Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Progression of Atherosclerosis as Assessed by Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Patients With HIV Infection

Background—HIV-infected patients may be at increased risk for coronary events. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in HIV patients at baseline and to measure IMT progression over 1 year. Methods and Results—We measured blood lipids, inflammatory markers, and IMT in 148 HIV-infected adults (mean age, 45±8 years) and in 63 age- and sex-matched HIV-uninfected control subjects. The mean duration of HIV infection was 11 years, and the median duration of protease inhibitor treatment was 3.3 years. Mean baseline IMT was 0.91±0.33 mm in HIV patients and 0.74±0.17 mm in control subjects (P =0.0001). Multivariable predictors of baseline IMT in HIV patients were age (P <0.001), LDL cholesterol (P <0.001), cigarette pack-years (P =0.005), Latino race (P =0.062), and hypertension (P =0.074). When the control group was added to the analysis, HIV infection was an independent predictor of IMT (P =0.001). The rate of progression among the 121 HIV patients with a repeated IMT measurement at 1 year was 0.074±0.13 mm, compared with −0.006±0.05 mm in 27 control subjects (P =0.002). Age (P <0.001), Latino race (P =0.02), and nadir CD4 count ≤200 (P =0.082) were multivariable predictors of IMT progression. Conclusions—Carotid IMT is higher in HIV patients than in age-matched control subjects and progresses much more rapidly than previously reported rates in non-HIV cohorts. In HIV patients, carotid IMT is associated with classic coronary risk factors and with nadir CD4 count ≤200, suggesting that immunodeficiency and traditional coronary risk factors may contribute to atherosclerosis.
Neuromorphic Methods for Recognition of Compact Image Objects

The issue of the recognition of tree species from high resolution aerial images is addressed in this paper. An approach based on the use of neural networks is presented and discussed in more detail. The networks perform classi(cid:12)cation and recognition operations on compact image objects, obtained by applying di(cid:11)erent tree isolation procedures. The recognition capabilities of two classes of networks, multilayer feedforward networks and holographic networks, are compared and some results of the research carried out in Austria and Canada, using aerial photographs and multispectral scanner images, are given
Brain metastasis in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer: from biology to treatment

Overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is found in about 20% of breast cancer patients. With treatment using trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, systemic control is improved. Nonetheless, the incidence of brain metastasis does not be improved, rather seems to be increased in HER2-positive breast cancer. The mainstay treatment for brain metastases is radiotherapy. According to the number of metastatic lesions and performance status of patients, radiosurgery or whole brain radiotherapy can be performed. The concurrent use of a radiosensitizer further improves intracranial control. Due to its large molecular weight, trastuzumab has a limited ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, small tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as lapatinib, has been noted to be a promising agent that can be used as a radiosensitizer to affect HER2-positive breast cancer. This review will outline general management of brain metastases and will focus on preclinical findings regarding the radiosensitizing effect of small molecule HER2 targeting agents.
Combined Acoustic MIMO Channel Crosstalk Cancellation and Room Impulse Response Reshaping

Virtual 3-D sound can be easily delivered to a listener by binaural audio signals that are reproduced via headphones, which guarantees that only the correct signals reach the corresponding ears. Reproducing the binaural audio signal by two or more loudspeakers introduces the problems of crosstalk on the one hand, and, of reverberation on the other hand. In crosstalk cancellation, the audio signals are fed through a network of prefilters prior to loudspeaker reproduction to ensure that only the designated signal reaches the corresponding ear of the listener. Since room impulse responses are very sensitive to spatial mismatch, and since listeners might slightly move while listening, robust designs are needed. In this paper, we present a method that jointly handles the three problems of crosstalk, reverberation reduction, and spatial robustness with respect to varying listening positions for one or more binaural source signals and multiple listeners. The proposed method is based on a multichannel room impulse response reshaping approach by optimizing a -norm based criterion. Replacing the well-known least-squares technique by a -norm based method employing a large value for allows us to explicitly control the amount of crosstalk and to shape the remaining reverberation effects according to a desired decay.
Kinematics and dynamics of a novel 6-DoF TAU haptic device

This paper presents the kinematics and dynamics modeling of a novel hybrid kinematic concept, i.e. the TAU haptic device. This new concept was obtained from the modification of TAU-2 structure proposed by Khan et al [1]. First a kinematic model for inverse and forward kinematics was developed and analyzed. Then an algorithm to solve the close form inverse dynamics is presented using Lagrangian formulation. Numerical simulation was carried out to examine the validity of the approach and accuracy of the technique employed. A trigonometric helical trajectory of 5th order spline was developed in Cartesian space for each degree of freedom of the moving platform in order to verify and simulate the inverse dynamics; the motion of the platform is such that the tool centre point remains on this trajectory while its orientation is changing constantly in roll, pitch and yaw.
Protecting and Analysing Health Care Data on Cloud

Various health care devices owned by either hospitals or individuals are producing huge amount of health care data. The big health data may contain valuable knowledge and new business opportunities. Obviously, cloud is a good candidate to collect, store and analyse such big health care data. However, health care data is very sensitive for its owners, and thus should be well protected on cloud. This paper presents our solution to protecting and analyzing health care data stored on cloud. First, we develop novel technologies to protect data privacy and enable secure data sharing on cloud. Secondly, we show the methods and tools to conduct big health care data analysis. Finally, both the security technology and the data analysis methods are evaluated to show the usefulness and efficiency of our solution.
Chlorine Dioxide Inactivation ofCryptosporidium parvum Oocysts and Bacterial Spore Indicators

ABSTRACT Cryptosporidium parvum, which is resistant to chlorine concentrations typically used in water treatment, is recognized as a significant waterborne pathogen. Recent studies have demonstrated that chlorine dioxide is a more efficient disinfectant than free chlorine against Cryptosporidium oocysts. It is not known, however, if oocysts from different suppliers are equally sensitive to chlorine dioxide. This study used both a most-probable-number–cell culture infectivity assay and in vitro excystation to evaluate chlorine dioxide inactivation kinetics in laboratory water at pH 8 and 21°C. The two viability methods produced significantly different results (P < 0.05). Products of disinfectant concentration and contact time (Ct values) of 1,000 mg · min/liter were needed to inactivate approximately 0.5 log10 and 2.0 log10 units (99% inactivation) of C. parvumas measured by in vitro excystation and cell infectivity, respectively, suggesting that excystation is not an adequate viability assay. Purified oocysts originating from three different suppliers were evaluated and showed marked differences with respect to their resistance to inactivation when using chlorine dioxide.Ct values of 75, 550, and 1,000 mg · min/liter were required to achieve approximately 2.0 log10 units of inactivation with oocysts from different sources. Finally, the study compared the relationship between easily measured indicators, includingBacillus subtilis (aerobic) spores andClostridium sporogenes (anaerobic) spores, and C. parvum oocysts. The bacterial spores were found to be more sensitive to chlorine dioxide than C. parvum oocysts and therefore could not be used as direct indicators of C. parvum inactivation for this disinfectant. In conclusion, it is suggested that future studies address issues such as oocyst purification protocols and the genetic diversity of C. parvum, since these factors might affect oocyst disinfection sensitivity.
Green Adsorbents for Wastewaters: A Critical Review

One of the most serious environmental problems is the existence of hazardous and toxic pollutants in industrial wastewaters. The major hindrance is the simultaneous existence of many/different types of pollutants as (i) dyes; (ii) heavy metals; (iii) phenols; (iv) pesticides and (v) pharmaceuticals. Adsorption is considered to be one of the most promising techniques for wastewater treatment over the last decades. The economic crisis of the 2000s led researchers to turn their interest in adsorbent materials with lower cost. In this review article, a new term will be introduced, which is called “green adsorption”. Under this term, it is meant the low-cost materials originated from: (i) agricultural sources and by-products (fruits, vegetables, foods); (ii) agricultural residues and wastes; (iii) low-cost sources from which most complex adsorbents will be produced (i.e., activated carbons after pyrolysis of agricultural sources). These “green adsorbents” are expected to be inferior (regarding their adsorption capacity) to the super-adsorbents of previous literature (complex materials as modified chitosans, activated carbons, structurally-complex inorganic composite materials etc.), but their cost-potential makes them competitive. This review is a critical approach to green adsorption, discussing many different (maybe in some occasions doubtful) topics such as: (i) adsorption capacity; (ii) kinetic modeling (given the ultimate target to scale up the batch experimental data to fixed-bed column calculations for designing/optimizing commercial processes) and (iii) critical techno-economical data of green adsorption processes in order to scale-up experiments (from lab to industry) with economic analysis and perspectives of the use of green adsorbents.
ALLELIC POLYMORPHISM AT IGHA GENE IN RESISTANCE TO GASTROINTESTINAL NEMATODES OF KUMAON HILL GOATS

The research had shown variation in immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGHA) constant region and its resistance to gastrointestinal parasites. The variation in caprine IGHA gene which encode for hinge region results in variation in flexibility of Immunoglobulin. A molecule in recognising parasitic epitopes and subsequent immune response. This result in structurally and functionally different IgA molecules and consequently lead to variation in the IgA response to parasitisation. The present study involves investigation of IGHA gene polymorphism in Kumaon hill goats. A total of 57 goats were investigated, which are exposed to natural challenge with mixed nematode parasites on the pasture. The blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was isolated. The IGHA region was amplified from genomic DNA using PCR and it has size of 316bp. The PCR product was purified and sequenced. The analysis of sequence of IGHA region revealed existence of two alleles (Allele 1 and 2) in these hill goats. The frequency of allele 2 is more than allele 1.
Characterization of the p53 Cistrome – DNA Binding Cooperativity Dissects p53's Tumor Suppressor Functions

p53 protects us from cancer by transcriptionally regulating tumor suppressive programs designed to either prevent the development or clonal expansion of malignant cells. How p53 selects target genes in the genome in a context- and tissue-specific manner remains largely obscure. There is growing evidence that the ability of p53 to bind DNA in a cooperative manner prominently influences target gene selection with activation of the apoptosis program being completely dependent on DNA binding cooperativity. Here, we used ChIP-seq to comprehensively profile the cistrome of p53 mutants with reduced or increased cooperativity. The analysis highlighted a particular relevance of cooperativity for extending the p53 cistrome to non-canonical binding sequences characterized by deletions, spacer insertions and base mismatches. Furthermore, it revealed a striking functional separation of the cistrome on the basis of cooperativity; with low cooperativity genes being significantly enriched for cell cycle and high cooperativity genes for apoptotic functions. Importantly, expression of high but not low cooperativity genes was correlated with superior survival in breast cancer patients. Interestingly, in contrast to most p53-activated genes, p53-repressed genes did not commonly contain p53 binding elements. Nevertheless, both the degree of gene activation and repression were cooperativity-dependent, suggesting that p53-mediated gene repression is largely indirect and mediated by cooperativity-dependently transactivated gene products such as CDKN1A, E2F7 and non-coding RNAs. Since both activation of apoptosis genes with non-canonical response elements and repression of pro-survival genes are crucial for p53's apoptotic activity, the cistrome analysis comprehensively explains why p53-induced apoptosis, but not cell cycle arrest, strongly depends on the intermolecular cooperation of p53 molecules as a possible safeguard mechanism protecting from accidental cell killing.
Neural processing of emotions in traumatized children treated with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy: a hdEEG study

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has been proven efficacious in restoring affective regulation in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. However, its effectiveness on emotion processing in children with complex trauma has yet to be explored. High density electroencephalography (hdEEG) was used to investigate the effects of EMDR on brain responses to adults’ emotions on children with histories of early maltreatment. Ten school-aged children were examined before (T0) and within one month after the conclusion of EMDR (T1). hdEEGs were recorded while children passively viewed angry, afraid, happy, and neutral faces. Clinical scales were administered at the same time. Correlation analyses were performed to detect brain regions whose activity was linked to children’s traumatic symptom-related and emotional-adaptive problem scores. In all four conditions, hdEEG showed similar significantly higher activity on the right medial prefrontal and fronto-temporal limbic regions at T0, shifting toward the left medial and superior temporal regions at T1. Moreover, significant correlations were found between clinical scales and the same regions whose activity significantly differed between pre- and post-treatment. These preliminary results demonstrate that, after EMDR, children suffering from complex trauma show increased activity in areas implicated in high-order cognitive processing when passively viewing pictures of emotional expressions. These changes are associated with the decrease of depressive and traumatic symptoms, and with the improvement of emotional-adaptive functioning over time.
The external auditors' reliance on internal auditors' work: An exploratory, multi-method study on determinants of independence and objectivity

In this paper, we aim to empirically explore determinants of the IAF’s independence and internal auditors’ objectivity from both the external auditors’ and the internal auditors’ perception. We thereby employ a multi-method approach. First, we review regulations and the current literature to collect determinants of independence and objectivity. Second, we conduct a number of interviews with external and internal auditors to understand and complement these determinants. Third, we explore their importance by conducting a survey with 118 experienced internal auditors. The results of the survey stress the importance of the CAE’s attitude for the IAF’s independence and internal auditors’ objectivity. Finally, we perform two experiments with experienced internal auditors. We explore if the CAE can bias internal auditors’ judgments in their potentially competing roles of serving two masters: management and the audit committee. Both masters can have different visions for the use of the internal audit function and we argue that it depends on the Chief Audit Executive (CAE) which vision will dominate. We test our hypotheses in a mixed experimental design with communicated preferences of the CAE (cost reduction vs. effectiveness) as between-subjects manipulation and different degrees of task complexity (low, medium, high) as within-subjects manipulation. Our main findings suggest that CAE instructions can impair internal auditors’ judgments under the condition that task complexity is high. The studies’ results question whether the independence of the internal audit function is always achievable and stress the crucial role of the CAE. We also discuss implications for the external auditors’ reliance decision.
Novel systolic array design for the discrete Hartley transform with high throughput rate

Three features for the discrete Hartley transform (DHT) transform are derived, including (1) the single/double data folding; (2) the constructive feature and (3) the data reusage. By using the CORDIC (coordinate rotations digital computer) algorithm, the DHT transform kernel h/sub n//spl times/[cos/spl theta/+ sin/spl theta/] and conjugate kernel h/sub n//spl times/[cos/spl theta/-sin/spl theta/] can be simultaneously determined. With these favorable properties, a novel systolic array design for the discrete Hartley transform is designed. <<ETX>>
Globally reasoning about localised security policies in distributed systems

In this report, we aim at establishing proper ways for model checking the global security of distributed systems, which are designed consisting of set of localised security policies that enforce specific issues about the security expected. The systems are formally specified following a syntax, defined in detail in this report, and their behaviour is clearly established by the Semantics, also defined in detail in this report. The systems include the formal attachment of security policies into their locations, whose intended interactions are trapped by the policies, aiming at taking access control decisions of the system, and the Semantics also takes care of this. Using the Semantics, a Labelled Transition System (LTS) can be induced for every particular system, and over this LTS some model checking tasks could be done. We identify how this LTS is indeed obtained, and propose an alternative way of model checking the not-yet-induced LTS, by using the system design directly. This may lead to over-approximation thereby producing imprecise, though safe, results. We restrict ourselves to finite systems, in the sake of being certain about the decidability of the proposed method. To illustrate the usefulness and validity of our proposal, we present 2 small case-study-like examples, where we show how the system can be specified, which policies could be added to it, and how to decide if the desired global security property is met. Finally, an Appendix is given for digging deeply into how a tool for automatically performing this task is being built, including some implementation issues. The tool takes advantage of the proposed method, and given some system and some desired global security property, it safely (i.e. without false positives) ensures satisfaction of it.
Protein-poor diet reduces host-specific immune gene expression in Bombus terrestris

Parasites infect hosts non-randomly as genotypes of hosts vary in susceptibility to the same genotypes of parasites, but this specificity may be modulated by environmental factors such as nutrition. Nutrition plays an important role for any physiological investment. As immune responses are costly, resource limitation should negatively affect immunity through trade-offs with other physiological requirements. Consequently, nutritional limitation should diminish immune capacity in general, but does it also dampen differences among hosts? We investigated the effect of short-term pollen deprivation on the immune responses of our model host Bombus terrestris when infected with the highly prevalent natural parasite Crithidia bombi. Bumblebees deprived of pollen, their protein source, show reduced immune responses to infection. They failed to upregulate a number of genes, including antimicrobial peptides, in response to infection. In particular, they also showed less specific immune expression patterns across individuals and colonies. These findings provide evidence for how immune responses on the individual-level vary with important elements of the environment and illustrate how nutrition can functionally alter not only general resistance, but also alter the pattern of specific host–parasite interactions.
Twitter use in election campaigns: A systematic literature review

ABSTRACT Twitter has become a pervasive tool in election campaigns. Candidates, parties, journalists, and a steadily increasing share of the public are using Twitter to comment on, interact around, and research public reactions to politics. These uses have met with growing scholarly attention. As of now, this research is fragmented, lacks a common body of evidence, and shared approaches to data collection and selection. This article presents the results of a systematic literature review of 127 studies addressing the use of Twitter in election campaigns. In this systematic review, I will discuss the available research with regard to findings on the use of Twitter by parties, candidates, and publics during election campaigns and during mediated campaign events. Also, I will address prominent research designs and approaches to data collection and selection.
Transmission Network Expansion Planning: Bridging the gap between AC heuristics and DC approximations

It was recently observed that a significant gap exists between the costs of Transmission Network Expansion Planning (TNEP) solutions produced by the DC power flow approximation and AC power flow heuristics. This paper confirms the existence of that gap and shows that DC-based TNEP solutions exhibit significant constraint violations when converted into AC power flows. The paper then demonstrates how to bridge this gap with the LPAC power flow model, a linear-programming approximation of the power flow that captures reactive power and voltage magnitudes. Indeed, LPAC-based TNEP solutions have minimal violations in AC power flows and provide high-quality solutions. The strength of the LPAC formulation is further demonstrated on the joint optimization of line expansion and VAr compensation, as well as a competitive market study. These studies suggest that the underling TNEP formulation has significant impacts on the proposed expansion plans.