Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of tensile and flexural properties of hemp and polypropylene based natural fiber composites

Increasing worldwide environmental awareness is encouraging scientific research into the development of cheaper, more environmentally friendly and more sustainable construction and packing materials. For environment concern on synthetic fiber (such as glass, carbon, ceramic gibers etc) natural fibers (such as flax, hemp, jute, kenaf) etc are widely used. Industrial hemp fiber is one of the strongest of the natural fibers available and possesses benefits such as low cost and low production energy requirements. The primary objective of this research is to fabricate the natural fiber composites with suitable processing/manufacturing methods and to examine the mechanical properties when subjected to Tension, Bending and Impact loads and to compare & contrast the results with the available literature. In this research work, hemp fiber reinforced polypropylene matrix composites have been developed by extrusion compounding and Injection moulding with varying process parameters, such as fiber condition(untreated and alkali treated),coupling agent(with and without compatibilizers) and different fiber percentages(10%,20% and 30% by weight). The developed composites were then characterized by tensile test, flexural test and impact testing. Results show that the tensile strength and flexural properties increases with the increase in fiber percentage. However after a certain percentage the tensile strength decreas1es again. Compared to untreated hemp fiber, no significant changes in the tensile strength have been observed for treated hemp fiber reinforcement. The flexural strength / modulus of the composite was higher compared to pure Polypropylene (PP) for all filler/fiber loadings.
Plasma lipids and apolipoproteins in breastfed and formula‐fed Swedish infants

This study was carried out to compare plasma lipid pattern in breastfed and formula‐fed infants and the effects of exchanging breast milk for formula and of introducing weaning foods. Healthy infants, exclusively breastfed at least until 3 mo, were at this age randomly assigned to infant formulas with similar fat composition. Formula was gradually introduced when breastfeeding was discontinued. One group continued to breastfeed beyond 6 mo of age. All infants received the same weaning foods and were studied between 3 and 12 mo of age. Decreased plasma concentrations of total and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC, LDL‐C), apolipoprotein B (apo B) and A1 (p < 0.001), and of high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.05) were found when breast milk was exchanged for formula before 6 mo. At this age plasma TC, LDL‐C and apo B were lower in formula‐fed than in breastfed infants (p < 0.001). These plasma lipids then increased (p < 0.01) when the intake of formula decreased and that of weaning foods increased. However, plasma TC and/or LDL‐C remained lower at 12 mo in formula‐fed than in breastfed infants (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that the plasma lipid profile of infants is highly responsive to the dietary nutrient intake, as indicated by the decrease in plasma lipids and apolipoproteins when breast milk was exchanged for formula and by the increase in these concentrations when the intake of weaning foods gradually increased.
Fast block LMS algorithm for interference cancellation in DVB-T based passive bistatic radar

In this paper, we propose to use the FBLMS (Fast Block Least Mean Square) algorithm for Direct Path and Zero-Doppler Multipath Interferences (DPI and ZDMI) cancellation in DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial) Passive Bistatic Radars (PBRs). Diverse adaptive techniques are considered in passive radars' literature but most of them are computationally intensive when the DVB-T signal is used as an illuminator of opportunity, i.e., very high bandwidth. Using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for coefficient updating, the FBLMS algorithm shows a faster convergence rate, a shorter processing time and better CAF (Cross Ambiguity Function) results.
The Challenge of Intellectual Property Enforcement for Agriculture Technology Transfers, Additives, Raw Materials, and Finished Goods against Product Fraud and Counterfeiters

One often-overlooked aspect of intellectual property rights (IPR) strategy is the deterrence and enforcement against ‘irresponsible defendants’ including product counterfeiters. When applied to food, the consumer product fraud or product counterfeiting is referred to as food fraud, or economically motivated adulteration. While this problem is not unique to agriculture and food products, there are special circumstances and issues to consider. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) review the underlying fraud opportunities (complex and on a massive scale), including an exploration of types of fraudsters and types of fraud (near infinite); (2) review how globalization and source economies contribute to the problem; (3) review the complexity and challenges of enforcement for companies and agencies; and (4) introduce the ‘chemistry of the crime’ or the ‘crime triangle’, to shift the focus from reactionary intervention and response to proactive prevention. Five applicable case studies are included, bringing insights on the irresponsible nature of many of the fraudsters. Through its review of fraudsters and types of fraud, this study will provide information to assist with IP technology transfers and the effective enforcement of IPR. Product counterfeiting often poses a very serious public health and economic threat to agriculture and food products. There are very motivated, intelligent, resilient and aggressive fraudsters, but they can be deterred by companies or agencies focused on reducing fraud opportunities. Standard business practices—even identified best practices—often inadvertently contribute to fraud opportunities.
A 434GHz SiGe BiCMOS transmitter with an on-chip SIW slot antenna

This paper presents a fully-integrated 434GHz transmitter in 0. 13μm SiGe BiCMOS. The transmitter consists of a voltage-controlled oscillator, a buffer, a modulator, a power amplifier, a tripler, and an on-chip antenna. The substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) antenna works as an on-chip radiator and a high-pass filter to radiate the desired signal and suppress the unwanted harmonics, respectively. This on-chip antenna has efficiency of 49.8% and antenna gain of −0.55 dBi. The transmitter provides the highest output power of −20 dBm at 434 GHz and shows the potential for near-field active imaging applications.
Probing tumor microvascularity by measurement, analysis and display of contrast agent uptake kinetics

This paper describes a measurement protocol for acquiring quantitative dynamic MRI data and novel analysis and display software (Magnetic Resonance Imaging Workbench (MRIW)). Proton density‐weighted and T1‐weighted two‐dimensional gradient echo images are used to quantify tissue contrast agent concentration. The dynamic studies last approximately 7 minutes, with 10‐second temporal resolution. Analyses of signal and concentration changes with time are performed, allowing capillary permeability‐surface area product, tissue leakage space, enhancement onset time, mean enhancement gradient and maximum enhancement level to be mapped as false‐color parametric overlays registered with anatomic images. Quantification of permeability and leakage space provides a method for comparing physiology in patients between visits or for intersite comparisons.
Incorporating in vivo and ex vivo NMR sources of information for modeling robust brain tumor classifiers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential and limitations of using multimodal sources of information coming from in vivo NMR and ex vivo NMR data for detecting brain tumors. Supervised pattern recognition methods, whose performance directly depends on the prior available observations used in building them, are proposed. We show that high resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) data act as complementary information for classifying magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) data. In particularly, when considering rare brain tumors, since it is unlikely to acquire sufficient cases to define their metabolite profiles using only in vivo NMR information, HR-MAS can support the classification procedure. We describe different approaches to combine HRMAS data with in vivo MRSI and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and investigate which parameters influence the classification results by means of extensive simulations and in vivo studies.
Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor is a Regulator of Muscular Strength in Aging

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) participates in the survival of motor neurons and reduces the denervation-induced atrophy of skeletal muscles. Experiments performed in rats show a decrease in peripheral CNTF synthesis during aging, associated with an overexpression of its α-binding receptor component by skeletal muscles. Measurement of sciatic nerve CNTF production and of the muscular performance developed by the animals revealed a strong correlation between the two studied parameters (r = 0.8; p < 0.0003). Furthermore, the twitch and tetanic tensions measured in the isolated soleus skeletal muscle in 24-month-old animals increased 2.5-fold by continuous in vivo administration of CNTF. Analyses of the activation level of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor β- and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3-signaling molecules in response to exogenous CNTF revealed an increased tyrosine phosphorylation positively correlated with the twitch tension developed by the soleus muscle of the animals.
Analysis of the interleukin-6 gene promoter polymorphisms in Czech patients with chronic periodontitis.

BACKGROUND Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease, which is a major cause of tooth loss. The proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are key regulators of the host response to microbial infection and major modulators of extracellular matrix catabolism and bone resorption. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of chronic periodontitis with IL-6 gene polymorphisms (at positions -597 [G/A], -572 [G/C], and -174 [G/C]). METHODS We analyzed allele, genotype, and haplotype distributions of the IL-6 promoter variants in a case-control study involving 148 patients with chronic periodontitis and 107 unrelated controls. RESULTS Our results showed significant differences in the distributions of alleles and genotypes of the IL-6 (-572 G/C) polymorphism between patients and the control population (chi2 = 10.393, P= 0.001, P(corr) < 0.01). The difference was due to the underrepresentation of the -572 G/C heterozygotes in patients (6.1%) compared to controls (19.6%). Although no variant "CC" homozygotes were detected in our cases and controls, heterozygosity protected against chronic periodontitis, representing a 73% reduction of risk (odds ratio [OR] = 0.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.12-0.61) compared to wild-type homozygotes. However, there were no significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies between both groups for IL-6 -597 G/A and -174 G/C polymorphisms. CONCLUSION This study is the first, to our knowledge, suggesting that the -572 G/C polymorphism of the IL-6 gene may be one of the protective factors associated with lower susceptibility to chronic periodontitis.
Cortisol is negatively associated with insulin sensitivity in overweight Latino youth.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of serum morning cortisol and aspects of insulin action in Latino children and adolescents (8-13 yr) at risk for type 2 diabetes. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS The present study includes a cross-sectional analysis in 211 participants and a longitudinal analysis in a subset of 143 participants. RESULTS At baseline, cortisol was negatively associated with fasting glucose (r = 0.23; P < 0.01), β-cell function (disposition index, r = -0.24; P < 0.05), and acute insulin response to glucose (r = -0.27; P < 0.05). Baseline cortisol was also significantly related to the change in insulin sensitivity over 1 yr (r = -0.23; P < 0.05). These results did not differ by Tanner stage or sex. CONCLUSIONS Cortisol contributes to the reduction in insulin sensitivity at an early age in Latino children and adolescents. Specifically, cortisol is negatively associated with potential compensatory mechanisms for insulin resistance, such as increased β-cell function and increased insulin release to a glucose challenge, by exacerbating the progression toward insulin resistance in this population. The results underline the relevance of glucocorticoid reduction for the prevention of metabolic disease in Latino children and adolescents.
Personalised Prehabilitation in High-risk Patients Undergoing Elective Major Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized Blinded Controlled Trial

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of personalized prehabilitation on postoperative complications in high-risk patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery. Summary Background Data: Prehabilitation, including endurance exercise training and promotion of physical activity, in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery has been postulated as an effective preventive intervention to reduce postoperative complications. However, the existing studies provide controversial results and show a clear bias toward low-risk patients. Methods: This was a randomized blinded controlled trial. Eligible candidates accepting to participate were blindly randomized (1:1 ratio) to control (standard care) or intervention (standard care + prehabilitation) groups. Inclusion criteria were: i) age >70 years; and/or, ii) American Society of Anesthesiologists score III/IV. Prehabilitation covered 3 actions: i) motivational interview; ii) high-intensity endurance training; and promotion of physical activity. The main study outcome was the proportion of patients suffering postoperative complications. Secondary outcomes included the endurance time (ET) during cycle-ergometer exercise. Results: We randomized 71 patients to the control arm and 73 to intervention. After excluding 19 patients because of changes in the surgical plan, 63 controls and 62 intervention patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. The intervention group enhanced aerobic capacity [&Dgr;ET 135 (218) %; P < 0.001), reduced the number of patients with postoperative complications by 51% (relative risk 0.5; 95% confidence interval, 0.3–0.8; P = 0.001) and the rate of complications [1.4 (1.6) and 0.5 (1.0) (P = 0.001)] as compared with controls. Conclusion: Prehabilitation enhanced postoperative clinical outcomes in high-risk candidates for elective major abdominal surgery, which can be explained by the increased aerobic capacity.
Guiding hMSC Adhesion and Differentiation on Supported Lipid Bilayers

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are intensively investigated for regenerative medicine applications due to their ease of isolation and multilineage differentiation capacity. Hence, designing instructive microenvironments to guide MSC behavior is important for the generation of smart interfaces to enhance biomaterial performance in guiding desired tissue formation. Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) as cell membrane mimetics can be employed as biological interfaces with easily tunable characteristics such as biospecificity, mobility, and density of predesigned ligand molecules. Arg‐Gly‐Asp (RGD) ligand functionalized SLBs are explored for guiding human MSC (hMSC) adhesion and differentiation by studying the effect of changes in ligand density and mobility. Cellular and molecular analyses show that adhesion occurs through specific interactions with RGD ligands where the extent is positively correlated to changes in ligand density. Furthermore, cell area is significantly regulated by ligand density on ligand‐mobile SLBs when compared to ligand‐immobile SLBs. Finally, the osteogenic differentiation capacity of hMSCs is positively correlated to ligand density on ligand‐mobile SLBs indicating that regulation of cell spreading is linked to cell differentiation capacity. These results demonstrate that hMSC behavior can be directed on SLBs by molecular design and presents SLBs as versatile platforms for future engineering of smart biomaterial coatings.
Immune tolerance in children with factors VIII and IX inhibitors: a single centre experience

Summary. Alloimmune FVIII and FIX inhibitors are the most serious complication of haemophilia in the postviral contamination era and their optimal management remains controversial. We present 15 boys with severe haemophilia (14 with haemophilia A and 1 with haemophilia B) who have received immune tolerance at our centre over a 9‐year period. Twelve of them (80%) were successfully tolerized with varying dose intensities, but three of them (including the boy with haemophilia B) failed tolerization. The factors, which were associated with successful tolerance in our group, were a low maximum inhibitor titre and a short interval between diagnosis of the inhibitor and the start of immune tolerance. The time taken to achieve immune tolerance varied from 1 to 27 months and none of the inhibitors have recurred. Two of the three boys who failed immune tolerance had had their inhibitor for 72 and 69 months, respectively before tolerance was attempted.
Reduced p16 expression correlates with lymphatic invasion in colorectal cancers.

BACKGROUND/AIMS P16, the tumor suppressor gene, plays a crucial role in the most important regulatory pathway involved in the G1/S transition, but its role in gastrointestinal neoplasia remains unclear. METHODOLOGY To evaluate the possible p16 role in the development of colonic neoplasms, the authors studied p16 immunohistochemical expression of 84 lesions of colorectal cancers, 6 lesions of hyperplastic polyps, 59 lesions of adenomas and 8 lesions of carcinoma in adenoma. Immunohistochemical staining was processed by streptavidin biotin technique. The degree of expression pattern was classified into four types: absent, scattered, or nested, diffuse. Also, the correlation between immunohistochemical expression pattern and clinicopathological features was evaluated. RESULTS Compared with normal colonic mucosa, in which virtually no p16 expression was observed, p16 was overexpressed in hyperplastic polyps (33%:2/6) adenomas (46%:27/59), carcinoma in adenoma (88%:7/8) and in adenocarcinomas (98%:82/84). In colorectal cancers, when divided into positive (diffuse or nested) and negative (absent or scattered) subgroups, the negative group showed a higher ratio of lymphatic infiltration (p = 0.04), a higher ratio of deeper invasion (p < 0.01) and a higher ratio showing histology of mucinous carcinoma or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS In colorectal cancers, a significant correlation of reduced p16 expression and lymphatic invasion was observed, which suggested and colorectal cancers with reduced p16 expression have more aggressive potential of lymphatic infiltration. Also a significant correlation between the overexpression of p16 and tumor progression was demonstrated.
ESCRT‐I Function is Required for Tyrp1 Transport from Early Endosomes to the Melanosome Limiting Membrane

Melanosomes are lysosome‐related organelles that coexist with lysosomes within melanocytes. The pathways by which melanosomal proteins are diverted from endocytic organelles toward melanosomes are incompletely defined. In melanocytes from mouse models of Hermansky‐Pudlak syndrome that lack BLOC‐1, melanosomal proteins such as tyrosinase‐related protein 1 (Tyrp1) accumulate in early endosomes. Whether this accumulation represents an anomalous pathway or an arrested normal intermediate in melanosome protein trafficking is not clear. Here, we show that early endosomes are requisite intermediates in the trafficking of Tyrp1 from the Golgi to late stage melanosomes in normal melanocytic cells. Kinetic analyses show that very little newly synthesized Tyrp1 traverses the cell surface and that internalized Tyrp1 is inefficiently sorted to melanosomes. Nevertheless, nearly all Tyrp1 traverse early endosomes since it becomes trapped within enlarged, modified endosomes upon overexpression of Hrs. Although Tyrp1 localization is not affected by Hrs depletion, depletion of the ESCRT‐I component, Tsg101, or inhibition of ESCRT function by dominant‐negative approaches results in a dramatic redistribution of Tyrp1 to aberrant endosomal membranes that are largely distinct from those harboring traditional ESCRT‐dependent, ubiquitylated cargoes such as MART‐1. The lysosomal protein content of some of these membranes and the lack of Tyrp1 recycling to the plasma membrane in Tsg101‐depleted cells suggests that ESCRT‐I functions downstream of BLOC‐1. Our data delineate a novel pathway for Tyrp1 trafficking and illustrate a requirement for ESCRT‐I function in controlling protein sorting from vacuolar endosomes to the limiting membrane of a lysosome‐related organelle.
Evaluation on user range error and global positioning accuracy for GPS/BDS navigation system

The positioning accuracy of GNSS receiver mainly depends the two factors. One is the precision of the ranging, and the other is the geometric distribution of the navigation satellites. In this paper, the User Range Error (URE) is analyzed at first. Secondly, an evaluation method of the URE and the global GNSS positioning accuracy with the precise products, including the satellite ephemeris and clock bias, ionosphere grid, is proposed. Finally, the recent products provided by analysis center of the international GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS) are used for the assessment of the Global GNSS positioning accuracy. The simulation results indicate that the mixed constellation (GPS/BDS) can provide more robust navigation services and more precision than a single system.
Accounting for business combinations and takeover premiums: Pre- and post-IFRS

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Australia in 2005 resulted in goodwill accounting shifting from systematic annual amortisation to impairment testing. We examine whether IFRS adoption changed the association between takeover premiums and the difference between a target firm’s pre-acquisition market and book values (pre-acquisition step-up). Our results show a negative association between takeover premiums and the pre-acquisition step-up of the target firm. This association reduces however, after Australia adopted IFRS and no longer required goodwill amortisation. Consistent with the incentives arising from contracts written around accounting numbers, our results are strongest for bidding firms which compensate their CEO using an accounting-based bonus plan. These results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests.
Silicon Detectors for Low Energy Particle Detection

Silicon detectors with very thin entrance contacts have been fabricated for use in the IMPACT SupraThermal Electron (STE) instrument on the STEREO mission and for the Solid State Telescopes on the THEMIS mission. The silicon diode detectors were fabricated using a 200 Aring thick phosphorous doped polysilicon layer that formed the thin entrance window. A 200 Aring thick aluminum layer was deposited on top of the polysilicon in order to reduce their response to stray light. Energy loss in the entrance contact was about 350 eV for electrons and about 2.3 keV for protons. The highest detector yield was obtained using a process in which the thick polysilicon gettering layer was removed by chemical etching rather than chemical mechanical polishing.