Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Degree of Conversion of Dual-Cured Composite Luting Cements

The degree of conversion (DC) of dual-cured composite luting materials for composite inlay restoration was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Dual-cured composite cements showed a DC of 59.3-75.0% after self-cure and 66.6-81.4% after photo-cure. DC after photo-cure decreased with the increase in thickness of a restoring composite inlay between the composite cement and a light tip. A lower DC after photo-cure did not satisfactorily increase following subsequent self-cure. Sufficient light should be provided to the composite cement in photo-cure luting of composite inlays to achieve a high and uniform DC, as well as in filling restoration using photo-cured composites. Reirradiation, in which the tip of a light unit was brought close to the portion of the cement with a low DC, was very effective in increasing DC and making it more uniform.
Array microscopy technology and its application to digital detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Array microscopy technology and its application to digital detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Brian P. McCall Tuberculosis causes more deaths worldwide than any other curable infectious disease. This is the case despite tuberculosis appearing to be on the verge of eradication midway through the last century. Efforts at reversing the spread of tuberculosis have intensified since the early 1990s. Since then, microscopy has been the primary frontline diagnostic. In this dissertation, advances in clinical microscopy towards array microscopy for digital detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are presented. Digital array microscopy separates the tasks of microscope operation and pathogen detection and will reduce the specialization needed in order to operate the microscope. Distributing the work and reducing specialization will allow this technology to be deployed at the point of care, taking the front-line diagnostic for tuberculosis from the microscopy center to the community health center. By improving access to microscopy centers, hundreds of thousands of lives can be saved. For this dissertation, a lens was designed that can be manufactured as 4×6 array of microscopes. This lens design is diffraction limited, having less than 0.071 waves of aberration (root mean square) over the entire field of view. A total area imaged onto a full-frame digital image sensor is expected to be 3.94 mm2, which according to tuberculosis microscopy guidelines is more than sufficient for a sensitive diagnosis. The design is tolerant to single point diamond turning manufacturing errors, as found by tolerance analysis and by fabricating a prototype. Diamond micro-milling, a fabrication technique for lens array molds, was applied to plastic plano-concave and plano-convex lens arrays, and found to produce high quality optical surfaces. The micro-milling technique did not prove robust enough to produce bi-convex and meniscus lens arrays in a variety of lens shapes, however, and it required lengthy fabrication times. In order to rapidly prototype new lenses, a new diamond machining technique was developed called 4-axis single point diamond machining. This technique is 2-10x faster than micro-milling, depending on how advanced the micro-milling equipment is. With array microscope fabrication still in development, a single prototype of the lens designed for an array microscope was fabricated using single point diamond turning. The prototype microscope objective was validated in a pre-clinical trial. The prototype was compared with a standard clinical microscope objective in diagnostic tests. High concordance, a Fleiss’s kappa of 0.88, was found between diagnoses made using the prototype and standard microscope objectives and a reference test. With the lens designed and validated and an advanced fabrication process developed, array microscopy technology is advanced to the point where it is feasible to rapidly prototype an array microscope for detection of tuberculosis and translate array microscope from an innovative concept to a device that can save lives.
Determination of Moisture Content of Maize Kernel (Zea mays L.) by Re∞ectance Measurement at Wavelengths 300nm to 800nm Using Optical Technique

This paper presents a method to determine moisture content of single maize kernel based on optical re∞ectance measurement at wavelengths from 300nm to 800nm. The method provides a simple, fast, non-destructive and accurate technique to establish the relationship be- tween re∞ectance and moisture content. The actual amount of moisture content was determined by standard oven drying method. The optical measurement setup consists of a UV-VIS-NIR light source, an integrated set of seven 440"m diameter flbers with six illumination flbers encir- cling one detection flber, a spectrometer, and a sample holder ensuring that the direction of the incident beam was normal to the sample surface. The results suggest that the percentage of re- ∞ectance decreases with moisture content. Calibration equations were established at wavelengths 380nm, 450nm and 590nm corresponding to UV-VIS boundary, carotenoid pigment absorption and yellow colour wavelengths. The lowest mean relative error of the optical flber technique to determine moisture content based on re∞ectance measurements was 0.037 at 590nm.
Broadband dual-polarized omnidirectional antenna based on magnetic dipoles

: A broadband dual-polarized omnidirectional antenna based on magnetic dipoles is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a cone radiator for vertical polarization (VP) and eight magnetic dipole elements for horizontal polarization (HP). The dipole elements are arranged around the ground plane to greatly reduce the volume of the proposed antenna. The overall volume of the antenna is only π × 75.5 mm × 75.5 mm × 35 mm (about π × 0.25 λ 0 × 0.25 λ 0 × 0.12 λ 0 at 1 GHz). The dipole elements are carefully designed to achieve the bandwidth about 28.7% from 2.03 GHz to 2.71 GHz. The bandwidth of the cone radiator is about 92% covering from 1 GHz to 2.7 GHz with band reject from 1.63 GHz to 1.7 GHz. The port isolation is more than 30 dB at the whole operation band. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results evidently validates this proposed antenna.
Inverse Correlation Between Coffee Consumption and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome: Baseline Survey of the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) Study in Tokushima, Japan

Background It is unclear whether consumption of coffee and green tea is associated with metabolic syndrome. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 554 adults who had participated in the baseline survey of the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) Study in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Consumption of coffee and green tea was assessed using a questionnaire. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) and the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO). Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between consumption of coffee and green tea and prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components. Results After adjustment for sex, age, and other potential confounders, greater coffee consumption was associated with a significantly lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, as defined by NCEP ATP III criteria (P for trend = 0.03). Participants who drank more coffee had a lower odds ratio (OR) for high serum triglycerides (P for trend = 0.02), but not for increased waist circumference or high blood pressure. Using JASSO criteria, moderate coffee consumption (1.5 to <3 cups/day) was associated with a significantly lower OR for high plasma glucose (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.28-0.93). Green tea consumption was not associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome or any of its components. Conclusions Coffee consumption was inversely correlated with metabolic syndrome diagnosed using NCEP ATP III criteria, mainly because it was associated with lower serum triglyceride levels. This association highlights the need for further prospective studies of the causality of these relationships.
Role of G proteins in agonist-induced Ca2+ sensitization of tracheal smooth muscle.

Increased sensitivity to intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]) is an important mechanism for agonist-induced contraction of airway smooth muscle, but the signal transduction pathways involved are uncertain. We studied Ca2+ sensitization with acetylcholine (ACh) and endothelin (ET)-1 in porcine tracheal smooth muscle by measuring contractions at a constant [Ca2+] in strips permeabilized with α-toxin or β-escin. The peptide inhibitor G protein antagonist 2A (GP Ant-2A), which has selectivity for Gq over Gi, inhibited contractile responses to ET-1, ACh, and guanosine 5'- O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS), but the proportional inhibition of ACh responses was less than that of ET-1. Pretreatment with pertussis toxin reduced ACh contractions but had no effect on those of ET-1 or GTPγS. Clostridium botulinum C3 exoenzyme, which inactivates Rho family monomeric G proteins, caused similar reductions in contractile responses to ACh, ET-1, and GTPγS. Farnesyltransferase inhibition, which inhibits Ras G proteins, reduced responses to ET-1. We conclude that the heterotrimeric G proteins Gq and Gi both contribute to Ca2+ sensitization by ACh, whereas ET-1 responses involve Gq but not Gi. Both Gq and Gi pathways likely involve Rho family small G proteins. A Ras-mediated pathway also contributes to Ca2+ sensitization by ET-1 in airway smooth muscle.
Menhaden oil prevents but does not reverse sucrose-induced insulin resistance in rats.

Although fish oil supplementation may prevent the onset of diet-induced insulin resistance in rats, it appears to worsen glycemic control in humans with existing insulin resistance. In the present study, the euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic (4× basal) clamp technique with [3-3H]glucose and 2-deoxy-[1-14C]glucose was used to directly compare the ability of fish oil to prevent and reverse sucrose-induced insulin resistance. In study 1 (prevention study), male Wistar rats were fed a purified high-starch diet (68% of total energy), high-sucrose diet (68% of total energy), or high-sucrose diet in which 6% of the fat content was replaced by menhaden oil for 5 wk. In study 2 (reversal study), animals were fed the high-starch or high-sucrose diets for 5 wk and then the sucrose animals were assigned to one of the following groups for an additional 5 wk: high starch, high sucrose, or high sucrose with 6% menhaden oil. Rats fed the high-starch diet for 10 wk served as controls. In study 3 (2nd reversal study), animals followed a similar diet protocol as in study 2; however, the reversal period was extended to 15 wk. In study 1, the presence of the fish oil in the high-sucrose diet prevented the development of insulin resistance. Glucose infusion rates (GIR, mg ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ min-1) were 17.0 ± 0.9 in starch, 10.6 ± 1.7 in sucrose, and 15.1 ± 1.5 in sucrose with fish oil animals. However, in study 2, this same diet was unable to reverse sucrose-induced insulin resistance (GIR, 16.7 ± 1.4 in starch, 7.1 ± 1.5 in sucrose, and 4.8 ± 0.9 in sucrose with fish oil animals). Sucrose-induced insulin resistance was reversed in rats that were switched back to the starch diet (GIR, 18.6 ± 3.0). Results from study 3 were similar to those observed in study 2. In summary, fish oil was effective in preventing diet-induced insulin resistance but not able to reverse it. A preexisting insulin-resistant environment interferes with the positive effects of menhaden oil on insulin action.
A Mindlin multilayered hybrid-mixed approach for shell structures without shear correction factors

In this paper, we present two four-node multilayered hybrid-mixed shell elements for the static and free vibration analyses of plate and shell composite structures. Their formulation is based on the first shear deformation theory of Reissner/Mindlin without transverse shear correction factors. Linear and quadratic variations of the local in-plane and transverse shear stresses across the thickness, respectively, are supposed. To reduce the total number of variables in these models, transverse shear stresses are directly related to bending stresses by using two equilibrium equations. The performances of the proposed elements are assessed by means of two known numerical benchmarks and their results are found to agree globally well with the reference solutions.
Symmetry‐breaking in branching epithelia: cells on micro‐patterns under flow challenge the hypothesis of positive feedback by a secreted autocrine inhibitor of motility

Branching morphogenesis of epithelia involves division of cells into leader (tip) and follower (stalk) cells. Published work on cell lines in culture has suggested that symmetry‐breaking takes place via a secreted autocrine inhibitor of motility, the inhibitor accumulating more in concave regions of the culture boundary, slowing advance of cells there, and less in convex areas, allowing advance and a further exaggeration of the concave/convex difference. Here we test this hypothesis using a two‐dimensional culture system that includes strong flow conditions to remove accumulating diffusible secretions. We find that, while motility does indeed follow boundary curvature in this system, flow makes no difference: this challenges the hypothesis of control by a diffusible secreted autocrine inhibitor.
Treatment of Crohn's‐Related Rectovaginal Fistula With Allogeneic Expanded‐Adipose Derived Stem Cells: A Phase I–IIa Clinical Trial

The aim of this clinical trial was to determine the safety and feasibility of expanded allogeneic adipose‐derived stem cells to treat Crohn’s‐related rectovaginal fistula (CRRVF). We designed a phase I–II clinical trial (https://ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00999115) to treat 10 patients with CRRVF. Patients receiving biological therapy during follow‐up were excluded. Curettage was performed, and a vaginal or rectal flap was added if the surgeon considered it necessary. The therapeutic protocol included intralesional injection of 20 million stem cells in the vaginal walls (submucosal area) and fistula tract. Healing was evaluated 12 weeks later. If the fistula had not healed, a second dose of 40 million stem cells was administered. Patient follow‐up was 52 weeks from last cell injection. Healing was defined as re‐epithelialization of both vaginal and rectal sides and absence of vaginal drainage. Cytokines and immunological blood tests were monitored. Serious adverse events or rejection issues were not observed. Five patients were excluded because biologic drugs were required to treat a Crohn's disease flare‐up during follow‐up. Cytokine profiles and immunotoxicity assays showed no statistically significant alterations. Sixty percent of the nonexcluded patients achieved a complete healing. Expanded allogeneic adipose‐derived stem‐cell injection is a safe and feasible therapy for treating CRRVF, and the healing success rate seems promising (60%). The results of this trial encourage further exploration into this therapy.
On Generation of Adversarial Examples using Convex Programming

It has been observed that deep learning architectures tend to make erroneous decisions with high reliability for particularly designed adversarial instances. In this work, we show that the perturbation analysis of these architectures provides a framework for generating adversarial instances by convex programming which, for classification tasks, is able to recover variants of existing non-adaptive adversarial methods. The proposed framework can be used for the design of adversarial noise under various desirable constraints and different types of networks. Moreover, this framework is capable of explaining various existing adversarial methods and can be used to derive new algorithms as well. We make use of these results to obtain novel algorithms. The experiments show the competitive performance of the obtained solutions, in terms of fooling ratio, when benchmarked with well-known adversarial methods1.
Self-Calibration of Mobile Manipulator Kinematic and Sensor Extrinsic Parameters Through Contact-Based Interaction

We present a novel approach for mobile manipulator self-calibration using contact information. Our method, based on point cloud registration, is applied to estimate the extrinsic transform between a fixed vision sensor mounted on a mobile base and an end effector. Beyond sensor calibration, we demonstrate that the method can be extended to include manipulator kinematic model parameters, which involves a nonrigid registration process. Our procedure uses on-board sensing exclusively and does not rely on any external measurement devices, fiducial markers, or calibration rigs. Further, it is fully automatic in the general case. We experimentally validate the proposed method on a custom mobile manipulator platform, and demonstrate centimetre-level post-calibration accuracy in positioning of the end effector using visual guidance only. We also discuss the stability properties of the registration algorithm, in order to determine the conditions under which calibration is possible.
A Review of Methods for Synthesis of Al Nanoparticles

The synthesis of metallic nanoparticles is an active area of academic and, more significantly, applied research in nanotechnology. Several methods have been introduced for the synthesis of these materials. The techniques for synthesizing aluminum nanoparticles can be divided into solid- phase, liquid-phase and gas-phase processes. The solid-phase techniques include mechanical ball milling and mechanochemical, the liquid-phase techniques include laser ablation, exploding wire, solution reduction, and decomposition process, whereas the gas-phase processes include gas evaporation, exploding wire, and laser ablation process. This study is an attempt to present an overview of Al nanoparticles preparation by various methods.
Inhibitory effects of BMP9 on breast cancer cells by regulating their interaction with pre-adipocytes/adipocytes

Bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) possesses multiple functions, but its effects on breast cancer cells in adipose microenvironment are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether BMP9 is able to modulate the interaction between pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and breast cancer cells. An in vitro co-culture system was established by using pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with BMP9 over-expression. The leptin expression and leptin-induced signaling pathway were evaluated in this co-culture system. MTT assay, EdU assay and flow cytometry were used to assess the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells. Wound-healing assay and Transwell migration assay were used to assess the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of leptin recepter (ObR) in MDA-MB-231 cells. The expression of key molecules in leptin signaling pathway in co-culture system were detected by Western blotting. MDA-MB-231 cells and pre-adipocytes/adipocytes were inoculated into nude mice, the tumor volume was measured, and the protein expression of key molecules in leptin signaling pathway was detected. Results showed BMP9 inhibited breast tumor growth in vitro and in vivo and reduced the migration of breast cancer cells in vitro. MDA-MB-231 cells with BMP9 over-expression decreased leptin expression in pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and had reduced phosphorylation of STAT3, ERK1/2 and AKT. Taken together, our study indicates that BMP9 can inhibit the growth and metastasis of breast cancer cells, which may be related to interaction between pre-adipocytes/adipocytes and MDA-MB-231 cells via leptin signaling pathway.
Conscientious Classification: A Data Scientist's Guide to Discrimination-Aware Classification

Recent research has helped to cultivate growing awareness that machine-learning systems fueled by big data can create or exacerbate troubling disparities in society. Much of this research comes from outside of the practicing data science community, leaving its members with little concrete guidance to proactively address these concerns. This article introduces issues of discrimination to the data science community on its own terms. In it, we tour the familiar data-mining process while providing a taxonomy of common practices that have the potential to produce unintended discrimination. We also survey how discrimination is commonly measured, and suggest how familiar development processes can be augmented to mitigate systems' discriminatory potential. We advocate that data scientists should be intentional about modeling and reducing discriminatory outcomes. Without doing so, their efforts will result in perpetuating any systemic discrimination that may exist, but under a misleading veil of data-driven objectivity.
Pengaruh Jenis Perekat pada Briket dari Kulit Buah Bintaro terhadap Waktu Bakar

Bintaro fruit is a plant that thrives in the tropics and has a fruit content of lignocellulose fibers bintaro potential as raw material briquettes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of various types of adhesives are tapioca, sago, lacquers and latex to time in the manufacture of fuel briquettes from the rind bintaro. Briquetting is carried out with a composition of 80% charcoal briquettes and type of adhesive respectively 20%. The results showed that the briquettes from the skin bintaro complies with SNI where the addition of starch adhesive obtained the best conditions, the water content of 1.91%, ash content of 7.35%, 15.34% levels of substance evaporates, 72 minute burn time and value kalornya 6000.46 calories / gram
Coordinate Regulation of TET2 and EBNA2 Controls the DNA Methylation State of Latent Epstein-Barr Virus

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency and its associated carcinogenesis are regulated by dynamic changes in DNA methylation of both virus and host genomes. We show here that the ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2) gene, implicated in hydroxymethylation and active DNA demethylation, is a key regulator of EBV latency type DNA methylation patterning. EBV latency types are defined by DNA methylation patterns that restrict expression of viral latency genes. We show that TET2 mRNA and protein expression correlate with the highly demethylated EBV type III latency program permissive for expression of EBNA2, EBNA3s, and LMP transcripts. We show that short hairpin RNA (shRNA) depletion of TET2 results in a decrease in latency gene expression but can also trigger a switch to lytic gene expression. TET2 depletion results in the loss of hydroxymethylated cytosine and a corresponding increase in cytosine methylation at key regulatory regions on the viral and host genomes. This also corresponded to a loss of RBP-jκ binding and decreased histone H3K4 trimethylation at these sites. Furthermore, we show that the TET2 gene itself is regulated in a fashion similar to that of the EBV genome. Chromatin immunoprecipitation high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) revealed that the TET2 gene contains EBNA2-dependent RBP-jκ and EBF1 binding sites and is subject to DNA methylation-associated transcriptional silencing similar to what is seen in EBV latency type III genomes. Finally, we provide evidence that TET2 colocalizes with EBNA2-EBF1-RBP-jκ binding sites and can interact with EBNA2 by coimmunoprecipitation. Taken together, these findings indicate that TET2 gene transcripts are regulated similarly to EBV type III latency genes and that TET2 protein is a cofactor of EBNA2 and coregulator of the EBV type III latency program and DNA methylation state. IMPORTANCE Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latency and carcinogenesis involve the selective epigenetic modification of viral and cellular genes. Here, we show that TET2, a cellular tumor suppressor involved in active DNA demethylation, plays a central role in regulating the DNA methylation state during EBV latency. TET2 is coordinately regulated and functionally interacts with the viral oncogene EBNA2. TET2 and EBNA2 function cooperatively to demethylate genes important for EBV-driven B-cell growth transformation.