health outcomes that become evident through visiting them in their homes. These medication‐related risk factors may not be apparent in pharmacy and general practitioner (GP) records. The aim was to determine the prevalence and inter‐relationships of medication‐related risk factors for poor patient health outcomes identifiable through ‘in‐home’ observations.
Activation and negative selection of functionally distinct subsets of antibody-secreting cells by influenza hemagglutinin as a viral and a neo-self antigen

We have compared transgenic mice that express the influenza virus PR8 hemagglutinin (PR8 HA) as a membrane-bound neo-self antigen (HA104 mice) with nontransgenic (non-Tg) mice for their ability to generate HA- specific B cell responses after primary immunization with PR8 virus. HA- specific, IgM-secreting B cells were induced with similar frequencies in HA104 and non-Tg mice. In addition, a B cell clonotype (C4) that is characteristic of anti-HA immune responses of BALB/c mice was identified among HA-specific IgM hybridomas from HA104 mice. A subset of HA-specific, IgG-secreting B cells that arises rapidly after primary virus immunization in non-Tg mice, however, was substantially reduced in HA104 mice. Likewise, a B cell clonotype (C12) that dominates HA- specific IgG hybridomas generated after primary immunization of non-Tg mice was present at greatly reduced frequencies among hybridomas from HA104 mice. Because HA-specific, IgG-secreting B cells were generated by HA104 mice in response to a mutant HA containing an amino acid interchange in a B cell antigenic site, we conclude that these PR8 HA- specific, IgG-secreting B cells are negatively selected in HA104 mice as a result of their specificity for the neo-self PR8 HA. The findings demonstrate that HA-specific B cells that display distinct phenotypic potentials in non-Tg mice also differ in their susceptibility to negative selection from the primary B cell repertoire of HA104 mice: a subset of B cells that undergo rapid differentiation to become HA- specific IgG antibody-secreting cells (ASC) after activation in non-Tg mice is negatively selected in HA104 mice. By contrast, a subset that gives rise to HA-specific, IgM-secreting ASC persists in the primary repertoire of HA104 mice and can be activated by virus immunization.
Arabic sign language recognition using leap motion sensor

Researchers in sign language recognition customized different sensors to capture hand signs. Gloves, digital cameras, depth cameras and Kinect were used alternatively in most systems. Due to signs closeness, input accuracy is a very essential constraint to reach a high recognition accuracy. Although previous systems accomplished high recognition accuracy, they suffer from stability in realistic environment due to variance in signing speed, lighting, etc. In this paper, a recognition system for ArSL has been developed based on a new digital sensor called “Leap Motion”. This sensor tackles the major issues in vision-based systems such as skin color, lighting etc. Leap motion captures hands and fingers movements in 3D digital format. The sensor throws 3D digital information in each frame of movement. These temporal and spatial features are fed into a Multi-layer perceptron Neural Network (MLP). The system was tested on 50 different dynamic signs (distinguishable without non-manual features) and the recognition accuracy reached 88% for two different persons. Although Leap motion tracks both hands accurately, unfortunately Leap motion does not track non-manual features. This system can be enhanced by adding other sensors to track other non-manual features such as facial expressions and body poses. The proposed sensor can work simultaneously with leap motion to capture all sign's features.
Correspondence: Does size matter? A population based study of birth in lower volume maternity hospitals for low risk women

OBJECTIVE To study the association between volume of hospital births per annum and birth outcome for low risk women. DESIGN Population-based study using the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC). SETTING Australia. PARTICIPANTS Of 750,491 women who gave birth during 1999-2001, there were 331,147 (47.14%) medically 'low risk' including 132,696 (40.07%) primiparae and 198,451 (59.93%) multiparae. METHODS The frequency of each birth and infant outcome was described according to the size of the hospital where birth took place. We investigated whether unit size (defined by volume) was an independent risk factor for each outcome factor using public hospitals with greater than 2000 births per annum as a reference point. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of intervention at birth and neonatal mortality for low risk women in relation to hospitals with <100, 100-500, 501-1000, 1001-2000 and >2001 births per annum. RESULTS Neonatal death was less likely in hospitals with less than 2000 births per annum regardless of parity. For multiparous low risk women in hospitals of 100 and 500 births per annum compared with hospitals of >2000 births per annum the adjusted odds of neonatal mortality [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.36; 99% confidence interval (CI) 0.14-0.93]. For low risk primiparous women in hospitals with less than 100 births per annum, there were lower rates of induction of labour (AOR 0.62; 99% CI 0.54-0.73); intrathecal analgesia/anaesthesia (AOR 0.34; 99% CI 0.28-0.42); instrumental birth (AOR 0.80; 99% CI 0.69-0.93); caesarean section after labour (AOR 0.59; 99% CI 0.49-0.72) and admission to a neonatal unit (AOR 0.15; 99% CI 0.10-0.22) and for low risk multiparous women in hospitals with less than 100 births per annum: induction (AOR 0.69; 99% CI 0.62-0.76); intrathecal analgesia/anaesthesia (AOR 0.32; 99% CI 0.29-0.36); instrumental birth (AOR 0.52; 99% CI 0.41-0.67); caesarean section after labour (AOR 0.41; 99% CI 0.33-0.52); and admission to a neonatal unit (AOR 0.09; 99% CI 0.07-0.12). CONCLUSIONS In Australia, lower hospital volume is not associated with adverse outcomes for low risk women.
Killing Hope with Good Intentions: The Effects of Consolation Prizes on Preference for Lottery Promotions

The present research examines how the inclusion of consolation or token prizes influences consumers’ valuation of a promotional lottery. Results from four experiments show that consolation prizes lower consumers’ expectations of winning the big prize, their valuations of the lottery, and their intentions to participate in the lottery. Because of the high likelihood of attaining the consolation prizes, consumers shift their focus from the value of a big prize to the probability of attaining it. This shift increases the weight given to the probability dimension and results in lowered valuations of the lottery. The first two experiments demonstrate the effect in hypothetical and real choices. In Experiment 3, the authors propose and show a boundary condition for the effect. In Experiment 4, they conduct an exploratory test of the process. They conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications.
Personas mayores institucionalizadas versus no institucionalizadas: aspectos diferenciales en ansiedad ante la muerte, depresión y satisfacción con la vida

Este trabajo presenta los resultados obtenidos en dos grupos de mayores de 60 años, uno de internos en residencias (n = 60) y el otro formado por usuarios de los centros de día (n = 65) en la provincia de Huelva (España). Se ha evaluado la depresión, mediante la Escala Criba Geriátrica para la Depresión de Yesavage (GDS), mostrando que un 20% reflejaría un nivel de depresión instaurada, con una puntuación media de 9,7 ± 5,76, y siendo los sujetos internos los que mayores valores obtendrían. Por su parte, se ha evaluado la satisfacción con la vida, mediante el Inventario de Satisfacción con la Vida de Bigot, y se ha podido constatar una media de 16,8 ± 3,63 puntos, donde los usuarios de los centros de día indicaban una mayor satisfacción. Por último, la ansiedad ante la muerte, evaluada mediante la Escala de Ansiedad ante la Muerte de Templer (DAS), ha dejado una media de 6,9 ± 3,29 puntos, no indicándose diferencias entre los grupos.
Arabic Speech Recognition System using CMU-Sphinx4

In this paper we present the creation of an Arabic version of Automated Speech Recognition System (ASR). This system is based on the open source Sphinx-4, from the Carnegie Mellon University. Which is a speech recognition system based on discrete hidden Markov models (HMMs). We investigate the changes that must be made to the model to adapt Arabic voice recognition. Keywords: Speech recognition, Acoustic model, Arabic language, HMMs, CMUSphinx-4, Artificial intelligence.
Concatameric replication of Epstein-Barr virus: structure of the termini in virus-producer and newly transformed cell lines

The linear form of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA has homologous direct tandem repeats of approximately 500 bp at each terminus (TR). After infection, EBV DNA circularizes via the TR to form the intracellular episomal DNA. To analyze the mechanism of the synthesis of linear DNA through possible replicative intermediates, the terminal fragments were identified in the total intracellular DNA and the covalently closed circular DNA from a productively infected cell line after induction of replication or after treatment with an inhibitor of viral DNA synthesis. These studies indicate that some of the fused terminal fragments detected in the total intracellular DNA are replication-dependent forms which are selectively excluded from the covalently closed circular fraction and are eliminated after treatment with acyclovir. The EBV terminal restriction enzyme fragments were identified in three producer cell lines, each with a characteristic number of TR in the intracellular episomal DNA. Identification of the termini in cell lines established with the three virus strains revealed that the newly transformed cell lines had a greater number of TR than did the template DNA in the producer cell line. The increase in the number of TR in progeny episomes indicates that linear DNA is produced from concatameric replicative intermediates rather than from amplified catenated circular intermediates.
The sociocultural attitudes towards appearance scale-3 (SATAQ-3): development and validation.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this investigation was to develop and validate a revision of a widely used measure of societal influences on body image and eating disturbances-the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ). METHOD Two independent samples of college females completed a revision and extension of the SATAQ and factor analyses were conducted to determine the underlying structure of the revised scale. RESULTS Factor analyses indicated two distinct internalization factors: one appeared to reflect a generic media influence related to TV, magazines, and movies. A second factor clearly reflected internalization of athletic and sports figures. Two other factors, reflecting media pressures and media as an informational source, also emerged. Another widely used measure of thin-ideal internalization, the Ideal Body Internalization Scale-Revised (IBIS-R), was included in factor analyses to determine its empirical relationship with the revised SATAQ. None of the IBIS-R items loaded with any of the internalization items or items reflective of media pressures or information. Instead, the IBIS-R appeared to tap into an awareness of appearance norms dimension. The SATAQ-3 subscales had excellent convergent validity with measures of body image and eating disturbance. Eating-disturbed and eating-disordered samples had higher scores on SATAQ-3 subscales than a control sample. DISCUSSION The SATAQ-3 measures multiple aspects of a societal influence and should prove useful for basic risk factor work as well as for gauging the efficacy of prevention and treatment programs.
Exponential function based decoupled fuzzy sliding mode control of nonlinear systems

In this paper, exponential function based decoupled fuzzy sliding-mode control for highly nonlinear systems is proposed. The decoupled control method provides a simple way to achieve asymptotic stability for a class of fourth-order nonlinear system into two second-order subsystems by a separate control objective expressed in terms of a sliding surface for each subsystems. Using the proposed method the second subsystem is successfully incorporated into the first one via a two-level decoupling strategy. In controller design method, the two terms of sliding mode control the reaching mode and sliding mode are designed by fuzzy logic control and equivalent control method respectively. In the proposed controller design approach, the output membership functions of the fuzzy sliding mode control are defined on the universe of an exponential function gain. The exponential function reduces the reaching time to the switching surface by dynamically adapting the variation of the controlled system, which allows reduction in system susceptible to parameter perturbation and external disturbances during reaching phase. Two simulation results of a cart-pole and ball-beam systems are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Human DNA polymerase alpha gene expression is cell proliferation dependent and its primary structure is similar to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic replicative DNA polymerases.

We have isolated cDNA clones encoding the human DNA polymerase alpha catalytic polypeptide. Studies of the human DNA polymerase alpha steady‐state mRNA levels in quiescent cells stimulated to proliferate, or normal cells compared to transformed cells, demonstrate that the polymerase alpha mRNA, like its enzymatic activity and de novo protein synthesis, positively correlates with cell proliferation and transformation. Analysis of the deduced 1462‐amino‐acid sequence reveals six regions of striking similarity to yeast DNA polymerase I and DNA polymerases of bacteriophages T4 and phi 29, herpes family viruses, vaccinia virus and adenovirus. Three of these conserved regions appear to comprise the functional active site required for deoxynucleotide interaction. Two putative DNA interacting domains are also identified.
Reasoning about Discontinuities in the Event Calculus

This paper describes a logic-based formalism which combines techniques for reasoning about actions with standard mathematical techniques for modelling dynamic systems using the diierential calculus. The formalism inherits a robust solution to the frame problem which can handle con-currency, non-determinism, domain constraints and narrative. It also incorporates a mechanism for reasoning about the boundary conditions associated with systems of diier-ential equations deened over various intervals. This mechanism overcomes a number of drawbacks of previous systems .