Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex-related differences in DNA copy number alterations in hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Males have a higher prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than females in general, but the reasons for the sex disparity are still obscure. DNA copy number alteration (CNA) is a major feature of solid tumors including HCC, but whether CNA plays a role in sex-related differences in HCC development has never been evaluated. METHODS High-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was used to examine 17 female and 46 male HCC patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Shanghai, China. Two-tailed Fisher's exact or chi2 tests was used to compare CNAs between females and males. RESULTS The overall frequencies and patterns of CNAs in female and male cases were similar. However, female HCC tumors presented more copy number gains compared to those in males on 1q21.3-q22 (76.5% vs. 37.0%, P = 0.009), 11q11 (35.3% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.0002) and 19q13.31-q13.32 (23.5% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.004), and loss on 16p11.2 (35.3% vs. 6.5%, P = 0.009). Relative to females, male cases had greater copy number loss on 11q11 (63.0% vs. 17.6%, P = 0.002). Further analyses showed that 11q11 gain correlated with 19q13.31-q13.32 gain (P = 0.042), 11q11 loss (P = 0.011) and 16p11.2 loss (P = 0.033), while 1q21.3-q22 gain correlated with 19q13.31-q13.32 gain (P = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that CNAs may play a role in sex-related differences in HBV-associated HCC development.
RECENT TRENDS OF RESEARCH INTO RESTRAINT STRESSES AND STRAINS IN RELATION TO WELD CRACKING

This paper describes the present state of research based on the information obtained from the results of investigations so far performed mainly in Japan. Two kinds of approach are included, that is, the concept of restraint intensity and analysis by the finite element method. The former is rather microscopic and is of practical usefulness to avoid weld cracking in real structures. The latter gives more precise information about local stresses and strains in welds and transient thermal stresses during welding. Future problems to be solved are also discussed. The document contains a comprehensive bibliography with 46 references.
Alert correlation in a cooperative intrusion detection framework

This paper presents the work we have done within the MIRADOR project to design CRIM, a cooperative module for intrusion detection systems (IDS). This module implements functions to manage, cluster, merge and correlate alerts. The clustering and merging functions recognize alerts that correspond to the same occurrence of an attack and create a new alert that merge data contained in these various alerts. Experiments show that these functions significantly reduce the number of alerts. However, we also observe that alerts we obtain are still too elementary to be managed by a security administrator. The purpose of the correlation function is thus to generate global and synthetic alerts. This paper focuses on the approach we suggest to design this function.
Auditory processing deficits in unilaterally and bilaterally injured hypoxic–ischemic rats

Hypoxic–ischemic represents a common cause of damage to the prenatal brain and can co-occur with prematurity. Prematurity is associated with emergent language impairments, and it has been suggested that rapid auditory processing deficits play a causal role in language difficulties. We previously demonstrated rapid auditory processing deficits in juvenile rats receiving neonatal unilateral hypoxic–ischemic injury, but these deficits appeared to resolve by adulthood. The current study compared unilaterally and bilaterally injured hypoxic–ischemic rats on auditory tasks, to assess whether rapid auditory processing recovery in adulthood is related to this aspect of injury. Current results indicate that while neonatal unilateral and bilateral hypoxic–ischemic injury both lead to rapid auditory processing deficits in the juvenile period, only rats with bilateral hypoxic–ischemic injury exhibit deficits that persist into adulthood.
SAACO: A Self Adaptive Ant Colony Optimization in Cloud Computing

The cloud environment is a heterogeneous, dynamic and complex environment. The characteristic of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), such as robustness and self adaptability, can just match the cloud environment. ACO is an algorithm that imitates the ants foraging, and it has a good application in the problems that want to find the optimal solution. The task scheduling in cloud computing is also the problem that want to find the optimal solution actually. In this paper, a self adaptive ant colony optimization (SAACO) is proposed. For the drawback of PACO we proposed before, such as the parameters' selection and the pheromone's update, in SAACO, we use particle swarm optimization (PSO) to make the parameters of ACO to be self adaptive. And we also improve the calculation and update of the pheromone. The results show that SAACO has a better performance than PACO both in makespan and load balance.
Theoretical and Experimental Investigations to Improve the Performance of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Biosensors

ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Motivation . 1 1.2 Objectives . 2 1.2. 1 Decreasing Insertion Loss with Microcavities . 3 1.2. 2 Biofouling Removal . 3 1.3 Brief Description of Biosensors . 4 1.4 Quick Overview of SAW Biosensors . 6 1.5 Organization of Dissertation . 6 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW AND LITERATURE REVIEW . 9 2.
Coherence Ordering for Ring-based Chip Multiprocessors

as well as donations from Intel and Sun Microsystems. Hill has significant financial interest in Sun Microsys-tems. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the NSF, Intel, or Sun Microsystems. Abstract Ring interconnects may be an attractive solution for future chip multiprocessors because they can enable faster links than buses and simpler switches than arbitrary switched interconnects. Moreover, a ring naturally orders requests sufficiently to enable directory-less coherence, but not in the total order that buses provide for snooping coherence. Existing cache coherence protocols for rings either establish a (total) ordering point (ORDERING-POINT) or use a greedy order (GREEDY-ORDER) with unbounded retries. In this work, we propose a new class of ring protocols, RING-ORDER, in which requests complete in ring position order to achieve two benefits. First, RING-ORDER improves performance relative to ORDERING-POINT by activating requests immediately instead of waiting for them to reach the ordering point. Second, it improves performance stability relative to GREEDY-ORDER by not using retries. Thus, the new RING-ORDER combines the best of ORDERING-POINT (good performance stability) with the best of GREEDY-ORDER (good average performance).
A corpus-based toy model for DisCoCat

The categorical compositional distributional (DisCoCat) model of meaning rigorously connects distributional semantics and pregroup grammars, and has found a variety of applications in computational linguistics. From a more abstract standpoint, the DisCoCat paradigm predicates the construction of a mapping from syntax to categorical semantics. In this work we present a concrete construction of one such mapping, from a toy model of syntax for corpora annotated with constituent structure trees, to categorical semantics taking place in a category of free R-semimodules over an involutive commutative semiring R.
Noninvasive Assessment of Murine Pulmonary Arterial Pressure: Validation and Application to Models of Pulmonary Hypertension

Background—Genetically modified mice offer the unique opportunity to gain insight into the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension. In mice, right heart catheterization is the only available technique to measure right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP). However, it is a terminal procedure and does not allow for serial measurements. Our objective was to validate a noninvasive technique to assess RVSP in mice. Methods and Results—Right ventricle catheterization and echocardiography (30-MHz transducer) were simultaneously performed in mice with pulmonary hypertension induced acutely by infusion of a thromboxane analogue, U-46619, or chronically by lung-specific overexpression of interleukin-6. Pulmonary acceleration time (PAT) and ejection time (ET) were measured in the parasternal short-axis view by pulsed-wave Doppler of pulmonary artery flow. Infusion of U-46619 acutely increased RVSP, shortened PAT, and decreased PAT/ET. The pulmonary flow pattern changed from symmetrical at baseline to asymmetrical at higher RVSPs. In wild-type and interleukin-6–overexpressing mice, the PAT correlated linearly with RVSP (r2=−0.67, P<0.0001), as did PAT/ET (r2=−0.76, P<0.0001). Sensitivity and specificity for detecting high RVSP (>32 mm Hg) were 100% (7/7) and 86% (6/7), respectively, for both indices (cutoff values: PAT, <21 ms; PAT/ET, <39%). Intraobserver and interobserver variability of PAT and PAT/ET were <6%. Conclusions—Right ventricular systolic pressure can be estimated noninvasively in mice. Echocardiography is able to detect acute and chronic increases in RVSP with high sensitivity and specificity as well as to assess the effects of treatment on RVSP. This noninvasive technique may permit the characterization of the evolution of pulmonary arterial hypertension in genetically modified mice.
Thalamic neuronal activity correlated with essential tremor

Animal studies suggest that an olivocerebello-bulbospinal pathway mediates harmaline induced tremor, which resembles essential tremor in humans. However, recent evidence suggests that thalamocortical pathways participate in essential tremor. Thalamic single neuron activity has been analysed during thalamotomy for essential tremor. It has been shown by spectral cross correlation analysis that thalamic activity has a significant, linear relation to forearm EMG activity during tremor. The presence of this tremor related activity at the site where a lesion abolishes essential tremor suggests that the thalamus has an important role in the mechanism of essential tremor.
Quality of Life in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a pervasive disease with wide-ranging effects on physical, psychological and social well-being. As such, a comprehensive assessment of SLE should include several different outcomes, such as quality of life (QoL) and economic costs, in addition to measures of disease activity and damage. In fact, disease effects on QoL are often considered of greater overall importance to patients. Two approaches have been used in the measurement of QoL: generic questionnaires and disease-specific questionnaires. Generic questionnaires are designed to be used across various conditions and populations, whereas disease-specific questionnaires are designed to measure outcomes in one specific disease or condition. The most commonly used measure of QoL is the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36), which is a generic measure that is applicable in a variety of conditions, including SLE. Recently, SLE-specific measures have been developed that may prove to be more responsive than generic measures. The hope is that improved outcome measures will allow for better assessment of SLE and eventually facilitate drug development and improve patient care.
Bioreaction Network Topology a by Biosynthetic Fracti Two-Dimensional N

Biosynthetically directed fractional C labeling of the proteinogenic amino acids is achieved by feeding a mixture of uniformly C-labeled and unlabeled carbon source compounds into a bioreaction network. Analysis of the resulting labeling pattern enables both a comprehensive characterization of the network topology and the determination of metabolic flux ratios. Attractive features with regard to routine applications are (i) an inherently small demand for C-labeled source compounds and (ii) the high sensitivity of two-dimensional [C,H]-correlation nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for analysis of C-labeling patterns. A user-friendly program, FCAL, is available to allow rapid data analysis. This novel approach, which recently also has been employed in conjunction with metabolic flux balancing to obtain reliable estimates of in vivo fluxes, enables efficient support of metabolic engineering and biotechnology process design. 1999 Academic Press Key Wordsy amino acid biosynthesis; biosynthetic fractional C labeling; central carbon metabolism; 2D NMR; in vivo flux ratios; metabolic flux balancing; METAFoR analysis.
Explicating Affordances: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Affordances in Communication Research

This study aims to clarify inconsistencies regarding the term affordances by examining how affordances terminology is used in empirical research on communication and technology. Through an analysis of 82 communication-oriented scholarly works on affordances, we identify 3 inconsistencies regarding the use of this term. First, much research describes a particular affordance without engaging other scholarship addressing that affordance. Second, several studies identify "lists" of affordances without conceptually developing individual affordances within those lists. Third, the affordances perspective is evoked in situations where the purported affordance does not meet commonly accepted definitions. We conclude with a set of criteria to aid scholars in evaluating their assumptions about affordances and to facilitate a more consistent approach to its conceptualization and application.
Cloning and characterization of genes responsible for metabolism of nitrile compounds from Pseudomonas chlororaphis B23

The nitrile hydratase (NHase) of Pseudomonas chlororaphis B23, which is composed of two subunits, alpha and beta, catalyzes the hydration of nitrile compounds to the corresponding amides. The NHase gene of strain B23 was cloned into Escherichia coli by the DNA-probing method with the NHase gene of Rhodococcus sp. strain N-774 as the hybridization probe. Nucleotide sequencing revealed that an amidase showing significant similarity to the amidase of Rhodococcus sp. strain N-774 was also coded by the region just upstream of the subunit alpha-coding sequence. In addition to these three proteins, two open reading frames, P47K and OrfE, were found just downstream of the coding region of subunit beta. The direction and close locations to each other of these open reading frames encoding five proteins (amidase, subunits alpha and beta, P47K, and OrfE, in that order) suggested that these genes were cotranscribed by a single mRNA. Plasmid pPCN4, in which a 6.2-kb sequence covering the region coding for these proteins is placed under control of the lac promoter, directed overproduction of enzymatically active NHase and amidase in response to addition of isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the cell extract showed that the amount of subunits alpha and beta of NHase was about 10% of the total cellular proteins and that an additional 38-kDa protein probably encoded by the region upstream of the amidase gene was also produced in a large amount. The 38-kDa protein, as well as P47K and OrfE, appeared to be important for efficient expression of NHase activity in E. coli cells, because plasmids containing the NHase and amidase genes but lacking the region coding for the 38-kDa protein or the region coding for P47K and OrfE failed to express efficient NHase activity.
Implementing human-like motion patterns in a trans-humeral prosthesis of three degrees of freedom and parallel actuators

This work purposes an innovative methodology for implementing and executing patterns of natural motion from a healthy human arm in an upper limb prostheses using parallel actuators. Firstly, it was developed a calibration control capable of simultaneously gathering on-line the movement range of all actuators of prosthesis. Then, ten calibration tests were performed in which movement ranges were characterized and averaged into single values called "calibration ranges". Later, the kinematics approximation of two activities of daily living (ADLs), already available from a previous work, were physically execute trough the control system already implemented in the tested prosthesis. Finally, positioning error and standard deviation of ADLs executed are obtained. The results gathered from experimentation take us to two different conclusions: 1) It was possible to properly perform the two characterized ADLs (with an average “positioning error” below 1.5 %), and 2) As ADLs applied were analyzed and reproduced by prosthesis at the elbow joint level, it is necessary a trade-off movement of user to properly perform the desired actions.
A probabilistic framework for dialog simulation and optimal strategy learning

The design of Spoken Dialog Systems cannot be considered as the simple combination of speech processing technologies. Indeed, speech-based interface design has been an expert job for a long time. It necessitates good skills in speech technologies and low-level programming. Moreover, rapid development and reusability of previously designed systems remains uneasy. This makes optimality and objective evaluation of design very difficult. The design process is therefore a cyclic process composed of prototype releases, user satisfaction surveys, bug reports and refinements. It is well known that human intervention for testing is time-consuming and above all very expensive. This is one of the reasons for the recent interest in dialog simulation for evaluation as well as for design automation and optimization. In this paper we expose a probabilistic framework for a realistic simulation of spoken dialogs in which the major components of a dialog system are modeled and parameterized thanks to independent data or expert knowledge. Especially, an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system model and a User Model (UM) have been developed. The ASR model, based on articulatory similarities in language models, provides task-adaptive performance prediction and Confidence Level (CL) distribution estimation. The user model relies on the Bayesian Networks (BN) paradigm and is used both for user behavior modeling and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) modeling. The complete simulation framework has been used to train a reinforcement-learning agent on two different tasks. These experiments helped to point out several potentially problematic dialog scenarios.
Current concepts for PrEP adherence in the PrEP revolution: from clinical trials to routine practice

Purpose of reviewThe review describes the current understanding of adherence to oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), methods for adherence measurement, approaches to supporting PrEP adherence, and guidance for defining PrEP adherence goals within the larger context of HIV prevention. Recent findingsPrEP adherence has generally been higher in recent trials, open-label extensions, and demonstration projects compared with the initial clinical trials; potential explanations include known PrEP efficacy and different motivations to take PrEP. Recent studies have explored adherence monitoring through electronic pill containers, short message service (SMS), and drug concentrations in hair and dried blood spots. The few PrEP adherence interventions developed to date include combinations of enhanced counseling, feedback of objective adherence measurement, and SMS. Conceptualization of PrEP adherence is evolving. The goal is not 100% adherence indefinitely, as it was in clinical trials. PrEP adherence should be defined with respect to HIV exposure, which varies over time by sexual behavior and use of other prevention strategies. SummaryPrEP adherence beyond clinical trials has generally been high enough to achieve reliable HIV prevention. Future efforts to measure and support PrEP adherence should focus on the context of risk for HIV acquisition, accounting for dynamic behaviors and choices among HIV prevention options.
Generic Natural Language Command Interpretation in Ontology-Based Dialogue Systems

This paper presents a general architecture towards a more generic approach to conversational agents. Our architecture contains generic (in sense of application independent) natural language (NL) modules that are based on ontologies for command interpretation. We focus on the presentation of the event generator and dialogue manager modules which rely on a bottom-up approach for matching the user's command with the set of currently possible actions
Improved tensile strength and thermal stability of thermoplastic carbon fiber fabric composites by heat induced crystallization of in situ polymerizable cyclic butylene terephthalate oligomers

Thermoplastic carbon fiber fabric reinforced composites (CFFRCs) were prepared using a novel fast manufacturing process with a low viscosity polymerizable cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT) resin. Structure and properties of the composites altered by thermal annealing were investigated to develop appropriate post processing of the CFFRCs for fast production and lowering the processing cost. Annealing at 200°C for 120 min resulted in improved mechanical properties and thermal stability of the polymerized CBT (pCBT) based on differential scanning calorimetry, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and thermo gravimetric analysis. The tensile strength of the CFFRC compression molded at 250°C for 2 min was 440 MPa and that of the CFFRC annealed at 200°C for 120 min after compression molding was 500 MPa, which is an improvement of 550 and 625% relative to the pCBT matrix, respectively. In addition, the thermal stability of the CFFRC annealed at 250°C for 120 min improved by 10°C. Therefore, tensile strength and thermal stability of the manufactured CFFRC can be improved by using the appropriate annealing conditions. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2161–2169, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers
Damask: A Tool for Early-Stage Design and Prototyping of Multi-Device User Interfaces

People often use a variety of computing devices, such as PCs, PDAs, and cell phones, to access the same information. The user interface to this information needs to be different for each device, due to different input and output constraints. Currently, designers designing such multi-device user interfaces either have to design a UI separately for each device, which is time consuming, or use a program to automatically generate interfaces, which often results in interfaces that are awkward. We are creating a system called Damask to better support multi-device UI design. With Damask, the designer will design a UI for one device, by sketching the design and by specifying which design patterns the interface uses. The patterns will help Damask generate user interfaces optimized for the other target devices. The generated interfaces will be of sufficient quality so that it will be more convenient to use Damask than to design each of the other interfaces separately, and the ease with which designers will be able to create designs will encourage them to engage in iterative design.
Cyclic Datatypes modulo Bisimulation based on Second-Order Algebraic Theories

Cyclic data structures, such as cyclic lists, in functional programming are tricky to handle because of their cyclicity. This paper presents an investigation of categorical, algebraic, and computational foundations of cyclic datatypes. Our framework of cyclic datatypes is based on second-order algebraic theories of Fiore et al., which give a uniform setting for syntax, types, and computation rules for describing and reasoning about cyclic datatypes. We extract the "fold" computation rules from the categorical semantics based on iteration categories of Bloom and Esik. Thereby, the rules are correct by construction. We prove strong normalisation using the General Schema criterion for second-order computation rules. Rather than the fixed point law, we particularly choose Bekic law for computation, which is a key to obtaining strong normalisation. We also prove the property of "Church-Rosser modulo bisimulation" for the computation rules. Combining these results, we have a remarkable decidability result of the equational theory of cyclic data and fold.