Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Study of a Handheld Digital Microscope for Biomedical Applications

In recent years, biotechnology is a highly developed and popular research topic. Microorganism behavior measurement is an important method for biotechnology experiment. Microscope is often used to measure microorganism behavior. The disadvantages of using the tradition microscope are expensive, heavy when the magnification is too large it's not easy to tracking microorganism. In this research, we focus on the development of a low-cost and convenient hand-held digital microscope platform. Based on digital microscope technology, we can observe and record any tiny object's behavior and movement, like Paramecium behavior etc. The platform is not only low-cost, easy to operation, but it can also connect to a computer for further data processing and analysis it let the digital microscope can be used in many applications.
Reliability side-effects in Internet of Things application layer protocols

With the widespread use of IoT devices in safety-critical applications, new constraints should be addressed in designing IoT infrastructures. Reliability is one of the most important characteristics of an IoT system which should be satisfied with high consideration. The way how IoT devices communicate with each other in different layers of architecture, plays an important role in building a reliable IoT infrastructure. Maintaining the desired level of reliability in IoT applications through application layer protocols, imposes a noticeable amount of overhead to different characteristics of IoT systems. In this paper, we are going to investigate these overheads through practical evaluations on a conventional IoT infrastructure. To this end, we will compare two well-known application layer protocols, i.e., MQTT with many reliable features and CoAP with fewer reliability mechanisms, from different aspects. Conducted experiments in Arduino test-beds illustrate while MQTT provides more reliable and predictable infrastructure for IoT devices, on average, it imposes 364uW of more power consumption than CoAP for delivering the same amount of data. Furthermore, utilizing MQTT as a reliable application layer protocol, imposes 4.99x of more latency in comparison with CoAP.
Nonlinear Y-Like Receptive Fields in the Early Visual Cortex: An Intermediate Stage for Building Cue-Invariant Receptive Fields from Subcortical Y Cells

Many of the neurons in early visual cortex are selective for the orientation of boundaries defined by first-order cues (luminance) as well as second-order cues (contrast, texture). The neural circuit mechanism underlying this selectivity is still unclear, but some studies have proposed that it emerges from spatial nonlinearities of subcortical Y cells. To understand how inputs from the Y-cell pathway might be pooled to generate cue-invariant receptive fields, we recorded visual responses from single neurons in cat Area 18 using linear multielectrode arrays. We measured responses to drifting and contrast-reversing luminance gratings as well as contrast modulation gratings. We found that a large fraction of these neurons have nonoriented responses to gratings, similar to those of subcortical Y cells: they respond at the second harmonic (F2) to high-spatial frequency contrast-reversing gratings and at the first harmonic (F1) to low-spatial frequency drifting gratings (“Y-cell signature”). For a given neuron, spatial frequency tuning for linear (F1) and nonlinear (F2) responses is quite distinct, similar to orientation-selective cue-invariant neurons. Also, these neurons respond to contrast modulation gratings with selectivity for the carrier (texture) spatial frequency and, in some cases, orientation. Their receptive field properties suggest that they could serve as building blocks for orientation-selective cue-invariant neurons. We propose a circuit model that combines ON- and OFF-center cortical Y-like cells in an unbalanced push–pull manner to generate orientation-selective, cue-invariant receptive fields. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A significant fraction of neurons in early visual cortex have specialized receptive fields that allow them to selectively respond to the orientation of boundaries that are invariant to the cue (luminance, contrast, texture, motion) that defines them. However, the neural mechanism to construct such versatile receptive fields remains unclear. Using multielectrode recording, we found a large fraction of neurons in early visual cortex with receptive fields not selective for orientation that have spatial nonlinearities like those of subcortical Y cells. These are strong candidates for building cue-invariant orientation-selective neurons; we present a neural circuit model that pools such neurons in an imbalanced “push–pull” manner, to generate orientation-selective cue-invariant receptive fields.
Complement Activation Associated with ADAMTS13 Deficiency in Human and Murine Thrombotic Microangiopathy

This study addressed the contribution of ADAMTS13 deficiency to complement activation in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Renal tissue and blood samples were available from 12 TTP patients. C3 and C5b-9 deposition were demonstrated in the renal cortex of two TTP patients, by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry, respectively. C3 was also demonstrated in the glomeruli of Shiga toxin-2–treated Adamts13−/− mice (n = 6 of 7), but less in mice that were not Shiga toxin-2 treated (n = 1 of 8, p < 0.05) or wild-type mice (n = 0 of 7). TTP patient plasma (n = 9) contained significantly higher levels of complement-coated endothelial microparticles than control plasma (n = 13), as detected by flow cytometry. Exposure of histamine-stimulated primary glomerular endothelial cells to platelet-rich plasma from patients, or patient platelet-poor plasma combined with normal platelets, in a perfusion system, under shear, induced C3 deposition on von Willebrand factor–platelet strings (on both von Willebrand factor and platelets) and on endothelial cells. Complement activation occurred via the alternative pathway. No C3 was detected when cells were exposed to TTP plasma that was preincubated with EDTA or heat-inactivated, or to control plasma. In the perfusion system, patient plasma induced more release of C3- and C9-coated endothelial microparticles compared with control plasma. The results indicate that the microvascular process induced by ADAMTS13 deficiency triggers complement activation on platelets and the endothelium, which may contribute to formation of thrombotic microangiopathy.
A three‐dimensional muscle model: A quantified relation between form and function of skeletal muscles

A three‐dimensional muscle model with complex geometry is described and tested against experimental data. Using this model, several muscles were constructed. These muscles have equal optimum length but differ in architecture. The force exerted by the constructed muscles, in relation to their actual length and velocity of shortening, is discussed. Generally speaking, the constructed muscles with considerable pennation have great fiber angles, a great physiological cross section, a narrow active and steep passive length‐force relation, and a low maximal velocity of shortening. The maximal power (force times velocity) delivered by the constructed muscles is shown to be almost independent of the architecture of the muscles. The steepness of the passive length‐force relation is determined mainly by the shortest fibers within the group of constructed muscles, wheras maximal velocity of shortening and the width of the active length‐force relation are determined mainly by the longest fibers.
Tumor microenvironment indoctrination

Nastiness of cancer does not only reside in the corruption of cancer cells by genetic aberrations that drive their sustained proliferative power—the roots of malignancy—but also in its aptitude to reciprocally sculpt its surrounding environment and cellular stromal ecosystem, in such a way that the corrupted tumor microenvironment becomes a full pro-tumorigenic entity. Such a contribution had been appreciated three decades ago already, with the discovery of tumor angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling. Nevertheless, the recent emergence of the tumor microenvironment as the critical determinant in cancer biology is paralleled by the promising therapeutic potential it carries, opening alternate routes to fight cancer. The study of the tumor microenvironment recruited numerous lead-scientists over the years, with distinct perspectives, and some of them have kindly accepted to contribute to the elaboration of this special issue entitled Tumor microenvironment indoctrination: An emerging hallmark of cancer.
Cytokeratin-based CTC counting unrelated to clinical follow up.

BACKGROUND Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been reported to be a relevant prognostic biomarker in metastatic patients. However, their clinical use and impact is still under debate. We have thus comparatively and kinetically assessed two CTC detection methods according to the patient's clinical follow up. METHODS CTC counting and characterization were repeatedly performed during follow up in a patient with metastatic undifferentiated non-small cell lung cancer by using cytokeratin (CK)-dependent immunomagnetic separation (Miltenyi) and CK-independent, size-based isolation [isolation by size of tumor cells (ISET)] (Rarecells). RESULTS Comparison between the two methods showed a parallel increase of CTC detected by ISET and worsening of the clinical status, while CK-dependent CTC numbers were decreasing, misleadingly suggesting a response to treatment. ISET results were in agreement with the clinical follow up showing Circulating tumor microemboli (CTM) and CTC expressing a mesenchymal marker with absence of epithelial markers. CONCLUSIONS This case report study shows the interest of a comparative and kinetic analysis of different methods for CTCs detection combined with their evaluation according to the clinical follow up. Our results should open up an area for future research and validation in larger clinical cohorts.
TroVax, a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara virus encoding 5T4: Lessons learned and future development

There has been renewed interest in developing vaccine and immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. The oncofetal antigen, 5T4, is a surface glycoprotein that is expressed on a variety of human adenocarcinomas but rarely on normal tissue. 5T4 plays an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. The expression patterns and functional role in the metastatic process suggest that 5T4 is a good target for vaccine development. A modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) encoding human 5T4 (designated TroVax) demonstrated therapeutic effects in murine tumor models and human T cells recognized 5T4 epitopes in an HLA-restricted manner. The TroVax vaccine has subsequently been evaluated in clinical trials targeting patients with colorectal cancer, renal cell carcinoma and hormone refractory prostate cancer. Herein, we review the results of these clinical studies, discuss the lessons learned through these trials and provide some insight into the future development of TroVax as a cancer vaccine.
Crystal structure of catena-poly[hemi[1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolium] [[μ3-acetato-κ3 O:O:O′-tri-μ2-acetato-κ6 O:O′-dicopper(II)(Cu—Cu)]-μ-chlorido] dichloromethane sesquisolvate]

The title copper(II) complex, {(C27H37N2)[Cu4(CH3COO)8Cl]·3CH2Cl2}n, is a one-dimensional coordination polymer. The asymmetric unit is composed of a copper(II) tetraacetate paddle-wheel complex, a Cl− anion situated on a twofold rotation axis, half a 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolium cation (the whole molecule being generated by twofold rotation symmetry) and one and a half of a dichloromethane solvent molecule (one being located about a twofold rotation axis). The central metal-organic framework comprises of a tetranuclear copper(II) acetate ‘paddle-wheel’ complex which arises from the dimerization of the copper(II) tetraacetate core comprising of three μ2-bidentate acetate and one μ3-tridentate acetate ligands per binuclear paddle-wheel complex. Both CuII atoms of the binuclear component adopt a distorted square-pyramidal coordination geometry (τ = 0.04), with a Cu⋯Cu separation of 2.6016 (2) Å. The apical coordination site of one CuII atom is occupied by an O atom of a neighbouring acetate bridge [Cu—O = 2.200 (2) Å], while that of the second CuII atom is occupied by a bridging chloride ligand [Cu⋯Cl = 2.4364 (4) Å]. The chloride bridge is slightly bent with respect to the Cu⋯Cu internuclear axis [Cu—Cl—Cu = 167.06 (6)°] and the tetranuclear units are located about a twofold rotation axis, forming the one-dimensional polymer that propagates along [101]. Charge neutrality is maintained by the inclusion of the 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolium cation within the crystal lattice. In the crystal, the cation and dichloromethane solvent molecules are linked to the coordination polymer by various C—H⋯O and C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. There are no other significant intermolecular interactions present.
Sugar Outlook to 2008-09: Low Prices to Continue for the Medium Term

The world indicator raw sugar price is forecast to rise to average around US7.5c/lb in 2004-05. Leading exporter Brazil will remain the dominant influence on future world sugar supplies and prices. Returns in the Australian industry are very low because of low world prices combined with exchange rate factors. Rising protectionism in the Russian Federation and continued resistance to reforming the highly distorted sugar markets of the European Union and the United States will be negative for world prices over the medium term.
The effects of fiscal decentralization on local public finance in Korea : public spending, functional responsibility, and fiscal independence

In recent years, fiscal decentralization has been advocated worldwide. The common motive is that fiscal decentralization is considered to have the potential to improve the performance of the public sector. However, some recent studies hold that the conventional argument that fiscal decentralization will increase economic efficiency in the public sector may not be applicable in developing countries. Also, the conventional argument regarding functional assignment has been challenged on several grounds. The recent development of local autonomy and fiscal decentralization in Korea provides an excellent opportunity for empirical investigation of this subject. Because Korea represents the borderline between developed and developing countries, a decentralization study of such a country will contribute to testing the contention that there is no efficiency gain in developing countries, as well as investigating the issue of functional assignment outside developed countries. To date, there have been few efforts to systematically analyze the actual effects of decentralization on the overall public sector in Korea. This study asks three questions. First, has fiscal decentralization affected the size of the public budget in Korea? Second, what changes occur in functional responsibility after the onset of fiscal decentralization? Third, what are the effects of decentralization on the fiscal independence of local governments? The study employs regression analysis to test three hypotheses. We find decentralization improves economic efficiency and accountability in the Korean public sector. The levels of developmental and redistribution expenditures increase as decentralization proceeds in Korea. Finally, the degree of decentralization is positively associated with the degree of the fiscal independence of local governments.
Dynamic processes in the Venice region outlined by environmental isotopes

Research carried out in the last 40 years has shown the scientific importance of groundwater circulation both in the Northern Adriatic sea bed and within the uppermost sedimentary layers of the Venice lagoon and of the Venice plain. Hydrodynamic processes are strictly controlled by a well-cemented sedimentary horizon lying under and around Venice (‘caranto’), which plays the role of regional aquitard. This layer was attributed to the subaerial cementation of the Flandrian (8–10 ka Before Present) sedimentary surface. The caranto is generalised as a continuum horizon, being an easy explanation for several environmental, hydrogeological and geotechnical problems, e.g., a base layer for landfills, a confining layer for deep aquifers and the best substratum for locating the oak wooden pile-dwelling needed to support the largest buildings. The preservation of the isotope signal within the deep aquifers and aquiclude system records the changes in surface and groundwater characteristics and suggests the present and past recharge regimes. In this region, the heavily perturbed hydrodynamic conditions do not allow for the use of isotopic signals to derive a correct reconstruction of the present recharge. The perturbations induced by the intensive anthropogenic activity force to follow climate evolution by considering deep groundwater and pore waters. In addition, the presence of carbonatic rocks inside terrigeneous sediments affects the reconstruction of the past. Results indicate that carbonatic rocks are created by seepage, through the sediments, of gaseous carbon compounds from decaying organic layers. The gas interactions with the intra-sedimentary saline and fresh waters produce CO2, inducing the cementation of the sediments.
Twitter Sentiment Classification Using Binary Shuffled Frog Algorithm

AbstractTwitter is a popular social networking site allowing users to read/post messages (tweets). Among the topic varieties, people in Twitter express sentiments for brands, stars, merchandises, and social events. Hence, it draws attention to assess a crowd’s sentiments in Twitter. Tweets classify a target’s sentiments as positive, negative or neutral. Individuals comment on many entities (or targets) in a tweet, thereby affecting availabilities for current methods. This is beneficial for clients who explore products sentiment before acquisition, or corporations wanting to check public sentiment of their products. This work proposes a new Twitter Sentiment Classification algorithm using novel feature selection technique with ensemble classifier through a meta-heuristic algorithm. Feature vectors are represented using binary encoding and a novel transfer function to flip encoding bits using shuffled frog meta-heuristic algorithm is proposed. To evaluate the new algorithm, Twitter corpus from Stanford Univ.
Low - speed dynamic performance improvement strategy based on ADRC for sensorless IPMSM control system

This paper presents an active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy based dynamic performance improvement scheme for position sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive. In traditional high- frequency injection based sensorless control, the digital filters and the inaccurate position tracking observer used in sensorless control deteriorate the dynamic property. For dynamic performance improvement, an improved ADRC strategy is proposed adopting ESO and NLEF control, which can estimate and compensate the nonlinear and uncertain disturbance. The proposed ADRC strategy based sensorless control scheme was evaluated on a sensorless IPMSM drive, and the experimental results confirm the expected dynamic performance.
Application identification system for SDN QoS based on machine learning and DNS responses

In recent years, the demand for application-specific qualify of service (QoS) management has grown. To effectively do application-specific QoS, a system albe to do flow classification at the application level is required. This paper presents an application identification system that can be integrated with a QoS management system in a software defined network (SDN). This paper describes the method to obtain ground truth (label) of the flow from four mainstream operating systems (OS), and the method to classify flow based on supervised machine learning and DNS responses. In our experiment, average F-measure of all applications reached 93.48%. The testing data set contained 294 applications, given that each platform version or execution file of an application was one application. The testing data set included Skype, Facebook, and other popular applications. Results showed that this system can identify application traffic on different platforms with high accuracy.
Linkage with the Ser9Gly DRD3 polymorphism in essential tremor families

To the Editor: Essential tremor (ET) is the most prevalent adult movement disorder. The prevalence estimates in different studies worldwide range from 0.4 to 3.9% for the general population, and the prevalence increases with age, affecting at least 5% for the age group above 60 years. ET has long been recognized as an inherited disease, because various studies report a positive family history; transmission is considered to be autosomal dominant, with variable expressivity and high penetrance (1). Previous studies of autosomal dominant pedigree of ET have identified two disease loci: in a first study of 16 Icelandic families, a gene for familial ET (ETM1) was mapped to chromosome 3q13, with a maximized overall LOD score >3.7 (2). A second locus on chromosome 2p22–25 was subsequently identified (ETM2), by linkage analysis of a large family of Czech descent (3). Using a candidate gene approach, we tested the dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3) gene (4) in the various members of 30 unrelated French ET families; because the DRD3 gene is located in the 3q13.3 chromosomal region (5), it constitutes a potential candidate gene. We used the BalI restriction fragment length polymorphism identified in the coding region of DRD3 (6), which corresponds to a point mutation exchanging a Serine in position 9 to a Glycine (Ser9Gly) residue in the N-terminal part of the receptor. All patients included in our study fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of classic hereditary ET as defined by the Consensus Statement of the Movement Disorder Society (7), and only patients with probable and definite familial ET were included in the study (8). The screening procedure for signs of ET consisted of the drawing of an Archimedes’ spiral with the dominant hand within preprinted lines and a clinical examination that included neurological examination, tremor type and its topography (including age at onset), and search for associated signs or symptoms and drugs used. Forearm tremor scores were measured as described (9). After informed consent, genomic DNA was prepared from leukocytes harvested from whole blood of subjects by using standard methods. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was carried out using a PTC-200 thermocycler, with the following primers flanking exon 1 of the D3 receptor gene: 2350A: 50-GCTCTATCTCA ACTCTCACA-A0 (forward) and 2351B: 50AAGTCTACTCACCTCCAGGTA-30 (reverse), designated to amplify a specific 304 bp segment. PCR amplification was performed in a total volume of 50 ml containing 10 ng of genomic DNA, 1 U Taq polymerase, 2 ml 10 PCR buffer, 10 pmol of each primer, and 200 mM of each dNTP (hybridization temperature of 56 C). The PCR products were then restricted with MscI for 4 h at 37 C, and digestion products were analyzed following electrophoresis in 3% Metaphor agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide under UV light. Restriction results in a 304-bp product (allele S), or 206-bp (allele G) and 98-bp products, as well as constant bands of 111 bp and 47 bp.