Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EM-BrA2CE v0.1: A Vocabulary and Execution Model for Declarative Business Process Modeling

In management theory of the last decades, much importance has been attached to a process-oriented perspective on organizational (re)structuring. Yet to date, organi-zations still experience difficulties in applying this process-oriented perspective to the design and maintenance information systems. The root of the problem lies with a procedural representation of business processes that contains inadequate information for computer systems to provide flexible automated business process support. The counter-part of a procedural representation is a declarative one that explicitly takes into account the business concerns that govern business processes. Recently, a number of process modeling languages have appeared that could be identified as declarative languages. These modeling languages have very distinct knowledge representation backgrounds, often lack a formal execution model and often only model one aspect of the many business concerns that exist in reality. What is needed are meaningful ways to combine several kinds of expressions, called business rule types, independently of the used methods for knowledge representation and reasoning. In this paper, we present the EM-BrA2CE (Enterprise Modeling using Business Rules, Agents, Activities, Concepts and Events) Framework, a unifying vocabulary and execution model for declarative process modeling. The vocabulary is described in terms of the Semantics for Business Vocabulary and Rules (SBVR) standard and the execution model is presented as a Colored Petri Net (CP-Net). In addition, we show how declarative process models can contribute to the model-driven design of Service-Oriented Architectures.
A linear mixed perfusion model for tissue partial volume correction of perfusion estimates in dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI: Impact on absolute quantification, repeatability, and agreement with pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling

The partial volume effect (PVE) is an important source of bias in brain perfusion measurements. The impact of tissue PVEs in perfusion measurements with dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC‐MRI) has not yet been well established. The purpose of this study was to suggest a partial volume correction (PVC) approach for DSC‐MRI and to study how PVC affects DSC‐MRI perfusion results.
Spatial rectal dose/volume metrics predict patient-reported gastro-intestinal symptoms after radiotherapy for prostate cancer

Abstract Background: Gastro-intestinal (GI) toxicity after radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer reduces patient’s quality of life. In this study, we explored associations between spatial rectal dose/volume metrics and patient-reported GI symptoms after RT for localized prostate cancer, and compared these with those of dose–surface/volume histogram (DSH/DVH) metrics. Material and methods: Dose distributions and six GI symptoms (defecation urgency/emptying difficulties/fecal leakage, ≥Grade 2, median follow-up: 3.6 y) were extracted for 200 patients treated with image-guided RT in 2005–2007. Three hundred and nine metrics assessed from 2D rectal dose maps or DSHs/DVHs were subject to 50-times iterated five-fold cross-validated univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis (UVA, MVA). Performance of the most frequently selected MVA models was evaluated by the area under the receiving–operating characteristics curve (AUC). Results: The AUC increased for dose-map compared to DSH/DVH-based models (mean SD: 0.64 ± 0.03 vs. 0.61 ± 0.01), and significant relations were found for six versus four symptoms. Defecation urgency and faecal leakage were explained by high doses at the central/upper and central areas, respectively; while emptying difficulties were explained by longitudinal extensions of intermediate doses. Conclusions: Predictability of patient-reported GI toxicity increased using spatial metrics compared to DSH/DVH metrics. Novel associations were particularly identified for emptying difficulties using both approaches in which intermediate doses were emphasized.
Suppressing Systemic Interference in fNIRS Monitoring of the Hemodynamic Cortical Response to Motor Execution and Imagery

Hemodynamic response to motor execution (ME) and motor imagery (MI) was investigated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We used a 31 channel fNIRS system which allows non-invasive monitoring of cerebral oxygenation changes induced by cortical activation. Sixteen healthy subjects (mean-age 24.5 yeas) were recruited and the changes in concentration of hemoglobin were examined during right and left hand finger tapping tasks and kinesthetic MI. To suppress the systemic physiological interference, we developed a preprocessing procedure which prevents over-activated reporting in NIRS-SPM. In the condition of ME, more activation was observed in the anterior part of the motor cortex including the pre-motor and supplementary motor area (pre-motor and SMA), primary motor cortex (M1) and somatosensory motor cortex (SMC; t(15) > 2.27), however, in the condition of MI, more activation was found in the posterior part of motor cortex including SMC (t(15) > 1.81), which is in line with previous observations with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Effects of Short-Term Set-Aside Management Practices on Soil Microorganism and Enzyme Activity in China

Set-aside farmland can effectively improve the self-rehabilitation of arable soil. Long-term set-asides however cannot satisfy provisionment, therefore the use of short-term set-asides to restore cultivated soil is a better option. Few studies have compared short-term set-aside patterns, and the effects of set-asides on soil microbial community and enzyme enzymes. We analyzed the bacterial structure, microbial biomass carbon/nitrogen and enzyme activity of farmland soil under different set-aside regimes in the Yellow River Delta of China. Bacterial alpha diversity was relatively lower under only irrigation, and farmyard manure applications showed clear advantages. Set-asides should consider their influence on soil organic carbon and nitrogen, which were correlated with microbial community structure. Nitrospira (0.47–1.67%), Acidobacteria Gp6 (8.26–15.91%) and unclassified Burkholderiales (1.50–2.81%) were significantly altered (p < 0.01). Based on functions of these genera, some set-aside patterns led to a relative balance in nitrogen and carbon turnover. Partial treatments showed a deficiency in organic matter. In addition, farmyard manure may lead to the increased consumption of organic matter, with the exception of native plants set-asides. Conventional farming (control group) displayed a significant enzyme activity advantage. Set-aside management practices guided soil microbial communities to different states. Integrated soil microbiota and the content of carbon and nitrogen, native plants with farmyard manure showed an equilibrium state relatively, which would be helpful to improve land quality in the short-term.
Vitellogenin and its receptor play essential roles in the development and reproduction of the brown citrus aphid, Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus

Vitellogenin (Vg) and its receptor (VgR) play a key role in the reproductive process and development of insects. Aphids are a group of high‐fecundity insect species with pseudoplacental viviparity, but the roles of their Vg and VgR genes have not been investigated yet. The brown citrus aphid, Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus, is a major insect pest of citrus and the main vector of Citrus tristeza closterovirus. In this study, we identified and characterized these two genes, designated as AcVg and AcVgR, from the brown citrus aphid. We found that AcVg has lost the DUF1943 domain that is present in other insect Vgs. Silencing of AcVg and AcVgR led to a delay in the nymph–adult transition, a prolonged prereproductive period, and a shortened reproductive period, which in turn resulted in slower embryonic development and fewer new‐born nymphs. Interestingly, silencing of AcVg decreased the transcript level of AcVgR, but silencing of AcVgR resulted in increased transcript levels of AcVg. In addition, silencing of Vg/VgR had similar phenotypes between alate and apterous morphs, suggesting that the functions of these two genes are the same in the two wing morphs of the aphid. Our results demonstrate that Vg and VgR are involved in various aspects of aphid development and reproduction. Further studies on the synthesis of Vg could help to elucidate the reproductive mechanism and provide information that will be useful for developing new pest control strategies.
Accuracy of Laser Placement With Frameless Stereotaxy in Magnetic Resonance-Guided Laser-Induced Thermal Therapy

BACKGROUND: As magnetic resonance-guided laser-induced thermal therapy (MRgLITT) becomes more accepted, there needs to be an evaluation of the techniques required to achieve accurate laser placement. OBJECTIVE: To report our experience with frameless stereotaxy and the ability to achieve accurate laser placements. We also evaluate the variables associated with proper placement. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis from 3 years of MRgLITT. Demographics and operational parameters, including trajectory length, target alignment error, registration error, and radial error were recorded and compared. Blinded review was used for completeness of ablation. RESULTS: In the study, 90 laser placements were evaluated for 72 cases. Trajectory length and target alignment error was 95.3 ± 26.0 mm and 0.7 ± 0.3 mm, respectively. Significant differences existed in registration error between 4 (0.6 ± 0.3 mm) and 5 (0.5 ± 0.2 mm) skull pins (P = .04), but no significant decreases in registration error as additional skull pins were registered. Fifteen laser placements resulted in subtotal ablations. The overall radial error using frameless stereotaxy was 0.9 ± 1.6 mm. In the study, 65% of lasers were exactly on the planned trajectory. Of the 30 that were not, the radial error = 2.6 ± 1.9 mm. Radial error of subtotal laser ablations was 0.5 ± 0.9 (range, 0-2.8 mm) and was not significantly different from 0.8 ± 1.7 (range, 0-7.1 mm) radial error of lasers with total ablations (P = .52). Lasers with radial error >0 mm resulted in an incomplete ablation in 26.7% of cases. CONCLUSION: Skull pin-based frameless stereotaxy for MRgLITT results in consistent accuracy, with the majority of cases resulting in complete ablations. A significant proportion of lasers with RE >0 mm still result in complete ablations. ABBREVIATIONS: ANOVA, analysis of variance MRgLITT, magnetic resonance-guided laser-induced thermal therapy PAD, precision aiming device RE, radial error RegE, registration error SPGR, spoiled gradient echo TAE, target alignment error TL, trajectory length
Measuring the Burden of Pediatric Burn Injury for Parents and Caregivers: Informed Burn Center Staff Can Help to Lighten the Load

This study sought to identify which commonly experienced burn-related issues parents/caregivers of burn-injured youth deemed most stressful, difficult, and disruptive during their child’s initial acute burn care hospitalization, and following the child’s discharge. Parents completed an 11-item survey, asking them to rate the difficulty of items regarding their child’s burn injury. The scale was created by burn doctors, nurses, and psychologists with an average of 10.5 (SD ± 4.8) years of experience. Items selected were among common parental problems reported in the burn literature. Respondents included 69 parents/caregivers of previously hospitalized, burn-injured youth. The majority were mothers, n = 51 (74%), and n = 34 (49%) were Caucasian. The most represented age group was 37 to 45 years, n = 31 (45%). Children were on average, 6.04 years out from their initial injury. All parents reported their child’s pain as the most difficult part of the injury, n = 69 (100%). The second most common issue was the child’s first hospital stay. The other two items found to be “very hard” or “pretty hard” were the time spent away from their other children, and feelings of hopelessness in being unable to fix everything for their child. In this study, key parental problems occurred during the child’s initial hospitalization. Burn staff cannot alleviate all problems, however, staff education regarding distressing problems faced by parents, as well as possible solutions, can be made available.
Essential Oil of Betula pendula Roth. Buds

The essential oil of Betula pendula Roth. buds was obtained using both hydrodistillation and microdistillation techniques and their chemical compositions were analyzed using both gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Overall, more than 50 compounds were identified representing 80% and 92% for hydrodistillation and microdistillation, respectively. The main components (by hydrodistillation and microdistillation, respectively) found were α-copaene (12% and 10%), germacrene D (11% and 18%) and δ-cadinene (11% and 15%) in the analyzed essential oils. The microdistillation technique proved to be a useful tool and compliant alternative when compared to hydrodistillation.
Alternatives to antibiotics in poultry feed: molecular perspectives

Abstract The discovery of the growth promoting property of antibiotics led to their use as antibiotic feed additives (AFAs) in animal feed at sub-therapeutic doses. Although this has been beneficial for animal health and productivity, it has been, essentially, a double-edged sword. The continued and non-judicious use of AFAs has led to the selection and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant strains of poultry pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli. The rapid spread of drug-resistant pathogens as well as emergence of antibiotic-related environmental pollutants is of global concern. Hence, the identification and development of new and effective alternatives to antibiotics that do not hinder productivity is imperative. For this, it is essential to understand not only the molecular basis of development of resistance to AFAs but also the mechanisms of action of AFA alternatives and how they differ from AFAs. This review provides a molecular perspective on the alternatives to antibiotics that have been proposed till date and their current trends, as well as novel approaches such as development of improved delivery systems.
Cyclin K dependent regulation of Aurora B affects apoptosis and proliferation by induction of mitotic catastrophe in prostate cancer

Cyclin K plays a critical role in transcriptional regulation as well as cell development. However, the role of Cyclin K in prostate cancer is unknown. Here, we describe the impact of Cyclin K on prostate cancer cells and examine the clinical relevance of Cyclin K as a biomarker for patients with prostate cancer. We show that Cyclin K depletion in prostate cancer cells induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation accompanied by an accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase. Moreover, knockdown of Cyclin K causes mitotic catastrophe displayed by multinucleation and spindle multipolarity. Furthermore, we demonstrate a Cyclin K dependent regulation of the mitotic kinase Aurora B and provide evidence for an Aurora B dependent induction of mitotic catastrophe. In addition, we show that Cyclin K expression is associated with poor biochemical recurrence‐free survival in patients with prostate cancer treated with an adjuvant therapy. In conclusion, targeting Cyclin K represents a novel, promising anti‐cancer strategy to induce cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death through induction of mitotic catastrophe in prostate cancer cells. Moreover, our results indicate that Cyclin K is a putative predictive biomarker for clinical outcome and therapy response for patients with prostate cancer.
Association between Family Meals and the Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in Spanish Adolescents

Introduction: Few studies have assessed the role of family meals in the Mediterranean diet (MD). Simultaneously, family meal frequency (FMF) has been associated with healthier lifestyles.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between FMF and MD adherence in Spanish adolescents.Methods: A cross-sectional analysis with the baseline data of a multi-center (11 schools from the province of Barcelona) trial was performed. Socio-demographic and anthropometric data, as well as frequency of family breakfast, lunch and dinner were analyzed. MD adherence was assessed with the KIDMED questionnaire. The association between FMF and KIDMED was evaluated with a linear mixed effects regression model.Results: Adolescents (n=1473) reported a weekly frequency of family breakfast, lunch and dinner of 2.1, 4.5 and 5.6 times, respectively. MD adherence was medium in 58.4% of the adolescents, low in 16.0% and high in 25.6%. As MD adherence increased, there was an increase in the proportion of males and of adolescents with universityeducated parents, as well as a higher frequency of the three family meals. The model showed that MD adherence was associated with parental education and with the frequency of family breakfast and dinner.Conclusion: This is the first study to document the association between family meals and MD adherence. Family dinner and breakfast appear to be associated with MD adherence, and since breakfast shows low frequency it should be taken into account in the design of health interventions.
Association between Blood Lead and Walking Speed in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–2002)

Background: Walking speed is a simple and reliable measure of motor function that is negatively associated with adverse health events in older people, including falls, disability, hospital admissions, and mortality. Lead has adverse affects on human health, particularly on the vascular and neurological systems. Objective: We explored the hypothesis that lead is associated with slower walking speed. Methods: We used U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cross-sectional data from 1999–2002. The time to walk 20 ft (walking speed) was measured among 1,795 men and 1,798 women ≥ 50 years of age. The association between walking speed and quintiles of blood lead concentration was estimated separately in men and women using linear regression models adjusted for age, education, ethnicity, alcohol use, smoking status, height, and waist circumference. Results: Mean blood lead concentrations and walking speeds were 2.17 μg/dL and 3.31 ft/sec in women, and 3.18 μg/dL and 3.47 ft/sec in men, respectively. Among women, walking speed decreased with increasing quintiles of blood lead, resulting in an estimated mean value that was 0.11 ft/sec slower (95% CI: –0.19, –0.04; p-trend = 0.005) for women with blood lead concentrations in the highest versus lowest quintile. In contrast, lead was not associated with walking speed in men. Conclusion: Blood lead concentration was associated with decreased walking speed in women, but not in men. Our results contribute to the growing evidence that lead exposure, even at low levels, is detrimental to public health.
Partial discharge location algorithm based on cross-correlation technique for unsynchronized measurement

There is a rapid development of effective ways to locate the partial discharge (PD). They two approaches to improve the PD location accuracy which are the synchronized and unsynchronized sampling. Many algorithms use synchronized time to locate PD signal. The time signal is needed to determine the time of arrival (TOA). However, the existed multi sensor data fusion algorithm assumed the sensor can synchronously measure. Thus, this can lead to poor localization accuracy. Therefore, the mathematical algorithm for unsynchronized PD measurement is developed. It is based on the ratio of correlation and the ratio of different distance. The maximum correlation factor between signal arrivals at two ends is used to find the ratio of correlation. The test result showed that a precise PD location can be achieved using the proposed algorithm technique.
Compressed Sensing Based Synthetic Transmit Aperture Imaging: Validation in a Convex Array Configuration

According to the linear acoustic theory, the channel data of a plane wave emitted by a linear array is a linear combination of the full data set of synthetic transmit aperture (STA). Combining this relationship with compressed sensing (CS), a novel CS based ultrasound beamforming strategy, named compressed sensing based synthetic transmit aperture (CS-STA), was previously proposed to increase the frame rate of ultrasound imaging without sacrificing the image quality for a linear array. In this paper, assuming linear transfer function of a pulse-echo ultrasound system, we derived and applied the theory of CS-STA for a slightly curved array and validated CS-STA in a convex array configuration. Computer simulations demonstrated that, in the convex array configuration, the normalized root-mean-square error between the beamformed radio-frequency data of CS-STA and STA was smaller than 1% while CS-STA achieved four-fold higher frame rate than STA. In addition, CS-STA was capable of achieving good image quality at depths over 100 mm. It was validated in phantom experiments by comparing CS-STA with STA, multielement synthetic transmit aperture (ME-STA), and the conventional focused method (focal depth = 110 mm). The experimental results showed that STA and CS-STA performed better than ME-STA and the focused method at small depths. At the depth of 110 mm, CS-STA, ME-STA, and the focused methods improved the contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio of STA. The improvements in CS-STA are higher than those in ME-STA but lower than those in the focused mode. These results can also be observed qualitatively in the in vivo experiments on the liver of a healthy male volunteer. The CS-STA method is thus proved to increase the frame rate and achieve high image quality at full depth in the convex array configuration.
Spintronics as a Neurotechnique

Understanding the brain as a complex system is the current problem and challenge in multi-disciplinary science. To this end, finding new techniques to touch many un-known mechanisms inside the brain via observations and measurements are circumventing different neurotechniques today. One possible technique toward this purpose is based on sensing the magnetic field of neurons with spintronics devices, given that neurons are sources of magnetic fields. Additionally, correlation of individual neuron’s magnetic field to the magnetic field of many neurons is not very clear. In this paper, we shortly review the application of spintronics as one branch of nanotechnology for neural magnetic field detection. The major spintronics elements that can be implemented for the neural field detection nominated the magneto resistance (MR) will be introduced. Electronic properties of such a device will be reviewed and its technical issues such as magnetic coupling between layers and their materials and thickness dependence toward achieving high sensitive elements will be shortly addressed. Such elements can be implemented to measure the magnetic field of small neuron population down to individual neuron. Potential applications of spintronics elements for neural magnetic field detection toward the completion of the neuroscience will be addressed.