Modeling and testing main IPv6 protocols

This thesis presents the modeling and testing of main network layer protocols in IPv6, which are IPv6, ICMPv6, MLD and RIPng protocols. The purpose of this thesis is to formalize these protocols and to automatically generate test suites for conformance and interoperability testing. The protocols are specified using SDL (Specification and Description Language) and the test suites are described with TTCN (Tree and Tabular Combined Notation). The basic approach of formalizing these protocols applies the principle of SDL: different level. The test case suites are generated by test generator-testComposer in ObjectGeode toolset. A brief overview of the four main protocols is given before the general approach. The examples are given following all applied steps

A High-Sodium Diet Modulates the Immune Response of Food Allergy in a Murine Model

Mounting evidence demonstrates that a high-salt diet (HSD) not only affects hemodynamic changes but also disrupts immune homeostasis. The T helper 17 (Th17) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) are susceptible to hypersalinity. However, research on the influence of sodium on Th2-mediated food allergies remains scarce. We aimed to investigate the effect of dietary sodium on the immune response to food allergies. Mice maintained on an HSD (4% NaCl), low-salt diet (LSD; 0.4% NaCl), or control diet (CTRL; 1.0% NaCl) were orally sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) and a cholera toxin (CT) adjuvant, and then subjected to an intragastric OVA challenge. OVA-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG1, IgG2a, and IgE antibodies were significantly higher in the HSD group than in the CTRL group (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, p < 0.01, and p < 0.05, respectively). Mice on HSD had significantly higher interleukin (IL)-4 levels than the CTRL group (p < 0.01). The IL-10 levels were significantly lower in the HSD group than in the CTRL group (p < 0.05). The serum levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), sodium, and chloride did not differ among the three groups. This study indicates that excessive salt intake promotes Th2 responses in a mouse model of food allergy

Improving Transformer Based End-to-End Code-Switching Speech Recognition Using Language Identification

A Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) based attention model has been used in code-switching speech recognition (CSSR). However, due to the sequential computation constraint of RNN, there are stronger short-range dependencies and weaker long-range dependencies, which makes it hard to immediately switch languages in CSSR. Firstly, to deal with this problem, we introduce the CTC-Transformer, relying entirely on a self-attention mechanism to draw global dependencies and adopting connectionist temporal classification (CTC) as an auxiliary task for better convergence. Secondly, we proposed two multi-task learning recipes, where a language identification (LID) auxiliary task is learned in addition to the CTC-Transformer automatic speech recognition (ASR) task. Thirdly, we study a decoding strategy to combine the LID into an ASR task. Experiments on the SEAME corpus demonstrate the effects of the proposed methods, achieving a mixed error rate (MER) of 30.95%. It obtains up to 19.35% relative MER reduction compared to the baseline RNN-based CTC-Attention system, and 8.86% relative MER reduction compared to the baseline CTC-Transformer system

Purification and functional validation of LtCas12a protein

Summary: Here, we present a protocol for generating LtCas12a protein recognizing distinct TTNA (N represented A, T, C, G) protospacer adjacent motif sequence. We describe steps for transforming and harvesting bacterial cells and protein purification including nickel affinity chromatography and dialysis. We then detail procedures for verification of LtCas12a with cis- and trans-cleavage activities.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chen et al. (2023).1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics

Protocol for a single-blind randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of bilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation on upper extremity motor function in patients recovering from stroke

Abstract Background No consensus currently exists regarding the optimal protocol for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment of upper-extremity motor dysfunction after stroke. Studies have shown that combined low- and high-frequency stimulation (LF-HF-rTMS) of the bilateral cerebral hemispheres is more effective than sham stimulation or stimulation of one cerebral hemisphere alone in treating motor dysfunction in the subacute stage of stroke. The efficacy of this protocol in the convalescence phase of stroke has rarely been reported, and its mechanism of action has not been clarified. In this study, we designed a prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of different stimulation regimens for the treatment of upper extremity motor disorders in patients with convalescent stage stroke and aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms based on biomarkers such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Methods Seventy-six subjects will be randomly divided into combined, low-frequency, high-frequency, and control groups based on the proportion of 1:1:1:1, with 19 cases in each group. All groups will have conventional rehabilitation, on top of which the combined group will receive 1 Hz rTMS in the unaffected hemisphere and 10 Hz rTMS in the affected hemisphere. The low-frequency group will be administered 1 Hz rTMS in the unaffected hemisphere and sham stimulation in the contralateral hemisphere. The high-frequency group will be administered 10 Hz rTMS in the affected hemisphere and contralateral sham stimulation. The control group will receive bilateral sham stimulation. Assessments will be performed at baseline, after 2 weeks of treatment, and at post-treatment follow-up at week 6. The primary outcomes are FMA-UE (Fugl-Meyer assessment-upper extremity), latency, and serum BDNF levels. The secondary outcomes are the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Brunnstrom staging (BS), modified Ashworth scale (MAS), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), central motor conduction time (CMCT), precursor proteins of mature BDNF (proBDNF), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels. Adverse events, such as headaches and seizures, will be recorded throughout the study. Discussion The findings of this study will help develop optimal stimulation protocols for motor recovery in stroke patients and identify biomarkers that respond to post-stroke motor rehabilitation, for better guidance of clinical treatment. Trial registration The study protocol was passed by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University on January 1, 2022 (no. KYLL-2021–1082). It was registered into the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry on May 22, 2022 (no. ChiCTR2200060201). This study is currently in progress. Graphical Abstrac

Additional file 2 of Protocol for a single-blind randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of bilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation on upper extremity motor function in patients recovering from stroke

Additional file 2. Ethical Approval Documentation (English)

Additional file 1 of Protocol for a single-blind randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of bilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation on upper extremity motor function in patients recovering from stroke

Additional file 1. SPIRIT 2013 checklist

Additional file 3 of Protocol for a single-blind randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of bilateral transcranial magnetic stimulation on upper extremity motor function in patients recovering from stroke

Additional file 3. Ethical Approval Documentation (Chinese)