Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Anaplasma marginale Elicit Different Gene Expression Responses in Cultured Tick Cells

The genus Anaplasma (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) includes obligate tick-transmitted intracellular organisms, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Anaplasma marginale that multiply in both vertebrate and tick host cells. Recently, we showed that A. marginale affects the expression of tick genes that are involved in tick survival and pathogen infection and multiplication. However, the gene expression profile in A. phagocytophilum-infected tick cells is currently poorly characterized. The objectives of this study were to characterize tick gene expression profile in Ixodes scapularis ticks and cultured ISE6 cells in response to infection with A. phagocypthilum and to compare tick gene expression responses in A. phagocytophilum- and A. marginale-infected tick cells by microarray and real-time RT-PCR analyses. The results of these studies demonstrated modulation of tick gene expression by A. phagocytophilum and provided evidence of different gene expression responses in tick cells infected with A. phagocytophilum and A. marginale. These differences in Anaplasma-tick interactions may reflect differences in pathogen life cycle in the tick cells.
The role and development of life skills in young sports participants

Under the umbrella of positive youth development, life skills represent an important area of research for young people. The personal competencies a young person possesses determine his or her capacity to effectively navigate the turbulence of adolescence and grow into adulthood. An increased understanding of the role, function, and enhancement of life skills therefore serves a great purpose in the design and evaluation of youth development programs. This thesis aimed to extend the current knowledge and practices through targeting the gaps in the life skills literature. First, using a qualitative design, the specific needs of young elite athletes were investigated while outlining a proposed methodology for future needs analyses. The importance of developing life skills in young athletes was emphasised as it was found that young athletes required a range of both sport specific and life skills. Second, an investigation into the function of life skills found that reported possession of key life skills partially mediates the relationship between youth experiences and well-being, illustrating this role for the first time. However, within youth samples there was a broad range in the degree to which these skills are applied and transferred, reinforcing the call for deliberate developmental programming. The lack of adequate measures in life skills research was addressed through the validation of BRSQ with young sports participants. Support for the utility of this measure allows for the greater investigation into the mechanisms through which life skills function. Finally, a life skills program was designed following the recommendations of the predominant youth development frameworks and comprehensively evaluated. This thesis progresses existing literature regarding the role and function of life skills as well as providing insight into how to best promote and evaluate the teaching of life skills in applied research programs.
The effect of dornase alfa on ventilation inhomogeneity in patients with cystic fibrosis

Outcome measures to assess therapeutic interventions in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with mild lung disease are lacking. Our aim was to determine if the lung clearance index (LCI) can detect a treatment response to dornase alfa in paediatric CF patients with normal spirometry. CF patients between 6–18 yrs of age with FEV1 ≥80% pred were eligible. In a crossover design, 17 patients received 4 weeks of dornase alfa and placebo in a randomised sequence separated by a 4-week washout period. The primary end-point was the change in LCI from dornase alfa versus placebo. A mixed model approach incorporating period-dependent baselines was used. The mean±sd age was 10.32±3.35 yrs. Dornase alfa improved LCI versus placebo (0.90±1.44; p = 0.022). Forced expiratory flow at 25–75% expired volume measured by % pred and z-scores also improved in subjects on dornase alfa (6.1%±10.34%; p = 0.03 and 0.28±0.46 z-score; p = 0.03). Dornase alfa significantly improved LCI. Therefore the LCI may be a suitable tool to assess early intervention strategies in this patient population.
The “fast clustering-tracking” algorithm in the Bayesian occupancy filter framework

It has been shown that the dynamic environment around the mobile robot can be efficiently and robustly represented by the Bayesian occupancy filter (BOF) (Tay, 2008). In the BOF framework, the environment is decomposed into a grid-based representation in which both the occupancy and the velocity distributions are estimated. In such a representation, concepts such as objects or tracks do not exist. However, the object-level representation is necessary for applications needing high-level representations of obstacles and their motion. To achieve this, we present in this paper a novel algorithm which performs clustering on the BOF output grid. The main idea is to use the prediction result of the tracking module as a form of feedback to the clustering module, which reduces drastically the complexity of the data association. Compared with the traditional joint probabilistic data association filter (JPDAF) approach, the proposed algorithm demands less computational costs, so as to be suitable for environments with large amount of dynamic objects. The experiment result on the real data shows the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Three dimensional reconstruction of urban areas using jointly phase and amplitude multichannel images

The aim of this paper is the three dimensional reconstruction of urban areas using Very High Resolution (VHR) images. The proposed innovative approach for the three dimensional reconstruction is based on the joint exploitation of both amplitude and interferometric phase images of a multichannel SAR system. The information provided by the amplitude data is added to the 3D reconstruction chain, considering that in urban areas edges of amplitude image are likely also present in the interferometric phase one and conversely. Differently from other works present in literature, the proposed technique exploits the amplitude image, not only to improve the phase regularization, but also to improve the phase unwrapping step. The results will show the effectiveness of the method.
Spectroscopic study the plasma parameters for SnO2 doped ZnO prepared by pulse Nd:YAG laser deposition

In this work, plasma parameters such as (electron temperature (Te), electron density (ne), plasma frequency (fp) and Debye length (λD)) were studied using spectral analysis techniques. The spectrum of the plasma was recorded with different energy values, SnO2 and ZnO anesthetized at a different ratio (X = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6) were recorded. Spectral study of this mixing in the air. The results showed electron density and electron temperature increase in zinc oxide: tin oxide alloy targets. It was located that The intensity of the lines increases in different laser peak powers when the laser peak power increases and then decreases when the force continues to increase.
Crimes against Humanity: The Role of International Courts

We study the role of international tribunals, like the International Criminal Court (ICC), as an effective way of reducing the number and/or gravity of crimes against humanity. The action of the ICC is directed against leaders that promote or tolerate these kinds of crimes, that is, political authorities, army commanders, civil leaders, etc. In order to simulate the action of the ICC we build a hierarchical society where the most important leaders have the highest connectivity and can spread their points of view, or their orders, through a chain of less but still highly connected deputy chiefs or opinion chieftains. In this way, if they practice misconduct, corruption, or any kind of discriminatory or criminal actions against individuals or groups, it would very difficult and improbable that they will be prosecuted by the courts of their own country. It is to alleviate this situation that the ICC was created. Its mission is to process and condemn crimes against humanity though a supranational organism that can act on criminal leaders in any country. In this study, the action of the ICC is simulated by removing the corrupt leader and replacing it by a “decent” one. However, as the action of the corrupt leader could have spread among the population by the time the ICC acts, we try to determine if a unique action of the ICC is sufficient or if further actions are required, depending on the degree of deterioration of the human rights in the hypothetical country. The results evidence the positive effect of the ICC action with a relatively low number of interventions. The effect of the ICC is also compared with the action of the local national judiciary system.
High Urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity and normal calciuria in children with nocturnal enuresis.

INDIAN PEDIATRICS 655 VOLUME 43JULY 17, 2006 Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is the occurrence of involuntary voiding at night at 5 years, the age when volitional control of micturition is expected. NE may be primary or secondary(1). The role of hypercalciuria in the etiopathogenesis of primary NE has been discussed(2). N acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) is a lysosomal enzyme abundantly present in the cells of proximal tubule and is considered a very sensitive marker of renal tubular impairment(3). As increased urinary NAG activity has been reported in patients with hypercalciuria(3), our objective was to evaluate the urinary NAG and calciuria in patients with NE. Fourteen patients (11 boys and 3 girls, mean age 6.8 ± 1.6 yr, range 510 yr) with primary NE were enrolled on basis of the inclusion criteria: age 5-15 yr; absence of urinary tract anomalies; absence of diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus; urine osmolality (morning void >400 mOsm/kg); absence of urinary tract infection; no previous treatment for NE; >4 bedwetting episodes within the last 14 days. The blood levels of creatinine, urea, glucose, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium and urinary betamicroglobulin were within the normal range. Urinary calcium/creatinine (UCa/Cr; mmol/L : mmol/L) and urinary NAG/creatinine ratios
BIRDNEST: Bayesian Inference for Ratings-Fraud Detection

Review fraud is a pervasive problem in online commerce, in which fraudulent sellers write or purchase fake reviews to manipulate perception of their products and services. Fake reviews are often detected based on several signs, including 1) they occur in short bursts of time; 2) fraudulent user accounts have skewed rating distributions. However, these may both be true in any given dataset. Hence, in this paper, we propose an approach for detecting fraudulent reviews which combines these 2 approaches in a principled manner, allowing successful detection even when one of these signs is not present. To combine these 2 approaches, we formulate our Bayesian Inference for Rating Data (BIRD) model, a flexible Bayesian model of user rating behavior. Based on our model we formulate a likelihood-based suspiciousness metric, Normalized Expected Surprise Total (NEST). We propose a linear-time algorithm for performing Bayesian inference using our model and computing the metric. Experiments on real data show that BIRDNEST successfully spots review fraud in large, real-world graphs: the 50 most suspicious users of the Flipkart platform flagged by our algorithm were investigated and all identified as fraudulent by domain experts at Flipkart.
Characteristic Rain Events: A Methodology for Improving the Amenity Value of Stormwater Control Measures

Local management of rainwater using stormwater control measures (SCMs) is gaining increased attention as a sustainable alternative and supplement to traditional sewer systems. Besides offering added utility values, many SCMs also offer a great potential for added amenity values. One way of achieving amenity value is to stage the rainwater and thus bring it to the attention of the public. We present here a methodology for creating a selection of rain events that can help bridge between engineering and landscape architecture when dealing with staging of rainwater. The methodology uses quantitative and statistical methods to select Characteristic Rain Events (CREs) for a range of frequent return periods: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and a single rarer event occurring only every 1–10 years. The methodology for selecting CREs is flexible and can be adjusted to any climatic settings; here we show its use for Danish conditions. We illustrate with a case study how CREs can be used in combination with a simple hydrological model to visualize where, how deep and for how long water is visible in a landscape designed to manage rainwater.
Searching for Parking Spaces via Range-based Sensors

Real-time parking occupancy information is valuable for guiding drivers’ searching for parking spaces. However, in previous practice, data acquisition requires costly infrastructure upgrades especially including installing cameras or sensors on site. In this paper, we proposed a Sensor-based Intelligent Parking System (SIPS) which is able to detect free parking spaces using range-based sensors embedded in vehicles, and share information through a connected vehicle network. A probe vehicle equipped with six Short-Range Radars (SRR) and GPS is used to collected data from field tests with known test environment configuration. Based on different scenarios of data processing, two probabilistic detection algorithms are proposed and evaluated. In the case of handling static data, a two-step clustering method reduced Type I and Type II errors to less than 15 %. For dynamic data, a modified Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm was applied to estimate the status of parking occupancy by using Bayesian inference and geometric approximations.
On the topologies formed by selfish peers

Current peer-to-peer (P2P) systems often suffer from a large fraction of freeriders not contributing any resources to the network. Various mechanisms have been designed to overcome this problem. However, the selfish behavior of peers has aspects which go beyond resource sharing. This paper studies the effects on the topology of a P2P network if peers selfishly select the peers to connect to. In our model, a peer exploits locality properties in order to minimize the latency (or response times) of its lookup operations. At the same time, the peer aims at not having to maintain links to too many other peers in the system. By giving tight bounds on the price of anarchy, we show that the resulting topologies can be much worse than if peers collaborated. Moreover, the network may never stabilize, even in the absence of churn. Finally, we establish the complexity of Nash equilibria in our game theoretic model of P2P networks. Specifically, we prove that it is NP-hard to decide whether our game has a Nash equilibrium and can stabilize.
LiteLab: Efficient large-scale network experiments

Novel network systems need to be carefully evaluated before their actual deployments in developing regions. However, large-scale network experiment is a challenging task. Simulations, emulations, and real-world testbeds all have their advantages and disadvantages. In this paper we present LiteLab, a light-weight platform specialized for large-scale networking experiments. We cover in detail its design, key features, and architecture. We also perform an extensive evaluation of Lite-Lab's performance and accuracy and show that it is able to both simulate network parameters with high accuracy, and also able to scale up to very large networks. LiteLab is flexible, easy to deploy, and allows researchers to perform large-scale network experiments with a short development cycle. We have used LiteLab for many different kinds of network experiments and are planning to make it available for others to use as well.
Research Expression levels of HMGA 2 in adipocytic tumors correlate with morphologic and cytogenetic subgroups

Background: The HMGA2 gene encodes a protein that alters chromatin structure. Deregulation, typically through chromosomal rearrangements, of HMGA2 has an important role in the development of several mesenchymal neoplasms. These rearrangements result in the expression of a truncated protein lacking the acidic C-terminus, a fusion protein consisting of the AT-hook domains encoded by exons 1–3 and parts from another gene, or a full-length protein; loss of binding sites for regulatory microRNA molecules from the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of HMGA2 has been suggested to be a common denominator. Methods: Seventy adipocytic tumors, representing different morphologic and cytogenetic subgroups, were analyzed by qRT-PCR to study the expression status of HMGA2; 18 of these tumors were further examined by PCR to search for mutations or deletions in the 3'UTR. Results: Type (full-length or truncated) and level of expression varied with morphology and karyotype, with the highest levels in atypical lipomatous tumors and lipomas with rearrangements of 12q13-15 and the lowest in lipomas with 6por 13q-rearrangements, hibernomas, spindle cell lipomas and myxoid liposarcomas. All 18 examined tumors showed reduced or absent expression of the entire, or parts of, the 3'UTR, which was not due to mutations at the DNA level. Conclusion: In adipocytic tumors with deregulated HMGA2 expression, the 3'UTR is consistently lost, either due to physical disruption of HMGA2 or a shift to production of shorter 3'UTR. Background HMGA2 belongs to the high-mobility group A family of non-histone chromosomal proteins. With its three AThooks it can bind to the minor groove of AT-rich regions of DNA, affecting the transcription of target genes by modulating the DNA structure and facilitating or inhibiting the organization of enhanceosomes [1-3]. The HMGA2 protein has been shown to have important functions in cellular growth and differentiation, with a particular impact on the progression of the undifferentiated Published: 9 June 2009 Molecular Cancer 2009, 8:36 doi:10.1186/1476-4598-8-36 Received: 31 March 2009 Accepted: 9 June 2009 This article is available from: http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/8/1/36 © 2009 Bartuma et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Molecular Cancer 2009, 8:36 http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/8/1/36
Concept for an architecture of a wireless building automation

In several applications for automation, radio transmission could be a good alternative to wired field buses (see Rauchhaupt, L. and Hahniche, J., Proc. Fieldbus Conf. FeT'99, p.48-54,1999). The advantages are an easy, fast and low cost installation scenario in common with the possibility of flexible device placing. However, the specifics of radio require a very specialized protocol stack which affects the whole system architecture. Starting from the requirements of building automation, the paper shows a concept of an architecture for the integration of wireless devices into wired field buses. It is shown that radio transmission is well suited for open loop sensors and user terminals. But for actuators and backbones, it is a better choice to keep them on wires.
Distributed resource allocation for network-supported FGS video streaming

In this paper, we propose a novel distributed resource allocation algorithm for fine granularity scalable video streaming. Our system model includes a proxy-based network infrastructure that is used for allocating locally the available bandwidth between the video rate and error control. Initially, we express analytically the expected decoder distortion as a function of both the source video streaming rate and the employed retransmission-based error control algorithm at each proxy. Next, we show that for this system configuration, the minimization of the decoder distortion is equivalent to a network flow control problem. We propose a distributed algorithm for solving this problem by applying Lagrange duality. The algorithm adapts the source streaming rate at the sender, while the number of retransmissions is optimized at each proxy individually. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Related Readmission in Preterm Infants Less than 34 weeks' Gestation Following Discharge from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Korea

This study was done to evaluate respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) related readmission (RRR) and risk factors of RRR in preterm infants < 34 weeks gestational age (GA) within 1 yr following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Infants (n = 1,140) who were born and admitted to the NICUs of 46 hospitals in Korea from April to September 2012, and followed up for > 1 yr after discharge from the NICU, were enrolled. The average GA and birth weight of the infants was 30+5 ± 2+5 weeks and 1,502 ± 474 g, respectively. The RRR rate of enrolled infants was 8.4% (96/1,140), and RSV accounted for 58.2% of respiratory readmissions of infants who had laboratory tests confirming etiological viruses. Living with elder siblings (odd ratio [OR], 2.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.68-4.28; P < 0.001), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.44-6.04; P = 0.003, BPD vs. none) increased the risk of RRR. Palivizumab prophylaxis (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.03-0.13; P < 0.001) decreased the risk of RRR. The risk of RRR of infants of 32-33 weeks' gestation was lower than that of infants < 26 weeks' gestation (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.02-0.53; P = 0.006). This was a nationwide study that evaluated the rate and associated risk factors of RRR in Korean preterm infants. Preterm infants with BPD or living with siblings should be supervised, and administration of palivizumab to prevent RRR should be considered.
Nesprins: from the nuclear envelope and beyond

Nuclear envelope spectrin-repeat proteins (Nesprins), are a novel family of nuclear and cytoskeletal proteins with rapidly expanding roles as intracellular scaffolds and linkers. Originally described as proteins that localise to the nuclear envelope (NE) and establish nuclear-cytoskeletal connections, nesprins have now been found to comprise a diverse spectrum of tissue specific isoforms that localise to multiple sub-cellular compartments. Here, we describe how nesprins are necessary in maintaining cellular architecture by acting as essential scaffolds and linkers at both the NE and other sub-cellular domains. More importantly, we speculate how nesprin mutations may disrupt tissue specific nesprin scaffolds and explain the tissue specific nature of many nesprin-associated diseases, including laminopathies.