Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climbing up motion of the multi-locomotion robot (MLR) on vertical ladder with different gaits

Ladders are one of the oldest and most common tools used by human to reach a higher point. This paper describes climbing up motions on vertical ladder for a multi-locomotion robot (MLR). As potential applications, the robot with ladder climbing is expected to go to humanly inaccessible areas, taking risks to conduct searching and rescue operations instead of human. Two kinds of climbing up gaits are proposed. The posture of torso is maintained using at least three limbs in a transverse gait. The robot moves up the two limbs on the same side together in a pace gait. As a result, the travelling speed in this pace gait is higher than that in the transverse gait. The control algorithm with body motion control and error recovery is experimentally verified using the MLR which has been developed to achieve various forms of locomotion including biped walking, quadruped walking and brachiation.
Altered cerebral hemodyamics and cortical thinning in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis

Cortical thinning is a potentially important biomarker, but the pathophysiology in cerebrovascular disease is unknown. We investigated the association between regional cortical blood flow and regional cortical thickness in patients with asymptomatic unilateral high-grade internal carotid artery disease without stroke. Twenty-nine patients underwent high resolution anatomical and single-delay, pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging with partial volume correction to assess gray matter baseline flow. Cortical thickness was estimated using Freesurfer software, followed by co-registration onto each patient’s cerebral blood flow image space. Paired t-tests assessed regional cerebral blood flow in motor cortex (supplied by the carotid artery) and visual cortex (indirectly supplied by the carotid) on the occluded and unoccluded side. Pearson correlations were calculated between cortical thickness and regional cerebral blood flow, along with age, hypertension, diabetes and white matter hyperintensity volume. Multiple regression and generalized estimating equation were used to predict cortical thickness bilaterally and in each hemisphere separately. Cortical blood flow correlated with thickness in motor cortex bilaterally (p = 0.0002), and in the occluded and unoccluded sides individually; age (p = 0.002) was also a predictor of cortical thickness in the motor cortex. None of the variables predicted cortical thickness in visual cortex. Blood flow was significantly lower on the occluded versus unoccluded side in the motor cortex (p<0.0001) and in the visual cortex (p = 0.018). On average, cortex was thinner on the side of occlusion in motor but not in visual cortex. The association between cortical blood flow and cortical thickness in carotid arterial territory with greater thinning on the side of the carotid occlusion suggests that altered cerebral hemodynamics is a factor in cortical thinning.
Kinetics of hemoprotein reduction and interprotein heme transfer.

The transfer of hemin from one protein to another is an event biologically important for the conservation of heme iron. Hemin entering the circulation (or added to serum) is mainly bound by albumin and then transferred to hemopexin [Morgan, W.T. , Liem, H.H. , Sutor, R.P., & Muller-Eberhard, U. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 444, 435-445], and we are now investigating which mechanisms may be operative in enhancing this process. The presence of imidazole has been demonstrated to accelerate hemin transfer from albumin to hemopexin [Pasternack, R.F. , Gibbs, E.J., Hoeflin, E. , Kosar, W.P., Kubera, G. , Skowronek, C. A. , Wong, N.M. , & Muller-Eberhard, U. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 1753-1758]. The present work is an examination of the effect of the reduction of albumin-bound hemin on the rate of its transfer to hemopexin. Hemin (HmIII., ferriprotoporphyrin IX) was reduced to HmII (ferroprotoporphyrin IX) by the addition of sodium dithionite under argon. The reduction kinetics of HmIII to HmII were studied separately in the two complexes: with human serum albumin (HSA), which binds up to 20 mol of heme/mol (the first mole with K congruent to 10(8)), and with hemopexin (HHx), which binds heme equimolarly (K congruent to 10(13)). The rate of reduction of HmIII to HmII on HSA was first order over several half-lives and linearly dependent on [S2O4(2-)]1/2. At [HSA]0/[HmIII] = 3, the kobsd was (5 X 10(-3) + 0.75[S2O4(2-)]1/2, and with [HSA]/[HmIII] approximately 25, the kobsd was (2 X 10(-3)) + 0.25[S2O4(2-)]1/2. The reduction of HmIII to HmII on human hemopexin (HHx) is much more rapid with kobsd = (2.5 X 10(3))[S2O4(2-)]1/2. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Bayesian growth mixture model to examine maternal hypertension and birth outcomes

Maternal hypertension is a major contributor to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW). Although several studies have explored the relationship between maternal hypertension and fetal health, few have examined how the longitudinal trajectory of blood pressure, considered over the course of pregnancy, affects birth outcomes. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian growth mixture model to jointly examine the associations between longitudinal blood pressure measurements, PTB, and LBW. The model partitions women into distinct classes characterized by a mean arterial pressure (MAP) curve and joint probabilities of PTB and LBW. Each class contains a unique mixed effects model for MAP with class‐specific regression coefficients and random effect covariances. To account for the strong correlation between PTB and LBW, we introduce a bivariate probit model within each class to capture residual within‐class dependence between PTB and LBW. The model permits the association between PTB and LBW to vary by class, so that for some classes, PTB and LBW may be positively correlated, whereas for others, they may be uncorrelated or negatively correlated. We also allow maternal covariates to influence the class probabilities via a multinomial logit model. For posterior computation, we propose an efficient MCMC algorithm that combines full‐conditional Gibbs and Metropolis steps. We apply our model to a sample of 1027 women enrolled in the Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby Study, a prospective cohort study of host, social, and environmental contributors to disparities in pregnancy outcomes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Monitoring antioxidant defenses and free radical production in space-flight, aviation and railway engine operators, for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress, immunological impairment, and pre-mature cell aging

Degenerative diseases, immune impairment, and premature ageing commonly affect professional categories exposed to severe environmental and psychological stress. Among these, cosmonauts routinely experience extreme conditions due to microgravity, space radiation, altered oxygen supply, physical and mental fatigue during training, spaceflight, and post-flight. Long route aviation pilots display elevated oncogenic risk, connected with cosmic radiation overexposure, and high mortality rates for cardiovascular causes. Engine drivers, like pilots, are affected by health consequences of psycho-emotional stress, and burnout syndrome. The free radical (FR)/antioxidant (AO) imbalance is a common feature in all these pathological conditions. To assess the effective relevance of oxidative stress, we analyzed blood and urine reliable markers of FR production and AO defenses in 12 Russian cosmonauts, 55 airline pilots, 63 train engine drivers, and 50 age-matched controls by measuring the following: (a) lipophilic/hydrophilic low-molecular weight AO and AO enzyme activities, (b) nitric oxide, superoxide anion, hydroperoxide production, and (c) urinary catecholamine/serotonine metabolites and lipoperoxidation markers. Cosmonauts showed elevated granulocyte superoxide and nitric oxide production, increased erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione oxidation, and drastically decreased plasma/leucocyte lipophilic AO levels (P < 0.001–0.01). Aviation pilots, like train drivers, displayed a mild but constant oxidative stress, more pronounced in intercontinental routes pilots, and consistent with lymphocyte chromosomal alterations, DNA oxidation, and cardiovascular malfunction. Results obtained on these selected professionals operating under wearing conditions offer a solid molecular basis for advising the regular monitoring of clinical biochemistry laboratory markers of AO/FR status, to tailor individually specific AO supplementation and diet regimen, and monitor treatment outcomes.
Managing volunteer resources in the cloud

Cloud computing is an attractive emerging technology for wide area applications that usually require huge amount of computational, storage and sensing resources. A very challenging scenario merges cloud computing with the volunteer paradigm, where companies, communities and/or single users offer their contributions to a project or share their own services. In this paper, we propose a technique for the resource management in volunteer-clouds, with specific reference to the Cloud@Home framework. Our solution is based on a logical organisation of all the resources into a hierarchical cluster, implementing autonomic, distributed and self-adapting algorithms to manage the hierarchical infrastructure according to the resource availability variations. We also discuss the results obtained from the evaluation of a preliminary implementation of the proposed resource management system.
A Fast K-prototypes Algorithm Using Partial Distance Computation

The k-means is one of the most popular and widely used clustering algorithm; however, it is limited to numerical data only. The k-prototypes algorithm is an algorithm famous for dealing with both numerical and categorical data. However, there have been no studies to accelerate it. In this paper, we propose a new, fast k-prototypes algorithm that provides the same answers as those of the original k-prototypes algorithm. The proposed algorithm avoids distance computations using partial distance computation. Our k-prototypes algorithm finds minimum distance without distance computations of all attributes between an object and a cluster center, which allows it to reduce time complexity. A partial distance computation uses a fact that a value of the maximum difference between two categorical attributes is 1 during distance computations. If data objects have m categorical attributes, the maximum difference of categorical attributes between an object and a cluster center is m. Our algorithm first computes distance with numerical attributes only. If a difference of the minimum distance and the second smallest with numerical attributes is higher than m, we can find the minimum distance between an object and a cluster center without distance computations of categorical attributes. The experimental results show that the computational performance of the proposed k-prototypes algorithm is superior to the original k-prototypes algorithm in our dataset.
The effectiveness of webcast compared to live lectures as a teaching tool in medical school

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether webcast lectures are comparable to live lectures as a teaching tool in medical school. Methods: Three Otolaryngology-Head&Neck Surgery (OTO-HNS) lectures were given to third year medical students through their regular academic curriculum with one group receiving lectures in a live lecture format and the other group in a webcast format. All lectures (live or webcast) were given by the same lecturer and contained identical material. Three outcome measures were used: a student satisfaction survey, performance on the OTO-HNS component of their written examination, and performance on an OTO-HNS OSCE station in the general end of year OSCE examination session. Results: Students performance on the written examination was equal between the two groups. The webcast group outperformed the live lecture group in the OSCE station. The majority of students in the webcast group felt it was an effective learning tool for them. Most viewed the lectures more than once, and felt that this was beneficial to their learning. Conclusion: Webcasts appear equally effective to live lectures as a teaching tool.
Lutein prevents alcohol-induced liver disease in rats by modulating oxidative stress and inflammation.

OBJECTIVE Oxidative stress and inflammation play an important role in pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury. The present study was designed to investigate the protective role of Lutein against alcohol-induced liver injury. TREATMENT Wistar rats weighing 150-200 g were divided into 3 groups, control, EtOH treatment, Lutein followed by EtOH treatment. Ethanol-treated rats received EtOH [5 g/kg body weight] by gavage every 12 hours for a total of 3 doses. For Lutein pre-treatment, Lutein at a dose of 40 mg/kg was dissolved in the EtOH and gavaged 30 mins before EtOH treatment. METHODS Oxidative stress markers-(reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyls and sulfhydryls content), liver markers (ALT, AST, ALP and LDH) were determined. Antioxidant enzyme activities and its master regulator Nrf-2 expression were analyzed. Further, inflammatory proteins NF-κB, COX-2, iNOS and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-1β, IL-6) were analyzed. RESULTS The results showed significant decrease in oxidative stress markers and liver markers in the lutein pre-treatment. Lutein treatment down regulated inflammatory proteins and cytokines with concomitant up regulation in Nrf-2 levels and antioxidant enzymic activities. CONCLUSION The present study showed that Lutein treatment exerted potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory property and offered significant cytoprotection against alcohol-induced liver injury.
Lysine Scanning Mutagenesis Delineates Structural Model of the Nicotinic Receptor Ligand Binding Domain*

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChR) and their relatives mediate rapid chemical transmission throughout the nervous system, yet their atomic structures remain elusive. Here we use lysine scanning mutagenesis to determine the orientation of residue side chains toward core hydrophobic or surface hydrophilic environments and use this information to build a structural model of the ligand binding region of the AChR from adult human muscle. The resulting side-chain orientations allow assignment of residue equivalence between AChR subunits and an acetylcholine binding protein solved by x-ray crystallography, providing the foundation for homology modeling. The resulting structural model of the AChR provides a picture of the ACh binding site and predicts novel pairs of residues that stabilize subunit interfaces. The overall results suggest that lysine scanning can provide the basis for structural modeling of other members of the AChR superfamily as well as of other proteins with repeating structures delimiting a hydrophobic core.
Aalborg Universitet Characterization of clay-modified thermoset polymers under various environmental conditions for the use in high-voltage power pylons

The effect of nanoclay on various material properties like damping and strength of typical thermoset polymers, such as epoxy and vinyl ester, was investigated. Different environmental conditions typical for high-voltage transmission pylons made of composite materials were taken into account. Resin samples were prepared with various clay weight fractions ranging from 0% to 3%. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and rheological analysis were used to study the morphology and the structure of the nanocomposites. For all nanoclay-modified thermoset polymers, the morphology was found to be of exfoliated structure mainly. Static, uniaxial tensile tests showed that the addition of nanoclay to thermoset polymers led to a beneficial effect on the stiffness, whereas the tensile strength and ductility significantly decreased. When exposed to different environmental conditions, nanoclay was found to have a positive influence on the dynamic properties, analysed by a dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. The addition of nanoclay to the thermoset resin led to an increase of the damping properties by up to 28% for vinyl ester and up to 6% for epoxy at 220 C. The dielectric properties were evaluated by electrical breakdown strength tests resulting in 11% better insulating behaviour for nanoclay-modified vinyl ester.
Limbic hypometabolism in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment

The neural basis of the amnesia characterizing early Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains uncertain. Postmortem pathological studies have suggested early involvement of the mesial temporal lobe, whereas in vivo metabolic studies have shown hypometabolism of the posterior cingulate cortex. Using a technique that combined the anatomic precision of magnetic resonance imaging with positron emission tomography, we found severe reductions of metabolism throughout a network of limbic structures (the hippocampal complex, medial thalamus, mamillary bodies, and posterior cingulate) in patients with mild AD. We then studied a cohort with mild cognitive impairment in whom amnesia was the only cognitive abnormality and found comparable hypometabolism through the same network. The AD and mild cognitive impairment groups were differentiated, however, by changes outside this network, the former showing significant hypometabolism in amygdala and temporoparietal and frontal association cortex, whereas the latter did not. The amnesia of very early AD reflects severe but localized limbic dysfunction.
Encoded Exposure and Social Norms in Entertainment-Education

Entertainment-education is an effective health communication strategy that combines or embeds educational messages into entertainment programs to bring about social and behavior change. For years, scholars have considered how entertainment-education works. Some contemporary theories posit that entertainment-education does not engender behavior change directly but does so through mediating variables. This study adds to the literature on this topic by exploring the direct relationship between exposure and social norms instead of their relationship through behavior as a mediator. Novel to this study is the use of encoded exposure, a continuous and recognition-based measure of exposure that includes ever watching, recall, involvement, and dose in its operationalization. Using cross-sectional data from Kyunki … Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai, an entertainment-education program in India, this exploratory analysis indicates a positive and significant relationship between encoded exposure and social norms. How can this finding be applied to future programs? Questions remain, and replication is needed, but if it is not essential to go through behavior in order to change social norms, then implications emerge for the theory and practice of entertainment-education.
Privacy Threats of Data Retention in Internet Communications

Data retention refers to the legal obligation of Internet service providers (ISPs) to retain the communication data of their subscribers for a certain period, in order to enable the legal investigation of possible crimes. However, the retention of communication data increases the security threats against the privacy of theirs subscribers. In this paper we explore the privacy issues of data retention in Internet communications. We also describe possible security mechanisms which may thwart these threats and minimize the risks against user privacy.
Combining spin echoes with gradient echoes in the context of the global coherent free precession pulse sequence

To extend the signal longevity of magnetically excited spins in flowing fluids while in a state of global coherent free precession (GCFP), a refocusing radiofrequency (RF) pulse and bipolar gradient waveforms were combined with the GCFP sequence. The data demonstrate that RF refocusing in the presence of flowing blood is possible, but the improvement in signal amplitude depends on the static magnetic field homogeneity along the direction of motion and the displacement of the spins between the excitation and the RF refocusing pulse, as well as displacement during subsequent RF refocusing pulses. The least amount of phase dispersion and thus the longest lasting signal is obtained with the shortest echo spacing where only one line of data is recorded between two RF refocusing pulses. This approach was successfully used in a phantom and in vivo to image fast and slow blood flow. Depending on the experimental conditions, signal persistence is improved significantly compared to playing the same sequence without RF refocusing, but the improvement is limited by the product of blood flow velocity and the time between RF refocusing pulses. Magn Reson Med 58:82–91, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
TCP Performance Analysis in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks with Different Routing Protocols and Varying Payload

Mobile Ad hoc network routing protocols are classified into several categories such as proactive and reactive routing protocols. The performances of these categories are evaluated in different situations. This work presents TCP performance evaluation in three different scenarios with variable amount of payload and number of nodes. It was found that different amount of payload have different effects on the TCP performance. The traffic consists of three different packet sizes i.e. 512, 1000, 1500. Three different routing protocols (AODV, DSDV, and DSR) are evaluated with three different TCP variants (Sack, New Reno and Tahoe). The performances parameters on the basis of which routing protocols are graded are mainly throughput; others are congestion window and end to end delay. Our results indicate that DSR performs well in a variety of conditions.
Fonctionnement de la mémoire autobiographique dans un contexte de traumatisme psychique

Le traumatisme psychique definit le choc emotionnel d'un individu a la suite a d'un evenement traumatique. Dans certains cas, la symptomatologie psychotraumatique s'installe et perdure entrainant l'apparition d'un Trouble de Stress Post Traumatique. La litterature decrit amplement les desordres mnesiques qui accompagnent la maladie et notamment l'alteration de la memoire autobiographique. Ce systeme de memoire complexe renferme l'histoire de notre passe sur laquelle s'appuie notre individualite presente et nos aspirations futures. Cependant, l'origine du dysfonctionnement de la memoire autobiographique reste confuse, cette alteration pourrait etre un facteur premorbide, la consequence de l'exposition traumatique ou celle de la maladie. Les recherches restent incertaines sur les relations existantes entre le dysfonctionnement de la memoire autobiographique et le traumatisme psychique. Tout au long de ce travail, nous caracteriserons le fonctionnement de la memoire autobiographique dans le contexte d'un traumatisme psychique. Les deux premieres etudes permettront d'analyser la memoire autobiographique suite a une exposition traumatique unique et suite a des expositions repetees. La derniere etude nous eclairera sur le fonctionnement de la memoire autobiographique chez des sujets en remission partielle d'un trouble de stress post traumatique.