cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
QoS Provision for Controlling Energy Consumption in Ad-hoc Wireless Sensor Networks
Creators: name: A. Mawgoud, Ahmed
name: TAHA, MOHAMED HAMED N.
name: KHALIFA, NOUR ELDEEN M.
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Applied Computer Science
subject: 80503 Networking and Communications
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: 100503 Computer Communications Networks
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: 91305 Energy Generation, Conversion and Storage Engineering
subject: FOS: Mechanical engineering

description: In this paper, a new quality of service (QoS) approach is proposed to control the consumed energy in ad-hoc wireless sensor network (WSN). The main reason is to reduce the node’s energy through discovering the best optimum route that meets QoS requirements; QoS technique is used to find the optimum methodology for nodes packets transmission and energy consumption. The primary goals of the research are to discover the best techniques to 1) minimize the total consumed energy in the ad-hoc wireless sensor network, and 2) maximize the ad-hoc wireless sensor network lifetime. The simulations
 of the problem will be formulated with the use of integer linear programming.
A Cooperative Multi-Agent Probabilistic Framework for Search and Track Missions
Creators: name: Papaioannou, Savvas
name: Kolios, Panayiotis
name: Theocharides, Theocharis
name: Panayiotou, Christos G.
name: Polycarpou, Marios M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: In this work a robust and scalable cooperative multi-agent searching and tracking framework is proposed. Specifically, we study the problem of cooperative searching and tracking of multiple moving targets by a group of autonomous mobile agents with limited sensing capabilities. We assume that the actual number of targets present is not known a priori and that target births/deaths can occur anywhere inside the surveillance region thus efficient search strategies are required to detect and track as many targets as possible. To address the aforementioned challenges we recursively compute and propagate in time the searching-and-tracking (SAT) density. Using the SAT-density, we then develop decentralized cooperative look-ahead strategies for efficient searching and tracking of an unknown number of targets inside a bounded surveillance area.
description: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2302.00515
Genetic biocontrol of pest insects by overexpression of endogenous toxic seminal fluid proteins
Creators: name: Beach, Samuel John
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: As insecticide usage is declining in favour of more sustainable pest management strategies, genetically modified organisms are being engineered to achieve highly targeted pest population suppression. With techniques such as reducing the reproductive potential of the population through the release of sterile or reproductively isolated individuals, or by introducing heritable transgenes which reduce the fitness of carrier offspring, genetic biocontrol technologies primarily achieve population suppression by their negative impact on population dynamics rather than directly causing harm. As such, genetic biocontrol programs require at least a generation to produce a reduction in the target population, making them largely incapable of the rapid response necessary to mitigate the damage from disease vector or agricultural pest outbreaks. Several proteins in the seminal fluid of male Drosophila melanogaster and other insects have been found to reduce the lifespan of mated females, including Acp62F, Acp70A, and CG10433. We hypothesised that dCas9-VPR could be used to drive overexpression of these toxic proteins in the male’s reproductive tract, which could be applied to develop a novel genetic biocontrol technology using sterile males which increase mated female mortality. D. melanogaster were engineered to express dCas9-VPR and sgRNA under accessory-gland specific promoters, and using label-free quantitative proteomics we observed statistically significant increase of CG10433 above basal levels, a ~20-fold increase of Acp62F above negative controls but not wild type males, and no upregulation of Acp70A. Transgenic males were completely infertile, suggesting a reduction in sperm quality. However, no significant difference in female lifespan or fertility was observed between those mated to transgenic males and controls. These results suggest either that dCas9-VPR transcriptional activation cannot achieve the requisite overexpression of toxic seminal fluid proteins necessary to further reduce mated female lifespan, or that the increased expression does not result in more protein to be transferred to the females.
Additional file 2 of Vascular hyperacetylation is associated with vascular smooth muscle dysfunction in a rat model of non-obese type 2 diabetes
Creators: name: Carrillo-Sepulveda, Maria Alicia
name: Maddie, Nicole
name: Johnson, Christina Mary
name: Burke, Cameron
name: Lutz, Osina
name: Yakoub, Bamwa
name: Kramer, Benjamin
name: Persand, Dhandevi
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Physiology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Additional file 2: Figure S7A. Viability in VSMCs treated with garcinol.
Broadband Impact on Education and Workforce during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Creators: name: Baxter, Isabella
name: Upendram, Sreedhar
Publisher: name: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
Year: 2022

description: Slides of a virtual presentation made at Broadband Issues Briefing, Part Two, hosted by the Southern Rural Development Center. A corresponding research brief was published by the Southern Rural Development Center.
description: The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of broadband equity across the United States. K-12 schools and higher-education institutions, health services, and many industries moved much of their operations online to conform with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. Broadband access became integral for students to keep up with their learning and for adults to remain productive at work, as well as for keeping connections to the world. Unequal access to broadband resources (the “digital divide”) was illuminated by this increased dependence on the Internet. At the request of local leaders in 2021, the University of Tennessee Extension partnered with libraries in eight rural counties to expand a mobile hotspot lending program that had been piloted in three counties in 2018. Library patrons were allowed to check out mobile internet hotspots to use at home for a few days. When they returned the hotspots, they were asked to fill out a survey. This presentation discusses survey responses from 2018 and 2021 that were compared to understand changes, if any, to broadband equity challenges for rural residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tuberculous Granulomas Are Hypoxic in Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, and Nonhuman Primates
Creators: name: Via, L. E.
name: Taylor, K.
name: Allen, S. S.
name: Eum, S. Y.
name: Cho, S. N.
name: Gonzales, J.
name: Raleigh, J. A.
name: Klein, E.
name: Manjunatha, U.
name: Park, S. K.
name: Carrillo, J.
name: McMurray, D. N.
name: Flynn, J. L.
name: Ray, S. M.
name: Lee, E. G.
name: Barry, C. E.
name: Lin, P. L.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2008

description: Understanding the physical characteristics of the local microenvironment in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis resides is an important goal that may allow the targeting of metabolic processes to shorten drug regimens. Pimonidazole hydrochloride (Hypoxyprobe) is an imaging agent that is bioreductively activated only under hypoxic conditions in mammalian tissue. We employed this probe to evaluate the oxygen tension in tuberculous granulomas in four animal models of disease: mouse, guinea pig, rabbit, and nonhuman primate. Following infusion of pimonidazole into animals with established infections, lung tissues from the guinea pig, rabbit, and nonhuman primate showed discrete areas of pimonidazole adduct formation surrounding necrotic and caseous regions of pulmonary granulomas by immunohistochemical staining. This labeling could be substantially reduced by housing the animal under an atmosphere of 95% O2. Direct measurement of tissue oxygen partial pressure by surgical insertion of a fiber optic oxygen probe into granulomas in the lungs of living infected rabbits demonstrated that even small (3-mm) pulmonary lesions were severely hypoxic (1.6 ± 0.7 mm Hg). Finally, metronidazole, which has potent bactericidal activity in vitro only under low-oxygen culture conditions, was highly effective at reducing total-lung bacterial burdens in infected rabbits. Thus, three independent lines of evidence support the hypothesis that hypoxic microenvironments are an important feature of some lesions in these animal models of tuberculosis.
A residual stress characterization method of a small diameter wire by matter removal
Creators: name: Vaïssette, Julien
name: Paredes, Manuel
name: Mabru, Catherine
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Applied Physics (physics.app-ph)
subject: Classical Physics (physics.class-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Standard spring design is based on the assumption that there is no residual stress in the wire. This assumption can be quite strong for small wires that undergo a significant wire drawing during the manufacturing process. The main objective of this work is to design and test a method for characterizing residual stresses in small diameter drawn wires. The basic principle consists in removing a part of the material and then measuring the associated displacements. This material removal was simulated by finite elements and experimented in real situation. The first results are encouraging because they seem to show that the residual stresses in the wire studied are significant, and justify our investigations.
Additional file 3 of Vascular hyperacetylation is associated with vascular smooth muscle dysfunction in a rat model of non-obese type 2 diabetes
Creators: name: Carrillo-Sepulveda, Maria Alicia
name: Maddie, Nicole
name: Johnson, Christina Mary
name: Burke, Cameron
name: Lutz, Osina
name: Yakoub, Bamwa
name: Kramer, Benjamin
name: Persand, Dhandevi
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Physiology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Additional file 3: Figure S7B. CBP expression in VSMCs treated with HG and garcinol.
Digital Literacy Initiative in Tennessee: A Case Study
Creators: name: Baxter, Isabella
name: Upendram, Sreedhar
name: Lerner, Mekayla
Publisher: name: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
Year: 2021

description: Slides from a virtual presentation made at NIFA/APLU Making it Count: Applying Science to Support Broadband Adoption conference.
description: This presentation describes a collaboration with the University of Tennessee Libraries and Extension units, which sought to establish a digital literacy curriculum and training program. This initiative connected Extension agents, K-12 educators, public librarians, and other community services in counties across the state of Tennessee.
An Immunogenic, Surface-Exposed Domain of Haemophilus ducreyi Outer Membrane Protein HgbA Is Involved in Hemoglobin Binding
Creators: name: Nepluev, I.
name: Elkins, C.
name: Fusco, W. G.
name: Temple, B.
name: Olsen, B.
name: Afonina, G.
name: Leduc, I.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2009

description: HgbA is the sole TonB-dependent receptor for hemoglobin (Hb) acquisition of Haemophilus ducreyi. Binding of Hb to HgbA is the initial step in heme acquisition from Hb. To better understand this step, we mutagenized hgbA by deletion of each of the 11 putative surface-exposed loops and expressed each of the mutant proteins in trans in host strain H. ducreyi FX547 hgbA. All mutant proteins were expressed, exported, and detected on the surface by anti-HgbA immunoglobulin G (IgG). Deletion of sequences in loops 5 and 7 of HgbA abolished Hb binding in two different formats. In contrast, HgbA proteins containing deletions in the other nine loops retained the ability to bind Hb. None of the clones expressing mutant proteins were able to grow on plates containing low concentrations of Hb. Previously we demonstrated in a swine model of chancroid infection that an HgbA vaccine conferred complete protection from a challenge infection. Using anti-HgbA IgG from this study and the above deletion mutants, we show that loops 4, 5, and 7 of HgbA were immunogenic and surface exposed and that IgG directed against loops 4 and 5 blocked Hb binding. Furthermore, loop 6 was cleaved by protease on intact H. ducreyi, suggesting surface exposure. These data implicate a central domain of HgbA (in respect to the primary amino acid sequence) as important in Hb binding and suggest that this region of the molecule might have potential as a subunit vaccine.
title: Bemerkungen zur Methode Variation der Konstanten - Teil 1
Creators: name: Mueller, Walter
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik

description: Im vorliegenden Artikel wird eine lineare, inhomogene Differentialgleichung 1-ter Ordnung mit Hilfe eines integrierenden Faktors gelöst und, aus der dabei gewonnenen allgemeinen Lösung, die Lösungsmethode Variation der Konstanten abgeleitet.
Induction of Persistent Colitis by a Human Commensal, Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, in Wild-Type C57BL/6 Mice
Creators: name: Mathews, L. E.
name: Wu, S.
name: Sears, C. L.
name: Rabizadeh, S.
name: Karim, B.
name: Huso, D. L.
name: Golenbock, D.
name: Wu, X.
name: Hamad, A. R.
name: Shin, J.
name: Golub, J. E.
name: Sartor, R. B.
name: Gan, C. M.
name: Franco, A. A.
name: Housseau, F.
name: Rhee, K.-J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2009

description: Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) causes diarrhea and is implicated in inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer. The only known ETBF virulence factor is the Bacteroides fragilis toxin (BFT), which induces E-cadherin cleavage, interleukin-8 secretion, and epithelial cell proliferation. A murine model for ETBF has not been characterized. Specific pathogen-free (SPF) C57BL/6J or germfree 129S6/SvEv mice were orally inoculated with wild-type ETBF (WT-ETBF) strains, a nontoxigenic WT strain of B. fragilis (WT-NTBF), WT-NTBF overexpressing bft (rETBF), or WT-NTBF overexpressing a biologically inactive mutated bft (rNTBF). In SPF and germfree mice, ETBF caused colitis but was lethal only in germfree mice. Colonic histopathology demonstrated mucosal thickening with inflammatory cell infiltration, crypt abscesses, and epithelial cell exfoliation, erosion, and ulceration. SPF mice colonized with rETBF mimicked WT-ETBF, whereas rNTBF caused no histopathology. Intestinal epithelial E-cadherin was rapidly cleaved in vivo in WT-ETBF-colonized mice and in vitro in intestinal tissues cultured with purified BFT. ETBF mice colonized for 16 months exhibited persistent colitis. BFT did not directly induce lymphocyte proliferation, dendritic cell stimulation, or Toll-like receptor activation. In conclusion, WT-ETBF induced acute then persistent colitis in SPF mice and rapidly lethal colitis in WT germfree mice. Our data support the hypothesis that chronic colonization with the human commensal ETBF can induce persistent, subclinical colitis in humans.
Localization of the Domains of the Haemophilus ducreyi Trimeric Autotransporter DsrA Involved in Serum Resistance and Binding to the Extracellular Matrix Proteins Fibronectin and Vitronectin
Creators: name: Leduc, I.
name: Elkins, C.
name: Olsen, B.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2009

description: Resisting the bactericidal activity of naturally occurring antibodies and complement of normal human serum is an important element in the evasion of innate immunity by bacteria. In the gram-negative mucosal pathogen Haemophilus ducreyi, serum resistance is mediated primarily by the trimeric autotransporter DsrA. DsrA also functions as an adhesin for the extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin and vitronectin and mediates attachment of H. ducreyi to keratinocytes. We sought to determine the domain(s) of the 236-residue DsrA protein required for serum resistance and extracellular matrix protein binding. A 140-amino-acid truncated protein containing only the C-terminal portion of the passenger domain and the entire translocator domain of DsrA exhibited binding to fibronectin and vitronectin and conferred serum resistance to an H. ducreyi serum-sensitive strain. A shorter DsrA construct consisting of only 128 amino acids was unable to bind to extracellular matrix proteins but was serum resistant. We concluded that neither fibronectin binding nor vitronectin binding is required for high-level serum resistance in H. ducreyi.
Effects of the Putative Transcriptional Regulator IclR on Francisella tularensis Pathogenesis
Creators: name: Kijek, T. M.
name: Fuller, J. R.
name: Miller, C. N.
name: Huang, M. T. H.
name: Kawula, T. H.
name: Mortensen, B. L.
name: Taft-Benz, S.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent Gram-negative bacterium and is the etiological agent of the disease tularemia. IclR, a presumed transcriptional regulator, is required for full virulence of the animal pathogen, F. tularensis subspecies novicida U112 (53). In this study, we investigated the contribution of IclR to the intracellular growth, virulence, and gene regulation of human pathogenic F. tularensis subspecies. Deletion of iclR from the live vaccine strain (LVS) and SchuS4 strain of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica and F. tularensis subsp. tularensis, respectively, did not affect their abilities to replicate within macrophages or epithelial cells. In contrast to F. tularensis subsp. novicida iclR mutants, LVS and SchuS4 ΔiclR strains were as virulent as their wild-type parental strains in intranasal inoculation mouse models of tularemia. Furthermore, wild-type LVS and LVSΔiclR were equally cytotoxic and induced equivalent levels of interleukin-1β expression by infected bone marrow-derived macrophages. Microarray analysis revealed that the relative expression of a limited number of genes differed significantly between LVS wild-type and ΔiclR strains. Interestingly, many of the identified genes were disrupted in LVS and SchuS4 but not in their corresponding F. tularensis subsp. novicida U112 homologs. Thus, despite the impact of iclR deletion on gene expression, and in contrast to the effects of iclR deletion on F. tularensis subsp. novicida virulence, IclR does not contribute significantly to the virulence or pathogenesis of F. tularensis LVS or SchuS4.
Growth in a Biofilm Induces a Hyperinfectious Phenotype in Vibrio cholerae
Creators: name: Tamayo, R.
name: Patimalla, B.
name: Camilli, A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Biofilm formation plays a multifaceted role in the life cycles of a wide variety of microorganisms. In the case of pathogenic Vibrio cholerae, biofilm formation in its native aquatic habitats is thought to aid in persistence during interepidemic seasons and to enhance infectivity upon oral ingestion. The structure of V. cholerae biofilms has been hypothesized to protect the bacteria during passage through the stomach. Here, we directly test the role of biofilm architecture in the infectivity of V. cholerae by comparing the abilities of intact biofilms, dispersed biofilms, and planktonic cells to colonize the mouse small intestine. Not only were V. cholerae biofilms better able to colonize than planktonic cells, but the structure of the biofilm was also found to be dispensable: intact and dispersed biofilms colonized equally, and both vastly out-colonized planktonic cells. The infectious dose for biofilm-derived V. cholerae was orders of magnitude lower than that of planktonic cells. This biofilm-induced hyperinfectivity may be due in part to a higher growth rate of biofilm-derived cells during infection. These results suggest that the infectious dose of naturally occurring biofilms of V. cholerae may be much lower than previously estimated using cells grown planktonically in vitro. Furthermore, this work implies the existence of factors specifically induced during growth in a biofilm that augment infection by V. cholerae.
Immunization with the Haemophilus ducreyi Hemoglobin Receptor HgbA with Adjuvant Monophosphoryl Lipid A Protects Swine from a Homologous but Not a Heterologous Challenge
Creators: name: Hobbs, M. M.
name: Cholon, D. M.
name: Almond, G. W.
name: Elkins, C.
name: Fusco, W. G.
name: Routh, P. A.
name: Afonina, G.
name: Staats, H.
name: Choudhary, N.
name: Orndorff, P. E.
name: Leduc, I.
name: Nepluev, I.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Haemophilus ducreyi, the etiological agent of chancroid, has a strict requirement for heme, which it acquires from its only natural host, humans. Previously, we showed that a vaccine preparation containing the native hemoglobin receptor HgbA purified from H. ducreyi class I strain 35000HP (nHgbAI) and administered with Freund's adjuvant provided complete protection against a homologous challenge. In the current study, we investigated whether nHgbAI dispensed with monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), an adjuvant approved for use in humans, offered protection against a challenge with H. ducreyi strain 35000HP expressing either class I or class II HgbA (35000HPhgbAI and 35000HPhgbAII, respectively). Pigs immunized with the nHgbAI/MPL vaccine were protected against a challenge from homologous H. ducreyi strain 35000HPhgbAI but not heterologous strain 35000HPhgbAII, as evidenced by the isolation of only strain 35000HPhgbAII from nHgbAI-immunized pigs. Furthermore, histological analysis of the lesions showed striking differences between mock-immunized and nHgbAI-immunized animals challenged with strains 35000HPhgbAI but not those challenged with strain 35000HPhgbAII. Mock-immunized pigs were not protected from a challenge by either strain. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) activity of the nHgbAI/MPL antiserum was lower than the activity of antiserum from animals immunized with the nHgbAI/Freund's vaccine; however, anti-nHgbAI from both studies bound whole cells of 35000HPhgbAI better than 35000HPhgbAII and partially blocked hemoglobin binding to nHgbAI. In conclusion, despite eliciting lower antibody ELISA activity than the nHgbAI/Freund's, the nHgbAI/MPL vaccine provided protection against a challenge with homologous but not heterologous H. ducreyi, suggesting that a bivalent HgbA vaccine may be needed.
Bridging the digital divide: challenges and opportunities in rural broadband access and adoption in Tennessee
Creators: name: Baxter, Isabella
name: Upendram, Sreedhar
name: Lerner, Mekayla
Publisher: name: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
Year: 2021

description: Slides from a virtual presentation made at NIFA/APLU Making it Count: Applying Science to Support Broadband Adoption conference.
description: This presentation describes a mobile lending hotspot program and other broadband initiatives that were supported by the University of Tennessee Extension.
Additional file 1 of Novel diagnostic tools for identifying cognitive impairment using olfactory-stimulated functional near-infrared spectroscopy: patient-level, single-group, diagnostic trial
Creators: name: Kim, Jaewon
name: Yon, Dong Keon
name: Choi, Kyu Yeong
name: Lee, Jang Jae
name: Kim, Namwoo
name: Lee, Kun Ho
name: Kim, Jae Gwan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Cell Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Additional file 1: Supplementary Methods and Results.
Testing a Conjecture On Quantum Chromodynamics
Creators: name: Schiller, Christoph
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: General Physics (physics.gen-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A Planck-scale model that includes quantum chromodynamics and goes beyond it, is tested against observations. The model is based on a single fundamental principle. Starting with Dirac's proposal describing spin 1/2 particles as tethered objects, quarks and elementary fermions are conjectured to be fluctuating rational tangles with unobservable tethers. Such tangles obey the free Dirac equation. Classifying rational tangles naturally yields the observed spectrum of elementary fermions, including the six quark types and their quantum numbers. Classifying tangle deformations naturally yields exactly three types of gauge interactions, three types of elementary gauge bosons, and the symmetry groups U(1), broken SU(2) and SU(3). The possible rational tangles for quarks, leptons, Higgs and gauge bosons allow only the observed Feynman diagrams. The complete Lagrangian of the standard model - without any modification and including the Lagrangian of quantum chromodynamics - arises in a natural manner. Over 90 experimental consequences and tests about quark and gluon behaviour are deduced from the single fundamental principle. No consequence is in contrast with observations. The consequences of the strand conjecture include the complete quark model for hadrons, the correct sign of hadron quadrupole moments, colour flux tubes, confinement, Regge behaviour, running quark masses, correctly predicted hadron mass sequences, the lack of CP violation for the strong interaction, asymptotic freedom, and the appearance of glueballs. Two consequences differ from quantum chromodynamics. First, the geometry of the strand process for the strong interaction leads to an ab-initio estimate for the running strong coupling constant. Secondly, the tangle shapes lead to ab-initio lower and upper limits for the mass values of the quarks.
description: 78 pages
Modulation of Allergic Airway Inflammation by the Oral Pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis
Creators: name: Barros, S. P.
name: Voltz, J. W.
name: Schwartz, S.
name: Offenbacher, S.
name: Carey, M. A.
name: Morgan, D. L.
name: Card, J. W.
name: Ferguson, C. D.
name: Bradbury, J. A.
name: Zeldin, D. C.
name: Cohen, E. A.
name: Barrow, D. A.
name: Arbes, S. J.
name: Flake, G. P.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Accumulating evidence suggests that bacteria associated with periodontal disease may exert systemic immunomodulatory effects. Although the improvement in oral hygiene practices in recent decades correlates with the increased incidence of asthma in developed nations, it is not known whether diseases of the respiratory system might be influenced by the presence of oral pathogens. The present study sought to determine whether subcutaneous infection with the anaerobic oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis exerts a regulatory effect on allergic airway inflammation. BALB/c mice sensitized and subsequently challenged with ovalbumin exhibited airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine aerosol and increased airway inflammatory cell influx and Th2 cytokine (interleukin-4 [IL-4], IL-5, and IL-13) content relative to those in nonallergic controls. Airway inflammatory cell and cytokine contents were significantly reduced by establishment of a subcutaneous infection with P. gingivalis prior to allergen sensitization, whereas serum levels of ovalbumin-specific IgE and airway responsiveness were not altered. Conversely, subcutaneous infection initiated after allergen sensitization did not alter inflammatory end points but did reduce airway responsiveness in spite of increased serum IgE levels. These data provide the first direct evidence of a regulatory effect of an oral pathogen on allergic airway inflammation and responsiveness. Furthermore, a temporal importance of the establishment of infection relative to allergen sensitization is demonstrated for allergic outcomes.
Opacity Proteins Increase Neisseria gonorrhoeae Fitness in the Female Genital Tract Due to a Factor under Ovarian Control
Creators: name: Cole, J. G.
name: Jerse, A. E.
name: Fulcher, N. B.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: The neisserial opacity (Opa) proteins are a family of antigenically distinct outer membrane proteins that undergo phase-variable expression. Opa+ variants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain FA1090 are selected in a cyclical pattern from the lower genital tract of estradiol-treated mice. Here we show that cyclical recovery of Opa+ gonococci does not occur in ovariectomized mice; therefore, the reproductive cycle plays a role in the selection kinetics in vivo. As predicted by the selection pattern shown by wild-type gonococci, we demonstrated that a constitutive Opa-expressing strain was more fit than an Opa-deficient mutant in the early and late phases of infection. We found no evidence that Opa-mediated colonization selects for Opa+ variants during murine infection based on adherence assays with cultured murine epithelial cells. We also tested the hypothesis that complement selects for Opa protein expression during infection. Although some Opa+ variants of a serum-sensitive derivative of strain FA1090 were more resistant to the bactericidal activity of normal human serum, selection for Opa expression was not abrogated in C3-depleted mice. Finally, as previously reported, Opa+ gonococci were more sensitive to serine proteases. Thus, proteases or protease inhibitors may contribute to the observed in vivo selection pattern. We concluded that Opa proteins promote persistence of N. gonorrhoeae in the female genital tract and that opa gene phase variation allows gonococci to evade or capitalize upon unidentified host factors of the mammalian reproductive cycle. This work revealed an intimate interaction between pathogen and host and provides evidence that hormonally related factors shape bacterial adaptation.
Table S1. Post-hoc analysis of difference contrasts to examine temperature effects on response metrics.;Figure S1. Angular heading varied with song pulse rate and ambient temperature. from Parasitoid-host eavesdropping reveals temperature coupling of preferences to communication signals without genetic coupling
Creators: name: Jirik, Karina J.
name: Dominguez, Jimena A.
name: Abdulkarim, Iya
name: Glaaser, Johanna
name: Stoian, Emilia S.
name: Almanza, Luis J.
name: Lee, Norman
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2023
Subjects: Animal Behaviour

description: Post-hoc analysis of difference contrasts to examine temperature effects on response metrics.;Angular heading (mean ± 95% confidence interval) as a function of song pulse rate (pps) at a) 21 °C, b) 25 °C, c) 30 °C. Horizontal lines indicate speaker location at 45° azimuth.
Pertactin Is Required for Bordetella Species To Resist Neutrophil-Mediated Clearance
Creators: name: Stibitz, S.
name: Inatsuka, C. S.
name: Miller, J. F.
name: Wong, S.
name: Xu, Q.
name: Vujkovic-Cvijin, I.
name: Cotter, P. A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Pertactin (PRN) is an autotransporter protein produced by all members of the Bordetella bronchiseptica cluster, which includes B. pertussis, B. parapertussis, and B. bronchiseptica. It is a primary component of acellular pertussis vaccines, and anti-PRN antibody titers correlate with protection. In vitro studies have suggested that PRN functions as an adhesin and that an RGD motif located in the center of the passenger domain is important for this function. Two regions of PRN that contain sequence repeats (region 1 [R1] and R2) show polymorphisms among strains and have been implicated in vaccine-driven evolution. We investigated the role of PRN in pathogenesis using B. bronchiseptica and natural-host animal models. A Δprn mutant did not differ from wild-type B. bronchiseptica in its ability to adhere to epithelial and macrophage-like cells in vitro or to establish respiratory infection in rats but was cleared much faster than wild-type bacteria in a mouse lung inflammation model. Unlike wild-type B. bronchiseptica, the Δprn mutant was unable to cause a lethal infection in SCID-Bg mice, but, like wild-type bacteria, it was lethal for neutropenic mice. These results suggest that PRN plays a critical role in allowing Bordetella to resist neutrophil-mediated clearance. Mutants producing PRN proteins in which the RGD motif was replaced with RGE or in which R1 and R2 were deleted were indistinguishable from wild-type bacteria in all assays, suggesting that these sequences do not contribute to PRN function.
Data-driven prognostics based on time-frequency analysis and symbolic recurrent neural network for fuel cells under dynamic load
Creators: name: Wang, Chu
name: Dou, Manfeng
name: Li, Zhongliang
name: Outbib, Rachid
name: Zhao, Dongdong
name: Zuo, Jian
name: Wang, Yuanlin
name: Liang, Bin
name: Wang, Peng
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: Data-centric prognostics is beneficial to improve the reliability and safety of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). For the prognostics of PEMFC operating under dynamic load, the challenges come from extracting degradation features, improving prediction accuracy, expanding the prognostics horizon, and reducing computational cost. To address these issues, this work proposes a data-driven PEMFC prognostics approach, in which Hilbert-Huang transform is used to extract health indicator in dynamic operating conditions and symbolic-based gated recurrent unit model is used to enhance the accuracy of life prediction. Comparing with other state-of-the-art methods, the proposed data-driven prognostics approach provides a competitive prognostics horizon with lower computational cost. The prognostics performance shows consistency and generalizability under different failure threshold settings.
Defence Modulators for Enhancing Quality and Disease Resistance in Horticulture Crops
Creators: name: Megha Ma*, Veeresha, Shreekantb, Shivanand D Ainapurc
Publisher: name: The Science world a Monthly e magazine
Year: 2023

description: The world population is increasing at an alarming rate and is expected to reach about 10 billion by the end of 2050, but the productivity of food is decreasing due to the effect of various biotic and abiotic stresses and post-harvest losses of produce. In order to meet the world's rising food demand, reducing these losses is a major significant concern for all countries. However, in India losses through diseases are 20%, losses from insect pests are 25%, and abiotic stresses can reduce crop yields by up to 50% on average. There are numerous technical options available to combat this problem. Some options include development of resistant cultivars, biological control, crop rotation, tillage and agrochemicals. A complicated interconnection of biotic and abiotic stresses and post-harvest storage losses leads to enormous usage of agrochemicals. While, their use at commercial level is uneconomical, their application is time-consuming, and some have been shown to cause cancer. However, with rising consumer interest in food, attention has shifted more towards quality assurance with particular emphasis on the enhancement of health-promoting phytochemicals that promote health. Therefore, considerable efforts have been accomplished to devise environmental-friendly strategies for the check of plant diseases and thus to save mankind from health hazard. Keeping this back ground, post-harvest defence modulators/elicitor treatments may a viable option to elicit the desired effect and to ensure an efficient and consumer-oriented supply chain.
Additional file 1 of Metagenomics reveals differences in microbial composition and metabolic functions in the rumen of dairy cows with different residual feed intake
Creators: name: Xie, Yunyi
name: Sun, Huizeng
name: Xue, Mingyuan
name: Liu, Jianxin
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 1: Table S1. Comparison of lactation performance between the cows with high (HRFI) and low residual feed intake (LRFI). Table S2. Summary of sequence data generated from rumen samples of 9 high (H) and 9 low (L) residual feed intake cows. Table S3. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) for the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity matrices for microbial taxonomy between the cows with high (HRFI) and low residual feed intake (LRFI). Figure S1. Rumen microbial composition based on the domain level taxonomy. Figure S2. Microbial profiles of the cows with high (HRFI) and low residual feed intake (LRFI). Figure S3. Microbial metabolic pathways and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) of the cows with high (HRFI) and low residual feed intake (LRFI). Figure S4. Distribution of residual feed intake in high (HRFI) and low residual feed intake (LRFI) cows.
Escaping Toxicity: Health and Care in a Cluj Full of Chemicals
Creators: name: Baciu, Madalina-Diana
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2024
Subjects: Romania
Health
Care
Toxicity
Food
Vitality
Violence

description: Based on two months of ethnographic fieldwork in Cluj, Romania, this thesis explores the themes of health, care, vitality, toxicity and violence through the following question: How do notions of health and toxicity emerge through daily acts of care in Cluj, Romania? For my collaborators, health is a question of maintenance and food is what enables people to maintain their health. However, there is a problem with food when it comes to health: chemicals are always in the mix. Chemicals were described by my collaborators as toxic synthetic substances that often, if not always, also play a large part in environmental pollution. This leads to a contradiction: food is what keeps you healthy, but it is also what makes you ill. This thesis departs from such contradictions that arise from living in a world that is permeated with toxic elements and discusses health and toxicity are notions which go beyond materiality, and which highlight the interconnectedness of beings, things and processes that compose the world through space and through time. It shows how care and violence are often two sides of the same coin as well as how capitalism contributes to the near inescapability of today's scariest forms of toxicity. Overall, this thesis aims to offer a better understanding of how humans grapple with health and toxicity as it relates to food, medicine, the environment at large and the relation we foster with other beings and things by writing about people's doubts, fears, frustrations, disappointments, and outrage, but also about their hopes and solutions as they relate to our toxic world. Ultimately, this thesis is an ethical discussion on "the good life" and the toxic elements that prevent us from living it as my collaborators understand it.
SARG control system
Creators: name: Cosentino, R.
name: Bonanno, G.
name: Bruno, P.
name: Cali, A.
name: Scuderi, S.
name: Timpanaro, M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The control system and the entire architecture of the High Resolution Spectrograph (SARG) for the Italian National Telescope "Galileo" (TNG) are here described. The concept of SARG instrument controls is similar to that of the other TNG instruments, in particular the CCD detector driving and the image acquisition use the same TNG standard boards and the same selected bus: the VME. The link between the SARG VME and the other telescope components is based on the same GATE software that guarantees the compatibility with the entire distributed TNG software. The control of the moving parts as well as the other parts of instrument that is the lamp controller and the temperature sensors, is based on a commercial controller connected to the system through a serial link. Furthermore a specialized software running on a PC has been realized to test the rotating tables independently of the VME system. Test of accuracy and repeatability of the positioning were done and some results are presented.
description: 9 pages
Anaplasma phagocytophilum Infects Mast Cells via α1,3-Fucosylated but Not Sialylated Glycans and Inhibits IgE-Mediated Cytokine Production and Histamine Release
Creators: name: Homeister, Jonathon W.
name: Carlyon, Jason A.
name: Ojogun, Nore
name: Miller, Daniel
name: Barnstein, Brian
name: Huang, Bernice
name: Oskeritzian, Carole A.
name: Ryan, John J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: ABSTRACT Mast cells are sentinels for infection. Upon exposure to pathogens, they release their stores of proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and histamine. Mast cells are also important for the control of certain tick-borne infections. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular tick-transmitted bacterium that infects neutrophils to cause the emerging disease granulocytic anaplasmosis. A. phagocytophilum adhesion to and infection of neutrophils depend on sialylated and α1,3-fucosylated glycans. We investigated the hypotheses that A. phagocytophilum invades mast cells and inhibits mast cell activation. We demonstrate that A. phagocytophilum binds and/or infects murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs), murine peritoneal mast cells, and human skin-derived mast cells. A. phagocytophilum infection of BMMCs depends on α1,3-fucosylated, but not sialylated, glycans. A. phagocytophilum binding to and invasion of BMMCs do not elicit proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Moreover, A. phagocytophilum -infected cells are inhibited in the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-13, and histamine following stimulation with IgE or antigen. Thus, A. phagocytophilum mitigates mast cell activation. These findings potentially represent a novel means by which A. phagocytophilum usurps host defense mechanisms and shed light on the interplay between mast cells and vector-borne bacterial pathogens.
Faire la guerre, façonner l'État : Les acteurs non étatiques de la défense de l'Ukraine (2014-2022)
Creators: name: Fomitchova, Anastasia
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2024
Subjects: État
Ukraine
Guerre
Ressources
Mobilisations armées
Culture militaire
Société civile
Décharge
Oligarques
Clans
Corruption
Captation
Démocratisation

description: À partir d'enquêtes de terrain menées entre 2016 et 2022 en Ukraine, cette thèse se penche sur les effets de la guerre sur les structures d'État sur le plan de l'organisation militaire et politique, à partir de la trajectoire sociohistorique de l'État ukrainien et des acteurs non étatiques mobilisés dans le secteur de la défense. Dans le contexte d'une impréparation de l'État ukrainien à l'entrée dans un conflit armé en 2014, les acteurs politiques qui arrivent au pouvoir après le moment révolutionnaire de l'hiver 2013-14 s'appuient sur des acteurs non étatiques, les oligarques qui se trouvent à la tête des régions menacées, mais également sur des bataillons de volontaires et des structures de la société civile, qui se constituent pour pallier la défaillance de l'action d'État. Ces dynamiques prennent forme dans le cadre d'un système politique et économique structuré autour de la défense des intérêts privés d'acteurs économiques qui se trouvent à la tête de réseaux régionaux. Malgré l'existence de financements privés pour les groupes armés, et des tentatives de privatisation de la violence, contrairement à une institutionnalisation de formes de décharge, ou de fragmentation de la violence sur le territoire ukrainien, ces dynamiques qui tendent à brouiller les frontières État/armée/société conduisent à un processus de co-construction de l'armée nationale. Entre 2014 et 2022, l'arrivée de nouvelles ressources par l'international amène à la remise en place de schémas de captation dans le contexte d'une économie tournée vers la rente depuis le milieu des années 1990. Si la guerre territorialisée dans un premier temps à l'Est de l'Ukraine ne conduit pas à un changement du fonctionnement du système politique et économique, en 2022 l'invasion à grande échelle de l'Ukraine par la Russie amène à une centralisation des ressources coercitives et économiques au sein de l'appareil étatique, et limite les pratiques de captation à l'origine de la faiblesse étatique. La construction d'un appareil militaire dans la guerre et les transformations de l'économie politique ne sont pas la résultante exclusive de stratégies menées au niveau des politiques publiques, mais celle de mobilisations et de luttes à l'extérieur et au sein de l'arène étatique. Ces dynamiques qui prennent forme dans la guerre participent directement de la formation de l'État.
Passive Immunization with a Polyclonal Antiserum to the Hemoglobin Receptor of Haemophilus ducreyi Confers Protection against a Homologous Challenge in the Experimental Swine Model of Chancroid
Creators: name: Routh, Patty A.
name: Fusco, William G.
name: Elkins, Christopher
name: Almond, Glen W.
name: Hobbs, Marcia M.
name: Cholon, Deborah M.
name: Leduc, Isabelle
name: Orndorff, Paul E.
name: Choudhary, Neelima
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: ABSTRACT Haemophilus ducreyi , the etiologic agent of chancroid, has an obligate requirement for heme. Heme is acquired by H. ducreyi from its human host via TonB-dependent transporters expressed at its bacterial surface. Of 3 TonB-dependent transporters encoded in the genome of H. ducreyi , only the hemoglobin receptor, HgbA, is required to establish infection during the early stages of the experimental human model of chancroid. Active immunization with a native preparation of HgbA (nHgbA) confers complete protection in the experimental swine model of chancroid, using either Freund's or monophosphoryl lipid A as adjuvants. To determine if transfer of anti-nHgbA serum is sufficient to confer protection, a passive immunization experiment using pooled nHgbA antiserum was conducted in the experimental swine model of chancroid. Pigs receiving this pooled nHgbA antiserum were protected from a homologous, but not a heterologous, challenge. Passively transferred polyclonal antibodies elicited to nHgbA bound the surface of H. ducreyi and partially blocked hemoglobin binding by nHgbA, but were not bactericidal. Taken together, these data suggest that the humoral immune response to the HgbA vaccine is protective against an H. ducreyi infection, possibly by preventing acquisition of the essential nutrient heme.