Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Looking for the Most Suitable Orthotopic Retinoblastoma Mouse Model in Order to Characterize the Tumoral Development.

Purpose Because retinoblastoma therapies have many adverse effects, new approaches must be developed and evaluated on animal models. We describe orthotopic xenograft models of retinoblastoma using different strains of mice, suitable for this purpose. Methods Human retinoblastoma tumors were established on immunodeficient mice by subcutaneous engraftment of tumors from enucleated eyes. The orthotopic model was obtained by subretinal injections of suspension cells into the right eye of immunodeficient (Swiss-nude, severe combined immunodeficiency [SCID]) and immunocompetent mice (C57BL/6N, B6Albino). In vivo tumor growth was monitored by fundus and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) imaging and compared with histology. Results Retinal and vitreal tumor growth was achieved both in immunocompetent and immunodeficient strains after the subretinal injection of tumor cells. The best tumor engraftment rate was obtained in the SCID mice (68.8%). No tumor growth was observed in the C57BL/6N strain. Chronic retinal detachment may occur in most strains after the subretinal injection, in particular the Swiss-nude strain, which exhibits retinal degeneration. Conclusions The setting up of an orthotopic mouse model depends mainly on the choice of the engrafted cells (cell lines or patient-derived xenografts) but it can also depend on the xenografted mouse strain. Severe combined immunodeficiency mice (an immunodeficient strain) achieved the best tumor engraftment rate (68.8%). However, intraocular tumor growth was also satisfactory (50%) in the immunocompetent strain B6Albino, and this strain will allow to exploit the immune response after a tumor treatment. Both of these strains may therefore be recommended when setting up orthotopic retinoblastoma xenografts.
An IoT Data Communication Framework for Authenticity and Integrity

Internet of Things has been widely applied in everyday life, ranging from transportation, healthcare, to smart homes. As most IoT devices carry constrained resources and limited storage capacity, sensing data need to be transmitted to and stored at resource-rich platforms, such as a cloud. IoT applications retrieve sensing data from the cloud for analysis and decision-making purposes. Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the sensing data is essential for the correctness and safety of IoT applications. We summarizethe new challenges of the IoT data communication framework with authenticity and integrity and argue that existing solutions cannot be easily adopted. We present two solutions, called Dynamic Tree Chaining (DTC) and Geometric Star Chaining (GSC) that provide authenticity, integrity, sampling uniformity, system efficiency, and application flexibility to IoT data communication. Extensive simulations and prototype emulation experiments driven by real IoT data show that the proposed system is more efficient than alternative solutions in terms of time and space.
GerN, an Antiporter Homologue Important in Germination of Bacillus cereus Endospores

ABSTRACT A homologue of the grmA spore germination gene ofBacillus megaterium and of a NaH-antiporter gene (napA) of Enterococcus hirae has been identified in Bacillus cereus 569 (ATCC 10876). The putative protein product has 58 and 43% amino acid identity with GrmA and NapA, respectively. Insertional inactivation of this B. cereus gene, named gerN, did not affect vegetative growth or sporulation. The null mutant spores were 30-fold slower to germinate in inosine (5 mM) but germinated almost normally in response to l-alanine (10 mM). The null mutant spores germinated after several hours with inosine as the sole germinant, but germination was asynchronous and the normal order of germination events was perturbed. At a suboptimal germinant concentration (50 μM), inosine germination was completely blocked in the mutant, while the rate of germination in 50 μM l-alanine was reduced to one-third of that of the wild type. The requirement for GerN function in the response to a particular germinant suggests that a germination receptor may have a specifically associated antiporter, which is required at the initiation of germination and which, in the case of the inosine receptor, is GerN. Since germination in suboptimal concentrations ofl-alanine shows a delay, additional germination transporters may be required for optimal response at low germinant concentrations.
Gelatinolytic Activity in Atherosclerotic Plaques Is Highly Localized and Is Associated With Both Macrophages and Smooth Muscle Cells In Vivo

Background— Atherosclerosis is considered an inflammatory disease. Recent studies provided evidence for a predominant upstream location of plaque inflammation. The present study introduces a novel technique that evaluates the underlying mechanism of this spatial organization. Methods and Results— In hypercholesterolemic rabbits, atherosclerosis of the infrarenal aorta was induced by a combination of endothelial denudation and a high-cholesterol diet (2% cholesterol for 2 months). At the time of death, aortic vessel segments were dissected and reconstructed with a new technique that preserved the original intravascular ultrasound-derived lumen geometry. This enabled us to study the spatial relation of histological markers like macrophages, smooth muscle cells, lipids, gelatinolytic activity, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Results showed a predominant upstream localization of macrophages and gelatinase activity. Colocalization studies indicated that gelatinase activity was associated with macrophages and smooth muscle cells. Further analysis revealed that this was caused by subsets of smooth muscle cells and macrophages, which were associated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein accumulation. Conclusions— Upstream localization of a vulnerable plaque phenotype is probably due to an accumulation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, which activates/induces subsets of smooth muscle cells and macrophages to gelatinase production.
Coresets Meet EDCS: Algorithms for Matching and Vertex Cover on Massive Graphs

Randomized composable coresets were introduced recently as an effective technique for solving matching and vertex cover problems in various models of computation. In this technique, one partitions the edges of an input graph randomly into multiple pieces, compresses each piece into a smaller subgraph, namely a coreset, and solves the problem on the union of these coresets to find the solution. By designing small size randomized composable coresets, one can obtain efficient algorithms, in a black-box way, in multiple computational models including streaming, distributed communication, and the massively parallel computation (MPC) model. We develop randomized composable coresets of size $\widetilde{O}(n)$ that for any constant $\varepsilon > 0$, give a $(3/2+\varepsilon)$-approximation to matching and a $(3+\varepsilon)$-approximation to vertex cover. Our coresets improve upon the previously best approximation ratio of $O(1)$ for matching and $O(\log{n})$ for vertex cover. Most notably, our result for matching goes beyond a 2-approximation, which is a natural barrier for maximum matching in many models of computation. Furthermore, inspired by the recent work of Czumaj et.al. (arXiv 2017), we study algorithms for matching and vertex cover in the MPC model with only $\widetilde{O}(n)$ memory per machine. Building on our coreset constructions, we develop parallel algorithms that give a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation to matching and $O(1)$-approximation to vertex cover in only $O_{\varepsilon}(\log\log{n})$ MPC rounds and $\widetilde{O}(n)$ memory per machine. A key technical ingredient of our paper is a novel application of edge degree constrained subgraphs (EDCS). At the heart of our proofs are new structural properties of EDCS that identify these subgraphs as sparse certificates for large matchings and small vertex covers which are quite robust to sampling and composition.
A Temporal, Multicity Model to Estimate the Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution on Health

Background Countries worldwide are expending significant resources to improve air quality partly to improve the health of their citizens. Are these societal expenditures improving public health? Objectives We consider these issues by tracking the risk of death associated with outdoor air pollution over both space and time in Canadian cities. Materials and methods We propose two multi-year estimators that use current plus several previous years of data to estimate current year risk. The estimators are derived from sequential time series analyses using moving time windows. To evaluate the statistical properties of the proposed methods, a simulation study with three scenarios of changing risk was conducted based on 12 Canadian cities from 1981 to 2000. Then an optimal estimator was applied to 24 of Canada’s largest cities over the 17-year period from 1984 to 2000. Results The annual average daily concentrations of ozone appeared to be increasing over the time period, whereas those of nitrogen dioxide were decreasing. However, the proposed method returns different time trends in public health risks. Evidence for some monotonic increasing trends in the annual risks is weak for O3 (p = 0.3870) but somewhat stronger for NO2 (p = 0.1082). In particular, an increasing time trend becomes apparent when excluding year 1998, which reveals lower risk than proximal years, even though concentrations of NO2 were decreasing. The simulation results validate our two proposed methods, producing estimates close to the preassigned values. Conclusions Despite decreasing ambient concentrations, public health risks related to NO2 appear to be increasing. Further investigations are necessary to understand why the concentrations and adverse effects of NO2 show opposite time trends.
Space-time constellations for unknown frequency-selective channels

We consider the design of space-time constellations for communication over frequency-selective fading channels where neither the transmitter nor the receiver has any channel state information. The design is based on the asymptotic union bound on error probability as design criterion and the optimization is carried out using a gradient search algorithm. Full multi-antenna multipath diversity gains are demonstrated to be achieved by the designed codes. Compared to other constellations proposed by Hochwald et al., power savings of up to 2 dB are shown to be possible.
[Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine].

combinations against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers, which are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes, mmarize essential background information on the respective diseases and vaccines, and nclude with the current WHO position concerning their use in the global context. The papers ve been reviewed by a number of experts within and outside WHO and since April 2006 they e reviewed and endorsed by WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on vaccines d immunization. The position papers are designed for use mainly by national public health ficials and immunization programme managers. However, they may also be of interest to ternational funding agencies, the vaccine manufacturing industry, the medical community, ientific media, and the public.
Learning from Open Innovation

We explore how openness in one period generates learning effects in the next period which enable firms to be ? better? at open innovation, i.e. to generate more innovation outputs from any given level of openness. Openness to external knowledge sources, whether through search activity or linkages to external partners in new product development, involves a process of interaction and information processing. Such activities are likely to be subject to a process of trial and error, as firms learn which knowledge sources and linkages are most useful to their particular needs, and which partnerships are most effective in delivering innovation performance. Using panel data from Irish manufacturing plants, we find an inverted ? U? shape relationship between the extent (? breadth? ) of openness and firms? innovation outputs. We also find, however, that the shape of this curve depends on prior openness. In other words, learning effects mean that firms which were open innovators in previous periods derive more innovation output from openness in the current period.
Hybrid-Garch: A generic class of models for volatility predictions using high frequency data

We propose a general GARCH framework that allows the predict volatility using returns sampled at a higher frequency than the prediction horizon. We call the class of models High FrequencY Data-Based PRojectIon-Driven GARCH, or HYBRID-GARCH models, as the volatility dynamics are driven by what we call HYBRID processes. The HYBRID processes can involve data sampled at any frequency. As far as empirical specifications go, we obtain some powerful findings that deviate substantially from the existing literature. Models featuring intra-daily asymmetries (news impact curves applied to intra-daily returns) dominate symmetric models up to weekly horizons, while the reverse is true for longer horizons. Models using daily realized volatility are less preferred than HYBRID involving intra-daily weighting scheme even for longer horizons.
Rapid Emergence of Free-Riding Behavior in New Pediatric Immunization Programs

Background Mathematical models have formalized how free-rider effects can threaten the stability of high vaccine coverage levels under established voluntary vaccination programs. However, little research has addressed the question of when free-riding begins to develop when a new vaccine is first introduced in a population. Methodology/Principal Findings Here, we combine a game theoretical model of vaccinating behavior with an age-structured compartmental model to analyze rational vaccinating behavior in the first years of a universal immunization program, where a new vaccine is free to all children of a specified age. The model captures how successive birth cohorts face different epidemiological landscapes that have been shaped by the vaccinating decisions of previous birth cohorts, resulting in a strategic interaction between individuals in different birth cohorts. The model predicts a Nash equilibrium coverage level of for the first few birth cohorts under the new program. However, free-riding behavior emerges very quickly, with the Nash equilibrium vaccine coverage dropping significantly within 2-5 years after program initiation. Subsequently, a rich set of coupled dynamics between infection prevalence and vaccinating behaviors is possible, ranging from relatively stable (but reduced) coverage in later birth cohorts to wide fluctuations in vaccine coverage from one birth cohort to the next. Individual tolerance for vaccine risk also starts out at relatively high levels before dropping significantly within a few years. Conclusions/Significance These results suggest that even relatively new immunization programs can be vulnerable to drops in vaccine coverage caused by vaccine scares and exacerbated by herd immunity effects, necessitating vigilance from the start.
Key role of T cell defects in age-related vulnerability to West Nile virus

West Nile virus (WNV) infection causes a life-threatening meningoencephalitis that becomes increasingly more prevalent over the age of 50 and is 40–50× more prevalent in people over the age of 70, compared with adults under the age of 40. In a mouse model of age-related vulnerability to WNV, we demonstrate that death correlates with increased viral titers in the brain and that this loss of virus control with age was the result of defects in the CD4 and CD8 T cell response against WNV. Specific age-related defects in T cell responses against dominant WNV epitopes were detected at the level of cytokine and lytic granule production, each of which are essential for resistance against WNV, and in the ability to generate multifunctional anti-WNV effector T cells, which are believed to be critical for robust antiviral immunity. In contrast, at the peak of the response, old and adult T cells exhibited superimposable peptide sensitivity. Most importantly, although the adult CD4 or CD8 T cells readily protected immunodeficient mice upon adoptive transfer, old T cells of either subset were unable to provide WNV-specific protection. Consistent with a profound qualitative and quantitative defect in T cell immunity, old brains contained at least 12× fewer total effector CD8 T cells compared with adult mice at the peak of brain infection. These findings identify potential targets for immunomodulation and treatment to combat lethal WNV infection in the elderly.
Interactive Story Writing in the Classroom: Using Computer Games

Interactive story writing is a new medium for creative expression. The story “writer” uses a computer game (such as BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights) to create an interactive story where the “reader” is an active participant. The state of the art is that the story (plot, character behaviors, character interactions, conversations, etc.) is specified by writing scripts. Unfortunately, scripting is too low level for non-programmers. ScriptEase is a tool for writing interactive stories in roleplaying games that frees the author from doing explicit computer programming. Stories are created by selecting and customizing familiar patterns. From this specification, ScriptEase automatically generates Neverwinter Nights scripting code. To test the usability of ScriptEase, the tool has been used as an aid to help with the short story unit of a Grade 10 Alberta high school English curriculum. This paper describes ScriptEase and reports on our experience in using it in the classroom.
Node negative breast cancer.

patients with myocardial infarction or suspected myocardial infarction after thrombolytic treatment became available in hospital. Sixty practitioners (67%) replied, of which 31 stated an intention to refer more patients, but 29 thought that their referral habits would be unchanged. The important role required of general practitioners in the coordinated management of acute myocardial infarction with the advent of thrombolysis treatment has been emphasised.7 Our survey, however, suggests that there is a considerable dichotomy of opinion on this subject and that an appreciable proportion of general practitioners are still uncertain about advising hospital treatment in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
McMillan and her IFPRI colleague Ignio Verduzco Gallo for sharing their unpublished data on Africa used in McMillan and Rodrik

This paper argues that official development assistance (foreign aid) is partly responsible for the lack of structural change in Africa. Africa’s development partners have devoted too few resources and too little attention to two critical constraints to private investment, infrastructure and skills, focusing instead on easily understood, but potentially low impact regulatory reforms. A new aid strategy, one that catalyses private investment in high value added sectors, is needed. Support for strategic interventions to push nontraditional exports, support industrial agglomerations, build firm capabilities, and strengthen regional integration should anchor a new donor agenda to create good jobs and sustain growth.
A practical approach to measuring the visual field component of fitness to drive

Aims: To determine the level of agreement between merged monocular visual field tests (the integrated visual field) and the binocular Esterman visual field test in classifying patients’ visual status for UK legal fitness to drive. To examine the link between these two tests and the useful field of view (UFOV) test, a test which is considered to be a surrogate for the visual capability for safe driving. Methods: Primary open angle glaucoma patients with bilateral overlapping visual field defects were recruited prospectively. Patients performed the bilateral monocular field tests (to generate the integrated visual field), the Esterman test and the UFOV test on the same visit. Patients were classified as “pass” or “fail” by both the integrated visual field and the Esterman test. UFOV risk scores were calculated for each patient. Results: 65 patients were recruited. Substantial agreement was found between the integrated visual field and the Esterman test in classifying patients as “pass” or “fail” (kappa = 0.69). No patients classified as “pass” by the integrated visual field test were classified as “fail” by the Esterman test. Eight patients who were classified as “pass” by the Esterman test were classified as “fail” by the integrated visual field test. The UFOV risk characteristics of these eight patients suggested they were more similar to those of the 13 patients who were classified as “fail” by both the tests, than the 44 patients who were classified as “pass” by both tests. Conclusions: The integrated visual field test agrees well with the current method (Esterman) of classifying visual fields with regard to legal fitness to drive in the United Kingdom in patients with glaucoma; it appears superior to the current method in identifying those with reduced fitness to drive as measured by the UFOV. The integrated visual field test could perform a valuable screening or diagnostic role in the assessment of glaucoma patients’ fitness to drive.
The Drosophila DmGluRA is required for social interaction and memory

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have well-established roles in cognition and social behavior in mammals. Whether or not these roles have been conserved throughout evolution from invertebrate species is less clear. Mammals have eight mGluRs whereas Drosophila has a single DmGluRA, which has both Gi and Gq coupled signaling activity. We have utilized Drosophila to examine the role of DmGluRA in social behavior and various phases of memory. We have found that flies that are homozygous or heterozygous for loss of function mutations of DmGluRA have impaired social behavior in male Drosophila. Futhermore, flies that are heterozygous for loss of function mutations of DmGluRA have impaired learning during training, immediate-recall memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory as young adults. This work demonstrates a role for mGluR activity in both social behavior and memory in Drosophila.
An evaluation of machine translation for multilingual sentence-level sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis has become a key tool for several social media applications, including analysis of user's opinions about products and services, support to politics during campaigns and even for market trending. There are multiple existing sentiment analysis methods that explore different techniques, usually relying on lexical resources or learning approaches. Despite the large interest on this theme and amount of research efforts in the field, almost all existing methods are designed to work with only English content. Most existing strategies in specific languages consist of adapting existing lexical resources, without presenting proper validations and basic baseline comparisons. In this paper, we take a different step into this field. We focus on evaluating existing efforts proposed to do language specific sentiment analysis. To do it, we evaluated twenty-one methods for sentence-level sentiment analysis proposed for English, comparing them with two language-specific methods. Based on nine language-specific datasets, we provide an extensive quantitative analysis of existing multi-language approaches. Our main result suggests that simply translating the input text on a specific language to English and then using one of the existing English methods can be better than the existing language specific efforts evaluated. We also rank those implementations comparing their prediction performance and identifying the methods that acquired the best results using machine translation across different languages. As a final contribution to the research community, we release our codes and datasets. We hope our effort can help sentiment analysis to become English independent.