Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanobodies and Nanobody-Based Human Heavy Chain Antibodies As Antitumor Therapeutics

Monoclonal antibodies have revolutionized cancer therapy. However, delivery to tumor cells in vivo is hampered by the large size (150 kDa) of conventional antibodies. The minimal target recognition module of a conventional antibody is composed of two non-covalently associated variable domains (VH and VL). The proper orientation of these domains is mediated by their hydrophobic interface and is stabilized by their linkage to disulfide-linked constant domains (CH1 and CL). VH and VL domains can be fused via a genetic linker into a single-chain variable fragment (scFv). scFv modules in turn can be fused to one another, e.g., to generate a bispecific T-cell engager, or they can be fused in various orientations to antibody hinge and Fc domains to generate bi- and multispecific antibodies. However, the inherent hydrophobic interaction of VH and VL domains limits the stability and solubility of engineered antibodies, often causing aggregation and/or mispairing of V-domains. Nanobodies (15 kDa) and nanobody-based human heavy chain antibodies (75 kDa) can overcome these limitations. Camelids naturally produce antibodies composed only of heavy chains in which the target recognition module is composed of a single variable domain (VHH or Nb). Advantageous features of nanobodies include their small size, high solubility, high stability, and excellent tissue penetration in vivo. Nanobodies can readily be linked genetically to Fc-domains, other nanobodies, peptide tags, or toxins and can be conjugated chemically at a specific site to drugs, radionuclides, photosensitizers, and nanoparticles. These properties make them particularly suited for specific and efficient targeting of tumors in vivo. Chimeric nanobody-heavy chain antibodies combine advantageous features of nanobodies and human Fc domains in about half the size of a conventional antibody. In this review, we discuss recent developments and perspectives for applications of nanobodies and nanobody-based human heavy chain antibodies as antitumor therapeutics.
Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) bonding — Intermetallic bonding for high temperature applications

Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) bonding has emerged as a promising bonding technique, particularly for high-temperature applications. It uses well-establish processing steps such as electroplating, and it is well suited for wafer-level processing. SLID is based on intermetallic compounds (IMCs) as the bonding medium, enabling a thermal stability at temperatures well above the bonding temperature. In this paper, we present our work on Cu-Sn and Au-Sn SLID bonding. For Cu-Sn SLID bonding, our focus has been on wafer-level processing and optimization of manufacturing parameters. We present successful flux-free Cu-Sn SLID bonding for hermetic sealing, and an experimentally obtained kinetics model for IMC formation as function of time, showing different mathematical relations above and below the melting point of Sn. The model is used for predicting the effect of a given bonding temperature profile. For Au-Sn SLID bonding, our focus has been on phase identification and verification of reliability. The bond is found to reach thermal equilibrium only after high-temperature storage, and an updated design rule for metal layer thicknesses is established. Importantly, a high reliability of Au-Sn SLID bonding is verified: Bonding materials with different Coeffitions of Thermal Expansion and exposing the assemblies to high temperature storage followed by thermal cycling, very high bond strengths (~70 MPa) and no failures are observed.
Influence of Temperature and Wetness Duration on Conidia and Appressoria of Colletotrichum acutatum on Symptomless Strawberry Leaves.

ABSTRACT Strawberry leaves (cv. Tristar) inoculated with Colletotrichum acuta-tum conidia were incubated at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 degrees C under continuous wetness, and at 25 degrees C under six intermittent wetness regimes. The number of conidia and appressoria was quantified on excised leaf disks. In order to assess pathogen survival, inoculated leaves were frozen and incubated to induce acervular development. Germination, secondary3 conidiation, and appressorial development were significantly (P </= 0.05) affected by temperature and wetness treatments. Under continuous wetness, the optimum temperature range for conidial germination was 23.0 to 27.7 degrees C, whereas the optimum temperature for appressorial development ranged from 17.6 to 26.5 degrees C. Secondary conidiation showed an optimum temperature range of 21.3 to 32.7 degrees C and was most abundant between 12 and 36 h after inoculation. Conidial germination, appressorial production, and secondary conidiation were favored by increasing wetness duration and more than 4 h of wetness were required for secondary conidiation. In a greenhouse, C. acutatum survived up to 8 weeks on leaves. The number of acervuli formed on leaves after freezing and incubation was closely (r(2) >/= 0.95) related to appressorial populations prior to this treatment and was greatest following periods of continuous wetness. Production of secondary conidia and appressoria of C. acutatum on symptomless strawberry leaves under a range of environmental conditions suggests that these processes also occur under field conditions and contribute to inoculum availability during the growing season.
Vestibulo-ocular reflex during magnified vision: adaptation to reduce visual-vestibular conflict.

This report describes the short-term effect of 2.2X telescopic spectacles on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in seven volunteers. VOR gain was initially measured in darkness and light during passive sinusoidal rotations. Subjects were then rotated in light for 15 min while wearing telescopic spectacles. Dynamic visual acuity (DVA), vision during head rotation, was measured with telescopic spectacles. Initial VOR gain in darkness was 0.74 +/- 0.10 (mean +/- S.D.); VOR gain with unmagnified vision was 1.07 +/- 0.04. Initial VOR gain with magnified vision was 1.37 +/- 0.53. DVA was poorer than static acuity in three of four subjects. After adaptation, VOR gain in darkness increased to 0.83 +/- 0.12, with six of seven subjects exhibiting a gain increase of 7-23% (p less than 0.05 for 5). Adapted VOR gain with magnified vision was 1.54 +/- 0.25. Adapted performance was more consistent and oscillopsia was reduced. Adapted DVA improved 30-100% in four subjects. These changes indicate VOR adaptation to telescopic spectacles decreases visual-vestibular conflict.
Active Filter for the Removal of the DC Current Component for Single-Phase Power Lines

Nonlinear loads and grid-connected converters can cause, in addition to the generation of several current harmonics in the grid current, a dc current component injection. A dc current component can cause the magnetic core saturation of distribution power transformers. Transformers operating under saturation conditions present increased power losses, overheating, and distorted current waveforms. Since a dc current component causes a small dc voltage component drop across the parasitic resistance of the distribution grid conductors, canceling the dc voltage component at the point of common coupling (PCC) implies the compensation of the dc current component injected/absorbed by electric loads or grid-connected converters connected at the same PCC. This paper proposes a low-cost nonlinear sensor for an accurate detection, free from offset problems, of the dc voltage component present in the grid voltage. The detection of the dc voltage component was used to realize an active filter of the dc current component. The proposed solution is outlined, and then the stability issue is addressed by means of a simplified model. Experimental results confirmed that the simplified model closely approximates the real system.
Incidence and prevalence of dementia in a multiethnic cohort of municipal retirees

Background: Multiethnic population-based studies of dementia are lacking in the literature; therefore, we conducted a study to determine the incidence and prevalence of dementia among, black, white, and Hispanic municipal retirees age 50 and older. Methods: In 1991, city of Houston municipal workers who retired between 1980 and 1984 received in-home screening for cognitive impairment using the Mini-Mental State Examination and were referred for comprehensive neurologic evaluation if indicated. Families of decreased retirees were interviewed, medical records were reviewed, and death certificates were obtained to determine case status of the retiree. Study participation was 90%. Results: Crude prevalence of dementia, among retirees age 60 and older, was 2.65 per 100 population. Age-adjusted to the 1970 US population, age 60 to 80, the prevalence was 1.85 per 100 population. Age-adjusted prevalence of dementia was similar among Hispanic and black men, 4.75 and 4.80 respectively, and lowest among white men, 2.42 per 100 population. Forty-three percent of the prevalent cases (30% of the incidence cases) were not previously diagnosed. The cumulative incidence of dementia calculated to age 80 was 39% for Hispanic men, 28% for black men, and 14% for white men. Fifty-five percent of the incidence cases were diagnosed as having ischemic vascular dementia(IVD), 20% as having probable or possible Alzheimer's dementia (AD), and 25% as having unspecified dementia. Conclusions: Risk of dementia by age 80 was more pronounced for Hispanic and black men compared with white men. IVD was the predominant cause of dementia among both black and white men. Grouping Hispanics with whites may mask differences when studying dementia.
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for mumps and parainfluenza type 1 immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies

A solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of mumps and parainfluenza type 1 antibodies (immunoglobulin G [IgG] and IgM classes) is described and compared with the conventional complement fixation (CF) test. A highly positive correlation was found between mumps IgG ELISA and the mumps CF test, whereas parainfluenza type 1 IgG ELISA had only a moderate positive correlation with the respective CF test. Mumps IgM antibodies could be demonstrated in all patients with serologically verified and clinically typical (parotitis, meningitis, or orchitis) mumps virus infection, but not in patients with rises in parainfluenza CF titers. Mumps IgM was already present in the acute-phase sera if they were not taken during the first 2 days after onset of disease. Mumps IgM was also found in some paired sera that were taken too late to demonstrate any significant increase in the antibody titers by CF. Therefore, mumps IgM ELISA provides an improvement over the conventional laboratory diagnosis of mumps infection, since the measurement of specific IgM antibodies in a single serum by ELISA is diagnostic, rather than the identification of a fourfold or greater rise in CF antibody titer. An unexpected finding was that parainfluenza type 1 IgM antibodies could not be demonstrated by ELISA in paired sera with rises in parainfluenza CF titers, suggesting a different antibody response from that occurring in mumps infection.
An Iterative Interpolated DFT to Remove Spectral Leakage in Time-Domain Near-Field Scanning

Time-domain near-field scanning is gaining more and more interest within EMC engineering to analyze electromagnetic near-fields of, e.g., quasi-stationar devices. When using a digital oscilloscope to scan the near-fields of an electronic device, the oscilloscope measures time-domain signals that comprise in most cases a large number of frequency components. For many of these components, noncoherent sampling occurs, resulting in spectral leakage when calculating the frequency spectrum of the time-domain signals with the discrete Fourier transform. This paper proposes an improved method to detect the presence of such noncoherently sampled signals as well as an iterative algorithm to obtain accurate approximations of all the frequency components with their accompanying amplitudes and phase angles. The algorithm excels over existing algorithms in obtaining these values especially in situations where several sinusoidal components are close to each other in the spectrum. This is achieved, thanks to an iterative process of removing the influence of the multiple sinusoidal components on each other. This paper contains the mathematical description of the algorithm and a numerical example evaluating the accuracy of the algorithm. The algorithm has a higher accuracy than the existing approaches, e.g., multipoint Interpolated Discrete Fourier Transform (IpDFTs), with only a slight increase of the computational cost.
Low predictive value of intrinsic fibroblast radiosensitivity for fibrosis development following radiotherapy for breast cancer.

PURPOSE To test whether the intrinsic radiosensitivity of skin fibroblasts from breast cancer patients correlates with the degree of breast fibrosis after breast conserving therapy. METHODS In a systematic study design, 79 patients were selected from an earlier study group of 385 patients based on observed fibrosis and seven identified clinical risk factors for fibrosis development. In vitro radiosensitivity of patients' dermal fibroblasts was determined by clonogenic assay of early passage cultures. Survival was determined after irradiation at 0, 2 and 4 Gy, given in two fractions of 2 Gy with a 6 h interval. RESULTS There was a significant inter-patient variation for SF2 values (coefficient of variation = 40%). The ratio of SF2 values for fibroblasts from patients with breast fibrosis versus those without was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.60-1.07). This was a statistically non-significant trend (p = 0.13). The same ratio for a derived value for SF2 ((SF2 + square root of SF4)/2) was 0.88 (p = 0.19). CONCLUSIONS A significant variation in intrinsic radiosensitivity of breast cancer patients' dermal fibroblasts was observed. However, the degree of radiosensitivity did not show a significant correlation with fibrosis development. This indicates that the use of fibroblast radiosensitivity will have a limited usefulness for predicting fibrosis following breast irradiation.
Modulation of Human Intestinal Epithelial Cell IL-8 Secretion by Human Milk Factors

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) seems to result from the inflammatory response of an immature intestine. Human milk is protective against NEC via an unknown mechanism. We hypothesized that specific factors found in human milk would decrease stimulated IL-8 secretion in intestinal epithelial cells. HT29-cl19A and Caco2 cells were compared with the fetal human primary intestinal epithelial cell line H4 and temperature-sensitive conditionally immortalized fetal human intestinal (tsFHI) cells. Cells were pretreated with transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), erythropoietin (Epo), IL-10, or epidermal growth factor (EGF) at physiologic concentrations before stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) or IL-1β, and then IL-8 was measured by ELISA. The fetal cells produced significantly more IL-8 when stimulated by TNF-α or IL-1β. There were also differences in the pattern of alteration of IL-8 secretion by human milk factors. In HT29-cl19A cells, IL-10 inhibited TNF-α-stimulated IL-8 secretion by 52%, and EGF increased secretion by 144%. In H4 cells, TGF-β1 and Epo inhibited TNF-α-stimulated IL-8 secretion to control levels, and EGF increased secretion by 29%. IL-1β-stimulated IL-8 secretion was inhibited 25% by TGF-β1 in Caco2 cells and in H4 cells was inhibited by TGF-β1, Epo, and TGF-β2. TsFHI cells confirmed H4 cell results. Fetal human enterocytes have an exaggerated IL-8 secretion in response to TNF-α and IL-1β. TGF-β and Epo decrease this stimulated IL-8 secretion, which may partially explain the protective effect of human milk in NEC.
Joyce: a multi-player game on one-on-one digital classroom environment for practicing fractions

The past researches indicated that game-based learning attracts and motivates children. More and more educational games are developed for children in classroom. At the same time, a growing number of children have their own portable computing devices such as personal digital assistant (PDA), notebook, tablet PC, etc. in their life. One-on-one digital classroom environment means every student uses digital learning devices to participate learning activities. In this paper, a multi-player game system supported for one-on-one educational computing named "Joyce" is presented. In Joyce system, the game mechanisms are applied for learners to practice fractions, and dynamic grouping mechanism is implemented to enhance interaction of competitive environment.
Adaptive Nonlinear Crane Control With Load Hoisting/Lowering and Unknown Parameters: Design and Experiments

For practical underactuated cranes, vertical load motion is always involved, which, owing to the internal nonlinear coupling, may trigger larger amplitude load oscillations, making the control problem much more cumbersome and challenging than the constant-rope-length case. Moreover, cranes always suffer from unknown or uncertain plant parameters such as load mass and friction parameters besides the underactuated nature, which makes accurate gravity compensation in the case of load vertical hoisting/lowering impossible and induces vertical positioning errors. To address these problems, a new adaptive coupling control approach is presented for underactuated cranes with load hoisting/lowering subject to unknown plant parameters, which achieves fast precise trolley positioning and load hoisting/lowering as well as rapid load swing elimination. We construct a new adaptive mechanism to deal with the system uncertainties, which can accurately identify the unknown load weight. As far as we know, the presented strategy yields the first closed-loop control solution, with guaranteed theoretical analysis, to successfully address the crane antiswing and positioning problem in the presence of load hoisting/lowering and uncertain parameters, with simultaneous load weight identification as an additional benefit. The performance of the designed control system is theoretically ensured by Lyapunov-like analysis and (extended) Barbalat's lemmas. Experimental and simulation results suggest the effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed method for crane control by comparing it with existing methods.
A Simple Method of Fabricating Weir-type Filters with Interdigital Aligned Full-polymer Microfluidic Channels for Blood Cell Fractionation

This paper describes a new method to fabricate large scale 3D weir-type filter for cell fractionation. The 3D structure is realized by a conformal bonding of two separate PDMS (poly-dimethyloxane) layers with in-situ microchannels which are formed by the conventional soft lithographic techniques. Moreover, the microfluidics channels on the two PDMS are set to cross to each other to increase weir numbers and flow throughput. The gap space of the weir filters depends on the thickness of the photoresist coated for the master formation, thereby it can be defined as required from submicron to hundreds micron scale. A white blood cells (WBCs) extraction experiments with the full polymer fabricated filters are conducted to validate the proposed method. The experimental results show that the weir-type filter array can fractionate the WBCs well from blood samples. Due to its intrinsic advantages of rapid process, high throughput and low cost, the proposed method is very promising for being integrated into micro total analysis system (muTAS)
Joint implementation of several LTE-SON functions

In SON enabled LTE networks many different SON functions may operate simultaneously in order to optimize the network performance. With the increasing number of SON functions the probability of conflicts and dependencies between them increases and become more challenging to handle. In this paper an integrated approach for two SON functions, namely handover optimization and load balancing combined with admission control is presented. In this approach the conflicts are solved using the combination of Fuzzy Q-Learning Control (FQLC) algorithm and a heuristic Diff_Load algorithm. The novelty of this approach lies in using of FQLC for adjusting more than a single parameter, namely the handover hysteresis and the time to trigger in order to simultaneously optimize more than one SON function. Working in parallel, the Diff_Load tunes the handover offset parameter. The proposed approach has been evaluated using the LTE-Sim simulator.
Fate of atrazine in a grassed phytoremediation system

Atrazine is a well‐known contaminant of surface waters and has been implicated in point‐source pollution at agrochemical dealerships in the Midwest. Although the fate of atrazine has been well documented in soil and water, little is known about the fate of this contaminant and its metabolites within a grassed system. In the present study, [U‐ring‐14C]atrazine was added to soil in closed systems to determine the fate of the parent compound and its metabolites in soil, including degradation and movement into plants and air. Soil was treated with 25 mg/kg [14C]labeled atrazine and allowed to age for 5 d. Four systems then were amended with a mixture of prairie grasses, and the remaining four chambers were maintained as unvegetated controls. Dissipation and distribution of parent compound and metabolites were recorded for 21 d. Plant uptake of [14C]residue was less than 0.5% of applied radioactivity. Approximately 2% of total applied [14C]atrazine was mineralized to [14C]CO2, with no differences between vegetated and unvegetated systems. Mass balance recoveries were 76% for grassed systems and 77.5% for unvegetated controls. Approximately 40% of applied radioactivity remained bound to the soil following extraction. The most prevalent extractable compound detected in the soil was the parent, atrazine; major metabolites in soil were deethylatrazine (DEA) and didealkylatrazine (DDA). Leaf tissue contained concentrations of atrazine and key metabolites, i.e., DEA, DDA, and deisopropylatrazine (DIA), above those allowed in forage grasses by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; another key metabolite, hydroxyatrazine, was the most prevalent compound identified in both leaf and root tissue.
Emerging psychiatric syndromes associated with antivoltage-gated potassium channel complex antibodies

Antibodies against the voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) were first recognised as having a potential pathogenic role in disorders of the central nervous system in 2001, with VGKC antibodies described in patients with limbic encephalitis, and the subsequent seminal paper describing the clinical phenotype and immunotherapy treatment responsiveness in 13 patients with VGKC antibodies and limbic encephalitis in 2004. These initial case descriptions were of a progressive neuropsychiatric syndrome with abnormalities of mood, sleep and cognition recognised alongside the neurological symptoms of seizures and autonomic instability. The clinical syndromes associated with VGKC complex (VGKCC) antibodies have broadened considerably over the last 15 years, with multiple cases of more restricted ‘formes fruste’ presentations associated with VGKCC antibodies being described. However, the relevance of antibodies in these cases has remained controversial. The understanding of the pathogenic nature of VGKC antibodies has further advanced since 2010 with the discovery that VGKC antibodies are not usually antibodies against the VGKC subunits themselves, but instead to proteins that are complexed with the potassium channel, in particular leucine-rich, glioma-inactivated protein 1 (LGI1) and contactin-associated protein 2 (Caspr2). Antibodies against these proteins have been associated with particular, although overlapping, clinical phenotypes, each also including neuropsychiatric features. Our aim is to critically review the association between VGKCC, LGI1 and Caspr2 antibodies with isolated psychiatric presentations—with a focus on cognitive impairment, mood disorders and psychosis. We recommend that screening for VGKCC, LGI1 and Caspr2 antibodies be considered for those with neuropsychiatric presentations.