Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Results of a preclinical randomized controlled multicenter trial (pRCT): Anti-CD49d treatment for acute brain ischemia

A multicenter preclinical, randomized, controlled trial (pRCT) of a potential stroke treatment in mice demonstrates the feasibility of performing clinical trial–like investigations in animal models. Tested, just like a human Over the last few decades, clinical trial design and analysis have become increasingly stringent. These refinements—designed to ensure valid conclusions for formal drug approval—have improved clinical trial reliability. Now, Llovera et al. have applied the principles of the gold-standard randomized, controlled clinical trial to a preclinical investigation. They tested an antibody to CD49d, which inhibits leukocyte migration into the brain, in two mouse models of stroke. Data from their six-center, preclinical, randomized controlled trial in mice show that the antibody significantly reduced both leukocyte invasion and infarct volume after a small cortical stroke but that it did not have any effect in the other model, in which the animal suffered a larger injury. The authors outline the many lessons learned from their experience for further application of preclinical randomized controlled trials to translational research. Numerous treatments have been reported to provide a beneficial outcome in experimental animal stroke models; however, these treatments (with the exception of tissue plasminogen activator) have failed in clinical trials. To improve the translation of treatment efficacy from bench to bedside, we have performed a preclinical randomized controlled multicenter trial (pRCT) to test a potential stroke therapy under circumstances closer to the design and rigor of a clinical randomized control trial. Anti-CD49d antibodies, which inhibit the migration of leukocytes into the brain, were previously investigated in experimental stroke models by individual laboratories. Despite the conflicting results from four positive and one inconclusive preclinical studies, a clinical trial was initiated. To confirm the preclinical results and to test the feasibility of conducting a pRCT, six independent European research centers investigated the efficacy of anti-CD49d antibodies in two distinct mouse models of stroke in a centrally coordinated, randomized, and blinded approach. The results pooled from all research centers revealed that treatment with CD49d-specific antibodies significantly reduced both leukocyte invasion and infarct volume after the permanent distal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, which causes a small cortical infarction. In contrast, anti-CD49d treatment did not reduce lesion size or affect leukocyte invasion after transient proximal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, which induces large lesions. These results suggest that the benefits of immune-targeted approaches may depend on infarct severity and localization. This study supports the feasibility of performing pRCTs.
Analysis of sea spikes in radar sea clutter data

In this paper three sets of high-resolution, coherent, and polarimetric radar sea clutter data are analyzed and compared with radar sea clutter models. The nature of the data allows a thorough analysis of the power, polarization and velocity of the sea clutter. It is shown that these quantities, especially the velocity, are good measures of many physical properties of the ocean surface. Furthermore, it is shown that these physical properties match well with the sea clutter models. Sea clutter is found to consist of two components, a diffuse background, characterized by low values of backscattered power, HH/VV polarization ratio and Doppler velocity, and a number of spiking events, which possess higher power, polarization ratio and velocity. The background is reasonably well modeled by tilt-modulated Bragg scattering, whereas the spikes may be associated with the scattering on steepened and/or breaking waves. Moreover, it is shown that the influence of microbreakers has to be taken into account to explain the relatively high polarization ratio. A breaking wave origin for the spikes is supported in two ways. First, by a detailed analysis of the temporal behavior of individual spike backscatter properties, and second, by a statistical analysis of the entire population of spikes.
Multihop relay-aided multicast scheduling for cellular wireless networks

Efficient multicasting of critical messages is of essential importance in public safety and commercial multimedia cellular networks. We study the effectiveness of using relay stations to enhance the spectral efficiency of multicast distribution in a mobile wireless networks. Coloring oriented adaptive rate scheduling algorithms are considered, including such that temporally employ TDMA schedules with reuse levels of 1, 3, 4 and 7 over a cellular arrangement. These schemes are used to regulate multicast transmissions executed by base station and (when employed) relay station nodes. We examine the utility of using in each cell single and double levels of placed relay stations. When the latter are employed, 2-hop and 3-hop relaying paths are considered. We also examine a cellular system that has experienced the failure of base stations, and identify the adaptive rate coloring-based scheduling mechanism that should be used when a failover operation is pursued. For both pre-failure and post-failure scenarios, we show that when the inter site distance (ISD), identifying the range between macro base stations, is lower than certain threshold levels, it is most effective to employ schedules that are based on direct (1-hop) multicast transmissions by base stations (BSs) to associated mobile station (MS) clients. In turn, under longer ISD ranges (e.g., as employed in less dense cellular layouts), the spectral efficiency of the system can be significantly enhanced by using a joint scheduling and routing scheme that makes use of multihop relaying.
TH2 and TH17 inflammatory pathways are reciprocally regulated in asthma

Concurrent blockade of IL-13 and IL-17A may improve control of asthma. A tale of two asthmas Classifying diseases according to symptoms is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Targeted therapeutics have shown us that sets of symptoms can be caused by different pathogenic mechanisms. Now, Choy et al. demonstrate that asthma can be divided into three immunological clusters: TH2-high, TH17-high, and TH2/17-low. The TH2-high and TH17-high clusters were inversely correlated in patients. Moreover, neutralizing one signature promoted the other in a mouse model of asthma. These data suggest that combination therapies targeting both pathways may better treat asthmatic individuals. Increasing evidence suggests that asthma is a heterogeneous disorder regulated by distinct molecular mechanisms. In a cross-sectional study of asthmatics of varying severity (n = 51), endobronchial tissue gene expression analysis revealed three major patient clusters: TH2-high, TH17-high, and TH2/17-low. TH2-high and TH17-high patterns were mutually exclusive in individual patient samples, and their gene signatures were inversely correlated and differentially regulated by interleukin-13 (IL-13) and IL-17A. To understand this dichotomous pattern of T helper 2 (TH2) and TH17 signatures, we investigated the potential of type 2 cytokine suppression in promoting TH17 responses in a preclinical model of allergen-induced asthma. Neutralization of IL-4 and/or IL-13 resulted in increased TH17 cells and neutrophilic inflammation in the lung. However, neutralization of IL-13 and IL-17 protected mice from eosinophilia, mucus hyperplasia, and airway hyperreactivity and abolished the neutrophilic inflammation, suggesting that combination therapies targeting both pathways may maximize therapeutic efficacy across a patient population comprising both TH2 and TH17 endotypes.
Dynamic RMSA in elastic optical networks with an adaptive genetic algorithm

We develop an adaptive and efficient genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the dynamic routing, modulation and spectrum assignments (RMSA) for elastic O-OFDM networks. The algorithm offers an efficient way of serving the dynamic lightpath requests based on the current network status at each service provision time. The GA is designed for multi-objective optimization. For low traffic cases when there is no blocking, the GA minimizes the maximum number of slots required on any fiber in the network; otherwise, it minimizes the blocking probability. The performance of the proposed GA is evaluated in dynamic RMSA simulations with the 14-node NSFNET and the 28-node US Backbone topologies, and the results show that it converges within 25 generations. The simulation results also verify that the GA-RMSA outperforms several existing algorithms by providing more load-balanced network provisioning solutions with lower blocking probabilities. Specifically, when the traffic load is same, the GA can achieve more than one order-of-magnitude reduction on blocking probability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to solve dynamic RMSA in elastic O-OFDM networks with a GA.
Evaluation of the Developmental Toxicity of Dihydromyrcenol in Rats

Dihydromyrcenol, a widely used fragrance ingredient, was evaluated for developmental toxicity in pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (25/group). Oral dosages of 0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg/d in corn oil were administered on gestational days 7 to 17. Rats were observed for viability, clinical signs, body weights, and feed consumption. Caesarean sectioning and necropsy occurred on gestational day 21. Fetuses were weighed and examined for sex, gross external changes, and soft tissue or skeletal alterations. All rats survived until scheduled termination. No clinical signs were attributed to dihydromyrcenol. There were no gross tissue changes at necropsy. The 1000-mg/kg/d dosage group had reduced mean maternal body weight gains of 5% compared with controls, whereas absolute and relative feed consumption were significantly reduced during the dosage period. This threshold systemic maternal toxicity was associated with threshold developmental toxicity in the 1000-mg/kg/d dosage group. Fetal effects included a minimal ∼3% reduction in fetal body weight; reversible variations in ossification, including retarded ossification of the metatarsal bones in the hindpaws; and an increase in supernumerary thoracic ribs with associated increases or decreases in thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, respectively. Based on these data, maternal and developmental no observable effect levels of 500 mg/kg/d and maternal and developmental no observable adverse effect levels of 1000 mg/kg/d were established for dihydromyrcenol. It was concluded that dihydromyrcenol is not a selective developmental toxicant in rats under the conditions of this study and that a margin of safety of 25 000 exists between reversible developmental delays in rats and the estimated daily human exposure level of 0.02 mg/kg/d.
Murine Oncogenicity and Pharmacokinetics Studies of 9-cis-UAB30, an RXR Agonist, for Breast Cancer Chemoprevention

The synthetic retinoic acid analog, 9-cis-UAB30 [(2E,4E,6Z,8E)-8-(3′,4′-dihydro-1′(2′H)-naphthalen-1′-ylidene)-3,7-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatrienoic acid], is a specific ligand for the retinoid X receptor. Murine oncogenicity and pharmacokinetics studies were performed as part of the preclinical development of 9-cis-UAB30 for breast cancer chemoprevention. In the oncogenicity study, TSG-p53(+/-) (p53 knockout) mice (25 per sex per group) received daily gavage exposure to 9-cis-UAB30 doses of 0 (control), 30, 100, or 300 mg/kg/d for 6 months. Positive controls received p-cresidine (400 mg/kg/d) for 6 months. 9-cis-UAB30 had no biologically significant effects on survival, body weight, body weight gain, clinical signs, hematology, or clinical chemistry but induced dose-related hepatomegaly in both sexes and decreased thymus weights in high-dose females. Gross and microscopic pathology provided no evidence of 9-cis-UAB30 toxicity or oncogenicity; by contrast, p-cresidine induced urinary bladder neoplasms in more than 60% of male and female mice. It was concluded that 9-cis-UAB30 is not oncogenic in p53(+/-) mice. In the pharmacokinetics study, C57BL/6 mice received daily gavage exposure to 9-cis-UAB30 (100 or 300 mg/kg/d) for 1 or 7 days. Pharmacokinetic parameters were similar after 1 and 7 days of dosing. Dose-related peak plasma levels of 9-cis-UAB30 were seen between 0.25 and 3 hours; volume of distribution was comparable at both dose levels. Increases in area under the curve were less than proportional to dose and were associated with an increased rate of apparent clearance and decreased elimination half-life. These results suggest decreased absorption and/or possible induction of clearance mechanisms. Enzyme induction may underlie the hepatomegaly seen in mice treated with 9-cis-UAB30 for 6 months in the oncogenicity study.
Impact Crater Recognition on Mars Based on a Probability Volume Created by Template Matching

This paper presents a methodology that brings together a number of techniques in the fields of image processing and pattern recognition with the purpose of achieving the automated detection of impact craters on images of planetary surfaces. The modular approach adopted for its development includes a phase of candidate selection, followed by template matching, in which the probability associated to each detection is established, and finally, by the analysis of the probability volume, in which the identification of craters on the image is achieved. It is tested on a set of images from four different regions of the surface of the planet Mars, all obtained by the same sensor in the last decade. The recognition rates for craters with radii that are larger than five pixels are very good, both globally and for each of the individual areas. The performance of the algorithm in the face of the variation of some of its parameters is analyzed and discussed in detail. We believe that this is a tool that is suitable for a general application in any area of a planet or satellite captured in an image, whatever the geomorphological setting, the optical sensor, and the conditions of illumination are.
Regression of Surface Spectral Emissivity From Hyperspectral Instruments

The operational Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) emissivity retrieval uses a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regression emissivity product as a first guess for its retrieval over land. The NOAA approach is based on clear radiances that are simulated from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting forecast and a surface emissivity training data set. The same approach has also been applied to simulated Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) data. Resulted emissivity spectra and maps derived from AIRS and IASI will be presented and discussed.
Through-the-Wall Surveillance With Millimeter-Wave LFMCW Radars

The use of millimeter-wave radars allows a weight and size reduction of circuits and antennas, which is an important characteristic for Through-the-Wall Surveillance (TWS) applications. Furthermore, when using the millimeter-wave band, a large amount of bandwidth can be easily transmitted, given that the relative bandwidth is smaller. This leads to a high range resolution that allows for the discrimination of several targets that are very close in range, e.g., inside a room. The azimuth resolution is also improved due to the availability in this band of directive antennas with small dimensions. This paper studies the feasibility of using a millimeter-wave linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar in a TWS application. A TWS experiment in a real scenario has been done to demonstrate the validity of the theoretical analysis.
Traffic Surveillance System Based on a High-Resolution Radar

Traffic surveillance is an important civilian application of radars. The current high-resolution radars give new opportunities so that the traffic application may be redefined. In this paper, a traffic scenario with a high-resolution radar is presented. A range-bin alignment method, the Global Range Alignment, which comes from the focusing techniques in inverse synthetic aperture radar, is applied to obtain further capabilities than the usual velocity measurement: distinction between vehicle types via length estimation and adequate management in situations with simultaneous targets. Preliminary results from a real scenario using a high-resolution linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave millimeter-wave radar are shown.
An analytical model for Follow Me Cloud

This paper introduces an analytical model for the Follow-Me Cloud (FMC) concept whereby service mobility is enabled across data centers following the mobility of a mobile user. Given a network and cloud setup and a mobility pattern of a mobile user, the proposed analytical model provides the performance of the FMC concept related to: (i) the user experience with the service (such as: UE average distance from the optimal DC, average end-to-end delay, service disruption duration); and (ii) to the cloud/mobile operator (such as the service migration cost). Obtained results are encouraging. They confirm the advantage of the FMC concept, but stress the need for careful consideration when triggering the service migration.
Allergic Diseases of Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence

Since 1976, six volumes on allergy have appeared on the market; here is the seventh. All have been similar in that their editors tried to include comprehensive reviews of the relevant basic sciences and detailed discussions of clinical subjects, and drew contributions from a wide but overlapping field of authorities. There is scarcely a topic that has not been dealt with successfully in one or another of these books, despite the fact that the scope of the term "allergy" is excessively broad and ill defined. Until now, however, none of these volumes was directed at the physician who cares for children, as this book is. The editors correctly perceived the need for a reference work on pediatric allergy and assembled a field of 88 contributors, many of whom are pediatricians. In 67 chapters, the book covers a large number of subjects related to allergy and pediatrics, from immunogenetics, food allergy,
Sea Ice Deformation State From Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery—Part II: Effects of Spatial Resolution and Noise Level

C- and L-band airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery acquired at like- and cross-polarizations over sea ice under winter conditions is examined with the objective to study the discrimination between level ice and ice deformation features. High-resolution low-noise data were analyzed in the first paper. In this second paper, the main topics are the effects of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Airborne high-resolution SAR scenes are used to generate a sequence of images with increasingly coarser spatial resolution from 5 to 25 m, keeping the number of looks constant. The signal-to-noise ratio is varied between typical noise levels for airborne imagery and satellite data. Areal fraction of deformed ice and average deformation distance are determined for each image product. At L-band, the retrieved values of the areal fraction get larger as the image resolution is degraded. The areal fraction at C-band remains constant. The retrieved average distance between deformation features increases both at C- and L-bands as the image resolution gets coarser. The influence of noise becomes noticeable if its level is equal or larger than the average intensity backscattered from the level ice. The retrieval of deformation parameters using simulated images that resemble ERS-2 SAR, Envisat ASAR, and ALOS PALSAR data products is discussed. Basic differences between real and simulated ERS-2 SAR images are analyzed.
Natural history of the infant gut microbiome and impact of antibiotic treatment on bacterial strain diversity and stability

A longitudinal strain-level analysis of the infant gut microbiome after repeated antibiotic treatments reveals decreased diversity and stability, as well as transient increases in antibiotic resistance genes. Elucidating the effects of drugs on bugs Despite widespread use of antibiotics in children, the effects of antibiotic exposure on the developing infant gut microbiome have remained underexplored. Here, Yassour et al. present a longitudinal study capturing how the gut microbiome responds to and recovers from antibiotic perturbations. Antibiotic-treated children had less stable and less diverse bacterial communities. Antibiotic resistance genes within the guts of these children peaked after antibiotic treatment but generally returned rapidly to baseline. Delivery mode (vaginal versus cesarean) also had strong long-term effects on microbial diversity. These data give insights into the consequences of early life factors such as birth mode and antibiotic treatment on the infant gut microbiome. The gut microbial community is dynamic during the first 3 years of life, before stabilizing to an adult-like state. However, little is known about the impact of environmental factors on the developing human gut microbiome. We report a longitudinal study of the gut microbiome based on DNA sequence analysis of monthly stool samples and clinical information from 39 children, about half of whom received multiple courses of antibiotics during the first 3 years of life. Whereas the gut microbiome of most children born by vaginal delivery was dominated by Bacteroides species, the four children born by cesarean section and about 20% of vaginally born children lacked Bacteroides in the first 6 to 18 months of life. Longitudinal sampling, coupled with whole-genome shotgun sequencing, allowed detection of strain-level variation as well as the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes. The microbiota of antibiotic-treated children was less diverse in terms of both bacterial species and strains, with some species often dominated by single strains. In addition, we observed short-term composition changes between consecutive samples from children treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance genes carried on microbial chromosomes showed a peak in abundance after antibiotic treatment followed by a sharp decline, whereas some genes carried on mobile elements persisted longer after antibiotic therapy ended. Our results highlight the value of high-density longitudinal sampling studies with high-resolution strain profiling for studying the establishment and response to perturbation of the infant gut microbiome.
Distance estimation in concentration-based molecular communications

The advance in nanotechnology has enabled the fabrication of nanomachines for health applications. Recently, molecular communication has become a promising communication paradigm that allows nanomachines to exchange information by using messenger molecules in fluid environments. To enable molecular communications, the knowledge of distance between nanomachines is critical since the distance affects both the performance and the efficiency of molecular communication. However, works on molecular communication either assume the distance is known or the distance estimation is based on the assumption of clock synchronization between nanomachines. In this paper, we propose novel methods for distance estimation using only one-way transmission and requiring no clock synchronization between nanomachines. The noise of diffusion channel due to random walk of molecules is investigated and methods to effectively improve the estimation accuracy are proposed.