Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stringent response processes suppress DNA damage sensitivity caused by deficiency in full‐length translation initiation factor 2 or PriA helicase

When Escherichia coli grows in the presence of DNA‐damaging agents such as methyl methanesulphonate (MMS), absence of the full‐length form of Translation Initiation Factor 2 (IF2‐1) or deficiency in helicase activity of replication restart protein PriA leads to a considerable loss of viability. MMS sensitivity of these mutants was contingent on the stringent response alarmone (p)ppGpp being at low levels. While zero levels (ppGpp0) greatly aggravated sensitivity, high levels promoted resistance. Moreover, M+ mutations, which suppress amino acid auxotrophy of ppGpp0 strains and which have been found to map to RNA polymerase subunits, largely restored resistance to IF2‐1‐ and PriA helicase‐deficient mutants. The truncated forms IF2‐2/3 played a key part in inducing especially severe negative effects in ppGpp0 cells when restart function priB was knocked out, causing loss of viability and severe cell filamentation, indicative of SOS induction. Even a strain with the wild‐type infB allele exhibited significant filamentation and MMS sensitivity in this background whereas mutations that prevent expression of IF2‐2/3 essentially eliminated filamentation and largely restored MMS resistance. The results suggest different influences of IF2‐1 and IF2‐2/3 on the replication restart system depending on (p)ppGpp levels, each having the capacity to maximize survival under differing growth conditions.
Protein subcellular localization prediction based on profile alignment and Gene Ontology

The functions of proteins are closely related to their subcellular locations. Computational methods are required to replace the laborious and time-consuming experimental processes for proteomics research. This paper proposes combining homology-based profile alignment methods and functional-domain based Gene Ontology (GO) methods to predict the subcellular locations of proteins. The feature vectors constructed by these two methods are recognized by support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, and their scores are fused to enhance classification performance. The paper also investigates different approaches to constructing the GO vectors based on the GO terms returned from InterProScan. The results demonstrate that the GO methods are comparable to profile-alignment methods and overshadow those based on amino-acid compositions. Also, the fusion of these two methods can outperform the individual methods.
Outstaying their Welcome: The Persistent Myofibroblast in IPF.

Pulmonary fibrosis is the final common end point of a variety of acute and chronic causes of lung injury. Regardless of the cause, it represents an aberrant wound-repair response characterized by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) and the replacement of normal lung parenchyma with scar tissue. Fibroblasts are mesenchymal cells that serve a critical role in both normal and fibrotic repair processes. These cells exist along a spectrum of activation states spanning from relatively undifferentiated quiescence during times of homeostasis to differentiated, highly secretory and contractile smooth muscle-like cells with organized α-smooth muscle actin-containing stress fibers (i.e. myofibroblasts) following tissue injury [1]. In their fully activated state, myofibroblasts are the primary cells responsible for the synthesis, secretion, and remodeling of the ECM. While the resolution of normal wound repair coincides with substantial myofibroblast apoptosis, fibrotic repair is associated with the continued accumulation of these activated cells [2,3].
N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced neurotoxicity in the adult rat retina

Abstract The present study provides evidence that the adult mammalian retina is highly sensitive to the excitotoxic action of NMDA. In particular, we have investigated the effects of a single intravitreal injection of different doses of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) (2–200 nmoles) on the adult rat retina. Morphological evaluation of transverse sections of retinae demonstrated a dose-dependent loss of cells in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and a reduction in the thickness of the inner plexiform layer. No obvious alterations were noted in the more distal retinal layers. Quantitative analyses of Nissl-stained whole-mounted retinae revealed that administration of 20 nmoles of NMDA resulted in a 70% loss of cells with a soma diameter greater than 8 μm (presumed retinal ganglion cells); a 20% loss of cells with a soma diameter smaller than 8 μm (presumed displaced amacrine cells) was also observed. In addition, NMDA produced a dose-dependent decrease of retinal choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity, suggesting that NMDA affects cholinergic amacrine cells as well. MK-801, a non-competitive NMDA antagonist, completely prevented the NMDA-induced loss of cells in the GCL and blocked, in a dose-dependent manner, the NMDA-induced decrease of ChAT activity. The excitotoxic action of NMDA observed in these experiments is thus likely mediated through the NMDA receptor subtype. This ”in vivo” model may be utilized to identify potential drugs that antagonize or limit the deleterious effects consequent to NMDA receptor overstimulation in the central nervous system.
Optimal muting and load balancing for eICIC

In heterogeneous networks, a macro cell can cause excessive interference to users in co-channel pico cells. In Release 10 of 3GPP's LTE system, enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) has been introduced to reduce the interference experienced by pico users by having the macro mute some of its subframes. This is a tradeoff, because the benefit to pico users comes at the cost of the macro sacrificing a portion of its resources. This tradeoff is also influenced by the determination of which users are offloaded from the macro to the pico. We formulate the joint optimization of the proportion of muted sub-frames and the assignment of users to macro and pico cells as a network-wide utility maximization problem, and obtain an analytical characterization of the optimal solution. We propose an iterative algorithm that successively improves the assignment of users to cells and the muting proportion, and prove its convergence to the optimal solution.
Real-time markerless human body tracking with multi-view 3-d voxel reconstruction.

We present an approach to full human-body tracking, using markerless multiview images as input, performing acquisition, reconstruction and tracking in real-time on a single PC. Our approach employs a hierarchical visual-hull algorithm which segments only the most interesting regions of the images and includes colour information. The tracking step uses blobs attached to a kinematic model to recover joint angles in an expectation-maximization framework. We demonstrate the robustness of the approach on video sequences of various body configurations in an unaugmented office environment. We also show that tracking challenging poses with self-occlusions is possible without the processing cost of stochastic sampling schemes.
Terrorism, Communication and New Media: Explaining Radicalization in the Digital Age

This article aims to demonstrate that a greater understanding of communication in the 21st century is essential to more effective counterterrorism. In fact, while “strategic communication” and “narratives” are advocated by many analysts as essential weapons in countering extremism, few seem to truly understand the reality of the digital-age information environment where such tools need to be deployed. To contribute to bridging this gap, the article outlines some problematic misunderstandings of the contemporary information environment, provides an alternative communication-based framework to explain radicalization, and draws some counterintuitive lessons for tackling terrorism.
Performance Analysis of Flow-Based Label Switching: The Single IP Flow Model

A closed-loop queueing model of flow-based label switches, supporting label reservation protocols of different label-setup and release policies, is presented. This model can emulate the behavior of TCP under the label switch when the maximum window size has been achieved and the packet loss rate is negligible. The label-setup policy is that the IP controller does not start to set up a label until the accumulated packets of the same flow in the switch buffer have exceeded a triggering threshold. Meanwhile, the reserved bandwidth is released when the flow is detected idle and the label-release timer has expired. This policy can achieve higher channel utilization with minimal label processing overhead in spite of suffering from certain delay penalty. To avoid unnecessary TCP timeout or large packet delay under such policy, we also introduce a label-setup timer. Norton’s theorem is applied to obtain approximate solutions of this queueing model. Although the analytical method is an approximate one, the simulation results show that the accuracy is high and this model can clearly illustrate how the label-setup and the lable-release timer affect the system performance. Besides, one can observe the trade-off between the throughput and the channel utilization. key words: ow, label switch, performance analysis
Valsartan, a new angiotensin II antagonist for the treatment of essential hypertension: efficacy and safety compared with placebo and enalapril

Objective To compare the antihypertensive efficacy and systemic tolerability of valsartan, a new angiotensin II receptor antagonist, with placebo and with an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, enalapril. Design A total of 348 adult outpatients with mild-to-moderate uncomplicated essential hypertension participated in this double-blind, parallel, study. Patients were allocated randomly in a ratio of 2:2:1 to receive 80mg valsartan once a day, 20 mg enalapril once a day, or placebo for 8 weeks in general practice. Patients were assessed at 4 and 8 weeks of therapy. Main outcome measures The primary efficacy variable was the change from baseline in mean sitting diastolic blood pressure (SDBP) after 8 weeks of therapy. Secondary variables included the change in sitting systolic blood pressure (SSBP) and response rates at 8 weeks. Results Valsartan and enalapril produced statistically significant reductions in diastolic and systolic blood pressures compared with placebo. Similar falls were found in both of the active treatment groups with mean changes in SDBP at 8 weeks of — 9.5mmHg for valsartan and — 9.4mmHg for enalapril ( 4.5mmHg for placebo). No significant differences between valsartan and enalapril were found for reductions in SDBP or SSBP. Response rates at 8 weeks were significantly greater for valsartan (54%) and enalapril (58%) than for placebo (20%), with no significant difference between the two active treatments. Both valsartan and enalapril demonstrated a consistent a nti hypertensive effect over time, with 90% of patients with a response at 4 weeks responding at 8 weeks. Both of the treatments were tolerated well. Although the incidence of coughing was generally low in the study, more cases were reported with enalapril (three) than with valsartan (one) or placebo (none). Conclusions The data show 80 mg valsartan once a day to be as effective as 20 mg enalapril once a day in the treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension. Valsartan is tolerated well and does not appear to be associated with any increase in the incidence of coughing.
Early changes measured by magnetic resonance imaging in cerebral blood flow, blood volume, and blood-brain barrier permeability following dexamethasone treatment in patients with brain tumors.

OBJECT In this study the authors assessed the early changes in brain tumor physiology associated with glucocorticoid administration. Glucocorticoids have a dramatic effect on symptoms in patients with brain tumors over a time scale ranging from minutes to a few hours. Previous studies have indicated that glucocorticoids may act either by decreasing cerebral blood volume (CBV) or blood-tumor barrier (BTB) permeability and thereby the degree of vasogenic edema. METHODS Using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the authors examined the acute changes in CBV, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and BTB permeability to gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid after administration of dexamethasone in six patients with brain tumors. In patients with acute decreases in BTB permeability after dexamethasone administration, changes in the degree of edema were assessed using the apparent diffusion coefficient of water. CONCLUSIONS Dexamethasone was found to cause a dramatic decrease in BTB permeability and regional CBV but no significant changes in CBF or the degree of edema. The authors found that MR imaging provides a powerful tool for investigating the pathophysiological changes associated with the clinical effects of glucocorticoids.
Control of a doubly-fed induction generator in wind park during and after line-voltage distortion

Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), as a wind generator, is economically justified, but control of the machine is difficult. In addition, it is significantly difficult to assure continuous operation of the DFIG during and after line-voltage distortions, as required by grid code. Nowadays, there is no single used method; the problem is not entirely solved. In the paper, not only features of the doubly-fed machine during and after line-voltage distortions, but also proposal of the new control system structure based on sliding-mode control is presented.
Embedded Genetic Learning of Highly Interpretable Fuzzy Partitions

A new algorithm is proposed to learn fuzzy partitions with a high interpretability degree. The set of input variables, the number of linguistic terms per variable, and the type (triangular or trapezoidal) and parameters of the membership functions are learnt by means of a meta-algorithm that uses a simple learning method to generate a fuzzy rule set from the derived fuzzy partitions. Inter- pretability constrains and powerful genetic operators are considered. A multi-objective optimization approach is used to generate different interpretability-accuracy tradeoffs. The algorithm is tested in a set of real-world regression problems with successful results compared to other methods.
Voices of girls with disabilities in rural Iran

This paper investigates the interaction of gender, disability and education in rural Iran, which is a relatively unexplored field of research. The responses of 10 female students with disabilities from Isfahan indicated that the obstacles they faced included marginalization, difficulties in getting from home to school, difficulties within the school building itself, and discrimination by teachers, classmates and school authorities. The data collected for the study contain a wide range of conservative gendered discourses, and show how traditional gender beliefs interact with disability to aggravate the problems faced in education by young women with disabilities. It is hoped that the findings will raise awareness among policy-makers of the many formidable obstacles that make it difficult for young women with disabilities to achieve their full potential in education.
The Pathway of Membrane Fusion Catalyzed by Influenza Hemagglutinin: Restriction of Lipids, Hemifusion, and Lipidic Fusion Pore Formation

The mechanism of bilayer unification in biological fusion is unclear. We reversibly arrested hemagglutinin (HA)-mediated cell–cell fusion right before fusion pore opening. A low-pH conformation of HA was required to form this intermediate and to ensure fusion beyond it. We present evidence indicating that outer monolayers of the fusing membranes were merged and continuous in this intermediate, but HA restricted lipid mixing. Depending on the surface density of HA and the membrane lipid composition, this restricted hemifusion intermediate either transformed into a fusion pore or expanded into an unrestricted hemifusion, without pores but with unrestricted lipid mixing. Our results suggest that restriction of lipid flux by a ring of activated HA is necessary for successful fusion, during which a lipidic fusion pore develops in a local and transient hemifusion diaphragm.
Recognition Offline Handwritten Hindi Digits Using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks

Handwritten Hindi digit recognition plays an important role in eastern Arab countries especially in the courtesy amounts of Arab bank checks. In this paper, we proposed an efficient offline handwritten Hindi digits recognition system and developed using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP). The implemented system recognizes separated handwritten Hindi digits scanned using a scanner. The system has been designed, implemented and tested successfully. The error backpropagation algorithm has been used to train the MLP network. An analysis shows increasing in the recognition rate by doing some enhancements. The proposed system has been trained on samples of 1000 images and tested on samples of 600 images written by different users selected from different ages. The samples were scanned and preprocessed before entering the Neural Network for recognition. The An experimental result showed a very good recognition rate in comparison with other Hindi digit recognition systems that use the same recognition classifier tool especially if we consider the way of writing and number of training and testing samples. In addition, the recognition rate could be increased if we have a high resolution scanner and increase the number of training and testing samples. Key-Words: Offline Hindi Digit Recognition, Hindi Digits, Feature Extraction, MLP, Neural Networks, Backpropagation.
Intra-arterial thrombolysis is the treatment of choice for basilar thrombosis: con.

Strokes attributable to basilar artery occlusion are fortunately uncommon but have a high risk of death or severe disability. Presentation is highly variable, and initial misdiagnosis by nonspecialists of patients with warning or progressive symptoms is common. Sometimes patients present at a late stage where intervention is unlikely to be successful. Hence, management of these patients is particularly challenging to vascular neurologists and stroke physicians. What do we know about basilar artery occlusion? As in anterior circulation ischemic strokes, “time is brain” and outcome depends on time to treatment, clinical state at presentation and whether and how quickly recanalization occurs. Without recanalization good recovery virtually never occurs. The rarity of basilar artery occlusion is reflected by the paucity of randomized controlled trials. One small randomized controlled trial of intra-arterial urokinase against anticoagulation in 16 patients with posterior circulation stroke suggested intra-arterial urokinase was associated with a better outcome.1 However, the main evidence base available to decide on the …
Differential Circuit Characterization with Two-Podt S-Parameters

This article was written to help practicing RF engineers solve everyday tasks related to differential circuit characterization with precise and reliable methods, which employ ordinary single-ended two-port vector network analyzers. The article describes useful, practical methods for balanced circuit characterization, particularly differential voltage, common-mode rejection (CMR), insertion loss, and differential impedance based on measuring two-port S-parameters
Protein-Coated Nanoparticles Are Internalized by the Epithelial Cells of the Female Reproductive Tract and Induce Systemic and Mucosal Immune Responses

The female reproductive tract (FRT) includes the oviducts (fallopian tubes), uterus, cervix and vagina. A layer of columnar epithelium separates the endocervix and uterus from the outside environment, while the vagina is lined with stratified squamous epithelium. The mucosa of the FRT is exposed to antigens originating from microflora, and occasionally from infectious microorganisms. Whether epithelial cells (ECs) of the FRT take up (sample) the lumen antigens is not known. To address this question, we examined the uptake of 20–40 nm nanoparticles (NPs) applied vaginally to mice which were not treated with hormones, epithelial disruptors, or adjuvants. We found that 20 and 40 nm NPs are quickly internalized by ECs of the upper FRT and within one hour could be observed in the lymphatic ducts that drain the FRT, as well as in the ileac lymph nodes (ILNs) and the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). Chicken ovalbumin (Ova) conjugated to 20 nm NPs (NP-Ova) when administered vaginally reaches the internal milieu in an immunologically relevant form; thus vaginal immunization of mice with NP-Ova induces systemic IgG to Ova antigen. Most importantly, vaginal immunization primes the intestinal mucosa for secretion of sIgA. Sub-cutaneous (s.c) boosting immunization with Ova in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) further elevates the systemic (IgG1 and IgG2c) as well as mucosal (IgG1 and sIgA) antibody titers. These findings suggest that the modes of antigen uptake at mucosal surfaces and pathways of antigen transport are more complex than previously appreciated.
Parallel implementation of a transport network model

This paper describes the parallel implementation of a transport network model. A ‘SingleProgram, Multiple Data’ (SPMD) paradigm is employed using a simple data decomposition approach where each processor runs the same program but acts on a different subset of the data. The objective is to reduce the execution time of the model. The computationally intensive part of the model is within the assignment and simulation section and therefore this section is parallelised and executed using 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 processors. The convergence, accuracy and performance of the parallel model are then assessed and compared to the linear implementation. The results indicate a performance increase of over 8 for the parallelised module and a speed-up of 5 for the total model when the model is run using 16 processors. The efficiency, average parallelism and efficiency-execution time profile are also discussed. In the context of time savings with 16 processors compared with 1, the time saving on the IBM SP2 are of the order of 80%, and, compared to a linear implementation on a dual processor Intel machine are of the order of 86%.
Compliance to treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in a region of Israel.

BACKGROUND One of the measures adopted in Israel since 1959 as part of the tuberculosis control program was screening children aged 12-13 years old. The screening comprised single-step tuberculin skin testing using the Mantoux method. OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy of tuberculin skin screening for TB in schoolchildren in southwestern Israel as well as the compliance to treatment for latent tuberculosis infection. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of children in the Ashkelon region who underwent a tuberculin skin test during the period 1995-99. RESULTS Of the 28,016 eligible children, 27,232 were tested. In 923 children, mostly from the former USSR and Ethiopia, an induration of 10 mm or more was found. Only 52 Israeli-born children tested positive. Tuberculosis was found in seven children with a positive test, five of whom were from Ethiopia. All children who tested positive were referred to the local TB clinic; only 266 children (28.8%) presented. Only 151 completed the recommended treatment of isoniazid for 6 months. Thus, although screening included most of the targeted children aged 13, only a third of them presented to a TB clinic, and of these only about half completed treatment for latent infection. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that the current policy of screening for latent TB in our region is ineffective in terms of implementation of the recommended treatment. We suggest that only high risk groups be screened, and that a concerted effort be made to implement treatment.