Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD8+ T Cells Define an Unexpected Role in Live-Attenuated Vaccine Protective Immunity against Chlamydia trachomatis Infection in Macaques

Trachoma, caused by the obligate intracellular organism Chlamydia trachomatis, is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness for which a vaccine is needed. We have previously shown that a plasmid-deficient live-attenuated trachoma vaccine delivered ocularly to macaques elicited either solid or partial protective immunity against a virulent ocular challenge. Solidly protected macaques shared the same MHC class II alleles implicating CD4+ T cells in superior protective immunity. Understandably, we sought to define T cell immune correlates in these animals to potentially improve vaccine efficacy. In this study, following a 2-y resting period, these macaques were boosted i.m. with the live-attenuated trachoma vaccine and their peripheral T cell anamnestic responses studied. Both solidly and partially protected macaques exhibited a CD4+ and CD8+ T cell anamnestic response following booster immunization. CD8+ but not CD4+ T cells from solidly protected macaques proliferated against soluble chlamydial Ag. We observed a more rapid T cell inflammatory cytokine response in tears of solidly protected animals following ocular rechallenge. Most notably, depletion of CD8+ T cells in solidly protected macaques completely abrogated protective immunity. Collectively, our findings support the conclusion that CD8+ T cells play an important but unexpected role in live-attenuated trachoma vaccine-mediated protective immunity.
Node self-localization algorithm for wireless sensor networks based on modified particle swarm optimization

Node self-localization is an important issue in wireless sensor networks (WSN). To solve this problem, a node self-localization algorithm is proposed. A modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) is introduced to find out the location of unknown nodes. It confirms the variation of particle to ensure the steady convergence of the algorithm to global optimal solution. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can search global optimal solution faster than traditional PSO. Comparing with the least square (LS) method which is widely used in the field of node self-localization, the new algorithm has better robustness. The precision of localization is greatly advanced and less anchor nodes are needed.
The Effect of Reinsurance on the Degree of Risk Associated with an Insurer's Portfolio

There are many reasons why an insurer may choose to reinsure a part of his portfolio (see, for example, Carter (1979, p. 5 ff.)) and many ways in which he can assess the effectiveness of the reinsurance arrangements he makes. In this paper we assume the insurer wishes to reinsure a part of his portfolio in order to reduce its “riskiness”. We take as given a portfolio consisting of n independent risks together with the total premium charged to insure these risks and we investigate the effect on the degree of risk associated with the portfolio (see §3 for a definition) of varying the excess of loss or proportional reinsurance limits for each risk. We are given an insurance portfolio consisting of n independent risks. A risk may consist of a single policy or a group of policies: the essential points being that a reinsurance limit, either excess of loss or proportional, is the same for all claims arising from a particular risk, although reinsurance limits may vary from one risk to another. We assume the claims arising from each risk have a compound Poisson distribution. To be more precise, we assume the number of claims arising from the i-th risk is a Poisson process with mean Pi claims each year and the size of each claim has distribution function Fi. As usual, the size of a claim is independent of the time at which it occurs and of all other claims. We also assume that Fi(O) = O for each i, so that we consider only positive claims amounts. We take as given the total annual premium, P, charged by the insurer in respect of these risks. We make no assumption about the way in which P is calculated but we do assume that
Minimum Alveolar Concentration (MAC) of Xenon with Sevoflurane in Humans

BackgroundAlthough more than 30 yr ago the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of xenon was determined to be 71%, that previous study had technological limitations, and no other studies have confirmed the MAC value of xenon since. The current study was designed to confirm the MAC value of xenon in adult surgical patients using more modern techniques. MethodsSixty patients were anesthetized with sevoflurane with or without xenon. They were randomly allocated to one of four groups; patients in group 1 received no xenon, whereas those in groups 2, 3, and 4 received end-tidal concentrations of 20, 40, and 60%, respectively (n = 15 each group). Target end-tidal sevoflurane concentrations were chosen using the “up-and-down” method in each group. After steady state sevoflurane and xenon concentrations were maintained for at least 15 min, each patient was monitored for a somatic response at surgical incision. Somatic response was defined as any purposeful bodily movement. The MAC of sevoflurane and its reduction by xenon was evaluated using the multiple independent variable logistic regression model. ResultsThe interaction coefficient of the multiple variable logistic regression was not significantly different from zero (P = 0.143). The MAC of xenon calculated as xenon concentration that would reduce MAC of sevoflurane to 0% was 63.1%. ConclusionsThe authors could not determine whether interaction in blocking somatic responses in 50% of patients is additive. The MAC of xenon is in the range of the values that were predicted in a previous study.
64 Gb/s all-optical demultiplexing with the nonlinear optical-loop mirror

The first complete nonlinear optical-loop mirror demultiplexing experiments including error-rate measurements are reported. Broadband demultiplexing of 16-, 32-, and 64-Gb/s, 2/sup 15/-1 data was performed using only semiconductor lasers. The penalty for demultiplexing a 64-Gb/s time-division multiplexed data stream to the 4-Gb/s fundamental rate was 2.2 dB at an error rate of 10/sup -9/. The switching pulse energy was 1.1 pJ. <<ETX>>
Effectiveness of Physiotherapy in the Improvement of the Perception of Quality of Life in Patients with Hemophilia. A Systematic Review

Background: Hemophilia is a hereditary and chronic disease that mainly affects males. It is characterized by a deficiency in one of the specific clotting factors. The main clinical manifestations of hemophilia are orthopedic, as a result of bleeding in the musculoskeletal system, mainly through bleeding episodes in joints and muscles. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of treatments of physiotherapy for the improvement in the perception of quality of life in patients with hemophilia A and B. Methods: This review has been developed a bibliographic search in different databases: PubMed, PEDro, the Virtual Library of health and Isi Web, and in different journals: Haemophilia, Physical Therapy and Manual Therapy. Results: An analysis of variables was performed and assessed the methodological quality of studies. One study met the criteria for inclusion. Conclusion: This review shows the small number of studies that evaluate the efficacy of physiotherapy to improve the quality of life of patients with hemophilia. There is no consensus on Review Article Martínez-Bravo and Cuesta-Barriuso; AIR, 3(6):526-540, 2015; Article no.AIR. 2015.048 527 the relationship between the quality of life and clinical characteristics of patients and characteristic features of hemophilia. Clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the effect of physiotherapy in the quality of life of these patients.
Pressure generation at the junction of two microchannels with different depths

In this study, we report the design of a microchip‐based hydraulic pump that comprises three glass conduits arranged in a T‐geometry, one of which has a 2 mm long segment shallower (0.5–3 μm in depth) than the remaining 15 μm deep microfluidic network. Upon application of an electric field across this microchannel junction, a mismatch in EOF rate is introduced due to a differential in the fluid conductivity across the deep and shallow segments. Using the reported micropump, pressure‐driven velocities up to 3.2 mm/s have been generated in a 15 μm deep separation channel for an applied voltage of 1.75 kV allowing us to operate under separation conditions that yield the minimum plate height. Moreover, we have shown that this flow velocity can be maximized by optimizing the depth in the shallow region of the T‐geometry. Interestingly however, a simple theory accounting for fluid conductivity differences across microchannels of different depths significantly underestimates the pressure‐driven velocities observed in our experiments. The Taylor dispersion coefficient in our system on the other hand compares well with the theoretical predictions reported in the literature. Finally, the functionality of our device has been demonstrated by implementing a reverse‐phase chromatographic separation that was driven by the pressure‐driven flow generated on‐chip.
The rate of fatality and demographic characteristics associated with various suicide methods: a community-based study in Northern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND Understanding lethality and risk factors of suicide methods is an initial step in suicide prevention. AIMS To investigate the fatality rate and demographic characteristics of various suicide methods. METHOD This study enrolled consecutive individuals with episodes of suicide attempts registered in a surveillance database in a city with a high rate of suicide mortality in Taiwan, from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2010. In total, 3,089 suicide attempt events (including 2,583 nonfatal suicides and 506 completed suicides) occurred during the study period. RESULTS Overall, the fatality rate of suicides was 16.4%. Charcoal burning accounted for the most suicide deaths (37.6%), with a fatality rate of 50.1%. Suicide by hanging carried the highest fatality rate (81.2%). Males tended to choose more lethal methods and had higher fatality rates compared with females. Elders and married persons were less likely to attempt suicide by charcoal burning. The case fatality ratio increased along with age among suicide attempts, but not in those using charcoal burning. CONCLUSION The choice of suicide methods and lethality might be influenced by one's demographic characteristics. RESULTS from this study may provide clues for establishing suicide prevention strategies such as restricting access to common lethal suicide methods in the high-risk group.
A Novel Features Learning Method for ECG Arrhythmias Using Deep Belief Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel approach based on deep belief networks for features learning of ECG arrhythmias. The method consists of four steps: ECG signals preprocessing, segmentation and resampling, features learning, and validation. In the resampling stage all segmented ECG beats are changed into the same periodic length for the deep learning model. For extracting features of ECG data, we use two types of restricted boltzmann machine including Gaussian-Bernoulli restricted boltzmann machine and Bernoulli-Bernoulli restricted boltzmann machine to construct a deep belief netowrks. In order to enhance the deep belief netowrks performance, a fine-tuning process is carried out, which uses backpropagation by adding a softmax regression layer on the top of the resulting hidden representation layer to perform supervised classification. The experiment results show our approach achieves better performance with less feature learning time than traditional hand-designed methods on classification of ECG arrhythmias.
The case for and against fluid restriction and occlusion pressure reduction in adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The justification for restricting fluid administration, or more directly, for actively trying to lower pulmonary capillary pressures during pulmonary edema, is embodied in the familiar "Starling equation. " This model predicts that pulmonary edema will develop if lymph flow or changes in other so-called "safety factors" cannot compensate for increases in pulmonary capillary pressures. Numerous experimental studies support the logical extension of this paradigm, namely that reduced capillary pressures and/or reduced perfusion to acutely injured lung units will result in reduced extravascular lung water accumulation. Recent clinical observational and interventional clinical studies provide evidence that outcome is improved in patients with pulmonary edema in whom active efforts are made to reduce pulmonary capillary pressures and to achieve minimally positive fluid balance. Although most adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients do not die from refractory hypoxemia, reduced accumulation or more rapid resolution of pulmonary edema could still improve outcome by other mechanisms. Furthermore, although a strategy of fluid restriction/diuresis could potentially increase the risk of either cardiac or renal dysfunction, currently available data suggest that this management strategy in euvolemic (and certainly in hypervolemic) ARDS patients can be pursued without clinically important deterioration in either type of organ function. Thus, on balance, a strategy of fluid restriction/diuresis should be pursued during the first few days of ARDS, while carefully monitoring and supporting the perfusion of vital organs.
Associations of Baltic Sea and Mediterranean dietary patterns with bone mineral density in elderly women

Abstract Objective Dietary quality in relation to bone health has been analysed in relatively few studies. The current study aimed to assess the association of the Baltic Sea diet (BSD) and the Mediterranean diet (MD) with bone mineral density (BMD) among elderly women. Design Lumbar, femoral and total body BMD were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline and year 3. Dietary intake was measured by 3 d food record at baseline. BSD and MD scores were calculated from food and alcohol consumption and nutrient intake. Information on lifestyle, diseases and medications was collected by questionnaires. Longitudinal associations of BSD and MD scores with BMD were analysed using linear mixed models. Setting Interventional prospective Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Fracture Prevention study including women aged 65–71 years and residing in Kuopio province, Finland. Subjects Women (n 554) with mean age of 67·9 (sd 1·9) years and mean BMI of 28·8 (sd 4·7) kg/m2. Results Higher BSD scores were associated with higher intakes of fruit and berries, vegetables, fish and low-fat dairy products, and lower intake of sausage. Higher MD scores were associated with higher consumption of fruit and berries and vegetables. BSD and MD scores were associated with higher PUFA:SFA and higher fibre intake. Femoral, lumbar or total body BMD was not significantly different among the quartiles of BSD or MD score. Conclusion The lack of associations suggest that Baltic Sea and Mediterranean dietary patterns may not adequately reflect dietary factors relevant to bone health.
Design of wideband mixer and VGA for Software Defined Radio in RFID application

This paper presents Software Defined Radio (SDR) in RFID sensing applications focusing on wideband mixer and VGA design. The wideband receiver can support UHF, UWB band for commonly used long-range RFID standards ranging from 400MHz to 6GHz. The wideband mixer is of folded topology with switching biased technique, achieving a maximum 11.5dB conversion gain with only an 8dB DSB noise figure and 16dB flicker noise at 10kHz. The VGA utilizes a four-stage modified Cherry-Hopper amplifier, along with DC-offset cancelling and common-mode feedback. A maximum gain of 67dB can be achieved with more than 600MHz of bandwidth. The design is implemented in a 65nm CMOS process. The total power consumption of the mixer and the VGA is 7mW by simulation. The die area of these two blocks is 0.045mm2.
Initial Tract Formation in the Brain of the Chick Embryo: Selective Expression of the BEN/SC1/DM‐GRASP Cell Adhesion Molecule

This study reports the spatio‐temporal pattern of BEN expression (a molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily) during early stages of the first axonal tract formation, in the fore‐ and midbrain of chick embryos [Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stages 12–22]. The expression of BEN has been analysed using immunohistochemistry and non‐radioactive in situ hybridization. Furthermore, double labelling experiments (combining anti‐class III β‐tubulin, a pan‐neuronal marker, and anti‐BEN antibodies) have been carried out to determine whether BEN is expressed by all first axonal tracts. The first neurons expressing BEN appear around stage HH13–14, in the caudal diencephalon. They belong to the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, and their axons are the first components of the medial longitudinal fasciculus. By HH14, two other early axonal tracts appear: the tract of the postoptic commissure and the descending root of the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve. Only the latter expresses BEN. At later stages of development numerous new axonal tracts appear in the telencephalic, diencephalic and mesencephalic domains. Only a few of them (the fourth nerve, the lemniscus lateralis, the tectobulbar and habenulopeduncular tracts) express BEN. In all BEN positive systems, the cell bodies, axons and growth cones are uniformly labelled by the antibody. We have found that none of the early axonal tracts grows preferentially at interneuromeric boundaries. Moreover, each tract is formed by several thin fascicles rather than a single one. The expression of BEN is transient and disappears shortly before hatching. These results suggest that BEN may serve to promote axonal outgrowth of precise neuronal systems involved in ‘axonal scaffolding’.
Post-cardiac transplant arteriopathy in piglets is associated with fragmentation of elastin and increased activity of a serine elastase.

In experimental piglets after heterotopic heart transplant, we observed an immune/inflammatory response in the coronary arteries with increased expression of interleukin-1 beta and accumulation of fibronectin and smooth muscle cells in the subendothelium (N. Clausell, S. Molossi, M. Rabinovitch, Am J Pathol 1993, 142, 1772-1786). Proteolytic enzymes including elastases regulate cytokine activity and are associated with the development of neointimal proliferation. We now report ultrastructural evidence of elastolytic activity in the donor compared to host coronary arteries judged by a fivefold increase in the breaks in the internal elastic lamina, (P < 0.01) correlating with a 10-fold increase in elastase activity per mg tissue (P < 0.01). The enzyme activity is serine elastase, i.e., inhibited by phenylmethyl sulfonyl fluoride, and elafin but not EDTA. Using a novel strategy that greatly increases the activity extractable from the tissue, we resolved the enzyme on an elastin substrate gel as a protein of approximately 23 kd. Ours is the first report and characterization of increased elastase activity associated with the development of the post-cardiac transplant coronary arteriopathy. The source may be inflammatory or smooth muscle cells, and elastase may play a pathophysiological role in neointimal proliferation by activating cytokines and growth factors and by release of chemotactic peptides.
Impaired Visuospatial Transformation but Intact Sequence Processing in Parkinson Disease

Objective:We examined whether visuospatial deficits in Parkinson disease (PD) can be explained by a domain-general, nonspatial impairment in the sequencing or serial chaining of mental operations. Background:PD has been shown to be associated with impaired visuospatial processing, but the mechanisms of this impairment remain unclear. Methods:Thirteen patients with PD and 20 age-matched, neurologically normal controls performed a visuospatial grid navigation task requiring sequential spatial transformations. The participants also performed a control task of serial number subtraction designed to assess their nonvisuospatial sequencing. The tasks were matched in structure and difficulty. Results:The patients were impaired on the visuospatial task but not in serial number subtraction. This finding suggests that visuospatial processing impairments in PD do not derive from a general impairment affecting sequencing or serial chaining. Conclusions:We argue that visuospatial deficits in PD result from impairments to spatial transformation routines involved in the computation of mappings between spatial locations. These routines are mediated by dopaminergic pathways linking the basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and parietal cortex.
Cross-Ocean Distribution of Rhodobacterales Bacteria as Primary Surface Colonizers in Temperate Coastal Marine Waters

ABSTRACT Bacterial surface colonization is a universal adaptation strategy in aquatic environments. However, neither the identities of early colonizers nor the temporal changes in surface assemblages are well understood. To determine the identities of the most common bacterial primary colonizers and to assess the succession process, if any, of the bacterial assemblages during early stages of surface colonization in coastal water of the West Pacific Ocean, nonnutritive inert materials (glass, Plexiglas, and polyvinyl chloride) were employed as test surfaces and incubated in seawater off the Qingdao coast in the spring of 2005 for 24 and 72 h. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences amplified from the recovered surface-colonizing microbiota indicated that diverse bacteria colonized the submerged surfaces. Multivariate statistical cluster analyses indicated that the succession of early surface-colonizing bacterial assemblages followed sequential steps on all types of test surfaces. The Rhodobacterales, especially the marine Roseobacter clade members, formed the most common and dominant primary surface-colonizing bacterial group. Our current data, along with previous studies of the Atlantic coast, indicate that the Rhodobacterales bacteria are the dominant and ubiquitous primary surface colonizers in temperate coastal waters of the world and that microbial surface colonization follows a succession sequence. A conceptual model is proposed based on these findings, which may have important implications for understanding the structure, dynamics, and function of marine biofilms and for developing strategies to harness or control surface-associated microbial communities.