Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes induce and are killed by neutrophil extracellular traps

Neutrophils are short-lived leukocytes that die by apoptosis, necrosis, and NETosis. Upon death by NETosis, neutrophils release fibrous traps of DNA, histones, and granule proteins named neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which can kill bacteria and fungi. Inoculation of the protozoan Leishmania into the mammalian skin causes local inflammation with neutrophil recruitment. Here, we investigated the release of NETs by human neutrophils upon their interaction with Leishmania parasites and NETs' ability to kill this protozoan. The NET constituents DNA, elastase, and histones were detected in traps associated to promastigotes by immunofluorescence. Electron microscopy revealed that Leishmania was ensnared by NETs released by neutrophils. Moreover, Leishmania and its surface lipophosphoglycan induced NET release by neutrophils in a parasite number- and dose-dependent manner. Disruption of NETs by DNase treatment during Leishmania–neutrophil interaction increased parasite survival, evidencing NETs' leishmanicidal effect. Leishmania killing was also elicited by NET-rich supernatants from phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-activated neutrophils. Immunoneutralization of histone during Leishmania–neutrophil interaction partially reverted Leishmania killing, and purified histone killed the parasites. Meshes composed of DNA and elastase were evidenced in biopsies of human cutaneous leishmaniasis. NET is an innate response that might contribute to diminish parasite burden in the Leishmania inoculation site.
Dendritic Control of Spontaneous Bursting in Cerebellar Purkinje Cells

We investigated the mechanisms that contribute to spontaneous regular bursting in adult Purkinje neurons in acutely prepared cerebellar slices. Bursts consisted of 3–20 spikes and showed a stereotypic waveform. Each burst developed with an increase in firing rate and was terminated by a more rapid increase in firing rate and a decrease in spike height. Whole-cell current-clamp recordings showed that each burst ended with a rapid depolarization followed by a hyperpolarization. Dual dendritic and somatic extracellular recordings revealed that each burst was terminated by a dendritic calcium spike. The contributions of T- and P/Q-type calcium current, large (BK) and small (SK) conductance calcium-activated potassium currents, and hyperpolarization-activated (IH) current to bursting were investigated with specific channel blockers. None of the currents, except for P/Q, were required to sustain spontaneous bursting or the stereotypic burst waveform. T-type calcium, BK, and SK channels contributed to interspike and interburst intervals. The effect of T-type calcium channel block was more pronounced after BK channel block and vice versa, indicating that these two currents interact to regulate burst firing. Block of IH current had no effect on bursting. Partial block of P/Q-type calcium channels concurrently eliminated dendritic calcium spikes and caused a switch from regular bursting to tonic firing or irregular bursting. Dendritic calcium spikes persisted in the presence of tetrodotoxin, indicating that their initiation did not require somatic sodium spikes. Our results demonstrate an important role for dendritic conductances in burst firing in intact Purkinje neurons.
Chemical Contamination of Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Eggs in Peninsular Malaysia: Implications for Conservation and Public Health

Background Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)—and heavy metals have been reported in sea turtles at various stages of their life cycle. These chemicals can disrupt development and function of wildlife. Furthermore, in areas such as Peninsular Malaysia, where the human consumption of sea turtle eggs is prevalent, egg contamination may also have public health implications. Objective In the present study we investigated conservation and human health risks associated with the chemical contamination of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) eggs in Peninsular Malaysia. Methods Fifty-five C. mydas eggs were collected from markets in Peninsular Malaysia and analyzed for POPs and heavy metals. We conducted screening risk assessments (SRAs) and calculated the percent of acceptable daily intake (ADI) for POPs and metals to assess conservation and human health risks associated with egg contamination. Results C. mydas eggs were available in 9 of the 33 markets visited. These eggs came from seven nesting areas from as far away as Borneo Malaysia. SRAs indicated a significant risk to embryonic development associated with the observed arsenic concentrations. Furthermore, the concentrations of coplanar PCBs represented 3 300 times the ADI values set by the World Health Organization. Conclusions The concentrations of POPs and heavy metals reported in C. mydas eggs from markets in Peninsular Malaysia pose considerable risks to sea turtle conservation and human health.
Beyond U-Shaped Development in Infants' Processing of Faces: An Information-Processing Account

The development of the "inversion" effect in face processing was examined in infants 3 to 6 months of age by testing their integration of the internal and external features of upright and inverted faces using a variation of the "switch" visual habituation paradigm. When combined with previous findings showing that 7-month-olds use integrative processing of an upright face, but featural processing of an inverted face (Cohen & Cashon, 2001a), the present findings suggest that from 3 to 7 months, infants' ability to integrate facial features follows an N-shaped developmental pattern for upright faces and an inverted U-shaped pattern for inverted faces. We discuss these results in terms of a set of domain-general information-processing principles.
Avoidance Motivation and Emotion : Convergence and Divergence − Approach

In this concluding piece, we identify and discuss various aspects of convergence and, to a lesser degree, divergence in the ideas expressed in the contributions to this special section. These contributions emphatically illustrate that approach–avoidance motivation is integral to the scientific study of emotion. It is our hope that the articles herein will facilitate cross-talk among researchers and research traditions, and will lead to a more thorough understanding of the role of approach–avoidance motivation
An analysis of players\' performances in the first cricket Twenty20 World Cup series

The purpose of this paper is to show how batting and bowling performance measures for one-day internationals can be adapted for use in Twenty20 matches, specifically in the case of a very small number of matches played. These measures are then used to give rankings of the batsmen and bowlers who performed best in the first Twenty20 World Cup Series.
The Tab Item: a Technique for the Measurement of Proficiency in Diagnostic Problem Solving Tasks

RECENTLY, as part of the development of a battery of tests to measure the proficiency of Air Force maintenance personnel, a type of test item has been developed which may prove to have widespread application in the general area of psychological testing. The Tab Item, so called because of its construction, was originally designed to short-cut the more expensive and time-consuming work-sample type of performance measure without sacrificing to a large extent the added validity that such measures usually possess over paper-and-pencil group
Using a Body-Fixed Sensor to Identify Subclinical Gait Difficulties in Older Adults with IADL Disability: Maximizing the Output of the Timed Up and Go

Objective The identification and documentation of subclinical gait impairments in older adults may facilitate the appropriate use of interventions for preventing or delaying mobility disability. We tested whether measures derived from a single body-fixed sensor worn during traditional Timed Up and Go (TUG) testing could identify subclinical gait impairments in community dwelling older adults without mobility disability. Methods We used data from 432 older adults without dementia (mean age 83.30±7.04 yrs, 76.62% female) participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. The traditional TUG was conducted while subjects wore a body-fixed sensor. We derived measures of overall TUG performance and different subtasks including transitions (sit-to-stand, stand-to-sit), walking, and turning. Multivariate analysis was used to compare persons with and without mobility disability and to compare individuals with and without Instrumental Activities of Daily Living disability (IADL-disability), all of whom did not have mobility disability. Results As expected, individuals with mobility disability performed worse on all TUG subtasks (p<0.03), compared to those who had no mobility disability. Individuals without mobility disability but with IADL disability had difficulties with turns, had lower yaw amplitude (p<0.004) during turns, were slower (p<0.001), and had less consistent gait (p<0.02). Conclusions A single body-worn sensor can be employed in the community-setting to complement conventional gait testing. It provides a wide range of quantitative gait measures that appear to help to identify subclinical gait impairments in older adults.
The intrinsic frequency response of 1.3-/spl mu/m InGaAsN lasers in the range T=10/spl deg/C-80/spl deg/C

Optical modulation response experiments above threshold are carried out in ridge waveguide InGaAs and InGaAsN (N=0.5%) in a temperature span of 10 degC-80 degC. The modulation traces are analyzed with a complete rate equation model that allows extraction of the resonance frequency and damping that are intrinsic to the carrier and photon processes occurring in the laser active region. This analysis enables calculation of the K-factor and its temperature behavior. K-values for InGaAsN lasers are larger and show a more pronounced dependence on temperature than in InGaAs lasers. This behavior is ascribed to a decrease in the effective differential gain with nitrogen content
Adaptive topic - dependent language modelling using word - based varigrams

A Chrysanthemum plant named Vero particularly characterized by its flat capitulum form; daisy capitulum type; white ray floret color; diameter across face of capitulum of up to 8 cm at maturity; uniform nine week photoperiodic flowering response to short days; medium plant height when grown single stem; 15 to 20 cm peduncles on open, terminal sprays; and by its 13 degrees Celsius minimum temperature tolerance for initiation and development of flowering buds with a 12 to 13 hour continuous dark period.
The Influence of Positive Mood on Brand Extension Evaluations

The current research examines how positive mood influences consumer evaluations of brand extensions. As a means of addressing this issue, we integrate findings from prior research on brand extensions with those concerning the effect of mood on similarity and evaluative judgments. Our results indicate that positive mood primarily enhances evaluations of extensions viewed as moderately similar (as opposed to very similar or dissimilar) to a favorably evaluated core brand. This pattern of effects prevailed in separate studies using two different types of mood manipulations. The evidence supports a mood process in which the influence of positive mood on extension evaluations is mediated by its effects on perceptions of the similarity between the core brand and the extension as well as the perceived competency of the marketer in producing the extension. Implications of these findings for marketing managers are presented along with suggestions for further research. Copyright 2000 by the University of Chicago.
Social support for the bereaved: Recipients' and providers' perspectives on what is helpful.

Quatre-vingt quatorze personnes ayant perdu soit un conjoint soit un enfant dans accident de voiture quatre ou sept ans plus tot ont accepte de decrire les efforts de leur entourage pour les aider et de distinguer ceux de ces efforts qui leur furent secourables de ceux qui ne le furent pas. Contact avec d'autres personnes dans le meme cas, et possibilite de s'exprimer ont ete les moyens le plus souvent cites comme ayant contribue a la guerison du deuil; les avis et les encouragements en revanche ont ete percus negativement
The Design Domain of Real-Time Systems by Enrico Bini Ph

2004 " We should not get corrupted by the buzzword of the day ". Krithi Ramamrithan. by the European student exchange program Erasmus. In December 2000 he graduated cum laude in Ingegneria Informatica at Università di Pisa. In the same year he entered the Ph.D. program at Scuola Superiore S.Anna. His scholarship was funded by Erics-son Lab Italy, the R&D department of Ericsson. In the begin of 2001 Enrico spent five months at Ericsson Lab Italy, under the supervision of dott.ssa Emilia Peciola and ing. Carlo Vitucci. In this period, he developed a method to measure the processor load. In the 2003, he also spent the whole year researching at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, collaborating with prof. Sanjoy Baruah. During his Ph.D. he has been mostly researching with prof. the supervision and the advices of prof. Paolo Ancilotti. His publications are (only papers in journal and in refereed conference proceedings are reported):
Women in political arena: Insiders or outsiders?

This article focuses on two questions. Why are women underrepresented in democratic institutions and what are the barriers for their larger inclusion in political arena? Problems are analyzed from global perspective. Structural, cultural and political barriers are elaborated. The gender sensitive concept of representative democracy demonstrates legitimacy and difference in political processes. The hegemonic form of masculinity in all state institutions and procedures, in the election system, political culture and media, influences the exclusion of women on all levels of representation. Different theoretical concepts about gender representation in politics are analyzed. The author stresses greater influence of political factors - political culture, type of electoral system, party competitiveness, ideological differences, number of candidates, party and district magnitude, quota system - on women's representation in parliaments. The state of the art in representative bodies and in decision-making processes on the global level are analyzed in the third section of the article.
Signature-based self-test approach for single-shot circuits on the circuit board level

Several literatures focused on self-testing of digital and analog integrated circuits. They proposed different test scenarios for the circuit board based on the signature analysis. The single-shot (SS) circuit is important element on the circuit board level in the industrial applications. In this paper, a new testing design is presented to functionally test the SS circuit on the circuit board. It can test the SS circuit by measuring the time duration based on the edge detecting of the stimulated pulse. This time duration is considered the signature of its proper functionality. Two testing designs are proposed. Different pulse durations with different rising and falling time are applied to the proposed testing design. The experimental results illustrate the efficiency of the presented testing design in both the millisecond range and the microsecond range.
The Zeaxanthin-Independent and Zeaxanthin-Dependent qE Components of Nonphotochemical Quenching Involve Common Conformational Changes within the Photosystem II Antenna in Arabidopsis1[W]

The light-harvesting antenna of higher plant photosystem II (LHCII) has the intrinsic capacity to dissipate excess light energy as heat in a process termed nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Recent studies suggest that zeaxanthin and lutein both contribute to the rapidly relaxing component of NPQ, qE, possibly acting in the minor monomeric antenna complexes and the major trimeric LHCII, respectively. To distinguish whether zeaxanthin and lutein act independently as quenchers at separate sites, or alternatively whether zeaxanthin fulfills an allosteric role regulating lutein-mediated quenching, the kinetics of qE and the qE-related conformational changes (ΔA535) were compared in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutant/antisense plants with altered contents of minor antenna (kolhcb6, aslhcb4), trimeric LHCII (aslhcb2), lutein (lut2, lut2npq1, lut2npq2), and zeaxanthin (npq1, npq2). The kinetics of the two components of NPQ induction arising from zeaxanthin-independent and zeaxanthin-dependent qE were both sensitive to changes in the protein composition of the photosystem II antenna. The replacement of lutein by zeaxanthin or violaxanthin in the internal Lhcb protein-binding sites affected the kinetics and relative amplitude of each component as well as the absolute chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime. Both components of qE were characterized by a conformational change leading to nearly identical absorption changes in the Soret region that indicated the involvement of the LHCII lutein 1 domain. Based on these observations, we suggest that both components of qE arise from a common quenching mechanism based upon a conformational change within the photosystem II antenna, optimized by Lhcb subunit-subunit interactions and tuned by the synergistic effects of external and internally bound xanthophylls.
Alterations in regulatory T-cells: Rediscovered pathways in immunotoxicology

In addition to the effector T-cells subsets, T-cells can also differentiate into cells that play a suppressive or regulatory role in adaptive immune responses. The cell types currently identified as regulatory T-cells (Tregs) include natural or thymic-derived Tregs, T-cells which express Foxp3+CD25+CD4+ and can suppress immune responses to autoreactive T-cells, as well as inducible Tregs, that are generated from naïve T-cells in the periphery after interaction with antigens presented by dendritic cells. Inducible Tregs include TH3 cells, Tr1 cells, and Foxp3+-inducible Tregs. Tregs have been shown to be critical in the maintenance of immune responses and T-cell homeostasis. These cells play an important role in suppressing responses to self-antigens and in controlling inappropriate responses to non-self-antigens, such as commensal bacteria or food in the gut. For example, depletion of CD4+CD25+ Tregs from mice resulted in the development of multi-organ autoimmune diseases. CD4+CD25+ Tregs and/or IL-10-producing Tr1 cells are capable of suppressing or attenuating TH2 responses to allergens. Moreover, adoptive transfer of CD4+CD25+ Tregs from healthy to diseased animals resulted in the prevention or cure of certain autoimmune diseases, and was able to induce transplantation tolerance. Clinical improvement seen after allergen immunotherapy for allergic diseases such as rhinitis and asthma is associated with the induction of IL-10- and TGFβ-producing Tr1 cells as well as FoxP3-expressing IL-10 T-cells, with resulting suppression of the TH2 cytokine milieu. Activation, expansion, or suppression of CD4+CD25+ Tregs in vivo by xenobiotics, including drugs, may therefore represent a relevant mechanism underlying immunotoxicity, including immunosuppression, allergic asthma, and autoimmune diseases.
Functional Connectivity of Cognitive Brain Networks in Schizophrenia during a Working Memory Task

Task-based connectivity studies facilitate the understanding of how the brain functions during cognition, which is commonly impaired in schizophrenia (SZ). Our aim was to investigate functional connectivity during a working memory task in SZ. We hypothesized that the task-negative (default mode) network and the cognitive control (frontoparietal) network would show dysconnectivity. Twenty-five SZ patient and 31 healthy control scans were collected using the customized 3T Siemens Skyra MRI scanner, previously used to collect data for the Human Connectome Project. Blood oxygen level dependent signal during the 0-back and 2-back conditions were extracted within a network-based parcelation scheme. Average functional connectivity was assessed within five brain networks: frontoparietal (FPN), default mode (DMN), cingulo-opercular (CON), dorsal attention (DAN), and ventral attention network; as well as between the DMN or FPN and other networks. For within-FPN connectivity, there was a significant interaction between n-back condition and group (p = 0.015), with decreased connectivity at 0-back in SZ subjects compared to controls. FPN-to-DMN connectivity also showed a significant condition × group effect (p = 0.003), with decreased connectivity at 0-back in SZ. Across groups, connectivity within the CON and DAN were increased during the 2-back condition, while DMN connectivity with either CON or DAN were decreased during the 2-back condition. Our findings support the role of the FPN, CON, and DAN in working memory and indicate that the pattern of FPN functional connectivity differs between SZ patients and control subjects during the course of a working memory task.
Speed-up Technique for Association Rule Mining Based on an Artificial Life Algorithm

Association rule mining is one of the most important issues in data mining. Apriori computation schemes greatly reduce the computation time by pruning the candidate item-set. However, a large computation time is required when the treated data are dense and the amount of data is large. With apriori methods, the problem of becoming incomputable cannot be avoided when the total number of items is large. On the other hand, bottom-up approaches such as artificial life approaches are the opposite to of the top-down approaches of searches covering all transactions, and may provide new methods of breaking away from the completeness of searches in conventional algorithms. Here, an artificial life data mining technique is proposed in which one transaction is considered as one individual, and association rules are accumulated by the interaction of randomly selected individuals. The proposed algorithm is compared to other methods in application to a large-scale actual dataset, and it is verified that its performance is greatly superior to that of the method using transaction data virtually divided and that of apriori method by sampling approach, thus demonstrating its usefulness.
Gas sensing using acoustic attenuation with improved resolution

Sensors being used for gas sensing in underground coal mine require frequent recalibration due to highly humid and toxic environment prevalent in UG coal mines. If we intend to deploy a WSN which can continuously monitor the UG mine environment then we require sensors which are able to withstand the environment of UG coal mine. Acoustics gas sensors are more rugged and would be able to work for prolonged period in UG coal mine environment. Acoustic sensors work on the principle that acoustic signal velocity and amplitude are affected by changing composition of air. Attenuation of acoustics waves in presence of a target gas can be used to detect its presence and give its concentration level. We present an acoustic signal processing approach which can measure attenuation of acoustic signal with improved resolution. Proposed approach takes advantage of the fact that when triggered with a transmitted pulse of acoustic sensor resonance frequency, the receiver output is a damped ringing waveform. We measure the area under envelop of the received waveform to provide increased resolution.