Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human genetic deficiencies reveal the roles of complement in the inflammatory network: Lessons from nature

Complement component C5 is crucial for experimental animal inflammatory tissue damage; however, its involvement in human inflammation is incompletely understood. The responses to Gram-negative bacteria were here studied taking advantage of human genetic complement-deficiencies—nature's own knockouts—including a previously undescribed C5 defect. Such deficiencies provide a unique tool for investigating the biological role of proteins. The experimental conditions allowed cross-talk between the different inflammatory pathways using a whole blood model based on the anticoagulant lepirudin, which does not interfere with the complement system. Expression of tissue factor, cell adhesion molecules, and oxidative burst depended highly on C5, mediated through the activation product C5a, whereas granulocyte enzyme release relied mainly on C3 and was C5a-independent. Release of cytokines and chemokines was mediated to varying degrees by complement and CD14; for example, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-8 were more dependent on complement than IFN-γ and IL-6, which were highly dependent on CD14. IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IFN-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10) were fully dependent on CD14 and inversely regulated by complement, that is, complement deficiency and complement inhibition enhanced their release. Granulocyte responses were mainly complement-dependent, whereas monocyte responses were more dependent on CD14. Notably, all responses were abolished by combined neutralization of complement and CD14. The present study provides important insight into the comprehensive role of complement in human inflammatory responses to Gram-negative bacteria.
Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Fingerprinting of Pseudomonas Strains from a Poultry Processing Plant

ABSTRACT Molecular typing has been used previously to identify and trace dissemination of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria associated with food processing. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) is a novel DNA fingerprinting technique which is considered highly reproducible and has high discriminatory power. This technique was used to fingerprint 88 Pseudomonas fluorescens andPseudomonas putida strains that were previously isolated from plate counts of carcasses at six processing stages and various equipment surfaces and environmental sources of a poultry abattoir. Clustering of the AFLP patterns revealed a high level of diversity among the strains. Six clusters (clusters I through VI) were delineated at an arbitrary Dice coefficient level of 0.65; clusters III (31 strains) and IV (28 strains) were the largest clusters. More than one-half (52.3%) of the strains obtained from carcass samples, which may have represented the resident carcass population, grouped together in cluster III. By contrast, 43.2% of the strains from most of the equipment surfaces and environmental sources grouped together in cluster IV. In most cases, the clusters in which carcass strains from processing stages grouped corresponded to the clusters in which strains from the associated equipment surfaces and/or environmental sources were found. This provided evidence that there was cross-contamination between carcasses and the abattoir environment at the DNA level. The AFLP data also showed that strains were being disseminated from the beginning to the end of the poultry processing operation, since many strains associated with carcasses at the packaging stage were members of the same clusters as strains obtained from carcasses after the defeathering stage.
Even on a Large Scale, Weight May Not Matter.

With the advent of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in 2009,1 and the financial penalties bestowed on institutions for not meeting expected metrics by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2012,2 much attention has been dedicated toward readmission reduction. This is particularly true in the heart failure population, which accounts for >1 million hospital visits and $31 billion per year in healthcare expenditures, mostly driven by hospital costs.3 Recurrent congestion is the major driving force returning the patient with heart failure through the hospital revolving doors, and a quarter of hospitalized patients with heart failure will be readmitted within 30 days.4 Thus, countless strategies have been devoted to improving transitions of care and monitoring of this patient population after they leave the hospital. However, such personalized care can be inconvenient for patients and resource and time intensive for healthcare providers. Therefore, there has recently been a flurry of technologically driven telemonitoring attempts, most of which have disappointingly failed to improve outcomes.5,6 See Article by Al-Chekakie et al In this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes , Al-Chekakie et al7 describe the use of supplemented remote patient monitoring (RPM+; n=4106) compared with standard RPM (n=14 183) via …
Self-Organizing Parallel Search Clusters

A number of methods have been proposed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of peer-topeer searches. By controlling the topology of the peers, that is, the way in which nodes are organized in the network, we can offer some guarantees of high quality search performance. There are two schools of thought regarding how to control the topology of peer-to-peer networks. Using the structured approach, nodes are organized in the network in a strict, deterministic manner. When a new node enters the network, it is placed into a very specific location based on the structuring algorithm. For example, the Chord protocol (see [2]) places nodes in a highly defined ring structure. A new peer entering the network is assigned a specific location, and a number of update messages must be sent through the network to guarantee the integrity of the ring. The other school of thought offers an unstructured approach to topology maintenance (see [3] for a listing of current implementations). In this approach peers come together in a less rigid manner. Although there are fewer guarantees as to the actual organization of the nodes, the unstructured approach carries the advantage of not having to maintain a significant amount of state information. Also, unstructured protocols do not require a centralized server to mediate the formation of the network. These networks are formed in a more ad-hoc manner in which the nodes decide among themselves how connections to peers will be made. A simple model for describing peer-to-peer networks known as Search/Index Links (SIL) has been proposed in [1]. This model provides for two distinct types of links: search links and index links.
Supplier diversi cation : e ect of discrete demand

Diversi cation under supply uncertainty has been adopted by manufacturers in order to improve performance. In the presence of multiple suppliers, it is essential to develop an operational policy in order to utilize the services of di erent suppliers e ectively. Anupindi and Akella (Manage. Sci. 39 (8) (1993) 944–963) consider two suppliers di ering in cost and reliability and develop the optimal inventory policy for the manufacturer under continuous demand distribution. The policy obtained by them indicates that the manufacturer should never order products from the more expensive supplier alone. In this paper, we consider the case where demand is discrete and provide examples to show that ordering products from the more expensive (and more reliable) supplier alone is optimal. We also provide su cient conditions under which it is optimal to order a larger share from the more expensive supplier when demand is discrete. c © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Relational Spirituality and the Development of the Similarity of the Offender's Spirituality Scale

We present a model of relational spirituality and forgiveness that considers how a victim’s spirituality affects his or her experience of and response to a transgression. In 2 studies, we investigate the psychometric properties of the Similarity of the Offender’s Spirituality Scale (SOS), which assesses the extent to which the victim sees the offender as spiritually similar. Results suggest the SOS has 2 factors that assess the offender’s spiritual and human similarity. The SOS showed initial evidence of construct validity, being related to other measures of spirituality and to measures of the victim’s response to a transgression. The overall model was found to offer incremental validity beyond known predictors of forgiveness. We suggest directions for future research.
Change and continuity in Mexican American religious behavior: a three-generation study.

Using a 3 generation study of Mexican Americans in Texas this study determines the religious affiliations of parents and children and compares the levels of continuity from generation to generation. The critical variables for this analysis are religious affiliation frequency of church attendance and self rated religiosity. The overwhelming majority in all 3 generations report being Catholic; the figures reflect considerable stability in religious affiliation from generation to generation. Within families among Catholics 91.2% in the 2nd and 89.9% in the 3rd generation have the same religious affiliation as their parents and grandparents. Church attendance is highest among older women and lowest among younger men; the greater religiosity of the older generation and of females is also evident in their self-rated religiosity. If conversion to Protestantism is a vehicle for assimilating into the Anglo Saxon core there is little evidence in this data that Mexican Americans have used this option to further their assimilation. It is important to note that the younger generation tend to define themselves as religious despite their lower rates of church attendance. In sum despite extrafamilial influences the family remains an important vehicle through which religious behavior and attitudes are transmitted from generation to generation.
Moderne sociotechniek in Nederland : recente ontwikkelingen in aanpak en methode ten behoeve van integraal organisatie-(her)ontwerp

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication
A liderança em tecnologia da informação (TI) : aproximações ao paradigma transformacional

O estudo dos estilos de liderança tem sido uma área de grande interesse para os pesquisadores sociais. Vários modelos têm sido propostos. Dentre eles, Kouzes e Posner (2003) apresentam a idéia de que líderes confiáveis desenvolvem a capacidade de liderança de seus colaboradores, de modo que eles possam se liderar e liderar outros. O propósito deste trabalho é identificar o estilo de liderança predominante de um gerente de uma unidade de informática de uma instituição de ensino superior (IES), a partir da visão de seus subordinados. A pesquisa foi realizada na unidade de TI de uma instituição federal de ensino superior. Usando-se o modelo de estilo de liderança proposto por Kouzes e Posner e com base na análise das entrevistas realizadas, buscou-se verificar se, na opinião dos liderados, o estilo de liderança predominante na unidade em análise era coerente com a proposta formulada. Na estrutura do artigo, é feita uma introdução ao tema liderança a caracterização das organizações de TI. Depois, são apresentados os conceitos e as abordagens sobre liderança e as práticas de liderança segundo Kouzes e Posner. Posteriormente, relatam-se a metodologia da pesquisa e os resultados encontrados. Por último, são apresentadas as considerações finais.
Comparison of active and passive damping methods for application in high power active power filter with LCL-filter

LCL-type filter possessing sufficient attenuation ratio for switching ripple with small LC parameters is appropriate to be used as output filter to get high slew rate of compensation current. However, LCL-filter, as a three order resonant circuit itself, is difficult to be stable. This paper compares active and passive methods for LCL filter resonance damping; assesses their suitability for the high power active power filter application and presents their benefits and drawbacks. The results presented show that both methods compensate harmonics effectively and attenuate switching ripple sufficiently. However, there are still some differences both in the filtering performance and the power losses in the high power application. The active methods require more sensors and increase algorithm complexity, while additional damping resistors are needed in the passive methods and result in large losses. Simulation validates the feasibility of the method proposed by this paper.
Binding of Hanatoxin to the Voltage Sensor of Kv2.1

Hanatoxin 1 (HaTx1) is a polypeptide toxin isolated from spider venoms. HaTx1 inhibits the voltage-gated potassium channel kv2.1 potently with nanomolar affinities. Its receptor site has been shown to contain the S3b-S4a paddle of the voltage sensor (VS). Here, the binding of HaTx1 to the VSs of human Kv2.1 in the open and resting states are examined using a molecular docking method and molecular dynamics. Molecular docking calculations predict two distinct binding modes for the VS in the resting state. In the two binding modes, the toxin binds the S3b-S4a from S2 and S3 helices, or from S1 and S4 helices. Both modes are found to be stable when embedded in a lipid bilayer. Only the mode in which the toxin binds the S3b-S4a paddle from S2 and S3 helices is consistent with mutagenesis experiments, and considered to be correct. The toxin is then docked to the VS in the open state, and the toxin-VS interactions are found to be less favorable. Computational mutagenesis calculations performed on F278R and E281K mutant VSs show that the mutations may reduce toxin binding affinity by weakening the non-bonded interactions between the toxin and the VS. Overall, our calculations reproduce a wide range of experimental data, and suggest that HaTx1 binds to the S3b-S4a paddle of Kv2.1 from S2 and S3 helices.
Fission yeast with DNA polymerase delta temperature-sensitive alleles exhibits cell division cycle phenotype.

DNA polymerases alpha and delta are essential enzymes believed to play critical roles in initiation and replication of chromosome DNA. In this study, we show that the genes for Schizosaccharomyces pombe (S.pombe) DNA polymerase alpha and delta (pol alpha+ and pol delta+) are essential for cell viability. Disruption of either the pol alpha+ or pol delta+ gene results in distinct terminal phenotypes. The S.pombe pol delta+ gene is able to complement the thermosensitive cdc2-2 allele of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.cerevisiae) at the restrictive temperature. By random mutagenesis in vitro, we generated three pol delta conditional lethal alleles. We replaced the wild type chromosomal copy of pol delta+ gene with the mutagenized sequence and characterized the thermosensitive alleles in vivo. All three thermosensitive mutants exhibit a typical cell division cycle (cdc) terminal phenotype similar to that of the disrupted pol delta+ gene. Flow cytometric analysis showed that at the nonpermissive temperature all three mutants were arrested in S phase of the cell cycle. The three S.pombe conditional pol delta alleles were recovered and sequenced. The mutations causing the thermosensitive phenotype are missense mutations. The altered amino acid residues are uniquely conserved among the known polymerase delta sequences.
Real-time correction of wide-angle lens distortion for images with GPU computing

Wide-angle lens provides a broad field of view which benefits some applications, such as video surveillance or endoscopic imaging. However, it also induces lens distortion, especially radial distortion, which may impede further video analysis or perceptual interpretation. For some applications, such as minimally invasive surgery and visual surveillance, real-time correction of image distortion is required. Traditional CPU-centric machines are difficult to achieve the requirement of real-time computation because of a large amount of computation. In this paper, we propose to achieve real-time correction of wide-angle lens distortion of images on several target platforms. In the GPGPU platform, we achieve real-time correction at full-HD resolution by using CUDA. For middle-end devices, an error-controllable mesh is used and the system is implemented by industry standard, OpenGL. We also implement it with OpenGL ES on embedded GPUs for mobile devices. Experiments show using our error-controllable mesh greatly outperforms those using regularly downsampled meshes.
Optimizing the stimulus presentation paradigm design for the P300-based brain-computer interface using performance prediction

Objective. The role of a brain-computer interface (BCI) is to discern a user’s intended message or action by extracting and decoding relevant information from brain signals. Stimulus-driven BCIs, such as the P300 speller, rely on detecting event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to a user attending to relevant or target stimulus events. However, this process is error-prone because the ERPs are embedded in noisy electroencephalography (EEG) data, representing a fundamental problem in communication of the uncertainty in the information that is received during noisy transmission. A BCI can be modeled as a noisy communication system and an information-theoretic approach can be exploited to design a stimulus presentation paradigm to maximize the information content that is presented to the user. However, previous methods that focused on designing error-correcting codes failed to provide significant performance improvements due to underestimating the effects of psycho-physiological factors on the P300 ERP elicitation process and a limited ability to predict online performance with their proposed methods. Maximizing the information rate favors the selection of stimulus presentation patterns with increased target presentation frequency, which exacerbates refractory effects and negatively impacts performance within the context of an oddball paradigm. An information-theoretic approach that seeks to understand the fundamental trade-off between information rate and reliability is desirable. Approach. We developed a performance-based paradigm (PBP) by tuning specific parameters of the stimulus presentation paradigm to maximize performance while minimizing refractory effects. We used a probabilistic-based performance prediction method as an evaluation criterion to select a final configuration of the PBP. Main results. With our PBP, we demonstrate statistically significant improvements in online performance, both in accuracy and spelling rate, compared to the conventional row-column paradigm. Significance. By accounting for refractory effects, an information-theoretic approach can be exploited to significantly improve BCI performance across a wide range of performance levels.
Resistively-Terminated Via-Stubs for Signal Integrity Improvement in the Semiconductor Test Board

In this paper, a resistive termination of via-stubs is proposed for the improvements of signal integrity (SI) in the multi-layered semiconductor test board. In current semiconductor test boards, as the resonance mode excited by the open via-stub, unused portion of plated through holes (PTH) results in SI degradation. Resistively-terminated via-stubs improve SI by reducing the via-stub effect causing the rounded digital pulse edge in time domain. The proposed structure achieves the shortened transition time (Tr/Tf) and enhanced timing jitter. It is expected to extend the maximum practicable data rate of the semiconductor test board with the proposed structure.
Within-intervention change: mediators of intervention effects during multisystemic therapy.

OBJECTIVE The present study tested the hypothesis that improvements in parental sense of competence during multisystemic therapy (MST) lead to positive changes in parenting, which in turn lead to a decrease of adolescent externalizing problems. Mediational models were tested separately for 3 dimensions of parenting (positive discipline, inept discipline, and relationship quality) that are targeted in MST. Each model included "3-path mediation," in which 2 mediators (i.e., changes in parental sense of competence and parenting dimension) intervene sequentially between the independent (i.e., intervention status) and dependent variable (i.e., change in externalizing problems). METHOD Participants in this randomized controlled trial were 256 adolescents and their families who received either MST (n = 147) or treatment as usual (n = 109). In addition to pre- and postintervention assessments, 5 monthly within-intervention assessments took place. RESULTS Both preintervention-postintervention comparison, through analysis of covariance, and comparison of trajectories during intervention, through latent growth modeling, showed that MST enhanced growth in parental sense of competence and positive discipline, led to no deterioration in relationship quality, and resulted in a decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. The results supported a sequential pattern of change for positive discipline: Changes in parental sense of competence predicted changes in positive discipline, which in turn predicted decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. No support was found for mediated effects of inept discipline and relationship quality. CONCLUSIONS The results affirm the importance of directly targeting parental sense of competence and positive discipline in future interventions aimed at decreasing adolescent problem behavior.
MicroRNA Profiling during Cardiomyocyte-Specific Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells Based on Two Different miRNA Array Platforms

MicroRNA (miRNA) plays a critical role in a wide variety of biological processes. Profiling miRNA expression during differentiation of embryonic stem cells will help to understand the regulation pathway of differentiation, which in turn may elucidate disease mechanisms. The identified miRNAs could then serve as a new group of possible therapeutic targets. In the present paper, miRNA expression profiles were determined during cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation and maturation of murine embryonic stem (ES) cells. For this purpose a homogeneous cardiomyocyte population was generated from a transgenic murine ES cell line. Two high throughput array platforms (Affymetrix and Febit) were used for miRNA profiling in order to compare the effect of the platforms on miRNA profiling as well as to increase the validity of target miRNA identification. Four time points (i.e. day 0, day 12, day 19 and day 26) were chosen for the miRNA profiling study, which corresponded to different stages during cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation and maturation. Fifty platform and pre-processing method-independent miRNAs were identified as being regulated during the differentiation and maturation processes. The identification of these miRNAs is an important step for characterizing and understanding the events involved in cardiomyocyte-specific differentiation of ES cells and may also highlight candidate target molecules for therapeutic purposes.