Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optical Coherence Tomography to Optimize Results of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with Non–ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome: Results of the Multicenter, Randomized DOCTORS Study (Does Optical Coherence Tomography Optimize Results of Stenting)

Background: No randomized study has investigated the value of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in optimizing the results of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized study involving 240 patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes to compare OCT-guided PCI (use of OCT pre- and post-PCI; OCT-guided group) to fluoroscopy-guided PCI (angiography-guided group). The primary end point was the functional result of PCI assessed by the measure of post PCI fractional flow reserve. Secondary end points included procedural complications and type 4a periprocedural myocardial infarction. Safety was assessed by the rate of acute kidney injury. Results: OCT use led to a change in procedural strategy in 50% of the patients in the OCT-guided group. The primary end point was improved in the OCT-guided group, with a significantly higher fractional flow reserve value (0.94±0.04 versus 0.92±0.05, P=0.005) compared with the angiography-guided group. There was no significant difference in the rate of type 4a myocardial infarction (33% in the OCT-group versus 40% in the angiography-guided group, P=0.28). The rates of procedural complications (5.8%) and acute kidney injury (1.6%) were identical in each group despite longer procedure time and use of more contrast medium in the OCT-guided group. Post-PCI OCT revealed stent underexpansion in 42% of patients, stent malapposition in 32%, incomplete lesion coverage in 20%, and edge dissection in 37.5%. This led to the more frequent use of poststent overdilation in the OCT-guided group versus the angiography-guided group (43% versus 12.5%, P<0.0001) with lower residual stenosis (7.0±4.3% versus 8.7±6.3%, P=0.01). Conclusions: In patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes, OCT-guided PCI is associated with higher postprocedure fractional flow reserve than PCI guided by angiography alone. OCT did not increase periprocedural complications, type 4a myocardial infarction, or acute kidney injury. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT01743274.
Your voice counts : Listening to the voice of high school students with autism spectrum disorder

Supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in inclusive settings presents both opportunities and significant challenges to school communities. This study, which explored the lived-experience of nine students with ASD in an inclusive high school in Australia, is based on the belief that by listening to the voices of students, school communities will be in a better position to collaboratively create supportive learning and social environments. The findings of this small-scale study deepen our knowledge from the student perspective of the inclusive educational practices that facilitate and constrain the learning and participation of students with ASD. The students’ perspectives were examined in relation to the characteristics of successful inclusive schools identified by Kluth. Implications for inclusive educational practice that meets the needs of students with ASD are presented.
IMMUNOBIOLOGY Transcription of the activating receptor NKG 2 D in natural killer cells is regulated by STAT 3 tyrosine phosphorylation

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a pleiotropic transcription factor that transmits signals from the extracellular environment to the nucleus, mediating downstream signaling of many cytokines. STAT3 is recruited to the activated cytokine receptor and then tyrosine-phosphorylated by receptorassociated janus kinase (JAK). Upon phosphorylation, STAT3 molecules dimerize by reciprocal interaction of their phosphorylated SH2 domains, which in turn promotes translocation to the nucleus and binding to specific DNA elements to regulate transcription of target genes involved in proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Constitutive STAT3 phosphorylation is common in cancer, and thus, STAT3 inhibitors are increasingly being tested in preclinical studies and clinical trials. STAT3 is also an important modulator of innate and adaptive immune responses. STAT3 mediates signal transduction for several cytokine families including common g-chain cytokines (IL-2, IL-7, IL-15, and IL-21), the IL6/gp130 family (IL-6 and IL-27), interferons, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-23, and colony stimulating factors. STAT3 signaling is required for the generation and maintenance of Th17 cells, functional maturation of memory T cells, and T-cell– dependent differentiation of B cells into plasma cells. Dominant negative STAT3 mutants cause an immunologic deficiency (Job’s or Hyper-IgE Syndrome [HIES]), characterized by recurrent bacterial skin and lung infections. We previously demonstrated a proinflammatory role for STAT3 activation in maintaining neutrophil number and function. By contrast, inhibition of STAT3 in murine models improves antitumor immunity. Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in immune response to viruses and tumors, destroying virally infected cells and neoplasms. Activating receptors, which recognize ligands that are increased on “stressed” target cells, transmit signals to activate cytolytic activity of NK cells. NKG2D is an activating receptor on NK cells that recognizes ligands induced by cellular stress such as heat shock, DNA damage, transformation, and viral and bacterial infection. Not surprisingly, NKG2D plays a critical role in the immune response mediated by NK cells to infections and tumors. Although much is known about the regulation of NKG2D ligands, little is known about the mechanisms of NKG2D receptor regulation. NKG2D expression on NK cells is upregulated in response to IL-2, IL-15, IL-12, and INF-a, all ofwhich predominantly signal through various STAT family members. Previous work from our laboratory showed that IL-21, which signals primarily through STAT3 in NK cells, is important in regulating survival and proliferation of NK cells through telomere maintenance. As
Methods for achieving fast query times in point location data structures

Given a collection S of n line segments in the plane, the planar point location problem is to construct a data structure that can efficiently determine for a given query point p the first segment(s) in S intersected by vertical rays emanating out from p. It is well known that linear-space data structures can be constructed so as to achieve O(log n) query times. But applications, such as those common in geographic information systems, motivate a re-examination of this problem with the goal of improving query times further while also simplifying the methods needed to achieve such query times. In this paper we perform such a re-examination, focusing on the issues that arise in three different classes of point-location query sequences: (1) sequences that are reasonably uniform spatially and temporally (in which case the constant factors in the query times become critical), (2) sequences that are non-uniform spatially or temporally (in which case one desires data structures that adapt to spatial and temporal coherence), and (3) sequences that must be performed in space-limited environments (in which case one desires sub-linear space data structures). We present and analyze simple methods for adapting previous point location approaches to each of these environments.more » Our analysis consists of both a theoretical analysis of the constant factors in asymptotic query times as well as an experimental analysis over a range of subdivision and query domains. « less
On the Dark Silicon Automatic Evaluation on Multicore Processors

The advent of Dark Silicon as result of the limit on Dennard scaling forced modern processor designs to reduce the chip area that can work on maximum clock frequency. This effect reduced the free gains from Moore's law. This work introduces a less conservative dark silicon estimate based on chip components power density and technological process, so that designers could explore architectural resources to mitigate it. We implemented our dark silicon estimation tool on top of MultiExplorer and evaluated on a set of Intel Pentium and AMD K8/10 multicore processors built on transistor technologies from 90nm down to 32nm. Our contributions are twofold: (1) Our experiments have shown dark silicon estimates up to 8.26% of the chip area compared to a baseline 90nm real processor, we also evaluated clock frequency behavior based on Dennard scaling and obtained up to 15.65% dark silicon on chip area. (2) We designed and showed that a dark silicon aware Design Space Exploration (DSE) strategy can minimize chip dark area while increasing performance at design time. Our results on DSE found dark silicon free multicore platforms while providing 3.6 speedup.
A review and comparison of methods for determining the best analogies in analogy-based software effort estimation

Analogy-based effort estimation (ABE) is a commonly used software development effort estimation method. The processes of ABE are based on a reuse of effort values from similar past projects, where the appropriate numbers of past projects (k values) to be reused is one of the long-standing debates in ABE research studies. To date, many approaches to find this k value have been continually proposed. One important reason for this inconclusive debate is that different studies appear to produce different conclusions of the k value to be appropriate. Therefore, in this study, we revisit 8 common approaches to the k value being most appropriate in general situations. With a more robust and comprehensive evaluation methodology using 5 robust error measures subject to the Wilcoxon rank-sum statistical test, we found that conicting results in the previous studies were not mainly due to the use of different methodologies nor different datasets, but the performance of the different approaches are actually varied widely.
Sleep and Quality of Life among Family Caregivers with Children Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders

i ABSTRACT Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) holds potential for significantly impacting the primary caregiver and family, as well as the child with ASD. In particular, sleep problems occur frequently among children with ASD, and their poor sleep may negatively affect that of their caregivers. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and Family Quality of Life (FQoL) are salient indices of caregiver and family well-being. This pilot study explored associations between family caregiver sleep problems and caregiver sense of coherence (SOC) or coping on HRQoL and FQoL. Additionally, this study examined relationships between child sleep and behavior problems on caregiver sleep and well-being. Sixty-two family caregivers of children with ASD (M =7.61, range: 6-11 years old) participated in this survey study. Participants provided demographic information and completed measures of HRQoL, FQoL, caregiver sleep, SOC, parental stress, child sleep, and child behavior. Caregivers with longer sleep duration reported better mental health and better FQol. Caregivers who reported insomnia symptoms, non-restorative sleep, and insufficient sleep were more likely to report poorer mental health than caregivers who did not report these sleep disorder symptoms. A stronger caregiver SOC was associated with lower caregiver stress, better mental health, and better FQoL. Significant relationships were found between shorter caregiver sleep duration or sleep disorder symptoms (i.e., difficulty staying asleep, early morning awakening, insufficient sleep) and greater child sleep problems. Moreover, short sleep duration or insufficient sleep among caregivers ii was significantly associated with greater parenting stress. Notably, biological parents with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) had children with more restless sleep and higher rates of some behavior problems. There are a number of potential connections between sleep problems of children with ASD and sleep problems of their caregivers that are likely rooted in genetic, environmental, socioeconomic , and behavioral factors. Interventions for sleep problems must address the context of the family and consider that sleep problems may be common to the caregiver and the child. The results of this study support findings from many prior studies and point to salient variables for future research and interventions to promote healthy caregiver sleep. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Streptococcus-Zebrafish Model of Bacterial Pathogenesis

ABSTRACT Due to its small size, rapid generation time, powerful genetic systems, and genomic resources, the zebrafish has emerged as an important model of vertebrate development and human disease. Its well-developed adaptive and innate cellular immune systems make the zebrafish an ideal model for the study of infectious diseases. With a natural and important pathogen of fish, Streptococcus iniae, we have established a streptococcus- zebrafish model of bacterial pathogenesis. Following injection into the dorsal muscle, zebrafish developed a lethal infection, with a 50% lethal dose of 103 CFU, and died within 2 to 3 days. The pathogenesis of infection resembled that of S. iniae in farmed fish populations and that of several important human streptococcal diseases and was characterized by an initial focal necrotic lesion that rapidly progressed to invasion of the pathogen into all major organ systems, including the brain. Zebrafish were also susceptible to infection by the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. However, disease was characterized by a marked absence of inflammation, large numbers of extracellular streptococci in the dorsal muscle, and extensive myonecrosis that occurred far in advance of any systemic invasion. The genetic systems available for streptococci, including a novel method of mutagenesis which targets genes whose products are exported, were used to identify several mutants attenuated for virulence in zebrafish. This combination of a genetically amenable pathogen with a well-defined vertebrate host makes the streptococcus-zebrafish model of bacterial pathogenesis a powerful model for analysis of infectious disease.
Multiple functional variants in long-range enhancer elements contribute to the risk of SNP rs965513 in thyroid cancer

Significance Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) displays a strong hereditary component that is, in part, due to the additive effects of numerous low-penetrance genes or variants, but virtually no mechanistic information is available. Here, we studied a well-known low-penetrance variant (SNP rs965513) located in a region devoid of coding genes. We show that at least four variants located in the immediate vicinity of rs965513 reside in enhancer elements that bind to the promoter region shared by two adjacent thyroid-related genes, forkhead box E1 (FOXE1) and PTC susceptibility candidate 2 (PTCSC2), regulating their expression. The role of intergenic regulatory variants in cancer predisposition and carcinogenesis is growing. Further mechanistic understanding of how these variants work such as described here needs to be acquired. The [A] allele of SNP rs965513 in 9q22 has been consistently shown to be highly associated with increased papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) risk with an odds ratio of ∼1.8 as determined by genome-wide association studies, yet the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Previously, we noted that the expression of two genes in the region, forkhead box E1 (FOXE1) and PTC susceptibility candidate 2 (PTCSC2), is regulated by rs965513 in unaffected thyroid tissue, but the underlying mechanisms were not elucidated. Here, we fine-mapped the 9q22 region in PTC and controls and detected an ∼33-kb linkage disequilibrium block (containing the lead SNP rs965513) that significantly associates with PTC risk. Chromatin characteristics and regulatory element signatures in this block disclosed at least three regulatory elements functioning as enhancers. These enhancers harbor at least four SNPs (rs7864322, rs12352658, rs7847449, and rs10759944) that serve as functional variants. The variant genotypes are associated with differential enhancer activities and/or transcription factor binding activities. Using the chromosome conformation capture methodology, long-range looping interactions of these elements with the promoter region shared by FOXE1 and PTCSC2 in a human papillary thyroid carcinoma cell line (KTC-1) and unaffected thyroid tissue were found. Our results suggest that multiple variants coinherited with the lead SNP and located in long-range enhancers are involved in the transcriptional regulation of FOXE1 and PTCSC2 expression. These results explain the mechanism by which the risk allele of rs965513 predisposes to thyroid cancer.
Model driven development approach to natural language generation systems

Natural Language Generation systems have traditionally been built using ad-hoc software engineering practices with no explicit development process and no standard software architecture. This situation has drastically limited professional use of NLG technology. New approaches to NLG application development that considers domain-independence, languages and standards of modern software engineering, could enhance its practical use. This work proposes an NLG reference architecture that leverages the most advanced open standards in software architecture, modeling languages and processing tools. In particular, it is shown how dialogue-based voice-driven NLG applications can be built from the up-to-date Model-driven Architecture (MDA) approach. The implementation of a voice-driven movie recommendation system demonstrates the feasibility of the proposal.
Secondary prevention of stroke--results from the Southern Africa Stroke Prevention Initiative (SASPI) study.

OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence of risk factors and experience of preventive interventions in stroke survivors, and identilfy barriers to secondary prevention in rural South Africa. METHODS A clinician visited individuals in the Agincourt field site (in South Africa's rural north east) who were identified in a census as possible stroke victims to confirm the diagnosis of stroke. We explored the impact of stroke on the individual's family, and health-seeking behaviour following stroke by conducting in-depth interviews in the households of 35 stroke survivors. We held two workshops to understand the knowledge, experience, and views of primary care nurses, who provide the bulk of professional health care. FINDINGS We identified 103 stroke survivors (37 men), 73 (71%) of whom had hypertension, but only 8 (8%) were taking anti-hypertensive treatment. Smoking was uncommon; 8 men and 1 woman smoked a maximum of ten cigarettes daily. 94 (91%) stroke survivors had sought help, which involved allopathic health care for most of them (81; 79%). 42 had also sought help from traditional healers and churches, while another 13 people had sought help only from those sources. Of the 35 survivors who were interviewed, 29 reported having been prescribed anti-hypertensive pills after their stroke. Barriers to secondary prevention included cost of treatment, reluctance to use pills, difficulties with access to drugs, and lack of equipment to measure blood pressure. A negative attitude to allopathic care was not an important factor. CONCLUSION In this rural area hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor in stroke survivors. Effective secondary prevention may reduce the incidence of recurrent strokes, but there is no system to deliver such care. New strategies for care are needed involving both allopathic and non-allopathic-health care providers.
Learning Spatiotemporal Features for Infrared Action Recognition with 3D Convolutional Neural Networks

While the action recognition task on videos collected from visible spectrum imaging has received much attention, action recognition in infrared (IR) videos is significantly less explored. Our objective is to exploit imaging data in this modality for the action recognition task. In this work, we propose a novel two-stream 3D convolutional neural network architecture by introducing the discriminative code layer and the corresponding discriminative code loss function. The proposed network processes IR images and the IR-based optical flow field sequences. We pretrain the 3D CNN model on the visible spectrum Sports-1M action dataset and finetune it on the Infrared Action Recognition (InfAR) dataset. We conduct an elaborate analysis of different fusion schemes (weighted average, single and double-layer neural nets) applied to different 3D CNN outputs. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can achieve state-of-the-art average precision performances on the InfAR dataset.
Short-term Optimized Spread Spectrum Clock Generator for EMI Reduction in Switching DC/DC Converters

We present here a prototype of a Spread Spectrum Clock Generator designed for switching DC/DC converters, which has been optimized in accordance to EMC international regulations to improve EMI reduction with respect to standard approaches. Such an optimization has been obtained trough the theoretical computation of the power spectrum as measured by a spectrum analyzer when a chaotic or random-like PAM modulating signal is employed. To experimentally validate the achieved theoretical results, the circuit has been fabricated in CMOS 0.18 μm technology, and embeds two simple and effective modulators, the first one relying on a full analog hardware, the second one on a simple digital core. Measurements on a DC/DC converter in accordance with EMC regulations confirm that the prototype can achieve a 7 dB EMI reduction improvement with respect to classical solutions based on out of audible triangular waveforms.
A decision making module for cooperative collision warning systems using Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Using a Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) communication for cooperative collision warning system can increase safety, convenience and efficiency in driving. Intelligent vehicles can collect information about the driving environment, the driver situation and more importantly other vehicles' information using wireless communication. However, deciding what data to considered, what data to ignore and if and what action should be taken in different situations is a significant issue. In this work, we explore the use of a decision making module for accident situations which processes information from VANET communication and advises the driver based on the situation. Our decision making algorithm is a simple and effective algorithm that can be implement in each vehicle to assist the driver in certain situations. Rerouting to avoid traffic congestion caused by the accident is the major part of our decision making algorithm. This module has been implemented and evaluated using the Veins simulation.
Outdoor co-operative control of multiple quadcopters using decentralized GPS localisation

The implementation of co-operative outdoor navigation and control of a team of quadcopters, using GPS-based localization is presented. A testbed of quadcopters is indigenously developed using commercial off-the-shelf components. In this article, the complete design process based on open source hardware (ArduPilot Mega) and software (AeroQuad) is documented, which includes the structure of the autopilot, control structure for various autonomous modes, and the integration of the fully distributed navigation algorithms. Our experiments reported here achieve completely decentralised and autonomous outdoor co-operative flights using solely open source components.