Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cryoablation Versus Radiofrequency Ablation for Hepatic Malignancies

AbstractThe aim of this study is to summarize and quantify the current evidence on the therapeutic efficacy of cryoablation compared with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in patients with hepatic malignancies in a meta-analysis.Data were collected by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases for reports published up to May 26, 2015. Studies that reported data on comparisons of therapeutic efficacy of cryoablation and RFA were included. The random effects model was used to estimate the pooled relative risks of events comparing cryoablation to RFA for therapy of hepatic malignancies.Seven articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in mortality of at least 6 months (odds ratio [OR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68–1.49) and local tumor progression according to both patients (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 0.57–4.74) and tumors (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 0.74–4.38) between cryoablation group and RFA group. However, the risk of complications was significantly higher in the cryoablation group than that in the RFA group (OR = 2.93, 95% CI: 1.15–7.46). When considering the specific complications, only thrombocytopenia (OR = 51.13, 95% CI: 2.92–894.21) and renal impairment (OR = 4.19, 95% CI: 1.34–13.11) but not other complications were significantly higher in the cryoablation group.In conclusion, the 2 methods had almost equal mortality and nonsignificant difference in local tumor progression, with higher risk of complications in cryoablation. Further large-scale, well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to identify the current findings and investigate the long-term effects of cryoablation compared with RFA for therapy of hepatic malignancies.
Low SAMHD1 expression following T-cell activation and proliferation renders CD4+ T cells susceptible to HIV-1

Objectives:HIV-1 replication depends on the state of cell activation and division. It is established that SAMHD1 restricts HIV-1 infection of resting CD4+ T cells. The modulation of SAMHD1 expression during T-cell activation and proliferation, however, remains unclear, as well as a role for SAMHD1 during HIV-1 pathogenesis. Methods:SAMHD1 expression was assessed in CD4+ T cells after their activation and in-vitro HIV-1 infection. We performed phenotype analyzes using flow cytometry on CD4+ T cells from peripheral blood and lymph nodes from cohorts of HIV-1-infected individuals under antiretroviral treatment or not, and controls. Results:We show that SAMHD1 expression decreased during CD4+ T-cell proliferation in association with an increased susceptibility to in-vitro HIV-1 infection. Additionally, circulating memory CD4+ T cells are enriched in cells with low levels of SAMHD1. These SAMHD1low cells are highly differentiated, exhibit a large proportion of Ki67+ cycling cells and are enriched in T-helper 17 cells. Importantly, memory SAMHD1low cells were depleted from peripheral blood of HIV-infected individuals. We also found that follicular helper T cells present in secondary lymphoid organs lacked the expression of SAMHD1, which was accompanied by a higher susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in vitro. Conclusion:We demonstrate that SAMHD1 expression is decreased during CD4+ T-cell activation and proliferation. Also, CD4+ T-cell subsets known to be more susceptible to HIV-1 infection, for example, T-helper 17 and follicular helper T cells, display lower levels of SAMHD1. These results pin point a role for SAMHD1 expression in HIV-1 infection and the concomitant depletion of CD4+ T cells.
"Exhaustion" Physics in the Periodic Anderson Model from Iterated Perturbation Theory

We discuss the "exhaustion" problem in the context of the pe rio dic Anderson model using iterated perturbation theory (IPT) within the dynamical mean-field theory. We find that, despite its limitations, IPT captures the exhaustion physics, which manifests itself as a dramatic, strongly energy-dependent, suppression of the effective hybridization of the self-consistent Anderson impurity problem. As a consequence, low-energy scales in the lattice case are strongly suppressed compared to the "Kondo scale" in the single impurity picture. The IPT results are in qualitative agreement with recent Quantum Monte Carlo results for the same problem.
Novel Adiponectin Variants Identified in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Reveal Multimerization and Secretion Defects

ADIPOQ, encoding adiponectin, is a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes (T2D) identified by genome-wide linkage analyses with supporting evidence showing the protein function in sensitizing insulin actions. In an endeavor to characterize candidate genes causing T2D in Thai patients, we identified 10 novel ADIPOQ variations, several of which were non-synonymous variations observed only in the patients. To examine the impact of these non-synonymous variations on adiponectin structure and biochemical characteristics, we conducted a structural analysis of the wild-type and variant proteins by in silico modeling and further characterized biochemical properties of the variants with predicted structural abnormalities from the modeling by molecular and biochemical studies. The recombinant plasmids containing wild-type and variant ADIPOQ cDNAs derived from the variations identified by our study (R55H, R112H, and R131H) and previous work (G90S and R112C) were constructed and transiently expressed and co-expressed in cultured HEK293T cells to investigate their oligomerization, interaction, and secretion. We found that the novel R55H variant impaired protein multimerization but it did not exert the effect over the co-expressed wild-type protein while novel R131H variant impaired protein secretion and also affected the co-expressed wild-type protein in a dominant negative fashion. The R131H variant could traffic from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, trans-Golgi network, and early endosome but could not be secreted. The R131H variant was likely to be degraded through the lysosomal system and inhibition of its degradation rescued the variant protein from secretion defect. We have shown the possibility of using in silico modeling for predicting the effect of amino acid substitution on adiponectin oligomerization. This is also the first report that demonstrates a dominant negative effect of the R131H variant on protein secretion and the possibility of using protein degradation inhibitors as therapeutic agents in the patients carrying adiponectin variants with secretion defect.
Structural analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5. IX. Sequence features of the regions of 1,011,550 bp covered by seventeen P1 and TAC clones.

In this series of projects sequencing the entire genome of Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5, non-redundant P1 and TAC clones have been sequenced according to the fine physical map, and as of May 7, 1999, the sequences of 16.2 Mb representing approximately 60% of chromosome 5 have been accumulated and released at our web site. In parallel, structural features of the sequenced regions have been analyzed by applying a variety of computer programs, and to date we have predicted a total of 2380 potential protein-coding genes in the 10,154,580 bp regions, which are covered by 142 P1 and TAC clones. In this paper, we newly analyzed the structural features of the 1,011,550 bp regions covered by additional 17 P1 and TAC clones, and predicted 298 protein-coding genes. The average density of the genes identified was 1 gene per 3394 bp. Introns were observed in 67% of the genes, and the average number per gene and the average length of the introns were 3.2 and 159 bp, respectively. The gene density became higher than the value estimated in the previously analyzed regions (1 gene per 4,267 bp), as the data in this paper were compiled based on a new standard of gene assignment including the computer-predicted hypothetical genes. The regions also contained 8 tRNA genes when searched by similarity to reported tRNA genes and the tRNA scan-SE program. The sequence data and information on the potential genes are available on the database KAOS (Kazusa Arabidopsis data Opening Site) at http://www.kazusa. or.jp/arabi/.
Seasonality, water quality trends and biological responses in four streams in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland

Abstract. The chemical composition and invertebrate communities found in four streams in the Cairngorms, Scotland, were monitored between 1985-1997. Stream waters were mildly acidic (mean pH ca. 6.5), with low alkalinity (mean acid neutralising capacity varying from 35-117 meq l-1) and low ionic strength. Subtle differences in the chemistry of each stream were reflected in their invertebrate faunas. Strong seasonality in water chemistry occurred, with the most acid, low alkalinity waters observed during the winter and early spring. This was particularly marked during snowmelt between January and April. In contrast, summer flows were usually groundwater dominated and characterised by higher alkalinity and higher concentrations of most other weathering-derived solutes. Seasonality was also clear in the invertebrate data, with Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) separating seasonal samples along axes related to water temperature and discharge characteristics. Inter-annual hydrological and chemical differences were marked, particularly with respect to the winter period. Invertebrate communities found in each of the streams also varied from year to year, with spring communities significantly more variable (P Hydrochemical trends over the study period were analysed using a seasonal Kendall test, LOcally WEighted Scatterplot Smoothing (LOWESS) and graphical techniques. These indicated that a reduction in sulphate concentrations in stream water is occurring, consistent with declining levels of atmospheric deposition. This may be matched by increases in pH and declining calcium concentrations, though available evidence is inconclusive. Other parameters, such as chloride, total organic carbon and zinc, reveal somewhat random patterns, probably reflecting irregular variations in climatic factors and/or atmospheric deposition. Previous studies have shown that the stream invertebrate communities have remained stable over this period (i.e. no significant linear trends) and show no evidence of acid-related impoverishment. Thus, over longer timescales invertebrates in these streams appear robust to the short-term (seasonal and inter-annual) environmental variability and long-term (decadal) chemical changes identified. Keywords: hydrochemistry, hydrology, trends, macroinvertebrates, uplands, Cairngorms, acidification
Earnings Losses and Labor Mobility Over the Lifecycle

Large and persistent earnings losses following displacement have adverse consequences for the individual worker and the macroeconomy. Leading models cannot explain their size and disagree on their sources. Two mean-reverting forces make earnings losses transitory in these models: search as an upward force allows workers to climb back up the job ladder, and separations as a downward force make nondisplaced workers fall down the job ladder. We show that job stability at the top rather than search frictions at the bottom is the main driver of persistent earnings losses. We provide new empirical evidence on heterogeneity in job stability and develop a life-cycle search model to explain the facts. Our model offers a quantitative reconciliation of key stylized facts about the U.S. labor market: large worker flows, a large share of stable jobs, and persistent earnings shocks. We explain the size of earnings losses by dampening the downward force. Our new explanation highlights the tight link between labor market mobility and earnings dynamics. Regarding the sources, we find that over 85% stem from the loss of a particularly good job at the top of the job ladder. We apply the model to study the effectiveness of two labor market policies, retraining and placement support, from the Dislocated Worker Program. We find that both are ineffective in reducing earnings losses in line with the program evaluation literature.
The Political Impact of Displacement: Wartime IDPs, Religiosity, and Post-War Politics in Bosnia

Abstract Following armed conflict, why do some members of ethno-religious groups vote for political parties that use religious appeals while others do not? I argue that internal displacement shapes the relationship between conflict and post-war political outcomes. Specifically, individuals who become internally displaced during armed conflict will use their religious faith to cope with the trauma of displacement, thereby strengthening their religiosity. This heightened religiosity then leads them to prefer religiously oriented parties after conflict. Analyzing survey data from Bosnian Muslims, I show that internally displaced respondents were more likely to vote for the religious nationalist Party of Democratic Action nearly a decade after conflict. Employing matching analysis, I then verify that these internally displaced persons became more religious than other respondents compared to before the war. My findings therefore provide evidence that trauma and religiosity combine to shape post-war voting behavior for members of ethno-religious groups.
An improved classifier based on nearest feature line

An improved classifier based on nearest feature line, is proposed in this paper. The new classifier is called as limited nearest feature line (LNFL). The purpose of LNFL is to improve the miss-classification of nearest feature line when the prototypes in NFL are far away from the query sample. A lot of experiments are executed on ORL and AR face database. And the detailed comparison result is given to show that LNFL is better than nearest feature line and nearest neighbor.
JEcoSys - a framework for interactive plants simulation

This paper introduces JEcoSys, an extensible framework developed in Java to generate interactive simulations of plants. JEcoSys uses a simple physical model of plants, based on dynamic constraints, and pre-computations to achieve realism and efficiency during animation. The framework also includes a force field based technique to model the interaction of plants with different agents, that can simulate natural phenomena such as wind and rain. Experimental results show that JEcosys is able to simulate complex scenes containing hundreds of tufts of grass and flowers in real-time.
Integrated surveying techniques in cultural heritage documentation

This paper is focused on integration between laser scanning data, CAD modelling and photogrammetric data collected during the survey of one facade of the monument called “Quattro Canti” in the historic centre of Palermo. The investigation has been directed to the production of a 3D photorealistic model of the monument. The “Quattro Canti” monument is formed by four cylindrical facades facing the square where the older streets of Palermo intersect; each facade has a symbolic reference to one of the seasons and is divided in four levels. The facade called “Canto dell’Autunno” has been surveyed both with laser scanning and with photogrammetric techniques. Laser scanning data have been collected in a single scan with a resolution of about 7 mm; stereoscopical photos have been taken with a film camera Rollei 6006; all data have been referred to a topographic reference system. The investigation has been restricted to the third level of the “Canto dell’Autunno” facade. The surface model has been built from laser scanning data with an automatic triangulation process; the inconsistent parts have been substituted using CAD models and points extracted via photogrammetric image matching. Photogrammetric processes have been used also to produce a 3D orthophoto. In order to produce a 3D photorealistic model of the investigated area, photogrammetric texture mapping has been performed with a commercial software.
Automated Forensic Method for Copy-Move Forgery Detection based on Harris Interest Points and SIFT Descriptors

We are undoubtedly living in an age where we are exposed to a remarkable array of visual imagery. Nowadays, accepting digital images of official documents is common practice. Image authenticity is important in many social areas. For instance, the trustworthiness of photographs has an essential role in courtrooms, where they are used as evidence. In the medical field,
Automatic phonetic segmentation by using a SPM-based approach for a Mandarin singing voice corpus

This paper proposes a score predictive model (SPM) based approach to integrate two segmentation results obtained by HMM and DTW for a Mandarin singing voice corpus. The SPM can predict the score of a boundary according to its corresponding 14 dimensional feature vector. In order to verify the performance of the proposed method, several experiments were performed. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Index Terms: automatic phonetic segmentation, boundary refinement, score predictive model
Certificate based keying scheme for DTLS secured IoT

The IP-based Internet of Things (IoT) stands for the universal interconnection of smart objects and back end users with the help of IP protocols. Secure key management among the smart objects is an important aspect of IoT security. Due to the high levels of resource constraints of the devices in terms of memory, battery capacity and CPU power, and other network characteristics such as mobility, scalability, heterogeneity and limited bandwidth, the conventional security protocols cannot be directly deployed in IoT networks in their raw formats. We propose a lightweight DTLS-based keying mechanism for CoAP IoT smart objects which supports the scalability of the network and node mobility. In addition to the key establishment part the protocol also provides node authentication. The protocol consumes less device resources and minimum network bandwidth by incurring low message overhead. The smart objects can securely access the network and obtain certificates after an initial configuration irrespective of the manufacturer standards.
Cellubrevin and synaptobrevins: similar subcellular localization and biochemical properties in PC12 cells

There is strong evidence to indicate that proteins of the synaptobrevin family play a key role in exocytosis. Synaptobrevin 1 and 2 are expressed at high concentration in brain where they are localized on synaptic vesicles. Cellubrevin, a very similar protein, has a widespread tissue distribution and in fibroblasts is localized on endosome-derived, transferin receptor-positive vesicles. Since brain cellubrevin is not detectable in synaptic vesicles, we investigated whether cellubrevin and the synaptobrevins are differentially targeted when co-expressed in the same cell. We report that in the nervous system cellubrevin is expressed at significant levels only by glia and vascular cells. However, cellubrevin is coexpressed with the two synaptobrevins in PC12 cells, a neuroendocrine cell line which contains synaptic vesicle-like microvesicles. In PC12 cells, cellubrevin has a distribution very similar to that of synaptobrevin 1 and 2. The three proteins are targeted to neurites which exclude the transferrin receptor and are enriched in synaptic-like microvesicles and dense-core granules. They are recovered in the synaptic-like microvesicle peak of glycerol velocity gradients, have a similar distribution in isopycnic fractionation and are coprecipitated by anti-synaptobrevin 2 immunobeads. Finally, cellubrevin, like the synaptobrevins, interact with the neuronal t-SNAREs syntaxin 1 and SNAP-25. These results suggest that cellubrevin and the synaptobrevins have similar function and do not play a specialized role in constitutive and regulated exocytosis, respectively.
Towards real-time processing for application identification of encrypted traffic

Application identification in the middle is one of key challenges for network operators to manage application based traffic and policy controls in the Internet. However, it is becoming harder according to the increase of end-to-end encrypted traffic in which we hardly read application specific information from packets. We previously proposed a method to identify the application of traffic whenever the traffic is encrypted or not. Our method gives a significant accuracy of identification of encrypted traffic as high as the case when traffic is not encrypted, however, it requires an offline processing to obtain statistics of the whole of flows. A real-time identification is important, but the accuracy is a problem due to unstable information of flow statistics. In this paper we therefore propose an approach to improve the accuracy of identification when we identify the encrypted traffic in real-time. We first clarify the sufficient number of packets required for accurate identification, and then the method to infer the statistics to improve the accuracy even when the obtained number of packets is smaller than the one required. Experimental results have shown that the proposed approach achieves the high accuracy almost the same as in offline method.
Computational Epigenetics: the new scientific paradigm

Epigenetics has recently emerged as a critical field for studying how non-gene factors can influence the traits and functions of an organism. At the core of this new wave of research is the use of computational tools that play critical roles not only in directing the selection of key experiments, but also in formulating new testable hypotheses through detailed analysis of complex genomic information that is not achievable using traditional approaches alone. Epigenomics, which combines traditional genomics with computer science, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry and proteomics for the large-scale analysis of heritable changes in phenotype, gene function or gene expression that are not dependent on gene sequence, offers new opportunities to further our understanding of transcriptional regulation, nuclear organization, development and disease. This article examines existing computational strategies for the study of epigenetic factors. The most important databases and bioinformatic tools in this rapidly growing field have been reviewed.
Femto-photography

We present femto-photography, a novel imaging technique to capture and visualize the propagation of light. With an effective exposure time of 1.85 picoseconds (ps) per frame, we reconstruct movies of ultrafast events at an equivalent resolution of about one half trillion frames per second. Because cameras with this shutter speed do not exist, we re-purpose modern imaging hardware to record an ensemble average of repeatable events that are synchronized to a streak sensor, in which the time of arrival of light from the scene is coded in one of the sensor's spatial dimensions. We introduce reconstruction methods that allow us to visualize the propagation of femtosecond light pulses through macroscopic scenes; at such fast resolution, we must consider the notion of time-unwarping between the camera's and the world's space-time coordinate systems to take into account effects associated with the finite speed of light. We apply our femto-photography technique to visualizations of very different scenes, which allow us to observe the rich dynamics of time-resolved light transport effects, including scattering, specular reflections, diffuse interreflections, diffraction, caustics, and subsurface scattering. Our work has potential applications in artistic, educational, and scientific visualizations; industrial imaging to analyze material properties; and medical imaging to reconstruct subsurface elements. In addition, our time-resolved technique may motivate new forms of computational photography.