Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A morphological and biochemical evaluation of the effects of quercetin on experimental sciatic nerve damage in rats

The present study evaluated the neuroprotective and antioxidant effects of quercetin in a rat model of sciatic nerve crush injury using histopathological, morphometric and biochemical methods. A total of 48 male Sprague Dawley rats, aged 10–12 weeks old were randomly divided into eight groups, consisting of two sham groups (S-7, S-28), three quercetin-treated groups (Q-7, Q-28; 200 mg/kg/7 days), trauma (T-7, T-28; 1 min sciatic nerve crush injury) and three trauma+quercetin groups (T+Q-7, T+Q-28; trauma+quercetin 200 mg/kg/7 days). Rats were sacrificed on day 7 or 28. Oxidant-antioxidant biochemical parameters in nerve tissues from all groups were analyzed using histopathological staining with toluidine blue and Masson's trichrome. DNA fragmentations were identified using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling in cells from each tissue sample. Degeneration of the axons and myelin sheath, the breakdown of the concentric lamellar structure of the myelin sheath and axonal swelling were observed in groups T-7 and T-28. Myelin sheath thicknesses, nerve fiber diameters and the number of myelinated nerve fibers decreased, while the apoptotic index (AI) increased in the T-7 and T-28 groups. However, it was observed that nerve regeneration began in the T+Q-7 and T+Q-28 groups compared with the sham groups, together with the healing of cellular damage and axonal structure and a decrease in the AI. Malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase activity did not differ significantly between the T-7 and S-7 groups. However, catalase activity significantly decreased in the T-28 group when compared with the sham 7 day group. Tissue malondialdehyde levels significantly increased, while serum catalase activity increased in the T+Q-7 group compared with the T-7 group. These results suggest that quercetin has beneficial effects on nerve regeneration and may shorten the healing period in crush-type sciatic nerve injuries.
On the optimal flow allocation and information theoretically secure network coding design for multiple multicasts

With linear network coding (LNC), the data packets transmitted in a communication network are coded packets, which are linear combinations of original data packets. Since the coded packets can be useful for multiple destinations in multicast, LNC has been shown as a promising technology to improve the network throughput. On the other hand, the original data packets can be encoded with random symbols and transmitted in the network to make sure that a passive attacker cannot obtain the information of these original data packets when the passive attacker cannot obtain enough coded packets. Therefore, LNC also provides secure transmission without using the traditional encryption and decryption. In this paper, we will study an Information Theoretically Secure Multiple Multicasts (ITSMM) problem with the following objectives: (1) maximizing the secure transmission rate (STR), (2) minimizing the random symbol rate (RSR), and (3) minimizing the bandwidth cost (BC), when the data transmission is information theoretically secure. We firstly theoretically analyze the ITSMM problem, which shows that it is equivalent to a problem of network flow with constraints on each intermediate node. We then formulate the ITSMM problem by 3 linear programmings to get the maximum STR, the minimum RSR, and the minimum BC. After that, we prove the sufficient condition for the size of finite field over which the information theoretically secure linear multicast code (ITSLMC) can be designed. At last, we give extensive simulations, which show that the proposed algorithms are effective and efficient.
Agile 5G Scheduler for Improved E2E Performance and Flexibility for Different Network Implementations

In this article, we present a holistic overview of the agile multi-user scheduling functionality in 5G. An E2E perspective is given, including the enhanced QoS architecture that comes with 5G, and the large number of scheduling related options from the new access stratum sub-layer, MAC, and PHY layer. A survey of the 5G design agreements from the recently concluded 5G Study in 3GPP is presented, and it is explained how to best utilize all these new degrees of freedom to arrive at an agile scheduling design that offers superior E2E performance for a variety of services with highly diverse QoS requirements. Enhancements to ensure efficient implementation of the 5G scheduler for different network architectures are outlined. Finally, state-of-the-art system level performance results are presented, showing the ability to efficiently multiplex services with highly diverse QoS requirements.
Numerical modeling of inductive transcutaneous energy transfer using coils with square turns

This paper presents algorithms for the calculation of square-shaped coils mutual inductance. Parametric analysis of the mutual inductance is given for all types of coils misalignments (i.e. axial, lateral, angular and rotational). The developed algorithms allow fast calculation of the mutual inductance for a given set of coils geometrical characteristics. More complex systems for optimizing the geometry of a coil pair and an automated design system can be developed using the designed algorithms. Verification was carried out by comparing the results obtained via the algorithms implemented in MATLAB and results obtained via FastHenry2 software.
in 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Haeckelites

By using rst-principles calculation, we have found that a family of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide haeckelites with square-octagonal lattice MX2-4-8 (M=Mo, W and X=S, Se and Te) can host quantum spin hall eect. The phonon spectra indicate that they are dynamically stable and the largest band gap is predicted to be around 54 meV, higher than room temperature. These will pave the way to potential applications of topological insulators. We have also established a simple tight-binding model on a square-like lattice to achieve topological nontrivial quantum states, which extends the study from honeycomb lattice to square-like lattice and broads the potential topological material system greatly.
Techniques for Improving the Finite Length Performance of Sparse Superposition Codes

Sparse superposition codes are a recent class of codes introduced by Barron and Joseph for efficient communication over the AWGN channel. With an appropriate power allocation, these codes have been shown to be asymptotically capacity-achieving with computationally feasible decoding. However, a direct implementation of the capacity-achieving construction does not give good finite length error performance. In this paper, we consider sparse superposition codes with approximate message passing (AMP) decoding, and describe a variety of techniques to improve their finite length performance. These include an iterative algorithm for SPARC power allocation, guidelines for choosing codebook parameters, and estimating a critical decoding parameter online instead of precomputation. We also show how partial outer codes can be used in conjunction with AMP decoding to obtain a steep waterfall in the error performance curves. We compare the error performance of AMP-decoded sparse superposition codes with coded modulation using LDPC codes from the WiMAX standard.
Advanced Probabilistic Couplings for Differential Privacy

Differential privacy is a promising formal approach to data privacy, which provides a quantitative bound on the privacy cost of an algorithm that operates on sensitive information. Several tools have been developed for the formal verification of differentially private algorithms, including program logics and type systems. However, these tools do not capture fundamental techniques that have emerged in recent years, and cannot be used for reasoning about cutting-edge differentially private algorithms. Existing techniques fail to handle three broad classes of algorithms: 1) algorithms where privacy depends on accuracy guarantees, 2) algorithms that are analyzed with the advanced composition theorem, which shows slower growth in the privacy cost, 3) algorithms that interactively accept adaptive inputs. We address these limitations with a new formalism extending apRHL, a relational program logic that has been used for proving differential privacy of non-interactive algorithms, and incorporating aHL, a (non-relational) program logic for accuracy properties. We illustrate our approach through a single running example, which exemplifies the three classes of algorithms and explores new variants of the Sparse Vector technique, a well-studied algorithm from the privacy literature. We implement our logic in EasyCrypt, and formally verify privacy. We also introduce a novel coupling technique called optimal subset coupling that may be of independent interest.
MicroRNA Roles in the Nuclear Factor Kappa B Signaling Pathway in Cancer

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a pluripotent and crucial dimer transcription factor that orchestrates various physiological and pathological processes, especially cell proliferation, inflammation, and cancer development and progression. NF-κB expression is transient and tightly regulated in normal cells, but it is activated in cancer cells. Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated microRNAs (miRNAs) play a vital role in the NF-κB signaling pathway and NF-κB-associated immune responses, radioresistance and drug resistance of cancer, some acting as inhibitors and the others as activators. Although it is still in infancy, targeting NF-κB or the NF-κB signaling pathway by miRNAs is becoming a promising strategy of cancer treatment.
Spindle-E cycling between nuage and cytoplasm is controlled by Qin and PIWI proteins

The mechanisms by which PIWI proteins generate piRNAs to repress expression of transposable elements in germ cells are unclear. Andress et al. examine the dynamic cycling of the RNA helicase Spindle-E with PIWI proteins and cofactors in and out of nuage granules in the Drosophila female germline and suggest that nuage granules are hubs for transient, active protein complexes associated with piRNA amplification.
Clinical research about airway pressure release ventilation for moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate clinical effects of airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) in patients suffering from moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). e of a patient presented with significant high aminotransferase levels due to the first human R. aeschlimannii infection ever detected in Italy. The hypothesis of rickettsiosis was made on the basis of a comprehensive medical history and was confirmed by serological tests. Molecular analyses made on a sample of hepatic tissue revealed the presence of a rickettsial species never found before in human liver. PATIENTS AND METHODS From August 2012 to August 2014, fifty-two cases with moderate to severe ARDS were randomly divided into two groups. In the first group (APRV) the airway pressure release ventilation was used; the second group (SIMV) was ventilated using synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation mode and positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP). Changes in oxygenation index, respiratory mechanics, extravascular lung water, functional residual capacity change and hemodynamics were recorded in both groups after mechanical ventilation. TNF-a and IL-10 levels in alveolar lavage were also measured. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II and Murray scores were evaluated. Pneumothorax and mediastinal emphysema during ventilation were also recorded. The probability of survival, the duration of ICU stay, days without organ failure and days without sedation were compared. RESULTS Conditions in APRV were improved significantly. Oxygenation index was increased, airway peak pressure (Ppeak) was reduced, the lung dynamic compliance improved, extravascular lung water was relieved, functional residual capacity increased and Murray score was improved. In APRV group ventilation central venous pressure (CVP) and systemic circulation resistance index (SVRI) were reduced, but cardiac index (CI) increased, and at the same time lac and oxygen saturation of central venous blood (ScvO2) were improved. Free sedatives days were significantly reduced in APRV group while days without mechanical ventilation were increased and days in ICU were shortened significantly. TNF-α and IL-10 concentrations in the alveolar lavage, probability of survival and days without organ failure were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS In patients suffering from moderate to severe ARDS, application of APRV improved lung function and hemodynamics. It also reduced the need for sedatives and the duration of mechanical ventilation as well as days in ICU.
CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE8 Differentially Regulates Plant Immunity to Fungal Pathogens through Kinase-Dependent and -Independent Functions in Arabidopsis[C][W]

This work explores the intriguing roles of Mediator subunit CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE8 (CDK8) in plant immune responses to fungal infection. CDK8 regulates jasmonate-responsive gene expression and cuticle development via interactions with MEDIATOR COMPLEX SUBUNIT25 and transcription factor WIN1, respectively, while other interactions suggest evolutionary conservation of the Mediator kinase module. CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE8 (CDK8) is a widely studied component of eukaryotic Mediator complexes. However, the biological and molecular functions of plant CDK8 are not well understood. Here, we provide evidence for regulatory functions of Arabidopsis thaliana CDK8 in defense and demonstrate its functional and molecular interactions with other Mediator and non-Mediator subunits. The cdk8 mutant exhibits enhanced resistance to Botrytis cinerea but susceptibility to Alternaria brassicicola. The contributions of CDK8 to the transcriptional activation of defensin gene PDF1.2 and its interaction with MEDIATOR COMPLEX SUBUNIT25 (MED25) implicate CDK8 in jasmonate-mediated defense. Moreover, CDK8 associates with the promoter of AGMATINE COUMAROYLTRANSFERASE to promote its transcription and regulate the biosynthesis of the defense-active secondary metabolites hydroxycinnamic acid amides. CDK8 also interacts with the transcription factor WAX INDUCER1, implying its additional role in cuticle development. In addition, overlapping functions of CDK8 with MED12 and MED13 and interactions between CDK8 and C-type cyclins suggest the conserved configuration of the plant Mediator kinase module. In summary, while CDK8’s positive transcriptional regulation of target genes and its phosphorylation activities underpin its defense functions, the impaired defense responses in the mutant are masked by its altered cuticle, resulting in specific resistance to B. cinerea.
Glasses for the Third Eye: Improving the Quality of Clinical Data Analysis with Motion Sensor-based Data Filtering

Recent advances in machine learning based data analytics are opening opportunities for designing effective clinical decision support systems (CDSS) which can become the "third-eye" in the current clinical procedures and diagnosis. However, common patient movements in hospital wards may lead to faulty measurements in physiological sensor readings, and training a CDSS from such noisy data can cause misleading predictions, directly leading to potentially dangerous clinical decisions. In this work, we present MediSense, a system to sense, classify, and identify noise-causing motions and activities that affect physiological signal when made by patients on their hospital beds. Essentially, such a system can be considered as "glasses" for the clinical third eye in correctly observing medical data. MediSense combines wirelessly connected embedded platforms for motion detection with physiological signal data collected from patients to identify faulty physiological signal measurements and filters such noisy data from being used in CDSS training or testing datasets. We deploy our system in real intensive care units (ICUs), and evaluate its performance from real patient traces collected at these ICUs through a 4-month pilot study at the Ajou University Hospital Trauma Center, a major hospital facility located in Suwon, South Korea. Our results show that MediSense successfully classifies patient motions on the bed with >90% accuracy, shows 100% reliability in determining the locations of beds within the ICU, and each bed-attached sensor achieves a lifetime of more than 33 days, which satisfies the application-level requirements suggested by our clinical partners. Furthermore, a simple case-study with arrhythmia patient data shows that MediSense can help improve the clinical diagnosis accuracy.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Antigen 85A and 85C Structures Confirm Binding Orientation and Conserved Substrate Specificity*

The maintenance of the highly hydrophobic cell wall is central to the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within its host environment. The antigen 85 proteins (85A, 85B, and 85C) of M. tuberculosis help maintain the integrity of the cell wall 1) by catalyzing the transfer of mycolic acids to the cell wall arabinogalactan and 2) through the synthesis of trehalose dimycolate (cord factor). Additionally, these secreted proteins allow for rapid invasion of alveolar macrophages via direct interactions between the host immune system and the invading bacillus. Here we describe two crystal structures: the structure of antigen 85C co-crystallized with octylthioglucoside as substrate, resolved to 2.0 Å, and the crystal structure of antigen 85A, which was solved at a resolution of 2.7 Å. The structure of 85C with the substrate analog identifies residues directly involved in substrate binding. Elucidation of the antigen 85A structure, the last of the three antigen 85 homologs to be solved, shows that the active sites of the three antigen 85 proteins are virtually identical, indicating that these share the same substrate. However, in contrast to the high level of conservation within the substrate-binding site and the active site, surface residues disparate from the active site are quite variable, indicating that three antigen 85 enzymes are needed to evade the host immune system.
Complex “ALFA” After 10 Years of Operation on Track Membranes Production

The film irradiation complex “ALFA” dedicated to expose the polymer films used in the track membranes production was designed and manufactured by JINR (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research) for “TRACKPORE TECHNOLOGY" company [1] and put into operation in 2002 year [2] in Dubna, Russia. "TRACKPORE TECHNOLOGY" holding company was established to solve complex problems of track membranes mass production and a wide range of filtering products based on track membranes. The the following:
TDOA estimation based on phase-voting cross correlation and circular standard deviation

This paper proposes a new TDOA estimation based on phase-voting cross correlation and circular standard deviation. Based on phase delay and kernel function, the proposed method generates a probability density function (PDF) of TDOA for each frequency bin. TDOA estimate is determined by voting the PDFs generated for all frequency bins. Peak positions of the bin-wise PDFs for the target signal are concentrated only at the target time difference because peak positions for the noise totally differ among bins and periodicity of peaks depends on frequency. Therefore, by voting the PDFs for all frequency bins, the peak position for the target can be easily identified. The kernel width of PDF is determined by circular standard deviation of cross spectral phase for each frequency bin. This width control enhances peaks of PDFs for high SNR frequency bins since phases for high SNR bins are more stable than those for low ones. Evaluation with ship and drone sounds shows that the RMSE of TDOA estimation by the proposed method reaches 0.37 times that by GCC-PHAT.
Wavelet-based SPC procedure for complicated functional data

Functional data characterize the quality or reliability performance of many manufacturing processes. As can be seen in the literature, such data are informative in process monitoring and control for nanomachining, for ultra-thin semiconductor fabrication, and for antenna, steel-stamping, or chemical manufacturing processes. Many functional data in manufacturing applications show complicated transient patterns such as peaks representing important process characteristics. Wavelet transforms are popular in the computing and engineering fields for handling these types of complicated functional data. This article develops a wavelet-based statistical process control (SPC) procedure for detecting ‘out-of-control’ events that signal process abnormalities. Simulation-based evaluations of average run length indicate that our new procedure performs better than extensions from well-known methods in the literature. More importantly, unlike recent SPC research on linear profile data for monitoring global changes of data patterns, our methods focus on local changes in data segments. In contrast to most of the SPC procedures developed for detecting a known type of process change, our idea of updating the selected parameters adaptively can handle many types of process changes whether known or unknown. Finally, due to the data-reduction efficiency of wavelet thresholding, our procedure can deal effectively with large data sets.
Automatic detection of bird species from audio field recordings using HMM-based modelling of frequency tracks

This paper presents an automatic system for detection of bird species in field recordings. A sinusoidal detection algorithm is employed to segment the acoustic scene into isolated spectro-temporal segments. Each segment is represented as a temporal sequence of frequencies of the detected sinusoid, referred to as frequency track. Each bird species is represented by a set of hidden Markov models (HMMs), each HMM modelling an individual type of bird vocalisation element. These HMMs are obtained in an unsupervised manner. The detection is based on a likelihood ratio of the test utterance against the target bird species and non-target background model. We explore on selection of cohort for modelling the background model, z-norm and t-norm score normalisation techniques and score compensation to deal with outlier data. Experiments are performed using over 40 hours of audio field recordings from 48 bird species plus an additional 16 hours of field recordings as impostor trials. Evaluations are performed using detection error trade-off plots. The equal error rate of 5% is achieved when impostor trials are non-target bird species vocalisations and 1.2% when using field recordings which do not contain bird vocalisations.
Tunable-Spacing Multi-wavelength Yb-Doped Fiber Laser (YDFL) Based on Temperature Sensitive Loop Mirror

A tunable quad-wavelength Yb-doped fiber laser is demonstrated using a novel temperature-sensitive loop mirror. The loop mirror consists of two segments of polarization maintaining fibres which are spliced at an offset rotation angle of 90°. From this a quad-wavelength lasing with a constant spacing of around 1.74 nm, a flat output power of -12 dBm, a signal to noise ratio of more than 32 dB was obtained in the 1037 nm wavelength region. The wavelength spacing and tuning span could be easily tuned by manipulating the polarizing maintaining fibre (PMF) length parameters and temperature of the loop mirror. The wavelength spacing and tuning span of the laser was larger if longer PMF segments were used in the loop mirror.