Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early‐stage Hodgkin lymphoma in the modern era: simulation modelling to delineate long‐term patient outcomes

We developed a novel simulation model integrating multiple data sets to project long‐term outcomes with contemporary therapy for early‐stage Hodgkin lymphoma (ESHL), namely combined modality therapy (CMT) versus chemotherapy alone (CA) via 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography response‐adaption. The model incorporated 3‐year progression‐free survival (PFS), probability of cure with/without relapse, frequency of severe late effects (LEs), and 35‐year probability of LEs. Furthermore, we generated estimates for quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) and unadjusted survival (life years, LY) and used model projections to compare outcomes for CMTversusCA for two index patients. Patient 1: a 25‐year‐old male with favourable ESHL (stage IA); Patient 2: a 25‐year‐old female with unfavourable ESHL (stage IIB). Sensitivity analyses assessed the impact of alternative assumptions for LE probabilities. For Patient 1, CMT was superior to CA (CMT incremental gain = 0·11 QALYs, 0·21 LYs). For Patient 2, CA was superior to CMT (CA incremental gain = 0·37 QALYs, 0·92 LYs). For Patient 1, the advantage of CMT changed minimally when the proportion of severe LEs was reduced from 20% to 5% (0·15 QALYs, 0·43 LYs), whereas increasing the severity proportion for Patient 2's LEs from 20% to 80% enhanced the advantage of CA (1·1 QALYs, 6·5 LYs). Collectively, this detailed simulation model quantified the long‐term impact that varied host factors and alternative contemporary treatments have in ESHL.
Modulation of the unfolded protein response by the human hepatitis B virus

During productive viral infection the host cell is confronted with synthesis of a vast amount of viral proteins which must be folded, quality controlled, assembled and secreted, perturbing the normal function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). To counteract the ER stress, cells activate specific signaling pathways, designated as the unfolded proteins response (UPR), which essentially increase their folding capacity, arrest protein translation, and degrade the excess of misfolded proteins. This cellular defense mechanism may, in turn, affect significantly the virus life-cycle. This review highlights the current understanding of the mechanisms of the ER stress activation by Human Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a deadly pathogen affecting more than 350 million people worldwide. Further discussion addresses the latest discoveries regarding the adaptive strategies developed by HBV to manipulate the UPR for its own benefits, the controversies in the field and future perspectives.
A Programmable and Configurable Mixed-Mode FPAA SoC

This paper presents a floating-gate (FG)-based, field-programmable analog array (FPAA) system-on-chip (SoC) that integrates analog and digital programmable and configurable blocks with a 16-bit open-source MSP430 microprocessor (μP) and resulting interface circuitry. We show the FPAA SoC architecture, experimental results from a range of circuits compiled into this architecture, and system measurements. A compiled analog acoustic command-word classifier on the FPAA SoC requires 23 μW to experimentally recognize the word dark in a TIMIT database phrase. This paper jointly optimizes high parameter density (number of programmable elements/area/process normalized), as well as high accessibility of the computations due to its data flow handling; the SoC FPAA is 600 000 × higher density than other non-FG approaches.
Pioneering hardware modeling and software design for optical infrastructure in the Autonomous Network project

Experimental platforms are essential to demonstrate the potential benefits that Software Defined Networking (SDN) can bring to optical metro and backbone carriers' infrastructure. In this context, the Autonomous Network (AN) project is an SDN-enabled five-node metropolitan optical network test-bed located at CPqD. The AN main objective is to bring novel SDN concepts and capabilities down to the physical/optical layer for performance improvements in different dimensions. In this paper, we first present a comprehensive description of the AN infrastructure comprising the pioneering modeling of hardware equipment and software design in the SDN controller. Then, we review recent research activities, which include SDN-enabled adaptive and cognitive algorithms to improve end-to-end performance, and experimental demonstrations in the optical layer. Finally, we comment on different SDN designs and white-box networking to enable further equipment programmability in future optical networks.
Output robust control with anti-windup compensation for robotic boat

In this paper a problem of saturated control for a robotic boat with unknown parameters and unmeasurable velocity and acceleration is addressed. The controller design is based on the output robust control approach “consecutive compensator”. It was augmented with an integral loop, which allows to eliminate a static error and implement the anti-windup scheme to reduce overshoot of the output variable. As result, the regulator generating the bounded control signal and avoiding windup for the boat was obtained. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm was illustrated by the experimental approval using the robotic boat setup. The comparison between three types of controllers (regular consecutive compensator, integral modification and one equipped with anti-windup) is presented.
Gamma-type results and other related properties of Poisson processes

Families of Poisson processes defined on general state spaces and with the intensity measure scaled by a positive parameter are investigated. In particular, mean value relations with respect to the scale parameter are established and used to derive various Gamma-type results for certain geometric characteristics determined by finite subprocesses. In particular, we deduce Miles' complementary theorem. Applications of the results within stochastic geometry and particularly for random tessellations are discussed.
Using groupware for international collaborative learning

The paper reports the lessons learned from a two year collaborative learning trial between students at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Uppsala University. The trials took place using a combination of email and a custom developed Lotus Notes/sup TM/ database. The first trial involved a case study in which students performed different roles in designing a software solution for an Auckland based nailcare distributor. The second trial built upon the knowledge base of the earlier trial, and required students to evaluate and rank the previous design proposals. A theoretical model developed from the group support systems literature guided some of the changes in the second trial. The software, the collaboration process and the evaluation methods evolved over the course of these trials. The challenges of creating global student communities within a short collaboration window in existing courses of study are discussed. Further extensions to this research are proposed and some general recommendations are made.
Larval helminths in the invasive American brine shrimp Artemia franciscana throughout its annual cycle

One of the best examples of rapid displacement of native species by an invader is the eradication of native Artemia salina and A. parthenogenetica in the Mediterranean by the introduced American A. franciscana. Previous studies based on sampling from limited time periods suggest that the success of the American species as a competitor may be due partly to different parasite burden, since native Artemia spp. have high cestode infection rates regulating their density. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that the helminth infection in A. franciscana in its invasive range is low throughout its annual life cycle. Samples of A. franciscana were collected every second month from La Tapa saltern (Andalusia) during one year. Five helminth species were recorded: cestodes Flamingolepis liguloides, F. flamingo, Gynandrotaenia stammeri (all flamingo parasites), Eurycestusavoceti (a shorebird parasite) and larval spirurids of the Acuariinae (the first record of nematodes in Artemia). The overall infection rate was low, with total prevalence 5.9% and prevalence of individual parasite species between 0.2 and 3.2%. The mean abundance of helminths was 0.005–0.155 (av. 0.068), 5–13 times lower than in native congeners. Waterbird counts indicate that the low infection rates cannot be explained by lack of definitive hosts. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that helminths have no regulating effect on the invasive brine shrimp in the Mediterranean. The replacement of the native populations by the invader can be partially explained by a competition mediated by parasites/predators through a differential impact on host fitness.
Examining Acoustic and Kinematic Measures of Articulatory Working Space: Effects of Speech Intensity.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of speech intensity on acoustic and kinematic vowel space measures and conduct a preliminary examination of the relationship between kinematic and acoustic vowel space metrics calculated from continuously sampled lingual marker and formant traces. Method Young adult speakers produced 3 repetitions of 2 different sentences at 3 different loudness levels. Lingual kinematic and acoustic signals were collected and analyzed. Acoustic and kinematic variants of several vowel space metrics were calculated from the formant frequencies and the position of 2 lingual markers. Traditional metrics included triangular vowel space area and the vowel articulation index. Acoustic and kinematic variants of sentence-level metrics based on the articulatory-acoustic vowel space and the vowel space hull area were also calculated. Results Both acoustic and kinematic variants of the sentence-level metrics significantly increased with an increase in loudness, whereas no statistically significant differences in traditional vowel-point metrics were observed for either the kinematic or acoustic variants across the 3 loudness conditions. In addition, moderate-to-strong relationships between the acoustic and kinematic variants of the sentence-level vowel space metrics were observed for the majority of participants. Conclusions These data suggest that both kinematic and acoustic vowel space metrics that reflect the dynamic contributions of both consonant and vowel segments are sensitive to within-speaker changes in articulation associated with manipulations of speech intensity.
Phase II Trial of Tremelimumab (CP-675,206) in Patients with Advanced Refractory or Relapsed Melanoma

Purpose: This phase II study assessed the antitumor activity of tremelimumab, a fully human, anti–CTL-associated antigen 4 monoclonal antibody, in patients with melanoma. Experimental Design: Patients with refractory/relapsed melanoma received 15 mg/kg tremelimumab every 90 days. After 4 doses, patients with tumor response or stable disease were eligible to receive ≤4 additional doses. Primary endpoint was best overall tumor response assessed by an independent endpoint review committee, and secondary endpoints included duration of response, overall survival, progression-free survival, and safety. Results: Of 251 patients enrolled, 246 (241 response-evaluable) received tremelimumab. Objective response rate was 6.6% (16 partial responses); duration of response was 8.9 to 29.8 months. Eight (50%) objective responses occurred in patients with stage IV M1c disease, and 11 (69%) were ongoing at last tumor assessment. Eight (3.3%) patients achieved responses in target lesions (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors) despite progressive disease within the first cycle. All 8 survived for >20 months; 5 (63%) remained alive. Clinical benefit rate (overall response + stable disease) was 21% (16 partial responses and 35 stable disease), and median overall survival was 10.0 months. Progression-free survival at 6 months was 15%, and survival was 40.3% at 12 months and 22% at 24 months. Common treatment-related adverse events were generally mild to moderate, and grade 3/4 adverse events included diarrhea (n = 28, 11%), fatigue (n = 6, 2%), and colitis (n = 9, 4%). There were 2 (0.8%) treatment-related deaths. Conclusions: Tremelimumab showed an objective response rate of 6.6%, with all responses being durable ≥170 days since enrollment, suggesting a potential role for tremelimumab in melanoma. Clin Cancer Res; 16(3); 1042–8
clARMOR: A Dynamic Buffer Overflow Detector for OpenCL Kernels

Buffer overflows are a common source of program crashes, data corruption, and security exploits. While many tools exist to find these issues in CPU programs, buffer overflows are also problematic in heterogeneous systems serviced by languages such as OpenCL™. Existing buffer overflow detectors for heterogeneous systems are either limited to particular vendors or require heavyweight instrumentation that results in large runtime overheads. This work describes clARMOR, an open source buffer overflow detector for OpenCL kernels and APIs. clARMOR is vendor and device neutral; we demonstrate its operation on multiple device types from a variety of vendors. Rather than requiring heavyweight kernel instrumentation, clARMOR uses canary regions to quickly tell if data is written outside of any global memory buffer. Rather than analyzing every memory access, clARMOR instead verifies that the canary regions have not been modified after each user kernel finishes. In some cases, clARMOR uses the target device to check these canary regions, further reducing the overheads. We show experiments demonstrating that, across 143 open source OpenCL benchmarks, clARMOR causes an average slowdown of 9.6% while still finding multiple real kernel buffer overflows.
Time-Varying Respiratory System Elastance: A Physiological Model for Patients Who Are Spontaneously Breathing

Background Respiratory mechanics models can aid in optimising patient-specific mechanical ventilation (MV), but the applications are limited to fully sedated MV patients who have little or no spontaneously breathing efforts. This research presents a time-varying elastance (Edrs) model that can be used in spontaneously breathing patients to determine their respiratory mechanics. Methods A time-varying respiratory elastance model is developed with a negative elastic component (Edemand), to describe the driving pressure generated during a patient initiated breathing cycle. Data from 22 patients who are partially mechanically ventilated using Pressure Support (PS) and Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) are used to investigate the physiology relevance of the time-varying elastance model and its clinical potential. Edrs of every breathing cycle for each patient at different ventilation modes are presented for comparison. Results At the start of every breathing cycle initiated by patient, Edrs is < 0. This negativity is attributed from the Edemand due to a positive lung volume intake at through negative pressure in the lung compartment. The mapping of Edrs trajectories was able to give unique information to patients’ breathing variability under different ventilation modes. The area under the curve of Edrs (AUCEdrs) for most patients is > 25 cmH2Os/l and thus can be used as an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) severity indicator. Conclusion The Edrs model captures unique dynamic respiratory mechanics for spontaneously breathing patients with respiratory failure. The model is fully general and is applicable to both fully controlled and partially assisted MV modes.
Using Educational Video in the Classroom: Theory, Research and Practice Multimodal Learning Styles Dual-channel Learning Motivation and Affective Learning

Without question, this generation truly is the media generation, devoting more than a quarter of each day to media. As media devices become increasingly portable, and as they spread even further through young people’s environments— from their schools to their cars—media messages will become an even more ubiquitous presence in an already media-saturated world. Anything that takes up this much space in young people’s lives deserves our full attention. —Kaiser Family Foundation
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Estimate Nitrogen Status of Turfgrasses

Spectral reflectance data originating from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery is a valuable tool to monitor plant nutrition, reduce nitrogen (N) application to real needs, thus producing both economic and environmental benefits. The objectives of the trial were i) to compare the spectral reflectance of 3 turfgrasses acquired via UAV and by a ground-based instrument; ii) to test the sensitivity of the 2 data acquisition sources in detecting induced variation in N levels. N application gradients from 0 to 250 kg ha-1 were created on 3 different turfgrass species: Cynodon dactylon x transvaalensis (Cdxt) ‘Patriot’, Zoysia matrella (Zm) ‘Zeon’ and Paspalum vaginatum (Pv) ‘Salam’. Proximity and remote-sensed reflectance measurements were acquired using a GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor and a UAV with onboard a multispectral sensor, to determine Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Proximity-sensed NDVI is highly correlated with data acquired from UAV with r values ranging from 0.83 (Zm) to 0.97 (Cdxt). Relating NDVI-UAV with clippings N, the highest r is for Cdxt (0.95). The most reactive species to N fertilization is Cdxt with a clippings N% ranging from 1.2% to 4.1%. UAV imagery can adequately assess the N status of turfgrasses and its spatial variability within a species, so for large areas, such as golf courses, sod farms or race courses, UAV acquired data can optimize turf management. For relatively small green areas, a hand-held crop sensor can be a less expensive and more practical option.
Comparison of Various Generations of Superporous Hydrogels Based on Chitosan-Acrylamide and In Vitro Drug Release

The aim of the current research work was to prepare and evaluate different generations of superporous hydrogels (SPH) of acrylamide and chitosan using gas blowing technique and evaluate them for swelling, mechanical properties, FTIR, SEM, XRD, and in vitro drug release. The ingredients used were acrylamide, N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide, chitosan, Pluronic F127, ammonium per sulfate-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylenediamine, and sodium bicarbonate. All ingredients were mixed sequentially with thorough stirring. The effect of different drying conditions on properties of SPH was also evaluated. Ethanol treated batched showed maximum swelling properties due to uniform pores as indicated in SEM studies. Equilibrium swelling time was less than 10 min in all batches. Freeze drying led to lowering of density which is also supported by porosity and void fraction data. Maximum mechanical strength was found in superporous hydrogel interpenetrating networks due to crosslinked polymeric network. 70% drug was released at the end of 2 h, and further the release was sustained till the end of 24 h. In vitro drug release kinetics showed that drug release occurs by diffusion and follows Super Case II transport indicating that mechanism of drug release is not clear. Superporous hydrogel interpenetrating networks can be successfully used as sustained release gastroretentive devices.
Measuring customer perceived online service quality: Scale development and managerial implications

The purpose of this paper is to set forth a reliable and valid means of measuring online service quality based on a broad conceptual framework which integrates theory and conceptualization in customer service quality, information systems quality, and product portfolio management, into online service quality. An ethnographic content analysis of 848 customer reviews of online banking services was employed to identify salient online service quality dimensions. The most frequently cited online service quality attributes, along with literature review and personal interview results, were utilized to develop the survey questionnaire. Subsequent to the pre‐test, a Web‐based survey was undertaken to verify and test the online service quality model. A confirmatory factor analysis produced six key online service quality dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, ease of use, security, and product portfolio. This paper includes a discussion of the managerial and theoretical implications of this online service quality model.
On the design of user pairing algorithms in full duplexing wireless cellular networks

In this paper, we consider a full duplexing (FD) wireless cellular network where a central base station (BS) works in the FD mode while the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) users work in the time division duplexing (TDD) mode. Since this FD system induces the inter-user interference from UL user to DL user, the main challenge for maximizing the system performances is user pairing that makes a pair of DL user and UL user to use the same radio resource simultaneously. We formulate two optimization problems for user pairing to maximize the cell throughput or minimize the outage probability, and then propose two suboptimal user pairing algorithms with low complexity. The first algorithm is designed in a way where the DL user with a better signal quality has a higher priority to choose its UL user for the throughput maximization. On the contrary, the second algorithm gives the DL user with a worse signal quality a higher priority to choose its UL user for the outage minimization. Simulation results show that the FD system using the proposed user pairing algorithms achieves the optimal performances and significantly outperforms the conventional TDD system in terms of the cell throughput and the outage probability.
Community detection thresholds and the weak Ramanujan property

Decelle et al. [1] conjectured the existence of a sharp threshold on model parameters for community detection in sparse random graphs drawn from the stochastic block model. Mossel, Neeman and Sly [2] established the negative part of the conjecture, proving impossibility of non-trivial reconstruction below the threshold. In this work we solve the positive part of the conjecture. To that end we introduce a modified adjacency matrix B which counts self-avoiding paths of a given length ℓ between pairs of nodes. We then prove that for logarithmic length ℓ, the leading eigenvectors of this modified matrix provide a non-trivial reconstruction of the underlying structure, thereby settling the conjecture. A key step in the proof consists in establishing a weak Ramanujan property of the constructed matrix B. Namely, the spectrum of B consists in two leading eigenvalues ρ(B), λ2 and n -- 2 eigenvalues of a lower order O(nε √ρ(B) for all ε 0, ρ(B) denoting B's spectral radius.