Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Fly Orchestration of Unikernels: Tuning and Performance Evaluation of Virtual Infrastructure Managers

Network operators are facing significant challenges meeting the demand for more bandwidth, agile infrastructures, innovative services, while keeping costs low. Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Cloud Computing are emerging as key trends of 5G network architectures, providing flexibility, fast instantiation times, support of Commercial Off The Shelf hardware and significant cost savings. NFV leverages Cloud Computing principles to move the data-plane network functions from expensive, closed and proprietary hardware to the so-called Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). In this paper we deal with the management of virtual computing resources (Unikernels) for the execution of VNFs. This functionality is performed by the Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM) in the NFV MANagement and Orchestration (MANO) reference architecture. We discuss the instantiation process of virtual resources and propose a generic reference model, starting from the analysis of three open source VIMs, namely OpenStack, Nomad and OpenVIM. We improve the aforementioned VIMs introducing the support for special-purpose Unikernels and aiming at reducing the duration of the instantiation process. We evaluate some performance aspects of the VIMs, considering both stock and tuned versions. The VIM extensions and performance evaluation tools are available under a liberal open source licence.
Transaction Cost Analysis of the New Drug Application Process: A Case Study of a Multinational Pharmaceutical Company in Japan

The aim of this study was to measure the transaction costs of a new drug application (NDA) process in Japan in a case study of a multinational pharmaceutical company. The NDA process was viewed as involving transactions among 3 organizations: the headquarters, the Japanese subsidiary, and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. Transaction costs were calculated by multiplying the time for each transaction by an hourly wage. Work time for the NDA process totaled 14,710.6 hours and was estimated to cost US$558,000 in human resource—related expenditure in the company. The total time for intracompany transactions was 7662.5 hours (52.1% of all transactions), which was similar to that of transactions with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (7048.1 hours, 47.9%). Also found was a press-and-slack procedure in time course observation. In conclusion, the current NDA system in Japan imposes a considerable time and cost burden behind that of the visible official process on a multinational company.
Size matters: Dissecting key parameters for panel‐based tumor mutational burden analysis

Tumor mutational burden (TMB) represents a new determinant of clinical benefit from immune checkpoint blockade that identifies responders independent of PD‐L1 expression levels and is currently being explored in clinical trials. Although TMB can be measured directly by comprehensive genomic approaches such as whole‐genome and exome sequencing, broad availability, short turnaround times, costs and amenability to formalin‐fixed and paraffin‐embedded tissue support the use of gene panel sequencing for approximating TMB in routine diagnostics. However, data on the parameters influencing panel‐based TMB estimation are limited. Here, we report an extensive in silico analysis of the TCGA data set that simulates various panel sizes and compositions. We demonstrate that panel size is a critical parameter that influences confidence intervals (CIs) and cutoff values as well as important test parameters including sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value. Moreover, we evaluate the Illumina TSO500 panel, which will be made available for TMB estimation, and propose dynamic, entity‐specific cutoff values based on current clinical trial data. Optimizing the cost–benefit ratio, our data suggest that panels between 1.5 and 3 Mbp are ideally suited to estimate TMB with small CIs, whereas smaller panels tend to deliver imprecise TMB estimates for low to moderate TMB (0–30 muts/Mbp), connected with insufficient separation of hypermutated tumors from non‐hypermutated tumors.
Assessing the impact of converting roundabouts to traffic signals on vehicle emissions along an urban arterial corridor in Qatar

ABSTRACT The type of control at intersections has a major effect on the operation of any urban corridor. Different predefined procedures are available to calculate some of the main operational characteristics, such as capacity, delay, and level of service, in order to select the best type of control. However, there are other important factors that affect major arterials operational characteristics, factors that are not fully addressed, such as the impact of emissions. In this study, a microscopic simulation approach using VISSIM and MOVES was developed to assess the environmental effect of converting four three-lane roundabouts to signalized intersections along a heavily congested urban corridor in Qatar. A decision was made to switch all roundabouts to traffic signals for better operations. Preliminary results indicated that the signal control outperformed the roundabout in the range of 37% to 43% reduction in emissions. A more detailed analysis revealed that roundabout corridor operations’ effects on emission rates are divergent from those of signalized corridors, particularly upstream and downstream of the intersections. Immediate roundabout upstream approaches are driver behavior dependent, characterized by substantial coasting at lower speeds and subsequent re-accelerating with less idling, described as acceleration events, which resulted in high emission rates, while signalized corridors are signal timing dependent, characterized by ample idling with less coasting and re-acceleration, resulting in reduced emission rates. The results also revealed that there was no significant difference between emission rates in the vicinity of the two types of control. Both recorded nearly the same emission rate. Implications: A microscopic simulation approach using VISSIM and MOVES was developed to assess the environmental effect of converting four three-lane roundabouts to signalized intersections along a heavily congested urban corridor in Doha, Qatar. Intersection geometries along with the control type have significant impact on emission rates and play a major role in assessing environmental impacts. US EPA MOVES was calibrated to Qatar conditions which can be used to estimate emission factors and quantify vehicular emissions along other corridors in the country. The results can also be beneficial for other countries within the region.
Deficiency in STAT1 Signaling Predisposes Gut Inflammation and Prompts Colorectal Cancer Development

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) is part of the Janus kinase (JAK/STAT) signaling pathway that controls critical events in intestinal immune function related to innate and adaptive immunity. Recent studies have implicated STAT1 in tumor–stroma interactions, and its expression and activity are perturbed during colon cancer. However, the role of STAT1 during the initiation of inflammation-associated cancer is not clearly understood. To determine the role of STAT1 in colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC), we analyzed the tumor development and kinetics of cell recruitment in wild-type WT or STAT1−/− mice treated with azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Following CAC induction, STAT1−/− mice displayed an accelerated appearance of inflammation and tumor formation, and increased damage and scores on the disease activity index (DAI) as early as 20 days after AOM-DSS exposure compared to their WT counterparts. STAT1−/− mice showed elevated colonic epithelial cell proliferation in early stages of injury-induced tumor formation and decreased apoptosis in advanced tumors with over-expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 at the colon. STAT1−/− mice showed increased accumulation of Ly6G+Ly6C−CD11b+ cells in the spleen at 20 days of CAC development with concomitant increases in the production of IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22 cytokines compared to WT mice. Our findings suggest that STAT1 plays a role as a tumor suppressor molecule in inflammation-associated carcinogenesis, particularly during the very early stages of CAC initiation, modulating immune responses as well as controlling mechanisms such as apoptosis and cell proliferation.
2018 PIRM Challenge on Perceptual Image Super-resolution

This paper reports on the 2018 PIRM challenge on perceptual super-resolution (SR), held in conjunction with the Perceptual Image Restoration and Manipulation (PIRM) workshop at ECCV 2018. In contrast to previous SR challenges, our evaluation methodology jointly quantifies accuracy and perceptual quality, therefore enabling perceptual-driven methods to compete alongside algorithms that target PSNR maximization. Twenty-one participating teams introduced algorithms which well-improved upon the existing state-of-the-art methods in perceptual SR, as confirmed by a human opinion study. We also analyze popular image quality measures and draw conclusions regarding which of them correlates best with human opinion scores. We conclude with an analysis of the current trends in perceptual SR, as reflected from the leading submissions.
Comparison of the mitral valve morphologies of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and dogs of other breeds using 3D transthoracic echocardiography

Background Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is more prevalent in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCSs) compared to dogs of other breeds at a given age. Abnormal valvular stress is thought to contribute to the development and progression of MMVD, and a relationship exists between mitral valve (MV) morphology and stress acting on the valve. Objectives To determine whether the MV morphology of healthy adult CKCSs differs from the morphology of healthy adult dogs of other breeds determined by RT‐3DTTE. Animals Thirty‐five healthy CKCSs and 41 healthy dogs of other breeds. Methods Prospective cross‐sectional study. Dogs underwent physical examination, conventional echocardiography, and RT‐3DTTE. RT–3DTTE datasets were analyzed using dedicated software for MV morphologic analysis. Morphologic variables were compared between CKCSs and dogs of other breeds. Results The MV of healthy CKCSs had a smaller annulus height (0.46 ± 0.11 vs. 0.56 ± 0.17; P = .0021), tenting height (0.26 ± 0.12 vs. 0.42 ± 0.18; P < .001), tenting area (0.42 ± 0.15 vs. 0.79 ± 0.34; P < .001), normalized tenting volume (0.09 [0.05–0.13] vs. 0.14 [0.10–0.20]; P < .001), and normalized area of the posterior leaflet (0.57 ± 0.15 vs. 0.66 ± 0.18; P = .016) compared to healthy dogs of other breeds; this results in CKCSs having a flatter MV with reduced tenting, compared to the MV of other breeds. Conclusions and Clinical Importance These morphologic features could confer a mechanical disadvantage and play a role in the predisposition of CKCSs to the early development of MMVD.
Foreign body ingestion and food impaction in adults: better to scope than to wait

Background and objective To assess clinical outcomes after foreign body ingestion and food impaction; to identify predictors of foreign body presence at the time of endoscopy. Methods A prospective study including consecutive adult patients with foreign body ingestion or suspected food impaction between May 2014 and August 2016. Results In total, 521 patients were included, 320 with foreign body ingestion and 201 with suspected food impaction. Food impaction patients were significantly older and more frequently had a history of oesophageal disease. The foreign body was encountered in the upper digestive tract in 43% of the patients with foreign body ingestion, and food impaction was confirmed in 87%. Older age (odds ratio (OR)year 1.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.06) and early presentation (ORfirst six hours 4.41, 95% CI 2.24–8.66) were independent predictors of foreign body presence, while a history of psychiatric disease was an independent predictor of food impaction (OR 6.69, 95% CI 1.66–26.9). Successful endoscopic treatment was achieved in more than 90% of the cases, with adverse events occurring in fewer than 5%. Foreign body forceps was the preferred device in foreign body ingestion, while retrieval basket and mobilisation were preferred in food impaction. The need to use more than one instrument was significantly higher in food impaction. Conclusion Foreign bodies are encountered at endoscopy in almost half of the cases. Older age and earlier presentation are independent predictors of its presence. Given the high proportion of patients with foreign body at endoscopy and the low risk of complications, endoscopic evaluation is probably justified in the majority of cases.
TrackerBots: Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle for real‐time localization and tracking of multiple radio‐tagged animals

Autonomous aerial robots provide new possibilities to study the habitats and behaviors of endangered species through the efficient gathering of location information at temporal and spatial granularities not possible with traditional manual survey methods. We present a novel autonomous aerial vehicle system—TrackerBots—to track and localize multiple radio‐tagged animals. The simplicity of measuring the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values of very high frequency (VHF) radio‐collars commonly used in the field is exploited to realize a low‐cost and lightweight tracking platform suitable for integration with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Due to uncertainty and the nonlinearity of the system based on RSSI measurements, our tracking and planning approaches integrate a particle filter for tracking and localizing and a partially observable Markov decision process for dynamic path planning. This approach allows autonomous navigation of a UAV in a direction of maximum information gain to locate multiple mobile animals and reduce exploration time and, consequently, conserve on‐board battery power. We also employ the concept of search termination criteria to maximize the number of located animals within power constraints of the aerial system. We validated our real‐time and online approach through both extensive simulations and field experiments with five VHF radio‐tags on a grassland plain.
Uncorrected visual acuity, postoperative astigmatism, and dry eye symptoms are major determinants of patient satisfaction: a comparative, real-life study of femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis and small incision lenticule extraction for myopia

Purpose To compare factors affecting patient satisfaction after femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) and small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) for myopia in the real-life situation study. Methods The SMILE group included 100 eyes (51 patients) and the FS-LASIK group 200 eyes (102 patients). In addition to clinical examination, dry eye symptoms and patient satisfaction with far and near vision were reported and graded on the visual analog scale preoperatively and one month after the operation. Case–control pairs were selected for the SMILE patients from FS-LASIK-treated patients to ensure the homogeneity in spherical equivalent refraction, preoperative dry eye, and visual satisfaction. Results Eighty percent of SMILE eyes and 83% of FS-LASIK eyes achieved an uncorrected distance visual acuity of 20/20 or better. Predictability (±0.5 D of mean target spherical equivalent refraction) was 91% in SMILE and 93.5% in FS-LASIK. No eyes lost two or more Snellen lines of corrected distance visual acuity. Based on case–control pairs, dry eye symptoms remained the same after one month in the FS-LASIK-treated eyes (P=0.87) but decreased in the SMILE-treated eyes (P=0.01) compared with the preoperative situation. Patient satisfaction with far vision improved significantly in both groups (P<0.001), but satisfaction with near vision improved significantly only in FS-LASIK (P<0.001) and not in SMILE (P=0.58). There was more postoperative astigmatism in SMILE in comparison with FS-LASIK (P=0.002). Conclusions In a real-life situation, patients with preoperative dry eye experience were often directed to the SMILE operation, which resulted in beneficial decrease in their dry eye symptoms. Patient satisfaction with far vision decreased with increasing dry eye symptoms and postoperative astigmatism in both SMILE- and FS-LASIK-treated emmetropic patients. Safety, efficacy, and predictability were comparable in both treatments.
Electrocatalysis of Lindane Using Antimony Oxide Nanoparticles Based-SWCNT/PANI Nanocomposites

This work describes the chemical synthesis of antimony oxide nanoparticles (AONPs), polyaniline (PANI), acid functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (fSWCNTs), and the nanocomposite (AONP-PANI-SWCNT) as catalyst for the trace detection of lindane. Successful synthesis of the nanomaterials was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used for investigating the electrochemical behavior of the modified electrodes in the ferrocyanide/ferricyanide ([Fe(CN)6]4−/[Fe(CN)6]3−) redox probe. GCE-AONP-PANI-SWCNT exhibited faster electron transport properties as well as higher electroactivity as compared to bare-GCE, GCE-AONPs, GCE-PANI, and GCE-SWCNT electrodes. Electrocatalytic studies further showed that GCE-AONP-PANI-SWCNT modified electrode was stable (after 20 scans) with only a small current drop in lindane (0.57%). The GCE-AONP-PANI-SWCNT electrode with low detection limit of 2.01 nM performed better toward the detection of lindane as compared to other studies in literature. The GCE-AONP-PANI-SWCNT electrode is highly selective toward the detection of lindane in the presence of various organic and inorganic interfering species. Real sample analysis of river water and tap water samples using the developed sensor gave satisfactory percentage recoveries therefore confirming the potential of the proposed sensor for practical application.
The Antidiabetic Drug Lobeglitazone Protects Mice From Lipogenesis-Induced Liver Injury via Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 Inhibition

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a metabolic disorder closely linked with type II diabetes (T2D). The progression of NAFLD is associated with the induction of lipogenesis through hyperactivation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway. An increase in lipogenesis induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and accelerates oxidative liver injury in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Lobeglitazone, one of thiazolidinediones (TZDs), is used as an antidiabetic drug to lower serum glucose level through an increase in insulin sensitivity. It is known to improve pathological symptoms in animals and humans with NAFLD. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of the protective effects of lobeglitazone against NAFLD has not been elucidated. Here, we show that under the physiological condition of acute lipogenesis, lobeglitazone inhibits hepatic lipid synthesis, the subsequent ER stress, and ω-oxidation of fatty acids by inhibiting the mTORC1 pathway. As a result, lobeglitazone protected mice from lipogenesis-induced oxidative liver injury. Taken together, lobeglitazone might be a suitable drug for the treatment of patients with diabetes and NAFLD.
POSTAR2: deciphering the post-transcriptional regulatory logics

Abstract Post-transcriptional regulation of RNAs is critical to the diverse range of cellular processes. The volume of functional genomic data focusing on post-transcriptional regulation logics continues to grow in recent years. In the current database version, POSTAR2 (http://lulab.life.tsinghua.edu.cn/postar), we included the following new features and data: updated ∼500 CLIP-seq datasets (∼1200 CLIP-seq datasets in total) from six species, including human, mouse, fly, worm, Arabidopsis and yeast; added a new module ‘Translatome’, which is derived from Ribo-seq datasets and contains ∼36 million open reading frames (ORFs) in the genomes from the six species; updated and unified post-transcriptional regulation and variation data. Finally, we improved web interfaces for searching and visualizing protein–RNA interactions with multi-layer information. Meanwhile, we also merged our CLIPdb database into POSTAR2. POSTAR2 will help researchers investigate the post-transcriptional regulatory logics coordinated by RNA-binding proteins and translational landscape of cellular RNAs.
Constructing Unrestricted Adversarial Examples with Generative Models

Adversarial examples are typically constructed by perturbing an existing data point within a small matrix norm, and current defense methods are focused on guarding against this type of attack. In this paper, we propose unrestricted adversarial examples, a new threat model where the attackers are not restricted to small norm-bounded perturbations. Different from perturbation-based attacks, we propose to synthesize unrestricted adversarial examples entirely from scratch using conditional generative models. Specifically, we first train an Auxiliary Classifier Generative Adversarial Network (AC-GAN) to model the class-conditional distribution over data samples. Then, conditioned on a desired class, we search over the AC-GAN latent space to find images that are likely under the generative model and are misclassified by a target classifier. We demonstrate through human evaluation that unrestricted adversarial examples generated this way are legitimate and belong to the desired class. Our empirical results on the MNIST, SVHN, and CelebA datasets show that unrestricted adversarial examples can bypass strong adversarial training and certified defense methods designed for traditional adversarial attacks.
Canine and feline abdominal arterioportal communications can be classified based on branching patterns in computed tomographic angiography

Arterioportal vascular anomalies are communications between the splanchnic arteries and the portal system that represent a rare cause of presinusoidal portal hypertension in small animals. There is little information concerning the imaging findings of arterioportal communications in small animals and no classification could be found for radiologists and surgeons. The aims of this retrospective descriptive multicentric study were to describe the computed tomographic characteristics of arterioportal communications in a group of cats and dogs, and to propose a classification based on computed tomography (CT) angiographic anatomy. Computed tomography databases from multiple veterinary hospitals were searched for cats and dogs with a diagnosis of arterioportal communication. A total of 36 animals (33 dogs, three cats) met the inclusion criteria. There were 32 intrahepatic arterioportal malformations and four extrahepatic fistulae. The intrahepatic arterioportal malformations were classified as right divisional (11/32) and left divisional (21/32), and the left divisional were subclassified as left medial (16/21) and left lateral (4/21). One patient showed multiple intrahepatic arterioportal communications with concomitant left medial and left lateral conformations. Two patients with intrahepatic arteriovenous malformation showed concomitant congenital intrahepatic shunts. The proposed anatomical classification based on CT angiography could allow veterinary radiologists to have a more systematic approach and help improve the radiologist-surgeon communication.