Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The hitchhiker's guide to successful wireless sensor network deployments

The successful deployment of a wireless sensor network is a difficult task, littered with traps and pitfalls. Even a functional network does not guarantee gathering meaningful data. In SensorScope, with its multiple campaigns in various environments (e.g., urban, high-mountain), we have acquired much knowledge in planning, conducting, and managing real-world sensor network deployments. In this paper, we share our experience by stepping through the entire process, from the preparatory hard- and software development to the actual field deployment. Illustrated by numerous real-life examples, excerpted from our own experience, we point out many potential problems along this way and their possible solutions. We also indicate the importance of a close interaction with the end-user community in planning and running the network, and finally exploiting the data.
Response to perioperative statin therapy in cardiac surgery: a matter of race and timing?

We read with great interest the recent article by Zheng et al. describing the STICS clinical trial testing whether perioperative rosuvastatin administration lowers rates of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or CABG plus aortic valve surgery (1). These are important questions because we know that postoperative AF after cardiac surgery has significant implications on health care outcomes and costs (2). Notably, the STICS study revealed no difference in postoperative AF rates between placebo and rosuvastatin treated groups.
Evaluation of empirical models for estimating reference-evapotranspiration (RET-ET) in humid semi-hot equatorial coastal climate

The performances of five empirical models, namely: Hargreaves-Samani, Makkink1 (1957), Makkink2 (1984), Priestley-Taylor and FAO 56-PM in estimating reference evapotranspiration (REF-ET) were separately compared with Epan data and FAO 56-PM, respectively. Based on statistical analysis, Hargreaves-Samani method compared best with daily and monthly Epan data, while Makkik2 (1984) ranked first with FAO 56-PM. In terms of regression analysis, Priestley-Taylor performed best with daily FAO 56-PM method while Hargreaves-Samani ranked first with daily Epan data. Hargreaves-Samani also correlated best with mean monthly Epan data. The quantitative evaluation of cumulative daily and monthly reference-evapotranspiration (RET-ET) values showed that Makkink (1984) produced the least overestimation and percent relative error against FAO 56-PM while Hargreaves-Samani performed best with Epan data with the least overestimation and percent relative error. In terms of cumulative monthly ETo totals for the farming season (Dec-April) over the study period, Hargreaves-Samani ranked best with Epan data with the least overestimation and percent relative error while Priestley–Taylor ranked best with FAO 56-PM producing the least overestimation. Overall, Hargreaves-Samani with its original coefficient was adjudged best, capable of approximating FAO 56-PM and Epan data in the Lower Niger River Basin, followed by Makkink (1984) and Priestley-Taylor. Penman-Monteith estimates were used to develop monthly correction factors for adjusting Empirical models for their potential use in Lower Niger Basin. A comparative study such as this has not been undertaken in the Lower Niger River Basin. The models recommended in this study are economical, lesser-data demanding and can be applied to predicting REF-ET in remote agricultural areas. Key words: Reference-evapotranspiration (RET-ET), empirical models, radiation-based methods, temperature-based methods, FAO 56 –PM, Lower Niger River Basin.
Two proteolytic modules are involved in regulated intramembrane proteolysis of Bacillus subtilis RsiW

Stress‐induced degradation of the Bacillus subtilis anti‐sigma factor RsiW results in the induction of genes controlled by the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor σW. RsiW is cleaved by the mechanism of regulated intramembrane proteolysis at site‐1 and ‐2 by PrsW and RasP respectively, and is then further degraded by cytoplasmic Clp peptidases. In a reconstituted Escherichia coli system, PrsW removes 40 amino acids from RsiW by cleaving between Ala168 and Ser169 of the extracytoplasmic domain, thereby generating RsiW‐S1. Further trimming of RsiW‐S1's C‐terminus by the periplasmic tail‐specific protease Tsp is crucial for subsequent RasP‐catalysed clipping. In B. subtilis, mutation of RsiW at Ala168 severely impairs site‐1 processing. RsiW‐S1 is undetectable in wild‐type B. subtilis and knockout strains lacking various extracytoplasmic proteases. While it can be stabilized by C‐terminal tagging, even this fusion protein is still attacked. Thus, several peptidases seem to be involved in trimming of RsiW downstream of PrsW and upstream of RasP in B. subtilis. Overall, the RsiW degradation pathway can be subdivided into two modules each consisting of a site‐specific peptidase that prepares RsiW for further degradation by downstream proteases.
Inflamed shoulder structures in polymyalgia rheumatica with normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inflammatory involvement of shoulder articular and extraarticular structures in polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) patients with a normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at diagnosis. METHODS This was a case-control study. All consecutive, untreated new outpatients diagnosed as having PMR with a normal ESR (<40 mm/hour) during a 6-month period were included in the study (case patients). Controls were 12 consecutive, untreated PMR outpatients with an ESR of >40 mm/hour who were observed after the case patients. Before starting corticosteroid therapy, all case patients and controls underwent bilateral shoulder ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). US and MRI scans were evaluated independently by two radiologists who were blinded to the reciprocal results. RESULTS Six case patients (4 men and 2 women) and 12 controls (4 men and 8 women) were studied. Both US and MRI demonstrated bilateral subacromial/subdeltoid bursitis in all 6 case patients and in 11 of the 12 (92%) controls (P not significant [NS]). One control had unilateral bursitis. Glenohumeral joint synovitis was found in 4 of 6 case patients (67%) by MRI and in 3 of 6 case patients (50%) by US (P NS), as well as in 8 of 12 controls (67%) by MRI and in 7 of 12 controls (58%) by US (P NS). Both MRI and US detected biceps tenosynovitis in 5 of 6 case patients (83%) and in 8 of 12 controls (67%) (P NS). The severity of bursitis did not differ significantly between the groups. US was as effective as MRI in detecting inflammatory changes of the shoulder. CONCLUSION MRI and US studies showed that PMR patients with normal or high ESRs have similar inflammatory shoulder lesions. Moreover, bilateral subacromial/subdeltoid bursitis represents the imaging hallmark in PMR patients with a high or normal ESR. MRI or US of the shoulder may facilitate the proper diagnosis in patients with the typical proximal symptoms of PMR who also have normal ESRs.
Information system security compliance to FISMA standard: A quantitative measure

To ensure that safeguards are implemented to protect against a majority of known threats, industry leaders are requiring information processing systems to comply with security standards. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Federal Information Risk Management Framework (RMF) and the associated suite of guidance documents describe the minimum security requirements (controls) for non-national-security federal information systems mandated by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), enacted into law on December 17, 2002, as Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002. The subjective compliance assessment approach described in the RMF guidance, though thorough and repeatable, lacks the clarity of a standard quantitative metric to describe for an information system the level of compliance with the FISMA-required standard. Given subjective RMF assessment data, this article suggests the use of Pathfinder networks to generate a quantitative metric suitable to measure, manage, and track the status of information system compliance with FISMA.
Continuous Multiclass Labeling Approaches and Algorithms

We study convex relaxations of the image labeling problem on a continuous domain with regularizers based on metric interaction potentials. The generic framework ensures existence of minimizers and covers a wide range of relaxations of the original combinatorial problem. We focus on two specific relaxations that differ in flexibility and simplicity—one can be used to tightly relax any metric interaction potential, while the other covers only Euclidean metrics but requires less computational effort. For solving the nonsmooth discretized problem, we propose a globally convergent Douglas-Rachford scheme and show that a sequence of dual iterates can be recovered in order to provide a posteriori optimality bounds. In a quantitative comparison to two other first-order methods, the approach shows competitive performance on synthetic and real-world images. By combining the method with an improved rounding technique for nonstandard potentials, we were able to routinely recover integral solutions within $1\%$-$5\%$ of the global optimum for the combinatorial image labeling problem.
Has computational creativity successfully made it “Beyond the Fence” in musical theatre?

ABSTRACT A significant test for software is to task it with replicating human performance, as done recently with creative software and the commercial project Beyond the Fence (undertaken for a television documentary Computer Says Show). The remit of this project was to use computer software as much as possible to produce “the world's first computer-generated musical”. Several creative systems were used to generate this musical, which was performed in London's West End in 2016. This paper considers the challenge of evaluating this project. Current computational creativity evaluation methods are ill-suited to evaluating projects that involve creative input from multiple systems and people. Following recent inspiration within computational creativity research from interaction design, here the DECIDE evaluation framework is applied to evaluate the Beyond the Fence project. Evaluation finds that the project was reasonably successful at achieving the task of using computational generation to produce a credible musical. Lessons have been learned for future computational creativity projects though, particularly for affording creative software more agency and enabling software to interact with other creative partners. Upon reflection, the DECIDE framework emerges as a useful evaluation “checklist” (if not a tangible operational methodology) for evaluating multiple creative systems participating in a creative task.
Morbillivirus Glycoprotein Expression Induces ER Stress, Alters Ca2+ Homeostasis and Results in the Release of Vasostatin

Although the pathology of Morbillivirus in the central nervous system (CNS) is well described, the molecular basis of neurodegenerative events still remains poorly understood. As a model to explore Morbillivirus-mediated CNS dysfunctions, we used canine distemper virus (CDV) that we inoculated into two different cell systems: a monkey cell line (Vero) and rat primary hippocampal neurons. Importantly, the recombinant CDV used in these studies not only efficiently infects both cell types but recapitulates the uncommon, non-cytolytic cell-to-cell spread mediated by virulent CDVs in brain of dogs. Here, we demonstrated that both CDV surface glycoproteins (F and H) markedly accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This accumulation triggered an ER stress, characterized by increased expression of the ER resident chaperon calnexin and the proapoptotic transcription factor CHOP/GADD 153. The expression of calreticulin (CRT), another ER resident chaperon critically involved in the response to misfolded proteins and in Ca2+ homeostasis, was also upregulated. Transient expression of recombinant CDV F and H surface glycoproteins in Vero cells and primary hippocampal neurons further confirmed a correlation between their accumulation in the ER, CRT upregulation, ER stress and disruption of ER Ca2+ homeostasis. Furthermore, CDV infection induced CRT fragmentation with re-localisation of a CRT amino-terminal fragment, also known as vasostatin, on the surface of infected and neighbouring non-infected cells. Altogether, these results suggest that ER stress, CRT fragmentation and re-localization on the cell surface may contribute to cytotoxic effects and ensuing cell dysfunctions triggered by Morbillivirus, a mechanism that might potentially be relevant for other neurotropic viruses.
Urinary beta-aminoisobutyric acid excretion in thalassaemia

The quantity of beta-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIB) excreted in the urine of patients with an intact spleen suffering from thalassaemia major appears to be proportional to the number of the circulating normoblasts and inversely proportional to the haemoglobin level. After splenectomy only minute amounts of BAIB are excreted. Transfusion constantly, but temporarily, reduces urinary excretion of beta-aminoisobutyric acid. Other anaemic but non-thalassaemic patients may excrete low levels.
Full Genome Sequence Analysis of Two Isolates Reveals a Novel Xanthomonas Species Close to the Sugarcane Pathogen Xanthomonas albilineans

Xanthomonas albilineans is the bacterium responsible for leaf scald, a lethal disease of sugarcane. Within the Xanthomonas genus, X. albilineans exhibits distinctive genomic characteristics including the presence of significant genome erosion, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesis (NRPS) locus involved in albicidin biosynthesis, and a type 3 secretion system (T3SS) of the Salmonella pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1) family. We sequenced two X. albilineans-like strains isolated from unusual environments, i.e., from dew droplets on sugarcane leaves and from the wild grass Paspalum dilatatum, and compared these genomes sequences with those of two strains of X. albilineans and three of Xanthomonas sacchari. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) showed that both X. albilineans-like strains belong to a new species close to X. albilineans that we have named “Xanthomonas pseudalbilineans”. X. albilineans and “X. pseudalbilineans” share many genomic features including (i) the lack of genes encoding a hypersensitive response and pathogenicity type 3 secretion system (Hrp-T3SS), and (ii) genome erosion that probably occurred in a common progenitor of both species. Our comparative analyses also revealed specific genomic features that may help X. albilineans interact with sugarcane, e.g., a PglA endoglucanase, three TonB-dependent transporters and a glycogen metabolism gene cluster. Other specific genomic features found in the “X. pseudalbilineans” genome may contribute to its fitness and specific ecological niche.
The Orphan Nuclear Receptor SHP Is a Positive Regulator of Osteoblastic Bone Formation

The orphan nuclear receptor small heterodimer partner (SHP; NR0B2) interacts with a diverse array of transcription factors and regulates a variety of cellular events such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and metabolism. However, the role of SHP in bone formation has not yet been elucidated. SHP expression is significantly increased during osteoblast differentiation, and its expression is partially regulated by bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP‐2), which plays an important role in bone formation. In our study, inhibition of SHP expression significantly repressed BMP‐2‐induced osteoblast differentiation and ectopic bone formation. In accordance with these in vitro and in vivo results, osteoblast differentiation in SHP−/− mice primary osteoblasts was significantly repressed, and the mice showed decreased bone mass resulting from decreased numbers of osteoblasts. Finally, SHP physically interacts and forms a complex with runt‐related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) on the osteocalcin gene promoter, and overexpression of SHP increased Runx2 transactivity via competition with histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), an enzyme that inhibits DNA binding of Runx2 to its target genes. Taken together, these results indicate that SHP acts as a novel positive regulator of bone formation by augmenting osteoblast differentiation through regulation of the transcriptional activity of Runx2. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Improved Linear Cryptanalysis of Round Reduced SIMON

SIMON is a family of ten lightweight block ciphers published by Beaulieu et al. from U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). A cipher in this family with K-bit key and N -bit block is called SIMON N/K. In this paper we investigate the security of SIMON against different variants of linear cryptanalysis, i.e., classic linear, multiple linear and linear hull attacks. We present a connection between linear characteristic and differential characteristic, multiple linear and differential and linear hull and differential, and employ it to adapt the current known results on differential cryptanalysis of SIMON to linear cryptanalysis of this block cipher. Our best linear cryptanalysis covers SIMON 32/64 reduced to 20 rounds out of 32 rounds with the data complexity 2 and time complexity 2. We have implemented our attacks for small scale variants of SIMON and our experiments confirm the theoretical bias presented in this work. So far, our results are the best known with respect to linear cryptanalysis for any variant of SIMON.
Stage I Melanoma of the Limbs: Assessment of Prognosis by Levels of Invasion and Maximum Thickness

The prognostic significance of 2 histological parameters, level of invasion and maximum thickness is evaluated in 248 cases of malignant melanoma of the limbs staged T1–3, N0 M0 which were collected for Trial No. 1 of the W.H. O. Collaborating Centres for the Evaluation of Methods of Diagnosis and Treatment of Melanoma between September 1967 and December 1974. There is a linear relation of tumor thickness to mortality with a high statistical significance (P = 0.0002). Mortality also increases with progression of the level of invasion. The incidence of occult metastases to the regional lymph nodes increases with increasing thickness or level of invasion. Moreover the age and sex corrected survival curves are also dependent on both parameters. The comparison of the 2 methods revealed that maximal tumor thickness is a more powerful measure of prognosis than is the determination of the level of invasion.
Barium and molybdenum records in bivalve shells: Geochemical proxies for phytoplankton dynamics in coastal environments?

Barium : calcium and molybdenum : calcium ratios were investigated in shells of the tropical scallop Comptopallium radula. Three juvenile specimens were harvested alive in the southwest lagoon of New Caledonia after a 1‐yr hydrological survey. Calcite samples representing a few hours of biomineralization were laser‐ablated along the maximal growth axis and analyzed for Ba and Mo content with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Absolute dates of shell precipitation assigned on the basis of periodic formation of shell growth patterns led to the accurate reconstruction of ontogenetic variations of elemental ratios with subweekly resolution. Interindividual variability of Ba : Ca and Mo: Ca time series was low, indicating an environmental control on the incorporation of these elements within shells. Both profiles were characterized by a background level punctuated by sharp peaks. The ingestion of diatoms enriched in Ba (adsorbed on iron oxyhydroxides associated with the frustules) is the most likely cause of the formation of Ba : Ca peaks. Some contribution of diatom‐associated barite is also possible. In every instance, Ba : Ca would possibly be a proxy for the timing and magnitude of diatom blooms. Among all the theories that could be advanced to explain the occurrence of Mo: Ca peaks, the most plausible appears to be the ingestion of phytoplankton cells grown on NO3−, and therefore containing high levels of Mo required for the activity of nitrate reductase. If this is so, then Mo: Ca could be a new proxy for nitrate uptake by phytoplankton in coastal ecosystems, helping to reconstruct the balance between new and regenerated production in paleoenvironments.
Twenty Years of High-Resolution Sea Surface Temperature Imagery around Australia: Inter-Annual and Annual Variability

The physical climate defines a significant portion of the habitats in which biological communities and species reside. It is important to quantify these environmental conditions, and how they have changed, as this will inform future efforts to study many natural systems. In this article, we present the results of a statistical summary of the variability in sea surface temperature (SST) time-series data for the waters surrounding Australia, from 1993 to 2013. We partition variation in the SST series into annual trends, inter-annual trends, and a number of components of random variation. We utilise satellite data and validate the statistical summary from these data to summaries of data from long-term monitoring stations and from the global drifter program. The spatially dense results, available as maps from the Australian Oceanographic Data Network's data portal (http://www.cmar.csiro.au/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show? id=51805), show clear trends that associate with oceanographic features. Noteworthy oceanographic features include: average warming was greatest off southern West Australia and off eastern Tasmania, where the warming was around 0.6°C per decade for a twenty year study period, and insubstantial warming in areas dominated by the East Australian Current, but this area did exhibit high levels of inter-annual variability (long-term trend increases and decreases but does not increase on average). The results of the analyses can be directly incorporated into (biogeographic) models that explain variation in biological data where both biological and environmental data are on a fine scale.
Experimental aspergillosis in mice: aspects of resistance

SUMMARY Intravenous inoculation of Aspergillus fumigatus spores was used to study experimentally induced and natural resistance. Slight resistance resulted in increased survival time and higher resistance produced in addition a decreased infection rate. Sublethal doses of living spores gave significant protection against challenge 3 weeks later, but large doses of heat-killed spores had no demonstrable effect. Mice from one source showed a single, dramatic decrease in dose response to a deep-frozen strain of the organism over a period of 34 months. The dose response initially resembled that described by Scholer (1959) in which one million spores killed the majority of mice. The change was almost certainly due to an increase in resistance of the mice due to environmental factors, and the resistance was probably also effective against other strains of the organism. Although not proved, it seemed likely that the resistance was due to increased natural contact with A. fumigatus or related fungi. Possibly for a similar reason, mice of the same stock bred on different premises differed in their susceptibility to infection. The results indicated that environmental resistance-producing factors may have been operating simultaneously on a number of premises housing laboratory animals in south-east England. These findings may have significance in relation to the occurrence of natural aspergillosis of mammals and birds. Of five A. fumigatus strains, four were of closely similar virulence; the fifth strain grew more slowly in vitro and was somewhat less virulent. Isolates from mice which died sporadically after small doses of spores were of no greater virulence than the inoculated strain. Although the susceptibility of mice aged 3 weeks was not uniform under all conditions, such animals were less resistant than young adult mice. Mice from six different sources showed only slight differences in susceptibility between each other, or from mice known to have developed a natural resistance.