Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Circulating dendritic cells of multiple sclerosis patients are proinflammatory and their frequency is correlated with MS-associated genetic risk factors

Background: The role of the adaptive immune system and more specifically T cells in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS) has been studied extensively. Emerging evidence suggests that dendritic cells (DCs), which are innate immune cells, also contribute to MS. Objectives: This study aimed to characterize circulating DC populations in MS and to investigate the contribution of MS-associated genetic risk factors to DCs. Methods: Ex vivo analysis of conventional (cDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) was carried out on peripheral blood of MS patients (n = 110) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 112). Results: Circulating pDCs were significantly decreased in patients with chronic progressive MS compared to relapsing–remitting MS and healthy controls. While no differences in cDCs frequency were found between the different study groups, HLA-DRB1*1501+ MS patients and patients not carrying the protective IL-7Rα haplotype 2 have reduced frequencies of circulating cDCs and pDCs, respectively. MS-derived DCs showed enhanced IL-12p70 production upon TLR ligation and had an increased expression of the migratory molecules CCR5 and CCR7 as well as an enhanced in vitro chemotaxis. Conclusion: DCs in MS are in a pro-inflammatory state, have a migratory phenotype and are affected by genetic risk factors, thereby contributing to pathogenic responses.
MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE-2 (MMP-2) AND MMP-9 IN PULMONARY PATHOLOGY

The lung is affected by a variety of disease processes that can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality. As the lung is the only organ for respiration and gas exchange, the structural and functional integrity of the lung is of primary importance. Various pathological processes affect the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the lung in an adverse manner, causing destruction of tissue integrity followed by tissue remodeling, which together impair normal pulmonary function. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are neutral proteinases that are involved in the breakdown and remodeling of the ECM under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. MMP-2 and MMP-9, collectively known as the gelatinases, are particularly important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic diseases in many organs including the lung. This review examines the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in disease of the lung and discusses the role these gelatinases may play in disease progression.
Évaluation qualitative et possibilités de valorisation biologique de la biomasse oléicole reprise dans le Sahel Tunisien

In Tunisia, the production of olive oil generates two byproducts: solid waste (pomace) and liquid waste (olive mill wastewater) whose anarchic discharges threaten the environment. Under these conditions, the search for efficient biological technologies for treating such organic waste becomes an urgent necessity. The fields of application of these olive-products are many and varied. This work deals with the qualitative characterization of the biomass in the delegation of Kalâa Kebira (governorate of Sousse), to appreciate their organic exploitation (both aerobic and anaerobic). To do this, physico-chemical and environmental analyzes were performed. All determined characteristics (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, suspended solids .) ensure the implementation of the Co-composting process of olive biomass (pomace olive and/or olive mill wastewater) with a vegetal ground product (wet and coarse nitrogen) and the anaerobic digestion process of olive mill wastewater. The most relevant results are concerned, on the one hand, the possibility of practicing Co-composting of pomace with organic animal resources available in sufficient quantities in the study area, and secondly, estimating interesting as possible for energy production olive mill wastewater.
A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF AN INTELLIGENT NARRATOR FOR INTERACTIVE NARRATIVES

One goal of interactive narrative and drama is to create an experience while utilizing the computer where the user is one main character in the story. This goal raises a set of practical and theoretical challenges to artificial intelligence. In particular, an intelligent narrator has to dynamically maintain a satisfactory storyline and adapt to the user intervention. After reviewing the existing approaches to interactive drama, an original model is described, based on several theories on narrative. This model is based on a rule-based component for the generation of meaningful narrative actions and on a model of the user for the ranking of these actions and the action selection. A simple but authorable text generation system is also described, for the display of the actions on the computer. The system is implemented on a real-size scenario and experimental results are discussed. We conclude by discussing the possibility of a wider application of our approach within the field of AI.
Análisis de riesgos por vulnerabilidades en las infraestructuras tecnológicas de las redes empresariales

La evaluacion de los riesgos corresponde a la ponderacion de los diferentes riesgos que pueden existir en cada uno de los elementos integrantes de la infraestructura tecnologica. Los procesos para la gestion de los riesgos en tecnologia se indican en la Fig. 2, en el cual se realizan las siguientes tareas: [7] • Medicion de los parametros importantes de los elementos que mas influyen en el funcionamiento del negocio. • Evaluacion de los riesgos involucrados en cada uno de los elementos funcionales del negocio. • Mejoramiento continuo de los elementos influyentes, para reducir o eliminar los riesgos que afecten al funcionamiento del negocio.
Early agriculture and crop transmission among Bronze Age mobile pastoralists of Central Eurasia

Archaeological research in Central Eurasia is exposing unprecedented scales of trans-regional interaction and technology transfer between East Asia and southwest Asia deep into the prehistoric past. This article presents a new archaeobotanical analysis from pastoralist campsites in the mountain and desert regions of Central Eurasia that documents the oldest known evidence for domesticated grains and farming among seasonally mobile herders. Carbonized grains from the sites of Tasbas and Begash illustrate the first transmission of southwest Asian and East Asian domesticated grains into the mountains of Inner Asia in the early third millennium BC. By the middle second millennium BC, seasonal camps in the mountains and deserts illustrate that Eurasian herders incorporated the cultivation of millet, wheat, barley and legumes into their subsistence strategy. These findings push back the chronology for domesticated plant use among Central Eurasian pastoralists by approximately 2000 years. Given the geography, chronology and seed morphology of these data, we argue that mobile pastoralists were key agents in the spread of crop repertoires and the transformation of agricultural economies across Asia from the third to the second millennium BC.
Visualizing the Site and Dynamics of IgG Salvage by the MHC Class I-Related Receptor, FcRn1

The MHC class I-related receptor, FcRn, plays a central role in regulating the serum levels of IgG. FcRn is expressed in endothelial cells, suggesting that these cells may be involved in maintaining IgG levels. We have used live cell imaging of FcRn-green fluorescent protein transfected human endothelial cells to analyze the intracellular events that control IgG homeostasis. We show that segregation of FcRn-IgG complexes from unbound IgG occurs in the sorting endosome. FcRn or FcRn-IgG complexes are gradually depleted from sorting endosomes to ultimately generate multivesicular bodies whose contents are destined for lysosomal degradation. In addition, the pathways taken by FcRn and the transferrin receptor overlap, despite distinct mechanisms of ligand uptake. The studies provide a dynamic view of the trafficking of FcRn and its ligand and have relevance to understanding how FcRn functions to maintain IgG homeostasis.
Kernel Lower Bounds on String Problems

In Closest String problem we are given a set of strings S = {s1, s2, . , sk} over an alphabet Σ such that |si| = n and an integer d. The objective is to check whether there exists a string s over Σ such that dH(s, si) ≤ d, i ∈ {1, . , k}, where dH(x, y) denotes the number of places strings x and y differ at. Closest String is a prototype string problem. This problem together with several of its variants such as Distinguishing String Selection and Closest Substring have been extensively studied from parameterized complexity perspective. These problems have been studied with respect to parameters that are combinations of k, d, |Σ| and n. However, surprisingly the kernelization question for these problems (for the versions when they admit fixed parameter tractable algorithms) is not studied at all. In this paper we fill this gap in the literature and do a comprehensive study of these problems from kernelization complexity perspective. We almost settle all the problems by either obtaining a polynomial kernels or showing that the problem does not admit a polynomial kernel assuming a complexity theoretic assumption.
Mechanisms and therapy of hepatic fibrosis: Report of the AASLD single topic basic research conference

Since the inaugural AASLD Single Topic Conference devoted to this topic in 1989,1 the knowledge base and number of groups working in the area of hepatic fibrosis have expanded impressively. Clarification of both cellular sources of extracellular matrix and molecular events underlying the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis has brought the field to the cusp of developing antifibrotic therapies. At this key juncture there was a need to consolidate the scientific gains of the past decade and define therapeutic targets for future clinical trials. The AASLD Single Topic Conference on Mechanisms and Therapy of Hepatic Fibrosis met this challenge by bringing together clinicians, basic scientists, and representatives from the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. The conference incorporated the following areas: (1) laboratory and clinical aspects of fibrosis; (2) cell-matrix interactions in tissue fibrosis; (3) signaling and immunomodulation in fibrosis; (4) extracellular and intracellular signals that influence stellate cell behavior; (5) cellular responses in hepatic fibrosis; (6) matrix degradation; and (7) emerging antifibrotic therapies. Whereas 10 years earlier attention was focused primarily on initial characterization of key cell types in liver and early assessment of cytokine and matrix effects, current work now addresses the most fundamental aspects of regulation and analysis of genes and proteins, intracellular signaling, and cell-cell interactions. This review captures key developments among experts in the field, emphasizing emerging concepts rather than experimental detail.
Epidemiological Characteristics of Fournier’s Gangrene: A Report of 71 Patients

Introduction: To identify the predisposing factors, etiological and clinical characteristics as well as the Fournier’s gangrene (FG) severity index (FGSI) in the outcomes of patients with FG. Materials and Methods: The data from 71 patients diagnosed with FG in a period of 17 years were retrospectively reviewed for the age of the patient, their history, predisposing factors, etiology, prodromal symptoms, FGSI, culture results, hospitalization period, surgical interventions, responses to the therapy and complications. Results: All of the patients were Caucasian males, and the mean age was 61.3 (range 36–92) years. The mean duration from the onset of symptoms to surgery was 7.5 days. The mean hospitalization time was 27.4 days and the most common etiological factor for FG was a perineal abscess. The overall mortality rate was 29.6%. The relationship between the number of predisposing factors and mortality rates in patients with FG was the most statistically significant parameter (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Multiple predisposing factors predict a poor prognosis and correlate significantly with mortality. Extension of the disease and the FGSI score were not predictive of outcome. The most essential intervention for stopping the rapidly progressing infectious process of FG consists of early recognition of the disease, proper management of the predisposing factors and aggressive surgical debridement. Such an intervention can improve clinical outcomes.
Systématique et évolution du genre Psychotria (Rubiaceae) en Nouvelle-Calédonie

La Nouvelle-Caledonie est un archipel du Pacifique Sud-Ouest. Sa flore est riche, unique, et dysharmonique. L'origine temporelle et geographique de cette flore constitue une des problematiques majeures des botanistes. Une etude systematique a ete menee sur le genre Psychotria (Rubiaceae), et ses genres allies (clade Psychotrieae-Palicoureeae), afin de comprendre les modes d'etablissement et de diversification des plantes dans l'archipel. Les deux tribus comportent 86 especes neo-caledoniennes reparties entre les genres Geophila (une espece), Margaritopsis (quatre especes) et Psychotria (81 especes). L'etude taxonomique a permis de determiner pour chacun d'eux les noms d'especes valides, et d'identifier 26 especes nouvelles de Psychotria et Margaritopsis. Neuf combinaisons et noms specifiques nouveaux sont proposes. La Nouvelle-Caledonie a ete colonisee au moins quatre fois par les Psychotrieae-Palicoureeae. Bien que leurs arrivees soient simultanees durant le Neogene, ces quatre lignees ont des histoires evolutives differentes a mettre en lien avec leurs modes propres d'etablissement et de diversification. Le genre Geophila n'a pas diversifie. Les Margaritopsis ont eu une diversification modeste, a l'image des autres especes des iles du Pacifique. Les Psychotria clade NC1 constituent une lignee relique, ayant probablement subit une extinction, et qui se serait uniquement maintenue dans les maquis miniers. Les Psychotria clade NC2 constituent la plus large, jeune et rapide radiation de plantes de la Nouvelle-Caledonie, probablement originaire des forets humides d'Australie. Le clade NC2 est en pleine expansion evolutive. Il est constitue de 12 lignees internes. Sa capacite a tolerer les substrats ultramafiques, acquise avant son arrivee dans l'archipel, a favorise son etablissement local. Sa large diversite a probablement differentes origines : une labilite vis-a-vis de la nature des substrats geologiques, des changements eventuels de pollinisateurs, un changement de niche ecologique amorce, lie a l'acquisition d'adaptations a la secheresse et a l'avenement d'un climat plus aride en Nouvelle-Caledonie durant le Pliocene. (Resume d'auteur)
Etude de la dynamique du visage en situation d'interaction naturelle

L'importance de la dynamique faciale pour la reconnaissance d'expressions spontanees a ete prouvee dans l'iden-tification subtile des deformations physiques du visage. Les approches courantes de reconnaissance d'expressions fa-ciales sont performantes sur des datasets ou l'environne-ment est controle et les expressions sont actees. Cepen-dant, ces datasets ne refletent pas les conditions rencon-trees dans une situation d'interaction naturelle ou la per-sonne est libre de ses mouvements. Dans ces contextes, la presence de variations de pose et de larges deplacements rend l'analyse difficile. Cet article presente une synthese originale des solutions de normalisation et d'extraction de mouvements du visage en presence d'expressions sponta-nees et propose d'etudier l'impact de ces methodes de nor-malisation sur la dynamique faciale.
Eye movements in reading: Models and data

The issues the commentators have raised and which we address, include: the debate over how attention is allocated during reading; our distinction between early and late stages of lexical processing; our assumptions about saccadic programming; the determinants of skipping and refixations; and the role that higher-level linguistic processing may play in influencing eye movements during reading. In addition, we provide a discussion of model development and principles for evaluating and comparing models. Although we acknowledge that E-Z Reader is incomplete, we maintain that it provides a good framework for systematically trying to understand how the cognitive, perceptual, and motor systems influence the eyes during reading.
Utilizando Teoria de Precificação de Opções para a Avaliação do Prêmio de Risco de Mercado no Brasil

O premio de risco de mercado e um dos topicos mais importantes em Financas Corporativas, sendo um dos componentes na determinacao do custo de capital proprio, que e a taxa minima exigida para realizar investimentos de ri para a Avaliacao do Premio de Risco de Mercado no Brasilsco. O modelo mais utilizado para o calculo desta taxa e o Capital Asset Pricing Model , entretanto, problemas na estimacao de seus parâmetros a partir de dados historicos em mercados emergentes, como o brasileiro, acarretam elevada imprecisao em funcao da volatilidade desses mercados e da falta de uma serie longa de dados. Este trabalho adota uma versao implicita do calculo de custo de capital proprio por teoria de opcoes. Nesta abordagem, o valor para os acionistas pode ser visto como uma opcao de compra sobre o valor da firma como um todo, mediante o pagamento do valor de face da divida no vencimento, considerado como preco de exercicio. Foi implementado o modelo de Black & Scholes (1973) como adaptado por Hsia (1991), incorporando a relacao entre a volatilidade de um ativo e suas opcoes (MERTON, 1974). Apos determinar os valores de custo de capital proprio individuais para as acoes da amostra foi estimado o premio de risco de mercado no caso brasileiro em novembro de 2010. Os resultados entre 4,02% a 5,40% ao ano sao coerentes com resultados observados para mercados maduros com series longas de retornos.
Comparative phosphoproteome profiling reveals a function of the STN8 kinase in fine-tuning of cyclic electron flow (CEF)

Important aspects of photosynthetic electron transport efficiency in chloroplasts are controlled by protein phosphorylation. Two thylakoid-associated kinases, STN7 and STN8, have distinct roles in short- and long-term photosynthetic acclimation to changes in light quality and quantity. Although some substrates of STN7 and STN8 are known, the complexity of this regulatory kinase system implies that currently unknown substrates connect photosynthetic performance with the regulation of metabolic and regulatory functions. We performed an unbiased phosphoproteome-wide screen with Arabidopsis WT and stn8 mutant plants to identify unique STN8 targets. The phosphorylation status of STN7 was not affected in stn8, indicating that kinases other than STN8 phosphorylate STN7 under standard growth conditions. Among several putative STN8 substrates, PGRL1-A is of particular importance because of its possible role in the modulation of cyclic electron transfer. The STN8 phosphorylation site on PGRL1-A is absent in both monocotyledonous plants and algae. In dicots, spectroscopic measurements with Arabidopsis WT, stn7, stn8, and stn7/stn8 double-mutant plants indicate a STN8-mediated slowing down of the transition from cyclic to linear electron flow at the onset of illumination. This finding suggests a possible link between protein phosphorylation by STN8 and fine-tuning of cyclic electron flow during this critical step of photosynthesis, when the carbon assimilation is not commensurate to the electron flow capacity of the chloroplast.
A Diagnostic and Treatment System Based on the Gut Microbiota Balance

Chronic diseases such as obesity, Diabetes, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, allergies, and others are becoming more frequent according to statistics. Nevertheless, health programs based on traditional strategies are not having the expected results. On the other hand, scientific findings have linked the gut microbiota role with metabolism, immune and hormonal response, as well as the brain-intestine axis finding. All these results had not been used in clinical practice. During last years, there have been collected scientific results from Centro de Investigación y Asistencia en Tecnología y Diseño del Estado de Jalisco A. C. and Grupo MaBiosis to apply this findings to create a system to evaluate traditional parameters and include gut microbiota parameters to generate a more accurate diagnosis; decide the best treatment, based on this diagnosis, and re-evaluate treatment to prove this treatment is the best for each patient. This system promotes the use of all these avant-garde technology in patients under health protocols with a higher response rate, then it has been developed to enrich clinical practice for health specialist and is able to be adapted to any specialty area in health sciences. It is considered crucial, to use technology a scientific finding to combat current problems.
The Effect of Perturbations in the Environmental Cycle of the Diurnal Rhythm of Activity of Periplaneta Americana L

1. The locomotor activity rhythm of Periplaneta americana in alternating light and darkness is described as consisting of six stages. 2. The effect on the suboesophageal ganglion neurosecretory cycle of a change from light to darkness at each stage of the locomotor rhythm is described, and three stages in the neurosecretory cycle are recognized. 3. The effect on an established locomotor activity rhythm of a change to darkness at various times of day is described in terms of the immediate reaction of the animal and of the subsequent phase relations of the rhythm. 4. The phases of the activity rhythm are not reset if the environmental change occurs during the active period. The final positioning of the phases, when the onset of darkness occurs during the non-secretory phase of the neurosecretory cycle, is dependent upon the subsequent light conditions; transient activity peaks may appear before the stable position is reached. 5. The dependence of the neurosecretory cells on some other centre for the provision of some secretory substance, or precursor, is discussed.
ESD induced damage on ultra-thin gate oxide MOSFETs and its impact on device reliability

We investigated the effects of destructive and non-destructive electrostatic discharge (ESD) events applied either to the gate or drain terminal of MOSFETs with ultra-thin gate oxide, emulating the occurrence of an ESD event at the input or output IC pins, respectively. We studied how ESD may affect MOSFET reliability in terms of time-to-breakdown (TTBD) of the gate oxide and degradation of the transistor electrical characteristics under subsequent electrical stresses. The main results of this study are that ESD stresses may modify the MOSFET current driving capability immediately after stress and during subsequent accelerated stresses, but do not affect the TTBD distributions. The damage introduced by ESD in MOSFETs increases when the gate oxide thickness is reduced.