Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Cystinosis: From Bench-to-Bedside

Cystinosis is an autosomal recessive metabolic disease that belongs to the family of lysosomal storage disorders. The gene involved is the CTNS gene that encodes cystinosin, a seven-transmembrane domain lysosomal protein, which is a proton-driven cystine transporter. Cystinosis is characterized by the lysosomal accumulation of cystine, a dimer of cysteine, in all the cells of the body leading to multi-organ failure, including the failure of the kidney, eye, thyroid, muscle, and pancreas, and eventually causing premature death in early adulthood. The current treatment is the drug cysteamine, which is onerous and expensive, and only delays the progression of the disease. Employing the mouse model of cystinosis, using Ctns−/− mice, we first showed that the transplantation of syngeneic wild-type murine hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) led to abundant tissue integration of bone marrow-derived cells, a significant decrease in tissue cystine accumulation, and long-term kidney, eye and thyroid preservation. To translate this result to a potential human therapeutic treatment, given the risks of mortality and morbidity associated with allogeneic HSPC transplantation, we developed an autologous transplantation approach of HSPCs modified ex vivo using a self-inactivated lentiviral vector to introduce a functional version of the CTNS cDNA, pCCL-CTNS, and showed its efficacy in Ctns−/− mice. Based on these promising results, we held a pre-IND meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to carry out the FDA agreed-upon pharmacological and toxicological studies for our therapeutic candidate, manufacturing development, production of the GMP lentiviral vector, design Phase 1/2 of the clinical trial, and filing of an IND application. Our IND was cleared by the FDA on 19 December 2018, to proceed to the clinical trial using CD34+ HSPCs from the G-CSF/plerixafor-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells of patients with cystinosis, modified by ex vivo transduction using the pCCL-CTNS vector (investigational product name: CTNS-RD-04). The clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of CTNS-RD-04 and takes place at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and will include up to six patients affected with cystinosis. Following leukapheresis and cell manufacturing, the subjects undergo myeloablation before HSPC infusion. Patients also undergo comprehensive assessments before and after treatment to evaluate the impact of CTNS-RD-04 on the clinical outcomes and cystine and cystine crystal levels in the blood and tissues for 2 years. If successful, this treatment could be a one-time therapy that may eliminate or reduce renal deterioration as well as the long-term complications associated with cystinosis. In this review, we will describe the long path from bench-to-bedside for autologous HSPC gene therapy used to treat cystinosis.
A new method for low-capacitance probing

A method is suggested for cancelling the input capacitance of instruments and probes used in measurements. This approach is proposed as an alternative to conventional attenuating passive and active probes. The idea is demonstrated with a practical device that is able to nullify the parasitic capacitance to less than 2 pF without introducing signal attenuation. >
The Effect of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use On Attitudes and Interest in Using Regional Financial Management Information Systems

The era of globalization is an advanced internet use one of the strategic measures for innovation, for it is this penelian circuitry following results Effect of Perceived Usefulness Of Attitude Toward Using ditermia, where the higher the user's perception of the benefits created by SIPKD it is increasingly having a good acceptance. Effect of Perceived Ease Of Use Of Attitude Toward Using, received Perceived ease of use makes one believe that computers are easy to understand and use and can be defined a person would believe that by using the system very easy to learn, easy to be done according to its desires and ease to operate. InfluenceAttitude Toward Using Against Behavioral Intention, has an effect where the more you have a good attitude of acceptance of SIPKD, the more you have an interest in using technology.
Full-wave modeling of electric coupling probes in comb-line resonators and filters

The electric coupling probe for combline resonators and filters is rigorously modeled by the full-wave mode matching method for the first time. The coupling structure is considered as a cascaded network of the resonator and stripline discontinuities, and is solved by cascading the generalized scattering matrices of all the discontinuities. As a result, the electric probe couplings of both rectangular and cylindrical combline resonators and filters can be accurately determined. The validation and accuracy of the method are verified by comparing the numerical results with the measured data and shown to be in good agreement.
Role of Chitosan Nanoparticles in Improving Hepatic and Renal Toxicity Induced by Silver Nanoparticles Coated by Fe3O4 in Rats

Aims: Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are an important class of nanomaterials used as antimicrobial agents for a wide range of medical and industrial applications.Current study was performed to study the therapeutic effects of chitosan nanoparticles extract towards the treatments with Ag NPs in rat induced kidney and liver damage. Study Design: A total of 60 male adult albino rats were equally divided into six groups (G1, Control group; G2, chitosan group; G3, Ag NPs group as acute toxicity; G4, acute Ag NPs+Chitosan group; G5, Ag NPs group as chronic toxicity; G6, chronic Ag NPs+Chitosan). Results: Current results revealed that; a significant increase in the levels of serum ALT, AST, ALP, urea, creatinine, sodium, potassium, chloride ions and MDA in liver and kidney tissues after treatments with Ag NPs (in case of acute and chronic toxicity) as compared to control group. In contrast; a significant decrease in serum albumin, total proteins, calcium ions, SOD, catalase and GSH in liver and kidney tissues after treatments with Ag NPs as compared to control groups. Treatment of Ag NPs with Chitosan nanoparticles (Ch NPs) improved this change in liver and kidney functions as compared to Ag NPs. Conclusion: These findings suggested that the misuse of silver nanoparticles may contribute to continuous hepatic and renal damage. This shows that the desired dose of Ag NPs can safely be used with Chitosan in improving hepatic and renal damage in toxic group in young rats.
Scalable Many-Core Algorithms for Tridiagonal Solvers

In this article, we present a novel distributed memory tridiagonal solver library, targeting large-scale systems based on modern multicore and many-core processor architectures. The library uses methods based on both approximate and exact algorithms. Performance comparisons with the state of the art, using both a large Cray EX system and a GPU cluster show the algorithmic tradeoffs required at increasing machine scale to achieve good performance, particularly considering the advent of exascale systems.
"Co-Administration of Ketamine and Ethanol Induced Tau Hyperphosphorylation and Amyloid Accumulation in the Hippocampus and Striatum of Rats"

Methods: Here, we investigated the effects of different length exposure of ketamine with and without ethanol on mRNA expressions of the tau hyperphosphorylation and β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition related genes in the rat’s hippocampus and striatum. We also examined the effects of the combined drug treatment on the phosphorylating tau protein at multiple sites and Aβ accumulation, as well as related protein levels in the same brain areas of the rats.
From a reactive, heterarchical to a holonic system: an application for optimizing flow in an automotive plant

The aim of this paper is to study the notion of overall optimization of vehicle flow in an automotive plant. The present system architecture for managing flows may be described as heterarchical reactive. In terms of optimization, this has been translated as a succession of independent local schedulers. With the aim of reducing costs whilst maintaining quality, the goal is to increase the scheduling power of each scheduler with a view to global optimization. The proposal presented here is to model this strategy not by using a reactive heterarchical architecture but by a holonic-type architecture. A mathematical model has been used to formalize each of these two types of architecture. The advantages of this new architecture in terms of global performance and robustness of scheduling have been highlighted.
Improving the Morphology and Control Policy of Self-reconfiguring Modular Robots in Dynamic Environment (Student Abstract)

Ideally, self-reconfiguration modular robots (SMR) can change their morphology and perform actions related to a specific task in any scene. However, most SMRs only adapt to several specific scenes because their morphology and control policies are designed or trained based on these scenes. Once SMRs meet an unknown scene, especially multiply unknown scenes (called dynamic environment), these policies will be useless. Although some of these policies import evolutionary algorithms to enhance the ability of SMR to explore unknown scenes, they are very time-consuming. The reason is that individual fitness depends on the interaction between SMR and these scenes. We propose a two-stage reconfiguration algorithm (TSRA) without any prior knowledge to address the time-consuming problem. In the two stages, the reconfiguration methods use the evolutionary algorithm (GA) to simultaneously generate scene-fitted morphology and actions. The first stage method uses the estimation neural network to evaluate the individual fitness to run faster and can recommend better policies to the second stage. The second stage method obtains this fitness from scenes and updates the neural network to approximate these scenes. Through experiments, TSRA can find better morphology and control policies than the other two canonical algorithms --- GA and GEM-RL.
Antimicrobial Management of Complicated Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in an Era of Emerging Multi-Drug Resistance: Perspectives from 5 Gulf Countries

The number of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs) in the Arabian Gulf region has risen in recent years, particularly those caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. The high prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and associated cardio-metabolic comorbidities in the region renders medical and surgical management of cSSTI patients with MDR infections challenging. An experienced panel of international and regional cSSTI experts (consensus group on cSSTIs) was convened to discuss clinical considerations for MDR infections from societal, antimicrobial stewardship, and cost perspectives, to develop best practice recommendations. This article discusses antibiotic therapies suitable for treating MDR cSSTIs in patients from the Gulf region and recommends that these should be tailored according to the local bacterial ecology by country and region. The article highlights the need for a comprehensive patient treatment pathway and defined roles of each of the multidisciplinary teams involved with managing patients with MDR cSSTIs. Aligned and inclusive definitions of cSSTIs for clinical and research purposes, thorough and updated epidemiological data on cSSTIs and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the region, clearcut indications of novel agents and comprehensive assessment of comparative data should be factored into decision-making are necessary.
Exploiting Facial Action Unit in Video for Recognizing Depression using Metaheuristic and Neural Networks

The ubiquity of coronavirus cases around the world has been severe and its impact is not only affecting the economy and physical health, but also mental health such as depression. Unfortunately, the number of coronavirus cases may inhibit people to look for general practitioners or hospitals. This study represents research on facial behaviour analysis on recognizing depression from facial action units extracted from images or videos. We aimed to find a reduced set of facial action unit features using the metaheuristic approach. We utilized particle swarm optimization to select the best predictors and feed them to optimized standard feedforward neural networks. We obtained 97.83% accuracy for depression detection based on Distress Analysis Interview Corpus Wizard-of-Oz (DAIC WOZ) database containing 189 video sessions associated with the Patient Health Questionnaire depression label. This level of accuracy requires almost 9 minutes. However, this level of accuracy is higher than other state-of-the-art methods.
Hippocampal cAMP regulates HCN channel function on two time scales with differential effects on animal behavior

Description cAMP-mediated effect on HCN channel surface trafficking and mouse behavior depends on activation time scale. Timed modulation There are currently limited effective therapeutic options for major depressive disorder (MDD). The hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide–gated (HCN) channels are cation channels modulated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). HCNs have been identified as potential target for MDD. Here, Lyman et al. investigated the effects of modulating brain cAMP on HCN expression and on behavior in rodents. Acute increase in brain cAMP impaired behavior and spatial memory, whereas chronic cAMP activation in the hippocampus reduced HCN surface trafficking and rescued stress-induced cognitive impairments. The results suggest that modulating HCN surface expression might be effective for treating stress-related cognitive impairments. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide–gated (HCN) channels regulate neuronal excitability and represent a possible therapeutic target for major depressive disorder (MDD). These channels are regulated by intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). However, the relationship between cAMP signaling and the influence of HCN channels on behavior remains opaque. In this study, we investigated the role of hippocampal cAMP signaling on behavior using chemogenetic technology in mice. Acutely increasing cAMP limited spatial memory and motivated behavior by increasing HCN function. However, chronically elevated cAMP limited surface trafficking of HCN channels by disrupting the interaction between HCN and tetratricopeptide repeat-containing Rab8b-interacting protein (TRIP8b), an auxiliary subunit. Chronically increased cAMP in the dorsal hippocampus was also sufficient to rescue cognitive deficits induced by chronic stress in mice. These results reveal a behaviorally relevant form of regulation of HCN channel surface expression that has potential as a therapeutic target for cognitive deficits related to chronic stress.
The impact of experimentation on product development in companies involved in interactive marketing

Since its emergence, the Internet and Internet related technologies have permeated almost all aspects of the modern life. The impact of the Internet on the day-to-day activities of its users has been quite dramatic. However, its effect on the business community has been even more profound. Besides yielding additional opportunities for existing businesses, the Internet has facilitated a new era of companies that have the Internet at the center of their business model, businesses that simply would not be able to exist without it. As such Internet-centric and increasingly traditional businesses now rely on interactive marketing as a source of revenue, differentiation and competitive advantage. Despite the obvious importance to many businesses, the efficiency and improvement of interactive marketing has largely stagnated or at least proceeds at a low pace. This study examined interactive marketing through the prism of experimentation as a way of propelling interactive marketing forward and enabling it to keep pace with technological advances. Experimentation lies at the core of product development, improvement and innovation. Active experimentation has been utilized as a product strategy in numerous business fields, but it has been largely ignored in interactive marketing. This study examined a number of experimentation models and their applicability to interactive marketing. In addition it focused on the elements of interactive marketing that are conducive to experimentation.
Offshore wind farm with centralised power conversion and DC interconnection

The study of a hypothetical large offshore wind farm based on centralised power conversion and interconnected to the grid using a multiterminal parallel high voltage direct current (HVDC) link is presented. The 300 MW wind farm consists of 60 squirrel-cage based 5 MW generators connected to a common DC bus using ten voltage source converters (VSCs). The transmission system converters provide variable speed generator control, and therefore individual converters are not required for each wind generator, implying savings in wind farm costs. The paper studies the technical and economical benefits of the proposed topology, as well as the selection of the main components. A detailed analysis of the control circuits for both generator and grid facing converters, with respect to primary control functions, is also given. PSCAD/EMTDC simulation of the proposed concept is presented for realistic wind signals. The results confirm operation at an average optimum coefficient of performance at each respective generator group, as well as satisfactory stability even for severe wind speed changes. The proposed concept reduces the costs associated with DC interconnection and may simplify integration of large offshore wind farms at substantial distances.
Crack shape reconstruction from noisy signals in ECT of steam generator tube

In eddy current testing of steam generator tubes, signals are sometimes rendered noisy by the presence of other structures, such as support/tube plates outside of test materials, as well as the lift-off noise due to the expansion zone of the tube. This paper describes a new method for the crack reconstruction from these noisy signals, developed with a fast signal prediction and the steepest descent algorithm. The electromotive force signals of the mutual induction and differential outputs are obtained from a newly developed four-sensor probe. Noisy signals are processed by two kinds of signal processing method but residual noise remains. Several artificial cracks are reconstructed satisfactorily in short CPU time. Inverse results from laboratory data are shown in this paper.
pSafety: Privacy-Preserving Safety Monitoring in Online Ride Hailing Services

Online Ride Hailing (ORH) services gain remarkable development in the past decade, which enable riders and drivers to establish optimized rides via mobile device. To guarantee user safety, ORH service providers often monitor the ride trajectory and report the abnormal behavior once a trajectory deviation occurs. Along with the advantage of safety monitoring raises some vital privacy concerns on user location information leakage. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving safety monitoring scheme for ORH services, called pSafety. It enables an ORH service provider to detect user’s trajectory deviation without learning anything about users’ locations. In pSafety, we propose two secure trajectory similarity computation algorithms by using somewhat homomorphic encryption, which are used to plan an agreed path and measure trajectory deviation, respectively. Furthermore, we also design a ciphertext compression algorithm and a secure comparison protocol to improve efficiency. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluations show that pSafety is secure, accurate and efficient.
Analysis and design considerations of a load and line independent zero voltage switching full bridge DC/DC converter topology

The analysis and design of a zero voltage switching (ZVS) full bridge DC/DC power converter topology is presented in this paper. The converter topology presented here employs an asymmetrical auxiliary circuit consisting of a few passive components. With this auxiliary circuit, the full bridge converter can achieve ZVS independent of line and load conditions. The operating principle of the circuit is demonstrated, and the steady state analysis is performed. Based on the analysis, a criterion for optimal design is given. Experiment and simulation on a 350-400 V to 55 V, 500 W prototype converter operated at 100 kHz verify the design and show an overall efficiency of greater than 97% at full load.
Ultra-Wide-Band Microstrip Patch Antenna Design for Breast Cancer Detection

In this paper, a novel design for an ultra-wide-band (UWB) microstrip antenna with enhanced bandwidth for early detection of breast cancer has been proposed. It has been designed using CST software, which is a 3D analysis software package for electromagnetic components and systems design, analysis, and optimization. FR-4 has been used as a substrate, with dimensions of 60 × 70 mm, having a circular patch with a defected ground structure to reach the desired outcomes. The antenna has a peak gain of 4.431 dBi and works between 1.6 GHz and 10 GHz, which gives a bandwidth of 8.4 GHz with an average of –15 dB. The result of the simulation is presented in terms of radiation pattern, bandwidth, and return loss, and the validation of the proposed work is presented by the gain and the efficiency. A breast phantom model has been designed containing a tumor placed in a specific location, This, when combined with the kinetics of contrast medium propagation in various tissues, may effectively simulate normal breast tissue. The cancerous tumor is detected using specific absorption rate (SAR) analysis. The SAR is the rate of energy absorption in a tissue and is measured in W/kg. The SAR results are a maximum at the coordinates (1.085, 9.47273, 32.25), close to the actual location of the tumor at (0, 10, 40) The results display the ability to detect the tumor inside the breast and to reveal its location with high accuracy, and the antenna radiation meet the SAR standards.
Advanced giant magnetoresistance technology for measurement applications

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors are considered one of the first real applications of nanotechnology. They consist of nm-thick layered structures where ferromagnetic metals are sandwiched by nonmagnetic metals. Such multilayered films produce a large change in resistance (typically 10 to 20%) when subjected to a magnetic field, compared with a maximum change of a few per cent for other types of magnetic sensors. This technology has been intensively used in read heads for hard disk drives and now increasingly finds applications due to the high sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally these sensors are compatible with miniaturization and thus offer a high spatial resolution combined with a frequency range up to the 100 MHz regime and simple electronic conditioning. In this review, we first discuss the basics of the underlying magnetoresistance effects in layered structures and then present three prominent examples for future applications: in the field of current sensing the new GMR sensors offer high bandwidth and good accuracy in a space-saving open loop measurement configuration. In rotating systems they can be used for multiturn angle measurements, and in biotechnology the detection of magnetic particles enables the quantitative measurement of biomolecule concentrations.