Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost-Efficient NFV-Enabled Mobile Edge-Cloud for Low Latency Mobile Applications

Mobile edge-cloud (MEC) aims to support low latency mobile services by bringing remote cloud services nearer to mobile users. However, in order to deal with dynamic workloads, MEC is deployed in a large number of fixed-location micro-clouds, leading to resource wastage during stable/low workload periods. Limiting the number of micro-clouds improves resource utilization and saves operational costs, but faces service performance degradations due to insufficient physical capacity during peak time from nearby micro-clouds. To efficiently support services with low latency requirement under varying workload conditions, we adopt the emerging network function virtualization (NFV)-enabled MEC, which offers new flexibility in hosting MEC services in any virtualized network node, e.g., access points, routers, etc. This flexibility overcomes the limitations imposed by fixed-location solutions, providing new freedom in terms of MEC service-hosting locations. In this paper, we address the questions on where and when to allocate resources as well as how many resources to be allocated among NFV-enabled MECs, such that both the low latency requirements of mobile services and MEC cost efficiency are achieved. We propose a dynamic resource allocation framework that consists of a fast heuristic-based incremental allocation mechanism that dynamically performs resource allocation and a reoptimization algorithm that periodically adjusts allocation to maintain a near-optimal MEC operational cost over time. We show through extensive simulations that our flexible framework always manages to allocate sufficient resources in time to guarantee continuous satisfaction of applications’ low latency requirements. At the same time, our proposal saves up to 33% of cost in comparison to existing fixed-location MEC solutions.
Experimental research on creep property of clay

Creep property of undisturbed and reconstituted Japanese clay was presented based on drained triaxial compression tests.Creep tests were performed several times during monotonic primary loading,unloading and reloading.Test results show that:(1) the amount of creep deformation during monotonic primary loading depends on strain rate before creep,creep stress level,and creep time;(2) during monotonic primary loading,the stiffness increasing magnificently shortly after creep;(3) the direction of creep will change from positive creep;to neutral creep and negative creep during unloading,while during reloading,it will change from negative,to neutral and positive creep.
Production and Characterization of Chimeric Monoclonal Antibodies against Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei Using the DHFR Expression System

Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) and B. mallei (BM) are closely related gram-negative, facultative anaerobic bacteria which cause life-threatening melioidosis in human and glanders in horse, respectively. Our laboratory has previously generated and characterized more than 100 mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against BP and BM, according to in vitro and in vivo assay. In this study, 3 MAbs (BP7 10B11, BP7 2C6, and BP1 7F7) were selected to develop into chimeric mouse-human monoclonal antibodies (cMAbs) against BP and/or BM. For the stable production of cMAbs, we constructed 4 major different vector systems with a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) amplification marker, and optimized transfection/selection conditions in mammalian host cells with the single-gene and/or double-gene expression system. These 3 cMAbs were stably produced by the DHFR double mutant Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO)-DG44 cells. By ELISA and Western blot analysis using whole bacterial antigens treated by heat (65°C/90 min), sodium periodate, and proteinase K, the cMAb BP7 10B11 (cMAb CK1) reacted with glycoproteins (34, 38, 48 kDa in BP; 28, 38, 48 kDa in BM). The cMAb BP7 2C6 (cMAb CK2) recognized surface-capsule antigens with molecular sizes of 38 to 52 kDa, and 200 kDa in BM. The cMAb CK2 was weakly reactive to 14∼28, 200 kDa antigens in BP. The cMAb BP1 7F7 (cMAb CK3) reacted with lipopolysaccharides (38∼52 kDa in BP; 38∼60 kDa in B. thailandensis). Western blot results with the outer surface antigens of the 3 Burkholderia species were consistent with results with the whole Burkholderia cell antigens, suggesting that these immunodominant antigens reacting with the 3 cMAbs were primarily present on the outer surface of the Burkholderia species. These 3 cMAbs would be useful for analyzing the role of the major outer surface antigens in Burkholderia infection.
The Relationship between the (In-)Stability of NORs and Their Chromosomal Location: The Example of Cercopithecidae and a Short Review of Other Primates

Amongst Cercopithecidae, the species of the Cercopithecini tribe underwent a very active chromosome evolution, principally by fissions, which increased their chromosome number up to 72. In contrast, all the species of Papionini have fairly similar karyotypes with 42 chromosomes. In animals, nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) are generally considered as instable structures, which frequently vary in size, number, and location at both infra- and interspecific levels. Although in Cercopithecinae the NORs, involved in breaks, exchanges, and translocations, behave like fragile sites in somatic cells, their number and location appear to be very stable between species. Fluorescence in situ hybridization of a 28S rDNA probe on metaphase chromosomes displayed a unique interstitial location in either an acrocentric pair (in 12 species of Cercopithecini) or a metacentric pair (in 6 species of Papionini). A non-exhaustive survey of literature data on NOR location in other primates shows that numerical variations of the NORs principally depend on their location: most multiple NORs are in terminal positions, while almost all unique NORs are in interstitial positions. We propose that this correlation is the consequence of the selection against gametic imbalances involving the chromosomal material distal to the NORs, which is effective when they are interstitially, but not terminally, located. Thus, the consequences of the interstitial NOR instability for reproduction are essentially limited to their size variations, as observed in Cercopithecidae.
Medication and Adverse Event Extraction from Noisy Text

We investigate the problem of extracting mentions of medications and adverse drug events using sequence labelling and non-sequence labelling methods. We experiment with three different methods on two different datasets, one from a patient forum with noisy text and one containing narrative patient records. An analysis of the output from these methods are reported to identify what types of named entities are best identiﬁed using these methods and, more speciﬁcally, how well the discontinuous and overlapping entities that are prevalent in our forum dataset are iden-tiﬁed. Our ﬁndings can guide studies to choose different methods based on the complexity of the named entities involved, in particular in text mining for pharma-covigilance.
Earthworm-Mycorrhiza Interactions Can Affect the Diversity, Structure and Functioning of Establishing Model Grassland Communities

Both earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important ecosystem engineers co-occurring in temperate grasslands. However, their combined impacts during grassland establishment are poorly understood and have never been studied. We used large mesocosms to study the effects of different functional groups of earthworms (i.e., vertically burrowing anecics vs. horizontally burrowing endogeics) and a mix of four AMF taxa on the establishment, diversity and productivity of plant communities after a simulated seed rain of 18 grassland species comprising grasses, non-leguminous forbs and legumes. Moreover, effects of earthworms and/or AMF on water infiltration and leaching of ammonium, nitrate and phosphate were determined after a simulated extreme rainfall event (40 l m−2). AMF colonisation of all three plant functional groups was altered by earthworms. Seedling emergence and diversity was reduced by anecic earthworms, however only when AMF were present. Plant density was decreased in AMF-free mesocosms when both anecic and endogeic earthworms were active; with AMF also anecics reduced plant density. Plant shoot and root biomass was only affected by earthworms in AMF-free mesocosms: shoot biomass increased due to the activity of either anecics or endogeics; root biomass increased only when anecics were active. Water infiltration increased when earthworms were present in the mesocosms but remained unaffected by AMF. Ammonium leaching was increased only when anecics or a mixed earthworm community was active but was unaffected by AMF; nitrate and phosphate leaching was neither affected by earthworms nor AMF. Ammonium leaching decreased with increasing plant density, nitrate leaching decreased with increasing plant diversity and density. In order to understand the underlying processes of these interactions further investigations possibly under field conditions using more diverse belowground communities are required. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that belowground-aboveground linkages involving earthworms and AMF are important mediators of the diversity, structure and functioning of plant communities.
High-accuracy finite-difference methods for the valuation of options

A finite-difference scheme often employed for the valuation of options from the Black–Scholes equation is the Crank–Nicolson (CN) scheme. The CN scheme is second order in both time and asset. For a rapid valuation with a reasonable resolution of the option price curve, it requires extremely small steps in both time and asset. In this paper, we present high-accuracy finite-difference methods for the Black–Scholes equation in which we employ the fourth-order L-stable Simpson-type (LSIMP) time integration schemes developed earlier and the well-known Numerov method for discretization in the asset direction. The resulting schemes, called LSIMP–NUM, are fourth order in both time and asset. The LSIMP–NUM schemes obtained can provide a rapid, stable and accurate resolution of option prices, allowing for relatively large steps in both time and asset. We compare the computational efficiency of the LSIMP–NUM schemes with the CN and Douglas schemes by considering valuation of European options and American options via the linear complementarity approach.
Electrodermal responding predicts responses to, and may be altered by, preschool intervention for ADHD.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate electrodermal activity (EDA) as a prospective biomarker of treatment response, to determine whether patterns of EDA are altered by treatment, and to assess oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) as a possible moderator of trajectories in EDA after an empirically supported behavioral intervention for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool. METHOD Nonspecific fluctuations (NSFs) in skin conductance, which index sympathetic nervous system activity, were assessed among 4-6 year old children with ADHD (n = 99) before they participated with their parents in 1 of 2 versions of the Incredible Years intervention. All were reassessed at posttreatment, and a subgroup (n = 49) were assessed again at 1-year follow-up. RESULTS No difference in pretreatment NSFs was observed between ADHD participants and a group of normal control children (n = 41). Nevertheless, among those with ADHD, fewer NSFs at pretest predicted poorer treatment response on 4 of 7 externalizing outcomes. Furthermore, treatment was associated with increasing NSFs across time, but not for those who scored high on ODD at pretest. CONCLUSIONS Low EDA appears to mark resistance to treatment among preschoolers with ADHD. Furthermore, although our study was not experimental, treatment was associated with longitudinal increases in EDA, which were not observed in a normal control group. This may suggest increased sensitivity to discipline, with positive implications for long term outcome. In contrast to treated participants as a whole, however, those who scored high on ODD at pretest exhibited reduced EDA over time. (PsycINFO Database Record
Triangle counting in large networks: a review

Counting and enumeration of local topological structures, such as triangles, is an important task for analyzing large real‐life networks. For instance, triangle count in a network is used to compute transitivity—an important property for understanding graph evolution over time. Triangles are also used for various other tasks completed for real‐life networks, including community discovery, link prediction, and spam filtering. The task of triangle counting, though simple, has gained wide attention in recent years from the data mining community. This is due to the fact that most of the existing algorithms for counting triangles do not scale well to very large networks with millions (or even billions) of vertices. To circumvent this limitation, researchers proposed triangle counting methods that approximate the count or run on distributed clusters. In this paper, we discuss the existing methods of triangle counting, ranging from sequential to parallel, single‐machine to distributed, exact to approximate, and off‐line to streaming. We also present experimental results of performance comparison among a set of approximate triangle counting methods built under a unified implementation framework. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of future works in this direction. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2018, 8:e1226. doi: 10.1002/widm.1226
Properties of human genes guided by their enrichment in rare and common variants

We analyzed 563,099 common (minor allele frequency, MAF≥0.01) and rare (MAF < 0.01) genetic variants annotated in ExAC and UniProt and 26,884 disease‐causing variants from ClinVar and UniProt occurring in the coding region of 17,975 human protein‐coding genes. Three novel sets of genes were identified: those enriched in rare variants (n = 32 genes), in common variants (n = 282 genes), and in disease‐causing variants (n = 800 genes). Genes enriched in rare variants have far greater similarities in terms of biological and network properties to genes enriched in disease‐causing variants, than to genes enriched in common variants. However, in half of the genes enriched in rare variants (AOC2, MAMDC4, ANKHD1, CDC42BPB, SPAG5, TRRAP, TANC2, IQCH, USP54, SRRM2, DOPEY2, and PITPNM1), no disease‐causing variants have been identified in major, publicly available databases. Thus, genetic variants in these genes are strong candidates for disease and their identification, as part of sequencing studies, should prompt further in vitro analyses.
Latitudinal Patterns in Phenotypic Plasticity and Fitness-Related Traits: Assessing the Climatic Variability Hypothesis (CVH) with an Invasive Plant Species

Phenotypic plasticity has been suggested as the main mechanism for species persistence under a global change scenario, and also as one of the main mechanisms that alien species use to tolerate and invade broad geographic areas. However, contrasting with this central role of phenotypic plasticity, standard models aimed to predict the effect of climatic change on species distributions do not allow for the inclusion of differences in plastic responses among populations. In this context, the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH), which states that higher thermal variability at higher latitudes should determine an increase in phenotypic plasticity with latitude, could be considered a timely and promising hypothesis. Accordingly, in this study we evaluated, for the first time in a plant species (Taraxacum officinale), the prediction of the CVH. Specifically, we measured plastic responses at different environmental temperatures (5 and 20°C), in several ecophysiological and fitness-related traits for five populations distributed along a broad latitudinal gradient. Overall, phenotypic plasticity increased with latitude for all six traits analyzed, and mean trait values increased with latitude at both experimental temperatures, the change was noticeably greater at 20° than at 5°C. Our results suggest that the positive relationship found between phenotypic plasticity and geographic latitude could have very deep implications on future species persistence and invasion processes under a scenario of climate change.
The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the ascomycete plant pathogen Colletotrichum acutatum

Abstract Collectotrichum acutatum is a fungal plant pathogen that causes pre- and post-harvest anthracnose on a wide range of plants worldwide. The complete mitochondrial genome of C. acutatum has been determined for the first time. This study revealed that the mitogenome of C. acutatum is a closed circular molecule of 30 892 bp in length, with a G + C content of 34.7%, which include 15 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. All the protein-coding genes, accounting for 46.6% of the C. acutatum mitogenome, start with the standard ATG codon and end with the TAA termination codon except for nad6 gene using the TAG termination codon. The mitogenome information of C. acutatum can provide molecular basis for further studies on molecular systematics and evolutionary dynamics.
Sparse 3D Topological Graphs for Micro-Aerial Vehicle Planning

Micro-Aerial Vehicles (MAVs)have the advantage of moving freely in 3D space. However, creating compact and sparse map representations that can be efficiently used for planning for such robots is still an open problem. In this paper, we take maps built from noisy sensor data and construct a sparse graph containing topological information that can be used for 3D planning. We use a Euclidean Signed Distance Field, extract a 3D Generalized Voronoi Diagram (GVD), and obtain a thin skeleton diagram representing the topological structure of the environment. We then convert this skeleton diagram into a sparse graph, which we show is resistant to noise and changes in resolution. We demonstrate global planning over this graph, and the orders of magnitude speed-up it offers over other common planning methods. We validate our planning algorithm in real maps built onboard an MAV, using RGB-D sensing.
Binder for Refractory Cement Composites – Hydration, Changing due to High Temperatures and Fracture Energy

This contribution brings summary of refractory hydraulic binder issue. The refractory cement composites (or refractory concrete) represent very specific area of modern material engineering. We can find its use in special monolithic structures in industry, for fire-resistance brick, protection cladding, etc. The composition brings opportunity for using aluminous cement with different amount of Al2O3, according to temperature level. Hydration process and products together with the decomposition due high temperatures is described in this paper. Also the risk of conversion metastable hydration to stable one is described. The issue of possible bonds between filler and binder is shown (hydraulic, ceramic and chemical). Paper also describes values of fracture energy of aluminous cement pastes with various water to cement ratio after temperature loading.
Examination of the angular dependence of the SNPP VIIRS solar diffuser BRDF degradation factor

Modern Earth-orbiting Earth-observing remote sensing sensors often use onboard solar diffusers (SD) to calibrate their reflective solar bands (RSB), such as the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite. The SD’s optical scattering property is measured by a bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). Once on orbit, the BRDF is found to degrade over time and the degradation factor is determined by, in the case of the SNPP VIIRS, an onboard solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) which observes the SD at a fixed view angle (relative to the SD surface). The SNPP VIIRS RSB however, observes the SD at a different angle. It is conventionally assumed (for cases like VIIRS) that the angular dependence of the BRDF degradation factor is negligible and hence the degradation factor determined by the SDSM is used to calibrate the RSB. We examine the angular dependence of the SNPP VIIRS SD BRDF degradation factor. We find that the degradation factor is clearly angle dependent when the SD BRDF degrades enough (< 0.98), and the larger the degradation the stronger the dependency.
Implementing Low-Cost, Community-Based Exercise Programs for Middle-Aged and Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: What Are the Benefits for Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Risk?

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a long-term, community-based, combined exercise program developed with low-cost exercise strategies on glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and older patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Participants (n = 124; 63.25 ± 7.20 years old) engaged in either a 9-month supervised exercise program (n = 39; consisting of combined aerobic, resistance, agility/balance, and flexibility exercise; three sessions per week; 70 min per session) or a control group (n = 85) who maintained their usual care. Glycemic control, lipid profile, blood pressure, anthropometric profile, and the 10-year risk of coronary artery disease were assessed before and after the 9-month intervention. Results: A significant time * group interaction effect (p < 0.001) was identified in the values of the glycated hemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, and the 10-year risk of coronary artery disease. Conclusions: A long-term, community-based, combined exercise program developed with low-cost exercise strategies was effective in inducing significant benefits on glycemic control, lipid profile, blood pressure, anthropometric profile, and the 10-year risk of coronary artery disease in middle-aged and older patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinical Trial Identification Number: ISRCTN09240628.
A systematic review on the accuracy and the clinical outcome of computer-guided template-based implant dentistry.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the dental literature regarding accuracy and clinical application in computer-guided template-based implant dentistry. MATERIALS AND METHODS An electronic literature search complemented by manual searching was performed to gather data on accuracy and surgical, biological and prosthetic complications in connection with computer-guided implant treatment. For the assessment of accuracy meta-regression analysis was performed. Complication rates are descriptively summarized. RESULTS From 3120 titles after the literature search, eight articles met the inclusion criteria regarding accuracy and 10 regarding the clinical performance. Meta-regression analysis revealed a mean deviation at the entry point of 1.07 mm (95% CI: 0.76-1.22 mm) and at the apex of 1.63 mm (95% CI: 1.26-2 mm). No significant differences between the studies were found regarding method of template production or template support and stabilization. Early surgical complications occurred in 9.1%, early prosthetic complications in 18.8% and late prosthetic complications in 12% of the cases. Implant survival rates of 91-100% after an observation time of 12-60 months are reported in six clinical studies with 537 implants mainly restored immediately after flapless implantation procedures. CONCLUSION Computer-guided template-based implant placement showed high implant survival rates ranging from 91% to 100%. However, a considerable number of technique-related perioperative complications were observed. Preclinical and clinical studies indicated a reasonable mean accuracy with relatively high maximum deviations. Future research should be directed to increase the number of clinical studies with longer observation periods and to improve the systems in terms of perioperative handling, accuracy and prosthetic complications.