Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuronal integrity and complement control synaptic material clearance by microglia after CNS injury

Phagocytosis of synaptic material by microglia is critical for central nervous system development. Less well understood is this microglial function in the injured adult brain. Assay of microglial phagocytosis is challenging, because peripheral myeloid cells engraft the site of injury, which could obscure interpretation of microglial roles. The model used here, optic nerve crush injury, results in degeneration of synapses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), which stimulates rapid activation and engulfment of synaptic material by resident microglia without myeloid cell engraftment. Pharmacological depletion of microglia causes postinjury accumulation of synaptic debris, suggesting that microglia are the dominant postinjury phagocytes. Genetic or pharmacological manipulations revealed that neuronal activity does not trigger microglia phagocytosis after injury. RNA sequencing reveals C1q and CD11b/CR3 involvement in clearance of debris by dLGN-resident microglia. Indeed, C1qa−/− and Itgam−/− mice exhibit impaired postinjury debris clearance. Our results show how neurodegenerative debris is cleared by microglia and offers a model for studying its mechanisms and physiological roles.
Explicating the Challenges of Providing Novel Media Experiences Driven by User Personal Data

The turn towards personal data to drive novel media experiences has resulted in a shift in the priorities and challenges associated with media creation and dissemination. This paper takes up the challenge of explicating this novel and dynamic scenario through an interview study of employees delivering diverse personal data driven media services within a large U.K. based media organisation. The results identify a need for better interactions in the user-data-service ecosystem where trust and value are prioritised and balanced. Being legally compliant and going beyond just the mandatory to further ensure social accountability and ethical responsibility as an organisation are unpacked as methods to achieve this balance in data centric interactions. The work also presents how technology is seen and used as a solution for overcoming challenges and realising priorities to provide value while preserving trust within the personal data ecosystem.
Interactive Visual Displays for Interpreting the Results of Clinical Trials: Formative Evaluation With Case Vignettes

Background At the point of care, evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is underutilized in helping clinicians meet their information needs. Objective To design interactive visual displays to help clinicians interpret and compare the results of relevant RCTs for the management of a specific patient, and to conduct a formative evaluation with physicians comparing interactive visual versus narrative displays. Methods We followed a user-centered and iterative design process succeeded by development of information display prototypes as a Web-based application. We then used a within-subjects design with 20 participants (8 attendings and 12 residents) to evaluate the usability and problem-solving impact of the information displays. We compared subjects’ perceptions of the interactive visual displays versus narrative abstracts. Results The resulting interactive visual displays present RCT results side-by-side according to the Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) framework. Study participants completed 19 usability tasks in 3 to 11 seconds with a success rate of 78% to 100%. Participants favored the interactive visual displays over narrative abstracts according to perceived efficiency, effectiveness, effort, user experience and preference (all P values <.001). Conclusions When interpreting and applying RCT findings to case vignettes, physicians preferred interactive graphical and PICO-framework-based information displays that enable direct comparison of the results from multiple RCTs compared to the traditional narrative and study-centered format. Future studies should investigate the use of interactive visual displays to support clinical decision making in care settings and their effect on clinician and patient outcomes.
A QEE-Oriented Fair Power Allocation for Two-tier Heterogeneous Networks

In future wireless network, user experience and energy efficiency will play more and more important roles in the communication systems compared to their roles at present. Quality of experience (QoE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) become the widely used metrics. In this paper, we study a combinatorial problem of QoE and EE and investigate a fair power allocation in heterogeneous networks. We first design a new metric, QoE-aware EE (QEE) to reflect the relationship of QoE and energy. Then, the concept of Utopia QEE is introduced, which is defined as the achievable maximum QEE in ideal conditions, for each user. Finally, we transform the power allocation process to an optimization of ratio of QEE and Utopia QEE and use invasive weed optimization (IWO) algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can get converged and efficiently improve the system energy efficiency and the QoE for each user.
Optimal Online Contention Resolution Schemes via Ex-Ante Prophet Inequalities

Online contention resolution schemes (OCRSs) were proposed by Feldman, Svensson, and Zenklusen as a generic technique to round a fractional solution in the matroid polytope in an online fashion. It has found applications in several stochastic combinatorial problems where there is a commitment constraint: on seeing the value of a stochastic element, the algorithm has to immediately and irrevocably decide whether to select it while always maintaining an independent set in the matroid. Although OCRSs immediately lead to prophet inequalities, these prophet inequalities are not optimal. Can we instead use prophet inequalities to design optimal OCRSs? We design the first optimal $1/2$-OCRS for matroids by reducing the problem to designing a matroid prophet inequality where we compare to the stronger benchmark of an ex-ante relaxation. We also introduce and design optimal $(1-1/e)$-random order CRSs for matroids, which are similar to OCRSs but the arrival is chosen uniformly at random.
Cellular mechanisms of slime gland refilling in Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii)

ABSTRACT Hagfishes use their defensive slime to ward off gill-breathing predators. Slime gland refilling is a surprisingly slow process, and previous research has shown that the composition of the slime exudate changes significantly during refilling, which likely has consequences for the functionality of the slime. This study set out to expand our understanding of slime gland refilling by examining the cellular processes involved in refilling of the glands, as well as determining where in the gland the main slime cells – the gland thread cells and gland mucous cells – arise. Slime glands were electro-stimulated to exhaust their slime stores, left to refill for set periods of time, and harvested for histological and immunohistochemical examination. Whole slime glands, gland thread cell morphometrics and slime cell proportions were examined over the refilling cycle. Slime glands decreased significantly in size after exhaustion, but steadily increased in size over refilling. Gland thread cells were the limiting factor in slime gland refilling, taking longer to replenish and mature than gland mucous cells. Newly produced gland thread cells underwent most of their growth near the edge of the gland, and larger cells were found farthest from the edge of the gland. Immunohistochemical analysis also revealed proliferating cells only within the epithelial lining of the slime gland, suggesting that new slime cells originate from undifferentiated cells lining the gland. Our results provide an in-depth look at the cellular dynamics of slime gland refilling in Pacific hagfish, and provide a model for how slime glands refill at the cellular level. Highlighted Article: Hagfish slime gland refilling is a lengthy process; new slime cells are produced in the epithelial lining of the slime gland, and are moved to the center of the gland as new cells are produced below them during refilling.
Sputtering and annealing graphene oxide hole-transporting layer for perovskite solar cells

In this study, the graphene thin films were deposited by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputter. Then, the graphene thin film was annealing with different temperature in the atmosphere to form graphene oxide (GO) thin films. The solar cell structure was inverted for ITO/Graphene oxide/ CH3NH3PbI3/PCBM/Ag. Photovolatic conversion efficiency of the cells based on the different graphene oxide morphologies was analyzed by XRD, SEM, PL, TR-PL and UV-Vis absorption spectra. The power conversion efficiency of the best cell was 1.75%.
The HealthSign Project: Vision and Objectives

This paper presents the HealthSign project, which deals with the problem of sign language recognition with focus on medical interaction scenarios. The deaf user will be able to communicate in his native sign language with a physician. The continuous signs will be translated to text and presented to the physician. Similarly, the speech will be recognized and presented as text to the deaf users. Two alternative versions of the system will be developed, one doing the recognition on a server, and another one doing the recognition on a mobile device.
Discovering Cryptographic Algorithms in Binary Code Through Loop Enumeration

In benign programs, encryption is used to prevent sensitive data from being exposed. Malware, on the other hand, uses encryption to hide from analysis or perform malicious activities, e.g. ransomware. The challenge in detecting the presence of these cryptographic algorithms lies in the fact that it is generally not possible to identify the entire functionality of binary programs through static analysis. In this paper we present a novel approach for detecting specific cryptographic algorithms through control flow analysis based on symbolic execution. The control flow graph generated and symbolic execution done by the angr framework is used to search for loops. Nodes that are executed a certain number of times and in a specific order let us point out possible cryptographic activities. In the proof-of-concept implementation we were able to identify and differentiate DES, TripleDES and several variants of the AES algorithm. Our solution is able to detect the presence of these algorithms without access to the source code of the program. It also eliminates the need for a skilled operator to perform the analysis.
Metabolic syndrome in psychiatric patients: overview, mechanisms, and implications

Psychiatric patients have a greater risk of premature mortality, predominantly due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Convincing evidence shows that psychiatric conditions are characterized by an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors including dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. This increased risk is present for a range of psychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is some evidence for a dose-response association with the severity and duration of symptoms and for a bidirectional longitudinal impact between psychiatric disorders and MetS. Associations generally seem stronger with abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia dysregulations than with hypertension. Contributing mechanisms are an unhealthy lifestyle and a poor adherence to medical regimen, which are prevalent among psychiatric patients. Specific psychotropic medications have also shown a profound impact in increasing MetS dysregulations. Finally, pleiotropy in genetic vulnerability and pathophysiological mechanisms, such as those leading to the increased central and peripheral activation of immunometabolic or endocrine systems, plays a role in both MetS and psychiatric disorder development. The excess risk of MetS and its unfavorable somatic health consequences justifies a high priority for future research, prevention, close monitoring, and treatment to reduce MetS in the vulnerable psychiatric patient.
The Perception of Humanoid Robots for Domestic Use in Saudi Arabia

We propose a research to investigate Saudi peoples' perception of humanoid domestic robots and attitude towards the possibility of having one in their house. Through a series of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participatory design sessions, this research will explore Saudi peoples' level of acceptance towards domestic robots, the tasks and responsibilities they would feel comfortable assigning to these robots, their preferred appearance of domestic robots, and the cultural stereotypes they feel a domestic robot must mimic.
Improving elevator dynamic control policies based on energy and demand visibility

Elevator management system has received impressive attention due to its significance to transportation effectiveness for mid and high building. An important thing to improve elevator management system is to collect external information. This paper presents a method to collect number of passenger by using cameras and deep learning. By considering the status inside elevators, the directions of passenger movement, and the number of waiting passengers, the system occasionally allocates multiple elevators for a single hall call, which assists in reducing passengers' waiting time. This study applies deep learning to identify number of people queuing for an elevator. Data is gathered through some cameras to be analyzed with Region Based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN). Finally, we optimize the elevator dispatching rule by adding queuing data to the traditional elevator control system. Our goal is to minimize the average waiting time of the passengers.
Markov chain-based flight operations risk analysis

Flight data recorded by Quick Access Recorder (QAR) can accurately reflect aircraft's flight conditions and pilot's operations. By analyzing the relationship between flight parameter data and pilot's operations, the risk analysis of flight operations is carried out to provide guidance for pilots' training. For specific types of flight parameter exceedances, this paper employs an analysis model constructed by interval partition and Markov method to analyze the potential dangers of flight operations. The analysis results can help reduce the incidence of flight exceedances and improve flight safety.
A novel cytochrome P450 mono‐oxygenase from Streptomyces platensis resembles activities of human drug metabolizing P450s

Cytochrome P450 mono‐oxygenases (P450) are versatile enzymes which play essential roles in C‐source assimilation, secondary metabolism, and in degradations of endo‐ and exogenous xenobiotics. In humans, several P450 isoforms constitute the largest part of phase I metabolizing enzymes and catalyze oxidation reactions which convert lipophilic xenobiotics, including drugs, to more water soluble species. Recombinant human P450s and microorganisms are applied in the pharmaceutical industry for the synthesis of drug metabolites for pharmacokinetics and toxicity studies. Compared to the membrane‐bound eukaryotic P450s, prokaryotic ones exhibit some advantageous features, such as high stability and generally easier heterologous expression. Here, we describe a novel P450 from Streptomyces platensis DSM 40041 classified as CYP107L that efficiently converts several commercial drugs of various size and properties. This P450 was identified by screening of actinobacterial strains for amodiaquine and ritonavir metabolizing activities, followed by genome sequencing and expression of the annotated S. platensis P450s in Escherichia coli. Performance of CYP107L in biotransformations of amodiaquine, ritonavir, amitriptyline, and thioridazine resembles activities of the main human metabolizing P450s, namely CYPs 3A4, 2C8, 2C19, and 2D6. For application in the pharmaceutical industry, an E. coli whole‐cell biocatalyst expressing CYP107L was developed and evaluated for preparative amodiaquine metabolite production.
Research on formation mechanism of passenger emergencies based on theory of social network analysis

At present, the number of passenger mass emergencies is increasing, how to prevent and reduce the adverse effects of such incidents becomes very urgent. The structural characteristics of the network groups, relationships and the exchange of knowledge sharing are analyzed in the perspectives of network density, distance, centrality and cohesive subgroup. The depth of interaction is analyzed with content analysis method as an auxiliary. The network spreading strategies of dealing with passenger mass emergencies are proposed based on SNA.
Viewers' behaviors at home on TV and other screens: an online survey

In a context where audiovisual consumption habits are continually transforming, mostly driven by Video On Demand services, this paper has the main goal of characterizing the motivational factors and behaviors related with the uses of multiple devices at home. The report is sustained in the results of an online survey carried out in Portugal, aiming to collect information about the online video and linear TV content consumption. Besides the regular TV contents, usually watched on a TV connected to a set-top box, the Computer was the most chosen device to watch all the other sources of content at home. Furthermore, 71,4% stated that they usually connect more than one device to the TV screen.
Zinc oxide nanoparticles as contrast‐enhancing agents for microwave imaging

PURPOSE Microwave imaging/sensing is an emerging technology that shows potential for healthcare diagnostic applications, particularly in breast cancer detection. This technique estimates the anatomically variant dielectric properties of the breast. Similar to other imaging modalities, nanoparticles (NPs) could potentially be utilized as contrast agents to increase contrast between healthy and malignant tissues. METHODS In this study, aqueous suspensions of NPs such as surface-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes, zinc oxide, and silicon dioxide are studied to assess their potential effective contrast for microwave imaging. Morphology characterization of the NPs has been achieved using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The size and stability of colloidal dispersions have been characterized by dynamic light scattering technique (DLS) and Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis). The dielectric characterization of the aqueous-based colloidal suspensions is recorded over the microwave frequency range between 1 and 4 GHz. RESULTS Zinc oxide NP dispersion has shown an increase in the dielectric constant compared to the background medium. Furthermore, PEGylation of ZnO NPs can achieve a valid increase in the dielectric constant compared to water, which was shown to be concentration dependent. CONCLUSION These results suggest that ZnO nanomaterials have the potential to be used in biomedical applications such as breast imaging to improve diagnostic capabilities.
Matrix decomposition based salient object detection in hyperspectral imagery

Salient detection in hyperspectral images (HSIs) can be benefited by the abundant spectral information. Most related methods adopt integrating the spectral characteristics into the traditional Itti's model to consider the local region contrast. However, these methods often segmente the object into several pieces and are sensitive to uneven illumination. To address these problems, we propose a novel matrix decomposition based salient object detection method for HSIs. With being modelled with spectral gradient feature, the HSI is decomposed into a low-rank background matrix with a sparse one which can indicate the salient object with more intact appearance. In addition, the spectral gradient feature guarantees the proposed method to perform robustly with uneven illumination. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Genetic polymorphisms related to meat traits in purebred and crossbred Nelore cattle.

O presente trabalho objetivou estimar, em bovinos de corte de diferentes grupos geneticos (Nelore e Nelore x Bos taurus), as frequencias alelicas e genotipicas dos polimorfismos CAST/XmnI, do gene da calpastatina, e CAPN530, do gene da calpaina, bem como avaliar a ocorrencia de associacoes entre esses polimorfismos e caracteristicas da carcaca e da carne produzida. Trezentos animais - 114 Nelore, 67 Angus x Nelore, 44 Rubia Galega x Nelore, 41 Canchim, 19 tricross Brangus e 15 tricross Braunvieh - foram genotipados por PCR-RFLP e fenotipados para area de olho de lombo (AOL), cobertura de gordura subcutânea (CGS), gordura intramuscular (GI), forca de cisalhamento (FC) e indice de fragmentacao miofibrilar (IFM). A ocorrencia dos dois alelos dos polimorfismos de nucleotideo unico (SNPs) CAST/XmnI e CAPN530 em animais B. indicus, que viabilizou estudos de associacao em gado Nelore puro e cruzado, foi demonstrada pela primeira vez neste trabalho. Nenhuma relacao foi encontrada entre os SNPs dos genes CAST e CAPN1 e as caracteristicas de crescimento (AOL) ou deposicao de gordura (CGS e GI), ja que a calpastatina e a µ-calpaina nao estao fisiologicamente envolvidas com essas caracteristicas. Os resultados de associacao entre os genotipos e a maciez da carne maturada (avaliada por FC e IFM) mostraram a pouca utilidade desses marcadores na selecao de bovinos Nelore puros ou cruzados com B. taurus.
Semantic Oriented Document Clustering Using Distribution Semantics

The exponential growth of electronic form of textual documents in both public and proprietary storage force researchers to find way to efficiently extract meaningful, actionable information from these documents. Document clustering has find its niche in this area. This paper proposes a document representational model based on distributional semantics, the law of distributional semantics says that the linguist terms that appear with similar distribution in a language corpus generally have similar meaning. This representation of document model uses only those terms (linguistic feature) that have same distribution over a given collection of documents. So to find this, it is needed to find out the distributional terms by using distributional criteria and then representing the documents by only these distributional terms. A novel similarity measure is proposed over these documents that also utilized the very nature of distributional semantics in similarity calculation. Finally, hierarchal agglomerative clustering (HAC) is used to produce the final clusters. Standard text mining datasets are used to measure the effectiveness of this approach. The evaluation is based on purity of clusters and proposed approach achieved far better clustering results in comparison to conventional approach.