Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Initiation et développement des décharges couronnes sur une surface de glace

Les surfaces dielectriques exposees a des champs electriques tangentiels constituent generalement la partie la plus vulnerable des systemes haute tension. Bien que le contournement de ces surfaces ait ete largement etudie, et malgre le fait qu'on ait une bonne connaissance des decharges electriques dans les gaz, la comprehension physique de la decharge sur une surface de glace reste encore a explorer. Les investigations entreprises dans ce projet visaient a explorer davantage les mecanismes physiques fondamentaux d'une decharge electrique sur une surface de glace. La comprehension de ces mecanismes pourra permettre de concevoir des equipements mieux adaptes au climat des regions froides et ainsi d'accroitre la fiabilite des reseaux de transport d'energie sous des conditions de givrage atmospherique. Des techniques de photographie ultra rapide ont ete utilisees afin d'observer les premieres nanosecondes du developpement de la decharge. La forme des isolateurs reels etant complexe, un modele physique de geometrie simple (tige-plan), avec differentes valeurs de rayons de courbure, a ete utilise. Le champ d'apparition des couronnes de streamers, leur vitesse de propagation et la distance axiale du volume critique ont ete etudies. Les resultats ont ete determines a l'aide de la loi empirique de Peek et compares avec ceux obtenus dans le cas de l'air. Ils ont montre que la presence d'une surface de glace modifiait considerablement les parametres d'initiation et developpement des couronnes de streamers. Plusieurs hypotheses pouvant etre a la base de l'initiation et de la propagation d'une decharge electrique sur une surface de glace ont ete retenues. Il est possible que la decharge en interagissant avec la surface de glace fasse intervenir d'autres mecanismes physiques inexistants dans le cas de l'air. L'hypothese d'une eventuelle accumulation de charges a la surface de la glace nous a semble tres pertinente. La presence de ces charges surfaciques modifierait considerablement la distribution du champ electrique local, ce qui expliquerait la distorsion des parametres d'initiation et de propagation de la decharge en presence d'une surface de glace. Des mecanismes qui pourraient etre a la base du processus d'accumulation de ces charges ont ete aussi identifies.
An intrinsic B‐cell defect supports autoimmunity in New Zealand black chromosome 13 congenic mice

Introgression of a New Zealand Black (NZB) chromosome 13 interval onto a C57BL/6 (B6) background (B6.NZBc13) is sufficient to produce many hallmarks of lupus, including high‐titre anti‐chromatin antibody production, abnormal B‐ and T‐cell activation, and renal disease. In this study we sought to characterize the immune defects leading to these abnormalities. By generating hematopoietic chimeras and BCR transgenic mice, we show that the congenic autoimmune phenotype can be transferred by BM cells and requires the presence of autoreactive B cells. Using the hen egg white lysozyme immunoglobulin transgenic mouse model, we demonstrate that B‐cell anergy, deletion, and receptor editing are intact. Nevertheless, congenic B cells exhibit altered peripheral B‐cell selection, as demonstrated by enhanced survival and activation of endogenous B cells with autoreactivity to chromatin and Sm/ribonucleoprotein. Given the autoantibody specificities to nuclear antigens, TLR signalling was assessed. B6.NZBc13 B cells were hyper‐responsive to poly(I:C), a TLR3 ligand, demonstrating enhanced proliferation and survival as compared to B6 B cells. Our findings indicate the presence of an intrinsic B‐cell defect on NZB chromosome 13 that results in hyper‐responsiveness to a dsRNA analogue and implicates its potential supporting role in the generation of autoimmunity in B6.NZBc13 mice.
Clinical Aspects of Cardiometabolic Risk‐Factor Reduction: A Case‐based Approach

WHAT ASSESSMENTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED NEXT TO EVALUATE CLINT’S OBESITY-ASSOCIATED CARDIOMETABOLIC RISK PROFILE? Other than ordering standard blood and urine laboratory tests, the single most useful assessment at this point in the evaluation would be to measure the patient’s waist circumference. High waist circumference is a cardiovascular risk factor that is independently associated with each of the other components of metabolic syndrome. Waist circumference is also strongly correlated with the volume of intra-abdominal fat as measured directly by computed tomography. Many clinicians believe that this simple anthropometric measurement should be used routinely in standard clinical practice, in conjunction with body mass index (BMI) and other cardiometabolic risk markers such as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, glucose, and blood pressure, for the global assessment of metabolic and cardiovascular risk. To maximize the prognostic accuracy of waist circumference measurement, it is important to follow a few simple guidelines. The tape measure should be placed around the bare abdomen, just above the hip bones. When taking the measurement, the measuring tape should be parallel to the floor and located midway between the top of the iliac crest and the lower rib margin on each side.The tape should be snug but not compress the skin. The patient should relax and exhale while the measurement is made.
Primary and secondary structure of a new viroid 'species' (CbVd 1) present in the Coleus blumei cultivar 'Bienvenue'

The detection of a viroid in Coleus blumei species in Brazil (1) has prompted us to search for viroids in C. blumei cultivars (cvs) commercially propagated by cuttings for more than 50 years in Germany. 'Return' PAGE (2) of nucleic acid extracts from the cv 'Bienvenue' revealed a band of circular viroid-like RNA molecules. Northern blot analysis (3) with radioactive probes specific for viroids representative for the currently known viroid groups (4) did not exhibit any signals indicating that this circular RNA might represent a new viroid 'species'. This also precluded the use of known viroid-specific DNA primers for the reverse transcription and sequence analysis of this RNA. Consequently, the sequence of parts of it was established by direct RNA sequencing (5), which allowed the synthesis of DNA primers specific for the reverse transcription of the new viroid. Its isolation, purification and sequence analysis by primer elongation were performed as described (6). The sequence and the secondary structure model of the 248 nt long new viroid, tentatively named Coleus blumei viroid 1 (CbVd 1), are shown in the figure.
The Proto-Oncogene c-myc Regulates Antibody Secretion and Ig Class Switch Recombination

The immune response involves the generation of Ab-secreting cells and memory B cells through a process called terminal B lymphocyte differentiation. This program requires the transcriptional repressor Blimp-1, which inhibits c-myc expression and terminates proliferation. Although the role of c-Myc in cell proliferation is well characterized, it is not known whether it has other functions in terminal differentiation. In this study, we show that c-Myc not only regulates cell proliferation, but it is also essential for Ab-secreting cell function and differentiation in vivo. c-Myc–deficient B lymphocytes hypersecrete IgM and do not undergo Ig class switch recombination (CSR). CSR has been previously linked to proliferation, and in this study we mechanistically link class switching and proliferation via c-Myc. We observed that c-Myc regulates CSR by transcriptionally activating the B cell–specific factor activation-induced cytidine deaminase. By linking cell proliferation and CSR, c-Myc is thus a critical component for a potent immune response
Correlating electronic health record concepts with healthcare process events

Objective To study the relation between electronic health record (EHR) variables and healthcare process events. Materials and methods Lagged linear correlation was calculated between five healthcare process events and 84 EHR variables (24 clinical laboratory values and 60 clinical concepts extracted from clinical notes) in a 24-year database. The EHR variables were clustered for each healthcare process event and interpreted. Results Laboratory tests tended to cluster together and note concepts tended to cluster together. Within each of those two classes, the variables clustered into clinically sensible groupings. The exact groupings varied from healthcare process event to event, with the largest differences occurring between inpatient events and outpatient events. Discussion Unlike previously reported pairwise associations between variables, which highlighted correlations across the laboratory–clinical note divide, incorporating healthcare process events appeared to be sensitive to the manner in which the variables were collected. Conclusion We believe that it may be possible to exploit this sensitivity to help knowledge engineers select variables and correct for biases.
Constraints on egg discrimination and cuckoo-host co-evolution

To understand the co-existence of rejection and acceptance of cuckoo eggs within a host population, the mechanism of egg discrimination and the cost-benefit balance of rejection behaviour were investigated. At a study site in central Japan, rejection rate of cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, eggs by great reed warblers, Acrocephalus arundinaceus, was 61·5%. An analysis of host response to natural and experimental parasitism with real cuckoo eggs, cuckoo egg models and painted host eggs indicated that: (1) hosts are more likely to reject eggs that look diVerent from their own; (2) almost all individuals (94%) can reject highly non-mimetic eggs, suggesting that there are few, if any, true accepter genotypes in the host population; (3) hosts usually reject by egg ejection; (4) during the host-laying period, the day of parasitism does not aVect host response; (5) egg types that were rejected at lower rates also took longer to be rejected; (6) acceptance was more likely to occur among mid-season breeders which consist of a higher proportion of younger females in the host population. Two experiments indicated that previous exposure of a host to its own eggs aVects its rejection behaviour, suggesting that a learning mechanism (an imprinting-like process) is involved. Parasitized nests from which the cuckoo egg was experimentally removed, or ejected by hosts, fledged more host young than nests in which the cuckoo egg was accepted. Hosts that deserted parasitized nests were likely to re-nest, and the success of re-nests was high. Costs due to breakage of host eggs occurred in only 3·5% of successful cuckoo egg ejections. A cost-benefit model of egg rejection suggests that under some circumstances, the cost of recognition errors may exceed that of parasitism. Egg variability within a clutch was higher among younger females. Some hosts rejected painted eggs and conspecific eggs based on diVerences that may occur naturally within variable clutches of other individuals. It is suggested that host egg variability is a major constraint on the learning mechanism of egg recognition. Accordingly, the cost of mistakenly rejecting an odd egg from the nest selects for greater tolerance towards divergent eggs in young breeders, and justifies a prolonged learning mechanism in which a host can learn to recognize the variation range of its own eggs. The co-existence of rejection and acceptance within the host population can therefore be explained as a compromise between the cost of parasitism and the cost of recognition errors, rather than as an evolutionary lag. This explanation is particularly pertinent where the cuckoo has evolved mimetic eggs and where the parasitism rate is low.
Estrategias de diversificación en los grupos familiares y no familiares: principales diferencias según el tipo de grupo no familiar

[ES] Durante la ultima decada surge un interes por el estudio de la estructura de propiedad como elemento determinante de la diversificacion. Sin embargo, existe una carencia de investigaciones que analicen la influencia de la naturaleza del ultimo propietario en el nivel y tipo de diversificacion. Por ello, el objeto del presente trabajo es analizar las estrategias de diversificacion empleadas por los grandes grupos empresariales espanoles cuya empresa matriz cotiza en los mercados de valores, estudiando las diferencias existentes entre grupos familiares y no familiares, y considerando en estos ultimos la naturaleza del ultimo propietario. Se parte de una muestra de noventa y nueve grupos empresariales, donde se identifican las companias que constituyen el grupo empresarial, siendo empleadas como metodologias econometricas los modelos logisticos binomiales y los modelos datos panel. Los resultados muestran como la naturaleza familiar del grupo influye positivamente en la especializacion y en el empleo de estrategias de diversificacion relacionada, y negativamente en el empleo de estrategias de diversificacion no relacionada. Los grupos familiares difieren en mayor medida de aquellos grupos no familiares donde no existe un accionista de referencia que pueda ejercer el control efectivo del grupo y la dispersion de la propiedad es mayor, los denominados grupos sin control efectivo . La investigacion permite profundizar en el analisis de las diferencias existentes entre grupos familiares y no familiares, y mas concretamente en el ambito de las estrategias de crecimiento, considerando la naturaleza del ultimo propietario de los grupos no familiares.
Power Transfer Efficiency Analysis of Intermediate-Resonator for Wireless Power Transfer

We investigate the effect of intermediate resonators (i.e., intermediate receiver (i-Rx) or relay) on the power transfer efficiency (PTE) for nonradiative wireless power transfer (WPT) with transmitter (Tx), intermediate-resonators, and end receiver (e-Rx). Specifically, we consider WPT systems with two different types of an intermediate resonator: 1) WPT relay systems, where the relay has no load resistor and just forwards the power from the Tx to the e-Rx, and 2) WPT i-Rx systems, where both i-Rx and e-Rx have a load resistor each and the power transmitted by the Tx is consumed at each Rx. Using an equivalent circuit model, we derive a closed-form solution for representing the optimal coupling coefficients between the Tx and the intermediate resonator for a given placement of the intermediate resonator and the e-Rx, i.e., <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k_{12,\rm {opt}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> for WPT i-Rx systems and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k_{1r,\rm {opt}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> for WPT relay systems, respectively. The analytical result indicates that the quality factors of resonators have a great effect on determining their optimal positions. We also provide performance comparisons between the considered WPT systems. From the result, it is observed that <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k_{12,\rm {opt}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> is always larger than <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k_{1r,\rm {opt}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, which indicates that the optimal position of the Tx is closer to the i-Rx rather than the relay. Moreover, in this case, WPT i-Rx systems can attain a higher PTE than WPT relay systems. Performing experiments under a variety of scenarios, we verify that the analytical results are in concordance with the measured ones.
Static Magnetic Field Stimulation over Parietal Cortex Enhances Somatosensory Detection in Humans

The role of neuronal oscillations in human somatosensory perception is currently unclear. To address this, here we use noninvasive brain stimulation to artificially modulate cortical network dynamics in the context of neurophysiological and behavioral recordings. We demonstrate that transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS) over the somatosensory parietal cortex increases oscillatory power specifically in the alpha range, without significantly affecting bottom-up thalamocortical inputs indexed by the early cortical component of somatosensory evoked potentials. Critically, we next show that parietal tSMS enhances the detection of near-threshold somatosensory stimuli. Interestingly, this behavioral improvement reflects a decrease of habituation to somatosensation. Our data therefore provide causal evidence that somatosensory perception depends on parietal alpha activity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Artificially increasing alpha power by placing a powerful magnetic field over the somatosensory cortex overcomes the natural decline in detection probability of a repeated near-threshold sensory stimulus.
A service framework for emerging markets

The growth pattern of wireless, mobile devices, cloud computing, social networking applications, and Internet technologies leads to a very revolutionized communication market. These also have greatly impacted the social and economic fabric. One may expect highly dynamic markets, different definition of resources, and frequently swappable stakeholders roles. In this paper, we present our vision of different market settings and investigate the resource trade in more dynamic market settings. We use auctioning theory to model the resource/item trade in different markets. We also extensively develop an Android application, implement communication protocols, and develop generic service framework to realize the proposed approach.
Update on the Fungal Biofilm Drug Resistance and Its Alternative Treatment

Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) are the two main pathogens in the clinical setting to cause serious, sometimes, lethal fungal infections. Immunocompromised patients fall victims to these fungi, with a mortality rate rising drastically over the past decades. This is in correlation with the fact that conventional antifungals are no longer capable of completely eradicating the disease, or if so, high doses are usually required to do so, leading to eventual resistance to those drugs and severe side effects. High drug resistance is in association with the discovery that these opportunistic pathogens have the ability to develop a multicellular complex, known as biofilm. Biofilms prevent drugs from reaching the fungal cells by sequestering them in their extracellular matrix. Other factors such as extracellular DNA, persister cells or heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) also play a role in biofilm and contribute to drug recalcitrance. With the discovery of new antifungals lagging behind, scientists focused on other more profitable ways to counteract this phenomenon. Combination of two or more antifungals was found effective but came with serious drawbacks. Natural plant extracts, such as traditional Chinese medicine have also been demonstrated in vitro to possess antimicrobial actions. Great interest was directed towards their use with conventional antifungal agents with a possibility of lowering the necessary concentration required to inhibit the growth of fungi. This review aims in understanding the different factors contributing to clinical drug resistance and evaluating the effect of combination therapy and natural products on those cases difficult to treat.
The Apparent Linkage between Centriole Replication and the S Phase of the Cell Cycle

Any effort to experimentally explore the roles of candidate cell cycle regulatory pathways in the control of centrosome duplication is dependent upon an understanding of when centrosome reproduction begins in the cell cycle. The morphological events of centrosome reproduction are almost universally said to start with the appearance of short daughter centrioles, or procentrioles, at the proximal ends of the mature centrioles at the G1–S boundary (reviewed in Stubblefield and Brinkley, 1967; Wheatley, 1982; Vandre and Borisy, 1989; Kellogg et al., 1994). The apparent close temporal correlation between daughter centriole formation and the onset of DNA synthesis is intriguing because it suggests the cell cycle pathways that control entry into and progression through S phase also regulate when centrioles begin to reproduce. We note, however, that centriole duplication would have to be linked to the cell cycle conditions of S phase, and not the actual replication of DNA per se, because a number of studies have documented centriole duplication in enucleated cells and in cells that enter S phase but cannot synthesize DNA (Lorch, 1952; Rattner and Phillips, 1973; Kuriyama et al., 1986; Sluder et al., 1986; Sluder and Lewis, 1987; Raff and Glover, 1988; Balczon et al., 1995; Hinchcliffe et al., 1998). In this article we review the experimental evidence underlying the belief that centriole duplication is linked with the entry into, or progression through S phase.
Basilar extension and posterior inferior cerebellar artery involvement as risk factors for progression of the unruptured spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection

Background and purpose Spontaneous intradural vertebral artery dissection (siVAD) primarily causes stroke in young and middle-aged individuals; however, data on the relationship between vertebrobasilar morphology and the progression of siVAD are limited. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the data of 77 adult patients who were diagnosed with unruptured siVAD and treated conservatively. We analysed the clinical characteristics, vertebrobasilar morphologies and progression. Progression was defined as siVAD-induced stroke or morphological worsening of the siVAD. Results Twenty patients experienced progression. Recurrent ischaemic events that occurred in the vertebrobasilar territory were seen in three patients (3.9%). Two of these three patients and other 17 patients showed morphological worsening. None of the patients presented with subarachnoid haemorrhage. The log-rank test showed male sex, migraine, basilar extension and the posterior inferior cerebellar artery involvement were associated with the progression. Multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model showed that only basilar extension and the posterior inferior cerebellar artery involvement were significantly related to the progression (p=0.012 and 0.019). In addition, patients with these two vertebrobasilar morphologies had a significantly shorter period of progression of siVAD than those without these morphologies (both, median 242 days; one of two, median 1292 days; none, median 2445 days). Conclusions Thus, some vertebrobasilar morphologies might be markers of the progression of unruptured siVAD. Although all unruptured siVAD patients should be closely monitored, those with basilar extension and posterior inferior cerebellar artery involvement should perhaps be more carefully followed than those without such morphologies.
The Genus Hafnia: from Soup to Nuts

SUMMARY The genus Hafnia, a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, consists of gram-negative bacteria that are occasionally implicated in both intestinal and extraintestinal infections in humans. Despite the fact that the genus currently contains only a single species (H. alvei), more extensive phylogenetic depth (two or more species) is apparent based upon DNA relatedness and 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies. Hafnia causes a variety of systemic infections, including septicemia and pneumonia; however, its role as a gastrointestinal pathogen is controversial. Many of the data supporting a role for hafniae as enteric pathogens were incorrectly attributed to this genus rather than to the actual pathogen, Escherichia albertii. There are numerous gaps in our understanding of this genus, including ecologic habitats and population genetics, disease-producing role in animals, phenetic and genetic methods useful in distinguishing genomospecies within the H. alvei complex, and bona fide pathogenicity factors.