Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PD-L1/B7-H1 Inhibits Viral Clearance by Macrophages in HSV-1–Infected Corneas

Immune privilege helps protect the cornea from damaging inflammation but can also impair pathogen clearance from this mucosal surface. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1 or B7-H1) contributes to corneal immune privilege by inhibiting the function of a variety of immune cells. We asked whether programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 interaction regulates HSV-1 clearance from infected corneas. We show that PD-L1 is constitutively expressed in the corneal epithelium and is upregulated upon HSV-1 corneal infection, with peak expression on CD45+ cells NK cells, dendritic cells, neutrophils, and macrophages and CD45− corneal epithelial cells at 4 d postinfection (dpi). As early as 1 dpi, HSV-1–infected corneas of B7-H1−/− mice as compared with wild-type mice showed increased chemokine expression and this correlated with increased migration of inflammatory cells into the viral lesions and decreased HSV-1 corneal titers. Local PD-L1 blockade caused a similar increase in viral clearance, suggesting a local effect of PD-1/PD-L1 in the cornea. The enhanced HSV-1 clearance at 2 dpi resulting from PD-1/PD-L1 blockade is mediated primarily by a monocyte/macrophage population. Studies in bone marrow chimeras demonstrated enhanced viral clearance when PD-L1 was absent only from nonhematopoietic cells. We conclude that PD-L1 expression on corneal cells negatively impacts the ability of the innate immune system to clear HSV-1 from infected corneas.
Development and Validation Study of the Internet Overuse Screening Questionnaire

Objective Concerns over behavioral and emotional problems caused by excessive internet usage have been developed. This study intended to develop and a standardize questionnaire that can efficiently identify at-risk internet users through their internet usage habits. Methods Participants (n=158) were recruited at six I-will-centers located in Seoul, South Korea. From the initial 36 questionnaire item pool, 28 preliminary items were selected through expert evaluation and panel discussions. The construct validity, internal consistency, and concurrent validity were examined. We also conducted Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis to assess diagnostic ability of the Internet Overuse Screening-Questionnaire (IOS-Q). Results The exploratory factor analysis yielded a five factor structure. Four factors with 17 items remained after items that had unclear factor loading were removed. The Cronbach’s alpha for the IOS-Q total score was 0.91, and test-retest reliability was 0.72. The correlation between Young’s internet addiction scale and K-scale supported concurrent validity. ROC analysis showed that the IOS-Q has superior diagnostic ability with the Area Under the Curve of 0.87. At the cut-off point of 25.5, the sensitivity was 0.93 and specificity was 0.86. Conclusion Overall, this study supports the use of IOS-Q for internet addiction research and for screening high-risk individuals.
Hearing loss and social support in urban and rural communities*

Abstract Objective: Perceived social support and hearing handicap were assessed in adults with and without hearing loss who lived in different geographical regions of Alabama. Design: The Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) assessed emotional and social consequences of hearing loss. The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey and the Social Functioning, Role Emotional and Mental Health scales of the SF-36 were administered. Study sample: Data were collected from 71 study participants with hearing loss and from 45 adults without hearing loss. Results: Degree of hearing loss and outcomes from the HHIA did not differ between adults who lived in rural or urban settings. Tangible support was poorer for adults with hearing loss who lived in rural settings compared to those who lived in urban settings. For adults without hearing loss, residency was not associated with tangible support. For these adults, income was associated with other types of social support (i.e. informational support, affection, positive social interaction). Conclusions: Adults with hearing loss living in rural areas had poor perceived tangible support. The provision of support to address a hearing loss could be worse for these adults compared to adults who lived in urban settings.
The Transitional Behavior of Interference in Millimeter Wave Networks and Its Impact on Medium Access Control

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems use a large number of antenna elements that can potentially overcome severe channel attenuation by narrow beamforming. Narrow-beam operation in mmWave networks also reduces multiuser interference, introducing the concept of noise-limited wireless networks as opposed to interference-limited ones. The noise-limited or interference-limited regime heavily reflects on the medium access control (MAC) layer throughput and on proper resource allocation and interference management strategies. Yet, these regimes are ignored in current approaches to mmWave MAC layer design, with the potential disastrous consequences on the communication performance. In this paper, we investigate these regimes in terms of collision probability and throughput. We derive tractable closed-form expressions for the collision probability and MAC layer throughput of mmWave ad hoc networks, operating under slotted ALOHA. The new analysis reveals that mmWave networks may exhibit a non-negligible transitional behavior from a noise-limited regime to an interference-limited one, depending on the density of the transmitters, density and size of obstacles, transmission probability, operating beamwidth, and transmission power. Such transitional behavior necessitates a new framework of adaptive hybrid resource allocation procedure, containing both contention-based and contention-free phases with on-demand realization of the contention-free phase. Moreover, the conventional collision avoidance procedure in the contention-based phase should be revisited, due to the transitional behavior of interference, to maximize throughput/delay performance of mmWave networks. We conclude that, unless proper hybrid schemes are investigated, the severity of the transitional behavior may significantly reduce throughput/delay performance of mmWave networks.
Impaired platelet responses to clopidogrel and ticlopidine in a patient with recurrent coronary stent stenosis

Thienopyridines (ticlopidine and clopidogrel) are potent inhibitors of ADP-induced platelet aggregation (1-3). After metabolisation, the active metabolite irreversibly impairs the human platelet P2Y12 ADP receptor (3-7) and P2Y12 receptor-mediated inhibitory effect on prostaglandin E1-stimulated, cAMP-mediated phosphorylation of VASP. In large clinical trials, clopidogrel or ticlopidine were shown to be superior to ASS in the prevention of vascular ischemic events. Clopidogrel plus aspirin is now standard therapy after the placement of coronary-artery stents to prevent stent thrombosis. Though clopidogrel was shown to be very effective for prevention of secondary atherothrombotic events in clinical trials, there are still patients who suffer vascular ischemic events despite treatment. Adverse cardiac events (cardiac death, myocardial infarction, revascularization) can be seen in 1.2-1.5% of patients under a 28-day combination therapy of clopidogrel and aspirin after stent placement. In addition to these clinical observations, studies investigating platelet inhibition after clopidogrel treatment have demonstrated individual variations in its anti-aggregating effects (9-12).
Scale-dependent grasp

The paper discusses the scale-dependent grasp. Suppose that a human approaches an object initially placed on a table and finally achieves an enveloping grasp. Under such initial and final conditions, he (or she) unconsciously changes the grasp strategy according to the size of objects, even though they have similar geometry. We call the grasp planning the scale-dependent grasp. We find that grasp patterns are also changed according to the surface friction and the geometry of cross section in addition to the scale of object. Focusing on column objects, we first classify the grasp patterns and extract the essential motions so that we can construct grasp strategies applicable to multifingered robot hands. The grasp strategies constructed for robot hands are verified by experiments. We also consider how a robot hand can recognize the failure mode and how it can switch from one to another.
Dynamics comparison of TCP Veno and Reno

TCP Veno was recently proposed to eliminate TCP performance suffering from wireless links. Real network measurements and live Internet results have validated Veno's significant throughput improvement in wireless networks and its harmonious coexistence with TCP Reno connections in wired networks. We demonstrate the out-of-phase synchronization of Veno in one-way traffic, as opposed to the in-phase synchronization of Reno. The detailed studies of this behavior and its interaction with Reno are reported. Moreover, our careful study shows that this out-of-phase synchronization benefits network link utilization, and reduces the occurrence of congestion loss.
Impact of geometry on thermoelastic dissipation in micromechanical resonant beams

Thermoelastic dissipation (TED) is analyzed for complex geometries of micromechanical resonators, demonstrating the impact of resonator design (i.e., slots machined into flexural beams) on TED-limited quality factor. Zener first described TED for simple beams in 1937. This work extends beyond simple beams into arbitrary geometries, verifying simulations that completely capture the coupled physics that occur. Novel geometries of slots engineered at specific locations within the flexural resonator beams are utilized. These slots drastically affect the thermal-mechanical coupling and have an impact on the quality factor, providing resonators with quality factors higher than those predicted by simple Zener theory. The ideal location for maximum impact of slots is determined to be in regions of high strain. We have demonstrated the ability to predict and control the quality factor of micromechanical resonators limited by thermoelastic dissipation. This enables tuning of the quality factor by structure design without the need to scale its size, thus allowing for enhanced design optimization
Exploring cache bypassing and partitioning for multi-tasking on GPUs

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) computing has become ubiquitous for embedded system, evidenced by its wide adoption for various general purpose applications. As more and more applications are accelerated by GPUs, multi-tasking scenario starts to emerge. Multi-tasking allows multiple applications to simultaneously execute on the same GPU and share the resource. This brings new challenges due to the contention among the different applications for the shared resources such as caches. However, the caches on GPUs are difficult to use. If used inappropriately, it may hurt the performance instead of improving it. In this paper, we propose to use cache partitioning together with cache bypassing as the shared cache management mechanism for multi-tasking on GPUs. The combined approach aims to reduce the interference among the tasks and preserve the locality for each task. However, the interplay among the cache partitioning and bypassing brings greater challenges. On one hand, the partitioned cache space to each task affects its cache bypassing decision. On the other hand, cache bypassing affects the cache capacity required for each task. To address this, we propose a two-step approach. First, we use cache partitioning to assign dedicated cache space to each task to reduce the interference among the tasks. During this process, we compare cache partitioning with coarse-grained cache bypassing. Then, we use fine-grained cache bypassing to selectively bypass certain data requests and threads for each task. We explore different cache partitioning and bypassing designs and demonstrate the potential benefits of this approach. Experiments using a wide range of applications demonstrate that our technique improves the overall system throughput by 52% on average compared to the default multi-tasking solution on GPUs.
Ecological genetics of sex ratios in plant populations

In many angiosperm species, populations are reproductively subdivided into distinct sexual morphs including females, males and hermaphrodites. Sexual polymorphism is maintained by frequency-dependent selection, leading to predictable sex ratios at equilibrium. Charles Darwin devoted much of his book ‘The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species’ (1877) to investigating plant sexual polymorphisms and laid the foundation for many problems addressed today by integrating theory with empirical studies of the demography and genetics of populations. Here, we summarize our recent work on the ecological and genetic mechanisms influencing variation in sex ratios and their implications for evolutionary transitions among sexual systems. We present the results of a survey of sex ratios from 126 species from 47 angiosperm families and then address two general problems using examples from diverse angiosperm taxa: (i) the mechanisms governing biased sex ratios in dioecious species; (ii) the origins and maintenance of populations composed of females, males and hermaphrodites. Several themes are emphasized, including the importance of non-equilibrium conditions, the role of life history and demography in affecting sex ratios, the value of theory for modelling the dynamics of sex ratio variation, and the utility of genetic markers for investigating evolutionary processes in sexually polymorphic plant populations.
Amiodarone-Induced Pulmonary Toxicity Mimicking Metastatic Lung Disease: Case Report

Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic drug that is commonly used for the treatment of ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias. It is an iodine-containing compound, and has a tendency to accumulate in certain organs, including in the lungs. We describe a case of amiodarone induced pulmonary toxicity with concurrent lung cancer which demonstrated good treatment response. A sixty nine-year old male smoker presented to our emergency department with a four-month history of progressive dyspnea, cough and 5 kilogram weight loss. Chest x-ray at admission showed enlarged heart shadow and prominent hilum bilaterally; CT revealed ground glass opacities in right lung and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. His past medical history was significant for dilated myocardiopathy and atrial fibrillation (for which he had been taking amiodarone for 5 years). Radiological findings, decrease in total lung capacity (TLC=84%), decrease in lung diffusing capacity (DLCOc=73%), and corneal epithelial opacities suggested amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (APT) and/or advanced malignant disease. Amiodarone was eliminated from his medication profile due to suspicion of drug toxicity. The patient’s clinical condition promptly improved, and chest x-ray performed after 7 days showed corresponding improvement. Subsequent bronchoscopy included a transbronchial biopsy which revealed lung adenocarcinoma. The patient’s presumed APT was treated with methylprednisolone 40mg IV daily during the first two weeks, and subsequently with prednisone 20 mg/day orally for two months. One month after steroid therapy (and prior to chemotherapy) both lungs demonstrated radiographic improvement. Treatment response to chemotherapy was successful, with good performance status (ECOG1) after 10 months. This case with comorbid APT and lung cancer illustrates the importance of diligence in developing differential diagnoses for pulmonary infiltrates. Chest physicians should take care to remember that amiodarone induced pulmonary toxicity (APT) can sometimes mimic disseminated lung malignancy.
Development of a quantitative pharmacodynamic assay for apoptosis in fixed tumor tissue and its application in distinguishing cytotoxic drug—induced DNA double strand breaks from DNA double strand breaks associated with apoptosis

DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) induced by cancer therapeutic agents can lead to DNA damage repair or persistent DNA damage, which can induce apoptotic cell death; however, apoptosis also induces DSBs independent of genotoxic insult. γH2AX is an established biomarker for DSBs but cannot distinguish between these mechanisms. Activated cleaved caspase-3 (CC3) promotes apoptosis by enhancing nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation, and plasma membrane blebbing. Here, we describe an immunofluorescence assay that distinguishes between apoptosis and drug-induced DSBs by measuring coexpression of γH2AX and membrane blebbing−associated CC3 to indicate apoptosis, and γH2AX in the absence of CC3 blebbing to indicate drug-induced DNA damage. These markers were examined in xenograft models following treatment with topotecan, cisplatin, or birinapant. A topotecan regimen conferring tumor regression induced tumor cell DSBs resulting from both apoptosis and direct DNA damage. In contrast, a cisplatin regimen yielding tumor growth delay, but not regression, resulted in tumor cell DSBs due solely to direct DNA damage. MDA-MB-231 xenografts exposed to birinapant, which promotes apoptosis but does not directly induce DSBs, exhibited dose-dependent increases in colocalized γH2AX/CC3 blebbing in tumor cells. Clinical feasibility was established using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies from a canine cancer clinical trial; γH2AX/CC3 colocalization analysis revealed apoptosis induction by two novel indenoisoquinoline topoisomerase I inhibitors, which was consistent with pathologist-assessed apoptosis and reduction of tumor volume. This assay is ready for use in clinical trials to elucidate the mechanism of action of investigational agents and combination regimens intended to inflict DNA damage, apoptotic cell death, or both.
Tracking and monitoring horses in the wild using wireless sensor networks

The Retuerta is one of the oldest breed of horses in Europe, which roams wild in the Donana National Park, Andalusia, Spain. Thirty-two of these horses were marked with wireless sensors to gather spatio-temporal data on their behaviour over a period of several months. This paper describes our experiences of tracking and monitoring these wild horses attached with body-worn sensors and operating in a harsh and challenging environment. Analysis of this data for the first two months has revealed rare insights into the horses' social behaviour, such as the group dynamics (group sizes and memberships), dispersal and home ranges which are of interest to both animal ethologists and practitioners managing the ecology of their wild habitats. The paper introduces the Virtual Beacon - Time Division Multiple Access (VB-TDMA) protocol for orchestrating the data collection, and describes the choices that were made for addressing the many technical challenges for an extended deployment, such as in the design of the sensor platform, wireless data collection and battery lifetime issues. Our experiences point to the virtue of simplicity in design of wireless sensor networks to support core functionalities for achieving good average case performances.
The Therapeutic Potential of Cell Encapsulation Technology for Drug Delivery in Neurological Disorders

The brain can be damaged by a wide range of conditions including infections, hypoxia, poisoning, stroke, chronic degenerative disease and acute trauma. Some of the most problematic forms of brain damage are those associated with chronic neurodegenerative diseases or acute brain trauma as a result of contusive or penetrating injury. In these cases, damage results in the loss of specific populations of neurons and the development of defined psychiatric or neurological symptoms. Current treatments for these problems are designed to pharmacologically modify disease symptoms; however, no therapies are yet available that fully restores lost function or slow ongoing neurodegeneration in the brain. Many promising therapies with growth factors has been implicated in brain regeneration, repair and neuroprotection in the central nervous system produced interesting results, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Spuch et al. 2010) brain derived growth factor (BDNF) (Malik et al., 2010) or nerve growth factor (NGF) (Sharma. 2010). However, the critical problem is the way to deliver, in a continuous and localized manner, and more important is to supply physiological amounts of growth factors into focus damage of the brain tissue. One interesting approach is cell encapsulation, in which engineered somatic cells are protected against immune cell mediated and antibody-mediated rejection through immobilization in a polymer matrix surrounded by a semipermeable membrane. The latter regulates the bidirectional diffusion of nutrients, allowing the controlled and continuous delivery of therapeutic proteins in the absent of immunosupression in the proper concentration and localization. Encapsulated cells offer enormous potential for the treatment of human disease. Many attempts have been made to prevent the rejection of transplanted cells by the immune system. Cell encapsulation is promising machinery for cell transplantation and new materials and approaches were developed to encapsulate various types of cells to treat a wide range of diseases. Cell microencapsulation holds promise for the treatment of many diseases by the continuous delivery of therapeutic products. The complexity of many neurological diseases needs the developing of new drugs and especially new pathways to deliver the drug at proper concentration and into the correct localization. One critical problem is the way to deliver, in a continuous and localized manner, physiological amounts of drugs. One
Vendor Selection Using a New Fuzzy Group TOPSIS Approach

Nowadays vendor (supplier) selection has turned to an important decision-making challenge for top decisionmakers in companies; this is because an inappropriate decision affects not only that specific buyer but also the entire supply chain. In the real-world situations, due to incomplete and vague information, required data for decision making often can not be described deterministically, and are usually imprecise in nature. Therefore, in order to make more realistic decisions, fuzzy sets theory can be applied in such cases. In this paper, we propose a new fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making (FMCGDM) approach based on technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method for evaluating and selecting an appropriate vendor, where the ratings of each alternative and importance weight of each criterion are expressed in trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. Furthermore, we use the canonical representation of multiplication operation on three trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to construct the weighted normalized decision matrix. Finally, to clearly illustrate our approach a numerical example is conducted. © 2009 World Academic Press, UK. All rights reserved.