Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potent CD8+ T-Cell Immunogenicity in Humans of a Novel Heterosubtypic Influenza A Vaccine, MVA−NP+M1

Background. Influenza A viruses cause occasional pandemics and frequent epidemics. Licensed influenza vaccines that induce high antibody titers to the highly polymorphic viral surface antigen hemagglutinin must be re-formulated and readministered annually. A vaccine providing protective immunity to the highly conserved internal antigens could provide longer-lasting protection against multiple influenza subtypes. Methods. We prepared a Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector encoding nucleoprotein and matrix protein 1 (MVA−NP+M1) and conducted a phase I clinical trial in healthy adults. Results. The vaccine was generally safe and well tolerated, with significantly fewer local side effects after intramuscular rather than intradermal administration. Systemic side effects increased at the higher dose in both frequency and severity, with 5 out of 8 volunteers experiencing severe nausea/vomiting, malaise, or rigors. Ex vivo T-cell responses to NP and M1 measured by IFN-γ ELISPOT assay were significantly increased after vaccination (prevaccination median of 123 spot-forming units/million peripheral blood mononuclear cells, postvaccination peak response median 339, 443, and 1443 in low-dose intradermal, low-dose intramuscular, and high-dose intramuscular groups, respectively), and the majority of the antigen-specific T cells were CD8+. Conclusions. We conclude that the vaccine was both safe and remarkably immunogenic, leading to frequencies of responding T cells that appear to be much higher than those induced by any other influenza vaccination approach. Further studies will be required to find the optimum dose and to assess whether the increased T-cell response to conserved influenza proteins results in protection from influenza disease.
Nafamostat Mesilate as an Anticoagulant During Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy in Patients With High Bleeding Risk

AbstractNafamostat mesilate (NM), a synthetic serine protease inhibitor, has been used increasingly as an anticoagulant during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). However, there, are limited data from randomized studies on NM use in patients with a bleeding tendency. This prospective study evaluated the efficacy and safety of NM use during CRRT in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) patients at high risk of bleeding.Patients with AKI at high risk of bleeding were randomized into the NM and no anticoagulant (NA) groups. The primary outcome was the treatment efficacy represented by the filter lifespan. Several parameters, including safety and patient survival rates at 30 and 90 days, were analyzed as secondary outcomes.Fifty-five patients were included in this study (NM group = 31, NA group = 24). The baseline characteristics did not significantly differ between the groups. The mean filter lifespan was significantly longer in the NM group than in the NA group (31.7 ± 24.1 versus 19.5 ± 14.9 hours; P = 0.035). The most common cause of filter failure was filter clotting, which was significantly more frequent in the NA group than in the NM group (59.6% versus 37.7%, P = 0.024). The Cox proportional hazards model showed a 42.2% longer filter lifespan in the NM group compared with the NA group (hazard ratio, 0.578; 95% confidence interval, 0.362–0.923; P = 0.022). There were no significant differences in the frequencies of transfusions and major bleeding between the groups. Patient survival rates at 30 and 90 days after CRRT initiation were comparable between the groups.Nafamostat mesilate is a safe and effective anticoagulant for CRRT and allows sufficient filter survival without increasing the risk of bleeding in critically ill patients with AKI and bleeding tendencies.
Garden and Landscape-Scale Correlates of Moths of Differing Conservation Status: Significant Effects of Urbanization and Habitat Diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria. However, vulnerable species were more strongly negatively affected by urbanization than increasing species. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain this observation: (1) that the underlying factors causing declines in vulnerable species (e.g., possibilities include fragmentation, habitat deterioration, agrochemical pollution) across Britain are the same in urban areas, but that these deleterious effects are more intense in urban areas; and/or (2) that urban areas can act as ecological traps for some vulnerable species of moth, the light drawing them in from the surrounding landscape into sub-optimal urban habitats.
Glucose and Pharmacological Modulators of ATP-Sensitive K+ Channels Control [Ca2+]c by Different Mechanisms in Isolated Mouse α-Cells

OBJECTIVE—We studied how glucose and ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel modulators affect α-cell [Ca2+]c. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—GYY mice (expressing enhanced yellow fluorescent protein in α-cells) and NMRI mice were used. [Ca2+]c, the KATP current (IKATP, perforated mode) and cell metabolism [NAD(P)H fluorescence] were monitored in single α-cells and, for comparison, in single β-cells. RESULTS—In 0.5 mmol/l glucose, [Ca2+]c oscillated in some α-cells and was basal in the others. Increasing glucose to 15 mmol/l decreased [Ca2+]c by ∼30% in oscillating cells and was ineffective in the others. α-Cell IKATP was inhibited by tolbutamide and activated by diazoxide or the mitochondrial poison azide, as in β-cells. Tolbutamide increased α-cell [Ca2+]c, whereas diazoxide and azide abolished [Ca2+]c oscillations. Increasing glucose from 0.5 to 15 mmol/l did not change IKATP and NAD(P)H fluorescence in α-cells in contrast to β-cells. The use of nimodipine showed that L-type Ca2+ channels are the main conduits for Ca2+ influx in α-cells. γ-Aminobutyric acid and zinc did not decrease α-cell [Ca2+]c, and insulin, although lowering [Ca2+]c very modestly, did not affect glucagon secretion. CONCLUSIONS—α-Cells display similarities with β-cells: KATP channels control Ca2+ influx mainly through L-type Ca2+ channels. However, α-cells have distinct features from β-cells: Most KATP channels are already closed at low glucose, glucose does not affect cell metabolism and IKATP, and it slightly decreases [Ca2+]c. Hence, glucose and KATP channel modulators exert distinct effects on α-cell [Ca2+]c. The direct small glucose-induced drop in α-cell [Ca2+]c contributes likely only partly to the strong glucose-induced inhibition of glucagon secretion in islets.
A comparison of data collection methods: Mail versus online surveys

Abstract Online surveys offer an alternative to mail, telephone, and on-site techniques for gathering data. However, criticisms of Internet surveys, including survey and item nonresponse bias, and differences in the nature of the data have been raised. A total of 11 data sets were collected at Zuma Beach, California; within various state parks and forests in Massachusetts; at Buck Island Reef National Monument, USVI; and at Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida. These studies were designed, in part, to test for differences between the modes of survey delivery. Data for each study site were collected via both mail and Internet surveys, with the mail and Internet surveys being identical for each study location. Results indicate that while some differences exist between mail and online surveys at the individual study level, these differences are not present when the studies are combined and that mode differences observed for individual studies may be idiosyncratic rather than mode specific.
Design and Implementation of a Modular and Portable IEEE 754 Compliant Floating-Point Unit

Multimedia and communication algorithms from embedded system domain often make extensive use of floating-point arithmetic. Due to the complexity and expense of the floating-point hardware, final implementations of these algorithms are usually carried out using floating-point emulation in software, or conversion (manually or automatically) of the floating-point operations to fixed point operations. Such strategies often lead to semi-optimal and imprecise software implementation. This paper presents the design and implementation of a floating-point unit (FPU) for an application specific instruction set processor (ASIP) suitable for embedded systems domain. Using a state-of-the-art architecture description language (ADL) based ASIP design framework, the FPU is implemented in such a modular way that it can be easily adapted to any other RISC like processor. The implemented operations are fully compliant to the IEEE 754 standard which facilitates portable software development. The benchmarking, in terms of energy, area and speed, of the designed FPU highlights the trade-offs of having a hardware FPU w.r. t. software emulation of floating-point operations
Hepatitis B Infection in Microbiology Laboratory Workers: Prevalence, Vaccination, and Immunity Status

The risk of contracting HBV by health care workers (HCW) is four-times greater than that of general adult population. Studies have demonstrated that vaccine-induced protection persists at least 11 years. High risk groups such as HCWs should be monitored and receive a booster vaccination if their anti-HBsAb levels decrease below 10 mIU/mL. In view of the above this study was undertaken to assess the HBV vaccination of the HCWs and their immunological response. Seventy-two HCWs of the Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India, were recruited and blood sample was drawn for serological tests (HBSAg, anti-HCV, anti-HBsAb, anti-HBeAb, and anti-HBcAb). Anti-HBs titers of >10 mIU/mL were considered protective. Thirty-four (47.3%) of the participants were completely vaccinated with three doses. 25 (73.5%) of the participants with complete vaccination had protective anti-HBsAb levels as against 8 (53.3%) of those with incomplete vaccination and 9 (39.1%) of those who were not vaccinated at all. One of our participants was acutely infected while 29 participants were susceptible to infection at the time of the study. All HCWs should receive three doses of the vaccine and be monitored for their immune status after every five years. Boosters should be administered to those who become susceptible.
Identification of U2AF(35)-dependent exons by RNA-Seq reveals a link between 3′ splice-site organization and activity of U2AF-related proteins

The auxiliary factor of U2 small nuclear RNA (U2AF) is a heterodimer consisting of 65- and 35-kD proteins that bind the polypyrimidine tract (PPT) and AG dinucleotides at the 3′ splice site (3′ss). The gene encoding U2AF35 (U2AF1) is alternatively spliced, giving rise to two isoforms U2AF35a and U2AF35b. Here, we knocked down U2AF35 and each isoform and characterized transcriptomes of HEK293 cells with varying U2AF35/U2AF65 and U2AF35a/b ratios. Depletion of both isoforms preferentially modified alternative RNA processing events without widespread failure to recognize 3′ss or constitutive exons. Over a third of differentially used exons were terminal, resulting largely from the use of known alternative polyadenylation (APA) sites. Intronic APA sites activated in depleted cultures were mostly proximal whereas tandem 3′UTR APA was biased toward distal sites. Exons upregulated in depleted cells were preceded by longer AG exclusion zones and PPTs than downregulated or control exons and were largely activated by PUF60 and repressed by CAPERα. The U2AF(35) repression and activation was associated with a significant interchange in the average probabilities to form single-stranded RNA in the optimal PPT and branch site locations and sequences further upstream. Although most differentially used exons were responsive to both U2AF subunits and their inclusion correlated with U2AF levels, a small number of transcripts exhibited distinct responses to U2AF35a and U2AF35b, supporting the existence of isoform-specific interactions. These results provide new insights into function of U2AF and U2AF35 in alternative RNA processing.
Communication-Efficient Distributed Optimization using an Approximate Newton-type Method

We present a novel Newton-type method for distributed optimization, which is particularly well suited for stochastic optimization and learning problems. For quadratic objectives, the method enjoys a linear rate of convergence which provably \emph{improves} with the data size, requiring an essentially constant number of iterations under reasonable assumptions. We provide theoretical and empirical evidence of the advantages of our method compared to other approaches, such as one-shot parameter averaging and ADMM.
Local and national effects of a quality system in Dutch general practitioner specialty training: a qualitative study

Abstract A quality system (named GEAR; acronym for Combined Evaluation Audit Round in English), has been introduced in eight institutes of the Dutch general practitioner specialty training. This paper focuses on the local and national effects of GEAR. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with the directors and quality co-ordinators. At a local level, GEAR provided the institutes with insights into their current practice. The institutes designed and implemented several improvement plans based on feedback. Furthermore, GEAR addressed quality management more systematically, and it enhanced the quality culture. At a national level, the institutes formulated national priorities. In addition, GEAR stimulated collaboration as a result of more frequent contacts. Institutes differed in their perception of the extent to which GEAR offered added value. Integrating the quality system into the local policy was sometimes a problem. Despite some scepticism at the start, GEAR provoked enthusiasm that can contribute to the quality of medical education.
On the degree of certain local L-functions

Let be an irreducible supercuspidal representation of GLn.F/, where F is a p-adic field. By a result of Bushnell and Kutzko, the group of unramified self-twists of has cardinality n=e, where e is the oF-period of the principal oF-order in Mn.F/ attached to . This is the degree of the local Rankin‐ Selberg L-function L.s; _ /. In this paper, we compute the degree of the Asai, symmetric square, and exterior square L-functions associated to . As an application, assuming p is odd, we compute the conductor of the Asai lift of a supercuspidal representation, where we also make use of the conductor formula for pairs of supercuspidal representations due to Bushnell, Henniart, and Kutzko (1998).
Rethinking labelling in road segmentation

ABSTRACT Deep models are extremely data hungry. Their success is being driven by the availability of large amounts of data for training. For semantic segmentation tasks on aerial and satellite imagery, a major dilemma at present is that it still relies heavily on manual labelling of data. Among these tasks, the semantic segmentation of road is special since it is possible to use auxiliary data, such as GPS track data, to automatically label data. For a better understanding of this possibility, this paper proposes to rethink some basic issues of labelling approaches for roads. We experimentally investigated the unavoidable class imbalance problem in road segmentation tasks through simulated and real datasets and quantitatively show that class imbalance has a serious detrimental impact on deep model’s generalization performance. We also observed that the detrimental impact even outweighs the benefits of strictly annotating roads – expanding road labels can give deep networks better segmentation accuracy, even though the segmentation location is no longer the edge of the road. We think this is because the impact of class imbalance is much overwhelming than the sensitivity of DNN on the edges of real roads. This finding is valuable for supporting the use of centreline-based approaches in place of edge-based approaches in some applications for better cost-effective solutions. We proposed a guided Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm to determine the optimal expansion ratio of road label. On these bases, we further proposed a general framework to combine two networks to achieve better performance than the state-of-the-art performance of using alone. We attribute this to the alleviation of the class imbalance problem because simply cascading the two networks does not achieve the purpose of improving accuracy in our experiments. We believe that this work is enlightening for studies of road segmentation.
A time-comparison circuit in the electric fish midbrain. II. Functional morphology

The weakly electric fish Eigenmannia is able to detect temporal disparities as small as 400 nsec between two signals from different parts of the body surface (Carr et al., 1986). The elements of this time-comparison circuit have been identified by EM reconstruction of its component cells. Information about the timing of the zero-crossing of signals on each area of the body surface is coded in phase-coder receptors, a subset of tuberous electroreceptors. Electroreceptors on the body surface are innervated by primary afferents with their central termination on the spherical cells of the medullary electrosensory lateral line lobe. These cells project to lamina VI of the midbrain torus, a structure similar to the inferior colliculus. Afferents entering lamina VI form a very restricted terminal arbor in which they synapse on the three cell types of this lamina. Each afferent makes gap- junction synapses on one or two giant cell somata and morphologically mixed synapses on the distal dendrites of two types of small cell. The afferent terminals thus encode the timing of the electric signal on a local patch of the body surface, forming a somatotopic map of the body surface in lamina VI. The giant cells are adendritic and their axonal arbor is such as to distribute timing information originating from one part of the body surface throughout lamina VI, so that each region of lamina VI receives information about the timing of zero-crossings from the entire body surface from giant cells, as well as information from a local portion of the body surface from the afferent terminals. The giant cells terminate exclusively on the cell bodies of the small cells of lamina VI, shown to be sensitive to small temporal disparities by Heiligenberg and Rose (1985). Thus, each small cell receives a single synapse on its soma from a giant cell that conveys phase-coding information from some portion of the body surface and receives local phase-coding input onto its dendrites from spherical cell afferents. The sensitivity of the small cells to temporal disparities appears to be conferred by their segregation of inputs from two different parts of the body surface onto dendrites and soma, respectively. We propose that the dendritic input acts as a delay line, and the small cell fires maximally when the inputs from the dendrites and the giant cell input onto the soma coincide.
Static Hand Gesture Recognition with 2 Kinect Sensors

In this paper, we propose a robust static hand gesture recognition algorithm that makes use of two Kinect sensors. This will be used to control an avatar in a decision aid for rheumatoid arthritis patients who have a difficult time using a standard keyboard and mouse interface. The sensors are placed on the left and right sides of a target sensing area, easily set up in a doctor’s office or waiting room. The Kinects provide a rich point cloud, out of which gestures from a known vocabulary are recognized in real time. We use 6 point cloud descriptors simultaneously and employ the majority rule voting scheme to pick a “winner” gesture in real time. We achieve rotation invariance by using part of the forearm as a good indicator of hand orientation and aligning the hand with the world coordinate system origin. We evaluate the performance of the recognition system under various motion and rotation conditions.
Unsupervised Signal Restoration in Partially Observed Markov Chains

An important problem in signal processing consists in estimating an unobservable process x = {xn}nisinN from an observed process y = {yn}nisinN. In linear Gaussian hidden Markov chains (LGHMC), recursive solutions are given by Kalman-like Bayesian restoration algorithms. In this paper, we consider the more general framework of linear Gaussian triplet Markov chains (LGTMC), i.e. of models in which the triplet (x, r, y) (where r = {rn})nisinN is some additional process) is Markovian and Gaussian. We address unsupervised restoration in LGTMC by extending to LGTMC the EM parameter estimation algorithm which was already developed in classical state-space models
Shared identity and shared information in social media: development and validation of the identity bubble reinforcement scale

ABSTRACT Social media facilitates the formation of identity bubbles that reinforce shared identities, social homophily, and reliance on the information shared within the bubbles. Currently, researchers need more social psychological measures to assess how people perceive their relationships with online networks and information shared on social media. This article reports the development and Finnish and English validations of the identity bubble reinforcement scale (IBRS), consisting of subscales on social identification, homophily, and information bias. Studies 1 and 2 (N = 1200, N = 160; age 15–25 years) validated the 6-item measure (IBRS-6) in Finland and Study 3 replicated the results with both 6-item and 9-item (IBRS-9) measures in the United States (N = 501, age 18–25 years). Across all 3 studies and 2 countries, the IBRS showed good construct validity and correlated positively with social media use and group-behavior measures. The IBRS is an applicable measure for social media group behavior, and its subscales can also be used separately.