Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of humoral immunity of broilers during chronic aflatoxin (50 and 100 ppb) and clinoptilolite exposure

Dans cette etude, le developpement d'une immunite humorale contre la bronchite infectieuse (IB) et la maladie de Newcastle (ND) a ete etudie apres addition a la ration des volailles d'aflatoxines (AF) etd'une zeolite naturelle (clinoptilolite : CLI). 560 poussins Ross de 1 jour ont ete repartis en 6 groupes [temoin, CLI (15 g/kg d'aliment, 50 ppb AF, 50 ppb AF + CLI, 100 ppb AF, 100 ppb AF + CLI] et nourris pendant 42 jours. Les titres en anticorps anti-IB ont ete significativement plus bas (p 0,05). L'addition de CLI aux rations contenant AF (50 et 100 ppb) a ameliore de facon significative (p < 0,05) l'effet nefaste de l'AF sur l'immunite humorale. Une seule addition de CLI a un regime depourvu de AF n'a aucun effet defavorable sur les poussins exceptes sur les titres anti-IB au 42 e m e jour.
Lung function response to bronchodilator nebulization via hood in wheezy infants: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND In infants, small volume nebulizers with a face mask are commonly used to facilitate aerosol therapy. However, infants may be disturbed by mask application, causing poor mask-to-face seal and thus reducing the dose delivered. OBJECTIVES To compare lung function response to bronchodilator nebulization via two delivery devices: hood versus mask. METHODS We studied 26 recurrently wheezy infants aged 45.8 weeks (95% confidence interval 39.6-52.0). Inhalations of 0.30 mg/kg salbutamol were administered in two alliqots 30 minutes apart using mask and hood in alternating order (M+H or H+M). Response to inhalations was measured by maximal expiratory flows at functional residual capacity (V'maxFRC) at 5 minute intervals after each dose, and area under the V'maxFRC curve (AUC) was documented. RESULTS A small but significant response to salbutamol was observed following the second inhalation with V'maxFRC, improving by 31.7% (7.2-56.2, P (0.02) and AUC by 425% x min (-154, 1004; P < 0.02). The improvement following salbutamol was similar by both delivery modalities but with a small but significantly better response when H was used after M (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Nebulized salbutamol induced a variable but positive response in wheezy infants. Salbutamol via hood was as effective as conventional face mask delivery. Since it is simple and patient-friendly, it could replace the face mask method particularly with uncooperative infants.
Stochastic approaches in systems biology

The discrete and random occurrence of chemical reactions far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and low copy numbers of chemical species, in systems biology necessitate stochastic approaches. This review is an effort to give the reader a flavor of the most important stochastic approaches relevant to systems biology. Notions of biochemical reaction systems and the relevant concepts of probability theory are introduced side by side. This leads to an intuitive and easy‐to‐follow presentation of a stochastic framework for modeling subcellular biochemical systems. In particular, we make an effort to show how the notion of propensity, the chemical master equation (CME), and the stochastic simulation algorithm arise as consequences of the Markov property. Most stochastic modeling reviews focus on stochastic simulation approaches—the exact stochastic simulation algorithm and its various improvements and approximations. We complement this with an outline of an analytical approximation. The most common formulation of stochastic models for biochemical networks is the CME. Although stochastic simulations are a practical way to realize the CME, analytical approximations offer more insight into the influence of randomness on system's behavior. Toward that end, we cover the chemical Langevin equation and the related Fokker–Planck equation and the two‐moment approximation (2MA). Throughout the text, two pedagogical examples are used to key illustrate ideas. With extensive references to the literature, our goal is to clarify key concepts and thereby prepare the reader for more advanced texts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Distributed control architecture for smart surfaces

This paper presents a distributed control architecture to perform part recognition and closed-loop control of a distributed manipulation device. This architecture is based on decentralized cells able to communicate with their four neighbors thanks to peer-to-peer links. Various original algorithms are proposed to reconstruct, recognize and convey the object levitating on a new contactless distributed manipulation device. Experimental results show that each algorithm does a good job for itself and that all the algorithms together succeed in sorting and conveying the objects to their final destination. In the future, this architecture may be used to control MEMS-arrayed manipulation surfaces in order to develop Smart Surfaces, for conveying, fine positioning and sorting of very small parts for micro-systems assembly lines.
Nanosecond-Pulsed DBD Plasma-Generated Reactive Oxygen Species Trigger Immunogenic Cell Death in A549 Lung Carcinoma Cells through Intracellular Oxidative Stress

A novel application for non-thermal plasma is the induction of immunogenic cancer cell death for cancer immunotherapy. Cells undergoing immunogenic death emit danger signals which facilitate anti-tumor immune responses. Although pathways leading to immunogenic cell death are not fully understood; oxidative stress is considered to be part of the underlying mechanism. Here; we studied the interaction between dielectric barrier discharge plasma and cancer cells for oxidative stress-mediated immunogenic cell death. We assessed changes to the intracellular oxidative environment after plasma treatment and correlated it to emission of two danger signals: surface-exposed calreticulin and secreted adenosine triphosphate. Plasma-generated reactive oxygen and charged species were recognized as the major effectors of immunogenic cell death. Chemical attenuators of intracellular reactive oxygen species successfully abrogated oxidative stress following plasma treatment and modulated the emission of surface-exposed calreticulin. Secreted danger signals from cells undergoing immunogenic death enhanced the anti-tumor activity of macrophages. This study demonstrated that plasma triggers immunogenic cell death through oxidative stress pathways and highlights its potential development for cancer immunotherapy.
Multi-View Data Generation Without View Supervision

The development of high-dimensional generative models has recently gained a great surge of interest with the introduction of variational auto-encoders and generative adversarial neural networks. Different variants have been proposed where the underlying latent space is structured, for example, based on attributes describing the data to generate. We focus on a particular problem where one aims at generating samples corresponding to a number of objects under various views. We assume that the distribution of the data is driven by two independent latent factors: the content, which represents the intrinsic features of an object, and the view, which stands for the settings of a particular observation of that object. Therefore, we propose a generative model and a conditional variant built on such a disentangled latent space. This approach allows us to generate realistic samples corresponding to various objects in a high variety of views. Unlike many multi-view approaches, our model doesn't need any supervision on the views but only on the content. Compared to other conditional generation approaches that are mostly based on binary or categorical attributes, we make no such assumption about the factors of variations. Our model can be used on problems with a huge, potentially infinite, number of categories. We experiment it on four image datasets on which we demonstrate the effectiveness of the model and its ability to generalize.
A Novel Segment-Based Approach for Improving Classification Performance of Transport Mode Detection

Transportation planning and solutions have an enormous impact on city life. To minimize the transport duration, urban planners should understand and elaborate the mobility of a city. Thus, researchers look toward monitoring people’s daily activities including transportation types and duration by taking advantage of individual’s smartphones. This paper introduces a novel segment-based transport mode detection architecture in order to improve the results of traditional classification algorithms in the literature. The proposed post-processing algorithm, namely the Healing algorithm, aims to correct the misclassification results of machine learning-based solutions. Our real-life test results show that the Healing algorithm could achieve up to 40% improvement of the classification results. As a result, the implemented mobile application could predict eight classes including stationary, walking, car, bus, tram, train, metro and ferry with a success rate of 95% thanks to the proposed multi-tier architecture and Healing algorithm.
Growth and Trade: A Structural Estimation Framework

We build and quantify a structural general equilibrium model of growth and trade. Trade affects growth through changes in consumer and producer prices that in turn stimulate or impede physical capital accumulation. At the same time, growth affects trade, directly through changes in country size and indirectly through altering the incidence of trade costs. The model combines structural gravity with a simple capital accumulation specification of the transition between steady states. An intuitive, self-sufficient econometric system results. Counterfactual experiments based on the estimated model give evidence for strong causal relationships between growth and trade.
Psychological Consequences Associated With Positive and Negative Responses to Disclosure of Sexual Assault Among College Women

A prospective design was utilized to explore the impact of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure among college women who experienced sexual victimization over a 4-month academic quarter. Women completed baseline, 4- and 7-month assessments of symptomatology, beliefs about why sexual assault occurs, victimization, and social reactions to sexual assault disclosure. Accounting for symptomatology or beliefs reported prior to the assault, positive social reactions were not associated with victims’ subsequent symptomatology or beliefs. However, accounting for symptomatology or beliefs reported prior to the assault, higher negative social reactions were associated with victims’ post-assault reports of hostility, fear, and beliefs about why sexual assault occurs.
COMPETITIVE COEXISTENCE OF CORAL-DWELLING FISHES: THE LOTTERY HYPOTHESIS REVISITED

Evidence for competitive lotteries among reef fishes has remained elusive despite this being the group of organisms for which the lottery model was first developed. I used a combination of laboratory and field experiments to test the mechanisms of coexistence between two closely related species of coral-dwelling goby, Gobiodon histrio and G. erythrospilus, that occur in similar abundance at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. These two species exhibited similar patterns of habitat use and nearly identical ability to compete for vacant corals. Furthermore, there was a priority effect where the first species to occupy a vacant coral excluded an interspecific intruder of similar body size. The relative abundance of recruit and juvenile G. histrio and G. erythrospilus in the field matched the relative abundance of adults, as expected where there is no post-recruitment displacement by a competitive hierarchy. Finally, a reciprocal competitor-reduction experiment confirmed that G. histrio and G. erythrospilus compete for vacant space, with the removal of either species leading to an increase in the abundance of the other species. Therefore these two species are nearly ecologically equivalent and appear to coexist by means of a competitive lottery for vacant space.
Thermal Conductivity and Microstructure of Concrete Using Recycle Glass as a Fine Aggregate Replacement

The prime aim of this study was to investigate the thermal conductivity of concrete using crushed recycled glass as a fine aggregate. Influencing factors on thermal conductivity of concrete are investigated using The Unitherm TM Model 6000 Guarded Hot Plate Thermal Conductivity Instrument. A total of 36 concrete mixes were produced with different water cement ratios (0.4 and 0.5). Recycled glass was used to replace fine aggregate in proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The outcome of the experimental results suggest that water cement ratio, moisture condition and percentage of crushed recycled glass of specimen revealed as affecting factors on the conductivity of concrete.
Strain Rate Effects on the Tensile Strength of Concrete as Predicted by Thermodynamic and Fracture Mechanics Models

Models are presented and discussed which predict the influence of stress rate or strain rate on the tensile strength of concrete. Three of them are based on linear fracture mechanics and two on thermodynamics. It is shown that four models are appropriate and useful in the low to medium stress rate whereas two can predict realistic values at high stress rates. Finally a proposal is made how to apply the knowledge to engineering practice.
Finite Element Analysis of the Mechanical Behaviour of the Different Cemented Hip Femoral Prostheses

The designs of cemented hip femoral stems have an influence on both the quality of the metalbone cement contact and the failure rate of the cement mantle. Finite element stress technique has been used to optimize both design and material selection in load-bearing components in artificial hip joints based on the static load analysis, by selecting the peak load during the patient activity. In this study, two stem shapes (Ceraver Osteal and Charnley stems) for total hip arthoplasty (THA) were modelled. Static behaviour of these designed stem shapes were analyzed using commercial finite element analysis code ABAQUS. Linear elastic analysis is adapted; Von Mises stress and shear stress are the criterions that are of concern. Results show that, the stresses distribution in the femoral arthroplasty components depends on the material and design of the stem. In addition, the cement-bone and cement-stem interfaces seem to be crucial for the success of the hip replacement, hip prosthesis with Charnely stem induces the more stresses on the interfaces cement.
Integrating health promotion and occupational safety and health in manufacturing worksites: Perspectives of leaders in small-to-medium sized businesses.

BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence suggests that worksite interventions integrating worksite health promotion (WHP) and occupational safety and health (OSH) may be more efficacious and have higher participation rates than health promotion programs offered alone. However, dissemination of integrated programs is complicated by lack of tools for implementation - particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). OBJECTIVE The goal of this study is to describe perceptions of acceptability and feasibility of implementing an integrated approach to worker health that coordinates WHP and OSH in SMBs. METHODS In September to November 2012, decision-makers for employee health programming within SMBs (< 750 employees) in greater Minneapolis were identified. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed to develop an understanding of perceived benefits and barriers, awareness, and capacity for implementing an integrated approach. RESULTS Worker health was widely valued by participants. They reported strong management support for improving employee health and safety. Most participants indicated that their company was open to making changes in their approach to worker health; however, cost and staffing considerations were frequently perceived as barriers. CONCLUSIONS There are opportunities for implementing integrated worksite health programs in SMBs with existing resources and values. However, challenges to implementation exist, as these worksites may lack the appropriate resources.
Fine‐Grained Transparent Spinel Windows by the Processing of Different Nanopowders

The study investigated the deagglomeration of spinel nanopowders (MgO·nAl2O3, n≈1) from different syntheses in correlation with their resulting performance on green processing and sintering. Transmission results are addressed as a means of evaluating the degree of last pore elimination. As a result, clear transparent components with a thickness of up to 20 mm and lateral dimensions up to about 240 mm were manufactured equally successfully from spinel powders with lower specific surface areas (13–15 m2/g↔120 nm particle size) or from nanopowders (25–35 m2/g↔55 nm particle size) if the different performance of these powders was balanced by differently accommodated processing and sintering. However, without additives only the 55 nm starting powders enabled the preparation of microstructures with a grain size of 270 nm and a maximum transmittance at sintering temperatures <1300°C. On the other hand, a better optical homogeneity was achieved for materials fabricated from the 120 nm powder.
Fault detection for linear discrete-time systems with output quantisation

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with the problem of fault detection for a class of linear discrete-time quantised feedback systems, and system outputs are, respectively, quantised by a uniform quantiser and a non-uniform quantiser. A novel unified method is proposed to deal with the two different types of quantisation errors, i.e. the quantisation errors are considered as unknown inputs of the residual generator. Then, an optimal residual generator is constructed to guarantee a suitable trade-off between the sensitivity to faults and the robustness against disturbances as well as quantisation errors. In order to detect the occurrence of faults, the generated residual signal is evaluated, and then two different thresholds based on the stochastic properties of quantisation errors are designed for these two quantisers. In addition, the false alarm rate is introduced to evaluate the fault detection performance. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Vehicle Counting and Moving Direction Identification Based on Small-Aperture Microphone Array

The varying trend of a moving vehicle’s angles provides much important intelligence for an unattended ground sensor (UGS) monitoring system. The present study investigates the capabilities of a small-aperture microphone array (SAMA) based system to identify the number and moving direction of vehicles travelling on a previously established route. In this paper, a SAMA-based acoustic monitoring system, including the system hardware architecture and algorithm mechanism, is designed as a single node sensor for the application of UGS. The algorithm is built on the varying trend of a vehicle’s bearing angles around the closest point of approach (CPA). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method with our designed SAMA-based monitoring system in various experimental sites. The experimental results in harsh conditions validate the usefulness of our proposed UGS monitoring system.
Performance Analysis and Parameter Optimization of DLL and MEDLL in Fading Multipath Environments for Next Generation Navigation Receivers

In this paper the choice of DLL parameters is studied with special focus on multipath and Doppler sensitivity. The envisaged application is code tracking on navigation receivers and the multipath fading environments defined for next generation navigation systems are considered. Given the particular properties of these propagation environments, multipath estimating delay lock loop is shown to have the best performance within a particular signal to noise ratio range if some specific parameters such as the Predetection Integration Time and channel estimation time interval match the time-varying nature of the channel and the spacing in the early-late scheme is chosen accordingly to the multipath characteristics.
Vessel Sealing Device in Parotid Gland Surgery: Clinical and Pathological Study

Facial palsy, salivary leakage and postoperative bleeding are the main complications in parotid gland surgery. To find ways to reduce the occurrence of these complications, we compare traditional methods using the hand-tie ligation technique with a bipolar electrode knife against LigaSure TM Small Jaw, a newly developed vessel sealing device, in parotid gland operations.
Implementation of asthma clinical practice guidelines in primary care: A cross-sectional study based on the Knowledge-to-Action Cycle

ABSTRACT Objective: Based on the Knowledge-to-Action Cycle, we assessed the self-reported implementation and perception of asthma clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations in primary care physicians (PCPs), along with the barriers and facilitators to CPG use in primary care. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study. Using the extended Asthma Physicians' Practice Assessment Questionnaire©, PCPs self-reported the following: their knowledge of 15 key asthma CPG recommendations, the perceived usefulness of each of these recommendations, their motivation to apply these recommendations, and their agreement with the content of these recommendations. Participants also reported the barriers and facilitators to CPG use in primary care. Results: Out of the 46 potential participants, 43 physicians completed the questionnaire (response rate: 93%). Results underlined care gaps regarding the provision of asthma education and written action plans, inhaler technique demonstrations, and assessment of patients' concerns. Results showed that the majority of physicians knew the key asthma CPG recommendations, but their motivation to implement them and the perceived usefulness of these recommendations varied from one proposal to another. Main barriers to the implementation of these recommendations were related to time and resources. PCPs stressed the importance of teamwork for enhancing the use of asthma CPGs in primary care. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the implementation of asthma CPGs remains suboptimal in primary care. Interventions addressing the identified barriers and providing facilitators to asthma CPG implementation, such as continuing education, could be implemented and evaluated to sustain asthma CPG use in primary care settings.