Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A self-assembling peptide hydrogel for ultrarapid 3D bioassays

Biosensing analytical platforms rely on the intimate structure–function relationship of immobilized probes. In this context, hydrogels are appealing semi-wet systems to locally confine biomolecules while preserving their structural integrity and function. Yet, limitations imposed by biomolecule diffusion rates or fabrication difficulties still hamper their broad application. Here, using a self-assembling peptide, a printable and self-adhesive hydrogel was obtained and applied to fabricate arrays of localized bio-functional 3D microenvironments on analytical interfaces. This soft matrix represents a robust and versatile material, allowing fast and selective tuning of analyte diffusion, which is exploited here to run in-gel immunoassays under solution-like conditions in an unprecedented (<10 min) time frame. The developed material overcomes major limitations associated with hydrogels for bioassays, widening the prospects for easy fabrication of multifunctional bio-interfaces for high-throughput, molecular recognition assays.
Genomic signal processing

Summary form only given. The sequencing of several genomes offers the opportunity to data mine and to explore in depth this unique data repository. Converting the genomic sequences into digital genomic signals offers the possibility to use signal processing methods for handling and analyzing genomic information. Using the genomic signal approach, long range features, maintained over distances of 10/sup 6/-10/sup 8/ of base pairs have been found. In the context of analyzing large volumes of data and of presenting the results in a easy to read form, the problem of data representability becomes critical. In this paper, a novel mathematical description of data graphical representability, based on the data scattering ratio for a pixel, is defined and is applied for several typical cases of standard signals and for genomic signals. It is shown that the variation of genomic data along nucleotide sequences, specifically the cumulated and unwrapped phase, can be visualized adequately as simple graphic lines for low and large scales, while for medium scales (thousands to tens of thousands of base pairs) the statistical descriptions have to be used.
A computer vision approach to classification of birds in flight from video sequences

Bird populations are an important bio-indicator, ; so collecting reliable data is useful for ecologists helping conserve and manage fragile ecosystems. However, existing manual monitoring methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. The aim of our work is to develop a reliable system, capable of automatically classifying individual bird species in flight from videos. This is challenging, but appropriate for use in the field, since there is often a requirement to identify in flight, rather than when stationary. We present our work in progress which uses combined appearance and motion features to classify and present experimental results across seven species using Normal Bayes classifier with majority voting and achieving a classification rate of 86%.
This information is current as Changes in NK Cells for an IL-10 Response Proliferation Conditions Promote Intrinsic

Constitutively found at high frequencies, the role for NK cell proliferation remains unclear. In this study, a shift in NK cell function from predominantly producing IFN-g, a cytokine with proinflammatory and antimicrobial functions, to producing the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10 was defined during extended murine CMV infection. The response occurred at times subsequent to IL-12 production, but the NK cells elicited acquired responsiveness to IL-12 and IL-21 for IL-10 production. Because neither IL-12 nor IL-21 was required in vivo, however, additional pathways appeared to be available to promote NK cell IL-10 expression. In vitro studies with IL-2 to support proliferation and in vivo adoptive transfers into murine CMV-infected mice demonstrated that NK cell proliferation and further division enhanced the change. In contrast to the sustained open profile of the IFN-g gene, NK cells responding to infection acquired histone modifications in the IL-10 gene indicative of changing from a closed to an open state. The IL-10 response to IL-12 was proliferation dependent ex vivo if the NK cells had not yet expanded in vivo but independent if they had. Thus, a novel role for proliferation in supporting changing innate cell function is reported. N atural killer cells of the innate immune system are important in early defense against viral infections of mice and humans. In addition to being induced to mediate direct antiviral effects, they are stimulated by cytokines and through activating receptors to undergo proliferation (1–5). The biological importance of this response has remained elusive. In contrast to the low numbers of Ag-specific T cell subsets needing expansion for defense, NK cells are basally found at high frequencies, and large proportions express particular activating receptors (5). During early murine CMV (MCMV) infection, induced IL-12 stimulates NK cell production of IFN-g to support proinflammatory effects and consequently enhance innate antiviral defense (3, 6). NK cells can sometimes make the im-munoregulatory cytokine IL-10 (4, 7–12), and they do so at later times during sustained MCMV replication as a result of deficiency in cyto-toxic function (4). Under these conditions, NK cell IL-10 acts to limit adaptive responses for protection against immune-mediated disease. So then, how are NK cells regulated to balance their proinflam-matory and immunoregulatory effects? Extrinsic factors such as the cytokines available to stimulate IL-10 expression might be differentially induced to support these responses. IL-12 can sometimes elicit, and other cytokines can conditionally induce, IL-10 (7, 9, 13–17), but their roles in eliciting …
Encoding of control information and data for downlink broadcast of short packets

It is almost an axiom that every cellular wireless system, including the upcoming 5G systems, should be based on data transmissions organized in frames. The frame design is based on heuristics, consisting of a frame header and data part. The frame header contains control information that specifies the sizes of the data packets and provides pointers to their location within the data part. In this paper we show that this design heuristics is suboptimal when the messages in the data part are short. We consider a downlink scenario represented by an AWGN broadcast channel with K users, while the sizes of the messages to the users are random variables. Each data packet encodes a message to one user. However, if the message sizes are small, there is a significant overhead caused by the header and the data packets can not be encoded efficiently. This calls for revision of the established heuristics for framing control information and data. We show that grouping messages of multiple users allows more efficient encoding from a transmitter perspective. On the other hand, it has the undesirable implication that it requires each user to decode the messages of a whole group of users. We assume that the power spend by each user is proportional to the number of channel uses it needs to decode. Using recent results in finite blocklength analysis, we investigate the trade-offs between total transmission time from the transmitter perspective and the average power spend at each user. Our approach shows that the space of feasible protocols is significantly enlarged and thereby allows the designer to trade-off between average total transmission time and the average power spend by each user.
A simple load balancing scheme for task allocation in parallel machines

A collection of local workpiles (task queues) and a simple load balancing scheme is well suited for scheduling tasks in shared memory parallel machines. Task scheduling on such machines has usually been done through a single, globally accessible, workpile. The scheme introduced in this paper achieves a balancing comparable to that of a global workpile, while minimizing the overheads. In many parallel computer architectures, each processor has some memory that it can access more efficiently, and so it is desirable that tasks do not mirgrate frequently. The load balancing is simple and distributed: Whenever a processor accesses its local workpile, it performs a balancing operation with probability inversely proportional to the size of its workpile. The balancing operation consists of examining the workpile of a random processor and exchanging tasks so as to equalize the size of the two workpiles. The probabilistic analysis of the performance of the load balancing scheme proves that each tasks in the system receives its fair share of computation time. Specifically, the expected size of each local task queue is within a small constant factor of the average, i.e. total number of tasks in the system divided by the number of processors.
Biomarkers of Exposure: A Case Study with Inorganic Arsenic

The environmental contaminant inorganic arsenic (iAs) is a human toxicant and carcinogen. Most mammals metabolize iAs by reducing it to trivalency, followed by oxidative methylation to pentavalency. iAs and its methylated metabolites are primarily excreted in urine within 4–5 days by most species and have a relatively low rate of bioaccumulation. Intra- and interindividual differences in the methylation of iAs may affect the adverse health effects of arsenic. Both inorganic and organic trivalent arsenicals are more potent toxicants than pentavalent forms. Several mechanisms of action have been proposed for arsenic-induced toxicity, but a scientific consensus has not been achieved. Biomarkers of exposure may be used to quantify exposure to iAs. The most common biomarker of exposure for iAs is the measurement of total urinary arsenic. However, consumption of seafood containing high concentrations of organic arsenic can confound estimation of iAs exposure. Because these organic species are thought to be relatively nontoxic, their presence in urine may not represent increased risk. Speciation of urinary arsenic into inorganic and organic forms, and even oxidation state, gives a more definitive indication of the exposure to iAs. Questions still remain, however, as to how reliably the measurement of urinary arsenic, either total or speciated, may predict arsenic concentrations at target tissues as well as how this measurement could be used to assess chronic exposures to iAs.
Fault Detection and Diagnosis for Wind Farms

Analyses of wind farm maintenance costs show that up to 40% of the outlay is related to unexpected component failures that lead to costly unscheduled amendments. Situations involving major failures of the braking system or the gearbox may result in catastrophic damage, jeopardising investments, reputation and the certainty of wind energy. Early fault detection by carrying out regular inspection of the system components helps to prevent and minimise the number of major breakdowns. This project will address the problem of automatic detection and diagnosis of faults within wind farms. The central thesis to be tested is that spatially correlated data, from the monitored assets within each turbine, can be used to improve the efficacy of fault detection and diagnosis algorithms. The benefit will be advanced-failure detection, resulting in superior planned maintenance, shorter downtimes and decreased revenue losses. This could also be used to either enhance safety or achieve a more affordable current level of safety.
Role of cystathionine beta synthase in lipid metabolism in ovarian cancer

Elevated lipid metabolism is implicated in poor survival in ovarian cancer (OC) and other cancers; however, current lipogenesis-targeting strategies lack cancer cell specificity. Here, we identify a novel role of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), a sulphur amino acid metabolizing enzyme highly expressed in several ovarian cancer cell lines, in driving deregulated lipid metabolism in OC. We examined the role of CBS in regulation of triglycerides, cholesterol and lipogenic enzymes via the lipogenic transcription factors SREBP1 and SREBP2. CBS silencing attenuated the expression of number of key enzymes involved in lipid synthesis (FASN and ACC1). Additionally CBS abrogates lipid uptake in OC cells. Gene silencing of CBS or SREBPs abrogated cellular migration and invasion in OC, while ectopic expression of SREBPs can rescue phenotypic effects of CBS silencing by restoring cell migration and invasion. Mechanistically, CBS represses SREBP1 and SREBP2 at the transcription levels by modulating the transcription factor Sp1. We further established the roles of both CBS and SREBPs in regulating ovarian tumor growth in vivo. In orthotopic tumor models, CBS or SREBP silencing resulted in reduced tumor cells proliferation, blood vessels formation and lipid content. Hence, cancer-selective disruption of the lipid metabolism pathway is possible by targeting CBS and, at least for OC, promises a profound benefit.
Exploitability analysis using predictive cybersecurity framework

Managing Security is a complex process and existing research in the field of cybersecurity metrics provide limited insight into understanding the impact attacks have on the overall security goals of an enterprise. We need a new generation of metrics that can enable enterprises to react even faster in order to properly protect mission-critical systems in the midst of both undiscovered and disclosed vulnerabilities. In this paper, we propose a practical and predictive security model for exploitability analysis in a networking environment using stochastic modeling. Our model is built upon the trusted CVSS Exploitability framework and we analyze how the atomic attributes namely Access Complexity, Access Vector and Authentication that make up the exploitability score evolve over a specific time period. We formally define a nonhomogeneous Markov model which incorporates time dependent covariates, namely the vulnerability age and the vulnerability discovery rate. The daily transition-probability matrices in our study are estimated using a combination of Frei's model & Alhazmi Malaiya's Logistic model. An exploitability analysis is conducted to show the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed approach. Our approach enables enterprises to apply analytics using a predictive cyber security model to improve decision making and reduce risk.
Demonstration of the absence of intervening sequences within 23S rRNA genes from Campylobacter lari

Cloning, sequencing and characterization of nearly full‐length 23S rRNA genes in 12 urease‐positive thermophilic Campylobacter (UPTC) isolates were carried out using two novel PCR primer pairs. Nucleotide sequences of the 23S rRNA genes from the 12 isolates were first shown not to carry any intervening sequences (IVSs) in both the 25 and 45 helix regions. Then, two PCR primer sets were designed in silico for amplification of the helix 25 and 45 regions within 23S rRNA gene sequences from Campylobacter lari. No IVSs were identified within the 23S rRNA genes among a total of 53 isolates of C. lari, following PCR amplification, TA cloning and sequencing procedures. Intact 23S rRNA was identified in all 65 C. lari isolates, resulting in no production of the fragmented 23S rRNA. These data suggest that C. lari may not have any opportunity to interact with any other source of IVSs until now, or has been unable to integrate IVSs into their own genomes. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Enhancement of lomefloxacin Hcl ocular efficacy via niosomal encapsulation: in vitro characterization and in vivo evaluation

Abstract The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate niosomal dispersions loaded with the hydrophilic drug; lomefloxacin Hcl (LXN) for the management of ocular bacterial conjunctivitis. LXN-loaded niosomes were prepared by the thin film hydration method following a full factorial formulation design. Two independent variables were evaluated: the type of surfactant (X1) and the surfactant:cholesterol ratio (X2). The dependent variables comprised entrapment efficiency (EE%: Y1), particle size (PS: Y2) and zeta potential (ZP: Y3). The optimum formulation, N-LXN14 (Tw60: CH, 1:1), was spherical in shape and exhibited EE% of 68.41 ± 0.07, PS of 176.0 ± 0.98 and ZP of -40.70 ± 2.20 with a sustained release profile over 8 hours following the Higuchi model. N-LXN14 proved good physicochemical stability under refrigeration up to 3 months. Ocular irritancy test showed no signs of ocular toxicity, confirming the safety and suitability for ocular application. Microbiological evaluation of the antibacterial effect of N-LXN14 was conducted using the susceptibility test and through the induction of topical conjunctivitis by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) followed by topical therapy. Susceptibility test manifested significantly higher percent inhibition of S. aureus and higher AUC0–12 h of N-LXN14 (604.59 ± 0.05) compared to the commercial product (126.25 ± 0.049). Both clinical observation and colony count of the infected eyes after eight days of treatment demonstrated significant improvement in therapeutic response. The infected eyes were completely healed with eradication of S. aureus. In conclusion, the results showed that LXN niosomal dispersions may serve as a promising superior ocular delivery system in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.
Stability evaluation and design of the PRMA joint voice data system

Packet reservation multiple access (PRMA) provides spatially dispersed voice and data terminals wireless access to a base station over a common short-range radio channel. The author presents an equilibrium point analysis of the joint voice data system. The analysis leads to two coupled nonlinear equations. By a judicious change of variables, the author calculates the equilibrium of the joint system by finding the roots of a univariate equation. The author provides expressions for voice packet dropping probability, the distribution of data packet delays and the system throughput, at equilibrium. For the joint voice data system the design problem is two dimensional. Elementary catastrophe theory leads to a bifurcation of the design space into useful and congested regions. The useful design space is further restricted by target values of the performance criteria. The study of a nominal system verifies the design methodology. Moreover, it shows that PRMA gracefully accepts low bit rate data terminals with moderate data packet delays (few hundred milliseconds), while simultaneously satisfying a 1% speech packet dropping criterion. >
Fault collapsing via functional dominance

A fault fj is said to dominate another fault fi if all tests for fi detect fj. When two faults dominate each other, they are called equivalent. Dominance and equivalence relations among faults around a Boolean gate are called \structural" and are used for fault collapsing in large circuits. Some fault equivalences, that cannot be determined by the structural analysis, can be found by \functional" equivalence relations. This paper gives a \functional dominance" relation, which has not been described in the literature. Since the functional analysis is computationally expensive, it can only be applied to small circuits such as standard cells. A graph-theoretic hierarchical fault collapsing method from the recent literature can then collapse faults in any large cell-based circuit. It is found that the size of the dominance collapsed set for an exclusive-OR cell reduces to just four faults when functional dominance is considered. With the traditional method of structural collapsing this set contains 13 faults. When the exclusive-OR cell is used to build an 8-bit adder circuit, the size of the dominance collapsed set reduces to 112 faults from a total of 466 faults. Traditional structural dominance collapsing would have given a set of 226 faults. Smaller fault set can lead to more compact tests. Collapsing for the cell-based design of benchmark circuit, c499, reduces a set of 2,710 faults to just 586 faults.
Codification, Personalisation, or in Between? Exploring Knowledge Characteristics to Guide Knowledge Management System Design

The effectiveness of information technology (IT) depends on its embeddedness into its contingent context. Thus, enabling adequate knowledge management (KM) system design requires awareness of the characteristics of the knowledge that is created. Since related insights are missing, we explore what software developers learn on their projects by conducting interviews based on the Repertory Grid Technique. We assess the characteristics of the identified knowledge and skills and derive suggestions for KM system design accordingly. Our study gives rise to challenge the common idea that KM design should be chosen according to the type of knowledge (explicit versus tacit) to be managed. Incorporating further knowledge characteristics (task domain and volatility of knowledge), our results indicate that organisations should implement a codification strategy or a strategy between codification and personalisation, depending on the knowledge at hand.
Impact of Heat Stress on Poultry Production

Simple Summary Due to the common occurrence of environmental stressors worldwide, many studies have investigated the detrimental effects of heat stress on poultry production. It has been shown that heat stress negatively affects the welfare and productivity of broilers and laying hens. However, further research is still needed to improve the knowledge of basic mechanisms associated to the negative effects of heat stress in poultry, as well as to develop effective interventions. Abstract Understanding and controlling environmental conditions is crucial to successful poultry production and welfare. Heat stress is one of the most important environmental stressors challenging poultry production worldwide. The detrimental effects of heat stress on broilers and laying hens range from reduced growth and egg production to decreased poultry and egg quality and safety. Moreover, the negative impact of heat stress on poultry welfare has recently attracted increasing public awareness and concern. Much information has been published on the effects of heat stress on productivity and immune response in poultry. However, our knowledge of basic mechanisms associated to the reported effects, as well as related to poultry behavior and welfare under heat stress conditions is in fact scarce. Intervention strategies to deal with heat stress conditions have been the focus of many published studies. Nevertheless, effectiveness of most of the interventions has been variable or inconsistent. This review focuses on the scientific evidence available on the importance and impact of heat stress in poultry production, with emphasis on broilers and laying hens.
A giant prostatic hyperplasia treated by open surgery

We report a rare case of giant prostatic hyperplasia treated by open surgery. A 70-year-old man was suffering from macrohematuria. Computed tomography revealed a markedly enlarged prostate measuring 580 mL. The serum prostate-specific antigen level was 9.430 ng/mL. Prostatic biopsy showed benign prostatic hyperplasia. We perfomed retropubic open prostatectomy, since macrohematuria continued and he was also suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. The adenoma was completely enucleated in one piece. The removed specimen was 13 × 11 × 6 cm in size and weighed 475 g. Histological examination also demonstrated prostatic fibromuscular hyperplasia. This is the 15th-heaviest adenoma ever reported in English-language journals. Transurethral surgical techniques or other minimally invasive approaches are performed for patients with small to medium-sized prostates. However, open surgery is recommended for markedly enlarged prostatic hyperplasia.