Integration of bioinformatic predictions and experimental data to identify circRNA-miRNA associations

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently emerged as a novel class of transcripts, characterized by covalently linked 3′–5′ ends that result in the so-called backsplice junction. During the last few years, thousands of circRNAs have been identified in different organisms. Yet, despite their role as disease biomarker started to emerge, depicting their function remains challenging. Different studies have shown that certain circRNAs act as miRNA sponges, but any attempt to generalize from the single case to the “circ-ome” has failed so far. In this review, we explore the potential to define miRNA “sponging” as a more general function of circRNAs and describe the different approaches to predict miRNA response elements (MREs) in known or novel circRNA sequences. Moreover, we discuss how experiments based on Ago2-IP and experimentally validated miRNA:target duplexes can be used to either prioritize or validate putative miRNA-circRNA associations

Electronic Health Records and Support For Primary Care Teamwork

This study examined primary care practices' experiences using electronic health records (EHRs) as they strive to function as teams in patientcentered medical homes (PCMHs). We identify how EHRs facilitate and pose challenges to teamwork and how practices overcame such challenges. We describe solutions and identify opportunities to improve care processes as well as EHR functionalities and policies, to support teamwork

Succinct Dictionary Matching With No Slowdown

The problem of dictionary matching is a classical problem in string matching: given a set S of d strings of total length n characters over an (not necessarily constant) alphabet of size sigma, build a data structure so that we can match in a any text T all occurrences of strings belonging to S. The classical solution for this problem is the Aho-Corasick automaton which finds all occ occurrences in a text T in time O(|T| + occ) using a data structure that occupies O(m log m) bits of space where m <= n + 1 is the number of states in the automaton. In this paper we show that the Aho-Corasick automaton can be represented in just m(log sigma + O(1)) + O(d log(n/d)) bits of space while still maintaining the ability to answer to queries in O(|T| + occ) time. To the best of our knowledge, the currently fastest succinct data structure for the dictionary matching problem uses space O(n log sigma) while answering queries in O(|T|log log n + occ) time. In this paper we also show how the space occupancy can be reduced to m(H0 + O(1)) + O(d log(n/d)) where H0 is the empirical entropy of the characters appearing in the trie representation of the set S, provided that sigma < m^epsilon for any constant 0 < epsilon < 1. The query time remains unchanged.Comment: Corrected typos and other minor error

Computational Methods for the Integrative Analysis of Genomics and Pharmacological Data

Since the pioneering NCI-60 panel of the late'80's, several major screenings of genetic profiling and drug testing in cancer cell lines have been conducted to investigate how genetic backgrounds and transcriptional patterns shape cancer's response to therapy and to identify disease-specific genes associated with drug response. Historically, pharmacogenomics screenings have been largely heterogeneous in terms of investigated cell lines, assay technologies, number of compounds, type and quality of genomic data, and methods for their computational analysis. The analysis of this enormous and heterogeneous amount of data required the development of computational methods for the integration of genomic profiles with drug responses across multiple screenings. Here, we will review the computational tools that have been developed to integrate cancer cell lines' genomic profiles and sensitivity to small molecule perturbations obtained from different screenings

Current and Near-Term AI as a Potential Existential Risk Factor

There is a substantial and ever-growing corpus of evidence and literature exploring the impacts of Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on society, politics, and humanity as a whole. A separate, parallel body of work has explored existential risks to humanity, including but not limited to that stemming from unaligned Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). In this paper, we problematise the notion that current and near-term artificial intelligence technologies have the potential to contribute to existential risk by acting as intermediate risk factors, and that this potential is not limited to the unaligned AGI scenario. We propose the hypothesis that certain already-documented effects of AI can act as existential risk factors, magnifying the likelihood of previously identified sources of existential risk. Moreover, future developments in the coming decade hold the potential to significantly exacerbate these risk factors, even in the absence of artificial general intelligence. Our main contribution is a (non-exhaustive) exposition of potential AI risk factors and the causal relationships between them, focusing on how AI can affect power dynamics and information security. This exposition demonstrates that there exist causal pathways from AI systems to existential risks that do not presuppose hypothetical future AI capabilities

Implementasi Keterbukaan Informasi Publik Melalui Sistem Informasi Manajemen Pendidikan (Simpendik) Di Dinas Pendidikan Kota Semarang

Public information disclosure is an aspect which is inseparable in the life of a democracy, where the rights of the individual over the public information must be fulfilled. To encourage the expansion of public information thoroughly, then every public institution is required to make asystem information which can be accessed quickly and easily by the public.Responding to the issue, Semarang City Education Office seriously launched management information systems education (SIMPENDIK) as a tool of information expansion, in cooperation with DINUSTEK and TELKOM Indonesia. This policy is Derivet (Derivative Policy), which is based on Act No. 14 of 2008 on public disclosure, as well as the regulation of the derivatives: Semarang Mayor Decree No. 821.29/265 on Information and Documentation Management Officer (PPID) in Semarang municipal government\u27s environment, and Perwal No. 26 in 2012on guidelines for information and documentation management. The purpose of this research is to find out the implementation and the driving factor, as well asthe inhibitor to the implementation of the public information disclosure through the education management information system (SIMPENDIK) in the Semarang City Education Office. Research methods used in this research are Descriptive-analytic methods. To answer the research problems, the author uses George c. Edwar III\u27s theory, i.e. communication, resources, disposition, and bureaucratic structure.The results of the research shows that the disclosureof public information through the education management information system (SIMPENDIK) in the Semarang City Education Office is already doing well, though there are still obstacles present, such as the lack of socialization to society, the limited number of personnel on Officer Functional information, the absence of a special room for the information manager, and the lack of a specific budget to support the implementation of the public information disclosure, as well

A history of violence in the Mesolithic female skeleton from Mezzocorona-Borgonuovo (Trento, northeastern Italy)

Scholars have long been interested in understanding conflict in prehistoric times. Skeletal lesions attributable to interpersonal violence constitute the most direct evidence available to make inferences on the diachronic changes in the frequency, scale, and motivation for conflict among human communities. It has been proposed that evidence of violence becomes more common among Early Holocene Mesolithic hunter-gatherers; however, the skeletal record becomes increasingly fragmentary in more ancient periods, making the finding of new evidence of great importance. We present here a case of traumatic recidivism in a Mesolithic female from the site of Mezzocorona-Borgonuovo (MBN-1) in the northeastern Italian Alps (Trento). This female displays a perimortem perforating defect in the frontal bone, as well as healed cranial and forearm fractures. Although it is possible to interpret these injuries as resulting from falls from height, we propose that they are most compatible with MBN-1 being victim over time of multiple episodes of interpersonal violence. In addition, probably a few months before death, MBN-1 suffered another traumatic injury of the ankle, and in this case the fall from height appears the most likely scenario. We further propose that the attacks leading to the cranial and forearm fractures were presumably perpetrated by individuals coming from outside MBN-1's group. Conversely, her group most likely cared for her through medical treatment – as suggested by the successful healing of forearm and ankle fractures – and by according her a formal burial. The traumatic history of MBN-1 provides rare glimpses into the life experience of a Mesolithic female from northeastern Italy, a context where human remains are extremely rare. However, being a single case, more findings are needed to understand whether or not MBN-1 can be viewed as emblematic of the overall exposure to interpersonal or accidental trauma for Mesolithic groups in the area, and to explore issues of frequency, origin, and motivation for ancient conflict

Integrated HTA and FMECA methodology for the evaluation of robotic surgery

Robotic surgery has been strongly improved since the beginning of the twenty-first century and chased important level of technical and clinical performances. Within the robotic area, the most worldwide used surgical robot is the da Vinci® system made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. The aim of this study was to evaluate at the hospital scale the robotic surgery (Hospital –Based Health Technology Assessment) in comparison to the open and laparoscopic procedures yet combining a FMECA analysis to accurately assess all those aspects involving patient and staff safety. The total number of robotic procedures directly observed by the surgical department and reported in the following study was 44, including 28 urology interventions and 16 general surgeries. The study confirmed clinical benefits carried out with the robot but bigger complexity in managing the whole surgical system in terms of structural needs, staff and technology. For the future, further steps regard the necessity to dispose of a wider number of robotic procedures in order to strength the analysis reliability and complete the socio-economic assessment with medium and long terms observation. Finally a new FMECA application will be essential to monitor the real effects of the suggested actions on the evaluated risks according to the already known and new failure modes