Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CFD modelling of dry slag granulation using a novel spinning disc process

Slags generated in metallurgical industry are high volume by-products or wastes containing a large amount of heat. In blast furnace ironmaking, for example, for every tonne of hot metal produced, about 300 kg of slag is generated. The cooling of molten slag to ambient temperature can release up to 1.8 GJ/t of thermal energy. Blast furnace slags are currently either water granulated or air cooled. Water granulation is commonly adopted to produce glassy granules that can be used for cement production. However, such slag treatment methods have some obvious shortcomings: ie, no heat recovery, air pollution, and consumption of a large amount of fresh water. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest in processing molten slags without using water quenching, so-called dry slag granulation (DSG).
SDPA: Toward a Stateful Data Plane in Software-Defined Networking

As the prevailing technique of software-defined networking (SDN), open flow introduces significant programmability, granularity, and flexibility for many network applications to effectively manage and process network flows. However, open flow only provides a simple “match-action” paradigm and lacks the functionality of stateful forwarding for the SDN data plane, which limits its ability to support advanced network applications. Heavily relying on SDN controllers for all state maintenance incurs both scalability and performance issues. In this paper, we propose a novel stateful data plane architecture (SDPA) for the SDN data plane. A co-processing unit, forwarding processor (FP), is designed for SDN switches to manage state information through new instructions and state tables. We design and implement an extended open flow protocol to support the communication between the controller and FP. To demonstrate the practicality and feasibility of our approach, we implement both software and hardware prototypes of SDPA switches, and develop a sample network function chain with stateful firewall, domain name system (DNS) reflection defense, and heavy hitter detection applications in one SDPA-based switch. Experimental results show that the SDPA architecture can effectively improve the forwarding efficiency with manageable processing overhead for those applications that need stateful forwarding in SDN-based networks.
Compressed sensing based joint detection and tracking for STAP radar

In this paper, we propose a novel compressed sensing based joint detection and tracking algorithm, named CS-JDT algorithm, to track multiple targets for STAP radar system. A novel general similar sensing matrix pursuit (GSSMP) algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the whole radar scenario (DOA-Doppler plane) for each range gate at consecutive scans. The proposed GSSMP algorithm addresses several problems in existing compressed sensing radar systems: First, it imposes no restrictions on the transmitter since the sensing matrix is built directly on the spatial-temporal steering matrix. There are no constraints on the correlation between any two columns of the sensing matrix since the proposed algorithm can deal with the sensing matrix with high coherence efficiently. Secondly, the size of the compact sensing matrix depends on the threshold of similarity distance used to divide the similar column groups, which does not increase with the resolution of the DOA-Doppler plane. Finally, the GSSMP algorithm can identify the correct subspace quite well, and reconstruct the original K-sparse signal representing the sparse radar scene perfectly, even in the condition of very closely spaced targets.
MiR-122-5p inhibits cell migration and invasion in gastric cancer by down-regulating DUSP4

ABSTRACT Objective: To explore the relationship between miR-122-5p and DUSP4 and their effects on gastric cancer (GC) cell mobility and invasiveness. Methods: Abnormally expressed miRNAs and mRNAs were analyzed using microarrays. The miR-122-5p and DUSP4 mRNA expression levels in GC tissues and cells were determined by RT-qPCR. The target relationship between miR-122-5p and DUSP4 was validated by dual luciferase reporter assay. GC cell mobility and invasiveness were respectively observed by wound healing assay and transwell invasion assay. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used for detection of the expressions of DUSP4 protein and MMP2 and MMP9 proteins related to cell invasion and migration. The migration and invasion abilities of gastric cancer cells in vivo were evaluated according to the number of lung metastatic nodules in mice. Results: The expression of miR-122-5p in GC tissues and cells was significantly down-regulated, whereas DUSP4 expression was up-regulated. Bioinformatics prediction strategies and dual luciferase reporter assay verified the binding sites of miR-122-5p on 3′UTR of DUSP4 and the target relationship between miR-122-5p and DUSP4. Overexpression of miR-122-5p and knockdown of DUSP4 in BGC-823 cells observantly suppressed GC cell mobility and invasiveness, whereas downregulation of miR-122-5p expression promoted cell metastasis. MiR-122-5p inhibited GC cell mobility and invasiveness and pulmonary tumor metastasis via downregulation of DUSP4. Conclusion: MiR-122-5p restrained migration and invasion abilities of GC cells by repressing DUSP4.
Congestion Control for Web Real-Time Communication

Applications requiring real-time communication (RTC) between Internet peers are ever increasing. RTC requires not only congestion control but also minimization of queuing delays to provide interactivity. It is known that the well-established transmission control protocol congestion control is not suitable for RTC due to its retransmissions and in-order delivery mechanisms, which induce significant latency. In this paper, we propose a novel congestion control algorithm for RTC, which is based on the main idea of estimating—using a Kalman Filter—the end-to-end one-way delay variation which is experienced by packets traveling from a sender to a destination. This estimate is compared with a dynamic threshold and drives the dynamics of a controller located at the receiver, which aims at maintaining queuing delays low, while a loss-based controller located at the sender acts when losses are detected. The proposed congestion control algorithm has been adopted by Google Chrome. Extensive experimental evaluations have shown that the algorithm contains queuing delays while providing intra and inter protocol fairness along with full link utilization.
Intrinsic cellular and molecular properties of in vivo hippocampal synaptic plasticity are altered in the absence of key synaptic matrix molecules

Hippocampal synaptic plasticity comprises a key cellular mechanism for information storage. In the hippocampus, both long‐term potentiation (LTP) and long‐term depression (LTD) are triggered by synaptic Ca2+‐elevations that are typically mediated by the opening of voltage‐gated cation channels, such as N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors (NMDAR), in the postsynaptic density. The integrity of the post‐synaptic density is ensured by the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here, we explored whether synaptic plasticity is affected in adult behaving mice that lack the ECM proteins brevican, neurocan, tenascin‐C, and tenascin‐R (KO). We observed that the profiles of synaptic potentiation and depression in the dentate gyrus (DG) were profoundly altered compared to plasticity profiles in wild‐type littermates (WT). Specifically, synaptic depression was amplified in a frequency‐dependent manner and although late‐LTP (>24 hr) was expressed following strong afferent tetanization, the early component of LTP (<75 min post‐tetanization) was absent. LTP (>4 hr) elicited by weaker tetanization was equivalent in WT and KO animals. Furthermore, this latter form of LTP was NMDAR‐dependent in WT but not KO mice. Scrutiny of DG receptor expression revealed significantly lower levels of both the GluN2A and GluN2B subunits of the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor, of the metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGlu5 and of the L‐type calcium channel, Cav1.3 in KO compared to WT animals. Homer 1a and of the P/Q‐type calcium channel, Cav1.2 were unchanged in KO mice. Taken together, findings suggest that in mice that lack multiple ECM proteins, synaptic plasticity is intact, but is fundamentally different.
Impact of rare diseases in oral health

Background Rare diseases (RD) are those that present a lower prevalence than 5 cases per 10.000 population. The main objective of this review was to study the effect on oral health in rare diseases, while the secondary objective of the study is theme upgrade. Material and Methods Comparative observational case-control studies were analysed and a systematic review was conducted in PubMed. Each rare disease listed on the statistical data record of the Health Portal of the Ministry of Equality, Health and Social Policies Board of Andalusia was associated with “oral health”. The variables studied included dental, oral mucosa and occlusion alterations, oral pathologies (caries, periodontal disease) and other alterations (mouth breathing, parafunctional habits, etc). A bias analysis of the variable caries was conducted. Results Six RD were selected through our inclusion and exclusion criteria (hypogammaglobulinemia, Rett syndrome, Marfan syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, cystic fibrosis and Cri du chat syndrome) in a total of 8 publications, of which four trials were classified as high risk of bias and one of them as medium risk. There were not trials with low risk of bias. Conclusions The main statistically significant differences found by Syndrome compared to a control group were in Hypogammaglobulinemia with a greater tendency to enamel hypoplasia and dry mouth. The Rett syndrome had, as well, a greater tendency to an anterior open bite, ogival palate, bruxism, mouth breathing and tongue thrusting. Prader-Willi syndrome had a tendency of dental erosion, and Cri du chat syndrome showed a higher association to Tannerella forsythia. Key words:Rare diseases, oral health.
Microcystin Prevalence throughout Lentic Waterbodies in Coastal Southern California

Toxin producing cyanobacterial blooms have increased globally in recent decades in both frequency and intensity. Despite the recognition of this growing risk, the extent and magnitude of cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxin prevalence is poorly characterized in the heavily populated region of southern California. Recent assessments of lentic waterbodies (depressional wetlands, lakes, reservoirs and coastal lagoons) determined the prevalence of microcystins and, in some cases, additional cyanotoxins. Microcystins were present in all waterbody types surveyed although toxin concentrations were generally low across most habitats, as only a small number of sites exceeded California’s recreational health thresholds for acute toxicity. Results from passive samplers (Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT)) indicated microcystins were prevalent throughout lentic waterbodies and that traditional discrete samples underestimated the presence of microcystins. Multiple cyanotoxins were detected simultaneously in some systems, indicating multiple stressors, the risk of which is uncertain since health thresholds are based on exposures to single toxins. Anatoxin-a was detected for the first time from lakes in southern California. The persistence of detectable microcystins across years and seasons indicates a low-level, chronic risk through both direct and indirect exposure. The influence of toxic cyanobacterial blooms is a more complex stressor than presently recognized and should be included in water quality monitoring programs.
Fusogenic micropeptide Myomixer is essential for satellite cell fusion and muscle regeneration

Significance Skeletal muscle damaged by injury or disease can regenerate new muscle fibers. The regenerative properties of skeletal muscle involve fusion of activated muscle stem cells (satellite cells). We recently discovered Myomixer, a conserved micropeptide that is specifically expressed during muscle formation. Myomixer, together with its partner Myomaker, another muscle-specific membrane protein, is necessary for muscle formation during embryogenesis. Here, we show the absolute requirement of Myomixer for the fusion of satellite cells and regeneration of adult muscle in response to injury. Our findings provide insights into the mechanisms of muscle formation and suggest opportunities for enhancing muscle regeneration through manipulation of Myomixer and Myomaker. Regeneration of skeletal muscle in response to injury occurs through fusion of a population of stem cells, known as satellite cells, with injured myofibers. Myomixer, a muscle-specific membrane micropeptide, cooperates with the transmembrane protein Myomaker to regulate embryonic myoblast fusion and muscle formation. To investigate the role of Myomixer in muscle regeneration, we used CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing to generate conditional knockout Myomixer alleles in mice. We show that genetic deletion of Myomixer in satellite cells using a tamoxifen-regulated Cre recombinase transgene under control of the Pax7 promoter abolishes satellite cell fusion and prevents muscle regeneration, resulting in severe muscle degeneration after injury. Satellite cells devoid of Myomixer maintain expression of Myomaker, demonstrating that Myomaker alone is insufficient to drive myoblast fusion. These findings, together with prior studies demonstrating the essentiality of Myomaker for muscle regeneration, highlight the obligatory partnership of Myomixer and Myomaker for myofiber formation throughout embryogenesis and adulthood.
Complementary metrics of human auditory nerve function derived from compound action potentials

Declines in auditory nerve (AN) function contribute to suprathreshold auditory processing and communication deficits in individuals with normal hearing, hearing loss, hyperacusis, and tinnitus. Procedures to characterize AN loss or dysfunction in humans are limited. We report several novel complementary metrics to characterize AN function noninvasively in humans using the compound action potential (CAP), a direct measure of summated AN activity. We examined how these metrics change with stimulus intensity, and interpreted these changes within a framework of known physiological properties of the basilar membrane and AN. Our results reveal how neural synchrony and the recruitment of AN fibers with later first-spike latencies likely contribute to the CAP, affect auditory processing, and differ with noise exposure history in younger adults despite normal pure-tone thresholds. Moving forward, these new metrics, when applied to patient populations, can provide a means to characterize cochlear synaptopathy and other deficits in AN function in humans. New and noteworthy Loss or inactivity of auditory nerve (AN) fibers is thought to contribute to suprathreshold auditory processing deficits, but evidence-based methods to assess these effects are not available. We describe several novel metrics that may be used to quantify neural synchrony and characterize AN function.
Epicrestal and subcrestal placement of platform‐switched implants: 18 month‐result of a randomized, controlled, split‐mouth, prospective clinical trial

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the changes in marginal bone levels (MBL) and soft tissue dimension around platform-switched implants with the implant-abutment junction (IAJ) placed at the crest or 1.5-2 mm subcrestally. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all, 96 platform-switched implants were placed in either the posterior maxilla or mandible in 48 partially edentulous patients in a split-mouth study. All implants were provisionally restored after 4-5 months and definitively after 6 months (T6). Radiographic assessment of MBL was assessed at implant placement (T0), T6, 12 months (T12), and 18 months (T18) after placement. Mid-buccal soft tissue and papilla measurements were performed at T6, T12, and T18. RESULTS In all, 43 patients with 86 implants completed the study. The T18 examination showed an implant survival rate of 100% in both groups. Analysis showed that MBL varied as a function of IAJ location, which indicated more coronal bone levels with subcrestal (2.39 ± 0.08 mm) than with epicrestal placements (0.88 ± 0.08 mm) (p < .05). Greater average marginal bone loss was found in the subcrestal group (0.40 ± 0.07 mm) compared to the epicrestal group (0.13 ± 0.08 mm) although no statistically significant difference was found at T18 (p > .05). Levels of mid-buccal soft tissue had no significant changes over time, regardless of group (p > .05). There was a significant difference in increase in papilla between T6 and T12 and T18 (p = .005 and .001), but not between T12 and T18 (p = .61). These papilla levels and changes were similar between groups (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS The MBL changes around platform-switched implants with same geometry were not affected by the epicrestal or subcrestal location of the IAJ. Furthermore, the location of the IAJ did not affect the implant survival and soft tissue dimensions. However, no bone loss was located apical to the IAJ when the implants were placed subcrestally.
Biomimetic fetal rotation bioreactor for engineering bone tissues—Effect of cyclic strains on upregulation of osteogenic gene expression

Cells respond to physiological mechanical stresses especially during early fetal development. Adopting a biomimetic approach, it is necessary to develop bioreactor systems to explore the effects of physiologically relevant mechanical strains and shear stresses for functional tissue growth and development. This study introduces a multimodal bioreactor system that allows application of cyclic compressive strains on premature bone grafts that are cultured under biaxial rotation (chamber rotation about 2 axes) conditions for bone tissue engineering. The bioreactor is integrated with sensors for dissolved oxygen levels and pH that allow real‐time, non‐invasive monitoring of the culture parameters. Mesenchymal stem cells‐seeded polycaprolactone–β‐tricalcium phosphate scaffolds were cultured in this bioreactor over 2 weeks in 4 different modes—static, cyclic compression, biaxial rotation, and multimodal (combination of cyclic compression and biaxial rotation). The multimodal culture resulted in 1.8‐fold higher cellular proliferation in comparison with the static controls within the first week. Two weeks of culture in the multimodal bioreactor utilizing the combined effects of optimal fluid flow conditions and cyclic compression led to the upregulation of osteogenic genes alkaline phosphatase (3.2‐fold), osteonectin (2.4‐fold), osteocalcin (10‐fold), and collagen type 1 α1 (2‐fold) in comparison with static cultures. We report for the first time, the independent and combined effects of mechanical stimulation and biaxial rotation for bone tissue engineering using a bioreactor platform with non‐invasive sensing modalities. The demonstrated results show leaning towards the futuristic vision of using a physiologically relevant bioreactor system for generation of autologous bone grafts for clinical implantation.
Regulation of nitrous oxide reductase genes by NasT‐mediated transcription antitermination in Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens

In Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, maximal expression of the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) requires oxygen limitation and the presence of a nitrogen oxide. The putative transcription antiterminator NasT is a positive regulator of nosZ; but in the absence of nitrate, NasT is counteracted by the nitrate sensor NasS. Here, we examined the NasT-mediated mechanism of nosRZDFYLX gene cluster expression. We mapped two transcription start sites of nosR and identified two potential hairpins, H1 and H2, within the 5'-leader of nosR transcripts. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that NasT specifically bound the nosR-leader RNA and deletion of H1 abolished such binding. Under aerobic nitrate-deficient conditions, deletion of H1 or H2 increased the level of nosRZD transcripts. Under denitrifying conditions (anaerobiosis with nitrate supply), the level of nosRZD transcripts was severely impaired in the nasT mutant; in the nasT background, deletions of either hairpin led to increased level of nosRZD transcripts. In contrast to nosRZD coding region, nosR-leader transcript level was not affected by nasS or nasT mutations under aerobic or denitrifying conditions respectively. These results suggest that the two-hairpin RNA structure acts for transcription termination upstream of nosR and the binding of NasT to H1 facilitates read-through transcription to induce nos expression.
Event model interfaces for heterogeneous system analysis

Complex embedded systems consist of hardware and software components from different domains, such as control and signal processing, many of them supplied by different IP vendors. The embedded system designer faces the challenge to integrate, optimize and verify the resulting heterogeneous systems. While format verification is available for some subproblems, the analysis of the whole system is currently limited to simulation or emulation. In this paper we tackle the analysis of global resource sharing, scheduling, and buffer sizing in heterogeneous embedded systems. For many practically used preemptive and non-preemptive hardware and software scheduling algorithms of processors and busses, semi-formal analysis techniques are known. However they cannot be used in system level analysis due to incompatibilities of their underlying event models. This paper presents a technique to couple the analysis of local scheduling strategies via an event interface model. We derive transformation rules between the most important event models and provide proofs where necessary. We use expressive examples to illustrate their application.
Childhood preoperative anxiolysis: Is sedation and distraction better than either alone? A prospective randomized study

Preoperative anxiety management receives special attention in pediatric anesthesia. Different pharmacological and nonpharmacological techniques can be employed. This study was designed to assess three different strategies for childhood preoperative anxiolysis: midazolam premedication, midazolam in combination with portable Digital Video‐Disk player, or video distraction strategy alone.
Phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) modulates afterhyperpolarizations in oxytocin neurons of the supraoptic nucleus

Afterhyperpolarizations (AHPs) generated by repetitive action potentials in supraoptic magnocellular neurons regulate repetitive firing and spike frequency adaptation but relatively little is known about PIP2’s control of these AHPs. We examined how changes in PIP2 levels affected AHPs, somatic [Ca2+]i, and whole cell Ca2+ currents. Manipulations of PIP2 levels affected both medium and slow AHP currents in oxytocin (OT) neurons of the supraoptic nucleus. Manipulations of PIP2 levels did not modulate AHPs by influencing Ca2+ release from IP3‐triggered Ca2+ stores, suggesting more direct modulation of channels by PIP2. PIP2 depletion reduced spike‐evoked Ca2+ entry and voltage‐gated Ca2+ currents. PIP2 appears to influence AHPs in OT neurons by reducing Ca2+ influx during spiking.
Universal stabilization using control Lyapunov functions, adaptive derivative feedback and neural network approximators

The problem of stabilization of unknown nonlinear dynamical systems is considered. An adaptive feedback law is constructed; this feedback law is based on the switching adaptive strategy proposed by the author (1996) and uses linear-in-the-weights neural networks accompanied with appropriate robust adaptive laws in order to estimate the time-derivative of the control Lyapunov function (CLF) of the system. The closed-loop system is shown to be stable; moreover, the state vector of the controlled system converges to a ball centered at the origin and having radius that can be made arbitrarily small by increasing the high gain K and the number of neural network regressor terms. No growth conditions on the nonlinearities of the system are imposed with the exception that such nonlinearities are sufficiently smooth.