Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC): Results of In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

Background Human lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer-related mortality around the world, although a variety of new therapies have been used in the treatment of this disease. Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) has revolutionized the field of cancer therapy in recent decades. Unlike traditional chemotherapy that damages the healthy cells, ADC first utilizes monoclonal antibodies to bind tumor-specific antigen targets and then deliver a highly potent cytotoxic agent to kill tumor cells. Thus, ADC can benefit cancer patients because this drug has less severe adverse effects. Material/Methods One type of ADC for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was designed in this study: Erbitux-vc-PAB-MMAE. It is a mouse/human chimeric monoclonal antibody, Erbitux, conjugating to the tubulin inhibitor auristatin. The efficacy of ADC was investigated through in vitro and in vivo studies. Results Our in vitro study demonstrated that Erbitux-vc-PAB-MMAE could effectively inhibit proliferation of human lung cancer A549 cells, and arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase. In a mouse xenograft model, the results indicated that Erbitux-vc-PAB-MMAE could be exactly delivered to tumor tissues, and effectively inhibited tumor growth via promoting apoptosis of cancer cells. Conclusions The antibody portion of an ADC drug (Erbitux) was used as a vector to bring the effector molecule (tubulin inhibitor MMAE) to the targeted tumor tissue. This antibody-drug conjugate can exert a strong anti-tumor effect.
Cross-Layer Energy Efficient Resource Allocation in PD-NOMA Based H-CRANs: Implementation via GPU

In this paper, we propose a cross layer energy efficient resource allocation and remote radio head (RRH) selection algorithm for heterogeneous traffic in power domain—non-orthogonal multiple access (PD-NOMA) based heterogeneous cloud radio access networks (H-CRANs). The main aim is to maximize the EE of the elastic users subject to the average delay constraint of the streaming users and the constraints, RRH selection, subcarrier, transmit power, and successive interference cancellation. The considered optimization problem is non-convex, NP-hard, and intractable. To solve this problem, we transform the fractional objective function into a subtractive form. Then, we utilize successive convex approximation approach. Moreover, in order to increase the processing speed, we introduce a framework for accelerating the successive convex approximation for low complexity with the Lagrangian method on graphics processing unit. Furthermore, in order to show the optimality gap of the proposed successive convex approximation approach, we solve the proposed optimization problem by applying an optimal method based on the monotonic optimization. Studying different scenarios show that by using both PD-NOMA technique and H-CRAN, the system energy efficiency is improved.
Collective Dynamics of Crowdfunding Networks

The crowd funding phenomenon has garnered a considerable amount of attention in recent years. Several online crowd funding platforms have risen to prominence, they can be characterized as two-sided marketplaces. Recent research reveals initial insights into the dynamics and characteristics of crowd funding networks arising from such marketplaces. This research, though, is restricted primarily to analyses of static network snapshots and at the dyadic level. In this study, we use a large longitudinal dataset to analyze the behavior of actors on both sides of the market who promote their own and fund others' projects. We investigate the influence of endogenous and exogenous effects on the dynamics of crowd funding networks. Our results provide evidence for mechanisms promoting a hierarchical network organization and the absence of homophily-related mechanisms regarding gender or geographic distance. Moreover, we establish that experienced and popular project creators fund fewer projects.
Back-End-of-Line Test Structure Design and Simulation for Subsurface Metrology with Scanning Probe Microscopy | NIST

As demands in the semiconductor industry call for further miniaturization and performance enhancement of electronic systems, the traditional planar (2D) electronic interconnection and packaging technologies show their difficulties in meeting the ever-advancing standards of the industry. To overcome such limitations, 3D stacked integrated circuits (3D-SICs) draw tremendous research interest and have been widely studied. [1] In the end, the billions of transistors are interconnected with tens of kilometers of wires that packed into an area of square centimeters, making a giant “metallic forest”. [2-4] The complexity of the multi metallization levels of back-end of line (BEOL) brings challenges such as resistive-capacitive (RC) delay and reliability issues.
TBX20 Regulates Angiogenesis Through the Prokineticin 2–Prokineticin Receptor 1 Pathway

Background: Angiogenesis is integral for embryogenesis, and targeting angiogenesis improves the outcome of many pathological conditions in patients. TBX20 is a crucial transcription factor for embryonic development, and its deficiency is associated with congenital heart disease. However, the role of TBX20 in angiogenesis has not been described. Methods: Loss- and gain-of-function approaches were used to explore the role of TBX20 in angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. Angiogenesis gene array was used to identify key downstream targets of TBX20. Results: Unbiased gene array survey showed that TBX20 knockdown profoundly reduced angiogenesis-associated PROK2 (prokineticin 2) gene expression. Indeed, loss of TBX20 hindered endothelial cell migration and in vitro angiogenesis. In a murine angiogenesis model using subcutaneously implanted Matrigel plugs, we observed that TBX20 deficiency markedly reduced PROK2 expression and restricted intraplug angiogenesis. Furthermore, recombinant PROK2 administration enhanced angiogenesis and blood flow recovery in murine hind-limb ischemia. In zebrafish, transient knockdown of tbx20 by morpholino antisense oligos or genetic disruption of tbx20 by CRISPR/Cas9 impaired angiogenesis. Furthermore, loss of prok2 or its cognate receptor prokr1a also limited angiogenesis. In contrast, overexpression of prok2 or prokr1a rescued the impaired angiogenesis in tbx20-deficient animals. Conclusions: Our study identifies TBX20 as a novel transcription factor regulating angiogenesis through the PROK2–PROKR1 (prokineticin receptor 1) pathway in both development and disease and reveals a novel mode of angiogenic regulation whereby the TBX20-PROK2–PROKR1 signaling cascade may act as a “biological capacitor” to relay and sustain the proangiogenic effect of vascular endothelial growth factor. This pathway may be a therapeutic target in the treatment of diseases with dysregulated angiogenesis.
On the Geometry of Homogeneous Spaces of Positive Curvature

This Master’s thesis is a study of some of the geometric properties of Riemannian homogeneous spaces. These are Riemannian manifolds M equipped with a transitive group of isometries G, meaning that the local geometry of the manifold is the same at every point. In Section 1.3 we see that such spaces are diffeomorphic to the quotient G/K, where G is a Lie group and K is the isotropy group at the identity element. In these cases the Lie algebra g of G has a reductive decomposition g = k⊕m, where k is the Lie algebra of K. This allows us to employ the classical curvature theory of Riemannian submersions, developed by O’Neill in 1966. The relevant parts of this are presented and derived in Section 1.1. The geometric feature that we focus on are the sectional curvatures. These describe how curved the space is in some 2-dimensional subspace of the tangent space at a given point. We are interested in those homogeneous spaces that have strictly positive sectional curvatures. An important property of such a space is the so called ’pinching constant’ i.e. the quotient of the maximal and minimal positive sectional curvatures. For the round sphere this is 1 and the smaller it is, the more different the space is from being such a sphere. The Riemannian homogeneous spaces with positive curvature are completely classified. In this thesis we will focus on the ones that are ’normal’. There exist eleven different such spaces and the pinching constants have, to our knowledge, been explicitly calculated by others for three of them. We derive explicit formulae for the sectional curvature for five of the other spaces in Chapter 3. Throughout this work it has been my firm intention to give reference to the stated results and credit to the work of others. All theorems, propositions, lemmas and examples left unmarked are assumed to be too well known for a reference to be given.
Assessing the Impact of Using Robots in Education, Or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Chaos

For the past several years, we have been using robots in our introductory computer science course. Although this has been challenging for many reasons, it has also been very rewarding on a number of fronts, both for the students and for us. However, in order for this to occur, we had to adapt to what we perceived as “chaotic code. ” In this paper we describe lessons learned by watching what the students do, where they have trouble, and what they enjoy. Further, we discuss what the implications of focusing on creativity has had on teaching and assessment.
Correlation and agreement between eplet mismatches calculated using serological, low-intermediate and high resolution molecular human leukocyte antigen typing methods

Structural human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching at the eplet level can be identified by HLAMatchmaker, which requires the entry of four-digit alleles. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement between eplet mismatches calculated by serological and two-digit typing methods compared to high-resolution four-digit typing. In a cohort of 264 donor/recipient pairs, the evaluation of measurement error was assessed using intra-class correlation to confirm the absolute agreement between the number of eplet mismatches at class I (HLA-A, -B, C) and II loci (HLA-DQ and -DR) calculated using serological or two-digit molecular typing compared to four-digit molecular typing methods. The proportion of donor/recipient pairs with a difference of >5 eplet mismatches between the HLA typing methods was also determined. Intra-class correlation coefficients between serological and four-digit molecular typing methods were 0.969 (95% confidence intervals [95% CI] 0.960–0.975) and 0.926 (95% CI 0.899–0.944), respectively; and 0.995 (95% CI 0.994–0.996) and 0.993 (95% CI 0.991–0.995), respectively between two-digit and four-digit molecular typing methods. The proportion of donor/recipient pairs with a difference of >5 eplet mismatches at class I and II loci was 4% and 16% for serological versus four-digit molecular typing methods, and 0% and 2% for two-digit versus four-digit molecular typing methods, respectively. In this small predominantly Caucasian population, compared with serology, there is a high level of agreement in the number of eplet mismatches calculated using two-compared to four-digit molecular HLA-typing methods, suggesting that two-digit typing may be sufficient in determining eplet mismatch load in kidney transplantation.
Get It While It’s Hot: A Peak-First Bias in Self-Generated Choice Order in Rhesus Macaques

Animals typically must make a number of successive choices to achieve a goal: e.g., eating multiple food items before becoming satiated. However, it is unclear whether choosing the best first or saving the best for last represents the best choice strategy to maximize overall reward. Specifically, since outcomes can be evaluated prospectively (with future rewards discounted and more immediate rewards preferred) or retrospectively (with prior rewards discounted and more recent rewards preferred), the conditions under which each are used remains unclear. On the one hand, humans and non-human animals clearly discount future reward, preferring immediate rewards to delayed ones, suggesting prospective evaluation; on the other hand, it has also been shown that a sequence that ends well, i.e., with the best event or item last, is often preferred, suggesting retrospective evaluation. Here we hypothesized that when individuals are allowed to build the sequence themselves they are more likely to evaluate each item individually and therefore build a sequence using prospective evaluation. We examined the relationship between self-generated choice order and preference in rhesus monkeys in two experiments in which the distinctiveness of options were relatively high and low, respectively. We observed a positive linear relationship between choice order and preference among highly distinct options, indicating that the rhesus monkeys chose their preferred food first: i.e., a peak-first order preference. Overall, choice order depended on the degree of relative preference among alternatives and a peak-first bias, providing evidence for prospective evaluation when choice order is self-generated.
A ST-CRF Map-Matching Method for Low-Frequency Floating Car Data

Integrating raw Global Position System (GPS) trajectories with a road network is often referred to as a map-matching problem. However, low-frequency trajectories (e.g., one GPS point for every 1–2 min) have raised many challenges to existing map-matching methods. In this paper, we propose a novel and global spatial–temporal map-matching method called spatial and temporal conditional random field (ST-CRF), which is based on insights relating to: 1) the spatial positioning accuracy of GPS points with the topological information of the underlying road network; 2) the spatial–temporal accessibility of a floating car; 3) the spatial distribution of the middle point between two consecutive GPS points; and 4) the consistency of the driving direction of a GPS trajectory. We construct a conditional random field model and identify the best matching path sequence from all candidate points. A series of experiments conducted for real environments using mass floating car data collected in Beijing and Shanghai shows that the ST-CRF method not only has better performance and robustness than other popular methods (e.g., point-line, ST-matching, and interactive voting-based map-matching methods) in low-frequency map matching but also solves the “label-bias” problem, which has long existed in the map matching of classical hidden Markov-based methods.
Risk Factors for Motorcycle-related Severe Injuries in a Medium-sized City in China

Background Motorcycle vehicles are frequent in China, especially in the small and medium sized cities. Road traffic collisions involving motorcycles often result in severe injuries. We aimed to identify risk factors for severe injuries in inpatients sustaining motorcycle collisions. Methods Patients with road traffic injuries involving motorcycles who presented to the neurosurgery and orthopedic departments of three major comprehensive hospitals in Shantou city were reviewed from October 2012 to June 2013. Data from 349 patients was investigated. Crash and injury characteristics were documented by interviewing patients, their family members, and their doctors. Binary logistic regression was used to determine risk factors for severe injuries. Results There were 253 males (72.49%) and 96 females (27.51%), with a male to female ratio of 2.64:1. The mean age was 38.21±17.32 years. One-hundred and fifty patients were in the severe injury group with a mean injury severity score (ISS) of 15.34±9.13. The simple and multiple logistic model showed that males, lack of safeguards, morning and night hours, non-urban areas, collision of a motorcycle with a cycle, ambulance transportation to hospital, admission to a neurosurgery department, lack of traffic control, unobstructed traffic, and poor visibility were all the risk factors. Conclusions This research highlights some problems: less helmet wearing in motorcyclists and cyclists, rural injuries being more serious than urban ones, and head injuries being the main diagnosis in severe injuries. The result of this research is predictable. If the safety equipment is required to be used, such as helmets, and the traffic environment is improved, such as traffic flow, medical resources to injuries and deaths is seasonable, then traffic safety will be improved and accidents will be reduced.
Training Rehabilitation as an Effective Treatment for Patients With Vascular Cognitive Impairment With No Dementia

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible therapeutic effect of cognitive training on the cognitive function of patients with vascular cognitive impairment with no dementia (VCIND). Design: A randomized controlled trial. Method: Seventy-three cases of VCIND patients were used as subjects, of which 36 patients were subjected to routine care with systemic cognitive training and classified as the intervention group, whereas the other 37 patients were subjected to a routine care only and classified as the control group. Multidimensional neuropsychological assessments were performed 3 months before and after the intervention. Findings: The patients’ performance on functional tests was significantly improved after intervention (p < .05) except from Stroop Color-Word Test (p ≥ .05). Conclusions: After systemic cognitive training, VCIND patients showed a significant improvement in visuospatial function, memory function, language function, and attention function, whereas their execution function was partially improved. Clinical Relevance: Despite the promising results, there is still a need to improve the support for patients affected by VCIND requiring rehabilitation.
Magnetic and Magnetotransport Properties of Fe-NbO System

Magnetoresistive effect and electrotransport properties of Fe-NbO (13 ≤ Fe, at.% ≤ 80) thin films annealed at 600 °C has been investigated. It has been established that the samples structure contains three main phases Fe, NbO2, Fe2.9O4. Maximum of magnetoresistance in the samples does not exceed 0.3%, a coercive force is ranging from 150 to 370 Oe, depending on the Fe concentration. It is assumed that the films have a granular structure. Magnetoresistance and coercive force values, as well as the correlation between the magnetoresistance and the magnetization of the Fe-NbO samples are uncharacteristic for granular systems. It is assumed that uncharacteristic properties are due to the significant influence of ferrite Fe2.9O4 on the magnetic properties and electrotransport of the Fe-NbO films.
The Course of Serum Inflammatory Biomarkers Following Whiplash Injury and Their Relationship to Sensory and Muscle Measures: a Longitudinal Cohort Study

Tissue damage or pathological alterations are not detectable in the majority of people with whiplash associated disorders (WAD). Widespread hyperalgisa, morphological muscle changes and psychological distress are common features of WAD. However little is known about the presence of inflammation and its association with symptom persistence or the clinical presentation of WAD. This study aimed to prospectively investigate changes in serum inflammatory biomarker levels from the acute (<3 weeks) to chronic (>3 months) stages of whiplash injury. It also aimed to determine relationships between biomarker levels and hyperalgesia, fatty muscle infiltrates of the cervical extensors identified on MRI and psychological factors. 40 volunteers with acute WAD and 18 healthy controls participated. Participants with WAD were classified at 3 months as recovered/mild disability or having moderate/severe disability using the Neck Disability Index. At baseline both WAD groups showed elevated serum levels of CRP but by 3 months levels remained elevated only in the moderate/severe group. The recovered/mild disability WAD group had higher levels of TNF-α at both time points than both the moderate/severe WAD group and healthy controls. There were no differences found in serum IL-1β. Moderate relationships were found between hyperalgesia and CRP at both time points and between hyperalgesia and IL-1β 3 months post injury. There was a moderate negative correlation between TNF-α and amount of fatty muscle infiltrate and pain intensity at 3 months. Only a weak relationship was found between CRP and pain catastrophising and no relationship between biomarker levels and posttraumatic stress symptoms. The results of the study indicate that inflammatory biomarkers may play a role in outcomes following whiplash injury as well as being associated with hyperalgesia and fatty muscle infiltrate in the cervical extensors.
Partnering with carryouts: implementation of a food environment intervention targeting youth obesity

Youth obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, especially among urban-based, minority youth. The B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) trial worked at multiple levels of the food environment, including carryouts, to increase access to and demand for healthy, affordable foods. The objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation of BHCK's carryout intervention. Process evaluation was conducted to assess intervention reach (number of interactions with youth and adults either in person or on social media), dose delivered (number of food samples and promotional materials distributed, social media posts and meetings with owners) and fidelity (availability of promoted items). Overall, the carryout intervention showed moderate to optimal reach, moderate to optimal dose delivered and moderate to optimal fidelity. These findings demonstrate a successfully implemented carryout intervention in a low-income urban setting. Lessons learned about new methods for engaging the community and increasing demand for healthy food can be used to inform future studies and programs to improve the food environment.
Effect of interface properties on transverse tensile response of fiber-reinforced composites: Three-dimensional micromechanical modeling

This paper presents a micromechanical analysis of the influence of fiber–matrix interface fracture properties on the transverse tensile response of fiber-reinforced composite. The method combines three-dimensional (3D) computational micromechanics and augmented finite element method to provide high-fidelity results of damage initiation and propagation. Random arrangement of fibers and normal distribution of interface toughness and strength are considered in representative volume elements to capture the stochastic behavior of the composite under loading. Sensitivity analysis with respect to the interface properties distribution, and shape and size of fibers on the representative volume element’s strength are performed. The effect of fiber volume fractions on the strength and elastic modulus of the composite is investigated. Failure path in different representative volume elements are compared. The results show that the response of a representative volume element with identical interface properties overestimates the composite’s transverse strength. It is also shown that the damage initiation and propagation locations are affected by the distributions of fracture properties, and the shape and size of fibers within the representative volume element.