bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cybernetic Bacteria 2.0: Investigating the sublime in bacterial and digital communication
Authors: Dumitriu Anna 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Cybernetic Bacteria is an ongoing transdisciplinary investigation that brings together art, philosophy, microbiology and digital technology to examine the relationship of the emerging science of bacterial communication to our own digital communications networks, looking in particular at ‘packet data’ and bacterial quorum sensing. The project seeks to compare philosophical notions of the sublime with a kind of bacterial sublime, demonstrating the greater complexity of the interactions taking place at a microscopic level, when compared to human communication technologies such as the World Wide Web (with particular focus on scale-free networks). The first artwork in the series employed a clear plastic tube of liquid agar jelly planted into earth to allow the soil bacteria beneath to grow upwards and become visible. A total of 100 µL of Homoserine Lactone, a hormone used by bacteria for quorum sensing (a form of bacterial communication), was then added by the artist as part of a performance lecture, with her in effect saying: ‘I’m here’ to the bacteria below. The microbes that have been communicated to then pass the signal on to their neighbours and so on. In theory this enables the signal to travel around the planet. However, the main issue with this work is one of Hermeneutics; the bacteria, which receive the communication, will not identify the artist as human – simply as another (albeit very large) bacterium. The project has subsequently evolved into a multiple screen digital artwork showing network traffic taking place in real time (web traffic, RFID and Bluetooth), a film of bacterial communication in progress (using two strains of genetically modified bacteria) and an interactive conceptualisation of the data from both sources generated using artificial life. The project continues.
‘Ode to Paraphernalia’: Bricolage as a design approach for electronic performance tools
Authors: Mauro-Flude Nancy 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
This critical analysis is to addresses the implications about emerging design approaches in Human Computing Interfaces (HCI), and Human Interface Devices (HID). A reflection about custom-built interfaces invigorates a wider discussion about the meaningful contexts in which their use is activated. The specific aim is to re-imagine, redefine and explore the potentiality and limitations of electronic performance tools, namely, how the choice of this tool and interface nearly always gives rise to new situations that must be tackled. Therefore, addressing the material aesthetics of performance tools used in contemporary electronic performance, by artists who engage with such technologies, this article aims to critically analyse and historically place artistic engagement with tools and interfaces in contemporary performance settings and to indicate where there is room for new design approaches and hence new (and forgotten) modes of engagement to unfold. To amplify the relationship between performer and the spectator when using the emerging technologies of real-time performance tools, I refer to ‘Ode to Paraphernalia’, a set of self-crafted electronic performance tools and a performance. This project opens a pathway for a larger proposal that asks: what are the ways in which we can engineer interfaces that validate the circulation of subjugated knowledges in meaningful sets and settings?
Technoheroines: Transhuman resistances to technoscientific control
Authors: Tornero Paz 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Technoscience is increasingly present in our daily lives, establishing new social rules and patterns of communication and interaction in a physical space, which implements electronic devices and telematic systems in its design. In the race for scientific progress, the goal is making man a God, like Nietzsche’s Superman, without determining how the new human morphology will be fitted. This paradigm is treated by artists who warn of the possible fate of humanity while the technoscientific, as if he or she was Prometheus, dares to defy the laws of nature. Art exposes the actual course of science, and some artists complain that the false promises of scientific discourse, which is dominated by male vision, fail to be aware of the impossibility that technology is going to improve the moral dimension of human being. Some artists say that the science sermon does not deal with humanity and that the building of our future is merely phallocentric, an excessive anthropocentric vision.
Fabrication and Evaluation of Conducting Polymer Nanowire Heterostructures
Authors: Berdichevsky Yevgeny , Lo Y.-H. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractConducting polymer nanostructures such as nanofibers and nanotubes have potential uses in a variety of applications including electronic and photonic devices and sensors. Conducting polymers have also been used as artificial muscles. In this work, template synthesis method for fabricating solid polypyrrole nanowires and polypyrrole-gold nanowire heterostructures is demonstrated to explore suitability of these structures as nano-artificial muscles or nanoactuators. Polypyrrole nanowires are evaluated in an aqueous electrolyte to see if they retain the ability to expand and contract under electrochemical cycling. Template synthesis is then used to alternatively electroplate gold and electropolymerize polypyrrole in the pores of an alumina membrane to create layered polypyrrole-gold nanowires.
Maximization of a Dynamic Quadratic Interpolation Model for Production Optimization
Authors: Zhao Hui , Chen Chaohui , Do Sy , Oliveira Diego , Li Gaoming , Reynolds Albert C. 
Published: August 2013

Summary
We derive and implement a new optimization algorithm on the basis of a quadratic interpolation model (QIM) for the maximization (or minimization) of a cost or objective function. Although we have also applied the algorithm in other petroleum-engineering applications, this paper restricts the algorithm's application to the production-optimization step of closed-loop reservoir management in which the objective function is the net present value (NPV) of production from a given reservoir. The new algorithm does not require a gradient calculation with an adjoint method but does use an approximate gradient (AG). Thus, the general optimization algorithm is referred to as QIM-AG. QIM-AG represents a significant modification of an optimization algorithm—new unconstrained optimization algorithm (NEWUOA)—derived fairly recently in the mathematical literature. Production-optimization examples show that QIM-AG results in a higher NPV in fewer iterations than is obtained with NEWUOA. QIM-AG is also compared with two other optimization algorithms that use an AG—namely, a slightly improved implementation of ensemble optimization presented in this paper and a new implementation of simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA).
On q-Analogues of Sumudu Transform
Authors: Albayrak Durmuş , Purohit Sunil Dutt , Uçar Faruk 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
The present paper introduces q-analogues of the Sumudu transform and derives some distinct properties, for example its convergence conditions and certain interesting connection theorems involving q-Laplace transforms. Furthermore, certain fundamental properties of q-Sumudu transforms like, linearity, shifting theorems, differentiation and integration etc. have also been investigated. An attempt has also been made to obtain the convolution theorem for the q-Sumudu transform of a function which can be expressed as a convergent infinite series.
Defining Self-Esteem as a Relationship between Competence and Worthiness: How a Two-Factor Approach Integrates the Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of Self-Esteem
Authors: Mruk Christopher J. 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Although the importance of operational definitions is obvious while researching new areas of work, taking time to define terms, especially key ones, is also important for mature fields. The study of self-esteem, for instance, is one of the oldest themes in psychology and it is characterized by work based on at least three different definitions of selfesteem. Each one of them has given rise to a school of thought with its own body of supportive research and findings. Such situations often generate confusion in a field, especially when it comes to establishing consensus or integrating material. Thus, this article first presents the two-factor approach to self-esteem in order to demonstrate how defining it as a relationship between competence and worthiness helps to resolve issues that other leading definitions do not, especially the common practice of defining self-esteem simply as a feeling of “worth.” Second, an attempt is made to show how a two-factor approach also better integrates work on the cognitive and affective of dimensions of self-esteem.
Short term catheterization versus long term catheterization after vaginal prolapsed surgery: A randomized control trial in Dhaka National Medical College & Hospital
Authors: Khatun Mst Hosna Ara , Arzu Jahanara , Haider Zulfe Ara 
Published: August 2013

Objective: This study was undertaken to determine whether short term bladder catheterization would be more beneficial than the routinely practiced long term catheterization after vaginal hysterectomy for prolapsed uterus. Materials and methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Dhaka National Medical College Hospital from January 2009 to January 2011. A total of 106 women were included in this study. They were randomized into short term catheterization group where transurethral catheter was removed after 24 hours of surgery and long term catheterization group where catheter was removed on 3rd post operative day. Result: Mean time of first voiding after removal of catheter was almost equal in both groups (2.82±1.42 hours and 2.74±1.52 hours). Duration of catheter did not affect the duration of first voiding time after removal of catheter (P>0.05). None of the women had residual volume of urine >200 ml in both groups. Mean residual volume is significantly high in long term catheterization group (P<0.05). Urinary tract infection was also significantly high in long term catheterization group (P<0.05) and majority of the infection were caused by E. coli. Conclusion: Short term catheterization is more beneficial in terms of lower incidence of urinary tract infection and prevention of bladder over filling as compared to long term catheterization after vaginal prolapsed surgery. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jdnmch.v18i2.16012 J. Dhaka National Med. Coll. Hos. 2012; 18 (02): 4-8
Shaping the Murine Macrophage Phenotype: IL-4 and Cyclic AMP Synergistically Activate the Arginase I Promoter
Authors: Sheldon Kathryn E. , Shandilya Harish , Kepka-Lenhart Diane , Poljakovic Mirjana , Ghosh Arundhati , Morris Sidney M. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractArginase I is a marker of murine M2 macrophages and is highly expressed in many inflammatory diseases. The basis for high arginase I expression in macrophages in vivo is incompletely understood but likely reflects integrated responses to combinations of stimuli. Our objective was to elucidate mechanisms involved in modulating arginase I induction by IL-4, the prototypical activator of M2 macrophages. IL-4 and 8-bromo-cAMP individually induce arginase I, but together they rapidly and synergistically induce arginase I mRNA, protein, and promoter activity in murine macrophage cells. Arginase I induction by IL-4 requires binding of the transcription factors STAT6 and C/EBPβ to the IL-4 response element of the arginase I gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation showed that the synergistic response involves binding of both transcription factors to the IL-4 response element at levels significantly greater than in response to IL-4 alone. The results suggest that C/EBPβ is a limiting factor for the level of STAT6 bound to the IL-4 response element. The enhanced binding in the synergistic response was not due to increased expression of either STAT6 or C/EBPβ but was correlated primarily with increased nuclear abundance of C/EBPβ. Our findings also suggest that induction of arginase I expression is stochastic; that is, differences in induction reflect differences in probability of transcriptional activation and not simply differences in rate of transcription. Results of the present study also may be useful for understanding mechanisms underlying regulated expression of other genes in macrophages and other myeloid-derived cells in health and disease.
Role of Ribonuclease L in Viral Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern/Influenza Virus and Cigarette Smoke–Induced Inflammation and Remodeling
Authors: Zhou Yang , Kang Min-Jong , Jha Babal Kant , Silverman Robert H. , Lee Chun Geun , Elias Jack A. 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Interactions between cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and viral infection play an important role(s) in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a variety of other disorders. A variety of lines of evidence suggest that this interaction induces exaggerated inflammatory, cytokine, and tissue remodeling responses. We hypothesized that the 2’-5′ oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS)/RNase L system, an innate immune antiviral pathway, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of these exaggerated responses. To test this hypothesis, we characterize the activation of 2’-5′ OAS in lungs from mice exposed to CS and viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)/live virus, alone and in combination. We also evaluated the inflammatory and remodeling responses induced by CS and virus/viral PAMPs in lungs from RNase L null and wild-type mice. These studies demonstrate that CS and viral PAMPs/live virus interact in a synergistic manner to stimulate the production of select OAS moieties. They also demonstrate that RNase L plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of the exaggerated inflammatory, fibrotic, emphysematous, apoptotic, TGF-β1, and type I IFN responses induced by CS plus virus/viral PAMP in combination. These studies demonstrate that CS is an important regulator of antiviral innate immunity, highlight novel roles of RNase L in CS plus virus induced inflammation, tissue remodeling, apoptosis, and cytokine elaboration and highlight pathways that may be operative in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mechanistically related disorders.
Selective Induction of CTL Helper Rather Than Killer Activity by Natural Epitope Variants Promotes Dendritic Cell–Mediated HIV-1 Dissemination
Authors: Mailliard Robbie B. , Smith Kellie N. , Fecek Ronald J. , Rappocciolo Giovanna , Nascimento Eduardo J. M. , Marques Ernesto T. , Watkins Simon C. , Mullins James I. , Rinaldo Charles R. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe ability of HIV-1 to rapidly accumulate mutations provides the virus with an effective means of escaping CD8+ CTL responses. In this study, we describe how subtle alterations in CTL epitopes expressed by naturally occurring HIV-1 variants can result in an incomplete escape from CTL recognition, providing the virus with a selective advantage. Rather than paralyzing the CTL response, these epitope modifications selectively induce the CTL to produce proinflammatory cytokines in the absence of target killing. Importantly, instead of dampening the immune response through CTL elimination of variant Ag-expressing immature dendritic cells (DC), a positive CTL-to-DC immune feedback loop dominates whereby the immature DC differentiate into mature proinflammatory DC. Moreover, these CTL-programmed DC exhibit a superior capacity to mediate HIV-1 trans-infection of T cells. This discordant induction of CTL helper activity in the absence of killing most likely contributes to the chronic immune activation associated with HIV-1 infection, and can be used by HIV-1 to promote viral dissemination and persistence. Our findings highlight the need to address the detrimental potential of eliciting dysfunctional cross-reactive memory CTL responses when designing and implementing anti–HIV-1 immunotherapies.
Simultaneous TCR and CD244 Signals Induce Dynamic Downmodulation of CD244 on Human Antiviral T Cells
Authors: Pacheco Yovana , McLean Anna P. , Rohrbach Janine , Porichis Filippos , Kaufmann Daniel E. , Kavanagh Daniel G. 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Various cosignaling molecules on T cells can contribute to activation, inhibition, or exhaustion, depending on context. The surface receptor signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) family receptor CD244 (2B4/SLAMf4) has been shown to be capable of either inhibitory or enhancing effects upon engagement of its ligand CD48 (SLAMf2). We examined phenotypes of CD8 T cells from HIV+ and HIVneg human donors, specific for HIV and/or respiratory syncytial virus. Cultured and ex vivo CD8 T cells expressed PD-1, CD244, and TIM-3. We found that ex vivo CD8 T cells downregulated CD244 in response to superantigen. Furthermore, cognate peptide induced rapid downregulation of both CD244 and TIM-3, but not PD-1, on CD8 T cell clones. CD244 downmodulation required simultaneous signaling via both TCR and CD244 itself. Using a pH-sensitive fluorophore conjugated to avidin–Ab tetramers, we found that CD244 crosslinking in the presence of TCR signaling resulted in rapid transport of CD244 to an acidic intracellular compartment. Downregulation was not induced by PMA–ionomycin, or prevented by PI3K inhibition, implicating a TCR-proximal signaling mechanism. CD244 internalization occurred within hours of TCR stimulation and required less peptide than was required to induce IFN-γ production. The degree of CD244 internalization varied among cultured CD8 T cell lines of different specificities, and correlated with the enhancement of IFN-γ production in response to CD48 blockade in HIV+, but not HIVneg, subjects. Our results indicate that rapid CD244 internalization is induced by a two-signal mechanism and plays a role in modulation of antiviral CD8 T cell responses by CD48–CD244 signaling.
Intrauterine Group A Streptococcal Infections Are Exacerbated by Prostaglandin E2
Authors: Mason Katie L. , Rogers Lisa M. , Soares Elyara M. , Bani-Hashemi Tara , Erb Downward John , Agnew Dalen , Peters-Golden Marc , Weinberg Jason B. , Crofford Leslie J. , Aronoff David M. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractStreptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus; GAS) is a major cause of severe postpartum sepsis, a re-emerging cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immunological alterations occur during pregnancy to promote maternofetal tolerance, which may increase the risk for puerperal infection. PGE2 is an immunomodulatory lipid that regulates maternofetal tolerance, parturition, and innate immunity. The extent to which PGE2 regulates host immune responses to GAS infections in the context of endometritis is unknown. To address this, both an in vivo mouse intrauterine (i.u.) GAS infection model and an in vitro human macrophage–GAS interaction model were used. In C57BL/6 mice, i.u. GAS inoculation resulted in local and systemic inflammatory responses and triggered extensive changes in the expression of eicosanoid pathway genes. The i.u. administration of PGE2 increased the mortality of infected mice, suppressed local IL-6 and IL-17A levels, enhanced neutrophilic inflammation, reduced uterine macrophage populations, and increased bacterial dissemination. A role for endogenous PGE2 in the modulation of antistreptococcal host defense was suggested, because mice lacking the genes encoding the microsomal PGE2 synthase-1 or the EP2 receptor were protected from death, as were mice treated with the EP4 receptor antagonist, GW627368X. PGE2 also regulated GAS–macrophage interactions. In GAS-infected human THP-1 (macrophage-like) cells, PGE2 inhibited the production of MCP-1 and TNF-α while augmenting IL-10 expression. PGE2 also impaired the phagocytic ability of human placental macrophages, THP-1 cells, and mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro. Exploring the targeted disruption of PGE2 synthesis and signaling to optimize existing antimicrobial therapies against GAS may be warranted.
CD70 Is Downregulated by Interaction with CD27
Authors: Kuka Mirela , Munitic Ivana , Giardino Torchia Maria Letizia , Ashwell Jonathan D. 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Engagement of the receptor CD27 by CD70 affects the magnitude and quality of T cell responses in a variety of infection models, and exaggerated signaling via this pathway results in enhanced immune responses and autoimmunity. One means by which signaling is regulated is tight control of cell surface CD70, which is expressed on dendritic cells (DCs), T cells, and B cells only upon activation. In this article, we show that a second level of regulation also is present. First, although undetectable on the cell surface by flow cytometry, immature DCs have a small pool of CD70 that continuously recycles from the plasma membrane. In addition, surface levels of CD70 on DCs and T cells were higher in mice deficient in CD27, or on DCs for which the interaction between CD70 and CD27 was precluded by blocking Abs. Binding of CD70 by its receptor resulted in downregulation of CD70 transcription and protein levels, suggesting that CD70-mediated “reverse signals” regulate its own levels. Therefore, the ability of CD70 to trigger costimulation is self-regulated when it binds its complementary receptor.
IL-4–, TGF-β–, and IL-1–Dependent Expansion of Parasite Antigen-Specific Th9 Cells Is Associated with Clinical Pathology in Human Lymphatic Filariasis
Authors: Anuradha Rajamanickam , George Parakkal Jovvian , Hanna Luke E. , Chandrasekaran Vedachalam , Kumaran Paul , Nutman Thomas B. , Babu Subash 
Published: August 2013

Abstract
Th9 cells are a subset of CD4+ T cells, shown to be important in allergy, autoimmunity, and antitumor responses; however, their role in human infectious diseases has not been explored in detail. We identified a population of IL-9 and IL-10 coexpressing cells (lacking IL-4 expression) in normal individuals. These cells respond to antigenic and mitogenic stimulation, but are distinct from IL-9+ Th2 cells. We also demonstrate that these Th9 cells exhibit Ag-specific expansion in a chronic helminth infection (lymphatic filariasis). Comparison of Th9 responses reveals that individuals with pathology associated with filarial infection exhibit significantly expanded frequencies of filarial Ag-induced Th9 cells, but not of IL9+Th2 cells in comparison with filarial-infected individuals without associated disease. Moreover, the per cell production of IL-9 is significantly higher in Th9 cells compared with IL9+Th2 cells, indicating that the Th9 cells are the predominant CD4+ T cell subset producing IL-9 in the context of human infection. This expansion was reflected in elevated Ag-stimulated IL-9 cytokine levels in whole blood culture supernatants. Finally, the frequencies of Th9 cells correlated positively with the severity of lymphedema (and presumed inflammation) in filarial-diseased individuals. This expansion of Th9 cells was dependent on IL-4, TGF-β, and IL-1 in vitro. We have therefore identified an important human CD4+ T cell subpopulation coexpressing IL-9 and IL-10, but not IL-4, the expansion of which is associated with disease in chronic lymphatic filariasis and could potentially have an important role in the pathogenesis of other inflammatory disorders.