Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetically engineered foot-and-mouth disease viruses with poly(C) tracts of two nucleotides are virulent in mice

To determine the role of the poly(C) tract found at the 5' end of the genome of foot-and-mouth disease virus, synthetic RNAs (in vitro transcripts) with poly(C) tracts of different lengths have been produced and evaluated. RNAs with poly(C) tracts of 35, 25, 16, 6, or 2 residues displayed similar specific infectivities in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. Viruses recovered from cells transfected with in vitro transcripts containing 6 to 35 Cs had properties similar to those of the wild-type virus in cell culture, and poly(C) tracts present in the synthetic RNA-derived viruses ranged from 75 to 140 bases in length. Viruses recovered from transcripts containing only two Cs showed very different properties. Specifically, viruses grew to much lower levels in cell culture and maintained a poly(C) tract of only two residues. The pool of viruses harvested from cells transfected with the synthetic C2 RNA also contained a small amount of a virus with a 42-base deletion in the region of the poly(C) tract, which appeared to have arisen by recombination. Taken together, these data suggest that recombination provides the mechanism of poly(C) elongation and that viruses with poly(C) tracts over 75 bases in length have a selective advantage in cell culture. Interestingly, all of the in vitro transcript-derived viruses [including viruses with poly(C) tracts of only two residues] were equally virulent in mice, indicating that poly(C) tract length has no effect on virulence in this animal model.
ILOT : Probab I listic L ightweight gr O up communication sys T em for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks †

Providing reliable group communication is an ever recurring issue in distributed settings. In mobile ad hoc networks, this issue becomes more significant since all nodes act as peers, while the issue gets even more challenging due to highly dynamic and unpredictable topology changes. In order to overcome these difficulties, we deviate from the conventional point of view, i.e., we “fight fire with fire”1, by exploiting the nondeterministic nature of ad hoc networks. Inspired by the principles of gossip mechanisms and probabilistic quorum systems, we present in this paper a ProbabIlistic Lightweight grOup communication sysTem (PILOT) for ad hoc networks, a two layer system consisting of a set of †The work presented in this paper was supported (in part) by the National Competence Center in Research on Mobile Information and Communication Systems (NCCR-MICS), a center supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant number 5005-67322. (http://www.terminodes.org) This expression was recently used for another gossip-based protocol [1], albeit one with a different goal from this paper. September 30, 2003 DRAFT
Performance analysis for a two-way relaying power line network with analog network coding

In this paper, we investigate a two-way relaying power line communication (PLC) network with analog network coding. We focus on the analysis of the system outage probability, symbol error rate, and average capacity. Specifically, we first derive the probability density function (PDF) of the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with a closed form, by exploiting the statistical properties of the PLC channel. Then with the help of this PDF, we develop the outage probability, symbol error rate, and average capacity with closed forms, based on the Hermite polynomial. Simulations show that the derived analytical results are consistent with those by Monte Carlo simulation.
Efficient electrochemical detection of cancer cells on in situ surface-functionalized MoS2 nanosheets

Surface engineering is crucial to improve the biocompatibility and sensing response of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials. For nanostructured MoS2 biosensors, post functionalization via cumbersome procedures unfortunately leads to inevitable structural damage and thus reduced functionalities. Herein, in situ surface functionalization by the reactant thiourea (TU) was employed to one-step fabricate TU-capped MoS2 (TU-MoS2) nanosheets. The amino-group terminated surface of TU-MoS2 favours immobilization of the GE11 peptide that can specifically recognize cancer cells. The resulting sensor shows high sensitivity and selectivity in detecting cancer cells, relying on the varied expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on cell membranes. In the case of human liver cancer cells, it is featured by a wide linear range (50–106 cells mL−1) and a low detection limit (50 cells mL−1) in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, as the variation of charge-transfer resistance is plotted against cell concentration. Furthermore, it exhibits good efficiency in monitoring the dynamic variation of EGFR expression on living cells in response to drug treatment, which is promising for clinical diagnosis and drug screening in miniaturization. By elucidating an efficient biosensing platform on the basis of surface engineered MoS2 nanosheets, this work sheds some light on the development of biosensing technology and relevant materials.
Parallel cities

In this paper we introduce the concept of Parallel Cities---live, 3D simulations of actual cities kept "true to life" using real-time information from their real-world counterparts. A key enabler of the concept is the ever-growing tide of SNS (e.g., Twitter) updates, that can be aggregated and analyzed to obtain a rough, but macroscopically accurate picture of the current state of a city. Metaphorically, Parallel Cities will allow users to instantly "open windows" to any place in the world, providing an attractive enhancement to existing online mapping services. The paper will offer a concise discussion of the technical details of the concept, centered around descriptions of a working prototype that targets the city of Tokyo, Japan.
The data exchange between smart glasses and healthcare information systems using the HL7 FHIR standard

In this study we evaluated system architecture for the use of smart glasses as a viewer of information, as a source of medical data (vital sign measurements: temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate), and as a filter of healthcare information. All activities were based on patient/device identification procedures using graphical markers or features based on visual appearance. The architecture and particular use cases were implemented and verified using smart glasses prototypes developed under the eGlasses project and using a reference Health Level 7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR) server. The results show that information about the identified patient can be quickly retrieved from FHIR servers and annotated using voice recognition services. Smart glasses can be used in the measurement of vital signs of the observed patient, providing values of body temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate by means of non-contact measurements. Such measurements are sufficiently reliable for medical screening and for fast data exchange using HL7 FHIR actions.
Gender identity disorder and eating disorders: similarities and differences in terms of body uneasiness.

INTRODUCTION Subjects with gender identity disorder (GID) have been reported to be highly dissatisfied with their body, and it has been suggested that the body is their primary source of suffering. AIMS. : To evaluate quality and intensity of body uneasiness in GID subjects, comparing them with a sample of eating disorder patients and a control group. To detect similarities and differences between subgroups of GID subjects, on the basis of genotypic sex and transitional stage. METHODS Fifty male-to-female (MtF) GID (25 without and 25 with genital reassignment surgery performed), 50 female-to-male (FtM) GID (28 without and 22 with genital reassignment surgery performed), 88 eating disorder subjects (26 anorexia nervosa, 26 bulimia nervosa, and 36 binge eating disorder), and 107 healthy subjects were evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Subjects were studied by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90), and the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). RESULTS GID and controls reported lower psychiatric comorbidity and lower SCL-90 General Severity Index (GSI) scores than eating disorder subjects. GID MtF without genital reassignment surgery showed the highest BUT values, whereas GID FtM without genital reassignment surgery and eating disorder subjects showed higher values compared with both GID MtF and FtM who underwent genital reassignment surgery and controls. Considering BUT subscales, a different pattern of body uneasiness was observed in GID and eating disorder subjects. GID MtF and FtM without genital reassignment surgery showed the highest BUT GSI/SCL-90 GSI ratio compared with all the eating disorder groups. CONCLUSIONS GID and eating disorders are characterized by a severe body uneasiness, which represents the core of distress in both conditions. Different dimensions of body uneasiness seem to be involved in GID subsamples, depending on reassignment stage and genotypic sex. In eating disorder subjects body uneasiness is primarily linked to general psychopathology, whereas in GID such a relationship is lacking.
An Information-Theoretic Framework to Map the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Scalp Electroencephalogram

We present the first application of the emerging framework of information dynamics to the characterization of the electroencephalography (EEG) activity. The framework provides entropy-based measures of information storage (self entropy, SE) and information transfer (joint transfer entropy (TE) and partial TE), which are applied here to detect complex dynamics of individual EEG sensors and causal interactions between different sensors. The measures are implemented according to a model-free and fully multivariate formulation of the framework, allowing the detection of nonlinear dynamics and direct links. Moreover, to deal with the issue of volume conduction, a compensation for instantaneous effects is introduced in the computation of joint and partial TE. The framework is applied to resting state EEG measured from healthy subjects in the eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) conditions, evidencing condition-dependent patterns indicative of how information is distributed in the EEG sensor space. The SE was uniformly low during EO and significantly higher in the posterior areas during EC. The joint and partial TE were saturated by instantaneous effects, documenting how volume conduction blurs the detection of information flow in the EEG. However, the use of compensated TE measures led us to evidence meaningful patterns like the presence of local sinks of information flow and propagation motifs, and the emergence of prevalent front-to-back EEG propagation during EC. These findings support the feasibility of our information-theoretic approach to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the scalp EEG in different conditions.
A Discrete Model Approach to Biofilm Growth

A biofilm is a community of microorganisms embedded in a matrix of polymers. The focus of this project is on biofilms that grow in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A biofilm structure protects bacteria and makes it harder for natural enzymes and drugs to fight the bacteria within the biofilm. Biofilms also secrete compounds that stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokines, which further damage the underlying lung tissue. The goal of this work is to improve the understanding of how drugs disperse through a biofilm. To accomplish this goal, a discrete model was adopted. The model describes the nutrient and biomass as discrete particles. Diffusion of the nutrient, consumption of the nutrient by microbial particles, and growth and decay of microbial particles are simulated using stochastic processes, which are directly related to physical and biological parameters of the system. These processes have been modeled previously by other authors. Our model extends the complexity of the biofilm system by including the conversion and reversion of living bacteria into a hibernated state, known as persister bacteria. Another new contribution is the inclusion of antimicrobial in two forms: an aqueous solution and encapsulated in biodegradable nanoparticles. Finally, we model bacteria movement using Monte Carlo (MC) techiii niques, which is unique from other discrete models. The bacteria population growth and spatial variation of drugs and their effectiveness are included in the project. Below is a summary of results found in this paper. • Due to the stochastic nature of the model, different initial conditions affect the quantitative results of the biofilm growth. However, qualitatively the results are similar. • The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the antimicrobial is 6 μg/mL, which is consistent with continuum models and experiments. However, this may take a long time to clear the biofilm. For example, it took 8 μg/mL of antimicrobial over four days of exposure to kill all the living bacteria. • The distribution of nanoparticles is approximately uniform after 4 hours from when the first nanoparticle enters the biofilm, which agrees with experimental results. • A combined aqueous solution-nanoparticle treatment strategy achieves the quickest clearance of living bacteria from the biofilm.
Coronary Artery Calcification, Intima-Media Thickness, and Ankle-Brachial Index Are Complementary Stroke Predictors

Background and Purpose— Coronary artery calcification (CAC), a marker of coronary atherosclerosis, predicts stroke in addition to established risk factors. Whether CAC’s predictive value can be improved by peripheral atherosclerosis markers, namely carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and ankle-brachial index (ABI), was unknown. Methods— A total of 3289 participants of the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (45–75 years; 48.8% men) without previous stroke or coronary heart disease were evaluated for incident stroke for 9.0±1.9 years. CAC, CIMT, and ABI were examined as stroke predictors. Results— Eighty-four strokes occurred during follow-up. In multivariable Cox proportional hazard regressions, CAC (hazard ratio, 1.45 [95% confidence interval, 1.11–1.88] per SD increase in ln(CAC+1); SD, 2.40), CIMT (1.34 [1.08–1.66] per SD increase; SD, 0.127 mm), and ABI (1.55 [1.32–1.82] per SD decrease; SD, 0.148) were associated with stroke in addition to established risk factors. When combined with each other, ln(CAC+1)’s hazard ratio remained similar when CIMT (1.41 [1.09–1.83]) was inserted into the multivariable model, but slightly decreased when ABI (1.31 [1.01–1.72]) or CIMT and ABI (1.29 [0.99–1.68]) were included. Although CAC alone did not significantly elevate the area under the curve in Harrell’s c-statistics (by 0.009; P=0.379) in addition to established risk factors, the combination of CAC and ABI increased area under the curve (by 0.029; P=0.047), as did ABI (by 0.025; P=0.038) but not CIMT (by 0.002; P=0.795) alone. The combination of CAC and ABI also resulted in significant category-free net reclassification and integrated discrimination improvement. Conclusions— CAC, CIMT, and ABI provide complementary information about stroke risk. ABI, which is distinctive in a small subpopulation, had the highest and CIMT, which is distributed across a larger range of values, had the lowest predictive value.
Pedestrian tracking using an IMU array

Ubiquitous and accurate tracking of pedestrians are an enabler for a large range of emerging and envisioned services and capabilites. To track pedestrians in prevailing indoor environments, inertial measurement units (IMUs) may be used to implement foot-mounted inertial navigation. Today emerging ultra-low-cost IMUs are taking a leading role in the advancement of the IMU performance-to-cost boundary. Unfortunately, the performance of these IMUs are still insufficient to allow extended stand-alone tracking. However, the size, price, and power consumption of single-chip ultra-low-cost IMUs makes it possible to combine multiple IMUs on a single PCB, creating an IMU array. The feasibility of such hardware has recently been demonstrated. On the other hand, the actual gain of using such multi-IMU systems in the pedestrian tracking application is unclear. Therefore, based on an in-house developed IMU array, in the article we demonstrate that foot-mounted inertial navigation with an IMU array is indeed possible and benefitial. The error characteristics of the setup and different ways of combining the inertial measurements are studied and directions for further research are given.
Single Dose Novel Salmonella Vaccine Enhances Resistance against Visceralizing L. major and L. donovani Infection in Susceptible BALB/c Mice

Visceral leishmaniasis is a major neglected tropical disease, with an estimated 500,000 new cases and more than 50,000 deaths attributable to this disease every year. Drug therapy is available but costly and resistance against several drug classes has evolved. Despite all efforts, no commercial, let alone affordable, vaccine is available to date. Thus, the development of cost effective, needle-independent vaccines is a high priority. Here, we have continued efforts to develop live vaccine carriers based on recombinant Salmonella. We used an in silico approach to select novel Leishmania parasite antigens from proteomic data sets, with selection criteria based on protein abundance, conservation across Leishmania species and low homology to host species. Five chosen antigens were differentially expressed on the surface or in the cytosol of Salmonella typhimurium SL3261. A two-step procedure was developed to select optimal Salmonella vaccine strains for each antigen, based on bacterial fitness and antigen expression levels. We show that vaccine strains of Salmonella expressing the novel Leishmania antigens LinJ08.1190 and LinJ23.0410 significantly reduced visceralisation of L. major and enhanced systemic resistance against L. donovani in susceptible BALB/c mice. The results show that Salmonella are valid vaccine carriers for inducing resistance against visceral leishmaniasis but that their use may not be suitable for all antigens.
The Importance of Time-Series Extrapolation for Macroeconomic Expectations

Abstract This article presents a simple experiment on how laypeople form macroeconomic expectations. Subjects have to forecast inflation and gross domestic product growth. By varying the information provided in different treatments, we can assess the importance of historical time-series information vs. information acquired outside the experimental setting such as knowledge of expert forecasts. It turns out that the availability of historical data has a dominant impact on expectations and wipes out the influence of outside-lab information completely. Consequently, backward-looking behavior can be identified unambiguously as a decisive factor in expectation formation.
Application Ant Colony Neural Network in Lithology Recognition and Prediction: Evidence from China

BP neural network has some shortcomings, such as low-precision solutions, slow search speed and easy convergence to the local minimum points. Ant colony algorithm(ACA) is a novel simulated evolutionary algorithm which accounts for rapid discovery of good solutions and easy to realize distributed computation. This paper establishes ant colony neural network model and applies in lithology recognition and prediction. The model combines ant colony system with BP neural network, and ACA is been put forward to optimize authority value and threshold value of BP nerve network. The result shows that this model has extensive mapping ability of neural network and rapid global convergence of ant system. In generally, this model has significant advantages inspect of fast convergence speed, good generalization ability and not easy to yield minimal local results.
Dynamically configurable security for SRAM FPGA bitstreams

Summary form only given. We propose a solution to improve the security of SRAM FPGAs through bitstream encryption. This proposition is distinct from other works because it uses the latest capabilities of SRAM FPGAs like partial and dynamic reconfiguration. It doesn't need any external battery to store the secret key. It opens a new way of application partitioning according to the security policy.
Expression and inducibility by phenobarbital of CYP2C33, CYP2C42, CYP2C49, CYP2B22, and CYP3As in porcine liver, kidney, small intestine, and nasal tissues

In this study, the expression and inducibility of CYP2C33, CYP2C42, CYP2C49, CYP2B22, CYP3A22, CYP3A29, and CYP3A46 were investigated at activity and/or transcriptional level in liver, kidney, small intestine, respiratory, and olfactory nasal mucosa of control and phenobarbital (PB)-treated pigs. PB treatment resulted in an up-regulation of mRNA levels of all analyzed CYPs in liver, of CYP2C42 and CYP2C49 in kidney, of CYP2C42, CYP2C49, CYP2B22, and CYP3As in small intestine. In liver microsomes from PB-treated pigs, these transcriptional activations were accompanied by an increase of various marker activities of human CYP2B6, CYP3As, CYP2C9, CYP2C19. Among the extrahepatic tissues, a significant induction by PB was observed only in kidney for the marker activities of CYP2C9. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the PB administration in pigs induced at least in liver, in addition to CYP2B22 and CYP3As, the expression of CYP2C33, CYP2C42, and CYP2C49 at transcriptional and activity levels. Furthermore our findings showed that the catalytic activities of porcine CYP2Cs are different amongst those observed and with respect to the human counterparts. Thus, the use of pigs as a model for humans in studies using drugs as substrates and/or inducers of CYP2Cs should be considered carefully.
A New Proxy Measurement Algorithm with Application to the Estimation of Vertical Ground Reaction Forces Using Wearable Sensors

Measurement of the ground reaction forces (GRF) during walking is typically limited to laboratory settings, and only short observations using wearable pressure insoles have been reported so far. In this study, a new proxy measurement method is proposed to estimate the vertical component of the GRF (vGRF) from wearable accelerometer signals. The accelerations are used as the proxy variable. An orthogonal forward regression algorithm (OFR) is employed to identify the dynamic relationships between the proxy variables and the measured vGRF using pressure-sensing insoles. The obtained model, which represents the connection between the proxy variable and the vGRF, is then used to predict the latter. The results have been validated using pressure insoles data collected from nine healthy individuals under two outdoor walking tasks in non-laboratory settings. The results show that the vGRFs can be reconstructed with high accuracy (with an average prediction error of less than 5.0%) using only one wearable sensor mounted at the waist (L5, fifth lumbar vertebra). Proxy measures with different sensor positions are also discussed. Results show that the waist acceleration-based proxy measurement is more stable with less inter-task and inter-subject variability than the proxy measures based on forehead level accelerations. The proposed proxy measure provides a promising low-cost method for monitoring ground reaction forces in real-life settings and introduces a novel generic approach for replacing the direct determination of difficult to measure variables in many applications.