Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection and viability of tumor cells in peripheral blood stem cell collections from breast cancer patients using immunocytochemical and clonogenic assay techniques.

Although peripheral blood stem cell collections (PBSC) are thought to have less tumor involvement than bone marrow (BM), the incidence of circulating tumor cells in patients with breast cancer has not been widely investigated. We prospectively investigated the incidence and viability of tumor cell involvement in PBSC and BM collections from breast cancer patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy/hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Paired samples of PBSC and BM from 48 patients were analyzed using an immunocytochemical technique that detects one epithelial-derived tumor cell per 5 x 10(5) mononuclear cells. Immunostained tumor cells were detected in 9.8% (13/133) PBSC specimens from 9/48 (18.7%) patients and in 62.3% (38/61) BM specimens from 32/48 (66.7%) patients, a significantly higher rate than in PBSC (P < .005). The geometric mean concentration of tumor cells in contaminated PBSC specimens was 0.8/10(5) mononuclear cells (range 0.33 to 2.0/10(5)) compared with 22.9/10(5) mononuclear cells in BM (range 1 to 3,000/10(5), P < . 0001). In culture experiments, clonogenic tumor colonies grew in 21/26 immunocytochemically positive specimens. No tumor colony growth was detected in 30/32 immunocytochemically negative specimens. Immunocytochemical detection of tumor involvement in BM and PBSC correlated significantly with in vitro clonogenic growth (P < .0001). We conclude that PBSC contain fewer tumor cells than paired BM specimens from patients with advanced breast cancer and that these tumor cells appear to be capable of clonogenic growth in vitro.
Fast N-Dimensional Hilbert Mapping Algorithm

To address the problem of efficiency of the high dimensional Hilbert mapping, we present a novel way for analyzing Hilbert curve, which is based on a static evolvement rule table, called Hilbert gene. Based on the Hilbert gene, we present algorithms for implementing N-dimensional Hilbert mappings. According to the commands of the Hilbert gene, through performing the coordinate transformations, it can implement highly efficient Hilbert mappings. The experimental results show that our method can perform Hilbert mappings as efficiently as Z-order mappings in up to about 10 dimensions. It indicates that Hilbert mapping can take the place of Z-order mapping in practice.
The strategic value of SOA: a comparative case study in the banking sector

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has helped to drive increasingly intense global competition. In turn, this intensity increases the need for flexibility and rapid changeability in ICT to support strategies that depend on organisational agility. We report a comparative, cross-cultural case study of the implementation of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) at a Scandinavian bank and a Swiss bank. The strategic rewards in the adoption of SOA appear to go beyond marketplace issues of ICT capability acquisition, and unexpectedly arise in the creation of an extensible organisational ICT architecture. The extensibility of the ICT architecture that results from the adoption of SOA provides potential for greater organisational agility (and thereby competitiveness).
Instruction-set architecture exploration strategies for deeply clustered VLIW ASIPs

Instruction-set architecture exploration for clustered VLIW processors is a very complex problem. Most of the existing exploration methods are hand-crafted and time consuming. This paper presents and compares several methods for automating this exploration. We propose and discuss a two-phase method which can quickly explore many different architectures and experimentally demonstrate that this method is capable of automatically achieving a 50% improvement on the energy-delay product cost of an automatically generated architecture for an ECG detection application and a 1% energy-delay product cost improvement compared to a hand-crafted design.
Study of dielectric properties in sphere for fruit quality classification

This paper presents a material properties analysis of sphere with microwave free space measurement for monitoring fruit classification. The monostatic radar cross section (RCS) at various complex relative permittivity (∊<inf>r</inf> = ∊<inf>r</inf>′ − j∊<inf>r</inf>″) was analyzed and used for determining different material. Variation of the dielectric constant (∊<inf>r</inf>′) provides higher the monostatic RCS than the loss factor (∊<inf>r</inf>″). The measured results in 0.8 to 3 GHz frequency range show an obvious difference in backscattered that is possible to separate fruit in spherical shape.
Zebrafish mutations and functional analysis of the vertebrate genome.

As the first draft of the human genome nears completion, we are faced with the challenge of defining the functions of the 70,000–100,000 genes contained within the sequence. A powerful combination of large-scale forward genetics and elegant cellular analysis ensures that the zebrafish will have an important role in the functional analysis of the vertebrate genome. Genetic screens have identified mutations that define the functions of hundreds of essential genes—a number that will increase considerably as ongoing screens search for previously unexplored mutant phenotypes (Driever et al. 1996; Haffter et al. 1996). The functions of mutated genes can be examined at the cellular level by sophisticated phenotypic analysis, such as lineage tracing and cellular transplantation, of mutant embryos (Kimmel 1989). Thus, the facile genetics of zebrafish allows the rapid isolation of mutations, and phenotypic analysis can reveal gene functions that are difficult to uncover in other systems. Over the past several years strategies to clone mutated genes have been developed, and ongoing efforts to improve the genomics infrastructure for the zebrafish will accelerate the molecular analysis of zebrafish mutations. Here we review some recent advances in genomic resources that will augment the cloning of mutated zebrafish genes by positional cloning, the candidate gene approach, and insertional mutagenesis.
Effects of intensive medical therapy on microemboli and cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of more intensive medical therapy on the rate of transcranial Doppler (TCD) microemboli and cardiovascular events in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS). DESIGN A prospective study. SETTING A teaching hospital. PATIENTS Four hundred sixty-eight patients with ACS greater than 60% by Doppler peak velocity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We compared (1) the proportion of ACS patients who had microemboli on TCD, (2) cardiovascular events, (3) rate of carotid plaque progression, and (4) baseline medical therapy, before and since 2003. RESULTS Among 468 ACS patients, 199 were enrolled between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2002; and 269 were enrolled between January 1, 2003, and July 30, 2007. Microemboli were present in 12.6% before 2003 and 3.7% since 2003 (P < .001). The decline in microemboli coincided with better control of plasma lipids and slower progression of carotid total plaque area. Since 2003, there have been significantly fewer cardiovascular events among patients with ACS: 17.6% had stroke, death, myocardial infarction, or carotid endarterectomy for symptoms before 2003, vs 5.6% since 2003 (P < .001). The rate of carotid plaque progression in the first year of follow-up has declined from 69 mm(2) (SD, 96 mm(2)) to 23 mm(2) (SD, 86 mm(2)) (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Cardiovascular events and microemboli on TCD have markedly declined with more intensive medical therapy. Less than 5% of patients with ACS now stand to benefit from revascularization; patients with ACS should receive intensive medical therapy and should only be considered for revascularization if they have microemboli on TCD.
An energy-efficient scheme for WiFi-capable M2M devices in hybrid LTE network

Machine to Machine (M2M) communication has gained much interest in the recent past, both within academia and across different industries. Power saving has become a priority issue recently due to accelerated growth of mobile devices with more and more processor power, more storage capacity, better display technology and much richer-applications. It assumes even greater significance when it comes to M2M devices since unlike hand-held mobile devices which has possibility to get re-charged after certain period of time, many of the M2M devices overall life is almost equal to its one-time charged battery life. This paper proposes an energy-efficient solution for M2M devices to minimize overall energy consumption. Simulation results based on OPNET simulator show that the proposed method significantly improves power saving, especially in time-tolerant M2M applications with long periodic report cycles.
Theoretical study on the efficiency of utilization of nanoclay-CFRP composite materials in the root area of wind turbine blades

In this study, theoretical calculations were performed to determine the most efficient utilization of nanoclays added as reinforcement for CFRP composite materials used for wind turbine blade manufacture. Four different V39 blade models were created, and numerical simulations by FEA were performed. Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymers (GFRP), whole model made of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers/nanoclay (2%) (CFRPN2), Hybrid Glass and Carbon/nanoclay (2%) (HGCN2) and Hybrid Glass and Carbon/nanoclay (5%) (HGCN5). The targeted part was the joining zone between the root and the blade. The most important finding to emerge from this study is that the modest addition of nanoclay (2%) with carbon fiber reinforced polymer leads to a significant stiffer blade, with a minimal deflection, about 70% lower than GFRP. Furthermore, the HGCN2 model is considered to be safer as it has a lower stress concentration than others (52.84 kN/m2). It can be considered that the probability of failure of the entire root area will be decreased if nanoclay-CFRP hybrid blades are used, yielding higher durability and lower overall costs. These findings contribute to decisions related to materials selection, structural, aerodynamic design and layup schedule choice.
Electromagnetic fields do not affect bone micro-architecture in osteoporotic rats

Objectives Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are widely used in musculoskeletal disorders. There are indications that EMF might also be effective in the treatment of osteoporosis. To justify clinical follow-up experiments, we examined the effects of EMF on bone micro-architectural changes in osteoporotic and healthy rats. Moreover, we tested the effects of EMF on fracture healing. Methods EMF (20 Gauss) was examined in rats (aged 20 weeks), which underwent an ovariectomy (OVX; n = 8) or sham-ovariectomy (sham-OVX; n = 8). As a putative positive control, all rats received bilateral fibular osteotomies to examine the effects on fracture healing. Treatment was applied to one proximal lower leg (three hours a day, five days a week); the lower leg was not treated and served as a control. Bone architectural changes of the proximal tibia and bone formation around the osteotomy were evaluated using in vivo microCT scans at start of treatment and after three and six weeks. Results In both OVX and sham-OVX groups, EMF did not result in cancellous or cortical bone changes during follow-up. Moreover, EMF did not affect the amount of mineralised callus volume around the fibular osteotomy. Conclusions In this study we were unable to reproduce the strong beneficial findings reported by others. This might indicate that EMF treatment is very sensitive to the specific set-up, which would be a serious hindrance for clinical use. No evidence was found that EMF treatment can influence bone mass for the benefit of osteoporotic patients. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:230–5.
Semi-Automatic Integrated Segmentation Approaches and Contour Extraction Applied to Computed Tomography Scan Images

We propose to segment two-dimensional CT scans traumatic brain injuries with various methods. These methods are hybrid, feature extraction, level sets, region growing, and watershed which are analysed based upon their parametric and nonparametric arguments. The pixel intensities, gradient magnitude, affinity map, and catchment basins of these methods are validated based upon various constraints evaluations. In this article, we also develop a new methodology for a computational pipeline that uses bilateral filtering, diffusion properties, watershed, and filtering with mathematical morphology operators for the contour extraction of the lesion in the feature available based mainly on the gradient function. The evaluations of the classification of these lesions are very briefly outlined in this context and are being undertaken by pattern recognition in another paper work.
Comparision of potential paths selected by a malicious entity with hazardous materials : Minimization of time vs. minimization of distance

Security of hazardous materials (hazmat) shipments is a growing concern for many governments and private companies due to their potential use as weapons. This paper identifies a methodology for obtaining the paths taken by a malicious entity when he/she hijacks a hazmat truck based on conditional consequence and a measure of cost (either distance or travel time). The work compares the routes obtained by travel time and distance for a sample network and suggests the need for travel time to be considered in urban areas, especially in peak hours.
Rabies Virus Maintained by Dogs in Humans and Terrestrial Wildlife, Ceará State, Brazil

Rabies viruses circulating in Ceará, Brazil, were identified by molecular analysis to be related to variants maintained by dogs, bats, and other wildlife. Most of these viruses are associated with human rabies cases. We document the emergence of a rabies virus variant responsible for an independent epidemic cycle in the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous).
Enteric pathogens deploy cell cycle inhibiting factors to block the bactericidal activity of Perforin-2

Perforin-2 (MPEG1) is an effector of the innate immune system that limits the proliferation and spread of medically relevant Gram-negative, -positive, and acid fast bacteria. We show here that a cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL) complex containing cullin-1 and βTrCP monoubiquitylates Perforin-2 in response to pathogen associated molecular patterns such as LPS. Ubiquitylation triggers a rapid redistribution of Perforin-2 and is essential for its bactericidal activity. Enteric pathogens such as Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli disarm host cells by injecting cell cycle inhibiting factors (Cifs) into mammalian cells to deamidate the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8. Because CRL activity is dependent upon NEDD8, Cif blocks ubiquitin dependent trafficking of Perforin-2 and thus, its bactericidal activity. Collectively, these studies further underscore the biological significance of Perforin-2 and elucidate critical molecular events that culminate in Perforin-2-dependent killing of both intracellular and extracellular, cell-adherent bacteria. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.06505. 001
Behavioral characteristics of 187 young adults with autism

A survey was conducted on the present behavioral characteristics of 187 cases of adult autism in patients over 18␣years of age employing Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). When their behavioral characteristics were evaluated in relation to Present Language Developmental Level (PLDL) and Present Adaptive Level (PAL), it was seen that greater variation in behavior characteristics was seen among those exhibiting increasingly lower PLDL and PAL scores. Behavior characteristics reminiscent of depression were noted even among those exhibiting high PLDL. Behavior pointing to obsession was found in common among almost all cases of autism irrespective of PLDL or PAL. Psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions were absent in most cases. The results of the present study were indicative not only of the significance of obsessive behavior in autism, but also its significance in terms of delving further into the psychopathology of the disorder.
Lamellar grating interferometer based compact FT spectrometers

Lamellar grating interferometers (LGI) offer compact spectrometer architecture with high spectral resolution and large clear aperture. This study investigates the diffraction based inherent limitations of LGI spectrometers in contrary to conventional Michelson type spectrometer architecture. Simulations and experiments were conducted to demonstrate and explain periodic nature of the interferogram envelope due to Talbot image formation. Simulations reveal that grating period should be chosen large enough to avoid Talbot phase reversal at the expense of mixing diffraction orders. Overall optimization effort on the LGI system reveals that it is possible to build compact spectrometers to be used directly in the field without any performance degradation in contrary to bulky FTIR systems.
Wireless Sensor Network Lifetime Analysis Using Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Systems

Extending the lifetime of the energy constrained wireless sensor networks is a crucial challenge in sensor network research. In this paper, we present a novel approach based on fuzzy logic systems to analyze the lifetime of a wireless sensor network. We demonstrate that a type-2 fuzzy membership function (MF), i.e., a Gaussian MF with uncertain standard deviation (std) is most appropriate to model a single node lifetime in wireless sensor networks. In our research, we study two basic sensor placement schemes: square-grid and hex-grid. Two fuzzy logic systems (FLSs): a singleton type-1 FLS and an interval type-2 FLS are designed to perform lifetime estimation of the sensor network. We compare our fuzzy approach with other nonfuzzy schemes in previous papers. Simulation results show that FLS offers a feasible method to analyze and estimate the sensor network lifetime and the interval type-2 FLS in which the antecedent and the consequent membership functions are modeled as Gaussian with uncertain std outperforms the singleton type-1 FLS and the nonfuzzy schemes.
Materialized views for eventually consistent record stores

Distributed, replicated keyed-record stores are often used by applications that place a premium on high availability and scalability. Such systems provide fast access to stored records given a primary key value, but access without the primary key may be very slow and expensive. This problem can be addressed using materialized views. Materialized views redundantly store records, or parts of records, and the redundant copies can be organized and distributed differently than the originals, e.g, according to the value of a secondary key. In this paper, we consider the problem of supporting materialized views in multi-master, eventually consistent keyed-record stores. Incremental maintenance of materialized views is challenging in such systems because there no single master server responsible for serializing the updates to each record. We present a decentralized technique for incrementally maintaining materialized views in multi-master systems. We have implemented a prototype of our technique using Cassandra, a widely used system of this type. Using the prototype, we show that secondary-key-based access is much faster using materialized views than using Cassandra's native secondary indexes, but maintaining the views in the face of updates may be more expensive than maintaining indexes.
Comparison of Three Segmentation Techniques for Auroral Arc Detection

Auroral arc is the brightest and most obvious kind of aurora. Detecting auroral arc contour from all-sky imagery (ASI) images is not a trivial problem. The location, shape, and intensity of the arc vary depending on the factors such as the date, time of the day, etc; in addition, the intensity of both the auroral arc itself and the background area differs a lot in an image, which make the segmentation of auroral arc difficult. In this study, three image segmenting algorithms, including adaptive fuzzy thresholding, integrating spatial fuzzy clustering with level set methods, and region growing are applied to a selected set of ASI arc images to examine their effectiveness in auroral arc boundary detection. The results from the three techniques are presented, and the merits and demerits of each method are discussed.
Non-Autonomous Coverage Control With Diffusive Evolving Density

We consider nonuniform coverage optimization with respect to a non-autonomous coverage metric by spatially deploying a platoon of mobile agents in a planar region. Conventional coverage metrics usually encode a density field that weights points in the workspace. We consider a time-varying diffusive density that evolves according to a conservation law, and the induced time-varying coverage. Boundary conditions can model a time-varying flux across the boundary, and/or a time varying boundary density. We propose a decentralized state-feedback control law that maximizes the generalized non-autonomous coverage metric. The current approach of nonuniform deployment of autonomous agents applies to environmental monitoring and intervention, with deployment of mobile sensors in areas affected by penetration of substances governed by diffusion mechanisms, as for example oil in a marine environment, that pose immediate or long-term threats. We establish asymptotic convergence results illustrated by simulations.
The quantal source of area supralinearity of flash responses in Limulus photoreceptors

The time integrals of the responses of dark-adapted Limulus ventral photoreceptors to flashes exhibit a supralinear dependence on intensity at intermediate intensities. By decomposing the responses into their elementary single-photon components ("bumps"), we are able to calculate the overall quantum efficiency and to display the time courses of the bump amplitude and rate of appearance. Since the time course of the flash response is not slow compared with that of the bump, it was necessary, in order to carry out the decomposition, to develop a new technique for noise analysis of dynamic signals. This new technique should have wide applications. Our main finding is that the supralinearity of the flash responses corresponds to an increase in bump amplitude, with little change in bump duration or quantum efficiency. The time courses of the bump rate and of the change in bump amplitude are peaked and have widths similar to that of the response itself. The peaks of the time courses of the bump rate and amplitude displayed against the starting times of the bumps do not coincide and occur approximately 80 and approximately 40 ms, respectively, before the peak of the response. The time from the start of a bump to its centroid is approximately 70 ms, which means that the time at which the bump centroid reaches its maximum follows the response peak by 30 ms. These results impose constraints on possible mechanisms for the amplitude enhancement.
Mitigating access-driven timing channels in clouds using StopWatch

This paper presents StopWatch , a system that defends against timing-based side-channel attacks that arise from coresidency of victims and attackers in infrastructure-as-a-service clouds. StopWatch triplicates each cloud-resident guest virtual machine (VM) and places replicas so that the three replicas of a guest VM are coresident with nonoverlapping sets of (replicas of) other VMs. StopWatch uses the timing of I/O events at a VM's replicas collectively to determine the timings observed by each one or by an external observer, so that observable timing behaviors are similarly likely in the absence of any other individual, coresident VM. We detail the design and implementation of StopWatch in Xen, evaluate the factors that influence its performance, and address the problem of placing VM replicas in a cloud under the constraints of StopWatch so as to still enable adequate cloud utilization.