Gaussian RBF Centered Kernel Alignment (CKA) in the Large-Bandwidth Limit.

Centered kernel alignment (CKA), also known as centered kernel-target alignment, is useful as a similarity measure between kernels and as a kernel-based similarity measure between feature representations. We prove that CKA based on a Gaussian RBF kernel converges to linear CKA in the large-bandwidth limit. The result relies on mean-centering of the feature maps and on a Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC) identity.

Identifying autism spectrum disorder symptoms using response and gaze behavior during the Go/NoGo game CatChicken.

Previous studies have found that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children scored lower during a Go/No-Go task and faced difficulty focusing their gaze on the speaker's face during a conversation. To date, however, there has not been an adequate study examining children's response and gaze during the Go/No-Go task to distinguish ASD from typical children. We investigated typical and ASD children's gaze modulation when they played a version of the Go/No-Go game.

Novel Template Plasmids pCyaA'-Kan and pCyaA'-Cam for Generation of Unmarked Chromosomal ' Translational Fusion to T3SS Effectors in .

The type III secretion systems (T3SS) encoded in pathogenicity islands SPI-1 and SPI-2 are key virulence factors of . These systems translocate proteins known as effectors into eukaryotic cells during infection. To characterize the functionality of T3SS effectors, gene fusions to the reporter of are often used.

Fluorescence enzymatic assay for bacterial polyphosphate kinase 1 (PPK1) as a platform for screening antivirulence molecules.

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) and its metabolic enzymes are important in several cellular processes related with virulence and antibiotic susceptibility. Accordingly, bacterial polyP synthesis has been proposed as a good target for designing novel antivirulence molecules as alternative to conventional antibiotics. In most pathogenic bacteria, polyphosphate kinase 1 (PPK1), in charge of polyP synthesis from ATP, is widely conserved.

Deep Learning for Automated Feature Discovery and Classification of Sleep Stages.

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) have demonstrated state-of-the-art classification results in image categorization, but have received comparatively little attention for classification of one-dimensional physiological signals. We design a deep CNN architecture for automated sleep stage classiffication of human sleep EEG and EOG signals. The CNN proposed in this paper amply outperforms recent work that uses a different CNN architecture over a single-EEG-channel version of the same dataset.

Contribution of the Twin-Arginine Translocation System to the Intracellular Survival of Typhimurium in .

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system is a specialized secretion pathway required for bacteria to export fully folded proteins through the cytoplasmic membrane. This system is crucial during infection of animal hosts. In this study, we show that serovar Typhimurium (.

Possible Role of Envelope Components in the Extreme Copper Resistance of the Biomining .

resists extremely high concentrations of copper. Strain ATCC 53993 is much more resistant to the metal compared with strain ATCC 23270, possibly due to the presence of a genomic island in the former one. The global response of strain ATCC 53993 to copper was analyzed using iTRAQ (isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation) quantitative proteomics.

Fnr and ArcA Regulate Lipid A Hydroxylation in Enteritidis by Controlling Expression in Response to Oxygen Availability.

Lipid A is the bioactive component of lipopolysaccharide, and presents a dynamic structure that undergoes modifications in response to environmental signals. Many of these structural modifications influence virulence. This is the case of lipid A hydroxylation, a modification catalyzed by the dioxygenase LpxO.

Phosphate Favors the Biosynthesis of CdS Quantum Dots in ATCC 19703 by Improving Metal Uptake and Tolerance.

Recently, we reported the production of Cadmium sulfide (CdS) fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots, QDs) by acidophilic bacteria of the genus. Here, we report that the addition of inorganic phosphate to ATCC 19703 cultures favors the biosynthesis of CdS QDs at acidic conditions (pH 3.5).

Relevant Genes Linked to Virulence Are Required for Salmonella Typhimurium to Survive Intracellularly in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum.

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has proven to be a useful model for studying relevant aspects of the host-pathogen interaction. In this work, D. discoideum was used as a model to study the ability of Salmonella Typhimurium to survive in amoebae and to evaluate the contribution of selected genes in this process.

O-antigen chain-length distribution in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is regulated by oxygen availability.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) consists of three covalently linked domains: the lipid A, the core region and the O antigen (OAg), consisting of repeats of an oligosaccharide. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) produces a LPS with two OAg preferred chain lengths: a long (L)-OAg controlled by WzzSE and a very long (VL)-OAg controlled by WzzfepE.

What Gaze Fixation and Pupil Dilation Can Tell Us About Perceived Differences Between Abstract Art by Artists Versus by Children and Animals.

People with no arts background often misunderstand abstract art as requiring no skill. However, adults with no art background discriminate paintings by abstract expressionists from superficially similar works by children and animals. We tested whether participants show different visual exploration when looking at paintings by artists' versus children or animals.

A Simple Mandibular Distraction Protocol to Avoid Tracheostomy in Patients With Pierre Robin Sequence.

Objective: Recent treatment goals for Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) focus on avoiding tracheostomy through modalities such as mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO). We primarily evaluated the efficacy of our straightforward MDO treatment protocol for resolution of PRS-associated airway obstruction while secondarily analyzing patient characteristics associated with success or failure of MDO.

Design: A retrospective chart review before and after treatment.

The type VI secretion system encoded in Salmonella pathogenicity island 19 is required for Salmonella enterica serotype Gallinarum survival within infected macrophages.

Salmonella enterica serotype Gallinarum is the causative agent of fowl typhoid, a disease characterized by high morbidity and mortality that causes major economic losses in poultry production. We have reported that S. Gallinarum harbors a type VI secretion system (T6SS) encoded in Salmonella pathogenicity island 19 (SPI-19) that is required for efficient colonization of chicks.

The normal chain length distribution of the O antigen is required for the interaction of Shigella flexneri 2a with polarized Caco-2 cells.

Shigella flexneri causes bacillary dysentery in humans. Essential to the establishment of the disease is the invasion of the colonic epithelial cells. Here we investigated the role of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O antigen in the ability of S.

Contribution of the lipopolysaccharide to resistance of Shigella flexneri 2a to extreme acidity.

Shigella flexneri is endemic in most underdeveloped countries, causing diarrheal disease and dysentery among young children. In order to reach its target site, the colon, Shigella must overcome the acid environment of the stomach. Shigella is able to persist in this stressful environment and, because of this ability it can initiate infection following the ingestion of very small inocula.

Different sugar residues of the lipopolysaccharide outer core are required for early interactions of Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi and Typhimurium with epithelial cells.

The role of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in entry of Salmonella Typhimurium into epithelial cells remains unclear. In this study, we tested the ability of a series of mutants with deletions in genes for the synthesis and assembly of the O antigen and the outer core of LPS to adhere to and invade HeLa, BHK, and IB3 epithelial cells lines. Mutants devoid of O antigen, or that synthesized only one O antigen unit, or with altered O antigen chain lengths were as able as the wild type to enter epithelial cells, indicating that this polysaccharide is not required for invasion of epithelial cells in vitro.

Machine learning of clinical performance in a pancreatic cancer database.

Objective: We consider predictive models for clinical performance of pancreatic cancer patients based on machine learning techniques. The predictive performance of machine learning is compared with that of the linear and logistic regression techniques that dominate the medical oncology literature.

Methods And Materials: We construct predictive models over a clinical database that we have developed for the University of Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

The cellular level of O-antigen polymerase Wzy determines chain length regulation by WzzB and WzzpHS-2 in Shigella flexneri 2a.

The lipopolysaccharide O antigen of Shigella flexneri 2a has two preferred chain lengths, a short (S-OAg) composed of an average of 17 repeated units and a very long (VL-OAg) of about 90 repeated units. These chain length distributions are controlled by the chromosomally encoded WzzB and the plasmid-encoded Wzz(pHS-2) proteins, respectively. In this study, genes wzzB, wzz(pHS-2) and wzy (encoding the O-antigen polymerase) were cloned under the control of arabinose- and rhamnose-inducible promoters to investigate the effect of varying their relative expression levels on O antigen polysaccharide chain length distribution.

Primary breast augmentation today: a survey of current breast augmentation practice patterns.

A study was undertaken to survey current practice patterns concerning primary breast augmentation. Members of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) were electronically surveyed concerning issues such as incision location, implant size and type, and complications, as well as information about the surgeons, their practices, and where procedures are performed. The survey response rate was 30%.

Growth-phase regulation of lipopolysaccharide O-antigen chain length influences serum resistance in serovars of Salmonella.

The amount of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O antigen (OAg) and its chain length distribution are important factors that protect bacteria from serum complement. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi produces LPS with long chain length distribution (L-OAg) controlled by the wzz gene, whereas serovar Typhimurium produces LPS with two OAg chain lengths: an L-OAg controlled by Wzz(ST) and a very long (VL) OAg determined by Wzz(fepE). This study shows that serovar Enteritidis also has a bimodal OAg distribution with two preferred OAg chain lengths similar to serovar Typhimurium.

O-antigen modal chain length in Shigella flexneri 2a is growth-regulated through RfaH-mediated transcriptional control of the wzy gene.

Shigella flexneri 2a 2457T produces lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with two O-antigen (OAg) chain lengths: a short (S-OAg) controlled by WzzB and a very long (VL-OAg) determined by Wzz(pHS-2). This study demonstrates that the synthesis and length distribution of the S. flexneri OAg are under growth-phase-dependent regulation.

Mining statistically significant associations for exploratory analysis of human sleep data.

We introduce a specialized association rule mining technique that can extract patterns from complex sleep data comprising polysomnographic recordings, clinical summaries, and sleep questionnaire responses. The rules mined can describe associations among temporally annotated events and questionnaire or summary data; e.g.