Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hemodynamic Shear Stresses in Mouse Aortas: Implications for Atherogenesis

Objective—The hemodynamic environment is a determinant of susceptibility to atherosclerosis in the vasculature. Although mouse models are commonly used in atherosclerosis studies, little is known about local variations in wall shear stress (WSS) in the mouse and whether the levels of WSS are comparable to those in humans. The objective of this study was to determine WSS values in the mouse aorta and to relate these to expression of gene products associated with atherosclerosis. Methods and Results—Using micro-CT and ultrasound methodologies we developed a computational fluid dynamics model of the mouse aorta and found values of WSS to be much larger than those for humans. We also used a quantum dot-based approach to study vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression on the aortic intima and demonstrated that increased expression for these molecules occurs where WSS was relatively low for the mouse. Conclusions—Despite large differences in WSS in the two species, the spatial distributions of atherogenic molecules in the mouse aorta are similar to atherosclerotic plaque localization found in human aortas. These results suggest that relative differences in WSS or in the direction of WSS, as opposed to the absolute magnitude, may be relevant determinants of flow-mediated inflammatory responses.
Contract-Based Incentive Mechanism for Mobile Crowdsourcing Networks

Mobile crowdsourcing networks (MCNs) are a promising method of data collecting and processing by leveraging the mobile devices’ sensing and computing capabilities. However, because of the selfish characteristics of the service provider (SP) and mobile users (MUs), crowdsourcing participants only aim to maximize their own benefits. This paper investigates the incentive mechanism between the above two parties to create mutual benefits. By modeling MCNs as a labor market, a contract-based crowdsourcing model with moral hazard is proposed under the asymmetric information scenario. In order to incentivize the potential MUs to participate in crowdsourcing tasks, the optimization problem is formulated to maximize the SP’s utility by jointly examining the crowdsourcing participants’ risk preferences. The impact of crowdsourcing participants’ attitudes of risks on the incentive mechanism has been studied analytically and experimentally. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed contract design scheme for the crowdsourcing incentive.
Accuracy and Reliability of the Kinect Version 2 for Clinical Measurement of Motor Function

Background The introduction of low cost optical 3D motion tracking sensors provides new options for effective quantification of motor dysfunction. Objective The present study aimed to evaluate the Kinect V2 sensor against a gold standard motion capture system with respect to accuracy of tracked landmark movements and accuracy and repeatability of derived clinical parameters. Methods Nineteen healthy subjects were concurrently recorded with a Kinect V2 sensor and an optical motion tracking system (Vicon). Six different movement tasks were recorded with 3D full-body kinematics from both systems. Tasks included walking in different conditions, balance and adaptive postural control. After temporal and spatial alignment, agreement of movements signals was described by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and signal to noise ratios per dimension. From these movement signals, 45 clinical parameters were calculated, including ranges of motions, torso sway, movement velocities and cadence. Accuracy of parameters was described as absolute agreement, consistency agreement and limits of agreement. Intra-session reliability of 3 to 5 measurement repetitions was described as repeatability coefficient and standard error of measurement for each system. Results Accuracy of Kinect V2 landmark movements was moderate to excellent and depended on movement dimension, landmark location and performed task. Signal to noise ratio provided information about Kinect V2 landmark stability and indicated larger noise behaviour in feet and ankles. Most of the derived clinical parameters showed good to excellent absolute agreement (30 parameters showed ICC(3,1) > 0.7) and consistency (38 parameters showed r > 0.7) between both systems. Conclusion Given that this system is low-cost, portable and does not require any sensors to be attached to the body, it could provide numerous advantages when compared to established marker- or wearable sensor based system. The Kinect V2 has the potential to be used as a reliable and valid clinical measurement tool.
Performance analysis of go-back-N ARQ scheme with selective repeat in intra-block

The performances of the go-back-N ARQ scheme with selective repeat in intra-block (GBN-SR) and revised GBN-SR (Rev-GBN-SR) schemes are analyzed. Using the derived generating function of the service time of a packet, the throughputs of the proposed schemes are compared with that of Benelli's (1986) scheme. It is shown that the proposed Rev-GBN-SR scheme shows good performance in a wider range from low to high packet error rate regions.
Detecting Spam Zombies by Monitoring Outgoing Messages

Compromised machines are one of the key security threats on the Internet; they are often used to launch various security attacks such as DDoS, spamming, and identity theft. In this paper we address this issue by investigating effective solutions to automatically identify compromised machines in a network. Given that spamming provides a key economic incentive for attackers to recruit the large number of compromised machines, we focus on the subset of compromised machines that are involved in the spamming activities, commonly known as spam zombies. We develop an effective spam zombie detection system named SPOT by monitoring outgoing messages of a network. SPOT is designed based on a powerful statistical tool called Sequential Probability Ratio Test, which has bounded false positive and false negative error rates. Our evaluation studies based on a two- month email trace collected in a large U.S. campus network show that SPOT is an effective and efficient system in automatically detecting compromised machines in a network. For example, among the 440 internal IP addresses observed in the email trace, SPOT identifies 132 of them as being associated with compromised machines. Out of the 132 IP addresses identified by SPOT, 126 can be either independently confirmed (110) or highly likely (16) to be compromised. Moreover, only 7 internal IP addresses associated with compromised machines in the trace are missed by SPOT.
A recombinant Escherichia coli sensor strain for the detection of tetracyclines.

A bioluminescent Escherichia coli K-12 strain for the specific detection of the tetracycline group of antibiotics is described. A sensor plasmid, containing five genes from bacterial luciferase operon of Photorhabdus luminescens inserted under the control of tetracycline-responsive elements of the transposon Tn10, was constructed. Usage of the full-length luciferase operon in the sensor resulted in tetracycline-dependent light production without additions, i.e., self-luminescent phenotype, since all the substrates were intrinsically produced by the recombinant organism. The time needed for optimal induction of light emission was 90 min. Maximal induction of approximately 100-fold over uninduced levels by using 20 ng of tetracycline, and picomole sensitivities for the seven different tetracyclines tested, were obtained without added Mg2+ ions. The higher the pH and the magnesium ion concentration in the assay medium the higher was the amount of membrane-impermeable tetracycline-Mg2+ chelate complex. In consequence, by adjusting the pH and the Mg2+ ion concentration, the sensitivity of the assay can be modified for different analytical purposes. Different non-tetracycline antibiotics did not cause induction of light emission.
Deletion of the Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products Reduces Glomerulosclerosis and Preserves Renal Function in the Diabetic OVE26 Mouse

OBJECTIVE Previous studies showed that genetic deletion or pharmacological blockade of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) prevents the early structural changes in the glomerulus associated with diabetic nephropathy. To overcome limitations of mouse models that lack the progressive glomerulosclerosis observed in humans, we studied the contribution of RAGE to diabetic nephropathy in the OVE26 type 1 mouse, a model of progressive glomerulosclerosis and decline of renal function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We bred OVE26 mice with homozygous RAGE knockout (RKO) mice and examined structural changes associated with diabetic nephropathy and used inulin clearance studies and albumin:creatinine measurements to assess renal function. Transcriptional changes in the Tgf-β1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 gene products were measured to investigate mechanisms underlying accumulation of mesangial matrix in OVE26 mice. RESULTS Deletion of RAGE in OVE26 mice reduced nephromegaly, mesangial sclerosis, cast formation, glomerular basement membrane thickening, podocyte effacement, and albuminuria. The significant 29% reduction in glomerular filtration rate observed in OVE26 mice was completely prevented by deletion of RAGE. Increased transcription of the genes for plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, Tgf-β1, Tgf-β–induced, and α1-(IV) collagen observed in OVE26 renal cortex was significantly reduced in OVE26 RKO kidney cortex. ROCK1 activity was significantly lower in OVE26 RKO compared with OVE26 kidney cortex. CONCLUSIONS These data provide compelling evidence for critical roles for RAGE in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and suggest that strategies targeting RAGE in long-term diabetes may prevent loss of renal function.
A Method of Vehicle License Plate De-noising and Location in Low Light Level

License plate recognition system (LPRS) is one of the most important parts of the intelligent transportation system (ITS), and the license plate location is the key part of the LPRS, it affects the latter phase of the character segmentation and recognition directly. According to the characteristic of the vehicle license plate which contains the slat and pepper noise in low light level, we take wavelet transform to vehicle license plate in low light level, then reconstruct the high frequency coefficient based on characteristic of noise, and use the soft-threshold method to do threshold processing of the reconstructed image, and obtain the effect of image de-noising. Finally, we use the method of edge detection and projection to locate the vehicle license plate area for de-noising vehicle license plate image. The simulation results show that the wavelet soft-threshold method can de-noise the low light level image greatly and the method of edge detection with projection can locate the vehicle license plate area fast and accurately.
Immune modulation with dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are bone marrow-derived cells of haemopoietic origin that have a unique role in the primary presentation of antigen to naı̈ve cells of the effector arm of the immune response (Steinman & Witmer, 1978; Crow & Kunkel, 1982; Knight et al., 1982; Knight et al., 1983; Knight, 1984; Macatonia et al., 1989). Although a relatively young area of study in immunology, there have already been many reviews on the ontogeny, function and use of DCs in clinical trials (Banchereau et al., 2000; Banchereau & Steinman, 1998; Fong & Engleman, 2000; Nestle et al., 2001; Reid, 2001). Rather than recapitulate the details of trials of DCs in immune therapy, in this clinically orientated review, we will provide a perspective on their potential and rational use. Irrespective of their type or tissue of origin, DCs are defined phenotypically by their typical veiled appearance and their surface expression of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II protein human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR combined with lack of expression of the lineageassociated or progenitor/stem cell markers (lin; CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD34 and CD56) and functionally by their ability to stimulate a primary lymphocyte response to antigen (Steinman & Witmer, 1978; Crow & Kunkel, 1982; Knight et al., 1982; Knight et al., 1983; Knight, 1984; Macatonia et al., 1989). In the blood, tissues and lymph node, two subtypes of DCs have been characterized, one myeloid and the other plasmacytoid (Dzionek et al., 2000; Olweus et al., 1997; Robinson et al., 1999). Whether these myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs originate from unique progenitor cell lineages or whether they are derived from a single progenitor cell is controversial (Martin et al., 2000; Manz et al., 2001; Briere et al., 2002; Comeau et al., 2002; Martinez del Hoyo et al., 2002). Both subsets of DCs are similar in their ability to stimulate a primary T-lymphocyte response to antigen, but they differ in their morphology, surface phenotype and, possibly, in their functional capabilities [reviewed in (Banchereau et al., 2000)].
Preventing 30-day hospital readmissions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

IMPORTANCE Reducing early (<30 days) hospital readmissions is a policy priority aimed at improving health care quality. The cumulative complexity model conceptualizes patient context. It predicts that highly supportive discharge interventions will enhance patient capacity to enact burdensome self-care and avoid readmissions. OBJECTIVE To synthesize the evidence of the efficacy of interventions to reduce early hospital readmissions and identify intervention features--including their impact on treatment burden and on patients' capacity to enact postdischarge self-care--that might explain their varying effects. DATA SOURCES We searched PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, EBSCO CINAHL, and Scopus (1990 until April 1, 2013), contacted experts, and reviewed bibliographies. STUDY SELECTION Randomized trials that assessed the effect of interventions on all-cause or unplanned readmissions within 30 days of discharge in adult patients hospitalized for a medical or surgical cause for more than 24 hours and discharged to home. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Reviewer pairs extracted trial characteristics and used an activity-based coding strategy to characterize the interventions; fidelity was confirmed with authors. Blinded to trial outcomes, reviewers noted the extent to which interventions placed additional work on patients after discharge or supported their capacity for self-care in accordance with the cumulative complexity model. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Relative risk of all-cause or unplanned readmission with or without out-of-hospital deaths at 30 days postdischarge. RESULTS In 42 trials, the tested interventions prevented early readmissions (pooled random-effects relative risk, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.73-0.91]; P < .001; I² = 31%), a finding that was consistent across patient subgroups. Trials published before 2002 reported interventions that were 1.6 times more effective than those tested later (interaction P = .01). In exploratory subgroup analyses, interventions with many components (interaction P = .001), involving more individuals in care delivery (interaction P = .05), and supporting patient capacity for self-care (interaction P = .04) were 1.4, 1.3, and 1.3 times more effective than other interventions, respectively. A post hoc regression model showed incremental value in providing comprehensive, postdischarge support to patients and caregivers. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Tested interventions are effective at reducing readmissions, but more effective interventions are complex and support patient capacity for self-care. Interventions tested more recently are less effective.
Multi-criteria optimization of the 4 links of an 8 DOF haptic master device for a surgical robot

This paper discusses multi-criteria optimization of the 4 links of an 8 DOF haptic master device for a minimally invasive surgery. In minimally invasive surgery, because of limited information from surgical scene, sensation of feedback force and manipulability of device are important factors during surgery. Therefore, optimization of the device is required for efficiency of surgical procedures. To achieve this purpose, physical meanings of various performance indices are introduced. And some performance indices such as workspace, kinematic manipulability and force isotropy index are considered. Also, to measure global condition of these indices, global indices are defined and calculated by using monte-carlo method. And then genetic algorithm is used to get optimal link lengths in this multi-criteria optimization problem.
Fast, Minimum Storage Ray-Triangle Intersection

Abstract We present a clean algorithm for determining whether a ray intersects a triangle. The algorithm translates the origin of the ray and then changes the base to yield a vector (t u v) T , where t is the distance to the plane in which the triangle lies and (u, v) represents the coordinates inside the triangle. One advantage of this method is that the plane equation need not be computed on the fly nor be stored, which can amount to significant memory savings for triangle meshes. As we found our method to be comparable in speed to previous methods, we believe it is the fastest ray-triangle intersection routine for triangles that do not have precomputed plane equations.
On the use of fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 time-series datasets for delineating and monitoring the seasonal dynamics of wetland ecosystem

The project entitled Evaluation of RADARSAT-2 quad-pol data for functional assessment of wetlands (Id6842), developed in the framework of the CSA-ESA SOAR-EU (Science and operational applications research for Europe) aims to contribute to the application development in demonstrating the exploitation of fully polarimetric time-series datasets for the functional assessment of wetlands. The objective of this paper is to address the issue of evaluating fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 time-series datasets to determine the water cycle dynamics, in order to delineate precisely potential, effective and efficient wetlands.
Differential Subcellular Localization of the Splice Variants of the Zinc Transporter ZnT5 Is Dictated by the Different C-Terminal Regions

Background Zinc is emerging as an important intracellular signaling molecule, as well as fulfilling essential structural and catalytic functions through incorporation in a myriad of zinc metalloproteins so it is important to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of zinc homeostasis, including the subcellular localizations of zinc transporters. Principal Findings Two splice variants of the human SLC30A5 Zn transporter gene (ZnT5) have been reported in the literature. These variants differ at their N- and C-terminal regions, corresponding with the use of different 5′ and 3′ exons. We demonstrate that full length human ZnT5 variant B is a genuine transcript in human intestinal cells and confirm expression of both variant A and variant B in a range of untreated human tissues by splice variant-specific RT-PCR. Using N- or C-terminal GFP or FLAG fusions of both isoforms of ZnT5 we identify that the differential subcellular localization to the Golgi apparatus and ER respectively is a function of their alternative C-terminal sequences. These different C-terminal regions result from the incorporation into the mature transcript of either the whole of exon 14 (variant B) or only the 5′ region of exon 14 plus exons 15–17 (variant A). Conclusions We thus propose that exons 15 to 17 include a signal that results in trafficking of ZnT5 to the Golgi apparatus and that the 3′ end of exon 14 includes a signal that leads to retention in the ER.
Prospective stem cell lines as in vitro neurodegenerative disease models for natural product research

The use of in vitro model for screening pharmacological compounds or natural products has gained global interest. The choice of cells to be manipulated plays a vital role in coming up with the best-suited model for specific diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases (ND). A good in vitro ND model should provide appropriate morphological and molecular features that mimic ND conditions where it can be used to screen potential properties of natural products in addition to unravelling the molecular mechanisms of ND. In this mini review, we intend to demonstrate two prospective stem cell lines as the potential cell source for in vitro ND model and compare them to the commonly used cells. The common source of cells that have been used as the in vitro ND models is discussed before going into details talking about the two prospective stem cell lines.
Integrating feature modeling with the RSEB

We have integrated the feature modeling of Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) into the processes and work products of the Reuse-Driven Software Engineering Business (RSEB). The RSEB is a use case driven systematic reuse process: architecture and reusable subsystems are first described by use cases and then transformed into object models that are traceable to these use cases. Variability in the RSEB is captured by structuring use case and object models using explicit variation points and variants. Traditional domain engineering steps have been distributed into the steps of the architectural and component system development methods of the RSEB. But the RSEB prescribes no explicit models of the essential features that characterize the different versions. Building on our experience in applying FODA and RSEB to the telecom domain, we have added explicit domain engineering steps and an explicit feature model to the RSEB to support domain engineering and component reuse. These additions provide an effective reuse oriented model as a 'catalog' capability to link use cases, variation points, reusable components and configured applications.
Using Capital Markets as Market Intelligence: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

Financial theory posits that capital markets convey through stock prices their expectation of the firm's future performance. We use concepts from principal-agent theory and prospect theory to provide a theoretical explanation for the role stock price variation plays in managerial decision making. We then empirically investigate what specific decisions managers undertake in response to stock price variation. We perform our empirical analyses in the context of the pharmaceutical industry. We find that drug firms whose stock underperformed the industry react differently than drug firms with high-performing stocks. Specifically, laggards tend to implement more changes to their current product portfolio and distribution than high-performing firms. The more laggards underperform, the more they implement acquisitions aimed to produce immediate improvement in the firm's product portfolio. In contrast, drug firms whose stocks outperform the industry tend to make fewer changes to their current portfolio and distribution. Instead, they focus more on long-term research and development and marketing of existing products. We interpret these findings in light of industry key success factors.
Edge Detection in Brain Images

In this paper problem of edge detection in digital images is considered. Particular attention is paid to brain magnetic resonance images. The new approach to edge detection is introduced. Results of proposed method are presented and compared with traditional approach. In this work, a new contour detection method is studied for detecting brain tumor regions based on their gradient magnitude information. Gradient magnitude data, an edge detection method, is generated from the brain slice image intensity or perceived brightness information. Contour map of the brain tumor is generated by using the gradient magnitude differences of the template masks (cropped from brain slice tumor image) and the sample masks (traverses the image) raw pixel and perceived brightness (luminance) date. Then these differences are averaged and normalized to produce edge profiles of the brain tumor region contours. This data is used by the remote surgical devices for removing the tumor area.