Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new interconnection network for parallel computer with low diameter

In this paper, we propose and analyze the new interconnection network for parallel computer, called graycube. The graycube has the same number of nodes and edges as hypercube, but it's diameter is about one half of the equivalent hypercube. It has simple recursive structure, routing and broadcasting algorithms. Since hypercube can be embedded into graycube with dialation 2, algorithms developed based on hypercube are easily simulated in graycube. The basic properties, routing and broadcasting algorithms, and hypercube embedding are presented.
A pragmatic approach to solving IoT interoperability and security problems in an eHealth context

In this article we present the experimental results of an innovation-driven collaborative project in the eHealth domain that aims to create a product for the remote monitoring of elderly people in their own homes or inside proper care-homes or hospitals. In particular, we focus on how we solved the challenges of integrating a number of components into an architecture for an overall IoT platform that i. remotely monitors elderly people through heterogeneous wearable and positioning technologies; ii. processes produced data to generate alarms; iii. delivers, through an IoT broker, data-streams with fine-grained access control; iv. displays data to their owners and allowed contacts / doctors through simple web-based applications. These integration results, driven by concrete requirements, are about to be applied in 13 different trials across Europe. We illustrate lessons learnt in the implementation of an interoperable IoT data broker and a set of pragmatic choices made in the integration of newly designed and existing services (components in the afore-mentioned architecture). The contents of this article, rather than illustrating a scientific breakthrough, advance the state-of-the-art by providing a reference guide for a scalable API-based solution-design that lowers the IoT interoperability barriers and addresses secure and privacy concerns when dealing with sensitive data.
Distributed continuous-time algorithm for robust resource allocation problems using output feedback

This paper proposes a novel distributed continuous-time algorithm for the resource allocation problem with uncertainty parameters, which is a robust optimization problem. The considered objective function is the sum of local convex functions assigned to agents in a multi-agent network, with private set constraints and global inequality constraint involving uncertain parameters. Each agent only knows its local objective function, local constraint set, and neighbor information. We propose a novel continuous-time distributed subgradient-based algorithm with projected output feedback to solve the optimization problem. Finally, we show that the algorithm is able to find the optimal solution under some mild conditions.
Genomic DNA Copy Number Aberrations, Histological Diagnosis, Oral Subsite and Aneuploidy in OPMDs/OSCCs

Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) characterized by the presence of dysplasia and DNA copy number aberrations (CNAs), may reflect chromosomal instability (CIN) and predispose to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Early detection of OPMDs with such characteristics may play a crucial role in OSCC prevention. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between CNAs, histological diagnosis, oral subsite and aneuploidy in OPMDs/OSCCs. Samples from OPMDs and OSCCs were processed by high-resolution DNA flow cytometry (hr DNA-FCM) to determine the relative nuclear DNA content. Additionally, CNAs were obtained for a subset of these samples by genome-wide array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) using DNA extracted from either diploid or aneuploid nuclei suspension sorted by FCM. Our study shows that: i) aneuploidy, global genomic imbalance (measured as the total number of CNAs) and specific focal CNAs occur early in the development of oral cancer and become more frequent at later stages; ii) OPMDs limited to tongue (TNG) mucosa display a higher frequency of aneuploidy compared to OPMDs confined to buccal mucosa (BM) as measured by DNA-FCM; iii) TNG OPMDs/OSCCs show peculiar features of CIN compared to BM OPMDs/OSCCs given the preferential association with total broad and specific focal CNA gains. Follow-up studies are warranted to establish whether the presence of DNA aneuploidy and specific focal or broad CNAs may predict cancer development in non-dysplastic OPMDs.
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Word Translation Prediction for Morphologically Rich Languages with Bilingual Neural Networks Word Translation Prediction for Morphologically Rich Languages with Bilingual Neural Networks

Translating into morphologically rich languages is a particularly difﬁcult problem in machine translation due to the high degree of inﬂectional ambiguity in the target language, often only poorly captured by existing word translation models. We present a general approach that exploits source-side contexts of foreign words to improve translation prediction accuracy. Our approach is based on a probabilistic neural network which does not require linguistic annotation nor manual feature en-gineering. We report signiﬁcant improvements in word translation prediction accuracy for three morphologically rich target languages. In addition, preliminary results for integrating our approach into a large-scale English-Russian statistical machine translation system show small but statistically signiﬁcant improvements in translation quality.
SASPase regulates stratum corneum hydration through profilaggrin-to-filaggrin processing

The stratum corneum (SC), the outermost layer of the epidermis, acts as a barrier against the external environment. It is hydrated by endogenous humectants to avoid desiccation. However, the molecular mechanisms of SC hydration remain unclear. We report that skin‐specific retroviral‐like aspartic protease (SASPase) deficiency in hairless mice resulted in dry skin and a thicker and less hydrated SC with an accumulation of aberrantly processed profilaggrin, a marked decrease of filaggrin, but no alteration in free amino acid composition, compared with control hairless mice. We demonstrated that recombinant SASPase directly cleaved a linker peptide of recombinant profilaggrin. Furthermore, missense mutations were detected in 5 of 196 atopic dermatitis (AD) patients and 2 of 28 normal individuals. Among these, the V243A mutation induced complete absence of protease activity in vitro, while the V187I mutation induced a marked decrease in its activity. These findings indicate that SASPase activity is indispensable for processing profilaggrin and maintaining the texture and hydration of the SC. This provides a novel approach for elucidating the complex pathophysiology of atopic dry skin.
Fertility of long‐term male survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosed during childhood

Fertility impairments among men treated during childhood for cancer are known to occur after some, but not all, types of anti‐cancer therapy. This is the first study to evaluate proven fertility among adult male survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In a retrospective cohort study, proven fertility (ever fathered a pregnancy) was evaluated by self‐report among 213 men treated for ALL before age 18 on protocols of the Children's Cancer Group (CCG). Controls (N = 145) were drawn from among male siblings. Overall, with a proportional hazards analysis, proven fertility of male survivors was not different from that of controls (relative fertility (RF) = 0.95, 95% CI 0.63–1.43). However, married men treated before age 10 with high dose (24 cGy) cranial radiotherapy (RT), without spinal RT, had only 9% of the fertility of controls (Relative risk, RR = 0.09, 95% CI 0.01–0.82). High dose cranial RT at older ages was not associated with a statistically significant fertility deficit (RR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.25–1.28). In this first study of proven fertility among men treated for childhood leukemia, the majority of survivors showed no evidence of fertility impairment compared to controls. However, men treated at a young age with high dose cranial RT may have impaired fertility. These results suggest that further investigation of men with these treatments is needed to confirm and extend these findings. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Whole slide images for primary diagnostics of urinary system pathology: a feasibility study

Introduction: During the last decade, whole slide images (WSI) have been used in many areas of pathology such as teaching, research, digital archiving, teleconsultation and quality assurance testing. However, WSI have as yet not much been used for upfront diagnostics because of the lack of validation studies. Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of WSI for primary diagnosis of urinary tract pathology. Materials and Methods: 100 consecutive urinary tract biopsies and resections which had been diagnosed conventionally between the years 2008-2009 were scanned at 20× magnification, and rediagnosed by two pathologists on WSI, having the original clinical information available, but blinded to the original diagnoses. Original and WSI diagnoses were compared and classified as concordant, slightly discordant (without clinical consequences) and discordant. Results: Original and WSI based rediagnosis were concordant in 87% of the cases. Original and WSI diagnosis were slightly discordant in 8% of cases. Major discrepancies with clinical or prognostic implications were founded in only 5 cases. However, for 6 out of the 13 discrepancies, WSI based diagnoses were considered to be better than the original diagnoses. Conclusion: Primary diagnostics of urinary tract specimens can be reliably done on WSI. Further improvements of image resolution may help to increase diagnostic accuracy and WSI acceptance in routine pathology.
Development and evaluation of a culturally appropriate hypertension education (CAHE) training program for health care providers

Background In Western countries, hypertension and hypertension-related complication are more common in ethnic minority groups of African descent than in indigenous populations. Addressing ethnic minority patients’ perceptions of hypertension and its treatment through the use of cultural appropriate hypertension education (CAHE) increases adherence to medication and lifestyle recommendations. Given these effects, it seems warranted to develop a training program on how to deliver this type of patient education for Primary Care Nurse Practitioners (PCNPs). Objective Development and evaluation of a training program for PCNPs aimed at providing culturally appropriate hypertension patient education. Design Prospective cohort study evaluating attitude and intended behavioral changes. Participants Both experienced PCNPs and PCNPs in training participated in this study. Main measures The effects of the CAHE-training were measured by 3 different questionnaires on 1) the satisfaction with the training program, 2) the attitude towards culturally appropriate care, and 3) the commitment to change. Results The CAHE-training program consists of 10 different components divided over two 4-hour sessions and was taught to 87 participating PCNPs. The program utilizes constructivist-learning principles and educational evidence on adult learning. The content of the program is based on the knowledge obtained from our previous studies on culturally appropriate care. The mean satisfaction-score was 7.5 (1–10 scale), with the role-play exercise with patient-actors scoring highest (8.2). We observed non-significant but positive changes in attitude. PCNPs who reported on the implementation of their intended behavior change showed significant attitude changes after three months. Conclusion We demonstrated that our evidence based training program for PCNPs resulted in a positive learning experience with adequate intended behavioral changes in practice. Unfortunately, response rates were too low to demonstrate persistent changes in attitude.
Quality of Service Guarantees in Virtual Circuit Switched Networks

We review some recent results regarding the problem of providing deterministic quality of service guarantees in slot-based virtual circuit switched networks. The concept of a service curve is used to partially characterize the service that virtual circuit connections receive. We find that service curves provide a convenient framework for managing the allocation of performance guarantees. In particular, bounds on end-to-end performance measures can be simply obtained in terms of service curves and burstiness constraints on arriving traffic. Service curves can be allocated to the connections, and we consider scheduling algorithms that can support the allocated service curves. Such an approach provides the required degree of isolation between the connections in order to support performance guarantees, without precluding statistical multiplexing. Finally, we examine the problem of enforcing burstiness constraints in slot-based networks. >
Influence of the Salmonella typhimuriumPathogenicity Island 2 Type III Secretion System on Bacterial Growth in the Mouse

ABSTRACT We have investigated the in vivo growth kinetics of aSalmonella typhimurium strain (P11D10) carrying a mutation in ssaJ, a Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI2) gene encoding a component of a type III secretion system required for systemic growth in mice. Similar numbers of mutant and wild-type cells were recovered from the spleens and livers of BALB/c mice up to 8 h after inoculation by the intraperitoneal route. Thereafter, the numbers of wild-type cells continued to increase logarithmically in these organs, whereas those of P11D10 remained relatively static for several days before being cleared. Gentamicin protection experiments on spleen cell suspensions recovered from infected mice showed that viable intracellular wild-type bacteria accumulated over time but that intracellular P11D10 cells did not. Infection experiments were also performed with wild-type and P11D10 cells carrying the temperature-sensitive plasmid pHSG422 to distinguish between bacterial growth rates and killing in vivo. At 16 h postinoculation there were 10-fold more wild-type cells than mutant cells in the spleens of infected mice, but the numbers of cells of both strains carrying the nonreplicating plasmid were very similar, showing that there was little difference in the degree of killing sustained by the two strains and that the SPI2 secretion system must be required for bacterial replication, rather than survival, in vivo. The SPI2 mutant phenotype in mice is similar to that of strains carrying mutations in the Salmonella virulence plasmid spv genes. To determine if these two sets of genes interact together, a double mutant strain carrying SPI2 and spv mutations was constructed and compared with strains carrying single mutations in terms of virulence attenuation. These experiments failed to provide any evidence showing that the SPI2 and spv gene products interact together as part of the same virulence mechanism.
A New Set of Three-Dimensional Shapes for Investigating Mental Rotation Processes: Validation Data and Stimulus Set

Mental rotation is one of the most influential paradigms in the history of cognitive psychology. In this paper, we present a new set of validated mental rotation stimuli to be used freely by the scientific community. Three-dimensional visual rendering software was employed to generate a total of 384 realistic-looking mental rotation stimuli with shading and foreshortening depth cues. Each stimulus was composed of two pictures: a baseline object and a target object, placed side by side, which can be aligned by means of a rotation around the vertical axis in half of the stimuli but not in the other half. Behavioral data (N=54, freely available) based on these stimuli exhibited the typical linear increase in response times and error rates with angular disparity, validating the stimulus set. This set of stimuli is especially useful for studies where it is necessary to avoid stimulus repetition, such as training studies.
Bordetella pertussis, the Causative Agent of Whooping Cough, Evolved from a Distinct, Human-Associated Lineage of B. bronchiseptica

Bordetella pertussis, B. bronchiseptica, B. parapertussishu, and B. parapertussisov are closely related respiratory pathogens that infect mammalian species. B. pertussis and B. parapertussishu are exclusively human pathogens and cause whooping cough, or pertussis, a disease that has resurged despite vaccination. Although it most often infects animals, infrequently B. bronchiseptica is isolated from humans, and these infections are thought to be zoonotic. B. pertussis and B. parapertussishu are assumed to have evolved from a B. bronchiseptica–like ancestor independently. To determine the phylogenetic relationships among these species, housekeeping and virulence genes were sequenced, comparative genomic hybridizations were performed using DNA microarrays, and the distribution of insertion sequence elements was determined, using a collection of 132 strains. This multifaceted approach distinguished four complexes, representing B. pertussis, B. parapertussishu, and two distinct B. bronchiseptica subpopulations, designated complexes I and IV. Of the two B. bronchiseptica complexes, complex IV was more closely related to B. pertussis. Of interest, while only 32% of the complex I strains were isolated from humans, 80% of the complex IV strains were human isolates. Comparative genomic hybridization analysis identified the absence of the pertussis toxin locus and dermonecrotic toxin gene, as well as a polymorphic lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis locus, as associated with adaptation of complex IV strains to the human host. Lipopolysaccharide structural diversity among these strains was confirmed by gel electrophoresis. Thus, complex IV strains may comprise a human-associated lineage of B. bronchiseptica from which B. pertussis evolved. These findings will facilitate the study of pathogen host-adaptation. Our results shed light on the origins of the disease pertussis and suggest that the association of B. pertussis with humans may be more ancient than previously assumed.
European Journal of Operational Research a Linearized Value-at-risk Model with Transaction Costs and Short Selling

Though value-at-risk (VaR) has been widely applied by finance industry, a possibility of multiple optimums that is caused by the nonlinearity in modeling can challenge its application. To deal with this technical issue , we propose a linearized VaR model that employs the mixed 0-1 programing in Lin (2009) P4 model. We further advance the previous models with considering various transaction costs and the optimization of short-selling weights. We compare the performance of buy-and-hold (BH) strategy, the mean-variance (MV) model, the original P4 model, and our linearized P4 (LP4) model by rebalancing a wide scale of international and alternative investments during a period between 2001 and 2012. The results of numerical tests show the superior performance of the VaR models to the BH and the MV portfolios. The LP4 model yields the global optimum and outperforms the corresponding P4 model in both return and risk. The stability of portfolio value generated from the LP4 model supports its higher effectiveness in risk management than the P4 model.
Hospitalizations for vaccine preventable pneumonias in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a 6-year analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample

Background Pneumonias are among the most common causes of hospitalization among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Guidelines published in 2004 advocate vaccination against Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza virus. We sought to examine trends in hospitalizations for vaccine preventable pneumonias among IBD patients since the availability of published guidelines, and to identify whether Haemophilus influenzae is a causative organism for pneumonia hospitalizations among IBD patients. Methods This cross-sectional study on the Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify admissions for pneumonias in patients with IBD between 2004 and 2009. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed comparing IBD patients to controls, accounting for potential confounders. Results There were more admissions for S. pneumoniae pneumonia than influenza virus or H. influenzae (787, 393, and 183 respectively). Crohn’s disease (CD) as well as ulcerative colitis (UC) patients did not demonstrate increased adjusted odds of hospitalization for S. pneumoniae pneumonia (1.08; confidence interval [CI] 0.99–1.17 compared to 0.93; CI 0.82–1.06 respectively). Increased adjusted odds for hospitalization for pneumonias due to influenza virus were seen among UC patients in the bottom quartile of income (1.86; CI 1.46–2.37). Adjusted odds for H. influenzae pneumonia admission in patients with UC and CD patients were increased compared to controls (1.42; CI 1.13–1.79 and 1.28; CI 1.06–1.54, respectively). Conclusion The study identified lowest income UC patients as having higher adjusted odds, and these patients should be targeted for influenza virus vaccination. Additionally, H. influenzae may be another vaccine preventable cause for pneumonia among IBD patients.
Seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) antibodies among blood donors at Enugu, Nigeria

Background Human T-cell lymphotrophic/leukemia virus (HTLV-1) is a retrovirus implicated in transfusion-transmitted infection. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HTLV-1 antibodies among blood donors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Eastern Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on consented participants over 4 months. A total of 300 blood donors were recruited consecutively from the blood bank. The serum of the collected 5 mL of blood obtained from each participant was stored at −20°C until required for analysis. The serum samples were then analyzed for antibodies to HTLV-1 using a one-step incubation double-antigen sandwich ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) kit. Participants’ demographic characteristics and degree of exposure to the risk factors associated with HTLV-1 infection were captured using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis of results was done using SPSS version 17. Results Of the 300 blood donors, 288 (96%) were male, while 12 (4%) were female. The average age of the blood donors was 26.85±8.52 years. The age group with the highest representation among the blood donors were those aged between 21 and 25 years. Only 22.3% of the blood donors were above 30 years. None of the 300 screened blood donors tested positive to HTLV-1 antibodies. Hence, the seroprevalence of HTLV-1 infection among blood donors was 0%. Of the blood donors, 5% had history of previous sexually transmitted disease, while 34.7% used condoms during sexual intercourse. Conclusion The seroprevalence obtained in this study cannot statistically support the justification of routine screening of blood donors for HTLV-1 infection. More prospective and multicentered studies are required to determine the infectivity of HTLV-1 in blood donors in Nigeria.