Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens

Cancer risk assessment methods currently assume that children and adults are equally susceptible to exposure to chemicals. We reviewed available scientific literature to determine whether this was scientifically supported. We identified more than 50 chemicals causing cancer after perinatal exposure. Human data are extremely limited, with radiation exposures showing increased early susceptibility at some tumor sites. Twenty-seven rodent studies for 18 chemicals had sufficient data after postnatal and adult exposures to quantitatively estimate potential increased susceptibility from early-life exposure, calculated as the ratio of juvenile to adult cancer potencies for three study types: acute dosing, repeated dosing, and lifetime dosing. Twelve of the chemicals act through a mutagenic mode of action. For these, the geometric mean ratio was 11 for lifetime exposures and 8.7 for repeat exposures, with a ratio of 10 for these studies combined. The geometric mean ratio for acute studies is 1.5, which was influenced by tissue-specific results [geometric mean ratios for kidney, leukemia, liver, lymph, mammary, nerve, reticular tissue, thymic lymphoma, and uterus/vagina > 1 (range, 1.6–8.1); forestomach, harderian gland, ovaries, and thyroid < 1 (range, 0.033–0.45)]. Chemicals causing cancer through other modes of action indicate some increased susceptibility from postnatal exposure (geometric mean ratio is 3.4 for lifetime exposure, 2.2 for repeat exposure). Early exposures to compounds with endocrine activity sometimes produce different tumors after exposures at different ages. These analyses suggest increased susceptibility to cancer from early-life exposure, particularly for chemicals acting through a mutagenic mode of action.
Implementation of MMSE Receivers Based on Diagonal Loading Method in Multipath Rayleigh Fading Channels

This letter focuses on the implementation of MMSE receiver in multipath Rayleigh fading channels. we present a new linear multiuser receiver with multipath combining, which can optimize the output signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) through diagonal loading method to implement MMSE detection. We obtain closed-form expressions for the SIR-optimized diagonal loading estimate. When the channel coefficient changes, the linear operator update of the new receiver can be implemented only by adjusting the diagonal loading quantity ,which doesn't involve the matrix inverse computing. We show that the new receiver is equivalent to the conventional MMSE receiver ,but the former is easier to be implemented than the latter on fading channel.
Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal Improvement in Diagnosis of Breast Tumour Using Ultrasound Elastography and Echography: a Phantom Based Analysis

Due to the isoechoic nature of lesions and their poor contrast with neighbouring tissue, a lesion may remain undetected in ultrasound B mode imaging for cancerous tissue. Imaging of the elastic properties of tissue provides new information which is collateral to tissue pathology. This study provides quantitative analysis of improvements in tumour diagnosis when the ultrasound B mode imaging is combined with elastography. Quantification was based on the textural parameters measured from the ultrasound B mode image and strain measured from the elastogram. The ability of a parameter to discriminate between diseased cases and normal cases was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Polyacrylamide gel based tissue mimicking phantoms with embedded inclusions of varying stiffness were used for the analysis.
Promoting Resilience and Preventing Sexual Offenses in Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review

Maltreatment is often experienced in adverse environments during childhood. Children who survive maltreatment demonstrate protective and risk factors that impact the developmental pathway to lifelong outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the factors that impact the pathway between surviving childhood sexual abuse and committing a sexual offense. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse may possess protective factors that are important towards their ability to function and have positive lifelong outcomes. For survivors of childhood sexual abuse, it is important to identify the protective factors essential to positive lifelong outcomes and resilience. Educating professionals on important protective factors for survivors of childhood sexual abuse can improve screening tools and interventions. This would be to provide effective treatment that supports the protective factors to decrease the likelihood of lifelong negative outcomes. Without interventions and screening tools effectively supporting protective factors, risk factors can overcome and impact the pathway to committing a sexual offense. With this in mind, educating professionals on identifying the risk factors is important in order to provide them on screening tools and in interventions for effective treatment. A systematic review research design was used to analyze 19 articles that met inclusion criteria. The articles were analyzed in the results section to identify the protective factors that survivors of sexual abuse experience, and the risk factors that could potentially impact the pathway to an outcome of committing a sexual offense. The discussion demonstrates assumptions in which factors impact the pathway between surviving childhood sexual abuse and committing a sexual offense. The need for future research is suggested to further understand the factors between the pathway of surviving childhood sexual abuse and committing sexual offenses. Running Head: SEXUAL ABUSE BECOMING SEX OFFENDER OR RESILIENCY 2
Practical Aggregation in the Edge

The Edge Computing paradigm has earned recent popularity. As Cloud-based applications start to require more resources, solutions that reside outside the scope of the Cloud have began to be studied. However, Edge Computing presents a broad spectrum since every device that is not in a data center is considered to be a potential Edge resource. Consequently, in this thesis we focus on the challenging edge scenario that is wireless ad hoc networks. These networks are composed by wireless devices that can connect to each other without requiring any infrastructural support, which is a common scenario at the very edge of the system, in wireless sensor networks, mobile ad hoc networks, and potentially, smart cities. In this work we look into aggregation as a distributed computation scenario, that will serve the purpose of enabling more general computations in the edge. Aggregation protocols and algorithms provide an essential part of managing and maintaining large scale systems, that we target in the form of wireless ad hoc networks. As such, we study different protocols that use different techniques to obtain either exact or estimated aggregation results. Furthermore, as we aim to implement these protocols in real scenarios, we discuss some frameworks for building distributed protocols and applications. However, the study of the state of the art revealed that there is no support for developing distributed protocols and applications in wireless ad hoc networks for commodity devices. Therefore, we present a prototype framework that is able to cope with these limitations, and propose to leverage on it to adapt existing aggregation protocols to the wireless environment. Moreover, we plan to develop a new aggregation protocol that is able to overcome the limitations of the existing ones, by leveraging on the different properties that different protocols provide, and evaluate these protocols with well defined metrics in a test-bed composed of twenty four Raspberry Pis.
Tirano System with Learning Capacity for the Detection of Moving Targets

A system based on the charge-discharge characteristics of the neural synapses of the visual path, is shortly introduced. The proposed system uses the LSR (length/speed ratio) descriptor. After image segmentation, the LSR characteristic is used to detect and classify motion in the scene. This paper mainly focuses on its simulator named TIRANO and in particular on its learning sessions and results. That’s the reason why TIRANO learning capacity is demonstrated for the detection of moving targets in the following cases: (a) recognition of a family of synthetic moving elements, (b) recognition of real elements, (c) recognition of several positions of the same object, and, (d) recognition of characteristic motion situations.
Eye Tele-Analyzer system

Slit lamp microscope, which is widely used to diagnose the problem of patientspsila eye, has been applied as a major component to develop a telediagnosis system called the eye tele-analyzer. This equipment has been modified in mechanical structure, electronic design, and software architecture and application to be remotely controlled by any ophthalmologist working at the center hospital through the Internet to communicate with a doctor assistance working with the patients in the rural area. The developed system has been tested in laboratory providing good functional results corresponding to the current requirement to help the ophthalmologists and patients.
MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF A TOMBUSVIRUS ISOLATED FROM DISEASED PEAR TREES IN SOUTHERN ITALY

A tombusvirus first isolated in 1991 in Apulia (southern Italy) from pear trees (Pyrus communis L.) showing reduced growth, reddish discolourations and premature shedding of the leaves, was again recovered from symptomatic plants and characterized. Agarose gel analysis of extracts from systemically infected Nicotiana benthamiana plants showed the presence of two major and one minor RNA species with a size compatible with that of genomic RNA and of monomeric and dimeric defective interfering (DI) RNAs of tombusviruses. RNA was extracted from purified virus particles. All these RNA species were cloned, sequenced and shown to have a typical tombusviral structural organization. The most prominent cytopathological feature of N. benthamiana infected cells was the presence of peroxisome-derived multivesicular bodies. In immunodiffusion tests this virus proved to be serologically related with some tombusviruses, the closest being Grapevine Algerian latent virus (GALV), but showed wide molecular differences with all sequenced members of the genus. This virus was successfully transmitted to pear seedlings and rooted cuttings that were still symptomless five months after inoculation. Thus, it was given the provisional name of Pear latent virus (PLV).
Are stabilization programs expansionary

The empirical evidence presented in this paper casts serious doubts on the by now widely accepted "stylized facts" of the exchange rate based stabilization programs (ERBS) as they are stated in Kiguel and Liviatan (1992) and in Vegh (1992). Even though the ERBS programs were associated with output booms, no evidence of booms provoked by the stabilization programs is found. Rather, exogenous capital inflows to Latin America seem to have caused both the output booms and the stabilization programs. Other stylized facts, namely that the ERBS programs cause real exchange rate appreciations and trade account deficits are not rejected by the analysis presented in this paper.
Performance Incentives, Performance Pressure and Executive Turnover

We examine the relationship between the optimal incentive contract and the firm’s decision to fire a manager for poor performance. We first derive some theoretical results using a simple principal-agent model, and then examine the empirical evidence on the incidence of forced turnover among CEOs with different compensation contracts. We find that CEOs with steeper compensation contracts (i.e., with greater incentives) are more likely to be fired following poor firm performance. Logit estimations indicate that among firms that make a net loss in a given year, a CEO receiving incentives at the 60th percentile level is 26.55% more likely to be fired than a CEO with incentives at the 40th percentile. The corresponding figure for firms whose ROA is below the industry average level is 15.07%, and for firms whose stock return is below the market return is 15.86%. The results are robust to various performance and incentive measures. Overall, our re-sults indicate that CEOs with greater incentives also face greater performance pressures.
Lineage Tracing of Resident Tendon Progenitor Cells during Growth and Natural Healing

Unlike during embryogenesis, the identity of tissue resident progenitor cells that contribute to postnatal tendon growth and natural healing is poorly characterized. Therefore, we utilized 1) an inducible Cre driven by alpha smooth muscle actin (SMACreERT2), that identifies mesenchymal progenitors, 2) a constitutively active Cre driven by growth and differentiation factor 5 (GDF5Cre), a critical regulator of joint condensation, in combination with 3) an Ai9 Cre reporter to permanently label SMA9 and GDF5-9 populations and their progeny. In growing mice, SMA9+ cells were found in peritendinous structures and scleraxis-positive (ScxGFP+) cells within the tendon midsubstance and myotendinous junction. The progenitors within the tendon midsubstance were transiently labeled as they displayed a 4-fold expansion from day 2 to day 21 but reduced to baseline levels by day 70. SMA9+ cells were not found within tendon entheses or ligaments in the knee, suggesting a different origin. In contrast to the SMA9 population, GDF5-9+ cells extended from the bone through the enthesis and into a portion of the tendon midsubstance. GDF5-9+ cells were also found throughout the length of the ligaments, indicating a significant variation in the progenitors that contribute to tendons and ligaments. Following tendon injury, SMA9+ paratenon cells were the main contributors to the healing response. SMA9+ cells extended over the defect space at 1 week and differentiated into ScxGFP+ cells at 2 weeks, which coincided with increased collagen signal in the paratenon bridge. Thus, SMA9-labeled cells represent a unique progenitor source that contributes to the tendon midsubstance, paratenon, and myotendinous junction during growth and natural healing, while GDF5 progenitors contribute to tendon enthesis and ligament development. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate the expansion and differentiation of these progenitors may prove crucial to improving future repair strategies.
Differential Expression of Alpha 4 Integrins on Effector Memory T Helper Cells during Bordetella Infections. Delayed Responses in Bordetella pertussis

Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) is the causative agent of whooping cough, a respiratory disease that is reemerging worldwide. Mechanisms of selective lymphocyte trafficking to the airways are likely to be critical in the immune response to this pathogen. We compared murine infection by B. pertussis, B. parapertussis, and a pertussis toxin-deleted B. pertussis mutant (BpΔPTX) to test the hypothesis that effector memory T-helper cells (emTh) display an altered pattern of trafficking receptor expression in B. pertussis infection due to a defect in imprinting. Increased cell recruitment to the lungs at 5 days post infection (p.i.) with B. parapertussis, and to a lesser extent with BpΔPTX, coincided with an increased frequency of circulating emTh cells expressing the mucosal-associated trafficking receptors α4β7 and α4β1 while a reduced population of these cells was observed in B. pertussis infection. These cells were highly evident in the blood and lungs in B. pertussis infection only at 25 days p.i. when B. parapertussis and BpΔPTX infections were resolved. Although at 5 days p.i. , an equally high percentage of lung dendritic cells (DCs) from all infections expressed maturation markers, this expression persisted only in B. pertussis infection at 25 days p.i. Furthermore, at 5 days p.i with B. pertussis, lung DCs migration to draining lymph nodes may be compromised as evidenced by decreased frequency of CCR7+ DCs, inhibited CCR7-mediated in vitro migration, and fewer DCs in lung draining lymph nodes. Lastly, a reduced frequency of allogeneic CD4+ cells expressing α4β1 was detected following co-culture with lung DCs from B. pertussis-infected mice, suggesting a defect in DC imprinting in comparison to the other infection groups. The findings in this study suggest that B. pertussis may interfere with imprinting of lung-associated trafficking receptors on T lymphocytes leading to extended survival in the host and a prolonged course of disease.
Impact analysis on three-dimensional indoor location technology

This paper proposed an impact analysis framework of three-dimensional indoor location technology based on RSSI. The impact analysis model is set to compare the location precision under different types of noise. The result illustrate that the designed impact analysis tool achieves the perfect three-dimensional indoor location results combined cost, location accuracy with filter. To reduce the impact of the noise, the secondary location which built various propagation models for different types of environments has been used. And the location accuracy is greatly improved.
High-Accuracy Brain-Machine Interfaces Using Feedback Information

Sensory feedback is very important for movement control. However, feedback information has not been directly used to update movement prediction model in the previous BMI studies, although the closed-loop BMI system provides the visual feedback to users. Here, we propose a BMI framework combining image processing as the feedback information with a novel prediction method. The feedback-prediction algorithm (FPA) generates feedback information from the positions of objects and modifies movement prediction according to the information. The FPA predicts a target among objects based on the movement direction predicted from the neural activity. After the target selection, the FPA modifies the predicted direction toward the target and modulates the magnitude of the predicted vector to easily reach the target. The FPA repeats the modification in every prediction time points. To evaluate the improvements of prediction accuracy provided by the feedback, we compared the prediction performances with feedback (FPA) and without feedback. We demonstrated that accuracy of movement prediction can be considerably improved by the FPA combining feedback information. The accuracy of the movement prediction was significantly improved for all subjects (P<0.001) and 32.1% of the mean error was reduced. The BMI performance will be improved by combining feedback information and it will promote the development of a practical BMI system.
The Tanh Method : A Tool to Solve Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations with Symbolic Software

The hyperbolic tangent (tanh) method is a powerful technique to symbolically compute traveling waves solutions of one-dimensional nonlinear wave and evolution equations. In particular, the method is well suited for problems where dispersion, convection, and reactiondiffusion phenomena play an important role. The technique is outlined for the computation of closedform tanh-solutions for nonlinear partial differential equations and ordinary differential equations. Basic examples illustrate the key steps of the method. A brief survey is given of symbolic software packages that compute traveling wave solutions in closed form.
Layer-Hierarchical Scientific Workflow Recommendation

This article proposes to identify and recommend scientific workflows to promote their reuse and repurposing. Specifically, a scientific workflow is converted into a layer hierarchy, which specifies hierarchical relations between this workflow, its sub-workflows, and activities. Semantic similarity is calculated between layer hierarchies of workflows in order to construct a scientific workflow network model. A graph-skeleton based clustering method is adopted for grouping layer hierarchies into clusters. Barycenters in clusters are identified for facilitating cluster identification and workflow ranking and recommendation. Experimental result shows that this technique is efficient and accurate on ranking and recommending appropriate clusters and scientific workflows.
A Life Log Collecting System Supported by Smartphone to Model Higher-Level Human Behaviors

In this paper, we propose a system to collect human behavior in detail with higher-level tags such as attitude, accompanying-person, expenditure, tasks and so on. The system makes it possible to construct database to model higher-level human behaviors that are utilized in context-aware services. The system has two input methods, i.e., on-the-fly by a smart phone and post-processing by a PC browser. On the PC, users can interactively know where and when they were, which results in easily and accurately constructing human behavior database. To decrease numbers of operations, users' repetitions and similarity of among users are used. According to experiment results, the system successfully decreases operation time, higher-level tags are properly collected and behavior tendencies of the users are clearly captured.
Peculiarities of phonon spectra and lattice heat capacity in Ir aned Rh

Abstract A simple pseudopotential model is proposed, which allows the phonon spectra and temperature dependences of the lattice heat capacity of Ir and Rh to be described with a sufficiently high accuracy. A careful comparison of the calculated and experimental values of the lattice heat capacity is carried out, with the procedure of the identification of the phonon contribution to the heat capacity and the determination of the characteristics (momenta) of the phonon density of states from the experimental values of the total heat capacity of a metal at a constant pressure being described in detail. The results of the theoretical calculations explain, in particular, such peculiar feature of Ir and Rh, unusual for cubic metals, as a sharp (by a factor of more than 1.5) decrease in the effective Debye temperature with increasing temperature. The temperature dependence of the mean square amplitude of atomic displacements in Ir and Rh has been calculated. On the basis of the band calculations the manifestatio.
Lack of habituation to shocking words: The attentional bias to their spatial origin is context free

Following a suggestion made by Aquino and Arnell (2007), we assumed that the processing of emotional words is influenced by their context of presentation. Supporting this idea, previous studies using the emotional Stroop task in its visual or auditory variant revealed different results depending on the mixed versus blocked presentation of the stimuli (Bertels, Kolinsky, Pietrons, & Morais, 2011; Richards, French, Johnson, Naparstek, & Williams, 1992). In the present study, we investigated the impact of these presentation designs on the occurrence of spatial attentional biases in a modified version of the beep-probe task (Bertels, Kolinsky, & Morais, 2010). Attentional vigilance to taboo words as well as non-spatial slowing effects of these words were observed whatever the mixed or blocked design, whereas attentional vigilance to positive words was only observed in the mixed design. Together with the results from our previous study (Bertels et al., 2010), the present data support the reliability of the effects of shocking stimuli, while vigilance to positive words would only be observed in a threatening context.