Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vaccine farming in Cape Town

The review details the development of the Subunit Vaccine Group at the University of Cape Town, from its beginnings as a plant virology laboratory in the 1980s. The investigation and development of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Human immunodeficiency vaccine candidates are covered in detail, with an emphasis on how this work allowed the evolution of a systematic approach to the optimisation of expression of these and other proteins especially in plants, but also in insect cell culture. We discuss various insights gained during our work, such as approaches to codon optimisation, use of different vector systems and plant hosts, intracellular targetting and gene modification. The future prospects for both our work and for the field of plant-made vaccines in general, are discussed.
Colorectal cancer screening and surveillance practices by primary care physicians: results of a national survey

OBJECTIVE:Screening for colorectal cancer reduces its morbidity and mortality and is cost-effective. Screening is usually the responsibility of primary care physicians who may be unsure about its implementation. We aimed to assess primary care physicians’ knowledge and practice regarding colorectal cancer screening, and to compare their responses with those of three national experts and with published guidelines.METHODS:We mailed a postal questionnaire to 2310 primary care physicians regarding demographics, nature of practice, use of screening tests, and six hypothetical patients who may have been candidates for screening or surveillance. We used published national guidelines and the collective opinions of the three external experts as the so-called “gold standard. ”RESULTS:Of all respondents, 85.1% offered colorectal cancer screening. Most used suitable tests, starting at an appropriate age; 49.8% continued screening indefinitely irrespective of patients’ age and 43.6% performed fecal occult blood testing without appropriate dietary advice to patients. Also, respondents frequently performed this test for inappropriate indications. Only 51.8% would follow a positive fecal occult blood test with colonoscopy.CONCLUSIONS:Colorectal cancer screening practices by primary care physicians vary considerably from those recommended. Many offer screening to individuals in whom it is not appropriate, and continue it into advanced age. Frequent, inappropriate use of fecal occult blood tests will produce many false positives. Primary care physicians often do not appropriately follow a positive test. Further educational efforts are needed in an attempt to improve practice and further reduce the morbidity and mortality from colorectal cancer.
[Cancer immunotherapy: recent breakthroughs and perspectives].

Immunotherapy of cancer has long been considered as an attractive therapeutic approach but with no impact on clinical practice. Two clinical protocols of immunotherapy, one based on a cancer vaccine in patients with prostate cancer or melanoma and the other using an immunomodulator targeting T cells (anti-CTLA4 mAb) in melanoma patients, have demonstrated clinical efficacy in two phase III clinical trials. To improve these encouraging clinical results, biomarkers to better select patients which may benefit from this therapy are actively searched. In addition, immunosuppression associated with cancer has to be overcome to allow a better immunostimulation. In contrast to chemotherapy, clinical variables to monitor the efficacy of immunotherapy has to be revisited and overall survival appears to be a better endpoint than clinical response defined by the RECIST criteria. Combination of immunotherapy with conventional treatments (chemotherapy, anti-angiogenic, etc.) should further improve this approach both in its effectiveness and in its clinical indications.
Effects of Brewer’s Yeast Cell Wall on Constipation and Defecation in Experimentally Constipated Rats

Brewer’s yeast cell wall (BYC) was tested on constipated male Sprague-Dawley rats that had been induced by loperamide (2 mg/kg of body weight). The preventive effect of BYC on constipation was examined and compared with that of a non-fiber diet (NF) as the control. The dose-response of BYC and the effect on defecation by constipated experimental rats were also compared with the characteristics of cellulose diet (CE) group which served as a control. Defecation was observed to be greater by the rats fed with BYC than by those fed with NF or CE. The fecal water content and level of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the cecal contents were likewise higher in the rats fed with BYC. These results indicate that the administration of BYC was effective for improving defecation and other parameters related to defecation. These favorable effects of BYC supplemented to the diet are attributed to the fermentation ability, water holding capacity and swelling force in the large intestine.
Cross-Gain Modulation in Bistable Quantum-Dot VCSOAs

The peculiarities of cross-gain modulation (XGM) in optically bistable quantum-dot vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD-VCSOA) are theoretically studied. We find that the optical hysteresis can be controlled by XGM which for example can be utilized in resting an all-optical flip-flops using single QD-VCSOA. Our analysis reveals that intrinsic high-speed XGM response up to 200 GHz can be obtained in QD-VCSOA.
Memory exclusion: optimizing the performance of checkpointing systems

Checkpointing systems are a convenient way for users to make their programs fault‐tolerant by intermittently saving program state to disk and restoring that state following a failure. The main concern with checkpointing is the overhead that it adds to running time of the program. This paper describes memory exclusion, an important class of optimizations that reduce the overhead of checkpointing. Some forms of memory exclusion are well‐known in the checkpointing community. Others are relatively new. In this paper, we describe all of them within the same framework. We have implemented these optimization techniques in two checkpointers: libckpt, which works on Unix‐based workstations, and CLIP, which works on the Intel Paragon. Both checkpointers are publicly available at no cost. We have checkpointed various long‐running applications with both checkpointers and have explored the performance improvements that may be gained through memory exclusion. Results from these experiments are presented and show the improvements in time and space overhead. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Are models and respondents talking the same language: evidence from stated and inferred discontinuous preferences in a choice experiment valuing Public Goods?

In the choice experiment framework, it is assumed that respondents consider all the attributes when making their choices. However, there is evidence that respondents may not consider all the attributes. This study has proved that in our Choice Experiment survey evaluating public goods, there is significant correlation between the stated preferences declared in a continuous scale by the respondents and the parameter estimates inferred from the models. The correlation has been tested for the coefficient of variation estimated in a Random Parameter Logit and the probability of ignoring derived from a 2K latent class model.
Determining optical flow from sequential images

An exact method determining the optical flow is presented by means of pixel-based mutual-correlation analysis of dynamic images. The mutual-correlation function is calculated between the temporal brightness change of the target pixel and that of its neighboring 16 (or 8) pixels. The local velocity of the target pixel is determined exactly through logical considerations using a reliable lag time estimated by the quadratic interpolation technique. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by computer simulation of various dynamic images.
Effects of a negative pressure venom extraction device (Extractor) on local tissue injury after artificial rattlesnake envenomation in a porcine model

Objectives To determine if a commercially available negative-pressure venom extraction device (Extractor) reduces local tissue injury after artificial rattlesnake envenomation in a porcine model. Methods We prospectively studied 10 pigs using a crossover design. After the pigs were anesthetized, 25 mg Crotalus atrox venom was injected obliquely with a 22-gauge needle 7 mm deep into subcutaneous tissues proximal to the ventral hind hoof. Pigs were randomized to receive either the Extractor (applied 3 minutes following envenomation and left in place for 30 minutes) or no Extractor. The protocol was repeated 14 days later by using the alternate treatment group and opposite hind leg for each animal. We measured leg circumference at standardized locations on the hoof, foreleg, and thigh at baseline and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours following venom injection. Maximal changes in circumference at 6 hours were compared using the paired t test. Minimum residual swelling at up to 96 hours was similarly compared. Results Maximal 6-hour swelling was similar with and without the Extractor: the hoof difference with the Extractor was –0.1% (95% CI = –3.4% to 3.2%, P = .95), foreleg difference was 0.3% (95% CI = –4.1% to 4.7%, P = .88), and thigh difference was –2.8% (95% CI = –10.0% to 4.4%, P = .40). Minimum residual swelling at up to 96 hours was also similar with and without the Extractor: hoof difference with the Extractor was 1.2% (95% CI = –5.6% to 8.0%, P = .70), foreleg difference was 0.6% (95% CI = –3.7% to 4.9%, P = .76), and thigh difference was 0.3% (95% CI = –2.4% to 3.0%, P = .81). A circular lesion identical in size and shape to the Extractor suction cup, which later necrosed and resulted in tissue loss, developed where the device had been applied in 2 animals. No such lesions occurred in legs not treated with the Extractor. Conclusion No benefit was demonstrated from Extractor use for artificial rattlesnake envenomation in our animal study. The skin necrosis noted in 2 Extractor-treated extremities suggests that an injury pattern may be associated with the device.
The accurate classification approaches for remote sensing image based on GIS and RS

This study selected aquatic vegetation in BaiYangDian Wetland Nature Reserve in Hebei Province. Measuring the spectral reflectance of typical aquatic vegetation included stonewort, reed, lotus and typha, involved high-resolution GeoEye-1(GE) remote sensing image, based on spectral reflectance of different species simulating bands of GE, calculated the simulated bands, educed better bands or band combinations for distinction species; used object-oriented classification method to extract vegetation information in GE image. The spectrum analysis results show that, band 2 to band 4 (BD2/4) is the best combination model of spectra extracted for lotus. BD1/4 is best for stonewort, and there are high distinction at BD4/3 for reed and typha. Classification accuracy of test results show that, the overall accuracy of using the band combination to extract information arrived at 94.4%. This study can provide technical support for monitoring plant of the remote sensing interpretation and vegetation dynamic distribution.
A multi-user access scheme for throughput enhancement in UDN with NOMA

Ultra Dense network (UDN) is considered as one of the promising and efficient communication solution for high throughput and large connection numbers scenarios. Due to the densification of the users perspective and massive-access opportunities, how to optimize the multiple users access in UDN is an important and complicated problem. The traditional multi-user access schemes may be no longer suitable. Thus, in this paper, we investigate the multi-user access issue with densely-deployed access points (APs) in UDN. Moreover, to further enhance the system throughput and meet the high rate demands of users, the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is introduced into UDN. Considering the network densification and newly incorporated technological features, we formulate the multi-user access and corresponding resource allocation problem as an optimization problem to enhance the system throughput. To solve it with low-computation complexity, this complex problem is divided into two sub phases, APs association and resource allocation. First, we propose a matching algorithm to assign proper APs and resource blocks (RBs) to the multiple users. According to the channel state information and data rate requirement, a stable matching among the sets of APs, users and RBs is formed after a limited number of iterations. Then, we allocate the transmit power for associated APs based on NOMA by utilizing the differ convex (DC) programming. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme achieves a better performance compared with exiting schemes.
Exploratory Study on Plasma Immunomodulator and Antibody Profiles in Tuberculosis Patients

ABSTRACT Host immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis are generally able to contain infection and maintain a delicate balance between protection and immunopathology. A shift in this balance appears to underlie active disease observed in about 10% of infected individuals. Effects of local inflammation, combined with anti-M. tuberculosis systemic immune responses, are directly detectable in peripheral circulation, without ex vivo stimulation of blood cells or biopsy of the affected organs. We studied plasma immunomodulator and antibody biomarkers in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) by a combination of multiplex microbead immunoassays and computational tools for data analysis. Plasma profiles of 10 immunomodulators and antibodies against eight M. tuberculosis antigens (previously reported by us) were examined in active pulmonary TB patients in a country where TB is endemic, Pakistan. Multiplex analyses were performed on samples from apparently healthy individuals without active TB from the same community as the TB patients to establish the assay baselines for all analytes. Over 3,000 data points were collected from patients (n = 135) and controls (n = 37). The data were analyzed by multivariate and computer-assisted cluster analyses to reveal patterns of plasma immunomodulators and antibodies. This study shows plasma profiles that in most patients represented either strong antibody or strong immunomodulator biomarkers. Profiling of a combination of both immunomodulators and antibodies described here may be valuable for the analysis of host immune responses in active TB in countries where the disease is endemic.
Hybrid A∗ Based Motion Planning for Autonomous Vehicles in Unstructured Environment

Autonomous vehicles require a collision-free and comfortable motion trajectory at every time instant. It is a common method to generate a feasible path to the target state and append an optimization-based method for path postprocessing. In this paper a Hybrid A∗ based motion planning algorithm is presented for autonomous vehicles under unstructured circumstances. Firstly, the Hybrid A∗ algorithm is improved with a better heuristic function and a better search policy to realize a less-time consuming graph search in consideration of vehicle's motion model. Then, nonlinear optimization algorithm is applied to optimize the generated path further and realizes high quality of security and smoothness of the discrete trajectory. Finally, Catmull-Rom interpolation is combined to make waypoints continuous and easy-to-control. Simulation results concerning different tasks are described to demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm.
User study on family communication in China

Family is a core element of society. The development of economics and the transformation of cultures in mainland China bring new challenges to family communications. To understand current practices and the needs of family communication in mainland China, we studied 27 rural and urban families with ethnographic methods. We summarized the main family structures for rural and urban families and also found three main family communication problems: emotional communication, the education of children and elder support. These three problems exist in both rural and urban areas, but in different forms. Two concepts, an emotional poster in village and a learning community based on family/village clan, were designed and presented to address the problems.
Compact Triple-Band Power Divider Integrated Bandpass-Filtering Response Using Short-Circuited SIRs

Based on short-circuited stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs), a triple-band power divider (PD) with bandpass-filtering response is presented. The triple-passband filtering response is achieved for the presented PD. The first and third passbands are realized by the short-circuited SIRs, while the second passband is introduced and tuned by half-wavelength resonators independently. The triple-passband response of the presented PD has been designed by using the coupling matrix synthesis. Moreover, the desired resonant frequencies of the three passbands can be obtained by tuning the impedance ratio and electric lengths of the high-impedance and the low-impedance transmission lines. The performance of the PD is verified by the simulation and measurement results.
The physiological and morphological characteristics of interneurons caudal to the trigeminal motor nucleus in rats

In this study we have characterized the membrane properties and morphology of interneurons which lie between the caudal pole of the trigeminal motor nucleus and the rostral border of the facial motor nucleus. Previous studies suggest that many of these interneurons may participate in the genesis of rhythmical jaw movements. Saggital brainstem slices were taken from rats aged 5–8 days. Interneurons lying caudal to the trigeminal motor nucleus were visualized using near‐infrared differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, and were recorded from using patch pipettes filled with a K‐gluconate‐ and biocytin‐based solution. The 127 neurons recorded could be categorized into three subtypes on the basis of their responses to injection of depolarizing current pulses, namely tonic firing (type I), burst firing (type II) and spike‐adaptive (type III) neurons. Type I interneurons had a higher input resistance and a lower rheobase than type II neurons. All three neuron subtypes showed ‘sag’ of the voltage response to injection of large‐amplitude hyperpolarizing current pulses, and, in addition, also showed rectification of the voltage response to injection of depolarizing current pulses, with type II neurons showing significantly greater rectification than type I neurons. The axonal arborizations were reconstructed for 44 of 63 neurons labelled with tracer. Neurons of each subtype were found to issue axon collaterals terminating in the brainstem nuclei, including the parvocellular reticular nucleus (PCRt), the trigeminal motor nucleus (Vmot), the supratrigeminal nucleus or the trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus. Twenty‐five of the 43 neurons issued collaterals which terminated in the Vmot and the other brainstem nuclei. When viewed under 100× magnification, the collaterals of some interneurons were seen to give off varicosities and end‐terminations which passed close to the somata of unidentified neurons in the trigeminal motor nucleus and in the area close to the interneuron soma itself. This suggests that the interneurons may make synaptic contacts both on motoneurons and also on nearby interneurons. These results provide data on the membrane properties of trigeminal interneurons and evidence for their synaptic connections both with nearby interneurons and also with motoneurons. Thus, the interneurons examined could play roles in the shaping, and possibly also in the generation, of rhythmical signals to trigeminal motoneurons.
Validation of the Tracmor triaxial accelerometer system for walking.

PURPOSE Walking is likely to contribute substantially to nonexercise activity thermogenesis. The Tracmor triaxial accelerometer system (Maastricht, The Netherlands) is the most widely validated system for detecting body movement in free-living subjects. The aim of this study was to validate the Tracmor triaxial accelerometer system for estimating the energy expenditure of walking. METHODS Experiments were conducted in healthy subjects. First, baseline variability for Tracmor output was determined for subjects standing still. Second, Tracmor output was compared for walking on a treadmill and on level ground. Third, both Tracmor output and energy expenditure were compared for walking on a treadmill and walking on level ground. Finally, the effect of gradient on Tracmor output and energy expenditure was compared for subjects walking on a treadmill. RESULTS The data demonstrated excellent reproducibility for comparing Tracmor output for standing (CV < 2%). There were excellent log-linear relationships between velocity and Tracmor output walking on a treadmill (r = 0.998) and on level ground (r = 0.999). Tracmor output and the energy expenditure of walking were inseparable for the two modalities of walking. However, the variance in response was such that to reliably derive the relationship between Tracmor output and energy expenditure, separate regression equations are needed for each subject. Finally, the Tracmor accelerometer did not detect the increased energy expenditure of walking that occurs as gradient increases. CONCLUSION The Tracmor triaxial accelerometer provides reproducible and reliable data on the body motion associated with walking regardless of whether a subject walks on a treadmill or level ground. Tracmor units can be used to predict the energetic cost of walking provided that separate regression equations are derived for each subject to convert Tracmor output to energy expenditure.
European Concerted Action on Anticoagulation. Evaluation of a method for International Sensitivity Index calibration of two point-of-care prothrombin time (PT) monitoring systems (CoaguChek Mini and TAS PT-NC) with fresh plasmas based on whole-blood equivalent PT.

BACKGROUND The International Sensitivity Index (ISI) calibration of whole-blood prothrombin time (PT) monitors for point-of-care testing (POCT) described by Tripodi et al. (Thromb Haemost 1993;70:921-4) has been shown to be dependable but is too complex and demanding. The use of plasma would simplify calibration of whole-blood POCT PT monitors, but important differences may exist between the ISI for whole blood and plasma calibrations. METHODS In a 10-center calibration study of two POCT whole-blood monitoring systems (CoaguChek Mini and TAS PT-NC), we characterized the relationship between the log PT for whole blood and fresh plasma with use of single lots of test strips/cards. This relationship (linear) was used to correct the difference between the whole-blood and plasma ISI. The reliability of the correction with different lots of test strips/cards was assessed at three centers. The linear relationship was used to correct the difference in the whole-blood and plasma ISI with four other lots of TAS PT-NC cards and with two additional lots of CoaguChek Mini test strips. RESULTS The correction decreased the ISI difference from 13.3% to 0.9% for the TAS PT-NC and from 5.7% to 0.6% for the CoaguChek Mini. In assessments at three centers, which included different lots of test strips/cards, the mean ISI difference was markedly decreased with the TAS PT-NC but not with the CoaguChek Mini, for which the mean ISI difference increased slightly. CONCLUSIONS The proposed correction resolves the discrepancy between whole-blood and fresh plasma ISI calibrations with TAS PT-NC test cards. The CoaguChek Mini systems could be calibrated without this correction.