Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stimulation of Macrophages with the β-Glucan Produced by Aureobasidium pullulans Promotes the Secretion of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL)

A β-glucan produced by Aureobasidium pullulans (AP-PG) is consisting of a β-(1,3)-linked main chain with β-(1,6)-linked glucose side residues. Various β-glucans consisting of β-(1,3)-linked main chain including AP-PG are believed to exhibit anti-tumor activities, and actually, anti-tumor activities of AP-PG in mice have been demonstrated. In this study, we demonstrate that stimulation with AP-PG induces TRAIL expression in mouse and human macrophage-like cell lines. TRAIL is known to be a cytokine which specifically induces apoptosis in transformed cells, but not in untransformed cells. The expression of TRAIL mRNA after stimulation with AP-PG was increased in RAW264.7 cells, Mono Mac 6 cells, and macrophage-differentiated THP-1 cells. The mRNA expression of TNF-α and FasL is only weakly increased after stimulation with AP-PG. The induction activity of TRAIL by curdlan, a bacterial β-glucan, was very similar to that by AP-PG in RAW264.7 cells, but weaker in macrophage-differentiated THP-1 cells. Activation of caspases was found in HeLa cells after treatment with the supernatant of cultured medium from AP-PG-stimulated Mono Mac 6 cells, and was inhibited by the anti-TRAIL neutralizing antibody. These findings suggest that the stimulation with AP-PG effectively induces TRAIL in macrophages, and that it may be related to apoptosis induction of tumor cells.
Collisionless Shocks -- Magnetic Field Generation and Particle Acceleration

We present numerical results from plasma particle simulations of collisionless shocks and ultra-relativistic counter-streaming plasmas. We demonstrate how the field-particle interactions lead to particle acceleration behind the shock-front. Further, we demonstrate how ultra relativistic counter-streaming plasmas create large scale patchy magnetic field structures and that these field structures propagate down-stream of the shock front. These results may help explain the origin of the magnetic fields and accelerated electrons responsible for afterglow synchrotron radiation from gamma ray bursts.
Strategic Pricing of Financial Options

The mainstream model of option pricing is based on an exogenously given process of price movements. The implication of this assumption is that price movements are not affected by actions of market participants. However, if we assume that there are indeed impacts on the price movements it no longer possible to apply the standard pricing models. As a result we need an approach explaining interdependent actions. Game theory is in a position to offer proper olutions. This paper applies game theoretic concepts to determine option prices. Consequently, both the option price and the underlying´s expiration price are endogenously determined.
Research Paper: Integrating "Best of Care" Protocols into Clinicians' Workflow via Care Provider Order Entry: Impact on Quality-of-Care Indicators for Acute Myocardial Infarction

OBJECTIVE In the context of an inpatient care provider order entry (CPOE) system, to evaluate the impact of a decision support tool on integration of cardiology "best of care" order sets into clinicians' admission workflow, and on quality measures for the management of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. DESIGN A before-and-after study of physician orders evaluated (1) per-patient use rates of standardized acute coronary syndrome (ACS) order set and (2) patient-level compliance with two individual recommendations: early aspirin ordering and beta-blocker ordering. MEASUREMENTS The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated for (1) all patients with ACS (suspected for AMI at the time of admission) (N = 540) and (2) the subset of the ACS patients with confirmed discharge diagnosis of AMI (n = 180) who comprise the recommended target population who should receive aspirin and/or beta-blockers. Compliance rates for use of the ACS order set, aspirin ordering, and beta-blocker ordering were calculated as the percentages of patients who had each action performed within 24 hours of admission. RESULTS For all ACS admissions, the decision support tool significantly increased use of the ACS order set (p = 0.009). Use of the ACS order set led, within the first 24 hours of hospitalization, to a significant increase in the number of patients who received aspirin (p = 0.001) and a nonsignificant increase in the number of patients who received beta-blockers (p = 0.07). Results for confirmed AMI cases demonstrated similar increases, but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION The decision support tool increased optional use of the ACS order set, but room for additional improvement exists.
Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Heterogeneous Information Access ( HIA 2015 )

Federated search has been studied for decades. However, the state-of-theart was more or less stale for a long period during which most published experiments were reported under questionable assumptions and tested in unrealistic settings. In recent years, things have started to change. In this presentation, we discuss the resurgence of federated search in different forms and applications, arguing that perhaps the best days for federated search are yet to come. Yiqun Liu, Tsinghua University Title: Examination Behavior in Web Search Scenario Abstract: Among all kinds of user interactions with search engines, examination is an Among all kinds of user interactions with search engines, examination is an important one that attracted much attention. Our understanding on how users allocate their limited attention to search engine result pages (SERPs) can contribute to improving search UI designing, result ranking, Ad delivery and many other research issues in Web search. In this talk, I will review some of the major findings on examination behavior in existing studies. Especially, I will focus on how users examine results coming from heterogeneous information sources including multimedia verticals, knowledge graph components, advertisements, etc. and how these factors affects users examination behavior on organic results. A discussion about on-going works and future research directions will
Towards a reliable parallel redundant WLAN black channel

WLAN according to standard IEEE 802.11 is widely regarded unsuitable as communication channel for real-time and safety applications. Non-determinism and interference liability leads to packet loss, exceeded and variable latency times due to retransmissions. This work proposes a method that compensates such consequences of stochastic channel fading by the parallel operation of diverse wireless channels, applying frequency and space diversity techniques. A fault-tolerant wireless “black channel” is achieved that is able to fulfill soft real-time availability plus providing redundancy. This is realized with standard WLAN components and the “Parallel Redundancy Protocol” (PRP) according to IEC 62439-3. Reliability and performance characteristics are derived from measurements on an experimental setup with SafetyNET p nodes.
The orientation workspace of a 3-PRS parallel manipulator

This paper deals with the orientation workspace of a 3-PRS parallel manipulator. The manipulator is constituted by a fixed three frustum base, three incline guide rails, three P-R-S kinematic chains and a mobile platform. Based on the kinematic analysis, the orientation workspace of the 3-PRS parallel manipulator are analyzed. The three dimensional view of orientation workspace is drawn based on inverse solution of its positional problem and comprehensively considering the structural restraint. The impact of its geometric parameter on the orientation workspace is analyzed quantitatively. The work of this paper provides the basis for the design and the practical application of the parallel manipulator.
Forecasting Gasoline Prices in the Presence of Edgeworth Price Cycles

Forecasting is a central theme in economics. The ability to forecast prices enables economic agents to make optimal decisions for the present and future. In this article, we investigate if and how gasoline prices can be forecast in retail gasoline markets that are subject to high-frequency, asymmetric price cycles known as Edgeworth Price Cycles. We examine a series of purchase timing decision rules and a series of feasible forecasting algorithms for updating those rules over time. We find that, in the presence of cycles, agents in our five Australian markets can systematically reduce purchase prices below market average the equivalent of 11 to 15 U.S. cents per gallon, using simple decision rules and feasible forecasting algorithms.
Branch Obfuscation Using "Black Boxes"

The path constraints are leaked by conditional jump instructions which are the binary form of software's internal logic. Based on the problem of above, reverse engineering using path-sensitive techniques such as symbolic execution and theorem proving poses a new threat to software intellectual property protection. In order to mitigate path information leaking problem, we propose a novel obfuscation technique called "black box" to combat the state-of-art reverse engineering techniques. By handling the branch conditions as knowledge embedded into black boxes, the black boxes can simulate the behaviors of the obfuscated branch logic, while the original branch condition is hidden. We show that based on the incomprehensibility of black boxes, revealing branch conditions hidden by our method is considerably harder due to the high computational cost. The results of the experiment further indicate that besides providing effective protection, our method is also a light-weight branch obfuscation scheme.
Stability analysis of multi-channel cognitive radio networks based on decoupling approach

In this paper, we consider a multi-channel cognitive radio network with multiple secondary users where the channel sensing of a secondary user is imperfect. Our goal in this paper is to characterize the stability region of the network. Due to the complexity in the analysis, we approximate the stability region by using the decoupling approximation. Numerical and simulation results show that our analysis well approximates the stability region. Based on our analysis, we investigate the impact of the channel sensing errors on the stability region. We also propose a channel access policy for secondary users to improve the stability region of the network.
Mapping Spatial Distribution of Soil Loss in the Upper Basin of Miyun Reservoir

This paper used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to investigate the spatial distribution of annual soil loss in the upper basin of Miyun reservoir in China. Among the soil erosion factors, the vegetative cover or C factor has been one of the most difficult to estimate over broad geographic areas. In this paper, the C factor was estimated based on a multivariate regression analysis, Back Propagation (BP) neural network and the results were compared with the values measured in the filed. The correlation coefficient (r) obtained was 0.929. Then the C factor and the other factors were used as the input to RUSLE model. By integrating these factor maps in GIS through pixel-based computing, the spatial distribution of soil loss over the upper basin of Miyun reservoir was obtained. The results showed that the annual average soil loss for the upper Basin of Miyun Reservoir was 9.86 t ha-1 ya-1 in 2005, and the area of 46.61 km2 (0.3%) experiences extremely severe erosion risk, which needs suitable conservation measures to be adopted on a priority basis. The spatial distribution of erosion risk classes was 66.9% lower, 21.89% low, 6.18% moderate, 2.89% severe and 1.84% very severe. Thus, by using RUSLE in a GIS environment, the spatial distribution of water erosion can be obtained and the regions which susceptible to water erosion and need immediate soil conservation planning and application over the upper basin of Miyun reservoir in China can be identified.
Retrieval of pathology image for breast cancer using PLSA model based on texture and pathological features

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) for digital pathology slides is of clinical use for breast cancer aided diagnosis. One of the largest challenges in CBIR is feature extraction. In this paper, we propose a novel pathology image retrieval method for breast cancer, which aims to characterize the pathology image content through texture and pathological features and further discover the latent high-level semantics. Specifically, the proposed method utilizes block Gabor features to describe the texture structure, and simultaneously designs nucleus-based pathological features to describe morphological characteristics of nuclei. Based on these two kinds of local feature descriptors, two codebooks are built to learn the probabilistic latent semantic analysis (pLSA) models. Consequently, each image is represented by the topics of pLSA models which can reveal the semantic concepts. Experimental results on the digital pathology image database for breast cancer demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our method.
Contraception and HIV infection in women

BACKGROUND More than 15 million women, many of reproductive age, were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at the end of 2007. As the HIV epidemic evolves, heterosexual intercourse is increasingly risky: the risk of infection in exposed young women is 4- to 7-fold higher than in young men and nearly half a million newborns annually have HIV. This review aims to show the effect of contraceptive choices on risk of HIV and on the course of disease in women with HIV. METHODS Relevant citations were selected by agreement between the authors after a search of MEDLINE using the terms HIV/AIDS and contraception. RESULTS Risk of transmission of HIV varies from 1 in 200 to 1 in 10 000 coital incidents, depending in part on the integrity of the vaginal epithelium. Consistent use of male condoms has been proven to reduce horizontal transmission of HIV by 80% among HIV-serodiscordant couples. Hormonal contraception may increase the risk of HIV acquisition in high-risk women such as commercial sex workers, but not in women at low risk of HIV. While hormonal contraception did not affect progression of disease in two cohort studies involving 370 women, in a randomized trial among women not receiving antiretroviral medication, clinical disease accelerated in the oral contraception group (13.2/100 woman-years) compared with the copper intrauterine devices group (8.6/100 woman-years; hazard ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.04–2.1). Hormonal contraception does not interfere with antiviral drug effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS All the available reversible contraceptive methods can generally be used by women at risk of HIV infection and by HIV-infected women. Further studies are needed to investigate the safety and efficiency of hormonal contraception in women living with HIV/AIDS.
Assessment of different methods to estimate electrocardiogram signal quality

During the process of measurement, the ECG signal suffers from several noises, artifacts and interferences, which reduce its quality. Automatic signal quality estimation could permit indentify when the level of noise is high to avoid wrong ECG interpretation. With this aim, several methods have been proposed in the literature. This work assesses eleven different methods for estimation of ECG signal quality available in literature. In addition, three new methods are proposed. These methods were evaluated in a simulated database containing ECGs with different types and levels of noise with SNR values ranging from −20 to 20 dB. From all the quality estimators studied, one novel parameter: Kurtosis, gave the best performance overall the tests. It gave high correlation with the signal SNR (0.95±0.00) and high correlation with the output of a beat detector (Positive Predictivity=0.97±0.00) and high resolution in time (10 seconds of signal length). However kurtosis did not have a high dynamic range. Some methods require some knowledge about the ECG signal (like the position of the R peak) and therefore are not suitable for applications with high levels of noise.
Oscillatory current responses of olfactory receptor neurons to odorants and computer simulation based on a cyclic AMP transduction model.

Neural oscillatory activities triggered by odorant stimulation have been often reported at various levels of olfactory nervous systems in vertebrates. To elucidate the origin of neural oscillations, we studied first the oscillatory properties of current responses of isolated olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) of the rainbow trout to amino acid odorants, using a whole-cell voltage-clamp technique and found that the damped current oscillations were intrinsic in both ciliated and microvillous ORNs and occurred when ORNs were stimulated by odorants at high intensities. Continuous wavelet analysis using the Gabor function revealed that the dominant frequency of oscillations was 1.89 +/- 0.50 Hz (mean +/- SD, n = 92). There was no significant difference in oscillation frequency between the two types of ORNs and between different perfusion conditions with standard and Na(+)-free (choline) Ringer's solutions, but there was a slight difference in oscillation frequency between different holding potential conditions of negative and positive potentials. We then performed a computer simulation of the current responses with a cAMP olfactory transduction model. The model was based on the assumption that the current responses of ORNs were linearly related to the sum of concentrations of active cyclic-nucleotide-gated channels and Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) channels, and was expressed by 12 differential equations with 44 different parameters. The simulation revealed that the oscillations of current responses of ORNs were mainly due to the oscillatory properties of intracellular cAMP and Ca(2+) concentrations. The necessary reaction component for the oscillations in the transduction model was direct inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity by Ca(2+). High Ca(2+) efflux by the Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchanger and cAMP-phosphodiesterase activity were most influential on the oscillations. The simulation completely represented the characteristics of current responses of ORNs: odorant-intensity-dependent response, intensity-dependent latency and adaptation. Thus, the simulation is generally applicable to current and voltage responses of ORNs equipped with cAMP olfactory transduction pathway in other vertebrate species. The simulation programs for Macintosh (cAMP 9.2.7 and 9.2.8 for MacOS 8.1 or later) and cAMP JAVA applet versions based on cAMP 9.2. 8 have been published on the world wide web (http://bio2.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/bio/chinou1/noriyo_home.html).
The Adaptogens Rhodiola and Schizandra Modify the Response to Immobilization Stress in Rabbits by Suppressing the Increase of Phosphorylated Stress-activated Protein Kinase, Nitric Oxide and Cortisol

Adaptogens possess anti-fatigue and anti-stress activities that can increase mental and physical working performance against a background of fatigue or stress. The aim of the present study was to ascertain which mediators of stress response are significantly involved in the mechanisms of action of adaptogens, and to determine their relevance as biochemical markers for evaluating anti-stress effects in rabbits subjected to restraint stress. Blood levels of stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK/JNK), the phosphorylated kinase p-SAPK/p-JNK, nitric oxide (NO), cortisol, testosterone, prostaglandin E2, leukotriene B4 and thromboxane B2 were determined in groups of animals prior to daily oral administration of placebo, rhodioloside or extracts of Eleutherococcus senticosus, Schizandra chinensis, Rhodiola rosea, Bryonia alba and Panax ginseng over a 7 day period. Ten minutes after the final treatment, animals were immobilized for 2 hours and blood levels of the markers re-determined. In the placebo group, only p-SAPK/p-JNK, NO and cortisol were increased significantly (by 200–300% cf basal levels) following restraint stress, whilst in animals that had received multiple doses of adaptogens/stress-protectors, the levels of NO and cortisol remained practically unchanged after acute stress. Rhodioloside and extracts of S. chinensis and R. rosea were the most active inhibitors of stress-induced p-SAPK/p-JNK. E. senticosus, B. alba and P. ginseng exerted little effect on p-SAPK/p-JNK levels. It is suggested that the inhibitory effects of R. rosea and S. chinensis on p-SAPK/p-JNK activation may be associated with their anti-depressant activity as well as their positive effects on mental performance under stress.
Minding the (Transatlantic) Gap: An Internet-Enabled Acoustic Brain-Computer Music Interface

use of non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) in the experimental arts is not a novel concept. Since 1965, EEG has been used in a large number of, sometimes highly sophisticated, systems for musical and artistic expression. However, since the advent of the synthesizer, most such systems have utilized digital and/or synthesized media in sonifying the EEG signals. There have been relatively few attempts to create interfaces for musical expression that allow one to mechanically manipulate acoustic instruments by modulating one's mental state. Secondly, few such systems afford a distributed performance medium, with data transfer and audience participation occurring over the Internet. The use of acoustic instruments and Internet-enabled communication expands the realm of possibilities for musical expression in Brain-Computer Music Interfaces (BCMI), while also introducing additional challenges. In this paper we report and examine a first demonstration (Music for Online Performer) of a novel system for Internet-enabled manipulation of robotic acoustic instruments, with feedback, using a non-invasive EEG-based BCI and low-cost, commercially available robotics hardware.
Dynamic measurements of laser light attenuation by cryogen film and frost formation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamics oflaser light attenuation during cryogen spray cooling (CSC). Two detection schemes were used to approximate col]imated and diffuse light transmittance measurements of continuous-wave (? = 594 nm) and pulsed (? = 585 nm) laser light during application of short (20-100 ms duration) cryogen spurts on a glass substrate. High-speed video images were also obtained during CSC. Collimated light transmittance varied considerably during CSC. Comparison of collimated and total transmitted light detection indicated that the diffuse component was substantial. Light attenuation occurred despite transparency of the liquid cryogen layer. Light scattering by cryogen results in a diverging laser beam incident on the skin surface. Since specular reflectance at the cryogen-skin interface may differ for diffuse light, further study of light scattering during CSC is warranted. Due to the differences in optical properties of glass and skin, experiments on skin need to be performed to extrapolate our results to the clinical scenario. For dermatologic procedures such as laser port wine stain and vascular lesion removal, hair removal, and nonablative skin rejuvenation, recommended ? d are 10-80 ms. This range of td appears to be appropriate, although more studies are required to arrive at a definite conclusion.