Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral biofilms: molecular analysis, challenges, and future prospects in dental diagnostics

Oral biofilms are functionally and structurally organized polymicrobial communities that are embedded in an extracellular matrix of exopolymers on mucosal and dental surfaces. These biofilms are found naturally in health, and provide benefits to the host. However, this relationship can break down, and disease can occur; disease is associated with a shift in the balance of the species within these biofilms. Simple diagnostic tests have been developed that involve the culture of selected bacteria, eg, those implicated in dental caries, facilitating an assessment of risk of further disease in individual patients. However, oral diseases have a complex etiology, and because only around 50% of oral biofilm can be grown at present, culture-independent molecular-based approaches are being developed that give a more comprehensive assessment of the presence of a range of putative pathogens in samples. The diversity of these biofilms creates challenges in the interpretation of findings, and future work is investigating the ability of novel techniques to detect biological activity and function in oral biofilms, rather than simply providing a catalogue of microbial names.
Aspectual mixin layers: aspects and features in concert

Feature-Oriented Programming (FOP) decomposes complex software into features. Features are main abstractions in design and implementation. They reflect user requirements and incrementally refine one another. Although, features crosscut object-oriented architectures they fail to express all kinds of crosscutting concerns. This weakness is exactly the strength of aspects, the main abstraction mechanism of Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP). In this article we contribute a systematic evaluation and comparison of both paradigms, AOP and FOP, with focus on incremental software development. It reveals that aspects and features are not competing concepts. In fact AOP has several strengths to improve FOP in order to implement crosscutting featuresSymmetrically, the development model of FOP can aid AOP in implementing incremental designs. Consequently, we propose the architectural integration of aspects and features in order to profit from both paradigms. We introduce aspectual mixin layers (AMLs), an implementation approach that realizes this symbiosis. A subsequent evaluation and a case study reveal that AMLs improve the crosscutting modularity of features as well as aspects become well integrated into incremental development style.
Plasticity of Adult Sensorimotor System in Severe Brain Infarcts: Challenges and Opportunities

Functional reorganization forms the critical mechanism for the recovery of function after brain damage. These processes are driven by inherent changes within the central nervous system (CNS) triggered by the insult and further depend on the neural input the recovering system is processing. Therefore these processes interact with not only the interventions a patient receives, but also the activities and behaviors a patient engages in. In recent years, a wide range of research programs has addressed the association between functional reorganization and the spontaneous and treatment-induced recovery. The bulk of this work has focused on upper-limb and hand function, and today there are new treatments available that capitalize on the neuroplasticity of the brain. However, this is only true for patients with mild to moderated impairments; for those with very limited hand function, the basic understanding is much poorer and directly translates into limited treatment opportunities for these patients. The present paper aims to highlight the knowledge gap on severe stroke with a brief summary of the literature followed by a discussion of the challenges involved in the study and treatment of severe stroke and poor long-term outcome.
HMGA2, the Architectural Transcription Factor High Mobility Group, Is Expressed in the Developing and Mature Mouse Cochlea

Hmga2 protein belongs to the non-histone chromosomal high-mobility group (HMG) protein family. HMG proteins have been shown to function as architectural transcription regulators, facilitating enhanceosome formation on a variety of mammalian promoters. Hmga2 are expressed at high levels in embryonic and transformed cells. Terminally differentiated cells, however, have been reported to express only minimal, if any, Hmga2. Our previous affymetrix array data showed that Hmga2 is expressed in the developing and adult mammalian cochleas. However, the spatio-temporal expression pattern of Hmga2 in the murine cochlea remained unknown. In this study, we report the expression of Hmga2 in developing and adult cochleas using immunohistochemistry and quantitative real time PCR analysis. Immunolabeling of Hmga2 in the embryonic, postnatal, and mature cochleas showed broad Hmga2 expression in embryonic cochlea (E14.5) at the level of the developing organ of Corti in differentiating hair cells, supporting cells, in addition to immature cells in the GER and LER areas. By postnatal stage (P0–P3), Hmga2 is predominantly expressed in the hair and supporting cells, in addition to cells in the LER area. By P12, Hmga2 immunolabeling is confined to the hair cells and supporting cells. In the adult ear, Hmga2 expression is maintained in the hair and supporting cell subtypes (i.e. Deiters’ cells, Hensen cells, pillar cells, inner phalangeal and border cells) in the cochlear epithelium. Using quantitative real time PCR, we found a decrease in transcript level for Hmga2 comparable to other known inner ear developmental genes (Sox2, Atoh1, Jagged1 and Hes5) in the cochlear epithelium of the adult relative to postnatal ears. These data provide for the first time the tissue-specific expression and transcription level of Hmga2 during inner ear development and suggest its potential dual role in early differentiation and maintenance of both hair and supporting cell phenotypes.
Epidemiology of Pediatric Dermatology and Allergology in the Region of Aargau, Switzerland

Abstract: Pediatric dermatology is a new topic and no epidemiologic data exist from Switzerland. Therefore we performed a survey of the pediatric population referred to the hospital of Aarau, Switzerland, between 1998 and 2001. All inpatients and outpatients less than 16 years old with a dermatologic diagnosis were included prospectively in our study. Demographic data (age, mean age, sex distribution), referral method, pattern and frequency of the different diagnoses in various age groups, diagnostic pattern, and therapy were analyzed. A total of 1105 children were included, with a slightly higher proportion of girls (53.8% versus 46.2%). The average age was 6.8 years and infants and school children represented 60% of the study population. Half of the patients (51%) were external referrals, almost one‐third (29%) presented spontaneously, and the remaining 20% were sent from other hospital departments. With a frequency of 25.9%, atopic dermatitis was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by pigmented nevi (9.1%) and warts (5.0%). Local therapy was prescribed in 66% of patients and systemic therapy in 18.6%. Other treatments such as curettage, surgery, cryotherapy, ultraviolet therapy, and electrotherapy were rarely performed (2%). We found that atopic dermatitis was the most frequent skin disorder seen in all age groups. As this was a dermatologic subspecialty clinic, higher frequencies of chronic and uncommon dermatoses such as genetic and autoimmune diseases were seen, whereas frequent diagnoses such as diaper rash and miliaria were rarely seen and the frequencies of other common skin disorders such as scabies, pediculosis, impetigo contagiosa, warts, and molluscum contagiosum were expected to be higher compared with the figures in the literature. In our study these dermatoses are underreported, as most patients are treated by general practitioners and pediatricians. Our survey documents the most common skin diseases in childhood primarily seen by pediatricians. We emphasize that dermatologic education of medical students, primary care physicians, and pediatricians should focus on allergic skin diseases, skin infections, pigmentary disorders, and vascular lesions.
Mobile Recommender Systems Methods: An Overview

The information that mobiles can access becomes very wide nowadays, and the user is faced with a dilemma: there is an unlimited pool of information available to him but he is unable to find the exact information he is looking for. This is why the current research aims to design Recommender Systems (RS) able to continually send information that matches the user's interests in order to reduce his navigation time. In this paper, we treat the different approaches to recommend.
Oxygen consumption calculated from the Fick equation has limited utility.

OBJECTIVE To determine if oxygen consumption (VO2) calculated using the Fick relationship (calculated VO2) determines total body VO2 accurately and precisely enough to employ this method during clinical assessment of oxygen transport. DESIGN Methods comparison, using repeated measures during four physiologic states: normal heart/normal lungs, heart failure/normal lungs, normal heart/acute lung injury, heart failure/acute lung injury. SETTING University research laboratory. SUBJECTS Thirteen adult Yucatan pigs. INTERVENTIONS Oleic acid-induced acute lung injury; heart failure was induced with a continuous infusion of esmolol. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Calculated VO2 was determined by multiplying thermodilution cardiac output by the arterialvenous oxygen content difference in anesthetized, spontaneously breathing animals. Conditions were tightly controlled so that calculated VO2 would be as accurate as possible. "True" VO2 was measured simultaneously with a water-sealed spirometer (spirometry VO2). Calculated VO2 and spirometry VO2 were determined and analyzed during the four physiologic states listed above. Pooled data also were evaluated. Mean spirometry VO2 and calculated VO2 differed significantly during all four physiologic states and when data were pooled (spirometry VO2 273 +/- 70, calculated VO2 178 +/- 58 mL/min; p < .01). Calculated VO2 consistently underestimated spirometry VO2, as demonstrated by the large, positive bias in pooled data (95 +/- 59 mL of oxygen/min) and in the four physiologic states. Linear regression of data from all four states yielded slopes that were indistinguishable from 1, but y intercepts that varied from -152 to +182. For pooled data, the following equation was used: calculated VO2 = 0.5 x (spirometry VO2 + 46); r2 = . 35. Precision in pooled data was 22% of the mean spirometry VO2. Data analysis for the four physiologic states demonstrated results similar to those results obtained when data were pooled. CONCLUSIONS Even in a tightly controlled, clinical simulation in the laboratory, calculated VO2 from the Fick relationship systematically underestimated VO2 measured with a water-sealed spirometer. If true VO2 changes, the magnitude and direction of change will be reflected by calculated VO2 but with approximately 20% error in the absolute value. Heart failure, acute lung injury, and their combination did not affect the accuracy of calculated VO2. Therefore, calculating VO2 using the Fick relationship is too inaccurate to be used for research purposes. Because assessment of the directional change of VO2 may be clinically useful, calculated VO2 can be employed with discretion during clinical oxygen transport evaluation, bearing in mind the calculation's inherent imprecision.
Using minimaps to enable toponym resolution with an effective 100% rate of recall

A number of systems have been recently constructed that make use of a map query interface to access documents by the locations that they mention. These mentions are often ambiguous in the sense that many interpretations exist for the locations which are not always expressed along with all the necessary qualifiers. In other words, users are assumed to be able to make the appropriate identification based either on knowledge of prior queries or the nature of the document containing the references as well as knowledge of the target audience. The disambiguation process is known as toponym resolution. The map query interface results in the placement of icons and links to the appropriate documents at the corresponding location on the map. Assuming that all toponyms have been recognized (i.e., 100% rate of recall for toponym recognition), it is shown how to achieve an effective 100% rate of recall for toponym resolution for all interpretations of a toponym that the toponym recognition process associates with at least one document. This is done with the aid of a minimap that shows all of these interpretations which means that a user has access to all documents that mention a specific location as long as the textual specification to the location has been recognized as a location rather than as the name of another entity such as a person, company, organization, etc. It also assumes that the user is capable of determining the correct interpretation of each toponym. This is important as it enables the determination of precision and recall.
Overexpression of nef as a marker for restricted HIV‐1 infection of astrocytes in postmortem pediatric central nervous tissues

In previous studies, using polymerase chain reaction amplification of HIV-1 genes directly from pathologic tissues of children who died with AIDS encephalopathy, we showed that the reading frame of the HIV-1 regulatory nef gene is open, suggesting that the nef protein was expressed. We now show, using immunocytoehemistry and in situ hybridization with nef-specific probes in postmortem pediatric CNS tissues, that nef mRNA and protein are present in up to 20% of astrocytes in tissue sections selected for extensive histopathology. By contrast, HIV-1 structural proteins such as gag and their coding mRNAs are present in multinucleated giant cells that harbor productive infection and are the hallmark of HIV-1 infection in the CNS. These findings are consistent with the nonproductive infection of glial cells observed in vitro, and imply that HIV-1 infection of astrocytes is restricted to early regulatory gene products, of which nef is the best target as it is expressed at high levels and is membrane-anchored. In developing central nervous tissues of children, restricted and latent HIV-1 infection of astrocytes may be extensive and contribute significantly to HIV-1 neuropathogenesis.
Animal Behavior in a Swarm

Many species of animals self-organize into coherent groups. The purpose of these groups is to enhance the fitness of the individuals within them in a variety of ways. Aggregation provides lone animal’s greater survivorship, and reproductive success. [3] Remarkably, these groups form without any sort of central control. Animals behavior in a social setting has been researched in the past. Large scale group interactions are all around us. Everything from birds migrating south for the winter, to crowds walking down the streets of New York depends on group dynamics. In todays society group interactions can also be seen on a more technological level. Video games, autonomous machines, animated movies and robotics are a few markets where individual and group behaviors are studied. If groups of animals can be modeled more accurately it could be very valuable to society, as well as to the environment. Streets and roadways may be designed to allow more efficient travel for humans. If we know how animals move and migrate, we may be able to better protect them and their habits from deforestation and pollution, by avoiding the areas which they will be traveling through, and living in. The implications of having such knowledge of group interactions can have an impact into many areas of our lives.
A 12.5Gb/s active-inductor based transmitter for I/O applications

This paper presents an improved PMOS-based active inductor circuit suitable for output driver in wireline link transmitters. Wider tuning range and higher inductive impedance in the desired bandwidth with respect to a previous reported topology is achieved using a varactor in the active inductor architecture and modifying the feedback resistor. Using the proposed active inductor, a prototype output driver for a wireline transmitter is designed in a 90nm CMOS technology. To model nonidealities of the active-inductor that affects the transmitter performance, an accurate large-signal, wide-band characterization technique, based on Least Square Estimation is described. Amplification of high frequency components of 10 Gb/s and 12.5 Gb/s transmitted signals over two kinds of NELCO channels using active inductors in the transmitter side, improves SNDR in the receiver side by 3 dB, as compared to the case with no inductor peaking, for the same power consumption. The transmitter circuit consumes 8.4 mW from a 1.2V power supply.
Securing vehicle-to-grid communications in the smart grid

Using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services, battery vehicles (BVs) may help the smart grid alleviate peaks in power consumption. However, wireless communications infrastructure between BVs and the smart grid also introduce severe and unprecedented security vulnerabilities. In this article, we discuss V2G network architectures and present state-of-the-art security, including different security challenges during V2G power and communications interactions. Then we report on our context-aware authentication solution for V2G communications in the smart grid. Finally, we describe several open issues for secure V2G networks.
Psychosocial dynamics affecting health and social care of forced migrants: a narrative review

Purpose – Through the overview of studies on social representations of forced migrants (socio-cultural level of analysis), the purpose of this paper is to highlight how the variables implicated at the macro levels of analysis may affect the way social and health workers relate to and care for forced migrants (inter-personal level of analysis), as well as the settlement process of forced migrants and their identity reconstruction during the post-migration period. Design/methodology/approach – The narrative review analyses empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals in the field of social psychology that address forced migration. Indeed, the framework used for analysing this literature is the interplay within different levels of analysis, as proposed by Willem Doise’s (1982) using the socio-psychological approach. Findings – Psychosocial factors play influential roles on structuring the way natives health and social professionals relate with forced migrants: among others, needs related to possible traumat.
Epigenetics of breast cancer: Modifying role of environmental and bioactive food compounds.

SCOPE Reduced expression of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) increases the susceptibility to breast cancer. However, only a small percentage of breast tumors is related to family history and mutational inactivation of TSG. Epigenetics refers to non-mutational events that alter gene expression. Endocrine disruptors found in foods and drinking water may disrupt epigenetically hormonal regulation and increase breast cancer risk. This review centers on the working hypothesis that agonists of the aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), bisphenol A (BPA), and arsenic compounds, induce in TSG epigenetic signatures that mirror those often seen in sporadic breast tumors. Conversely, it is hypothesized that bioactive food components that target epigenetic mechanisms protect against sporadic breast cancer induced by these disruptors. METHODS AND RESULTS This review highlights (i) overlaps between epigenetic signatures placed in TSG by AHR-ligands, BPA, and arsenic with epigenetic alterations associated with sporadic breast tumorigenesis; and (ii) potential opportunities for the prevention of sporadic breast cancer with food components that target the epigenetic machinery. CONCLUSIONS Characterizing the overlap between epigenetic signatures elicited in TSG by endocrine disruptors with those observed in sporadic breast tumors may afford new strategies for breast cancer prevention with specific bioactive food components or diet.
Modelling interspecific hybridization with genome exclusion to identify conservation actions: the case of native and invasive Pelophylax waterfrogs

Interspecific hybridization occurs in nature but can also be caused by human actions. It often leads to infertile or fertile hybrids that exclude one parental genome during gametogenesis, escaping genetic recombination and introgression. The threat that genome‐exclusion hybridization might represent on parental species is poorly understood, especially when invasive species are involved. Here, we show how to assess the effects of genome‐exclusion hybridization and how to elaborate conservation actions by simulating scenarios using a model of nonintrogressive hybridization. We examine the case of the frog Pelophylax ridibundus, introduced in Western Europe, which can hybridize with the native Pelophylax lessonae and the pre‐existing hybrid Pelophylax esculentus, maintained by hybridogenesis. If translocated from Southern Europe, P. ridibundus produces new sterile hybrids and we show that it mainly threatens P. esculentus. Translocation from Central Europe leads to new fertile hybrids, threatening all native waterfrogs. Local extinction is demographically mediated via wasted reproductive potential or via demographic flow through generations towards P. ridibundus. We reveal that enlarging the habitat size of the native P. lessonae relative to that of the invader is a promising conservation strategy, avoiding the difficulties of fighting the invader. We finally stress that nonintrogressive hybridization is to be considered in conservation programmes.
Self-Tuning Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions

Transactional Memory was recently integrated in Intel processors under the name TSX. We show that its performance can be significantly affected by the configuration of its interplay with the software-based fallback: in fact, there does not seem to exist a single configuration that can perform best independently of the application and workload. We address this challenge by introducing an innovative self-tuning approach that exploits lightweight reinforcement learning techniques to identify the optimal TSX configuration in a workload-oblivious manner, i.e. not requiring any off-line/a-priori sampling of the application’s workload. To achieve total transparency for the programmer, we integrated the proposed algorithm in the GCC compiler. Our evaluation shows improvements up to 2× over state of the art approaches, while remaining within 5% from the performance achievable using optimal static configurations.
Filtering Techniques for Rapid User Classification

In the computer security task of anomaly detection, we wish to measure not only the classification accuracy of a detector but also the average time to detection. This quantity represents either the average time between false alarms (for a valid user) or the average time until a hostile user is detected. We examine the use of noise suppression filters as componants of a learning classification system for this domain. We empirically evalute the behaviors of a trailing window mean value filter and a trailing window median value filter in terms of both accuracy and time to detection. We find that the median filter is generally to be preferred for this domain.