Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with internet addiction among school-going adolescents in Vadodara

Introduction: The internet is an important modern means of obtaining information and communicating with others which has converted the world into a global village. At the same time, increasing internet use among adolescents is also likely to pose a major public health concern that is internet addiction (IA). The aim was to assess the prevalence of IA among school-going adolescents and factors associated with IA. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to survey adolescents studying in 8th to 11th standard of five schools of Vadodara. Information regarding sociodemography and various patterns of internet use were obtained using survey forms. IA test (IAT) was used to screen for IA. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, and logistic regression were done to analyze the data. Results: Seven hundred and twenty-four participants that completed IAT were analyzed. Internet use prevalence was 98.9%. Prevalence of IA was 8.7%. Male gender, owning a personal device, hours of internet use/day, use of smartphones, permanent login status, use of internet for chatting, making online friends, shopping, watching movies, online gaming, searching information online and instant messaging were found to be associated significantly with IA in univariate analysis. Internet use for online friendships was found to be a significant predictor of IA (odds ratio [OR] =2.4), and internet use for searching information was found to be protective (OR = 0.20) against IA on logistic regression. Conclusions: IA is prevalent in the adolescent population and requires awareness and intervention. Characteristics of internet usage found to be associated with IA needs to be considered while developing strategies for interventions.
Adaptive fabrication of biofunctional decellularized extracellular matrix niche towards complex engineered tissues

Recreating organ-specific microenvironments of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in vitro has been an ongoing challenge in biofabrication. In this study, I present a biofunctional ECM-mimicking protein scaffold with tunable biochemical, mechanical and topographical properties. This scaffold, formed by microfibres, displays three favorable characteristics as a cell culture platform: high-loading of key ECM proteins, single-layered mesh membrane with controllable mesh size, and flexibility for supporting a range of cell culture configurations. Decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) powder was used to fabricate this protein scaffold, as a close replicate of the chemical composition of physiological ECM. The highest dECM concentration in the solidified protein scaffold was 50 wt%, with gelatin consisting the rest. In practice, a high density of dECM-laden nanoto microfibres was directly patterned on a variety of substrates to form a single layer of mesh membrane, using the low-voltage electrospinning patterning (LEP) method. The smallest fibre diameter was measured at 450 nm, the smallest mesh size of the membrane was below 1 μm, and the thickness of the membrane was estimated to be less than 2 μm. This fabrication method demonstrated a good preservation of the key ECM proteins and growth factors, including collagen IV, laminin, fibronectin, VEGF and b-FGF. The integrated fibrous mesh exhibited robust mechanical properties, with tunable fibril Young’s modulus for over two orders of magnitude in the physiological range (depending on the dECM concentration). Combining this mesh membrane with 3D printing, a cell culture device was constructed. Co-culture of human glomerulus endothelial cells and podocytes was performed on this device, to simulate the blood-to-urine interface in vitro. Good cell attachment and viability were demonstrated, and specific cell differentiation and fibronectin secretion were observed. This dECM-laden protein scaffold sees the potential to be incorporated into a glomerulus-on-chip model, to further improve the physiological relevance of in vitro pathological models.
Synchronization mismatch: vernier acuity and perception evaluation for large ultra high resolution tiled displays

We define experiments to measure vernier acuity caused by synchronization mismatch for moving images. The experiments are used to obtain synchronization mismatch acuity threshold as a function of object velocity and as a function of occlusion or gap width. Our main motivation for measuring the synchronization mismatch vernier acuity is its relevance in the application of tiled display systems which create a single contiguous image using individual discrete panels arranged in a matrix with each panel utilizing a distributed synchronization algorithm to display parts of the overall image. We also propose a subjective assessment method for perception evaluation of synchronization mismatch for large ultra high resolution tiled displays. For this we design a synchronization mismatch measurement test video set for various tile configurations for various inter-panel synchronization mismatch values. The proposed method for synchronization mismatch perception can evaluate tiled displays with or without tile bezels. The results from this work can help during design of low cost tiled display systems which utilize distributed synchronization mechanisms for a contiguous or bezeled image display.
Analog and RF modeling of FDSOI UTBB MOSFET using Leti-UTSOI model

Ultra-Thin Body and Box (UTBB) Fully-depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (FDSOI) MOSFETs exhibit very high transit frequency granting advantageous RF and low-power circuits design. This requires accurate models describing transistor behavior in all operating regimes including low levels of MOSFET channel inversion. In this paper, Leti-UTSOI based RF model will be compared against electrical measurements from 28nm FDSOI devices operating down to low bias conditions. The outcome demonstrates the accuracy and efficiency of Leti-UTSOI for low-power and RF applications design.
Tracking honey bee dances from sparse optical flow fields

Abstract Tracking honey bee dances precisely is a hard task since the bees are highly flexible and the background highly distractive and cluttered. We propose methods that cluster optical flow features using a fast hough transform. A bounding box is shifted according to the movement of the underlying optical flow features. Errors made are corrected in a second step by evaluation of coherence of motion for future frames. 1 Introduction Returning forager honey bees recruit others to remote field locations by performing the “waggle dance” [2,3]. It is a form of communication containing information about the location and value of a food source and the amount of energy a bee needs to spend to reach it [5]. After 60 years of research on the bee dance the questions a) what are the essential parts of the dance that convey information and b) how do the follower bees perceive these parts in the darkness of the hive remain unanswered [4]. Analysis of trajectories of the dancer and follower bees may offer insight into these questions. We recorded hundreds of high-speed video recordings of bee dances and developed a software to track the recorded bees. We extract both the transform parameters and the quality (i.e. the coherence of motion) of the motion cluster consisting of optical flow features and are therewith able to shift a bounding box according to the movement of the bee and correct for possible errors made in the optical flow computation. Interesting results regarding the paradigmatical “figure 8 shape” of the dance are found.
A query processing method for data warehouses which contain multimedia

In Data Warehousing, ad hoc queries are often optimized through the use of materialized views. Assuming one or more of the fields involved contains multimedia data, such as a picture or video clip, the materialization is done on the identifying field and pointers are used to attach the multimedia objects. By supporting BLOB(Binary Large Objects) as one of the many data types, RDBMS can be used to handle a very large number of image and multimedia objects. In such a multimedia data warehouse (MDW) environment, it may be impossible to prematerialize enough views to answer all queries. Therefore, the ability to support lnstantiation-On-Demand (IOD) queries will still be needed. In this paper, we describe an indexing scheme that is similar to the BitMap Indexing. We show how Domain Vectors can be used to handle typical queries found in MDW environment and how they are more flexible compared with BitMap index in that they may be extended to handle larger domains and even more importantly show great promise in the area of lnstantiation-On-Demand.
Cost-Sensitive Measures of Algorithm Similarity for Meta-learning

Knowledge about algorithm similarity is an important aspect of meta-learning, where the information gathered from previous learning tasks can be used to guide the selection of algorithms for new datasets. Usually this task is done by comparing global performance measures across different datasets or alternatively, comparing the performance of algorithms at the instance-level. In both cases, the previous similarity measures do not consider misclassification costs, and hence they neglect an important information that can be exploited in different learning contexts. In this paper we present algorithm similarity measures that deals with cost proportions and different threshold choice methods for building crisp classifiers from learned models. Experiments were performed in a meta-learning study with 50 different learning tasks. The similarity measures were adopted to cluster algorithms according to their aggregated performance on the learning tasks. The clustering process revealed similarity between algorithms under different perspectives.
Solution-processed carrier selective layers for high efficiency organic/nanostructured-silicon hybrid solar cells.

UNLABELLED The reduction of interface minority carrier recombination is regarded as a key performance indicator in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells. In this study, we chose two kinds of carrier-selective layers to be applied in a hybrid solar cell device. A hole selective transporting layer of N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine (TPD) was added to the interface between Si nanohole structures and PEDOT PSS, and the electron selective layer cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) was added to the interface between the backside Si wafer and the rear Ti/Ag electrode. The main process used a clean and low-cost solution process, and the annealed temperature was under 140 °C. In addition, after we inserted these two carrier selective layers, the minority carrier lifetime was prolonged from 29.98 μs to 140.81 μs, indicating its significance in reducing the recombination rate. Eventually, we demonstrated that the PCE of Si/organic heterojunction solar cells can be improved to 13.23%.
A patient with severe hypercalcemia in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome: Role of elevated circulating 1α,25(OH)2vitamin D levels

A 54‐year‐old man was transferred to our ICU because of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). He died after 38 days of intensive care. During treatment, his serum calcium (Ca) levels continued to increase and reached 3.95 mmol/L, while the ionized Ca levels reached 2.30 mmol/L before his death. He presented with severe kidney injury, pancreatitis, and hemorrhagic gastric erosion that worsened his prognosis; these were possibly associated with the hypercalcemia. His circulating 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] level was elevated (75.7 to 204 pg/mL), whereas the levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, and parathyroid hormone–related peptide were not. Liver histology revealed immunoreactivity for 25‐hydroxyvitamin D 1α‐hydroxylase (CYP27B1) in some of the hepatocytes, in which the localization pattern was similar to that of lysozyme‐positive hepatocytes. Our ICU has previously encountered 22 similar MODS patients who presented with hypercalcemia over the last 8 years. SIRS with severe kidney and liver injuries are common clinical findings in hypercalcemic patients with MODS. Of the 23 hypercalcemic MODS patients, including the present patient, 17 had circulating 1,25(OH)2D levels exceeding 70 pg/mL despite severe kidney injury. Extrarenal activation of CYP27B1 seems to play a role in the development of hypercalcemia in this disease condition. Clinicians need to be aware that severe hypercalcemia may occur in MODS patients. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Diabetes Prevention in the Real World: Effectiveness of Pragmatic Lifestyle Interventions for the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes and of the Impact of Adherence to Guideline Recommendations

OBJECTIVE To summarize the evidence on effectiveness of translational diabetes prevention programs, based on promoting lifestyle change to prevent type 2 diabetes in real-world settings and to examine whether adherence to international guideline recommendations is associated with effectiveness. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Bibliographic databases were searched up to July 2012. Included studies had a follow-up of ≥12 months and outcomes comparing change in body composition, glycemic control, or progression to diabetes. Lifestyle interventions aimed to translate evidence from previous efficacy trials of diabetes prevention into real-world intervention programs. Data were combined using random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression considering the relationship between intervention effectiveness and adherence to guidelines. RESULTS Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. The primary meta-analysis included 22 studies (24 study groups) with outcome data for weight loss at 12 months. The pooled result of the direct pairwise meta-analysis shows that lifestyle interventions resulted in a mean weight loss of 2.32 kg (95% CI −2.92 to −1.72; I2 = 93.3%). Adherence to guidelines was significantly associated with a greater weight loss (an increase of 0.4 kg per point increase on a 12-point guideline-adherence scale). CONCLUSIONS Evidence suggests that pragmatic diabetes prevention programs are effective. Effectiveness varies substantially between programs but can be improved by maximizing guideline adherence. However, more research is needed to establish optimal strategies for maximizing both cost-effectiveness and longer-term maintenance of weight loss and diabetes prevention effects.
Advances in interferon‐free hepatitis C therapy: 2014 and beyond

Background: Interferon-based treatment is not suitable for many patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection because of contraindications such as psychiatric illness, and a high burden of adverse events. We assessed the efficacy and safety of an interferon-free regimen—a fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir (400 mg) and the HCV NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir (90 mg), with and without ribavirin—in patients with genotype-1 hepatitis C infection who were treatment-naive or previously treated with a protease-inhibitor regimen. Methods: For this open-label study, we enrolled 100 adult patients (>18 years) with HCV infection at a centre in the USA between Nov 2, 2012, and Dec 21, 2012. In cohort A, we used a computer-generated sequence to randomly assign (1:1:1; stratified by HCV genotype [1a vs 1b]) 60 non-cirrhotic, treatment-naive patients to receive sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir for 8 weeks (group 1), sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir and ribavirin for 8 weeks (group 2), or sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir for 12 weeks (group 3). In cohort B, we randomly allocated (1:1; stratified by genotype and presence or absence of cirrhosis) 40 patients who previously had virological failure after receiving a protease inhibitor regimen to receive sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir for 12 weeks (group 4) or sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir and ribavirin for 12 weeks (group 5). 22 (55%) of 40 patients in cohort B had compensated cirrhosis. The primary endpoint was sustained virological response 12 weeks after treatment (SVR12), analysed by intention to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01329978. Results: In cohort A, SVR12 was achieved by 19 (95%) of 20 patients (95% CI 75-100) in group 1, by 21 (100%) of 21 patients (84-100) in group 2, and by 18 (95%) of 19 patients (74-100) in group 3. In cohort B, SVR12 was achieved by 18 (95%) of 19 patients (74-100) in group 4 and by all 21 (100%) of 21 patients (84100) in group 5. Two patients had viral relapse; one patient was lost to follow-up after achieving sustained virological response 8 weeks after treatment. The most common adverse events were nausea, anaemia, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. One patient in group five had a serious adverse event of anaemia, thought to be related to ribavirin treatment. Interpretation: These findings suggest that the fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir-ledipasvir alone or with ribavirin has the potential to cure most patients with genotype-1 HCV, irrespective of treatment history or the presence of compensated cirrhosis. Further clinical trials are needed to establish the best treatment duration and to further assess the contribution of
Lipopolysaccharide Induces Chronic Kidney Injury and Fibrosis through Activation of mTOR Signaling in Macrophages

Background: Septic kidney injury is one of the most common complications in critically ill patients with a high risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). Emerging data indicate that mammalian target of rapamyci (mTOR) signaling plays a major role in septic inflammation by regulating the immune response of macrophage. This study was designed to evaluate the role of mTOR signaling in kidney macrophages during endotoxemia-induced chronic kidney injury and subsequent fibrogenesis. Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were used for all animal studies (n = 9 for each group). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was injected intraperitoneally (1 mg/kg) every 2 days to induce persistent endotoxemia. Rapamycin (1 mg/kg·day) was administered to a subgroup of mice 1 day prior to LPS treatment and continued to termination of the experiment. In ex-vivo experiment, RAW264.7 cells were cultured and treated with LPS (2 µg/ml) for 48 h while a subgroup of cells were incubated in the presence of rapamycin (50 nmol) for 2 h. Results: Continuous administration of LPS resulted in progressive macrophage infiltration, tubular injury and collagen deposition in mice kidneys. Rapamycin markedly ameliorated LPS-induced kidney pathological changes. Expression of pS6K was rarely observed in normal kidney macrophages, but significantly increased with time by LPS treatment. In ex-vivo study, LPS induced prominent production of IL-1β and MCP-1 in cultured RAW264.7 cells, which was significantly suppressed by rapamycin. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings show that endotoxemia results in activation of mTOR signaling in macrophages, leading to progressive kidney inflammatory injuries and subsequent fibrosis. Our study may reveal a mechanism involved in the development of sepsis-associated CKD and kidney fibrosis.
Regulation of Acid Resistance by Connectors of Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs), utilized extensively by bacteria and archaea, are involved in the rapid adaptation of the organisms to fluctuating environments. A typical TCS transduces the signal by a phosphorelay between the sensor histidine kinase and its cognate response regulator. Recently, small-sized proteins that link TCSs have been reported and are called “connectors. ” Their physiological roles, however, have remained elusive. SafA (sensor associating factor A) (formerly B1500), a small (65-amino-acid [65-aa]) membrane protein, is among such connectors and links Escherichia coli TCSs EvgS/EvgA and PhoQ/PhoP. Since the activation of the EvgS/EvgA system induces acid resistance, we examined whether the SafA-activated PhoQ/PhoP system is also involved in the acid resistance induced by EvgS/EvgA. Using a constitutively active evgS1 mutant for the activation of EvgS/EvgA, we found that SafA, PhoQ, and PhoP all contributed to the acid resistance phenotype. Moreover, EvgS/EvgA activation resulted in the accumulation of cellular RpoS in the exponential-phase cells in a SafA-, PhoQ-, and PhoP-dependent manner. This RpoS accumulation was caused by another connector, IraM, expression of which was induced by the activation of the PhoQ/PhoP system, thus preventing RpoS degradation by trapping response regulator RssB. Acid resistance assays demonstrated that IraM also participated in the EvgS/EvgA-induced acid resistance. Therefore, we propose a model of a signal transduction cascade proceeding from EvgS/EvgA to PhoQ/PhoP and then to RssB (connected by SafA and IraM) and discuss its contribution to the acid resistance phenotype.
Molecular therapy for obesity and diabetes based on a long‐term increase in hepatic fatty‐acid oxidation

Obesity‐induced insulin resistance is associated with both ectopic lipid deposition and chronic, low‐grade adipose tissue inflammation. Despite their excess fat, obese individuals show lower fatty‐acid oxidation (FAO) rates. This has raised the question of whether burning off the excess fat could improve the obese metabolic phenotype. Here we used human‐safe nonimmunoreactive adeno‐associated viruses (AAV) to mediate long‐term hepatic gene transfer of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A), the key enzyme in fatty‐acid β‐oxidation, or its permanently active mutant form CPT1AM, to high‐fat diet‐treated and genetically obese mice. High‐fat diet CPT1A‐ and, to a greater extent, CPT1AM‐expressing mice showed an enhanced hepatic FAO which resulted in increased production of CO2, adenosine triphosphate, and ketone bodies. Notably, the increase in hepatic FAO not only reduced liver triacylglyceride content, inflammation, and reactive oxygen species levels but also systemically affected a decrease in epididymal adipose tissue weight and inflammation and improved insulin signaling in liver, adipose tissue, and muscle. Obesity‐induced weight gain, increase in fasting blood glucose and insulin levels, and augmented expression of gluconeogenic genes were restored to normal only 3 months after AAV treatment. Thus, CPT1A‐ and, to a greater extent, CPT1AM‐expressing mice were protected against obesity‐induced weight gain, hepatic steatosis, diabetes, and obesity‐induced insulin resistance. In addition, genetically obese db/db mice that expressed CPT1AM showed reduced glucose and insulin levels and liver steatosis. Conclusion: A chronic increase in liver FAO improves the obese metabolic phenotype, which indicates that AAV‐mediated CPT1A expression could be a potential molecular therapy for obesity and diabetes. (HEPATOLOGY 2011)
Femtosecond vs Nanosecond: An Analysis on the Laser Ablation Properties of Dielectric Layers for Solar Cells

This paper reports on the ablation and micro-structuring properties of dielectric layers using a high average power femtosecond and nanosecond laser sources. The dielectrics investigated include SiNx, AlOx/SiNx stack and thermal SiO 2 /SiNx stack deposited on planar n-type silicon wafer. Initially, single pulse ablation properties such as threshold fluence and energy penetration depth were determined for both laser sources. In femtosecond ablation, the presence of two different ablation regimes: gentle and strong ablation was identified. An analytical model has been developed to estimate the line width micro-machined at different pulse spacing. The modelled line width is in good agreement with the experimentally measured values for femtosecond ablation due to negligible debris deposition. As such, for line ablation using femtosecond laser, the reduction in the threshold fluence with respect to pulse overlap ratio has been estimated. These ablation properties are very useful in carrying out precise and low damage structuring of dielectrics for ablation intensive architectures such as interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells.