Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Late glacial history of the cold‐adapted freshwater fish Cottus gobio, revealed by microsatellites

The distribution of genetic diversity at 10 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci within the European freshwater fish, Cottus gobio, L. was examined. The sampling range comprised a large geographical scale including lineages known to be highly divergent at both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and allozymes. An analysis of genetic variability within populations showed that expected heterozygosity and allelic richness could be explained largely by current effective population sizes. Evidence was found, however, that historical processes predating the last major glaciation affected allelic richness. In addition to confirming the large‐scale patterns from earlier studies, the microsatellite data revealed new insights into recent processes by analysing genetic structure within ancient lineages defined by mtDNA data. Stepwise mutation model (SMM) and nonSMM‐based methods demonstrated a clear genetic structuring within the Northwestern European lineage comprising populations from Britain and Belgium, and within the Central European lineage populations from the rivers Danube, Elbe and Main. Supported by an analysis of genetic variability within populations these results showed that the bullhead populations most probably persisted throughout the last major glaciation within the British Isles and within the drainages of the rivers Elbe and Main. Such observations provide the first genetic evidence for a glacial refugium in such close proximity to the European glacial margins.
Stresses evolution at high temperature (200°C) in Copper/Alumina (Cu/Al2O3) stack

This paper presents the temperature influence on the adhesion of a copper thin film deposited on an alumina substrate. 5μm and 20 μm thicknesses of copper films were deposited by RF sputtering and characterized. Simulation and mechanical characterizations were realized. Results obtained by Stoney stresses and by Von Mises Stress show stresses relaxation after first annealing and their stabilization for following annealing cycles (200°C). Stress values obtained are lower than the elastic stress on the copper layer which corroborate SEM analysis where copper films present absence of cracks after an annealing at 200°C during one hour. On the other hand, an experimental critical stress characterization has been performed. Results show that critical stress increase with the increasing temperature and decreasing with the copper thickness.
Identification and functional characterization of a new IL-1 family member, IL-1Fm2, in most evolutionarily advanced fish

The IL-1 family consists of 11 members that play an important role as key mediators in inflammation and immunity. Here, we report the identification of a new member of the IL-1 family (IL-1Fm2) that is present in species belonging to the most evolutionarily advanced group of teleost fish (Series Percomorpha), including Perciformes, Beloniformes, Gasterosteiformes, Cyprinodontiformes and Pleuronectiformes. However, IL-1Fm2 seems to be absent in Tetraodontiformes, which also belong to the Percomorpha. The expression pattern of gilthead seabream IL-1Fm2 revealed that although it was hardly induced by PAMPs, the combination of PAMPs and recombinant IL-1Fm2 synergistically induced its expression in macrophages and granulocytes. In addition, recombinant IL-1Fm2 was able to activate the respiratory burst of seabream phagocytes and to synergistically induce the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-8 and IL-10 when combined with PAMPs. Finally, although gilthead seabream IL-1Fm2 did not show a conserved caspase-1 processing site, macrophages processed IL-1Fm2 before being released. However, both pan-caspase and caspase-1 inhibitors failed to inhibit the processing and release of IL-1Fm2. These results demonstrate an important role of IL-1Fm2 in the regulation of fish immune responses, shed light on the evolution of the IL-1 family in vertebrates and point to the complexity of this cytokine family.
A Dataflow-based Mobile Brain Reading System on Chip with Supervised Online Calibration - For Usage without Acquisition of Training Data

Brain activity is more and more used for innovative applications like Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). However, in order to be able to use the brain activity, the related psychophysiological data has to be processed and analyzed with sophisticated signal processing and machine learning methods. Usually these methods have to be calibrated with subject-specific data before they can be used. Since future systems that implement these methods need to be portable to be applied more flexible tight constraints regarding size, power consumption and computing time have to be met. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are a promising solution, which are able to meet all the constraints at the same time. Here, we present an FPGA-based mobile system for signal processing and classification. In addition to other systems, it is able to be calibrated and adapt at runtime, which makes the acquisition of training data unnecessary.
A Novel Antiproliferative Drug Coating for Glaucoma Drainage Devices

Purpose:The implantation of a glaucoma drainage device (GDD) is often necessary for intractable cases of glaucoma. Currently, the success rate of GDD implants is relatively low because fibrosis that develops during the wound-healing process ultimately blocks fluid drainage. We describe herein a novel porous coating for Ahmed glaucoma valves based on biodegradable poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). Materials and Methods:Thin films of PLGA were fabricated using a spin-coating technique. The procedure led to an asymmetric pore structure that was exploited to control the rate of dissolution. Double-layered porous films were constructed to achieve continuous drug release. A cell culture system was used to test the efficacy of these coatings. Results:Double-layered films were manufactured to provide a burst of mitomycin C (MMC) release followed by a slow release of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which together prevented fibrosis over the most active period of postoperative wound healing (0 to 28 d). Double-layered films containing 5-FU only in the bottom layer showed a 3- to 5-day delay in drug release, followed by a sharp increase that continued for ~28 days. MMC was stable only when surface-loaded, and this drug was therefore surface-loaded onto the top PLGA layer to provide a continuous release of antifibrotics over the wound-healing period. Conclusions:The combined use of both MMC and 5-FU in a biodegradable device inhibits cell proliferation in a tissue culture model and has the potential to reduce fibrosis and increase the success rate of GDD implants. The design is simple and can be scaled for commercial production.
Preserving HIV-specific T cell responses: does timing of antiretroviral therapy help?

Purpose of reviewHIV-specific T cell responses are likely to have an important role in HIV cure strategies that aim for long-lasting viral control without antiretroviral therapy (ART). An important issue in enhancing virus-specific T cell responses is whether timing of ART can influence their magnitude and breadth. Recent findingsEarly ART is associated with lower T cell activation, preservation of T cell numbers, smaller DNA and RNA reservoir size, and, in a single study (VISCONTI), control of plasma viremia after treatment interruption. The prevention of T cell destruction by early ART is associated with relatively low anti-HIV CD8+ T cell responses but stronger CD4+ T helper function. The relatively lower CD8+T cell response, which is presumably due to rapid lowering of HIV antigen burden after early ART, appears sufficient to control residual viral replication as well as viral rebound upon treatment interruption. SummaryAvailable evidence of starting ART during acute or early HIV infection has shown benefit in both virologic and immunologic parameters despite the lower HIV-specific CD8+ T cell responses observed. Encouraging as this is, more extensive data are necessary to evaluate its role in combination with immunotherapeutic and latency activation strategies that are being assessed in various HIV cure-related studies.
Magnesium deficiency up‐regulates Myod expression in rat skeletal muscle and C2C12 myogenic cells

Magnesium (Mg) deficiency induces the production of free radicals, increases cytosolic ionized calcium concentration, and modulates the function of skeletal muscle in rats. The present study examined the effects of Mg deficiency on the gene expression of molecules related to myogenesis in the gastrocnemius muscle as well as in C2C12 myogenic cells. Ingestion of an Mg‐deficient diet resulted in a lower weight of the gastrocnemius muscle and higher concentration of muscular TBARSs, an index of oxidative stress. Mg deficiency also enhanced the expression of Myod and myogenin. In vivo effects of Mg deficiency on myogenic gene expression were partially reproduced in in vitro C2C12 cells; expression of Myod was up‐regulated by a mixed culture of myoblasts and myotubes with Mg‐deficient medium, which related to the simultaneous up‐regulation of Myhc IIb, a myotube‐specific protein. The culture with Mg‐deficient medium did not increase the gene transcript level of HO‐1, another marker of oxidative stress, suggesting that Mg deficiency‐induced Myod expression does not result from oxidative stress. Furthermore, oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide did not increase Myod expression, whereas the expression of Myod, myogenin and Myhc IIb was decreased by oxidative stress from the initial phase of differentiation. The effects of Mg deficiency depended on the stages of myogenesis; myoblast culture in Mg‐deficient differentiation medium did not affect the expression of Myod and Myhc IIb. The present study revealed stage‐dependent effects of Mg deficiency on myogenesis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dual-band laminated waveguide filter design in multilayer LTCC

This paper proposes a fully stacked laminated waveguide dual-band filter in low-temperature co-fired ceramic technology. Taking advantage of the multiple cavity modes, the coupling coefficients and external quality factors for different pass bands are simultaneously achieved by adequately choosing positions of open slots and feeding probes. Besides, the operation bands can be controlled by the geometric dimensions of laminated waveguide resonators. A dual-band filter with third-order Chebyshev responses is presented to verify the design concept. With the multilayer capability of LTCC, all the cavities are vertically stacked, and the filter size can be miniaturized.
Analysis possibilities for using fiber optic sensors in intelligent building control system

The basic directions of intelligent control systems for intellectual house in the concept of “smart house” are represented. The authors have formed sets of sensor types, the presence of which is necessary for complete and effective functioning of vital subsystems. It is proved that fiber optic sensors have a greater perspective for the provision of life support subsystem of smart home. Embodiment of such sensor and a functional readout circuit using this sensor are proposed. The authors consider one of the most important tasks of life support subsystem — the task monitoring the state of the building foundation. The authors have proposed a scheme for the use of fiber optic sensors for monitoring foundation status in terms of its integrity, cracks, and damage, internal stresses associated with the subsidence of the soil under the building or with increased load on the building.
A New Approach to Reliability Prediction in Component-based Systems

Reliability is a qualitative feature of software that has been the focus of numerous researchers. There are several measures for quantitative evaluation of reliability, such as mean time to failure, mean time to repair, high availability, security and probability of failure of any component in the system or the whole system. In the approaches that exploit Use-case diagrams to predict reliability, the probability of failure of each use-case in the program is calculated, and using this information the reliability of whole system is achieved. However, to our knowledge those approaches consider the probability of failure of executive paths in each use-case the same. The current study intends toimprove the accuracy of pastapproach and obtain the probability of different failures for various execution paths and calculate the reliability more carefully. A web-based transaction processing system is checked to predict and evaluate the reliability. As a result, the confidence interval of the probability of failure for the entire system is . 0008 which is smaller than that of the base approach.
Phosphorylation of FOXO3a on Ser-7 by p38 Promotes Its Nuclear Localization in Response to Doxorubicin*

Background: FOXO3a is a forkhead transcription factor that mediates the effects of doxorubicin in cancer treatment. Results: p38 regulates FOXO3a nuclear translocation and phosphorylates FOXO3a on Ser-7 upon doxorubicin treatment. Conclusion: p38 phosphorylation of FOXO3a on Ser-7 contributes to its nuclear relocalization and activation in response to doxorubicin. Significance: This study provides new information on FOXO3a regulation and the molecular mechanism of action of doxorubicin. FOXO3a is a forkhead transcription factor that regulates a multitude of important cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and metabolism. Doxorubicin treatment of MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells results in FOXO3a nuclear relocation and the induction of the stress-activated kinase p38 MAPK. Here, we studied the potential regulation of FOXO3a by p38 in response to doxorubicin. Co-immunoprecipitation studies in MCF-7 cells demonstrated a direct interaction between p38 and FOXO3a. We also showed that p38 can bind and phosphorylate a recombinant FOXO3a directly in vitro. HPLC-coupled phosphopeptide mapping and mass spectrometric analyses identified serine 7 as a major site for p38 phosphorylation. Using a phosphorylated Ser-7 FOXO3a antibody, we demonstrated that FOXO3a is phosphorylated on Ser-7 in response to doxorubicin. Immunofluorescence staining studies showed that upon doxorubicin treatment, the wild-type FOXO3a relocalized to the nucleus, whereas the phosphorylation-defective FOXO3a (Ala-7) mutant remained largely in the cytoplasm. Treatment with SB202190 also inhibits the doxorubicin-induced FOXO3a Ser-7 phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation in MCF-7 cells. In addition, doxorubicin caused the nuclear translocation of FOXO3a in wild-type but not p38-depleted mouse fibroblasts. Together, our results suggest that p38 phosphorylation of FOXO3a on Ser-7 is essential for its nuclear relocalization in response to doxorubicin.
Diagnostic and Follow-up Eosinophilia Is Not Predictive of Outcome in Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background Peripheral blood eosinophilia (PBE) and bone marrow eosinophilia (BME) are associated with various tumors. Eosinophilia is frequently paraclonal (because of cytokines and not part of the malignant clone), but in some cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), it may also be clonal. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 80 pediatric AML patients treated from June 2004 to December 2008 at our cancer center for PBE and BME at diagnosis and postinduction. Results At diagnosis, PBE was present in 18.8% patients whereas at postinduction it was observed in 7.7% patients. No patient had abnormal eosinophils. At diagnosis, PBE correlated with the absence of gum hypertrophy whereas BME correlated with the French-American-British-M2 subtype and absence of gum hypertrophy. PBE/BME did not have a significant correlation with event-free survival. After completion of therapy, on follow-up up to 2 years every 3 months, one-third of the patients had eosinophilia; however, it did not correlate with disease-free survival. Conclusions This is the first study to evaluate the impact of eosinophilia at presentation, postinduction, and on follow-up with outcome in pediatric AML. Although eosinophilia was observed in one-fifth of the patients at diagnosis and in one-third of the patients on follow-up, it seems to be reactive in nature with no impact on outcome and thus it should not be a cause of alarm.
DNA Aggregation Induced by Polyamines and Cobalthexamine (*)

We have studied the precipitation of short DNA molecules by the polycations spermidine, spermine, and cobalthexamine. The addition of these cations to a DNA solution leads first to the precipitation of the DNA; further addition resolubilizes the DNA pellet. The multivalent salt concentration required for resolubilization is essentially independent of the DNA concentration (between 1 μg/ml and 1 mg/ml) and of the monovalent cation concentration present in the DNA solution (up to 100 mM). The DNA aggregates are anisotropic; those obtained in the presence of the polyamines spermidine and spermine generally contain a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase that flows spontaneously. In contrast this phase is never seen in the presence of cobalthexamine. We propose that the ability of polyamines to condense DNA in fluid structures is an essential feature of their biological functions.
An Evaluation of Research on Integrated Product Development

Integrated Product Development (IPD) creates overlap and interaction between activities in the new product development process and, because this increases the need to coordinate, compensates through other aspects of the new product development process (e.g., integrated tools), product definitions (e.g., incremental development), organizational context (e.g., reduced task specialization), and teaming (e.g., cross-functional teams). Since IPD has become an important new standard for managing new product development, this paper's general aim is to evaluate the research that has been conducted on it. Our three specific objectives include first critiquing the IPD literature by identifying problems with empirical research and recommending solutions. There are concerns about the overall approach, conceptualizing and operationalizing IPD characteristics, and selecting performance objectives. Second, we conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate relationships between specific IPD characteristics and project performance. We indicate where relationships do or do not exist and identify variables that may moderate these relationships. Third, we offer suggestions for extending IPD research into studies of (a) the hierarchy of teams working on a project, (b) one company managing a portfolio of projects over time, and (c) two or more firms collaborating in a strategic alliance.
Neuregulin‐1 is a chemoattractant and chemokinetic molecule for trunk neural crest cells

Background: Trunk neural crest cells migrate rapidly along characteristic pathways within the developing vertebrate embryo. Proper trunk neural crest cell migration is necessary for the morphogenesis of much of the peripheral nervous system, melanocytes, and the adrenal medulla. Numerous molecules help guide trunk neural crest cell migration throughout the early embryo. Results: The trophic factor NRG1 is a chemoattractant through in vitro chemotaxis assays and in vivo silencing via a DN‐erbB receptor. Interestingly, we also observed changes in migratory responses consistent with a chemokinetic effect of NRG1 in trunk neural crest velocity. Conclusions: NRG1 is a trunk neural crest cell chemoattractant and chemokinetic molecule. Developmental Dynamics 247:888–902, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Transgenic Expression of Viral Capsid Proteins Predisposes to Axonal Injury in a Murine Model of Multiple Sclerosis

We used transgenic expression of capsid antigens to Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) to study the influence of VP1, VP2 or VP2121–130 to either protection or pathogenesis to chronic spinal cord demyelination, axonal loss and functional deficits during the acute and chronic phases of infection. We used both mice that are normally susceptible (FVB) and mice normally resistant (FVB.Db) to demyelination. Transgenic expression of VP2121–130 epitope in resistant FVB.Db mice caused spinal cord pathology and virus persistence because the VP2121–130 epitope is the dominant peptide recognized by Db, which is critical for virus clearance. In contrast, all three FVB TMEV transgenic mice showed more demyelination, inflammation and axonal loss as compared with wild‐type FVB mice, even though virus load was not increased. Motor function measured by rotarod showed weak correlation with total number of midthoracic axons, but a strong correlation with large‐caliber axons (>10 µm2). This study supports the hypothesis that expression of viral capsid proteins as self influences the extent of axonal pathology following Theiler's virus–induced demyelination. The findings provide insight into the role of axonal injury in the development of functional deficits that may have relevance to human demyelinating disease.
Convulsive Seizures Following Subdural Application of Fibrin Sealant Containing Tranexamic Acid in a Rat Model

OBJECTIVESTranexamic acid (t-AMCA) has been shown to cause severe convulsions in humans and cats when applied topically to the central nervous system. We wanted to determine whether pure t-AMCA or fibrin sealant (FS) containing t-AMCA would induce similar effects when applied to the spinal cord in a rat model. METHODSFollowing low-thoracic laminectomy, the dura was incised to expose the dorsal surface of the lumbar enlargement. Rats were allocated to one of the following treatments: 1) t-AMCA (10 mg/ml), 2) vehicle (phosphate buffered saline), 3) FS containing t-AMCA, 4) FS containing aprotinin. The response of the rats was evaluated based on neurological and behavioral observations. Additionally, motor function was scored in the rats that had received FS. RESULTSApplication of either 10 mg/ml t-AMCA or FS containing t-AMCA caused severe hind limb spasms that developed into spontaneous generalized convulsions. Two of the three rats that had received FS containing t-AMCA died of respiratory failure. In contrast, application of vehicle or FS containing aprotinin did not cause any abnormal conditions of the animals. CONCLUSIONTranexamic acid may cause severe complications when used in the central nervous system. Thus, fibrin sealants containing t-AMCA should not be used in neurosurgery. (47;1467;2000)
Arachidonic Acid and Its Metabolites in Cerebral Ischemia a

Among the therapeutic agents currently employed in the medical management of cerebral ischemia, only aspirin, an antiplatelet agent and an irreversible inhibitor of cyclooxygenase, has been proven in rigorous clinical trials to show a moderate efficacy in reducing stroke and death in patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA). '-* The rationale for using antiplatelet agents in the prevention and treatment of cerebral ischemia is based on the recognition that platelets are involved in the development of atherosclerosis, the formation of thrombi on atherosclerotic plaques, and the pathogenesis of postischemic microvascular injury. ' The possibility of pharmacological modification of platelet function in cerebral ischemia has been enhanced by new insights into the biochemical regulation of blood cell-vessel wall interactions, particularly those involving arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism. This paper will begin with a brief review of the formation of AA metabolites in cerebral ischemia. This will be followed by a summary of recent experimental findings from our laboratories concerning AA metabolism in relation to postischemic vascular changes and the effects of therapeutic intervention directed at AA metabolism.