Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical, Psychosocial, and Demographic Factors Are Associated With Overweight and Obesity in Early Adolescent Girls With Type 1 Diabetes

Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors by sex and weight status. Methods Baseline data were analyzed from 318 adolescents (mean age = 12.3 ± 1.1 years, 55.0% female, 62.7% white) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) from a multisite clinical trial. Differences were examined between normal weight (body mass index ≥5th and <85th percentile) and overweight/obese (body mass index ≥85th percentile) boys and girls with T1D in clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were used. Results Overweight/obesity was prevalent (39.0%) and common in girls (42.6%) and boys (33.1%). In bivariate analyses, overweight/obese girls had parents with lower educational attainment, longer diabetes duration, and significantly worse self-management and psychosocial health as compared with normal weight girls. There were no differences between overweight/obese and normal weight girls in A1C, therapy type, race/ethnicity, or household income. No significant differences were found between normal weight and overweight/obese boys. In multivariate analysis, parental educational attainment (master or higher vs high school diploma or less) and perceived stress were significantly associated with overweight/obesity in girls. Longer duration of T1D bordered statistical significance. Conclusions Overweight/obesity is prevalent among adolescents with T1D. Clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors are associated with overweight/obesity in girls but not boys. Greater attention to weight status and aspects of health that are germane to adolescents with T1D is warranted.
A Multi-Level DDoS Mitigation Framework for the Industrial Internet of Things

The Industrial Internet of Things is growing fast. But the rapid growth of IIoT devices raises a number of security concerns, because the IIoT device is weak in defending against malware, and the method of managing a large number of IIoT devices is awkward and inconvenient. This article proposes a multi-level DDoS mitigation framework (MLDMF) to defend against DDoS attacks for IIoT, which includes the edge computing level, fog computing level, and cloud computing level. Software defined networking is used to manage a large number of IIoT devices and to mitigate DDoS attacks in IIoT. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
A Pre-RTL Simulator for Neural Networks

In this paper, a pre-RTL neural network simulator (SimuNN) is proposed which is initiated as the bridge between the algorithm design and hardware implementation of neural networks. SimuNN is compatible with TensorFlow interface, and supports inference in both floating-point numbers and configurable fixed-point numbers. It can provide inference results at layer-/module-/cycle-level to serve as a golden model for RTL designs. Besides, its embedded model for hardware performance estimation enables SimuNN to provide an accurate reference of processing speed and hardware cost at the ASIC-designed user end for algorithm designers.
Optimal Mixing Enhancement by Local Perturbation

We consider the problem of how to apply local perturbations to optimally enhance the mixing of a (possibly time-dependent) dynamical system. We develop a flexible modeling approach based on the transfer operator of the dynamical system, and pose the problem in the language of convex optimization. The optimal local perturbations can then be efficiently computed, at discrete time instants, by standard convex optimization techniques. The local perturbations satisfy physical constraints, such as preservation of the invariant measure of the dynamics (for example, for incompressible fluid flow, the perturbations preserve volume), and a variety of other physical constraints can also be easily enforced. We show that one can achieve surprisingly large speedups in mixing via optimizing the diffusion, as compared to fixed diffusion protocols. Finally, we indicate how one might alternatively try to use local perturbation to push a mass density toward a particular region of the domain.
Microvascular Invasion in Small-sized Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Significance for Outcomes Following Hepatectomy and Radiofrequency Ablation.

BACKGROUND/AIM The significance of microvascular invasion (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS We studied 149 patients with solitary small-sized HCC (≤3 cm) who underwent hepatectomy, and developed a predictive model of MVI using independent factors related to the presence of MVI. The predictive model was applied to 159 patients who underwent RFA, and their outcomes were examined. RESULTS A multivariate analysis revealed that α-fetoprotein ≥15 ng/ml (relative risk (RR) 3.05, p=0.02), des-γ-carboxy prothrombin ≥100 mAU/ml (RR 4.19, p=0.003), and tumor size ≥2 cm (RR 3.37, p=0.03) were independent risk factors of MVI. Among the patients who underwent RFA, the survival in patients with risk factors 2-3 was significantly worse, and local recurrence was more frequently obserbed than those with 0-1. CONCLUSION When an HCC tumor is expected to display MVI, RFA may not be suitable in terms of poorer survival and local disease-control rates.
Evidence for thermal activation in the glassy dynamics of insulating granular aluminum conductance

Insulating granular aluminum is one of the proto-typical disordered insulators whose low temperature electrical conductance exhibits ubiquitous non-equilibrium phenomena. These include slow responses to temperature or gate voltage changes, characteristic field effect anomalies and ageing phenomena typical of a glass. In this system the influence of temperature on the glassy dynamics has remained elusive. A similar situation was met in insulating indium oxide and it was concluded that in high carrier density Anderson insulators, electronic slow relaxations essentially proceed via activationless processes. In this work we experimentally demonstrate that thermal effects do play a role and that the slow dynamics in granular aluminum is subject to thermal activation. We show how its signatures can be revealed and activation energy distributions can be extracted, providing a promising grasp on the nature of the microscopic mechanism at work in glassy Anderson insulators. We explain why some of the experimental protocols previously used in the literature fail to reveal thermal activation in these systems. Our results and analyses call for a reassessment of the emblematic case of indium oxide, and question the existence of purely activationless dynamics in any of the systems studied so far.
Supply Chains in Export Agriculture, Competition, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa

Export Agriculture, Competition, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa “The last two decades’ reforms in Africa’s agricultural marketing channels have taken place against a background of relative ignorance of how these markets work. Combining theory (with coverage of complex contractual arrangements like outgrower contracts), household surveys, and in-depth knowledge of local contexts, this masterful book provides the first systematic answer. In their characteristically careful approach, the authors use simulation analysis based on oligopoly theory to isolate and quantify the effect of policy shocks one by one and with synergies, yielding precise orders of magnitude where theory is usually silent. Written in a limpid style, this book is a must-read for academics and sophisticated policy analysts. It will be a reference for years to come. ” Olivier Cadot, Professor of International Economics and Director of the Institute of Applied Economics at the University of Lausanne
Mechanistic insight into Type I restriction endonucleases.

Restriction and modification are two opposing activities that are used to protect bacteria from cellular invasion by DNA (e.g. bacteriophage infection). Restriction activity involves cleavage of the DNA; while modification activity is the mechanism used to "mark" host DNA and involves DNA methylation. The study of Type I restriction enzymes has often been seen as an esoteric exercise and this reflects some of their more unusual properties - non-stoichiometric (non-catalytic) cleavage of the DNA substrate, random cleavage of DNA, a massive ATPase activity, and the ability to both cleave DNA and methylate DNA. Yet these enzymes have been found in many bacteria and are very efficient as a means of protecting bacteria against bacteriophage infection, indicating they are successful enzymes. In this review, we summarise recent work on the mechanisms of action, describe switching of function and review their mechanism of action. We also discuss structural rearrangements and cellular localisation, which provide powerful mechanisms for controlling the enzyme activity. Finally, we speculate as to their involvement in recombination and discuss their relationship to helicase enzymes.
Poly[pentaaquatetrakis(μ2-nicotinato-κ2 N:O)(perchlorato-κO)lanthanum(III)disilver(I)]

In the title complex, [Ag2La(C6H4NO2)4(ClO4)(H2O)5]n, the LaIII atom, lying on a twofold rotation axis, is eight-coordinated by four O atoms from four nicotinate (nic) ligands and four water molecules in a distorted square-antiprismatic coordination geometry. The AgI atom is coordinated in an almost linear fashion by two pyridyl N atoms of two nic ligands. The linear coordination is augmented by weak interactions with one O atom from a half-occupied ClO4 − anion and a water molecule lying on a twofold axis. Two Ag(nic)2 units connect two La atoms, forming a cyclic unit. These units are further extended into an infinite zigzag chain. The chains are bridged by the disordered perchlorate ions via weak Ag—O [2.678 (2) Å] interactions. O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, weak Ag⋯Ag [3.3340 (15) Å] interactions and π–π interactions between the pyridyl rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.656 (2) Å] lead to a three-dimensional network.
Reframing the Regulation of Equal Employment Opportunity: The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

This paper analyses the changes introduced by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth) (WGE Act). This Act is the third major revision of a legislative scheme that began its life as the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity For Women) Act 1986 (Cth). The WGE Act retains the essential framework of the original legislation, requiring large employers to lodge annual reports outlining the organisation’s progress against equality objectives. At the same time, the WGE Act contains many elements that represent a substantial departure from the current system. This legislative note examines three key areas of change: an expanded coverage that includes men; the reporting of outcomes rather than processes; and amendments to the compliance framework.
Exosome can prevent RNase from degrading microRNA in feces.

BACKGROUND Because the stability of miRNA in feces has not been clarified, we examined the stability of miRNA in feces. METHODS RNase was added into culture media of HT-29 cells and fecal homogenates. The relative quantifications of miRNA were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS Cellular miRNA or exosomal miRNA were protected from RNase by the cellular membrane or the exosome; meanwhile, free miRNA was degraded immediately and completely by RNase. CONCLUSION The present study revealed that exosome or cellular membrane could prevent RNase from degrading miRNA inside the exosome or cells even in a dreadful condition, as in feces.
Frequent epigenetic inactivation of the SLIT2 gene in chronic and acute lymphocytic leukemia

Recently a mouse model of T/natural killer acute lymphoblastic leukemia was used to assess global promoter methylation across the mouse genome using the restriction landmark genomic scanning technique. One of the methylated mouse genes identified in this way was Slit2. There are three mammalian SLIT genes (SLIT1, SLIT2, SLIT3), that belong to a highly conserved family of axon guidance molecules. We have previously demonstrated that SLIT2 is frequently inactivated in lung, breast, colorectal and glioma tumors by hypermethylation of a CpG island in its promoter region, whilst inactivating somatic mutations are rare. Furthermore, we demonstrated that SLIT2 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in breast and colorectal cancer cells. In this report we determined the methylation status of the SLIT2 gene in leukemias (CLL and ALL). SLIT2 was methylated in all 10 leukemia cell lines analyzed (8 completely and 2 partially methylated). SLIT2 expression was restored after treating ALL lines with 5-aza-2dC. In primary ALL and CLL samples, SLIT2 was also frequently methylated, 58% (30/52) B-ALL; 83% (10/12) T-ALL and in 80% (24/30) CLL. Whilst DNA from peripheral blood and bone marrow from healthy control samples showed no SLIT2 methylation. Methylation results in leukemia cell lines and ALL and CLL primary samples were confirmed by direct sequencing of bisulfite modified DNA. Our results demonstrate that methylation of the SLIT2 5’ CpG island is conserved between mice and humans, and therefore is likely to be of functional importance.
Improved survival associated with acetate-free haemodialysis in elderly: a registry-based study.

BACKGROUND Acetate-free dialysis (AFD) improves haemodynamic stability during dialysis, compared with standard haemodialysis (HD) with a small amount of acetic acid. Using the national REIN registry, we classified 15 160 incident patients who started HD from 2008 to 2010 into three exposure categories according to the type of dialysate used in their dialysis unit: standard dialysate only (reference), both standard and AFD (mixed unit) or HCl dialysate only (100% HCl unit). METHODS Cox survival analysis was adjusted for 15 baseline comorbidities, laboratory data and haemodiafiltration (HDF). We took patient clustering within units into account, used age as the time scale and treated patient exposure to AFD and to HDF as time-dependent variables. RESULTS Median age (interquartile range) was 70.5 years (58.1-78.8). Over a median follow-up of 1.8 years (1.2-2.6), 658 patients were dialysed in a 100% HCl unit, 3021 in a mixed unit and 11 481 were never exposed to AFD. The relation between AFD and mortality was not constant with age (Schoenfeld residuals test P = 0.01 for mixed group and P = 0.03 for 100%HCl group). Patients older than 70 years had a significantly lower mortality risk associated with AFD [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.67 to 0.94 for patients exposed in a 100% HCl unit; HR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.74 to 0.94 for patients exposed in a mixed unit], but no association was found in younger patients. CONCLUSIONS AFD was associated with improved survival independent of comorbidities and HDF in patients aged 70 years and older but not in patient younger than 70 years.
Model checking sequential consistency and parameterized protocols

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of designing a shared memory multiprocessor is the hardware protocol that facilitates the sharing of memory by multiple processors; these protocols are thus a natural target for formal verification. In this thesis we consider several problems relevant to model checking these protocols. The ultimate specification of a protocol is the memory model . Our more theoretical contributions relate to the problem of model checking a protocol for the well-known memory model sequential consistency (SC). We define a restricted version of SC called decisive SC (DSC), which rules out pathologies admitted by SC, and explore the complexities of its verification problems. Our key results are that DSC of a single behavior is NP-complete, DSC of a protocol is PSPACE-hard, a bounded variant DSCk is decidable in EXPSPACE, and full SC remains undecidable even when we require protocol behaviors to be prefix-closed. Also, we show that SC in conjunction with the ubiquitous property data independence imply DSC, which is strong evidence that restricting attention to DSC will never preclude any real protocol. Our second area of contribution considers parameterized model checking (PMC) of protocols. Here the goal is algorithmic proof over all of the infinite configurations of a protocol family parameterized by one or more quantities. We develop a technique to automatically abstract a family parameterized by the number of addresses and the number of data values, such that (a subset of) SC of the abstraction implies that of the family. We apply this method successfully to two non-trivial protocols, and suggest user-assisted solutions if the abstraction blows up or is too coarse for successful verification. We also contribute an approach for sound and complete processor-PMC of state assertions. The approach uses BDD-based symbolic model checking, and harnesses the theory of well-structured transition systems (WSTS). WSTS disallow conjunctive guards, which are found in many protocols. To extend applicability, we provide an automatic reduction for systems with conjunctive guards. Experiments show the efficacy of our conjunctive guard reduction, and that our approach scales better with the local state of each processor when compared with the classical WSTS algorithm.
Use of the Real-time PCR Assay in Conjunction With MagNA Pure for the Detection of Mycobacterial DNA From Fixed Specimens

Tuberculosis in immunocompromised patients is often caused by Mycobacterial species other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thus, detection of and differentiation between M. tuberculosis and nontuberculosis species is necessary for diagnosis of disease in these patients. Furthermore, when tissue changes show granulomatous inflammation, quick confirmation testing for mycobacterial infection is needed for conclusive diagnosis. The aim of this study was to validate the utility of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in conjunction with the MagNA Pure LC automated extraction system for the detection of mycobacterial DNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens. A total of 46 archived, paraffin-embedded, fixed specimens showing granulomatous inflammation were studied for mycobacterial infection by real-time PCR. Bacterial DNA was extracted and isolated using the MagNA Pure extraction system. Real-time PCR was performed on the LightCycler using the Artus Real Art Mycob Diff ASR kit from Qiagen. Thirteen of the 46 patient specimens were positive for mycobacterial infection by acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain. Of the13 reported positive by AFB stain, 12 where positive by real-time PCR. All 13 specimens reported positive by AFB were sent for culture confirmation. Eleven of 13 were returned positive by culture. Specimens reported as negative by culture and positive by real-time PCR were confirmed positive by a second PCR method from another reference laboratory. We believe that these studies are beneficial in the differential diagnosis of mycobacterial infection from fixed tissue specimens where tuberculosis might not have been clinically initially suspected and when specimens are not suitable for microbiologic examination.
A time series and reduction based model for QoS prediction of service ontologies

In this study, we introduce a dynamic framework to predict the runtime QoS of OWL-S ontologoies by employing an Autoregressive-Moving-Average Model and QoS reduction rules. In the case study of a real-world ontology sample, a comparison between existing approaches and the proposed one is presented and results suggest that the proposed one achieves higher prediction accuracy.
A Scenario for the Expansion of Solar and Wind Generated Electricity in Australia

This article examines the opportunities for, and barriers to, the expansion of the production and use of Australian solar and wind electricity generation systems. Australia has large solar and wind resources. It also has one of the world's largest near-term (5–15 years) domestic markets for solar electricity generation systems. This market comprises the displacement of diesel fuel used to generate electricity in remote towns, farms, outstations and mining camps. There is also a vast potential export market in the Asia and Pacific regions. In addition, grid-connected windpower is already economically competitive with medium-scale hydro-electricity in Tasmania and is close to competitiveness with medium-scale coal-fired electricity in Western Australia. Some of the barriers to a more rapid development of solar and wind generated electricity are cross-subsidies to rural users of grid electricity and diesel fuel; failure to include the environmental, social and health costs of fossil fuels in their prices; po.
23.7 Self-powered 30μW-to-10mW Piezoelectric energy-harvesting system with 9.09ms/V maximum power point tracking time

Energy harvesting is a key technology in various small-size applications such as wireless sensor nodes, mobile devices, and implantable bio-devices to improve battery lifetime or to substitute for batteries. Piezoelectric (PE) transducers are popular energy harvesters that can be used to supply AC power at the μW to mW scale to electronic devices using ambient vibrational energy. To use PE energy effectively, the harvesting systems need a highly efficient AC-DC converter and a DC-DC converter with maximum power point tracking (MPPT). However, existing sub-mW converters do not include an integrated MPPT algorithm [1, 2] or use the perturb and observe MPPT method which has long tracking time [3, 4]. This long tracking time reduces the power extraction from the transducer because the maximum power point (MPP) of the input power can be changed frequently according to the environment. In this paper, a low-power harvesting system is presented that finds the MPP of the input power in one cycle of the vibration of the PE transducer.
A TOV-based routing protocol for next generation high speed Ad-hoc networks

In this paper, we study the problem of existing mobile Ad hoc network routing protocols for next generation high speed networks. It is the case when the speed of mobile nodes is getting higher i.e, high mobility environment (HME). It is well known fact that Ad Hoc network is one of the strongest member network in next generation integrated network most of existing routing protocols are designed to support relatively low mobility nodes. When the speed of mobile nodes increases, however, the more erroneous updates of routing paths occur resulting in performance degradation on route connectivity. In the high speed network, the routing tables are not stable and their information could be false. In order to cope with high mobility, we propose a solution promoting the AODV routing scheme. The modification is named 'Time Of Visit (TOV). ' This policy may inspire the nodes to get latest routing information, supports real time routing table updating, avoid loop formation, increase throughput and decreases packet delay.