Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carotid Plaque, Intima-Media Thickness, and Incident Aortic Stenosis: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objective— Aortic stenosis (AS) shares risk factors with atherosclerotic vascular disease. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque may reflect the cumulative damage from exposure to different atherosclerotic risk factors. We examined the relationship of carotid IMT and plaque with incident AS in a prospective population-based study. Approach and Results— A random sample of participants (age, 45–68 years) in the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer Study underwent B-mode ultrasound with measurements of IMT and the presence of plaque in the common carotid artery (n=5079). Potential risk factors for incident AS were studied in age- and sex-adjusted and expanded multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models. A total of 69 (1.4%) participants developed AS during up to 20 years of follow-up. Significant risk factors for AS in age- and sex-adjusted analyses were (P<0.05) body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, C-reactive protein, plaque, and IMT. In contrast, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, height, and leukocyte count were not significantly associated with AS (P>0.05). After adjustments, IMT, plaque, age, smoking, C-reactive protein, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and diabetes mellitus remained significantly associated with incident AS. IMT was no longer significantly associated with AS after adjustments for plaque and systolic blood pressure, but plaque remained significantly associated with incident AS. Conclusions— Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were individually associated with incident AS, and in multivariable models low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, age, presence of plaque, C-reactive protein, and diabetes mellitus remained significant predictors of incident AS. AS represents a vascular disorder related to carotid plaque, with potential implications for the pathophysiology and prevention of this disease.
High Performance Charge Pump Converter with Integrated CMOS Feedback Circuit

In this paper, an integrated low-voltage control circuit is introduced for a charge pump DC-DC boost converter. By exploiting the advantage of the integration of the feedback control circuit within CMOS technology, the charge pump boost converter offers a low-current operation with small ripple voltage. The error amplifier, comparator, and oscillator in the control circuit are designed with the supply voltage of 3.3 V and the operating frequency of 1.6~5.5 MHz. The charge pump converter with the 4 or 8 pump stages is measured in simulation. The test in the 0.35 μm CMOS process shows that the load current and ripple ratio are controlled under 1 mA and 2% respectively. The output-voltage is obtained from 4.8 ~ 8.5 V with the supply voltage of 3.3 V.
Consolidation Behavior of Natural Soils Around pc Value —Inter-Connected Oedometer Test—

ABSTRACT It has been known from the conventional oedometer test that considerable settlement is observed after the end of primary consolidation, i.e., under the constant effective stresses. One of the most controversial issues in the geotechnical engineering is whether such secondary compression is taking place during and/or after the dissipation of the excess pore water pressure. Using the Pleistocene clays recovered from the Osaka basin, Long Term Consolidation (LTC) and Inter-Connected Oedometer (ICO) tests were carried out. This paper presents the consolidation behavior measured by the ICO and the companion paper will deal with the findings obtained by the LTC. The main advantage of the ICO test is its ability to investigate the influences of drainage path length under conditions of relatively small friction between the specimen and the oedometer ring. It was found that dissipation of the excess pore water pressure follows the H2 rule, regardless of the relative stress range, i.e., at over- or normally consolidated state, where the H is the thickness of the specimen. However, the generated strain at overconsolidated state does not follow the H2 rule. These test results were tried to be explained by the strain rate theory.
Incidence of host site complications in periocular full thickness skin grafts

Aim: To evaluate the complications of periocular full thickness skin grafts (FTSG) in patients treated with Mohs’ micrographic surgery (MMS) for periocular malignancy. Method: This prospective, multicentre case series included all patients in Australia treated with MMS for periocular malignancy followed by reconstruction with FTSG, who were monitored by the Skin and Cancer Foundation, between 1993 and 1999. The parameters recorded were patient demographics, reason for referral, histological classification of malignancy and evidence of perineural invasion, duration of tumour, site, recurrences prior to MMS, preoperative tumour size, and postoperative defect size. FTSG donor sites included upper lid, preauricular, retroauricular, inner brachial, and supraclavicular. The primary outcome measures were FTSG host site complications (partial/complete graft failure, graft infection, acute bleeding/haematoma, graft hypertrophy, and graft contracture). Results: 397 patients (229 males, 168 females), mean age 60 (SD 15) years (range 20–91 years). 92.7% were diagnosed with basal call carcinoma, 2.0% with Bowen’s disease, and 3.3% with squamous cell carcinoma. Medial canthus was involved in 66.5% of patients, lower eyelid in 28.0%, and upper eyelid in 5.5%. Postoperative complications were recorded in 62 patients (15.6% of all patients), and consisted of graft hypertrophy (45.1% of complications), graft contraction (29.1%), and partial graft failure (12.9%). The only statistically significant association found was a higher rate of graft hypertrophy in medial canthal reconstruction (p = 0.007). Conclusion: Host site complications of periocular FTSG are not common. Graft hypertrophy accounted for most complications and was more common in the medial canthal area. No other variables such as patient demographics, tumour characteristics, or donor site factors were associated with a higher risk of complications.
Anonymous attribute-based proxy re-encryption for access control in cloud computing

As a public key cryptographic primitive, attribute-based encryption ABE is promising in implementing fine-grained access control in cloud computing. However, before ABE comes into practical applications, two challenging issues have to be addressed, that is, users' attribute privacy protection and access policy update. In this paper, we tackle the aforementioned challenge for the first time by formalizing the notion of anonymous ciphertext-policy attribute-based proxy re-encryption anonymous CP-ABPRE and giving out a concrete construction. We propose a novel technique called match-then-re-encrypt, in which a matching phase is additionally introduced before the re-encryption phase. This technique uses special components of the proxy re-encryption key and ciphertext to anonymously check whether the proxy can fulfill a proxy re-encryption or not. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that our anonymous CP-ABPRE scheme is secure and efficient. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Design and test of a six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) electrostatic spraying system for crop protection

In recent years, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crop protection operations have experienced tremendous growth. Compared with manual operations, they have advantages such as high operational efficiency, small pesticide dosage, and low pesticide hazards for humans. However, the tiny droplets produced during UAV spraying for crop protection are affected by the rotor air flow and will drift in all directions in an uncontrollable manner, severely affecting the pesticide deposition pattern and resulting in pesticide waste. To improve pesticide use efficiency during multi-rotor UAV spraying, an electrostatic spray system was designed based on electrostatic spray technology and a six-rotor UAV. The proper operation parameters for the UAV electrostatic spray were determined by test, which were spray altitude of 50 cm above the crop, spray pressure of 0.3 MPa and charging voltage of 9 kV. Field test was performed based on these parameters. The results showed that compared with non-electrostatic spray, the electrostatic spray improved by 13.6% in the average deposition density above the sampling device and 32.6% in the middle. The research can provide a reference for designing multi-rotor UAV electrostatic spray devices. Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), multi-rotor, electrostatic spraying, pesticide use efficiency, plant protection DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe. 20171006.3460 Citation: Zhang Y L, Lian Q, Zhang W. Design and test of a six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) electrostatic spraying system for crop protection. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(6): 68–76.
Channel Estimation and Tracking Schemes for the Pulse-Shaping OFDM Systems

Robust channel estimation scheme is essential for pulse-shaping OFDM systems in the multipath mobile environment. This paper proposes three types of channel estimation schemes for the general class of pulse-shaping OFDM systems. The first two types are suboptimal low-complexity maximum likelihood estimators. The last type is adaptive Kalman filter channel estimator. We numerically evaluate the performance of each estimator using computer simulation.
In Vitro Activity of Ceftaroline Alone and in Combination against Clinical Isolates of Resistant Gram-Negative Pathogens, Including β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Ceftaroline is a novel broad-spectrum cephalosporin that exhibits bactericidal activity against many gram-positive and -negative pathogens. However, the activity of ceftaroline cannot be solely relied upon for eradication of multidrug-resistant gram-negative isolates, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae, which represent a current clinical concern. As drug combinations might be beneficial by potential synergy, we evaluated the in vitro activity of ceftaroline combined with meropenem, aztreonam, cefepime, tazobactam, amikacin, levofloxacin, and tigecycline. Susceptibility testing was performed for 20 clinical P. aeruginosa isolates, 10 ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolates, 10 ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, and 10 AmpC-derepressed Enterobacter cloacae isolates. Time-kill experiments were performed for 10 isolates using antimicrobials at one-fourth the MIC. Ceftaroline exhibited a MIC range of 0.125 to 1,024 μg/ml and was reduced 2- to 512-fold by combination with tazobactam (4 μg/ml) for ESBL-producing strains. In time-kill experiments, ceftaroline plus amikacin was synergistic against 90% of the isolates (and indifferent for one P. aeruginosa isolate). Ceftaroline plus tazobactam was indifferent for E. cloacae and P. aeruginosa strains but synergistic against 100% of E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates. Combinations of ceftaroline plus meropenem or aztreonam were also synergistic for all E. coli and E. cloacae isolates, respectively, but indifferent against 90% of the other isolates. Finally, combinations of ceftaroline plus either tigecycline, levofloxacin, or cefepime were indifferent for 100% of the isolates. No antagonism was observed with any combination. Ceftaroline plus amikacin appeared as the most likely synergistic combination. This represents a promising therapeutic option, and further studies are warranted to elucidate the clinical value of ceftaroline combinations against resistant gram-negative pathogens.
The Market for E-Collaboration Systems - Identification of System Classes Using Cluster Analysis

E-Collaboration systems, that is software for supporting communication, coordination and cooperation processes in groups, have become the backbone infrastructure to support E-Work in a globalised world where virtual work in and across organisations has become a prevalent modus operandi. Fuelled by recent technology trends numerous new E-Collaboration systems appeared in the marketplace. Today, the market offers an abundance of systems that often support a wide range of features. In this paper a study is presented that aims to shed light on the market for E-Collaboration systems by structuring the range of available systems into meaningful classes. To this end, a sample of 94 E-Collaboration systems is characterised using a classification approach. Application of a cluster analysis led to the identification of five system classes and a range of sub classes. The resulting system classes are described and trends of integration and convergence, which characterise the market, are discussed. The results, being a reflection of the existing market complexity, should be equally helpful for researchers who deal with E-Collaboration systems as their objects of interest, as well as for business executives, who need a market overview to support buying decisions.
Association of skin malignancies with various and multiple carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic human papillomaviruses in renal transplant recipients

Background. Organ transplant recipients receiving immunosuppressive treatment are prone to skin carcinomas on sun‐exposed areas, and the frequency of such carcinomas in the long term reaches 40%. These carcinomas primarily are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which often are preceded by viral warts and premalignant keratoses. Human papillomaviruses (HPV) with other cocarcinogenic factors have been reported to play a role in the development of carcinomas in these patients.
A text-free approach to assessing nonnative intonation

To compensate for the variability in native English intonation and the unpredictability of nonnative speech, we propose a new method of assessing nonnative intonation without any prior knowledge of the target text or phonetics. After recognition of tone events with HMMs and a bigram model of intonation, we deﬁne an utterance’s automatic intonation score as the mean of the posterior probabilities for all recognized tone segments. On the ISLE corpus of learners’ English, we ﬁnd intonation scores generated by this technique have a 0.331 correlation with general pronunciation scores determined by native listeners. In comparison, the SRI Eduspeak system’s proposal for pronunciation scoring based on suprasegmental features derived from prior knowledge of the target text yields a 0.247 correlation with listener scores on a similar corpus. Because it is text-free, our approach could be used to assess intonation outside of a strictly educational application.
Towards performance-centric fairness in datacenter networks

Fair bandwidth allocation in datacenter networks has been a focus of research recently, yet this has not received adequate attention in the context of private cloud, where link bandwidth is often shared among applications running data parallel frameworks, such as MapReduce. In this paper, we introduce a rigorous definition of performance-centric fairness, with the guiding principle that the performance of data parallel applications should be proportional to their weights. We investigate the problem of maximizing application performance while maintaining strict performance-centric fairness and present the inherent tradeoff between resource utilization and fairness. We then formulate the link bandwidth allocation problem with the objective of maximizing social welfare across all applications, so that resource utilization can be manipulated and improved by allowing a tunable degree of relaxation on performance-centric fairness. Based on dual based decomposition, we present a distributed algorithm to solve this problem, and evaluate its performance with extensive simulations.
Higher dynamic medial knee load predicts greater cartilage loss over 12 months in medial knee osteoarthritis

Objective Mechanical factors, in particular increased medial knee joint load, are believed to be important in the structural progression of knee osteoarthritis. This study evaluated the relationship of medial knee load during walking to indices of structural disease progression, measured on MRI, in people with medial knee osteoarthritis. Methods A longitudinal cohort design utilising a subset of participants (n=144, 72%) enrolled in a randomised controlled trial of lateral wedge insoles was employed. Medial knee load parameters including the peak knee adduction moment (KAM) and the KAM impulse were measured at baseline using three-dimensional gait analysis during walking. MRI at baseline and at 12 months was used to assess structural indices. Multiple regression with adjustment for covariates assessed the relationship between medial knee load parameters and the annual change in medial tibial cartilage volume. Binary logistic regression was used for the dichotomous variables of progression of medial tibiofemoral cartilage defects and bone marrow lesions (BML). Results A higher KAM impulse, but not peak KAM, at baseline was independently associated with greater loss of medial tibial cartilage volume over 12 months (β=29.9, 95% CI 6.3 to 53.5, p=0.01). No significant relationships were seen between medial knee load parameters and the progression of medial tibiofemoral cartilage defects or BML. Conclusion This study suggests knee loading, in particular the KAM impulse, may be a risk factor for loss of medial tibial cartilage volume. As knee load is modifiable, load-modifying treatments may potentially slow disease progression.
The efficacy of tailored interventions for self-management outcomes of type 2 diabetes, hypertension or heart disease: a systematic review.

AIM To evaluate the evidence on the effectiveness of tailored interventions on self-management behaviours in individuals with heart disease, hypertension or type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND Tailored interventions are designed for individuals based on their unique characteristics, related to the outcome of interest, and derived from an individual assessment. Recognizing the differences between individuals and delivering interventions tailored to the individual could increase the likelihood of sustained self-management of long-term conditions. Review methods. A review of randomized controlled trials published between 2001 and 2010 was undertaken using the following databases: Pubmed, WOS, CINAHL, ERIC, ASP, PsychInfo and SSA. The search terms included tailored intervention(s), and self-management of chronic diseases included in the aim. Reference lists from relevant articles were also examined for additional references. RESULTS Ten studies were included in the review. Tailored interventions had no impact on self-management activities such as medication adherence, self-monitoring, exercise, smoking, or diet control. However, tailored interventions were modestly successful in improving specific self-management behaviours of dietary fat intake, levels of physical activity or screening. Studies included in the review generally suffered from compromised methodological issues of inadequately powered sample size, non-blinding of data collection or intervention delivery and inadequate reporting of the randomization process. CONCLUSION When cost and resource utilization is taken into consideration, tailored interventions may not be more effective than standard interventions in improving self-management behaviours in individuals with long-term conditions. Future research should explore the effect of robust and resource-optimized tailored interventions on self-management outcomes for long-term conditions with high-quality trials.
Reactive Oxygen Species Decrease cAMP Response Element Binding Protein Expression in Cardiomyocytes via a Protein Kinase D1-Dependent Mechanism That Does Not Require Ser133 Phosphorylation

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) exert pleiotropic effects on a wide array of signaling proteins that regulate cellular growth and apoptosis. This study shows that long-term treatment with a low concentration of H2O2 leads to the activation of signaling pathways involving extracellular signal-regulated kinase, ribosomal protein S6 kinase, and protein kinase D (PKD) that increase cAMP binding response element protein (CREB) phosphorylation at Ser133 in cardiomyocytes. Although CREB-Ser133 phosphorylation typically mediates cAMP-dependent increases in CREB target gene expression, the H2O2-dependent increase in CREB-Ser133 phosphorylation is accompanied by a decrease in CREB protein abundance and no change in Cre-luciferase reporter activity. Mutagenesis studies indicate that H2O2 decreases CREB protein abundance via a mechanism that does not require CREB-Ser133 phosphorylation. Rather, the H2O2-dependent decrease in CREB protein is prevented by the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin, by inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase or protein kinase C activity, or by adenoviral-mediated delivery of a small interfering RNA that decreases PKD1 expression. A PKD1-dependent mechanism that links oxidative stress to decreased CREB protein abundance is predicted to contribute to the pathogenesis of heart failure by influencing cardiac growth and apoptosis responses.
The most powerful flaring activity from the NLSy1 PMN J0948+0022

We report on multifrequency observations performed during 2012 December–2013 August of the first narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy detected in γ-rays, PMN J0948+0022 (z = 0.5846). A γ-ray flare was observed by the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi during 2012 December–2013 January, reaching a daily peak flux in the 0.1–100 GeV energy range of (155 ± 31) × 10−8 ph cm−2 s−1 on 2013 January 1, corresponding to an apparent isotropic luminosity of ∼1.5 × 1048 erg s−1. The γ-ray flaring period triggered Swift and Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observations in addition to radio and optical monitoring by Owens Valley Radio Observatory, Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments, and Catalina Real-time Transient Survey. A strong flare was observed in optical, UV, and X-rays on 2012 December 30, quasi-simultaneously to the γ-ray flare, reaching a record flux for this source from optical to γ-rays. VERITAS observations at very high energy (E > 100 GeV) during 2013 January 6–17 resulted in an upper limit of F>0.2 TeV < 4.0 × 10−12 ph cm−2 s−1. We compared the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the flaring state in 2013 January with that of an intermediate state observed in 2011. The two SEDs, modelled as synchrotron emission and an external Compton scattering of seed photons from a dust torus, can be modelled by changing both the electron distribution parameters and the magnetic field.
Distribution and Environmental Significanceof Phosphorus Forms in Riparian Soils and RiverSediments of Jianxi Basin, Fujian Province

Phosphorus as a major nutrient element in water ecosystems is a key factor affecting algae growth in rivers. This paper adopts the sequential extraction method for phosphorus fractionation to study the distribution of phosphorus forms in riparian soils and peripheral river sediments, then to analyze the relationship between different phosphorus forms and their significance within a watershed environment. The results show that: 1) the contents of NH4Cl-P, BD-P, and HCl-P in riparian soils are more widespread than those in river sediments, 2) the distribution patterns of phosphorus fractions in different catchments of Jianxi Basin are varied for soil and sediment, and 3) the ratio of BAP/TP is the highest in Chongyangxi catchment and the lowest in Songxi catchment. Phosphorus in riparian soils is mainly affected by agricultural activities, significantly for NaOH-P and HCl-P. And phosphorus forms in sediments are obviously affected by domestic sewage. The phosphorus contents and fractions in riparian soils change more significantly than those in river sediments.