Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imaging Based on Correlation Function for Buried Objects Identification

Ground-penetrating radar is usually employed to detect such buried objects beneath the ground as pipes, cables, and mines. There exist several methods for monitoring the buried objects, some of which require a relatively long time and heavy computations to create an appropriate image. The signal sent to the environment is reflected due to the characteristic features of the environment, which eventually leads to detection of the buried objects. For detection of the near ground surface targets, there is a very poor distinguishability between the signal reflected from the buried objects and the one from the ground itself. Buried objects in this case are detectable using ultra-wide band signals in the frequency domain. Comparing the reflected signals from the ground with those from the objects in the aforementioned case, one can detect the buried objects. In this paper, the reflected signal from the ground is canceled using the time-gating method. To detect the buried objects, the signals reflected from different position zones are compared with each other based on the concept of correlation function which is suggested in this paper. The results of this paper are also compared with those of the reflected-power and back-projection methods. We demonstrate that by employing the proposed method, it is possible to detect all buried objects in these environmental conditions.
A cross sectional study of bone and cartilage biomarkers: correlation with structural damage in rheumatoid arthritis

ABSTRACT The aim of our study was to assess the relationship between bone and cartilage remodeling biomarkers and joint damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and to detect whether they have the capacity to predict the progression of joint disease assessment by computed tomography (CT) erosion score. We analyzed 65 female patients with established RA in our Rheumatology Department. Serum levels of bone and cartilage markers were measured: osteocalcin (OC), N-propeptide of type I collagen (PINP), collagen type I and II, C-telopeptide (CTX I, CTX-II) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP). Radiography of both wrist and MCP joints were available. Two expert-readers independently scored articular damage and progression using the High-resolution low dose CT scan in a blinded fashion. 65 female patients with established RA with a median age of 44 years were included. The median disease-duration was two years and the median (Disease activity score) DAS 28 score at 4.46 [2.65–7.36]. The percentage of patient with low disease activity was 13.8%, while 55.4 and 30.8% for those with moderate and high disease activity respectively. The resorption bone markers were high in active versus non-active RA. Wrist and MCP erosion scores were also associated with RA activity. Our study shows that biomarkers of bone and cartilage collagen breakdown were related to specific joint erosion in RA and could predict subsequent radiographic damage in RA. Further larger scale longitudinal studies maybe needed to confirm our data.
Eight-Wavelength, Dual Detection Channel Instrument for Near-Infrared Time-Resolved Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy

In this paper, we present an innovative instrument for near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy. The system is based on eight custom-designed pulsed diode lasers emitting at different wavelengths in the near-infrared region (635–1050 nm), all exhibiting an average optical power higher than 1 mW at 40 MHz pulse repetition rate, two custom-made single-photon detectors based on wide-area silicon photomultipliers and two time-measurement units based on a custom time-to-digital converter with 10 ps timing resolution. The system instrument response function has a width narrower than 160 ps (fullwidth at half-maximum) and stability better than ±1% for several hours for all the wavelengths. All the components of the instrument were designed in order to be compact. The entire system will be hosted in a standard 19 inches, 5U rack case (size 48 × 38 × 20 cm3 ). The system communicates with the external computer through a USB 2.0 link and is designed to be employed in a clinical environment. The proposed instrument, thanks to the reduction of its cost and dimensions, paves the way to a wider diffusion of multiwavelengths near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy systems.
Effects of the Nanofillers on Physical Properties of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Nanocomposites: Comparison of Graphene Nanoplatelets and Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

The effects of carbonaceous nanoparticles, such as graphene (GNP) and multiwall carbon nanotube (CNT) on the mechanical and electrical properties of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) nanocomposites have been investigated. Samples with various filler loadings were produced by solvent free process. Composites ABS/GNP showed higher stiffness, better creep stability and processability, but slightly lower tensile strength and electrical properties (low conductivity) when compared with ABS/CNT nanocomposites. Tensile modulus, tensile strength and creep stability of the nanocomposite, with 6 wt % of GNP, were increased by 47%, 1% and 42%, respectively, while analogous ABS/CNT nanocomposite showed respective values of 23%, 12% and 20%. The electrical percolation threshold was achieved at 7.3 wt % for GNP and 0.9 wt % for CNT. The peculiar behaviour of conductive CNT nanocomposites was also evidenced by the observation of the Joule’s effect after application of voltages of 12 and 24 V. Moreover, comparative parameters encompassing stiffness, melt flow and resistivity were proposed for a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of the fillers.
Metabolic fate of the new synthetic cannabinoid 7'N-5F-ADB in rat, human, and pooled human S9 studied by means of hyphenated high-resolution mass spectrometry.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are an important issue in clinical/forensic toxicology. 7'N-5F-ADB, a synthetic cannabinoid derived from 5F-ADB, appeared recently on the market. Up to now, no data about its mass spectral fragmentation pattern, metabolism, and thus suitable targets for toxicological urine screenings have been available. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate the metabolic fate of 7'N-5F-ADB in rat, human, and pooled human S9 (pS9). The main human urinary excretion products, which can be used as targets for toxicological screening procedures, were identified by Orbitrap (OT)-based liquid chromatography-high resolution-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). In addition, possible differentiation of 7'N-5F-ADB and 5F-ADB via LC-HRMS/MS was studied. Using the in vivo and in vitro models for metabolism studies, 36 metabolites were tentatively identified. 7'N-5F-ABD was extensively metabolized in rat and human with minor species differences observed. The unchanged parent compound could be found in human urine but metabolites were far more abundant. The most abundant ones were the hydrolyzed ester (M5), the hydrolyzed ester in combination with hydroxylation of the tertiary butyl part (M11), and the hydrolyzed ester in addition to glucuronidation (M30). Besides the parent compound, these metabolites should be used as targets for urine-based toxicological screening procedures. Two urine-paired human plasma samples contained mainly the parent compound (c = 205 μg/L, 157 μg/L) and, at a higher abundance, the compound after ester hydrolysis (M5). In pS9 incubations, the parent compound, M5, and M30 were detectable among others. Furthermore, a differentiation of both compounds was possible due to different retention times and fragmentation patterns.
The Interplay of Form and Meaning in Complex Medical Terms: Evidence from a Clinical Corpus

We conduct a corpus study to investigate the structure of multi-word expressions (MWEs) in the clinical domain. Based on an existing medical taxonomy, we develop an annotation scheme and label a sample of MWEs from a Dutch corpus with semantic and grammatical features. The analysis of the annotated data shows that the formal structure of clinical MWEs correlates with their conceptual properties. The insights gained from this study could inform the design of Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems for clinical writing, but also for other specialized genres.
Factors Affecting Body Image Discordance Amongst Korean Adults Aged 19–39 Years

Objectives This study was designed to investigate factors affecting the discordance between body image and body mass index amongst Korean adults aged 19–39 years. Methods Data (N = 59,361) from the 2014 Korean Community Health Survey was analyzed using descriptive analysis, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis. Results To examine the factors affecting body image discordance as observed in 43.1% of participants, the group was subdivided into underestimation and overestimation. There were 36.0% of participants that were body image discordant underestimators and 7.1% were overestimators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the underestimators tended to be men, graduated from high school, married, current/ex-smokers, ex-drinkers, had between 5 to 9 hours sleep (inclusive), had fair to good self-rated health, and demonstrated healthy weight control behavior, relative to the reference group. In comparison, overestimators tended to be in the 19–29 year group and had signs of depression. The OR of individuals who were men, married, and had healthy weight control behavior was significantly lower in the overestimators group. Conclusion These findings show that tailored interventions to promote accurate body awareness should be based on the type of body image discordance. In addition, it is necessary to develop and implement a program of body image improvement that considers the factors affecting body weight discordance.
SENSE registry for status epilepticus

Evidence is scarce regarding the treatment of status epilepticus (SE). Only a few large randomized controlled trials have been published. Therefore, we set up a multicenter registry to prospectively document treatment practice in several different large hospitals in German‐speaking countries. Over a period of more than 4 years, we were able to document 1179 episodes of 1049 patients who were treated for SE in 1 of the 8 participating centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Median age was 70 years. The most frequent etiology was remote (32%), followed by acute (31%), or a mixture of acute and remote factors (10%). Semiology was generalized convulsive in 44%, focal motor in 27%, and nonconvulsive in 30%. Only a few patients did not have relevant comorbidities. Median latency between SE onset and first treatment was 1 hour (median). Three hundred ninety‐three (32%) of the patients were treated within 30 minutes after onset. The first treatment step consisted of benzodiazepines in more than 80%, and in levetiracetam in 15%. Five hundred eleven patients (49%) were refractory (defined as ongoing SE after application of benzodiazepine and 1 intravenous anticonvulsant). Further analysis of these registry data may be important for hypothesis generation and trial design for treatment of status epilepticus.
Non-functional Requirements for Real World Big Data Systems - An Investigation of Big Data Architectures at Facebook, Twitter and Netflix

This research represents a unique contribution to the field of Software Engineering for Big Data in the form of an investigation of the big data architectures of three well-known real-world companies: Facebook, Twitter and Netflix. The purpose of this investigation is to gather significant non-functional requirements for realworld big data systems, with an aim to addressing these requirements in the design of our own unique architecture for big data processing in the cloud: MC-BDP (Multi-Cloud Big Data Processing). MC-BDP represents an evolution of the PaaS-BDP architectural pattern, previously developed by the authors. However, its presentation is not within the scope of this paper. The scope of this comparative study is limited to the examination of academic papers, technical blogs, presentations, source code and documentation officially published by the companies under investigation. Ten non-functional requirements are identified and discussed in the context of these companies’ architectures: batch data, stream data, late and out-of-order data, processing guarantees, integration and extensibility, distribution and scalability, cloud support and elasticity, faulttolerance, flow control, and flexibility and technology agnosticism. They are followed by the conclusion and considerations for future work.
Developing a Taxonomy for Software Process Context

When developing software intensive products, practitioners adapt software practices to suit their specific environment. In order to evaluate and compare practices in an evidence based way, researchers must report the context in which the practice was enacted. This is problematic, as the discipline lacks an agreed classification structure for software context. In this paper, we re-position earlier investigations into software context for the purpose of practice evaluation by mapping the evolved framework as a taxonomy. The purpose of the taxonomy is to support discussions about situated software practices with a view to guiding researchers in the specification of context. We conducted an initial evaluation by classifying existing context structures into the taxonomy, and by implementing a small trial study. In future work, we will refine the taxonomy in conjunction with software researchers and practitioners, and use the taxonomy for evidence accumulation.
A Multidimensional Analysis of Research Article Discussion Sections in the Field of Chemical Engineering

Background: This study investigates linguistic characterizations in the form of linguistic co-occurrence patterns in discussion sections of English research articles (RAs) in an engineering discipline (i.e., chemical engineering) and linguistic variations that distinguish discussion sections of high-impact articles from those in low-impact articles. Research questions: 1. What underlying linguistic characterizations are salient in RA discussions in chemical engineering? 2. Are there any differences in the identified linguistic characterizations of discussion sections between high- and low-impact RAs? Literature review: In the process of composing RAs, the discussion section is a difficult and challenging part-genre to write. The rhetorical organization of RA discussions has been examined extensively through Swales's English for Specific Purposes genre analysis. However, the linguistic characterizations of RA discussion sections remain unclear and the question of whether discernible differences exist between discussions of high- and low-impact RAs in a specialized engineering discipline remains unanswered. Methodology: This study used Biber's multidimensional (MD) analysis method. In response to the first research question, factor analysis (in this study, principal component analysis) was adopted to identify the linguistic characterizations in the form of linguistic co-occurrence patterns (“dimensions”) in 213 RA discussion sections extracted from chemical engineering RAs. To answer the second question, the independent t-test was implemented to compare the high- and low-impact RA discussion sections in the identified dimensions. Results and conclusions: Six linguistic characterizations in the form of linguistic co-occurrence patterns were identified in RA discussion sections: 1. involvement and interactivity, 2. non-narration versus narration, 3. evaluative statements with further explanations and elaborations, 4. informational density, 5. stating results/claims, and 6. expression of denial relationships toward statement or experimental findings. The results suggest the linguistic characterizations in RA discussion sections and interesting differences in the high- and low-impact RA discussion sections, especially in Dimensions 1, 3, and 5. Reasons for the linguistic variations in the identified dimensions are discussed, followed by the pedagogical implications for reading or writing RAs for international scientific communication.
Automated Synthesis of Robust QFT-PID Controllers based on Piecewise Linear Approximations

Quantitative feedback theory (QFT) is a frequency domain based robust control design techniques [1]. In this paper, the piecewise linear approximation based linear programming (PLA-LP) algorithms presented in [6] are extended for automatic synthesis of robust PID controller in the QFT framework. Firstly, the λ-formulations for the parallel or interacting form of the PID controller are derived. Then, the λ-formulations are incorporated into the QFT synthesis algorithm proposed in [6], and solved to global optimality using a mixed-integer programming (MIP) branch and bound solver. The proposed robust QFT-PID synthesis algorithm is demonstrated on two benchmark examples. Compared to existing methods, the PLA-LP based QFT-PID algorithm is faster by a couple of orders of magnitude, and also gives considerable reductions in the controller gain.
Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Familial Hypercholesterolemia Is Understudied

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common heritable condition in which mutations of genes governing cholesterol metabolism result in elevated LDL levels and accelerated atherosclerosis. The treatment of FH focuses on lipid lowering drugs to decrease patients' cholesterol levels and reduce their risk of cardiovascular events. Even with optimal medical therapy, some FH patients will develop coronary atherosclerosis, suffer myocardial infarction, and require revascularization. Yet, the revascularization of FH patients has not been widely studied. Here we review FH, identify unanswered questions in the interventional management of FH patients, and explore barriers and opportunities for answering these questions. Further research is needed in this neglected but important topic in interventional cardiology.
Layer Trajectory LSTM

It is popular to stack LSTM layers to get better modeling power, especially when large amount of training data is available. However, an LSTM-RNN with too many vanilla LSTM layers is very hard to train and there still exists the gradient vanishing issue if the network goes too deep. This issue can be partially solved by adding skip connections between layers, such as residual LSTM. In this paper, we propose a layer trajectory LSTM (ltLSTM) which builds a layer-LSTM using all the layer outputs from a standard multi-layer time-LSTM. This layer-LSTM scans the outputs from time-LSTMs, and uses the summarized layer trajectory information for final senone classification. The forward-propagation of time-LSTM and layer-LSTM can be handled in two separate threads in parallel so that the network computation time is the same as the standard time-LSTM. With a layer-LSTM running through layers, a gated path is provided from the output layer to the bottom layer, alleviating the gradient vanishing issue. Trained with 30 thousand hours of EN-US Microsoft internal data, the proposed ltLSTM performed significantly better than the standard multi-layer LSTM and residual LSTM, with up to 9.0% relative word error rate reduction across different tasks.
Caenorhabditis elegans Show Preference for Stimulants and Potential as a Model Organism for Medications Screening

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a popular invertebrate model organism to study neurobiological disease states. This is due in part to the intricate mapping of all neurons and synapses of the entire animal, the wide availability of mutant strains, and the genetic and molecular tools that can be used to manipulate the genome and gene expression. We have shown that, C. elegans develops a conditioned preference for cues that had previously been paired with either cocaine or methamphetamine exposure that is dependent on dopamine neurotransmission, similar to findings using place conditioning with rats and mice. In the current study, we show C. elegans also display a preference for, and self-exposure to, cocaine and nicotine. This substance of abuse (SOA) preference response can be selectively blocked by pretreatment with naltrexone and is consistent with the recent discovery of an opioid receptor system in C. elegans. In addition, pre-exposure to the smoking cessation treatment varenicline also inhibits self-exposure to nicotine. Exposure to concentrations of treatments that inhibit SOA preference/self-exposure did not induce any significant inhibition of locomotor activity or affect food or benzaldehyde chemotaxis. These data provide predictive validity for the development of high-throughput C. elegans behavioral medication screens. These screens could enable fast and accurate generation of data to identify compounds that may be effective in treating human addiction. The successful development and validation of such models would introduce powerful and novel tools in the search for new pharmacological treatments for substance use disorders, and provide a platform to study the mechanisms that underlie addictions.
Treatment outcome of tuberculosis among Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive patients in Eastern Ethiopia: a retrospective study

Introduction Tuberculosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome worldwide. Although Human Immunodeficiency Virus related tuberculosis is both treatable and preventable, incidence rates continue to climb in developing countries where both infections are endemic. The aim of this study was to assess the treatment outcome of tuberculosis among Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive patients attending in three hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia. Methods A retrospective clinical record review was conducted for 627 Tuberculosis and Human immunodeficiency virus co-infected patients registered from January 2008 to January 2014 cards were reviewed in three hospitals of tuberculosis clinics of Eastern Ethiopia from December 2015 to February 2016. The three hospitals were selected based on their high patient load of TB-HIV co infection and the presence of ART and TB units. Data on patient's details and tuberculosis treatment outcome were collected using standardized report format of National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTLCP). The collected data were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software Version 16. Results The overall treatment success rate was 78.3%. Of the total TB-HIV co infected study participants, 17.9% cured, 60.4% treatment completed, 8.6% died, 0.6% failure, 1.8% defaulter and 10.7% transferred out. Those participants in the age groups of less than or equals to 18 years old (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.990, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.01, 3.350), extra pulmonary tuberculosis (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.51, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.12, 3.42), on antiretro viral therapy (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.54, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.252, 3.910) were more likely to have higher treatment outcome than each of the above variables counter parts. Conclusion The rate of treatment success in this study was lower than recommended rate by World Health Organization. Thus this study recommends improving counseling during tuberculosis treatment, providing home visits and motivation of patients, improving defaulter tracing and health information dissemination in order to reduce treatment interruption.