Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical and molecular features in patients with atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor or malignant rhabdoid tumor

The SMARCB1 gene status in 50 patients with atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor and/or malignant rhabdoid tumor recruited to a German registry was prospectively analyzed with FISH and PCR. Altogether we found 40 SMARCB1 mutations in 28 patients. Two patients were positive for SMARCB1 staining at immunochemistry. Germline mutations were identified in 10 of 41 patients with CNS disease, including three large heterozygous deletions, six truncating mutations and one donor splice site mutation. No missense mutation was identified. Analysis of first degree relatives did not detect any carriers. Mutations were distributed over the SMARCB1‐gene without particular clustering. No germline mutation was found in nine patients without CNS disease. Patients with germline mutation had a lower median age at diagnosis in comparison to those without detectable germline mutation (5.5 vs. 13 months, P = 0.001), a higher rate of primary multicentric CNS disease (5/10 vs. 5/36) and synchronous or metachronous mixed CNS and extracranial disease (4/10 vs. 1/36). Two year overall survival was 0% in patients with germline mutation and 48% in those without detectable germline mutation (P < 0.001). Patients with germline mutation of SMARCB1 manifest at an early age and have a very high risk for progression which has to be considered with respect to the outcome of further treatment studies. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Empirical Investigation on Text-Based Communication in Distributed Requirements Workshops

Among the software development activities, requirements engineering is one of the most communication-intensive and then, its effectiveness is greatly constrained by the geographical distance between stakeholders. For this reason, the need to identify the appropriate task/technology fits to support teams of geographically dispersed stakeholders plays a key role for coping with the lack of physical proximity when developing requirements. In this paper we report on an empirical study that assessed the use of synchronous text-based communication in distributed requirements workshops, as compared to face-to-face (F2F), and the effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC), with respects to the different tasks of distributed requirements elicitation and negotiation. First results show that, in terms of satisfaction with performance, CMC elicitation is a better task/technology fit than CMC negotiation. Furthermore, the general preference for F2F over CMC is due to the strong preference for the F2F negotiation fit over the CMC counterpart.
[The heart rate variability analysis in youth and children with bronchial asthma].

UNLABELLED The aim of the study was analysis of the spectral parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) in children and youth with different intensity of bronchial asthma. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted in the group of 107 children and adolescents, aged 10-17 years, comprising 58 healthy subjects and 49 with bronchial asthma (22 with mild and 27 with moderate asthma). Spectral HRV parameters at rest and under active orthostatic test conditions (5 min--supine position, 5 min--standing position) were analysed in two age subgroups: group A--children aged 10-13 years and group B--youth aged 14-17 years. RESULTS In both subgroups at rest a growing tendency for high frequency components (HF) of HRV spectra was observed together with greater intensity of asthma. In the youth group with moderate asthma, the HF component (40.8 +/- 14.0 n.u.) at rest was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in the age-matched control (30.8 +/- 10.7 n.u.). In all the groups examined assuming erect position resulted in a significant rise in LF/HF index, which was most pronounced in the groups with mild (p < 0.01) and moderate asthma (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The study confirmed a significant association between the vagal activity in children and youth and frequency and intensity of bronchial asthma. A short-term HRV analysis can be utilised in the assessment of autonomic mechanism role in the development of bronchial asthma in children and youth.
Selfish response to epidemic propagation

An epidemic spreading in a network calls for a decision on the part of the network members: They should decide whether to protect themselves or not. Their decision depends on the trade off between their perceived risk of being infected and the cost of being protected. The network members can make decisions repeatedly, based on information that they receive about the changing infection level in the network. We study the equilibrium states reached by a network whose members increase (resp. decrease) their security deployment when learning that the network infection is higher (resp. lower). Our main result is that as the learning rate of the members increases, the equilibrium level of infection increases. We demonstrate this result both when members are strictly rational and when they are not. We characterize the domains of attraction of the equilibrium points. We validate our conclusions with simulations on human mobility traces.
Reflectance from images: a model-based approach for human faces

In this paper, we present an image-based framework that acquires the reflectance properties of a human face. A range scan of the face is not required. Based on a morphable face model, the system estimates the 3D shape and establishes point-to-point correspondence across images taken from different viewpoints and across different individuals' faces. This provides a common parameterization of all reconstructed surfaces that can be used to compare and transfer BRDF data between different faces. Shape estimation from images compensates deformations of the face during the measurement process, such as facial expressions. In the common parameterization, regions of homogeneous materials on the face surface can be defined a priori. We apply analytical BRDF models to express the reflectance properties of each region and we estimate their parameters in a least-squares fit from the image data. For each of the surface points, the diffuse component of the BRDF is locally refined, which provides high detail. We present results for multiple analytical BRDF models, rendered at novel orientations and lighting conditions.
Optimal rate and power allocation under quality‐of‐service requirements for wireless multihop networks

In wireless networks, real‐time applications have strict QoS requirements for packet delay, packet loss, and reliability. However, most existing work has not considered these QoS metrics when allocating wireless resources so that the QoS requirements of real‐time applications may not be satisfied. To overcome this shortcoming, a rate and power allocation framework incorporating these QoS metrics is first proposed for slow‐fading systems. Second, two distributed algorithms are developed to solve this optimization framework although it is nonconvex and nonseparable. Third, an improved framework is proposed to deal with the rate and power allocation with QoS requirements for fast‐fading systems. It is shown that the fast‐fading state of the network does not need to be considered in this improved framework, and it can be solved using algorithms that are similar to those for the framework of slow‐fading systems. In the end, simulations show that our algorithms converge closely to the globally optimal solution. By comparison with an existing model, simulations also verify the validity of our frameworks on dealing with the rate and power allocation with QoS requirements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mathematical and Computer Modelling Conditional Symmetries and Exact Solutions of the Diffusive Lotka–volterra System

Q-conditional symmetries of the classical diffusive Lotka–Volterra system in the case of one space variable are completely described and a set of such symmetries in explicit form is constructed. The relevant non-Lie ansatz to reduce the diffusive Lotka–Volterra systems with correctly specified coefficients to ODE systems and examples of new exact solutions are found. A possible biological interpretation of some exact solutions is presented.
Different anti-adipogenic effects of bio-compounds on primary visceral pre-adipocytes and adipocytes

Several natural compounds exhibit strong capacity for decreasing triglyceride accumulation, enhancing lipolysis and inducing apoptosis. The present study reports the anti-adipogenic effects of Silybum marianum (SL), Citrus aurantium (CA), Taraxacum officinale (TO), resveratrol (RE), Curcuma longa (CU), caffeine (CF), oleuropein (OL) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in reducing differentiation and increasing lipolysis and apoptosis. Analyses were performed on human primary visceral pre-adipocytes after 10 (P10) and 20 (P20) days of treatment during differentiation and on mature adipocytes after 7 days of treatment (A7). The percentage of apoptosis induced by TO extract in P10 and P20 cells was significantly higher than that induced by all other compounds and in CTRL cells. Triglyceride accumulation was significantly lower in cells treated with DHA, CF, RE in comparison to cells treated with OL and in CTRL cells. Treatments with CF, DHA and OL significantly incremented lipolysis in P20 cells in comparison to other compounds and in CTRL cells. On the contrary, the treatment of A7 cells with OL, CA and TO compounds significantly increased cell lipolysis. The addition of CF in differentiating P20 pre-adipocytes significantly increased the expression of genes involved in inhibition of adipogenesis, such as GATA2, GATA3, WNT1, WNT3A, SFRP5, and DLK1. Genes involved in promoting adipogenesis such as CCND1, CEBPB and SREBF1 were significantly down-regulated by the treatment. The screening of bioactive compounds for anti-adipogenic effects showed that in differentiating cells TO extract was the most effective in inducing apoptosis and CF and DHA extracts were more efficient in inhibition of differentiation and in induction of cell lipolysis.
Genetic variability of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in wild ruminants from Italy and Scotland

The genetics of the prion protein gene (PRNP) play a crucial role in determining the relative susceptibility to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in several mammalian species. To determine the PRNP gene variability in European red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), the PRNP open reading frame from 715 samples was analysed to reveal a total of ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In red deer, SNPs were found in codons 15, 21, 59, 78, 79, 98, 136, 168 and 226. These polymorphisms give rise to 12 haplotypes, and one of which is identical to the PRNP of American wapiti (Rocky Mountain elk, Cervus elaphus nelsoni). One silent mutation at codon 119 was detected in chamois and no SNPs were found in roe deer. This analysis confirmed that European wild ruminants have a PRNP genetic background that is compatible with TSE susceptibility, including chronic wasting disease.
pTAC10, a Key Subunit of Plastid-Encoded RNA Polymerase, Promotes Chloroplast Development1

pTAC10, a key component of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase complex, interacts with other components through its C-terminal region downstream of the S1 RNA-binding domain. Regulation of photosynthetic gene expression by plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP) is essential for chloroplast development. The activity of PEP largely relies on at least 12 PEP-associated proteins (PAPs) encoded in the nuclear genome of plant cells. A recent model proposed that these PAPs regulate the establishment of the PEP complex through broad PAP-PEP or PAP-PAP interactions. In this study, we identified the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedling-lethal mutant ptac10-1, which has defects in chloroplast development, and found that the mutant phenotype is caused by the suppression of PLASTID S1 RNA-BINDING DOMAIN PROTEIN (pTAC10/PAP3). Analysis of the heterozygous mutant and pTAC10-overexpressing transgenic plants indicated that the expression level of pTAC10 is tightly linked to chloroplast development. Characterization of the interaction of pTAC10 with PAPs revealed that pTAC10 interacts with other PAPs, such as FSD2, FSD3, TrxZ, pTAC7, and pTAC14, but it does not interact with PEP core enzymes, such as rpoA and rpoB. Analysis of pTAC10 interactions using truncated pTAC10 proteins showed that the pTAC10 carboxyl-terminal region downstream of the S1 domain is involved in the pTAC10-PAP interaction. Furthermore, overexpression of truncated pTAC10s lacking the C-terminal regions downstream of the S1 domain could not rescue the ptac10-1 mutant phenotype and induced an abnormal whitening phenotype in Columbia-0 plants. Our observations suggested that these pTAC10-PAP interactions are essential for the formation of the PEP complex and chloroplast development.
Primary Carcinoma of the Ureter

It is probably agreed that stricture of the ureter is not a common condition, and there are several points of interest about this case. In the first place the intimate relationship of the constriction of the ureter with the ovarian cyst indicates that the stricture was acquired rather than congenital. The case also illustrates the fact that the absence of pathological elements from the urine, together with a negative plain skiagram, is not sufficient justification for assuming that the kidney is not responsible for symptoms and that the appendix should be removed. The importance of discriminating between a stricture and a small stone, as the cause of the obstruction, is apparent, because if the stone is a small one there is, as a rule, no justification for an open operation to remove it. Finally, the result of the treatment seems very satisfactory, and in connexion with the operative technique I would like to emphasize the importance of draining the bladder suprapubically for a short period following the re-implantation.
Video Phylogeny: Recovering near-duplicate video relationships

To keep pace with the increasing popularity of image and video sharing services, several research groups have focused on the development of systems to identify similar copies images and videos on the internet. Although these techniques allow us to identify the set of near-duplicates of a document, they do not give any information about the structure of generation of the near-duplicates. In this paper, we are interested in the history of the transformations that generated a given a set of near-duplicate videos. Given a set of near-duplicate videos, our objective is to identify their causal/phylogenetic relationships. Solutions to this problem have several applications such as in security, forensics, copyright enforcement, and news tracking services.
Eye Drop with Fas-Blocking Peptide Attenuates Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), characterized by macular retinal degeneration, poses a significant health concern due to the lack of effective treatments for prevalent dry AMD. The progression of AMD is closely linked to reactive oxygen species and Fas signaling, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions. In this study, we utilized a NaIO3-induced retinal degeneration mouse model to assess the efficacy of Fas-blocking peptide (FBP). Intravitreal administration of FBP successfully suppressed Fas-mediated inflammation and apoptosis, effectively arresting AMD progression in mice. We developed a 6R-conjugated FBP (6R-FBP) for eye drop administration. 6R-FBP, administered as an eye drop, reached the retinal region, attenuating degeneration by modulating the expression of inflammatory cytokines and blocking Fas-mediated apoptosis in rodent and rabbit NaIO3-induced retinal degeneration models to address practical concerns. Intravitreal FBP and 6R-FBP eye drops effectively reduced retinal degeneration and improved retinal thickness in rodent and rabbit models. This study highlights the therapeutic potential of FBP, particularly 6R-FBP as an eye drop, in inhibiting Fas-mediated cell signaling and protecting against retinal cell death and inflammation in dry AMD. Future investigations should explore the translational prospects of this approach in primates with eye structures comparable to those of humans.
Hardware/Software Co-Design of Run-Time Schedulers for Real-Time Systems

We present the Serra Run-Time Scheduler Synthesis and Analysis Tool which automatically generates a run-time scheduler from a heterogeneous system-level speci cation in both Verilog HDL and C. Part of the run-time scheduler is implemented in hardware, which allows the scheduler to be predictable in being able to meet hard real-time constraints, while part is implemented in software, thus supporting features typical of software schedulers. Serra's real-time analysis generates a priority assignment for the software tasks in the mixed hardwaresoftware system. The tasks in hardware and software have precedence constraints, resource constraints, relative timing constraints, and a rate constraint. A heuristic scheduling algorithm assigns the static priorities such that a hard real-time rate constraint can be predictably met. Serra supports the speci cation of critical regions in software, thus providing the same functionality as semaphores. We describe the task control/dataow extraction, synthesis of the control portion of the run-time scheduler in hardware, real-time analysis and priority scheduler template. We also show how our approach ts into an overall tool ow and target architecture. Finally, we conclude with a sample application of the novel run-time scheduler synthesis and analysis tool to a robotics design example.
Association of transforming growth factor-β1 gene polymorphism in the development of Epstein-Barr virus-related hematologic diseases

Background and Objectives Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is etiologically associated with various hematologic disorders, including primary acute infectious mononucleosis (IM), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH), chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV) and malignant lymphomas. Although cytokines play a central role in EBV-related immune responses, the exact mechanisms causing different clinical responses remain unclear. In this study, the pattern of cytokine gene polymorphisms was comparatively analyzed in EBV-related diseases. Design and Methods Eighty-nine patients with EBV-related disease were analyzed; 30 with IM, 28 with EBV-HLH and 31 with CAEBV. Eighty-one EBV-seropositive healthy adults were also used as controls. Associations with polymorphisms of various cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1α and IL-1β were evaluated. The gene polymorphisms were typed by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers. Results A significant difference of polymorphisms was found for transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1; the frequency of TGF-β1 codon 10 C allele was significantly higher in patients with EBV-related diseases than in controls (p<0.001). The difference was significant in patients with IM or HLH (p<0.001), but not in those with CAEBV (p=0.127), compared with controls. As regards other cytokines, the frequency of the IL-1α –889 C allele was significantly lower in patients with IM than in controls (p<0.05). Interpretation and Conclusions Our results suggests that TGF-β1 codon 10 C allele plays a role in the development of EBV-related diseases and that the IL-1α –889 C allele may be involved in response failure and sequential progression into the development of HLH.
Topology and function of the integral membrane protein conferring immunity to colicin A

The topology of the integral membrane protein Cai (colicin A immunity protein), which is required to protect producing cells from the pore‐forming colicin A, was analysed using fusions to alkaline phosphatase. The properties of these fusion proteins support the model for Cai topology previously proposed on theoretical grounds. The protein was found to contain four transmembrane sequences and its N‐and C‐terminal regions were found to be directed towards the cytoplasm. Oligonucleotide‐directed mutagenesis and sequence comparisons between Cai, Cbi (colicin B immunity protein), and Cni (colicin N immunity protein) were carried out to determine the functional regions of Cai. The possible roles of the various regions of Cai in its protective function and in its topological organization are discussed.
Wireless Information and Power Transfer: Architecture Design and Rate-Energy Tradeoff

Simultaneous information and power transfer over the wireless channels potentially offers great convenience to mobile users. Yet practical receiver designs impose technical constraints on its hardware realization, as practical circuits for harvesting energy from radio signals are not yet able to decode the carried information directly. To make theoretical progress, we propose a general receiver operation, namely, dynamic power splitting (DPS), which splits the received signal with adjustable power ratio for energy harvesting and information decoding, separately. Three special cases of DPS, namely, time switching (TS), static power splitting (SPS) and on-off power splitting (OPS) are investigated. The TS and SPS schemes can be treated as special cases of OPS. Moreover, we propose two types of practical receiver architectures, namely, separated versus integrated information and energy receivers. The integrated receiver integrates the front-end components of the separated receiver, thus achieving a smaller form factor. The rate-energy tradeoff for the two architectures are characterized by a so-called rate-energy (R-E) region. The optimal transmission strategy is derived to achieve different rate-energy tradeoffs. With receiver circuit power consumption taken into account, it is shown that the OPS scheme is optimal for both receivers. For the ideal case when the receiver circuit does not consume power, the SPS scheme is optimal for both receivers. In addition, we study the performance for the two types of receivers under a realistic system setup that employs practical modulation. Our results provide useful insights to the optimal practical receiver design for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT).
Rule Induction and Instance-Based Learning: A Unified Approach

This paper presents a new approach to inductive learning that combines aspects of instancebased learning and rule induction in a single simple algorithm. The RISE system searches for rules in a specific-to-general fashion, starting with one rule per training example, and avoids some of the difficulties of separate-and-eonquer approaches by evaluating each proposed induction step globally, i e, through an efficient procedure that is equivalent to checking the accuracy of the rule set as a whole on every training example. Classification is performed using a best-match strategy, and reduces to nearest-neighbor if all generalizations of instances were rejected. An extensive empirical study shows that RISE consistently achieves higher accuracies than state-of-the-art representatives of its "parent" paradigms (PEBLS and CN2), and also outperforms a decision-tree learner (C4 5) in 13 out of 15 test domains (in 10 with 95% confidence).