Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An adaptive load balancing scheme for evolving virtual networks

An algorithm to adapt dynamically virtual networks to additional resource requirements is proposed and evaluated. The optimization is achieved while balancing load and avoiding fragmentation in the infrastructure (often referred as substrate or physical network). The algorithm focuses on virtual nodes requiring more resources by extending their allocations and maintaining their connectivity (even if the node is migrated) to other resources while tidying up (or consolidating) the infrastructure. The algorithm outperforms existing approaches.
Intermittent hypoxic resistance training: does it provide added benefit?

Methods to enhance the adaptive responses to resistance training are of great interest to clinical and athletic populations alike. Altering the muscular environment by restricting oxygen availability during resistance exercise has been shown to induce favorable physiological adaptations. An acute hypoxic stimulus during exercise essentially increases reliance on anaerobic pathways, augmenting metabolic stress responses, and subsequent hypertrophic processes (Scott et al., 2014). Hypoxic strategies during resistance exercise were originally investigated using blood flow restriction (BFR) methods (Takarada et al., 2000), whereby a cuff is applied proximally to a limb to partially limit arterial inflow while occluding venous outflow from the working muscles. Another method that has been investigated more recently is performing resistance exercise in systemic hypoxia, by means of participants breathing a hypoxic air mixture. The addition of systemic hypoxia to resistance training has previously resulted in significantly enhanced hypertrophic and strength responses to both low-load (20% 1-repetition maximum; 1RM) (Manimmanakorn et al., 2013a,b) and moderate-load (70% 1RM) (Nishimura et al., 2010) resistance training. While research into intermittent hypoxic resistance training (IHRT) is in its infancy, some studies have reported conflicting results, which is likely due to differing research methodologies. In a recent review, it has been suggested that many of the potential mechanisms underpinning muscle adaptations to BFR training and IHRT are linked to the muscular oxygenation status and degree of metabolic stress associated with exercise (Scott et al., 2014). The purpose of this paper is to briefly summarize the adaptive responses that have been reported following both low- and moderate-load IHRT and to highlight key areas of concern for IHRT methodology, including the level of hypoxia used and the degree of metabolic stress imposed during exercise.
Pharmacological Inhibition of Dynamin II Reduces Constitutive Protein Secretion from Primary Human Macrophages

Dynamins are fission proteins that mediate endocytic and exocytic membrane events and are pharmacological therapeutic targets. These studies investigate whether dynamin II regulates constitutive protein secretion and show for the first time that pharmacological inhibition of dynamin decreases secretion of apolipoprotein E (apoE) and several other proteins constitutively secreted from primary human macrophages. Inhibitors that target recruitment of dynamin to membranes (MiTMABs) or directly target the GTPase domain (Dyngo or Dynole series), dose- and time- dependently reduced the secretion of apoE. SiRNA oligo’s targeting all isoforms of dynamin II confirmed the involvement of dynamin II in apoE secretion. Inhibition of secretion was not mediated via effects on mRNA or protein synthesis. 2D-gel electrophoresis showed that inhibition occurred after apoE was processed and glycosylated in the Golgi and live cell imaging showed that inhibited secretion was associated with reduced post-Golgi movement of apoE-GFP-containing vesicles. The effect was not restricted to macrophages, and was not mediated by the effects of the inhibitors on microtubules. Inhibition of dynamin also altered the constitutive secretion of other proteins, decreasing the secretion of fibronectin, matrix metalloproteinase 9, Chitinase-3-like protein 1 and lysozyme but unexpectedly increasing the secretion of the inflammatory mediator cyclophilin A. We conclude that pharmacological inhibitors of dynamin II modulate the constitutive secretion of macrophage apoE as a class effect, and that their capacity to modulate protein secretion may affect a range of biological processes.
Investigation of the adsorption kinetics of methylene blue onto cotton wastes

Cotton stalk (CS), cotton waste (CW), and cotton dust (CD), which are cotton wastes, were used as adsorbents to study the adsorption kinetics of methylene blue from aqueous solution. Kinetics of the batch adsorption experiment was investigated according to the pseudo-first order, the pseudo-second order, and the intraparticle diffusion models used commonly in the literature. The effects of the initial concentration, solution pH, and temperature on kinetic parameters (adsorption rate constant, initial adsorption rate, equilibrium adsorption capacity, etc.) were studied. The results showed that the adsorption process was well fitted to the pseudo-second order model for all adsorbents. The activation energy (Ea) of the adsorption process was determined by using the pseudo-second-order rate constants by means of Arrhenius' equation. The values of Ea were estimated as 7.05, 10.89, and 35.72 kJ mol-1 for CS, CW, and CD, respectively. From the results, it was understood that the adsorption process was controlled by an intraparticle diffusion mechanism as well as both an activated process and a physical adsorption process.
Randomized phase II study of fludarabine + cytosine arabinoside + idarubicin +/- all-trans retinoic acid +/- granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in poor prognosis newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Preclinical data suggest that retinoids, eg, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), lower concentrations of antiapoptotic proteins such as bcl-2, possibly thereby improving the outcome of anti-acute myeloid leukemia (AML) chemotherapy. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been considered to be potentially synergistic with ATRA in this regard. Accordingly, we randomized 215 patients with newly diagnosed AML (153 patients) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (refractory anemia with excess blasts [RAEB] or RAEB-t, 62 patients) to receive fludarabine + ara-C + idarubicin (FAI) alone, FAI + ATRA, FAI + G-CSF, or FAI + ATRA + G-CSF. Eligibility required one of the following: age over 71 years, a history of abnormal blood counts before M.D. Anderson (MDA) presentation, secondary AML/MDS, failure to respond to one prior course of chemotherapy given outside MDA, or abnormal renal or hepatic function. For the two treatment arms containing ATRA, ATRA was given 2 days (day-2) before beginning and continued for 3 days after completion of FAI. For the two treatment arms including G-CSF, G-CSF began on day-1 and continued until neutrophil recovery. Patients with white blood cell (WBC) counts >50,000/microL began ATRA on day 1 and G-CSF on day 2. Events (death, failure to achieve complete remission [CR], or relapse from CR) have occurred in 77% of the 215 patients. Reflecting the poor prognosis of the patients entered, the CR rate was only 51%, median event-free survival (EFS) time once in CR was 36 weeks, and median survival time was 28 weeks. A Cox regression analysis indicated that, after accounting for patient prognostic variables, none of the three adjuvant treatment combinations (FAI + ATRA, FAI + G, FAI + ATRA + G) affected survival, EFS, or EFS once in CR compared with FAI. Similarly, there were no significant effects of either ATRA ignoring G-CSF, or of G-CSF ignoring ATRA. As previously found, a diagnosis of RAEB or RAEB-t rather than AML was insignificant. There were no indications that the effect of ATRA differed according to cytogenetic group, diagnosis (AML or MDS), or treatment schedule. Logistic regression analysis indicated that, after accounting for prognosis, addition of G-CSF +/- ATRA to FAI improved CR rate versus either FAI or FAI + ATRA, but G-CSF had no effect on the other outcomes. We conclude that addition of ATRA +/- G-CSF to FAI had no effect on CR rate, survival, EFS, or EFS in CR in poor prognosis, newly diagnosed AML or high-risk MDS.
Ethanol Inhibits High-Affinity Immunoglobulin E Receptor (FcεRI) Signaling in Mast Cells by Suppressing the Function of FcεRI-Cholesterol Signalosome

Ethanol has multiple effects on biochemical events in a variety of cell types, including the high-affinity immunoglobulin E receptor (FcεRI) signaling in antigen-activated mast cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown. To get better understanding of the effect of ethanol on FcεRI-mediated signaling we examined the effect of short-term treatment with non-toxic concentrations of ethanol on FcεRI signaling events in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells. We found that 15 min exposure to ethanol inhibited antigen-induced degranulation, calcium mobilization, expression of proinflammatory cytokine genes (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-13), and formation of reactive oxygen species in a dose-dependent manner. Removal of cellular cholesterol with methyl-β-cyclodextrin had a similar effect and potentiated some of the inhibitory effects of ethanol. In contrast, exposure of the cells to cholesterol-saturated methyl-β-cyclodextrin abolished in part the inhibitory effect of ethanol on calcium response and production of reactive oxygen species, supporting lipid-centric theories of ethanol action on the earliest stages of mast cell signaling. Further studies showed that exposure to ethanol and/or removal of cholesterol inhibited early FcεRI activation events, including tyrosine phosphorylation of the FcεRI β and γ subunits, SYK kinases, LAT adaptor protein, phospholipase Cγ, STAT5, and AKT and internalization of aggregated FcεRI. Interestingly, ethanol alone, and particularly in combination with methyl-β-cyclodextrin, enhanced phosphorylation of negative regulatory tyrosine 507 of LYN kinase. Finally, we found that ethanol reduced passive cutaneous anaphylactic reaction in mice, suggesting that ethanol also inhibits FcεRI signaling under in vivo conditions. The combined data indicate that ethanol interferes with early antigen-induced signaling events in mast cells by suppressing the function of FcεRI-cholesterol signalosomes at the plasma membrane.
A Low-Voltage Micropower Asynchronous Multiplier With Shift–Add Multiplication Approach

The design of a low-voltage micropower asynchronous (async) signed truncated multiplier based on a shift-add structure for power-critical applications such as the low-clock-rate (<4 MHz) hearing aids is described. The emphases of the design are micropower operation and small IC area, and these attributes are achieved in several ways. First, a maximum of three signed power-of-two terms accompanied with sign magnitude data representation is used for the multiplier operand. Second, the least significant partial products are truncated to yield a 16-bit signed product. An error correction methodology is proposed to mitigate, where appropriate, the arising truncation errors. The errors arising from truncation and the effectiveness of the error correction are analytically derived. Third, a low-power shifter design and an internal latch adder are adopted. Finally, a power-efficient speculative delay line is proposed to time the async operation of the various circuit modules. A comparison with competing synchronous and async designs shows that the proposed design features the lowest power dissipation (5.86 muW at 1.1 V and 1 MHz) and a very competitive IC area (0.08 mm2 using a 0.35-mum CMOS process). The application of the proposed multiplier for realizing a digital filter for a hearing aid is given.
Unified first law and the thermodynamics of the apparent horizon in the FRW universe

In this paper we revisit the relation between the Friedmann equations and the first law of thermodynamics. We find that the unified first law first proposed by Hayward to treat the outertrapping horizon of a dynamical black hole can be used to the apparent horizon (a kind of inner trapping horizon in the context of the FRW cosmology) of the FRW universe. We discuss three kinds of gravity theorties: Einstein theory, Lovelock thoery, and scalar-tensor theory. In Einstein theory, the first law of thermodynamics is always satisfied on the apparent horizon. In Lovelock theory, treating the higher derivative terms as an effective energy-momentum tensor, we find that this method can give the same entropy formula for the apparent horizon as that of black hole horizon. This implies that the Clausius relation holds for the Lovelock theory. In scalar-tensor gravity, we find, by using the same procedure, the Clausius relation no longer holds. This indicates that the apparent horizon of the FRW universe in the scalar-tensor gravity corresponds to a system of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We show this point by using the method developed recently by Eling et al. for dealing with the f(R) gravity.
A real-time search-based motion planning framework with risk assessment for urban environments

A reliable autonomous driving system should be capable of handling driving tasks in real-time while ensuring user safety. However, many search-based planners suffer from high computation time, which makes them unsuitable for embedded applications. Some simple methods, like Roll-out from OpenPlan-ner, achieve high computation efficiency, but lack robustness and might be unsafe in certain conditions. To solve this problem we proposed an efficient search-based motion planning framework incorporating risk evaluation. Firstly, based on necessary inputs from perception, map, and global planning stack, a 3D grid map is generated to capture environmental semantics for our extended hybrid A* search algorithm. We proposed a heuristic function consisting of risk evaluation, which not only reduces A* search time but also plans a safer trajectory. A two-step optimization process refines the results from the hybrid A* search into a smooth and continuous trajectory. Our proposed framework was tested using realistic simulation scenarios within the open-source Autoware autonomous driving stack, showing superior responses and more robustness than the baseline OpenPlanner. Additionally, the proposed hybrid A* search framework shows high computation efficiency. It has a worst-case run-time of 55 ms for a 12-second planning horizon and a planning horizon of 200 meters, allowing for real-time application.
Bayesian Networks for Genomic Analysis

Bayesian networks are emerging into the genomic arena as a general modeling tool able to unravel the cellular mechanism, to identify genotypes that confer susceptibility to disease, and to lead to diagnostic models. This chapter reviews the foundations of Bayesian networks and shows their application to the analysis of various types of genomic data, from genomic markers to gene expression data. The examples will highlight the potential of this methodology but also the current limitations and we will describe new research directions that hold the promise to make Bayesian networks a fundamental tool for genome data analysis. ∗Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston MA 02118. Email: sebas@bu.edu †Software Engineering Department, University of Granada, Daniel Saucedo Aranda, Granada, 18071 Spain. Email: mabad@ugr.es ‡Children’s Hospital Informatics Program and Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics, Harvard Medical School, HMS New Research Building, 77 Pasteur Avenue, Suite 255, Boston, MA 02115. Email: marco ramoni@harvard.edu
Verification of linear duration properties over continuous-time markov chains

Stochastic modelling and algorithmic verification techniques have been proved useful in analysing and detecting unusual trends in performance and energy usage of systems such as power management controllers and wireless sensor devices. Many important properties are dependent on the cumulated time that the device spends in certain states, possibly intermittently. We study the problem of verifying continuous-time Markov Chains (CTMCs) against Linear Duration Properties (LDP), that is, properties stated as conjunctions of linear constraints over the total duration of time spent in states that satisfy a given property. We identify two classes of LDP properties, Eventuality Duration Properties (EDP) and Invariance Duration Properties (IDP), respectively referring to the reachability of a set of goal states, within a time bound; and the continuous satisfaction of a duration property over an execution path. The central question that we address is how to compute the probability of the set of infinite timed paths of the CTMC that satisfy a given LDP. We present algorithms to approximate these probabilities up to a given precision, stating their complexity and error bounds. The algorithms mainly employ an adaptation of uniformisation and the computation of volumes of multidimensional integrals under systems of linear constraints, together with different mechanisms to bound the errors.
AP‐1 transcriptional activity requires both T‐cell receptor‐mediated and co‐stimulatory signals in primary T lymphocytes.

The transcription factor AP‐1 contributes significantly to the regulation of interleukin‐2 gene transcription during T‐cell activation and may play a role in thymocyte development. To study the regulation of AP‐1 transcriptional activity in primary T‐cells, reporter transgenic mice were generated that express luciferase gene under the control of AP‐1 binding sites. Here, we demonstrate that while protein kinase C activation is sufficient to induce DNA‐binding activity, an additional intracellular calcium increase is required to induce transcriptional activity of AP‐1 in primary mouse T‐cells. Furthermore, transcriptional, but not DNA‐binding, activity of AP‐1 is cyclosporin sensitive and requires tyrosine phosphorylation. This dissociation between DNA‐binding and transcriptional activity is likely due, at least partially, to post‐translational modifications of the AP‐1 complex required for transcriptional activity. Moreover, in addition to these two signals delivered by ligand binding to the T‐cell receptor (TcR) AP‐1 transcriptional activity absolutely requires the presence of a co‐stimulatory signal that can be mediated by the interaction of CD28 with its ligands B7‐1 and B7‐2. Thus, TcR‐mediated and co‐stimulatory signals required for T‐cell activation appear to be integrated, in part, at the level of the regulation of transcriptional activity of AP‐1.
In vitro labeling of glioma cells with gadofluorine M enhances T1 visibility without affecting glioma cell growth or motility

Gadofluorine is a novel macrocyclic, amphiphilic gadolinium‐based contrast agent. We found that malignant glioma cells could be labeled in vitro using Gadofluorine without the need for transfection agents or any other additional means. Labeling with Gadofluorine enhanced the visualization of glioma cells in T1‐weighted sequences, even if the cells had been cultured in medium without Gadofluorine over several days. The intracellular uptake of Gadofluorine was measured and the loss of relevant amounts of Gadofluorine into the cell culture medium was ruled out by MRI. Confocal laser fluorescence microscopy revealed Cy‐5‐labeled Gadofluorine in the perinuclear cytoplasmic region, but neither within the nucleus nor bound to the cell membrane. Adverse effects of cellular Gadofluorine uptake were ruled out by proliferation and migration assays. Finally, in vivo analyses provided good visibility of labeled glioma cells in T1‐weighted sequences after intracerebral injection in mice for more than 2 weeks. We thus conclude that Gadofluorine can easily be used to label glioma cells in vitro without affecting glioma cell biology. Gadofluorine provides an interesting alternative for cellular labeling if iron oxide particles are incorporated insufficiently by target cells or if the vicinity of susceptibility artifacts prohibits the use of signal‐decreasing contrast agents. Magn Reson Med 59:1014–1020, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of Critical Residues Required for Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling-specific Regulation of Interleukin-4 Signaling*

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family proteins were originally identified as cytokine-induced negative regulators of cytokine signaling. We show that SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 inhibit interleukin (IL)-4-dependent signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (Stat6) activation of and subsequent gene induction. By contrast, SOCS-2 and cytokine-inducible Src homology domain 2 (SH2)-containing protein up-regulate these processes. IL-4 initiates transmembrane signaling through two types of receptor complexes comprising the IL-4Rα subunit and the associated Janus kinase 1 (Jak1) as common essential components. We demonstrate that both SOCS-1- and SOCS-3-mediated down-regulation of IL-4 signaling is due to an inhibition of the receptor associated Jak1 activity. The SOCS proteins contain an amino-terminal region of variable length and primary structure, a central SH2 domain, and a carboxyl-terminal conserved motif termed SOCS-box. We show that the SH2 domains of SOCS-2, SOCS-3, and cytokine-inducible SH2-containing protein are functionally redundant in regulating the IL-4-dependent Jak-Stat signaling. The Pre-SH2 domains of SOCS-2 and SOCS-3 confer the specificity of their regulatory function. Importantly, the Pre-SH2 domain of SOCS-3 alone can inhibit IL-4 signaling. The SH2-proximal 25 amino acids of SOCS-3 are sufficient for this inhibition, and the Thr residue at position 24 and the Phe residue at position 25 are individually indispensable for its inhibitory function. Thus, the Thr-Phe motif in the Pre-SH2 domain plays a critical role in SOCS-3-mediated inhibition of the IL-4-dependent Jak-Stat signaling, likely by regulating the mode of SOCS-Jak interaction.
Design a wide-scan angle phased-array antenna with circular polarization using a new cross-dipole

A new cross dipole antenna with arms folded down is used as a radiating element for a wide-scan angle phased-array in X-band in this paper. However, the effect of mutual coupling will make it difficult to generate circularly polarized radiation from an phased-array composed of polarized elements. Compared to conventional formed array, Sequential rotation technique is easy to generate the circular polarization. To illustrate capabilities of this approach, the numerical results calculated by the method-of-moment (MoM) are compare to the results simulated by HFSS, demonstrating the agreement in the comparison.