Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cued Retrieval of Personal Memories of Social Interactions

This paper aims at developing a social interactions summarizer system that firstly summarizes a person's daily social interactions, with the purpose of enhancing his episodic memory and secondly provides various methods for searching in the collected data. The first goal originates from studies that have shown that replaying video or audio recordings of an experience have proved effective in enhancing people's episodic memory. The second goal is based on the fact that with the emergence of wearable devices for lifelogging, every day huge archives of data consisting of images, audio, etc could be generated from a person's life. Over time the growth rate of such archives is so substantially high that manually searching them, even after a few months of data collection, would be cumbersome and virtually impossible. In this study, we present a method for effectively summarizing one's social interactions for enhancing her episodic memory. Our results, reporting work in progress, illustrate that our method is highly effective in augmenting one's episodic memory.
On the throughput-delay trade-off in large-scale MANETs with a generalized i.i.d. mobility model

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), it is important to understand the throughput-delay trade-off (TD trade-off) problem in large-scale scenarios. In the literature, the TD tradeoff problem has been studied extensively and many of them are based on the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) mobility model, in which each node can randomly move to any place in the network, after every time slot. Although the i.i.d. model has been widely used, it cannot fully represent MANETs in which nodes change positions less frequently. To characterize such MANETs, in this paper, we propose a generalized i.i.d. (g.i.i.d.) mobility model, in which each node moves once after every 1/f (0 <; f ≤ 1) time slots, and remains static between two moves. To investigate the TD trade-off under the g.i.i.d. model, we develop a novel multi-relay multi-hop (MRMH) scheme that exploits the opportunities of multi-hop transmissions when the network is static. Furthermore, to enable the multi-hop transmissions, we construct a new percolation highway system, which has not been used in the TD trade-off analysis for MANETs. Using the proposed MRMH scheme, we develop and prove constructive bounds for throughput and delay in MANETs with different scales of f. Our constructive bound is asymptotically optimal for f = 1 (i.e., the i.i.d. model).
Optimal Demand Side Management by Distributed and Secured Energy Commitment Framework

This paper introduces a demand-side distributed and secured energy commitment framework and operations for a Power Producer and Supplier (PPS) in deregulated environment. Due to the diversity of geographical location as well as customers' energy profile coupled with high number of customers, managing energy transactions and resulting energy exchanges are challenging for a PPS. The envisioned PPS maintains several aggregators (e.g. Microgrids), named as Sub Service Provider (SSP) that manage customers/subscribers under their domains. The SSPs act as agents that perform local energy matching (inside their domains) and distributed energy matching within SSPs to determine the energy commitment. The goal of the distributed energy matching is to reduce the involvement of External Energy Supplier (e.g. Utility) while providing a platform to demand side players to be a part of energy transaction. A distributed assignment problem is designed that requires minimum and aggregated information exchange (hence, secured) and solved by Linear Programming (LP) that provides the distributed matching decision. The communicative burden among SSPs due to the exchange of energy information is reduced by applying an adaptive coalition formation method. The simulations are conducted by implementing a synchronous distributed matching algorithm while showing the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
A data protection unit for NoC-based architectures

Security is gaining increasing relevance in the development of embedded devices. Towards a secure system at each level of design, this paper addresses the security aspects related to Network-on-Chip (NoC) architectures, foreseen as the communication infrastructure of next-generation embedded devices. In the context of NoC-based Multiprocessor systems, we focus on the topic, not thoroughly faced yet, of data protection. We present the architecture of a Data Protection Unit (DPU) designed for implementation within the Network Interface (NI). The DPU supports the capability to check and limit the access rights (none, read, write or both) of processors requesting access to data locations in a shared memory - in particular distinguishing between the operating roles (supervisor or user) of processing elements. We explore different alternative implementations and demonstrate how the DPU unit does not affect the network latency if the memory request has the appropriate rights. In the experimental section we show synthesis results for different ASIC implementations of the Data Protection Unit.
Strong Shear Flow Persister Bacteria Resist Mechanical Washings on the Surfaces of Various Polymer Materials

Environmental bacteria persistently exist in hospitals and thereby often contaminate biomedical devices, which usually causes device‐associated infections that have become a major cause of patient illness and death in the hospital. In this study, for the first time, the identification of strong shear flow persister (SSP) cells in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is reported. Unlike common persister cells that are highly tolerant to antibiotics, it is reported that the SSP cells can resist mechanical washings on the surfaces of various polymer materials and can form distinctive biofilms that are tolerant to high doses of aminoglycoside antibiotics. Most importantly, a general molecular mechanism is revealed by which an outer membrane protein crosslinks with polysaccharides to form gel‐like adhesion complexes that can exert extremely strong adhesion strength (up to 50 N mm−2). Therefore, these findings are urgently required for ongoing research focused on preparing antifouling biomedical materials.
New Candidate Biomarkers in the Female Genital Tract to Evaluate Microbicide Toxicity

Vaginal microbicides hold great promise for the prevention of viral diseases like HIV, but the failure of several microbicide candidates in clinical trials has raised important questions regarding the parameters to be evaluated to determine in vivo efficacy in humans. Clinical trials of the candidate microbicides nonoxynol-9 (N9) and cellulose sulfate revealed an increase in HIV infection, vaginal inflammation, and recruitment of HIV susceptible lymphocytes, highlighting the need to identify biomarkers that can accurately predict microbicide toxicity early in preclinical development and in human trials. We used quantitative proteomics and RT-PCR approaches in mice and rabbits to identify protein changes in vaginal fluid and tissue in response to treatment with N9 or benzalkonium chloride (BZK). We compared changes generated with N9 and BZK treatment to the changes generated in response to tenofovir gel, a candidate microbicide that holds promise as a safe and effective microbicide. Both compounds down regulated mucin 5 subtype B, and peptidoglycan recognition protein 1 in vaginal tissue; however, mucosal brush samples also showed upregulation of plasma proteins fibrinogen, plasminogen, apolipoprotein A-1, and apolipoprotein C-1, which may be a response to the erosive nature of N9 and BZK. Additional proteins down-regulated in vaginal tissue by N9 or BZK treatment include CD166 antigen, olfactomedin-4, and anterior gradient protein 2 homolog. We also observed increases in the expression of C-C chemokines CCL3, CCL5, and CCL7 in response to treatment. There was concordance in expression level changes for several of these proteins using both the mouse and rabbit models. Using a human vaginal epithelial cell line, the expression of mucin 5 subtype B and olfactomedin-4 were down-regulated in response to N9, suggesting these markers could apply to humans. These data identifies new proteins that after further validation could become part of a panel of biomarkers to effectively evaluate microbicide toxicity.
The Resurgence of Bed Bugs in Australia: With Notes on Their Ecology and Control

During the first three years of the 21st century, bed bug numbers in Australia have undergone a dramatic rise. The Department of Medical Entomology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), Westmead Hospital, Sydney, has recorded an increase of over 400% in the number of bed bug samples submitted to its pathology service, since the beginning of 2001. Over the last four years, the pest control industry has noted a major resurgence in the number of bed bug treatments, with one company reporting an increase of almost 700%. The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service has also recorded a similar trend, with a large increase in interceptions over recent years, and the majority of interceptions have been from the luggage of travellers. The resurgence of bed bugs is part of a worldwide trend, although the reasons for the increase have not been scientifically resolved. Many factors are probably contributing to the upsurge, with increasing world travel being suggested as the main cause as the insects are transferred through the movements of travellers. The trade in second-hand furniture, changes in pest management practices, the lack of awareness of bed bugs among pest controllers and health professionals, and other phenomena may all have contributed to the spread and increase in bed bug numbers. A review of this public health pest is provided.
New Product Portfolio Management : Practices and Performance

Effective portfolio management is vital to successful product innovation. Portfolio management is about making strategic choices—which markets, products, and technologies our business will invest in. It is about resource allocation—how you will spend your scarce engineering, R&D, and marketing resources. It focuses on project selection—on which new product or development projects you choose from the many opportunities you face. And it deals with balance—having the right balance between numbers of projects you do and the resources or capabilities you have available. In this article, the authors reveal the findings of their extensive study of portfolio management in industry. This study, the first of its kind, reports the portfolio management practices and performance of 205 U.S. companies. Its overall objective was to gain insights into what portfolio methods companies use, whether they are satisfied with them, the performance results they achieve with the different approaches, and suggestions for others who are considering implementing portfolio management. The research first assesses management’s satisfaction with portfolio methods they employ and notes that some firms face major problems in portfolio management. Next, businesses are grouped or clustered into four groups according to management’s view of portfolio management: Cowboys, Crossroads, Duds, and Benchmark businesses. Various performance metrics are used to gauge the performance of the business’s portfolio. The results reveal major differences between the best and the worst. Benchmark businesses are the top performers. Their new product portfolios consistently score the best in terms of performance—high-value projects, aligned with the business’s strategy, the right balance of projects, and the right number of projects. The authors take a closer look at these benchmark businesses to determine what distinguishes their projects from the rest. Benchmark businesses employ a much more formal, explicit method to managing their portfolio of projects. They rely on clear, well-defined portfolio procedures, they consistently apply their portfolio method to all projects, and management buys into the approach. The relative popularity of various portfolio methods—from financial methods to strategic approaches, bubble diagrams, and scoring approaches—are investi-
Prostate Cancer Epigenetics: A Review on Gene Regulation

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in western countries, and its incidence is increasing steadily worldwide. Molecular changes including both genetic and epigenetic events underlying the development and progression of this disease are still not well understood. Epigenetic events are involved in gene regulation and occur through different mechanisms such as DNA methylation and histone modifications. Both DNA methylation and histone modifications affect gene regulation and play important roles either independently or by interaction in tumor initiation and progression. This review will discuss the genes associated with epigenetic alterations in prostate cancer progression: their regulation and importance as possible markers for the disease.
Chronic low level trimethyltin exposure and the risk of developing nephrolithiasis

Objectives Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) is a common disease with the prevalence that is increasing globally. We previously found that trimethyltin (TMT), a by-product of plastic stabilisers, can inhibit the H+/K+ ATPase activity in renal intercalated cells and alter urinary pH, which is a known risk factor for nephrolithiasis. In this study, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis to evaluate the impact of chronic low level occupational TMT exposure on nephrolithiasis. Methods This study included 216 healthy workers with TMT exposure and 119 workers as controls with no TMT exposure. All study participants were administered a questionnaire and underwent a routine clinical examination including an ultrasonographic screening for kidney stones. Exposures were assessed by measuring TMT concentrations in personal air samples, blood and urine. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the ORs and 95% CIs for the risk of kidney stones. Results TMT exposed workers had a higher prevalence of kidney stones (18.06%) in comparison with control workers (5.88%). High TMT concentrations in personal air samples, blood and urines were positively associated with increased prevalence of kidney stones in workers exposed to TMT compared with controls workers (p-trend values=0.005, 0.008 and 0.002, respectively). The length of employment in plants with elevated TMT levels (duration of the exposure) was significantly associated with the increased prevalence of kidney stones (p trend=0.001). The ORs were 2.66 for <3 years, 3.73 for 3–<10 years and 7.89 for 10+ years of employment compared with control workers. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate that occupational exposure to TMT is a potential risk factor for nephrolithiasis.
Topi Leisti Construction of the Network Optimization Based Simulation Model for Paper Industry

In recent years business environment in global paper business has changed a lot. Technological advantages have decreased the demand for newsprint paper, which has created overcapacity. At the same time production costs have increased in several locations and together these factors have cut the profitability of paper companies. Investment decisions and strategic planning have become much more complicated and paper companies also need more supporting information and new viewpoints. When decisions are made about investments and capacity closures, it is very important to know in which locations business could really be profitable and where it would be unprofitable under different kinds of circumstances. This thesis examines the problem by constructing a cost competitiveness model, based on network optimization. Optimal paper flows from production locations to markets in cost competitiveness of point of view are solved in the model. The problem is modeled as a linear min-cost flow problem and solved by using simplex based algorithm. Each production location is handled as an individual unit regarding to competition from markets and always the total profit for the whole model is maximized. The model is tested with making sensitivity analyses through simulations. Different factors are systemically changed in the production environment and the problem is resolved under new conditions in each simulation. The effects of the changes in production environment are studied at company level. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) of the each company divided by total EBITDA in the model is used as a measure for cost competitiveness and changes in this measure are monitored in simulations. The model gave logical and feasible results and it was able to meet the objectives which were set for it in the beginning. The model pointed out some locations which were favorable for paper production and some locations which were not. There were also locations which were profitable under certain conditions but were totally unprofitable under some other conditions. The outcome of simulations stated also that profitability of the company may be hit very bad, if the company is too dependent on some region or raw material. The simulations showed also that it can be profitable for a big company to build an optimal production location portfolio, for which the cost competitiveness remains stable under changing conditions. The model was found capable to support decision making in paper industry under new challenges. It brings more value at least to investment planning, capacity management, product portfolio management, production location portfolio management and market mix management. Number of pages: 71
Differential damage and recovery of human mesenchymal stem cells after exposure to chemotherapeutic agents

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an important cellular component of the bone marrow microenvironment for supporting haemopoiesis. However, their response to high‐dose chemotherapy remains unknown. We assessed the acute direct effects of individual chemotherapeutic agents on human MSCs (hMSCs). Using an in vitro culture system, the chemosensitivity of hMSCs was determined by XTT (2,3‐bis(2‐methoxy‐4‐nitro‐5‐sulphophenyl)‐5‐[(phenylamino) carbonyl]‐2H‐tetrazolium hydroxide) assay in comparison with that of NB‐4 cells, a leukaemic cell line, and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The recovery of cell numbers following exposure to chemotherapeutic agents and chemotherapy‐induced apoptosis of hMSCs were evaluated. Human MSCs were resistant to chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) (i.e. busulphan, cyclophosphamide and methotrexate). However, they were relatively sensitive to a panel of cytotoxic agents, such as paclitaxel, vincristine, etoposide and cytarabine. Furthermore, different recovery patterns were noted. There was sustained suppression in hMSCs following 3 d exposure to paclitaxel, cytarabine and etoposide. In contrast, significant recovery was seen in hMSCs treated with dexamethasone and vincristine respectively. Human MSCs have different patterns of response to a panel of chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in BMT or cancer therapy. Understanding this variation is important in optimizing conditioning regimens for BMT.
Location and calculation-free node scheduling schemes in a wireless sensor network using directional antenna

A wireless sensor network is a collection of sensor nodes deployed over a region of interest for sensing or monitoring certain conditions or events, and collect data for further analysis in order to achieve the goal of such deployment. Among the wide variety of applicable fields of sensor networks, some of the popular fields are in agriculture, meteorology, battle-fields and search and rescue operations during emergencies. Regardless of their wide range of applicability, wireless sensor networks face many design challenges. Two of the principal challenges are to obtain a prolonged system lifetime by using the limited energy sources economically and to eliminate the nodes’ dependency on the GPS (Global Positioning System) or manual manipulation for nodes’ coordinates information. The nodes’ dependency on GPS or manual manipulation can be eliminated by using a location-free scheduling approach, where a node does not need to know its own or its neighbors’ location coordinates. The system lifetime can be extended by scheduling the nodes alternately by exploiting redundancy, and it can be further extended by using a calculation-free scheduling approach, where each node performs a negligible amount of calculation to evaluate its off-duty eligibility based on the data stored in each node’s memory. We have investigated two location and calculation free node scheduling schemes, the Nearest-neighbor based and the Neighbor-number based, which have been proposed to address the design challenges we have mentioned above. Combining features from these two node scheduling schemes and utilizing the sophistication of a unidirectional antenna, we propose the Directional-antenna based node scheduling scheme. We have implemented all three, the Nearest-neighbor based, the Neighbor-number based and the Directional-antenna based scheduling schemes to compare their performances. Our experimental results show that the Directionalantenna based scheduling scheme outperforms both of its predecessors.
Maternal risk factors in the origin of isolated hypospadias: A population‐based case‐control study

The birth prevalence of hypospadias increased in Hungary during the last decades, thus the aim of this study was to analyze the possible role of maternal risk factors in the origin of isolated hypospadias (IHS). The incidence/prevalence of acute and chronic maternal diseases with related drug treatments were compared in the mothers of cases with IHS, population controls without defect and malformed controls affected with other isolated abnormalities in the population‐based Hungarian Case‐Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities including 3038 cases with IHS, 24 814 population male controls without any defects and 11 096 malformed male controls with other isolated defect. Among exposures, prospective medically recorded chronic diseases and medically recorded or retrospective maternal information regarding acute diseases and drug treatments were evaluated in the study groups. Maternal epilepsy due to the treatment of valproate (odds ratio [OR] with 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.97, 1.07–3.61) and cervical erosion (4.09, 1.84–9.12) were associated with a higher risk of IHS. In addition, there was an association of oral nystatin (1.94, 1.22–3.09), lynestrenol (26.66, 8.69–81.80) and ethynilestradiol (3.51, 1.61–7.67) treatments in the mothers of cases with a higher risk for IHS. In conclusion, maternal cervical erosion, valproate, nystatin, lynestrenol and ethynilestradiol associated with a higher risk for IHS.
Synthesis and hybridization studies of oligonucleotides containing 1-(2-deoxy-2-α-C-hydroxymethyl-β-d-ribofuranosyl)thymine (2′-α-hm-dT)

We report the first investigation of oligoribonucleotides containing a few 1-(2-deoxy-2-α-C-hydroxymethyl-β-d-ribofuranosyl)thymine units (or 2′-hm-dT, abbreviated in this work as ‘H’). Both the 2′-CH2O-phosphoramidite and 3′-O-phosphoramidite derivatives of H were synthesized and incorporated into both 2′,5′-RNA and RNA chains. The hybridization properties of the modified oligonucleotides have been studied via thermal denaturation and circular dichroism studies. While 3′,5′-linked H was shown previously to significantly destabilize DNA:RNA hybrids and DNA:DNA duplexes (modification in the DNA strand; ΔTm ∼ −3°C/insert), we find that 2′,5′-linked H have a smaller effect on 2′,5′-RNA:RNA and RNA:RNA duplexes (ΔTm = −0.3°C and −1.2°C, respectively). The incorporation of 3′,5′-linked H into 2′,5′-RNA:RNA and RNA:RNA duplexes was found to be more destabilizing (−0.7°C and −3.6°C, respectively). Significantly, however, the 2′,5′-linked H units confer marked stability to RNA hairpins when they are incorporated into a 2′,5′-linked tetraloop structure (ΔTm = +1.5°C/insert). These results are rationalized in terms of the compact and extended conformations of nucleotides.