Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A NET Outcome

Neutrophils constitute a critical part of innate immunity and are well known for their ability to phagocytose and kill invading microorganisms. The microbicidal processes employed by neutrophils are highly effective at killing most ingested bacteria and fungi. However, an alternative non-phagocytic antimicrobial mechanism of neutrophils has been proposed whereby microorganisms are eliminated by neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are comprised of DNA, histones, and antimicrobial proteins extruded by neutrophils during NETosis, a cell death pathway reported to be distinct from apoptosis, phagocytosis-induced cell death, and necrosis. Although multiple laboratories have reported NETs using various stimuli in vitro, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process have yet to be definitively elucidated, and many questions regarding the formation and putative role or function of NETs in innate host defense remain unanswered. It is with these questions in mind that we provide some reflection and perspective on NETs and NETosis.
Interpreting the Meanings of Schooling, Hybridity, and Multicultural Citizenship in Diaspora Communities

The human science approach defines learning as fundamentally shaped by value presuppositions that are embedded in cultural practices (O’Connor & Penuel, 2010, this volume). From the perspective of this approach, people become recognized as “having learned” as they come to value and master the knowledge and skills posited by some agent or group of agents (a policy maker, a teacher, a learner) to reflect ideal development (Kaplan, 1983). One facet of contemporary processes of globalization is that migration, displacement, and movement of people are shaping the ideals people pursue and identities we construct in complex ways. Globalization is affecting nearly every aspect of life, from communications to work (Friedman, 2005), but its effects on diasporic communities are ones that will pose challenges both for immigrant students and their schools in the coming years, as students try to navigate schools and the ways of Western schooling. By drawing on my previous scholarship on diaspora and identity (Bhatia, 2007, 2008; Bhatia & Ram, 2001, 2004), I analyze how global immigrant youth living in diaspora communities are transformed by participating in the real and imagined cultural practices of their homeland while simultaneously coming to terms with the collective cultural practices of schooling, peers, and various forms of popular culture in their new host nations. In particular, this chapter reframes recent writings about the experiences of Somali youth immigrants to Canada by calling
Dose‐dependency of clonidine's effects in ascitic cirrhotic rats: comparison with α1‐adrenergic agonist midodrine

Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation decreases response to diuretics, but both α1‐adrenoceptor agonists and sympatholytic α2‐adrenoceptor agonists are recommended in the management of ascitic cirrhosis. We intend to compare the effects of increasing doses of clonidine (α2‐agonist) vs. midodrine (α1‐agonist) in advanced cirrhosis.
Efficient Training of Structured SVMs via Soft Constraints

Structured output prediction is a powerful framework for jointly predicting interdependent output labels. Learning the parameters of structured predictors is a central task in machine learning applications. However, training the model from data often becomes computationally expensive. Several methods have been proposed to exploit the model structure, or decomposition, in order to obtain ecient training algorithms. In particular, methods based on linear programming relaxation, or dual decomposition, decompose the prediction task into multiple simpler prediction tasks and enforce agreement between overlapping predictions. In this work we observe that relaxing these agreement constraints and replacing them with soft constraints yields a much easier optimization problem. Based on this insight we propose an alternative training objective, analyze its theoretical properties, and derive an algorithm for its optimization. Our method, based on the Frank-Wolfe algorithm, achieves significant speedups over existing state-of-theart methods without hurting prediction accuracy.
Validating the Framingham Hypertension Risk Score: Results From the Whitehall II Study

A promising hypertension risk prediction score using data from the US Framingham Offspring Study has been developed, but this score has not been tested in other cohorts. We examined the predictive performance of the Framingham hypertension risk score in a European population, the Whitehall II Study. Participants were 6704 London-based civil servants aged 35 to 68 years, 31% women, free from prevalent hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease. Standard clinical examinations of blood pressure, weight and height, current cigarette smoking, and parental history of hypertension were undertaken every 5 years for a total of 4 times. We recorded a total of 2043 incident (new-onset) cases of hypertension in three 5-year baseline follow-up data cycles. Both discrimination (C statistic: 0.80) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow &khgr;2: 11.5) of the Framingham hypertension risk score were good. Agreement between the predicted and observed hypertension incidences was excellent across the risk score distribution. The overall predicted:observed ratio was 1.08, slightly better among individuals >50 years of age (0.99 in men and 1.02 in women) than in younger participants (1.16 in men and 1.18 in women). Reclassification with a modified score on the basis of our study population did not improve the prediction (net reclassification improvement: −0.5%; 95% CI: −2.5% to 1.5%). These data suggest that the Framingham hypertension risk score provides a valid tool with which to estimate near-term risk of developing hypertension.
A study of multilingual social tagging of art images: cultural bridges and diversity

The goal of this study is to compare social tagging patterns in two languages in image collections of art, while seeking exploitable strengths for the application of multilingual social tagging in digital libraries and museums. Crowdsourcing the annotation of digital image collections of artworks to different language communities has the potential to bridge language borders and reach wider audiences. This mixed methods study is based on a collection of digital images of paintings for which tags in Spanish and English were collected. The results show that the level of agreement in the vocabulary describing an image does not change significantly when adding a second language, but different cultural perspectives can be found for certain images when comparing less frequent tags across languages. Understanding and comparing tagging behaviors across languages is necessary for the design of user interfaces that support diversity and encourage sharing of perspectives about the artwork images.
Manuscript Preparation

of the Japan Epidemiological Association. The Journal publishes a broad range of original research on epidemiology as it relates to human health and seeks to promote communication among those engaged in the field of epidemiologic research and those who rely on epidemiologic findings. The first and corresponding author(s) of any article submitted from Japan must be members of the Japan Epidemiological Association. However, contributions from non-members in countries other than Japan are welcome. Manuscript Types Specifications for manuscript categories (see expanded descriptions in the table below). For all manuscript types, the word limit excludes the title page, abstract, tables, acknowledgments and contributions, and references. 1. Original Articles Articles are full-length reports of original research. • Maximum length: 3500 words. • Papers should include a structured abstract containing Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions (maximum length, 250 words). • Tables longer than two double-spaced manuscript pages (including the legend) will be published online as supplementary material. • Figure legends should explain what is represented in the figure rather than repeating results, methods, and conclusions. • Methods sections containing detailed, widely available protocols may be partly limited to online publication, at the Editor's discretion. 2. Short Communications Short Communications are concise reports of preliminary findings, or an epidemiologic study with narrowly focused or limited findings. Manuscript style (excluding word length) should conform to the requirements for original articles. • Maximum length: 2000 words. 3. Reviews Review articles are summaries of recent insights into specific research areas within the scope of the Journal of Epidemiology. Key aims of reviews are to provide systematic and substantial coverage of established topics, evaluations of progress in specified areas, and critical assessments of emerging studies. • Maximum length: 5000 words. 4. Statistical Data Reports based on statistical analyses of data sets available in the public domain, such as information on mortality, morbidity, and disease surveillance systems. • Maximum length: 2000 words. 5. Study Profiles Description of a study design or overview of a potentially influential cohort or intervention study, including background and purpose, participants and follow-up, main outcome measures, baseline descriptive statistics, and strengths and limitations. • Maximum length: 2000 words. 6. Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor include opinions regarding any material previously published in the Journal of Epidemiology or by the Japan Epidemiological Association. • Maximum length: 600 words. General formatting Questions regarding format and style that are not explicitly discussed below should be …
Dysphagia in multiple sclerosis – prevalence and prognostic factors

The aim of the study was to analyse swallowing function and to identify reliable prognostic factors associated with dysphagia in a consecutive series of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Swallowing examination was performed by means of indirect and direct methods (fiberendoscopic evaluation) in 143 consecutive patients with primary and secondary progressive MS. Dysphagia was found in 49 patients (34.3%). A close relationship with dysphagia was found in the patients with severe brainstem impairment (OR=3.24; 95% CI 1.44–7.31) as compared to the patients without. There was also a significant correlation with pronounced severity of illness (OR=2.99; CI 1.36–6.59). Compensatory strategies were sufficient to resolve the dysphagia in 46 cases (93.8%). The potential risk of aspiration and malnutrition and the high efficacy of swallowing rehabilitation suggests that all MS patients should have a careful evaluation of deglutition functionality, especially those with brainstem impairment and a high grade of disability level.
Biochemical Analysis of Interactions between Outer Membrane Proteins That Contribute to Starch Utilization byBacteroides thetaiotaomicron

ABSTRACT An early step in the utilization of starch by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is the binding of starch to the bacterial surface. Four starch-associated outer membrane proteins of B. thetaiotaomicron that have no starch-degrading activity have been identified. Two of these, SusC and SusD, have been shown by genetic analysis to be required for starch binding. In this study, we provide the first biochemical evidence that these two proteins interact physically with each other. Both formaldehyde cross-linking and nondenaturing gel electrophoresis experiments showed that SusC and SusD interact to form a complex. Two other proteins encoded by genes in the same operon, SusE and SusF, proved not to be essential for starch utilization and actually decreased starch binding when they were present along with SusC and SusD. Consistent with this, nondenaturing gel analysis revealed that in a strain producing SusC, SusD, and SusE, the SusCD complex was partially destabilized. The strain producing SusC, SusD, and SusE also grew more slowly on starch than a strain producing SusC, SusD, SusE, and SusF (μmax, 0.29 and 0.37/h, respectively). Thus, SusE appears to interact with the SusCD complex. SusE also interacts with SusF, because SusE was less susceptible to proteinase K digestion when SusF was present, and nondenaturing gel analysis detected a complex formed by these two proteins. Our results indicate that SusC, SusD, SusE, and SusF form a protein complex in the outer membrane but that SusE and SusF are dispensable members of this complex.
Role of Arginase in Vessel Wall Remodeling

Arginase metabolizes the semi-essential amino acid l-arginine to l-ornithine and urea. There are two distinct isoforms of arginase, arginase I and II, which are encoded by separate genes and display differences in tissue distribution, subcellular localization, and molecular regulation. Blood vessels express both arginase I and II but their distribution appears to be cell-, vessel-, and species-specific. Both isoforms of arginase are induced by numerous pathologic stimuli and contribute to vascular cell dysfunction and vessel wall remodeling in several diseases. Clinical and experimental studies have documented increases in the expression and/or activity of arginase I or II in blood vessels following arterial injury and in pulmonary and arterial hypertension, aging, and atherosclerosis. Significantly, pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of arginase in animals ameliorates abnormalities in vascular cells and normalizes blood vessel architecture and function in all of these pathological states. The detrimental effect of arginase in vascular remodeling is attributable to its ability to stimulate vascular smooth muscle cell and endothelial cell proliferation, and collagen deposition by promoting the synthesis of polyamines and l-proline, respectively. In addition, arginase adversely impacts arterial remodeling by directing macrophages toward an inflammatory phenotype. Moreover, the proliferative, fibrotic, and inflammatory actions of arginase in the vasculature are further amplified by its capacity to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by competing with NO synthase for substrate, l-arginine. Pharmacologic or molecular approaches targeting specific isoforms of arginase represent a promising strategy in treating obstructive fibroproliferative vascular disease.
Overall satisfaction with life

Abstract A good society is first of all a livable society and the livability of a society manifests in the life satisfaction of its members. Therefore improving society requires an understanding of life satisfaction, in particularly it requires to answer the following seven questions: 1) What is life satisfaction precisely? 2) Can life satisfaction be measured? 3) How satisfied are people presently with their life? 4) How do we assess how satisfied we are? 5) What conditions add to life-satisfaction? 6) Can life satisfaction be raised lastingly? 7) Should life-satisfaction be raised? Throughout the ages philosophers have toiled with these questions, and since the 1960's they have been subjected to empirical research. In this chapter we take stock of the progress that has been made in this field
Ultrawideband design challenges for wireless chip-to-chip communications and interconnects

The ever growing demand for on-board space craft processing combined with the exponential advance in chip development and high pin count devices is resulting in an increased complexity in high reliability interconnect technology. When the thermal management, control of ground bounce, and power distribution issues are considered, achieving the required reliability levels for space applications with traditional interconnect technologies is becoming more of a concern. As an alternative solution, an ultrawideband (UWB) based high speed wireless method for chip to chip as well as off-board communications can be considered. Such approach would reduce the high pin count connectors and interconnects between complex components. UWB with its simple transceiver architecture, low power consumption, and high data rate within short ranges is shown to be the best candidate for the applications targeted. This paper explores the design challenges for developing a test-bed using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components that will be used to prove the concept of wireless chip-to-chip communications and develop associated algorithms. Energy detector based UWB transceiver is presented in this paper and our study shows the feasibility of implementation such transceiver using COTS components. The UWB transceivers will eventually be integrated into a chip eliminating the need for many of the high speed interface specific applications, and decreasing the number of the pin fields required
Object retrival based on visual word pairs

In object retrieval method based on bag-of-features, local regions of images are characterized using high dimensional descriptors. These descriptors are hierarchically quantized into “visual words” to represent images. One problem of the quantization step is that it reduces the discriminative power of the local descriptors. To address this problem, “descriptor-space soft assignment” mechanism is used to collect the information lost in the quantization step. However, this mechanism also introduces noises, which decreases the precision of image retrieval. In this paper we use two SIFT descriptors, the coarse descriptor and the refined descriptor, to describe an interest point. The experiments show that this approach can efficiently reduce wrong matches caused by descriptor-space soft assignment, and improve the overall performance of an image retrieval system.
Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase and quinolinic acid Immunoreactivity in Alzheimer's disease hippocampus

The present immunohistochemical study provides evidence that the kynurenine pathway is up‐regulated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, leading to increases in the excitotoxin quinolinic acid (QUIN). We show that the regulatory enzyme of the pathway leading to QUIN synthesis, indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) is abundant in AD compared with controls. In AD hippocampus, both IDO‐ and QUIN‐immunoreactivity (‐IR) was detected in cortical microglia, astrocytes and neurones, with microglial and astrocytic expression of IDO and QUIN highest in the perimeter of senile plaques. QUIN‐IR was present in granular deposits within the neuronal soma of AD cortex and was also seen uniformly labelling neurofibrillary tangles. Our data imply that QUIN may be involved in the complex and multifactorial cascade leading to neuro‐degeneration in AD. These results may open a new therapeutic door for AD patients.
Reproduction and nutritional stress are risk factors for Hendra virus infection in little red flying foxes (Pteropus scapulatus)

Hendra virus (HeV) is a lethal paramyxovirus which emerged in humans in 1994. Poor understanding of HeV dynamics in Pteropus spp. (flying fox or fruit bat) reservoir hosts has limited our ability to determine factors driving its emergence. We initiated a longitudinal field study of HeV in little red flying foxes (LRFF; Pteropus scapulatus) and examined individual and population risk factors for infection, to determine probable modes of intraspecific transmission. We also investigated whether seasonal changes in host behaviour, physiology and demography affect host–pathogen dynamics. Data showed that pregnant and lactating females had significantly higher risk of infection, which may explain previously observed temporal associations between HeV outbreaks and flying fox birthing periods. Age-specific seroprevalence curves generated from field data imply that HeV is transmitted horizontally via faeces, urine or saliva. Rapidly declining seroprevalence between two field seasons suggests that immunity wanes faster in LRFF than in other flying fox species, and highlights the potentially critical role of this species in interspecific viral persistence. The highest seroprevalence was observed when animals showed evidence of nutritional stress, suggesting that environmental processes that alter flying fox food sources, such as habitat loss and climate change, may increase HeV infection and transmission. These insights into the ecology of HeV in flying fox populations suggest causal links between anthropogenic environmental change and HeV emergence.
The circuitry of a master switch: Myod and the regulation of skeletal muscle gene transcription

The expression of Myod is sufficient to convert a fibroblast to a skeletal muscle cell, and, as such, is a model system in developmental biology for studying how a single initiating event can orchestrate a highly complex and predictable response. Recent findings indicate that Myod functions in an instructive chromatin context and directly regulates genes that are expressed throughout the myogenic program, achieving promoter-specific regulation of its own binding and activity through a feed-forward mechanism. These studies are beginning to merge our understanding of how lineage-specific information is encoded in chromatin with how master regulatory factors drive programs of cell differentiation.
2 Background and problem formulation 2 . 1 Problem formulation

We propose a novel class of Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms, appropriate for inference in probabilistic graphical models. This class of algorithms adopts a divide-and-conquer approach based upon an auxiliary tree-structured decomposition of the model of interest, turning the overall inferential task into a collection of recursively solved sub-problems. The proposed method is applicable to a broad class of probabilistic graphical models, including models with loops. Unlike a standard SMC sampler, the proposed Divide-and-Conquer SMC employs multiple independent populations of weighted particles, which are resampled, merged, and propagated as the method progresses. We illustrate empirically that this approach can outperform standard methods in terms of the accuracy of the posterior expectation and marginal likelihood approximations. Divide-and-Conquer SMC also opens up novel parallel implementation options and the possibility of concentrating the computational effort on the most challenging sub-problems. We demonstrate its performance on a Markov random field and on a hierarchical logistic regression problem. Supplementary material including proofs and additional numerical results is available online.