Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 2015-2016 Ground Displacements of the Shanghai Coastal Area Inferred from a Combined COSMO-SkyMed/Sentinel-1 DInSAR Analysis

In this work, ground deformation of the Shanghai coastal area is inferred by using the multiple-satellite Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry (DInSAR) approach, also known as the minimum acceleration (MinA) combination algorithm. The MinA technique allows discrimination and time-evolution monitoring of the inherent two-dimensional components (i.e., with respect to east-west and up-down directions) of the ongoing deformation processes. It represents an effective post-processing tool that allows an easy combination of preliminarily-retrieved multiple-satellite Line-Of-Sight-projected displacement time-series, obtained by using one (or more) of the currently available multi-pass DInSAR toolboxes. Specifically, in our work, the well-known small baseline subset (SBAS) algorithm has been exploited to recover LOS deformation time-series from two sets of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data relevant to the coast of Shanghai, collected from 2014 to 2017 by the COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) and the Sentinel-1A (S1-A) sensors. The achieved results evidence that the Shanghai ocean-reclaimed areas were still subject to residual deformations in 2016, with maximum subsidence rates of about 30 mm/year. Moreover, the investigation has revealed that the detected deformations are predominantly vertical, whereas the east-west deformations are less significant.
Application of Flow Cytometry in the Early Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis

Goals. To raise awareness of the utility of flow cytometric detection of inflammatory markers in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Procedures. In accordance with the Töllner scoring system, cases with ≥10 points are accepted as having “clinical sepsis” and cases with 0–4 points as having “no sepsis”. The study group consisted of 50 newborns with clinical sepsis as well as a control group of 50 newborns without sepsis. In all cases, blood counts, C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels, and procalcitonin (PCT) levels were recorded. Additionally, the “cluster of differentiation” (CD)64, CD11b, and CD62L adhesion molecules and the presence of the human leukocyte antigen HLA‐DR on monocyte and neutrophil surfaces were examined by flow cytometry. Results. The levels of acute‐phase reactants CRP and PCT were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group (p<0.05). The cell adhesion molecules CD11b and CD64 and the human leukocyte antigen HLA‐DR were significantly higher in the study group (p<0.05); CD62L levels were similar to those in the control group (p>0.05). Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that neutrophil CD11b (nCD11b) is a diagnostic marker for neonatal sepsis (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.62–0.82, p<0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) for nCD11b were 72%, 68%, and 58.4%, respectively. Similarly, monocyte CD11b (mCD11b) positivity was found to be diagnostic (AUC 0.77, 95% CI: 0.68–0.87, p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity for mCD11b were 72% and 68%, respectively. In addition, the sensitivity, specificity, and PPV for nHLA‐DR were 62%, 60%, and 60.8%, respectively. Conclusion. In addition to acute‐phase proteins, cell surface antigens such as CD11b, CD64, and HLA‐DR should be used in routine investigations for the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Such usage in combination with acute‐phase reactants may enhance diagnostic accuracy.
Antibody recognition of Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cells by symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in the Brazilian Amazon

In the Amazon Region, there is a virtual absence of severe malaria and few fatal cases of naturally occurring Plasmodium falciparum infections; this presents an intriguing and underexplored area of research. In addition to the rapid access of infected persons to effective treatment, one cause of this phenomenon might be the recognition of cytoadherent variant proteins on the infected red blood cell (IRBC) surface, including the var gene encoded P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1. In order to establish a link between cytoadherence, IRBC surface antibody recognition and the presence or absence of malaria symptoms, we phenotype-selected four Amazonian P. falciparum isolates and the laboratory strain 3D7 for their cytoadherence to CD36 and ICAM1 expressed on CHO cells. We then mapped the dominantly expressed var transcripts and tested whether antibodies from symptomatic or asymptomatic infections showed a differential recognition of the IRBC surface. As controls, the 3D7 lineages expressing severe disease-associated phenotypes were used. We showed that there was no profound difference between the frequency and intensity of antibody recognition of the IRBC-exposed P. falciparum proteins in symptomatic vs. asymptomatic infections. The 3D7 lineages, which expressed severe malaria-associated phenotypes, were strongly recognised by most, but not all plasmas, meaning that the recognition of these phenotypes is frequent in asymptomatic carriers, but is not necessarily a prerequisite to staying free of symptoms.
Viscoelasticity of subcortical gray matter structures

Viscoelastic mechanical properties of the brain assessed with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) are sensitive measures of microstructural tissue health in neurodegenerative conditions. Recent efforts have targeted measurements localized to specific neuroanatomical regions differentially affected in disease. In this work, we present a method for measuring the viscoelasticity in subcortical gray matter (SGM) structures, including the amygdala, hippocampus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, and thalamus. The method is based on incorporating high spatial resolution MRE imaging (1.6 mm isotropic voxels) with a mechanical inversion scheme designed to improve local measures in pre‐defined regions (soft prior regularization [SPR]). We find that in 21 healthy, young volunteers SGM structures differ from each other in viscoelasticity, quantified as the shear stiffness and damping ratio, but also differ from the global viscoelasticity of the cerebrum. Through repeated examinations on a single volunteer, we estimate the uncertainty to be between 3 and 7% for each SGM measure. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the use of specific methodological considerations—higher spatial resolution and SPR—both decrease uncertainty and increase sensitivity of the SGM measures. The proposed method allows for reliable MRE measures of SGM viscoelasticity for future studies of neurodegenerative conditions. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4221–4233, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Byzantine Fault-Tolerant Ordering Service for the Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Platform

Hyperledger Fabric is a flexible operating system for permissioned blockchains designed for business applications beyond the basic digital coin addressed by Bitcoin and other existing networks. A key property of this system is its extensibility, and in particular the support for multiple ordering services for building the blockchain. However, version 1 was launched in 2017 without an implementation of a Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) ordering service. To overcome this limitation, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a BFT ordering service for this system on top of the BFT-SMART state machine replication/consensus library, with optimizations for wide-area deployment. Our results show that our ordering service can process up to ten thousand transactions per second and write a transaction irrevocably in the blockchain in half a second, even with peers spread across different continents.
Acute, Nontraumatic Spontaneous Spinal Subdural Hematoma: A Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

Spontaneous spinal subdural hematoma (sSDH) is a rare condition outright. Moreover, cases that occur spontaneously in the absence of an identifiable etiology are considerably less common and remain poorly understood. Here, we present the case of a 43-year-old man with spontaneous sSDH presenting with acute onset low back pain and paraplegia. Urgent magnetic resonance imaging identified a dorsal SDH from T8 to T11 with compression of the spinal cord. Emergent T8–T10 laminectomies with intradural exploration and hematoma evacuation were performed. However, despite prompt identification and appropriate action, the patient's recovery was modest and significant disability remained at discharge. This unique and unusual case demonstrates that spontaneous sSDH requires prompt surgical treatment to minimize associated morbidity and supports the association between the presence of severe neurological deficits upon initial presentation with less favorable outcomes. We performed a comprehensive systematic review of spontaneous sSDH of unknown etiology, which demonstrates that emergent surgical intervention is indicated for patients presenting with severe neurological deficits and the presence of these deficits is predictive of poor neurological outcome. Furthermore, conservative management should be considered in patients presenting with mild neurological deficits as spontaneous resolution followed by favorable neurological outcomes is often observed in these patients.
The protection of resveratrol and its combination with glibenclamide, but not berberine on the diabetic hearts against reperfusion-induced arrhythmias: the role of myocardial KATP channel

Abstract Context: Cardiovascular dysfunctions such as life-threatening arrhythmias are one of the main reasons of mortality and morbidity in diabetic patients Objective: We aimed to investigate the long-term effects of resveratrol, berberine and glibenclamide combinations on the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) induced arrhythmias in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and to investigate the role of myocardial KATP channel in the possible anti-arrhythmic actions of the treatments. Methods: Two days after induction of diabetes, diabetic rats were treated with resveratrol [5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.)], berberine (10 mg/kg, i.p) and glibenclamide (5 mg/kg, i.p) for 6 weeks. On the 43th day, experimental animals were subjected to 6-min ischemia and 6-min reperfusion in vivo. Results: The protein expression of Kir6.2 subunits was downregulated in the diabetic hearts. However, all drug treatments restored the protein expression of Kir6.2 subunits. Resveratrol alone and its combination with glibenclamide decreased the arrhythmia score, the arrhythmic period and the incidence of other types of arrhythmias during the reperfusion period. Conclusions: The combination of resveratrol with glibenclamide may alleviate reperfusion-induced arrhythmias via an underlying mechanism not be only associated with the restoration of the protein expression of Kir6.2 subunits but also associated with the other subunits or ion channels underlying cardiac action potential.
Effect of humic acid on growth and productivity of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) cultivars

An experiment to study the effect of humic acid (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 kg ha) on okra cultivars (Sabz Pari, Green Star, Arka Anamika and Pusa Sawani) was carried out at Dargai, District Malakand during 2015 in randomized complete block design with three replications. It was observed that maximum emergence percentage (74.53), single pod weight (14.27 g), stem diameter (19.01 mm), plant height (129.17 cm), number of branches plant (5.34) and maximum yield (12.85 tonnes ha) was produced by cv. Arka Anamika. Non-significant effect of humic acid was noticed on emergence percentage and number of branches plant while significantly maximum pod weight (13.79 g), stem diameter (19.29 mm), plant height (129.39 cm) and yield (12.63 tonnes ha) was recorded when humic acid was applied @ 20 kg ha. On the basis of current study it is concluded that cultivar Arka Anamika performed will under the agro climatic conditions of Dargai as compared to other tested cultivars therefore better growth and higher yield humic acid should be amended @ 20 kg ha under the agro climatic conditions of Dargai, District Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan.
Application of the Probabilistic Approach to Reporting Breast Fine Needle Aspiration in Males

OBJECTIVE To apply the probabilistic approach to a series offine needle aspiration (FNA) samples of male breast lesions and determine the accuracy and reproducibility of this method of reporting in men. STUDY DESIGN All male breast surgical specimens with a preoperative breast FNA at our institution from 1994 to 2005 were identified. The FNAs were blindly reviewed by 2 groups of observers and classified in 1 of 5 categories using published reporting guidelines: positive, suspicious, atypical, proliferative without atypia and unremarkable. The histologic and cytologic diagnoses were correlated. The interobserver variation was determined. RESULTS A total of 138 FNAs were performed for 123 male patients. Histologic correlation was available for 23 satisfactory FNAs. A total of 11 of 11 carcinomas (100%) were classified as positive, suspicious or atypical. Of 12 benign masses, 11 (91.6%) were classified as proliferative without atypia or unremarkable. One case of gynecomastia was classified as atypical by 1 observer but deemed not atypical with consensus review. The kappa statistic for benign and atypical/suspicious/malignant categories was 0.90. CONCLUSION Based on this series, the probabilistic approach can be applied to the reporting of FNAs of male breast lesions. Gynecomastia may result in an atypical cytologic diagnosis.
Increased Microglial CSF1R Expression in the SIV/Macaque Model of HIV CNS Disease

Chronic microglial activation and associated neuroinflammation are key factors in neurodegenerative diseases including HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R)-mediated signaling is constitutive in cells of the myeloid lineage, including microglia, promoting cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimers disease, CSF1R is upregulated. Inhibiting CSF1R signaling in animal models of these diseases improved disease outcomes. In our studies, CNS expression of the CSF1R ligand, colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) was significantly increased in a SIV/macaque model of HIV CNS disease. Using a Nanostring nCounter immune panel, we found CSF1 overexpression was strongly correlated with upregulation of microglial genes involved in antiviral and oxidative stress responses. Using in situ hybridization, we found that CSF1R mRNA was only present in Iba-1 positive microglia. By ELISA and immunostaining with digital image analysis, SIV-infected macaques had significantly higher CSF1R levels in frontal cortex than uninfected macaques (p = 0.018 and p = 0.02, respectively). SIV-infected macaques treated with suppressive ART also had persistently elevated CSF1R similar to untreated SIV-infected macaques. Coordinate upregulation of CSF1 and CSF1R expression implicates this signaling pathway in progressive HIV CNS disease.
Transbody against virus core protein potently inhibits hepadnavirus replication in vivo: evidence from a duck model of hepatitis B virus

The therapeutic management of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections remains challenging, and novel antiviral strategies are urgently required. The HBV transbody, a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against human HBcAg coupled with the trans‐activator of transcription protein transduction domain (TAT PTD), was previously shown to possess cell‐penetrating ability and potent antiviral activity in vitro. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antiviral activity of the HBcMAb‐TAT PTD conjugate in vivo in a duck model of HBV.
Resveratrol Ameliorates Experimental Alcoholic Liver Disease by Modulating Oxidative Stress

The aim of this study was to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of resveratrol in alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Alcohol was administered to healthy female rats starting from 6% (v/v) and gradually increased to 20% (v/v) by the fifth week. After 16 weeks of intervention, liver enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and alanine aminotransferase [ALT]) were analyzed using a chemistry analyzer, while hepatic antioxidant enzymes, oxidative stress markers, and caspase 3 activity were assessed using ELISA kits. Furthermore, hepatic CYP2E1 protein levels and mRNA levels of antioxidant and inflammation-related genes were determined using western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively. The results showed that resveratrol significantly attenuated alcohol-induced elevation of liver enzymes and improved hepatic antioxidant enzymes. Resveratrol also attenuated alcohol-induced CYP2E1 increase, oxidative stress, and apoptosis (caspase 3 activity). Moreover, genes associated with oxidative stress and inflammation were regulated by resveratrol supplementation. Taken together, the results suggested that resveratrol alleviated ALD through regulation of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation, which was mediated at the transcriptional level. The data suggests that resveratrol is a promising natural therapeutic agent against chronic ALD.
Evaluation of Asphalt Blended With Low Percentage of Carbon Micro-Fiber and Nanoclay

The objectives of this study are to investigate the applicability of carbon micro-fiber and nanoclay in asphalt binders and to evaluate the performance of micro- and nano-modified asphalt (NMA) binders in terms of rheological properties. Due to their unique characteristics, micro- and nanomaterials were hypothesized to play a critical role in enhancing the performance behavior of asphalt binders. In light of existing research, carbon micro-fiber (MCF) and Nanomer I.44P (NI.44P) were selected as the micro- and nanomaterials for this research. Then, these materials were added into the PG 58-34 control asphalt binder at the concentrations of 2 % and 4 % by weight. Superpave™ binder tests—rotational viscosity (RV), dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and bending beam rheometer (BBR)—were then conducted for evaluating the performance of each modified asphalt binder. Also, the characterization tests were run on the aged samples prepared using the rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) to simulate the short-term and long-term aging. Subsequently, the viscosity, dynamic shear modulus (|G*|) and phase angle (δ) of asphalt binders were analyzed, and the dissipated energy per load cycle was introduced to estimate the asphalt binders’ rutting and fatigue cracking resistance. It was found that the dynamic shear modulus of asphalt binders can be improved by the selected micro- and nanomaterials. Furthermore, the NI.44P modified asphalt showed better properties relative to the other modified asphalt binders or the control (PG 58-34) binder.
Predicting Dynamic Modulus of Asphalt Mixtures with Differential Method

ABSTRACT Dynamic modulus (/E*/) is one of the fundamental engineering properties of asphalt mixtures and has been selected as a basic material property input in the new American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Mechanicstic-Empirical (M-E) Design Guide. The M-E design guide either requires the direct laboratory testing for/E*/values or recommends using the Witczak model to estimate/E*/values. While laboratory testing is costly and time-consuming to conduct, the Witczak model is a purely empirical regression model in nature. Micromechanics approach provides another possible access to obtaining/E*/values. In this paper, the differential method was employed to predict the dynamic modulus and phase angle of asphalt mixtures. The predictive models were formulated from the differential method. The major characteristics of asphalt mixtures (viscoelastic effect, aggregate gradation, and air voids) were taken into account in the predicting procedures. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the developed predictive models. The results show that the predicted E*values from some predictive models were favourably close to the measured data, which confirmed the potential applicability of these models to asphalt mixtures.
Total Variation based Multivariate Shearlet Shrinkage for Image Reconstruction

Shearlet as a new multidirectional and multiscale transform is optimally efficient in representing images containing edges. In this paper, a total variation based multivariate shearlet adaptive shrinkage is proposed for discontinuity-preserving image denoising. The multivariate adaptive threshold is employed to reduce the noise. Projected total variation diffusion is used to suppress the pseudo-Gibbs and shearlet-like artifacts. Numerical experiments from piecewise-smooth to textured images demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively suppress noise and nonsmooth artifacts caused by shearlet transform. Furthermore, it outperforms several existing techniques in terms of structural similarity (SSIM) index, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and visual quality. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i1. 1868
Influence of ground reaction force perturbations on anterior cruciate ligament loading during sidestep cutting

Abstract Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk is likely increased under unexpected loading conditions. Such situations may arise from mid-air contact with another athlete, or misjudgments in landing height, stride length or surface compliance resulting in an unbalanced landing and unexpected changes in the ground reaction forces (GRFs). The purpose this study was to identify how GRF perturbations influence ACL loading during sidestep cutting. Muscle-actuated simulations of sidestep cutting were generated and analyzed for 20 subjects. Perturbations of 20, 40 and 60% of the nominal value were applied to the posterior, vertical, and medial GRF. Open-loop, forward dynamics simulations were run with no feedback or correction mechanism which allowed deviations from the experimentally measured kinematics as a result of the GRF perturbations. Posterior and vertical GRF perturbations significantly increased ACL loading, although the change was more pronounced with posterior perturbations. These changes were primarily due to the sagittal plane component of ACL loading regardless of perturbation direction. Peak ACL loading occurred almost immediately after initial ground contact, and was thus predicated on initial joint configuration. The results of this study give merit to including knee flexion angle at initial ground contact in the evolving neuromuscular training modalities aimed at preventing non-contact ACL injury.
Evaluating the completeness of the national ALS registry, United States

Abstract Our objective was to evaluate the completeness of the United States National ALS Registry (Registry). We compared persons with ALS who were passively identified by the Registry with those actively identified in the State and Metropolitan Area ALS Surveillance project. Cases in the two projects were matched using a combination of identifiers, including, partial social security number, name, date of birth, and sex. The distributions of cases from the two projects that matched/did not match were compared and Chi-square tests conducted to determine statistical significance. There were 5883 ALS cases identified by the surveillance project. Of these, 1116 died before the Registry started, leaving 4767 cases. We matched 2720 cases from the surveillance project to those in the Registry. The cases identified by the surveillance project that did not match cases in the Registry were more likely to be non-white, Hispanic, less than 65 years of age, and from western states. The methods used by the Registry to identify ALS cases, i.e. national administrative data and self-registration, worked well but missed cases. These findings suggest that developing strategies to identify and promote the Registry to those who were more likely to be missing, e.g. non-white and Hispanic, could be beneficial to improving the completeness of the Registry.