Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro evaluation of photon and raster-scanned carbon ion radiotherapy in combination with gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cell lines

Background: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths, being responsible for 6% of all cancer-related deaths. Conventional radiotherapy with or without additional chemotherapy has been applied in the past in the context of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy concepts with only modest results, however new radiation modalities, such as particle therapy with promising physical and biological characteristics, present an alternative treatment option for patients with pancreatic cancer. Up until now the raster scanning technique employed at our institution for the application of carbon ions has been unique, and no radiobiological data using pancreatic cancer cells has been available yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate cytotoxic effects that can be achieved by treating pancreatic cancer cell lines with combinations of X-rays and gemcitabine, or alternatively with carbon ion irradiation and gemcitabine, respectively. Materials and Methods: Human pancreatic cancer cell lines AsPC-1, BxPC-3 and Panc-1 were irradiated with photons and carbon ions at various doses and treated with gemcitabine. Photon irradiation was applied with a biological cabin X-ray irradiator, and carbon ion irradiation was applied with an extended Bragg peak (linear energy transfer (LET) 103 keV/μm) using the raster scanning technique at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT). Responsiveness of pancreatic cancer cells to the treatment was measured by clonogenic survival. Clonogenic survival curves were then compared to predicted curves that were calculated employing the local effect model (LEM). Results: Cell survival curves were calculated from the surviving fractions of each combination experiment and compared to a drug control that was only irradiated with X-rays or carbon ions, without application of gemcitabine. In terms of cytotoxicity, additive effects were achieved for the cell lines Panc-1 and BxPC-3, and a slight radiosensitizing effect was observed for AsPC-1. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon ion irradiation ranged from 1.5–4.5 depending on survival level and dose. Sensitizer enhancement ratio (SER) values calculated at 10% cell survival ranged from 1.24–1.66, depending on cell line, gemcitabine dose and irradiation modality. Experimentally ascertained survival curves matched those predicted by LEM-calculation. Conclusion: Our experiments have shown a combined treatment of irradiation and chemotherapy with gemcitabine to be a good means of achieving additive cytotoxic effects on pancreatic cancer cell lines. The data generated in this study will serve as radiobiological basis for further preclinical and clinical studies.
Test-Retest Reliability and Physiological Responses Associated with the Steep Ramp Anaerobic Test in Patients with COPD

The Steep Ramp Anaerobic Test (SRAT) was developed as a clinical test of anaerobic leg muscle function for use in determining anaerobic power and in prescribing high-intensity interval exercise in patients with chronic heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); however, neither the test-retest reliability nor the physiological qualities of this test have been reported. We therefore, assessed test-retest reliability of the SRAT and the physiological characteristics associated with the test in patients with COPD. 11 COPD patients (mean FEV1 43% predicted) performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on Day 1, and an SRAT and a 30-second Wingate anaerobic test (WAT) on each of Days 2 and 3. The SRAT showed a high degree of test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.99; CV = 3.8%, and bias 4.5 W, error −15.3–24.4 W). Power output on the SRAT was 157 W compared to 66 W on the CPET and 231 W on the WAT. Despite the differences in workload, patients exhibited similar metabolic and ventilatory responses between the three tests. Measures of ventilatory constraint correlated more strongly with the CPET than the WAT; however, physiological variables correlated more strongly with the WAT. The SRAT is a highly reliable test that better reflects physiological performance on a WAT power test despite a similar level of ventilatory constraint compared to CPET.
The Impact of Service Dogs on Engagement in Occupation among Females with Mobility Impairments: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

It is becoming more common for people with disabilities to procure service dogs as a form of assistive technology (AT). However, there is little qualitative research examining the impact of service dogs on engagement in valued daily activities (occupations) among persons with mobility impairments. This study used a qualitative descriptive methodology to learn about the experiences of four female service dog owners with mobility impairments, with a focus on the impact of service dog use on the performance of daily occupations and participation in social activities, and their experiences utilizing a service dog as a form of AT. Data analysis indicated that each participant’s service dog made a significant impact on their everyday lives and their ability to independently perform everyday activities; however, there are also unique challenges associated with service dog ownership that must be considered when evaluating benefits of service dog partnership. Overall, the positive outcomes reported by participants indicate that service dogs can be considered a beneficial, adaptable form of AT for some persons with mobility impairments.
Expression of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus apoptotic suppressor gene p35 in nonpermissive Spodoptera littoralis cells

Apoptosis was postulated as the main barrier to replication of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) in a Spodoptera littoralis SL2 cell line (N. Chejanovsky and E. Gershburg, Virology 209:519-525, 1995). Thus, we hypothesized that the viral apoptotic suppressor gene p35 is either poorly expressed or nonfunctional in AcMNPV-infected SL2 cells. These questions were addressed by first determining the steady-state levels of the p35 product, P35, in AcMNPV-infected SL2 cells. Indeed, very low levels of P35 were found in infected SL2 cells in comparison with those in SF9 cells. Overexpression of p35, in transient-transfection and recombinant-virus infection experiments, inhibited actinomycin D- and AcMNPV-induced apoptosis, as determined by reduced cell blebbing and release of oligonucleosomes and increased cell viability of SL2. However, SL2 budded-virus (BV) titers of a recombinant AcMNPV which highly expressed p35 did not improve significantly. Also, injection of S. littoralis larvae with recombinant and wild-type AcMNPV BVs showed similar 50% lethal doses. These data suggest that apoptosis is not the only impediment to AcMNPV replication in these nonpermissive S. littoralis cells, and probably in S. littoralis larvae, so p35 may not be the only host range determinant in this system.
Subcube Fault-Tolerance in Hypercubes

Abstract We consider the problem of determining the minimum number of faulty processors, K ( n , m ), and of faulty links, λ( n , m ), in an n -dimensional hypercube computer so that every m -dimensional subcube is faulty. Best known lower bounds for K ( n , m ) and λ( n , m ) are proved, several new recursive inequalities and new upper bounds are established, their asymptotic behavior for fixed m and for fixed n − m is analyzed, and their exact values are determined for small n and m . Most of the methods employed show how to construct sets of faults attaining the bounds. An extensive survey of related work is also included, showing connections to resource allocation, k -independent sets, and exhaustive testing.
Single nucleotide polymorphism‐arrays provide new insights in the pathogenesis of post‐transplant diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma

Post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) are complications of solid organ transplantation associated with severe morbidity and mortality. Diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) represents the most common form of monomorphic PTLD. We studied 44 cases of post‐transplant DLBCL (PT‐DLBCL) with high‐density genome wide single nucleotide polymorphism‐based arrays, and compared them with 105 cases of immunocompetent DLBCL (IC‐DLBCL) and 28 cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus‐associated DLBCL (HIV‐DLBCL). PT‐DLBCL showed a genomic profile with specific features, although their genomic complexity was overall similar to that observed in IC‐ and HIV‐DLBCL. Among the loci more frequently deleted in PT‐DLBCL there were small interstitial deletions targeting known fragile sites, such as FRA1B, FRA2E and FRA3B. Deletions at 2p16.1 (FRA2E) were the most common lesions in PT‐DLBCL, occurring at a frequency that was significantly higher than in IC‐DLBCL. Genetic lesions that characterized post‐germinal center IC‐DLBCL were under‐represented in our series of PT‐DLBCL. Two other differences between IC‐DLBCL and PT‐DLBCL were the lack of del(13q14.3) (MIR15/MIR16) and of copy neutral LOH affecting 6p [major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus] in the latter group. In conclusion, PT‐DLBCL presented unique features when compared with IC‐DLBCL. Changes in PT‐DLBCL were partially different to those in HIV‐DLBCL, suggesting different pathogenetic mechanisms in the two conditions linked to immunodeficiency.
Semi-Automatic Quality Assessment of Linked Data without Requiring Ontology

The development of Semantic Web technology has fuelled the creation of a large amount of Linked Data. As the amount of data increases, various issues have been raised. In particular, the quality of data has become important. A number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the quality of linked data. However, most of the approaches are operational only when a data schema such as ontology exists. In this paper, we present a new approach for conducting linked data quality assessment by evaluating the quality of linked data without involving an ontology. Our approach consists of three activities: (1) pattern analysis, (2) pattern generation, and (3) data quality evaluation. A pattern is a structure used to measure the quality of data. For the validation of the proposed approach, we have conducted two studies one involving English DBpedia, which has a relatively well-developed ontology, and the other involving Korean DBpedia, which lacks an ontology. Our approach shows comparable performances when compared with RDFUnit for English DBpedia and high accuracy results while assessing the quality of Korean DBpedia, for which RDFUnit cannot be used.
New Implications for Customization of ERP Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems are standardized software packages intended to support the majority or all of an organization's processes. Customization of an ERP system is usually required to achieve fit between system and business processes of an organization. Customization options ranges from setting parameters in the system to developing new functionality by modifying source code. Models describing customization options are a decade old. Since then, the trend is for ERP systems to become more flexible. The feasibility of customization is facilitated and new options for customization are made available. Through in depth interviews, this research identifies a need for revising existing models. Presents necessary changes and proposes new customization options that should be included in a new model. There is also a need for customization models for different types of ERP systems. This paper therefore also contributes with describing how customization of cloud ERP relates to existing models.
Childhood Lead Exposure from Battery Recycling in Vietnam

Background. Battery recycling facilities in developing countries can cause community lead exposure. Objective. To evaluate child lead exposure in a Vietnam battery recycling craft village after efforts to shift home-based recycling outside the village. Methods. This cross-sectional study evaluated 109 children in Dong Mai village, using blood lead level (BLL) measurement, parent interview, and household observation. Blood samples were analyzed with a LeadCare II field instrument; highest BLLs (≥45 μg/dL) were retested by laboratory analysis. Surface and soil lead were measured at 11 households and a school with X-ray fluorescence analyzer. Results. All children had high BLLs; 28% had BLL ≥45 μg/dL. Younger age, family recycling, and outside brick surfaces were associated with higher BLL. Surface and soil lead levels were high at all tested homes, even with no recycling history. Laboratory BLLs were lower than LeadCare BLLs, in 24 retested children. Discussion. In spite of improvements, lead exposure was still substantial and probably associated with continued home-based recycling, legacy contamination, and workplace take-home exposure pathways. There is a need for effective strategies to manage lead exposure from battery recycling in craft villages. These reported BLL values should be interpreted cautiously, although the observed field-laboratory discordance may reflect bias in laboratory results.
Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation Farsite: Federated, Available, and Reliable Storage for an Incompletely Trusted Environment

Farsite is a secure, scalable file system that logically functions as a centralized file server but is physically distributed among a set of untrusted computers. Farsite provides file availability and reliability through randomized replicated storage; it ensures the secrecy of file contents with cryptographic techniques; it maintains the integrity of file and directory data with a Byzantine-fault-tolerant protocol; it is designed to be scalable by using a distributed hint mechanism and delegation certificates for pathname translations; and it achieves good performance by locally caching file data, lazily propagating file updates, and varying the duration and granularity of content leases. We report on the design of Farsite and the lessons we have learned by implementing much of that design.
Pilot Tone based Gaussian Particle Filtering Approach for Carrier Frequency Offset Estimation in OFDM Systems

Now these days OFDM is windy used for data communication. OFDM is used for transferring the high data rate. But there are some disadvantages of OFDM one of them is Carrier frequency offset. The cause behind the CFO is the synchronization between frequencies. It is a very sensitive so that hard to manage these frequencies. This paper presents a hybrid technique for carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) over frequency selective fading channel by using pilot tone and Gaussian particle filtering (PF) approach. An analytic expression in form of mean square error (MSE) of frequency offset synchronization is reported, and simulation results verify theoretical analysis and show approximate 97% improvement.
A 90 nm CMOS 14.5 GHz Injection Locked LO generator with digital phase control

A 14.5 GHz Injection Locked Oscillator (ILO) with digital output phase control has been implemented in a 90 nm CMOS process. It is intended for LO signal generation in integrated phased array transceivers. The chip, measuring 360×530 µm2 including pads, was characterized using on-wafer probing. It has a 1.4 GHz frequency range where full 3600 phase range is achieved with 3rd order subharmonic mixers. The free running phase noise is −105 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. It consumes 9.4 mA from a 1.2 V supply.
Efficient Integration of Switching Mechanisms in all-optical networks

Hybrid optical networks (HONs) are the combination of different switching mechanisms such as Optical Circuit Switching (OCS), Optical Burst Switching (OBS) and Optical Packet Switching (OPS). The basic idea behind HONs is to integrate the advantages of different switching mechanisms. HONs are classified into three classes as: (1) parallel hybrid optical networks, (2) integrated hybrid optical networks, (3) client-server hybrid optical networks. In this article, we describe these classes in detail and a new integrated hybrid optical network called EISM (Efficient Integration of Switching Mechanisms in all-optical networks) is introduced. The proposed EISM method could perform optimally while considering some implementation criteria; such criteria include network bandwidth utilization, implementation complexity and also the domain of network performance by combining four switching mechanisms-OCS, long-OBS, short-OBS and OPS.
Reflectance change of Si- and Ru-capped Mo/Si multilayer mirrors caused by intense EUV irradiation

An EUV irradiation and reflectance measurement system using intense EUV radiation emitted from a long undulator at the NewSUBARU synchrotron radiation (SR) facility was developed. The system can measure the real-time reflectance drop during intense EUV irradiation and reflectance mapping as well as the photoemission current after irradiation at a fixed energy for atom absorption. The irradiated EUV beam was very intense, and the power density was about 400 mW/mm2. The reflectances of Si- and Ru-capped Mo/Si multilayer mirrors (MLMs) were measured under several conditions of EUV power, i.e., 120, 15, and 5 mW/mm2 for Si-capped MLMs, or of water vapor, i.e., 6.6x10-5 and 1.3x10-2 Pa for Ru-capped MLMs. Each reflectance was reduced as the dose was increased. The reflectance was significantly reduced at the higher partial pressure of water vapor. When the intensity of the beam flux was reduced using ND filters, the reflectance was significantly reduced under the same conditions of atmosphere and dose. Carbon cleaning and oxidation were progressed in the beam center although carbon deposition was much progressed in the beam fringe for Si-capped MLM. Ru-capped MLM was more resistant to radiation damage than Si-capped MLM at each partial pressure of water vapor. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for Ru-capped MLM showed that deposited and desorbed carbons were balanced at the beam center and carbon deposition occurred on the fringe of the beam.
Controversies over the mechanisms underlying the crucial role of the left fronto-parietal areas in the representation of tools

Anatomo-clinical and neuroimaging data show that the left fronto-parietal areas play an important role in representing tools. As manipulation is an important source of knowledge about tools, it has been assumed that motor activity explains the link between tool knowledge and the left fronto-parietal areas. However, controversies exist over the exact mechanisms underlying this relationship. According to a strong version of the “embodied cognition theory,” activation of a tool concept necessarily involves re-enactment of the corresponding kind of action. Impairment of the ability to use tools should, therefore, lead to impairment of tool knowledge. Both the “domains of knowledge hypothesis” and the “sensory-motor model of conceptual knowledge” refute the strong version of the “embodied cognition hypothesis” but acknowledge that manipulation and other action schemata play an important role in our knowledge of tools. The basic difference between these two models is that the former is based on an innate model and the latter holds that the brain’s organization of categories is experience dependent. Data supporting and arguing against each of these models are briefly reviewed. In particular, the following lines of research, which argue against the innate nature of the brain’s categorical organization, are discussed: (1) the observation that in patients with category-specific disorders the semantic impairment does not respect the boundaries between biological entities and artifact items; (2) data showing that experience-driven neuroplasticity in musicians is not confined to alterations of perceptual and motor maps but also leads to the establishment of higher-level semantic representations for musical instruments; (3) results of experiments using previously unfamiliar materials showing that the history of our sensory-motor experience with an object significantly affects its neural representation.
Optimal combinations of control strategies and cost-effective analysis for visceral leishmaniasis disease transmission

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a deadly neglected tropical disease that poses a serious problem in various countries all over the world. Implementation of various intervention strategies fail in controlling the spread of this disease due to issues of parasite drug resistance and resistance of sandfly vectors to insecticide sprays. Due to this, policy makers need to develop novel strategies or resort to a combination of multiple intervention strategies to control the spread of the disease. To address this issue, we propose an extensive SIR-type model for anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis transmission with seasonal fluctuations modeled in the form of periodic sandfly biting rate. Fitting the model for real data reported in South Sudan, we estimate the model parameters and compare the model predictions with known VL cases. Using optimal control theory, we study the effects of popular control strategies namely, drug-based treatment of symptomatic and PKDL-infected individuals, insecticide treated bednets and spray of insecticides on the dynamics of infected human and vector populations. We propose that the strategies remain ineffective in curbing the disease individually, as opposed to the use of optimal combinations of the mentioned strategies. Testing the model for different optimal combinations while considering periodic seasonal fluctuations, we find that the optimal combination of treatment of individuals and insecticide sprays perform well in controlling the disease for the time period of intervention introduced. Performing a cost-effective analysis we identify that the same strategy also proves to be efficacious and cost-effective. Finally, we suggest that our model would be helpful for policy makers to predict the best intervention strategies for specific time periods and their appropriate implementation for elimination of visceral leishmaniasis.