Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Secure Inter-Frame Space Communications for Wireless LANs

The internet of things (IoTs) offers a wide range of consumer benefits, from personal portable devices to internet-connected infrastructure. The wireless local area network (WLAN) is one of the potential candidates for IoTs technology to connect billions of smart devices. Long-range WLAN is widely deployed in dense networks as an alternative to cellular networks or satellite internet access because of its low cost, high performance, and existing ecosystem. However, due to the nature of unregulated communications in industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, WLANs experience interferences from other radios such as radars and frequency hopping devices. Once interference is detected at a WLAN device, the channel is avoided and other channels become crowded. Thus, it degrades network throughput and channel utilization. In this paper, a secure inter-frame space communication system design is proposed for WLANs to share the ISM bands with other radio systems that generate periodic radio signals. The proposed secure inter-frame communication scheme achieves the goal by designing accurate radar detection and secure inter-frame space communication. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly increases the receiver sensitivity and user datagram protocol throughput.
Knowledge as A Bridge: Improving Cross-domain Answer Selection with External Knowledge

Answer selection is an important but challenging task. Significant progresses have been made in domains where a large amount of labeled training data is available. However, obtaining rich annotated data is a time-consuming and expensive process, creating a substantial barrier for applying answer selection models to a new domain which has limited labeled data. In this paper, we propose Knowledge-aware Attentive Network (KAN), a transfer learning framework for cross-domain answer selection, which uses the knowledge base as a bridge to enable knowledge transfer from the source domain to the target domains. Specifically, we design a knowledge module to integrate the knowledge-based representational learning into answer selection models. The learned knowledge-based representations are shared by source and target domains, which not only leverages large amounts of cross-domain data, but also benefits from a regularization effect that leads to more general representations to help tasks in new domains. To verify the effectiveness of our model, we use SQuAD-T dataset as the source domain and three other datasets (i.e., Yahoo QA, TREC QA and InsuranceQA) as the target domains. The experimental results demonstrate that KAN has remarkable applicability and generality, and consistently outperforms the strong competitors by a noticeable margin for cross-domain answer selection.
High frequency of exfoliative toxin genes among Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical specimens in the north of Iran: Alarm for the health of individuals under risk

Background and Objectives: Exfoliative toxins (ETs) of Staphylococcus aureus are the main reason of scalded skin syndrome in infants and young children. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of eta, etb and etd genes in S. aureus. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 S. aureus isolates were collected from clinical specimens during the years 2014 to 2016 in the north of Iran. After confirmation of the species using standard diagnostic procedures, polymerase chain reaction was used for detection of the eta, etb and etd genes among the isolates. Results: Overall, 131 (87.3%) isolates were positive for at least one of the ET genes; 115 (76.7%), 25 (16.7%) and 81 (54%) of the isolates carried the eta, etb and etd genes, respectively. Although eta and etd genes were present in all types of clinical samples, etb was found only in the wound, synovial fluid, sputum and tracheal aspirate. Overall, 7 toxin genotypes were observed, among which the genotypes eta-etd, eta and eta-etb-etd predominated at rates of 35.3%, 26.7% and 9.3%, respectively. Conclusion: Detection of the high rate of prevalence of ET genes in the current study is considered as a serious problem because it is likely to spread and transfer these genes between strains. Furthermore, these isolates circulating in the community, particularly from infants, old people and immunocompromised patients, are important health-wise.
Open Data for Public Administration: Exploitation and semantic organization of institutional web content

The project presented has been financed by Government of Aragon and is part of the `Open Data' initiative promoted by that organization. Given the amount of unstructured information related to the Government of Aragon currently published on the Internet, with slightly or no standardization and decentralized, it emerges the need to gather it systematically to be offered to all interested collectives from a single access point in a public and structured way. Within this context, `Aragon Open Data' project aims to collect, organize, store and maintain updated, Administration's web information by means of human language and semantic technologies. Firstly, crawling is performed over websites in order to retrieve textual data over which Natural Language Processing (NLP) and ontology-based techniques are applied. Thereafter, results are stored into NoSQL databases, allowing future open access and simple data exploitation. NLP techniques used in the project involve named-entities recognition and classification (NERC) and texts semantic classification and summarization.
Sharing Loading Costs for Multi Compartment Vehicles

Supply chains for goods that must be kept cool—cold chains—are of increasing importance in world trade. The goods must be kept within well-defined temperature limits to preserve their quality. One technique for reducing logistics costs is to load cold items into multiple compartment vehicles (MCVs), which have several spaces within that can be set for different temperature ranges. These vehicles allow better consolidation of loads. However, constructing the optimal load is a difficult problem, requiring heuristics for solution. In addition, the cost determined must be allocated to the different items being shipped, most often with different owners who need to pay, and this should be done in a stable manner so that firms will continue to combine loads. We outline the basic structure of the MCV loading problem, and offer the view that the optimization and cost allocation problems must be solved together. Doing so presents the opportunity to solve the problem inductively, reducing the size of the feasible set using constraints generated inductively from the inductive construction of minimal balanced collections of subsets. These limits may help the heuristics find a good result faster than optimizing first and allocating later.
Systemic and Cerebral Hemodynamic Contribution to Cognitive Performance in Spinal Cord Injury.

Cognitive deficits are prevalent in the spinal cord injury (SCI) population, and consensus suggests that concomitant traumatic brain injury or comorbid conditions are primarily responsible for these deficits. However, mounting evidence supports the possibility that systemic and cerebral hemodynamic dysfunction may contribute to the cognitive deficits reported in persons with SCI. We sought to determine the contribution of changes in blood pressure (BP) and changes in cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) to test performance on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in persons with SCI compared with matched non-SCI controls. Participants included 36 non-SCI controls and 67 persons with SCI: 33 with paraplegia (T2-T12) and 34 with tetraplegia (C3-T1). Continuous beat-to-beat BP and simultaneous CBFv was monitored for 5 min during seated rest and during the SDMT, which assesses information processing speed, sustained attention, and visual working memory. The results indicate significantly lower SDMT scores in the group with tetraplegia (44 ± 10) compared to the non-SCI controls (53 ± 14; p < 0.01); however, SDMT scores did not differ significantly between the non-SCI controls and the group with paraplegia (49 ± 13). Whereas group affiliation was the most significant predictor of test performance (F = 4.84; p = 0.010, η2 = 0.088), change in systolic BP (SBP) (r2 = 0.047, p = 0.028) and change in diastolic CBFv (DFV) (r2 = 0.047, p = 0.028) contributed significantly to SDMT scores. Further, change in SBP accounted for a significant amount of variance in change in DFV in the total study sample (r2 = 0.090; p = 0.002). These results support previous findings of cognitive deficits in persons with SCI and indicate that inadequate systemic and cerebral hemodynamic responses to testing contribute to test performance. Therefore, clinical treatment of cognitive dysfunction in the SCI population should consider focusing on increasing systemic BP to improve CBFv, particularly in individuals with lesions above T1.
Effective piecewise linear skeletonization of sparse shapes

Conventional image skeletonization techniques implicitly assume the pixel level connectivity. However, noise inside the object regions destroys the connectivity and exhibits sparseness in the image. We present a skeletonization algorithm designed for these kinds of sparse shapes. The skeletons are produced quickly by using three operations. First, initial skeleton nodes are selected by farthest point sampling with circles containing the maximum effective information. A skeleton graph of these nodes is imposed via inheriting the neighborhood of their associated pixels, followed by an edge collapse operation. Then a skeleton tting process based on feature-preserving Laplacian smoothing is applied. Finally, a re nement step is proposed to further improve the quality of the skeleton and deal with noise or different local shape scales. Numerous experiments demonstrate that our algorithm can effectively handle several disconnected shapes in an image simultaneously, and generate more faithful skeletons for shapes with intersections or different local scales than classic methods.
Retinal thinning associates with nigral dopaminergic loss in de novo Parkinson disease

Objective To analyze the relationship between retinal thinning and nigral dopaminergic loss in de novo Parkinson disease (PD). Methods Forty-nine patients with PD and 54 age-matched controls were analyzed. Ophthalmologic examination and macula optical coherence tomography scans were performed with additional microperimetry, N-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-2-carbomethoxy-3-(4-iodophenyl) nortropane PET, and 3T MRI scans were done in patients with PD only. Retinal layer thickness and volume were measured in subfields of the 1-, 2.22-, and 3.45-mm Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study circle and compared in patients with PD and controls. Correlation of inner retinal layer thinning with microperimetric response was examined in patients with PD, and the relationships between retinal layer thickness and dopamine transporter densities in the ipsilateral caudate, anterior and posterior putamen, and substantia nigra were analyzed. Results Retinal layer thinning was observed in the temporal and inferior 2.22-mm sectors (false discovery rate–adjusted p < 0.05) of drug-naive patients with PD, particularly the inner plexiform and ganglion cell layers. The thickness of these layers in the inferior 2.22-mm sector showed a negative correlation with the Hoehn and Yahr stage (p = 0.032 and 0.014, respectively). There was positive correlation between macular sensitivity and retinal layer thickness in all 3.45-mm sectors, the superior 2.22-mm sector, and 1-mm circle (p < 0.05 for all). There was an association between retinal thinning and dopaminergic loss in the left substantia nigra (false discovery rate–adjusted p < 0.001). Conclusion Retinal thinning is present in the early stages of PD, correlates with disease severity, and may be linked to nigral dopaminergic degeneration. Retinal imaging may be useful for detection of pathologic changes occurring in early PD.
Genomic Structural Variations Within Five Continental Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Chromosomal structural variations (SV) including insertions, deletions, inversions, and translocations occur within the genome and can have a significant effect on organismal phenotype. Some of these effects are caused by structural variations containing genes. Large structural variations represent a significant amount of the genetic diversity within a population. We used a global sampling of Drosophila melanogaster (Ithaca, Zimbabwe, Beijing, Tasmania, and Netherlands) to represent diverse populations within the species. We used long-read sequencing and optical mapping technologies to identify SVs in these genomes. Among the five lines examined, we found an average of 2,928 structural variants within these genomes. These structural variations varied greatly in size and location, included many exonic regions, and could impact adaptation and genomic evolution.
In Vivo Evaluation of the Limbus Using Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography

Purposes To investigate the limbal structure using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and compare the difference between a Chinese Han population and a Caucasian population. Methods Sixty healthy Chinese Han subjects (109 eyes, Chinese group) and 32 healthy Caucasian subjects (51 eyes, Caucasian group) were included in this comparative cross-sectional study. The central cornea and the superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal limbal regions of each subject underwent Fourier-domain AS-OCT. The following parameters were measured: corneal epithelial thickness (CET), maximum limbal epithelial thickness (LET), the mean LET, the width of limbus, distance between scleral spur and the location where limbal epithelium was the thickest (S-T), and limbal epithelial area between scleral spur and the end of Bowman's layer (LEA). Results CET was similar in both groups (P = 0.577). The width of limbus was more than 32.8% greater in all limbal quadrants in the Caucasian group (range, 1.25–2.20 mm) than in the Chinese group (range, 0.81–1.40 mm). S-T and LEA were also significantly higher in all limbal quadrants in the Caucasian group (all P < 0.001). The maximum LET and mean LET were 7.8% and 6.9% thicker at the nasal limbus and 8.1% and 8.7% thicker in the temporal limbus in Caucasian subjects than in Chinese subjects. Conclusions The limbal structures can be visualized using AS-OCT and differ significantly between the Caucasian and Chinese eyes. Translational Relevance Research of the limbus and surgeons performing procedures involving the limbal area should take into consideration of the anatomic differences especially when limbus is used as an anatomic reference.
Design and evaluation of web interfaces for informal care providers in senior monitoring

It has been recognized that most seniors prefer to age in a place with familiar surroundings until their health makes this impossible. In an attempt to address the aging phenomenon, as well as recognize seniors' preference, we worked with a Canada-based company that develops a sensor-based home monitoring system for people to monitor the home activities of independently living seniors. Our role was to develop web interfaces that present sensor data to the intended web users -- the seniors' informal care providers (e.g., their close friends or family members). In this paper, we present the information design and the web interface prototypes, and report the results of our formative evaluations through cognitive walkthrough and heuristic evaluation methods. The common problems discovered in both methods were problematic notification mechanism, inconsistency, background and layout. Each method also detected usability issues that the other did not. Our work adds more empirical evidence to the importance of combining evaluation methods in a study. The experiences in this study also helped us reflect on approaches and strategies when working with industry partners.
Arguments and Adjuncts in Universal Dependencies

The aim of this paper is to argue for a coherent Universal Dependencies approach to the core vs. non-core distinction. We demonstrate inconsistencies in the current version 2 of UD in this respect – mostly resulting from the preservation of the argument–adjunct dichotomy despite the declared avoidance of this distinction – and propose a relatively conservative modification of UD that is free from these problems.
Comparing the use of semantic relations between tags versus latent semantic analysis for generic speech summarization

We proposed an advanced tag method in which original tags are expanded and the semantic relations between original or expanded tags are used to extract key sentences from lecture speech transcripts. Then, to evaluate our proposed method, we compared it with two other methods, a tag method of using only original tags and a latent semantic analysis (LSA) method. As a result, the F measure mean (0.31) of the advanced tag method is higher than that (0.29) of LSA method and it is also higher than that (0.27) of the tag method, although there is no significant difference between them respectively.
Examining the effects of task topic familiarity on searchers' behaviors in different task types

In this paper, we examined the effects of information searchers' familiarity with task topics on their search behaviors, in different task types. Data were collected in a controlled laboratory experiment, participated by 32 undergraduate journalism students. Each participant searched on four tasks varying along four task facets: task product (being factual or a mix of intellectual/factual), level (the needed information being the whole document or a segment of the document), task goal (being specific, amorphous, or a mix of specific/amorphous), and complexity (being low or high). Results show that when all task types were considered together, people with different levels of topic familiarity showed differences in some search behaviors. In task types categorized by task goal and task complexity, very few behavioral variables showed differences between searchers with different levels of topic knowledge. However, in task types categorized by task product and task level, more behavioral variables showed differences between searchers with different levels of topic knowledge. Our results suggested that search behaviors may be used as implicit indicators of searchers' topic familiarity, and that task type is an important factor to consider while doing such kind of prediction.
MT1-MMP targeting to endolysosomes is mediated by upregulation of flotillins

ABSTRACT Tumor cell invasion and metastasis formation are the major cause of death in cancer patients. These processes rely on extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation mediated by organelles termed invadopodia, to which the transmembrane matrix metalloproteinase MT1-MMP (also known as MMP14) is delivered from its reservoir, the RAB7-containing endolysosomes. How MT1-MMP is targeted to endolysosomes remains to be elucidated. Flotillin-1 and -2 are upregulated in many invasive cancers. Here, we show that flotillin upregulation triggers a general mechanism, common to carcinoma and sarcoma, which promotes RAB5-dependent MT1-MMP endocytosis and its delivery to RAB7-positive endolysosomal reservoirs. Conversely, flotillin knockdown in invasive cancer cells greatly reduces MT1-MMP accumulation in endolysosomes, its subsequent exocytosis at invadopodia, ECM degradation and cell invasion. Our results demonstrate that flotillin upregulation is necessary and sufficient to promote epithelial and mesenchymal cancer cell invasion and ECM degradation by controlling MT1-MMP endocytosis and delivery to the endolysosomal recycling compartment. Highlighted Article: Upregulation of flotillins promotes MT1-MMP trafficking through endolysosomes, which allows its efficient recycling from the plasma membrane to degradation sites.
DPP-4 Inhibitor Sitagliptin Improves Cardiac Function and Glucose Homeostasis and Ameliorates β-Cell Dysfunction Together with Reducing S6K1 Activation and IRS-1 and IRS-2 Degradation in Obesity Female Mice

Background Chronic overnutrition leads to cardiac dysfunction and insulin (INS) resistance. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in both human and animal models. In this study, we explored whether DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin (SIT) is involved in the protection of cardiac function and β-cell function using an obesity female mouse model. Methods Six-week-old C57BL6/J mice were fed a high fat and fructose Western diet with DPP-4 inhibitor SIT for 12 weeks. Cardiac function was examined by echocardiography. Body weight, plasma glucose, and insulin concentrations were measured. The contents of total S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), phosphorylation of S6K1 activation, and INS docking proteins INS receptor substrates 1 and 2 (IRS-1, IRS-2) were assayed, and histology of heart tissue was performed. Results Chronic Western diet consumption elevated plasma glucose and insulin and caused obesity, diastolic dysfunction, and β-cell dysfunction. DPP-4 inhibition with SIT resulted in reduction in body weight, fasting glucose, and plasma insulin, and improved cardiac diastolic dysfunction. SIT also decreased mTOR/S6K1 activation and prevented the degradation of IRS-1 and IRS-2. Conclusions This study revealed pleiotropic protective effects of DPP-4 inhibitor SIT on cardiac function, glycemia, and β-cell function together with reducing S6K1 activation and IRS-1 and IRS-2 degradation in the obesity female mouse model.
Physical and Mental Health Impacts of Household Gardens in an Urban Slum in Lima, Peru

Rural poverty and lack of access to education has led to urban migration and fed the constant growth of urban slums in Lima, Peru. Inhabitants of these informal settlements lack land rights and access to a public water supply, resulting in poor sanitation, an inability to grow food, and suboptimal health outcomes. A repeated measures longitudinal pilot study utilizing participatory design methods was conducted in Lima between September 2013 and September 2014 to determine the feasibility of implementing household gardens and the subsequent impact of increased green space on well-being. Anthropometric data and a composite of five validated mental health surveys were collected at the baseline, 6-months, and 12-months after garden construction. Significant increases from the baseline in all domains of quality of life, including: physical (p < 0.01), psychological (p = 0.05), social (p = 0.02), environmental (p = 0.02), and overall social capital (p < 0.01) were identified 12 months after garden construction. Life-threatening experiences decreased significantly compared to the baseline (p = 0.02). There were no significant changes in parent or partner empathy (p = 0.21), BMI (p = 0.95), waist circumference (p = 0.18), or blood pressure (p = 0.66) at 6 or 12 months. Improved access to green space in the form of a household garden can significantly improve mental health in an urban slum setting.