Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epigenetics in myeloid derived suppressor cells: a sheathed sword towards cancer

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a heterogeneous population of cells composed of progenitors and precursors to myeloid cells, are deemed to participate in the development of tumor-favoring immunosuppressive microenvironment. Thus, the regulatory strategies targeting MDSCs' expansion, differentiation, accumulation and function could possibly be effective “weapons” in anti-tumor immunotherapies. Epigenetic mechanisms, which involve DNA modification, covalent histone modification and RNA interference, result in the heritable down-regulation or silencing of gene expression without a change in DNA sequences. Epigenetic modification of MDSC's functional plasticity leads to the remodeling of its characteristics, therefore reframing the microenvironment towards countering tumor growth and metastasis. This review summarized the pertinent findings on the DNA methylation, covalent histone modification, microRNAs and small interfering RNAs targeting MDSC in cancer genesis, progression and metastasis. The potentials as well as possible obstacles in translating into anti-cancer therapeutics were also discussed.
Time Series Analysis via Matrix Estimation

We consider the task of interpolating and forecasting a time series in the presence of noise and missing data. As the main contribution of this work, we introduce an algorithm that transforms the observed time series into a matrix, utilizes singular value thresholding to simultaneously recover missing values and de-noise observed entries, and performs linear regression to make predictions. We argue that this method provides meaningful imputation and forecasting for a large class of models: finite sum of harmonics (which approximate stationary processes), non-stationary sublinear trends, Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) systems, and their additive mixtures. In general, our algorithm recovers the hidden state of dynamics based on its noisy observations, like that of a Hidden Markov Model (HMM), provided the dynamics obey the above stated models. We demonstrate on synthetic and real-world datasets that our algorithm outperforms standard software packages not only in the presence of significantly missing data with high levels of noise, but also when the packages are given the underlying model while our algorithm remains oblivious. This is in line with the finite sample analysis for these model classes.
Modeling Infrared Signal Reflections to Characterize Indoor Multipath Propagation

In this paper, we propose a model to characterize Infrared (IR) signal reflections on any kind of surface material, together with a simplified procedure to compute the model parameters. The model works within the framework of Local Positioning Systems (LPS) based on IR signals (IR-LPS) to evaluate the behavior of transmitted signal Multipaths (MP), which are the main cause of error in IR-LPS, and makes several contributions to mitigation methods. Current methods are based on physics, optics, geometry and empirical methods, but these do not meet our requirements because of the need to apply several different restrictions and employ complex tools. We propose a simplified model based on only two reflection components, together with a method for determining the model parameters based on 12 empirical measurements that are easily performed in the real environment where the IR-LPS is being applied. Our experimental results show that the model provides a comprehensive solution to the real behavior of IR MP, yielding small errors when comparing real and modeled data (the mean error ranges from 1% to 4% depending on the environment surface materials). Other state-of-the-art methods yielded mean errors ranging from 15% to 40% in test measurements.
The effect of heterogeneous link capacities in BitTorrent-like file sharing systems

Despite the recent research efforts on peer-to-peer networks modeling and performance evaluation, very few literature results have appeared on what concerns the effect of network characteristics on the overlay peer-to-peer services. Goal of this paper is to contribute in assessing the effect of different access link capacities on performance of a peer-to-peer file sharing system. In order to make the problem tractable, an analytical model referring to a simplified network model with access links belonging to two different capacity classes is developed. Our preliminary results seem to imply that, depending on evaluation metrics, bandwidth heterogeneity can have a positive effect on content propagation among peers.
The Relationship between Occupational Status and Physical Activity in Korea

This study examined the association between occupational status and physical activity (PA) in Korea. A total of 9,000 Koreans age 10 to 89 years participated in the Korean Survey of Citizens' Sports Participation project in 2012. However, 3,851 participants were excluded from the analysis (housewives, students, and the jobless), providing a sample size of 5,149 participants (3,165 men and 1,984 women) for this study. The association between occupational status and PA was then evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence interval [CI]) for reporting at least weekly PA according to job intensity, after adjusting for sex and age, were as follows: moderate-intensity jobs, 1.164 [1.026, 1.320], p = . 018; and vigorous-intensity jobs, 1.591 [1.318, 1.921], p < . 001, compared with low-intensity jobs as a reference category. For PA intensity in low- and moderate-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.355 [1.033, 1.778], p = . 028, moderate PA, 1.227 [1.096, 1.487], p = . 002, and vigorous PA, 1.570 [1.213, 2.032], p < . 001, compared with sedentary as a reference category. For the intensity of PA among participants with low- or vigorous-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.015 [0.649, 1.586], p = . 948, moderate-intensity PA, 1.890 [1.416, 2.522], p < . 001, and vigorous-intensity PA, 2.403 [1.395, 4.139], p = . 002, compared with sedentary as a reference category. For the intensity of PA between moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.010 [0.759, 1.344], p = . 945, moderate-intensity PA, 1.381 [1.136, 1.678], p = . 001, and vigorous-intensity PA, 1.595 [1.023, 2.486], p = . 039, compared to sedentary as a reference category. The presented findings show a strong association between occupational status and PA patterns for Koreans.
Ophthalmic Imaging Effect of Uveal Melanocytes on Choroidal Morphology in Rhesus Macaques and Humans on Enhanced-Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography

Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California-Davis, Sacramento, California, United States Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States California National Primate Research Center, Davis, California, United States Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California-Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California, United States Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, University of California-Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California, United States
Counting perfect matchings and the switch chain

We examine the problem of exactly or approximately counting all perfect matchings in hereditary classes of nonbipartite graphs. In particular, we consider the switch Markov chain of Diaconis, Graham and Holmes. We determine the largest hereditary class for which the chain is ergodic, and define a large new hereditary class of graphs for which it is rapidly mixing. We go on to show that the chain has exponential mixing time for a slightly larger class. We also examine the question of ergodicity of the switch chain in a arbitrary graph. Finally, we give exact counting algorithms for three classes.
Drawing ecological inferences from coincident patterns of population‐ and community‐level biodiversity

Biodiversity is comprised of genetic and phenotypic variation among individual organisms, which might belong to the same species or to different species. Spatial patterns of biodiversity are of central interest in ecology and evolution for several reasons: to identify general patterns in nature (e.g. species–area relationships, latitudinal gradients), to inform conservation priorities (e.g. identifying hotspots, prioritizing management efforts) and to draw inferences about processes, historical or otherwise (e.g. adaptation, the centre of origin of particular clades). There are long traditions in ecology and evolutionary biology of examining spatial patterns of biodiversity among species (i.e. in multispecies communities) and within species, respectively, and there has been a recent surge of interest in studying these two types of pattern simultaneously. The idea is that examining both levels of diversity can materially advance the above‐stated goals and perhaps lead to entirely novel lines of inquiry. Here, we review two broad categories of approach to merging studies of inter‐ and intraspecific variation: (i) the study of phenotypic trait variation along environmental gradients and (ii) the study of relationships between patterns of molecular genetic variation within species and patterns of distribution and diversity across species. For the latter, we report a new meta‐analysis in which we find that correlations between species diversity and genetic diversity are generally positive and significantly stronger in studies with discrete sampling units (e.g. islands, lakes, forest fragments) than in studies with nondiscrete sampling units (e.g. equal‐area study plots). For each topic, we summarize the current state of knowledge and key future directions.
An azimuth-Doppler-delay scattering function: definition and estimation

We define a generalized scattering function for the spatio-temporal propagation channel. The definition is free of the restrictive assumption that there is a finite number of scatterers. We derive the time-varying vector channel between the source and the array in a unified manner and define a correlation function and a power spectrum that incorporate the spatial parameter-directly giving rise to the new scattering function of the spatio-temporal channel. In practice, the scattering function can be estimated by applying a well-known non-parametric spectrum estimation method to data obtained from an appropriately designed channel sounding experiment. The estimator's performance is evaluated theoretically and by simulation.
Observable atomic consistency for CvRDTs

The development of distributed systems requires developers to balance the need for consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Conflict-free replicated data types (CRDTs) are widely used in eventually consistent systems to reduce concurrency control. However, CRDTs lack consistent totally-ordered operations which can make them difficult to use. In this paper, we propose a new consistency protocol, the observable atomic consistency protocol (OACP). OACP enables a principled relaxation of strong consistency to improve performance in specific scenarios. OACP combines the advantages of mergeable data types, specifically, convergent replicated data types, and reliable total order broadcast to provide on-demand strong consistency. By providing observable atomic consistency, OACP avoids the anomalies of related protocols. We provide a distributed implementation of OACP based on Akka, a widely-used actor-based middleware. Our experimental evaluation shows that OACP can reduce coordination overhead compared to other protocols providing atomic consistency. Our results also suggest that OACP increases availability through mergeable data types and provides acceptable latency for achieving strong consistency.
Ellagic acid inhibits HIV-1 infection in vitro: Potential role as a novel microbicide.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the in vitro effects of ellagic acid on HIV-1 replication. METHODS Anti-HIV-1 activity of ellagic acid was determined in vitro using X4-tropic HIV-1NPO3 and R5-tropic pBaL Env-recombinant virus. Anti-HIV-1NPO3 activity of ellagic acid was investigated at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.01. Anti-HIV-1 integrase and protease activities of ellagic acid were tested using in vitro integration and proteolytic cleavage assays. RESULTS Ellagic acid, added either before or after HIV-1NPO3 exposure, suppressed replication of the virus in C8166 cells up to 34%. Ellagic acid showed an anti-integrase IC50 of 8.7 μM. No cytotoxicity of ellagic acid at concentrations ranging from 12.5 to 100 μM was observed. CONCLUSION We conclude that ellagic acid can inhibit HIV-1 infection without cytotoxicity. Thus, it may be a new effective agent that has potential to be developed as a novel microbicide against HIV-1.
Use of complementary and alternative medicine in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

Despite limited evidence, complementary and alternative medicine treatments are popular in autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this review was to summarize the available evidence on complementary and alternative medicine use frequency in autism spectrum disorder. A systematic search of three electronic databases was performed. All research studies in English or German reporting data on the frequency of complementary and alternative medicine use in individuals with autism spectrum disorder were included. Two independent reviewers searched the literature, extracted information on study design and results, and assessed study quality using an established quality assessment tool. Twenty studies with a total of 9540 participants were included. The prevalence of any complementary and alternative medicine use ranged from 28% to 95% (median: 54%). Special diets or dietary supplements (including vitamins) were the most frequent complementary and alternative medicine treatments, ranking first in 75% of studies. There was some evidence for a higher prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use in autism spectrum disorder compared to other psychiatric disorders and the general population. Approximately half of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder use complementary and alternative medicine. Doctors should be aware of this and should discuss complementary and alternative medicine use with patients and their carers, especially as the evidence is mixed and some complementary and alternative medicine treatments are potentially harmful.
Mechanical Properties and Fatigue of Polycrystalline Silicon under Static and High Frequency Cyclic Loading

10 and 20µm thick n-doped, epitaxially deposited, Bosch polysilicon layers of columnar structure were investigated. In order to characterize the fracture strength and fatigue,specimens with different sizes and geometries were designed and tested under static and high frequency cycling loading. Fractographic analysis has given an insight into fracture mechanism and helped to identify typical fracture modes and defects types.
A physiological and sport-specific comparison between division I and division II Italian male Field Hockey players.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the anthropometric and performance profiles of division I (D1) and division II (D2) Italian field hockey players.Fifteen DI players and fifteen D2 players (age = 25.4 ± 5.2 y; body mass = 78.5 ± 9.0 kg; body height = 179.6 ± 7.8 cm) were assessed on one occasion for anthropometry, body composition, physiological measurements and sport-specific skills. Differences between the two groups were evaluated using a one-way analysis of variance. Pearson correlations were used to examine relationships between the different measurements.Significantly (p = 0.039) lower percentages of body fat were found on D1 group compared to D2 group (-3.5%). A significant difference between the groups were noted for shooting accuracy (p = 0.013), with the D1 group performing 14.5 % better than the DII group. No significant differences between the groups were found for shooting speed (p = 0.103), slalom and dribbling performances (p = 0.292 and p = 0.416, respectively). Physiological assessments did not show any significant differences between the groups. Large correlations (r = 0.73; p < 0.001) were found between shooting speed and accuracy. Moderate correlations were observed between the shooting speed and the hand grip strength, in particular of the left hand (r = 0.61; p = 0.007). Results of the present study indicate that the difference between D1 and D2 players may be more related to technical factors than to physical fitness. Ball control however, may not be a limiting factor in D2 players.
Surface soil quality in five midwestern cropland Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds

Soil quality (SQ) assessment is a proactive process for evaluating soil and crop management effects on biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil health. Our objectives were to evaluate several SQ indicators within five Agricultural Research Service (ARS) experimental watersheds (WS) and determine if those indicators were affected by manure, tillage, or crop rotation histories. Ten soil quality indicators were measured within each of 600 0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 in) depth and 398 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) depth increment samples, evaluated statistically, and then scored using the Soil Management Assessment Framework. Except for soil organic carbon (C) at both depth increments or microbial biomass C and β-glucosidase within the 5 to 15 cm increment, the indicators showed significant WS differences. Except for surface soil-test phosphorous (P), Soil Management Assessment Framework indicator scores and overall soil quality index values also showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) WS differences. Microbial biomass C was significantly affected by crop rotation at both sampling depths and by WS within the surface 5 cm. β-glucosidase was significantly affected by all four factors (WS, manure, tillage, and crop rotation) and their interactions within the 0 to 5 cm increment. The water-stable macroaggregate indictor within the 0 to 5 cm increment and within the 5 to 15 cm increment, however, were not significantly different for the tillage and manure application treatments, respectively. Our study showed that the ARS Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) watersheds provided a moderately controlled example that watershed-scale monitoring of soil quality is feasible and should be used to monitor soil health and/or conservation program effectiveness.
Analysis and Optimization of Caching and Multicasting in Large-Scale Cache-Enabled Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Heterogeneous wireless networks (HetNets) provide a powerful approach to meeting the dramatic mobile traffic growth, but also impose a significant challenge on backhaul. Caching and multicasting at macro and pico base stations (BSs) are two promising methods to support massive content delivery and reduce backhaul load in HetNets. In this paper, we jointly consider caching and multicasting in a large-scale cache-enabled HetNet with backhaul constraints. We propose a hybrid caching design consisting of identical caching in the macro-tier and random caching in the pico-tier, and a corresponding multicasting design. By carefully handling different types of interferers and adopting appropriate approximations, we derive tractable expressions for the successful transmission probability in the general signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and user density region as well as the high SNR and user density region, utilizing tools from stochastic geometry. Then, we consider the successful transmission probability maximization by optimizing design parameters, which is a very challenging mixed discrete-continuous optimization problem. By exploring structural properties, we obtain a near optimal solution with superior performance and manageable complexity. This solution achieves better performance in the general region than any asymptotically optimal solution, under a mild condition. The analysis and optimization results provide valuable design insights for practical cache-enabled HetNets.
Craniomaxillofacial morphology alterations in children, adolescents and adults with neurofibromatosis 1: A cone beam computed tomography analysis of a Brazilian sample

Background Oral manifestations are common in neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), and include jaws and teeth alterations. Our aim was to investigate the craniomaxillofacial morphology of Brazilian children, adolescents and adults with NF1 using cone beam computed tomography. Material and Methods This study was conducted with 36 Brazilian individuals with NF1 with ages ranging from 4 to 75. The participants were submitted to anamnesis, extra and intraoral exam and cephalometric analysis using cone beam computed tomography. Height of the NF1 individuals was compared to the length of jaws and skull base. The results of the cephalometric measurements of the NF1 group were compared with a control group paired by age, gender and skin color. Results Individuals with NF1 had lower maxillary length (p<0.0001), lower mandibular length (p<0.0001), lower skull base length (p<0.0001). In children and adolescents, the mandible was more posteriorly positioned (p=0.01), when compared with the control group. There was no association between jaws and skull base length with the height of the individuals with NF1. Conclusions Brazilian children, adolescents and adults with NF1 have short mandible, maxilla and skull base. Moreover, children and adolescents present mandibular retrusion. Key words:Neurofibromatosis 1, oral manifestations, craniofacial abnormalities, cone beam computed tomography.
Generation of an inbred miniature pig model of retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE The Pro23His (P23H) rhodopsin (RHO) mutation underlies the most common form of human autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP). The objective of this investigation was to establish a transgenic miniature swine model of RP using the human P23H RHO gene. METHODS Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was used to create transgenic miniature pigs that expressed the human P23H RHO mutation. From these experiments, six transgenic founders were identified whose retinal function was studied with full-field electroretinography (ffERG) from 3 months through 2 years. Progeny from one founder were generated and genotyped to determine transgene inheritance pattern. Retinal mRNA was isolated, and the ratio of P23H to wild-type pig RHO was measured. RESULTS A single transgene integration site was observed for five of the six founders. All founders had abnormal scotopic and photopic ffERGs after 3 months. The severity of the ffERG phenotype was grouped into moderately and severely affected groups. Offspring of one founder inherited the transgene as an autosomal dominant mutation. mRNA analyses demonstrated that approximately 80% of total RHO was mutant P23H. CONCLUSIONS Expression of the human RHO P23H transgene in the retina creates a miniature swine model with an inheritance pattern and retinal function that mimics adRP. This large-animal model can serve as a novel tool for the study of the pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention in the most common form of adRP.