Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transfected Babesia bovis Expressing a Tick GST as a Live Vector Vaccine

The Rhipicephalus microplus tick is a notorious blood-feeding ectoparasite of livestock, especially cattle, responsible for massive losses in animal production. It is the main vector for transmission of pathogenic bacteria and parasites, including Babesia bovis, an intraerythrocytic apicomplexan protozoan parasite responsible for bovine Babesiosis. This study describes the development and testing of a live B. bovis vaccine expressing the protective tick antigen glutathione-S-transferase from Haemaphysalis longicornis (HlGST). The B. bovis S74-T3B parasites were electroporated with a plasmid containing the bidirectional Ef-1α (elongation factor 1 alpha) promoter of B. bovis controlling expression of two independent genes, the selectable marker GFP-BSD (green fluorescent protein–blasticidin deaminase), and HlGST fused to the MSA-1 (merozoite surface antigen 1) signal peptide from B. bovis. Electroporation followed by blasticidin selection resulted in the emergence of a mixed B. bovis transfected line (termed HlGST) in in vitro cultures, containing parasites with distinct patterns of insertion of both exogenous genes, either in or outside the Ef-1α locus. A B. bovis clonal line termed HlGST-Cln expressing intracellular GFP and HlGST in the surface of merozoites was then derived from the mixed parasite line HlGST using a fluorescent activated cell sorter. Two independent calf immunization trials were performed via intravenous inoculation of the HlGST-Cln and a previously described control consisting of an irrelevant transfected clonal line of B. bovis designated GFP-Cln. The control GFP-Cln line contains a copy of the GFP-BSD gene inserted into the Ef-1α locus of B. bovis in an identical fashion as the HIGST-Cln parasites. All animals inoculated with the HlGST-Cln and GFP-Cln transfected parasites developed mild babesiosis. Tick egg fertility and fully engorged female tick weight was reduced significantly in R. microplus feeding on HlGST-Cln-immunized calves. Collectively, these data show the efficacy of a transfected HlGST-Cln B. bovis parasite to induce detectable anti-glutathione-S-transferase antibodies and a reduction in tick size and fecundity of R. microplus feeding in experimentally inoculated animals.
Localisation, quantification, dynamique et organisation des cellules souches épithéliales cutanées humaines in situ et in vitro

Recent developments in the field of tissue engineering open the way to the use of new strategies for the production of replacement tissues. In the grown-up body, stem cells ensure the regeneration of tissues and epithelia. In skin, the constant renewal of the epidermis is assumed by stem cells. Aiming for permanent engraftment of a skin substitute in a biologically active fashion, the presence of living and functional stem cells is a necessity. Thus, care must be taken during the various manipulations involved in the production of reconstructed skin to ensure the presence and the maintenance of stem cells in these tissues. To determine the best anatomic site to harvest epithelial cells, we took advantage of the stem cell-associated keratin (K) 19 to localize stem cells in situ within abdominal, scalp and periauricular skin. These analyses allowed us to determine that the size and the density of hair follicles were important factors in the quantity of stem cells found in situ. Moroever, the proportion of Kl 9-positive cells isolated from the different sites remains proportional in culture. The presence and functionality of stem cells within our model of tissue-engineered skin was also evaluated. The results showed that the reconstructed skin by the self-assembly approach can self-renew due to the presence of functional stem cells in the basal layer. Tissue-engineered skin substitutes were used as autologous full-thickness grafts for the wound coverage of a severely burned patient. They allowed wound healing and the return of a major part of the cutaneous functions, including the constant renewal of the epidermis. Cell banks ensure production of these skin substitutes and generally, the production of these banks implies cryopréservation processes. We evaluated the effect of a cryopréservation technique on the survival and the behavior of the cutaneous stem cells after thawing, during amplification and within tissue-engineered skin. The results suggest that freezing does not affect the functionality of the epithelial stem cells in vitro. In conclusion, our results suggest that our culture techniques are optimal to ensure the preservation and the functionality of stem cells in reconstructed skin.
Truthful Team Formation for Crowdsourcing in Social Networks: (Extended Abstract)

This paper studies complex task crowdsourcing by team formation in social networks (SNs), where the requester wishes to hire a group of socially connected workers that can work together as a team. Previous social team crowdsourcing approaches mainly focus on the algorithmic part for social welfare maximization, however, ignore the strategic behavior of workers. In practical crowdsourcing markets, workers are selfish for maximizing their own profit. Within the traditional researches, these selfish workers can be encouraged to manipulate the crowdsourcing system. This untruthful behavior will discourage other workers from participations and is unprofitable for the requester. Thus, a truthful mechanism, guaranteeing that each worker's profit is optimized by behaving honestly, is essential to the success of a crowdsourcing system. Towards this end, in this paper, we develop two efficient truthful mechanisms for the small-scale and large-scale social team crowdsourcing applications, respectively. The experimental results on a real dataset show that compared to the benchmark optimal mechanism, the proposed mechanisms perform well for various scale applications on social welfare maximization.
The Rapid Proton Process Ashes from Stable Nuclear Burning on an Accreting Neutron Star

The temperature and nuclear composition of the crust and ocean of an accreting neutron star depend on the mix of material (the ashes) that is produced at lower densities by fusion of the accreting hydrogen and helium. The hydrogen/helium burning is thermally stable at high accretion rates, a situation encountered in weakly magnetic (B ≪ 1011 G) neutron stars accreting at rates > 10-8 M☉ yr-1 and in most accreting X-ray pulsars, where the focusing of matter onto the magnetic poles results in local accretion rates high enough for stable burning. For a neutron star accreting at these high rates, we calculate the steady state burning of hydrogen and helium in the upper atmosphere (ρ < 2 × 106 g cm-3), where T ≈ (5-15) × 108 K. Since the breakout from the "hot" CNO cycle occurs at a temperature comparable to that of stable helium burning (T ≳ 5 × 108 K), the hydrogen is always burned via the rapid proton capture (rp) process of Wallace & Woosley. The rp-process makes nuclei far beyond the iron group, always leading to a mixture of elements with masses A ~ 60-100. The average nuclear mass of the ashes is set by the extent of helium burning via (α, p) reactions and, because these reactions are temperature sensitive, depends on the local accretion rate. Nuclear statistical equilibrium, leading to a composition of mostly iron, occurs only for very high local accretion rates in excess of 50 times the Eddington rate. We briefly discuss the consequences of our results for the properties of the neutron star. The wide range of nuclei made at a fixed accretion rate and the sensitivity of the ash composition to the local accretion rate makes it inevitable that accreting neutron stars have an ocean and crust made up of a large variety of nuclei. This has repercussions for the thermal and electrical properties and structural properties (the shear modulus and viscosity) of the neutron star crust. A crustal lattice as impure as implied by our results will have the conductivity throughout most of its mass set by impurity scattering, allowing for more rapid Ohmic diffusion of magnetic fields than previously estimated for mononuclear mixes.
The More the Better? Effects of Training and Information Amount in Legal Judgments

In an experimental study we investigated effects of information amount and legal training on the judgment accuracy in legal cases. In a two (legal training: yes vs. no) x two (information amount: high vs. low) between-subjects design, 90 participants judged the premeditation of a perpetrator in eight real-world cases decided by the German Federal Court of Justice. Judgment accuracy was assessed in comparison with the Court’s ruling. Legal training increased judgment accuracy, but did not depend on the amount of information given. Furthermore, legal training corresponded with higher confidence. Interestingly, emotional reactions to the legal cases were stronger when more information was given for individuals without legal training but decreased for individuals with training. This interaction seems to be caused by fundamental differences in the way people construct their mental representations of the cases. We advance an information processing perspective to explain the observed differences in legal judgments and conclude with a discussion on the merits and problems of offering more information to lay people participating in legal decision making.
Software Defined Networking properties in multi-domain networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an approach developed to facilitate next generation computer networking by decoupling the traffic control system from the underlying traffic transmission system. One key focus in the transition of next-generation computer networking is the service management improvement of network connectivity services. Connectivity across the global digital network requires a multi-domain capability. Decoupled of the control plane from data plane is the main character of SDN, along with the programmability for network services, utilizing management controllers. SDN had intrinsic potential to improve how a multi-domain implementation might occur utilizing the programmability capability. In this paper, we provide the outcomes of research into how SDN's decoupled programmable control regime affects the performance of multi-domain connectivity services.
A new framework for ubiquitous context-aware healthcare applications

Nowadays, there is a significant lack of generic application frameworks providing third party developers with the appropriate mechanisms for building ubiquitous context-aware healthcare applications over medical heterogeneous networks. In this paper, we propose a new framework integrating context-aware and security mechanisms with mechanisms that allow the ease exploitation of the core networks' functionality to enable third party developers to build reliable and secure ubiquitous context-aware healthcare applications over medical heterogeneous networks.
Novel and potent anti-tumor and anti-metastatic di-2-pyridylketone thiosemicarbazones demonstrate marked differences in pharmacology between the first and second generation lead agents

Di(2-pyridyl)ketone 4,4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (Dp44mT) and di(2-pyridyl)ketone 4-cyclohexyl-4-methyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (DpC) are novel, highly potent and selective anti-tumor and anti-metastatic drugs. Despite their structural similarity, these agents differ in their efficacy and toxicity in-vivo. Considering this, a comparison of their pharmacokinetic and pharmaco/toxico-dynamic properties was conducted to reveal if these factors are involved in their differential activity. Both compounds were administered to Wistar rats intravenously (2 mg/kg) and their metabolism and disposition were studied using UHPLC-MS/MS. The cytotoxicity of both thiosemicarbazones and their metabolites was also examined using MCF-7, HL-60 and HCT116 tumor cells and 3T3 fibroblasts and H9c2 cardiac myoblasts. Their intracellular iron-binding ability was characterized by the Calcein-AM assay and their iron mobilization efficacy was evaluated. In contrast to DpC, Dp44mT undergoes rapid demethylation in-vivo, which may be related to its markedly faster elimination (T1/2 = 1.7 h for Dp44mT vs. 10.7 h for DpC) and lower exposure. Incubation of these compounds with cancer cells or cardiac myoblasts did not result in any significant metabolism in-vitro. The metabolism of Dp44mT in-vivo resulted in decreased anti-cancer activity and toxicity. In conclusion, marked differences in the pharmacology of Dp44mT and DpC were observed and highlight the favorable pharmacokinetics of DpC for cancer treatment.
Meta-Analysis of Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR) rs2228671 Polymorphism and Coronary Heart Disease

Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) can regulate cholesterol metabolism by removing the excess low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in blood. Since cholesterol metabolism is often disrupted in coronary heart disease (CHD), LDLR as a candidate gene of CHD has been intensively studied. The goal of our study is to evaluate the overall contribution of LDLR rs2228671 polymorphism to the risk of CHD by combining the genotyping data from multiple case-control studies. Our meta-analysis is involved with 8 case-control studies among 7588 cases and 9711 controls to test the association between LDLR rs2228671 polymorphism and CHD. In addition, we performed a case-control study of LDLR rs2228671 polymorphism with the risk of CHD in Chinese population. Our meta-analysis showed that rs2228671-T allele was significantly associated with a reduced risk of CHD (P = 0.0005, odds ratio (OR) = 0.83, and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.75–0.92). However, rs2228671-T allele frequency was rare (1%) and was not associated with CHD in Han Chinese (P = 0.49), suggesting an ethnic difference of LDLR rs2228671 polymorphism. Meta-analysis has established rs2228671 as a protective factor of CHD in Europeans. The lack of association in Chinese reflects an ethnic difference of this genetic variant between Chinese and European populations.
Frequency and amplitude modulation with back to back converters in a utility connected microgrid

Inverters paralleled in microgrid have various forms. Back to back converters due to its isolation characteristics of frequency and fault have been widely researched. This paper designs a control strategy for the back to back converters, which includes the inverter connected to utility (VSC1) and the inverter connected to microgrid (VSC2) respectively. So VSCI can only exchange active power with public grid and VSC2 realizes the frequency and amplitude of microgrid secondary modulation. Bidirectional power flow between the grid and microgrid is realized by maintaining the DC bus voltage constant. The control strategy can not only increase the grid connection characteristics of micro grid, but also improve the voltage quality of the micro grid and realize the power balance and redistribution of active and reactive power. Finally the control strategy is verified in MATLAB.
An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization for Proficient Solving of Unit Commitment Problem

This paper presents a new approach to solving the short-term unit commitment problem using an improved Particle Swarm Optimization (IPSO). The objective of this paper is to find the generation scheduling such that the total operating cost can be minimized, when subjected to a variety of constraints. This also means that it is desirable to find the optimal generating unit commitment in the power system for the next H hours. PSO, which happens to be a Global Optimization technique for solving Unit Commitment Problem, operates on a system, which is designed to encode each unit’s operating schedule with regard to its minimum up/down time. In this, the unit commitment schedule is coded as a string of symbols. An initial population of parent solutions is generated at random. Here, each schedule is formed by committing all the units according to their initial status (“flat start”). Here the parents are obtained from a pre-defined set of solution’s i.e. each and every solution is adjusted to meet the requirements. Then, a random decommitment is carried out with respect to the unit’s minimum down times. A thermal Power System in India demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach; extensive studies have also been performed for different power systems consist of 10, 26, 34 generating units. Numerical results are shown comparing the cost solutions and computation time obtained by using the IPSO and other conventional methods like Dynamic Programming (DP), Legrangian Relaxation (LR) in reaching proper unit commitment.
Increased Interleukin-17F is Associated with Elevated Autoantibody Levels and More Clinically Relevant Than Interleukin-17A in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

Th17 related immune response is pathogenic in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). However, the role of IL-17F, one potent inflammatory member of IL-17 family cytokines in pSS, has not been specifically defined. We recruited one hundred and nine pSS patients and forty-two healthy controls and their serum levels of IL-17A and IL-17F were determined by multiplex cytokine assays. White blood cell, red blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, IgM, IgG, C3, C4, RF, ANA, anti-SSA antibody, and anti-SSB antibody were measured by standard laboratory techniques. EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) score was also evaluated accordingly. We found that IL-17F was significantly increased in pSS patients. Elevated levels of IL-17F were associated with increased IgG and IgM, higher titers of ANA and anti-SSA antibodies, and reduction of C3 and C4. Patients with higher disease activity also showed higher serum IL-17F levels. However, serum IL-17A was only increased in patients with longer disease duration and showed few correlation with clinical and laboratory features in pSS patients. In conclusion, IL-17F was correlated with increased autoantibody levels and disease activity in pSS and is more clinically relevant than IL-17A.
Evaluation of a simplified multi model predictive controller for a three stage power plant superheater based on projection of controller output onto the admissible set

Research focused on model predictive control (MPC) with low computational demands and good real time predictability usually exploits the properties of the explicit model predictive control. However, if the control problem is complex and the number of constraints and free control moves is high, explicit MPC can be even worse in the terms of computation time and real time predictability than standard MPC using on-line optimization. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the application potential of a different approach to MPC with low computational demands: constraining the controller output by projection. This method was proposed by Tatjewski several years ago. However, it has found relatively little application. In this paper this method is extended to the case of switched multi linear MPC and evaluated using a case study of MPC control of a three stage power plant superheater. It is shown that even in the case of this relatively complex controlled plant, this simple method is able to achieve fairly good results. That is why it can be considered a suitable candidate approach for designing MPC controllers with low computational demands in applications with constraints on process control inputs and their rates of change.
Data Sets and News Recommendation

Datasets are important for training and testing many information processing applications. In the field of news recommendation, there are still few available datasets, and many feel obliged to use nonnews datasets to test their algorithms for news recommendation. This paper presents some of the most common datasets for recommender systems in general, and explains why these datasets do not fully satisfy the needs in news recommendation. We then discuss the ongoing process of building up an entirely new dataset for Norwegian news in the SmartMedia project. In particular, we go through some of the features of news datasets that separate them from many other datasets and are crucial for their use in news recommendation.
Trajectory clustering based on length scale directive Hausdorff

Trajectory clustering is the basis of scene understanding which helps interpretation of object behavior or event detection in video surveillance system. This paper proposes a length scale directive Hausdorff (LSD-Hausdorff) trajectory similarity measure. Firstly, the trajectory is encoded, and then we use proportion corresponding set, object position and its instantaneous velocity direction to represent the distance between two trajectories. After that, the hierarchical clustering algorithm is applied to cluster trajectories. In each cluster, trajectories that are spatially close have similar velocities of motion and represent one type of activity pattern. Finally, through experimental results in true scenes, we proved the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method in clustering.
GAUSSIAN ESTIMATES FOR MARKOV CHAINS AND RANDOM WALKS ON GROUPS

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Institute of Mathematical Statistics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Annals of Probability. A Gaussian upper bound for the iterated kernels of Markov chains is obtained under some natural conditions. This result applies in particular to simple random walks on any locally compact unimodular group G which is compactly generated. Moreover, if G has polynomial volume growth, the Gaussian upper bound can be complemented with a similar lower bound. Various applications are presented. In the process, we offer a new proof of Varopoulos' results relating the uniform decay of convolution powers to the volume growth of G. 1. Introduction. The first result proved in this paper is a fairly general Gaussian upper bound for Markov chains. This bound applies in particular to simple random walks on locally compact compactly generated unimodular groups. When the group has polynomial volume growth, the iterated convolu-tion kernel governing the random walk is shown to satisfy a two sided Gaussian estimate. Various applications of this estimate are discussed. Our Gaussian upper bound for Markov chains is as follows. Consider a symmetric Markov kernel k defined on a measure space X, and assume that there is a distance function p on X such that k(x, y) = 0 whenever x, y satisfy p(x, y) ? ro. Also assume that the iterated kernels kn satisfy the uniform estimate
Recent and Massive Expansion of the Mating-Type-Specific Region in the Smut Fungus Microbotryum

The presence of large genomic regions with suppressed recombination (SR) is a key shared property of some sex- and mating-type determining (mat) chromosomes identified to date in animals, plants, and fungi. Why such regions form and how they evolve remain central questions in evolutionary genetics. The smut fungus Microbotryum lychnis-dioicae is a basidiomycete fungus in which dimorphic mat chromosomes have been reported, but the size, age, and evolutionary dynamics of the SR region remains unresolved. To identify the SR region in M. lychnis-dioicae and to study its evolution, we sequenced 12 genomes (6 per mating type) of this species and identified the genomic contigs that show fixed sequence differences between the mating types. We report that the SR region spans more than half of the mat chromosome (>2.3 Mbp) and that it is of very recent origin (∼2 × 106 years) as the average sequence divergence between mating types was only 2% in the SR region. This contrasts with a much higher divergence in and around the mating-type determining pheromone receptor locus in the SR, suggesting a recent and massive expansion of the SR region. Our results comprise the first reported case of recent massive SR expansion documented in a basidiomycete fungus.