Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adipose-derived stromal/stem cells from different adipose depots in obesity development

The increasing prevalence of obesity is alarming because it is a risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (such as type 2 diabetes). The occurrence of these comorbidities in obese patients can arise from white adipose tissue (WAT) dysfunctions, which affect metabolism, insulin sensitivity and promote local and systemic inflammation. In mammals, WAT depots at different anatomical locations (subcutaneous, preperitoneal and visceral) are highly heterogeneous in their morpho-phenotypic profiles and contribute differently to homeostasis and obesity development, depending on their ability to trigger and modulate WAT inflammation. This heterogeneity is likely due to the differential behavior of cells from each depot. Numerous studies suggest that adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (ASC; referred to as adipose progenitor cells, in vivo) with depot-specific gene expression profiles and adipogenic and immunomodulatory potentials are keys for the establishment of the morpho-functional heterogeneity between WAT depots, as well as for the development of depot-specific responses to metabolic challenges. In this review, we discuss depot-specific ASC properties and how they can contribute to the pathophysiology of obesity and metabolic disorders, to provide guidance for researchers and clinicians in the development of ASC-based therapeutic approaches.
Does Patent Quality Drive Damages in Patent Lawsuits? Lessons from the French Judicial System

Abstract This paper presents an empirical analysis of the link between patent damage awards and patent quality, based on information from suits filed during the period 2008–2013 in France. Our results show that civil damage awards attributed by French judges are significantly linked to patent quality, as assessed from a statistical point of view, but this link is imperfect.
Measuring Self-Service Technology Latent Difficulties: Insurance Decisions on Utilitarian and Hedonic Influences

Abstract This study investigates the difficulties encountered by consumers in forming insurance decisions when using self-service technology (SST) channels, such as electronic insurance. Rasch measurement model is applied. This model employs the expectation disconfirmation theory to categorize and rank the order of importance of latent utilitarian and hedonic insurance purchase motives. Consumers find that electronic insurance has high risks and high premiums with respect to utilitarian motives but lacks information and performs unsatisfactorily in terms of hedonic motives. Nevertheless, electronic insurance is preferred for the convenience brought by SST channels, and because it provides greater discounts and offers product–channel matching through self-consultation in the absence of agents. Being middle-aged and having a high income are factors that significantly influence electronic insurance purchases.
The everlasting dispute between coronary bypass and angioplasty in patients with multivessels coronary artery disease: results of the SYNTAX II study

Coronary angioplasty, introduced 40years ago, has seen significant technologic progress, particularly in the development of stents, in the understanding of coronary physiology, and coronary imaging, becoming the standard coronary revascularization technique for patients with non-complicated coronary artery disease. Nonetheless, in patients with three vessels coronary artery disease (3VD), the choice between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) still remains problematic. In the last few years, efforts have been made to identify objective parameters able to guide the therapeutic option in patients with multivessels disease. The SYNTAX I (SYNergy between PCI with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery) study, published in 2013, compared PCI (with first generation stents) with CABG in patients with 3VD. The 5 years results of the SYNTAX I documented that PCI had a higher mortality rate, myocardial infarction, and need for repeated revascularization than CABG. Accordingly, CABG has confirmed the treatment of choice for patients with complex multivessels disease, while PCI was recommended as an acceptable alternative treatment for patients with uncomplicated disease (SYNTAX score intermediate or low). The study results regarding complex multivessels disease have been challenged by recent technologic and procedural advancements of PCI. Furthermore, it has become clear that the decision as to the strategy of revascularization should have not been based on coronary anatomy only [SYNTAX SCORE I (SS I) 22], as recommended by the guidelines, but needed to consider the specifics of the patient clinical situation. These considerations gave impetus for the introduction of the SYNTAX II score (SS II) (Figure 1). SYNTAX II score was developed, with the aim of improving clinical risk stratification, and facilitate the decision as SYNTAX SCORE I
A biomathematical view on the fractional dynamics of cellulose degradation

Abstract We perform a biomathematical analysis of a model of cellulose degradation with derivative of fractional order γ. In the theory of biopolymers division, the phenomenon of shattering remains partially unexplained by classical models of clusters’ fragmentation. Thus, we first examine the case where the breakup rate H is independent of the size of the cellulose chain breaking up, following by the case where H is proportional to the size of the cellulose chain. Both cases show that the evolution of the biopolymer sizes distribution is governed by a combination of higher transcendental functions, namely the Mittag-Leffler function, the further generalized G-function and the Pochhammer polynomial. In particular, this shows existence of an eigen-property, that is, the system describing fractional cellulose degradation contains replicated and partially replicated fractional poles, whose effects are given by these functions.
Characteristics and outcomes of patients with community-acquired and hospital-acquired sepsis

Objective To compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with community-acquired and hospital-acquired sepsis. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study that included all patients with a diagnosis of sepsis detected between January 2010 and December 2015 at a private hospital in southern Brazil. Outcomes (mortality, intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay) were measured by analyzing electronic records. Results There were 543 hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of sepsis, with a frequency of 90.5 (85 to 105) cases/year. Of these, 319 (58%) cases were classified as hospital-acquired sepsis. This group exhibited more severe disease and had a larger number of organ dysfunctions, with higher hospital [8 (8 - 10) versus 23 (20 - 27) days; p < 0.001] and intensive care unit [5 (4 - 7) versus 8.5 (7 - 10); p < 0.001] lengths of stay and higher in-hospital mortality (30.7% versus 15.6%; p < 0.001) than those with community-acquired sepsis. After adjusting for age, APACHE II scores, and hemodynamic and respiratory dysfunction, hospital-acquired sepsis remained associated with increased mortality (OR 1.96; 95%CI 1.15 - 3.32, p = 0.013). Conclusion The present results contribute to the definition of the epidemiological profile of sepsis in the sample studied, in which hospital-acquired sepsis was more severe and was associated with higher mortality.
Agency Problems and the Choice of Auditors: Evidence from the MENA Region

Abstract What determines the choice of auditors in the MENA region? This paper uses the data from Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain and shows that the extent of agency problems in a firm dictates what sort of auditors are chosen by a firm. Our results show that high dividend payout ratios are negatively related to the appointment of one of the big-four auditors. High payout ratios are synonymous to low agency problems and thus firms feel lesser need for having one of the big-four auditors. We also show that high ownership concentration – a proxy for high agency problem – is positively related to firm’s decision of having one of the big-four auditors. High ownership concentration exacerbates agency problems between insiders and outsiders and thus induces firms to appoint one of the big-four auditors to mitigate agency problems. We also document that increased operational complexity and transactional complexity leads to hiring of one of the big-four auditors by a firm. We argue that complexity hinders investor’s ability to understand firm’s information and thus introduces agency problems. Being aware of agency problems, firms hire one of the big-four auditors to alleviate some of these problems.
The influence of seedling density in containers on morphological characteristics of European beech

Abstract This study examines the influence on growth parameters, in particular the morphological features of the root system, of 1-year-old European beech seedlings cultivated in containers with two different densities. The experiment was conducted in the container nursery in Skierdy (Forest District of Jabłonna) in spring 2011. After 10 months of cultivation in Hiko polyethylene containers, above- and below-ground parts of the seedlings were measured. The measurements of the root system were conducted with a scanner and the WinRHIZO software. No influence due to the seedling density on either shoot height or thickness was observed, but instead the research showed that different seedling densities affected the development of root systems. The mean root thickness and dry mass of the European beech seedlings were significantly higher at the lower density. The influence of seedling density on the development of root mass deserves special attention as it is the most important factor affecting future growth of the seedlings during cultivation. This tendency also suggests that the amount of nutrients allocated to shoot development may be higher in order to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis. At both densities, differences in biomass accumulation affected the root-toshoot ratio. In seedlings cultivated at the lower density, the increased dry root matter of the seedlings resulted in a significant increase in the root-to-shoot ratio. This may cause a potential growth advantage of these seedlings after they are planted and may thus result in a more productive cultivation.
Spinal and Shoulder Girdle Range of Motion in Elite Female Volleyball Athletes

Abstract Introduction. Doing asymmetric sports when one suffers from body asymmetry may cause body posture disorders. The aim of the study was to assess the spinal and shoulder complex mobility of professionally trained volleyball athletes compared to that of their peers who do not practise any sports. Material and methods. The study involved 60 participants divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 30 girls aged 14 years. The average height in the group was 176.37 ± 6.29 cm, and the average body mass was 64.53 ± 7.12 kg. Group 2 consisted of 30 girls aged 15.6 ± 1.12 years who did not practise any sports. The average body height in this group was 159.37 ± 3.33 cm, and the average body mass was 51.83 ± 4.03 kg. The dominant limb was defined on the basis of lateralization. The spinal range of motion was measured by means of a Saunders digital inclinometer, and the shoulder complex range of motion was examined using the goniometric method. Means and standard deviations were calculated, and Student’s t-test was applied in order to determine the differences between the two groups. Results. The differences in the values obtained in the two groups for the spinal range of motion in the sagittal plane were statistically significant only for the range of lumbar spine bending and extension. It was found that group 1 had a higher range of spine mobility in the frontal and transverse planes, and the differences were statistically significant in all the assessed ranges towards the dominant limb. An analysis of the shoulder girdle range of motion in the groups revealed that the differences were also statistically significant in all of the examined ranges. Conclusion. Professional volleyball practice can cause an increase in spine flexibility in most of its ranges, and the shoulder girdle range of motion in female volleyball players can exceed population norms, especially for the upper dominant limb.
Discriminatory Pricing and Spatial Competition in Two-Sided Media Markets

Abstract This study describes a spatial model of price discrimination in two-sided media markets. Given that media platforms offer a uniform price for consumers and either a uniform or discriminatory price for advertisers, we compare a platform’s profit and welfare under these two different pricing schemes. In contrast to the well-known result that price discrimination based on a consumer’s location leads to lower profits, if consumers have a strong aversion to advertising, we show that a platform’s profit is better off under price discrimination. In addition, if consumers rather dislike advertising, we show that price discrimination is detrimental to both a platform’s profit and the consumer’s welfare.
Cloning and expression analysis of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) gene family and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) from Dryopteris fragrans

Abstract Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) are the first and second key enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway. Systematic analysis of the DfPAL gene family and DfC4H have not been performed in Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott. To date, PAL and C4H genes have been less extensively studied in monilophytes than in angiosperms. Here we report the identification of threeDfPAL and DfC4H fragments using cDNA cloning and sequencing. Bioinformatics and phylogenetic analyses showed that DfPAL1 and DfPAL2 were quite similar at the amino acid level (94.88%), whereas DfPAL3 was relatively low similar to both of the other paralogs. Some important functional domains were conserved in three DfPAL and DfC4H genes. DfPAL3 and DfC4H were highly expressed in gametophytes and petioles of D. fragrans, DfPAL1 had the highest expression in petioles, and DfPAL2 had low expression in leaves and petioles. Only DfPAL2 and DfC4H were induced with 4°C, 35°C, and UV treatments, but the time responses were different. These results suggest complexity of the DfPAL- and DfC4H-associated metabolic network in D. fragrans. The results provide a basis for elucidating the role of DfPAL and DfC4H genes in the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds.
FPGA-based Data Processing in the Neutron-Sensitive Beam Loss Monitoring System for the ESS Linac

The European Spallation Source (ESS), which is currently under construction, will be a neutron source based on 5 MW, 2 GeV superconducting proton linac. Among other beam instrumentation systems, this high intensity linac requires a Beam Loss Monitoring (BLM) system. An important function of the BLM system is to protect the linac from beam-induced damage by detecting unacceptably high beam loss and promptly inhibiting beam production. In addition to protection functionality, the system is expected to provide the means to monitor the beam losses during all modes of operation with the aim to avoid excessive machine activation. This paper focuses on the FPGA implementation of the real-time data processing in the nBLM system and presents preliminary result of a prototype system installed at LINAC4 at CERN.
Linear and Non-linear Decomposition of Index Generation Functions

Minimization of index generation functions attracts increasing interest lately. Methods proposed in the literature focus mainly on linear decomposition using XOR gates. In this paper we propose an algorithm using discernibility sets. We prove that it minimize standard benchmark functions as efficiently as the best-known algorithms. However, linear transformations seem to be insufficient for some functions. Therefore, we propose a novel approach to the minimization of index generation functions that uses non-linear transformations, i.e. AND gates. We provide examples showing that this technique can further reduce the number of input variables.
A case study of male tawny owl (Strix aluco) vocalizations in South Korea: call feature, individuality, and the potential use for census

ABSTRACT Vocal individuality has been used as a monitoring tool, and two criteria are a prerequisite: high variation among individuals and low variation within individuals, and vocal consistency within and across seasons. We examined individual variation in the territorial hoot calls of the tawny owl (Strix aluco) to discriminate between males and to assess a possible conservation technique that would allow for monitoring individuals within a study area. The territorial calls were recorded from five males in the Naejang Mountain National Park in South Korea during the breeding season in 2015 and 2016 and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine the amount of variation within and between individuals. Our results showed that the territorial calls were specific to individuals within a population and that the acoustic distances between males living in the same territory during the two years were the smallest for the four nesting sites. Our results suggest that territorial calls of the tawny owls are individually identifiable over two years and that this acoustic technique can be useful for monitoring individual site fidelity.
Statistical Model of Measurement Noise in Real-World PMU-based Acquisitions

In this paper, we present a processing technique to determine the statistical distribution of additive measurement noise in real-world acquisitions, with specific reference to Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) applications in Active Distribution Networks (ADNs). The proposed approach identifies the power signal fundamental component, as well as harmonic and interharmonic interferences, and models the measurement noise as a Gaussian random variable. First, we describe the algorithm main stages and the criteria for the most suitable parameter setting. Then, we carry out a numerical validation inspired by IEEE Std. C37.118. 1 test conditions. Finally, we validate the proposed approach on real-world measurements acquired by a PMU in the distribution network of EPFL campus.
A Conditional Bayesian Block Structure Inference Model for Optimized AV1 Encoding

AV1, a next-generation open-source and royalty-free video coding standard, achieves high compression performance at high computational cost. To meet the requirements of HD and UHD video applications, extensive optimizations in both the algorithm and implementation of AV1 are required. In this paper, we analyze the similarities between the block structure decisions after rate-distortion (RD) optimized AV1 and HEVC encodings of the same input. Taking advantage of such similarities, we propose a conditional Bayesian inference model to perform early termination in block partition determination of AV1 based on HEVC encoding outputs. An estimation algorithm is designed to iteratively calculate the prior probability for Bayesian inference. Experiment results show that our proposed algorithm could realize an average time saving of 35.7% and negligible BD-rate loss (0.61%), with the pre-encoding time taken into consideration.
Latent Class Multi-Label Classification to Identify Subclasses of Disease for Improved Prediction

Disease subtyping can assist the development of precision medicine but remains a challenge in data analysis by reason of the many different methods to group individuals depending on their data. However, identification of subclasses of disease will help to produce better models which are more specific to patients and will improve prediction and interpretation of underlying characteristics of disease. This paper presents a novel algorithm that integrates latent class models with supervised learning. The new algorithm uses latent class models to cluster patients within groups that results in improved classification as well as aiding the understanding of the dissimilarities of the discovered groups. The methods are tested on data from patients with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), a rare potentially fatal condition. Results show that the "Latent Class Multi-Label Classification Model" improves accuracy when compared with competitive similar methods.
An Inside Perspective on Magma Intrusion: Quantifying 3D Displacement and Strain in Laboratory Experiments by Dynamic X-Ray Computed Tomography

Magma intrusions grow to their final geometries by deforming the Earth’s crust internally and by displacing the Earth’s surface. Interpreting the related displacements in terms of intrusion geometry is key to forecasting a volcanic eruption. While scaled laboratory models enable us to study the relationships between surface displacement and intrusion geometry, past approaches entailed limitations regarding imaging of the laboratory model interior or simplicity of the simulated crustal rheology. Here we apply cutting-edge medical wide beam X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) to quantify in 4D the deformation induced in laboratory models by an intrusion of a magma analogue (golden syrup) into a rheologically-complex granular host rock analogue (sand and plaster). We extract the surface deformation and we quantify the strain field of the entire experimental volume in 3D over time by using Digital Volume Correlation (DVC). By varying the strength and height of the host material, and intrusion velocity, we observe how intrusions of contrasting geometries– cryptodomes, cup shapes, cone sheets and dikes – grow, and induce contrasting strain field characteristics and surface deformation in 4D. We observe dominantly mixed-mode (opening and shear) fracture localisation in low-cohesion material overburden versus opening-mode fracture localisation in high-cohesion material overburden. The results demonstrate how the combination of CT and DVC can greatly enhance the utility of optically non-transparent crustal rock analogues in obtaining insights into shallow crustal deformation processes. This unprecedented perspective on the spatio-temporal interaction of intrusion growth coupled with host rock deformation provides a conceptual framework that can be tested by geological field observations at eroded volcanic systems and by the ever increasing spatial and temporal resolution of geodetic data at active volcanoes.
Development and Optimization of an ELISA to Quantitate C3(H2O) as a Marker of Human Disease

Discovery of a C3(H2O) uptake pathway has led to renewed interest in this alternative pathway triggering form of C3 in human biospecimens. Previously, a quantifiable method to measure C3(H2O), not confounded by other complement activation products, was unavailable. Herein, we describe a sensitive and specific ELISA for C3(H2O). We initially utilized this assay to determine baseline C3(H2O) levels in healthy human fluids and to define optimal sample storage and handling conditions. We detected ~500 ng/ml of C3(H2O) in fresh serum and plasma, a value substantially lower than what was predicted based on previous studies with purified C3 preparations. After a single freeze-thaw cycle, the C3(H2O) concentration increased 3- to 4-fold (~2,000 ng/ml). Subsequent freeze-thaw cycles had a lesser impact on C3(H2O) generation. Further, we found that storage of human sera or plasma samples at 4°C for up to 22 h did not generate additional C3(H2O). To determine the potential use of C3(H2O) as a biomarker, we evaluated specimens from patients with inflammatory-driven diseases. C3(H2O) concentrations were moderately increased (1.5- to 2-fold) at baseline in sera from active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared to healthy controls. In addition, upon challenge with multiple freeze-thaw cycles or incubation at 22 or 37°C, C3(H2O) generation was significantly enhanced in SLE and RA patients' sera. In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from lung-transplant recipients, we noted a substantial increase in C3(H2O) within 3 months of acute antibody-mediated rejection. In conclusion, we have established an ELISA for assessing C3(H2O) as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in human diseases.