Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wave based method for vibration and acoustic characteristics analysis of underwater cylindrical shell with bulkheads

Wave based method (WBM) is presented to analyze the vibration and acoustic responses of underwater cylindrical shell with bulkheads under a radial harmonic excitation. The hull is divided into several substructures and the dynamic field variables in each substructure are expressed as wave function expansions. The stiffeners and bulkheads are treated as discrete members and the equations of motion of annular plate are adopted to describe the motion of them. Boundary and continuity conditions between adjacent substructures are used to form the final matrix to be solved. The far-field radiated sound pressure is then calculated by means of the Element Radiation Superposition Method (ERSM). By comparison with computational results obtained from a fully coupled finite element/boundary element model, the present method is verified. Furthermore, effects of bulkheads and location of exciting force on vibro-acoustic characteristics of cylindrical shell have been discussed. The results show that bulkhead thickness has negligible influence on the response, but the number of bulkheads, the location of bulkheads and the exciting force have significant effects.
Rent Seeking Activities and Aggregate Economic Performance the Case of Greece

We built upon Angelopoulos et al. (2009) and we employ a dynamic general equilibrium model in order to examine the interrelated role of rent seeking activities, institutions and government policy variables, like tax rates and public spending, on Greece’s economic performance during the last fourty years. We focus on the period 1979-2001. According to Kehoe and Prescott (2002, 2007) this period can be characterized as a great depression. The model is the standard neoclassical growth model augmented with a government sector and an institutional structure which creates incentives for optimizing agents to engage in rent seeking contests in order to extract rents from the government. This behavior creates a cost to the economy in the form of an unproductive use of resources. Our main findings are as follows: First, in terms of the path of key macroeconomic variables, our model fits the data quite well. Second, by conducting a growth accounting exercise we find that during the period 1979-1995 a non negligible proportion of the decline of total factor productivity (TFP) can be accounted for rent seeking activities. Third, our model produces an index which can be interpreted as a measure of the quality of institutions in the Greek economy. Our model based index exhibits a resemblance with the internal country risk guide (ICRG) index which is widely used in the literature as a proxy for the quality of a country’s institutions.
Bug Fixes, Improvements, ... and Privacy Leaks - A Longitudinal Study of PII Leaks Across Android App Versions

Is mobile privacy getting better or worse over time? In this paper, we address this question by studying privacy leaks from historical and current versions of 512 popular Android apps, covering 7,665 app releases over 8 years of app version history. Through automated and scripted interaction with apps and analysis of the network traffic they generate on real mobile devices, we identify how privacy changes over time for individual apps and in aggregate. We find several trends that include increased collection of personally identifiable information (PII) across app versions, slow adoption of HTTPS to secure the information sent to other parties, and a large number of third parties being able to link user activity and locations across apps. Interestingly, while privacy is getting worse in aggregate, we find that the privacy risk of individual apps varies greatly over time, and a substantial fraction of apps see little change or even improvement in privacy. Given these trends, we propose metrics for quantifying privacy risk and for providing this risk assessment proactively to help users balance the risks and benefits of installing new versions of apps.
Continuation of statin therapy in patients with presumed infection: a randomized controlled trial.

RATIONALE In patients on prior statin therapy who are hospitalized for acute infections, current literature is unclear on whether statins should be continued during their hospitalization. OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that continuation of therapy with statins influences the inflammatory response to infection and that cessation may cause an inflammatory rebound. METHODS Prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of atorvastatin (20 mg) or matched placebo in 150 patients on preexisting statin therapy requiring hospitalization for infection. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The primary end point was progression of sepsis during hospitalization. At baseline, the rate of severe sepsis was 32% in both groups. Compared with baseline, the odds ratio for severe sepsis declined in both groups: 0.43 placebo and 0.5 statins (Day 3) versus 0.14 placebo and 0.12 statins (Day 14). The rate of decline of severe sepsis was similar between the groups (odds ratio 1.17 [0.56-2.47], P = 0.7 Day 3; 0.85 [0.21-3.34], P = 0.8 Day 14). IL-6 and C-reactive protein declined in both groups with no statistically significant difference (P = 0.7 and P = 0.2, respectively). An increase in cholesterol occurred in the placebo group (P < 0.0001). Most patients were not critically ill. Hospital mortality was 6.6%, with no difference between the groups (6 [8%] of 75 statin group; 4 [5.3%] of 75 placebo group; P = 0.75). CONCLUSIONS This study does not support a beneficial role of continuing preexisting statin therapy on sepsis and inflammatory parameters. Cessation of established statin therapy was not associated with an inflammatory rebound. Clinical trial registered at the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN 12605000756628).
A molecular inversion probe-based next-generation sequencing panel to detect germline mutations in Chinese early-onset colorectal cancer patients

The currently known Mendelian colorectal cancer (CRC) predisposition syndromes account for ∼5–10% of all CRC cases, and are caused by inherited germline mutations in single CRC predisposing genes. Using molecular inversion probes (MIPs), we designed a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to identify mutations in seven CRC predisposing genes: APC, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, MUTYH and NTHL1. From a consecutive series of 2,371 Chinese CRC patients, 140 familial and non-familial cases were selected that were diagnosed with CRC at or below the age of 35 years. Through MIP-based sequencing we identified pathogenic variants in six genes in 16 out of the 140 (11.4%) patients selected. In 10 patients, known pathogenic mutations in APC (five patients), MLH1 (three patients), or MSH2 (two patients) were identified. Three additional patients were found to carry novel, likely pathogenic truncating (n = 2) and missense (n = 1) mutations in the MSH2 gene and a concomitant loss of expression of both the MSH2 and MSH6 proteins in their respective tumor tissues. From our data, we conclude that targeted MIP-based sequencing is a reliable and cost-efficient approach to identify patients with a Mendelian CRC syndrome.
Expression Quantitative Trait Locus Study of Bone Mineral Density GWAS Variants in Human Osteoclasts

Osteoporosis is a complex disease with a strong genetic component. Genomewide association studies (GWAS) have been very successful at identifying common genetic variants associated with bone parameters. A recently published study documented the results of the largest GWAS for bone mineral density (BMD) performed to date (n = 142,487), identifying 307 conditionally independent single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as associated with estimated BMD (eBMD) at the genomewide significance level. The vast majority of these variants are non‐coding SNPs. Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies using disease‐specific cell types have increasingly been integrated with the results from GWAS to identify genes through which the observed GWAS associations are likely mediated. We generated a unique human osteoclast‐specific eQTL data set using cells differentiated in vitro from 158 participants. We then used this resource to characterize the 307 recently identified BMD GWAS SNPs for association with nearby genes (±500 kb). After correction for multiple testing, 24 variants were found to be significantly associated with the expression of 32 genes in the osteoclast‐like cells. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that these variants and those in strong linkage disequilibrium with them are enriched in regulatory regions. Several of the eQTL associations identified are relevant to genes that present strongly as having a role in bone, particularly IQGAP1, CYP19A1, CTNNB1, and COL6A3. Supporting evidence for many of the associations was obtained from publicly available eQTL data sets. We have also generated strong evidence for the presence of a regulatory region on chromosome 15q21.2 relevant to both the GLDN and CYP19A1 genes. In conclusion, we have generated a unique osteoclast‐specific eQTL resource and have used this to identify 32 eQTL associations for recently identified BMD GWAS loci, which should inform functional studies of osteoclast biology. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
The evolutionary root of flowering plants.

Correct rooting of the angiosperm radiation is both challenging and necessary for understanding the origins and evolution of physiological and phenotypic traits in flowering plants. The problem is known to be difficult due to the large genetic distance separating flowering plants from other seed plants and the sparse taxon sampling among basal angiosperms. Here, we provide further evidence for concern over substitution model misspecification in analyses of chloroplast DNA sequences. We show that support for Amborella as the sole representative of the most basal angiosperm lineage is founded on sequence site patterns poorly described by time-reversible substitution models. Improving the fit between sequence data and substitution model identifies Trithuria, Nymphaeaceae, and Amborella as surviving relatives of the most basal lineage of flowering plants. This finding indicates that aquatic and herbaceous species dominate the earliest extant lineage of flowering plants. [; ; ; ; ; . ].
Phytosynthesized silver nanoparticles as antiquorum sensing and antibiofilm agent against the nosocomial pathogen Serratia marcescens: an in vitro study

Serratia marcescens is an important multidrug‐resistant human pathogen. The pathogenicity of S. marcescens mainly depends on the quorum sensing (QS) mechanism, which regulates the virulence factors production and biofilm formation. Hence, targeting QS mechanism in S. marcescens will ultimately pave the way to combat its pathogenicity. Thus, the present study is intended to evaluate the efficacy of Vetiveria zizanioides root extract‐mediated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a potent anti‐QS and antibiofilm agent against S. marcescens.
Clinical accuracy of point-of-care urine culture in general practice

Abstract Objective: To assess the clinical accuracy (sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive predictive value and negative predictive value) of two point-of-care (POC) urine culture tests for the identification of urinary tract infection (UTI) in general practice. Design: Prospective diagnostic accuracy study comparing two index tests (Flexicult™ SSI-Urinary Kit or ID Flexicult™) with a reference standard (urine culture performed in the microbiological department). Setting: General practice in the Copenhagen area patients. Adult female patients consulting their general practitioner with suspected uncomplicated, symptomatic UTI. Main outcome measures: (1) Overall accuracy of POC urine culture in general practice. (2) Individual accuracy of each of the two POC tests in this study. (3) Accuracy of POC urine culture in general practice with enterococci excluded, since enterococci are known to multiply in boric acid used for transportation for the reference standard. (4) Accuracy based on expert reading of photographs of POC urine cultures performed in general practice. Standard culture performed in the microbiological department was used as reference standard for all four measures. Results: Twenty general practices recruited 341 patients with suspected uncomplicated UTI. The overall agreement between index test and reference was 0.76 (CI: 0.71–0.80), SEN 0.88 (CI: 0.83–0.92) and SPE 0.55 (CI: 0.46–0.64). The two POC tests produced similar results individually. Overall agreement with enterococci excluded was 0.82 (0.77–0.86) and agreement between expert readings of photographs and reference results was 0.81 (CI: 0.76–0.85). Conclusions: POC culture used in general practice has high SEN but low SPE. Low SPE could be due to both misinterpretation in general practice and an imperfect reference standard. Registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02323087.
Effects of oxidative stress induced by high dosage of dietary iron ingested on intestinal damage and caecal microbiota in Chinese Yellow broilers

The objective of this trial was to test the effects of oxidative stress induced by a high dosage of dietary iron on intestinal lesion and the microbiological compositions in caecum in Chinese Yellow broilers. A total of 450 1-day-old male chicks were randomly allotted into three groups. Supplemental iron (0, 700 and 1,400 mg/kg) was added to the basal diet resulting in three treatments containing 245, 908 and 1,651 mg/kg Fe (measured value) in diet respectively. Each treatment consisted of six replicate pens with 25 birds per pen. Jejunal enterocyte ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that a high dosage of dietary iron induced oxidative stress in broilers. Dilated endoplasmic reticulum (ER), autophagosome formation of jejunal enterocytes and decreased villi were caused by this oxidative stress. Compared to the control, concentration of the malondialdehyde (MDA) in jejunal mucosa in the 908 and 1,651 mg/kg Fe groups increased by 180% (p < .01) and 155% respectively (p < .01); activity of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/ZnSOD) increased in jejunum (p < .01); and the concentration of plasma reduced glutathione (GSH) decreased by 34.9% (p < .01) in birds fed 1,651 mg/kg Fe. Gene expression of nuclear factor, erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (Nrf2) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), in the higher dietary Fe groups was enhanced (p < .05). Species of microbial flora in caecum increased caused by oxidative stress. The PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) dendrograms revealed different microbiota (65% similarity coefficient) between the control and iron-supplemented groups (p < .05). These data suggest high dosage of iron supplement in feed diet can induce oxidative stress in Chinese Yellow broilers, and composition of microbiota in the caecum changed. It implied there should be no addition of excess iron when formulating diets in Chinese Yellow broilers.
FraudBuster: Reducing Fraud in an Auto Insurance Market

Nonstandard insurers suffer from a peculiar variant of fraud wherein an overwhelming majority of claims have the semblance of fraud. We show that state-of-the-art fraud detection performs poorly when deployed at underwriting. Our proposed framework "FraudBuster" represents a new paradigm in predicting segments of fraud at underwriting in an interpretable and regulation compliant manner. We show that the most actionable and generalizable profile of fraud is represented by market segments with high confidence of fraud and high loss ratio. We show how these segments can be reported in terms of their constituent policy traits, expected loss ratios, support, and confidence of fraud. Overall, our predictive models successfully identify fraud with an area under the precision-recall curve of 0.63 and an f-1 score of 0.769.
A genome-wide investigation of microsatellite mismatches and the association with body mass among bird species

Mutation rate is usually found to covary with many life history traits of animals such as body mass, which has been readily explained by the higher number of mutation opportunities per unit time. Although the precise reason for the pattern is not yet clear, to determine the universality of this pattern, we tested whether life history traits impact another form of genetic mutation, the motif mismatches in microsatellites. Employing published genome sequences from 65 avian species, we explored the motif mismatches patterns of microsatellites in birds on a genomic level and assessed the relationship between motif mismatches and body mass in a phylogenetic context. We found that small-bodied species have a higher average mismatches and we suggested that higher heterozygosity in imperfect microsatellites lead to the increase of motif mismatches. Our results obtained from this study imply that a negative body mass trend in mutation rate may be a general pattern of avian molecular evolution.
The effect of adding roughness and thickness to a transonic axial compressor rotor

The performance deterioration of a high-speed axial compressor rotor due to surface roughness and airfoil thickness variations is reported. A 0.025 mm (0.001 in.) thick rough coating with a surface finish of 2.54-3.18 rms μm (100-125 rms μin.) is applied to the pressure and suction surface of the rotor blades. Coating both surfaces increases the leading edge thickness by 10 percent at the hub and 20 percent at the tip. Application of this coating results in a loss in efficiency of 6 points and a 9 percent reduction in the pressure ratio across the rotor at an operating condition near the design point. To separate the effects of thickness and roughness, a smooth coating of equal thickness is also applied to the blade. The smooth coating surface finish is 0.254-0.508 rms μm (10-20 rms μin.), compared to the bare metal blade surface finish of 0.508 rms μm (20 rms μin.). The smooth coating results in approximately half of the performance deterioration found from the rough coating. Both coatings are then applied to different portions of the blade surface to determine which portions of the airfoil are most sensitive to thickness/roughness variations. Aerodynamic performance measurements are presented for a number of coating configurations at 60, 80, and 100 percent of design speed. The results indicate that thickness/roughness over the first 2 percent of blade chord accounts for virtually all of the observed performance degradation for the smooth coating, compared to about 70 percent of the observed performance degradation for the rough coating. The performance deterioration is investigated in more detail at design speed using laser anemometer measurements as well as predictions generated by a quasi-three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flow solver, which includes a surface roughness model. Measurements and analysis are performed on the baseline blade and the full-coverage smooth and rough coatings. The results indicate that adding roughness at the blade leading edge causes a thickening of the blade boundary layers. The interaction between the rotor passage shock and the thickened suction surface boundary layer then results in an increase in blockage, which reduces the diffusion level in the rear half of the blade passage, thus reducing the aerodynamic performance of the rotor.
Effect of Feed and Feeding Strategies on Oocytes Development in Labeo rohita: A Histomorphological Study

The present study was conducted to study the effect of different diets and feeding strategies on the development of oocytes during the pre spawning and post spawning period in Labeo rohita. The study showed the presence of oocytes in different developmental stages viz., primary growth phase, secondary growth phase, maturation phase, post ovulatory phase and atretic oocytes during both pre spawning and post spawning period. The primary growth phase comprised of oogonia stage, chromatin nucleolus stage, early perinucleolar stage and late perinucleolar stage, whereas, the secondary growth phase was differentiated as cortical alveolus stage, early vitellogenic stage and late vitellogenic stage, and early and late types of atresia. The percentage occurrence (92–28%) of these different stages varied during pre spawning and post spawning period respectively The study revealed that (65%) of the oocytes were in the vitellogenic and maturation phases during pre spawning period, while as perinuclear stage and atretic oocytes (27.6%) were seen during post spawning period. All the developmental stages showed more active oocytes in the ovaries of fish fed with vitamins and minerals indicating that diet influences the reproductive efficiency of the fish
Functional kleptoplasty in a limapontioidean genus: phylogeny, food preferences and photosynthesis in Costasiella, with a focus on C. ocellifera (Gastropoda: Sacoglossa)

The evolution and origin of functional kleptoplasty (sequestration and retention of functional plastids) within the Sacoglossa is still controversial. While some authors have suggested that it is a synapomorphy of the parapodia-bearing Plakobranchoidea, others have suggested an earlier origin at the base of the more inclusive clade Plakobranchacea. The latter is supported by the presence of kleptoplasts in Costasiella ocellifera, a ceras-bearing member of Limapontioidea, in which they remain functional for several weeks and fix CO2. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Costasiella, especially with regard to the Plakobranchoidea, have not been satisfactorily demonstrated, and the photosynthetic ability and the importance of photosynthesis within the genus remain poorly studied. In this study we analyse the phylogenetic position, photosynthetic activity and importance of photosynthesis for survival during starvation of five Costasiella species, but focusing on C. ocellifera. We demonstrate that Costasiella is a basal member of the Limapontioidea, however a final conclusion on the origin of functional kleptoplasty within Sacoglossa is still not possible. Three Costasiella species maintain functional chloroplasts (of which C. ocellifera shows long-term retention, and both C. kuroshimae and C. sp. 1 short-term retention) and together form a monophyletic group, feeding mainly on Avrainvillea. The two nonphotosynthetic species, C. nonatoi and C. sp. 2, represent the sister clade and feed on algae other than Avrainvillea. Intriguingly, C. ocellifera survived under nonphotosynthetic conditions for a minimum of 38 d, demonstrating that photosynthates may not be essential in order to survive starvation. These findings support our previous suggestion that during starvation kleptoplasts primarily represent a sort of larder, whose function might benefit from ongoing photosynthesis.