Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling substrate integrated waveguide structures using effective material properties

A substrate integrated waveguide is analyzed using effective material properties for the first time. The analysis is performed by replacing subwavelength periodic metallization with a frequency dependent homogeneous material. For example, the post wall of the waveguide is represented as a negative permittivity material. A substrate integrated waveguide fabricated in low temperature co-fired ceramic is analyzed. The phase constant of the guide is calculated with slab waveguide equations, using effective material properties to replace much of the metal structuring, and it is shown to be almost the same as that simulated and measured. An SIW coupler that utilizes side wall leakage for coupling is simulated using effective material properties. The simplified structure shows results matching the full structure with a reduction in simulation time of 88%. These results demonstrate a substrate integrated waveguide can be accurately and efficiently simulated by replacing subwavelength periodic structures with a frequency dependent homogeneous material.
Parallelisation of maximal patterns finding algorithm in biological sequences

The rapid increase of the biological data opens up new challenges for scientists to discover new methods to manage, analyses and understand them effectively. One of the methods in analysing these biological data is by looking at the maximal patterns that exists in the data. Discovering the relationship among the biological sequences is based on the importance of the maximal patterns of these sequences. These maximal patterns can be used to build indexes a faster search. In this research, we used parallel methods to improve the speed of an existing maximal pattern finding algorithm, TEIRESIAS. There are two phases in the algorithm, which are the scanning and the convolution phases. The first phase detects short patterns in the biological data and the second phase combines the short patterns into longer patterns without sacrificing the meaning. The output will be maximal patterns. The first phase of the algorithm is very compute intensive. We improve the overall process of finding maximal patterns by decomposing the biological database and by distributing it to be input into to the TEIRESIAS algorithm. We applied the master-slave model and used OpenMP to implement the model. Our results show that the performance decreased when we used 8 threads. The results also show that there are 1.6 time and 2.0 times improvement in terms of the overall speed of the algorithm when we used two threads and four.
Modulation of Macrophage Activation State Protects Tissue from Necrosis during Critical Limb Ischemia in Thrombospondin-1-Deficient Mice

Background Macrophages, key regulators of healing/regeneration processes, strongly infiltrate ischemic tissues from patients suffering from critical limb ischemia (CLI). However pro-inflammatory markers correlate with disease progression and risk of amputation, suggesting that modulating macrophage activation state might be beneficial. We previously reported that thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) is highly expressed in ischemic tissues during CLI in humans. TSP-1 is a matricellular protein that displays well-known angiostatic properties in cancer, and regulates inflammation in vivo and macrophages properties in vitro. We therefore sought to investigate its function in a mouse model of CLI. Methods and Findings Using a genetic model of tsp-1 −/− mice subjected to femoral artery excision, we report that tsp-1 −/− mice were clinically and histologically protected from necrosis compared to controls. Tissue protection was associated with increased postischemic angiogenesis and muscle regeneration. We next showed that macrophages present in ischemic tissues exhibited distinct phenotypes in tsp-1 −/− and wt mice. A strong reduction of necrotic myofibers phagocytosis was observed in tsp-1 −/− mice. We next demonstrated that phagocytosis of muscle cell debris is a potent pro-inflammatory signal for macrophages in vitro. Consistently with these findings, macrophages that infiltrated ischemic tissues exhibited a reduced postischemic pro-inflammatory activation state in tsp-1 −/− mice, characterized by a reduced Ly-6C expression and a less pro-inflammatory cytokine expression profile. Finally, we showed that monocyte depletion reversed clinical and histological protection from necrosis observed in tsp-1 −/− mice, thereby demonstrating that macrophages mediated tissue protection in these mice. Conclusion This study defines targeting postischemic macrophage activation state as a new potential therapeutic approach to protect tissues from necrosis and promote tissue repair during CLI. Furthermore, our data suggest that phagocytosis plays a crucial role in promoting a deleterious intra-tissular pro-inflammatory macrophage activation state during critical injuries. Finally, our results describe TSP-1 as a new relevant physiological target during critical leg ischemia.
Characterisation of Sol-gel Thin Films by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

The refractive index and porosity of silicate based sol-gel thin films prepared from tetraethoxysilane and methyltriethoxysilane were characterised using spectroscopic ellipsometry. With the hypothesis of considering the thin films as one mixture of matrix materials with pores for ellipsometric data analysis, linear calculation and effective medium approximation (EMA) models were employed in ellipsometric data analysis. The analysis ambiguity with EMA model was effectively reduced by incorporating the intensity of reflectance of thin films in the data analysis. Results show that data analysis using EMA model with Cauchy equation can significantly improve the accuracy in the determination of the film porosity and refractive index. This approach greatly enhances the applicability of ellipsometry in analysis of porous thin films.
Reversible Defect Engineering of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

The experimental creation and annihilation of defects on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) with the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope are reported. The technique used to manipulate the wall structure of a nanotube at the atomic scale consists of a voltage ramp applied at constant tunneling current between the tip and the nanotube adsorbed on a gold substrate. While topographic images show an interference pattern at the defect position, spatially resolved tunneling spectroscopy reveals the presence of localized states in the band gap of the nanotube. Removal of the defect by the same procedure demonstrates the reversibility of the process. Such a precise control in the local modification of the nanotube wall opens up new opportunities to tailor SWCNT electronic properties at will.
Study of different Trends and Techniques in Face Recognition

History of Face recognition is old enough to be mature. In 1960s, face recognition became semi-automated. In 1970s, face recognition took another step in automation. In 1988, first semi-automated facial recognition system was deployed. In 2001, automated face recognition captured attention of public at SuperBowl event to capture surveillance images. Now a day, every country in the world is using this technology for different purposes. In this paper, we have discussed some novel techniques and algorithms for face recognition of the current trends.
Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity predicts the development of cardiovascular disease in a general Japanese population: the Hisayama Study

Objective: We examined the relationship between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and the development of cardiovascular disease in a general Japanese population. Methods: A total of 2916 community-dwelling Japanese individuals without history of cardiovascular disease aged at least 40 years were followed up for an average of 7.1 years, and the relationship between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and the cardiovascular risk was estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model. To compare the accuracy of the risk assessment for cardiovascular events between the models adjusted for known cardiovascular risk factors with and without brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve and net reclassification improvement were computed. Results: During the follow-up period, 126 patients experienced cardiovascular events. Age and sex-adjusted incidence rates of cardiovascular disease increased linearly with elevating brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity levels (P for trend <0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, every 20% increment in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was associated with a 1.30-fold [95% confidential interval (CI) 1.10–1.53] greater cardiovascular risk. When brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was incorporated into a model with known cardiovascular risk factors, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was significantly increased (0.776 vs. 0.760; P = 0.01), and the net reclassification improvement was 0.085 (P = 0.008). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity is a significant predictive factor for cardiovascular disease in the general Japanese population and that information on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity substantially improves cardiovascular risk assessment beyond that achieved by a model based on potential risk factors in general practice.
Personalized selection of web services for mobile environments: the m-scroutz solution

In this paper we discuss the integration of QoS-awa research and personalization algorithms in order to discover effectual Web Services for the case of mobile web users. We present a number of novel ranking algorithms specially designed for mobile web architectures. To validate and evaluate the proposed algorithms we developed a fully working prototype for mobile-PDA devices. The prototype enables PDA users to access electronic shops and to retrieve information about their products, while going shopping. Comparative experimental results have shown encouraging results that prove m-scroutz to be effective.
Multifactor Gaussian process models for style-content separation

We introduce models for density estimation with multiple, hidden, continuous factors. In particular, we propose a generalization of multilinear models using nonlinear basis functions. By marginalizing over the weights, we obtain a multifactor form of the Gaussian process latent variable model. In this model, each factor is kernelized independently, allowing nonlinear mappings from any particular factor to the data. We learn models for human locomotion data, in which each pose is generated by factors representing the person's identity, gait, and the current state of motion. We demonstrate our approach using time-series prediction, and by synthesizing novel animation from the model.
COMPLETION OF MISSING DATA IN RIVERS FLOW MEASUREMENT: CASE STUDY OF ZAB RIVER BASIN

Su kaynaklarinin havza bazindaki ihtiyaclara gore planlanmasi icin havza su potansiyelinin cok iyi analiz edilmesi gerekmektedir. Bu analizlerin dogru ve guvenilir olmasi icin de havzaya ait meteorolojik ve akim gozlem verilerinin eksiksiz olmasi ve uzun yillara dayanmasi gerekmektedir. Ozellikle akim gozlem verilerinin eksik olmasi, su yapilarinin planlanmasinda ciddi risklerin olusmasina neden olmaktadir. Bu makalede, Akim Gozlem Istasyonlarindaki (AGI) eksik verilerin tamamlanmasi icin korelasyona bagli regresyon analizi ve Drenaj Alan Orani metodu kullanilmistir. Calisma alani olarak Zap Suyu havzasi secilmistir Calisma sonucunda, eksik verilerin tamamlanmasi icin istasyonlar arasindaki korelasyonlardan yola cikilarak olusturulan dogrusal veya dogrusal olmayan regresyon denklemlerinin kullanilmasi ile orijinal veri (data) setlerinin istatistiksel acidan yapisi bozulmadan eksik verilerin tamamlanabilmesi mumkun olmustur. Ayni durum Drenaj Alan-Orani metodu icin de gecerlidir. Fakat eksik verilerin tamamlanabilmesinde dikkat edilecek en onemli hususlardan birisi de eksik veri boyutudur. Ozellikle fazla miktarda eksik verinin bulunmasi durumunda her iki yontemde de orijinal verilerden sapmalar gozlemlenebilmektedir. Bu nedenle sadece bir metoda bagli kalmaksizin, farkli metotlar ile eksik verilerin tamamlanmasi ve birbirleri ile kiyaslanarak en uygun metodun sonuclarinin kullanilmasi, buyuk onem arz etmektedir.
Caspr regulates the processing of contactin and inhibits its binding to neurofascin

Three cell adhesion molecules are present at the axoglial junctions that form between the axon and myelinating glia on either side of nodes of Ranvier. These include an axonal complex of contacin-associated protein (Caspr) and contactin, which was proposed to bind NF155, an isoform of neurofascin located on the glial paranodal loops. Here, we show that NF155 binds directly to contactin and that surprisingly, coexpression of Caspr inhibits this interaction. This inhibition reflects the association of Caspr with contactin during biosynthesis and the resulting expression of a low molecular weight (LMw), endoglycosidase H–sensitive isoform of contactin at the cell membrane, which remains associated with Caspr but is unable to bind NF155. Accordingly, deletion of Caspr in mice by gene targeting results in a shift from the LMw- to a HMw-contactin glycoform. These results demonstrate that Caspr regulates the intracellular processing and transport of contactin to the cell surface, thereby affecting its ability to interact with other cell adhesion molecules.
A Method of Calculation for Contact Pressure between Femoral Head and Cup of Artificial Hip Joint

Abstract A method of calculation for contact pressure between a hard femoral head and soft plastic cup of a hip joint was studied. Providing that the contact pressure is proportional to the radial deformation of the cup, an equation of equilibrium in terms of a nondimensional parameter was derived. Once the magnitude of the parameter is determined by solving the equation, the contact pressure distribution is easily obtained. An effect of the radial clearance between a femoral head and cup on contact pressure was evaluated using the equation. Furthermore, the effect of Young's modulus and thickness of a plastic cup on contact pressure were also evaluated. According to the results, contact pressure increased with an increment of clearance and Young's modulus. The contact pressure increased with a decrement of thickness of the plastic cup. The analytical solution was compared with the finite element method (FEM) analysis and the agreement was confirmed. An equation of frictional torque was also derived
Metabolic and Nutritional Profile of Obese Adolescents With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background: The incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing due to its prevalence in obesity, diabetes, and insulin-resistance syndrome. The best treatment protocol for NAFLD has not been determined. However, there is evidence that exercise and nutritional intervention can improve and prevent it. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the dietary and metabolic profiles of obese adolescents with NAFLD who participated in a multidisciplinary program. Patients and Methods: We studied 43 adolescents ages 15 to 19 years (17.18 ± 1.66 years) with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30, consisting of 30 patients without NAFLD (BMI = 35.80 ± 3.44 kg/m2) and 13 with NAFLD (BMI = 33.47 ± 2.34 kg/m2). The NAFLD diagnosis was determined by ultrasonography. Blood samples were collected to analyze glycemia, hepatic aminotransferase levels, and lipid profiles. Insulin resistance was measured by homeostasis model assessment insulin-resistance index (HOMA-IR). The analyses of baseline and postintervention food intake were made by a 3-day inquiry. Results: At baseline conditions, the patients with NAFLD showed significant differences in body mass, BMI, and visceral and subcutaneous fat. Glucose and visceral and subcutaneous fat presented a significant reduction after treatment in patients with NAFLD. Analyzing the food intake, at baseline we observed a positive correlation between the visceral obesity and lipid consumption only in patients with NAFLD. We also observed significant decrease in energy and cholesterol consumption in patients with NAFLD after the multidisciplinary therapy. Conclusions: The intervention promoted a decrease in the prevalence of NAFLD, a significant decrease in visceral obesity, and improved HOMA-IR, glycemia, and serum lipid levels that are risk factors for NAFLD. In summary, the multidisciplinary program is essential in the treatment and prevention of NAFLD.
The Contribution of Vegetation and Landscape Configuration for Predicting Environmental Change Impacts on Iberian Birds

Although climate is known to be one of the key factors determining animal species distributions amongst others, projections of global change impacts on their distributions often rely on bioclimatic envelope models. Vegetation structure and landscape configuration are also key determinants of distributions, but they are rarely considered in such assessments. We explore the consequences of using simulated vegetation structure and composition as well as its associated landscape configuration in models projecting global change effects on Iberian bird species distributions. Both present-day and future distributions were modelled for 168 bird species using two ensemble forecasting methods: Random Forests (RF) and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT). For each species, several models were created, differing in the predictor variables used (climate, vegetation, and landscape configuration). Discrimination ability of each model in the present-day was then tested with four commonly used evaluation methods (AUC, TSS, specificity and sensitivity). The different sets of predictor variables yielded similar spatial patterns for well-modelled species, but the future projections diverged for poorly-modelled species. Models using all predictor variables were not significantly better than models fitted with climate variables alone for ca. 50% of the cases. Moreover, models fitted with climate data were always better than models fitted with landscape configuration variables, and vegetation variables were found to correlate with bird species distributions in 26–40% of the cases with BRT, and in 1–18% of the cases with RF. We conclude that improvements from including vegetation and its landscape configuration variables in comparison with climate only variables might not always be as great as expected for future projections of Iberian bird species.
TransCaller: An End-to-end Accelerated Transformer-based Nanopore Basecaller on GPUs

Basecalling is a crucial step in nanopore sequencing as it transforms the raw electrical signal obtained from the nanopore into a readable sequence. The accuracy of basecalling directly affects the quality and reliability of the sequenced data. Various algorithms and models are employed to perform accurate basecalling, with advancements in deep learning techniques. However, due to the difficulty of combining feature extraction capability, high parallelism and long sequence modeling capability of existing models, the accuracy and speed of basecalling model are still bottlenecks in data analysis.In this paper, we present TransCaller, an end-to-end accelerated transformer-based nanopore basecaller model. TransCaller comprises a low-parameter electrical signal sampler, a fully transformer-based encoder integrating multiple algorithm-specific modules, and a CTC decoder enhanced with a filter. To further refine and enhance the TransCaller model, we introduce a three-stage pyramid model structure and leverage knowledge distillation techniques to balance the accuracy and speed. Experimental results on 9 datasets demonstrate that TransCaller achieves an average accuracy of 92.95%, surpassing the state-of-the-art Bonito sup model by a margin of 0.65% to 2.34%. Moreover, the distilled TransCallermodel showcases a remarkable 2.97× acceleration in inference speed compared to the original model, effectively catering to the variegated requirements of distinct inference speeds and precision levels across a wide spectrum of scenarios.
Approximation models of wireless cellular networks using moment matching

In this paper we present an analytical model for microcellular and picocellular wireless networks for any arbitrary topology in a high-mobility environment. We introduce an approximation technique which uses a single-cell decomposition analysis which incorporates moment matching of hand-off processes into the cell. The approximation technique is novel in that it can provide close approximations for non-Poisson arrival traffic and it is easily parallelized. Performance measures such as new calls blocked and hand-off calls lost are presented for any general call arrival distribution in a non-homogeneous traffic environment. We produce some numerical examples for some simple topologies with varying mobility for several call arrival distributions and compare our results to those from simulation studies.
Treatment of hypocalcemia caused by hypoparathyroidism or pseudohypoparathyroidism with domestic‐made calcitriol: a prospective and self‐controlled clinical trial

Background Parathyroid hormone deficiency or resistance may cause hypocalcemia with related symptoms and signs. Lifelong treatment of calcium combined with vitamin D or its metabolites is always necessary for these patients. Here we reported a prospective and open‐label trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of domestic‐made calcitriol in treatment of hypocalcemia caused by hypoparathyroidism or pseudohypoparathyroidism. Methods Twenty‐four patients with confirmed hypoparathyroidism or pseudohypoparathyroidism aged (36.5±11.0) years old were studied. Among them, 16 patients had idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, 2 had pseudohypoparathyroidism and 6 had hypoparathyroidism secondary to cervical surgery. Serum calcium levels were lower than 1.88 mmol/L. Oral calcitriol was administered twice or three times with elemental calcium 1.2 g per day. All patients were followed every 4 weeks throughout the 12‐week period. Dose adjustments of calcitriol were based on serum and urinary calcium levels and symptoms of hypocalcemia. Results Twenty patients were included by the end of this study. Muscular weakness, cramps, extremity paresthesia, Chovestek's sign and Trousseau's sign were relieved in 76.9%, 100%, 94.4%, 93.3% and 78.9% of patients, respectively. Serum calcium, plasma ionized calcium and serum phosphorus levels were (1.54±0.25) mmol/L, (0.64±0.10) mmol/L and (2.00±0.46) mmol/L at baseline, and reached (2.20±0.20) mmol/L, (0.95±0.06) mmol/L and (1.68±0.25) mmol/L (P <0.01) at the 12th week of treatment, respectively. Eighty percent of patients were assessed as effective and 20% as partly effective. Three, four and eight patients had hypercalciuria at the 4th, 8th and 12th week of treatment, respectively, which were reduced by thiazide diuretics. The final dose of calcitriol was (1.09±0.50) &mgr;g/d. Conclusions Calcitriol combined with calcium can be used in treatment of hypocalcemia caused by hypoparathyroidism or pseudohypoparathyroidism effectively and safely. Serum and urinary calcium levels should be monitored during the course of the therapy.
Mass-sensitive Detection of Cells, Viruses and Enzymes with Artificial Receptors

Synthetic polymer receptors for the online monitoring of bioanalytes are formed directly onto quartz crystal microbalances using surface imprinting techniques. The molded materials are capable of enriching whole cells, viruses and enzymes on the sensor layer surface. Enzyme imprinted polymer layers are also effective as nucleation site for the induction of protein crystallization. Differential measurements are done with a single piezocrystal having two screen-printed gold electrodes for a sensitive and a reference channel.