Combining multiple investigative approaches to unravel functional responses to global change in the understorey of temperate forests.

Plant communities are being exposed to changing environmental conditions all around the globe, leading to alterations in plant diversity, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. For herbaceous understorey communities in temperate forests, responses to global change are postulated to be complex, due to the presence of a tree layer that modulates understorey responses to external pressures such as climate change and changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates. Multiple investigative approaches have been put forward as tools to detect, quantify and predict understorey responses to these global-change drivers, including, among others, distributed resurvey studies and manipulative experiments. These investigative approaches are generally designed and reported upon in isolation, while integration across investigative approaches is rarely considered. In this study, we integrate three investigative approaches (two complementary resurvey approaches and one experimental approach) to investigate how climate warming and changes in nitrogen deposition affect the functional composition of the understorey and how functional responses in the understorey are modulated by canopy disturbance, that is, changes in overstorey canopy openness over time. Our resurvey data reveal that most changes in understorey functional characteristics represent responses to changes in canopy openness with shifts in macroclimate temperature and aerial nitrogen deposition playing secondary roles. Contrary to expectations, we found little evidence that these drivers interact. In addition, experimental findings deviated from the observational findings, suggesting that the forces driving understorey change at the regional scale differ from those driving change at the forest floor (i.e., the experimental treatments). Our study demonstrates that different approaches need to be integrated to acquire a full picture of how understorey communities respond to global change.

Non-Classical Swine Leukocyte Antigens SLA-6, -7, and -8, Are Xenoantigens for Some Waitlisted Patients.

Attack of donor tissues by pre-formed anti-pig antibodies is well known to cause graft failure in xenotransplantation. Genetic engineering of porcine donors to eliminate targets of these pre-formed antibodies coupled with advances in immunosuppressive medicines have now made it possible to achieve extended survival in the pre-clinical pig-to-non-human primate model. Despite these improvements, antibodies remain a risk over the lifetime of the transplant, and many patients continue to have pre-formed donor-specific antibodies even to highly engineered pigs. While therapeutics exist that can help mitigate the detrimental effects of antibodies, they act broadly potentially dampening beneficial immunity. Identifying additional xenoantigens may enable more targeted approaches, such as gene editing, to overcome these challenges by further eliminating antibody targets on donor tissue. Because we have found that classical class I swine leukocyte antigens are targets of human antibodies, we now examine whether related pig proteins may also be targeted by human antibodies. We show here that non-classical class I swine leukocyte proteins (SLA-6, -7, -8) can be expressed at the surface of mammalian cells and act as antibody targets.

Late graft failure of pig-to-rhesus renal xenografts has features of glomerulopathy and recipients have anti-swine leukocyte antigen class I and class II antibodies.

Prolonged survival in preclinical renal xenotransplantation demonstrates that early antibody mediated rejection (AMR) can be overcome. It is now critical to evaluate and understand the pathobiology of late graft failure and devise new means to improve post xenograft outcomes. In renal allotransplantation the most common cause of late renal graft failure is transplant glomerulopathy-largely due to anti-donor MHC antibodies, particularly anti-HLA DQ antibodies. We evaluated the pig renal xenograft pathology of four long-surviving (>300 days) rhesus monkeys. We also evaluated the terminal serum for the presence of anti-SLA class I and specifically anti-SLA DQ antibodies. All four recipients had transplant glomerulopathy and expressed anti-SLA DQ antibodies. In one recipient tested for anti-SLA I antibodies, the recipient had antibodies specifically reacting with two of three SLA I alleles tested. These results suggest that similar to allotransplantation, anti-MHC antibodies, particularly anti-SLA DQ, may be a barrier to improved long-term xenograft outcomes.

MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy in the treatment of brain tumors and epilepsy.

MR-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (MRgLITT) is a minimally invasive neurosurgical technique increasingly used for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy and brain tumors. Utilizing near-infrared light energy delivery guided by real-time MRI thermometry, MRgLITT enables precise ablation of targeted brain tissues, resulting in limited corridor-related morbidity and expedited postoperative recovery. Since receiving CE marking in 2018, the adoption of MRgLITT has expanded to more than 40 neurosurgical centers across Europe. In epilepsy treatment, MRgLITT can be applied to various types of focal lesional epilepsy, including mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, hypothalamic hamartoma, focal cortical dysplasias, periventricular heterotopias, cavernous malformations, dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors (DNET), low-grade gliomas, tuberous sclerosis, and in disconnective surgeries. In neuro-oncology, MRgLITT is used for treating newly diagnosed and recurrent primary brain tumors, brain metastases, and radiation necrosis. This comprehensive review presents an overview of the current evidence and technical considerations for the use of MRgLITT in treating various pathologies associated with drug-resistant epilepsy and brain tumors.

SLA2 is a prognostic marker in HNSCC and correlates with immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment.

PURPOSE: To investigate Src-like adaptor 2 gene (SLA2) expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), its potential prognostic value, and its effect on immune cell infiltration. METHODS: Through a variety of bioinformatics analyses, we extracted and analyzed data sets from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER), and Gene Expression Profile Interaction Analysis (GEPIA) to analyze the correlation between SLA2 and the prognosis, immune checkpoint, tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune cell infiltration of HNSCC, and to explore its potential oncogenic mechanism. To further explore the potential role of SLA2 in HNSCC by Gene ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. RESULTS: SLA2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels were increased in HNSCC tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. In addition, we found that SLA2 may be an independent prognostic factor for HNSCC, and high SLA2 expression is associated with favorable prognosis in HNSCC. SLA2 expression was positively correlated with B cells, cluster of differentiation 8-positive T cells (CD8 + T cells), cluster of differentiation 4-positive T cells (CD4 + T cells), macrophages, neutrophil and dendritic cells infiltration. SLA2 has also been shown to co-express immune-related genes and immune checkpoints. Significant GO term analysis by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) indicated that genes correlated with SLA2 were located mainly in the side of membrane, receptor complex, secretory granule membrane, endocytic vesicle, membrane region, and endosome membrane, where they were involved in leukocyte cell-cell adhesion, response to interferon-gamma, and regulation of immune effector process. These related genes also served as antigen binding, cytokine receptor activity, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity, peptide receptor activity, Src homology domain 3 (SH3) domain binding, and cytokine receptor binding. KEGG pathway analysis demonstrated that these genes related to SLA2 were mainly enriched in signal pathways, such as hematopoietic cell lineage, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity, measles, and chemokine signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: SLA2 is increased in HNSCC, and high SLA2 expression is associated with favorable prognosis. SLA2 may affect tumor development by regulating tumor infiltrating cells in TME. SLA2 may be a potential target for immunotherapy.

Evaluation of the effect of diode laser application on the hydrophilicity, surface topography, and chemical composition of titanium dental implant surface.

PURPOSE: Attempts have been made to decontaminate the implant surface by using diode lasers. However, the parameters that provide efficient decontamination without altering the topography or surface characteristics of titanium implants are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of altering the power of diode laser (940 nm) application on the hydrophilicity, surface topography, and chemical composition of sandblasted, large grit, acid-etched (SLA) treated titanium alloy implant surface. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six SLA-treated titanium discs (Dentis Co., Ltd.) were used in this study. The hydrophilicity of all discs was measured by using a contact angle goniometer (190 CA; Rame-hart Co, Ltd). Discs were randomly divided into four groups (n = 9 each) based on the power of the diode laser used. Group I (control, no lasing group), group II: treated with 1 W power, group III: 2 W power, and group IV: 3 W power. The chemical composition of the SLA discs was evaluated by using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) before laser application. Hydrophilicity was reevaluated after the application of laser irradiation. The surface topography of all discs was examined. Changes in the chemical composition of the titanium discs were investigated following the lasing procedure. Morphometric analysis of the surface area (µm2 ) of the indentations created following laser application was also evaluated. Data were collected and the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality was used. Comparisons between the four study groups were done by using the Kruskal-Wallis test, while that to evaluate the morphometric analysis of the surface area was done by using One-way ANOVA (P < 0.05). RESULTS: The average contact angle of the drop of distilled water to the SLA discs significantly decreased after laser treatment (P < 0.05). The largest contact angle was measured in the control group, followed by the 1 W group, and the 2 W group. The smallest angle was measured in the 3 W group. Considerable surface alterations such as melting and flattening were observed on examination of the surface topography of the 3 W group followed by the 2 W group. The least changes were observed in association with the 1 W group in comparison to the control group. The EDX analysis showed the appearance of peaks of the oxygen and carbon elements after the lasing procedure with the highest percentage in the 3 W group. The average of the surface area of the created indentations significantly increased with increasing the power of the diode laser used (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The application of diode laser (940 nm) with 2 W and 3 W powers significantly altered the hydrophilicity, the surface topography, and the chemical composition of titanium discs. Diode laser (940 nm) with 1 W power can be safely used on SLA titanium implant surfaces with no damaging effect on the surface topography or hydrophilicity.

The tandem EH domains of End3 cooperate to interact with dual XPF motifs of Sla1 for the connection of early and late stages in fungal endocytosis.

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is imperative for physiological processes in eukaryotic cells. In fungi, the Pan1/End3/Sla1 complex controls the transition between early and late stages of CME. Although it is acknowledged that End3 uses its N-terminal to interact with the C-terminal of Sla1, detailed mechanism remains obscure. Magnaporthe oryzae, the pathogenic fungus of rice, cause blast disease that threatens rice production worldwide. Here we report the detailed interaction mechanism between End3 and Sla1 of M. oryzae, i.e. MoEnd3 and MoSla1. The two EH domains of MoEnd3 (MoEnd3-EH1 and MoEnd3-EH2) is different both in evolution and calcium binding, but are indispensable for conformational stability of each other, an unreported effect of tandem-arranged EH domains. MoEnd3-EH1 and MoEnd3-EH2 interact with peptide MoSla11145-1155 containing a NPF motif with a conserved mode, and MoEnd3-EHs (containing both EH1 and EH2 domains) binds MoSla11145-1155 with a higher affinity, supporting the synergetic effect of EH domains. In addition, MoEnd3-EHs also recognize peptide MoSla1971-981 with a new MPF motif that has not been reported before, while Sla1 of yeast contains a DPF motif that bears EH domain interaction ability. Collectively, our research shows that the two EH domains of End3 synergize to interact with dual XPF motifs of Sla1, which conforms to a bivalent receptor-bivalent ligand model to improve both affinity and specificity.

Mooring Stone-Like Arg114 Pulls Diverse Bulged Peptides: First Insight into African Swine Fever Virus-Derived T Cell Epitopes Presented by Swine Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF), which is a devastating pig disease threatening the global pork industry. However, currently, no commercial vaccines are available. During the pig immune response, major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules select viral peptide epitopes and present them to host cytotoxic T lymphocytes, thereby playing critical roles in eliminating viral infections. Here, we screened peptides derived from ASFV and determined the molecular basis of ASFV-derived peptides presented by the swine leukocyte antigen 1*0101 (SLA-1*0101). We found that peptide binding in SLA-1*0101 differs from the traditional mammalian binding patterns. Unlike the typical B and F pockets used by the common MHC-I molecule, SLA-1*0101 uses the D and F pockets as major peptide anchor pockets. Furthermore, the conformationally stable Arg114 residue located in the peptide-binding groove (PBG) was highly selective for the peptides. Arg114 draws negatively charged residues at positions P5 to P7 of the peptides, which led to multiple bulged conformations of different peptides binding to SLA-1*0101 and creating diversity for T cell receptor (TCR) docking. Thus, the solid Arg114 residue acts as a "mooring stone" and pulls the peptides into the PBG of SLA-1*0101. Notably, the T cell recognition and activation of p72-derived peptides were verified by SLA-1*0101 tetramer-based flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the donor pigs. These results refresh our understanding of MHC-I molecular anchor peptides and provide new insights into vaccine development for the prevention and control of ASF. IMPORTANCE The spread of African swine fever virus (ASFV) has caused enormous losses to the pork industry worldwide. Here, a series of ASFV-derived peptides were identified, which could bind to swine leukocyte antigen 1*0101 (SLA-1*0101), a prevalent SLA allele among Yorkshire pigs. The crystal structure of four ASFV-derived peptides and one foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV)-derived peptide complexed with SLA-1*0101 revealed an unusual peptide anchoring mode of SLA-1*0101 with D and F pockets as anchoring pockets. Negatively charged residues are preferred within the middle portion of SLA-1*0101-binding peptides. Notably, we determined an unexpected role of Arg114 of SLA-1*0101 as a "mooring stone" which pulls the peptide anchoring into the PBG in diverse "M"- or "n"-shaped conformation. Furthermore, T cells from donor pigs could activate through the recognition of ASFV-derived peptides. Our study sheds light on the uncommon presentation of ASFV peptides by swine MHC-I and benefits the development of ASF vaccines.

Glycyrrhiza polysaccharides inhibits PRRSV replication.

Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide (GCP) is a natural plant active polysaccharide extracted from traditional Chinese medicine licorice. In this research, we studied the antiviral activity of glycyrrhiza polysaccharide against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), a virus of the Arteriviridae family, with a high rate of variation and has caused huge economic losses to the pig industry in various countries since its discovery. Our results show that GCP can inhibit PRRSV replication in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, GCP could inhibit the mRNA expression of receptor genes CD163 and NF-κB p65 and promote the mRNA expression of the SLA-7 gene. Because of these results, GCP can be used as a candidate drug to prevent and treat PRRS.

MR-guided LITT therapy in patients with primary irresectable glioblastoma: a prospective, controlled pilot study.

PURPOSE: Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is increasingly being used in the treatment of brain tumors, whereas high-quality evidence of its effectiveness is lacking. This pilot examined the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in patients with irresectable newly diagnosed glioblastoma (nGBM), and generated data on technical feasibility and safety. METHODS: We included patients with irresectable nGBM with KPS ≥ 70 and feasible trajectories to ablate ≥ 70% of the tumor volume. Patients were initially randomized to receive either biopsy combined with LITT or biopsy alone, followed by chemoradiation (CRT). Randomization was stopped after 9 patients as the feasibility endpoint with respect to willingness to be randomized was met. Main endpoints were feasibility of performing an RCT, technical feasibility of LITT and safety. Follow-up was 3 months. RESULTS: A total of 15 patients were included, of which 10 patients received a biopsy followed by LITT and 5 patients a biopsy. Most patients were able to complete the follow-up procedures (93% clinical, 86% questionnaires, 78% MRI). Patients were planned within 3 weeks after consultation (median 12 days, range 8-16) and no delay was observed in referring patients for CRT (median 37 days, range 28-61). Two CD ≥ 3 complications occurred in the LITT arm and none in the biopsy arm. CONCLUSION: An RCT to study the effectiveness of LITT in patients with an irresectable nGBM seems feasible with acceptable initial safety data. The findings from this pilot study helped to further refine the design of a larger full-scale multicenter RCT in the Netherlands. Protocol and study identifier: The current study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (EMITT pilot study, NTR: NCT04596930).

Comparable safety profile between neuro-oncology procedures involving stereotactic needle biopsy (SNB) followed by laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) and LITT alone procedures.

INTRODUCTION: Tissue diagnosis through stereotactic needle biopsy (SNB) is often needed prior to laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT). Whether these procedures should be performed in the same surgery or in separate settings remain unclear. As a first step to address this question, we assess safety profile of procedures involving LITT alone versus SNB + LITT. METHODS: Using International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes, we queried the National Readmissions Database (NRD, 2010-2018) for malignant brain tumor patients who underwent either (1) LITT alone or (2) elective LITT in combination with SNB (SNB + LITT). Survey regression methods were utilized. Additionally, the procedural outcome of LITT or SNB + LITT performed by the senior surgeon (2014-2022) were reviewed. RESULTS: During the study period, an estimated 678 malignant brain tumor patients underwent LITT alone versus 373 patients that underwent SNB + LITT. Patients undergoing LITT and SNB + LITT exhibited statistically comparable median lengths of hospital stay (IQR; LITT = 2 day [1, 3]; SNB + LITT = 1 day [1, 3]; p = 0.405) and likelihood of routine discharge (LITT = 73.5%; SNB + LITT = 81.1%; p = 0.068). The odds of 30-day medical or neurological readmissions were comparable between LITT and SNB + LITT treated patients (all p ≥ 0.793). In the single surgeon experience of 218 procedures performed over an eight year period (2014-2022), the complications (LITT = 3.9%; SNB + LITT = 2.6%, p = 0.709), discharge within 48 h (LITT = 84.5%; SNB + LITT = 87.8%; p = 0.556), routine discharge (LITT = 91.3%; SNB + LITT = 93.9%; p = 0.604), and unplanned 30-day readmission (LITT = 3.9%; SNB + LITT = 1.7%; p = 0.423) were similarly comparable between LITT and SNB + LITT. CONCLUSION: The length of hospital stay, the likelihood of routine discharge, and 30-day readmission for malignant brain tumor patients who underwent LITT and SNB + LITT were comparable.

Relative growth rate (RGR) and other confounded variables: mathematical problems and biological solutions.

BACKGROUND: Relative growth rate (RGR) has a long history of use in biology. In its logged form, RGR = ln[(M + ΔM)/M], where M is size of the organism at the commencement of the study, and ΔM is new growth over time interval Δt. It illustrates the general problem of comparing non-independent (confounded) variables, e.g. (X + Y) vs. X. Thus, RGR depends on what starting M(X) is used even within the same growth phase. Equally, RGR lacks independence from its derived components, net assimilation rate (NAR) and leaf mass ratio (LMR), as RGR = NAR × LMR, so that they cannot legitimately be compared by standard regression or correlation analysis. FINDINGS: The mathematical properties of RGR exemplify the general problem of 'spurious' correlations that compare expressions derived from various combinations of the same component terms X and Y. This is particularly acute when X >> Y, the variance of X or Y is large, or there is little range overlap of X and Y values among datasets being compared. Relationships (direction, curvilinearity) between such confounded variables are essentially predetermined and so should not be reported as if they are a finding of the study. Standardizing by M rather than time does not solve the problem. We propose the inherent growth rate (IGR), lnΔM/lnM, as a simple, robust alternative to RGR that is independent of M within the same growth phase. CONCLUSIONS: Although the preferred alternative is to avoid the practice altogether, we discuss cases where comparing expressions with components in common may still have utility. These may provide insights if (1) the regression slope between pairs yields a new variable of biological interest, (2) the statistical significance of the relationship remains supported using suitable methods, such as our specially devised randomization test, or (3) multiple datasets are compared and found to be statistically different. Distinguishing true biological relationships from spurious ones, which arise from comparing non-independent expressions, is essential when dealing with derived variables associated with plant growth analyses.

The biological responses of osteoblasts on titanium: Effect of oxygen level and surface roughness.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Due to the general application of in vitro test, cell culture is generally selected to evaluate the cytocompatibility of devices and materials. The choice of test condition should depend on the probable site and clinical application. The oxygen content of human body could be estimated around 5%∼12%, and the oxygen level of healing bone fracture range from 0.8%∼3.8%%. However, materials for bone implant are traditionally evaluated under laboratory normoxia condition (21% O2) in vitro. The aim was to study the effect of oxygen level on osteoblast upon high stiffness titanium with different roughness. METHODS: After sandblasted and acid-etched (SLA) process, we create titanium surfaces with four different roughness. The differentiation and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cultured on SLA-treated specimens were evaluated in designed chamber with oxygen level of 1%, 5%, 10%, 21%. RESULTS: By scanning electron microscopy, all samples had sub-micro pit inside the micro-holes upon SLA-treated Ti disk surface. The decrease of oxygen level from 21% to 5% promoted osteoblast growth of SLA-treated specimens, but 1% O2 delayed cell proliferation. The surface roughness of specimens influenced osteoblast cell differentiation. The differentiation and proliferation ability of the cells upon SLA-treated specimens is proportional to oxygen level. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that 5% O2 will easily discriminate osteoblasts responses on different SLA-treated specimens. These results suggest that hypoxia (5% O2) environment is better model for biological evaluation of bone-related materials.

Prioritized Task-Scheduling Algorithm in Cloud Computing Using Cat Swarm Optimization.

Effective scheduling algorithms are needed in the cloud paradigm to leverage services to customers seamlessly while minimizing the makespan, energy consumption and SLA violations. The ineffective scheduling of resources while not considering the suitability of tasks will affect the quality of service of the cloud provider, and much more energy will be consumed in the running of tasks by the inefficient provisioning of resources, thereby taking an enormous amount of time to process tasks, which affects the makespan. Minimizing SLA violations is an important aspect that needs to be addressed as it impacts the makespans, energy consumption, and also the quality of service in a cloud environment. Many existing studies have solved task-scheduling problems, and those algorithms gave near-optimal solutions from their perspective. In this manuscript, we developed a novel task-scheduling algorithm that considers the task priorities coming onto the cloud platform, calculates their task VM priorities, and feeds them to the scheduler. Then, the scheduler will choose appropriate tasks for the VMs based on the calculated priorities. To model this scheduling algorithm, we used the cat swarm optimization algorithm, which was inspired by the behavior of cats. It was implemented on the Cloudsim tool and OpenStack cloud platform. Extensive experimentation was carried out using real-time workloads. When compared to the baseline PSO, ACO and RATS-HM approaches and from the results, it is evident that our proposed approach outperforms all of the baseline algorithms in view of the above-mentioned parameters.

Fault-Tolerant Trust-Based Task Scheduling Algorithm Using Harris Hawks Optimization in Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing is a distributed computing model which renders services for cloud users around the world. These services need to be rendered to customers with high availability and fault tolerance, but there are still chances of having single-point failures in the cloud paradigm, and one challenge to cloud providers is effectively scheduling tasks to avoid failures and acquire the trust of their cloud services by users. This research proposes a fault-tolerant trust-based task scheduling algorithm in which we carefully schedule tasks within precise virtual machines by calculating priorities for tasks and VMs. Harris hawks optimization was used as a methodology to design our scheduler. We used Cloudsim as a simulating tool for our entire experiment. For the entire simulation, we used synthetic fabricated data with different distributions and real-time supercomputer worklogs. Finally, we evaluated the proposed approach (FTTATS) with state-of-the-art approaches, i.e., ACO, PSO, and GA. From the simulation results, our proposed FTTATS greatly minimizes the makespan for ACO, PSO and GA algorithms by 24.3%, 33.31%, and 29.03%, respectively. The rate of failures for ACO, PSO, and GA were minimized by 65.31%, 65.4%, and 60.44%, respectively. Trust-based SLA parameters improved, i.e., availability improved for ACO, PSO, and GA by 33.38%, 35.71%, and 28.24%, respectively. The success rate improved for ACO, PSO, and GA by 52.69%, 39.41%, and 38.45%, respectively. Turnaround efficiency was minimized for ACO, PSO, and GA by 51.8%, 47.2%, and 33.6%, respectively.

Refresh Rate-Based Caching and Prefetching Strategies for Internet of Things Middleware.

One of the research directions in Internet of Things (IoT) is the field of Context Management Platforms (CMPs) which is a specific type of IoT middleware. CMPs provide horizontal connectivity between vertically oriented IoT silos resulting in a noticeable difference in how IoT data streams are processed. As these context data exchanges can be monetised, there is a need to model and predict the context metrics and operational costs of this exchange to provide relevant and timely context in a large-scale IoT ecosystem. In this paper, we argue that caching all transient context information to satisfy this necessity requires large amounts of computational and network resources, resulting in tremendous operational costs. Using Service Level Agreements (SLAs) between the context providers, CMP, and context consumers, where the level of service imperfection is quantified and linked to the associated costs, we show that it is possible to find efficient caching and prefetching strategies to minimize the context management cost. So, this paper proposes a novel method to find the optimal rate of IoT data prefetching and caching. We show the main context caching strategies and the proposed mathematical models, then discuss how a correctly chosen proactive caching strategy and configurations can help to maximise the profit of CMP operation when multiple SLAs are defined. Our model is accurate up to 0.0016 in Root Mean Square Percentage Error against our simulation results when estimating the profits to the system. We also show our model is valid using the t-test value tending to 0 for all the experimental scenarios.

An Efficient Trust-Aware Task Scheduling Algorithm in Cloud Computing Using Firefly Optimization.

Task scheduling in the cloud computing paradigm poses a challenge for researchers as the workloads that come onto cloud platforms are dynamic and heterogeneous. Therefore, scheduling these heterogeneous tasks to the appropriate virtual resources is a huge challenge. The inappropriate assignment of tasks to virtual resources leads to the degradation of the quality of services and thereby leads to a violation of the SLA metrics, ultimately leading to the degradation of trust in the cloud provider by the cloud user. Therefore, to preserve trust in the cloud provider and to improve the scheduling process in the cloud paradigm, we propose an efficient task scheduling algorithm that considers the priorities of tasks as well as virtual machines, thereby scheduling tasks accurately to appropriate VMs. This scheduling algorithm is modeled using firefly optimization. The workload for this approach is considered by using fabricated datasets with different distributions and the real-time worklogs of HPC2N and NASA were considered. This algorithm was implemented by using a Cloudsim simulation environment and, finally, our proposed approach is compared over the baseline approaches of ACO, PSO, and the GA. The simulation results revealed that our proposed approach has shown a significant impact over the baseline approaches by minimizing the makespan, availability, success rate, and turnaround efficiency.

Downregulation of Swine Leukocyte Antigen Expression Decreases the Strength of Xenogeneic Immune Responses towards Renal Proximal Tubular Epithelial Cells.

Xenotransplantation reemerged as a promising alternative to conventional transplantation enlarging the available organ pool. However, success of xenotransplantation depends on the design and selection of specific genetic modifications and on the development of robust assays allowing for a precise assessment of tissue-specific immune responses. Nevertheless, cell-based assays are often compromised by low proliferative capacity of primary cells. Proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) play a crucial role in kidney function. Here, we generated immortalized PTECs (imPTECs) by overexpression of simian virus 40 T large antigen. ImPTECs not only showed typical morphology and phenotype, but, in contrast to primary PTECs, they maintained steady cell cycling rates and functionality. Furthermore, swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I and class II transcript levels were reduced by up to 85% after transduction with lentiviral vectors encoding for short hairpin RNAs targeting ß2-microglobulin and the class II transactivator. This contributed to reducing xenogeneic T-cell cytotoxicity (p < 0.01) and decreasing secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IFN-γ. This study showed the feasibility of generating highly proliferative PTECs and the development of tissue-specific immunomonitoring assays. Silencing SLA expression on PTECs was demonstrated to be an effective strategy to prevent xenogeneic cellular immune responses and may strongly support graft survival after xenotransplantation.

A 3D-Printed, Freestanding Carbon Lattice for Sodium Ion Batteries.

Increasing mass loadings of battery electrodes critically enhances the energy density of an overall battery by eliminating much of the inactive components, while compacting the battery size and lowering the costs of the ingredients. A hard carbon microlattice, digitally designed and fabricated by stereolithography 3D-printing and pyrolysis, offers enormous potential for high-mass-loading electrodes. In this work, sodium-ion batteries using hard carbon microlattices produced by an inexpensive 3D printer are demonstrated. Controlled periodic carbon microlattices are created with enhanced ion transport through microchannels. Carbon microlattices with a beam width of 32.8 µm reach a record-high areal capacity of 21.3 mAh cm-2 at a loading of 98 mg cm-2 without degrading performance, which is much higher than the conventional monolithic electrodes (≈5.2 mAh cm-2 at 92 mg cm-2 ). Furthermore, binder-free, pure-carbon elements of microlattices enable the tracking of structural changes in hard carbon that support the hypothesized intercalation of ions at plateau regions by temporal ex situ X-ray diffraction measurements. These results will advance the development of high-performance and low-cost anodes for sodium-ion batteries as well as help with understanding the mechanisms of ion intercalations in hard carbon, expanding the utilities of 3D-printed carbon architectures in both applications and fundamental studies.

Stereotactic Laser Ablation (SLA) followed by consolidation stereotactic radiosurgery (cSRS) as treatment for brain metastasis that recurred locally after initial radiosurgery (BMRS): a multi-institutional experience.

INTRODUCTION: The optimal treatment paradigm for brain metastasis that recurs locally after initial radiosurgery remains an area of active investigation. Here, we report outcomes for patients with BMRS treated with stereotactic laser ablation (SLA, also known as laser interstitial thermal therapy, LITT) followed by consolidation radiosurgery. METHODS: Clinical outcomes of 20 patients with 21 histologically confirmed BMRS treated with SLA followed by consolidation SRS and > 6 months follow-up were collected retrospectively across three participating institutions. RESULTS: Consolidation SRS (5 Gy × 5 or 6 Gy × 5) was carried out 16-73 days (median of 26 days) post-SLA in patients with BMRS. There were no new neurological deficits after SLA/cSRS. While 3/21 (14.3%) patients suffered temporary Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) decline after SLA, no KPS decline was observed after cSRS. There were no 30-day mortalities or wound complications. Two patients required re-admission within 30 days of cSRS (severe headache that resolved with steroid therapy (n = 1) and new onset seizure (n = 1)). With a median follow-up of 228 days (range: 178-1367 days), the local control rate at 6 and 12 months (LC6, LC12) was 100%. All showed diminished FLAIR volume surrounding the SLA/cSRS treated BMRS at the six-month follow-up; none of the patients required steroid for symptoms attributable to these BMRS. These results compare favorably to the available literature for repeat SRS or SLA-only treatment of BMRS. CONCLUSIONS: This multi-institutional experience supports further investigations of SLA/cSRS as a treatment strategy for BMRS.