Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MicroRNA-199a-5p suppresses migration and invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma through inhibiting the EMT-related transcription factor SOX4

MicroRNAs (miRs) are small, non-coding RNAs that can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in human cancer. Recent studies have revealed that miR-199a-5p is abnormally expressed in various types of human cancer; however, the potential role of miR-199a-5p in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains elusive. The present study investigated the role of miR-199a-5p in OSCC cells and explored the potential molecular mechanism. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure miR-199a-5p expression in OSCC tissues and adjacent normal oral epithelial tissues. Cell invasion and migration were evaluated using Transwell invasion and wound-healing assays in OSCC cells post-transfection with miR-199a-5p mimics or negative control mimics. In addition, a luciferase reporter assay was conducted to identify the target gene of miR-199a-5p in OSCC cells. The results demonstrated that miR-199a-5p expression was significantly downregulated in OSCC tissues and cell lines, and was associated with tumor progression in OSCC. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-199a-5p inhibited cell invasion and migration, and blocked the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cascade. Notably, the results revealed that the EMT-related transcription factor SRY-box 4 (SOX4) was a direct target gene of miR-199a-5p, as determined by the direct binding of miR-199a-5p with the 3′-untranslated region of SOX4. In addition, knockdown of SOX4 by small interfering RNA-SOX4 suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC cells. Conversely, overexpression of SOX4 rescued the suppressive effects of miR-199a-5p on cell migration and invasion. Collectively, these data indicated that miR-199a-5p may inhibit the migration and invasion of OSCC cells via targeting the EMT-related transcription factor SOX4, thus suggesting that miR-199a-5p may serve as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in the treatment of OSCC.
Optimal routing in IP networks intradomain case

In this paper, it is analyzed the optimal routing problem within autonomous systems, with particular emphasis when the objective is the optimal links loads balancing for a greater efficiency in the utilization of resources committed for IP networks. The used model belongs to the MCF (Multicommodity flow) family of networks flow problems and, after characterizing the type of solution yielded by this kind of model, it is discussed the feasibility of its implementation in networks operating under OSPF and MPLS protocols.
A Conflicts Detection Approach for Merging Formal Specification Views

Specifying software requirements is an important, complicated and error prone task. It involves the collaboration of several people specifying requirements that are gathered through several stakeholders. During this process, developers working in parallel introduce and make modifications to requirements until reaching a specification that satisfies the stakeholders’ requirements. Merge conflicts are inevitable when integrating the modifications made by different developers to a shared specification. Thus, detecting and resolving these conflicts is critical to ensure a consistent resulting specification. A conflicts detection approach for merging Object-Oriented formal specifications is proposed in this paper. Conflicts are classified, formally defined and detected based on the results of a proposed differencing algorithm. The proposed approach has been empirically evaluated, and the experimental results are discussed in this paper.
A programmable framework for the deployment of services and protocols in mobile ad hoc networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are characterized by their heterogeneity and the diverse capabilities of their nodes given that almost any device with a wireless network interface can join such a network. In such an environment it is difficult to dynamically deploy services and protocols without a common understanding among the participating nodes and their capabilities. A deployment/provisioning framework must cope with the high-level of device heterogeneity, degree of mobility, and should also take into account the potentially limited device resources. This paper presents a context-based programmable framework for dynamic service/protocol deployment that allows the nodes of a mobile ad hoc network to download and safely activate required service/protocol software dynamically. Downloading and activation can be triggered through preconditions evaluated according to available contextual information. This strategy leads to the alignment of the nodes' capabilities so that common services and protocols can be deployed even if they are not available at every node. In addition, dynamic context-driven deployment may lead to a degree of network self-optimization. We present the programmable framework and functionality and evaluate its various aspects through testbed experimentation, simulation and analytical modeling. The results demonstrate good performance with respect to the supported functionality.
IDEOSY: An Ideographic and Interactive Program Description System

IDEOSY is an experiment in the use of a formal semantics as the basis for a programming system and in use of an ideographic language as the primary means of user-computer communication. The important characteristics of our system are that it uses an ideographic syntax, has a syntax-directed editor, supports the definition of various equivalence properties and the proofs of such equivalence, and has an interpreter. It currently runs on Apollo workstations and on VAXes running Berkeley UNIX@ using any of a variety of high-resolution color displays. Our formalism is based on Milner's Calculus of Communicating Systems (CCS) [1]. We have found CCS to be a convenient formalism for describing programs and have even used it for describing the UNIX operating system [2]. Its algebraic properties are very useful for building descriptions out of components and for proving the equivalence of descriptions. Since CCS is an operational semantics, we may directly interpret descriptions written in CCS.
Cutoff values for the determination of sarcopenia and the prevalence of the condition in middle-aged women: A study from Sri Lanka

Introduction There is a scarcity of studies related to sarcopenia in Sri Lanka. This partly is due to lack of cutoff values to define muscle mass, strength and physical functions. Objective This cross-sectional study determined the cutoff values of sarcopenia measures and evaluated the prevalence of sarcopenia among middle-aged Sri Lankan women. Method A reference group of 117 young women (20-40 years) was used for cutoff value determination. The prevalence of sarcopenia was estimated among a group of 270 women (41-60 years). Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass (ASMM, kg) was measured by DXA and was adjusted for height (ASMM/height2) to determine Relative Skeletal Muscle mass Index (RSMI, kg/m2). Hand Grip Strength (HGS, kg) and Gait Speed (GS, m/s) were also measured. Cutoff values for measures of sarcopenia were taken as 2SD below the mean value of the young reference group. Result Mean(SD) ages of the participants; young reference group and middle-aged group were 35.5(3.8) and 52.2(5.8) years respectively. Cutoff values for the main three measures of sarcopenia; RSMI, HGS and GS were 5.03kg/m2, 9.66kg and 0.96m/s respectively. Prevalence of pre-sarcopenia, sarcopenia and severe-sarcopenia among middle-aged women were 3.0%, 2.2%, 0.7% respectively. The corresponding values among postmenopausal women were 4.2%, 3.0%, 1.2% and among premenopausal women were 1.0%, 1.0%, 0.0%. Prevalence of sarcopenia was higher among women aged between 51-60 years and severe sarcopenia was observed only in this age group. Conclusions This study provides cutoff values for the measures of sarcopenia for Sri Lankan women. Prevalence was higher among postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women.
Synergistic Effects of Psychological Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Gender Discrimination on Postnatal Mental Health Trajectories

While the literature examining physical intimate partner violence (IPV) is extensive, the impact of psychological IPV on mental health during high-risk times such as the period following childbirth is not well understood. The current study examined associations between psychological IPV and the course and severity of women’s postnatal mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms). Both main effects of psychological IPV exposure and possible exacerbation by broader social victimization (i.e., gender discrimination) were considered. Participants were 76 mothers from a larger longitudinal study, who completed self-report measures of IPV, gender discrimination, and affective symptoms at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months postnatal. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed a main effect of psychological IPV on the course of trauma symptoms only. As hypothesized, gender discrimination moderated the effect of psychological IPV on all symptom trajectories in a synergistic manner. At moderate to high levels of gender discrimination only, psychological IPV predicted higher affective symptom severity and an escalating course of postnatal anxiety symptoms. These findings underscore the importance of expanding current conceptualizations of IPV impacts to incorporate relevant aspects of individuals’ social-ecological context. Future directions and implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.
Application of high‐throughput next‐generation sequencing for HLA typing of DNA extracted from postprocessing cord blood units

Cord blood has become an acceptable source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. HLA plays a major role in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Typing of cord blood samples for HLA alleles has been performed based on the serological and molecular methods. However, with the advent of next‐generation sequencing technology, HLA typing becomes more accurate and unambiguous (upto intron level). Contamination of cord blood cells with erythropoietic cells poses a challenge in DNA extraction and downstream application. In the present study, DNA extracted from buffy coat of cord blood samples was typed for HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, DRB1, and DQB1 alleles by Illumina miniseq and the sequences were aligned, phased, and mapped by MIA FORA software algorithms. Most frequent alleles found were HLA A*01:01:01 (17%), A*24:02:01 (15.1%), A*11:01:01 (13.6%), B*40:06:01 (10.7%), C*06:02:01 (17.7%), C*04:01:01 (14.2%), C*15:02:01 (11.4%), C*07:02:01 (10.7%), DRB1*07:01:01 (15.9%), DRB1*10:01:01 (10.2%), DQB1*06:01:01 (17.4%), DQB1*05:01:01 (12.4%), and DQB1*05:03:01 (10.4%). One null allele (A*24:11N), two novel alleles in B loci and three rare alleles (B*40:06:04, B*51:01:05, and C*01:44) were also identified in the present study. This study shows that high‐throughput, unambiguous (third‐field resolution) HLA typing can be performed on cord blood samples. In order to preserve the precious sample for future use, minimal amount of cord blood samples (postprocessing) could be used for HLA typing purpose.
Literome: PubMed-scale genomic knowledge base in the cloud

MOTIVATION Advances in sequencing technology have led to an exponential growth of genomics data, yet it remains a formidable challenge to interpret such data for identifying disease genes and drug targets. There has been increasing interest in adopting a systems approach that incorporates prior knowledge such as gene networks and genotype-phenotype associations. The majority of such knowledge resides in text such as journal publications, which has been undergoing its own exponential growth. It has thus become a significant bottleneck to identify relevant knowledge for genomic interpretation as well as to keep up with new genomics findings. RESULTS In the Literome project, we have developed an automatic curation system to extract genomic knowledge from PubMed articles and made this knowledge available in the cloud with a Web site to facilitate browsing, searching and reasoning. Currently, Literome focuses on two types of knowledge most pertinent to genomic medicine: directed genic interactions such as pathways and genotype-phenotype associations. Users can search for interacting genes and the nature of the interactions, as well as diseases and drugs associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism or gene. Users can also search for indirect connections between two entities, e.g. a gene and a disease might be linked because an interacting gene is associated with a related disease. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Literome is freely available at literome.azurewebsites. net. Download for non-commercial use is available via Web services.
Genomic Characterization of External Morphology Traits in Kelpies Does Not Support Common Ancestry with the Australian Dingo

The Kelpie is a breed developed in Australia for use as a livestock herding dog. It has been proposed that the development of the breed included gene flow from the Australian Dingo (Canis dingo), a canid species present on the Australian continent for around 4000 years. The Kelpie breed is split between working and conformation types that have readily recognizable differences in external morphology. We characterize known gene variants relating to external morphology in sequenced representatives of both Kelpie types (Australian Kelpie—conformation; Australian Working Kelpie—herding) and compare the variants present with those in sequenced Australian Dingoes, including 25 canids with locus-constrained data and one with a whole genome sequence. Variants assessed include identified coat color and ear morphology variants. We describe a new variant site in the transcribed region of methionine sulfoxide reductase 3 that may relate to ear phenotype. None of the morphology variants analyzed offer support for co-ancestry of the Kelpie breed with the Australian Dingo.
Plant Pathogenesis and Resistance: Biochemistry and Physiology of Plant-Microbe Interactions

Preface. Abbreviations. Section I: Infection Processes. 1. Penetration of Cuticles by Plant Pathogens. Section II: Plant Pathogenesis. 2. Degradation of Cell Walls by Plant Pathogens. 3. Bioenergetics in Plant-pathogen Interactions. 4. Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis and the Effects of Diseases on Nodulation and Nitrogen Fixation. 5. Growth Regulators and Plant Tumorigenesis. 6. Phytotoxins and Plant Pathogenesis. Section III: Signal Transduction. 7. Signal Transduction in Plant-Microbe Interactions. 8. Fortification of Plant Cell Walls as a Resistance Mechanism. Section IV: Dynamics of Plant Defense. 9. Accumulation of Phytoalexins as a Resistance Mechanism. 10. Pathogenesis-related Proteins and Disease Resistance. Index.
Characterising the relationship between migration and stigma affecting healthcare engagement among female sex workers in Lomé, Togo

ABSTRACT Migration in West Africa is common and complicates the sustained delivery of comprehensive HIV care programmes for those with specific vulnerabilities to HIV, including female sex workers (FSW). This study evaluated whether migration potentiates the burden of stigma affecting FSW in Lomé, Togo. Respondent driven sampling identified 354 FSW who completed HIV testing and a questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with stigma among FSW. Among study participants, 76.3% (270/354) were migrants, with 30.2% (107/354) reporting stigma. Migrant FSW were less likely to report stigma (aOR 0.40; 95% CI:0.22–0.73). FSW who had an abortion (aOR 3.40; 95% CI:1.79–6.30) and were tested for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or HIV (aOR 2.03; 95% CI:1.16–3.55) were more likely to report stigma. Among FSW, 59.8% (211/353) disclosed selling sex to a health worker. Disclosure was more common among FSW who had been tested for an STI or HIV (36.7%; 77/210), or both (55.7%; 117/210), and resulted in an attenuated but significant association between STI or HIV testing and stigma, indicating that disclosure partially mediated the relationship. These results highlight the need to mitigate healthcare-related stigma affecting FSW, while also considering decentralised HIV testing approaches, including HIV self-testing.
Privacy preserving LBP based feature extraction on encrypted images

“An Image is worth a thousand words. ” To provide security images always encrypted and stored in the cloud. Along with it, there is also a continuous need to outsource image computation with high complexity to the cloud for its economic computing resources and on-demand ubiquitous access. Feature extraction and representation on encrypted images is a crucial step for multimedia processing on the cloud. Extraction of ideal features from encrypted images without revealing the intrinsic content of the images is privacy preservation. In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme PP-LBP (Privacy preserving — Local Binary Patterns) that retrieves LBP based image features from encrypted images. In the Proposed approach, the encryption algorithm is applied on MSB (Most Significant Bit) plane of Image. All the operations are performed on encrypted images without revealing any information to cloud service providers. The method generates exactly same LBP based feature between encrypted and unencrypted images without any overhead of communication between cloud service provider and client. All the Computational overheads complexities are on cloud not to client.
Online Learning and Classification of EMG-Based Gestures on a Parallel Ultra-Low Power Platform Using Hyperdimensional Computing

This paper presents a wearable electromyographic gesture recognition system based on the hyperdimensional computing paradigm, running on a programmable parallel ultra-low-power (PULP) platform. The processing chain includes efficient on-chip training, which leads to a fully embedded implementation with no need to perform any offline training on a personal computer. The proposed solution has been tested on 10 subjects in a typical gesture recognition scenario achieving 85% average accuracy on 11 gestures recognition, which is aligned with the state-of-the-art, with the unique capability of performing online learning. Furthermore, by virtue of the hardware friendly algorithm and of the efficient PULP system-on-chip (Mr. Wolf) used for prototyping and evaluation, the energy budget required to run the learning part with 11 gestures is 10.04 mJ, and 83.2 $\mu$J per classification. The system works with a average power consumption of 10.4 mW in classification, ensuring around 29 h of autonomy with a 100 mAh battery. Finally, the scalability of the system is explored by increasing the number of channels (up to 256 electrodes), demonstrating the suitability of our approach as universal, energy-efficient biopotential wearable recognition framework.
Automated Acceptance Testing Using Fit

Automated acceptance testing is a new and promising agile testing approach. Fit is the most established technical framework for specifying and executing acceptance tests which, ideally, lets the users express requirements in the form of acceptance tests. We performed an industrial case study to learn more on the costs and benefits of Fit tests. We learned that Fit tests may improve important parts of an agile development process but there is still a need for further research and improvements.
Is the second order lattice balun a good solution in MMICs - a comparison with a direct-coupled transformer balun

This paper reports for the first time on a second order lattice balun (SOLB) implemented in commercial GaAs MMIC technology. Over a 90 % bandwidth 1.5-3.5 GHz, the measured amplitude and phase errors are less than 1.3 dB and 4/spl deg/, respectively. Over the same frequency range the reflection loss is better than 20 dB, and the insertion loss less than 1.0 dB with a minimum of less than 0.6 dB at the center frequency 2.5 GHz. The effective area of the fabricated circuit is 620 /spl times/ 650 /spl mu/m. For the sake of comparison a conventional direct-coupled transformer balun is designed in the same technology. The transformer balun is smaller, 370 /spl times/ 420 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and it exhibits good balancing performance. However, its insertion loss is worse than 3 dB when the circuit is matched.
Wireless bidirectional relaying and Latin Squares

The design of modulation schemes for the physical layer network-coded two way relaying scenario is considered with the protocol which employs two phases: Multiple access (MA) Phase and Broadcast (BC) Phase. It was observed by Koike-Akino et al. that adaptively changing the network coding map used at the relay according to the channel conditions greatly reduces the impact of multiple access interference which occurs at the relay during the MA Phase and all these network coding maps should satisfy a requirement called the exclusive law. We show that every network coding map that satisfies the exclusive law is representable by a Latin Square and conversely, and this relationship can be used to get the network coding maps satisfying the exclusive law. Using the structural properties of the Latin Squares for a given set of parameters, the problem of finding all the required maps is reduced to finding a small set of maps for M-PSK constellations. This is achieved using the notions of isotopic and transposed Latin Squares. Furthermore, the channel conditions for which the bit-wise XOR will perform well is analytically obtained which holds for all values of M (for M any power of 2). We illustrate these results for the case where both the end users use QPSK constellation.
Information extraction

Information extraction (IE) maps a language stream into database records that capture part of its meaning. Name, entity, and relation extraction are common subtasks, and an event extraction subtask has also been proposed. Various specific target sets have been defined, with results compared in government-sponsored evaluations, but defining 'meaning' for a broad spectrum of applications remains a challenge. Researchers are exploring a wide variety of learning techniques for these tasks. Initial tests have also been performed measuring IE performance on speech recognition output, but current work has only scratched the surface of this important area.
Psychological and social determinants of health, antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, and viral suppression among HIV-positive black women in care

ABSTRACT Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV, accounting for 61% of women diagnosed in 2016. Black women with HIV are less likely to be adherent to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and virally suppressed compared to women of other racial/ethnic groups. We analyzed 2013–2014 data from 1703 black women patients in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Medical Monitoring Project to examine whether select psychological and social determinants of health (SDH) factors were associated with ART adherence and viral suppression. We calculated weighted estimates and used multivariable logistic regression with adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to examine correlates of ART adherence and viral suppression. Women who had not been incarcerated in the past 12 months (aPR = 1.24; CI: 1.04–1.48) and had not experienced discrimination in a health care setting since their HIV diagnosis (aPR = 1.06; 1.00–1.11) were slightly more likely to be adherent to ART. Women who lived above the federal poverty level were more likely to be virally suppressed during the past 12 months (aPR = 1.09; CI: 1.01–1.18). More research is warranted to identify the best strategies to create health care settings that encourage black women’s HIV care engagement, and to address other key SDH and/or psychological factors.