Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of the 23-Valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (PPV23) against Pneumococcal Disease in the Elderly: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Routine vaccination of elderly people against pneumococcal diseases is recommended in many countries. National guidelines differ, recommending either the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23), the 13-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV13) or both. Considering the ongoing debate on the effectiveness of PPV23, we performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of the vaccine efficacy/effectiveness (VE) of PPV23 against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and pneumococcal pneumonia in adults aged ≥60 years living in industrialized countries. Methods We searched for pertinent clinical trials and observational studies in databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. We assessed the risk of bias of individual studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized controlled trials and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for observational studies. We rated the overall quality of the evidence by GRADE criteria. We performed meta-analyses of studies grouped by outcome and study design using random-effects models. We applied a sensitivity analysis excluding studies with high risk of bias. Results We identified 17 eligible studies. Pooled VE against IPD (by any serotype) was 73% (95%CI: 10–92%) in four clinical trials, 45% (95%CI: 15–65%) in three cohort studies, and 59% (95%CI: 35–74%) in three case-control studies. After excluding studies with high risk of bias, pooled VE against pneumococcal pneumonia (by any serotype) was 64% (95%CI: 35–80%) in two clinical trials and 48% (95%CI: 25–63%) in two cohort studies. Higher VE estimates in trials (follow-up ~2.5 years) than in observational studies (follow-up ~5 years) may indicate waning protection. Unlike previous meta-analyses, we excluded two trials with high risk of bias regarding the outcome pneumococcal pneumonia, because diagnosis was based on serologic methods with insufficient specificity. Conclusions Our meta-analysis revealed significant VE of PPV23 against both IPD and pneumococcal pneumonia by any serotype in the elderly, comparable to the efficacy of PCV13 against vaccine-serotype disease in a recent clinical trial in elderly people. Due to its broader serotype coverage and the decrease of PCV13 serotypes among adults resulting from routine infant immunization with PCV13, PPV23 continues to play an important role for protecting adults against IPD and pneumococcal pneumonia.
Privacy-preserving location and mobility management to support tether-free patients in ad-hoc networks

A major driver of healthcare cost is the inefficiencies associated keeping less-critical patients overnight in the hospital when these patients could be treated as outpatients and received comparable quality of care. To this end, we propose the concept of tether-free patient to support patient mobility and ensure privacy-preserving healthcare. The paper addresses issues related to the design of a ubiquitous architectures to support tetherless care and proposes a robust, scalable and secure framework to location management of tether-free patients in mobile, wireless environments. The main building blocks and functionalities of the proposed architecture are described, and the algorithms used for secure registration and discovery, as the patient roams around, are presented. The complexity analysis of the proposed schemes is discussed.
International Journal of Advances in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Locality – Constrained Collaborative Representation Using K-d Tree

Locality-Constrained Collaborative representation (LCCR) methods have recently drawn much attention in face recognition, due to their good performance and robustness against misalignment, illumination variation, and occlusion. In this paper, we have improved face recognition rate by using k-d-tree to search the neighbor. it has observed that the use of k-d-tree provides the superior rate of accuracy for face recognition as compare to other algorithms which are LCCR, SRC, CRC_RLC and linear SVM.
A mad day’s work: from Grothendieck to Connes and Kontsevich The evolution of concepts of space and symmetry

To add to the chorus of praise by referring to my own experience would be of little interest, but I am in no way forgetting the facilities for work provided by the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES) for so many years, particularly the constantly renewed opportunities for meetings and exchanges. While there have been some difficult times, there is no point in dwelling on them. One of the great virtues of the institute was that it erected no barriers between mathematics and theoretical physics. There has always been a great deal of interpenetration of these two areas of interest, which has only increased over time. From the very beginning Louis Michel was one of the bridges due to his devotion to group theory. At present, when the scientific outlook has changed so greatly over the past forty years, the fusion seems natural and no one wonders whether Connes or Kontsevich are physicists or mathematicians. I moved between the two fields for a long time when to do so was to run counter to the current trends, and I welcome the present synthesis. Alexander Grothendieck dominated the first ten years of the institute, and I hope no one will forget that. I knew him well during the 50s and 60s, especially through Bourbaki, but we were never together at the institute—he left it in September 1970 and I arrived in July 1971. Grothendieck did not derive his inspiration from physics and its mathematical problems. Not that his mind was incapable of grasping this area—he had thought about it secretly before 1967—but the moral principles that he adhered to relegate physics to the outer darkness, especially after Hiroshima. It is surprising that some of Grothendieck’s most fertile ideas regarding the nature of space and symmetries have become naturally wed to the new directions in modern physics. It is this unexpected marriage—and its occasionally comical aspects—that I would like to talk about here. “A mad day’s work”, as you know, is the subtitle given to The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais. From a certain distance there is less cause for astonishment; the concepts of space and symmetry are so fundamental
Efficient large-scale photometric reconstruction using Divide-Recon-Fuse 3D Structure from Motion

We propose an efficient framework for large-scale 3D reconstruction from a large set of photos following the Structure-from-Motion (SfM) paradigm with divide-conquer and fusion. Our main novelty is to ensure commonality from overlaps between image sets corresponding to their reconstructions, which facilitates effective stitching and fusion. Specifically, such commonality is ensured by selecting a set of duplicated images (which are termed anchor images) in adjacent image sets prior to the 3D reconstruction. The anchor images can assist accurate fusion of the 3D point clouds. We describe an efficient RANSAC scheme for pairwise stitching. Our method is intuitively scalable to large site reconstruction via subdivision and fusion following a graph construct. We further describe another RANSAC algorithm to improve loop closure in our anchor image approach. Experimental results on reconstructing a large portion of a university campus demonstrate the efficacy of our method.
Design and implementation of power converters for wind energy conversion system

This paper presents the design and implementation of power converters for wind conversion systems. The power converter can not only transfer the power from a wind generator, but also improve the stability and safety of the system. The proposed system consists of a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), a DC/DC boost converter, a bi-directional DC/DC converter and a full-bridge DC/AC inverter. The wind generator is the main power source of the system, and the battery is used for energy storage and power compensation to recover the natural irregularity of the wind power. In order to keep producing to the maximum power output from the wind power generator, a digital signal processor (TMS320LF2407A) is used to realize the system controller. Finally, a 200W wind energy conversion system is built and experimental results are provided to verify the theoretical analysis and feasibility of a wind power generator system.
Contact inhibition of VEGF-induced proliferation requires vascular endothelial cadherin, β-catenin, and the phosphatase DEP-1/CD148

Confluent endothelial cells respond poorly to the proliferative signals of VEGF. Comparing isogenic endothelial cells differing for vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) expression only, we found that the presence of this protein attenuates VEGF-induced VEGF receptor (VEGFR) 2 phosphorylation in tyrosine, p44/p42 MAP kinase phosphorylation, and cell proliferation. VE-cadherin truncated in β-catenin but not p120 binding domain is unable to associate with VEGFR-2 and to induce its inactivation. β-Catenin–null endothelial cells are not contact inhibited by VE-cadherin and are still responsive to VEGF, indicating that this protein is required to restrain growth factor signaling. A dominant-negative mutant of high cell density–enhanced PTP 1 (DEP-1)//CD148 as well as reduction of its expression by RNA interference partially restore VEGFR-2 phosphorylation and MAP kinase activation. Overall the data indicate that VE-cadherin–β-catenin complex participates in contact inhibition of VEGF signaling. Upon stimulation with VEGF, VEGFR-2 associates with the complex and concentrates at cell–cell contacts, where it may be inactivated by junctional phosphatases such as DEP-1. In sparse cells or in VE-cadherin–null cells, this phenomenon cannot occur and the receptor is fully activated by the growth factor.
Cutaneous T cell lymphoma mimicking cutaneous histiocytosis: differentiation by flow cytometry

A two-year-old, neutered female cross-bred labrador had multiple cutaneous nodules, biopsies of which revealed pathological changes consistent with cutaneous histiocytosis. During a period of one month the dog developed multicentric lymphadenopathy, a retrobulbar mass and masses within the quadriceps and cervical muscles. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the cutaneous nodules and lymph nodes and histological examination of the cutaneous nodules and muscle masses suggested the presence of lymphoblastic lymphoma. A definitive diagnosis of CD8+ T cell lymphoma was achieved by immunophenotyping the tumour cells by flow cytometry.
Play on or call a foul: testing and extending distributed situation awareness theory through sports officiating

ABSTRACT The distributed situation awareness (DSA) model was introduced almost a decade ago and outlined six core tenets relating to the nature of situation awareness in sociotechnical systems. Despite the model being at the forefront of situation awareness research, to date, there has been no examination of these six tenets. In this paper, we examine each tenet to determine first whether they apply in the domain of fast ball sports officiating and second, to determine whether they require extension or revision in order to remain appropriate and relevant. Based on data from Australian rules football officiating, we find that four of the six tenets remain relevant. We argue, however, that two of the tenets, require revision and extension. Accordingly, we propose alternate tenets and associated research questions to facilitate extension of the theoretical underpinnings of the DSA model into the future.
Gatekeepers and CEO Reputation 1

This paper provides a theoretical model to examine when and how boards of directors can utilize external experts or gatekeepers to assist them in 1) monitoring managers with career concerns, and 2) approving rm investments. I demonstrate how using gatekeepers to provide second opinions certifying management recommendations a¤ects the disclosure incentives of management. Because certi cation serves as a signaling mechanism, when managers have the incentive to truthfully reveal all that they know, certi cation mandates are unnecessary since managers will choose to seek out second opinions on their own. When information disclosures cannot be easily veri ed, certi cation mandates can be counterproductive, elevating the status of costly second opinions that always agree with management recommendations. In the absence of incentives for truthful disclosure, it is better for boards to forego e¤orts to monitor and require management and gatekeepers to pool their recommendations. JEL Codes: D02, D82, G34, K22
Anisaldehyde, a Melanogenesis Potentiator

Anisaldehyde (4-methoxybenzaldehyde), previously reported as a tyrosinase inhibitor, did not inhibit melanogenesis in cultured B16-F10 melanoma cells but rather enhanced it. This adverse effect of anisaldehyde was accompanied by melanocytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner up to 2 mм. The melanin content per cell at 1 mм was increased 5-fold compared to control and morphological observations showed the deposition of melanin pigments. Anisaldehyde was also examined against cultured human A375 melanoma cells.
Identifying Mechanisms by Which Escherichia coli O157:H7 Subverts Interferon-γ Mediated Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription-1 Activation

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 is a food borne enteric bacterial pathogen that causes significant morbidity and mortality in both developing and industrialized nations. E. coli O157:H7 infection of host epithelial cells inhibits the interferon gamma pro-inflammatory signaling pathway, which is important for host defense against microbial pathogens, through the inhibition of Stat-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. The aim of this study was to determine which bacterial factors are involved in the inhibition of Stat-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. Human epithelial cells were challenged with either live bacteria or bacterial-derived culture supernatants, stimulated with interferon-gamma, and epithelial cell protein extracts were then analyzed by immunoblotting. The results show that Stat-1 tyrosine phosphorylation was inhibited by E. coli O157:H7 secreted proteins. Using sequential anion exchange and size exclusion chromatography, YodA was identified, but not confirmed to mediate subversion of the Stat-1 signaling pathway using isogenic mutants. We conclude that E. coli O157:H7 subverts Stat-1 tyrosine phosphorylation in response to interferon-gamma through a still as yet unidentified secreted bacterial protein.
Efficient Parallel Skyline Evaluation Using MapReduce

This research develops an advanced two-phase MapReduce solution that is able to efficiently address skyline queries on large datasets. Unlike existing parallel skyline approaches, our scheme considers data partitioning, filtering, and parallel skyline evaluation as a holistic query process. In particular, we apply filtering techniques and angle-based partitioning in the first phase, in which unqualified objects are discarded and the processed objects are partitioned by their angles to the origin.In the second phase, local skyline objects in each partition are calculated in parallel, and global skyline objects are output after a merging skyline process. To improve the parallel local skyline calculation, we propose two partition-aware filtering methods that keep skyline candidates in a balanced manner. The aggressive partition-aware filtering aggressively eliminates objects in the partition with the greatest population of candidate objects, whereas the proportional partition-aware filtering slows down the growth of partition population proportionally. Recognizing the lack of studies that incorporate the MapReduce framework into parallel skyline processing, we propose a partialpresort grid-based partition skyline algorithm that is able to significantly improve the merging skyline computation on large datasets. The presort process can be completed in the shuffle phase with little overhead. Our experimental results show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed parallel skyline solution utilizing MapReduce on large-scale datasets.
Glutaminase 2 is a novel negative regulator of small GTPase Rac1 and mediates p53 function in suppressing metastasis

Glutaminase (GLS) isoenzymes GLS1 and GLS2 are key enzymes for glutamine metabolism. Interestingly, GLS1 and GLS2 display contrasting functions in tumorigenesis with elusive mechanism; GLS1 promotes tumorigenesis, whereas GLS2 exhibits a tumor-suppressive function. In this study, we found that GLS2 but not GLS1 binds to small GTPase Rac1 and inhibits its interaction with Rac1 activators guanine-nucleotide exchange factors, which in turn inhibits Rac1 to suppress cancer metastasis. This function of GLS2 is independent of GLS2 glutaminase activity. Furthermore, decreased GLS2 expression is associated with enhanced metastasis in human cancer. As a p53 target, GLS2 mediates p53’s function in metastasis suppression through inhibiting Rac1. In summary, our results reveal that GLS2 is a novel negative regulator of Rac1, and uncover a novel function and mechanism whereby GLS2 suppresses metastasis. Our results also elucidate a novel mechanism that contributes to the contrasting functions of GLS1 and GLS2 in tumorigenesis. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.10727. 001
Hardware implementation of pragmatic Trellis Coded Modulation applied to 8PSK and 16QAM for DVB standard

Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) combines convolutional encoding with PSK or QAM signaling to provide spectrally efficient communication with forward error correction. Although the Ungerboeckpsilas TCM (Trellis Coded Modulation) [1,2] is attractive in terms of high efficiency with low descending data rate by coding and high coding gain, it is difficult to implement. To remove this complexity, a pragmatic approach to the TCM [3], which is realized by employing the de facto convolutional code (constraint length K=7 and rate 1/2), was proposed. This paper presents hardware realization of Pragmatic Trellis Coded Modulation for 8PSK and QAM using two stages approach. In the first stage, the incoming I-channel and Q-channel samples are used to generate soft symbols. A conventional frac12 rate with K=7 Viterbi Decoder then operates on these soft symbols to estimate the coded bits. The uncoded bits are decoded in a second stage, based on the estimated coded bits and the locations of the received symbols. The design has been implemented using high-level Verilog HDL and functionally verified by mapping on to Xilinx Virtex2P FPGA.
International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications Tools for interdisciplinary design of pervasive computing

Purpose – To be successful, pervasive computing requires a balance of computing, design, and business requirements to be considered throughout the design process. Achieving this synthesis requires a level of interdisciplinary design that is not present in current pervasive design tools. To understand the state of the art and provide insight to future tool designers, the purpose of this paper is to present a survey of design tools for pervasive computing and consider their ability to be used in interdisciplinary design. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have performed a survey of tools covering many areas within pervasive computing and have evaluated the abilities of each tool with established metrics for pervasive design tools. Findings – While the paper has found many design tools are available for constructive pervasive applications, few are suitable through all phases of the design cycle or useful across all the intended application domains of pervasive computing. Originality/value – This survey provides an understanding of the state of pervasive design tools, with regards to interdisciplinary design, which has not previously been performed. Additionally, the authors provide evaluations of the pervasive tools when used in an interdisciplinary setting. These evaluations provide insight to key metrics and allow tool designers to understand the needs of their intended audience.
Does angiotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism have association with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia?

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the putative significance of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and its correlation with the lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Materials and Methods: ACE I/D polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 200 patients with moderate to severe LUTS due to BPH and 200 patients of same age group without the LUTS having normal size prostate. ACE levels were estimated by spectrophotometer method. Logistic regression models were used to determine the genetic effects using SPSS statistical software (version 12.0). Results and Conclusions: The distribution of genotypes along with allelic frequency and carriage rate did not significantly differ between study and control groups. This study suggests that I/D polymorphisms within the ACE gene are not associated with the presence of LUTS in BPH patients. Future studies in large cohorts are needed that may reveal the spectrum of cellular mechanism mediated by ACE relevant to pathophysiology of BPH and effect of ethnic differences.
Chromosome Inactivation in the Normal Female Genital Tract : Implications for Identification of Neoplasia 1

Monoclonal proliferative lesions may be identified by X chromosome inactivation skewing relative to normal polyclonal tissues. We have quan titatively analyzed X-inactivation patterns throughout polyclonal uterine tissues to develop interpretive criteria for recognition of monoclonal neoplasms. Six fresh tissue samples (two samples each of cervix, endometrium, and myometrium) were collected from hysterectomy specimens, and the percentage of androgen receptor (HUMARA ) marker alÃ-elepres ent on inactive X chromosomes was calculated from a PCR assay. Exact balancing yields 50% of the marker on the inactive X, whereas complete skewing shows either 0 or 100%. X inactivation was similar throughout the tissues of each uterus but was significantly different among the 11 women studied. Comparison of differences in X inactivation between pairs of polyclonal tissue samples within each uterus (Xi spread) permitted delineation of cumulative experimental and biological variation of this parameter. Polyclonal-polyclonal Xi spread averaged 10.7 and was inde pendent of the tissue type, sampling site, or the individual studied. Severe baseline skewing of reference polyclonal tissues or contamination of monoclonal tissue by polyclonal cells may reduce the polyclonal-monoclonal Xi spread. The extent of X-inactivation skewing necessary to infer a monoclonal process should exceed the 20 or 27 point spread seen, respectively, between 85 and 95% of polyclonal samples.