Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of a Novel Nonviral Gene Delivery of BMP-2 on Bone Healing

Background. Gene therapeutic drug delivery approaches have been introduced to improve the efficiency of growth factors at the site of interest. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of a new nonviral copolymer-protected gene vector (COPROG) for the stimulation of bone healing. Methods. In vitro, rat osteoblasts were transfected with COPROG + luciferase plasmid or COPROG + hBMP-2 plasmid. In vivo, rat tibial fractures were intramedullary stabilized with uncoated versus COPROG+hBMP-2-plasmid-coated titanium K-wires. The tibiae were prepared for biomechanical and histological analyses at days 28 and 42 and for transfection/safety study at days 2, 4, 7, 28, and 42. Results. In vitro results showed luciferase expression until day 21, and hBMP-2-protein was measured from day 2 – day 10. In vivo, the local application of hBMP-2-plasmid showed a significantly higher maximum load after 42 days compared to that in the control. The histomorphometric analysis revealed a significantly less mineralized periosteal callus area in the BMP-2 group compared to the control at day 28. The rt-PCR showed no systemic biodistribution of luciferase RNA. Conclusion. A positive effect on fracture healing by nonviral BMP-2 plasmid application from COPROG-coated implants could be shown in this study; however, the effect of the vector may be improved with higher plasmid concentrations. Transfection showed no biodistribution to distant organs and was considered to be safe.
Replacing fossil oil with fresh oil – with what and for what?

Industrial chemicals and materials are currently derived mainly from fossil-based raw materials, which are declining in availability, increasing in price and are a major source of undesirable greenhouse gas emissions. Plant oils have the potential to provide functionally equivalent, renewable and environmentally friendly replacements for these finite fossil-based raw materials, provided that their composition can be matched to end-use requirements, and that they can be produced on sufficient scale to meet current and growing industrial demands. Replacement of 40% of the fossil oil used in the chemical industry with renewable plant oils, whilst ensuring that growing demand for food oils is also met, will require a trebling of global plant oil production from current levels of around 139 MT to over 400 MT annually. Realisation of this potential will rely on application of plant biotechnology to (i) tailor plant oils to have high purity (preferably >90%) of single desirable fatty acids, (ii) introduce unusual fatty acids that have specialty end-use functionalities and (iii) increase plant oil production capacity by increased oil content in current oil crops, and conversion of other high biomass crops into oil accumulating crops. This review outlines recent progress and future challenges in each of these areas. Practical applications: The research reviewed in this paper aims to develop metabolic engineering technologies to radically increase the yield and alter the fatty acid composition of plant oils and enable the development of new and more productive oil crops that can serve as renewable sources of industrial feedstocks currently provided by non-renewable and polluting fossil-based resources. As a result of recent and anticipated research developments we can expect to see significant enhancements in quality and productivity of oil crops over the coming decades. This should generate the technologies needed to support increasing plant oil production into the future, hopefully of sufficient magnitude to provide a major supply of renewable plant oils for the industrial economy without encroaching on the higher priority demand for food oils. Achievement of this goal will make a significant contribution to moving to a sustainable carbon-neutral industrial society with lower emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and reduced environmental impact as a result.
General parallel computations on desktop grid and P2P systems

This paper defines the requirements for effective execution of iterative computations requiring communication on a desktop grid. It then proposes a combination of a p2p communication model, an algorithmic approach (asynchronous iterations) and a programming model which has promise for satisfying those requirements. Experimental results from an implementation of asynchronous algorithms in pure p2p system will be given. The integration of the p2p communication model with a commercially supported implementation of the <u>SETI@Home</u> desktop grid system to yield a prototype implementation of a desktop grid with communication among its hosts is described and some very preliminary results from application of the extended desktop grid for computation of Google pageranks and solution of linear systems are given. The desktop grid prototype preserves anonymity among desktop hosts, supports dynamic communication set membership and enables transparent replication of computations for fault tolerance.
The state event design pattern

In this paper, we present the state event design pattern a generalization of the state one proposed by the Gang of Four. This new pattern provides an upgradeable and maintainable structure contrary to the state pattern. In fact, the idea is to objectify events making state changes on an object in addition to objectify states, with the wish of avoiding the use of condition statements. The motivation of this work has been our wish to propose an alternative design to code discrete event simulation models in object-oriented paradigm. So, we advise this pattern for every designer who wants making code of behavioral objects abstract and reusable for other applications.
Issues on sensitivity expressions and numerical results in topology optimization for linear elasticity problems

1. Abstract Most of the approaches found in literature dealing with topology design sequences are based on sensitivity information. In the present work, we revisit the approaches SIMP (Solid Isotropic Microstructure with Penalization), TSA (Topological Sensitivity Analysis) and ESO (Evolutionary Structural Optimization), focusing on the way these approaches de ne their sensitivity expressions. In SIMP approach, a density eld (x) 2 [0; 1] is de ned as design variable and the total derivatives are calculated in a traditional fashion. The TSA calculates the sensitivity of the cost function due to the introduction of a in nitesimal hole or, in other words, due to the elimination of a material point from the structure. Finally, ESO de nes an approximate sensitivity based on a nite di¤erence of the cost function when an element is removed from the mesh. All these approaches are derived from quite di¤erent conceptual frameworks and provides di¤erent numerical procedures, fact that precludes any direct comparison among them. Despite this, when the internal strain energy is taken as the performance function, the nal sensitivity expressions of all these approaches present some similarities that are pointed out in this work. In addition, a set of numerical examples in 2D and 3D linear elasticity solved by these techniques are shown and compared at the end of this paper. 2.
Paper Ieice/ieee Joint Special Issue on Recent Progress in Atm Technologies an Architecture Supporting Quality-of-service in Virtual- Output-queued Switches

SUMMARY Input buuered switches most eeciently use memory and switch bandwidth. With Virtual Output Queue-ing (VOQ), head-of-line blocking can be avoided, thus breaking the throughput barrier of 58.6%. In this paper a switch architecture based on VOQ is proposed, which ooers deterministic and stochastic delay bounds for prioritized traac. This is achieved by a hybrid static and dynamic arbitration scheme, which matches ports both by a precalculated schedule and realtime calculations. By using weighted dynamic arbitration algorithms 100% throughput with lowest delays under all admissible traac can be achieved. An integrated global priority scheme allows the mul-tiplexing of realtime and data traac. Following the arbitration decision, a cell scheduler decides locally in the input ports upon the next connection from which a cell is forwarded. Cell scheduling based on earliest-deadline-rst (EDF) is shown to perform similar to its behaviour in an output-queued switch.
Reference and Structure of Software Engineering Theories

This paper tries to contribute towards the solution of an important question raised in the SE literature: What is a Software Engineering (SE) specific theory? Which are the main features of a theory that is endemic to SE? In this paper we will use 'theory' as the term is used in traditional sciences. Other uses of the term 'theory' are discussed. Finally, we propose to focus on the reference class and on the structuring of SE theories as a basis for further progress.
Development of a Wireless Sensor Network System for Power Constrained Applications

This paper presents an advanced multihop wireless sensor network testbed developed to support a range of distributed computing, control, and communications applications. The testbed uses low cost sensor nodes based upon the IEEE802.15. 4 standard to create distributed sensor networks. This paper also introduces simple packet scheduling and routing protocols which enable a wireless sensor network to route information packets using minimum energy, thus prolonging the network's operational lifetime. The proposed routing protocol is synchronised with the MAC sleep cycle to minimise the total energy used to transmit a packet in a multihop network. This proposal presents some initial energy efficiency performance figures
The Effect of Inflammatory Cytokines in Alcoholic Liver Disease

Alcohol is the most common cause of liver disease in the world. Chronic alcohol consumption leads to hepatocellular injury and liver inflammation. Inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IFN-γ, induce liver injury in the rat model of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Hepatoprotective cytokines, such as IL-6, and anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-10, are also associated with ALD. IL-6 improves ALD via activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and the subsequent induction of a variety of hepatoprotective genes in hepatocytes. IL-10 inhibits alcoholic liver inflammation via activation of STAT3 in Kupffer cells and the subsequent inhibition of liver inflammation. Alcohol consumption promotes liver inflammation by increasing translocation of gut-derived endotoxins to the portal circulation and activating Kupffer cells through the LPS/Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 pathways. Oxidative stress and microflora products are also associated with ALD. Interactions between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and other cytokines and chemokines are likely to play important roles in the development of ALD. The present study aims to conduct a systemic review of ALD from the aspect of inflammation.
Experimental models of multiple sclerosis.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system of unknown cause. There are many medications available for the disease, but none are clearly effective in ameliorating its long-term disabling effects. MS is felt to be most likely either due to an aberrant immune response or a pathogen, or possibly a combination of the two, and the animal models available reflect these two possible pathogeneses. The hallmarks of the disease are demyelination, inflammation, axonal injury, and progressive disability. This review explores the experimental models of multiple sclerosis. RECENT FINDINGS There are a variety of forms of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, the most commonly studied animal model of MS. Two viruses, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus and murine hepatitis virus, are used to induce infectious models of the disease. SUMMARY The animal models have their advantages and disadvantages, but no model fully reproduces the spectrum of the human disease.
Credit union failures and insurance fund losses: 1971-2004

Over the past few decades, assets in the credit union industry have grown considerably and have grown relative to banking. As with banking, the credit union industry has experienced considerable structural change that, in part, involved failures. While the data on failures in the banking industry have been analyzed at length, the same has not been true for credit unions, so far. ; This Economic Letter presents newly produced data on losses in the federal insurance program for credit union shares and on the rates at which federally insured credit unions (FICUs) failed. (Shares in credit unions are analogous to deposits in banks.) We compare these data to data for institutions insured by the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). We also briefly review the macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that likely contributed to credit union failures and the losses they entailed.
Dust and the spectral energy distribution of the OH/IR star OH 127.8+0.0: Evidence for circumstellar metallic iron

We present a t to the spectral energy distribution of OH 127.8+0.0, a typical asymptotic giant branch star with an optically thick circumstellar dust shell. The t to the dust spectrum is achieved using non-spherical grains consisting of metallic iron, amorphous and crystalline silicates and water ice. Previous similar attempts have not resulted in a satisfactory t to the observed spectral energy distributions, mainly because of an apparent lack of opacity in the 3{8 m region of the spectrum. Non-spherical metallic iron grains provide an identication for the missing source of opacity in the near-infrared. Using the derived dust composition, we have calculated spectra for a range of mass-loss rates in order to perform a consistency check by comparison with other evolved stars. The L (12 m) colours of these models correctly predict the mass-loss rate of a sample of AGB stars, strengthening our conclusion that the metallic iron grains dominate the near-infrared flux. We discuss a formation mechanism for non-spherical metallic iron grains.
Does motor imagery share neural networks with executed movement: a multivariate fMRI analysis

Introduction: Motor imagery (MI) is the mental rehearsal of a motor first person action-representation. There is interest in using MI to access the motor network after stroke. Conventional fMRI modeling has shown that MI and executed movement (EM) activate similar cortical areas but it remains unknown whether they share cortical networks. Proving this is central to using MI to access the motor network and as a form of motor training. Here we use multivariate analysis (tensor independent component analysis-TICA) to map the array of neural networks involved during MI and EM. Methods: Fifteen right-handed healthy volunteers (mean-age 28.4 years) were recruited and screened for their ability to carry out MI (Chaotic MI Assessment). fMRI consisted of an auditory-paced (1 Hz) right hand finger-thumb opposition sequence (2,3,4,5; 2…) with two separate runs acquired (MI & rest and EM & rest: block design). No distinction was made between MI and EM until the final stage of processing. This allowed TICA to identify independent-components (IC) that are common or distinct to both tasks with no prior assumptions. Results: TICA defined 52 ICs. Non-significant ICs and those representing artifact were excluded. Components in which the subject scores were significantly different to zero (for either EM or MI) were included. Seven IC remained. There were IC's shared between EM and MI involving the contralateral BA4, PMd, parietal areas and SMA. IC's exclusive to EM involved the contralateral BA4, S1 and ipsilateral cerebellum whereas the IC related exclusively to MI involved ipsilateral BA4 and PMd. Conclusion: In addition to networks specific to each task indicating a degree of independence, we formally demonstrate here for the first time that MI and EM share cortical networks. This significantly strengthens the rationale for using MI to access the motor networks, but the results also highlight important differences.
Learning Crowd Behavior

We present here our ongoing work on learning crowd behavior. The steering behavior of crowds from various video sources is tracked and databases of examples are generated. These examples contain various stimuli (metrics) that could affect the persons behavior. These databases are used to learn rules for crowd steering in an agent based framework using regression algorithms and more specifically, decision trees. Various simulations are run and the statistics measured at the simulation stage are compared to those of the original video to determine which stimuli affect an agents behavior the most.
Hidden Internet topologies info: Truth or Myth?

Mapping projects usually get information from several routing data collectors or vantage points. The accuracy of maps relies on the amount and location of these collectors, which are usually located near the backbone or at large developed regions, such as ARIN's or RIPE NCC's. The lack of vantage points in Latin America makes these maps not really show the current actual status of the network in this region. For this reason, in this work we have added data from some local sources and measured how much information was missing without them.
Incremental Generation of Self-corrections Using Underspecification

The focus of the present paper is on the interface between the first two components of a language production model, i.e. conceptualiser and formulator. We propose a method of how the incremental input for the formulator can be represented within an underspecification formalism. The proposed method can be used in dynamically changing environments, e.g. an airport supervision and information system, to produce descriptions of ongoing events. Because such a highly dynamic setting requires a real time production, an incremental conceptualiser that produces increments piece by piece is used in order to speed up the production process. Moreover, changes in the environment have to be recognised and quickly reported to the user. For this reason an underspecified representation for the increments is crucial. Underspecification allows information to be added monotonically as soon as a change in the environment has been noticed, e.g. ‘CK-314 is on time . uh . is delayed. ’
Computational modelling of the collective stochastic motion of Kinesin nano motors

We have developed a two dimensional stochastic molecular dynamics model for the description of intra cellular collective motion of bio motors, in particular Kinesins, on a microtubular track. The model is capable or reproducing the hand-over-hand mechanism of the directed motion along the microtubule. The model gives the average directed velocity and the current of Kinesins along the microtubule. It is shown that beyond a certain density of Kinesins, the average velocity and current undergo notable decrease which is due to formation of traffic jams in the system.
Hybrid checkpoint protocol for cell-dependent infrastructured networks

Summary form only given. For supporting mission-critical applications in a mobile network system, hybrid checkpointing has been proposed. In a recent mobile network, wireless LAN protocols such as IEEE 802.11 and HIPERLAN are getting popular and communication with mobile computers is realized by using Mobile IP in the Internet. We propose a novel hybrid checkpoint protocol. Here, message logging for mobile computers is achieved based on broadcast property of wireless LAN protocols. In addition, by extending Mobile IP, network overload in recovery is avoided. For both checkpointing and recovery in the proposed protocol, all required information is piggied back to messages. That is, no additional message is required.
Image based Face Sketch-to-Photo via Online Coupled Dictionary Learning

Image based sketch-to-photo synthesis has received intensive attentions in recent years because of its potential applications on both digital entertainment and law enforcement. In this paper, we study the hallucination of face photos from a collection of face sketches. Before the hallucinating synthesis, a coupled dictionary is learned from a set of training photo-sketch pairs for modelling the relationship between sketch patches and photo patches. Then, based on the learned coupled dictionary, overlapped photo patches can be synthesized. Afterward, the overlapped photo patches are further selected under the proposed global energy minimization framework based on the Markov network. Finally, a multi-band blending operation is carried out to obtain a photo realistic result. The experimental results are promising and validate the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing with the several existing methods.
Detections of Rovibrational H 2 Emission from the Disks of T Tauri Stars

We report the detection of quiescent H2 emission in the v 1⁄4 1 ! 0 S(1) line at 2.12183 lm in the circumstellar environment of two classical T Tauri stars, GGTauA and LkCa 15, in high-resolution (R ’ 60; 000) spectra, bringing to four, including TW Hya and the weak-lined T Tauri star DoAr 21, the number of T Tauri stars showing such emission. The equivalent widths of the H2 emission line lie in the range 0.02–0.10 Å, and in each case the central velocity of the emission line is centered at the star’s systemic velocity. The line widths range from 9 to 14 km s 1, in agreement with those expected from gas in Keplerian orbits in circumstellar disks surrounding K-type stars at distances 10 AU from the sources. UV fluorescence and X-ray heating are likely candidate mechanisms responsible for producing the observed emission. We present mass estimates from the measured line fluxes and show that the estimated masses are consistent with those expected from the possible mechanisms responsible for stimulating the observed emission. The high temperatures and low densities required for significant emission in the v 1⁄4 1 ! 0 S(1) line suggests that we have detected reservoirs of hot H2 gas located in the low-density upper atmospheres of circumstellar disks of these stars. Subject headings: circumstellar matter — infrared: stars — solar system: formation — stars: individual (GG Tauri, LkCa 15, DoAr 21, TWHydrae) — stars: pre–main-sequence
Comment mesurer l'effort social de l'etat?

L'interet croissant pour la comparaison internationale des systemes de protection sociale a conduit l'OCDE a creer une base de donnees specifique sur les depenses sociales des differents pays. Comme les chiffres bruts qui figurent dans les budgets nationaux donnent a cet egard une image incomplete, l'OCDE est en train de mettre au point des indicateurs des depenses sociales nettes
Digital Genome-Wide ncRNA Expression, Including SnoRNAs, across 11 Human Tissues Using PolyA-Neutral Amplification

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are an essential class of molecular species that have been difficult to monitor on high throughput platforms due to frequent lack of polyadenylation. Using a polyadenylation-neutral amplification protocol and next-generation sequencing, we explore ncRNA expression in eleven human tissues. ncRNAs 7SL, U2, 7SK, and HBII-52 are expressed at levels far exceeding mRNAs. C/D and H/ACA box snoRNAs are associated with rRNA methylation and pseudouridylation, respectively: spleen expresses both, hypothalamus expresses mainly C/D box snoRNAs, and testes show enriched expression of both H/ACA box snoRNAs and RNA telomerase TERC. Within the snoRNA 14q cluster, 14q(I-6) is expressed at much higher levels than other cluster members. More reads align to mitochondrial than nuclear tRNAs. Many lincRNAs are actively transcribed, particularly those overlapping known ncRNAs. Within the Prader-Willi syndrome loci, the snoRNA HBII-85 (group I) cluster is highly expressed in hypothalamus, greater than in other tissues and greater than group II or III. Additionally, within the disease locus we find novel transcription across a 400,000 nt span in ovaries. This genome-wide polyA-neutral expression compendium demonstrates the richness of ncRNA expression, their high expression patterns, their function-specific expression patterns, and is publicly available.