Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Connection Resilience for Self-Organized Distributed Cyber-Physical Systems

Self-organizing cyber-physical systems are expected to become increasingly important in the context of Industry 4.0 automation as well as in everyday scenarios. Resilient communication is crucial for such systems. In general, this can be achieved with redundant communication paths. Mathematically, the amount of redundant paths is expressed with the network connectivity. A high network connectivity is required for collaboration and system-wide self-adaptation even when nodes fail or get compromised by an attacker. In this paper, we analyze the network connectivity of a communication network for large distributed cyber-physical systems. For this, we simulate the communication structure of a CPS with different network parameters to determine its resilience. With our results, we also deduce the required network connectivity for a given number of failing or compromised nodes.
Geometric Loss Reduction in Tight Bent Waveguides for Silicon Photonics

A low-loss bent waveguide with a Clothoid shape whose width is adjusted along the curvature is demonstrated. For a bend radius of 1.6 μm, the loss is reduced by 0.34 dB to less than 0.04 dB for a single S-shape bend when compared to a standard circular waveguide bend.
Genotoxic effects of imidacloprid in human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells

Abstract Among neonicotinoid insecticides, the fastest growing class of insecticides worldwide over the past decade, imidacloprid (IMI) is the most widely used one. The effects of IMI on human health, especially on genetic toxicity have gradually aroused more attention. In this study, a combined in vitro approach employing the thymidine kinase (TK) gene mutation assay, the comet assay and the micronucleus test was taken to assess the genotoxicity of IMI. The mechanism behind IMI was also explored by measuring reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells. The cells were treated with 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μg/mL IMI, and ROS generation was measured by the use of 2,7,-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay. IMI significantly increased the micronucleus (MN) frequency, TK mutations and DNA damage with a dose-effect relationship, and the lowest effective concentration in those tests was 0.1 μg/mL. However, no obvious change of intracellular ROS was observed for any concentrations. The results indicate that IMI has potential genotoxic effects on TK6 cells, but ROS does not seem to be involved as a mechanism of genotoxicity under the experimental conditions.
Multiobjective Sizing Optimization for Island Microgrids Using a Triangular Aggregation Model and the Levy-Harmony Algorithm

Optimization of island microgrids should configure the module type and size in such a way that multiple objectives can be balanced. This paper presents a bioinspired optimization approach of microgrid sizing, with two salient features. First, the multiple objectives are categorized into four types: reliability, economy, renewable technology, and pollution. We present a triangular aggregation model, which is straightforward and cost effective to compute the fitness. Second, a bioinspired algorithm named Levy-Harmony is developed. We embed the Levy flight into the Harmony vector updating to enhance the global searching ability and, meantime, adopt a bias factor to avoid unnecessary exploration. The searching speed and accuracy are well balanced and improved. The real datasets are used for comparative studies, demonstrating the superiority of the proposed scheme against typical existing approaches.
Associations Between Oral Health Status and Diabetic Neuropathy in a Large Romanian Cohort of Patients With Diabetes

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) and periodontal disease (PD) (gingivitis/periodontitis) are two serious chronic complications of diabetes with shared pathogenetic mechanisms (1,2). This cross-sectional study evaluated the association between DN and self-reported oral health (OH) status in a large cohort of Romanian patients with diabetes initially phenotyped in 2012 (3). Among these, patients who agreed to participate were included in the follow-up. The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee for Scientific Research of the “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. OH was assessed using a three-item self-reported questionnaire that included the following questions: “Do you have complete dentures? ” (yes/no), “In the last 6 months, how often have you experienced gingival pain? ” (never/rarely/often/very often), and “In the last 6 months, how often have you experienced gingival bleeding? ” (never/rarely/often/very often). OH was defined as good (no symptoms), average (experienced symptoms rarely), poor (experienced symptoms often/very often), or very poor (complete dentures). DN was assessed by trained diabetologists using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI), comprising a questionnaire (MNSIq) and a clinical examination (MNSIe) (4,5). Clinical DN was defined as an MNSIe score of ≥2.5; symptomatic DN was defined as an MNSIq score of ≥4, or ≥2 for the reduced version of MNSIq (MNSIq4) (5). Proportions of different OH categories in patients with and without DN were compared using the χ …
Chaperone-mediated autophagy substrate proteins in cancer

All intracellular proteins undergo continuous synthesis and degradation. Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is necessary to maintain cellular homeostasis through turnover of cytosolic proteins (substrate proteins). This degradation involves a series of substrate proteins including both cancer promoters and suppressors. Since activating or inhibiting CMA pathway to treat cancer is still debated, targeting to the CMA substrate proteins provides a novel direction. We summarize the cancer-associated substrate proteins which are degraded by CMA. Consequently, CMA substrate proteins catalyze the glycolysis which contributes to the Warburg effect in cancer cells. The fact that the degradation of substrate proteins based on the CMA can be altered by posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation or acetylation. In conclusion, targeting to CMA substrate proteins develops into a new anticancer therapeutic approach.
A Novel and Safe Approach to Simulate Cutting Movements Using Ground Reaction Forces

Control of shear ground reaction forces (sGRF) is important in performing running and cutting tasks as poor sGRF control has implications for those with knee injuries, such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures. The goal of this study was to develop a novel and safe task to evaluate control or accurate modulation of shear ground reaction forces related to those generated during cutting. Our approach utilized a force control task using real-time visual feedback of a subject’s force production and evaluated control capabilities through accuracy and divergence measurements. Ten healthy recreational athletes completed the force control task while force control via accuracy measures and divergence calculations was investigated. Participants were able to accurately control sGRF in multiple directions based on error measurements. Forces generated during the task were equal to or greater than those measured during a number of functional activities. We found no significant difference in the divergence of the force profiles using the Lyapunov Exponent of the sGRF trajectories. Participants using our approach produced high accuracy and low divergence force profiles and functional force magnitudes. Moving forward, we will utilize this task in at-risk populations who are unable to complete a cutting maneuver in early stages of rehabilitation, such as ACL deficient and newly reconstructed individuals, allowing insight into force control not obtainable otherwise.
The COMICS Tool - Computing Minimal Counterexamples for Discrete-time Markov Chains

This report presents the tool COMICS, which performs model checking and generates counterexamples for DTMCs. For an input DTMC, COMICS computes an abstract system that carries the model checking information and uses this result to compute a critical subsystem, which induces a counterexample. This abstract subsystem can be refined and concretized hierarchically. The tool comes with a command-line version as well as a graphical user interface that allows the user to interactively influence the refinement process of the counterexample.
Genome-Wide Characterization of Selection Signatures and Runs of Homozygosity in Ugandan Goat Breeds

Both natural and artificial selection are among the main driving forces shaping genetic variation across the genome of livestock species. Selection typically leaves signatures in the genome, which are often characterized by high genetic differentiation across breeds and/or a strong reduction in genetic diversity in regions associated with traits under intense selection pressure. In this study, we evaluated selection signatures and genomic inbreeding coefficients, FROH, based on runs of homozygosity (ROH), in six Ugandan goat breeds: Boer (n = 13), and the indigenous breeds Karamojong (n = 15), Kigezi (n = 29), Mubende (n = 29), Small East African (n = 29), and Sebei (n = 29). After genotyping quality control, 45,294 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) remained for further analyses. A total of 394 and 6 breed-specific putative selection signatures were identified across all breeds, based on marker-specific fixation index (FST-values) and haplotype differentiation (hapFLK), respectively. These regions were enriched with genes involved in signaling pathways associated directly or indirectly with environmental adaptation, such as immune response (e.g., IL10RB and IL23A), growth and fatty acid composition (e.g., FGF9 and IGF1), and thermo-tolerance (e.g., MTOR and MAPK3). The study revealed little overlap between breeds in genomic regions under selection and generally did not display the typical classic selection signatures as expected due to the complex nature of the traits. In the Boer breed, candidate genes associated with production traits, such as body size and growth (e.g., GJB2 and GJA3) were also identified. Furthermore, analysis of ROH in indigenous goat breeds showed very low levels of genomic inbreeding (with the mean FROH per breed ranging from 0.8% to 2.4%), as compared to higher inbreeding in Boer (mean FROH = 13.8%). Short ROH were more frequent than long ROH, except in Karamojong, providing insight in the developmental history of these goat breeds. This study provides insights into the effects of long-term selection in Boer and indigenous Ugandan goat breeds, which are relevant for implementation of breeding programs and conservation of genetic resources, as well as their sustainable use and management.
A 57-71 GHz Beamforming SiGe Transceiver for 802.11 ad-Based Fixed Wireless Access

A beamforming transceiver for 802.11ad-based wireless access applications manufactured in a fT/fmax = 250/340-GHz SiGe BiCMOS technology is presented. The transceiver is equipped with 16+16 separate RX/TX paths and provides more than 20 dBm combined output power and 6 dB NF in the standard 802.11ad 57–66 GHz band, as well as the 66-to-71-GHz extended fixed-wireless access frequency range. A low phase noise of −101 dBc at 1 MHz offset enables the use of up to 10 Gbit/s 128 QAM full-channel and 256 QAM half-channel single-carrier modulation.
Transient Magnetothermal Neuronal Silencing Using the Chloride Channel Anoctamin 1 (TMEM16A)

The importance of specific neurons to a network’s function is best studied by precisely timed, reversible silencing of these neurons. Previously, we showed that alternating magnetic field mediated heating of magnetic nanoparticles bound to neurons expressing temperature-sensitive cation channels TRPV1, stimulates these neurons to fire and affects animal behavior in vivo (Munshi et al., 2017). Here, we demonstrate how to apply magnetic nanoparticle mediated heating to silence target neurons. Rat hippocampal neuron cultures are transfected to express the temperature gated chloride Anoctamin1 (TMEM16A) channels. Within seconds the heating of the membrane opens the Anoctamin1 (TMEM16A) channels, suppressing action potential firing. Five seconds of magnetic field application leads to about 12 seconds of silencing, with a latency of about 2 seconds and an average suppression ratio of more than 80%. The method provides a promising avenue for tether free, remote, transient neuronal silencing in vivo for both scientific and therapeutic applications.
Snapshot Compressed Sensing: Performance Bounds and Algorithms

Snapshot compressed sensing (CS) refers to compressive imaging systems in which multiple frames are mapped into a single measurement frame. Each pixel in the acquired frame is a noisy linear mapping of the corresponding pixels in the frames that are combined together. While the problem can be cast as a CS problem, due to the very special structure of the sensing matrix, standard CS theory cannot be employed to study such systems. In this paper, a compression-based framework is employed for theoretical analysis of snapshot CS systems. It is shown that this framework leads to two novel, computationally-efficient and theoretically-analyzable compression-based recovery algorithms. The proposed methods are iterative and employ compression codes to define and impose the structure of the desired signal. Theoretical convergence guarantees are derived for both algorithms. In the simulations, it is shown that, in the cases of both noise-free and noisy measurements, combining the proposed algorithms with a customized video compression code, designed to exploit nonlocal structures of video frames, significantly improves the state-of-the-art performance.
Computational Prediction of Carbohydrate‐Binding Proteins and Binding Sites

Protein‐carbohydrate interaction is essential for biological systems, and carbohydrate‐binding proteins (CBPs) are important targets when designing antiviral and anticancer drugs. Due to the high cost and difficulty associated with experimental approaches, many computational methods have been developed as complementary approaches to predict CBPs or carbohydrate‐binding sites. However, most of these computational methods are not publicly available. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of related studies and demonstrate our two recently developed bioinformatics methods. The method SPOT‐CBP is a template‐based method for detecting CBPs based on structure through structural homology search combined with a knowledge‐based scoring function. This method can yield model complex structure in addition to accurate prediction of CBPs. Furthermore, it has been observed that similarly accurate predictions can be made using structures from homology modeling, which has significantly expanded its applicability. The other method, SPRINT‐CBH, is a de novo approach that predicts binding residues directly from protein sequences by using sequence information and predicted structural properties. This approach does not need structurally similar templates and thus is not limited by the current database of known protein‐carbohydrate complex structures. These two complementary methods are available at https://sparks‐lab.org. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Feature-based Map Matching for Low-Sampling-Rate GPS Trajectories

With the increasing availability of GPS-equipped mobile devices, location-based services have become an integral part of everyday life. Among one of the initial steps of positioning data management, map matching aims to reduce the uncertainty in a trajectory by matching the GPS points to the road network on a digital map. Most existing work has focused on estimating the likelihood of a candidate route based on the GPS observations, while neglecting to model the probability of a route choice from the perspective of drivers. In this work, we propose a novel feature-based map matching algorithm that estimates the cost of a candidate route based on both GPS observations and human factors. To take human factors into consideration is highly important, especially when dealing with low sampling rate data where most of the movement details are lost. Additionally, we simultaneously analyze a subsequence of coherent GPS points by utilizing a new segment-based probabilistic map matching strategy, which is less susceptible to the noisiness of the positioning data. We have evaluated both the offline and the online versions of our proposed approach on a public large-scale GPS dataset, which consists of 100 trajectories distributed all over the world. The experimental results show that our method is robust to sparse data with large sampling intervals (e.g., 60s ∼ 300s) and challenging track features (e.g., u-turns and loops). Measurements including map matching accuracy and system efficiency have been thoroughly evaluated and discussed. Compared with two state-of-the-art map matching algorithms, our method substantially reduces the route mismatch error by 6.4% ∼ 32.3% (either offline or online with the window size set to 360s), with a slight increase in terms of the processing time. The experimental results show that our proposed method obtains the state-of-the-art map matching results in all the different combinations of sampling rates and challenging features.
Laparoscopic total extraperitoneal inguinal hernia repair is safe and feasible in patients with continuation of antithrombotics

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair in patients with the continuation of their antithrombotic agents. Settings and Design: This was prospective cohort study. Materials and Methods: A total of 115 patients who underwent TEP inguinal hernia repair between January 2015 and September 2016 were included in the analysis. Seventeen patients continued their antithrombotics (antithrombotic group); the other 98 had not been on antithrombotics (control group). Statistical Analysis Used: The analysis was performed by using Mann–Whitney U-test, Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. Results: The antithrombotic group had a greater mean age (65.9 ± 8.0 vs. 57.7 ± 13.6,P= 0.002) and higher prevalence of hypertension (64.7% vs. 33.7%,P= 0.015), cardiovascular diseases (64.7% vs. 7.1%,P < 0.001), atrial fibrillation (23.5% vs. 0,P < 0.001), ischaemic heart disease (35.3% vs. 0,P < 0.001) and the American Society of Anaesthesiologists ≥2 (94.1% vs. 81.6%,P= 0.005). The operation time for the antithrombotic group was longer than that of the control group (92.06 ± 32.81 min vs. 72.33 ± 20.99 min,P= 0.015). None experienced conversion to open surgery in either group. There was no difference in the post-operative complications (29.4% vs. 28.6%) and sero-haematoma formation (23.5% vs. 11.1%). The analgesic requirement, hospital stays (23.72 ± 7.74 vs. 22.35 ± 10.33 h) and the time for return to normal daily activity (3.56 ± 1.74 vs. 3.63 ± 1.90) were not statistically different between the two groups. None in either group experienced major cardiovascular events within 30 days. Conclusions: Laparoscopic TEP inguinal hernia repair can be safely performed in patients with the continuation of their antithrombotic agents in experienced hands.
Secure Fixed-point Division for Homomorphically Encrypted Operands

Due to privacy threats associated with computation of outsourced data, processing data on the encrypted domain has become a viable alternative. Secure computation of encrypted data is relevant for analysing datasets in areas (such as genome processing, private data aggregation, cloud computations) that require basic arithmetic operations. Performing division operation over-all encrypted inputs has not been achieved using homomorphic schemes in non-interactive modes. In interactive protocols, the cost of obtaining an encrypted quotient (from encrypted values) is computationally expensive. To the best of our knowledge, existing homomorphic solutions on encrypted division are often relaxed to consider public or private divisor. We acknowledge that there are other techniques such as secret sharing and garbled circuits adopted to compute secure division, but we are interested in homomorphic solutions. We propose an efficient and interactive two-party protocol that computes the fixed-point quotient of two encrypted inputs, using an efficient and secure comparison protocol as a sub-protocol. Our proposal provides a computational advantage, with a linear complexity in the digit precision of the quotient. We provide proof of security in the universally composable framework and complexity analyses. We present experimental results for two cryptosystem implementations in order to compare performance. An efficient prototype of our protocol is implemented using additive homomorphic scheme (Paillier), whereas a non-efficient fully-homomorphic scheme (BGV) version is equally presented as a proof of concept and analyses of our proposal.
Machine Learning Based Toxicity Prediction: From Chemical Structural Description to Transcriptome Analysis

Toxicity prediction is very important to public health. Among its many applications, toxicity prediction is essential to reduce the cost and labor of a drug’s preclinical and clinical trials, because a lot of drug evaluations (cellular, animal, and clinical) can be spared due to the predicted toxicity. In the era of Big Data and artificial intelligence, toxicity prediction can benefit from machine learning, which has been widely used in many fields such as natural language processing, speech recognition, image recognition, computational chemistry, and bioinformatics, with excellent performance. In this article, we review machine learning methods that have been applied to toxicity prediction, including deep learning, random forests, k-nearest neighbors, and support vector machines. We also discuss the input parameter to the machine learning algorithm, especially its shift from chemical structural description only to that combined with human transcriptome data analysis, which can greatly enhance prediction accuracy.
The Current Role of Salvage Surgery in Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Chemoradiotherapy has emerged as a gold standard in advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Because 50% of advanced stage patients relapse after nonsurgical primary treatment, the role of salvage surgery (SS) is critical because surgery is generally regarded as the best treatment option in patients with recurrent resectable SCCHN. Surgeons are increasingly confronted with considering operation among patients with significant effects of failed non-surgical primary treatment. Wide local excision to achieve clear margins must be balanced with the morbidity of the procedure, the functional consequences of organ mutilation, and the likelihood of success. Accurate selection of patients suitable for surgery is a major issue. It is essential to establish objective criteria based on functional and oncologic outcomes to select the best candidates for SS. The authors propose first to understand preoperative prognostic factors influencing survival. Predictive modeling based on preoperative information is now available to better select patients having a good chance to be successfully treated with surgery. Patients with a high comorbidity index, advanced oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal primary tumors, and both local and regional recurrence have a very limited likelihood of success with salvage surgery and should be strongly considered for other treatments. Following SS, identifying patients with postoperative prognostic factors predicting high risk of recurrence is essential because those patients could benefit of adjuvant treatment or be included in clinical trials. Finally, defining HPV tumor status is needed in future studies including recurrent oropharyngeal SCC patients.