Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utility of the LIBRA Index in Relation to Cognitive Functioning in a Clinical Health Seeking Sample.

BACKGROUND Dementia prevalence is expected to increase substantially over the next few decades. Since there is currently no cure for dementia available, there is an urgent need for the early identification of individuals at high risk for dementia, so that primary and secondary prevention strategies can be implemented. Recently, the LIfestyle for BRAin health (LIBRA) index was developed as a new dementia risk algorithm. It specifically focuses on modifiable risk and protective factors that can be targeted in midlife. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the LIBRA index in relation to markers of cognitive functioning in a clinical, health-seeking sample of community-based older adults. METHODS 484 participants (mean age 62.7 years) were recruited from the Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic at the Brain and Mind Centre, Sydney. Participants underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological assessment and completed a self-report survey pack. Participants were rated via consensus as having either subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) or meeting criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The LIBRA score was calculated based on 11 available risk and protective factors. RESULTS 65.4% of the sample met criteria for MCI. People with MCI showed a significantly higher LIBRA score compared to people with SCC. Furthermore, multiple cognitive domains, in particular executive functioning, were associated with a higher LIBRA score, with stronger correlations in people with MCI. CONCLUSION The LIBRA index might be a useful tool to determine lifestyle-attributable risk of cognitive decline in an older health-seeking population, including people with MCI.
Postnatal changes in selected bacterial groups of the pig colonic microflora.

The importance of the colonic microflora in health and nutrition is well known, but how they colonize and become established in the colon is not well understood. We therefore characterized the quantitative and qualitative changes of the colonic microflora during the first 120 days of postnatal development. Unlike previous studies, changes were defined for individual pigs using in situ samples collected anaerobically and aseptically from the distal colon. Although the colons were sterile at birth, they were rapidly colonized, and within 12 h bacterial densities had stabilized at 10(-9)-10(10) bacteria/g colonic content. Facultative anaerobes, notably coliforms, initially dominated the microflora, but were supplanted within 48 h after birth by obligate anaerobes, which constituted greater than 90% of the microflora thereafter. Bacteroides spp. , the predominant anaerobes in the adult colon, did not markedly increase in abundance until after weaning and were still increasing by postnatal day 120. Shifts in the relative abundances of different bacterial populations throughout the first 120 days after birth confirm previous reports that the establishment of the adult colonic microflora is a gradual, sequential process, and highlight the need to focus research on anaerobic groups.
Debris/Micrometeoroid Impacts and Synergistic Effects on Spacecraft Materials

In the last 40 years, the increased space activity created a new form of space environment of hypervelocity objects—space debris—that have no functional use. The space debris, together with naturally occurring ultrahigh velocity meteoroids, presents a significant hazard to spacecraft. Collision with space debris or meteoroids might result in disfunction of external units such as solar cells, affecting materials properties, contaminating optical devices, or destroying satellites. The collision normally results in the formation of additional debris, increasing the hazard for future missions. The hypervelocity debris effect is studied by retrieving materials from space or by using ground simulation facilities. Simulation facilities, which include the light gas gun and Laser Driven Flyer methods, are used for studying the materials degradation due to debris impact. The impact effect could be accelerated when occurring simultaneously with other space environment components, such as atomic oxygen, ultraviolet, or x-ray radiation. Understanding the degradation mechanism might help in developing materials that will withstand the increasing hazard from the space debris, allowing for longer space missions. The large increase in space debris population and the associated risk to space activity requires significant measures to mitigate this hazard. Most current efforts are being devoted to prevention of collisions by keeping track of the larger debris and avoiding formation of new debris.
Research on Look-Ahead Adaptive Interpolation of NURBS Based on de Boor Algorithm

This paper realizes direct interpolation of NURBS with use of solving the non-linear equation and de Boor algorithm, which improves the efficiency greatly by avoiding computing the derivatives and basic functions; meanwhile, look-ahead adaptive interpolation algorithm (LAIA) adjusts the feedrate according to the curvature to guarantee the contour accuracy, and the new backtracking and re-interpolation strategy makes it more efficient. Reverse interpolation with use of NURBS symmetry is proposed to predict the deceleration point precisely. The algorithm performs very well in experiments, which prove its viability and reliability.
Terahertz spectroscopy of graphene and other two-dimensional materials

In this thesis, two-dimensional materials such as graphene are tested for their suitability for opto-electronic applications using terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). This ultrafast all-optical technique can probe the response of novel materials to photoexcitation, and yield information about the dynamics of the material systems. Graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is studied using optical-pump THz-probe time domain spectroscopy in a variety of gaseous environments in Chapter 4. The photoconductivity response of graphene grown by CVD is found to vary dramatically depending on which atmospheric gases are present. Adsorption of these gases can open a local bandgap in the material, allowing stimulated emission of THz radiation across the gap. Semiconducting equivalents to graphene, molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) and tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ), grown by CVD, are investigated in Chapter 5. These members of the transition metal dichalcogenide family show sub-picosecond responses to photoexcitation, suggesting promise for use in high-speed THz devices. In Chapter 6, an alternative production route to CVD is studied. Liquid-phase exfoliation offers fast, easy production of few-layer materials. THz spectroscopy reveals that the dynamics of these materials after photoexcitation are remarkably similar to those in CVD-grown materials, offering the potential of cheaper materials for future devices. Finally in Chapter 7, it is shown that carbon nanotubes can be used to make ultrafast THz devices. Unaligned, semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes can be photoexcited to produce an ultrafast, dynamic THz polariser. The work in this thesis demonstrates the potential for these novel materials in future opto-electronic applications. THz spectroscopy is shown to be an important tool for the characterisation of new materials, providing information that can be used to understand the dynamics of materials, and improve production methods.
Virtualization and new generation network design

The current Internet is resistant to any significant change in its fundamental design, although it has successfully incorporated small incremental changes due to strong push from newer technologies and applications. Thus, due to this slow paced, uncoordinated and limited scale evolutionary changes, several projects around the world have adopted a more radical, clean slate approach to construct the future networks from scratch. In between the tug of interests of various players, network virtualization has been propounded as one of the most important attributes of the future inter-networking paradigms. Its key idea is to allow cohabitation of heterogeneous services and networks on shared physical resources, i.e. clean slate based networks or hidden redundancy in the existing Internet. This paper attempts to present a birds eye view of basic concepts, models and requirements for virtualization in the new generation networks. We support the idea that both the current Internet and networks based on clean slate approaches should work in parallel, while both supporting Virtualization on IP as a indispensable tool to provide diverse, adaptable, robust, secure and easily manageable future networks.
The Effect of D2D Communication on the Uplink Cellular Network Performance

Device to device (D2D) communication is a network technology that enables the nearby devices to communicate directly under the infrastructure control. To increase the utilization of uplink channel, D2D user equipments (DUEs) reuse the D2D resource blocks (DRBs), which cause an in-band emission interference (IEI) to the cellular user equipments (CUEs) that use the uplink cellular resource blocks (CRBs). This paper investigates the IEI impact in D2D-enabled cellular networks by using the overlay in-band D2D scheme and stochastic geometry tool. The network is modeled by considering the IEI alongside the co-channel interference for different system loads. A closed-form of coverage probability for different power control factors is derived to evaluate the cellular system performance. The analytic results show that the IEI impact degrades the coverage significantly. This implies, the IEI should be taken into consideration to accurately evaluate the cellular system performance, especially under high DUEs density scenario.
Family members' influence on decision making about food: differences in perception and relationship with healthy eating.

PURPOSE This study provides insight into decision making about food choices in the family and its relationship with (un)healthy eating, by including the responses of four members of the family as a sampling unit. SETTING The study was conducted through four medical centers, visited by 69 classes from 19 different schools in Belgium. SUBJECTS Ninety-two family quartets, including both parents and two adolescents between 12 and 18 years old, completed questionnaires independently. MEASURES Four previously investigated measures of decision-making power (30 items on a seven-point scale) were administered, along with a short food choice questionnaire and demographic variables. RESULTS Results indicate that the influence of fathers but more especially that of children is important in food decisions. Moreover, the relative influence of each family member is dependent on the kind of product or product group considered. Differences in perceptions between the four family members show the importance of considering the responses of all the people involved in family decision making. Finally, it is clear that in families where adolescents have more power, food choices are less healthy. CONCLUSIONS Our main conclusion is the rejection of the "gatekeeper hypothesis" as an artifact of biased measurement. A multidimensional approach to the issue of influence in food decision making in the family is potentially richer and leads to different conclusions. The necessity of the involvement of the entire family for the introduction and adoption of healthy eating is emphasized.
Interventions that enhance health services for parents and infants to improve child development and social and emotional well-being in high-income countries: a systematic review

Background Experiences in the first 1000 days of life have a critical influence on child development and health. Health services that provide support for families need evidence about how best to improve their provision. Methods We systematically reviewed the evidence for interventions in high-income countries to improve child development by enhancing health service contact with parents from the antenatal period to 24 months postpartum. We searched 15 databases and trial registers for studies published in any language between 01 January 1996 and 01 April 2016. We also searched 58 programme or organisation websites and the electronic table of contents of eight journals. Results Primary outcomes were motor, cognitive and language development, and social-emotional well-being measured to 39 months of age (to allow the interventions time to produce demonstrable effects). Results were reported using narrative synthesis due to the variation in study populations, intervention design and outcome measurement. 22 of the 12 986 studies identified met eligibility criteria. Using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group criteria, the quality of evidence overall was moderate to low. There was limited evidence for intervention effectiveness: positive effects were seen in 1/6 studies for motor development, 4/11 for language development, 4/8 for cognitive development and 3/19 for social-emotional well-being. However, most studies showing positive effects were at high/unclear risk of bias, within-study effects were inconsistent and negative effects were also seen. Intervention content and intensity varied greatly, but this was not associated with effectiveness. Conclusions There is insufficient evidence that interventions currently available to enhance health service contacts up to 24 months postpartum are effective for improving child development. There is an urgent need for robust evaluation of existing interventions and to develop and evaluate novel interventions to enhance the offer to all families. PROSPERO registration number CRD42015015468.
Comparison Between Theoretical and Experimental Flexible Pipe Bending Stresses

This paper presents alternative finite element formulations for predicting the dynamic stresses of tensile armour in un-bonded flexible pipes. Shear interaction in terms of friction stick-slip between layers is treated in two alternative ways; either by considering the cross-section resultant in terms of the friction moment or by applying a sandwich beam formulation for each individual tendon. For both formulations, the boundary condition in terms of initial contact pressure from static loads are treated by a separate model. Experimental studies applying fibre-optic Braggs are presented to validate the performance of the formulations in terms of dynamic stresses.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Bilevel Multiview Latent Space Learning

Different kinds of features describe different aspects of image data, and each feature can be treated as a view when we take it as a particular understanding of images. Leveraging multiple views provides a richer and comprehensive description than using only a single view. However, multiview data are often represented by high-dimensional heterogeneous features, so it is meaningful to find a low-dimensional consensus representation from multiple views. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised multiview dimensionality reduction method for images based on bilevel latent space learning. As different views have different physical meanings and statistical properties, they are not directly comparable. Therefore, we learn the comparable representation for each view in the first level. The shared and the private nature of multiview data are exploited to accurately preserve the information of each view. Then, we fuse different views into a low-dimensional representation by conducting joint matrix factorization in the second level. To guarantee the low-dimensional representation to be compact and discriminative, the intrinsic geometric structure of data is utilized. Besides, our method considers resisting the outliers and noise contained in multiview data, which may influence the learned representation and deteriorate its semantic consistency. We design appropriate optimization objectives to learn the latent spaces in different levels. Compared with the existing methods, our method could provide a more flexible multiview learning strategy that not only accurately captures the information of each view but also is robust to outliers and noise, which can obtain a more discriminative and compact low-dimensional representation. Experiments on two real-world image data sets demonstrate the advantages of our method over the existing multiview dimensionality reduction methods.
Proteomics analysis identified peroxiredoxin 2 involved in early-phase left ventricular impairment in hamsters with cardiomyopathy

Given the hypothesis that inflammation plays a critical role in the progression of cardiovascular diseases, the aim of the present study was to identify new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of myocardial proteins involved in early-phase cardiac impairment, using proteomics analysis. Using the two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry, we compared differences in the expression of proteins in the whole left ventricles between control hamsters, dilated cardiomyopathic hamsters (TO-2), and hypertrophy cardiomyopathic hamsters (Bio14.6) at 6 weeks of age (n = 6, each group). Proteomic analysis identified 10 protein spots with significant alterations, with 7 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated proteins in the left ventricles of both TO-2 and Bio 14.6 hamsters, compared with control hamsters. Of the total alterations, peroxiredoxin 2 (PRDX2) showed significant upregulation in the left ventricles of TO-2 and Bio 14.6 hamsters. Our data suggest that PRDX2, a redox regulating molecule, is involved in early-phase left ventricular impairment in hamsters with cardiomyopathy.
Quantitative Evaluation of Interstitial Elements in the Processing of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy by Powder Metallurgy

The use of hydride powders in titanium powder metallurgy (P/M) is a low cost alternative for the manufacture of titanium alloys. However, due to the high reactivity of these powders, parts produced using this technique may contain interstitial impurities such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon. In this work a factorial design approach was used to evaluate the influence of some stages of P/M upon the levels of these elements in sintered samples of Ti-6Al-4V. Milling time of titanium hydride powders, sintering temperature and holding time were evaluated. The effect of milling time was detected as the most significant for the increase in oxygen levels. The contents of all elements were affected by the increase of sintering temperature from 1200 °C to 1400 °C. Holding time was shown to be significant only for the carbon absorption in the samples sintered at 1400 °C.
General Framework to Evaluate Unlinkability in Biometric Template Protection Systems

The wide deployment of biometric recognition systems in the last two decades has raised privacy concerns regarding the storage and use of biometric data. As a consequence, the ISO/IEC 24745 international standard on biometric information protection has established two main requirements for protecting biometric templates: irreversibility and unlinkability. Numerous efforts have been directed to the development and analysis of irreversible templates. However, there is still no systematic quantitative manner to analyze the unlinkability of such templates. In this paper, we address this shortcoming by proposing a new general framework for the evaluation of biometric templates’ unlinkability. To illustrate the potential of the approach, it is applied to assess the unlinkability of the four state-of-the-art techniques for biometric template protection: biometric salting, bloom filters, homomorphic encryption, and block re-mapping. For the last technique, the proposed framework is compared with other existing metrics to show its advantages.
Male-male competition and infanticide among the langurs (Presbytis entellus) of Abu, Rajasthan.

Leadership changes accompanied by infanticide are described for two langur troops at Abu, Rajasthan. These events are compared with similar reports from Dharwar and Jodhpur. In each of seven cases, infanticide occurred when males entered the troop from outside it. Females whose infants were killed subsequently exhibited estrous behavior and copulated with the new leader. In three troops at Dharwar and Abu, seventy percent of females who lost infants gave birth within eight months. In these cases, infanticide appears on average to increase the reproductive success of the incoming male. Confronted with a male reproductive strategy disadvantageous for them, females respond to usurping males with various counter-strategies. From a comparison with other mammals, infant-killing by males may be advantageous (1) when there is intense competition for females; and (2) when frequent take-overs potentially curtail the tenure of an incoming leader.
FEMaR: A finite element machine for regression problems

Regression-based tasks have been the forerunner regarding the application of machine learning tools in the context of data mining. Problems related to price and stock prediction, selling estimation, and weather forecasting are commonly used as benchmarking for the comparison of regression techniques, just to name a few. Neural Networks, Decision Trees and Support Vector Machines are the most widely used approaches concerning regression-oriented applications, since they can generalize well in a number of different applications. In this work, we propose an efficient and effective regression technique based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) theory, hereinafter called Finite Element Machine for Regression (FEMaR). The proposed approach has only one parameter and it has a quadratic complexity for both training and classification phases when we use basis functions that obey some properties, as well as we show the proposed approach can obtain very competitive results when compared against some state-of-the-art regression techniques.
Distributed Resource Allocation in SDCN-Based Heterogeneous Networks Utilizing Licensed and Unlicensed Bands

The explosive growth of mobile data traffic and the scarcity of available licensed spectrum make resource allocation in heterogeneous networks a critical issue. A distributed resource allocation algorithm for software defined cellular networks for future 5G networks is proposed. The adoption of integrated femto-WiFi small cells is used to alleviate spectrum shortage, by permitting simultaneous access to both the licensed bands (via cellular interface) and unlicensed bands (via WiFi interface). A weighted utility maximization problem is formulated to optimize resource allocation, utilizing the software defined network controller’s global view. A fully distributed solution based on the weighted utility maximization optimizes resource allocation, keeping the interference from small cells to macrocells below predefined thresholds. The proposed algorithm considers the sDevices, which have both cellular and WiFi interfaces, and the wDevices which have WiFi-only interfaces. Numerical simulations substantiate the superiority of the proposed resource allocation algorithm, which increases significantly the average throughput and average utility of all devices, compared with the traditional and current methods. Throughput gains as large as 41.6% in spectral efficiency for the average of all sDevices and wDevices are achieved by the new designs.