Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality control of herbal medicines by using spectroscopic techniques and multivariate statistical analysis

Herbal medicines play an important role in modern human life and have significant effects on treating diseases; however, the quality and safety of these herbal products has now become a serious issue due to increasing pollution in air, water, soil, etc. The present study proposes Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) along with the statistical method principal component analysis (PCA) to identify and discriminate herbal medicines for quality control. Herbal plants have been characterized using FTIR spectroscopy. Characteristic peaks (strong and weak) have been marked for each herbal sample in the fingerprint region (400–2000 cm−1). The ratio of the areas of any two marked characteristic peaks was found to be nearly consistent for the same plant from different regions, and thus the present idea suggests an additional discrimination method for herbal medicines. PCA clusters herbal medicines into different groups, clearly showing that this method can adequately discriminate different herbal medicines using FTIR data. Toxic metal contents (Cd, Pb, Cr, and As) have been determined and the results compared with the higher permissible daily intake limit of heavy metals proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Semantic Graph for Zero-Shot Learning

Zero-shot learning aims to classify visual objects without any training data via knowledge transfer between seen and unseen classes. This is typically achieved by exploring a semantic embedding space where the seen and unseen classes can be related. Previous works differ in what embedding space is used and how different classes and a test image can be related. In this paper, we utilize the annotation-free semantic word space for the former and focus on solving the latter issue of modeling relatedness. Specifically, in contrast to previous work which ignores the semantic relationships between seen classes and focus merely on those between seen and unseen classes, in this paper a novel approach based on a semantic graph is proposed to represent the relationships between all the seen and unseen class in a semantic word space. Based on this semantic graph, we design a special absorbing Markov chain process, in which each unseen class is viewed as an absorbing state. After incorporating one test image into the semantic graph, the absorbing probabilities from the test data to each unseen class can be effectively computed; and zero-shot classification can be achieved by finding the class label with the highest absorbing probability. The proposed model has a closed-form solution which is linear with respect to the number of test images. We demonstrate the effectiveness and computational efficiency of the proposed method over the state-of-the-arts on the AwA (animals with attributes) dataset.
Effects of segment-structured DLC film on the fretting wear of railway axle journal bearings

Fretting wear is surface damage caused by repeated slight relative slips between two contact surfaces. In railway applications, fretting wear can occur between the inner ring and the backing ring of an axle journal tapered roller bearing. The authors supposed that the fretting wear of the backing ring can be prevented by means of hard‐film coatings if hard films can follow the deformation of the backing ring. A segment‐structured diamond‐like carbon (S‐DLC) film has been proposed to solve this problem. In this work, the authors investigated the effect of S‐DLC film on the fretting wear through rotation tests of full‐scale railway axle bearings with the backing ring side face coated with S‐DLC film or conventional continuous diamond‐like carbon (C‐DLC) film. As the result, the S‐DLC film coated backing ring demonstrated less wear compared to the C‐DLC film coated backing ring. In addition, the iron content of the grease in the bearing with the S‐DLC film coated backing ring was lower than that of the grease in the bearing with the C‐DLC film coated backing ring. It is conceivable that the relative sliding motion in the radial direction between them may be restrained by the latticed pattern of the S‐DLC film being pressed into the inner ring large side face. It is concluded that the S‐DLC film is effective in suppressing the fretting wear generated on the contact surfaces between them of the axle bearings.
Antibacterial effect of water-soluble chitosan on representative dental pathogens Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli brevis

Dental caries is still a major oral health problem in most industrialized countries. The development of dental caries primarily involves Lactobacilli spp. and Streptococcus mutans. Although antibacterial ingredients are used against oral bacteria to reduce dental caries, some reports that show partial antibacterial ingredients could result in side effects. Objectives The main objective is to test the antibacterial effect of water-soluble chitosan while the evaluation of the mouthwash appears as a secondary aim. Material and Methods The chitosan was obtained from the Application Chemistry Company (Taiwan). The authors investigated the antibacterial effects of water-soluble chitosan against oral bacteria at different temperatures (25-37ºC) and pH values (pH 5-8), and evaluated the antibacterial activities of a self-made water-soluble chitosan-containing mouthwash by in vitro and in vivo experiments, and analyzed the acute toxicity of the mouthwashes. The acute toxicity was analyzed with the pollen tube growth (PTG) test. The growth inhibition values against the logarithmic scale of the test concentrations produced a concentrationresponse curve. The IC50 value was calculated by interpolation from the data. Results The effect of the pH variation (5-8) on the antibacterial activity of water-soluble chitosan against tested oral bacteria was not significant. The maximal antibacterial activity of water-soluble chitosan occurred at 37ºC. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of water-soluble chitosan on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli brevis were 400 µg/mL and 500 µg/mL, respectively. Only 5 s of contact between water-soluble chitosan and oral bacteria attained at least 99.60% antibacterial activity at a concentration of 500 µg/mL. The water-soluble chitosan-containin g mouthwash significantly demonstrated antibacterial activity that was similar to that of commercial mouthwashes (>99.91%) in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. In addition, the alcohol-free mouthwash exhibited no cytotoxicity and no oral stinging. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to combine in vitro and in vivo investigations to analyze the antibacterial properties of water-soluble chitosan-containing mouthwash. Conclusions This study illustrated that water-soluble chitosan may be a viable alternative to commercial mouthwashes in the future.
Effects of subthalamic deep brain stimulation on speech production in Parkinson ’ s Disease : A Critical Review of the Literature

This critical review examined the effects of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on speech in individuals with Parkinson’s disease in eight studies. Study designs included: seven quasi-experimental studies and one case study. Overall, the evidence failed to provide support for the benefi cial effects of STN-DBS on speech production in Parkinson’s disease. It is suggested that the STN-DBS procedure requires additional refi nements in order to be optimized for the treatment of speech symptoms. Additional studies involving more subjects, randomization procedures, control of severity level, and systematic manipulations of stimulation settings and locations are
Quantitative assessment of systolic right ventricular function using myocardial deformation in patients with a systemic right ventricle.

AIMS Late systolic dysfunction of the systemic right ventricle (RV) in patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) is of major concern. Right ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) might be able to identify early dysfunction. METHODS AND RESULTS Adults with TGA after Mustard operation (TGA-Mustard) or congenitally corrected-TGA (ccTGA) underwent echocardiography, electrocardiography, and NT-proBNP measurement. Using speckle-tracking echocardiography, we analysed longitudinal strain and strain rate, and compared findings in both patients groups, to healthy controls and with clinical parameters. We included 42 patients (mean age 37 ± 7 years, 69% male) with a systemic RV [32 TGA-Mustard (34 ± 4 years after corrective surgery) and 10 ccTGA], and 32 healthy controls (mean age 36 ± 11 years). Global longitudinal strain of the systemic RV was lower in patients than GLS of the systemic LV in controls (-14.2 ± 3.5 vs. -20.0 ± 3.0%, P < 0.001). Average LS of the RV lateral wall was lower in patients with TGA-Mustard (-15.5 ± 3.4%) than ccTGA (-18.3 ± 3.6%, P = 0.047). Right ventricular GLS tended to be lower in patients in NYHA class II than I, and correlated with NT-proBNP (r = 0.49, P = 0.001), RV fractional area change (r = -0.39, P = 0.019), RV apex-base-diameter (r = 0.37, P = 0.021), and QRS duration (r = 0.41, P = 0.014). CONCLUSION Global longitudinal strain of the systemic RV in patients is lower than GLS of the systemic LV in healthy controls, especially in the apical segment, and tended to be lower in TGA-Mustard than ccTGA patients. Since RV GLS correlates with RV function, myocardial deformation is useful as a more quantitative tool to measure systemic RV function. Decreased GLS was associated with elevated NT-proBNP and tended to correlate with worsening NYHA class, which strengthens the potential prognostic value of GLS in patients with a systemic RV.
BubbleNet: A Cyber Security Dashboard for Visualizing Patterns

The field of cyber security is faced with ever‐expanding amounts of data and a constant barrage of cyber attacks. Within this space, we have designed BubbleNet as a cyber security dashboard to help network analysts identify and summarize patterns within the data. This design study faced a range of interesting constraints from limited time with various expert users and working with users beyond the network analyst, such as network managers. To overcome these constraints, the design study employed a user‐centered design process and a variety of methods to incorporate user feedback throughout the design of BubbleNet. This approach resulted in a successfully evaluated dashboard with users and further deployments of these ideas in both research and operational environments. By explaining these methods and the process, it can benefit future visualization designers to help overcome similar challenges in cyber security or alternative domains.
Using a Bayesian Feature-selection Algorithm to Identify Dose-response Models Based on the Shape of the 3D Dose-distribution: An Example from a Head-and-neck Cancer Trial

A reduction in salivary flow and xerostomia are common side-effects after radiotherapy of head and neck tumours. Xerostomia can be modeled based on the dose to the parotid glands. To date, all spatial information has been discarded and dose-response models are usually reduced to the mean dose. We present novel morphological dose-response models and use multivariate Bayesian logistic regression to model xerostomia. We use 3D invariant statistical moments as morphometric descriptors to quantify the shape of the 3D dose distribution. As this results in a very high number of potential predictors, we apply a Bayesian variable-selection algorithm to find the best model based on any subset of all potential predictors. To do this, we determine the posterior probabilities of being the best model for all potential models and calculate the marginal probabilities that a variable should be included in a model. This was done using a Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. The performance of the best model was quantified using the deviance information criterion and a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV). This methodology was applied to 64 head and neck cancer patients treated with either intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) or conventional radiotherapy. Results show a substantial increase in both model-fit and area under the curve (AUC) when including morphological information compared to conventional mean-dose models. The best mean-dose model for IMRT patients only resulted in an AUC of 0.63 after LOOCV while the best morphological model had an AUC of 0.90. For conventional patients the mean-dose model and the morphological model had AUC of 0.55 and 0.86 respectively. For a joint model with all patients pooled together, the mean dose model had an AUC of 0.75 and the morphological model an AUC of 0.88. We have shown that invariant statistical moments are a good morphometric descriptor and by using Bayesian variable selection we were able to identify models with a substantially higher predictive power than conventional mean-dose models.
Impact of dark matter microhalos on signatures for direct and indirect detection

Detecting dark matter as it streams through detectors on Earth relies on knowledge of its phase space density on a scale comparable to the size of our Solar System. Numerical simulations predict that our galactic halo contains an enormous hierarchy of substructures, streams and caustics, the remnants of the merging hierarchy that began with tiny Earth-mass microhalos. If these bound or coherent structures persist until the present time, they could dramatically alter signatures for the detection of weakly interacting elementary particle dark matter. Using numerical simulations that follow the coarse grained tidal disruption within the Galactic potential and fine grained heating from stellar encounters, we find that microhalos, streams, and caustics have a negligible likelihood of impacting direct detection signatures implying that dark matter constraints derived using simple smooth halo models are relatively robust. We also find that many dense central cusps survive, yielding a small enhancement in the signal for indirect detection experiments.
Lowering Midlife Levels of Systolic Blood Pressure as a Public Health Strategy to Reduce Late-Life Dementia: Perspective From the Honolulu Heart Program/Honolulu Asia Aging Study

To estimate the potential benefits of lowering systolic blood pressure (SBP) toward preventing late-life dementia, we estimated the population-attributable risk of elevated SBP for dementia. Analyses are based on the cohort of 8006 Japanese American men (born 1900–1919) followed since 1965 as a part of the Honolulu Heart Program, continued as the Honolulu Asia Aging Study. Midlife cardiovascular risk factors and late-life brain function are well described. We estimated the population-attributable risk of dementia cases attributed to midlife SBP, grouped by the seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure criteria (<120, 120 to <140, and ≥140 mm Hg), taking into account treatment history, confounding factors, and competitive risk for death. The analysis is based on 7878 subjects, including 491 cases of dementia, with a mean interval of 25 years between measurement of blood pressure and dementia diagnosis. Compared with those with SBP <120 mm Hg, untreated, and <50 years of age at baseline, 17.7% (95% CI: 4.6% to 29.1%) of the cases were attributable to prehypertensive levels (SBP: 120 to <140 mm Hg) of SBP, translating into 11 excess cases per 1000. Among those who did not report taking antihypertensive medication in midlife, 27% (95% CI: 8.9% to 42.1%) of dementia cases can be attributed to systolic BP ≥120 mm Hg, translating into 17 excess cases per 1000. Although population-attributable risk estimates for population subgroups may differ by relative risk for dementia or prevalence of elevated levels of blood pressure, these data suggest that reducing midlife systolic BP is an effective prevention strategy to reduce risk for late-life dementia.
Flexural properties of the bulk fiber-reinforced composite DC-tell used in fixed partial dentures.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to measure the flexural properties of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) used in frameworks of fixed partial dentures. In addition, the influence of water storage on the properties was determined. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rhombic test specimens for four groups were milled from bulk FRC material DC-Tell. The test specimens of the first group were stored and tested dry. In the second group, the test specimens were water stored for 3 months at 37 +/- 1 degrees C and tested in water. The specimens of the third group were also water stored, but they were tested dry at room temperature. Water-stored test specimens of the fourth group were dehydrated and tested dry at room temperature. A three-point bending test was used to measure the flexural properties. The quantity of glass fibers in the test specimens was determined by combustion analysis. Water uptake was calculated after 3 months of water immersion. The direction and length of fibers were examined, and elemental composition was determined. RESULTS Water storage decreased the flexural strength by 66% and flexural modulus by 60%. After dehydration, the flexural strength did not recover to the same level as the flexural strength of the dry-group specimens. The fiber content was 38% by volume. Water uptake was 3 wt%. The reinforcement of DC-Tell was short fibers in random orientation, and the elemental composition of fibers was similar to that of E-glass. CONCLUSION Water storage decreases the flexural properties of the bulk fiber-reinforced composite DC-Tell. This may restrict the use of DC-Tell as a framework of crowns and bridges in the oral cavity in the long term.
Historical Review of Secondary Entry Flows in Polymer Melt Extrusion

Abstract Secondary flow (also termed as stagnation flow, dead space, recirculation zone, and vortex) is rheological phenomenon occurring during flow of polymer melts through abrupt contraction channels as result of flow separation from solid boundary leading to accelerating flow regime with recirculating material in corners. Polymer melt captured in secondary flow slowly rotates in direction opposite to main flow direction and simultaneously moves in third direction through helical motion. This may first reduce flow stability and second increase residence time initiating highly undesirable thermal degradation of polymer melt. Since the first visual experimental observation performed by Tordella and preliminary theoretical prediction made by Langlois and Rivlin at the end of the 1950s, this phenomenon represents one of the most fundamental rheological problems ever with many practical and theoretical impacts discussed here. This comprehensive review written in historical perspective summarizes key factors (Newtonian viscosity, shear thinning, viscoelasticity, flow geometry, and extensional viscosity) influencing secondary entry flows for polymer melts and provides deep and critical discussion of the most important experimental and theoretical works on this topic (such as branched low-density polyethylene, LDPE, linear low-density polyethylene, LLDPE, high-density polyethylene, HDPE, polystyrene, PS, isotactic polypropylene, PP, polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA, polyamide, Nylon PA 66, or polybutadiene, BR).
Acoustic Observation of Living Organisms Reveals the Upper Limit of the Oxygen Minimum Zone

Background Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are expanding in the World Ocean as a result of climate change and direct anthropogenic influence. OMZ expansion greatly affects biogeochemical processes and marine life, especially by constraining the vertical habitat of most marine organisms. Currently, monitoring the variability of the upper limit of the OMZs relies on time intensive sampling protocols, causing poor spatial resolution. Methodology/Principal Findings Using routine underwater acoustic observations of the vertical distribution of marine organisms, we propose a new method that allows determination of the upper limit of the OMZ with a high precision. Applied in the eastern South-Pacific, this original sampling technique provides high-resolution information on the depth of the upper OMZ allowing documentation of mesoscale and submesoscale features (e.g., eddies and filaments) that structure the upper ocean and the marine ecosystems. We also use this information to estimate the habitable volume for the world's most exploited fish, the Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens). Conclusions/Significance This opportunistic method could be implemented on any vessel geared with multi-frequency echosounders to perform comprehensive high-resolution monitoring of the upper limit of the OMZ. Our approach is a novel way of studying the impact of physical processes on marine life and extracting valid information about the pelagic habitat and its spatial structure, a crucial aspect of Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management in the current context of climate change.
The Response of Grounding Electrodes to Lightning Currents: The Effect of Frequency-Dependent Soil Resistivity and Permittivity

A methodology is proposed and applied to determine the variation of soil resistivity and permittivity in the typical range of lightning current frequency components. The response of horizontal electrodes buried in high- and low-resistivity soils subjected to currents with lightning waveform patterns was measured and also simulated, taking this variation into account. The waves of the simulated and measured grounding potential rise are nearly the same but are quite different from the simulated waves considering the conventional assumption of constant values for soil resistivity and permittivity.
Effect of dietary calcium intake and meal calcium content on calcium absorption in the rat

Fifty-four male and forty-five female 7-week-old rats, Wistar strain, average weights 190 g and 140 g respectively, were randomized by weight into three groups of eighteen rats each (males) and three groups of fifteen rats each (females) and fed on a semi-purified diet containing (per kg) 2 (low), 5 (normal) or 20 g (high) Ca as CaCO3, for 2 weeks. Each group was then further randomized into three groups of six rats each (males) and five rats each (females) and given a meal (10 g of the same diet) containing either 2,5 or 20 g Ca as 47CaCO3. 47Ca was determined in quantitative daily collections of faeces over 7 d and fractional absorption of 47Ca estimated by extrapolating the linear portion (days 3–7) of the plot of log 47Ca retention Y. time back to the time of isotope administration. Absorption of meal Ca was higher in males than in females and was affected similarly in males and females by previous dietary Ca intake and meal Ca content. Fractional absorption of meal Ca decreased with increasing previous dietary Ca intake and with increasing meal Ca content, and the combined effect of these two variables caused fractional Ca absorption to vary from 11–89 %. Absolute absorption of meal Ca decreased with increasing previous dietary Ca intake and increased with increasing meal Ca content. The influence on Ca absorption of variations in meal Ca content (load effect) was greater than that of variations in previous dietary Ca intake (adaptive effect). These results show that previous dietary Ca intake and meal Ca content are both major determinants of Ca absorption from meals in intact rats fed in the normal way and that the rat responds to these factors in a manner similar to that reported for humans. This study provides further evidence of similarities between rats and humans in dietary Ca absorption.