Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Survey of Online Social Networks: Challenges and Opportunities

Online Social Networks (OSNs) have become fundamental parts of our online lives, and their popularity is increasing at a surprising rate every day. However, besides the revolution the OSNs have generated in social networking, they have also introduced some issues; first, since the amount of multimedia data on the Internet is growing continuously, it is extremely important for users not only to share multimedia content with each other, but also to receive the specific content they are interested in; second, OSNs have introduced new threats to their users due to their attractiveness, the ever-increasing number of users, and the massive amount of personal information they share. For such reasons, in this paper we propose a survey of online social networks, which can hopefully support both researchers and social network users. More specifically, we focus our attention on the most relevant research challenges regarding semantics and security.
Beyond the discourse of reproductive choice: narratives of pregnancy resolution among Latina/o teenage parents

Despite the fact that the US teenage birth rate has declined dramatically in recent years, teen births among Latinas are higher than any other racial/ethnic group. Most studies focus on the causes and consequences of early motherhood among Latina teenagers, neglecting other important dimensions of the issue. This study examines how Latina/o teenage parents living in California narrate their experiences with unintended pregnancy resolution. Qualitative analysis reveals three central themes. First, participants expressed shock upon learning they or their partner was pregnant, followed by acceptance about their impending parenthood. Second, participants' views of abortion and adoption largely foreclosed these options as pathways by which to resolve their unintended pregnancies. Third, participants recounted numerous stories of the messages they received from parents, other family members and male partners that were frequently directive regarding how to resolve their pregnancies. These findings have implications for young people's reproductive health and rights, and for reproductive justice more broadly.
Dietary lipids influence intestinal adaptation after massive bowel resection.

BACKGROUND Certain lipids, primarily long chain fatty acids and especially long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) from marine oils, stimulate gut adaptation after resection. The goal of this study was to define the degree of resection that provides an optimal model for adaptation and to determine if dietary LCPUFAs improve intestinal adaptation after resection. METHODS One hundred and fifty-g male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into groups receiving 60%, 70%, and 80% bowel resection. After resection, each group was subdivided into two dietary groups and pair fed diets containing either safflower oil or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic (AA). RESULTS After 2 weeks, mucosal mass, protein, DNA, and disaccharidase activity were measured in the remaining intestine. Rats receiving 80% resection responded with the highest level of intestinal adaptation. Within the 80% resection group, diet containing DHA and AA stimulated adaptation significantly more than safflower diet. A second study further evaluated the effect on LCPUFAs on intestinal adaptation. Diets included a control group 10% soy oil, and three diets differing in their AA-DHA fat blend ratio at 5% AA and 3.3% DHA, 15% AA and 10% DHA, and 45% AA and 30% DHA. The addition of LCPUFAs to diets enhanced intestinal adaptation in a linear, dose-dependent manner after an 80% small bowel resection. Rats fed a diet containing 30% DHA-45% AA had significantly enhanced mucosal mass compared to rats fed a diet containing 10% soy oil, and considerably higher compared to rats fed 3.3% DHA-5% AA. CONCLUSIONS These studies suggest that modification of dietary LCPUFAs may enhance intestinal adaptation in short bowel syndrome.
Virtualization on Internet of Things Edge Devices With Container Technologies: A Performance Evaluation

Lightweight virtualization technologies have revolutionized the world of software development by introducing flexibility and innovation to this domain. Although the benefits introduced by these emerging solutions have been widely acknowledged in cloud computing, recent advances have led to the spread of such technologies in different contexts. As an example, the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile edge computing benefit from container virtualization by exploiting the possibility of using these technologies not only in data centers but also on devices, which are characterized by fewer computational resources, such as single-board computers. This has led to a growing trend to more efficiently redesign the critical components of IoT/edge scenarios (e.g., gateways) to enable the concept of device virtualization. The possibility for efficiently deploying virtualized instances on single-board computers has already been addressed in recent studies; however, these studies considered only a limited number of devices and omitted important performance metrics from their empirical assessments. This paper seeks to fill this gap and to provide insights for future deployments through a comprehensive performance evaluation that aims to show the strengths and weaknesses of several low-power devices when handling container-virtualized instances.
Genotoxicity of some sulfur dyes on tadpoles (Rana hexadactyla) measured using the comet assay

This report presents the results of a genotoxicity study to evaluate the DNA damage caused by four sulfur dyes used in the textile and tannery industries. Alkaline single‐cell gel electrophoresis assay (SCGE) was performed on erythrocytes from Rana hexadactyla tadpoles following whole‐body exposure to increasing concentrations of the dyes. The dyes, along with their active ingredients, were Sandopel Basic Black BHLN, Negrosine, Dermapel Black FNI, and Turquoise Blue. The dye‐treated tadpoles showed significant DNA damage, measured as mean DNA length:width ratio, when compared with unexposed control animals. Among the four tested dyes Sandopel Basic Black BHLN appears to be highly genotoxic, Dermapel Black FNI was least genotoxic, and Negrosine and Turquoise Blue were moderately toxic to R. hexadactyla tadpoles. The tadpoles showed a significant reduction in DNA damage when placed in dechlorinated tap water after exposure for a 24‐hr period to the dye solutions. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 38:316–322, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Early-onset parkinsonism associated with PINK1 mutations: Frequency, genotypes, and phenotypes

Objective:To assess the prevalence, nature, and associated phenotypes of PINK1 gene mutations in a large series of patients with early-onset (<50 years) parkinsonism. Methods:The authors studied 134 patients (116 sporadic and 18 familial; 77% Italian) and 90 Italian controls. The whole PINK1 coding region was sequenced from genomic DNA; cDNA was analyzed in selected cases. Results:Homozygous pathogenic mutations were identified in 4 of 90 Italian sporadic cases, including the novel Gln456Stop mutation; single heterozygous truncating or missense mutations were found in another 4 Italian sporadic cases, including two novel mutations, Pro196Leu and Gln456Stop. Pathogenic mutations were not identified in the familial cases. Novel (Gln115Leu) and known polymorphisms were identified with similar frequency in cases and controls. In cases carrying single heterozygous mutation, cDNA analysis detected no additional mutations, and revealed a major pathogenic effect at mRNA level for the mutant C1366T/Gln456Stop allele. All patients with homozygous mutations had very early disease onset, slow progression, and excellent response to l-dopa, including, in some, symmetric onset, dystonia at onset, and sleep benefit, resembling parkin-related disease. Phenotype in patients with single heterozygous mutation was similar, but onset was later. Conclusions:PINK1 homozygous mutations are a relevant cause of disease among Italian sporadic patients with early-onset parkinsonism. The role of mutations found in single heterozygous state is difficult to interpret. Our study suggests that, at least in some patients, these mutations are disease causing, in combination with additional, still unknown factors.
Efficient Branch-Current-Based Distribution System State Estimation Including Synchronized Measurements

Deregulation and privatization actions are creating new problems of control, management and reliability, because of new players and new technologies spreading in distribution systems. Such new scenarios require more comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the system to make control actions efficient and reliable. In particular, attention must be paid to phase angles estimation to avoid critical situations. In this context, the use of phasor measurement units (PMUs) looks promising. This paper presents an efficient branch-current-based distribution systems state estimation. The estimator allows synchronized phasor measurements provided by PMUs to be included. In addition, the branch current state model is extended so that the knowledge of the voltage profile is significantly improved. The estimator is expressed both in polar and rectangular coordinates and a comparison between the obtainable accuracy and computational efficiency is presented. Furthermore, the possibility to treat radial and weakly meshed topology, also in presence of dispersed generation, is analyzed. The results obtained on different distribution networks are presented and discussed.
Decentralized Guaranteed Cost Control for the Singular Interconnected Large-Scale Systems with Parameter Uncertainty

For the singular interconnected large-scale systems with uncertainties satisfied the norm-bounded time-invariant, directly from the start of each subsystem，study its decentralized guaranteed cost control. Give a sufficient condition of the existence of the decentralized guaranteed cost controller. The design of the decentralized guaranteed cost controller is converted into solving the feasible solution of a linear matrix inequality. Then using feasp function of matlab toolbox we can directly seek a feasible solution. And finally an illustrate example show the effectiveness of the method.
Abnormal cortical pain processing in patients with cardiac syndrome X.

AIMS Previous studies suggested that an enhanced pain sensitivity is present in patients with cardiac syndrome X (SX). We investigated whether SX patients present abnormalities in the electrical cerebral signals generated by pain stimuli. METHODS AND RESULTS Cortical laser evoked potentials (LEPs) were recorded in 16 SX patients, in 10 patients with refractory angina due to obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and in 13 healthy controls. LEPs were recorded during stimulation of chest and right hand dorsum. Three sequences of painful stimuli were applied at each site. Subjective pain rating was assessed by a 0-100 mm visual analogic scale (VAS). Basal LEPs did not differ among groups and there were no differences for most LEP components across the repetitions of stimuli. However, the amplitude of the N2/P2 LEP component, specifically reflecting cortical pain processing, decreased across the three sequences of stimuli in controls and CAD patients, but not in SX patients. Compared with the first sequence, the N2/P2 amplitude during the third sequence of stimuli in the three groups was 77+/-16, 56+/-24, and 99+/-34%, respectively, for chest (P=0.001), and 63+/-31, 72+/-17, and 98+/-46%, respectively, for right hand (P=0.03) stimulation. The changes in VAS pain score across the three sequences paralleled those of N2/P2 amplitude. CONCLUSION Our data show that in SX patients, central handling of painful stimuli is characterized by inadequate habituation, which might play a role in determining the peculiar clinical characteristics of anginal chest pain of these patients.
A system to perform CBIR on X-Ray images using soft computing techniques

This paper describes a Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) system to help in the diagnosis and treatment process of the scoliosis pathology. To do this, the system includes a module for the automatic extraction of scoliosis measures from X-rays. Also, the system includes a Fuzzy Object-Relational Database Management System (FORDBMS) to store images and its measures and to perform flexible retrieval of the images based on its spine measures. All functionality of the system is available to the specialist through a client application developed in Java or through a content which is dynamically generated and served by an application server.
Electrical Stimulation in Isolated Rabbit Retina

Experiments were conducted to assess the effect of stimulating electrode parameters (size, position, and waveform shape) on electrically elicited ganglion cell action potentials from isolated rabbit retina. Thirty-eight isolated rabbit retinas were stimulated with bipolar stimulating electrodes (either 125 or 25 mum in diameter) positioned on either the ganglion or the photoreceptor side. Recording electrodes were placed between the optic disc and the stimulating electrodes. Cathodic-first, biphasic, current waveforms of varying pulse durations (0.1, 0.5, 1 ms) were used. For the four conditions tested (125- electrode and 25-mum electrode, ganglion cell, and photoreceptor positions) threshold currents ranged from 6.7 to 23.6 muA, depending on location and pulse duration. With 1-ms pulse duration, no statistically significant difference was seen between threshold currents when either size electrode was used to stimulate either the ganglion cell side or the photoreceptor side. For all groups, the threshold currents using the 1-ms pulse were lower than those using 0.1 ms, but the 0.1-ms pulses used less charge. These experiments provide a number of valuable insights into the relative effects of several stimulation parameters critical to the development of an implanted electronic retinal prosthesis
Regulation of casein kinase II by growth factors: a reevaluation.

Many of the effects of growth factors or hormones are mediated through the activation of protein kinase cascades. In this regard, it is well established that the activity of several protein kinases can be dramatically increased when cells are treated with a variety of stimuli. Since 1987, there have been several reports demonstrating that the activity of casein kinase II (CKII) can be acutely increased by hormones or growth factors. However, these are a number of discrepancies regarding the activation of CKII. In this study, we have examined CKII activities in extracts prepared from cells following treatment with stimuli that had been previously shown to elicit dramatic increases in CKII activity. Human WI.38 diploid lung fibroblasts were stimulated with serum or a variety of other stimuli including insulin, platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, or phorbol myristate acetate. Human A431 epidermal carcinoma cells were similarly treated with epidermal growth factor. No reproducible increases in CKII activity were observed in response to any of these treatments. By comparison, a dramatic increase in kinase activity towards a synthetic peptide based on phosphorylation sites within the ribosomal S6 protein was consistently measured. Our observations indicate that CKII is not regulated in a similar manner by growth factors as are the protein kinases of the MAP kinase cascade, e.g., MAP kinase itself or ribosomal protein S6 kinase.
Delay variation compensation through error correction using razor

The delay dependency of digital circuits on process, voltage and temperature variations are usually compensated by using safety margins that set the limit of operating supply voltage or clock frequency. Razor enables the processor to operate beyond this safety margin through the utilization of error detection and recovery circuits. In this paper, a single chip dual ARM9 core solution, with and without Razor, is implemented in 65nm CMOS to accurately characterize the added resiliency introduced by Razor. Functionality testing on the same operating environment allows for a fair characterization by isolating delay dependencies caused by PVT variations.
Stabilization of relative equilibria for coordinated underwater vehicles

This paper considers the problem of relative equilibria stabilization for two underwater vehicles coupled by a coordinating law that depends only on their relative configurations. Both the coordinating and stabilizing control laws are derived using energy shaping on a reduced phase space after symmetry reduction. The proposed method is physically motivated and avoids linearization or cancellation of nonlinearities.
Quality of care and practice patterns in anaemia management at specialist kidney clinics in Ireland: a national study

Abstract Background Although anaemia is a common complication of advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), knowledge of quality of care and management practices in specialist clinics varies. We examined anaemia practices at specialist nephrology clinics within the Irish health system and evaluated the opinions of practicing nephrologists. Methods A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted at specialist nephrology clinics across six geographic regions in Ireland. Clinical characteristics and treatment practices were evaluated in a sample of 530 patients with CKD. An accompanying national survey questionnaire captured opinions and treatment strategies of nephrologists on anaemia management. Results The prevalence of anaemia [defined as haemoglobin (Hb) <12.0 g/dL] was 37.8%, which increased significantly with advancing CKD (from 21% to 63%; P < 0.01) and varied across clinical sites (from 36% to 62%; P < 0.026). Iron deficiency (ID) was present in 46% of all patients tested and 86% of them were not on treatment. More than 45% of anaemic patients were not tested for ID. Respondents differed in their selection of clinical guidelines, threshold targets for erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) and intravenous iron therapy and anaemia management algorithms were absent in 47% of the clinics. The unexpectedly low rates of ESA use (4.7%) and iron therapy (10.2%) in clinical practice were in contrast to survey responses where 63% of nephrologists indicated ESA therapy initiation when Hb was <10.0 g/dL and 46% indicated commencement of iron therapy for ferritin <150 ng/mL. Conclusion This study highlights substantial variability in the management of anaemia and ID at specialist nephrology clinics with low testing rates for ID, high rates of anaemia and ID and underutilization of effective treatments. Variability in the adoption and implementation of different clinical guidelines was evident.
A random-access algorithm based on statistics waiting in LTE-M system

LTE-M, which is an abbreviated version of LTE-MTC(Machine Type Communication) can be said to have a variety of applications, including a large number of heterogeneous interconnection of large-scale network equipment. One of the most prominent problems is that the machines may have a large amount of access requests in a short time, which can easily lead to network congestion. At present, the contention-based random access scheme is designed for the traditional cellular network, but it is not suitable for carrying a large number of machine communication services. This paper designs a random access resource allocation scheme to reduce the power consumption of the user equipment, so that optimizing the random-access process. In this scheme, we analyze the throughput, access success rate, and delay, then a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the program is made.
Cytokines in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies

Recent findings suggest cytokines as important key molecules in the pathogenic mechanisms of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, myositis. In this review, we focus on cytokines with a potential role in disease mechanisms in myositis and present some general information on individual cytokines and an updated summary from the literature concerning cytokines in these disorders. The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies is a heterogeneous group of disorders clinically characterized by symmetric proximal muscle weakness and by certain defined histolopathological findings, including inflammatory infiltrates in muscle tissue. Other prominent findings in the target tissue of these patients are defined molecular changes of blood vessels and muscle fibers, including reformation to high endothelial venule (HEV)-like blood vessels and intensive MHC class I expression in muscle fibers. The predominant clinical symptoms of muscle weakness and decreased muscle endurance are shared by all subsets of inflammatory myopathies and indicate that some pathogenic mechanisms related to muscle function may be shared by the different disease groups. Studies on cytokine gene, RNA and protein expression in muscle tissue from patients with various forms of the disease also indicate similar profiles, despite different phenotypes of the inflammatory cells present in muscle tissue from the different subsets of myositis. There is a pronounced expression of various cytokines in muscle tissue, among which the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1 are most widely explored in the inflammatory myopathies, which has made them into potential therapeutic targets. The use of targeted cytokine therapy has been successful in several other chronic inflammatory diseases and although the exact role of cytokines in chronic idiopathic inflammatory myopathies remains to be delineated their potential role as targets for new therapies in this disorder will be discussed in this review.
Path Diversity in Packet Switched Networks: Performance Analysis and Rate Allocation

Path diversity works by setting up multiple parallel connections between the end points using the topological path redundancy of the network. In this paper, forward error correction (FEC) is applied across multiple independent paths to enhance the end-to-end reliability. Internet paths are modeled as erasure Gilbert-Elliot channels. First, it is shown that over any erasure channel, maximum distance separable (MDS) codes achieve the minimum probability of irrecoverable loss among all block codes of the same size. Then, we prove the probability of irrecoverable loss decays exponentially for the asymptotically large number of paths. Moreover, it is shown that in the optimal rate allocation, each path is assigned a positive rate iff its quality is above a certain threshold. The quality of a path is defined as the percentage of the time it spends in the bad state. Finally, using dynamic programming, a heuristic suboptimal algorithm with polynomial runtime is proposed for rate allocation over the available paths. This algorithm converges to the asymptotically optimal rate allocation when the number of paths is large. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm approximates the optimal rate allocation very closely, and provides significant performance improvement compared to the alternative schemes of rate allocation.
Test Reliability at the Individual Level

Reliability has a long history as one of the key psychometric properties of a test. However, a given test might not measure people equally reliably. Test scores from some individuals might have considerably greater error than others. This study proposed two approaches using intraindividual variation to estimate test reliability for each person. A simulation study suggested that the parallel tests approach and the structural equation modeling approach recovered the simulated reliability coefficients. Then in an empirical study, where 45 females were measured daily on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for 45 consecutive days, separate estimates of reliability were generated for each person. Results showed that reliability estimates of the PANAS varied substantially from person to person. The methods provided in this article apply to tests measuring changeable attributes and require repeated measures across time on each individual. This article also provides a set of parallel forms of PANAS.