Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image Restoration and Denoising By Using Nonlocally Centralized Sparse Representation and Histogram Clipping

Due to the degradation of observed image the noisy, blurred, Distorted image can be occurred . for restoring image information we propose the sparse representations by conventional modelsmay not be accurate enough for a faithful reconstruction of the original image. To improve the performance of sparse representation-based image restoration,In this method the sparse coding noise is added for image restoration, due to this image restoration the sparse coefficients of original image can be detected. The so-called nonlocally centralized sparse representation (NCSR) model is as simple as the standard sparse representation model,for denoising the image here we use the Histogram clipping method by using histogram based sparse representation effectively reduce the noise.and also implement the TMR filter for Quality image.various types of image restoration problems, including denoising, deblurring and super-resolution, validate the generality and state-of-the-art performance of the proposed algorithm.
Value of somatosensory and motor evoked potentials in predicting arm recovery after a stroke

OBJECTIVES Prediction of motor recovery in the arm in patients with stroke is generally based on clinical examination. However, neurophysiological measures may also have a predictive value. The aims of this study were to assess the role of somatosensory (SSEPs) and motor (MEPs) evoked potentials in the prediction of arm motor recovery and to determine whether these measures added further predictive information to that gained from clinical examination. METHODS Sixty four patients who had had a stroke and presented with obvious motor deficit of the arm were examined in terms of three clinical variables (motor performance, muscle tone, and overall disability) and for SSEPs and MEPs. Clinical and neurophysiological examinations were done at entry to the study (2 to 5 weeks poststroke), and at about 2 months after stroke. Further clinical follow up was conducted at 6 and 12 months after stroke. RESULTS Neurophysiological measures made in the acute phase were of little use alone in predicting motor recovery of the arm at 2, 6, and 12 months after stroke. At 2 months, the absence of SSEPs and MEPs indicated a very poor outcome. Conversely, if the responses were preserved, a great variation in motor outcome was found. Multiple regression analysis showed that the addition of SSEPs and MEPs to the clinical examination increased the possibility of predicting arm recovery in the long term. In the acute phase, the combination of the motor score and SSEPs were best able to predict outcome. The long term outcome based on variables taken at 2 months, was best predicted through incorporating the three clinical measures and MEPs. CONCLUSIONS Neurophysiological measures alone are of limited value in predicting long term outcome. However, predictive accuracy is substantially improved through the combined use of both of these measures and clinical variables.
A re-evaluation of modelling of the current flow between electrodes: consideration of blood flow and wounds

Electrical stimulation has been used for exercise, healing wounds, relieving pain, and strengthening muscle. The assumption is that current will flow predictably between electrodes and, therefore, there will be predictability in the clinical response to electrical stimulation. This may not be the case. The present investigation shows that considerable channelling of current occurs when the skin is heated or when there is a wound between the electrodes. By studying current movement in nutrient agar (a homogenous medium), blood agar and layered blood and nutrient agar to simulate areas of increased blood flow, it was found that areas of high or low resistance, especially in the surface layer, caused significant current movement toward (low resistance area) or away (high resistance area) from those areas. When a resister model was used to measure dispersion characteristics of current in a three-dimensional array, it was shown that if even a single resister value was lowered by 20% in the upper layer, current sinking occurred in all three layers of the array. The results seem to imply that where the tissue is non homogeneous due to injury or inflammation, electrode design or current delivery systems need to be modified appropriately to have the intended effect of the electrical stimulation.
A delta-structured switched-capacitor equalizer for series-connected battery strings

A delta-structured switched-capacitor equalizer (DSSCE) is proposed to achieve the automatic any-cells-to-any-cells (AC2AC) balancing for a long battery string, leading to the fast-speed and high-efficiency balancing. Only two switches are required for each battery cell, and one capacitor is set for any two cells, materializing the delta-structured switched capacitors (SC). All MOSFETs are triggered by two complementary PWM signals, and energy can be automatically and directly exchanged among all cells without the need of cell monitoring. The proposed system has the advantages of simple control, high efficiency, and direct, simultaneous, and automatic equalization among cells. A prototype system for four LiFePO4 battery cells is set up. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed topology has an improved balancing performance with a high balancing efficiency of 94.5%.
The platelet contribution to cancer progression

Summary. Traditionally viewed as major cellular components in hemostasis and thrombosis, the contribution of platelets to the progression of cancer is an emerging area of research interest. Complex interactions between tumor cells and circulating platelets play an important role in cancer growth and dissemination, and a growing body of evidence supports a role for physiologic platelet receptors and platelet agonists in cancer metastases and angiogenesis. Platelets provide a procoagulant surface facilitating amplification of cancer‐related coagulation, and can be recruited to shroud tumor cells, thereby shielding them from immune responses, and facilitate cancer growth and dissemination. Experimental blockade of key platelet receptors, such as GP1b/IX/V, GPIIbIIIa and GPVI, has been shown to attenuate metastases. Platelets are also recognized as dynamic reservoirs of proangiogenic and anti‐angiogenic proteins that can be manipulated pharmacologically. A bidirectional relationship between platelets and tumors is also seen, with evidence of ‘tumor conditioning’ of platelets. The platelet as a reporter of malignancy and a targeted delivery system for anticancer therapy has also been proposed. The development of platelet inhibitors that influence malignancy progression and clinical testing of currently available antiplatelet drugs represents a promising area of targeted cancer therapy.
In-silico comparison of distal-less protein variation in insects

Distal-less (Dll) protein is the first genetic signal for limb formation to occur in the developing zygote in insects. The function seems to be different across various organisms, like the Dll in butterflies are not only involved in limb formation but also take part in eyespot and wing pattern formation. Hence, the study of the sequence variation of the Dll protein of different insects might help us in better understanding of its evolutionary divergence and in turn its function in different insects. The sequence of Dll protein were retrieved from the NCBI database and was used to study its relationships among other insects species using MEGA 4.0 and analysis of the physicochemical properties was done using a computational tool called PROT-PROP. The Dll protein in the insects showed variations (31-94% identity) in their sequences when BLAST was performed, but the homeobox domain exhibiting helix-turn-helix (HTH) was found to be conserved. Presence of motifs with identical amino acid sequence and presence of regions with poly-amino acids might be the reason for the differences in the role of Dll in different insects. In the phylogenetic tree, insects belonging to the same order were found to cluster together and exhibit genetic relatedness.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE RISK ASSESSMENT IN SUPPORT OF A SUPERVISORY CONTROL SYSTEM

A supervisory control system is being developed for multiunit advanced small modular reactors to minimize human interventions during normal and abnormal operations. In the supervisory control system, control action decisions are made based on a probabilistic risk assessment that employs event trees and fault trees. Although traditional probabilistic risk assessment tools are implemented, their scope is extended to normal operations, and the application is reversed to assess the success of non-safety related systems and to enable continued operation of the plant. This extended probabilistic risk assessment approach is called operational performance risk assessment (OPRA). OPRA helps to identify available paths, combine control actions for maintaining plant conditions within operational limits, and to quantify the likelihood of success of these operational trajectories to optimize the selection of alternative actions without activating reactor protection system. In this paper, a case study of OPRA in a supervisory control system is demonstrated for the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) Power Reactor Inherently Safe Module (PRISM) design, specifically the power conversion system. The scenario investigated involved a condition in which the feedwater control valve that was observed to be drifting to the closed position. Alternative plant configurations that would allow the plant to continue to operate at full or reduced power were identified using OPRA. Dynamic analyses were performed with a thermal-hydraulic model of the ALMR PRISM system using Modelica to evaluate the magnitude of safety margins. Successful recovery paths for the selected scenario were identified and quantified using the supervisory control system.
A predictive localization algorithm based on RBF neural network for wireless sensor networks

The motion trajectory of nodes in indoor environment is relatively fixed because of the spatial constraint. In addition, mobile node usually moves according to some rules of its own. The localization error would increase when mobile nodes in indoor wireless sensor networks cannot receive the location information sent from anchor nodes due to some unknown transient disturbance. To minimize the localization error, we propose a predictive localization algorithm based on RBF neural network (PLRNN). The algorithm extracts and learns the intrinsic moving rules of mobile nodes. Through the extracted moving features, the location of mobile nodes can be predicted. Simulation results confirm that this algorithm can realize predictive localization with higher accuracy in blind period.
Detecting and Correcting Contamination in Genetic Data.

DNA sample contamination is a serious problem in DNA sequencing studies, and may result in systematic genotype misclassification and false positive associations. While methods exist to detect and filter out cross-species contamination, few methods to detect within-species sample contamination are available. In this paper, we describe methods to identify withinspecies DNA sample contamination based on (1) a combination of sequencing reads and arraybased genotype data; (2) sequence reads alone; and (3) array-based genotype data alone. Analysis of sequencing reads allows contamination detection after sequence data is generated but prior to variant calling; analysis of array-based genotype data allows contamination detection prior to generation of costly sequence data. Through a combination of analysis of insilico and experimentally contaminated samples, we show that our methods can reliably detect and estimate levels of contamination as low as 1%. We evaluate the impact of DNA contamination on genotype accuracy, and propose effective strategies to screen for and prevent DNA contamination in sequencing studies. A This work has been published: Jun, G. , Flickinger, M. , Hetrick, K.N. , Romm, J.M. , Doheny, K.F. , Abecasis, G.R. , Boehnke, M. , Kang, H.M. (2012). Detecting and estimating contamination of human DNA samples in sequencing and array-based genotype data. Am J Hum Genet 91, 839–848.
FEUP at TREC 2008 Blog Track: Using Temporal Evidence for Ranking and Feed Distillation

This paper presents the participation of FEUP, from University of Porto, in the TREC 2008 Blog Track. FEUP participated in two tasks, the baseline adhoc retrieval task and the blog nding distillation task. Our approach was focused on the use of the temporal information available in the TREC Blog06 collection. For the baseline adhoc retrieval task a simple temporal sort was evaluated. In the blog nding distillation task we tested three alternative scoring functions based on temporal evidence. All features were combined with a BM25 baseline run using a standard rank aggregation approach. We observed small, but statistically signicant, improvements in several evaluation measures when temporal information is used.
Cross-talk between microRNAs, nuclear factor E2-related factor 2, and heme oxygenase-1 in ochratoxin A-induced toxic effects in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells.

SCOPE Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin exhibiting nephrotoxic and potential carcinogenic activity. We investigated the cross-talk between microRNAs, nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in ochratoxin A-mediated effects. METHODS AND RESULTS In porcine renal proximal tubular cells, OTA increased expression of profibrotic transforming growth factors β (TGFβ) while concomitantly decreasing expression of Nrf2, HO-1, and erythropoietin. Adenoviral overexpression of Nrf2 counteracted OTA-mediated reduction in HO-1 and erythropoietin expression and cell proliferation as well as increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and TGFβ expression. Additionally, inhibition of HO activity enhanced whereas adenoviral overexpression of HO-1 reduced expression of TGFβ. Moreover, antioxidants, N-acetyl-cysteine and desferioxamine, prevented OTA-mediated enhancement of ROS generation, and TGFβ expression. Finally, OTA modulated microRNA processing by upregulating LINeage protein 28 and DiGeorge syndrome critical region-8, increasing the total pool of cellular microRNAs and elevating the expression of miR-132 and miR-200c. Inhibition of miR-132 by specific antagomir restored the OTA-driven reduction in Nrf2 expression. Moreover, anti-miR-132 and anti-miR-200c counteracted OTA-mediated decrease in HO-1 levels as well as increase in ROS production and TGFβ expression. CONCLUSION We showed that attenuation of Nrf2 and HO-1 expression through induction of miR-132 and miR-200c by OTA elevates ROS levels and profibrotic TGFβ expression.
A QoE-Aware P2P Streaming System Using Scalable Video Coding

P2P streaming has attracted much attention recently with promises for higher revenues and better load distribution. Still, the majority of P2P video streaming systems today employ the one-size-fits-all concept where the same video bit-rate is offered to all users. Here the promising H.264/Scalable Video Coding (SVC) standard is seen as a necessity in not only supporting heterogeneous resources, but also in reducing the impact of P2P dynamics on the perceived Quality-of-Experience (QoE). In this demonstration we present our streaming application that uses SVC to adapt to different user requirements and resources. The application employs a novel QoE- aware layer selection algorithm that maximizes flexibility through SVC while taking impact on QoE into consideration.
ASIC1a Activation Enhances Inhibition in the Basolateral Amygdala and Reduces Anxiety

The discovery that even small changes in extracellular acidity can alter the excitability of neuronal networks via activation of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) could have therapeutic application in a host of neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Recent evidence suggests that activation of ASIC1a, a subtype of ASICs that is widely distributed in the brain, is necessary for the expression of fear and anxiety. Antagonists of ASIC1a, therefore, have been proposed as a potential treatment for anxiety. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is central to fear generation, and anxiety disorders are characterized by BLA hyperexcitability. To better understand the role of ASIC1a in anxiety, we attempted to provide a direct assessment of whether ASIC1a activation increases BLA excitability. In rat BLA slices, activation of ASIC1a by low pH or ammonium elicited inward currents in both interneurons and principal neurons, and increased spontaneous IPSCs recorded from principal cells significantly more than spontaneous EPSCs. Epileptiform activity induced by high potassium and low magnesium was suppressed by ammonium. Antagonism of ASIC1a decreased spontaneous IPSCs more than EPSCs, and increased the excitability of the BLA network, as reflected by the pronounced increase of evoked field potentials, suggesting that ASIC1a channels are active in the basal state. In vivo activation or blockade of ASIC1a in the BLA suppressed or increased, respectively, anxiety-like behavior. Thus, in the rat BLA, ASIC1a has an inhibitory and anxiolytic function. The discovery of positive ASIC1a modulators may hold promise for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
Design of Tomography System for Industrial Plasmas

The major applications of compact plasma in industry are (a) generation of high current ion beams for material surface treatment/cleaning/activation, (b) inner surface processing of narrow dimensional tubes, etc. These plasma techniques have also become a reliable tool to provide stronger bond, a cleaner surface for manufacturing and defect free components. These applications require controlled plasma generation with real time monitoring and noninvasive character of CT techniques allows imaging of the plasma radiation emissivity pattern. In this context, a compact emission CT system for microwave induced plasma source has been developed. The present work focuses on the performance evaluation of this system using Convolution back projection algorithm and error theorem. This system consists mainly an eight pin-hole camera at 45-degree angle view. Cross sectional images are obtained for plasma emissions inside the cylindrical tube. Sobolev space based error analysis Kanpur Theorem-1 is applied on reconstructed images for checking fidelity of experimentally measured data.
Endurance and strength training in patients with COPD.

STUDY OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of endurance training only to endurance plus strength (combined) training in a randomized trial of patients with COPD. METHODS Twenty-four patients completed the study: 11 patients in the combined training group (FEV(1) 45 +/- 5% predicted), and 13 patients in the endurance training group (FEV(1) 40 +/- 4% predicted) [mean +/- SE]. Muscle strength, quality of life, exercise performance, and quadriceps fatigability were measured before and after rehabilitation. RESULTS Combined training led to significant improvements in quadriceps (23.6%), hamstring (26.7), pectoralis major (17.5%), and latissimus dorsi (20%) muscle strength. Endurance training alone did not produce significant improvements in muscle strength: quadriceps (1.1% decrease), hamstring (12.2% increase), pectoralis major (7.8% increase), and latissimus dorsi (2.8% decrease). The increase in strength after training was significantly greater in the combined group compared to the endurance group for the quadriceps and latissimus dorsi muscles but not for the hamstring and pectoralis major muscles. Six-minute walk distance, endurance exercise time, and quality of life (as measured by the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire) significantly increased in both groups after rehabilitation with no significant differences in the extent of improvement between groups. The extent of improvement in quadriceps fatigability after training (assessed by quadriceps twitch force before and after exercise) was not significantly different between groups. CONCLUSION Strength training can lead to significant improvement in muscle strength in elderly patients with COPD. However, this improvement in muscle strength does not translate into additional improvement in quality of life, exercise performance or quadriceps fatigability compared to that achieved by endurance exercise alone.
A core-set approach for distributed quadratic programming in big-data classification

A new challenge for learning algorithms in cyber-physical network systems is the distributed solution of big-data classification problems, i.e., problems in which both the number of training samples and their dimension is high. Motivated by several problem set-ups in Machine Learning, in this paper we consider a special class of quadratic optimization problems involving a “large” number of input data, whose dimension is “big”. To solve these quadratic optimization problems over peer-to-peer networks, we propose an asynchronous, distributed algorithm that scales with both the number and the dimension of the input data (training samples in the classification problem). The proposed distributed optimization algorithm relies on the notion of “core-set” which is used in geometric optimization to approximate the value function associated to a given set of points with a smaller subset of points. By computing local core-sets on a smaller version of the global problem and exchanging them with neighbors, the nodes reach consensus on a set of active constraints representing an approximate solution for the global quadratic program.
CD1d Expression in Paneth Cells and Rat Exocrine Pancreas Revealed by Novel Monoclonal Antibodies Which Differentially Affect NKT Cell Activation

Background CD1d is a nonpolymorphic MHC class I-like molecule which presents nonpeptide ligands, e.g. glycolipids, to NKT cells. These cells are known to have multiple effects on innate and adaptive immune responses and on the development of pathological conditions. In order to analyze CD1d expression and function in the rat, the first rat CD1d-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were generated. Methodology/Principal Findings Two mAbs, WTH-1 and WTH-2, were generated which bound equally well to cell surface-expressed rat and mouse CD1d. Their non-overlapping epitopes were mapped to the CD1d heavy chain. Flow cytometry and immunohistological analyses revealed a nearly identical degree and pattern of CD1d expression for hematopoieitic cells of both species. Notable is also the detection of CD1d protein in mouse and rat Paneth cells as well as the extremely high CD1d expression in acinar exocrine cells of the rat pancreas and the expression of CD4 on rat marginal zone B cells. Both mAbs blocked α-galactosylceramide recognition by primary rat and mouse NKT cells. Interestingly, the two mAbs differed in their impact on the activation of various autoreactive T cell hybridomas, including the XV19.2 hybridoma whose activation was enhanced by the WTH-1 mAb. Conclusions/Significance The two novel monoclonal antibodies described in this study, allowed the analysis of CD1d expression and CD1d-restricted T cell responses in the rat for the first time. Moreover, they provided new insights into mechanisms of CD1d-restricted antigen recognition. While CD1d expression by hematopoietic cells of mice and rats was extremely similar, CD1d protein was detected at not yet described sites of non-lymphatic tissues such as the rat exocrine pancreas and Paneth cells. The latter is of special relevance given the recently reported defects of Paneth cells in CD1d−/− mice, which resulted in an altered composition of the gut flora.