Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconstruction of post burn scalp alopecia by using expanded hair-bearing scalp flaps

Background and Objective: Tissue expansion is a time-tested and frequently used procedure for utilizing local tissue to replace large defects. We aimed to assess the success & complications of tissue expansion in correction of post burn scalp alopecia. Methods: In this study, 30 patients of scalp burn alopecia of 5 to 35 years age group were treated with tissue expansion of the scalp at Bahawal-Victoria Hospital from January 2013 to December 2014. The area of the scalp loss was within 1/5 to 2/5. Our technique employed an insertion site distal to the area needed to be expanded, attempting to minimize complication like extrusion & wound dehiscence. The patients were followed-up weekly during first month and then fortnightly for next four months. Result: Our study involved 8 male (26.67%) and 22 female subjects (73.33%) with a mean age of 21years. Flame burn accounted for the mostly 53.3% (n=16) of scalp burns & parieto-temporal region was most commonly affected in 33.4% (n=10) of subjects. Desired aesthetic results were achieved in all the patients without any major complication. Minor complication included mild infection in 8 (26.67%), seroma in 4 (13.33%) & wound dehiscence in 2 (6.67%) patients. Conclusion: Tissue expansion is a simple, safe, & efficient technique for aesthetic scalp reconstruction. With a simple modification of distal incision and tunneling, we succeeded in minimizing complications. Versatile design of the expanded scalp flap can distribute the expanded hair-bearing scalp properly in the reconstructed recipient site.
Force-induced growth of adhesion domains is controlled by receptor mobility

In living cells, adhesion structures have the astonishing ability to grow and strengthen under force. Despite the rising evidence of the importance of this phenomenon, little is known about the underlying mechanism. Here, we show that force-induced adhesion-strengthening can occur purely because of the thermodynamic response to the elastic deformation of the membrane, even in the absence of the actively regulated cytoskeleton of the cell, which was hitherto deemed necessary. We impose pN-forces on two fluid membranes, locally pre-adhered by RGD-integrin binding. One of the binding partners is always mobile whereas the mobility of the other can be switched on or off. Immediate passive strengthening of adhesion structures occurs in both cases. When both binding partners are mobile, strengthening is aided by lateral movement of intact bonds as a transient response to force-induced membrane-deformation. By extending our microinterferometric technique to the suboptical regime, we show that the adhesion, as well as the resistance to force-induced de-adhesion, is greatly enhanced when both, rather than only one, of the binding partners are mobile. We formulate a theory that explains our observations by linking the macroscopic shape deformation with the microscopic formation of bonds, which further elucidates the importance of receptor mobility. We propose this fast passive response to be the first-recognition that triggers signaling events leading to mechanosensing in living cells.
A Push-Push VCO With 13.9-GHz Wide Tuning Range Using Loop-Ground Transmission Line for Full-Band 60-GHz Transceiver

A 59-GHz push-push voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)-based on 0.18m SiGe BiCMOS technology-for a full-band 60-GHz transceiver was developed. The VCO uses a loop-ground transmission line (LG-TML) composed of λf0/2 signal lines (half wavelength at fundamental frequency) and λ2f0/4 secondary lines (quarter wavelength at second harmonic frequency). The LG-TML makes it possible to output both a large signal at second harmonic frequency and an adequate signal at the fundamental frequency for driving a prescalar, while it prevents the Miller effect of the HBTs in the VCO from increasing and negative conductance from being reduced. As a result, the VCO achieves high output power of +1.5 dBm, while maintaining wide tuning range of 13.9 GHz (26% of the center oscillation frequency). Moreover, it exhibits a low phase noise of -108 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset frequency and achieves a state-of-the-art figure of merit (FOMT) of -189.6 dB.
Blood Deciphering the human platelet sheddome

1Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; 2Department of Pharmacology, Centers for Excellence in Environmental Toxicology and Cancer Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; 3Center for Systems and Computational Biology, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA; and 4Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Chimeric Recombinant Human Metapneumoviruses with the Nucleoprotein or Phosphoprotein Open Reading Frame Replaced by That of Avian Metapneumovirus Exhibit Improved Growth In Vitro and Attenuation In Vivo

ABSTRACT Chimeric versions of recombinant human metapneumovirus (HMPV) were generated by replacing the nucleoprotein (N) or phosphoprotein (P) open reading frame with its counterpart from the closely related avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) subgroup C. In Vero cells, AMPV replicated to an approximately 100-fold-higher titer than HMPV. Surprisingly, the N and P chimeric viruses replicated to a peak titer that was 11- and 25-fold higher, respectively, than that of parental HMPV. The basis for this effect is not known but was not due to obvious changes in the efficiency of gene expression. AMPV and the N and P chimeras were evaluated for replication, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy in hamsters. AMPV was attenuated compared to HMPV in this mammalian host on day 5 postinfection, but not on day 3, and only in the nasal turbinates. In contrast, the N and P chimeras were reduced approximately 100-fold in both the upper and lower respiratory tract on day 3 postinfection, although there was little difference by day 5. The N and P chimeras induced a high level of neutralizing serum antibodies and protective efficacy against HMPV; AMPV was only weakly immunogenic and protective against HMPV challenge, reflecting antigenic differences. In African green monkeys immunized intranasally and intratracheally, the mean peak titer of the P chimera was reduced 100- and 1,000-fold in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, whereas the N chimera was reduced only 10-fold in the lower respiratory tract. Both chimeras were comparable to wild-type HMPV in immunogenicity and protective efficacy. Thus, the P chimera is a promising live HMPV vaccine candidate that paradoxically combines improved growth in vitro with attenuation in vivo.
Stress-Induced Deoxycorticosterone-Derived Neurosteroids Modulate GABAA Receptor Function and Seizure Susceptibility

Stress affects seizure susceptibility in animals and humans, but the underlying mechanisms are obscure. Here, we provide evidence that GABAA receptor-modulating neurosteroids derived from deoxycorticosterone (DOC) play a role in stress-related changes in seizure control. DOC, an adrenal steroid whose synthesis is enhanced during stress, undergoes sequential metabolic reduction by 5α-reductase and 3α-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase to form 5α-dihydrodeoxycorticosterone (DHDOC) and allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (THDOC), a GABAAreceptor-modulating neurosteroid with anticonvulsant properties. Acute swim stress in rats significantly elevated plasma THDOC concentrations and raised the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) seizure threshold. Small systemic doses of DOC produced comparable increases in THDOC and PTZ seizure threshold. Pretreatment with finasteride, a 5α-reductase inhibitor that blocks the conversion of DOC to DHDOC, reversed the antiseizure effects of stress. DOC also elevated plasma THDOC levels and protected mice against PTZ, methyl-6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate, picrotoxin, and amygdala-kindled seizures in mice (ED50 values, 84–97 mg/kg). Finasteride reversed the antiseizure activity of DOC (ED50, 7.2 mg/kg); partial antagonism was also obtained with indomethacin (100 mg/kg), an inhibitor of 3α-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase. Finasteride had no effect on seizure protection by DHDOC and THDOC, whereas indomethacin partially reversed DHDOC but not THDOC. DHDOC, like THDOC, potentiated GABA-activated Cl− currents in cultured hippocampal neurons (≤1 μm) and directly activated GABAAreceptor currents (≥1 μm), compatible with a role for DHDOC in the antiseizure activity of DOC. DOC is a mediator of the physiological effects of acute stress that could contribute to stress-induced changes in seizure susceptibility through its conversion to neurosteroids with modulatory actions on GABAA receptors including THDOC and possibly also DHDOC.
Depth Acquisition from Density Modulated Binary Patterns

This paper proposes novel density modulated binary patterns for depth acquisition. Similar to Kinect, the illumination patterns do not need a projector for generation and can be emitted by infrared lasers and diffraction gratings. Our key idea is to use the density of light spots in the patterns to carry phase information. Two technical problems are addressed here. First, we propose an algorithm to design the patterns to carry more phase information without compromising the depth reconstruction from a single captured image as with Kinect. Second, since the carried phase is not strictly sinusoidal, the depth reconstructed from the phase contains a systematic error. We further propose a pixel-based phase matching algorithm to reduce the error. Experimental results show that the depth quality can be greatly improved using the phase carried by the density of light spots. Furthermore, our scheme can achieve 20 fps depth reconstruction with GPU assistance.
Degradation of the kinesin Kip1p at anaphase onset is mediated by the anaphase-promoting complex and Cdc20p

Kip1p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a bipolar kinesin in the conserved bimC kinesin subfamily that mediates mitotic spindle–pole separation. Here, we show that Kip1p is regulated immediately after anaphase initiation by its rapid degradation. Degradation required the ubiquitin protein ligase called the anaphase-promoting complex, the anaphase-promoting complex activating protein Cdc20, and a unique 43-aa sequence in Kip1p. Degradation also required import of Kip1p into the nucleus, but occurred independently of spindle association. A mutation that stabilized Kip1p impaired anaphase progression. The timing of degradation suggests that Kip1p functions primarily during spindle assembly and metaphase, and that Kip1p degradation facilitates structural changes in the mitotic spindle as anaphase progresses.
Super-resolution with significant illumination change

In this paper, we study the impact of illumination change on super-resolution. Based on analysis and experimental results, we show that large illumination change, not a global/parametric one, poses a significant challenge to existing super-resolution algorithms. Existing robust techniques of handling outliers do not offer a good solution either. We propose a two-step framework to super-resolve the object shape at high-resolution first and then synthesize high-resolution images. For applications where appropriate illumination models are not available, we propose a pre-processing framework. Extensive experimental results are presented based on synthetic and real examples.
Joint relay assignment and adaptive modulation for energy-efficient cellular networks

Energy efficient operation of cellular systems becomes a core design goal for economic and environment-friendly network operation. Several studies have shown that the energy consumed in base stations represents 60-80% of the energy consumption in cellular networks. In this paper, we develop an optimization framework that exploits several energy efficient techniques including switching power modes of base stations, Adaptive Modulation (AM), and the use of relays. Our main objective is to reduce both, transmitted and circuit power, subject to satisfying the quality of service constraints. To accommodate the complexity of the target problem, we further propose two sub-optimal algorithms, minimum power heuristic (MPH) and minimum relays heuristic (MRH). The simulation results show that energy saving merits of our proposed schemes can be up to 80%.
Síndrome do pinçamento no ombro, decorrente da prática esportiva: uma revisão bibliográfica

Resumo: A sobrecarga repetitiva decorrente de algumas praticas esportivas, sobre a articulacao do ombro pode ocasionar lesoes agudas e cronicas. O presente levantamento bibliografico tem como objetivo verificar as causas e incidencias dos aspectos relacionados a principal lesao cronica, a qual acomete a articulacao do ombro dos atletas, que e chamada de Sindrome do Pincamento. Fatores como, esporoes degenerativos, espessamento cronico da bursa, depositos cronicos de calcio, tensao da capsula posterior do ombro, frouxidao ligamentar e hipovascularizacao do tendao do supra-espinhoso, juntamente associado a atividade que envolva elevacao do ombro acima dos 90 graus, tem sido apontados como fatores importantes na incidencia desta patologia. Alguns dos responsaveis pela ocorrencia desta patologia em determinados esportes sao: a sobrecarga de treino, o uso excessivo dos movimentos do ombro e tambem fatores degenerativos. Em relacao ao tratamento da Sindrome do Pincamento, observa-se na literatura uma ampla possibilidade de intervencoes que devem ser determinadas de acordo com o grau da lesao e das areas anatomicas afetadas, podendo ser utilizado desde o tratamento conservador ate tecnicas cirurgicas. Apos as modalidades que apresentam grande incidencia desta patologia terem sido revisadas (beisebol, voleibol, golfe, natacao, handebol e outros), sugere-se que toda equipe tecnica e medica ligada a estes esportes adquiram um amplo conhecimento anatomico, cinesiologico e biomecânico dos gestos especificos da modalidade, com intuito de retardar ou impedir o surgimento dessa lesao e consequentemente a interrupcao dos treinamentos do atleta. Palavras-chave: Ombro. Lesoes. Sindrome do Pincamento. Excesso de uso Impingement Syndrome in shoulder, consequent of sports practice: a bibliograph review
TDP-43 Mediates Degeneration in a Novel Drosophila Model of Disease Caused by Mutations in VCP/p97

Inclusion body myopathy associated with Paget's disease of bone and frontotemporal dementia (IBMPFD) is a dominantly inherited degenerative disorder caused by mutations in the valosin-containing protein (VCP7) gene. VCP (p97 in mouse, TER94 in Drosophila melanogaster, and CDC48 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is a highly conserved AAA+ (ATPases associated with multiple cellular activities) ATPase that regulates a wide array of cellular processes. The mechanism of IBMPFD pathogenesis is unknown. To elucidate the pathogenic mechanism, we developed and characterized a Drosophila model of IBMPFD (mutant-VCP-related degeneration). Based on genetic screening of this model, we identified three RNA-binding proteins that dominantly suppressed degeneration; one of these was TBPH, the Drosophila homolog of TAR (trans-activating response region) DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43). Here we demonstrate that VCP and TDP-43 interact genetically and that disease-causing mutations in VCP lead to redistribution of TDP-43 to the cytoplasm in vitro and in vivo, replicating the major pathology observed in IBMPFD and other TDP-43 proteinopathies. We also demonstrate that TDP-43 redistribution from the nucleus to the cytoplasm is sufficient to induce cytotoxicity. Furthermore, we determined that a pathogenic mutation in TDP-43 promotes redistribution to the cytoplasm and enhances the genetic interaction with VCP. Together, our results show that degeneration associated with VCP mutations is mediated in part by toxic gain of function of TDP-43 in the cytoplasm. We suggest that these findings are likely relevant to the pathogenic mechanism of a broad array of TDP-43 proteinopathies, including frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
A hybrid discrete Artificial Bee Colony - GRASP algorithm for clustering

This paper presents a new hybrid algorithm, which is based on the concepts of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP), for optimally clustering N objects into K clusters. The proposed algorithm is a two phase algorithm which combines an Artificial Bee Colony Optimization algorithm for the solution of the feature selection problem and a GRASP algorithm for the solution of the clustering problem. As the feature selection problem is a discrete problem, a modification of the initially proposed Artificial Bee Colony optimization algorithm, a Discrete Artificial Bee Colony optimization algorithm, is proposed in this study. The performance of the algorithm is compared with other popular metaheuristic methods like classic genetic algorithms, tabu search, GRASP, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization and honey bees mating optimization algorithm. In order to assess the efficacy of the proposed algorithm, this methodology is evaluated on datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository. The high performance of the proposed algorithm is achieved as the algorithm gives very good results and in some instances the percentage of the corrected clustered samples is very high and is larger than 98%.
Wavelet-based multiresolution analysis of ridges for fingerprint liveness detection

In this paper, a new wavelet-based perspiration detection algorithm is proposed for fingerprint liveness detection. It is based on processing time-series ridge lines in the wavelet domain. The existing perspiration detection algorithm proposed in the literature captures perspiration information by processing ridge lines in the time (spatial) domain. However, for some kinds of fingers (e.g., dry and perspiration-saturated fingers), changes in perspiration are minute. These changes are difficult to extract from the grey-level intensities processed in the time domain. Due to this, such fingers may be misclassified, thus reducing overall accuracy. In practice, we often encounter poor quality, dry or wet fingers. Therefore, it is necessary to take due care of such fingers, and have an enhanced algorithm that can process these fingers as well. To alleviate the problem, this paper discusses a new algorithm that processes time-series ridge lines using the multiresolution theory of wavelets. Major sweating changes are extracted at the coarse level, and then resolution is gradually increased to notice minute details. Such a coarse-to-fine strategy provides us with rich sweating information compared to that obtained directly from grey-level intensities in the time domain, which naturally leads to improved liveness results.
Towards a Statistical Analysis of Emergent Communication in Evolved Virtual Agents

0 Summary/Abstract Summary/Abstract The field of Evolutionary Robotics has given Cognitive Scientists a new way to study Cognition. Using simulated, embodied agents one can seek to understand the role of basic mechanisms in cognitive processes and how neural control structures give rise to these processes. One such process is language whose minimal cognitive correlate, communication, has been studied by de Greeff and Nolfi in an experiment in which they successfully evolved communicative abilities in virtual agents. While demonstrating that communication can be evolved, questions remain as to exactly how this occurs given that a communicative act requires both the production of a meaningful signal and the appropriate reaction to this signal. Since it is unlikely that these two abilities emerge at the same point, it has been proposed that either a relevant but purposeless production or receptive sensitivity arises first and is then either exploited or exapted to give rise to functional communication. With this work I wish to show that a statistical approach, unlike the original behavioral analysis, can provide certain answers or at least clues regarding the emergence of these abilities. Taking a specific evolved agent and developing information-theoretic measures I demonstrate the utility of these measures in providing evidence for the presence of a producer bias. I then try to generalize these results to other evolved agents. I conclude that while this approach appears promising there is still work to do to create a more generic analysis.
NMR evidence for a base triple in the HIV-2 TAR C-G.C+ mutant-argininamide complex.

Formation of a specific complex between the HIV Tat protein and the small RNA element TAR is critical for activation of viral transcription. A model complex for this interaction composed of HIV-2 TAR and the amide derivative of arginine has been developed to study how Tat and TAR interact specifically. We have previously determined a high resolution NMR structure of the HIV-2 TAR-argininamide complex. The argininamide guanidium group hydrogen bonds to the major groove face of G26 and is stacked between U23 and A22, forming an arginine sandwich. This structure also provided evidence for formation of a U38-A27.U38 base triple, as U23 is positioned in the major groove within hydrogen bonding distance to A27. However, the expected U23 imino proton was not observed, preventing unambiguous identification of the base triple. Previous work on an isomorphic C38-G27.C23+ base triple mutant of the three base bulge HIV-1 TAR-argininamide complex demonstrated that the base triple is required for specific argininamide binding. Here we investigate the same C38-G27.C23+ base triple mutant in the context of two base bulge HIV-2 TAR. The improved NMR spectral properties of HIV-2 TAR allowed observation of the C23 amino and imino protons for the first time, providing direct evidence that a hydrogen bonding interaction is occurring. The NOEs observed correspond to those observed in the high resolution structure of the HIV-2 TAR-argininamide complex, confirming that a base triple is an important feature of the TAR-argininamide interaction.
Transnationalism and the Karen wrist-tying ceremony: An ethnographic account of Karen settlement practice in Brisbane

When settling, people often use cultural schema from their original homeland to build familiarity in unfamiliar surrounds. This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted by the first author in Brisbane, with the Karen community from Burma, during which participant observation and interview methods were used. We present an ethnographic account of the Brisbane Karen wrist-tying ceremony. The ceremony acts as an insight into the challenges for Karen whilst settling into Australia. It reflects multiple accounts of history and tradition, but simultaneously speaks to emerging, contemporary Karen contexts. This research contributes to richer understandings of settlement: it frames transnational cultural practice as a flexible mode of integration, rather than an exclusionary mode of othering. We propose that the integrative discourse of the ceremony creates familiarity and social connection in local and diasporic spaces. This acts as a counter to the challenges of Karen settlement including the negotiations of local/global identity politics.
VIEWPOINT IN LINGUISTIC DISCOURSE

This paper continues to develop a programme of research which has recently emerged investigating the ideological functions of spatial construals in social and political discourse from a Cognitive Linguistic perspective. Specifically, inspired by principles in Cognitive Grammar, the paper attempts to formulate a grammar of ‘point of view’ and show how this trans-modal cognitive system is manifested in the meanings of individual grammatical constructions which, when selected in discourse, yield mental representations whose spatial properties invite ideological evaluations. The link between spatial organisation and ideological evaluation in these mental models, it is argued, is a function of our embodied understanding of language. These theoretical arguments are illustrated with data taken from online news reports of two political protests.