Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A programme based on repeated hypoxia–hyperoxia exposure and light exercise enhances performance in athletes with overtraining syndrome: a pilot study

Overtraining syndrome (OTS) is a major concern among endurance athletes and is a leading cause in preventing them to perform for long periods. Intermittent exposure to hypoxia has been shown to be an effective way of improving performance without exercising. Aim of this pilot study was to evaluate intermittent hypoxia–hyperoxia training combined with light exercise as an intervention to facilitate athletes with OTS to restore their usual performance level. Thirty‐four track and field athletes were recruited: 15 athletes with OTS volunteered to participate and undertook a conditioning programme consisting of repeated exposures to hypoxia (O2 at 10%) and hyperoxia (O2 at 30%) (6–8 cycles, total time 45 min–1 h), three times a week, delivered 1·5–2 h after a low‐intensity exercise session (2 bouts of 30 min, running at 50% of VO2max with 10 min rest between bouts) over 4 weeks. Nineteen healthy track and field athletes volunteered to participate as a control group and followed their usual training schedule. Measurements before and after the intervention included exercise capacity, analysis of heart rate variability and hematological parameters. In athletes with OTS, a 4‐week light exercise combined with intermittent hypoxia–hyperoxia training improved exercise performance (191·9 ± 26·9 W versus 170·8 ± 44·8 W in exercise capacity test, P = 0·01). Heart rate variability analysis revealed an improved sympatho‐parasympathetic index (low frequency/high frequency ratio, 8·01 ± 7·51 before and 1·45 ± 1·71 after, P = 0·007). Hematological parameters were unchanged. Our pilot study showed that intermittent hypoxia–hyperoxia training and low‐intensity exercise can facilitate functional recovery among athletes with OTS in a relatively short time.
How to Avoid Burning Ducks: Combining Linguistic Analysis and Corpus Statistics for German Compound Processing

Compound splitting is an important problem in many Nlp applications which must be solved in order to address issues of data sparsity. Previous work has shown that linguistic approaches for German compound splitting produce a correct splitting more often, but corpus-driven approaches work best for phrase-based statistical machine translation from German to English, a worrisome contradiction. We address this situation by combining linguistic analysis with corpus-driven statistics and obtaining better results in terms of both producing splittings according to a gold standard and statistical machine translation performance.
Gas Permeation, Mechanical Behavior and Cytocompatibility of Ultrathin Pure and Doped Diamond-Like Carbon and Silicon Oxide Films

Protective ultra-thin barrier films gather increasing economic interest for controlling permeation and diffusion from the biological surrounding in implanted sensor and electronic devices in future medicine. Thus, the aim of this work was a benchmarking of the mechanical oxygen permeation barrier, cytocompatibility, and microbiological properties of inorganic ~25 nm thin films, deposited by vacuum deposition techniques on 50 µm thin polyetheretherketone (PEEK) foils. Plasma-activated chemical vapor deposition (direct deposition from an ion source) was applied to deposit pure and nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon films, while physical vapor deposition (magnetron sputtering in pulsed DC mode) was used for the formation of silicon as well as titanium doped diamond-like carbon films. Silicon oxide films were deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The results indicate a strong influence of nanoporosity on the oxygen transmission rate for all coating types, while the low content of microporosity (particulates, etc.) is shown to be of lesser importance. Due to the low thickness of the foil substrates, being easily bent, the toughness as a measure of tendency to film fracture together with the elasticity index of the thin films influence the oxygen barrier. All investigated coatings are non-pyrogenic, cause no cytotoxic effects and do not influence bacterial growth.
Optimal Distributed Subchannel, Rate and Power Allocation Algorithm in OFDM-Based Two-Tier Femtocell Networks

In this paper, we address the problem of subchannel, rate and power allocation in OFDM-based two-tier femtocell networks, which comprise a conventional macrocell and multiple femtocells. Our objective is maximizing the multiple femtocell users' weighted rate sum by jointly adjusting their subchannel, rate and power allocation, under the constraints of cross-tier interference (CTI) between macrocell and multiple femtocells. Then we propose an optimal distributed resource allocation algorithm based on Lagrangian dual method, and interpret it from economics angle. In order to illustrate the benefit of allowing femtocells to share the subchannels occupied by macrocell, we compare our system with another one (macrocell guard system), in which the femtocells can only use the subchannels unoccupied by macrocell. Simulation results validate the proposed algorithm, and show that our system can obtain better performance than the macrocell guard system.
D in vitro models of liver fi brosis ☆

Abbreviations: HSCs, hepatic stellate cells; ALT, ala acetaminophen; AST, aminotransferase; CBDL, commo damage associated molecular patterns; DCM, decellulari liver injury; ECM, extracellular matrix; ESC, embryonic activated cell sorting; HSC, hepatic stellate cell; iPSC, ind Kupffer cells; LSEC, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells; M sorting; MTX, methotrexate; NAFLD, nonalcoholic fa parenchymal cells; PAMPs, pathogen-associated mol recognition receptor; PCLS, precision-cut liver slice; PDM primary human hepatocytes; PLA, poly(DL-lactic acid); TA ☆ This review is part of the Advanced Drug Delivery Revi and extracellular matrix: Targeting and therapeutic tools E-mail address: lvgrunsv@vub.ac. be.
Video Based Crowd Density Estimation and Prediction System for a Wide Area Surveillance

Visual surveillance in dynamic scenes, especially for human and some objects is one of the most active research areas. An attempt has been made to this issue in this work. It has wide spectrum of promising application including human identification to detect the suspicious behavior, crowd flux statistics, and congestion analysis using multiple cameras. In this paper deals with the problem of detecting and tracking multiple moving people in a static background. Detection of foreground object is done by background subtraction. Detected objects are identified and analyzed through different blobs. Then tracking is performed by matching corresponding features of blob. An algorithm has been developed in this perspective using Angular Deviation of Center of Gravity (ADCG), which gives a satisfying result for segmentation of human object.
Iris Biometric System using a hybrid approach

Iris Recognition Systems are ocular- based biometric devices used primarily for security reasons. The complexity and the randomness of the Iris, amongst various other factors, ensure that this biometric system is inarguably an exact and reliable method of identification. The algorithm is responsible for automatic localization and segmentation of boundaries using circular Hough Transform, noise reductions, image enhancement and feature extraction across numerous distinct images present in the database. This paper delves into the various kinds of techniques required to approximate the pupillary and limbic boundaries of the enrolled iris image, captured using a suitable image acquisition device and perform feature extraction on the normalized iris image with the help of Haar Wavelets to encode the input data into a binary string format. These techniques were validated using images from the CASIA database, and various other procedures were also tried and tested.
E-Learning Content Warehouse Architecture

Nowadays, there is a great interest in e -learning topics either in business world or in research forums. E-learning provides time and space flexibility as well as it usually leads to more interactive scenarios. Frequently, digital contents are developed and made available over the web and then, the contents are increased through interactions among learners (students) and mentors (professors). In the process of managing learning content, two different content views can be noticed in e -learning: operational and exploratory. The operational view provides insertion, update and deletion tasks over the content while the exploratory view provides the understanding of the available content through navigational queries. In this short paper, it is presented an ongoing work in e -learning that proposes a database architecture for elearning content management based on the data warehousing approach. This architecture also considers learning metadata proposal standards, domain ontologies and personalized hypermedia content presentation. The five-layer architecture is presented and the work in progress is briefly described.
Wortmannin , PI 3 K / Akt signaling pathway inhibitor , attenuates thyroid injury associated with severe acute pancreatitis in rats

Increasing evidences suggest that PI3K/AKT pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases such as acute pancreatitis. However, the exact effect of PI3K/AKT on thyroid injury associated with acute pancreatitis has not been investigated. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of wortmannin, PI3K/AKT inhibitor, on thyroid injury in a rat model of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham operating group (SO), SAP group, wortmannin treatment (WOR) group and drug control (WOR-CON) group. Serum amylase (AMY), lipase (LIP) and thyroid hormone levels were evaluated. The morphological change of thyroid tissue was analyzed under the light and transmission electron microscopy. AKT, P38MAPK and NF-κB expression in the thyroid tissue was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines were detected. Results showed that wortmannin attenuated the following: (1) serum AMY, LIP and thyroid hormone (2) pancreatic and thyroid pathological injuries (3) thyroid MDA, (4) thyroid ultrastructural change, (5) serum TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β (6) AKT, MAPKP38 and NF-κB expression in thyroid tissues. These results suggested that wortmannin attenuates thyroid injury in SAP rats, presumably because of its role on prevent ROS generation and inhibits the activation of P38MAPK, NF-κB pathway. Our findings provide new therapeutic targets for thyroid injury associated with SAP.
Autonomous Lecture Recording with a PTZ Camera While Complying with Cinematographic Rules

Nowadays, many lectures and presentations are recorded and broadcasted for teleteaching applications. When no human camera crew is present, the most obvious choice is for static cameras. In order to enhance the viewing experience, more advanced systems automatically track and steer the camera towards the lecturer. In this paper we propose an even more advanced system that tracks the lecturer while taking cinematographic rules into account. On top of that, the lecturer can be filmed in different types of shots. Our system is able to detect and track the position of the lecturer, even with non-static backgrounds and in difficult illumination. We developed an action axis determination system, needed to apply cinematographic rules and to steer the Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ)camera towards the lecturer.
Peripheral cannabinoid 1 receptor blockade activates brown adipose tissue and diminishes dyslipidemia and obesity

The endocannabinoid system is an important player in energy metabolism by regulating appetite, lipolysis, and energy expenditure. Chronic blockade of the cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) leads to long‐term maintenance of weight loss and reduction of dyslipidemia in experimental and human obesity. The molecular mechanism by which CB1R blockade reverses dyslipidemia in obesity has not yet been clarified. In this study, we showed that CB1R blockade with the systemic CB1R blocker rimonabant enhanced whole‐body energy expenditure and activated brown adipose tissue (BAT), indicated by increased expression of genes involved in BAT thermogenesis and decreased lipid droplet size in BAT. This was accompanied by selectively increased triglyceride (TG) uptake by BAT and lower plasma TG levels. Interestingly, the effects on BAT activation were still present at thermoneutrality and could be recapitulated by using the strictly peripheral CB1R antagonist AM6545, indicating direct peripheral activation of BAT. Indeed, CB1R blockade directly activated T37i brown adipocytes, resulting in enhanced uncoupled respiration, most likely via enhancing cAMP/PKA signaling via the adrenergic receptor pathway. Our data indicate that selective targeting of the peripheral CB1R in BAT has therapeutic potential in attenuating dyslipidemia and obesity. —Boon, M. R. , Kooijman, S. , van Dam, A. D. , Pelgrom, L. R. , Berbée, J. F. P., Visseren, C. A. R. , van Aggele, R. C. , van den Hoek, A. M. , Sips, H. C. M. , Lombès, M. , Havekes, L. M. , Tamsma, J. T. , Guigas, B. , Meijer, O. C. , Jukema, J. W. , Rensen, P. C. N. , Peripheral cannabinoid 1 receptor blockade activates brown adipose tissue and diminishes dyslipidemia and obesity. FASEB J. 28, 5361–5375 (2014). www.fasebj. org
The diameter of mobile ad hoc networks

With the prevalence of mobile devices, it is of much interest to study the properties of mobile ad hoc networks. In this paper, we extend the concept of diameter from static ad hoc network to mobile ad hoc network, which is the expected number of rounds for one node to transmit a message to all other nodes in the network, reflecting the worst end-to-end delay between any two node. Specifically, we investigate the diameter of identically and independently mobility model in cell-partitioned network and random walk mobility model in two-dimensional torus network, achieving the boundary ‚ k ln n n , when (k D .n/), and O.k log2 k/, respectively, where n is the number of nodes and k is the number of cells of network and especially under random walk mobility model p k D ‚ 1 v . A comparison is made among the diameter of mobile ad hoc networks under identically and independently mobility model, random walk mobility model and static ad hoc network, showing that mobility dramatically decreases the diameter of the network and speed is an essential and decisive factor of diameter. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Contributions of the Prion Protein Sequence, Strain, and Environment to the Species Barrier*

Amyloid propagation requires high levels of sequence specificity so that only molecules with very high sequence identity can form cross-β-sheet structures of sufficient stringency for incorporation into the amyloid fibril. This sequence specificity presents a barrier to the transmission of prions between two species with divergent sequences, termed a species barrier. Here we study the relative effects of protein sequence, seed conformation, and environment on the species barrier strength and specificity for the yeast prion protein Sup35p from three closely related species of the Saccharomyces sensu stricto group; namely, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces bayanus, and Saccharomyces paradoxus. Through in vivo plasmid shuffle experiments, we show that the major characteristics of the transmission barrier and conformational fidelity are determined by the protein sequence rather than by the cellular environment. In vitro data confirm that the kinetics and structural preferences of aggregation of the S. paradoxus and S. bayanus proteins are influenced by anions in accordance with their positions in the Hofmeister series, as observed previously for S. cerevisiae. However, the specificity of the species barrier is primarily affected by the sequence and the type of anion present during the formation of the initial seed, whereas anions present during the seeded aggregation process typically influence kinetics rather than the specificity of prion conversion. Therefore, our work shows that the protein sequence and the conformation variant (strain) of the prion seed are the primary determinants of cross-species prion specificity both in vivo and in vitro.
Practical information-flow aware middleware for in-car communication

Today's vehicles are increasingly connected to Internet, devices and integrate more and more electronic components. More than just ensuring their passengers' safety, which remains nevertheless one of their main objectives, cars have to deal with private information and encounters the same security issues as traditional computers. Until recently, automotive technologies allowed very little space for security, but the transition towards full Ethernet-based on-board network will change this situation. In this paper, we present solutions for decentralized information flow control in order to enhance the security and privacy level of the car data management. We describe the implementation of these mechanisms in an automotive middleware and propose its evaluation.
A test of multichannel closed-loop FES control on the wrist joint of a hemiplegic patient

The multichannel closed-loop FES control method using PID controllers developed in our research group was found to perform well with neurologically intact subjects in our previous studies. The PID controller could solve the ill-posed problem in the stimulation intensity determination for multichannel control of multi-degrees of freedom of movement. In this paper, the PID control method was examined with a hemiplegic patient. The dorsi/palmar and the radial/ulnar flexions were controlled by stimulating the ECR, the ECU, the FCR and the FCU using surface electrode stimulation. The tracking control of the wrist joints were achieved reasonably at vertical and horizontal positions of the upper limb. The multichannel PID control method would provide a basic technique for multichannel closed-loop FES control.
Rapid prototyping of 2D glass microfluidic devices based on femtosecond laser assisted selective etching process

Microfluidics technology which deals with small liquid samples and reagents within micro-scale channels has been widely applied in various aspects of biological, chemical, and life-scientific research. For fabricating microfluidic devices, a silicon-based polymer, PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane), is widely used in soft lithography, but it has several drawbacks for microfluidic applications. Glass has many advantages over PDMS due to its excellent optical, chemical, and mechanical properties. However, difficulties in fabrication of glass microfluidic devices that requires multiple skilled steps such as MEMS technology taking several hours to days, impedes broad application of glass based devices. Here, we demonstrate a rapid and optical prototyping of a glass microfluidic device by using femtosecond laser assisted selective etching (LASE) and femtosecond laser welding. A microfluidic droplet generator was fabricated as a demonstration of a microfluidic device using our proposed prototyping. The fabrication time of a single glass chip containing few centimeter long and complex-shaped microfluidic channels was drastically reduced in an hour with the proposed laser based rapid and simple glass micromachining and hermetic packaging technique.
Modeling, analysis, and simulation of MIMO mobile-to-mobile fading channels

This paper' deals with the modeling, analysis, and simulation of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) narrowband fading channels for mobile-to-mobile communications. A stochastic MIMO mobile-to-mobile reference channel model is derived from the geometrical two-ring scattering model under the assumption that both the transmitter and the receiver are surrounded by an infinite number of local scatterers. Using a wave propagation model, the complex channel gains are derived and their statistical properties are studied. General analytical solutions are provided for the three-dimensional (3-D) space-time cross-correlation function (CCF). We show that this function can be expressed as the product of two 2D space-time cross-correlation function (CFs), called the transmit and receive CF. From the non-realizable reference model, a stochastic and a deterministic simulation model are derived using a double sum of complex exponential functions. It is shown how the parameters of the simulation model can be determined for any given distribution of the angle of departure (AOD) and angle of arrival (AOA). In case of isotropic scattering, we present a closed-form solution for the parameter computation problem and illustrate some numerical results concerning the transmit CF. The proposed procedure provides an important framework for designers of future mobile-to-mobile communication systems to verify new transmission concepts employing MIMO techniques under realistic propagation conditions.
Joint Apposition Extraction with Syntactic and Semantic Constraints

Appositions are adjacent NPs used to add information to a discourse. We propose systems exploiting syntactic and semantic constraints to extract appositions from OntoNotes. Our joint log-linear model outperforms the state-of-the-art Favre and Hakkani-T¨ ur (2009) model by 10% on Broadcast News, and achieves 54.3% Fscore on multiple genres.
Natural History of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Patients With Heart Failure

Background— Patients with heart failure (HF) are typically designated as having reduced or preserved ejection fraction (HFREF, HFPEF) because of the importance of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on therapeutic decisions and prognosis. Such designations are not necessarily static, yet few data exist to describe the natural history of LVEF over time. Methods and Results— We identified 2413 patients from Kaiser Permanente Colorado with a primary discharge diagnosis of HF between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2008, who had ≥2 LVEF measurements separated by ≥30 days. We used multi-state Markov modeling to examine transitions among HFREF, HFPEF, and death. We observed a total of 8183 transitions. Women were more likely than men to transition from HFREF to HFPEF (hazard ratio, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.38–2.47). Patients who were adherent to &bgr;-blockers were more likely to transition from HFREF to HFPEF (hazard ratio, 1.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.10–2.13) compared with patients who were nonadherent to &bgr;-blockers, whereas angiotensin-converting enzyme or angiotensin II receptor blocker adherence was not associated with LVEF transitions. Patients who had a previous myocardial infarction were more likely to transition from HFPEF to HFREF (hazard ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.26–2.42). Conclusions— In this cohort of patients with HF, LVEF is a dynamic factor related to sex, coexisting conditions, and drug therapy. These findings have implications for left ventricular systolic function ascertainment in patients with HF and support evidence-based therapy use, especially &bgr;-blockers.