Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction of protective immunity against lethal anthrax challenge with a patch.

BACKGROUND Transcutaneous immunization (TCI) is a needle-free technique that delivers antigens and adjuvants to potent epidermal immune cells. To address critical unmet needs in biodefense against anthrax, we have designed a novel vaccine delivery system using a dry adhesive patch that simplifies administration and improves tolerability of a subunit anthrax vaccine. METHODS Mice and rabbits were vaccinated with recombinant protective antigen of Bacillus anthracis and the heat-labile toxin of Escherichia coli. Serologic changes, levels of toxin-neutralizing antibodies (TNAs), and pulmonary and nodal responses were monitored in the mice. A lethal aerosolized B. anthracis challenge model was used in A/J mice, to demonstrate efficacy. RESULTS The level of systemic immunity and protection induced by TCI was comparable to that induced by intramuscular vaccination, and peak immunity could be achieved with only 2 doses. The addition of adjuvant in the patch induced superior TNA levels, compared with injected vaccination. CONCLUSIONS Anthrax vaccine patches stimulated robust and functional immune responses that protected against lethal challenge. Demonstration of responses in the lung suggests that a mechanism exists for protection against challenge with aerosolized anthrax spores. A formulated, pressure-sensitive, dry adhesive patch, which is stable and can be manufactured in large scale, elicited comparable immunoglobulin G and TNA responses, suggesting that an anthrax vaccine patch is feasible and should advance into clinical evaluation.
Efficient particle filtering for road-constrained target tracking

The variable-structure multiple model particle filtering approach for state estimation of road-constrained targets is addressed. The multiple models are designed to account for target maneuvers including "move-stop-move" and motion ambiguity at an intersection; the time-varying active model sets are adaptively selected based on target state and local terrain condition. The hybrid state space is partitioned into the mode subspace and the target subspace. The mode state is estimated based on random sampling; the target state as well as the relevant likelihood function associated with a mode sample sequence is approximated as Gaussian distribution, of which the conditional mean and covariance are deterministically computed using nonlinear Kalman filtering. The importance function for the sampling of the mode state approximates the optimal importance function under the same Gaussian assumption of the target state.
An HMRF-EM Algorithm for Partial Volume Segmentation of Brain MRI FMRIB Technical Report TR 01 YZ 1

The hidden Markov random field (HMRF) model, which represents a stochastic process generated by a Markov random field whose state sequence cannot be observed directly but which can be indirectly estimated through observations, has been successfully applied on segmenting piecewise constant images, especially for human brain MR images [Zhang et al., 2001]. In this paper, we extend this model, and its associated expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm from dealing only with discrete class labels to working with continuous vectors. In particular, the problem of partial volume effect classification of brain MR images is addressed. In our method, the underlying partial volume classification, as well as its interaction with the observed image intensities, is modelled as a spatially correlated hidden Markov random field, with parameters estimated through an EM algorithm. A deterministic annealing algorithm is then used to obtain the optimal solution; this method is shown to work both for multi-spectral data (where a unique solution exists) and for data with insufficient spectral channels (where only an ‘optimal’ solution can be obtained). Quantitative evaluations are presented to examine the accuracy and the repeatability of this algorithm.
About a new localized multi-criterion routing algorithm – a solution to assure quality of network

The requisition of telecom services for quality of network is more and more sophisticated, the required bandwidth, the value of delay time or packet loss . become more popular in providing new services. To assure the quality of network, the localized routing schemes have recently been researched as a promising alternative to the currently deployed global QoS routing schemes. Different from the traditional QoS routing algorithms which use global state information, the localized routing algorithms use local information collected from source node to make routing decisions. These localized routing algorithms can be a solution for satisfying the demand of telecom market in the near future. In this paper, we propose a new localized multi-criterion QoS routing algorithm which can help to assure quality of network, and show our simulations which are better in results against other routing algorithms.
Prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and risk behaviours in unregistered sex workers in Dakar, Senegal

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) among unregistered sex workers, and to describe their sociodemographic characteristics and sexual behaviours, and the reasons why they were not officially registered as sex workers, in order to design specific public health interventions. Methods: A one-stage cluster-sample survey was conducted in Dakar in 2000. Unregistered sex workers were interviewed in randomly selected establishments (official and clandestine bars, brothels and nightclubs), and blood, endocervical and vaginal samples were collected for laboratory diagnosis. Results: A total of 390 women with a median age of 29 years were recruited. One-seventh of them were under the legal age for prostitution in Senegal (21 years). The median length of prostitution was 24 months and 73.5% of the women stated regular prostitution. Three-quarters of the women were found to have markers for at least one infection. The prevalence rates were as follows: HIV-1, 6.0%; HIV-2, 3.6%; HIV-1+2, 0.4%; syphilis, 23.8%; gonorrhea, 22.0%; chlamydial infection, 20.0%; trichomoniasis, 22.4%; candidiasis, 19.0%; and bacterial vaginosis, 28.8%. The main reported reason for non-registration was ignorance of the legal system and its procedures (19.4%); 18.9% of the women refused to register. One-third of the women reported that their clients used condoms inconsistently or never. Conclusion: This survey suggests that a multidimensional public health response is needed in Senegal, comprising legal information, downwards revision of the legal age for prostitution, and specific medical follow-up based on education, condom promotion and management of STI for non-registered sex workers.
Learning Temporal Information for States and Events

Knowing the typical duration of events (for example, hurricanes last hour or days but not seconds or years) supports a variety of tasks in automated machine reading. Recently, methods to learn these durations for a limited class have been reported. However, events are associated with several other typical times, such as initiation points and preparation intervals. In this paper we define six temporally related aspects of events. We describe an automated method to learn events from the web and patterns that signal the typical temporal characteristics of the events. Finally, we show which patterns tend to signal which aspects. This diversity of event types, temporal aspects, and time characteristics has never yet been reported.
Immix: a mark-region garbage collector with space efficiency, fast collection, and mutator performance

Programmers are increasingly choosing managed languages for modern applications, which tend to allocate many short-to-medium lived small objects. The garbage collector therefore directly determines program performance by making a classic space-time tradeoff that seeks to provide space efficiency, fast reclamation, and mutator performance. The three canonical tracing garbage collectors: semi-space, mark-sweep, and mark-compact each sacrifice one objective. This paper describes a collector family, called mark-region, and introduces opportunistic defragmentation, which mixes copying and marking in a single pass. Combining both, we implement immix, a novel high performance garbage collector that achieves all three performance objectives. The key insight is to allocate and reclaim memory in contiguous regions, at a coarse block grain when possible and otherwise in groups of finer grain lines. We show that immix outperforms existing canonical algorithms, improving total application performance by 7 to 25% on average across 20 benchmarks. As the mature space in a generational collector, immix matches or beats a highly tuned generational collector, e.g. it improves jbb2000 by 5%. These innovations and the identification of a new family of collectors open new opportunities for garbage collector design.
Distributed Credential Chain Discovery in Trust Management

We introduce a simple Role-based Trust-management language RT0 and a set-theoretic semantics for it. We also introduce credential graphs as a searchable representation of credentials in RT0 and prove that reachability in credential graphs is sound and complete with respect to the semantics of RT0. Based on credential graphs, we give goal-directed algorithms to do credential chain discovery in RT0, both when credential storage is centralized and when credential storage is distributed. A goal-directed algorithm begins with an access-control query and searches for credentials relevant to the query, while avoiding considering the potentially very large number of credentials that are unrelated to the access-control decision at hand. This approach provides better expected-case performance than bottom-up algorithms. We show how our algorithms can be applied to SDSI 2.0 (the 'SDSI' part of SPKI/SDSI 2.0). Our goal-directed, distributed chain discovery algorithm finds and retrieves credentials as needed. We prove that the algorithm is correct by proving that the algorithm is sound and complete with respect to the credential graph composed of the credentials it retrieves, and that the algorithm retrieves all credentials that constitute a traversable chain. We further introduce a storage type system for RT0, which guarantees traversability of chains when credentials are well typed. This type system can also help improve search efficiency by guiding search in the right direction, making distributed chain discovery with large number of credentials feasible.
Origin of the Warpage of 3C-SiC Wafer: Effect of Nonuniform Intrinsic Stress

Technique of bulk-like 3C-SiC film (up to 300 µm) growth on undulant-Si substrate is known to be very effective to reduce stacking fault density as well as that of other planar defects. However, freestanding 3C-SiC wafer shows anisotropic warpage involving large convex curvature in the direction perpendicular to the ridge of undulation ([110] direction), and slight concave curvature in parallel direction ([-110] direction), i.e. saddle shape. In this paper the origin of the warpage of the 3C-SiC wafer is investigated. Ex-situ curvature measurements and stress calculation reveal that large compressive intrinsic stress is generated during high-temperature growth process (1623 K) in both parallel and perpendicular directions. In order to investigate the intrinsic stress distribution along the [001] direction, a reactive ion etching (RIE) is conducted for the 3C-SiC on Si substrate to observe the dependence of the SiC/Si system curvature as a function of 3C-SiC thickness. This observation shows that the intrinsic stress component perpendicular to the ridge of undulation presents nonuniform distribution in [001] direction. The remarkable change in the intrinsic stress is observed in the 50 µm-thick region from SiC/Si interface. A finite element method simulation using the obtained intrinsic stress distribution clearly explains that the anisotropic warpage of SiC wafer is induced by the intrinsic stress distribution in quantitative manner. Microstructure change induced by stacking fault reduction process (stacking fault collision) would be the cause of the intrinsic stress variation.
Dispersions of lamellar phases of non‐ionic lipids in cosmetic products

Although aqueous dispersions of lipids in the form of particles having a lamellar structure (liposomes) are already known as excellent vehicles for pharmaceutical substances, their usefulness in cosmetic formulations has not been demonstrated. The present work shows the advantages obtained by application of such systems to the skin, and in particular the use of non‐ionic lipids in aqueous dispersions.
Detection of looseness degree of dental posts using natural frequency analysis

This study examines the relationship between the retention force and natural frequency of dental posts cemented with zinc phosphate cement. Forty-two decoronated maxillary incisors were collected and embedded in resin blocks. The 7-mm post spaces were prepared for all test samples prior to cementing the 13-mm Para-Posts with zinc phosphate cement. The natural frequency values and retention forces of the zinc phosphate cement–cemented Para-Posts in various liquid/powder mixing ratios were measured. Thereafter, the natural frequency values of the zinc phosphate cement–cemented posts were continuously detected during ultrasonic vibration. Moreover, both the natural frequency values and the dislodgement forces in response to ultrasonic vibrations were measured for the pretreated post samples. Results showed that the natural frequency values of the posts significantly decreased from 8.8 ± 0.8 to 5.0 ± 0.5 kHz (P < 0.05) before and after ultrasound treatment, respectively. The natural frequency values and the dislodgement forces of tested posts had a highly linear relationship (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.05). These findings suggest that natural frequency is a variable for monitoring the stability status of zinc phosphate cement–cemented dental posts.
Instrumented Perforation Impact Response of Polypropylene Composites with Hybrid Reinforcement Flax/Glass and Flax/Cellulose Fibers

The transverse perforation impact behavior of flax mat-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites with additional discontinuous cellulose (LyocelliTM, L) and discontinuous glass (G) fiber mat was investigated at a constant reinforcement content (50 wt.%). The resistance to perforation impact of the PP/flax composite was strongly improved by the hybridization with L and G fibers. Enhanced resistance to perforation impact of the hybridized composites was also reflected in the Charpy impact strength values. This improvement was attributed to an enhanced strength, which affected the overall failure behavior as well. The failure mode was inspected in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and discussed.
A First Step Towards Leveraging Commodity Trusted Execution Environments for Network Applications

Network applications and protocols are increasingly adopting security and privacy features, as they are becoming one of the primary requirements. The wide-spread use of transport layer security (TLS) and the growing popularity of anonymity networks, such as Tor, exemplify this trend. Motivated by the recent movement towards commoditization of trusted execution environments (TEEs), this paper explores alternative design choices that application and protocol designers should consider. In particular, we explore the possibility of using Intel SGX to provide security and privacy in a wide range of network applications. We show that leveraging hardware protection of TEEs opens up new possibilities, often at the benefit of a much simplified application/protocol design. We demonstrate its practical implications by exploring the design space for SGX-enabled software-defined inter-domain routing, peer-to-peer anonymity networks (Tor), and middleboxes. Finally, we quantify the potential overheads of the SGX-enabled design by implementing it on top of OpenSGX, an open source SGX emulator.
Multi-Context TLS (mcTLS): Enabling Secure In-Network Functionality in TLS

A significant fraction of Internet traffic is now encrypted and HTTPS will likely be the default in HTTP/2. However, Transport Layer Security (TLS), the standard protocol for encryption in the Internet, assumes that all functionality resides at the endpoints, making it impossible to use in-network services that optimize network resource usage, improve user experience, and protect clients and servers from security threats. Re-introducing in-network functionality into TLS sessions today is done through hacks, often weakening overall security. In this paper we introduce multi-context TLS (mcTLS), which extends TLS to support middleboxes. mcTLS breaks the current "all-or-nothing" security model by allowing endpoints and content providers to explicitly introduce middleboxes in secure end-to-end sessions while controlling which parts of the data they can read or write. We evaluate a prototype mcTLS implementation in both controlled and "live" experiments, showing that its benefits come at the cost of minimal overhead. More importantly, we show that mcTLS can be incrementally deployed and requires only small changes to client, server, and middlebox software.
A cross-sectional examination of marketing of electronic cigarettes on Twitter

Background Rapid increases in marketing of e-cigarettes coincide with growth in e-cigarette use in recent years; however, little is known about how e-cigarettes are marketed on social media platforms. Methods Keywords were used to collect tweets related to e-cigarettes from the Twitter Firehose between 1 May 2012 and 30 June 2012. Tweets were coded for smoking cessation mentions, as well as health and safety mentions, and were classified as commercial or non-commercial (‘organic’) tweets using a combination of Naïve Bayes machine learning methods, keyword algorithms and human coding. Metadata associated with each tweet were used to examine the characteristics of accounts tweeting about e-cigarettes. Results 73 672 tweets related to e-cigarettes were captured in the study period, 90% of which were classified as commercial tweets. Accounts tweeting commercial e-cigarette content were associated with lower Klout scores, a measure of influence. Commercial tweeting was largely driven by a small group of highly active accounts, and 94% of commercial tweets included links to websites, many of which sell or promote e-cigarettes. Approximately 10% of commercial and organic tweets mentioned smoking cessation, and 34% of commercial tweets included mentions of prices or discounts for e-cigarettes. Conclusions Twitter appears to be an important marketing platform for e-cigarettes. Tweets related to e-cigarettes were overwhelmingly commercial, and a substantial proportion mentioned smoking cessation. E-cigarette marketing on Twitter may have public health implications. Continued surveillance of e-cigarette marketing on social media platforms is needed.
Control of oligodendroglial cell number by the miR-17-92 cluster

The generation of myelinating cells in the central nervous system requires the initiation of specific gene expression programs in oligodendrocytes. We reasoned that microRNAs (miRNAs) could play an important role in this process by regulating crucial developmental genes. Microarray profiling of cultured oligodendrocytes identified the miR-17-92 miRNA cluster as highly enriched in oligodendrocytes. We specifically deleted the miR-17-92 cluster in oligodendrocytes using 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′ phosphodiesterase (Cnp)-Cre mice. Absence of miR-17-92 leads to a reduction in oligodendrocyte number in vivo and we find that the expression of these miRNAs in primary cultures of oligodendrocyte precursor cells promotes cell proliferation by influencing Akt signaling. Together, these results suggest that the miRNA pathway is essential in determining oligodendroglial cell number and that the miR-17-92 cluster is crucial in this process.
Synthesis Oriented Scheduling of Multiparty Rendezvous in Transaction Level Models

Due to the large semantic gap between transaction level models and actual implementations, hardware synthesis based on system level models has been a great challenge. Aiming to close the semantic gap, we studied an approach that uses rendezvous to model communication. By allowing both conjunctive and disjunctive composition of rendezvous, the approach supports flexible communication patterns involving multiple processes. However, a practical issue of the model is the complexity of scheduling of multiparty rendezvous, which is NP hard in general. This paper proposes an efficient scheduling algorithm. It begins by encapsulating state transition information of processes into a relation graph. It then creates a tree that relates edge combinations. The tree is used to guide the scheduler at run time to search for schedulable sets. Experimental results prove that this algorithm improves our scheduler significantly. The algorithm lays the ground for the synthesis of the communication and synchronization circuitry for the system.
The ability of inferior colliculus neurons to signal differences in interaural delay

Sound localization in humans depends largely on interaural time delay (ITD). The ability to discriminate differences in ITD is highly accurate. ITD discrimination (Δ ITD) thresholds, under some circumstances, are as low as 10–20 μs. It has been assumed that thresholds this low could only be obtained if the outputs from many neurons were combined. Here we use Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis to compute neuronal Δ ITD thresholds from 53 cells in the inferior colliculus in guinea pigs. The Δ ITD thresholds of single neurons range from several hundreds of μs down to 20–30 μs. The lowest single-cell thresholds are comparable to human thresholds determined with similar stimuli. This finding suggests that the highly accurate sound localization of human observers is consistent with the resolution of single cells and need not reflect the combined activity of many neurons.
Comparative and Experimental Studies on the Genes Altered by Chronic Hypoxia in Human Brain Microendothelial Cells

Background : Hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1A) is a master regulator of acute hypoxia; however, with chronic hypoxia, HIF1A levels return to the normoxic levels. Importantly, the genes that are involved in the cell survival and viability under chronic hypoxia are not known. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that chronic hypoxia leads to the upregulation of a core group of genes with associated changes in the promoter DNA methylation that mediates the cell survival under hypoxia. Results : We examined the effect of chronic hypoxia (3 days; 0.5% oxygen) on human brain micro endothelial cells (HBMEC) viability and apoptosis. Hypoxia caused a significant reduction in cell viability and an increase in apoptosis. Next, we examined chronic hypoxia associated changes in transcriptome and genome-wide promoter methylation. The data obtained was compared with 16 other microarray studies on chronic hypoxia. Nine genes were altered in response to chronic hypoxia in all 17 studies. Interestingly, HIF1A was not altered with chronic hypoxia in any of the studies. Furthermore, we compared our data to three other studies that identified HIF-responsive genes by various approaches. Only two genes were found to be HIF dependent. We silenced each of these 9 genes using CRISPR/Cas9 system. Downregulation of EGLN3 significantly increased the cell death under chronic hypoxia, whereas downregulation of ERO1L, ENO2, adrenomedullin, and spag4 reduced the cell death under hypoxia. Conclusions : We provide a core group of genes that regulates cellular acclimatization under chronic hypoxic stress, and most of them are HIF independent.