Dynamics of latent HIV under clonal expansion

The HIV latent reservoir exhibits slow decay on antiretroviral therapy (ART), impacted by homeostatic proliferation and activation. How these processes contribute to the total dynamic while also producing the observed profile of sampled latent clone sizes is unclear. An agent-based model was developed that tracks individual latent clones, incorporating homeostatic proliferation of cells and activation of clones. The model was calibrated to produce observed latent reservoir dynamics as well as observed clonal size profiles. Simulations were compared to previously published latent HIV integration data from 5 adults and 3 children. The model simulations reproduced reservoir dynamics as well as generating residual plasma viremia levels (pVL) consistent with observations on ART. Over 382 Latin Hypercube Sample simulations, the median latent reservoir grew by only 0.3 log10 over the 10 years prior to ART initiation, after which time it decreased with a half-life of 15 years, despite number of clones decreasing at a faster rate. Activation produced a maximum size of genetically intact clones of around one million cells. The individual simulation that best reproduced the sampled clone profile, produced a reservoir that decayed with a 13.9 year half-life and where pVL, produced mainly from proliferation, decayed with a half-life of 10.8 years. These slow decay rates were achieved with mean cell life-spans of only 14.2 months, due to expansion of the reservoir through proliferation and activation. Although the reservoir decayed on ART, a number of clones increased in size more than 4,000-fold. While small sampled clones may have expanded through proliferation, the large sizes exclusively arose from activation. Simulations where homeostatic proliferation contributed more to pVL than activation, produced pVL that was less variable over time and exhibited fewer viral blips. While homeostatic proliferation adds to the latent reservoir, activation can both add and remove latent cells. Latent activation can produce large clones, where these may have been seeded much earlier than when first sampled. Elimination of the reservoir is complicated by expanding clones whose dynamic differ considerably to that of the entire reservoir.

Design of a System Supporting the Collection of Information on the Completed Didactic Classes at Medical University of Białystok as an Attempt at Improving the Quality of Education

Obtaining a sufficient amount of measurable and reliable results of student surveys has always posed a challenge for university teams tasked with the provision of the quality of education. This is especially visible at faculties where education is based on the classic classroom-based model, which then transfers to clinical units, hospital wards, and specialist laboratories. The highly unpredictable pandemic situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus raises the bar for the evaluation of didactics. Fortunately, the continuous technological progress in the area of Artificial Intelligence makes it possible to design the implementation of tools that would improve the position of systems for the management of courses of studies. The evaluation survey for didactic classes, as one of the last output data obtained during the process, may finally become a fully recognized source of information about the conducted classes and the teachers themselves. On the other hand, it may become a tool for those surveyed to influence the quality of classes, express their opinion, present suggestions and propositions generally pertaining to changes in the process of education. New information technologies not only make it possible to improve the effectiveness of reaching the recipients, but also provide completely new, very reliable methods of acquisition of credible behaviour, used as integration data in solutions based on machine communication. Using Artificial Intelligence coupled with data may make it possible to use intelligent communication for effective management of the process of surveying – a solution that has so far been used in business, in the form of the so-called bots. As a result, this would lead to an ongoing, fully quantitative and qualitative, assessment of classes.

An Approach for Schema Extraction of NoSQL Columnar Databases: the HBase Case Study

Although NoSQL databases do not require a schema a priori, being aware of the database schema is essential for activities like data integration, data validation, or data interoperability. This paper presents a process for the extraction of columnar NoSQL database schemas. We adopt JSON as a canonical format for data representation, and we validate the proposed process through a prototype tool that is able to extract schemas from the HBase columnar NoSQL database system. HBase was chosen as a case study because it is one of the most popular columnar NoSQL solutions. When compared to related work, we innovate by proposing a simple solution for the inference of column data types for columnar NoSQL databases that store only byte arrays as column values, and a resulting schema that follows the JSON Schema format.

Predicting Work-Life Conflict: Types and Levels of Enacted and Preferred Work-Nonwork Boundary (In)Congruence and Perceived Boundary Control

In 2020, everyday life changed dramatically for employees worldwide as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, where an estimated 558 million employees started working from home. The pandemic, therefore, marks a fundamental shift of individuals’ work-nonwork boundaries, which can impact work-life conflict. In particular, the interplay between individuals’ enacted boundaries (degree to which they separate/segment or blend/integrate work-nonwork), preferred boundaries (degree of preferred segmentation or integration of work-nonwork), and perceived control over work-nonwork boundaries, may relate to work-life conflict. This study, the first to the best of our knowledge, examines whether different types and levels of work-nonwork boundary (in)congruence matter for work-life conflict, and whether perceived boundary control moderates these relationships. Boundary (in)congruence represents the degree of (mis)fit between enacted and preferred segmentation or integration. Several types of (in)congruence are distinguished: “segmentation congruence” (enacting and preferring segmentation); “integration congruence” (enacting and preferring integration); “intrusion” (enacting integration but preferring segmentation) and “distance” (enacting segmentation but preferring integration). Data from 1,229 managers working in public and private organizations in Sweden was analyzed using polynomial regression analysis with response surface modeling and moderation analysis in SPSS Process. Findings showed that “integration congruence” was related with higher work-life conflict than “segmentation congruence.” Moreover, a U-shaped relationship between incongruence and work-life conflict was found: the more incongruence, the more work-life conflict. Specifically, “intrusion” was related to higher work-life conflict than “distance.” Finally, boundary control mitigated the effect of incongruence (especially “intrusion”) on work-life conflict. From our findings, we may conclude that work-life conflict is impacted differently depending on the type and level of boundary (in)congruence. Particularly enacted and/or preferred integration may be problematic when it comes to work-life conflict, rather than just (in)congruence per se. Moreover, boundary control can be viewed as a key factor in combating work-life conflict, especially among individuals who enact integration, but prefer segmentation. Taken together, our study contributes new and substantial knowledge by showing the importance for research and HRM-policies that take into account different types and levels of boundary (in)congruence, as these are associated with different levels of work-life conflict, which, in turn, are moderated by boundary control.

Appropriating Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Basic Education Teacher Using Online Learning Instruction

The digitalization of the world community and the advent of Covid-19 pandemic have created impact to the lives of the teachers and other stakeholders. This study provide knowledge on the teachers in terms of, pedagogical, content and technological knowledge in using technology as means of instruction and learning of the students. Findings have showed that teachers were knowledgeable in terms of technology as means of their pedagogical application, content matters and best practices in technology integration. Data further implied that teachers were knowledgeable with tech-ed either online or in the classroom settings. However, data suggests that there were some technical issues were perceived in technology integration.

Research and Application of Cloud Computing and Big Data Technology

The combined application of new network technologies with the traditional Internet and industry has enabled new businesses such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing to be gradually derived. To realize the construction of a modern society in China, great attention should be paid to the application of new network technologies such as cloud computing in actual work. Now through data integration and correlation analysis, the accuracy and innovation of information are further realized, and the overall work efficiency and work quality are improved. This paper systematically analyzes the network big data technology and applications of cloud computing and Internet of Things, and conducts research from data collection, data integration, data processing, and data governance. Its main purpose is to make the value and function of these new network technologies fully utilized

Organic Molecular Paleohypsometry: A New Approach to Quantifying Paleotopography and Paleorelief

Stable isotope paleoaltimetry is one of the most commonly used approaches for quantifying the paleoelevation history of an orogen yet this methodology is often limited to arid to semi-arid climates, mountain systems with a clear orographic rainshadow and terrestrial basins. We present a new approach to reconstructing past topography and relief that uses the catchment-integrated signature of organic molecular biomarkers to quantify the hypsometry of fluvially-exported biomass. Because terrestrially-produced biomolecules are synthesized over the full range of global climate conditions and can be preserved in both terrestrial and marine sediments, the geochemistry of fluvially-transported sedimentary biomarkers can provide a means of interrogating the evolution of topography for a range of environments and depositional settings, including those not well suited for a traditional isotope paleoaltimetry approach. We show an example from Taiwan, a rapidly eroding tropical mountain system that is characterized by high rates of biomass production and short organic residence time and discuss key factors that can influence molecular isotope signal production, transport and integration. Data show that in high relief catchments of Taiwan, river sediments can record integration of biomass produced throughout the catchment. Sedimentary biomarker δ2HnC29 in low elevation river deposition sites is generally offset from the δ2HnC29 value observed in local soils and consistent with an isotope composition of organics produced at the catchment mean elevation. We test the effect of distinct molecular production and erosion functions on the expected δ2HnC29 in river sediments and show that elevation-dependent differences in the production and erosion of biomarkers/sediment may yield only modest differences in the catchment-integrated isotopic signal. Relating fluvial biomarker isotope records to quantitative estimates of organic source elevations in other global orogens will likely pose numerous challenges, with a number of variables that influence molecular production and integration in a river system. We provide a discussion of important parameters that influence molecular biomarker isotope signatures in a mountain system and a framework for employing a molecular paleohypsometry approach to quantifying the evolution of other orogenic systems.

SCRO: A Domain Ontology for Describing Steel Cold Rolling Processes towards Industry 4.0

This paper introduces the Steel Cold Rolling Ontology (SCRO) to model and capture domain knowledge of cold rolling processes and activities within a steel plant. A case study is set up that uses real-world cold rolling data sets to validate the performance and functionality of SCRO. This includes using the Ontop framework to deploy virtual knowledge graphs for data access, data integration, data querying, and condition-based maintenance purposes. SCRO is evaluated using OOPS!, the ontology pitfall detection system, and feedback from domain experts from Tata Steel.

Digital Twin for Accelerating Sustainability in Positive Energy District: A Review of Simulation Tools and Applications

A digital twin is regarded as a potential solution to optimize positive energy districts (PED). This paper presents a compact review about digital twins for PED from aspects of concepts, working principles, tools/platforms, and applications, in order to address the issues of both how a digital PED twin is made and what tools can be used for a digital PED twin. Four key components of digital PED twin are identified, i.e., a virtual model, sensor network integration, data analytics, and a stakeholder layer. Very few available tools now have full functions for digital PED twin, while most tools either have a focus on industrial applications or are designed for data collection, communication and visualization based on building information models (BIM) or geographical information system (GIS). Several observations gained from successful application are that current digital PED twins can be categorized into three tiers: (1) an enhanced version of BIM model only, (2) semantic platforms for data flow, and (3) big data analysis and feedback operation. Further challenges and opportunities are found in areas of data analysis and semantic interoperability, business models, data security, and management. The outcome of the review is expected to provide useful information for further development of digital PED twins and optimizing its sustainability.