Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effector triggered immunity

Pathogenic bacteria produce virulence factors called effectors, which are important components of the infection process. Effectors aid in pathogenesis by facilitating bacterial attachment, pathogen entry into or exit from the host cell, immunoevasion, and immunosuppression. Effectors also have the ability to subvert host cellular processes, such as hijacking cytoskeletal machinery or blocking protein translation. However, host cells possess an evolutionarily conserved innate immune response that can sense the pathogen through the activity of its effectors and mount a robust immune response. This “effector triggered immunity” (ETI) was first discovered in plants but recent evidence suggest that the process is also well conserved in metazoans. We will discuss salient points of the mechanism of ETI in metazoans from recent studies done in mammalian cells and invertebrate model hosts.
Impedance spectroscopy on a single PEM fuel cell for the evaluation of current ripple effects

The use of fuel cells for powering AC loads requires to employ power converters and in particular inverters. The efficiency of these devices is usually very high, but they add a current ripple on the fuel cell side that might affect the fuel cell performance and decrease the overall system efficiency more than expected. Previous studies revealed that this performance decrease depends on the impedance spectrum of the fuel cell and in particular on the cut-off frequency of the RC equivalent circuit associated with the charge double layer, which is usually in the typical current ripple frequency range. Therefore, accurate measurements of the fuel cell impedance up to high frequencies (kHz) are necessary. In this paper the high-frequency behavior of a single PEM fuel cell is investigated via impedance spectroscopy and some critical issues concerning the effects of current ripple are discussed.
Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Activation Produces Extrapyramidal Motor System Activation That Is Mediated by Striatal Dopamine

Little is known about the in vivo function of the GTP‐binding protein‐coupled “metabotropic” excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptor. In vitro studies on agonist‐induced brain phosphoinositide hydrolysis have shown that (15,3i? )‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐l,3‐dicarboxylic acid is a highly selective and efficacious metabotropic EAA agonist. We have recently reported that in vivo unilateral intrastria‐tal injection of (15′,3.K)‐l‐aminocyclopentane‐l,3‐dicar‐boxylic acid induces transient extrapyramidal motor activation that manifests itself as contralateral turning. In this study, we fully characterized the onset of turning behavior following intrastriatal (1S,3.R)‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐l,3‐dicarboxylic acid injection and the possible involvement of striatal dopamine neurons in the mediation of this effect. Rats were anesthetized with the short‐acting agent halo‐thane to allow for rapid surgical recovery and thus early behavioral measurements. Intrastriatal (1S,3R)‐1‐aminocy‐clopentane‐l,3‐dicarboxylic acid (1 μmol/2 μl) produced an incremental increase in contralateral turning starting at 1 h and plateauing 3–6 h after injection (peak effect, 39.1 ± 6.7 rotations per 5 min). Dopamine depletion with α‐methyl‐DL‐p‐tyrosine (250 mg/kg i.p., 80% depletion) resulted in >85% inhibition of (1S,3R)‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐l,3‐di‐carboxylic acid‐induced contralateral turning. The dopamine antagonist haloperidol (0.3 mg/kg i.p.) produced 48% inhibition of the (1S,3R)‐1‐aminocyclopentane‐1,3‐dicar‐boxylic acid response. In time course studies, turning behavior correlated with increases in levels of the dopamine metabolites 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid. These results suggest a functional interaction between the metabotropic EAA receptor and the dopami‐nergic system in the striatum.
Making inferences between counterfactual and real worlds: developmental evidence

In two investigations we explored whether different aspects of counterfactual tasks, such as an alternative response mode, a different question type and additional clarifying wording could influence children's performance on such tasks. Our first investigation manipulated the response mode by allowing children answering to a counterfactual task either by arrow or finger pointing, and the question type by using both standard tasks in which children were told a story and had to generate counterfactual alternatives to it and counterfactual-to-reality stories where children had to infer reality from a given counterfactual. The arrow manipulation proved to be fragile and did not influence children's performance on counterfactual tasks. The question type manipulation suggested an asymmetry between the real and the counterfactual world, with inferring reality from counterfactual alternatives easier than the reverse. Our second investigation explored whether children's performance on complex counterfactual trials, such as the discriminating trials used by Rafetseder, Schwitalla, and Perner (2013) could be supported by additional clarifying wording. We demonstrated that although children found complex counterfactual trials difficult at the age of 5 and 6, additional wording did significantly improve their performance. Children's counterfactual responses to this sort of task were supported through additional wording.
Estimation of road inclination and bank angle in automotive vehicles

We extend an observer design for estimation of the vehicle sideslip angle on horizontal surfaces to include estimation of the road inclination angle and the road bank angle. The design makes use of a nonlinear road-tire friction model, and the nonlinearity of the road-tire friction forces are taken into account in the theoretical analysis of the design. Using an absolute-stability argument we show that, under a set of technical assumptions, the origin of the observer error dynamics is globally exponentially stable. Taking unknown road-surface conditions into account, we discuss simultaneous estimation of the road bank angle and a road-tire friction parameter, which is complicated by the dependence of the friction-parameter estimation on lateral excitation of the vehicle. To improve performance on low-friction surfaces, we modulate the observer gains based on a set of practical conditions. Using experimental data from a passenger car, we investigate the performance of the approach.
Ectopic hamartomatous thymoma: A distinctive benign lesion of lower neck

Five cases of a distinctive tumor located in the soft tissues of the lower neck in adults are described. The lesion is characterized microscopically by the presence of four components: cellular areas made up of spindle elements; epithelial islands composed of solid nests, trabeculae and cysts; mature adipose tissue; and lymphocytes, sometimes arranged in a Hassall's corpuscle-like fashion. Electron microscopy and immunostaining for keratin showed that the spindle cell component was of epithelial nature.These tumors were supraclavicular or suprasternal in location, and no local recurrence has developed in any case following local resection. We interpret these lesions as benign tumors arising on the basis of a developmental defect. We think that they are derived from the third branchial arch and that they are composed of abnormal thymic tissue.
Application of IL-2 and other cytokines in renal cancer

Renal cell carcinoma evokes an immune response, which investigators have attempted to augment by administering cytokines in doses above physiological levels. In 1992, high-dose (HD) bolus interleukin-2 (IL-2) received US Food and Drug Administration approval for metastatic renal cell carcinoma based on data that revealed durable responses in a small percentage of patients. However, this regimen is associated with significant toxicity and cost, which has limited its application to highly selected patients treated at specialised centres. Several investigators have evaluated regimens with lower doses of IL-2 in an attempt to decrease toxicity. Attempts were also made to improve treatment efficacy by adding interferon (IFN)-α followed by 5-fluorouracil to low-dose IL-2 regimens. These regimens were reported to produce response rates and survival comparable to HD IL-2 with much less toxicity, but possibly fewer durable responses. Based on positive preclinical data, other cytokines (e.g., IFN-γ, IL-12) have also been given to patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma with limited success. This review examines the clinical trials that have described the efficacy and toxicity of IL-2 and other cytokines in patients with renal cancer, with a particular focus on the Phase III trials that have helped to define the proper use of these agents.
A Probabilistic Model for Collaborative Filtering with Implicit and Explicit Feedback Data

Collaborative filtering (CF) is one of the most efficient ways for recommender systems. Typically, CF-based algorithms analyze users' preferences and items' attributes using one of two types of feedback: \textit{explicit feedback} (e.g., ratings given to item by users, like/dislike) or \textit{implicit feedback} (e.g., clicks, views, purchases). Explicit feedback is reliable but is extremely sparse; whereas implicit feedback is abundant but is not reliable. To leverage the sparsity of explicit feedback, in this paper, we propose a model that efficiently combines explicit and implicit feedback in a unified model for rating prediction. This model is a combination of \textit{matrix factorization} and \textit{item embedding}, a similar concept with word-embedding in natural language processing. The experiments on three real-datasets (\textit{Movilens 1M}, \textit{Movielens 20M}, and \textit{Bookcrossing}) demonstrate that our method can efficiently predict ratings for items even if the ratings data is not available for them. The experimental results also show that our method outperforms competing methods on rating prediction task in general as well as for users and items which have few ratings.
Balance Between PGD Synthase and PGE Synthase Is a Major Determinant of Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability in Humans

Objective—Inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) catalyzes the first step in prostanoid biosynthesis and is considered a proinflammatory enzyme. COX-2 and type 1 inducible PGE synthase (mPGES-1) have a role in metalloproteinase (MMP) release leading to plaque rupture. In contrast, lipocalin-type PGD synthase (L-PGDS) has been shown to exert antiinflammatory actions. Thus, in this study we investigated whether a shift from a PGDS-oriented to a PGES-oriented profile in arachidonate metabolism leads to inflammatory activation in rupture-prone plaque macrophages. Methods and Results—Atherosclerotic plaques were obtained from 60 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy, symptomatic (n= 30) and asymptomatic (n= 30) according to evidence of recent transient ischemic attack or stroke. Plaques were analyzed for COX-2, mPGES-1, L-PGDS, PPARγ, IκB&agr;, NF-κB, and MMP-9 by immunocytochemistry, Western blot, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, enzyme immunoassay, and zymography. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) pathway was significantly prevalent in symptomatic plaques, whereas PGD2 pathway was overexpressed in asymptomatic ones, associated with NF-κB inactivation and MMP-9 suppression. In vitro COX-2 inhibition in monocytes was associated with reduced MMP-9 release only when PGD2 pathway overcame PGE2 pathway. Conclusions—These results suggest that COX-2 may have proinflammatory and antiinflammatory properties as a function of expression of downstream PGH2 isomerases, and that the switch from L-PGDS to mPGES-1 in plaque macrophages is associated with cerebral ischemic syndromes, possibly through MMP-induced plaque rupture.
Chapter 0 Preamble-Based Medium Access in Wireless Sensor Networks

Medium access protocols in the context of wireless sensor networks have to deal with a large number challenges resulting from hardware limitations, event-driven traffic characteristics, node density, unreliable radio links and requirements of the target application [3]. For these reasons, the design of MAC protocols is still a popular field of research [4] since protocol developers always try to optimize the communication as much as possible. A couple of years ago, the research focus was mainly laid on energy efficiency rather than Quality of Service (QoS). However, this has changed due to the technical progress which allows to employ more complex MAC protocols on the sensor nodes which suit the requirements of mission critical applications [5] and provide QoS [6].
Urinary Concentrations of Toxic and Essential Trace Elements among Rural Residents in Hainan Island, China

Background: Toxic element exposure and essential trace element consumption may have changed after the Chinese economy transformed to a market-oriented system. The objectives of this study were to measure urinary concentrations of toxic (arsenic, cadmium, lead) and essential trace (selenium, zinc, copper) elements among rural residents in Hainan, China and to examine if variations in economic development are linked to differences in toxic and trace element exposure. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey and undertook anthropometric measurements of residents aged ≥20 years (n = 599). Urinary samples were collected and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results: The median (μg/g creatinine) element concentrations were: arsenic, 73.2; cadmium, 1.8; lead, 3.1; selenium, 36.5; zinc, 371; and copper, 11.0. Intra-community variation in element concentrations was explained by age (arsenic, cadmium, zinc and copper), sex (arsenic, cadmium and selenium: higher in females; zinc: higher in males), body mass index (cadmium) and individual involvement in the market economy as indexed by agrochemical use (lead and selenium). The degree of community-level economic development, which was determined by the proportion of people living in better housing among the study communities, was positively associated with cadmium concentration. Conclusions: The degree of community-level economic development was positively associated with urinary cadmium concentration while individual involvement in the market economy was positively associated with lead and selenium.
SLEEP AND WAKE BEHAVIORS IN NEONATES: CONSISTENCIES AND CONSEQUENCES1

Our research is aimed at describing the sleeping and waking behaviors of newborn infants and identifying ways in which these behaviors develop during the first weeks of life. For this purpose, we have made intensive observations of infants when they are alone and also when they are interacting with their mothers. By using an inten sive, mini-longitudinal approach, we hope to provide some evidence for the ways in which an infant's original postnatal behavioral characteristics both influence and are influenced by his relationship with the mother. Our expectation of finding individual differences in the early behaviors of infants has been suggested by many clinicians and researchers who have described temperamental differences among children beginning in infancy (e.g. Chess, Thomas & Birch, 1959; Escalona & Heider, 1959; Shaefer & Bayley, 1963). However, most longitudinal research has started with infants of several weeks of age or older. A large number of studies of newborns have identified individual differences in behaviors during the first few days of life but there is, as yet, little evidence for the implications of these differences as the infant matures. In fact, either implicitly or explicitly, there seems to be a prevailing notion that what the newborn is like has relatively little relevance for what he will be like at a later time. For example, in a paper presented at this Merrill-Palmer Conference, Sameroff (1974) describes the dynamic transactional process that occurs between a mother and her infant. This process serves as a major influence in the development of the baby and may produce such dramatic effects on
High-Precision 2.4 GHz DSSS RF Ranging

Precision ranging radios are a critical aid to integrated locating, tracking, navigation, and guidance systems, especially when GPS service is degraded or unavailable [5]. In this work, a high-precision, software-defined, round-trip time-of-flight, direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) ranging radio operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band is presented. This system builds upon our previous brassboard implementation at 915 MHz [1, 2], and continues ENSCO’s decade-long research in this area [6, 7] with system enhancements bringing the performance closer to the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound for round-trip DSSS time-of-flight ranging. The system is capable of performing 217 independent range measurements per second with measurement standard deviation as low as 2.5 cm in a benign line-of-sight RF environment. The system achieves high distance linearity and low intercept offset using a single-point calibration method. The ranging performance has been characterized at distances in excess of 1 kilometer and in indoor line-of-sight situations.
Streptococcus thermophilus Cell Wall-Anchored Proteinase: Release, Purification, and Biochemical and Genetic Characterization

ABSTRACT Streptococcus thermophilus CNRZ 385 expresses a cell envelope proteinase (PrtS), which is characterized in the present work, both at the biochemical and genetic levels. Since PrtS is resistant to most classical methods of extraction from the cell envelopes, we developed a three-step process based on loosening of the cell wall by cultivation of the cells in the presence of glycine (20 mM), mechanical disruption (with alumina powder), and enzymatic treatment (lysozyme). The pure enzyme is a serine proteinase highly activated by Ca2+ ions. Its activity was optimal at 37°C and pH 7.5 with acetyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-paranitroanilide as substrate. The study of the hydrolysis of the chromogenic and casein substrates indicated that PrtS presented an intermediate specificity between the most divergent types of cell envelope proteinases from lactococci, known as the PI and PIII types. This result was confirmed by the sequence determination of the regions involved in substrate specificity, which were a mix between those of PI and PIII types, and also had unique residues. Sequence analysis of the PrtS encoding gene revealed that PrtS is a member of the subtilase family. It is a multidomain protein which is maturated and tightly anchored to the cell wall via a mechanism involving an LPXTG motif. PrtS bears similarities to cell envelope proteinases from pyogenic streptococci (C5a peptidase and cell surface proteinase) and lactic acid bacteria (PrtP, PrtH, and PrtB). The highest homologies were found with streptococcal proteinases which lack, as PrtS, one domain (the B domain) present in cell envelope proteinases from all other lactic acid bacteria.
Twelve-year delay of a nipple-sharing graft: A case report

The present report describes the use of a nipple-sharing technique for nipple areolar reconstruction using a donor nipple that was initially grafted from the contralateral and healthy breast 12 years earlier. There are many different techniques available to reconstruct the nipple. Although nipple sharing is not feasible to use in all patients, when available, it is an ideal approach for matching the contralateral nipple in terms of shape, colour, texture and long-term projection.
PCA-Pyramids for Image Compression

This paper presents a new method for image compression by neural networks. First, we show that we can use neural networks in a pyramidal framework, yielding the so-called PCA pyramids. Then we present an image compression method based on the PCA pyramid, which is similar to the Laplace pyramid and wavelet transform. Some experimental results with real images are reported. Finally, we present a method to combine the quantization step with the learning of the PCA pyramid.
Cone Photoreceptor Irregularity on Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy Correlates With Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Edema

Purpose To determine whether cone density, spacing, or regularity in eyes with and without diabetes (DM) as assessed by high-resolution adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) correlates with presence of diabetes, diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity, or presence of diabetic macular edema (DME). Methods Participants with type 1 or 2 DM and healthy controls underwent AOSLO imaging of four macular regions. Cone assessment was performed by independent graders for cone density, packing factor (PF), nearest neighbor distance (NND), and Voronoi tile area (VTA). Regularity indices (mean/SD) of NND (RI-NND) and VTA (RI-VTA) were calculated. Results Fifty-three eyes (53 subjects) were assessed. Mean ± SD age was 44 ± 12 years; 81% had DM (duration: 22 ± 13 years; glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c]: 8.0 ± 1.7%; DM type 1: 72%). No significant relationship was found between DM, HbA1c, or DR severity and cone density or spacing parameters. However, decreased regularity of cone arrangement in the macular quadrants was correlated with presence of DM (RI-NND: P = 0.04; RI-VTA: P = 0.04), increasing DR severity (RI-NND: P = 0.04), and presence of DME (RI-VTA: P = 0.04). Eyes with DME were associated with decreased density (P = 0.04), PF (P = 0.03), and RI-VTA (0.04). Conclusions Although absolute cone density and spacing don't appear to change substantially in DM, decreased regularity of the cone arrangement is consistently associated with the presence of DM, increasing DR severity, and DME. Future AOSLO evaluation of cone regularity is warranted to determine whether these changes are correlated with, or predict, anatomic or functional deficits in patients with DM.
Global climate drives southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population dynamics

Sea surface temperature (SST) time-series from the southwest Atlantic and the El Niño 4 region in the western Pacific were compared to an index of annual calving success of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) breeding in Argentina. There was a strong relationship between right whale calving output and SST anomalies at South Georgia in the autumn of the previous year and also with mean El Niño 4 SST anomalies delayed by 6 years. These results extend similar observations from other krill predators and show clear linkages between global climate signals and the biological processes affecting whale population dynamics.
Analysing security requirements patterns based on problems decomposition and composition

Security requirements analysis for business information systems in today's networked organization is difficult due to the complexity of the systems and the frequent change in the environment. Thus, it requires security knowledge to be explicitly represented, and well understood by system analysts and designer, which in turn being applied in feasible problem contexts. System requirements are often represented in modelling frameworks with different analytical focus, so security requirements knowledge shall reflect such difference and form an integrated treatment. This paper proposes to use modelling concepts from the i* and PF modeling language to capture recurring patterns of security problems. The main concepts used are actors, assets, and relations such as ownership and permissions. The major contribution of the approach is proposing the specific problem frames such as ownership, authorization, attack and protection, by decomposing a large problem into sub-problems (base frames), then evaluate the potential threats (attacking frames) applicable to each sub-problem by evaluate the compatibility of the two, security analysis is integrated into the system design process from the outset. The proposal can be generalized to the design of defensive measures as well as other NFR treatments.