Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Conserved ESCRT-III Machinery Participates in the Phagocytosis of Entamoeba histolytica

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) orchestrates cell membrane-remodeling mechanisms in eukaryotes, including endocytosis. However, ESCRT functions in phagocytosis (ingestion of ≥250 nm particles), has been poorly studied. In macrophages and amoebae, phagocytosis is required for cell nutrition and attack to other microorganisms and cells. In Entamoeba histolytica, the voracious protozoan responsible for human amoebiasis, phagocytosis is a land mark of virulence. Here, we have investigated the role of ESCRT-III in the phagocytosis of E. histolytica, using mutant trophozoites, recombinant proteins (rEhVps20, rEhVps32, rEhVps24, and rEhVps2) and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). Confocal images displayed the four proteins located around the ingested erythrocytes, in erythrocytes-containing phagosomes and in multivesicular bodies. EhVps32 and EhVps2 proteins co-localized at the phagocytic cups. Protein association increased during phagocytosis. Immunoprecipitation and flow cytometry assays substantiated these associations. GUVs revealed that the protein assembly sequence is essential to form intraluminal vesicles (ILVs). First, the active rEhVps20 bound to membranes and recruited rEhVps32, promoting membrane invaginations. rEhVps24 allowed the detachment of nascent vesicles, forming ILVs; and rEhVps2 modulated their size. The knock down of Ehvps20 and Ehvps24genes diminished the rate of erythrophagocytosis demonstrating the importance of ESCRT-III in this event. In conclusion, we present here evidence of the ESCRT-III participation in phagocytosis and delimitate the putative function of proteins, according to the in vitro reconstruction of their assembling.
RhoJ promotes hypoxia induced endothelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition by activating WDR5 expression

Endothelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EndMT) contributes to the pathogenesis of a host of human diseases. RhoJ, a small G protein, is abundantly expressed in endothelial cells. In the present study, we investigated the potential role RhoJ plays in EndMT. We report that RhoJ depletion by small interfering RNA attenuated hypoxia induced EndMT in both immortalized endothelial cells and human primary microvascular endothelial cells. RhoJ knockdown blocked the recruitment of TWIST and SNAIL, two transcriptional repressors, to the promoter region of VE‐CADHERIN, a prominent endothelial marker. RhoJ mediated the induction of TWIST and SNAIL expression, under hypoxic conditions, by promoting the binding of HIF‐1α to the gene promoters and by enhancing the accumulation of trimethylated histone H3K4. Further analysis revealed that RhoJ was essential for the up‐regulation of WDR5, a key component of the mammalian H3K4 methyltransferase, by hypoxia thereby leading to the trans‐activation of TWIST and SNAIL. Finally, lentivirus mediated over‐expression of WDR5 compensated for the loss of TWIST and SNAIL and allowed EndMT to proceed despite the absence of RhoJ in hypoxia‐challenged endothelial cells. In conclusion, we propose that RhoJ‐dependent induction of WDR5 may be essential for hypoxia‐induced EndMT.
Theoretical analysis of scanning near‐field optical microscopy

The near-field optical (NFO) interaction between a pointed detector and dielectric or metallic substrates can be exploited to perform both nanometer scale topographies or spectroscopies of surfaces in the real space. The correlation of optical signals recorded with such detectors with other properties of the object (shape, index variation, … ) provides a wealth of new opportunities for characterization of small objects which has not yet been completely assessed. In fact, this new field represents a challenge to theoretical optics since NFO effects often are beyond the scope of classical theories. We present in this contribution a detailed study of both tip-sample interactions and optical energy transfer occurring in scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). The treatment is based on the field-susceptibility method applied in the real space. In this description, all multiple interactions including reflections with a substrate of arbitrary profile are accounted for by the usual self-consistent equations. An original numerical scheme, based on a discretization procedure in the real space, is used to compute the field inside SNOM devices. This contribution reports the results of the numerical applications of this method to various NFO effects including, image-object relation, nearfield spectroscopy of metallic aggregates, light-induced forces, and nonlinear effects in confined geometry.
Reference‐price shifts and customer antagonism: Evidence from reviews for online auctions

Using data from a large-scale sales campaign on eBay, I show that successful auction customers punish the seller through unfavorable public feedback when they later learn discover a cheaper fixed-price offer. The probability of receiving such feedback is four times bigger for auctions than for fixed -price sales of the same item from the same seller. Remarkably, this probability is increasing in the auction price, even though auction customers actively shaped this price themselves. In line with an explanation based on ex-post reference price shifts, this price effect is concentrated in a period during which reference prices were particularly salient because customers information about them, but not about idiosyncratic transaction features (e.g. quality), could change. Consistent with the reference price explanation, the difference in unfavorable feedback between auctions and fixed-price sales is also concentrated in this period and drops to a quarter of its initial size afterwards.
A Quantitative Electroencephalography Study on Cochlear Implant-Induced Cortical Changes in Single-Sided Deafness with Tinnitus

The mechanism of tinnitus suppression after cochlear implantation (CI) in single-sided deafness (SSD) is not fully understood. In this regard, by comparing pre- and post-CI quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG), we explored cortical changes relevant to tinnitus improvement. In SSD patients who underwent CI, qEEG data were collected: (1) before CI, (2) 6 months post-operatively with CI-on, and (3) 30 min after CI-off and source-localized cortical activity/functional connectivity analyses were performed. Compared to the pre-operative baseline, the CI-on condition demonstrated significantly decreased activity in the right auditory- and orbitofrontal cortices (OFC) for the delta frequency band as well as decreased connectivity between the auditory cortex/posterior cingulate cortex for the delta/beta2 bands. Meanwhile, compared to the CI-off condition, the CI-on condition displayed decreased activity in the right auditory cortices/OFC for the delta band, and in bilateral auditory cortices, left inferior frontal cortex/OFC for the gamma band. However, qEEG analyses showed no significant differences between the CI-off and baseline conditions. CI induced overall decreased cortical activity and functional connectivity. However, judging from no differences between the CI-off and baseline conditions, CI-induced cortical activity and functional connectivity changes are not by cortical plastic changes, but by dynamic peripheral reafferentation.
Translocation of a Polymer through a Crowded Channel under Electrical Force

The translocation of a polymer chain through a crowded cylindrical channel is studied using the Langevin dynamics simulations. The influences of the field strength F, the chain length N, and the crowding extent ρ on the translocation time are evaluated, respectively. Scaling relation τ ~ F−α is observed. With the crowding extent ρ increasing, the scaling exponent α becomes large. It is found that, for noncrowded channel, translocation probability drops when the field strength becomes large. However, for high-crowded channel, it is the opposite. Moreover, the translocation time and the average translocation time for all segments both have exponential growth with the crowding extent. The investigation of shape factor 〈δ〉 shows maximum value with increasing of the number of segments outside s. At last, the number of segments inside channel Nin in the process of translocation is calculated and a peak is observed. All the information from the study may benefit protein translocation.
In the Absence of Central pre-B Cell Receptor Selection, Peripheral Selection Attempts to Optimize the Antibody Repertoire by Enriching for CDR-H3 Y101

Sequential developmental checkpoints are used to “optimize” the B cell antigen receptor repertoire by minimizing production of autoreactive or useless immunoglobulins and enriching for potentially protective antibodies. The first and apparently most impactful checkpoint requires μHC to form a functional pre-B cell receptor (preBCR) by associating with surrogate light chain, which is composed of VpreB and λ5. Absence of any of the preBCR components causes a block in B cell development that is characterized by severe immature B cell lymphopenia. Previously, we showed that preBCR controls the amino acid content of the third complementary determining region of the H chain (CDR-H3) by using a VpreB amino acid motif (RDR) to select for tyrosine at CDR-H3 position 101 (Y101). In antibodies bound to antigen, Y101 is commonly in direct contact with the antigen, thus preBCR selection impacts the antigen binding characteristics of the repertoire. In this work, we sought to determine the forces that shape the peripheral B cell repertoire when it is denied preBCR selection. Using bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and evaluation of apoptosis, we found that in the absence of preBCR there is increased turnover of B cells due to increased apoptosis. CDR-H3 sequencing revealed that this is accompanied by adjustments to DH identity, DH reading frame, JH, and CDR-H3 amino acid content. These adjustments in the periphery led to wild-type levels of CDR-H3 Y101 content among transitional (T1), mature recirculating, and marginal zone B cells. However, peripheral selection proved incomplete, with failure to restore Y101 levels in follicular B cells and increased production of dsDNA-binding IgM antibodies.
Real-time tracking of visually attended objects in interactive virtual environments

This paper presents a real-time framework for computationally tracking objects visually attended by the user while navigating in interactive virtual environments. In addition to the conventional bottom-up (stimulus-driven) features, the framework also uses topdown (goal-directed) contexts to predict the human gaze. The framework first builds feature maps using preattentive features such as luminance, hue, depth, size, and motion. The feature maps are then integrated into a single saliency map using the center-surround difference operation. This pixel-level bottom-up saliency map is converted to an object-level saliency map using the item buffer. Finally, the top-down contexts are inferred from the user's spatial and temporal behaviors during interactive navigation and used to select the most plausibly attended object among candidates produced in the object saliency map. The computational framework was implemented using the GPU and exhibited extremely fast computing performance (5.68 msec for a 256X256 saliency map), substantiating its adequacy for interactive virtual environments. A user experiment was also conducted to evaluate the prediction accuracy of the visual attention tracking framework with respect to actual human gaze data. The attained accuracy level was well supported by the theory of human cognition for visually identifying a single and multiple attentive targets, especially due to the addition of top-down contextual information. The framework can be effectively used for perceptually based rendering without employing an expensive eye tracker, such as providing the depth-of-field effects and managing the level-of-detail in virtual environments.
Wire Density Driven Global Routing for CMP Variation and Timing

In this paper, we propose the first wire density driven global routing that considers CMP variation and timing. To enable CMP awareness during global routing, we propose a compact predictive CMP model with dummy fill, and validate it with extensive industry data. While wire density has some correlation and similarity to the conventional congestion metric, they are indeed different in the global routing context. Therefore, wire density rather than congestion should be a unified metric to improve both CMP variation and timing. The proposed wire density driven global routing is implemented in a congestion-driven global router (M. Cho and D. Z. Pan, 2006) for CMP and timing optimization. The new global router utilizes several novel techniques to reduce the wire density of CMP and timing hotspots. Our experimental results are very encouraging. The proposed algorithm improves CMP variation and timing by over 7% with negligible overhead in wirelength and even slightly better routability, compared to the pure congestion-driven global router (M. Cho and D. Z. Pan, 2006)
Cognitive effort during note taking

Note taking is a complex activity that requires comprehension and selection of information and written production processes. Here we review the functions, abbreviation procedures, strategies, and working memory constraints of note taking with the aim of improving theoretical and practical understanding of the activity. The time urgency of selecting key points and recording them while comprehending new information at the same time places significant demands on the central executive and other components of working memory. Dual- and triple-task procedures allow the measurement of the momentary cognitive effort or executive attention allocated to note taking. Comparative data show that note taking demands more effort than reading or learning. However, it requires less effort than the creative written composition of an original text. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Magnesium Lithospermate B Protects against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Bone Loss by Inhibiting RANKL/RANK Pathway

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can induce bone loss by stimulating bone resorption. Natural compounds have great potential for the treatment of osteolytic bone diseases. Magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) plays an important role in protecting against oxidative damage and also has potential anti-inflammatory pharmacological properties. However, its role in LPS-induced bone loss is still unknown. In the present study, we observed the effects of MLB on LPS-induced bone damage and investigated the possible mechanisms. The bone loss models were established by LPS administration in male Sprague–Dawley rats. MLB (200 mg/kg body weight) was given by subcutaneous injection. MicroCT analysis, biomarker assay, histological examination and immunohistochemical staining were performed at the 8th weeks. In addition, RAW264.7 cells were treated with LPS in the presence or absence of MLB. The osteoclast formation, resorption activity and differentiation-related genes [(receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANK), Traf6, Fra-1, and c-src)] expression were evaluated. LPS induced bone loss shown as the decrease in bone volume fraction and trabecular number, and increase in trabecular separation. LPS also markedly enhanced the osteoclast formation and resorption activity compared with the control. MLB significantly abolished the LPS-induced bone microstructure damage (p < 0.05) and osteoclast formation. MLB also inhibited the increases of serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b, RANK ligand (RANKL) and TNF-α level enhanced by LPS (p < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining indicated that MLB attenuated the high expression of RANKL and RANK stimulated by LPS. In addition, MLB significantly abolished the LPS-enhanced osteoclast formation, resorption activity, RANK, Traf6, Fra-1, and c-src expression in vitro. Our data demonstrate that MLB can suppress LPS-induced bone loss via inhibiting RANKL/RANK related osteoclast formation.
From Patchwork to Appliqué:

Materials and materiality in interaction design has become more and more important perspectives within the field. Material explorations of a specific material could contribute to this ongoing discussion. As means to investigate how material properties affect interactive qualities for a tangible interaction design, a remake of an existing design was created. The starting point for remake is a tangible programming space for children called Patcher where custom built RFID readers is interacted with. For this investigation, Android mobile phones with NFC readers is the material of choice when recreating the same concept. Design values in Patcher are identified as collaborative play and open-ended programming play. The creation process of Alfombra Applique, the remake, is presented, the design choices and how they relate to the shift of material. This leads to learnings regarding how material properties differ when using the prebuild product with a lot of design possibilities in relationship to custom built hardware. These learning can be summarized into three topics. (1) When using a prebuilt product as material there will be more limitations to how a designer can change the material, it can only be bent using software. (2) A consumer market product opens up to getting the artefact available to more users, but it could depend on how the product normally is used. (3) The designer and users will have a lot more preknowledge of the material whish gives implications on expectations. Also, the paper investigates how exploring materials and having a bricolage mindset made it possible to create a meaningful remake with other material of an existing design. It is concluded that the choice of materials and how designers work with their properties changes what is relevant and possible to design. Author
An Adaptive Intelligent Management System of Advertising for Social Networks: A Case Study of Facebook

At present, social networks are strongly used for personal or professional purposes. The social networks have accumulated a large amount of information, which can be used in different ways. One of such possible purposes is advertising. In particular, when a company pays for advertising in a social network, it wants to get an ideal deployment of the ads on the network. The ideal behavior aims at reducing the high costs to pay, the number of hours to design advertising, the difficulty in the creation of ads by lots, among other things. In particular, the optimization of the production of advertising on social networks, based on the performance of the ads, is not an easy task. If we make an incorrect design, this can result in losses for a company. In this sense, this paper presents an intelligent system of management of social network advertising, based on data mining techniques, to automatically produce ads. In addition, we test our adaptive mechanism of automated production (generation) of online advertising on Facebook. Our system carries out automatic modifications and improvements of ads. Facebook is one of the more popular social networks, being widely used by companies for advertising, in order to create contents attracting the attention of users.
Streptococcus Pneumoniae Causing Intra-abdominal and Pelvic Infection: A Case Series

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a pathogen known to cause pneumonia, sinusitis, meningitis, and otitis media, but is overlooked as a pathogen causing gastrointestinal illness. We report four cases of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing intra-abdominal and pelvic infection. Streptococcus pneumoniae should be considered in the setting of intra-abdominal infection, especially in patients with risk factors for invasive pneumococcal disease or with a concomitant respiratory infection at presentation.
Frequential identification of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) fractional order model

The diagnosis of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) is based on reliable models and methods able to follow the system operating state. Impedance spectroscopy is usually used to characterize FC systems and deduce impedance models. Indeed, the deformations of the FC impedance spectrum in the Nyquist plane translate eventual malfunctions or degradations of the system as the stack flooding or drying. This paper deals with the FC characterization using fractional order transfer function impedance model and uses frequency identification methods to identify the model's parameters. The originality of the presented model is that it uses fractional order derivatives, which make it more compact. A fractional order model can be identified either by a method estimating derivation orders and coefficients at the same time or by using a prior knowledge about derivation order and thus estimating only the coefficients of the derivation operators. In this article, parametric identification of PEMFC fractional order model is treated as a non-linear optimization problem where derivation orders are a priori fixed using Taylor approximation of Warburg impedance to deduce an explicit transfer function form.
A Novel Porcine Model of Septic Shock Induced by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome due to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Background: Sepsis is one of the main causes of mortality in critically ill patients following progression to septic shock. To investigate the pathophysiologic changes of sepsis, we developed a novel porcine model of septic shock induced by acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia. Methods: Twenty-six male Landraces (Lvyuanweiye, Beijing, China) weighing 30 ± 2 kg were divided into four groups: sham group (SH; n = 5); cotton smoke inhalation group (SM; n = 6); MRSA pneumonia group (MR; n = 6); and septic shock group with cotton smoke inhalation + MRSA pneumonia (SS; n = 9). Extensive hemodynamics, oxygen dynamics, and lung function were monitored for 24 h following the injury or until death. Tissues were collected, and histopathology evaluations were carried out. Results: Blood cultures from 6 of 9 animals in the SS group were positive for MRSA. Two hours following the injury, decreased mean arterial blood pressure (60–70 mmHg) and cardiac index (<2 L·min−1·m−2) were observed in the animals in the SS group, while systemic vascular resistance index was increased. The hemodynamic characteristics of septic shock were only observed in the SS group but not significant in the other groups. The PO2/FiO2 in the SM and SS groups decreased to 300 and 100, respectively. In the SS group, extravascular lung water index increased to 20 ml/kg, whereas thoracopulmonary compliance decreased to 10 ml/H2O after injury. Deterioration of pulmonary function in the SS group was more serious than the SM and MR groups. Severe lung injury in the SS group was confirmed by the histopathology evaluations. The lung injury confirmed by high-resolution thin-section computed tomography and histopathology in the SS group was more serious than those of other groups. Conclusions: In the present study, we developed a novel porcine model of septic shock induced by ARDS due to severe MRSA pneumonia with characteristic hyperdynamic and hypodynamic phases in 24 h, which mimicked the hemodynamic changing of septic shock in human.
Efficiency improvement of switched-mode power converters under light-load conditions

Modern power supplies must comply with strict regulations regarding efficiency and stand-by mode consumption. Thus, efficiency optimization in the whole operating range is mandatory and becomes a major design challenge, being specially difficult when both heavy and light load conditions must be addressed. This paper proposes an improved gate drive circuit to adapt the gate voltage to the load conditions. Thus, an optimum tradeoff between conduction and gating losses can be found, optimizing the power converter efficiency in the entire operating range. An efficient and cost effective implementation is proposed and tested, proving the feasibility of the proposed approach.