Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dendritic cell biology in human cytomegalovirus infection and the clinical consequences for host immunity and pathology

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a member of the herpesvirus family, establishes life-long persistence and latency after primary infection and can be reactivated later in life. In immunosuppressed patients, it is an important pathogen that can cause severe disease. HCMV is also thought to play a causative role in inflammatory diseases and cancer. The virus can infect different immune cells, including dendritic cells (DCs) and can take advantage of host immune functions to avoid immune recognition. These characteristics have sparked major interest in understanding HCMV and its interaction with immune cells and their relevance to disease pathogenesis. In this review, we focus on the complex host-pathogen relationship between HCMV and DCs, including the persistence of the virus in these cells, their function in the immune response to HCMV infection and the potential clinical consequences of HCMV infection in DCs.
Review of Brain-Machine Interfaces Used in Neural Prosthetics with New Perspective on Somatosensory Feedback through Method of Signal Breakdown

The brain-machine interface (BMI) used in neural prosthetics involves recording signals from neuron populations, decoding those signals using mathematical modeling algorithms, and translating the intended action into physical limb movement. Recently, somatosensory feedback has become the focus of many research groups given its ability in increased neural control by the patient and to provide a more natural sensation for the prosthetics. This process involves recording data from force sensitive locations on the prosthetics and encoding these signals to be sent to the brain in the form of electrical stimulation. Tactile sensation has been achieved through peripheral nerve stimulation and direct stimulation of the somatosensory cortex using intracortical microstimulation (ICMS). The initial focus of this paper is to review these principles and link them to modern day applications such as restoring limb use to those who lack such control. With regard to how far the research has come, a new perspective for the signal breakdown concludes the paper, offering ideas for more real somatosensory feedback using ICMS to stimulate particular sensations by differentiating touch sensors and filtering data based on unique frequencies.
Energy Efficient MANET Routing Using a Combination of Span and BECA/AFECA

This paper presents some novel approaches for energy efficient routing in mobile ad-hoc networks. Two known energy preserving techniques, Span and BECA/AFECA, are combined with a well-known re-active routing protocol, AODV, to create a new energy efficient routing protocol. Furthermore, the protocol is tuned towards usage in a nomadic network setting, i.e., a setting where some nodes are stationary and have a steady power source. The protocols are simulated extensively to examine their energy preserving capabilities, and the results of these simulations are presented and discussed.
Developing indications for the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy and adjuvant high-dose interferon alfa-2b in melanoma.

OBJECTIVES To convene a multidisciplinary panel of dermatologists, surgical oncologists, and medical oncologists to formally review available data on the sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy procedure and high-dose adjuvant interferon alfa-2b therapy for patients with melanoma and to rate the "appropriateness," "inappropriateness," or "uncertainty" of the procedure and therapy to guide clinical decision making in practice. PARTICIPANTS The panel comprised 13 specialists (4 dermatologists, 4 oncologists, and 5 surgeons) from geographically diverse areas who practiced in community-based settings (n = 8) and academic institutions (n = 5). Participants were chosen based on recommendations from the relevant specialty organizations. EVIDENCE A formal literature review was conducted by investigators at Protocare Sciences Inc, Santa Monica, Calif, on the risks and benefits of performing an SLN biopsy in patients with stage I or II melanoma and adjuvant interferon alfa-2b therapy in patients with stage II or III disease. The MEDLINE database was searched from 1966 through July 2000, and supplemental information was obtained from various cancer societies and cancer research groups. Panel participants were queried on additional sources of relevant information. Unpublished, presented data were included in abstract form on 1 recently closed clinical trial. CONSENSUS PROCESS The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to review and rate multiple clinical scenarios for the use of SLN biopsy and interferon alfa-2b therapy. The consensus method did not force agreement. CONCLUSIONS The panel rated 104 clinical scenarios and concluded that the SLN biopsy procedure was appropriate for primary melanomas deeper than 1.0 mm and for tumors 1 mm or less when histologic ulceration was present and/or classified as Clark level 4 or higher. The SLN biopsy was deemed inappropriate for nonulcerated Clark level 2 or 3 melanomas 0.75 mm or less in depth and uncertain in tumors 0.76 to 1.0 mm deep unless they were ulcerated or Clark level 4 or higher. Interferon alfa-2b therapy was deemed appropriate for patients with regional nodal and/or in-transit metastasis and for node-negative patients with primary melanomas deeper than 4 mm. The panel considered the use of interferon alfa-2b therapy uncertain in patients with ulcerated intermediate primary tumors (2.01-4.0 mm in depth) and inappropriate for node-negative patients with nonulcerated tumors less than 4.0 mm deep. Specialty-specific ratings were conducted as well.
Recognizing facial expressions from videos using Deep Belief Networks

Deep learning techniques have been shown to perform well for problems such as image classification and handwriting analysis. In this project we aim to apply these deep learning techniques to recognize facial expressions from videos. We employ sparse feature selection to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the classification [5]. We begin by considering images, and extend the algorithms to classify videos. We first train a sparse autoencoder for a known set of images, to verify the correctness of implementation of the encoder. We then pre-train the autoencoder with our dataset of facial expressions, and use the weights to classify test images. We use softmax and logistic regression for classifying. The results show that the individual expressions are classified with high accuracy, and the performance further improves by including FACS and tracking labels.
mTurnpike: a Model-driven Framework for Domain Specific Software Development

This paper describes and empirically evaluates a new model-driven framework, called Modeling Turnpike (or mTurnpike), which allows developers to effectively model and program domain concepts (ideas and mechanisms specific to a particular business or technology domain). By leveraging UML metamodeling and attribute-oriented programming, mTurnpike provides an abstraction to represent domain concepts at the modeling and programming layers simultaneously. The frontend system of mTurnpike transforms domain concepts between the modeling and programming layers. Its backend system combines domain models and programs, and transforms them to the final (compilable) source code. This paper focuses on the mTurnpike frontend system, and describes its design, implementation and performance implications.
Accounting for uncertainty in anti-windup synthesis

This paper describes an approach to synthesizing anti-windup compensators, which can improve the behaviour of systems subject to actuator saturation while also taking into account uncertainty in the system. The class of uncertainty considered is reasonably large and, moreover, is of the type often used in practice and often considered in linear robust control. The development of the ideas makes use of a 'decoupled' representation of an anti-windup scheme, which is useful for comparing the results from standard approaches to anti-windup compensation to those compensators obtained using the new robust approach. An interesting, but perhaps not surprising feature of these results is that the often-criticised internal model control (IMC) anti-windup solution emerges as an 'optimally' robust solution.
Visualization of off-screen objects in mobile augmented reality

An emerging technology for tourism information systems is mobile Augmented Reality using the position and orientation sensors of recent smartphones. State-of-the-art mobile Augmented Reality application accompanies the Augmented Reality visualization with a small mini-map to provide an overview of nearby points of interest (POIs). In this paper we develop an alternative visualization for nearby POIs based on off-screen visualization techniques for digital maps. The off-screen visualization uses arrows directly embedded into the Augmented Reality scene which point at the POIs. In the conducted study 26 participants explored nearby POIs and had to interpret their position. We show that participants are faster and can interpret the position of POIs more precisely with the developed visualization technique.
How entrepreneurship breeds and kills itself: implications for present-day China

This article explores how the phenomenon of entrepreneurship can reinforce itself but also tends to carry the seed of its own eventual demise. We review evidence from theory and empirical studies of these ‘breed’ and ‘kill’ tendencies at individual, inter-individual, firm, industry, regional and national levels of analysis. Policy implications are discussed, especially with regards to current and future entrepreneurial activity in China.
Open Access Research Article Transcriptional Profiles Underlying Parent-of-origin Effects in Seeds of Arabidopsis Thaliana

Background: Crossing plants of the same species but different ploidies can have dramatic effects on seed growth, but little is known about the alterations to transcriptional programmes responsible for this. Parental genomic imbalance particularly affects proliferation of the endosperm, with an increased ratio of paternally to maternally contributed genomes ('paternal excess') associated with overproliferation, while maternal excess inhibits endosperm growth. One interpretation is that interploidy crosses disrupt the balance in the seed of active copies of parentally imprinted genes. This is supported by the observation that mutations in imprinted FIS-class genes of Arabidopsis thaliana share many features of the paternal excess phenotype. Here we investigated gene expression underlying parent-of-origin effects in Arabidopsis through transcriptional profiling of siliques generated by interploidy crosses and FIS-class mutants. Results: We found that fertilized fis1 mutant seeds have similar profiles to seeds with paternal excess, showing that the shared phenotypes are underpinned by similar patterns of gene expression. We identified genes strongly associated with enhanced or inhibited seed growth; this provided many candidates for further investigation including MADS-box transcription factors, cell cycle genes, and genes involved in hormone pathways. Conclusions: The work presented here is a step towards understanding the effects on seed development of the related phenomena of parental genome balance and imprinting. Background Crossing plants of the same species but different ploidies often alters seed development, generating reciprocal phenotypes depending on the direction of the cross [1]. Particularly dramatic effects are seen in endosperm, a fertilization product derived from the diploid central cell and a haploid sperm that transfers nutrients from the seed parent to the developing or germinating embryo. In general, an increased ratio of paternally to maternally contributed genomes in the seed ('paternal excess')-generated for example by crossing a diploid seed parent with a tetraploid pollen parent-is associated with increased growth of endosperm, while an increased ratio of maternal to paternal genomes ('maternal excess') inhibits endosperm growth. A widely accepted interpretation of interploidy cross phenotypes is that they disrupt the balance in the seed of active copies of parentally imprinted
Myogenic tone and small artery remodelling: insight into diabetic nephropathy.

Diabetic nephropathy is the single most frequent cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the western world, with an estimated cost in excess of $15.6 billion per annum in the United States alone [1]. In anticipation of an obesity-related diabetes epidemic, coupled with progressively growing rates of hypertension, these figures are forecast to rise exponentially. As both diabetes and renal disease are increasingly recognized as generalized vasculopathic states, there has been renewed interest in identifying potential vascular mechanisms influencing renal damage. The relationship between diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease is complex, progressive and reciprocal. In type 1 diabetes, the prevalence of microalbuminuria increases from the onset of disease, reaching 50% after 20 years [2], whilst in type 2 diabetes, it is stable at 20–25% [3]. Microalbuminuria is a powerful marker for progression to overt nephropathy [4–6] and renal function continues to decline in 30% of microalbuminuric patients with either type 1 [7] or type 2 diabetes [6]. Whilst in patients with type 1 diabetes, good glycaemic control [8] or relative youth [7] is associated with the remission of microalbuminuria, in patients with type 2 diabetes, institution of antihypertensive therapy is also important [6]. Once nephropathy is established however, ESRD occurs in 75% of individuals within 20 years [1]; at which point the cardiac mortality risk is 20-fold higher than that of the general population [9]. Thus, the stage at which diabetic renal disease is most likely to be arrested and even reversed is at the point at which microalbuminuria is detected by the clinician. The reversibility of microalbuminuria suggests an associated
Adaptive and context-aware privacy preservation schemes exploiting user interactions in pervasive environments

In a pervasive system, users have very dynamic and rich interactions with the environment and its elements, including other users. To efficiently support users in such environments, a high-level representation of the system (namely, context) is usually exploited. However, since pervasive environments are inherently people-centric, context might consist of sensitive information. As a consequence, privacy concerns arise, especially in terms of how to control information disclosure to third parties (e.g., other users). In this paper we propose context-aware approaches to privacy preservation in wireless and mobile pervasive environments. Specifically, we design two schemes: (i) to reduce the interactions between the user and the system, and (ii) to exploit the interactions between different users. Both of our solutions are adaptive, thus suitable for dynamic scenarios. In addition, our schemes require limited computational and storage resources, so that they can be implemented on resource-constrained personal and sensing devices. We apply our solutions to a smart healthcare scenario, and show that our schemes not only effectively protect the user privacy, but also significantly reduce the interactions with the system, thus improving the user experience.
Innovation activity among nurses: The translation and preliminary validation of the Bricolage Measure – a mixed-method study

Qualitatively, research has demonstrated the existence of bricolage among healthcare staff, i.e. solving problems on the spot by resources at hand, and its potential to lead to innovation. However, we know little about the spread of bricolage activity and its potential role for innovation in healthcare. The aim of this study was therefore to provide an instrument for measuring bricolage activity among nurses, to test the measure and learn about the spread of bricolage in nursing in Denmark. We used a mixed-method design including a translation–back translation, a pre-test and a pilot test. Primary data were collected during 2015 via interviews and a survey, including 248 nurses. The analysis revealed that the majority of nurses rated themselves and colleagues as having a high level of bricolage activity. This study’s preliminary validations (content and face validation), of the translated Bricolage Measure, confirmed the usability of the instrument to examine bricolage activity in nursing in Denmark.
A Virtual Graphical and Haptic Environment for a Medical Training Simulator

An enhanced real-time virtual graphical and haptic environment used in a medical training simulator is presented in this paper. The medical simulator is a training simulator for urological minimally invasive operations, and consists of a five-dof haptic device, the virtual graphical and force environment, and the control system. All parts of the simulator are described in detail. A real-time graphical representation of the male urethra during the insertion of an endoscope is developed. Smooth urethra deformations are produced by a mesh of piecewise Bézier interpolations, while its inner wall is simulated by realistic tissue textures. Efficient realtime techniques are developed. A novel particle-based model computes in real-time the forces fed to the haptic device. A 13 fps refresh rate is achieved on a 2 GHz computer with the depth-of-field effect activated, while the rate is doubled to 26 fps with this feature disabled. It is expected that such a simulator will contribute to an ethical, efficient, and modern surgeon training.
Autoacetylation of the Ralstonia solanacearum Effector PopP2 Targets a Lysine Residue Essential for RRS1-R-Mediated Immunity in Arabidopsis

Type III effector proteins from bacterial pathogens manipulate components of host immunity to suppress defence responses and promote pathogen development. In plants, host proteins targeted by some effectors called avirulence proteins are surveyed by plant disease resistance proteins referred to as “guards”. The Ralstonia solanacearum effector protein PopP2 triggers immunity in Arabidopsis following its perception by the RRS1-R resistance protein. Here, we show that PopP2 interacts with RRS1-R in the nucleus of living plant cells. PopP2 belongs to the YopJ-like family of cysteine proteases, which share a conserved catalytic triad that includes a highly conserved cysteine residue. The catalytic cysteine mutant PopP2-C321A is impaired in its avirulence activity although it is still able to interact with RRS1-R. In addition, PopP2 prevents proteasomal degradation of RRS1-R, independent of the presence of an integral PopP2 catalytic core. A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis showed that PopP2 displays acetyl-transferase activity leading to its autoacetylation on a particular lysine residue, which is well conserved among all members of the YopJ family. These data suggest that this lysine residue may correspond to a key binding site for acetyl-coenzyme A required for protein activity. Indeed, mutation of this lysine in PopP2 abolishes RRS1-R-mediated immunity. In agreement with the guard hypothesis, our results favour the idea that activation of the plant immune response by RRS1-R depends not only on the physical interaction between the two proteins but also on its perception of PopP2 enzymatic activity.
Molecular characteristics of four Japanese cases with KCNV2 retinopathy: Report of novel disease-causing variants

Purpose To describe the molecular characteristics of four Japanese patients with cone dystrophy with supernormal rod responses (CDSRR). Methods Four individuals with a clinical and electrophysiological diagnosis of CDSRR were ascertained. The pathognomonic findings of the full-field electroretinograms (ERGs) included a decrease in the rod responses, a square-shaped a-wave, an excessive increase in the b-wave in the bright flash responses, and decreased cone-derived responses. Mutational screening of the coding regions and flanking intronic sequences of the potassium channel, subfamily V, member 2 (KCNV2) gene was performed with bidirectional sequencing. The segregation of each allele was confirmed by screening other family members. Subsequent in silico analyses of the mutational consequences for protein function were performed. Results There were two siblings from one family and one case in each of the two families. One family had a consanguineous marriage. Mutational screening revealed compound heterozygosity for the two alleles, p.C177R and p.G461R, in three patients, and homozygosity for complex alleles, p.R27H and p.R206P, in one patient from the consanguineous family. There were three putative novel variants, p.R27H, p.C177R, and p.R206P. The four variants in the families with KCNV2 were highly conserved in other species. In silico analyses predicted that all of the missense variants would alter protein function. Conclusions Biallelic disease-causing variants were identified in four Japanese patients with CDSRR suggesting that the pathognomonic electrophysiological features are helpful in making a molecular diagnosis of KCNV2. Three novel variants were identified, and we conclude that there may be a distinct spectrum of KCNV2 alleles in the Japanese population.
An Integrated Framework for Code Reuse and Refactoring in Extreme Programming

Code reuse has been an area of study in the academic literature for the past three decades and is widely seen as one of the major areas for improving software productivity. Agile development techniques were first developed in the mid-1990s as a code-oriented method of software development that seeks to improve upon the traditional plan-based methodologies. Both approaches bring value to the software development process. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that will integrate the strengths of code reuse into the Extreme Programming methodology. It is believed that this approach will lead to a more effective method of software development.
Fair division of generation profile and fuel consumption in isolated micro-grids

Islands and rural areas can decrease their cost of energy by exploiting renewable energy as compared to diesel-only generation. Operation of such isolated micro-grids requires allocation of units for grid stability. Depending on the control strategy employed, the fluctuating renewable production leads to more stressed loading conditions of diesel generators. We propose a control strategy employing fair division of generator allocation using a compensation procedure based on social choice methods. A co-simulation set up with separate power system and control strategy simulators is used to provide a proof-of-concept case study of an isolated micro-grid with two wind turbines and three diesel generators. In comparison with a simple master-slave allocation, the proposed coordination scheme improves the distribution of fuel allocation by 27,5 %, reduces under-load time by 43,5 % and decreases the standard deviation of the under-load distribution between individual diesels by 80,7%.
A method of task allocation for collaborative diagnosis

In the domain of collaborative diagnosis which joined with multi-resource, on account of equipment's complexity and diagnosis resource's heterogeneous, diagnosis task allocation should be self-adaptive. This requirement can be satisfied with an static and dynamic integrated task allocation method, in the static allocation method, diagnosis task relation model was established with equipment's qualitative model and fuzzy relation matrix, diagnosis path planning was realized by improving D-algorithm, and multi-constraint integer programming was used to resource allocation; In the dynamic method, an extended contract net method was introduced, which based on utility and negotiation. Then, the validity of this method has been validated within an engineering equipment fault diagnosis instance. The conclusion summarizes this method and points out its further development.