Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Array Formatting of the Heat-Transfer Method (HTM) for the Detection of Small Organic Molecules by Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

In this work we present the first steps towards a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-based biomimetic sensor array for the detection of small organic molecules via the heat-transfer method (HTM). HTM relies on the change in thermal resistance upon binding of the target molecule to the MIP-type receptor. A flow-through sensor cell was developed, which is segmented into four quadrants with a volume of 2.5 μL each, allowing four measurements to be done simultaneously on a single substrate. Verification measurements were conducted, in which all quadrants received a uniform treatment and all four channels exhibited a similar response. Subsequently, measurements were performed in quadrants, which were functionalized with different MIP particles. Each of these quadrants was exposed to the same buffer solution, spiked with different molecules, according to the MIP under analysis. With the flow cell design we could discriminate between similar small organic molecules and observed no significant cross-selectivity. Therefore, the MIP array sensor platform with HTM as a readout technique, has the potential to become a low-cost analysis tool for bioanalytical applications.
Serum Leptin Levels and Cognition in Parkinson's Disease Patients.

INTRODUCTION To investigate the relationship between serum leptin levels and cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHODS Thirty patients with idiopathic PD and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. At baseline, all patients had their standing height, weight, and waist circumference measurements taken using a standard scale. Their body mass index was then calculated. A fasting blood of 5 ml was obtained from each patient in the morning. ELISA was used to analyze leptin concentrations. The severity of PD was evaluated using the Hoehn and Yahr scale, and the clinical status of patients was evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. The cognitive status of whole patients was evaluated using a validated form of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale in Turkey (MoCA-TR). RESULTS The mean ages of the patients and controls were 59.37±9.22 and 58.50±9.85 years, while the mean leptin levels were 4.13±3.61 and 3.12±2.43 ng/mL, respectively. Leptin levels did not differ between PD patients and the controls. PD patients had significantly lower MoCA-TR scores than the controls (p=0.028). MoCA-TR scores were not correlated to leptin levels in PD patients. CONCLUSION In this study, we could not find a relationship between blood leptin levels of PD patients and cognition as assessed by MoCA-TR. Larger longitudinal studies are needed.
Long‐Term Distribution of Meteors in a Solar Cycle Period Observed by VHF Meteor Radars at Near‐Equatorial Latitudes

We investigated meteor height and number of meteor echoes over a 13‐year observation period, with the data recorded by the meteor wind radar systems in Kototabang (0.20°S, 100.32°E) and Biak (1.17°S, 136.10°E), Indonesia. We aimed to investigate the changes in meteor peak height according to solar activity, represented by the solar radio index F10.7, and the number of solar sunspots, R, compared with the empirical results of the Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Extending (MSISE) and Committee on Space Research International Reference Atmosphere models. We found that (i) the daily meteor count rates at both sites in the period from 2003 to 2016 could be used to determine the dynamics in the upper atmosphere, where peak conditions occurred in the middle of the year; (ii) through a statistical approach using the normal distribution function, the variation in meteor peak height showed a positive correlation with the trend in solar activity; and (iii) comparison between the two empirical models and our observations showed two points where annual air density seemed to have a clear relationship with peak meteor height. In addition, the annual neutral density pattern of the model was related to the daily meteor count every year, although it showed a pattern opposite to the solar activity trends.
An Inverse Sensor Model for Earthquake Detection using Mobile Devices

We describe a sensory framework to be used for the purposes of earthquake detection using minimal cost, accelerometer equipped, hardware units. Combining techniques from mobile robotics this model is intended to address the current issue in the field whereby high fidelity hardware units tuned to detect specific characteristics such as wave features and/or high fidelity event models derived from data analysis are required for such detection. In this paper we present and contextualise the architecture under construction in addition to outlining the salient elements of the problem we are addressing.
From Re-Emergence to Hyperendemicity: The Natural History of the Dengue Epidemic in Brazil

Background Dengue virus (DENV) was reintroduced into Brazil in 1986 and by 1995 it had spread throughout the country. In 2007 the number of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases more than doubled and a shift in the age distribution was reported. While previously the majority of DHF cases occurred among adults, in 2007 53% of cases occurred in children under 15 years old. The reasons for this shift have not been determined. Methods and Findings Age stratified cross-sectional seroepidemiologic survey conducted in Recife, Brazil in 2006. Serostatus was determined by ELISA based detection of Dengue IgG. We estimated time-constant and time-varying forces of infection of DENV between 1986 and 2006. We used discrete-time simulation to estimate the accumulation of monotypic and multitypic immunity over time in a population previously completely susceptible to DENV. We projected the age distribution of population immunity to dengue assuming similar hazards of infection in future years. The overall prevalence of DENV IgG was 0.80 (n = 1427). The time-constant force of infection for the period was estimated to be 0.052 (95% CI 0.041, 0.063), corresponding to 5.2% of susceptible individuals becoming infected each year by each serotype. Simulations show that as time since re-emergence of dengue goes by, multitypic immunity accumulates in adults while an increasing proportion of susceptible individuals and those with monotypic immunity are among young age groups. The median age of those monotypically immune can be expected to shift from 24 years, 10 years after introduction, to 13 years, 50 years after introduction. Of those monotypically immune, the proportion under 15 years old shifts from 27% to 58%. These results are consistent with the dengue notification records from the same region since 1995. Interpretation Assuming that persons who have been monotypically exposed are at highest risk for severe dengue, the shift towards younger patient ages observed in Brazil can be partially explained by the accumulation of multitypic immunity against DENV-1, 2, and 3 in older age groups, 22 years after the re-introduction of these viruses. Serotype specific seroepidemiologic studies are necessary to accurately estimate the serotype specific forces of infection.
Inhibitors in German Hemophilia A Patients Treated with a Double Virus Inactivated Factor VIII Concentrate Bind to the C2 Domain of FVIII Light Chain

Summary To reduce the risk of transmission of hepatitis A virus, an Octaphar-ma produced factor VIII (fVIII) concentrate treated with solvent detergent (FVIII-SD) was further pasteurized after purification. This product, Octavi SDPlus (FVIII-SDP), was marketed in Europe in 1993 to 1995. Inhibitors appeared from September to October, 1995, in 12 of 109 previously treated German hemophilia A patients. A study of similarly treated Belgian patients, who also developed inhibitors, had shown antibodies to the fVIII light chain (domains A3-C1-C2) only. In the present study, the epitope specificity of 8 German inhibitor plasmas was also found to be restricted to the light chain. In radioimmunoprecipitation assays to localize the light chain epitope(s), antibody binding to heavy chain (domains A1-A2-B) was 11-148 fold lower than to the C2 domain, and binding to recombinant A3-C1 was barely detectable. These results were supported by >95% neutralization of a high responder inhibitor titer by the C2 domain.
Recent Strengthening of Greenland Blocking Drives Summertime Surface Warming over Northern Canada and Eastern Siberia

In the last three decades, rapid surface warming is observed in the land areas of northern high latitudes during boreal summer months. Although the warming trend is thought to be driven by early snowmelt, the exact causes, especially its relationship with atmospheric circulation changes, remain a subject of debate. By analyzing ERA-Interim data, this study examines the possible factors for rapid subarctic warming. It is found that more than half of the warming trend over the entire subarctic and 80% over northern Canada and eastern Siberia (regions with maximum amplification) can be explained by enhanced downward infrared radiation (IR). Downward IR is largely driven by horizontal atmospheric moisture flux convergence and warm-air advection. The positive trend in geopotential height over the Greenland region is key for moisture flux convergence over northern Canada and eastern Siberia through changes in the storm tracks. An enhanced summertime blocking activity in the Greenland region seems responsible for the positive trend in geopotential heights.
Acute and sub acute toxicity and efficacy studies of Hippophae rhamnoides based herbal antioxidant supplement

Objectives: Present study was carried out to evaluate acute and subacute toxicity and efficacy of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) based herbal antioxidant supplement (HAOS). Materials and Methods: In vivo toxicity studies were performed in male balb ‘C’ mice by oral administration. Acute toxicity study was done at doses ranging from 2000 to 10 000 mg/ kg while in subacute studies, HAOS was given at doses of 2000, 4000, and 8000 mg/kg body weight. Animals were observed for any toxic sign and symptoms periodically. At completion of study animals were sacrificed; their hematological, biochemical parameters were analyzed and histopathology of vital organs was done. In vivo efficacy studies in human volunteers were done and the levels of vitamin A and Vitamin C in blood samples were analyzed in comparison to a similar commercially available formulation. Results: No mortality and any clinical signs of toxicity were found in HAOS administered group of animals. There were no significant alterations in hematological and biochemical parameters. Histopathological analysis of vital organs showed normal architecture in all the HAOS administered groups. Human studies showed an increase of 32% and 172% in Vitamin A and Vitamin C levels respectively in term of bioavailability. Conclusion: The data obtained indicate no toxicity of this antioxidant supplement up to the highest dose studied. Efficacy in terms of increased bioavailability of vitamin A and C in human volunteers indicates the clinical usefulness of the supplement.
Contour-guided gaze gestures: eye-based interaction with everyday objects and IoT devices

The eyes are gaining increasing interest within the HCI (human-computer interaction) community as they are a fast and accurate input modality. However, the applicability of mobile eye-based HCI so far is restricted by several issues, such as calibration or the Midas Touch Problem [5]. In this work we propose the idea of contour-guided gaze gestures, which overcome these problems by relying on relative eye movements, as users trace the contours of (interactive) objects within a smart environment. Matching the trajectory of the eye movements and the contour's shape allows to estimate which object was interacted with and to trigger the corresponding actions. We describe the concept of the system and illustrate several application scenarios, demonstrating its value.
Modeling dependency between regression classes in MLLR using multiscale autoregressive models

Adapting acoustic models to a new environment is usually realized by considering model transformations that are estimated on the adaptation corpus. Since such a corpus usually contains very few data, the models' Gaussians are most often partitioned into a few regression classes, and all the Gaussians in the same class share the same transformation. It is further possible to increase the number of transformations by modeling the dependency between the regression classes. We present, in this paper, such a technique where dependency is modeled by multiscale autoregressive (MAR) processes. The power of the MAR framework resides in its ability to efficiently and optimally estimate the state vector at each node of the regression tree, based on sparse and noisy measurements at different resolutions. The method is evaluated on a french numbers recognition task where the test corpus has been recorded in a car at various speeds and noise levels. The proposed adaptation method is based on Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression.
Multimedia Data Content Detection System

This study proposes an image content fast detection algorithm based on the extraction of the most robust features of the standard samples according to the characteristics of the image edge neighborhood grayscale variation. Moreover, a multimedia data content detection system mode based on Perceptual Hash is designed. Against the traditional method, the system has two improvements of the matching accuracy and fast query, and can be applied to multimedia video stream. Experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of this system.
The nuclear star cluster of the Milky Way: proper motions and mass

Context. Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are located at the photometric and dynamical centers of the majority of galaxies. They are among the densest star clusters in the Universe. The NSC in the Milky Way is the only object of this class that can be resolved into individual stars. The massive black hole Sagittarius A* is located at the dynamical center of the Milky Way NSC. Aims. In this work we examine the proper motions of stars out to distances of 1.0 pc from Sgr A*. The aim is to examine the velocity structure of the MW NSC and acquire a reliable estimate of the stellar mass in the central parsec of the MW NSC, in addition to the well-known black hole mass. Methods. We use multi-epoch adaptive optics assisted near-infrared observations of the central parsec of the Galaxy obtained with NACO/CONICA at the ESO VLT. Stellar positions are measured via PSF fitting in the individual images and transformed into a common reference frame via suitable sets of reference stars. Results. We measured the proper motions of more than 6000 stars within ~1.0 pc of Sagittarius A*. The full data set is provided in this work. We largely exclude the known early-type stars with their peculiar dynamical properties from the dynamical analysis. The cluster is found to rotate parallel to Galactic rotation, while the velocity dispersion appears isotropic (or anisotropy may be masked by the cluster rotation). The Keplerian fall-off of the velocity dispersion due to the point mass of Sgr A* is clearly detectable only at R $\la$ 0.3 pc. Nonparametric isotropic and anisotropic Jeans models are applied to the data. They imply a best-fit black hole mass of $3.6^{\rm +0.2}_{-0.4}$ $\times$ 10 6 $M_{\odot}$. Although this value is slightly lower than the current canonical value of 4.0 $\times$ 10 6 $M_{\odot}$, this is the first time that a proper motion analysis provides a mass for Sagittarius A* that is consistent with the mass inferred from orbits of individual stars. The point mass of Sagittarius A* is not sufficient to explain the velocity data. In addition to the black hole, the models require the presence of an extended mass of $0.5{-}1.5$ $\times$ 10 6 $M_{\odot}$ in the central parsec. This is the first time that the extended mass of the nuclear star cluster is unambiguously detected. The influence of the extended mass on the gravitational potential becomes notable at distances $\ga$0.4 pc from Sgr A*. Constraints on the distribution of this extended mass are weak. The extended mass can be explained well by the mass of the stars that make up the cluster.
The Influence of Temperament on Weight Gain in Early Infancy

ABSTRACT. Difficult temperament has been associated with fast weight gain and slow weight gain, although the latter mostly in referred subjects studies in late infancy. The current study set out to investigate early weight gain in relation to all domains of temperament in a community-screened sample. Weight gain from birth to 8 weeks was assessed in 75 infants recruited from local health care clinics who had demonstrated slow, average, or fast weight gain. Mothers completed a temperament questionnaire and a 2-day diary recording infant behaviors (sleeping, feeding, fussing, and crying). Weight gain from birth to 8 weeks was significantly related to infant temperament. The temperament dimension fear (acceptance or rejection of new objects or persons) was related to slow weight gain and the temperament dimension distress to limitations (negative emotionality and the infant's reaction to frustrating situations) was related to fast weight gain. The regression model explained 59% of the variance, with the temperament dimensions explaining 11%. Diary data showed that infants who scored high on fear tended to cry a lot, while infants with high scores on distress to limitations tended to sleep less and cry and fuss more. The results emphasize that different temperament domains influence slow and fast weight gain. In addition, the data suggest that infant temperament plays a part in physical development in early infancy.
Quantifying variability in neural responses and its application for the validation of model predictions

A rate code assumes that a neuron's response is completely characterized by its time-varying mean firing rate. This assumption has successfully described neural responses in many systems. The noise in rate coding neurons can be quantified by the coherence function or the correlation coefficient between the neuron's deterministic time-varying mean rate and noise corrupted single spike trains. Because of the finite data size, the mean rate cannot be known exactly and must be approximated. We introduce novel unbiased estimators for the measures of coherence and correlation which are based on the extrapolation of the signal to noise ratio in the neural response to infinite data size. We then describe the application of these estimates to the validation of the class of stimulus–response models that assume that the mean firing rate captures all the information embedded in the neural response. We explain how these quantifiers can be used to separate response prediction errors that are due to inaccurate model assumptions from errors due to noise inherent in neuronal spike trains.
Fine-grained access control to web databases

Before the Web era, databases were well-protected by using the standard access control techniques such as Views and SQL authorization commands. But with the development of web systems, the number of attacks on databases increased and it has become clear that their access control mechanism is inadequate for web-based systems. In particular, the SQL Injection and other vulnerabilities have received considerable attention in recent years, and satisfactory solutions to these kinds of attacks are still lacking. We present a new method for protecting web databases that is based on fine-grained access control mechanism. This method uses the databases' built-in access control mechanisms enhanced with Parameterized Views and adapts them to work with web applications. The proposed access control mechanism is applicable for any existing databases and is capable to prevent many kinds of attacks, thus significantly decreases the web databases' attack surface.
Effects of different shear rates on the attachment and detachment of platelet thrombi

Thrombosis and hemostasis take place in flowing blood, which generates shear forces. The effect of different shear rates, particularly pathological forces, on platelet thrombus formation remains to be fully elucidated. The present study observed the morphological characteristics and hierarchical structure of thrombi on the collagen surface at a wide range of wall shear rates (WSRs) and examined the underlying mechanisms. Calcein AM-labeled whole blood was perfused over a collagen-coated surface at different shear rates set by a Bioflux 200 microfluidic device and the thrombi formed were assessed for area coverage, the height and the hierarchical structure defined by the extent of platelet activation and packing density. The factors that affect thrombus formation were also investigated. Platelet thrombus formation varied under different WSRs, for example, dispersed platelet adhesion mixed with erythrocytes was observed at 125–250 s−1, extensive and thin platelet thrombi were observed at 500–1,500 s−1, and sporadic, thick thrombi were observed at pathological WSRs of 2,500–5,000 s−1, which showed a tendency to be shed. With increasing WSRs, the height of the thrombi showed an increasing linear trend, whereas the total fluorescence intensity and area of the thrombi exhibited a parabolic curve-like change, with a turning point at a WSR of 2,500 s−1. The number of thrombi, the average fluorescence intensity and the area per thrombus showed similar trends, with an initial upwards incline followed by a decline. The thrombi formed at higher WSRs had a thicker shell, which led to a more densely packed core. Platelet thrombus formation under shear-flow was regulated by the adhesive strength, which was mediated by receptor-ligand interaction, the platelet deposition induced by shear rates and the detachment by the dynamic force of flow. This resulted in a balance between thrombus attachment, including adhesion and aggregation, and detachment. Collectively, compared with physiological low WSRs, pathological high WSRs caused thicker and more easily shed thrombi with more condensed cores, which was regulated by an attachment-detachment balance. These results provide novel insights into the properties of thrombus formation on collagen at different WSRs, and offers possible explanations for certain clinical physiopathological phenomena, including physical hemostasis and pathological thrombosis.
A Comparative Analysis of Different Categorical Data Clustering Ensemble Methods in Data Mining

Over the past decades, a prevalent amount of work has been done in the data clustering research under the unsupervised learning technique in Data mining. Moreover a myriad of algorithms and methods has been proposed focusing on clustering different data types, representation of cluster models, and accuracy rates of the clusters. However no single clustering algorithm proves to be the most efficient in providing best results. Accordingly in order to find the solution to this issue a new technique, called Cluster ensemble method was bloomed. This cluster ensemble is a good alternative approach for facing the cluster analysis problem. The main aspire of the cluster ensemble is to combine different clustering solutions in such a way to achieve accuracy and to improve the quality of individual data clustering. Due to the substantial and unremitting development of the new methods in the sphere of data mining, it is obligatory to make a critical analysis of the existing techniques and the future novelty. This paper reveals the comparative study of different cluster ensemble methods along with their features, systematic working process and the average accuracy and error rates of each ensemble methods. Consequently this theoretical and comprehensive analysis will be very useful for the community of clustering practitioners and also helps in deciding the most suitable