Modelled testbeds: Visualizing and augmenting physical testbeds with virtual resources

Testbed facilities play a major role in the study and evolution of emerging technologies, such as those related to the Internet of Things. In this work we introduce the concept of modelled testbeds, which are 3D interactive representations of physical testbeds where the addition of virtual resources mimicking the physical ones is made possible thanks to back-end infrastructure. We present the architecture of the Syndesi testbed, deployed at the premises of University of Geneva, which was used for the prototype modelled testbed. We investigate several extrapolation techniques towards realistic value assignment for virtual sensor measurements. K-fold cross validation is performed in a dataset comprising of nearly 300’000 measurements of temperature, illuminance and humidity sensors collected from the physical sensors of the Syndesi testbed, in order to evaluate the accuracy of the methods. We obtain strong results including Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) levels below 7%

Evaluation of the Interplay between the ADAR Editome and Immunotherapy in Melanoma.

RNA editing is a highly conserved posttranscriptional mechanism that contributes to transcriptome diversity. In mammals, it includes nucleobase deaminations that convert cytidine (C) into uridine (U) and adenosine (A) into inosine (I). Evidence from cancer studies indicates that RNA-editing enzymes promote certain mechanisms of tumorigenesis. On the other hand, recoding editing in mRNA can generate mutations in proteins that can participate in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) ligandome and can therefore be recognized by the adaptive immune system. Anti-cancer treatment based on the administration of immune checkpoint inhibitors enhance these natural anti-cancer immune responses. Based on RNA-Seq datasets, we evaluated the editome of melanoma cell lines generated from patients pre- and post-immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Our results reveal a differential editing in Arthrobacter luteus (Alu) sequences between samples pre-therapy and relapses during therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. These data pave the way towards the development of new diagnostics and therapies targeted to editing that could help in preventing relapses during immunotherapies

Allergen immunotherapy on the way to product-based evaluation - a WAO statement

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is widely used in clinical practice for patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis due to inhalant allergens and may be delivered via subcutaneous (SCIT) and sublingual routes (SLIT). However, the quality of evidence for individual AIT products is very heterogeneous, and extensions of overall conclusions ("class effects") on the efficacy and disease-modifying effects to all AIT products are unjustified. In contrast, each product needs to be evaluated individually, based on available study results, to justify efficacy and specific claims on sustained and disease modifying effects per allergen and targeted patient group (children vs. adults, allergic rhinitis vs. asthma). WAO intends to support the current development to evidence-based AIT, which ultimately will lead to a more efficacious treatment of allergic patients and the appropriate recognition of AIT

Comparability of radiocarbon measurements in dissolved inorganic carbon of seawater produced at ETH-Zurich

Radiocarbon observations (Δ14C) in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of seawater provide useful information about ocean carbon cycling and ocean circulation. To deliver high-quality observations, the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP) at ETH-Zurich developed a new simplified method allowing the rapid analysis of radiocarbon in DIC of small seawater samples, which is continually assessed by following internal quality controls. However, a comparison with externally produced 14C measurements to better establish an equivalency between methods was still missing. Here, we make the first intercomparison with the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility based on 14 duplicate seawater samples collected in 2020. We also compare with prior deep-water observations from the 1970s to 1990s. The results show a very good agreement in both comparisons. The mean Δ14C of 12 duplicate samples measured by LIP and NOSAMS were statistically identical within one sigma uncertainty while two other duplicate samples agreed within two sigma. Based on this small number of duplicate samples, LIP values appear to be slightly lower than the NOSAMS values, but more measurements will be needed for confirmation. We also comment on storage and preservation techniques used in this study, including the freezing of samples collected in foil bags

A transformed view of cyclosporine

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62591/1/397471a0.pd

Impaired Negative Selection of T Cells in Hodgkin's Disease Antigen CD30–Deficient Mice

AbstractCD30 is found on Reed–Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease and on a variety of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells and is up-regulated on cells after Epstein–Barr virus, human T cell leukemia virus, and HIV infections. We report here that the thymus in CD30-deficient mice contains elevated numbers of thymocytes. Activation-induced death of thymocytes after CD3 cross-linking is impaired both in vitro and in vivo. Breeding the CD30 mutation separately into αβTCR- or γδTCR-transgenic mice revealed a gross defect in negative but not positive selection. Thus, like TNF-receptors and Fas/Apo-1, the CD30 receptor is involved in cell death signaling. It is also an important coreceptor that participates in thymic deletion

Soybean Seed Extracts Preferentially Express Genomic Loci of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in the Initial Interaction with Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr

Initial interaction between rhizobia and legumes actually starts via encounters of both partners in the rhizosphere. In this study, the global expression profiles of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 in response to soybean (Glycine max) seed extracts (SSE) and genistein, a major soybean-released isoflavone for nod genes induction of B. japonicum, were compared. SSE induced many genomic loci as compared with genistein (5.0 µM), nevertheless SSE-supplemented medium contained 4.7 µM genistein. SSE markedly induced four predominant genomic regions within a large symbiosis island (681 kb), which include tts genes (type III secretion system) and various nod genes. In addition, SSE-treated cells expressed many genomic loci containing genes for polygalacturonase (cell-wall degradation), exopolysaccharide synthesis, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase, ribosome proteins family and energy metabolism even outside symbiosis island. On the other hand, genistein-treated cells exclusively showed one expression cluster including common nod gene operon within symbiosis island and six expression loci including multidrug resistance, which were shared with SSE-treated cells. Twelve putatively regulated genes were indeed validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Several SSE-induced genomic loci likely participate in the initial interaction with legumes. Thus, these results can provide a basic knowledge for screening novel genes relevant to the B. japonicum- soybean symbiosis

A Novel High-Throughput Vaccinia Virus Neutralization Assay and Preexisting Immunity in Populations from Different Geographic Regions in China

Background: Pre-existing immunity to Vaccinia Tian Tan virus (VTT) resulting from a large vaccination campaign against smallpox prior to the early 1980s in China, has been a major issue for application of VTT-vector based vaccines. It is essential to establish a sensitive and high-throughput neutralization assay to understand the epidemiology of Vaccinia-specific immunity in current populations in China. Methodology/Principal Findings: A new anti-Vaccinia virus (VACV) neutralization assay that used the attenuated replication-competent VTT carrying the firefly luciferase gene of Photinus pyralis (rTV-Fluc) was established and standardized for critical parameters that included the choice of cell line, viral infection dose, and the infection time. The current study evaluated the maintenance of virus-specific immunity after smallpox vaccination by conducting a non-randomized, crosssectional analysis of antiviral antibody-mediated immune responses in volunteers examined 30–55 years after vaccination. The rTV-Fluc neutralization assay was able to detect neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against Vaccinia virus without the ability to differentiate strains of Vaccinia virus. We showed that the neutralizing titers measured by our assay were similar to those obtained by the traditional plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). Using this assay, we found a low prevalence of NAb to VTT (7.6%) in individuals born before 1980 from Beijing and Anhui provinces in China, and when present, anti-VTT NAb titers were low. No NAbs were detected in all 222 samples from individuals born after 1980. There was no significan