Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface plasmon resonance biosensors

A review is made of 86 papers on surface plasmon resonance biosensors, published between 2016 and mid-2019. The reviewed papers are categorized into four groups, depending on the degree of maturity of the reported solution: ranging from simple marker detection to a mature biosensor and analytical procedure. Instrumental solutions and details of biosensor construction are analyzed, including the chips, receptors and linkers used, as well as calibration strategies. Papers concerning the determination of micro RNA and large particles such as vesicles, exosomes and cancer cells are also reviewed. Biosensors with a sandwich structure containing different nanoparticles are considered separately, as are SPR applications for investigating the interactions of biomolecules. An analysis is also made of the markers determined using the biosensors. Concluding, there is shown to be a growing number of SPR applications in the solution of real clinical problems.
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF ULTRASOUND TRANSMISSION GEL

Objective: Formulation of an alternative ultrasound transmission gel that is of good quality using the available chemicals in Iraqi market and without any harmful effects to skin. Methods: Four formulas G1, G2, G3, and G4 with different Carbopol 934 concentrations (0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6) w/v%, respectively, were prepared and evaluated for different physicochemical characteristics including: Clarity, homogeneity, density, pH, viscosity, and spreadability tests. Other evaluations including skin irritation, microbiological, and stability tests were also performed for the selected formula along with a comparison study with the commercially available ultrasound gel (commercial gel [CG]) which was used as a control. In addition, transmission test was carried out by comparing the transmission between (CG) and (G1) with the assistance of three veterinary radiologists who did ultrasonography of bovine liver for 11 adult cattle breed, aged 3–8 years. The three veterinary radiologists were given 33 data sheets to collect results.Results: Among all the prepared formulas (G1), the formula was considered the best, due to its high clarity, very good homogeneity; its pH was equal to 6.8 which is near to skin pH. Other parameters such as density, viscosity, torque percent, and spreadability showed no significant difference (p≤0.05) with CG. Skin irritation test which was conducted on animals and humans showed no any adverse effects on skin. Microbiological test manifested that using methylparaben alone was sufficient to prevent the growth of microbes in the gel. The three veterinary radiologists found no significant difference (p≤0.05) between G1 and CG formulations. Stability study indicated that the gel was stable after storage at room temperature for 3 months.Conclusion: The overall results suggest that the selected formula (G1) can be considered a successful ultrasound gel and can be used as a good and cheap alternative of the marketed imported gel.
Individuals with a vestibular‐related disorder use a somatosensory‐dominant strategy for postural orientation after inclined stance

The visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems are critical for establishing a sensorimotor set for postural control and orientation. The goal of this study was to assess how individuals with a vestibular‐related disorder keep their balance following prolonged stance on an inclined surface. We hypothesize that subjects will show greater reliance on the somatosensory system than age‐matched controls as inferred by the presence of a forward postural lean aftereffect following the inclined stance (i.e., a positive response).
High-pressure structural and vibrational study of PbZr0.40Ti0.60O3.

The high-pressure structure and dynamics of PbZr0.40Ti0. 60O3 were investigated by means of neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and resonance Raman spectroscopy. The complex (P4mm, Cm, Cc, F1, F1) phase transition sequence is characterized by these techniques. On the basis of the results of structure refinements, the high-pressure behavior of the spontaneous polarization, the (Zr,Ti)O6 rotation angles, and the polarization rotation angle are obtained. Moreover, resonance Raman spectra combined with previous Raman data in the literature provide evidence that the pressure-induced transition to the monoclinic Cm space group and the above transition sequence terminating in a paraelectric state are general features of Pb(Zr(1-x)Ti(x))O3 (0.48 < or = x < or = 1).
Large-Scale Map-Making

Current mapping algorithms using Consistent Pose Estimation (CPE) algorithms can successfully map areas of 104 square meters, using thousands of poses. However, the computation to construct the map grows as O(n log n), so larger maps get increasingly difficult to build. We present an abstraction method for postponing the growth in computation. This method solves a much smaller problem in the space of the connection graph of the map.
Using π-calculus for Formal Modeling and Verification of WS-CDL Choreographies

Service-Oriented applications are realized by composing and aggregating existing web services. Orchestration and Choreography are two interaction models for building SOA applications and several standards exist to capture and describe such interactions. The Web Service Choreography Description Language (WS-CDL) is a standard for modeling choreographies. In this paper, we propose a calculus (Chor-calculus) for formal modeling of WS-CDL and we use this language for generating WS-CDL programs. This approach enables the static verification of choreographies using existing pi-calculus model-checker tools and sets the ground for enabling the runtime monitoring of choreographies for behavioral correctness. We validate the calculus for its expressiveness by evaluating the language support for representing workflow, and service interaction, patterns. We demonstrate the use of the HAL toolkit to verify the correctness properties of choreographies.
FPGA Implementation of JPEG 2000 Arithmetic Encoder

JPEG2000 is the new emerging international standard for image compression that has been developed by JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). It is far superior over many other compression standards like JPEG in terms of performance and feature set. The rich feature set makes it suitable in many multimedia applications but at the same time its high complexity makes it difficult to optimize the performances of some implementations. Hence this paper analyses the performance gain between the software and hardware implementation of JPEG2000 Arithmetic encoder which is the heart of image compression process. The main goal is to propose a new architecture for arithmetic encoder and to develop it in hardware description language along with synthesizing in Field Programmable Gate Array Xilinx. Index Terms – DWT,EBCOT,FPGA,MQ Encoder,multimedia.
Advanced automata minimization

We present an efficient algorithm to reduce the size of nondeterministic Buchi word automata, while retaining their language. Additionally, we describe methods to solve PSPACE-complete automata problems like universality, equivalence and inclusion for much larger instances (1-3 orders of magnitude) than before. This can be used to scale up applications of automata in formal verification tools and decision procedures for logical theories. The algorithm is based on new transition pruning techniques. These use criteria based on combinations of backward and forward trace inclusions. Since these relations are themselves PSPACE-complete, we describe methods to compute good approximations of them in polynomial time. Extensive experiments show that the average-case complexity of our algorithm scales quadratically. The size reduction of the automata depends very much on the class of instances, but our algorithm consistently outperforms all previous techniques by a wide margin. We tested our algorithm on Buchi automata derived from LTL-formulae, many classes of random automata and automata derived from mutual exclusion protocols, and compared its performance to the well-known automata tool GOAL.
INFLUENCE OF GRAM-NEGATIVE STRAIN KLEBSIELLA OXYTOCA ON BIOCORROSION

Several studies of biofilms must accept that biofilms may develop in an enormous number of environments. This biofilm forms colonization on the solid surfaces by extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) secreted by the microbial cells. The EPSs secreted by microbial cell stimulate corrosion in the engineered materials due to the presence of polyanionic neutral macromolecules. Many techniques have been described measuring and inhibiting microbiologically influenced corrosion; however, none has been accepted as an industry standard. This is because the risks posed to the marine biosphere due to the use of antifouling inhibitors. Recently, a large amount of literature has been edited on the influence of toxic biocides on non-targeted organisms in the marine environment are most likely. It has been shown that the modifications of antifouling inhibitors by the non-toxic drugs can reduce microbial adhesion and some disentangle effects toward the environment. Hence, in this paper, the inhibition effect of neomycin trisulfate on the Klebsiella oxytoca on mild steel corrosion has been investigated using weight loss measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). These studies have shown that neomycin trisulfate shows better inhibition toward the microbe. The agreement with the experimental data was also found to be satisfactory. Further, surface morphological examination through SEM confirms that the inhibitor inhibits the microbes by blocking the EPS
The Behavior and Acrosomal Status of Mouse Spermatozoa In Vitro, and Within the Oviduct During Fertilization after Natural Mating1

ABSTRACT Although 90%–100% of mouse oocytes can be fertilized in vitro with capacitated spermatozoa within 1 h after insemination, oocytes within the oviduct are fertilized one by one over a period of several hours. In vitro experiments showed that both acrosome-intact and acrosome-reacted spermatozoa entered the cumulus oophorus, but that acrosome-reacted spermatozoa reached the surface of oocytes more readily than acrosome-intact spermatozoa. During the period of fertilization within the oviduct, acrosome-reacted spermatozoa were seen throughout the isthmus, but with higher incidence in the upper than in the mid- and lower segments of the isthmus. Very few spermatozoa were present in the ampulla, and almost all were acrosome reacted. Although the cumulus oophorus and zona pellucida are known to be able to induce or facilitate the acrosome reaction of spermatozoa, this picture makes it likely that almost all fertilizing mouse spermatozoa within the oviduct begin to react before ascending from the isthmus to the ampulla. We witnessed a reacted spermatozoon that stayed on the zona pellucida of a fertilized oocyte for a while; it then moved out of the cumulus before reaching the zona pellucida of the nearby unfertilized oocyte. We noted that only a few spermatozoa migrate from the isthmus to the ampulla during the progression of fertilization, and this must be one of the reasons why we do not see many spermatozoa swarming around a single oocyte during in vivo fertilization.
Consensus ranking under the exponential model

We analyze the generalized Mallows model, a popular exponential model over rankings. Estimating the central (or consensus) ranking from data is NP-hard. We obtain the following new results: (1) We show that search methods can estimate both the central ranking pi0 and the model parameters theta exactly. The search is n! in the worst case, but is tractable when the true distribution is concentrated around its mode; (2) We show that the generalized Mallows model is jointly exponential in (pi0; theta), and introduce the conjugate prior for this model class; (3) The sufficient statistics are the pairwise marginal probabilities that item i is preferred to item j. Preliminary experiments confirm the theoretical predictions and compare the new algorithm and existing heuristics.
Lower bounds for randomized read/write stream algorithms

Motivated by the capabilities of modern storage architectures, we consider the following generalization of the data stream model where the algorithm has sequential access to multiple streams. Unlike the data stream model, where the stream is read only, in this new model (introduced in [8,9]) the algorithms can also write onto streams. There is no limit on the size of the streams but the number of passes made on the streams is restricted. On the other hand, the amount of internal memory used by the algorithm is scarce, similar to data stream model. We resolve the main open problem in [7] of proving lower bounds in this model for algorithms that are allowed to have 2-sided error. Previously, such lower bounds were shown only for deterministic and 1-sided error randomized algorithms [9,7]. We consider the classical set disjointness problemthat has proved to be invaluable for deriving lower bounds for many other problems involving data streams and other randomized models of computation. For this problem, we show a near-linear lower bound on the size of the internal memory used by a randomized algorithm with 2-sided error that is allowed to have o(log N/log log N) passes over the streams. This bound is almost optimal sincethere is a simple algorithm that can solve this problem using logarithmic memory if the number of passes over the streams. Applications include near-linear lower bounds onthe internal memory for well-known problems in the literature:(1) approximately counting the number of distinct elements in the input (F0);(2) approximating the frequency of the mod of an input sequence(F*∞);(3) computing the join of two relations; and (4) deciding if some node of an XML document matches an XQuery (or XPath) query. Our techniques involve a novel direct-sum type of argument that yields lower bounds for many other problems. Our results asymptotically improve previously known bounds for any problem even in deterministic and 1-sided error models of computation.
Fusobacterium Is Associated with Colorectal Adenomas

The human gut microbiota is increasingly recognized as a player in colorectal cancer (CRC). While particular imbalances in the gut microbiota have been linked to colorectal adenomas and cancer, no specific bacterium has been identified as a risk factor. Recent studies have reported a high abundance of Fusobacterium in CRC subjects compared to normal subjects, but this observation has not been reported for adenomas, CRC precursors. We assessed the abundance of Fusobacterium species in the normal rectal mucosa of subjects with (n = 48) and without adenomas (n = 67). We also confirmed previous reports on Fusobacterium and CRC in 10 CRC tumor tissues and 9 matching normal tissues by pyrosequencing. We extracted DNA from rectal mucosal biopsies and measured bacterial levels by quantitative PCR of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Local cytokine gene expression was also determined in mucosal biopsies from adenoma cases and controls by quantitative PCR. The mean log abundance of Fusobacterium or cytokine gene expression between cases and controls was compared by t-test. Logistic regression was used to compare tertiles of Fusobacterium abundance. Adenoma subjects had a significantly higher abundance of Fusobacterium species compared to controls (p = 0.01). Compared to the lowest tertile, subjects with high abundance of Fusobacterium were significantly more likely to have adenomas (OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.37–9.74, p-trend 0.005). Cases but not controls had a significant positive correlation between local cytokine gene expression and Fusobacterium abundance. Among cases, the correlation for local TNF-α and Fusobacterium was r = 0.33, p = 0.06 while it was 0.44, p = 0.01 for Fusobacterium and IL-10. These results support a link between the abundance of Fusobacterium in colonic mucosa and adenomas and suggest a possible role for mucosal inflammation in this process.
Studies on the Process of Ultrasonic Bonding of Nonwovens: Part 1 — Theoretical Analysis

A model has been developed to predict the bonding behavior of nonwovens during the ultrasonic bonding process. The model includes the following subprocesses: mechanics and vibrations of the web and horn, viscoelastic behavior of webs and heat generation, and heat transfer. Each subprocess was modeled first and then combined together with the boundary conditions to develop an overall process model. The compressional behavior and thermal conductivity of webs will be discussed and their appropriate equations have been chosen for model. A Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to solve the above coupled model. Subsequently, the heat generation rate and the temperature change during the bonding process were calculated.
Holographic interferometry in predicting cathodic deposition of metals in aqueous solution

A mathematical model relating surface and bulk behaviors of metals in aqueous solution has been developed. The model was established based on principles of Holographic interferometry for measuring microsurface deposition, i.e., mass gain, and with those of electrochemistry for measuring the bulk electronic current, i.e., electroplating current. The model can be utilized to predict the electroplating behavior on metals subjected to cathodic reaction in aqueous solution. In other words, the cathodic current density of metals can be predicted as a function of microsurface deposition.
miR-146a and miR-146b in the diagnosis and prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma

The present study investigated the relationship between the expression of miR-146a and miR-146b with the occurrence and prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Experiments in vitro were also used to explore the effect of the knocked down expression of the miRNAs on growth and migration of papillary thyroid carcinoma cells. A total of 73 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma admitted to Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang from September 2013 to September 2015 were enrolled in the study. Carcinoma samples were obtained from each patient, and adjacent tissues were used as control samples to determine expression levels of miR-146a and miR146b by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. An analysis was conducted to find possible correlations between the miRNAs expression levels and clinicopathological features in the patients followed up for one year after diagnosis. Additionally, to examine the function of miR-146a and miR-146b on TPC-1 cells, the expression of miRNAs was knocked down using specific siRNAs. MTT and Transwell assays were used to evaluate cell proliferation and migration, respectively, in the miRNA cell lines. Finally, western blot analysis was used to analyze the expression of IRAK1 in PTC cancer cells. Our results showed that the expression levels of miR-146a and miR-146b in carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than the levels in cancer-free tissues (P<0.01). The relative expression levels of miR-146a and miR-146b in cancerous tissues could be associated with the pathological type and presence or absence of lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Compared with the siRNA-control cell, MTT and Transwell assays showed that the cell growth and migration of TPC-1 cells were decreased in miR-146a and miR-146b low expression cells (P<0.01). Western blot analysis showed that the expression of IRAK1 in papillary thyroid carcinoma was higher than in adjacent tissue (P<0.01). Based on our findings, the expression of miR-146a and miR-146b correlates with the occurrence and prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma, and the expression levels of miR-146a and miR-146b seem to affect the cell proliferation and migration and regulate the expression of IRAK1 protein in cancer cells. Further studies are needed to validate our results to provide new targets for prevention and treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Acquired brain injury: combining social psychological and neuropsychological perspectives

This theoretical paper reviews an emerging literature which attempts to bring together an important area of social psychology and neuropsychology. The paper presents a rationale for the integration of the social identity and clinical neuropsychological approaches in the study of acquired brain injury (ABI). The paper begins by reviewing the social and neuropsychological perspectives of ABI. Subsequently, theoretical and empirical studies that demonstrate the social influences on neuropsychology and the inherently social nature of mind are considered. Neuropsychological understandings of social identities and their potential relationships to the variability in ABIs are also discussed. The values of these understandings to ABI rehabilitation are then examined. The paper concludes by suggesting an agenda for future research that integrates the social identity and neuropsychological paradigms so that psychology might grow in its store of applicable knowledge to enhance support and rehabilitation for those with ABI.
Superresolution planar diffraction tomography through evanescent fields

We consider the problem of noninvasively locating objects buried in a layered medium such as land mines in the ground or objects concealed in a wall. In such environments, the transmitter(s) and receiver(s) are frequently within the near‐field region of the illuminating radiation. In these cases, the scattered evanescent field carries useful information on the scattering object. Conventional diffraction tomography techniques neglect, by their design, the evanescent field. Under near‐field conditions, they treat it as noise as opposed to valid data. If correctly incorporated into a reconstruction algorithm, the evanescent field, which carries high spatial frequency information, can be used to achieve resolution beyond the classical limit of λ/2, or “superresolution. ” We build on the generalized holography theory presented by Langenberg to develop a planar diffraction tomography algorithm that incorporates evanescent field information to achieve superresolution. Our theory is based on a generalization of the Fourier transform, which allows for complex spatial frequencies in a manner similar to the Laplace transform. We specialize our model to the case of a two‐dimensional multimonostatic, wideband imaging system, and derive an extended resolution reconstruction procedure. We implement and apply our reconstruction to two data sets collected using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Micropower Impulse Radar (MIR). © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol 12, 16–26, 2002
Combining Features for BCI

Recently, interest is growing to develop an effective communication interface connecting the human brain to a computer, the 'Brain-Computer Interface' (BCI). One motivation of BCI research is to provide a new communication channel substituting normal motor output in patients with severe neuromuscular disabilities. In the last decade, various neuro-physiological cortical processes, such as slow potential shifts, movement related potentials (MRPs) or event-related desynchronization (ERD) of spontaneous EEG rhythms, were shown to be suitable for BCI, and, consequently, different independent approaches of extracting BCI-relevant EEG-features for single-trial analysis are under investigation. Here, we present and systematically compare several concepts for combining such EEG-features to improve the single-trial classification. Feature combinations are evaluated on movement imagination experiments with 3 subjects where EEG-features are based on either MRPs or ERD, or both. Those combination methods that incorporate the assumption that the single EEG-features are physiologically mutually independent outperform the plain method of 'adding' evidence where the single-feature vectors are simply concatenated. These results strengthen the hypothesis that MRP and ERD reflect at least partially independent aspects of cortical processes and open a new perspective to boost BCI effectiveness.