Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct recognition of LPS by human but not murine CD8+ T cells via TLR4 complex

LPS comprises a major PAMP and is a key target of the immune system during bacterial infection. While LPS can be recognised by innate immune cells via the TLR4 complex, it is unknown whether T lymphocytes, especially CD8+ T cells are also capable of doing so. We report here that naïve human CD8+ T cells, after activation by TCR stimulation, express surface TLR4 and CD14. These activated CD8+ T cells can then secrete high concentrations of IFN‐γ, granzyme and perforin in response to LPS. These effects can be specifically inhibited using siRNA for TLR4. Furthermore, LPS can synergise with IL‐12 to polarise the CD8+ T cells into cytotoxic T‐cell 1 (Tc1) that produce IFN‐γ but not IL‐4, with or without TCR activation. Moreover, CD8+CD45RO+ memory T cells constitutively expressed TLR4 and markedly enhanced IFN‐γ production when stimulated with LPS. In contrast, activated murine CD8+ T cells lack TLR4 and CD14 expression and fail to respond to LPS for proliferation and cytokine production. Thus, human but not murine CD8+ T cells are able to directly recognise bacterial LPS via LPS receptor complex and TLR4 provides a novel signal for the activation of effector and memory human CD8+ T cells.
Banking, currency, stock market and debt crises in Spain, 1850–1995

ABSTRACT What type of crisis is generated when debt increases? We extend the literature by framework by introducing currency and stock market crises in the analysis. We apply our proposal to the case of Spain, since this is a country that has experienced a very important amount of financial crises from the nineteenth century onwards. We find the same results as the previous literature for the determinants of banking and debt crises but substituting external and public debt with perpetual debt and where perpetual debt has a less important role than crises in the private sector. Moreover, we find evidence in favour of the hypothesis that currency crises depend strongly and positively on financial centre crises and negatively and mildly on perpetual debt. We justify the negative relalionship due to an inflation tax. We also find evidence in favour of the hypothesis that stock market crises depend only positively and strongly on financial centre crises.
Entrepreneurial intention of production engineering students in Amazonas/Brazil

This work aims to investigate an entrepreneurial intention of production engineering students in Hard Sciences and Technology Institute (ICET) linked to Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM). Regarding the methodology, this research is quantitative, regarding the approach of the problem, exploratory, regarding the objectives of the research, and a case study with regard to the technical procedure adopted. The research sample was formed by courses of production engineering course and contains a participation of 100 students. The research techniques used were: indirect documentation and extensive direct observation through the application of the forms of entrepreneurial intention with the students. In terms of results, the following stand out more than half of the students are not entrepreneurial products; however, almost all of their users are in a position to become entrepreneurs; strong indication for self-employment; search for an innovative idea as the main barrier to entrepreneurship. The study points to a proactive stance with regard to entrepreneurship even considering that as areas of engineering, they concentrate a large part of their professionals as employees in public or private companies. The relevance of the research lies in evidencing the growth of entrepreneurship among the discourses of production engineering so that the university contributes to the formation of professionals who create projects with high added value, promoting technological development and innovation and impacting local development.
Nucleotide excision repair proteins and their importance for radiation‐enhanced transfection

Purpose: Irradiated cells transfect more efficiently than unirradiated cells because of a radiation‐induced increase in plasmid integration. However, the molecular mechanism is unclear. Because of recent observations that nucleotide excision repair (NER) proteins can be involved in certain types of recombination in yeast, it was hypothesized that NER proteins might play a role in this radiation‐enhanced integration. Materials and methods: Hamster and human cells with inactivating mutations in NER genes were irradiated at doses from 0 to 6 Gy and then immediately transfected with a linearized selectable marker plasmid. Transfection‐enhancement ratios (TERs) were calculated as the ratio of the number of drug‐resistant colonies in unirradiated cells to the number of transfectants in irradiated cells, corrected for cytotoxicity from radiation. Results: Transfection into unirradiated rodent cells was unaffected by NER mutation status. Transfection into unirradiated human cells, however, was increased by NER mutation. The TERs were 5 and 100 for CHO and primary human fibroblasts, respectively, after exposure of the cells to 6 Gy. Mutations in ERCC1, XPA, XPB, XPC, XPF, XPG and CSB dramatically reduced TER. Mutations in ERCC1, XPC, XPF, XPG and CSB suppressed transfection so that the TER was significantly below 1. Conclusions: The mechanism of radiation‐enhanced plasmid integration was distinct from that of plasmid integration in unirradiated cells, and NER gene products were critical for enhanced integration to occur.
Modeling daily electrical demand in presence of PHEVs in smart grids with supervised learning

Replacing a portion of current light-duty vehicles (LDVs) with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) offers the possibility to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels together with environmental and economic benefits. However, charging a myriad of PHEVs will certainly introduce a huge new load to the power grid. In the framework of the development of a smarter grid, the primary focus of the present study is to propose a model for the daily electrical demand from the residential sector in presence of PHEVs. The expected demand from a PHEV is modeled by assigning certain probability distributions to the PHEV's required charging time and the starting time of charge. We assign a normal distribution for the starting time of charge which follows the real world practice. Furthermore, several distributions for the required charging time are considered: uniform distribution, Gaussian with positive support, Rician distribution and a non-uniform distribution coming from driving patterns in real-world data. We generate daily demand profiles by using real-world residential profiles throughout 2014 in the presence of different expected PHEV demand scenarios. Support vector machines (SVMs), a set of supervised machine learning models, are employed in order to find the best model to fit the data. SVMs with radial basis function (RBF) and polynomial kernels were tested. Model performances are evaluated by means of mean squared error (MSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). We show that the best results are obtained with RBF kernel: maximum (worst) values for MSE and MAPE are about 2.89 10-8 and 0.023, respectively.
Irreversible sensorineural hearing loss: an unusual side effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

OBJECTIVE Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are known to have a number of potential side effects. Here we report a case demonstrating an uncommon complication, irreversible sensorineural deafness. CASE HISTORY A 41-year-old man with pre-existing cardiac and renal dysfunction (for which his regular medications included furosemide) presumed secondary to a viral myocarditis developed acute sensorineural hearing loss 5 days after commencing treatment with indomethacin 25 mg tds for acute gout. His hearing loss was preceded by the development of tinnitus and failed to recover. CONCLUSION Permanent deafness is a rare but serious side effect of NSAIDs. Tinnitus developing in patients on these agents should be regarded as a potential warning sign of impending irreversible ototoxicity.
Visual analytics for video applications

Abstract In this article, we describe the concept of video visual analytics with a special focus on the reasoning process in the sensemaking loop. To illustrate this concept with real application scenarios, two visual analytics (VA) tools are discussed in detail that cover the sensemaking process: (i) for video surveillance, and (ii) for eye-tracking data analysis. Surveillance data (i) allow discussion of key VA topics such as browsing and playback, situational awareness, and the deduction of reasoning. Using example (ii) – eye tracking data from persons watching video – we review application features such as the spatio-temporal visualization along with clustering, and identification of attentional synchrony between participants. We examine how these features can support the VA process. Based on this, open challenges in video VA will be discussed.
Effects of Interstimulus Interval on Cortical Responses to Painful Laser Stimulation

&NA; Short laser pulses applied to the skin are used increasingly in both clinical and basic assessment of nociceptive brain mechanisms. The authors aimed to characterize further the cortical responses to noxious laser stimuli and to define the interstimulus interval (ISI) for the optimum signal‐to‐noise ratio during a fixed measurement time. Three hundred six‐channel whole‐scalp magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and midline EEG signals were recorded from nine healthy adults during painful thulium laser stimulation. The stimuli were delivered on the dorsum of the left hand at ISIs of 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 seconds. The MEG responses peaked at 160 to 195 msec around the contralateral primary somatosensory (SI) cortex, at 150 to 190 msec in the contralateral secondary somatosensory (SII) cortex, and at 160 to 205 msec in the ipsilateral SII cortex. The simultaneously measured electrical vertex potentials peaked at 190 to 230 msec and 310 to 330 msec (N200‐P300). All these responses showed rather similar refractory times: The amplitudes increased strongly from 0.5 to 4‐second ISIs and thereafter saturated at ISIs of 8 to 16 seconds. On the basis of the time constants of the recovery cycles, the optimum ISI for obtaining the best signal‐to‐noise ratio for laser‐evoked MEG and EEG responses during a fixed measurement interval is 4 to 5 seconds.
Recessive lethals: a new class of nonsense suppressors in Escherichia coli.

Two new nonsense suppressors in Escherichia coli were found in partial diploids carrying F'14 and were shown to be on the episome. These suppressors can exist only in cells which also contain the su(-) allele, i.e., su(+)/su(-) heterozygotes. Presumably the mutations cause an alteration of an essential cellular component, the complete loss of which is lethal. Su7, an amber suppressor, has an efficiency of 76 per cent and su8, an ochre suppressor, an efficiency of 4 per cent.
Triggering of the alternative pathway of human T cell activation involves members of the T 200 family of glycoproteins

The present report describes functional characteristics of a monoclonal antibody (mAb), TA/211, which is reactive with a common determinant of the human CD45 molecules. When added to purified testing human T cells, TA/211, which is itself not mitogenic, leads to a strong proliferative response in combination with submitogenic concentrations of anti‐T112 plus anti‐T113 mAb. Interestingly, while amplifying anti‐CD2‐mediated immune responses, T cell activation induced through triggering of the CD3 molecule is not enhanced by TA/211, indicating that the triggering signal provided through CD45 is restricted to alternative pathway activation.
Hadoop-Benchmark: Rapid Prototyping and Evaluation of Self-Adaptive Behaviors in Hadoop Clusters

Optimizing Hadoop executions has attracted a lot of research contributions in particular in the domain of self-adaptive software systems. However, these research efforts are often hindered by the complexity of Hadoop operation and the difficulty to reproduce experimental evaluations that makes it hard to compare different approaches to one another. To address this limitation, we propose a research acceleration platform for rapid prototyping and evaluation of self-adaptive behavior in Hadoop clusters. Essentially, it provides automated approach to provision reproducible Hadoop environments and execute acknowledged benchmarks. It is based on the state-of-the-art container technology that supports both distributed configurations as well as standalone single-host setups. We demonstrate the approach on a complete implementation of a concrete Hadoop self-adaptive case study. The artifact is available at: https://github.com/Spirals-Team/ hadoop-benchmark/raw/SEAMS17/artifact.zip.
Analysis of clonality and antibiotic resistance among early clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium in the United States.

BACKGROUND The Enterococcus faecium genogroup, referred to as clonal complex 17 (CC17), seems to possess multiple determinants that increase its ability to survive and cause disease in nosocomial environments. METHODS Using 53 clinical and geographically diverse US E. faecium isolates dating from 1971 to 1994, we determined the multilocus sequence type; the presence of 16 putative virulence genes (hyl(Efm), esp(Efm), and fms genes); resistance to ampicillin (AMP) and vancomycin (VAN); and high-level resistance to gentamicin and streptomycin. RESULTS Overall, 16 different sequence types (STs), mostly CC17 isolates, were identified in 9 different regions of the United States. The earliest CC17 isolates were part of an outbreak that occurred in 1982 in Richmond, Virginia. The characteristics of CC17 isolates included increases in resistance to AMP, the presence of hyl(Efm) and esp(Efm), emergence of resistance to VAN, and the presence of at least 13 of 14 fms genes. Eight of 41 of the early isolates with resistance to AMP, however, were not in CC17. CONCLUSIONS Although not all early US AMP isolates were clonally related, E. faecium CC17 isolates have been circulating in the United States since at least 1982 and appear to have progressively acquired additional virulence and antibiotic resistance determinants, perhaps explaining the recent success of this species in the hospital environment.
In silico methods for predicting T-cell epitopes: Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde?

In silico tools offer an attractive alternative strategy to the cumbersome experimental approaches to identify T-cell epitopes. These computational tools have metamorphosed over the years into complex algorithms that attempt to efficiently predict the binding of a plethora of peptides to HLA alleles. In recent years, the scientific community has embraced these techniques to reduce the burden of wet-laboratory experimentation. Although there are some splendid examples of the utility of these methods, there are also evidences where they fall short and remain inconsistent. Hence, are these computational tools ‘Dr Jekyll’ or ‘Mr Hyde’ to the researcher, who wishes to utilize them intrepidly? This article reviews the progress and pitfalls of the in silico tools that identify T-cell epitopes.
Aerobic Growth of Escherichia coli Is Reduced, and ATP Synthesis Is Selectively Inhibited when Five C-terminal Residues Are Deleted from the ϵ Subunit of ATP Synthase*

Background: Bacterial ATP synthases are autoinhibited by subunit ϵ. Results: Altering the regulatory interactions of ϵ increases inhibition of ATP synthesis and reduces respiratory growth of E. coli. Conclusion: The ϵ subunit can have distinct regulatory interactions during ATP synthesis versus hydrolysis. Significance: Inhibition by ϵ provides a bacteria-specific means to target ATP synthase for antibiotic development. F-type ATP synthases are rotary nanomotor enzymes involved in cellular energy metabolism in eukaryotes and eubacteria. The ATP synthase from Gram-positive and -negative model bacteria can be autoinhibited by the C-terminal domain of its ϵ subunit (ϵCTD), but the importance of ϵ inhibition in vivo is unclear. Functional rotation is thought to be blocked by insertion of the latter half of the ϵCTD into the central cavity of the catalytic complex (F1). In the inhibited state of the Escherichia coli enzyme, the final segment of ϵCTD is deeply buried but has few specific interactions with other subunits. This region of the ϵCTD is variable or absent in other bacteria that exhibit strong ϵ-inhibition in vitro. Here, genetically deleting the last five residues of the ϵCTD (ϵΔ5) caused a greater defect in respiratory growth than did the complete absence of the ϵCTD. Isolated membranes with ϵΔ5 generated proton-motive force by respiration as effectively as with wild-type ϵ but showed a nearly 3-fold decrease in ATP synthesis rate. In contrast, the ϵΔ5 truncation did not change the intrinsic rate of ATP hydrolysis with membranes. Further, the ϵΔ5 subunit retained high affinity for isolated F1 but reduced the maximal inhibition of F1-ATPase by ϵ from >90% to ∼20%. The results suggest that the ϵCTD has distinct regulatory interactions with F1 when rotary catalysis operates in opposite directions for the hydrolysis or synthesis of ATP.
A novel algorithm for synchronized phasor measurement based on time-frequency transform

Obtaining correct fundamental phasor of power systems is of great significance to the intelligent dispatching of Smart Grid. Considering that fundamental frequency of grid is likely to fluctuate and harmonics may exist, some commonly used algorithms are hardly to satisfy measuring requirement. This paper proposes a novel synchronized phasor measurement algorithm based on time-frequency transform (TFT). As the transform kernel of TFT, time-frequency atom (TFA) has compact distribution characteristic in time-frequency domain. More importantly, the radius of time or frequency domain window of TFA can be adjusted using scale factor, and is independent with central frequency. Thus, measurement accuracy and dynamic characteristics of the TFT based phasor measurement algorithm can be well achieved. MATLAB simulation results indicate that TFT has better dynamic characteristics than wavelet transform, and it can obtain fundamental phasor of voltage and current accurately without synchronous sampling, overcoming the interference of harmonics and noise. Additionally, other electrical parameters such as power can also be estimated using the output of TFT. Finally, to further verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, test results based on digital signal processor (DSP) are also presented.
Understanding the behavioral influences behind Singapore's water management strategies

This paper aims to uncover the key behavioral influences behind two of Singapore's most successful water management strategies: (1) their high public acceptance rate of reclaimed water (marketed as ‘NEWater’), and (2) the adoption of targeted domestic water conservation behaviors. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior framework to construct a household survey that was mailed to a national sample (n = 218) obtained from the Singapore Department of Statistics. Our descriptive and path analysis results indicate that 74% of Singaporeans generally approve of NEWater, and that a positive attitude toward this municipal water technology was the most significant variable in predicting respondents' level of approval. In terms of water conservation, the most widely adopted behaviors were fixing water leaks promptly (80.8%) and monitoring water bills (80.3%). We discuss how knowledge of these key behavioral influencers can make behavior change campaigns more effective both in Singapore and other countries.
Strategy-Proof Multi-Object Allocation: Ex-Post Revenue Maximization with No Wastage

A seller is selling multiple objects to a set of agents. Each agent can buy at most one object and his utility over consumption bundles (i.e., (object,transfer) pairs) need not be quasilinear. The seller considers the following desiderata for her (allocation) rule, which she terms desirable: (1) strategy-proofness, (2) ex-post individual rationality, (3) equal treatment of equals, (4) no wastage (every object is allocated to some agent). The minimum Walrasian equilibrium price (MWEP) rule is desirable. We show that at each preference profile, the MWEP rule generates more revenue for the seller than any desirable rule satisfying no subsidy. Our result works for quasilinear domain, where the MWEP rule is the VCG rule, and for various non-quasilinear domains, some of which incorporate positive income effect of agents. We can relax no subsidy to no bankruptcy in our result for certain domains with positive income effect.
New perspectives on vestibular evoked myogenic potentials.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Although the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) measured from the cervical muscles (cVEMP, cervical VEMP) is well described and has documented clinical utility, its analogue recorded from the extraocular muscles (oVEMP, ocular VEMP) has been described only recently and is currently emerging as an additional test of otolith function. This review will, therefore, summarize recent developments in VEMP research with a focus on the oVEMP. RECENT FINDINGS Recent studies suggest that the oVEMP is produced by otolith afferents in the superior vestibular nerve division, whereas the cVEMP evoked by sound is thought to be an inferior vestibular nerve reflex. Correspondingly, the oVEMP correlates better with caloric and subjective visual vertical tests than sound-cVEMPs. cVEMPs are more complicated than often thought, as shown by the presence of crossed responses and conflicting results of recent vibration studies. Altered inner ear mechanics produced by the vestibular diseases superior semicircular canal dehiscence and Ménière's disease lead to changes in the preferred frequency of the oVEMP and cVEMP. SUMMARY The oVEMP provides complementary diagnostic information to the cVEMP and is likely to be a useful addition to the diagnostic test battery in neuro-otology.
Increasing cyclooxygenase‐2 (cox‐2) gene expression in the progression of Barrett's esophagus to adenocarcinoma correlates with that of Bcl‐2

Previous studies from our laboratory and others have suggested that increased expression of cox‐2 is important in the genesis of esophageal adenocarcinoma. In vitro studies suggest that cox‐2 regulates expression of the anti‐apoptotic protein bcl‐2, thus possibly accounting for reduced apoptosis in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of these 2 genes in the development of Barrett's‐associated adenocarcinoma. Histologic sections from endoscopic biopsies or esophagectomy specimens were classified as non‐dysplastic Barrett's (n = 30), intraepithelial neoplasia (n = 12) and adenocarcinoma (n = 48). The desired tissue was isolated by laser capture microdissection and expression levels of cox‐2 and bcl‐2 were measured by quantitative real‐time PCR (Taqman®). Gene expression levels were compared to samples of the distal esophageal squamous epithelium (n = 55) and reflux‐esophagitis (n = 25), without Barrett's or cancer. Expression of both bcl‐2 and cox‐2 were increased in non‐dysplastic Barrett's (p = 0.0077, p = 0.0037), intraepithelial neoplasia (p = 0.0053, p = 0.0220) and adenocarcinoma (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001) compared to squamous epithelium or reflux‐esophagitis. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between these two genes, especially in carcinoma (p < 0.0001). © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.