Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Daily metro origin-destination pattern recognition using dimensionality reduction and clustering methods

Widespread usage of Smart Cards is leading to unprecedentedly massive growth of the quantity of data. However, traditional methods still fail to fully recognize mobility patterns and a better way of data mining is to be explored. In order to achieve reliable pattern recognition results, principal component analysis and singular value decomposition are respectively applied. Based on the dimensionality reduced matrix, affinity propagation is selected as a suitable clustering algorithm to recognize demand patterns. Spectral clustering is introduced to make a comparison. Different clustering evaluation indicators are used to serve as objective references. Representative categories are clustered, which correspond to weekdays, weekends, holidays, and different months, respectively. The integration of dimensionality reduction and clustering offers a new way to understand daily mobility structure. To metro system operators, this study also provides information on traffic volume variation and temporal distribution of the whole year. Besides, the procedures of dealing with daily demand matrix can be applied in traffic planning, management and operation.
Comparison of Maize Silage-based Diets for Dairy Cows Containing Extruded Rapeseed Cake or Extruded Full-fat Soybean as Major Protein Sources

TŘINACTÝ JIŘI, RICHTER MICHAL, KŘIŽOVA LUDMILA. 2016. Comparison of Maize Silagebased Diets for Dairy Cows Containing Extruded Rapeseed Cake or Extruded Full-fat Soybean as Major Protein Sources. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 64(3): 901–909. The trial was carried out on four Holstein cows with initial milk yield of 27.3 ± 1.7 kg.day−1. Cows were divided into two groups – the fi rst was fed a diet based on extruded rapeseed cake (D-ERC), the second one was fed a diet based on extruded full-fat soybean (D-EFFS), both diets contained maize silage and meadow hay. The experiment was divided into 4 periods of 42 days. Intake of dry matter, crude protein and NEL was not aff ected by the treatment (P > 0.05) while the intake of PDIA, PDIN and PDIE was lower in D-ERC than in D-EFFS (P<0.05). Milk yield in D-ERC (22.6 kg.d−1) was lower than in D-EFFS (24.7 kg.d−1, P < 0.001) while concentration of milk fat and protein were reverse (P < 0.05). Smaller portion of essential AADI in crude protein intake (CPI) in D-ERC resulted in lower effi ciency of CPI utilization for milk protein synthesis in comparison to D-EFFS being 313 and 327 g.kg−1, respectively (P < 0.01). Concentration of AA in blood plasma was not aff ected by the type of diet except of His and Ile that were higher in D-EFFS (P < 0.01).
Adverse Metaphase Cytogenetics Can Be Overcome by Adding Bortezomib and Thalidomide to Fractionated Melphalan Transplants

Purpose: To determine whether a reduction in the intensity of Total Therapy (TT) reduces toxicity and maintains efficacy. Experimental Design: A total of 289 patients with gene expression profiling (GEP70)-defined low-risk multiple myeloma were randomized between a standard arm (TT4-S) and a light arm (TT4-L). TT4-L employed one instead of two inductions and consolidations. To compensate for potential loss of efficacy of TT4-L, bortezomib and thalidomide were added to fractionated melphalan 50 mg/m2/d for 4 days. Results: Grade ≥3 toxicities and treatment-related mortalities were not reduced in TT4-L. Complete response (CR) rates were virtually identical (P = 0.2; TT4-S, 59%; TT4-L, 61% at 2 years), although CR duration was superior with TT4-S (P = 0.05; TT4-S, 87%; TT4-L, 81% at 2 years). With a median follow-up of 4.5 years, there was no difference in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Whereas metaphase cytogenetic abnormalities (CAs) tended to be an adverse feature in TT4-S, as with predecessor TT trials, the reverse applied to TT4-L. Employing historical TT3a as training and TT3b as test set, 51 gene probes (GEP51) significantly differentiated the presence and absence of CA (q < 0.0001), seven of which function in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. Applying the GEP51 model to clinical outcomes, OS and PFS were significantly inferior with GEP51/CA in TT4-S; such a difference was not observed in TT4-L. Conclusions: We identified a prognostic CA-linked GEP51 signature, the adversity of which could be overcome by potentially synergizing anti–multiple myeloma effects of melphalan and bortezomib. These exploratory findings require confirmation in a prospective randomized trial. Clin Cancer Res; 23(11); 2665–72. ©2016 AACR.
The Impact of Feedback on the Different Time Courses of Multisensory Temporal Recalibration

The capacity to rapidly adjust perceptual representations confers a fundamental advantage when confronted with a constantly changing world. Unexplored is how feedback regarding sensory judgments (top-down factors) interacts with sensory statistics (bottom-up factors) to drive long- and short-term recalibration of multisensory perceptual representations. Here, we examined the time course of both cumulative and rapid temporal perceptual recalibration for individuals completing an audiovisual simultaneity judgment task in which they were provided with varying degrees of feedback. We find that in the presence of feedback (as opposed to simple sensory exposure) temporal recalibration is more robust. Additionally, differential time courses are seen for cumulative and rapid recalibration dependent upon the nature of the feedback provided. Whereas cumulative recalibration effects relied more heavily on feedback that informs (i.e., negative feedback) rather than confirms (i.e., positive feedback) the judgment, rapid recalibration shows the opposite tendency. Furthermore, differential effects on rapid and cumulative recalibration were seen when the reliability of feedback was altered. Collectively, our findings illustrate that feedback signals promote and sustain audiovisual recalibration over the course of cumulative learning and enhance rapid trial-to-trial learning. Furthermore, given the differential effects seen for cumulative and rapid recalibration, these processes may function via distinct mechanisms.
Low-Cost Preparation of Graphene Quantum Dots by Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Carbon Fibers

Graphene quantum dots, a kind of advanced carbon material, have become the frontier of condensed matter physics and material science. Here, we develop a plain and cheap preparation of graphene quantum dots by liquid-phase exfoliation of carbon fibers, which were prepared from absorbent cotton through an annealing process at 1000°C. The structure, micro morphology, chemical bond and optical properties of the as-prepared graphene quantum dots were characterized. Results show that the as-prepared graphene quantum dots present a green luminescence and have a narrow size distribution of 3-10 nm.
Road Crack Detection Using Deep Convolutional Neural Network and Adaptive Thresholding

Crack is one of the most common road distresses which may pose road safety hazards. Generally, crack detection is performed by either certified inspectors or structural engineers. This task is, however, time-consuming, subjective and labor-intensive. In this paper, a novel road crack detection algorithm which is based on deep learning and adaptive image segmentation is proposed. Firstly, a deep convolutional neural network is trained to determine whether an image contains cracks or not. The images containing cracks are then smoothed using bilateral filtering, which greatly minimizes the number of noisy pixels. Finally, cracks are extracted from the road surface using an adaptive thresholding method. The experimental results illustrate that our network can classify images with an accuracy of 99.92%, and the cracks can be successfully extracted from the images using our proposed thresholding algorithm.
Noninvasive Control of the Power Transferred to an Implanted Device by an Ultrasonic Transcutaneous Energy Transfer Link

Ultrasonic transcutaneous energy transfer is an effective method for powering implanted devices noninvasively. Nevertheless, the amount of power harvested by the implanted receiver is sensitive to the distance and orientation of the external transmitting transducer attached to the skin with respect to the implanted receiving transducer. This paper describes an ultrasonic power transfer link whose harvested power is controlled by an inductive link. A small (5 μF) storage capacitor voltage, which is part of the implanted unit, is allowed to swing between 3.8 and 3.5 V using hysteretic control. The two control states are indicated by excitation (while the implanted storage capacitor voltage decreases) or the absence of excitation of an implanted coil that is magnetically coupled to an external coil attached to the skin surface. A 35 mW Ultrasonic Transcutaneous Energy Transfer link was fabricated using two piezoelectric transducers of equal size (Fuji Ceramics C-2 PZT disc 15 mm × 3 mm) operated at a vibration frequency of 720 kHz. By applying the proposed hysteretic control, the captured power was effectively regulated for implantation depths of up to 85 mm.
Characterization of the Pro‐Inflammatory Cytokine IL‐1β on Butyrate Oxidation in Colorectal Cancer Cells

Cancer, in part, is driven, by alterations in cellular metabolism that promote cell survival and cell proliferation. Identifying factors that influence this shift in cellular metabolism in cancer cells is important. Interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) is a pro‐inflammatory cytokine that has been reported to be elevated in colorectal cancer patients. While much is known toward the effect of dietary nutrients on regulating inflammation and the inflammatory response, which includes cytokines such as IL‐1β, far less is understood how cytokines impact nutrient fate to alter cancer cell metabolism. Butyrate, a nutrient derived from the fermentation of dietary fiber in the colon, is the preferential exogenous energetic substrate used by non‐cancerous colonocytes, but is used less efficiently by colorectal cancer cells. To test whether IL‐1β alters colonocyte energy metabolism, we measured butyrate oxidation in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells with and without IL‐1β. We hypothesize that IL‐1β will push cancerous colonocytes away from the utilization and oxidation of butyrate. In this study, we demonstrate that pretreatment of colorectal cancer cells with IL‐1β diminished butyrate oxidation and NADH levels. This effect was blocked with the interleukin receptor antagonist A (IL‐1RA). Moreover, IL‐1β suppressed basal mitochondrial respiration and lowered the mitochondrial spare capacity. By using inhibitors to block downstream targets of the interleukin‐1 receptor pathway, we show that p38 is required for the IL‐1β‐mediated decrease in butyrate oxidation. These data provide insight into the metabolic effects induced by IL‐1β in colorectal cancer, and identify relevant targets that may be exploited to block the effects of this cytokine. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1614–1621, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nano Fabricated 3D Extracellular Matrix (ECM) Scaffolds to alter the Cancer Cell Behavior

Current therapeutic approaches for cancer, such as irradiation and chemotherapy, are highly invasive and have adverse side effects. In most cases, surgeries cannot even guarantee a complete recovery; therefore an effective alternate approach with minimum side effects for cancer treatment is timely requirement. Recent studies have been shown that the alterations in the extracellular matrix (ECM) could be used to manipulate the cell behavior. We exploited this technique and trying to manipulate the ECM’s to control the cancer cell growth. Although the technique can be tested on other types of cancers, our studies were mainly focused on colon cancer. In our approach, we combined Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and state of the art 3D Electron Beam Lithography (3D EBL). SEM was used to obtain images of real human colon epithelial tissues, which represent the different stages of colon cancer and normal colonic epithelia. The tissues, normal to metastatic, were reproduced one-to-one on bio compatible PMMA and PDMS polymers using 3D EBL. Using the same technique and thermal reflow, 3D egg crate profiles were fabricated which can be useful in stem cell studies.
Sample complexity for 1-bit compressed sensing and sparse classification

This paper considers the problem of identifying the support set of a high-dimensional sparse vector, from noise-corrupted 1-bit measurements. We present passive and adaptive algorithms for this problem, both requiring no more than O(d log(D)) measurements to recover the unknown support. The adaptive algorithm has the additional benefit of robustness to the dynamic range of the unknown signal.
Feature extraction for EEG classification: representing electrode outputs as a Markov stochastic process

In this work we introduce a new model for representing EEG signals and extracting discriminative features. We treat the outputs of each electrode as a stochastic process and assume that the sequence of variables forming a process is stationary and Markov. To capture tem- poral dependences within an electrode, we use conditional entropy and to capture dependences between dierent electrodes we use conditional mu- tual information features of increasing complexities. We show that even when using a small number of sampling points for their estimation (e.g. a single trial) these features carry discriminative information. We test the usefulness of these features by classifying the EEG data from n-back memory tasks.
Prediction of Breast and Prostate Cancer Risks in Male BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers Using Polygenic Risk Scores

Purpose BRCA1/2 mutations increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men. Common genetic variants modify cancer risks for female carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations. We investigated—for the first time to our knowledge—associations of common genetic variants with breast and prostate cancer risks for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations and implications for cancer risk prediction. Materials and Methods We genotyped 1,802 male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations from the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 by using the custom Illumina OncoArray. We investigated the combined effects of established breast and prostate cancer susceptibility variants on cancer risks for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations by constructing weighted polygenic risk scores (PRSs) using published effect estimates as weights. Results In male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations, PRS that was based on 88 female breast cancer susceptibility variants was associated with breast cancer risk (odds ratio per standard deviation of PRS, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.56; P = 8.6 × 10−6). Similarly, PRS that was based on 103 prostate cancer susceptibility variants was associated with prostate cancer risk (odds ratio per SD of PRS, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.35 to 1.81; P = 3.2 × 10−9). Large differences in absolute cancer risks were observed at the extremes of the PRS distribution. For example, prostate cancer risk by age 80 years at the 5th and 95th percentiles of the PRS varies from 7% to 26% for carriers of BRCA1 mutations and from 19% to 61% for carriers of BRCA2 mutations, respectively. Conclusion PRSs may provide informative cancer risk stratification for male carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations that might enable these men and their physicians to make informed decisions on the type and timing of breast and prostate cancer risk management.
Silencing “Top-Down” Cortical Signals Affects Spike-Responses of Neurons in Cat’s “Intermediate” Visual Cortex

We examined the effects of reversible inactivation of a higher-order, pattern/form-processing, postero-temporal visual (PTV) cortex on the background activities and spike-responses of single neurons in the ipsilateral cytoarchitectonic area 19 (putative area V3) of anesthetized domestic cats. Very occasionally (2/28), silencing recurrent “feedback” signals from PTV, resulted in significant and reversible reduction in background activity of area 19 neurons. By contrast, in large proportions of area 19 neurons, PTV inactivation resulted in: (i) significant reversible changes in the peak magnitude of their responses to visual stimuli (35.5%; 10/28); (ii) substantial reversible changes in direction selectivity indices (DSIs; 43%; 12/28); and (iii) reversible, upward shifts in preferred stimulus velocities (37%; 7/19). Substantial (≥20°) shifts in preferred orientation and/or substantial (≥20°) changes in width of orientation-tuning curves of area 19 neurons were however less common (26.5%; 4/15). In a series of experiments conducted earlier, inactivation of PTV also induced upward shifts in the preferred velocities of the ipsilateral cytoarchitectonic area 17 (V1) neurons responding optimally at low velocities. These upward shifts in preferred velocities of areas 19 and 17 neurons were often accompanied by substantial increases in DSIs. Thus, in both the primary visual cortex and the “intermediate” visual cortex (area 19), feedback from PTV plays a modulatory role in relation to stimulus velocity preferences and/or direction selectivity, that is, the properties which are usually believed to be determined by the inputs from the dorsal thalamus and/or feedforward inputs from the primary visual cortices. The apparent specialization of area 19 for processing information about stationary/slowly moving visual stimuli is at least partially determined, by the feedback from the higher-order pattern-processing visual area. Overall, the recurrent signals from the higher-order, pattern/form-processing visual cortex appear to play an important role in determining the magnitude of spike-responses and some “motion-related” receptive field properties of a substantial proportion of neurons in the intermediate form-processing visual area—area 19.
Development of Government-to-Employee Portals: A Developing Country Case Study

The purpose of this study is to understand how social structures shape the development of e-government portals and vice versa. E-Government portal research has focused on adoption, service delivery, accessibility, challenges, failures, evaluation and less on the co-shaping relationship between structure and interaction. Therefore, a knowledge gap exists on how social structure and interactions co-shape each other. This study focusses on the experiences of how the social structures shaped the development of a government-to-employee portal and vice versa in a developing country. It uses interpretive case study approach as methodology and the structuration theory (ST) as analytical lens to understand the how structure and interaction co-shaped each other. The findings show ST can explain the co-shaping relationship between structure and interaction from a developing country perspective. This study contributes to research, practice and policy by offering rich insights into how social structures and interactions co-shape each other.
Adaptation and Validation of Dizziness Handicap Inventory into Romanian Language

Introduction: vertigo and dizziness are frequent symptoms in current ear, nose and throat (ENT) practice. Self-perception of health can be assessed by questionnaires like Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), a quality of life questionnaire widely used by specialists. Our aims were: the translation, adaptation and validation of this questionnaire into Romanian language. Materials and methods: the questionnaire was translated into Romanian and applied to a group of 50 patients complaining of dizziness. The patients were requested to fill out the SF-36 questionnaire, too. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed a high value of internal consistency of 0.86. Corrected Item- Total Correlation ranged from 0.24 to 0.74. A satisfactory degree of test-retest reliability value was found for the total score. External validity was tested by Pearson correlation between total score and subscales of DHI-Ro and SF-36 scores. Conclusions: The DHI-Ro is a disease-specific, health-related quality-of-life questionnaire translated and linguistically adapted for Romanian-speaking patients with an acceptable reliability and external validity.
Size Selective Synthesis of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles in Thin Fluids under Continuous Flow Conditions

Continuous flow spinning disc processing (SDP), which has extremely rapid mixing under plug flow conditions, effective heat and mass transfer, allowing high throughput with low wastage solvent efficiency, is effective in gaining access to superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles at room temperature. These are formed by passing ammonia gas over a thin aqueous film of Fe2+/3+ which is introduced through a jet feed close to the centre of a rapidly rotating disc (500 to 2500 rpm), the particle size being controlled with a narrow size distribution over the range 5 nm to 10 nm, and the material having very high saturation magnetizations, in the range 68–78 emu g−1.
Title : Immune-enhancement effect of Asterias amurensis fatty acids through NF-κB and MAPK pathways on RAW

25 26 Asterias amurensis is a marine organism that causes damage to the fishing industry 27 worldwide; however, it has been considered a promising source of functional components. The 28 present study aimed to investigate the immune-enhancing effects of fatty acids from three organs 29 of A. amurensis on murine macrophages (RAW 264.7 cells). A. amurensis fatty acids boosted 30 production of immune-associated factors such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 in RAW 31 264.7 cells. A. amurensis fatty acids also enhanced expression of critical immune-associated 32 genes, including iNOS, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, as well as COX-2. Western blotting showed that 33 A. amurensis fatty acids stimulated the NF-κB and MAPK pathways by phosphorylation of NF34 κB p-65, p38, ERK1/2, and JNK. A. amurensis fatty acids from different tissues resulted in 35 different levels of NF-κB and MAPK phosphorylation in RAW 264.7 cells. The results increase 36 our understanding of how A. amurensis fatty acids boost immunity in a physiological system, as a 37 potential functional material. 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Traffic sign recognition with convolutional neural network based on max pooling positions

Recognition of traffic signs is vary important in many applications such as in self-driving car/driverless car, traffic mapping and traffic surveillance. Recently, deep learning models demonstrated prominent representation capacity, and achieved outstanding performance in traffic sign recognition. In this paper, we propose a traffic sign recognition system by applying convolutional neural network (CNN). In comparison with previous methods which usually use CNN as feature extractor and multi-layer perception (MLP) as classifier, we proposed max pooling positions (MPPs) as an effective discriminative feature to predict category labels. Through extensive experiments, MPPs demonstrates the ideal characteristics of small inter-class variance and large intra-class variance. Moreover, with the German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB), outstanding performance has been achieved by using MPPs.
Characterization of Brittle Damage in Rock from the Micro to Macro Scale

Increasing needs for mining and constructing underground facilities at a higher depth and under high in-situ stresses have introduced new challenges in the form of brittle fracture. Brittle fracture is a complex mechanism comprising different stages of failure including initiation, propagation and coalescence. Brittle fracture studies in rock can be undertaken at a wide range of scales from the micro scale i.e. microcrack/grain scale in laboratory samples through the meso scale i.e. underground excavations to the macro scale i.e. in-situ engineered/natural rock slopes or block cave. At all these scales the rock/rock mass is subjected to “damage” which influences the engineering performance. Improved understanding of brittle damage at various scales requires development of damage intensity measures to quantify brittle fracture for both preexisting and stress-induced fractures and the use of advanced numerical modelling approach.