Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quasi-LPV gain scheduling control for the air path system of diesel engines

This paper addresses the issue on gain scheduled quasi linear parameter varying (LPV) control strategy for the air path system of diesel engines, which plays a critical role for the emission reduction of diesel engines. Due to the strong nonlinearities of the underlying system, traditional linear control algorithm can not achieve a satisfactory control performance. In this paper, the considered nonlinear plant is approximated as an Hammerstein quasi-LPV system in the first place. An advanced quasi-LPV gain scheduled control strategy is applied to the underlying system. The effectiveness of the new control algorithm is illustrated by the simulations.
Compensation of Mechanical Stress-Induced Drift of Bandgap References With On-Chip Stress Sensor

Today's smart sensor systems rely heavily on bandgap circuit techniques to achieve the required high accuracy. However, all presently known bandgap references show a notable lifetime drift of ~1 mV caused by instable mechanical stress in common plastic encapsulated packages. This paper proposes a versatile digital stress compensation scheme which works for arbitrary packages and silicon technologies. It uses a new mechanical stress sensor to measure the sum of in-plane normal stress components. The mechanical stress drifts of bandgap reference, stress, and temperature sensors were characterized on wafer stripes in a four-point bending fixture. With these results a compensation algorithm was derived. Mechanical stress drifts were provoked by thermal cycling measurements on samples in a quad flat no leads-like plastic encapsulated package after moisture soaking. These measurements show that the mechanical stress related drift of a Brokaw bandgap voltage can be reduced by about one order in magnitude over the whole automotive temperature range. Due to the low process spread of the proposed stress sensor only a single-trim at room temperature on wafer level is necessary.
The mathematical modelling of cell kinetics in corneal epithelial wound healing.

This paper considers the comparison of experimental spatial and temporal data of mitotic rates measured during corneal epithelial wound healing (CEWH) of a rat model with the predictions of a computer modelling framework. We begin by briefly showing that previous models, used in the study of corneal epithelial wound healing speeds, are inadequate for the study of cell kinetics. We proceed to formulate a new modelling framework more suited to such a study. This framework is simulated in its simplest form, and the results from this motivate a new realisation of the modelling framework, including a caricature of age structuring. Finally, a model with a simple representation of juxtacrine signalling is considered. The final model captures many, though not all, of the trends of the experimental data. This paper thus lays a foundation for the modelling of the cell kinetics of corneal epithelial wound healing, and yields valuable insight regarding the important mechanisms a model should consider in order to reproduce the observed experimental trends.
Fine‐needle aspiration of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders: A review

The majority of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) are Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-driven pro-liferations that develop as a consequence of immunosuppressive therapy in recipients of solid organ or bone marrow transplant. 1–4 These disorders show a range from a reactive process (infectious mononucleosis-like) to polyclonal plasmacytic hyperplasia to those that are morphologically and genotypically indistinguishable from typical non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Another hematologic malignancy that is sporadically reported in posttransplant patients is myeloma 5 and extramedullary plasmacytomas, both of which can show latent EBV in this setting. The overall incidence of PTLDs is about 1–5% in all solid organ transplant recipients. 3,6–8
Antibodies against human 60 kDa heat shock protein are not associated with cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with an unexplained increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Antibodies against human 60 kDa heat shock protein (anti-HSP60) are associated with the presence and severity of CVD. Objectives: To investigate whether anti-HSP60 antibodies are associated with prevalent CVD in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: In a nested case–control design, anti-HSP60 antibody levels were measured in the serum samples of 192 rheumatoid patients. In a regression analysis the association between prevalent CVD and anti-HSP60 antibodies was examined, along with the possible influence on this association of several demographic, rheumatoid arthritis, and CVD related variables. Results: In a random sample of 326 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 48 cases were identified who also suffered from CVD. Three controls per case with rheumatoid arthritis but without CVD (n = 144) were matched for sex, age, disease duration, and smoking habits. A regression analysis showed no significant association between prevalent CVD and anti-HSP60 antibodies (odds ratio = 1.00 (95% confidence interval, 0.997 to 1.004)). After correcting for possible confounding variables, still no association was found. Conclusions: In contrast to the general population, anti-HSP60 antibody titres are not associated with prevalent CVD in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These findings could be the result of an altered immune response to HSP60 in rheumatoid arthritis.
Burden of Caregivers of People with Stroke: Evolution and Predictors

Background: Caregiver burden differs according to the amount of care, but no study has really focused on that point. This study compares the evolution of burden of two groups of caregivers of people with a recent stroke who returned home after discharge from two different types of health care facilities. Methods: Burden was assessed at 3 weeks and 3 and 6 months after discharge. The two groups of people with stroke and their caregivers were recruited from acute care (n = 69) and rehabilitation facilities (n = 89). Caregivers completed a questionnaire with three dimensions. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, we assessed variables pertaining to the clinical, physical and cognitive functioning of the people with stroke. Results: Differences in burden were noted. The best predictors of burden were the caregivers’ characteristics, i.e. gender (female), occupation (retired), schooling (low), age (older) and hours of care given, and the stroke survivors’ characteristics, i.e. depressive symptoms, poor motor function (leg), verbal comprehension deficits, difficulty walking and neurological deficits. Conclusion: These results reinforce the view that services (information, training and support) should be tailored to the needs of caregivers, depending on whether or not the recipient of care has received rehabilitation services.
Involvement of human papillomavirus type 20 in epidermodysplasia verruciformis skin carcinogenesis

The involvement of human papillomavirus (HPV) in skin carcinogenesis in a patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis was studied. This patient had disseminated pityriasis versicolor-like lesions, flat warts, and a malignant skin carcinoma. HPV types 3, 17, 20 (HPV-20), and 38 were isolated and molecularly cloned from the benign skin lesions of this patient. Of these HPVs, only HPV-20 was detected in the malignant skin carcinoma. Transcripts of HPV-20 were also expressed in the carcinoma. These findings suggest that HPV-20 was involved in the skin carcinogenesis in this patient.
Bidding For Parking: The Impact of University Affiliation on Predicting Bid Values in Dutch Auctions of On-Campus Parking Permits

Parking is often underpriced and expanding its capacity is expensive; universities need a better way of reducing congestion outside of building costly parking garages. Demand based pricing mechanisms, such as auctions, offer a possible solution to the problem by promising to reduce parking at peak times. However, faculty, students, and staff at universities have systematically different parking needs, leading to different parking valuations. In this study, I determine the impact university affiliation has on predicting bid values cast in three Dutch Auctions of oncampus parking permits sold at Chapman University in Fall 2010. Using clustering techniques crosschecked with university demographic information to detect affiliation groups, I ran a loglinear regression, finding that university affiliation had a larger effect on bid amount than on lot location and fraction of auction duration. Generally, faculty were predicted to have higher bids whereas students were predicted to have lower bids.
Los subtítulos y la subtitulación en la clase de lengua extranjera

Resumen: Este articulo se abre con una panoramica del papel que la traduccion audiovisual juega en la didactica de idiomas: introduce variedad, da cabida a los elementos no-verbales de la comunicacion y, lo mas importante, permite a los estudiantes ver el tipo de interaccion que se establece entre lengua y cultura en un contexto real. Tras presentar una clasificacion de los distintitos tipos de subtitulos que existen en la ensenanza de idiomas, el articulo considera los pros y los contras de usar videos subtitulados para aprender idiomas. Con el fin de superar la posible pasividad que se deriva de ver videos subtitulados, el autor propone una aproximacion mas activa para explotar este material, que consiste en ensenar a los alumnos a crear sus propios subtitulos. El articulo finaliza con un analisis de las ventajas de esta actividad relativamente novedosa en el campo de la ensenanza de idiomas y presenta un listado de las principales consideraciones linguisticas y tecnicas que caracterizan la subtitulacion para que los profesores que esten interesados puedan familiarizarse con ellas.
Graphene and its nanocomposite material based electrochemical sensor platform for dopamine

Dopamine (DA) is an important catecholamine neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system that influences several physiological functions. The impact of DA levels within the human body significantly affects the body functions. Maintaining DA level is essential and the electrochemical detection methods are often used to detect the DA level to regulate the body function. In this review, graphene (functionalized graphene and N-doped graphene) and its composites (metal, metal oxide, polymer, carbonaceous materials, clay, zeolite, and metal–organic framework based graphene composites) modified electrodes with their improved sensing performance towards DA along with several interfering species are described. Further, recent developments on the fabrication of various graphene based composite modified electrodes are also presented. Some important strategies to improve the selectivity and sensitivity towards DA with graphene based composite modified electrodes are also described.
Transformable Menu Component for Mobile Device Applications: Working with both Adaptive and Adaptable User Interfaces

Using a learning system in a mobile environment is not effective if barriers are not overcome in the interaction with targeted users. For that purpose all mobile services, including m-learning ones, demand special attention being paid to interaction with the user. While mobile device applications are becoming more powerful, their development process must utilize the concepts of universal access and universal usability. This paper describes the model of both adaptable and adaptive mobile user interface, through the introduction of a transformable menu component capable to be personalized to each individual user with respect to her/his preferences and interaction style. We discuss the use of customization and adaptation techniques, with the aim to both enhance mobile HCI and to increase user satisfaction, particularly when working with graphically rich m-learning applications.
Anxiety and depression in adult patients with celiac disease on a gluten-free diet.

AIM To compare anxiety and depression levels in adult patients with celiac disease (CD) on a gluten-free diet (GFD) with controls. METHODS The levels of anxiety, depression and of a probable anxiety or depressive disorder were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in 441 adult patients with CD recruited by the German Celiac Society, in 235 age- and sex-matched patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in remission or with slight disease activity, and in 441 adult persons of a representative German general population sample (GP). Potential demographic (age, sex, social class, family status) and disease-related (latency to diagnosis, duration of GFD, compliance with GFD, thyroid disease) predictors of anxiety and depression in CD were tested for by regression analyses. RESULTS The level of anxiety in CD patients was predicted (R(2) = 0.07) by female gender (P = 0.01). Female sex (OR = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.3-9.4, P = 0.01) was associated with a probable anxiety disorder. Living alone (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2-0.9, P = 0.05) was associated with a reduced risk of an anxiety disorder. The level of depression and a probable depressive disorder were not predicted by any of the demographic and medical variables tested for. The levels of anxiety in patients with CD (6.6 +/- 3.4) and with IBD (6.9 +/- 3.7) were higher than those of persons in the GP (4.6 +/- 3.3) (both P < 0.001). The levels of depression in persons with CD (4.2 +/- 3.4), IBD (4.6 +/- 3.4) and of the GP (4.2 +/- 3.8) did not differ (P = 0.3). The prevalence of a probable anxiety disorder in persons with CD (16.8%) and IBD (14.0%) was higher than that of the GP (5.7%) (P < 0.001). The prevalence of a probable depressive disorder did not differ significantly between the three groups (P = 0.1). CONCLUSION Anxiety in adult German female celiacs on a GFD is higher than in persons of the GP. Female celiacs on a GFD should be screened for anxiety.
Hybrid classification and regression models via particle swarm optimization auto associative neural network based nonlinear PCA

For solving classification and regression problems, we propose a hybrid system consisting of two phases which work in tandem. In the first phase, particle swarm optimization is employed to train a 3-layered auto associative neural network henceforth called PSOAANN. In this phase, dimensionality reduction takes place in hidden layer, where the hidden nodes should be less than the input nodes. The outputs from the hidden nodes are then treated as nonlinear principal components NLPC. They are fed to the second phase where several classifiers and regression methods are invoked. The second phase includes techniques viz., threshold accepting logistic regression TALR, probabilistic neural network PNN, group method of data handling GMDH, support vector machine SVM and genetic programming GP for classification problems. For regression problems, general regression neural network GRNN is used in place of PNN. In addition, support vector machine SVM, Genetic Programming GP, GMDH are also employed, as they are versatile. The efficiency of the hybrid is analyzed on five banking datasets namely Spanish banks, Turkish banks, US banks and UK banks and UK credit dataset and five regression datasets viz., Bodyfat, Forestfires, AutoMPG, Boston Housing and Pollution. All the datasets are analyzed using 10 fold cross validation 10 FCV. It turns out that the proposed hybrid yielded higher accuracies across classification and regression problems.
A Model for Electrostatic Actuation in Conducting Liquids

This paper presents a generalized model that describes the behavior of micromachined electrostatic actuators in conducting liquids and provides a guideline for designing electrostatic actuators to operate in aqueous electrolytes such as biological media. The model predicts static actuator displacement as a function of device parameters and applied frequency and potential for the typical case of negligible double-layer impedance and dynamic response. Model results are compared to the experimentally measured displacement of electrostatic comb-drive and parallel-plate actuators and exhibit good qualitative agreement with experimental observations. The model is applied to show that the pull-in instability of a parallel-plate actuator is frequency dependent near the critical frequency for actuation and can be eliminated for any actuator design by tuning the applied frequency. In addition, the model is applied to establish a frequency-dependent theoretical upper bound on the voltage that can be applied across passivated electrodes without electrolysis.
APRIL-Deficient Mice Have Normal Immune System Development

ABSTRACT APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. APRIL mRNA shows high levels of expression in tumors of different origin and a low level of expression in normal cells. APRIL shares two TNF receptor family members, TACI and BCMA, with another TNF homolog, BLyS/BAFF. BLyS is involved in regulation of B-cell activation and survival and also binds to a third receptor, BR3/BAFF-R, which is not shared with APRIL. Recombinant APRIL and BLyS induce accumulation of B cells in mice, while BLyS deficiency results in severe B-cell dysfunction. To investigate the physiological role of APRIL, we generated mice that are deficient in its encoding gene. APRIL−/− mice were viable and fertile and lacked any gross abnormality. Detailed histological analysis did not reveal any defects in major tissues and organs, including the primary and secondary immune organs. T- and B-cell development and in vitro function were normal as well, as were T-cell-dependent and -independent in vivo humoral responses to antigenic challenge. These data indicate that APRIL is dispensable in the mouse for proper development. Thus, BLyS may be capable of fulfilling APRIL's main functions.
Isolation of cancer progenitor cells from cancer stem cells in gastric cancer

The success of cancer treatment may depend on the complete elimination of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, data regarding the current characterization of CSCs in different types of tumor are inconsistent, possibly due to the mixture of CSCs with cancer progenitor cells (CPCs). Therefore, it is important to exclude CPCs for the characterization of CSCs. The present study aimed to characterize gastric cancer stem cells (GCSC) by separating GCPC from gastric progenitor cells (GCSC) with flow cytometry. In total, 615 murine gastric cancer (GC) cells were divided into aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)high, ALDHlow and ALDHneg groups by flow cytometry according to their ALDH activity. With decreased ALDH activity, the expression levels of stemness-associated markers, CD133+, octamer-binding transcription factory-4 and sex determining region Y-box 2 decreased. The ALDHhigh and ALDHlow cells proliferated and formed tumor spheres in ultra-low adhesion medium without serum, however, the latter formed larger tumor spheres. In mice transplanted with 5,000 cells, the rate of tumor formation in the ALDHlow group was significantly higher, compared with that in the ALDHhigh group. Of note, an increased number of mice developed tumors in the ALDHhigh group 16 weeks following the injection of 500 cells, whereas tumors appeared at 8 weeks in the ALDHlow group. The mice in the ALDHneg group exhibited less tumor formation under these conditions. These results demonstrated that ALDHhigh cells had characteristics of GCSCs with a high level of self-renewal ability, but were in a relative resting stage. The ALDHlow cells had characteristics of GCPCs with limited self-renewal ability, but were in a rapid proliferation stage. These findings suggested that the separation of GCPCs from GCSCs is important for elucidating the biology of GCSCs and identifying strategies to eliminate GCSCs in GC.
Deinococcus radiodurans Toxin–Antitoxin MazEF-dr Mediates Cell Death in Response to DNA Damage Stress

Here we identified a functional MazEF-dr system in the exceptionally stress-resistant bacterium D. radiodurans. We showed that overexpression of the toxin MazF-dr inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli. The toxic effect of MazF-dr was due to its sequence-specific endoribonuclease activity on RNAs containing a consensus 5′ACA3′, and it could be neutralized by MazE-dr. The MazF-dr showed a special cleavage preference for the nucleotide present before the ACA sequence with the order by U>A>G>C. MazEF-dr mediated the death of D. radiodurans cells under sub-lethal dose of stresses. The characteristics of programmed cell death (PCD) including membrane blebbing, loss of membrane integrity and cytoplasm condensation occurred in a fraction of the wild-type population at sub-lethal concentration of the DNA damaging agent mitomycin C (MMC); however, a MazEF-dr mutation relieved the cell death, suggesting that MazEF-dr mediated cell death through its endoribonuclease activity in response to DNA damage stress. The MazEF-dr-mediated cell death of a fraction of the population might serve as a survival strategy for the remaining population of D. radiodurans under DNA damage stress.
Performance and Power Solutions for Caches Using 8T SRAM Cells

Voltage scaling can reduce power dissipation significantly. SRAM cells (which are traditionally implemented using six-transistor cells) can limit voltage scaling due to stability concerns. Eight-transistor (8T) cells were proposed to enhance cell stability under voltage scaling. 8T cells, however, suffer from costly write operations caused by the column selection issue. Previous work has proposed Read-Modify-Write (RMW) to address this issue at the expense of an increase in cache access frequency. Here, we introduce two microarchitectural solutions to address this inefficiency. Our solutions rely on grouping write accesses and bypassing read accesses made to the same cache set. We reduce cache access frequency up to 55%.
A randomized paired comparison trial of cutaneous treatments for acute jellyfish (Carybdea alata) stings.

The objective of the study was to compare cutaneous treatments (heat, papain and vinegar) for acute jellyfish (Carybdea alata) stings. Healthy adult volunteer subjects received a single-tentacle jellyfish sting on each forearm. One forearm was treated with hot-water immersion (40-41 degrees C). This was compared with the other forearm, which was randomized to a comparison treatment of papain meat tenderizer or vinegar. Pain was measured at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 minutes using a 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS). For 25 subject runs, the average VAS scores at t = 0 were 3.6 cm (hot water) and 3.7 cm (comparison treatment). At t = 4 minutes (2 minutes after treatment had started), the differences between hot-water and comparison group VAS scores were 2.1 cm versus 3.2 cm, respectively. The mean difference between hot-water and comparison treatments was 1.1 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 1.6). At t = 20 minutes (the end of the study period), the differences between hot-water and comparison group VAS scores were 0.2 cm versus 1.8 cm, respectively. The mean difference between hot-water and comparison treatments was 1.6 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.9 to 2.3). This study suggests that the most efficacious initial treatment for C alata jellyfish envenomation is hot-water immersion to the afflicted site.