Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Step deposition and stabilizer interaction in electroless nickel bath for bond pad metallization

Stabilizers are key components of electroless nickel baths. Therefore, understanding the limitations and characteristics of stabilizers is very important for consistently achieving desired plating results. Higher concentrations of stabilizers cause defects like skip and step plating, whereas lower concentrations can lead to short bath life and bath decomposition. This paper studies the step deposition and stabilizer interaction on electroless nickel bath.
Serum insulin levels are associated with vulnerable plaque components in the carotid artery: the Rotterdam Study

Background To investigate the association between fasting serum insulin and glucose levels with atherosclerotic plaque composition in the carotid artery. Impaired insulin and glucose levels are implicated in the etiology of cardiovascular disease; however, their influence on the formation and composition of atherosclerotic plaque remains unclear. Methods In 1740 participants (mean age 72.9 years, 46% women, 14.4% diabetes mellitus) from the population-based Rotterdam Study, we performed carotid MRI to evaluate the presence of calcification, lipid core, and intraplaque hemorrhage in carotid atherosclerosis. All participants also underwent blood sampling to obtain information on serum insulin and glucose levels. Using logistic regression models, we assessed the association of serum insulin and glucose levels (per s.d. and in tertiles) with the different plaque components, while adjusting for sex, age, intima-media thickness, and cardiovascular risk factors. Results Serum insulin levels were associated with the presence of intraplaque hemorrhage (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.42 (95% CI: 1.12–1.7)) We found no association with the presence of calcification or lipid core. Sensitivity analyses restricted to individuals without diabetes mellitus yielded similar results. No associations were found between serum glucose levels and any of the plaque components. Conclusions Serum insulin levels are associated with the presence of vulnerable components of carotid plaque, specifically with intraplaque hemorrhage. These findings suggest a complex role for serum insulin in the pathophysiology of carotid atherosclerosis and in plaque vulnerability.
The effects of a `home-based' task-oriented exercise programme on motor and balance performance in children with spastic cerebral palsy and severe traumatic brain injury

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and the ability to recruit and retain children with severe traumatic brain injury or cerebral palsy, and their families, to a simple home-based exercise programme and to assess the immediate and short-term effects of such intervention on reducing impairment and improving function. Study design: Randomized clinical trial. Participants: Twenty children aged 7—13 years, with traumatic brain injury (N = 10) or cerebral palsy (N = 10) who were independent ambulators. Five children from each group were randomly assigned to a control group — regular daily activities, or to an experimental group — regular daily activities plus a home-based task-oriented exercise programme of sit-to-stand and step-up exercise, for six weeks. Outcome measures: Feasibility: The number of participants who completed the programme protocol. Efficacy: Timed Up and Go Test and Functional Reach Test were used as functional balance tests. Maximal isometric strength was assessed by using a hand-held dynamometer; walking performance was assessed by the 10 m walk test, 2-minute walk test and Energy Expenditure Index. Results: Nine children completed all parts of the training programme. At the end of the intervention period an increase of 3—4 cm in the mean Functional Reach Test and a reduction of 1.6 ± 2.1 seconds in the Timed Up and Go Test were noted (P<0.01) in the experimental group while no changes were noted in the control group. In all other outcomes assessed no significant differences were noted between groups. The positive change in balance performance in the experimental group was maintained during a six-week follow-up period. Conclusions: A home-based task-oriented exercise programme can improve balance performance in children with spastic cerebral palsy or severe traumatic brain injury.
Image classification using kernel flexible manifold embedding

In this paper we propose a kernelized version of the Flexible Manifold Embedding (FME) framework. This latter has been recently proposed as a semi-supervised graph-based label propagation method that optimally estimates the labels of data and finds at the same time a linear regression function that can easily predict labels of unseen data points. The contribution of our proposed Kernel Flexible Manifold Embedding (KFME) framework is clearly manifested when the structure of data is highly nonlinear. In such cases, as opposed to FME, KFME is still robust and discriminative owing to the nonlinear nature of its predicted matrix of labels and its regression function. Experiments conducted on five benchmark datasets show the advantage of our method compared to original FME and many competing methods.
Corpus-based Analysis for Multi-token Units in Persian

Because of the joining behavior of Persian script and its orthographic variation, the morphological and syntactic annotations of multi-token units meet various issues. By the analysis of Perso-Arabic script and its problems, the various collocation types of the tokens including the compositional, non-compositional and the new semi­compositional constructions are described in the present paper. Then, to illustrate these constructions, the static and dynamic multi-token units will be presented for the generative and non-generative structures of the main categories including the verbs, infinitives, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives and nouns. Defining the multi-token unit templates for these categories is one of the important results of this research. The findings can be input to the segmentation module of the Persian Treebank generator system. The other usage of the present research is in the design and implementation of the morphological analyzers and syntactical parsers.
Extrinsic Calibration of 2-D Laser Rangefinder and Camera From Single Shot Based on Minimal Solution

A 2-D laser rangefinder (LRF) and a camera are widely applied in various mobilized systems, such as autonomous robot and unmanned ground vehicle. Integration of these two types of sensors promotes a new measurement technology. Extrinsic calibration is crucial and basically the first step to fuse image and laser data. The chessboard-plane-based method is one of the most popular ones, which requires at least five plane-input (five shots). Vasconcelos et al. recently reduced the number of shots from five to three and derived the minimal solution. However, it requires solving a sophisticated perspective-three-point (P3P) problem with eight solutions. This paper first introduces a virtual trihedron from three plane-input and reformulates the P3P problem directly in 3-D space rather than in 3-D dual space to derive the minimal solution for extrinsic calibration. Based on this, we propose a novel and flexible method for extrinsic calibration of an LRF-camera with a tri-rectangular trihedron (or a cube). One unique feature is that the method requires only a single shot of the target, which can greatly simplify the calibration procedure. The proposed calibration method involves solving simplified P3P and perspective-three-line (P3L) problems separately. In particular, computation of LRF pose is formulated as a simplified P3P problem, which is easily solved and has unique solution from single-shot laser data only. It also avoids the degeneration problem. Camera pose computation is formulated as a simplified P3L problem from image data. The proposed calibration method has been tested with both simulation and real data. The results show that the method is both accurate and flexible for extrinsic calibration of a 2-D LRF and a camera.
Das kapilläre Leck nach elektiven koronarchirurgischen Operationen mit Hilfe der Herz-Lungen-Maschine

Nach extrakorporaler Zirkulation (EKZ) beobachtet man eine generalisierte Entzundungsreak-tion mit Odemen bis hin zum Multiorganversagen. Als Ursache dafur postuliert man das kapillare Leck, eine erhohte Permeabilitat der Kapillaren fur Flussigkeit und Proteine. Die erhohte Permeabilitat wurde in dieser Studie mit Hilfe der Verschwinderate von Evans-Blue-markiertem Albumin gemessen. Bei 24 Patienten mit elektiver koronarer Bypass-Operation wurde die Verschwinderate 3 Stunden nach EKZ im Vergleich zu einem Kontrollwert vor der Operation bestimmt. Obwohl die Entzundungsparameter (z.B.TNF-a, IL6 u.a.) 3 Stunden nach EKZ signifikant das Maximum der Entzundungsreaktion anzeigten, war die Verschwinderate nicht signifikant erhoht (7,2 ± 0,5 %/h nach EKZ versus 7,6 ± 0,5 %/h vor EKZ). Ein kapillares Leck konnte in dieser Studie nicht nachgewiesen werden.
Histopathologic changes of rat tracheal mucosa following formaldehyde exposure

El formaldehido es un producto quimico que se usa tradicionalmente para la fijacion de cadaveres. Este se vaporiza durante la diseccion y los estudios practicos en el cadaver. Investigaciones han mostrado que este vapor puede causar algunos sintomas clinicos como la irritacion de garganta, ojos, piel y mucosa nasal. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar los cambios histopatologicos en la mucosa de la traquea de la rata para lo cual todos los animales fueron expuestos al formaldehido, durante 18 semanas. El estudio fue realizado en 28 ratas albinas Wistar, con 6-7 semanas de vida. Las ratas fueron divididas en 3 grupos (E1: 4h/dia, 4dias/semana; E2: 2h/dia, 4dias/semana; E3: 2h/dia, 2dias/semana) y un grupo control. Fueron seccionadasas las traqueas de los especimenes y tenidas con H&E para su estudio histopatologico. Una desorganizacion epitelial, desaparicion de cilios, leves cambios dispasticos y leve infiltracion linfocitica subepiteial fueron observados en el grupo E1. Desorganizacion epitelial, cilios irregulares y leve infiltracion subepitelial fueron observados en los grupos E2 y E3. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que a mayor exposicion al vapor del formaldehido, mas intensos son los cambios epiteliales de la mucosa traqueal
The Binomial Block Bootstrap Estimator for Evaluating Loss on Dependent Clusters

In this paper, we study the non-IID learning setting where samples exhibit dependency within latent clusters . Our goal is to estimate a learner’s loss on new clusters, an extension of the out-of-bag error. Previously developed cross-validation estimators are well suited to the case where the clustering of observed data is known a priori. However, as is often the case in real world problems, we are only given a noisy approximation of this clustering, likely the result of some clustering algorithm. This subtle yet potentially signiﬁ-cant issue afﬂicts domains ranging from image classiﬁcation to medical diagnostics, where naive cross-validation is an optimistically biased estimator. We present a novel bootstrap technique and corresponding cross-validation method that, somewhat counterintuitively, in-jects additional dependency to asymptotically recover the loss in the independent setting.
Environmental Health Analysis: Assessing the emission levels of benzene from the fuel tanks doors of the vehicles in Tehran city

In this study, 350 vehicles in 20 different models were examined in one of Tehran’s Automobile Technical Inspection Centers. The laboratory tests indicate that longtime exposure to benzene has destructive effects on the blood cells, especially the bone-marrow cells. The concentration levels of benzene caused by the emission of gasoline vapors from fuel tanks doors were measured by PhoCheck EX5000 during a 5 to 15-minute interval for each car. The results indicate that the concentration of benzene caused by the emission of gasoline vapors from the fuel tanks door of the domestic cars was 10 times higher than the imported cars. In most of the imported cars, the amount of benzene in the three measured areas was negligible. This is due to the use of new technology and adaptation of strict environmental standards by the manufacturing country.
COMPARISON OF POPULATION STRUCTURE IN CHROMOSOMALLY POLYTYPIC AND MONOTYPIC SPECIES OF SCELOPORUS (SAURIA: IGUANIDAE) IN RELATION TO CHROMOSOMALLY‐MEDIATED SPECIATION

Sceloporus grammicus has been used as an example of stasipatric speciation, and some models of chromosomal speciation have assumed that the fission rearrangements which distinguish the chromosome races within this complex are negatively heterotic in the heterozygous state. Consequently, such rearrangements are assumed to be fixed by drift in small, inbred populations. Allelic variation at 19 presumptive gene loci was examined in 13 samples of a chromosomally conservative congener, Sceloporus graciosus, and was compared to an equivalent data set for the chromosomally polytypic S. grammicus. Several estimates of population variability and structure were calculated, and results were inconsistent with models of extreme population subdivision and/or frequent bottlenecks and extinction‐colonization events in S. grammicus. For example, mean level of heterozygosity and mean number of alleles per locus were significantly higher in S. grammicus than in S. graciosus, while the average genetic distance (D) was significantly higher in S. graciosus. These results are considered in light of expected “Wrightian” population genetic parameters, and we conclude that S. grammicus does not seem to have the population structure necessary for the fixation of strongly negatively heterotic rearrangements.
Medial Epicondylitis

Flexor and extensor muscle-tendon unit activity at the elbow during the golf swing was recorded from subjects with and without medial epicondylitis. There was no sig nificant difference in total swing time between symp tomatic (1.23 ± 0.15 sec) and asymptomatic (1.15 ± 0.13 sec) subjects nor between golfers with low (1 to 6 handicap, N = 8) and high (11 to 19 handicap, N = 8) scoring abilities. Symptomatic and asymptomatic sub jects displayed similar electromyographic profiles for flexor and extensor muscles of the forearm. Electro myographic activity of the common extensor muscles was persistent throughout the four swing phases, rang ing from 33.59% of maximum voluntary contraction at address to 58.77% at contact. Common flexor muscles produced a consistent burst of electromyographic ac tivity during contact phase (flexor burst, 90.77% of maxi mum voluntary contraction). Symptomatic subjects' mean flexor muscle electromyographic activity was sig nificantly greater than that of asymptomatic subjects in both address and swing phases. When forearm brace and oversized grips were imposed on symptomatic sub jects, there was no significant difference in mean elec tromyographic magnitude or muscle activation pattern during the golf swing. Thus, the method of sympto matic relief of the intervention strategies tested is still in question.
The impact of intimate partner abuse on women's health in the Bowen Basin and Mackay region of Central Queensland, Australia.

Objectives: To ascertain the prevalence of male-to-female partner abuse in the Bowen Basin and Mackay region and to identify the impact of this abuse on women's health status and help-seeking behaviour. Methods: A stratified random sample of 532 adult women living in intimate, heterosexual relationships was surveyed by telephone in June and July, 2007. The interview schedule included measures of physical and non-physical abuse by current partners, socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics of women and their partners, physical and mental health, and help-seeking. For most analyses, data were weighted to reflect the actual population distribution of the Bowen Basin region including Mackay. Results: Nine point two per cent of women had experienced some form of physical abuse and 29.1 had experienced some form of non-physical abuse at some time in their current relationship. Partner abuse had little impact on women's physical well-being at a population level. However, all forms of abuse were strongly correlated with negative impacts on women's mental health. Women subjected to physical abuse in the preceding 12 months were 16.1 times more likely to show evidence of severe psychological symptomatology and 5.0 times more likely to show evidence of depression. Conclusion: The study found significant negative mental health consequences for women experiencing any form of abuse and reluctance to seek counselling and support services. Support services and education and prevention programs must recognise that all forms of partner abuse, including non-physical forms, result in depression and severe psychological symptomatology which are likely to affect women's help seeking behaviour.
Identification of hepatic microvascular adhesion‐related genes of human colon cancer cells using random homozygous gene perturbation

Random homozygous gene perturbation (RHGP), in combination with liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) adhesion screening of clonal colon cancer cells with perturbed genes, was used to identify genes contributing to the hepatic microvascular adhesion of colon cancer cells. Plasmid vector encoding transactivator and gene search vector were transfected into HT‐29 human colorectal cancer cells to create a HT‐29 RHGP cell library; the adhesion of these library cells to primary cultured mouse LSEC significantly decreased in the presence of RSL1 ligand (inducer), indicating that most of the genes contributing to HT‐29 adhesion to LSEC were altered. Next, HT‐29 RHGP cell library fractions with upregulated or silenced LSEC adhesion‐related genes were isolated. Around 160 clones having altered expression in LSEC adhesion‐related genes were obtained, and nine relevant protein‐coding genes were identified. Some were proadhesive genes detected because of their overexpression in adherent HT‐29 cells (DGCR8 and EFEMP1 genes) and their silenced status in nonadherent HT‐29 cells (DGKE, DPY19L1, KIAA0753, PVR and USP11 genes). Others were antiadhesive genes detected because of their overexpression in nonadherent HT‐29 cells (ITPKC gene) and their silenced status in adherent HT‐29 cells (PPP6R2 gene). Silencing of PVR, DGCR8 and EFEMP1 genes decreased adhesion to LSEC and hepatic microvascular retention of HT‐29 cells. The results conclude that RHGP was a valuable strategy for the discovery of mechanisms regulating microvascular adhesion of circulating colon cancer cells before hepatic metastasis formation. Identified genes may contribute to understand the metastatic process of colon cancer and to discovering molecular targets for hepatic metastasis therapeutics.
Evaluation of the interactivity of students in virtual learning environments using a multicriteria approach and data mining

This work seeks to provide a new multicriteria approach to evaluate and classify the level of interactivity of students in learning management systems (LMS). We describe, step by step, the complete methodological development process of the evaluation model as well as detailing the results obtained when applying it to a higher education teaching experience. This research demonstrates that the combined use of multicriteria decision methodologies and data mining prove to be particularly suitable for identifying behavioural patterns of the users through the analysis of records generated in LMS. The results reveal that the behavioural patterns in LMS offer certain indicators as to students’ academic performance, although the study does not permit to state that those students who adopt passive attitudes in these spheres may necessarily produce low academic performance.
Common carotid intima-media thickness and risk of stroke and myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study.

BACKGROUND Noninvasive assessment of intima-media thickness (IMT) is widely used in observational studies and trials as an intermediate or proxy end point for cardiovascular disease. However, data showing that IMT predicts cardiovascular disease are limited. We studied whether common carotid IMT is related to future stroke and myocardial infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS We used a nested case-control approach among 7983 subjects aged > or =55 years participating in the Rotterdam Study. At baseline (March 1990 through July 1993), ultrasound images of the common carotid artery were stored on videotape. Determination of incident myocardial infarction and stroke was predominantly based on hospital discharge records. Analysis (logistic regression) was based on 98 myocardial infarctions and 95 strokes that were registered before December 31, 1994. IMT was measured from videotape for all case subjects and a sample of 1373 subjects who remained free from myocardial infarction and stroke during follow-up. The mean duration of follow-up was 2.7 years. Results were adjusted for age and sex. Stroke risk increased gradually with increasing IMT. The odds ratio for stroke per standard deviation increase (0.163 mm) was 1.41 (95% CI, 1.25 to 1.82). For myocardial infarction, an odds ratio of 1.43 (95% CI, 1.16 to 1.78) was found. When subjects with a previous myocardial infarction or stroke were excluded, odds ratios were 1.57 (95% CI, 1.27 to 1.94) for stroke and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.18 to 1.92) for myocardial infarction. Additional adjustment for several cardiovascular risk factors attenuated these associations: 1.34 (95% CI, 1.08 to 1.67) and 1.25 (95% CI, 0.98 to 1.58), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The present study, based on a short follow-up period, provides evidence that an increased common carotid IMT is associated with future cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events.
Evaluating 5-Nitrofurans as Trypanocidal Agents

ABSTRACT The nitroheterocycle nifurtimox, as part of a nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy, represents one of a limited number of treatments targeting Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis. The mode of action of this prodrug involves an initial activation reaction catalyzed by a type I nitroreductase (NTR), an enzyme found predominantly in prokaryotes, leading to the formation of a cytotoxic unsaturated open-chain nitrile metabolite. Here, we evaluate the trypanocidal activities of a library of other 5-nitrofurans against the bloodstream form of T. brucei as a preliminary step in the identification of additional nitroaromatic compounds that can potentially partner with eflornithine. Biochemical screening against the purified enzyme revealed that all 5-nitrofurans were effective substrates for T. brucei NTR (TbNTR), with the preferred compounds having apparent kcat/Km values approximately 50-fold greater than those of nifurtimox. For several compounds, in vitro reduction by this nitroreductase yielded products characterized by mass spectrometry as either unsaturated or saturated open-chain nitriles. When tested against the bloodstream form of T. brucei, many of the derivatives displayed significant growth-inhibitory properties, with the most potent compounds generating 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) around 200 nM. The antiparasitic activities of the most potent agents were demonstrated to be NTR dependent, as parasites having reduced levels of the enzyme displayed resistance to the compounds, while parasites overexpressing TbNTR showed hypersensitivity. We conclude that other members of the 5-nitrofuran class of nitroheterocycles have the potential to treat human African trypanosomiasis, perhaps as an alternative partner prodrug to nifurtimox, in the next generation of eflornithine-based combinational therapies.