Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of abdominal visceral fat on inflammatory pathways and mortality risk in obstructive lung disease.

BACKGROUND Low-grade systemic inflammation, particularly elevated IL-6, predicts mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although altered body composition, especially increased visceral fat (VF) mass, could be a significant contributor to low-grade systemic inflammation, this remains unexplored in COPD. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate COPD-specific effects on VF and plasma adipocytokines and their predictive value for mortality. DESIGN Within the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, an observational study in community-dwelling older persons, we used propensity scores to match n = 729 persons with normal lung function to n = 243 persons with obstructive lung disease (OLD; defined as the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity < lower limit of normal). Matching was based on age, sex, race, clinic site, BMI, and smoking status. Within this well-balanced match, we compared computed tomography-acquired visceral fat area (VFA) and plasma adipocytokines, analyzed independent associations of VFA and OLD status on plasma adipocytokines, and studied their predictive value for 9.4-y mortality. RESULTS Whereas whole-body fat mass was comparable between groups, persons with OLD had increased VFA and higher plasma IL-6, adiponectin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1). Both OLD status and VFA were independently positively associated with IL-6. Adiponectin was positively associated with OLD status but negatively associated with VFA. PAI-1 was no longer associated with OLD status after VFA was accounted for. Participants with OLD had increased risk of all-cause, respiratory, and cardiovascular mortality, of which IL-6 was identified as an independent predictor. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that excessive abdominal visceral fat contributes to increased plasma IL-6, which, in turn, is strongly associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in older persons with OLD.
Structurally detailed coarse-grained model for Sec-facilitated co-translational protein translocation and membrane integration

We present a coarse-grained simulation model that is capable of simulating the minute-timescale dynamics of protein translocation and membrane integration via the Sec translocon, while retaining sufficient chemical and structural detail to capture many of the sequence-specific interactions that drive these processes. The model includes accurate geometric representations of the ribosome and Sec translocon, obtained directly from experimental structures, and interactions parameterized from nearly 200 μs of residue-based coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. A protocol for mapping amino-acid sequences to coarse-grained beads enables the direct simulation of trajectories for the co-translational insertion of arbitrary polypeptide sequences into the Sec translocon. The model reproduces experimentally observed features of membrane protein integration, including the efficiency with which polypeptide domains integrate into the membrane, the variation in integration efficiency upon single amino-acid mutations, and the orientation of transmembrane domains. The central advantage of the model is that it connects sequence-level protein features to biological observables and timescales, enabling direct simulation for the mechanistic analysis of co-translational integration and for the engineering of membrane proteins with enhanced membrane integration efficiency.
A new priority list unit commitment method for large-scale power systems

Continuous load demand variation and incapability of electrical power storage, forcing power system operators to schedule the utility generating units on/off plans and optimizing the output of generation units. This scheduling is defined as Unit Commitment (UC). Unit commitment scheduling aims to minimizing total cost and satisfying forecasted power demand and other constraints. UC problem can be considered one of the most complex optimization problem with binary and continuous variables as well as unlimited constraints which represent a computationally challenging to power system operators. In this paper, a new, fast, straightforward, efficient and reliable priority list UC technique has been proposed. The introduced priority list technique has been applied and tested on the commonly used ten-unit test system and its multiples 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 units. To clarify the validation of the proposed technique, the obtained results have been compared with other solving techniques presented in previous relevant published literature. The obtained results show the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed technique in term of execution time and total cost. Also, the obtained results affirm the efficiently and reliability of the proposed technique for large-scale UC problem solution.
Plasma Long Noncoding RNA Urothelial Carcinoma Associated 1 Predicts Poor Prognosis in Chronic Heart Failure Patients

Background Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of death worldwide. A long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) named urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) is important in multiple diseases. However, the role of UCA1 in CHF is still unknown. Our study investigated whether UCA1 could be applied as an ideal marker to diagnose and evaluate prognosis in CHF. Material/Methods Total plasma RNA was extracted from 67 CHF patients and 67 controls. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the plasma level of UCA1. Correlations between UCA1 and clinical parameters were analyzed by Pearson correlation. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were obtained to analyze the predictive power of UCA1 and BNP for CHF. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to evaluate prognosis of CHF within 1 year. Results There was no significant difference in elementary data between CHF and controls. Plasma UCA1 was much higher in CHF patients compared with controls. Plasma UCA1 was positively and negatively correlated with brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF), respectively. Plasma UCA1 diagnosed CHF with a diagnostic power of 0.89 and a sensitivity and specificity of 100% [95% CI (0.9464–1)] and 76.12% [95%CI (0.6414–0.8569)] (P<0.05), respectively. CHF patients with higher plasma UCA1 had a lower survival rate than those with a lower level, and survival rate predicted by UCA1 had a similar tendency with BNP. However, there was no significant difference between these 2 markers in predicting the prognosis of CHF (P>0.05). Conclusions Plasma UCA1 might be an excellent indicator to diagnose CHF and it might predict poor outcomes of CHF.
3D-surface reconstruction for partially submerged marine structures using an autonomous surface vehicle

Over the last eight years, significant scientific effort has been dedicated on the problem of 3-D surface reconstruction for structural systems. However, the critical area of marine structures remains insufficiently studied. The research presented here focuses on the problem of 3-D surface reconstruction in the marine environment. This work is an extension of our previous approach, in which a surface vehicle that was equipped with a powerful laser scanner was designed and used to scan the above-water part of the marine structure of interest. Here we propose the design of a novel surface vehicle that is capable of using laser scanners and a side-looking sonar to scan marine structures both above and below the waterline. We also study the issue of downsampling the dataset in order to perform efficient surface reconstruction of the considered 3-D geometry, and we present a methodology for combining and integrating data from the above- and below-water parts of the structure. To illustrate the proposed robotic platform and validate our algorithms, we present results from a set of experiments in the Singapore Sea. Specifically, we present 2 different maps: the above-water map and the combined above-and below-water map. In both cases, we have two different maps: a lower quality map, that can be generated on-line, and a higher quality map that is generated off-line. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the only one that provides a 3-D model for both above- and below-water parts of marine structures. In this work we assumed a GPS-denied environment, without using any other navigation sensor such as DVL or INS.
Shear banding in strained semicrystalline polyamide 6 films as revealed by atomic force microscopy: Role of the amorphous phase

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to visualize the plastic deformation mechanisms that are responsible for the yielding of semicrystalline polymers of low degree of crystallinity (<50%). Indeed, AFM, if operated in suitable conditions, is able to image both the amorphous and the crystalline phases. Polyamide 6 films have been drawn at temperatures T < 160 °C. Postmortem AFM observations show that, at yield, shear bands nucleate and propagate in the amorphous phase. They cross the crystalline lamellae and run over the whole surface of the sample. By crossing the lamellae, they form nanoblocks of uniform size. Neither the size of the nanoblocks nor the angle between the tensile axis and the shear bands can be explained in terms of crystal plasticity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 687–701, 2004
Efficacy and safety of ginkgo preparations for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review protocol

Introduction Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed and treated childhood psychiatric disorders. The analogous diagnosis adopted in Europe is hyperkinetic disorder, which is defined in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases 10th edition (ICD-10). Hyperkinetic disorder includes more severe conditions. Ginkgo preparations are used in the treatment of ADHD. The present study will assess the efficacy and safety of ginkgo preparations in the treatment of ADHD in the currently published literature. Materials and methods All prospective randomised controlled trials (RCTs) will be included in this systematic review. Patients diagnosed with ADHD according to American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), ICD-10 or Chinese Classification and Diagnosis of Mental Diseases third edition (CMDD) will be included. A comprehensive search for RCTs to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of ginkgo preparations will be performed. The primary outcomes are the ADHD Rating Scale-IV and Revised Conners’ Parent Rating Scale. The secondary outcomes are quality of life evaluated by the KINDL scale, adverse effects/events, Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale, Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behaviour Scale and Fremdbeurteilungsbogen für Hyperkinetische Störungen. Exclusion criteria are the following: (1) case reports, not randomised trial, non-comparative studies and (2) patients who were not diagnosed based on DSM-IV, DSM-5, ICD-10 or CMDD. The following databases will be searched from their inception until January 2018: Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, China Biology Medicine Disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang Database and Chinese Scientific Journals Database. Two authors will independently perform the study selection, extract the data and assess the study quality and risk of bias. Ethics and dissemination This systematic review does not require ethics approval. It will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO registration number CRD42017077190.
Coagulation factor concentrate‐based therapy for remote damage control resuscitation (RDCR): a reasonable alternative?

The concept of remote damage control resuscitation (RDCR) is still in its infancy and there is significant work to be done to improve outcomes for patients with life‐threatening bleeding secondary to injury. The prehospital phase of resuscitation is critical and if shock and coagulopathy can be rapidly minimized before hospital admission this will very likely reduce morbidity and mortality. The optimum transfusion strategy for these patients is still highly debated and the potential implications of the recently published pragmatic, randomize, optimal platelet, and plasma ratios trial (PROPPR) for RDCR have been reviewed. Identifying the appropriate transfusion strategy is mandatory before adopting prehospital hemostatic resuscitation strategies. An alternative approach is based on the early administration of coagulation factor concentrates combined with the antifibrinolytic tranexamic acid (TXA). The three major components to this approach in the context of RDCR target the following steps to achieve hemostasis: 1) stop (hyper)fibrinolysis; 2) support clot formation; and 3) increase thrombin generation. Strong evidence exists for the use of TXA. The data from the prospective fibrinogen in trauma induced coagulopathy (FIinTIC) study will inform on the prehospital use of fibrinogen in bleeding trauma patients. Deficits in thrombin generation may be addressed by the administration of prothrombin complex concentrates. Handheld point‐of‐care devices may be able to support and guide the prehospital and remote use of intravenous hemostatic agents including coagulation factor concentrates along with clinical presentation, assessment, and the extent of bleeding. Combinations may even be more effective for bleeding control. More studies are urgently needed.
PBMDA: A novel and effective path-based computational model for miRNA-disease association prediction

In the recent few years, an increasing number of studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in many fundamental and important biological processes. As one of pathogenetic factors, the molecular mechanisms underlying human complex diseases still have not been completely understood from the perspective of miRNA. Predicting potential miRNA-disease associations makes important contributions to understanding the pathogenesis of diseases, developing new drugs, and formulating individualized diagnosis and treatment for diverse human complex diseases. Instead of only depending on expensive and time-consuming biological experiments, computational prediction models are effective by predicting potential miRNA-disease associations, prioritizing candidate miRNAs for the investigated diseases, and selecting those miRNAs with higher association probabilities for further experimental validation. In this study, Path-Based MiRNA-Disease Association (PBMDA) prediction model was proposed by integrating known human miRNA-disease associations, miRNA functional similarity, disease semantic similarity, and Gaussian interaction profile kernel similarity for miRNAs and diseases. This model constructed a heterogeneous graph consisting of three interlinked sub-graphs and further adopted depth-first search algorithm to infer potential miRNA-disease associations. As a result, PBMDA achieved reliable performance in the frameworks of both local and global LOOCV (AUCs of 0.8341 and 0.9169, respectively) and 5-fold cross validation (average AUC of 0.9172). In the cases studies of three important human diseases, 88% (Esophageal Neoplasms), 88% (Kidney Neoplasms) and 90% (Colon Neoplasms) of top-50 predicted miRNAs have been manually confirmed by previous experimental reports from literatures. Through the comparison performance between PBMDA and other previous models in case studies, the reliable performance also demonstrates that PBMDA could serve as a powerful computational tool to accelerate the identification of disease-miRNA associations.
Effect of Residual Stresses on Ductile Crack Growth in Pipeline Steel

In this study, the effects of residual stresses on the ductile crack growth resistance was investigated using single-edge-notched bending (SENB) and single-edge-notched tension (SENT) specimens as well as axisymmetric model. Weld residual stresses were introduced by the so-called eigenstrain method. The crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and constraint parameter R were calculated for different specimens and residual stresses. Results show that the residual stresses slightly reduced the ductile crack growth resistance. However, crack tip constraint R elevated with the increase of residual stress.
An emulation framework for SDN-NFV based services

Due to the emergence of a hyper-connectivity communication paradigm, the "softwarisation" of the Internet infrastructure and of its network management framework is gaining increasing popularity. Cloud computing helps supporting this evolution, together with the emergence of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). This technological paradigm allows to both move services closer to users, ensuring a lower latency in the service fruition, and support personalization of services by means of the migration of the latter towards edge nodes (in the so-called "fog computing" fashion). Actually, the development of cloud services based on the SDN-NFV paradigm has to cope with the availability for researcher and network enthusiasts to access to a full SDN testbed. Target of this paper is to present an emulation framework allowing simplification and cost reduction of network and application functions development, test and deployment. In such a way, the proposed architecture aims at supporting future Internet personal cloud services in a more scalable and sustainable way. Authors also present a proof-of-concept of the described architecture: a live video broadcasting service enabling small/medium and unusual content providers to share events with a restricted number of interested users without the need of adopting a dedicated and expensive data delivery infrastructure and/or subscribing expensive contracts with Telco.
Time-Space Position of Warm Dense Matter in Laser Plasma Interaction Process

Laser plasma interaction experiments have been perform performed using an fs Titanium Sapphire laser. Plasmas have been generated from planar PMMA targets using single laser pulses with 3.3 mJ pulse energy, 50 fs pulse duration at 800 nm wavelength. Electron density distributions of the plasmas in different delay times have been characterized by means of Nomarski Interferometry. Experimental data were cautiously compared with relevant 1D numerical simulation. Finally these results provide a first experience of searching for the time-space position of the so-called warm dense plasma in an ultra fast laser target interaction process. These experiments aim to prepare near solid-density plasmas for Thomson scattering experiments using the short wavelength free-electron laser FLASH, DESY Hamburg.
The Architecture and Datasets of Docear's Research Paper Recommender System

In the past few years, we have developed a research paper recommender system for our reference management software Docear. In this paper, we introduce the architecture of the recommender system and four datasets. The architecture comprises of multiple components, e.g. for crawling PDFs, generating user models, and calculating content‐based recommendations. It supports researchers and developers in building their own research paper recommender systems, and is, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive architecture that has been released in this field. The four datasets contain metadata of 9.4 million academic articles, including 1.8 million articles publicly available on the Web; the articles' citation network; anonymized information on 8,059 Docear users; information about the users' 52,202 mind‐maps and personal libraries; and details on the 308,146 recommendations that the recommender system delivered. The datasets are a unique source of information to enable, for instance, research on collaborative filtering, content‐based filtering, and the use of reference‐management and mind‐mapping software.
Research on Context-Aware Mobile Computing

Context-aware mobile computing belongs to the field of ubiquitous computing. It aims to enable device to provide better service for people through applying available context information. In this paper, context-aware mobile computing was elaborated. Firstly, the history of definition of context was summarized, and then the new classification of human-centric context was proposed. The acquiring and application of context information was generalized in the following part. On the basis, the issues in context-aware mobile computing were pointed out and finally the architecture of context-aware Q&A service was presented. Although the context-aware Q&A service can not solve all the issues introduced in this paper, it can be considered as an attempt to provide mobile service through mining of previously gathered context information sensed.
Zika virus and blood transfusion: the experience of French Polynesia

Between October 2013 and March 2014, French Polynesia experienced the largest Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak ever described before the emergence of ZIKV in the Americas in 2015. As arbovirus transfusion‐transmitted (TT) infections have been previously reported, we hypothesized that transfusion of blood products could also transmit ZIKV.
Stylize Aesthetic QR Code

With the continued proliferation of smart mobile devices, Quick Response (QR) code has become one of the most-used types of two-dimensional code in the world. Aiming at beautifying the appearance of QR codes, existing works have developed a series of techniques to make the QR code more visual-pleasant. However, these works still leave much to be desired, such as visual diversity, aesthetic quality, flexibility, universal property, and robustness. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose a novel type of aesthetic QR codes, SEE (Stylize aEsthEtic) QR Code, and a three-stage automatic approach to produce such robust art-style-oriented code. Specifically, in the first stage, we propose a method to generate the optimized baseline aesthetic QR code, which reduces the visual contrast between the noise-like black/white modules and the blended image. In the second stage, to obtain style-orient QR code, we adjust an appropriate neural style transformation network to endowing the baseline aesthetic QR code with abstract art elements. In the third stage, we design an error-correction mechanism by balancing two competing terms, visual quality and readability, to ensure performance robustly. Extensive experiments demonstrate that SEE QR Code has a high quality in terms of both visual appearance and robustness, and also enables users to have more personalized choices.