Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for sortilin modulating regional accumulation of human tau prions in transgenic mice

Significance Human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease develop in a highly stereotyped fashion, suggesting intrinsic differences among brain regions determine whether they are affected or spared. Here, we employed a widely used line of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing mutant (P301S) human tau and exhibiting robust tauopathy. By examining brain regions affected by and spared of tau prions, we found that localization of human tau prion formation in Tg mice arises from regional inhibition of tau prion replication. Using a cell-based bioassay, we identified an inhibitor of tau prion propagation in the forebrain. These discoveries may lead to the identification of key mediators of brain vulnerability involved in human tauopathies, a promising strategy for the development of targeted therapeutics for these diseases. Misfolding of tau proteins into prions and their propagation along neural circuits are thought to result in neurodegeneration causing Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and other tauopathies. Little is known about the molecular processes mediating tau prion replication and spreading in different brain regions. Using transgenic (Tg) mice with a neuronal promoter driving expression of human mutant (P301S) tau, we found that tau prion formation and histopathologic deposition is largely restricted to the hindbrain. Unexpectedly, tau mRNA and protein levels did not differ between the forebrain and hindbrain, suggesting that other factors modulating the conversion of tau into a prion exist and are region specific. Using a cell-based prion propagation assay, we discovered that tau prion replication is suppressed by forebrain-derived inhibitors, one of which is sortilin, a lysosomal sorting receptor. We also show that sortilin expression is higher in the forebrain than the hindbrain across the life span of the Tg mice, suggesting that sortilin, at least in part, inhibits forebrain tau prion replication in vivo. Our findings provide evidence for selective vulnerability in mice resulting in highly regulated levels of tau prion propagation, thus affording a model for identification of additional molecules that could mitigate the levels of tau prions in human tauopathies.
An unusual chromosomal aberration in a case of Chediak-Higashi syndrome.

Chediak-Higashi syndrome which appears to be a lysosomal disease (Douglas and Fudenberg, 1969; White, 1966) is characterized by partial albinism, photophobia, recurrent infections, hepatosplenomegaly, and a distinctive leucocyte anomaly (Chediak, 1952; Higashi, 1954). Available genetic and fine structural studies suggest that the condition is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait (Sadan et al., 1965; Douglas, Blume, and Wolff, 1969). Chromosome studies have been done in a few cases, but as expected have not shown any significant numerical chromosomal abnormalities (Kritzler et al., 1964; Rosenszajn et al., 1969). The condition does not seem to be confined to a particular population group, since patients with this syndrome have been reported from various parts of the world. The purpose of this communication is to report a case of Chediak-Higashi syndrome from Turkey, in which chromosome studies revealed an unexpected and unusual abnormality in the form of partial monosomy for a G group chromosome (45,XY,G 46,XY/46,XY,Gr).
Controversies Regarding the Psychometric Properties of the Brief COPE: The Case of the Brazilian-Portuguese Version “COPE Breve”

The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) inventory investigates the different ways in which people respond to stressful situations. Knowledge is lacking regarding the coping strategies and styles of people in developing countries, including Brazil. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Brief COPE to Brazilian Portuguese (named COPE Breve) by focusing on dispositional coping. For the cross-cultural adaptation, the original Brief COPE in English (28 items grouped into 14 subscales) was adapted according to a universalistic approach, following these steps: translation, synthesis, back-translation, analysis by an expert panel, and pretest with 30 participants. Then, 237 adults from the community health service responded to the COPE Breve. Psychometric analyses included reliability and exploratory factor analysis. Most of the 14 subscales from the original Brief COPE exhibited problems related to internal consistency. A Velicer's minimum average partial test (MAP) was performed and pointed out 3 factors. Exploratory factor analysis produced a revised 20-item version with a 3-factor solution: religion and positive reframing, distraction and external support. The psychometric properties of the COPE Breve with three factors were appropriate. Limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future studies are presented. The COPE Breve should be used in Brazilian clinics and investigations, but divergences in its psychometrics should be further explored in other contexts.
Toward composable network traffic measurement

As the growth of Internet traffic volume and diversity continues, passive monitoring and data analysis, crucial to the correct operation of networks and the systems that rely on them, has become an increasingly difficult task. We present the design and implementation of Blockmon, a flexible, high performance system for network monitoring and analysis. We present experimental results demonstrating Blockmon's performance, running simple analyses at 10Gb/s line rate on commodity hardware; and compare its performance with that of existing programmable measurement systems, showing significant improvement (as much as twice as fast) especially for small packet sizes. We further demonstrate Blockmon's applicability to measurement and data analysis by implementing and evaluating three sample applications: a flow meter, a TCP SYN flood detector, and a VoIP anomaly-detection system.
Quantum Rate-Distortion Coding With Auxiliary Resources

We extend quantum rate-distortion theory by considering auxiliary resources that might be available to a sender and receiver performing lossy quantum data compression. The first setting we consider is that of quantum rate-distortion coding with the help of a classical side channel. Our result here is that the regularized entanglement of formation characterizes the quantum rate-distortion function, extending earlier work of Devetak and Berger. We also combine this bound with the entanglement-assisted bound from our prior work to obtain the best known bounds on the quantum rate-distortion function for an isotropic qubit source. The second setting we consider is that of quantum rate-distortion coding with quantum side information (QSI) available to the receiver. In order to prove results in this setting, we first state and prove a quantum reverse Shannon theorem with QSI (for tensor-power states), which extends the known tensor-power quantum reverse Shannon theorem. The achievability part of this theorem relies on the quantum state redistribution protocol, while the converse relies on the fact that the protocol can cause only a negligible disturbance to the joint state of the reference and the receiver's QSI. This quantum reverse Shannon theorem with QSI naturally leads to quantum rate-distortion theorems with QSI, with or without entanglement assistance.
Pattern-Based Granger Causality Mapping in fMRI

Since its development, the multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) method has been widely used to study high-level cognitive function in the brain. The results of the MVPA indicate that the spatial pattern of functional MRI data contains useful information. In addition to the spatial pattern analysis of the brain functions, effective connectivity can also be analyzed between the spatial pattern-based information. In this article, we propose a multivoxel pattern-based causality mapping method to explore influences between the spatial pattern-based information in the brain. The method applies the Granger causality to interested regions of the brain in terms of spatiotemporal pattern-based data, which are known to play an important role in dealing with high-level functions of the brain. The method can compose a causality map throughout the entire brain for any specified region of interest. Both simulations and experiments were performed to show the performance of the proposed method, and the existence and analyzability of the connectivity between pattern-based information in the brain were verified.
State space collapse and diffusion approximation for a network operating under a fair bandwidth sharing policy

We consider a connection-level model of Internet congestion control, introduced by Massouli\'{e} and Roberts [Telecommunication Systems 15 (2000) 185--201], that represents the randomly varying number of flows present in a network. Here, bandwidth is shared fairly among elastic document transfers according to a weighted $\alpha$-fair bandwidth sharing policy introduced by Mo and Walrand [IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking 8 (2000) 556--567] [$\alpha\in (0,\infty)$]. Assuming Poisson arrivals and exponentially distributed document sizes, we focus on the heavy traffic regime in which the average load placed on each resource is approximately equal to its capacity. A fluid model (or functional law of large numbers approximation) for this stochastic model was derived and analyzed in a prior work [Ann. Appl. Probab. 14 (2004) 1055--1083] by two of the authors. Here, we use the long-time behavior of the solutions of the fluid model established in that paper to derive a property called multiplicative state space collapse, which, loosely speaking, shows that in diffusion scale, the flow count process for the stochastic model can be approximately recovered as a continuous lifting of the workload process.
Decisions, Models, and Monitoring -- A Lifecycle Model for the Evolution of Service-Based Systems

The process of engineering and provisioning service-based systems (SBS) follows a complex and dynamic lifecycle with different phases and levels of abstraction. We tackle the problem of making this lifecycle explicit, providing development time and runtime support for evolutionary changes in such systems. SBSs are modeled as integrated ecosystems consisting of four conceptual layers (or phases): design, implementation, deployment, and runtime. Our work is driven by the notion that identifying the right changes (monitoring) and effecting of these changes (adaptation) usually takes place individually on each layer. While considering changes on a single layer (e.g., runtime adaptation) is often sufficient, some cases require systematic escalation to adjacent layers. We present a generic lifecycle model that provides an abstracted view of the problem domain and can be mapped to concrete artifacts on each individual layer. We introduce a real-life scenario taken from the telecommunications domain, which serves as the basis for discussion of the challenges and our solution. Based on the scenario and our experience from a research project on Virtual Service Platforms, we evaluate three concrete use cases which illustrate the diversity of evolutionary changes supported by the approach.
‘Remembering Our First TV Set’. Personal Memories as a Source for Television Audience History

Personal memories represent a crucial source in outlining a history of television audience. However, they are undoubtedly special historical tools, and their interpretation requires particular cares and concerns. Relying on interviews leaded on direct witnesses, the paper describes the advent of television in the private space of the home in the mid fifties in Italy, comparing personal memories with the interpretative repertoires filtered down by the popular media system. The paper also tries to add a further piece to a wider ‘European historical mosaic’, in seeking to relate some aspects peculiar to the Italian scenario to a broader transnational pattern.
Understanding Software Systems Using Reverse Engineering Technology

Software engineering research has focused primarily on software construction, neglecting software maintenance and evolution. Observed is a shift in research from synthesis to analysis. The process of reverse engineering is introduced as an aid in program understanding. This process is concerned with the analysis of existing software systems to make them more understandable for maintenance, re-engineering, and evolution purposes. Presented is reverse engineering technology developed as part of the Rigi project. The Rigi approach involves the identi cation of software artifacts in the subject system and the aggregation of these artifacts to form more abstract system representations. Early industrial experience has shown that software engineers using Rigi can quickly build mental models from the discovered abstractions that are compatible with the mental models formed by the maintainers of the underlying software.
Validation of single real‐time TaqMan® PCR assay for the detection and quantitation of four major genotypes of hepatitis E virus in clinical specimens

Since the characterization of the genome of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) in 1990, a large genetic diversity has been described. A single real‐time reverse transcription (RT)‐PCR assay with TaqMan® technology has been validated which uses only one set of primers and probe within the ORF2 HEV region (nt 5207–5292) for the detection and quantification of the four major genotypes of HEV. This assay proved to be as efficient as the conventional RT‐PCR methodology for the detection of HEV in clinical samples testing positive previously. The real‐time RT‐PCR and conventional RT‐PCR were performed comparatively on 60 pairs of sera and stools collected during a recent outbreak of hepatitis E in Darfur. The real‐time RT‐PCR assay was 10‐ to 100‐fold sensitive than for conventional RT‐PCR assays used in this study with a range quantitation from 1.8 × 101 to 7.2 × 103 RNA copies/µl in clinical samples (serum and stools). J. Med. Virol. 78:1076–1082, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A trust management architecture for hierarchical wireless sensor networks

Security and trust are fundamental challenges when it comes to the deployment of large wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical trust management scheme that minimizes communication and storage overheads. Our scheme takes into account direct and indirect (group) trust in trust evaluation as well as the energy associated with sensor nodes in service selection. It also considers the dynamic aspect of trust by introducing a trust varying function which could give greater weight to the most recently obtained trust values in the trust calculation. The proposed framework can be extended to such dynamic mobile inter-cluster wireless sensor network environments.
If and when social and economic leader-member exchange relationships predict follower work effort

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize social leader-member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader-member exchange (ELMX) as two separate dimensions of leader-member exchange, and examines how intrinsic work motivation moderates their relationship with follower work effort. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 352 employee-leader dyads from the public health sector in Norway (response rate=61.9 percent). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the relationship between subordinate rated SLMX and ELMX relationships and leader ratings of work effort. Findings – This study replicates prior research showing that SLMX is positively related and ELMX negatively related to followers’ work effort. A significant interaction between SLMX and intrinsic motivation is also revealed, suggesting that SLMX relationships are important with respect to work effort for followers who exhibit lower levels of intrinsic work motivation. Research limitations/implications – The data were cross-se.
E-health in Rural Areas: Case of Developing Countries

The Application of e-health solutions has brought superb advancements in the health care industry. E-health solutions have already been embraced in the industrialized countries. In an effort to catch up with the growth, the developing countries have strived to revolutionize the healthcare industry by use of Information technology in different ways. Based on a technology assessment carried out in Kenya – one of the developing countries – and using multiple case studies in Nyanza Province, this work focuses on an investigation on how five rural hospitals are adapting to the technology shift. The issues examined include the ICT infrastructure and e-health technologies in place, the knowledge of participants in terms of benefits gained through the use of ICT and the challenges posing barriers to the use of ICT technologies in these hospitals. The results reveal that the ICT infrastructure in place is inadequate for e-health implementations as a result to various challenges that exist. Consequently, suggestions on how to tackle the various challenges have been addressed in this paper. Keywords—Challenges, e-health, healthcare, information communication technology, rural areas.
Visual landmarks detection and recognition for mobile robot navigation

This article describes visual functions dedicated to the extraction and recognition of planar quadrangles detected from a single camera. Extraction is based on a relaxation scheme with constraints between image segments, while the characterization we propose allows recognition to be achieved from different view-points and viewing conditions. We defined and evaluated several metrics on this representation space - a correlation-based one and another one based on sets of interest points.
An Overview of IP Flow-Based Intrusion Detection

Intrusion detection is an important area of research. Traditionally, the approach taken to find attacks is to inspect the contents of every packet. However, packet inspection cannot easily be performed at high-speeds. Therefore, researchers and operators started investigating alternative approaches, such as flow-based intrusion detection. In that approach the flow of data through the network is analyzed, instead of the contents of each individual packet. The goal of this paper is to provide a survey of current research in the area of flow-based intrusion detection. The survey starts with a motivation why flow-based intrusion detection is needed. The concept of flows is explained, and relevant standards are identified. The paper provides a classification of attacks and defense techniques and shows how flow-based techniques can be used to detect scans, worms, Botnets and (DoS) attacks.
Characterization of BGTG‐1, a tergal gland‐secreted alpha‐amylase, from the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.)

The protein fraction of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), tergal gland secretion was examined. SDS–PAGE separation of proteins present in B. germanica tergal gland secretion revealed a tergal gland‐secreted protein, BGTG‐1, at ≈ 63 kDa. BGTG‐1 first appeared in tergal gland secretion at 2 days postimaginal moult and the amount of protein observed increased through day 5. A 2051 bp cDNA sequence, bgtg‐1, was obtained by RACE polymerase chain reaction and contains a 1494 bp ORF encoding a predicted protein of 498 amino acids. In a Northern hybridization experiment using total RNA from B. germanica tergal gland tissue, a 32P‐labelled bgtg‐1 probe hybridized to an RNA ≈ 2000 bp and confirmed the 2051 bp cDNA size obtained by RACE PCR. Using the BLASTx sequence similarity search tool, the top match to the bgtg‐1 ORF was found to be an α‐amylase from Drosophila kikkawai (e‐value = 1 × 10−178). Alignment of the bgtg‐1 deduced protein sequence with α‐amylases from fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, honey bee, Apis mellifera (L.) and yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor (L.), revealed conserved residues throughout the ORF and sequence identities ranging from 58.4 to 58.2%. Using a gel‐based assay, degradation of starch by native BGTG‐1 was demonstrated in vitro and we propose that BGTG‐1 may be involved in processing phagostimulatory sugars present in B. germanica tergal gland secretion.
A single origin of extreme matrotrophy in African mabuyine skinks

Most mammals and approximately 20% of squamates (lizards and snakes) are viviparous, whereas all crocodilians, birds and turtles are oviparous. Viviparity evolved greater than 100 times in squamates, including multiple times in Mabuyinae (Reptilia: Scincidae), making this group ideal for studying the evolution of nutritional patterns associated with viviparity. Previous studies suggest that extreme matrotrophy, the support of virtually all of embryonic development by maternal nutrients, evolved as many as three times in Mabuyinae: in Neotropical Mabuyinae (63 species), Eumecia (2 species; Africa) and Trachylepis ivensii (Africa). However, no explicit phylogenetic hypotheses exist for understanding the evolution of extreme matrotrophy. Using multilocus DNA data, we inferred a species tree for Mabuyinae that implies that T. ivensii (here assigned to the resurrected genus Lubuya) is sister to Eumecia, suggesting that extreme matrotrophy evolved only once in African mabuyine skinks.
A Simulation Model for the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol: Delay/Throughput Evaluation of the GTS Mechanism

The IEEE 802.15. 4 protocol has the ability to support time-sensitive wireless sensor network (WSN) applications due to the guaranteed time slot (GTS) medium access control mechanism. Recently, several analytical and simulation models of the IEEE 802.15. 4 protocol have been proposed. Nevertheless, currently available simulation models for this protocol are both inaccurate and incomplete, and in particular they do not support the GTS mechanism. In this paper, we propose an accurate OPNET simulation model, with focus on the implementation of the GTS mechanism. The motivation that has driven this work is the validation of the network calculus based analytical model of the GTS mechanism that has been previously proposed and to compare the performance evaluation of the protocol as given by the two alternative approaches. Therefore, in this paper we contribute an accurate OPNET model for the IEEE 802.15. 4 protocol. Additionally, and probably more importantly, based on the simulation model we propose a novel methodology to tune the protocol parameters such that a better performance of the protocol can be guaranteed, both concerning maximizing the throughput of the allocated GTS as well as concerning minimizing frame delay.
A procedure-based heuristic for 0-1 Multiple Knapsack Problems

In this paper, we present a heuristic which derives a feasible solution for the Multiple Knapsack Problem (MKP). The proposed heuristic called RCH, is a recursive method that performs computation on the core of knapsacks. The RCH heuristic is compared with the MTHM heuristic of Martello and Toth. Computational results on randomly generated instances show that the proposed approach gives better gap and smaller restitution times.
Load optimization of an inductive power link for remote powering of biomedical implants

This article presents the analysis of the power efficiency of the inductive links used for remote powering of the biomedical implants by considering the effect of the load resistance on the efficiency. The optimum load condition for the inductive links is calculated from the analysis and the coils are optimized accordingly. A remote powering link topology with a matching network between the inductive link and the rectifier has been proposed to operate the inductive link near its optimum load condition to improve overall efficiency. Simulation and measurement results are presented and compared for different configurations. It is shown that, the overall efficiency of the remote powering link can be increased from 9.84% to 20.85% for 6 mW and from 13.16% to 18.85% for 10 mW power delivered to the regulator, respectively.