Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell Polarization and Epigenetic Status Shape the Heterogeneous Response to Type III Interferons in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Type I and type III interferons (IFNs) are crucial components of the first-line antiviral host response. While specific receptors for both IFN types exist, intracellular signaling shares the same Jak-STAT pathway. Due to its receptor expression, IFN-λ responsiveness is restricted mainly to epithelial cells. Here, we display IFN-stimulated gene induction at the single cell level to comparatively analyze the activities of both IFN types in intestinal epithelial cells and mini-gut organoids. Initially, we noticed that the response to both types of IFNs at low concentrations is based on a single cell decision-making determining the total cell intrinsic antiviral activity. We identified histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity as a crucial restriction factor controlling the cell frequency of IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) induction upon IFN-λ but not IFN-β stimulation. Consistently, HDAC blockade confers antiviral activity to an elsewise non-responding subpopulation. Second, in contrast to the type I IFN system, polarization of intestinal epithelial cells strongly enhances their ability to respond to IFN-λ signaling and raises the kinetics of gene induction. Finally, we show that ISG induction in mini-gut organoids by low amounts of IFN is characterized by a scattered heterogeneous responsiveness of the epithelial cells and HDAC activity fine-tunes exclusively IFN-λ activity. This study provides a comprehensive description of the differential response to type I and type III IFNs and demonstrates that cell polarization in gut epithelial cells specifically increases IFN-λ activity.
Is higher education ready for knowledge management

Higher education institutions are in the knowledge business, since they are involved in knowledge creation and dissemination and learning. Examines the applicability of the concepts of knowledge management to higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Identifies a number of existing facilities, systems or projects which contribute to knowledge management in higher education, such as libraries, and electronic collections of learning materials, networks for e‐mail communication, and management information systems which provide data on the student profile. Then considers the challenges associated with the creation of a knowledge environment in higher education, and explores the opportunities offered by viewing knowledge as an asset. Concludes by noting that although knowledge based organizations might seem to have the most to gain through knowledge management, effective knowledge management may require significant change in culture and values, organizational structures and reward systems. The management of the relationship between knowledge and power is crucial.
Isolation Usage in a Pediatric Hospital

Abstract In a prospective 12-month study at a university-affiliated pediatric hospital, isolation usage was quantitated by ward/service, season, isolation category and type of infection (community-acquired vs nosocomial). Such information may be helpful in designing hospitals, recognizing time utilization of the pediatric infection control nurse, and defining educational and isolation needs. Hospitals with multiple bed rooms and inadequate numbers of single rooms may be unable to meet current federal isolation guidelines. The mean number of isolation days was 153 per 1000 patient days or 15.3% of bed days used. This ranged from 18.5% on the infant/toddler/preschool medical ward to 2.8% on child/teenage orthopedic surgery. Isolation requirements vary seasonally and rose to 32% in winter on one ward. Proportional frequencies of isolation category included enteric—29%, protective—28%, strict—16%, barrier (contact)—10%, multiply resistant organism (MRO)—8%, wound—5%, pregnant women (careful handwashing)—3%, blood and body fluid precautions—1%. Isolation of patients with and contacts of nosocomial infections account for 32% of isolation usage. During one third of the 365-day year, the hospital is unable to provide adequate numbers of single rooms for one to 20 patients.
FDA drops legal battle to introduce graphic pictures on cigarette packs

The federal government is abandoning a legal battle to place pictures of blackened lungs and dead bodies on the front of cigarette packets. The Food and Drug Administration will not appeal a court decision blocking it from requiring tobacco companies to put large graphic health warnings on cigarette packages. In a letter obtained by the Associated Press, the US attorney general, Eric Holder, said that the …
Advance Version Control (AVC): A Paradigm Shift from Version Control to Conflict Management

Distance is the major barrier in Global software development. It negatively impacts communication and coordination. Many tools are used to help developers to coordinate their work. One such tool is Software Configuration Management (SCM). But studies have shown that SCM lacks in conflict detection. This weakness has been removed by workspace awareness tool. This paper describes Advance Version Control tool (AVC), a tool that does versioning of artifacts and actively monitor commit activities of the developer. It is an integration of Configuration Management and Conflict Management. AVC determines conflicts at right time and also provides resolution methods like code sharing. The developed tool allows the developers to focus on their main task i.e. programming without presenting trivial notifications and warnings. AVC also has integrated communication medium to further enhance the coordination.
A Few Notes on Variance of Frequency Estimated Applying Analytical Leakage Compensation

One of the most accurate and commonly accepted methods for spectral analysis, i.e., estimation of frequency from samples of a signal, is analytical leakage compensation, briefly called analytical solution (AS). The AS estimate is negligibly biased, but it is the whole class of solutions whose variance depends on a free parameter named K. Thus, an important step in AS algorithm is calculation of optimal Kopt, which selects the minimum variance solution from theoretically infinite set. The original paper provides complete set of needed formulae, and here a few other relations are discussed, which can be used to further reduce the variance, if properly applied according to the specified criterion.
RIM1α and Interacting Proteins Involved in Presynaptic Plasticity Mediate Prepulse Inhibition and Additional Behaviors Linked to Schizophrenia

Several presynaptic proteins involved in neurotransmitter release in the CNS have been implicated in schizophrenia in human clinical genetic studies, in postmortem studies, and in studies of putative animal models of schizophrenia. The presynaptic protein RIM1α mediates presynaptic plasticity and cognitive function. We now demonstrate that mice deficient in RIM1α exhibit abnormalities in multiple schizophrenia-relevant behavioral tasks including prepulse inhibition, response to psychotomimetic drugs, and social interaction. These schizophrenia-relevant behavioral findings are relatively selective to RIM1α-deficient mice, as mice bearing mutations in the RIM1α binding partners Rab3A or synaptotagmin 1 only show decreased prepulse inhibition. In addition to RIM1α's involvement in multiple behavioral abnormalities, these data suggest that alterations in presynaptic forms of short-term plasticity are linked to alterations in prepulse inhibition, a measure of sensorimotor gating.
Execution costs in financial markets with several institutional investors

We study multi-period trading strategies of institutional investors who plan to trade the same security during some finite time horizons. Investors who trade large volumes face a price impact that depends on their trading volumes simultaneously, and is usually represented as a function, the so called price-impact function. We show through a numerical example that a trading strategy, optimal for trading in isolation, may become suboptimal in the presence of other institutional investors who trade the same security at the same time. Thus, the trading activities of other investors should not be ignored in practice and need to be modeled properly. Under the assumptions that the number of other investors and their trading volumes are known, the problem can be modeled as a simultaneous game. We investigate the properties of the equilibrium trading strategies and prove that, under mild assumptions on the price-impact function, an equilibrium uniquely exists and can be computed efficiently. Particularly, when short selling is allowed, the equilibrium is found by solving a system of linear equations. Finally, we evaluate the expected execution cost of the equilibrium trading strategy through simulations and demonstrate that even when other investors choose their trading strategies at random, the expected execution cost of the equilibrium trading strategy is likely to be less than the expected execution cost of the trading strategy that was optimal in the absence of other investors.
Chapter 6 Biomarkers , Obesity , and Cardiovascular Diseases

Obesity and overweight are among the major health problems in the world today. The excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue is accompanied by low‐grade inflamma‐ tion, adipokine secretion dysregulation, oxidative stress, and an alteration of the secretion of gut hormones and food intake related to peptides. This is related to the development of cardiovascular diseases, which have been increased worldwide during the last 15 years approximately. The biomarkers are tremendously important to predict, diagnose, and observe the therapeutic success of common complex multifactorial metabolic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases. This chapter presents a review of the most common biomarkers that have been used in the prevention, treatment, prognosis, and diagnosis of obesity and cardiovascular diseases.
Mitochondrial Metabolism Sets the Maximal Limit of Fuel-stimulated Insulin Secretion in a Model Pancreatic Beta Cell

The precise metabolic steps that couple glucose catabolism to insulin secretion in the pancreatic beta cell are incompletely understood. ATP generated from glycolytic metabolism in the cytosol, from mitochondrial metabolism, and/or from the hydrogen shuttles operating between cytosolic and mitochondrial compartments has been implicated as an important coupling factor. To identify the importance of each of these metabolic pathways, we have compared the fates of four fuel secretagogues (glucose, pyruvate, dihydroxyacetone, and glycerol) in the INS1-E beta cell line. Two of these fuels, dihydroxyacetone and glycerol, are normally ineffective as secretagogues but are enabled by adenovirus-mediated expression of glycerol kinase. Comparison of these two particular fuels allows the effect of redox state on insulin secretion to be evaluated since the phosphorylated products dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glycerol phosphate lie on opposite sides of the NADH-consuming glycerophosphate dehydrogenase reaction. Based upon measurements of glycolytic metabolites, mitochondrial oxidation, mitochondrial matrix calcium, and mitochondrial membrane potential, we find that insulin secretion most tightly correlates with mitochondrial metabolism for each of the four fuels. In the case of glucose stimulation, the high control strength of glucose phosphorylation sets the pace of glucose metabolism and thus the rate of insulin secretion. However, bypassing this reaction with pyruvate, dihydroxyacetone, or glycerol uncovers constraints imposed by mitochondrial metabolism, each of which attains a similar maximal limit of insulin secretion. More specifically, we found that the hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, related to the proton export from the mitochondrial matrix, correlates well with insulin secretion. Based on these findings, we propose that fuel-stimulated secretion is in fact limited by the inherent thermodynamic constraints of proton gradient formation.
Residential care in Italy

Background In Italy, where all mental hospitals have been gradually phased out since 1978, psychiatric patients requiring long-term care are being treated in non-hospital residential facilities (NHRFs). However, detailed data on these facilities are sparse. Aims The Progetto Residenze (PROGRES) residential care project is a three-phase study, the first phase of which aims to survey the main characteristics of all Italian NHRFs. Method Structured interviews were conducted with the manager of each NHRF. Results On 31 May 2000 there were 1370 NHRFs with 17138 beds; an average of 12.5 beds each and a rate of 2.98 beds per 10 000 inhabitants. Residential provision varied ten-fold between regions and discharge rates were very low. Most had 24-hour staffing with 1.42 patients per full-time worker. Conclusions There is marked variability in the provision of residential places between different regions; discharge rates are generally low.
The role of pasture and soybean in deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon

The dynamics of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon are complex. A growing debate considers the extent to which deforestation is a result of the expansion of the Brazilian soy industry. Most recent analyses suggest that deforestation is driven by the expansion of cattle ranching, rather than soy. Soy seems to be replacing previously deforested land and/or land previously under pasture. In this study, we use municipality-level statistics on agricultural and deforested areas across the Legal Amazon from 2000 to 2006 to examine the spatial patterns and statistical relationships between deforestation and changes in pasture and soybean areas. Our results support previous studies that showed that deforestation is predominantly a result of pasture expansion. However, we also find support for the hypothesis that an increase of soy in Mato Grosso has displaced pasture further north, leading to deforestation elsewhere. Although not conclusive, our findings suggest that the debate surrounding the drivers of Amazon deforestation is not over, and that indirect causal links between soy and deforestation may exist that need further exploration. Future research should examine more closely how interlinkages between land area, prices, and policies influence the relationship between soy and deforestation, in order to make a conclusive case for ‘displacement deforestation’.
Insect Pheromone Research: some history and 45 years of personal recollections

Since when have men known of chemical communication? The essay will begin with a speculation on a possible "prehistoric" scene when early human hunters observed animals. This will lead directly to a more than 300-year-old description of a rather modern experiment with dogs. From here we come to the situation about 120 years ago, when sexual attraction of male moths by their females was described. Even the use of female moths for trapping pest species males was already considered 100 years ago. The so far final development began in the 1950s with the chemical identification of the sexual attractant of the silkmoth Bombyx. Such substances were then named pheromones and bombykol, the sexual attractant of the female silkmoth, was the first pheromone (1959). With chemically pure pheromones and their derivatives available, corresponding physiological studies began in this period and led to the knowledge of the sensory specificity, sensitivity and adaptation of receptor cells and eventually of stimulus-induced behavior. During the following decades, many insect attractants were identified and their application in "integrated pest control measures" is well developed. Important physiological, microanatomical and biochemical investigations were still more recently done. Even the processing of pheromone information in a special area of the olfactory brain of moths and cockroaches, and the anemotactic orientation which is elicited by pheromone odor, are now widely understood. The complex biochemical mechanisms of sensory transduction, however, are not yet fully clarified and no receptor molecule was identified until now.
A software component model that is both control-driven and data-driven

A software component model is the cornerstone of any Component-based Software Development (CBSD) methodology. Such a model defines the modelling elements for constructing software systems. In software system modelling, it is necessary to capture the three elements of a system? s behaviour: (i) control (ii) computation and (iii) data. Within a system, computations are performed according to the flow of control or the flow of data, depending on whether computations are control-driven or data-driven. Computations are function evaluations, assignments, etc., which transform data when invoked by control or data flow. Therefore a component model should be able to model control flow, data flow as well as computations. Current component models all model computations, but beside computations tend to model either control flow only or data flow only, but not both.In this thesis, we present a new component model which can model both control flow and data flow. It contains modelling elements that capture control flow and data flow explicitly. Furthermore, the modelling of control flow is separate from that of data flow; this enables the modelling of both control-driven and data-driven computations. The feasibility of the model is shown by means of an implementation of the model, in the form of a prototype tool. The usefulness of the model is then demonstrated for a specific domain, the embedded systems domain, as well as a generic domain. For the embedded systems domain, unlike current models, our model can be used to construct systems that are both control-driven and data-driven. In a generic domain, our model can be used to construct domain models, by constructing control flows and data flows which together define a domain model.
Wavelet transform on parallel SIMD architectures

This paper presents implementation of the wavelet transform on parallel computers. The time of computation of wavelet transform on classic computers limits its applications in several areas of signal processing and data compression. We examine some problems encountered when parallelizing such a code and we compare three different SIMD computers on this basis: a Connection-Machine 2/200, a SYMPATI-2 Line Processor, and a MasPar MP-1.
Tracking Members of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus deltaB670 Quasispecies Population In Vivo at Single-Cell Resolution

ABSTRACT Genetically distinct lentiviruses constitute a quasispecies population that can evolve in response to selective forces. To move beyond characterization of the population as a whole to the behavior of individual members, we devised an in situ hybridization approach that uses genotype-specific probes. We used probes that detect simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) that differ in sequence in the V1 region of the surface envelope glycoprotein (env) gene to investigate the replication and cellular tropisms of four viral variants in the tissues of infected rhesus macaques. We found that the V1 genotypic variants replicated in spatially defined patterns and to different extents at each anatomic site. The two variants that replicated most extensively in animals with AIDS were detected in both macrophages and T lymphocytes in tissues. By extension of this approach, it will be possible to investigate the role of individual lentiviruses in a quasispecies in pathogenesis and to evaluate the effects of antiviral or immunotherapeutic treatment on select members of a quasispecies.
Le Familistère de Guise : un paternalisme de gauche ?

Le Familistere de Guise, entreprise d’inspiration socialiste, est souvent compare, voire assimile, a une forme de paternalisme, dans la mesure ou l’on y retrouve le meme type d’institutions sociales – logements, mutuelles de sante, ecoles – que dans les grands centres industriels paternalistes, chez Michelin ou Schneider par exemple. Cependant, ce terme de paternalisme suppose avant tout une certaine conception des rapports sociaux internes a l’entreprise dans laquelle on ne peut pas reconnaitre la pensee de Jean-Baptiste Godin, le fondateur. En revanche, apres la mort de celui-ci, ses successeurs a la tete de la structure expriment des opinions qui autorisent progressivement a parler desormais de modele paternaliste.
High-dose chemotherapy for germ cell tumors: do we have a model?

Introduction: Since the late nineties, the intensification of chemotherapy doses with hematopoietic stem cell rescue held promise for patients with advanced and poor prognosis germ cell tumors (GCTs). High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) has, nowadays, a recognized indication in the salvage setting of advanced GCTs and is steadily utilized worldwide. Areas covered: We evaluated the available data with the use of HDCT in these patients. In addition, we provided an original perspective on several issues as experts on behalf of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and IGG, including peripheral blood stem cells mobilization and the use of HDCT in special subpopulations of GCT, with the aim to help clarify critical issues in the absence of available clear-cut information. Expert opinion: Despite HDCT being currently considered a therapeutic option in the salvage setting, critical questions regarding patient selection are still unanswered. Eligibility of patients with a chemoresistant disease, the use of available prognostic factors as well as tumor marker decline in clinical practice are pending issues. Moving forward, these are critical arguments in favor of further clinical research in the field of advanced GCTs.
Performance criteria, telemetered heart rate and enzyme studies in Olympic weight lifting.

The sport of Weight Lifting is generally regarded as requiring little else than the possession of great strength, and is not usually differentiated from body-building, in which the sole objective is the attainment of great muscle bulk with maximum definition of muscle segments. Consideration in detail of the specific requirements of competitive weight lifting reveal that the sport is a relatively dynamic one, requiring not only a high degree of strength but also flexibility, speed and specific motor skill.
Potential vectors of West Nile Virus following an equine disease outbreak in Italy

Abstract. In the late summer of 1998, an outbreak of equine encephalomyelitis due to West Nile virus (WNV) occurred in the Tuscany region of central Italy. The disease was detected in 14 race horses from nine localities in four Provinces: Firenze, Lucca, Pisa and Pistoia. The outbreak area included Fucecchio wetlands (1800 ha), the largest inland marsh in Italy, and the adjacent hilly Cerbaie woodlands with farms breeding horses. To detect potential vectors of WNV, entomological surveys of Fucecchio and Cerbaie were undertaken during 1999–2002 by collecting mosquito larvae from breeding sites and adult mosquitoes by several methods of sampling.
FPGA implementation of AdaBoost algorithm for detection of face biometrics

At present, most of the high performance arbitrary-shape object detection algorithms are based on statistical methods such as SVM (support vector machine) and AdaBoost method for frontal-view face detection was proposed by Viola in 2001. This method offered impressive accuracy at high speed. Thus, many medical applications requiring biometric and general object detection are good candidates for AdaBoost algorithm. However, in the cases of high-resolution image and real-time video, the algorithm still poses a high computation load that could not be met by average personal computers. In this paper, FPGA (field programmable gate array) design of hardware for a real-time face detection based on AdaBoost algorithm is described. Being fully programmable, hardware design using FPGA offers a much shorter development time and enables a quick verification of DSP algorithms.