Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD30 Is a Potential Therapeutic Target in Malignant Mesothelioma

CD30 is a cytokine receptor belonging to the TNF superfamily (TNFRSF8) that acts as a regulator of apoptosis. The presence of CD30 antigen is important in the diagnosis of Hodgkin disease and anaplastic large cell lymphoma. There have been sporadic reports of CD30 expression in nonlymphoid tumors, including malignant mesothelioma. Given the remarkable success of brentuximab vedotin, an antibody–drug conjugate directed against CD30 antigen, in lymphoid malignancies, we undertook a study to examine the incidence of CD30 in mesothelioma and to investigate the ability to target CD30 antigen in mesothelioma. Mesothelioma tumor specimens (N = 83) were examined for CD30 expression by IHC. Positive CD30 expression was noted in 13 mesothelioma specimens, primarily those of epithelial histology. There was no significant correlation of CD30 positivity with tumor grade, stage, or survival. Examination of four mesothelioma cell lines (H28, H2052, H2452, and 211H) for CD30 expression by both FACS analysis and confocal microscopy showed that CD30 antigen localized to the cell membrane. Brentuximab vedotin treatment of cultured mesothelioma cells produced a dose-dependent decrease in cell growth and viability at clinically relevant concentrations. Our studies validate the presence of CD30 antigen in a subgroup of epithelial-type mesothelioma tumors and indicate that selected mesothelioma patients may derive benefit from brentuximab vedotin treatment. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(3); 740–6. ©2015 AACR.
Effect of Water-Based Microencapsulation on Protection against EDIM Rotavirus Challenge in Mice

ABSTRACT We determined the capacity of microcapsules formed by the combination of sodium alginate, an aqueous anionic polymer, and spermine hydrochloride, an aqueous cationic amine, to enhance protection against rotavirus challenge in mice. Adult BALB/c mice were orally inoculated with either free or microencapsulated rotavirus (simian rotavirus strain RRV) and challenged 6 or 16 weeks later with murine rotavirus strain EDIM. Virus-specific humoral immune responses were determined at the time of challenge and 4 days after challenge by intestinal fragment culture. We found that spermine-alginate microcapsules enhanced protection against challenge 16 weeks after immunization but not 6 weeks after immunization. Quantities of virus-specific immunoglobulin A produced by small intestinal lamina propria lymphocytes were correlated with the degree of protection against challenge afforded by spermine-alginate microcapsules. Possible mechanisms by which microcapsules enhance protection against rotavirus challenge are discussed.
Corrosion effects on structural behaviour of jacket type offshore structures

The application of weight losses to investigate corrosion effects on structural behaviour of an offshore structure under wave loads is presented in this study. Weight losses of sections obtained during previous experimental studies are implemented in the model. The jacket type structural model is analysed in its intact and deteriorated forms to demonstrate corrosion effects. The ABAQUS finite elements program is utilized and the fluid structure interaction (FSI) technique is adopted when modelling the interaction between solid and fluid domains. Mode shapes, first three natural frequencies, displacements of selected points, and maximum stresses, are comparatively presented.
A Pilot Study Assessing the Barriers to Pharmacy Practice in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Purpose: To explore the barriers to the practice of pharmacy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: In a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study, 50 questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected pharmacies in Dubai. The questionnaire contained information for collecting data on demographic data, technical-related information, and barriers to optimized pharmaceutical services. Results: A total of 31 of the 50 questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 62 percent. Of these, 20 (65 %) were male, 25 (81 %) holding bachelor degree, and almost three quarters 23 (74 %) were Indian and had their bachelor degree in India. More than half (n = 18, 59 %) reported that they functioned as pharmacists-in-charge and dispense more than 100 prescriptions in 1 business week during the study period. Enhanced pharmacy services offered by pharmacists under investigation were minimal for drug outcomes monitoring (9.68 %), counseling in hyperlipidaemia (6.45 %), and hypertension (9.68 %). A high proportion of pharmacists studied agreed that pharmacists lack customers' recognition in Dubai (54.8 %) and receive inadequate salary (67.8 %), and that pharmacy practice in Dubai is business-oriented (74.2 %). Nearly all the pharmacists (93.5 %) agreed that lack of sales bonus and high running costs are major barriers to optimized pharmacy services in Dubai. Conclusion: This pilot study gives some insight into the impediments community pharmacists in Dubai face while delivering pharmacy services to patients. These findings can be used to promote discussion in the profession and with stakeholders about the future role of the community pharmacist in patient care in UAE.
Generalized Max Pooling for Action Recognition

Action recognition has been an important and challenging task in computer vision. Existing approaches usually employ pooling operation to encode isolated patches or trajectories and then aggregate them for a compact video presentation. In this paper, we make two contributions towards improving action recognition accuracy and efficiency. First, we study to apply a state-of-the-art pooling technique used in image classification i.e. Generalized Max Pooling (GMP) to action recognition. Second, we propose an approach to improve GMP efficiency as it is applied to videos of which the number of extracted patches is enormous. The key idea is to compute the weighted vector block-by-block by exploiting sparse encoding vectors and inverted index. Experiments on benchmark dataset, HMDB51, have shown the significant performance of GMP compared to existing pooling techniques and the efficiency improvement of our proposed approach.
On detection using filter banks and higher order statistics

We suggest a method, based on the use of filter bank and higher order statistics (cumulants), for detection of transient signals. The method first uses a bandpass filter bank, which separates the spectrum of the observed signal into narrow frequency bands. Each subfilter of the filter bank is then followed by a cumulant estimator, and thereby suppressing colored noise. By selecting those subfilters that have large output energies, the filter bank can approximate the behavior of a matched filter. Moreover, no a priori information about the waveform of the signal is needed. The performance of the detector is evaluated by using a simulated signal as well as a measured signal. The presented detector is compared with the optimal matched filter detector.
Complement Membrane Attack and Tumorigenesis

Tumor development driven by inflammation is now an established phenomenon, but the role that complement plays remains uncertain. Recent evidence has suggested that various components of the complement (C) cascade may influence tumor development in disparate ways; however, little attention has been paid to that of the membrane attack complex (MAC). This is despite abundant evidence documenting the effects of this complex on cell behavior, including cell activation, protection from/induction of apoptosis, release of inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, and ECM components and regulators, and the triggering of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Here we present a novel approach to this issue by using global gene expression studies in conjunction with a systems biology analysis. Using network analysis of MAC-responsive expression changes, we demonstrate a cluster of co-regulated genes known to have impact in the extracellular space and on the supporting stroma and with well characterized tumor-promoting roles. Network analysis highlighted the central role for EGF receptor activation in mediating the observed responses to MAC exposure. Overall, the study sheds light on the mechanisms by which sublytic MAC causes tumor cell responses and exposes a gene expression signature that implicates MAC as a driver of tumor progression. These findings have implications for understanding of the roles of complement and the MAC in tumor development and progression, which in turn will inform future therapeutic strategies in cancer.
On Sample Size and Power Calculation for Variant Set‐Based Association Tests

Sample size and power calculations are an important part of designing new sequence‐based association studies. The recently developed SEQPower and SPS programs adopted computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulations to empirically estimate power for a series of variant set association (VSA) test methods including the sequence kernel association test (SKAT). It is desirable to develop methods that can quickly and accurately compute power without intensive Monte Carlo simulations. We will show that the computed power for SKAT based on the existing analytical approach could be inflated especially for small significance levels, which are often of primary interest for large‐scale whole genome and exome sequencing projects. We propose a new χ2‐approximation‐based approach to accurately and efficiently compute sample size and power. In addition, we propose and implement a more accurate “exact” method to compute power, which is more efficient than the Monte Carlo approach though generally involves more computations than the χ2 approximation method. The exact approach could produce very accurate results and be used to verify alternative approximation approaches. We implement the proposed methods in publicly available R programs that can be readily adapted when planning sequencing projects.
Piezoresistive CMOS sensor for the localized measurement of five independent stress components

This paper reports the development and characterization of a highly integrated polyvalent CMOS stress sensor detecting five linearly independent, temperature compensated components of the six-dimensional stress space. The sensor has a footprint of only 29×29 µm2. It combines different piezoresistance sensors to detect the three shear stresses, the in-plane normal stress difference, and a sum of the three normal stresses. The sensitivities of five sensing modes are characterized by applying in-plane normal and shear stresses, out-of-plane shear stresses, and temperature changes. The sensor performance is demonstrated by monitoring the hardening of an epoxy resin.
These Browser Extensions Spy on 8 Million Users Extended

This work investigates the upalytics.com library for Chrome and Firefox extensions, which performs real time tracking of users on all sites they visit. The code is bundled with free extensions in the official extension stores, exfiltrating browsing history as a feature. Within the top 7,000 Chrome extensions, the library is used 42 times with over 8 million installations, the most widely used one has 1.48M installations alone. For Mozilla Firefox we found 400,000 users to be affected. We also look into the relationship of upalytics with similarweb.com, a third-party web analytics company, which is using that library for their own extension. We reported the suspicious Chrome extensions in March 2016 and they were deleted from the Google Chrome Web Store within 24 hours. Mozilla deleted three out of five reported extensions. In August 2016 we reviewed the Chrome Web Store and found no evidence of this library in the top 7,000 extensions. While this work focuses on one privacy perpetrator, tracking in browser extensions presents a wider research problem.
Evaluation of techniques for isolation, subcultivation, and preservation of Helicobacter pylori

With sheep blood agar (SBA), Belo Horizonte medium, and Brussels campylobacter charcoal agar, 104 strains of Helicobacter pylori were detected in 309 gastric biopsies. Each medium revealed only 69 to 71% of the strains. Ten strains grew solely on SBA, and four strains each grew on Belo Horizonte medium and Brussels campylobacter charcoal agar. Subculturing of 50 fresh H. pylori isolates on SBA revealed a progressive reduction in growth with increasing passage. Thirty strains stopped growing between passages two and seven. Four strains survived more than 20 passages. The preservation of fresh H. pylori isolates at -193 and -70 degrees C and by lyophilization was compared by use of 10% porcine mucin solution, fetal calf serum, and a commercial cryopreservative fluid. Of 30 strains, 77 to 90% could be recultivated on SBA after preservation at -70 degrees C in all three storage media. The data indicate that for the primary isolation of H. pylori, not only one selective medium but several selective media with different antibiotic supplements plus at least one nonselective medium should be used to yield the highest culture rates. Frequent subculturing of H. pylori on SBA selects strains which may not be representative of clinical isolates. Storage of fresh H. pylori isolates at -70 degrees C in 10% mucin solution is a simple and effective preservation procedure.
Controller placement problem in software defined networks

The requirements for the network are increasing by the expanding and spreading the Internet. The Previous techniques of the network do not meet the modern needs, thus, a new technical presents software-defined networking (SDN). SDN recognizes as a promising new model that separates the control plane (traffic routing and network topology) from the data plane (network architecture layers). The architecture of SDN has some features that find in a single controller or many controllers instance of programmable, flexible, and scalable. In the current SDN, multiple controllers are essential. Therefore, the optimal number of the controllers and their locations is the most significant challenge, known as the controller placement problem (CPP). It deploys the optimal number of controllers within the network while meeting presentations requirements considered conflicting in nature example: credibility, load balancing, latency, energy efficiency, and computation time. Many studies researched the ways to develop solutions for improving scalability, place selection for SDN. This paper presents the CPP and gives a comprehensive review of SDN issues based on the recent well-known research to extract available solution strategies. Finally, it discusses the limitations and future study directions that can support researchers in this field.
Ion Channel Clustering by Membrane-associated Guanylate Kinases

The postsynaptic density protein PSD-95 and related membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) proteins assemble signal transduction complexes at sites of cell-cell contact including synapses. Whereas PSD-95 and PSD-93 occur only at postsynaptic sites in hippocampal neurons, SAP-102 also occurs in axons. In heterologous cells, PSD-95 and PSD-93 mediate cell surface ion channel clustering, but SAP-102 and SAP-97 do not. This selective ion channel clustering activity by MAGUKs is explained by differential palmitoylation, as PSD-93 and PSD-95 are palmitoylated though SAP-97, and SAP-102 are not. Rather than being palmitoylated, we find that N-terminal cysteines from SAP-102 tightly bind to zinc. And, appending the N terminus of SAP-102 to PSD-95 results in localization of the chimera to both axons and dendrites. These data suggest that lipid modifications and heavy metal associations with the N termini of MAGUKs mediate differential functions and subcellular localizations of these synaptic scaffolds.
Pyridinium bis(pyridine-κN)tetrakis(thiocyanato-κN)ferrate(III)–pyrazine-2-carbonitrile–pyridine (1/4/1)

In the title compound, (C5H6N)[Fe(NCS)4(C5H5N)2]·4C5H3N3·C5H5N, the FeIII ion is located on an inversion centre and is six-coordinated by four N atoms of the thiocyanate ligands and two pyridine N atoms in a trans arrangement, forming a slightly distorted octahedral geometry. A half-occupied H atom attached to a pyridinium cation forms an N—H⋯N hydrogen bond with a centrosymmetrically-related pyridine unit. Four pyrazine-2-carbonitrile molecules crystallize per complex anion. In the crystal, π–π stacking interactions are present [centroid–centroid distances = 3.6220 (9), 3.6930 (9), 3.5532 (9), 3.5803 (9) and 3.5458 (8) Å].
Eutrophication in a tropical pond : Understanding the bacterioplankton and phytoplankton dynamics during a vibriosis outbreak using flow cytometric analyses

In tropical shrimp ponds, the increasing of feed input, concomitantly with the stocking shrimp biomass, induces an eutrophication of the ecosystem. Although difficult to maintain, its stability is required to guarantee the success of the culture. A 110-day period of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton stock and dynamics in an earthen pond (1.2 ha area, 1 m depth) was monitored using flow cytometry to provide baseline information on community characteristics and ecosystem instability. Seven autotrophic cell types were identified over the whole sampling period. Prokaryotic cells included Synechococcus sp. , a group named UNK which presented an atypical new flow cytometric signature and picoeukaryotes (PEUK). Nanophytoplankton cells were represented by 4 groups: NAN1, NAN2, NAN3 and Cryptophytes. During the first part of the survey, picophytoplankton dominated the phytoplanktonic assemblage. The mean abundance of total cells (up to 8 × 10 cells mL) was among the highest recorded in marine and brackish waters. Bacterial abundance and production ranged from 0.8 to 5.1 × 10 cells mL and from 30 to 110 μg C L h. A shift from pico to nanophytoplankton abundance was observed for a few days from d 96. During this period, heterotrophic bacteria production and abundance suddenly dropped, implying a change in the functioning of the microbial loop. This shift was concomitant with a significant shrimp mortality outbreak due to Vibrio penaeicida, the etiological agent of a disease known as Syndrome 93, which affects the shrimp industry in New Caledonia. This survey suggests that flow cytometric analysis could be used for the monitoring of aquaculture systems to improve our understanding of the complex phytoplankton and bacterial dynamics of these systems and its potential influence on disease development.
Agricultural Microbes Genome 2 : First Glimpses into the Genomes of Plant-Associated Microbes

in the present work. The authors point out the possibility that another FtsZ protein, which does not cross-react with the antibody used, forms part of the outer ring, but their results suggest that the insoluble 56-kD protein is the principal ring component, and insoluble properties have not been reported previously for FtsZ proteins. However, as in the case of Fucus, it cannot be assumed that green plants necessarily will share features of red algae, which belong to the protist phylum Rhodophyta. In transgenic Arabidopsis plants, expression of either AtFtsZ1 or AtFtsZ2 , both of which encode proteins related to cyanobacterial FtsZ sequences, reduces the number of chloroplasts in mature leaf cells from 100 to 1, indicating that both genes are required for chloroplast division in higher plant cells (Osteryoung et al., 1998). It is reasonable to hypothesize that FtsZ2 constitutes part of the outer PD ring, because, unlike FtsZ1, it lacks a chloroplast transit peptide and is not transported into isolated chloroplasts. The cell cycle of higher plants contains unique features, aspects of which may be ripe for discovery in Arabidopsis. For example, molecular identification of the 56-kD protein component of the outer PD ring in C. merolae will lead to the immediate identification of homologs in the completely sequenced genome of Arabidopsis. It also should be possible to identify all of the CDKs in Arabidopsis and begin a process of systematically investigating their possible functions in cell cycle control and other plant growth processes. The three articles highlighted here should stimulate renewed interest in comparative studies of cell cycle control among higher plants, algae, and other eukaryotes.
Electrolytic Wire as an Alternative Bio Interface: A Case Study in Plant Tissue

One of challenge in physiological research is how to reconnect bioelectricity or turn on the transduction of signals in biological systems such as nerves and other tissues after some injuries or degenerative process. The electrical interactions in biological system can be understood by looking into the extracellular space between cells. In such spaces, contain ions and several charged organic molecules. Despite the fact that the common way to artificially link biological systems reported in the literature is by using metallic wires or bio-potentials electrodes, this paper present the hypothesis that an electrolytic conductor is more efficient to transmit information between biological systems when compared to the transmission carried out using electronic conductors. To test this hypothesis an experiment was conducted using two leaves of ornamental plant (Agave atenuata) connected by means of electronic and electrolytic wire and stimulated with electrical square waves with 1V of amplitude at 20Hz. The quality of signal transmitted using electronic conductor was compared to the signal transmitted using electrolytic conductor by measuring the distortion of the signal transmitted. The results shown that the transmission of stimuli using electrolytic wire is less disturbed than by using electronic
Remote forcing contribution to storm‐induced sea level rise during Hurricane Dennis

Numerical model experiments are conducted to address the previously unexplained anomalously high storm surge along the Florida coast of Apalachee Bay during Hurricane Dennis (2005). The 2–3 m surge observed during this storm cannot be obviously explained by the relatively weak local winds over this bay 275 km east of the storm center. Realistic and idealized numerical experiments demonstrate that the along‐shore winds to the east of the storm center built a high sea level anomaly along the coast which traveled northward to Apalachee Bay as a topographic Rossby wave. The wave was amplified as the storm moved nearly parallel to the shelf and at comparable speed to the wave phase speed. These results suggest that enlarging the domain of the storm surge forecasting models can improve the surge forecast for a storm moving along a similar track, and have now been applied to operational use.
Assessing biological maturity: chronological age and the pubertal development scale predict free testosterone in adolescent males

Abstract Background: Pubertal development status has implications for development of physical characteristics, performance, and injury risk in school-aged athletes. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of non-invasive measures of biological maturity to predict salivary free testosterone. Participants: A total of 61 physically active males (ages 6–16) participated in this study. Methods: Participants had their anthropometrics measured, completed the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS), and reported their birthdays and the heights of their biological parents. Exact chronological age and percent of predicted height were calculated. Resting salivary samples were collected and assessed for free testosterone levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay procedures. Variables were entered into a stepwise linear regression to predict free testosterone. Results: The regression model was statistically significant (R2=0.716, F2,61=74.2, p<0.005) with chronological age (β=0.66, t60=7.587, p<0.005) and PDS (β=0.26, t60=3.02, p=0.004) remaining as significant predictors of free testosterone. Conclusions: Chronological age and PDS adequately predict salivary free testosterone levels in school-aged males and may be an appropriate tool to evaluate physical maturity in school-aged males quickly, cheaply, and accurately.