Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutation of SALL2 causes recessive ocular coloboma in humans and mice

Ocular coloboma is a congenital defect resulting from failure of normal closure of the optic fissure during embryonic eye development. This birth defect causes childhood blindness worldwide, yet the genetic etiology is poorly understood. Here, we identified a novel homozygous mutation in the SALL2 gene in members of a consanguineous family affected with non-syndromic ocular coloboma variably affecting the iris and retina. This mutation, c.85G>T, introduces a premature termination codon (p.Glu29*) predicted to truncate the SALL2 protein so that it lacks three clusters of zinc-finger motifs that are essential for DNA-binding activity. This discovery identifies SALL2 as the third member of the Drosophila homeotic Spalt-like family of developmental transcription factor genes implicated in human disease. SALL2 is expressed in the developing human retina at the time of, and subsequent to, optic fissure closure. Analysis of Sall2-deficient mouse embryos revealed delayed apposition of the optic fissure margins and the persistence of an anterior retinal coloboma phenotype after birth. Sall2-deficient embryos displayed correct posterior closure toward the optic nerve head, and upon contact of the fissure margins, dissolution of the basal lamina occurred and PAX2, known to be critical for this process, was expressed normally. Anterior closure was disrupted with the fissure margins failing to meet, or in some cases misaligning leading to a retinal lesion. These observations demonstrate, for the first time, a role for SALL2 in eye morphogenesis and that loss of function of the gene causes ocular coloboma in humans and mice.
An Algorithm for Idle-State Detection in Motor-Imagery-Based Brain-Computer Interface

For a robust brain-computer interface (BCI) system based on motor imagery (MI), it should be able to tell when the subject is not concentrating on MI tasks (the “idle state”) so that real MI tasks could be extracted accurately. Moreover, because of the diversity of idle state, detecting idle state without training samples is as important as classifying MI tasks. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for solving this problem. A three-class classifier was constructed by combining two two-class classifiers, one specified for idle-state detection and the other for these two MI tasks. Common spatial subspace decomposition (CSSD) was used to extract the features of event-related desynchronization (ERD) in two motor imagery tasks. Then Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) was employed in the design of two two-class classifiers for completion of detecting each task, respectively. The algorithm successfully provided a way to solve the problem of “idle-state detection without training samples. ” The algorithm was applied to the dataset IVc from BCI competition III. A final result with mean square error of 0.30 was obtained on the testing set. This is the winning algorithm in BCI competition III. In addition, the algorithm was also validated by applying to the EEG data of an MI experiment including “idle” task.
Performance constraint-aware task mapping to optimize lifetime reliability of manycore systems

Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) has emerged as a critical challenge to lifetime reliability of computing systems. Traditionally, temperature-aware methodologies are used to mitigate the impact of NBTI on aging and degradation of computing systems. However, in the presence of process variation, which is the norm in manycore processors, temperature-aware techniques are inefficient in improving lifetime reliability and can result in poor performance. In this paper, we propose a novel performance constraint-aware task mapping technique to improve lifetime reliability by mitigating NBTI considering on-chip process variation. Our approach consists of two phases, namely design-time and run-time. During design time, we generate Pareto-optimal mappings. Following which, our run-time technique judiciously intervenes to perform workload migration to save the weakest processing core. We compare our approach with performance-greedy and thermal-aware task mapping techniques. The experiment results demonstrate that our approach outperforms other two techniques and improves lifetime reliability of a manycore system as much as 54% without violating the throughput constraint.
Environmental scanning on the Internet

This study investigates the important organizational task of environmental scanning in an Internet context. A theoretical model relating potential causal factors to effectiveness of environmental scanning was formulated based on a synthesis of environmental scanning literature that took into consideration the Internet context. A questionnaire was developed for data collection. Responses from 105 organizations were tested for convergent and discriminant validity before the theoretical model was assessed using PLS analysis. Results showed that smaller organizations tend to scan more frequently on the Internet, both use of external consultants and volatility of competitor sector tend to cause organizations to scan more frequently on the Internet, and both use of external consultants and scanning frequency on the Internet tend to result in effectiveness of environmental scanning. Additional insights on these results were obtained through telephone interviews with 10 respondents.
A Bug Assignment Approach Combining Expertise and Recency of Both Bug Fixing and Source Commits

Automatic bug reports assignment to fixers is an important activity for software quality assurance. Existing approaches consider either the bug fixing or source commit activities which may result in inactive or inexperienced developers suggestions. Considering only one of the information can not compensate another leading to reduced accuracy of developer suggestion. An approach named BSBA is proposed, which combines the expertise and recency of both bug fixing and source commit activities. Firstly, BSBA collects the source code and commit logs to construct an index, mapping the source entities with their commit time, which presents developers’ source code activities. Secondly, it processes the fixed bug reports to build another index which connects the report keywords to the fixing time. Finally, on arrival of new reports, BSBA queries the two indexes, and combines the query results using tf-idf weighting technique to measure a BSBA score for the developers. The top scored developers are suggested as appropriate fixers. BSBA is applied on two open source projects Eclipse JDT and SWT, and is compared with three existing techniques. The results show that BSBA obtains the actual fixer at Top 1 position in 45.67%, and 47.50% cases for Eclipse JDT and SWT respectively, which is higher than the existing approaches. It also shows that BSBA improves the accuracy of existing techniques on average by 3%-60%.
believe that by using Metaphors for Making sense of end-user attitudes and behavior during information systems development

abstraCt This paper describes our use of Morgan's (1997) metaphors for making sense of end-user attitudes and behavior in an information systems development project, in a UK National Health Service hospital. We employ a case study approach, within which we elicit the attitudes using a questionnaire and infer the behavior using observations and interviews. We present the results in the form of a journey, tracking the metaphori-cal shift for each end-user, over the project duration. We show how individual journeys can be combined to capture organizations' shift in metaphorical position. Our results show that within a space of eighteen months the organization's overall metaphorical stance shifted from the organism to the machine metaphor. This reflects the end-user's initial optimism for the change to enable ease of working to that of efficiency dictated by the senior management towards the end. We also found that this shift was due to organizational conditional factors. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]
A novel local search approximation algorithm for relay node placement in Wireless Sensor Networks

In two-tiered Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) relay node placement considering resource constraints and high overhead of the relay nodes plays a key role in extending the network lifetime. Therefore, approaches that support fewer relay nodes are desired to cover the WSNs. In this paper, we formulate the relay node placement problem as a Geometric Disc Covering (GDC) problem, and propose a novel local search approximation algorithm (LSAA) to solve the GDC problem. In the proposed LSAA, the sensor nodes are allocated into independent groups and then a Set Cover (SC) for each group is performed. The set of the SC for each group constitutes a SC of the GDC problem. LSAA is extensively investigated and analyzed by rigorous proof and the simulation results presented in this paper clearly demonstrate that the proposed LSAA outperform the approaches reported in literature in the reduction in deployed relay nodes.
Association between type 2 diabetes mellitus, biochemical factors and UCSNP-43 polymorphisms of CALPIN-10 gene in patients with atherosclerosis of coronary artery disease in Southern Iran population

Introduction: Genetic variations in the calpain 10 gene (CALPIN-10), single nucleotide polymorphisms-43 (SNP-43), have increased the risk of type 2 diabete mellitus (T2DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: We studied the control and CAD groups for association of association of SNP-43 in the CALPIN-10 gene with T2DM and other risk factors of its complications. Overall, we examined 452 individuals, 224 patients with CAD and 228 healthy subjects for CAD in Iranian population. All the subjects were genotyped for the CALPIN-10, SNP-43 by polymorphism chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods, using biochemical methods to detect fasting glucose and other biochemical factors in the blood sample. We assessed frequencies of SNP-43 alleles between CAD and normal population groups. Results: In CAD patients, the GG allele was significantly associated with T2DM and GG allele was causing high level of glucose. But in control group, there was no relationship between them. Between clinical and biochemical risk factors with different genotypes there was no significant difference in the compared group. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest no significant association between SNP-43 and the risk of T2DM. In other words, CALPIN-10 did not show a major diabetes gene pool capacity in normal southern Iranian population.
Sleeping android: the danger of dormant permissions

An Android app must be authorized for permissions, defined by the Android platform, in order to access certain capabilities of an Android device. An app developer specifies which permissions an app will require and these permissions must be authorized by the user of the device when the app is installed. Permissions, and the tools that are used to manage them, form the basis of the Android permission architecture, which is an essential part of the access control services provided by the Android platform. We have analyzed the evolution of the Android permission architecture across six versions of the Android platform, identifying various changes which have occurred during that period and a considerable amount of information about the permission architecture which is not included in the Android documentation. Using this information, we have identified a weakness in the way that the Android platform handles app permissions during platform upgrades. We explain how this weakness may be exploited by a developer to produce malicious software which the average user is unlikely to detect. We conclude with a discussion of potential mitigation techniques for this weakness, highlighting concerns drawn from other research in this area.
Reachable Space Generation of A Humanoid Robot Using The Monte Carlo Method

In view of the importance of workspace to robotic motion planning and control, we study the reachable space of a humanoid robot in standing postures. Since it would be very difficult or impractical to use conventional analytical method to analyze and obtain the workspace of a humanoid robot, we present a numerical approach in this paper using the Monte Carlo method. As a random sampling numerical method, the Monte Carlo method is relatively simple and flexible to apply, and hence is suitable for the workspace generation of a humanoid robot. After formulating the basic constraints that a humanoid robot must satisfy in a manipulation task to enable the Monte Carlo method in generation of the reachable space, we present the algorithm and a method to build a database for utilization of the numerical results in application. We illustrate this method by an example conducted on the humanoid platform HRP-2. The results show that this method is feasible and practical for the generation and visualization of workspace of a humanoid robot
Disseminating Childhood Home Injury Risk Reduction Information in Pakistan: Results from a Community-Based Pilot Study

Background: Most childhood unintentional injuries occur in the home; however, very little home injury prevention information is tailored to developing countries. Utilizing our previously developed information dissemination tools and a hazard assessment checklist tailored to a low-income neighborhood in Pakistan, we pilot tested and compared the effectiveness of two dissemination tools. Methods: Two low-income neighborhoods were mapped, identifying families with a child aged between 12 and 59 months. In June and July 2010, all enrolled households underwent a home hazard assessment at the same time hazard reduction education was being given using an in-home tutorial or a pamphlet. A follow up assessment was conducted 4–5 months later. Results: 503 households were enrolled; 256 received a tutorial and 247 a pamphlet. The two groups differed significantly (p < 0.01) in level of maternal education and relationship of the child to the primary caregiver. However, when controlling for these variables, those receiving an in-home tutorial had a higher odds of hazard reduction than the pamphlet group for uncovered vats of water (OR 2.14, 95% CI: 1.28, 3.58), an open fire within reach of the child (OR 3.55, 95% CI: 1.80, 7.00), and inappropriately labeled cooking fuel containers (OR 1.86, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.25). Conclusions: This pilot project demonstrates the potential utility of using home-visit tutorials to decrease home hazards in a low-income neighborhood in Pakistan. A longer-term randomized study is needed to assess actual effectiveness of the use of allied health workers for home-based injury education and whether this results in decreased home injuries.
A Distributed Reliable and Energy-Efficient Topology Control Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Network

Topology control is an efficiency method that can enhance the energy efficiency in a wireless sensor network. There are several research discuss the topology control problem only focus on topology construction or topology maintenance. In this paper, we design a distributed reliable and energy- efficient topology control algorithm both take into consider with topology construction and maintenance. In the topology construction phase, we build a reliable topology to reduce the packet retransmission. We use intermittently links and natural of wireless network. Anyone can receive the packet, when it in someone's coverage. Therefore, we combined these features to build a high network reachable probability. It can enhance the network efficiency. In addition to, we propose the dynamic topology maintenance method, which can balance the energy consumption by multi-level energy threshold. Our proposed method can obtain the high network reachable probability and to extend the network lifetime. Experiments indicate the superiority of the proposed algorithm in terms of average energy consumption and network lifetime.
A proteinuria cut-off level of 0.7 g/day after 12 months of treatment best predicts long-term renal outcome in lupus nephritis: data from the MAINTAIN Nephritis Trial

Background Although an early decrease in proteinuria has been correlated with good long-term renal outcome in lupus nephritis (LN), studies aimed at defining a cut-off proteinuria value are missing, except a recent analysis performed on patients randomised in the Euro-Lupus Nephritis Trial, demonstrating that a target value of 0.8 g/day at month 12 optimised sensitivity and specificity for the prediction of good renal outcome. The objective of the current work is to validate this target in another LN study, namely the MAINTAIN Nephritis Trial (MNT). Methods Long-term (at least 7 years) renal function data were available for 90 patients randomised in the MNT. Receiver operating characteristic curves were built to test the performance of proteinuria measured within the 1st year as short-term predictor of long-term renal outcome. We calculated the positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV). Results After 12 months of treatment, achievement of a proteinuria <0.7 g/day best predicted good renal outcome, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 71% and 75%, respectively. The PPV was high (94%) but the NPV low (29%). Addition of the requirement of urine red blood cells ≤5/hpf as response criteria at month 12 reduced sensitivity from 71% to 41%. Conclusions In this cohort of mainly Caucasian patients suffering from a first episode of LN in most cases, achievement of a proteinuria <0.7 g/day at month 12 best predicts good outcome at 7 years and inclusion of haematuria in the set of criteria at month 12 undermines the sensitivity of early proteinuria decrease for the prediction of good outcome. The robustness of these conclusions stems from the very similar results obtained in two distinct LN cohorts. Trial registration number: NCT00204022.
How Accurate are Value-at-Risk Models at Commercial Banks

In recent years, the trading accounts at large commercial banks have grown substantially and become progressively more diverse and complex. We provide descriptive statistics on the trading revenues from such activities and on the associated Value-at-Risk forecasts internally estimated by banks. For a sample of large bank holding companies, we evaluate the performance of banks' trading risk models by examining the statistical accuracy of the VaR forecasts. Although a substantial literature has examined the statistical and economic meaning of Value-at-Risk models, this article is the first to provide a detailed analysis of the performance of models actually in use.
Structure of the Holliday junction intermediate in Cre–loxP site‐specific recombination

We have determined the X‐ray crystal structures of two DNA Holliday junctions (HJs) bound by Cre recombinase. The HJ is a four‐way branched structure that occurs as an intermediate in genetic recombination pathways, including site‐specific recombination by the λ‐integrase family. Cre recombinase is an integrase family member that recombines 34 bp loxP sites in the absence of accessory proteins or auxiliary DNA sequences. The 2.7 Å structure of Cre recombinase bound to an immobile HJ and the 2.5 Å structure of Cre recombinase bound to a symmetric, nicked HJ reveal a nearly planar, twofold‐symmetric DNA intermediate that shares features with both the stacked‐X and the square conformations of the HJ that exist in the unbound state. The structures support a protein‐mediated crossover isomerization of the junction that acts as the switch responsible for activation and deactivation of recombinase active sites. In this model, a subtle isomerization of the Cre recombinase–HJ quaternary structure dictates which strands are cleaved during resolution of the junction via a mechanism that involves neither branch migration nor helical restacking.
Using Statistical Word Associations for the Retrieval of Strongly-Textual Cases

Lexical relationships allow a textual CBR system to establish case similarity beyond the exact correspondence of words. In this paper, we explore statistical models to insert associations between problems and solutions in the retrieval process. We study two types of models: word cooccurrences and translation alignments. These a pproaches offer the potential to capture relationships arising between a problem description and its corresponding textual solution. We present some experimental results and evaluate these with respect to a tf*idf approach.
Prolonged Antigen Presentation Is Required for Optimal CD8+ T Cell Responses against Malaria Liver Stage Parasites

Immunization with irradiated sporozoites is currently the most effective vaccination strategy against liver stages of malaria parasites, yet the mechanisms underpinning the success of this approach are unknown. Here we show that the complete development of protective CD8+ T cell responses requires prolonged antigen presentation. Using TCR transgenic cells specific for the malaria circumsporozoite protein, a leading vaccine candidate, we found that sporozoite antigen persists for over 8 weeks after immunization—a remarkable finding since irradiated sporozoites are incapable of replication and do not differentiate beyond early liver stages. Persisting antigen was detected in lymphoid organs and depends on the presence of CD11c+ cells. Prolonged antigen presentation enhanced the magnitude of the CD8+ T cell response in a number of ways. Firstly, reducing the time primed CD8+ T cells were exposed to antigen in vivo severely reduced the final size of the developing memory population. Secondly, fully developed memory cells expanded in previously immunized mice but not when transferred to naïve animals. Finally, persisting antigen was able to prime naïve cells, including recent thymic emigrants, to become functional effector cells capable of eliminating parasites in the liver. Together these data show that the optimal development of protective CD8+ T cell immunity against malaria liver stages is dependent upon the prolonged presentation of sporozoite-derived antigen.
Particle filter based monocular human tracking with a 3d cardbox model and a novel deterministic resampling strategy

The challenge of markerless human motion tracking is the high dimensionality of the search space. Thus, efficient exploration in the search space is of great significance. In this paper, a motion capturing algorithm is proposed for upper body motion tracking. The proposed system tracks human motion based on monocular silhouette-matching, and it is built on the top of a hierarchical particle filter, within which a novel deterministic resampling strategy (DRS) is applied. The proposed system is evaluated quantitatively with the ground truth data measured by an inertial sensor system. In addition, we compare the DRS with the stratified resampling strategy (SRS). It is shown in experiments that DRS outperforms SRS with the same amount of particles. Moreover, a new 3D articulated human upper body model with the name 3D cardbox model is created and is proven to work successfully for motion tracking. Experiments show that the proposed system can robustly track upper body motion without self-occlusion. Motions towards the camera can also be well tracked.