Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Characterization and Human T-Cell Responses to a Member of a Novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis mtb39Gene Family

ABSTRACT We have used expression screening of a genomic Mycobacterium tuberculosis library with tuberculosis (TB) patient sera to identify novel genes that may be used diagnostically or in the development of a TB vaccine. Using this strategy, we have cloned a novel gene, termed mtb39a, that encodes a 39-kDa protein. Molecular characterization revealed that mtb39a is a member of a family of three highly related genes that are conserved among strains of M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis BCG but not in other mycobacterial species tested. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated the presence of Mtb39A in M. tuberculosis lysate but not in culture filtrate proteins (CFP), indicating that it is not a secreted antigen. This conclusion is strengthened by the observation that a human T-cell clone specific for purified recombinant Mtb39A protein recognized autologous dendritic cells infected with TB or pulsed with purified protein derivative (PPD) but did not respond to M. tuberculosis CFP. Purified recombinant Mtb39A elicited strong T-cell proliferative and gamma interferon responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 9 of 12 PPD-positive individuals tested, and overlapping peptides were used to identify a minimum of 10 distinct T-cell epitopes. Additionally, mice immunized with mtb39a DNA have shown increased protection from M. tuberculosis challenge, as indicated by a reduction of bacterial load. The human T-cell responses and initial animal studies provide support for further evaluation of this antigen as a possible component of a subunit vaccine for M. tuberculosis.
The Influence of Self-User Shadowing in the Intra-Metro Communication Scenario at 28 GHz

Nowadays metro plays an important role in people’s daily life. It is significant to realize a high-data-rate wireless connectivity in metro carriages. In this paper, the intra-metro channels with the consideration of self-user shadowing at 28 GHz are characterized by ray-tracing (RT) simulation. The three-dimensional metro model is reconstructed according to the actual size of Madrid Metro. Based on the RT simulation results, totally six cases (three transmitter deployments, with and without self-user shadowing) are characterized in terms of angular spreads, received power, root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread. Once the user shadows the channel, the received power will be approximately 15-25 dB less than that of unoccupied. Compared with the parameters of angular spreads and RMS delay spread without shadowing, the wireless link is established by Non-LOS due to the self-user shadowing effect. These results provide valuable insights into the system design and evaluation for wireless communications inside the metro scenario.
DOCUMENTATION OF ANNUAL GROWTH LINES IN OCEAN QUAHOGS, ARCTICA ISLANDICA LINNE

About 42.000ocean quahogs,Arcticaislandica Linne. weremarked and released at a deep (53 m) oceanic site off LongIsland, New York, in 1978. Shells of live specimens recovered 1 and 2 years later were radially sec­ tioned, polished. and etched for preparation of acetate peels and examination byoptical microscopy or micro­ projection; selected specimens were similarly prepared for examination by scanning electron microscopy. Specific growth line and growth increment microstructures are described and photographed. An annual periodicity ofmicrost.ructure ia documented. providing a basis for accurate age analyses ofthis commercially important species.
Transcriptomic Profile of Primary Culture of Skeletal Muscle Cells Isolated from Semitendinosus Muscle of Beef and Dairy Bulls

The aim of the study was to identify differences in the transcriptomic profiles of primary muscle cell cultures derived from the semitendinosus muscle of bulls of beef breeds (Limousin (LIM) and Hereford (HER)) and a dairy breed (Holstein-Friesian (HF)) (n = 4 for each breed). Finding a common expression pattern for proliferating cells may point to such an early orientation of the cattle beef phenotype at the transcriptome level of unfused myogenic cells. To check this hypothesis, microarray analyses were performed. The analysis revealed 825 upregulated and 1300 downregulated transcripts similar in both beef breeds (LIM and HER) and significantly different when compared with the dairy breed (HF) used as a reference. Ontological analyses showed that the largest group of genes were involved in muscle organ development. Muscle cells of beef breeds showed higher expression of genes involved in myogenesis (including erbb-3, myf5, myog, des, igf-1, tgfb2) and those encoding proteins comprising the contractile apparatus (acta1, actc1, myh3, myh11, myl1, myl2, myl4, tpm1, tnnt2, tnnc1). The obtained results confirmed our hypothesis that the expression profile of several groups of genes is common in beef breeds at the level of proliferating satellite cells but differs from that observed in typical dairy breeds.
Mechanism for Removal of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1 from the Cell Surface by the Adenovirus RIDα/β Complex

ABSTRACT Proteins encoded in adenovirus early region 3 have important immunoregulatory properties. We have recently shown that the E3-10.4K/14.5K (RIDα/β) complex downregulates tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) expression at the plasma membrane. To study the role of the RIDβ tyrosine sorting motif in the removal of surface TNFR1, tyrosine 122 on RIDβ was mutated to alanine or phenylalanine. Both RIDβ mutations not only abolished the downregulation of surface TNFR1 but paradoxically increased surface TNFR1 levels. RID also downregulates other death receptors, such as FAS; however, surface FAS expression was not increased by RIDβ mutants, suggesting that regulation of TNFR1 and that of FAS by RID are mechanistically different. In the mixing experiments, the wild-type (WT) RID-mediated TNFR1 downregulation was partially inhibited in the presence of RIDβ mutants, indicating that the mutants compete for TNFR1 access. Indeed, an association between RIDβ and TNFR1 was shown by coimmunoprecipitation. In contrast, the mutants did not affect the WT RID-induced downregulation of FAS. These differential effects support a model in which RID associates with TNFR1 on the plasma membrane, whereas RID probably associates with FAS in a cytoplasmic compartment. By using small interfering RNA against the μ2 subunit of adaptor protein 2, dominant negative dynamin construct K44A, and the lysosomotropic agents bafilomycin A1 and ammonium chloride, we also demonstrated that surface TNFR1 was internalized by RID by a clathrin-dependent process involving μ2 and dynamin, followed by degradation of TNFR1 via an endosomal/lysosomal pathway.
Litterfall and Element Fluxes in a Natural Hardwood Forest and a Chinese‐fir Plantation Experiencing Frequent Typhoon Disturbance in Central Taiwan

Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) is the most important forest plantation species in subtropical Asia and is rapidly replacing natural forests. Such land‐use change may affect ecosystem nutrient cycling through changes in litterfall nutrient flux. Tropical cyclones often cause pulses of litterfall. Previous studies, however, have mostly focused on the effects of a single cyclone with little effort examining the effects of repeated cyclones. We examined litterfall in a natural hardwood forest and a Chinese‐fir plantation in central Taiwan experiencing an average of one typhoon per year. The natural hardwood forest had 54 percent higher annual litterfall (11,400 kg/ha/yr) than the Chinese‐fir plantation (7400 kg/ha/yr). Four typhoon‐affected months (typhoon period) contributed to approximately 60 percent of the litterfall and litterfall element flux in the natural hardwood forest and 80 percent in the Chinese‐fir plantation, with contributions from individual typhoons varied by more than twofold. Litterfall N and P concentrations were significantly higher in typhoon period than in non‐typhoon period, likely the result of limited retranslocation. Precipitation was a better predictor of quantity of typhoon‐associated litterfall than wind velocity. Both types of forests in southeastern China beyond the reach of typhoons have litterfall peaks in the dry season. In contrast, we measured higher litterfall during the typhoon period than during the dry season, suggesting that in regions with frequent cyclones, cyclones drive temporal variation of litterfall. Global climate change is affecting the frequency and intensity of cyclones; therefore, knowledge of typhoon‐litterfall dynamics is indispensable for understanding the effects of climate change on ecosystem nutrient cycling.
Biodeterioração de produtos à base da madeira de cedro australiano (Toona ciliata M. Roem. var. australis)

Conduziu-se este trabalho, com os objetivos de: avaliar a resistencia natural de paineis reconstituidos e da madeira de Toona ciliata ao ataque de fungos por meio de ensaio acelerado de laboratorio; caracterizar seus componentes anatomicos segundo IAWA; quantificar os valores de lignina soluvel e insoluvel; das amostras por hidrolise acida e os parâmetros colorimetricos antes e apos o ataque dos fungos, utilizando o sistema CIE-L*a*b*(1976). A madeira solida foi classificada como moderadamente e altamente resistente ao fungo de podridao branca (Trametes versicolor) e parda (Gloeophyllum trabeum). Os paineis OSB foram resistentes e moderadamente resistentes a podridao branca e para a parda, foram altamente resistentes. A variacao de especies e particulas nao teve efeito positivo nos tratamentos. Com relacao a madeira, ambos os fungos apresentaram inibicao, em razao da presenca de resina fenolica. Os aglomerados foram classificados como moderadamente resistentes a podridao branca. Os tratamentos T2 (cedro) e T4 (cedro-eucalipto) foram resistentes, mas o T3 (cedro-pinus) nao resistiu ao ataque do fungo de podridao parda. A resina ureia-formaldeido nao inibiu os ataques como a fenolica. Anatomicamente, a especie apresentou textura media, linhas vasculares retilineas, cheiro agradavel ao corte e superficie radial pouco lustrosa. Sua estrutura anatomica favoreceu a colonizacao das hifas dos fungos. Todos os tratamentos ocasionaram escurecimento, apos o ataque do fungo G. trabeum, com variacao total da cor. Observou-se que, com a perda de massa, houve aumento nos teores de lignina insoluvel, para todos os tratamentos, indicando que essa propriedade quimica e um fator determinante na resistencia da madeira ao ataque dos fungos avaliados.
Survival of the weakest: increased frond mechanical strength in a wave‐swept kelp inhibits self‐pruning and increases whole‐plant mortality

Summary Organisms' ability to withstand the physical forces of their environment is a key determinant of their success. Mechanical performance of organisms is often associated with the properties of the tissues that compose them. In mechanically stressful habitats, intraspecific variation in tissue properties may result in differential survivorship and enable natural selection to act on material performance. We tested the hypothesis that tissue mechanical properties affect survivorship (a fitness component) of the perennial kelp, Egregia menziesii, in a mechanically stressful, wave-swept intertidal habitat. We measured intraspecific variation in strength and flexibility in 38 E. menziesii and tracked their survivorship in the field over the winter storm season to determine whether variation in mechanical properties led to differential survivorship. Significant interindividual variation was found in most mechanical properties, including strength and flexibility. Individuals with increased flexibility and decreased strength were more likely to survive the duration of our study, although this effect was more pronounced in individuals with smaller holdfasts. Increased frond strength was also associated with a reduction in self-thinning, potentially explaining the observed increase in whole-plant mortality with increasing frond strength. Results from this study demonstrate that variation in tissue mechanical properties among conspecifics can influence survivorship and this may have important evolutionary implications.
Patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview: A mixed method study in a Swedish outpatient setting

This study is an evaluation of clinicians’ and patients’ experiences of the core Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) in DSM-5. The CFI provides a framework for gathering culturally relevant information, but its final form has not been sufficiently evaluated. Aims were to assess the Clinical Utility (CU), Feasibility (F) and Acceptability (A) of the CFI for clinicians and patients, and to explore clinicians’ experiences of using the CFI in a multicultural clinical setting in Sweden. A mixed-method design was applied, using the CFI Debriefing Instrument for Clinicians (N = 15) and a revised version of the Debriefing Instrument for Patients (N = 114) (DIC and DIP, scored from −2 to 2). Focus group interviews were conducted with clinicians. For patients (response rate 50%), the CU mean was 0.98 (SD = 0.93) and F mean 1.07 (SD = 0.83). Overall rating of the interview was 8.30 (SD = 1.75) on a scale from 0 and 10. For clinicians (response rate 94%), the CU mean was 1.14 (SD = 0.52), F 0.58 (SD = 0.93) and A 1.42 (SD = 0.44). From clinician focus-group interviews, the following themes were identified: approaching the patient and the problem in a new manner; co-creating rapport and understanding; and affecting clinical reasoning and assessment. Patients and clinicians found the CFI in DSM-5 to be a feasible, acceptable, and clinically useful assessment tool. The focus group interviews suggested that using the CFI at initial contact can help make psychiatric assessment patient-centred by facilitating patients’ illness narratives. We argue for further refinements of the CFI.
Metagovernance

Current changes in governing tasks that face the political systems in liberal democracies require governance to be performed in new ways. Governance can no longer take the form of sovereign rule but must be performed through various forms of metagovernance, regulation of self-regulation. The consequence is a transformation of the role that politicians play in the governance of society that endangers representative democracy aswe knowit but does not necessarily endanger representative democracy as such. A case study of the specific, narrow way in which the newmetagoverning politician role is interpreted and institutionalized in four Danish municipalities suggests that network governance marginalizes politicians and consequently weakens representative democracy. If this weakening of democracy is to be avoided, politicians must strengthen their roles in metagovernance by broadening their leadership repertoire to include framing through institutional design, storytelling, supporting and facilitating, and participating.
On ostraciiform locomotion

Among the teleosts three basic modes of locomotion have been recognized; anguilli-form, carangiform and ostraciiform (Breder, 1926). During the past 50 years much attention has been paid to the anguilliform (Breder, 1926; Gray, 1933 a, b; Gadd, 1952; Taylor, 1952; Lighthill, 1960, 1969, 1970) and carangiform (Breder, 1926; Gray, 1933 c; Bainbridge, 1958, 1960, 1963; Lighthill, 1969, 1970) modes. In contrast little work has been done on the ostraciiform mode. Models have been made along mechanical (Breder, 1926; Gray, 1968, p. 35) and mathematical (Smith & Stone, 1961) lines. How-ever as Gray (1968) points out, ostraciiform locomotion has not been analysed in living fish.
HDR Reconstruction Based on the Polarization Camera

The recent development of the on-chip micro-polarizer technology has made it possible to acquire – with the same ease of operation as a conventional camera – spatially aligned and temporally synchronized polarization images simultaneously in four orientations. This development has created new opportunities for interesting applications including those in robotics. In this letter, we investigate the use of this sensor technology in high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging. Specifically, observing that natural light can be attenuated differently by varying the direction of the polarization filter, we treat the multiple images captured by the polarization camera as a set captured at different exposure times, useful to the reconstruction of an HDR image. In our approach, we first study the radiometric model of the polarization camera, and relate the polarizer direction, degree and angle of polarization of light to the exposure time of a pixel in the polarization images. Subsequently, by applying the standard radiometric calibration procedure of a camera, we recover the camera response function. With multiple polarization images at known pixel-specific exposure times, we can then proceed to estimate the irradiance maps from the images and generate an HDR image. Two datasets are created to evaluate our approach, and experimental results show the dynamic range by our approach can be increased by an amount dependent on light polarization. We also use two robotics experiments on feature matching and visual odometry to demonstrate the potential benefit of this increased dynamic range.
Reliable IoT Systems for Improving Quality of Battery Life Through The Exploitation of Cloud, Mobile and BLE Technologies. Case Study: Battery Charge Protect

Connecting various smart objects within an intelligent ecosystem provides high capability of developing and integrating mobile, cloud and embedded device communications based on existing internet infrastructure. This has been the trend of Internet of Things (IoT), addressing health, quality of life, smart cities. In this paper we are focused on similar aspects with a proper case study in an embedded system, used in protecting batteries of mobile devices. Cloud/Mobile applications interconnected with embedded devices are presented. The research undertaken presents not just the technological innovation, exploiting state of the art technology, but also the security benefits and prolongation of battery life. The system has been fully developed, tested and it's benefits evaluated throughout the paper. We have been able to integrate and provide a real life case study adopting this integrated architecture to be reused for future implementations.
Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora Infection Induced “Defense Lignin” Accumulation and Lignin Biosynthetic Gene Expression in Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)

Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora (Ecc) infects and causes soft rot disease in hundreds of crop species including vegetables, flowers and fruits. Lignin biosynthesis has been implicated in defensive reactions to injury and pathogen infection in plants. In this work, variations of lignin content and gene expression in the molecular interaction between Chinese cabbage and Ecc were investigated. H2O2 accumulation and peroxidase activity were detected by 3, 3 � - Dimethoxybenzidine staining at mocked and Ecc-inoculated sites of Chinese cabbage leafstalks. Klason lignin content in inoculated plants increased by about 7.84%, 40.37%, and 43.13% more than that of the mocked site at 12, 24 and 72 h after inoculation, respectively. Gas chromatography detected more p-coumaryl (H) and less coniferyl (G) and sinapyl (S) monolignins in leafstalks of Chinese cabbage. All three monomers increased in Ecc-infected leafstalks, and the Ecc-induced "defense lignin" were composed of more G and H monolignins, and less S monolignin. After searching the expressed sequence tags (EST) data of Chinese cabbage, 12 genes putatively encoding enzymes involved in lignin biosynthesis were selected to study their expression. All of these genes could be induced by mock inoculation and Ecc infection, while the gene expression lasted for several more hours in the infected samples than in mocked and untreated plants. Our results indicated that "defense lignin" was different from the developmental lignin in composition; G and S monolignins were significantly induced in plants in response to the soft rot Ecc; thus, lignin biosynthesis was differentially regulated and played a role in plant response to the soft rot Ecc.
Achieving Wider Impedance Bandwidth Using FullWavelength Dipoles

This paper investigates the use of full-wavelength dipoles (FWD) to achieve wider bandwidth than halfwavelength dipoles (HWD). Two dual-polarized antennas are built based on FWDs for base station applications as examples. The first antenna is an isolated cross-dipole employing two FWDs with simple configuration. It is able to cover the lower band for cellular communication from 698 to 960 MHz. The second antenna has four FWDs arranged in a square loop array form and tightly coupled with each other. The employed full-wavelength dipoles are bent upward to maintain a small aperture size, so that the realized element still fits in traditional base station antenna (BSA) array. The antenna can be matched across the band from 1.65 to 3.7 GHz, which can cover both the 3G/4G band from 1.7 to 2.7 GHz and the 5G (sub-6 GHz) band from 3.3 to 3.6 GHz simultaneously. By comparing the attained antennas with comparable antennas based on HWDs, it demonstrates a fact that, when fed properly, FWDs exhibit wider bandwidth than HWDs, and the available methods to improve the bandwidth of HWDs can also be used on FWDs.
Closely Spaced Series Fed Tapered Arrays for Base Station Massive MIMO Application

In this paper, series fed tapered array antenna for base station massive MIMO (m-MIMO) application is proposed. A 5-element series fed array is considered as an antenna sub-array element for proposed m-MIMO antenna system. The sub-array elements are tapered uniformly with respect to center element to reduce side lobe level and mutual coupling from adjacent sub- array. Simulation for two and eight element m-MIMO design prototype is presented. A two-element m-MIMO prototype is fabricated and measured for validation. A very closely spaced (0.08λ0) sub-arrays offer mutual coupling less than –20 dB, azimuth and elevation half-power beam width of 105° and 30° respectively and side lobe level less than -20 dB.
Development of Hiryu-II: A Long-Reach Articulated Modular Manipulator Driven by Thrusters

Robotic manipulators using thrusters for weight compensation are an active research topic due to their potential to exceed the limits of maximum length. However, existing manipulators that use thrusters have limitations of maximum length because the hardware design is not sufficiently refined. This letter focuses on overcoming these limitations and realizing an articulated manipulator more than twice the length of conventional ones. To cancel the moment for each link, we performed static analysis considering the torsional deformation around the link axis to derive the thruster position. Weight compensation and joint angle control of the manipulator can be realized with simple proportional integral derivative control for each link by numerical simulation. Consequently, we demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed manipulator by lifting a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{0.6 kg}$</tex-math></inline-formula> payload at the arm end with a prototype of length <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{6.6 m}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Theoretically, each thrust force control input was almost constant, regardless of link attitude. This suggests modular properties that contribute to the practicality of the proposed manipulator for various tasks.