2,400 research outputs found
Traditional Wisdom and Monte Carlo Tree Search Face-to-Face in the Card Game Scopone
We present the design of a competitive artificial intelligence for Scopone, a
popular Italian card game. We compare rule-based players using the most
established strategies (one for beginners and two for advanced players) against
players using Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) and Information Set Monte Carlo
Tree Search (ISMCTS) with different reward functions and simulation strategies.
MCTS requires complete information about the game state and thus implements a
cheating player while ISMCTS can deal with incomplete information and thus
implements a fair player. Our results show that, as expected, the cheating MCTS
outperforms all the other strategies; ISMCTS is stronger than all the
rule-based players implementing well-known and most advanced strategies and it
also turns out to be a challenging opponent for human players.Comment: Preprint. Accepted for publication in the IEEE Transaction on Game
Analytical Validation of Two Assays for Equine Ceruloplasmin Ferroxidase Activity Assessment
: Ceruloplasmin (Cp) assessment in biological samples exploits the oxidase activity of this enzyme against several substrates, such as p-phenylenediamine (p-P), o-dianisidine (o-D) and, most recently, ammonium iron(II) sulfate (AIS). Once developed in humans, these assays are often used in veterinary medicine without appropriately optimizing in the animal species of interest. In this study, two assays using AIS and o-D as substrates have been compared and validated for Cp oxidase activity assessment in horse's plasma. The optimization of the assays was performed mainly by varying the buffer pH as well as the buffer and the substrate molar concentration. Under the best analytical conditions obtained, the horse blood serum samples were treated with sodium azide, a potent Cp inhibitor. In the o-D assay, 500 ”M sodium azide treatment completely inhibits the enzymatic activity of Cp, whereas, using the AIS assay, a residual analytical signal was still present even at the highest (2000 ”M) sodium azide concentration. Even though the analytical values obtained from these methods are well correlated, the enzymatic activity values significantly differ when expressed in Units L-1. A disagreement between these assays has also been detected with the Bland-Altman plot, showing a progressive discrepancy between methods with increasing analytical values
Canine oral malignant melanoma: genomic and immunohistochemical approaches to better characterize the metastatic dissemination to the lymph node
Malignant melanoma is the most common malignant tumour of the oral cavity in the dog, with high rate of metastatic dissemination to the regional lymph nodes and distant
organs. There is significant overlap in regards of biologic behaviour, histological appearance and genomic alterations between canine and human OMMs. Therefore, the dog is considered a good preclinical model for this deadly tumour.
In the first part of this study we aimed to identify genes that are involved in the metastatic dissemination of canine OMMs by microarray mRNA profiling of 4 pairs of primary tumours and their lymph nodal metastases. These genes could represent a future target for the control and hopefully treatment of the metastatic disease. We pointed out the presence of several genes displaying different expression between the primary and the metastatic tumour. In particular, Rac1 seems to play a key role in the
dissemination of melanoma cells to the lymph node, most likely due to its regulatory activity of cell motility.
In the second part of the study we assessed the potential improvement of detection of lymphatic invasion in canine primary OMMs by using immunohistochemistry for Prox-1,
as the detection of lymphatic invasion in a primary tumour is generally considered an unfavourable prognostic factor for several cancers, including human and canine OMMs. We also tried to prove direct correlation between the presence of lymphatic invasion in the primary tumour and regional lymph node metastasis. Our results showed that Prox-1 IHC is not able to enhance detection of lymphatic invasion in the primary site and that the sensitivity of detection of lymphatic invasion in predicting lymph nodal metastasis is low (46.7%), despite high specificity (97%). Finally, we
pointed out the presence of interobserver variability in detecting lymphatic invasion in canine primary OMMs, most likely due to interpretative variation
Fluorescence Spectroscopy for the Diagnosis of Endometritis in the Mare
By exploiting the PMN property to produce high quantities of oxygen peroxide to
neutralize pathogens, the oxygen peroxide content of uterine cells was measured to diagnose endometritis. After preliminary in vitro studies in which endometrial cells from slaughtered mares were mixed with leukocytes from peripheral blood, endometrial samples were collected by uterine flushing from mares before insemination. Staining endometrial cells with H2DCFâDA was combined with hydroethidine to normalize the fluorescence intensity with the cellular content of the sample. Stained cell smears were assumed as the gold standard of endometritis, and based on this assay, the samples were considered positive (C+) and negative (Câ) for endometritis. The amount and the turbidity of fluid recovered by uterine flushing were significantly (p < 0.01) higher
in C+ than in Câ. Moreover, the oxygen peroxide content of the endometrial cells was significantly higher in the C+ than in the Câ group (6.31 ± 1.92 vs. 3.12 ± 1.26, p = 0.001). Using the value of 4.4 as the cutoff level of this fluorescence cytology assay, it was found that only one Câ sample exceeded the cutoff level (false positives = 7.7%) while three C+ samples showed values below the cutoff level (false negative = 11.5%)
The counterintuitive effect of multiple injuries in severity scoring: a simple variable improves the predictive ability of NISS
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Injury scoring is important to formulate prognoses for trauma patients. Although scores based on empirical estimation allow for better prediction, those based on expert consensus, e.g. the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) are widely used. We describe how the addition of a variable quantifying the number of injuries improves the ability of NISS to predict mortality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed 2488 injury cases included into the trauma registry of the Italian region Emilia-Romagna in 2006-2008 and assessed the ability of NISS alone, NISS plus number of injuries, and the maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) to predict in-hospital mortality. Hierarchical logistic regression was used. We measured discrimination through the C statistics, and calibration through Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics, Akaike's information criterion (AIC) and calibration curves.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The best discrimination and calibration resulted from the model with NISS plus number of injuries, followed by NISS alone and then by the maximum AIS (C statistics 0.775, 0.755, and 0.729, respectively; AIC 1602, 1635, and 1712, respectively). The predictive ability of all the models improved after inclusion of age, gender, mechanism of injury, and the motor component of Glasgow Coma Scale (C statistics 0.889, 0.898, and 0.901; AIC 1234, 1174, and 1167). The model with NISS plus number of injuries still showed the best performances, this time with borderline statistical significance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In NISS, the same weight is assigned to the three worst injuries, although the contribution of the second and third to the probability of death is smaller than that of the worst one. An improvement of the predictive ability of NISS can be obtained adjusting for the number of injuries.</p
Telecoaching: a potential new training model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth patients: a systematic review
Introduction: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is an inherited neuropathy that affects the sensory and motor nerves. It can be considered the most common neuromuscular disease, with a prevalence of 1/2500. Methods: Considering the absence of a specific medical treatment and the benefits shown by physical activity in this population, a systematic review was completed using several search engines (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science) to analyze the use, effectiveness, and safety of a training program performed in telecoaching (TC). TC is a new training mode that uses mobile devices and digital technology to ensure remote access to training. Results: Of the 382 studies identified, only 7 met the inclusion criteria. The effects of a TC training program included improvements in strength, cardiovascular ability, and functional abilities, as well as gait and fatigue. However, the quality of the studies was moderate, the size of the participants in each study was small, and the outcome measured was partial. Discussion: Although many studies have identified statistically significant changes following the administration of the TC training protocol, further studies are needed, with appropriate study power, better quality, and a higher sample size
DevOps and Quality Management in Serverless Computing: The RADON Approach
The onset of microservices and serverless computer solutions has forced an ever-increasing demand for tools and techniques to establish and maintain the quality of infrastructure code, the blueprint that drives the operationalization of large-scale software systems. In the EU H2020 project RADON, we propose a machine-learning approach to elaborate and evolve Infrastructure-as-Code as part of a full-fledged industrial-strength DevOps pipeline. This paper illustrates RADON and shows our research roadmap
Disseminated Langerhans cell histiocytosis presenting as oesophageal disease in a cat.
Case summaryAn 11-year-old female spayed domestic shorthair cat was referred with a 2-month history of ptyalism, hyporexia and weight loss. Physical examination revealed reduced body condition score (2/9) and decreased skin turgor. Laboratory abnormalities included mild erythrocytosis, elevated creatine kinase, hypercobalaminaemia and hypofolataemia. CT of the head and abdominal ultrasonography were within normal limits. Gastroesophagoscopy revealed mucosal ulceration and possible stenosis of the distal oesophagus. Thoracic radiographs and iodine oesophagram showed a soft tissue opacity in the caudodorsal thorax compatible with a parietal oesophageal mass causing luminal stenosis or an extra-parietal mass causing ventral displacement and compression of the oesophagus. Pulmonary nodules were observed in the cranial lung lobes. CT of the thorax confirmed the oesophageal origin of the mass and the presence of pulmonary nodules scattered throughout the lung parenchyma. The patient was euthanased given the imaging findings and perceived guarded prognosis. Post-mortem examination revealed multifocal nodular lesions affecting the oesophagus, lungs, kidneys and pancreas. Histopathological examination identified atypical round cells characterised by eosinophilic cytoplasm and pale nuclei with prominent nuclear grooves, compatible with neoplastic histiocytic cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed strong expression for CD18, Iba-1 and vimentin. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated intracytoplasmic organelles consistent with Birkbeck granules of Langerhans cell origin in lesional histiocytes. These findings were compatible with a diagnosis of disseminated Langerhans cell histiocytosis.Relevance and novel informationTo our knowledge, this is the first report of disseminated Langerhans cell histiocytosis with oesophageal involvement in a cat
Reversible, High-Affinity Surface Capturing of Proteins Directed by Supramolecular Assembly
The ability to design surfaces with reversible, high-affinity protein binding sites represents a significant step forward in the advancement of analytical methods for diverse biochemical and biomedical applications. Herein, we report a dynamic supramolecular strategy to directly assemble proteins on surfaces based on multivalent hostâguest interactions. The hostâguest interactions are achieved by one-step nanofabrication of a well-oriented ÎČ-cyclodextrin host-derived self-assembled monolayer on gold (ÎČ-CD-SAM) that forms specific inclusion complexes with hydrophobic amino acids located on the surface of the protein. Cytochrome c, insulin, α-chymotrypsin, and RNase A are used as model guest proteins. Surface plasmon resonance and static time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry studies demonstrate that all four proteins interact with the ÎČ-CD-SAM in a specific manner via the hydrophobic amino acids on the surface of the protein. The ÎČ-CD-SAMs bind the proteins with high nanomolar to single-digit micromolar dissociation constants (KD). Importantly, while the proteins can be captured with high affinity, their release from the surface can be achieved under very mild conditions. Our results expose the great advantages of using a supramolecular approach for controlling protein immobilization, in which the strategy described herein provides unprecedented opportunities to create advanced bioanalytic and biosensor technologies
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