Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term efficacy of standardised specific subcutaneous immunotherapy in children with persistent allergic rhinitis due to multiple allergens including house dust mites

Abstract Objectives: To observe the five-year efficacy of standardised specific subcutaneous immunotherapy for house dust mite allergy in monosensitised and polysensitised children with persistent allergic rhinitis. Methods: From January 2007 to August 2009, 236 children with persistent allergic rhinitis were divided into 2 groups: 1 group received standardised specific subcutaneous immunotherapy using house dust mite extract; the other received pharmacotherapy with intranasal corticosteroids and oral antihistamines. A total of 193 patients (106 in the immunotherapy group and 87 in the pharmacotherapy group) completed treatment. Scores for symptoms, total medication and quality of life were evaluated. Results: The subcutaneous immunotherapy group demonstrated a significant reduction in visual analogue scale scores, Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire scores and total medication scores (p < 0.05) compared with the pharmacotherapy group. No significant differences in the visual analogue scale and Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire scores were found between the polysensitised and monosensitised subgroups (p > 0.05). No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusion: Standardised subcutaneous immunotherapy has long-term efficacy for children with persistent allergic rhinitis. Single-allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy was appropriate for allergic rhinitis caused by multiple allergens, including house dust mites, in the paediatric population.
The Behavioral Response of Larval Amphibians (Ranidae) to Threats from Predators and Parasites

Organisms are exposed to strong selective pressures from several sources, including predators and pathogens. Response to such interacting selective pressures may vary among species that differ in life history and ecology in predictable ways. We consider the impact of multiple enemies (fish predators and trematode parasites) on the behavior of larvae of three anuran species (Lithobates ( = Rana) sylvaticus, L. clamitans and L. catesbeianus). We show that the three ranid species differ in response to the trade-off imposed by the simultaneous presence of fish predators and trematode parasites in the environment. Two more permanent pond breeders (L. clamitans and L. catesbeianus), which commonly encounter parasites and fish, increased activity when in the combined presence of parasites and a fish predator, resulting in a relatively lower parasite encystment rate. In contrast, the temporary pond breeder (L. sylvaticus), which does not commonly encounter fish in the wild, decreased activity in the combined presence of a fish predator and parasites similar to when only the predator was present. For L. sylvaticus, this suggests that the presence of an unknown predator poses a greater threat than parasites. Further, the presence of fish along with parasites increased the susceptibility of both L. sylvaticus and L. clamitans to trematode infection, whereas parasite infection in L. catesbeianus was unaffected by the presence of fish. Unpalatability to fish may allow some species to respond more freely to attacking parasites in the presence of fish. The results from this study highlight the importance of considering multiple selective pressures faced by organisms and how this shapes their behavior.
NPSNET: REAL-TIME VEHICLE COLLISIONS, EXPLOSIONS AND TERRAIN MODIFICATIONS

The Graphics and Video Laboratory of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is in the process of constructing a three dimensional (3D) virtual world called NPSNET [Zyda91]. NPSNET is a low-cost, commercial workstationbased 3D visual simulator that utilizes SIMNET terrain databases and networking [Garv88]. NPSNET is programmed utilizing off-the-shelf SGI IRIS graphics workstation, rather than the platform specific nodes of SIMNET. Part of the work in constructing the NPSNET world is detecting and resolving collisions in real-time. Such collision detection and resolution has been accomplished and integrated into the latest version of NPSNET, NPSNET-2. The detection of vehicle-weapon, vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-stationary nonvehicle collisions is performed throughout the virtual world. Background Users of NPSNET are able to drive many different types of vehicles such as tanks, jets, ships, helicopters and armored personnel carriers. Up to 500 of the vehicles/objects can maneuver in the world at one time. The 500 vehicles can include autonomous vehicles that react when fired upon by either returning fire or fleeing the area. These 3D icons move around in the computer world that is based on the terrain at Fort Hunter-Liggett, California. The terrain appearance is enhanced by the inclusion of textures on many terrain details. Depending upon the model of IRIS being used, the user can select to use texturing, fog and even haze. The system is networked, via Ethernet, to allow several players to interact. A two dimensional (2D) map option shows the position and tracking of all the players in the 50 kilometer square. This map displays the direction and viewing triangle of the driven vehicle as well as the position and movement of the remaining vehicles. The statistics and data concerning the driven vehicle are displayed in a window at the top of the screen. Speed, pitch, roll, number of remaining rounds and remaining fuel are a few of the statistics shown. Players control their chosen vehicles through several interface devices including a button/dialbox, keyboard and SpaceBall. The Spaceball is a single device used to control an object’s six degrees of freedom. The pick button on the SpaceBall fires the appropriate weapon associated with the vehicle being driven. Applying pressure to the SpaceBall adds to the thrust in the applied direction; twisting the Spaceball changes the object’s orientation. This allows the player to turn, move forward, backward, up and down very quickly. Since the system runs in real-time, reactions to events, not just the detection of them, have to take place very quickly. This includes following terrain contours, reacting to input from the user and responding to changes in the 3D world. As long as no collision occurs, the displays on the original NPSNET, NPSNET-1, are realistic.
COSMIC: High‐Resolution Cancer Genetics Using the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer

COSMIC (http://cancer.sanger.ac.uk) is an expert‐curated database of somatic mutations in human cancer. Broad and comprehensive in scope, recent releases in 2016 describe over 4 million coding mutations across all human cancer disease types. Mutations are annotated across the entire genome, but expert curation is focused on over 400 key cancer genes. Now encompassing the majority of molecular mutation mechanisms in oncogenetics, COSMIC additionally describes 10 million non‐coding mutations, 1 million copy‐number aberrations, 9 million gene‐expression variants, and almost 8 million differentially methylated CpGs. This information combines a consistent interpretation of the data from the major cancer genome consortia and cancer genome literature with exhaustive hand curation of over 22,000 gene‐specific literature publications. This unit describes the graphical Web site in detail; alternative protocols overview other ways the entire database can be accessed, analyzed, and downloaded. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Dynamic Looping of a Free-Draining Polymer

We revisit the celebrated Wilemski--Fixman (WF) treatment for the looping time of a free-draining polymer. The WF theory introduces a sink term into the Fokker--Planck equation for the $3(N+1)$-dimensional Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process of polymer dynamics, which accounts for the appropriate boundary condition due to the formation of a loop. The assumption for WF theory is considerably relaxed. A perturbation method approach is developed that justifies and generalizes the previous results using either a delta sink or a Heaviside sink. For both types of sinks, we show that under the condition of a small dimensionless $\epsilon$, the ratio of capture radius to the Kuhn length, we are able to systematically produce all known analytical and asymptotic results obtained by other methods. This includes most notably the transition regime between the $N^2$ scaling of Doi, and $N\sqrt{N}/\epsilon$ scaling of Szabo, Schulten, and Schulten. The mathematical issue at play is the nonuniform convergence of $\epsilon\to 0$ .
Characterization of MIMO propagation channel at 15 GHz for the 5G spectrum

5G systems aim to greatly enhance the data rate as one of its promising features compared to currently available technologies. The high data rate is achieved by the utilization of frequencies above 6 GHz, which provides enough bandwidth for each individual user to support faster transfer rates as compared to currently used Long Term Evolution-Advance (LTE-A). Performance of the wireless systems can be improved by optimizing the channel propagation parameters. In this paper, the potential ability of propagation channel for the large-scale outdoor urban environment is presented by utilizing Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) in the frequency band of 15 GHz. Okumura Hata model is used in rural areas, while microcell path propagation model is used in urban areas as the path loss models. Results have been recorded from multiple simulations concerning the capacity of users to evaluate the cell-edge user throughput, average user throughput, average cell throughput, spectral efficiency and fairness index for different MIMO antenna array. Results are then analyzed and compared to predict the channel behavior for urban, suburban and rural areas. The paper paved the path for 15 GHz to be set as a viable option when considering future 5G networks due to its ability to provide ample amount of throughput due to the diversity of multiple antennas for transmission.
The Role of PTEN in Chronic Growth Hormone-Induced Hepatic Insulin Resistance

Chronic growth hormone (GH) therapy has been shown to cause insulin resistance, but the mechanism remains unknown. PTEN, a tumor suppressor gene, is a major negative regulator of insulin signaling. In this study, we explored the effect of chronic GH on insulin signaling in the context of PTEN function. Balb/c healthy mice were given recombinant human or bovine GH intraperitoneally for 3 weeks. We found that phosphorylation of Akt was significantly decreased in chronic GH group and the expression of PTEN was significantly increased. We further examined this effect in the streptozotocin-induced Type I diabetic mouse model, in which endogenous insulin secretion was disrupted. Insulin/PI3K/Akt signaling was impaired. However, different from the observation in healthy mice, the expression of PTEN did not increase. Similarly, PTEN expression did not significantly increase in chronic GH-treated mice with hypoinsulinemia induced by prolonged fasting. We conducted in-vitro experiments in HepG2 cells to validate our in-vivo findings. Long-term exposure to GH caused similar resistance of insulin/PI3K/Akt signaling in HepG2 cells; and over-expression of PTEN enhanced the impairment of insulin signaling. On the other hand, disabling the PTEN gene by transfecting the mutant PTEN construct C124S or siPTEN, disrupted the chronic GH induced insulin resistance. Our data demonstrate that PTEN plays an important role in chronic-GH-induced insulin resistance. These findings may have implication in other pathological insulin resistance.
PERK/eIF2α signaling inhibits HIF-induced gene expression during the unfolded protein response via YB1-dependent regulation of HIF1α translation

Abstract HIF1α (hypoxia inducible factor 1α) is the central regulator of the cellular response to low oxygen and its activity is deregulated in multiple human pathologies. Consequently, given the importance of HIF signaling in disease, there is considerable interest in developing strategies to modulate HIF1α activity and down-stream signaling events. In the present study we find that under hypoxic conditions, activation of the PERK branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR) can suppress the levels and activity of HIF1α by preventing efficient HIF1α translation. Activation of PERK inhibits de novo HIF1α protein synthesis by preventing the RNA-binding protein, YB-1, from interacting with the HIF1α mRNA 5′UTR. Our data indicate that activation of the UPR can sensitise tumor cells to hypoxic stress, indicating that chemical activation of the UPR could be a strategy to target hypoxic malignant cancer cells.
A compact dual-band digital doherty power amplifier using parallel-combining transformer for cellular NB-IoT applications

Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT) is a newly developed 3GPP protocol optimized for low-power wide-area IoT applications and is evolving toward the future fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication. It specifies at least 23dBm maximum output power for long-range communication, stringent emission mask compatible with guard-band or in-band scenarios, and it supports multiple operation bands from 699 to 915MHz (LB) and from 1710 to 1980MHz (HB). For cost reduction, longer battery life, and fast time to market, the integration of high-power high-efficiency power amplifiers (PAs) on-chip is greatly demanded. To benefit from advanced CMOS technology, the digital polar transmitter has become a very attractive architecture for NB-IoT applications [1]. To simultaneously support dual bands for user flexibility, the traditional solution is to implement two separately optimized PAs [2], which requires extra design effort and increases die area. An ultra-compact single-transformer-based parallel power combiner proposed in [3] provides optimum load transformation in the two operation bands. Moreover, to support higher throughputs and achieve better spectral efficiency, high peak-to-average-power-ratio (PAPR) multi-subcarrier modulation is adopted in NB-IoT, which requires the PA to be efficient not only at peak power but also at power back-off (PBO) to extend battery life. Efficiency boosting techniques of digital Doherty PAs have been shown in [4-6], but two transformers are needed in the passive network. In this work, a high-power digital Doherty PA for NB-IoT applications is proposed and introduces a parallel-combining-transformer (PCT) power combiner for dual-band coverage, back-off efficiency enhancement, and ultra-compact implementation.
DataNet: A Data Distribution-Aware Method for Sub-Dataset Analysis on Distributed File Systems

In this paper, we study the problem of sub-dataset analysis over distributed file systems, e.g, the Hadoop file system. Our experiments show that the sub-datasets' distribution over HDFS blocks can often cause the corresponding analysis to suffer from a seriously imbalanced parallel execution. This is because the locality of individual sub-datasets is hidden by the Hadoop file system and the content clustering of sub-datasets results in some computational nodes carrying out much more workload than others. We conduct a comprehensive analysis on how the imbalanced computing patterns occur and their sensitivity to the size of a cluster. We then propose a novel method to optimize sub-dataset analysis over distributed storage systems referred to as DataNet. DataNet aims to achieve distribution-aware and workload-balanced computing and consists of the following three parts. Firstly, we propose an efficient algorithm with linear complexity to obtain the meta-data of sub-dataset distributions. Secondly, we design an elastic storage structure called ElasticMap based on the HashMap and BloomFilter techniques to store the meta-data. Thirdly, we employ a distribution-aware algorithm for sub-dataset applications to achieve a workload-balance in parallel-execution. Our proposed method can benefit different sub-dataset analyses with various computational requirements. Experiments are conducted on PRObEs Marmot 128-node cluster testbed and the results show the performance benefits of DataNet.
Redundancy and Cooperativity in the Mechanics of Compositely Crosslinked Filamentous Networks

The cytoskeleton of living cells contains many types of crosslinkers. Some crosslinkers allow energy-free rotations between filaments and others do not. The mechanical interplay between these different crosslinkers is an open issue in cytoskeletal mechanics. Therefore, we develop a theoretical framework based on rigidity percolation to study a generic filamentous system containing both stretching and bond-bending forces to address this issue. The framework involves both analytical calculations via effective medium theory and numerical simulations on a percolating triangular lattice with very good agreement between both. We find that the introduction of angle-constraining crosslinkers to a semiflexible filamentous network with freely rotating crosslinks can cooperatively lower the onset of rigidity to the connectivity percolation threshold—a result argued for years but never before obtained via effective medium theory. This allows the system to ultimately attain rigidity at the lowest concentration of material possible. We further demonstrate that introducing angle-constraining crosslinks results in mechanical behaviour similar to just freely rotating crosslinked semflexible filaments, indicating redundancy and universality. Our results also impact upon collagen and fibrin networks in biological and bio-engineered tissues.
Further Evaluation of the Use of Multiple Schedules for Behavior Maintained by Negative Reinforcement

One potential limitation of functional communication training (FCT) is that after the functional communication response (FCR) is taught, the response may be emitted at high rates or inappropriate times. Thus, schedule thinning is often necessary. Previous research has demonstrated that multiple schedules can facilitate schedule thinning by establishing discriminative control of the communication response while maintaining low rates of problem behavior. To date, most applied research evaluating the clinical utility of multiple schedules has done so in the context of behavior maintained by positive reinforcement (e.g., attention or tangible items). This study examined the use of a multiple schedule with alternating Fixed Ratio (FR 1)/extinction (EXT) components for two individuals with developmental disabilities who emitted escape-maintained problem behavior. Although problem behavior remained low during all FCT and multiple schedule phases, the use of the multiple schedule alone did not result in discriminated manding.
Impact of Light and Temperature on the Uptake of Algal Symbionts by Coral Juveniles

The effects of temperature and light on the breakdown of the coral-Symbiodinium symbiosis are well documented but current understanding of their roles during initial uptake and establishment of symbiosis is limited. In this study, we investigate how temperature and light affect the uptake of the algal symbionts, ITS1 types C1 and D, by juveniles of the broadcast-spawning corals Acropora tenuis and A. millepora. Elevated temperatures had a strong negative effect on Symbiodinium uptake in both coral species, with corals at 31°C showing as little as 8% uptake compared to 87% at 28°C. Juveniles in high light treatments (390 µmol photons m−2 s−1) had lower cell counts across all temperatures, emphasizing the importance of the light environment during the initial uptake phase. The proportions of the two Symbiodinium types taken up, as quantified by a real time PCR assay using clade C- and D-specific primers, were also influenced by temperature, although variation in uptake dynamics between the two coral species indicates a host effect. At 28°C, A. tenuis juveniles were dominated by C1 Symbiodinium, and while the number of D Symbiodinium cells increased at 31°C, they never exceeded the number of C1 cells. In contrast, juveniles of A. millepora had approximately equal numbers of C1 and D cells at 28°C, but were dominated by D at 30°C and 31°C. This study highlights the significant role that environmental factors play in the establishment of coral-Symbiodinium symbiosis and provides insights into how potentially competing Symbiodinium types take up residence in coral juveniles.
On the Simulation of Thermoplastic Injection Moulding Process

Abstract The relevance of enhancement of crystallisation kinetics by effect of shear flow and rheology during polymer solidification to the phenomena taking place during the injection moulding process has been shown by means of simulations performed on the basis of Lord and Williams [1, 2] model and its recent extensions [3 to 5]. A key point of the simulation was the solidification criterion based on a critical crystallization index; on the basis of simple calorimetric and rheological tests in the limit of zero shear rate, values of a few percent were given to the solidification crystallinity value. Many experimental features of pressure history both in the runner and in the cavity are recovered by model predictions, if both effects mentioned above are properly accounted for. However, predictions for gate sealing time, although improved, still have a sensitivity to gate thickness lower than that shown by the experiments. Similar conclusions, obviously, regard also the mass entering in the mould during holding. Another mechanism which sums up to shear stresses to accelerate thin gate solidification has still to be identified.
Alternating Group Explicit Method For The Numerical Solution Of Non-Linear Singular Two-Point Boundary Value Problems Using A Fourth Order Finite Difference Method

In this paper, we report on the AGE and Newton-AGE iteration methods for the fourth order numerical solution of two point non-linear boundary value problems. Both methods are applicable to problems both in cartesian and polar coordinates and are suitable for use on parallel computers. The convergence analysis of the new method is briefly discussed and the results of numerical experiments presented.
A Generalized Constraint Approach to Bilingual Dictionary Induction for Low-Resource Language Families

The lack or absence of parallel and comparable corpora makes bilingual lexicon extraction a difficult task for low-resource languages. The pivot language and cognate recognition approaches have been proven useful for inducing bilingual lexicons for such languages. We propose constraint-based bilingual lexicon induction for closely related languages by extending constraints from the recent pivot-based induction technique and further enabling multiple symmetry assumption cycle to reach many more cognates in the transgraph. We further identify cognate synonyms to obtain many-to-many translation pairs. This article utilizes four datasets: one Austronesian low-resource language and three Indo-European high-resource languages. We use three constraint-based methods from our previous work, the Inverse Consultation method and translation pairs generated from Cartesian product of input dictionaries as baselines. We evaluate our result using the metrics of precision, recall, and F-score. Our customizable approach allows the user to conduct cross validation to predict the optimal hyperparameters (cognate threshold and cognate synonym threshold) with various combination of heuristics and number of symmetry assumption cycles to gain the highest F-score. Our proposed methods have statistically significant improvement of precision and F-score compared to our previous constraint-based methods. The results show that our method demonstrates the potential to complement other bilingual dictionary creation methods like word alignment models using parallel corpora for high-resource languages while well handling low-resource languages.