Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optical Tweezers in Biotechnology

Three-dimensional optical manipulation of microparticles, cells, and biomolecules in a noncontact and noninvasive manner is crucial for biophotonic, nanophotonic, and biomedical fields. Optical tweezers, as a standard optical manipulation technique, have some limitations in precise manipulation of micro-objects in microfluidics and in vivo because of their bulky lens system and limited penetration depth. Moreover, when applied for trapping nanoscale objects, especially with sizes smaller than 100 nm, the strength of optical tweezers becomes significantly weak due to the diffraction limit of light. The emerging near-field methods, such as plasmon tweezers and photonic crystal resonators, have enabled surpassing of the diffraction limit. However, these methods msay lead to local heating effects that will damage the biological specimens and reduce the trapping stability. Furthermore, the available near-field techniques rely on complex nanostructures fixed on substrates, which are usually used for 2D manipulation. The optical tweezers are of great potential for the applications including nanostructure assembly, cancer cell sorting, targeted drug delivery, single-molecule studies, and biosensing.
On- and Off-Policy Monotonic Policy Improvement

Monotonic policy improvement and off-policy learning are two main desirable properties for reinforcement learning algorithms. In this paper, by lower bounding the performance difference of two policies, we show that the monotonic policy improvement is guaranteed from on- and off-policy mixture samples. An optimization procedure which applies the proposed bound can be regarded as an off-policy natural policy gradient method. In order to support the theoretical result, we provide a trust region policy optimization method using experience replay as a naive application of our bound, and evaluate its performance in two classical benchmark problems.
Semi-analytical approaches for the prediction of the noise produced by ducted wind turbines

The integration of wind turbines into urban environments is a challenging task due to the reduced wind speed and high turbulence levels caused by the surface resistance, as well as limited spacing. If a specific building arrangement is explored, an improve ment in wind speed can be obtained. This would be especially beneficial for tall build ings where a wind turbine can be placed on the roof, side, or through a duct. However, the main problem associated with the integration of wind turbines is the acoustic an noyance. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is twofold. First, a robust, accurate, and low computational cost numerical methodology is proposed to predict the trailing edge noise for a ducted wind turbine. Second, a measurement device is developed to acquire noise emitted by a rotating machine where the duct surface cannot be altered. An inves tigation of the incoming flow on the noise emitted by a building-integrated wind turbine is conducted by different aerodynamic roughness lengths…
Current and conductance modulation at elevated temperature in silicon and InAs-based spin field-effect transistors

Spin field-effect transistors (SpinFETs) are promising candidates for future integrated microelectronic circuits. A SpinFET is composed of two ferromagnetic contacts (source and drain), which sandwich a semiconductor channel. Current modulation is achieved by electrically tuning the gate voltage dependent strength of the spin-orbit interaction in the semiconductor region. We investigated the properties of SpinFETs for various parameters - the band mismatch, the barrier height between the contacts and the channel and the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, for various temperatures. We demonstrated that the creation of Schottky barriers between the channel and the contacts guarantees a pronounced modulation of the magnetoresistance sufficient to open a possibility to operate SpinFETs at room temperature. We also demonstrated that silicon fins with [100] orientation exhibit a stronger dependence on the value of the spin-orbit interaction and are thus preferable for practical realization of silicon-based SpinFETs.
Adaptive Real Power Capping Method for Fair Overvoltage Regulation of Distribution Networks With High Penetration of PV Systems

For distribution networks with a high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems, overvoltage is a common and major issue that needs be addressed to not only assure reliable and secure system operation, but also to fully utilize PV generation capacity. A new real power capping method is proposed in this paper to prevent overvoltages by adaptively setting the power caps for PV inverters in real time. The proposed method can maintain voltage profiles below a preset upper limit while maximizing the PV generation and fairly distributing the real power curtailments among all the PV systems in the network. As a result, each of the PV systems in the network has equal opportunity to generate electricity and shares the responsibility of voltage regulation. The method does not require global information and can be implemented either under a centralized supervisory control scheme or in a distributed way via consensus control. Both steady state and dynamic simulation studies under various scenarios have been carried out on a 33-bus distribution system and the IEEE 13-bus test feeder to verify the effectiveness of the method.
Supervisory control for stand-alone photovoltaic systems

This paper proposes a supervisory controller applied to a stand-alone photovoltaic system with a centralized dc bus. The system is comprised of three independently closed-loop controlled converters, whose references and operation modes are defined by the supervisory system. The objective of the proposed supervisory controller is guaranteeing the power balance of the dc bus and to maximize batteries lifetime. A hysteresis strategy using different dc bus voltage level is proposed to avoid unnecessary switching of operation modes and reduce the battery charge/discharge cycles. Experimental results are provided to validate the proposed supervisory control technique.
Macrocyclic Hairpin Mimetics of the Cationic Antimicrobial Peptide Protegrin I: A New Family of Broad‐Spectrum Antibiotics

The problems associated with increasing antibiotic resistance have stimulated great interest in newly discovered families of naturally occurring cationic antimicrobial peptides. These include protegrin, tachyplesin, and RTD‐1, which adopt β‐hairpin‐like structures. We report here an approach to novel peptidomimetics based on these natural products. The mimetics were designed by transplanting the cationic and hydrophobic residues onto a β‐hairpin‐inducing template, either a D‐Pro‐L‐Pro dipeptide or a xanthene derivative. The mimetics have good antimicrobial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria (minimal inhibitory concentration≈6–25 μg mL−1). Analogues with improved selectivity for microbial rather than red blood cells (1 % hemolysis at 100 μg mL−1) were identified from a small library prepared by parallel synthesis. Thus, it is possible to separate the antimicrobial and hemolytic activities in this class of mimetics. NMR studies on one mimetic revealed a largely unordered structure in water, but a transition to a regular β‐hairpin backbone conformation in the presence of dodecylphosphocholine micelles. This family of mimetics may provide a starting point for the optimization of antimicrobial agents of potential clinical value in the fight against multiple‐drug‐resistant microorganisms.
Cefoxitin concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluids of patients with meningitis

The concentrations of cefoxitin in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured simultaneously in three groups of patients, 12 with aseptic meningitis (group 1) and 17 and 14 with bacterial meningitis (groups 2 and 3). The patients in group 1 received a single intravenous dose of 2 g of cefoxitin without other antimicrobial therapy. In addition to conventional doses of ampicillin or benzyl penicillin, patients in groups 2 and 3 received repeated infusions of 2 g of cefoxitin every 4 h for the first 3 or 4 days of the study and again on day 10. Additionally, group 3 received probenecid in a loading dose of 1 g followed by 0.5 g every 6 or 8 h. Concentrations of cefoxitin in CSF and serum were determined 1 or 2 h after infusion in group 2 and 2 h after infusion in group 3. The concentrations of cefoxitin in CSF did not reach detectable levels (1.56 microgram/ml) in 11 of the 12 patients in group 1. A level of 2.8 microgram of cefoxitin per ml of CSF was found, with an accompanying level of 30 microgram/ml of serum, in patient 12. In the group 2 patients with bacterial meningitis, the mean CSF concentrations were 3.3, 4.7, and 2.9 microgram/ ml on days 1, 3, and 10 of treatment, with simultaneous serum levels of 8, 9, and 8 microgram/ml. At similar times periods, the mean levels of cefoxitin in group 3 patients (with concomitant probenecid) were 8.6, 12.3, and 4.3 microgram/ml of CSF and 57, 35, 27 microgram/ml of serum.
ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELING METHODS FOR IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS OF SINGLE CELLS ON-CHIP

Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a noninvasive method for characterizing the dielectric properties of biological particles. The technique can differentiate between cell types and provide information on cell properties through measurement of the permittivity and conductivity of the cell membrane and cytoplasm. In terms of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology, cells pass sequentially through the microfluidic channel at high speed and are analyzed individually, rather than as traditionally done on a mixture of particles in suspension. This paper describes the analytical and numerical modeling methods for EIS of single cell analysis in a microfluidic cytometer. The presented modeling methods include Maxwell’s mixture theory, equivalent circuit model and finite element method. The difference and advantages of these methods have been discussed. The modeling work has covered the static case — an immobilized cell in suspension and the dynamic case — a moving cell in the channel.
Highly Reliable and Repeatable Soldering Technique for Assembling Empty Substrate Integrated Waveguide Devices

In this paper, a novel mymargin soldering technique that improves the fabrication process of empty substrate integrated waveguide (ESIW) devices is presented. Up until now, in order to fabricate an ESIW device, the tin solder paste was distributed, before assembling, on the contact surface between layers, in order to ensure a good electrical contact. This process has a low degree of repeatability (random soldering thickness and distribution of tin) and reliability (a significant number of nonworking prototypes due to tin overflow). In this paper, we propose the mechanization of a set of plated vias just next to the metalized walls of the ESIW in the central layer. Next, in the top and bottom covers that close this ESIW, additional plated vias are drilled in the same position so that, when the device is assembled (using screws or rivets), metalized holes can be seen passing through the whole structure from top to bottom. These holes are then used as soldering vias that can guide the tin paste straight to the point where it is needed. When the paste is dried, soldered vias ensure a very good electrical contact between layers. In addition, the fluid tin fills any small gap that appears between layers, thus providing a very good electrical contact and mechanical union. This novel soldering technique has been validated with experimental results. Several prototypes of filters centered at 13 and 35 GHz have been fabricated, proving the repeatability and reliability of the proposed soldering technique.
Influence of filter choice on 18F-FDG PET segmentation accuracy determined using generalized estimating equations

This study aims to quantify how filter choice affects several fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) segmentation methods and present the use of model fitting via generalized estimating equations (GEEs) to appropriately account for the properties of a common segmentation quality metric (Dice similarity coefficient). Spherical and irregularly shaped ‘hot’ objects filled with 18F-FDG were placed in a medium with background activity and imaged for 1, 2 and 5 min durations at low and high contrasts. Images were filtered with Gaussian and bilateral filters of 5 and 7 mm full-width half maximum (FWHM), with and without 3 mm FWHM Gaussian pre-smoothing. Four segmentation methods were used: 40% thresholding, adaptive thresholding, k-means clustering and seeded region-growing. Segmentation accuracy was quantified by overlap (using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC)) and distance between surfaces (using symmetric-mean-absolute-surface-distance (SMASD)) of the ground truth and segmented volumes. All segmentation methods showed mean DSC values between 0.71–0.87 and mean SMASD values between 0.72–2.10 mm across filters. The bilateral filter with 3 mm FWHM Gaussian pre-smoothing had mean DSC 0.80 ± 0.17 and mean SMASD 1.17 ± 1.51 mm displaying approximately equal performance to a 5 mm Gaussian filter with mean DSC 0.79 ± 0.18 and mean SMASD 1.27 ± 1.52 mm. Results from models fit using GEE with a binomial distribution and exchangeable correlation structure estimated the correlation between DSC values as 0.118 and 0.290 for spheres and irregular objects, respectively. The GEE approach accounts for several factors specific to the DSC metric that simpler statistical approaches do not, providing more accurate estimations of experimental effects commonly associated with nuclear medicine segmentation studies.
Changes in Bacterial Numbers and Leucine Assimilation during Estimations of Microbial Respiratory Rates in Seawater by the Precision Winkler Method

During incubation of seawater in bottles, the decrease in dissolved oxygen is often nonlinear over time scales frequently used to measure respiration. Numbers of bacteria always increase, and rates of assimilation of dissolved leucine often increase exponentially. This suggests that sample handling disrupts the previously existing food web, leading to shifts of trophic state and unbalanced growth. Potential errors in measuring respiratory rate can be minimized by documenting these variables.
Probabilistic framework for multi-target tracking using multi-camera: applied to fall detection

The developments in health care lead to longer life expectancy in developed countries. The growth of the number of seniors put new challenges to health care services, caregivers and family members. One of the major challenges is how to prevent elderly people from falling down. Especially, if the person lives alone, falling can be quite dangerous for his / her health. Falling down can cause serious consequences like broken bones or lost consciousness for elderly people. Therefore, it is of key importance to be able to provide help as soon as possible, or, even try to prevent the incident. Combining video-based surveillance and computer vision techniques could bring us towards intelligent systems that could help to monitor the elderly and raise an alarm in case of unusual and dangerous events. The main question is how to automate fall detection using only video information (like camera network) with application in public health and health services (i.e., elderly houses, hospitals). Generally, when talking about video surveillance systems, there are some elements that would remain the same in every system irrespective of the application. These are: tracking, data association in context of camera network and post-processing based on extracted information (like activity recognition). So, this thesis addresses each of these questions and tries to find a generalized framework that could integrate all the methods in one system. One of the main criterion of the project was to avoid camera calibration that is, correspondence between views should be based on some confidence or probability function between camera views. Therefore, it was decided to adopt a Bayesian framework for multi-target multicamera tracking [1] that fulfills our requirements. When considering a single view from one camera, the system allows to represent each target as a set of samples (or particles) that have probabilistic measures (weights) proportional to the likelihood of the target being at that position. For multi-camera system, one needs to associate corresponding targets among camera views. Gale-Shapley algorithm for finding stable matching between two classes (in our case cameras) was modified for this purpose. For fall detection part, silhouetteand velocity-based set of features were extracted and passed through Support Vector Machine (SVM) to separate fall events from other activities. A set of test videos were recorded using two cameras to test stability of the tracking framework and the reliability of fall detection algorithm. The initial results are encouraging. Further integration of additional features may improve the performance of the system.
Plasma leucine kinetics and urinary nitrogen excretion in intensively treated diabetes mellitus.

It is well known that inadequate insulin therapy stimulates body protein loss in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It is less well known, however, that accelerated body protein loss (as indicated by increased leucine oxidation) occurs in IDDM even during conventional glycemic control. It is not known whether intensified insulin therapy fully normalizes protein oxidation or, more importantly, whether such therapy is sufficient to allow the adaptive decrease of protein oxidation that normally occurs when protein intake is restricted below the customary surfeit level. We used two measures of protein oxidation [daily urinary nitrogen (N) excretion over several days of intensive insulin therapy and plasma [1-13C]leucine oxidation during short-term strict euglycemia] to assess the response of 7 men with IDDM and 12 normal men after adaptation first to a control diet providing maintenance energy and conventional (surfeit) protein then to an isoenergetic protein-free diet. After adaptation to the protein-free diet and during short-term strict euglycemia achieved using intravenous insulin, leucine turnover and oxidation decreased equivalently in normal and diabetic subjects. However, daily urinary obligatory N excretion, which indicated the effect of the low-protein diet and intensive subcutaneous insulin therapy over several days, was increased by 18% in the diabetic group (P less than 0.05). Even mildly elevated average blood glucose values well within the guidelines for intensive therapy were strongly correlated with high rates of urinary N excretion (r = 0.97, P = 0.0002). Thus insulin therapy of IDDM that imposes strict euglycemia is compatible with a normal ability to diminish body protein oxidation in response to protein restriction. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The natural history of post-traumatic neurohypophysial dysfunction.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Posterior pituitary function remains poorly investigated after traumatic brain injury (TBI). We report the results of a study designed to prospectively define the natural history of post-traumatic diabetes insipidus (DI) and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) using standard reliable methodology. DESIGN AND METHODS 50 consecutive patients with severe or moderate TBI (initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score 3/15-13/15) were prospectively studied on three occasions: at the acute phase and at 6 months and at 12 months following TBI. In the acute phase, DI was diagnosed either by the presence of hypernatraemia in association with hypotonic polyuria or by the water-deprivation test (WDT) and, at 6 and 12 months by the WDT in all patients. Normative data on response to the WDT were obtained from healthy matched volunteers. Functional outcome was assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). RESULTS 13 patients (26%) had DI in the acute post-TBI phase, of whom nine patients recovered by 6 months and one additional patient recovered by 12 months. Of the remaining three patients with permanent DI, two had partial vasopressin deficiency. Acute-phase peak plasma osmolality correlated negatively with the initial GCS scores (r = -0.39, P = 0.005) and with the GOS scores (r = -0.45, P = 0.001). Seven patients had SIADH in the acute phase of TBI but none did at 6 or 12 months. No new cases of DI or SIADH were noted after the acute phase. CONCLUSION This prospective study shows that posterior pituitary dysfunction is common following TBI. Most cases recover completely but there is an appreciable frequency of long-term DI which can be subtle and should be recognized and managed appropriately.
Array-Nozzle EHD Print Head and its Drop-on-Demand Experimentation

EHD (ElectroHydroDynamic) printing has critical merits in printing micro/nano size patterns compared to other inkjet printing technologies; however, the development of multi-nozzle EHD print heads is essential for high throughput printing and commercialization of this inkjet head technology. This paper introduces a novel nozzle array EHD print head that features control electrodes designed for electrostatic ejection and screening to reduce electric field interference. The printer head consists of a nozzle plate, an insulator, and control electrodes, and it is assembled by stacking the components. Experimental prototypes were fabricated by using micro-CNC, EDM, and ceramic processing. Two experiments were conducted to verify functions of the head, i.e. (i) drop-on-demand printing without the control electrodes and (ii) printing with the control electrodes. Preliminary experimental results show a successful drop-on-demand printing with an array of nozzles. The control electrodes were used to reduce the operating voltage and electric field interference among the nozzle array.
EXTERNAL LARYNGOCELE: SONOGRAPHIC APPEARANCE - A CASE

AbstractResumo * Study developed in the Division of Ultrasonography at Insti-tuto de Radiologia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade deMedicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo (InRad/HC-FMUSP), SaoPaulo, SP, Brazil.1. MDs, Ex-Residents, Department of Radiology, Hospital dasClinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo(HC-FMUSP), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.2. MD, Ex-Resident in Head & Neck Surgery at Hospital dasClinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo(HC-FMUSP), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.3. MD, Collaborator, Department of Laryngoscopy, Division ofHead & Neck Surgery, Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade deMedicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo (HC-FMUSP), Sao Pau-lo, SP, Brazil.4. PhD, Director for the Department of Computed Tomogra-phy at Instituto de Radiologia do Hospital das Clinicas da Facul-dade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo (InRad/HC-FMUSP), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.5. Full Professor, Department of Radiology, Hospital das Clini-cas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo (HC-FMUSP), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil6. PhD, Director for the Department of Ultrasonography atInstituto de Radiologia do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade deMedicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo (InRad/HC-FMUSP), SaoPaulo, SP, Brazil.Mailing address: Dra. Maria Cristina Chammas. Avenida Ma-noel dos Reis Araujo, 453, Jardim Marajoara. Sao Paulo, SP,Brazil, 04664-000. E-mail: mcchammas@hotmail.comReceived April 20, 2005. Accepted after revision June 10,2005.