Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combining ultrasound and lactobacilli treatment for high‐fat‐diet‐induced obesity in mice

Chronic systemic lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation can cause obesity. In animal experiments, lactobacilli have been shown to inhibit obesity by modifying the gut microbiota, controlling inflammation and influencing the associated gene expression. A previous study found that high-fat-diet-induced (HFD) obesity was suppressed by lactobacilli ingestion in rats via the inhibition of parasympathetic nerve activity. This study explored the combined use of lactobacilli ingestion and ultrasound (US) to control body weight and body fat deposition in HFD mice over an 8-week experimental period. Male C57BL/6J mice received an HFD during treatment and were randomly divided into four groups: (i) control group (H), (ii) lactobacilli alone (HB), (iii) US alone (HU) and (iv) lactobacilli combined with US (HUB). The US was targeted at the inguinal portion of the epididymal fat pad on the right side. At the 8th week, body weight had decreased significantly in the HUB group (15.56 ± 1.18%, mean ± SD) group compared with the HU (26.63 ± 0.96%) and H (32.62 ± 5.03%) groups (p < 0.05). High-resolution microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) scans revealed that the reduction in total body fat volume was significantly greater in the HUB group (69%) than in the other two experimental groups (HB, 52%; HU, 37%; p < 0.05). The reductions in the thickness of the subcutaneous epididymal fat pads were significantly greater in the HUB group (final thickness: 340 ± 7 μm) than in the H (final thickness: 1150 ± 21 μm), HB (final thickness: 1060 ± 18 μm) and HU (final thickness: 370 ± 5 μm) groups (all p < 0.05). Combination therapy with lactobacilli and US appears to enhance the reduction in body weight, total and local body fat deposition, adipocyte size and plasma lipid levels over an 8-week period over that achieved with lactobacilli or US alone in HFD mice. These results indicate that US treatment alone can reduce hyperlipidemia in HFD mice.
Comparison of corrosion behaviors of AZ31, AZ91, AM60 and ZK60 magnesium alloys

AZ31， AZ91， AM60 和 ZK60 的四种卷的镁合金的腐蚀行为在 1 个 mol/L 钠氯化物答案被学习。 EIS 和 potentiodynamic 极化的结果证明四材料的腐蚀抵抗作为 ZK60 被评价 > AM60 > AZ31 > AZ91。 合金也是的四镁的腐蚀过程由 SEM 和精力分析了散光谱学(版本) 。 结果证明四合金的腐蚀模式是局部性的腐蚀和第二个阶段粒子形成的流电的夫妇，矩阵是镁合金的局部性的腐蚀的主要来源。 不同的镁合金的腐蚀抵抗与 alloying 元素和镁合金的微观结构的集中有直接关系。 在 AZ91 的阶段的比率在 AZ31 比那高，阶段能与合金矩阵形成微流电的房间，作为结果， AZ31 的腐蚀抵抗将比 AZ91 高。 在 AM60 镁合金的锰元素能形成 AlMnFe 的第二个阶段粒子，它能在镁合金矩阵减少 Fe 内容，净化合金的微观结构，作为结果， AM60 的腐蚀抵抗被改进。 由于 AlMnFe 和矩阵的更多的高贵流电的夫妇，然而， AM60 的显微镜的腐蚀形态学是更局部性的。 在 ZK60 镁合金的锆元素能精制谷物，与 Fe 和 Si 形成稳定的混合物，并且净化合金的作文，它导致 ZK60 镁合金的好腐蚀抵抗。
Biomaterials‐Based Approaches to Tumor Spheroid and Organoid Modeling

Evolving understanding of structural and biological complexity of tumors has stimulated development of physiologically relevant tumor models for cancer research and drug discovery. A major motivation for developing new tumor models is to recreate the 3D environment of tumors and context‐mediated functional regulation of cancer cells. Such models overcome many limitations of standard monolayer cancer cell cultures. Under defined culture conditions, cancer cells self‐assemble into 3D constructs known as spheroids. Additionally, cancer cells may recapitulate steps in embryonic development to self‐organize into 3D cultures known as organoids. Importantly, spheroids and organoids reproduce morphology and biologic properties of tumors, providing valuable new tools for research, drug discovery, and precision medicine in cancer. This Progress Report discusses uses of both natural and synthetic biomaterials to culture cancer cells as spheroids or organoids, specifically highlighting studies that demonstrate how these models recapitulate key properties of native tumors. The report concludes with the perspectives on the utility of these models and areas of need for future developments to more closely mimic pathologic events in tumors.
Toughening poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) with propylene carbonate plasticized poly(propylene carbonate)

Abstract Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) blends containing various amounts of plasticizer propylene carbonate (PC) were prepared, and the toughness of the blends as a function of temperature was studied. It was found that the brittle-ductile transition temperature (TBD) of PHB toughened by PPC decreased from 60°C to 10°C with the increase in PC content. As PC is the plasticizer of PPC, the mechanical properties, such as Young’s modulus of plasticized PPC with different PC contents, were also studied. Sequentially, the relationship between TBD and the ratio of the Young’s modulus (E1) of the PHB matrix to that of the plasticized PPC elastomer (E2) was investigated. It was found that the Young’s modulus of plasticized PPC should be considerably lower than that of the PHB matrix in order to obtain ’the tough PHB/plasticized PPC blends at a lower temperature. In contrast, the morphology of the dispersed particles also had an important influence on the toughness. When the plasticizer content was more than 20 wt. %, the PPC particles became more spherical and smaller. The toughness could be considerably improved accordingly.
Experimental studies on the characteristics of AA6082 flow formed tubes

Flow-forming is an innovative, chip less metal forming process used to manufacture thin walled seamless tubes and other axi-symmetric components. Experiments were conducted to form annealed AA6082 alloy tubular pre-forms into thin walled seamless tubes on CNC flow forming machine with a single roller. The process parameters selected for the present investigation are roller radius, mandrel speed, roller feed, thickness reduction, etc. The characteristics of flow formed tube chosen are ovality, mean diameter, thickness variation, surface finish, etc. The effects of these process parameters on the dimensional characteristics and surface quality of flow formed tubes have been studied. The optimum process parameters are proposed to manufacture the tubes with good dimensional characteristics and sound surface quality. It has been found that, roller radius of 4 to 8 mm, thickness reduction ranging from 30 to 35%, mandrel speed of 150 rpm and roller feed in the range of 100 to 130 mm/min formed the tubes with sound characteristics. Key words: Flow-forming, AA6082 alloy, ovality, mean diameter, surface quality.
Grain yield response and stability indices in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)

Sorghum is mainly grown in the Semi-Arid Tropic of the world, particularly under rain fed conditions. It forms the most staple food crop for millions of people in these areas. Sorghum production is highly influenced by the environment where it is grown, thus, the genotype by environment interaction is highly significant when breeding for specific adaptation. This study is aimed at identifying suitable genotypes for release to farmers in Nigeria and for further genetic manipulations. Grain yield performances and stability indices for twenty diverse sorghum genotypes evaluated for three years (1998-2000) at five locations in the savanna agro-ecological zone of Nigeria. The environments, genotypes, genotype x environment interaction, genotype x environment (linear) and deviation from regression component significant were highly significantly different. Genotypic means and linear regression coefficient (b-value) were used to measure production response, while deviation from regression (s2d), coefficient of determination (r2) and ecovalence (W) were used as stability indices. The highest yielding sorghum genotype was NR 71168 (3.02 t/ha) while NR 71138 had the least average grain yield (0.63 t/ha). Based on stability indices, NR 71156, NR 71158, NR 71165, NR 71167, NR 71168 and NR 71182 were desirable, stable and adapted to wide range of environments in the savanna agro-ecologies. These genotypes may be released to farmers for cultivation.
Product comparison using comparative relations

This paper proposes a novel Product Comparison approach. The comparative relations between products are first mined from both user reviews on multiple review websites and community-based question answering pairs containing product comparison information. A unified graph model is then developed to integrate the resultant comparative relations for product comparison. Experiments on popular electronic products show that the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
Anxiety in adolescence. Can we prevent it?

Background Emotions are potent modulators and motivators of the behaviour that the individual displays in the different situations they have to live and they can act as a protection factor or vulnerability of the adapted or maladaptive behaviour. This study focuses on anxiety in adolescence. Objectives. The objective is, through a longitudinal study, to analyse the psychological processes and emotions that facilitate the symptoms of anxiety and those which protect the adolescent from these symptoms. Material and Methods 417 adolescents (192 boys and 225 girls) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study in Valencia, Spain. In the first wave, adolescents were either in the third year of secondary school (81 boys and 85 girls) or the fourth year of secondary school (111 boys and 140 girls). The mean age was 14.70 (SD = 0.68; range = 13-17 years). This study monitored participating adolescents for three years. Results The results indicate a differential profile in the evaluated emotions according to sex, with the girls being the ones to experiment more anxiety and more empathy, while the boys show more emotional instability and aggression. Conclusions It is concluded that the best predictors for anxiety are anger state, aggressive behaviour, empathic concern together with the lack of coping mechanisms focused on problem solving and the perception of stress as a threat. Key words:Adolescence, anxiety, emotions, coping, stress.
Risk of Falling Assessment on Different Types of Ground Using the Instrumented TUG

Degradation of postural control observed with aging is responsible for balance problems in the elderly, especially during the activity of walking. This gradual loss of performance generates abnormal gait, and therefore increases the risk of falling. This risk worsens in people with neuronal pathologies like Parkinson and Ataxia diseases. Many clinical tests are used for fall assessment such as the Timed up and go (TUG) test. Recently, many works have improved this test by using instrumentation, especially body-worn sensors. However, during the instrumented TUG (iTUG) test, the type of ground can influence risk of falling. In this paper, we present a new methodology for fall risk assessment based on quantitative gait parameters measurement in order to improve instrumented TUG test. The proposed measurement unit is used on different types of ground, which is known to affect human gait. The methodology is closer to the real walking environment and therefore enhances ability to differentiate risks level. Our system assesses the risk of falling's level by quantitative measurement of intrinsic gait parameters using fuzzy logic. He is also able to measure environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure for a better evaluation of the risk in activities of daily living (ADL).
Parameterized Complexity of 1-Planarity

We consider the problem of finding a 1-planar drawing for a general graph, where a 1-planar drawing is a drawing in which each edge participates in at most one crossing. Since this problem is known to be NP-hard we investigate the parameterized complexity of the problem with respect to the vertex cover number, tree-depth, and cyclomatic number. For these parameters we construct fixed-parameter tractable algorithms. However, the problem remains NP-complete for graphs of bounded bandwidth, pathwidth, or treewidth.
Persistent Serious Mental Illness Among Former Applicants for VA PTSD Disability Benefits and Long-Term Outcomes: Symptoms, Functioning, and Employment.

Millions of U.S. veterans have returned from military service with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for which a substantial number receive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits. Although PTSD is treatable, comorbid serious mental illness (defined here as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar spectrum disorders) could complicate these veterans' recovery. Using VA administrative data, we examined the burden of persistent serious mental illness in a nationally representative cohort of 1,067 men and 1,513 women who applied for VA PTSD disability benefits between 1994 and 1998 and served during or after the Vietnam conflict. Self-reported outcomes were restricted to the 713 men and 1,015 women who returned surveys at each of 3 collection points. More than 10.0% of men and 20.0% of women had persistent serious mental illness; of these, more than 80.0% also had persistent PTSD. On repeated measures modeling, those with persistent serious mental illness consistently reported more severe PTSD symptoms and poorer functioning in comparison to other participants (ps < .001); their employment rate did not exceed 21.0%. Interactions between persistent serious mental illness and PTSD were significant only for employment (p = .002). Persistent serious mental illness in this population was almost 2 to 19 times higher than in the general U.S. POPULATION The implications of these findings are discussed.
Targeting the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway in cancer

The central component of hypoxia sensing in the cell is the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) transcriptional complex. HIF activity is deregulated in many human cancers, especially those that are highly hypoxic. Hypoxic tumour cells are usually resistant to radiotherapy and most conventional chemotherapeutic agents, rendering them highly aggressive and metastatic. Overexpression of HIF-α, the regulatory subunit of HIF, is associated with increased vascular density, severity of tumour grade, treatment failure and a poor prognostic outcome with conventional therapies. Therefore HIF is an attractive, although challenging, therapeutic target, and several different strategies have been developed to target HIF directly or indirectly in recent years. This review outlines the preclinical and clinical advances in this arena and discusses which cancers may benefit from HIF-targeted therapy.
A Distributional Semantics Model for Idiom Detection - The Case of English and Russian

This paper describes experiments in English and Russian automatic idiom detection. Our algorithm is based on the idea that literal and idiomatic expressions appear in different contexts. This difference is captured by our distributional semantics model. We evaluate our model on both languages and compare its results. We show that our model is language-independent. We also describe a new annotated resource we created for our
Identifying invariant gait metrics for exoskeleton assistance

Exoskeletons have the potential to increase the independence and quality of life of patients with walking pathologies. To do this effectively, the exoskeleton requires a control paradigm that can determine the timing and magnitude of assistance that is suitable for the user's task and environment. This paper searches for a metric that can be optimised, enabling assistance to be applied without compromising the energy efficiency and stability of gait. Spatial and temporal, kinematic, kinetic, and other novel dynamic stability metrics were compared across three different assistance scenarios and five different walking contexts. Results demonstrated that three metrics: step width, medial-lateral centre of pressure displacement, and medial-lateral margin of stability were the most invariant. This result suggests dynamic stability metrics are optimised in human gait and therefore are potentially suitable metrics for optimising in an exoskeleton control paradigm.
Direct Analysis of Pathogenic Structures Affixed to the Tympanic Membrane during Chronic Otitis Media

Objective To characterize otitis media–associated structures affixed to the mucosal surface of the tympanic membrane (TM) in vivo and in surgically recovered in vitro samples. Study Design Prospective case series without comparison. Setting Outpatient surgical care center. Subjects and Methods Forty pediatric subjects scheduled for tympanostomy tube placement surgery were imaged intraoperatively under general anesthesia. Postmyringotomy, a portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system assessed for the presence of any biofilm affixed to the mucosal surface of the TM. Samples of suspected microbial infection–related structures were collected through the myringotomy incision. The sampled site was subsequently reimaged with OCT to confirm collection from the original image site on the TM. In vitro analysis based on confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) images of fluorescence in situ hybridization–tagged samples and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provided microbiological characterization and verification of biofilm activity. Results OCT imaging was achieved for 38 of 40 subjects (95%). Images from 38 of 38 (100%) of subjects observed with OCT showed the presence of additional microbial infection–related structures. Thirty-four samples were collected from these 38 subjects. CLSM images provided evidence of clustered bacteria in 32 of 33 (97%) of samples. PCR detected the presence of active bacterial DNA signatures in 20 of 31 (65%) of samples. Conclusion PCR and CLSM analysis of fluorescence in situ hybridization–stained samples validates the presence of active bacteria that have formed into a middle ear biofilm that extends across the mucosal layer of the TM. OCT can rapidly and noninvasively identify middle ear biofilms in subjects with severe and persistent cases of otitis media.
Comparison of lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems versus fusion for the treatment of lumbar degenerative disc disease: A meta-analysis.

This study aimed to systematically compare the safety, effectiveness and radiological changes after lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems and fusion to treat lumbar degenerative disc disease . All studies that were performed to compare various lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems with any lumbar fusion to treat lumbar degenerative disc disease and were published until April 30, 2015 were acquired through a comprehensive search in various databases. A meta-analysis was performed after the methodological qualities of trials were assessed and after data were extracted. Sixteen trials with 881 patients with a short-term follow-up (within 2 years) and a middle-term follow-up (2 to 4 years) were identified. Patients treated with lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems experienced more significant advantages in terms of operation time, intra-operative blood loss, complications and adjacent segment degeneration/disease development than those treated with lumbar fusion. The two groups did not significantly differ in terms of improvement in Oswestry Disability Index, visual analogue scale scores, satisfaction rate of operation and range of motion of adjacent segments. Lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems is superior to lumbar fusion to some extent, although some of its advantages have yet to be verified and compared with those of lumbar fusion. However, the two interventions were not significantly different in terms of relief in symptoms, functional recovery and motion preservation. Thus, lumbar pedicular dynamic stabilisation systems is recommended for its safety. A prudent attitude is necessary to choose between these interventions on the basis of effectiveness and changes in adjacent segments before a large-scale and long-term follow-up study can be performed.
Collateral damage of Facebook Apps: an enhanced privacy scoring model

Establishing friendship relationships on Facebook often entails information sharing which is based on the social trust and implicit contract between users and their friends. In this context, Facebook offers applications (Apps) developed by third party application providers (AppPs), which may grant access to users’ personal data via Apps installed by their friends. Such access takes place outside the circle of social trust with the user not being aware whether a friend has installed an App collecting her data. In some cases, one or more AppPs may cluster several Apps and thus gain access to a collection of personal data. As a consequence privacy risks emerge. Previous research has mentioned the need to quantify privacy risks on Online Social Networks (OSNs). Nevertheless, most of the existing works do not focus on the personal data disclosure via Apps. Moreover, the problem of personal data clustering from AppPs has not been studied. In this work we perform a general analysis of the privacy threats stemming from the personal data requested by Apps installed by the user’s friends from a technical and legal point of view. In order to assist users, we propose a model and a privacy scoring formula to calculate the amount of personal data that may be exposed to AppPs. Moreover, we propose algorithms that based on clustering, computes the visibility of each personal data to the AppPs.
OpenMT : Open Source Machine Translation Using Hybrid Methods TIN 2006-15307-C 03

The main goal of the OpenMT project is the development of open source machine translation architectures based on hybrid models and advanced syntactic–semantic processors. These architectures combine the three main Machine Translation (MT) frameworks, Rule-based (RBMT), Statistical (SMT) and Example–based (EBMT), into hybrid systems. Defined architectures and results will be open source, allow for a rapid development and adaptation of new advanced machine translation systems for other languages. The project deals with four different languages: English, Spanish, Catalan and Basque. The translation systems developed for all language pairs will be internally evaluated using a rich set of linguistic metrics, and in different international evaluation campaigns.
Identification of miR-9-5p as direct regulator of ABCA1 and HDL-driven reverse cholesterol transport in circulating CD14+ cells of patients with metabolic syndrome

Aims Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of cardio-metabolic risk factors associated with atherosclerosis and low-grade inflammation. Using unbiased expression screenings in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we depict here a novel expression chart of 678 genes and 84 microRNAs (miRNAs) controlling inflammatory, immune and metabolic responses. In order to further elucidate the link between inflammation and the HDL cholesterol pathway in MS, we focussed on the regulation of the ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), a key player in cholesterol efflux (CE). Methods and results ABCA1 mRNA levels are suppressed in CD14+ cells of MS patients and are negatively correlated to body mass index (BMI), insulin-resistance (HOMA-IR) and cardiovascular risk, and positively to HDL cholesterol and CE. miRNA target in silico prediction identified a putative modulatory role of ABCA1 for the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cell (NF-κB) target miR-9-5p, whose expression pattern was up-regulated in CD14+ cells of MS patients, positively correlated to BMI, HOMA-IR, and triglycerides, and negatively to ABCA1 mRNA levels, HDL cholesterol and CE. Ectopic gain and loss of miR-9-5p function in macrophages modulated ABCA1 mRNA and protein levels, ABCA1 miRNA 3'-untranslated region target sequence reporter assay, and CE into HDL, thus confirming ABCA1 as a target of miR-9-5p. Conclusions We identified the NF-κB target miR-9-5p as a negative regulator of ABCA1 adding a novel target pathway in the relationship between inflammation and HDL-driven reverse cholesterol transport for prevention or treatment of atherosclerosis in MS.