Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improve the Marshall stability of porous asphalt pavement with HDPE addition

Porous asphalt is a gap graded pavement that is 20% air voids which enables rainwater that falls on the road surface to flow through the pavement and into drainage on the side of the road. Porous asphalt has a high shear resistance and dries quickly but its stability is low, it is costly to maintain and needs replacing after only a short time. Despite these disadvantages, porous asphalt is still a good choice in area that experiences heavy annual rainfall. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), an opaque plastic, is harder and stronger than porous asphalt with a tensile strength of 3100-5500 psi. It is resistant to high temperatures. This study aims to investigate the effect of various percentages of HDPE as an additive to produce an HDPE Asphalt Binder for porous asphalt pavement. Marshall parameters were determined based on the AAPA 2004 standard. It was found that 4% HDPE achieved a maximum stability value of 870 kg at the optimum asphalt content for porous asphalt pavement was 5.54%. Stability of porous asphalt pavement with optimum asphalt content value was 61.1% higher after the addition of HDPE. Thus, the use of HDPE as an additive in Asphalt Binder was able to increase the binding strength of the asphalt minimising the disadvantages of the low stability of traditional porous asphalt pavement.
Utility of contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography with Sonazoid in radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and Aims: Kupffer imaging in contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) with Sonazoid, which lasts for 60 min or longer, may be useful in ultrasound‐guided percutaneous tumor ablation. The utility of Sonazoid in radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was investigated in this study.
Automated performance evaluation of range image segmentation

We have developed an automated framework for objectively evaluating the performance of region segmentation algorithms. This framework is demonstrated with range image data sets, but is applicable to any type of imagery. Parameters of the segmentation algorithm are tuned using training images. Images and source code for the training process care publicly available. The trained parameters are then used to evaluate the algorithm on a (sequestered) test set. The primary performance metric is the average number of correctly segmented regions. Statistical tests are used to determine the significance of performance improvement over a baseline algorithm.
Focal Nodular Hyperplasia and Hepatic Adenoma: Epidemiology and Pathology

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hepatic adenoma (HA) represent the most frequent non-vascular benign liver tumors. They are often asymptomatic. The widespread use of high-resolution imaging modalities leads to an increase of incidental detection of FNH and HA. Physicians are thus increasingly confronted with these formerly rarely recognized conditions, stressing the need for concise but adequate information on the optimal clinical strategies for these patients. FNH is the most common non-vascular benign tumor of the liver. It probably arises as a polyclonal, hyperplastic response to a locally disturbed blood flow. It is typically found in asymptomatic women. Histologically, FNH can be described as a focal form of cirrhosis. Complications of FNH are extremely rare and surgical resection is generally not advised. HA is a rare monoclonal, but benign liver tumor primarily found in young females using estrogen-containing contraceptives. Although its exact etiology is unknown, a direct link between sex steroid exposure and the uncontrolled hepatocellular growth is suspected. Complications of HA are spontaneous bleeding and malignant transformation. Withdrawal of estrogen treatment and excision of large tumors (>5 cm) are established therapeutic strategies. In conclusion, although FNH and HA are reasonably well-described clinical and histopathological entities, their epidemiology and pathophysiology need to be further unraveled.
E-Modulus and Creep Coefficient of Self-Compacting Concretes and Concretes with some Mineral Additives

The applicability of a proposed model similar to a well-known Hirsch's model for predicting the E-modulus of concrete and the creep coefficient of concrete depending on the composition of the concrete, the properties of the components of concrete mix and the possible effect of the superplasticizer on the deformation properties of cement stone both under short-term and long-term loading is proved. Value of the E-modulus of self-compacting concrete can be reduced to 20% with respect to the ordinary concrete of equal compressive strength, which is confirmed by the model calculation data and some experimental data. For concretes with mineral additives, the influence of mineral additives on the E-modulus was not established. Both an increase and decrease in the E-modulus is possible. The effect depends on the type of additive. The creep coefficient of self-compacting concrete, obtained by calculation according to the model, due to the increased content of cement stone and the possible influence of superplasticizer on the creep of cement stone, can be from 1.3 to 1.8 of the coefficient of creep of ordinary concrete. This result agrees well with some experimental data. The creep coefficient of concrete with mineral additives (silica fume, white ash and metakaolin), obtained by calculation according to the model, can be from 0.5 to 0.6 of the coefficient of creep of ordinary concrete. This result agrees well with some experimental data.
Estimating Regional Spatial and Temporal Variability of PM2.5 Concentrations Using Satellite Data, Meteorology, and Land Use Information

Background Studies of chronic health effects due to exposures to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) are often limited by sparse measurements. Satellite aerosol remote sensing data may be used to extend PM2.5 ground networks to cover a much larger area. Objectives In this study we examined the benefits of using aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in conjunction with land use and meteorologic information to estimate ground-level PM2.5 concentrations. Methods We developed a two-stage generalized additive model (GAM) for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency PM2.5 concentrations in a domain centered in Massachusetts. The AOD model represents conditions when AOD retrieval is successful; the non-AOD model represents conditions when AOD is missing in the domain. Results The AOD model has a higher predicting power judged by adjusted R2 (0.79) than does the non-AOD model (0.48). The predicted PM2.5 concentrations by the AOD model are, on average, 0.8–0.9 μg/m3 higher than the non-AOD model predictions, with a more smooth spatial distribution, higher concentrations in rural areas, and the highest concentrations in areas other than major urban centers. Although AOD is a highly significant predictor of PM2.5, meteorologic parameters are major contributors to the better performance of the AOD model. Conclusions GOES aerosol/smoke product (GASP) AOD is able to summarize a set of weather and land use conditions that stratify PM2.5 concentrations into two different spatial patterns. Even if land use regression models do not include AOD as a predictor variable, two separate models should be fitted to account for different PM2.5 spatial patterns related to AOD availability.
Impact of gastroenterologist care on health outcomes of hospitalised ulcerative colitis patients

Objectives To evaluate the impact of in-hospital gastroenterologist care, relative to other provider care, on health outcomes of hospitalised Ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. Design A population-based cohort study of 4278 UC patients hospitalised between 2002 and 2008 was conducted in Ontario, Canada. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality risk. Results UC patients admitted under non-gastroenterologists had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (1.1 vs 0.2%, p<0.0001) but a similar in-hospital colectomy rate (5.4 vs 4.9%, p=0.69) as compared to UC patients admitted under gastroenterologists. Following covariate adjustment, non-gastroenterologist care was associated with a greater in-hospital mortality risk relative to gastroenterologist care (adjusted OR (aOR) 3.28, 95% CI 1.03 to 10.5). This increased mortality risk was observed in patients admitted to other internists (OR 5.49, 95% CI 1.75 to 17.2) and general practitioners (OR 6.02, 95% CI 1.84 to 19.7), with a trend towards greater mortality risk among patients admitted to general surgeons (OR 3.49, 95% CI 0.90 to 13.6). Among patients who were discharged from hospital colectomy-free, those who were admitted under non-gastroenterologists had a greater one-year risk of death than patients who were admitted under gastroenterologists (adjusted HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.26 to 3.40). The type of hospital provider did not impact in-hospital or one-year colectomy risks or the risk of hospital re-admission in this cohort. Conclusions Primary in-hospital gastroenterologist care was associated with decreased in-hospital and one-year mortality risks among hospitalised UC patients. Optimised care strategies by experienced specialists may confer important health advantages in this patient population.
Impact of postoperative phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor treatment on lower urinary tract symptoms after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a longitudinal study

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to assess the role of tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5-I), in recovery of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Materials and methods: All patients treated with RARP between October 2010 and August 2013 were enrolled in this retrospective study on prospectively collected data. Patients were retrospectively divided into groups according to postoperative treatment: patients taking tadalafil twice weekly from 1 month to 6 months after RARP, and patients not taking tadalafil. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) and urinary continence (UC) were assessed preoperatively (2 days before RARP) and at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after RARP. Results: There was no difference in the overall IPSS score between the groups. At 6 and 9 months, the IPSS storage symptom scores were significantly lower in patients taking tadalafil than in patients not taking tadalafil. In patients with overactive bladder (OAB) before RARP (n = 22), no differences in the total scores of OABSS were seen between patients taking tadalafil and patients not taking tadalafil. On the other hand, in non-OAB patients before RARP (n = 68), at 3, 6 and 9 months, the total scores of OABSS were significantly lower in patients taking tadalafil than in patients not taking tadalafil. No differences in UC rates after surgery were seen between the groups. Conclusion: Postoperative tadalafil treatment may be temporarily effective for the recovery of the IPSS storage symptom scores and OABSS.
Flower Development

Flowers are the most complex structures of plants. Studies of Arabidopsis thaliana, which has typical eudicot flowers, have been fundamental in advancing the structural and molecular understanding of flower development. The main processes and stages of Arabidopsis flower development are summarized to provide a framework in which to interpret the detailed molecular genetic studies of genes assigned functions during flower development and is extended to recent genomics studies uncovering the key regulatory modules involved. Computational models have been used to study the concerted action and dynamics of the gene regulatory module that underlies patterning of the Arabidopsis inflorescence meristem and specification of the primordial cell types during early stages of flower development. This includes the gene combinations that specify sepal, petal, stamen and carpel identity, and genes that interact with them. As a dynamic gene regulatory network this module has been shown to converge to stable multigenic profiles that depend upon the overall network topology and are thus robust, which can explain the canalization of flower organ determination and the overall conservation of the basic flower plan among eudicots. Comparative and evolutionary approaches derived from Arabidopsis studies pave the way to studying the molecular basis of diverse floral morphologies.
Significance of the hydrophobic residues 225–230 of apoA-I for the biogenesis of HDL1[S]

We studied the significance of four hydrophobic residues within the 225–230 region of apoA-I on its structure and functions and their contribution to the biogenesis of HDL. Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of an apoA-I[F225A/V227A/F229A/L230A] mutant in apoA-I−/− mice decreased plasma cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and apoA-I levels. When expressed in apoA-I−/− × apoE−/− mice, approximately 40% of the mutant apoA-I as well as mouse apoA-IV and apoB-48 appeared in the VLDL/IDL/LDL. In both mouse models, the apoA-I mutant generated small spherical particles of pre-β- and α4-HDL mobility. Coexpression of the apoA-I mutant and LCAT increased and shifted the-HDL cholesterol peak toward lower densities, created normal αHDL subpopulations, and generated spherical-HDL particles. Biophysical analyses suggested that the apoA-I[225–230] mutations led to a more compact folding that may limit the conformational flexibility of the protein. The mutations also reduced the ability of apoA-I to promote ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux and to activate LCAT to 31% and 66%, respectively, of the WT control. Overall, the apoA-I[225–230] mutations inhibited the biogenesis of-HDL and led to the accumulation of immature pre-β- and α4-HDL particles, a phenotype that could be corrected by administration of LCAT.
Investing in Equities: Can It Help Social Security?

After tracing the history of the financial problems facing the Social Security System, the author addresses the economic merits of one key recommendation for returning the system to viability. That recommendation involves investing a portion of the Social Security Trust Fund in equities. Economic analysis suggests that such a policy will have only a minor effect on the government's ability to meet its obligations.
Wada's Representation is of Burau Type

We consider the Magnus representation of the image of the braid group under a representation discovered by Wada. We first investigate the question about the reducibility of this representation and show that it is of Burau type. Next, we show that the images of the generators of the braid group under that representation are unitary relative to a hermitian matrix. This is similar to the well known result by Squier that asserts that the Burau representation of the braid group is unitary.
Topology Change and Causal Continuity

The result that, for a scalar quantum field propagating on a ``trousers'' topology in $1+1$ dimensions, the crotch singularity is a source for an infinite burst of energy has been used to argue against the occurrence of topology change in quantum gravity. We draw attention to a conjecture due to Sorkin that it may be the particular type of topology change involved in the trousers transition that is problematic and that other topology changes may not cause the same difficulties. The conjecture links the singular behavior to the existence of ``causal discontinuities'' in the spacetime and relies on a classification of topology changes using Morse theory. We investigate various topology changing transitions, including the pair production of black holes and of topological geons, in the light of these ideas.
Multisensory integration in migraine.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Migraine attacks consist of head pain and hypersensitivities to somatosensory, visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli. Investigating how the migraine brain simultaneously processes and responds to multiple incoming stimuli may yield insights into migraine pathophysiology and migraine symptoms. RECENT FINDINGS The presence and intensity of hypersensitivity to one stimulus type are positively associated with the presence and intensity of hypersensitivities to other stimuli and to headache intensity. Furthermore, exposure to visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli can trigger migraine attacks. These relationships suggest a role for multisensory integration in migraine. SUMMARY Multisensory integration of somatosensory, visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli by the migraine brain may be an important concept for understanding migraine.
Parkinson’s disease: a review of non-motor symptoms

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder resulting from degeneration of the substantia nigra and the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway. Most treatments are geared toward the management and relief of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients; however, as the disease progresses, various complications can be observed. Non-motor symptoms (NMS) may arise simply from the disease itself and are highly destructive to quality of life. These symptoms include mood disorders, cognitive dysfunction, pain, sensory dysfunction, and dysautonomia. Though it is undisputed that many NMS may appear years or even decades prior to the clinical diagnosis of PD, the focus of this review will be the overt motor phase of the condition. As such, the focus of this paper is to review the major NMS found in PD patients status post-diagnosis, their etiology, as well as treatment options available for the individual NMS.
Use of Toll-Like Receptor Assays To Detect and Identify Microbial Contaminants in Biological Products

ABSTRACT Toll-like receptor (TLR)-expressing cells, for the first time, detected and identified a microbial contaminant in a product made in Escherichia coli using an old manufacturing process. It was suspected of having a microbial contaminant(s) because, although it tested negative by standard pyrogen assays, it was associated with adverse events in early clinical trials. The assay readout is the induction of NF-κB and/or cytokines in response to TLR activation. Four coded samples, labeled A to D, including a sample prepared by the older manufacturing process, were submitted. The cell lines were activated only by samples B and D. Sample D stimulated only Mono-Mac 6 and HEK-human TLR4 (hTLR4) cells and was later identified as lipopolysaccharide. Except for TLR3 cells, sample B stimulated cells bearing the different TLRs (TLRs 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9) and nontransfected HEK293 cells. These data suggested that flagellin was the microbial contaminant, since TLR5, the receptor for flagellin, is known to be expressed constitutively on HEK293 cells. Moreover, purified flagellin from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium behaved like sample B, stimulating HEK293 and HEK-hTLR5 cells but not HEK-hTLR3 cells, and this stimulation by flagellin and sample B was blocked by an anti-hTLR5 neutralizing antibody. Western blots showed bands positive for flagellin and sample B with the molecular sizes expected for the flagellins from S. Typhimurium and E. coli, respectively. Mass spectrometry data were consistent with the presence of flagellin in the manufacturer's sample B. Taken together, these data indicate that the microbial contaminant in sample B was flagellin and may have been associated with adverse events when the recombinant product was administered.
Generalized Pattern Avoidance

Recently, Babson and Steingrimsson have introduced generalized permutation patterns that allow the requirement that two adjacent letters in a pattern must be adjacent in the permutation. We will consider pattern avoidance for such patterns, and give a complete solution for the number of permutations avoiding any single pattern of length three with exactly one adjacent pair of letters. For eight of these 12 patterns the answer is given by the Bell numbers. For the remaining four the answer is given by the Catalan numbers. We also give some results for the number of permutations avoiding two different patterns. These results relate the permutations in question to Motzkin paths, involutions and non-overlapping partitions. Furthermore, we define a new class of set partitions, called monotone partitions, and show that these partitions are in one-to-one correspondence with non-overlapping partitions.
Signaling axis involving Hedgehog, Notch, and Scl promotes the embryonic endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition

During development, the hematopoietic lineage transits through hemogenic endothelium, but the signaling pathways effecting this transition are incompletely characterized. Although the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway is hypothesized to play a role in patterning blood formation, early embryonic lethality of mice lacking Hh signaling precludes such analysis. To determine a role for Hh signaling in patterning of hemogenic endothelium, we assessed the effect of altered Hh signaling in differentiating mouse ES cells, cultured mouse embryos, and developing zebrafish embryos. In differentiating mouse ES cells and mouse yolk sac cultures, addition of Indian Hh ligand increased hematopoietic progenitors, whereas chemical inhibition of Hh signaling reduced hematopoietic progenitors without affecting primitive streak mesoderm formation. In the setting of Hh inhibition, induction of either Notch signaling or overexpression of Stem cell leukemia (Scl)/T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia protein 1 rescued hemogenic vascular-endothelial cadherin+ cells and hematopoietic progenitor formation. Together, our results reveal that Scl overexpression is sufficient to rescue the developmental defects caused by blocking the Hh and Notch pathways, and inform our understanding of the embryonic endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition.
Global Weak Solutions in a PDE-ODE System Modeling Multiscale Cancer Cell Invasion

We prove the global existence, along with some basic boundedness properties, of weak solutions to a PDE-ODE system modeling the multiscale invasion of tumor cells through the surrounding tissue matrix. The model has been proposed in [G. Meral, C. Stinner, and C. Surulescu, On a Multiscale Model Involving Cell Contractivity and its Effects on Tumor Invasion, preprint, TU Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 2013] and accounts on the macroscopic level for the evolution of cell and tissue densities, along with the concentration of a chemoattractant, while on the subcellular level it involves the binding of integrins to soluble and insoluble components of the peritumoral region. The connection between the two scales is realized with the aid of a contractivity function characterizing the ability of the tumor cells to adapt their motility behavior to their subcellular dynamics. The resulting system, consisting of three partial and three ordinary differential equations including a temporal delay, in particul.
The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on postpartum urinary incontinence: a longitudinal cohort study on singleton pregnancies

Please cite this paper as: Chuang C, Lin I, Horng H, Hsiao Y, Shyu I, Chou P. The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on postpartum urinary incontinence: a longitudinal cohort study on singleton pregnancies. BJOG 2012;119:1334–1343.
CANFIS—a computer aided diagnostic tool for cancer detection

In this investigation, an approach using Coac-tive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (CANFIS) as diagnosis system for breast cancer has been proposed on Wisconsin Breast Cancer Data (WBCD). It is occasionally difficult to attain the ultimate diagnosis even for medical experts due to the complexity and non-linearity of the rela-tionships between the large measured factors, which can be possibly resolved with a human like decision-making process using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms. CANFIS is an AI algorithm which has the advantages of both fuzzy inference system and neural networks and can deal with ambiguous data and learn from the past data by itself. The Multi Layer Percep-tron Neural Network (MLPNN), Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Self Organizing Map (SOM) were also tested and benchmarked for their p