Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin II Regulation of Proliferation, Differentiation, and Engraftment of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Emerging evidence indicates that differentiation and mobilization of hematopoietic cell are critical in the development and establishment of hypertension and hypertension-linked vascular pathophysiology. This, coupled with the intimate involvement of the hyperactive renin–angiotensin system in hypertension, led us to investigate the hypothesis that chronic angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion affects hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) regulation at the level of the bone marrow. Ang II infusion resulted in increases in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (83%) and long-term HSC (207%) in the bone marrow. Interestingly, increases of HSCs and long-term HSCs were more pronounced in the spleen (228% and 1117%, respectively). Furthermore, we observed higher expression of C–C chemokine receptor type 2 in these HSCs, indicating there was increased myeloid differentiation in Ang II–infused mice. This was associated with accumulation of C–C chemokine receptor type 2+ proinflammatory monocytes in the spleen. In contrast, decreased engraftment efficiency of GFP+ HSC was observed after Ang II infusion. Time-lapse in vivo imaging and in vitro Ang II pretreatment demonstrated that Ang II induces untimely proliferation and differentiation of the donor HSC resulting in diminished HSC engraftment and bone marrow reconstitution. We conclude that (1) chronic Ang II infusion regulates HSC proliferation, mediated by angiotensin receptor type 1a, (2) Ang II accelerates HSC to myeloid differentiation resulting in accumulation of C–C chemokine receptor type 2+ HSCs and inflammatory monocytes in the spleen, and (3) Ang II impairs homing and reconstitution potentials of the donor HSCs. These observations highlight the important regulatory roles of Ang II on HSC proliferation, differentiation, and engraftment.
Thickness profile generation for the corpus callosum using Laplace's equation

The corpus callosum facilitates communication between the cerebral hemispheres. Morphological abnormalities of the corpus callosum have been identified in numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders. To quantitatively analyze the thickness profile of the corpus callosum, we adapted an automatic thickness measurement method, which was originally used on magnetic resonance (MR) images of the cerebral cortex (Hutton et al. [ 2008 ]: NeuroImage 40:1701–10; Jones et al. [ 2002 ]: Hum Brain Mapp 11:12–32; Schmitt and Böhme [ 2002 ]: NeuroImage 16:1103–9; Yezzi and Prince [ 2003 ]: IEEE Trans Med Imaging 22:1332–9), to MR images of the corpus callosum. The thickness model was derived by computing a solution to Laplace's equation evaluated on callosal voxels. The streamlines from this solution form non‐overlapping, cross‐sectional contours the lengths of which are modeled as the callosal thickness. Apart from the semi‐automated segmentation and endpoint selection procedures, the method is fully automated, robust, and reproducible. We compared the Laplace method with the orthogonal projection technique previously published (Walterfang et al. [ 2009a ]: Psych Res Neuroimaging 173:77–82; Walterfang et al. [ 2008a ]: Br J Psychiatry 192:429–34; Walterfang et al. [ 2008b ]: Schizophr Res 103:1–10) on a cohort of 296 subjects, composed of 86 patients with chronic schizophrenia (CSZ), 110 individuals with first‐episode psychosis, 100 individuals at ultra‐high risk for psychosis (UHR; 27 of whom later developed psychosis, UHR‐P, and 73 who did not, UHR‐NP), and 55 control subjects (CTL). We report similar patterns of statistically significant differences in regional callosal thickness with respect to the comparisons CSZ vs. CTL, UHR vs. CTL, UHR‐P vs. UHR‐NP, and UHR vs. CTL. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Smart Camera Based Monitoring System and Its Application to Assisted Living

Western societies are aging rapidly. An automated 24/7 surveillance to ensure safety of the elderly while respecting privacy becomes a major challenge. At the same time this is representative of novel and emerging video surveillance applications discovered lately besides the classic surveillance protection applications in airports, government buildings, and industrial plants. Three problems of current surveillance systems are identified. A distributed and automated smart camera based approach is proposed that addresses these problems. The proposed system's goal set is to analyze the real world and reflect all relevant-and only relevant-information live in an integrated virtual counterpart for visualization. It covers georeferenced person tracking and activity recognition (falling person detection). A prototype system installed in a home for assisted living has been running 24/7 for several months now and shows quite promising performance.
A Spatio-Temporally Adaptive Clustering Protocol for wireless microsensor networks

We present a Spatio-Temporally Adaptive Clustering (STACK) protocol for wireless microsensor networks. It takes into account data correlation, both spatial and temporal, using dynamically computed nearness and activity functions. The objective is to uniformly budget energy expenditure over space and time. All three forms of energy expenditure, namely transmission, reception and computation are considered. The STACK protocol also enhances the lifetime of the network by predicting the survivability of the formed clusters. STACK provides a higher variance for the set of data collected, thus leading to a more accurate picture of the region of interest. Our simulation demonstrates this and achieves better energy efficiency and lifetime compared to existing approaches.
Cognitive and Emotional Representations of Terror Attacks: A Cross‐Cultural Exploration

A questionnaire measuring cognitive and affective representations of terror risk was developed and tested in Turkey and Israel. Participants in the study were university students from the two countries (n= 351). Four equivalent factors explained terror risk cognitions in each sample: costs, vulnerability, trust, and control. A single negative emotionality factor explained the affective component of terror risk representations in both samples. All factors except control could be measured reliably. Results supported the validity of the questionnaire by showing expected associations between cognitions and emotions, as well as indicating gender differences and cultural variations. Current findings are discussed in relation to previous results, theoretical approaches, and practical implications.
Freezing induces a loss of freeze tolerance in an overwintering insect

Cold–hardy insects overwinter by one of two main strategies: freeze tolerance and freeze avoidance by supercooling. As a general model, many freeze–tolerant species overwinter in extreme climates, freeze above −10°C via induction by ice–nucleating agents, and once frozen, can survive at temperatures of up to 40°C or more below the initial freezing temperature or supercooling point (SCP). It has been assumed that the SCP of freeze–tolerant insects is unaffected by the freezing process and that the freeze–tolerant state is therefore retained in winter though successive freeze–thaw cycles of the body tissues and fluids. Studies on the freeze–tolerant larva of the hoverfly Syrphus ribesii reveal this assumption to be untrue. When a sample with a mean‘first freez’ SCP of −7.6°C (range of −5°C to −9.5°C) were cooled, either to −10°C or to their individual SCP, on five occasions, the mean SCP was significantly depressed, with some larvae subsequently freezing as low as −28°C. Only larvae that froze at the same consistently high temperature above −10°C were alive after being frozen five times. The wider occurrence of this phenomenon would require a fundamental reassessment of the dynamics and distinctions of the freeze–tolerant and freeze–avoiding strategies of insect overwintering.
AN INQUIRY INTO THE PATHOGENESIS, RATIONAL TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, WITH EMPHASIS UPON THE COMBINED ROLE OF DIABETOGENIC HYPER‐INSULINISM AND RECURRENT EDEMA *

“In reality, it is not the pomp of language, the “whistling of a name,” or the simplicity or ingenuity of a pathological theory, that can long give it currency with mankind. The sole point is, whether it is a just arrangement of actual phenomena, of which the operation of remedies form an indispensable part. If it does not include these operations, it is defective; if it is inconsistent with what is known of them it is mischievous. By this test every medical work ought to be tried, and by it the present work must stand or fall. ” Caleb Hillier Parry, 1811 (1).
Neuronale Identifikation von Totzeiten

Der Umgang mit Totzeiten bzw. Totzeitsystemen stellt in der Regelungstechnik ein schwieriges Problem dar. Ein System ist mit Totzeiten behaftet, wenn es mindestens eine Komponente enthalt, deren Eingaben nicht sofort, sondern erst nach einer bestimmten Zeitverzogerung die Ausgaben beeinflussen. In realen Systemen kommen derartige Totzeiten zahlreich vor und sie erschweren die Systemregelung zum Teil erheblich. Der Totzeitproblematik wird bisher ungenugend Rechnung getragen. Bei der Modellierung eines Systems werden Totzeiten haufig einfach ignoriert, da ihre Grose unbekannt und ihre Identifikation sehr problematisch ist. Dies gilt insbesondere fur nichtlineare dynamische Systeme. Als Konsequenz daraus ergibt sich zwangslaufig eine suboptimale Regelung des Systems. Die vorliegende Arbeit leistet einen Beitrag zur Losung der Totzeitproblematik. Es wird eine neue Methode zur Identifikation von beliebigen Totzeiten in nichtlinearen dynamischen Systemen und zur verbesserten Modellierung und Regelung von Totzeitsystemen vorgestellt. Diese Methode verwendet zum einen speziell fur diese Zwecke entwickelte neuronale Netze und zum anderen spezielle Konfidenzmase zur Beurteilung der Zuverlasigkeit der Identifikation. Die Methode erlaubt eine einfache Integration von eventuell vorhandenem Vorwissen uber die zu identifizierenden Totzeiten. Der erfolgreiche Einsatz dieser neuen Methode wird durch Anwendungsbeispiele aus der Mikroelektronik, der Automobilindustrie und der Lebensmitteltechnologie gezeigt.
Nucleophosmin-Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase of Large-Cell Anaplastic Lymphoma Is a Constitutively Active Tyrosine Kinase That Utilizes Phospholipase C-γ To Mediate Its Mitogenicity

ABSTRACT Large-cell anaplastic lymphoma is a subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma characterized by the expression of CD30. More than half of these lymphomas have a chromosomal translocation, t(2;5), that leads to the expression of a hybrid protein comprised of the nucleolar phosphoprotein nucleophosmin (NPM) and the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Here we show that transfection of the constitutively active tyrosine kinase NPM-ALK into Ba/F3 and Rat-1 cells leads to a transformed phenotype. Oncogenic tyrosine kinases transform cells by activating the mitogenic signal transduction pathways, e.g., by binding and activating SH2-containing signaling molecules. We found that NPM-ALK binds most specifically to the SH2 domains of phospholipase C-γ (PLC-γ) in vitro. Furthermore, we showed complex formation of NPM-ALK and PLC-γ in vivo by coimmunoprecipitation experiments in large-cell anaplastic lymphoma cells. This complex formation leads to the tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of PLC-γ, which can be corroborated by enhanced production of inositol phosphates (IPs) in NPM-ALK-expressing cells. By phosphopeptide competition experiments, we were able to identify the tyrosine residue on NPM-ALK responsible for interaction with PLC-γ as Y664. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we constructed a comprehensive panel of tyrosine-to-phenylalanine NPM-ALK mutants, including NPM-ALK(Y664F). NPM-ALK(Y664F), when transfected into Ba/F3 cells, no longer forms complexes with PLC-γ or leads to PLC-γ phosphorylation and activation, as confirmed by low IP levels in these cells. Most interestingly, Ba/F3 and Rat-1 cells expressing NPM-ALK(Y664F) also show a biological phenotype in that they are not stably transformed. Overexpression of PLC-γ can partially rescue the proliferative response of Ba/F3 cells to the NPM-ALK(Y664F) mutant. Thus, PLC-γ is an important downstream target of NPM-ALK that contributes to its mitogenic activity and is likely to be important in the molecular pathogenesis of large-cell anaplastic lymphomas.
Pinocchio : Answering Human-Agent Negotiation Questions through Realistic Agent Design

We present the Interactive Arbitration Guide Online (IAGO) platform, a tool for designing human-aware agents for use in negotiation. Current state-of-the-art research platforms are ideally suited for agent-agent interaction. While helpful, these often fail to address the reality of human negotiation, which involves irrational actors, natural language, and deception. To illustrate the strengths of the IAGO platform, the authors describe four agents which are designed to showcase the key design features of the system. We go on to show how these agents might be used to answer core questions in human-centered computing, by reproducing classical human-human negotiation results in a 2x2 human-agent study. The study presents results largely in line with expectations of human-human negotiation outcomes, and helps to demonstrate the validity and usefulness of the IAGO platform.
Interference Aware-Coordinated Beamforming in a Multi-Cell System

In this paper, we propose jointly optimized linear transceiver algorithms called interference aware-coordinated beamforming (IA-CBF) for a two-cell system where each base station is equipped with multiple transmit antennas. To generalize IA-CBF to more than two-cell scenarios, a new beam-switching mechanism combined with IA-CBF is proposed. For a two-cell system, we derive a minimum-mean-square-error-type IA-CBF algorithm based on a lower bound on the achievable sum rate. We propose optimal (under an assumption of zero other-cell interference) and suboptimal transmit/receive beamforming vectors through zero-forcing IA-CBF algorithms. We also investigate the optimality of the proposed IA-CBF algorithms with respect to the number of receive antennas. Numerical results confirm that the proposed system with two transmit/receive antennas achieves the full degrees of freedom (a.k.a. multiplexing gain) of the two-cell multiple-input multiple-output channel while showing a better sum rate performance than competitive solutions such as non-cooperative eigen-beamforming and interference nulling. A three-dimensional ray tracing tool is also used to evaluate the proposed multi-cell IA-CBF algorithm.
Peritoneal Dialysis Access Technology: The Austin Diagnostic Clinic Experience

Traditional catheter implantation techniques vio late a fundamental premise of wound healing by immediately positioning a foreign body in the postoperative surgical wound. A channel is thereby created for permanent colonization of the catheter tunnel and cuff(s). Such invasion of the surgical wound is demonstrated by the significant presence of biofilm on the catheter surface during the early states of healing (1). The Moncrief-Popovich catheter (MPC) and implantation technique were introduced in October , 1988, at the Austin Diagnostic Clinic (ADC). Their utilization in peritoneal dialysis access was first reported in April, 1991, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO), and was reported in theASAIO Journal in 1993 (1). The technique is designed to minimize postoperative contamination of the surgical wound and to decrease the risk ofbacterial invasion from the external environment during the immediate postoperative period.
A Fluorescent Probe of Polyamine Transport Accumulates into Intracellular Acidic Vesicles via a Two-step Mechanism*

Mammalian polyamine carriers have not yet been molecularly identified. The fluoroprobe Spd-C2-BODIPY faithfully reports polyamine transport and accumulates almost exclusively in polyamine-sequestering vesicles (PSVs). Polyamines might thus be imported first by a plasma membrane carrier and then sequestered into pre-existing PSVs (model A), or be directly captured by polyamine receptors undergoing endocytosis (model B). Spd-C2-BODIPY uptake was unaffected in receptor-mediated endocytosis-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cell mutants. PSVs strongly colocalized with acidic vesicles of the late endocytic compartment and the trans Golgi. Virtually perfect colocalization between PSVs and acidic vesicles was found in Chinese hamster ovary cell mutants that are blocked either in the late endosome/lysosome fusion process or in the maturation of multivesicular bodies. Prior inhibition of the V-ATPase dramatically decreased total Spd-C2-BODIPY accumulation while increasing cytosolic fluorescence. Conversely, cells pre-loaded with the probe slowly released it from PSVs upon V-ATPase inhibition. The present data thus support model A, and indicate that polyamine accumulation is primarily driven by the activity of a vesicular H+:polyamine carrier.
Modelling, tracking and generating human interaction behaviours in video

Intelligent virtual characters are becoming increasingly popular in en­ tertainment, educational and simulation software. A virtual charac­ ter is the creation or re-creation of a human being in an image, using computer-generated imagery. It must act and react in the environment, drawing on the disciplines of automated reasoning and planning. Cre­ ating characters with human-like behaviours that respond interactively to a real person in a video, is still a serious challenge. There are several major reasons for this. First, human motion is very complex, which makes it particularly difficult to simulate. Second, the human form is also not straightforward to design due to the large number of degrees of freedom of the motion. Third, creating novel contextual movements for virtual characters in real time is a new research area.
Oil Spill Simulation in Mouth of Persian Gulf

This paper presents the results of simulating oil spillage trajectory in the mouth of Persian Gulf, south of Shahid-Babai port with respect to oil deposition. Coastal oil pollution may caused by collision of the oil tankers with each other or with the underwater pipelines, loading and offloading the ships, run aground or explosion of the ships carrying oil and chemical materials and etc. flow simulation was based on two dimensional depth integrated modeling assumption while oil spill simulation implemented by using 2D Multiphase Oil Spill Model (MOSM) that assumes oil layer as an separated layer on top of the water surface. MOSM takes into account major physical-chemical phenomena of oil spill such as oil evaporation, deposition and dissolution, transportation of emulsified oil, oil slick spreading and drifting and oil kinetics in the breaking waves. The oil horizontal movement is computed using a 3rd order upwind scheme with innovative Minmod flux limiter implementation method. By using oil slick Model and having Hydro-dynamical information such as Wind and current speed and other important criteria, we can predict the fate of the oil spill. Key Word: oil spill, MOSM Scheme, Shahid-Babai Port, Persian gulf
Inactivation of the DSCF area of the auditory cortex with muscimol disrupts frequency discrimination in the mustached bat.

1. The Jamaican mustached bat uses a biosonar signal (pulse) with eight major components: four harmonics each consisting of a long constant frequency (CF1-4) component followed by a short frequency-modulated (FM1-4) component. While flying, the bat adjusts the frequency of its pulse so as to maintain the CF2 of the Doppler-shifted echo at a frequency to which its cochlea is very sharply tuned. This Doppler shift (DS) compensation likely is mediated or influenced by the Doppler-shifted CF (DSCF) processing area of the primary auditory cortex, which only represents frequencies in the range of echo CF2s (60.6 to 62.3 kHz when the "resting" frequency of the CF2 is 61.0 kHz). 2. We trained four bats to discriminate between different trains of paired tone bursts that mimicked a bat's pulse CF2 and the accompanying echo CF2. The frequency of these CF2s ranged between 61.0 and 64.0 kHz. A discriminated shock avoidance procedure response was employed using a leg flexion. For one stimulus, the S+, the pulse and echo CF2s were the same frequency (delta f = 0, i.e., no Doppler shift). A leg flexion during the S+ turned off both the S+ and the scheduled shock. For a second stimulus, the S-, the echo CF2 was 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, or 2.0 kHz higher than the pulse CF2. A delta f of 0.05 kHz was a frequency difference of 0.08%. No shock followed the S-, and leg flexions had no consequences. Correct responses consisted of a leg flexion during the S+ and no flexion during the S-; these responses were added together to compute the percentage of correct responses. When a bat correctly responded at better than 75% for all the delta f s, muscimol, a potent agonist of gamma-aminobutyric acid, was bilaterally applied to inactivate the DSCF area. Performance on each delta f discrimination was then measured. 3. Initial attempts to condition the bats to flex their legs to the CF tones mimicking part of the natural pulses and echoes failed. When broad-band noise bursts were substituted, however, the conditioned response was rapidly established. The noise band-width was gradually reduced and then replaced with the CF tones. Discrimination training with the tone burst trains then commenced. Throughout this procedure, the bats maintained their responding to the stimuli. The bats typically required approximately 20-30 sessions to perform consistently (> or = 75% correct responses) a discrimination involving a 2 kHz delta f. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Damnacanthal inhibits the NF-κB/RIP-2/caspase-1 signal pathway by inhibiting p56lck tyrosine kinase

Abstract Damnacanthal is a major constituent of Morinda citrifolia L. (noni) and exhibits anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the effects of damnacanthal on allergic diseases have not been determined. In this study, we investigated the effect of damnacanthal on mast cell-mediated allergic inflammatory responses. Damnacanthal significantly and dose-dependently inhibited compound 48/80-induced systemic anaphylactic shock, histamine release and intracellular calcium levels. In particular, IgE-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis was significantly inhibited by the oral administration of damnacanthal. In addition, we report for the first time that p56lck tyrosine kinase was expressed in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and calcium ionophore A23187 (PMACI)-stimulated mast cells. Furthermore, damnacanthal inhibited the up-regulation of p56lck tyrosine kinase activity by PMACI and repressed PMACI-induced histidine decarboxylase expression and activity. Damnacanthal also inhibited PMACI-induced interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α expressions by suppressing nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation and suppressed the activation of caspase-1 and the expression of receptor interacting protein-2. This study shows damnacanthal inhibits the NF-κB/receptor-interacting protein-2/caspase-1 signal pathway by inhibiting p56lck tyrosine kinase and suggests that damnacanthal has potential for the treatment of mast cell-mediated allergic disorders.
Genetic Transformation in Helicobacter pylori

Genetic transformation in Helicobacter pylori was investigated by using its chromosomal and plasmid DNAs. Six out of the eight strains exhibited the natural competence for incorporation of H. pylori chromosomal DNA, and all the strains incorporated the donor DNA efficiently by washing and concentrating the cells, with a glycerol solution. The much higher frequency of transformation was obtained in each strain by means of electroporation. Electroporation experiments were also conducted by use of the recombinant DNAs consisting of the H. pylori and Escherichia coli plasmids as the donors, and the occurrence of the homologous recombination was demonstrated between the incoming H. pylori plasmid‐derived region and the corresponding region of the originally residing plasmid in H. pylori.