ShinyWYSIWYG: a Shiny What You See Is What You Get editor

For any computer application, having a graphical user interface (GUI) potentially increases its usability and scope. In the case of the R language, one of the most used alternatives is the Shiny [1] library. Shiny is an R package that facilitates the creation of interactive web applications directly from R. However, using Shiny requires a certain level of knowledge of R programming. Looking at CRAN’s Task Views, it is easy to note that the R community brings together a variety of specialists in various fields such as biologists, agronomists, economists, among others. It is therefore crucial that R development tools maximize the level of programmatic simplicity to ease the start of the learning ramp. In order to further facilitate the process of developing a user-friendly GUI, and tackling this learning gap, here we present the ShinyWYSIWYG application. ShinyWYSIWYG is a visual editor that allows the user, using the drag and drop technique, inserting the various fields that Shiny provides as input and output, by selecting the desired size and position for each field. Once the user interface is generated, ShinyWYSIWYG also eases the development of the server logic.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Thoracic aorta cardiac-cycle related dynamic changes assessed with a 256-slice CT scanner

Objective: The aim of our study was to demonstrate whether the dynamic changes previously documented at the ascending and abdominal aorta are replicated at the thoracic aorta. Methods and results: A consecutive series of thirty patients referred to our institution to undergo CT angiography of the thoracic aorta (CTA) constituted the study population. Patients with diffuse aortic atherosclerosis were excluded from the analysis. All studies were acquired with a 256-MDCT scanner and ECG-gating was performed in all cases. Two orthogonal imaging planes (maximal and minimal diameters) were obtained at three different levels of the descending thoracic aorta, using the distance from the left subclavian artery as proximal landmark: 10, 40, and 80 mm distance. The mean age was 58.9±15.7 years and 16 (53%) patients were male. Descending aorta measurements at 10, 40, and 80 mm distance from the left subclavian artery were all significantly larger within the systolic window (P<0.01 for all comparisons). Measurements of the maximal diameter were systematically larger than the minimal diameters among all aortic positions including ungated, systolic, and diastolic measurements (P<0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusions: The main finding of our pilot investigation was that the thoracic descending aorta undergoes significant conformational changes during the cardiac cycle, irrespective from the distance from the left subclavian artery.Fil: Carrascosa, Patricia. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Capuñay, Carlos. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Deviggiano, Alejandro. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez Granillo, Gaston Alfredo. Diagnóstico Maipú; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sagarduy, María Inés. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Cortines, Patricio. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Carrascosa, Jorge. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Parodi, Juan C.. Sanatorio Trinidad; Argentin

Controllable direction of liquid jets generated by thermocavitation within a droplet.

A high-velocity fluid stream ejected from an orifice or nozzle is a common mechanism to produce liquid jets in inkjet printers or to produce sprays among other applications. In the present research, we show the generation of liquid jets of controllable direction produced within a sessile water droplet by thermocavitation. The jets are driven by an acoustic shock wave emitted by the collapse of a hemispherical vapor bubble at the liquid-solid/substrate interface. The generated shock wave is reflected at the liquid-air interface due to acoustic impedance mismatch generating multiple reflections inside the droplet. During each reflection, a force is exerted on the interface driving the jets. Depending on the position of the generation of the bubble within the droplet, the mechanical energy of the shock wave is focused on different regions at the liquid-air interface, ejecting cylindrical liquid jets at different angles. The ejected jet angle dependence is explained by a simple ray tracing model of the propagation of the acoustic shock wave inside the droplet

ShinyWYSIWYG: a Shiny What You See Is What You Get editor

For any computer application, having a graphical user interface (GUI) potentially increases its usability and scope. In the case of the R language, one of the most used alternatives is the Shiny [1] library. Shiny is an R package that facilitates the creation of interactive web applications directly from R. However, using Shiny requires a certain level of knowledge of R programming. Looking at CRAN’s Task Views, it is easy to note that the R community brings together a variety of specialists in various fields such as biologists, agronomists, economists, among others. It is therefore crucial that R development tools maximize the level of programmatic simplicity to ease the start of the learning ramp. In order to further facilitate the process of developing a user-friendly GUI, and tackling this learning gap, here we present the ShinyWYSIWYG application. ShinyWYSIWYG is a visual editor that allows the user, using the drag and drop technique, inserting the various fields that Shiny provides as input and output, by selecting the desired size and position for each field. Once the user interface is generated, ShinyWYSIWYG also eases the development of the server logic.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Semliki forest virus vectors engineered to express higher IL-12 levels induce efficient elimination of murine colon adenocarcinomas

To evaluate the use of alphavirus vectors for tumor treatment we have constructed and compared two Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors expressing different levels of IL-12. SFV-IL-12 expresses both IL-12 subunits from a single subgenomic promoter, while in SFV-enhIL-12 each IL-12 subunit is expressed from an independent subgenomic promoter fused to the SFV capsid translation enhancer. This latter strategy provided an eightfold increase of IL-12 expression. We chose the poorly immunogenic MC38 colon adenocarcinoma model to evaluate the therapeutic potential of SFV vectors. A single intratumoral injection of 10(8) viral particles of SFV-IL-12 or SFV-enh-IL-12 induced>or=80% complete tumor regressions with long-term tumor-free survival. However, lower doses of SFV-enhIL-12 were more efficient than SFV-IL-12 in inducing antitumoral responses, indicating a positive correlation between the IL-12 expression level and the therapeutic effect. Moreover, repeated intratumoral injections of suboptimal doses of SFV-enhIL-12 increased the antitumoral response. In all cases SFV vectors were more efficient at eliminating tumors than a first-generation adenovirus vector expressing IL-12. In addition, the antitumoral effect of SFV vectors was only moderately affected by preimmunization of animals with high doses of SFV vectors. This antitumoral effect was produced, at least partially, by a potent CTL-mediated immune response

Nothofagus and the associated palynoflora from the Late Cretaceous of Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Nothofagaceae fossil leaves and an associated palynoflora from Late Cretaceous sediments of Vega Island, eastern Antarctic Peninsula, are presented. The leaves are described as Nothofagus sp. 1 and Morphotype LDB 1, and come from the Snow Hill Island (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) and the López de Bertodano (late Maastrichtian) formations, respectively. The palynoflora obtained from levels immediately above and below the Nothofagus sp. 1 and in the same horizon as the Morphotype LDB 1, included terrestrial and marine elements. In the palynoflora associated with Nothofagus sp. 1, conifers are dominant and pollen grains with Nothofagus affinity are represented by four species: Nothofagidites kaitangataensis (Te Punga) Romero 1973 and Nothofagidites senectus Dettmann and Playford 1968 which belong to the ancestral pollen type, as well as Nothofagidites dorotensis Romero 1973 and Nothofagidites sp. of the brassii-type. Cryptogamic spores, marine dinoflagellate cysts and algae, among others, are part of the assemblage. The palynoflora associated with the Morphotype LDB 1 also contains abundant conifer and angiosperm pollen grains with N. dorotensis as the only Nothofagus species recorded. Marine dinoflagellate cysts are scarce while fungi and phytodebris are common elements. The joint presence of marine and non-marine palynomorphs supports a probable nearshore environment at time of deposition for both units. Pollen and spore evidence suggests a mixed conifer and angiosperm forest, with Podocarpaceae and Nothofagus as the main components, and fern, lycopods, and mosses in the understory. This forest developed under temperate and moist conditions during the middle Campanian-Maastrichtian.Fil: Romero, Edgardo Juan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez Amenabar, Cecilia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra de Paleontología; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Zamaloa, María C.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Concheyro, Graciela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra de Paleontología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; Argentin