Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coassimilation of Organic Substrates via the Autotrophic 3-Hydroxypropionate Bi-Cycle in Chloroflexus aurantiacus

ABSTRACT Chloroflexus aurantiacus is a facultative autotrophic green nonsulfur bacterium that grows phototrophically in thermal springs and forms microbial mats with cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria produce glycolate during the day (photorespiration) and excrete fermentation products at night. C. aurantiacus uses the 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle for autotrophic carbon fixation. This pathway was thought to be also suited for the coassimilation of various organic substrates such as glycolate, acetate, propionate, 3-hydroxypropionate, lactate, butyrate, or succinate. To test this possibility, we added these compounds at a 5 mM concentration to autotrophically pregrown cells. Although the provided amounts of H2 and CO2 allowed continuing photoautotrophic growth, cells immediately consumed most substrates at rates equaling the rate of autotrophic carbon fixation. Using [14C]acetate, half of the labeled organic carbon was incorporated into cell mass. Our data suggest that C. aurantiacus uses the 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle, together with the glyoxylate cycle, to channel organic substrates into the central carbon metabolism. Enzyme activities of the 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle were marginally affected when cells were grown heterotrophically with such organic substrates. The 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle in Chloroflexi is unique and was likely fostered in an environment in which traces of organic compounds can be coassimilated. Other bacteria living under oligotrophic conditions acquired genes of a rudimentary 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle, possibly for the same purpose. Examples are Chloroherpeton thalassium, Erythrobacter sp. strain NAP-1, Nitrococcus mobilis, and marine gammaproteobacteria of the OM60/NOR5 clade such as Congregibacter litoralis.
High-Spatial-Multiplicity Multicore Fibers for Future Dense Space-Division-Multiplexing Systems

Multicore fibers and few-mode fibers have potential application in realizing dense-space-division multiplexing systems. However, there are some tradeoff requirements for designing the fibers. In this paper, the tradeoff requirements such as spatial channel count, crosstalk, differential mode delay, and cladding diameter are discussed. Further, the design concept and transmission characteristics of high-core-count single-mode multicore fibers are discussed. A heterogeneous multicore fiber with 30 cores and quasi-single-mode multi-core fibers with 31 cores are developed.
Oh app, where art thou?: on app launching habits of smartphone users

In this paper, we present the results of a four-week real world study on app launches on smartphones. The results show that smartphone users are confident in the way they navigate on their devices, but that there are many opportunities for refinements. Users in our study tended to sort apps based on frequency of use, putting the most frequently used apps in places that they considered fastest to reach. Interestingly, users start most apps from within other apps, followed by the use of the homescreen.
Organisationsformen und Mehrwertleistungen elektronischer Märkte

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Processing-Aware Privacy-Preserving Photo Sharing over Online Social Networks

With the ever-increasing popularity of mobile devices and online social networks (OSNs), sharing photos online has become extremely easy and popular. The privacy issues of shared photos and the associated protection schemes have received significant attention in recent years. In this work, we address the problem of designing privacy-preserving, high-fidelity, storage-efficient photo sharing solution over Facebook. We first conduct an in-depth study on the manipulations that Facebook performs to the uploaded images. With the awareness of such information, we suggest a DCT-domain image encryption scheme that is robust against these lossy operations. As validated by our experimental results, superior performance in terms of security, quality of the reconstructed images, and storage cost can be achieved.
Diversity of Sites for Measles Virus Binding and for Inactivation of Complement C3b and C4b on Membrane Cofactor Protein CD46 (*)

The complement system membrane cofactor protein (MCP) CD46 serves as a C3b/C4b inactivating factor for the protection of host cells from autologous complement attack and as a receptor for measles virus (MV). MCP consists of four short consensus repeats (SCR) which are the predominant extracellular structural motif. In the present study, we determined which of the four SCR of MCP contribute to its function using Chinese hamster ovary cell clones expressing each SCR deletion mutants. The results were as follows: 1) SCR1 and SCR2 are mainly involved in MV binding and infection; 2) SCR2, SCR3, and SCR4 contribute to protect Chinese hamster ovary cells from human alternative complement pathway-mediated cytolysis; and 3) SCR2 and SCR3 are essential for protection of host cells from the classical complement pathway. These results on cell protective activity of the mutants against the human classical and the alternative complement pathways were compatible with factor I-mediated inactivation profiles of C4b and C3b, respectively, in the fluid-phase assay using solubilized mutants and factor I; the results were mostly consistent with those reported by Adams et al. (Adams, E. M., Brown, M. C., Nunge, M., Krych, M., and Atkinson, J. P.(1991) J. Immunol. 147, 3005-3011). SCR2 and SCR3 were required for C3b and C4b inactivation, and SCR4-deleted MCP showed weak cofactor activity for C4b cleavage but virtually no cofactor activity for C3b cleavage. The functional domains of MCP for the three natural ligands C3b, C4b, and MV, therefore, map to different, although partly overlapping, SCR domains.
A comparative study with rosuvastatin in subjects with metabolic syndrome: results of the COMETS study.

AIMS The efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin, atorvastatin, and placebo were compared in patients with the metabolic syndrome. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with the metabolic syndrome with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) > or =3.36 mmol/L (130 mg/dL) and multiple risk factors conferring a 10-year coronary heart disease risk score of >10% were randomized (2:2:1) to receive rosuvastatin 10 mg, atorvastatin 10 mg, or placebo for 6 weeks. Subsequently, the rosuvastatin 10 mg and placebo groups received rosuvastatin 20 mg and the atorvastatin 10 mg group received atorvastatin 20 mg for 6 weeks. LDL-C was reduced significantly more in patients receiving rosuvastatin 10 mg when compared with those receiving atorvastatin 10 mg at 6 weeks [intention-to-treat (ITT) population by randomized treatment: 41.7 vs. 35.7%, P < 0.001; ITT population by as-allocated treatment: 42.7 vs. 36.6%, P < 0.001]. Significant LDL-C reductions were also observed in patients receiving rosuvastatin when compared with those receiving atorvastatin at 12 weeks (48.9 vs. 42.5%, P < 0.001). More patients achieved LDL-C goals with rosuvastatin when compared with atorvastatin. Rosuvastatin increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol significantly more than atorvastatin. Treatments were well tolerated. CONCLUSION At equivalent doses, rosuvastatin had a significantly greater effect than atorvastatin in lowering LDL-C and improving the lipid profile and was well tolerated in patients with the metabolic syndrome.
The cost of being a man: social and health consequences of Igbo masculinity

In the bid to explain reproductive health outcomes in most developing countries, men have often been seen as the cause of the problem. However, no systematic attempt has been made to examine men's perception of their own social and health needs, including how ideologies of masculinity impact men's social and physical health. This study examines the Igbo context and shows how men understand and interpret masculinity and the consequences of this for social and health behaviours. Data from adolescent and adult Igbo men aged 15–75 were collected using both quantitative survey interviews (n = 1372) and qualitative techniques such as focus-group discussion (n = 20), in-depth interviews (n = 10) and key informant interviews (n = 10) in selected areas of south-eastern Nigeria. We collected data on gender role ideologies and sexuality issues and practices. Our analysis shows that there are social and health costs associated with adherence to masculine ideologies and a strong association between masculine ideologies and men's health, risk-taking and health-seeking behaviours in the study population. We conclude that all sexual and reproductive health programmes should include services that address the specific needs of men and those negative aspects of masculinity that tend to expose men to adverse health outcomes.
Nostril dilatation increases capacity to sustain moderate exercise under nasal breathing condition.

BACKGROUND Effect of nasal breathing without and with nostril dilatation on sustainability of moderate exercise (75% VO2max) and selected respiratory variables were examined. METHODS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Nine healthy male subjects completed three randomly assigned exhaustive treadmill runnings under three breathing conditions: (i) oronasal breathing (CON), (ii) nasal breathing with external nasal dilator strip (NBENDS), and (iii) nasal breathing with fake nasal strip (NBFNS). RESULTS Pre-exercise peak nasal inspiratory flow was increased with NBENDS but not with NBFNS. Pre-exercise nasal 12-sec maximum voluntary ventilation with NBENDS was greater than that with NBFNS while both were less than oronasal value. Exercise time to exhaustion in NBFNS trial, which was 23.6+/-6.7% less than the CON value, increased 31.9+/-12.3% under NBENDS condition. During exercise at exhaustion, although the difference in ventilation among all trials was not significant, lower breathing frequency in NBFNS and NBENDS exercises and higher end-tidal CO2 tension in NBFNS trial were found in comparison to CON values. Ratings of perceived magnitude of breathing effort (RPMBE) and exertion (RPE) at exhaustion were similar among all trials. However, RPMBE at exhaustion during NBFNS exercise was higher than that at the iso-time point during CON and NBENDS exercises. Similar result in RPE was found between NBFNS and CON exercises. After exercise, maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressures reduced. The reduction of each variable was similar among the three trials. CONCLUSIONS Nasal breathing reduces the sustainability of moderate exercise measured under oronasal breathing condition. Nostril dilatation increases the capacity to sustain moderate exercise under nasal breathing condition.
The increase in human plasma immunoreactive endothelin but not big endothelin‐1 or its C‐terminal fragment induced by systemic administration of the endothelin antagonist TAK‐044

1 We examined the effects of systemic infusion, in healthy human volunteers, of the endothelin antagonist TAK‐044 on the plasma concentrations of mature endothelin, big endothelin‐1 and the C‐terminal fragment of big endothelin‐1, by selective solid‐phase extraction and specific radioimmunoassays. 2 Unlabelled TAK‐044 competed with specific [125I]‐endothelin‐1 binding to human left ventricle tissue in a biphasic manner giving KD values of 0.11 nM and 26.8 nM at the ETA and ETB receptor subtypes, respectively, indicating a 244 fold selectivity for the ETA receptor subtype. 3 A 15 min intravenous infusion of placebo or 30 mg TAK‐044 (giving a serum concentration of 2 nM, calculated to block > 95% of ETA but <5% ETB receptors) had no effect on the immunoreactive plasma concentrations of the three peptides. 4 At the higher dose of 750 mg TAK‐044 (giving a serum concentration of 80 nM, calculated to block > 99% of ETA and > 75% ETB receptors), the immunoreactive plasma endothelin concentrations were increased 3.3 fold over basal levels (P < 0.01). The concentrations of big endothelin‐1 or C‐terminal fragment of big endothelin‐1 were unchanged. 5 At both doses of TAK‐044, there were significant decreases in diastolic blood pressure, and peripheral vascular resistance, with corresponding increases in cardiac index and stroke index. There were no changes in systolic or mean arterial blood pressures or heart rate. 6 Since only the concentrations of the mature peptide were increased, we conclude that the most likely sources of endothelin contributing to the observed rise were displacement of receptor‐bound peptide and reduction in plasma clearance rather than peptide synthesis.
The molecular genetics of hematologic malignancies

Malignancies, including those developing in cells of the hematologic system, have a molecular genetic basis in that they evolve as a consequence of the expression of aberrant genes and/or the aberrant expression of normal genes. The vast majority of these malignancies occur because of acquired genetic events and are clonal, making them particularly suitable for molecular (DNA and/or RNA) diagnostic studies. In addition to being ideally suited for an initial diagnostic evaluation, molecular studies can provide useful prognostic information, helping to define prognostically relevant molecular subtypes of diseases that appear homogeneous by conventional criteria. Furthermore, given the exquisite sensitivity of some molecular assays (in particular, PCR-based assays), such studies are useful in minimal disease evaluation, be it for initial disease staging or for the evaluation of response to therapy. These acquired somatic abnormalities generally affect genes that are physiologically involved in cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and survival (the proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes), and the molecular abnormalities are recapitulated in the clonal progeny of the neoplastic cells. Indeed, the molecular dissection of genetic events in tumors has led to the discovery of a variety of novel genes, which has enhanced our understanding of both normal and neoplastic cell biology. Traditionally, only fresh, unfixed tissue was believed to be amenable to nucleic acid-based analysis. However, it is now clear that no source of material is immune to study, including formalinand B5-fixed tissues, smears on glass slides, and even single cells. This minireview will endeavor to provide an overview of how an evaluation of the molecular genetics of hematologic malignancies may be useful diagnostically, prognostically, in assessing minimal residual disease, and in providing insights into neoplastic and normal cell biology. (This work was presented in part at the Annual Meeting of the Clinical Immunology Society, Anaheim, Calif., April 1994.)
Involvement of adrenergic and angiotensinergic receptors in the paraventricular nucleus in the angiotensin II-induced vasopressin release.

The role of hypothalamic paraventricular adrenoceptors and angiotensin II (ANG II)-AT 1 receptors in mediating the vasopressin (AVP) release into the plasma in response to i.c. v. and local paraventricular ANG II injections was investigated in conscious chronically instrumented rats. Noradrenaline (NA) administered bilaterally into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) dose-dependently stimulated AVP release. Bilateral PVN microinjections of the alpha 1 adrenoceptor agonists methoxamine and phenylephrine, or of the alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist clonidine, did not affect plasma AVP when given alone, but increased plasma AVP when methoxamine and clonidine were given in combination. In contrast, PVN microinjections of both the beta 1 adrenoceptor agonist dobutamine and the beta 2 adrenoceptor agonist salbutamol significantly reduced basal plasma AVP. Bilateral PVN pretreatment with the alpha 1 and alpha 2 adrenergic antagonists prazosin, idazoxan and rauwolscine, but not of the beta 1 and beta 2 adrenoceptor antagonists atenolol and ICI 118 551, significantly attenuated the i.c. v. ANG II-induced AVP release. ANG II injected bilaterally into the PVN dose-dependently increased plasma AVP. Bilateral PVN pretreatment with the specific ANG II-AT 1 receptor antagonist losartan partially inhibited the i.c. v. ANG II-induced AVP release. We conclude: 1) Beta 1 and beta 2 adrenoceptors in the PVN exert an inhibitory action on basal AVP secretion. 2) ANG II can release AVP by directly stimulating its ANG II-AT 1 receptors in the PVN. 3) PVN mediated AVP release in response to periventricular ANG II-AT 1 receptor stimulation is at least partially effected through ANG II-AT 1 receptors in the PVN impinging on alpha adrenergic terminals.
Principal problems in Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute gases

A survey is given of the present state of the art in studying Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute atomic gases. The bulk of attention is focused on the principal theoretical problems, though the related experiments are also mentioned. Both uniform and nonuniform trapped gases are considered. Existing theoretical contradictions are critically analysed. A correct understanding of the principal theoretical problems is necessary for gaining a more penetrating insight into experiments with trapped atoms and for their proper interpretation.
Modeling of a piezoelectric rotary ultrasonic motor

A piezoelectric rotary ultrasonic motor is modeled for the purpose of predicting, a priori, motor performance as a function of design parameters. The Rayleigh-Ritz assumed mode energy method is used to model the distributed piezoceramics and the traveling wave dynamics of the stator. Natural frequencies and modeshapes are obtained for a generally configured motor. Nonlinear normal and tangential interface forces between the rotor and stator are incorporated into the forcing function along with the linear piezoelectric forcing. Given the applied torque, applied axial loading, and piezo drive voltages as inputs to the model, general motor performance measures are obtained-namely speed, input power, output power, and efficiency. The approach presented here provides a general framework for modeling these motors as well as a design tool for optimizing prototypes with the added flexibility of allowing for a wide variety of geometries and materials. <<ETX>>
Secretion of Soluble Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 1 (sVEGFR1/sFlt1) Requires Arf1, Arf6, and Rab11 GTPases

The soluble form of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (sVEGFR-1/sFlt1) is generated by alternative splicing of the FLT1 gene. Secretion of sFlt1 from endothelial cells plays an important role in blood vessel sprouting and morphogenesis. However, excess sFlt1 secretion is associated with diseases such as preeclampsia and chronic kidney disease. To date, the secretory transport process involved in the secretion of sFlt1 is poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the itinerary of sFlt1 trafficking along the secretory pathway. To understand the timecourse of sFlt1 secretion, endothelial cells stably expressing sFlt1 were metabolically radiolabeled with [35S]-methionine and cysteine. Our results indicate that after initial synthesis the levels of secreted [35S]-sFlt1 in the extracellular medium peaks at 8 hours. Treatment with brefeldin A (BFA), a drug which blocks trafficking between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi complex, inhibited extracellular release of sFlt1 suggesting that ER to Golgi and intra-Golgi trafficking of sFlt1 are essential for its secretion. Furthermore, we show that ectopic expression of dominant-negative mutant forms of Arf1, Arf6, and Rab11 as well as siRNA-mediated knockdown of these GTPases block secretion of sFlt1 during normoxic and hypoxic conditions suggesting role for these small GTPases. This work is the first to report role of regulatory proteins involved in sFlt1 trafficking along the secretory pathway and may provide insights and new molecular targets for the modulation of sFlt-1 release during physiological and pathological conditions.
Low-overhead Routing Algorithm for 3D Network-on-Chip

Despite the higher scalability and parallelism integration offered by Network-on-Chip (NoC) over the traditional shared-bus based systems, it is still not an ideal solution for future large scale Systems-on-Chip (SoCs), due to some limitations such as high power consumption and high cost communication. Recently, extending 2D-NoC to the third dimension (3D-NoC) has been proposed to deal with these problems. One of the most important design choices for 3D-NoC designs is the implementation of a fast and high throughput system with a reasonable hardware complexity. Moreover, adopting an efficient routing algorithm has become an important task since the flits' path selection has a direct impact on the overall system performance. In this paper, we propose a low overhead, and high throughput 3D-NoC routing algorithm named Look-ahead-XYZ (LA-XYZ). We implemented the proposed algorithm in our 3D-NoC deign, named 3D-OASIS-NoC, and we prototyped it on FPGA. We evaluated its performance using Transpose traffic pattern and two selected real applications (JPEG-encoder and Matrix-multiplication). Evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the communication latency by 29.22% and 35.12% and enhances the throughput with an average of 26% and 38.95% when compared to XYZ and Randomized Partially Minimal (RPM) routing algorithms respectively.
Digital Palaeography: New Machines and Old Texts (Dagstuhl Seminar 14302)

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 14302 “Digital Pa-laeography: New Machines and Old Texts”, which focused on the interaction of Palaeography and computerized tools developed in Computer Vision for the analysis of digital images. This seminar intertwined research reports from the most advanced teams in the ﬁeld and interdisciplinary discussions on the potentials and limitations of future research and the establishment of a community of practice in Digital Palaeography. It resulted in new research directions in the Computer Sciences and new research strategies in Palaeography and in a better understanding of how to conduct interdisciplinary research across all the ﬁelds of expertise involved in Digital Palaeography.
On convergence analysis of fractionally spaced adaptive blind equalizers

We study the convergence analysis of fractionally-spaced adaptive blind equalizers. We show that based on the trivial and nontrivial nullspaces of a channel convolution matrix, all equilibria, can be classified as channel dependent equilibria (CDE) or algorithm dependent equilibria (ADE). Because oversampling provides channel diversity, the nullspace of the channel convolution matrix is affected. We show that fractionally spaced equalizers (FSE) does not possess any CDE if a length-and-zero condition is satisfied. We characterize the global convergence ability of several popular blind adaptive algorithms simply based on their ADE. We also present an FSE implementation of the super-exponential algorithm. We show that the FSE implementation does not introduce any non-ideal approximation.
Sugar-Responsive Pseudopolyrotaxane Composed of Phenylboronic Acid-Modified Polyethylene Glycol and γ-Cyclodextrin

We have designed a sugar-responsive pseudopolyrotaxane (PPRX) by combining phenylboronic acid-modified polyethylene glycol (PBA–PEG) and γ-cyclodextrin. Phenylboronic acid (PBA) was used as a sugar-recognition motif in the PPRX because PBA reacts with a diol portion of the sugar molecule and forms a cyclic ester. When D-fructose or D-glucose was added to a suspension of PPRX, PPRX disintegrated, depending on the concentration of the sugars. Interestingly, catechol does not show a response although catechol has a high affinity for PBA. We analyzed the response mechanism of PPRX by considering equilibria.