Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability of blood lactate as a measure of exercise intensity in different strains of mice during forced treadmill running

Exercise has long been known to be beneficial to human health. Studies aimed at understanding the effects of exercise specifically focus on predetermined exercise intensities defined by measuring the aerobic capacity of each individual. Many disease models involving animal training often establish aerobic capacity by using the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS), a widely used method in humans that has frequently been used in rodent studies. The MLSS is defined as the highest exercise intensity at which blood lactate concentration remains constant and is roughly equivalent to 70–80% of maximal aerobic capacity. Due to our up-coming experiments investigating the effect of different exercise intensities in specific strains of tumor-bearing mice, the aim of the present study was to determine the MLSS in athymic nude (NCr nu/nu and NMRI), CDF1, and C3H mice by treadmill running at increasing speeds. However, despite thorough exercise acclimation and the use of different exercise protocols and aversive stimuli, less than half of the experiments across strains pointed towards an established MLSS. Moreover, gently prodding the mice during low to moderate intensity running caused a 30–121% (p<0.05) increase in blood lactate concentration compared to running without stimulation, further questioning the use of lactate as a measure of exercise intensity. Overall, MLSS is difficult to determine and large variations of blood lactate levels were observed depending on the exercise protocol, mice handling strategy and strain. This should be considered when planning experiments in mice using forced exercise protocols.
Minimal Multi-threading: Finding and Removing Redundant Instructions in Multi-threaded Processors

Parallelism is the key to continued performance scaling in modern microprocessors. Yet we observe that this parallelism can often contain a surprising amount of instruction redundancy. We propose to exploit this redundancy to improve performance and decrease energy consumption. We propose a multi-threading micro-architecture, Minimal Multi-Threading (MMT), that leverages register renaming and the instruction window to combine the fetch and execution of identical instructions between threads in SPMD applications. While many techniques exploit intra-thread similarities by detecting when a later instruction may use an earlier result, MMT exploits inter-thread similarities by, whenever possible, fetching instructions from different threads together and only splitting them if the computation is unique. With two threads, our design achieves a speedup of 1.15(geometric mean) over a two-thread traditional SMT with a trace cache. With four threads, our design achieves a speedup of 1.25 (geometric mean) over a traditional SMT processor with four-threads and a trace cache. These correspond to speedups of 1.5 and 1.84 over a traditional out-of-order processor. Moreover, our performance increases inmost applications with no power increase because the increase in overhead is countered with a decrease in cache accesses, leading to a decrease in energy consumption for all applications.
Reconstruction and Function of Ancestral Center-of-Tree Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Proteins

ABSTRACT The extensive diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and its capacity to mutate and escape host immune responses are major challenges for AIDS vaccine development. Ancestral sequences, which minimize the genetic distance to circulating strains, provide an opportunity to design immunogens with the potential to elicit broad recognition of HIV epitopes. We developed a phylogenetics-informed algorithm to reconstruct ancestral HIV sequences, called Center of Tree (COT). COT sequences have potentially significant benefits over isolate-based strategies, as they minimize the evolutionary distances to circulating strains. COT sequences are designed to surmount the potential pitfalls stemming from sampling bias with the consensus method and outlier bias with the most-recent-common-ancestor approach. We computationally derived COT sequences from circulating HIV-1 subtype B sequences for the genes encoding the major viral structural protein (Gag) and two regulatory proteins, Tat and Nef. COT genes were synthesized de novo and expressed in mammalian cells, and the proteins were characterized. COT Gag was shown to generate virus-like particles, while COT Tat transactivated gene expression from the HIV-1 long terminal repeat and COT Nef mediated downregulation of cell surface major histocompatibility complex class I. Thus, retrodicted ancestral COT proteins can retain the biological functions of extant HIV-1 proteins. Additionally, COT proteins were immunogenic, as they elicited antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses in mice. These data support the utility of the COT approach to create novel and biologically active ancestral proteins as a starting point for studies of the structure, function, and biological fitness of highly variable genes, as well as for the rational design of globally relevant vaccine candidates.
A Model-Based Approach for Small-Signal Stability Assessment of Unbalanced Power Systems

In this paper, a modeling technique for small-signal stability assessment of unbalanced power systems is presented. Since power distribution systems are inherently unbalanced, due to its lines and loads characteristics, and the penetration of distributed generation into these systems is increasing nowadays, such a tool is needed in order to ensure a secure and reliable operation of these systems. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a phasor-based model for the study of dynamic phenomena in unbalanced power systems. Using an assumption on the net torque of the generator, it is possible to precisely define an equilibrium point for the phasor model of the system, thus enabling its linearization around this point, and, consequently, its eigenvalue/eigenvector analysis for small-signal stability assessment. The modeling technique presented here was compared to the dynamic behavior observed in ATP simulations and the results show that, for the generator and controller models used, the proposed modeling approach is adequate and yields reliable and precise results.
Internalized stigma and its impact on schizophrenia quality of life

ABSTRACT The internalization of schizophrenia-related stigma highly affects people living with this disease, hindering their recovery process. The aim of this work is to study the effect of alienation and stereotype endorsement on the specific dimensions of schizophrenia-specific quality of life (SQoL), through the damage on self-esteem and self-efficacy. The model was tested in 167 patients with schizophrenia by path analysis using maximum likelihood procedure. The data fit the proposed model, but not all hypothesized predictions were met. A negative effect of alienation on self-esteem and self-efficacy was shown, while the negative effect of stereotype endorsement on these self-concept-related variables was non-significant. Self-esteem significantly contributed to the variance of the three dimensions of SQoL, while self-efficacy seems not to be involved in the model. Our results suggest that both alienation and stereotype endorsement have a direct effect on psychosocial SQoL and physical SQoL, while motivation and energy-related SQoL is affected only indirectly by alienation (through the decrease of self-esteem). Finally, we found that self-esteem significantly mediates the negative effect of alienation on the three dimensions of SQoL. We propose that the strengthening of self-esteem would mitigate the damage on SQoL, protecting specially the motivation and energy dimension, which may favor recovery.
Extracting translation pairs from social network content

We introduce two methods to collect additional training data for statistical machine translation systems from public social network content. The first method identifies multilingual content where the author self-translated their own post to reach additional friends, fans or customers. Once identified, we can split the post in the language segments and extract translation pairs from this content. The second methods considers web links (URLs) that users add as part of their post to point the reader to a video, article or website. If the same URL is shared from different language users, there is a chance they might give the same comment in their respective language. We use a support vector machine (SVM) as a classifier to identify true translations from all candidate pairs. We collected additional translation pairs using both methods for the language pairs Spanish-English and Portuguese-English. Testing the collected data as additional training data for statistical machine translations on in-domain test sets resulted in very significant improvements of up to 5 BLEU.
Printable electronics for polymer RFID applications

An organic RF identification transponder operating at a carrier frequency of 13.56MHz is presented in a proof of concept IC with no ID. The rectifier and the digital integrated modulation circuit are based on organic p-type semiconducting material with a total transponder area of 4cm2. The operational distance is 0 to 4.75cm while the clock frequency is 120Hz
Effects of CapG overexpression on agonist-induced motility and second messenger generation

Actin modulating proteins that bind polyphosphoinositides, such as phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate (PIP2), can potentially participate in receptor signaling by restructuring the membrane cytoskeleton and modulating second messenger generation through the phosphoinositide cycle. We examined these possibilities by overexpressing CapG, an actin filament end capping, Ca(2+)- and polyphosphoinositide-binding protein of the gelsolin family. High level transient overexpression decreased actin filament staining in the center of the cells but not in the cell periphery. Moderate overexpression in clonally selected cell lines did not have a detectible effect on actin filament content or organization. Nevertheless, it promoted a dose-dependent increase in rates of wound healing and chemotaxis. The motile phenotype was similar to that observed with gelsolin overexpression, which in addition to capping, also severs and nucleates actin filaments. CapG overexpressing clones are more responsive to platelet-derived growth factor than control- transfected clones. They form more circular dorsal membrane ruffles, have higher phosphoinositide turnover, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate generation and Ca2+ signaling. These responses are consistent with enhanced PLC gamma activity. Direct measurements of PIP2 mass showed that the CapG effect on PLC gamma was not due primarily to an increase in the PIP2 substrate concentration. The observed changes in cell motility and membrane signaling are consistent with the hypothesis that PIP(2)-binding actin regulatory proteins modulate phosphoinositide turnover and second messenger generation in vivo. We infer that CapG and related proteins are poised to coordinate membrane signaling with actin filament dynamics following cell stimulation.
The Shh receptor Boc is important for myelin formation and repair

ABSTRACT Myelination leads to the formation of myelin sheaths surrounding neuronal axons and is crucial for function, plasticity and repair of the central nervous system (CNS). It relies on the interaction of the axons and the oligodendrocytes: the glial cells producing CNS myelin. Here, we have investigated the role of a crucial component of the Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signalling pathway, the co-receptor Boc, in developmental and repairing myelination. During development, Boc mutant mice display a transient decrease in oligodendroglial cell density together with delayed myelination. Despite recovery of oligodendroglial cells at later stages, adult mutants still exhibit a lower production of myelin basic protein correlated with a significant decrease in the calibre of callosal axons and a reduced amount of the neurofilament NF-M. During myelin repair, the altered OPC differentiation observed in the mutant is reminiscent of the phenotype observed after blockade of Shh signalling. In addition, Boc mutant microglia/macrophages unexpectedly exhibit the apparent inability to transition from a highly to a faintly ramified morphology in vivo. Altogether, these results identify Boc as an important component of myelin formation and repair. Summary: The Sonic hedgehog receptor Boc is implicated in oligodendrogenesis and axon calibre regulation during development, and participates in microglia and/or macrophage transition from highly to faintly ramified morphology during myelin repair.
Structural analysis of ischemic stroke thrombi: histological indications for therapy resistance

Ischemic stroke is caused by a thromboembolic occlusion of cerebral arteries. Treatment is focused on fast and efficient removal of the occluding thrombus, either via intravenous thrombolysis or via endovascular thrombectomy. Recanalization, however, is not always successful and factors contributing to failure are not completely understood. Although the occluding thrombus is the primary target of acute treatment, little is known about its internal organization and composition. The aim of this study, therefore, was to better understand the internal organization of ischemic stroke thrombi on a molecular and cellular level. A total of 188 thrombi were collected from endovascularly treated ischemic stroke patients and analyzed histologically for fibrin, red blood cells (RBC), von Willebrand factor (vWF), platelets, leukocytes and DNA, using bright field and fluorescence microscopy. Our results show that stroke thrombi are composed of two main types of areas: RBC-rich areas and platelet-rich areas. RBC-rich areas have limited complexity as they consist of RBC that are entangled in a meshwork of thin fibrin. In contrast, platelet-rich areas are characterized by dense fibrin structures aligned with vWF and abundant amounts of leukocytes and DNA that accumulate around and in these platelet-rich areas. These findings are important to better understand why platelet-rich thrombi are resistant to thrombolysis and difficult to retrieve via thrombectomy, and can guide further improvements of acute ischemic stroke therapy.
An investigation of life quality of patients after two different acoustic neuroma resections

Abstract Background: Patients may suffer postoperative facial nerve injury, hearing loss, or other postoperative complications after the operation, which seriously affect their postoperative life quality. Aims/objectives: To investigate the differences in QOL (quality of life) of patients with acoustic neuroma resection by the translabyrinthine or retrosigmoid approach. Material and methods: Patients with acoustic neuroma resection in our department were enrolled in this experimental study, among which fifty patients underwent the translabyrinthine approach resection, the other 50 patients underwent the retrosigmoid approach resection. Different scores by the SF-36 scale between these two groups of patients one month after discharge were then analyzed. Results: Scores of patients undergoing the retrosigmoid approach were higher in the three dimensions of Social Functioning, Role-emotional and Mental Health than those of patients undergoing the translabyrinthine approach with statistical significance. However, scores of patients undergoing the translabyrinthine approach were higher in the two dimensions of Body Pain and Vitality than those of the patients undergoing the retrosigmoid approach. Conclusions and significance: The results indicated that individual nursing interventions for different patients are necessary to improve the QOL of patients after hospitalization. Moreover, the operated patients with translabyrinthine approach were more advantage than patients with retrosigmoid approach.
Human Cytomegalovirus Genomes Sequenced Directly From Clinical Material: Variation, Multiple-Strain Infection, Recombination, and Gene Loss

Abstract The genomic characteristics of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains sequenced directly from clinical pathology samples were investigated, focusing on variation, multiple-strain infection, recombination, and gene loss. A total of 207 datasets generated in this and previous studies using target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing were analyzed, in the process enabling the determination of genome sequences for 91 strains. Key findings were that (i) it is important to monitor the quality of sequencing libraries in investigating variation; (ii) many recombinant strains have been transmitted during HCMV evolution, and some have apparently survived for thousands of years without further recombination; (iii) mutants with nonfunctional genes (pseudogenes) have been circulating and recombining for long periods and can cause congenital infection and resulting clinical sequelae; and (iv) intrahost variation in single-strain infections is much less than that in multiple-strain infections. Future population-based studies are likely to continue illuminating the evolution, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of HCMV.
Selection of Bins on Histograms of Oriented Gradient

In this paper, a method has been proposed, which focused on the problem of pedestrian detection in static images, adopting the Histogram of Oriented Gradient features proposed by Dalal and Triggs. A novel features set based on selecting oriented bins, which is the key-point to the Histogram of Oriented Gradient's performance, is presented. Due to the comparison of three different processing bins, we achieve a proper testing result at 86.63% by SBS algorithm. The simulation results shows that the detection rate of proposed method outperforms slightly than the original HOG performance, yet decreases the running time of the whole procedure.
Let me finish: automatic conflict detection using speaker overlap

The automated detection of conﬂict will be a crucial feature of emerging speech-analysis technologies, whether the purpose is to assuage conﬂict in online applications or simply to mark its location for corpus analysis. In this study, we examine the predictive potential of overlapping speech in determining con-ﬂict, and we ﬁnd that this feature alone is strongly correlated with high conﬂict levels as rated by human judges. In analyzing the SSPNET debate corpus, we effect a 2.3% improvement over baseline accuracy using speaker overlap ratio as a predicted value, suggesting that this feature is a reliable proxy for conﬂict level. In a follow-up experiment, we analyze the patterns of predicted conﬂict in the beginning, middle and end of an audio clip. Our ﬁndings show that the beginning and ﬁnal segments are more predictive than the middle, which indicates that a primacy-recency effect is bearing on the perception of conﬂict. Since the beginning segment itself can be quite predictive, we also show that accurate predictions can be made dynamically, allowing for real-time classiﬁcation during live debates.
Online 3D reconstruction using convex optimization

We present a system that is capable of interactively reconstructing a scene from a single live camera. We use a dense volumetric representation of the surface, which means there are no constraints concerning the 3D-scene topology. Reconstruction is based on range image fusion using a total variation formulation, where the surface is represented implicitly by a signed distance function. The final 3D-model is obtained by minimizing a global convex energy and extracting the zero level-set of the solution. The whole reconstruction process is designed to be online. Users can constantly inspect the current reconstruction and adapt camera movement to get the desired amount of detail for specific parts of the reconstructed scene.
When YouTube Does not Work—Analysis of QoE-Relevant Degradation in Google CDN Traffic

YouTube is the most popular service in today's Internet. Google relies on its massive content delivery network (CDN) to push YouTube videos as close as possible to the end-users, both to improve their watching experience as well as to reduce the load on the core of the network, using dynamic server selection strategies. However, we show that such a dynamic approach can actually have negative effects on the end-user quality of experience (QoE). Through the comprehensive analysis of one month of YouTube flow traces collected at the network of a large European ISP, we report a real case study in which YouTube QoE-relevant degradation affecting a large number of users occurs as a result of Google's server selection strategies. We present an iterative and structured process to detect, characterize, and diagnose QoE-relevant anomalies in CDN distributed services such as YouTube. The overall process uses statistical analysis methodologies to unveil the root causes behind automatically detected problems linked to the dynamics of CDNs' server selection strategies.
Cache Modeling and Optimization using Miniature Simulations

Recent approximation algorithms (e.g., CounterStacks, SHARDS and AET) make lightweight, continuouslyupdated miss ratio curves (MRCs) practical for online modeling and control of LRU caches. For more complex cache-replacement policies, scaled-down simulation, introduced with SHARDS, offers a general method for emulating a given cache size by using a miniature cache processing a small spatially-hashed sample of requests. We present the first detailed study evaluating the effectiveness of this approach for modeling non-LRU algorithms, including ARC, LIRS and OPT. Experiments with over a hundred real-world traces demonstrate that scaled-down MRCs are extremely accurate while requiring dramatically less space and time than full simulation. We propose an efficient, generic framework for dynamic optimization using multiple scaled-down simulations to explore candidate cache configurations simultaneously. Experiments demonstrate significant improvements from automatic adaptation of parameters including the stack size limit in LIRS, and queue sizes in 2Q. Finally, we introduce SLIDE, a new approach inspired by Talus that uses scaled-down MRCs to remove performance cliffs automatically. SLIDE performs shadow partitioning transparently within a single unified cache, avoiding the problem of migrating state between distinct caches when partition boundaries change. Experiments demonstrate that SLIDE improves miss ratios for many cache policies, with large gains in the presence of cliffs.