Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blind Drift Calibration of Sensor Networks Using Sparse Bayesian Learning

The lifetime of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has been significantly extended, while in long-term large-scale WSN applications, the increasing sensor drift has become a key problem affecting the reliability of sensory data. In this paper, we propose a blind online drift calibration framework based on subspace projection and sparse recovery for sensor networks in general-purpose monitoring. Temporal sparse Bayesian learning is used in the proposed method to estimate the sensor drift from under-sampled observations. The proposed method needs neither dense deployment nor the presence of a prior data model. Both simulated and real-world data set are used to evaluate the proposed method. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can detect and recover the sensor drift when the number of drifted sensors are less than 20%, and when 40% sensors are drifted, the recovery rate is 80%.
Traffic Event Detection Using Online Social Networks

The focus of this work is on the detection of incidents that have a direct impact on the traffic of vehicles in large cities, such as, accidents, road constructions-renovations and traffic jams using Online Social Networks(OSNs). The proposed model aims to find problems being reported, as well as information on the location of the event. The results obtained were significant in the task of categorizing the incident, reaching up to 94% accuracy and 98% of general hits in the task of determining usual traffic incidents, besides promising results in obtaining references to the points in the city where the incidents take place, with up to 58% recall.
Development of /r/ in Croatian

The aim of this study was to determine age of acquisition of the alveolar trill /r/ in typically developing Croatian children and to describe developmental renditions of the target phoneme – age of their occurrence and suppression. The study included 600 participants aged between 3 and 7. Speech elicitation was conducted by a picturenaming task in which target phoneme was represented in initial, medial, final and syllabic position. The results show that the alveolar trill should be developed by the age of six after an intensive period of development at the age of five. Omissions do not occur in the speech of three year olds and are not typical rendition for that age; substitutions should be considered developmental by the age of 4;6 and distortions by the age of 6;0.
Predictive Direct Power Control for Three-Phase Grid-Connected Converters Without Sector Information and Voltage Vector Selection

In this paper, a predictive direct power control (DPC) method without sector information and voltage vector selection is proposed for three-phase grid-connected converters. Different from conventional predictive direct power controllers, the proposed strategy always adopts fixed voltage vectors, instead of selecting voltage vectors according to the angular information of the grid-voltage vector or the virtual-flux vector. The converter switching time is obtained by minimizing the squared errors of the instantaneous active and reactive power. Switch duty cycles are then calculated and equivalently reconstructed. The proposed strategy not only presents rapid dynamic response due to the use of the predictive controller, but also possesses excellent steady-state performance as a result of duty cycle reconstruction. The main advantage of the proposed control scheme, compared with the classical DPC strategies, is that it is unnecessary to use sector information of the grid-voltage vector, and selection of active voltage vectors is also not required here. Therefore, incorrect selection of voltage vectors and the resulting performance deterioration are surely avoided, without the need of any additional compensation measures. An in-depth comparison and experimental assessment are given to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.
Comparison of fluconazole and ketoconazole in experimental murine blastomycosis.

Fluconazole, a new oral triazole antifungal agent, was tested against Blastomyces dermatitidis in vitro and in a murine model (pulmonary challenge) and compared with ketoconazole, an oral imidazole known to be effective against this agent in mice and in humans. Although fluconazole appeared less active than ketoconazole in vitro, in experiments involving 3 weeks of treatment and 2 months of observation, fluconazole was greater than 10 times as potent (mg/kg) in vivo against blastomycosis (prolongation of life). In the model neither drug was curative at the doses and regimens used. A possible explanation for the efficacy of fluconazole in vivo is its favorable pharmacokinetic profile (i.e., prolonged serum concentrations that exceeded the MIC for the pathogen after oral administration). Dosages of 100 mg/(kg.d) were tolerated for 3 weeks without evident toxicity.
Uric Acid but Not Apple Polyphenols Is Responsible for the Rise of Plasma Antioxidant Activity after Apple Juice Consumption in Healthy Subjects

Objective: To determine whether (1) rapid consumption of 1 L of apple juice increases blood antioxidant capacity, measured as ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and serum 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, and (2) apple polyphenols or fructose-induced elevation of plasma uric acid contributes to post-juice increase of blood antioxidant activity. Methods: The study involved 12 (mean age 32 ± 5 years, mean body weight 73 ± 7 kg) healthy nonsmoking subjects. Tested subjects consumed 1 L of clear apple juice and then FRAP; serum DPPH-scavenging activity, serum uric acid, and total plasma phenolics and quercetin levels were measured just before juice ingestion and 1, 2.5, and 4 hours after ingestion. This was repeated 3 times with 4-day intervals, but volunteers drank either 1 L of clear apple juice without polyphenols (placebo), or 1 L of cloudy apple juice (positive control), or 1 L of water (negative control) at the time. All juices had similar content of sugars (i.e., saccharose, glucose, and fructose) and precisely defined composition of phenolics and antioxidant activity. Results: Consumption of all 3 juices transiently increased FRAP and serum DPPH-scavenging activity, with peak values at 1 hour post-juice ingestion. This was paralleled by the rise of serum uric acid, but no significant changes in plasma total phenolics and quercetin levels were observed after all dietary interventions. At the same time, no substantial differences were found between juices (especially between clear apple juice and clear apple juice without polyphenols) concerning the measured variables. A strong significant correlation was noted instead between serum uric acid and plasma antioxidant activity at all analyzed time points, before and after juice ingestion. Plasma total phenolics and quercetin levels were not associated with FRAP and serum DPPH radical-scavenging activity. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that rapid consumption of apple juice increased plasma antioxidant activity in healthy subjects; this was caused by the fructose-induced rise of serum uric acid levels, but was not due to the presence of antioxidant polyphenols in juice. Thus, short-term consumption of apple juice seems not to be the effective dietary intervention to augment plasma antioxidant activity due to the concomitant possibility for uric acid to be a risk factor for several diseases, as verified by other authors.
Treating male sexual dysfunction after traumatic brain injury: Two case reports.

BACKGROUND Sexual dysfunction is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI) but evaluation of treatment interventions have been sparse. OBJECTIVE To report on the treatment of sexual dysfunction for two males with severe TBI. METHODS AND RESULTS Case one was treated for erectile dysfunction (ED). After a medical examination which found no underlying physiological problems, Sildenafil was prescribed. Scores on the Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction Impotence subscale found that scores had improved from the dysfunction range at baseline to the functional range at 6 weeks follow-up. There was some reduction in this improvement at 3 months follow-up, maybe associated with a co-morbid deterioration of emotional state. Case two was treated for idiopathic delayed ejaculation (DE). A standard sex therapy intervention was employed that resulted in the resolution of the problem, documented on the Sex Behavior sub-scale of the Derogatis Inventory for Sexual Functioning-Self Report (comparing baseline to post intervention and follow-up scores). CONCLUSIONS The case reports show promise for the treatment of sexual dysfunction after severe TBI using standard medical and sex therapy treatments. In the future, controlled evaluations are required to demonstrate the efficacy of such interventions.
The Potential of Indonesian Heterobranchs Found around Bunaken Island for the Production of Bioactive Compounds

The species diversity of marine heterobranch sea slugs found on field trips around Bunaken Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) and adjacent islands of the Bunaken National Marine Park forms the basis of this review. In a survey performed in 2015, 80 species from 23 families were collected, including 17 new species. Only three of these have been investigated previously in studies from Indonesia. Combining species diversity with a former study from 2003 reveals in total 140 species from this locality. The diversity of bioactive compounds known and yet to be discovered from these organisms is summarized and related to the producer if known or suspected (might it be down the food chain, de novo synthesised from the slug or an associated bacterium). Additionally, the collection of microorganisms for the discovery of natural products of pharmacological interest from this hotspot of biodiversity that is presented here contains more than 50 species that have never been investigated before in regard to bioactive secondary metabolites. This highlights the great potential of the sea slugs and the associated microorganisms for the discovery of natural products of pharmacological interest from this hotspot of biodiversity.
Prey Carrying Capacity Modulates the Effect of Predation on Prey Diversity

Understanding the role of predation in regulating prey diversity is a major goal in ecology, with profound consequences for community dynamics, ecosystem structure, and conservation practice. Deterministic differential equation models predict that some predation regimes, such as prey-switching predation, should promote prey coexistence and increase prey diversity. However, such models do not capture stochastic population fluctuations that are ubiquitous in empirical study sites and nature reserves. In this article, we examine the effects of prey-switching predation on the species richness of prey communities with demographic noise. We show that in finite, discrete prey populations, the ability of prey-switching predation to promote diversity depends on the carrying capacity of the prey community and the richness of the source pool for prey. Identical predation regimes may have opposite effects on prey diversity depending on the size and productivity of the habitat or the metacommunity richness. Statistical properties of the fluctuations of prey populations determine the effect of stabilizing mechanisms on species richness. We discuss the implications of this result for empirical studies of predation in small study areas and for the management of small nature reserves.
Reconstruction of 3-D temperature distribution for combustion flame image

Combustion flame detection based on digital image processing is the popular trend of flame detection technology. In this paper, we propose a modeling method for the distribution of three-dimensional temperature field of combustion flame image based on modified simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique. The flame image captured by CCD is projected onto the target sheet in three-dimensional space. We investigate the relationship between each pixels of flame image and spatial flame radiation intensity according to the spatial flame radiation of three-dimension. Using the method of reconstruction image based on projection, the simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) and the least squared estimation (LSE) algorithm are used to calculate the three-dimensional (3D) temperature field distribution. Numerical calculation and simulation experiments have been done in order to verify the algorithm. The experimental results demonstrated that the algorithm is feasible and effective.
Silicone Oil for Complicated Retinal Detachment in the Pediatric Population

We presented our results with silicone oil in vitreoretinal surgery in pediatric patients. The retinas reattached in 58% but corneal opacification occurred in 75% and glaucoma in 25%. Our results indicate that silicone oil should be considered in otherwise hopeless cases of retinal detachment surgery in children.
A case of acute suicidality following excessive caffeine intake

Energy and stimulant drinks which contain caffeine provide enlivening effects, reduce fatigue and improve concentration and endurance. However, consumers may also experience physical and psychological side effects as a result of excessive consumption of caffeine within these drinks. Caffeine is known to exacerbate or induce some psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, panic attacks, psychosis and mania. Here we discuss a case of acute suicidality following sleep deprivation after the excessive consumption of a popular energy drink. We are concerned that such widely available stimulant drinks should contain health warnings or advice regarding moderating consumption.
Drug addiction and periodontal diseases

The prevalence of drug addiction is increasing globally. Drug abuse damages many parts of the body such as oral cavity, lungs, liver, brain, heart etc., Addicts suffer from physical, psychological, emotional and behavioral problems. Their nutrition is also compromised. There is certainly an impact of all these factors on the health of periodontium. Dentists should be aware of the effects of drugs while treating the drug addicts. This article correlates the studies done on the impact of abused drugs such as alcohol, tobacco, opiates, cannabis, amphetamines etc., on general and periodontal health.
Effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors on blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This review was undertaken to assess the effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors on blood pressure (BP) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We searched three main databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus) for relevant articles. Randomized controlled trials which reported BP changes from baseline to study endpoint in patients with T2DM receiving treatment of DPP-4 inhibitors were included for analysis. Random effects models were used to measure the mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Fifteen trials involving 5636 participants were identified. When compared with placebo or nontreatment, DPP-4 inhibitors achieved greater reductions for both SBP (mean difference, −3.04 mmHg; 95% CI, −4.37 to −1.72; P < 0.00001) and DBP (mean difference, −1.47 mmHg; 95% CI, −1.79 to −1.15; P < 0.00001). But the BP-lowering effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors were more significant than those of DPP-4 inhibitors for both SBP (mean difference, 4.44 mmHg; 95% CI, 2.67–6.22; P < 0.00001) and DBP (mean difference, 2.15 mmHg; 95% CI, 1.08–3.21; P < 0.00001). No significant differences in BP changes were shown between DPP-4 inhibitors with other antidiabetic agents including glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, pioglitazone, sulphonylureas, metformin, and &agr;-glucosidase inhibitors. DPP-4 inhibitors may exert modest BP-lowering effects compared with placebo or nontreatment for patients with T2DM, but no significant BP improvement was seen with this drug class when compared with other antidiabetic medications.
Valid Inference in Random Effects Meta‐Analysis

Summary. The standard approach to inference for random effects meta‐analysis relies on approximating the null distribution of a test statistic by a standard normal distribution. This approximation is asymptotic on k, the number of studies, and can be substantially in error in medical meta‐analyses, which often have only a few studies. This paper proposes permutation and ad hoc methods for testing with the random effects model. Under the group permutation method, we randomly switch the treatment and control group labels in each trial. This idea is similar to using a permutation distribution for a community intervention trial where communities are randomized in pairs. The permutation method theoretically controls the type I error rate for typical meta‐analyses scenarios. We also suggest two ad hoc procedures. Our first suggestion is to use a t‐reference distribution with k ‐ 1 degrees of freedom rather than a standard normal distribution for the usual random effects test statistic. We also investigate the use of a simple t‐statistic on the reported treatment effects.
Genetic relationships among olive ( Olea europaea L.) cultivars native to Croatia and Turkey

The aim of the study is to determine genetic diversity and relationships among olive cultivars native to Croatia and Turkey. A total of twenty olive ( Olea europaea L.) cultivars including fourteen from Croatia and six common cultivars from Turkey were analyzed for genetic diversity and relationships by using six microsatellite markers (DCA05, DCA09, DCA18, GAPU71B, GAPU101, UDO43). The number of polymorphic alleles ranged from 2 (UDO43) to 5 (DCA09), with an average of 3.6 fragments per marker. UPGMA cluster analysis based on simple matching similarity matrix grouped cultivars into three main clusters. Two pairs of cultivars from Croatia ("Buža muska" and Levantinka"; "VLMD6" and "Drobnica") were thought to be different, although they produced identical SSR profi les. Cluster analysis points to some genetic relationships between Croatian and Turkish olive cultivars. The results also indicate effi ciency of SSR markers to evaluate genetic diversity in olive and identify misnamed or synonym individuals.
Molecular aspects of the pathogenesis of nodular goiters, thyroid nodules and adenomas

One of the most significant results of recent molecular thyroid research on the pathogenesis of nodular goiters may be the finding that not only thyroid adenomas but also many thyroid nodules are clonal in origin and thus are true benign tumors. Both clonal and polyclonal nodules may coexist within the same nodular goiter. Since clonal nodules may secondarily acquire a heterogeneous phenotype, they can become morphologically indistinguishable from polyclonal lesions. The molecular mechanisms that generate thyroid nodules and adenomas are still poorly understood. Certainly, the recent detection of activating mutations in the TSH receptor and the Gs alpha gene in a subset of toxic thyroid adenomas and nodules may explain the generation of hyperfunction in these tumors, but there is strong evidence that these mutations are not the unique and primary cause of tumor formation. In this respect the concept of natural occurring heterogeneity of thyroid growth and function can provide a plausible explanation for the early stages of nodular transformation: If a thyrocyte has a high intrinsic growth potential or if it is affected by overexpression of a protooncogene or a growth factor or hit by an oncogene or other molecular events, the cell will outgrow and form a tumor. The inborn qualities of proliferating cells or the sequence of various genetic alterations in proliferating cells will in turn determine the phenotype and function of the tumor.
Culex pipiens: Species Versus Species Complex – Taxonomic History and Perspective

Abstract The taxonomic history of Culex pipiens (1758–present) is reviewed. The central question is whether Cx. pipiens is a single polytypic species or a complex of sibling species? The taxon traditionally known as the Cx. pipiens complex is referred to as the Pipiens Assemblage to avoid difficulties associated with the meaning of the word “complex”. Neotype specimens have been designated to fix the morphological identities of Cx. pipiens, Cx. molestus, and Cx. quinquefasciatus, and Cx. pallens is represented by a holotype, but whether these nominal forms represent one or more biological species remains controversial. Despite extensive morphological and physiological/behavioral variation, there is no indication of subspecific or racial differences in geographically separated populations of Cx. pipiens. Introgression occurs where populations of Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciatus overlap, but the retention of parental epiphenotypes outside the zone of introgression provides evidence of independent species cohesion. The main conclusions reached are: Cx. pipiens and Cx. quinquefasciatus are separate species which evolved in Africa and hybridize in non-indigenous areas where they were unintentionally introduced by humans; Cx. molestus is nothing more than a phenotypic and physiological variant of Cx. pipiens; and Cx. pallens has no taxonomic status under the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Based on morphological similarity, the Pipiens Assemblage includes Cx. pipiens, Cx. quinquefasciatus, and possibly Cx. australicus. There is no evidence to suggest that the Pipiens Assemblage includes any other species.
Performance of honey bee colonies under a long‐lasting dietary exposure to sublethal concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticide thiacloprid

Abstract BACKGROUND Substantial honey bee colony losses have occurred periodically in the last decades. The drivers for these losses are not fully understood. The influence of pests and pathogens are beyond dispute, but in addition, chronic exposure to sublethal concentrations of pesticides has been suggested to affect the performance of honey bee colonies. This study aims to elucidate the potential effects of a chronic exposure to sublethal concentrations (one realistic worst‐case concentration) of the neonicotinoid thiacloprid to honey bee colonies in a three year replicated colony feeding study. RESULTS Thiacloprid did not significantly affect the colony strength. No differences between treatment and control were observed for the mortality of bees, the infestation with the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the infection levels of viruses. No colony losses occurred during the overwintering seasons. Furthermore, thiacloprid did not influence the constitutive expression of the immunity‐related hymenoptaecin gene. However, upregulation of hymenoptaecin expression as a response to bacterial challenge was less pronounced in exposed bees than in control bees. CONCLUSION Under field conditions, bee colonies are not adversely affected by a long‐lasting exposure to sublethal concentrations of thiacloprid. No indications were found that field‐realistic and higher doses exerted a biologically significant effect on colony performance. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.