Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of the Plant Defense Response to Escherichia coli O157:H7 Cell Surface Structures on Survival of That Enteric Pathogen on Plant Surfaces

ABSTRACT Consumption of fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 has resulted in hundreds of cases of illness and, in some instances, death. In this study, the influence of cell surface structures of E. coli O157:H7, such as flagella, curli fimbriae, lipopolysaccharides, or exopolysaccharides, on plant defense responses and on survival or colonization on the plant was investigated. The population of the E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43895 wild-type strain was significantly lower on wild-type Arabidopsis plants than that of the 43895 flagellum-deficient mutant. The population of the E. coli O157:H7 43895 flagellum mutant was greater on both wild-type and npr1-1 mutant (nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related [PR] genes) plants and resulted in less PR gene induction, estimated based on a weak β-glucuronidase (GUS) signal, than did the 43895 wild-type strain. These results suggest that the flagella, among the other pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), made a substantial contribution to the induction of plant defense response and contributed to the decreased numbers of the E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43895 wild-type strain on the wild-type Arabidopsis plant. A curli-deficient E. coli O157:H7 86-24 strain survived better on wild-type Arabidopsis plants than the curli-producing wild-type 86-24 strain did. The curli-deficient E. coli O157:H7 86-24 strain exhibited a GUS signal at a level substantially lower than that of the curli-producing wild-type strain. Curli were recognized by plant defense systems, consequently affecting bacterial survival. The cell surface structures of E. coli O157:H7 have a significant impact on the induction of differential plant defense responses, thereby impacting persistence or survival of the pathogen on plants.
External hydrocephalus in discordant birth weight twins: a case report

The term “external hydrocephalus (EH)” is used to describe excessively rapid head growth in infants who are found to have enlarged subarachnoid spaces and little or no ventricular enlargement. EH has not yet been described in discordant birth weight twins. We report the cases of two sets of discordant twins with normal neonatal course and normal neonatal brain ultrasound scans who developed an EH in the first months after birth and had a mild neurodevelopmental delay. Our findings suggest that EH may be part of neurologic morbidity in discordant birth weight twins and represents one of the potential complications to look for in the follow-up of these infants.
New Aspects of the Pathogenesis of Canine Distemper Leukoencephalitis

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a member of the genus morbillivirus, which is known to cause a variety of disorders in dogs including demyelinating leukoencephalitis (CDV-DL). In recent years, substantial progress in understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of CDV-DL has been made. In vivo and in vitro investigations provided new insights into its pathogenesis with special emphasis on axon-myelin-glia interaction, potential endogenous mechanisms of regeneration, and astroglial plasticity. CDV-DL is characterized by lesions with a variable degree of demyelination and mononuclear inflammation accompanied by a dysregulated orchestration of cytokines as well as matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors. Despite decades of research, several new aspects of the neuropathogenesis of CDV-DL have been described only recently. Early axonal damage seems to represent an initial and progressive lesion in CDV-DL, which interestingly precedes demyelination. Axonopathy may, thus, function as a potential trigger for subsequent disturbed axon-myelin-glia interactions. In particular, the detection of early axonal damage suggests that demyelination is at least in part a secondary event in CDV-DL, thus challenging the dogma of CDV as a purely primary demyelinating disease. Another unexpected finding refers to the appearance of p75 neurotrophin (NTR)-positive bipolar cells during CDV-DL. As p75NTR is a prototype marker for immature Schwann cells, this finding suggests that Schwann cell remyelination might represent a so far underestimated endogenous mechanism of regeneration, though this hypothesis still remains to be proven. Although it is well known that astrocytes represent the major target of CDV infection in CDV-DL, the detection of infected vimentin-positive astrocytes in chronic lesions indicates a crucial role of this cell population in nervous distemper. While glial fibrillary acidic protein represents the characteristic intermediate filament of mature astrocytes, expression of vimentin is generally restricted to immature or reactive astrocytes. Thus, vimentin-positive astrocytes might constitute an important cell population for CDV persistence and spread, as well as lesion progression. In vitro models, such as dissociated glial cell cultures, as well as organotypic brain slice cultures have contributed to a better insight into mechanisms of infection and certain morphological and molecular aspects of CDV-DL. Summarized, recent in vivo and in vitro studies revealed remarkable new aspects of nervous distemper. These new perceptions substantially improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of CDV-DL and might represent new starting points to develop novel treatment strategies.
The effects of fundamental frequency and formant space on speaker discrimination through bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing

Human listeners can perceive speech signals from a voicemodulated ultrasonic carrier which is presented through a boneconduction stimulator, even if they are sensorineural hearing loss patients. As an application of this phenomenon, we have been developing a bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing aid (BCUHA). This research examined whether formant space and F0 can be cues of speaker discrimination in BCU hearing as well as via air-conduction (AC) hearing. A series of speaker discrimination experiments revealed that both formant space and F0 can act as cues for speaker discrimination even via BCUHA. However, sensitivity to formant space in BCU hearing is less than in AC hearing. Index Terms: ultrasound, bone-conduction, hearing aid, speaker discrimination, multi-dimensional scaring
Comparison of Coral Reef Ecosystems along a Fishing Pressure Gradient

Three trophic mass-balance models representing coral reef ecosystems along a fishery gradient were compared to evaluate ecosystem effects of fishing. The majority of the biomass estimates came directly from a large-scale visual survey program; therefore, data were collected in the same way for all three models, enhancing comparability. Model outputs–such as net system production, size structure of the community, total throughput, production, consumption, production-to-respiration ratio, and Finn’s cycling index and mean path length–indicate that the systems around the unpopulated French Frigate Shoals and along the relatively lightly populated Kona Coast of Hawai’i Island are mature, stable systems with a high efficiency in recycling of biomass. In contrast, model results show that the reef system around the most populated island in the State of Hawai’i, O’ahu, is in a transitional state with reduced ecosystem resilience and appears to be shifting to an algal-dominated system. Evaluation of the candidate indicators for fishing pressure showed that indicators at the community level (e.g., total biomass, community size structure, trophic level of the community) were most robust (i.e., showed the clearest trend) and that multiple indicators are necessary to identify fishing perturbations. These indicators could be used as performance indicators when compared to a baseline for management purposes. This study shows that ecosystem models can be valuable tools in identification of the system state in terms of complexity, stability, and resilience and, therefore, can complement biological metrics currently used by monitoring programs as indicators for coral reef status. Moreover, ecosystem models can improve our understanding of a system’s internal structure that can be used to support management in identification of approaches to reverse unfavorable states.
The ERO Host Galaxy of GRB 020127: Implications for the Metallicity of GRB Progenitors

We present optical and near-IR observations of the host galaxy of GRB 020127, for which we measure R - Ks = 6.2 mag. This is only the second GRB host to date classified as an ERO. The spectral energy distribution (SED) is typical of a dusty starburst galaxy, with a redshift z ≈ 1.9, a luminosity L ≈ 5L*, and an inferred stellar mass of M* ~ 1011-1012 M☉, two orders of magnitude more massive than typical GRB hosts. A comparison to the z ~ 2 mass-metallicity (M-Z) relation suggests that the host metallicity is about 0.5-1Z☉. This result shows that at least some GRBs occur in massive, metal-enriched galaxies, and that the proposed low-metallicity bias of GRB progenitors is not as severe as previously claimed. Instead, we propose that the blue colors and sub-L* luminosities of most GRB hosts reflect their young starburst populations. This explanation also accounts for the prevalence of low-redshift GRBs in low-mass galaxies, since star formation activity shifts from high- to low-mass galaxies as a function of decreasing redshift ("downsizing"). Thus, the low-metallicity bias claimed for z ≲ 0.2 GRB hosts is likely a secondary effect, which reflects the M-Z relation, and consequently GRBs and their hosts may serve as a reliable tracer of cosmic star formation activity.
Vegas plus: improving the service fairness

TCP Vegas is a congestion avoidance scheme designed to prevent the periodic packet loss which occurs in traditional schemes. Since Vegas successfully avoids such packet loss, it achieves much higher throughput than TCP Reno. However, it does not concern the fairness among source-destination pairs with different round-trip times (RTTs). We propose a different mechanism to adjust the window size, this allows TCP to provide much better fairness regardless the large variation of RTTs.
Getting in Tune: Songs of My Experience in Psychoanalytic Training

I use the metaphor of music and dance to explore cognitive, affective, and liminal elements of my training experiences in the New York University Post doctoral Program in Psychoanalysis. I highlight experiences with supervisors and patients, which shaped the development of my identity as an analyst, and the emergence of my analytic voice within a relational paradigm.
Enhancing the sensitivity to scattering coefficient of the epithelium in a two-layered tissue model by oblique optical fibers: Monte Carlo study

Abstract. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy has been applied to detect tissue absorption and scattering properties associated with dysplasia, which is a potential precursor of epithelial cancers. The ability of DRS techniques to detect dysplasia could be improved by enhancing the detection of optical properties of the thin epithelial layer where dysplasia occurs. We propose a beveled fiber bundle probe consisting of a source fiber and multiple detection fibers parallel to each other and oriented obliquely to the tissue surface and investigate the sensitivity of reflectance measured with the probe to optical properties of a two-layered normal oral mucosa model. A scalable Monte Carlo method is employed to speed up analyzing spatially resolved reflectance spectra. Results reveal that the oblique probe is more sensitive to epithelial scattering and less sensitive to both stromal absorption and scattering than conventional perpendicular fiber configuration. The clinical relevance of the enhanced sensitivity to epithelial scattering by the proposed probe is demonstrated by quantifying optical properties of the two-layered tissue model from simulated data. The average error of extracted epithelial scattering coefficient is 1.5% and 32% using the oblique and perpendicular probe, respectively. The errors in other optical properties are all below 10% using the oblique probe.
Understanding the Causes of Architecture Changes Using OSS Mailing Lists

The causes of architecture changes can tell about why architecture changes, and this knowledge can be captured to prevent architecture knowledge vaporization and architecture degeneration. But the causes are not always known, especially in open source software (OSS) development. This makes it very hard to understand the underlying reasons for the architecture changes and design appropriate modifications. Architecture information is communicated in development mailing lists of OSS projects. To explore the possibility of identifying and understanding the causes of architecture changes, we conducted an empirical study to analyze architecture information (i.e. architectural threads) communicated in the development mailing lists of two popular OSS projects: Hibernate and ArgoUML, verified architecture changes with source code, and identified the causes of architecture changes from the communicated architecture information. The main findings of this study are: (1) architecture information communicated in OSS mailing lists does lead to architecture changes in code; (2) the major cause for architecture changes in both Hibernate and ArgoUML is preventative changes, and the causes of architecture changes are further classified to functional requirement, external quality requirement, and internal quality requirement using the coding techniques of grounded theory; (3) more than 45% of architecture changes in both projects happened before the first stable version was released.
La normalisation comptable internationale

La normalisation comptable internationale est depuis plusieurs annees une question d’actualite. Cet article s’interesse a l’histoire, aux enjeux, aux aspects formels et plus informels du processus de normalisation. L’origine du normalisateur international, la procedure etablie pour l’elaboration des normes internationales ainsi que les contraintes et preoccupations pesant sur ce processus et susceptibles d’influencer les futures normes sont analysees dans cet article.
The potential of digital evidence to contribute to risk assessment of internet offenders

Abstract There is a widely held view among the general public and some professionals that individuals convicted or cautioned solely for internet-related offences inevitably present a significant risk of direct harm to children. Insofar as evidence in relation to this exists, it seems to indicate that internet offenders constitute a heterogeneous group, some of whom may present a significant risk of future contact offending, but many of whom, perhaps a majority, do not. It is essential that risk assessment procedures are developed which can discriminate reliably between relatively high-risk and low-risk groups. The sheer volume, complexity and inaccessibility of digital evidence has deterred a systematic analysis of the relationship between downloaded material and potential risk. However, rather than being regarded as an impenetrable confusion of information, it is possible to regard downloaded material as a golden opportunity to analyse unequivocal evidence of sexual and possibly also personality deviance known to be associated with risk. It also offers the potential of informing and validating other assessment procedures, including interview.
Persistence of immunogenic pulmonary metastases in the presence of protective anti-melanoma immunity.

We have developed a murine melanoma model that allows us to investigate the mechanisms by which spontaneous, immunogenic melanoma metastases escape immunological destruction in syngeneic mice. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that loss of immunogenicity is an obligatory step in the persistence of pulmonary metastases. Fragments of syngeneic K1735-M2 tumor were implanted in the outer edge of one pinna per C3H/HeN mouse, and the growing tumors were removed 2-3 weeks later. Two weeks after removal of the tumors, the mice demonstrated effective T-cell-mediated immunity to s.c. challenge with K1735-M2 cells. However, lung metastases appeared in 23% of the immunized mice within 9-12 weeks after the initial tumor implantation. The expression of protective immunity to s.c. tumors required the presence of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The immunized mice had specific CTLs capable of killing both K1735-M2 melanoma cells and the cells of nine independently derived melanoma metastases. Furthermore, K1735-M2 immunization protected these mice from s.c. tumor challenge with all nine metastatic cell lines. Our results demonstrate that the persistence of these metastases within the lung was not attributable to emergence of antigen-loss variants in immunized hosts. Our model provides an approach to investigate other mechanisms by which spontaneous metastases escape from immunological control and an opportunity to improve immunotherapy of melanoma metastases.
A New Model for Automatic Raster-to- Vector Conversion

There is a growing need for automatic digitizing, or so called automated raster to vector conversion (ARVC) for maps. The benefit of ARVC is the production of maps that consume less space and are easy to search for or retrieve information from. In addition, ARVC is the fundamental step to reusing old maps at higher level of recognition. In this paper, a new model for an ARVC is developed. The proposed model converts the "paper maps" into electronic formats for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and evaluates the performance of the conversion process. To overcome the limitations of existing commercial vectorization software packages, the proposed model is customized to separate textual information, usually the cause of problems in the automatic conversion process, from the delimiting graphics of the map. The model retains the coordinates of the textual information for a later merge with the map after the conversion process. The propose model also addresses the localization problems in ARVC through the knowledge-supported intelligent vectorization system that is designed specifically to improve the accuracy and speed of the vectorization process. Finally, the model has been implemented on a symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) architecture, in order to achieve higher speed up and performance. Keywords-Automatic vectorization, GIS, SMP
Draft Genome Sequence of Exopolysaccharide-Producing Thermophilic Bacterium Brevibacillus thermoruber Strain 423

ABSTRACT Brevibacillus thermoruber strain 423 is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, aerobic, and thermophilic bacterium that produces mannogalactoglucan exopolysaccharide (EPS). We report the draft genome sequence of B. thermoruber 423, which will accelerate research on the cellular organization of thermophilic bacteria, as well as the rational design and optimization of EPS production.
Dissipative Boundary Conditions for One-Dimensional Nonlinear Hyperbolic Systems

We give a new sufficient condition on the boundary conditions for the exponential stability of one-dimensional nonlinear hyperbolic systems on a bounded interval. Our proof relies on the construction of an explicit strict Lyapunov function. We compare our sufficient condition with other known sufficient conditions for nonlinear and linear one-dimensional hyperbolic systems.
Collective identity and readiness for social relations with Jews among Palestinian Arab students at the David Yellin Teacher Training College in Israel

This paper argues that the two national components of identity among Palestinian Arab students in Israel—the Arab component and the Palestinian component—are strong, while the civil Israeli component is very weak. This paper also argues that although social relations between Arab students and Jewish students are very limited, the readiness of Arab students for professional and social relations with Jewish students is greater than the perceived readiness of Jewish students for social relations with Arab students. Correlation coefficients between collective identity and readiness for social relations with Jews reveal that there is no connection between the components of collective identity of Arab students and their familiarity with Jewish students and readiness to have professional and social relations with them.
Pharmakologische und situationsbedingte Beeinflussung der schlafabhängigen Gedächtniskonsolidierung

Numerous studies suggest that sleep benefits memory consolidation and that the consolidation of different types of memory is differentially influenced by certain sleep stages. For example, consolidation of a perceptual skill is linked with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep whereas declarative memory consolidation is linked with slow wave sleep. Antidepressants strongly suppress REM sleep. Therefore, it is important to determine whether their use can affect memory consolidation. In this context, sleep disturbances are also of interest because when these are experienced REM sleep rather than slow wave sleep seems to become important for sleepdependent declarative memory consolidation. The work in this thesis is based on a clinical trial (EudraCT 2007-003546-14) in which 32 male subjects (aged 18 through 39 years) were studied in a sleep laboratory over a 48 hour period. Three manuscripts are included. In the first manuscript, it is demonstrated that the REM sleep-suppressing antidepressant amitriptyline specifically impairs REM sleep-dependent perceptual skill learning, but not REM sleep-independent motor skill or declarative learning. In the second manuscript, another adverse effect of amitriptyline is presented: for the first time it is shown that amitriptyline can disturb sleep by inducing or increasing the number of periodic limb movements during sleep. In the third manuscript, it is demonstrated how sleeping in an unfamiliar environment can disturb sleep and how this kind of sleep disturbance can affect memory consolidation during sleep. The results from the specific studies are discussed in detail in the respective manuscripts and are summarized in the epilogue.
Binary auto encoding feature for multi-sensor image matching

The key technology in aircraft guidance and medical diagnosis is the multi-sensor images matching. In this paper, a matching method based on binary auto-encoding features is proposed for the multi-sensor image with large difference in the imaging characteristics. Firstly, the image is convoluted and encoded by the template. Secondly, the convolution result is pooled, binaried, and converted into binary representation. Then, the binary auto-encoding feature is obtained. Lastly, the feature similarity is calculated by using the binary bit manipulation, and the matching processing is realized efficiently. Finally, a dataset of multi-sensor images is built to test the performance of different matching methods. Experimental results show that our method can achieve highest matching rate.
Association of intelligence with severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in Vietnam Combat veterans.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether intelligence predicts variance in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms beyond that predicted by extent of combat exposure. METHOD The subjects were 105 male Vietnam combat veterans. They completed the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the Combat Exposure Scale, and the Shipley Institute for Living Scale, a measure of general intelligence. Number of years of education was recorded for each subject. RESULTS Multiple regression analyses revealed that estimated full-scale IQ significantly predicted variance in PTSD symptoms beyond that predicted by extent of combat exposure. The lower a subject's intelligence, the more severe were his PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive variables may affect the ability to cope with trauma, thereby affecting whether a person develops chronic PTSD.